Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!
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Cheer up, Mr. Kaiba!
Chapter XXI – Infected
-by Alena S. Anigor
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It had become fairly silent in the small jet; the only sounds coming from Kaiba typing on his laptop, the silver device whizzing soothingly and making Serenity weary. Mokuba had already fallen asleep on the outstretched seats behind them; his head lolled to the side and his expression the one of an innocent child.
Serenity was trying to keep her eyes open; afraid she might do something stupid again like grabbing the hand of the CEO. The incredulous look he had given her was still fresh in her mind and she shuddered inwardly when she remembered his icy stare. So, she stared at the rolling clouds outside through the small, round window, observing the colors changing from orange, red and violet to purple, cerulean and midnight blue. She realized that they had probably passed a time zone and entered another one.
Taking a deep breath, she leaned deeper into her seat and sighed heavily, adamant not to yield to the sudden urge to close her eyes.
The clouds soon became a blur of colors, though, as she let her eyes close slowly, her body relaxing against the comfortable fabric of her seat, the mixture of the soft breeze of an air conditioner and the rhythmic buzzing of the laptop making her nod off.
She had fallen asleep soon after.
Kaiba was busying himself with typing diligently on the laptop, correcting, adding and updating his blueprints. He had already sent some of them to his secretary back at Kaiba Corporation who replied promptly to confirm him that they had been sent and received. He glanced at Mokuba occasionally to see if everything was all right and to make sure he was feeling comfortable.
He exhaled softly and pinched the bridge of his nose lightly, wiping his eyes with his fingers to get rid of the blurriness. He still had some mails to check and send and he leaned forward slightly in his seat to write an email when the plane shook a bit and something bumped against his shoulder. He turned his head swiftly to see the cause and froze.
He blinked and then jerked, leaning backwards quickly and staring somewhat apprehensively at Serenity's sleeping face, her head supported by his shoulder, her lips slightly parted. A few strands of auburn hair were in her face and he had a sudden urge to brush them away, his arm already rising slowly to do that.
He stopped himself in time, just before his fingers had a chance to brush against her skin, his eyes widening in shock when he realized just what he was about to do.
His fingers lingered above her cheek for a second before he quickly withdrew his hand away and turned his head away from her peaceful expression, his own face wearing a startled one, his pulse quickening.
He was staring at the blue screen of his laptop intensely, his mind a jumble of thoughts. He was trying to collect them somehow and piece them together but even after he managed to order his brain to focus on the screen and emails he still had to send, he still couldn't shake away those strange feelings in his chest he had experienced before. Something was twisting oddly in his stomach and making him feel almost nauseous. He resisted the urge to growl and closed his eyes for a few moments in hope it would make the nausea go away.
He did feel a bit better after that, but he was left to stare in panic at the screen after his heart still refused to go back to normal. What the hell was wrong with him?
He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly; staring firmly straight ahead and at the unfinished email he wanted to send to Heinrich. Slowly, he poised his hands over the keyboard and started typing again, frowning heavily at his fingers that had somehow lost the ability to type properly.
He managed to concentrate on the task soon after, though and wrote the email and sent it, explaining the man what to do and what his future projects would involve. He let out a quiet "hmph" when his heart started to beat normally again and he wasn't feeling sick anymore.
But, still, it was strange enough that he felt sick. He had never been sick during flights before...He probably ate something wrong before that morning that caused his stomach to do somersaults.
Satisfied with that kind of self-explanation and forgetting for a while about the weight on his shoulder, he turned around to glance at Mokuba but his eyes stopped involuntarily on Serenity again, refusing to move any further.
He swore inwardly when he caught himself staring at her again, his eyes disobediently traveling over the silkiness of her hair, the softness of her skin, her long eyelashes and her small, parted lips...He jerked almost violently when he realized what he was doing again and shuddered at the sudden thoughts that ran through his mind in that brief second.
He did not want to touch her! He didn't want to touch anyone for that matter except his most valuable possessions and that was it.
Not being able to sit next to her any longer, he quickly grabbed his laptop and stood up sharply, deciding to go to the cockpit of the plane to work in peace.
