Quick Recap: Sephy explains why she doesn't want titles in a relationship and Seto is unsure of what he wants to do. She becomes frustrated with him during their dinner and tries to leave but he stops her with a kiss. Eventually he decides to give it some thought. They wrap up their not-date with Sephy deciding to play along the beach and they have a conversation about how she behaves. Seto is frustrated and tosses her into the water, and she doesn't seem to mind at all. After she catches up to him she invites herself over to read in the library again.

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 junk mail and empty soda bottles.

Title: Clarity
Chapter: I Just Wanna Live
Chapter Written By: Peggi
Edited By: Dante

Monday came all too fast, as it always seemed to for the CEO. Seto rolled out of bed when the alarm went off and mumbled to himself, trying to remember when he'd even gotten to bed the night before. He remembered coming home with Sephy so that she could read in the library and that he'd been on the laptop, but he couldn't remember much after that. He didn't feel sick, and he couldn't remember drinking, but why couldn't he remember anything? That's right, she'd given him something to help him sleep. Whatever it was, it had worked like a charm, because he was disoriented from the unusual feeling of being rested, but he didn't feel groggy like he usually did. As he showered, he tried to remember everything...

Sephy shifted in the limo uncomfortably, mostly because of her wet dress. Seto smirked at her and felt like it served her right for annoying him in the first place, and surprisingly wasn't angry with her for getting the seat to the limo wet. By this point, she'd given him his hand back, but he almost wished she was still holding it. He liked that feeling. It was different, but it was nice. Comforting. His brother held his hand sometimes, but it wasn't the same. Sephy's hands were about the same size, but a little bit warmer, and they fit differently into his. They were also softer.

When they arrived back at the mansion, Sephy followed him inside, and he stopped her before they got into the library, "wait, there is no way I'm letting you sit on my furniture in that wet dress. Come with me."

He led her up the stairs into the guest room and guided her inside, then walking towards his own room. He rifled through his closet and tried to find something, anything that would fit her, but couldn't find anything. He decided to try Mokuba's room, and found his brother in front of the TV.

"Seto, how did it go?"

"Sephy is here, but she needs to borrow something to wear. Her dress is soaking wet."

"Seto...what did you do?"

"I threw her into the ocean. Can she borrow something to wear?"

Mokuba sat up quickly and his jaw dropped, "you threw her into the ocean?!"

"She was playing in the water and she was starting to annoy me, so I just tossed her into the water. It isn't that big of a deal, Mokuba. Can she please have a shirt and some pants to wear so that she doesn't get the furniture wet?"

Suddenly a sly smile crossed his brother's face, "so are the two of you...you know?"

"It's complicated. Clothes. Now."

Mokuba got off of his bed and walked towards his closet, "so are you going to tell me, or do I have to ask her?"

The older boy just sighed, "we aren't exactly a couple, but we aren't just friends, either. Like I said before, it's complicated."

"Catch," Mokuba threw a shirt towards his brother, "so if she sees other guys it would bother you?" he asked, continuing to look for some pants.

"She can do whatever she wants to do. I can't stop her from seeing other people."

"That wasn't the question."

He was irritated with the questioning and sighed, knowing that it wasn't going to stop if he didn't answer, "I wouldn't like it particularly, but I can't stop her. Hurry up, she's probably cold," he figured that would get his brother moving more quickly than anything else.

"She's not going to see other people, Seto. She likes you. Only you. You don't have to worry about it, I just wanted to know. Here," he handed him some gym shorts as he walked back towards his bed and sat down.

"Thank you."

Seto made his way back towards the guest room and found Sephy trying to avoid touching any walls or furniture with her dress. He handed her the clothes, "you can leave your dress in the bathroom and my staff will send it out for dry-cleaning in the morning."

"Thanks," she took the clothes being offered and walked into the guest bathroom.

Seto took advantage of the free time to change into something more comfortable as well, finding his usual black shirt and pants in his bedroom and heading back to the library. He'd taken the time to brush his hair and make himself look decent, so Sephy was already in the library sitting in her spot on the chair when he arrived. He pulled out his laptop and started to go over plans for the theme park. A couple of hours passed and he felt tired, but not tired enough to sleep, so he walked over to the table to pour a drink.

