Tea walked paced around just inside the mall, she came very close to just leaving, but she knew that Ishizu was a woman of her word. She would show up, she was probably just a little late. Tea peered into the crowd of people, trying to find Ishizu's Egyptian style clothes. It couldn't be too hard to spot her, after all her clothes are completely different.
She eventually decided to give it up, maybe she would meet up with her in the mall somewhere. So why wait any longer? She would enjoy herself! She started marching off into the mall with a long list of stores to visit and things to do. Maybe she would go to the arcade, and play a few rounds of Dance Dance Revolution. She was going to have a fun time, whether or not she found Ishizu.
And so she took a step, and turned around with it, and she bumped right into the person who single-handedly ruined her mood completely. She bumped into the CEO of Kaiba Corp., Seto Kaiba.
" Oops, sorry." She began Tea when she saw whom she had bumped into, " Ah, Kaiba!"
Kaiba had the surprise of his life when he saw Tea's smaller body collide with his own; this was the first time he had seen her completely off guard. She didn't seem angry, which is what he always saw her as, and that was nice to see. But of course he had to react unconsciously, in the characteristically coldness of Seto Kaiba.
" Watch where you're going."
" You could do the same Seto." Tea said, using Kaiba's first name as a way to get at him, " Wait, what are you doing in the mall? Shopping for Blue-Eyes underwear?" Tea then added, laughing at her stupid joke.
" Hmph, I have to meet someone here." Kaiba replied, trying not to overreact to Tea's comment about Blue-Eyes underwear, " Why did she say that anyway?" He added in his mind.
" Hey, I'm meeting someone too, who are you meeting?" Tea asked, surprised with the good mood Kaiba was in, " He didn't even comment about my Blue-Eyes underwear, now that's not normal, but nice." She thought.
" It doesn't matter to you, I just want to see this person and get out of here. Why she wanted to meet me in a mall was just asinine."
" 'She'? Who's this she Kaiba? A girlfriend?"
" Of course not!"
" Then who is it? I'm just going to follow you until I find out, or until you tell me. So what'll it be?"
" You do not need to know, so just carry on with your business here."
" I got a free day, I'm gonna follow you."
Kaiba was getting annoyed; she wasn't going to let him be! If he wanted to get rid of her, all he had to do was tell her who it was. It was simple enough, and wasn't all that important that he would conceal that. So why wouldn't he take the obvious route? Something deep down inside Kaiba told him that he wanted to be with her. Whether it was something to do with the gracious amount of sleep he allowed himself the other night, or how Tea had hit him, he didn't know. But he just didn't want to ditch her.
" Do what you want, I'm going to find the person I'm meeting." Kaiba said, finally giving in to Tea and his own unconscious demands, " Why isn't she here yet?" He added, annoyed that the person he was supposed to meet wasn't there yet.
Kaiba walked around the entrance of the mall, looking for the person who had told him to come to the mall. But no matter where he looked, he could not find her. This was enraging, how could she tell him to meet him here, and then not come. He had half a mind to leave right then and there; it was the other half that stopped him though. That half wanted to continue searching despite the obvious fact that she wasn't coming, because that half wanted Tea to stay close to him. He wouldn't find this woman, because she was standing above, looking down on him.
Ishizu looked down on Kaiba and Tea wandering around below her, she wanted to hang around and try to let destiny take its course. She believed Fate when she said that if destiny were suppressed, Tea would be unhappy. She disliked seeing Tea's past self unhappy, and she was certain it would be even worse if it were actually Tea feeling unloved and obligated to a relationship. Destiny had also bound her to this, and she would do anything necessary to keep these events moving along.
Kaiba seemed to not care anymore about the woman that told him to be at the mall, and he just started walking around the exit of the mall. Tea felt like she needed to say something, but what could she say to him? Kaiba was known as one of the least personal men in the whole world, what could she say that would get him to open up to her?
" Maybe she's waiting at the other end of the mall, there's an entrance over there too." Tea eventually said, when it seemed that Kaiba's patience was at its minimal.
" Hm…that's possible." Kaiba said at length, he wasn't used to someone helping him.
They started off for the other end of the mall, Kaiba and Tea standing side by side much like their past selves did five-thousand years ago. Everybody looking at them might have sworn that they were a couple, but there was no love in their eyes. Not yet anyway. Tea might have denied it if asked right then and there if she had feelings for Kaiba, but she would only be lying to herself. Same for Kaiba, he would have denied it faster and more adamantly than Tea, but he couldn't deny that he liked walking with her.
The tension between them grew and grew, until Tea felt that she had to say or do something to relieve the pressure. Standing next to Kaiba was electric; she didn't know what to think, or what to say. She suddenly remembered the time he had saved her life from Marik when he was still evil.
" He looked so dashing when he saved me, and all he did was throw a card and call a helicopter to pull the Dumpster into the ocean!" Tea thought.
Kaiba never felt quite like this in his life. Was it love? No, it couldn't be. Not this girl who would never leave him alone about his views on "friendship", not that annoying girl who associated herself with his greatest rival. He almost felt like growling, but not from frustration at her, but at himself. At himself who was so confused about his own feelings. Life just had to get complicated all of a sudden. Why couldn't it just be all work and business like it had been? He had no idea how much more complicated life was going to get, nor how good was going to get either.
They arrived at the other end of the mall where the other entrance was. Kaiba looked around for three minutes before just saying out loud, " That's it, I'm leaving."
Tea didn't feel like losing Kaiba's presence just yet, but how could she get him to stay? As a matter of fact, since when did she want Kaiba around? In either case she needed to say something that would interest Kaiba enough to stay at the mall. Her answer, Duel Monsters. It was a long shot, but she knew how much Kaiba liked Duel Monsters. Maybe he was like Yugi, and always bought booster packs in hopes of getting secret rare cards.
" Hey Kaiba, there's a card shop here in the mall. I can show it to you, who knows, maybe even you'll find something there you want?"
" I very highly doubt that." Kaiba said, as he already owned every single rare card that was worth anything.
" You might. Heh, maybe you'll find a Dark Magician!" Tea said, trying to get Kaiba to respond in anger.
There was no other sure-fire way to anger Seto Kaiba than to flaunt Yugi's success in his face. She didn't know why, but she loved dealing with Kaiba when he was angry, it gave her a sense of power over the CEO of Kaiba Corp. In that way she would be equal to him.
Instead of getting angry, however, Kaiba smirked, " I'm not interested in any useless cards Tea."
" Did he just say that? Yes he did! He called me by my name!" Tea thought, " What about Kuriboh then? That little fuzz ball is so cute!" She says to Kaiba.
" Cute cards are not me." Kaiba responded.
Ishizu reveled; it was a giant victory for destiny. She had no idea that they would be joking together, and enjoying each other's company so soon. Kaiba had finally dropped his barriers, and let Tea in, and Tea in turn has finally accepted the fact that she liked Kaiba. They both walked back into the mall, talking along the way. But destiny wasn't the only power in this battle over the relationship of Tea and Kaiba. Little did they know that Yugi was in the card shop they were unconsciously heading for. This would be the ultimate test, and one that not even Fate, in her mastery of precognition, could tell who would succeed in.
Author's Note: Uhoh, more cliffhangers! I'm so very sorry for the long update, I make no excuses. Hopefully the next chapter will be quicker than this one.