His trench coat made a swooshing sound when he stood up and Serenity's head fell on the side of his seat, sliding down the fabric slowly. Kaiba just glanced at Mokuba briefly before he opened the door to the next room and vanished behind them, closing them firmly behind.
He never thought socializing with a Wheeler was a smart thing to do, but now he had just discovered that sitting next to one was even worse!
He merely glanced at the pilot before he sat down on the other seat next and resumed working on his laptop, pressing the keys almost brutally and making the pilot look at him oddly.
Behind the closed doors, Serenity was still sliding slowly down the seat until she leaned too much forward and fell down with a thud, her body sprawled over two seats. She opened her eyes quickly and blinked, wondering why was everything so oddly upside-down before she realized where she was.
With a gasp, she straightened and shifted back into her seat, her cheeks red and her eyes wide in horror. She glanced around quickly and saw no one besides Mokuba who was still napping peacefully behind her.
With a sigh, she swallowed hard, chiding herself quietly for letting something like that happen. She didn't even want to imagine what would've happened if Mr. Kaiba were there in his seat to witness that. Fortunately, the seat was empty...
She grimaced at the image that passed through her mind and quickly shook her head, her cheeks turning a bright shade of red again. Dear Kami...that would've been really bad!
Nestling firmly against the back of her seat and fixing her tousled ponytail, she frowned at the dark sky outside and ordered herself to stay awake until they reached Switzerland. She didn't want Seto Kaiba to see her sprawled on the floor of his jet in the end. She already knew he didn't think very much of her.
She stared at the dark clouds outside, listening to the plane's engines as they were flying over western Asia.
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By the time they'd reached Europe, Serenity was already in deep slumber again, her head leaning against the solidity of glass window, her eyes not being able to keep open for so long. She had lost count of the clouds and stars and occasional islands below them, wanting nothing more than to close her eyes and sleep. She did make sure she was leaning towards her side of the seat, so not to really end up on the floor and embarrass herself further.
Behind her, Mokuba let out a soft groan and shifted slightly in his position, grimacing when he could still feel sharp pain in the lower region of his back.
When he opened his eyes and realized where he was, he sighed heavily, staring at the gray, plush material of the plane's ceiling dully. He wanted so desperately to stretch but for now he was only able to wipe his eyes with his free hand and hide a wide yawn with it.
Looking around, his gaze stopped on the seat left to him where his brother was previously sitting. Now, the seat was empty and he even couldn't see Serenity anywhere.
Wondering where everyone had gone, he lifted his head a bit to glance out the opposite window, dark sky greeting him from across the small passageway between the seats. So, it was night here...That only meant that they were already flying over Europe and that they should arrive in Switzerland shortly. He grinned happily, looking forward to seeing Gary, Anika and Lily...that is, if they still had that goat...
He yawned and closed his eyes, ready to take a brief nap again when the doors of the cockpit room opened and Kaiba entered the room, stopping for a moment to glance at the sleeping girl in her seat, his eyes automatically narrowing and his brows furrowing. He merely walked past her and stopped in front of Mokuba who beamed at him.
"Are we there yet?" He asked happily and then cringed when he could hear a female voice mumbling something in the seat before his. So, he wasn't alone in there, after all. "Oops..." He added in a whisper and smiled sheepishly at his brother's neutral expression.
"Yes," He replied firmly, not too concerned by the fact that he might wake Serenity up. For some reason, he wanted to keep away from her as much as possible; the experience he had while sitting next to her still making his stomach churn and those unexplainable emotions rise in his chest. He had started to dislike her as much as he disliked her brother. He knew taking her with them was a bad idea from the start...
He sighed heavily, making Mokuba look at him warily.
"Seto?" He whispered, eyeing his drained expression and dark rims around his eyes. "Are you okay?" He added, craning his neck slightly to give him a questioning look. Kaiba nodded firmly, not wanting to concern him with the fact that he hadn't slept for hours, working instead on his laptop and checking various blueprints, charts and designs revolving around his newest Duel Disk System.
