Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Seto's Wish Alternate World Conclusion ❯ C28 Too Many Big Brothers! ( Chapter 28 )

C28 Too Many Big Brothers!

 

After SMKaiba was sure Mokuba was sleeping soundly, he got up, double checked the covers, then gave him a slight peck on the head. But in so doing, he noticed his head was warm.

 

`Is he sick? Can't be....' he thought, now checking his head with his hand. He shook his head, deciding, `Maybe he's just extra warm from the covers.'

 

But just as SMKaiba was about to turn and leave, something else caught his eye....a 1/2 filled water cup was on the dresser, along with a spoon that still had the residue of medicine on it. That meant Mokuba had been taking medicine, recently.

 

SMKaiba's eye twitched. `Then, he is sick. But, when did this happen?'

 

It would be no surprise that something would happen in SMKaiba's own home, without him knowing about it. His struggle to make SMK a reality kept him gone quite a lot, lately. And it certainly didn't help having his stepfather trying to sabotage and undermine everything he did, that he didn't approve of.

 

Oh, on the outside.....Gozaburo Kaiba seemed to be the perfect father that they were looking for. But this same man showed him his deceptive side far too often to be ignored. It didn't take long at all for him to realize SMKaiba's weakness was his brother, and quickly went for the jugular. Anytime SMKaiba did something his stepfather didn't want him to do, Mokuba was the first thing to be used against him.

 

Worst still, Mokuba didn't have a clue what this man was really like, and saw him as a loving father. And as much as SMKaiba wanted to warn him and tell him the truth.....he couldn't do it. In Mokuba's eyes, he finally had a caring family, he had the happiness and stability that SMKaiba wanted him to have. He simply couldn't shatter his little brother's dreams. And that too was used against him.

 

Thanks to Gozaburo, Mokuba now thought SMKaiba just selfishly didn't like him because he wasn't their true father, which helped to sway Mokuba against him more times than he'd care to remember. Fortunately, their stepfather couldn't turn Mokuba against the dream of building a game company, since it was what they both wanted. The only problem was that now Gozaburo was doing all in his power to try and make SMK go down.....since he wanted SMKaiba to run his weapon's company, when he retired. SMKaiba was fearful of his company's future with their stepfather owning part of the company, and had no idea what to do about it.

 

And now with Mokuba sick, and him not being informed about it......it made SMKaiba wonder if this too was a plan of Gozaburo's. He couldn't help it......the old man made him paranoid, leaving him wondering what was next every time he turned around. Maybe Gozaburo kept Mokuba's sickness quiet, to time it just right for the stockholder's meeting. After all, he did conveniently schedule it tomorrow for them, and knew without Mokuba's support there, it could make Kaiba feel that much more unsure of himself. Maybe he was even hoping SMKaiba wouldn't show up at all, to stay with his sick brother.

 

He'd never admit this to Mokuba, but SMKaiba was afraid.....afraid of the future, afraid that Gozaburo would win.

 

SMKaiba's paranoia now made him worry about the medicine that was being given to Mokuba, too. For all he knew, his brother was being drugged to only get more sick, instead of better. `I gotta find that medicine.' he decided, then got up and ready to leave. But he stopped in his tracks as he heard an odd noise in the room.

 

He turned back around to see a small kitten crawl from under the bed, then leap on the bed and curl himself up on the pillow beside his brother.

 

SMKaiba's eyes widened in shock. He looked at Mokuba and the kitten, back and forth trying to figure this equation out. Could their stepfather have brought this in? Maybe it was a bribe, in another attempt to win his brother over.

 

`No.....that can't be. The old man hates animals. Even he wouldn't stoop so low.' That could only mean Mokuba snuck it in.

 

He gave a faint smile, reaching his hand over to the kitten that rubbed against him as he approached. `Mokie, you should know better'. SMKaiba thought. He knew this would end up with him getting in trouble. After all, when Gozaburo blew a gasket from this, he certainly wasn't going to let Mokuba take the blame. That only meant one thing.....he'd have to tell Gozaburo he let him keep the cat, and take whatever punishment was coming. But, even still.....it was nice seeing the slight rebellious side of Mokuba come out towards their stepfather once in a while. This kind of punishment SMKaiba could gladly live with.

 

He then pulled away, remembering he had to find that medicine.

 

After leaving the room, SMKaiba walked downstairs and saw the note that Aiko had left with his medicine times on it. Sure enough, the medicine appeared to be perfectly normal, confirming that maybe he was just being paranoid again.

