After a pleasant breakfast at a swanky European restaurant the morning of the next day, there wasn't a hitch in the liveliness of the four in Seto's car. It was as if saying goodbye to one friend was nonexistent.
Mokuba sat in the passenger's seat this time, while Kisara and Serenity sat in the back. He twiddled his fingers against his chin and slyly suggested, "So what did you two do last night?"
Kisara was too busy shrieking with Serenity in the back whilst sharing memes to hear what Mokuba had asked.
"Define two," Seto flatly evaded.
"You and your past girlfriend," Mokuba teased and continued, "C'mon. You both weren't partying with us, and Duke mentioned he gave both of you keys to some new sauna."
"I never saw her," Seto lied, "I suppose we missed each other then."
"Huhhhh… guess I'm assuming too wildly."
"Yes. You are."
"She's too good for you, anyways," Mokuba muttered before sharply turning to the back and whipping out his phone to show the girls his own set of memes.
Seto honestly wanted to know what Mokuba meant by that. If anything, his brother probably meant that statement as a joke. The problem was that, for some reason, he had the aching feeling that she probably was. For as how confident and arrogant he was on the outside, and how much of that facade was actually melded into his disposition, he feared he wouldn't have the time and emotional capacity to care for someone the way he had last night.
They had reached the KaibaCorp Airport, where Seto and Mokuba usually departed via private planes and jets and other shipments for the company were flown in and out. The sky was true blue, with no clouds except for sky trails from the sailing planes above. For a day of departure, the weather was pleasant enough that perhaps someone's leave would not be messed, but wistfully celebrated.
Everyone was there, including the rest of the group that had wished to see the younger Kaiba brother head off to America.
Mokuba took in a huge breath the moment he stepped out of the car. Several workers rushed over to take his belongings from the trunk and transfer them to the private plane he would be in soon. He leaned against the car and smiled as he looked up.
He giddily joked, "Such a beautiful day! I'm glad this'll be the last day I see Domino for a while. Couldn't ask for more perfect weather."
"You sound like an old man," Serenity giggled as she too stepped out. She leaned against his shoulder, as she volunteered to gaze at the sky above them.
"Let's grow old together."
Serenity found that that simple line got to her more than it should have. She knew he was joking as usual, but the idea of dedicating her life to someone, especially when that someone was as wonderful as Mokuba, was alarmingly sweet to fantasize about.
"I'm serious," Mokuba softly continued. His eyes tore away from the sky in order to look to the side, where his girlfriend had the cutest confused look. He said, "I know I joke a lot, and I've probably said "I love you" more during our relationship than Joey has to you in his entire lifetime, but it's honestly something I've thought about."
"You don't mean…"
"Marriage?" Mokuba chuckled as he saw Serenity's face blush a bit. He shook his head and reassured, "Sorry to disappoint, but I don't have a ring with me. It's just been a wild ride with you, that's all. It's been one damn good one."
"Now you sound like things will be over once you leave," Serenity commented somberly.
"Yeah it will."
"W-what?"
"At least some things…like doing this!"
Mokuba suddenly pinched Serenity's cheeks and affectionately held on as Serenity protested by initially howling and releasing a stream of insults.
Seto winced at the manner in which the couple had decided to partake in. It was cringy at best, and he wanted nothing more but to fade away. He couldn't walk away, as he needed to stay around to wave Mokuba off.
"I envy them," Kisara mentioned. She too had taken notice. She was far more accustomed to the cheesy lines exchanged between Mokuba and Serenity, as she was often an audience member of Mokuba's visits to their apartment.
"Then it wouldn't take much to make you jealous," he pointed out. A part of him wished he hadn't said anything, or at least not have said an insult.
"Sometimes," Kisara wavered, "something as easy as a cheesy romcom relationship is better than an awfully long string of dramatic soap opera disappointments."
"A cheesy romcom relationship doesn't last any longer than other kinds of relationships."
"But I don't think you tried to separate them as you claimed you would before," Kisara thoughtfully provided. He glanced at her, catching a slight smirk before she turned away.
Seto watched Kisara stride over to Mokuba and Serenity and gleefully ruin the romantic atmosphere. He let her words sink in as he followed the three towards the rest of the group. Joey, Mai, and Yugi waved as the other three arrived.
