Lass: I'm so sorry I didn't update sooner, but my grades are dropping lower
than hell, so I had to do something about it... Well, at least I've updated
now! I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, nor do I own the song 'Closer' by MelC. Well,
enjoy reading...
The view was beautiful... Far below her, trees were spread over the earth. It was still raining. At that moment, it was just her and the land and the air. There were no memories, and the voices of DarkMG, Kuri and Kaiba were unheard to her. Her vision steadily passed off, leaving nothing but silent darkness. She slowly started falling into the depths, until...
Two strong arms wrapped around her waist just in time to prevent her from falling. Kaiba got there in time to save her. He looked down at the girl in his arms. Her rain coat covered most of her face, but on the visible part of it, he clearly saw all bruises, scratches and dried up blood. He knew she had to be taken care of as soon as possible, and he already knew what to do. He put his hand on her throat, looking for a heartbeat. He sighed in relief when he found it. It was weak, but it was still there...
(Can you carry the both of us?) he asked DarkMG and Kuri.
{We probably can, but not for very long,} was the reply. Kaiba took Serenity in his arms as he quickly walked over to them. He was drenched by the rain by now, but he didn't bother.
(Good. My mansion isn't too far away. I'll tell you where to go.) They took off to his mansion. The two Duel Monsters had a hard time staying in the air, but they managed. Soon, they saw the mansion in front of them. DarkMG and Kuri put Kaiba, with Serenity safely in his arms, down on the driveway. Kaiba promised them he would let them in by a window as soon as possible and got in.
"Hi big brother," Mokuba said, running up to him. Sleep had easily made his fever go away, which both of them were glad about. Mokuba gasped when he saw someone in his brother's arms. "Who is that, Seto?" he asked, but Kaiba didn't have time for that.
"I'll tell you later, Mokuba, not now. I'll be upstairs for a while. Tell the servants not to come up to me unless I call for them."
"Okay, Seto..." Mokuba said, wondering what exactly was going on here. His brother came home drenched after he had suddenly run out of the house, with some strange person in his arms. He shook his head, knowing Seto (A/N: I'll refer to Kaiba as Seto from now, okay? It sounds a lot nicer...) would eventually explain it to him.
Seto ran upstairs with the girl in his arms. He got into his room, putting her on the bed. He then got to the window as quick as possible, pulling it open roughly. DarkMG and Kuri were already waiting outside and brushed past him, getting to Serenity.
Seto trusted them with this. They had probably done this all many times before. He was about to leave when DarkMG called him. {Hey, Seto, where do you think you are going? We'll need your help with this. I'll tell you what to do.} After that, a long list with needed things followed, and Seto went to get them as fast as he could.
When he returned in the room, DarkMG and Kuri had gotten Serenity out of her rain coat already. He gasped at what he saw, almost dropping the stuff he had went to get. There was Serenity, but she looked horrible. Without the body paint on, he saw how she really looked. All of this, he knew, was not the result of just this afternoon. Her body was covered with bruises, cuts, dried up blood and even some fresh blood that was still oozing out of wounds. {Hurry up,} DarkMG's voice woke him from his reverie. He quickly gave her the things. {Would you please turn around now, and not to the window? We'll have to undress her completely to take care of her wounds, and I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate it if you were watching.}
Seto turned as red as a tomato, something that very rarely happened to him. (I'll just leave,) he said ashamed. He had already turned around, so he didn't saw the slight smile DarkMG and Kuri shared.
{No, you'd better stay. We might need you. I can't see exactly how she is now, due to all of the blood.} So Seto stayed, thinking about Serenity.
'How could I not notice? All the time, she was right under my nose... If I had only looked just a little more careful, she wouldn't have suffered all of this... If only I hadn't hurt her so much...'
{Seto, you can't help it. Her friends didn't notice either, and they were closer to her than you were. Her own brother didn't even notice, and you're just blaming yourself. There's no way you especially were supposed to know that, just you. Is there?} This sly question made Seto think again.
'Is there? Why do I blame myself this much? Her friends didn't even know, and I made myself more like her enemy. How come I feel this guilty then?'
{{I heard love can do strange things to people,}} Kuri bumped in. DarkMG was mostly busy with Serenity now, so Kuri took over the job of getting Seto to think about his feelings towards Serenity.
(What? What do you mean?) Seto asked, but he already knew what Kuri meant with his words. That was also the reason Kuri didn't explain his words. (I have, haven't I?) he asked Kuri softly.
{{Let me help you...}} Seto felt Kuri get into his mind and rummage around. He gasped when he felt Kuri get into his most private thoughts, of which some of them were unknown to even Seto himself. But he hadn't learned to put up a barrier yet, so there was nothing he could do about it... Various thoughts from there came up now, memories of Serenity. There was Serenity laughing, talking, and pleading, even her saving her brother the day they had met...