 

But when he looked at the clock to confirm Mokuba's last medicine time, he was not only upset to find that it was past time for him to take it, but that it was a lot later than he remembered it even being. `How the hell did it get so late? Well, at least someone's been looking after him, with his times here.'

 

SMKaiba then took the medicine, and headed back to Mokuba's room, though his mind was still whirling with thoughts about this. `Maybe I'm just looking too much into it, and he just got sick, after all. Perhaps what Mokuba's been telling me is right, this time. Maybe I'm just getting too paranoid about our father's intentions.'

 

He got a fresh cup of water and a thermometer from Mokuba's bathroom, then walked back and placed the items on his nightstand. “Mokie, come on....time to take your medicine.”

 

Mokuba sat up rubbing his eyes. Seeing the white coat, he assumed it was the same one from before.

 

“First let's take your temperature.” SMKaiba was a bit concerned when it read 101.7. “All right, now take your medicine.” As he was giving him his medicine, he wanted to ask how long he was like this, when he got that cat, and why he didn't tell him. But Mokuba looked so tired......he didn't want to bother him with stupid questions, now. He could always ask in the morning, before his meeting. But he did think, `Old man, if I find out you knew he was this sick and you've kept this from me.....I'll make you pay!'

 

After Mokuba had finished taking his medicine, SMKaiba marked the time off the sheet. After all, whoever was taking care of Mokuba had to be aware of him getting the medicine, so there were no mistakes in over-medicating him. Then he tucked him back in, kissed his forehead, and left the room to let Mokuba sleep.

 

At first, he started towards the upstairs office where Gozaburo worked, but as soon as he entered the hallway, he decided against it. `No, I don't think I could handle a confrontation at the moment. I'll just go to bed, and get some rest. Then I can deal with the upcoming investors meeting first. I'll deal with him later.' Of course, he had no way to know that the other Kaiba had already taken care of that, when he was there.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Meanwhile in Kaiba's office, JKaiba was still brooding over Joey. He was trying to work, but was failing miserably. Staring at the monitor, his only focus was Joey at the moment. “I don't understand.......why did he act the way he did? It's one thing to decide against us being together, but to childishly act like nothing ever happened? Could Yugi be behind this? He seemed like he wasn't against us being together......in fact, no one did. So, why did they all behave like this?”

 

JKaiba then stood, finally getting away from the monitor, and stared out the window. “He's the one to came onto me from the very beginning. He's the one that kissed me.”

 

He shook his head, thinking, `Maybe this whole idea was a mistake to begin with.'

 

JKaiba was in conflict......his paranoid side was telling him that Joey planned this from the beginning, waiting for him to open up to him, only so that Joey could hurt him later. Yet, the side that still cared for Joey was insisting that Joey was not like that. Plus, it didn't help with Mokuba trying to tell him that he was supposedly in another dimension, which was why things were the way they were. `That has to be the most ridiculous thing I ever heard. It's almost like Mokuba's taking their side......'

 

But JKaiba quickly shook that from his head. If there's one thing he trusted in this world, it was his brother. He would never let anything sway him otherwise, no matter what - especially Joey. `Mokuba would never do anything to hurt me......it's absurd to even think that. No, that cold of his must be getting to him. Either that, or maybe Yugi did do something to brainwash everyone. Brainwash.......maybe that psycho Marik has something to do with this.'

 

Kaiba then quickly realize to believe that would be believing in magic, and decided to once again sway his mind to a different direction. `There has to be a logical reason for this. Maybe this is some sort of twisted game.'

 

That thought seemed to make more sense to Kaiba, but at the same time......it hurt. After all, he really did believe that Joey cared for him. To believe this was to believe that all this time, Joey and perhaps Yugi were playing him for a fool. But it was the only reason he could come up with. He was stupid enough to take the chance of opening his heart to Joey, and ended up getting burned in the end. He could only imagine them over there at Yugi's right now, laughing about this sick and twisted game they had played with him. He could still clearly remember the looks on their faces when he kissed Joey, as if he had committed some kind of horrendous crime. Just thinking of it caused Kaiba to clench his hands and teeth, trembling in pain that his relationship was nothing but a big joke, and at his own expense. His thoughts began to consider revenge, and lashing out in some way. He didn't care if they wanted to suddenly turn into gay bashers, but refusing to acknowledge that Joey and him were ever together was too much.

