**** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh ****
Chapter Twenty-Five
"Sir, the results have come back."
Kaiba took the wad of paper from his secretary about a third into the afternoon, and carefully he studied them, with his back against the sun. His secretary stood still in front of his desk, observing as his blue eyes scanned over the paperwork.
All the tests for his new equipment had been thoroughly successful. For the first time in awhile Kaiba smiled. He nodded to himself and flipped the pages. "Good." He said, and then tapped the sheets on his desk. "It's nice to see at least some things are going right for a change."
The secretary knew not to intrude. If she so much put as a toe out of line, and into her boss's business, she'd be fired, and she knew it.
"Finish construction and bring them to me." He told his secretary, writing down a note on the paper and then handing the wad to her. "And tell the men downstairs that the disk from the other night works beautifully."
The secretary nodded. "Yes sir." She said, and disappeared through the door, leaving him in silence.
He hurriedly continued to his work. The day had been nothing but good news for him. His morning meeting had been canceled, his laptop hadn't given him a bit of grief that day, and now he found out that the testing for his new Duel Disk Hologram Imagers were coming out all positive.
To make the upcoming tournament a bit more intense for the final duelists, Kaiba had made plans for a new type of dueling disk that was portable, usable at any time, and inflicted real damage to the opponent. The beginning of the process had been a nightmare, as everything had gone wrong and nothing was right. But now it was turning out okay, and Kaiba was rather proud.
He had been lucky that he was carrying the first prototypes of the new duel disk that night when he had come across Roux. Not only had he found the stone, but he had also found that his gizmo was off to a good start, when he had successfully called upon the Blue Eyes White Dragon and took out Marik's goons.
Kaiba was in a happy mood for the rest of the afternoon, not bothered by anyone or anything, as he remained in his office, worked, and got a lot of work done. Soon Mokuba came into his office with a big smile on his face.
Kaiba looked at his little brother. "What are you doing, Mokuba?" he asked.
"Getting ready." Mokuba said, putting on his scarf.
Worried, Kaiba thought that maybe he had promised Mokuba something and forgot. He quickly tried to think in his mind. Had he promised Mokuba anything that he wouldn't perchance remember?
But Mokuba had seen that he had forgotten, and he laughed softly. "We're going to pick up Roux, remember?"
Kaiba's mind flashed back into reality. He looked at the clock on the wall. Yes it was almost four o'clock. They would have to get going to be at the Wheeler's apartment before five or so. Kaiba sighed softly to himself as he shut down the laptop and gathered his things.
He had been having such an enlightening day that he had clearly forgotten about having to pick Roux up from the Wheeler apartment that day. It dragged on his shoulders down to the limo, and he sat in silence.
Mokuba was on the end of his seat, excited. Kaiba could see the anxiousness brewing in his little brother's big gray eyes. He was excited to see Roux. He always was.
Kaiba shook his head softly to himself. That was bad news. If Mokuba liked her, that probably meant that he wanted to spend more time with her. And that meant that Kaiba would have to see her a lot more often.
~ Not that it matters. ~ He thought bitterly to himself. ~ As she has the stone and it 'simply will not come off'. I'll be forced to see her no matter what. ~
"What are we gonna do when Roux comes over?" Mokuba asked suddenly, cheerfully.
"Huh?" Kaiba looked down at his brother. "Well I have to work."
Mokuba frowned. "You always have to work, and she's your guest."
"She's not a guest," Kaiba stated sternly. "And certainly not MY guest. She's just staying with us in the evenings until we can get that stupid ring off her finger. Which should be any day now." Kaiba thought, thinking about going to a jeweler and having the ring cut off her finger, and then having it for himself.
It made him smile with pleasure. Just a little bit.
The limo pulled up into the street and stopped in front of the Wheeler's apartment. Kaiba sat back and crossed his arms. "Why don't you go get her, Mokuba?" Kaiba sighed.
Mokuba gasped. "Really? Okay!" and with that he jumped right out of the limo and went running up the steps, only to knock extremely loudly on the front door.
Kaiba waited. He didn't look out the window to see what was going on. There was no way he would ever seem interested or concerned. Not in front of Yugi and his friends.
But the time dragged on and Mokuba didn't return, and Kaiba was growing fairly impatient. He looked at the clock and looked out the window. Mokuba was standing in the doorway talking to Yugi and Joey who were having a pretty happy conversation with him, it looked like.
