NOTE: Were you half disappointed last chapter with only a "close" encounter? Well, your desires will be fulfilled this chapter, mwhahahaha! Oh, and it seems that typhoon and tornado are pretty synonymous words…so; I'm going to infer that you take the same precautions for a typhoon (which is what they have in Japan) for a tornado. Don't kill me if I'm wrong, but it made the chapter work!

Disclaimer: Ugh, I'm sick of these…goes green. I-I don't own Y-Yu-Gi-Oh! runs to bathroom

Chapter 8: Truth or Dare

September

"It was a dark and stormy night," Tea read aloud to herself in the Kaiba library. She looked out the window, "Kinda like today." She put the book back on the shelf, and walked out of the library. Then, she walked into the family room and sat down on the couch. She flipped on the television. The channel it had been on before it was turned off had been the Weather Channel.

"Geez, is that all that man watches, is the weather?" Tea asked herself, referring to Seto. She flipped the channel to the channel with her favorite shows on it. In the corner, they had the little weather box, showing the typhoon warnings for neighboring cities.

She continued watching her shows. Thunder roared outside and lightning flashed. Tea wasn't worried. It was just a storm for now. Suddenly, she heard someone scream as a roar of thunder occurred and lightning flashed.

Tea stood up quickly and ran to the door of the room, "Guys? Was that you? Noa? Mokuba? Where are you?" She heard laughter and saw Mokuba coming downstairs laughing with Noa treading behind, clutching his heart.

"Mokuba, what'd you do?" Tea inquired, putting her hands on her hips.

"Nothing…" Mokuba stated innocently.

"I was walking down the hallway…which was dark mind you, and when the thunder came, he jumped out from behind a statue and scared me half to death…that's what," Noa explained.

"See, nothing," Mokuba declared.

"Tch, you two…" Tea muttered, "Well, get in here so I can keep an eye on you. You two are nothing but trouble sometimes." Noa and Mokuba went inside, plopped down on the couch and flipped the channel to Cartoon Network (I presume they have that in Japan?).

Tea sat down with them, and enjoyed the cartoons as well. Suddenly, a weather warning popped up.

"This is a typhoon warning for the following cities and suburbs…Kyoto…Tokyo…Hiroshima…Domino…Nagasaki…." And it went on.

"Typhoon warning? Here?" Mokuba suddenly became frightened. He didn't remember ever having a typhoon warning. Tea's heart skipped a beat. But, she kept up her courage, as not to scare the two.

She switched off the television, "You guys have a basement, right?"

"Yeah…and it's got a TV too! Will that help?" Noa inquired.

"Yes…that's good. Could you two grab some flashlights? You guys have about everything else in that basement of yours, right?" Tea inquired.

"Yeah!" Mokuba said, running off to get the flashlights.

"Noa, could you get us to the basement? I hate to say, I don't know where it is," Tea explained.

"Uh huh, " Noa said. She followed him. Actually, it was just across the hall from the family room. Noa opened the door and switched on the light. He went down first. Tea waited for Mokuba. Eventually, he came, with three flashlights. She let Mokuba go down first, and then she followed, closing the door behind her.

When she came down the stairs, she saw their amazingly furnished basement. It had a wide screen TV, a pool table, air hockey, a bar (she wondered why Seto had put that there), a dartboard, and shelves of Mokuba and Noa's toys and games. There were also some other things, but why describe all the nitty-gritty details?

Tea walked over to the TV, turned it on and switched it from (take a guess) Cartoon Network, to the Weather Channel. Then, she muted it, so that the three wouldn't have to listen to it the whole time. They had a small map displayed on there, showing which cities were under the typhoon warning. She'd glance at that occasionally.

So, she sat down on the floor with Noa and Mokuba. Suddenly, a question came up.

"What about the other people: the maids, the chauffeur and the others? Aren't they coming down here too?" Tea inquired.

