HopelessRomantic183: Gosh, I love your reviews. Have I told you that? They're great. This review was especially nice to re-read after watching the most terrible movie of all time. It was enough to change my whole mood around. So thank you for that! I was tempted to have Seth blurt that out during their argument (the fact that he's kissed Kisara, sort of in a way to one-up Seto because he's a jerk) but I decided I wouldn't. I might have that happen later though, who knows :p Oh, there will definitely be heat in the coming chapters! And I think my friend AmePiper had a lovely birthday, thanks so much and thank you for the review!

MythCreatorWriter: You know, I hadn't even realized that when I was writing the whole competition declaration part but I suppose it is very 'Kaiba' of Seto, isn't it? Love that guy, seriously. I really liked the last chapter too, I'm sure it's quite arrogant of me to say such a thing, but this chapter just wasn't as good. I have a feeling the next chapter though… man, that one will be awesome! Hahaha, I'm so strange… maybe I shouldn't write review replies so late at night. Anyways, thanks for the review!

SandstormAmaterasuZira: Okay, I know this is random, but I think I hear fire crackers going off… or at least, I hope they're fire crackers . I'm kind of scared now, I don't know what that noise is (sorry, it's really late right now and I should really be sleeping but instead I'm writing) Hahahaha, Cake… isn't that the greatest nickname in the world? I think it is. Much better than Pie, I can tell you that much. Thanks for the review!

Cuteandsweet: Oh the years of youth, they seemed to have gone by so fast. There will be more fighting where that came from, I can promise you that! Thanks for the review!

Thouqhts-of-Nothinqness: Who is better for Kisara? That's for me to know and you to soon find out! ;D I can't wait for the end of this story because I feel like that will be the one thing everyone is going to be waiting to find out; WHO DOES KISARA END UP WITH? Seth only seems young because mentally he's young, although I've made them all the same age (18 years old, except for Mokuba, of course). Alas, you are right, it's all in good time indeed! Thanks for the review!

Velgamidragon: Thanks for the review!

AmePiper: Hey honey-cakes, I'm glad to hear you ended up having a great birthday! I knew you were probably busy but I was delightfully surprised to get a review. I just wanted to do something special for my special friend on her birthday, but I'm glad the chapter reached you (just be happy your birthday fell on a good chapter, this chapter is not as fantastic!) Oh the stages of grief… I am such a psych dork :p I'm happy you enjoyed it though. Bum you very much! Thanks for the review! I love it when I get them. Hope you're doing well!

Chapter 37: Acts of Love

Mokuba: I have heard the saying that love makes you do stupid things but I hadn't realized how stupid. In the last two weeks, Seth and Seto have been competing for Kisara's love, so much so that they both fail to realize Kisara's so mad at them about the mom thing that she doesn't even care… at first it was amusing, now it's just annoying.

"You guys do realize this is ridiculous, right?" Mokuba asked while Seth and Seto ignored him completely. Their energy and focus was on the task at hand; they had both prepared Kisara two different, elaborate dinners and were now working towards setting the table in the most attractive fashion. Seto's was of an eloquent turkey, cooked perfectly brown with a side of mashed potatoes and peas while Seth's was of a perfectly cooked, medium-rare steak with a side of asparagus and salad.

If Mokuba were Kisara, he would find himself leaning more towards Seth's dish, since it seemed to be a bit more of a sensible meal for just one person but Mokuba also knew that when Kisara caught sight of it, the dishes wouldn't matter. She would choose neither. Unfortunately, Seto and Seth had been so focused on beating the other at winning her love that they had failed to realize this fact in the passing weeks.

When they were both finished making their meals look presentable, they both turned to Mokuba at the same time and asked, "Will you go get Kisara?" Mokuba rolled his eyes and ignored the fact that they had ignored the question he had asked earlier.

"Fine, but you know she won't come."

"Tell her what I've made, then she'll come," Seth said proudly. Seto rolled his eyes.

"I think it would be best if you described to her what I cooked first since it'll be the actual reason she'll come." Seth glared at Seto. Mokuba shook his head and said nothing, stomping away and up the steps. He couldn't believe this… he couldn't believe the way his brother and Seth were acting! What could Mokuba do, though? They were two eighteen-year-old boys fighting over the same girl… maybe this was normal for their age. Mokuba couldn't be sure but he hoped that he wouldn't befall the same fate when he hit puberty.

