Quick Recap: Seto decides to unwind after the birthday party while Mokuba and Sephy are playing some video games upstairs, and can't seem to get his mind off of the thoughts plaguing it. He is unhappy with the fact that he can't seem to get his thoughts and feelings under control, or even understand them for that matter. When he heads off to bed, he ends up in a conversation with Sephy while he is drunk, and she once again throws him for a loop when he does a little trash-talk that only leads to her returning it with concern for his well-being. He invites her to make a day trip the following day with he and Mokuba to the aquarium which throws her off. A small character development that Sephy might be going through some rough patches in her life, and before the venture begins, Mokuba decides to start trying to win over Chou and take out the competition, Kenji. While Mokuba is still out, Sephy and Seto end up spending several minutes alone together, and she confuses him yet again when she almost seems to understand his teasing as a form of humor rather than to be insulting. He also feels slight jealousy when he realizes that his brother has more in common with Sephy than he does with himself.
Disclaimer: We do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! nor do we own the items or settings where this story takes place. All we own is the idea for this nifty little story and our original characters. Please don't sue, as all you will get from us is a pile of dirty dishes and Halloween candy recently discovered from 2 years ago that needs to be thrown out.
Title: Clarity
Chapter: Making Mistakes
Chapter Written By: Peggi (quality Seto/Sephy/Mokie time!)
Seto was grateful for the peace and quiet in the back seat, as Mokuba and Sephy were listening to some new CD that Mokuba had decided to buy during his outing. The moment they were parked, Mokuba had already been prepared and got out of the car, running ahead, so excited to be at the aquarium that he could hardly contain himself. Sephy couldn't help but giggle at his excitement. Seto tried to walk a little bit slower than Sephy, but she made sure to keep the pace that he was walking, and he figured that she just didn't want him to feel left out. It was a short walk to the line, but it seemed like an eternity to Seto. As usual, the girl couldn't keep the silence and just enjoy it.
"So, do you come to the aquarium a lot with Mokuba?"
He decided to keep his answer as short as possible, hoping that maybe it would prevent her from saying anything else, "it's new so this is our first time."
"He'll love it then! I've been to a few in some of the other places I've lived, they have some really awesome stuff. I'm guessing you mostly wanted me to tag along so he would have someone to talk to, so don't worry. I won't be bothering you once we get inside."
She couldn't have hit it any closer to the truth, yet somehow the statement stung a little bit. He thought he'd made it quite clear to her. He didn't like having her around, but having her around wasn't a bad thing either, now that they'd had some time to get to know one another a little bit and he was starting to realize that she did understand him on some level. True, he would prefer it if she would sit or stand around quietly and not try to talk to him as much, but having her around wasn't a bad thing either. He wasn't really sure how to respond to her comment, but somehow, the brain-to-mouth filter once again just wasn't working.
"You don't bother me whenever you're keeping your commentary to yourself," he really hadn't meant it to sound the way it came out.
"Right, your friends requests on facebook must be blowing up every single day with people who can't wait to be friends with you," she responded so coolly that he couldn't tell if she was just returning his sarcasm with sarcasm or if he'd genuinely hurt her feelings.
He wasn't even sure why he cared if he'd hurt her feelings, but somehow it still bothered him on some level. He decided to just keep his mouth shut, and continued to do so while they waited behind Mokuba in line. The teen was practically bouncing up and down. Just before they reached the front of the line, Mokuba turned around to face Seto, tugging on his sleeve to get his attention.
"After we're finished here can we go get something to eat maybe? That would make today even more awesome!"
"I'll think about it," Seto offered, not really wanting to go anywhere after spending possibly hours walking through a building looking at fish behind the glass, but also not feeling like risking an argument from his brother.
Seto was so distracted by Mokuba's question that he hadn't realized that Sephy had walked ahead and was coming back, waving her ticket in Mokuba's face, "50% off at the gift shop today because it's the weekend!"
