Tea's Prov~
I glance at my watch for the about the tenth time that evening. Good, I still had time. Yugi had called earlier that morning, saying something had come up and I should meet him at the Center Plaza ten o'clock sharp. He sounded strangely urgent, and when I'd pressed him he said he had to go and hung up. That seemed pretty weird, not like Yugi at all.
Crossing the street I paused to adjust my white shirt, which had ridden up to an uncomfortable position on my legs showing more thigh than I would have liked, even with red knee-high socks. The only reason why I had chosen to wear it was because Yugi once had commented on it, even though I normally wouldn't go for short shirts. My red top was moderate, a neckline that ended just below the collarbone and ended just above the elbows, flaring out slightly with dark crimson string looped around in a bow at the edges.
A breeze blew my short brown hair around my face, and I rapped my arms around myself, shivering. I cast nervous glances towards the buildings surrounding me. To me they were as tall and menacing as giant monsters, looming silently above the city casting long dark shadows that moved with the wind, as if to grab unexpecting pray and drag them into the darkness. I walked faster, my white platform ankle boots clunking loudly on the road, echoing off the buildings like mocking laughter.
A sigh of relief washed over me when I finally reached the plaza with minutes to spare. The wide area was always well lit at nighttimes so I felt a little bit better; even if the light wasn't very bright it still beat the dark stretches in between lights when you walked along the street. I glanced around nervously and shivered again.
Now that I was standing still the breeze from earlier that day seemed to increase in intensity, and with the sun down it made the air feel all that more cold despite the fact that it was nearly June. The edges of the courtyard were still full of dark shadows where the streetlamps light couldn't quite reach out all the way. The shadows seemed sinister and dangerous in the cool darkness between the buildings, lots of places for things to hide and wait. It would be best to stay away from those areas.
At first I didn't see him when I stopped at a huge water fountain that was the main piece of scenery and served as a center point for the plaza. It was a good place to meet someone and often time's people crowded around the angle, her long hair wild and fanning out from her body as if blown by an unseen wind.
In her small hands was a jug that fed the fountain its clear, blue water in a constant stream. There were also several other places water could fall into a vast pool, such as through spouts lining the edges of the fountain, releasing sudden bouts of water, streaming in what seemed like irregular intervals, but if you watched them long enough you could see a patter. The crystal water also ran off her naked back between two large outstretched wings, as if she were captured in mid-flight.
Even though I'm against nudity I've never been bothered by the angle fountain statue. Something about the way her expression always looked so innocent and gentle, yet somehow confident and modest at the same time, even though she was completely bare of clothing. It was as if she came from a different time, a time when nobody had to care about the embarrassment of whether or not you had clothes on, simply because no one care and no one judged.
I longed to be like the angle, more confident in myself and carefree, not a shy eighteen year old that could barely stand to look at myself naked in the mirror without blushing. Or stammering when they make us get up in front of the class to say some speech about this, or a poem about that.
Glancing around the deserted plaza I raised my hand to check my pink digital watch when movement caught my attention. There, nestled between two little downtown shops was what looked to be like a figure standing in the darkness of the two building's shadows, away from the streetlight's dim rays. I froze where I stood, squinting in the dull light. Should I call out? I thought to myself. What if it's Yugi who's standing there? And what if it's not, the reasonable part of my brain asked. If you call out to them, and it turns out not to be Yugi, what then? There's no one around, nobody hangs around the plaza at this time of day, of course except…
Except for perverts, and psycho ax murderers. I sighed. There was no use in giving myself a total freak out, but better safe than sorry. I'll just have to tell Yugi that I couldn't make it, or something like that. He'd understand. Besides, what could be so important that it couldn't wait until tomorrow, anyway? Turning around I started to make my way hurryingly back towards home, just in case the dark shadow did happen to be someone with evil intensions, and that's when some one call out to me.
"Tea," beckoned a voice from unseen places. I jumped, but stopped walking, unsure of what to do.
