Whispers of Chocolate
A St. Valentine's Day Silentshipping Special
Seto (Kaiba) x Shizuka (Serenity)
Just over four years had passed since Kawai Shizuka had returned to Domino City, and although she still lived apart from her brother she was able to see him on a regular basis. With some help from their mother, Jounouchi Katsuya had moved into a small apartment, away from their drunken father, and was working two jobs. During the day he helped sell fish at the market and at night he worked in the back of a bar and café. Shizuka would go out of her way to buy from the market her brother worked at, and she often stopped by his house to give him some food – or to make sure his place was not a complete mess.
Because her head was full of caring for her brother, Shizuka hadn't thought much about the day that was soon approaching. If it wasn't for her school acquaintances she would have completely forgotten about it. However, the week before St. Valentine's Day, she saw a couple of her classmates looking through a magazine about chocolates.
"Oh, this is so cute! I wish I could make these," one of the girls sighed as she pointed to a picture of floral chocolates.
"Are you planning on giving chocolates to someone in particular, Haruka?" another girl asked with a knowing smile.
Haruka blushed like the schoolgirl she was, "Well, I thought I might give something to K-kaiba in year one."
Shizuka looked at her classmate, wondering how many people wanted to give chocolates to the younger Kaiba. She was pretty good friends with Mokuba, after meeting him in the "Battle City" tournament four years prior, and sometimes forgot how popular he was. Unlike his brother, he was rather outgoing, and thus he had been given many gifts during his school years. Some girls had a hard time going after an underclassman, but he was the richest boy in school.
"Do you think he would like my chocolates?" Haruka asked Shizuka, a look of unneeded worry on her face.
"I am sure he would," she responded. Mokuba enjoyed sweets, and she was sure he liked receiving lots of chocolate. Even if he didn't care for a certain piece, he was still polite enough to take some bites, and he would certainly never decline a sincere gift from someone.
She didn't give too much thought of Valentines gifts until a bit after class, when Shizuka saw the younger Kaiba on the school grounds, waiting for his chauffer. "Hi, Mokuba, did you have a good day?"
He beamed at her, "Yeah! Some girls in my class were talking about making chocolates for Valentine's Day. That's next week, right? I'm getting my stomach ready."
Shizuka giggled at her friend. She could picture him organizing his sweets and preparing them all to be eaten. "I suppose I shouldn't make you any, since you'll have too much."
"No way! I missed yours last year because we weren't in the same school. You make great chocolates, Shizuka."
"You know I make the same as everyone else. I'm sure you get a lot of really fine chocolate."
"I'm not picky, I like them all."
"How about your brother, should I make him some?" Shizuka gave obligatory chocolates to all of her friends, but she wondered each year if she should actually make some for the older Kaiba.
Mokuba unexpectedly froze when Shizuka asked him that question. Rather than laughing it off and telling her he didn't care for sweets – not that she knew whether he did or not – he seemed to be deep in thought.
"Are you okay? I was just thinking out loud…"
"No, no, this is perfect!" his smile grew almost too big for his face as he looked at her, "I didn't realize, but this is great! He really needs someone…"
Shizuka wasn't sure what Mokuba was going on about, but she had a bad feeling that he had taken her words the wrong way. "Mokuba, I-"
As she tried to explain herself to the hyper boy he caught sight of the black car and his chauffer. He dashed off towards the car, still stuck in his own world, "See you later, Shizuka, and don't worry, I'll take care of things!"
She was now rather worried about what he was going to do, but she didn't have the courage to yell at or run after him. Instead, she watched the car drive away and started on her way home, wondering why she had said anything about his brother in the first place.
Kaiba Seto was a very busy man, even though he was only twenty-one years old. With National Foundation Day just around the corner, the work load was even heavier than usual. Still, no matter how busy he was, he always welcomed his younger brother into his office. Unfortunately, his brother was being rather noisy at the moment. Mokuba was usually very respectful of his brother, and knew when to keep quiet and to himself, but today it seemed as if he had forgotten about such manners.
"I'm just saying, brother, that you should think about finding someone."
It seemed that Mokuba was trying to convince his brother to date someone, though Seto couldn't figure why today, of all days, he was being so insistent about the matter. "Mokuba, you know that I am far too busy to think of such things." It was an excuse, really, because Seto had presently no interest in finding someone. Perhaps his brother would let it go if he thought it impossible at the moment.
