Terms and Conditions 4

When Mokuba was picked up by his older brother. The entire room let out a breath and started to discuss the situation.

"Why did we do this in the first place?" Yugi asked desperately.

Tristan answered, "Because without Kaiba's help, who knows where Téa would be. As much as I dislike the guy, she could have ended up much worse."

Joey's head was lowered and it looked like he was crying. Mai looked at him and asked, "Joey, stop acting like a baby and tell us what your problem is."

Joey looked up and said, "It's my fault," the room was silent and he continued, "I used to be a member of that gang. I did many of the same things that they are doing."

"Joey, you can't blame this on yourself," Serenity said, "Sure you have a past, but who doesn't. You weren't the one who sold Téa, it was her parents. In fact, it is only because of your background that we found out where Téa was. Besides, she didn't look too miserable when she was curled up with him in that photo. "

Serenity then turned to Yugi and said, "Yugi, you need to learn how to move on. Téa may not have wanted it originally, but she is getting married. I know you have feelings for her, but there are other girls out there. Take a look around and I am sure you will find your perfect match."

Yugi didn't say anything so Mai spoke up, "Téa is happy guys. She may not have figured out how she feels about Kaiba yet. But, the way he looked at her proved to me how truly devoted he was to her happiness. Also, some of the stories she told me about him would astound you. When he is with the ones he cares about, he turns into a completely different person. If you were true friends, you all would let her make her own decisions and let her be happy."

Seto Kaiba walked into Isabelle's with the white box of suits. As soon as he walked in Isabelle blanched, but she quickly composed herself and quickly thought of a way to try to play it off. "Seto Kaiba, what a great pleasure it is to see you! I met your fiancé today…she's a peach!"

Kaiba didn't bother with the sweet talk, he threw the box on her counter and said, "I want my money back."

Isabelle of course didn't skip a beat, "But Kaiba, Téa bought that for you. It is tacky to return a gift."

"I told you on the phone I did not want these 3 suits. She was unaware and I am returning them." He replied.

"I am sorry Mr. Kaiba but I assumed that was conditional to me apologizing to your wife," she played it off.

Kaiba slammed his hands on the counter and said, "I MIGHT have believed that if you would have charged her the $3,000 we agreed to. However, you charged her $9,000. Trying to take advantage of me is one thing. But when you take advantage of my family, you have crossed the line. Now I suggest you give me my money back or I can assure you that you will regret it."

Isabelle pouted and said, "Fine, I will let you return it…If you have a receipt." She knew for a fact that she didn't give Téa a receipt for the order so she wasn't bothered in the slightest.

Kaiba looked in the box to see if there was a receipt, but he figured that he wouldn't find anything. He looked back up at her and said, "I warned you. Prepare to be embarrassed with your own clothing." He was about to exit when he stopped to say, "Don't you ever stop by my home again. Trying to make a deal with Téa before the other designer got there was not only underhanded, but it was also sleazy. I don't want trash balls like you dirtying my sidewalk."

With that he walked out the door with the box of suits. If she wanted to play dirty, he could play dirty.

The morning, Seto got called to New York for an unexpected meeting. While Téa was asleep, he rushed around the room, as quietly as he could, to gather the items he needed for the trip. He was going to be gone for a full week. Remembering the argument he had with Téa last time, he left a sticky note on the refrigerator explaining his disappearance grabbed his keys and left.

When Téa woke up, she walked downstairs and expected to see Kaiba sitting at the table, ritualistically drinking his cup of coffee. She was puzzled by his disappearance, but figured that he left early for work. She walked to the fridge and found the note, "Dear Téa, I was called away on a business trip in New York and I will be gone for about a week. If you need anything during the week, you have your card. There is also a list of emergency contact numbers, cash, and a first-aid kit in the top right drawer by the dish washer. Take care of Mokuba for me. Sincerely, Seto."

"He didn't even say goodbye," she said to herself.

Mokuba walked into the kitchen rubbing his sleepy eyes and yawned, "Who didn't say goodbye?"

Téa shook her head and said, "Oh, it's nothing Mokuba. Seto had to go on a business trip, that's all."

Mokuba frowned and asked, "How long this time?"

"A week," Téa answered. Mokuba looked really upset and Téa hated to see him like that so she said, "Hey, don't be sad, he is going to be back soon enough. How about we eat breakfast and then we can go hang out at the mall? We could walk around, get some ice cream, and visit the arcade."

Mokuba smiled and replied, "That sounds great!"

