"...and then I told her...no wonder you contracted Harpies," Yugi chortled with one of his assistants the following Friday once he reached his office door. His assistant, who was a rather cute, petite woman politely laughed alongside her boss as he opened his door to start off the day. Once he turned the light switch on, his personal swivel chair suddenly swung around to reveal a calculating, undaunting figure.
"AJIGAWRO!" Yugi spewed gibberish at the sudden appearance of the intruder. His coffee sloshed out of its container from his sudden movement, causing the hot liquid to splatter across his own, crisp white dress shirt. His assistant screamed in fear, and her horrified screech attracted the attention of several workers from the hallway. Several others rushed to see what the spectacle was about, and they too were terrified by the intruder.
"Good morning, Yugi," Kaiba calmly greeted from Yugi's cushioned chair as he was casually scrolling through a tablet. Without looking up, he snidely added, "Your ATEM-pts at flirting are atrocious."
"Can I help you?" A bewildered and embarrassed Yugi asked as he stepped toward his own desk. The others stood at the door, curious as to what was about to unfold. It was highly abnormal to find their CEO spawn at a worker's office unless he really had it in for someone. They all held their breaths for Seto Kaiba's response. Could Yugi Muto face unemployment?
"Yes, actually," Kaiba answered as he lifted his eyes from his tablet and shot a dirty glare toward his spectators. He continued, "I need to discuss private matters that are best dealt privately. Anyone who disagrees can turn in their resignation letters."
The other office workers shuddered, but several whispers were exchanged. Yugi's assistant was the one to shut the door, and her face was one of pure amusement. Yugi saw her expression, and his fears from Kaiba's last intrusion into his work space suddenly overcame him.
"I can see your shadows underneath the door!" Kaiba barked toward the closed door, and a rushing sound of feet immediately dispersed.
Yugi sighed and sat in the seat in front of his very own desk. He coldly stared at the unaware Kaiba and groaned, "When you put it that way, everyone gets the wrong idea about us!"
Kaiba shook his head and waved his hand while retorting, "Don't exaggerate one woman as everyone. You're going to be hopelessly single with those idiotic puns of yours regardless."
"That's not what I-" Yugi furrowed his eyebrows and rubbed his temples before calmly continuing, "This coming from the guy who comes to me for advice over a girl practically handed to him."
"She's taken, and I have no wish to be a homewrecker," Kaiba amply responded.
"I meant just to be friends with," Yugi smirked as Kaiba scrunched his face after realizing his mistake. He started counting his fingers as he listed, "She's easy to talk to, not to mention interesting, has a kind heart, and not to mention...just happened to share a living space with you for an entire vacation! Don't tell me I can't talk with women when you can't seem to make friends with a woman as easy-going as her!"
"You know I have my reasons," Kaiba scowled and set aside his tablet.
"That only give you more incentive to talk with her."
"That is maddeningly simplistic and opinionated of you to say."
"Is it?"
Kaiba felt one of his eyes start to twitch as he prolonged his patience. He changed the subject by insisting, "That's not why I came here."
"What else could you be here for, then?" Yugi mischievously smiled and rested against his chair, smugly looking at the CEO.
"It's about Mokuba," Kaiba took in a deep breath before continuing, "I have a concern that you can help clear up, but it might be breaching some personal info."
"Continue."
"As you know, he is dating Wheeler's sister. This is Mokuba's first relationship-"
Yugi's face morphed into one of disbelief. He interrupted the other man, "Um...I really don't think she's his first girlfriend." He could specifically remember a couple female names that Mokuba mentioned throughout the years.
"First serious one," Kaiba corrected, "I told him I didn't want to waste my time on meeting any of his girlfriends unless he was utterly sure it was serious."
"So you prefer him to pursue more casual relationships?"
"No...I've recently agreed to a more personal meeting with the Wheelers, and I need to understand the dynamic between him and his girlfriend. Because this is his first, serious girlfriend, I'm concerned that he's going into the relationship completely naive. I'm not exactly happy with his choice...but that's a whole other story I don't care to divulge. I need to know...has that girl ever been serious with someone else? I can faintly recall something with her and Taylor."
"Mm, they had a thing," Yugi frowned but mocking said, "Are you trying to get me to gossip with you? Are we that close now, Kaiba?"
Kaiba ignored the last question and explained, "Asking Mokuba and his girlfriend about an ex is rather rude, and there's no way in hell Wheeler will share me anything."
"Well, Kaiba," Yugi rubbed his chin, "I don't know the exact details, but I remember one day Joey complaining to me when he got caught in the crossfire between those two."
"And?"
"And...what do I get out of this?" Yugi crossed his arms.
"A future favor," Kaiba unwillingly provided. A favor from him was more valuable than most others, and Yugi knew that well enough.
"Well...it was three or four years ago.…"
"Yugi, I don't know what to do!" Joey whined as he set down his Duel Monsters cards and rubbed his eyes. He had been up all night and the throbbing in his head from staying up had rendered him brain dead. The blonde man had decided to visit the Kame Game Shop to play a friendly duel with Yugi, hoping that the little game would help lift his spirits. Unfortunately, it wasn't working.
