**** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh ****
Chapter Twenty-Two
Kaiba's Discovery
Kaiba walked along the street carelessly. He studied the city as it was enveloped in darkness, and he didn't pay mind to it. To him the darkness was enlightening and tolerable; especially when there was no one around, like now.
He had been walking for a little over half an hour, and he was still a long ways away from the Kaiba Mansion, but he didn't mind in the least. He used the silence and the darkness and the time to give him a chance to do some thinking. He thought long and hard about everything that was going on at that moment, with his company, and with the upcoming tournament.
Kaiba was certain that no one would beat him in the tournament. Even Yugi Moto, who had been successful once before, wouldn't stand a chance now. Kaiba had studied his strategies far more than the last time they had dueled, and he had researched each one of his cards in his deck to find out every single thing that had to offer when it came to a duel.
He grinned. Yes, this tournament would be a snap for him, and it was his chance to reenter his title as the world's finest duelist. That of course was mostly the reason why he had started the tournament in the first place, to reclaim his victory.
A memory came to his mind. Ishizu, and the dream, where she had laid out her plea to him. The more he thought about it the more his teeth gritted testily. Yes, the girl with the Millennium Stone had not yet been found, and time was running out for him to do so. But Kaiba shrugged, he figured he still had plenty of time, seeing how the tournament was a little less than a week away, and he hadn't even seen Marik yet.
Kaiba stuck his free hand into his pocket and softly swung his briefcase, in his other hand. He looked up at the stars and at the moon, and bathed spiritually in the darkness and the silence. If life could have been like this forever, there would be no need for power. He would already power the world.
Something in the darkness made his perfect thoughts splinter and shatter. The cries for help echoing through the darkness and coming along the wind.
Cautiously, he halted in his spot. He stood on the sidewalk under a streetlight, right by the fence of a large park. He was certain he had heard cries for help, even if he hadn't counted on doing anything about it, he searched the empty darkness and found nothing to meet his interest.
He started to walk again, but this time he wasn't carefree. He listened carefully to the sounds of the darkness, to every little voice or sound that could be heard along the wind. When a branch broke or he accidentally kicked a stone with the tip of his foot, he stopped violently and lurched his eyes around, searching the shadows, and finding nothing.
Something about hearing the cries startled him. Either he was walking in the mists of something wrong, or he was losing his mind.
Again he heard the scream. A woman calling for help through the darkness. It seemed to be right in the back of his mind.
Impatiently Kaiba whipped around and looked for the owner of the voice. If he was indeed hearing these things he wouldn't be too happy about it, but searching the darkness he saw nothing with a voice to produce cries for help. This annoyed him quite a bit.
But the screams continued, and they seemed to get clearer, and closer.
Kaiba walked along the sidewalk cautiously, listening for the screams, wondering where they were coming from. He looked through the darkness into the park. Could they have been coming from there? It was too dark for him to see anything.
Kaiba scowled and he heard the screams again, this time they were very close. They seemed to be right behind him. He looked quickly over his shoulder, but there was nothing. Getting more miffed by the second he turned around.
Suddenly a figure emerged from the darkness and ran right into him. He let out a startled gasp as he felt the impact of her body hitting his, and he heard a woman's voice cry out, and the next thing he knew he was lying on the ground with the woman on top of him.
Kaiba was dizzy, and he touched his forehead to try to ease the pain. He shook his head slightly and growled. "What the hell are you doing?" he spat angrily. "Running around this time of night, bashing into people! I might as well-"
But he was interrupted by the shaky voice of the woman. "Please.oh God please sir you have to help me!" she pleaded with him.
Kaiba sat up and realized she was still on top of him. "Now why on earth would I do-" he trailed out as he gasped in horror. "YOU!"
Kaiba looked down into the startled, scared but forever extraordinary eyes of Roux Matuko, as she lay in his lap with her head cranked up to see the person she had run into. At the sight of Kaiba her red lips dropped open in horror.
Angrily he pushed her off him. "Didn't you take my warning seriously, you stupid bitch?" he snarled angrily at her, dusting off his suit. "I told you that if our paths ever crossed again-"
He stopped when he saw she was crying, and her face was smudged with dirt. He raised his eyebrow in curiosity. He wasn't concerned about her, just curious.
"Kaiba." She breathed through soft sobs. "Please you have to help me." She pleaded sorrowfully.
Kaiba smirked. "Like hell I'm helping you. What happened? Weevil found out you cheated in that practice duel and he's sent his bugs after you?"
