FW: Sooooooo, thou hath returneth to the ye olde pit of insanity ne?
Mw: You think this is bad? Try her on a sugar rush. She is a pit of insanity on her own.
Fw: I am in the duelin' sorta mood right now!
Mw: Yeah, that's because you keep watching that Pulp Fiction intro Cowboy Bebop AMV and it is getting to your brain *sweat drops*
FW: We don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, but I own Kei Ishtar and Kasumi Motou.
EDIT: THANK YOU LISA FOR OUR FIRST REVIEW! *hugs and grants a cookie* n_n!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"And another stunning twelve turn win for Motou Kasumi! She now moves up from fourth place, to second place, right behind Seto-sama! Is he the only one who can stop this Osaka Beauty?" the announcer said with excitement and curiosity.
Kasumi winked and blew a kiss to the crowd, and soon requests for a song were heard from the crowd.
"Play Pulp Fiction!"
"Ride on Shooting Star!"
"Iie, iie! Play Love Panic!"
"IIIIEEE!!!! Play Voice!!"
"Otome Ranman!"
"Tank!"
"Give a Reason!"
"Heart of Swords!"
"FIRE SOUL LOVE!!"
Kasumi starting laughing when it was a tie for Love Panic, Tank and Fire Soul Love. She then decided to do something interesting, and played snippets of all of the suggested songs she had heard, so well it seemed like one song. Many of the people in the stands began dancing, cheering and singing along if they knew the words. Seto actually felt somewhat attracted to her for her sheer talent, he figured it must take a somewhat large brain to pull what she was doing off, not to mention well.
"Maybe she is smarter than she lets off, and it wouldn't surprise me in the least." he thought to himself, amused as Anzu danced with Shizuka right behind him. For once, he felt at peace with people, simply because he realize that although they not be as gifted as he is, they all have something in common with him. A dire love for music. Watching Kasumi play, opened something in his heart he never thought was possible. Acceptance of those around him. Acceptance of his peers. And most of all, acceptance of Kasumi as his full equal.
"Arigatou!" Kasumi yelled, taking her leave off the arena, probably going backstage to rest and massage her calloused hands.
"Up next, the dinosaur champion Ryuzaki versus the Exotic Beauty from Egypt Ishtar Kei!"
The crowd began to roar and cheer. Such a match, was destined to be a good one, even if it ended up becoming one sided. Seto moved backstage, to find Kei, and give her assurance, that even if she lost this one duel, she had a chance to come back. Being in third place meant if she lost, even thought it would be her only strike against her, she would not qualify for the semi finals unless she won the match designed to finish her off and disqualify her or save herself from just that.
"Kei!" Seto said, wrapping his arms with great ease around her waist.
"Oh! Seto-sama! Did you come to see me duel?" Kei replied, staying ever cheerful, thought the odds were high against her.
"I came to give you hope. The odds are stacked against you, but if you lose, don't worry, soon after you have a chance to save yourself, so please don't worry." he said, kissing the top of her head and her neck.
"I am not, and if I lose, I won't be mad, sure I will be sad but if I have you, Kasumi-san, Yuugi-tatchi, Katsuya-sama and everyone else I know I will be alright. Friends can do almost anything, and are always there for you." she said, hugging Seto, unwilling to let him go, until he told her it was time to go. Kei gave him a small nuzzle as a sign of affection and he kissed her hand for good luck. Seto knew she would do well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Oh no! And Ryuzaki's King Rex ((FW: sorry, we don't have everything about the show, so some monsters may have their cheesy American names, sorry)) destroys another low level monster! What happened to the eleven turn miracle girl?" the announcer said somewhat depressed, as he was losing money from a bet he placed earlier.
Ryuzaki simply laughs and demeans her for even trying.
"What a pathetic excuse for a duelist! You can't even give me one good monster to defeat!"
