Chapter 7: I Did Not Anticipate The Next Turn

Father wanted the three of us to return home and enroll in schools where his security net could protect us. I wanted to stay with my friends. We spent the first two days in Japan at my condo purely because that's how long it took to finish my final exams for the semester. We still hadn't determined where I would spend the next semester.

What should have been a tearful, joyous and passionate reunion with Joey was restrained and uncomfortable because it was at school.

Father and Mokuba were in the limo when it picked me up after school that same day. It was odd not having Ryou at my side and Anzu waiting for us, and my expression must have shown it.

"What's wrong, Nii-sama?"

I tried to brighten for him. "Nothing. Did you have fun today?"

"No. Your house is boring! But guess what? Dad's taking us to Disney World next week!"

"I'm unavailable next week." I said without thinking. "Let's look at the week after." I didn't need Anzu to remind me that there was a conflict. We'd carefully and strictly cleared the first week of school break to take the group to a private beach. There was a hot spring and great deal of privacy.

"Become available." Father said.

"No." We stared at each other, both looking for a sign of weakness.

"Next week, this office will be closing down."

I bristled at having my home refered to as 'this office' but let it pass. "And where will my staff be while I attend school?"

"I think you have successfully demonstrated your ability to socialize in what might be considered a normal fashion. The media is quite engaged by you. That is a suitable resolution to our initial image problem."

"I haven't graduated." I pointed out. "Part of the issue was my apparent lack of education. One semester of school will not address that." He started to speak, but I continued. "And students that transfer schools often are veiwed with lower regard. We should not prematurely dismiss this task as completed." I had another moment of insight. "And Mokuba is advanced enough; he can enroll here with me."

It was a calculated risk, but one I was sure of and I was gratified when Mokuba responded by non-stop pleading for the rest of the ride to be allowed to go to school with me. I conceded to cancel my plans and go to Disney, but even if I hadn't, I knew eventually Father would give in.

I told Anzu to give everyone my regrets and reschedule the trip for the week of my birthday — preferably someplace with a warm beach in October — and spent a surprisingly pleasant week in Florida with my Father and brother.

By the time Mokuba and I returned, his belongings had been installed in one of my spare bedrooms and a condo for his new governess had been purchased. I suspected that she was my new governess as well but she would find supervising me more difficult. Ishtaaru Isis was a beautiful young woman originally from Egypt; Mokuba seemed to develop a crush on her almost instantly. She got along well with Anzu and Ryou, however, and in short order our lives went back to the happy chaos I was enjoying before Mokuba's kidnapping.

Joey began attending all KaibaGames events with me — I even bought him a blue leather Duelist coat to match my trademarked white one. We were not shy about showing affection in public and were caught holding hands or stealing kisses so often that even the media stopped caring. In truth, most of the group travelled with me as often as possible. The Kaiba Entourage, the press dubbed us. The Kaiba Posse, was Joey's laughing preference.

And Yugi finally got bitten by the 'love bug' at a tournament and succumbed to a duelist who beat him soundly in the final round. The rest of us had no end of fun teasing him about the damage to his Dueling record. Kujaku Mai was far rougher around the edges than Yugi, but she had his same impetuous nature and it wasn't unusual to see them running off to do something without forethought or planning. Frequently, I'd discover that Mokuba had run off with them.

Anzu arranged a week in Aruba for the four couples — Mokuba whined incessantly about not being allowed to come, but I promised I'd throw myself a lavish birthday party before we left so that he didn't miss the good parts. Most of the school was invited. Instead of receiving presents, I gave them since there was almost nothing my friends could give me that I didn't already have. I had some new duelist tech that I had been working on in my rare moments of spare time so I unveiled that. There was a cake, ice cream and games. In truth, I'd never had a birthday party. It was juvenile. It was also an inordinate amount of fun.

The next afternoon, we took a private plane to the island.

Anzu arranged four bungalows on a beach for us. They each consisted of nothing more than a sheltered porch with a bedroom set and three solid walls giving the illusion of privacy. The fourth wall was a rolling screen that faced the east and the beach. There was a main house with a kitchen, dining room and concierge if we needed anything. There was a selection of daytime excursions and evening events for us to attend. There was scuba, tennis, wind surfing and other sports for us to indulge in.

I indulged in Joey's body for two solid days. We kissed and touched, caressing, licking and groping. Biting and sucking and when we woke up, doing it all again. We made love, we fucked, and we did everything in-between.

I woke up to the sun rising. We had lifted the screen the night before to get a cool breeze. Joey was holding me in his arms and every so often kissing my hair.

"Morning." I sighed. I could not have been happier.

"Morning." He kissed my head again. "I got a problem, Tak."

"If it's the same problem you had last night, I have a solution."

"Heh. Yeah, I got that problem too. But that's not what I'm worried about." His grip tightened slightly preventing me from turning to face him. "I love you, Tak. I love you more than I thought I could love someone. More than I thought I could even be willing to love. I want to grow old with you and, shit, adopt kids with you and all that stupid family crap. But Tak, your Dad hates me. I mean, he hates me. And right now, you can't just walk."