Kaiba was about to growl at the driver to honk the horn when Mokuba came running down the steps, skipping one every now and then. He came up to the door but didn't get in. Kaiba looked and saw that Roux wasn't following. Kaiba's hands clenched into fists.
Mokuba rapped on the window and Kaiba rolled it down. "What's the hold up?" he snapped.
Mokuba shrugged. "Yugi and Joey say that she's asleep, and they would rather not wake her up." Mokuba said innocently, but Kaiba could see the disappointment in his eyes. "They wondered if staying here for the night would be better for her."
Kaiba chewed on his lower lip. It infuriated him. Kaiba had told Roux specifically that he would be there around the early evening. If she had remembered that she wouldn't have dared to fall asleep, unless she was testing his patience and how far he would go.
That had to be it. "Tell them no, it's not okay!" Kaiba demanded to Mokuba. "Tell them that if they have to throw water on her to wake her up, do it. But she's not staying here tonight."
Mokuba grinned and his cheeks went bright, and in no time at all he went back bounding up the stairs.
Kaiba sat back. The nerve of her, if she had indeed purposely fallen asleep when she knew they would be coming for her around this time. His nostrils flared and he shook his head slowly.
Mokuba rapped on the window again. Roux once again was not with him. Kaiba was beginning to get fierce.
"Mokuba!" he snarled. "What did I tell you? She is not staying here tonight!"
"They tried to wake her up, but she just won't budge." Mokuba said innocently, growing slightly fearful that his brother was getting so pissed off.
Kaiba shook his head and lurched himself from his seat. "Fine! I'll do it!" he spat and pushed his way out of the limo. Mokuba shut the door and followed his brother up the stairs, swallowing fearfully but curious as to what his older brother would do.
Kaiba slammed against the door with his fist. His teeth clenched. He was not in the mood today to be bothered by childish games.
Yugi answered the door, and cranked his neck to look up at Kaiba. When he did, he blinked unexpectedly. "Oh. Hi Kaiba." He said softly, and then smiled. "Roux's asleep and we thought that since she was so-"
"Why the hell is she asleep?" Kaiba snarled testily. "She knew very well that I was coming around this time!"
Yugi thought for a moment and then smiled brightly again. "Well we had a pretty busy afternoon. I guess it tuckered her out. She said she was just going to lay down for a little while and the next thing we knew-"
"I don't care, Yugi." Kaiba breathed impatiently. "Wake her up, I'm not leaving her here for the night."
Joey came into the room, followed by Serenity and Tea. They had just come from the guest bedroom. Kaiba looked over at them and knew that they had just been in to check on Roux. They were probably talking to her in the room while Roux 'pretended' to be asleep just to annoy him.
"Oh, hi Kaiba." Tea said, and tried to give him a hearty smile. "Mokuba told you I think, Roux's asleep and she just won't wake up."
Kaiba scowled at them all. "Did you try throwing some water on her? Plugging her nose? Do something, but do it fast and get her up. I have work to do and this childish game is wasting my time!"
Joey leaned against the nearest wall and crossed his arms. "Kaiba why don't cha just let her stay here tonight? We'll keep an eye on her." Joey said sincerely.
"Absolutely." Yugi said happily, smiling up at Kaiba.
Kaiba smirked. "No. I was assigned with this stupid task and I'll fulfill it if it kills me." He said. "And believe me it will." Finally he just pushed past Yugi, Joey, Serenity and Tea and continued into the apartment. "I'm sick of this, I'll get her up myself!"
They all watched as he disappeared down the hall, then they all shrugged at each other. They didn't know what the big deal was of letting her stay with the Wheelers that night, since she was asleep anyway.
Kaiba could tell which room she was in because the door was slightly open and it was dark inside. He approached the door like a stiff shadow and pushed it open testily.
He hadn't been prepared for what he saw before him.
Roux lay on the bed on her side. The setting sunshine seeped in through the curtains and laid over her like a blanket of brushed gold tinge. Her hair, her skin, her red lips, and the rising and falling of her chest. She was beautiful. The most beautiful thing Kaiba had ever seen. And for a moment he had forgotten why he was angry.
But it quickly returned. He shook away the thought of being attracted to her, and moved around the bed to where she was facing. He stared down at her sleeping form, who hummed softly in her sleep and dreamt of mystic places.
