Secrets

Players:

Seto: SG

Mokuba, Atsuko (wife), Mira (son), Chiyo (daughter): Kikyana

Finished at: 9.25 pm, January 21, 2007

Pairing: Mokuba/Seto mostly, some Mokuba/Atsuko (but only in that they're married)


Seto leaned back in his chair, sighing slightly and pulling his glasses off to rub at his eyes. The computer screen was blurring; he needed to take a break. As he opened his eyes again, they fell on the picture frame standing open on the desk, one that folded out into five segments. He smiled slightly, looking at it; his eyes traveled over the picture of Mokuba, smiling and happy, retaining his boyish grin even in his manly features, and his gorgeous wife of seven years whom he'd met in college, and his six year old son, with all of Mokuba's natural wit and sophistication, and the three year old daughter, a bundle of reckless energy, and the family portrait at the end... He reminded himself that Mokuba and his family would be coming today, and just gave up on work. He called his secretary and told her that he was taking the rest of the day off, and shut down the office and left, to go home and make sure everything was perfect for their arrival.

The task of getting the children settled into the car was an arduous one, but one the man was used to doing by now. He grinned to himself as he slid the van door closed; pleased as always that he had managed to complete his goal. “So, kids are packed and we are-” He turned to see that his wife was no where in sight, and Mokuba scowled. “Oi! Atsuko!” He called, speed-walking back into the house in an attempt to find his wife.

“I’m up here, Mokuba” The light feminine voice wafted down the stairs and into his ears, and Mokuba had to shake his head. “For the millionth time, you look gorgeous. Now would you please get down here so we can go. You’re worse then the children sometimes, I swear.”

Finally, when they were all packed into the van and settled down, Mokuba turned the key in the ignition and headed off down the road. “You kids have to be good when we get to your uncles house…You know how cranky he is.” Mokuba said, eyes darting up to look at his children from the rearview mirror. They agreed, and were simply buzzing with excitement, For seeing their uncle always meant some new toy to play with.

With about five minutes to go, Mokuba flipped open his cellphone, and pressed the speed dial for Seto’s. It would probably be a good idea to check and make sure his brother was actually home before showing up to a locked house.

Seto answered his phone with barely a glance at the screen. As always, Mokuba's name there made him smile. "Hi," he said into it as he straightened up the bedroom where Mokuba and his wife would be staying, and went to the kids' rooms down the hall. He had a few gifts of toys left inside, and as always the children could take them with when they left... They weren't here enough to really have anything permanently here. "On your way?"

"Yeah...We should be pulling up in a few minutes." He said, eyes darting around to check which street they were passing, before they finally landed on the large estate looming in the distance, "Ah, I see the house now. You're home, right?" He asked.

"Yes, I'll be downstairs when you get here. I took the last half of the day off from work." After checking the kids' rooms he walked back downstairs and opened the front door, leaning against the doorway as he waited.

"A whole half day?" He asked in mock surprise, "That's so unlike you." It was still fun, even after all these years, to tease his brother about his work-obsession. He hung up the phone without a word as he pulled up the long gravel driveway. He spotted his son looking excitedly out the window, and as soon as the car stopped, the sliding door was flung open, "Uncle Seto!" The child called out excitedly, running up to the man for a hug. Immediately his daughter began to fuss, wanting out of her carseat so she too could join in on the family reunion.

Atsuko took to getting her out, while Mokuba turned the car off and grabbed the pie from the back seat that his wife had baked for dinner. A look of adoration flickered in his eyes as he watched the young girl run - or maybe it was more of a waddle - across the grassy front lawn in her puffy Sunday dress she had insisted on wearing.

Seto smiled and knelt down to hug the boy, lifting up one kid in each arm wen they got to him. "Have you two been good?" he asked in his stern vice, teasing them, and smiled at Mokuba and his wife without a word to them.

Atsuko dipped her upper body in a slight bow once they'd all managed to make it up onto the porch. The two children nodded their heads in unison as Mokuba looked on proudly. "Of course we have!" The older child, Mira, said enthusiastically, "Papa said we have to, or you won't give us toys!" the younger, Chiyo, chimed in. Mokuba smiled crookedly, "Now now, I don't think I ever said anything like that." But the manner in which he said it clearly showed that he was lying, which caused his wife to giggle slightly, "He's still terrible about bribing the children into behaving." She whispered to Seto.

