Chapter 28 – Weekend Plans
"Man, how are you so good at this game?!" Mokuba shouted as he jumped out of his seat and glared over at Tea, who was doing her best to keep a straight face. "Geez, you must have lied to me! You have to have played this game before!"
"I swear, Mokuba, I've never played this game!" Tea protested, putting her hands up to show she was guilty, a smile tugging at her lips. "Maybe I'm just that good at it?"
"Or maybe not," the boy remarked, placing his hands on his hips. "It took Seto and I a week to get as good as you are. You better not be lying to me!"
"Mokuba, I never play video games!" she insisted, now grinning widely. "You know that I barely touch a deck of cards let alone video games!"
"Hmm…I dunno. Either you're lying, or you have a secret talent for video gaming." Laughing, the boy stated, "Maybe we can hire you as one of our video game testers in the future!"
"Oh really?" she asked slyly. "And how much are those generally paid?"
"Well, I'm not real sure, but I'll bet Seto would pay extra just to see you trying it out!"
Tea rolled her eyes but couldn't keep the small chuckle inside. The boy had talked nonstop about Seto and her getting together for the past two hours while playing the games, and it was starting to honestly annoy her. "So, what do you want to do now?" she asked, hoping to change the subject.
"Well, it's nearly 19:00 now, so Seto should be coming home soon," Mokuba stated as he sat back down in the recliner.
"Does he always come home this late?"
"Usually it's later, but because he had absolutely no sleep last night, I begged him to come home early and rest up."
"Do you just stay home alone then?"
"Nah, I'm always at a friend's house or doing something at school. Seto wanted me to get involved with as many things as possible; he said he wanted me to be a kid and hang out with friends and do stuff that he could never do."
"I'm glad to see he wants you to be happy."
"Yeah, but…sometimes I wish I could just share it with Big Brother. I mean, he didn't really have a childhood, so he doesn't understand some of the things my friends and I do."
"Well, whatever the case may be, I'm sure he's happy that you're happy."
"Who's happy about what?" a sudden voice asked, making the two spin around in their chairs to see none other than Seto Kaiba standing in the doorway.
"Seto!" Mokuba exclaimed, literally jumping back out of the chair and wrapping his arms around his brother. Tea watched as the elder Kaiba leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Mokuba as well, letting the smallest trace of a smile grace his lips before standing straight. "How was work today?"
"Ugh, I don't even want to think about," he stated as he placed the white trenchcoat he held in his hand onto the back of the chair. Setting his briefcase down on the floor, he smirked over at Tea and asked, "And what, might I be so bold as to ask, are you doing here?"
"She wanted to hang out with me!" Mokuba answered, getting onto the seat to block his brother from sitting there. Seto glared slightly at this motion; the only empty seat left was next to Tea.
"And why did she want to hang out with you?" he asked as he suspiciously eyed the two.
"Uh, well, you see…uh…" Not being able to come up with a good excuse, she looked over at Mokuba and smiled sadly.
"She came over because I wanted you two to hang out!" Mokuba stated.
"Mokuba, we see each other at school and at the orphanage. Is that not enough?" Seto was standing next to the chair Mokuba currently inhabited, obviously making a statement that he was not sitting next to Tea so easily.
"Oh, come on, Big Bro! You don't hang out with anyone except me! You should hang out with others. And besides, she rocks at video games!"
"Does she now?" he asked, perking his eyebrow up at her.
"Yeah! I think she may have even beaten your high score!"
"Yeah…right." Rolling his eyes at his brother, Seto let out a sigh and walked over to the sofa, giving up the fight to sit down in what Tea could only imagine was 'his' seat. Closing his eyes, he sat down on the sofa and smiled.
"So…what's for dinner, Seto?" Mokuba asked, grinning at the outcome of his little scheme.
"I'm not sure yet. Maybe you guys can just make leftovers. I'm not really that hungry, and—"
"—And when was the last time you ate?" the younger sibling questioned. Receiving a shrug from Seto, he sighed and said, "Exactly, so you're eating something. Tea, do you like spaghetti at all?"
"Yes, I like spaghetti."
"Okay. I can heat up some leftovers then, if that's all right with you."
"Sure. I wasn't planning on eating here anyway, so it's fine."
"I'll go heat some up right now." Winking as he stood up, he said, "Don't do anything while I'm gone, you two!"
Tea felt a slight blush creep up as Seto grunted in response to his younger brother's comment. Once Mokuba left the room, Tea let out a sigh and said, "I don't know where he gets that sort of energy."
"He keeps you on your toes," Seto remarked. "Although he's going to be angry when I don't eat all my food. I'm really not that hungry."
"Why did he ask you when the last time you ate was?"
"It's very rare when I eat a serious meal with my schedule, so Mokuba has made it his mission to make sure I eat healthy from now on. For awhile I was getting pretty skinny, so he decided to take the responsibility of my health on himself."
"Wow…that's dedication."