"Well, you've still got two cards face down before-" Yugi concentrated at the cards laid out in between them on one of the shops' gaming tables, but his observance was interrupted by his opponent.
"Nooo!" Joey droned as he used both his hands to clasp the sides of his head and shook side to side, "It's Serenity and Tristan! I'm trying so hard to talk to both of 'em and understand what's hurtin' them so bad but they won't budge! My sister's just moping all the time and she keeps to herself in her room, and my longest friend won't even open his front door for me!"
"Give it time, Joey...they need to recover," Yugi assured his friend the best he could.
"I know, I know, but I feel so helpless...and I hate to be dat way! I'm always d'ere for my sister...ever since we were kids! But...but suddenly I can't now. I understand da whole privacy thing, but I just hate seeing her so down. Don't even get me started on Tristan. If that guy shuts down, he shuts down...no matter how much I punch him or abuse his door!"
"Sometimes you just gotta let people wait before opening up, Joey, no matter how much it hurts on your part to wait. I guess if you think about it, Tristan is leaving for the military soon. That's bound to complicate things," Yugi offered a suggestion as an explanation for Serenity and Tristan's break-up.
"I've thought about dat, but I just don't think dat's the only reason," Joey dejectedly continued, "They really cared for each other, even when I tried so hard to prevent dem from happening in da beginning. I should've tried harder if I knew if it was going to end dis badly…."
"Joey, you're a great older brother, but you can't protect your sister from everything, and if you did, you wouldn't let her live her own life. A good older brother wouldn't restrict his sister, right?"
Joey silently stared at the game table. The cards on the table became indistinguishable as his eyesight started to become blurry. He allowed Yugi's question to soak. A small smile started to emerge as he started to pick up his cards. Soft, grateful brown eyes matched to his opponent's reassuring violet ones.
"Thanks, Yugi."
"Now, make your move!"
"Then it was serious," Kaiba concluded as Yugi finished his story. An ache nibbled the back of his head, for the scenario Yugi had just painted only worsened the part of his brain that Mokuba occupied.
"I mean, I don't know the tiny details. I think eventually Tristan did tell Joey, but it never got to my ears. And Serenity...well you can imagine who she'd confide in," Yugi suggestively winked.
"Don't ever do that in front of my face again," Kaiba disgustedly remarked.
"What, this?" Yugi started to repeatedly use his right eye to wink. In between winks, he said, "Blue...eyes...white..."
"Holy shit, I regret being here," Kaiba groaned at Yugi's rather immature display of mockery. The other man simply laughed.
"Well, here's a new opportunity to talk with her!" Yugi excitedly stated as his eyes started to light up.
"Can't you? She would never tell me anything like that."
"She could sympathize with your reasoning," Yugi shrugged and said, "I don't really have a solid reasoning to ask her anything of the sort at this point."
"Anyways...about her. I've been thinking-"
"You always end up talking about her even though you said you wouldn't this time, hmm?" Yugi pointed out as a smug smile appeared on his face.
"Nevermind," Kaiba scowled and got up, walking towards the door. As his hand was on the door knob, he mentioned, "Get back to work."
"Been trying to."
"I've been thinking…"
Monday morning, Kaiba pulled the same stunt that he did the previous Friday. This time, he had no tablet in hand. His elbows firmly touched Yugi's armchair as he languidly interlinked his hands in the stereotypical evil villain posture. His eyes glinted beads of concern.
Yugi and his assistant fell victim to the same tactic. His coffee-soaked shirt clinged uncomfortably against his chest as he ushered his assistant and everyone else who had gathered out the door. He grimaced as he shut the door and turned toward Kaiba.
"Is this becoming a regular thing?" He, annoyed, instigated the CEO.
"I can still see your shadows!" Kaiba ignored Yugi's question in order to yell at the door. The same scramble of shoes could be heard as everyone outside started to disassemble from the door.
"Out," Yugi firmly pointed a finger towards the door.
Kaiba raised an eyebrow, pleasantly surprised at the shorter male's ability to turn him down. He inwardly smiled at the change in attitude, as he could only remember a pathetic pushover back in teenagehood. He callously responded, "This is my building before this is your office."
"I'm behind a lot of plans for my current project, and I'm sure you'd understand my worries for this. It's going to affect your company."
"I have something important to discuss," Kaiba insisted as his eyebrows started to furrow in frustration.
"Look, Kaiba," Yugi sighed and crossed his arms, unwilling to seat himself, "Why don't we discuss this somewhere outside of work? You know...where it belongs?"
"I have no energy to spend outside time with you with Battle City this upcoming week. I will extend your project deadline if it stresses you so much, as I'm one cause of the delay. Is that sufficient?"