In fact, the reason Kei defeated people in eleven or so turns, was because that's the exact number of actual cards in her deck. She would take the rare card of the loser, and steal some other, good but not so rare cards. This round, like previous ones, gave her blank cards and monsters used for spells, traps or sacrifice.
"What am I gonna do?" Kei thought, setting one monster face down and a trap card.
"I attack whatever pathetic face down card you have." Ryuzaki said, losing interest in the duel, but certainly not in Kei.
"I turn over my trap Swords of Revealing light!" Kei said, turning over the trap.
"Oooohhh so you get three more turns I am soooo scared!" Ryuzaki said, full of sarcasm.
"I end my turn."
"I pass this turn, just go on, make your move, and lose so I can get something out of you."
The crowd was upset by his comment and some began throwing things at Ryuzaki.
"Aw shut it you losers!!"
On her last turn of the trap card, Kei pulled her savior card. One that she always thought resembled her in a way.
"I sacrifice my face down monster to summon Black magician Girl!" as the preppy magician materialized in front of her, and Kei signaled for the attack holding out her arm, much like how BMG held her staff for attacks. The crowd cheered as Kei slowly made a comeback.
"That's spirit and trust in your cards." Yami thought, backstage with Jounouchi and Mai.
"K-E-I! Lets G-O Go go GO!! Anzu, Honda, Ootogi and Shizuka all cheered, cheering with Japanese paper fans, as Ryou copied them with out the aid of fans. Mokuba and Obaba cheered along, and Obaba even got out her own fans and joined in, as Mokuba cried out with joy for his new Onee-san, seeing as how his older brother and her were in a relationship.
"She is wonderful, I hope to actually fight her one day, just for fun.." Seto thought, trying to keep his mind off Kei and on the duel at hand.
"Ha! You think I will be defeated like this?" Ryuzaki shouted, nearly laughing insanely. "I play Change of Heart! And take control of your Black Magician Girl! And thus I destroy your remaining life points." he said laughing.
"Hmm, I know, I'll fold, on one condition, since you are pretty cute."
"What is that?" Kei said, with a mix of anger and worry.
"I'll fold if you sleep with me how's about that?"
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Anzu screamed
"KISAMA!" Seto yelled, now at his breaking point.
The audience was full of insults and yelling for justice. Jounouchi had no words to express his anger, so he just tossed his chair that he was sitting on at Ryuzaki's head, with accurate precision, and giving Ryuzaki a nice large bump on his forehead.
"I guess that is a no. ATTACK!"
The Black Magician Girl, under control, unwillingly attacked her mistress, and as she did, it looked as if she was crying. Kei was sent flying back by the blast because she was so light, and before making contact with the wall, was caught by spectators.
"The winner of this duel…is Dinosaur Ryuzaki…" the announcer retorted with disgust as the crowd booed Ryuzaki.
Kei ran backstage crying, Seto in full pursuit, leaving Ryuzaki to the angry Yami, Honda, Jounouchi and Ootogi.
Seto took a crying Kei into his arms, trying to get her to look at him, when Ryuzaki walks in, taunting Kei about how she can't even cheer herself up, and she must look to the coldest man on earth to do so.
Seto walks over, towering above Ryuzaki, seeing that the five men outside have inflicted quite a few injuries already, but this does not make him feel any worse about beating the living shit out of Ryuzaki.
"And you say one more thing about any one woman in that manner, and the six of us will come upon you like Harpies to a murderer." Seto said coldly, as he spat on Ryuzaki.
"You are hereby banned from any tournaments I hold. Be gone before I make you scarce myself."
Without any more words, Ryuzaki ran helter skelter as fast as his beaten legs could carry him.
"Don't worry, if he tries anything on you either myself, Mou hitori no Yuugi, Ootogi, Honda, Jounouchi or Anzu will help. Alright? Hey look at me." Seto said with sudden softness, lifting up her chin for her eyes to meet his. For a long moment, the feeling Seto had of belonging on this earth just for her sprang forth in his heart like a mad stampede. The two embraced, not letting go, until the loud speaker announced that Haga would play Mai. Seto prayed Mai would win, as he gently caressed Kei's hair as she wept on his shoulder.