The mall was extremely busy that day. Many of the stores were having semi-annual sales. Mokuba looked around excitedly and pointed to a hobby store. Mokuba loved doing arts and crafts. Téa noticed several of Mokuba's projects on display in his brother's home office. She smiled and followed the boy into the store. She picked out a few different projects that they could work on together.

Téa heard Mokuba call from a few feet away and saw him holding up a tie dye kit. "I have always wanted to learn how to tie dye! Can we PLEASE make some, Téa!" Mokuba asked with puppy dog eyes.

She smiled and replied, "Sure, grab a second kit and we can each pick out a shirt to dye." They walked to the end of the aisle and saw a large display of plain white T-shirts. Both grabbed one their size when Téa asked, "Mokuba, what size shirt does your brother wear?"

"Medium I think. But, I don't think he would wear something like that," Mokuba answered.

Téa giggled and asked "Not even if it had a Blue Eyes White Dragon on it?" She held up a small Iron on patch that would look nice on the shirt pocket.

Mokuba beamed and said, "Well, he might sleep in it."

It was going to take Seto two days to get to New York. So, he called his pilot and copilot instead of trying to fly there by himself.

He did some work while he was in the air, but his mind was a bit distracted. He wondered why did he start to care about Téa? I mean sure, he was attracted to her in high school, but he never chose to do anything about it. Why would he, she was Yugi's cheerleader, she was always yelling at him over the value of life, and trying to convince him to become friends with the guys. Still, none of that is what made him want to be want to be with her.

Tea gave the chef the day off and took the opportunity to cook Mokuba a real homemade meal. Not none of that gourmet crap they were used to eating. She looked through the cabinets and asked, "How does baked macaroni and cheese and pork chops sound?"

Mokuba shrugged and replied, "I don't know, I have never had it"

Tea choked on the glass of water she had and asked, "You never had baked macaroni and cheese and pork chops?"

"I have had pork chops. But not the macaroni and cheese. Seto doesn't like me eating that type of stuff." Mokuba explained.

Tea was shocked, "You mean the wonderful and delicious parts of childhood that make life worth living. What is wrong with him?"

Immediately she starts pulling different ingredients from the cabinets and starts to cook.

Kaiba was now flying his jet while his pilot and copilot rested a few hours. They would rotate shifts in order to have the safest flight possible on long flights like these. Since his mind wasn't on getting deadlines met or contracts organized he thought back to a time in back when Tea and him were in high school.

*flashback*

Kaiba had just had a meeting with the principal. The principal was looking for a donation to expand the library.

While heading to the student pick up to his awaiting limo, he noticed Tea curled up in a ball crying under the overhang, trying to protect herself from the rain. Kaiba had notice that she was in a black dance leotard. She must have just finished practicing for the school's dance club. Despite his desire to completely abandon all thought of her, something pulled him to her.

She saw two feet standing before her and she looked up. When she saw it was Kaiba, she looked back down and curled even tighter into a ball. Something about that action, struck him like lightning. He had the sudden urge to protect her. Something in her eyes screamed out to him and he picked up her book bag. She looked back up at him and he said, "Come on." She wiped her eyes and stood up. She looked exhausted but grateful.

As she sat in the limo, he watched as she leaned her head against the window. Despite Kaiba's "generosity," from his glare she knew he wanted answers. "I had dance practice after school so the guys already left. Mom and Dad must have forgotten I had practice today." Tea's head was pounding so she started to rub her temples. Suddenly, she felt an object land in her lap. She looked down to find a bottle of pain killers. She turned her head towards Kaiba and saw that he was no longer looking at her.

Although, she didn't see him looking at her, he was taking occasional sideways glances. Something about her saddened appearance irked him. He was so used to seeing her happy and optimistic personality, that it seemed almost unnatural for her to ever feel anything else.

As they pulled up to her home, she grabbed her book bag and said, "Thanks for the ride Kaiba." He nodded and handed her a card.

He didn't know what he was thinking, but he said, "If you ever get stranded like this again, call this number. If I am available, I will send someone to pick you up."

She smiled at him and said, "Thank you." The rain had stopped and she walked to her door. Once he saw her make it inside the house, he instructed his driver to go home."

*end of flashback*

He smiled as he thought of the sincerity her eyes held when she smiled. Her smile seemed to light up her whole face. There were very few people he knew whose face held so much honest emotion. Many people, in the business world especially, hid their emotions to prevent others from finding weakness. Any weakness becomes a target to your enemies, an Achilles heel. To protect yourself you were forced to hide yourself, so no one got too close.