His eyes narrowed at the worse memories, where Serenity was crying, and the look on her face when he had insulted her and the way she had looked when he came into the room.
(I have, haven't I...?) he silently asked the little fluffy creature. {{You have...}}
He started feeling that strange feeling again, which he had only felt towards Mokuba. Yet, this was different. This wasn't brotherly love. This was real love...
{No!} DarkMG's shriek shocked both Seto and Kuri. When they looked at her, they saw her punching Serenity's stomach (A/N: Yes, Serenity was already dressed a little again, if you might get some strange ideas). {Cut the shit, this needs serious help,} she cried. She grabbed her staff and pointed it at Serenity.
{{Wait!}} (What's going on?) Kuri and Seto asked.
{Her heartbeat stopped...} They gasped and watched tensely. DarkMG attacked. They were looking for Serenity's heartbeat inside the deadly quiet room...
And found it! It was beating softly, slowly, but it was there! They all smiled at each other. {Seto, Kuri, I need your help. She has a lot of wounds, and many of them still have to be wrapped up. Get yourself over her and get some bandages off that pile. Kuri, you take her arms. Seto, do you think you can bandage her back. It's pretty wounded, and you haven't seen something like that for a while...}
Seto was once again pretty surprised at how much she knew about him, but he nodded. (I think I'll manage...) He turned Serenity to her side and pulled her shirt up a little. He bit his lip hard at what he saw there to make sure he wouldn't start crying. If he had thought it couldn't get any worse as he had just seen, he had been wrong. This managed to be even worse...
He felt Kuri tense up too when the creature started bandaging Serenity's arms. Inside his head, as he was cleaning and bandaging her back softly, he was cursing Serenity's father, calling him every bad thing he had heard in his whole life. He wasn't even surprised when DarkMG and Kuri followed him soon after in a tirade at her father.
Her back was finally bandaged up well. Seto had never known Duel Monsters could have such a great vocabulary. {Her head needs to be bandaged up pretty quickly now. Kuri, could you hold Serenity up? You're pretty soft, so it'll hurt less, I hope... Seto, give me anything I ask for, beginning with a damp cloth.} After a while, her head was done too.
{She won't be awake anytime soon, I think. Good, now we need to watch her in turns. Who wants to watch her when. The day will be parted up in three even parts that all contain eight hours. Seto, you may choose how they are spread over the day. You've got school to attend and a job to do, right?}
(School won't be for a few days and I always work less in the week-ends. I'll take the evening part which is from four in the afternoon until midnight.)
{{Sounds good. I'll do the night part from midnight to eight in the morning. Not many people will be awake then, so I won't be seen.}}
{That's settled then. The final eight hours are mine then. We have to discuss something else too, though. You see, I don't know how she'll react when she notices she isn't dead and that she had to be saved by someone again...}
Silence was all there was inside the room, and inside their minds, as they all looked at Serenity. They knew DarkMG was right. They had no idea how she would react. They did know it probably wouldn't be good...
"Seto!" they heard Mokuba call from downstairs. When they looked outside, surprised, they saw the sun had just come up. They had been taking care of Serenity the whole night! "Seto, you promised me you would take a day off and have some fun with me!"
Seto looked at the monsters. [Well, it's your shift now. You probably won't need me. If you do, you know how to reach me...] he told them. Then he walked out of the room, leaving for a day with Mokuba.
"Hi there, Mokuba. Did you sleep well?" he asked his little brother.
"Yup," the kid answered. "Very well! I had such a nice dream, Seto! You were marrying someone! But just when you pulled up her veil so that I would see the girl, I woke up!" Mokuba kept telling Seto how beautiful it had been while they walked out of the door, and Seto smiled at him. "And then the music started playing! Oh, it sounded throughout the whole place and the two of you danced..."
He was shortly interrupted by a screaming Yugi. "Kaiba, Mokuba! You have to help!" The whole gang came running up to them, including... Serenity's father. As soon as he saw the man, he knew what this was about.
"What's up?" Mokuba asked, worried.
"Seren's missing!" Joey screamed. "We have to find her!"
"Calm down, Joey. Let me explain what's going on, ok?" Yugi asked. After a quick nod of his friend, he started. "Well, Mr. Wheeler came to Joey and he told him Serenity was gone. She had gone to buy some groceries, but she didn't come back after that. So he got worried and he started looking for her, but when he couldn't find her, he came to us for help. So would you two please help?"
Seto almost smirked. 'She went to the market? 'That's a nice excuse you have there, jackass, but not nice enough.'
