By Hikaru Hayashi
I made a few small changes to this chapter, because I'm still editing. In case it helps anyone, I wrote in the argument between Sophia and Seto. So here's the edited version of Chapter 14: Spring Fever.
Disclaimer note: He's not mine!!!!!! Neither is anyone else!!!! Waa-haaa!!! [Need I say more? You all know who I'm talking about...]
With that small note, we now begin. Let the story continue!!
Chapter 14: Spring Fever
"Riley the Matchmaker"
With Annie out of the way for now, Sophia could finally get back to concentrating on her schoolwork. She was starting to fall back in her History class. "History was never my best subject..." she muttered.
Riley, who overheard her muttering, thought to himself, 'Hmm...maybe I can help Sophia with her History, since we're in the same class and everything. It'll be a favor between friends! (Then later on today, I'm gonna ask Izumi-chan if she wants ta go on a date with me...!)' Riley began to walk over to Sophia, when he noticed Seto, who had been staring at Sophia since she walked through the door. Riley snuck up on him and muttered in his ear, "You like her, don't you?"
Seto jumped. "Ah! Don't scare me like that, Riley!!" he shouted.
"Wha? I'm just statin' the obvious..." Riley said. "You have a crush on Sophia, don't you?"
Seto's face went scarlet. "W-what? No!! I don't..."
"Then, why the heck are you blushing? Hm?" Riley said.
"...Uh..."
"Go talk to her, fool!!" Riley said. "Come on! I KNOW ya wanna! Go offer to help her with her history homework or somethin'..." Then Riley noticed his error. 'Wait a minute...' he thought. 'That was MA idea!! Why am I givin' ideas to a smart-aleck bum who's afraid to talk to a girl?? Ah, I guess it won't hurt...I could play matchmaker for a while, just long enough to get them together...heh, heh...!' "Well, see ya!" Riley said as he walked to the other side of the room. "I'm gonna go talk to Izumi-chan, maybe she needs help with something...heh, heh...!"
Seto shot Riley a look behind his back. "...Pervert..." he muttered.
"Agh!" shouted Sophia, banging her head against her history book. "I'm never gonna catch up!!"
Seto noticed she was having a bit of trouble. '...Should I help her?' he thought. '...No! I can hardly look at her without blushing...but she is a little behind in that class and could use some help, so...' He stood up and walked over to where she was sitting. "Um...Sophia...?" he said.
Sophia looked up. "Huh? Oh, hey Seto. What's up? Are you feeling better today? I mean, your face is red..."
Seto looked alarmed. 'Am I...blushing...?' he thought. '...Well, that's embarrassing...!!'
Sophia tried to do more of her work. "Agh! I can't understand this stuff...I'm gonna have to repeat the class...Argh! My parents are gonna kill me..." Then, she noticed Seto was sitting next to her.
"Here, let me help you..." he said calmly, despite the fact that he was trembling.
Sophia stared at him. 'Is he being...NICE!?' she thought. "O-okay," she replied as she started to blush.
Riley looked at them from the other side of the room and just smiled. "Mission#1—Operation "Homework": Successful!"
The bell had rung to go to lunch. Riley found this a perfect "matchmaker" opportunity. 'A'ight! Now's my chance!' he thought. He ran up to catch up to Seto. "Yo, Kaiba!" he shouted.
Seto turned around. "Wow, now you're talking to me all of a sudden!" he said, with an amused smile on his face.
"Hey, we're still rivals, ya hear?" Riley said. "Don't be thinkin' anything else! Look, there's Sophia!" he said, pointing in her direction. She was with Izumi and some of her friends. [A/N: Riley and Seto are rivals. If you don't remember why, see Chapter One, Riley's Character Profile.]
"...And...?" Seto asked, quizzically. "Your point is?"
"So!" Riley replied. "Go talk to her. Y'know, ask her if she wants ta have lunch with you. I mean, you DO usually sit by yourself..."
Seto stared at Riley, blushing madly. "I...I can't do that!" he said.
"Sure ya can!" Riley said, trying not to laugh. "Look, I'll even help ya out. YO! SOPHIA!!" Riley called.
Sophia turned around. "Oh, hey Andrew...whoops, I mean, Riley!"
