Chapter 3
Kaiba Seto, wearing a white business suit, blue shirt and tie, was sitting in his office and typing quietly on his laptop. The keys made their usual soft, rhythmic sounds. The glass windows behind him let in the last rays of sunset. Across from his desk were two chairs. And, behind those, there was a comfortable cream colored couch and two end tables.
Mokuba had finished doing his math homework and the oversized book and papers were stacked up neatly on the right end table. He was reading a Duel Monsters Today magazine and dog-earing the pages that he wanted to read again later. For a second, he took the black card out of his pocket and started to say something. But, then, he gave up and slipped it back again. He wasn't going to let Pegasus frighten him.
"Nii-sama?"
"Yes?"
"It's 6:45. You should have quit work awhile ago."
"Just a bit longer. I've got another memo to write to the Head of Sales and Marketing. The man's an idiot."
"Nii-sama?"
"Yes? What is it now?"
"Just curious…" he said while peering over at the laptop. "How did you get those bruises on your right hand?"
Seto had a flash of memory. He could hear Jou's voice saying "to hell with it" and hands shoving him down. It seemed like he was being attacked and it made no sense. Did Jounouchi hate him that much? He probably did and this was the perfect opportunity. He fought back and struck Jounouchi in the jaw. He could feel the sudden impact of his fist on the bone, and the flesh moved away sickeningly. Seto felt himself being pushed down anyway with Jou shouting, "Quit fighting me!" Then, a warm body shielding him and blond hair caressing his face...
"I was unlucky." The computer keys resumed their usual rhythm for a few minutes longer until…
"Nii-sama?"
"Yes?"
"I'm hungry."
"Oh, fine, I'll call the limo driver to pick you up and take you back to the mansion. Get the cook to make you something."
"Nii-sama?"
"What now?"
"I want biscotti."
Seto quit typing and glared at Mokuba. "You are going to go home and eat something."
"But I'll be at home…all alone." Mokuba intentionally emphasized the word "alone" and got another glare from Seto. "…In a big house….by myself…."
The stony stare that Seto gave his brother was the same one that made failed Kaiba Corp executives want to commit seppuku just to die hideously and escape him.
"No, Nii-sama…"
Seto glared again. "You need to eat dinner. Dinner? You know? Real food, not biscotti." The soft typing continued.
Mokuba got up from the couch. The black-haired child marched himself directly in front of Seto and rested his hands on the desk.
"I want biscotti with dark chocolate and almonds. You take me."
This time, he only got a side long glance from the CEO. "I can't. I brought the motorcycle today. You'll take the limo home. End of conversation."
"The new Triumph?" Mokuba mulled this over in his head.
"Biscotti," he repeated and crossed his arms. The typing stopped again.
"Don't be difficult, Mokuba," Seto sighed and rested his head in his hand.
Determination setting in, Mokuba leaned forward and stared directly into Seto's blue eyes. His face was set and his fists were clenched. "Are you my 'father' or my 'brother'?"
Mokuba sat happily on the back of Seto's new green Triumph. His feet were swinging forward and back again. Seto turned to the child behind him and shoved the full faced motorcycle helmet unceremoniously onto his head and noted the way it wobbled.
Well, it's not a far ride to the coffee shop, Seto thought dryly.
Evening was coming on and the sky was now spreading shades of orange and dark blue. Pointy-haired blond, Mutou Yugi, wearing his blue high school uniform, sat at one of the tables in front of the Domino City Coffee Shop. He had Mazaki Anzu and Katsuya Jounouchi on either side of him. They, on the other hand, were wearing their casual clothes outside of school
The coffee shop's neon sign was turned off and the glass door had a long crack in it. Some of the siding was coming off of the building, and the concrete steps had breaks in them, too. In Japanese, the sign on the picture window said "Temporarily Closed for Repairs."
"It's really too bad about the coffee shop," Yugi said with wide eyes as he inspected some of the damage from his seat.
"Well, my summer job was supposed to end today anyway. So, I guess, it just ended a day early. I could have used the extra money, though."
