MnS: ^_^ I'm on a roll!!
KnH: ^^;;
Seto: Dammit.
MnS: ::glares:: Do the disclaimer
Seto: ::rolls eyes:: Hn. -_-' Megami no Shi doesn't own Yu-gi-oh or any of the affiliated people, places or things. She does, however, own Sasha Mave Kaiba and this half baked and thoroughly screwed plot. But, more than obviously, you wouldn't be caught -
MnS: Dead taking that. They know. You said the same thing last chapter. Can't you have some variety!?
Seto: ::glares:: no.
MnS: ::exasperated:: Fine, I'll just start the fic then.
Chapter 3: Kaiba Mansion and Lullabies
//
"Can I possibly get a picture of all of you guys? Maybe around the chess board, since it's still set up?" She ushered Seto to one of the chairs, and Mokuba got into the other one, and with that, she pulled a camera out of her pants pocket and said,
"Everyone say 'Chizu'!!" And with that, Seto smiled and the flash went off; he was truly happy for once in his young life……
//
They stepped outside and Seto wouldn't have been surprised to see a black limo in front of the orphanage to pick them up. What he was surprised to see, however, was a sleek convertible black Diablo sitting out in front, engine revved and ready to roll. The interior was black leather, and there was some strange design embroidered into the seats. Taking their bags, Sasha motioned them to get in, and she put the two bags in the trunk carefully before closing it and sliding in the front seat. She smiled as she heard Mokuba protest,
"But Seto! I want to sit in the front!" She grew even more amused as the elder boy, who was also in the back, said,
"You're not old enough to sit in the front, and neither am I. We're both sitting back here." The note of finality in the brunette's voice put a stop to his brother's complaining. Looking at them from her rear-view mirror, she asked,
"Top down or up?" Immediately the younger of the two boys that she compared to a ball of living energy bounced up and down, saying,
"Down down down down down!!" Flipping the switch next to the air conditioning, she smiled as she saw the little one watch in awe as the top went down in a fluid movement and disappear, bringing the rest of the world into view. And then, the engine was revved once more, and they were off……
Seto was awed by the size of the white mansion they pulled up to, but nothing showed on his young face, save his twin chips of ice. It had to have been at least five stories high, and at least 160 feet long by 100 feet! The amazement in his eyes told Sasha that he was trying hard not to show how impressed he was; probably because if it didn't work out, it would probably be back to the orphanage. Though Sasha hadn't said that directly, she was sure that Seto knew to some effect that that would be happening. Going around to the back and removing the bags from the trunk just as carefully as she had put them in, as if they were porcelain, she gave them to each of the boys and said with a smile,
"Welcome to your new home; I hope you like it. And don't worry; it's not as much of a maze as you might think, once you've been around it for a while." Leading them inside, she had the butler, Mace, take their coats and give them the two pairs of slippers that she had had specially made for them. The pair for Seto was a navy blue that offset his eyes nicely, the heel that was about a quarter inch from the floor read in gold lettering 'Seto Kaiba'. The younger one's slippers were inscribed in a similar fashion with silver lettering that read 'Mokuba Kaiba', and his were a deep blueish gray [1] Walking down the hallway past the grand cherry oak staircase, she showed them around the first, second, and third floors; they were all sitting areas, dining areas, studies, libraries, private lounging rooms and the like. On the fourth floor were the bedrooms, and on the fifth, she simply told them that that was where the servants slept, and that later, if they wanted, she would introduce them to all of the hired help and show them around that floor too.