I hesitated for a moment before calling out, "W-who's there? Yugi, is that you?" Looking around me I couldn't see anyone who seemed ready to grab to and drag me off to who knows where, as I half expected, but both the plaza and its surrounds appeared free of crazy stalkers at the moment. Nonetheless my hand clutched my purse tightly in anticipation. Because if somebody did try to attack me I'd be ready to use it as an offering and high tail it as soon as they were distracted, or a club, whichever was the best method of escape if worst came to worst.
When I was sure nothing was going to jump out from some dark corner and harm me I took a better look around. Taking a second look I saw that what I had earlier mistaken the first time while briefly overlooking the area for a darker shadow in between the two shops was in actuality, a person. They appeared to be standing against a chain link fence, not moving, or talking to somebody on a cell phone, or even smoking a cigarette. They simply stood there in the almost complete darkness, doing nothing at all. It was really kind of creepy.
I remembered the voice that had called my name. Surly the person who was standing there could be…he wouldn't…
"Yugi, are you over there?" I asked again, this time towards the figure. They moved slightly, as proof of a soft rustle of metal on metal, like metallic rainfall. I tensed; ready to run at a moments notice if it was some kind of trick or trap.
The quite tinkering of the chain links could be heard in the short silence that followed, before it was interrupted by an equally quite voice.
"Yes it's me, Yugi. Come over here, I want to tell you something." I felt my body relax and the air from my held breath come out in a whoosh of relief at the sound of Yugi's voice. Although I couldn't help notice a difference in his voice as I walked towards him, my boots clunking the whole way. He sounded funny, and if I have to say he almost sounded, mad, impatient, irritated? Maybe, or maybe not.
I checked my watch again. Yugi couldn't possible be mad for me being a little late, could he? The watch said five after ten, so I could almost rule out time. But if not that, then why else would he have a reason to be angry? Was it something I did, or said? As I walked off the pavement and onto the soft grass I was swallowed by utter darkness. I almost panicked for a heart pounding moment, but then calmed down when my eyes adjusted to the dim light.
I had just reached the spot next to Yugi under a willowy tree when he said suddenly and completely out of the blue, catching me off guard.
"I can't do this anymore." Yugi said. He was leaning against the chain link fence, arms crossed over his chest. His face was partially covered in shadow, concealing his expression. Streetlights shown dimly overhead, lighting the area around us with pale yellow low watt light, dulled by a film of bugs and milky with years of neglected cleaning. I stared at him, not quite grasping what he was saying.
"I'm not sure I understand." I said after I found my voice, my eyebrows drawn together into an anxious frown. There was a funny sputtering in my chest, like a butterfly had been set on fire and was beating madly at my ribcage in a frantic and futile attempt at escape. Yugi sighed, pushing himself away from the fence with a soft clang of chain links. He closes his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a frustrated breath.
I shifted my purse to keep it from slipping off my shoulder, not noticing that my fingernails were digging into the soft alabaster leather.
"Yugi I" I began, but he cut me off.
"Listen, I'll put this bluntly," Yugi opened his eyes and looked right at me. "I don't want to see you anymore." I couldn't move, my body refused to do anything but just stand there. It took me a moment before I could get anything out.
"Why?" I finally was able to choke out through my throat that suddenly felt like it had been rubbed raw with sand paper and chased with salt. I could hear the hurt and confusion in my voice as hot tears were already beginning to gab at my eyes with painful stings.
Yugi raised an eyebrow; his face cruelly blank, "Why?" he echoed, crossing his arms over his chest again like he didn't know what to do with them.
"Well, first of all, you're too depressing to be with. The only reason why I even dated you was because you were always so bubbly and optimistic. But now look at you," he motioned at me with his hand. The action seemed strangely violent. "All you ever do is mope around all the time. You never want to go anywhere or do anything," he said, running his hands through his wild spiky hair. The bracelets around his pale wrist jingled, flashing gold and silver in the streetlight.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing, it can't be true. Yugi wouldn't…he wouldn't breakup with me! This wasn't happening.
