NOTE: Okay people. The idea for this chapter JUST hit me. I swear. I was going to write something else, but that meant it would bring up the end of the story FAR too quickly. I felt I needed to do some chapters with just their life being back home. With my previous idea, we probably would have ended in about four chapters. Phew. Thank God I got this idea.
Really, it's just a random scene, but it plays into the story. I have a feeling the next few chapters will be randomized, but they'll tie into the story, as always. Wait…something is coming to me…wow! Just writing this has given me a new thought! Not much, but it helps me! Oh…enjoy the chap!
Disclaimer: If you haven't noticed, I've pretty much given up with the catchy disclaimers. I don't know what to say anymore. Oh well. I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Dang…that sounded bland….
Chapter 21: Ice Cream: I Scream
After that Monday, were Tea had told her friends about her past with Kaiba, she remained sulky the whole week. This bothered Joey greatly. He wanted his peppy, happy-go-lucky, always smiling friend back.
So, he asked the others what to do. He wanted to do something to get her happier, but he didn't know what. None of the others could think of anything either. So, Joey resorted to what always made him happier: a trip to the Ice Cream Shoppe. (I think I made up the name here…I don't know what kind of ice cream places they have in Japan, otherwise, I would have put Baskin Robins…think what you want.)
Plus, she seemed to get especially angry…or depressed hanging around in the same place as Seto Kaiba. Of course, this meant the school, in general. If you wanted to be more specific, well…he had almost every class with her. Joey, on the other hand, couldn't always be in those classes to support her and comfort her…due to the academic levels of the classes. Take Advanced Math, for example. Joey was having enough trouble with Regular Math (I forget what senior math studies…is it Calculus? I'm not sure…but I know it's not Algebra I or II, or Geometry).
So, immediately after school on Friday, he, along with Serenity, Yugi, Tristan, Mai and Ryou (the rest of the gang was busy) began dragging her along to the Ice Cream Shoppe. Mai was the one doing the dragging: meaning that she had grabbed Tea's arm and was pulling her away from the school.
Near the entrance to the school grounds, Kaiba's limo sat, waiting for him. It had already picked up Mokuba and Noa from their school. As such, this meant that Seto was walking behind the gang, who were dragging Tea away from the school. This also meant that Tea was looking directly behind her and glaring daggers at Seto.
Seto didn't enjoy it one bit. He didn't want Tea always glaring at him, like he was some evil mutant who had taken over her friends' minds or something. Seto mentally slapped himself. What an analogy! He really was starting to think like the mutt, presuming that Joey read comic books. Where did that pop out from anyway? He had never laid eyes on the interior of a comic book.
To make up for it, he had bought his brothers endless video games; many with that very plot. So that's where it came from….
Yugi tapped Tea's shoulder. Her head spun around to face him.
"What's up, Yugi?" she inquired, the nasty glare gone. (Seto sighed in relief. She had paused her glaring session.)
"Nothing," Yugi replied.
Tea looked confused, "Then why did you tap my shoulder?"
"Joey told me to get your attention anywhere but behind you until we left the school grounds," Yugi replied, shrugging.
"Yugi, what's this all about? Where are you taking me?" Tea interrogated.
"Uh…Joey doesn't want me telling you that," Yugi answered.
"Yugi, you are going to tell me where we are going!" Tea demanded. However, he look was far from angry. She had a come-on-Yugi-I'm-waiting-for-an-answer look.
Yugi looked at her. That look actual made her facial features…beautiful. Aw, man, he thought, not this. Why does she have to look at me like that? I'm going to go all red….
And red he became, by blushing intensely. He gave a fake smile to Tea, whose expression suddenly turned questionable.
"Yugi what's wrong? Are you…blushing?" Tea inquired, smiling slightly.
"No, no! What would make you think that? I think the heat's just getting to me," Yugi started fanning himself with his hand, "Yeah…the heat's getting to me."
"Uh huh…then why don't you take your jacket off like the rest of them?" she pointed to Joey and Tristan. Ryou still had his on, only because he didn't feel like walking around in an undershirt. It never had occurred "natural" to him. (After all people, if I'm correct, he is British, is he not?)
"Oh, yeah, jacket," Yugi said, taking it off, just to "prove" to Tea that it was the heat and he was not blushing. Tea suddenly looked at him strangely.