She sounded excited, and Mokuba's eyes lit up at the concept of getting something to remember the day by, but Seto felt nothing but guilt. She'd gone ahead and purchased her own ticket, which would've been fine by him at any other time, but he'd invited her to join them. He'd had every intention of paying her way in, and he assumed she knew that already, so the only thing that he could think of was that he really did make her feel unwanted there because of what he'd said, and she didn't want to 'bother' him further.
That day at the market, Mokuba's comment had been spot on. He didn't really 'get' people, but girls especially. Apparently, it was easier to hurt their feelings and he had no idea what one was supposed to do once that happened. He figured she'd get over it, but now he had yet one more thing to feel bad about. This trying to become friends with someone was far more challenging than he'd originally thought it to be, and he thought maybe he should just give up while he was ahead. Clearly, he was no good at it.
Once they were all inside, Mokuba grabbed Sephy by the hand and instantly began dragging her around, not that she wasn't following willingly. To Seto, it seemed like an eternity that they would stare into just one tank, but Mokuba was so excited to be there and see new things that it was easily forgiven. The first few tanks with fish were exciting enough, but Mokuba gasped and his eyes really lit up when he noticed a sign over a hallway that caught his attention.
"They have sharks here! This is so cool!" he turned to Sephy, "you're not scared of sharks, are you?"
"Me? No way. I went on a trip to South Africa one time, and I got to go shark cage diving! It was awesome! It was called Shark Alley and it was so much fun! I went down twice!"
"Really?! That's so cool! I love sharks but I don't know if I'd want to do something like that though. What if they try to eat through the bars or something?"
Mokuba walked slightly ahead and gave Sephy a perfect opportunity, "scared they'll get through and getcha?" she asked, grabbing his sides and tickling him.
The teen nearly fell to the floor instantly had she not been ready to catch him, and he laughed loudly. Seto rolled his eyes out of reflex, but he was glad that his brother was enjoying himself as much as he was. The pair walked very slowly through the dome, huge smiles every time a shark would swim by, and one in particular caught Mokuba's eyes. It was a hammerhead shark, and he was fascinated by it. They spent a good fifteen minutes in that area alone, and Mokuba didn't think that anything would be able to top that, until he noticed a hallway with another sign informing them that if they entered that room, there were dolphins. Seto just followed the two into a large arena. There was a very large pool-like structure in the center of the room, and trainers standing around the room guiding guests to rows of seats.
"Oh cool! I bet they're going to have them do tricks!" Mokuba grabbed Sephy and sat down in a row closest to the front. Seto, on the other hand, decided to sit several rows back, as there were signs in the first five rows letting people know that there was a chance that they could be splashed during the tricks. There was no way he was going to let some sea animal splash dirty, disgusting water all over him.
He pulled out his phone and sighed, looking through KaibaCorp stocks and then his emails. Mai had sent him another email, asking for more promotional work, and he sent a quick reply letting her know that if she was interested in doing more work for him, to call him at work the following day and set something up with his personal assistant. He didn't even realize the show had started until he heard the crowd beginning to clap, and just looked up from his phone long enough to see one of the dolphins jump through a hoop. He didn't understand the novelty of watching something do tricks that you can teach a dog, but he watched as Mokuba cheered the dolphins on as they did their tricks, mostly paying attention to his brother the entire time, and not the dolphins.
Mokuba had grown up so fast, and he was incredibly intelligent for his age, but he really did know how to have fun and enjoyed little things like this. During one of the tricks, the entire audience in the first few rows became completely drenched, and Seto was glad that he'd decided to sit further back. He didn't understand why anyone would find amusement in something like that, but Mokuba and Sephy looked at each other, laughing hysterically. Mokuba's hair was matted to his face and Sephy took the opportunity to ruffle his hair, messing it up, and before she could grab his hands to stop him, he retaliated by doing the same thing right back to her. Seto tried to picture himself in a similar scenario, and knew he would probably hit someone right in the face for doing something like that, but all they did was laugh about it and continue cheering the dolphins on for the next half hour.
The rest of the trip pretty much consisted of the same type of events - Mokuba and Sephy either acting like they were 5 year-olds or staring at what Seto considered to be just boring fish swimming around. Nearing the end of the building were jellyfish, which wasn't all that much more interesting in his opinion. Mokuba seemed extra-fascinated by them, though.