"I…I…I…can't even beat someone like Ryuzaki what chances do I have against people like Katsyua-sama or Mai-san?" Kei choked out, between small sobs.
"Shh, do you want to rest? Where is your room?"
Kei gently points to the door behind her, the smallest room there is. Seto gently takes her inside, sits himself on the small couch, seats Kei in his lap, and holds her as she gently cries her heart out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seto did not care that he was missing a good duel. He didn't care that the next duel she could be heartbroken and disqualified. He didn't care that his shirt was fresh with her tears. No. All he cared for was her well being. Seto notice a pair of small, blue-green eyes looking up at him. He smiled gently and asked her:
"Feel better my love?"
Kei nods, resting her head on his shoulder, leans in to kiss him, removing her veil when he stops her.
"Don't let me see your face until we both truly know we love each other for who we are…not what we are" Seto said, brushing hair from her eyes, closing his. He could feel the veil drop into his lap, and the warmth of her lips. The two kissed for a long time, ignoring cheers of the crowd, ignoring everything. Nothing stopped them until the next duel was announced.
"The next duel will be….Kaiba Seto.."
Seto perked up, looking up, as Kei put her veil back on.
"versus, oh god she doesn't have a chance……Ishtar…Kei…" the announcer said with shock and horror, along with worry, and everything grew deadly silent.
Kei began to shake, tears filling her eyes.
"I am done for, I can't fight you! I can't even beat Ryuzaki!" she said, beginning to weep uncontrollably.
Seto dried her tears, and held her close, so she could hear his heartbeat.
"Hear that? It beats for you and only you. No matter what happens nothing will change that. But just because you're my love doesn't mean I'll go easy on you. Alright?"
"I don't expect you to, in fact, as much as I hate losing, this should be good experience for me…" Kei said, trying to find a good outlook for this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But the outlook was not good. For within ten minutes, Seto had his Blue Eyes Ultimate dragon out, somewhat inadvertently, lost in his own power and darkness. Kei scrambled to think of what to do, until she had nothing left. She could not put her monsters to defense any more, she had used up her swords of revealing light, she had nothing but the card she loved the most. The Black Magician Girl looked back at her owner, and nodded.
"No matter what." it seemed as if she said to Kei, who nodded back, still afraid and on the brink of tears, but she knew they would always be friends despite their impending doom.
"I end my turn." Kei said, staring the dragon in the face as best she could without showing fear, even though fear shot through her veins like cold ice.
Seto thought to himself about what he had done to her.
"I love her, and yet I go and scare her, what kind of man am I? I could blow her away and win, but…I could also….should I?….why am I even thinking of it? I already know the answer." Seto's hand reaches for his deck.
A white line shoots across Isis as she sits with other semi-finalists, as Rishid leans over concerned.
"What is wrong Isis-sama?"
"Mr. Kaiba…he is…he's going to…."
"Going to what?!"
Yuugi and friends, along with Obaba and Mokuba leaned closer to Isis to hear what she had predicted.
"He is going to forfeit for Kei, giving her fourth place and dropping him into the wild card race with the duelists placed at 5th through 12th ….he could lose it all….just for her."
The small group blinked in astonishment. Seto Kaiba did not fold, for ANYTHING.
"He must really love her." Anzu points out.
"Kaiba….giving up?" Jounouchi wonders in amazement.
