Two of a Kind (epilogue)
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Seto and Makoto had decided to have this conversation in the park, seeing it was one place that had enough privacy for the two of them and their younger siblings. Although Sakura and Mokuba were eating Makoto's cookies on a free bench, Makoto and Seto were still close enough to keep a good eye on them both while having this formal discussion about one another at the same time, which just happened to be underneath a large tree.
"I didn't know you had a sister," Seto said.
"I only found out about her a year ago," Makoto answered. "I have an older brother too and some parts of his personality remind me of you." She smiled at him briefly then looked across to see Sakura enjoying her food (with Mokuba joining her), unaware of the conversation between her sister and Seto. It was good to see the younger ones both liked the homemade cookies.
"Your Imouto has sharp green eyes like you," Seto said. He was also glancing in the same direction as her, though most of his focus was placed on Mokuba. Makoto spotted a soft gaze surface on Seto's face as she watched him observe his younger brother. This was the face she was undoubtedly familiar with. It was what she found intriguing about him from the first time she spotted him defending his brother against some mean boys in the orphanage. They only knew each other for a few months before Makoto was taken away to stay at her aunt's home and get enough money to have her own apartment.
"It's been a long time, hasn't it Seto-kun?" She didn't mean to change the subject straightaway but since they were here it was an opportunity to see what the person was up to these days. "I see you've changed a lot. Must have been down to the home you grew up in." Well of course he did. He was barely recognisable in the clothes he wore. And Makoto never expected him to grow into someone who was tall and attractive.
The caring gaze that Seto was using as he looked at Mokuba instantly faded when his eyes met the piercing pools of emerald that belonged to Makoto. "I see you've changed as well over the years." While crossing his arms over his chest, a smug smile appeared from the curve of his mouth and blended easily with the conceited posture he was showing. "I guess the rumours on you getting into fights are true, aren't they?"
Was he being sarcastic with her? This was something Makoto didn't expect to come from an old face. "Well I guess the rumours on *you* being an arrogant bastard are true as well, aren't they?" She pulled off a similar smirk that matched Seto's own. "You know you didn't have to tell those boys I could beat them till they cried their eyes out. I'm not THAT nasty as I look."
"Oh really? Well maybe it's the right thing to do to show you're tough around people. They'll be frightened of you and keep their distance. Besides you already showed your true colours to one of those boys, remember?"
Slapping her forehead, Makoto refrained herself from swearing aloud at forgetting such an obvious notion. Seto was right. She did show what she could do behind the so-called girlie physique so the boys were already on their way to being frightened by the girl who was known as a Karate Maniac. But still, there was a side of Makoto that was hoping to have settled that dispute without any form of violence, even if involved just one slap to the face or a gentle kick to the groin. Her friends had advised her enough times to keep her aggression down and she had been doing quite well in accomplishing this goal for quite some time now.
"Hey I honestly hate fighting," Makoto confessed. "I only fight if people challenge me or when I see someone I know in pain. I'm sure you feel the same way I do when it comes to bullies." She looked at him, meeting his indigo eyes once more and searching his face to see whether he agreed with her or not. The smug smile on Seto's face had disappeared and silence brewed between the two of them. Makoto knew straightaway he didn't wish to respond to her previous comment.
Was he embarrassed to admit something about himself? He must have the same ideal as her when it came to helping someone you cared about. One could spot this little trait in an instant with the way he reacted around those boys picking on Mokuba. He was just as angry as Makoto was with those two boys. After a moment of staring at one another, Seto turned away from her to stare straight at the large span of green grass covering the entire park.
"Is something wrong, Seto-kun?" Makoto asked.
Seto wasn't sure how to speak to her. How was it that she was perceptive? As she rightfully pointed out, it really had been a long since they met. Seeing Makoto after a long period of separation made him feel like he was once again the young helpless boy who had nothing left in his life. Makoto seemed to be one reminder of how his childhood had been prior to meeting Kaiba Gozaburo. She was possibly one of the only other people, aside from Mokuba who knew the predicaments of his past life. But did Seto want to go back to his past? Did he want to speak to Makoto like in the old days? During the many months he had been in Kaiba Corp he was constantly ruthless and cold, just like his step father had taught him. He had grown used to this other demeanour and only showed his inner care when he was alone with his brother.