Roux's breathing was raspy, and when she struggled to stand up, he saw the anger in her eyes, and for a moment he was almost afraid to look at her. She did something very unexpected at that point. She reached up and grabbed his shirt and pulled him down. "I need help, damnit!" she demanded angrily.
Kaiba had never seen this side of Roux before. He had always seen her as a somewhat happy person. He had never seen her angry, and it startled him. "Listen Kaiba," she said tensely. "I would have been happy never to have seen you again, but I need help! You have to help me!"
Before Kaiba could reply, and after he had pushed her away from him, several tall men in suits came whipping around the corner in which Roux had appeared. Kaiba looked up at them and raised an eyebrow. Now what were these guys up to? Why did Kaiba even care?
The leader of the guys looked over and spotted Kaiba and Roux, and very slowly they redeemed themselves, straightening out their suits and clearing their throats. They tried to make themselves look more formidable, but they didn't fool Kaiba for a second.
He felt Roux's hand squeeze his coat in fear, but Kaiba didn't pay much notice. He narrowed his eyes to the men approaching them.
The leader of them cleared his throat softly, and he brought out his open hand. "Hand over the girl, sir. She's coming with us."
Kaiba smirked and ignored Roux's frightened gasp. "Go ahead, take her. I'm not stopping you." He said detestfully, and stepped away from Roux. Then without a second look he tried to walk away from them.
One of the suits grabbed Roux and she screamed against his hold. Her screams made Kaiba feel weird. He knew that he wasn't doing the right thing by letting those guys take her, in case they were rapists or murderers, but then again he hated her entirely, and she had been cheating to prepare for his tournament. Kaiba figured she deserved it.
Roux tried to punch the man who held her arm with her tiny fists, but anything she did was useless. They laughed at her weak attempts to stop them. She screamed for help, and she screamed out for Kaiba, but through the tears in her eyes she saw that Kaiba was walking away down the street.
She pleaded him in her mind for him to come back and help her. She needed help, she was terrified. Anyone, even Kaiba. Just let someone help her.
She let out a painful scream when the man who held her arm tightened his scream, like he was trying to break the bone. Her body went stiff as she felt the pain escalate. The goon only grinned, like this was pleasurable to him.
"Scream for me, girlie." He said tauntingly. "So that Marik can hear you!"
Kaiba stopped suddenly.
~ Marik? ~ he thought to himself. ~ That goon just said Marik! Marik wants Roux. Then that means that.~
Kaiba shook his head. No, it couldn't be true. It just couldn't be.
Nevertheless he had to make sure, so Kaiba whipped around and approached the guys in the suits very swiftly. "Hey!" he called out running towards them quickly.
One of them had a cell phone to his ear and was requesting for a car to pick them up. Kaiba hurried towards them. He could see the river of Roux's golden hair flying around as she tried to struggle against the goon. As Kaiba got closer he could hear her voice being muffled. The goon had his hand over her mouth so she couldn't scream out.
"Hey! Stop right there!" Kaiba demanded angrily, raising his voice.
The goons all turned around slowly and gave him a cock-eyed look. Kaiba's eyes set on Roux for a moment, who was captured by the goon's arms. Her eyes saw him and lit up with hope. But Kaiba quickly looked away from her. "Let her go." He said calmly.
The goons all exchanged confused glances. They had witnessed before that they guy was easily giving her up to them, and now he was demanding them to let her go? They all started to laugh in the darkness.
Kaiba stared endlessly and dangerously, and stood tall as to give a forbidding tenseness. "I'm not going to say it again to you assholes," he snarled tediously. "Let her go, now!"
The goon with his hold around Roux smirked. "Yeah right kid, first you tell us to take her and now you demand us let her go? Fat chance."
Kaiba's teeth clenched in anger. "All right then, you leave me no option."
The goons all made sarcastic noises to show Kaiba that they were scared. "Oo-er!" they taunted, and then they laughed and smacked each other on the back. "Whatcha gonna do, tough guy?" one of them asked tauntingly.
Kaiba grinned as he reached into his bag. ~ You're about to find out, you bastards! ~
Kaiba pulled the first card from his deck, and then he threw it down to the ground. "Go! Blue Eyes White Dragon!" he called out to the card.
The card shimmered for a moment, and then suddenly there on the street appeared the massive, ferocious Blue Eyes White Dragon from the card. It towered at least twenty feet, and it let out an insufferable roar that was sure to have wakened up all of Domino City. Kaiba stood at it's feet, grinning slyly.
