Challenge
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh
Sorry for the late update, I decided tostudy forFinals first, chappie update second. I only finished on the 26th but my internet's been whacky so now that that's over with. Yay I'm officially free and I bring gifts! Your the long-awaited ch.3. Honestly I'm really starting to get stuck with titles and plot idea, not sure if it's laziness taking over my brain…I think it's become allergic to imagination. Maybe I'm not over that huge writer's block thing yet … Well at least this chapter came out nice and long. Enjoy
Chapter 3: Embracing the light
И И И
Darkness, you would think after so many years I would be used to it. I remember when I was young, I used to be scared of the dark. Other kids told me tales of how their parents brought them night lights or left the hallway light on, my father had a different method. I still remember the first time I had decided to approach my father, I was six that year.
Flashback:
"Daddy?"
"What do you want now you little runt? I thought I told you to go to bed, didn't I tell you I was sick of looking at you?" he shouted
"Daddy, I'm afraid of the dark could I have a light?"
"What the hell!" he bellowed, "Do you know how much you cost me already? Why would I possibly add more to the electricity bill by leaving a light on all night? You stupid idiot leave before I lose my temper with you."
I ran as fast as my legs could take me. I knew that he could make his threat a reality in simple seconds. I had been spared this time, but I knew if I continued to anger him, I would not be so lucky the next time.
И И И
But I was no longer six, I was a sixteen year old girl that had just fallen unconscious on the roof of the school. I opened my eyes, well at least I wasn't on the roof anymore that's for sure, now I just needed to find out where in the hell was I. I got up only to find myself in a very comfortable bed with silk sheets and very fluffy pillows. Well this sure wasn't Kansas anymore. Suddenly it occurred to me that I was no longer wearing my school uniform and instead I was wearing a very long white silk shirt. Oh my lord, who changed me!
"Hi"
I nearly jumped out of my skin. I turned around to see a kid with long spiky black hair looking at me with the biggest puppy dog eyes I ever did see. "Um…Hi. Who are you? And where am I? Please tell me you're not the one that changed me." I said
"My name's Mokuba. You're at my house. Changed you? Oh you mean your outfit. No, big brother ordered the maid to do it."
Well that answers a question and a half. "So what's your name?" Mokuba asked
"My name's Abby Raiden, just call me Abby though. So how did I get here Mokuba?"
"My brother Seto brought you home." The kid was cute, but his simple answers were starting to bug me.
"Seto Kaiba?" I asked as realization hit me and Mokuba nodded vigorously. Well at least he didn't leave me on the roof. Maybe he does have some decency. An awkward silence seems to settle in the room as I was deeply submerged in thought. That is until Mokuba decided to break it with a question of his own.
"So…" he started, "Are you my Seto's girlfriend? You know since he never brings anyone home."
I'm pretty sure my eyes widened. If I were to exaggerate I would say they would be the size of a flying saucer. Then again I'm not the type, so I just sat there, mouth open staring at the kid. To avoid scaring the kid I was planning to say 'excuse me' as if I had heard wrong, but being me that's not what came out of my mouth. "What! Hell no!"
Mokuba blushed a red before mumbling a silent apology. I felt terrible that I had scared the kid, after all he had been nothing but polite since I woke up. "Eh..I mean..um..no..I'm sorry that came out all wrong" god I was horrible with my social interactions.
I jumped out of the bed wanting to comfort him. However as soon as I landed on my feet, it didn't feel like I was standing on the floor. It felt like I was floating and the room started to spin around. I could feel my stomach reaching my throat. Only one thing came to mind, "Oh crap"
I could feel the darkness as it once again enveloped me into its embrace. I no longer fear the dark, only the memory that comes with it. As I closed my eyes, the memory has returned to haunt me once again.
"Daddy?"
И И И
I felt someone poke me as my consciousness returned releasing me from the repeating horror of my childhood. I winced as the light hit my eyes. I strained against the silhouette of the person who had awakened me. The last thing I remembered was talking to a kid called Mokuba, but Mokuba wasn't this tall. "Who are you?" my mind still groggy from my recent rude awakening.
"I've helped you twice within 24 hours and you don't know who I am? That's awfully grateful of you Raiden."
Only one person could annoy me with just one sentence. I sighed loudly, "Bite me Kaiba."
"Don't push my patience Raiden. I just might. You hungry?"
"Why would you care?" I retorted, oddly enough I felt a bit guilty at that statement. I mean obviously the guy had some heart if he had brought me here to rest.
"The doctor said you passed out from exhaustion and that you need to stay on a specific diet until you are well again. Don't your parents or like your mom prepare you healthy foods?"
"My mom died when I was three."
An awkward silence swept the room once again, "What about your dad?"
My dad, for once in my life I really didn't know what to say. In my youth I always had well prepared answers for everything anyone could ever ask me. I never liked to be caught unaware. Surprises never were something I enjoyed because for me they usually ended in a sound beating. I searched my brain for an answer to this one but nothing came to mind. "My dad…he…" I started, but I really didn't know what to say. "He doesn't cook." Well that worked, it was the truth all the guy did was drink beer and hit me. At least that was how I saw him most of the time.
"So you cook? Can't be too healthy what you're making, the way the doctor described your health. What do you usually make?"
There it was again. Kaiba's nice caring side. Why was he so odd? Every time we spoke, he would start off as his usual bastard self then mid-way he would suddenly become…a human being. He would go from asshole to someone you could actually like. What did I usually eat? I have no idea, I guess most of the time I would just skip meals. My dad didn't like to take extra work to raise me. Since I was 10 he would just leave an envelope on the table with about five hundred dollars every month. There was always a note, no a reminder, "That's all you're getting runt. Budget it well because you aren't getting anymore. Be grateful you brat." Sometimes if business wasn't well it was even less.
