A/N: helloooo everybody! thanks for all the reviews! i'm so glad you guys loved the previous chap as much as i did. seriously. that has to be my fav chap so far. muahaha!

anw, here's the long-awaited chap 12! we see the duo together, then the story takes on a more individual approach. and there's more of mischa here. i sort of like her chatty character, especially since she reveals so much!

enjoy this chap! and as usual, reviews are most welcome!

"I thought you said no romance or chick flicks," Seto grumbled as they got back into his Ferrari. They had raced down – or rather Seto had jammed the accelerator – just in time to catch the last show of the day. Tea chose the movie and was the only one who was engrossed in it, Seto merely filled an empty seat. Currently Seto had acceded to Tea's request to drive his convertible within the speed limit as he proceeded to send her home.

"It wasn't!" Tea protested. "I mean, sure there was a bit, but then there's the whole fighting scene in the ballet studio – "

"Half of it was romance!" Seto shot back. "And in school. And vampires sparkle in the daylight?"

Tea rolled her eyes. "It was adapted from a book. And that's how it went in the book."

"I knew letting you choose the movie was a bad idea," Seto continued to complain as he stepped a little harder on the accelerator to catch up with the fading green light. They would be nearing Tea's neighbourhood any moment soon.

"I don't think you'd have chosen anything, if I left it up to you," Tea replied through gritted teeth. "We'd probably be outside the cinema just eating popcorn." She shot him a look. "I would have, anyway."

Seto merely gave a hard smile. He should be annoyed with her by now, but truth was, he … enjoyed seeing her all riled up like that. It was not everyday he had a chance to test out the limit of his stubbornness. Once Tea's house loomed into view, Seto eased the car to a graceful halt directly at the front door. Tea started to reach out for the latch, but Seto quickly stretched his arm out to prevent her from doing likewise.

"I'm not incapable of opening the door on my own!" Tea bristled.

Her new friend stared at her and smirked. "Pretend you are for once." Without lifting his eyes on her, he opened his car door. "Stay put." With that, he hurried out and made it to the other side of the car with just a few strides. The gentleman that he always was, he held the car door out for her. "Now you can get out."

Tea glared at him. How courteous, she remarked snidely in her mind as she stepped out of the car and made it to her front door without so much as a look at him. First, he stops me from opening the door so he can do it. Then barely ten seconds after that he tells me to get out.

"Tea?"

She turned around grumpily, one hand on the knob of her open door. "What is it, Seto?"

He suddenly lost all trace of his brazen attitude a short while ago; he simply looked ill-at-ease as he stuffed his hands into his trousers' pocket. He kept his azure eyes on the hood of his Ferrari as he spoke, "Stupid movie, but the night was great."

She fought the urge to laugh at his oxymoron. Instead, she simply nodded her head and replied solemnly, "Great movie, and the night was great, too." Probably to spare him of the arduous task of bidding her goodnight, she quickly said, "Goodnight, Seto."

The young CEO she once called Kaiba nodded at her. He watched until the door closed behind her before bothering to take a few steps to the driver's seat. He purposely kept the speedometer at below 10km/h as he took his time to drive past her house. Once it escaped from view, he gunned the engine and let the meter tick all the way till a healthy 100km/h.

XO XO XO XO

Two hours later and Tea still could not get herself to sleep. After giving up tossing and turning on her bed, she had flicked on her study lamp and turned on the radio. The station was on 24/7, but the broadcasters only stayed on-air till 2am. After that, it was just the playing of a selected playlist all the way until the next broadcaster came on air at 5am.

Sighing, she reached out for her novel that she was halfway through. It was the fourth book in the series she had found herself addicted to (the movie she and Seto had caught together was based on the first book), and she had just gotten into the good parts: the youngest sister had apparently made off with her soulmate without saying anything to the rest of the family except to leave a note behind and telling them to follow her instructions. Tea had just about entered the next chapter when the main male character in the book suddenly reminded her of her newly-acknowledged friend. Make that newly-acknowledged annoying friend.