Next thing he knew, Mokuba was in front of Kisara's door, knocking in hopes of gaining entrance. When Mokuba heard the 'Come in,' he complied and entered the room. Kisara and Mai were present. Mai had moved back into the room after she had found out what happened because by that point, Mai had become the only person Kisara could stand talking to along with Mokuba. Kisara and Mai looked up at Mokuba as he walked in, neither of them looked happy to see him.

"What is it now?" Mai asked, knowing that Mokuba had only come to Kisara's room to serve the role of the messenger boy for Seto and/or Seth. Mokuba sighed.

"Seth and Nii-sama want you to come down, Kisara, and choose one of their meals. They both made you dinner." Kisara's face soured while Mai's face brightened.

"Oh they made dinner? Sweet! What did they make?" Kisara turned angrily towards Mai.

"As if I care what they made! It's not like I'm going down there to eat it."

"Oh, I know. Which is why I'm excited because I'll get to eat it." Kisara rolled her eyes. Though Mai had been really helpful during the coming weeks, she would have moments where she would joke about the situation which wasn't how Kisara saw things.

"Well, I hope it tastes good Mai because I'm sure as heck not going to eat any of it." Mokuba shrugged his shoulders.

"Hey, um… while I understand you in not wanting to eat it, I personally think they're both being morons right now, but would you mind coming down and telling them that? They're just going to send me right back up here if I tell them you said 'no.'" Kisara suddenly got up from her bed and walked towards the door.

Kisara: That was it. I had had it with those two. It was time to finally get it through their dumb heads that there was nothing they could do to make up for what they did and that NONE of them are ever going to be off the hook for it, no matter how many dinners they made me!

"Kisara?" Mokuba questioned, following Kisara out of her room and down the stairs. Mai followed too, just to see what Kisara was going to do next because from where Mai was standing, she looked pissed. Kisara went down the stairs and into the dining room where Seto and Seth were standing behind whatever dish they had prepared.

"Kisara, you're here! I knew it. you came 'cause you heard I made you steak, right?" Seth said with a grin. Kisara walked over to Seth's plate first, grabbing the steak and smearing it into Seth's white shirt. "Hey, dude, not cool! This stuff stains!" Kisara let the steak fall to the floor and used her other hand to grab the salad and drop it on Seth's head. Seth was… stunned. He wasn't sure what to do or how to process what Kisara's actions. This astonishment was soon followed by shame. Did this mean Kisara had picked Seto's meal?

"You made the right choice," Seto said with a smirk, "After all everyone knows that steak is a low-class meal compared to what I've made for you." By no means, was Kisara's done with her destructive behavior. She walked over to the other side of Seth to Seto's dish. His eyes widened when he saw her face so full of anger and realized she hadn't picked his meal over Seth's and that he would fall victim to the same fate.

Seto crossed his arms over to protect his shirt from being stained. Kisara reached out to Seto's plate with both hands and grabbed the mashed potatoes and peas. She brought them up and flung them right into Seto's face. Mokuba and Mai stood there in shock; as if what she had done to Seth wasn't funny enough, what she did to Seto was enough to make Mai burst out laughing. Kisara twisted around and walked out of the room.

"I guess that's what you guys get for being insensitive." Seth brushed the salad from on top of his head.

"Wow, I make her dinner and she flips out. What a crazy bitch!" Mokuba went over to the counter and grabbed a bunch of paper towels which he handed over to Seto. Seto silently started to wipe away the mixture of mashed potatoes and peas that was stuck to his face.

"Have you guys ever taken into account that what you're doing isn't exactly helping Kisara deal with this mother issue?" Mokuba asked. Mai came up from behind Mokuba and reached for a piece of the turkey, ripping it off and starting to eat it.

"Yeah, I mean, that was hilarious and all but you guys have been acting obnoxious lately. Not to mention Kisara is more miserable than she was before, thank you guys for that."

Mai: Life in the Kaiba Mansion has been pretty awkward lately. Between Seto and Seth's attempts at earning Kisara's love and Kisara dealing, not only with the death of her mother but also the realization that she wasn't her real mother, the mood in the house has been… depressing.

