Chapter four! My hand is now officially mad at me for all the typing I've done today.
For those of you that aren't big on sex scenes (like me... though I still had to read it), I've separated out the area where it all happens so you can avoid it. Just don't read it and then blame me for anything. As of this writing, I'm ramping up the rating on this fic (Melzart, pourquoi tu ne l'as donné qu'un 'T' avec tout qui se trouve dans ce chapitre?)
"Appearances" belongs to Melzart, Yu-Gi-Oh! belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.
Appearances
by Melzart
. . .
Chapter 4
Everything is Relative
…
Naomi held back from giggling as best as she could as she stood before the man who was soaked to the bone. He apparently had run a long way to reach the front door to her suite, seeing as he was short of breath and was having no success at trying to hide it.
But he stayed silent, staring at her like a predator ready to bound onto its prey, which didn't fail to trouble her.
"Forget something?" she told him, still trying not to laugh but with a pointed irony in her voice.
"Yeah," he managed to say as he tried to regulate his breathing.
Something like that.
Suddenly, he couldn't contain it anymore. He seized her arm and violently rammed his lips against hers, in a kiss replete with ardor, desire.
Shove him away… Defend yourself… I can't…
But not wishing to cave in, she pretended to be offended by his actions as their mouths separated.
"And was this part of the deal, too?"
What?
Kaiba recoiled with dread at the rejection, honestly offended by her cruel words. How could she possibly think he was trying to buy her?
If you give yourself to me… it will never be by obligation.
"No," he breathed.
~~~ - START SCENE - ~~~
He seemed vulnerable then. Almost imploring. And she found that he was more irresistible when showing his true colors, as maladroit as he was. He wasn't as implacable and cruel as he wanted to come off as, having become just a man imbued with an obvious desire, like any one of the millions of others.
Besides, still under the guise of a false name, wasn't it she that wanted him to come back?
Just once… once… then afterwards…
Brusquely, her arms coiled around Kaiba's neck, and her lips passionately joined with his.
You were right. She-
Kaiba lifted her off the ground, pulling her against him as he crossed under the doorframe. With a weak kick behind him, he shut the door behind them.
They waltzed a long moment, devouring each other insatiably, until their clothes found themselves thrown into the four corners of the room.
For a long time Naomi's sheets were the strange witnesses a strong, strange parade that they both fought, rolling one on top of the other over and over on the bed, competing for the privilege to dominate. So much so that they fell backwards out of the bed, Naomi hitting the ground under Kaiba's weight, who immediately tried to assure that she wasn't hurt.
But seeing her amused face, he couldn't help joining her gentle laugh with a sketch of a smile, equally upbeat about the situation. Then their lips met each other once again, greedily.
If Naomi didn't consider herself defeated this time, Kaiba didn't care as he held her to the ground, softly using his power to keep her there.
His gaze lingered on Naomi's face; he didn't know exactly what he was looking for, no more than he knew what he would find once he entered her. But she voluntarily let no sound cross the barrier of her lips.
She's trembling… is it me who's…?
Conscious that she was being watched and fighting to not show him her pleasure, she turned her head away; she could not stop a small groan from being heard, however, which provoked a long, pleasant shiver down Kaiba's body, paralyzing him, for almost a second, making him feel both exuberant and intoxicated simultaneously.
She's driving me crazy.
The strange impression of toppling completely into another universe, totally unknown. Above all, of not being the master, but the slave. Even the miniscule glimmer of what remained of his reason wasn't sufficient to combat the urgent need he felt to make her his. It was a little like as if a piece of himself found its place inside of him, as if she completed him. All of him was clamoring that he abandon his efforts to resist. All but that cold logic, which continued to fight against it.
Another shudder from Naomi completed his quest to understand.
She was so beautiful. So tender. So woman.
She belongs to me.
Without really comprehending, he knew it. These types of things only explained themselves through instinct. Then they are felt.
Still not daring to breathe a word, they temporarily broke their embrace to change positions.
As if she submitted, she turned her back to him, laying against the bed so that he could take her again.