Apparently Mokuba was not about to give up. "You'll be much busier if you never get with someone. What will you do when you get old and have no heir? Really, I would have thought that you would have considered this. You want to keep KaibaCorp in the family, don't you?"
Seto cursed himself for picking up interest in Mokuba's blabbering. He had previously considered what would happen to the corporation, of course. "I'll get an arranged marriage, probably as a merger to another company."
Mokuba pursed his lips and tried a different tactic, "I'd have to approve of the girl, you know, or I'd make sure you never get married."
"Then you can take over KaibaCorp."
"Sure, and run it into the ground the same year I take it over. You know that won't work. Come on, Seto, just try going out with someone, and if it really doesn't work out, then I'll leave you alone," Mokuba was lying, of course.
After a long day of work and an hour of an annoying brother, Seto was too tired to keep fighting, but he tried one last thing, "I don't know anyone to go out with."
Mokuba smiled, making Seto wish he had never let his brother into his office. "Go out with the first girl to give you something on Valentine's Day."
Seto begrudgingly agreed, but was a bit happy on the inside. He hadn't received a Valentine's since high school. A plan quickly formed in his mind, "Okay, Mokuba, but if I don't get any Valentine's gifts, then you'll have to leave me alone."
"Okay, big brother," Mokuba still had the same uncomforting smile on; he couldn't wait to see Shizuka's reaction when she was asked out by his brother.
"Mother, can I get some chocolate tomorrow?" Shizuka was fixing herself some butter and toast before school, after reading a newspaper article about marketing and Valentine's chocolate.
"As long as it doesn't cost too much," her mother replied as she finished rolling some rice for her daughter's lunch. "And get some sun-dried fish when you visit your brother."
"Do we still have the molds I used last year?"
"What?"
"For the chocolate; do we still have the molds I used last year?"
"I don't see why we wouldn't."
After finishing off her toast, Shizuka looked through the cupboards until she found the little heart-shaped molds. Perhaps she should get circular ones as well; hearts could be a bit embarrassing. Mai, Anzu, and Shizuka's girlfriends wouldn't mind heart shapes, but Shizuka wondered if Honda or Otogi would take it the wrong way. She was sure Mokuba, Yuugi, and Bakura wouldn't mind either way. It would probably be cheaper to just use the heart shapes. Rather than getting a new mold she could get some food dye. Her brother had been wearing a bit of blue lately, so she could get that. She imagined how it would be in the future after she had gotten a job and made some money; she could make fancy chocolates for her brother and her friends to enjoy. Her thoughts brought a smile to her face and she realized why her classmates loved this time of the year so much.
Classes went by smoothly that day, though Shizuka kept wondering about Mokuba's reaction the prior afternoon. She was hoping to talk to the boy after school in order to settle his misconception about why she had mentioned his brother. She approached him after finding that he was in the same place as the day before, once again waiting for his chauffer.
Shizuka ran up to him, "Hey, Mokuba, I wanted to talk to you," she breathed, trying to not only catch her breath, but figure out how to politely tell him she was not romantically interested in his brother.
"Oh, Shizuka! Don't worry, my brother is happily awaiting your chocolates." It wasn't exactly true, but Mokuba didn't want her to be afraid to give Seto a gift – he knew his brother was a hard person for many to face.
Shizuka's heart fell. Kaiba Seto wanted to receive her chocolates? There was no way she could not give him any now; she couldn't imagine what he would do if he didn't get what he wanted. "Oh… Um…" How could she give chocolates to that man? The only good thing she knew about the older Kaiba was that he was kind to kids, namely his brother. Otherwise he was a cold-hearted stuck-up rich guy – she had heard enough about him from her brother. There was no way he would happily receive her cheap chocolates, even though Mokuba said he was "happily awaiting" them. Her heart started pounding as she stressed over this predicament.
"Don't worry about the quality, my brother probably doesn't know the difference between good and bad chocolates anyways," Mokuba comforted his friend, not realizing how much anxiety he had caused in the first place.
"Fresh sardines, only 700 yen a kilogram!"
"Salmon, just caught, only 1000 yen a kilogram!"
