Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. I also do not own Rent. I do not own the song "What You Own", but I do own my version of it. So I suppose it can't be considered a songfic since I changed the song a bit.
"blah": talking
'blah': thinking
blah: lyrics
What You Own
A brotherly fic about Seto and Mokuba Kaiba
10 AM- Manhattan, New York
Seto Kaiba sat at his office desk after just hanging up with one of his connections. He leaned forward and propped his elbows up on the desk before him. He placed his forehead in his hands and ran his fingers through his chestnut hair. He had only been at this new office in America for a month, and already he was buried up to his neck in work. He began to wonder if he shouldn't have taken the offer to work in the States for a year.
Don't breathe too deep
Don't think all day
Dive into work
Drive the other way
His bright blue eyes traveled to a framed photograph on his desk. It was of him and his younger brother, Mokuba when they were children.
'My, how the years have flown,' Seto thought as his fingers grazed the routered edge of the picture frame. Mokuba was only five when that picture was taken. Now he was standing tall at fourteen. He sighed. Although only nine years had passed, Mokuba still retained much of his younger innocence and sparkle.
The CEO of Kaiba Corp. brushed away a few tears of homesickness that threatened to fall. He did not like the idea of leaving Mokuba in Japan, and it tore at him terribly. He missed Mokuba and wondered how he was doing. The once-daily phone calls became fewer and farther between.
That drip of hurt
That pint of shame
Goes away
Just play the game
'Maybe he's doing better off without me,' he thought with sadness. Seto gingerly fingered the locket around his neck, the one that contained Mokuba's picture. He remembered the day that he ripped the picture in half and gave the other half to Mokuba. He told Mokuba that no matter what, the lockets would bring them together as long as both of them wore it. The memory brought a small smile to his face.
You're living in America
At the end of the millennium
You're living in America
Leave your conscience at the tone
And when you're living in America
At the end of the millennium
You're what you own
12 AM- Domino City, Japan
Mokuba lay in his bed staring at the vaulted ceiling in his bedroom. He still lived at the Kaiba mansion, but some hired help came every now and then to check up on him. Mokuba rolled over onto his side and closed his eyes, praying for sleep to take him. However, he could not sleep.
He had been calling Seto everyday for the first week. Then, he realized that the more he talked to Seto, the harder it got not to beg him to come home. One day, he just decided to stop calling. Of course, Mokuba had also lost many nights of sleep due to missing his brother.
A silent tear rolled down the raven-haired boy's cheek. He knew that Seto was away on business and he was trying to make things better for them. What Mokuba didn't understand was why Seto was concerned about business. As far as Kaiba Corp. went, nothing could have been more perfect. Stocks were high and popularity ratings were through the roof. But with Seto, there was always more.
Mokuba punched his pillow in a frustrated tantrum. 'Seto has always thought of me before himself. That's why he works so hard. But why doesn't he realize that what I need doesn't come from money?' he thought angrily. He buried his face into his pillow and cried himself to sleep.
The filmmaker cannot see
And the songwriter cannot hear
Yet I see Seto everywhere
10:30 AM- Manhattan, New York
Seto's head shot up from his hands. He could have sworn he saw Mokuba in his imagination. The poor child was sobbing his fourteen-year-old heart out into a pillow and screaming his brother's name.
Mokuba's voice is in my ear
Just tighten those shoulders
Just clench your jaw 'til you frown
Just don't let go or you may drown
Seto immediately picked up the phone. He spun in his chair so he overlooked the expanse of corporate America.
"Hello? Yes, I would like to speak with Alexi Stevens. Yes, I'll hold," he said into the receiver. He tapped his foot anxiously on the burgundy carpet. "Yes, Miss Stevens? This is Seto Kaiba."