"Nah…they'll go in the servants' quarters…which is kind of like a basement," Noa explained.

"Ah…so, should I go there too?" Tea looked at them and smirked.

"No!" Mokuba said, "Tea, you should know better than that. You're a personal friend, not wholly a cook."

"Thanks," Tea smiled and lay back down on floor.

Suddenly, Mokuba spoke up, "Do you think Seto's okay? Kaiba Corp doesn't have a basement."

"He'll be fine," Tea said, trying not to give Seto another thought.

"Are you sure?" Mokuba pressed on.

Tea sat up, "Do you want to call him? Here," she tossed her cell phone to Mokuba, which she had conveniently been carrying.

"Sure!" Mokuba started dialing Seto's number. Then, a look spread on his face, "You call him." He handed the phone back to her.

"Me? Why me?" Tea took the phone back.

"Because…I forgot his number," Mokuba lied.

"Doesn't Noa know it?" Tea looked at them suspiciously.

"Forgot," Noa played along, "funny, huh?"

"And what if I forgot as well?" Tea looked at them slyly.

"You didn't," Mokuba reassured.

"Are you sure?" Tea said.

"Uh huh…anyway…isn't his number in your phonebook?" Mokuba asked, thinking he'd won.

"Yeah…then why can't you call him?"

Mokuba's face fell a tad, "Because…you have the phone now!"

"What if I give it back to you?"

"I won't take it."

"Will Noa?"

"Nope," Noa replied.

Tea sighed, "Fine." She began pressing buttons to get to the phonebook, where she had stores Seto's cell phone number (for emergencies concerning the two brothers). Noa and Mokuba gave each other evil looks. Bingo.

The phone was ringing. Seto picked up.

"Seto Kaiba."

"Hey, this is Tea."

"What happened?" he asked suddenly.

"Nothing…" Seto then cut her off.

"Then why'd you call?"

"Mokuba and Noa want to know if you're alright…with the typhoon and everything."

"Why didn't they call then? There's a phone in the basement…and by the looks of the number on my phone, that's not the one you're calling from."

"Double crossing…no good…dirty rotten…" Tea muttered about the two.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"You said something…double crossing…no good…something along those lines."

"I did not," she replied hotly. If he knew that she had been cursing his brothers, Seto wouldn't be too happy.

"Well, do you want to know if I'm alright?"

"Well, yeah…" Tea started. Seto smiled; he had anticipated that answer, "so that I can get your brothers off that subject, so they stop getting on to me about it." Seto sighed…she'd taken the question a whole different way. Yes, he was still determined to find out if she had…some feelings.

"Well, it just so happens I'm on my way there as we speak."

"You really shouldn't be in a car right now…"

"Where else am I supposed to go? There are no ditches I know of in Domino."

"Fine…I was only concerned for your safety," Tea muttered under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing," Tea replied, suddenly. Had she just said that? It's a good thing he hadn't heard it….

"Right…well, if everything's okay, I'm hanging up."

"Thanks for the warning," Tea said, and she then hung up. She then turned around to the two brothers and glared, "First of all, Seto's fine…."

"Seto…" Mokuba looked at Noa, "Did you just call him, Seto?"

Tea paled, "Sorry, it slipped, after hearing you two say it constantly down here.

"We're fine with it…just wondering, that's all," Noa said.

"Well, he's on his way here…."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Mokuba asked.

"That's what I said, but he didn't seem to care…"

"Did you?" Noa asked. Tea looked at him strangely. "Care, I mean."

"Oh, well…yeah, I mean…he is a human being after all," Tea replied. What were they up to? "Second…why didn't you two just use the phone down here? Kaiba said there's one."

"Oh…forgot," Mokuba said, sheepishly.

"Wow, a lot of brain lapses; don't you think that's ironic?" Noa inquired.

"Yeah…so, anyway, do you want to do something while we wait?

"Let's play a game!" Mokuba suggested.