Walking along the fourth floor, she showed first Mokuba-san his room, which was in the center of the west wing, and each of the rooms flanking it were also his. The one to the left was a bathroom, but the one to the right, ah, that one, before she opened the door, Sasha said,
"This is a small gift to you Mokuba-san. I hope you like it; I designed it especially for you." Turning the gold knob on the cherry oak door, she pushed it open and allowed the younger Kaiba brother to look through. Gray eyes widened at what he saw. It was an entire game room, filled with every kind of arcade game, video game, board game, and any other kind of game that a kid could possibly want. Before he went zooming off at Sasha's ok nod, he registered her saying,
"I hope you don't mind that I tried out some of the arcade games; it's alright, isn't it?" Stopping in his tracks, he turned to her, and practically barreled her over in a hug that would most likely cut off her air supply, but she seemed pleased, as she returned his hug gently, and then, as he let go, she turned him around and patted his behind as he zoomed off in awe, saying,
"Now, go see if you can beat some of my high scores!" Her voice was so much more full of happiness than it had been even when she was playing a game with Mokuba in the orphanage, or having a discussion with Seto on the equations for trigonometry; she seemed genuinely ecstatic to have them there. Then, turning to Seto while Mokuba was busy, she said,
"Seto-san, I must apologize, but your room is on the next wing over from Mokuba-san's." at his harsh glare, she flinched, as she usually did when he was angry at her, but she quickly said, "My husband decided that it was necessary for you to be a little more separate than you were at the orphanage." His glare intensified, and she looked down to the ground, the same submissive stance that she had taken with Gozobaru, which was annoying him more than anything, and she said,
"But, I have a solution for that problem, though you can't tell my husband, because he will be absolutely furious that I went against his wishes in such a……blatant fashion. Please, before you get too angry with me, come this way." Walking back into Mokuba's room, she walked to the wall next to his bed which was, just that; a wall. That is, until she reached the nightstand, in which case, she placed her hand behind it and pressed a button. Then, soundlessly, part of the wall, maybe only two, two and a half feet wide, moved away to reveal a passageway. It was upholstered in the same white carpeting as Mokuba's bedroom, so that the passage way was hidden quite extensively. Gesturing him follow, he did, entering the passage way. Then, she stepped back to the wall they had entered through, and Seto saw a keypad on the wall with a red button underneath it, which she pushed, and the door closed. Immediately after it closed, it was lit with gentle fluorescent lights that didn't shock the eyes, but also didn't leave it dim in the hallway. Walking down the path, after a while, they came to the other end, and there was another keypad with a red button underneath it. She pushed this button also, and the light went out, and the wall slid open, revealing another room that was the same grand size as Mokuba's. Again, there were two rooms that flanked it, and so belonged to him. Also as Mokuba's, one was a bathroom. At this other room, she seemed to hesitate as she said,
"I-I'm not trying to win you over with possessions; I want you to know that. I just though that maybe you'd enjoy this, perhaps to help you adjust from coming here from the orphanage. It's not really much, but I tried to design it to what I thought you would like." Opening the door for him, she kept her head down and her eyes closed, as if waiting for a blow or a negative comment, though she got neither. Seto was too stunned to even breathe. Books. Hundreds upon hundreds of books, lining shelves made of solid cherry oak that filled the room, reaching the ceiling with ladders climbing up them. Rows upon rows of books. Walking in, completely dumbfounded, he ran his hands over some of the titles of the first row of books that were his eye height. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, Alice in Wonderland, and The Wizard of Oz being some of the ones that he saw. Traveling further down, he saw a few more of the leather bound gold embossed titles that read Shakespeare's Greatest Works, Hamlet, Macbeth, King Leer, and Romeo and Juliet. Continuing over the vast quantities of shelves, he saw that there were books that ranged from History, to Geometry, to Science, to Math, to hundreds of languages, to fiction, to non fiction, to referense, to biography and autobiography. There was every kind of book imaginable there, all leather bound in hard cover and the titles were embossed in metallic lettering on the bindings. Continuing on, the shelves ended, and he received another surprise. To the right was a large cherry wood desk with a computer sitting atop it, booted up and using a scrolling screensaver which read in ice blue using a very standardized font 'Seto Kaiba's Personal Computer. Please Do Not Touch'. Further to the left was a thick table with a fully assembled black and ice blue chess set sitting on top of it. Walking over, amazed at it, he picked up the king, his favorite piece, and was in awe at the detail that was carved in the blue figurine. He assumed by weight and appearance alone that it was some kind of stone; possibly onyx, though this bluish color onyx was very rare. Behind that to the left was a reading alcove; there was a very plush and comfortable looking chair that as deep blue in color with a small end table sitting next to it with a light on it. That faced the left wall, where there was an elaborately carved cherry oak fireplace, with real logs and assumingly that was fully functional. On the table, Seto noticed as he walked closer, was a book that was bound in black leather and read in silver lettering on the binding 'The Sight' by David Clemente-Davies [2]. When Sasha saw what he was looking at, she said in a rush,
