Blue Destiny
Copyright information: Yugi-oh, the title and characters are all owned and copyrighted by Kazuki Takahashi, and Weekly shonen jump publication. Viz, and 4-kids are owners of the manga and anime of Yugi-Oh. Upper Deck and Konomi are owners of the trading cards and video games. All likeness to persons living or dead is purely coincidence.
Author's note: Just recently learned that there's a big difference in how Seto's foster father died in the manga vs. the anime. But it just makes this story more interesting.
I should note that I'm using the names from the original version of the show and comic. So here's how they are set up. Yugi Moto =Yugi Mutou, Tristan Taylor =Hiroto Honda, Téa Gardner =Anzu Mazaki, Joey Wheeler =Katsuya Jonouchi, Seto Kaiba =same, Mokuba Kaiba =same, Maximillion Pegasus = Pegasus J. Crawford.
Chapter 4: Game, Set, Match
Gwen looked over the waiting room for the temporary headquarters of Kaiba Corp. She smirked; of course someone who had as much money as Seto Kaiba would only spring for the best room in the building. Her eyes crossed the walls, noting the paintings. Obviously picked by someone other then Kaiba, probably a paid decorator –one that had ungodly taste for the pathetic –as they were pretty bland. She'd never seen the main Kaiba Corp tower, but had heard that everything there had some sort of theme based upon the Blue-Eyes. Right down to the color scheme on the walls. So sitting in this pastel drab room made her annoyed. Did he think that she would be moved by seeing a plain place like this? What an utter fool.
His secretary was just as bad, a smug young woman who kept looking at her like she was some sort of vixen. Gwen smiled sweetly at her and the girl, Amy, if she remembered right –not that Gwen cared, looked down at whatever she was reading. Most likely some sort of teen magazine, how perfectly like the bubble headed bimbo.
"Don't worry dear, I won't take him away from you," Gwen thought viciously, "I'll just break his heart then puree and pulp it."
Donovan tapped her on the shoulder and bent over to whisper into her ear, "Gwen, are you certain you want to do this? I mean you can wait…"
"No, I've waited long enough," Gwen hissed at him, and Donovan stood up again. He gave her a slightly saddened look, and then wandered over to the other side of the room, picked up a magazine and sat down. Gwen frowned; why was he so worried. It wasn't like he was going to be the one dealing with Kaiba. It irritated her that a boy, not even a man yet, could make so many grown men so nervous. He had a reputation for being a brat, a smug self-righteous bastard. But she could handle that, Gwen had dealt with people that would make even the strongest of men into cowing children.
"Ahem," Amy cleared her throat, and Gwen looked up. "The board members will see you now, Ms. Scotts."
"Thank you," Gwen said coldly, and brushed past the receptionist. Donovan followed, and Amy stuck out her tongue behind their backs. The board room was a dark black color, with a deep brown long table, and large glass windows. Two older gentlemen in business suits were sitting opposite each other at the end near the glass windows, and between them sat Seto Kaiba. He seemed board to be there, and Gwen gave them all a tight lipped smile.
"Welcome Ms. Scotts. I assume this is your assistant, er, Edward Donovan," said the first business man, he had on a silver tie. He looked at Donovan who raised an eyebrow and the man quickly looked to Gwen. "We were so happy that you were willing to hear our proposal."
"Indeed," said the second man, he had on a green tie. "Um, are you expecting anyone else?"
"No," Gwen said sitting down, and crossed her legs. "I do all my business myself. I find it much simpler to have only one person in charge of a business then to deal with a bunch of talent-less peons."
"Ah ha, well then," said the first man, and he glanced over at his partner. "Allow me to introduce myself and my associate…."
"No need to bother," Gwen said smugly. "Like I said, I don't deal with peons. If, Mr. Kaiba has something to propose to me, then he better tell me himself, as I have more important matters to deal with today. So what's your deal, Kaiba…"
"Or would you rather me address you as, Dirty Rotten Bastard," she thought keeping her smile on her face. Seto looked up at her with a rather irritated glance, and Gwen shot him a tight lipped smile.
"Listen, Ms. Scotts," Seto said coolly, "obviously neither of us wants to be here. So I'll make it simple. You have something I want, and I aim to take it."