Seto had finished cleaning his face and threw away the used paper towels. When he turned around, he saw that Mai was glaring at both him and Seth.

"Hey, don't look at me. It was Seth's idea to tell her after she got home from the funeral. Smart move," Seto stated. Seth immediately twisted around to face Seto.

"Would you shut up about that? It's not like you were really that helpful when she found out the news!" Seth and Seto moved towards one another. Mai ran up and stood in between them, shoving them away from one another.

"Would you guys stop acting like idiots? All this fighting is going to give me a headache!" Suddenly another verbal dispute arose between the three teenagers and Mokuba was forced to do what he had become accustomed to do when there was fighting in the house; go watch some T.V. As if constant fighting between Seto and Seth wasn't enough, Mai had recently started fighting with the two love-struck boys. Mokuba wouldn't mind all of the fighting if it wasn't so loud which was precisely why he had learned to drown it all out with watching T.V.

Mokuba left the room and went into the living room where a large, plasma T.V. was set up. He plopped himself on the ground rather than the couch; he could drown the noises from the house more easily if he sat close enough to the T.V. Mokuba reached forward and clicked on the T.V.

"In latest news, the prominent," Mokuba rolled his eyes and searched for the remote since he hated the news channel and found it to be very boring, "…for 12,970,864 yen." Mokuba found the remote and changed channels. Mokuba found his favorite channel and started watching. It was only after one episode of his favorite cartoon that the T.V. turned off unexpectedly. Mokuba looked up and saw that it was Mai who was responsible for this.

"What was that for?" Mokuba whined.

"Get up and put on your shoes; we're leaving." Mokuba hopped onto his feet.

"Wait, we're leaving? Where are we going?" Mokuba followed Mai out of the living room and over to the front door where everyone else was reluctantly standing together. No one seemed happy about what was going on.

"The longer we stay in this house, the more insane we're all going to get so I have decided we're all going out."

"But where are we going?" Kisara demanded to know, "I mean the last time we actually 'went out' didn't exactly go very well."

"We're going to a bar with karaoke. It'll make for good entertainment and some distraction," Mai stated. Seth's jaw was the first to drop.

"No way, I'm not going to sing at a random karaoke place! That's creepy!" Seto's crossed his arms.

"I don't sing."

"Yeah, and can I just stay home? I'm sure this will last long enough to make me miss my bedtime," Mokuba added. Mai stomped her foot down.

"I don't give a crap about how any of you guys feeling, we're leaving and that's that!" No one argued after that because they knew better. Mai was in one of those moods, the kind of moods where everything went her way or the person that went against her would get what was coming to him. Not even Seto attempted to take such action even though he was dreading this outing the most. So, although no one wanted to, they agreed to go to a karaoke bar that night, each person secretly wishing time would fly by so they could go home sooner.

"Can we please leave?" Kisara pleaded as Mai dragged her along. Seto and Mokuba had split off from the group, wanting to see if there was a place where they could order a soda or two and maybe some food. Kisara grabbed Mai's arm in order to get her attention. Mai stopped and turned around.

"Look Kisara, I'm doing this for your own good. Being locked up in the Kaiba Mansion isn't going to make you feel better about anything that's happened. You're only going to feel more depressed, you need to get out of your head a little." Kisara frowned. She knew Mai was right in some ways, but forcing her to come out to a random public place filled with strangers also wasn't the best approach either.

"Please just let me go home… I just want to be alone…" Kisara said in complete sorrow. Seth had been trailing behind Kisara and Mai. He stopped when he heard Kisara say that and frowned. Kisara truly was miserable and in a way Seth couldn't deny, it was partly his fault. Seth backed away from them and sighed, he knew what he had to do. He turned away and left, walking towards the stage.

Seth: There comes a point in every man's life that he must look past his fears and anxieties and do something for someone else, someone he loves. I love Kisara so much and I knew I hadn't been the greatest friend to her. I was hoping to change that tonight with the only act that seemed logical in a place like this.

"Um… this next song I'm going to sing is for my friend, Kisara." Kisara twisted around and looked over at the stage. Mai's head turned just as fast as Kisara's.

