Chapter 34 - As Long as You Love Me like a Love Song (Part II)
Seto held his hand over his deck. He looked down, as he was not sure what to do.
* Start Flashback *
He ran down the hall as fast as he could. His search was frantic within endless halls of warm brown walls, tall intricate mahagony doors and ceilings, and red carpets framed by black marble flooring. It was like the whole manor was filled with the cries of Mokuba.
"Moki! Moki! Where are you?"
"Big brother!"
"Moki, where are you?" All he heard was crying. He turned the corner and the child bumped into one of the maids. "Where's Moki?" A maid pointed and he ran to the room and opened the door. "Moki!"
"Big brother! Help me!" The lights of the white room were dimmed and the red curtains were not drawn. The only lighting was from the fireplace and the table lamps upon Kaiba's desk. Mokuba was sitting on his heels with his hands on his knees as he cried. Seto ran to Mokuba's side and knelt in front of him. He looked to see Kaiba and some of his servants in the room.
Kaiba looked at Seto, "Leave."
"Not until I find out why Mokuba's crying."
"I'm, I'm sorry, Father," Mokuba sniffled.
Kaiba turned to the younger child, "Mokuba, sorry is not enough! You deserve a punishment."
"What did he do," Seto asked.
"He's been disobeying the rules and back talking to the staff. Now, move out of the way."
"No!"
"If you do not move, you will be receiving the brunt of his punishment. Seto, you've been a good boy and it's getting on my nerves that you keep doing this! Now, MOVE!"
"No!"
"Well, let's see if THIS, changes your mind," he went to the fire place and heated a poker. He walked over to the boys, "If you don't move, you will get burned. And, then I will beat your brother for allowing you to become burned."
"Don't father-!"
"Then, move!" He waited. He saw Seto get up. Then, he noticed Seto helping Mokuba up.
"Mokuba? Will you be a good boy from now on?"
"Big brother?"
"Promise me that you will not be bad in the house, anymore!"
Mokuba possessed panicked eyes, "I promise, Seto."
Seto turned back to Mr. Kaiba, "I will take Mokuba's punishment."
"Seto?"
"Get him out of here," Mr. Kaiba said. One of the security guards picked up Mokuba and carried him out of the room. Seto watched as Mokuba thrashed around while yelling for him. Once the door shut after them, Mr. Kaiba's eyes glared at Seto. "I won't give you Mokuba's punishment, but a more meaningful punishment. Hold him down." Seto yelled as one of the guards pushed Seto to the floor, using his left hand and held Seto's head down and his right hand to bind Seto's hands. Seto watched as Mr. Kaiba returned the poker and started to heat something else over the fire. "Raise his shirt." As Mr. Kaiba walked back over to Seto's right side, Seto's eyes went wide as he saw that it was the 'Kaiba Corp.' seal, in his hand. Seto attempted with all of his might, but was not able to move an inch away from the bodyguard.
* End Flashback *
* Start Flashback *
Week after week, Seto was forced to study. And, no more than once a week, he would sit in Kaiba's office and wait for his punishment. Seto never got why he had to wait. He received beatings if his studies did not prove him sharp enough and worse beatings if Mokuba or himself did something wrong throughout the week during the meetings in Kaiba's office. Ever since being 'branded', the only day he was not allowed to be beaten for his studies was when someone striked him on his face. That day, Kaiba had a meeting with everyone and explained that Seto was never to be repremaned upon areas that people would see on a daily basis. The mark healed, but he could not say as much for the man who did it. That man was beaten until he could not walk anymore. Seto listened to all the dates and times that were being read to him. He noticed a pattern, "Father! I challenge the accusations!"
"What?"
"I believe that someone is lying about Mokuba."
Kaiba smiled, "I'd like to hear it."
"Mokuba has at least three nannies that monitor his playtime. The days where he refuses to end playtime are always on the same days of week and always by eight minutes. I demand to know who the accuser is."
"She's right here," Kaiba gestured at the personnel that was present.
"If all nannies use their own watches, then how do I know that she is not lying?"
"Fine. Everyone, hold out your watches." One by one, a butler told the time on each watch, as he walked around the room. Finally, one of the nannies had a time that was off by eight minutes. "AH! He's right." The woman screamed as a few of his bodyguards grabbed her by the arms.
"The rest of my staff, out!" The rest of the staff left in a hurry. Kaiba walked up to the woman, "You thought that you could make a fool out of me? Watching, having my son beat."
"I didn't do it! Please-!"
"You see, Seto, more people will be eager to betray you now because you have money. How many lashings did you receive because of her?" He held the girl by the chin, "But, looking at her…I do believe that this was an error. Seto? Would you like me to spare your future lashings by however amount of lashings she caused to you? You can't, you know. You already suffered for them. Small errors like this could cost you the war. Why else am I so hard on your tutelage? Let's see what she could do to remedy this…." He gave the nanny a firm squeeze on her behind and he laughed as she yelped. He looked at Seto, "We could just do 'an eye for an eye', but that IS a lot of lashings and she was only careless. I could humiliate and fire her, in front of my own sons." She started to whimper and he looked her in her dark eyes. "But, there's a lot of ways to humiliate a woman. You are no longer Mokuba's nanny. You are forbidden to leave the Manor. And, you will be a servant to Seto, everyday, for each lashing that Seto had received. If you attempt leaving before then, you'll wish that I had just humiliated you in front of my children and let you go." He looked at Seto, "Do you object?" After that day, the complaints against Mokuba and Seto significantly decreased.