Seto found himself at a distance from the rest of the group. It had always been that way. He figured no matter how many times his brother would force him to canoodle with the once proclaimed dweeb patrol, he would never have a place in the group. He instead passed the time on his phone, not even bothering to try and comprehend the various bits of broken and raucous conversation exchanged between the group.
But I don't think you tried to separate them as you claimed you would before.
Her words always hit him worse than he should have let them. Seto huffed and walked over towards the group.
"Mokuba. A word."
"Hmm?" Mokuba waved off everyone else as he jogged over to the side where Seto had retreated. The rest of the group paid no attention, collectively believing that Seto would prefer to pour out actual emotions privately to his brother.
"What's up, bro?" Mokuba peered and grinned, "Gonna tell me you'll miss me or are you gonna give me the same responsibility speech you've repeated the past month?"
"Tch," Seto scoffed but his face was amused, "I've given up on the responsibility speech."
"Aight! Then it's a "I'll miss you, boohoo" speech!"
"As if," Seto rolled his eyes. He more seriously discerned, "I've been hiding something."
"Hm?"
"I," Seto crosses his arms as he faced his brother. He never wanted this conversation. For as long as he wanted his brother to share every life detail of his, he could never do the same. It was a system with a clear power imbalance, and he didn't want this anymore. He continued, "I had something with someone until a year ago."
"Huh?" Mokuba confusedly offered, "Like a business deal?"
"'No. Like a," Seto repeated, "Like a...relationship of sorts. I suppose."
"EGHHHH?!"
Everyone else looked over to see Mokuba panic. The young man was grasping at his own hair like a mad man. One hand of his was pointing accusingly at Seto. They were a distance where they couldn't hear the specifics of their conversation.
Mokuba shrieked, "With like a whole human?!"
"Yes."
"Like a woman?"
"Despite what some media say, yes."
Mokuba glared dumbfounded at Seto. In truth, he should have been a little mad. But, his current curiosity was far stronger. He quickly asked, "Who is she? How the hell did you hide her from me? How long? Why are you telling me this now?!"
"I'm not going to disclose her identity for both our sakes. I'm telling you this now because...because eventually it won't be something I can bury anymore."
Mokuba listened intently. This was so new to him. To think his brother had even thought of someone intimately amazed him. It was like a whole new species of Seto Kaiba.
"Look. It was something off and on for maybe 3 years."
"3 YEARS?!" Mokuba widened his eyes and clamped his mouth shut before composing himself. He dramatically whispered, "3 years, the fuck?!"
"Yes," Seto answered in a disenchanted manner, "She moved out of Japan. It was hard keeping in touch with her. At first it was easy, though I admit. But you know how around that time, corporate stuff got extremely bad. I couldn't handle having to care for someone so far away when I didn't have time or the initial ability to anyways, and her career got worse too."
"Are you trying to say…"
"I'm trying to warn you, Mokuba. I could...I could talk for hours about this one thing I've kept to myself, so I'm trying my hardest to keep this short and clear. It wasn't Serenity I didn't like. It was the fact that you're so infatuated by her that if things go wrong, you're not going to be strong enough to properly handle a life in a new country. I wanted you to be your best self in America and not have something like a woman to worry about back home."
"Seto," Mokuba addressed seriously. With a determined expression, he stated, "I know it'll be tough, but I'm gonna find that balance! Long-distance is tough, I know, but I really think things will work!"
"Do you not think I had the same notion transitioning to long-distance either?" Seto coldly responded, "I cared for her more than I've been able to properly accept. I didn't know it at the time, but I did so much for her that my actions spoke for themselves. If I never had her in the first place, I never would have been as broken as I was when we split. I would have been able to handle all those corporate scandals just fine if I didn't have her constantly nagging my head. I wouldn't have needed that damn therapist, who I couldn't even share about her. Because the fact that I, Seto Kaiba, let someone get to my head that badly was enough to silence me in shame."
"But we're different people. We might be brothers, but we're different," Mokuba offered calmly. There were few times that they ever had conversations like this, especially when it was coming from Seto.
"Yes. I know," Seto now more warmly said, "Which is why I admit my parallel to you and Serenity is incorrect. It's not something I should have been doing, but I wanted to explain why I've been quite callous towards your girlfriend. I realize it's been wrong. I...I wish nothing but the best for you and Serenity in the end. And if things do end sourly, I trust that you can handle things better than I ever did."
