When Worlds Collide
Note: Hee hee… I just won 2nd place in a writing competition! Oh, sorry… just kind of excited; it's only 2nd, after all… Well, here's chapter 11. Sorry for the wait, it's a long story, what with the grounding and the writer's block and such. Hope you like it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh, Taco Bell or the Spiderman comics (property of Marvel last I heard.) Just enjoy the story, okay?
Chapter Eleven: Of Kaiba, Tristan and Duke
I sighed as we neared Joey's house, and the weight of everything that was going on hit me full in the face. I'd nearly been sent to the Shadow Realm, and I'd been worried about Joey and Kaiba. What was wrong with me? Was I… no. I refused to believe that such a thing would ever happen to boring old me.
"Hey, Serenity, I'm home," Joey called, opening the door. We heard scrambling and I felt that something was wrong.
"And that's how you win a duel, Serenity," a male voice said.
"What? Tristan, if you laid one hand on my sister I'll-"
"Relax, Joey, I was just teaching her how to duel. You are seriously paranoid, dude. You need help."
"Get… out… now."
"But Joey-"
"I don't wanna hear it, Serenity. I just want-"
"Everyone chill! I am tired of this argument and I have a headache. Joey, you can't always protect your sister; she has to live and make mistakes just like you do. And-"
"But-"
"DO NOT INTERUPT ME, JOEY!"
He swallowed and stepped back to avoid the rage of a confused girl who spent too much time alone.
"Serenity, you should try to communicate with Joey, hard as it may be, and finally, Tristan, don't make out with Joey's sister on your first date. It's just low."
Tristan muttered something under his breath and I was holding his collar in a flash.
"You wanna try saying that to my face, bub?" I paused to enter a mood swing and crack up laughing because I sounded like Wolverine. "Go ahead, tough guy, say it so we can hear."
"I heard him fine," Joey said with a smirk. "He said-"
"Joey, I'm warning you-"
"That you wouldn't know when it's low to kiss a girl 'cause you never been kissed before."
I turned a shade of red that I am positive no one had ever seen before that say and released Tristan's collar. It was an insulting enough lie, but all the worse when it was true.
"If you EVER, ever, mention that again, Tristan, I will not hesitate to hit you very, very hard. My love life, or the lack thereof, is none of your business. Now, get out of Joey's house."
"You can't order me out of his house, it's not yours."
"Tristan, get outta here before I have ta make you!"
"All right, all right, I'm leaving. Sheesh, you people have serious issues."
I glanced at Joey with a spark of humor in my eyes. "Shall we kill him yet?"
"Nah, he ain't worth the jail time."
Tristan was halfway out of the door at this point and looked thoroughly insulted. I glared at him, just daring him to make any move back into the house. He left.
"Eh… I'm sorry dat he said dat about you, Lily. He's just mad 'cause he likes my sistuh."
I blushed slightly from the sound of his voice, but only nodded. It wasn't really fair to take insult to a statement such as that one anyhow. After all, I hadn't ever been kissed, and therefore would not know. But it still stung… no matter what the truth behind it was.
"I have to go… Where's Steph?"
Steph was staring out the window and looking very thoughtful. I knew what was on her mind; the mystery of me, Kaiba, and my book. I shook my head and poked her in the back.
"Let's go. Just being here kinda gives me the creeps, you know?"
"Not really, but let's go anyhow. I have a mystery to solve."
"Will you just let it go? Nothing happened, and there is no mystery."
"Hmm…"
It was at times like that when I regretted the fact that she knew me so well. She read me like an open book most of the time, which was bad news for both Kaiba and I. She wouldn't understand that there wasn't any type of relationship between us. But there wasn't… was there?
I walked out of the door and was, as usual, paying no attention to where I was going. This time, however, such an action bore consequences. I ran smack dab into someone, knocking them over and falling on top of them.
"Ow… what's the big idea?"
"Oops, sorry," I muttered, standing up and feeling amazed that someone had survived the ordeal of having my full weight atop them. I looked down and offered my hand to the fallen Duke Devlin.
"Hi, I'm Lily. Sorry for the fall… I was paying no attention to where I was going."
He nodded and looked at Steph with interest. I sighed and rolled my eyes, secretly glad that things were going back to normal. The guys had always noticed her.
"And that's Steph," I whispered, knowing that my name had fallen out of his mind. He was practically drooling, and Steph was too busy staring down the street to care, because down the street, Seto Kaiba and his brother were walking.
"Hi," Duke said, offering his hand to Steph. "I'm Duke Devlin, the creator of-"
"Dungeon Dice Monsters," Steph finished, staring longingly at Kaiba. "I know, and I don't really care."
Duke looked not the least put off by this.
Oh dear, I thought, he likes challenges. Steph is doomed.