"I will fold. I give the duel to Kei." Seto said, placing his hand over his deck, walking out of the deathly quiet stadium. Cheers soon erupt and girls scream and rave about him being a gentleman, boys thanking him for keeping another pretty face in the tournament. Kei runs as fast as she can backstage, rips off her veil and kisses Seto for the longest time, then hugs him repeating the word "Aishiteru" over and over. Seto smiled, looking down into a face of beauty and innocence. Two big blue green eyes, blonde hair cascading down her back, some falling into her face at the sides, dark black makeup enhanced her haunting eyes. Her skin was soft to the touch, and her smile was so sweet it melted Seto's heart. He swept Kei up into his arms and spun her around wildly, as her laughter rang down the halls. He knew trials were soon coming, but he did not care, right now his world was perfect as the two danced to a song on the radio in Kei's room. Her voice was enchanting, as she sang along to "Blue As the Sky". Seto recognized it as the song from a favorite movie of Mokuba's…Card Captor Sakura. ((Writers: *snicker* Wonder what else Moku-kun likes *writers are thus mauled*)) Two hours passed, then Seto was called away to earn his spot in the finals.
And he did.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The finalists lined up, Kei absent of course, because she was resting from her duel. Kasumi stood proudly, next to Yami, then Mai, followed by a blank spot where Kei would be, then Seto, Jounouchi, Rishid, and another blank spot. The announcer said the final finalist asked for his name not to be revealed until he said so. Kasumi played a few songs, and bid goodbye to her fans, as did Mai. The two giggled until they reached their rooms, reitring for the day, until the place where the finals were to be held was thus revealed to them. Seto and the others waited for the last finalist, as Kei ran in, concealing her face, much to Seto's dismay, and took her place. Right as the last audience member left, and Anzu, Honda, Shizuka, Ootogi, Obaba, Ms. Motou, Jii-chan, and Mokuba joined the duelists, giving them congratulations, and more to Seto and Kei, hoping they would blossom into a perfect couple. A strange wind began to blow through an open door. Isis, Rishid, Kei, and the item holders, looked up. They sensed another item. A familiar one. One that meant nothing good.
"I must apologize for being late. I had business to attend to after I finished the wild card round." said a man in a long black coat. "It is so wonderful to see you all here, and especially you…Kei-chan…" Malik said, removing his hood with an evil smirk on his face.
Kei's eyes widened in horror and she screamed. Seto immediately put himself between Malik and Kei.
"Back away from my wife, Kaiba-kun.." Malik said, with a calm touch of insanity to his voice.
"NO! I am not your wife! I hate you!" Kei screamed, on the verge of tears. Everyone stood, confused, Seto was growling, deciding which way to kill Malik, and Isis and Rishid went to Kei, aiding in preventing Malik from harming her.
"Trying to force me into a marriage and trying three times to kidnap and rape me is not what I call love."
"Your right, it's more of an obsession…." Malik said trailing off into the depths of his insanity.
"Stay away from her or you will regret it, my blood or not Malik." Isis said, holding her student close to her.
"Malik-sama, I to, will protect her from you, no matter what."
"You hurt her and I will show you things worse than death." Seto growled through gritted teeth.
The entire group was now clustered around Kei, Jounouchi, Seto and Yami at the front.
"Tsk tsk tsk. This is no fun at all, I think I shall take my leave." Malik said, walking down the hall, cloak flowing behind him.
Kei ran into the arms of Seto, as he watched a man he was beginning to loathe as he had loathed his step-father.
"I swear on my life I will protect you from any harm. Don't worry. You just go and we'll get some sleep alright?" Seto said, drying the eyes of Kei.
"I second that. I will give my life to protect you as well." Jounouchi vowed, bowing.
"As shall I." Yami added, bending on one knee.
"See? You have two of the best men I know protecting you, as well as your teacher, friends, and myself. Please don't be afraid, I hate it, it does nothing for your spirit." Seto said, astonished at what he had just said about Yami and Jounouchi.
"Lets all find ourselves some rooms and rest ne?" Anzu requested, as tomorrow was going to be a long day.
"HAI!" was the response, as everyone said their goodnights and went off to bed. Kei tried going to her room, but Seto took her with him into his room. As soon as he lay next to her, she immediately rested her head on his chest, and fell to sleep, as he put his arms around her.