Mokuba wanted to say more but his stomach reacted lightly to the change in altitude, telling him that they would land soon at the airport in Bern, as the plane started to glide down through the clouds and towards the multiple lights below glistening on the old continent.
Kaiba reached for one of the seats to steady himself when turbulences started to rock the plane slightly, making Mokuba grin in satisfaction at the rush of adrenaline in his veins.
Serenity, on the other hand was still amidst a nice dream when the turbulences started, making her body shake and tremble in the seat. She frowned, wondering why the field of daisies was quaking and moving around her before it was brutally yanked away from her eyes, her head banging against the wall she was leaning on.
She hissed and grimaced in pain, opening her eyes slowly and blinking groggily at her surroundings, trying to comprehend what was going on.
When her eyes widened in recognition and she realized that she was still in the plane and that the said plane was amidst stormy clouds again, she yelped and gripped the edges of her seat, closing her eyes tightly. She could hear Mokuba laughing somewhere from behind but she ignored him, chanting all sorts of prayers under her breath.
The unpleasant tremors lasted for a few more moments until the plane got out from the blustery clouds and continued soaring down, the wheels coming out from the small room beneath.
The airport and the airfield were visible now, lights blinking on the towers and around the runways, visible only as red dots in the darkness.
Kaiba looked at his watch and realized that they were on time – it was past eleven pm in Switzerland and he knew that Gerhard was already waiting for them at the airport. He waited until the plain landed, wheels squeaking over the concrete as the plane drove to the end of the runway and turned around slowly. A few people were already gathered around with stretchers, together with an older man in his mid fifties with gray hair and glasses, dressed in casual wear.
A metallic silver station wagon and an ambulance car were parked not too far away; the back doors already wide open for the medics to place Mokuba inside.
The pilot quickly opened the door, portable stairs already being pushed towards the plane. Medics greeted him politely when they entered the plane with stretchers on which Kaiba nodded and looked at Mokuba who was so excited to be in Switzerland again that he couldn't suppress his smile. When he looked at the other passenger, he noticed that Serenity was slightly disheveled, her clothes a bit crumpled and her expression weary. She caught him observing her and blushed, aware of her appearance. Kaiba just looked away and disappeared behind the doors to get his laptop and then proceeded down the metal stairs after the medics.
Really, what was it with the Wheelers that they made him feel so repulsed by them? Surely, Joey Wheeler's stupidity covered most of that, but his sister was smart and polite enough, almost to the point where he thought if she was really related to him at all...
With a frown, he made his way down the airfield, the pilot handing him his briefcase he put the laptop in and headed in the older man's direction who smiled politely when he saw him approaching. He left Serenity to gape after him in puzzlement, wondering what happened that made him look at her like that...She felt like she was some kind of disease he had to socialize with but wanted desperately to keep away from. With a troubled expression, she straightened the wrinkles on her pants and shirt and headed towards the exit, inhaling for the first time, the fresh Alpine air.
Mokuba was already lying on the stretchers next to the older man, asking all sorts of questions and pulling him eagerly by the sleeve. The man just smiled at his antics and then directed his attention to the CEO who stopped in front of him.
"Hello, Seto!" The man exclaimed in fluent Japanese, although a small note of German accent was still audible in his words. He bowed respectfully in front of him on which Kaiba bowed slightly, as well.
"Gerhard."
They straightened and stared at each other for a while before Gerhard let out a chuckle and hugged the taller CEO firmly, patting him on the back happily.
"It's been such a long time," He said and quickly withdrew when he felt Kaiba's muscles tensing at the sudden affectionate action. He was staring at him for a while longer, taking in his appearance and all the changes on his face. "You have changed," He remarked and pointed at his height, joining his thumb and index finger. "You were so small when I last saw you! You were waving at me and Mokuba was crying after Lily!" He grinned and then looked at a mortified look on Mokuba's face as he blushed at the memory.
Kaiba just let out a grunt in response although his expression softened a bit.
"And you're so skinny!" He exclaimed worriedly, eyeing him disapprovingly. "Anika will have to get you back in shape!" He ventured with a smile and then stopped when he noticed a timid looking girl behind the CEO.
