(a/n: Congrats to penguiin and elsiey for knowing about the 'inner self' concept, stolen from Sakura herself in Naruto. I'm so bad. XD. Man, you guys are great motivators. I didn't expect as many reviews as I got for the chapter. . Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I wish I could address you all, but I promise that regular reviewers will be addressed for at least one chapter. Just a slight warning; although this story seems humorous, the later chapters will delve into major angst. Woohoo! BubblyBoo, it's excellent you noticed Serenity's slight spite for Joey. That will be elaborated on further in the story. And thanks to Jieli; I don't think Kaiba's tachardya is caused by an extra nerve, but it's a good thing to keep in mind. I'm glad that I've gotten some things right regarding the condition. shudder The thought of surgeries makes my body hurt. Why am I writing this story again...? )

Three: Fasting Bites

Stupid doctor... Kaiba hissed, walking out the room with the papers in hand. He had half the mind to chuck them in the garbage he was passing by, but he needed this examination. Sickening.

The lab was not as bad as being in the hands of that woman. The thought of needles piercing his skin was fine; it was the warmth of something human touching him that caused his skin to crawl. It did, dammit! Her hands were not soft, her hair not lustrous, her breath certainly not like the caress of a soft breeze from a midsummer night's dream--

Silently, he told himself to stop watching those Harlequin movies on television when he was too lazy to bother changing the channel. Anyway, it was wrong on multiple levels to be attracted to a physician. She probably thought of him as one of those bodies she must have operated on in med school.

Returning home in an irate mood, he didn't bother taking off his shoes and tracked mud onto the immaculate marble floor. From the corner of his eye he could see the entering maid's face fall in dismay at the mess before her.

"Mr. Kaiba, welcome home," she greeted, her expression deceitfully sunny. "A meal has been prepared for you--"

"Don't bother."

Coldly brushing past the maid, he decided to hibernate within his office. He always found that sleeping on the leather couch was more comfortable than a bed.

Following an extensive day of shopping, Serenity gratefully entered her apartment room and dumped her various bags onto the floor. Sometimes she wished she worked more -then she would have an excuse not to spend as much money as she usually did. It amazed her sometimes that Joey willingly agreed to go into a store with her when her attention became so easily snagged by something beautiful in a store window.

Stripping off her clothing once in the bathroom, Serenity stepped into the tub. She was in the process of lathering her hair with shampoo when the phone began to ring. She decided she would let the answering machine get it but jumped out of the shower when she heard who was calling.

"Dr. Atwood, hello!" Serenity greeted, a towel messily wrapped around herself and her hair dripping wet. She silently prayed that her current wet state wouldn't cause something to electrocute. The headlines wouldn't be pretty -she would come off looking like her true self, that being a woman who possessed little to no common sense. There was a saying that the smartest people lacked common sense, and if a psychological study was done on her, that saying would be justified.

"Ah, I knew you were home!" the warm and deep voice of an elderly man greeted her. "I'm sorry to bother you but I was wondering whether you would be interested in attending a Halloween party...?"

"A Halloween party?" Serenity repeated into the phone, half heartedly listening to the man on the other end. The bubbles from the shampoo were popping irritatingly in her ear and the rest crackled in her hair, like macabre pop-rocks. Not to mention the water on her skin evaporating rapidly, allowing the cold air to attack her.

"Serenity, it's for charity, and I know it would make a lot of people happy to see you there," Atwood stated from the other line. Serenity wanted to sigh, but she respected Dr. Atwood too much to risk sounding bored or annoyed. Throughout medical school, he had been her role model, and everything she did was in hope to reach his position. After all, he was the surgeon who had operated on her eyes those many years ago.

When she finally had passed medical school, he immediately hired her to work for a branch of his company. Ever since then, she had become a favorite of his and was required to attend nearly every function as a representative. Consistently, she was pulled away from the punch bowl she liked to acquaint herself with and Atwood would show her off, bragging about her outstanding marks and tender age of graduation. It was overly embarrassing, but there was nothing she would do about it.

"Do I have to dress up?" she asked, unfamiliar with the western tradition.

"Of course!" he replied, following with a hearty laugh. It struck to Serenity that he would make an excellent Santa Clause, with his rounded belly, glasses and snow white hair. "The Mrs. and I are going as 16th Century nobles."

"I can't wait to see it," Serenity replied, actually interested. "Should I bring a guest?"

