Author Note: Yo, wazzup? Looks like I finally updating something for the year of 2009 (had you guys wait for four months… cruel, isn't it?) much to people's delight or chagrin (I don't really care). Anyway, you guys enjoy yourselves here. There isn't really much to say more on the matter, so… bye.
(April 25th) Sorry, had to go back and fix a few things up. I was a little hasty, and there were a handful of things I wanted to make perfectly clear to the readers of this story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh... and I have run out of ideas for a decent disclaimer.

Plot: After Battle City, Seto Kaiba finally feels inner peace with himself. He finds comfort in his brother and the most least-likely person, and finally begins to have hope for the life he never thought he could had—
—until fate intervenes and threatens to take and distort everything he has now come to cherish.

Genre: Romance/Supernatural/Fantasy/Drama

Pairings:

Shizuka/Kaiba
Shizuka/Pegasus

Warning: Rated T/(PG-13) (Parents Strongly Cautioned) For language, brief violence and sensuality.

-Imperfect Paradise (Yamiko)

Twisted Intervention
By Imperfect Paradise

-Chapter Two-
'Cause I've got a Golden Ticket

Loss could be an intriguing thing. An outcome with a limited number of options one may chose to proceed with. While winning could bring in benefits, fame and glory—loss could possibly exceed victory solely by the given number choices on which to one may chose to progress from. You could chose to run with your tail between your legs, wallow in shame, deny it all or (the newly found broader option that brought truth to the unexpected epiphany that suddenly broke through Kaiba's ever-so-stubborn defenses) decide where to go from there and make something of it.

Kaiba had never even considered thinking that there could be something good in loss. Before, it had all been about the success, the conquering of others—and the relishing of his latest opponent's brutal thrashing. He would have never considered losing to be good. He would have never considering losing to be beneficial—

—and he would have never brought this up to anyone else—

—let alone the Jounouchi girl.

Whatever accident or traffic-based stunt that had happened just the day before that had caused dramatic inconsistency with his driver's normal route had apparently been so brutal that it also required public maintenance to the entire area, and thus the limousine had to go through that same detour, leaving Kaiba to find himself exactly where he had been the day before—much to his personal dismay. Moreover, seeing how the stupid mutt still had detention (about fourteen days more of it to be exact) it was no surprise that the little red-head was still stationed at the same bench, reading what appeared to be the second chapter of her assigned text.

Kaiba regarded her from about five feet away (Shizuka so completely enthralled in her book to the point where she did not notice of his presence nevertheless the state of the boy behind her at first) while wearing a frown on his face, his fist clenched, and his face contorting with something neither anger nor doubt, yet sharing parts of those qualities.

God damn-it, why was this trivial thing so difficult? He had admitted defeat with Yuugi on a couple of occasions (temporary, at least), and it seemed natural to deal proper gamer etiquette (it was the rules of the gaming world) when the occasion called for it. But the hardest thing about it was just something he couldn't quite pinpoint—and it made him feel… well, weird.

Growling at himself for acknowledging such a stupid thing, Kaiba began to wonder what the hell was the matter with him. And hearing this low-key snarl coming from right behind her, Shizuka looked up from her book, only to see herself face to face with that monstrous boy her brother and his friends had come to hate.

"Kaiba-san?"

Kaiba snapped out it, noticing that Shizuka had cocked her head in his direction giving him a sort of inquisitive look. For some reason, this put him on edge. Staring at him awkwardly, while feeling her own nerves give out somewhat, Shizuka resisted gulping, before starting up again, "Why are you just standing there? Is there something wrong?"

Kaiba didn't answer for a whole five seconds, processing this information through his stubborn and confused haze. Then, almost as if it were a natural response (whatever he had intended to say before suddenly disappearing along with his previous train of thought), he glanced irritably to the side and murmured darkly, "Fuh… If there were, I doubt someone in your position be inclined to care."

Not hearing him quite clearly, Shizuka asked, "I beg your pardon?"