He pressed down to satisfy her when his eyes deviated towards the lower part of her back, where he noticed a very small cut, which had become a scar a long time ago, just above her left hip. It was almost invisible. A scratch.
He stayed immobile, horrified by his discovery, invaded at that moment by a retching heart and evident anger. Because he knew it was there. And he knew how the exact source.
What's he doing?
Naomi sat up slowly, not turning her head to him. But she could easily feel the cold playing at her back.
Do something, Kaiba.
She's incredible.
Kaiba joined their bodies, throwing his arms around her and holding her firmly against him. Then he let his mouth glide along the nape of her neck, in an embrace more torrid than before.
He penetrated her again, along with all of the emotions inside of him he had to share, struggling to not let her notice the thoughts that were haunting him now.
Again, he had to forfeit when she leaned forward almost completely submissively, which made him remember those other rare intimate moments randomly, which couldn't compare themselves to this one.
They were stronger than him.
Not you, Naomi. I don't want to miss any of you.
He backed out, depriving her of the pleasure she had been expecting.
That's it? He's done already? What's wrong? Naomi thought, finally turning around to look at him, looking for an indicator which would allow her to understand what was happening in Kaiba's mind.
He seemed frozen, awaiting an explanation.
She's beautiful…
She had to look completely bewildered.
It was then that a very feeble smile appeared on Kaiba's face. On his knees, he moved between her thighs, tenderly grasping her hips with his hands and affectionately putting his lips on her breasts.
We're just getting started, Naomi.
Even more tenderly, he stretched out his body and kissed her all over, already inside of her deeply. To nourish himself from her body by drinking out of her with his lips was everything he aspired to now.
No place on earth seemed softer, warmer, more welcoming.
He was completely delirious.
Kaiba… get a hold of yourself…
Was his conscience ever going to leave him alone?
You're losing your mind, don't you see? She has you between her fingers, like a toy.
No. I have complete control.
Kaiba stood, Naomi's legs around him as she continued to kiss him passionately, moving with him.
More violently than he would have wanted, he shoved her against the wall, overcome with stimuli, showing her his teeth like a madman eager to stab.
But a cry, with no pleasure in it, came out of Naomi.
Why?
Which stopped Kaiba's aggressive motions.
She was shaking. He wasn't sure if it was due more to pleasure, or due more to pain. She was shaking and was looking at him with eyes both pleading and questioning.
You BRUTE! You went too far, Kaiba! She didn't deserve this and you know it! She's not a piece of meat, she's-
Exactly! Show her who's boss!
No!
No regrets. Hurt her if you need to!
No! NEVER AGAIN!
What's she done to me…?
. . .
Kaiba's glare suddenly softened, as if he were looking to excuse the violence, as if the true being inside of him was coming back towards the surface.
Affectionately, he placed his lips on her forehead, there where she had gotten injured during the race, now strangely concerned with the vile wound. Then he let them move down her face, where he united them with hers with a tenderness that he had, for all these long years of solitude, had kept hidden.
Something of grave importance seemed to come off of Kaiba's face. The mask he had worn until then crumbled to bits and tumbled to the floor, and he couldn't catch the slightest scrap.
Naked. He felt completely naked and vulnerable, there in the pit of his stomach, in his Garden of Eden. However nothing in the world could compare to the sweetness of the burning ground, nor to the sound of that voice which rivaled the pure beauty of the harp which hung by his ear.
Still holding her against him, he brought them back to the bed, where he began to let her control the pace of the ride.
He would do anything to satisfy her, body and soul. That had ended his attempt to dominate her by force.
The way she undulated was sublime.
And suddenly Kaiba understood it, as if he had a disproportionate amount of evidence. She was born and entirely made to love.
To be loved.
By him.
She extinguished from him what he never thought he possessed. He didn't have any way to refuse her.
It mattered little whether she were in charge or whether she served him. At the moment, she was unaware of everything buzzing inside of him. It didn't matter because she didn't know how helpless he was to her, as if it were the first time his fingers had touched a woman's body and he didn't know how to react to such a beautiful body.