"What type of game?" Tea interrogated. Noa and Mokuba thought deeply. What did they feel like playing? How could they "intertwine" their plans into it? Somehow, that question always came up. You could call those two very determined kids. Suddenly, Noa's face lit up. He whispered something to Mokuba.

"HEY! That's great! We know what we want to play!" Mokuba said, gleefully.

"What?"

"Truth or Dare!" they both said.

Tea sat up, "Oh…okay…." She wasn't too fond of this game. Not only could she never come up with good questions for the other people, but also she was always stuck saying or doing something very embarrassing when it was her turn. It never worked out for her…truth or dare.

Noa looked at Mokuba cunningly. Tea saw that look.

"Noa…I don't like that look on your face…what are you up to?" Tea asked.

"Nothing. Okay, I'll start. Mokuba, truth or dare?"

"Umm…truth," Mokuba said.

"Okay…" Noa thought. He couldn't go too hard on his brother…he was still thinking up an "either way" truth or dare for Tea, "Umm…do you like any girls? And if so, who?" Tea gulped. If Noa was going this hard on Mokuba…imagine the ideas they'd get for her. Oh, she had NO idea…the poor soul….

"Girls?" Mokuba gulped and looked at his brother. It seemed he still had some of the evilness in him. "You're so mean…." He muttered, playfully. Noa must have known quite well that he did favor this one girl….

"Yes," Mokuba squeaked. Tea didn't seem surprised.

This was Noa's favorite part of the question; something he'd been dying to know for ages, "Who?" Tea was a bit curious too, even though she probably wouldn't know the girl.

Mokuba flushed deeply and hid his face in his knees; a half muffled answer emerged, "Serenity Wheeler."

Noa jumped up, "Success! Haha!"

Mokuba looked up, "You just wait…."

"Fine…but it's Tea's turn to ask me!" Noa stuck out his tongue at Mokuba. After all, one of them had to ask her…and they wanted that question last…as they probably would only play one round. Kaiba Corp wasn't that far away.

"Okay, truth or dare," Tea asked.

"Dare."

"Okay…" Tea felt sorry for Mokuba, but she was thoroughly surprised at his answer. He didn't think Tristan, Duke or Seto would like that…. "Umm…" she couldn't think of anything…yet again. She wanted to find out if Noa had any feelings, since he had made Mokuba reveal his…so….

"Call the girl you're most fond of…as a girl…not a friend." Tea tossed her phone to him.

"Call?" Noa squeaked.

"Yeah."

"Do you care how much it's going to cost?"

"No…you're brother pays me good money…I'll manage. Call anywhere."

"Okay…" Noa dialed a long area code and held up the phone to his ear, "What am I supposed to say?"

"Anything," Tea replied.

The other side of the line picked up.

"Hello?" a voice said.

"Hello, is this Ishizu Ishtar?" Noa inquired.

Mokuba now jumped up, "'Success!'" Tea shared a laugh at the mockery.

"Yes…may I ask who is calling?"

"This is Noa Kaiba."

"Oh! Hello, Noa."

"Hey…um…I just wanted to…ask…when you were going to be back in Domino! Yeah!"

"Oh…well, maybe in a month or so…why do you ask?"

"Well…I was just curious…."

"Is that the only reason you called?"

"…"

"Noa?"

"I've got to go. Thanks for the info…lov—er, see you later, bye!" Noa hung up. Over in Egypt, Ishizu looked at the phone. She smiled. There was something to all of this…it was a pity she didn't have the Millennium Necklace anymore. Maybe she'd come back a little earlier to find out….


Noa handed the phone back to Tea, "There, you happy?"

"Yes," Tea said, taking her phone back.

"Remember though…that was fondness…" Noa started.

"Yeah…and you almost told her you love her," Mokuba grinned at his brother.

"N-no!"

