Chapter 17

The Blues

"I can't believe Serenity dumped me!" Honda said sitting his chair with his head hung low.

"Women! What can I tell ya, they can be ruthless and they will crush you in an instant." Joey was trying to hide his happiness over the situation with some fake comfort. "I feel for ya man." Joey patted him on the back.

"You don't seem to be too upset about this Joey." Honda commented as he saw Joey fight back a grin.

"You know women, they're unpredictable." Joey was finding it hard to keep a straight face.

"Did Serenity tell you she was going to break up with me?"

"I swear to you, Serenity didn't tell me a thing."

"But you've known about this, haven't you? All those hints you've been giving me." Joey rubbed his neck and played like he didn't know what Honda was talking about. Then Honda thought back to when all that hinting started. It was right after Anna got mad at him and Joey for fighting. Hey, wait... "Anna?"

She had been very quiet the entire time they were in the ice cream parlor, especially after Honda started lamenting over his loss. Anna had just put a big scoop of ice cream in her mouth when Honda addressed her. All she could do was give a muffled "uh huh" and flash an innocent half smile at him.

"Did you talk to Serenity?" Honda inquired.

Anna was still struggling with her ice cream so she made a hand gesture representing 'a little'.

"You knew and you didn't tell me?"

Anna swallowed her ice cream. "It wasn't my place to tell you."

"But you told Joey." Honda pointed a Joey who was sitting next to him.

"You two were being childish; I had to do something."

"So everyone knew except for me?"

Anzu raised her hand and piped in, "If it makes you feel any better, I didn't know."

Yugi joined her, "I didn't know either."

"This totally sucks! You two knew all this time, and I have to wait until I get a letter, telling me she's seeing someone else."

"She broke up with you in a letter?" Anna was outraged.

"Someone else?" Joey was even more outraged. "Who else? Did she name names?"

Suddenly the shoe was on the other foot and Honda had the advantage. "I don't think it's my place to say."

"But you know, don't you?" Joey was starting to fume. "Come on, we're buddies, you can tell me."

Honda just shook his head at him.

"Anna, do you know who he's talking about?"

"I learned my lesson, and I am staying out of this."

"Come on, tell me. Who is it?" Joey persisted.

"La la la la la...I'm not listening." Anna sang trying to avoid Joey's questions.

"Okay then, I'll figure it for myself. Let's see..." Joey scratched his head and drifted into deep thought. "I got it, I bet its Otagi. Ahhhh! She can't date him! He's American, and you know about them Americans."

"Boy do I ever." Anna whispered to herself.

Yugi heard her, "What?"

Anna flashed a smile, "Nothing."

"No, you said something." Yugi wasn't going to let this drop.

"I was just agreeing with him...I lived in America, I know what guys there think." Anna tried to cover her tracks.

"Roving hands, right?" Joey asked.

"Uh huh," Anna agreed with a nod.

"And I've heard about all those things they but in girl's drinks," Joey continued.

"And how every guy over there thinks you belong to him if he so much as looks at you." Anna added.

"Yeah!" Joey reacted.

"And what about the way they dress. Baggy pants, an old t-shirt, a backward baseball cap covering up their greasy hair and they look like they haven't bathed in a month. And girls are supposed to swoon, as if!"

Anna was really get into this. Yugi couldn't believe how much Anna was venting. And he was never so glad that he took a shower that morning.

"See! That's just what I'm saying. This guy is no good for her, and I'm gonna tell her. I'd rather have her dating Honda." Joey protested.

"You act like that's a bad thing;" Honda gave Joey a stern look.

It went on like that for some time, even long after they finished their food and left the parlor.

Anna was glad to have these friends, but sometimes they got on her nerves. Joey and Honda's constant fighting, and Anzu and Yugi's forlorn looks. She just wanted to get away, and the best place was at Seto's. It was always so quiet and peaceful there. Even when Seto would throw his occasional temper tantrums about business matters or something Mokuba, or in most cases, what Anna had done, they subsided quickly and Anna found them to be fun to watch. Seto was just a little too stressed out. He needed to relax, and that's what Anna provided for him.