It was also then I had decided if I wanted to get out of here one day I would need to budget well. I usually saved half of what I had. I had found a good hiding place in my old home under the stone fence at the back of our home. My small savings box used to fit right under there. When we moved here I had no idea where to hide the box. Finally I had decided to put it somewhere I knew my father couldn't touch it, I opened a savings account. There was quite a bit of money there, six years of savings. I hoped by the time I was old enough to live on my own the money could come in handy. I also had a job back in New York, a part-time one that put a little extra cash in my savings account now. For now I could only dream that in another year and half I would be on my own, far from the center of my nightmares.
"Raiden!" Kaiba's shouting had wakened me from my reverie.
"I'm not deaf you know." I shouted back, angry that he had pulled me from such a wonderful thought.
"Could've fooled me." He replied, "Your eyes glazed over when I asked you about your cooking." His face showed dislike before turning, "I'll have someone bring you some soup." He said before leaving the room.
И И И
About ten minutes later, a perky Mokuba came in with a tray of what appeared to be chicken broth soup. He unfolded a plastic table and placed the soup before me, "Here you go Abby. The doctor said this will help you regain your strength."
I smiled at him. I never really liked kids even when I was a kid myself. I always envied them, with their happy life, their happy families, with their kind and gentle parents. However when it came to Mokuba, he just seemed so brimming with happiness that you couldn't help but get splashed by it as well. It amazed me, I didn't know him all that well, but he seemed to have grown on me. Out of a whole city of people I had found someone that wasn't a phony or rude jackass. Here was a child whose true spirit and kindness shone with genuine sincerity.
"You're really pretty when you smile you know? Seto tells me you don't smile often, but I think he's lying, you're always smiling when I see you." He commented suddenly.
"Life hasn't given me much reason to smile about. When I see you Mokuba, you smile with honest happiness, and you speak with real concern and it makes me want to smile."
"You can see all that?" he grinned with his boyish charms
I nodded, "I can see it as well as I can feel it." He blushed as he laughed out loud. His laughter was so pure that I wanted to laugh with him. But I couldn't, I hadn't laughed in so many years, I had forgotten how to laugh. Instead my laugh had turned into a soft cough.
After the soup, and a friendly chat with Mokuba, he bounced out of the room with the empty bowl. "I have to finish off some of my homework; I'll come by later if Seto allows me to."
I gave a small smile as I watched him leave. I sighed and looked out the window. It was night, the moon shone brightly. Wait a minute… it was night? How long was I asleep anyways! Did I miss school? A million thoughts ran through my head I didn't even notice a figure walk in as I bound from the bed and right into the person.
"Holy friggin shit Raiden. What the hell were you trying to do? Plow me down!"
"Sorry Kaiba." I had said in my haste, for once without argument I had apologized to Kaiba.
He raised an eyebrow in curiosity, "What no snide remark? No snappy comeback?"
I suddenly remembered why I was in such a hurry, "Kaiba how long have I been here?"
"Well you first fainted this afternoon…"
I leaned back on the bed and let out a sigh of relief. So I hadn't been here too long. Wait, oh crap what if dad found out. He'd be furious for me to not going home. Shit, I was in for it. I couldn't stay here, nor would I want to, I don't think I could stand Kaiba for too much longer, but where else could I go? I was new in Japan, I knew no one, I had no friends or family to come to my aid. I don't know how long my savings would last me now. I hadn't planned the need to tap into it for another two years at least. Who knew what my father would do. He could be lenient or he could beat me to death. One never really knew with him. He was as psychotic as they came.
"You know I'm getting really sick you zoning out on me constantly like that. Do you have like a really short attention span or something?"
I was fuming, how the heck he and Mokuba could be from the same family was beyond me. One was a psychotic freak with split personalities, and the other a kid full of life and happiness. "For your information, I happened to be thinking a task I'm sure exceeds your mental capacity but if you actually tried it, perhaps it will benefit you."
He raised an eyebrow at my comment but didn't reply. He got up and dusted himself off. I was still furious but my anger disappeared when I saw a hand. I looked up to the owner of the hand and stared straight into the deep blue eyes of Seto Kaiba. I don't know how long we stood there, but it felt like an eternity. A million thoughts raced through my mind. In the silence I barely noticed my hand move upwards and slowly place it in his. My mind jolted as he pulled me upwards.
Suddenly it snapped. It was like a light bulb was turned on somewhere. I knew I had found what I had always been seeking. I, Abby Raiden, had found the only power to pull me from the clutches of darkness. My mind shouted to me telling me of my foolishness and that Seto Kaiba would never help anyone but himself. However the voice of reason seemed to be muffled by another part of me that seemed to say, 'Can't you see? He's the one. He has the power, he has the strength. He will be the one to take you away, Seto Kaiba is the one who will pull you from the darkness' and deep down in my heart I so wanted to believe it and that's what I did. I opened my arms and embraced what I thought to be the light at the end of a path of darkness.
Unfortunately for me, "Um…Raiden…would you mind telling me what exactly are you doing?"
И И И
I know you might be thinking why she is falling in love so quickly with him. She's not in love yet, she's just seeing him as someone who can help her and/or support her. I'm sorry for lack of updates, but I'm trying to see if I can avoid using cliché paths with this story unfortunately that takes a bit of thinking, and for me…it can take a while ;p
Anyways, please review and tell me what you think.