"What? Seth?" Seth stood still for a moment, gripping the microphone ever so tightly in his hands, scared half to death of what he was about to do as he heard the back ground music coming on. Seth took in a deep breath and without glancing down at the monitor near him, he began to sing.

"Everyone, everyone will listen… even if it hurts sometimes. If you will, come and hear the message," Seth sang bravely and proudly, "Everyone wants to learn to love again, open up and come alive if you will, can you hear my message? Leave your pain on the bedroom floor again… bring a smile to survive. And do you think that you have it in you? If you're here and you're all alone tonight, then I'll give you a free ride. Take a chance 'cause I know you want to."

"Nii-sama, do you hear that? I think that's Seth singing!" Mokuba remarked, turning towards the stage. Seto turned around to see for himself and to his surprise, Mokuba was right. There Seth was, making a complete and utter fool of himself… but why, Seto wondered. What would motivate him to do such a stupid thing? Suddenly Seto caught sight of Kisara, whose eyes were locked on to Seth. Seto's heart dropped.

"If only you'll hold on, just hold on. I'm here and I'm with you, I'm here too, I feel you, we'll get through. I know this. I've seen it a hundred times, a thousand times. Just one more time, with you and I, I'll pull you close and then we'll say goodbye." Seth paused for a moment, letting the music play for a while as he waited for the next verse. He spotted Kisara staring at him wide-eyed, amazed and touched by what he was doing. Seth gave a nervous yet loving smile; he was doing this for Kisara and he was hoping that somehow in some way… it was helping. Seth lifted the microphone back up to his mouth.

"I've got a lot, a hell of a lot to say, even if it hurts sometimes and if you will come and hear the message. And everyone, everyone will hope and pray that the best will sure survive. And if it's true then you'll feel the message. A perfect life for a perfect brand new day and you're the next in line. And do you think that you have it in you?" Kisara started slowly moving towards the stage, her mouth slightly ajar. The words he was singing were bringing tears to her eyes. The lyrics wrapped around her, making her feel like Seth not only understood her but was trying everything to console her in the best way he could.

"So if you're here and you're curious tonight then I'll give you a free ride. Take a chance 'cause I know you want to," Seth sang, moving over to the edge of the stage and jumping down to the floor so he could sing directly to Kisara, "If only you'll hold on, just hold on. I'm here and I'm with you, I'm here too, I feel you, we'll get through. I know this. I've seen it a hundred times, a thousand times. Just one more time with you and I, I'll pull you close and then we'll say goodbye."

Tears were freely flowing down the sides of Kisara's cheeks as she pushed through the crowd to move closer to Seth. Seth placed the microphone onto the stage and walked over to her. The ending music continued to play as he took Kisara into his arms and held onto her. Kisara felt all the strength in her body leave her the instant Seth was able to catch her. She liked this, she had only wanted this; to be in the arms of someone who could hold her in her time of need and make her feel safe.

From a distance, Seto could see everything, and he was looking on with horror. The way Kisara was crying, the way Seth held out his arms towards her, and most of all the way Kisara fell into them so easily, seeking the comfort she needed. His stomach dropped, his throat became dry, and he noticed nothing else. Seto had never seen something that had caused such a reaction but Seto didn't have time to try and process what was going through his head. He could barely keep himself standing upright.

"Nii-sama, are you alright?" Mokuba asked, noticing that his brother's face had gone pale. Without responding to his younger brother, Seto left the karaoke bar. "Hey, wait up!" Mokuba called, running after him through the crowd. Seto didn't slow down though, he needed to get away. He didn't want to see the scene anymore but most of all, he didn't want to accept the fact that he had lost the one battle he didn't want to lose.

A/N: Hello all, it's the one and only HiKari here with a two week update rather than my usual weekly update! The reason for that was because of one very specific thing; this was a bit of a hump chapter. Or, at least, to me it was. Something much more exciting is going to happen in the next chapter so that is why I consider this one a hump chapter which might be the reason why I'm not really sure about this chapter being good or how it turned out since the entire writing process for this was so painful. Either way, I got through it and I'm happy I did. The next chapter shouldn't take as long, I promise. Also, the lyrics to the song Seth sang are from the song "Valkyrie Missile," by Angels and Airwaves. It's a fantastic song and you should check it out! Thanks for reading!