"Right!" Riley said as he walked over to Sophia, dragging Seto along with him. [A/N: Pretty much literally...]
Izumi turned to her other friends. "Hey, don't tell Sophia, all right?" she said. "But, I heard this rumor that Kaiba-kun has a mega huge crush on her! (And all this time, I thought it was Sophia with the crush!)"
Izumi's friends giggled playfully. "Don't worry! We won't tell!" one of them said.
"Hey, Kaiba wants to talk to ya, all right?" Riley said as he slowly started to back away. "A'ight, Kaiba! It's all you!" With this, Riley gave Seto a pat on the back and strolled off with a huge grin on his face. 'If this doesn't work, I don' know what will!' he thought.
"So?" asked Sophia. "What's up, Seto?"
Seto blushed. "Um...I...I was just..."
Izumi's friends giggled. Izumi thought, 'Wow, I didn't know Kaiba-kun was so shy...'
"Um...I was...wondering...um..." Seto said, shyly. He was looking at the ground. "Sophia...would you...would you mind having lunch with me? I mean...! If you don't want to..."
Sophia had a huge smile on her face. 'Does this mean he likes me...?!' she thought happily. "Okay, Seto!" she chirped. "I'll sit with you!"
Seto blushed madly and smiled as he took Sophia's hand. The two of them walked off together.
Izumi's friends giggled. "Wow! Look at them!" they said. "The two of them are so adorable together!" "They make a really nice couple!" "Aww...kawaii!!" "Was he just SMILING?" "I wish Kaiba-kun would talk to me..."
Izumi just stared in utter confusion. She didn't say a word.
Riley sat on the grass. "Mission #2—Operation "Lunch": Successful!" he said to himself as he picked up a soda can. 'I wonder if Izumi-chan would sit with me...' he thought.
The bell rang to go to their final class. Riley once again walked up to Seto. "Hey, Kaiba, you and Sophia are in different classes now, huh? You could offer to carry her books for her or somethin'."
"Why the heck are you bothering me?!" Seto said, annoyed. "Cut it out, Riley."
"Hey, this is for your own good," Riley replied. "I'm only tryin' ta help YOU."
Seto glared at Riley.
"That is, unless," Riley started, "ya don' want ma help, and the nice girl will never know you really like her. Come on, man! Give it a try."
Seto sighed. "I give up..." he muttered. "Fine! I'll do it."
Riley grinned. "Good. Start talkin' 'cause she's right behind us!"
"...She's WHAT?"
"Hey Riley! Hey Seto! What's up?" came Sophia's voice from behind them.
"It's all you, man!" Riley whispered. "Heya, Sophia."
"...Uh...Hi, Sophia..." Seto said, shyly. I...um...walk you to class...? I mean...! If you don't want to..."
"Okay!" she replied immediately. She grabbed his arm. "Thanks for being so nice, Seto!" Sophia said. She couldn't help but giggle when she noticed Seto blushing.
The two of them walked off.
Riley looked satisfied. He turned and walked to class. "Mission #3—Operation "Hallway": Successful! Hmm...I should find Izumi-chan. Maybe she'd let me walk her to class too..."
The final bell rang. School was out. While walking in the hallways, Sophia happened to run into Seto. "Oh, hey there, Seto!" she said.
"Hi...Sophia..." he said. "Um...did you need a ride home or something...? I mean...! If you don't want...."
"Oh, you silly boy!" Sophia giggled. "Of course I'd like a ride!"
'Whew...well, at least Riley won't be bugging me about this one!' Seto thought. Suddenly, he heard Sophia say, for no apparent reason, "Y'know, Seto, defeating you in that duel wasn't as tough as I thought it would be!"
Seto stopped dead in his tracks. "W-Wha...what did you just say?!"
Sophia noticed that he no longer sounded like the suddenly nice Seto who had been kind to her the entire day. He sounded like the Seto that she first met when she moved there...the jerk Seto. She turned and said, "Oh, give it a rest, alright? Besides, it was just a stupid game, right? I mean, it's not like if you won things would be different. I think you just like to show off."
This made Seto angry. "Well, for your information, little girl," he started, "I just happen to be one of the best duelists in this pathetic little town...so there! You have no idea who you're messing with here."
