The sun seemed to shine directly on Seto Kaiba as he walked down a busy old broken-down Brooklyn sidewalk. The teenager regretted wearing long sleeves today, but no one had informed him that it would be well over 80 degrees, so it really wasn't his fault. Besides, If he stopped to change, he'd become late for a meeting , scheduled for 2:30 PM, for KaibaCorp, a relatively unpopular company. If Seto got his way in this meeting, he figured it would become even more prosperous than what it already was.
That is, if he got there on time.
He had twenty minutes to get to a meeting that was probably half an hour away on foot. Seto refused Roland's earlier offer to drive him there. He insisted he could make it if he walked. He had no money on him for a cab, and he'd surely be late if he turned around now to find Roland, who was currently watching Mokuba, who decided to follow Seto on his brief trip to America.
Seto wondered if there were any shortcuts from his current position to the address he had written down on a piece of paper in his pocket. He didn't want to waste any time going the wrong way, so he decided not to risk coming up with a shortcut in his head. He would more than likely end up lost since he didn't know his way around this town.
Making a wrong turn, much to his dismay, Seto found himself in an overgrown alley between two shabby-looking brick apartments. A dumpster sat in solitude against one wall; the garbage inside giving the alley a foul stench.
Sitting next to the dumpster was an upturned wooden milk crate, and atop the crate was a girl who appeared to be about the same age as Seto. She wore dirty dark blue jeans, held up by a pair of belts, and a camouflage tank top. Her light brown hair was stringy; she didn't look like she had bathed in days.
Seto gave her a disgusted look and shortly turned around, not wanting to waste any time.
"Stop," the girl said in a low, growling tone.
Seto heard the girl, as clear as day dispute the busy Brooklyn street beyond them, but he was in a pinch for time. He decided to ignore her. He couldn't stop for whatever this revolting homeless girl wanted.
"I'll shoot you," she said in a bored tone, ,making Seto stop dead in his tracks.
"What?" He hissed, turning around, but froze when he looked back at her.
The girl held a dull silver gun; its odd-shaped barrel was directed right between Seto's pale blue eyes. A solemn dullness in the stranger's dark glare told Seto she wasn't messing around.
The girl didn't move, and neither did Seto. Ten agonizingly long seconds passed before Seto said, "Do you know who I am?"
"Don't care," she said, standing from her spot by the dumpster, not letting the gun's aim waver.
"What do you want?" Seto asked, slowly regaining his composure. He'd had guns aimed at him before, he'd be okay. He always managed to escape without a scratch.
"Got any money?" The girl asked cooly.
"I've got three dollars," The CEO replied honestly.
"Have anything valuable on you?"
"Valuable- like my watch?" Seto asked, glancing at the silver band on his left wrist, which informed him that he had around fifteen minutes to make it to his destination.
"Maybe." The girl took a step towards the boy, the gun still held steadily toward his forehead. "How much is it worth?"
"I don't know, four hundred dollars?" Seto estimated. This watch had been a present, so obviously Seto didn't know the exact price. He hoped his guess was somewhere close to the real price. Even though it was real silver, the watch wasn't very big or flashy. It had just a small, thin band and a nickel-sized face.
"Liz, are you gonna shoot him?" An innocent voice chimed in from a close but unknown location.
Without moving, the girl who was apparently Liz replied, "Patty, we've been over this!" There was a hint of annoyance in her tone "Don't talk. I'll handle it."
"Okay," the voice said cheerily, then fell silent.
"So your name's Liz?" Seto asked.
"Guess I really will have to shoot you now, huh?" Liz asked with a curt eye roll. "It's fine. Patty's low on ammo anyway."
Seto, not bothering to woner how killing him would give anyone ammunition, snuck a glance at his watch.
"I'm going to be so late," he whined, rather childishly.
"Aw, boo," Liz said sarcastically, closing the gap between her and Seto. She changed her aim now, and the cold barrel now rested under Seto's jaw, angled sideways towards his throat.
"What do I have to give you so that you'll let me go?" Seto asked, shifting his gaze to look at the gun below him. It was sleek, gray in color, with three black triangles near the edge. Liz's finger rested calmly on the trigger.
"I could probably sell the watch for something," she mused.
"Take it," Seto said in almost a smug tone. He could just buy himself another if it really mattered.
Seto slipped the watch off his lightly colored skin and held it out to Liz. She looked at the watch, then at Seto, wondering why he was giving the expensive watch away so easily. Clasping her hand on it, she asked,
"Are you serious? Is this real silver? If you're tricking me and I find out later, you can bet your sorry ass that I'll find you."
"I'm sure you will," Seto said, slipping around the brick corner and into the busy city sidewalk, leaving his watch in Liz's dirty hands.
"Alright, Patty," Liz said, pulling up the strap to her tank top. "Let's go. This isn't gonna sell itself..."
"Okay, sis!" Patty said, reverting from her gun form to stand next to her sister. "Oooh, that's shiny," she said, observing the watch.
"Yup," Liz said, sliding it into her pocket.
"Hey Liz?" Patty asked, looking up at her older sister.
"Hm?"
"Do you ever think we'll see that guy again?"
"I don't know," Liz said, lighting a cigarette she had taken from someone's pocket that morning.
"He dresses funny," the younger girl said, looking around the corner at all the people rushing around in the heat.
"Yep," Liz said, leading her sister out of the alley.
A/N:
K: This one's pretty much all mine. I know, it's short, but please review anyway!