Naomi stopped moving when she saw Kaiba's abdomen writhing violently, as if he were fighting to not explode. Several seconds to allow him to get control of himself. Those seconds were beneficial to both of them.
Strangely, in his pleasure, she leaned on him, letting her bosom caress the skin of his chest.
Does she know that I like to feel her against me?
Kaiba shifted to sit up, helping to keep her legs around his waist. He had decided to take charge again, to keep control of his excitement, and by extension, their mutual pleasure.
Naomi let him descend in such a way as to allow him to explore her body, and he devoured her chest, tickling and hungrily licking the tips of her breasts.
Again, she held in her satisfaction with difficulty; and again, Kaiba heard her, to his great pleasure, and the comings-and-goings between her thighs began to slowly speed up.
The desire was mutual and quick to arrive when their fingers gripped each other in furor and they trembled and had difficulty taking breaths. He bowed his head so that she didn't see his face at the same time that she turned hers away so that he couldn't notice her pleasure or overbearing pride. It was the best available ally to camouflage the emotions they felt, and against which they refused to completely cede.
They told each other everything without once opening their mouths.
With a delicacy he didn't recognize, he brought her to him as he laid out on his back, her head propped up on his chest.
~~~ - END SCENE - ~~~
You were waiting for this, weren't you, Kaiba?
You can go away now. You're satisfied, right?
No. Not yet.
What's wrong with you? Usually you take what you need and go.
That's true.
Why should this be any different?
I still want her.
So you'll come back and –
No. I still want her now.
You can find another one…. wait until next time… it's basically the same anyway.
You lie.
She was the first to break away, to get up. But he held her back lovingly by the wrist, as if he wasn't allowing her to go.
Please… don't touch me.
Why does he have so much of an effect on me?
But this time she didn't seem to notice the trouble she had gotten herself into.
"I'm a little hungry," she said, trying to leave.
"I'll go with you."
She stopped, turning towards him as if she were indifferent.
"Don't bother. Look, you got what you wanted- "
What I wanted? How can she know what I want if I don't even know myself?
"…me, too, I admit it. It was very… pleasant… but we're stopping here, okay?" she said again, without noticing the anger that was building behind Kaiba's temples. "I think you should put this behind you."
She's leaving me behind? Grr…
It was too much. And she wasn't asking him a question.
Apparently, she had decided to leave him of her own free will.
It's up to me to please you, Naomi. When I want to!
But she barely looked at him as she left.
I'll be back. I promise, he vowed as he followed in her footsteps several minutes later.
. . .
She could barely stand on her own two legs, advancing haltingly with one foot in front of the other, still giddy from their 'outing'. Lost. She needed air. Lots of it. Enough to replace all the lost neurons.
She had fought against the desire to return to the bedroom before she even left it and cling to him, her body never ceasing to want to be caressed again. She was still shaking.
So weird. It's like I belonged to him.
Her room had been empty for a long time when she returned there, alone. For a brief moment she had hoped he would still be there. Without even taking the time to undress, she lay on the bed. The odor she found there was no longer hers. It was deliciously intertwined with a powerful masculine fragrance. His scent.
Her mouth hunted for the invisible body hidden between the sheets, unsuccessfully, and then she felt an immense feeling of emptiness cruelly rip her entire being open. Followed by an irresistible urge to cry.
And the night was long. Extremely long before sleep finally comforted her.
. . .
Kaiba, in his large bed, returned several times to reassessing that moment, trying in vain to analyze it. But logic seemed incapable of the slightest explanation.
All he successfully understood was what he still wanted. That he kept an insupportable desire to feel her body against his, and most of all, that he was far from satisfied.
And she rejected him.
All his life, he had been the one who picked and chose as he wished. He had even always shown a cold disregard at all human contact in the hope of delaying the inevitable: the moment when someone, somewhere, would show him quite plainly that he was doubtless the most vulnerable, friendless being on earth. Despite appearances.
What he had feared had finally happened. The unbearable terror of not being accepted as he once was. And he felt completely abandoned.
The great Kaiba was as much bitter as he was angry.
After all the beauty… the cruelty.
You will be entirely mine, Naomi.