"I wonder how bad it hurts if these sting you," he wondered out loud "is it like you get electrocuted or does it feel like a cut?"
Sephy thought about it for a minute, "well, I guess it depends on what kind gets you. I brushed into some when I was in the ocean once and it just sorta felt like little rubber band snaps. Some people come out of the water with all these red marks and stuff though, and swollen, maybe I'm just not allergic to the venom or something."
"Is it true that if you get stung you're supposed to have someone pee on it to make it go away?" Mokuba had heard this through a friend at school, "I figure you know all this cool medical stuff."
Seto noticed the instant change in Sephy's body language, but the tone in her voice between this and her last response was seamless, "no way, totally not a good idea. You go to the doctor for that stuff. Plus, there's no way I'm letting someone piss on me over a sting, even if it'll save my life."
Mokuba laughed at the last bit, but continued on with a comment, "I learned in school that some jellyfish don't really die. They sorta regenerate, so when they get ready to die they just go back to being babies again."
"Totally didn't know that! That's really cool! Jellyfish are Time Lords," Sephy laughed at her own joke as did Mokuba.
Mokuba turned to say something to Seto but just as he opened his mouth to speak, Seto decided he'd had enough of underwater life and wanted to rush them out, "enough show references for one day. Can we leave now?"
Mokuba just rolled his eyes but followed his brother. Sephy was momentarily disappointed in the fact that they were leaving, but followed them towards the exit. It suddenly occurred to her that Seto had picked up on the fact that she'd made a reference to a TV show and had the impulse to ask him how he even knew that, but thought better of it, since she'd promised not to pester him anymore.
No sooner had they stepped out the door did Mokuba bring up the possibility of food, "so where are we going to eat, big brother? You said we can get food after the aquarium!"
"Actually, I said I'll th-"
"I vote for pizza!" Mokuba yelled loudly, running ahead to the car before his brother could object.
Even though it was a challenge, Sephy kept herself quiet for the whole minute and a half walk to the car, and on the drive to get dinner, she and Mokuba finished listening to the CD that they'd been listening to earlier. The two talked non-stop about what they liked most at the aquarium and what type of fish they'd want if they had their own, but when pizza came, Mokuba was so eager to eat that he shoved almost half of his slice of pizza into his mouth at once. He finished it in no time at all, and since she'd been working so hard at being on her best behavior, Sephy came up with an idea since she finished around the same time, despite actually chewing her food.
"Bet you I can eat the second piece faster than you," she challenged.
"Game on! What do I get if I win?"
"Whatever you want. And if I win, then you have to marathon a show with me for as many hours as you can stay up next weekend, and every time my favorite two actors come on the show you have to get excited with me and post on facebook about how awesome they are."
"Fine, but if you lose then you have to do whatever I say for a whole day next weekend."
"Deal."
At this point, Seto was only about four bites in and desperately tried to pretend not to know the two sitting across from him as they began their contest, which was won by Sephy by only a couple of seconds.
"No fair! You cheated!"
"Don't be a sore loser, kiddo. I won fair and square. So, what were you going to have me do, anyway?" she asked just out of plain curiosity.
"Dress up in weird clothes and makeup and post embarrassing pictures online that you're not allowed to take down. Ever."
"Hah! Joke's on you anyway then. I don't embarrass easily."
"Yeah right. You're a girl, and girls are real easy to embarrass."
Seto didn't know where this was leading, but he already knew that he didn't like it. Mokuba had that look in his eye like he was about to suggest something outrageous, and he had a feeling that Sephy didn't turn down a challenge. When the smirk crept onto his little brother's face, he knew he was about to want to walk out right then and there.
"Fine, if you don't believe me, make me prove it. I'll post the pictures anyway."
"Nope, that was just for the pizza deal. If you don't get embarrassed, then why don't you stand up and sing something and dance. Right here, right now."
Seto just had a feeling that his brother would go out of his way to somehow make him regret the day ever happening. Sephy made eye contact with Seto, but then quickly looked back to Mokuba, the look on her face making it apparent that she was honestly about to do it. Instead, she came up with a compromise.