"Not my business, but you shouldn't drink too much if you're trying not to be so sick. Just friendly advice."

"I need to be able to sleep tonight. I have work in the morning."

Sephy just sighed, "here," she reached down for her purse and pulled a bottle out "try this. If it helps, ask a doctor to give you some. I take them every night to sleep. It's for anxiety too, so maybe it'll help you loosen up a little bit. It won't hurt you or anything."

"What is it?"

"It's called Xanax."

"I don't think you're supposed to take medications without a doctor's advice."

"I don't think you're supposed to drink until it makes you physically ill."

Touche. He accepted the pill that she put into his hand and grabbed a bottle of water to take it with. He trusted her enough at this point and knew she had medical knowledge, so she wouldn't just give him something that would kill him, so he felt safe enough to take it. If it did work, he would have to see about getting some for himself. If it could help him keep his promise to his brother, he would do it. He didn't like the idea of taking medications, but anything was better than the road he was headed down. He knew where that road led. He remembered that road, because his step-father had been down that same road. He'd do anything to not end up like his step-father.

"I didn't ruin your phone when I threw you in the water, did I?" he asked, suddenly realizing that he'd thrown her into the water with her purse and knowing how he'd feel if his phone was destroyed.

"Nah, this thing has fallen in with the laundry and dishes so many times if it drowned today I'd have been shocked. It's fine. Do you need something for tomorrow to keep you awake? Something to replace coffee?"

He didn't even know there was such a thing, "is it safe?"

Sephy just laughed a little, "I wouldn't give it to you if it wasn't. You'll get hooked if you don't take it like you're supposed to, but if you go to the doctor like I'm telling you to, and get it from them, you'll be fine. I just can't keep giving it to you is all. Here, just don't take it with any caffeine tomorrow."

She handed him a second pill and he put it in his pocket. He was grateful for the help, but didn't honestly think that it would do any good. He'd gone to doctors before in the past for help and they'd never been able to help him, so he didn't think that this would do much for him now or the next day, but he was also desperate.

"Thanks," he offered, clicking some pages on his laptop.

"Seriously though, I'm not going to be a pharmacy. You'd better go to a doctor if you want more. I can help for a few days, but that's it. I'm not going to get you hooked on something else to replace your bad habits with new ones."

"Understood. I don't like asking for help, and I don't like help being offered, so I hope I can trust you to keep this between us."

"I won't say anything to anyone. It's no one's business. You worry too much. You don't need to with me. Remember, I'm not like other people?"

"Right. You wear formal dresses and play on the beach."

"Exactly."

For half an hour she went back to reading and Seto went back to his laptop, but then he started to feel so tired that he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. He could barely mumble out the words that he was going to bed and didn't bother to close his laptop. Sephy just giggled.

"Let me help you. I probably should've made you go to bed right after you took the medication," she stood up and he mumbled something at her in protest but wasn't really able to fight her off as she closed the laptop.

She followed him up the stairs despite his fussing with her over it, and made sure he at least fell into his bed and not on the bathroom floor and then walked into Mokuba's room. He had left his door open and was in front of the TV, so she took the time to spend a few minutes with him.

"Hey kiddo!"

"Sephy! Did you have fun tonight?"

"Yeah, your brother and I got a lot of stuff laid out on the table about where we stand."

"So you guys aren't together, but you're not just friends?"

"Yeah, we aren't going with a title, but we're basically together other than that. Thanks for giving us some alone time. That was sweet of you."

"I figured you needed it. I figured he needed it, even if he wouldn't admit it. So, dinner was good?"

"Very."

Mokuba just smiled warmly at her, "I know you wouldn't and it goes without saying, but please don't hurt my brother. He's done a lot for me and he takes good care of me and if you break his heart I'd have to make you pay for it and you're my friend so I don't want to have to do that."

Sephy just gave a little laugh, "don't worry, I promise you, if I were to hurt him you'd have my full permission to destroy me. I wouldn't do that though. Your brother has his issues but he's a great guy and I like him a lot, I don't plan on hurting him at all. You don't have to worry about me."