"My little angel…" Seto said, drifting off to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mw: You think this is bad? Try her on a sugar rush. She is a pit of insanity on her own.
Fw: I am in the duelin' sorta mood right now!
Mw: Yeah, that's because you keep watching that Pulp Fiction intro Cowboy Bebop AMV and it is getting to your brain *sweat drops*
FW: We don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, but I own Kei Ishtar and Kasumi Motou.
EDIT: THANK YOU LISA FOR OUR FIRST REVIEW! *hugs and grants a cookie* n_n!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"And another stunning twelve turn win for Motou Kasumi! She now moves up from fourth place, to second place, right behind Seto-sama! Is he the only one who can stop this Osaka Beauty?" the announcer said with excitement and curiosity.
Kasumi winked and blew a kiss to the crowd, and soon requests for a song were heard from the crowd.
"Play Pulp Fiction!"
"Ride on Shooting Star!"
"Iie, iie! Play Love Panic!"
"IIIIEEE!!!! Play Voice!!"
"Otome Ranman!"
"Tank!"
"Give a Reason!"
"Heart of Swords!"
"FIRE SOUL LOVE!!"
Kasumi starting laughing when it was a tie for Love Panic, Tank and Fire Soul Love. She then decided to do something interesting, and played snippets of all of the suggested songs she had heard, so well it seemed like one song. Many of the people in the stands began dancing, cheering and singing along if they knew the words. Seto actually felt somewhat attracted to her for her sheer talent, he figured it must take a somewhat large brain to pull what she was doing off, not to mention well.
"Maybe she is smarter than she lets off, and it wouldn't surprise me in the least." he thought to himself, amused as Anzu danced with Shizuka right behind him. For once, he felt at peace with people, simply because he realize that although they not be as gifted as he is, they all have something in common with him. A dire love for music. Watching Kasumi play, opened something in his heart he never thought was possible. Acceptance of those around him. Acceptance of his peers. And most of all, acceptance of Kasumi as his full equal.
"Arigatou!" Kasumi yelled, taking her leave off the arena, probably going backstage to rest and massage her calloused hands.
"Up next, the dinosaur champion Ryuzaki versus the Exotic Beauty from Egypt Ishtar Kei!"
The crowd began to roar and cheer. Such a match, was destined to be a good one, even if it ended up becoming one sided. Seto moved backstage, to find Kei, and give her assurance, that even if she lost this one duel, she had a chance to come back. Being in third place meant if she lost, even thought it would be her only strike against her, she would not qualify for the semi finals unless she won the match designed to finish her off and disqualify her or save herself from just that.
"Kei!" Seto said, wrapping his arms with great ease around her waist.
"Oh! Seto-sama! Did you come to see me duel?" Kei replied, staying ever cheerful, thought the odds were high against her.
"I came to give you hope. The odds are stacked against you, but if you lose, don't worry, soon after you have a chance to save yourself, so please don't worry." he said, kissing the top of her head and her neck.
"I am not, and if I lose, I won't be mad, sure I will be sad but if I have you, Kasumi-san, Yuugi-tatchi, Katsuya-sama and everyone else I know I will be alright. Friends can do almost anything, and are always there for you." she said, hugging Seto, unwilling to let him go, until he told her it was time to go. Kei gave him a small nuzzle as a sign of affection and he kissed her hand for good luck. Seto knew she would do well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Oh no! And Ryuzaki's King Rex ((FW: sorry, we don't have everything about the show, so some monsters may have their cheesy American names, sorry)) destroys another low level monster! What happened to the eleven turn miracle girl?" the announcer said somewhat depressed, as he was losing money from a bet he placed earlier.
Ryuzaki simply laughs and demeans her for even trying.
"What a pathetic excuse for a duelist! You can't even give me one good monster to defeat!"
In fact, the reason Kei defeated people in eleven or so turns, was because that's the exact number of actual cards in her deck. She would take the rare card of the loser, and steal some other, good but not so rare cards. This round, like previous ones, gave her blank cards and monsters used for spells, traps or sacrifice.
