A/N: I'm not sure when the last time I updated was, but I got a review for Chapter Three, Three, asking me to continue updating. I'm not sure if it was just the chapter that this reader had been on, or if they had only just started reading the story, but I felt obliged to continue regardless :D
These next few chapters are all completely new. The first forty-something had been conceived and typed ahead of time, but these next few are all from scratch. That isn't to say that it won't make sense, or I won't finish it properly - Because I won't let either happen ;)
As always, many apologies in the delay in updates. If you have the time, I love any and all feedback I receive for this story. Read, enjoy and drop a review. Much love! x
Chapter 42: Guilt
Alyssa felt guilty for leaving the mansion alone, especially when she realised how worried Kaiba and the rest of the staff at the house were for her. But when Roland explained that he had decided to follow her in order to keep her safe without being ordered to, she found herself wondering why she was suddenly so much more precious than even Mokuba.
She was sitting on the floor of the living room, brushing white paint onto a foamy sea on her canvas. Anna and the chef were elsewhere in the mansion, and Roland was outside in the front hall, talking with Kaiba. Although she could hear them both quite clearly, she was paying them scant attention as she focused on her painting. It wasn't until she heard Kaiba say "This looks bad for the company…" that she dared to ask what they were discussing.
She stood carefully, being mindful not to knock down the cup of water she had been using, and walked the few feet over to the doorway. Waiting a moment before she spoke, Alyssa took in both Kaiba's and Roland's stiff postures and decided that the situation at hand was potentially dangerous. Roland had his back turned to her, and Kaiba was half-facing the doorway. Neither moved as she approached the door.
"Seto, what is it?" Her gentle voice found his ears and he immediately looked in her direction. Roland raised an eyebrow and glanced at her from the corner of his eye, but his focus was mainly on Kaiba.
"There's a bit of a problem… With Wasaki…" He trailed off, turning away from her and shoving his hands into his pockets. "He's starting a news war with local newspapers, trying to make money off your story."
Alyssa frowned with confusion. "What do you mean my story? I don't have a story..?" Roland turned around to face her and handed her a newspaper, a picture of her tired face on the cover and a headline reading 'Kaiba's Psychic Wonder!' in white lettering beneath. Her mouth opened in horror and her hands began to shake, as she opened the paper to the appropriate page and began to read;
"Seto Kaiba has done it again! Already having sold thousands upon thousands of games and consoles across the world, the popular C.E.O. of Kaiba Corporation has put all his hard work and efforts into a new creation!
"Sixteen year old Alyssa Takahashi has been genetically modified by Kaiba Corporation, through years of training and research, to bring you the world's greatest telepathic beauty!
"Doctor Wasaki, who used to work with the Kaiba family, has confirmed this, and apparently has proof of this girl."
She stared at the page in disbelief, her eyes brimming over with tears.
"You promised me nothing bad would happen. They're going to take me away from you and Mokuba and put me through tests and hurt me and I can't go through that all again…"
Kaiba sighed and moved to her, wrapping his arms around her tightly and holding her close. "Roland, we'll continue this later."
"Yes sir." Roland left the hall, heading into the kitchen, as Kaiba continued to hold the sobbing girl. Her tears soaked through his dress shirt, leaving a large circular wet stain on his chest. He rubbed her hair, trying to soothe her, and her crying eventually calmed down.
"I'm so sorry Ally, I never meant for this to happen…" He murmured into her hair, his hands still stroking her brown locks and rubbing her back in small circles. "But I promise, they won't take you away. I won't let them."
Now it was Kaiba's turn to feel guilty for something. He needed to find Wasaki and stop him from taking this crazy story too far. There needed to be a reason; an excuse; anything that would stop this from getting out of hand. A mumbled suggestion from Alyssa's mouth suddenly brought light into his darkening world, and Kaiba found himself delighted with her amazing mind.
"What if you pretend that I'm a model for a new game? A psychic game?"
He stared at her head for a split second before exclaiming loudly: "Alyssa, you're a genius!"
She jumped with surprise and stood back from him, staring at him as he brainstormed an idea right in front of her.
"We need to start up a server online… Programme it… Take your image and use it… Release a public statement… And this needs to start soon…" He began pacing across the hall, hand on his chin, as he thought through the idea of creating a new game. Alyssa watched silently as he did so, paying close attention to his thoughts and smiling slightly. "Alyssa, I need to start this. I'll be at Kaiba Corporation if you need me." He moved toward the coat hooks in the front hall, meaning to grab his coat and leave straight away.
"Can I come and watch?" Her question caught Kaiba off-guard and he paused in getting his trench coat, looking over toward her. He appraised her calmly for a moment, and then raised an eyebrow.
"You might find it boring."
It wasn't that he didn't want her to go; he was genuinely worried that the job at hand would bore her. She could sense his uncertainty and she smiled, assuring him that it all seemed very interesting. He then realised that she must have been paying attention to his thoughts as he thought over her idea, and he smirked at her eagerness.
"Well of course you can join me. I'll need to scan your face into the server anyway, so it's just as well that you'll be there."
She almost giggled in excitement, and nodded toward Kaiba, who had turned back around once again to retrieve his coat. After putting it on rather quickly, he waited for Alyssa to put her painting things on the coffee table in the living room and find her own coat, before leading her outside to one of his personal cars.
It was late in the evening and bitterly cold, so poor Alyssa clung to Kaiba's arm for the short walk to his garage. He smirked at her thin figure; he enjoyed it when she clung to him like that, particularly in public. Once seated within the car, Kaiba began to go over everything that he would need to do in order to make this idea work.
Kaiba Corporation was empty when they arrived. When Alyssa was last there, the place was brimming with people. The empty halls and empty offices unnerved her, as she realised that they weren't moving toward Kaiba's office.
"Seto, where are we going?" She held his hand diligently as he led her through the building on the ground floor, when his office was several floors higher. He shoved another key into another lock as he replied.
"Programming."
As she contemplated his answer, he pulled her gently into a room full of computers. Finding the nearest one and sitting her down, he sat beside her and began typing furiously.
She watched as he typed numbers and letters in various sequences on the screen. None of it made any sense to her, but Alyssa watched silently for the six minutes it took for Kaiba to finish typing. When he finished, he clicked a box on the screen which was labelled as 'done' and she was amazed to see a rough outline of a human face appear on the screen.
"You'll need to pose in front of a camera a couple of times when my development team are in the building tomorrow." Kaiba's contemplative voice earned him her attention, and she stared at his face as he frowned in thought. "You'll have to read a script also, so we can capture your voice and enable you to reply to customers online."
"I wasn't being anyway serious when I suggested this Seto…." Alyssa was beginning to feel like this was a lot of hard work and the last thing she needed was to be an inconvenience to Kaiba and his personal life. Kaiba refrained from snapping at her in irritation and remained silent instead, resuming his typing into the programming bar.
Alyssa didn't know what to make of his silence and remained confused in her seat. She decided that it was worth her time being here with him, as she figured the Kaiba Corporation building was lonely at night.
