Chapter 8

I won't get into what happened between Set and I. It's not very important. I was walking down the hallway. I had my mind set on something right now. I stopped in front of a door. I opened it noiselessly and shut it behind me. I strolled over to the side of the bed.

There lay Keke, twisting and turning in her sleep. She looked okay, except for the moisture streaking her cheeks. It was coming from her eyes. I sat next to her side and I took my chance at touching her.

"Keke?" I said slowly, stroking her arm.

Her head fell to my left. "No…" She murmured softly. "You can't…"

I watched carefully, ready for anything. Who's she talking about?

Her head jerked to my right. "Leave him alone… What did he ever do to you?"

Is she talking about me? I held her wrists in my hands.

"No! Malik, no!" Keke shouted in her sleep before tears ran down her cheeks.

I shook her gently. "Keke? Wake up! You're dreaming!"

Her eyes shot open after struggling against my grip for a minute. "Seto? Oh, Seto!" She sat up and immediately hooked onto my arm, crying soundlessly.

I rubbed her back. "It's okay. I'm here." I sat with her for a while.

She pulled back slightly, rubbing her eyes.

"Can you tell me what happened?" I inquired.

She shook her head. "Sorry. I don't want you to get mad."

"Tell me later, then. You're okay, right?" I rested my hands on my legs.

She adjusted and nodded. "It just scared me a bit."

"Do you want me to stay in here?" I asked, leaning forward.

She moved to one side of the bed and patted a spot next to her. "There's room. But you'll have to find yourself a pillow."

"I don't need a pillow." I declared, climbing under the covers next to her.

I wove my arms around her waist, pulling her close to me. She kissed my jaw briefly, sighing happily.

"I know this is a bad time to ask this but how come you care about Mokuba and me, but you hate Yugi and Joey?" Keke asked.

"Hate is too strong of a word. I dislike Joey because he insults my intelligence," I responded, "but I don't necessarily dislike Yugi."

"Oh, I just thought you hated them. Because of the way you act towards them." She stated.

I pressed my face into her black hair and fell asleep.

Who honestly knows how much later I awoke, but it was morning. The first thing that occurred to me was that that stupid ache in my chest was there. I hugged the pillow to it, trying to make it feel better. If I was hugging the pillow, then where was Keke? I sat up. I was the only person in the bed. I got up and went to my room. Set was asleep on the edge of my bed.

"Set! Wake up!" I shouted, pushing on him.

He awoke slowly. "Next time tell me when you're not coming back." Set said.

"Sorry. I didn't know you were expecting me to come back. Have you seen Keke?" I asked in a worried tone.

"Not since she went to bed last night." He yawned, leaning up.

"She knows how much I worry when I don't know where she is! She could've at least left a note!" I complained.

Set stood. "Did you happen to look for a note?"

"No." I admitted.

"Why don't you go look?" He suggested.

I sighed and walked back to her room. The covers were messed up, probably from me, and the pillow was on the floor.

I picked it up and placed it on the bed. My eyes scanned the room for anything she could've left me. And I found… absolutely nothing. There wasn't a piece of paper in sight, not even a sticky note.

I slumped back to my room, sitting on the bed. "What did I do?" I asked no one in particular.

"You didn't do anything." A hand ran through my brown hair.

I turned my head and saw Set. He was playing with the strands of my hair. "She doesn't have to be around you 24/7."

"I know. It's just not like her to run off without telling me." I acknowledged.

"She might've just needed some fresh air." The priest guessed.

I stood, going over to my dresser. I took out my black turtleneck and the metal cuffs. I pulled the turtleneck on.

"What do you think you're doing?" Set inquired, standing up.

I snapped the cuffs on my wrists. "I'm going somewhere. Don't even try to stop me." I grabbed my belt off the floor and black boots.

Once I was done putting those on, I picked up my necklace from the nightstand, tossing the loop over my head.

Set nudged me, holding out my long, white coat. "If I can't stop you, I might as well help you."

"Thanks." I praised, taking it from him and pulling it on.

I went to my dresser and pulled it open. Gently, I took out my deck. Placing it in my coat pocket, I turned and walked out.

I spotted my duel disk on a stand near the front door. I slipped it on my left arm and fastened it. I ambled out the front door, making my way to Domino City. (Battle City if you want me to call it that)

If Malik got her, I Am So Going To Kick His Ass! SO BEWARE OF A VERY PISSED SETO KAIBA, YOU BASTARD! That's my mood if I run into him. If it's Wheeler, I'll just piss him off. No major mood swing there. And anyway, no one wants to be around him. Yugi wouldn't have her, he already has a lover. He might just be talking to her, though. Yugi would never cheat on Set, ever. Those two are too devoted to each other.

I walked past the café. Maybe she's in there? I reverted my gaze back and forth, looking for her. Nope. I continued my walk. I didn't find anything for about forty-five minutes of strolling when I heard people talking.

