Somethings Are Better Left Unsaid
Disclaimer: As you all know, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! and I never will because I definitely do not have that kind of money. If someone were to sue my for everything I had, they would get two broken pens, a chewed up pencil, thirteen pennies, a notebook of sketches and a stuffed dolphin named 'Bernie'.
Authoress Ranting: I'm actually proud of this fic, I have a million and a half ideas for it already. I can't wait to write the Festival Chapter. I'm especially happy with how long the last chapter was, definitely one of my longest (It actually ties with Fry Hard, both are 23.3 KB.) I really hope you enjoy reading this fic as much as I enjoy writing it.
Notes:
"Speech"
{Thoughts}
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Chapter 2: RPGs, DDR and Puppy Love
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Yugi looked up as the door to the Kame Game Shop opened. With a grin, he waved at his visitor. "Hey, Mokuba!"
Mokuba returned the smile, "Hi, Yugi." He entered the small, cool shop; violet-gray eyes scanning the multiple displays.
Yugi tossed the towel he had been using to clean a card case behind the counter, turning to face Mokuba. "What brings you way out here?" He inquired of the young boy, slightly surprised the kid wasn't accompanied by his protective older brother.
Mokuba clasped his hands behind his head, still giving the game displays his full attention. "I was just looking for a new game, I beat all my other ones and it's gonna be a while until Seto finishes the new virtual reality one." He grinned at the idea of his brother's new game, "It's gonna be awesome. Seto said it's got a mix of every possible game genre you can think of!"
Yugi, memories of Kaiba's last virtual reality game still fresh in his mind, grimaced slightly, "Sounds cool."
"You bet it is!" Mokuba replied, suddenly frowning, "But I told Seto that if he models another princess after me he's gonna regret it."
Yugi laughed, "But the last one was great."
"You wouldn't say that if you saw a copy of yourself in a dress." Mokuba said, snickering at the thought.
Shaking his head, Yugi tried to abolish the mental image of himself in a billowy white princess dress, complete with diamond tiara. "I feel your pain, Mokuba." He clapped his hands together, "Now, what kind of game are you looking for?"
Mokuba scratched his ebony hair as he thought over the question. "Uhh, what kinds do you have?" He asked, eyeing the many games that reminded him so much of Seto's game room at home.
Yugi chuckled, also looking at the huge array of games, "Just about every kind. I guess I should ask first if you want a video game or board game."
The raven-haired boy grinned, "Video games, of course." He snapped his fingers, "I know what I want! Do you have any good RPGs?"
Yugi nodded, "Of course. What kind of game shop doesn't have RPGs, the greatest gaming genre ever made?" He gestured for Mokuba to follow him, leading the boy to a large glass display case. Yugi pointed to the middle shelf inside the case, "These are some of the best RPGs, I've played them all."
Mokuba knelt down to get a better view of the shelf. Just as he did so, the door to the shop opened. Looking up, Mokuba grinned, {I timed this perfectly!}
Entering the shop was Joey Wheeler, Serenity right behind him. "Hey, Yug!" Joey said as he high fived his short friend.
"Hi, Joey! Hi, Serenity!" Yugi greeted, completely forgetting about Mokuba for a moment.
Serenity wasn't so oblivious, she noticed Mokuba quickly. Kneeling down beside the boy, she whispered in his ear, "Hi, Mokuba. What're you doing?"
Mokuba smiled a greeting to the kind girl, keeping his voice as low as hers, "Hi. I'm trying to decide on a game to get. Any suggestions?" He grinned to himself as Serenity took a moment to answer.
"I would say," Serenity said, focusing her gaze on the display case, "this one. It's really fun even though it looks a bit unoriginal." She pointed to a gamebox with a cute little princess hiding behind a powerful, handsome young knight armed with a glistening silver sword; the knight was using the sword to block a stream of fire from a great, bat-winged green dragon. Beside the knight stood a mage clad in white and gold robes, using a staff and adorable little white dragon-creature to fend off various colorful monsters. One the other side of the knight was a girl with cat ears, tail and claws, her fangs sunken into the wing of a bat-monster.
