Alright, alright, I apologize SOOOO much for not having this chapter up sooner! I am so very sorry but for the last month or so I have been so busy with school, ugh, it's not even funny. Finally, though, its spring break and I have time so here I am! I have not forsaken this story, I am going to finish it, and from now on I should have more time to write and update sooner! So once again, I apologize, and hopefully everyone has not given up on reading this story. It should start to get interesting again soon! Leave a review and tell me what you think, or if you have any ideas I would be happy to listen to them. Also leave a review to let me know that you guys haven't forgotten about my story! Thanks again, my best readers in the world!

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10. Peaches & Regret

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Serenity stepped into the hospital gift shop and looked around. It was a small and crowded place, and balloons and flowers stuck out everywhere.

'Hmmm…I wonder if they have what I'm looking for…' Serenity thought to herself, carefully making her way through the narrow aisles. She passed a rack full of books, then a display of 'get well' cards, and then what seemed a never-ending wall of cutesy plush animals. Still looking around, Serenity finally found what she was looking for in the back corner of the shop: a setup of board games. 'Finally,' she thought, as she looked over the games, 'Man, you'd think that in a hospital gift shop they'd have a whole bunch of games for sale with how boring it is here.'

Serenity bent over and began looking through all of the different varieties that were offered. 'Let's see…checkers, backgammon, yahtzee…ah, here we go, chess.' She picked up the boxed chess set that they had available and looked at it.

'Wow, this is really beautiful.' she thought. The pieces were made of glass and were handsomely carved; instead of black and white pieces, one side was made out of clear glass crystal while the other side had pieces made of frosted glass crystal.

"This is perfect." Serenity commented happily to herself, and then looked at the price tag. ¥3000. 'Wow, this is pretty expensive for a chess set.' she thought. 'I wonder if I even have that much on me…' Serenity frowned. 'Still…I want to make Seto happy. He could use a pick-me-up. But…I really can't waste so much money on just a game…maybe I can find one cheaper somewhere else…'

Letting out a sigh, Serenity put the board game back where she had found it and turned around. She was just about to walk away when she felt someone tap her from behind. She turned around again and found herself staring into the chest of a guy in a green apron. Her eyes focused and she saw a nametag pinned to his chest which read "Aaron". Looking up slowly, she saw a tall blond teenager with blue eyes staring back down at her. He was holding a pot of pink tulips and had a wide grin on his face.

"Hello" he told her cheerily, "Can I help you with anything here today?"

Taking a step back, Serenity looked back at him and replied, "Oh, no, no it's ok. I was just leaving."

"Oh I see. Well, I saw you looking at the board games over there and thought that maybe you might need help choosing one or something…" The smile remained fixated on his face.

"Uhh…yeah…I was…" Serenity answered, and took another step back. 'All this smiling…is creepy…' she thought.

"Well, you do know that all board games are half off this month, right?" He replied, his grin growing even wider if that were at all possible.

Serenity sweatdropped and then quickly looked around for a way out. 'Geez, he's smothering me back here…' she thought. Then what he had said finally dawned on her. She felt herself break out into a smile as well. 'Man, I almost missed that…' she scolded herself, and then bent down and picked up the chess set again.

"Well, in that case…" she said, mainly to herself, "I guess I'll get this then…"

"Oh! Well good! I'm glad that I could be of some assistance!" the freaky smile guy said to her.

"Umm…yeah…thanks." Serenity replied, and then darted quickly around him, towards the cash register.

"No problem!" She heard the guy call from behind her. She glanced back at him to see him waving goodbye, toothy grin still intact.

'I wonder if they botched his plastic surgery?' she thought to herself, amused, and then placed the chess set up on the counter to be rung up.

"Oh! Well isn't this nice!" exclaimed the plump red-haired lady behind the counter. She looked up from the chess set to Serenity. "This will pass away a lot of boring hours in here, now won't it?"

Serenity looked back at her and smiled. "Yeah, I hope so. I'm buying it for a friend…I just hope he likes it…"

The lady smiled back in a knowing way and said, "Yeah, well I'm sure he'll like it a lot." She rung up the chess set. "You guys will have lots of fun!"

"Good." Serenity replied, plopping down the money. 'Haha, there's only one problem with that, though…' she thought, 'I don't know how to play chess!'

Smiling as the woman handed her back her change and a shopping bag with the game in it, Serenity took it and left the store.

Stopping outside of the doorway by a fragrant stand of flowers, Serenity looked down at her watch.