"You know…I never really noticed this until now…how many shirt do you have on?"
"Huh?" Yugi looked down at himself. Then he remembered the navy buttoned and buckled shirt underneath his white, school T-shirt. (You know, the navy shirt that Yami always used to appear in during the 1st Season…or should I say, Duelist Kingdom?) "Oh, yeah, that one…."
"Yeah…no wonder your burning up," Tea gave a sarcastic smile, and that same look that had made Yugi blush before. But it was no matter. They had just passed the entrance to the school grounds and had turned right. His job was done. He had distracted Tea from looking behind at Kaiba; which always make her even unhappier.
The whole rest of the way; Tea demanded to know where she was being taken. She always received the same answer: you'll find out when we get there. She didn't exactly know the route by heart to the Shoppe, as she didn't travel to it as many times as Joey did.
Seto stepped into the limo, and was, as usual, greeted by a brotherly tackle, as soon as the door shut. The limousine began moving; driving to the Kaiba Mansion. After a minute, Seto finally shoved his brothers off, and back into their seats.
He sat down, recollected himself, and discarded the school jacket. It was a mighty hot day outside. Why the school even allowed them to wear jackets on 90-degree weather days was beyond him, even.
"Seto?" Mokuba started.
"Yeah?" Seto said, turning on every air conditioner in the back to full blast.
"Seeing as it's so hot today, can we maybe…stop somewhere for ice cream?" Noa picked up.
"Don't we have some at home?" Seto inquired, laying his head back.
"No…you kind of banded it from me a year ago," Mokuba said, tapping his tow index fingers together, back and forth.
"I did?"
"Yeah…you said something about me being too…hyper?" Mokuba looked questioned, trying to lift the ban.
"I can imagine that," Seto replied. Shoot, it hadn't worked, Mokuba thought. "Fine, we can get ice cream…but only because your logic about this intense heat is right."
"Uh huh…" Noa commented, "Right…that's the only reason," he said, sarcastically.
"You don't believe me?" Seto sat up.
"I just think there's more to it than that," Noa replied.
Seto sighed, "Well…you just might be right." He pressed the intercom speaker, thinking of the first ice cream place that came to mind, "Jeff, turn us around and go to the Ice Cream Shoppe."
"Yes sir," Jeff replied.
Seto relaxed, "So, how was school?"
"Boring," they both sighed.
"Boring? Personally, I think it's only boring if you don't learn anything. Did you learn anything?" Seto inquired.
"Yes," Mokuba said.
"No," Noa sighed.
"No?" Seto sat up.
"Really it was just a small review. I learned that stuff years ago. I see school as a waste of time really," Noa said.
"Hmm…we're similar then. We really ought to consider moving you up a few grades. I mean, technically, you are eighteen, aren't you?" Seto thought aloud.
"Yeah…" Noa said, "But I just wouldn't feel right…being surrounded by people that think they're older than me…or feeling like I was held back or something. At least in Mokuba's class, I feel like I'm somewhat surrounded by peers my own age."
Seto sighed, "That's the problem with," he used his fingers as quotes, "magic. It never turns out right," he said, referring to Noa's reincarnation. "But, I do have to send you to school…so we'll think about this later."
"Okay," Noa sighed happily, and relaxed.
"The Ice Cream Shoppe?" Tea looked up at the sign, "That's what this was all about?"
"Yep!" Joey smiled, "Get anything you want, Tea, it's my treat!"
"Wow, that's surprising!" Tea laughed, "But why?"
Mai came around, "Girl, you need some cheering up, and Joey over there thinks a round of ice cream will do the trick."
"Well…I think he's right. I LOVE ice cream!" Tea smiled happily.
"Great! Then let's go on in," Joey held open door. Ryou rushed in.
"Air conditioning at last!" he said, taking in the cool air.
"Ryou, bud, you've really got to learn that you're not in England anymore, and take off that darn jacket," Tristan said, coming in behind him.
"Yes…well…" Ryou stuttered.
"Yes, well, what? Take it off already!" Tristan said, walking up to the register.
The rest of the gang (present) walked in.
"Okay Tea, what'd ya want?" Joey inquired.
"Um…well…that Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Blizzard looks good," Tea requested.