No is what Yugi wanted to say. In actuality, his project delay was minor compared to a bigger peeve with Kaiba's sudden appearances in his workspace. The other man's spontaneous visits had sparked virulent rumors on several floors of KaibaCorp. If the office jokes got out of hand, Yugi feared it would reach the outside world, where journalists and reporters existed to further complicate his image. Worst of all, it appeared that Kaiba had little care for the potentially hazardous rumors.
"Whatever, just state your case," Yugi grumbled as he plopped into a chair.
"I think I know what do with that woman's little breakdown episodes," he continued, "I'm requiring a mandatory health exam to all of my employees working during Battle City."
"A health exam?"
"It's perfect isn't, it?" Kaiba agreed with himself as he nodded his head, "I can attribute her problems to actual underlying medical conditions instead of whatever destiny thing you've been preaching, and this check-up won't be out of the ordinary for employees since Battle City's gotten more...unpredictable."
Yugi sat dumbfounded in the face of the company head. He was trying his hardest not to laugh at the other man's overzealous attempts at analyzing a mere woman. When he felt a laugh nearly bubble out his mouth, he coughed violently, trying his best to suppress his emotions. Once he calmed down, he smoothly asked, "So...what are you going to do when there isn't anything physically wrong?"
"Ship her to a psychology ward to search for mental problems," Kaiba replied as if it was perfectly logical.
"How are you gonna reason that? She won't be a KaibaCorp employee after Battle City."
"You're right," Kaiba lowered his eyes and started to think.
Yugi raised both his eyebrows at those mere two words. Never in his life did he think Seto Kaiba would utter that phrase. Maybe, just maybe, he would trash his unnecessarily complicated idea.
"You're absolutely correct, Yugi," Kaiba's eyes quickly flicked toward Yugi as he snapped his fingers, "I need to add a mental examination on top of a physical one!"
The tri-colored hair man felt like Kaiba had literally shanked his face. He disappointedly glared back into the other man's eyes and said, "Or you know...you could like...talk to her...get close...and find out for yourself instead of bugging thousands of other people. Is the wild or what?"
"This is quicker. Besides, this will weed out anyone who actually is incapable of working during Battle City, therefore everything will be safer."
"Have you actually consulted someone other than myself?"
"No," Kaiba firmly responded as he stood up, "Because I know that you know what I know if you just know a little better."
"I don't-" Yugi never got to finish his sentence as Kaiba walked out the door.
The remaining man simply shook his head and properly sat in his own seat. As he was reviewing some files, his mind couldn't help but wonder about Kaiba's erratic behavior. Well, more than normally erratic. As he continually fell into a spiral of analysation, Yugi reached a fairly probable reasoning. He glanced at the door one more time before returning to paperwork.
You're batshit delirious around her, Kaiba, as much as you deny it.
Sunday night, he led himself to Duke's cafe, undeterred by logic and his waning energy. He shut his car door and sailed into the interior. It had been been about a month since he had last visited. This time, the night-life of Domino was more prominent as customers filled the ambience with chatters and discussions. Several people were waiting in line at the register, and everyone seemed too preoccupied to notice the presence of the city's most famous CEO. A decade ago, he would've been identifiable by his flashy trenchcoat and ostentatious steps, but he no longer donned such attire and his steps were drowned by surrounding noise. Those in line, however, did notice his rudeness as he cut the current customer in order to ask an impending question.
"Where is Kisara Amano?"
The female clerk winced back as she furrowed her eyebrows and firmly responded, "Sir, you're going to have to wait in line like everybody else."
"Then I'll find her myself," Kaiba asserted as he left the line and made his way toward the back of the establishment. Several people started to notice who he was, and a flurry of whispers started to emerge.
"Sir, you can't-" An employee rushed to follow him, but he had already reached the kitchen. His eyes scanned the entirety of the vicinity as he completely ignored the rambling pleads of the one employee. The kitchen workers were too busy trying to fulfill the avalanche of requests of various drinks and desserts from the customers outside. His feet started moving through the kitchen as his head ached at the mere possibility that she wasn't working tonight. He didn't know her work schedule, so he had arrived to the cafe with more hope than reason. He had been doing that lately.
"Sora, I told you-" Kisara was cut short of her advice to her co-worker as she noticed an all too familiar figure approaching her coffee work-station. Her eyes darted down as her head was filled with incredulous questions regarding his sudden appearance.
"Kisara, are you alright?" Sora asked as he observed his usually focused co-worker stop short. He leaned closer to her figure, wondering why she was suddenly so interested in rubbing the coffee machine.
Sora, you idiot! Kisara's head screamed as soon as he said her name. God forbid the CEO was near.
"Amano," Kaiba firmly addressed as he managed to overhear her friend and loomed over Kisara's head. He noticed that she had tucked all of her snowy hair into her black cap. Her eyes were clenched shut at his unfortunate discovery. She could feel her heart beat faster as she regrettably turned to face him.
"Kaiba," she mimicked his tone as her eyes flew open. She didn't know what to say, as she was very much perplexed, and she didn't have the will to ask why he was right here.
"We need to talk," he dully stated.
