Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Origami Music ❯ Part 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Title: Origami Music

Chapter: 4/?

Author: Madyamisam

Rating: PG-13

Beta: Lola

Pairing(s): Joey/Mokuba (but not in `that' way) Joey/Seto

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: Madyamisam doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

Summary: Two families, two children, two siblings, two friends… funny how an accident could make everything change…

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~Perfect by nature
Icons of self indulgence
Just what we all need
More lies about a world that~

~Never was and never will be
Have you no shame don't you see me
You know you've got everybody fooled~

He's mouth moved with the lyrics of the song as he listened to the track as he fiddled with sheet of paper to shape into another crane, which he added on to the accumulating pile. Seto glared at the computer and despite the sound of the rock beat only faintly registering in his ears; he couldn't help but feel agitated with the song. In his opinion it might as well be blaring like the giant speakers at a nightclub. He growled as he marched down the hall and shoved the door of the blonde's bedroom open and glaring as the blonde continued to fold his hundredth piece of paper into another origami creation and placing it into another pile. Feeling a breeze disturbing his otherwise peaceful atmosphere Joey looked up.

~Look here she comes now
Bow down and stare in wonder
Oh how we love you
No flaws when you're pretending
But now I know she~

~Never was and never will be
You don't know how you've betrayed me
And somehow you've got everybody fooled~

Seto clenched his fists whilst the wide ochre eyes stared up innocently at him. He was about to say something but was interrupted by the eleven year old who tugged at his trench coat meekly.

"Um… dinner's ready" Mokuba whispered as he looked back and forth between his brother and their new houseguest. Joey blinked but went back to his origami pile and back to his own world. Seto sent a final glare before allowing his brother to drag him downstairs and leaving Joey to his own devices.

~Without the mask where will you hide
Can't find yourself lost in your lie~

~I know the truth now
I know who you are
And I don't love you anymore~

~It never was and never will be

You don't know how you've betrayed me

And somehow you've got everybody fooled~

Mokuba had returned and went to tug Joey's arm to come down to the dining room with them. "Come down and eat Joey…"

~It never was and never will be
you're not real and you can't save me
Somehow now you're everybody's fool~

Joey waited until the song ended when finally he heeded to the tugging of the raven headed boy switched off the CD player and followed suit. He dropped the finished paper crane upon the pile as he left. There was only silence in the dining room with the only exception of the servants coming in and out to serve the food. They were having Chinese tonight and Mokuba sat between the two teenagers. Seto was glaring at the blonde hair whilst Joey was staring at his bowl of rice. "Come on Joey you haven't eaten all day"

"So let him starve if that's what he wants," Seto said. Mokuba bit his lip staring anxiously. He felt the tension between these two and he found it hard to bear. Joey however stared at his bowl refusing to look at either of the Kaiba brothers. "Well mutt? Are you finding it awkward to eat on the table? Do you prefer the floor?"

"Seto!" Mokuba whined at his brother. "Joey ignore-"he looked up to find that the blonde was walking away and going back to his room. Mokuba sighed as he sent a hurt look at his brother before scooping portions from the various plates into Joey's bowl and followed him with it. Seto was left alone for those few minutes. It was one of the loneliest moments he had ever experienced. Settling down his chopsticks Seto crossed his arms and swallowed as the silence hovered over him like a shadow. Thankfully Mokuba had returned though the brunette's sudden anxiety of him leaving didn't subside. Mokuba sighed as he sat back down and continued to eat.

"Mokuba…" he was greeted with silence as Mokuba chewed on his food briefly. It was one of the indicators that Mokuba wasn't very happy with him. Seto tried to suppress the painful agony of being ignored like this but for his brother's sake he kept quiet and waited until Mokuba wanted to speak to him again. The wait was quite long and he had lost his appetite. They had nearly finished when Mokuba decided to speak to him again. Even the normally cheerful staff kept their thoughts to themselves as they quietly collected the empty plates and bowls. Seto glanced at the eleven year old who despite himself seemed to age very rapidly. Mokuba rubbed at his temples before he quested a glance at his brother again.