"One whatcha-ma-call-it comin' up!" Joey walked up to the register and ordered. By the end of the ordering session, Tea had her blizzard; Joey: the works on a banana split; Serenity: chocolate dipped vanilla ice cream cone; Yugi: hot fudge sundae; Tristan: same as Joey; Ryou: same as Serenity; and Mai: a chocolate covered ice cream bar.
They sat at a booth by the window wall, and chatted while eating their ice cream, keeping all discussions far from Kaiba.
Meanwhile, the limo pulled up into the parking lot of the Shoppe. Seto just sat there for a second.
Mokuba and Noa got up, "Seto, are you coming?" Mokuba inquired, opening the door.
"In a minute," Seto replied.
"Well, we'll go in and order then," Noa replied.
"Don't you need money for that?" Seto contradicted.
"Got it right here," Noa said, holding up a black wallet. The two got out of the car in smiles. They looked like they were trying to hold back something.
"I didn't know your wallet was black…" Seto said, a tad confused.
"It's not," Noa replied, shutting the door.
"Oh, okay," Seto said lazily. His head suddenly shot up, "Wait…" he searched his pockets for his wallet. He threw opened the door and tumbled out, "You two, get back here, RIGHT NOW!" He heard them laugh as they opened the door to the Shoppe. Seto closed the door and slowly walked towards the Shoppe.
Joey sat next to the window. The rest of them were chatting about something that had happened at lunch. He turned his head to look out the window. His mouth dropped open when he saw the two younger Kaibas running towards the store, with Kaiba tumbling out of the limo afterwards.
The door to the Shoppe opened, and the little bell at the top tinkled.
Noa began talking, while inspecting the wallet, "Geez, this guy carries nothing but 100's in here."
Tea heard a familiar voice. She began turning around (her back was to them). Joey saw this, and purposely swallowed a whole chunk of banana and began choking on it. He didn't want Tea to see the younger Kaibas, as it meant Seto Kaiba would follow closely behind. And they were here to cheer Tea up.
Tea's head immediately turned back to Joey, as did the others.
"Joey, you're choking again!" Mai threw at him.
Joey jerked his head, as a gesture for everyone but Tea, in the two kids' direction, coughing out, "H-H-Help!"
Only Tristan got the hint. He looked ahead, and saw the two. He gaze immediately turned out the window, to see Kaiba strolling up the lot. His eyes widened. He elbowed Ryou, next to him. Ryou then saw it too.
Noa handed over a twenty he finally found in the wallet, after ordering the ice cream, "There you go."
"That's mighty big money for a kid to be carryin' around," the man at the register said.
"I'm not a kid," Noa's face shown irritation, "I'm eighteen, mind you." Mokuba didn't want to get involved. If Noa was going to pummel the guy, he wanted to pretend he wasn't even step-related to him.
"Eighteen, huh? You're mighty small to be eighteen, youngin'. At eighteen, you ought to have an ID-"
"Got one," Noa said, searching his pockets. "Where is the blasted thing…ah, here!" he found it, and held it up. The man took it and ran his finger along the edge. It didn't seem fake…and all the information was on it. The official stamp was on it. He didn't seem to be faking. However…it did say he was a Kaiba, and that meant that he could easily make one that seemed completely real.
"Sure kid, er…fine," he said, handing it back. Noa pocketed it. Mokuba sighed: good, there was no fight, or bloody argument this time. A minute later, the man handed them the three ice creams. The two turned around and spotted the gang.
Ryou held his breath. Good: the man at the register seemed to be arguing about something with Noa…ah, his age, Ryou thought, as he saw Noa hold up his ID. Then, the man handed them their ice creams. The two turned around, and started walking towards them. Joey was still coughing.
Everyone but Tristan and Ryou's attention was directed towards him. Tristan shook his head towards the two kids. They stopped, looking confused. Tristan jerked his head in Tea's direction. Ryou took this as his cue to go explain things.
"I'm using the restroom," he said, making up an excuse to leave. Nobody listened to him, except Joey and Tristan; however, they didn't acknowledge him.
Ryou walked over quickly to the two, "Hey guys."
"Hey Ry-" Mokuba's mouth was clamped shut.
"Shh. Look, no offense, but I don't think it would be best for your family to be in here right now," Ryou removed his hand from Mokuba's mouth.
"Why? What's wrong with us?" Noa inquired.
""Not you…it's Kaiba-"
"What's wrong with Seto?" Mokuba inquired, still thoroughly confused.
