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% Chapter Four: Mixed Messages %
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.....Just get up and leave. You don't want to kiss Kaiba Seto! Tea was sitting at his bedside, stiff as a statue. They've both have been playing the old "no blinking game" for five minutes now, gazes held and unwavering.
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Look at him. Always smirking at me and my friends. Thinks he's God's gift to women and the World's Best Duelist. Yugi's beaten him a million times, a billion times, and Kaiba still thinks he's superior! That thought gave Tea a bit of courage, made some tension leave her shoulders. She didn't have to kiss him if she didn't want to.
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Still, there's this damn attraction I've always had……..I thought I got rid of it when he pulled all those stunts with us……but it's still there!
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Her fingers inched unknowingly toward his right hand where it lay calmly on the blanket. I'll just do it and get it over with, and satisfy my curiosity, see if the rumors are true. See if he really is a so called god on kissing.
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Probably is…..!Tea's thoughts were whirling around so fast they were incoherent in her mind. Bad, bad, bad thoughts with the good, good, good ones. Before she could change her mind, she quickly bent forward and gave him a small kiss on the lips. Really, just a peck. Less than a second. Less than a nanosecond, but she didn't pull away fast. At first.
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She looked up into deep twin moons snuggled into the azurite irises of his eyes, blushed promptly, then, with effort, started to pull herself upright in a sitting position again. Reluctantly. Mind a blank, except for, what have you done? What have you gotten yourself into!
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"Hm, that was not a kiss," he declared after a little pause. Kaiba wanted something to take his mind of the drab, boring misery of being cooped up in the hospital all day and all night, anxious and stressed about his brother, regret and pain for what happened constantly clawing at him. For that one second, it had all erased from his memory. The room was dark, no one would know. He had a feeling she wouldn't ever tell, besides, he could just deny it, it'd be his word against hers. His hand pushed at the back of her thigh, fingertips brushing the skin, pushing her forward again. "Now I really do have to sue you for harassment," he smiled that sexy smile, before burying his lips in hers.
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Tea let out a muffled "Mmph!" of surprise and outrage, and he twisted his head to one side, deepening it, kissing her thoroughly, aggressively, only backing off slightly to give her air and an order, "Kiss me back, Gardner. Now." His words were husky and slightly breathless, and she felt like she was falling into oblivion, as she did as he commanded, unwillingly. Unbeknownstly.
Such a kiss, starting with a simple, innocent tiny one and then leading to…..this. Every time she'd start to back off, she heard a "Don't go" as though he'd said it aloud.
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"Stay." This time he did say it aloud.
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"I, uh…..don't know..how to..…." It was her first kiss, though it could hardly be called that now. More like a session.
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Kaiba stared down at her rosy lips, slightly swollen from the roughness of their shared kiss. It was a surprise, a pleasant surprise that a tongue so sharp with quick insults could taste so sweet. And, unknowingly to him, she was thinking the same thing. She watched a pulse beat at his neck to in tune with her own heart rate. "You were doing just fine," he said in an admiring way that embarrassed her. Tea gave her tiny smile at his "compliment" and their gazes met again, and faces sobered. Their heads were slowly inching once again together, when:
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"Tea? Is that you?" an elderly woman stood at the doorway, squinting in while wiping her hands with a towel. She wore the head nurse's uniform and white tennis shoes.
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The woman's words were like the crack of a whip; Tea jumped off the bed so high, she nearly hit her head on the ceiling doing so missing by a millimeter. "B-brenda! H-how long….." were you standing there? Omigod, did she see what we were doing?! In contrast, Kaiba simply leaned back into the pillow and adapted his usual stern look again.
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The woman fished out horn rimmed glasses and put them on. "It is you." She spoke casually. "Are you bothering Mr. Kaiba again?" She tutted and shook her head at her young charge. "Don't you know he's one of our main donators to the hospital and our most important patient here?"
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"I-I wasn't…..bothering him….." Tea faltered, confused for a second. Brenda must've not seen anything; she's blind as a bat without her glasses! Phew! Just as Tea's shoulders were sagging in relief, even though she felt slightly guilty for calling the kind old lady a "bat", then:
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"Yes, she was bothering me AS USUAL! I've seen her sneaking around, bothering the other patients as well." Kaiba said, using his smoothly arrogant tone, lacing his fingers together. In the dark, neither of them could see his eye sparkling with amusement. "Now, I'll have to add sexual assault in addition to harassment to my lawsuit if you don't get her of here now." With that, he settled back down and closed his eyes wearily, playing the role of the victim to a "T".
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" 'S-s……sexual assault?!!?!?!?!' " Tea wasn't aware that he was playing her like a fiddle, Brenda had to come quickly and restrain her from jumping on top of him and strangling him to death. "YOU LIE!! Take it back, you----"
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Brenda clamped a bony hand one the enraged girl's mouth to keep the expletives in. "It won't do to add verbal assault too the list, Tea dearie," She dragged her outside the door and locked it, releasing Tea. "Now, I know Mr. Kaiba is really hard to handle, but you must not irritate him any worse." Tea threw death looks at his door behind them, fuming and seething. "I don't want to see you in his room any more, do you understand me?" The words were kind but firm.
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"BUT he was the one who----" Kaiba heard Tea hesitate, and he smirked in the darkness, listening to their conversation with gaiety, as Brenda gave her a good, hard lecture, he pictured her face, deep with shame, pink with anger. Finally, there was footsteps walking away and silence.
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That girl's sure got some mouth on her, all right, he thought as he flung one arm behind his head, feeling more content with the way things had turned out, even more than when forcing small businesses to bankruptcy.And I mean that in all the ways possible…..who knew, indeed!
