Next chapter is ready. Let me know if anything feels off, and yup, we're getting towards an extremely important event in the story. XD
Chapter 50
A little over a week later, it was Saturday evening, and Alex was putting the finishing touches on the romantic date she had planned. It was going to be a surprise, and she couldn't wait to see the look on Kaiba's face. Earlier, Alex told the chefs that they could go home early since she wanted to cook. After they did so, she made dinner for Mokuba as well as set food for the pets.
Everything was all ready, so Alex quickly got changed into a beautiful dark blue dress and added a touch of make up along with her usual jewelry. Also, she styled her hair so that it flowed in wavy curls. Then she looked at herself in the mirror, and seeing that she was presentable, she returned to the dining room.
Several minutes later, Alex heard the front door along with a set of familiar footsteps. Smiling, she hurried to greet Kaiba and hugging him, she said,
"Welcome home, Seto."
Kaiba smiled back at Alex and gave her a quick kiss. After letting go, he gazed lovingly at her and replied,
"You look beautiful as always, but what's the occasion?"
Alex replied, "I know it's spontaneous of me, but we haven't had much romantic time lately, so I wanted to do something special just for us. I hope that's ok."
Kaiba replied, "Of course it is. I admit that we've both been so busy lately, so this is a great idea."
Alex replied, "Why don't you join me in the dining room after you put your things away? I prepared dinner and all, and I made your favorites. I hope they'll be to your liking."
Kaiba replied, "I'm sure they will. I'll join you in a few minutes then."
After another kiss, Kaiba went up to his room while Alex went to the dining room to put the plates of food she prepared on the table. After another few minutes, Kaiba entered the dining room and Alex smiled upon seeing him. Kaiba was dressed in a black tux, and Alex thought that he looked extremely handsome. She commented,
"You look wonderful, but you didn't need to change clothes for this. I just wanted to do this, and I know it was unexpected."
Kaiba replied, "I know, but it would be rude of me not to properly thank you for going through all this work."
Alex replied, "I suppose that's true. Dinner is all set, so why don't we eat and talk?"
Kaiba nodded, and after he helped Alex into her seat, he took his seat. As the two of them ate, Kaiba commented,
"As always, your cooking is wonderful."
Alex replied, "Thanks. I let the staff go early for the night since I wanted to cook for you."
Kaiba replied, "No wonder it's so quiet here."
Alex nodded and replied, "That's right."
Kaiba then said, "I checked up on Mokuba while I was getting ready. He told me that you cooked dinner for him earlier."
Alex replied, "Yup, that's right. Since I was planning to cook, I figured I might as well make dinner for him, too."
Kaiba nodded and then thinking about something, he said, "I'll just be direct, but what have you and Mokuba been up to lately?"
Alex looked curiously at Kaiba and asked, "What do you mean?"
Kaiba replied, "You and Mokuba have been hanging out a lot lately."
Alex gave a look and replied, "Is that really so strange? Or are you jealous of your own brother?"
Kaiba scoffed and replied, "Of course not. But I do feel like you've been giving him more attention than me lately."
Alex saw the look on Kaiba's face and unable to help herself, she laughed and replied, "So you are jealous. But I suppose you have a point."
She looked thoughtful and then continued, "It's a surprise, and Mokuba would rather tell you himself when he's ready. And no, you won't get anything from me."
Kaiba stared at Alex, as though hoping that she would relent and tell him. However, Alex kept her ground, so sighing, Kaiba said,
"Fine. I guess I have no choice but to wait."
Alex nodded in satisfaction and replied, "That's right, but you won't be kept in the dark forever. You'll probably be really surprised once you find out what it is, but yeah, Mokuba wants to tell you."
Kaiba nodded and then thinking of something else, he asked, "How's your personal research going?"
Alex glanced at her bracelet and replied, "I assume you're referring to this thing. Well, I've made a few more discoveries although I haven't been able to figure out how they're tied to me. I get this feeling that I'll know when the time is right. I probably shouldn't force myself."
She recalled what happened when she was at Yugi's place. Kaiba also remembered what Alex told him and he replied,
"That's a good idea. I know you want to figure this all out and get your brother back, but don't do it at the sacrifice of your health."
Alex nodded and replied, "I know, and I'm doing this for you, too. I know now that you were framed for what happens in my time. If I hadn't gotten rid of that virus back then, the real culprit would have gotten away with it, too."
