Author's Note

Seto's back! Not that he left, but we're back into his narrative. Writing as Seto is a lot of fun as he keeps a lot of his snarky thoughts to himself - as pointed out by Yukai no Yuugi and used beautifully by Ariadne Bassarid. Updating a little early this week as I had a change in circumstances. Wrote this chapter all in one night so I'm not sure how well it will flow. This chapter and the one after I've had in my head for a while though. Thank you to the handful of people giving me reviews. You all really make my day, you have no idea *huggles reviewers* I love the song this chapter title comes from. It's called One Good Reason and is from his Blue, Dressed in Black album.

Chapter 3: You Say I've Left You Shipwrecked and Stranded

"We're going to die, aren't we."

It was a statement, not a question. I don't answer her. Trying to get build some speed with the planks I retrieved is taking up most of my effort. Trying not to beat the whiny brat with them is taking up the rest.

"This is how it ends! Two of the brightest minds of our generation! There's no justice in it, is there?"

That was a question. I still don't answer her. Brightest minds, my ass. She's supposed to be some sort of prodigy; that is, after all, why I hired her to second my office in America. But all she's done since the plain started going down has been scream, cry and complain. It's not like her. She's been in emergency situations before and managed to hold her own, even be helpful at times. I don't understand why she's fallen to pieces on this one.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I know I'm being unreasonable, and if I'm completely honest with myself I know I'm not particularly confident about our chances either.

It is a very bleak situation. But as it stands, my arms are tired, I've had half a dozen coffees today and her voice is starting to make my ears bleed.

Besides, she hasn't even tried. I despise people who surrender easily.

"What are we going to do? It's not like we can even send up a smoke signal! We must have been floating for, what, an hour now?" Really. That long. "I can't even see anybody else from the plane anymore! There were hundreds!"

"Probably drowned."

I'm looking straight over her shoulder but in my peripheral vision, I can see her staring at me in horror. I shrug.

"How can you be so callous?" How can you still be talking? I shrug again. I'd do something else to express my sentiments but my hands are otherwise occupied. "Well what if you're right? Maybe they are! People are dead. And we're next!"

"Hopkins-"

"Rebecca."

I grit my teeth.

"You only call me Hopkins when you're pissed off. You were calling me Rebecca when you first got on the plane." Work that one out, genius. She pauses a second and sighs, evidently having used all of her brainpower to come to the sensible conclusion. "Alright. Listen, I don't want you to be mad at me. I'm sorry, I don't mean to be annoying-"

"We all know if comes naturally to you."

"Ignoring that. But I'm scared, Kaiba. You know how real this is? Why won't you tell me what happened in the cockpit? It must have been terrible, right? Could you radio ahead?" I shake my head. "Thought so… I just… can't believe it could be over."

"We hadn't been in the air that long. We can't be too far from the coast, or any other island. We're not going to die, we're going to find shore in the next few hours."

"You're sure about that?"

"I am."

She falls silent for a little while. Finally.

I take the opportunity to think. We're further from the coast than I'd have her believe as the plane was travelling at a much greater speed than it should have been. The pilot had a death wish. Radios had been cut off, evidently so he didn't have to listen to commands from below. When I reached the cockpit he was clearly intoxicated and holding a gun. The loud bang we heard must have been the sound of him shooting the co-pilot, who was slumped lifelessly the pilot's lap.

There was nothing I could do at that point. The plane was going to crash and all I could think of was getting out alive. Mokuba would be left alone otherwise, forever knowing he was right and forever blaming me for ignoring him.

But how did he know? How could he possibly have known? If there is a God, he's finally throwing me some sort of lifeline by warning him. But then, is this the closest to a break I'm ever going to catch? Sure, the plane goes down anyway but at least I don't die straight away. Wonderful. Thanks, God. And stick me with the whiny blonde brat, why don't you. Someone's got a real sick sense of humour.

She's looking forlorn, as well she should. We may well die out here.

I stop rowing.

"You tired?"

"A little. Sure was nice of you to help."

"What, I'm a lady. Hey, don't raise your eyebrows, you just grabbed them and started rowing!"

"Grabbed my eyebrows?" I raise them again. She giggles.

"The planks."

"You could have offered!"

"I wouldn't have thought if I'd offered to help, you would have accepted it! And if you wanted me to help, you would have demanded it!"

She's probably right. Brat. I say nothing in response and look away. Why she apparently finds this funny is beyond me.

Still, her laughter is a nice break from the whining.

But then she falls silent and the familiar distraught frown contorts her features once again.

"What is it now?"