For the first time in his life, Kaiba found his bed to be cold.
The bed that had never welcomed another living soul apart from his own.
For the first time in his life, Kaiba would have happily shared that space.
It was worse. She had done worse than reject him. She had done it without even recognizing him, knowing whom exactly he was.
She didn't know he was rich and powerful. That he dominated the world even higher up than his own greatness; nothing. She knew nothing about Seto Kaiba.
It was him alone that she had rejected. Just him. Without asking for the rest.
. . .
"Hello?" responded the voice on the other end of the line.
"Naomi?" Kaiba barked, as if he were readying to give orders.
What if she hangs up on me? Would she dare?
Naomi sighed silently, raising her eyes towards her bedroom ceiling. So, he didn't understand, or at least seemed to not want to understand.
None of this had any reason behind it. It was just a moment where solitude had had a lack of vigilance and the weight had gotten so heavy she had tried to lighten it for a few moments.
And as luck would have it, it was with this man.
Yet…
"No. No, don't call me."
"I want to invite you," he began.
"I'm sorry, I'm busy," she cut him off dryly, wanting to put a cap on this relationship that never should have even started.
But Kaiba believed, more wisely now, that he shouldn't insist, contrary to his earlier authoritarian tendencies.
"I see," he said again, repressing the irritation the refusal caused.
Sooner or later, you'll have to see me again, Naomi. I'm not done with you. But it's okay. I have lots of time.
It was with an odd grin plastered on him that Kaiba hung up a few seconds later.
It was decidedly necessary to change tactics. Of course, still staying anonymous.
But how? Until that moment he had never had to become preoccupied with seducing or attracting someone, everyone else kneeling in front of him as they venerated and feared the most tempestuous of the gods. Everyone missed recognizing him for a large portion of what he really was. He wasn't appreciated – he was feared the world over. He could silence with a single glare and had a multitude of lackies that covered the globe he could move at will on his giant strategic chessboard. Besides, it had never really interested him.
But before this simple woman, he could find neither sign nor sufficient word that could attract her attention or keep her close.
Of course he knew. He knew many things. Even things he didn't want to know. That normally would have been a certain kind of advantage for him. This thought, which calmed him, brushed his mind each time he felt that innate desire to dominate.
Only, when he forgot he was that rich young man, indocile and impetuous, and every evening when he found in his mirror the human being that lived in the same body as him, well, no other ulterior motives found their way into the rigidity of his system of beliefs. Everything called for clemency.
Grr… why can't I simply become interested in something else? It would be so simple. She said I got what I wanted, right? Psht! What I wanted? What I want?
What does she know?
You've thought about her for two days. Two days have passed and you haven't taken the slightest action to-
Argh! Shut up!
Kaiba got up in a single movement.
This is completely stupid. Truly childish of you.
She would never come to him. It was so obvious.
She would never come because she didn't even know where to meet with him anyway.
So, because she won't go, I'll go. I'll tell her the truth. I won't hold back. I am Seto Kaiba.
Why should he hide it anymore?
Nothing to lose. Nothing to gain, maybe. That annoyed him for a fraction of a second. But she had to know.
He decided. He wasn't searching further for any other situations this could bring about.
The time had come to act.
Just like that, he found himself in the car, driving towards the mall wherein he knew Naomi was in the middle of window-shopping.
Nothing really mattered now except getting everything back to normal. She'd learn.
. . .
Little Molina occupied a large portion of her thoughts that calm afternoon. The others were directed towards that mysterious man, whom she barely knew anything about but who continued to trouble her.
She hadn't slept a lot since that memorable evening; her body was still looking for that invisible creature enveloped in the smell of her sheets, despite the two wash cycles she had applied to them. Yet she fought hard to forget. Forget something that shouldn't have happened, but had happened, despite all efforts to the contrary.
For a long time, she had practiced abstinence with good reason, refusing to feel, even for a second, a perhaps illusory sense of happiness.
And then this guy comes along, and her senses cave in to his glance, however cold it be.
It was stronger than she was. Stronger than anything. Even now her self-control melted at the sole memory of those fingers, those lips.