Seto smiled a little. "You should know better than that," he said to them. "I'll give you toys no matter what. I'll just give you more if you're good." He winked at Mokuba and jerked his head back as he turned around, holding the kids. "Come on in."

They stepped in, slipping their shoes off near the door before walking completely into the foyer. "Your house is always so well kept, Seto." Atsuko said, gazing around a bit. Mokuba nodded his head slightly, looking around as well. Every time he set foot inside of this house, it seemed so odd. It felt even more odd to be there with his family, despite the number of times they'd all been there together.

"I'm sure the maids will appreciate the compliment," Seto said, putting down the squirming boy and holding the little girl. "Do you guys have much to bring in? I'll call Isono to take care of it."

"Just two overnight bags in the trunk." Mokuba said as he watched his son go over to the bookshelf in the living room. "You don't need to call him, I can get them."

"That's right, you're only staying for two days..."

Atsuko patted Mokuba on the shoulder, "I'll go get the bags, and -" She took her daughter from Seto, "I'll get the children settled with something to do...You two go catch up." Mokuba frowned slightly, "You say that like we haven't seen each other in months..." He muttered, watching his wife slip on her shoes and head out the door, "That's because it's been two months." Mokuba's brow furrowed at this, and he looked to Seto as if asking whether or not this was actually true.

Seto met his look and nodded. "Almost two months," he corrected. "Next week." It wasn't odd that he knew that; numbers seemed to almost magically come to him like that. "It's the same rooms, up he stairs and down the hall," he told Atsuko.

She nodded, before slipping out of the house to retrieve the two bags from the van. "Hmm..I really didn't think it had been that long." Mokuba said quietly, "No matter." He said smiling, before rubbing his hands together, "How about a drink?" Atsuko had been so adamant about keeping alcohol out of the house that it was rare Mokuba had the opportunity to have a good drink.

Seto jerked his head slightly as he turned around. "Come on... a drink sounds great. Still not allowed to have any around the kids?" A few rooms over he opened up the alcohol cabinet and poured them both a drink, sliding Mokuba's over to him.

A slight nod of the head was the response given before Mokuba took a long sip of the liquid, "Aa. Yeah, Atsuko insists that if the children see me drinking, they'll become alcoholics of something of the sort..." He took another sip, before motioning to Seto, "But I'd rather talk about how you've been; I wouldn't know seeing as you seem to think calling me once in a while is to much trouble."

Seto seated himself on the couch, stretching his long legs out to rest on the glass coffee table and nursing his drink. "I'd call you if anything changed, but it never does. It would get boring for you to hear 'I worked today, came home, and went to sleep,' every week, with a few notes of who I fired, trouble with the servants, or a new game..."

"At the least I'd know you hadn't worked yourself to death." He teased, taking a seat in an armchair across from his brother. "You should really think about finding a wife." His voice took on a more serious tone now. He hated knowing that Seto was staying in this huge house alone.

Seto shook his head. “That's not going to happen,” he said, and took a sip of his drink without saying anything further.

Mokuba frowned, holding his glass with both hands as he stared down at the liquid, before looking back to Seto, "Why not? I see the way you are with the kids, you obviously love children...You can't tell me you're happy living here alone."

Seto sighed slightly into his drink, watching the ice. "I'm gay, Mokuba," he finally revealed without looking at him, hoping vaguely Mokuba wouldn't go pack up his family and leave.

Mokuba was silent a great while. The revelation more then just a little shocking. He coughed slightly before finally speaking, "Well..I guess that could possibly answer the question but why don't you have.. uhm... a lover? And there's always adoption if you wanted children..." He was trying to sound okay with it, but truth was it was odd to have the image he'd had of his brother for so long altered.

"It's all right, Mokuba..." Seto said. "You don't have to pretend it's okay. You can be shocked, or however you feel... But you know it would be bad for business for me to have a lover like that, and the press to find out... which they would..."

Mokuba sighed, downing the rest of his drink before setting the glass down, "It's fine Seto...You can't help the way you are..." He ran a hand through his hair, hoping the comment didn't sound as mean as it had in his head. "So you're just going to live alone forever?" He asked.

He gave a bitter little smile at that comment; Mokuba had made it sound like there was something wrong with him, but he forgave him for it. Well... at least it was better than not getting forgiveness. "Probably. It's worked all right so far." He finished the drink thoughtfully. "Don't tell Atsuko, would you? I don't think she'd let me around the kids anymore."