"Seto doesn't open up to people easily, so it's not going to be easy."

"I didn't expect it to be."

"And he does have feelings. A lot of them. People act like he's just this really cold jerk who doesn't care about anything or anyone, but he does, so-"

"Mokuba, I'm not going to do anything to hurt him. I know you're worried, but I won't."

"It's just...this is the first time he's ever been with someone."

"He told me. And we're equally matched. This is all new to me, too."

Mokuba smiled, feeling a lot better about things. He hadn't really talked to Sephy about it before because he wasn't sure if his brother would ever actually open up or not, but now that he was, he felt that he needed to talk to his friend about this. He would interrogate her further at a later time, but now he just wanted to watch a movie with her before bed.

The following day, Seto was sitting at the table for breakfast, feeling strange. He wasn't used to actually feeling rested, and it was unusual. He remembered everything up until he had fallen asleep, and although he was a little angry with Sephy for not telling him how quickly the medication would kick in, he was grateful he'd tried it. He held the second medication in his hand, staring down at it. He recalled the warning about not drinking coffee or any other caffeine with it, so he passed up his morning coffee and had orange juice instead. For once he actually felt like eating, even if it was only a few bites.

Mokuba arrived late to the table and looked tired, "morning."

"You look like you hardly slept."

"I didn't. Sephy and I stayed up really late watching movies."

"How late was she here?"

"She didn't leave. We fell asleep in the middle of a movie. Since you'll probably want to know for future reference now, she's a covers thief."

"I am not! You kept kicking me so I took them to pay you back!" Sephy walked into the room, defending herself.

"It's too early to deal with you two bickering."

Sephy sat across from Mokuba at the table and grabbed a piece of toast off of his plate, "yeah Mokuba, stop starting fights."

"I'm not! I'm just telling the truth."

"So am I."

"Both of you, cut it out.

"How did you sleep?" Sephy asked Seto, taking a bite of toast.

"Fine."

Mokuba just rolled his eyes, "don't bother asking, he always just says 'fine'. You never get a real answer out of him. It's like pulling teeth."

Seto gave his brother a glare, "this time I actually mean it. I did sleep just fine."

"Good, hopefully today you get through okay too. Let me know if you make an appointment."

"Appointment?" Mokuba was curious.

"Sephy gave me something to help me sleep last night and something to help me stay awake today. I'm keeping my promise to you, Mokuba. I told you that I would."

Mokuba just smiled broadly and took a bite of his breakfast and smacked Sephy's hand as she reached for his juice. Seto just sighed.

"Sephy, you can get your own instead of stealing my brother's breakfast."

"I know, but that's not as fun and you won't let me touch your food."

Seto just rolled his eyes and checked the time, realizing that it was time to leave, "as much fun as it is babysitting the two of you, I have work to get to."

He left the two of them sitting at the table bickering about Mokuba's grapes but smiled inwardly, grateful that they got along so well. As he stepped outside and into the car, he didn't notice anything strange but once he was outside of the gate he did notice an odd number of people standing outside. It wasn't unusual for fans to stand outside of the gates in hopes of getting an autograph, especially this close to a release date of a product, but this was an unusual amount. The second he arrived at KaibaCorp, though, he put two and two together.

A busty reporter was waiting for him the moment he stepped out of his car, "Mr. Kaiba, is it true that you were seen kissing a foreign girl last night at a restaurant?"

Another reporter was quick with his question right after hers, "is she your girlfriend? Can we get her name?"

Seto simply answered with 'no comment', and got inside as quickly as he could. The second he was in his office, his assistant walked up to him.

"Mr. Kaiba, I'm so sorry to bother you this early but you've been getting a lot of calls from reporters wanting to interview you about the girl you were with last night. Should I set any interviews up? I've left the list of numbers on your desk in case there are any reporters you'd like to speak with directly."

"Out of my office, now."

His assistant left and he closed the door behind her, and he walked to his desk quickly. He had to warn Sephy that they'd been seen and that people were interested. He should've known to warn her the night before, especially since this was so unusual, and he knew her past with reporters. If his actions hadn't chased her off in the past, this definitely would. She'd already been accosted by reporters once in her life and she wasn't even the type of person to want this sort of fame, so he couldn't imagine what was going to happen the moment she tried to go home.