She chews her lip and fiddles with her sodden teddy bear before she answers.

"Yuugi finds me annoying too."

"Hopkins, everyone you know finds you annoying."

I said it without thinking. It's my default to insult when the opportunity is handed to me, particularly when the person in question has been driving me crazy for the last hour. But immediately after the words are out of my mouth, I realize how insensitive they were.

"He hates me too, you know," I offer.

"So what?" Her voice has cracked. Oh good, we're back to tears. "You never liked him! Or Anzu. This is a relief to you! It means they don't want you in their lives anymore. I love Yuugi and these people were my friends!"

"You only have yourself to blame," I blurt out again. One of these days I know I'll have to get the hang of tact. "Alright… We both did bad things. The difference is I did what I did to teach Anzu a lesson. It was spite and I'm not afraid to admit that. You did what you did because you loved Yuugi and didn't want to see him hurt."

"It's kind of your fault," she nods. "If you hadn't done what you did to Anzu-"

"Unrelated."

"Hardly!"

"That was done and out the way by the time you arrived. I wasn't even at the wedding."

"I've tried to apologise to her…" A derisive snort escapes me.

"I haven't."

"We almost wrecked her life between us! You know what she said to me? She said it was hardly any surprise I worked for KaibaCorp now and suspected that the two of us were in it together the whole time! She said we deserve each other."

"Imagine that."
She goes silent again. I let the conversation circle around in my head a little. Something doesn't quite add up. A smirk plays on my face as I digest the conclusion I've just drawn.

"Except… you're not really sorry, are you?"

"Huh? Of course I am! I did a horrible thing!" Ah, but this time, kid, I can see that you're lying. You can't hide from me, Rebecca, it's just the two of us here. Her eyes are too wide, her mouth seems strangely stiff and her fingers are loose in her lap. When Rebecca means what she's saying, her hands are all over the place. She once hit me in the face during a pitch of hers.

"No you're not. You're just upset you made Yuugi hate you! You're only sorry it didn't work!" I laugh triumphantly. She lets me have my moment before responding.

"Alright, fine. Yes."

"It's more fun when you argue."

"No point, you already know you're right."

I incline my head regally. She rolls her eyes. I hate it when she does that. But there's a faint, wry smile on her lips. I sense it's confession time.

"I care for Yuugi more than I'll ever care for Anzu. Hardly the surprise of the century. I am sorry it didn't work because it means everyone involved is miserable." I raise my hand.

"Not me. I was a little involved and I think it's hilarious."

"Everyone important who was involved is miserable. I just managed to fuck up several lives... But if I'd succeeded, I only would have fucked up one: Anzu's."

"Would you honestly have cared?" She's smirking at me and giving me a look. I know what that means. "Don't answer that."

"Come on now, Kaiba, it's your turn. Would she have been ok? Would you have stayed with her if she hadn't married Yuugi?"

"No." I answer while she's still speaking. I already knew the question and I've always known the answer.

"Why not?"

"Because I hate her. Being on my own is infinitely preferable and that's the way I intend to stay. Besides, she always loved Yuugi. I'm not sure why she went along with it as long as she did… Maybe Yuugi's terrible in bed," I smirk, contemplating this.

"No way!" the tone of her indignant squawk makes me laugh out loud.

"How would you know? Maybe it's proportionate," I laugh and raise my eyebrows. "Maybe that's what his hair is all about. Everything else about him is tiny."

"Really?" She hits the door with her fists as she climbs onto her knees to match my height. I don't point out her damp, pink skirt is practically round her waist. "The Asian computer nerd with the large buildings, smart cars and flashy everything wants to talk about stereotypes and compensation?" She shrieks, obviously fuming on her poorly endowed almost-lover's behalf. I laugh again.

"I'm full of surprises."

"You're messed up."

"Everyone else figured that out years ago, Rebecca. Keep up. Anyway, enough of that. You're a child; it feels weird discussing this with you." I pick up the planks again and resume rowing, waiting for the obligatory "I'm a grown-up girl, I choose my own Hello Kitty underwear and everything thank you very much!" speech. It doesn't come. I know what she's waiting for... I sigh in resignation, realising I have to answer her. "I told you, I did it to teach her a lesson. I had to prove a point."

"Prove what? That you're straight? That you can have whatever Yuugi has?" I shake my head. Both are very small – childish - parts of it, but neither are close to the main reason I seduced Anzu.

"I regret it. Mokuba was disappointed… I'm not discussing this with you further."

