Stolen Hearts Across Time
Chapter Eleven
Lily giggled softly as Mokuba related a small story to her. They had finished their lunch over three hours ago, but they were still talking over tea and lemonade, enjoying themselves.
"And so poor Seto tumbled down three flights of stairs in only a towel," she repeated, still giggling. "I feel rather sorry for him."
I do, too, Tigrililian commented, shaking her head. That must have been awful... especially since his little brother obviously saw the incident.
"I wouldn't. He was stupid enough to not look where he was going," Mokuba replied, grinning. "And he actually lost the towel on the second flight."
Seto, face beet red, scowled at his brother. He did not like his most embarrassing moments being told in the middle of the restaurant to Lily. It just seemed wrong to him... as well as humiliating. "You were the one who left your skateboard at the top of the stairs."
"I believe you failed to mention that tiny fact," Lily stated, stiffling her laughter. She was used to the slight bickering between the two boys, and she actually enjoyed listening to it. For some reason, it was comforting. "But I don't think Seto should feel too bad. I was supposed to go with Dad to this big dinner party, and he had me wear this really fancy dress. Well, right as I entered the room, I tripped over a leg to a chair and then stepped on the hem of my skirt. Unfortunately, when I did that, I ripped off the back half, revealing my underwear and everything to all the snobby, rich people behind me. I believe one lady even fainted." 'That poor old lady... I never meant to do that to her. I think she had to go to the hospital.'
I remember that, and she did have to go there in an ambulance, the princess said with a soft laugh. You called that the most humiliating day of your life for quite a while.
Both of the Kaiba brothers laughed. "You never mentioned that in any one of your letters," Seto reminded her, which made her blush. Of course, he decided to conveniently forget at that moment just how many embarrassing moments he had left out of his letters to her.
"The memory was too embarrassing at the time for me to relate to anyone, either over the phone or in a letter. I wouldn't even talk to Dad about it for some time, and he had this bad habit of ribbing me about it that just made everything worse." Lily smiled. "He still talks about it every now and then." She shook her head, her cheeks still flushed. 'He'll probably rib me about it even more once he learns that I told Seto and Mokuba.'
Quite possibly, Lilian agreed.
"I believe I can top that," the brown-haired man said, smirking. "A year ago, Mokuba decided to rollerblade around the house."
"Don't tell her that!" Mokuba protested, looking absolutely horrified.
"Well," the older brother ignored the black-haired boy and continued on with the story, "he went flying down the hall too fast, and he crashed into a table. He ended up with a fish bowl stuck on his head and a goldfish hanging halfway out of his ear for about fifteen minutes."
"It took you fifteen minutes to get the bowl off of his head?" she inquired in-between her peals of laughter.
Seto shook his head, still grinning. "No. It took me that long just to stop laughing."
"Yeah. The only time my big brother laughs is when it's at my expense," the black-haired boy grumbled, sticking his tongue out at Seto. "And it took me three days to get the fish smell out of my hair."
"Oh, cheer up," Lily said sweetly, ruffling his dark tresses. "That wasn't so bad, and it most definitely could have been worse."
"How so?" he wanted to know, leaning his elbows on the table and resting his head in his hands. He was all ears for her next story, which was promising to be much more humiliating than his.
"Well, when I was much younger, I got to playing around on Dad's computer. For some reason, he had forgotten to log off of his email account." She grinned mischievously. "I messed around for a while and typed up a little, cute message to him, thinking that I'd send it to him. Unfortunately, I didn't. The email ended up going to some big lady rival of Dad's. Needless to say, she obtained a little blackmail information in that email, and she even tried to use it against him to shut down his business."
"What happened after that?" Seto asked, sounding curious. He was used to hearing about Lily and her habit of getting into things she was not supposed to mess with. She was sweet and never meant any harm, but her actions sometimes had concequences that were not the best.
"Dad merely revealed that he had blackmail information on her, which of course shut her up, and then he put a screensavor with a password on his computer," Lily replied. "It worked, especially since I felt so bad for causing him all that trouble. I never got on his computer again without his permission."
"That was it?" Mokuba raised an eyebrow, feeling a little disappointed. He had been expecting something much worse.
"Yes, that was i-" She cut herself off and gasped as a waiter tripped and dumped an entire picture of soda on her head and back. The sticky liquid turned her pastel blouse to an ugly brown color, making it cling to her body as well. Her wet, soda-discolored hair hung about her face in limp waves, making her look like a drowned rat.
'Oh my dear Kami... I don't believe it,' Lily thought as she felt the cold drink soak her clothes all the way through to her skin.
Well, I can't say I've ever had anything like this happen to me, Tigrililian stated, chuckling. Although it is rather amusing.
"Lily, are you okay?" Seto asked when she didn't say a word.
"She looks fine," Mokuba commented, studying the girl for a brief moment.
"I'm so sorry, miss. Are you alright?" the waiter inquired, worry thick in his voice. He hadn't meant to pour the soda all over her.