"So what are you saying?" I blurted through my tears. I could already feel the hiccups coming, they always did whenever I got emotional, like right now. "Are you really breaking up with me?" My voice broke. My throat felt as dry and rough as sandpaper.
Yugi sighed, a long cleansing breath as if he were trying to suppress anger. "I'm sorry," he said, shaking his head. "I've tried for months to turn this relationship around, I really have." He said this as if to dismiss himself from any blame, as if it where all my fault. He made it sound like an adult lecturing a child about a bad habit they had done, even when told again and again not to. "But there's only so much I can do."
My heart pounded in my chest, in my ears. Suddenly my hands were shaking uncontrollably and I began to sway where I stood. I reached out a desperate hand and grabbed a handful of Yugi's dark blue shirt.
"Then tell me what I can do," I cried, looking up at him right in the eye and flinched. His dark purple eyes, normally full of kindness and understanding were now distant and closed, staring down at me emotionless. When had that happened? Had I really not noticed such a drastic change in my own boyfriend, in my best friend?
He continued to stare at me with those cold dead eyes, roughly jerking my grip with a shrug of his shoulder. The empty space between us felt strangely cold. A cold that seeped it's way into me, under my skin and into my bones, as chilly as Yugi's eyes as they shone cruelly in the streetlight, bright and big as glowing orbs.
"Yugi…" My voice hung in the air, flat and dead as a fish left to rot in the baking summer sun.
"It's over Tea." His tone was final, cutting through the night air like a knife. I'm not sure if I would have been more alarmed if he'd slapped me, the pain would still be there. It sure felt like a physical sting. He turned around and started walking away, just like that, leaving me standing in the darkness all alone.
No, it can't end like this! It was never supposed to be like this! He was just going to walk away, just like that? No goodbye? No apology, or at least a real one. Not even a possibility of working it out?
The tears ran freely now, running down my face and onto the grass where they hit the soft ground with little plops. My vision got a little blurry. I clenched my fists into balls of frustration, rejection, and fear. They shook along with the rest of my body, as anger suddenly and violently built its way up, bubbling at my throat. That anger gave me courage.
"So what!" I surprised myself by yelling at his turned back. "You're not even going to try and fix it! How much does our friendship mean to you, huh? We were best friends. I thought that all those years together would at least add up to something?!" I was screeching now, not caring if anybody heard. Tears hit the ground beneath me, sounding like harsh rainfall to my ears.
Yugi turned around slowly. I couldn't see his face from here, but I could hear his voice. "Fix it?" he snorted. "Get this, Tea." Yugi sneered. I gasped. In all my years of knowing him, not once had Yugi ever said my name like that, like he didn't care if he hurt me.
"Believe me," he laughed without humor. "I've tried to fix it, but I learned that that doesn't go very far. You need both people to cooperate, and you haven't so much as tried. Did you actually expect me to do everything in this relationship? I'm not the one who wrecked it, you are." He snarled, point a finger sharply at me. I took a step back, my anger fading as quickly as it had come, only to be replaced with an unbearable sense of betrayal.
"How can you say that? Why are you being so mean all of a sudden?" I accused. "What about our promise? Have you forgotten that too, as well as kindness? We promised to stick with each other, back at Duelist Kingdom…"
"That doesn't matter to me anymore." I nearly choked. This wasn't my Yugi at all, he was completely different. The Yugi I knew would never say things like this. He would never…
"Those are just childish promises and hopeful dreams," continued Yugi in that cutting alien voice. "I've realized long ago that the world doesn't work that way, nothing's all perfect and neat and tied in a little white bow. I thought you of all people should know that much by now." A sob finally found its way to the surface of my throat as my knees gave out and I collapsed onto the soft grass.