Yugi sat at the arcade with Joey saying, "What am I going to do Joey? It is worse than I thought. Now it looks like Téa is actually falling for Kaiba. I don't want to lose her. Especially not to someone like Kaiba."

Joey played with his food and replied, "I know, I just don't see what she sees in him."

Yugi slouched in his chair and said, "He always acts like a jerk towards her and everyone else. What does she see in him?"

"Maybe that's it!" Joey said.

Yugi raised an eyebrow and asked, "Maybe what's it?"

"Maybe Téa is one of those weird girls who goes for bad boys. Maybe, she wants to be dominated. You should try to be more aggressive towards her," Joey answered with realization.

"I don't know Joey. I doubt that would end well," Yugi responded with great hesitation.

Joey concluded, "You don't know until you try Yugi. And if it doesn't work, you can always apologize."

Later that night, Yugi sat up in his bed debating whether he should try to be more aggressive or not. After all, Joey was right, he could always apologize."

Téa yelled with her book bag on her back, "Mokuba, it's time for school!"

Mokuba sulked down the stairs and said, "Yeah, I know." Tea smirked at his expression. She had learned that Mokuba wasn't much of a morning person. It wasn't until 10:00 that Mokuba started to really perk up.

At the University, Téa ran into Yugi between classes. He asked her to join him for lunch today. Of course, she accepted and they met up at Sam's Pizzeria. Téa ordered a chocolate malt and they split a pizza. When Tea sat down in the booth, Yugi grabbed her hand from across the table. She looked up in shock and said, "Yugi is there something bothering you?"

Yugi realized what he did and pulled back his arm as if he had been burned. This was going to be harder than he thought. He shook his head no and asked, "How is life with the Kaiba's?"

Téa's eyes lit up; but, as fast as they started to glow they started to fade. She replied, "Things are going well, I suppose." She lifted up her hand and said, "He picked me out an engagement ring and I am really happy living with Kaiba. I am just scared he is going to get bored one day and decide to leave."

"Because of your parents?" Yugi asked.

Téa nodded and replied, "Yes, that is the main reason. But, the day before yesterday, he left me a note saying he had an important meeting in New York. It then continued to say that he would be gone for a week. He didn't even say goodbye." The frowned and said, "I realize that he is a busy man, but is he really too busy to even tell me goodbye."

Yugi caught a stray tear rolling down her cheek and whispered, "If it makes you feel any better, I would never leave you."

Téa's head shot up and she asked, "Yugi, you don't have feelings for me do you?"

Yugi sucked in a breath before he finally confessed, "I do."

Téa stood up, grabbed her things, and threw some money on the table, "I have to go."

Yugi followed her out screaming "Téa, wait!"

Téa started to walk faster crying the whole time. She has been best friends with Yugi since Kindergarten. She figured that Yugi saw her as a sister, just like she saw him as a brother. She never imagined that he would go and fall for her.

Yugi roughly grabbed her arm outside of the student union, making several heads turn. She turned around and he said, "Téa please, we can try to make this work. Even if I have to love you in secret, I just want to be with you. I am not going to let you go."

Téa pulled her arm from his grasp and screamed, "Yugi, I am getting married! The marriage may not have been expected. But, I have made a promise to Seto and I intend to keep it. I am not going to hurt Seto by doing something as sleazy as an affair. I am not interested Yugi. I'm sorry, but you need to move on."

She turned around to leave, when he forced her into a painful kiss. It was his last hope to show Téa how much he truly wanted her. But, that ended just as roughly as it began. She dumped her malt on his head and venomously said, "Don't you ever touch me again. Stay away from me Yugi." She then walked away in a huff.

Yugi threw his hands up in the air and walked away, 'That went well,' he thought to himself.

Kaiba flopped on his hotel bed. His meeting was going to be in two hours, so he might as well get comfortable in the time being. He flipped on the television and the first thing he saw was a celebrity gossip channel. He was about to change it when he saw the anchor say, "Coming up next, It looks like Duel Monsters isn't the only thing Yugi Motou beats up." Kaiba smirked and thought, 'Yugi Motou can't beat his way out of a paper bag. This must be good.'

The reporter said, "Caught live on a cellphone camera, Yugi Motou was caught bothering a young woman coming out of a local restaurant." Kaiba was surprised to see a video of Tea storming out of a pizza restaurant, crying. Kaiba's eyes narrowed and he thought, 'The witch isn't even married to me and she is cheating on me.'

