Hushpuppy24: HEY PEOPLE~! I'M FINALLY BACK~! LIKE OMG...^^|| It's been like so long... because I have finals and everything... I actually still do...but I have this week to study for it since it's grade 12 provincial exams... but I've been studying for my science final like for weeks and then it's like so easy now...-_-|| anyways, continuing with writing my fics~! ^^
In case you people forget, like me^^||, here's a "brief" summary of what happened last chapter...
Téa had been quarrelling with Mai about her feelings right outside of the guest room Seto was staying in. Seto had just caught them outside and Mai quickly saw this chance to push Téa into Seto's arms and give them some time together alone. Meanwhile, Joey seems to think he has absolutely no chance with Mai because she said that special someone she had in mind was better than Yugi. Seto's self-depression continued to haunt him and later on, messed up the only chance of him and Téa getting back together. As Téa leaves the room, she finds the ring Seto had dropped on the floor. She picked it up and threw it back to him and closed the door behind her. Seto looked at the ring lovingly, but then placed it on the coffee table next to him, letting his heart slip away... or at least try to.
And now for the story...
Chapter 7
******************
Téa leaned against the door, head lowered, her bangs covering her eyes as a small teardrop fell to the ground. "Well? How'd it go?" Mai asked with a confident smile. "You guys made up yet?"
Téa stayed silent. She straightened herself up and faced Mai and tried to put a smile on her face. "Nah... I knew it wouldn't work out anyways..." She continued to try and force a smile, hiding her sadness. "We talked... and we just thought it'd be best for the both of us to... well... you know... split up... I mean we both got someone now right? Why try to lie to ourselves and force us to love each other?" She let out a nervous laugh. "Really! I'm fine!"
"Téa! I know you still love Kaiba!" Mai tried to yell back. "Kaiba's not the one you're forcing yourself to love! It's Yugi! If you truly loved Yugi, it wouldn't be so hard-" Mai suddenly stopped and covered her mouth, realizing what she had said. Yugi's expression saddened from what he heard from downstairs.
"You don't know what you're talking about!" Téa yelled back. "If you are trying to be a friend by splitting me and Yugi up right now, then I wish I never had you as a friend!" Both were in shock at what Téa had just said. Téa's eyes watered. "I'm sorry..." She said while sobbing. "I'm sorry..." She said before running down the stairs and out the door.
"Hey Téa!" Joey called after her, but she bolted out the door before hearing him out. "Is she going to be ok?"
"I think she just needs some time to herself..." Tristan said solemnly, as if he understood exactly what Téa was going through. Yugi slowly stood up, eyes turned to the ground, as he started marching up the stairs and to Kaiba's room.
******************
Téa ran through the streets, with tears still falling from her eyes. She wiped them away with her sleeves, but they just kept coming back. Her footsteps echoed in the evening streets of emptiness. 'What's wrong with me?' She thought to herself. 'Mai was just trying to help me... but I... I... I just...' She ran across the streets, not going anywhere in particular. She slowed down and came to a stop to catch her breath. 'Why does this have to happen to me...' She repeated over in her head. "Why?" She broke down in more tears as she fell on her knees, holding her hands to her face. Her body was weak from her run. She barely had anything to eat that day...and now this...
A hand tapped her gently on the shoulder. "Miss? Are you alright?" The person asked.
"I'll be fine." Téa said shrugging it off. She tried to get up, but she was so weak that she just collapsed over.
******************
Joey followed Yugi up the stairs to find Mai still standing there in the look of shock in her expression. Joey grew worried of this and wanted to just put his arms around her... but he just knew she'd never understand the way he felt about her. "Hey Mai..." He asked with a slight nervousness in his voice. "You ok? I mean like Téa doesn't usually blow up like that all of a sudden..." He could see Mai's eyes sadden. "I'm sure she didn't mean what she said..."
"Maybe not..." Mai added lightly. "Anyways! Don't worry about me! I'm fine!" She said with a perked up attitude. "Little things like that won't bother me!" She said as she waved her hand, signalling that she wasn't bothered by Téa's words at all. "Really!" She gave Joey a reassuring smile. "I was just a little shocked that's all. I'm just gonna go outside for a bit of fresh air." She said as she headed for the balcony just outside of Yugi's room. Joey watched worriedly at Mai as Yugi headed for Seto's room.