I looked and saw Joey, Keke and Yugi. Wheeler was soaked with water, Keke was laughing and Yugi was just… standing there. I watched them for a few minutes. The expression changed on Keke's face when Wheeler said something and it seemed like she started to argue with him. Joey asked her something and she hit him. Good. Right in the eye, too. Yugi broke it up soon after. I took my time to walk over there.

"Good job." I complimented, standing next to Keke.

"I only did it because he was insulting you." She explained.

"No, I meant that seriously. Not sarcastically." I replied.

"Really?" She stared at me.

"Yes."

"And Joey learned his lesson. Right?" Yami asked, looking over at the soaked puppy.

"Yes, never underestimate anyone; including girls. You hit just as hard as Kaiba, Keke!" Joey praised, rubbing his black eye.

"So, Wheeler? Did the rare hunters chain you to an anchor and throw you into the river? Or did you just fall in while you were looking at something down there?" I inquired offensively.

"Kaiba, shut up! I'm not answering that!" Wheeler retorted angrily.

"Joey claims that the rare hunters pushed him in." Yugi answered my question.

"Yugi!" The blond dog shouted.

"Can I speak with you privately?" I asked, turning to Keke.

"Un, sure." She hesitated.

"You think you can just kick us out?" Joey questioned irately.

"Come on, Joey. They want to be alone." Yami hooked arms with Wheeler and led him away.

I spotted a bench and sat on it. Keke did the same. She turned and looked at me until I said something.

Ask, Seto, I told myself. "Why did you just leave me like that?" Okay, not the question I had in mind but all right.

"I didn't leave you. I just needed some alone time." She responded honestly.

"You didn't tell me."

"You didn't see the note on the door, did you?"

"Damn. I new I should've read the piece of paper I noticed right before leaving!" I smacked myself mentally.

"Your determination to find me forced you to ignore it." She rephrased.

I held my hand out. "You could put it that way."

She gently laced her fingers with mine and smiled. I pulled her to me, smirking. Wrapping my other arm around her, never unlacing our hands, I leaned down. I did it slow, to tease her a little bit. And well, I didn't have to lean very far down on account that we're almost the same height when we're sitting.

I claimed her in a warm, possessive kiss. No! Add the word dominant in there! In a warm, dominant, possessive kiss. There, that's better. I had to go a little further. My tongue ran over her lips, hoping she would get the idea. I didn't get any movement from her, just this fearful look in her eyes. I attempted to read her eyes the best I could. Something about me taking advantage of her? I'm not going to do that; I won't do it. She opened her mouth a hair, which surprised me slightly. I couldn't tell if she was leaning back or I was pushing her forward.

I slid in tenderly, caressing her tongue with mine. I worked thoroughly, exploring as much as I could. We fell into a lying position, with me on top, might I add. Her hand pushed the back of my head, deepening it. I pulled away from her mouth after a minute and went to her neck, kissing her jaw. Wrapping my arms around her, I pulled us up. Her chin fell onto my shoulder as I held her.

"Were you trying to prove something?" Keke asked.

"No, I can ask you something now." I replied.

She pulled off of my arm, staring at my eyes. "Ask me what?"

"Are we dating?" I finally asked the question!

"That's a stupid question, Seto. You kissed me, then you gave me a full kiss, and now you're asking me this?" She blinked.

"Is that a yes?" I inquired.

"I think so." She rested her chin back on my shoulder.

"This is nice." I said a few minutes later.

"Yeah. I'm ready." She changed the subject.

"For what?" I looked at her questionably.

"To tell you about last night, silly!" Keke touched the side of my face, then kissed it.

I smiled. "Well, are you going to tell me or what?"

She adjusted in my lap, so her back was against my chest. My hands went into her lap.

"It was a terrible dream. I was walking on the side of a street and you were riding in your limousine on the other side."

"And?"

"Malik came riding down the street and jumped his motorcycle on to the vehicle you were in."

"What happened then?"

"Seto, stop interrupting."

"Okay."

"He crushed it totally, and he rode away laughing."

"Of course."

"I ran over and pulled you out, the driver was dead, and you were bleeding on your forehead."

I tightened my arms.

"I held you and you said something to me, then you just… died in my arms." Explained Keke, tears streaking her eyes.

"I'm right here." I continued to hold her in my protective embrace. "I'm not dead in reality. And that's what counts." I declared, softly wiping the tears away.

"It just scared me to death. It's like someone wants us to hate each other." She guessed, gazing down at our entwined arms.

"That's impossible. I love you." I claimed.

She leaned back far enough into me to see my face. "You can say that with a straight face?"

"Hey! What are you supposed to say back?" I almost laughed.

"I love you too, Seto."

"Thank you."

She moved off of me, leaving one of my arms wrapped around her side. I stood, holding out my arm. She took my hand and got up, then wrapped her arm around mine, lacing our fingers. We walked back home.