"Did it take just yourself to change your mind?" Mokuba mischievously questioned. An impish grin suddenly emerged on his face, a stark contrast to his brother's now perplexed face. He explained, "Honestly I'm glad you dated someone seriously. Damn...3 years…"
"On and off."
"Even then. It's something I'm happily surprised about. I'm sure it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, heck you really don't know yourself, Seto. But. I'm hoping that you do more now."
"Where is this going?"
"Because after making a mistake or two with that girl, I'm hoping you can learn to correct yourself when it comes to the person that helped you change your mind about me and Serenity."
Seto would have asked who. But he knew well enough who Mokuba was referring to. Both their eyes drifted toward the group, toward the white haired woman laughing with the rest of the group. His head started to think about last night. About that other night they shared a bed. Hell, about their first encounter. He dejectedly stated, "It's not going to happen. We have extraordinary consequences that are far more worse than whatever I had with that other woman."
Mokuba sighed and shrugged. He argued, "Why not? I know I said she was too good for you, but that really was a joke. I don't just see the way you look at her, Seto, I see the way you speak and act with her. With this new information you just dumped on me, now I know you really are capable of loving someone. Someone other than me! C'mon!"
"Why are you getting so whiny?"
"Because you guys look soooo cute together!" Mokuba raved as he slammed both his palms against Seto's shoulders. He started shaking his brother back and forth as he continued whining, "The tough, bad boy CEO with a secret heart of gold and romanticist ideals warms up to a beautiful, poor woman with a tragic past of terrible boyfriends! Together, they learn to love each other and mediate each other's psychologically broken pasts!"
"Holy shit, forget about an "I miss you speech"! I'm not sending you any of those care packages you kept begging for either!"
The Kaiba brothers ended up in a playful scuffle with one another as further shouts and disputes exploded between them. It reached other topics beyond women, and it was a spectacle to peer for the rest of the group.
"Oi, I ain't da only one that wants more time with Mokuba, eh?" Joey chided as he continued to observe the two. He shrugged and announced, "I'm comin' in!"
"Joey, no!" Mai reached out to grab him back, but he was too nimble and started heading toward the Kaiba brothers.
"Hey, I'm gonna miss the man of the hour too!" Yugi waved to Mai and followed suit.
Kisara and Serenity laughed as they too ran after the guys, with a reluctant Mai trailing behind.
"Come here, ya filthy animal!" Joey gleefully screamed as he lunged from behind and head-locked Mokuba. His other hand happily resided to heavily rubbing his hair.
"I can't believe another one of us is leaving!" Yugi exclaimed as he generously hugged a protesting Mokuba.
"Bakura, Tristan, Téa…" Mai listed on the side. She sniffed before copying the others by adding onto the hug pile and shouting, "And now the baby of the group!" Serenity laughed at the sight of the group all piled up, excitedly joining.
Kisara smirked as she snapped a shot of the whole situation on her phone, admiring how everyone was joyous despite the reality. She truly could not believe she belonged to such a remarkable and idiotic group of friends. Her heart grew warm as she peered at her phone. She was overwhelmed with a rush of gratitude.
"Aren't you joining them?"
She peered over to Seto, who had assumed she would also congregate. Kisara shook her head and joked, "Wouldn't want to leave you out again."
"I don't care."
"Psh."
"Hey guys, you can't avoid us!" Mokuba slipped through the messy pile of people and grabbed both of Seto and Kisara's arms. He unexpectedly seized both of them into a hug, with each person in each arm of his. The others piled on and the whole thing turned into one massive and disoriented group embrace. Seto shut his eyes in frustration and at first wished for it all to be over quickly. However, he felt himself almost...content. There was something about being part of a group, something that he usually never bothered with that made himself quite elated. It would always feel different for him - for someone who had been the lone leader of a corporation for the longest time and barely having the time to spend with people aside from his business partners.
It was especially odd to find himself grateful when he was being surrounded by the same group of people he found so irritating all those years ago and even until now. However, the present experiences he had with them came with a different type of irritation, a more tolerable and almost amusing one. Seto opened his eyes wide at the sudden shift in his code. He looked over to this side to find Kisara glaring up at him with huge eyes. She quickly looked away.
Was it always this nice to be surrounded by people? Or was it just a sentiment derived from years of being alone?
And how many of them actually cared for him? They were, after all, friends of his brother and not him.
Seto cleared his throat and rightfully forced himself away from Mokuba, causing the disassembling of the whole group hug. He declared, "I thought you wanted to leave us so badly but here you are stalling your departure, Mokuba."