So I own not a notion
I escape and ape content
I don't own emotion—I rent
12:45 AM- Domino City, Japan
Mokuba had finished his crying spell for the night. He dried his eyes on the back of his sleeves. He stood up, his bare toes brushing against the soft carpet he had forced Seto to use throughout the mansion. He trudged wearily to his desk and flicked on the small table lamp. It cast a bright glow at first, so Mokuba had to shield his eyes. Within minutes, his slate-gray eyes adjusted and he sat down at his desk.
What was it about that night?
Connection—in an isolating age
For once the shadows gave way to light
For once I didn't disengage
1 PM- Manhattan, New York
"Ladies and gentlemen, I have gathered you all here for a reason. After only a month in America and working on opening a Kaiba Corp headquarters here, there is something important I feel you must know before things progress too far," Seto addressed a full board room. The two main people who wanted Seto in America in the first place sat at the end of the table farthest from him.
"Well Mr. Kaiba, you could not have chosen a more perfect time," said a thirty-three-year-old brunette named Alexi Stevens. Her colleague, Mark Johnson, nodded in agreement.
The twenty-year-old CEO smirked and his blue eyes sparkled with determination. He leaned forward on the long table and slammed his hands down, causing the table to vibrate.
"Alexi. Mark. Call me a hypocrite, but I need to finish my own business before I begin another project. And that is just what this whole America business is, a project. So you know what?" Seto straightened to his full height. "I quit," he stated. He simply threw his hands up in the air and walked out of the office. "I quit," he kept repeating to anyone who would care to listen.
Meanwhile, Alexi and Mark, who were still in the board room looking as though Christmas was cancelled, bolted up from their seats and followed Seto down the hall.
"Mr. Kaiba," Mark said nervously, "you can't just quit. Think about your company. Think about what's good for the company."
"I am Mr. Johnson. And as far as I'm concerned, Kaiba Corp. America can go to hell. I made billions without opening franchises abroad and I'm not about to start," Seto said as he marched to his office. He got on the phone and waved both of the corporates out of his office. With a reluctant sigh, both of them departed with a fallen look on their face.
"Well there goes our big break," Alexi muttered as they stalked off to their respective offices.
"Tell me about it," Mark replied. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to save our asses from the CEO of Mattel, Inc. when he finds out that his potential 'business partner' just cancelled on him."
Within three hours, Seto was rushed to the airport and on his own private flight back home to Japan.
6 AM- Domino City, Japan
The sun's first rays shone through Mokuba's window. He was asleep at his desk. There, on a corner of the desk beside a laptop and a few school books, was a photograph. This photograph was the exact same one that sat on what used to be Seto's desk in Manhattan. When a ray of sunshine fell on Mokuba's eyes, they fluttered open. He sat up slowly and rubbed his eyes. He looked at the clock on his computer and groaned. He shoved himself away from the desk and walked over to his private bathroom. After all, he only had an hour until he had to leave for school. On his desk, crumpled and forgotten, lay a sheet of lined paper. On it were written the words:
One song—glory
Seto
Your eyes
8 PM
That night, Seto's plane from Manhattan touched down on Domino City soil. With quick instructions to the limo driver waiting for him at the terminal gate to have his luggage sent immediately to the mansion, he entered the limo and sped off towards his home.
We're dying in America
At the end of the millennium
We're dying in America
To come into our own
Within half an hour, the limo pulled up into the gravel driveway of the Kaiba mansion. Seto grinned broadly as he set foot on familiar ground. With his silver briefcase in hand, he ran to the front door and unlocked it.
And when you're dying in America
At the end of the millennium
You're not alone
Mokuba, who heard the limo pull unexpectedly into the drive, rushed to the stairs. He stood leaning over the hallway to see who the visitor was. When the front door opened and Seto walked through the door, his face shone with happiness.
I'm not alone
I'm not alone
He raced downstairs and jumped into his brother's arms. Seto, who also had tears in his eyes, clutched his dear brother tightly.
"Mokuba, I will never leave you again. I promise," Seto promised.
"I missed you Seto," Mokuba sobbed into his older brother's collar. "I'm just glad you're home."
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