With an irritated huff, she slammed her book shut and returned it to her bedside table. Unthinkingly, she cranked up the volume of the radio. Maybe a slow song would come on, and then it could help her drift off to lala-land.

Since when have I changed
I've been exhausted with my busy schedule
I only thought of myself
I only thought of what I had to do

But step by step I've realized
You were always here beside me, wanting me and rooting for me

I I wanna say these words to you
I I I love you
I I wanna say these words to you
I I I I wanna say these words to you

Im going to give back to you
The love I've been receiving, the great love
This song is for you, this performance is for you
I'm going to fill this world

So step by step I'll come to you
Wait, I'm finally going to say the words inside my heart

Something you never expected (these words)
Something you didn't count on (these words)
Don't be too surprised, please don't be, because it's the truth
Why do you keep crying? (don't cry)
If you cry, I feel so sorry
For not having been able to say these simple words to you

As soon as the song was done, Tea resisted the urge to hurl her radio to the floor. She groaned into her pillow. Why is every single thing – the book, the songs, everything! – reminding me of him? And how the heck did I even let myself wish that that song was sang by him instead of RAIN, for me?

She could tell the answer was right smack in her face; she just refused to believe it. It was just entirely impossible.

XO XO XO XO

"So did you two kiss?"

Seto almost spat out his coffee. Quickly, he wiped his mouth with his napkin. "Finish up your breakfast, Mokuba."

Mokuba scooped the last bit of cereal into his mouth, chewed it quickly and proved to Seto that he already finished it. "All done. So?"

His big brother frowned as he set his toast down. "So what?"

"Did. You. Two. Kiss?" Mokuba asked again pointedly, leaning in closer to Seto across the table with every word.

"Mokuba, she's not my girlfriend," his brother replied calmly. He leaned back into his seat and folded his arms: a sign he was not willing to talk about it any longer. "Besides, didn't you say that you need to drag me for shopping cos my wardrobe was appalling?"

It was Mokuba's turn to almost choke on his milk. He stared at Seto as if his father figure had lost his mind, and then pointed at what his brother was wearing. "You're gonna go shopping in a suit?"

Seto scowled as he got up and straightened his charcoal grey suit. At least today he wasn't wearing a tie. "We have until four today. Then I have to go off and meet some client." For the first time in a long time, he made a face.

Mokuba laughed at his brother's expression, then he suddenly remembered something. He scrambled out of his sea and ran over to the coffee table in the dressing room. When he returned, he held out a lavender-coloured envelope with a rose emblem at the bottom. Seto rolled his eyes.

"Ziegfried," he commented in a bored voice. "I have no wish to read anything from him, so could you?"

The raven-haired boy sighed and tore the envelope open. His eyes scanned the contents, then he summarized it to his brother, "He cordially invited you to the launching of his new product, next Tuesday." He looked up to see his brother snort in disinterest. "Oh come on, Seto. This thing is by invitation only."

"I will go, Mokuba. Maybe he finally heeded my advice to do something about his bad hair."

Mokuba grinned as he read on. "And oh, you need to bring a date."

Seto was not fooled. "You're coming along."

"But I have school the next day!"

"Right," Seto caught the look on his brother's face. "Hurry up now. Didn't you want to go shopping?"

XO XO XO XO

Tea drummed her fingers on the table. She checked her watch. For some reason, she had rung Mischa up and decided to turn the latter's wish to have a girls' day out a reality. They had agreed to meet up for lunch to discuss about a variety of things; Mischa wanted to know about the dinner, Tea was just… well, hoping to have a female friend to spill her secret to.

"Tea! I am sooooo sorry!" Mischa slammed her handbag onto the table. Taking a huge breath, she slowly erased off her pant and took her seat. Pretending to pout, she explained herself, "Mr Boss suddenly needed my help. I was like, what??! It's a Saturday! I don't work on Saturdays!"

"What changed?" Tea questioned laughingly.