Mokuba focused his attention on the box, "It looks fun. Have you played it?" He turned his intent gaze on the girl.
Serenity nodded, "Yea. It is fun. You start out as the knight, and you meet up with the priest-mage who can summon all kinds of powerful dragons. Then you meet the cat-girl, who is exiled from a tribe, she's really a strong fighter too. And once you rescue the princess you have to fight this evil black knight who uses monstrous, corrupted dragons as his minions. Once you beat him, all the dragons return to their former, nicer, selves." She laughed, giving a thumbs up, "I loved it, even if it doesn't have an original story line. I give it two thumbs up."
"All right. If you liked it, I bet I will," Mokuba said, climbing to his feet, "Hey, Yugi. I found the game I want."
Joey blinked in surprise, "Whoa, where did you come from, kid?" He scratched his hair in embarrassment, "I didn't see ya when we came in."
Mokuba laughed, "I've been here the whole time. Your sister helped me pick out a new game." He smiled at Serenity as she stood up beside him.
Yugi smiled at the pair, "Okay, Mokuba, what game did you choose?" He moved to stand beside Mokuba and peer into display case.
"This one, Serenity recommended it." Mokuba pointed to the game as Yugi went behind the case to take it out.
Examining the box, Yugi grinned, "I've played this one. It's really great, especially if you're a fan of dragons." He handed the box to Mokuba, "Enjoy."
Mokuba took the box, "How much is it?" He reached into his pocket to take out the money he had gotten from Seto.
Yugi waved his hands. "Think of it as a gift. A late or early birthday present." He said, smiling.
"Really? Whoa," Mokuba blinked, looking down at the box, "thanks, Yugi!"
"No problem." Yugi said as he stepped out from behind the counter. "See you later, Mokuba." He immediately returned to his conversation with Joey, Serenity joining in.
Mokuba purposely remained in the game shop, pretending to be interested in a case of Duel Monsters cards when in reality he was listening in on the trio's conversation. The young eavesdropper waited patiently for the group to talk about where they would meet up tomorrow. Once they had decided, Mokuba smiled to himself and slipped out the door, completely unnoticed.
Outside the game shop, Mokuba gave himself a mental pat on the back. {Seto isn't gonna know what hit him. Even if it takes all my energy and spying ability, I'll get Seto to run into Serenity as much as possible in as short a time as possible.} He laughed quietly, {This is better than any game I could buy.} With another snicker, the young matchmaker hurried home, eager to play and win his two new games.
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"For the last time, Mokuba," Seto stated for what had to be the one-hundredth time, "I have work to do, I don't have time to go to the Domino Arcade." He took his eyes off the laptop screen, focusing their fierce sapphire blue on his younger brother. "Plus, we have just about every one of those games in the game room downstairs."
Mokuba, his expression downtrodden, sighed, "I just thought it would be fun to get out and play some games and stuff." He sniffed, wiping fake tears from his eyes, "Sorry to bug you, big brother." He turned to go, hiding the victorious grin on his face as Seto sighed.
"All right, all right. We'll go to the arcade," Seto said, well aware that he had just lost another match against his devious little brother, "just don't act so sad, I hate it."
Mokuba cheered with joy, "Thank you, Seto!" He grabbed Seto's hand, pulling the tall teen out of his chair with surprising strength. "Come on, let's go!" He immediately raced out of the office, hopping with surpressed anticipation as he waited by the front doors.
"Okay, slow down," Seto called as he pulled on a black trench coat, "and make sure you put on your coat, Mokuba, it's cold outside." As he exited from his office, he caught the exasperated look from Mokuba as the boy pulled on a dark blue jacket. "And don't give me that look, you caught a cold last time, remember?"
Mokuba sighed, rolling his eyes as Seto continued his usual lecture, "Sorry, mother, I won't do it again." He grinned, "Can we go now?"
