*~(~(*~(*~(*~(*~[AUTHOR'S NOTE: THIS IS A KINDA SEQUEL TO HIGH PRIEST
SETO. IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT YET....YOU WON'T WANT TO. -_-;;]*
~)*~)*~)*~)*~)*~)
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER: Over the summer, Seto Tasashi had lost his mother while delivering his little brother, Mokuba. The first day of kindergarten wasn't that great either.
The five-year old waited patiently, sitting on the cold plastic chairs in the lobby. He allowed his legs to swing just a little; he wanted to look like an adult. "Where's father?" he asked himself. He looked to the side at the long narrow hallway. An old woman wearing a blue plastic robe and a balding man with a long white coat was the only people he saw so far going out of them.
He sighed deeply. Glancing from side to side for anything to look at, he saw a side table with a pile of magazines on it. He walked up to them and looked through them. He settled on one that looked interesting called 'Popular Mechanics' and brought it back to his seat.
The nurse at the front desk looked up from the computer and observed the young boy. "Strange," she thought to herself," Why didn't he picked up the Seseame Street Magazine like the others?" She stopped what she was doing and walked over. With hands behind her back, she leaned over.
The boy was engrossed in an article about holographic technologies. The pictures were only of drawings of a huge complex looking machine. "Who would want a machine that big?" he thought to himself." Someday I'll build one that someone could carry around with them..." He giggled at the thought of a group of 'advanced' scientists faces as a 6-year-old boy prove their analysis was wrong.
"Pretty Pictures, aren't they?" said a gentle voice behind him.
He sheepishly turned around to face one of the nurses. His mother had always taught him to be polite. "Yes ma'm, but I like the article much better."
"You can read?" asked the nurse in a surprised tone, looking over the child.
"Yes ma'm."
"Can you read something to me then?" requested the nurse.
He hesitated. He didn't like the attention he gets whenever he started reading out loud. Grown-ups especially give him the weirdest looks. "Okay." he said and settled on an article titled."Human Instincts:Evolution or Not?"
"The humans are one of the only species that actually depends on generosity almost as much as skill. The only other known animal that even comes close to this behavior is the Vampire Bat," started the little boy. He stopped and looked over at the nurse. As always, she looked as if her eyes were going to pop out. She shook her head suddenly." Please continue."
"The reason behind this is unknown but some scientists believe it has something to do with our prehistoric ancestors. 'In ancient times, humans depended heavily on each other to survive from day to day. They often share food and shelter together. They understood that they needed to stick together to be able to survive,' concluded historian, Dr. Michelle. "
Astounded, the nurse listened to child read through the entire article. When he was finished, the nurse asked him his name.
"Seto...Seto Tasashi." Seto replied in an instant.
"You're a very good reader, Seto." she started, causing the boy to blush," Most boys your age wouldn't even start reading yet."
"Thank you."
"Your parents must be very proud of you." She looked around." Where are your parents?"
"They're in one of the rooms. My parents are getting me a brother or sister. " Seto said excitedly. "I hope its a little brother. I wouldn't mind if it's a sister but I hope it's a brother."
Though a child genius, his parents were careful not to give him any sources on where babies came from. It was one of the few things his curiosity hadn't found out about yet. He remembered the ride to the hospital downtown. His mom did allot of breathing and his dad looked pretty haggard.
They took their SUV was driving allot faster then what he was used to. Seto was ordered to stay in the hospital lobby while his parents went into one of the rooms with his mother in a wheelchair. It didn't take much for Seto to figure out where his sibling was arriving in.
"Are you in school yet?" asked the nurse pleasantly.
Seto shook his head. "I'm not old enough yet."
"But you're smart...."
"Nurse?" interrupted a doctor at the front desk. He looked pretty exhausted and had the gloomiest expression on his face. He wore a surgeon's outfit with a mouth cover, which he quickly removed and threw over to the nearest wastebasket.
The nurse said goodbye to Seto and went over. "What's wrong?" she whispered quietly. Seto didn't want to eavesdrop so he went back to reading the magazine. His ears couldn't help but catch bits of the conversation, though.
"Is that Seto Tasashi? "The doctor said pointing at the boy.
The nurse nodded. "Why? Did something go wrong in the delivery?"
The doctor turned to look at the Seto to make sure he wasn't listening and lowered his voice even more. Seto strained to hear more but only the words he heard were heart failure and dramatic blood loss. The nurse gasped a little. The doctor continued.
Seto knew some of those words. Those were really bad words if they're used in a hospital. His shoulders sagged. Is his mom alive? What about the baby? He didn't pay any attention to the rest of the conversation but instead tried to ignore the words he had heard.
He felt a gentle tapping on his shoulders and turned around to see the nurse. She seemed sadder all of the sudden but still kept a hopeful smile on her face. "Do you want to see your family?"
Seto eagerly nodded and got off the seat. Holding her hand, he went into the long, tiled, hallways. The rooms were filled with beeping noises from the heart monitors and the smell of drugs and pills. Seto couldn't imagine how many sick or injured people where in this small hospital. It was scary. He squeezed the nurse's hand tighter.
"Here you go." They had stopped in front of a door with the number 48 on it. Seto watched as the nurse opened the door. The room was completely white. With white curtains, white tiles, white walls, and white bed sheets on the white bed.
"Mom!" he shouted when he saw her on the bed, holding a bundle of blue blankets in her arms. Seto grinned happily and ran to the side of the bed. His mother managed to smile weakly towards him. Her long black hair was a mess and spread all over the pillows. She looked so pale and fragile.
His father walked up behind him, putting his hands on Seto's shoulders. Seto looked up, expecting the usually smile and twinkling eyes, but instead saw a somewhat force grin and red blotchy eyes. "Hi Seto," Mr. Tasashi said in a hoarse voice that was unlike his own.
Seto's smile faded. "Are you alright, mommy?" he asked. Mrs. Tasashi just looked at him but didn't answer. "Do you want to hold your new baby brother?" she said instead.
Seto's face lighted up. "Really? Okay!" He held up his arms. Carefully, his other handed the bundle of blankets to him. With help form his father, Seto held his new baby brother. His brother was so tiny with a small bush of jet- black hair covering the top of his head. The little baby looked so peaceful when it was sleeping, softly breathing through its tiny nose.