"I'm pretty sure Kaiba would kill both of us if I do that. Better plan, how about one night this week we go out somewhere and you get to pick the place, so if you want the place to be totally packed it can be, and I'll do it."
"Fine, but since you're changing it up, you have to dress up like you're a pop star too."
"I'll do it, don't think I won't. You give me the time and place and you can even record it and post it if you want."
Mokuba seemed satisfied with this idea, and smiled widely, finishing his dinner a bit more slowly this time. Luckily, there were no more embarrassing moments after that for Seto, who was just grateful to get out of there, and he was ready to just go home. Clearly, today just wasn't his day, because Mokuba suddenly had what he considered to be a fabulous idea, and there was no stopping him today when he wanted something.
"Seto! We should go to the beach! Can we? Please?"
Seto just gave an exasperated sigh towards the request, "we've been out long enough. I think it's time we go-"
"But Seto! Pleeeeeeeeeease? C'mon, big bro, it's such a nice day out, and it's my birthday weekend! I really want to go! We just got to see all the fish and now I want to play in the water myself!"
The first thought that popped into his head was the fact that he'd already had enough time around water at the dolphin show, but the pleading look in his brother's eyes and the way he'd asked was a guilt-trip that Seto couldn't say no to without feeling bad. Giving another sigh, he finally gave in, just wanting to go home and go to sleep, and shook his head in frustration.
"If I do this for you, then we are going straight home after this little venture. Understood? I have work tomorrow and I would like to have some time to myself at some point this evening."
Mokuba just nodded and was grateful that his brother had even agreed to his last-minute plan, especially after having been convinced to go out for dinner. It was about an hour before sunset, but luckily the drive wasn't very far. It had been quite a while since Mokuba had gotten to go to the beach, and the last time he'd gone, Yugi, Joey, and Tristan had taken him. Seto was mostly wanting to avoid the typical summertime weekend crowd that was usually there, but when they arrived, he was relieved to see that there weren't really that many people there.
Seto expected his younger brother to dash out of the car the moment it was placed in park, but instead, he took his time. He got out, took in a deep breath of the air coming off of the water, and stretched. With the sun starting to get low, it really was a beautiful thing to see, and he flashed back to a time when he and Mokuba were younger.
It was one of the rare occasions during his childhood after they'd arrived home with Gozaburo that he actually had a memory worth remembering. It was actually on a warm summer evening a lot like this one, and Seto was supposed to be in his room studying. Some of the staff had called out sick that day, and so Seto was locked in his room with his books so that he could study, since he couldn't be supervised. Gozaburo had passed out after an early-evening of drinking, and Seto had managed to figure out much earlier on how to pick the lock to his bedroom door. It locked from the outside, but the lock was very simple, and he assumed that something more complex hadn't been put in place because his stepfather probably thought he wouldn't be bold enough to try and sneak out.
He'd gone to find Mokuba in his room, reading, and they'd quietly snuck out of the mansion. Once they'd managed to get off of the grounds of the mansion, they flagged down a motorist and hitched a ride to the beach, and spent a couple of hours there. It was short, simple, but one of the fondest memories he really had. He helped Mokuba build a sand castle, and they'd run into the water with their shoes still on, too excited to be out and enjoying themselves to think ahead. Of course, Gozaburo had questioned Seto when he noticed the shoes later on, and without explanation about why they were soaking wet, of course he figured that something had happened. It resulted in a beating of course, but looking back it was worth it. That day would've been worth several beatings.
He brushed the nostalgia aside, watching his sibling walk through the sand, quickly deciding to kick his shoes off and charge off towards the water. Seto decided to sit back on the sidelines, standing on the dock to avoid getting sand on his shoes, and just watched his brother have fun. He was tempted to yell out to him when his brother didn't just stand on the wet sand but waded out a little ways, allowing the bottom half of his pants all the way up to his knees to be submerged, but ignored it. Seto would've given almost anything to be Mokuba's age and so carefree, so he let him have his moment. Sephy stayed closer to the shore, picking things up along the beach which were probably shells. He never understood why people picked up shells on the beach as if it were some incredible find, but then again, he didn't understand why people did a lot of things he found to be silly.