"I can't believe you talked me into this. I haven't played this game since I was a child." Seto leaned back in his chair, pondering his next move.

"It must have been good practice, considering you are a business tycoon." Anna said as she counted out the paces that her piece was to move. "Ah, not North Carolina Avenue again!"

"Pay up!" Seto gestured with his hand for her to give him his payment.

Anna sorted through her bills and handed him his rent in Monopoly money. "I think we're losing, what do you think, Mokuba?"

"We are definitely losing."

"Well, you know what they say. When the going gets tough, the losers form into a single corporation, pool their resources, develop land, and kick the other guys butt."

Mokuba responded with a resounding, "yeah!"

"You can be president; I'll be treasurer. We'll split everything fifty-fifty. Deal?"

"Deal!" They shook hands and sealed the bargain.

"Okay, you take the properties as collateral, and I'll take all the money. See between the two of us we own these two streets."

"Let's build some houses and hotels, then he'll have to pay us."

"See, that's why you're president, effective decision making skills."

Seto watched as the pair bought buildings and cornered the market on two full streets. "Is this legal? I don't remember reading this in the rulebook." Seto picked up the book and perused it for anything related to corporate mergers.

"This is business; there are no rules." Anna said snidely.

"I certainly hope I never have to go up against you in a business deal. I'd think I'd lose." Seto commented.

Anna just smiled at him. After the pair finished their developing Anna noticed, "It's Seto's turn and look where he is, he's right in front of our properties. I see a payday coming, don't you partner?"

Mokuba laughed and they gave each other a high five.

"We'll see about that." Seto picked up the dice and rolled. He counted out the steps. "Ha! Community Chest. Ha, I can go down these streets and I won't have to pay you a cent." He picked up the card, and read it "Go to Jail."

Mokuba and Anna about fell on the floor they were laughing so much. Seto moved his piece to the jail and gave them both a wicked look.

Then he started thinking, "How long can I stay in jail?"

"Three turns, then you have to pay bail to get out." Mokuba explained in between laughs.

"Then I think I'll stay in jail."

"That's funny, most CEOs pay to stay out of jail." Anna teased.

"If I'm in jail, then I don't have to land on any of your properties. But you will still have to pay me rent as you go around the board."

"Though it be madness, there is method in it." Anna quoted. "Okay, you're turn Mokuba."

As Mokuba rolled the dice and moved about the board Anna kept looking at that Seto's piece stashed away in the 'Jail' square. "Ya know, he looks lonely in there. Maybe we should get him a friend?" Anna reached over and picked up anther piece from the box. "Here we go, we'll put the iron in there with him. That way he'll have a big burly cellmate named Bubba to keep him company. You two play nice now."

From that point the entire game turned into a three-ring circus. With practical jokes and laughter being the mainstay. Mokuba couldn't believe in the transformation Seto had gone through. In the weeks since they met Anna he went from being broody and mean, to laughing and smiling again. Of course, he was still moody and serious at work; it was part of his persona. But at home, when they were alone, he was openly happy. Anna was the best thing that came into their lives, and he hoped she would never leave.

The game proceeded long into the night, and before they knew it, it was way past Midnight and Mokuba's bedtime. Mokuba did convince Anna to stay the night at their apartment before he was forced off to bed. It was the first time she had stayed there since Seto first suggested it, and she was a bit nervous. Yes, she had brought some things over, and yes, she told him she would, but she knew it was a bad idea. Yugi would have a fit if he knew she stayed over at another man's place. He'd probably have a fit if he knew she was friends with Seto. Her staying there was like adding insult to injury. She knew it was wrong, but she did it anyways.

She retired to her room for a few hours. She never slept, another reason it was weird for her to stay the night there. After a while she got bored and hungry, so she gathered up her laptop and in her bare feet and pajamas quietly scooted down the hall to the kitchen. She didn't want to wake them.