"Uh huh! You said, and I quote, 'Thanks for the info…lov—er, see you later, bye!" Mokuba laughed, "There, we're even. Tea even had to share a giggle. Imagine Noa liking Ishizu…three years ago, it had seemed that Yami had liked her…she wondered if he still did…. But now….

"Tea…truth or dare," Mokuba dragged out.

"Um…" she couldn't choose. She had been through this game a million times, and it never turned out okay. Well, she had to choose one of them…best be… "Dare." She had less chances of them finding out things with that one.

"Ah, I see," Mokuba said. He began to think deeply…what could he ask? How could it incorporate Seto? Noa came up with an idea. He whispered it to Mokuba, while Tea was gazing off at the TV, seeing that they were still under a warning.

"YES!" Mokuba suddenly cried out, pulling Tea out of her daze. Oh no…Tea thought.

Seto ran into the mansion, dripping wet. He shut the door. Never again would he go to work with the chance of a typhoon coming…. He ran over to the basement door, and opened it quietly. He could hear voices down the stairs. He quietly closed the door and crept down the first few of the carpet steps, to where the wall stopped on one side. He peeked out from behind it and saw Noa, Mokuba and Tea sitting down there. Mokuba was speaking.

"Tea…truth or dare." Oh…this was going to be good.

"Um…" he heard her say, "Dare." Seto almost laughed, which would've given his hiding away. Coward. She couldn't face telling the truth.

"Ah, I see," Mokuba then said. Tea then turned her head to the TV. Seto saw Noa lean over and whisper something to Mokuba.

"YES!" Mokuba then shouted. Tea looked at them, her face paling. Seto smirked. This sounded good.

"Alright, Tea…I dare you to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, for this question." Tea's mouth went open. Aw man…she knew she had been doomed from the start. Seto couldn't grin anymore; his mouth hurt. Funny how his brothers had come up with that loophole.

"Hehe," Mokuba rubbed his hands together, "If and only IF Seto were to say…kiss you (here, Tea's face paled to a deathly white; Seto's eyes widened some), would you a) enjoy it, or b) shove him off. If a), why? Would it be because a) you have…say…feelings for him, or b) because he's Seto Kaiba, and any girl would give for that chance? Well, what will it be?" Mokuba looked cunningly over at Noa. Tea couldn't pale any more. She knew that somehow, she'd get in this Seto mess.

Seto loved it. It was all he needed to know. He loved his brothers. He had to remind himself to get them some extra special treats soon.

"Umm…" Tea couldn't find the voice to answer. Well, they were alone (so she thought) and they wouldn't tell if she asked them (hopefully), and she did have to tell the truth….

Tea put her head in her knees, just as Mokuba had done, "A."

"Wonderful…" Mokuba said, rubbing his hand together. Tea looked up at him suddenly. "I mean…yes…yes, so, what's your next answer…A or B?"

"Umm…." Okay, now she definitely couldn't bring herself to say this answer. So maybe it was A…she wasn't going to reveal that yet. She'd stall, by making it look like she was thinking.

"Today, Tea," Noa said, a little too impatiently.

"Well…." Suddenly, the lights flickered off. Everything was engulfed in darkness. Seto swore in his mind. He had been so close! Of course, with that swear, came a set of hand motions, and because he had been leaning on the wall, he toppled over and came crashing down the stairs.

"Ah!" Mokuba and Noa both screamed. Tea herself had cried out, but not as much as the other two. She searched for a flashlight on the ground. Suddenly though, the lights flickered back on. The three saw Seto kneeling on the floor, rubbing his head.

"Seto!" his brothers shouted and ran over to him. Tea took a sharp intake of breath. How long had he been there? Had he heard anything?

"What happened?" Mokuba asked. Tea walked over, just to see if he was alright.

"I was…" he was good at coming up with excuses on the spot. After all, he used the ability all the time, "I came in just as the power went out. Guess I tripped on the stairs or something," Seto lied. Well, it wasn't a complete lie. He had sort of tripped on the stairs…but it wasn't the complete truth either.

