AN: See what I mean? I'm really getting too close to killing Tea. Last
chapter, all I had to do was have her slip into a coma and die. So easy,
but I resisted! I triumphed! Oh, a lot of you are pushing for the Romance
aspect. I'm trying, but there is none in this chapter. Sorry. Lemme see.
There's a bit coming up in two chapters, but there is VERY limited romance,
until the last chapter, cause this is really what it's all about, their
getting together. But it's hard, you know. People just don't wake up one
day and say 'I love you! I don't care that until recently I viewed you as
a selfish bastard and hated your guts, I love you! Let me bare your
children!!' No, it don't happen. Even the beginning part was a bit of a
stretch. And on with the chapter because I am rambling and... yea.
Hurts XVI
After ordering a doughnut and a coffee at a café near the park, I pulled up a chair and unbuttoned my trench coat so I could sit easier. Picking out two white pills, I gulped them down with my coffee, to ease the growing pain in my shoulder. I knew, by matter of observation and eavesdropping, that Tea and her friends walked to the park every Saturday during the summer. I wasn't stalking anyone, I just happen to over hear a lot. Most people assume that because I'm always reading a book, I have no idea what is going on around me. Actually, it's quite the opposite. So a good number of people, by using the aforementioned logic, fail to keep their voices down when I'm around. This makes it so that I know the social agendas of most of my classmates and more about the general opinion of the students then the students themselves. In all probability, I could successfully blackmail or kidnap any child in the school. I could take it over if I wanted. But I don't. And I lack the time.
Of course, before this morning I'd never actually used the knowledge except to find Yugi Mutoh's home. But today was different. The incident with Tea kept popping into my thoughts. Was she okay? Did she get home all right? Did her friends show up? In most cases I wouldn't have given a damn about her even if it were my problem because I HAD hit her. But Tea was different. She'd saved my life and been nice to me even when the others had hated me. So perhaps she talked too much and perhaps she went on friendship rants a bit to often for comfort, but she had taken care of me. I'd also promised to protect her. My usually logic could have gotten me out of my promise due to the context I'd made it in, but I had said 'I promise to protect you'. If I'd been thinking clearly, I would have but a limitation on it, but I hadn't. It was my word and my honor. Sure, I may be ruthless, but I have a strict moral code (yes, I do have some morals). According to them, this was MY problem. Most of the time I did what I had to do, but I kept my promises. No matter what, when or to whom I had made that promise. If I promised not to hurt someone and then they pulled a gun on me, I stuck to the promise. Strange code, but it seemed to work... for me at least.
I glanced from my newspaper as the sound of raised voices reached my ears. Sure enough, a minute later Tea, Bakura and Yugi turned the corner, laughing and joking with each other. They stopped at the arcade across the street and looked in the windows, peering at the fully over priced merchandise. Some of it my company produced but some were knock off brands. I had inspected the shop myself a week ago and decided that the other programs were indeed inferior. I sighed and quickly pulled the newspaper up to hide my face as Yugi turned around. I waited a few minutes, before cautiously lowering one of the corners so I could see them. They were still looking at the arcade window. What was there to look at? I sighed, finished my doughnut and took a sip of my coffee.
"What ya reading, Kaiba?" A voice asked me in a whisper. I jumped and sloshed coffee all over my good pants. Most people would have jumped up and made a spectacle of themselves while trying to wipe the coffee off, but not I. Sure the coffee was scalding and it was all over my crotch, but I had felt worse. Sure most of those incidents escaped me at that moment, but I had felt worse! I turned slowly and saw Yami, Joey and Tristan standing behind me.
"The newspaper." I told them. I couldn't actually remember the section I'd picked up-I hadn't bothered to check-So sticking with the obvious seemed like an awfully good idea.
"Checking your stocks?" Yami asked me, as he pulled up a chair next to me. Joey and Tristan remained standing, but moved to stand behind Yami, instead of behind me. I glared at Yami, but when he didn't move or make a comment, I nodded. He cracked a smile. "That's odd, considering you're holding the comics."