The fish market was as loud as usual, and just as smelly. The first time Shizuka had visited the market she had been at a loss of what to do. Finally she had heard her brother's voice, yelling out about some good deal. The same thing happened each time she went, though by now she knew where to go to find him right away.
"Big Alaska Pollock, only 250 yen a kilo- oh, hey, Shizuka," Jounouchi had been waving a Pollock, not yet cut and cleaned, as he called out the price to the market. He promptly placed the fish in its cooler and rushed to give his little sister a giant hug.
Shizuka knew she would smell like fish for the rest of the day, but she didn't care; she felt so safe when she was around her brother. "Hey, big brother, how are you doing today?"
"The air is so fresh today, it's great!" he grinned.
"Aren't you cold? You're never wearing a jacket when I see you."
"Nah, all this work keeps me warm. Did ya want some fish today?"
Shizuka was still worried about her brother catching a cold, but she knew that even if she convinced him to put on a jacket that he would take it off once she left. "Mom wants some sun-dried fish, probably some mackerel."
"Hey, Itou, what do we have for himono today?" Jounouchi called out to an older man behind the stall.
"I hear you want mackerel. We got some nice stuff, hold on, girly," the man, Jounouchi's boss, was used to Shizuka coming and buying from his stall, so he was always happy to sell her some fish, and give a little bit extra.
"Oh, Jounouchi, I have some rice balls for you." Shizuka grabbed a little bag from her handbag and handed it to her brother. "There should be five balls in there."
"Thank you, Shizuka!" he grabbed the bag and unwrapped one of the balls. After a little lick of his lips he devoured the piece in an instant. Shizuka was glad to see that her brother had not yet lost his appetite; she often worried that he would work himself to death, but he was a rather healthy person.
She didn't want to leave her brother so soon, but Shizuka knew she shouldn't bother him at work for too long. She bought some fish from his stall and headed off to the grocery store. At the store she bought some vegetables and coffee, and headed for the sweets. There were a lot of specials on chocolate and little heart-shaped knick-knacks. Shizuka grabbed a bar of milk chocolate and a package of blue-colored chocolate.
I guess Kaiba would like blue as well.Shizuka thought, as she remembered that she would be making some for him this year. It's just obligatory chocolate, it doesn't mean anything… She let out a deep sigh before placing the chocolate in her basket. It wasn't that she didn't like the older Kaiba, but he was just such a scary person.
The Kaiba brothers went out to eat at a nice restaurant once a week, usually on a Sunday, so that they could have a meal together and talk. After Seto and Mokuba had eaten their meal, and Mokuba had ordered his chocolate parfait dessert, the younger brother mentioned St. Valentine's Day. Seto had forgotten about the deal they had made a few days prior, and was not pleased to know that his brother had remembered.
"So, what are you doing Friday? Are you going to be in the office all day?"
"Of course I am. I cannot disregard the company."
Mokuba pouted, though his brother had given the answer that he had expected. He tried to think of a way to get his brother to leave the office so that Shizuka could give him her chocolates. A thought popped into his head, a childishly perfect idea that he was sure would get his brother out of the office.
Seto was feeling rather confident in himself at the moment, sure that Friday would go by just like any other day and his brother would hopefully stop complaining for a bit. Both brothers were sure that they had won over the other, and as such both were in good moods.
The following days went by in such a way, with both anticipating the outcome of Friday. As the week went on, Seto forgot about the whole issue, and continued on with business as usual. On Friday he went to work as usual, he dealt with fellow businessmen and noticed a couple of chocolates on some of the worker's desks. It was normal, especially for the younger employees, to give out obligation chocolates, but once again no one had dared to give any to Seto. He was completely fine with this, and had it not been for the chocolates reminding him of Mokuba's complaints, he would not have thought any more about them.
Towards the end of the day, as Seto was back in his usual private office, the older Kaiba noticed that his brother had not yet shown up. Mokuba often visited on Fridays, deciding to talk with – or at – his brother rather than starting his homework. Seto was curious as to why Mokuba was absent today. He was sure that he would have appeared to annoy Seto about finding a girl, if for no other reason. But it was Valentine's Day, and perhaps Mokuba had chosen to stop worrying about his brother and had gone out on his own date – he was at that age after all, though Seto rarely admitted it to himself.