* End Flashback *
* Start Flashback *
The bodyguard led Gozaburo and Seto into a bedroom. The nanny quickly stood up. Her long off-black colored hair flowed down her back, instead of being within her familiar work bun. She was wearing a short pink sheer nightgown, baby blue eyeshadow, pink lipstick, and looked embarrassed.
"Greet Seto," Kaiba said. She walked over, knelt and gave Seto a hug. "Don't forget the kiss." She nervously leaned in and kissed Seto on the cheek. She screamed as he pulled her by the hair, "In the mouth!" He let her go. She nervously leaned in and put her tongue into Seto's mouth. Her technique was shy. Once she finished, she pulled back and looked at Kaiba with her large dark eyes. "Very good. Carry on." He left the room and the bodyguard closed the door. Every few days, Kaiba would change their greeting. He would instruct her of what it was to be before she was given an outfit to change into. First, it was just a hug. Next, a hug and a kiss upon the cheek. Today, it had changed, again. They held hands as they walked to the bed and sat down together. She let go of his hand, but he reached over and took her hand, again. She noticed that he did that when he sensed that Mr. Kaiba had upset her. Seto wondered what she would teach him, today.
"Seto? One day, you will like a girl very much and marry her. But, before that happens, many girls will like you. Hopefully, one that likes you the way you are. Most girls know what they want, but some tend to negotiate themselves to get a guy to like them. The more a girl does that, the more likely she is to become heartbroken. Are you a good boy, Seto?"
"Yes."
"Then, I will tell you a secret about women, Seto. All women do this Seto, so listen carefully. One day, a girl who likes you will give you a riddle. But, it is one that you can not solve."
"Why? All riddles can be solved."
"No, Seto. What she will ask you will sound like a riddle to you, but it is something that she has been riddling to herself. Her riddle means that she wants you to take an action because she does not know the answer, in her heart. When you finally give the answer to her riddle, it might make her love you more or it could break her heart. Do you understand?"
"No."
"That is okay, Seto. You will when it happens."
* End Flashback *
* Start Flashback *
Seto and Mokuba were playing chess. The conversation in the hallway caught their attention and they ran into the hall. They saw Gozaburo arguing with the nanny that got Mokuba in trouble.
"NO! I will not do that!"
"You will greet Seto and will do as you're told," Kaiba yelled, "You are Seto's slave!"
"I will take the rest of my lashings for the days that I owe! But, I am NOT doing that!"
"Then, I'll punish you as I see fit!" She screamed as she tried to run, but Kaiba threw her to the ground and started ripping at her clothes. Seto and Mokuba ran over and started yelling at them to stop.
Seto looked around and pointed at one of the guards, "Stop this and hold her still!" The guard came over and stopped the fight. The girl was still screaming. "Be quiet!" She was silent.
"Good work, my boy. Now, she will be punished."
"No!" Gozaburo looked at him. "I am dismissing her for her disobedience. BUT, if she agrees with being dismissed, then she owes me in any way I wish." He looked at the guard, "Let her go." The guard complied. Seto looked back at the nanny, "Now choose." Tears ran down her face, then she got up and ran off crying.
* End Flashback *
* Start Flashback *
After Gozaburo was gone, and the Big Five were dealt with, Seto had reorganized Kaiba Corp. While he was looking through the books, he saw a familiar name on the payroll. Seto could not believe that a name would appear on payroll without any money being given out or taken back: Umayo Kohana Mizushima. He looked back to see when was the last time the employee had been paid and it turned out that it was the nanny that Gozaburo had given him. He knew that she had been threatened before to come back, but now she had to come back. He turned around in his chair and looked at her. She was wearing a light-weight beige dress and a pink scarf as an hairband. She was still as he had remembered. But, by the records, she was only a decade older than he was. She was kind of cute, but Seto had never acknowledged that to himself that she was a pretty lady, until now.
"You've grown, Seto." Seto stood up, he had done more than just 'grown'. He was almost a foot and a half taller than when she last saw him and his hair was now green.
"That's: Mr. Kaiba." She had a blank look on her face. He saw that she had no clue, "Gozaburo had died years ago. I am Mr. Kaiba and you will address me as such. Am I clear?" She looked startled. Not just by what he said to her, but by his height and his voice. She was startled the most by the fact that his pattern of speech did start to sound like Gazaboro's. This could not be one of the sweet boys that she had taken care of, a few years ago.
"Yes, Mr. Kaiba. May I ask why I am here?"
"You're on my payroll, which means I owe you money. But, you still owe Mokuba and myself, your services."