He had to bring that up. I thought that I said not to talk about it, not ever. Even though it had been nearly six months now, that didn't mean that it was early enough yet to mention the accident. It was still as raw as if it had happened yesterday, and to bring it up now of all times…
"Goodbye Tea, don't follow me," he paused for a moment and then added. "As of this moment we are not longer together, don't feel like you have to call, in fact I'd appreciate it if you didn't." Then I heard footsteps as he walked away. I couldn't see him as he walked away, tears were clouding my vision. My eyes felt as though somebody had used one of those eyedroppers, but instead of the solution it that clears your eyes it was filled with acid, burning and blinding me.
"No, don't go." My voice was just a strangled whisper as I lay on the grass that was quickly becoming damp with my own tears. Suddenly I couldn't stay here any longer, not in the plaza, not the place where my best friend and once boyfriend had ripped out my heart, and just for the fun of it stomped it into the ground.
"This is a dream, that's all. A very bad nightmare." I whispered to myself. It's all just a bad dream. I fell asleep waiting for Yugi, I thought to myself. Yeah, that's it! This is all a bad dream, and when I wake up everything will be right, as it should be. Yugi will still be my boyfriend…
As I climbed shakily to my feet, heart pounding wildly I knew in the back of my mind that I was lying to myself. That didn't stop me from spinning around and running in the opposite direction he had gone. Right then I didn't want to see his face or hear his name uttered ever again, it would be too much. I'm sure what was left of my broken heart would shatter and fall apart until there was nothing left but the pain of loss and a shattered dream of a promised friendship.
Even though I couldn't see anything in front of me I continued on running, and didn't care where I ended up as long as it was anyplace away from him.
I didn't notice the curb until I had already fallen over it. The sudden drop-off caught me off guard, and sent me flying forward where I smashed into the pavement. My skin burned where the rough surface of the road bit cruelly into it, scarping off soft skin with an angry swipe.
I don't know how long I stayed there, lying in the middle of the street with tears and probably snot running down my face with my check against the pavement. It could have been minutes, or hours, but the next thing I knew white light were blinding me, followed immediately by a loud sound that hurt my ears. I identified the sound as the high-pitched screech of car brakes.
A car? I thought slowly to myself, my mind struggling to understand. But you can't die in a dream, right?
That was the last thing I remember before everything went black.
Kaiba's Prov~
Mokuba was talking but I barely heard him. What I was thinking about had nothing to do with my little brother, or revolved remotely close to birthday parties. My brain only had one thing in mind, and was that I would rather be anywhere else other than here, sitting in a car at eleven o'clock on a Monday evening when work could be getting done. I shifted impatiently in my seat, the soft blue leather not making so much as a squeak by the sudden change in weight. Good leather never did.
Actually, I knew exactly what I would rather be doing at that particular moment, and that is sitting at home in my favorite cushioned chair with a bottle of Tylenol. I brought my fingers up to my temples, which were pounding like crazy from a more than usually stressful day at work. Giving up when that didn't work I leaded my head against the cool glass of the window, seeing as that would do a better job than me pressing my fingers against my throbbing forehead. But of course, as the day would have it, instead of making my headache better the view I was getting from outside the window at all the passing build only proved in making it worse.
No, not Tylenol, I thought to myself. You need something much stronger than that. Like downing a few shots of scotch, then some Tylenol.
"So what do you think?" I blinked. With a small groan I opened my eyes slowly, letting them adjust gradually to the light. Glancing up from the window Mokuba's big blue eyes came into view in the semidarkness, his eyes trained on my face with a hopeful expression.
I was slightly taken aback by what I saw. I realized that this was the first time I'd looked at my brother, really looked at him in who knows how long, months? The wild black hair around his not so round face wasn't quite so unruly as it used to be, sticking up at odd directions in black tuffs. Today it was neatly combed back, a silky smooth wave that fell past his shoulders, which I noticed with a slight shock that Mokuba's shoulders were starting to fill out, becoming broader instead of thin and narrow.