"What am I gonna do?" Kei thought, setting one monster face down and a trap card.
"I attack whatever pathetic face down card you have." Ryuzaki said, losing interest in the duel, but certainly not in Kei.
"I turn over my trap Swords of Revealing light!" Kei said, turning over the trap.
"Oooohhh so you get three more turns I am soooo scared!" Ryuzaki said, full of sarcasm.
"I end my turn."
"I pass this turn, just go on, make your move, and lose so I can get something out of you."
The crowd was upset by his comment and some began throwing things at Ryuzaki.
"Aw shut it you losers!!"
On her last turn of the trap card, Kei pulled her savior card. One that she always thought resembled her in a way.
"I sacrifice my face down monster to summon Black magician Girl!" as the preppy magician materialized in front of her, and Kei signaled for the attack holding out her arm, much like how BMG held her staff for attacks. The crowd cheered as Kei slowly made a comeback.
"That's spirit and trust in your cards." Yami thought, backstage with Jounouchi and Mai.
"K-E-I! Lets G-O Go go GO!! Anzu, Honda, Ootogi and Shizuka all cheered, cheering with Japanese paper fans, as Ryou copied them with out the aid of fans. Mokuba and Obaba cheered along, and Obaba even got out her own fans and joined in, as Mokuba cried out with joy for his new Onee-san, seeing as how his older brother and her were in a relationship.
"She is wonderful, I hope to actually fight her one day, just for fun.." Seto thought, trying to keep his mind off Kei and on the duel at hand.
"Ha! You think I will be defeated like this?" Ryuzaki shouted, nearly laughing insanely. "I play Change of Heart! And take control of your Black Magician Girl! And thus I destroy your remaining life points." he said laughing.
"Hmm, I know, I'll fold, on one condition, since you are pretty cute."
"What is that?" Kei said, with a mix of anger and worry.
"I'll fold if you sleep with me how's about that?"
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Anzu screamed
"KISAMA!" Seto yelled, now at his breaking point.
The audience was full of insults and yelling for justice. Jounouchi had no words to express his anger, so he just tossed his chair that he was sitting on at Ryuzaki's head, with accurate precision, and giving Ryuzaki a nice large bump on his forehead.
"I guess that is a no. ATTACK!"
The Black Magician Girl, under control, unwillingly attacked her mistress, and as she did, it looked as if she was crying. Kei was sent flying back by the blast because she was so light, and before making contact with the wall, was caught by spectators.
"The winner of this duel…is Dinosaur Ryuzaki…" the announcer retorted with disgust as the crowd booed Ryuzaki.
Kei ran backstage crying, Seto in full pursuit, leaving Ryuzaki to the angry Yami, Honda, Jounouchi and Ootogi.
Seto took a crying Kei into his arms, trying to get her to look at him, when Ryuzaki walks in, taunting Kei about how she can't even cheer herself up, and she must look to the coldest man on earth to do so.
Seto walks over, towering above Ryuzaki, seeing that the five men outside have inflicted quite a few injuries already, but this does not make him feel any worse about beating the living shit out of Ryuzaki.
"And you say one more thing about any one woman in that manner, and the six of us will come upon you like Harpies to a murderer." Seto said coldly, as he spat on Ryuzaki.
"You are hereby banned from any tournaments I hold. Be gone before I make you scarce myself."
Without any more words, Ryuzaki ran helter skelter as fast as his beaten legs could carry him.
"Don't worry, if he tries anything on you either myself, Mou hitori no Yuugi, Ootogi, Honda, Jounouchi or Anzu will help. Alright? Hey look at me." Seto said with sudden softness, lifting up her chin for her eyes to meet his. For a long moment, the feeling Seto had of belonging on this earth just for her sprang forth in his heart like a mad stampede. The two embraced, not letting go, until the loud speaker announced that Haga would play Mai. Seto prayed Mai would win, as he gently caressed Kei's hair as she wept on his shoulder.