Mokuba could only laugh and state, "Can I help it? I want to take each one of you with me!"
The rest of the time was spent by each individual bading their appropriate farewells to Mokuba. Seto felt nothing as he watched the plane lift from the walkway. It had always been this way. Numbing himself when the initial loss happened. He wasn't aware at the time that when he would come to an empty apartment, the feeling of loneliness would actually sting.
"Oi, Serenity. You left some things at our apartment when you slept over before, remember?" Joey said as everyone else was walking back towards their cars, "Ya wanna come by right now to pick up those things, and I'll drive ya back later?"
"Hmm…sure!" Serenity agreed as she rushed over to Joey's car. Joey watched Kisara head towards Seto's car. He shouted, "KISA-"
"Don't!" Serenity smacked her palm over her brother's mouth, who was duly shocked by his sister's sudden aggression. Joey coughed as he pulled away.
"What was that for?!"
"Kisara is super tired, let her go home with Kaiba."
"She can just sleep in my car while ya get your things. I might like Kaiba a bit more now, but I got a bone to pick with him when it comes to Kisara."
"Joey that's nonsense. Let's go," Serenity huffed as she stubbornly opened the driver's door of the car and forcibly stuffed Joey, who was too respectful of his sister to fight back. She chuckled as she shut the door and got in the back.
To say it was awkward between the two was an underestimation. Neither had the opportunity to be truly alone since the night before, and neither knew for sure if they wanted to be alone again. Kisara unknowingly had her arms crossed the entire time, and her eyes glared lazily out the window, finding sudden interest in the same cityscape she had seen countless times before.
It was easier for Seto to keep his mind off of the person sitting in the back when he focused on driving. She had opted to sit there instead of the passenger's seat. He didn't dare waste his mental energy on figuring out why she did so.
Kisara's head was running in circles with how she should approach a conversation with him. She simultaneously wanted to ignore and acknowledge everything, but was he not sick of all the talking as she was? Perhaps it really was nothing. If they couldn't talk about what had happened, then there was nothing to develop.
The only moment she could finally utter a word was when he had pulled into her apartment complex.
"Thanks," she lightly mentioned with obvious uneasiness.
Once she stepped out the door, however, Seto too had stepped out and shut his door.
"What are you doing?"
"I'll keep you company on the way up," he flatly answered.
Kisara wanted to question more, but she was afraid that he would leave. It surprised her she didn't want him to go. She simply nodded her head and gripped her purse. Her back was to his as she traversed upwards the stairs of her complex, and her face contorted into panic. It was not that she feared him, but his behavior was so peculiar it drove her insane.
When she was at the top of the stairs, she suddenly whipped around and stared down toward him. Kisara declared, "Do you want to talk?"
"Are you really living with Yugi?"
His voice was deadpanned as he answered her question with one of his own. Kisara huffed in annoyance and replied, "That's highly irrelevant to what we should be talking about."
"Can you not find someone else to split rent with?"
"That's none of your concern."
"It might not be of my concern," Seto denied, "but it's in your best interest to live somewhere else."
"And where would that be?" Kisara doubtfully asked.
"My place."
No hint of emotion. Kisara scoffed. Her lips curled up into a smile, and she found herself in a bout of laughter. She held her hand over her exposed mouth as she kept herself from flying off the balcony.
"You are a funny guy," she mused. Kisara turned on heels and got ready to briskly leave towards her apartment.
"Wait!"
She felt herself held back. He had laced his hand around her wrist in a motion so sudden that it had freaked him out too. It made her stop moving, and it made Seto immediately let go. The last thing he wanted to be when it came to her was predatory.
"Kisara," he addressed as he stepped up, looking down at her from their normal height difference, "If your hallucinations are getting worse, it would be better if you lived somewhere that you could get immediate medical help and security."
"The ambulance and police exist for us peasants too," she sarcastically said.
"Not as fast and efficient as my personal teams. As unfortunate as it is, there is a clear difference between public and private services."
"How do you know they got worse? Why do you think I need "security?"
This was where he didn't want to touch upon. It seemed that Serenity did not want Kisara knowing she had gone to Seto for help. He also remembered that Kisara had no knowledge of the threat against her or who Mahad was. Not that he was entirely sure of what the latter was either.
Seto needlessly answered, "Because I've been having hallucinations too, and I have a feeling you've had the same ones."
