Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh
It is now 11/11/04. This is one of those useless chapters I was talking about before, you know, the ones I don't really like. I couldn't bring myself to get rid of them, though, so pretty much the only useless chapter that was deleted was the "meanwhile" chapter. And… yeah. That's about it. Oh yes, I know the true meaning of "Seto" is strait, but I like the word "sun" better.
Normal POV:
Derek glared at his cousin, who had gone back to twirling his hair and giving flirtatious winks to the girls passing them. "We going home?" He elbowed his cousin's side. It was the end of the school day, and Derek was anxious to get home. The station had spent the day interviewing people Takara had interactions with, and Derek felt he'd given them too much information.
"What? Oh, yes," Duke said, straightening. Duke looked for his cousin, finding that he was already ahead of him, still walking mindlessly. Duke scratched his head. His cousin had been spacing out more than usual lately. Maybe it has to do with Takara being missing... "Hey Derek! Wait up! I need to ask you something."
"What?" Derek half snapped, half snarled.
"Uhhh..." Duke was rethinking what he was going to say. He looked at his cousin's angry green eyes. Silently telling him to ask his question. "DoyoulikeTakara." Derek was the only person that was able to intimidate Duke so much.
Derek nearly snorted. "Do I like Takara?" Duke could tell that his cousin was about to make a speech. They were still walking through the now almost empty school at a painstakingly slow pace. Hurry up, Duke willed his cousin silently. It didn't work. "I like Takara. I more than like Takara. I liked her since I've known her. I've liked her since before I've known her." There was a pause here. Duke noticed his cousin's eyes narrowing as he thought of what to say next. "I've liked her since before she even became attractive," he said, giving a glance at Duke. "Which is more than I can say for some people..." Duke gulped. He was afraid of his cousin ripping him to shreds. "I've liked her for so long. I've been her best friend for so long. I was there for her for so long. And just when I mustered up the courage to ask her out, back in the eighth grade..." he swallowed. "Someone else comes and does it first." He was thinking of Marik. "I was there when she started drugs, I was there when she stopped them. I was there when she was an irritable, aggressive, insomniac, anorexic girl who took only vitamin supplements for two months. The two months she was on meth." He scowled.
"Are you sure it wasn't a drug speaking?" Duke's tongue was to sharp for his own good. The next thing he knew, he was being held against the closest locker, the lock digging into his back, by the collar of his school jacket. He looked again into the furious face of his cousin. "I was..." his voice faltered. He whimpered. He was glad that his cheerleaders had decided to wait for him by his car. Derek, satisfied that his cousin wasn't going to mention it again, dropped him to the floor.
"I'm driving," he stated shortly, already turning to go. Duke stood for a moment, shocked. He blinked a few times, and looked in time to see his cousin already at the end of the hall.
"Wait up!" he yelled.
> > Seto> >
Sapphire blue hair, I mused. I wonder how it's going to look. I fingered the chain around the neck, the one I had received in my envelope earlier. Sun... Isn't that what Seto meant? I mean, Seto is the Japanese form of the Egyptian name Seth, which was the name of their first sun god. Am I right? I remembered what my-our- father had written in his letter to me. I myself regret not having been able to meet her. Why then, did he let her go? Why are you getting sentimental? Jack knocked at the door. "Come in," I said.
Jack came in and put a pile of clothing on the bed. "Madam Tikany says you are to be going as the Greek Apollo." Was it me, or did I hear laughter?
I looked again, but Jack had already left. I sighed and looked at the clothing. I had told the tailoress that I didn't care what I was going to go as tonight. God, why did that typist have to mention the party so late? Why was I making such a big deal about this?! Maybe because you want an easy way to get to know your sister, a voice in my head said. Shut up, I thought. It was a dinner party, so I guessed that people wouldn't really care if I brought someone who... That would be a problem, the voice said. Go away! No, the voice said languidly. Admit it, ever since that day that you met, you've known that she was a missing piece of the puzzle that is your life. I refused to admit it, though I knew that knowing about my sister HAD filled up an empty space in my... some place inside? I wouldn't say heart. Hearts don't think or feel. They contract and pump blood. And meeting her, and talking to her, had slowly closed the gap in that... place. Now I was acting more brotherly.... I couldn't think about it.
"Nii-sama?" Mokuba's head popped into the room, even though I hadn't let him in. "Can I go to Justin's house before the party?"
"Sure," I said, barely registering his presence. "I'll probably be gone when your party is over. You'll have to call Manuel." Manuel was our driver. I guess I could let my car be handled by the valet.
"Thanks!" The small boy closed the door happily. I got my laptop and opened it. I had three hours left. I could do a lot in that time. First of all, I was going to fire that idiot typist.
------------------------------------------
"Takara, are you done yet?" I sat in the living room on the ground floor, waiting for my sister to finish dressing. As for me, I was wearing a toga with a gold tinge to it, reaching my ankles. I wore a wreath of something in my hair (I didn't know what) and a golden rope around my waist. Wait a minute, why am I taking her out tonight? Aren't the cops still looking for her? This was one of my few idiotic ideas. Why didn't I just turn down the invitation? I didn't even know who was hosting this thing, except that it was probably a good business opportunity. It would be at the Marriott.
"I'm done." I looked up. I hadn't noticed that she had crept right up to me. She was wearing a Greek toga, like me, but a feminine one that lightly touched the floor. It was slightly blue tinged, with a gold rope that matched mine around her waist. Her hair, now wavy and blue, fell down to her waist line, individual locks curling at the end, with a few gold clips placed seemingly random through her hair. The color of her hair matched her eyes perfectly. It made the rest of her outfit, even the dark cord, seem plain in contrast. I think that she mixed the dye or something, because her hair wasn't just one flat color. It seemed to sparkle. An artist's touch, I supposed. I noticed that she wore many gold bangles on her left wrist. "Are we going?" I realized I had been gaping. Admit it, you need your sister. The voice had returned. She completes something in you... something even Mokuba hadn't filled. I ignored it. It wasn't true. I only needed to get past this little obstacle to continue with my tournament.