"Humm," Gwen was examining a lonely plant, "really, now that's interesting. So what is it that you want to take from me?"
"Not that you care that you already have the most important thing in the world to me," Gwen thought disgustedly, while maintaining her calm nature. Seto pulled out a file and slid it over to Donovan who was sitting next to Gwen, and he handed it to her.
"All the information that you need is inside that file," Seto explained briskly and watched as she skimmed it fast, then tossed it aside.
"Let's cut the bull, Kaiba," Gwen said softly and leaned forward, glaring at him with a sneer. "You want the land that's north of here. The very lands that I own; and you want it for a little theme park of yours, don't you. A paradise for children, like Disney Land, except different, and to your own specifications. Am I right? I'll be blunt, fairytales, and idealistic fantasy doesn't fly around here. Especially not with me; the world's not a lovable place, and you of all people should know that.
Gwen leaned back as she continued, "Me, I like to live in a world known as –reality –you should look into it some time, you might find it much more refreshing then the bitter little fantasyland that you like to live in. Let's face it, the only reason you need me here is because you want me. You want my company, and my name, and everything that goes with it. You've tried to get some help from the other companies in town, and they've all let you down. Welcome to the real business world Mr. Kaiba, no one gives a damn about your dreams. They just want to grind you down until, like a hunting dog that's gotten too weak for its own good, they put you to sleep."
The two businessmen glanced anxiously at each other as Gwen concluded, "This is the truth, Mr. Kaiba. Blue Destiny isn't interested in little play-lands. We have more significant investments to maintain. Unlike Kaiba Corp, who seems oh so engrossed in the world of Duel Monsters, Blue Destiny actually has a future. And I'd rather not get stuck with some worthless and useless park, Kaiba. Oh, but wait, it's your perfect little dream isn't it. How utterly sad it must seem to you that it will never get off the ground."
Seto glowered at her, how he hated her at that moment. How dare she come and mock him like this. Who did she think she was? She had no idea who she was messing with, and that was going to cost her. He gritted his teeth; she was just like Crawford, the same smug selfish attitude. Did she think he was some sort of infant that she could talk down to? Or was she trying to get his goat right off the bat for some odd reason. He wasn't sure, but he knew one thing, he loathed her with every ounce of his heart. This place wasn't just for him, it was for Mokuba. A place that his brother could be proud to show his family, something that would solidify the name Kaiba in everyone's minds. Not just as a World Champion, but someone that others could look up to. Maybe it was a dream, but it was his, and no arrogant bitch would be taking it from him.
"However," Gwen concluded, and snapped her fingers. Donovan grabbed a file out of his briefcase, walked over and handed it directly to Seto. "I'm one for compromise. If you humor my request, I might consider relinquishing my deed to the land. That is only if you comply with the request."
Seto glanced from Donovan to Gwen; her assistant's face was impassive and hard to read. Gwen just gently put her hands together and smiled. Her sickeningly sweet façade made him ill; he wanted to smack that fake grin off her face. But, he abruptly flipped open the file and found only one piece of paper inside. He read the single sentence, then over again, and slapped the file closed. His brow narrowed and he jumped to his feet.
"Just where do you get off making that request," Seto spat and Gwen gave him a toothy grin. "You can have any cards in my deck, an entire briefcase full of cards, but not those. There is no way in hell I am letting you have those cards."
"Well, it seems I've hit a nerve," Gwen said serenely. Seto sat down and in a cooler voice said.
"I'll make it clear to you Ms. Scott, I don't like you. I don't know what game you're playing, but rest assured, I will win and you will be very sorry you tried to attack me. Believe me I have no qualms about taking thing from others, and I will do whatever it takes to get what I want. Do we understand each other?"
"Perfectly," Gwen said getting up and came over by Kaiba, and got right into his face. "But, be assured that you shouldn't go hastily tossing about threats, Mr. Kaiba. You see, I own Venture City. The mayor, the politicians, the corporations around here, they all follow my lead. And if I'm not happy they're not happy. So if I wanted to I could have you evicted from this building and make your life so miserable here in the states that you'd never be able to come back. Or I can make it that when you leave, you'll be sent home with a toe tag. Do we understand each other?"