"Oh, Lily, he's coming this way… Quick, do I look scary?"
I rolled my eyes, smiling at Duke in an offhand way, trying to chase him off for her. It didn't work.
"No… erm, yes? What is the appropriate answer to that question?"
"You look incredibly scary," Duke said. I sighed and rolled my eyes yet again. How pathetically persistent. And to think I had admired him…
"Oh, Seto, can we go in this one, please?" Mokuba begged his brother as he saw the nearby comic book store. They were now, obviously, within earshot. Kaiba hadn't seen me yet, and I made an attempt to escape, but it was blundered by Mokuba.
"Hey, Seto, aren't those the girls form the library?"
Kaiba glanced at Steph and nodded, and then his eyes fell upon me standing next to Duke. I shrugged and pointy at Steph, hoping that explained his being there.
"Yes. And this is the last store, Mokuba; I'm late for a meeting."
"Don't just ignore me like that, Kaiba," Steph proclaimed in false rage. I tried to disappear, but it was no use. I was trapped in this conversation.
"What would you have me say? I don't have anything to talk about with the likes of you."
"Steph… let's just go. I'm getting a bit tired and-"
"Don't think you're off the hook either, Lily. I want some answers out of you two and I want them now."
I looked pleadingly at Kaiba, who just shrugged. This may have been a slight mistake, as Steph was quick to pick up on it.
"See? You're exchanging looks. And you just shrugged at her, Kaiba. What's going on?"
I fought off the urge to say 'We're having a relationship, dumbo', just to see the look on her face and tried to look innocent.
"I have no idea what's gotten into you, Steph… What on earth could possibly be going on between me and Seto Kaiba? Have you forgotten who I am? Who he is? People like me don't get lucky enough to receive a second glance from people in his position." I pleaded with my eyes that he not take it personally before going on. "You should know me better, Steph."
And then it hit me how much we had both changed. Here I was, keeping a secret from her, and there she was, actually seeming jealous of me. It was almost too much to handle.
"Hurry up in there, Mokuba," Kaiba called into the shop behind him.
NO, I thought at him, you're not leaving me to deal with her again. What should I say? Will the truth ever work in this situation? What is the truth?
"You really need to see someone about your paranoia problem. As if I would really have anything to do with her."
I felt, despite the charade that had to be put on, hurt. He looked so sure about the insult. I swallowed and fought back tears. Steph noticed this and, instead of being angry as she should have been, she just shrugged.
"I don't know what you two are hiding, but I plan to find out. I'm leaving now, Lily, and I don't care whether or not you follow."
The double blow was a bit too much and I felt a tear slide down my cheek. No… he couldn't see me cry. I choked back the rest of the tears and was silent.
"I… I hope you weren't… upset by… what I said. I didn't mean it I… I just panicked. I don't want your friend to hate you… because of… me."
"Who, Steph? Oh, she gets like that at the rare times when I get more attention than she does," I said, jabbing my thumb at Duke, who was following her. "This is only the second time it's happened."
"…Why is that… do you think?"
"I think… that Steph is… more… outgoing… more, special, than I am. She's like, wow, while I'm more of a who's that. Nobody can ever keep my name in their head for more than a little while."
"That isn't true," he said very quietly. He was still so unsure of this kinder side of him that he felt the need to whisper. "I remember your name… and Wheeler remembers well enough, especially for him."
I just looked away, into the comic shop. "Your little brother… he means a lot to you, doesn't he. More than anything else in the world?"
"I do care about Mokuba a lot, but he is on the same level as a few other things. It's… hard, I guess. Some of this is so… new."
I shook my head in disbelief. Why was I spending such a romantic, slightly cold, night with Seto Kaiba, instead of Joey? "I think… you'd have a whole lot of girls chasing after you… if you'd just show this side of yourself more often. Then maybe… maybe you could be happy. You've got money, and a job, and Mokuba, so I guess all that's left is love."
He was silent, staring off into space. I wanted to know so badly what he was thinking, but knew not to pry. The silent type deserve to have their silence.
"You think that there is such a thing as true love?" He asked at last, not looking at me.
"Sometimes I don't, but then, watching the people who have such a thing to call their own, it gets hard not to. I do believe, but not for myself. For others, though, it can happen."
"Why… not yourself? What… what makes your case different?"
"Have you even looked at me, Kaiba? I'm not pretty enough to draw anyone's attention, and the few that may notice me, I chase them away with how awkward I am. Every time that I imagine love, I myself am not a part of the picture. Isn't that kind of weird?"
"No. When I think about love… I don't even know what to think of. Well, I'd tell people it's all fake, but that doesn't mean it's what I really think."
"It must be one of those things that you have to see… or feel… to believe in."