Mischa smiled mischievously as she trilled, "Something incredible! Mr Boss handed me a piece of paper and told me to list down all the colours that suited him. I asked why, and believe it or not, he's actually going shopping!"

"WHAT?"

Her Indonesian friend seemed oblivious to her reaction as she rattled on, "I told him he could get the best from the Armani boutique downtown." Tea almost choked on her kebab. "Plus, they can tailor his shirts for him. But he was like, never mind, off the rack would do fine." Another choke on the kebab. "I keep telling him that tailored outfits will look hot on him, but he simply refused his company's official image consultant! Can you believe it? He pays me to make him look good, and then he refuses my advice!"

"He buys clothes off the rack?" Tea echoed in amazement. Mischa mistook it for disbelief.

"I know!" She exclaimed and furiously bit into her kebab. She chewed fast and swallowed it so that she could continue her rant. "I keep telling him, Boss, you're the CEO. C.E.O! You're meant to wear tailored stuffs! Armani, Zegna! Milan labels! But he just stared me down and said that even his suits are off the rack, so why should his other clothes be more expensive than that?"

All through Mischa's rants, Tea nodded and reacted at the right places. She made it look as if she was deeply engrossed in whatever Mischa was saying when really, what she was doing was secretly taking note of more things about Seto. For a guy who came up with a costume specially for dueling, it came as a surprise to Tea that Seto only had two outfits tailored for him: his Battle City silver coat and his favourite purple studded coat. The rest of his outfits were mainly off the rack, but then again, off the rack at top boutiques were to her what tailored outfits were to him. She winced at the thought that highlighted the disparity in their lifestyles.

"So how did that dinner go the other day? Did Mr Boss do nothing but gape at you all night?" Mischa's question woke Tea out of her stupor. "If he did, I don't blame him. That was the cutest mini dress I could ever find."

Tea felt her cheeks flaming. "Yeah, he did say it was nice," she amended the truth slightly. "But I think he was just being civil."

Mischa scoffed. "No way. Mr Boss never compliments a lady unless he really means it. So you must really look hot in that dress. Ha! And who's the genius behind all that? Me! Nobody looks like an idiot when I'm the one dressing them!" She paused suddenly and cued Tea to continue.

The brunette duly did so. "But you should see all the ladies at the restaurant when he walked in. They looked like as if they wanted to eat him or something. I mean, I don't blame them. He looked… well, hot." Mischa's wide eyes indicated that Tea had to elaborate. "He was wearing this black shirt with white stripes…" For some reason Mischa squealed. "And then he had on black jeans with those ID tags hanging from his neck."

Mischa was practically jumping in her seat. "He wore the shirt that I gifted him for his birthday!" Noticing Tea's sudden change in demeanour, she hastily added on with reverence, "I don't have a history with Mr Boss! I just gave him that because I couldn't stand his outfits anymore. Plain boring suits or trenchcoats. Sure, some make him look good. Heck, he looks good all the time, I don't even know why he needs me. But still, Mr Boss needs to wear clothes that make him look hot. Not just good, because good isn't good for stylists like me."

Just when Tea was trying to make sense of her words, Mischa's handphone rang and she quickly excused herself. Tea sighed in relief. She needed time to digest Mischa's words, because half the time she was just half-listening to her friend. Even Joey was not that talkative.

XO XO XO XO

Mokuba ogled at the pile of clothes that his brother decided to purchase. Half of it were striped shirts. For a guy who considered shopping a waste of time, Seto sure had no qualms about purchasing outfits by the truckload. Although to be honest, it was more of Mokuba choosing the clothes and Seto paying for it.

Mokuba held out a white dress shirt that he had wistfully paired with a red tie. "Try this on."

Seto looked at him ridiculously. "Mokuba, you've made me try on that entire pile. I'm not –"

"Just try it on," Mokuba sighed as he shoved Seto back into the dressing room.

Two minutes later Seto stepped out, and Mokuba frowned at the primness his brother put into wearing something that was intended to be semi-formal. Sighing for the umpteenth time in two hours, he dragged himself over to his brother and yanked his brother down by the tie.