While Mokuba answered their question, of course positive, Seto took the lead. "I think we'd better pair up in three groups. I'll lead this, since Mr. Wheeler is probably too worried to think really quickly at the moment." It was a good excuse, everyone believed it, even the guy himself, who thought that anyone had believed his lie very easily. "I'll pair you up. Mr. Wheeler, the mutt and Taylor go together. The second group contains Valentine, Devlin, Gardner and Ryou, and Yugi and Mokuba are with me."
"Let's find her!" Joey called running off, not even caring Seto called him mutt, dragging Tristan and his father with him. Duke, Ryou, Mai and Tea ran into another direction. Seto smiled at himself. He had covered it all up.
"Yami?" he said, therefore practically asking Yugi to change into the King of Games. Yugi, of course, did just that. With a bright flash, Mokuba and Seto were looking at Yami. "Come on, we're going to my house," he said, his voice telling them not to ask anything. Mokuba and Yami looked at each other, frowning, but they followed the CEO. They started a whispered conversation.
"What's my brother doing?" Mokuba asked stunned.
"Is he not going to help?" Yami responded, not knowing what this was about.
"Nah, he wouldn't do that, ever... Else, why did he put you in our group? He clearly wanted you to come, and not Yugi."
"Let's just follow him and we'll find out eventually," Yami ended, having no idea what else to do. Seto led them into his house and motioned for them to follow him upstairs.
[DarkMG?]
{Yes, Seto, what's up?} the girl asked him mentally.
[I'm coming up with Mokuba and Yami. Is that all right with you?]
{Yes, it's ok. I took a maid uniform from the closet downstairs, so that I would be able to talk to the maids, or at least writing something on my chalkboard, without being stared at. I told them you hired me to keep clean the highest floor. Is that ok?}
[Great! I'll be right up.]
He took them to the room where Serenity was lying, and whispered to them to be quiet. Then, he opened the door. Mokuba and Yami were looking at the maid standing there questionably. Was this some kind of joke?
The maid walked up to them and grabbed Yami's arm. She pulled him to the gigantic bed. Then, Yami noticed there was someone in it. Mokuba, who had followed them, noticed the person inside it then too.
They gasped as they recognised the person. Or not really recognised. It was Serenity in there, but she looked horrible. Her arms and face were only shown, but deep gashes already were dancing in front of their eyes. All colours of skin except for the normal slightly tanned skin, bruises, cuts... She was looking horrible!
"Serenity?" Mokuba whispered, on the verge of tears. "Seto, was it her you brought in yesterday evening?" His question was answered as Seto nodded.
"What happened to her, Kaiba? And how come you found her?" Yami was looking at the beaten girl shocked, not believing this could really have happened to Serenity.
"Think, Yami," was all Seto could say. Serenity was looking even worse than yesterday, and he really couldn't bear seeing her like this. He was trying his hardest to keep up his tears, not willing anyone to see him cry, and telling himself over and over again that a Kaiba shouldn't cry. It was weakness, Gozaburo had always told him.
Yami gasped as realisation dawned on him, and his face hardened. "The bastard..." he murmured. "It was him, wasn't it?" he asked Seto sternly. Seto only gave a nod, not trusting his voice yet. Mokuba was just staring at Serenity, still not willing to believe what had happened.
Minutes passed by like this. Then, Yami asked another question. "Who to tell?"
Seto had no idea he was asked a question, for he was in another conversation at the moment. [So, how is she?]
{Well, not very good...} Seto looked very worried at the maid, temporarily forgetting the other persons in the room. {Seto, she... She fell into a slight coma...}
Yami was about to ask his question again when he saw Seto tuning his head to the maid at Serenity's bedside, looking very... worried? Seto Kaiba looking worried? It became even more surprising when, without anyone talking, his expression changed from worried into complete sorrow and horror. Yami was completely clueless now. What was this all about?
Mokuba was still just standing, looking, only shrugging his head sometimes, without saying anything.
DarkMG decided to do something about this. She first walked to Mokuba, taking him by his arm. She quickly watched into Seto's mind for the location of his room. When she got in, she put the little boy on the bed. She called for Kuri to get him asleep and having nice dreams when she returned to Serenity's room.
Seto was the only one there she had contact with, so she tried to get trough to him again. {Seto, please. This has happened once before; she'll recover. And this time, you'll be here to help her too. Please, Seto, snap out of it!}
[Before?] Images flashed trough his mind. He saw a dirty old building. A younger, but not that much younger, Serenity and her father got inside.
Then an image of a dance floor inside, having all barely dressed people dancing. Serenity was looking terrified.
An image of a small room flashed inside his mind, some strange guy dragging Serenity in.
No pictures were shown anymore. He heard Serenity scream, the guy screaming back.
The next image he got was an unconscious Serenity being dragged home by her father, her clothes, or rather said what was left of them, blood-stained.