"No, of course not..." He said quietly, before letting silence fall between them. A pang of guilt shot through him, for he had been thinking himself whether or not having the children around Seto would be an alright thing. But he was sensible, and knew that homosexuality wasn't some sort of disease his children would catch.

He frowned slightly. "I'm sorry, Mokuba... I've been trying to decide whether I should tell you for years. I probably shouldn't have. If you'd rather leave and have some time to think about whether you want to come back or not, I'll understand."

He was silent just a bit longer, "Of course I'm not going to leave. You're still my brother, and I will respect any sort of decision you make..." He said quietly, not looking at Seto.

Seto just got up to get another drink. "You don't have to feel obligated to stay..." He didn't even argue about the 'decision' part. It wasn't a decision. It just... was. It was who he was...

"Did I say I felt obligated?!" he snapped, sitting upright in his chair a moment before sinking back down into it and calming down, "It's just...It's not what I was expecting to hear." He muttered, staring at his own empty glass to keep from having to look at Seto.

He said nothing for a moment, until he finished the drink. "How have you been?" he asked finally, turning around to look at him, leaning against the table with the booze.

Mokuba was relieved Seto had managed to change the topic, "I can't really complain. Mira's been doing exceptionally well in school, Atsuko loves her new job at the nursery; The family's just doing really well." He felt guilty talking about his family with such pride, when it was evident Seto would never have one of his own.

"I'm glad... sounds like you still have your wonderful normal life. you still don't want to come back and work for KaibaCorp?"

"Don't say it like that." He retorted in response to the first part of Seto's statement, as for the latter, "Ah, no...I enjoy my job. Working for you now would feel too awkward."

"What? I'm happy for your wonderful normal life..."He set the glass down to avoid getting more. "I understand. I'll have to get around to changing the by-laws so that someone else can take over from outside the family when I die, then."

Mokuba shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "You can leave it the way it was...I was just hoping you would have a child one day that would take over for you." He shook his head slightly, standing up from his chair, "Anymore bombshells you'd like to drop before I go and check on the kids?"

"I've probably said enough," Seto said. "But I won't be adopting any kids or anything... I'd be horrible with them. Spend too much time working..." He waved his hand a little. "Go see your family, I've stolen you long enough."

Mokuba nodded his head before briskly walking from the room. He didn't go immediatly to his family though; instead he leaned against the wall in one of the many halls of the mansion, running a hand through his hair, "Where was this revelation 7 years ago..." he muttered to himself, shaking his head. Things would have just been so much easier...

Seto didn't move, leaning against the table and toying with the glass, looking at nothing in particular. He wasn't sure if Mokuba had taken that well or not... it wasn't the reaction he had hoped for, but it was better than he had expected... Still, he wouldn't be surprised to never see Mokuba and his family on his doorstep again, and... he would just have to deal with that, he supposed.

Finally, he composed himself enough to make it up to the room he and his wife would be staying, relieved to see her seated on the bed. "the kids are in the living room, " She said as if she knew what Mokuba wated to know, "I set them up with a few toys." Mokuba nodded his head, and came over to the woman before leaning down to press his lips to hers in a simple kiss. "You look tired." Was the only thing she offered in response to the kiss, and again, he just nodded.

Seto finally wandered out of the room, following the sound of the children's happy voices. He leaned in the doorway and watched them for a moment, smiling slightly. They reminded him so much of Mokuba when he was little...

A few moments later, Atsuko appeared behind Seto, smiling at her own children. "Mokuba's going to lay down until dinner's ready. You two didn't get into an argument or anything, did you? He seemed upset about something..." She asked, sounding concerned.

"No," he assured her, turning around to face her. "We didn't argue, just caught up... he still wants me to have a family instead of using you guys as my surrogate." He smiled slightly. "I think I'll pass, though; it would be a waste when you make such a nice surrogate. is there anything you need help with? All settled in?"

She laughed slightly, "Ah well, That's Mokuba for you. He's such a family man." She shook her head at the questions, "We're all settled in so there's not really anything we'll need right now but thank you for the thought. You really are too kinda, Seto."

"It's nothing," he said. "I could have used someone like you to help me raise Mokuba..."

"Was he that difficult?" She asked, leaning against the wall slightly. Stories about her husband as a child always served to amuse her well.