"I'm busy," she declared. She wasn't lying. She could hear unattended receipts continuously dialing in one by one.
"If you don't-" as Kaiba's voice started to get aggressive, Sora stepped in between the two and glared straight into the other man's eyes.
"I think she clearly doesn't want to be bothered at the moment."
Kaiba was slightly surprised by his sudden approach. He could register the other man's face as the one he had ordered from the last time. A dreadfully handsome face like that was rarely forgotten, and sure enough, his nameplate read "Sora." He was tall too, only an inch shorter than Kaiba, but clearly taller than the average Japanese man. Although Kaiba thought of himself as generally straight, he had to mentally admit this man was handsome. He also noticed that one of Sora's hands was balled into a fist, making the veins of the man's visibly muscular arm pop out.
"Sora," Kisara softly said as she clasped around the wrist of Sora's clenched hand and pulling in back, "I'll get rid of him quickly. Just handle the drinks." She turned her attention to Kaiba and said, "Alright. But we have to go where you won't block everyone."
She quickly walked away, not even glancing to see if Kaiba was following. He did, of course, and he had some commentary, "How can you date someone like Hamada when that guy is right next to you?"
Kisara furrowed her eyebrows and gave a confused yet amused look, "You want his number or something?"
"I'll pass."
The two reached a deserted corner of the kitchen space. Kisara turned around and crossed her arms to indicate her irritation. She quipped, "Make it quick."
Kaiba was slightly thrown off by her uncharacteristically irritated behavior. She was clearly serious about her work, despite how little it probably earned her. He unabashedly answered, "You need to take a medical exam before Battle City. I don't know why you haven't after being given a week."
"I already sent in my health records from a year ago," She seemed to be get more and more annoyed. She bit her bottom lip and unfaltered in her gaze.
"Did you have hallucinations a year ago?"
"No?" She, bewildered, could not seem to understand what he meant.
Kaiba's eyes widened as he remembered that she never seemed to recall her little breakdown in the cave, and she clearly couldn't remember the one in the car from two weeks ago.
"Do you have nightmares? Like the one you had in the villa that one night?"
It was Kisara's turn to have her eyes turn into saucers. Her lips slightly quivered, but she maintained her calm composure. She lied, "No."
"You're horrendously awful at lying."
She stayed silent.
"Can you just take the damn exam tonight? I literally cannot risk the host of my tournament fainting or spazzing in front of thousands of viewers. Do you know how horribly pathetic that would-"
"Kisara, one word, and I will mess this pretty boy up. I don't care if he's Seto Kaiba," Sora gallantly declared as he approached the two, unnerved by the other man's death stares.
"Sora, calm down," Kisara instructed and veered toward Kaiba, "I'm working right now, and I don't have a car or know if the bus lines take me to my usual doctor."
"I will drive you," Kaiba continued, "And you won't be having a job underneath KaibaCorp if you don't come with me right now. If you think I won't fire you in last minute circumstance, you're gravely wrong. You'd be a flaming idiot to pass up a KaibaCorp paycheck for a minimum wage one."
Kisara's raised shoulders lowered a degree as Kaiba's words hit her. She lowered her gaze, but before she could respond, Sora interfered once again.
"If you don't leave, I'm going to have to make you-"
"Sora," Kisara irritatedly called out her friend, overwhelmed by the current situation and the equally chaotic atmosphere of passing workers. She sighed and answered Kaiba, "Fine."
"Sora, I have to leave right now. I'll make up for it later. Really sorry," she apologized to her bewildered friend as she took off her apron and hat, letting her white hair freely fall to her sides. She handed it to her coworker and told Kaiba, "Let's take the back exit."
"Be careful, Kisara," Sora softly wished as he took her work apparel. She simply nodded and waved him off as she led Kaiba toward the back exit.
The toasty, night summer air hugged her skin as the two stepped off. However, she felt herself shiver at the notion of being in the same car as Kaiba.
"Nice car," she said as soon as she settled into the passenger's seat.
"You were here before," Kaiba retorted as he started up his engine.
"I don't remember."
Good, he thought. That meant she didn't remember Wheeler's foolish little confession.
"Do you need my usual doctor's address?"
"I already reserved an exam at my own doctor."
"Ah."
And that was the bulk of their conversation on the drive to the clinic. Neither was entirely comfortable with the awkward silence. Kisara's mind kept predicting ways to conversate with her driver, but she found herself too nervous. She could still recall his ill-natured words from the villa. He didn't seem to keep true to his words in treating her like a stranger. She could faintly remember him speaking to her first at his home, something about her collar bones. How strange. Then again, he never seemed like the type to apologize for his words despite going back on them. After all, he never verbally apologized for his behavior the first day of vacation, yet he took her to all those wonderful places the next day. He was as turbulent as the crashing tides against the rutted sands of the night beach the two had tread upon, waning occasionally in deference but waxing frequently in resentment. How frustratingly difficult it was to understand his inconsistent behavior.
"We're here," he spoke up.