If Seto hadn't been looked like a ghost before this; his face was now as pale as can be. [Oh... My... God...]
{Snap out of it! This has happened for quite a few times! Every Saturday afternoon, to be exactly. Stop overreacting. You must do something with Yami now! He's still there you know? He asked you a question!} But Seto could hear the sadness behind the harsh words. His feelings probably brought hers up again...
"Yes, Yami? What did you ask me?" he said, his cold mask used again to hide his real feelings.
"Kaiba, what was going on?" the Egyptian asked with his deep voice.
"I was just thinking about something else. Now, repeat your question," Seto ordered. He seemed oblivious to the worry that had been heard in Yami's voice, but Yami knew he had heard it.
"I asked you who we should tell about this."
"I don't think we should tell anyone yet," Seto answered. "Not until she wakes up. She has to choose what she wants to do herself..." Yami sighed, but he understood what Seto meant. He just didn't want this to happen to Serenity of all people. She seemed so innocent...
"Let's go back to the others, then. We've got to get back before they will get suspicious." Seto nodded, and they walked out of the room. "Where's Mokuba, Kaiba?" Yami asked.
[DarkMG, where's my little brother?]
{Kuri put him to sleep, Seto. Just tell them he got tired and that you had to get him to bed. That'll explain why you'll come from this direction either... Now leave, they'll both be just fine...}
"My servant put him to bed, Yami. We'll tell them he got tired and really needed to go to bed."
"Fine."
They walked over to the meeting point in silence, both thinking about the current situation. When they arrived, they saw Joey, Tristan and Mr. Wheeler there already. Yami's eyes hardened slightly at the sight of the last, but he didn't show it.
Duke, Ryou, Mai and Tea arrived soon after. None had found Serenity, of course, and Ryou came with the idea of calling the police. Yami and Seto laughed at themselves, willing to know how he would get himself out of this one.
"Ok, I'll do it. You can go home then... Thank you for helping, anyone," was his not very original escape. But no one discussed it, tire of running around the whole city.
"It doesn't matter," Tea said. "After all, we are her friends, and friends help each other, right?" (A/N: I'm so sorry, Tea fans, but I just couldn't resist...)
So they all returned home. When Set walked into the room Serenity was in, he heard DarkMG had put the radio on. {Ah, Seto, just in time.}
[In time for what?] he asked, surprised.
{They're going to play Serenity's favourite songs on the radio. She used to tell me it reminded her of her feelings to you...}
Seto turned his back to her when he faced the radio, which was playing the beginning tunes of a song. With a flash, he remembered the song. He didn't want to hear it, but it was already too late...
Unseen by anyone, tears formed in Seto's eyes when he heard the song that was playing...
#Loving you madly will be forever
I see the ocean in your eyes
when we're together
There are no boundaries
There are no limits
My heart has been embraced
now that you're in it
Hold me closer to your dreams
Closer to your fears
Close to hear your laughter
Hold me when you're close to tears
Time passes by seconds into minutes
Every field and flower fades
but love is infinite
There are no boundaries
There are no limits
My heart's a bigger place
now that you're in it
Hold me closer to your dreams
Closer to your fears
Close to hear your laughter
Hold me when you're close to tears
I wanna be the one
you tell your secrets to
All I want is to be closer
closer to you
How tight can you hold me?
How long can we stay awake?
How hard can we laugh?
How much love can we make?
Hold me closer to your dreams
Closer to your fears
Close to hear your laughter
Hold me when you're close to tears
I wanna be the one
you tell your secrets to
All I want is to be closer
closer to you...#
He didn't notice DarkMG had left the room. He dropped on his knees next to her bed, tears streaming down his face. His body shook from crying. It was something Seto hadn't done for years, but this song seemed to put every bit of misery of the past together, making it crash down upon him like a tidal wave.
Slowly, he cried himself to a restless, short sleep...
DarkMG had told the servants he didn't want anyone to disturb him and that, if they did, they would be fired immediately. Therefore, that afternoon, nobody entered that room.
When Seto woke up, he found himself lying on the floor, his face wet with tears. Without a word, he went to the bathroom and washed it. He re-entered the room and sat on the bed, his face blank.
It had already become dark, and DarkMG had come to bring him food. He had ate it silently.
Suddenly, the microphone at the wall cracked. His head shot up. "What is it?" he said, his voice cold as ice, still not willing to show any emotions.
The nervous voice of his maid sounded trough the microphone. "Master Kaiba, sir, there's some guy here at the front door who desperately wants to be let in. He says his name is Wheeler and that he has to talk to you about something very important..."
Kaiba was thinking. Should he let the bastard in or not? Then, he took a look at Serenity lying on the bed, bruises and cuts still very well visible on her face, and he decided.