 

Kaiba finally turned to his computer and started typing frantically, snapping, “They don't want to acknowledge me? Fine, then I'll give them proof even they can't deny, and smear it right in their faces!”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

While this was happening, SMKaiba was at the moment having problems of his own. There was also a computer in the bedroom, where SMKaiba was typing away at, himself. He glared at the monitor, totally baffled by what he was looking at. “What hell is going on around here? I have searched through every file and have found nothing on SMK. And why are the stock reports telling me that I own 51% of Kaiba Corp and Mokuba owns 10%? What happened to Gozaburo? And where are the pictures from my desk? I know Gozaburo hates them, but he's never dared take anything from my room before. Would he have taken them, now?'

 

There was a brief thought in his mind listing various times that pictures had ever ended up missing in the past. There was a time before the orphanage, a time shortly after the orphanage when they were just adopted, and another time after duelist kingdom when Kaiba was actually forced to work with his own stepfather to deal with the traitorous Big 5. SMKaiba would have rather stayed in that card Pegasus put him in, than ever work with his stepfather on anything......but he did it for Mokuba. He still remembered when Mokuba was kidnapped by Pegasus, and Gozaburo insisted not to worry about it and get back to work......insisting that if he gave up the SMK nonsense of running a gaming company and stuck with Kaiba Corp, Mokuba would probably be released and returned safely. As if he would ever sit back and let someone hold Mokuba hostage, and do nothing about it.

 

SMKaiba quickly shook the thoughts from his head, trying to keep his mind on the present. When he checked on Mokuba in the morning, he would make sure to ask his brother about the pictures, instead of jumping to conclusions. After all, right now he had to figure out why the stock market was insisting that he was in control of Kaiba Corp. `Could Gozaburo be so desperate for me to take control of his weapons company that he'd transfer the stocks in my and Mokuba's name? No......he would never take the chance of giving me such power. Besides, he's not even listed. The media would be in a frenzy if they heard about this.' “.....and where are all my files and records for SMK???” he spat out loud, looking through his file cabinet now, finding nothing on it.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

As this was happening, yet another Kaiba had appeared on the living room couch. His eyes opened and he scanned around. He blinked a few times, surprised that he had fallen asleep, and wondered when the TV was turned off. `What time is it?' he wondered and quickly scanned for a clock.

 

At that, his eyes widened even more. “How did it get so late? Somehow, we missed suppertime. I'm surprised Mokuba didn't bother me about it.....he must be starved by now.”

 

MEKaiba got up from the couch and looked around.......it was so quiet in his house. He was used to Mokuba making some kind of noise, playing video games, running around, laughing, being with him. Where was he? And why did his living room not seem......right, somehow?

 

But his concern that Mokuba may not have eaten over-ridded everything else at the moment, and he headed straight for his room.

 

`Maybe he's mad at me.' MEKaiba thought, heading towards the stairs. `I have been working a lot, lately. Maybe I haven't been paying enough attention to him.'

 

With his thoughts on Mokuba, MEKaiba headed up the stairs straight to Mokuba's room. He opened the door, and felt it was even stranger that the room was dark. At first, he thought no one was even in here, until he noticed the slight movement of covers, showing Mokuba in bed. Next he checked his watch to make sure he didn't sleep `that' late. No.....Mokuba should still be up at this hour.

 

So, he then moved his hand to the light switch, and turned on the light......waking Mokuba up.

 

Mokuba immediately sat up, rubbing his eyes, and muttered, “Seto.....is something wrong?”

 

MEKaiba walked over and sat down next to him on the bed. He was about to question why he was in bed when he noticed he looked a touch pale, so his hand instantly went to his forehead. “Mokuba.....are you sick?”

 

Mokuba rubbed his eyes trying to wake up, and looked up at Seto sitting next to him. He too had a white trench coat, and assumed he must be the one that showed up at Yugi's. But, then.....why did he ask about him being sick again? And why was he getting weird vibes from him. Even though he still seemed just as caring as his brother, he was sure there was an odd glint in his eye, that Mokuba could not identify. `What did it mean?'

 

But for the moment, Mokuba was simply too tired to care, anyway. He yawned and muttered tiredly, “You all ready gave me medicine earlier, Seto.....don't you remember?”

 

“No, I didn't.” MEKaiba stated. “When did this happen?”

 

Mokuba muttered, “It happened a week ago.”