'Busted!' I mentally winced.
"Surely, ya can't find your investments that funny, can ya?" Joey grinned.
"I dunno." Tristan snickered. "Maybe he invested with play money?"
"I don't need this." I muttered, standing to walk away, but Joey and Tristan pushed me back down.
"Come on Kaiba," Joey smiled. "Stay and talk awhile. We'd like to take to ya."
"Yea." I nodded. "And I'd like to kick your ass, but it's not happening today. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go."
"I don't think so." Yami shook his head. "We're not done our chat yet."
"I don't have time for this." I muttered. Normally, I would have knocked Joey around and went on my merry way; even with Tristan there I might have considered it. But I couldn't take Joey, Tristan AND Yami; it just couldn't be done!
"Neither do I." Yami told me. "So you just answer our questions and we'll leave. Of course, if we think you're lying to us, well, let's not discuss that."
"So, Kaiba." Tristan smiled. "Where were you last night?"
"At home." I shrugged. 'Not an absolute lie. I was at home for most of the night.'
"All night?" Joey asked. I nodded. 'Okay, THAT'S a complete lie.'
"You're lying." Yami shrugged. Joey pulled his fist back and slammed it into my jaw. I moved with the punch to dull the pain but it still hurt... a lot! "Well? Ready to tell the truth?"
"Fine." I mumbled. "I went out for some coffee later in the evening."
"Did you drive?" Yami asked. I nodded. 'Best to stick as close to the truth as possible. Just leave out anything to do with Tea. Can't have them thinking I'm getting soft or caring. No, that just won't do. To much risk involved with that.'
It wasn't that I didn't take risks. Duel monsters was a risk and I took those risks. But those were controllable risks. Something that could be studied and thought through logically. People didn't operate like that. There was no controlling them. Unpredictable and illogical, Humans confused me. I didn't like those kinds of risks. Not a bit.
"You a good driver Kaiba?" Tristan asked after a moment. I nodded again. "So you've never done something as wrong as, oh say, hit someone?"
"Not that I'm aware of." I shrugged. 'Stellar lie, Kaiba!'
"I think you're lying again." Yami smirked and this time Tristan slugged me.
"Why are you asking me, if you already know the answers?" I asked, challenging Yami.
"Because we want you to pay for what you did."
"Tell me." I snarled. "Tell me, then! What is it I did?"
"Why you..." Joey growled, pulling his fist back to hit me again. I glared at him, almost daring him to try it.
"No, it's alright Joey." Yami smirked. "Kaiba has a right to know how much we know. Alright, Kaiba. We think that last night you hit Tea on your way to the coffee shop. We think you brought her there and left, not taking her to a hospital or checking to see if she was seriously hurt."
"And why do you think it was me?" I asked. 'How did he know all this?!'
"I asked the waiter." Tristan shrugged.
'Damn!' I cursed myself. 'How could I be so stupid! I didn't bribe him or anything! Well, if they do know, maybe I can still pull it off as a callous uncaring act. So I'll hurt for a while. I've had worse.'
I put on my game face and nodded slowly.
"So, you found out. Well, it wasn't my fault that the little bitch ran out in the middle of the street. She scratched the paint on my car, can you believe it? At least I haven't sent her the bill! But then again, I don't think any of you could afford it. Being so poor..." I started. It was actually a pretty good callous bastard speech, until Tristan cut me off with a right hook. I flew out of my seat, not expecting the strike to come so soon or from clam Tristan. I hit the ground on all fours and moved my hand up to rub my jaw. I wanted to hit him back, but I knew I couldn't. I simple shook my head and stood up.
"You wanna repeat that?" Tristan asked, his hands balled into fists at his side. I sneered.