"Let him in..."
Lass: Well, what do you think? Please review! I promise I'll update sooner next time!
The view was beautiful... Far below her, trees were spread over the earth. It was still raining. At that moment, it was just her and the land and the air. There were no memories, and the voices of DarkMG, Kuri and Kaiba were unheard to her. Her vision steadily passed off, leaving nothing but silent darkness. She slowly started falling into the depths, until...
Two strong arms wrapped around her waist just in time to prevent her from falling. Kaiba got there in time to save her. He looked down at the girl in his arms. Her rain coat covered most of her face, but on the visible part of it, he clearly saw all bruises, scratches and dried up blood. He knew she had to be taken care of as soon as possible, and he already knew what to do. He put his hand on her throat, looking for a heartbeat. He sighed in relief when he found it. It was weak, but it was still there...
(Can you carry the both of us?) he asked DarkMG and Kuri.
{We probably can, but not for very long,} was the reply. Kaiba took Serenity in his arms as he quickly walked over to them. He was drenched by the rain by now, but he didn't bother.
(Good. My mansion isn't too far away. I'll tell you where to go.) They took off to his mansion. The two Duel Monsters had a hard time staying in the air, but they managed. Soon, they saw the mansion in front of them. DarkMG and Kuri put Kaiba, with Serenity safely in his arms, down on the driveway. Kaiba promised them he would let them in by a window as soon as possible and got in.
"Hi big brother," Mokuba said, running up to him. Sleep had easily made his fever go away, which both of them were glad about. Mokuba gasped when he saw someone in his brother's arms. "Who is that, Seto?" he asked, but Kaiba didn't have time for that.
"I'll tell you later, Mokuba, not now. I'll be upstairs for a while. Tell the servants not to come up to me unless I call for them."
"Okay, Seto..." Mokuba said, wondering what exactly was going on here. His brother came home drenched after he had suddenly run out of the house, with some strange person in his arms. He shook his head, knowing Seto (A/N: I'll refer to Kaiba as Seto from now, okay? It sounds a lot nicer...) would eventually explain it to him.
Seto ran upstairs with the girl in his arms. He got into his room, putting her on the bed. He then got to the window as quick as possible, pulling it open roughly. DarkMG and Kuri were already waiting outside and brushed past him, getting to Serenity.
Seto trusted them with this. They had probably done this all many times before. He was about to leave when DarkMG called him. {Hey, Seto, where do you think you are going? We'll need your help with this. I'll tell you what to do.} After that, a long list with needed things followed, and Seto went to get them as fast as he could.
When he returned in the room, DarkMG and Kuri had gotten Serenity out of her rain coat already. He gasped at what he saw, almost dropping the stuff he had went to get. There was Serenity, but she looked horrible. Without the body paint on, he saw how she really looked. All of this, he knew, was not the result of just this afternoon. Her body was covered with bruises, cuts, dried up blood and even some fresh blood that was still oozing out of wounds. {Hurry up,} DarkMG's voice woke him from his reverie. He quickly gave her the things. {Would you please turn around now, and not to the window? We'll have to undress her completely to take care of her wounds, and I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate it if you were watching.}
Seto turned as red as a tomato, something that very rarely happened to him. (I'll just leave,) he said ashamed. He had already turned around, so he didn't saw the slight smile DarkMG and Kuri shared.
{No, you'd better stay. We might need you. I can't see exactly how she is now, due to all of the blood.} So Seto stayed, thinking about Serenity.
'How could I not notice? All the time, she was right under my nose... If I had only looked just a little more careful, she wouldn't have suffered all of this... If only I hadn't hurt her so much...'
{Seto, you can't help it. Her friends didn't notice either, and they were closer to her than you were. Her own brother didn't even notice, and you're just blaming yourself. There's no way you especially were supposed to know that, just you. Is there?} This sly question made Seto think again.
'Is there? Why do I blame myself this much? Her friends didn't even know, and I made myself more like her enemy. How come I feel this guilty then?'
{{I heard love can do strange things to people,}} Kuri bumped in. DarkMG was mostly busy with Serenity now, so Kuri took over the job of getting Seto to think about his feelings towards Serenity.
(What? What do you mean?) Seto asked, but he already knew what Kuri meant with his words. That was also the reason Kuri didn't explain his words. (I have, haven't I?) he asked Kuri softly.
{{Let me help you...}} Seto felt Kuri get into his mind and rummage around. He gasped when he felt Kuri get into his most private thoughts, of which some of them were unknown to even Seto himself. But he hadn't learned to put up a barrier yet, so there was nothing he could do about it... Various thoughts from there came up now, memories of Serenity. There was Serenity laughing, talking, and pleading, even her saving her brother the day they had met...
