Hey you guys!
Thanks so much for the reviews! Your great reviews made me so guilty that I definitely had to publish today even though the chapters aren't finished to reduce my guilt. Please keep it up!
By the way, I'm uploading this chapter again tomorrow, and the day after that if it's not done, because it isn't where I want it to be yet!
SO CHECK BACK TOMORROW! AND REVIEW AGAIN PLEASE! I LOVE YOU ALL!
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Seto Kaiba had an unusually blank look in his eyes. Not the bad blank kind, the kind where his irises seemed to be solid disks of hard blue and his mouth was hanging slightly ajar from pure boredom. That was his office meeting face. No, this was the kind where his mouth could barely keep from dropping in awe, and his usually hard, penetrating eyes were soft and glazed over. If anyone had been paying attention to him that moment, the person would have sworn that Seto was drooling.
As it was, no one was really looking at him. They were all concentrating unusually hard at the elegant figure presiding at front of the class; the boys mirrored Seto's fish-out-of-water expression, and the girls were trying their hardest to contain their envy, and at the same time, kill with their eyes. In other words, Isis Ishtahl was presenting her Egypt project in the front of the classroom.
Seto, like every other boy at school excluding Malik and Ishtar, was absolutely enamoured with Isis Istahl. No other girl was able to fluster him except for Isis. Of course, no other girl was quite as enigmatic, exotic, and mysterious as the graceful, refined Isis. With every other person, Seto could be cold, indifferent, much too above them to care or notice their pathetic lives. But before Isis, Seto fell on his face like a piece of jello before her Aphrodite-like beauty and sophistication. Which, Seto mused, was quite accurate; after all, Isis was a goddess of magic in Egyptian mythology. And, wow, did she ever cast a spell over his heart!
Seto had concluded that she was the perfect girl for him the moment he had seen her wandering the halls on the first day of high school. Even then, she moved with a grace only befitting goddesses, held her head with a lovely wisdom beyond her years, captured him with the mysterious, drowning depth of her stunningly exotic eyes. And he fell for her again every year, fell harder and faster every time, when he saw her walk through the high school doors on the first day of school each new school year.
But she didn't know that. She didn't know how hard his heart pumped when she passed by him in the halls, how he could barely keep his folded arms in their impassive position, how his eyes unconsciously followed her every fluid movement. She didn't know that he admired the way she could speak intelligently on every subject, how she seemed to know what would happen next, the way her voice lit up the entire room with its unfathomable radiance.
Involuntarily, his fists clenched and his brow furrowed in frustration. Every attempt he had ever made to speak to her and make a good impression had ended in his stuttering, an awkward silence, and Isis smiling her detached, Mona Lisa smile as she passed by him. Seto was well aware of his masculine charm; almost every girl in the school had thrown themselves at his feet, only to be ignored by the frosty Seto. He was aware of the many appraising female glances greeting him in the halls, and the dreamy expressions on female faces, but he did not care for any of them. If only he could work his magic on Isis! But her magic was too strong for his…
Fortunately, thought Seto, inwardly smirking, no other male had been successful in capturing the attention of the beautiful Ms. Ishtahl. She went to dances looking elegant…and completely on her own. She went to parties alone. It was rumored that her domineering parents did not let her go out with others, lest the immature high schoolers steal their precious Egyptian jewel. Other rumors included overprotective, sadistic twin brothers and a "shrew" of a younger sister. Anyhow, every boy who dared to reach for Isis never managed to succeed, though they wooed her with their smiles, physique, money, cars, flowers, and poems. She treated them as she treated him: politely, impersonal, with a enigmatic, alluring smile.
Seto considered their failed attempts, tapping his long fingers against the desk. His businesslike mind had set to analyzing their methods and extracting lessons. To attract customers, a business had to offer something new and attractive. So to attract Isis, he must offer something no one else could offer. But what? What could he get that none of the others had been able to give? They all had intelligence, good looks. They all tried to convince Isis that they were interested in her passions and interests. To win over clients, he had to get their trust, to assure them that their best interests were his priority. Maybe that was it. She was very keen; she must have been able to sense their insincerity, their desire to have her as a girlfriend just so they could have that which no one else was able to possess. Maybe she just needed to know that he was sincere, that he was better than any of the guys who had tried to date her, that he was trustworthy. But how?
"In conclusion, the tombs of the Egyptian pharaohs reflected their religious beliefs and their close connection with the stars." Isis Ishtahl finished, brushing a silky strand of hair away from her face and gesturing to the elaborate model of a tomb that rested before her. She smiled lightly, her usual mysterious, sweet, and indifferent smile. "Any questions?"