Seto gave her a smug smile, "Do you have any idea who you're threatening, Scotts? You think you scare me, heh; you have no idea how scary I can be. Or how far I will go to protect my own interests, especially when it comes to my family, so before you go throwing out your own threats, be assured that whatever you do to me, I will deal it back. Only it will be ten times worse, and you might not survive it."
Gwen scowled at him, and stood up. She snapped her fingers again and Donovan grabbed the brief case. "Let's go Donovan; I have more important matters to deal with then this ass."
Gwen paused at the door, and looked at the stunned businessmen, "Oh and I would think over my request Mr. Kaiba. You don't want me as any enemy. I tend to go for the jugulars."
She shut the door and the two businessmen looked at Seto. He was so angry he was visibly shaking. His fists were balls, and his teeth were gritted so hard his jaw hurt. The first man looked at his partner, worried. The second nervously glanced at the first, who reached over to see if Seto was in a state of shock. His eyes were dilated as if he was looking at something far off, or at least thinking of something far away. The first man gently touched his shoulder and Seto lashed out at the man, who jerked back.
"Mr. Kaiba, are you okay?" asked the second man. He looked over at the first man who was gasping. "Sir, I'm sure you are upset but…"
"Get out," Kaiba said softly. "Get out now, while you can."
"Y-yes Sir," the second man said and the first man followed the second from the room. They shut the door quietly. Seto picked up the file and read the sentence again: You want the land; I get the Blue-Eyes.
He viciously threw the file into the garbage and got up. He needed to get out of the office, needed to get far away from anything that remotely reminded him of Gwen Scotts, and her egotistical, self-centered attitude. In his mind he'd killed her; he'd used his Blue-Eyes and had it attack her, and burnt her to ash. It had been a nice thought, something to unleash his anger upon. There was no way he would ever give her his Blue-Eyes White Dragons. She could have any other card in his collection, but the Blue-Eyes' was his, and no one was ever going to take it away from him.
On the boardwalk Mokuba sat waiting with Lucy. He'd been five minutes late, and she'd read him the riot act.
"What if someone had taken you, huh? Did you ever think of that? How would it look if I had to say to your brother that you were lost? Do you have any idea how worried I was?"
"More about your job then me," Mokuba thought as she yelled at him. They were sitting at DeAntonio's waiting for Gwen and Seto to come. Lucy was fuming, but was trying to look calm and sure. Mokuba snorted, just about everyone, outside of the techs that worked at Kaiba Corp, tried to impress his big brother. So seeing Lucy nervous was nothing new to Mokuba. He sipped his lemonade, and glanced up now and again at some of the customers that wandered out of the main eating area inside the restaurant. Some were dressed in shorts and t-shirts, and had walked off the pier. Others wore business suits, and some were dressed up as if going to a big expensive party. Mokuba found it interesting, but soon got board by the parade of people going in and out, and let out a sigh.
"Lucy," he asked and she snapped.
"What?"
"When's Seto going to come?"
Lucy sighed, "I don't know, but when he does, I'm going to tell him about you're little escapade. Really, nearly getting beaten up by a group of hoods? Why didn't you call the police? No you had to act like a hero, and you got all dirty and grimy because of it. Just because a girl helped you, doesn't give you the right to go and act like some little knight in shining armor. What would your brother say?"
"I'd ask why you weren't around to make sure he stayed safe," Seto said coming up behind Lucy. When he came out of the board room Amy told him that she had called, and left a message about where to meet Mokuba for lunch. Mokuba smiled seeing Lucy's face turn pale.
"M-Mr. Kaiba," she stuttered, "I-I didn't see you…I mean, I was watching him sir, but he wanted to go off on his own, and when he came back he looked like this. So I asked him what happened, and he told me that some girl who'd saved a cap for him was in trouble, so he tried to help her. Supposedly she was being threatened by a group of local boys, and your brother roughed them up some how. Ran into a café's kitchen, nearly got knifed, and was almost run over by a group of bicyclists…."
"And where were you when this all happened, Ms. Housen?" Seto asked, a glint coming into his eye.