".... Cold!" Lily hissed out, taking slow, deep breaths. "Cold... cold... cold." She lightly tugged on the back of her shirt for a few seconds. "An ice-cube went down my back." The said ice-cube fell to the ground, half melted.
The waiter licked his lips nervously, obviously feeling bad about the whole incident. "I am really very sorry. Is there anything I can get for you?"
She shook her head, a small smile on her face. She had a feeling that she would laugh with the Kaiba brothers about the soda pitcher accident a little later. "No thank you. I've already eaten."
"Would you like to speak to my manager?" he asked politely.
"No. I'm fine. I just probably need to get home and get my clothes washed," Lily answered.
Seto quickly decided to take charge. "Mokuba, why don't you take Lily out to the limo while I pay the bill? Then we'll take her home."
"Okay, Seto," the black-haired boy replied, standing up as Lily did the same.
"Thanks," she said with a grin. "I appreciate everything."
The champion duelist waved the two off, and then he went to pay the bill.
The woman in all black smiled. She hadn't really been strong enough to attack Lily mentally, so she had found another way to stop the girl's date with the Kaiba brothers. "That waiter was too easy to magically trip." She sat down in a chair, fingering her golden knife. "And although it was petty, I did end the date."
Growling softly, she glanced up at the dartboard across the room that held Lily's picture in the center. Her movements smooth, she picked up a dart and threw it, easily hitting the center of the picture--Lily's heart. "Practice makes perfect, and I do practice," she said softly, a smirk creaping up on her face. "And with a little more practice, I'll be able to destroy her soul room."
The smirk turned into a full evil smile. "Soon, she'll be gone, and I'll have my revenge."
Ryou glanced over at the phone, sighing. 'Why hasn't Lily called yet? It's after three thirty. Surely she's done with lunch by now,' he mused, frowning. He was worried about the girl, especially since he really had nothing to take his mind off her.
I told you that I didn't want her spending any time with Kaiba, Bakura snapped. This is probably all his doing. He's keeping her busy so she can't help search for the items with us. That, or he let her get into trouble.
'Maybe she merely lost track of time,' the polite boy suggested softly, trying to calm his spirit. It wouldn't do anyone any good if the tomb raider took over the body and went storming around in an attempt to find the blond girl. 'Perhaps we should try calling her?'
His yami considered that for a few moments. Yes. Do it, and if she answers the phone, make sure you ask her what she's been up to for so long and why she forgot about us.
Ryou nodded, knowing that it was not a good time to refuse his spirit. Besides, he wanted to call Lily as well. Without saying another word, he picked up the phone and dialed. No one answered, and he gave up after the tenth ring. 'No one's home.'
I'm not so sure, Bakura replied suspeciously. Perhaps we should head over to her apartment to make sure she isn't there with Kaiba.
'I don't think we-' He was instantly cut off by the spirit.
Don't tell me that YOU trust Kaiba, the tomb robber snapped impatiently.
'I don't really know him, so I'm not sure,' Ryou answered quietly.
Well, if you don't start heading over to her place RIGHT NOW, I'll take over and go there myself, Bakura stated. So you can either cooperate or I'll just take things into my own hands. It's your choice. He didn't understand why he was trying to talk his aibou into doing what he wanted instead of just taking over. The latter choice would have been less hassle. For some reason though, he just didn't really feel like taking charge of the body by force anymore.
His hikari bowed his head in defeat. 'Alright.' He couldn't understand why his yami was giving him a choice. It was strange, but he felt he could become used to it eventually. Having a slightly more predictable spirit was nice. 'But I don't know where she lives.'
The Egyptian spirit rolled his eyes. I'll tell you where to go then, he replied. But I suggest you start walking... now.
Ryou stood up, grabbed his apartment keys, and headed out the door. Soon, he was on his way to Lily's apartment.
"Sorry. I think I'm ruining your seat," Lily stated as Seto climbed into the limo. "There's no way soda can be good for a leather interior."
He shrugged, looking completely unconcerned. "Don't worry about it."
"Really, it's not a big deal," Mokuba added. Lily was sitting in the middle, with him on one side and Seto on the other.
She fidgeted slightly, expression still apologetic. "Okay..."
Seto suddenly remembered what he had wanted to talk to her about. "Lily, I have a question about your friend Ryou Bakura," he began. "Are you going out with him or anything?"
The blond-haired girl blinked. "Huh? Whatever gave you that idea? Last time I checked, we were just friends." 'Why'd he ask that?' she mused, curious. 'I mean, I get along great with both Ryou and Bakura, but I don't see how I could have given the impression that we were going out.' I don't know either. Perhaps it was something Ryou or Bakura did instead, Lilian suggested, trying to be helpful. But Seto might also just be jumping to conclusions like any older brother would. He's probably just worried. If he saw us interact with Yami or Yugi, he'd probably ask if we were going out with one of them.
Lily silently laughed. 'You're probably right. Seto always seems to worry about me.'