The goons looked up at the dragon in immense terror. The guy with the cell phone dropped it absent-mindedly. Roux's eyes went wide, not with terror, but more with fascination.
Kaiba narrowed his eyes. "Well then, care to reconsider your decision?" Kaiba waved arm. "Now, give the girl to me or else my Blue Eyes White Dragon will be happy to take a chunk out of you!"
None of them said a word for moments, and then they broke out into chatter. They wondered what to do, and Roux struggled from the goon's arms. Kaiba witnessed as he pressed his arm against her to shut her up. It made him angry.
They stood stupidly, not doing anything. And Kaiba sneered. "Should I repeat the command?" he took a step towards them. "Let go of the girl right now, unless you want to face my Blue Eyes!"
"You wouldn't dare!" one of the goons said. "We're right out in a public street, you wouldn't dare launch an attack on us with a dragon!"
Kaiba smirked. "Oh, wouldn't I?" then he pointed to the goons and shouted out. "Blue Eyes, attack with your white lightning!"
The dragon brought back his head and opened it's jaws, and the goons watched in horror, glued to the sidewalk as light started to form at the dragon's jaws. It powered up, and finally the goon let go of Roux in spite of his own horror, and she ran from their presence towards Kaiba, to the side of the dragon.
The dragon let out another roar as it cast out the white lightning to the goons. The whole street light up as the white lightning shot down towards the goons. They all let out screams of pain as the white lightning hit them, and then they fell to the ground.
The street was dark again. Kaiba smirked. "That'll teach you to mess with me." He said softly to the goons, and then he raised his hand. "Blue Eyes, return!"
The dragon disappeared back into the shape of a card, and Kaiba bent down to pick it up, and he tucked it safely into his jacket pocket. Kaiba cast a last look at the goon sprawled on the floor. He laughed. They wouldn't be getting up soon.
Then he remembered something. Roux. She had gotten loose when the goons were about to be attack. Kaiba turned around, and she was standing there, staring at him, white as a sheet, scared as a deer. She couldn't move, all she could do was stare at him. He took a few steps towards her.
"Y-You saved me." She breathed.
Kaiba came right up to her. "Show it to me!" he demanded forcefully.
Roux blinked. She had no clue what he was talking about, and it made her a little uneasy. "Excuse me, what?"
"Show it to me!" he repeated, angrily.
Once again Roux didn't know what he was talking about, and it was beginning to scare her a little bit. He had saved her, yes this was true, was he looking for a reward? Her stomach dropped when she thought about what he would want for a reward.
Before she could protest or say anything Kaiba grabbed her wrist and examined her hand. She looked up at him with a strange look on her face.
Kaiba growled softly and ran his thumb over her ring, over the Millennium Stone. Was that what Kaiba was talking about? Roux didn't know.
"So you do have it." Kaiba said, looking at her and throwing her hand down. "Just my luck." He snarled, shaking his head, and then he towered over her. "Give it to me."
Roux's jaw began to tremble and she swallowed tightly. "If you want my ring- "
"Yes, excellent, you figured it out!" Kaiba said, rolling his eyes. "Now give it to me!"
She bit down on her lower lip. "I-I can't!" she said softly.
Kaiba's eyes went wide. "Why not?" he demanded.
"It won't come off." She told him, and by now her fear had gone away. She was thankful for that, but now she was in the presence of Seto Kaiba, who told her if their paths crossed again it wouldn't be pretty. She was nervous standing there with him. But then again she was glad that she had run into him. Otherwise she could have been in great trouble.
"It won't come off?" Kaiba replied cockily, and then he took her hand again and tried to force the ring off her finger. Roux watched him try to take the ring off, but she knew it wouldn't work.
Kaiba was growing more and more angry. The ring wouldn't come off. Why not? It was a stupid ring! If it had slipped onto her finger easily, it should have been able to come off easily! But it was wedged on, and try as he might, Kaiba couldn't force the ring off.
"Well why won't it come off?" he yelled at her, and again threw down her hand.
"I don't know." She said, startled by his harsh voice. "I just know it won't come off. It hasn't ever been able to come off."
Kaiba breathed in and then out very angrily and then he looked away from her. She looked at him. Why was he was miffed that the ring wouldn't come off her finger? What was it's importance to him? She rubbed her finger. It had hurt after Kaiba had tried to pull it off.
Roux watched him as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a cell phone. With a curling lip of angry he punched a number on the phone with his fingertip, brought it to his ear and impatiently waited for it to ring. Roux watched him with confusion. What was he doing?