"Well, not all of the restaurants were damaged. So, you can go job searching again," Anzu said hopefully. "If you need any help with that, let me know."
Jounouchi gave her a smile. Yugi smiled at her, too. Jou noticed that Yugi's smiles toward Anzu had changed somewhat. Since losing Atem, the pharaoh, last year, Yugi had been pushing himself to grow and become stronger. The "growing" part must have worked because he was now exactly Anzu's height. He wasn't looking up to her anymore. And Jou noticed that she was treating him differently as well. She was actually talking "to" Yugi instead of "at" him. But, that could be because Yugi was now taking charge and becoming more forward. And Jou noticed that sometimes, when Yugi was particularly determined to do something, or when he was concentrating hard, his face resembled Atem. But he still had the same ol' Yugi laugh and sense of fair play.
This could be fun, Jounouchi thought to himself, if they'd each bend and give in a little.
"Well, I appreciate it guys!" Jou said happily. "To us?" he said and raised his can of green tea that he'd bought from the vending machine around the corner. "To us," Yugi and Anzu said, raising their cans as well.
"Kampai!"
Sitting at one of the other tables, a Japanese girl with red highlights in her hair watched with a serene smile. She enjoyed the coming of night and the twilight that came first. She liked watching the camaraderie of Yugi and his friends. She enjoyed the view of the streets and the few cars that were passing by.
The girl watched with renewed interest as a green motorcycle pulled up in front of the coffee shop.
Mokuba jumped off the back of the bike and pulled the helmet off of his head. He handed it to Seto before noticing what Seto was looking at---or, rather, whom. The trio at the table stopped and stared.
"It's Kaiba-san," Anzu said, "on a motorbike."
"Hey, Kaiba-kun!" Yugi said cheerfully, with a short wave of his hand.
It is Kaiba. Gee, I didn't think I'd see him again for awhile. It feels weird. "Yo," Jounouchi said and felt his heart beat quicker. His mind reviewed the images of last night. He felt his face turn pink. It's no big. It didn't mean anything to him anyway. He'll be the same as he always is.
Seto left his Triumph parked in the street in front of the coffee shop and approached the table.
"Closed, huh?" he said. "Well, I shouldn't be surprised after last night."
Seto's gaze casually swept the table but locked onto something. He looked directly at Jounouchi and flinched inwardly. Jou was staring up at him with a purple bruise on his jaw. Seto wanted to look away, but couldn't. He put his right hand in his pocket.
Last night? Jou felt like he was holding onto a secret
"So," Anzu said, "where were you when the earthquake hit?"
Seto watched Jounouchi out of the corner of his eye. Jou looked down at his drink and rotated the can to hear the liquid slosh. Seto thought for a second and said, "I was going home. The road swayed."
Liar, Jounouchi thought guiltily, it was a lot more than that. He tugged at a strand of his own hair and Seto saw it. Enjoying Jou's reaction, Seto smirked before continuing, "But, it's no big. So, no worries. I've been through worse."
Jou, who was taking a huge gulp of tea at the time, started choking. He's quoting me! And he's teasing me! I know he's enjoying this too much.
Silently, Yugi gave Jou his "Are you okay?" look and Jounouchi nodded. Seto rolled his eyes to the heavens.
"What about you, Yugi?" Anzu said.
"Grandpa's shop wasn't hit very hard, but the store's a mess. Everything's been knocked from the shelves. When I leave here, I'll go back and lend him a hand with the rest."
"A late night for you. Need help?" she asked.
"No thanks. I can handle it."
Jounouchi leaned over to Yugi and whispered in his ear, "The correct answer is 'Yes, Anzu' and 'Can you help me pick those cards up?" and "Can I hold the ladder for you? I won't look up. Oh, hey, nice panties."
Yugi blushed a deep red and Anzu stared at Jou menacingly.
"You're doing it again!" she said in an annoyed voice.
"Me?" He pointed to his nose.
"Yes, you just whispered something dirty to Yugi. He's red as a tomato now."