"I…I…I…can't even beat someone like Ryuzaki what chances do I have against people like Katsyua-sama or Mai-san?" Kei choked out, between small sobs.
"Shh, do you want to rest? Where is your room?"
Kei gently points to the door behind her, the smallest room there is. Seto gently takes her inside, sits himself on the small couch, seats Kei in his lap, and holds her as she gently cries her heart out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seto did not care that he was missing a good duel. He didn't care that the next duel she could be heartbroken and disqualified. He didn't care that his shirt was fresh with her tears. No. All he cared for was her well being. Seto notice a pair of small, blue-green eyes looking up at him. He smiled gently and asked her:
"Feel better my love?"
Kei nods, resting her head on his shoulder, leans in to kiss him, removing her veil when he stops her.
"Don't let me see your face until we both truly know we love each other for who we are…not what we are" Seto said, brushing hair from her eyes, closing his. He could feel the veil drop into his lap, and the warmth of her lips. The two kissed for a long time, ignoring cheers of the crowd, ignoring everything. Nothing stopped them until the next duel was announced.
"The next duel will be….Kaiba Seto.."
Seto perked up, looking up, as Kei put her veil back on.
"versus, oh god she doesn't have a chance……Ishtar…Kei…" the announcer said with shock and horror, along with worry, and everything grew deadly silent.
Kei began to shake, tears filling her eyes.
"I am done for, I can't fight you! I can't even beat Ryuzaki!" she said, beginning to weep uncontrollably.
Seto dried her tears, and held her close, so she could hear his heartbeat.
"Hear that? It beats for you and only you. No matter what happens nothing will change that. But just because you're my love doesn't mean I'll go easy on you. Alright?"
"I don't expect you to, in fact, as much as I hate losing, this should be good experience for me…" Kei said, trying to find a good outlook for this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But the outlook was not good. For within ten minutes, Seto had his Blue Eyes Ultimate dragon out, somewhat inadvertently, lost in his own power and darkness. Kei scrambled to think of what to do, until she had nothing left. She could not put her monsters to defense any more, she had used up her swords of revealing light, she had nothing but the card she loved the most. The Black Magician Girl looked back at her owner, and nodded.
"No matter what." it seemed as if she said to Kei, who nodded back, still afraid and on the brink of tears, but she knew they would always be friends despite their impending doom.
"I end my turn." Kei said, staring the dragon in the face as best she could without showing fear, even though fear shot through her veins like cold ice.
Seto thought to himself about what he had done to her.
"I love her, and yet I go and scare her, what kind of man am I? I could blow her away and win, but…I could also….should I?….why am I even thinking of it? I already know the answer." Seto's hand reaches for his deck.
A white line shoots across Isis as she sits with other semi-finalists, as Rishid leans over concerned.
"What is wrong Isis-sama?"
"Mr. Kaiba…he is…he's going to…."
"Going to what?!"
Yuugi and friends, along with Obaba and Mokuba leaned closer to Isis to hear what she had predicted.
"He is going to forfeit for Kei, giving her fourth place and dropping him into the wild card race with the duelists placed at 5th through 12th ….he could lose it all….just for her."
The small group blinked in astonishment. Seto Kaiba did not fold, for ANYTHING.
"He must really love her." Anzu points out.
"Kaiba….giving up?" Jounouchi wonders in amazement.