'Hmmm…it's only going to be 4:00…' she thought, 'and I'm getting kind of hungry. Hmm, well I don't care what Seto thinks, he's gotta be getting hungry too…'

After hesitating a moment, Serenity walked out of the hospital entrance and made her way to a corner market that was nearby.

'Hmmm…I wonder what he would like to eat…' she thought, as she gazed up and down the aisles. She made her way to the produce aisle and looked over the different kinds of fruits. 'Well, I don't think I can go wrong with fruit, now can I?' Serenity thought, as she began picking her way through the various kinds of fruits, trying to decide what to get. 'Besides, it's not like it's a whole meal.' Serenity thought back to what Seto had said earlier about eating. 'It's just a light snack, so Seto really shouldn't mind...right?'

After leaving the bananas behind (they were too green), Serenity made her way to the peaches.

'Mmmmm…these look good…' she thought, picking up a few and feeling them for bad spots. Smiling to herself, she grabbed a small bag and began putting a few inside. 'Well, I hope Seto likes peaches.' she thought, tying up the bag and walking towards the checkout lane. Along the way she paused and grabbed a couple of bottles of tea. All this walking was making her thirsty.

After paying for her items, Serenity once again stepped back outside and into the warm sunshine. There was a cool breeze that caught her hair and did a dance with it before leaving her again. It was a beautiful day and she was in a wonderful mood. She had seen Seto, he had not chased her off, and now she was going to go back and try to cheer him up a bit. Yep, life was great.

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"Life sucks."

Mai looked up and gave a wry smile in response to Joey's comment.

"What?" he asked, and then frowned at her. "Well it does."

"Joey Wheeler, first you bang on my door, and then I graciouslylet you in, and now all you can say is 'life sucks'?"

"Oh, haha," Joey replied, grinning sheepishly. "Hi Mai."

"Yeah, 'hi Mai'" she repeated after him, annoyed, and then shut her front door. Joey had, after all, simply barged in once she had opened the door, without even an invite or a hello or anything. "So, what is it this time?" Mai said, exasperated. She should have guessed it though. It was none other then the Seto Kaiba predicament.

"What is it? What is it?" Joey exclaimed at her, even though she was now only two feet away from him. "I'm sure you know damn well what it is by now, Mai! It's that S.O.B. Kaiba that had to come in here and ruin my life even more! I shoulda known it, bad things like him never go away, they just keep comin' and don't stop, just bring more trouble for people like me, that's all…"

Rolling her eyes as Joey ranted on and on, Mai finally put her hand up to stop him. "Look, Joey, I understand how you feel. I realized that Kaiba hasn't been the best guy on the block to you but still, he did rescue your sister, now that's gotta count for something, right?"

Joey quit his rambling and just looked at Mai. He had been in this rage all day, wondering why Seto Kaiba had to happen to him, wondering how he could knock some sense into his sister and get her to stop feeling obligated to Seto Kaiba, and, to top it all off, this day had been a complete disaster! Not only had he woken up late for school, but he had to run there just to get there semi-on-time for lunch! And it got even better later, because, as he had gone on to learn that not only had he left this math book at home, which he needed for fifth period, but he also learned that his grades were, well, let's just say "less then average" in four of his classes. Yep, Joey was one pissed off guy right now, and what made it even better again was that now he had to come and work on some stupid english project, and he hadn't even read the book! Yep, Joey was having one swell day alright. Yep, it was just so swell that Joey had even forgotten how beautiful Mai looked…that is, until now.

There she was, standing not two feet in front of him, arms crossed, jacket off, long blond hair dangling down her back and framing her lovely face, and here he was, doing nothing but complaining and acting rude. 'You're battin a thousand today, Joey' he told himself, and then swallowed hard as he looked at Mai's cherry-red lips. All he could think of at that moment was how much he wanted to kiss them. Had he been talking about a Seto Kaiba? Seto Kaiba? Who's that? That was one question that Joey couldn't answer at the moment. In fact, Joey had a hard time thinking about anything coherently at all at the moment…except, that is, Mai of course…Oh yeah. He could definitely think about Mai right now. Typical guy.

"So…why so silent now, Joey? Cat got your tongue?" she asked, a smirk on those cherry-red lips of hers.

'Yeah, you could say that…' he thought.

"Anyway, what are you gawking at anyway, hmmm? Want me to provide some entertainment for you?"

Joey's eyes opened wide and his mouth dropped open in surprise.

"Wh-what?" he stammered out.

"Yeah," Mai answered back, using one hand to flip her long blond hair back over her shoulder. "You know…to get your mind off of all of this." She turned around and began taking some books off of the coffee table behind them.