"It wouldn't hurt...Although there are plenty of young men there who would be fascinated by you, if you know what I mean."

She gulped. Sadly, she knew exactly what he meant: another one of his pathetic, although kind-hearted, attempts at setting her up with some corporate big shot. She shuddered when reminiscing about the horrible men she had met at previous parties; there was no wonder why they were single.

"I'll think about it..."

"Friday, October 31st, Serenity. I expect to see you there." There was a pause. "And please wear something nice. No ghoulish masks or makeup, got it?"

"Of course..."

"And by nice I mean you should wear what my secretary will send to your office tomorrow."

"That's too kind--"

"No it's not."

He had a point. She was miserable when it came to dressing for events. At the last Christmas party she had attended, she chose to wear a plaid green tweed suit. To say the least, she certainly didn't blend in. Mrs. Atwood chased her around for half the party insisting that if Serenity wrapped herself in one of the red tablecloths, she would look considerably more attractive.

"Right. I'll be looking forward to see what Mrs. Atwood will pick out for me."

"Who said the Mrs. will have a part in this? Well, I've overstayed my phone time. The invite will be in the mail."

The phone hung up with a sharp click, although Serenity still held hers lazily to her ear. It was October 27th. Talk about short notice.

Kaiba was awoken by the shrill ringing of the telephone. He waited for someone to answer it but when there was no one prompt enough, he got up himself. His legs felt like brittle uncooked spaghetti, ready to snap underneath his weight and his eyes were dry and burning. As he picked up the phone, he attempted to make out the time on the majestic grandfather clock a few feet away from him.

6:45...?

"Seto, I've been trying to get a hold of you!" an energetic voice greeted him. "I hope I haven't caught you at a bad time?"

"No, I was just going over some of the stock bonds..." Kaiba replied, suppressing yawning. There was no way he was going to let his brother think that he was getting old. It was amazing, yet slightly disgusting, that Mokuba could possess such vigor after being exposed to an infant for part of the time. There was always the possibility that he slept elsewhere, though. A cruel smile spread onto his lips at the thought of Rebecca having to endure a screaming child.

"You work too much. Hey, you should come with us to Tahiti. I know you hate..."

As Mokuba continued to ramble, Kaiba listened half awake, answering with a disinterested, "Mm-hmm" and trying to figure out what he had to do... He was hungry but something was preventing him from eating... but what? Mind still fogged by sleep, it took him a moment to register what had happened on account of his dear, younger brother on the other end.

"Hold it," Kaiba commanded, cutting Mokuba off mid-sentence. "Today, you forced me to see a doctor regarding my health."

"Seto, you know it's because I care about you--"

"That's not the point!" he snapped and he could imagine Mokuba flinching on the other end. "That... doctor you sent me to was a woman."

"Really?" There was a pause on the other end. "Was she hot?"

"Mokuba!"

"Sorry, I just went with a recommendation from Domino Hospital," he explained languidly. Kaiba knew that tone of voice well enough to conclude that his younger was suppressing laughter. "I didn't think it would bother you so much that she had an x chromosome rather than y. Tell me, do we know her?"

"I've never seen her before in my life," Kaiba answered. His stomach suddenly grumbled and he sat down on the floor in an attempt to make it stop. Food was something he loved, an unknown fact.

"Too bad. So, how were the results?"

"I still have to get some tests done."

"I'm sure you'll be fine--"

"You're a contradicting liar."

"Well, what do you want me to say? 'I hope they find out you're dying!'?"

There was a moment of silence, which Mokuba attempted to break by apologizing. When it was clear that neither brother was willing to talk, Mokuba excused himself, leaving Kaiba sitting in the dark of the room, phone beside him.

Staring at nothing, his thoughts were jumbled, jumping from his acknowledgement of his deteriorating relationship with his brother to the doctor, who had stared at him with that look.

Mr. Kaiba, have you been noticing any symptoms lately... dizziness, shortness of breath...?

Why had he lied to her?

Why was he playing with his health so precariously?

The woman was only trying to do her job and she seemed genuinely afraid for him. He got up, pausing a moment to cough into his right hand. Flecks of blood moistly clung onto the delicate skin of his palm, embedding into the ridges. He quickly washed his hand, dissolving any trace of the crimson stickiness. The wraith-like thought of calling her went down the drain with the blood.

She would eventually find out herself.

Sleep seemed like his only salvation from the literally gut wrenching pain of food deprivation. When he awoke, it was parallel to being brought back to hell on earth while his stomach screamed, cried and shrieked.