Kisara's train of thought crashed as she noticed he turned his engine off and had his hand on his door handle.
"Wait-" she leaned toward his side.
He paused for a moment to glance at her seemingly distraught face.
"You're...actually accompanying me?" Her voice faded to a whisper as her eyes glimmered in question.
"...Do you want to me to wait out here?"
"No!" She exclaimed and suddenly grew embarrassed at her unparalleled cry.
Kaiba raised a brow as he noticed her cheeks started to form a tinge of pink. He blurted, "Then what are we waiting for?"
"It's just...I-" she tore away to face her own door, "Nevermind."
Kaiba brushed off the small moment as soon as he stepped out on the gravel of the parking lot. He motioned her to follow him. Once the two had stepped into the well-lit clinic, he beelined toward the front desk lady.
"Amano, Kisara," he stated, feeling slightly odd pronouncing her first name. It was pleasantly nice to roll the "r" across his tongue.
"Alright, let me check the records," the lady stated as she started looking through her computer. After a couple of clicks and scrolls, she handed a clipboard with pen and paper. "Since she's a new patient, she needs to fill this out."
"Thank you," Kaiba said as he took the clipboard. Kisara silently followed him to a waiting chair. The two sat in adjacent chairs, and he handed her the clipboard.
As Kisara filled out her basic information, she felt her hand start to numb. Her pen strokes slowly started to stagger the more she filled out the paper.
Kaiba could hear each of her pen's lines in the silent waiting room. He noticed her slower pace. Curious, he glanced over. She looked like she was signing away a death wish from the way sweat glistened against her forehead and her hand was visibly tremoring.
"Do you need help?" Kaiba asked as he started to lean over to look at the clipboard.
Kisara instantly held the clipboard closer to her as she jerked her body away from her companion. She blinked a couple of times, trying to get her blurry sight to clearly register Kaiba's questioning face.
"No. I'm good," she insisted as she went back into filling her form. This time, she was overly focused on getting the whole thing done at an alarming rate. He could only stare at her clumsy attempt. He could see and her pen vigorously crossing out lines and lines. Once she finished, she abruptly stood up and handed the clipboard to the front desk lady, who instructed her to wait a couple more minutes. She complied and returned to her seat next to Kaiba.
Kaiba by then had pulled out his phone, ignoring Kisara's return. Eventually, he did glance over, only to find the same anxious woman. Her eyes seemed to only focus on the beige tiled flooring of the waiting room, and he could see her fingers constantly tap against her lap.
"That Sora guy...he seems like he cares for you," he spoke up as if to distract her from her anxiety.
She looked at him, shocked by the sudden statement. Still, she willingly responded, "Ah, he's like that with every female worker. A real charmer, isn't he? I swear, every girl has swooned for those devilishly handsome silver eyes of his. A couple of guys too, actually." She chuckled at the last part.
"Including you?" He was making small talk at this point.
Kisara pursed her lips and thought for a moment before answering, "I can't say I have, actually."
"Then what made you choose Hamada?" Kaiba continued his interrogation, "I mean...Sora seems just about caring and he's...well above average looking..."
"Reo is just as handsome!" Kisara protested passionately as she smiled thinking about boyfriend. She giggled and asked, "Are you sure you're not interested in Sora? I didn't think those tabloids were accurate, but hearing you in-person…."
"I'm just saying," Kaiba rolled his eyes before continuing, "Any straight male would acknowledge his looks. That guy risked aggrandizing the most influential person in Domino just to protect you. What does Hamada have over him? He quivers just hearing me breathe."
"Like I said, Sora treats every female worker like that," she repeated, although he wasn't sure if she truly believed in that. Kaiba noticed her face start to light up as she continued, "I'm not saying Reo treats every other woman badly. Everyone might think he's average-looking, and he might only be a centimeter above me, but...none of that matters when I feel so right with him. And he's not weak. He's kind-hearted, accepting, and understandable. Simple. It's...refreshing."
She seemed to waver over the last word. Still, the way she had described Hamada was drenched in a syrupy, honey-like tone. Her face had calmed down to a pleasant expression, and her fingers had finally stopped fidgeting around. Something stirred inside of him to see her so relaxed after speaking of another man, but he remembered that he really had no right to harbor such thoughts. Before he could press on, a woman opened the office door and announced, "Amano, Kisara."
And the same aura of panic manifested inside of her, and Kaiba was wary to such feeling. As she stood up, he could see the slight wobble in her composure. Before she disappeared inside, he stood up and walked over.
"Is it possible that I can continue to accompany her inside?" he coolly asked.
Kisara was taken aback by his sudden show of cordiality. She peeked her head over, noticing his expressionless face as he completely had his attention on the nurse at hand. A warm feeling, that same perplexing one that associated with him bloomed inside of her. In that moment, she was grateful. She wanted him to be near her, reassure her that everything would be fine. Consequently, a fear arose inside of her, and the feeling of dread overpowered her desire for his companionship.