******************
Yugi entered Seto's room without even knocking and closed the door behind him. "Kaiba..." He said sternly, his eyes still turned to the floor, his hair casting a small shadow over his eyes.
Seto still laid on the couch, just lying there as if he was a helpless child. His eyes no longer sparkled, but only looking of a lifeless being.
"Kaiba..." Yugi repeated again. This time, a little more steady in his voice, almost in the same tone as Yami if he had still been within him.
Seto turned slightly to give Yugi a 'what is it?' look.
Yugi looked up as tears flooded his eyes. "What did you say?" He asked hesitantly.
Seto thought to himself for a while, but remained silent.
"What did you say to her?" Yugi demanded much louder.
"Who?" Seto asked in what seemed to be confusion. "I'm afraid I don't know who you're talking about..." He answered dully.
This remark didn't phase Yugi one bit. "You know very well who I'm talking about." He said confidently. His eyes that were filled with determination quickly turned to eyes of sorrow. "Don't you realize how much Téa loves you?"
"Heh..." Seto gave a small laugh. "...love me..." He repeated it to himself. "If she loved me, she wouldn't have wanted to break up with me... If she had loved me, she wouldn't have thought I'd leave her for Ayumi... If she loved me..." Seto got up from the couch and walked towards Yugi. "...she wouldn't have left me for YOU!" He grabbed Yugi by the collar and slammed him against the wall. "You took away the person that meant the most to me..." Seto's eyes watered, as his grip slowly began to loosen. "...and now..." Seto turned his head so that Yugi didn't have to see him cry. "...and now... she's gone..." Seto squinted to let his tears flow freely down his cheeks. "And I thought you were my friend... Téa was wrong..."
For once in his life, Yugi could see the despair and hurt in Kaiba's eyes. Yugi's hands tightened and clenched to two fists. His frustration had finally gotten to him, and within seconds, Seto was on the floor and his cheek was red and swollen. "I can't take much more of this!" Yugi yelled out. "Would you really think I'd steal Téa away from you?! Téa and I had been best friends ever since I could remember... I'd be happy knowing that she's happy... even if I'm not the one she chooses to be with..." Yugi felt a small pain in his chest, but he continued anyways. "And I thought you understood that you were my friend as well... I just don't want anyone to get hurt..."
For a moment, Seto had almost felt guilty of what he said, but his stubbornness took over in a flash. "Look! If I wanted to be punched and yelled at with some stupid friendship talk, I could've just talked to that puppy dog friend of yours! YOU PEOPLE SHOULD'VE JUST LEFT ME ALONE!" Seto shouted angrily. With that, he yanked open the door and slammed it shut behind him as he left.
Meanwhile...
******************
Joey walked up to the balcony, still staring at Mai. "Hey." He said monotonously as he looked out into the streets of Domino with Mai.
"Hey." She replied in the same tone.
"How ya feelin'?"
"I'm ok..."
A silence broke in the calmness of the evening sky. "So..." Joey muttered nervously. He stared at Mai lovingly. The sunset caressed her golden streaks of hair and caused the pink lipgloss she applied on earlier sparkle. Joey blushed several shades of red and tried to look away.
"Thank you..." Mai said suddenly.
"Huh?" Joey suddenly perked up with a confused look on his face. "What for?"
Mai gave a light chuckle at Joey's confused puppy dog face. "Just for being my friend..." She smiled. "Actually... I should thank all of you..." She stared into the sky filled with shades of red, orange and yellow. "I've never really known what friendship is... And how greatly it really meant. I used to think that stuff like friendship and love... it was all just weak things ya know?" She turned to Joey as his face burned even more. "I guess I never really knew why... why you risked so much for your sister... or why Yugi for his grandpa... and maybe a little for Kaiba and Mokuba... but now I know..." She chuckled to herself. "You know what?" She asked.
"What?" Joey pondered.