"We've already established we have weird ESP, Seto," she pointed out, "I know that you know-"
"Not about us, Kisara," he cut her off. They never got around to talking about the past, but it was enough indication based on unreasonable feelings that they already shared the past together. This was when he got around to lying, "but I feel like someone is watching me. Hunting me. Don't tell me it's not happening to you either because I don't want to deal with this alone."
"You too?" Kisara softly whispered. Her face grew into concern, and her mere sincerity made him curse at his own deviousness. He didn't want to resort to manipulation, but at a greater and more secret degree, he didn't want her disappearing one day with no answers left to him.
"So I suppose," he sighed, "Asking you to live with me isn't just out of your own concern. I need someone to keep me sane when Mokuba has just left."
"I thought I drove you insane."
"Which is why I'm desperate."
Kisara skeptically asked, "Do you really mean it? You're not...you're not someone who would admit he's desperate."
"Listen..I despise any notion of magic and hoodwinks. However, I have seen some fairly believable shit associated with whatever we're experiencing, and I-" Seto started getting tired of himself. He was running on half-truths and half-lies, and he could only hope he still sounded cohesive, "and if I have to deal with all that again, I'd rather it be with you this time."
Kisara herself loathed how his words could get to her. She knew he didn't mean it to be personally her that he wanted. He must have meant it in a logical sense. She just happened to mirror his experiences with her hallucinations, and she figured if he had any plan to rid of them, he would at least start with someone like him.
"What about rent? I can't pay much, but just tell me the price and I'll consider it."
"Don't take price into your consideration. Spend that money you would've used on rent for something else."
"I can't just turn up empty handed."
"I knew you would pull this," Seto shook his head and insisted, "Then keep the apartment clean or something...although that's quite difficult with from what I've seen of your room."
Kisara chuckled nervously. Her hand tugged at the ends of her long hair, unsure if she should agree on the spot. She believed that she had caught him during a rare moment, however, but because it was so rare, she was afraid if was fleeting as well.
"Hey, um," she asked, "Do you want to have tea again? This is a lot to take in at the moment and I'd rather we do this indoors."
"That would be fine."
Kisara nodded as she walked towards her apartment.
What was he doing?
He had clearly shot down Serenity's proposal the other day, yet here he was following suit. Seto glared at the back of her head, wondering why he was at an odds against himself with her again. He knew if was an awful idea, but the discovery of the name "Mahad" urged him otherwise. It was so familiar yet so indifferent that it had disturbed him all night. What he should have done was a quick Google search, but even when "Mahad" occupied the bulk of his thoughts, so did Kisara.
Seto's head tried to retrieve any information remotely related to that name. He was quite sure he once knew something like that, but it felt like it had been pushed towards the deepest archives of his mental library, and it would take a miracle to absolve him of his forgetfulness. His head was so stuffed with mystery that he didn't realize he had followed her so silently into her apartment, that he sat down at her small kitchen table, and that she had set the tea in front him already until she herself spoke up.
"I could cook your meals," she suddenly offered.
Seto blinked as he locked eyes with her, not even touching his tea cup. He said, "You don't have to do that."
"I think I do. There was, um," she carefully recalled, "a lot of instant and takeout food last time I happened to see in your fridge. It's not too hard to cook. I meal prep for Serenity all the time."
Before he could bother to respond, she quickly added, "But I don't think that's enough for such a nice apartment! I'll try my best to be clean, and I'll definitely cook…."
"I own the apartment," he dryly stated, "Your rent is literally nothing to me and my finances. I spend more time at KaibaCorp, and you have your part-time job too. You wouldn't be a bother."
"If you don't want money...then what could I offer you?" Kisara quietly asked, to both him and herself.
He really didn't want to insist anymore. He was frustrating himself too. Seto instead silently reached for his cup. Once one hand wrapped around the cup, Kisara reached with her own hand towards his and gently cupped his hand. Her thumb started rubbing circles against his own skin, which sent unwarranted shivers down his spine. This caught him so off-guard that he could only blankly stare up.
In a low, sweet and syrupy voice, she chided, "I'm sure someone as tired as you would like to come home to someone that can...relax you a bit."
Seto found that she had forced his hand away from the cup. She had opted to pull his hand a bit farther. The square table was small enough for his arm to reach her face. Kisara forced the palm of his hand to cup her cheek as she continued giving him a doe face.