"What's his name?" Seto said excitedly. His mother and father looked at each other at first. They hadn't named him yet. "Why don't you name him?" said his mother gently. "What about..Mokuba? I really like that name. I read it somewhere in a book."
His mother smiled. "I think Mokuba is a great name, Seto." She closed her eyes. Seto looked at his mother." She looks so frail," he thought. Mr. Tasashi offered to hold Mokuba for a while. Seto accepted. His arms were getting tired from the weight of the baby.
Mr. Tasashi took Mokuba and sat down on a rocking chair near the foot of the bed. Seto turned his attention back to his mother. "Mommy are you going to be all right?" he whispered.
His mother was crying now. "I'm sorry Seto, I'm not going to try to lie to you. I'm very weak, Seto."
Seto felt his own tears, too. He knew what it meant even though his mother didn't say it straight forward. "Are you going to go home with us?"
Mrs. Tasashi shook her head. "No."
Seto squeezed her hand. She tried to squeeze back but it was weak. "I'll miss you mom," he finally said.
"I'll miss you, too."
"I love you, mommy."
"I love you too, Seto."
Seto looked at his father. He was crying too. The heart monitor's beeping started to slow down. He felt her pulse slowing down and her hand losing its grip on his own.
He started sobbing on the sheets. "Seto?" breathed Mrs. Tasashi one last time. Seto looked up. His mom turned her head to face him and opened her eyes. "Will you take care of Mokuba for me?"
Seto couldn't find the strength to say anything but settled on nodding his head. His mother smiled. "Thank you. I love you all. Really I do." She closed her eyes and her head fell on the pillow. Her hand fell out of Seto's. The monitor stopped beeping.
In less then a minute, doctors and nurses surrounded him. He and his father, with Mokuba, were pushed out the door.
*
Mr. Tasashi knocked on the door of his oldest son's room. "Seto! Wake up! It's your first day of school. Do you want to be late?" Seto groggily sat up and stretched out his arms. It took a while to get used to the bright sun but with only a couple of yawns, he was able to bear it.
He got off his bed and tripped over a pile of books he had read last night. Once he picked himself up again, Seto stumbled over to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. His hair was a mess, all bunched up to the side. Grabbing the nearest comb, he tried to make it lie flat but with no avail.
"Why do I have to go to kindergarten anyway?" he thought while brushing his teeth." I already know how to read." He spitted out the remainder of his toothpaste and splashed his face with water. With one of the freshly dried towels, he matted his face until it was smooth and dry.
Going through the closet, he found a plain navy blue shirt with a white stripe going across the chest. He also picked out a pair of khaki pants and plain white sneakers. After putting these things on, he looked over himself carefully in the mirror. "Not bad," he told himself, turning around. With one last look he grabbed his book bag and ran downstairs to eat breakfast.
"Good mourning, Seto." greeted his father in the kitchen," I cooked some breakfast this mourning. Its on the counter". Mr. Tasashi was wearing his suit as usual and had a flowery apron tied around his waist. Seto could see him trying vainly to make Mokuba eat some baby food.
Seto ran over to the counter and found some bacon and french toast. He suddenly lost his appetite when he saw that it was all burnt black. "I wish mom was here," he thought suddenly, remembering her cooking." Dad doesn't know how to cook at all."
His mom had died only a few months ago, during the summer. So, Seto had to start his school year without her. Seto felt nervous. He didn't want to go to school today. He wasn't quite over Mrs. Tasashi's death, yet.
Seto shook off the thought and took an apple from the centerpiece instead. "Seto?" Mr. Tasashi said in the other room."Could you help me please?"
Seto shook his head when he saw his father trying to put some food into Mokuba's wailing mouth. As soon as Mokuba saw Seto, he gave a toothless grin and started banging his little plastic keys on the high chair. "Thanks," his father said." I don't know why but he seems to like you better."
Seto just shrugged. Mr. Tasashi looked at him." I'm really sorry about not being able to take you to school, Seto. It's just I need to put Mokuba with Ms. Yukiyyo in the day care center across town and deposit some money at the bank this morning."
"Don't worry about it," Seto lied." I don't mind."
Seto grabbed his book bag and went to the door, leaving his dad dealing with the crying baby all alone.
He went across the lawn and jumped over the gates. Looking back, he saw that the flowers in the front yard needed some caring for. "Oh well," he said to himself," I'll try to get to it after school." He leaned on his mailbox as he waited for the oncoming bus.
A couple of minutes later, he heard the rumble of the bus as it ran over the cobblestone street. The bus picked up a couple of kids from a few houses down until it finally reached him.
He quietly stepped up into the tall stairs, using the railings for balance. The bus driver gave him a sort of grunt as a morning greeting to the boy and closed the sliding door behind him.
Seto looked around nervously to find a seat. Most of the kids already were talking excitedly of the first day of school to each other. A few even gave him a glance but turned quickly back to their own conversation. Seto took the first seat that was empty and sat down.
He looked outside the window and ignored all the other children who already made friends. They had already picked up the last student when someone behind him tapped Seto on the shoulder.
A handsome boy with very light blonde hair and green eyes looked back at him. "Hi!" he said," I'm Max Hitome. What's your name?" A bunch of the kids behind him stopped talking and looked at him. "I'm Seto. Seto Tasashi." The boy cocked his head to the side as if to analyze the other. The other kids suddenly crowded around him, too. It was quite obvious that Max was pretty popular.
Suddenly, Max sat down next to him and started talking to him as if they were old friends. Seto mostly just listened as Max talked. For the rest of the ride to school, Max told...bragged....about who he is.
It seems that his father had his own company on running computers. "We have a lot of money." started Max, "My dad bought me three different kinds of bicycles last year for my birthday because he didn't know which one I liked." He also talked about being very athletic and had been swimming in the family's Olympic-size pool since he was three.
"And we have our own three-story mansion and..oh..look."Max's face fell when the bus halted in front of a brick building." We're at school. That was quick. Bye!" With a swish of his book bag, the boy was out the door followed by a group of his worshippers.