"Kaiba here. Send the limo." He said into the phone, and then he looked up at the street sign. "I'm on 6th avenue, by the park entrance. Now hurry the hell up, I'm in a rush." He hung up the phone and tucked it back into his pocket. Then he moved his eyes to her with a hateful glare.
"The limo's coming." He told her. "Be ready to lose that ring." He pointed to her hand.
Roux hid her hand away, and then she swallowed softly. She had been through so much that night, she didn't want anything more to happen. She didn't want to have to lose her ring, especially not to Kaiba. He may have saved her but she still hated him. She would never give her ring to him. She knew she couldn't, it was her Millennium item. She couldn't let anyone else have it.
Tensely she spoke. "Thank you for saving me." She said softly, almost deathly afraid of Kaiba's glare. "But I'm going back to Joey." She said, gathering her courage to say his name. More than anyone else at this point in time she wanted to see Joey. She was suddenly so sorry that they had argued, and now that didn't matter. She had been in danger, but she was okay now. All she wanted was a familiar face.
She turned her back to Kaiba and started to walk down the street, cautiously, because she was dizzy and felt she might fall over if she went too quickly. But she didn't get too far before Kaiba came up behind her and grabbed her arm.
"You're not going anywhere!" he hissed bitterly, and jerked her so that she would walk with him. "I need that ring and I'm going to get it, one way or another."
Roux tried to push Kaiba's hand off of her, giving protests and telling him to let her go, but as she fought against him his grip on her arm tightened. He wasn't afraid to hurt her to get what he wanted.
He threw her down onto a bench and told her to sit and stay there, and if she even dared to move she would regret it. In terror Roux sat there. Normally she would have argued with Kaiba, but she was tired, afraid and feeling hopeless.
Kaiba stood on the curb. He put down his briefcase and stood with his arms crossed over his chest. It had been a terrible evening for him, despite having found the millennium stone. His fingers clenched into fists.
~ It just had to be Roux who has the ring! ~ He thought to himself angrily. If it had been anyone else he would have been quite happy. But no, it had to be Roux, the one woman that Kaiba truly despised.
Behind him he could hear Roux sighing to herself, but he didn't care, and he didn't look back at her. He knew she wouldn't try to run off. She felt too over-powered by him, even if he had saved her.
Within a moment a limo came, it's headlights shone directly into Roux's eyes as she looked up to see what was coming. Kaiba unfolded his arms and looked back at Roux. "Get up, we're leaving!" he told her sinisterly.
Roux hugged herself for both warmth and comfort. She took a few steps towards Kaiba and watched as the black limo pulled up next to the sidewalk and stopped. The limo driver got out of the front seat in an instant. "Sir, are you all right?" he called.
"Fine!" Kaiba insisted as the driver opened the back door for Kaiba, but Kaiba only took Roux's wrist and flung her into the limo, hissing at her to sit back and shut up before turning to the driver. "The nearest jeweler. And step on it!" he told the driver, and then got in himself.
Roux seemed to melt into the limo's comfortable leather seats. They seemed to shift and take the shape of every curve along her body to provide only the best comfort. It was warm inside the limo, and in an instant Roux realized just how tired she was. Slowly she laid down on the several seats to the front, and ignored Kaiba as he got in and sat across from her.
Roux closed her eyes softly and nestled herself into the comfort of the chairs. She could feel Kaiba's glare on her, but she couldn't open her eyes, she was too tired. Within a moment or two she was sleeping soundly.
Kaiba sat back and crossed his arms, staring at Roux intensely, but with a shrill look over his fine features. How he hated this girl, and here she was, the bearer of the Millennium Stone, the one girl in the entire world he would have hated to have to protect. In the back of his mind Kaiba could feel someone mocking him. Was it Ishizu? Perhaps this was her idea of a cruel joke, making him protect the one woman he truly hated.
Kaiba looked out the window and watched the city's passing lights. It had been an eventful evening, a horrible evening, and yet if it hadn't happened Kaiba wouldn't have found the millennium stone, and it would have been in the hands of Marik. Thus Kaiba wouldn't have been able to retrieve the stone, nor any hope of getting back the millennium rod.
He sighed and laid his head back; listening to Roux's gentle inhales and exhales as she slept. The anger waved over him and was gone as he found himself surrendering to sleep.
