Chapter Three

Only an extremely small percentage of people could say that they'd physically seen $3 million in person. The rest wouldn't even have a clue what it looked like. Of course it would all depend on the value of the notes,- or even coins,- used to total such an amount. Going by the kidnapper's request this resulted in Seto collecting four metal cases filled to the brim with notes from the bank.

No questions had been raised as to why the CEO required such a sum of money at short notice. Nor why it was requested in US dollars instead of Yen. Even if the tellers and bankers had asked, they knew that they would have most likely been told that it was none of their business. Instead they made their own conclusion and assumptions that he was just organising another publicity stunt similar to the outrageousness of the rocket sent into space a couple of years back. Not that there'd been anything strange for him to send a rocket into orbit,- he'd sent up enough satellites and even a space station already,- but the fact that it had been loaded with trading cards caused some people to question his sanity.

The money had been counted twice in front of him at the bank before the withdrawal had been finalised, but that didn't stop Seto from counting it for the umpteenth time in the confinement of his Kaiba Corp office. It was all he could think of to do and keep his mind occupied from thinking morbid thoughts of his girlfriend's current wellbeing.

Slowly the door opened and a concerned sleepy eyed Mokuba entered. "It's late, you should get some rest."

"I won't sleep until Kisara's returned." Another tally mark for the bundle of notes he'd just counted was marked down before reaching for the next bundle on his desk.

"Won't or can't?"

"Both." Seto heaved a reluctant sigh. There was no point trying to hide how he felt from his brother. Mokuba knew him too well and would only wrangle it out of him some other way if he did attempt to disguise it.

"You have to try-…"

"I CAN'T!" The distraught roar silenced the younger brother though it didn't faze him in the slightest. Over the years he'd grown so use to the other's short fuse and reluctant behaviour when angered or scared.

Recognising the cry for help, Mokuba calmly approached his brother's desk and sat down in the vacant chair. He would never abandon him in a time of need, no matter how hard the other may resistantly thrash, both mentally and physically. "It's going to be okay Seto."

"Don't." He spat and angrily tossed the bundle of notes back onto the desk's surface before slumping back in his chair. Hands raised and shielded his face as the urge to loudly wail his feelings of helplessness aloud tried to take control.

"Let it out." Mokuba encouraged as he defiantly continued to suggest a way for his brother to alleviate the despair that he felt. "You'll feel better for it once it's free from your system."

No. I will not show such weakness in front of you. Seto breathed deeply, regained his composure and lowered his hands. "I know that you mean well Mokie, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't try to get my hopes up or sugarcoat the situation with false assurances."

"They're not false…. she WILL be okay."

"No." He shook his head with a slight hysterical laugh. Sometimes his brother's naivety was shocking. "You don't know that. There's no way you can be certain."

"With all due respect, I know what the fuck I'm talking about Seto." Mokuba's voice was firmer and bolder than usual as he stood against the aversion to the reassurance he'd given. "Going by my own past kidnapping experiences, whoever has taken Kisara is not likely to harm her. Not if they genuinely want the money they've demanded. They know that to do so will only infuriate you and if that were the case then you'd be less likely to cooperate and give them exactly what they want."

"And what if you're wrong?" Seto contested as he leant forward on his desk. "What if they aren't in it solely for the ransom and are merely using her as bait for some kind of revenge? You've seen plenty of people throw accusations my way, hell bent on ruining me in whatever manner they can, even when the stick up their ass has had nothing to do with me personally -…"

There was a light knock on the door.

A perplexed look was sent Mokuba's way. "I ordered everybody to go home hours ago... Who else is still here?"

"Roland. And before you get mad, I asked him to stay. He wants to help us, and god knows we need it." Seeing his brother's defeated acceptance as Seto sank back in his chair Mokuba raised his voice to grant the man entrance. "Come on in!"

The door opened and Roland stepped in. "It's late. You boys should get some sleep before the night is through."

"Pfft, the night's already through, it's gone 3AM." The younger brother smirked.

"STOP THAT!" Seto snapped upon seeing the curve of his brother's lips and brought his fist down on the desk with a loud thump. With two pairs of eyes focused on him he looked directly at Mokuba. "HOW can you even joke after what's happened during the past 24 hours?"

"Just chill. I was only replying to Roland's comment-…"

"And did it really justify such frivolity?"

Actually, YES it did! Mokuba bit down on his tongue in order to stop himself from saying something that he might regret. He understood that Kisara was important to his brother but she wasn't the absolute be-all and end-all of everyone else's lives. The light-hearted moment shared with their most trusted friend had been needed if he was to keep his own sanity and not give way to despair like the other had.

"Seto you're tired." Roland waded in to prevent the brothers from arguing further. He hated it on the rare occasions when they fought, usually over something meaningless. "You need to rest. Wearing yourself out isn't going to help the matter at hand."

Why are they teaming up against me? The CEO shook his head."No, I won't rest. Not until she's safe and back by my side."