His eyes narrowed at the worse memories, where Serenity was crying, and the look on her face when he had insulted her and the way she had looked when he came into the room.
(I have, haven't I...?) he silently asked the little fluffy creature. {{You have...}}
He started feeling that strange feeling again, which he had only felt towards Mokuba. Yet, this was different. This wasn't brotherly love. This was real love...
{No!} DarkMG's shriek shocked both Seto and Kuri. When they looked at her, they saw her punching Serenity's stomach (A/N: Yes, Serenity was already dressed a little again, if you might get some strange ideas). {Cut the shit, this needs serious help,} she cried. She grabbed her staff and pointed it at Serenity.
{{Wait!}} (What's going on?) Kuri and Seto asked.
{Her heartbeat stopped...} They gasped and watched tensely. DarkMG attacked. They were looking for Serenity's heartbeat inside the deadly quiet room...
And found it! It was beating softly, slowly, but it was there! They all smiled at each other. {Seto, Kuri, I need your help. She has a lot of wounds, and many of them still have to be wrapped up. Get yourself over her and get some bandages off that pile. Kuri, you take her arms. Seto, do you think you can bandage her back. It's pretty wounded, and you haven't seen something like that for a while...}
Seto was once again pretty surprised at how much she knew about him, but he nodded. (I think I'll manage...) He turned Serenity to her side and pulled her shirt up a little. He bit his lip hard at what he saw there to make sure he wouldn't start crying. If he had thought it couldn't get any worse as he had just seen, he had been wrong. This managed to be even worse...
He felt Kuri tense up too when the creature started bandaging Serenity's arms. Inside his head, as he was cleaning and bandaging her back softly, he was cursing Serenity's father, calling him every bad thing he had heard in his whole life. He wasn't even surprised when DarkMG and Kuri followed him soon after in a tirade at her father.
Her back was finally bandaged up well. Seto had never known Duel Monsters could have such a great vocabulary. {Her head needs to be bandaged up pretty quickly now. Kuri, could you hold Serenity up? You're pretty soft, so it'll hurt less, I hope... Seto, give me anything I ask for, beginning with a damp cloth.} After a while, her head was done too.
{She won't be awake anytime soon, I think. Good, now we need to watch her in turns. Who wants to watch her when. The day will be parted up in three even parts that all contain eight hours. Seto, you may choose how they are spread over the day. You've got school to attend and a job to do, right?}
(School won't be for a few days and I always work less in the week-ends. I'll take the evening part which is from four in the afternoon until midnight.)
{{Sounds good. I'll do the night part from midnight to eight in the morning. Not many people will be awake then, so I won't be seen.}}
{That's settled then. The final eight hours are mine then. We have to discuss something else too, though. You see, I don't know how she'll react when she notices she isn't dead and that she had to be saved by someone again...}
Silence was all there was inside the room, and inside their minds, as they all looked at Serenity. They knew DarkMG was right. They had no idea how she would react. They did know it probably wouldn't be good...
"Seto!" they heard Mokuba call from downstairs. When they looked outside, surprised, they saw the sun had just come up. They had been taking care of Serenity the whole night! "Seto, you promised me you would take a day off and have some fun with me!"
Seto looked at the monsters. [Well, it's your shift now. You probably won't need me. If you do, you know how to reach me...] he told them. Then he walked out of the room, leaving for a day with Mokuba.
"Hi there, Mokuba. Did you sleep well?" he asked his little brother.
"Yup," the kid answered. "Very well! I had such a nice dream, Seto! You were marrying someone! But just when you pulled up her veil so that I would see the girl, I woke up!" Mokuba kept telling Seto how beautiful it had been while they walked out of the door, and Seto smiled at him. "And then the music started playing! Oh, it sounded throughout the whole place and the two of you danced..."
He was shortly interrupted by a screaming Yugi. "Kaiba, Mokuba! You have to help!" The whole gang came running up to them, including... Serenity's father. As soon as he saw the man, he knew what this was about.
"What's up?" Mokuba asked, worried.
"Seren's missing!" Joey screamed. "We have to find her!"
"Calm down, Joey. Let me explain what's going on, ok?" Yugi asked. After a quick nod of his friend, he started. "Well, Mr. Wheeler came to Joey and he told him Serenity was gone. She had gone to buy some groceries, but she didn't come back after that. So he got worried and he started looking for her, but when he couldn't find her, he came to us for help. So would you two please help?"
Seto almost smirked. 'She went to the market? 'That's a nice excuse you have there, jackass, but not nice enough.'