"Why are you still saying those things?" Mokuba croaked evidently showing the fatigue in his voice. Seto felt guilty about that and wasn't able to answer his brother now.

"I… I'm sorry…" Seto said. It was rare and even then he would only say such things to his brother. Mokuba sighed as he crossed his arms and shivered despite the warmth of the room. "I…"

"You didn't want him to come here…." Mokuba stated. "But you let him because of me…" Mokuba tried to blink away the tears but one escaped as the memory of the event resurfaced.

"Mokuba…" Seto said in alarm that he had inadvertently caused the eleven year old to cry again.

"It's always because of me…" Mokuba whispered as he got up and ran upstairs.

"MOKUBA!" Seto shouted after him but the raven headed boy had closed the door to his room before he Seto could reach him. Seto placed a forehead on the door and clenched his fists. He looked up to find that Joey was now munching on the bowl that Mokuba had brought up to him and staring blankly at the brunette as he absently shovelled the rice into his mouth with the chopstick. Seto glared at the blonde with a pure hate, a glare that he only ever reserved for people like the psychotic Pegasus who had flinched under that gaze. However Joey showed nothing of the sort. He merely stared at the CEO before going into his room.

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It was more difficult than ever to concentrate at work now as he thought about his brother and what the mutt was doing to him. To the both of them.

"Master Kaiba"

"What?" he snarled making his secretary cringe. She swallowed as she continued with her message.

"A-about the meeting with Mr Fushitama"

"Cancel it…" Seto snapped as he tried to look like he was working. The woman nodded.

"Yes… sir…" she whispered before she strode out quickly so she could escape the unemployment list. It was a Sunday and the next day Seto would have to go to school, with Joey and meet Yugi and the others. Things were not going to be pretty. He stormed out of the office early that day to go home hoping that the incompetent staff that he had was able to keep a close eye on his brother and Joey. He was met with the overbearing silence once more and noticed that Mokuba was fast asleep on the sofa. His expression softened as he stroked his brother's hair and slipped his trench coat off to cover him up. He didn't notice the blonde hovering over him at first but could do nothing but suppress a low growl as Joey still stared blankly at him. Seto was about ready to strangle the blonde for staring at him but Joey who somehow knew his intentions turned to go upstairs and into his room.

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School was bleaker than Seto could ever imagine. In the past he would tolerate it for the sake that it alleviated his mind from the stress at the company but now it was causing him more problems than ever. About the only thing that didn't seemed to change were the grades that he managed to achieve. He didn't know whether he was feeling more self conscious about everything he did but no matter what he seemed to do or not do it was met with disapproving looks. The blonde had strolled in after him and Tristan turned from glaring at the brunette to smiling broadly and pulling him to talk with his friends. At first he thought that the group had seemed to go back to what they use to be but Seto couldn't help but notice the puffy redness round Yugi's eyes as if he had been crying a lot. In fact it was the first time he noticed this but when he turned to see the others he found that Téa didn't smile as much as she used to or for the matter rant on about friendship. Tristan had a bruised eye from a fight he had the Friday before. He had become a lot more short-tempered, so much so that almost anything could set him off. Seto of course, was a prime target of his aggression and although he knew Seto could easily beat him up he would growl if he ever came near any of his friends.

"Welcome back Mr Wheeler… I know how hard it has been for you these past few months so we'll take this slowly all right?" the teacher said to the blonde as if she was speaking to a five-year-old child. Joey merely stared blankly at her and nodded before turning his head to stare out of the window.

"Yo Wheeler… heard you spent some time in the nut house" sneered one of the class students when bell rang for break.

"Back off Corey… "Tristan growled protectively clenching his fists and ready for a fight. Corey however was a butch boy and easily smacked Tristan out of the way and grabbed Joey by the shirt.