Kaiba cleared his throat, reached down, and poked her shoulder, hard.
She stirred, but not by a lot. She shifted for a moment, humming in her sleep, and then returning to her previous position. Her lips held a playful smile, as though in her dreams she was torturing him.
Kaiba tried again. He poked her again, harder than the first time.
She stirred again, and a mumble came from her ruby lips. Had Kaiba been one step further from her he wouldn't have heard it.
"Not now." her sweet voice mumbled. "Too early to play."
Kaiba would have blushed if he wasn't so confused, and irritated. Impatiently he tried shaking her shoulder, trying to wake her up. She stirred, and when he shook her harder, she only mumbled again in her sleep.
"Not now." she whispered, and the fall of her tone told Kaiba that she indeed was unmistakably asleep, and wouldn't wake up anytime soon.
Kaiba sighed and hung his head, shaking it softly. If he was going to get her out of there, and indeed he was, because he refused to let her make a mockery of him, he was going to have to find some other way than waking her up.
A thought came to his mind, but he tried to chase it away. What would the others think?
At this point he didn't care. All he cared about was getting her to the limo, and taking her to a jeweler to get the ring cut off.
Very carefully, shaking his head and hating himself for it, he bent down carefully, so he was almost on one knee, and very, very slowly he slipped his hands under both her knees and her chest. She stirred a little bit, but not enough to disturb him. With ease he lifted her up from the bed.
She was light, was the first thing he thought, and she seemed to curl up into him as though it were a reaction to his touch. She rested her head on the crook of his arm and huddled against his touch, humming to herself.
Kaiba was stuck between feeling both very ridiculous, and having the right mind to drop her on the floor just to wake her up, and feeling very strange, in which he just wanted to stand there like that forever and eternity. He didn't understand it. Something weird was flowing through him.
He shook it away, and began to walk out of the room, and down the hallway. He could feel the heat of her body against him, but he tried to make it look as though he didn't care. And he didn't. He walked into the living and everyone looked over, with shocked expressions across their faces.
Joey above them all was looking peaked. He couldn't even find words to speak.
"Why won't you just leave her here, Kaiba?" Tea whined, irritating Kaiba even further.
"Yeah, she would have been comfortable here." Yugi piped in.
Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Don't worry about it, I'll bring her back tomorrow morning on my way to the office, sheesh." And he held her a bit tighter and continued in the direction out the door. "Let's go Mokuba." He said to his younger brother, who had made himself comfortable on the chair beside the door.
"Yessum." Mokuba said, and waving bye to everyone in the apartment, he skipped down the stairs to follow his big brother.
Mokuba couldn't stop grinning. ~ Wow, Seto's carrying Roux! I wonder what this means. Perhaps he really likes her or something. Maybe she has a sprained ankle and can't walk! Maybe she's faking it and he's going along with it for fun! ~
A million thoughts came to Mokuba's mind happily, but far more came to Kaiba's mind as he very carefully went down the steps, and towards the limo. He tried not to look down at her, and he was careful not to breathe in her romantic scent. Once he was at the bottom of the stairs he felt her fingers grab a big of his jacket and pull, and then she murmured in her sleep.
When Kaiba finally set her down in the limo on four seats, he found himself perspiring at the forehead, and nervous beyond belief.
~*~
All Roux remembered was falling asleep, and dreaming of nothing. It had been glorious, until she had opened her eyes and found herself in the arms of Seto Kaiba. She had almost screamed, but when she very carefully looked up into his eyes, she saw that he was already quite serious looking.
Roux remembered everything. Opening her eyes to his familiar navy blue jacket and feeling his arms holding her without much effort, and her body against his. She had breathed in his scent, by accident, and couldn't help but admit that he smelled soo good!
Thought after thought had raced through her mind as she felt herself being carried by this man who hated her so. She wouldn't have been surprised if he had carried her out to the middle of the road and dropped in her the street, so a car would run her over and kill her. But instead she felt him very gently place her on some seats in the limo, so she could lay down.
When she had shifted purposely when the limo was moving pretending to be asleep, she had risked opening her eye a little, and seeing him staring at his feet, not saying a word.