"Shut up..." he mumbled, throwing off his duck down covers and staggering to the washroom. He stared at the toothpaste wearily, remembering that it made him hungry, before spreading it on his toothbrush and proceeding with cleaning his teeth. Ten minutes later he emerged from the washroom, his stomach feeling more empty than before. There was a point where he almost wanted to eat his shaving gel, but decided against it after remembering Mokuba's experience with it when Kaiba was just learning how to shave.

Returning to his bedroom, Kaiba changed slowly and his eyes drifted to the time on the wall.

6:57 am.

Four more hours to go.

Brain officially scrambled after digesting television for half an hour (even the news made him want to scream in aggravation), he was ready to exit the house in favor of -god forbid- nature, when Rolf stopped him.

"Sir, I'm not sure you should go out alone in your condition," he said, earning a glare from Kaiba.

"I'm not old and senile yet," the CEO growled before walking out the door. Rolf followed him.

"Shall I cancel your appointments today, Sir?"

"While you're at it, leave me alone," Kaiba hissed, an infamous misanthropist. Climbing into his awaiting limousine, Kaiba mumbled the name 'Domino Clinic' before the car sped off. Once in the heart of the city, the car slowed down until it literally stopped. Stagnated by traffic, Kaiba impatiently and hungrily waited for it to thin out. He wanted food, dammit! He wanted the results back that stated he was fine and that woman was a paranoid freak. That seemed to be a reoccurring trait, now that he dwelled on it. Women were all paranoid freaks.

Tea was convinced that he needed friendship and love, but she obviously was blinded to the fact that he was the richest man in Japan while she and her cronies were...well... themselves. Useless. He had made it twenty-seven years without having to befriend someone and he was perfectly content. He couldn't speak for Tea, whatever she was doing.

Ishizu, on the other hand, was certain about his Egyptian Past as a priest(1). He had dismissed it as 'hocus pocus' before and he wasn't afraid to do it again. It was a relief that she and her insane brother were no longer in the country -then again, it would have been enjoyable to get them deported for illegal drug trafficking. What else could explain Ishizu's 'visions' and Marik's sudden shift in personality? Cocaine did wonders. Ecstasy probably did more.

(2)Rebecca believed he was a bad influence on his brother, which was ridiculous. She had such ludicrous theories about how Kaiba Corp could be more efficiently run, and hell would become the next Disneyland if he allowed her to meddle with his precious company. Psychotic bitch.

"How much longer is this going to take?" Kaiba asked in an unusually calm voice.

"I'm not sure, Sir."

He never answered. Instead, his eyes wandered to the boutiques across from them. The limousine was parked so closely that he could see directly into the stores. When the crowd cleared slightly, a shock of red caught his eye from the clothing boutique and the bearer turned around to reveal her.

That woman... he realized, staring at her. What the hell had Mokuba been thinking, getting a female to examine him? Everyone knew that women were considered the lesser gender because they were so disgustingly weak and fragile, not to mention emotional. And this one, oh this one, seemed like one of the greater evils. For one thing, his attention was actually drawn to her as she practically glided through the store, arms filled with various sweaters. Her hair flared behind her like the tongues of Vulcan's fire, forced to dance in delirium from the sight of Venus. Under her long white lab coat he hadn't noticed her curvy and slim figure, her upper body perfectly accentuated from the dark and light violet striped ribbed turtleneck sweater she wore. The only disappointment for him was her choice in skirt, which was a dark, wooly ugly thing ending just below her knees and hiding the rest of her creamy legs.

"Mr. Kaiba? Mr. Kaiba? Mr. Kaiba?" repeated the chauffeur. The CEO snapped out of his delirium and flushed momentarily from embarrassment.

"What?" he snapped.

"N-nothing, Sir, I just--"

"Shut up. Go."

"Yes, Sir."

As the car began to drive again, Kaiba began to have second thoughts about the visit to the clinic. Of course, it was appropriate to get miserable things over with, but somehow he felt like he was in a battle with his own doctor. There was no way she could look so wonderful once out of the office. So human. He knew who and what she was -a demon woman who would probably alter his results to make it seem like he was fatally ill.

His stomach grumbled again and he found himself sighing. He didn't go through all of that torture for nothing. He would unfortunately have to comply with the tests -and in fact, if she said anything regarding his health being in poor condition, he would simply ask for another doctor. He was a fair man, after all.