"Oh, Kaiba-san, I'm sorry, I was reading that yesterday night, and I must have forgotten to put it back. I'll do that now." She took it from him as he offered it up, and he followed her as she went up a few rows, turned left and went towards the middle of the shelf, moving a ladder over and climbing up a few rungs to reach the only empty spot Seto had so far seen in the library. Climbing down after it was in place, Seto had to ask,
"How do you remember where that goes?" She smiled at him as she lead him back to where the fireplace and chair were and said,
"Well, it's hard for me not to remember; I placed every book myself." Seto went bug eyed, and at this she chuckled lightly, just so that she wasn't laughing at him per-se, she was simply amused at his expression. Then, as if she remembered something, she turned to the computer desk and said,
"I want to show you something though; if you're looking for a book in particular, this will come in handy." Moving the small blue mouse, the computer desktop came into focus, and Seto smirked as he saw a picture of Mokuba smiling was centered in the background, and the rest of it was a deep cerulean blue. Then, she double clicked on an icon that read "Catalogue" and had the picture of an open red-leather bound book. The program came up instantly, and listed what the top column counted as 2,650,039 books. She showed him how to search for a book by title, author, subject, and/or genre. Then, she said,
"If you can't find the book you're looking for, you can search my personal library as well, which is here (she clicked on view, other libraries, Sasha) and you do the same as for yours (it brought up 5,952,481 books) . If it's still not there, not that I really recommend this, but if you really need the book and don't have time to tell me to go and buy it for you, which I will, should you ever need anything, you can search my husband's library. (she clicked the same thing again, only instead of the last thing she clicked being 'Sasha', she went up another name on the list and clicked 'Master Kaiba' which brought up only 987,563 books) But I really wouldn't recommend you doing that unless it's an emergency; my husband doesn't like it when people move his things around without his knowledge, or even with his knowledge, for that matter." Turning back to face Seto, the serious look she had donned when speaking of her husband and facing the computer screen vanished as she smiled, and she said,
"Now, I'm sure that you have noticed that none of the six rooms that belong to you and Mokuba-san are personalized; they're all completely white. I was thinking that maybe tomorrow, we would go and pick out some things for your rooms, just so that you feel a little more at home. I didn't want to decorate them for you; it didn't seem right for me to, so I thought maybe you'd like to do it?" Seto nodded; he had noticed that every aspect of their rooms was white, save the cherry oak wood furniture. Someone really must like cherry oak, that's for sure; that was the only kind of wood Seto had seen in the house. Oak grain with a dark cherry stain covering it. Looking around the room for a second, he wasn't surprised as she challenged him to a chess match……
That night, after dinner, Sasha played with Mokuba and Seto in the game room and they were having a very good time, laughing and playing with all the energy of children (in which case, two of them were). But then, over a loudspeaker that was hidden near the ceiling of the room, a voice said,
"Miss. Sasha, it is eight o'clock now. You will be needing to leave by nine thirty." Immediately the laugh died in Sasha's throat, and the smile fell from her face as she said,
"Oh. Eight already? Alright. Thank you Mace. You should go and see your girls now; when I saw Emma this morning, she was asking for you. She's almost well enough to get out of bed." The energy seemed drained from her voice, as if this news really was not good at all. Then, she turned to Seto and Mokuba and said,
"I'm sorry; I forgot, I have to go to a dinner meeting with my husband, and I have to go and get ready." She seemed to try and smile for them, but really couldn't make herself. Then, she ruffled Mokuba's hair and said,
"I'd rather stay here with you guys though. I had a lot of fun today. You can do what you like until eight thirty, and somehow, I'll get away from Stacey and Ivana and send you off to bed." Seto noticed that she really didn't seem to like those two she just mentioned. She winced a bit as she said 'Stacey' and full out cringed when she said 'Ivana'. Then, she turned to Seto and almost reached out and ruffled his hair, but stopped as she got within half a foot of the ten year old's head, and instead smiled and said,
"Well, see you at nine then." And with that, she walked out quietly and shut the door behind her.