Kaiba nodded, remembering what Alex told him earlier about the information that Cas shared with her although Alex only mentioned the part about the computer virus. He commented,
"I think they expected to get away with it. If I hadn't called you to start work earlier, who know how long that virus would have been around?"
Alex replied, "It might have posed quite a challenge to get rid of it."
She then realized something and added, "If you hadn't asked me to start work earlier, I would have automatically skipped out on that charity event, too. I think Cas arranged it so that I wouldn't have had to attend since she knew about my problems with dancing and big social events."
Kaiba smirked and replied, "But you've overcome both since then, haven't you? You learned from the best on how to dance, and I plan to take you to lots of social events in the future. It's only natural since we're going to get married."
Alex blushed deeply and replied, "Hey, it's not like you've officially proposed or anything."
Kaiba replied, "But you're not going to refuse, are you?"
Alex replied, "I love you, so of course I'd say yes."
Kaiba replied, "I assumed as much."
The two of them continued to eat and talk, and once they finished dinner, Alex got up and said,
"I'll go take care of the dishes and then we can figure out how to spend the rest of the evening."
Kaiba got up as well and replied, "We'll clean up together. That's what a couple should do, right?"
Alex smiled and replied, "That's right, and I know better than to refuse help from you."
Kaiba laughed and replied, "You know me well."
Alex nodded happily, and she and Kaiba took their time putting away the dishes and any leftovers. After the couple finished washing the dishes and taking care of the rest of the clean up, Alex turned to Kaiba and asked,
"What do you want to do now?"
Kaiba replied, "You didn't make any plans?"
Alex laughed and replied, "As I said, I planned this spontaneously, so I thought we'd play it by ear."
Kaiba replied, "In that case, I have an idea."
Alex looked curiously at Kaiba, but before she could say anything, he took her hand and led her towards the living room. Once there, the couple sat down comfortably on the sofa, and Kaiba wrapped his arms around Alex. He commented,
"I want to cuddle with you, and we can talk."
Alex hugged Kaiba and smiling, she replied, "I'd love that."
As the two of them were enjoying each other's company, Alex asked, "When all this is over and everything goes back to normal, what do you want?"
Kaiba replied, "I think you already know, but I want us to get married. Maybe not right away, though. I don't want to scare you."
He smirked, and pouting, Alex replied, "I'm not afraid of settling down, if that's what you mean."
She looked down at her lap and blushing, she said, "Sometimes, I wonder how I ever got so lucky."
Kaiba replied, "I should be asking you that. It still surprises me that guys weren't interested in you before."
Alex replied, "Well, you know why."
Kaiba replied, "Yeah, but they're the crazy ones. They shouldn't be intimidated by an intelligent, strong woman."
Alex smiled and replied, "I'm glad you're not."
Kaiba replied, "I still want to be smarter than you someday, so I'm up to the challenge."
Alex laughed happily and replied, "That's good."
Kaiba replied, "But yeah, I want us to get engaged, and for you and your brother to live here with me and Mokuba."
Alex replied happily, "I want that, too."
Meanwhile, Cas was sitting on the sofa in her apartment, looking in horror at her tablet. She was witnessing a duel between the hooded man and Yuya. Declan and Sylvio had already been defeated, and now it was just Yuya who remained standing.
Cas furrowed her eyebrows and thought,
I wish I could interfere, but that would put Alex in danger, and she isn't ready yet.
The duel continued, and after a couple more turns, Yuya was defeated. The hooded man laughed and said,
"Finally! It's time to end this."
As with the others, he took Yuya's most powerful monster and then trapped him. The hooded figure then turned to Kiara and said,
"Now we can go ahead with my master plan."
Kiara was about to reply when suddenly, another man appeared beside the hooded figure. He was wearing a black cloak and kept his face hidden from view. He replied,
"Sir, I'm afraid that's not true."
Kiara scoffed and replied, "What do you mean? Master took down all those duelists and took their cards. He can execute his master plan now."
The man rolled his eyes and replied, "You really are an idiot."
He turned to the hooded figure that Kiara referred to as "Master" and said, "You're missing a few important duelists, but that's not your fault. Someone has been trying to conceal them from your view. But I know how to get to them. Once that's taken care of, you can execute the rest of your plan."
The master looked thoughtful and replied, "It's better to have all my bases covered, so fine. Let's get out of here and then you can tell me who to go after."
The man nodded and the group disappeared from Yuya's era.
Cas took a few moments to process what she'd just witnessed before thinking,
Looks like I'll have to send Max to Yusaku very soon and then go into hiding.
She got up and then quickly proceeded to make plans of her own.