"No, he was a great kid. I wasn't much of a parent. I guess, what else do you expect when you give a teenager a company and school and a dependent? Something's going to go by the wayside... Unfortunately, it was usually him." He shrugged slightly and looked back into the living room at the kids. "For what it's worth, I'm glad Mokuba has a normal life, and he can take care of them..."

Atsuko looked at her children briefly, before looking back to Seto, "It couldn't have been that bad. You obviously raised him well...Oh but you should have seen him the first few years with Mira...I swear he couldn't have been more paranoid. He would call me at work if the poor child hiccuped."

The brunet couldn't suppress a smile. "When Mokuba was a baby I used to sit with our father and he would teach me what was normal and what I should be concerned about,since it was just the three of us and I had to watch Mokuba while he was at work. I guess it's strange to leave a five year old babysitting, but evidently he thought I could do it. I never did manage to kill him on accident, so that's something, I suppose. I used to get scared whenever he made any noise at all, though, at first, afraid that there was something wrong. I guess you get used to it after a while..." He shook himself and got off the doorway, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm suddenly so nostalgic."

She smiled, "It's fine. It's nice to hear stories like this. You seem to be very good with children, Seto...You'll make a woman very happy if you ever settle down. Oh look, now I'm beginning to sound like my husband."

He shook his head slightly. "Like I said, I believe I'll pass. Seeing you guys every once in a while is about as much domesticity as I need."

"What a shame...and I had the perfect girlfriend that would be perfect for you." She muttered before nodding her head and finally stepping into the living room. "Are you kids okay in here?" She asked. kneeling down beside her children on the floor.

Heh... he'd had enough well-intentioned matchmaking to last him a lifetime... He really didn't need another person trying to set him up with her best friend or his wife's sister or something like that... though at least with Atsuko he knew it was genuine, and not a ploy to get at his money. "I'll be upstairs..." he told her after watching her with the kids for a moment. He wasn't going to bother Mokuba, when he obviously wanted left alone, but lying down sounded like a good idea.

The sounds of the medicine cabinet being rifled through in the bathroom filtered out into the upstairs hallway. "Oh come on...there has to be something in here." The man said to himself, quite frustrated at this point. Mokuba shut the cabinet door, and walked out into the hallway, spotting Seto as he was coming up the stairs, "Ah...Do you have any Tylenol lying around somewhere?"

Seto nodded. "I don't keep anything except in my personal bathroom," he told Mokuba, leading him through his bedroom to get to it. He shoved aside some prescription bottles and handed him the half-empty bottle of Advil.

Mokuba took the bottle, and leaned against the doorframe slightly as he opened it. He was silent as he shook the pills out of the bottle and dry swallowed them. "Seto..." His voice was low as he spoke, "Why did you wait so long to tell me."

Seto took the pill bottle back before replying. "Because I didn't want you to hate me," he said simply. Then, with a slight sigh, he shook his head. "No... At first it was because I didn't want you taken away from me, or hating me and running away, when you were still a kid. Then, after a time, it's just easier and easier to keep a secret, and harder and harder to tell it... I decided I'd tell you the next time you brought up my lack or family... and then I didn't. I've been trying to tell you for almost five years."

"Do you really think I'd have run away because of this? Is that how little you think I cared?" He asked, brow furrowed, "Like I said before, I respect your decision...I just wish you wouldn't have told me now..."

"Why?" Seto asked, leaning against the sink with his arms crossed defensively. "What was wrong with telling you now?"

"It's just..." He wasn't at all sure how to say what he wanted to say, "It would have been better to know this a while ago..."

"Why?" he asked with a slight frown. "Are you regretting letting your kids know me...?"

"That's not it at all..." Mokuba mumbled, running a hand through his hair. "Of course I wanted them to meet you." he said more clearly.

With that assurance, he could relax slightly. At least he wouldn't be cut off from Mokuba's family, with any sort of decent luck... Unless Mokuba changed his mind, as human being were wont to do at times... usually inconvenient times... "Then why?"

Mokuba shook his head, standing up straight, "It doesn't matter now..."

Blue eyes darkened a shade as he frowned, a barely noticeable crease in his forehead forming. There was no objection, though, to his brother's walls coming down between them. "All right... I won't press the issue."

"Thanks..." What good would it have done to tell Seto? His brother always seemed to know how to treat every situation. An awkward silence fell between them, as Mokuba shifted his weight from foot to foot, not wanting to just walk away, but not wanting to really say anything again either.