"Uh…Mai…" Joey stammered, trying to get out something, anything, but his throat was tight and his eyes were fixed on the backside of Mai, who was still moving items off the coffee table. 'Could this mean…' he thought, then broke into a wide grin.

"Alright, Mai, I get it." Joey said to her, finally finding his voice after his initial shock. "I never figured it'd work out this way, but…alright."

"Hmmm…?" Mai asked, turning around and facing Joey. When she saw his huge grin and the mischievous look on his face, she grimaced. "Ewww…what ARE you thinking?" She extended her hand out towards his face and he saw that she was holding her deck out. "What I was talking about was a duel, hotshot. Come on, we can finish that project later."

"Alright!" Joey said, "You're on." His grin didn't waver. A duel with Mai sounded good to him too. "Oh…and Mai?" he added, as he sat down across from her, "I have noooo idea what you were talkin bout just now, but whatever it was, get it outta your mind. This is Joey Wheeler we're talkin bout here."

Mai smiled and rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Now what'd you say we just start this thing already?"

"Start it? This duel was over the moment you challenged me, Mai."

"Un-huh, yeah, sure Joey. You're soooo right." She started shuffling her deck. 'God, she looks so good right now…' Joey thought to himself. The mischievous smile he had had on his face earlier returned and he said, "Hey Mai, ya better get ready to back up that big mouth a yours cause I ain't takin it easy on ya. IF you were a lady, well then maybe I'd consider it, but since you're not…"

"Is that all you can do is talk?" Mai asked, annoyed. "Let's see what you're made of already."

"Alright, alright, but you asked for it, Mai." With that said they each drew their cards and the duel began.

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Knock, knock, knock.

Serenity rapped lightly on the door that led to Seto Kaiba's room and then gently pushed it a little ways open. After leaving the market where she had bought their snacks, she had quickly made her way back to the hospital. She didn't want Seto to think that she had forgotten about him or that she wasn't coming back or something. It was hard enough trying to become friends with him as it was, and she didn't want to make it any harder. She really felt bad for him; he didn't really seem to have any friends, well, besides Mokuba that is, but still…she got the feeling that it was more a thing that he didn't want any friends rather than anyone not wanting to be friends with him. The guy just didn't let anybody in.

Serenity was suddenly startled out of her thoughts when she heard a voice call out from inside of the room, "Come in!" She pushed the door open the rest of the way and looked inside. Seto was still sitting up reading with his back against the raised bed while Mokuba was sitting in a chair nearby playing his DS.

"Hey Serenity," Mokuba called to her absently; "I thought it would be you."

"Hey Mokuba. Hey Seto." She looked over at Seto but he didn't look up from the book that he was reading. 'So I guess only Mokuba does the welcoming around here.' She frowned at Seto's lack of response to her. 'I'm only trying to be nice, I don't have to, you know. I can't help it if I just…feel kinda sorry for the guy.'

Serenity cleared her throat. "Well anyway, guys, I went out to the corner market and got us some snacks." She set the grocery bag down on a nearby table but lowered the bag with the chess set in it onto the floor. She wasn't ready to bring it out just yet. Not while Mokuba was still there anyway.

"So…umm…I picked us up some fruit and…here is some tea…" Serenity commented as she began to unload the grocery bag. "Hope you guys like peaches."

"Oh yeah, peaches are great!" cried Mokuba, sitting up and turning off his game. "Except that I'll have to take one to go." Mokuba turned to face Seto. "I'm really sorry big bro but I've got soccer practice to get to…I'll come back here as soon as I'm done though."

"Don't bother, Mokuba." Seto answered, finally looking up from his book. "I'll be fine here. I'm out in a few days anyway. Go on home afterwards and get some rest. I'm sure you'll be tired…besides don't you have homework to do or something?"

"Ummm…yeah…" Mokuba replied back, smiling sheepishly and looking towards the door. 'Man, I need to get out of here before Seto starts in on me…' Mokuba looked over at Serenity. 'She can handle him now.' Mokuba quickly looked back at Seto and tried to give him one of his biggest grins ever, but it didn't seem to be working… "Well, bye now! Hope you feel better soon Nii-sama and I'll be back tomorrow!" Walking quickly over to the table and grabbing one of the peaches that Serenity had bought, he quickly made his way out the door. "Bye Serenity!" he called out before he slammed the door behind him.

"Bye Mokuba." Serenity called out softly, even though Mokuba must be long gone by now. Mokuba had left, and now she was all alone with Seto. A scary thought. 'What should I say…' she thought, slowly taking her eyes off of the closed door and bringing them around to where Seto was sitting. He had his nose back in his book and, at this, Serenity felt both relieved and a bit disheartened. She was relieved that she didn't have to face his cold blue eyes directly and yet a little disappointed that he still paid her no mind.