But at least he hadn't insisted and hadn't spent all his energy charging back in dutifully. This certainly reassured her. But it also deceived her.
Hadn't she been nothing but a victory prize? She thought herself exclusively available to his slightest caprice and every whim? Wasn't that why he had hung up on her? What could he still want that he hadn't had yet?
Kaiba didn't take long before noticing her at the door of a toy store.
She was still, as always, dressed in black, head to foot. He wasn't surprised in the slightest.
But the mall was crammed, inundated with the curious who were turning to gawk at him.
Head held high, he advanced slowly and quietly. But his feet stopped suddenly when a doubt made him slightly tilt backwards in surprise.
Despite it all, was this really the way he wanted her to discover his real identity?
Grrr… what's the matter with me? All of this is stupid.
Yet his gaze, now little assured, suddenly noticed the size of the crowd – envious, admiring. The crowd that, he knew it, was preparing to rush towards him.
Argh!
In an instant, he turned on his heels to head straight out the nearest exit.
. . .
At a distance, the limousine followed in Naomi's wake as she walked down the sidewalk, probably returning to the hotel.
She was about to cross a small, quiet road when the limousine blocked her path and Kaiba moved out of it determinedly, as if he had just been given a nasty surprise party. At the event, she grew outraged at the brusqueness of it, first of all because it had given her the impression she might get run over by the car. She hadn't immediately placed herself in a defensive position, but her body recoiled strongly.
Grr… no! Not him!
Melting. Kaiba felt something hard inside him weaken upon seeing her. His will to take on his cold at the same time as his thoughts trouble him with a quasi-inexpressible chaos, undoubtedly. He was certain of it: if he opened his mouth, he was going to babble like a child.
She kept her half-shocked, half-disconcerted look on him.
Without showing it, Kaiba breathed deeply.
"Can I take you back? There's still a little ways back to the hotel- "
"No," she hissed. "I'd prefer to walk."
Just leave me alone! You have nothing to do with my life.
"Naomi. I think we should talk," he dared, as if what he had to say were some sort of established thing.
She placed a foot out to the side to get around him, feigning assurance and complete indifference.
"I don't believe so, no. There's nothing to say," she replied, coldly, as if she didn't care.
This time, with a certain rigor in the motion, he took her arm even though he had never wanted to be forceful with her. This stopped Naomi's feet again, who launched an unreal look in his direction, next lowering it onto the hand clasped again around her. She wasn't laughing. This was serious.
Don't touch me.
But the great Seto Kaiba, the very man who feared no-one, would not be impressed by this woman. He would still avoid trying to apologize.
"Personally, I think there is," he dared again before pulling back his hand.
She frowned slightly.
Naomi… don't play games with me. You risk too much while doing so…
"I don't know what about," she persisted.
There was the noise of impatient car horns going off behind the limousine. Drivers who didn't have the courage to get out began screaming their heads off once they realized what they were stuck behind.
But neither Kaiba nor Naomi didn't seem taken aback by them, each holding the other's gaze without looking away, like blood enemies who didn't want either one to flinch in sight of the adversary.
"Get in the car," Kaiba ordered, beginning to fear that some potential do-gooder would intervene.
"NO!" she screamed, placing a foot in front of her in an attempt to continue her route.
Ugh. Women.
He was wondering what action he could take. The best one, that is.
On the street corner, just behind them, dozens of automobiles were held up, leaving the ones farthest in the back to have the most furious horn-blowing.
And she went. He had too, also. He couldn't block off the road all day trying to keep her there.
It was at that moment he did one of the craziest things he had ever done.
Without warning, he grabbed her tightly in his arms and dragged her inside the limo. Hell with the consequences.
She didn't have the time to react, taken completely by surprise. But she was furious when the door closed behind her and he ordered them to take off.
"What's the meaning of this? Are you a kidnapper now?" she shrieked, barely preventing herself from fighting back tooth and nail.
Almost amused, but more exalted, by his action, he couldn't stop a conqueror's grin from flying onto his face.
Kidnapping? The idea.