"I will fold. I give the duel to Kei." Seto said, placing his hand over his deck, walking out of the deathly quiet stadium. Cheers soon erupt and girls scream and rave about him being a gentleman, boys thanking him for keeping another pretty face in the tournament. Kei runs as fast as she can backstage, rips off her veil and kisses Seto for the longest time, then hugs him repeating the word "Aishiteru" over and over. Seto smiled, looking down into a face of beauty and innocence. Two big blue green eyes, blonde hair cascading down her back, some falling into her face at the sides, dark black makeup enhanced her haunting eyes. Her skin was soft to the touch, and her smile was so sweet it melted Seto's heart. He swept Kei up into his arms and spun her around wildly, as her laughter rang down the halls. He knew trials were soon coming, but he did not care, right now his world was perfect as the two danced to a song on the radio in Kei's room. Her voice was enchanting, as she sang along to "Blue As the Sky". Seto recognized it as the song from a favorite movie of Mokuba's…Card Captor Sakura. ((Writers: *snicker* Wonder what else Moku-kun likes *writers are thus mauled*)) Two hours passed, then Seto was called away to earn his spot in the finals.
And he did.
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The finalists lined up, Kei absent of course, because she was resting from her duel. Kasumi stood proudly, next to Yami, then Mai, followed by a blank spot where Kei would be, then Seto, Jounouchi, Rishid, and another blank spot. The announcer said the final finalist asked for his name not to be revealed until he said so. Kasumi played a few songs, and bid goodbye to her fans, as did Mai. The two giggled until they reached their rooms, reitring for the day, until the place where the finals were to be held was thus revealed to them. Seto and the others waited for the last finalist, as Kei ran in, concealing her face, much to Seto's dismay, and took her place. Right as the last audience member left, and Anzu, Honda, Shizuka, Ootogi, Obaba, Ms. Motou, Jii-chan, and Mokuba joined the duelists, giving them congratulations, and more to Seto and Kei, hoping they would blossom into a perfect couple. A strange wind began to blow through an open door. Isis, Rishid, Kei, and the item holders, looked up. They sensed another item. A familiar one. One that meant nothing good.
"I must apologize for being late. I had business to attend to after I finished the wild card round." said a man in a long black coat. "It is so wonderful to see you all here, and especially you…Kei-chan…" Malik said, removing his hood with an evil smirk on his face.
Kei's eyes widened in horror and she screamed. Seto immediately put himself between Malik and Kei.
"Back away from my wife, Kaiba-kun.." Malik said, with a calm touch of insanity to his voice.
"NO! I am not your wife! I hate you!" Kei screamed, on the verge of tears. Everyone stood, confused, Seto was growling, deciding which way to kill Malik, and Isis and Rishid went to Kei, aiding in preventing Malik from harming her.
"Trying to force me into a marriage and trying three times to kidnap and rape me is not what I call love."
"Your right, it's more of an obsession…." Malik said trailing off into the depths of his insanity.
"Stay away from her or you will regret it, my blood or not Malik." Isis said, holding her student close to her.
"Malik-sama, I to, will protect her from you, no matter what."
"You hurt her and I will show you things worse than death." Seto growled through gritted teeth.
The entire group was now clustered around Kei, Jounouchi, Seto and Yami at the front.
"Tsk tsk tsk. This is no fun at all, I think I shall take my leave." Malik said, walking down the hall, cloak flowing behind him.
Kei ran into the arms of Seto, as he watched a man he was beginning to loathe as he had loathed his step-father.
"I swear on my life I will protect you from any harm. Don't worry. You just go and we'll get some sleep alright?" Seto said, drying the eyes of Kei.
"I second that. I will give my life to protect you as well." Jounouchi vowed, bowing.
"As shall I." Yami added, bending on one knee.
"See? You have two of the best men I know protecting you, as well as your teacher, friends, and myself. Please don't be afraid, I hate it, it does nothing for your spirit." Seto said, astonished at what he had just said about Yami and Jounouchi.
"Lets all find ourselves some rooms and rest ne?" Anzu requested, as tomorrow was going to be a long day.
"HAI!" was the response, as everyone said their goodnights and went off to bed. Kei tried going to her room, but Seto took her with him into his room. As soon as he lay next to her, she immediately rested her head on his chest, and fell to sleep, as he put his arms around her.
"My little angel…" Seto said, drifting off to sleep.
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