A little interesting background: Did you know that I named my main character from my sister and my best friend, both of whom have the same name (Patricia, duh) and who both have (or had) an obsession for Kaiba? Really! And another interesting tidbit... I got the name Tsuki from my sister's pet parakeet! Mwahahahaha!
Enough of that.. On with the story.
An hour later, with belly filled and spirit considerably lighter, I stood in the entrance hall, waiting for Kaiba and Mokuba. Mokuba, Kaiba had told me over a glass of orange juice and a plate of bacon (mine, naturally. He didn't touch anything except the juice) liked sleeping until the last ten minutes, when he would dress up with the speed of light and eat breakfast in the limo. He also told me that Mokuba liked getting to school early, which is why he had gone to fetch him when there was still an hour to go before school started. He also told me it would be a good idea to go to school early so I could get to know some of the other students and wouldn't have to follow him everywhere he went.
What? Did you except him and me to sit in silence while eating? So what if I was talking to the guy? There's no harm in that, is there? Besides, he was very nice to me… too nice, in fact, considering the way he treated me in the dining room. I wonder what made him change…
Nothing happened between us. Except the talking. That's it. Stop thinking bad things!
Seto and Mokuba soon came down, Mokuba just as hyper as ever. He hugged me as soon as he reached me. That was a little uncomfortable, considering that he only reached up to my waist and that I was in a skirt that was just as long as a one foot ruler.
"Hello, Tsuki-chan!" he chirped happily. Kaiba didn't say anything, but lead the way to the limo waiting outside. Mokuba and I followed him, Mokuba chattering all the way.
"Domino High is a really nice school, Tsuki-chan, you'd love it there! Of course, I'm not in the same class as niisama, but I'm sure he has nice classmates. Did he tell you you were going to be his classmate? I guess he didn't, 'cause you look so surprised. Anyway, you'll like it. Oh, I just remembered! Yugi-kun is also his classmate, and Yugi's really friendly! You'll get along with him fine!"
He looked at me as we climbed into the limo, my hand subconsciously gripping the edge of my skirt as I scooted it. "Well, aren't you going to say anything?" he pestered.
"You out of breath yet?" I teased.
He laughed and hit me playfully on the arm. "That's not funny, Tsuki-chan!"
"Then why'd you laugh?"
Mokuba frowned, then began laughing again.
I looked at Kaiba. "Is he always this happy in the mornings?"
"No," he said shortly.
Okay. What was with the sudden cold shoulder treatment?
"Are you okay, Kaiba?"
Silence.
I shrugged and looked out the window. Funny… we had just been talking, and he had seemed really open over breakfast… fine, he wasn't smiling or anything, but words did escape his mouth, and they were directed at me.
Then he spoke again.
"After school, meet me at the school gates. The limo will pick us up and bring us to Kaiba Corp. so you can start work." He handed me a bag. "Change into this later. You don't want to go around the building in your uniform."
And he stopped talking again.
Mokuba tugged at his brother's sleeve. "Can I come with you, niisama?"
Kaiba smiled softly and ruffled his brother's hair. "Of course."
So he did have a good side, after all. He was probably wearing the mask to get himself ready for school. It was funny, if you thought about it. Most people put on concealer or make-up or something to prepare for school. Not a whole mask…
The limo drove to a halt in front of a homely looking building. Girls wearing the same uniform as I was were talking with one another and with boys in the same outfit as Kaiba's.
Kaiba climbed out, and I followed, pulling my school bag and the clothes Kaiba had given out with me. I looked around. It was you average high school setting, I guess. There were few people since it was early, but those who were already there were either talking, playing basketball, eating, or just hanging around waiting for the bell to ring. Some were studying, but you don't get much of that, do you?
"Hey." Kaiba put his hand on my shoulder to get my attention.
"Yes?"
"Work hard, okay?"
I raised my eyebrow. What happened to the supposedly unemotional stone?
"Come on. I'll throw you out of the house if I find that you're taking advantage of me. I don't do this all the time, you know."
I smiled at him. "Thank you, Kaiba."
He smiled. Did I just see that? He smiled! The unemotional stone has finally cracked!
He looked away, and a serious look came over his face. He scowled at a girl who approached. The girl faltered, then edged away.
Okay. So maybe he hasn't cracked.
I made my way across the campus, looking around for something to sit on. I finally found a bench, but I had wandered around for so long I was lost. I looked at the clock on a nearby wall just above a classroom. 6:50. I sighed.
"That's her, Yugi-kun!"
I looked up, for two reasons mainly. One, I remembered Mokuba mentioning some guy named Yugi. Second, I realized they were talking about me.
There were two boys standing in front of me. One of them was just slightly taller than Mokuba, with black, purple and yellow hair. The other had blond hair, and was about my height. Estimating, naturally. I couldn't tell properly while I was sitting down. It had been the blond boy who had spoken.
"Excuse me? May I help you?"
The blond haired boy backed away from me. "She's the one, Yugi! The one we saw get out of Kaiba's limo!"
