YUGIOH

MP: Aftermath

Chapter 26.

Mokuba leaped into his big brother's arms, as he entered the house, saying, "Big brother, you're home early!" Mokuba then noticed the strange stern look on his face, as he gently put Mokuba back on the ground, and a few of his security task force came in right behind him.

"Seto....what's going on?" Mokuba said.

"There's been a security breach." He said, checking the clock. "You're going to have to be escorted into the safe room, with some of our men watching outside. I'm not taking any chances....you'll be let back out, when we're sure it's safe."

"But, Seto....I wanna be here with you! Let me help!" Mokuba said, no clue what was happening.

"Sorry kiddo, not this time." Seto smiled, then nodded to his men to go with Mokuba. After Mokuba was led away to safety, he told the others, "Jasmine is expected to be here at any time. Stay out of view until I signal for you."

"Yes, sir." They said, closing the main door, and scattering to their hiding areas.

Kaiba went into the living room for a minute and took a seat, as his mind went through the last few weeks. He couldn't understand what drew him to her. It still hurt to think she was here to cause damage to him. It hurt more for him to think that he was foolish enough to trust anyone, letting her work herself into his heart so quickly.

How could he have allowed that to happen? In all honestly, he should have seen the signs that she wasn't who she claimed to be. Jasmine showed no sign of any kind of understanding of how to act in the business world. There was no way she was a secretary's assistant. On top of that, the strength she possessed was unusual for a woman of her physique and stature. It was like fighting came naturally for her. How could he have not seen the possibility staring him right in the face, like that?

He could only think of one reason....Joey. He was so desperate to escape his inner turmoil for the blond Mutt, that he must have willingly jumped at the first thing he could to escape his own emotional roller-coaster. And it had actually worked for him, but at what cost?

Joey....for the first time in three weeks, he missed him. True, Kaiba still felt it was the machine that made him feel that way for him. But, there one thing about Joey....he could atleast trust that the loyal Mutt would never do anything that would intentionally hurt him or his company. Sure, he said a few embarrassing things to Mai, but he wouldn't do something like go to the reporters to smear his name, or break into Kaiba Corp and start hacking his system. Just that thought alone amused him. After all, even if Joey was the type to try and hurt him, he would never have the brain power to do something so technical.

Though he had to admit, Joey did still have his street smarts…something Kaiba no longer could deny. As his mind drifted to thinking about Joey, the collar he gave him, and the time they had together, the doorbell suddenly rang.

Kaiba's mind cleared immediately, thinking, "Jasmine."

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Kaiba walked to the door, and opened it with a smile, saying, "Glad you could make it."

"Hey-hey, I'm here! Let the celebration begin!" She announced, as if she just walked into a crowded party room.

Her strange cheerful attitude was normally inviting to Kaiba, but at this moment, it hurt to see it. It hurt to see her. Kaiba turned away and walked towards the living room, saying, "Close the door....there's something I need to talk to you about."

She looked over at him, noticing he sounded rather serious....in fact, it was a very business-like tone. "There....something wrong?" She asked, closing the door.

"You could say that." He said, not hesitating, as he headed towards the living room.

She followed behind Kaiba saying, "So....what's wrong?" This almost reminded Jasmine of that fateful day that Kaiba called Joey to the game room, to break it off with him, and break his heart. She then suddenly remembered what Mokuba said.

"He always pushes people away, when they get too close...."

She shook the flashback away, and suddenly blurted out, "Wait a minute! You're not....breaking up with me, are you?" She asked, suddenly nervous.

"You sound nervous." He said calmly, then said in a darker manner, "You should be...." And snapped his fingers. To Jasmine's shock, she was suddenly surrounded by security.

"Wait, wait, woah! What the hell is going on, here???" Jasmine flailed around, as two security grabbed hold of her, two stood behind as backup, and a last one pointed a gun at her back.

Kaiba turned, and approached her, looking very cold and reserved, saying, "That's exactly what I'd like to know."

He glared into her eyes with such hate, it surprised her. This wasn't a shield over his eyes, this was genuine raw emotion of the worst kind. But what could she have done to bring such scorn from him, and make him hate her so? She didn't understand.

Kaiba's eyes narrowed to dangerous slits, hissing out, "Did you think I wouldn't find out about you? Did you? You must think I'm pretty stupid, to try and pull the wool over 'my' eyes. It's bad enough to have people like you try to pull a fast one on me, but to insult me by thinking I wouldn't find out? You're pathetic...."

Jasmine's eyes twitched, realizing, 'He figured it out. And now he hates me even more. He's right, how could I be so stupid to think Kaiba wouldn't find out the truth? Man, I shoulda known better. Now he'll never forgive me. I deserve this....'

Her head lowered, saying, "I....I'm sorry. You're right, I shouldn't have gone through with it. It's all my fault. But ya gotta believe me Kaiba, I was just trying to prove that you were wrong about us. I did it cuz I care, and....I wanted you to give us a chance."

A few tears formed into her eyes, as they dripped down to the ground. The guards seemed uncertain what to think of this odd display from a supposed corporate spy.

Kaiba was equally confused, and spit out, "Did this for 'me'?? What on earth are you babbling about?! If this is another one of your sick games, I'm not impressed!"

He grabbed the stunned and confused Jasmine by her shirt collar, pulling her harshly close to his face, as he snarled, "I want to know who you work for, and what you were doing in my high security experimental chamber, and I want to know now!! Charujin put you up to this, didn't they!!"

"Uh....huh??" She asked, once again totally confused.

Kaiba released her collar, then smacked her across the face, snapping, "Do not insult me with your supposed ignorance! You tried to fool me with that once, it's not going to work again! I found your virus. What were you trying to find from Kaiba Corp's files? Where did you get one of our passkeys and passwords? Who are you really?!!"

"You....don't know who I am..." Jasmine said, suddenly beginning to realize that Kaiba only partially found out, and must have jumped to conclusions, and assumed the worst. Even though she was hit hard in the face, realizing that Kaiba wasn't hating her for the right reasons somehow made things not so painful.

He grabbed her by the collar again, saying, "Stop playing these games with me! I guarantee you that you'll want to tell me now. Because if you don't, next I'm going to bring you to the questioning room to have my security work on you for awhile. Believe me, after they played with you for a bit, you'll be begging to talk to me...."

"All right, all right, leggo....I'll come clean!" She said, flailing about.