"When I first saw you... my impression of you were that YOU WERE WEAK!" She laughed to herself. "I mean... you had to have help from Yugi to even be able to compete in the Duelist Kingdom!"
"Hey! I still beat you didn't I?" Joey debated, a little peeved.
"Ya... you did..." Mai admitted. "And I never really knew why... I guess it was because you had a purpose... Something worth winning for... a goal I guess... to save your sister and I... just for my own selfish acts."
Another silence broke again. "HEY! Aren't you supposed to tell me something like 'Of course not Mai! You didn't know better.' Or something like that?" Mai raised an eyebrow and placed her hands on her hips, giving Joey a small death glare.
"Uh... Well I... I can't help it if what you just said was true..." Joey said embarrassedly. Mai was furious, but she soon laughed it off after hitting Joey on the head. "I guess... Anyways, I just wanted to say thanks..."
"But why are you saying all of this?" Joey asked.
"You could say that Domino wasn't really my home to begin with... So I'm just going to go home..." Mai's eyes watered. "There isn't really much for me to stay here anyways..." She tried to force a smile.
"But Mai... What about us?" Joey asked, his heart basically shattering to pieces. Mai blushed crimson as Joey quickly realized what he'd just say. "I mean! Your friends! ... like Yugi, Tristan, Téa, maybe even that jerk, Kaiba... and me..."
Mai gave him a small smile. "Don't worry... I'll come back sooner or later."
"And what if you're not?" Joey asked worriedly. "If you don't... I... I'll... I'll miss you a lot..." Joey said hurriedly while his eyes looked at the ground, trying not to feel too embarrassed.
Mai's heart skipped a beat as both she and Joey blushed like mad. "Gotcha worryin' there for a minute didn't I?" Mai laughed nervously. "I'm not gonna let a little quarrel with Téa or anyone else stop me from seein' the people I love. I just need some time alone..."
"The people... you love?" Joey asked shyly.
Just then, they heard a loud slam of a door, so they went back inside to see what was the matter.
******************
Seto raced down the stairs in loud thuds and zoomed passed Tristan without even noticing he was there.
"Seto! Where are you going?!" Tristan called out, but Kaiba had already left. "Yugi! I'm going after Kaiba!" He shouted up the stairs and bolted out the door to catch up to his friend.
******************
Yugi leaned up against the wall for support and slowly slid down to a sitting position on the ground. 'Why can't he understand we're just trying to help? Why won't he listen?' Yugi buried his face in his arms, trying to think things through... But nothing he could do can make this better... 'Nothing...'
******************
Téa woke up the next morning in a cozy bed inside a large room. The bed was queen-sized and a mirror hung on the wall beside the bed. Fresh flowers were placed in a vase on the dresser next to her bed. The lace curtains were opened to a magnificent view of the city below. A watercolor painting of Seto and Mokuba together hung on the opposite wall of her bed and a shelf of books stood underneath the painting.
"This place... this place..." Téa repeated to herself. "It's Seto's mansion..." She realized in shock.
Hushpuppy24: lol~! Realize where I got that entire last paragraph^^|| It's all from chapter 2 of 'The Difference One Person Can Make'. I hate to have to use it again...but I wanted to make a point that Téa was back at that exact spot again~!^^ THERE, are you happy BEN?! (pcy-623) This guy's been buggin' me to update and I was so annoyed that it actually SLOWED DOWN my writing...-_-|| and HE KNOWS I still have a stupid math honours final coming up so I need EXTRA studying this week that I get off... but NOOOO, he's so selfish that he bugs me day and night to WRITE, WRITE, WRITE. I dun mind writing, I like to write^^ But not when I'm under pressure or EXTREME annoyance...¬.¬ anyways^^ like always. Sorry for slow updates but I had lots to do...and it's just semester turn around right now...but I got math mid finals right after next week... and -_-|| I'm at 85% for math...so this final can determine whether I get an A or a B. or down to 55% cuz this final is worth 30% for both term one and two... and I already got low marks for each so I gotta do good... O.o|| Wish me luck^^ lol
OH YEA! And if you wanna check out what's up with my life, you could check my xanga... leave comments or whatever. Just drop me a line if you want to know approximately when the next chappie can come out. ^^ It's at www.xanga.com/hushpuppy24. it's also written at my bio so bleh^^
In case you people forget, like me^^||, here's a "brief" summary of what happened last chapter...
