Amane tugged at the hem of her jacket and bounced lightly back and forth on the balls of her feet. She rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer--hopefully Mokuba, or a servant of Mokuba.

Mokuba was just coming down the stairs, wearing layer upon layer of clothing, when the doorbell rang. There were few things that would make him get up from those heavenly sheets, and ice cream just happened to be near the top of the list. He opened the door to see Amane standing there. "Hello," he said, adjusting his hat.

"Hey," she said, studying his clothing and deciding she wanted money to buy layers like that. As it was she just had ratted jeans, a tank-top which was damned cold, and an old Army jacket. "Ready to walk?"

"Er, I suppose so." He really didn't approve of her attire. While ratted jeans were quite a rage now, those didn't look like fashionably ratted ones. He stepped out and shut the door, looking longingly at the car before shoving his hands in his pockets and started down the long drive. "I was surprised that you invited me out for ice cream. Finally couldn't hold back seeing the better Kaiba?"

Amane frowned down at him. "No..." she drawled. "I wanted to talk to you, and I thought, hey, maybe he likes ice cream." She stuffed her hands in her pockets and waited until they'd passed the fountain, then the gates, and then the corner before adding, "That was a really shitty thing to do to my brother."

Mokuba rolled his eyes. "Well, he shouldn't have ruined the car I gave him as a gift. I was just being fair." He kicked a rock that was on the sidewalk. He wished he had taken the car. "Besides, it doesn't have anything to do with you."

"But he didn't ruin it, his Yami did," Amane protested. "...And no one else will look out for him, so that leaves me." She shrugged. "I guess that doesn't make much sense, but I can't seem to stop myself."

"He should have been more careful about who drove it." And Mokuba wasn't going to go after Ryou's Yami. He may be daring in the fashion world, but he wasn't insane. "You should let him fight for himself. I don't do that for my big brother, and he doesn't do it for me, and we're just fine for it."

"Hello, he was kind of stuck in an avalanche. I don't think he knew who was driving." She sighed. "...Yeah, but you two are different. You two know how to take care of yourselves, and you're willing to do it."

"I'm glad you see it that way." Mokuba rounded another corner. The street was getting more crowded as they neared the shopping and food areas of Domino. He was starting not to feel so great, and questioned whether he should have gotten out of bed at all. But there was ice cream. "So, uh, what's it like being dead?"

She shrugged. "Beats the hell out of being alive. What's it like being a fashion designer?" She watched him peripherally, a little worried. Maybe they should have taken the car. "Are you ok?"

He waved her off. "Yeah, I'm okay. I just haven't been feeling well lately. Flu or something." He did his best to stand up straighter. He was out in public, after all, and it would not do to show anything less then his best. "Being a designer is fantastic! I want to improve how people look so I don't have to stare at their sorry selves." He turned to her and smiled. "That's why I gave Ryou so many clothes for his birthday."

"You sure it's the flu? There's been a lot of gonorrhea going around I hear." She returned his smile, though it was too sweet to be real. "Well, isn't that nice of you! But I'm not surprised. You must really like staring at my brother in overpriced clothing."

"I do NOT have gonorrhea, you dumbass. Geez." What was he doing out with her anyway? Maybe he should have just had Isono run out and grab him some ice cream, then he could have enjoyed his own company instead of hers. He sped up his pace, wanting to get to the ice cream shop a little faster now. "Looking at him in nice clothing is better then looking at him in horrible clothing. And it's not overpriced. In fact it's very reasonable. You're just jealous because you can't afford any."
"Sure I can," Amane snickered. "And if I can't, I'm at your house enough I could just steal what I wanted." She lengthened her stride to keep up with him. "And are you sure you're just sick? I mean, you haven't gotten desperate or drunk and..." she made a vague gesture. "...done something you kind of regretted later?"

