Insert standard disclaimers here. Not mine, never will be, etc. etc.
Someday, Maybe...
"Aaaa, look at that one, Yuugi!"
Seto Kaiba gazed up at the dark sky and the lights flashing against it at the cry from Anzu from several meters away. Mokuba had managed to drag him along to the fireworks display once again this year. Every year Kaiba swore it would be the last--he had too much work to do now, after all. Yet, every year he still came with his little brother.
Another explosion in the air signaled him to look up just before red and white sparks rained down like tears high above them. It almost made him smile. He could have broken it down into its scientific matter if he wanted, but...for the moment, he wanted to be the child that didn't understand those kinds of things. For a moment, he found himself forgetting who he was.
"Oh, wow, they're always so pretty!"
It was her voice again that broke his thoughts, and he risked a look over to where Mokuba was sitting on the grass with Yuugi and his friends. She was sitting on her feet--probably to keep her skirt from being nudged up by the blond pervert sitting beside her, Kaiba noted--and her hands were clapped together under her chin. He could only see her profile, but that was enough. He couldn't help but notice the way the falling light reflected in her eyes and illuminated her face.
Kaiba closed his eyes briefly before turning back to the sky just in time to see a pale blue and white flower fading above his head. He was too uneasy with their relationship to go over there. Even with Mokuba sitting there to help break the tension, there was still too much that he had said and done to them. Jounouchi and Honda would jump on him just for being there. Anzu...she'd ignore him like she had back at that duel between Jounouchi and Yuugi when Marik was controlling the blond's mind. He just didn't want to deal with that now.
Anzu was cute, though. And talented. Her grades weren't bad, and she worked hard at everything she did. Not that he had ever thought about things like love, but she certainly would be about the only one of that group that he'd ever think about dating.
Not that he ever thought about dating.
Still, he could have rushed in and stopped that duel without caring what happened to her, and he didn't. He was, honestly, more worried about her than Yuugi. Yuugi could handle himself. Yuugi was strong even if he was foolish about things like friendship and his emotions.
Kaiba sighed. Of course he'd rush in without caring whether she thanked him again if he had to. Anything to save that smile, to save the dream that made her smile. Since then, he realized that he liked when she smiled. It made him feel...peaceful, somehow.
Unrequited love and blind devotion...you know where that will get you?
Kaiba nodded slightly at the little voice that spoke in his head. Whether it was simply his conscience or something more complicated, he liked to think of it as his dragon when it spoke. It was right, of course, but he couldn't change how he felt...not now...
"Kaiba! Come over and sit with us!" Yuugi's voice called over another explosion.
Kaiba looked over at them again. Yuugi and Mokuba were the only ones staring back at him. He shook his head. Mokuba would pout about it, but he'd understand. Yuugi was the only one that wanted him there. Yuugi was the only one that tried to be his friend and help him. Yuugi was the one that had the heart of the girl that he wanted.
Princes and princesses, white knights and maidens. You're none of them, Seto.
Kaiba turned his gaze back to the sky before his thoughts went in a direction that he didn't want them to. Mokuba's birthday was coming up. And there was that investor that he had to deal with. He had too much to do to let himself be depressed over a girl that didn't care that he existed.
A bright blue rain of light bloomed above them all. The color was the same as her eyes, and once again he found himself looking over towards where Mokuba was sitting.
This time, he was surprised to see her watching him in return. He drew in a sharp breath, but regained his composure quickly enough. There was no sense changing her image of him right now, even if seeing her staring back at him had made him vaguely aware of the fact that he was still young enough to be a schoolboy with a schoolboy crush.
A corner of his mouth turned upward in a smile, and his expression softened just a little before he turned back to the fireworks. It was hard keeping that cold mask in place when he looked at her.
He caught a glimpse of the way her eyes widened out of the corner of his own. So she had seen the beginnings of the smile even in the darkness.
Do you really believe that she knows you don't smile except for the sake of those you love?
It didn't matter. He had seen her reaction. Even if she didn't understand the significance, she understood that there was something unusual about Seto Kaiba looking at her that way.
Maybe, just maybe, he'd find a way some day to make her look at him as her champion instead of Yuugi. He could wait until then...maybe.
Owari