Rebecca, to my relief, nods and says nothing. I had forgotten how involved she was when Mokuba found out. He fled to America without telling me and sought out the Hopkins residence, evidently telling her everything he knew. I assume this is when she began forming her master plan to break up Anzu and Yuugi as now she had real ammo; an affair. My little brother found it all hard to accept. Mokuba was disappointed I used Anzu the way I did and disappointed in what I did to Yuugi but most of all he was hurt I kept it from him. It took three years for him to forgive me. We don't talk about it.

"He loves you though," Rebecca offers after a little while. I look up at her. She's looking back at me, a gentle sincerity in her eyes. "You could have killed her and he probably still would have forgiven you eventually." My spirits lift a little as this is probably true… but promptly drop as it the realization abruptly returns that I might never see him again.

I promised him I'd never leave him. It's been a difficult promise to keep over the years but I've managed it up until now. Automatically I reach up to touch my locket. The picture of young Mokuba will always stay in there but on the opposite side now is a new one; a recent one. Graduation.

He's nineteen now, an adult in his own right. I've always seen myself as sold, independent, and in need of nobody. But the thought that Mokuba might not need me anymore is a painful one, and one that occurs far too frequently these days. Graduation was almost impossible for me to get through, realizing that my work is done and he's grown up now. But sometimes he'll say something that will remind me we'll always need each other.
Big brother, if you care about me at all, you won't do it. You won't fly there yourself. I can't let you take the risk!

But I did… I flew out here anyway, just not the way I wanted to. And now I'll be breaking my promise to him, leaving him alone and unprepared for the mess I've left behind.

I can't think anymore. I need something else to focus on. I put my all into rowing, hoping to physically exhaust myself, as well as make some progress, wondering why it's still me doing all the work.

"Rebecca."

"Hm?"

"What would you estimate is the temperature of this water?"

"Hmmm..." she trails her hand in, looking quite the lady of leisure. Great, you enjoy your free ride. Don't mind me. "Given the time of year, the rough time of day and approximate distance from the Japanese coast, I would guess…"

I stop listening, suddenly feeling veeery uncomfortable. This isn't good.

"… but it's not unpleasant! Do you think this water would be safe to drink? I'm really thirsty."

I'm not. I had half a dozen cups of coffee this morning; a fact I'm suddenly very aware of. I brought this on myself.

"Saltwater will dehydrate you."

"Right. You'll need to pee more than you can drink."

"Yes," great, now it's all I can think about.

"Water water every where, nor any drop to drink…Are you alright?" she's frowning at me. "You look really…" she fidgets and wrinkles her nose. "Reallyyyyyyyy…. What's the wooooord?" I never noticed how she draws sounds out like that before. Is she doing it on purpose? "Squirmy. Like someone's giving you a wet willy or something."

Oh, come on.

"I'm fine," I manage through gritted teeth.

"Touchy," she raises her eyebrows. "I was just seeing how you were. Oh! Poor Teddy's still all wet! Look!" She picks up the damn thing and wrings it. We both watch the water seeping out and splatter into the ocean. The sloshing noise the water makes when I row suddenly got a lot louder.

Unfair.

I immediately stop rowing and stare at Rebecca.

"Does the door feel loose to you?"

"What, this door?" She knocks on the cupboard fastened to the ring.

"No, the wardrobe door that leads to Narnia."

"No, it doesn't feel loose," she rolls her eyes again. I hate that. "You secured it as tightly as you could. Feels solid," she nods in approval.

"It definitely feels off to me," I say determinedly. "I'm going to go under and check the ropes."

My legs are in the water when she grabs my shoulder and stops the rest of me sliding in. Jesus Christ, woman.

"You can't do that! You'll get wet! What if it turns into hypothermia? If we're not far away from the coast, I don't want you to get sick while we're out here! Who will row?"

You hate me, don't you. "You've only just dried off! Come back on."

"Better safe than sorry," I say firmly and slip from under her fingers into the water. Before she can argue any more, I dive under so she can't see me. At the same time, I fiddle with the ropes so she'll feel some sort of movement.

Relief.

Hm. That could have been embarrassing.

What was I thinking? Six coffees before getting on a commercial jet. I hate public restrooms.

For appearances sake, I retie one of the ropes before sliding – drenched – back onto the door-on-a-ring. Rebecca squeals in protest and moves as far away from me as she can on the very tiny space.

"Ew, Kaiba! I told you not to go back in the water! I was almost dry and now you're dripping all over me!"

Could have been worse.

Author's Note

Childish humour? Perhaps. Something about Seto being human. It was important to me to get some comedy into this story. The situation is so dramatic, I don't want it to be too dull. Plus the interaction between these two is so fun to write ^^