Mokuba stopped dead in his tracks. That was it. She had crossed the line, twice. "First off, don't you dare even touch my clothes. They're mine! And second, Mokuba Kaiba does not get desperate. If I have sex it's because I want to, and I'm fully aware of when I'm having it. That's the fun of having sex." All that talking took a lot out of him and he put his hand on the building wall, a little light headed. He had taken flu medicine earlier, but he didn't take anything to stop the throbbing that started in his head. Where the hell was that shop?

"Ok, I'm sorry. I guess you can't get desperate when you don't have any discriminating taste in fuck buddies to begin with," Amane said snidely--but then she stopped, seeing Mokuba leaning against the building. "...Mokuba? Do you want me to call an ambulance, or...carry you or something?"

"Don't touch me, I'm fine!" He growled and pushed himself off the wall. "Once we get to the shop I'll be just fine." With the biggest scoop of chocolate and cherry ice cream. That was what his stomach needed. If he threw it up later, so be it, it was worth it. "I really don't see why you're so concerned with who I fuck or not. Wanting to be someone on the list or something?" He thought about telling her that he didn't sleep with just anyone, but the idea of going on and on about specifications just seemed too tiring.

List...? "God no! I only offered to touch you cause you looked like you were going to turf it. Jeez, if you were sick, you should have told me that. Ice cream's not going to make you any better."

"But I really want some ice cream." He looked at her with big, pleading eyes. It was the look he gave his brother many times to get what he wanted.

She glowered at him and finally rolled her eyes, giving in. "Well, duh, you'd get ice cream even if I didn't take you. And we came this far, I'm not going to let you waste my time." She led the way around the corner and pushed open the door to the ice cream parlor. The scent of warm chocolate and caramel, sliced bananas, and most of all the fact that this place had a heater and it was turned on were a welcome relief. "So what am I getting you?"

The sight and smell of the ice cream shop renewed his energy. He ran up to the displays, scanning all the flavors. Though he always got the same thing, he loved to look at the new flavors. "Two scoops of chocolate cherry with marshmallow and whip cream topping, and extra cherries," he said quickly to her, practically drooling at the taste that would soon tingle in his mouth. "And no nuts."

Amane smiled falsely at him and then nodded to the kid behind the counter to get it. "And...hmm...I want a scoop of mint chocolate chip. Whipped cream, chocolate." She paid, handed Mokuba his cup, then chose a seat near the window for them. "So tell me about the 'greatness' that is Mokuba Kaiba," she said, idly sucking hot fudge from her spoon.

Mokuba grabbed his cup and sat down across from her. The heater blew on him, and he removed his scarf, getting a little too warm. "Well, I'm hot, I'm famous, I'm one of the most fashionable people in Domino, and everyone wants me." He picked up one of the cherries by the stem and placed it in his mouth, pulling the stem out. "What more do you want to know?"

"Now, when you say, 'everyone', that just means people you're paying, right?" Amane said cutely, and then blinked, a little surprised at herself. "...I don't think I meant that."

"You better not have meant that. I never pay people for sex." Each scoop of ice cream tasted good on his tongue and going down his throat, though when it hit his stomach it didn't feel so good any more. He frowned, wishing that he could enjoy his treat to the fullest. "A reason you invited me out only to be so rude?"

"My host used to be a prostitute," Amane said absently, and then shook her head. "I wanted to know why you were such a prick to Ryou. Now I know he really didn't deserve it. And now I know that you're sick. And come on, like you're the only person who's allowed to be rude?"

He grinned. "Ah, yes, that would be the only way your host would have gotten any sex." There was also the point that, yes, he deserved many things the average person did not, but he felt they would just go over her head if he tried to explain them. It was better to be quiet around the slower ones.

She just smirked at him. "Sure, junior." She flicked a bit of whipped cream at him. "So how old are you anyway? Twelve?"

"I'm thirteen, thank you." He whipped the whip cream off his nose and licked the drop that was just above his lip. He wondered why she would take up a body of someone like that. Talk about diseases! And here he was, sitting with her. He'd need to shower when he got home. Though now that he thought about, he was curious about something. "So, did you ever have any sex?"