Kaiba also turned around and saw Serenity fidgeting nervously behind him, not knowing what to do or say. She was blushing slightly, twiddling with her fingers and standing stiffly with her head slightly bowed. He coughed and turned slightly to introduce her but Gerhard beat him to it, bowing in front of her with a smile, his blue eyes crinkling.
"Ah, so you must be Serenity," He said and she stared at him for a moment in wonder before she snapped out of her stupor and nodded briskly after bowing to him, as well. "Nice to meet you!"
"Ah, y-yes, I am! Nice to meet you, too!" She exclaimed and smiled sheepishly, her cheeks still pink. Gerhard looked at the CEO somewhat slyly and winked at him.
"Sie ist Süß, Seto!"
Kaiba stiffened and blinked at the remark, looking at Serenity who almost flinched under his sharp gaze and then back at Gerhard who was still smirking at him enigmatically.
"Das ist mir egal," He replied diplomatically, although he was confused on the inside, wondering why the man had said that to him and why he was smirking meaningfully like that. Serenity and Mokuba merely gaped at the exchange of German words between then while Gerhard just shrugged at his words but kept his secretive smile on his face.
"Well then," He said enthusiastically and clapped with his hands, eyeing them all happily, "Shall we go? Anika can't wait to see you all!"
"Is Lily still alive?" Mokuba asked him after the medics placed him in the back of the ambulance car, the pilot and the airport staff putting their luggage on the back seats of the station wagon. Gerhard cast a sad glance his way. "I'm afraid not," He replied and Mokuba's face faulted. "But she does have a daughter!" He added with a smile and Mokuba's eyes lit up.
"Really?"
Gerhard nodded. "Uh-huh."
"What's her name?" Mokuba asked; eagerness evident in his voice and eyes.
"Milly," Gerhard replied and winked at him, lifting his glasses up his nose before he waved at him and the paramedics closed the doors of the ambulance car. He hopped into the station wagon where Serenity was already sitting next to Kaiba who was on the other end. He started the engine and stepped on the gas pedal, the station wagon driving away from the airport and towards the road that led to the hills.
Gerhard turned the quiet music on, soft, slow beats vibrating off the speakers and making Serenity weary all over again. She didn't really have a good night sleep since she was first brutally awakened by her body sprawling over the seats and then by the turbulences. Her eyes started to droop again and she shook slightly to keep herself awake. Next to her, Kaiba glanced at her and frowned, not wanting her to use his shoulder as a pillow again. Gerhard noticed the look on his face and raised a pair of questioning, bushy eyebrows.
"Was ist los, Seto?" He asked, eyeing him curiously. Serenity looked at him oddly then at the CEO who frowned even more at the question.
"Gar nichts...warum fragst du?" He replied with a question of his own, pointedly ignoring the awed look on Serenity's face. Gerhard just shrugged and looked back at the dark road, the headlights lighting their path just barely.
"Na ja...du siehst irgendwie...mürrisch aus," He said slowly and looked at the game of emotions playing in his eyes when his face remained impassive. Kaiba was silent for a moment before he chose to reply, staring intensely at the road and the dark forest around them.
"Ich bin nur müde, das ist alles," He replied quietly and turned his head away from them to look outside the window.
He was tired, yes, but...how was he supposed to explain to him something he himself didn't quite understand?
Silence ensued again, the slow music making Serenity doze off again while Gerhard drove quietly down the road, with the ambulance car behind them, carefully trying to avoid the larger rocks scattered over the path. Kaiba stared mutely out the window, his expression mirroring in the glass, blue eyes narrowed and lips set in a thin line.
What was happening to him?
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A little more than half an hour later, they slowed down and turned right, the tires jumping and rolling tirelessly over the road, the path equally filled with dust and small pebbles. All around them, high treetops were looming over them threateningly, the darkness between the trees too thick to see anything. The sky was filled with numerous stars but Kaiba's eyes were fixated on something far, far ahead.
