Path towards Depression
Chapter Nine: Kaiba's Consciences
Three Days later…
Serenity sat in one of the musty benches that the subway station had. She looked up at where the trains would come to a halt but found it empty. A few stray people were there, which was really perplexing to her; it was the lunch hour. She shrugged; many strange things can happen.
She pondered of how Mai would react when seeing Joey's last gift. She wondered if Joey has been 'invading' her dreams also. She sighed and closed her eyes, feeling tired from studies…to Kaiba.
She scowled when thinking of him. She truly regretted taking the job. He was a pain in the butt! She practically had to beg to come here, which was another blow to her pride. He said no. She wouldn't take no for an answer, thus making her leave by her own will; secretly of course. She smirked wryly at how he would react when finding out that she was gone.
'Probably a pay cut'
She shrugged; knowing how to reply when getting the future pay cut. She smirked wickedly when a picture popped into her head. Unknowingly, she gave a small cackle.
"S-Serenity?"
Just like that Serenity's thoughts disappeared leaving her with blind confusion.
"M-Mai?" Serenity asked, recognizing the unsteady voice at once. She cocked her head and indeed Mai was there standing there with greater confusion across her face. "W-When did you get here? When did the train get here?" Serenity asked, collecting herself. She looked around her surroundings and saw that many people had arrived now, bustling along to their destinations. She blinked, taking it all in.
"Just a minute ago. Are you okay?" Mai asked, furrowing her eyebrows in concern. She sat down next to her.
'I'm thinking too much…'
"Fine, just fine" Serenity said, giving her a small, reassuring smile. She suddenly hugged her and Mai didn't hesitate to embrace her back. "I've missed you. How have you been?"
They pulled apart, Mai standing up. "I've been…alright" she replied, hesitantly which made Serenity look at her concerned. She dismayed it quickly and decided she would ask later.
"Come on; let's go catch up somewhere else" Mai said, noticing her expression.
"Sure"
Kaiba Mansion…
Kaiba paced around his office, muttering things to himself. He couldn't keep still at all.
"Seto…please stop pacing around like that. You're making me dizzy" whined Mokuba.
Kaiba didn't at all take heed of what Mokuba was saying but instead kept on going back and forth, to and fro.
'That's it…I'm cutting off his coffee!'
"You're acting like a deranged madman!" Mokuba suddenly yelled. Kaiba still went through his manner, never bothering to even listen to Mokuba. Mokuba growled, standing up and shaking Kaiba by the shoulders furiously, making him look like he was dangling off the floor. "STOP IT ALREADY!"
Kaiba blinked and looked at Mokuba blankly. He looked at Mokuba like he was noticing him in the room for the first time. "What is it Mokuba?"
Mokuba released him and gave out an aggravated cry and slammed the door on his way out. Kaiba blinked at the door, confused as to why Mokuba was acting like a…well… deranged teenager.
'I need to cut his caffeine'
Kaiba sighed and retreated to his trusty laptop and began doing any last minute work for his company project dealing with charity. Kaiba could be charitable if he wanted it to be…if Mokuba lead him in that direction, most of the time.
"Hm…I need a cater" he thought aloud.
Already many thoughts popped into his head of many of his favorite, high dining restaurants but as soon as they came, they disappeared leaving her with one particular person in mind. He smirked wickedly but it disappeared as soon as his conscience came to view.
"Kaiba…you should know that she would have a mental breakdown if preparing hundreds of platters of food"
"Precisely…that's my point" Kaiba thought aloud.
"She deserves it for escaping like that and for painting one of your rooms"
He thought back to when pacing around the hallway. Every time he passed her door, a faint yet strong smell would greet him. Unable to contain the smell, he opened the door and a blast of intense, smelling paint met him, various colors, yellow, silver, and a hit of blue. He could see all of the room covered bed sheets, the floors below him following suit.
The walls were starting to develop a night scene, filled with bright stars and dim stars. Some of the original paint was still there.
Questions such as "What is she turning this into? A nursery?" developed…followed by a mad yell that shook the whole manor…which then resulted in searching the entire grounds himself for the redhead…which soon resulted in his obsessive pacing.
"That's very true…" Kaiba mused.
"But that's a dire punishment. With her studies and all she won't be able to handle it"
"That's the entire point you stupid angel!"
"Go shove that fork up your ass!"
The two bickered for awhile in Kaiba's head making him grow with annoyance by the second. He shook them away and they disappeared, though their advices still remained.
Kaiba groaned and thought for awhile what to do with Serenity. She deserved punishment and not a pay cut of which was the first thing that came to mind. She probably expected it. No, Kaiba would play a different game, one that would teach her to not mess with him.
The catering job was perfect.
He smirked deviously and as if on cue, the devil Kaiba appeared on his shoulder, doing a victory dance. The angel popped up moments later, a frown across his face.
"Why do I even bother!"
"Yes, why do you!" the devil said in between gleeful laughs.
The two disappeared and Kaiba was finally left alone to his thoughts.
"Mai, do you ever think of moving back here?" Serenity asked. She sipped her ice tea.
They had been sitting in the café for over twenty minutes, talking about anything new in their lives, Serenity ranting on and on about how much of a nuisance her new employer was, Mai listening attentively, laughing a bit for the first time in awhile.