Seto waited to be the last one in line and quietly walked out of the bus. "Max was friendly, but was so conceited,"he thought to himself. The huge clock on the top of the entrance rang loudly as it landed on 8:00. Seto sighed and got a little piece of paper out of his pockets. "Ms. Yurri. Room 306."
He stopped a passing teacher and asked her where his classroom was. The teacher looked at the paper and pointed down the hall. "Just go straight down and turn to you first left." she stopped,"Do you know what a left is?"
Seto nodded and showed her his left hand in response. The teacher nodded in approval and continued."Your classroom would be the one with all the flowers on it. You can't miss it."
Seto thanked her politely and went off. The hallways were full of kids trying to find their classrooms and teachers pointing them to the right direction. Seto was pushed around a lot before entering the the left hallway. He walked down the tiled floors until he saw a door with bright colorful flower cut-outs pasted on it.
Seto took a deep breath and went inside. Nineteen pairs of eyes stared at him, including an old woman who was apparently taking role.
The woman, Ms. Yurri, was pretty young. She had red hair tied into a tight knot at the back of her head. Her blues eyes crinkled as she smiled at the Seto. "You must be Seto," she started and walked towards him," Welcome to my classroom. Don't worry about being tardy, it gets really confusing without help."
"Christina?" she said to a small brunette at the end of the room," Can you show him where we put our book bags?" Christina jumped out of her seat and held Seto's hand. "Hi," she said. Her dark brown hair was twisted into two thick braids and her eyes looked small. She reminded him of a mouse.
She showed to the back of the room and pointed to the rows of painted shelves. "All you have to do is pick one." She directed and went back into the classroom. Seto hastily took off his book bag and jammed it into the nearest cubbyhole.
He walked out of the backroom where Ms. Yurri showed him where to sit. The classroom was arranged in rows of old-fashioned wooden desk with a long table in the front for the teacher. He was surprised to see Max there. Seto wasn't surprised, though, that the chairs around him were already full. He chose the last seat in the last row by the windows. It pretty much suited him.
"I hope all of you look forward to an excellent year in Kindergarten," Ms. Yurri beamed," Lets see how much you know already. Don't worry if you can't answer some of these questions. Think of it like a game."
She took out a large paper bag. "Now," she started," I'm going to hold up something and you have to tell me to tell me what shape it is." Seto sighed. "This was going to be great fun," he thought sarcastically.
Ms. Yurri reached into the bag and pulled out a bright red triangle. "Can anyone tell me what this is?" The whole class yelled out "Triangle!" Max being the loudest. "Good! Great job! Now for something a little bit harder."
Next, she pulled out a blue rectangle. "Now you have to tell me the color too." This time, roughly half the class had gotten the correct answer. Max wearing a huge grin on his face for being one of them.
Ms. Yurri put the bag down and replaced it with a stack of plain white paper and a black marker. "You guys did excellent. Lets move on to reading and spelling. For reading, raise your hand and tell me what the word I wrote says. Okay?" The children nodded. With the black marker, she wrote the letters C-A-T on one of the pieces of paper and held it up for the class to see.
Seto pretended not to know. He didn't like the attention. Only about three people know what the word had said. Ms. Yurri smiled as she pointed to Max. "It says Cat!" he started," I know what it says because I'm a genius. My mommy says so."
Seto tried hard to suppress his giggles. He tried to distract himself by reading the "I love to read" garden posters but it made him laugh harder.
Ms. Yurri continued to spell out some words like T-H-E and N-O. After a little while, she moved on to spelling. "I'll split the classroom into two teams. When I call on a person, they have to come up to the board and spell the word I call up. I will give a point to the team who spells it correctly. The team with the most points gets a treat."
She looked over the room and decided to just split the classroom in half. Christina would be the leader of Seto's team and Max would be the leader of the other team.
Ms. Yurri pulled up a chair and grabbed a nearby book. After flipping through the pages, she called on the team's leader to start off the game. The class waited for Ms. Yurri to call out the first word.
"Is" she pronounced.
Max quickly wrote I-S on the board and Christina I-Z. "Max gets it." Ms. Yurri said and the team cheered Max on. Seto's team grumbled.
"Next is Bobby and Shane."
On and on the game went for a hour. Seto got called on two times and had spelled everything correctly in perfect print on the board but wasn't as noticed as Max. Seto's team was losing by 5 points.
After looking at the clock, Ms. Yurri announced a bonus spelling round."There would be three and each one would be worth two points each. Who wants to volunteer?" She looked around the classroom past the jungle of raised arms. Seto slinked down his chair. "Seto." she picked," and Max." Max's team cheered while Seto didn't get a word of encouragement as he passed his team.
They took their position, clutching the chalk tightly in their hands. Ms. Yurri flipped over the book and stopped witha huge grin on her face. "This is a litle bit hard." she warned," Girl."
Max hesitated and stared at Seto as he patiently scrawled Girl. Max gave Seto an angry before writing out Gerl on the blackboard. "Seto gets it." Ms. Yurri said. Seto's team cheered as Max's team booed.
Max gave Seto an ugly look but he ignored it. Ms. Yurri flipped throught the book again and stopped with a smirk on her face. "Fish"
Max quickly wrote Fis on the board and smirked at Seto. Seto smiled pleasantly and wrote Fish on the board. "Seto wins." Max's shoulders sagged. Everybody waited for the final word. If Seto gets this one, their team wins.
Seto sighed and took his position. Max gave Seto a warning glare before taking the chalk. When it was completely silent, the class clown, Charlei, yelled out dinosaur. Ms. Yurri looked at him sharply as the class began laughing. When she turned back, Seto was writing something on the board. Seto didnt' notice that Max wasn't writing. He didn't know the the whole class was looking at him.
When he was finished. He turned around to look at Ms. Yurri. She looked at the blackboard and her eyes nearly popped out of her head. The board read Dinosaur. Perfectly spelled and neatly written."Correct," she mumured.
Seto, noticing his teacher's face, went back to his desk blushing furiously. "That's not fair!"whined one kid from the other team," it wasn't even one of the words you called out so it doesn't count!" Seto sank further down his seat.