"You're supposed to look casual, Seto," Mokuba said crossly as he loosened the tie and unbuttoned the first few top buttons of the shirt. "And you're supposed to pair this with black jeans, and studded belt or chains."

"You've been spending too much time with Mis," Seto grumbled as he headed back to the dressing room to change out.

"Seto, you know," Mokuba glanced again at the about-to-be-purchased shirts. "You don't have to buy all of that."

"You told me I had a horrid wardrobe, so I'm buying all of that so you can't comment on my wardrobe anymore."

Mokuba dropped his face into the cushion of the seat he was sitting on and let out a gurgled scream. Why can't Seto be normal and excited about having a change of wardrobe? But he knew the answer of course. It was because Seto was Seto. Mokuba groaned in despair.

"Don't you want new clothes as well?" Seto's voice rang out. Mokuba looked up. Seto was already back in his suit.

"You'll help me choose?" Mokuba asked hopefully.

"Not likely," Seto replied truthfully.

Mokuba groaned again as he shuffled around to look for his clothes now. Mischa was right: Seto was pretty hopeless to turn to for fashion advice.

XO XO XO XO

Ten minutes later Mischa popped back in. Her expression was sullen as she stabbed at her kebab. Something must be wrong, Tea thought immediately. What happened? Could her ex-beau be pestering her again? She opted to stay quiet. Mischa would tell her when she was ready.

The noisy air between them gave way to silence, even until after Mischa finished her kebab. While they were getting up to leave, suddenly Mischa's face broke into a crazy grin. Tea suddenly shivered. Was Mischa as sane as she had assumed her to be?

"Come on!" Mischa grabbed Tea's hand and dragged her to her Mercedes.

Warily Tea got into the luxury car. "Where are we heading?"

"My new project on you!" Mischa beamed.

Mischa drove like Seto. No wonder they get along so well, Tea thought with a stab of jealousy. Or maybe Mischa does like him. That's why she's so adamant about making him look hot.

Forgive me, I have to leave

I don't like any of this

I'm not as stupid

As your other lovers

Thank you God

For showing who he really is

I'm sorry it's over

So thank you so much

I'm sorry, goodbye

"Oh," Mischa murmured as she jabbed hard at her stereo. At the same time, she took a deep breath and blinked back hard. She did not notice that Tea saw every of her actions.

What's wrong with her? Tea continued to wonder as she stared at the Indonesian who was doing a fantastic job keeping her tears at bay.

You promised

That I'm your lover

How could you get rid

Of all the love

I never expected

That this will happen

A break-up

That's what you asked for

"Isn't there a happier song?" Mischa tried to laugh as she jabbed harder at the stereo. Her grip on the steering wheel tightened. The CD tray popped open and Mischa rashly plonked in among her CD cases. Then she jammed another CD into the player. A more upbeat tune filled the car, and Mischa smiled in satisfaction as she sang along.

Tea reached out to keep the previous CD properly in a case. She was about to put it back among the stacks when Mischa suddenly said, "It's okay, Tea. you can have that CD."

"Huh? But they're in Indonesian."

Mischa chuckled. "I came up with my own translation booklet that I slotted inside the case. I'm serious, Tea. You can have it. I don't… well, the CD used to mean something to me, but I'd rather forget all of that now." She caught Tea's worried look and smiled. "Don't worry about me, Tea. That CD was part of my, well, stupid past with that stupid guy. He bought me this album, you see." One hand fluttered to her eye and quickly swiped against it. "Don't worry, I'm not crying." As if to prove her point, she grinned.

When she diverted her eyes back to the road, Mischa's grin faltered. I know you love him, Tea. I can see it in your eyes. I couldn't finish my love story. Let me complete yours.

first song: I'm sorry Goodbye by Kris Dayanti

second song: Biarkanlah (Hati ini telah dilukai) [Let it be (this heart was hurt)] by Kris Dayanti