"Yes, that is fine-" before the nurse could continue, Kisara abruptly spoke up.
"I can handle myself," she cheerfully stated. She turned around and produced another one of her sugar-coated smiles, but much to her dismay, he didn't seem convinced by her statement. His lips parted to form a protest, but instead they produced compliance.
"If you say so," he stonely stated.
She was a bad liar.
In the blink of an eye, she and the nurse disappeared into the office. For a good minute, he was dazed by the closed door. It felt like it had slapped him squarely.
He returned to his seat, suddenly thinking that the chair was a lot harder than before.
"Seto," a sniffing child's voice entered the vicinity of a library. He struggled to walk toward the only other person in the room.
A young Seto put down his book to rush toward his little brother. His baby brother looked bedraggled. As he was rubbing one of his eyes with one of his tear-soaked sleeves in a measly attempt to rid of them, an uncontrollable stream of snot flowed from his nose. His head of raven hair was tangled at all ends, and newly visible scratches and marks appeared on his exposed legs.
"Mokuba!" Seto pulled him into a tight embrace before demanding, "What happened?!"
"I-I d-don't w-wanna," Mokuba couldn't finish his sentence before exploding into a surge of suppressed tears, using Seto's immaculate sweater vest to hide his crying face.
Seto pulled his brother away and forced Mokuba to look straight into his face, "You have to tell me who did this to you. I swear, I'm going to-"
"JUST TAKE ME TO THE NURSE!" Mokuba screamed as his tears got more and more uncontrollable.
"Moki, I need to know names-"
"NO, YOU DON'T!" Mokuba continued his hysterical yelling, "J-JUST TAKE ME TO THE NURSE...please…."
Seto couldn't help but obey his wishes. There was no point in trying to press on. He extended his hand, to which Mokuba fit his tiny hand into. However small his hand was, Seto grew increasingly aware that his brother's slowly got bigger.
Right. As tiny in stature Mokuba was, Seto wasn't oblivious to his growth. In the early times of being at the orphanage, his little brother seemed to always hold his hand. But that little boy was growing fast, and so did his courage. Long were the days where he was constantly glued to Seto's side, and the hand-holding was getting more and more sporadic as he slowly started pulling away. But there were still moments when trying to grow up fast had its consequences for the little five-year old, and Seto would always have to be there. He was consistently available, but he was simultaneously aware of the need for Mokuba to grow on his own.
He mulled over those thoughts while watching Mokuba get treated by the orphanage's nurse. He could see the noticeable winces and clenching of Mokuba's teeth as the nurse treated his exposed wounds with rubbing alcohol. Seto's hand twitched when he noticed that he wasn't holding Mokuba's hand. As if by instinct, his hand started to inch toward Mokuba's, but he stopped himself. Mokuba was trying his best to quell the stinging by remaining quiet. He didn't cry as much as he used to.
Seto's face softened as he continued to silently oversee his brother's treatment. Once everything was settled, Mokuba ran up to Seto and hugged his waist tightly. After a couple of seconds, he raised his head and gratefully voiced, "Thank you, Seto...for just being there for me."
"Always," Seto softly smiled and gently rubbed Mokuba's hair.
Kaiba's eyes blinked quickly for a couple of seconds. He didn't realize he had been out in a stupor for quite a while. Maybe he was just exhausted, but he couldn't link his sudden flashback to the current situation. He shook his head and started reading current news on his phone. A while had passed before Kisara emerged from the door.
He looked up, and when he looked into those charming eyes of hers, he started to understand why he remembered that one memory. Her lips had formed a compact smile, authentic unlike her previously fraudulent one.
"Thank you, Kaiba, for just being there for me," She graciously said as she approached his seating figure.
Always - wait, no, his head started to ache at the coincidental dialogue and his near verbal slip. He only grunted, but before he could say anything else, the front desk lady had called them over. He instantly got up and walked over to the desk.
"Here's the file with Ms. Amano's results," the lady handed Kaiba a yellow file with white papers visible from the front.
Just as the file landed in Kaiba's hand, Kisara quickly tried to snatch the file. The two found themselves in a firm hold on both ends of the file, like two lions grasping the carcass of prey.
"Excuse me, but what exactly is on this file?" Kisara started tugging and her eyes flashed fury toward an indignant Kaiba, who easily resisted her pulls. She turned her head toward the nurse and hesitantly asked, "My patient history would not be on this, would it?"
"No, Ms. Amano. That would be a violation of patient privacy. It's just your basic profile and a report from today's exam."
"Ah," Kisara relieved a sigh and let go of the file. She ignored Kaiba's livid glare as she continued, "Thank you! Have a good night!"
The two left and returned to Kaiba's car. Once they were on the road, he was able to faintly connect his sudden memory to the current one. As awfully intrigued as he was in the matters that Kisara had clearly tried to hide tonight, probing her with direct questions regarding her medical records would only irritate her. Like Mokuba then, she seemed like she was content with his presence and had no wish for him to pry too deeply. Instead, he chose to ask roundabout questions.