Suddenly, I felt cold; colder than I'd felt even on those nights alone thinking about my loneliness. How could someone be so nearby, while still seeming so far away?
Kaiba's POV:
I knew that this was my chance. If I was going to ask her, it had to be now. But what if she said no? Here's goes nothing, I guess. Oh, this is silly, just ask it.
"Lily?"
She turned her sparkling green eyes upon me, adding to my nervousness. "Hmm?"
She was going to say no. I knew she was. "I… I have some… free time tomorrow night, and I was wondering if you'd like to… go to dinner or something."
Her eyes grew wide with shock and I felt very stupid. She liked Wheeler, not me. She was going to say no. I prepared myself to wave it away as if it didn't matter to me.
"Like… a date?" She asked, eyes still like saucers.
"If you want to use that formality, than yes," I said in my most uncaring, friendly but not over the top voice. I sounded like a struggling three year old who was trying to keep a secret. I knew that she was going to say no. She hated me.
"Alright. What time?"
I opened my mouth and then shut it. Alright? She hadn't said no. What time? "I don't know, what time would you want?" Stupid response. So juvenile.
"Oh, well, Steph is going to be… not happy. I would hope to hide it from her, but that would mean it would be really, really late at night."
Was she so ashamed that she couldn't let her friend know that she was going on a date with me? "I don't care. How about ten?"
She blinked at me for a moment, and I didn't know what to think. I'd never asked a girl much of anything, except to move, but that was generally an order.
"That'll be fine. Is it… going to be a fancy restaurant or…"
"We could go to a fancy place if you wanted, or we can go to Taco Bell or whatever."
I had taken Mokuba to Taco Bell a lot, since it was his favorite restaurant, so it was the first thing to come to mind. But I was Seto Kaiba, and that hardly seemed an appropriate place to take a girl on a date when you had millions. Did I sound cheap?
She laughed. Well, it was really more of a giggle, if you wanted to be specific, but that had to be a good thing, right? Unless she was laughing at me. That wasn't good.
"What is so funny?"
She laughed again and pointed at me. "Your face… you look so tense. So… business like. I'm not a lawyer, so come on and smile, okay?"
Smile? It had been so long since I'd smiled. I just looked at her blankly and changed the subject.
"Why don't you surprise me, okay?" she said, growing silent and staring at the stars. I wondered what she was thinking, but I didn't dare ask. It was probably how much of a mistake she was making in hanging around me.
"Mokuba's coming," she said suddenly.
"What?" I asked, slightly confused at the abrupt change if subject.
"Seto, look what I bought!" Mokuba said, holding out a bag of Spiderman comics. He always got so excited over little things like that.
"Good. Are you ready to go?"
He looked from me to Lily with interest and then grinned. "I'm ready, Seto, but are you?"
I just shrugged my shoulders. "Well, I guess we're going then. I'll call Roland; he can give you a ride, too, Lily. It's getting dark."
Mokuba arched his eyebrows and Lily just smiled nervously. "Thank you, Kaiba."
Oh how I wished she would use my first name, but of course I couldn't suggest it. No one except Mokuba called me Seto. It seemed to have far too much significance.
Lily's POV:
Oh my gosh, I was sitting in a limo. And not just any limo, either. It was Seto Kaiba's limo, which currently happened to include the CEO himself as well. He and Mokuba were both staring expectantly at me, making me very nervous.
"Um… does this thing, like, have a radio or anything?" I asked nervously.
"No. I never felt the need for one." Kaiba said.
In my mind, I was beginning to refer to him as Seto, but I was afraid to use the name aloud. What if he found it an insult to his authority or something?
"Wow, Seto, it seems like there are a lot of stars out tonight. Look." Mokuba said to his brother, seeming to pretend that I wasn't there.
"Hmm," He mumbled, glancing out the window.
I took a look for myself and saw that the sky was indeed freckled with a large amount of stars. It was beautiful, but it reminded me of sadder times. Sitting alone and staring out my window, for instance, or running into the night trying to escape my own thoughts.
"Lily?"
"Hmm?"
"Isn't this the hotel?"
"Oh, yeah, sorry." I fumbled with the door until Kaiba pulled it open for me. Stepping out, I glanced back and waved. "Bye Mokuba, Bye Seto."
Realizing my mistake, I looked at Kaiba to see his reaction. He didn't appear to have noticed, but I knew better. Maybe he didn't want to make a scene right now. As soon as the limo was out of sight, I sat down in the grass to think things over. I had an actual date. An actual, real date, with Seto Kaiba. What a strange circumstance for my first. Did it count even though this universe was different from my own?
End note: The pending date with Seto Kaiba… how is that going to be, I wonder. And what of the use of his first name? Stay tuned to find out, and review for me, 'kay?
