Um... Here's the chapter I finishe monthes ago and nver got to load it... DON'T KILL ME! I GOT IDEAS NOW!
And I haven't been on in a while but not I still don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.
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Chapter 11 - Yukio the Cute
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People came and people went. It was just another day in the mall for many as they strode about the stores with huge paper bags weighing down their shoulders. The fellow shoppers that passed by, the chatters and noises echoing, and the freshly baked scents of the food court were all too familiar. Among all these ordinary day-to-day events it would be hard to imagine anybody having the most bizarre and unnatural time of their life. That goes especially in a mall. However, even though unnoticed, a certain pair was experiencing just that.
A vanilla white paper bag crackled in beat to two hot-pink platforms as they stepped out onto the glowing tile. Not far behind them Seto followed with both hands hidden in the depths of his pockets and an irritated stare emitting from his deep blue eyes. A yellow smiley face sticker was now resting on his cute little cheek and beamed up at any shopper who had the time to look down. Occasionally, a few of the girls would coo and point at him like he was some puppy at a pet shop. Seto took a moment to coldly glance at some of them but they would continue to be mesmerized by his winsome face and ignoring his stormy expression. After realizing it was a lost battle, Seto mostly kept his eyes ahead of him and his mind focused on what was really important at the moment.
"Idiot cashier…" he mumbled, whipping his fingers out to strip the jolly circle off his face. Not long after, the smiley met its fate in a nearby trashcan.
"Come on, you know looked adorable with it," Tea joked, towering next to him as they walked. Her tone was much quieter than before, however. The wear and tear of their earlier experiences had finally taken their toll and now she wanted nothing more than to get home and kick back.
"Oh really? Then I suggest you enjoy it while it lasts because as soon as we get back to your house I'm getting out of this worthless body," Seto replied.
"Yeah, yeah, we heard it all before," Tea moaned, "Here!" Before her little pest could even respond, that same cream colored carrier which was once lying in her hands bounced off his fluffy brown head. A matrix of bland colors and clothing fabric spilled out next to him, onto the filthy, sole-trampled, floor. With this he paused and took time to stare at his newly bought clothes littered on the floor. Then casually, he looked back up at Tea who had came to a stop as well.
"Are you always this annoying or am I getting the special treatment?" Seto asked sarcastically.
"Trust me Kaiba, if I was always that annoying, you'd know," Tea remarked.
"Whatever," he muttered back in reply. He bent over and one by one, the child-sized shirts and shorts on the ground were laid into his arm. After recollecting all of his new attire and shoving them back into the fancy paper bag, he grabbed it by the handles and continued on his way. It could have been a moment of hilarity, but Tea only sighed and shook her head. The paper bag that she dropped on his head stood a little above his waist and just like his briefcase, he was dragging it, the oddest looking pull toy.
"And he blames people for calling him cute," Tea whispered to herself, with a smile before catching up.
It wasn't even about a foot of travel before they reached their destination. Before the doors labeled, 'men' and 'women' Tea flopped down onto a nearby bench and began the wait. The quicker Seto went in, and got changed, the sooner her treasured childhood clothes would be safe… hopefully. Seto remained fixed in his spot, shooting her a testy look. She groaned, "What now?"
"How can I be sure you won't run off to go on another shopping spree while I'm changing?" he replied rather sullenly.
"Wow, since when did you start caring?"
"Since you and your 'magic pebble' put me back in childhood." With that, the little prodigy tugged the bag over and headed for the men's bathroom without looking back. "And I don't plan on searching the entire building for you." Yet, despite Seto's already grumpy attitude, Tea found reason to pick at his weak spot.
"Aww… What's wrong? Feeling a bit… helpless?" Tea teased. The hair on Seto's neck stood up at the impact of that comment. It was a bee sting right to the mind. How dare a geek like her call him, the great CEO of Kaiba Corp, helpless. Sure, it was somewhat true but that only hardened the blow. Instantly, he returned his attention to the person who dared to make fun of him with rage burning in his large icy blue eyes.
"Listen Gardner," he angrily snapped, "you may think I'm like some pathetic little doll for you to play with now, but mark my words. When I return to rightful state of being, I'm making sure you regret the day you crossed paths with me!"
"Umm… lady?" a soft, low voice suddenly interrupted Seto's tirade.
"Huh?" Seto looked over his shoulder to find a young black-haired stranger behind him and staring at Tea with concern.
"Is there something wrong with your kid?" the man asked pointing down at Seto. A sweat-drop rolled down Tea's head and a fake smile formed across her lips to reassure the witness.