Looking back at her very quickly, Kaiba sneered, "Listen sweet-heart, you ask the most stupid cliché things but don't look and realize who you are talking to. You only say this crap because you think that it's human and that you are expected to deliver such notions, but the thing is… I don't really give a shit." He folded his arms across his chest in a complacent matter and smirked, as Shizuka raised a single eyebrow. After a moment or two (as if she were carefully calculating Kaiba's response as he did with hers), Shizuka slowly turned around and started up her book again, but candidly yet straightforwardly, "So I see."

Hearing this, Kaiba shot his glance back in her direction, waiting for her to say more (something that he would normally expect to see from the Jounouchi family) but nothing came. It was becoming increasingly difficult to believe that this girl was related to that brainless Neanderthal of a brother—and it was making Kaiba feel even more on edge then he had been before.

"That's it?" he nearly coughed out, not believing it.

Averting her attention from her book again (but gaze still locked on the space in front of her), Shizuka sighed and asked, "Pardon?"

Not knowing how much more he could take of this, Kaiba then charged forward so that he was standing right in front of her, Shizuka slowly looking up at him, feeling rather put out. Becoming more and more tense by the minute, the young CEO shouted, in a voice not devoid of his own personal charm, "Aren't you going to insult me? Say I'm a first class jerk with the biggest ego in the frigg'n world? That I am a ruthless bastard with a heart of hellish ice, and one who talks countless shit about your brother? Seriously? Why keep me on edge like this? You know you want to say it, right! So say it!"

After staring at him awkwardly, Shizuka lowered her book sighed and began rationally, "It appears I have upset you within some point of time. So I swear, starting today that I will never bother you again."

Hearing this, Kaiba tensed dramatically, not believing the response she gave after taking some of his worst crap he could deliver. This is unreal, he commented inside. Before he could think further (to continue to rationalize this rather unorthodox situation), Shizuka suddenly began to gather her stuff, telling him as she did, "Look, I'm deeply sorry if I have irritated you. I suppose I'll find somewhere else to wait if you want. Besides, I think I saw a nice tree towards the end of the field, I could just wait there and—"

She then made the notion to vacate the area when a sudden pained cry emerged from her catching Kaiba's rarely given undivided attention within an instant. While Shizuka scrunched her face in pain, holding on to the back of the bench for full support, Kaiba's gaze averted from the girl as a whole, to whatever had triggered the shockwaves that continued to rattle her entire body. That was when he noticed her left calve and what had attempted to be hidden underneath her school uniform stocking cuff.

Besides the horrible bruise that probably covered more than could be see and the huge amount of swelling that must have started at her ankle, he couldn't help but notice the little bit of blood oozing from the wound. Where could she have gotten that, Kaiba thought to himself.

As her breathing became more relaxed and more stable, Kaiba suddenly stood up and asked, "Hey, uhh girl—"

Tensing up her body (only increasing the pain somewhat), Shizuka informed him, in a voice that implied he wasn't helping at all, "Shizuka, my name is Shizuka!"

Rolling his eyes, Kaiba gave in. "Fine, whatever—your leg, what happened?"

Wishing more than anything that she could just get out of here she began, "It's none of your business—"

Kaiba frowned for a moment, before factually stating, "It is my business if I just let you walk away with a wound like that!"

He then got up, looking like he was going to assist her, prompting Shizuka to look away from him (knowing that there had to be some sort of catch), while protesting, "N-No… Please- I-I don't deserve this."

Kaiba rolled his eyes and continued, "Look, you aren't going anywhere with that ankle, and I'm sure that mor—I mean, your brother—wouldn't want you walking with such an impediment anyway, right? Not to mention if I just left you here, that would just give him and his half-witted friends more grounds to—"

He stopped in his words noticing the evolving vehement stare from Shizuka, most likely caused from Kaiba uttering the chosen phrase "half-witted friends." It was so severe, that he didn't even notice the limousine pulls right up before the two of them, where it stopped and waited for further instructions. Leaning back slightly, Kaiba shook his head briefly, before bowed his head and stating, "Look. Please let me at least take you a clinic. Okay?"