Half an hour later, Seto and Mokuba were in Mokuba's room, and Seto was reading him some more of the book "The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland", which he had found in his library earlier. Just as he finished the third chapter he had read, which was about how many he read the little one when asked, he turned and almost jumped to see Sasha standing behind him quietly, apparently listening to him read. Seto was surprised at how different she looked now; apparently, Gozobaru wanted to show her off with his money, because she was far different from her normal conservative look.
Her long brown hair was braided and twisted and curled in a very elegant, though not at all subtle knot on top of her head, with a few perfect rings framing her face. There were now caramel colored highlights streaking it, along with a few darker chocolate colored streaks also; highlights and lowlights to make her hair look more…Seto guessed pretty, though he thought she looked fine the way she always dressed. The gown she wore was slim fit against her sculpted and curvy body, flattering her well-defined shape, and Seto could see that she was more than uncomfortable; she really didn't seem to like to be put on display.
The dress was in an oriental style with a high button collar that fastened with a gold frog [3]. It looked to be silk, and was a very flattering emerald green that complemented her golden-tan colored eyes perfectly. It was edged in the same gold that made up the four frogs that fastened the top of the dress tightly, not showing any of her tan skin. At the bottom edge, above the gold edging, was an intricately embroidered mountain scene in the Chinese style, and along it was Kanji that were in Mandarin; a language that Seto couldn't read himself. It was long sleeved, and after her elbows, where previously it was slim cut to her arms, they belled out a bit, and then fastened with a cuff around her wrist and another gold frog. The same mountain scene was continued up on the sleeves, as the mountain stretched up to very near the bottom frog on the dress. There was a small slit up the let side of the dress that was a few inches high, whereas the dress fell just below her knees by about four inches. Flesh colored stocks were covering her legs, because they were a shade or two darker than her pleasantly paleish color, and on her feet were emerald flats that were almost in a slipper form, and they were silk like the dress, Seto could tell by looking. She had yet to don make-up, but she had still half an hour before she was to leave; he was sure she would be made to wear more color than he was ever used to seeing her wear; the only make up that he had ever seen her wear was a vanilla scented chap stick, and that had no color; it just remedied her chapped lips. She smiled at him and Mokuba, though the younger was sleeping, having just shut his eyes about a minute before. Setting the book on his bed stand, Seto said good night to his brother, who was just coherent enough to say something that sounded like 'mmm-hmmm'. Sasha smiled, running a gentle hand through his wild black hair that couldn't be tamed, even when the boy had spent ten minutes brushing it a short while earlier. The older Kaiba brother noticed that her nails were freshly lacquered with a matching emerald green, though he knew that her nails were real, and she only ever had a clear coat on them. She leaned down gently and kissed his forehead, and then, stood, following Seto to his room the long way; the young brunette had decided that he'd only use the passageway when it was a necessity.