"Me, Sir," Lucy looked uneasily at Kaiba, who nodded. "I, well I was waiting for him at a designated spot…"
"So instead of watching him, like I asked you to, you were slacking off," Seto concluded, eyes closed and arms crossed. He wasn't even looking at her, but could tell she was sweating. A smile inched onto his lips; some how this made him feel better knowing that he was making her distressed. She should be, after all she'd been in charge of keeping his brother safe, and she'd failed miserably.
"No, sir, you're taking this way out of context," Lucy tried to defend herself. But Seto was tired of hearing her talk.
"Enough, I'm tired of your excuses, Ms. Housen." Seto shot her a fixed stare that paralyzed her. "We'll discuss this matter later."
He gave her a sharp smile that sent a fearful shiver down her spine. For a fifteen year old boy Seto had looks that could scare a hungry tiger. Lucy lowered her head slightly and nodded, then dejectedly got up and walked away from the restaurant. Mokuba, who had been quiet until then, started to giggle; it wasn't that Seto had told Lucy off, but rather the way the people around them had stared at the scene. Seto looked like an average teenager, and anyone who met him was always struck by how mature and self self-confident he acted. Then they would get a glance at him in this mood, and how quick he knocked people down with just a few well placed words, and they would immediately give him leeway.
When Mokuba smiled up at Seto he was met with a stern look from his brother, and lost his smile. He was in trouble. Seto, while being the best brother in the world –in Mokuba's eyes, still kept Mokuba in line. He had to play the part of brother, father and mother, a balancing act he was finding harder and harder to keep up. After all Mokuba was growing up; and there were questions that Mokuba asked that he had no answers for. Some made him very nervous, and were things that only a real Father or Mother could answer. So when it came to discipline Seto treaded dangerous water. He didn't want to be strict like their step father, but he couldn't let Mokuba get away with everything.
"Well," Seto said, arms still crossed and frowning. "I'm waiting…"
Mokuba looked sheepishly at his drink, "Seto I…"
"Just tell me what happened, in your own words," Seto said, pulling out a chair and sitting down. He was upset, but he wanted to hear what happened from Mokuba. He knew his little brother wouldn't go around picking fights just for the fun of it. He'd learned long ago, like Seto, that just making people uneasy could be much more effective then actually fighting them. But if it came down to fists, Seto wanted to make sure Mokuba could handle himself.
"Well, you see," Mokuba started to say. "There was this girl…"
Seto raised his eyebrow, "Now this is interesting…"
"Maybe I should start from the very beginning," Mokuba said, and Seto nodded. "See I went to this arcade, and there was this really cool video game. And I started to play it, but I couldn't get past this Black Skull Dragon, and this girl came over and she helped me with a password. Well I did manage to get to the end of the game without her; I just couldn't get past this last boss."
"Uh-huh," Seto said with a hint of impatience and Mokuba quickly sped up the story.
"Well I won the game and then I lost…" He paused and shifted he wanted to surprise Seto, and not give away the caps just yet. "Let's just say that it was something I won, and she went and rescued it for me. So I was hurrying back to meet Lucy, like I promised, but then I heard someone yelling, and I went to go see what was wrong. And I saw the girl that had helped me in trouble, it was this jerk named Porky Hogsworth and two of his goons, and they were threatening her. So I… well I found some rotten fruit and dumped some trash on them.
Seto let out a mild sniff, but a small smile slipped past, and gave Mokuba some confidence as he continued, "Then they started to chase us, my friend gave one of them a bloody nose, and we hid in this kitchen. Well the one with all these piercing came after us, and she shot him in the face with whipped cream, and then we got out onto the boardwalk. And another one, the one with the bloody nose, came after us. But these two guys on stilts got in his way. And just when we thought it was safe, that Porky guy found us. But he was run over by a bunch of wild bikes!"
Seto blinked, the whole thing sounded like some wild movie, but Mokuba looked earnest about everything. So he simply asked, "And why were they after her?"
"Well, she sorta took their money," Mokuba explained and Seto sat up.
"Took their money…"
"Yeah," Mokuba explained. "See she was dueling them at the arcade, and some of the kids there were making bets, and when Porky wasn't looking she took the money from him."