"Kaiba?" she sounded concerned as she answered her cellphone.

"Sephy, I needed to call you to give you a little bit of a heads-up. There are-"

"Reporters. Yeah. Mokuba and I were going to the music store and we kinda figured that out already," she sounded a little bit upset.

"I didn't think to warn you that this would happen, but this isn't going to stop any time soon. Just be prepared for this on a regular basis. Being in the public eye isn't all it's cracked up to be."

"Well, it's too late to warn me now. They already know, and they're already asking me questions. I don't even know what I'm supposed to say."

"What did you tell them?"

"The same thing I told them the last time the media hounded me for information. No comment. They're just jackasses if they think they can get in our faces and be in our personal lives like this. If we want anything to be public, we'll make it public."

Once again, she'd thrown Seto for a loop, "you aren't angry with me?"

"You didn't call them and tell them to follow me around. I don't care if they want to stalk me with cameras. I just wish I wasn't walking around town in your brother's clothes for it, but I couldn't care less. It's not your fault, anyway. Besides, I'm not an idiot. I kissed you first anyway, and people could've seen. I knew what I was getting myself into."

She was actually willing to suffer through cameras in her face and being in the tabloids just for a relationship that one couldn't even really consider a real relationship? Seto almost felt guilty, but not quite. If she was willing to tolerate reporters, that was her own personal choice. He didn't push her to do this and he didn't do anything special to make her decide that being with him at all was a good idea. She'd done that all on her own, but he was grateful that she didn't mind. This was just one more obstacle she didn't seem to mind going through for him.

Peggi: Hope you guys liked this chapter! Hopefully, for those of you who know the song, you figured out that the ending is why I decided to go with the song title. I listened to it so many times while writing that part haha! Poor Sephy can't catch a break! Next chapter, what would you guys prefer? I could do a mostly Seto at work chapter OR I could do a mostly Mokuba with Sephy and then Mokuba with someone else chapter, with a little of Seto at work. I had a request for more Mokuba time, though (on Quotev) so I do plan to have him in the chapter, but I'm not sure what you guys want to see more of for next chapter! So let me know!

ScarletBelle87: Oh my gosh, I'm not the only one who actually HAD that as a ringtone?! This makes me so happy! I even replaced Carry On My Wayward Son which was my ringtone for years with it! I used to ask people to call me just to hear my ringtone (yeah...I do things like that haha!). I'll write down your character info and I already know how I'll have you appear! Yay! Sounds like you had a pretty good Monday then! Glad that you thought it was pretty cute, I tried to keep him as in character as possible for something like that, but I THINK I got back to normal(ish) for this one and next one is back to sass and beginning of the story Seto! I love that about Sephy too. You can just feel how much she actually cares about him because she's willing to do whatever it takes to make him happy. I almost wish my OC was real because I bet she'd be a fantastic friend!

Meyome2012: That's quite alright! Glad you're still with the story, though! Hope it's been living up to your expectations and that I'm not failing you with my updates lately! Always happy to see a previous reader is still keeping up with the story!

kayleebaby13: So glad that you thought so! I know that if I was with him and he wanted to get me to stop walking away, a kiss would definitely do the trick! Though I think I'd react quite differently, what with the intense fangirling and possibly fainting, so she's more in touch with herself than I am. I'm too much of a fan haha! I'm so glad that you liked the chapter, I thought it was pretty cute too while I was writing it, and I was looking forward to seeing what all of you thought! I adore how Sephy interacts with him, and even though she has her limits I think she's a good match because she's also patient with Seto and he needs someone who is patient!

Peggi: As always, thanks to ALL of my fantastic readers, and hopefully I'll have the next chapter out within a week, but I'm having a family crisis at the moment so I'm not sure how much time I'll have, but I'll certainly try. It does get my mind off of things, so I love writing this and of course I love reading what you all have to say about it! Thank you all so much, again, for all of your support with this story! I couldn't possibly do it without you!