"Then, when can I start watching Mokuba?"
"That's the problem." She blinked at him, as she did not understand. "I can't have you around Mokuba because I know that you were a participant in child abuse. It is my duty to report you to the appropriate authorities."
"That's not fair, Mr. Kaiba! You know your father forced me to do all of those things! We both know that I didn't want to participate in that. You knew that I would rather kill myself, then continue on with that!"
"Then, why HAVEN'T you!? Because you're wasting your time, right now!" Tears started to roll down her face and he saw a flash of light off of her left hand, as she clasped her hands together at her chest.
"Because I'm in love," she said in a strained voice. "Please, don't tell him, Seto. I beg of you."
He started to march towards her, "That's Mr. Kaiba!" He yanked her towards him by her left wrist. He was correct by what he saw. He starred at it.
"Please, don't tell him, Mr. Kaiba," she started to plead. "He'll call off the wedding! The news will disgrace my family!"
"So what?"
"The reason why I came here was because I did not want to enter my marriage with this over my head. I never chose to fall in love, I just did! Please, let me go!" Seto squeezed her wrist and she yelped in pain as she fell to her knees.
"Were you thinking about leaving me, again? You think marrying him is going to keep you from owing me? Because you're still my property!" He released his hold. She regained her breath.
"Kaiba, once I leave this room, I am done with Kaiba Corp for the rest of my life." Umayo did not know that Seto sent his guard an order to kill her if she left the room before he did. She looked him in the eyes while she reached behind herself and started to unzip her dress, "Do to me whatever you think I owe you and stay out of my life." She knelt facing the window, baring her flawless bare back to him. "I don't care if you give me the rest of my punishment, as I intended. I don't care if you give me the full punishment that your father ordered. Do any cruel thing that you'd like. But, there's one thing that I request. Do as much as you need to and don't stop until you forgive me." And, that day was the meanest that Seto Kaiba had ever been to a woman.
* End Flashback *
* Start Flashback *
It was late in the afternoon when she walked into his home office with a smile on her face, "SETO! I came to give you my graduation photo." She started taking off her yellow scarf and pink school jacket.
"Why?"
The familiar sapphire eyes still sparkled, "Because, I give one to all of my friends."
"You're Mokuba's friend; not my friend."
Téa sighed after she finished folding the items and placed them on his desk, "Anyway, it's my tradition to write whatever comes to my mind, on the back." She held up a photo and showed that the back was blank. "See? But, I won't write it until you approve what it says."
"What did you want to write?"
"Don't rush me! I need inspiration." She took out a small pink speaker and a black music player, placed them on his desk, plugged in the speaker, selected shuffle, and started going through the songs. Téa laughed. "I think this one might do." It was: 'Take A Chance On Me' by ABBA. She walked over and sat on his lap. He was not sure why he let her. She held his left hand, "Let me write it on your hand."
He pulled it away, "I will NOT let you mark my hand." She seemed a bit disappointed, but he never broke eye contact as he rolled up his sleeve and presented his forearm. Her large sapphire eyes looked at him as she smiled. "Can I ever forget your smile?" All he could think about was kissing her. "Just get it over with," he said with a familiar grumpiness in his voice. She restarted the song and after a while she placed his arm onto her lap and started to write. The skin of his arm partially rested upon the blue pleated skirt and her cool naked thighs. He listened to the music as she wrote.
"There! How's that?"
He read it and looked back up at her, "Whatever it takes, to stop you from writing on me, again."
She giggled, "Seto…."
He lifted his arm and slid a finger against her chin as he turned her head towards him, "I wish you wouldn't call me, that."
Their eyes were locked. Her breathing was deeper. Téa felt that there was still something between them, "Don't you want to...?"
He moved his hand to her shoulder, "Get off of me." He meant it. She quickly stood up and looked at the floor. She got his heart to heat up, but he willingly cooled it. Was going with the natural reaction from his heart, instead of against it, for the best?
"Can I? Can I still write that on the picture?"
Seto hesitated as he thought about it, "Yes."
"There is a sentence that I knew I did not have room for on the photo."
"What was it?"
"If you felt you were running out of time, would you just let me go?"
* End Flashback *
After a few moments of standing in silence, Seto looked up at his opponent, then at Mokuba, and finally he looked at Téa. She seemed very sad. He was tempted to take out Téa's graduation photo and read the back again, but he already remembered what was written there. She only had room for one sentence:
Kaiba,
I'm longing for the moment when you'll change your mind and take a chance on me.
Forever yours,
Téa
But, Seto also remembered what she wrote on his arm. He recited it in his mind:
I'm longing for the moment when you'll change your mind and take a chance on me.
But, if you felt you were running out of time, would you just let me go?
Forever yours,
Téa
"Do you want me to let you go," he started to think, as he looked at her. He remembered what she told him long ago: "Seto. It's unfair to have me make a decision about us without your opinion". "Forgive me, for never being strong enough to tell you my opinion about us." Seto looked down as he rested his hand on the deck.