"D'you miss your lunatic friends at the nut house Wheeler? Why don't I help you go back and pay them a visit eh?" he raised a fist.

"You lay one finger on him Corey and I swear you will regret it" Corey looked surprised at the small tri colour headed boy glared at him defiantly. Yami glared as he took over Yugi's body and Joey was dropped.

"Oh what ya gonna do? Smack me with your little girly punches?" Corey now turned to the young duellist ready to pound him to a pulp. Yami glared defiantly. Corey chuckled then suddenly screamed in pain before clutching his crotch. Yami blinked in surprise as Joey swiftly stepped to the side and punched the fat boy hard on the nose. Blood started to pour from the pig like holes and Corey started howling and clutching his face. Joey strode on neither angry nor even smug as he past his smaller friend who reverted back to his innocent self.

Lunch was pretty uneventful despite the fact of Corey getting beaten up to squealing like the pig he is had brought some admirable attention from the rest of the classmates. Tristan stared proudly as he showcased by boasting the story to his fellow classmates who assembled round him as if they were listening to a campfire story. Lessons droned on and before Seto knew it was time to go home and for once he wasn't looking forward to it. He was about to scowl at the blonde for following him when he realised he lived with the CEO now. Irked by the fact that the blonde usually walked in the other direction and laughing with his friends. His cell rang.

"Kaiba… " he stated and sighed as he listened to staff trying to think up excuses for them botching up the software systems in their latest project. He noticed the blonde heading his way as the limo came round to pick them up. He growled as he hung up on the hysterical man on the other line before turning to the blonde.

"Hurry up… I need to go to the company" he growled at the blonde.

"Shut up Kaiba. honestly I don't see why you don't come live with us Joey" Tristan said.

"Dr Gibson said he had to be near Mokuba" Yugi reminded and Tristan growled at the name of the other Kaiba. Seto narrowed his eyes at the other brunette who reluctantly let the blonde go.

"I'll walk…" Joey explained to the CEO. Seto blinked but was almost grateful that the blonde didn't' have to travel with him.

"Whatever…" he replied as he got into the limo and left not caring that it was going to take over an hour to walk from school to Kaiba mansion. He glanced at his watch and duly noted the time that Mokuba would be going home too. He felt guilty that he wasn't able to come by and pick him up but called his brother to wait for a little longer for another limo to arrive.

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Mokuba sighed as he waited by the large apple tree that grew in the playground whilst all his classmates went their separate ways home from the school. They chattered eagerly about their trivial stresses from the day whilst Mokuba leaned against the large tree wondering and vaguely wishing that he could talk about such things like he used to. It seemed that something like accident could kill off all moods for innocent conversation. He looked at his watch and wandered briefly why the limo hadn't come yet when his cell rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey kiddo" Seto said on the other phone.

"What is it big brother?"

"The company got caught up in a lot of mess and I had to go there right away" He shouldn't really be surprise. There had been many a time that Seto would have to hog the limo for business reasons yet Mokuba couldn't help but feel dejected by this. He swallowed as he vaguely listened to the elaborate explanation that his brother gave him.

"-and so-"

"That's ok… big brother I understand. " Mokuba blinked when he saw the tall lanky figure of the blonde standing at the front entrance. He stood up straight and rearranged his backpack on his shoulder as he listened to his brother on the phone. It was odd that Joey had decided to come to his school rather than hang out with Yugi and the others but it wasn't like Mokuba was complaining, in fact, he seemed to feel more at peace with himself than the tumult of emotions he goes through. Joey walked towards the eleven year old and stood by him as if waiting for to walk him home as if it was something they did everyday. It was a nice, clear autumn afternoon where the leaves had turned from the leafy green during the summer to the various beautiful shades of yellow, red and orange. Mokuba used to love crunching the oak leaves under his feet and knocking down the large mounds that the servants had busily tried to pile neatly up. `Why not?' he thought.