Mokuba just walked through the water a bit, letting the water touch his fingertips, enjoying every last moment of it. Seto just watched the sun as it began to set, appreciating the cool breeze. It was really warm out, so of course the breeze felt good on him, but of course he hoped it wouldn't pick up too much and mess up his hair. He just crossed his arms and waited for Mokuba to decide he was finished, and when he saw him walking towards the shore he was just glad that they were finally done with their outing. It was getting late, and he just wanted to get out of there. Sephy had a collection of her prizes she'd found on the beach in a nice little pile, and turned around to look for more. It was in a split second that Seto saw what was coming and wasn't sure what his reaction would've been first - chastise his brother or warn Sephy. Either way, it was too late by the time he had time to react, when his brother came up from behind the girl and grabbed her around the waist and flung her into the water, successfully managing to get her far enough out that the water was almost to her shoulders as the wave rolled in as she sat there.
If someone had done that to him, Seto knew he'd be furious, but Sephy just laughed and before Mokuba could get away from her, she grabbed his wrist and pulled him down too. Mokuba tried to catch his balance, but failed, ending up landing on his hands and knees a few inches farther out than Sephy. They looked like little kids, both sitting half-submerged in the water, splashing one another. For the first couple of seconds it was amusing to watch a teenager and an adult acting like children, but then realization set in and of course the next thought went to two people who were soaking wet sitting in a nice, clean car.
By the time the two finally decided it was late enough and they should return, they looked up to see a very ticked off looking brunette. He had his arms crossed, giving what can only be described as a 'death glare' to the both of them, and tapping his foot impatiently. Sephy felt like he were a parent, waiting for their child to listen to them, and she almost felt scolded. She returned to her pile of items she'd collected, and turned to Mokuba.
"Oh, I think we're in trouble. We might be grounded when we get back to the car," she joked.
Mokuba returned the laughter, "I wouldn't be surprised. He's such a sour-puss about everything. He can't just let go and have fun. Everything has to be on this perfect schedule, really organized, no allowing for something fun and spontaneous. I think if he were to try and do something totally out there and fun and random, I think his head might actually explode or something."
Their teasing stopped as they got closer, but the posture, glare, and foot tapping didn't stop even once they arrived back to the dock. Seto just looked back and forth between the two of them, and Sephy wondered if he was clenching his jaw to avoid yelling at them for taking so long, or if that was just how he looked in general when he was ticked off.
"The two of you realize that now you're going to ruin the upholstery in my car, don't you? Mokuba, what were you thinking? No, don't answer that, I already know the answer. You weren't thinking. I brought you out today, I let you do something fun that we haven't done together before, I even let you talk me into going out to dinner when we very well could have had dinner prepared back home. I didn't want to come here but I put up with your flighty little idea, and you decide to do something without any consideration towards me."
"Sorry Seto, I didn't realize it was that big of a deal. I'm sure they can fix any damage to the seats of the car, and it's not like we don't have other cars you can drive," Mokuba was going to just give his almost-apology until something hit him "and you know what? You brought me out today to do something that we haven't done together before? We never do anything together. I do fun things while you just sit around and watch and participate as little as you possibly can! You haven't said a word to me today, and if Sephy weren't here I wouldn't have had any fun at all!"
The comment stung pretty hard, but rather than show that he'd just hurt his feelings, Seto went on the defensive, "how do you know that I wouldn't have at least participated more if she hadn't been here?"
"She has a name!" Mokuba defended while Sephy just stood there wishing she could just inch her way out of the situation, "and Sephy actually likes to spend time with me! I know you, and I know that every time we go out you pretty much just watch me do things and half of the time you talk to me you just complain about what I'm eating or what I want to buy or what I feel like doing! I'm glad that Sephy came with us, because if she hadn't I would've wanted to go home before we were even finished at the aquarium!"
More hurt feelings to hide behind angry words, "that would've been fine by me, Mokuba! I would've been more than happy to avoid greasy, disgusting pizza and then watch you two splash around like children and pick up shells from the beach!"