Even his arms and legs had gotten somehow longer, loosing their childish pudginess. All in all he had the look of an up and coming thin faced, lanky limbed, broad shouldered adolescent. Well, I reminded myself with a slight twinge of sadness that he was almost thirteen years old. Almost a teenager.
Somehow he'd grown up without me noticing it, nearly half his childhood… You just haven't taken the time to notice, accused a part of my brain. A part I liked not to think about too much, let alone listen to. I dismissed the thought as quickly as it had come. It was stupid anyway.
Turning my attention back to Mokuba I gave him what I hoped to be an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry Mokuba," I said, my voice slightly muffled by my hand as I rubbed it across my face, making me wince. It was beginning to have the same feel as a brick, think and heavy. "What were you saying?"
There was a moment of silence before he replied. "Well, I was just wondering what we were going to do, you know, for my birthday. I thought that maybe we could do something."
I sighed. "Look Mokuba, I'm kind of tired right now, ok? How about we have this conversation in the morning when I can actually think?" I knew that I was being an ass, but the pounding in my head was making me cranky.
Mokuba look down at his lap frowning, trying to compose his face. "Oh, ok. Whatever you say Seto." His voice didn't sound as grown up as he tried to make it, and I was about to say something in an attempt to cheer him up when suddenly the driver cried out through the tinted dividing glass.
"What the hell!" That was our only warning before a harsh high-pitched sound reached our ears that belonged to the car's breaks.
Suddenly Mokuba and I were pitched roughly forward from the abrupt hauling vehicle. Instead of feeling the jarring jolt and sharp bite of a seatbelt I was propelled forward even further than Mokuba, whose belt caught him. The strain of the belt made it appear as if it would snap him in two, but an instant later he fell back against his seat like a coiled spring, no permanent harm done.
I wasn't stopped by any seatbelt, because I never wore one. Instantly I regretted my lack of following the rules of road safety as I slammed face first into the glass window. It was the little tinted window that they put in almost all limos to divide the driver from the rider, a window built with reinforced glass a quarter of an inch thick.
My head bounced off the smooth hard surface, and I landed back against my seat with a hard slap of leather, dazed and momentarily confused.
"Seto!" Mokuba's voice was muted by an explosion that sent out a bright burst of pain like fireworks that inside my head. I would have gladly had my original headache back now. A shaky breath between clenched teeth sounded like a hissing snake as the air was forced through my lips, I cursed under my breath.
"Seto!" Again Mokuba said, his voice full of concern and fear. He reached for my arm, but I moved away from him and leaned forward towards the blacked out window. From the corner of my eye I could see Mokuba's face crumple, and watched as he slumped back against the dark leather seats. At that moment he did not look like an almost thirteen year old, but a small child who had been banished to sitting in a corner, rejected and forgotten.
As much as I hated to do so I turned away from my sulking little brother and gave a furious pound on the smoky glass, the rap in rhythm with the throbbing in my head. Right now I had bigger things to worry about than my brother's emotional state.
"Why the hell have we stopped?!" I snarled through the glass divider, knowing the diver heard every word. There was a moment of silence. I think I felt a vain in my forehead pulse.
The driver's reply came in a rush. "I'm sorry sir! I didn't even see, I don't know what"
"Tell me what happened! And don't make me wait!" I snapped, getting angrier by the minute.
"Well, I was turning the corner," the diver blurted, sounding nervous. My eyes narrowed in suspicion as ideas flew through my head.
We better not have hit something, like a dog. The last thing I needed was a screwed up car, all because my drive was either too old or stupid not to run it over, or both. I knew I should have fired him when he almost ran over the shrubbery by the drive last week.
"And she came was just there." He was saying. I froze.
"Can you repeat that for me?" I asked in an icy tone. Another pause of silence. My hand was raised to bang on the glass again when he coughed out.
"I didn't even see her until I turned," said the diver defensively.
"Her? Are you trying to tell me that you RAN OVER someone?!" I shouted at the glass, my breath fogging up the surface like a silent ghost. The ideas of lawsuits where going through my head. Of course the girl would want to sue, playing her injuries to the up most full extent, probably getting thousands, if not millions of dollars, or more. God, and all I wanted to do was just get home.