"And you know this how?" Seto asked suspicious of Mokuba's new friend. He wondered why a person who took bets on duel games would be dumb enough to get cornered by the very people she took the money from.
"Well I saw her take it, "Mokuba admitted, but quickly added, "But she said she gave it back to the people that Porky got it from in the first place."
Seto shook his head and sighed. Mokuba had always been the more optimistic of the two of them. If anything he was far more trusting of people then Seto had ever been. He couldn't even remember a time when he trusted someone so readily, outside of Mokuba. That was one of the reasons he didn't like Yugi Motou. Yugi was very trusting of everyone, and believed that there was always some good in people, in some way or another. No matter what the situation, Yugi was always trying to tell Kaiba that he needed to trust in other people. But Seto wasn't about to be that gullible, he just hoped that Yugi's little trusting ways wasn't rubbing off on Mokuba. He didn't need his brother getting hurt because he'd believed in someone. To Seto there was only one person he trusted and relied on, and that was himself.
"Seto," Mokuba's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and he glanced at his brother. Mokuba reached into a bag near his feet, and pulled out a black baseball cap with a Blue Eyes White Dragon embroidered onto the face. "Here, I won this for you, at the arcade. It's what my friend saved for me. The wind got hold of my cap, I have the twin, and when I saw it I thought how much you would like to have it. "
Seto gently took the cap from Mokuba and looked at it. The cap was so simple, but to Seto at that moment it was worth more then any of the finest designer suits he could buy. He smiled at Mokuba, who grinned back.
"Thank you Mokuba, I really like this a lot."
"How did I know you would say that," Mokuba laughed, then looked serious. "I hope you're not mad at me…I was thinking about what you would do. I wound up using rotten tomatoes as weapons. Got one guy in the face with the juice, it was funny. "
"No," Seto said putting the cap back in the bag. He wondered if Mokuba had noticed that his ears had gotten slightly pink from hearing his little brother compliment. "But I am somewhat disappointed. I had hoped that you would have at least given them a black eye or something."
Mokuba grinned at his brother; it was Seto's way of saying everything was okay. "Are you hungry big bro?"
Seto waved over a waiter, who brought them both menus. For the next few minutes the duo looked over the list of food, and then Seto heard a ring and pulled out his cell phone.
"Kaiba," His face fell, "What do you mean that the prototype failed, I thought you had all the bugs worked out…" –He glanced over at Mokuba and mouthed, 'Morons from the main headquarters. I've gotta take this, don't move' and he walked away into a quieter corner. Mokuba smiled, and looked down at the list of foods. Several dishes caught his eye, but he didn't quite get what they were, and was about to ask a waiter for some help, when a white hand pointed to a special at the bottom of the page.
"This has gotta be the best linguine in all of Ventura," said a very familiar voice. Mokuba looked up and saw Gwen smiling down at him. Her hair was now pulled up into a set of pig tails, and she'd changed into jeans and sandals.
"Gwen," Mokuba said and she slid into the seat opposite where Seto had been sitting. "I'm so glad you made it, I thought you'd forgotten."
"What, and miss a free lunch," she waved her hand and rolled her eyes. "Like that would ever happen. Besides I couldn't stand up my little heroic prince, now could I."
Mokuba felt his cheeks grow hot, why did it only happen when Gwen was around. "So how was that thing you had to get to?"
"Huh?" Gwen said lazily, "Oh that, okay I guess. But it doesn't look like the guy I met with wants to do business with me. See I told him he'd get what he wanted if he gave me this card I want, but he's not moving. So I'll have to wait and see what happens next."
"Oh," said Mokuba. "Well why do you want the card so badly, can't you buy one?"
"Not this card," Gwen said shaking her finger. "This card is very very rare, and very important to me. One of a kind in fact, and I wish there was some way of getting it."
"Well, I hope that guy changing his mind," Mokuba said as Gwen ordered a lemonade for herself. "If the cards that important to you, you'll get it some how."
"Oh believe me, Mokuba," Gwen said with a sly smile on her face, "I will get what I want…"
"Excuse me," a waiter came over, "Are you ready to order?"
"Not just yet," Mokuba told him, and looked over at Gwen. "Can we wait for my brother, he'll be back really soon."