"Umm… don't mind him. You know what chocolate plus over-active imagination equals…" she lied, adding in a weak laugh at the end. The guy nodded limply in response and kept his mouth shut, thinking it better not to ask any more questions. After the odd stranger finally disappeared around a nearby corner, Seto glared at Tea with the ferocity of a hungry wolf. Well… at least tried to. He pointed a finger out and opened his mouth to combat Tea's actions but alas, he was at a loss for words. Reluctant to realize he was defeated, he dropped his free hand back to his side, turned around, and pushed through the metal door of the men's bathroom.
"Hmph… Over-active imagination is it…?" Tea heard his little voice grumble, before it was shut off by the click of the lock. Now the only things echoing in her ears were far-off voices and anonymous mystery noises. Letting out a sigh of relief, Tea seemed to deflate on the bench. May as well make these ten minutes of liberation count.
Her eyes drifted upwards to stare at the skylight above her and let her mind run free. Before long, she wasn't even in the mall anymore. She was at the amusement park with her friends. It was everything she could imagine from a trip as such. Yugi was staring at the map trying to get things organized, Tristan was digging into a large freshly baked pretzel, and Joey was begging and pulling them like a little kid to go on the park's biggest thrill-ride. 'Like a little kid…' she repeated in her mind. Suddenly, her mind wondered back to the shrunken CEO and her school report. Her joyride ended at the thoughts with an abrupt stop and she was back in the mall.
Tea buried her forehead into her hand and moaned, "I wonder if anybody is having a great of time as I am." Surprisingly, a strange familiar voice replied to her words.
"Depends, with or without the pepper spray?" it asked. Tea jolted her head up instantaneously to locate speaker and what she saw stunned her. Two familiar brown but bloodshot eyes were staring lazily at her belonging to none other than...
"Tristan?" she gasped, straightening her slouching at the surprise.
"I'm surprised to see you too," the point-haired interloper said collapsing onto the cold metal next to her.
"What are you doing here?" she exclaimed, lurching at him, "And… What happened to you?"
"I came here for breakfast and… you don't want to know. Still, I think the question is what are YOU doing here? I thought you had a report to work on," he said eyeing Tea suspiciously with a hint of slyness, "You're not putting off the make up work are you?"
"Oh yeah, like I would be careless enough follow Joey's example," Tea replied, crossing her arms. Although her tone was filled with sarcasm there was a rising sense of panic in her chest. It only intensified when her friend's interrogation continued.
"Then what are you doing at the mall? Researching the POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE?" Tristan shouted curling his fingers to form fists of anger. Tea blinked a bit startled by his sudden outburst. "Huh? Oh sorry, I guess I got carried away… but really, what are you doing here?" This was the one question that put the ice on Tea. Oh, the comedy it would be, if she explained to him now, that she was babysitting the CEO of Kaiba Corp. Irony had taken hold of her situation. As much as she wanted to see her friends that moment ago, this definitely wasn't what she had in mind.
"Uh… Well…" she stuttered trying to think of an excuse. Eventually she fell to her lack of a creative reply and ended up sighing, "You don't want to know, either." Tristan cocked his head in curiosity, but after that statement he didn't question her further. Instead he rubbed his sore pepper stained eyes and lay back on the bench.
"Fine, if you say so," he said. As the pointy haired teenager sat there Tea grew uneasy. Seto was coming out of that door sooner or later and with Tristan around that wasn't in her best interest. Unlike many of the strangers around Tristan had seen the victim multiple times before the necklace accident. It would only take one spark of recognition to let the cat out of the bag. Tea had to do something, or at least try.
"Um… Tristan, I don't mean to intrude, but you do look worn out. Shouldn't you go home and rest?" she asked.
"Ah, don't worry about this Tea. I had worse, besides it wouldn't hurt to keep you company for the time being would it? You must have had a rough start by the look of it?"
"Uh… Well… I…" Tea found herself to be in an awkward position. All morning she had been putting up with Seto's dry remarks and criticisms. Now, that she actually had a friend that cared for her and shared her bad morning, she had a chance to relax. However, that didn't change the fact that Seto's identity could be exposed. If that happened there's no telling of the size of the headache she'll get from Seto's fit for revealing his identity. If only she had some time to…
"Alright Gardner, we're finished here," said that strong but small voice. A shiver went down Tea's spine and slowly she turned her head to behold her fate. Seto was standing only a few feet away from her. The cute little panda top and green shorts had been replaced with gray camouflage shorts and a certain eccentric white and black shirt. All that was left was the giant shopping bag still clenched in his tiny hand. Although his attire wasn't as kiddy anymore, it surprisingly didn't make him any less adorable. What did make him less adorable was the time and environment he chose to emerge from the bathroom in.