~*~
Ishizu had been standing on the roof the Wheeler's apartment building. Her deep eyes had seen everything that had happened there that day. She had observed in secret as Seto Kaiba collected Roux Matuko from the Wheeler apartment, carrying her in his arms down to the limo.
Ishizu had smiled when she saw this. She thought it was a good thing that Kaiba was finally taking this task a little more seriously, other than finding it no more than a waste of his time. He could have left her there with the Wheelers, but he didn't.
~ Indeed Seto Kaiba is beginning to see the reality of this mission. ~ Ishizu observed thoughtfully. ~ If he only carries on like this, there may be hope yet. ~
As she was thinking, she felt a presence join her. With ease she looked over, and saw Shaadii standing there beside her, looking down upon the road, as though he were watching something with great intensity. Ishizu wondered if he had been there the entire time.
"The final piece of the puzzle has been set for Roux." Shaadii said softly, his eyes never leaving the road, which was vacant. "She knows of the stone, and of it's power. She also knows that she must allow herself to the protection of Seto Kaiba."
Ishizu nodded. "All that needs to be done now is for Kaiba to fulfill the task, and not bring her to danger."
Shaadii sighed softly. "It could be very difficult for him."
"But have you not seen?" Ishizu questioned, looking over at him. "Did you not see what happened here about an hour ago?"
Shaadii bowed his head and he nodded. "Yes, I saw it all." He confessed.
"If Seto Kaiba has faith in this mission that I have befallen upon him, the world could be saved from my brother." She lowered her gaze in sadness. "I'd hate to see what would happen if Marik got anywhere near the stone."
Shaadii nodded. He knew all too well the necessities of this mission. "And if Seto Kaiba does not complete this mission, the world will be in great peril."
Ishizu said nothing, and she sighed deeply. She knew all too well what would happen if Marik had found the Millennium stone. She had foreseen it with her necklace. They all had to be careful not to let it happen.
Without further words, both Ishizu and Shaadii disappeared from the roof and out of sight.
~*~
**** I know this chapter was a little short, but fear not! The rest of the chapters will be longer from this point on, because of exciting things about to happen, and of course because we are approaching the finale of this story. OH! And be sure to check out my new Final Fantasy VII story that should be up sometime this week intitled "Progeny". ^^ Ciao for now! ****
Chapter Twenty-Five
"Sir, the results have come back."
Kaiba took the wad of paper from his secretary about a third into the afternoon, and carefully he studied them, with his back against the sun. His secretary stood still in front of his desk, observing as his blue eyes scanned over the paperwork.
All the tests for his new equipment had been thoroughly successful. For the first time in awhile Kaiba smiled. He nodded to himself and flipped the pages. "Good." He said, and then tapped the sheets on his desk. "It's nice to see at least some things are going right for a change."
The secretary knew not to intrude. If she so much put as a toe out of line, and into her boss's business, she'd be fired, and she knew it.
"Finish construction and bring them to me." He told his secretary, writing down a note on the paper and then handing the wad to her. "And tell the men downstairs that the disk from the other night works beautifully."
The secretary nodded. "Yes sir." She said, and disappeared through the door, leaving him in silence.
He hurriedly continued to his work. The day had been nothing but good news for him. His morning meeting had been canceled, his laptop hadn't given him a bit of grief that day, and now he found out that the testing for his new Duel Disk Hologram Imagers were coming out all positive.
To make the upcoming tournament a bit more intense for the final duelists, Kaiba had made plans for a new type of dueling disk that was portable, usable at any time, and inflicted real damage to the opponent. The beginning of the process had been a nightmare, as everything had gone wrong and nothing was right. But now it was turning out okay, and Kaiba was rather proud.
He had been lucky that he was carrying the first prototypes of the new duel disk that night when he had come across Roux. Not only had he found the stone, but he had also found that his gizmo was off to a good start, when he had successfully called upon the Blue Eyes White Dragon and took out Marik's goons.
Kaiba was in a happy mood for the rest of the afternoon, not bothered by anyone or anything, as he remained in his office, worked, and got a lot of work done. Soon Mokuba came into his office with a big smile on his face.
Kaiba looked at his little brother. "What are you doing, Mokuba?" he asked.
"Getting ready." Mokuba said, putting on his scarf.
Worried, Kaiba thought that maybe he had promised Mokuba something and forgot. He quickly tried to think in his mind. Had he promised Mokuba anything that he wouldn't perchance remember?