Reaching his room, Seto climbed into bed and Sasha approached his side and said quietly,
"I know I'm not your mother, but someone has to tuck you in, right?" Then, she smiled and gently tapped him on the nose with one of her long, slender fingers in a very motherly way. Then, she surprised Seto by kissing him on the forehead, just a light brush, as if she didn't want to upset him, but couldn't really help herself. Then, she said,
"Oyasumi-nasai, Seto-san. Kokochiyoi Yume[4]." Seto then responded as she pulled the white comforter up to his chin,
"Goodnight Sasha." Then, she stood from her sitting position on the edge of his bed and exited, flicking off the light switch as she went. Then, Seto rolled over, intent on going to sleep……
Blinking awake, the ten year old groggily looked at the alarm clock next to his bed. 1:00 in the morning, and he couldn't sleep. He didn't know what woke him up, but he was up now. Sliding out of bed and putting his slippers on, he yawned and decided that maybe a walk would tire him out enough that he would sleep. It always used to in the orphanage when he would wake up at some god-awful hour of the night. Why wouldn't it now? Stepping out of his room an onto the thick white carpet of the fourth floor, he started walking around randomly, going down a flight of stairs and continuing his walk. Then, he heard a strange clicking sound. It almost sounded like someone typing on a computer, though it was muffled, so he couldn't really tell if it was or not. Deciding to find out what it was for lack of something better to do, he followed the sound, coming to a door that had light coming from under it, as if there was someone in there doing something. It could be Sasha; she could be up doing some late night web surfing or something. But what if it's Gozobaru? You wouldn't want to run into him at this time of night, now would you? said a voice in his ear. He agreed with it, and then, turned to bypass the door, but stopped as a voice hissed, "ouch!" from the other side of the door, and the typing sound stopped. That sounded like a girl, and so, it could be Sasha, and if it isn't, then that's ok, because it was probably one of the staff members. Grasping the handle of the cherry oak door, he twisted it and opened the door to find none other than Sasha in the room. She was sitting at a chair that was faced towards the wall, and a laptop sat to her left on a desk that was at normal height, and she held in her right hand a paintbrush. To her right sat a table with a few cans out house paint and a white plate, which was mixing paint on. It looked like she had done something to cut her hand, because there were a few beads of red dripping off of her wrist. She calmly picked up a paper towel and pressed it to the back of her hand, rolling back the cuff of the emerald green turtleneck she now wore to get to it. Then, she turned to the computer screen and began furiously typing on the keyboard for about a minute. After that, she turned and dipped her brush in the paint she had mixed on the plate in the center of the table, adding a few strokes to the wall, though Seto was at just an angle that he couldn't see what she was painting. Stepping into the room, Sasha was just turning back to the computer, but twisted the other way towards the door and saw the brunette, smiling at him.
She stood, setting down the paper towel that she had pressed to the back of her right hand on the table and saying,
"What's up Seto-san? Couldn't you sleep?" Icy eyes seemed to say, 'well duh' as he answered in a slightly groggy, though somehow still controlled and annoyed all at the same time tone,
"No. I thought I'd go for a walk, and I saw the light on." She smiled and asked him,
"Well, would you like to finish your walk, or chat with, or something else?" Seto blinked and then said,
"Aren't you busy? I was going to leave if you were." She shook her head with another smile and said,
"No, this report doesn't have to be done for another few hours; I can procrastinate." Seto stepped forward and asked,
"What're you painting?" She turned to the wall and Seto for the first time saw what it was. It was a large red rose entwined with a Chinese style dragon. It was drawn in pencil, and was only partially painted; the top half was done, and she was finishing the bottom. The detail work was surprisingly good; you could see the scales on the dragon's hide, and the veins that went through the rich petals of the rose.
"It's just something to do to break up the work time; I can't seem to sit still for hours on end without some variation in what I'm doing." Came her voice from behind him. "It'll be gone almost as soon as I finish it though." Blinking at her, icy eyes asked the question on the brunette's mind.
"My husband thinks that I shouldn't paint on the walls and waste space, and so when I finish, it's re-painted with white house paint, and I start over with something else." Somehow, Seto wasn't surprised that Gozobaru would destroy anything that Sasha did that wasn't good for his image or his company. Then, another thought crossed the ten year old's mind.
"Why are you still up? It's 1:00, and you don't look like you couldn't sleep." She smiled back at him and set her left hand on the keyboard of the computer, typing a bit as she said, still looking at Seto,
"Well, I have to get some work done that I couldn't today; it happens sometimes, but it's not such a big deal. By the time I finish this, I should get (she looks at her computer for the first time and reads the clock before turning back to Seto) about three or four hours of sleep, which is more than enough." Seto looked at her as if she was mad, and she very well could have been. She needed at least six hours of sleep a night; eight was better. He had read that in a book once, and had proceeded to make sure Mokuba got more than enough sleep to keep him healthy.
