ONE CARD SHORT:
CHAPTER THREE - THE REASON YOU DIDN'T GO
"You shouldn't hit your head on thick, metal tables."
Written by Gregory Smith
All characters portrayed within are copyright 1996 Kazuki Takahashi,
With the exception of Gradius, who is copyright 2003 Gregory Smith.
Across town, Seto Kaiba sat by a window in the towering Kaiba Corporation office building. He'd called himself in sick to school that particularly rainy day, and yet he didn't know exactly why. Something just told him it was a bad day; something in his overdeveloped teenage mind had said that he shouldn't go to school and should instead go to his 45th-story office at Kaiba Corp. "This is stupid," he muttered to himself, watching the dismal gray Domino City skyline being riddled with silver lightning bolts, "What's wrong with me today? I'm not sick or anything like that… What am I thinking? Skipping school… Stupid, Seto."
The videophone on his desk rang. With each ring, Kaiba's heart beat faster and faster; it may have been the school principal, just calling to check if Kaiba was really sick. Should I answer it, he pondered, wondering what the punishment for skipping school would be like, I mean, can I really take that chance? After about the twentieth ring, and against his better judgment, he answered the videophone, "Kaiba here."
The image of one of his employees popped up onto the screen. "Kaiba-san," the employee began, pushing up on his sunglasses, "there's someone here to see you. They… they say that they're the reason you aren't at school today."
Kaiba blinked, as perplexed as the employee delivering the message was. "Err… send them up," he commanded unevenly, hanging up the videophone, "…'The reason I'm not at school'?" Kaiba sat down at his desk, resting his head in his hands, propping himself up on his elbows. Now he was more confused than he'd been this morning! Pushing his palms along his forehead and across his scalp, he ruffled his auburn hair in frustration; then, in the instant his hands weren't supporting his skull anymore, his forehead unexpectedly clanked against his metal desk. This, of course, received a negative response from Kaiba, who hadn't planned on cracking his braincase at any point in the day. "Ow! God dammit!" Heatedly, he sat back in his chair, rubbing the red spot on his brow where a small protuberance was forming.
"That was pretty silly of you, Kaiba-san," a tomboyish voice projected from the office's door, "You shouldn't hit your head on thick, metal tables."
Kaiba was, once again, perplexed. "Who the hell?" Kaiba muttered, looking across the office to the large door, which had somehow been opened without him hearing it. That stupid thing usually squeaks when it opens, he thought sorely, locking eyes with his scarlet-haired visitor. Something wasn't right about this person; for one thing, Kaiba was positive it was a female, but the voice could have suited either a female or a male. The clothes it was wearing didn't help, since the visitor was wearing a pair of torn blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and a black jacket. He decided he'd venture a question aimed towards gaining her (or maybe it was his) name. "And you are?"
The guest smiled, their emerald green eyes burning into the cobalt blue of Kaiba's. "I'm the reason you're not at school today!" they giggled, putting their arms behind their back. It was with that one, single giggle that Kaiba perceived his guest as a young woman from that point onwards.
"OK," Kaiba laughed quietly, folding his hands on his desk and leaning forward intently in his chair, "You've got me interested. Why are you the reason I didn't go to school today?"
"It'll take a little while to explain," she answered, pushing the door shut behind her and taking a seat on the chair parallel to Kaiba, "but you've got nothing but time today, don't you, Kaiba-san?"