"Not run over, sir. The girl was already lying in the road…" he muttered.
I breathed out a huge sigh of relief.
"There's a girl out there?" Mokuba perked up in his seat, looking very much like a puppet brought to life.
"No, there's not." I snapped at him. "Stay in here." To the driver I instructed, "Take us home, now," I growled when the car continued to remain stationary.
"But sir, what about the"
"Are you deaf? I said to take up home." My patience was wearing thin. Mokuba shifted beside me in the seat, probably trying to get a better look out the window.
The car did not move. "But" began the man in front, but I cut him off.
"The girl is not our problem," my voice was a practiced calm. "Now I won't ask you again, and don't make me come up there and drive myself, because you'll soon find yourself without a job since you seem to be too much of a moron to drive a car."
Reluctantly the car inched its way forward, and I settled back against the seats with a frustrated sigh.
"We can't just leave her!" Piped Mokuba beside me. My teeth gritted together as I controlled my angry, and instead of shouting like I wanted to I spoke with a precise slowness.
"Yes, Mokuba, we can and we will. She doesn't concern us. She's not our problem." Breath, just breath Seto. That's it, I took a deep breath, nice and slow. Stay calm.
"Seto," squeaked Mokuba, who was gazing out the window with wide frantic eyes. His hands were placed on the glass as he smashed his face against the window for a better look, but with little success. My hand grabbed his arm in a tight grip when I saw his hand move towards the door handle.
"What do you think you're doing?!" I hissed at him. He turned up to look at me, his big blue eyes pleading.
"Come on Seto, you know we can't just leave someone laying in the middle of the street! What if some hit her, we almost did!" He persuaded, his eyes widening even more. "What if she's hurt?!"
My lips came together in an angry line. "It's not our job to help her," I tried to explain to my little brother. "If she wasn't smart enough to think before she decided that the street would be a good place to lay down and take a nap then"
"But what if it wasn't her fault?" Mokuba was close to tears.
Why the hell can't this kid take a hint? God would this night ever end for me? With your luck probably no time soon.
"Look," I said to my little brother, "it would do us any good to get involved with her, it would only cause problems."
"But Seto"
"Mokuba!" He stopped, sensing the warning in my voice that I was in no mood for playing around. He opened his mouth like he wanted to say more but immediately closed it and looked down, his black hair falling like an impenetrable wall so I couldn't see his expression.
I studied him for a moment before letting go of my hold on his arm and sat back heavily against the soft seats. My eyes closed, and I concentrated on nothing at all. The car had become quiet, and a shift in the seat could be heard next to me. All at once the silence was shattered be the recognizable alarm of an opened door. My eyes instantly flew open and I glanced over, already knowing what to expect.
The seat next to me was empty, and the door stood wide-open, revealing the dark night outside. Cool air drifted in through the door, carrying with it the promise of rain and the soft scent of spring flowers.
"Shit!" I leaned over the seat, gripping the doorframe with both hands and stuck my head outside into the cool night. At first everything was dark, but my eyes soon adjusted to the near darkness and I saw them.
The car's headlights, a bindingly bright strip of cone shaped light that cut through the darkness like it wasn't even there, illuminated the two figures. Mokuba was low to the ground, crouched over a form that lay unmoving on the hard pavement. He seamed to be studying the figure intently.
"Mokuba, what the hell are you doing?!" I yelled at him. "I told you not to bother with her! Now get back in the car." He didn't seem to respond, or even notice the fact that I had yelled at him, he simply sat there gazing at the girl like he was trying to figure out a puzzle. This made me angry.
"I said get the hell back in this car. NOW!" Still nothing. I was just about ready to scream something else, something a little more unpleasant, when suddenly Mokuba looked up.
"I know who this is Seto." Mokuba told me, his eyes bright and a little frightened. I grit my teeth together.