Kaiba flinched inwardly again for a whole new reason. And it bothered him. He didn't know why, but he suddenly wanted to annoy Jounouchi in the worst way.
Jou said sheepishly, "I just told Yugi to accept your offer of help. And I still think it. Right, Yugi?"
Yugi nodded boyishly for a second-- trying to block the "panties" from his mind.
"Oh," Anzu said and felt herself looking a fool, "I'm sorry Yugi. I'd love to help if you need it."
He nodded "yes" this time, and she grinned broadly.
"What about you, Bonkotsu?" Seto said, feeling like twisting the knife a little. "Where were you during the earthquake?"
Jounouchi's warm smile melted into a cold, unfeeling stare. He stood up from his chair and glared directly into Kaiba's smirking face. You're trying to make me say it, aren't you? That's just mean, Kaiba. You haven't changed. You're the same ass that you always were.
"L-Look," Yugi began, totally confused why Jou would be acting this way, "let's not fight. Okay?" He tugged on Jounouchi's sleeve, which provoked another sneer from Seto, and Yugi said "Come on. Have a seat.." Jou nodded and sat down.
"Of course," Seto said dripping with sarcasm. "It was only a question."
Come on, Seto thought, make up some kind of lie. I'm going to enjoy hearing this one. Can't tell your friends what you did with me last night, right? Not even Yugi? That must be some kind of "friendship"-- even if you made him blush in front of me on purpose.
"Okay," Jou said reluctantly. Seto cocked his head. Here it comes…Make it a good lie, BonkotsuHe smirked.
"I was…in the emergency room last night."
Yugi forgot everything and put a gentle hand around Jou's forearm. "Jounouchi? Are you okay?" he said, searching Jou's face and eyes.
Thanks a hell of a lot, Kaiba. You just made me worry my best friend. You are such an asshole.
"You see, I knew you'd worry. So, I didn't' say nothin'." The blond looked guilty.
"Jounouchi!" Yugi was stern now and his features seemed to mirror the pharaoh for a brief second, "We are friends and you can tell me anything. And "worry' just means you care. Accept it."
"It explains the bruise on his face, too. I never really believed the whole 'I tripped on the sidewalk' story," Anzu said, frowning.
Seto crossed his arms and looked down. When he felt that he could look up again, Seto saw the concern in Yugi's eyes and turned his head away. Oh, please… Mutt's here and he's even joking with you. Stop worrying. You make me sick with all your sugar.
Jou sighed and said, "Okay. I got hit with some pretty sharp stuff that was flyin' around. I got stitches back here." He pulled his blond hair back to show them. "Luckily," and he gave Seto a cruel stare, "I didn't have to have my entire head shaved to do it."
"Well, that's good," Anzu said, smiling, but determined to not look at Jou's head at all. "You'd be a…" and she glared at Seto, too, "…shaved puppy."
Everyone, including Seto, groaned at the joke.
"Oh, this is boring. Another chat with Yugi," Mokuba moped. He saw the sign taped to the window and pouted. This sucks! Closed! I'm never going to get my biscotti now. He thought to himself angrily, This is so unfair. And after all the work I had to do to get here, too.
His eyes drifted to the girl with the red streaked hair. She smiled peacefully at him and placed another card into her black KC Disk Deluxe. Forgetting his manners, Mokuba joined her at her own table---taking a seat in the hard, metal chair.
"I'm Kaiba Mokuba," he said as a passing thought. He eyed the KC Deluxe on the girl's arm. "I think that's one of our games. But, I'm really into Duel Monsters. So, I don't pay attention to much else that we make. It looks great, though."
"Our?" she echoed back.
"My brother and I own Kaiba Corp. And that looks like something we'd make. Well, Nii-sama said that we had a few other projects going. I guess this is one of them."
"Well, I bought it last week for my birthday. I like Tarot very much."