Seto stopped as he tried to looked as if he were contemplating the question. "I don't know. Did you eat all your vegetables? Did you clean your room? And what about your homework, is it finished?" He placed his hands on his hips, fixing Mokuba with a stern look, "What kind of mother would let their kid go to an arcade without his chores finished?"
Mokuba giggled at Seto's superb acting, "A really good one. And she would also let me have a ride on the motorcycle."
Seto narrowed his eyes for a moment, "I don't know, sounds dangerous and unmotherly," he smiled crookedly, ruffling Mokuba's hair, "but let's do it anyway."
"Yea!" Mokuba cheered with unrepressed glee as he raced out the door and headed straight for the garage, "We're taking the motorcycle, we're taking the motorcycle!"
Seto laughed as Mokuba waited impatiently beside the sleek metallic blue motorcycle. "Put a helmet on, Mokuba."
The young boy happily obliged as he climbed onto the bike behind his older brother, "You too, Seto!"
"I am, mother." Seto retorted, frowning as he was unable to ruffle Mokuba's hair through the black helmet barrier.
Mokuba made no response, but Seto knew all too well that the boy was sticking his tongue out at him. Seto turned the ignition key, smirking as the engine roared to life. "Hang on, Mokuba." Seto called over the engine's loud growl. Once he felt Mokuba clasp his hands onto the black trench coat, Seto allowed the bike to race down the winding path and out the open ebony gate.
The glistening bike zipped between traffic like a silver-blue mouse through a maze. But Seto didn't like thinking of his motorcycle as a mouse in a maze; he chose to associate it with a dragon dodging enemies in the sky.
In a matter of moments, the siblings had arrived at the Domino Arcade. Mokuba hopped off the bike as Seto pulled the key from the ignition, sending the speedy dragon into a deep slumber.
"Come on, come on!" Mokuba said as he tugged Seto's sleeve. He was eager to get inside and find Serenity so he could continue his matchmaking work. "Hurry up, Seto!"
Seto picked Mokuba up around his waist, "Calm down, the arcade isn't going to run away." He laughed as he entered the large unusually quiet arcade, Mokuba fighting to escape his grasp all the while. "There aren't very many people here today," Seto remarked as he set Mokuba back on the ground.
Mokuba immediately started looking around for signs of Yugi and his friends, but there wasn't a single maroon spiked hair do anywhere. Sighing in frustration, Mokuba snatched Seto's wallet and hurried to the token machine. Before Seto had a chance to protest the thievery, Mokuba had two small bags filled with golden game tokens.
"Let's play some games, Seto!" Mokuba said as he tossed the half empty wallet and a bag of tokens back at his amused brother.
Seto smirked at Mokuba, "You go play, I'm just going to wander for now." With a wave, he headed for the DDR stage, leaving Mokuba to entertain himself.
As he approached the stage, Seto noted two teenage girls, one with dyed silver hair, the other with bright orange, struggling to keep up with the large arrows on the game's screen. With a smirk, Seto watched the girls as they were defeated magnificently by the ridiculously easy level.
Seto scoffed, "Amateurs." As the two girls hopped off the stage, both giggling hysterically, Seto glanced around to confirm that the arcade had very few people in it. Muttering to himself about making unnecessary scenes in arcades for his own amusement, Seto climbed onto the stage, inserting two golden tokens and picking his level--expert. But before he could choose a song, the game switched to two-player mode. Glancing to the once unoccupied dance pad, Seto got quite a shock.
Standing there on the second pad, waiting patiently for Seto to pick the music, was Serenity Wheeler. She was smiling at him as he stared at her. He forced himself to ignore the encouraging cheers to her from Yugi, Joey, Tea, Tristan and Duke.
After a moment of surprised silence, Seto shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Pick the song." He told Serenity without looking at her. He crossed his arms over his chest in his usual haughty stance.
Serenity simply smiled. "No, you started this game, I just joined in without asking. You should pick the song." She imitated his stance.