"I don't care if you know her Mokuba, just get back in the damned c"
"It's Tea."
This made my frown. Tea, the name sounded vaguely familiar. Who was she? She was one of Yugi's friends right? It took me a moment to come up with a face for the name. Did he mean Gardner? The one who always talked about friendship and caring and all that crap? The only thing at I could remember about her was that she was really annoying and never shut up the hell. Either way it didn't matter.
"I don't care who it is," I told Mokuba from inside the car. "Leave her and lets go, we've already wasted enough time and I have work to do." It was almost true. I did have work to do, but it was paper work that could be done in the morning and didn't have to be finished until tomorrow evening. But that still didn't mean that it didn't piss me off waiting for my little brother to stop playing hero.
That's the problem with Mokuba, he cares too much. He thinks that he can fix everything and everyone's problems, but he can't. I don't want to see Mokuba getting hurt, and that's way I constantly try to explain to him that having trivial things like friends is a useless waste of time and energy. My way of thinking is you only have one thing that you can one hundred percent count on, and that's yourself, because when the cards are down even family gives out eventually.
I brought my attention back to Mokuba and saw with a burst of frustration that he was struggling to pick up the limb body, his knees shaking with the effort. What the hell did he think he was doing!? I fumed as I watched my little brother in his struggles. He couldn't seriously be thinking of…
"Mokuba, put her down and get your ass back in this car!" I growled, my teeth grinding together so hard I was sure they'd crack. My brother again chose to ignore my threat, and as if in an act of stubborn defiance pulled harder on the girl, though making sure not to hurt her. In the end he had succeeded in getting her halfway onto his back before with a gasp of exhaustion fell back to the ground. It was a pitiful sight. I just hoped that nobody was watching from any of the overhead builds or shops. All the better to get his ass back in the car, I chided myself for ever letting go of him in the first place.
Even though I didn't want to I pulled myself out of the car with a heave, curtly instructing the drive to wait while I dealt with my difficult brother. I made a mental note to fire the driver as soon as we got back to the mansion. I needed to get my anger out some way or else I'd go crazy by the end of the night.
Seeing my approach Mokuba positioned himself in front of the unconscious girl, his lips set in a defensive line. I scowled at him. Looking from him to the girl I recognized her as one of Yugi's friends and from last I heard she was the girlfriend of non other than Yugi himself. It wasn't like I cared or anything, but it's hard not overhearing what's going on in that group's social life when they all sit right next to me. It got to be very annoying, but mostly I just tuned then out and they paid no notice of me.
The girl's brown hair made me remember of school days when I had to sit behind Gardner in class. Her cropped hair always bouncing when she raised her hand to answer a question, or turned to look over at Yugi or some other friend, when she walked down the hallway with books piling in her slender arms. Her hair was bouncy like her personality, all bubbly and happy and so energetic that it could make you sick to your stomach. But wait, that wasn't right… lately she hadn't been quite so bouncy, not quite so carefree. I wondered mildly why, and then I wondered why I was thinking about her.
What was she to me; a stupid girl who was anything if unbearably annoying and a pain in the ass. Like right now.
I glared at Mokuba for making me take the time to think of such trivially useless thoughts. It was clear he was making no move to get back into the car, so I decided to make him. Reaching out I seized him roughly by the arm, in no mood to try and play nice now, and tried to haul him to his feet.
The minute he realized what was happening Mokuba instantly latched onto Gardner's still form, linking his arm around her limp one in a desperate attempt to not be drug off. I pulled harder, but he only tightened his hold.
"Let go of her now!" I hissed as I leaned down to him, my patients now completely gone.
Mokuba shook his head violently, saying. "I'm not leaving her Seto. She's my friend!" He was trying his best at pleading with me, but I was in no mood for pleading.
"If you don't come with me when I count to three I'm going to ground you for a month!" I seethed, and wasn't kidding. I did not give empty threats. My discipline was harsh at times, but I promised myself when my parents died that I would raise my brother in what I thought to be a beneficial manner, and that meant not letting him get away with things if they went against my own order.
