A/N: Hoped everyone had a great Christmas! hehe. and during Christmas all the way till now (can you believe it? we're only like 4 days away to 2009!), i managed to come up with this next chapter. i hope you guys like it, cos i had a lot of fun (and laughing) while writing it!
in this chapter we'll see cameos of the gang, Mokuba and Roland. otherwise, everything is about our favourite CEO (:
and the song is one of my faves, Flavor Of Life by Utada Hikaru.
okay, i shall not spoil any of the fun for you guys. enjoy this chapter, yea! and keep those reviews and alerts pouring in! i love to hear your views about this fic!
Tea closed her eyes and leaned her head back, resting it against the stone pillar on Domino High's rooftop as she listened to a track on her MP3. It was open to the school population again, and nobody was happier about it than Joey. That was why he was prancing about some distance across her, exulting in the fact that he was finally able to step foot on the rooftop again. Tea was glad that the boys decided to go on with the celebration without her; recently she had been thinking too much about a particular person against her will. She had tried to divert her focus elsewhere – schoolwork, lessons, friends – but every so often in class her eyes would automatically dart towards the empty seat at the back of the class. The same occurred at home; more often than not, she found herself wanting to reach out for her phone and dial a certain number.
When you say thank you to me,
for some reason it hurts,
Like a magic spell that doesn't
get undone even after the good bye.
a hint of bitterness.
The flavor of life
Stuck midpoint between friends and lovers,
like an unriped fruit dreaming about the day of harvest
because of being unable to just move one more step forward
what's causing this frustration baby
A strong gust of wind snapped Tea out of her relaxation, and she shielded her eyes with her hand. As she squinted, she caught sight of a familiar figure searing through the sky above them. Joey, Tristan and Yugi held on tightly to the wire fencing as they fought to maintain their balance. After a while, the gust died down and they all knew who had jumped off the white helicopter without even looking.
"Can't you arrive through the front door of the school like everyone else?" Joey seethed as he ruffled his hair back into place.
"Next time I'll install a door right smack in the middle of the rooftop," came the curt reply. Seto nodded an acknowledgement towards Yugi, who nodded back. He was dressed in his Battle City costume, though Yugi suspected it was less for dueling and more towards his nemesis's just wearing it for casual Friday's sake. Although, Kaiba's attire for casual was ostentatious by any standards.
"Y'know, in order to enter class, you'll have to wear the school uniform," Joey continued on purpose, just to spite the CEO.
Seto was unfazed. Instead, he swiftly turned his back on the boys and headed towards the pillar. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not here for class, Wheeler."
"Oh yeah? Then what? You're gonna demolish the school?"
"Only if you're at the bottom when it collapses."
Tea sighed. "I'd really like to see the day when the both of you stop trying to outdo each other's insult." She pushed herself off the pillar and stood facing Seto, arms crossed. "What do you want, Kaiba?"
His reply was as snippy as ever. "A word with you." He glared meaningfully at the guys.
Tea rolled her eyes. "Guys," she called out. "I'm sorry, but do you –"
"No sweat, Tea," Tristan quickly chirped in, steering his two other friends by the arm towards the exit. At the same time, he eyed Kaiba warningly.
"I'm not going to push her off the rooftop," Seto promised flatly.
"You'd better not" was Joey's last warning before the trio disappeared from sight. Seto waited for a beat before he turned to face Tea. She was immediately taken aback by the changed expression on his face. Any trace of arrogance was gone from his features. He stood beside her and leant against the pillar. Tea did likewise. For a while, the both of them stood in silence, watching the clouds roll by.
Tea picked out a guitar from among the cloud shapes, and she happily pointed it out, "Oh hey, a guitar! Reminds me of Guitar Heroes!"
He looked at her in utter confusion. "Guitar what?"
"Guitar Heroes," Tea repeated as she gazed back at him in disbelief. "Don't tell me you've never heard of that." She caught his look. "You're like the numero uno when it comes to technology and you've never heard of that? I'm amazed."
"Ha-ha." He replied sarcastically.
Tea stifled a chuckle. Then she eased off the humour and regarded him seriously. "Is everything all right, Kaiba?"
He seemed surprised by her question. "Yeah." He let a second tick past before he spoke again. "I don't know why I came here, but I just want to say…"
When you say thank you to me,
for some reason it hurts
Tea shook her head inconspicously in a bid to remove the song from her head. But she knew there was no point even trying. She could feel her gut coiling as the reality sank in: she really felt that way.
"Thank – "
"Don't!" Tea cut in more sharply than intended. At his confused look, she quickly amended. "I mean, it's okay. Don't need to keep on thanking me."
"I see," he said calmly. But somehow Tea sensed that there was something else he wanted to say, too. And she was right, because he hesitantly added on, "I … Mokuba thinks it'll be nice if you come over for … dinner. At our house."
If Tea had been drinking something, she would have probably spluttered all over. Fortunately, she was not, but she did not know which one would be better: to accidentally spit in Kaiba's face, or to be standing right here in front of him turning into a tomato. At the back of her head, she regretted passing up Yugi's offer for a drink.
