Chapter 18: The Sequential Order of Ducks

"Nii-sama, this is Tamura."

Mokuba caught up to me at school, at lunchtime, which was about the only time we'd been able to see each other recently. I thought he was introducing another student but when I looked up, I realized it was an adult. The man was well over six feet, broad shouldered and chiseled. He was dressed casually, in a polo shirt and khakis, but it took me only a moment to realize that he was Kaiba Security. There was something in their stance that gave them away.

I nodded politely. "Tamura. Please, both of you sit down. To what do I owe this honor?"

"Last week, Tamura was head of my security team. This week, he's on vacation. Next week, he'll start as the Security Beta." Our number two corporate security man.

"Congratulations."

"Thank you, Kaiba-san."

I looked at Mokuba and waited. My brother grinned. "Tamura was head of the ground team in Hat Yai. And he took care of the 'clean up' afterward." I nodded that I understood. "Personally, I think he's sweet on Isis, but he won't admit it to me. Then again, anyone worth knowing loves her! But he's just the kind of man we want in the Security office."

I thought about it, wishing I could read Mokuba's mind. Father's top security people were loyal to Father. When I returned to KaibaCorp, I would need security that was loyal to me. Was that what he was trying to tell me?

"Did you enjoy your time on my brother's staff?" I asked.

The man smiled slightly. "Kaiba-san made my job a challenge occasionally."

That was a surprise; to my knowledge, Mokuba had never given anyone a moment's worth of trouble. "Really? You must tell me more when we have more time to speak." He nodded. "Are you looking forward to your new position?"

He glanced at Mokuba. "It is a promotion."

It was a rather vague answer. "Not everyone is ambitious. Would you prefer to stay on my brother's team?"

He smiled thinly. "In that all of Kaiba is one, I am still on your brother's team."

"I'm glad you feel that way. I prize my brother's welfare above my own."

He glanced at Mokuba again. "That is good to know."

I looked at Mokuba too. "Is there a purpose to this interview or shall he and I avoid any relevant subjects for another..." I looked at my watch, " ... fifteen minutes?"

Mokuba laughed and looked at his watch. "Three minutes! You're learning patience big brother!" I glowered at him and he managed to restrain himself. "We need a man in security we can trust. I'd prefer the post myself –"

"Out of the question." I stated flatly at the same time Tamura did.

"But since the two of you think alike," Mokuba went on, "Tamura may be a better fit."

"I see." Since when does Mokuba care about KaibaCorp staff decisions?

My brother smiled. "Well, Tamura?"

The security man shrugged. "I may have been mistaken."

Could Mokuba be plotting something against me?

He laughed at my expression. "Nii-sama! Always!"

"Excuse me?"

"I am Always with you!" He brought himself to a controlled chuckle. "When Father called Tamura yesterday, Tamura called me. Tell Seto why, Tamura."

The man hesitated then came to some personal decision. "I do not like Kaiba-sama, but I ... appreciate your younger brother." Appreciate? "The internal politics of Kaiba Security would make it difficult for me to turn down this position, but I would find it ... distasteful to report daily to Konosuke-san."

I could understand that; I could hardly tolerate the man for tea. If I were able to pull off a coup, Father's team would ultimately need to be replaced. If this man were loyal to Mokuba – and my brother truly loyal to me – it would go a long way toward insuring my future success. No coup can seize the power of the government without the military's support. "But you would be willing to do so?"

"To protect Kaiba-san, yes. I am, of course, presuming that Kaiba-san will eventually take his rightful place as KaibaCorp's Vice President."

My jaw dropped for a moment. Mokuba? VP? I looked at my younger brother who had spent most of our lives avoiding anything to do with KaibaCorp business.

He shrugged. "I don't have any other career plans."

"This seems rather sudden."

"Yeah, it kind of is. I hadn't really thought much about the future until I realized that you and Dad are never going to compromise. I don't want to watch you fight forever. I thought maybe if I was in the office with you, I could keep the peace between you. Help ease the gap between you." I couldn't help smiling and he laughed at himself. "I guess that's a little naïve?"

"No. Not at all." I replied. 'No wonder everyone loves him', I thought. "And, yes, Operations is the correct place for you. When I return, I plan to do some restructuring. New things are coming, some old things are going."

"I don't suppose one of those new things is an amusement park?" He asked hopefully. I frowned. I had wanted KaibaLand to be a surprise. "Oh, I guess I should have outgrown things like that."

"I hope not." I answered. "It would make the time planning it a terrible waste. I was just hoping to surprise you."

"Really?" His eyes actually lit up as I nodded. "Really?!"

"Yes, Mokuba." I laughed. "I really intend to build KaibaLand. I even found our original drawing to work from."

"Yes!" He turned to Tamura. "You see? I told you, Seto is nothing like my Father. I promise you, his security force will have none of the corruption you're worried about – and if you find it, we will kill it."

Tamura nodded and turned to me. "There are some serious internal breaches between the weapons divisions and some of the security divisions. Mexico, Turkey, the US and Russia all have unspoken reports of merchandise that simply goes missing occasionally. Konosuke is aware of the problem and has an investigation underway."

"And you don't believe that is sufficient?" I asked.

"I don't believe it's real. My sources tell me that Konosuke is perfectly aware of where the missing merchandise is."

"Your sources?"

He glanced at Mokuba. "I worked in several security details before taking the position with Kaiba-san. I have made a number of friends. We stay in touch."

Mokuba smiled back at Tamura and the look set off a red flag for me. "Tamura, exactly what sort of relationship do you have with my brother?"

He looked confused. "I work for him."

"And that's all you do?"

Before Tamura could determine my meaning, Mokuba guessed it. "Nii-sama! We're not lovers if that's what you're implying."