 

MEKaiba crossed his arms, retorting, “It did not happen a week ago. Why are you lying to me?”

 

His kid brother then groaned, as he began to realize this must be yet `another' Seto, and laid back down in bed. “You're right.....I'm fine. Can I go to sleep, now?”

 

“Mokuba, you're not fine....you have a fever. I assume that's why you went to bed early. Why didn't you tell me?” he asked.

 

Again, Mokuba got that weird vibe and glanced up at his brother. The last sentence didn't sound right to him. His brother normally used the tone of voice to him, like he was scolding a little kid. But, MEKaiba sounded more like he was talking to an equal. Perhaps he also sounded even more worried in his tone than expected.

 

He sighed, and stated tiredly, “Seto.....don't worry if it doesn't make sense, okay? You're just another Seto from another world....that's why you don't remember. How many of you are there here, anyway?” For a moment, it made Mokuba worried that maybe he should check around the house for wandering brothers. But again, he was too tired to worry about it, deciding he'll simply deal with it in the morning.

 

MEKaiba blinked at the odd statement, then gave him a smile. “Sorry, kiddo......I probably shouldn't have woken you up. Maybe your fever's getting to you, or you're having a strange dream. Just go to sleep, and we'll discuss it in the morning.”

 

“I'm not dreaming.” he murmured, closing his eyes. “Go talk to Yugi......he knows all about this.”

 

“We'll see. Now, go back to sleep.” MEKaiba said, kissing the boy's cheek.

 

That caused Mokuba's eyes to suddenly shoot open again. He glanced up at his brother, rubbing his cheek, asking, “What was that for?” It certainly wasn't something his brother would ever do. In fact, he couldn't imagine any version of him doing so.

 

“Sorry.” Kaiba smiled sheepishly. “I'd kiss you on the lips, but I don't want to catch your cold.”

 

Kaiba had turned away after that, heading towards the light switch......totally missing the wide-eyed look on Mokuba's face after saying that, as Mokuba's jaw dropped in unison. MEKaiba then reached over to turn off the light switch, and turned to him, saying, “Sorry for waking you. I didn't know you were sick. I wondered why it was so quiet in here. Get some rest, and I'll check on you in the morning. But if you're not better by tomorrow, I'm going to have a doctor check you out.”

 

“Seto.......you already did that.” Mokuba said, ignoring the kiss comment for the moment. “In fact, another Seto just gave me medicine a couple minutes ago. If you don't believe me, check the list......it shows it.”

 

“Mokuba, you really need to get some rest. Hopefully that fever of yours will break by tomorrow. See ya in the morning.” MEKaiba said, blowing him a kiss and then closed the door.

 

`Maybe he's right.' Mokuba thought. `Maybe I am dreaming.....'

 

As Mokuba was about to try again to sleep, he felt a thudding noise at the side of his bed, and nearly jumped out of his skin.

 

Fortunately, he was relieved to see it was just Tipper, as she bounded back onto the bed, after slipping off the covers.

 

Mokuba smiled, petting the kitten. “You sure do jump around a lot. How did you get back out of the kitchen, anyway? Must be that stupid door again.”

 

`Well, at least this Seto didn't see it and start to yell at me about it again. I'm getting tired of hearing it.' Mokuba thought as he laid back down once again trying to get back to sleep.

 

The problem was......now he couldn't. Now all he could think about was how many Kaiba's were wandering around the household, and what would happen once they started to run into each other?

 

`Ugh.' Mokuba muttered, knowing that was bad news. He could see them calling security, which would cause even more problems.

 

So, Mokuba slowly began to pull himself out of bed. He had to start to find them before that happened, and try to keep the situation as pacified as much as possible. It was shocking to him that they haven't even met yet, as far as he knew. But since there was no yelling, or smashing noises.....he assumed that didn't yet happen.

 

Unfortunately, due to Mokuba's cold, he was running at 1/2 speed. He had to find his slippers and robe, take a moment to shake off the sleep and the medicine-head feeling. He made sure he was buttoned up tight and was ready to go.

 

But then another wave of tiredness hit him, and he muttered, “Ah, the hell with it.....”

 

Moving back towards bed, he thought, `They haven't found each other, yet. Another couple of minutes in bed isn't going to hurt anything, is it?'

 

So, before he ended up trekking off to find his suddenly `many' big brothers, he collapsed back into bed, letting sleep once again take him over.