Shizuka stared at him vaguely, while inside trying to think of some excuse not to go—

—But within ten minutes, the two of them were driving towards the Kaiba mansion, where Kaiba had instructed part of his staff to wait for them, in order to accommodate and check out Shizuka's little inconvenience. The public clinics apparently were closed that time of day (something about holiday hours), leaving the more sinister (and more expensive) option of the E.R.—something which Kaiba was definitely not considerate enough to take the little pip-squeak to. Sheesh, why pay a fortunate for a single swollen ankle when he could do it for free with his medical staff, anyway?

Of course, Shizuka objected to it right away and had attempted several excuses to pull out (such as, "I'll be late for cram class" or "I have try outs for soccer!")—all of them which were not plausible by any means. After much desperate and reluctant protest, in the end, Kaiba pulled out a promise that if she just agreed, he would convince the teacher to relieve Jounouchi of his detention the very next day. She then finally agreed and hesitantly boarded the limousine.

While riding, Kaiba made sure to maintain his usual cold demeanor (hoping to avoid any little unwanted conflict), while Shizuka tried to lean as far away as she could from him, looking out the window of the chauffer. Her wound was throbbing dangerously, yet she wouldn't admit it. She had tried so hard to cover it up… for his sake. How could she have been so careless as to let Kaiba see it? And why would he care in the first place? As the cars and street signs wished by, neither of them said a word. After a few moments of this steadily increasing uncomfortable silence, Shizuka slowly turned towards Kaiba and questioned, matter-of-factly "I'm curious Kaiba—why is it that you are so motivated to help me?"

Kaiba said nothing—only allowed the silence to continue its awkward presence. Shizuka observed him for just a little more, before looking back nonchalantly towards the window, and watched as the cars and trucks zipped by.

The truth of the matter was, he didn't know why he was even bothering to do either. The question still rang out, making Kaiba wonder again and again why he was so hell-bent on helping her. Why the hell did he care so much about helping her… Up until now, he had been accustomed to acting the complete opposite as he was now… as he had been with her brother and his friends for almost two frigg'n years! What made her so special? Why was he willing to let her slide with no further complications?

As Kaiba continued to contemplate on the confusion of his own actions, the uncomfortable silence (and Kaiba's form of tranquil bliss) continued to linger for just a little more, before—

"I- never thought- that life could be… anything but… catastrophe… but suddenly- I- begin to see- a bit of good luck for me…."

Kaiba stiffened a bit, hearing as Shizuka picked up yet another form of lyrics, peacefully singing them to herself. Not again, he thought bitterly.

Shizuka continued to look out the window (which had transformed from a metropolitan environment, to what appeared to be private land), trying to not let on that her leg really hurt like hell, while not noticing the harm she was inflicting on the man escorting her. "—cause- I got a gold-en tick-et… I've got a gold-en twin-kle- in- my eye…"

"Why are you doing that?" Kaiba nearly spat out.

Shizuka stopped in her lyrics and looked at him, oddly. "Pardon?" she asked in a curious manner.

Kaiba stiffened for a bit, before turning towards her, growling while using his hands to announcing his cause, "Look, you did that yesterday and you're doing it again. Why are you so comprised to sing such stupid and outdated material? Are you trying to make me feel like a loser? An idiot? Or do you think you can strike gold yet again and encourage me to rent yet another crappy movie like I had yesterday!"

Hearing this, Shizuka blinked a couple times, trying to register what Seto Kaiba had just said, almost as if he were confessing. Hesitating a bit, she parted her lips and inquired, softly, "Had?"

Following that question, Kaiba (having caught himself) opened his mouth yet didn't say a single thing. After taking the time to register what he had said (and what he might have given away) he finally gave an animal-like snarl and turned away from her in an enraged stance.

Neither one of them said anything else for the rest of the trip.