"Do you come by a clinic often?" he audibly asked.
Kisara broke her stare at the passing scenery to turn her head over to her driver. She left his face and looked ahead at the road before feebly answering, "Not anymore."
"I assume you were often alone."
She chuckled softly and listlessly commented, "How observant."
Her two-word responses were starting to get on his nerves. He suddenly felt like he was talking to one of his mindless employees at KaibaCorp - the ones who would say "yes" or "no" or "mhm" as a lazy response to one of his rather pertinent speeches. But he refrained himself.
"Why...didn't you ask someone to come with you this time?"
"I…" Kisara paused for a bit to recollect her thoughts, "didn't want someone close to me to be suspicious. If someone like you-er." She felt her face flush as she caught her words.
Someone like me, he repeated her words in his mind. He knew it wasn't a compliment.
"If someone not as close to me, like you….was able to sniff me out like that, it would be even easier for someone closer to do the same. They would try to get every piece out of me, and it would burden them. It would stress me even more to bring up something in the past, anyways," she paused momentarily, as if it reflect on her history. She continued, "I guess this time...I really needed someone like you - a stranger. Someone who rarely glances my way but…is reliable enough to wait for me. Sorry...I'm rambling like crazy."
"Don't apologize for minor things," Kaiba stated. How odd. She was able to transform the word "stranger" into a new light. The status he tried to implicate between the two of them suddenly reversed connotations. He continued, "But...there's a fault in locking yourself away so much."
"You can't preach what you don't believe in, Seto Kaiba," Kisara quickly caught his contradiction, and a tiny, smile of mischief emerged on her face.
He felt a rush down his spine when she voiced his first name, even if it was in a sardonic manner. He wanted to slam his car into a full stop as he realized his grave mistake. He had been too caught up in trying to point out her flawed logic that he ended up screwing his own.
"Then I suppose we're both hypocrites," he concluded.
Kisara cocked her head and glanced over to his side. He appeared confident in his declaration, yet it seemed so out of the blue. She asked, "How am I one?"
"You once told me the world doesn't work by trying to erase things you hate and locking them way, but that's what you're doing with your medical history. The fact that you avoided going to a simple health checkup, an important one for your job, means you've been running away and trying to erase whatever experiences you had with a place like that. But the past is a part of you, yet extracting a morsel of it to share, even with the closest person to you who could potentially help, is enough to drive you over the edge, isn't it? I feel about the same way with my own issues."
"How brilliant," Kisara admitted as she leaned back into the comforts of the car's extra plush seat, "I guess we both have our demons - oh lord, wait, that sounds too edgy! I mean...I guess we both have things we'd rather hide from everyone. But, I admit that you've been strangely a bit more open about the thing you've been trying to suppress."
Kaiba raised an eyebrow, wondering what she meant by her last statement. He said, "Enlighten me."
"Edelweiss girl," she answered but felt herself uncertain, "I think. Someone you seemed to care about. Maybe regret. Something about my collar bones reminding you of her."
"It's easier to mention something personal to strangers. They rarely glance your way but...they're reliable enough to listen without judgement," he tried his best to reason with her. He hoped she had caught on by what he meant.
"I really am a hypocrite," she surmised, "I think I quite like being strangers with you, Kaiba."
"Likewise, Amano."
Soon, they had reached the college apartment complex.
"Well, thank you for driving me-" Kisara started to grab for the door handle, but she felt a hand grasp around her arm. Warm. As usual.
"Wait," Kaiba called out. He realized his sudden action and decided to quickly pull back. She settled back into her seat. He cleared his throat and asked, "Can we talk about something?"
"Sure," she easily answered, "If you want, we can talk up in the apartment. I can brew us some tea. Serenity will be there though."
He nearly accepted her proposal. A part of him, the temptatious one he despised, wanted to jump on the prospect of entering her living space. But that was out of the question. If anything, he suddenly didn't want to fulfill his wish of talking more with her. Initially, he wanted to discuss further regarding Serenity and Mokuba. He was about to take up Yugi's advice on querying Kisara about Serenity's past affiliation with Tristan, but he suddenly didn't feel like talking more than he already had with her. He didn't want to end the night by talking about other people. He was weirdly gratified by the previous conversation that only concerned the two of them.
"It's fine, I just wanted to say," he felt himself start to hesitate but calmly continued, "Take care of yourself. Prepare for the first day of Battle City tomorrow, and be more than just a pretty face."
Kisara nearly winced at the phrase "pretty face." She knew when Kaiba used it the first time, he didn't mean it in a pleasant way. Yet, this time, she felt a slight difference in his tone. Her stomach flipped at the notion of the CEO acknowledging her looks, wondering why she felt so worked up over the mere possibility of his approval when there were numerous others that complimented her more often. She decided she was in over her head and chose not to over-analyze his words. She nodded off a genuine smile and said, "Thank you. I'll make you proud, Mr. CEO! Have a good night!"
With one wink, one less cringe-worthy and admittedly more charming than Yugi's, the stranger left his car.