But Mokuba had seen that he had forgotten, and he laughed softly. "We're going to pick up Roux, remember?"
Kaiba's mind flashed back into reality. He looked at the clock on the wall. Yes it was almost four o'clock. They would have to get going to be at the Wheeler's apartment before five or so. Kaiba sighed softly to himself as he shut down the laptop and gathered his things.
He had been having such an enlightening day that he had clearly forgotten about having to pick Roux up from the Wheeler apartment that day. It dragged on his shoulders down to the limo, and he sat in silence.
Mokuba was on the end of his seat, excited. Kaiba could see the anxiousness brewing in his little brother's big gray eyes. He was excited to see Roux. He always was.
Kaiba shook his head softly to himself. That was bad news. If Mokuba liked her, that probably meant that he wanted to spend more time with her. And that meant that Kaiba would have to see her a lot more often.
~ Not that it matters. ~ He thought bitterly to himself. ~ As she has the stone and it 'simply will not come off'. I'll be forced to see her no matter what. ~
"What are we gonna do when Roux comes over?" Mokuba asked suddenly, cheerfully.
"Huh?" Kaiba looked down at his brother. "Well I have to work."
Mokuba frowned. "You always have to work, and she's your guest."
"She's not a guest," Kaiba stated sternly. "And certainly not MY guest. She's just staying with us in the evenings until we can get that stupid ring off her finger. Which should be any day now." Kaiba thought, thinking about going to a jeweler and having the ring cut off her finger, and then having it for himself.
It made him smile with pleasure. Just a little bit.
The limo pulled up into the street and stopped in front of the Wheeler's apartment. Kaiba sat back and crossed his arms. "Why don't you go get her, Mokuba?" Kaiba sighed.
Mokuba gasped. "Really? Okay!" and with that he jumped right out of the limo and went running up the steps, only to knock extremely loudly on the front door.
Kaiba waited. He didn't look out the window to see what was going on. There was no way he would ever seem interested or concerned. Not in front of Yugi and his friends.
But the time dragged on and Mokuba didn't return, and Kaiba was growing fairly impatient. He looked at the clock and looked out the window. Mokuba was standing in the doorway talking to Yugi and Joey who were having a pretty happy conversation with him, it looked like.
Kaiba was about to growl at the driver to honk the horn when Mokuba came running down the steps, skipping one every now and then. He came up to the door but didn't get in. Kaiba looked and saw that Roux wasn't following. Kaiba's hands clenched into fists.
Mokuba rapped on the window and Kaiba rolled it down. "What's the hold up?" he snapped.
Mokuba shrugged. "Yugi and Joey say that she's asleep, and they would rather not wake her up." Mokuba said innocently, but Kaiba could see the disappointment in his eyes. "They wondered if staying here for the night would be better for her."
Kaiba chewed on his lower lip. It infuriated him. Kaiba had told Roux specifically that he would be there around the early evening. If she had remembered that she wouldn't have dared to fall asleep, unless she was testing his patience and how far he would go.
That had to be it. "Tell them no, it's not okay!" Kaiba demanded to Mokuba. "Tell them that if they have to throw water on her to wake her up, do it. But she's not staying here tonight."
Mokuba grinned and his cheeks went bright, and in no time at all he went back bounding up the stairs.
Kaiba sat back. The nerve of her, if she had indeed purposely fallen asleep when she knew they would be coming for her around this time. His nostrils flared and he shook his head slowly.
Mokuba rapped on the window again. Roux once again was not with him. Kaiba was beginning to get fierce.
"Mokuba!" he snarled. "What did I tell you? She is not staying here tonight!"
"They tried to wake her up, but she just won't budge." Mokuba said innocently, growing slightly fearful that his brother was getting so pissed off.
Kaiba shook his head and lurched himself from his seat. "Fine! I'll do it!" he spat and pushed his way out of the limo. Mokuba shut the door and followed his brother up the stairs, swallowing fearfully but curious as to what his older brother would do.
Kaiba slammed against the door with his fist. His teeth clenched. He was not in the mood today to be bothered by childish games.
Yugi answered the door, and cranked his neck to look up at Kaiba. When he did, he blinked unexpectedly. "Oh. Hi Kaiba." He said softly, and then smiled. "Roux's asleep and we thought that since she was so-"
"Why the hell is she asleep?" Kaiba snarled testily. "She knew very well that I was coming around this time!"