"Look…Tea's been pretty miserable lately, and we wanted to cheer her up. Kaiba really isn't helping when he's around her…he just seems to make her even angrier and all that crap, okay? So maybe you could just-"
"Gotcha," Mokuba smiled. When Ryou used the word, "crap," they knew it had to be something pretty serious.
"We've got it under control. Don't know what's wrong with Tea, but that's okay. Anything to help a friend," Noa added.
"Thanks guys," Ryou smiled. Suddenly, the door opened, revealing Seto.
"You two-" he started. Immediately, the two began pushing him back out the door.
"We've got your ice cream, Seto," Mokuba stated.
Tea's head shot up. She swore she had just heard Mokuba's voice…and him say Seto…. She turned her head around. Joey gulped, thus causing the banana to go down, finally.
"Hey Tea!" Ryou said, walking over quickly. Thus, all Tea saw was Ryou and a swinging door.
"Was that Mok-" Tea started to inquire.
"So," Ryou sat down, "what should we do after this?" he said, trying to start a new conversation. By now, everyone, except Tea, knew that the Kaibas had been here.
"Guys…what's going on?" Tea said, trying to look out the window. She was blocked by Yugi making the same head movements as she was. For once, his large, spiked hair was useful.
"Yugi…please…move," Tea said, squirming around.
"Yeah, Yug, move," Joey said, looking out the window. He had finally seen the car drive off. He regretted the words when it stopped. Then it started again, and stopped, and so on.
Tea looked out the window. She didn't see what all the commotion had been. All she saw was the back of a black car, ready to turn onto the street.
"Seriously," Tea said, turning back to her friends, "sometimes I don't know what's with you guys."
(During that brief worry:)
Mokuba and Noa pushed Seto back to the limo. Mokuba opened the door, and Noa practically shoved Seto in. The two then got in, themselves, and Mokuba pressed the intercom button.
"Jeff, take us home," he said, handing an ice cream to Seto.
"What's up with you two? You wanted to get ice cream, and then you rush out of there like there's a fire," Seto said, suspiciously.
"Nothing was up. We just…uh…" Noa started.
"What's up between you and Tea?" Mokuba suddenly pulled out of the air.
Seto, in mid-lick of the ice cream, stopped, "What? Nothing's…up between us."
"That's not what Ryou said. He just said that-" Noa started.
"Bakura? You mean, the geeks were in there? Is that why you rushed out?"
"Way to go. Some genius you are," Mokuba narrowed his eyes at Noa.
Seto pressed the intercom button, "Jeff, stop."
Mokuba then ordered, "No! Go!"
"Stop!"
"Go!"
"Cease and desist driving!"
"Back to the house!"
"Halt the car!"
"SHUT UP YOU TWO!" Noa suddenly shouted, fuming. His stepbrothers turned to look at him. Noa pressed the intercom button himself, "Jeff, if you don't get this flippen thing moving; you're fired. And if Seto gives you any orders; ignore them!"
"If you forget Noa, I am in charge here-"
"NO! IF MY FATHER HADN'T ADOPTED YOU TWO, YOU WOULDN'T EVEN BE HERE! YOU DON'T HAVE THE AUTHORITY HERE, SETO KAIBA! AND AS JEFF WAS ORIGINALLY HIRED BY GOZABURO, I GIVE THE ORDERS AROUND HERE, AS HIS TRUE SON, AND HEIR!" Noa shouted at them. The two looked at Noa in shock. Even though Noa had only been with them for a short time, he had never re-mentioned authority and such.
Noa's eyes softened, "I-I'm sorry…" and he crawled to the opposite side of the limo, and sat in the corner, with his arms crossed, and his ice cream abandoned in the cup holder.
Mokuba walked over to Noa, "It's okay, Noa," he comforted, "we know you didn't mean it like that."
"I just hope those old thoughts aren't coming back. I guess…I guess it was a spur of the moment, and my past arguments were reawakened…but this time, to help someone…to help someone be happy," Noa replied, smiling slightly.
"Yeah…Tea," Mokuba added, "But I think we need to make Seto happy too."
Noa looked up at him, "How?"
"By getting Tea back for him."
Well? How was the chapter? I know it was a little random…and to me…it didn't seem like the best of chapters. Hmm…that's been happening a lot lately. Oh well. You tell me what you think! Review please!