"Fine by me," Gwen said and thought, "I can't wait to see his face when he sees me here."
The waiter shrugged leaving the two to gab about duel monsters. Mokuba was impressed by the fact that Gwen knew so many cards by heart, and they started to play a game. Mokuba would name a card, or an effect, or attack and defense points with an attribute and type, and Gwen would name the card, or what the attack or effect was. This went on for several minutes, enough that when Seto walked back to the table they didn't notice him at first. It was only when he suddenly barked, "What the hell are you doing here?!"
Mokuba surprised by his brother's reaction upon seeing Gwen. However Gwen just smiled pleasantly at him, while Seto's eyes burned furiously. He shot Mokuba a look that read, "Talk now!"
"Um, Gwen, excuse us for a moment," Mokuba said getting up and following Seto away from the table.
"No problem, I'll just wait here," she said waving at Mokuba as he left. Seto knelt down and looked him right in the face as he spoke.
"Just what in the world is she doing here?"
"What do you mean, Seto," Mokuba said startled at how angry his brother looked. "I invited her for lunch."
"You invited that witch!" Seto spat, and Mokuba glared at him.
"Hey, don't call her that, she's done nothing to you."
"Oh, she hasn't has she," Seto thought looking over Mokuba's shoulder at Gwen who was talking excitedly with some passersby. "Just what are you up to now Scotts?"
Seto returned his attention to Mokuba who looked very confused and hurt, "Mokuba, do you know who this girl is?"
"Sure I do," Mokuba said irritably, "she's my friend, and her name is Gwen."
"So you know who she is then?" Seto looked shocked by this, and Mokuba didn't understand why. Why was his brother acting all weird? It wasn't like Seto to just up and yell at someone with no reason at all.
"Yeah, I know who she is," Mokuba rolled his eyes. "She's my friend. Seto what's wrong, why are you acting all funny about Gwen? Did something happen at the meeting today?"
"Something happened alright," Seto thought wrathfully as he looked over at Gwen who waved at him. "I smell a rat."
"Nothing to concern yourself with, Mokuba," Seto said seeing his brother looking worried. "Listen, there's something I have to tell you. That girl over there is the same one I met today and she…"
"Um, excuse me," a waiter wandered over, looking slightly annoyed. "Sir's the lady would like to know if you will be joining her for lunch."
Mokuba nodded, "We'll be right there." –The waiter nodded once then headed back over to their table. Mokuba shot Seto a sideways glance, "Listen big bro, I'm not sure what happened today at that meeting. But don't take it out on my friend, okay. Let's just have a nice lunch and you can tell me about it after she leaves. Please Seto, be nice to her."
Kaiba sighed; how was he going to tell Mokuba that the girl sitting with them wasn't his friend, she was an enemy. She wanted to take his Blue-Eyes, the very card that Mokuba had given him when they were little. That card meant everything to Seto, and he would be damned if she used Mokuba to get it from him. But there was little he could do about it now. So instead he followed Mokuba back to the table, and smiled tightly at Gwen.
"Gwen, I'd like you to meet my older brother Seto Kaiba," Mokuba said as Seto put his hand out and Gwen took it. "Seto meet my friend Gwen."
"Charmed," Gwen said with a smile, she flinched when she shook Seto's hand, he was gripping as hard as he could. A warning to her not to try anything while he was there, and Gwen understood quite well what he was getting at.
"We've met before, Mokuba," Seto said calmly, his voice took on a superior tone, and his grin became more dangerous. "Not to long ago, was it Ms. Scotts."
"Oh, now I remember you," laughed Gwen, and she smiled at Mokuba. "Well now that we've had introductions, can we eat, I'm starving."
They all sat down and ordered, much to the waiter's relief. Seto watched Gwen like a hawk as she spoke to his brother.
"So, how do you know Seto?" Mokuba asked.
"Well, if you must know, I'm the head of Blue Destiny Enterprises," Gwen said with a grin as her plate of linguine was set before her.
"You are," Mokuba said and she slurped up her noodles.
"Uh-huh. Sorry I didn't tell you before."
