Woah... long time since I've made an update. I'M SORRY. I'm going to use the abused excuse of that darn education of mine. Thanks to school, I've been awfully busy. I have a really big academic load this semester (science, math and french being the biggies!), so my time has been consumed. I'm going to try to make them more frequent, I promise!
Thank you to everyone who's reviewed me so far! huggles You guys rawk! With an 'awk', because you are that cool!
Disclaimer: I do not, nor shall I ever (considering my financial situation...) own YuGiOh!... I'm sorry. Besides, if I did, I would probably run it into the ground with constant Seto x Jounouchi scenes of DOOM. Or make it really crappy in general...
Chapter 3 – Shopping
Seto was diligently working on the finishing touches to the operations programming of his latest invention It was another virtual reality gaming system. What he had been working on was the part of the machine that supported the power needed for the virtual processor.
A gentle tap tap tap came from outside his office door. Being in a generally good mood, he didn't yell at the person who wanted in for disturbing is concentration as he might normally have done. He called them into his office momentarily, taking his concentration away from his computer for the time being.
Yume stepped inside the room, taking a few steps from the door after she closed it behind her, but generally assuring she was close to it in case that the conversation were to go 'sour'.
"Yes, what is it?" he asked. Yume fumbled with the hem of her skirt, before raising her head and replying.
"I've been the one who's been taking care of Shiori somewhat for the past two weeks, as you may already know…" she began. Kaiba nodded.
"I am aware. If you're asking for a raise, I'll give you one for the extra work you're doing," he said. Her eyes widened in surprise, but shook her head.
"That would be nice, sir, but this is about Shiori. I've noticed that she doesn't have that many clothes. What she does have should probably be replaced, too. They aren't exactly clothes that withstand what she puts them through during the day," she said, the smile still gracing her pleasant features.
Shiori had been spending a lot of time in the lab with Kaiba, and her clothes normally got some type of oil on the front of them. And in most cases, that oil didn't come out. Other days, generally one that had too precious of weather to waste, she would go outside and play, which lead her to get grass, dirt, and mud and sometimes blood stains (from her arms and legs, from tripping on her shoelaces all the time)… which also didn't come out so well in the wash.
Kaiba nodded, and thanked Yume for telling him. He still planned on giving her a raise anyways, since she had been doing more work in taking care of Shiori. Aside from her regular duties, she would wake up Shiori, bring her down to breakfast, pick out her clothes, call her for meals, and get her ready for bed. There were probably other things in between that she did, but he wasn't going to get specific. Maybe an extra 5 dollars an hour would match up for taking care of her?
When he looked back to his document, he reasoned that if he spent an extra hour on it, he would be able to take the day off to accompany Shiori (and Mokuba) in shopping.
Seto typed away madly, as he always did, and completed what he had set out for. He had managed to finish, and get to bed at a reasonable hour – at least for him.
---
He joined Shiori and Mokuba at breakfast the next morning, of which he had only done about once or twice before. And even then he didn't spend much time there, since he had to eat quickly and head for the workshop, or to KaibaCorp offices.
Shiori switched seats for the day, and pulled up a chair next to her father. Mokuba was in hysterics in his mind. She was trying so hard for her father to warm up to her, and generally like her. He knew that Kaiba did, and he might even love her just a tiny bit, but he was terrible at expressing emotions, aside from anger, disappointment and contempt, and all its other wonderful synonyms. Love did not seem to fit in there.
"And to what do we owe this occasion of you joining us, Seto?" Mokuba asked. Kaiba gave a "very-funny" face to Mokuba, who could only grin sheepishly.
"Yume told me last night that you Shiori have ruined most of your clothes. I'm taking the both of you out to go shopping," he replied. Mokuba looked a little confused. Seto hardly ever went shopping, except for those expensive things like boats and planes. Any clothes he got were custom made by a tailor, who came to the estate.
Shiori was on the verge of jumping up and down in her seat, she was so excited. She had never been shopping before. Any clothes she was given were second hand donations. They weren't scrappy clothing, but she would definitely appreciate new clothing over old.
Yume ushered her up to her room to change, where an outfit was laid out on her bed. Yume explained that it used to belong to her when she was her age, and she didn't want to part with it because it was her favourite, and she didn't want her younger sister grubbing it up. But she would gladly give it to Shiori. Shiori hugged her waist tightly, thanking her, before running off into her closet to change.
The dress Yume gave her wasn't incredibly lavish and expensive. It was a simple white dress, themed after a sailor's outfit. There was a large, navy blue bow on the chest, and the lapels were also white, with a darker navy line running around it. It was a long dress – Yume figured that perhaps it would reach just beyond her knees.