With a sigh common to those in the workforce, Kaiba started packing up some papers into his briefcase. He still had a few hours left until he would be going home, but he liked to organize some of his things whenever he got up. Right now he had to take a washroom break, but as he went to his personal lavatory he found the door to be locked. He tried the handle a couple of times before noticing a sign stuck to the door, just below his eye-level. He could not recall when the sign had been placed there, but he knew immediately who had done it.
After letting out a groan, Seto spun around and headed for the lobby lavatory, leaving his own, which was apparently "closed for cleaning". Unfortunately, the next washroom he tried was locked as well. He wanted to break the door down, but he kept a calm composure and headed for the elevator. There was no way Mokuba would have locked every washroom in the building.
It had been a long time since Shizuka had been out by herself this late. The day had gone well, and she had met with her brother and his friends after school. Her chocolates were packaged neatly and each receiver was happy to get a box of sweets. She had been given some from Anzu as well, and she was sure that she would get some from Mai when they met up the next day. It had been a pleasant experience, and Jounouchi had been as suspicious as usual when Shizuka had given chocolates to the boys. He kept a careful eye on each one and made sure they didn't smile more than necessary.
Earlier that day Shizuka had given a box of chocolates to Mokuba, who had been waiting for his chauffer with a bag full of other people's presents. Despite the number of chocolates he had already been given, he was still very happy to receive Shizuka's gift. The girl then proceeded to try and give him his brother's gift, but he quickly refused. To Shizuka's dismay, he said he would not take them and that she had to give them to him herself. He told her to wait for his brother at Snowdrop Café, which was opposite the street from KaibaCorp. Of course, Shizuka protested against doing so, but he would not change his mind, and eventually scurried away to his ride.
Mokuba had told Shizuka to meet Seto around 8:00 that night. After hours of telling herself that she wouldn't go, Shizuka finally gave in and walked to the café. She kept thinking back to Mokuba saying that his brother was "happily awaiting" her chocolates. Although she wondered if it was true, she hated to think what would happen if he really was waiting for her gift and she didn't give it to him.
Now, however, she wondered if she really should have come. It was 8:30 and he had yet to show. She looked down at her little package of chocolates that sat on the table in front of her and wondered how silly she looked sitting alone in the café. As it was St. Valentine's Day, there were many couples spread throughout the shop, along with several decorations reminding Shizuka how alone she was at the moment.
Finally, Shizuka spotted the older Kaiba as he passed by the front window and opened the door. He scanned the area, glaring at all of the couples, but he seemed to look right past Shizuka. He walked up to the front counter and ordered some type of drink before heading off to the washroom.
Shizuka was unsure about what she should do. Had Kaiba really not seen her? Should she go up to him, then?
She thought for sure that once he had come back out of the washroom and grabbed his drink that he would look around for her. However, he didn't take even a second to look around the café. Instead, he grabbed his drink, which had apparently been ordered to go, and headed straight for the door.
Confused, Shizuka grabbed her gift and hurried out after him. He was waiting for traffic to pass so that he could cross the street, giving Shizuka a chance to catch up to the man. "Mr. Kaiba!" she called out, trying to get his attention.
He turned sharply, having heard his name. He glared at Shizuka at first, though his face lightened by a touch as she neared him. Perhaps he remembered that she was friends with his younger brother.
"Kaiba, I am sorry, you must have not seen me," Shizuka used formal speak, intimidated by Kaiba's daunting form.
"No, I did not," he spoke abruptly, as if he wished for her to say her piece and leave.
"Well, um…" she held up the little box of chocolates as an embarrassing amount of red colored her face, "P-please accept these."
He looked shocked at first, but he hastily grabbed the package. "Don't tell Mokuba about this…"
"Mokuba already knows…" Shizuka wondered if Kaiba realized that his brother knew about all this. She was a little happy, though, to think that he was too embarrassed to tell his brother about wanting a gift from her.
After a second of him glaring down at the package, he looked at her, making direct eye contact. He swallowed, preparing his words, before speaking aloud. "Would you have dinner with me?"
A/N: As this is my favorite pairing and I have ended this with a bit of a cliff hanger, I do think I will add onto this, though I have not decided whether I will add more chapters or make a new story. Thank you for reading through this, and I do hope that you enjoyed it.