Mokuba looked worried, "Then the guy that you were telling me about before…"
"Wasn't your brother," Gwen smiled at Seto, who glared back at her. "Nope, it was a guy I met a few minutes after you left me. Sorry to disappoint you like that."
"No, it's okay," said Mokuba relieved. He had been anxious that Seto had been the person Gwen was talking about. He knew that his brother could be a jerk at times, but he'd hoped that he'd not been one to Gwen.
"In fact your brother was the perfect gentleman," Gwen went on, as Seto gripped the fork tighter. "We talked quite a bit, and I think we reached a rather unique agreement. Don't you Seto?"
Seto shoved a shrimp in his mouth, if he blurted out now what he was thinking Mokuba would be upset. So rather he just ate his food. Gwen's smiles were starting to get on his nerves; every word she said was twisted just to make him squirm. She was good; he had to give her that, but not good enough.
"Hey Gwen," Mokuba asked, and she blinked. "Can I see your deck?"
"Sure," she pulled the small purse from under the table and unzipped a side pocket, then handed her deck over to Mokuba. "There you go."
Mokuba glanced it over and was surprised at what he found, "Whoa, these are all Dragon and Spirit type cards."
Gwen laughed, "Yup. Spirit cards are cool, they come right back into your hand so you can use them over and over again. I've always liked Dragons though; they're such a great type of card you know. Especially when you have just the right one; Am I right Seto?"
"Seto has some cool cards too," Mokuba told her, and Gwen's smile became more of a toothy grin.
"Imagine that."
"Yeah, he's got some of the rarest cards in the whole game," Mokuba went on, and Seto was biting his tongue so hard he could almost taste blood.
"Humm, can I have a look?" Gwen asked boldly, and Seto choked. She knew she had him; he couldn't refuse her, not with his brother there.
"Well," Mokuba said and looked
at his brother who gave him a very annoyed look. "I don't think so. They're his
cards so you have to ask him."
"Oh really," Gwen said, and smiled at Kaiba. "So how about it, can I see the World Champion deck?"
"Sorry, I don't like to show my deck off," Kaiba said smoothly. "After all, you never know when there's a thief just itching to take a rare card."
"Humm, I suppose you're right," Gwen said looking disappointed. Mokuba saw this and felt very upset at his brother. How could he be so mean to his friend? After he'd asked him, begged him, to be nice.
"Seto, why can't she see your deck? It's not like she'd going to take anything from it," Mokuba said, and Seto looked calmly at his brother.
"Uh-huh, and what makes you think I have it on me."
"You ALWAYS have it on you," Mokuba shot back and Seto shrugged.
"Not today, Left it back at the hotel. Sorry."
"You're being mean, Seto." Mokuba said softly to him. "She only wanted to see the deck, she let me see hers."
"Oh well," Seto said taking another bite. "Not my problem."
Mokuba let out a loud sigh, "I need to use the washroom."
"Go ahead then," Seto told him and Mokuba got up and left in a huff. When he was gone Seto threw down his fork and glowered at Gwen.
"What sort of stunt are you trying to pull here, Scotts? Just what is your game? Trying to use Mokuba to get at me; well let me tell you something, it won't work. Crawford tried it with me too, and his men learned a lesson. And unlike him, you don't have any weird powers or whatever it was he used on me. You're just human."
"Very true," Gwen said softly as she finished her food. "But let me tell you something, Kaiba. There are things in this world that a person will do anything to possess. Things a boy such as you will never ever really understand. See that's your problem, how do you know I'm trying to use you're brother. Maybe I really do like him. Or maybe you're just jealous of him. Maybe you'd like it if he only relied upon you, and you'd like to lock him up in a steel cage where you can always keep him. You want him to be just like you, don't you Seto Kaiba. A lonely, pathetic fool, who has no friends, and no real understanding of things like love, compassion, or mercy; you'll wind up worse then Howard Hughs. Stuck in a room where all you do is stare at the walls, haunted by the past, with only your daydreams as companions and no one to mourn you."
Seto gripped the table hard as he spoke, "Get out of here right now Scotts. If you ever come near Mokuba again, so help me I'll take great pleasure putting you in a room where it's always cold, and the only companion you'll have is the mortician."
"Oooo, threats now, how nice," Gwen said getting up and throwing down her napkin. "This lunch is getting boring, and I have other things to do today."