~*~
**** I have a four-day weekend here, so I have plenty of time to write! Yay! ^_^ More chapters coming soon! ****
Chapter Twenty-Two
Kaiba's Discovery
Kaiba walked along the street carelessly. He studied the city as it was enveloped in darkness, and he didn't pay mind to it. To him the darkness was enlightening and tolerable; especially when there was no one around, like now.
He had been walking for a little over half an hour, and he was still a long ways away from the Kaiba Mansion, but he didn't mind in the least. He used the silence and the darkness and the time to give him a chance to do some thinking. He thought long and hard about everything that was going on at that moment, with his company, and with the upcoming tournament.
Kaiba was certain that no one would beat him in the tournament. Even Yugi Moto, who had been successful once before, wouldn't stand a chance now. Kaiba had studied his strategies far more than the last time they had dueled, and he had researched each one of his cards in his deck to find out every single thing that had to offer when it came to a duel.
He grinned. Yes, this tournament would be a snap for him, and it was his chance to reenter his title as the world's finest duelist. That of course was mostly the reason why he had started the tournament in the first place, to reclaim his victory.
A memory came to his mind. Ishizu, and the dream, where she had laid out her plea to him. The more he thought about it the more his teeth gritted testily. Yes, the girl with the Millennium Stone had not yet been found, and time was running out for him to do so. But Kaiba shrugged, he figured he still had plenty of time, seeing how the tournament was a little less than a week away, and he hadn't even seen Marik yet.
Kaiba stuck his free hand into his pocket and softly swung his briefcase, in his other hand. He looked up at the stars and at the moon, and bathed spiritually in the darkness and the silence. If life could have been like this forever, there would be no need for power. He would already power the world.
Something in the darkness made his perfect thoughts splinter and shatter. The cries for help echoing through the darkness and coming along the wind.
Cautiously, he halted in his spot. He stood on the sidewalk under a streetlight, right by the fence of a large park. He was certain he had heard cries for help, even if he hadn't counted on doing anything about it, he searched the empty darkness and found nothing to meet his interest.
He started to walk again, but this time he wasn't carefree. He listened carefully to the sounds of the darkness, to every little voice or sound that could be heard along the wind. When a branch broke or he accidentally kicked a stone with the tip of his foot, he stopped violently and lurched his eyes around, searching the shadows, and finding nothing.
Something about hearing the cries startled him. Either he was walking in the mists of something wrong, or he was losing his mind.
Again he heard the scream. A woman calling for help through the darkness. It seemed to be right in the back of his mind.
Impatiently Kaiba whipped around and looked for the owner of the voice. If he was indeed hearing these things he wouldn't be too happy about it, but searching the darkness he saw nothing with a voice to produce cries for help. This annoyed him quite a bit.
But the screams continued, and they seemed to get clearer, and closer.
Kaiba walked along the sidewalk cautiously, listening for the screams, wondering where they were coming from. He looked through the darkness into the park. Could they have been coming from there? It was too dark for him to see anything.
Kaiba scowled and he heard the screams again, this time they were very close. They seemed to be right behind him. He looked quickly over his shoulder, but there was nothing. Getting more miffed by the second he turned around.
Suddenly a figure emerged from the darkness and ran right into him. He let out a startled gasp as he felt the impact of her body hitting his, and he heard a woman's voice cry out, and the next thing he knew he was lying on the ground with the woman on top of him.
Kaiba was dizzy, and he touched his forehead to try to ease the pain. He shook his head slightly and growled. "What the hell are you doing?" he spat angrily. "Running around this time of night, bashing into people! I might as well-"
But he was interrupted by the shaky voice of the woman. "Please.oh God please sir you have to help me!" she pleaded with him.
Kaiba sat up and realized she was still on top of him. "Now why on earth would I do-" he trailed out as he gasped in horror. "YOU!"
Kaiba looked down into the startled, scared but forever extraordinary eyes of Roux Matuko, as she lay in his lap with her head cranked up to see the person she had run into. At the sight of Kaiba her red lips dropped open in horror.
Angrily he pushed her off him. "Didn't you take my warning seriously, you stupid bitch?" he snarled angrily at her, dusting off his suit. "I told you that if our paths ever crossed again-"
He stopped when he saw she was crying, and her face was smudged with dirt. He raised his eyebrow in curiosity. He wasn't concerned about her, just curious.
"Kaiba." She breathed through soft sobs. "Please you have to help me." She pleaded sorrowfully.
Kaiba smirked. "Like hell I'm helping you. What happened? Weevil found out you cheated in that practice duel and he's sent his bugs after you?"