"How pathetically weak." I snickered. "Tristan thinks he can protect his friends. Enjoy it while you can. And why don't you keep the bitch out of my way? No, better yet, give her a message for me. Tell her to remember, my car stops of no one. Move or be road kill."
I grabbed my briefcase and nodded to the three boys and walked off to my car. Once I had driven back to my house, I fished the Advil bottle out of the glove compartment and took two for my jaw.
'What I do for appearances.' I sighed.
Hurts XVI
After ordering a doughnut and a coffee at a café near the park, I pulled up a chair and unbuttoned my trench coat so I could sit easier. Picking out two white pills, I gulped them down with my coffee, to ease the growing pain in my shoulder. I knew, by matter of observation and eavesdropping, that Tea and her friends walked to the park every Saturday during the summer. I wasn't stalking anyone, I just happen to over hear a lot. Most people assume that because I'm always reading a book, I have no idea what is going on around me. Actually, it's quite the opposite. So a good number of people, by using the aforementioned logic, fail to keep their voices down when I'm around. This makes it so that I know the social agendas of most of my classmates and more about the general opinion of the students then the students themselves. In all probability, I could successfully blackmail or kidnap any child in the school. I could take it over if I wanted. But I don't. And I lack the time.
Of course, before this morning I'd never actually used the knowledge except to find Yugi Mutoh's home. But today was different. The incident with Tea kept popping into my thoughts. Was she okay? Did she get home all right? Did her friends show up? In most cases I wouldn't have given a damn about her even if it were my problem because I HAD hit her. But Tea was different. She'd saved my life and been nice to me even when the others had hated me. So perhaps she talked too much and perhaps she went on friendship rants a bit to often for comfort, but she had taken care of me. I'd also promised to protect her. My usually logic could have gotten me out of my promise due to the context I'd made it in, but I had said 'I promise to protect you'. If I'd been thinking clearly, I would have but a limitation on it, but I hadn't. It was my word and my honor. Sure, I may be ruthless, but I have a strict moral code (yes, I do have some morals). According to them, this was MY problem. Most of the time I did what I had to do, but I kept my promises. No matter what, when or to whom I had made that promise. If I promised not to hurt someone and then they pulled a gun on me, I stuck to the promise. Strange code, but it seemed to work... for me at least.
I glanced from my newspaper as the sound of raised voices reached my ears. Sure enough, a minute later Tea, Bakura and Yugi turned the corner, laughing and joking with each other. They stopped at the arcade across the street and looked in the windows, peering at the fully over priced merchandise. Some of it my company produced but some were knock off brands. I had inspected the shop myself a week ago and decided that the other programs were indeed inferior. I sighed and quickly pulled the newspaper up to hide my face as Yugi turned around. I waited a few minutes, before cautiously lowering one of the corners so I could see them. They were still looking at the arcade window. What was there to look at? I sighed, finished my doughnut and took a sip of my coffee.
"What ya reading, Kaiba?" A voice asked me in a whisper. I jumped and sloshed coffee all over my good pants. Most people would have jumped up and made a spectacle of themselves while trying to wipe the coffee off, but not I. Sure the coffee was scalding and it was all over my crotch, but I had felt worse. Sure most of those incidents escaped me at that moment, but I had felt worse! I turned slowly and saw Yami, Joey and Tristan standing behind me.
"The newspaper." I told them. I couldn't actually remember the section I'd picked up-I hadn't bothered to check-So sticking with the obvious seemed like an awfully good idea.
"Checking your stocks?" Yami asked me, as he pulled up a chair next to me. Joey and Tristan remained standing, but moved to stand behind Yami, instead of behind me. I glared at Yami, but when he didn't move or make a comment, I nodded. He cracked a smile. "That's odd, considering you're holding the comics."
'Busted!' I mentally winced.
"Surely, ya can't find your investments that funny, can ya?" Joey grinned.
"I dunno." Tristan snickered. "Maybe he invested with play money?"