"You don't have to be competitive, "Sophia argued. "Being the best isn't always better. I think you're just being arrogant."
By now, Seto had lost his temper. "Ooh...that was the last straw...you...you little..."
"Aww...the big mean jerk is at a loss for words...!" Sophia teased. "What are you going to do? Run home to your mommy? Oh, that's right! Mokuba told me...you don't have a mommy! Poor pathetic fool..."
"You're the fool, you insolent little brat!" Seto shouted.
Sophia was stunned. "Wha..." she said.
"You are nothing but one of those snobby girls who likes to get their way all the time!" Seto continued. "If things don't work out the way you want, you whine and cry as if it's going to change something! But it won't! You are a brat and you know it!"
"Not true..." Sophia muttered as tears were coming to her eyes.
"See! You're crying now. I was right!" Seto said, with a glare of satisfaction. "Well, crying's not going to change this!" Seto turned around and walked away.
"Wait!" Sophia shouted. "Seto! Come back! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!"
Seto didn't look back. He didn't respond. He didn't even acknowledge her existence. He just kept walking.
Sophia let the tears stream down her face as she screamed angrily, "Fine! Be that way, you jerk!!!" She turned around and ran.
Izumi and her friends were standing in the hallway. They had seen the whole thing.
Meanwhile, Riley, who had just walked through the door and out of the building, thought, 'Maybe I could get Kaiba to take Sophia home...that would help their relationship a little...!" He hopped on his Go-Ped. He was about to ride off, when Sophia stormed by him and almost knocked him over. "Whoa! 'Sup? What happened?"
"Oh, sorry about that, Riley..." Sophia said in a low, monotone voice. She sounded a little angry.
"Uh, I guess he didn't ask to take ya home...?" Riley asked.
Sophia glared at Riley. She looked as though she had been crying.
"I guess this was a bad time to ask ya that?" he asked, a little stunned.
"I could honestly care less if he ever talks to me again!!" she shouted before stomping away.
"Okay! Fine! Be that way!! Moron!!!" came Seto's voice.
Riley turned around. "Why didja yell at her, man?" he asked, confused. "I mean, earlier, you guys looked pretty happy? What happened, man?"
Seto didn't answer. He didn't even look at Riley or acknowledge his question. He just turned around and walked off.
Riley heard him muttering something that sounded like, "Ooh! The nerve of her...silly baka girl..."
Izumi and her friends ran up to where Riley was. "Wait! Kaiba-kun! Come back!" shouted one of them. "Yah!" shouted another. "She didn't mean it!!"
'Aww...poor Sophia...' thought one of ya'll PLEASE tell me what the heck is goin' on?" Riley asked, confused.
"Sophia and Kaiba-kun got in a fight..." replied one of the friends. "...I don't think they'll ever speak to each other again..."
"But, what HAPPENED???" Riley moaned. "I worked HARD ta get the two of them together!!"
Izumi looked at Riley. "I think it had something to do with...well, she mentioned the duel they had a few days ago. She said 'Ya know, Seto, you were kinda easy to beat. I didn't think it would be that hard.' And that made him real mad and he said that she wouldn't be able to defeat him again in a million years. And then she said that she could and told him to stop being a jerk. Then he said that he wasn't being a jerk and that she was acting like a snob saying that she could beat him again. And then SHE said that he was just being arrogant, which made him angry and he called her a bad name, then she called HIM a bad name and that was that!! The rest is history."
Riley stared off into space. 'Dangit, Kaiba, why do you have to be so competitive and arrogant????' he thought. 'You mighta just lost the only friend you'll ever have...!!!' Riley sighed. "Looks like I can classify Mission 'Matchmaker'—Failed...!"
Riley hopped on his Go-Ped. 'I've gotta find Sophia and talk some sense into her! She might have forgotten how mean Kaiba could be, and that's probably why she said that stuff. I gotta find the both of them and convince them it was all a misunderstanding. Otherwise, I don't think I could live with myself!'
End Chapter Fourteen
Yeah! You didn't think it was gonna be THAT easy, did you? This is Seto we're talking about here! Well I know ya want to know if they get back together. To find that out, you have to review (and sorry about the cliffhanger...!!) Ja ne!!