Serenity picked up two of the peaches that were still on the table and then turned back to Seto. "I'm just gonna go wash these." she smiled. "I'll be right back."

Serenity was not surprised when his countenance did not change. 'What am I, invisible?' Shaking her head, she walked into the small bathroom that was connected to his hospital room.

"I don't know what his problem is…" Serenity muttered as she began washing the fruit. She stayed in the bathroom longer then necessary, trying to compose her thoughts while the steam started to fog up the mirror that hung in front of her.

Finally turning off the water, she grabbed some paper towel and dried both her hands and the fruit on it. Turning around and throwing the towels into a wastebasket behind her, Serenity let out a sigh. She was trying here, she really was, and only God knew why she was still hanging around here with someone who wouldn't even acknowledge her.

She sighed again and then went back into the main room to where Seto was. There he was, lo and behold, with his nose still stuck in his book. She couldn't see the title from where she was standing, but whatever it was it must have sure been interesting. She walked over to the side of Seto's bed, holding the fruit out to him.

"Here you go Seto," she began, "I washed—"

"It's Kaiba to you." he snapped, finally taking his piercing eyes off the pages and placing them on her. "and I don't want it. I told you, I'm not hungry. So why don't you run along now and give it to someone else who gives a damn. I've got work to do." He stared at her for another moment for emphasis and then resumed his place reading.

"O…kay…" Serenity stammered, taken aback by his remark. Staring at him with her eyebrows furrowed, she felt the heat of anger starting to flood into her. 'Joey's right! Kaiba is such a jerk! Why would I ever become friends with him? He obviously doesn't want me here. Arrrgg…this is nothing but frustrating!'

Sitting there reading his book, Seto could sense the hostility starting to come from Serenity. 'Good.' he thought. 'She doesn't need to be here anyway. I don't need her. I don't need anyone.'

Still staring down at Seto, excuse me, Kaiba, Serenity was now in a state of annoyed bafflement. 'What should I do?' she thought, 'ah, I should just go. Leave him to his books and his company and his laptop. That's what he really wants anyway. Except they took away his laptop…' she laughed sardonically in her mind, 'Oh well. Serves him right. Arrggg…WHY WON'T HE LOOK AT ME?'

Serenity gave up and walked back to the grocery bag. "Alright, Kaiba, I'll leave these in here in case you want them later." She placed the peaches back into the bag. "There are also some bottles of tea in here, if you want any…" She trailed off. For some reason, she just didn't want to go. Her mood softened a little as she looked at the man who believed that strength came only with reliance on oneself. 'But…' Serenity thought, 'you get strength from other people too…after all, what joy is there in life if you have no one to share it with?' She looked back at Kaiba again. 'Guess there is no joy…judging by the expression on his face…'

"Aren't you going to eat?" Kaiba asked from behind his book. "After all, you must be hungry as well."

"Yeah…I was…" Serenity replied softly, unsure of how to act now that he was actually talking to her. 'Maybe…he didn't mean what he said earlier…not really…' her heart went out to him. 'After all…I don't think he is used to people being "nice" to him. Maybe I should just give him some time…?'

"Then why don't you take it with you when you go." He put the book down. "Yeah, that's right. Why don't you take the doggy bag home with you because I'm sure your mutt of a brother would eat it."

"Wh-what?" Serenity asked, her eyes wide. "W-Why are you acting this way?" Against her will she felt her eyes start to fill with tears. 'Great, this is just what I need.' she thought, 'to cry because of what this jerk says.'

"Because I can." Seto told her. "Because I don't like your brother. And I don't like you."

He saw a tear start to trickle down her cheek and quickly returned to his book. 'Wh…what's wrong with me?' he asked himself. There was this feeling inside of him that was strange now that he had made her cry…he felt…bad? He quickly glanced at her again and saw her just standing there, looking back at him, trying to look tough and pissed off…but it just wasn't working.

"I-It's ok." she finally managed to say. "Y-you might be hungry later." She nodded at him and tried to smile. 'That's it, Serenity.' she told herself, 'just keep strong until you get out of here, don't show him what he's doing to you…' She turned around and walked slowly towards the door.

"Hey," came a voice from behind her. She stopped and slowly turned around.

"D…don't cry…"

Serenity looked at Kaiba without changing her expression. "What do you care?" she asked him softly.