At the clinic, he was actually forced to endure a long waiting period. In reality, it was only half an hour, but his mind tended to warp things when he was placed in such a lowly atmosphere. The waiting room was smaller than his washroom, complete with gray tweed chairs and old magazines. For half the time he sat still, attempting to block out the sounds of the screaming toddler twins who were running around the room with faux airplanes.

"Vrooooooom!"

"Rooooar!"

"Timmy, planes don't go 'Roar'!"

"Yes they do."

"No, they don't."

"Yes, they do."

The mother was oblivious to the growing argument, mindlessly thumbing through an old edition of Flare.

"Do, do, do!"

"Don't, don't, don't!"

Suddenly, the noise stopped. Kaiba was confused until he felt a mind irritation of a finger prodding his knee. He looked down to see the twins in front of him and was startled, but didn't show it.

"Mister, what sounds do planes make?" one of them asked quietly, his amethyst eyes wide. Kaiba stared at him for a moment before answering, "Vroom" in a deadpan tone.

"I knew it!" the boy shrieked in delight while the other pouted. Feeling suddenly sorry for the other twin, Kaiba picked up one of the piled magazines and ripped out a page. Expertly, he folded it until a miniature dragon was made. Softly, he tapped on the boy's shoulder, who was standing still and staring at his brother, and handed him the paper dragon.

"This one goes 'Roar'," he said, a genuine smile coming to his normally straight lips. The little boy cautiously took it from him, his mouth parted in awe.

"T-thanks..." he managed, eyes still wide in reverence for the magnificent beast created from a torn magazine page. When he snapped out of his stupor, the boy ran to his mother to show off his dragon.

"I'll be there right away," Serenity said and then sighed, snapping her cell phone shut with one hand. Weaving her way through the store, Serenity made an entire round before coming upon her companion for the day. The girl was holding a teal and black dress, probably contemplating whether or not it would be racy enough for her latest social gathering, which was more business than social.

"I hate this," she said upon noticing Serenity. "I wish Joey had a normal job. Then I wouldn't have to go through this grief."

"I really like what you're doing for him, though," Serenity said, shifting her purse to the other arm. "The last thing I want is for him to quit on the wrong terms."

Tea released a mock laugh and shook her head. "You can never quit when it comes to the yakuza. He'll be lucky if he makes it out alive."

"He's also doing this for you, Tea," the young doctor snapped, disliking it when people chastised her brother because of his occupation. Out of all the things he could have done, he had to become a member of the yakuza. Quite a valued one, at that. However, he was also an apathetic one, refusing to yield by the Boss's orders and somehow managing to remain living. It was a mystery that tore apart the muscles in the brain, but do greater damage if one attempted to solve it. Joey was quite personal about his 'occupation', so no one dared to bring it up.

Tea was silent, for once deciding not to respond. The dress still held in her hands, she stared at it while kneading the fabric, lost within the laments in her mind. Although it amazed many people, Serenity was overjoyed when Joey announced his engagement to Tea. Of course, there were tiny details, such as how had the relationship developed and why they would become involved with one another when Joey was a gurentai, dealing with the most gritty and dirty in the underworld of the Japanese mafia. Perhaps that was why it seemed like Tea's soul had been captured the moment she had agreed to marry Joey. Serenity couldn't say that she had fallen in love -that seemed too idealistic. There was something else beneath their relationship. But Joey was happy. That was all she cared about.

"Tea, I'm sorry, but I'm needed at the Domino Laboratory," Serenity stated, guilt consuming her like tar at the sight of Tea's fallen face.

"I understand," she said, her voice sounding strained. "I'm actually going to go, also."

"Your dress...?"

"It doesn't matter."

Although Serenity could easily afford a car, the cramped streets refused her the luxury and she found herself on the train, as always. Roughly an hour later she arrived at the laboratory in time to run into the back and grab a pile of forms to sift through.

"So you just need me to do some blood tests?" she asked, lifting her eyes to the front desk nurse.

"Yes indeedy," she answered, her voice far from cheery and more monotonous. "Just for an hour until the relief comes in." She finally looked up from her paperwork and sent Serenity a sympathetic look. "Thank you so much, Dr. Wheeler. I can't express my gratitude enough. If there was any other doctor--"

"Don't worry," Serenity broke through, smiling. "I'm here to help people, regardless of my position."