Téa had been quarrelling with Mai about her feelings right outside of the guest room Seto was staying in. Seto had just caught them outside and Mai quickly saw this chance to push Téa into Seto's arms and give them some time together alone. Meanwhile, Joey seems to think he has absolutely no chance with Mai because she said that special someone she had in mind was better than Yugi. Seto's self-depression continued to haunt him and later on, messed up the only chance of him and Téa getting back together. As Téa leaves the room, she finds the ring Seto had dropped on the floor. She picked it up and threw it back to him and closed the door behind her. Seto looked at the ring lovingly, but then placed it on the coffee table next to him, letting his heart slip away... or at least try to.
And now for the story...
Chapter 7
******************
Téa leaned against the door, head lowered, her bangs covering her eyes as a small teardrop fell to the ground. "Well? How'd it go?" Mai asked with a confident smile. "You guys made up yet?"
Téa stayed silent. She straightened herself up and faced Mai and tried to put a smile on her face. "Nah... I knew it wouldn't work out anyways..." She continued to try and force a smile, hiding her sadness. "We talked... and we just thought it'd be best for the both of us to... well... you know... split up... I mean we both got someone now right? Why try to lie to ourselves and force us to love each other?" She let out a nervous laugh. "Really! I'm fine!"
"Téa! I know you still love Kaiba!" Mai tried to yell back. "Kaiba's not the one you're forcing yourself to love! It's Yugi! If you truly loved Yugi, it wouldn't be so hard-" Mai suddenly stopped and covered her mouth, realizing what she had said. Yugi's expression saddened from what he heard from downstairs.
"You don't know what you're talking about!" Téa yelled back. "If you are trying to be a friend by splitting me and Yugi up right now, then I wish I never had you as a friend!" Both were in shock at what Téa had just said. Téa's eyes watered. "I'm sorry..." She said while sobbing. "I'm sorry..." She said before running down the stairs and out the door.
"Hey Téa!" Joey called after her, but she bolted out the door before hearing him out. "Is she going to be ok?"
"I think she just needs some time to herself..." Tristan said solemnly, as if he understood exactly what Téa was going through. Yugi slowly stood up, eyes turned to the ground, as he started marching up the stairs and to Kaiba's room.
******************
Téa ran through the streets, with tears still falling from her eyes. She wiped them away with her sleeves, but they just kept coming back. Her footsteps echoed in the evening streets of emptiness. 'What's wrong with me?' She thought to herself. 'Mai was just trying to help me... but I... I... I just...' She ran across the streets, not going anywhere in particular. She slowed down and came to a stop to catch her breath. 'Why does this have to happen to me...' She repeated over in her head. "Why?" She broke down in more tears as she fell on her knees, holding her hands to her face. Her body was weak from her run. She barely had anything to eat that day...and now this...
A hand tapped her gently on the shoulder. "Miss? Are you alright?" The person asked.
"I'll be fine." Téa said shrugging it off. She tried to get up, but she was so weak that she just collapsed over.
******************
Joey followed Yugi up the stairs to find Mai still standing there in the look of shock in her expression. Joey grew worried of this and wanted to just put his arms around her... but he just knew she'd never understand the way he felt about her. "Hey Mai..." He asked with a slight nervousness in his voice. "You ok? I mean like Téa doesn't usually blow up like that all of a sudden..." He could see Mai's eyes sadden. "I'm sure she didn't mean what she said..."
"Maybe not..." Mai added lightly. "Anyways! Don't worry about me! I'm fine!" She said with a perked up attitude. "Little things like that won't bother me!" She said as she waved her hand, signalling that she wasn't bothered by Téa's words at all. "Really!" She gave Joey a reassuring smile. "I was just a little shocked that's all. I'm just gonna go outside for a bit of fresh air." She said as she headed for the balcony just outside of Yugi's room. Joey watched worriedly at Mai as Yugi headed for Seto's room.