But he could definitely sense she was not appreciative in the slightest.
"Calm down," he told her, voice monotone and authoritative. "I'm simply dropping you off at your hotel."
Naomi gave a truly angry sigh. She was horrified that somebody else was trying to impose upon her their way of getting around. If she stayed in this car, she would have to listen to what he had to say. She definitely didn't want that.
"I think I have something to say," he begun again. "And yes, you're going to hear me out."
"You're wrong. There's nothing to add," she responded.
He went on despite her protests.
"About that evening…"
This time, giving herself as much countenance as possible, she decided to end this, once and for all.
"Of course. It was just a soiree. Nothing more. End of the road."
She's rejecting me… rejecting me… again.
"Are you sure about that?"
Kaiba leaned in to her slightly.
"Fine!" she roared. "You want to talk about it? I'll talk to you about it. I'm not your call-girl! Find yourself someone else if that's what you want this time, okay? Me? I actually have things I want to do with my life!"
Kaiba sat stunned, frankly angered, by her words.
Call-girl? Is that what she… she thinks I'm some sort of…
But she stopped herself once she saw the slap in the face she had given him, without once touching.
Oh, he… it's not… I'm sorry… but I can't.
Calmly, although his plan was still foggy, Kaiba managed to keep his sang-froid. Because he knew. Why should he get angry?
"My turn," he said.
She wanted to fight back again, but he continued on.
"I think we left each other on the wrong terms."
I'm Seto Kaiba. Voila. You understand it now?
Ugh, no. Not like that. Besides, what would that help?
But you can't leave her on 'better terms' without telling her the truth. You know that.
"I don't need a call-girl. I already have everything I need."
Oh, okay, I see. He's married, of course. Ha! So he lied to me. Like others before him and others after him. Now, he'll promise things to me, like he'll leave his wife, that he never felt anything for her, anything to get back some of that night, I bet.
Of course she looked blindly obstinate. Of course she was playing it rough.
And she understood her words that risked wounding him anyway.
"No, I'm not married," Kaiba affirmed, as if responding to her worries.
And I never lie. At least normally.
Grr… Naomi… I'm Kaiba!
"Just be quiet. I don't want to hear any more. Let's stop here, okay?"
"I'm not finished," he said, this time quite imperatively. "Whether you like it or not, something happened- "
"Something that never should have happened," she interrupted again.
"…that happened all the same," he continued, without really noticing what he was saying.
Naomi sat up ramrod-straight.
Of course she had fallen into that other universe, too. Of course she still clearly felt the shivers throughout her body. But she wasn't going to allow anyone to come first anymore in her life.
So she chose to come off as implacable.
"So what? You'll see plenty more. I'm neither the first nor the last you'll have in bed for the night. Move on to someone else now. Not me."
Cruel.
She lied. So badly.
Yet Kaiba realized to what extent women could appear pitiless. Maybe even more so than those dreadful sharks that crossed his path, whom he only gave tiny morsels to.
Disarmed. She suddenly felt vulnerable towards him, and his eyes lingered on her without the slightest reaction of irritation or surprise. Arms and legs crossed. As if he were waiting for her to end her tirade of bullshit.
Is he deaf or something? He isn't even mad! Why isn't he reacting?
The way he's looking at me… I have to get out of here.
Strangely, Kaiba stayed silent, contenting himself with finding a piece of paper and a pen from his coat to scrawl something. He held it out to her.
"Tomorrow night, at 6:30. I'll let you meet my little brother. Also, here's a number you can use to reach me. When you want."
Naomi froze in place.
"Do you understand what I said to you?" she asked him.
"Yes, quite well," he responded without the slightest hint of caring. "And here we are."
Doesn't he care about me? What does he take me for?
Roland opened the door.
"Have a nice afternoon, Naomi," he said strongly.
It chilled her blood as much as it made it boil. She might try to convince herself he had forced her, but basically, he asked her. Still, despite all appearances. She still had trouble tearing her own flabbergasted expression from his.
He had given her directions to his house, apparently, as well as a telephone number so that she could call him at any time.
