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FULL CIRCLE

CHAPTER FIVE - Glimpses



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Tea tried not to appear smug after that 'skating incident' but Kaiba knew better. She was considerably a lot more comfortable around him, it seemed. While she never really used to look him dead in the eye ( at least when they weren't arguing), she was also more inclined to smiling at him in that sickening, Miss-Sunshine way of hers.

Seto supposed now that he had proven he was a human being by klutzing out just like everyone else, she supposed that it was okay if she talked to him as if he were one of her pathetic friends.

And my, did she like to talk. Kaiba made it a point to ignore most of the senseless babble.

After they had returned their rentals, she suggested---or rather, insisted-- on dinner. And, just like she had picked out their activity for the day, she also picked their eatery.

Cool Cat Charlie's Swingin' Diner.

Of all the places--- a Fifties themed restaurant. Not only were the people who worked here incredibly cheesy-they insisted on referring to each other as 'swingers' and 'ragtag, cool cats'--- but the entire place was done up to make him feel as if he had stepped back in time. The employees (and even some of the guests) were dressed in old-school fashions, pearls, gangster hats and flapper skirts. There was a parquet floor in the middle of the restaurant reserved for dancing and a rusty looking juke-box in the corner. Some people, lacking their dignity, had taken to the dance floor.

And with the dancing, there came the rag-time saxophone jazz.

Kaiba tried desperately to maintain his cool.

"You don't look very amused," Tea observed after the waitress had brought them their food. She had ordered a rather greasy-looking burger, fries and a somewhat wilted Caesar salad (which, at the moment, she was inspecting with her fork) while Seto had just settled for some Salmon steak with brown rice. The two of them had taken a window seat at the back of the restaurant.

"Why should I be?"

"I don't know; it's a new place," she stabbed at her food. "I thought you might like trying new things--- I always do."

"Hmm."

"So, I'm guessing you didn't like roller blading, huh?"

He shot her a look, the sarcasm clearly evident. "Now, whatever would give you that idea?"

"I'm sorry. You should've told me you didn't know how to skate---it would have spared us the trouble."

"Hmm."

Tea forced herself to bite back a laugh; she knew Kaiba would never admit to her (or anyone else) that he was incapable of something. As far as he and the rest of the world were concerned, there was nothing that the young CEO couldn't do.

She reached for her bottle of coke, and hid her smile discreetly behind her hand as she brought the straw close to her lips.

'Except rollerblade.'

Kaiba watched her suspiciously for a moment, left-eye creasing at the corners in disgust, as if he had sensed her mild amusement at his cost. Gaining nothing from his attempted intimidation, other than an innocent quirk of a brow, he shifted his concentration back to his plate.

Tea noted, with some chagrin and a mouthful of cola on her part, that he even ate like he belonged at some kind of formal tea-party. Elbows locked at his sides, fork and knife held correctly with index fingers pointed down, and a posture that defined 'stiff as a board.' Unlike Joey and the other boys that usually kept Tea company, he chewed with his mouth closed and was acquainted with napkins.

It made Tea re-think her own table-manners, noticing somewhat sheepishly that she was using her fork with her right hand instead of her left and that her forearm was resting impolitely on the table. She quickly corrected herself, wondering a second later why it mattered all that much in the first place.

'It's only Kaiba.'

They ate in silence, listening to the soft jazz and the chinking of plates and silverware in the background. Tea, usually a fast eater, actually took time to chew her food---having Kaiba sitting there made her a lot more conscious of her actions, whether she admitted it or not.

Shortly afterwards, they were about to order dessert when Tea had spotted Joey, Duke and Tristan through the window, making their way down the street, followed by a rather exhausted-looking Yugi jogging on behind them. Seto had noticed them too and before Tea could stand up in her seat and wave at them through the glass, he grabbed a hold of her wrist.

Tea shivered. He had very cold, strong hands.

"Sit down," he hissed.

She blinked at him in surprise, but complied. "Why? I can't say hi to my friends, now?"

"It's enough spending time with you--- I'm not too keen on having the rest of the dork-club join us."

"Oh, well that's nice," she wretched her hand away from him. "Think I'm cramping your style or something?"

"I can only handle one geek at a time."

Tea glared at him and opened her mouth to retort, but instead came up with an exasperated sigh. "You're impossible," she reached for her coke again. "Can't we just spend five minutes together without arguing?"

"Trouble in dating paradise?" The waitress had arrived with their order and the bill. "One chocolate sundae for the lady"---she placed the mountain of chocolate icecream, drizzled with white-chocolate sprinkles and hot fudge, in front of Tea---" and a Tira-mi-sue for the gentleman"--- the creamy-looking dessert was plonked down right in front of Kaiba. ---"these might lighten the mood up a bit. If not, there's always the dance floor..." she winked good naturedly.

"We're not dating," Tea mumbled. She was eyeing Kaiba's expression--- which stony as ever.

"Oh?" the waitress blinked. "Could've fooled me. Well, you two cats just enjoy your desserts, though the invite on the dance floor is still open if you change your minds."

"Thanks but no thanks," Kaiba sniffed, signing the bill and handing it back to the waitress. "We'll be leaving after this." He eyed Tea reproachfully, daring her to protest. He knew she had this silly affinity for dancing---the last thing he needed was her to get another one of her bright ideas.

She said nothing. The waitress thanked them and left.

It wasn't until they had finished dessert that Tea realized Kaiba had paid her bill too.

"You didn't have to," she ventured. "I could've handled it."

Kaiba shrugged. "Routine." A pause as he eyed her reaction. "Don't think anything of it."