Yugi thought for a moment and then smiled brightly again. "Well we had a pretty busy afternoon. I guess it tuckered her out. She said she was just going to lay down for a little while and the next thing we knew-"
"I don't care, Yugi." Kaiba breathed impatiently. "Wake her up, I'm not leaving her here for the night."
Joey came into the room, followed by Serenity and Tea. They had just come from the guest bedroom. Kaiba looked over at them and knew that they had just been in to check on Roux. They were probably talking to her in the room while Roux 'pretended' to be asleep just to annoy him.
"Oh, hi Kaiba." Tea said, and tried to give him a hearty smile. "Mokuba told you I think, Roux's asleep and she just won't wake up."
Kaiba scowled at them all. "Did you try throwing some water on her? Plugging her nose? Do something, but do it fast and get her up. I have work to do and this childish game is wasting my time!"
Joey leaned against the nearest wall and crossed his arms. "Kaiba why don't cha just let her stay here tonight? We'll keep an eye on her." Joey said sincerely.
"Absolutely." Yugi said happily, smiling up at Kaiba.
Kaiba smirked. "No. I was assigned with this stupid task and I'll fulfill it if it kills me." He said. "And believe me it will." Finally he just pushed past Yugi, Joey, Serenity and Tea and continued into the apartment. "I'm sick of this, I'll get her up myself!"
They all watched as he disappeared down the hall, then they all shrugged at each other. They didn't know what the big deal was of letting her stay with the Wheelers that night, since she was asleep anyway.
Kaiba could tell which room she was in because the door was slightly open and it was dark inside. He approached the door like a stiff shadow and pushed it open testily.
He hadn't been prepared for what he saw before him.
Roux lay on the bed on her side. The setting sunshine seeped in through the curtains and laid over her like a blanket of brushed gold tinge. Her hair, her skin, her red lips, and the rising and falling of her chest. She was beautiful. The most beautiful thing Kaiba had ever seen. And for a moment he had forgotten why he was angry.
But it quickly returned. He shook away the thought of being attracted to her, and moved around the bed to where she was facing. He stared down at her sleeping form, who hummed softly in her sleep and dreamt of mystic places.
Kaiba cleared his throat, reached down, and poked her shoulder, hard.
She stirred, but not by a lot. She shifted for a moment, humming in her sleep, and then returning to her previous position. Her lips held a playful smile, as though in her dreams she was torturing him.
Kaiba tried again. He poked her again, harder than the first time.
She stirred again, and a mumble came from her ruby lips. Had Kaiba been one step further from her he wouldn't have heard it.
"Not now." her sweet voice mumbled. "Too early to play."
Kaiba would have blushed if he wasn't so confused, and irritated. Impatiently he tried shaking her shoulder, trying to wake her up. She stirred, and when he shook her harder, she only mumbled again in her sleep.
"Not now." she whispered, and the fall of her tone told Kaiba that she indeed was unmistakably asleep, and wouldn't wake up anytime soon.
Kaiba sighed and hung his head, shaking it softly. If he was going to get her out of there, and indeed he was, because he refused to let her make a mockery of him, he was going to have to find some other way than waking her up.
A thought came to his mind, but he tried to chase it away. What would the others think?
At this point he didn't care. All he cared about was getting her to the limo, and taking her to a jeweler to get the ring cut off.
Very carefully, shaking his head and hating himself for it, he bent down carefully, so he was almost on one knee, and very, very slowly he slipped his hands under both her knees and her chest. She stirred a little bit, but not enough to disturb him. With ease he lifted her up from the bed.
She was light, was the first thing he thought, and she seemed to curl up into him as though it were a reaction to his touch. She rested her head on the crook of his arm and huddled against his touch, humming to herself.
Kaiba was stuck between feeling both very ridiculous, and having the right mind to drop her on the floor just to wake her up, and feeling very strange, in which he just wanted to stand there like that forever and eternity. He didn't understand it. Something weird was flowing through him.
He shook it away, and began to walk out of the room, and down the hallway. He could feel the heat of her body against him, but he tried to make it look as though he didn't care. And he didn't. He walked into the living and everyone looked over, with shocked expressions across their faces.
Joey above them all was looking peaked. He couldn't even find words to speak.