Ms. Yurri thought about it. "How about this? Everyone gets a treat for participating." she compromised. Everybody cheered as she took out a grocery bag full of tootsie pops.
Ms. Yurri occupied the rest of the class with free time. While the most the class went over to the toy area with the plastic stove, she kept a close eye on Seto who was alone by the book section.
When it was time for lunch, Ms. Yuri waited for the rest of the class to go to the cafeteria before talking to Seto. "Seto," she said unsure,"How did you learn how to spell Dinosaur?"
Seto just shrugged. "I read it somewhere in a book."
"You know how to read?" she asked amazed."When did you start?"
Seto looked at his feet. "A long time ago. My mom showed me some books and I taught myself how to read."
They were silent for a while."Do you want to be switched out of this class? I think you might find the higher grades more challenging." she suddenly asked.
Seto shook his head."No, its okay. I don't want to." He didn't want to be more diffrent than he already was.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Can I go now?" Ms. Yuri nodded and watched as Seto ran out the door.
*At P.E.*
The coach, Mr. Lee was a beefy man with dark messy hair. He had a rough complexsion and looked as if he hadn't shaved in weeks. Though most of his features were hard, his eyes were soft and brown.
"Okay," he boomed after the class had circled around him,"I have a special treat for all of you. Since this is your fist time in my gym, today we'll be playing DODGEBALL!" When he was finished, the whole class let out excited whispers. Seto looked around nervously. He never heard of dodgeball before.
"Settle down kids,"chuckled the coach. He went over to a door to the side of the gym and took out a large ring of keys. After choosing a one, he opened the door and went inside. Seto stood nervously to the side. He watched as the kids started talking again.
Out of nowhere, red bouncy balls came flying out of the closet. Kids ran everywhere trying to catch one of them. There must've been twenty balls before Mr. Lee finally came back out.
The coach directed who would be on each team. One team had to stay on one wall of the gym while the other was on the opposite. The balls were huddled together in the center. Seto was picked to be in the blue team while Max went to the red. Seto followed the groups lead as he stood a little bit far from the others.
When coach had blown the whistle, everything was in complete disaray. Seto first watched what the others were doing before making any moves. Each team ran to the balls and started pounding each other with them. Screams and shrieks quickly filled the gym as they are hit and slump to the side. "So that's it?" Seto thought as he walked carefully forward, "Get a ball and hit someone? No. Some of the kids were dodging it." The game seemed simple enough so Seto moved to the most concentrated part of the game.
Max was doing pretty well. He was telling the truth when he told Seto about his athletic ability. He was apparently dubbed the leader of the group as he shouted orders.
Seto felt a ball roll to his feet and picked it up. As he bended down, he felt a sudden swish over his head. He looked up and saw that Max was eyeing him. Seto dodged a couple more shots as more and more of his teammates fell.
Soon, there was only four other people on his team while Max had at least ten. Seto had been dogding for a long time but now was his chance. He took the offensive. He threw a ball, hitting a boy hard on the head with it.
The other team grouped around him. With a command by Max, they all threw their balls at once towards Seto. Seto moved his body around and had managed to dodged each one perfectly. Finally, his teammates took his lead and threw there balls. Though two of them were out, they had managed to cut down Max's team by five.
Seto was in a complete frenzy. He liked the feeling of dodging the shots and the ball in his hands. After a while, it was down to Max and Seto. They each took shots at each other.
"Showdown!" called the coach. "Showdown?" Seto watched as all the balls were taken up except two. He saw Max going to his side of the gym. Seto followed his lead and went to his.
Then the shrill of a whistle filled the room. Max made a wild dash to the balls. Seto, getting the picture, ran to them too. Though Max had a head start, Seto barely got there at the same time. Max grabbed one of the balls and thrusted it at Seto. Somehow, Seto managed to jump in time and quickly grabbed the other. He pulled back his arm and threw it at Max point-blank.
Seto won the game for the blue team. The blue team cheered while the red team filled the gym with groans and moans. The bell rang for recess.
Seto sat alone on the bench near the side of the school. He had brought along a book from home just in case he gets bored. One of the only things he had of his mother. Except for photographs and clothes, Mrs. Tasashi didn't have much material stuff. She didn't wear jewlery and was quite drawn to things more pratical.
"Who do you think you are?" said an aggitated voice behind him. Max and a couple of his friends were behind him.
"Huh?" he said, standing up. "What are you talking about?"
Max looked angry. "You're such a show-off. Ever since you came here, everything you do is better than me."
"Maybe becaues I am." Seto replied camly. Max's two friends looked at him with their eyes squinted and their fists pounded into the other hand.
Max looked at him then smirked when he saw the book behind him. "What's that?" he snickered.
"Its a book. Maybe you should get one."
Max grabbed the book away from Seto's hands. He flipped the pages around and grinned. "This is what I think about your book!" he said. He took a handful of pages and ripped it.
Seto watched as the pages fell to the dirt and Max ripping more and more of the pages. Seto's anger rose. His mother's book.
With a yell, Seto jumped on Max. Max dropped the book and immediatley fought back. The nearby children stopped playing and ran to the commotion. "Fight! Fight! Fight!"
"Break it up! Break it up! Move it!" A teacher yelled. She seperated Seto and Max. They were still struggling to hit each other. Seto had manage to give Max a black eye. Seto's nose and lip was bleeding.
"Just wait until your parents get here!" the teacher told the two boys as she lead them to the office.
Seto stood outside his house three days later. He and Max had both gotten three days suspension. His dad had lectured him to no end during those days. Seto didn't even bother arguing back becaues his father wouldn't listen to him anyway. He was also grounded 'forever'.
The bus finally reached Seto. He took a deep breath and and went into the bus. Inside, Max and his goonies were huddled at the back of the bus. Max paid no attention to Seto what-so-ever but a few of his friends gave him a glare as he took his seat.
Seto sighed and sat in an empty bus seat in the middle. He pushed his bookbag to the empty space next to him and looked out the window as the bus started again.