"But Seto," cried Mokuba. "She's your friend too." His voice was small, and I looked down to find him close to tears. I brushed this aside.
"Tea Gardner is not my friend," I replied coolly. "She never was." I pulled harder on his arm. "Now are you going to get up or am I going to have to carry you to the car like a child? Don't test me, I will if I have to."
Mokuba looked slightly alarmed, but held fast. He raised his head stubbornly, and replied with a snap of his own.
"I'm not being drug anywhere, not unless Tea comes too. Besides, look," murmured Mokuba, glancing down at Gardner. "She's hurt, see?" He was referring to a scrape on her forehead that cause a small pool of blood to flow, seeping onto her clothes and the hard pavement. "We can't possibly leave her!"
Goddamnit! Mokuba was set now, the look of determination in his eyes shown through the darkness like a fire. He wasn't going anywhere. I sighed in utter frustration.
"Help me Seto," pleaded Mokuba as he lifted one of Gardner's arms, he looked back up at me with pleading puppy dog eyes. No way in hell, I thought vehemently to myself.
"I can't do it by myself, you're going to have to help me." Mokuba was still gazing at me with those eyes, looking rather pathetic. I stood there for a moment, weighing my options. If I didn't help him, Mokuba would never leave this spot, but then on the other hand if I did I'd have to deal with Yugi's friend, and that was not something that I particularly wanted to do.
Shit. I know I'm gunna regret this.
In the end I grudged took hold of the girls other arm, not very gently.
A beaming smile spread across my brother's face, and he nearly bounced to his feet as we both stood up. The weight of Gardner was less than I would have thought for a girl of her size. Not saying that she was fat, far from it really, but I still thought she should have weighed a little more than she did as we drug her over to the car, which stood waiting in the middle of the street.
We loaded her into the back seat were she flopped across the soft leather like a rag doll, still unmoving. Mokuba got in next; he slid across the seats and immediately reached for the unconscious girl, but stopped himself, quickly snatching his hand back.
I climbed in after him, sliding into the seat parallel while slamming the door shut with enough force to shake the car. I signaled for the driver to take off, and the car immediately spun into action, lurching forward in his haste. We were jolted slightly, and Gardner shifted from the sudden motion, her body rolling gently from side to side.
Glancing briefly at Mokuba I noticed that his cheeks appeared to be tinged pink, and even though he tried not to his eyes kept shifting towards Gardner's still form they flicker there nonetheless. I followed his gaze, and saw my brother's uneasiness.
During the course of the transaction, the fiction from the car had caused Gardner's frilly white skirt it ride up on her legs, and judging from my look it was already a miniskirt. The hiked up material revealed a generous amount of thigh and from the angle in which I was facing I could even tell you what color of underwear she had on. Pale blue. I smirked.
Mokuba must have noticed my ogling because he pointed an accusing finger at me. "Brother, stop looking! It's very cruel to take advantage of Tea, she's unconscious!"
I snorted. No Mokuba, I wanted to say to him. If I wanted to take advantage of her I'd do more than just stare. But my stomach twisted slightly at the thought of doing anything to Gardner that was of that nature.
Even so, I'd have to say that I was slightly disappointed when a bump in the road caused Gardner to shift slightly and therefore cutting off my view of a very appealing sight.
Mokuba had remained silent after that comment to me, but when we pulled up to the mansion he turned in his seat and faced me.
"Thank you Seto," he said gratefully, regarding me with big blue eyes. He withdrew slightly to the door when I shot him a glare, and the look in his eyes vanished.
"Yah, well don't even think about doing anything like this again. Even though you're my brother I still see to a proper punishment." With that I opened the car door and immediately slammed it shut. Let them deal with Gardner, I thought to myself while stalking towards the double doors of the main entrance. That's one mess I don't want to get my hands dirty with. At least she'll be gone in the morning.
"Now where's that scotch…"