"Last night was nothing compared to what I can do now with you. I'll make my living...worth it."
She was a freak. Absolutely mad. Seto's hand was practically glued onto her face from the sheer fact that he was immobile. She wasn't the first woman to offer something of the like, but she certainly wasn't someone he would expect to propose such a prospect. With all the others that had offered themselves to him, it was an easy refusal because they were simply nobodies. But she was somebody, and it disturbed him that he would even consider the offer.
Seto narrowed his eyes. This wasn't like her. As he studied her face, he realized she was pulling a prank on him. She was doing a surprisingly decent job of keeping a poker face. He didn't like being played around, so he figured he would play her game.
"Then," he feigned a cold, raspy voice, "if you are offering yourself to me…"
Seto waved her hand away, but he kept is hand on her cheek. Eventually, his hand slid down towards her chin. He slowly rose from his chair, maintaining his hold on her. Her poker face was falling apart. He leaned his body over and lifted her pretty face by the chin.
Seto lowered his face toward her ear and breathily whispered, "...I'd gladly take you on this table."
"W-wait-"
"Shh," Seto quickly hushed as his hand wrapped around her mouth this time. He continued, "I like my women submissive. I like control. I like that I don't have to go around finding someone else to be the billionaire's play toy."
"EEEEUUGHHHHH!" Kisara screamed frantically and knocked his hand away. In a panicked manner, she shrieked, "Is this 50 Shades of Grey or something?! Honestly, if you're really like that, Seto, I don't want to live with you!"
Once he returned to his seat, he amusedly smiled.
"Why are you smiling?! That was sooo creepy!"
Seto's smile fell. He cleared his throat and argued, "Shut up. I was just playing along with your stupid joke. You have no right to be upset with me, and honestly, what if I was a sadistic nymphomaniac who took advantage of your offer?"
"T-then I would've just laughed at you and admitted it was a joke! And maybe kick you out from my life entirely!"
"Did you really think you could intimidate me with sex?"
"Well, it-" Kisara stopped herself from continuing a statement that would surely offend him. Her face was so perplexed that it intrigued him.
"It what?"
"I-it seemed that way last night," she admitted. Kisara's eyes darted towards her tea cup, embarrassed.
"...And what about it?"
The previous lighthearted atmosphere was dampened by an air of seriousness.
Kisara slowly said, "I-I don't know. I-I guess I wasn't used to someone being so gentle with me in a while. Not that it couldn't have been more intense. I-I mean, I think we were about to be there if you didn't-"
"Stop."
"Yeah-"
"No. I mean seriously, stop. Get to your point."
"You kiss funny," she flatly hit.
Seto didn't know how to respond to that. Did she really detect his inexperience so easily? He retorted, "Are you some kissing expert?"
"I have the experience," she said matter-of-factly.
"Didn't seem that way," he snorted, "You were grinning too much."
"Because you were so bad, it made me laugh!"
Seto couldn't believe she was resorting to cheap denial. However, he was slightly worried. He couldn't possibly be that bad, could he? Objectively, she wasn't bad at all. She probably did have more experience than a cooped up workaholic CEO.
"Then enlighten me," he raised. Seto leaned back snugly against his chair and challenged, "If you were me, how would you have gone about it?"
He was goading her. He was expecting her to crumble. Kisara really couldn't explain herself. She wasn't exactly lying when she openly detected his apprehension when it came to the art of kissing. As stubborn as she was, she abruptly stood up and frigidly walked over to his side of the table.
"S-stand up," she nervously instructed.
"Wow," Seto shook his head and crossed his arms, refusing to stand. He chuckled and looked away as he snidely said, "You're not doing a good job of convincing me otherwise with that charisma."
Before he knew it, he felt a heavy weight on his lap. He felt her hands whisk his face towards hers. His lips slightly parted more in shock at her boldness than in welcome for her tongue slightly impeding his mouth. Her soft hands gently gripped the sides of his face. She must have known herself too gutsy, as she pulled away quickly with a horrified expression on her face.
"Sorry…" she softly said, "I just-"
"Don't be."
Seto held her down to stay in his lap by wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer against his chest. He closed the distance himself and pressed his lips against hers. He was as gentle as before because he truly couldn't force himself on her so roughly.
Given the opportunity again, Kisara didn't fade back this time around. As nice as he was, she took advantage of that as she pressed herself against him further, edging herself closer to his chest and pressuring him from her side that his head leaned back a bit. While his hands were on her back, one hand of hers remained on his face and the other trailed behind to indulge in the softness of his hair.
