Rock Bottom: Season One

Onboard

Seto leaned his forearms against the ship's railing as he closed his eyes tiredly. The whole day had been exhausting. Ryou and himself had also received invitations to Duelist Kingdom, and had decided to accompany Yugi to Duelist Kingdom. After all, there was too much at stake not to go. Mokuba hadn't been fully enthusiastic with his decision, but he believed that his brother would cope well and forgive him when he came home. He'd put up a surprising amount of resistance that morning, but by the time Seto took his brother to the Bakuras' house, he'd been much more compliant.

"Do you have to leave, Seto?" Mokuba asked for perhaps the fifth time that day.

"Yes, Mokuba. I can't pass up this kind of opportunity," Seto answered patiently. For one thing, there was the recognition of earning his title by fighting his way through a tournament. For another thing, there was the prize money. Three million dollars. If he could win that, then he would be able to move out with Mokuba as soon as he got back and found a decent apartment. He'd already been looking for one, of course, but he hadn't made any decisions just yet.

"But I'll miss you," Mokuba pouted, crossing his arms as he sat down on their bed. Seto sighed and turned back to his brother.

"I'll only be gone for a few days," Seto assured with a smile. He and Mokuba had never really been away from each other before, so he understood if he was a bit anxious. "I'll call you every night, okay?"

Mokuba sighed, unconvinced that phone calls were a real substitute for his brother.

"And it's not like you'll be alone. Marik and Amane will be there with you."

"But that'll be weird!" Mokuba exclaimed, flopping down onto the mattress dramatically. "They have a hard enough time talking to each other"—which made sense, given that she spoke primarily through sign language and Marik was still getting comfortable with Japanese—"and I'll have to keep translating for them."

"Hey now," Seto chided gently, kneeling down by his brother. "I want you to be nice to him. He's been away from his family for a very long time, and he doesn't know when he'll get to see them again. He's got a big brother too, you know."

"He does?"

"Yes, he does. And if Marik can wait this long without seeing his brother, then you can wait less than a week for me to return." He kissed his brother's forehead and smiled at him. "And, I have a present to give you before I go."

"You do?" Mokuba perked up at that, his eyes shining with excitement.

"Yep." Seto stood and went to his dresser, taking something out of the top drawer before handing it to Mokuba. It was a locket shaped like a Duel Monsters card, and Mokuba accepted it eagerly. As he pushed the button to open it, Seto pulled a second locket from the drawer and opened it as well.

"Where did you find this?" Mokuba gasped as he gently touched the image inside the locket. Seto held his own open locket next to Mokuba's.

"It was in one of mom's sketches. I did some more digging around after I found that drawing she did of you and finally found it. I don't know how this picture got in there, maybe from when our cousin was helped look after us."

Mokuba smiled as he looked down at the image of his big brother as a little kid, looking like the happiest person in the world. And there was Mokuba himself, looking equally cheerful inside Seto's locket. They were two halves of the same photo. There were probably no copies, which meant that he had to be extremely careful not to lose this one.

"I had both halves of the picture laminated to make them a bit more durable," Seto explained. "This way, we'll always be with each other, even when we're apart." He kissed his brother's cheek and tousled his dark hair. Mokuba threw his arms around his brother's neck, hugging him tightly.