Before Mokuba had a chance to speak up, Sephy chimed in, in what was probably the softest voice Seto had ever heard her use. She was so quiet, that he almost couldn't hear what she said in what was meant to be her defense.
"Sea glass, not sea shells."
"What?" Seto asked, sounding angry with her for speaking but really just carrying his frustrated tone from his conversation with Mokuba over to the one with her.
This time, she spoke a bit more loudly and clearly, "I wasn't picking up shells from the beach. I was picking up sea glass."
"What the hell is 'sea glass'?"
Sephy just held out her hand to show what just appeared to be random pieces of broken bottles, and Seto was so irritated with them both, that he had to avoid the first instinct to smack her hand to knock the pieces out of it. He just gave another loud sigh and shook his head, walking towards the car and leaving the other two standing on the dock, unsure about whether or not they should follow him back to the car or not.
Peggi: Okay, if you felt sorry for Sephy at the end there, raise your hand! I know I did! Also, I don't own Doctor Who, which I threw a reference in there of for all of you Whovians out there! I have to say, this story has actually been something I've worked SO hard on especially since the others left, and I'm not sure if you know how hard I and the other writers were working on it, but this chapter required ACTUAL research time! I went to my local aquarium to see what all they had to offer, and got to watch the dolphin show! It was a LOT of fun, but I wanted to make sure that it was as seemingly realistic as possible! Also, anyone else collect 'sea glass' or 'beach glass'? I'm interested to know who does! I actually did research on strange things that people collect at beaches/the ocean, and thought that was so interesting!
Seto: Wait a minute...so you're not just pulling all of these random scenarios out of your ass? You're actually doing work to write this piece of-
Peggi: Excuse me, I wasn't finished...and yes. I am ACTUALLY doing work, because I'm trying to make this something realistic and something all types of people can relate to at one point or another! Plus, I want to keep it interesting and make sure I add things in that I've NEVER EVER seen in fanfiction before!
Mokuba: Don't forget, readers! If you'd like to see something happen more/less or have ideas for the story you want included, please submit some reviews! The angsty kid-Seto feels moment was a request in a PM, so Peggi is taking each and every suggestion and bit of input into account while writing this! Also, feel free to come up with places you might like to see some of the characters go, and Peggi will get on her research about it!
Peggi: I just have to say, even though this fanfic isn't as popular on this site as it is on some of the others, to each of you who has favorited or followed it, to those of you submitting reviews, it means the world to me to see something new! Really, it does! To those who reviewed since the last update:
Meyome2012: So glad you're liking it, and thanks for sticking with us!
Yoko Sakura: Well, I honestly have to say, between all of the sites I've posted this on, I've had well over 200-300 total responses up til this point, with no negative feedback, and while I absolutely encourage constructive criticism, I really am not sure I understand the purpose of your comment other than to try to be discouraging towards myself and the other people who worked so hard to put this together. Honestly, your comment doesn't offend me, and as you can see I ask readers to tell us what they like or don't like, what I can do to fix things if it's headed somewhere they don't like, so to just say "If I wanted to read a Vegeta/Bulma fic, I would have 'cause this is turning out just like that.", that is neither helpful to me nor does it make any sense. To be perfectly honest, I feel, and based on the response from the readers, I'm pretty sure they feel the same too, that Seto has been kept as in character as possible for a story like this, and I don't see the resemblance between Sephy and Bulma at all, unless you consider strong females to all be the same. Which hey, if Sephy is similar to Bulma that's awesome, because when we originally roleplayed this, guess what? Sephy was based off of a lot of mine and Kit's backgrounds...so...thanks? Cause Bulma is awesome. End rant.
To everyone else, again, if you feel we can improve somehow, leave feedback, but please be constructive about it. I have taken everyone's ideas and suggestions into account, and I LOVE having you guys help me out to decide where to take things next! In fact, it was requested for more "drama" and to move things along for some serious Seto/Sephy one-on-one time soon, so, this is the lead-in! Hope everyone is enjoying it so far though!