"Seto-kun, I can just go if you want me to," Makoto stated understandably and made her way towards Sakura, who was still showing her genki face since they arrived. "I'm sure you have important things to do in your office."
"I don't," Seto abruptly said.
Makoto stopped walking and pivoted her head over one shoulder after hearing him say something to break the silence. "You don't what?"
"I don't have anything to do right now," he elaborated, his navy orbs looking back at her. "And yes I do want to talk to you."
Her irises sparkled unusually. Did her eyes always react a little weirdly whenever she felt such a force around a boy? Indeed she was certainly taken aback by his reaction of wanting to speak to her. "A-are you sure?" she confirmed. Seto nodded. Seeing his gesture, Makoto stepped back into place beside him, sharing the space of leaning against the large tree trunk. However she didn't realise how close she was standing to Seto. Her head was near enough to rest against his shoulder and up close she could almost see right into his indigo eyes. Somehow going past the dark irises that looked down at her, Makoto saw a trace of solitude and sadness. Seto appeared to have hidden these two emotions rather well behind that arrogant exterior of his whenever he showed up TV screens or on the front of newspapers. But why was he like this? Why was he sad? Shouldn't he be happy with his lifestyle? He was richer than many peers his age. He was possibly the absolute envy of nearly every single seventeen-year old boy in Japan.
"What are you looking at?" Seto asked, interrupting Makoto's wistful stare into his eyes.
Makoto immediately stepped backward to give some space between the two of them. "Oh uh…nothing." In her mind, she was slapping herself for being stupid to act as though she was in a faraway land. How could she be careless and let herself observe what was behind his cold stare? How could she be so damn nosy? But then again if she didn't look past those dark orbs she wouldn't have spotted the small hints of slight solitude and sorrow.
"Makoto I uh…"
"Hey, we're old friends. Just call me Mako-chan like you and Mokuba did in the old days, ok?" Makoto informed, quickly directing her gaze back at him after getting rid of the previous embarrassment from dreamily looking into his eyes.
"Well ok, *Mako-chan* if you think it's better," Seto said. She could tell he was growing more hesitant by the minute. It wasn't because she told him to call her something else but it was down to something else. Was it down to her being with him? Or more precisely, was it down to being very close to him in the physical sense? Was Seto more self-conscious than she expected?
"Seto-kun," Makoto called him, speaking in a very gentle intonation, "I know you act like a bastard to everyone because it was what your father taught you but he's not here. You don't have to show your pride or arrogance around someone like me. I'm the only one who is listening to you and honestly don't care how much of a prick people say you are." Seto's expression seemed to be growing less and less arrogant by the minute and almost became impassive. He could see from the corner of his eye that Makoto also wasn't sure how to deal with this little taciturn moment that was resurfacing between the two of them.
Seto had to admit Makoto sounded genuine by saying those things. That was what made her stand out as one of the few people who he called a good friend. It was what made him respect her from a young age. Back in the orphanage days, they talked about how their parents died and constantly watched each others backs when people bullied them or Mokuba. When he first saw Makoto arrive at the orphanage, Seto knew she was someone who didn't go down easily. She was tough as a ten-year old and still carried that air of independence up till the present. While watching her warn those boys of her fighting ability earlier today, he could straight away see her strength surface from the outside core of her figure.
"Mako-chan, I…" Seto didn't know how to explain what was on his mind and looked away from her to see his brother having a conversation with Sakura. Although he always smiled from watching at his brother, shame was stretching all over the former duellist champion's façade right this moment.
"Seto-kun, we've always been friends, right?" Makoto wondered. When she beckoned him the second time he returned his eyes to her. From the gossip he had overheard in some streets of Tokyo Makoto was known to have glared at people and force them to runaway, as well as give small bruises to bullies with her physical strength. He couldn't blame her for getting into fights for who she was. Seto himself might have been in the same shoes if he was in school and saw someone pick on his younger brother.
Gaining some confidence, he asked, "Mako-chan, do you remember hearing on the news about my first defeat against Mutou Yuugi?"