Watching Mokuba silently, mentally comparing the tall, cut young man to the chubby little boy he'd once been, the billionaire felt a pang of nostalgia cut through him again. time should have stopped ten years ago... twenty even. Things had been as perfect as they were ever likely to be again... It wasn't very, admittedly, but he would take what he could get.

He coughed, a fake cough, but a cough none the less to try and break the silence. "Well then... I think I'll go lay down then." He couldn't continue to be around his brother right now.

"All right." What more could he say to that? To any of the conversation? There was nothing. In fact, it never should have happened. If time couldn't be bothered to take him back fifteen years to when he hand his brother had been happy and when this wasn't an issue, perhaps it could be cajoled into giving him back the last two hours to do over...? ...No, apparently not. "I'll see you at dinner."

With a nod, Mokuba left the room. He just wanted to sleep, and didn't want to think about all the thoughts from seven years ago that had left him when Atsuko came to him. This wasn't the time for it; it would never be the time for it.

A slight sigh broke the heavy silence that threatened to suffocate him in the cold, antiseptic bathroom, decorated to a perfect T and emotionless all the same. All the comforts money could buy surrounded him in this palatial mansion, and he found that he didn't want a comfort money could buy... he just wanted Mokuba to touch him. There hadn't been so much as an accidental brush of fingers since his revelation. Normally they could hug, or show some sign of affection and closeness, but now... no. Mokuba was avoiding him. More than likely it was in no part a conscious decision, but if anything that made it hurt more...

The silence gave way to his quiet footsteps as he stepped through the door into the bedroom he had inhabited for the last fifteen years, had kept looking exactly the same for the last fifteen years, as a bastion against the time that was inexorably taking him from the only comfort he had ever had, and lay on the soft bed, staring at the muted ceiling and letting his mind drift away in a sea of blank apathy.

When the youngest member of the family began to nod off in her chair, the meal was through. With the gentleness that only a mother could have, Atsuko gently lifted her daughter from her chair and quietly whispered to the others that she would be putting the children down for bed. And with that, the two brothers found themselves left in silence yet again.

The clink of the eldest's fork against the expensive plate was the only sound, and the light glinting off its beveled edges the only sight he could see, focused as he was on not looking at his brother. The wish That Mokuba had been the one to put his children to bed whispered across his mind, but it faded away quickly enough. Wishing to be apart from his brother... that had never happened. And it never would.

Groans of displeasure sounded from the chair as Mokuba shifted in it. One leg hooked over the other as he leaned back to become more comfortable, which only elicited more annoyed sounds from the tired old piece of furniture. Well, this seemed suitable to make conversation, "You should think about new furniture." So it wasn't the brightest of conversation, but what did his brother want from him?

"I suppose I should," the brunet allowed. "I seem to have difficulty in replacing things when they wear out; I tend to hang onto them for familiarity's sake." Just as he had with the secret that seemed to be rapidly destroying the relationship he had always cherished with his brother...

"Seto," A more serious tone took over Mokuba's voice once again, "Have you ever done something, thinking it was a good thing to do at the time, and then realized how stupid the decision might have been after it's far to late?"

"Probably," was the easy response. "Quite probably. I make a point to not dwell upon my past, however; choices that have been made are done, and can't be undone. If you talking about keeping that secret from you, though... then yes, I obviously have."

"I wasn't talking about your secret." Another shift in the way he was sitting. The hope of being comfortable in this situation was a stupid thing to hope for.

Slowly, his fork joined the rest of his immaculate silverware by the plate. "Would you like to take this conversation somewhere more comfortable?" the master of the house finally offered, looking up at his chronically uncomfortable brother. "Or more private?"

"That's a fine idea." Not that the conversation would be any easier in another area, but it was worth a try. With one last rub of the napkin against his hands, Mokuba stood from the weary chair and pushed it back under the table. Leaving the mess on the table felt odd, but Seto had maids to take care of things of that nature.

Within five minutes of their last bite, the servants would have taken care of the plates; still, Seto left his setting neatly in place and his plate clean, the better for them to take care of it. Standing, once more almost avoiding Mokuba with his eyes and finally making himself looking, he finally led him through an ornate doorway, and thence through the sitting room beyond to a much smaller, more private, even cozier sitting room tucked away in a corner of the house, where he shut the door behind them and took a seat, waiting for whatever Mokuba was dying to say.