Sure enough, the girl pulled a card from her deck and inserted it into the KC Deluxe. A hologram of the card, four times the original size, appeared in the center of the table. The card showed The Hanged Man. It was an image of a grown man hanging by his left ankle with the other leg bent in a figure four. He was upside down over a koi pond. Mokuba looked closer and noticed that the man on the card had blond hair, hazel eyes, a green coat, and a most "puppy-ish" grin on his face. Mokuba stared at the card with his mouth open and looked over to Jounouchi. Yes! Yes! Nii-sama is so sneaky.
"I love this deck!" Mokuba said. "Can you show me the other cards?"
"Yes and I can do different spreads, too. A 'spread' is the way you lay out the cards." Mokuba watched the holo card lay itself down on the table and smiled impishly. "The moon spread is my favorite," she said.
I really want to see who else is on the other cards, he thought and cast another look at the table where his brother was.
"The game of tarot is the game of life," she said dreamily. "It's only a mirror of your soul, you know."
"Ah, right…" Mokuba said and smiled at the girl. It suddenly occurred to him that she was divinely pretty, dressed in a dark blue dress with imitation jewels set into the collar. In the twilight, the jewels took on a soft glow.
"So, how old are you?" he asked. For some reason that he couldn't fathom, he wanted her to talk to him-- and keep talking to him… forever.
"I'm fourteen."
"I'm thirteen." Wow, an older woman! How cool is that? I've got an older woman, probably a grade ahead of me, actually talking to me. Lucky!
She took the card back and shuffled up the deck again. Her eyes looked far away and she concentrated on the act of mixing the cards in her hands.
"I can ask Tarot about you," she said quietly, "about the now, the past, the future, money, friends, and other things."
Mokuba wanted to keep her talking at any cost. She's so great, he thought, but I don't want her seeing anything bad about me. He suddenly remembered the black Duel Monsters card in his shirt pocket and suppressed a shiver. Who can I get her to read instead…? His eyes drifted to Seto and his grin turned impish. He'll never know. Heh, heh, heh…
"Can you do Nii-sama?" he pointed to Seto.
"Of course. Let's ask him over…?"
"No, he's busy with those guys. But let's do it anyway."
The girl with the red hair shot Mokuba a knowing smirk.
She wasn't fooled? Mokuba thought with embarrassment. Oh, no…
She gave him a short nod and said, "Oh, yes… Before we start, I have this. But I'm not sure why. Maybe you'd like it?" The dessert plate had a piece of dark chocolate and almond biscotti. Joyfully, he took it and crammed it into his mouth before saying "Itadakimasu" or even "thanks." He mumbled something with crumbs coming out.
The girl looked at Seto and studied him for a moment while Mokuba crunched. "Hmmm…a Scorpio…temper, temper… and their desire for secrecy can isolate their hearts, but they hate that quality in others." She pressed the reset button on the black disk strapped to her left arm. "What a hard way to live," she said quietly.
"Yeah, you're right. Seto was born on October 25th."
"Too bad it wasn't October 31st. That's a wonderful night to be born."
Mokuba shrugged and watched her shuffle the cards again.
"What's his name? I need his true name…not a family name," she said.
Mokuba's smile flickered for a moment and said quietly "Seto. His name is Seto."
"Hello, Tarot," she addressed the cards. "What do I need to know about Set?"
"Seto," Mokuba corrected.
"That's strange," she said serenely, "I see him as 'Set.' His aura is the color of sand but it can be red, too. Okay…. What do I need to know about Seto?"
A mechanical voice spoke back from the black disk on her arm. "Please dictate spread."
"Oh, yes…" She studied Seto further. "I'd like the sword spread."
"Processing," said the machine. "Processing complete. Proceed."
The girl with red hair began to pull cards from her deck very slowly. Even though she was sitting across from Mokuba, her voice seemed to drift from far away. She spoke to Mokuba with eyes locked on Seto:
This is the heart of the matter--- King of Dragons
This is the starting point--- The World
This is what supports Seto— The Page of the Phoenix
This is what will help Seto— Seven of Tortoises, reversed
This is a problem being solved--- Ten of Dragons
This is his desire— Two of Tigers, reversed
This is what he will learn about himself--- Knight of Dragons
The holo cards on the table assembled themselves in the shape of a sword lying down on its side. An ornate graphic of a sword appeared and surrounded the cards. The tip end of the graphic pointed towards the table where Seto and the others were.