'No! Ugh…. Kaiba, you have the worst timing…' Tea yelled in her head.Unfortunately for her, even as the self-proclaimed genius Seto was, he wasn't psychic.
"Unless you want to go on another of your idiotic shopping sprees, we're done here. The sooner I get back to that dump you call home the sooner I get ch-" Seto sharply stopped at catching the sight of another 'geek' who to be blunt, was staring at him with the most confused look on his face. Seto felt his heart dive bomb and his throat caught in a loop. Unsteadily, he backed up a few notches, trying to avoid eye contact with this sudden newcomer. He knew this person and surely, this person knew him. The only thing standing in between was a thin line of disguise called Seto's recently puny state. He felt the anger dig in. He knew who was to blame.
"You just can't live an hour without your precious friends by your side can you, Gardner…" he mumbled throwing icy daggers at Tea from the corner of his eye.
"Uh… Tea… who's…" Tristan asked. He took a hard solid look at Seto and penetrated his already cracking shell. "Hey… wait a minute…That hairstyle… those eyes… You're…" Tea tensed, listening to his every word as though played on slow motion. She had to do something! Barely thinking, she sprung off the black mesh bench leopard-style and wrung her arms around the munchkin. Leaving Seto stunned at her sudden action, he had little time to focus or fight before she swept him up like stuffed doll.
"Gardner, what are you-AH!"
"It's not what it looks like!" Tea laughed nervously. The tension through the troubled girl's arms begged to differ though, while Seto gasped for air in his new uncomfortable location.
"Um… He was the little boy I saw being chased at Spheres?" Tristan corrected. Tea stayed in her position blinking at this misinterpreted answer. Her arms and shoulders loosened as the blood flushed up to her cheeks. Sluggishly, she lowered her head to look down at what she had just done. Seto's face had been forced into her chest and the only movement he could manage in her grip was the furious kicking of his feet. A droplet of sweat slipped down her head and her mind almost shattered. She couldn't believe she did something as insane as that. Humbly, Tea unwrapped her arms and let a very pissed off Seto drop to the floor.
If Seto had the chance he would've expressed his pent up anger right then and there but in a situation like this, it could wait. A new set of eyes was on him and looking him over to every single detail. That time, the fortunate klutz managed to escape with a simple, "Don't… do that again."
Tristan was left vexed at this entire situation and gawked at both Tea and the supposed little boy. First he had to deal with an annoying little girl, then two crazy shopping clerks trampled him, then the little girl's mother pepper sprayed him to death, then this happens. Was it national 'Act Like a Nut' day? Somehow, from all this, he pulled himself together and calmly asked, "Just what is going on? Tea, who is that kid and why is he with you?" Tea tensed again and looked down at Seto, trying to come up with answer.
"Er… He's my…" she fumbled, "… cousin!"
"HE'S YOUR WHAT!?" Tristan exclaimed, jumping forward.
"Your cousin?" Seto even added in disgust of the thought. Tea immediately slapped her hands onto his face to muffle the sweet little words coming out of his mouth and continued with her act.
"Yep, it was really sudden. My aunt showed up last evening telling me she was going on a business trip. She couldn't take him along and because his father died, she needed somebody to look after him for a while," she continued, as bullets poured down her forehead.
"Mmmm Mmmf!" Seto uttered correspondingly. Taking in this new information, Tristan took another deep look at the little boy entranced in thought.
"Hm… Now that you mention it, you do look a lot alike."
"HMM?" squeaked Seto from under the coverage of Tea's hands. Even Tea was a bit surprised at this answer, but didn't dare speak a word out of place.
"Yep. I guess if you didn't know better you'd think he was my little brother," she laughed weakly.
"So… What is the little guy's name?" Tristan finally asked.
"Kai-" she started. Suddenly, a weak but swift heel kick to the shin stopped her at the edge of the cliff. She gulped and quickly attempted to redress the accident, "I mean… His name is…" She dug hard and deep into her mind for a name. Almost any title would do as long as she could think of one fast. The first name that came to mind was picked as the winner. "YUKIO!"
"Yukio?" Tristan repeated.
"Yeah… He gets what he wants… he's a spoiled little brat…" Tea added, teasing on the lit stage she was now treading on. Tristan blinked a few times, but slowly his questions were being answered. With that last thought in mind he got up from his bench and knelt down next to Tea and her temporary prisoner.
"How old his he?"
"Preschool!"
"So he's… four?"