"Uh yeah I saw the report," Makoto replied, faintly surprised with the question that regarded duel monsters. "What about it?"
"Do you have any idea how bad I felt after losing for the first time?" He uncrossed his arms. "It was something I could NEVER forget." Makoto could see the fury of defeat being unleashed from his hands as they became shaky fists. Getting defeated in a duel was never a really nice experience. She herself had endured many losses from endless fights. It ruined her ego sometimes, as well as her confidence in her own strength. Were her defeats down to her occasional impulsiveness? That was a question she had to think about another time.
"Losing does suck, Seto-kun," She agreed. "Believe me, when I lose I just isolate myself and think for a long time on what went wrong. I think just because you lost for the first time doesn't change the fact that you're still a really good duellist, does it? I think you got unlucky on that day."
"I will beat Yuugi one day. I swear it," he added. Wow he was very determined, wasn't he? Makoto could tell from looking at his fists, which were shaking even more and turning a deep red shade. "You said I got unlucky on that day, huh? Well come to think of it my life has always been unlucky."
"Seto-kun, I know we've both lost our parents in the past and as much as I would like to bring them back, it's obviously impossible." She bowed her head for a moment to cover the incoming sorrow that was showing on her face. "I know how hard it is to move on. Believe me it took me a long time to get over my parents' death, even when I left the orphanage."
"I wasn't actually referring to my parents, Mako-chan," Seto said. His head descended to look at the grass by his leather shoes. "I'm talking about the time I thought I lost my brother."
"Lost your brother?! What are you talking about?" Makoto was astonished.
"Pegasus was a monster," he explained. "He said he would free my brother if I could beat him in a duel…but I had to take on Yuugi first." Makoto couldn't help thinking how difficult it was for Seto to go through such a trauma. Rescuing people was always like this, wasn't it? One had to go through many obstacles to get to the finish line and it was a matter of testing one's own limits as a human being.
"Mako-chan, I wanted to kill Pegasus so badly for what he did." Seto's fists continued to shake uncontrollably and he became aware that Sakura and Mokuba would be able to see him lose his cool if he wasn't careful enough. After all this was meant to be a private conversation between himself and Makoto and like Mako-chan said, she was the only one who was listening to him, which he personally thought was a better idea. "I don't know what he did or how he took Mokuba's soul away. He just did it. And he did exactly the same thing to me. Took my soul away and sent to some unusual place where I was lost."
"What?!" Makoto exclaimed in horror, toning her voice down immediately to not cause any curious eyes from the younger kids by the bench. She dragged him lightly by one lapel of his jacket so that she could whisper to him. "That is just…unbelievable. What was this Pegasus guy, a magician? He seriously needs a beating if you ask me." Now she found HER fists shaking with anger. But she couldn't blame herself for reacting in the same way. Seto and Mokuba were her old friends in spite of everything. If she had the chance, she wanted to personally get her hands on this Pegasus and punish him for doing what he did to these two brothers.
"Oh you don't have to worry about beating him. He's been ill for quite some time," Seto said. "Nobody has told me how he became ill though."
Makoto sighed. "Well if that's the case he doesn't sound like a threat right now, does he?" She was expecting an answer from him but all she seemed to hear from Seto was a simple 'uh-huh' as his reply. Was he not paying attention to her talking? What was he looking at? She wondered. Another question was why she could feel her face flush up once again. I thought I was capable of not blushing for the second time She mused angrily stupid hormones.
Soon enough, Makoto's facial skin temperature went up a level and she didn't have to use a mirror to see she was helplessly blushing. Seto's focus was on the hand that had firmly grabbed onto the right lapel of his coat and had pulled him nearer to the brown haired girl with shiny rose earrings. Makoto cursed in her brain for not paying attention in the way she acted around someone like Seto-kun. Why wouldn't she let her hand go? If she didn't do so in a hurry she was going to blush even more around him. He was going to talk sarcastically to her like before. But then again if he did that Makoto would surely teach him a lesson to not make fun of her.
"Seto-kun I'm sorry I…" She fidgeted when she felt one of Seto's hands touch her right shoulder. His palm gently gripped her arm to pull her much closer to him and eventually his fingers interlocked with hers as soon as they met one another. Didn't he want to hear her say sorry for jerking him so close? What if he got the wrong idea about why she did that? She didn't realise that pulling him to whisper for minute could mean other things. It was uncanny how these two had been reunited in one day (after at least six years apart) and was right now instantaneously acting differently around another.