"I'll call the second limo over to pick you up; it'll take about twenty minutes and-"

"No… you don't have to… I'll… I'll walk" Mokuba said. There was a tense pause on the other side of the phone.

"Mokuba it's… its nearly an hour's walk to the mansion…" Seto suddenly spoke quickly.

"I'll be fine. It's a nice day and I think the exercise would do me some good… Besides Joey just came by anyway… so you don't have to worry too much…"

"Mokuba-"

"I'll be fine…" Mokuba interrupted biting his cheek guiltily that he had snapped at Seto like he did. He hung up without another word and smiled at the blonde who cocked his head in a way that highly resembled a cute golden retriever puppy. Mokuba sniggered to himself as he realised how true his brother's perception of the blonde teenager was before he took Joey by the hand and they walked home together. They both decided to take the scenic route away from the large amount of traffic and across the Domino Park. It was littered with leaves and sometimes Mokuba wondered if he had enough exercise because he frequently had to sit down at the park bench and forcing Joey to wait. It was indeed nearly an hour's walk but the fact they kept stopping a lot of the way took another half hour. They even had a break and strangely neither of them had eaten their lunches that day. "Do you always walk home?" Mokuba asked suddenly as he paused midway through his sandwich. Joey nodded in his answer. "Must be nice… well except when it's raining of course" the awkward one-sided conversation made Mokuba give up and they went back into silence.

"We could walk home tomorrow too…" Joey said suddenly. "If you want…" his long blonde tresses swayed a little against the breeze. Mokuba blinked in surprise. It was the first time that Joey that offered him something like that. Mokuba smiled at the blonde progressing again.

"Ok" he said.

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It was late afternoon when they finally arrived at the mansion and Mokuba in the opinion of the staff almost seemed like his old self. The sandwiches that they had were hardly sufficient for sustenance and Mokuba asked for the staff to make something for dinner. This time Joey was less reluctant to eat but Mokuba found it strange to see the blonde eat so slowly and politely to when they first had ate together in the RPG game that Seto had been trapped in. Of course, back then he was also a lot more talkative and… happy. Mokuba bit his lip before he continued to eat when the blonde produced a chocolate from his pocket. Mokuba blinked. He never was allowed too many sweets and stared almost longingly for the sugary taste. Joey then cut the chocolate in half with a knife although disproportionately. He passed the bigger half to the eleven-year-old boy. It was another surprising revelation for it was the first time that Joey had given him something ever since the bloody paper crane that he still kept closely in his locket of his brother. He smiled happily as they both ate the treat.

Evening quickly drew on then and the cold started to settle in. Both having done their homework had settled with a movie although neither paid much attention to it. Joey was back to making paper cranes and a large pile had started to accumulate. Mokuba had settled for watching his nimble fingers working tenderly as the paper crane began to form. It was shortly afterwards that Mokuba had gone to copying the blonde and followed his precise actions.

"Look… mines flying too" Mokuba squealed as he tugged at the tail and it flapped it wings. It wasn't as neat and elegant as the ones that Joey made but he didn't care. He made it by himself and that was all that mattered. Joey blinked staring at the paper crane flapping weakly. He took the bird from the boys hands took out a pen and drew stars all over it before he placed it on the top of the pile of cranes. He then took another sheet of paper and began to start afresh. Mokuba noticed however that it was somewhat different to what Joey had done before and as before he knew it Joey had made another origami masterpiece but this time it was a flower.

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Seto couldn't help but feel lonely as he slaved over the corrupted software that his incompetent employees had managed to mess up but eventually the problem was finally fixed and he left the company late that evening. When he returned shortly he heard the sound of laughter for the first time since the accident and noticed that the laughter came from his little brother who was making the one of those ridiculous little origami cranes that Joey kept making flap about. Seto clenched his fists and stormed upstairs leaving his cooling dinner untouched on the table.

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Sam: Uh oh… the second stage of replacement MUWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I know I'm evil to the CEO but I. Don't. Care…