Even Tea had a hard time believe that THE Seto Kaiba could trip. He was always so graceful…. But still, Tea breathed a sigh of relief. According to his story, he hadn't heard a thing. Tch, right…that's what you think.

"Well, as long as you're okay…" Mokuba started. "I know! I go get a game we can all play!" He ran off. He didn't feel comfortable playing truth or dare around his brother.

Suddenly, Noa ran off too. Tea looked at him, as he ran to a door, opened it, rushed inside and closed it.

"Where'd he run off to?" she asked.

Seto sighed, "The bathroom."

"Oh." She then noticed that Seto hadn't gotten up. She held out a hand, "Need some help?" He smiled to himself (slightly) and took her hand. Perfect chance….

But as soon as he was up, Tea didn't give him a chance to firmly grasp her hand. She pulled it away immediately. She wasn't going to have a repeat of last month. It still bothered her….

"So tell me…" Seto suddenly said, "what were you going to answer to that?"

Tea turned around and looked at him strangely, "What?"

Seto smirked, "A or B?" Tea's face fell. He had heard that? Oh crap….

"But you said…"

"I'm not the greatest at playing truth or dare," he continued smirking.

"Nothing…I wasn't going to answer…because…there was no answer I could give," Tea began backing up. But Seto wanted answers. And he wanted them now.

Seto quickly reached out and grabbed her arm, "Why don't we find out?" And before Tea knew it, she was swept into his arms and he was kissing her.

And you know what? Tea put her arms around his neck and kissed him back. That is…before her sense took over.

Why is he doing this, she thought. He's just toying with me again! Why am I even kissing him? That creep!

Suddenly, Tea slapped him on the cheek. He let go of her and staggered backwards a couple steps.

"Seto Kaiba, you stop that right now!" Tea shouted at him. She glanced at the TV. The warning was over. Thank God. She turned around and ran up the stairs, and out of the basement.

Seto felt the side of his face, where Tea had hit him. It was going numb. He wasn't going to be surprised if there was a small bruise there tomorrow. But, boy, she was good at hiding her feelings. But she couldn't deny it, and neither could he: that kiss had felt good.


Tea ran up to her room, locked the door and threw herself on her bed, crying. She was so confused. Why didn't she just let him kiss her? It was his idea; he had started it! Let him end it! Then again, he had been toying with her…. But still! She could've enjoyed that kiss while she had the chance….

And this brought her to more confusion. Did she really like Seto? Or not? What was going on? What was he doing? What did he want to know? Why was he toying with her? Tea couldn't take all of these thoughts anymore.

Admit it. You do like him.

No. He's a selfish creep.

Well, you have to admit, that kiss did feel good.

Well…yes…maybe…I think….

We're getting somewhere.

Just leave me alone!

But Tea did admit one thing: it counted. She sat up, rubbed away the tears and opened her nightstand drawer. She took out her journal and then took out the recipe paper. She grabbed a pen and opened up the folded sheet. There, at the bottom, she marked a tally under the "Kisses Shared" part. Toying or not toying…it counted.

She didn't bother putting it under both their names…it just went under the whole phrase. After all, it was shared. She slipped the paper back in, then turned in her journal to write some more things down. After a few minutes, she put it away, changed into her pajamas (it was about 9:00) and went to bed.


Ohhh…controversy…hehe. Well, they had their first kiss! Which Tea interrupted…but is now regretting it…poo. Anywho…man, that was a long chapter! It took forever to write! Okay…maybe only a day…buts that's practically all I did today! Parents kinda wanted me to do other things…but I didn't have the heart to. I had the heart to do this! Oh well, more to come! Review! Oh, and sorry if any of this story seems a little "rushed," you know? Some of these chapters I wrote in a hurry. Some: not. Oh well, glad you're liking it so far! Hehe! Keep reading!