While Mokuba answered their question, of course positive, Seto took the lead. "I think we'd better pair up in three groups. I'll lead this, since Mr. Wheeler is probably too worried to think really quickly at the moment." It was a good excuse, everyone believed it, even the guy himself, who thought that anyone had believed his lie very easily. "I'll pair you up. Mr. Wheeler, the mutt and Taylor go together. The second group contains Valentine, Devlin, Gardner and Ryou, and Yugi and Mokuba are with me."
"Let's find her!" Joey called running off, not even caring Seto called him mutt, dragging Tristan and his father with him. Duke, Ryou, Mai and Tea ran into another direction. Seto smiled at himself. He had covered it all up.
"Yami?" he said, therefore practically asking Yugi to change into the King of Games. Yugi, of course, did just that. With a bright flash, Mokuba and Seto were looking at Yami. "Come on, we're going to my house," he said, his voice telling them not to ask anything. Mokuba and Yami looked at each other, frowning, but they followed the CEO. They started a whispered conversation.
"What's my brother doing?" Mokuba asked stunned.
"Is he not going to help?" Yami responded, not knowing what this was about.
"Nah, he wouldn't do that, ever... Else, why did he put you in our group? He clearly wanted you to come, and not Yugi."
"Let's just follow him and we'll find out eventually," Yami ended, having no idea what else to do. Seto led them into his house and motioned for them to follow him upstairs.
[DarkMG?]
{Yes, Seto, what's up?} the girl asked him mentally.
[I'm coming up with Mokuba and Yami. Is that all right with you?]
{Yes, it's ok. I took a maid uniform from the closet downstairs, so that I would be able to talk to the maids, or at least writing something on my chalkboard, without being stared at. I told them you hired me to keep clean the highest floor. Is that ok?}
[Great! I'll be right up.]
He took them to the room where Serenity was lying, and whispered to them to be quiet. Then, he opened the door. Mokuba and Yami were looking at the maid standing there questionably. Was this some kind of joke?
The maid walked up to them and grabbed Yami's arm. She pulled him to the gigantic bed. Then, Yami noticed there was someone in it. Mokuba, who had followed them, noticed the person inside it then too.
They gasped as they recognised the person. Or not really recognised. It was Serenity in there, but she looked horrible. Her arms and face were only shown, but deep gashes already were dancing in front of their eyes. All colours of skin except for the normal slightly tanned skin, bruises, cuts... She was looking horrible!
"Serenity?" Mokuba whispered, on the verge of tears. "Seto, was it her you brought in yesterday evening?" His question was answered as Seto nodded.
"What happened to her, Kaiba? And how come you found her?" Yami was looking at the beaten girl shocked, not believing this could really have happened to Serenity.
"Think, Yami," was all Seto could say. Serenity was looking even worse than yesterday, and he really couldn't bear seeing her like this. He was trying his hardest to keep up his tears, not willing anyone to see him cry, and telling himself over and over again that a Kaiba shouldn't cry. It was weakness, Gozaburo had always told him.
Yami gasped as realisation dawned on him, and his face hardened. "The bastard..." he murmured. "It was him, wasn't it?" he asked Seto sternly. Seto only gave a nod, not trusting his voice yet. Mokuba was just staring at Serenity, still not willing to believe what had happened.
Minutes passed by like this. Then, Yami asked another question. "Who to tell?"
Seto had no idea he was asked a question, for he was in another conversation at the moment. [So, how is she?]
{Well, not very good...} Seto looked very worried at the maid, temporarily forgetting the other persons in the room. {Seto, she... She fell into a slight coma...}
Yami was about to ask his question again when he saw Seto tuning his head to the maid at Serenity's bedside, looking very... worried? Seto Kaiba looking worried? It became even more surprising when, without anyone talking, his expression changed from worried into complete sorrow and horror. Yami was completely clueless now. What was this all about?
Mokuba was still just standing, looking, only shrugging his head sometimes, without saying anything.
DarkMG decided to do something about this. She first walked to Mokuba, taking him by his arm. She quickly watched into Seto's mind for the location of his room. When she got in, she put the little boy on the bed. She called for Kuri to get him asleep and having nice dreams when she returned to Serenity's room.
Seto was the only one there she had contact with, so she tried to get trough to him again. {Seto, please. This has happened once before; she'll recover. And this time, you'll be here to help her too. Please, Seto, snap out of it!}
[Before?] Images flashed trough his mind. He saw a dirty old building. A younger, but not that much younger, Serenity and her father got inside.
Then an image of a dance floor inside, having all barely dressed people dancing. Serenity was looking terrified.
An image of a small room flashed inside his mind, some strange guy dragging Serenity in.
No pictures were shown anymore. He heard Serenity scream, the guy screaming back.
The next image he got was an unconscious Serenity being dragged home by her father, her clothes, or rather said what was left of them, blood-stained.
If Seto hadn't been looked like a ghost before this; his face was now as pale as can be. [Oh... My... God...]