"What make other people's lives miserable?" Seto hissed and Gwen smiled kindly at him.
"No that I'm doing just for you, Seto."
She turned to leave when Mokuba hurried out from the restaurant, "Hey Gwen where are you going?"
"Got some place to be, Cutie," She bent down and kissed him on the cheek and saw Seto grit his teeth. "Besides my guardian wouldn't like it if I got home too late. She's going to be worried about me."
"Okay," Mokuba said sadly. He really didn't want Gwen to go, but he understood. Seto was always running off to deal with business; he wished sometimes that they were never adopted by Gozaburo. That way Seto would have more time to spend with him. Gwen waved at Kaiba and headed back down the pier, she smiled to herself as she waited by a small fountain.
"He'll find it soon enough," she thought and sat down by the water, and started to wet her face.
Back at the table Mokuba sat down, and looked miserable. Seto on the other hand was stabbing at the remained of his food, she was going to pay.
"That bitch!" he thought vindictively as he caught a piece of broccoli, "I know she's up to something. Kissing my brother like that, that little…"
When he had calmed down enough he looked at Mokuba. His brother was playing with the remainder of his food, and didn't look like he was going to eat anymore. Mokuba felt just a little annoyed with Seto, Gwen might have left because she felt weird around him, and Seto had done nothing to help the situation out. He'd noticed that Seto kept sending her nasty looks, but he didn't understand why. Kaiba put down his fork, and Mokuba glanced up, "Something wrong, Seto?"
"Kid, I've never forbidden anything from you, but this time there's someone that I don't want you seeing anymore. I don't want you hanging around Gwen Scotts. Got it? No talking to her, no seeing her, and if you do see her, you ignore her. Understand."
"Wha…" Mokuba said jumping up. "Why…Seto what's wrong with you? She just wants to be my friend."
"Kiddo, listen, that girl is nothing but trouble," Seto told Mokuba who looked down at his shoes. "Please Mokuba, do what I ask. Just this once, I've never asked it of you before, but I'm serious about this. Don't go near her."
Mokuba nodded weakly, and Seto let out a long sigh. "Listen, I'm going to be right back, I need to get something to drink. Stay here okay."
"Yeah, sure, whatever," Mokuba said dejectedly. Seto got up, a look of sadness in his eyes, but he had to do it. Gwen was up to something, and she was going to use whatever means she could to get at him. Seto couldn't let her use Mokuba, she'd break his heart. He'd seen the way the kid looked at her, and he was sure there was the beginning of a crush. He just hoped that he could cool Mokuba off before he wound up getting hurt.
Mokuba kicked his feet irritably under the table thinking, "It's not fair. Why is he being so mean to her? She just wanted to see his deck, what was the harm in that…"
Klunk! Mokuba looked under the table and gasped. Gwen had left her purse, with her deck, under the table. Mokuba picked it up and looked at it. He glanced over to the doors where Seto had just gone inside, and thought a second. Then got up and hurried away from the table. Maybe if he was fast enough he could find Gwen, and get back before Seto did. Mokuba hurried down the boardwalk in the direction he'd seen Gwen go, and found her sitting by a fountain, sobbing her eyes out. She looked up and he saw her face was all puffy and her eyes were red from crying.
"Oh, Mokuba, I lost my purse," she cried. "I thought I took it with me, but I don't remember. And now my deck is gone. I don't care about the money in the purse; I just want my deck back."
Mokuba handed her a tissue, then smiled and held out her bag. Gwen gapped, and hugged him tightly. "You found it, oh you darling prince! How can I ever thank you…"
"Just don't tell my brother that I brought it to you, okay," Mokuba asked her and was about to head back to the table when Gwen grabbed him by the arm.
"I've got it, tomorrow I'll meet you down here and I'll show you all the sights of the board walk. What do you say?"
Mokuba looked up at her shining face, he thought a long time. He'd just promised his brother that he wouldn't go near Gwen, but when she smiled at him like that, he couldn't help but smile right back. She liked him, he knew it. Seto was wrong about her, she was a good person. So he nodded. "Yeah, sure I'll meet you down here, Gwen. I promise."