Seto was oblivious to her current plight because he kept his eyes fixated on the asphalt ground. And as usual, he looked disinterested in everything around him, especially with his arms crossed. His body language might indicate that he was insincere about the entire thing, but the tone of his voice suggested otherwise. Silently, Tea wondered when the heck did she even realise this about the young man standing before her.
"When?" she asked when she finally found her voice back.
"Tonight, if you… if you don't mind," Seto might as well be undergoing torture by both the yakuza and the mafia from the way the words were coming out of his mouth. He squeezed his eyes shut and spoke in a steadier voice, "I leave it up to you. I just thought it'll be more convenient for everyone since it's Friday. So nobody has to rush to school tomorrow or anything."
In spite of herself, Tea found herself biting back a huge smile. A little voice in her head was telling her to slap herself for being so uncharacteristically won over by the CEO's request, but Tea duly ignored it. Instead, she pretended to think for a while and replied evenly to him, "I'm free tonight, so I guess I can make it."
"Alright, I'll send someone to pick you up at seven," If Seto was trying to conceal his relief, he did it excellently. "Don't be fancy. It'll just be us." He blanched for a while before hastily clearing things up, "As in, the three of us. Me. Mokuba. You." Figuring that enough had been said, he briskly headed back to his helicopter and jumped aboard it. Before the massive white machine took off, he reminded her gruffly, "Don't be late."
As her cerulean eyes watched the helicopter take off to the skies and flying away from the rooftop of Domino High, Tea found herself laughing softly to herself. She knew this entire deal sounded stupid – it did not just sound stupid, it was stupid – but how could something stupid feel so great? Wrapping her arms around herself, Tea allowed herself one last huge grin before she fled down the stairs and back to the classroom.
XO XO XO XO
Seated at the passanger seat of his helicopter, looking out and down towards the heart of Domino City, Seto's mind kept replaying the scene that occurred just a moment ago. Now that he thought about it, he probably should have come up with a script and practiced in front of his full-length mirror. Normally he hated rehearsed acts, but that alternative suddenly appealed to him if he could spare the abnormal nervousness that gripped him just now.
He fished out his mobile phone and quickly typed in an SMS to Mokuba. At the very least, he had to keep his cover story valid. Barely two minutes passed before his Arte rang. Reluctantly, Seto answered it.
"Jeez! Seto, if you want to ask her out for a date, ask her out for a proper one at least!" Mokuba ranted, both excitement and exasperation mingling with every single word. "Don't… I don't know, use some untrue excuse!"
"It's not untrue," Seto replied firmly. "Just get home in time for dinner, dress decently and everything will be true, alright Mokuba?"
Mokuba harrumph-ed. "You owe me."
"Just get home before five," Seto warned, ending the phone conversation and pressing another button to start a new one. "Nana, it's me. I'm expecting a guest tonight. Can you …? It's just one person, Nana. There's no need to cook up a storm. Fine, but remember, no storm."
In front at the cockpit, Roland cracked a smile. "A special guest, Mr Kaiba?"
His employer scowled at him. "Keep your eyes on the air traffic, Roland."
"But it's all clear."
"Whatever."
XO XO XO XO
You look good in white.
Tea beamed as she checked her reflection one last time. She had followed his orders to not overdress, so she chose a simple white babydoll dress with lace eyelets. Don't be fancy. Check. Her gaze ticked over to the clock on top of her television set: 5 minutes to seven. Don't be late. Check.
And white? Check. A smug voice in her head added.
Just as promised, she heard the sound of a car pulling up outside her voice at seven sharp. Tea slung her purse over her shoulders and headed out. A black limo was awaiting her, and the driver promptly held out a door for her. Not forgetting her manners, Tea thanked him and got into the limousine. She sighed as she found herself surrounded in unnecessary luxury; leather upholstery, a flat-screen television and a mini fridge. She had a strong feeling that Kaiba rarely used the facilities.
Go figure for Seto Kaiba, she thought dryly as she leaned back into the seat. Give the guy a bank with infinite wealth and he splurges them all on technology. Incuding those he doesn't really need.
After a while, she changed her mind. Well, better technology than anything else.
XO XO XO XO
"Mokuba, when I said dress decently, I didn't mean formal," Seto – unwittingly – nagged at his brother as he quickly browsed through his brother's closet. He tossed a never-worn-before T-shirt at his little brother. "I just mean wear something you haven't worn, or something."
Mokuba caught the T-shirt easily. He wrinkled his nose and suggested at Seto's attire. "Well, you suddenly look nice today."
"That's because I'm wearing something that I haven't worn before," Seto remarked through gritted teeth. It was a lie; he had Mischa send over a brand new striped shirt. This time, it was white with thin blue stripes, tastefully bringing out his blue eyes.
"I can't believe she said yes," Mokuba continued as he slipped out of his shirt and into the T-shirt.
"It's for your sake, Mokuba," Seto remarked.
"You like her, don't you?"
Seto tactfully checked his watch before he headed out of Mokuba's room. "Five minutes to seven, Mokuba."
