Music Lover's Alert: "What if you Knew?" David Rovics

Chapter 20 Accident

Serenity and Mokuba sat on the front porch of Duel Academy's first dorm in a pair of wicker chairs with white cushions. A light breeze rustled the leaves of the trees in the surrounding forest. Seto Kaiba had assigned the two high schoolers to scope out and test various study locations while Pete and a few architects worked on designing a set of lecture halls and some new dormitories.

Although Serenity's ankle still made it difficult for her to walk, it had already improved significantly over the past few days. Instead of using crutches, she had learned to rely on the Kaiba brothers for assistance. Mokuba had developed a grim acceptance of his brother's relationship with his favorite classmate, moping silently whenever Seto paid extra attention to her.

A melodious chime sounded from inside Serenity's pocket, and she set aside her textbook to dig for the culprit of the sound. She drew out her cell-phone and answered it without looking at the number. After all, only one person routinely called her. "Hi Joey! What's happening?"

A strange voice belonging to a girl slightly younger than herself replied, "Serenity! Thank goodness you're alive. I'm so sorry I didn't return your call sooner. It was on my to-do list, but I just didn't get around to it. When I saw the thing about Domino on the news, I was afraid that I was too late. Are you OK?"

"Slow down. Who is this?" Serenity asked.

"It's Rebecca Hawkins. Remember when you called me like, a couple of months ago?"

"Oh yeah! So Rebecca, what was that thing in Domino that you were mentioning?"

"The big thing… How can you not know?"

"You'll have to fill me in. I've been living on an island for the past week."

"There was an accidental discharge from one of our planetary defense satellites. Stellar Defense was running a simulation of some sort, but the satellite fired the wrong way. It was aiming at some asteroid out in deep space, but since the whole satellite was assembled backwards, it hit Domino High School three times instead."

Serenity's blood froze, and her voice came out barely louder than a whisper. "When did this happen?"

"It must have been just an hour or two ago. I saw it on the International Communications news channel. Hey, do you have a TV over there? They'll probably play it again. After all, there were at least a hundred people who died in that accident."

Serenity shuddered. Everything suddenly clicked into place. She knew why Seto had brought her and Mokuba to the island. "It wasn't an accident," she said in a whisper.

"Of course it was an accident. What could anyone gain by hurting a bunch of teenagers? It was just a test that went totally wrong."

"Rebecca, the test went exactly as planned. That's why I wasn't there when it happened. Seto knew it would happen, so he-"

"-Seto? As in Kaiba?"

"Yes! Listen to me, Rebecca. Something much bigger is about to happen. You've got to stay away from large crowds for a while."

"Why? Serenity, you're making absolutely no sense."

"Trust me, Rebecca. Seto has inside information."

"There you go again. What's with you and Kaiba? Why would he tell you all of all people?"

"I'm his… girlfriend."

Rebecca gasped. "What happened to Tristan?"

"He… He broke up with me when he found out he got into Dartmouth."

"Dartmouth? Tristan! No way! I didn't think he was smart enough for Dartmouth."

"Rebecca, could you do me a huge favor and call him for me? Just warn him to stay away from any mobs. I know it sounds crazy, but I just want him to be safe, and I can't call him myself because Joey erased his number from my phone. Joey was there when he broke up with me. It was awful. Joey was even more upset about it than I was. I just want him to be OK. Please, Rebecca?"

"Um… that's a really strange request, but I guess I could do it for you… just this once."

"Thank you so much, Rebecca!" Serenity cried.

"Um… should I tell Tristan about Kaiba, too?"

Serenity paused for a moment. Her thoughts oscillating between the advice that Mai and Tea had given her. Finally, she said, "You might as well tell him. I like Seto, and right now things are going well for us. I don't want Tristan to feel bad about breaking up with me."

Rebecca confirmed her willingness to carry out Serenity's request once more, and the two of them said their good-byes. When Serenity got off the phone, she found Mokuba gaping at her. His deep violet eyes stared at her in accusation.

"What is it?" she asked innocently.