Looking into her eyes, he…he felt his resolve starting to weaken. 'Wh…what is she doing to me?' he thought, in horror almost. "I…I…" he couldn't make himself say what his mind felt…it was all so confusing… 'I care…'

Serenity looked closely at Kaiba. 'What…is he trying to say? Does this mean that he…doesn't hate me?'

Serenity smiled as she watched Kaiba study his hands. 'The way he acts…it's gotta just be a defense right? He puts up this façade, this…macho guy act…but inside…what does he really feel?'

"Seto…"

'ARRRG WHAT IS GOING ON INSIDE OF MY HEAD! This girl…what is happening…I'm Seto Kaiba…I don't need anyone…especially not some stupid lame-brained half-wit that is standing here crying for nothing…' He looked up from his lap to her face, his expression cold again. "Just go. I don't know why you're hanging around here anyway. You better leave quickly before I have to call the pound on you; you are, after all, the mutt's sister, and you know what that would make you."

Serenity stood in front of Kaiba as he said these words to her. Silent, feeling as if her heart were about to be ripped out of her, she stood. After he was finished, she nodded her head slowly as warm tears slid down her cheeks. "Ok, Kaiba, if that is what you want…then I'll leave. I'm sorry for troubling you; I merely thought that you would like some company while you recover. I guess I was wrong." She paused, trying to swallow past the lump in her throat. Against her will, her voice started to choke up. "I guess I'll be going now…it will be getting dark soon and Joey will expect me. I hope you feel better soon." She turned and walked toward the door, leaving Kaiba staring at her back as she walked away. She placed her hand on the doorknob and then turned back around, slowly. "Maybe I'll come back in a few days, just to check on how you're doing. Don't worry about seeing me though, I'll just ask the front desk. I'm sure they'll know. I wish I could say that it was a pleasure getting to know you, but…you know. Anyway, thank you for all that you've done for me, thank you for being there that night. I'll never forget you…Bye…Seto…" As she closed her mouth a stray tear found its way past her lips, leaving her with its bitter, salty taste.

"Serenity…wait…"

Smiling sadly, she turned back around and opened the door. 'No, Seto.' she thought. 'Not now.'

Kaiba watched as she ignored the words that he had softly spoken and gently closed the door behind her. His heart was pounding in his chest and, though no words made it past his lips, he felt something inside of him saying that he should stop her somehow, that he should apologize. But then there was something else inside of him, the Kaiba part of him, that made him remember that he bowed to no one. 'I made…the right choice…this is for the best.'

While his mind convinced him that he had done the right thing by keeping his guard up and this strange girl out, he still couldn't shake the little nagging voice inside of him that said it was wrong…this was all wrong.

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Serenity sighed to herself as she stood outside of Kaiba's room. Her mind felt exhausted and all she wanted to do was to go home.

'What a day…' she thought, trying to wipe away all her tears before she started walking out. 'I just don't know what to do about him…he makes my head hurt.' She started walking towards the elevator now that she was calmer. 'Why do I feel such a…connection to him?' She brought her hand up and rubbed her head. 'I don't know…all I do know, though, is that I won't have to deal with it anymore.' Pressing the button and then waiting for the elevator to arrive, Serenity looked back once more towards Seto's room, where his door still remained closed. 'He's not going to let me in…I can't be his friend…no one can…' Her mind flashed back to when Mokuba entered the room a few minutes after she had arrived to visit Seto, of how he had come in running, flying into Seto's arms, and of how Seto had embraced him in return despite his injuries. A small smile made its way onto her face. "Well…at least he has Mokuba…I guess that's the only person he needs. But…he does need others…what to do…?' Her headache started to get worse. 'I don't know, I can't deal with this anymore. He wants to be left alone…then fine…I'll leave him alone…'

The elevator doors slid open and Serenity stepped inside. As she began to descend, she felt her eyes start to fill with tears again. 'He said such mean things…' she thought, trying to blame the sadness she was feeling on his words. Deep inside, however, her heart was telling her that she was sad because she was leaving…him.

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Alright, so how was that chapter? Once again I apologize for taking so long; from now on I'll try to keep the update quicker. Dang it, I hate falling behind! It sucks! So anyway, my readers (and hopefully reviewers) I hope that you enjoyed that story and please leave a review so I know that there are still people reading this story! Thank you very much, you guys are great! Oh, and before I forget, here is a present for you…let's see, what do I have this time…? ~rummages around~ Hmmm well it seems that I have this nice, large, sparkling picture of a damn fine CEO…which, of course, I am willing to give away…along with these bags of chocolates that I snuck from Mokuba's room. (Shhhh! Don't tell him!) So hopefully you like your gifts for this chapter and please please PLEASE review! All reviews are welcome! Bye now!

~Seren147