**********************************************************************
This is one of the longest chapters I have EVER written for a fanfic! No, that is not the end of the story. And don't forget to click the pretty purple button.; ) Reviews would be needed to stop my laziness from leaving this story the way it is......*hint hint*
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER: Over the summer, Seto Tasashi had lost his mother while delivering his little brother, Mokuba. The first day of kindergarten wasn't that great either.
The five-year old waited patiently, sitting on the cold plastic chairs in the lobby. He allowed his legs to swing just a little; he wanted to look like an adult. "Where's father?" he asked himself. He looked to the side at the long narrow hallway. An old woman wearing a blue plastic robe and a balding man with a long white coat was the only people he saw so far going out of them.
He sighed deeply. Glancing from side to side for anything to look at, he saw a side table with a pile of magazines on it. He walked up to them and looked through them. He settled on one that looked interesting called 'Popular Mechanics' and brought it back to his seat.
The nurse at the front desk looked up from the computer and observed the young boy. "Strange," she thought to herself," Why didn't he picked up the Seseame Street Magazine like the others?" She stopped what she was doing and walked over. With hands behind her back, she leaned over.
The boy was engrossed in an article about holographic technologies. The pictures were only of drawings of a huge complex looking machine. "Who would want a machine that big?" he thought to himself." Someday I'll build one that someone could carry around with them..." He giggled at the thought of a group of 'advanced' scientists faces as a 6-year-old boy prove their analysis was wrong.
"Pretty Pictures, aren't they?" said a gentle voice behind him.
He sheepishly turned around to face one of the nurses. His mother had always taught him to be polite. "Yes ma'm, but I like the article much better."
"You can read?" asked the nurse in a surprised tone, looking over the child.
"Yes ma'm."
"Can you read something to me then?" requested the nurse.
He hesitated. He didn't like the attention he gets whenever he started reading out loud. Grown-ups especially give him the weirdest looks. "Okay." he said and settled on an article titled."Human Instincts:Evolution or Not?"
"The humans are one of the only species that actually depends on generosity almost as much as skill. The only other known animal that even comes close to this behavior is the Vampire Bat," started the little boy. He stopped and looked over at the nurse. As always, she looked as if her eyes were going to pop out. She shook her head suddenly." Please continue."
"The reason behind this is unknown but some scientists believe it has something to do with our prehistoric ancestors. 'In ancient times, humans depended heavily on each other to survive from day to day. They often share food and shelter together. They understood that they needed to stick together to be able to survive,' concluded historian, Dr. Michelle. "
Astounded, the nurse listened to child read through the entire article. When he was finished, the nurse asked him his name.
"Seto...Seto Tasashi." Seto replied in an instant.
"You're a very good reader, Seto." she started, causing the boy to blush," Most boys your age wouldn't even start reading yet."
"Thank you."
"Your parents must be very proud of you." She looked around." Where are your parents?"
"They're in one of the rooms. My parents are getting me a brother or sister. " Seto said excitedly. "I hope its a little brother. I wouldn't mind if it's a sister but I hope it's a brother."
Though a child genius, his parents were careful not to give him any sources on where babies came from. It was one of the few things his curiosity hadn't found out about yet. He remembered the ride to the hospital downtown. His mom did allot of breathing and his dad looked pretty haggard.
They took their SUV was driving allot faster then what he was used to. Seto was ordered to stay in the hospital lobby while his parents went into one of the rooms with his mother in a wheelchair. It didn't take much for Seto to figure out where his sibling was arriving in.
"Are you in school yet?" asked the nurse pleasantly.
Seto shook his head. "I'm not old enough yet."
"But you're smart...."
"Nurse?" interrupted a doctor at the front desk. He looked pretty exhausted and had the gloomiest expression on his face. He wore a surgeon's outfit with a mouth cover, which he quickly removed and threw over to the nearest wastebasket.
The nurse said goodbye to Seto and went over. "What's wrong?" she whispered quietly. Seto didn't want to eavesdrop so he went back to reading the magazine. His ears couldn't help but catch bits of the conversation, though.
"Is that Seto Tasashi? "The doctor said pointing at the boy.
The nurse nodded. "Why? Did something go wrong in the delivery?"
The doctor turned to look at the Seto to make sure he wasn't listening and lowered his voice even more. Seto strained to hear more but only the words he heard were heart failure and dramatic blood loss. The nurse gasped a little. The doctor continued.
Seto knew some of those words. Those were really bad words if they're used in a hospital. His shoulders sagged. Is his mom alive? What about the baby? He didn't pay any attention to the rest of the conversation but instead tried to ignore the words he had heard.
He felt a gentle tapping on his shoulders and turned around to see the nurse. She seemed sadder all of the sudden but still kept a hopeful smile on her face. "Do you want to see your family?"
Seto eagerly nodded and got off the seat. Holding her hand, he went into the long, tiled, hallways. The rooms were filled with beeping noises from the heart monitors and the smell of drugs and pills. Seto couldn't imagine how many sick or injured people where in this small hospital. It was scary. He squeezed the nurse's hand tighter.
"Here you go." They had stopped in front of a door with the number 48 on it. Seto watched as the nurse opened the door. The room was completely white. With white curtains, white tiles, white walls, and white bed sheets on the white bed.
"Mom!" he shouted when he saw her on the bed, holding a bundle of blue blankets in her arms. Seto grinned happily and ran to the side of the bed. His mother managed to smile weakly towards him. Her long black hair was a mess and spread all over the pillows. She looked so pale and fragile.
His father walked up behind him, putting his hands on Seto's shoulders. Seto looked up, expecting the usually smile and twinkling eyes, but instead saw a somewhat force grin and red blotchy eyes. "Hi Seto," Mr. Tasashi said in a hoarse voice that was unlike his own.
Seto's smile faded. "Are you alright, mommy?" he asked. Mrs. Tasashi just looked at him but didn't answer. "Do you want to hold your new baby brother?" she said instead.
Seto's face lighted up. "Really? Okay!" He held up his arms. Carefully, his other handed the bundle of blankets to him. With help form his father, Seto held his new baby brother. His brother was so tiny with a small bush of jet- black hair covering the top of his head. The little baby looked so peaceful when it was sleeping, softly breathing through its tiny nose.