"That's no where near enough sleep. It's half what you should have." Seto stated, wondering where in the world she got her logic from. She pushed a strand of hair from her face and stopped typing, saying,
"Well, I know it's not normally enough sleep for anyone, but I've grown used to getting an hour or two of sleep over the past few weeks, and so, it's perfectly fine." Seto, looking confused, said,
"What do you mean over the past few weeks?" She got a strange look in her eyes, as if she had just let something very big slip, and then amended,
"It's nothing important, really Seto-san-." She cut off as he fixed her with a pointed look that said that he was not going to take that as an answer. Sighing, she said with a wavering smile,
"Well, before you were adopted, I knew that I wanted to home school Mokuba-san and spend time with both of you, and so, I knew that I wouldn't get in the normal 12 hour work day that I usually did. This in mind, I started to train myself to sleep less, because I'd have to do my normal bought of work after nine and before six thirty, which is when you'll have to get up." Seto blinked. She changed her entire sleeping schedule for them? That was……more than nice. It was, insanely self-sacrificing; Seto had no idea how she did that and still wore a smile throughout the entire day when she was with them. He had no idea she only got such a limited amount of sleep every night. Then, she said before he could react,
"Now, I think you should go to sleep; you want to be fresh to keep up with that little energy ball of a brother tomorrow, because we're going to the mall." Smiling, she ushered him back up to his room, and he got the hint that he shouldn't comment on the sacrifice that she made for them. Then, another thought came. What other things does she do for us that I don't know about if she's willing to change her entire life style to make sure that we have at least one steady companion? Making it to Seto's room, the little brunette wasn't even close to being tired, and somehow, Sasha knew this. Tucking him in, she said,
"Would you like me to read you a story, or are you too old for that?" he gave her a look that said, 'no shit I'm too old to be babied'. She smiled at this and let out a small chuckle, and then she said,
"Well, would you just sit and listen to a song that I've been learning from my voice instructor? You don't have to like it; I just want someone's input that I know will be honest." After a second, Seto nodded; what could the harm be in critiquing a song that she was learning to sing? He would probably be up for a while anyway, so why not do something to pass the time; there was really nothing better. Then, she started in a gentle, calming voice:
Sweet little baby, don't you cry.
I'll rock my own sweet child to sleep,
In a cradle of cold on the bow of the river
To the shouting of the wind of the West,
And the moon above the soft sweet river.
Sleep baby dear, sleep without fear.
Mother is here, beside your pillow,
Lullaby, lullaby.
Sweet little baby, Don't you cry.
I'll put my own sweet child to sleep,
In a silver boat on the beautiful river,
Where shall he whisper the white cast gaze,
Of the moon upon the green fleshed-river. [5]
Seto's eyelids drooped heavily. She had a very pretty voice; it was calm and reassuring. As his brown hair drooped to the side and his eyelids won the battle for closing, the last thing he heard her sing was,
Mother is here, with you forever……
TBC……
MnS: So, what do you think? Any good?
KnH: I liked the lullaby scene.
MnS: ^_^ So did I!! That's my favorite lullaby in the world (see footnote for why)
KnH: Well, R'n'R and she'll update some more! ^_^
MnS: ^_^ Yep!! I will!
Footnotes:
1 - Does anyone have a clue what Mokuba's eye color is? I thought it was gray, but I'm not positive……^^;;
2 - I love this book. Go read it ^_^!! It's about wolves, in their perspective!! It's really, really cool. If you're a wolf fanatic like me, you'll think you've died and gone to heaven.
3 - This is what those knotty looking fastenings on silk/oriental style clothes are called…^^; weird, huh?
4 - This means "Goodnight Seto. Sweet (Pleasant) Dreams."
5 - This is a traditional irish lullaby that my grandmother used to sing to me when I was little…^_^ I liked it, so I used it ^_^.