Roux's breathing was raspy, and when she struggled to stand up, he saw the anger in her eyes, and for a moment he was almost afraid to look at her. She did something very unexpected at that point. She reached up and grabbed his shirt and pulled him down. "I need help, damnit!" she demanded angrily.
Kaiba had never seen this side of Roux before. He had always seen her as a somewhat happy person. He had never seen her angry, and it startled him. "Listen Kaiba," she said tensely. "I would have been happy never to have seen you again, but I need help! You have to help me!"
Before Kaiba could reply, and after he had pushed her away from him, several tall men in suits came whipping around the corner in which Roux had appeared. Kaiba looked up at them and raised an eyebrow. Now what were these guys up to? Why did Kaiba even care?
The leader of the guys looked over and spotted Kaiba and Roux, and very slowly they redeemed themselves, straightening out their suits and clearing their throats. They tried to make themselves look more formidable, but they didn't fool Kaiba for a second.
He felt Roux's hand squeeze his coat in fear, but Kaiba didn't pay much notice. He narrowed his eyes to the men approaching them.
The leader of them cleared his throat softly, and he brought out his open hand. "Hand over the girl, sir. She's coming with us."
Kaiba smirked and ignored Roux's frightened gasp. "Go ahead, take her. I'm not stopping you." He said detestfully, and stepped away from Roux. Then without a second look he tried to walk away from them.
One of the suits grabbed Roux and she screamed against his hold. Her screams made Kaiba feel weird. He knew that he wasn't doing the right thing by letting those guys take her, in case they were rapists or murderers, but then again he hated her entirely, and she had been cheating to prepare for his tournament. Kaiba figured she deserved it.
Roux tried to punch the man who held her arm with her tiny fists, but anything she did was useless. They laughed at her weak attempts to stop them. She screamed for help, and she screamed out for Kaiba, but through the tears in her eyes she saw that Kaiba was walking away down the street.
She pleaded him in her mind for him to come back and help her. She needed help, she was terrified. Anyone, even Kaiba. Just let someone help her.
She let out a painful scream when the man who held her arm tightened his scream, like he was trying to break the bone. Her body went stiff as she felt the pain escalate. The goon only grinned, like this was pleasurable to him.
"Scream for me, girlie." He said tauntingly. "So that Marik can hear you!"
Kaiba stopped suddenly.
~ Marik? ~ he thought to himself. ~ That goon just said Marik! Marik wants Roux. Then that means that.~
Kaiba shook his head. No, it couldn't be true. It just couldn't be.
Nevertheless he had to make sure, so Kaiba whipped around and approached the guys in the suits very swiftly. "Hey!" he called out running towards them quickly.
One of them had a cell phone to his ear and was requesting for a car to pick them up. Kaiba hurried towards them. He could see the river of Roux's golden hair flying around as she tried to struggle against the goon. As Kaiba got closer he could hear her voice being muffled. The goon had his hand over her mouth so she couldn't scream out.
"Hey! Stop right there!" Kaiba demanded angrily, raising his voice.
The goons all turned around slowly and gave him a cock-eyed look. Kaiba's eyes set on Roux for a moment, who was captured by the goon's arms. Her eyes saw him and lit up with hope. But Kaiba quickly looked away from her. "Let her go." He said calmly.
The goons all exchanged confused glances. They had witnessed before that they guy was easily giving her up to them, and now he was demanding them to let her go? They all started to laugh in the darkness.
Kaiba stared endlessly and dangerously, and stood tall as to give a forbidding tenseness. "I'm not going to say it again to you assholes," he snarled tediously. "Let her go, now!"
The goon with his hold around Roux smirked. "Yeah right kid, first you tell us to take her and now you demand us let her go? Fat chance."
Kaiba's teeth clenched in anger. "All right then, you leave me no option."
The goons all made sarcastic noises to show Kaiba that they were scared. "Oo-er!" they taunted, and then they laughed and smacked each other on the back. "Whatcha gonna do, tough guy?" one of them asked tauntingly.
Kaiba grinned as he reached into his bag. ~ You're about to find out, you bastards! ~
Kaiba pulled the first card from his deck, and then he threw it down to the ground. "Go! Blue Eyes White Dragon!" he called out to the card.
The card shimmered for a moment, and then suddenly there on the street appeared the massive, ferocious Blue Eyes White Dragon from the card. It towered at least twenty feet, and it let out an insufferable roar that was sure to have wakened up all of Domino City. Kaiba stood at it's feet, grinning slyly.