"I don't need this." I muttered, standing to walk away, but Joey and Tristan pushed me back down.
"Come on Kaiba," Joey smiled. "Stay and talk awhile. We'd like to take to ya."
"Yea." I nodded. "And I'd like to kick your ass, but it's not happening today. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go."
"I don't think so." Yami shook his head. "We're not done our chat yet."
"I don't have time for this." I muttered. Normally, I would have knocked Joey around and went on my merry way; even with Tristan there I might have considered it. But I couldn't take Joey, Tristan AND Yami; it just couldn't be done!
"Neither do I." Yami told me. "So you just answer our questions and we'll leave. Of course, if we think you're lying to us, well, let's not discuss that."
"So, Kaiba." Tristan smiled. "Where were you last night?"
"At home." I shrugged. 'Not an absolute lie. I was at home for most of the night.'
"All night?" Joey asked. I nodded. 'Okay, THAT'S a complete lie.'
"You're lying." Yami shrugged. Joey pulled his fist back and slammed it into my jaw. I moved with the punch to dull the pain but it still hurt... a lot! "Well? Ready to tell the truth?"
"Fine." I mumbled. "I went out for some coffee later in the evening."
"Did you drive?" Yami asked. I nodded. 'Best to stick as close to the truth as possible. Just leave out anything to do with Tea. Can't have them thinking I'm getting soft or caring. No, that just won't do. To much risk involved with that.'
It wasn't that I didn't take risks. Duel monsters was a risk and I took those risks. But those were controllable risks. Something that could be studied and thought through logically. People didn't operate like that. There was no controlling them. Unpredictable and illogical, Humans confused me. I didn't like those kinds of risks. Not a bit.
"You a good driver Kaiba?" Tristan asked after a moment. I nodded again. "So you've never done something as wrong as, oh say, hit someone?"
"Not that I'm aware of." I shrugged. 'Stellar lie, Kaiba!'
"I think you're lying again." Yami smirked and this time Tristan slugged me.
"Why are you asking me, if you already know the answers?" I asked, challenging Yami.
"Because we want you to pay for what you did."
"Tell me." I snarled. "Tell me, then! What is it I did?"
"Why you..." Joey growled, pulling his fist back to hit me again. I glared at him, almost daring him to try it.
"No, it's alright Joey." Yami smirked. "Kaiba has a right to know how much we know. Alright, Kaiba. We think that last night you hit Tea on your way to the coffee shop. We think you brought her there and left, not taking her to a hospital or checking to see if she was seriously hurt."
"And why do you think it was me?" I asked. 'How did he know all this?!'
"I asked the waiter." Tristan shrugged.
'Damn!' I cursed myself. 'How could I be so stupid! I didn't bribe him or anything! Well, if they do know, maybe I can still pull it off as a callous uncaring act. So I'll hurt for a while. I've had worse.'
I put on my game face and nodded slowly.
"So, you found out. Well, it wasn't my fault that the little bitch ran out in the middle of the street. She scratched the paint on my car, can you believe it? At least I haven't sent her the bill! But then again, I don't think any of you could afford it. Being so poor..." I started. It was actually a pretty good callous bastard speech, until Tristan cut me off with a right hook. I flew out of my seat, not expecting the strike to come so soon or from clam Tristan. I hit the ground on all fours and moved my hand up to rub my jaw. I wanted to hit him back, but I knew I couldn't. I simple shook my head and stood up.
"You wanna repeat that?" Tristan asked, his hands balled into fists at his side. I sneered.
"How pathetically weak." I snickered. "Tristan thinks he can protect his friends. Enjoy it while you can. And why don't you keep the bitch out of my way? No, better yet, give her a message for me. Tell her to remember, my car stops of no one. Move or be road kill."
I grabbed my briefcase and nodded to the three boys and walked off to my car. Once I had driven back to my house, I fished the Advil bottle out of the glove compartment and took two for my jaw.
'What I do for appearances.' I sighed.