Thirteen? She blinked slowly. "...No, I didn't...that's not a very lady-like question, is it? Anyway, I died when I was eleven. Didn't have much time after that to find that special someone...or that temporary someone, for that matter." She tilted her head. "How early did you start?"

He actually felt a little sorry for her. But, really, a special someone? Moki's face came to mind at the idea of someone special, but he pushed it back. He must be really ill if he was thinking that. Delusions from a fever, perhaps? He blinked a few times and took a bite, trying to focus on her and the question instead of his own thoughts. "Well, I started fooling around when I was nine or so. Teachers or other corporate heads wanted me to do a few things, you know? I think the first time I had sex was when I was eleven. It was on a desk at school." They had both worried about getting caught, he more so then Mokuba. He shrugged and went back to eating.

She quirked a brow. "And you were...ok with that?"

"Hmmm?" He looked up at her, an odd expression on his face. "Why would you ask that?"

She shrugged. "You just don't seem the type to take to being used." Amane pushed a cherry around with her spoon. "I mean, how old were you when you started 'thinking' about guys and--I'm guessing--girls?"

"I wasn't being used. I was just fine with it." The next question, though, was one he hadn't really thought about. When did he start looking around? "I don't know, probably around ten or so. Yeah, I think it was ten. There was this one girl in class. Real bitch, but she looked fucking hot."

Amane figured ten was about standard...maybe. She only vaguely remembered becoming interested in guys. "Yeah? So what happened to her?"

He felt a little weird remembering this all. It wasn't typical for him to think about the past, though he sort of wondered what she was doing now. "Don't know. We messed around after class a few times, and then that was that." He pushed his empty bowl to the center of the table and looked at her. "So you didn't do anything at all before you died? Nothing?"

Amane sucked on the cherry a while, trying to remember if there was anything even remotely resembling the topic at hand. "...Nope. I think the only thing that I touched a guy's lips with was a rock. And I wasn't even holding it at the time." She snickered a little. "And that's about how it's been since I got back. Ryou gets more action than me and he doesn't even like the idea of it right now."

Mokuba laughed. "That has got to be the most pathetic thing. I feel sorry for you." The heater seemed to have been kicked up a notch. Mokuba could feel a few beads of sweat make their way down his back. He unzipped his jacket, but he didn't take it off. "I'm surprised you have tried anything yet. Any reasons why you haven't?"

Amane frowned. "Why feel sorry for me? Not like I'm missing that much." She finally pushed her bowl away. "Well who would I try anything with? I'm not really ms. people person. And it's not like I'd know what to do, or how to talk about it or anything. And c'mon, things with me around tend to get a little...messed up. I'd probably end up...I don't know. Messing it up. Might as well stick to stuff I know."

"Yes, because we're all experts in the beginning. But suit yourself. I guess since you haven't done it you wouldn't know what you would be missing, anyway." He looked at some of the new customers. What was that guy wearing? And that girls hat. Oh, his line needed to come out immediately. She did have a nice ass, though. Hey, those were MmmK pants! He smiled, quite pleased with himself.

"What's it like, to know you've influenced people?" Amane asked, abruptly.

Mokuba turned to her, smile still plastered on his face. "It's the best thing in the world knowing someone's following what I say. The proper thing." His power was growing with each passing week because of his company. There were even talks of branching out to neighboring cities, and he hoped by next year he would have a large shop set up in Tokyo. "Just so much power."

Amane smiled at that. "So you want to be a dictator?" She stretched languidly, watching the sky darken outside. "Hey look, it might snow."

He followed her gaze. She was right, there was that look to the air. And when they had walked earlier, there was that crispness that always came before snow. He relaxed in his chair. "Dictator? More like God." He reached his leg out and tapped his foot against her ankle. "You'd follow me, right?"

She gave him a wry, mischievous smirk. "Would I? Depends. What are you going to do when you've brainwashed the masses?"