"Where were you, Seto?" Mokuba asked loudly as he heard the sound Kaiba's footsteps.
Kaiba made his way over to his little brother, who was situated on the couch playing what appeared to be an intense game of some shooter game. He leaned over the couch and firmly squeezed his little brother's shoulders.
"I'll always be here for you, Mokuba."
Mokuba froze at his brother's sudden sentimentality. His small moment of paralysis cost him in-game death. He dropped his controller, looked up, and questioningly said, "Um...I love you too?"
"Tch, go back to losing," Kaiba chuckled and playfully poked Mokuba's head, "I was dealing with work stuff. Medical examinations weren't filled in properly. I have a couple late ones I need to log in tonight."
"Sounds fun, bro. Let me know if you need help," Mokuba waved as he started another game.
"Uh-huh," Kaiba faked belief. He headed straight towards his study room with several files underneath his arm. Bookshelves practically served as its walls, yet everything remained spick and span, aside from his desk. That easily ended up a mess. He sat in his classic swivel chair and dove straight into the first file, hers.
She was clean. There was nothing wrong mentally or physically. He felt like he had just hit a dead-end. The entire point of assigning the medical examination was to procure any logical reason for her health problems. It was also a means for him to find such reason without having to get closer to her. If anything, he was scared to get closer because there was a possibility that his existence triggered her episodes, not to mention the plausibility of her continually having nightmarish memories from some stupid previous life. He was stuck.
And then he thought about her medical history, the one she tried so hard to hide. Maybe the answer lied there, but there was no way he could legally obtain that information. Frankly, he could hire people to scavenge for him, ones that could expertly hide his involvement. There wasn't anything stopping him but guilty conscience. Miraculously, he found himself respecting her privacy, especially after their conversation in the car. He slammed both his elbows on his desk and buried his head within his hands. As his elbows inched farther apart the further his head lowered, he accidentally knocked some files off his desk.
He groaned and grumbled as he started picking up after his own mess. One file had its contents completely fly out in the open. He picked up the white papers, placing them haphazardly back on the desk. As he flicked on his desk lamp, the form on the very top paper caught his interest. His fingers trembled as he picked up the paper and brought it closer to his face, as if to ensure what he glanced at was false. What he read, he truly wished was purely and utterly erroneous, as that simple piece of expired tree flesh would denote further entanglement in the life of Kisara Amano.
PATIENT INFORMATION
Last Name: Hamada
First Name: Reo
M.I.: N/A
Date of Birth: December 2, 1987
Mailing Address: 6789 New Domino Court
Home Phone Number: (123) - 7392 - 7328
Cell Phone Number: (123) - 4567 - 8910
Work Phone Number: (123) - 3725 - 2648
Employer Name: Kaiba, Seto
Marital Status: Married
Emergency Contact Name: Hamada, Yukina
Emergency Contact Phone: (123) - 7920 - 0901
Relationship to Patient: Wife
Disclaimer: Not real phone numbers or addresses.
A/N: This chapter wasn't really supposed to be a thing, but I wanted another transition one before Battle City. It also wasn't supposed to be this long, haha, but I enjoyed it. I swear, I won't have much time for the next chapter because school literally starts in two days for me.
Anyways, I think I've come to a conclusion with my Seto vs. Kaiba debate. I feel as if I'm writing more of the "Kaiba" persona rather than "Seto" for the chapters written so far, so I will continue using "Kaiba." I am considering using "Seto" when he is further explored (you know that eventual sobby backstory discussion he's gonna have to confess). In the flashback of Mokuba and Seto, I used "Seto" because he wasn't "Kaiba" back then. Thank you so much for those who gave feedback regarding my problem :) I really value them!
Review Responses:
Bleach power: Kaiba was talking about someone else ;) Haha, I really, really love writing young adult Mokuba. He's so fun to predict about, and I really love reading about his antics in other fanfics too! Thank you for continuously reading and reviewing!
Magi Mana: Whoa, I would like give a huge thanks for such a lengthy review! I admittedly didn't plan the Mokuba and Serenity romance, since it's so unconventional, but it just...ended up being a thing when I kept thinking about the plot? I will have a say in the Serenity/Tristan relationship later on. It'll be a whole subplot, hehe. Ah, yes, I love the Kaiba and Joey dynamic, and it definitely will be fleshed out more in later chapters! I'm really glad you find Serenity and Joey's careers/possible careers reasonable, and don't worry, Joey still has time to duel on the side ;)
Hehe, I can't wait to write about the whole Egyptian past thing. It's such a staple in blueshipping fanfics, and so is the whole finally calling Kaiba "Seto" deal. Hope you continue to like reading this story!
Juella: Ack, honestly, last chapter was such a rollercoaster, in the best way possible. I really love writing about the whole gang, even if Téa and Tristan weren't there. I'm hoping to include more moments like that in the future, so I'm really happy you like that!
Yes, I can't wait to roast that guy ;) Or shall I say, Kaiba can't wait.