At This Moment

Seto x Serenity

By Charismatic Beauty and Falchionne

Chapter 2

Never Give Up

The games during their high school days had meant a lot and had greatly affected their lives, but like all things they had to come to an end. Years had passed since the events of the Battle City Tournament, but their friendship had yet to end.

Serenity was very happy with her friends and still met with them on a regular basis. Mai and Joey had kept close contact and Serenity happily watched as the two developed their relationship. Tristan married surprisingly early to a cute girl from school and was readying himself to be a father. Duke Devlin was working hard with his company but kept in touch from time to time. Even Yugi and Tea had ventured through awkward moments and were now happily dating.

At first glance everything seemed perfect. Everyone around her was at a peaceful moment in their life. Serenity was always pleased to see others happy, but she couldn't help but feel that something was off. Perhaps it was because she kept in contact with Mokuba, but Serenity's mind often wandered back to the older Kaiba brother. She had learned early on never to mention his name around her brother due to the undeniable hatred between the two. Her close friends, namely Mai and Tea, didn't seem to care for the man either.

"I know Yugi always tries to give him a good word, but I really can't stand him," Tea would sigh.

"Believe me, I've met many men like him and none of them were worth my time. Someone like him just won't appreciate you," Mai would explain, "I know how he is; he's too caught up in his own world."

Despite their words Serenity hoped that there was more to Seto Kaiba. She wanted to believe that he was indeed a nice guy, that he was the guy Mokuba saw him as. As she thought about him she began to develop feelings for the man, though she would wait a good while to admit such a thing.

On a chilly afternoon Serenity found herself at a café downtown. Classes were done for the day and she wanted a bit of caffeine before returning home. There were a few people in the shop, spread out among the tall chairs and small round tables. Young couples and university students took up most of the seats, but one businessman sat amid them. Serenity smiled when she recognized Kaiba and forgot about ordering a drink. She took a deep breath of air and bravely walked up to the man.

"Hello, Kaiba," she smiled when she reached his table.

He stared at her, eyebrows knitting together.

"How are you? Enjoying some caffeine between work?" she tried to make conversation.

He studied her face for a second before grabbing his coffee and briefcase. Without a word he got up and strode towards the shop's exit.

Serenity couldn't help but gape at the man as he left. Some of the people around her whispered to each other and Serenity could feel her cheeks turn red. Kaiba had dismissed her as if she was some kind of pest, as something better off ignored than confronted. She quickly walked out of the building, both embarrassed and sad.

She thought about the event the whole way home, pondering his actions. Why did he so blatantly ignore her? Was he really that rude of a person? Maybe he wasn't feeling well, or maybe he didn't recognize her. It hurt to think about the latter option, that he actually didn't know who she was. She was sure he remembered her, though part of her was starting to doubt it. If anything, he should remember her because she was friends with Mokuba. It wasn't too rare for her to talk to Mokuba while the other Kaiba was in the vicinity.

Mai and Joey welcomed Serenity as she returned to the small apartment. Two years ago Serenity had moved in with her brother in order to attend college in Domino City. About a year later Mai had moved in with them, and for the most part the three lived well together. Though the two were quite different, Mai and Serenity had become great friends.

Right away Mai noticed that something was wrong. Serenity always wanted to show a happy face in front of her brother, but she couldn't completely hide her true feelings. The younger girl slowly took off her shoes, her mind clearly preoccupied with something else.

"What happened?" Mai asked.

"It's nothing…" Serenity sighed.

"What happened?" Mai repeated, crossing her arms to show she wouldn't move until the girl told her what was going on.

Serenity glanced at her brother who had stopped watching television and was looking at the two girls. She looked back at Mai and whispered, "I'm just surprised… Someone I know outright ignored me…"

"Was it Kaiba?" Mai interjected.

Serenity blushed, having hoped to avoid the name in front of Joey. She looked down and muttered a yes, hoping her brother wouldn't hear.

Mai put a hand on Serenity's shoulder and waited for the girl to look up at her. "I know I've said this before, but I really mean it. He's not a nice man. I know there's been times where it seems like he's going to change, but he never really does."

Serenity could feel some tears form in her eyes. She wasn't sure what hurt her more, hearing that he wasn't a good person or feeling that she would have to accept it.

"I just don't want you to get hurt," Mai whispered.

"What'd he do?" Joey suddenly exclaimed, rushing towards his sister. He looked from girl to girl, hoping for some clarification but not waiting for their words, "That rich brat better not of hurt ya!"

"It's not like that," Serenity tried to explain.

Joey saw a tear run down his little sister's cheek and just about burst, "I'll fuckin' kill that bastard! He ain't got no business making my 'Ren cry!"

Mai quickly grabbed hold of Joey, pulling him back by the ear. "Shut up," she groaned, "You're making it worse."

The boy pouted and rubbed his ear as his anger subsided.

"He didn't do anything," Serenity tried to explain, though it was the fact that he hadn't said anything that had caused her to be sad. Still, the whole ordeal really shouldn't have caused so much emotion.

"I'm sorry, Serenity," Joey spoke softly, rubbing the back of his head as he wondered what to say. He wasn't comfortable even hearing the name "Kaiba" come from her mouth. He had had enough experience with that stupid Kaiba to know he wasn't a good person to be around, and he just didn't want his sister to go through the same thing. "I just don't want you to get hurt by someone like him," he said.

Serenity forced out a smile, "It's not like I know him that well, anyways." She grabbed her book bag and walked to her room.

"I suppose that's so…" Joey sighed as he watched her go.

Mai looked at her boyfriend and his expression of relief. She wondered if he realized how much that sentence had hurt for Serenity to say.

Serenity sat on her bed later that night and watched the world outside. The sky was dark but the land was bright from the lights of the city. She pulled a blanket around her shoulders and looked down at her cold toes. The incident from earlier had caused too much commotion for her liking and kept replaying in her head.

She recalled a time not long after the Battle City Tournament. It was a time when everyone was in a good mood, happy to be done with the chaos that the tournament had brought. She remembered amidst all the conversations something Joey had said about Seto Kaiba. Though he usually couldn't say the name without a frown, Joey had laughed regarding the man.

"He can be just so funny!" he laughed as he spoke to Serenity, "He annoys me so much, ya' know? But sometimes I just hafta laugh!"

"What do you mean, big brother?"

"He just takes everythin' so seriously. I dueled him afta Yugi, right? To see who would take third place. And he just got so caught up inta it. I lost but he acted like that was it, like I'd never be betta. It's like he couldn't unda'stand that I wasn' givin' up."

"You never do give up, do you Joey?"

"I don't!" he yelled out proudly, "It's at least one thing I beat him at."

Serenity had laughed along with her brother and felt a bit of pity towards Kaiba. She wondered what he would say if he heard her brother talking about him like this.

Now she wondered about the words Joey had spoken back then. She realized how much she really didn't know about the older Kaiba. Mokuba spoke so highly of him and Joey so lowly that she wondered if she ever got a clear picture of him. There must be more to his actions than she could understand at the present time.

Before going to bed Serenity decided that she would do her best to get to know Kaiba. Hopefully she could find his nicer side, the side that Mokuba and Yugi insisted upon. The more she thought of it the more curious she became. It might take a bit before he opened up to her, but she was determined to learn about him. No matter how many times he ignored her like he had today, she wouldn't give up.