"Lovers!" Tamura sputtered. "Are you mad? What kind of man do you think I am?"

"Tamura, calm down." Mokuba verbally stepped between us. "If you must know, Nii-sama, I did actually make a pass at him a couple months ago. Not only did he turn me down – brutally, I might add – he told Isis about it and she promptly grounded me."

I looked at Tamura and he still seemed somewhat offended. "You seem to have a great deal of affection for Mokuba."

He looked away and sighed heavily. "I do." He paused and then continued. "The wealthy always forget the second son. Moke-san is far more capable than your father – or you – give him credit for being."

The bell for class rang and all three of us looked toward the school building.

"The 31st?" I asked

"Set." Mokuba replied. "Proxies have been mailed."

Belief and faith hold the house together. Doubt blows it apart. "Tamura, if your sources cannot follow the merchandise, see if they can follow the funds. Konosuke has undoubtedly left an audit trail unless Shuzo is working with him. Let 'Moke-san' know as soon as you can. Have Morio leave me a message."

"I'll see what I can find." He nodded. "Gentlemen." He turned and headed for the school's parking lot.

Mokuba sighed. "He can hit a falling leaf at 100 yards. With a pistol."

"Never sleep with your staff." I said.

He grinned at me. "My 'staff' seem to be the only ones I'm attracted to. Did I tell you about the new girl? She's Turkish – that how we found out the Turkish office was on the list – she collects rifles. She has a special permit but she has to keep the collection in storage. We went to the training range and she –"

"We really must talk more often, Mokuba." I said chuckling. "I think there are some things you've neglected to tell me."

He blushed and grinned. "Maybe a few." He perked up almost immediately. "Hey, are you going to keep the dragon roller coasters?"

"Of course. What's an amusement park without a roller coaster?" I picked up my books and we both headed to class.

"You know what we should add? Those new computerized rides – what do they call them? Indoor trains? You know, where the cars are on an indoor track but there's like a whole hologram all around you? We could have virtual duels where the riders are the cards and have to duel each other as dragons and stuff!"

I thought about it. I knew the type of ride he meant. I'd have to convert the existing holographic technology to 4-dimensional playing field; 5-dimensions as timing would be a serious consideration. I'd have to be careful about directing the time and relative dimension in space.

"Nii-Sama?"

"Sorry. Considering the idea. I think we could do that."

"Really? Cool!" He stopped. "Nii-sama." He bowed deeply which was both surprising and embarrassing. "Thank you. You are the best brother anyone could ever have."

If we had been almost anywhere else I would have hugged him, but at school there were too many strangers around us. "If I am, it is only because I am your brother."

We stood there, awkwardly looking at each other for a moment until Mokuba grinned and launched himself at me. "This is gonna ROCK!"

A few passing students teased us, but I determined that I could handle that.

The second bell rang and we managed to part ways. I went to my first class of the afternoon almost looking forward to the future.

My classmates were looking toward the final exams, less than a month away.

"Hey Kaiba," Suzuki waved me over to a group of students pouring over a desk. "You get this stuff."

I joined them and was dismayed that, although I knew the subject – Calculus V – I did not know the solutions for the problems at hand. "I am familiar with this. What seems to be the issue?" I asked, hoping they wouldn't ask me for any answers.

"It looks like artwork to me." Takahashi lamented. "Who's free tomorrow? I'm screwed tonight." Several others agreed that tomorrow was good for them. "What about you, Kaiba?"

"Free for what?"

"Group study at my place. We need at least one smart guy." Takahashi said and the others laughed. In this particular class, everyone qualified as 'smart'.

I was scheduled to work. But I was fairly confident that if I did not find extra study time myself, I would quite probably manage to fail a test for the first time in my life. "I may not be of much use. I have to work tomorrow evening, but I'll see if I can change my schedule." I went back to my seat and opened my textbook. Nothing looked familiar; I also noticed that I had skipped the last two homework assignments.

It was a long afternoon.

When I got to the store, Miko-chan and I arranged my schedule so I'd have some flexibility for the rest of the school semester. KimKim needed some extra hours and was happy to cover for me as needed.

The study group met on Thursday evening after school. Honda wasn't in the class so I attend the group alone. At the start of the evening, I expected a formal session spent concentrating on the material. Instead, it was more like a group of guys hanging out to play video games. For a while, I tried to stay focused on the class work – and Takahashi and I did eventually work through the entire chapter – but at some point, they started playing KG video games and I still had a professional interest in that.

"Hey Kaiba!" Someone yelled as Takahashi and I were starting the next section. "What's the trick to level six of Dragon's Deep?"

I winced. "There is no point in playing if you are simply going to cheat."

"There's no point in playing if you can never win." Someone else pointed out.

"Yeah, I stopped playing that one a month ago." Suzuki commented. "The graphics are awesome, but I can't get past level four."

A discussion ensued and the boy playing the game stopped trying to solve the puzzles and opted to simply explore the level. We all watched over his shoulder. They did like the graphics and the few monsters we encountered were dispatched with just enough challenge. But I noticed that several of the secrets were passed because the clues were too subtle. For some of the doors, the controller switched players because only one person in the group knew the 'trick'. They were right; the game was less fun.

"Stop there." I said abruptly. "On the wall, to the left. See that blue gem? Press it." A panel slid open. "If one of the gems on the sword hilt is glowing check the wall for a matching gem." That trick none of them knew. I passed on a few more tips. When we returned to the final room, I took the controller and painstakingly unlocked the trap that unloosed the demon. Then I opened the secret panel in the demon's lair that held the blessed weapon. It took two tries, but I finally killed the bloody thing and moved to level seven.