He was about to turn it off until he saw Yugi forcefully grab her. The abusive gesture, caused Kaiba to stop short and looked closer. He listened to the argument between the two and realized that Tea wasn't cheating on him, Yugi harassing her. Every second of their conversation Seto grew redder with anger. When he saw Yugi kiss her, his mind had blown. He threw the remote at the TV set and the screen shattered. He picked up his phone and called up his secretary, "Have the plane refueled and get the pilots back on the plane, we are leaving now!"

"But sir, your meeting is in 2 hours! You don't want to lose this merger do you?" She asked urgently.

Kaiba growled in realization. He couldn't leave until he finished this meeting. Lord help them if this meeting turns out to be a waste of his time. He then instructed his secretary over the phone and said, "I will attend the meeting but the orders are still the same. We are leaving tonight. Have your PR people ready, a scandal is about to break loose and I don't want my fiancé to be hurt by the tabloids."

"Yes sir," she replied as she started to contact individuals.

...

When Téa and Mokuba got home from school. Mokuba could tell that Téa had a bad day. He wanted to ask her about it, but she immediately ran up the stairs to his brother's room and shut the door. Mokuba followed her up, but once he heard her crying through the door he was too afraid to approach her. He may have had better people skills than his older brother, but he still wasn't sure what to do with a girl who was crying.

Mokuba's phone started to ring and he looked at the caller ID. "Big Brother!" he yelled excitedly over the phone.

"Hey Mokuba, how are you and Téa doing?" he asked as he turned on his headset.

Mokuba answered, "I am doing fine. Yesterday we went to the craft story and I picked out some new projects. We were going to work on one today, but Téa looks upset over something. I don't know what to do help her."

"Just leave her alone for tonight," Kaiba instructed, "knowing Téa, she will sort things out on her own. Regardless, I will be home as soon as I can."

"Okay, Big Brother! Mokuba, Tea, it is time for dinner! I gotta go, Dinner is ready!"

"Okay Mokuba I will see you soon," Kaiba clicked his phone off and Mokuba headed towards the kitchen.

Mokuba waited for Téa to come to the dining room…and waited…and waited. Eventually his food was cold and he got tired of waiting. He walked up the stairs and knocked on the door of the master bedroom. When he heard no response, he opened the door and found Téa sleeping on the bed. Mokuba walked in and pulled the covers over her. He then turned back towards the door and looked back at her. Her nose was red and there were still tear streaks on her face. Whatever upset her, must have been pretty big. That was when he noticed a hand print on her upper arm. It was a dark purple bruise. "Big brother isn't going to be too happy when he sees this," he whispered. No wonder she was so upset.

The next day, Téa wore a long sleeve sweater to school despite it being extremely warm out. She acted like everything was fine, but Mokuba could tell that there was something that was still bothering her. When she came home that day, she tried to act as normal as possible and asked, "What do you want to do today Mokuba?"

Mokuba ran up the stairs excitedly and grabbed the 3 T-shirts and the tie-dye kit. He brought them back down and said, "I want to make the shirts. I can't wait until Seto sees the dragon shirt you're going to make."

Téa didn't say anything, but she nodded and followed him out. Despite her emotional state, she did find that spending time with Mokuba making the shirts made her feel better. For all three shirts, it only took one tie dye kit so they put the other away for a later project. Once Seto's shirt dried, Téa ironed on the patch and was very pleased with the result. "So do you think he will wear it?" Téa asked Mokuba.

Mokuba shrugged and replied, "It looks good, but I doubt he would ever wear it out in public. He definitely would use it for a night shirt though."

Tea smiled and they carried their masterpieces in, awaiting Kaiba's return.

Finally, the plane landed and Kaiba was riding home. Kaiba was furious to discover that the companies he was trying to merge with were trying to change the contract, which they had previously agreed on. Once he decided he wasted more than enough time, he just got up and left, no explanation required.

He pulled up to the house and despite being dead tired, he was happy to be home. He couldn't even remember the last time he was this excited to be home. He walked up to the steps, pulled out the keys, and gently shut the door behind him. It was 1:00 a.m. in the morning and he didn't want to wake up the whole house. He sat his briefcase by the door and climbed the stairs. He stopped by his brother's room and saw him fast asleep clinging to a stuffed blue eyes white dragon. He then walked over to his own room and saw Tea curled up on his bed, her face looked distressed.

He sat next to her in the bed and pulled the covers over some. He was about to turn away from her when he heard her whisper his name, "Seto…" He wrapped his arms around her and she snuggled deeper into his touch. She was still asleep, but unconsciously she whispered, "please…don't leave me."