After a decent amount of time feeling each other's mouths, Seto's fingers ran across the cold metal of her dress zipper, north towards the opening. His stomach was churning with unparalleled nervousness, and his heart felt as if it could leap out of his soul from how illogically his body was reacting - how his mind could easily slip into pleasure at her expense.
Kisara scattered away as soon as she heard the usual footsteps in front of her door. Before her roommate could even plug her key in, she had instinctively opened the door for Serenity.
"Serenity!" Kisara leapt out and pulled her into a tight embrace as she squealed, "Haven't seen you in so long, haha!"
"Um…I love you too?" Serenity chuckled and returned the hug. She politely pulled away in favor of entering the apartment. To her surprise, she found Seto at the kitchen table, appearing the usual with his blank expression. It seemed that he was enjoying some tea Kisara had made. She said, "Oh hey, Kaiba. What are you doing here?"
He couldn't even respond without Kisara interrupting giddily, "I just asked him to stay for tea as thanks for the ride back. I guess we got carried away with our conversation."
"Do you guys like each other that much?" Serenity laughed teasingly. She eyed Seto before turning to Kisara and asking, "What did you guys talk about?"
Again, Kisara chose to speak, "We were just talking about how I was going to live with Yugi."
"Really?" Serenity and Seto simultaneously asked. They glanced at one another. On one hand, Serenity never knew he even asked Kisara in the first place. She figured he was only questioning her in the same judgemental attitude he had about everyone else. Seto, however, couldn't understand why she didn't take up on his offer. It was leagues better than whatever apartment Yugi was living in, and he had even given plausible reasons.
"Yeah…" Kisara at first appeared to be answering Serenity. Her head slowly reversed to Seto. He didn't give much away to his ideas. She continued her answer by staring at him, as if he were the only other person in the room, "I've already decided."
"I have to go."
Serenity watched Seto calmly stand up. It was an eerie sureness, as if he was trying to control every fiber of his being. Perhaps she was just imagining things. As the two women watched him slide on his shoes, Serenity couldn't help but question, "Kaiba. Did you have any opinion about Kisara's living situation?"
Kisara shot a perplexed look at her friend, who ignored her and kept looking at Seto. There was something going on.
"No," he simply answered with his back towards them. Seto unlocked the door and stepped out. Before entirely leaving, he looked back, towards the girl with the annoying blue eyes and white hair as he lastly said, "Why would I?"
He shut the door himself.
Kisara relieved a huge breath and started walking back towards her room, wanting to avoid any interrogation. Serenity was close enough to her to understand that there were boundaries she couldn't cross. However, she had it in her right mind to clearly announce something otherwise inadmissible.
"Your dress is unzipped."
Kisara paused. She should have been horrified, but she was too furious at herself that she had gone to the point of exhaustion. One hand gripped her door frame as the other ran behind her back. His fingers had undone her dress to more than half of the zipper's length.
"I know.
Author's Note: Happy holidays, everyone! I don't know if I'll get to uploading a new chapter before the New Year, so happy New Year's too! I wrote a lot of chapters for Lost Marigolds in 2019, and I really hope I won't slow down in 2020, but university is definitely more intense than the past year. I'll try to squeeze out as much as I can. For now, I hope you enjoy reading!
Review Responses
Sailor McJohn: Oh gosh, thank you so much for looking forward to new chapters. It makes me feel all warm that someone is anticipating this story to continue! Yes, I find Duke someone kind of fun to write about, but definitely not someone I would find agreeable. Hoping that you continue reading!
vanene10: Mahad's role will definitely be cleared soon! I can't wait for all the things I plan for his arc! Thanks for reading!
Guest: Haha, I don't know if I'm all that but thank you for liking my story!
Bleach power: You'll just have to wait and see with Mahad. I won't say much but I'm excited to write about him! Thank you for continuously reading and reviewing!
Viridian1435: Their relationship is definitely building little by little even with drawbacks! Hopefully I can making it flourish! Thank you!
itxprincessxlala: Thanks for sticking around! Agh, I'm glad the kiss was something you loved. Ooh, I've never been at the Hoshinoya Tokyo, but the place looks beautiful and so serene from what I see online. I haven't given up on the story, but it is definitely taking longer from how life is hitting. Thank you so much for being a loyal reader and reviewer!