"He acted possessive of you when we met, so I was just wondering," the brown-haired man replied. "I would also like to know a little about him, as in your opinions on him."
'Should I describe Ryou or Bakura? Which one is he asking for?' she wondered, expression thoughtful.
Describe both... as if they were combined into one person, the princess replied. That'd probably be the best thing to do.
'Alright.' "He's really nice and helpful, and I enjoy spending time with him," Lily stated. "He's been trying to help me locate Dad's item, and he even protected me from gangsters a little while ago. I don't know what I would do without him." She smiled. "He's a great guy, and I like him a lot." Her eyes widened slightly at her last statement as a faint blush crept into her cheeks. 'Where did that come from?'
It looks like you weren't paying too much attention and you blurted out the truth, Tigrililian responded, grinning. She knew what kind of "like" her hikari had meant. And I would have to agree with your statement; I like Bakura a lot, too. Ryou's a great guy, but I prefer his spirit.
'You would. With that nasty streak you have, I'm not surprised,' she mused, tone teasing. 'But I think I like Ryou a little better. He's sweeter and such a gentleman. Bakura's wonderful too, and I do like him... actually, I like both of them.' She blinked, surprised at herself.
You probably like Ryou better because you're such an innocent, sweet girl, the spirit told her aibou. Your personality matches his.
"Ah-ha... you like him?" Seto repeated doubtfully as Lily nodded her head.
"Are you gonna tell him?" Mokuba wanted to know, dark blue eyes bright with curiosity.
The blond girl smiled. "I don't know. Perhaps." She shrugged. "I guess it depends on how things go." She instantly noticed the dark expression on the elder brother's face. He was not happy with the way things were progressing. "Relax, Seto! I'm not going to do anything stupid. It's probably just a simple crush or something. I can't tell right now."
"Lily's in love; Lily's in love," the black-haired boy teased, grinning from ear to ear.
Seto glared at his younger brother before looking back at Lily. "Something just seemed strange about him," he stated. "I don't trust him."
"You don't trust a lot of people," Mokuba interjected, but his older brother ignored him.
"Why not?" Lily inquired, feeling confused. She didn't see how someone couldn't trust Ryou or Bakura. Sure, the spirit was a little violent, but he was still a good guy.
"There's just something about him..." The champion duelist drifted off, thinking hard. 'Ryou Bakura is strange, and something inside me keeps saying that he'd have no problem putting her in danger. If only I could find evidence that would support my hunch.'
She giggled. "He's a great guy. I trust him with my life," she informed him, still smiling. "So relax. He won't let anything bad happen to me."
Seto raised an eyebrow at that, definitely not liking what she had said. Mokuba just looked shocked. "Are you sure that's a safe thing to do? You just met him not all that long ago," the black-haired boy asked, tone worried.
"Don't worry about me," Lily replied, ruffling his hair affectionately. "I'll be fine... promise."
"I hope so," the young boy said, his dark blue eyes tinted with worry. He didn't want anything bad to happen to his "big sister."
The limo suddenly came to a complete stop, causing the girl to look out the window. They had finally arrived at her apartment building.
"It looks like I get to go now. I'll talk to you boys later, okay?" She gave them both a reassuring smile.
"Alright. Just make sure to keep in touch," Seto responded as he climbed out, allowing her to do the same. "And if anything happens or you need help, make sure to call me."
"Besides, we need to set up our next lunch date together!" Mokuba added cheerfully.
Lily giggled at his enthusiasm. "Don't worry. I won't forget." With one last smile and a round of good-byes, she went into the building, leaving the two Kaiba brothers behind.
CotA: Alright minna-san, I hope you enjoyed the funny chapter. Sorry about the change in the telepathy stuff between the yamis and aibous. ff.net won't let me use the little tilda thingy I used to. ::shrugs:: oh well. I believe I can adapt until they fix the stupid uploader. BTW, the review responses are below.
Hutchy: I think Bakura is softening up a little. ::smiles:: Nice, isn't it?
Yami'sLittleGirl: I'll update in about two weeks.
Freedom: I would love to "read the bloody manga" as you so charmingly put it but I unfortunately live in a town that doesn't carry the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga, and I'm also broke, so I can't exactly order it. I also haven't seen episode 200. What I know is just what I've seen on TV and read on the internet, which isn't too much. So please, get off my case. I'm trying my best. If you don't like it, tough. My best is all I've got.
spontaneousxhumanxcombustion: "wicked adorable" huh? Well, I guess that means I'm doing a good job. I loved that chat between Ryou and Bakura, and writing it was so much fun.
the1koolkitty: Thanks, and the song is from their first CD. It's track number two. I love BBMak so much. They are one of my favorite groups... right up there with Evanescence. ::grins::
Elen Liste Alda: Thanks, and I will try to keep updating.
Sakura onto Hitomi: ::laughs:: It should look familiar. You've read it before. And it's good to have you back. ::hugs Sakura-chan::