"What's his name?" Seto said excitedly. His mother and father looked at each other at first. They hadn't named him yet. "Why don't you name him?" said his mother gently. "What about..Mokuba? I really like that name. I read it somewhere in a book."
His mother smiled. "I think Mokuba is a great name, Seto." She closed her eyes. Seto looked at his mother." She looks so frail," he thought. Mr. Tasashi offered to hold Mokuba for a while. Seto accepted. His arms were getting tired from the weight of the baby.
Mr. Tasashi took Mokuba and sat down on a rocking chair near the foot of the bed. Seto turned his attention back to his mother. "Mommy are you going to be all right?" he whispered.
His mother was crying now. "I'm sorry Seto, I'm not going to try to lie to you. I'm very weak, Seto."
Seto felt his own tears, too. He knew what it meant even though his mother didn't say it straight forward. "Are you going to go home with us?"
Mrs. Tasashi shook her head. "No."
Seto squeezed her hand. She tried to squeeze back but it was weak. "I'll miss you mom," he finally said.
"I'll miss you, too."
"I love you, mommy."
"I love you too, Seto."
Seto looked at his father. He was crying too. The heart monitor's beeping started to slow down. He felt her pulse slowing down and her hand losing its grip on his own.
He started sobbing on the sheets. "Seto?" breathed Mrs. Tasashi one last time. Seto looked up. His mom turned her head to face him and opened her eyes. "Will you take care of Mokuba for me?"
Seto couldn't find the strength to say anything but settled on nodding his head. His mother smiled. "Thank you. I love you all. Really I do." She closed her eyes and her head fell on the pillow. Her hand fell out of Seto's. The monitor stopped beeping.
In less then a minute, doctors and nurses surrounded him. He and his father, with Mokuba, were pushed out the door.
*
Mr. Tasashi knocked on the door of his oldest son's room. "Seto! Wake up! It's your first day of school. Do you want to be late?" Seto groggily sat up and stretched out his arms. It took a while to get used to the bright sun but with only a couple of yawns, he was able to bear it.
He got off his bed and tripped over a pile of books he had read last night. Once he picked himself up again, Seto stumbled over to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. His hair was a mess, all bunched up to the side. Grabbing the nearest comb, he tried to make it lie flat but with no avail.
"Why do I have to go to kindergarten anyway?" he thought while brushing his teeth." I already know how to read." He spitted out the remainder of his toothpaste and splashed his face with water. With one of the freshly dried towels, he matted his face until it was smooth and dry.
Going through the closet, he found a plain navy blue shirt with a white stripe going across the chest. He also picked out a pair of khaki pants and plain white sneakers. After putting these things on, he looked over himself carefully in the mirror. "Not bad," he told himself, turning around. With one last look he grabbed his book bag and ran downstairs to eat breakfast.
"Good mourning, Seto." greeted his father in the kitchen," I cooked some breakfast this mourning. Its on the counter". Mr. Tasashi was wearing his suit as usual and had a flowery apron tied around his waist. Seto could see him trying vainly to make Mokuba eat some baby food.
Seto ran over to the counter and found some bacon and french toast. He suddenly lost his appetite when he saw that it was all burnt black. "I wish mom was here," he thought suddenly, remembering her cooking." Dad doesn't know how to cook at all."
His mom had died only a few months ago, during the summer. So, Seto had to start his school year without her. Seto felt nervous. He didn't want to go to school today. He wasn't quite over Mrs. Tasashi's death, yet.
Seto shook off the thought and took an apple from the centerpiece instead. "Seto?" Mr. Tasashi said in the other room."Could you help me please?"
Seto shook his head when he saw his father trying to put some food into Mokuba's wailing mouth. As soon as Mokuba saw Seto, he gave a toothless grin and started banging his little plastic keys on the high chair. "Thanks," his father said." I don't know why but he seems to like you better."
Seto just shrugged. Mr. Tasashi looked at him." I'm really sorry about not being able to take you to school, Seto. It's just I need to put Mokuba with Ms. Yukiyyo in the day care center across town and deposit some money at the bank this morning."
"Don't worry about it," Seto lied." I don't mind."
Seto grabbed his book bag and went to the door, leaving his dad dealing with the crying baby all alone.
He went across the lawn and jumped over the gates. Looking back, he saw that the flowers in the front yard needed some caring for. "Oh well," he said to himself," I'll try to get to it after school." He leaned on his mailbox as he waited for the oncoming bus.
A couple of minutes later, he heard the rumble of the bus as it ran over the cobblestone street. The bus picked up a couple of kids from a few houses down until it finally reached him.
He quietly stepped up into the tall stairs, using the railings for balance. The bus driver gave him a sort of grunt as a morning greeting to the boy and closed the sliding door behind him.
Seto looked around nervously to find a seat. Most of the kids already were talking excitedly of the first day of school to each other. A few even gave him a glance but turned quickly back to their own conversation. Seto took the first seat that was empty and sat down.
He looked outside the window and ignored all the other children who already made friends. They had already picked up the last student when someone behind him tapped Seto on the shoulder.
A handsome boy with very light blonde hair and green eyes looked back at him. "Hi!" he said," I'm Max Hitome. What's your name?" A bunch of the kids behind him stopped talking and looked at him. "I'm Seto. Seto Tasashi." The boy cocked his head to the side as if to analyze the other. The other kids suddenly crowded around him, too. It was quite obvious that Max was pretty popular.
Suddenly, Max sat down next to him and started talking to him as if they were old friends. Seto mostly just listened as Max talked. For the rest of the ride to school, Max told...bragged....about who he is.
It seems that his father had his own company on running computers. "We have a lot of money." started Max, "My dad bought me three different kinds of bicycles last year for my birthday because he didn't know which one I liked." He also talked about being very athletic and had been swimming in the family's Olympic-size pool since he was three.
"And we have our own three-story mansion and..oh..look."Max's face fell when the bus halted in front of a brick building." We're at school. That was quick. Bye!" With a swish of his book bag, the boy was out the door followed by a group of his worshippers.