"I'm not," she said, though clearly from the smile on her face, she was. They got up to leave the diner and Kaiba hoped that she wouldn't touch the subject again, but the minute that they went outside (and he made the mistake of holding the door for her) she looked at him with that triumphant gleam in her eyes. "See? You can be a nice guy when you want to be."

"I try not to make it a habit."

"Why?"

They reached a crosswalk again, though this time they didn't have to wait for the lights. Kaiba made a point of speeding up a little---she almost had to jog to keep up with him.

"You still didn't answer me," Tea insisted, puffing along behind him. When he wouldn't slow down, she ran a little ways ahead of him and blocked his way. "Why?"

He stopped walking and looked down at her. Kaiba really *was* tall. She had to tilt her chin upwards to look him evenly in the eyes. "Why what?"

"Why don't you make it a habit of being a nice guy?"

"Why should I?"

Again with the open-ended questions. Tea rolled her eyes.

"Because," she said, not letting him pass as he attempted to go through her, not once breaking her eye contact with him. "Maybe you'd make a better impression."

Kaiba snorted. "I told you, I'm not here to impress people, Gardner."

"Then why are you here?"

That question had taken him aback. For a moment, he considered giving her his snarky 'bubble-gum' line, but he knew that she wasn't going to buy it. She actually seemed quite serious.

He decided he'd humor her for a while.

"You said it yourself--- my only interests are money and power."

They had started walking again, though Seto refused to slow his pace. Tea was eyeing him rather wearily.

"That's honestly it?" She looked somewhat surprised.

"What else is there, Dr. Phyllis?"

She ignored the sarcasm. "There is more to life than just having a twisted work ethic. Have you ever once sat back to enjoy all that money you have? Or once shared it with someone?"

"Never."

"Then I fail to see the point," Tea threw up her hands in exasperation. "Why do it? What's the purpose?"

"Power."

"Why?"

This time it was Seto's turn to look at her like she was crazy. Power---why? Was she on crack? "Because it's the only thing that will get you through life. Survival."

"Life isn't just survival," Tea shook her head. "It's about living too. You never really got a chance to live, did you?"

Tea vaguely remembered hearing the story of Kaiba's past, though one particular image stuck out in her mind---the vision of a little boy sitting in front of a towering pile of books, rubbing his eyes tiredly, forced to work endless hours with his step-father's monstrous shadow looming threateningly over his shoulder.

Kaiba had been through a lot. She could not even begin to imagine what kind of 'training' Seto had been exposed to at such a young age. Tea figured, from what she had seen, that he hadn't even had any kind of childhood.

The thought saddened her.

Kaiba sucked in his breath. "Define living. If it involves breathing, I'm doing it right now----It's what I've been doing all my life."

She looked up at him again, though this time, Kaiba noticed a slight change in her mannerism. There was a hint of hurt in her tone. "How can you be so damn cynical?"

He shrugged. "Practice."

"Did it ever occur to you that there are other types of power in this world?"

Kaiba looked at her blankly.

"You have it all, Kaiba," she began evenly, though she was sure she was trembling---in anger? Nerves? "There are people out there that have nothing. You have the power to grant them happiness... a positive kind of power."

"I fail to see your point."

"Just forget it," Tea bristled. Why on earth did she think, even for just a moment, that Kaiba was anything but a cold-hearted jerk?

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End Chapter 5

A/N: Kaiba is such a sardonic S.O.B isn't he? **rubs hands together craftily* He's loads of fun to write---I always seem to have an affinity for the mouthy ones. ^_^ Mind you, he's not all that bad, as Tea somewhat discovered today. Anyway, I hope you guys got my tentative attempt at dry humor. The reason you're seeing less narrative and more dialogue is because I'm trying to practice that a bit, hence the 'light' style. However, I might be switching that up a bit... Dun. Dun. Dun!

As far as updates go, this will be the last one for this week. The next few days will be spent reviewing, revising and smoothing out the plot kinks. Anyway, you guys know I'm on the ball when it comes to writing new chapters...but reviews help lots too. :P Expect a lengthier Chapter Six sometime this weekend.

Again, reviewers never fail to amaze me. Thank you so much for your comments, guys! ^_^ You're awesome.

~ Azurite ~ Y' think? :P I love Kaiba's one liners... I heard he's a lot more sarcastic in the Manga and Japanese Version (alas, I haven't had to opportunity to neither read or see any of those :S ) so I'd like to see a few quotes from there. The 'Bubble Gum' one is his most famous though... I made reference to it ;) Yowch! Personally, I can't rollerblade either. LoL. Ice skate, I can do...but... uh... not blade. Thanks for reviewing!

~HieilovesBotan~ heh! ^_^; Thanks for the review! :D

Mokuba's Official Glomper~ Awesome! LoL. You're quite a loyal reviewer indeed ;) Seto/Tea are awesome together. Thank you!

~Silent Shadow1 ~ LoL. Priceless lines? Cool. That's just my weird sense of humor shining through O.o. Thanks for reviewing! :D

~Malik Fan 03~ We'll see what they'll plan next ;) You almost got it right when you said dance club...but I was tentative about having them get too close too soon. You'll see what I have planned further. Arigato!

~Sechskies~ Hehe! Another person that feels Kaiba's pain! Yipes. Rollerblades can be fun... only if you actually know how to skate---and not embarrass yourself! O.o Thanks for the comments ^_^

~Mamano~ Heehee.. Yeah, I thought it was ridiculous at first... but I had to think of something non-threatening that he wasn't good at for that part... and something cute, anyway. I don't if it was actually believable, but I tried. It would certainly be priceless to see over all. You're the third person who has commented on falling on their butt while blading. Guess you can relate to Kaiba....**nervous chuckle**

As always, thank you for taking the time to review!

~kagome87~ Will do! Thanks! :D