Untitled Fifth Fic

~Chapter 1~

When his niisama went away and left him in the care of his tutor, Mokuba worried.  While Bakura was friendly and played the games that niisama had given up years ago, Mokuba was never sure if he could trust the older boy.  Certainly, he would never ask Bakura to help him with the newest game niisama had given him, especially after figuring out that it wasn't a game.  Niisama could give him advice, but no one else could possibly be smart enough.

Mokuba's other concern was for niisama's safety.  Their mom and dad had gone away and not come back.  Their adoptive father, too, had suddenly disappeared.  Mokuba didn't mind that as much, as Kaiba-tousan had been the one who had stopped niisama from playing games, but still.  If those people who took care of him could vanish, would niisama vanish too?  How could Mokuba ever be entirely certain that his brother would return.

Bakura was going to stay for the weekend.  Niisama didn't trust that he would be able to keep Mokuba safe away from the mansion.  Mokuba was the only one there when Bakura arrived, waiting for him in a seat where he could watch the entryway but not be seen.  He curled up in the large chair and napped while he waited, recovering from a late night of being with his niisama before the older boy had to go.

"Mokuba-kun?"

The light tenor brought the boy out of his doze.  He rose, approaching with wide, solemn eyes.  He could tell that the older boy wished he weren't so serious, so he greeted him with a smile.

"Good afternoon, Bakura-sensei."

Bakura sighed softly, pushing hair that had recently been tinted purple again away from his eyes.  "Since I'm staying overnight for a few days I brought some of my favorite games.  I thought you might like to try them."  He opened the larger of his bags, revealing the familiar shapes of the games niisama had always loved - the ones Kaiba-tousan had had burned.  Mokuba could remember niisama's hard expression as they were made to watch.  It was an expression that had never gone away.

Mokuba picked up a small, turret shaped piece that had fallen out of a half open box and cradled it in his hands, lowering his head to hide tears.  Kaiba-tousan hadn't even let niisama keep his chess set, saying that the cheap, plastic pieces weren't good enough for a Kaiba.  And he'd never gotten them another set, as if he were punishing niisama for beating him.

"You like chess, Mokuba-kun?" Bakura asked.

Mokuba blinked his tears away as he nodded.  "Niisama always beat me."

"We could play a game," Bakura offered with a smile.  "I'm not bad at it."

An idea formed in Mokuba's brain.  Maybe niisama would smile like he used to if....

"Bakura-sensei, would you play niisama when he gets home?" he asked eagerly.

"Eh?  Sure...." Bakura agreed slowly.


~Chapter 2~

Mokuba giggled gleefully as he finally won the third game of chess he and Bakura had played that weekend.  The remains of other games they had played also littered the floor of the spare room that Bakura was staying in.  Mokuba felt better than he had in years, the games reminding him of when he and his niisama were younger and had played some of these same games.

As Bakura picked up the pieces to reset the board, they heard a voice calling their names.

"Niisama!" Mokuba said, eyes lighting up as he raced out of the room and down into his niisama's arms.  "Niisama, I beat Bakura-sensei at chess!  I almost forgot how to play it, but I beat him!"

Niisama's arms spasmed tighter at the word chess, but he didn't show any signs of response other than to congratulate Mokuba on his victory.  "Have you played the game I left you?"

Mokuba nodded.  "I kept America going, niisama!" he said with a cocky grin, knowing from his niisama's expression that the older boy didn't realize that he'd figured it out.

Niisama looked up at Bakura, who was waiting nervously at the top of the stairs.

"Go play chess with him, niisama!" Mokuba begged.  "He has a set like the one we had."

The older boy's eyes narrowed, and Mokuba could almost see the fire reflected in them, could almost see the reflection of Kaiba-tousan, even though he knew that neither were there.  "Niisama?" he asked in a smaller voice.