"Now, you're going to have to promise me that you won't ever get this dirty like the rest of your clothes!" Yume laughed. Shiori flung herself out to her waist, hugging her tightly.
"I wouldn't ever ruin something to important to you, Yume!" said Shiori, looking up at Yume.
Mokuba and Kaiba were waiting at the bottom of the main staircase for Yume to bring Shiori down. It was reaching 11 o'clock, and it would take them a while to buy Shiori an entire new wardrobe.
"Oh, wait Shiori. Your buckle isn't even on right!"
Seto and Mokuba looked to the top of the staircase, where Shiori was standing, staring at her feet. Yume was fumbling with the difficult buckle on her sandals, and Shiori couldn't help but laugh at her frustration.
In the two weeks she'd been living with them, Kaiba had never seen Shiori the way he was right now. Normally, she dressed the part of a tomboy. He hardly recognized his daughter at the top of the staircase, in the dress she was wearing.
When she saw her father and uncle standing at the bottom of the stairs, she rushed down at lightening speed, her fresh white dress following close behind her.
She stopped in between Mokuba and Kaiba. Mokuba was about to say something, but Kaiba beat him to it.
"You look wonderful, Shiori," he said, the faintest of smiles on his face. It was enough for her to realize what he meant. She grabbed hold of his hand, and this time, he didn't feel so awkward. He took her hand back, and walked out the door with her and Mokuba.
Mokuba pointed out that no parent would ever buy their 8-year-old designer clothing to run around and get dirty in, like Kaiba was probably planning. He made a suggestion to go to the one place where it was almost guaranteed they would find the perfect clothes for Shiori. The one place where Kaiba practically vowed never to visit unless absolutely necessary.
The mall.
There were teenagers everywhere. Mall royalty who sat in the food court munching on a small box of fries, with bags sitting at their feet filled with purchases that are not worth the actual fabric or labour. Why young women pay top dollar for so little clothing, no one will understand.
Shiori grasped Kaiba's hand tighter, as Mokuba lead the way through the building expertly. Seto earned very amused looks from the mall-goers. Most didn't hide the fact that they were obviously staring at them (one was so entranced that he dropped his drink all over his shirt). Shiori seemed completely oblivious to it all, thankfully.
"Hey, Mokuba!" someone called. Mokuba searched out the voice of who called him, and smiled when he found them. Gravity defying, star shaped, two toned hair… it could only mean one person.
"Hey, Yugi!" he cried back, waving his arm in the air. Seto scowled. Not them…
The group, consisting of Yugi, Jounouchi, his sister Shizuka, Honda and Anzu, rushed up to them. Simultaneously, their gaze went from Shiori, to Kaiba, to their two hands held together, and towards Mokuba for some sort of answer. Anzu and Shizuka couldn't help but put on a cute smile, along with Yugi. Honda looked slightly confused. Jounouchi had a mischievous grin on his face.
"Hey Kaiba, who's the kid?" Jounouchi asked. Shiori stood up straight, her head tilted up in some sort of self satisfaction.
"I'm Shiori Kaiba!" she beamed.
"Kaiba? You mean..." Honda trailed off. Seto was getting very close to making a snide remark, when Mokuba intervened.
"She's my little sist - I mean, my niece," he explained. When the four of them looked at Seto for confirmation, he simply nodded.
"That's adorable! I don't think I've ever seen a girl as cute as you, Shiori!" Shizuka squealed. Anzu nodded in agreement.
"What are you doing here?" Yugi asked.
"Shiori needed new clothes, so… that's pretty much it…" Mokuba chuckled.
"I take it you don't like shopping all that much, right Kaiba?" Anzu asked. He gave her an "obviously…" look, which she took as her cue to continue.
"Why don't we tag along? Shizuka and I could help Shiori pick out some stuff. You know, the women's touch and all that!" Anzu offered. Seto wasn't exactly keen on spending the day with them, but then again, he didn't exactly have a good eye for clothing, aside from what he picked out for himself of course.
"Go ahead," he said, grimly. Shiori let go of his hand and transferred herself over to Anzu and Shizuka, who each took her hands as they began walking down the wing again. Seto's hand felt slightly empty without Shiori's hand filling in the space it had previously occupied, and curled into a soft-handed fist. He rested them in his pockets.
They followed right behind the girls, who were darting into almost every store that carried clothing that would fit Shiori. When they passed the lingerie store, he faintly remembered whacking Jounouchi and Honda on the backs of their heads, telling them to act up and set and example for Shiori. Or maybe he hit them, and said they were barbaric idiots, and those mannequins were the closest thing to women that they could ever get.