Mokuba saw "The World" and almost had to cover his mouth with his hands to keep from laughing out loud. The World was a drawing of a naked Anzu wrapped in a purple cloth surrounded by a circle of ivy. The ivy was tugging at her strip of cloth, pulling it against her. And she was bustier on the card than in real life, and truly filled out the purple cloth wrapped around her. He took a closer look at her bust and thought, she must be cold…
"And this means?" Mokuba said suppressing a laugh. Watching the table where Seto was still standing made him want to laugh louder.
"It means many things…" she said thoughtfully, "Seto thinks himself a King of Dragons, but he will discover that he is really a knight. He has a long road to go before he can become king. Dragons represent money, but it's really more than that." She pointed to The World. "And he will travel soon, but not alone. Seto's main support right now is you---The Page of the Phoenix." Mokuba smiled at her. Being important to his brother felt good. The girl suddenly looked serious. "But, there is trouble lying ahead."
"I thought you'd say that," he sighed into his hand the way Seto often did. "Why is there no such thing as a 'happy' prophecy? Not that I believe in this stuff," he grumped.
"Of course… What will help Seto is losing an advantage in a battle that he is trying to win. It's a battle of wills, not cards. And what he does not understand is his desire."
"Desire?" Mokuba smirked in Seto's direction. Maybe if he showed Nii-sama the "Anzu World Card" he'd see a little desire in his brother—either that or he'd get a dope slap on the back of the head.
The girl continued, "Deep down, he wants to make a decision, and he'll be forced to make it." She eyed the cards thoughtfully. "And when the Two of Tigers is in the same spread as The World like this," she said, pointing to the cards on the table, "it means that this will be the best decision that he's ever made in his life. But, he will need your help as the page who brings messages, and you might have to speak the words for him."
"Wow! When Kaiba Corp makes a game, it really makes a game!" Mokuba said, impressed.
The girl seemed to watch the blackening sky for a moment and said, "He's coming."
"Well," Seto said, putting his hands in his pockets, "it looks like the new Kaiba Corp Tarot. I like the way the card interface turned out. And black is an appropriate color. I didn't think about playing with it in the dark, though."
"It's really great," Mokuba said, impressed with the game…and the girl.
"But, time to go get something to eat," he said and handed the motorcycle helmet to Mokuba. The black haired child nodded and started to follow, but came back to the girl and said, "You didn't tell me what your name is."
"Yes."
"Well?"
"Names don't matter. They're all the same," she said while smiling at him. "But, you do know where I live." She pointed to the apartment above the coffee shop. "My family owns this coffee shop and the home above it."
Mokuba stared up at the building and back down to her.
"Come back and see me?" she asked quietly. "After all, you are the Paige of the Phoenix. And that means you are a fun person."
"Who do I ask for? The Tarot Girl?" he said seriously.
"It's Yuna," she laughed.
"Okay, Yuna-chan," he said, "the next time, I'll teach you about Duel Monsters. You can meet my Dark Magician Girl."
"I'd like that."
Mokuba got on the back of Seto's Triumph and put the helmet on.
"I noticed you had fun with her," Seto said, starting up the Triumph.
"I was more interested in her cards."
"Oh, really?" Seto said with sarcasm, not believing a word.
"Yes, and I got a really good look at The World."
"Oh?" Seto's eyes suddenly got big, and the bike wobbled. He had to focus on driving and not hitting the back of the car ahead of them. Oh, no! I remember that card. I was in a mood when I told the artist what to draw. I wonder what will happen when Anzu discovers that we put her on the card with Mai's breasts?
"And she's very pretty. She has brown hair. She looks like Anzu. She's naked. And she's got great, big b----"
"Biscotti! I know another place that sells biscotti. Let's go there!" Seto sped up the motorcycle.
"I want chocolate parfait."