Good answer, he thought. "I plan to create a world of beauty that worships the very ground I walk on." He leaned over the table and rested his head in his hands. "I'd gather some people you could use for bodies. One's that aren't trash."

She smiled, shook her hair back over her shoulder and looked thoughtful. "Now you might be onto something, with that. And what would I have to do to get the bodies? Just...go to Mokuba Mass every Sunday?"

"Well, having someone who can sneak into bodies can be very useful. There'd be no use to try and find someone to infiltrate a corporation. You could just pop right in and take over. And, of course, Mokuba mass would be required as well."

"Hmm..." she toyed with a small, faux-silver necklace chain around her neck. "Where does big bro fit in? And, for mass, could you replace those wafers with vanilla cookies?"

Mokuba eyed the necklace. It was decent enough. Too bad it was fake. He didn't understand why people bought fake things. It was foolish. "Just vanilla cookies? Look, when I do things, I do them right. The cookies I have made will be the best thing anyone has ever tasted." He pushed himself back and tilted his chair on its back to legs. "Big brother? He'll still be CEO of Kaiba Corp, of course."

Amane pictured a church filled with fresh-made cookies and, probably, expensive wine. The stained glass portraits would probably be Mokuba, and she wondered what the hymns would be like, but she figured she could live with that. "Sounds like a Utopia. Where do I sign up?"

"You just did." His excitement covered up his queasiness. He was one step closer to becoming like a God. It really was unfortunate for the world that he wasn't one already. "Can I ask you something?" He yawned, hands stretching out, before he continued. "What is with you and my big brother anyway?"

Amane grinned. "Well that was a lot less painful than signing in blood. I like you better than the devil already." She tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"You seem to hang out a lot. I was just wondering why, is all."

She shrugged. "He's cool. He's the only person who..." another shrug. "He's my friend. I can do just about anything with him and it only turns into a crazy bad thing about half of the time."

Mokuba wondered what Amane stopped herself from saying, but he was more curious about the second part. "Crazy bad stuff? What are you talking about?" He really felt that he should know if he was in danger. A chill ran up his spine. He buttoned up his jacket, not sure if the chill was from the air or from worry.

"Like..." she didn't know how much to tell him; there were things she knew Seto wouldn't have said if he were there, so she tried to be vague. "...uhm, remember the birthday party? Kind of like that stuff, but I don't control it. And we both end up kind of crazy and pissed off and then we go and change the subject."

"Oh. Huh, he never told me that. But we don't talk much." He shrugged and looked away for a minute. There seemed to be something else there, something she wasn't saying. He could tell by the way she paused. "So those spirits and things, you know, from the party, they aren't here now, are they?" Hadn't one of them taken memory from Siegfried? Well, the man deserved it, but he really didn't want something like that to happen to him. They weren't playing a game, though, so he figured he was safe, but there was no harm in making sure.

Amane shook her head. "Nope. I have to call them here, and promise them they'll get something out of it, and then make sure they do...it's just more pain than it's worth to have them around all the time."

A wave of relief washed over Mokuba. So he was in the clear. "Well, that's good to hear." He looked around the room again. It was less noisy, and he noticed that most of the customers were gone. "So, should we start heading back?" Because, if not, he'd want another ice cream, and he didn't think that a good idea.

"Yeah." She looked at him skeptically, deciding he was really too pale and clammy-looking to walk safely. "Do you want to call a cab or...carriage...or whatever you've got?"

"Yeah, that sounds good." He reached into his pocket and handed her his cell phone. "Just call the mansion and tell them to bring the car here." His eyes felt really heavy, and it wasn't until he had moved that his body felt sore all over. Just wait a little longer, he though, and then I'll be wrapped in those really nice sheets.

Amane swallowed and punched in the number. While it rang, she reached over and felt Mokuba's forehead. "Holy shit, have you been to a doctor?"

