15 year old Serenity Wheeler sat on the back of her mother's Volvo. Joey, her adored older brother, was sitting by her, but they were both staring out the opposite windows, lost in separate worlds.
"Now, remember, Serenity darling, to call at five on the dot," Mrs. Wheeler called over the shoulder pad of her business suit. "Don't make me worry . .. "
Neither answered; though Mrs. Wheeler went right on warning her daughter: Don't talk to strangers. Don't eat anything they offer. . . .
Serenity stared at whizzing telephone poles, her amber eyes distant-looking. She was going over to work, with a real job. A real job, she thought. I'll actually be earning my own money. Her family wasn't horribly poor, but Serenity realized that she never really had her own money. Mom would give me my allowance; then tell me to spend it on such-and-such.
Even now, this money would go to a specific place. It would go as repayment . . . .to Kaiba Corp.
Flashback
15-year old Yugi Moto grimaced. He was just about to duel against Pegasus, creator of the world famous Duel Monsters Card game.
He also was 'Pegasus, world famous kidnapper of souls.' A faint image of his Grampa slumped face first after Pegasus had taken his soul for a card on the living room floor floated before his eyes. He might die, if he didn't get his soul back soon.
I will beat him. .. . . And save all three souls back to their rightful places. Ruthlessly, the Kaiba brothers' souls have also been taken, and put in cards. How could someone do that to another human being?Don't waste your time trying to understand.
He must be stopped. Yugi clenched his jaw until it ached, then went to join the others, his friends, who were gathered around Croquet, Pegasus' henchman.
"Your card, sir?" Croquet adjusted his odd round sunglasses, somewhat impatient to get this over with. He held out a waiting palm.
Yugi handed his card over, the one to duel against Pegasus.
"Ah." Croquet studied it as if he'd never seen it before. "Not the Hand of Glory, huh?" He was obviously oblivious. "Skipping a $3 million prize . . you must really have it in for our boss." He gave them a patronizing smile.
"Wait, skipping?" Tea Gardener interrupted. Joey looked up quickly..
"Yes, of course. You can only either duel against Mr. Pegasus, or pick up your $3 million." Croquet explained to their shocked faces. "You've already won the tournament, Mr. Moto. Dueling my boss was only an option. But you can't do both." He said with a smirk, wagging a thick finger in a 'Pegasus got the best of you again' manner.
"Joey . . .your sister. . ." Yugi turned to his best friend, pale.
Tea said what they all were thinking. "Serenity can't get her eye operation, if Yugi duels Pegasus. . .. " There was a long silence as all three stared down. "Hey, come on!" she said with forced cheerfulness. "We can always. .. organize a fundraiser for the operation, right, Joey?"
Joey didn't answer for a minute. " . . . .No, cuz da eye surgeon only has time for it now. . ." he trailed off. "He can't reschedule. 'S impossible." He walked suddenly away, to the side, back facing them.
Slowly, Yugi approached him. "Joey, I-I'll take the money for you." There was obvious reluctance in his voice. "Grampa .. . . . . would wish it."
Joey listened his swallow. "Hey, ya know I can't ask ya to do that, Yuge!" He forced a smile. "Ya know, I'll think 'o somethin'. Go and save your gramps from dat creepazoid." Yugi hesistated, staring at him. "Go on, I insist. You gave me yo' card to duel in da finals, so you oughta get what you came fer. You won, Yuge." His face relaxed into a real smile. "Ya should get yo gramps back."
End flashback
16 year old Joey, shifted his lanky frame in the seat, rolling his ankle to wake his sleeping foot. He too was reminiscing; of that Decision Time. Tea had suggested a fundraiser, but there was no way to get $3 million in a short week. Time was not on my side, he thought, temper rising. And now . . . .
He shook his head to dispel the thought. And remembered. . . .
Flash back
"Oh, seriously, Wheeler." Kaiba's cold sneer loomed over him. "You actually expect me to pay for your sister's operation? Get real." He turned briskly.
Joey grimaced, and looked in Yugi's direction. Will Yuge do as planned? He didn't meet his friend's eye. " . . . . .have a heart, Kaiba. Dis isn't very easy fer me ta do, ya know. I wouldn't do dis unless I was desperate." He practically spat the words out, hating to be forced to beg.
Kaiba smirked. "Okay." He paused for dramatic effect. "I'll pay for it. But first you swim home, then you must swear never to play DM again. You lower the status for real duelists." He folded his arms, waiting for the answer.
"Forget it!" Joey face reddening angrily. Kaiba shrugged, then started to get into his limo.
"Figures."