Kaiba had never been so pissed at himself in his life. As he stood outside the room where the head of his medical staff was examining Shizuka, the words he said kept repeating over and over inside his head—each passing cycle making Kaiba want to hurt himself in the most devastating and punishing way possible.

Christ… He actually had confessed (and in the most unconventional way) that he watched the stupid prior to their second encounter today. How could he? How could he admit defeat… and to the likes of that stupid little mouse? He would most certainly expect the dueling monkey to pull off crap like that… but him?!

He could have reflected on this for hours (and maybe even end up really hurting himself) but that would not come to pass, as the doctor finally emerged from the room… holding his usual tool box, a pair of rubber gloves, and carrying a zip lock bag with a biohazard sign on it. He was not a plump man, but not a thin one either, and his only difference in style aside from the normal Kaiba servant/body-guard like attire, was his white jacket and the stethoscope hanging from his shoulders. (A/N 1)

Kaiba looked at him, with a very discomforting look and inquired, "Finished?"

The doctor looked up at him with a very fatigued expression. After all, he­—like the rest of the Kaiba manor staff—he had to endure this crap almost every day, so naturally it was in itself, very tiring and difficult to deal with. He said in a tone matching his face, "Yes, I just finished giving her some painkillers after dressing and binding the wound."

Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "Painkillers?" he asked, oddly.

He sighed, and while removing his glasses, stated, "The wound was infected, Mr. Kaiba. After cleaning it as best I could, I had to administer an antibiotic directly to the wound tissue itself; otherwise, it could have been much worse. Whatever happened to her, she didn't just get it this afternoon."

Kaiba stared in confusion. The girl was just fine the other day. He had seen her and she was happy and healthy as she could be. What could have happened between those two times?

"In any case," the doctor continued, repositioning his spectacle like glasses on the rim of his eyes, "it was a good thing you caught sight of it and got her here. Honestly, I have no idea why she didn't consult a doctor immediately upon getting it."

"When can she leave," Kaiba asked bitterly.

The doctor shook his head and said, matter-of-factly, "Not right away… the painkillers have made her rather woozy. She'll probably sleep for an hour or two and then you can take her home fifteen minutes after she wakes up."

Kaiba did not like this news too much. But before he could say anything (such as some form of protest) the doctor suddenly looked at him very seriously. "Mr. Kaiba," he began very solemnly. "I've known you and your brother for a very long time… and I am grateful that of all the original staff of the Kaiba household, you allowed me to remain after Gozaburo's passing—"

Hearing that bastard's very name caused Kaiba to narrow his eyes and clench his fist very tightly. As this may seem threatening or even dangerous to anyone else, the doctor merely continued. "—and I am sorry to preach on such a horrid subject. I know very well that that man put you through a lot of shit, but this incident, well…"

Kaiba asked, his expression, unchanged in the slightest, "What are you saying, doctor?"

"Seto," the servant began, treating him like a human being. "Do you know of anyone who might be… hurting this child?" (A/N 2)

Kaiba heard this and suddenly faltered entirely. Of all the things the doctor mentioned, and after bringing out that monster of a stepfather, he had never expected him to suggest anything like that. Nothing as bad as that could have happened to her. Come on; That innocent girl, who annoyed him like no end yet graced all of those around her—that was twisted. Then again, he knew nothing else of the Jounouchi family besides her and her brother—he had always assumed their parents would be no different…. Right?

Kaiba didn't say anything, only shook his head, giving the doctor his immediate answer.

The man in the white coat sighed and instructed; "Anyway… best thing to do is to let her rest for now. Once she's ready, you can contact Isono and have him bring the chauffer up to the front of the foyer." With that, he walked down the hallway, leaving Kaiba standing by the door. Kaiba stood there, mentally processing the facts.

"Oh and uh, Mr. Kaiba?"

Kaiba looked back in his direction.

"This may come across as… unusual, but honestly? You've never done anything relatively close charity works in your whole life… yet you brought this child here for treatment as if it didn't mean a thing to you."