He couldn't remember which one, but he was sure Shiori heard neither of them.
Mostly, Shiori sought the advice of the girls when she tried on something. Jounouchi, Honda and Mokuba had left them a few stores back to go to the arcade in the mall. It was only Seto, Yugi, and the girls.
He spent a fair amount of time waiting around with Yugi, which was deemed at 8 out of 10 on the awkward scale. Yugi was one who always had something to say. Kaiba wasn't. He wasn't a social person, especially to Yugi's gang.
Yugi thought for the longest time for something to talk about, to make the situation feel less strange.
"On a scale of one to ten, how special is Shiori to you?" Yugi finally asked.
Seto looked at him. This could be treated as a trick question. Basically, if he answered anything less than 9, he was heartless.
In all honesty though, he didn't know the answer. He hadn't gotten to know her enough, hadn't gotten used to her, to be able to say. It took him a long time to think of the answer.
"11," he finally stated. Yugi smiled. It was a good answer.
"Hey Kaiba, come here for a second!" Anzu called. Kaiba pushed himself off of the wall he was leaning on and stood next to Anzu.
Shizuka had just scurried into the change room that Shiori was in when he heard he ask for help.
"What is it?"
"Shiori wanted to show you one of the outfits she picked out, that's all," Anzu replied. Shizuka came out of the stall moments later, followed by Shiori.
When he saw Shiori that morning, he swore he hadn't seen anything as beautiful. But her in the outfit she was currently wearing made the dress that morning pale in comparison.
It was a soft, off white baby blue dress; it's colour complimenting her golden brown hair and large azure eyes. The dress was almost completely ruffled, and had a few ribbons, all in a tasteful way. It was a difficult dress made to look simple and clean.
He smiled the invisible Seto Kaiba smile, and took her hand, raising it high so she could pirouette in place. The dress flowed around her gracefully, and landed exactly as it had started.
Kaiba stared down at his daughter. Another one of his faint smiles graced his face. It was all she needed to know he approved.
"Don't you think she looks cute?" Anzu asked, when Shizuka went back into the stall with Shiori to help her out of the outfit. Kaiba shook his head.
"She looks beautiful," he replied, before turning and leaving the change rooms. He took his place beside Yugi once again.
"I lied. I meant to say 15," Kaiba said to Yugi. Yugi smiled from ear to ear. Apparently he's capable of that.
Slowly but surely, an 8-year-old named Shiori Kaiba was winning his heart.
The Kaiba family left late that afternoon, at approximately 4 pm, with four bags of clothing. Anzu and Shizuka dubbed Shiori the greatest discount shopper under the age of 10. She apparently had managed to find exactly what she wanted while it was on sale, or in two-for-one deals. She had two outfits meant just for working in the workshop with Seto. Others, her 'play clothes'. The dress she tried on would be her formal wear, since Kaiba was obliged to attend several functions, and she would have to come along.
She spent apart of her evening with Mokuba in the games room, and the hour before bedtime showing Yume all the new clothes she got.
"It sounds like you had a good time today, Shiori," Yume said as she began the nightly routine: ensure Shiori brushed her teeth and flossed, got her changed, got her a glass of water, and tucked her into bed.
"Mhmm! I did. I really like all of Kaiba and Mokuba's friends, too. Anzu and Shizuka and Yugi are so nice, and Jounouchi and Honda showed me a bunch of games in the arcade before we left!" she said.
"They're an interesting bunch, I know that much," Yume chuckled. She didn't expect that Kaiba used the term 'friends' loosely. When Shiori was secure and comfortable in her bed, Yume knelt down and kissed her forehead lightly.
"Night, kiddo," she said, before going to the door and turning off the light, enveloping Shiori in the subtle darkness of the night. She fell asleep shortly thereafter, only after saying goodnight to her father and uncle.
Seto put in a few hours in his home office before retreating to bed at 11 that night. He never realized how much energy was spent shopping. He now had a vague idea of the term "shop 'till you drop".
Shiori was warm and comfortable in her new flannel pyjamas, and had a perfect slumber that night. She had a lot of new stuff that she was extremely thankful for getting, thanks to one special person in her life.
Her Daddy, Seto Kaiba.
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This story totally looked bigger on word -cries-
I have the pictures I used as reference for Shiori's two dresses on my photobucket. I'll put the URL on my homepage, if you need a nice visual reference! NOTE that Shiori does not look like that! There are also the pictures I used as a self reference to Shiori's appearance during her life in that same section. w00t Feel free to look around my album (shameless advertising!)
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xoxo from xLHx
Ja Ne!