She shrugged nonchalantly, also taking a sip of her drink. "If I'm needed—"
"Yes! You are needed!" Serenity quickly interjected a pleading look in her eyes.
Mai blinked and looked at the redhead, confusion across her face. "Is something wrong?"
"No…not really…just get lonely sometimes. The guys aren't really comfort, especially those two knuckleheads. Kaiba is much of a help either" Serenity muttered bitterly.
The blond gave her a half-hearted smile. "Yeah, I guess I know what you mean. It gets lonely too for me. I'm not really sociable as I was before" Mai sulked. She dropped her eyes and looked at her napkin, tracing the patterns on it with her fore finger.
Serenity looked up at her, she felt as if Mai was hiding something from her.
"Is something wrong?" Serenity inquired.
Mai gently shook her head and looked up at Serenity. "No…everything's fine. Just…thinking…" she trailed off. Serenity nibbled on her sandwich.
Serenity didn't know how to reply. She had an idea of what it was but was afraid to bring it up. But there were so many things she wanted to talk to her about…the dreams…the presents…
Serenity's head snapped up when thinking about the present. It had been the whole reason of why she was here, talking with Mai. She didn't exactly mention it over the phone, just said "Let's catch up a bit".
She bit her lip, her insides squirming of how Mai would react. If Joey's death made her leave Domino, then…She sighed and looked at the blond. No…she needed to see this.
As if sensing Serenity's inner struggle, she looked up at the redhead and waved a delicate hand over her face when calling out her name wasn't working.
"O-Oh…I'm sorry!" Serenity quickly said. She sighed nervously and dug through her knapsack, taking out the lavender wrapped present hesitantly and set it over to Mai's side. She looked at Mai who instead looked at her sheepishly.
"I didn't know you were going to take our visit um…well seriously. I would've—"
Serenity quickly shook her head and pointed at the card. "It's not from me…um…it's from…well Joey. He bought it before…well…you know…" Serenity trailed off, eyes dropping towards the ground. She couldn't bear to see what expression Mai bore.
Mai stood there, absolutely speechless as she could do nothing but stare at the small, neatly wrapped present before her. She didn't even know if she could open it. Due to the fact that he was dead…or because her dream was right! She fidgeted in her seat, color drained from her face. This was much too far to be a coincidence.
To confirm her thoughts, she turned to Serenity and half blurted out half asked, "Serenity…um…did Joey leave you a present?" she asked nervously. She sat down impatiently, awaiting Serenity's answer.
"W-Why do you ask?" Serenity stammered. She smacked herself mentally. Why was she stammering? It wasn't like she switched the presents or anything.
"W-Well…y-you m-might think it's weird…" she trailed off. Mai had the same thoughts Serenity had when it came to Joey; would she be able to take it?
Serenity looked at Mai confused. This wasn't at all of what she was expecting. She was expecting…well tears, mourns, and so forth not questions. But she would go along with it, for her sake and Mai's.
"Go on" Serenity pressed, wiping the confused expression off, leaving a blank one behind.
"Well, I've been kinda having these…dreams…" Mai started nervously. She began her tale, while Serenity nodded aggressively, comparing her 'Joey Dreams' with Mai, speaking her tale also. In the end, both women looked at each other and a small smile spread across their faces.
For the first time, both had felt pure joy burning inside of them. Sure this situation was very surreal, but Mai and Serenity had dealt with much more surreal situation/s before and like the rest…they were able to accept this one like the others, but still they had their guard up.
"So what now?" Mai asked.
"Well…you can open your present…" Serenity suggested. "Though I have an idea of what it might be…" She added mockingly. This talk with Mai had fully convinced her that Joey was still in contact…in a ghostly way but nonetheless, in contact.
Mai nodded, smiling brightly. She began to unwrap the folds and soon, she met with a velvet box. She immediately opened it and her mouth fell open at it. Serenity peered over her side and looked at it, admiring the stunning diamond, heart shaped locked.
"Open it. Maybe there's something inside!" Serenity said, excited.
Mai nodded and did as she told, fawning over the little picture that was embedded in it. It was a small picture of them in their first Valentines Day, Joey gesturing goofily with his fingers making a peace sign while Mai just wrapped her arms around him, picture being taken professionally (a picture booth).
"That goofball…" Mai chocked as she smiled softly, a tear falling. Serenity nodded, staring at Joey's picture, emotionally. She gave a small smile before tearing her eyes of the picture and sitting back down.
Mai snapped the locket shut and put it around her neck, smile falling now.
"I think I should be on my way…" Mai said standing up. Serenity looked up at her; there she had that hiding-something-look again.
"Mai, what are you hiding?" Serenity blurted outloud, unable to contain thoughts.
Mai looked at her before hesitantly sulking back to her seat. She groaned and put her head down. "I didn't really want anyone to know, just keep it to myself, but I don't think I can do that…its hard now that I think about it" Mai said her words muffled. Serenity could hear her crying now. She bit her lip; she wished she hadn't asked.
"I-it's o-okay. You don't h-have t-to tell me" Serenity stuttered. She put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. When she didn't cease to stop, Serenity panicked. Before, she would've cried right along side with Mai but her tears were used up; gone. "Please Mai…"
What she heard next from the crying blond made a jolt of shock run through her body, from head to toe.
A/n: Cliffy! XP
What did Serenity hear next? It has to be something pretty big…hehe. Maybe some of you already know. Please review!