Dimly, Seto heard her closing words, but still in the midst of strategizing, he did not hear the teacher asking Seto if he had any questions.
"Are you all right? Mr. Kaiba? Do you have any questions for Ms. Ishtahl?" the teacher looked with a concerned face at Seto. Seto often relentlessly questioned his fellow students about their actual knowledge of their topics, and often made them look like fools; the teacher especially enjoyed the pale look on the students' faces as they tried to defend themselves from Seto's (rather arrogant) attacks. But now, the teacher's favorite student seemed to be in a daze.
Seto jumped when he realized that the questions were directed towards him. Next to him, a blonde-haired girl snickered softly and tried to hide a growing grin.
"Uh…I thought….uh…um…it was….beaut-…I mean…" the usually silver-tongued CEO stuttered, flushing, "It was…I mean…Ms. Ishtahl…uh, Isis…I mean, the presentation was great." Seto finished lamely.
The girl next to him didn't even try to hide her smirk this time. When Seto glared at her, she widened her eyes innocently and rocked the skateboard under her desk from side to side with her feet.
The corners of Isis' lips curved up lightly, and with a small nod of her head, she glided through the maze of desks back to her seat in front of the grinning blonde girl. Seto glared once again at the girl sitting next to him, although she didn't notice and didn't care, and had started doodling in her notebook again. That girl was in every single one of his classes, perpetually frustrated him, and took the space where Isis should have been sitting; all the teacher assigned seats by alphabetical order, and the girl was always either beside him or in front of him, leaving him just out of reach of Isis. If she didn't go to the school, Isis would be sitting right next to him. Ishtahl…then Kaiba.
"Mai. Are you ready for your presentation?" the teacher, Mr. Campbell, sighed, knowing that the girl was not paying attention in class and was fooling around with her skateboard. But what could he say? She made straight A's…
Seto watched with a smirk as the girl's face paled and the pen dropped from her hand. She was not prepared for the presentation. Seto leaned back in his chair, folding his arms, ready to see the girl embarrassed in front of the class. How dare she laugh at him! Now she would feel the consequences of slighting Seto Kaiba. He settled back in his chair; this would be an interesting show.
He watched as the girl shuffled together blank papers to look as though she had notes, and hesitantly wind her way to the front of the class. But as she approached the chalkboard, she seemed to relax. She sauntered to the front of the class like a cat, her confidence reflected in her long strides, her eyes gleaming and arms swinging by her side. She stood in the front cockily, with the poise of one who was accustomed to the spotlight, and pushed back a blonde wave back from her eyes with one hand, the other hooked in her pocket. With a shock, Seto realized that the girl was not nervous at all!
She drew herself up to her full 5' 11'' height and grinned cheekily at the class. The teacher rolled his eyes and waited, pen in hand, to mark off the girl for any minor mistake that she made.
The girl snagged a piece of chalk off the ledge and threw it up and down as she spoke. "Today, I will be talking about how the elements related to the elaborate Aztec ball games reflected the religious beliefs of the Aztec people. For not only were the courts and games played for the entertainment of the people, but…"
The teacher stopped her with a frown. "I thought you were going to talk about the status of the Aztec people as related to the ball game."
The girl paused for a moment, biting her lip. Then she smiled mock-sweetly at the teacher. "You didn't let me finish. The courts and games were not played just for the entertainment of the people, but were used to reflect the status and religious principles of each participating individual."
After having skillfully saved her presentation, the girl turned around and began drawing a rather detailed diagram of the Aztec ball courts.
"Of course, the first thing you need to know is the architecture of the playing courts. These courts were not just ordinary courts; they were designed to meet game standards as well as religious ones. For example…"
As the girl continued, Seto raised his eyebrows in surprise. The girl was very good, very good indeed. She winged the presentation with ease and skill; she even presented some ideas and facts that Seto himself didn't know before. Then suddenly, a thought hit him, and Seto almost slammed his head against the desk in anger. He was a genius, so how could he be so dense? Isis had a younger sister named Mai. The girl in front of the class was Mai Ishtahl. The only girl who was able to frustrate him to such a high level, his source of perpetual irritation, was Isis's sister! The girl that he was making an enemy out of was the one he needed!
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So why does Seto "need" Mai? What will happen when these two archnemesis meet face to face? Will Seto have to beg on his knees to get the woman of his dreams? Find out next time….probably tomorrow. So CHECK BACK TOMORROW!