Files in hand, Serenity left the front desk but stopped before entering the main laboratory. That voice sounded familiar.

"Vroom"

But it couldn't possibly be him... could it?

Kaiba was appalled. After having to endure horrible tests, an x-ray test was added to the lengthy list. He knew there was no way he would be able to go to work today, and after missing yesterday, there would be a horrendous mound of work waiting for him tomorrow. He almost groaned at the prospect, but he was so hungry that it was difficult to even complain.

"Around the corner will be Room 102," the nurse was saying. "In there you will have your blood test done."

Kaiba wordlessly took the papers from her, hating that he was surrounded by women. Of course, male nurses were an insult, but he hated the looks he was getting from these desperate, middle-aged women. One girl kept dropping things whenever she passed by him.

He entered Room 102 to see the back of the nurse as she fiddled with some vials and scribbled something down on a sheet of paper. She was a small thing, reminding him of a high school girl, with long auburn hair tied into a ponytail and wearing a lab coat that seemed too big for her tiny frame. After taking a few steps into the room, she sensed his presence and turned around.

Her smile instantly froze, while he could feel his blood pressure increasing.

"Don't tell me you're the one who's going to be taking my blood!" he found himself saying as he backed up slightly. "And aren't you a doctor?"

"Please, have a seat," she said, completely ignoring everything he had said. He complied, taking care not to have any contact with her. Although he wanted to ignore her, he found himself staring at her as she took out a pair of glasses from the lab coat and put them on.

"You added on an x-ray," Kaiba stated as she prepared the syringe. Her gaze flickered to him, which annoyed him slightly, before she answered coolly, "That I did."

"I had to drink some noxious white chalky substance on account of you."

"Roll up your left sleeve and then place your arm on the table, please."

"Are you even listening to me?"

"No."

She tied a rubber tourniquet tightly above his elbow and for a strange reason, he could feel his pulse quicken whenever her fingers brushed against his skin. She seemed indifferent to this, however, continuing with applying pressure with her thumb onto veins bulging from inside of his elbow.

Turning around for a brief moment, she retrieved the syringe and inserted it into his vein. Quickly, the crimson liquid filled the vial and when she was satisfied, the doctor removed the needle and fluently replaced it with a cotton ball.

"Apply pressure to that," she ordered after removing the tourniquet and Kaiba felt a part of his pride was wounded as he listened to her. His stupid arm was throbbing, too.

With surgical tape, she wrapped his arm and the cotton ball. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Stop talking to me as if I'm a child," he hissed in response. Rolling down his sleeve, Kaiba stood up and waited to see if there was anything else to be done. When the doctor announced that he was due for his next test, he grumbled.

"It's in Room 45 on the first floor. You'd better hurry up," she commented, handing him some papers. "Vroom."

Kaiba froze in place, unable to believe how she had just humiliated him. When he turned around in fury, she was covering her mouth, attempting to smother her giggles. Realizing that it would be pointless to argue with her, or even express his supposed disdain for her, he returned to his previous position and left the room.

Stupid woman.

Funny how he couldn't remember her name.

That night, Seto Kaiba had a dream. He was once again in that dreadful examination room and everything was blindingly white. That witch of a doctor, clad in a tight fitting white dress, had her hands on his neck and for some reason, he wasn't ready to vomit from disgust. Her tender and slim hands rose up the delicate flesh before she leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on his jugular. Her snowflake soft lips barely brushed against him but nonetheless his pulse heightened. He could sense his own hands moving toward her and despite his conscious screaming in protest, his unconscious pulled her against him. In the searing white purity of the room, her lips were rose red, clashing against her opal skin. With his thumb, he traced her jaw line, inwardly wondering why she was so pale.

Those lips called to him. He placed a hand tenderly on the back of her head and another under her chin. Lifting her head to his, their mouths were close to meeting before she spoke, her voice a raspy, high pitched whisper.

"I'm dying, Seto..."

(1)regarding the Egyptian Arc, I'm going by the manga, where Kaiba doesn't actually participate in journeying into the past like in the anime. In fact, I'm convinced that the manga ends with Kaiba remaining skeptical about his previous life as Atemu's priest and advisor.

(2)I know I didn't mention Mai. :D

(a/n: Oh sigh. Boring chapter, I know. I'm looking forward to writing all the wonderful SxS bits just as much as you lovelies are anticipating reading it. But... fillers are required. Feedback, please and thanks! My brain needs it to function properly.)