A/N: I thought I had updated this last week, but realised today that I had only edited the document in the document viewer and left it to stew . I'm so so sorry :L To make up for this, I have posted last week's chapter (Still edited from last week) and this week's chapter together, hopefully they're good chapters and anyone following this story will forgive me :)
Read and enjoy! Much Love! x
Chapter 43: From Bad to Worse
Alyssa fell asleep in comfort snuggled close to Kaiba that night. He had brought the exhausted girl home after another two hours of typing away on the computer in the Kaiba Lab, and after offering to help her into his own bed, he was smug when she barely whispered her desire to stay with him in his bed.
Kaiba suffered from many sleepless nights in his life, having only recently been able to get a good night's sleep with Alyssa's body curled against his own. He lay on his bed, decidedly not the best position to fall asleep in, as he cradled Alyssa's head on his abdomen and rested a hand in her soft brown hair.
He was still confused by his feelings toward her. He had never felt the need for a significant other before her arrival, unless of course, you included Sayoko Mizuki.
Sayoko seemed to be interested in who he was as a person, not as a figure of wealth and fortune as many other women seemed to view him. She arranged meetings with him; arranged to see him outside of work and asked what he and Mokuba had done for the weekend; bought him a photo album and found photos of their outings together for his last birthday; everything she had said and done seemed to be genuine.
That memory stung as he recalled the album. He closed his eyes wearily, a brief flash of flames engulfing the dark blue book with the gold lettering reading 'Our Memories' peeling with the heat, gracing his vision for a split second. He sighed and Alyssa moved slightly, readjusting herself on his chest.
Sayoko was a gifted actress, and even tried to lie her way out of admitting her schemes when Kaiba was contacted by his personal accountant.
It was more out of concern than anything else, when Kaiba asked her why she had been paying large amounts of money into the hospital. Her credit card sales were recorded each time she used the card, and the accountant had become worried for her health having seen where the money was going.
He sighed again, more irritated this time, having realised his idiocy at his actions in dealing with her. He agreed with himself that 'dumping' her was the appropriate thing to do, but inviting her over for the interrogation with Alyssa was a terrible idea. Kaiba made to sigh again, when he noticed that Alyssa was no longer asleep.
"What's wrong?" His voice sounded all too loud in the quiet room. It was only a few hours before dawn broke and he hated to whisper, so his voice was more of a low growl. Alyssa said nothing as she stood out from the bed, and away from Kaiba. Before he could repeat his question, she replied with an answer that made his blood run cold.
"I can't sleep with you if you're thinking of Sayoko."
"I wasn't thinking anything in particular, my thoughts were fleeting." His reply was a knee-jerk reaction and he immediately regretted saying it. He sat up in the bed, watching over her thin body carefully. She wore nothing more than her panties and one of his shirts as she stood there, one of the long arms of the shirt covering her hand as the other was brought up to rest on her chest.
She stood angled toward Kaiba, but facing the door. She was contemplating leaving; Kaiba didn't have to be a psychic to see that.
"Seto, if you want to talk to Sayoko again then I understand. But you must understand that it's very difficult for me to think straight if you keep thinking about her while you're with me."
His mouth opened to reply but then closed again. Whatever snappy comment that had tried to leave his lips had been successfully stopped and he looked away from her, feeling foolish.
"I thought of her, because I realised that I feel differently toward you than I did toward her…" This gave her pause. She wasn't expecting this. "When I was seeing Sayoko, it felt more like… An obligation. That I should be seeing her. Whereas with you…" And he stopped, not quite wanting to sound like he was objectifying her, but this was the only way he could explain it to her.
Alyssa mistook his pause for negativity and crossed her arms, irritated with what she expected him to say. She somehow managed to convince herself that his confused thoughts were an attempt to deter her from feeling what he really meant to say, and she prepared an answer for this train of thought.
"I chose you."
Had she known the Pokémon Anime series, she might have made a joke about his choice of wording. But she didn't. Hence, a heavy silence fell between them, with Kaiba wondering about his sanity and Alyssa in shock that he would say such a thing.
"Look, if you want to go back to your own bed, that's fine. I get it. I shouldn't have been thinking about her, but it wasn't in the way that you think". And Kaiba lay back down, turning his back toward her and breathing in deeply. He felt as though he were on the verge of a panic attack, something that hadn't happened to him in years, as he waited for Alyssa to leave.
Her small weight still managed to cause the bed to dip slightly as she climbed in behind him, causing Kaiba to question his sanity once again. He turned around to face her, but noted that her eyes were already closed. His arms cautiously wrapped around her and she smiled, curling up closer to him and falling asleep once more.
Kaiba was suddenly very aware that she was asleep, as he found himself watching her dream through her eyes. It was a little unnerving seeing himself smirking down like that, but Alyssa was ecstatic as he began to kiss her neck.
He moved backwards on the bed a little, breaking their contact and watching Alyssa's face smile slightly, even in sleep.
He would have to ask her about her dreaming habits in the morning.
The following morning, Kaiba and Alyssa were back in Kaiba Corporation. This time, the building was full of people and Alyssa had to grip Kaiba's hand to ensure she wouldn't get lost in the crowds of people moving throughout the building. Kaiba maneuvered around the crowds of people to an elevator that had a sign reading 'Off Limits', the same elevator they had used the first time she had been there. He escorted her inside and pressed the only button on the panel and they made it to the top floor in seconds.
Kaiba had sat down at his desk immediately and typed a quick message for his staff down in programming and development. Alyssa had taken a seat on one of the comfortable sofas and was reading over a rough script that he had hastily typed. He also told her to write down anything else that she thought the online psychic girl would say to people.
A little before lunch time, Roland approached the office and admitted, with reluctance, that he had both bad news and good news.
"What's the 'good' news?" Alyssa demanded before Kaiba had a chance to speak. He nodded at Roland when he sent a curious look his way and he sighed, before explaining that they had finally found Mike.
"As soon as he's able to work again, bring him here." Kaiba ordered. Roland nodded and then took a rolled up newspaper from his back pocket.
"And sir, this is going to hit a sore spot, but…" And having flung the paper onto the desk, Roland fled the office, amusing Kaiba and worrying Alyssa.
"This is going to be a very odd week…" Kaiba rubbed his temples as he said this, watching as Alyssa moved toward the desk from where she had been reading her new script on one of the sofas in the corner. Kaiba picked up the paper and dropped it down almost immediately, his hands grabbing his head with aggravation.
Alyssa turned the paper around toward her and read the headline; "'I Spoke with the Psychic Child' by Sayoko Mizuki."