That only made Mokuba more pleased. "You like her!"
Seto purposely turned a deaf ear to whatever his brother was crowing about.
XO XO XO XO
Although Seto warned her to keep things simple, Nana sort of defied her employer's orders and went ahead to prepare a simple three-course meal. Japanese, this time round, much to her employer's dislike. Then again, Seto never complained about the food he ate; he just consumed it and saved the comment to himself. The only indication that he disliked the food would be him not finishing the food.
Their appetizer was a plate of various sushi and sashimi – Seto only touched the ebiko, the rest were split between Mokuba and Tea – while their main course was Nana's special ramen (she never divulged the recipe to anyone, not even to a very insistent Mokuba). Even their dessert was green tea mochis. Tea was quite pleased with the mini smorgasbord, especially after knowing that everything was home-made. Needless to say, Mokuba was stuffing his face with as much food as possible. Seto was perhaps the only one who swallowed down the food tastelessly.
Mokuba caught the dead look on his brother's face. Teasingly, he chirped to Tea, "Y'know Tea, Seto doesn't like Japanese food. He never finishes them."
Tea raised a questioning eyebrow. "Really?"
"I'm serious! Ask him to show you his bowl. I bet half of his ramen is still there."
As if on cue, Seto pushed the said bowl towards Mokuba. "Just say you want some more, instead of going all around the bush."
Mokuba stabbed his fork into the bowl, hoping to catch some ramen noodles on his fork. He even sifted through the contents of the bowl twice, but there was no trace of ramen. He glared at Seto. "Where did you hide the ramen?" he demanded.
"Grab an X-ray machine and examine my stomach," Seto offered as he took a sip of his spring water.
"But you never finish your ramen, ever!"
"Proved you wrong," Seto smirked.
"I bet Nana put lesser ramen in your bowl!" Mokuba was not going to be defeated. He leapt out of his seat with the ramen bowl in hand and stormed towards the kitchen to check out the 'conspiracy'. Seto only smirked wider. But the smirk faded when he heard a soft laughter coming from across him.
"What's so funny?" he frowned at the brunette across him.
"You, and Mokuba," the laughter gave way to a smile. "Especially you."
"Huh?"
"You're lightening up," she noted softly. "No wonder Mokuba seems so much happier." She chuckled at his confused expression and shook her head. "You don't get it, don't you?"
"Before I go 'huh', mind if we go somewhere else so that you can explain everything to me without getting distracted by the mochis?"
Tea grinned as she followed him out to the front porch. "Yups, definitely lightening up." She leaned against the balustrade beside Seto; her staring out towards the dimly illuminated landscape compound, him facing in towards the front door.
"What do you mean, I'm lightening up?" he raised the question before Tea could comment on his landscape.
"Nice garden," she sneaked in a comment anyway before she went back to his question. "Of course you are. Look at yourself. You're less intense, less irritable, less rude. And you can tease your brother effortlessly."
"I've always possessed a sense of humour," he snorted.
"But always in a… condescending way," Tea argued. "You don't hate hate Joey, do you?"
Seto barked out a short laugh. "I don't have time to hate a mutt like him. I just don't think much of him, that's all. Deserves all my comments, anyway."
Tea rolled her eyes. "One more time either one of you insults the other, I'm imposing a fine."
"If I pay you a hundred, can I insult him non-stop for two hours?"
"I was joking!" Tea huffed. He was starting to sound ridiculous. "Anyway, I was right when I said you didn't hate Joey. Because Kaiba, you've never really hated anyone, even Pegasus despite what he's done."
"Don't bring up the matter of me hating anyone, Tea, please," Seto remarked quietly.
"You've let it go, Kaiba," she placed a hand on his arm. He remained unmoving. "You've buried it along with the rubble of KaibaCorp Island. Let it rest there. Don't let it get to you anymore. Just…" She reached out to touch his face. "Stop pretending to hate people, Seto."
That startled him. "What did you call me?"
"Se – oh crap," A hand flew to her mouth. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have."
Seto gently plucked her hand away from her mouth. "No, it's… okay." He cracked a miniscule smile. "It's nice to hear someone else other than Mokuba calling me by my name proper. It's always Kaiba. I hated that name since a long time."
"So that means I can call you Seto, Mr Seto Kaiba?"
He actually chuckled. "Don't overdo it."
"And you're allowing this, why?"
Seto looked thoughtfully at her. "Because maybe you're my friend?"
Tea could barely conceal her smile. "Reason accepted. So what shall we do now, my friend?"
"Whatever you want to do. After all, it's only nine."
"How about we go catch a movie?" Tea suggested, looking up at him.
"What?"
"I know you know what a movie is," It was Tea's turn to smirk. "So stop playing dumb. Come on, be a sport."
Seto frowned. "No romance or chick flicks?"
Tea held up a 'peace out' sign. "I promise, I swear, I – what else?"
Her new official friend sighed and gestured to his garage. "Think of a new word on the way. I'll see Mokuba off to bed first. Meanwhile, " He tossed his car keys over to her. "You can get in the Ferrari."