"Why won't you just leave her here, Kaiba?" Tea whined, irritating Kaiba even further.
"Yeah, she would have been comfortable here." Yugi piped in.
Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Don't worry about it, I'll bring her back tomorrow morning on my way to the office, sheesh." And he held her a bit tighter and continued in the direction out the door. "Let's go Mokuba." He said to his younger brother, who had made himself comfortable on the chair beside the door.
"Yessum." Mokuba said, and waving bye to everyone in the apartment, he skipped down the stairs to follow his big brother.
Mokuba couldn't stop grinning. ~ Wow, Seto's carrying Roux! I wonder what this means. Perhaps he really likes her or something. Maybe she has a sprained ankle and can't walk! Maybe she's faking it and he's going along with it for fun! ~
A million thoughts came to Mokuba's mind happily, but far more came to Kaiba's mind as he very carefully went down the steps, and towards the limo. He tried not to look down at her, and he was careful not to breathe in her romantic scent. Once he was at the bottom of the stairs he felt her fingers grab a big of his jacket and pull, and then she murmured in her sleep.
When Kaiba finally set her down in the limo on four seats, he found himself perspiring at the forehead, and nervous beyond belief.
~*~
All Roux remembered was falling asleep, and dreaming of nothing. It had been glorious, until she had opened her eyes and found herself in the arms of Seto Kaiba. She had almost screamed, but when she very carefully looked up into his eyes, she saw that he was already quite serious looking.
Roux remembered everything. Opening her eyes to his familiar navy blue jacket and feeling his arms holding her without much effort, and her body against his. She had breathed in his scent, by accident, and couldn't help but admit that he smelled soo good!
Thought after thought had raced through her mind as she felt herself being carried by this man who hated her so. She wouldn't have been surprised if he had carried her out to the middle of the road and dropped in her the street, so a car would run her over and kill her. But instead she felt him very gently place her on some seats in the limo, so she could lay down.
When she had shifted purposely when the limo was moving pretending to be asleep, she had risked opening her eye a little, and seeing him staring at his feet, not saying a word.
~*~
Ishizu had been standing on the roof the Wheeler's apartment building. Her deep eyes had seen everything that had happened there that day. She had observed in secret as Seto Kaiba collected Roux Matuko from the Wheeler apartment, carrying her in his arms down to the limo.
Ishizu had smiled when she saw this. She thought it was a good thing that Kaiba was finally taking this task a little more seriously, other than finding it no more than a waste of his time. He could have left her there with the Wheelers, but he didn't.
~ Indeed Seto Kaiba is beginning to see the reality of this mission. ~ Ishizu observed thoughtfully. ~ If he only carries on like this, there may be hope yet. ~
As she was thinking, she felt a presence join her. With ease she looked over, and saw Shaadii standing there beside her, looking down upon the road, as though he were watching something with great intensity. Ishizu wondered if he had been there the entire time.
"The final piece of the puzzle has been set for Roux." Shaadii said softly, his eyes never leaving the road, which was vacant. "She knows of the stone, and of it's power. She also knows that she must allow herself to the protection of Seto Kaiba."
Ishizu nodded. "All that needs to be done now is for Kaiba to fulfill the task, and not bring her to danger."
Shaadii sighed softly. "It could be very difficult for him."
"But have you not seen?" Ishizu questioned, looking over at him. "Did you not see what happened here about an hour ago?"
Shaadii bowed his head and he nodded. "Yes, I saw it all." He confessed.
"If Seto Kaiba has faith in this mission that I have befallen upon him, the world could be saved from my brother." She lowered her gaze in sadness. "I'd hate to see what would happen if Marik got anywhere near the stone."
Shaadii nodded. He knew all too well the necessities of this mission. "And if Seto Kaiba does not complete this mission, the world will be in great peril."
Ishizu said nothing, and she sighed deeply. She knew all too well what would happen if Marik had found the Millennium stone. She had foreseen it with her necklace. They all had to be careful not to let it happen.
Without further words, both Ishizu and Shaadii disappeared from the roof and out of sight.
~*~
**** I know this chapter was a little short, but fear not! The rest of the chapters will be longer from this point on, because of exciting things about to happen, and of course because we are approaching the finale of this story. OH! And be sure to check out my new Final Fantasy VII story that should be up sometime this week intitled "Progeny". ^^ Ciao for now! ****