"Yeah," I said. I smiled faintly, but regained my pose. Which car would I go in? I chose a nice, classy vehicle. Black Ferrari. Nice.
> > > Takara> > >
I loved my new hair color I had asked Jack to get as many shades of blue as he could find, and I carefully created a pattern for my hair. It seemed to sparkle, but I knew it only seemed like it. I smiled to myself, as we pulled up to the Marriott. "Smile a lot," Seto instructed me. "Sit up straight, and try not to act out of place." 'What are you going to call me?' I wondered silently. "I don't know. We'll come to that when we get there." He'd heard me.
I got out of the car, and I could hear the whispers. Flashes of cameras, reporters for fashion magazines? "Seto Kaiba's mysterious date..." I turned my head, and caught my brother tossing the keys to a valet boy. He came over and linked his arm in mine. 'Remember to smile,' he told me silently. 'Do you know how to work this weird connection?' I asked. 'No,' he thought. 'I only know when I can do this and when I can't. Smile, and pretend to ignore the cameras.' "She seems to be related to him. They have the same shocking blue eyes..."
------------------------------------------------
"Mister Kaiba," the host greeted us. I think he was the host. If this was a restaurant, he probably would be a host. "Your table will be table thirty. I will lead you there." Seto nodded his appreciation. I followed them, keeping my eyes averted from most of the crowd. I saw some costumes of the rich and famous, a peacock feathered woman, a samurai, a ninja...
I looked at our table when we were only twenty feet away. I'd been alerted by my brother's sharp intake of breath. A few figures were already seated there, two of them familiar. One black haired, green eyes, and one green haired, with familiar, also green eyes. The Devlins. The last people I really wanted to see.
> > >Derek > >
I looked around the room, taking in the costumes of other people. Duke had come as Dracula, and was intent on making the girl in red that sat next to him giggle. I didn't pay attention to what he was saying, although I did see him take her hand and kiss it. "Oh Duke!" the girl giggled. She was what, eighteen? Two years older than us. Didn't she think Duke was pitiful?! Girls normally think that about guys of that age difference... I had been, however, indecisive about a costume. Duke had forced me to come, so I wore a black cape and copied his vampire ness. He didn't care, though. I tried to ignore it when the annoying girl giggled again. "Duke!" she said, pretending to slap him. He whispered in her ear again, and she lit up. I have no clue what the hell he said, but I have absolutely no desire to find out. Then I saw her. Kaiba walked over, following the host, in a golden toga. I supposed he was supposed to be Apollo or something. Takara followed him, in full glory. Blue everything just worked on her. Even her beautiful blue hair. It sparkled. It made even the most beautiful peacock feathered lady here seem like a plain old potato sack. She was that glorious.
Kaiba took a seat, and Takara followed him hesitantly. She sat down gingerly into her chair, glancing nervously from me to Duke, then down at her plate.
"Kaiba!" Duke exclaimed. "My favorite person in the world!" He held out his hand. Kaiba didn't take it. He looked interestedly at Takara, probably not knowing who she was. "And may I ask who you are?" Duke asked, holding out his hand politely. Takara gave a split second side glance at her brother, then resettled her vision on Duke's hand.
"This is my cousin," Kaiba said. "Diana." I wonder if he did that on purpose. Diana is the Roman name for the Greek goddess Artemis, who was the twin sister of the god Apollo. Takara hesitantly took Duke's hand, which was instantly brought up to his mouth in a graceful move. Kaiba's lip twitched. When Duke brought her hand away from his lips, he didn't let go.
"Could I maybe borrow her, for a dance?" He continued to look up into Takara's eyes, although she didn't return the gaze. She continued to stare at her plate. I could hear the other girl, the one in the red, protesting for Duke's attention. "Would you mind?" He started to stand up.
"Yes I do mind," Kaiba said shortly, lifting Takara's hand away from Duke. Duke instantly started back for her hand, but Kaiba's fierce gaze made him back down. He almost whimpered. And I thought I was the only one who could do that. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Duke got up to dance with the other girl.
"Taka," I hissed at her, as soon as he was out of earshot. "What are you doing in the open so early into your disappearance?" Takara didn't look at me, but she seemed to silently communicate with Kaiba, and they switched chairs. Now we were sitting next to each other.
"Derek," she started. "This has been the longest day of my life. Being threatened, running, meeting you, calling Kaiba, all that seems so far away now." She looked up around her. "This seems so far away now." She looked at me with those piercing blue eyes. I wanted to run my hands through her hair. To kiss her perfect lips, to kiss away the tears I saw threatening to well up behind her eyes.
I resisted. "Taka, what did you do to your hair?" I made an attempt at conversation. She laughed though, and I could feel some tension relieved, even from Kaiba.
"I dyed it, duh. It's not perm, like yours though." She smiled. "And my name's Diana."
"Well, Diana," at this point, Duke came back and sat down, although this time without a companion. The chair that was there before was now gone for some reason. Some waiter probably came and took it away, as there were only supposed to be four people per table. "How did you make your hair such an interesting color?"
"An artist's touch," she said matter-of-factly. I glanced at my cousin, who seemed to be looking at me jealously. His look conveyed the message, at least HER date isn't an overprotective boyfriend. The message was probably helped along by the bruise on his jaw. Well, she didn't have an overprotective boyfriend, but she had a fierce brother, or cousin, depending on who you are. Someone gave a speech about thanking us for coming, than he called out the first course. All of my table mates were silent. This was going to be a pretty long night.