{Snap out of it! This has happened for quite a few times! Every Saturday afternoon, to be exactly. Stop overreacting. You must do something with Yami now! He's still there you know? He asked you a question!} But Seto could hear the sadness behind the harsh words. His feelings probably brought hers up again...
"Yes, Yami? What did you ask me?" he said, his cold mask used again to hide his real feelings.
"Kaiba, what was going on?" the Egyptian asked with his deep voice.
"I was just thinking about something else. Now, repeat your question," Seto ordered. He seemed oblivious to the worry that had been heard in Yami's voice, but Yami knew he had heard it.
"I asked you who we should tell about this."
"I don't think we should tell anyone yet," Seto answered. "Not until she wakes up. She has to choose what she wants to do herself..." Yami sighed, but he understood what Seto meant. He just didn't want this to happen to Serenity of all people. She seemed so innocent...
"Let's go back to the others, then. We've got to get back before they will get suspicious." Seto nodded, and they walked out of the room. "Where's Mokuba, Kaiba?" Yami asked.
[DarkMG, where's my little brother?]
{Kuri put him to sleep, Seto. Just tell them he got tired and that you had to get him to bed. That'll explain why you'll come from this direction either... Now leave, they'll both be just fine...}
"My servant put him to bed, Yami. We'll tell them he got tired and really needed to go to bed."
"Fine."
They walked over to the meeting point in silence, both thinking about the current situation. When they arrived, they saw Joey, Tristan and Mr. Wheeler there already. Yami's eyes hardened slightly at the sight of the last, but he didn't show it.
Duke, Ryou, Mai and Tea arrived soon after. None had found Serenity, of course, and Ryou came with the idea of calling the police. Yami and Seto laughed at themselves, willing to know how he would get himself out of this one.
"Ok, I'll do it. You can go home then... Thank you for helping, anyone," was his not very original escape. But no one discussed it, tire of running around the whole city.
"It doesn't matter," Tea said. "After all, we are her friends, and friends help each other, right?" (A/N: I'm so sorry, Tea fans, but I just couldn't resist...)
So they all returned home. When Set walked into the room Serenity was in, he heard DarkMG had put the radio on. {Ah, Seto, just in time.}
[In time for what?] he asked, surprised.
{They're going to play Serenity's favourite songs on the radio. She used to tell me it reminded her of her feelings to you...}
Seto turned his back to her when he faced the radio, which was playing the beginning tunes of a song. With a flash, he remembered the song. He didn't want to hear it, but it was already too late...
Unseen by anyone, tears formed in Seto's eyes when he heard the song that was playing...
#Loving you madly will be forever
I see the ocean in your eyes
when we're together
There are no boundaries
There are no limits
My heart has been embraced
now that you're in it
Hold me closer to your dreams
Closer to your fears
Close to hear your laughter
Hold me when you're close to tears
Time passes by seconds into minutes
Every field and flower fades
but love is infinite
There are no boundaries
There are no limits
My heart's a bigger place
now that you're in it
Hold me closer to your dreams
Closer to your fears
Close to hear your laughter
Hold me when you're close to tears
I wanna be the one
you tell your secrets to
All I want is to be closer
closer to you
How tight can you hold me?
How long can we stay awake?
How hard can we laugh?
How much love can we make?
Hold me closer to your dreams
Closer to your fears
Close to hear your laughter
Hold me when you're close to tears
I wanna be the one
you tell your secrets to
All I want is to be closer
closer to you...#
He didn't notice DarkMG had left the room. He dropped on his knees next to her bed, tears streaming down his face. His body shook from crying. It was something Seto hadn't done for years, but this song seemed to put every bit of misery of the past together, making it crash down upon him like a tidal wave.
Slowly, he cried himself to a restless, short sleep...
DarkMG had told the servants he didn't want anyone to disturb him and that, if they did, they would be fired immediately. Therefore, that afternoon, nobody entered that room.
When Seto woke up, he found himself lying on the floor, his face wet with tears. Without a word, he went to the bathroom and washed it. He re-entered the room and sat on the bed, his face blank.
It had already become dark, and DarkMG had come to bring him food. He had ate it silently.
Suddenly, the microphone at the wall cracked. His head shot up. "What is it?" he said, his voice cold as ice, still not willing to show any emotions.
The nervous voice of his maid sounded trough the microphone. "Master Kaiba, sir, there's some guy here at the front door who desperately wants to be let in. He says his name is Wheeler and that he has to talk to you about something very important..."
Kaiba was thinking. Should he let the bastard in or not? Then, he took a look at Serenity lying on the bed, bruises and cuts still very well visible on her face, and he decided.
"Let him in..."
Lass: Well, what do you think? Please review! I promise I'll update sooner next time!