******************
Yugi entered Seto's room without even knocking and closed the door behind him. "Kaiba..." He said sternly, his eyes still turned to the floor, his hair casting a small shadow over his eyes.
Seto still laid on the couch, just lying there as if he was a helpless child. His eyes no longer sparkled, but only looking of a lifeless being.
"Kaiba..." Yugi repeated again. This time, a little more steady in his voice, almost in the same tone as Yami if he had still been within him.
Seto turned slightly to give Yugi a 'what is it?' look.
Yugi looked up as tears flooded his eyes. "What did you say?" He asked hesitantly.
Seto thought to himself for a while, but remained silent.
"What did you say to her?" Yugi demanded much louder.
"Who?" Seto asked in what seemed to be confusion. "I'm afraid I don't know who you're talking about..." He answered dully.
This remark didn't phase Yugi one bit. "You know very well who I'm talking about." He said confidently. His eyes that were filled with determination quickly turned to eyes of sorrow. "Don't you realize how much Téa loves you?"
"Heh..." Seto gave a small laugh. "...love me..." He repeated it to himself. "If she loved me, she wouldn't have wanted to break up with me... If she had loved me, she wouldn't have thought I'd leave her for Ayumi... If she loved me..." Seto got up from the couch and walked towards Yugi. "...she wouldn't have left me for YOU!" He grabbed Yugi by the collar and slammed him against the wall. "You took away the person that meant the most to me..." Seto's eyes watered, as his grip slowly began to loosen. "...and now..." Seto turned his head so that Yugi didn't have to see him cry. "...and now... she's gone..." Seto squinted to let his tears flow freely down his cheeks. "And I thought you were my friend... Téa was wrong..."
For once in his life, Yugi could see the despair and hurt in Kaiba's eyes. Yugi's hands tightened and clenched to two fists. His frustration had finally gotten to him, and within seconds, Seto was on the floor and his cheek was red and swollen. "I can't take much more of this!" Yugi yelled out. "Would you really think I'd steal Téa away from you?! Téa and I had been best friends ever since I could remember... I'd be happy knowing that she's happy... even if I'm not the one she chooses to be with..." Yugi felt a small pain in his chest, but he continued anyways. "And I thought you understood that you were my friend as well... I just don't want anyone to get hurt..."
For a moment, Seto had almost felt guilty of what he said, but his stubbornness took over in a flash. "Look! If I wanted to be punched and yelled at with some stupid friendship talk, I could've just talked to that puppy dog friend of yours! YOU PEOPLE SHOULD'VE JUST LEFT ME ALONE!" Seto shouted angrily. With that, he yanked open the door and slammed it shut behind him as he left.
Meanwhile...
******************
Joey walked up to the balcony, still staring at Mai. "Hey." He said monotonously as he looked out into the streets of Domino with Mai.
"Hey." She replied in the same tone.
"How ya feelin'?"
"I'm ok..."
A silence broke in the calmness of the evening sky. "So..." Joey muttered nervously. He stared at Mai lovingly. The sunset caressed her golden streaks of hair and caused the pink lipgloss she applied on earlier sparkle. Joey blushed several shades of red and tried to look away.
"Thank you..." Mai said suddenly.
"Huh?" Joey suddenly perked up with a confused look on his face. "What for?"
Mai gave a light chuckle at Joey's confused puppy dog face. "Just for being my friend..." She smiled. "Actually... I should thank all of you..." She stared into the sky filled with shades of red, orange and yellow. "I've never really known what friendship is... And how greatly it really meant. I used to think that stuff like friendship and love... it was all just weak things ya know?" She turned to Joey as his face burned even more. "I guess I never really knew why... why you risked so much for your sister... or why Yugi for his grandpa... and maybe a little for Kaiba and Mokuba... but now I know..." She chuckled to herself. "You know what?" She asked.
"What?" Joey pondered.
"When I first saw you... my impression of you were that YOU WERE WEAK!" She laughed to herself. "I mean... you had to have help from Yugi to even be able to compete in the Duelist Kingdom!"