It wasn't long until he saw what he was looking for – a small pond glistening in front of him, stars reflecting in the dark water. And behind it, a dark outline of his residence was visible as something large and ominous in the night.
The lights were on in the large, wooden house, the doors opening widely to reveal a smaller, chubby woman standing there with a smile on her face.
Kaiba 's eyes softened slightly; so Anika was still awake and waiting for them.
Gerhard waved at her and stopped, the tires grinding over the pebbles. He opened the doors and hopped out, his shoes thumping against the solid ground and making Serenity jolt and wake up. She looked around and realized that the car stopped. So, they were already there?
Kaiba joined him outside, glancing at the large house he had visited only once in his life but it remained as one of the pleasant experiences in his childhood. After Gozaburo died, he inherited the wooden mansion, of course, but he never really had the time to come to visit, too occupied by his company and Duel Monsters.
The woman stared at him in sheer astonishment when the two men approached her and then gasped, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. She clutched the kitchen cloth to her chest tighter and looked up to meet his eyes.
"Seto..." She whispered, staring at him in awe and making him feel slightly uncomfortable. "Bist du das wirklich?"
He nodded stiffly and she let out a sob, her lower lip trembling before she leaped at him and hugged him firmly, tears falling freely down her cheeks as she sobbed and cried into his shirt.
Kaiba stiffened almost immediately when she hugged him, not knowing what to do with himself or the crying woman in front of him. Gerhard just watched with tears in his eyes by the side, watching his wife hugging the now, grown up young man she had loved to call her little boy.
Kaiba's arms moved after a while and he hugged the trembling woman somewhat awkwardly, not even remembering the last time he had been hugged and vice versa.
"Oh, Seto...I missed you so, so much!"
"Anika," Gerhard spoke finally after spending a few moments in gazing affectionately at the touching picture, "let the boy breathe!"
"Ah," She exclaimed and pulled away, glancing upwards to see him better. She wanted to ruffle his hair and pinch his cheeks like she used to but he had gotten so tall that she barely reached past his collarbone with her arms.
"You've gotten so...tall and...oh, you're so handsome!" She exclaimed and made him blink at another weird remark. He just smiled faintly at her words and she stepped away from him to shake her head at his leanness.
"What have you been eating all this time?" She asked, a scolding note creeping into her voice. He wanted to say something witty in reply when a shrill voice cut him to it and he turned around to see medics carrying Mokuba on the stretchers, Serenity walking behind them hesitantly. There were so many weird things around her and she was feeling slightly overwhelmed.
"Anika!" Mokuba exclaimed loudly and the chubby woman gasped and ran past Kaiba to hug the dark-haired boy firmly, almost making him choke on the stretchers.
"Mokuba! Oh, what happened to you? Didn't I tell you to be careful? How are you feeling? Are you all right? Are you hungry?"
Mokuba's eyes widened at the amount of questions bombed at him and he sweatdropped, smiling uneasily at the overly emotional woman next to him.
"Whoa, whoa, I'm fine! Chill!"
Serenity was standing awkwardly beside them, looking around curiously, and feeling so out of place here. She noticed the pond nearby shimmering slightly, a cool breeze playing over the surface, creating small, vertical waves. The wooden house was fairly large and nicely decorated, with a balcony in front. And in the background, high mountaintops were standing proudly, seeming like murky giants in the night.
"This is Serenity," She heard and turned around just in time to see the older woman smiling brightly at her before she hugged her firmly. She let out a yelp and blinked at the affectionate hug the woman gave her, Mokuba snickering discreetly on the stretchers.
"Oh, my," Anika said and leaned back to observe the girl in her arms. "You are so pretty!" She exclaimed and Serenity blushed at the statement, muttering "thank you" and making Anika grin cheekily at her.
"Oh, this is so exciting! The house was so empty with just the two of us in there!" She added and grabbing Serenity by the hand, started dragging her towards the house entrance where Kaiba was still standing with Gerhard and discussing something with him. The medics had already carried Mokuba inside, the younger Kaiba sibling grinning merrily at the sight of the familiar rooms.