Rolling his eyes, Seto pressed a button so the song would be randomly chosen. "There. Solves that problem."
Serenity nodded as she watched the screen, "Sure does."
"Go, big brother!" Mokuba cheered from behind Seto; the boy had a peculiar, all-knowing grin on his face that unsettled Seto.
Seto shook his head, telling himself that Mokuba's grin was just a grin and nothing more. As the music started and the swift arrows darted up the screen, Seto blocked out everything except the game. This is what Mokuba liked to call Seto's 'Gamer Trance'.
Serenity was doing the exact same, ignoring everything but the beat and arrows. Unbeknownst to the pair, they were keeping up with each other perfectly, both moving with the exact same steps and turns.
Joey, surprised Kaiba was capable of playing DDR, bent over to Mokuba, "I didn't know yer brother could play dis game."
Mokuba stared at the blonde in shock, "Of course! DDR is a game, and Seto's a master of every game he plays." He shifted his gaze to watch Seto for a moment before turning back to Joey, "Other than Duel Monsters, this is probably the game Seto is best at." He smirked, crossing his arms over his chest, resembling his elder brother. "Serenity's not bad either."
Joey laughed, "Yea, dis is her favorite game. I never knew anyone who could keep up wid her 'til now." Both boys looked up at their siblings as the song continued.
The song resumed playing for another few minutes, pushing the pair to their limits. It finally came to a close, ending with a single long note.
Serenity had her hands on her knees as she fought to catch her breath, "That was...a long...song."
Mokuba glanced at his watch, calling up to the pair, "It was six minutes long."
Seto, wiping his brow, glared at the machine, "You purposely chose the longest song, spawn of evil. I should have you unplugged." He gave the machine one of his infamous sneers.
Mokuba clapped a hand to his face, muttering, "Big brother, stop threatening the game, it wasn't trying to kill you."
Seto was brought out of his high-and-mighty act by the sound of giggling. He looked in the direction of the sound and discovered Serenity, still trying to regain her breath, laughing with tears running down her face.
Arching an eyebrow, Seto addressed the girl, "What's so funny?"
Serenity straightened, wiping the tears from her face, "You. I didn't know anyone else insulted this game but me." She giggled again, "Sorry, I just found it really amusing."
Seto blinked, unsure how to respond to that.
With a wave, Serenity hopped off the stage, "That was fun. Thanks." She gave him a warm smile filled with gratitude.
Seto tried to reply but suddenly his voice refused to work. He also knew at that moment he was blushing. {Dammit! What the Hell kind of spell is she using on me!?}
His reasonable side replied in its usual tone, {Spell? You don't believe in magic. It's love, you fool!} He shook his head, praying that his blush would be seen as a result of his six minute workout moments ago.
Mokuba, of course, noticed, but he said nothing. He was too occupied thinking up a new strategy.
Before Seto could become more flustered or annoyed with himself, Serenity did the one thing that completely unsettled him. She wrapped her arms around Duke Devlin, the teen kissing her cheek. The couple entered the small photobooth as the rest of their friends separated to play their favorite games.
Seto looked down at the ground, attempting to erase the sight from his mind's eye. Again his reasonable side chose to be a pest, {And this is what we call an infatuation, or puppy love.}
Narrowing his eyes, Seto glared at the platform he stood on, {Puppy love!? I am no dog, like that idiotic Wheeler! Puppy love is for fools, hopeless romantics, morons.} He clenched his fists as he stepped off the stage, {So that would make me a fool, hopeless romantic and a moron. Great, my status as a heartless, antisocial CEO is going down the drain, all because of a pair of bright eyes from the mutt's sister.}
For the first time in his life, Seto Kaiba felt the cold stab of jealousy, and he did not like it.
"Let's go, Mokuba." Seto said to his little brother in a low voice, startling the boy out of his thoughts.
"But, we just got here." Mokuba began to protest before stopping. Seto had an odd look in his eyes, Mokuba had never seen his brother look so downtrodden. Mentally kicking himself for causing discomfort for his brother, Mokuba nodded, "All right, big brother. I'm kind of tired anyway."