"I'll worry about my Father, Joey." I hated the fact that he was right. It killed my mood and I pushed out of his arms. "He will accept our relationship, sooner or later."

"Tak, I'm not worth being disinherited over."

"You mean far more to me than money!"

"You say that because you've always had it."

That said to an orphan. I snapped, "I'm glad you think I'm that shallow."

"Tak! Come on! Look, I know you love me. This isn't about how we feel, ok?" He got up and pulled on a pair of shorts. "It's about living in reality. We've been living in fantasy and it's been unbelievably fan-fucking-tastic and I don't regret a minute of it. But I will hate myself if you and your old man can't get around this."

"That is my problem. I will solve it," I assured him.

"How?"

"I simply will."

"Tak." He sighed deeply. "Look, when we get back, I'm going to the States for a while." I nodded. "A long while."

"How long?" I tried to steel my nerves for an answer I knew I wouldn't like.

"Couple months at least. Serenity wants to try this new treatment at Mount Sinai and Mom can't take that much time from work again. So I'm going to go with her. There's an international school near there and they're letting me transfer in." He laughed a bit. "Born the same State but now I'm an international student."

"I wish your sister well." I truly did. "Is there anything I can do to assist her?"

He hesitated. I imagined he was thinking about saying 'come with me' but he didn't. "No. She's cool. Hell of a trooper. Nerves of fucking steel."

I wish I had her nerves; mine clearly were made of clay. The rest of the trip felt like one long goodbye.

By agreement with Noah and with each other, Anzu, Ryou and I had all left our cell phones at home. This trip was scheduled to be a wholly uninterrupted vacation from Kaiba-anything and in that, it was quite successful. Joey and I did eventually do some diving and tennis and a few other things outside the bedroom. But not many.

Our last night on the island, the eight of us had a romantic dinner on the beach. Perhaps it would have been more romantic had it been just Joey and I but, sharing it with all our friends — and seeing how happy they were — made it that much more special.

When we arrived at Tokyo International, there was a messenger waiting for us. He had a sign with my name as we exited customs.

"Kaiba-san, I have instructions to bring you all right away. Mazaki-san and Bakura-san?"

"Yes?"

"You are needed urgently. A driver is waiting." He gestured them to a limo and I recognized the driver who got out as a Kaiba staff member.

Anzu kissed Honda quickly on the cheek. "I'll call when I free up. Noah probably broke something."

Bakura shrugged but frowned a bit as he went with her.

"Who instructed this?" I asked the man who greeted us.

"Kaiba-sama."

"Give me your phone." He handed it over and I called my Father's office. He wasn't available but I spoke with his personal secretary, Kogoro, who assured me that my Father would explain everything when I saw him.

The six of us were escorted to a van and driven home. He dropped Yugi and Mai at his Grandfather's. He took Otogi to his apartment. When we pulled up in front of Honda and Joey's apartment, I noticed my motorcycle was parked out front.

"What's going on here?" I asked.

The driver was nervous as he took out luggage for all three of us but he wouldn't answer me. Finally he handed me a note, got into the van and fled the scene.

"Shit!" Joey threw his hands up. "Aw man! I knew he would do something like this! Fuck!"

"What?" Honda was confused but trying to remain calm. "What does the note say, Seto?"

"It says his father's a shithead!" Joey answered.

"Joey — kill it." Honda snapped. "Seto, read it. Maybe it's not what you think."

Slowly I opened the envelope.

"You are not disinherited. I have spent too much time and money to allow your foolhardy and sentimental digression to leave KaibaCorp without an otherwise capable leader should something unforeseen happen to me. I am, however, disappointed that you fail to understand the truth of your circumstances. You believe that this 'Kaiba Entourage' of yours are reliable friends who will remain at your side no matter what. That is not the case. You refuse to see the wisdom of my advice and so I have decided to allow you to learn this lesson the hard way.

"You are now officially on sabbatical from the Kaiba Corporate family until your 19th birthday. You will have no connection to any Kaiba business affairs; you will not draw a salary; you will not be allowed used of any Kaiba-owned property. You may contact the proper staff and arrange visitation with Kaiba Mokuba on a monthly basis if convenient for his schedule. An apartment has been obtained for your use, I have taken the liberty of paying a one month deposit and one month's rent in order to allow you time to establish yourself. Your personal possessions have been delivered to this new address and the building's resident manager has the key.

"On the occasion of your 19th birthday, you will be invited before the Boards of both KaibaCorp and KaibaGames and required to demonstrate your ability to resume your position in both firms. If you are successful, all your rights and privileges as my son and heir will be restored. If you cannot or do not, the offer shall be retracted until your 20th birthday and so on until you are successful or until my death.

"Because of their close association with you and their knowledge of current projects, Mazaki Anzu and Bakura Ryou have been recalled to the home office. They and Kaiba Noah will form a triumvirate to manage KaibaGames as you pursue this course you have set for yourself.