"We've prepared everything for your arrival," Gerhard said and went to the station wagon to pick up their luggage. Kaiba helped him by pulling out his and Mokuba's bags, Gerhard taking Serenity's bag in his hand. "We rearranged the bottom guest room for Mokuba. Your room is still upstairs, as well as the upper guest room and your study."
Kaiba nodded and then stopped when Anika and Serenity approached them, the older woman chatting happily with the girl who was only able to gape at her in awe.
Gerhard just smiled softly at the two of them and then signaled for Kaiba to follow him by tilting his chin. "Come on," He said and entered the house, "you need your rest first. You're settle in tomorrow."
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"Good night and sweet dreams!" Anika whispered to her and closed the doors of the upper guest room, leaving Serenity to sit on her bed in the dark.
She was staring at the closed doors for a while longer, feeling so strangely exhilarated and excited. She got up, tripping slightly over her bag and approached the small wooden desk in the corner of the room. She pushed the button and the light of the lamp illuminated the room, casting shadows over the clean, white walls.
She turned around and pushed the bag under the bed, straightening up to look about the room.
It was a standard guest room, but it was nicely decorated – the closet was made of a dark, solid wood as well as her bed and the desk. The rug covering the wooden floor was nice and soft, the sheets and covers on her bed fresh, the scent of wild flowers filling her nose when she sat on them.
She sighed and closed her eyes, standing in the middle of the room and taking it all in. She looked at the window covered with white, transparent curtains and crossed the distance to them to peek outside. And gasped softly when she saw a small balcony with carved, wooden railing.
Carefully, she pushed the curtains away and realized that one window was actually a glass door with a handle. She pressed the handle and pushed the door open, stepping outside on the cool autumn air and inhaling the crisp, fresh air.
She was standing like that for a while, admiring the nature around her – the vast forest, the shimmering pond and the hills and mountains in the distance. It all looked so surreal and magical...
After some time, she got cold and she stepped back inside, closing the door softly so not to wake or disturb anyone. She tiptoed to the desk and turned the lamp off, creeping slowly to her bed and unfolding the covers.
She slid beneath them and covered herself with the warm blanket, not caring for the fact that she was still in her everyday clothes. And as soon as she lied down and exhaled slowly, she realized just how tired and exhausted she really was and how much her body ached to get some decent rest.
She closed her eyes and let the weariness get the best of her, her mind wandering off somewhere far, far away, one thought lingering on her mind before she drifted off to dreamland.
She was finally here...She was in Switzerland.
Two rooms away from hers, Seto Kaiba was lying in his bed, his body also aching for some rest but his eyes were open wide, staring dully at the ceiling, watching shadows of the swaying trees playing across it.
He hated to admit it, but what happened between the time when they took off and the time they had arrived here, was too much for him.
All those emotions he experienced today were too much for him.
First, he had to endure that sickness in the plane every time he thought about that girl leaning on his shoulder and then Anika shocking him completely when she sobbed into his chest...
And he couldn't shake the bloody, strange, annoying, indescribable feeling in his chest away no matter how hard he tried.
What the hell was wrong with him?
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a/n:
Phew...Well...surprise, I updated again! XD
I was thinking about putting this story on indefinite hiatus, but something came over me last night and inspiration struck and...Voila!
Okay, I know that the majority of you don't speak German here, so I'll explain some terms used in this chapter:
"Sie ist Süß, Seto!" - "She is cute, Seto!"
"Das ist mir egal," - Can be translated as "It's of no importance to me" or "I don't care,"
"Was ist los, Seto?" Also can be translated as "What wrong, Seto?" or "What's up, Seto?"
"Gar nichts...warum fragst du?" - "Nothing...why do you ask?"
"Na ja...du siehst irgendwie...mürrisch aus," - "Well...you look kind of...grumpy,"
"Ich bin nur müde, das ist alles," - "I'm just tired, that's all,"
"Bist du das wirklich?" - "Is it really you?"
And I hope I didn't' make Kaiba too OOC in this chapter...It's kind of hard to continue a story after not touching it for months...Right, that's about it. I hope you liked this. Till next update!