Seto waited to be the last one in line and quietly walked out of the bus. "Max was friendly, but was so conceited,"he thought to himself. The huge clock on the top of the entrance rang loudly as it landed on 8:00. Seto sighed and got a little piece of paper out of his pockets. "Ms. Yurri. Room 306."
He stopped a passing teacher and asked her where his classroom was. The teacher looked at the paper and pointed down the hall. "Just go straight down and turn to you first left." she stopped,"Do you know what a left is?"
Seto nodded and showed her his left hand in response. The teacher nodded in approval and continued."Your classroom would be the one with all the flowers on it. You can't miss it."
Seto thanked her politely and went off. The hallways were full of kids trying to find their classrooms and teachers pointing them to the right direction. Seto was pushed around a lot before entering the the left hallway. He walked down the tiled floors until he saw a door with bright colorful flower cut-outs pasted on it.
Seto took a deep breath and went inside. Nineteen pairs of eyes stared at him, including an old woman who was apparently taking role.
The woman, Ms. Yurri, was pretty young. She had red hair tied into a tight knot at the back of her head. Her blues eyes crinkled as she smiled at the Seto. "You must be Seto," she started and walked towards him," Welcome to my classroom. Don't worry about being tardy, it gets really confusing without help."
"Christina?" she said to a small brunette at the end of the room," Can you show him where we put our book bags?" Christina jumped out of her seat and held Seto's hand. "Hi," she said. Her dark brown hair was twisted into two thick braids and her eyes looked small. She reminded him of a mouse.
She showed to the back of the room and pointed to the rows of painted shelves. "All you have to do is pick one." She directed and went back into the classroom. Seto hastily took off his book bag and jammed it into the nearest cubbyhole.
He walked out of the backroom where Ms. Yurri showed him where to sit. The classroom was arranged in rows of old-fashioned wooden desk with a long table in the front for the teacher. He was surprised to see Max there. Seto wasn't surprised, though, that the chairs around him were already full. He chose the last seat in the last row by the windows. It pretty much suited him.
"I hope all of you look forward to an excellent year in Kindergarten," Ms. Yurri beamed," Lets see how much you know already. Don't worry if you can't answer some of these questions. Think of it like a game."
She took out a large paper bag. "Now," she started," I'm going to hold up something and you have to tell me to tell me what shape it is." Seto sighed. "This was going to be great fun," he thought sarcastically.
Ms. Yurri reached into the bag and pulled out a bright red triangle. "Can anyone tell me what this is?" The whole class yelled out "Triangle!" Max being the loudest. "Good! Great job! Now for something a little bit harder."
Next, she pulled out a blue rectangle. "Now you have to tell me the color too." This time, roughly half the class had gotten the correct answer. Max wearing a huge grin on his face for being one of them.
Ms. Yurri put the bag down and replaced it with a stack of plain white paper and a black marker. "You guys did excellent. Lets move on to reading and spelling. For reading, raise your hand and tell me what the word I wrote says. Okay?" The children nodded. With the black marker, she wrote the letters C-A-T on one of the pieces of paper and held it up for the class to see.
Seto pretended not to know. He didn't like the attention. Only about three people know what the word had said. Ms. Yurri smiled as she pointed to Max. "It says Cat!" he started," I know what it says because I'm a genius. My mommy says so."
Seto tried hard to suppress his giggles. He tried to distract himself by reading the "I love to read" garden posters but it made him laugh harder.
Ms. Yurri continued to spell out some words like T-H-E and N-O. After a little while, she moved on to spelling. "I'll split the classroom into two teams. When I call on a person, they have to come up to the board and spell the word I call up. I will give a point to the team who spells it correctly. The team with the most points gets a treat."
She looked over the room and decided to just split the classroom in half. Christina would be the leader of Seto's team and Max would be the leader of the other team.
Ms. Yurri pulled up a chair and grabbed a nearby book. After flipping through the pages, she called on the team's leader to start off the game. The class waited for Ms. Yurri to call out the first word.
"Is" she pronounced.
Max quickly wrote I-S on the board and Christina I-Z. "Max gets it." Ms. Yurri said and the team cheered Max on. Seto's team grumbled.
"Next is Bobby and Shane."
On and on the game went for a hour. Seto got called on two times and had spelled everything correctly in perfect print on the board but wasn't as noticed as Max. Seto's team was losing by 5 points.
After looking at the clock, Ms. Yurri announced a bonus spelling round."There would be three and each one would be worth two points each. Who wants to volunteer?" She looked around the classroom past the jungle of raised arms. Seto slinked down his chair. "Seto." she picked," and Max." Max's team cheered while Seto didn't get a word of encouragement as he passed his team.
They took their position, clutching the chalk tightly in their hands. Ms. Yurri flipped over the book and stopped witha huge grin on her face. "This is a litle bit hard." she warned," Girl."
Max hesitated and stared at Seto as he patiently scrawled Girl. Max gave Seto an angry before writing out Gerl on the blackboard. "Seto gets it." Ms. Yurri said. Seto's team cheered as Max's team booed.
Max gave Seto an ugly look but he ignored it. Ms. Yurri flipped throught the book again and stopped with a smirk on her face. "Fish"
Max quickly wrote Fis on the board and smirked at Seto. Seto smiled pleasantly and wrote Fish on the board. "Seto wins." Max's shoulders sagged. Everybody waited for the final word. If Seto gets this one, their team wins.
Seto sighed and took his position. Max gave Seto a warning glare before taking the chalk. When it was completely silent, the class clown, Charlei, yelled out dinosaur. Ms. Yurri looked at him sharply as the class began laughing. When she turned back, Seto was writing something on the board. Seto didnt' notice that Max wasn't writing. He didn't know the the whole class was looking at him.
When he was finished. He turned around to look at Ms. Yurri. She looked at the blackboard and her eyes nearly popped out of her head. The board read Dinosaur. Perfectly spelled and neatly written."Correct," she mumured.
Seto, noticing his teacher's face, went back to his desk blushing furiously. "That's not fair!"whined one kid from the other team," it wasn't even one of the words you called out so it doesn't count!" Seto sank further down his seat.
Ms. Yurri thought about it. "How about this? Everyone gets a treat for participating." she compromised. Everybody cheered as she took out a grocery bag full of tootsie pops.