Seto was busy working on reports all night. He normally did that in his office upstairs, but tonight Anna was there, so he stayed in the apartment. He decided to stretch his legs and take a break. He peeked out his door and looked across the hall to Anna's room. The door was closed, so he slid out into the hallway. He was trying not make any noise; he didn't want to wake her. Normally he didn't have to worry about things like that. Mokuba was a really sound sleeper, Seto could pound a drum outside his door, and Mokuba wouldn't wake up. That also made it a problem to get him up in the morning. But Seto was glad that at least one of them could sleep peacefully. He walked into the living room and noticed that the kitchen light was on. He cursed under his breath at whoever forgot to turn it off. He entered the kitchen and found Anna sitting at the island in the center of the room. She was tapping on her laptop, headphones on, head bopping to the beat and occasionally mouthing the words. He took a few steps toward her before she realized he was there. She smiled, clicked off her music and dropped her headphones around her neck.

"I didn't wake you, did I?" She asked.

"No, I don't sleep."

"Oh, another insomniac?"

"What's your excuse?"

"It sounds lame, but my brain doesn't know when to stop. I can close my eyes, but my head keeps thinking. And before I know it, I'm wide-awake worrying about some stupid equation or something I read in a magazine ten years ago. I figured why fight it, I might as well get some work done. Okay, that's my story. What's yours? And don't give me some excuse."

Seto paused for a minute before answering. Did she really want to know the truth? "I was conditioned not to sleep."

"Conditioned? That's a pretty strong word."

"It's true." Anna waited for the rest of the story as Seto pulled up a stool on the opposite side of the island from her. "My adopted father was angry that I beat him and made him adopt us. So he decided he was going to punish me. He forced me to study all day and all night. I wasn't allowed to sleep, barely ate, and I was never allowed to see Mokuba. It went on like that for years. After a while I got used to not sleeping."

Anna thought that explained a lot. Why he keeps Mokuba so close to him, why he barely touches his food, and why he always seems to be so lonely. "Do you think there are two more screwed up people in this world than you and me?"

"I think you'd be hard pressed to find one."

Anna smiled at him. "There's some hot water on the stove if you want some tea."

He got up and walked to the stove, "I prefer coffee."

"Coffee's not good for you."

"Nag, nag, nag." He answered as he fixed himself a cup. He looked over his shoulder to where she sat. He wasn't expecting her to be wearing what she was. It was a pair of long silk pajama pants and a tank top. He wasn't sure why he was so surprised. He assumed that women wore more feminine apparel at night. At least that's what the television and ad campaigns had always told the world. But the more he thought about it, the more this look suited her. He took a sip from his cup and walked up behind her as she typed. He realized that she wasn't typing, she was only hitting two keys.

"Is that binary?" He asked.

She nodded.

"You memorized binary?"

"Well, it was that or the phone book." Seto went back to his stool and gave her a strange look. "Oh, I have photographic memory, I remember everything I see, read, or hear." Anna explained. "I'm like Rain Man. Four-hundred and ninety-two toothpicks, yeah. I'm an excellent driver. Uh oh, I'm definitely not wearing my underwear." Anna gave her best impression.

Seto snickered at her from across the island.

"Ah ha! It was the underwear bit, wasn't it?"

"No, it was that part about a woman being a good driver."

"Oh no you didn't!" Anna laughed at him. "I'm going to tell Mokuba what you said, and you're going to be in so much trouble..." Anna taunted him.

"Go right ahead. I'm bigger than he is. What's he going to do, punch my kneecaps?"

For Anna, this was well worth any grief Yugi might give her. If she hadn't stayed the night, she never would have learned so much about Seto. And at night, when there was no one around, that was when he showed his true self. He was free to joke and laugh, and for a few hours be who he really wanted to be. She liked this side of him; she liked it a lot.

The two of them stayed in that kitchen all night, laughing and telling stories. Neither of these insomniacs knew how much fun it was to have someone around to talk to in the middle of the night. And when Anna left that morning, both of them knew subconsciously that they wanted to repeat this evening again. Anna left early, as the sun was breaking so she could meet up with Yugi and the others on their way to school. She didn't want them to know she didn't spend the night in her apartment.