The older boy looked down at him and hugged him tightly, then climbed the stairs.  Mokuba hurried after, hoping that niisama wouldn't fire Bakura.  He liked his tutor more than ever.  To his surprise, niisama didn't even say anything before entering the guest room, looking around emotionlessly at the toys scattered around the room.

"I-- I'll clean it all up," Bakura said quickly, bending to pick up a game board.

"Don't bother," niisama said sharply.  "I'm leaving again."

Mokuba's expression crumbled as he stood in the doorway, clinging to the frame.  Why couldn't niisama stay with him?  What was so important that he had to leave again immediately?

Bakura hugged the game board, not getting up from his crouch as he peeked at Mokuba's niisama through his bangs.  "You-- you want me to stay with him?" he asked cautiously.

"You'll do," was the response, as niisama's eyes fell on the chessboard that was still set up.  He took a few steps over to the take it was on and picked up one of the castles, fire burning in his eyes for another brief time.

He sat.  "I will duel you as Mokuba wishes."

The young boy's eyes lit up and he dashed to his brother's side, hugging the older boy tightly.

Bakura followed more slowly, sitting uncertainly on the opposite side of the table.  He licked his lips.  "You can go first, Kaiba-san," he offered.

The game was short and ended with Bakura's loss as Mokuba had known it would.  He beamed up into niisama's face, but his smile drained away seeing that niisama didn't look any happier than usual.

"I will go now," the brunet said, standing.  "Mokuba, remember to give Noa the updates tomorrow."

"Do you have to go?" Mokuba

The older boy knelt in front of him.  "Remember Noa, Mokuba," he said softly.

Mokuba hugged niisama tightly, trying not to cry into the older boy's shirt at the thought that he was leaving again.  "I'll remember, niisama," he promised in a quavering tone.

The blue eyed older boy stood, staring at Bakura for a long moment, until the other boy looked down.  "I will be back soon," he promised, giving his brother another hug before leaving the room.

Bakura glanced at the younger boy, then followed niisama out of the room.  Mokuba collapsed onto the guest room's bed and sobbed himself to sleep.


~Chapter 3~

Mokuba didn't like going into niisama's office alone.  It had been Kaiba-tousan's office and all of his things were still there.  Sometimes Mokuba thought it was funny that a stuffed head on  the wall - some endangered species Kaiba-tousan hunted just to prove he could - was a coatrack now, but when niisama wasn't with him it brought the older man much too close.

But niisama's office was where Noa's interface was and Mokuba had promised not to forget.  He wanted niisama to be able to trust him.

Looking at the closed doors apprehensively, he slipped his hand into Bakura's.  The older boy squeezed his fingers lightly and pushed open the door to the office.

"What is Noa?" he asked.

"He's kind of like an older brother," Mokuba answered, walking across the room.  He moved closer to Bakura as the walked, eyeing Kaiba-tousan's things with distrust.  The older boy picked up on it and started looking around warily, as if the dead man would jump out at them.

"I used to have a virtual pet," he said as a distraction.  "What kind is he?"

Mokuba smile.  "He's Kaiba-tousan's son and he has green hair."  Niisama said that Noa's hair should have been black, but refused to change it.  He said that he liked it green.  Mokuba knew that it was to remind Noa who he owed everything to.

He turned on the interface and smiled as Noa's face - so similar to niisama's - appeared.  Noa smiled.

"Mokuba!" he exclaimed happily.  Then his face fell.  "But Seto promised..."

"I have the program, Noa-niisama," Mokuba assured, holding up the ROM with the new programming.  "Niisama wanted to be sure you'd get your upgrade."

The drive opened on its own, causing Bakura to jump back a step, and Mokuba put the ROM in.  He quickly found the places where the new programming linked with the old and attached them.

"Can you stay?" Noa asked wistfully.  "I've been lonely with Seto away.  You never come to visit anymore."