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Tea felt stinging tears of frustration at Brenda for not believing her, of anger at herself as she stalked downstairs, her scowls sending people veering. At the first floor there was a small arcade, she would dance away all her troubles.
Stupid….boorish………BOY! Her steps slapped the floor hard, as if to stomp all her mixed feeling out of her head.And it's all my fault…..for liking the kiss…..me and my stupid hormones…..I hate being a teenager. I can't wait until I grow up and am NOT one!
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Sweating, panting, she felt a bit better as the computerized crowd cheered her on. Just thinking of the kiss made her want to melt into a puddle, but she threw up her chin haughtily, gathering her things for the day. Well, I just won't visit him anymore! And I won't think of what happened today. Ever again. I won't think of how soft his lips were, on such a rough personality, too……Her hand shook slightly as it held her key to her car. A-and….I won't think o-of the tender way he looked at me, just like I'd always dreamt……Tea's throat went dry as she drove home. Or how smooth his body is.....arrgh! I'm thinking about it again!!
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And boys think about this 24/7? No wonder they've got bad attitudes……it would drive anyone crazy! Being constantly propelled on hormones…..lusting all day……. Tea stopped in front of her driveway and got out. A deep, thoughtful expression overtook her pretty face as she walked to the front door. Except for Seto, that is…….I mean, 'Kaiba!'
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With a barely stifled groan, she entered her front door. Her parents greeted her cheerfully, at first, then they got a good look at her face. "Uh oh. What's wrong, honey?"
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"N-nothing." Self concious, Tea ran a hand through her deep brown hair to comb out the tangles. Her lips were still swollen, but there was nothing she could do about that.
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"Uh oh. Boy troubles," Mr. Gardner whispered to his wife, who smiled and patted the chair. "Come sit and eat your dinner, dear."'
"So, who's the boy?" Mrs. Gardner eyed her daughter's nervous appearance. "Do you want to talk about it, dear?"
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"No." Tea bit into a chicken drumstick. It tasted like sandpaper. "I mean, it's not a boy," she lied. Her parents exchanged glances, with big grins. I hate it when they exchange glances like that! Think they know everything, but they don't! How can they when even I can't figure it out? Grr, grr, grr.....
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She was happy when they finally let it rest and flipped on the small TV set in the dining room. A smiling blond woman with frizzy hair and too much makeup said, "In today's news, Kaiba Corporation is in dismal danger of closing....."
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Tea scowled downwards, so her parents wouldn't see. Geez, is he EVERYWHERE?! Isn't it enough he had to kiss me like that, branding my brain with it, does he have to be in my home, too?! She was so busy wallowing in self pity and spite that it was a while before she noticed her parents were silent, not eating, in deep shock. Idly, Tea glanced at the TV set.
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"As you can see, strikes from various Kaiba Corp employers were rallied up in the streets today." The anchorwoman walked along a busy street while talking. "Origin of the strike is still unknown, and with no workers....." The woman took a deep breath, "Investors in KaibaCorp. stocks have cashed out and withdrawn. This is Stacy McNeillson, Domino News."
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Mr. Gardner flipped the off switch. He sighed, rubbing the few remaining hairs on his bald head, "You see, Sally, I always knew that young man was too young to control one of the biggest companies in Domino. He's still a teenager, and all."
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"He is? Tea, doesn't he go to your high school?" Mrs. Gardner touched her daughter's arm, and Tea jumped.
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"I-I, yes Mom, he does," Tea said in answer to her Mom's question, getting up and clearing the plates. "I have a lot of homework, so goodnight, Mom and Dad," she mumbled absently, as they murmured good night back. Tea hurried back upstairs, finishing her homework with an automated hand. But she was thinking, I wonder if Kaiba knows about this?
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Nearly midnight, Tea finished her schoolwork, and tiredly crawled into her bed. You should tell him, in case he doesn't know, that his company's failing, her conscience bugged her. But I'd hate to be the bearer of THAT news! He'd bite my head off, chew it, and spit it out! Just thinking of him "biting" and "chewing" made her think of his mouth, which made her think of their passionate kiss, for the hundreth millionth time since it happened, which was only that afternoon by the way, though it felt like eons ago. Eons and still fresh in her memory.
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No. What happened wasn't my fault, and....it wasn't his fault, she admitted to herself grudgingly. It was both our faults. And WHY am I STILL obsessing about it at one in the morning?!
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With a determined grunt, Tea rolled around and closed her eyes. Get out of my head get out of my head get out of my head....
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She was finally drifting off with the ringtone of her cell phone sounded. Dammit, just when I was about to get some sleep......I'm going to yell my head off at whoever it is.....she fumbled blindly for it, groping for it in the dark.
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I should tell him. Tommorrow, at the hospital. Then run like hell to escape when he blows up.
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"Hel-lo?" Tea tried clearing her throat to erase the sleep from it. I don't want to see him again, but....my conscience'll eat me alive if I don't.......must be nice not to have one......I should ask him how he got rid of his....! She chuckled, softly, at her own joke.
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"Gardner." An reluctant but urgent voice said finally, after a long pause. "I need your .....help." Tea felt a chill go down her back as she heard how desperate Kaiba sounded. Obviously, he saved me the trouble of telling, but whatever it is, I'm going to say no to it! She took a deep breath to answer.
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"What can I do for you?" she said cordially, crossing her legs while wincing at her weak-kneed self.
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To Be Continued.....
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A/n: Thanks for reading, and as always, Review for some more! Mr. Smiley Face says so. :-)