The change of scenery did little to alleviate the silence that Mokuba allowed to fall over them. Why Seto thought moving to a different room would get him to talk was beyond his knowledge, but he assumed that his brother had good reason for everything he did. So instead of speaking himself, Mokuba turned floor over to the elder, "Was there something you needed to tell me?"

"No," Seto answered calmly, folding his hands in front of him and looking up at him with icy blue eyes. "But there's obviously something you need to say. I want you to say it... I don't care how you think it sounds or what it is. I don't want it eating at you."

Well, wasn't that to the point? "There's nothing I have to say...Nothing that would do anyone any good at least."

"I don't care if it does any good... Just say it. Tell me or it will just come between us... I'd rather have everything out in the open so that we can deal with it all, rather than trying to navigate around things one or the other of us is afraid to say." There was a pause, and he looked at his brother unblinkingly, and when he spoke again his vice had softened from the calm and cold voice of reason to a quiet brotherly tone. "You've always been able to tell me anything. You know that."

Would he dare say it now? Something that had been eating at him daily for the past several years? With a quiet voice, he managed to mutter, "I...I've just begun to wonder if marrying Atsuko was a mistake..."

A slight frown formed on his face, far younger than his years. "Why?" was all he could think to ask."Don't you love her? And your children?"

"Of course I love her, and you know my children are my life." This really was a ghastly situation, "I'm just not in love with her...And truth be told I never really have been."

"Then why did you marry her, Mokuba?" he asked with uncommon gentleness.

"Because I had to...Because she was there and willing to. I would have married anyone at that point in my life."

"But why? What was forcing you into marriage?"

"Fear." Was the simple response he offered to his brother before falling silent once again. The conversation just couldn't continue.

"Fear of what?" The elder of the two stood silent and quietly stepped forward to look into his brother's face, inspecting him earnestly. How was it possible that Mokuba had made such a life-altering decision based on simple fear and never told him...?

Speaking wasn't something the younger of the two wanted to do right now, but the fact that his brother was now standing, hanging on every word made it that much harder not to, "I was trying to fix myself...trying to bury things I didn't want known. I thought if I married a woman, and had a normal family, I could forget all about those things..."

That line, the fact that the other had thought marrying a woman would solve the problem, froze him. "You're not..." It was no use; he couldn't accuse his brother of being gay, not when that was his own cross to bear.

Nothing more was said because nothing more was needed. Seto understood what he had been trying to say, and Mokuba felt it best to just leave it at that.

For a long moment, silence reigned thickly over the room, muffling even his heartbeat into the stillness as he looked at his brother in a whole new light. Then, as he had probably not done for years, he pulled Mokuba closer and wrapped him in a hug, wordlessly expression his emotions of love and utter acceptance.

Without a single thought, Mokuba pushed Seto away from himself and sat back in the chair comfortably, "Don't do that..." The man wasn't sure he could bear being so close to Seto after what was just said; He felt to emotionally raw.

"Mokuba?" His brother had never done that before; shock was a mild word for it. "What's wrong?"

"If you even have to ask that, then people have given your intelligence to much credit." His gaze rested upon a patch of carpet where the glow of the light and the shadows of the room met. Looking at Seto wasn't an option.

"Then perhaps I'm stupider than I think." The elder sat on a sofa across from Mokuba and leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, to look under his mane of black hair and into his face. "You know I can't condemn you for keeping it from me... or even having it to keep from me."

Mokuba turned his face away before nodding his head, "That doesn't matter...Not now anyway." And how would he ever share the other half of his problem?

"Is there something else? Tell me... that's what I'm here for."

"There's nothing left to tell." A lie, but how would Seto ever truly know the difference?

"If there weren't anything else you wouldn't still be acting this way..." Piercing blue eyes stared intently across the distance that separated them, in more ways than purely physical. "I hate having secrets between us. I was hoping we could air them all."

"I'm just upset about my state of life. At least you were smart enough to not try and marry someone." A small smile spread over his lips as he thought about how Seto had always been the one with the real intelligence.

For the first time since this afternoon a small but genuine smile graced his lips instead of a frown. "And a few seconds ago you were accusing me of being stupid... If you need me in any way, though, know that I'm here for you..."