"MMF!?"
"Yeah… he's… just starting school!"
"Mmf! Mmf!"
"Ah… By the way, it's great that you're taking care of your cousin and all but… why… are you muffling him?" Tristan questioned pointing at Seto's sad position.
"Er… The reason I'm muffling him is because he's… kind of on the rude side. He likes to act like a know-it-all and often forgets his manners. I didn't want him to offend you."
"Uh... Tea… You shouldn't have to worry about that," he explained, "Look, I'm not sure what's got you worked up but I think you should let go him." Tea was hesitant but eventually she nodded and slowly released her captive, allowing him to take in the air he missed out on. After his lungs were content Seto whirled around to face Tea once more.
"I take it you have issues with letting me breathe," he claimed lazily.
"It's not the breathing I'm worried about. It's your mouth," Tea answered. Seto rolled his eyes and buried his face into the palm of his hand. What did he do to deserve this? Well… Besides taking an old man's Blues Eyes Card, ripping it, initiating multiple corporate takeovers, humiliating Wheeler… multiple times, borrowing a card with no intention of returning it, destroying Tea's report, and being an overall jerk. On second thought, never mind…
"So Yukio is it?" Tristan said, making Seto turn his focus back on him.
"Uhuh," Seto replied, he decided to roll with the supposed plan for now. He even tried to look innocent for once despite the fact that he lost the ability ages ago.
"Nice to meet you. Tea may have already told you about me, but I'm Tristan," he greeted with a smile. Even though his morning had turned rotten he was still shooting for that chance to have somewhat of a decent day.
Seto studied the narwhal haired person in front him. The smile and welcoming eyes signaled that Seto was in the clear for now and he was grateful for that. However, while analyzing that face he caught something that was oh-so apparent.
"Who took out the pepper spray?" Seto asked, unable to prevent himself from smirking a little. The question left behind it one surprised and stuttering victim.
"Heh… Erm… Well… I-It was…"
"Security? Did you shoplift?"
"Kai-YUKIO!" Tea scolded.
"Relax Gardner, I was just curious of your little friend's misfortune," Seto answered mockingly. Tea could feel the burning heat come forth from her insides again, but once it met her head it came out as steam. She let a sly smile perk up from under her nose. Even though Seto was acting as normally confident, she knew something special. Being little and trying his best to hide his identity from Tristan, Seto was in a vulnerable position. Not only was this the chance to strike back at him, but prevent him from worsening her caring friend's day. The trap had already been set for her, and now it was time to use it.
"That's Miss Gardner to you, Yukio," she declared mustering a serious tone to disguise the taunting that was about to come. Seto looked back at her shooting right through her rouge, and raised an eyebrow at her challenge.
"Excuse me, but I don't recall having to refer to you as your highness," Seto said, once again swapping his attention.
"Your mother didn't say you had to, but she did tell me to keep you from being obnoxious little bear, " Tea continued. For a babysitter touch she even leaned over him and pointed a finger in the air like a teacher. And Seto's buttons were pushed even more by the mocking baby voice Tea hooked at the end.
Although Seto held the poker face before her, he was stunned and enraged at this comment. He could have said something, anything to remind Tea who was superior around here. Alas, Tristan's presence and his embarrassing secret handicapped him. Tea had on her side what would be apparent for a babysitter and child using the very fabric of his disguise. In that case he was the naive one, he was the immature one, he was the inexperienced one, he was the weakling. If he did anything to prove otherwise he would be ripping holes in his own disguise, his own bliss. Oh, how he hated her that minute, almost more than everything else. Still, he didn't back down, and took his chances to regain himself with the limited options he had.
"And I suppose me talking at all is being obnoxious," he retorted.
"Look, I've known Tristan for a while now and I know he'd never do something as low as that. It is impolite to assume things you don't know," Tea pointed out, "and if you keep this up you're grounded."
"Oh please Miss Gardner, anything but that," Seto commented sarcastically flapping a hand onto his cheek to add to the melodrama, "I don't want my Gamebuddy taken away."
"Oh don't worry, I'm not going to take that away. I was thinking more along the lines of a certain gemstone," she hinted. Seto shook off the mocking face and took his time to stare his opponent deep into the eyes.
"You wouldn't dare…" he growled. Tea confidently stood straight once again and put her hands on her hips showing off her superiority.
"Oh, I would, alright," she assured him.
"Uh… Tea… Really, it's okay," Tristan tried add in, only to be what he usually was… ignored.
"So are you going to be a good little boy?" she asked Seto, enjoying every dewdrop of this moment.