"Hey! I still beat you didn't I?" Joey debated, a little peeved.
"Ya... you did..." Mai admitted. "And I never really knew why... I guess it was because you had a purpose... Something worth winning for... a goal I guess... to save your sister and I... just for my own selfish acts."
Another silence broke again. "HEY! Aren't you supposed to tell me something like 'Of course not Mai! You didn't know better.' Or something like that?" Mai raised an eyebrow and placed her hands on her hips, giving Joey a small death glare.
"Uh... Well I... I can't help it if what you just said was true..." Joey said embarrassedly. Mai was furious, but she soon laughed it off after hitting Joey on the head. "I guess... Anyways, I just wanted to say thanks..."
"But why are you saying all of this?" Joey asked.
"You could say that Domino wasn't really my home to begin with... So I'm just going to go home..." Mai's eyes watered. "There isn't really much for me to stay here anyways..." She tried to force a smile.
"But Mai... What about us?" Joey asked, his heart basically shattering to pieces. Mai blushed crimson as Joey quickly realized what he'd just say. "I mean! Your friends! ... like Yugi, Tristan, Téa, maybe even that jerk, Kaiba... and me..."
Mai gave him a small smile. "Don't worry... I'll come back sooner or later."
"And what if you're not?" Joey asked worriedly. "If you don't... I... I'll... I'll miss you a lot..." Joey said hurriedly while his eyes looked at the ground, trying not to feel too embarrassed.
Mai's heart skipped a beat as both she and Joey blushed like mad. "Gotcha worryin' there for a minute didn't I?" Mai laughed nervously. "I'm not gonna let a little quarrel with Téa or anyone else stop me from seein' the people I love. I just need some time alone..."
"The people... you love?" Joey asked shyly.
Just then, they heard a loud slam of a door, so they went back inside to see what was the matter.
******************
Seto raced down the stairs in loud thuds and zoomed passed Tristan without even noticing he was there.
"Seto! Where are you going?!" Tristan called out, but Kaiba had already left. "Yugi! I'm going after Kaiba!" He shouted up the stairs and bolted out the door to catch up to his friend.
******************
Yugi leaned up against the wall for support and slowly slid down to a sitting position on the ground. 'Why can't he understand we're just trying to help? Why won't he listen?' Yugi buried his face in his arms, trying to think things through... But nothing he could do can make this better... 'Nothing...'
******************
Téa woke up the next morning in a cozy bed inside a large room. The bed was queen-sized and a mirror hung on the wall beside the bed. Fresh flowers were placed in a vase on the dresser next to her bed. The lace curtains were opened to a magnificent view of the city below. A watercolor painting of Seto and Mokuba together hung on the opposite wall of her bed and a shelf of books stood underneath the painting.
"This place... this place..." Téa repeated to herself. "It's Seto's mansion..." She realized in shock.
Hushpuppy24: lol~! Realize where I got that entire last paragraph^^|| It's all from chapter 2 of 'The Difference One Person Can Make'. I hate to have to use it again...but I wanted to make a point that Téa was back at that exact spot again~!^^ THERE, are you happy BEN?! (pcy-623) This guy's been buggin' me to update and I was so annoyed that it actually SLOWED DOWN my writing...-_-|| and HE KNOWS I still have a stupid math honours final coming up so I need EXTRA studying this week that I get off... but NOOOO, he's so selfish that he bugs me day and night to WRITE, WRITE, WRITE. I dun mind writing, I like to write^^ But not when I'm under pressure or EXTREME annoyance...¬.¬ anyways^^ like always. Sorry for slow updates but I had lots to do...and it's just semester turn around right now...but I got math mid finals right after next week... and -_-|| I'm at 85% for math...so this final can determine whether I get an A or a B. or down to 55% cuz this final is worth 30% for both term one and two... and I already got low marks for each so I gotta do good... O.o|| Wish me luck^^ lol
OH YEA! And if you wanna check out what's up with my life, you could check my xanga... leave comments or whatever. Just drop me a line if you want to know approximately when the next chappie can come out. ^^ It's at www.xanga.com/hushpuppy24. it's also written at my bio so bleh^^