Kaiba looked away and said bitterly, "Your point?"

The doctor nervous scratched his head and began, while wearing an innocent yet crooked smile. "Well I was thinking, you are due for your annual checkup. And if you so desire to have a cranial scan under infrared, just let know."

This joke did not please Kaiba at all. As Kaiba stiffened dramatically, the doctor took that moment as his time for departure and concluded, "Let me know if something happens and I'll be back in a jiffy." With that, he turned the corner and like a light, was gone.

Kaiba stood there for a moment (the anger still residing in him yet beginning to disappear every so slowly) before letting out a tired sigh and looking at the door in front of him. She was in there, probably, and if she had not sound asleep, she would have probably been completely put out, possibly lonely and…

…Lonely?

What was he thinking about? Was it her… or… himself?

Not even thinking clearly, he nonchalantly let himself in, opening and closing the door softly, being careful not to make any sort of noise. As the door shut quietly behind him, Kaiba cast his gaze over towards the over end of the room, and stared at what lay before him.

There in the bed just on the other side of the glamorous guestroom was Shizuka, completely knocked out, but yet looked so peaceful, as if nothing could disturb her at all. Kaiba stared for a moment, before walking up until he was standing right besides her, staring down at her with absolutely no expression of any kind. Not even knowing what he was doing, as if he were her own brother (he was one himself after all), he reached for the blankets around her, and slowly moved them up around her shoulder line, being careful not to disturb her. As he did that, the blanket moved away from her ankle, which was now carefully bound in soft white cloth.

The doctor's words continued to disturb him… and the hints of whatever dark force caused Shizuka's pain continued to echo through his mind. Even though it would never seem that way to anyone else, deep down inside whatever remained of his soul… he knew… that after the constant abuse, pressure and pain he had endured for almost fives years of his entire life… he knew that he wouldn't be able to bear it if he had knowledge of anyone suffering the very same way he had during his own time of adolescence.

He sat down on the bed and slowly gazed on her slumbering features. Although he wanted to look away, and march out of the room, something had him… rooted besides her. He continued to lean closer to her, having no understanding of what he was doing at all. But as he looked at the auburn beauty in his bed, his gaze softening for every inch moved closer to her…

He let out a small sigh, and whispered slowly and quietly to her, "Who knows, kid… you might be surprised too."

With that, he leaned down and gave her a small little kiss on her forehead, and lingered there for a moment, wishing more than anything to remain like that for as long as need be.

As Kaiba's own mental defenses slowly caved in, and as he felt emotions pour into his heart that were unknown to him yet peaceful and precious, but with it… something else happened. As Kaiba's self-imposed boundaries crashed and disintegrated, they paved the way for the fall of something else. This mental blockade that had been protecting him for all of these years, simply disappeared without a trace, leaving as if they had never been there at all.

It left something else in its wake, something that had been dormant for all that time, and had been nonexistent up until this point. That something lingered for only a moment, before it cautiously, and slowly opened up its one and only eye…

TO BE CONTINUED

The following is not meant to be anti-fanfiction format. These are author notes, and they are not meant to counter the rules of site placed restrictions of the webmasters and moderators. Thank you for your attention.

Author Note 1 – For collecting the needles and dirty materials used while fixing up Shizuka. Doctors are smart you know, they know the dangers of handling body fluids, even when they aren't infected.

Author Note 2 – No!!! I swear to God, this is not another crummy, shitty "abuse" side-story thing. That has been way over done and I have dignity. And this doctor is once more, just doing his job. I promise to you all, there is a catch, and you will see it next chapter. I only gave it away because I don't want you people to think I am that predictable. M'kay?

Random Note: I know, this was a very short chapter, but I was planning on leaving it at that moment from the start, so it couldn't be helped. Anyway, I am hoping to update a something a lot sooner than the wait you had to endure for this one… but honestly? It all depends on when I get my inspiration and if I can actually fulfill it. Anyway, whatever the time-frame, see you kids around! (waves)