The boy called Yugi flushed. "Jounouchi-kun… shush!"
Jounouchi looked a bit confused. "Why, Yugi?"
Yugi jabbed his thumb pointedly at me. "She can hear."
"And I can see, too. Which means I saw that," I told Yugi, a little annoyed. Honestly, they were talking as if I wasn't here…
Yugi flushed. "Gomenasai. It's just… we've never seen anyone else with Kaiba-kun aside from Mokuba."
I nodded. Now I understood. "Ah. Okay. I guess we got off on the wrong foot, then."
Jounouchi continued to look at me as if I was a virus. "You sure we should trust her, Yugi-kun?"
I raised my eyebrow. "Why not?"
Jounouchi faltered under my glare. It's fun to make people scared… damn. Now I'm starting to ACT like Kaiba as well…
I stopped glare at Jounouchi. "Sorry," I mumbled. "Influence.." I grinned embarrassedly at Yugi and held out my hand. "Hi. I'm…" I trailed off, wondering whether to use my Japanese or my English name.
Jounouchi began to laugh. "You don't know your name!"
I couldn't help glaring at him again. He shut up, and I grinned. "That's what I wanted you to believe," I told them. "My name's Tsuki." I might as well get used to my Japanese name. My American name is a thing of the past…
"Hello, Tsuki!" Yugi said happily. "My name's Yugi. That's Jounouchi."
"Yeah, I guessed," I told them, smiling at him too. "Mokuba mentioned you to me."
"Really?" Yugi asked, tilting his head. "Why?"
"Oh. Well, I'm in your class-"
"No!" Joey groaned. "Not another Kaiba!"
That just about got my temper going. "I'm not a Kaiba. I never was one."
"What's your last name, then?"
I stopped. It was Brown, but an American last name wasn't going to sound very good.
"Well?"
Thankfully (or maybe to my horror, I don't know), Kaiba came up just about then. He looked from me to Yugi. "I see you've met my cousin."
I raised both eyebrows at that.
Jounouchi pointed at me in triumph. "Aha! So you are a Kaiba! Trying to hide it, eh? But you couldn't!" He began laughing.
Kaiba pushed him out of the way. "A mutt like you wouldn't even know half of the story." He came up to me. "Ignore Katsuya," he said, taking me firmly by the hand and leading me away.
Mixed feelings were whirling around in my stomach. I spit out the first question that came up. "Why'd you say I was your cousin?"
He continued to drag me across the campus to the other building. "Well, you don't have any family left, do you? Besides, I have no other explanation to why you're living at my house."
"So you prefer to lie?"
Silence.
"Answer me!"
"Would you rather me say I picked you up off the street because you looked like a helpless puppy?"
I glared at him.
"Never mind. Why'd you drag me away from them? I liked Yugi and Jounouchi- well, Jounouchi not really, but still-"
"You'll see them in class anyway. I also took you away because you still need to sign a few forms, register for a locker, and meet your teacher."
Now I was really annoyed. "You could have told me that sooner!"
"I didn't have to since I was going too anyway. I need to talk to them about your work permit."
We ended up outside the office. He pushed open the door and I followed.
Compared to the cool breeze that was blowing across the grounds, the office had still, unmoving frosty air that blasted out from the air conditioners. A secretary sat at the desk, chewing a piece of gum and humming to herself while she typed with two fingers on an old-fashioned typewriter.
Kaiba cleared his throat. The secretary jumped, and a mug of pencils clattered to the floor. She hastily stood up. "Kaiba-sama," she choked. "What can I do for you?"
"I need to speak with the principal. In the meantime, please give my cousin the locker registration forms and the forms I filled in yesterday."
The secretary spit her gum into the trash can and nodded, gesturing for him to enter the door marked, "Principal's Office."
I watched Kaiba as he marched into the principal's office. The secretary pulled out some forms from a folder with "Patricia Brown," marked on the front. That startled me. I thought that Kaiba had claimed me as his cousin.
I filled in the forms and handed them back to the secretary. She gave me a piece of paper with some numbers written on it. "There. That's your locker combination. Your locker's 202, in the main hallway."
"Thank you," I smiled at the secretary.
She was surprised, then returned the smile.
Kaiba came out then. He gave me a small piece of paper and motioned for me to follow him out the door.
As soon as we got out of the office, I had new questions for him.
"What's this?"
"Can't you read? Its your work permit."
I glanced down at it. "Oh. Yeah." I looked back up at him as we crossed the campus once more. "Why does the school have record of my name as Patricia Brown? I thought you've been telling people that I'm your cousin."
Kaiba raised an eyebrow and looked at me. "Students, I can lie to. They're fickle enough to believe it. You really expect me to lie to the school board?"
I sighed and shook my head.
"Come on. Classes are about to start."
There. A nice short chapter. Please review, as always! Next chapter will be more.. interesting. I promise! (Interestinf for those who like school, anyway). Nah, it'll begood for everyone!