"Do it, Kaiba." It was Yugi, with an unusually fierce expression. He almost never got angry, but now . . . he felt like exploding. "You OWE me. You know it." His voice was very low, but steady and powerful.
Lightning bolts flashed across Kaiba's face. If looks could kill, Yuge'd be a lightning rod, Joey thought.Why am I joking? There nothin' funny about this. He knew perfectly well why the anger, though.
The cool mask was replaced. "Okay," Kaiba said deliberately. "I'll give you a loan, Wheeler. But I expect it paid back, PLUS interest."
End flashback
At least I got da best of him dere, Joey thought. I agreed. And as repayment to Yugi for saving his and his brother's souls, Kaiba had agreed to pay for Serenity's operation.
And now I'm handin' her to the devil, Joey thought, finally glancing over at his little sis. Yugi had said that he'd hated to threaten Kaiba that way, even though Joey thought he really didn't. But Joey had promised never to make him do that again. And now Serenity was---
The Volvo stopped with a bump. His little sis looked over with a nervousness only a brother could see. The mansion had a creepy air like never'd seem to erase, though Joey had seen it enough times. It loomed over it's subjects, like it's master himself. "Sis, I wish you would consider this." he pleaded.
"Bye, Mom," Serneity waved to their mother, who was still cautioning. "Joey, we've talked this inside out. I won't change my mind about helping to pay him back. I'll be fine." Joey protested all the way as they walked up the long, winding driveway, but she held firm. If the was one thing the Wheelers had in common, it was stubborness.
A creepy looking butler ushered them in, and walked them to the gardens, where she'd work in the afternoons. "Master Kaiba is away in a business meeting but he ordered you can start."
Despite her feeling of dread, Serenity nodded and waved her brother goodbye with a smile. Finally, shoulder slumped, he left and she turned to the gardens.
They were pathetic, compared to the a grandeur of the house. Sickly bushes and junipers looked like bony hands reaching upward. Other landscapers were bent over with wide brimmed hats, and an old man with a scraggly gray beard handed her one. With a tiny inaudible sigh, she placed on gloves, and began transplanting.
There are no flowers, she thought. Just dark green bushes and pines. A wide lawn stretched as far as the eye could see. Serenity took mental note of everything, and worked quietly until the sun was low on the horizon. She wiped her hands on her blue-grey coveralls and stood. "Scuse me," she asked quietly. "Where's the washroom?"
He looked surprised, like she had two heads, but pointed vaguely. Her neck was stiff from being hunched over, and her back ached. Maybe this was a bad idea.
Suddenly, she heard a high pitched shout that sounded obscene in the gloomy hallway. Didn't he have a little brother . . .? Oh yeah, Moko or something. He looked nothing like him. Dark eyes, shaggy black hair. Rather strange looking, she mused to distract herself from the murkiness. Nothing like the elder, who was tall, almost impossibly so, with ice blue eyes that matched his coat. Tea had told her how he and Joey often fought, over who was better at dueling. Still, there was something intriguing about . . . .
Nothing intriguing, she corrected, making her way back to the garden and tying her long auburn hair up. But I am grateful to Kaiba for paying for my operation .. . . .
Flashback
"Well. I do have a space for my landscapers. They come here every 6 months." The words sounded casual, but Serenity had never met a more expressionless face. It seemed that nothing would ever make him say something wrong or out of place.
"That'll be fine," she agreed quickly. "I love gardens."
"I have two rules: you never leave the yard, and two: your brother can't set foot in my house. I think you already know why." His face suggested that he'd be very diasppointed if she didn't.
end flashback
I guess he'd meant because he disliked Joey, she thought, digging her spade in the fresh soil. A musty low smell of earth wavered in her nose. She didn't know how a smell could be low, but Serenity often described things by hearing.
Joey had protested a storm, when she'd said she'd help pay back Kaiba's loan, by working for him. "Kaiba can't be such a monster if he'd helped." She'd argued.
"Yeah, we'd had to practically twist his arm," Joey'd muttered.
"Brother. This is something I have to do, for myself. I know he isn't that easiest person to get along with, I know that. But I'm absolutely sure that he won't eat me, or something like that!" She'd tried to joke.
"Don't be so sure," he'd warned, sounding just like their mother. And also, at first, Kaiba didn't want to hire her either. But for entirely different reasons. It was a miracle that he had. She still wasn't sure why he'd changed his mind so quickly. Who'll ever know, Serenity thought, brushing a limp strand out of her eyes. All she knew was he'd given her a gift that she could never be satisfied in repaying. The gift of sight. It sounded mega corny, but that was how she felt.
It had nothing to do that he . .. was fascinating in a way she couldn't describe. So very mysterious . . .but it's not like I like-like him, she thought. I barely know him.