"Mako-chan I just wanted to tell you…" His sentence was cut off by the abrupt ringing sound coming from the neckline of his coat. It was likely to be someone from his office. He broke away his hand-holding and pressed a button on his top collar. "Kaiba here."
"Kaiba-sama, we need to see you right away back in your office," the male voice on the phone said.
Seto sighed. Why did people have to call at such inconvenient times? Makoto appeared to be showing a faraway sign of disappointment just like he was at the moment. But they both understood how his job was important, wasn't it? "Get a limo to pick me up at the rendezvous point I suggested this morning."
"Understood, sir." The phone line went dead.
"Sorry about that," Seto murmured, resisting a swear word to be released. Makoto smiled at him understandably. She didn't need to say any more to let him know she was okay with him leaving her for the day. Seto called to his brother to tell him their free time was up for today.
"Nii-sama, you should have tried Mako-chan's cookies. They were delicious," Mokuba said as he approached his older brother.
"Onee-chan can cook really well, Kaiba-san," Sakura added and gave him the box that held two chocolate chip cookies. "Here, try them when you get home."
"Thanks. I will," Seto accepted the box, tilted his head to his right and exchanged one last glance with Makoto, whose face was glowing with a light tinge of red all over. Who would have thought that green could be quite an extraordinary colour when looked at more closely? "It was great to see you again and talk just like old times."
"Same here," Makoto agreed and placed her hand on his shoulder this time. "I think you should get going. Take care of yourself, ok?" Before strolling away, she waved to the two boys then turned on her heels to walk back home with her sister. Spending the rest of her day trip with Seto gave Makoto a sensation of delight and happiness. It had been a long time since they met eye-to-eye. Though they had grown up, some of their childhood qualities still remained within them and because they were good friends from the past they were able to pick out one another's traits rather well.
"Hey Mako-chan," Seto called.
She automatically stopped walking with Sakura and slowly looked over her shoulder to look back at Seto. What could he possibly want now? "Yeah?" she answered.
"Do you think you can give me your home address and phone number?"
Makoto was tempted to scream from the top of her lungs after hearing that question. Yet instead, she felt her facial skin grow much hotter than it did in previous encounters. She heard Sakura giggle next to her. Wasn't it obvious what her Imouto found funny? But then again Mokuba seemed to be sharing the giggles as well so he must be laughing at the same thing as Sakura.
Makoto was bound to look like a tomato if she kept on blushing like this. Oh duh of course he would want her home address and number. How else would they be able to get in touch if they wanted to meet up for another private conversation? After a second of nervous laughter, she agreed to give the specific details of where she lived. "Maybe you could give me your number and home address as well. I think it would be important if we need to stay in contact a lot more often, right?"
"You bet, Mako-chan," Seto smiled warmly. It would indeed be important to be able to communicate with one another occasionally. Seto and Makoto had a lot more things to catch up on as childhood friends, as well as more secrets to exchange with one another. Who said that Kaiba Seto needed to stay as the arrogant bastard all the time? When with Kino Makoto, he was back as her childhood friend in the orphanage. Not the head of Kaiba Corp.
END
[1] This little fact can relate to the Cardcaptor Sakura crossover story I did a very long time ago but on the whole I like the idea of Kinomoto Sakura and Kino Makoto being related in some way and wanted to insert Sakura as a small cameo ^_^;; Oh BTW I was in no way implying Mokuba and Sakura as a couple since I'm a staunch Sakura/Syaoran shipper.
Other notes: I hope this story makes sense. The main gist behind writing this was to prove that Kaiba Seto/Kino Makoto isn't done simply "because they are tall", which I must admit is an untrue if not irrelevant reason behind this pairing. In regards to Seto's characterisation it was difficult to maintain the arrogant guy we were introduced to at the beginning of the YGO series but I also found it important to show his gentler side as well. Or else this story wouldn't work. Hopefully Seto didn't sound really odd here. If you have questions about this story then by all means email me.