"Hmmm?" It took a moment for the word 'doctor' to register to him. When it did, he skidded back in his chair, almost tipping over. "No way! I'm not seeing any doctor!"

Amane's yelped in surprise and reached out to grab him. "Calm down! ...You do realize you might die or get brain damage if your fever gets high enough?"

He straightened himself up. "I'm fine. I just...I don't want to see any doctors or anything. I'll just go home and lay down."

Ryou had been in and out of hospitals a hundred times, and Amane had been there watching for the last three years--she may not have understood all of what she saw, but she knew how to take care of fevers and flu’s. "I'm going with. If you won't see a doctor I might as well do something before you end up a vegetable."

Mokuba pushed himself up from the table. "No. Just call the car and I'll go home and lay down. There's no need for anything else." He wrapped his scarf tightly around his neck. Why wouldn't she just leave him alone? He was fine. It was only some weird case of the flu or something.

"Are you seeing stars yet?" She asked, standing with him. There wasn't any answer at the mansion...that wasn't good, and she guessed it wasn't normal either.

"No. I'm seeing everything just fine." Which was sort of the truth. He could see everything; it was just all a little hazy. "Look, let's just start back or something. They can pick me up on the way."

She walked closer to him than she had on the way there, in case he began to fall. "How long have you been sick, nimrod?"

"I don't know. For a little while now, I guess. I thought it was just stress, but it's gotten a little worse. That's why I'm working from home right now." He wasn't sure how he felt about her being so close. He knew she was trying to be nice, but it still made him feel uneasy. "And thanks for calling the sick nimrod. Really appreciate it."

"Just testing your hearing. If that starts going, you've probably got bugs burrowed in your brain." She said it with a straight face...mostly. "...Uh, you know if you've been sick more than a week you've probably got something serious?"

That news made him stop and stare at her. "R--Really?" He hadn't really thought about it. It had been so long since he had been ill. "Oh. Well, maybe I'll call the home doctor tomorrow." Maybe.

She shook her head stubbornly. "Nooo, no no. I'm going with to make sure you don't sleep until your fever goes down. If you fall asleep and you're really sick, you could go into a coma or just die."

"No, you don't have to do that." He began walking again, picking up his pace. She couldn't stay with him. No, no, that wouldn't work. Besides, sleep was the best thing for when you were ill. She was just some crazy dead girl who didn't know what she was talking about.

"You want me to just leave you to rot? Or have bugs sprout in your brain? Or drown? Or...or hey, choke on your own vomit?" At this rate, a coma sounded tons better. "How're you going to take over the world if you're dead? It doesn't work, trust me."

"I'm not going to die!" He screamed in her face. Dammit, she was pissing the hell out of him. "Look, you can walk me home, and I'll even let you walk me to my room, but after that I'll be fine. I'll call the doctor tomorrow morning, promise, okay?"

She rolled her eyes. She'd just come back as a spirit and watch over him until he did call a doctor. "Fine. I'll walk you home. And then you call the doctor and then you go to sleep."

Fear flashed in his eyes, but it quickly disappeared as he turned away from her. "Fine, whatever." He continued walking, trying to keep a good distance away from her. By the time they got to the mansion he was exhausted and wished he could just fall asleep on the lawn, but he didn't tell her that. Home, bed, sheets. I'm almost there.

Amane hung back, no longer at his side to catch him. If he fell, it would only prove her point. And if he didn't...well, then good for him. What is it with this family and stubbornness? She wondered, bemused. "Why d'you guys have such a long drive way?"

He looked back at her, surprised she wasn't rushing to catch up. Maybe she was getting the hint. Though she did have a point about the driveway. "Well, because that's what mansions have." He finally made it to the front door, though he wasn't sure if he would be able to for a minute there. And his stomach really wasn't feeling well after that ice cream and long walk. "Could you, uh, help me up the stairs?"

She arched an eyebrow at that, a bit smugly, but didn't say anything. Instead she came to his side and placed his arm over her shoulders, then wrapped her own around his waist. "Ready?"