"How about this? I'll be a good little boy if you'll promise to keep your mouth shut and mind your own business."
"How about this? YOU keep YOUR mouth shut and you won't have to dig through the garbage trying to find those 'enchanted' shards."
"Enchanted shards?" Tristan repeated, quizzically. Seto took note of his conscious once again and felt a surge of electricity shoot down his spine. It circulated in his shoulders and curled his hands into two shivering fists. He couldn't accept this fact. That he was being defeated all because of his new 'standing'. The cheerleader was already referring to his secret and it would only take one wrong word to set her over the edge. He stared at the threatening brown eyes behind him, as they curiously watched and waited for the knowledge to laugh at his misery. He regretfully, was cornered at the moment.
He snatched the highest part of Tea's shirt he could reach and yanked her head down to his. "We'll discuss this later," he whispered in her ear. After that, he roughly threw her back, although with his might it was nothing more than an ineffective nudge backwards. The multi-millionaire then turned to face the bug of a problem behind him and posed as reassuringly as possible. "It's… one of my... more special toys… Anyway, Miss Gardner do you want to do some more shopping instead of working on your report? I mean it doesn't matter if you fail it, right?"
Now, it was Tea's turn to feel the burning spark. She narrowed her sizzling eyes on him. "Well, it's not like I'm shopping for myself," Tea argued.
"Oh, that's right. You're shopping for me even though I stated clearly that I didn't need any new clothes."
"So… In other words you enjoyed wearing what your 'mom' picked out with the 'little' pandas and the 'cute' bamboo stalks?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Seto denied, turning his head away vainly. Tea simply smiled at his response and struck her hand into the bag he still held. "Ah!" She pulled out the shirt and held up it up.
"Oh, I'm sure you do," she laughed in Seto's somewhat irritated face.
"Look… how about we simply get back to your house so we can do something progressive for a change? I'm getting a cramp just by standing here and listening to your nonsense," he stated, as impatience started to grow on him, "We've done your shopping. Your break is over!" At this comment, Tea receded from answering. This time she agreed with him. What were they gaining by pecking at each other? She closed her eyes and sighed.
"Alright, Yukio…" she said .
"About time…" Seto muttered. He started for an exit out of the mall, but failed at having Tea follow. He let vision fall back around once more to face her new distractions. She was asking Tristan something. Asking him something that Seto wasn't very fond of.
"Hey Tristan, would you like to walk home with us?" the words spewed out of her mouth. "I think since we're all having crummy days it might be nice to cool down together." Seto tensed. Oh no. His goal was set at not only leaving the mall but leaving that point haired freak behind as well. Seto knew as long as Tristan was around he'd have to keep up his childish little act and as long as he kept up his act he would remain at check by Tea. It only came to more of his horror when Tristan replied.
"Well… I guess there's nothing better to do," he said, shrugging. That answer shoved Seto across the line.
"What are you doing!?" he abruptly screamed at Tea from his slightly afar post. The puzzled look that had left the pointy haired teenager just a minute go returned to its place and Seto found himself once again, on cracked ice. To make an excuse for his incidental outburst he quickly added, "He'll distract you!"
"Wow, I didn't know you cared so much," Tea laughed.
"I can care less about your pathetic report… It's… the fact that we… that he…"
"Yes, Yukio?" Seto went silent at those two simple words. They smothered him and made him to fold one time more than he allowed himself.
Breaking his eye lock with Tea he mumbled,"Whatever." The small teenager turned his back again. Seto knew whether he liked it or not, he was going to have to hold up his rouge for a little longer. He jotted down in his mind a promise right then. The first split second he got to be alone with Tea there was going to be a few of his own rules put down on her back. Ones that will remind her that he was still to be treated with respect, despite the change in physical appearance. For now however, he had no choice but to take up his new identity, the identity of Yukio, Tea Gardner's smart-mouthed little cousin.
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I hope you all haven't died on me. Sorry about not updating. Writers block is a pain but thanks to Spooki's hammering I finally got something done. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks for suggesting names. XD My only regret is I did not choose Conan Edogawa as his nick. jk jk XD But then Tristan would be like "Wait a sec... Isn't that from Detective Conan?" Um.. yeah... I'm on my own body-made sugar which is good since I've been dealing with a ton of stress lately.
Btw, I'm planning on making a huge picture with scenes and previews of my other fanfiction ideas. When it's down I'll post the link and you can go and tell me if any of them sound good to you and you want me to write them. Until then enjoy what I have up now. Um... And if it wouldn't be too much trouble please check out some of my other stories. Anyway, thanks for reading.