"Yeah, but…I don't like it when he worries about me like that. It should be the other way around."
"Hey, as long as he cares about you, right?"
"I guess…"
"So…was work really that bad?"
"It's always this bad. I'm just too tired to want to think about it right now."
"Why don't you take a nap then?"
"I…can't."
"Why not?"
"I just can't, Tea. All right?"
"What would keep him from—" Letting out a small gasp, she whispered, "You don't want to have nightmares, do you?"
Seto glanced over at her before closing his eyes and leaning his head back on the sofa. "Yeah…something like that."
"I'm sorry…"
"Don't be. You did nothing wrong." Tea watched as the CEO let out another sigh before chuckling. "But really…why did you come here?"
"All done!" Mokuba's voice echoed as he entered the room carrying two plates. "I heated it up as fast as I could. You guys can eat out here. I'll eat in the dining room and leave you two alone."
"Mokuba, we aren't dating," his brother stated coldly, opening his eyes to glare at the boy.
"Suuure, Seto. Whatever you think." The boy giggled as he left the room, leaving the two alone in an awkward silence. Tea shrugged as she picked up her plate and breathed in the smell of the spaghetti sauce. Taking the fork that was placed next to the plate, she smiled as she took a bite out of the spaghetti.
"Wow, this is really good," she stated, watching the CEO slump down onto the floor and begin eating his own meal. "Who made this? Your maid?"
"Thanks for thinking of me as being that lazy, but I do all the cooking around here," he answered.
"You made this?"
"Is that a problem?"
"N-No, but… I could never picture you in a kitchen."
"Yeah, well… If Mokuba wants me to eat healthy, I figured it would be right to learn how to cook healthy."
"That is a good idea. I wish I knew how to cook this well."
"You don't know how to cook?"
"Just enough to get me by. I've been starting to use some new recipes, though, so I—"
"Aw, shit," Seto interrupted, suddenly standing up and walking over to the nearby doorway. "Sorry, but I forgot about my prescription. I'll be right back." He quickly ran out of the room, leaving Tea slightly stunned as to what had just happened. Shrugging her shoulders, she continued eating the spaghetti until the younger Kaiba walked in.
"Did you scare him away already?" he asked jokingly, noticing the empty space.
"No. He just went to get his prescription."
"Oh…okay. Well, ask him about Sunday. Do you like to swim?"
"Swim?" "This boy is the most random person I think I ever met in my life."
"Yeah, swimming. Do you like to swim?"
"It's fun, but I rarely do it."
"Well, we have a pool here, yet we never really use it. Ask Seto if he's free on Sunday and see if you two can use the pool."
"Why do you guys keep talking as if I'm on Mars?" Seto asked as he reentered the room, a bottle in his hand. "What are you guys planning?"
"I want you two to hang out, Big Brother!" Mokuba protested, watching as his brother sat back down in front of the sofa. "I think it would be awesome for you two to hang out on Sunday. After all, I know you're doing nothing, and she said she's not busy either!"
"Mokuba, you can't just force people into plans, okay?"
"But Seto--"
"But nothing, Mokuba. Besides, isn't that our day to hang out?"
"I know that, but I think it would be good if she hung out as well."
Sighing, Seto turned around to face Tea. "Are you seriously not busy on Sunday, or did you just say that to be nice?"
"I'm not doing anything this weekend, like always," she answered truthfully.
Seto turned back around to face his brother before letting out another sigh. "Fine… She can hang out with us on Sunday."
"Whoopie!!" Mokuba shouted as he jumped up in the air for what seemed to be the millionth time that day. "Don't forget to bring your swimsuit, Tea! We'll get the pool all ready for you!"
"Hey, I didn't say—" But Seto sighed in defeat as his brother ran out of the room before either of the two could get a word in. Shaking his head, he opened the bottle up and placed a pill onto the glass coffee table.
"Was I supposed to say that I did have plans?" Tea asked timidly, wondering if the CEO was angry or not.
"No…it doesn't really matter. He apparently wants us to hang out more, and I don't really have a problem with it either, so as long as you're okay with it…I guess it's fine." Nodding her head in understanding, she watched as Seto quickly placed the pill in his mouth and swallowed it without any liquids or food for help. Looking back at her, he added, "Don't worry. I've taken enough pills to be able to do it without any help."
"I…see."
"Yeah…at least this is the last bottle, though. Once these are gone, I'm done with this crap."
"That's good to hear." Smiling, she raised her fork and said, "Cheers to the last bottle."
He smiled and raised his fork as well, and the two clanked their forks together before chuckling at their childish antics. "You're welcome here anytime, okay?" he stated as he went back to his food. "If you ever want to come over here to hang out with Mokuba or myself, just ask."
Smiling widely, Tea nodded her head. "That's the closest he'll get to saying he enjoys my company," she thought. "At least I know now that my presence isn't a burden anymore. Maybe I'm closer to the CEO than I really thought I was…"