The goons looked up at the dragon in immense terror. The guy with the cell phone dropped it absent-mindedly. Roux's eyes went wide, not with terror, but more with fascination.
Kaiba narrowed his eyes. "Well then, care to reconsider your decision?" Kaiba waved arm. "Now, give the girl to me or else my Blue Eyes White Dragon will be happy to take a chunk out of you!"
None of them said a word for moments, and then they broke out into chatter. They wondered what to do, and Roux struggled from the goon's arms. Kaiba witnessed as he pressed his arm against her to shut her up. It made him angry.
They stood stupidly, not doing anything. And Kaiba sneered. "Should I repeat the command?" he took a step towards them. "Let go of the girl right now, unless you want to face my Blue Eyes!"
"You wouldn't dare!" one of the goons said. "We're right out in a public street, you wouldn't dare launch an attack on us with a dragon!"
Kaiba smirked. "Oh, wouldn't I?" then he pointed to the goons and shouted out. "Blue Eyes, attack with your white lightning!"
The dragon brought back his head and opened it's jaws, and the goons watched in horror, glued to the sidewalk as light started to form at the dragon's jaws. It powered up, and finally the goon let go of Roux in spite of his own horror, and she ran from their presence towards Kaiba, to the side of the dragon.
The dragon let out another roar as it cast out the white lightning to the goons. The whole street light up as the white lightning shot down towards the goons. They all let out screams of pain as the white lightning hit them, and then they fell to the ground.
The street was dark again. Kaiba smirked. "That'll teach you to mess with me." He said softly to the goons, and then he raised his hand. "Blue Eyes, return!"
The dragon disappeared back into the shape of a card, and Kaiba bent down to pick it up, and he tucked it safely into his jacket pocket. Kaiba cast a last look at the goon sprawled on the floor. He laughed. They wouldn't be getting up soon.
Then he remembered something. Roux. She had gotten loose when the goons were about to be attack. Kaiba turned around, and she was standing there, staring at him, white as a sheet, scared as a deer. She couldn't move, all she could do was stare at him. He took a few steps towards her.
"Y-You saved me." She breathed.
Kaiba came right up to her. "Show it to me!" he demanded forcefully.
Roux blinked. She had no clue what he was talking about, and it made her a little uneasy. "Excuse me, what?"
"Show it to me!" he repeated, angrily.
Once again Roux didn't know what he was talking about, and it was beginning to scare her a little bit. He had saved her, yes this was true, was he looking for a reward? Her stomach dropped when she thought about what he would want for a reward.
Before she could protest or say anything Kaiba grabbed her wrist and examined her hand. She looked up at him with a strange look on her face.
Kaiba growled softly and ran his thumb over her ring, over the Millennium Stone. Was that what Kaiba was talking about? Roux didn't know.
"So you do have it." Kaiba said, looking at her and throwing her hand down. "Just my luck." He snarled, shaking his head, and then he towered over her. "Give it to me."
Roux's jaw began to tremble and she swallowed tightly. "If you want my ring- "
"Yes, excellent, you figured it out!" Kaiba said, rolling his eyes. "Now give it to me!"
She bit down on her lower lip. "I-I can't!" she said softly.
Kaiba's eyes went wide. "Why not?" he demanded.
"It won't come off." She told him, and by now her fear had gone away. She was thankful for that, but now she was in the presence of Seto Kaiba, who told her if their paths crossed again it wouldn't be pretty. She was nervous standing there with him. But then again she was glad that she had run into him. Otherwise she could have been in great trouble.
"It won't come off?" Kaiba replied cockily, and then he took her hand again and tried to force the ring off her finger. Roux watched him try to take the ring off, but she knew it wouldn't work.
Kaiba was growing more and more angry. The ring wouldn't come off. Why not? It was a stupid ring! If it had slipped onto her finger easily, it should have been able to come off easily! But it was wedged on, and try as he might, Kaiba couldn't force the ring off.
"Well why won't it come off?" he yelled at her, and again threw down her hand.
"I don't know." She said, startled by his harsh voice. "I just know it won't come off. It hasn't ever been able to come off."
Kaiba breathed in and then out very angrily and then he looked away from her. She looked at him. Why was he was miffed that the ring wouldn't come off her finger? What was it's importance to him? She rubbed her finger. It had hurt after Kaiba had tried to pull it off.
Roux watched him as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a cell phone. With a curling lip of angry he punched a number on the phone with his fingertip, brought it to his ear and impatiently waited for it to ring. Roux watched him with confusion. What was he doing?