Ms. Yurri occupied the rest of the class with free time. While the most the class went over to the toy area with the plastic stove, she kept a close eye on Seto who was alone by the book section.
When it was time for lunch, Ms. Yuri waited for the rest of the class to go to the cafeteria before talking to Seto. "Seto," she said unsure,"How did you learn how to spell Dinosaur?"
Seto just shrugged. "I read it somewhere in a book."
"You know how to read?" she asked amazed."When did you start?"
Seto looked at his feet. "A long time ago. My mom showed me some books and I taught myself how to read."
They were silent for a while."Do you want to be switched out of this class? I think you might find the higher grades more challenging." she suddenly asked.
Seto shook his head."No, its okay. I don't want to." He didn't want to be more diffrent than he already was.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Can I go now?" Ms. Yuri nodded and watched as Seto ran out the door.
*At P.E.*
The coach, Mr. Lee was a beefy man with dark messy hair. He had a rough complexsion and looked as if he hadn't shaved in weeks. Though most of his features were hard, his eyes were soft and brown.
"Okay," he boomed after the class had circled around him,"I have a special treat for all of you. Since this is your fist time in my gym, today we'll be playing DODGEBALL!" When he was finished, the whole class let out excited whispers. Seto looked around nervously. He never heard of dodgeball before.
"Settle down kids,"chuckled the coach. He went over to a door to the side of the gym and took out a large ring of keys. After choosing a one, he opened the door and went inside. Seto stood nervously to the side. He watched as the kids started talking again.
Out of nowhere, red bouncy balls came flying out of the closet. Kids ran everywhere trying to catch one of them. There must've been twenty balls before Mr. Lee finally came back out.
The coach directed who would be on each team. One team had to stay on one wall of the gym while the other was on the opposite. The balls were huddled together in the center. Seto was picked to be in the blue team while Max went to the red. Seto followed the groups lead as he stood a little bit far from the others.
When coach had blown the whistle, everything was in complete disaray. Seto first watched what the others were doing before making any moves. Each team ran to the balls and started pounding each other with them. Screams and shrieks quickly filled the gym as they are hit and slump to the side. "So that's it?" Seto thought as he walked carefully forward, "Get a ball and hit someone? No. Some of the kids were dodging it." The game seemed simple enough so Seto moved to the most concentrated part of the game.
Max was doing pretty well. He was telling the truth when he told Seto about his athletic ability. He was apparently dubbed the leader of the group as he shouted orders.
Seto felt a ball roll to his feet and picked it up. As he bended down, he felt a sudden swish over his head. He looked up and saw that Max was eyeing him. Seto dodged a couple more shots as more and more of his teammates fell.
Soon, there was only four other people on his team while Max had at least ten. Seto had been dogding for a long time but now was his chance. He took the offensive. He threw a ball, hitting a boy hard on the head with it.
The other team grouped around him. With a command by Max, they all threw their balls at once towards Seto. Seto moved his body around and had managed to dodged each one perfectly. Finally, his teammates took his lead and threw there balls. Though two of them were out, they had managed to cut down Max's team by five.
Seto was in a complete frenzy. He liked the feeling of dodging the shots and the ball in his hands. After a while, it was down to Max and Seto. They each took shots at each other.
"Showdown!" called the coach. "Showdown?" Seto watched as all the balls were taken up except two. He saw Max going to his side of the gym. Seto followed his lead and went to his.
Then the shrill of a whistle filled the room. Max made a wild dash to the balls. Seto, getting the picture, ran to them too. Though Max had a head start, Seto barely got there at the same time. Max grabbed one of the balls and thrusted it at Seto. Somehow, Seto managed to jump in time and quickly grabbed the other. He pulled back his arm and threw it at Max point-blank.
Seto won the game for the blue team. The blue team cheered while the red team filled the gym with groans and moans. The bell rang for recess.
Seto sat alone on the bench near the side of the school. He had brought along a book from home just in case he gets bored. One of the only things he had of his mother. Except for photographs and clothes, Mrs. Tasashi didn't have much material stuff. She didn't wear jewlery and was quite drawn to things more pratical.
"Who do you think you are?" said an aggitated voice behind him. Max and a couple of his friends were behind him.
"Huh?" he said, standing up. "What are you talking about?"
Max looked angry. "You're such a show-off. Ever since you came here, everything you do is better than me."
"Maybe becaues I am." Seto replied camly. Max's two friends looked at him with their eyes squinted and their fists pounded into the other hand.
Max looked at him then smirked when he saw the book behind him. "What's that?" he snickered.
"Its a book. Maybe you should get one."
Max grabbed the book away from Seto's hands. He flipped the pages around and grinned. "This is what I think about your book!" he said. He took a handful of pages and ripped it.
Seto watched as the pages fell to the dirt and Max ripping more and more of the pages. Seto's anger rose. His mother's book.
With a yell, Seto jumped on Max. Max dropped the book and immediatley fought back. The nearby children stopped playing and ran to the commotion. "Fight! Fight! Fight!"
"Break it up! Break it up! Move it!" A teacher yelled. She seperated Seto and Max. They were still struggling to hit each other. Seto had manage to give Max a black eye. Seto's nose and lip was bleeding.
"Just wait until your parents get here!" the teacher told the two boys as she lead them to the office.
Seto stood outside his house three days later. He and Max had both gotten three days suspension. His dad had lectured him to no end during those days. Seto didn't even bother arguing back becaues his father wouldn't listen to him anyway. He was also grounded 'forever'.
The bus finally reached Seto. He took a deep breath and and went into the bus. Inside, Max and his goonies were huddled at the back of the bus. Max paid no attention to Seto what-so-ever but a few of his friends gave him a glare as he took his seat.
Seto sighed and sat in an empty bus seat in the middle. He pushed his bookbag to the empty space next to him and looked out the window as the bus started again.
**********************************************************************
This is one of the longest chapters I have EVER written for a fanfic! No, that is not the end of the story. And don't forget to click the pretty purple button.; ) Reviews would be needed to stop my laziness from leaving this story the way it is......*hint hint*