"Serenity, you can't just go telling everyone that my big brother is involved in some sort of conspiracy. Do you have any idea what kind of repercussions that might have?" Mokuba said, sounding upset.

"I never used the word conspiracy," Serenity replied as calmly as possible.

"You implied it."

"Well, isn't it true?"

"No. Seto has nothing to do with those creeps. In fact, he tried to stop them." Mokuba glared at Serenity with a fierce, almost inhuman expression that she had never seen on his face before. She withdrew from him as much as she could without leaving her chair, pressing the white cushions flat. However, she kept her own olivine eyes glued to him as if she was afraid that he would suddenly transform into a giant predatory animal.

After what felt like an eternity, Serenity heard a voice in the distance. She turned her head away from Mokuba to see Seto and Pete strolling up the walkway towards them. Seto had traded in his fine black leather boots for a more sturdy brown leather pair like the ones the geologist wore. However, he still sported a stunningly sleek blue trench coat. Serenity's heart skipped a beat when she saw him, and Seto's face lit up when her eyes met his.

"We have good news!" Seto called as he approached.

"What is it?" Serenity asked.

Mokuba drew away from Serenity quickly and sheepishly, but Seto did not seem to notice. Instead, he held out a hand to Serenity and assisted her as she got to her feet. Serenity leaned on him slightly, placing about half of her weight on her healing ankle as they made their way into the manor.

"There are ancient ruins on this island. Aquitard thinks that some of the carvings in the rocks look like duel monsters, and that they would help the students with their lessons," Seto replied.

"Really?" Serenity asked as Seto helped her into the dining room and set her down in one of the luxurious tiger maple chairs with red velvet cushions, "I thought you hated history."

"I do, but unfortunately the rest of the world seems to think that it is an important topic for teenagers to learn. With our new discovery right here on the island, the students won't be so bored with it." Seto gave Serenity's hand a little squeeze as he sat down beside her. He was in an unusually good mood.

Mokuba sat down across from them and cleared his throat. "Seto, what about more recent events in history like Japan's democratic revolution, the sixth world war, and Kouta Kuramitsu's election?"

Seto's face suddenly took on a grave appearance and his features darkened. His blue eyes blackened as the sky blackens after sunset. "We will wait until the textbooks are published before teaching anything about that," Seto declared.

"But Seto," Mokuba began.

"We will wait," Seto said firmly.

The dining room was awkwardly quiet for several minutes until the food arrived. Seto had a glass of wine with his meal, and after a few sips he eased back into the relaxed conversational mood that he had been in when he first got to the manor. He talked about the menu that Duel Academy would serve and how the quality would vary by dorm. The better quality food at the best dorm would give students an extra incentive to excel at their studies and get promoted to a better rank. Serenity and Mokuba gradually joined in the conversation and relaxed more as the evening drew to a close.

Mokuba excused himself from the table early, leaving Seto and Serenity to finish their dessert alone. As soon as Mokuba was gone, Seto placed a spoonful of his own ice cream into Serenity's mouth and kissed her softly, savoring the way the strawberry flavor complimented the texture of her smooth lips. Serenity hummed with happiness as she enjoyed every moment she spent with him. Even if the world came to an end, she still had Seto.

Meanwhile, Mokuba was in his room doing more homework and trying not to cry. He wanted to tell Serenity how he really felt about her, but every time he tried, it came out totally wrong. Then there was Seto. Did Seto actually care about Serenity, or was he just using her? None of this was clear to Mokuba, but either way he still loved Seto and felt that he had to put his brother first in everything. If Seto wanted Serenity for whatever reason, that was just the way it had to be. It was not so much the fact that Seto was calling Serenity his girlfriend, but the complications that troubled Mokuba.

Closing Note: Sometimes, especially in college, friends can go months or years without talking to each other and then suddenly get back in touch for whatever reason. I recently learned that one of my old high school friends and I have something in common that I cannot share with most of my other friends or I tried to share and they did not understand. So, Rebecca was not being mean by not returning Serenity's call all those months. She was just too busy.