"Kaiba here. Send the limo." He said into the phone, and then he looked up at the street sign. "I'm on 6th avenue, by the park entrance. Now hurry the hell up, I'm in a rush." He hung up the phone and tucked it back into his pocket. Then he moved his eyes to her with a hateful glare.
"The limo's coming." He told her. "Be ready to lose that ring." He pointed to her hand.
Roux hid her hand away, and then she swallowed softly. She had been through so much that night, she didn't want anything more to happen. She didn't want to have to lose her ring, especially not to Kaiba. He may have saved her but she still hated him. She would never give her ring to him. She knew she couldn't, it was her Millennium item. She couldn't let anyone else have it.
Tensely she spoke. "Thank you for saving me." She said softly, almost deathly afraid of Kaiba's glare. "But I'm going back to Joey." She said, gathering her courage to say his name. More than anyone else at this point in time she wanted to see Joey. She was suddenly so sorry that they had argued, and now that didn't matter. She had been in danger, but she was okay now. All she wanted was a familiar face.
She turned her back to Kaiba and started to walk down the street, cautiously, because she was dizzy and felt she might fall over if she went too quickly. But she didn't get too far before Kaiba came up behind her and grabbed her arm.
"You're not going anywhere!" he hissed bitterly, and jerked her so that she would walk with him. "I need that ring and I'm going to get it, one way or another."
Roux tried to push Kaiba's hand off of her, giving protests and telling him to let her go, but as she fought against him his grip on her arm tightened. He wasn't afraid to hurt her to get what he wanted.
He threw her down onto a bench and told her to sit and stay there, and if she even dared to move she would regret it. In terror Roux sat there. Normally she would have argued with Kaiba, but she was tired, afraid and feeling hopeless.
Kaiba stood on the curb. He put down his briefcase and stood with his arms crossed over his chest. It had been a terrible evening for him, despite having found the millennium stone. His fingers clenched into fists.
~ It just had to be Roux who has the ring! ~ He thought to himself angrily. If it had been anyone else he would have been quite happy. But no, it had to be Roux, the one woman that Kaiba truly despised.
Behind him he could hear Roux sighing to herself, but he didn't care, and he didn't look back at her. He knew she wouldn't try to run off. She felt too over-powered by him, even if he had saved her.
Within a moment a limo came, it's headlights shone directly into Roux's eyes as she looked up to see what was coming. Kaiba unfolded his arms and looked back at Roux. "Get up, we're leaving!" he told her sinisterly.
Roux hugged herself for both warmth and comfort. She took a few steps towards Kaiba and watched as the black limo pulled up next to the sidewalk and stopped. The limo driver got out of the front seat in an instant. "Sir, are you all right?" he called.
"Fine!" Kaiba insisted as the driver opened the back door for Kaiba, but Kaiba only took Roux's wrist and flung her into the limo, hissing at her to sit back and shut up before turning to the driver. "The nearest jeweler. And step on it!" he told the driver, and then got in himself.
Roux seemed to melt into the limo's comfortable leather seats. They seemed to shift and take the shape of every curve along her body to provide only the best comfort. It was warm inside the limo, and in an instant Roux realized just how tired she was. Slowly she laid down on the several seats to the front, and ignored Kaiba as he got in and sat across from her.
Roux closed her eyes softly and nestled herself into the comfort of the chairs. She could feel Kaiba's glare on her, but she couldn't open her eyes, she was too tired. Within a moment or two she was sleeping soundly.
Kaiba sat back and crossed his arms, staring at Roux intensely, but with a shrill look over his fine features. How he hated this girl, and here she was, the bearer of the Millennium Stone, the one girl in the entire world he would have hated to have to protect. In the back of his mind Kaiba could feel someone mocking him. Was it Ishizu? Perhaps this was her idea of a cruel joke, making him protect the one woman he truly hated.
Kaiba looked out the window and watched the city's passing lights. It had been an eventful evening, a horrible evening, and yet if it hadn't happened Kaiba wouldn't have found the millennium stone, and it would have been in the hands of Marik. Thus Kaiba wouldn't have been able to retrieve the stone, nor any hope of getting back the millennium rod.
He sighed and laid his head back; listening to Roux's gentle inhales and exhales as she slept. The anger waved over him and was gone as he found himself surrendering to sleep.
~*~
**** I have a four-day weekend here, so I have plenty of time to write! Yay! ^_^ More chapters coming soon! ****