"I'm sorry, Noa-niisama," Mokuba answered.  "I'll stay.  I've been spending time with Bakura-sensei."  He looked up at the older boy.  "Bakura-sensei!  Come say hello to Noa-niisama!"

Bakura waved his hands in front of him.  "No, Mokuba-kun.  That's ok."  Mokuba grabbed the upraised hands and pulled him forward.  "Really, Mokuba-kun.  I don't want to....  Hello."

Mokuba smiled slightly at the happiness on Noa's face.  The boy in the computer had never gotten to see anyone other than his brothers, so Mokuba knew that he was delighted at the new visitor even if Bakura wasn't.  But the older boy made the attempt to be polite, glancing periodically at Mokuba in a silent plea for help.  After a few moments Mokuba took pity on him and told Noa they had work to do.

Noa looked disappointed, but allowed them to leave after Mokuba promised to visit him the next day when Bakura was in school.


~Chapter 4~

"Seto gave me instructions last night," Noa announced as soon as the interface lit up.

"What did he say?" Mokuba asked excitedly, eager for any word from his brother.

"I can't tell you all of it," the computer generated image apologized.  "But Seto told me to tell you he's proud of you for giving me my upgrade."  He beamed with pleasure at the new systems running through his circuits.  "And he said he'd probably be gone a month more.  Bakura will stay with you."

Mokuba sat don hard.  A whole month without niisama?  The older boy had never been away for so long.  How could niisama abandon him like this?  His lower lip trembled as he fought to hold back tears.  That would make niisama stop being proud of him.

"Why?" he asked plaintively.

"I can't say," Noa answered, voice kind.  "But I'll still be here."

Mokuba managed a small smile, accompanied by a sniffle.  "Can I come in?"

Noa nodded, smiling.

Mokuba went to the virtual system hookup.  Niisama had worked on it for months when he first found Noa.  Since then he had refined it further and now the brothers had almost seamless transition into Noa's home when they wanted it.  They hadn't even needed someone outside to control it for nearly a year.

Mokuba closed the glass lid over the chair and lowered the visor, feeling the air system start and surround him with an anesthetic that would turn his body off so there wouldn't be outside stimuli to confuse the images entering his brain.  He fixed his eyes on the visor screen and let himself drift away from the physical world and to the place where Noa waited to comfort him.

Hours later he heard a voice through one of Noa's "windows."  Bakura was home from school.  After a few minutes the older boy made his way nervously into the office.

"Mokuba-kun?  Are you here?" he called quietly.

The system finished cycling him out and Mokuba startled Bakura by the sudden lifting of the glass around the chair.

"I was visiting Noa-niisama," he explained quietly.

Bakura shot an uneasy glance at the virtual system and Noa's interface.  "Mokuba-kun," he said slowly, almost unsure of his words, "My father is worried about me and doesn't want me to stay a month."

Mokuba's face fell.  Without even Bakura there, he'd be almost alone.  He'd have to use the IV attached to the system for extended use and he never had before.

"Do you want to come stay with me?"

Mokuba's eyes widened.

"You can bring your cell phone with you so that Kaiba-san can get in touch," Bakura continued quickly.  "And I've arranged it at school so you can come with me.  As long as you're quiet and don't bother anyone it's ok.  And that way I wouldn't worry about you during the day and you'd have something to do.  We could still come here to do your computer work," he hurriedly assured.  "And visit with Noa-kun."  He bowed quickly to the figure on the screen.  "But...."  He finally ran down, looking at Mokuba nervously.

"You were worried about me?" the small boy asked quietly.

Bakura's face relaxed into a smile.  "Of course.  You're here all alone."

"No he isn't," Noa protested, pressing against the screen.

The older boy startled, then bowed to Noa again.  "I'm sorry, Noa-kun, but if something happened, what could you do?"

The green-haired boy subsided.

"So?  Mokuba-kun?"

Mokuba looked away from Noa and up at Bakura again.  He smiled.  "I'll go with you."