A nod of the head, but nothing more as he shifted in his chair. The desire to leave and never come back to see his brother was strong, but he knew it would hurt Seto to do that. It would have to be Mokuba's turn to be the mature one; sacrificing his emotions to try and keep the elder as happy as he possibly could, Because wasn't Seto's happiness the most important thing?

The silence stretched out as he watched the other, watched the dark grey eyes cloud over with inner turmoil. Still, despite his intelligence, he couldn't begin to fathom what the problem was. He felt better, having told Mokuba the secret that had been weighing on him almost since their stepfather had died, and, god help him, he felt a little better knowing that Mokuba had had the same secret all along, though he despised himself for that feeling. but there was something more; there was obviously something more. Something that Mokuba felt he couldn't tell him...

Would it be beneficial to tell his brother about the darkness that loomed within the corners of his mind? Dare he confess the sinful desires he had to do the one thing that just couldn't possibly be done? Of course not. Instead, he just allowed the silence to drift heavily between the two of them. Certainly he wouldn't be the first to speak. No, that would be left up to Seto should he prefer meaningless chatter over a meaningful calm.

The silence won, in the end. It became unbearable,and Seto stood. "I'm sorry, Mokuba," he said finally. "For whatever I've done that you think you can't tell me anything." letting the door swing quietly shut behind him, he stepped quietly into the hall and back toward his room.

"If only it were as simple as that." Though his words were lost on the empty air of the room. Nothing in this world would ever be enough to make him confess the secrets he kept from his brother. Tomorrow would come for him, and he would move on with life as he always did; With his two happy children and his oblivious wife, and nothing in his life would change...Not the way he wanted it to change.

Wondering if things would ever be all right again... and then concluding that they wouldn't be, but he and Mokuba would keep pretending that they were... Seto lay on his bed again to stare at the ceiling. there was nothing better to do...

Moving wasn't something Mokuba felt he was up to doing. And so instead he kicked his feet up onto the little coffee table that separated his chair from another, and leaned back more comfortably in the chair. Things would work out...they had to work out.


Seto awoke to the sound of giggling children, and smiled slightly before he even opened his eyes. it was nice not to wake to an empty house, for once... there was only so much a servant could do to add to the hominess. The dark carpet was warm beneath his feet as he padded to the door and opened it quietly to peek out and see if he could spot the children.

The children stood at the top of the staircase; The eldest holding his overnight bag in his hand. The giggling was directed at their father who had just finished telling some sort of joke in an attempt to raise the spirits of his kids. Telling them they had to leave a day early from their uncle's home hadn't exactly gone over well, but children were terribly easy creatures to please.

The smile fell away, and a vaguely confused billionaire stepped out of the room, walking silently up behind the children and patting the eldest on his head. "You're leaving, Mokuba?"

The cheerful expression that had been on the man's face as he told the jokes disappeared, "Ah, yeah...I figure we imposed enough for now. Now come on kids, go out to the car so Mommy can get you all packed in." Each child hugged Seto's lower half, saying their goodbyes before heading down the stairs and out the front door. Why did the brother's always find themselves in these awkward situations?

"So I suppose I'll see you... whenever..." The rich voice was almost normal, but his eyes were sad. They had said goodbye thousands of times before... why did it feel permanent this time?

"Yeah..." But how true that was, he didn't know. Coming back to face Seto again could prove to be far to much for Mokuba to handle. His eyes stayed fixed on Seto for an awkwardly long time before finally breaking away. "Mokuba, are you coming?" His wife's voice chimed in through the open front door, and Mokuba turned his gaze back to Seto, as if pleading for a reason to not leave; For he knew now that if he left he wouldn't return.

"...I..." Seto looked down the stairs, toward the door, and then back to his brother. "I wish you didn't feel that you needed to leave, Mokuba... I wish I had never told you. I know that doesn't make it any better, but... I hope you will find happiness and resolve your dilemma someday..." It sounded so final; he couldn't help it. this was all ending, his entire life was ending, and he was helpless to do anything but watch from the sidelines.

The finality in Seto's statement was clear as day, and Mokuba nodded his head in response, "I wish it were possible..." was the last thing he said to Seto before calling back to his wife to let her know that he was ready to leave. One final look at Seto, and he was out the door; He didn't allow himself to look back.

Seto silently stepped down the stairs, hand gliding lightly over the rail, so that he could watch his brother walk out that door for the last time. After a moment of staring, when he heard the car pull away, he walked back up to his room to get dressed for work.