On the way home, Seto only paid half attention to the road, in turn scaring poor Mokuba out of his wits. By the time they were home, Mokuba had become incredibly anxious for his brother's well being and Seto had buried himself in self-misery.
Mokuba, without a word to the ever silent Seto, hurried to his room. He began to dig in his closet for something of the utmost importance.
Seto had entered the living room, seeking the minor comfort of the large cushiony couch. He used the remote control to flip through channels, eyes not even focused on the large television screen. He didn't hear Mokuba until the young boy climbed over the side of the couch and landed beside him.
"Mokuba," Seto looked at his little brother, "what are you doing?"
Mokuba smiled, holding up a book, "Look what I found."
Seto sat up, eyes focused on the familiar book, "Mokuba, where did you find that?" He recognized the book, his mother used to sit with him every night and they would look through it. It was a scrapbook filled with pictures of Seto, Mokuba and their parents.
Mokuba climbed into Seto's lap so both could see the book as he opened it. "It was in my room, Seto. It's been a long time since we've looked through this, huh?"
Seto nodded, eyes focused on a photo of his four-year-old self sitting in his father's lap, "Years." He turned the stiff, yellowing page slowly, calling back memories of each photo.
There he was, he had just turned five and his birthday present had been a small brown and black puppy. There were plenty of pictures with Seto, Mokuba and that dog. Seto recalled naming the dog "Kisu". She was loyal, playful and extremely protective. Seto had adored that dog until the day she bit a man, mistaking him as a threat to the brothers. Naturally, Seto's father was forced to get rid of Kisu, and Seto, in the end, hated the dog for being idiotic enough to bite someone and thus forcing her to leave.
Seto realized Mokuba had been talking while he was busying thinking of his past. "I'm sorry, Mokuba, what did you say?"
Mokuba laughed, "I said, do you remember this cat?" He pointed to the picture of a gray and white aged cat nestled in three-year-old Mokuba's arms.
Seto examined the photo, "Yea. That's Kei, she was a Christmas present when I was four." He laughed, "That cat was a psychotic thing. She always clawed up the curtains, chased imaginary enemies, and basically drove Mom nuts." He smiled as he looked at more of the photos, his previous bad mood dissipating with each new picture.
The brothers spent nearly three hours looking at the scrapbook and laughing about the fond memories. Seto finally stopped after Mokuba had fallen asleep. His gaze softened as he looked down at the boy curled up like a cat in his lap.
Being careful not to disturb Mokuba, Seto gently lifted the boy into his arms, carrying him up the long flight of stairs and into his room. Seto, without the aid of a light, was able to navigate his way across Mokuba's toy covered floor and to the large, unmade bed.
After getting Mokuba tucked into bed, Seto had returned to the living room and the scrapbook. He spent most of the night flipping through the pages of memories; memories he had tried so hard to forget.
{Hell, why did I want to forget all this?} Seto asked himself as he looked at a picture of his mother at the beach. She was laughing as she built a sandcastle, it must have been windy because her chocolate brown hair was in complete disarray. Her blue eyes, the same hue as Seto's, were bright and cheerful; they always were.
{Mom, I wish your were here right now, I could use your help with a few problems.} Frowning, Seto shook his head, {Why am I talking to a picture? I'm going insane.} He slammed the photo album shut, tossing it on a nearby sidetable.
With a frustrated sigh, Seto relaxed into the soft cushions of the couch. He closed his eyes, sleep almost immediately taking over. With sleep came the ability to escape life's nuisances and difficulties. Even if it was only a temporary escape, Seto did not care, for it was an escape nonetheless.
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KT: Phew! I wrote that in about four hours, it was a bit difficult though. I really hope you all enjoyed that chapter! The next one is the festival!
Mokuba: Yay! I love festivals!
KT: Me too! It's gonna be fun!
Mokuba: Can we catch some goldfish too?
KT: Yup! Just as soon as I get some reviews!