He startled at the contact, but pushed it aside and nodded. "Yeah." He started up the steps, taking one a time, using the railing for more support. Once he almost stumbled, but he caught himself, thanks to the railing and, he hated to admit it, Amane.

"You're kinda skinny," she said lowly. "Have you lost weight since getting sick?" He stumbled and she reached to catch him with her other hand, but he stopped himself in time. She looked at him uneasily, and waited for him to indicate he was ready to go on.

"You think so? Cool." He'd have to weigh himself tomorrow. He clutched onto her a little more tightly as he started his way up again. "It's the third door on the left," he said softly as they reached the top of the steps.

"Oh, geez..." she groused. "I didn't say it was a good thing. The skeleton look is out." She braced him and helped move him up onto the next step, and then the next. "Don't you ever get tired of having all these rooms? Or do you use them for storage, too?"

Skinny, out? Like that would ever happen. "Yeah, I have clothes and stuff in them. And, you know, if other people come over." Like how Moki was going to move in but didn't. It was probably good he wasn't here, though, or else he'd catch it. "Mansions just have rooms. It's, like, a rule."

Amane chuckled and was a little disturbed that Mokuba's 'rule' logic made sense to her. "So I guess you'd never even consider a simple two-bedroom apartment. What about college? Are you going to go?"

"Apartment? Hey, I'm rich; I won't live in one of those." He yawned. Damn, wasn't he at his room yet? His legs were getting weak underneath him. "No, no college. I'm good at what I do already."

Amane smirked. "You gonna get a wheelchair tomorrow, too? You walk like an old man." Second door now....

Why that...he shoved at her, then realized he had made a terrible mistake as he started falling down. Shit. He flailed and gripped onto her, trying to keep himself from falling. Though, if he fell now, he would finally be laying down.

Amane was pushed away--he was pretty weak, but it was unexpected and he stumbled back a step. Then he started falling, and she had a second where she wanted to watch and laugh, and then the other part of her insisted she do something...so she lunged forward a step and grabbed him, having to hold him in a near bear-hug to keep him from going down. "What'd you do that for?" She demanded.

He stood there frozen in her arms. Tears welled in his eyes and, as much as he wanted them to stay put, they started streaming down his face. Stupid sickness making him ache all over and get emotional. "Just...I just want to lay down," he sniffled out.

Amane wavered and then softened. "Ok, come on...we're almost there anyway..." she pushed his hair away from his neck, figuring it would feel cooler and might help him to feel less miserable for a few seconds; long enough for him to get steady enough to move again. She wished, as she often did, that she had been born a guy--or had taken a man's body--so that she could just lift someone.

He held onto her and wavered as they finally made it to his room. His bed sat there ahead, and he did his best to make it to its blessed comfort as quickly as he could. "Ah," he sighed as he was finally able to sit down. "Wonderful bed."

Amane looked around and found a glass, which she filled with water from Mokuba's bathroom. She set it on the bedside table and folded her arms. "Call a doctor. Or I will. And do it before you go to sleep, so if you don't wake up they won't say it was all your fault."

"Fine." Reaches for the phone but, instead of dialing the doctor's number, dials Isono's room number. "Yes, Doctor Yagami? This is Mokuba. I need you to come over tomorrow to see me. Yes, okay. Nine in the morning, that's fine. Bye." He hangs up the phone and smiles up at her.

She blinked, suspicious but relieved at the same time. "Wow...way co-operative of you. I'm gonna go let Seto know you totally almost face planted in the hall so he can keep an eye on you or listen for your death rattle, though."

"Yeah, whatever." He was glad she bought the lie. It didn't bother him that she was going to tell Seto. He didn't expect his brother to come in anyway. He took off his jacket and climbed under the covers.

"...Take some aspiring or something, too." She waited until he was settled in bed and then waved lightly. "See ya around."

"Bye." He gave a weak wave before setting down and falling asleep.