That being said, it was out of the question to envisage ever using them. And that being said, she fought heatedly to not buckle under his excess of determination.
Difficult to rub it off.
It was then that she lost a bit of her self-mastery.
Argh! But what do you want? she screamed to herself, imaging him directly in front of her as she slipped outside.
Stop playing with me. I hate it.
Kaiba was happy to disconcert her. Besides, the odd grin that jumped on to his face only accentuated Naomi's apparent disarray.
"You think I'm going to ask you up? Is that what you want?" she spat.
This time, Kaiba's face turned into a frown again.
It wasn't an insult. At least, he hadn't taken it as one. It was certainly true that the will to accompany her words with his actions wasn't lacking.
Everything in its proper place, Naomi. You'll learn to know me.
"See you tomorrow," he repeated, signaling at Roland to close the door businessman-like, desiring to not lose an extra minute of his precious time. It was less of a trifling matter.
. . .
Along the way up to her suite, she never calmed down. The nerve the man had baffled her considerably. She was outraged at herself for not having had a response to his question. She was outraged that he practically slammed the door in her face. And most of all… she was outraged at having become silent to what qualified to her as an advancement – the demi-invitation he threw out seemingly without warning. So it was he who was rejecting her now. But he was still attracting her. What kind of game was this?
She stretched out on her bed, the piece of paper she held between her hands in her scrutiny, and she sighed.
Call him? What an absurd idea. It would only be to verify if the number was a real one. No. That was even more stupid. But what was he to her in life besides?
Nothing good. He only tormented and angered her.
Harshly, she crumpled the paper and threw it into the garbage bin, far from the bed, as if she were playing basketball.
. . .
And if she comes? And you're not there?
She'll learn you lied to her.
No. I'll be there. I'll tell her myself.
Fine. Even better. If you're interested… I don't think she'll appreciate the fact that you lied to her. It's up to you to say it. And… if she doesn't come? Argh! Besides, why would she?
She'll come.
You seem so sure of yourself.
No response?
And all of that is important?
Still no response?
You're still the guy that knows everything, normally.
Shut up!
Like he had said oftentimes, back in the day, it would be more difficult to fight against himself playing solo. Then again, it was almost an insurmountable task to appease that fucking conscience of his which wouldn't leave him a single tranquil moment.
Everything will be fine, and everything will go according to plan. If she keeps her word.
Pff! A fortune-teller, are we? And you think you can predict everything?
Arghhhh! Shut up!
. . .
No. Don't touch it. Burn it!
Naomi's hand trembled slightly as she walked towards the wastebasket.
Yes, that's it. Because he bothers you so much, go burn it. It'll all be over.
Before she could finish the thought that she was obsessing over so much, the piece of paper found itself again between her fingers. She would never admit to him how she could juggle both accepting and rejecting him, but hesitate so stupidly.
But she had to know. Assure herself of some things. Even if she didn't really see a use in it. Even more idiotically, the phone found itself in her other hand, like magic, and she surprised herself when she placed it by her ear.
.
Kaiba didn't move when the phone rang, at first. He had to receive hundreds of calls daily, being the head of KaibaCorp.
Only, he smiled once he finally realized which of his phones was ringing. It was his personal one, the one he used with Mokuba.
Naomi.
"Kurami!" he said, without wasting a beat.
But nobody responded to his voice. Of course there had to be someone on the other side of the line. And he knew exactly who she was.
She has to be double-checking the number… pretty funny.
He couldn't help but smile.
But he didn't go so far as to repeat his name and wait for her to expose herself. He doubted he would hear a word come from those ravishing lips.
.
She winced at the sound of his voice.
He didn't seem to have lied to her; it was definitely the same man.
Only, she suddenly felt more frightened, like a hooked fish, and she disconnected the call.
This is a nightmare. I can't… Don't panic. I don't know what he wants. But I don't have anything anyway. What can I do… think, Naomi.
She breathed in sharply.
Okay, I'll go. To put a stop to this. This has to end. Now.
.
Kaiba was still grinning when he hung up the phone.
Fine. See you tomorrow.
And while I'm at it... Happy New Year!