MY NEIGHBOR, THE WHEELERS by: LeiDeeKaiba
Last Chapter: Things take a turn for the worst when Kaiba found out that not only they are homeless, but also penniless! Good thing he still had some money with him, and so they settled in a nice, cozy apartment for the time being. All is well for now…or so it seems.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh by any means…how mortifying. And I'm sure half the YGO fan population feel the same way. (T.T) I only own my OC's, Kouji Takamori and Mrs. Kanzaki. Enjoy!
Chapter Three: "Dinner…?"
Wheeler's Residence…
A sweet scent is coming from the direction of the kitchen when the only man of the house (apartment, to be exact) came home. He shook off the water droplets that are present on his black leather jacket, and fixed his drenched hair. What a bad time for a heavy rain to pour, and he never even brought an umbrella! Looks like another runny cold is in the way…
Joey let out a tired sigh. The only thing that comforted him right now is the smell of Serenity's cooking.
"I'm home, sis!"
"Welcome home, big brother!" Serenity greeted with a smile, but that immediately disappeared when she saw her brother's state. "Oh my! Are you alright?"
"Yeah." He sniffed a bit, followed by a sneeze. Oh man, it looks like the cold arrived sooner than I expected. This is not good… "Is dinner ready yet?"
"In about a few minutes. I'll call you when it's done, Joey. You should get out of those wet clothes or you'll get sick."
Joey was about to go to his room when he remembered something. "Hey sis, I noticed the next-door's lights are on. Do we have new neighbors?" he asked, peeking into the kitchen while struggling to get out of his jacket.
"Yeah, Mrs. Kanzaki told me so. They just moved in today. I can't wait to meet them…look!" She pointed to the covered meal inside the Tupperware container on the dinner table, "I even made them dinner!"
Her brother was about to say something when a sneeze beat him to it. Groaning, he went inside his room to change the rest of his attire.
Mokuba looked up at the wall clock hanging above the television set, and saw that it's already past eight. Big brother is not coming out of his room for the past 3 hours now! He was starting to worry about his well-being…the past events must have been harsh to him. He was watching the news, and in it, the executives of Kaiba Corporation were announcing the company's new CEO. When the screen showed the face of the new president, he almost jumped from his seat. The man was smirking at the cameras and waved at everyone who wished him well.
"This can't be!" he exclaimed. "That man was the guy who wanted big brother's fortune all to himself!" He remembered the times when that person would demand a meeting with Seto, and inside his office, he would demand repeatedly for a part of Kaiba's fortune. To which his brother would say...
"Dream on, Takamori. Now get out of my residence."
Mokuba never noticed Seto coming out from his room (finally), with a scowl on his face. "What's with the noise, Mokuba?"
His little brother turned to look up at him from his place in the sofa. "Big brother! The man who's the new CEO…it's the same guy who keeps pestering you about your fortune! Look!"
Indeed, it is that same scumbag, Kaiba told himself, as he watched the man, Kouji Takamori, make a statement…
"Kaiba Corp.'s got a new CEO?" Joey couldn't believe his ears. "It's about time! Heh, guess that rich boy Kaiba finally got on the people's nerves! Woo!" He raised his fist high up in the air, and Serenity had to scoot away from him to the corner of the sofa.
"Brother, that's not nice. I mean, Kaiba must be feeling bad about this." She took a bite from her dinner. "I feel sorry for him, actually –"
"YOU SHOULDN'T BE! Kaiba deserves all of this! Bwahahahaha!" His maniacal laugh was cut short when he choked on his meal, and he immediately rushed to the kitchen to get a drink. His little sister sweat dropped at her brother's crazy antics – she understood that the feud between Kaiba and Joey go a long way back. Seeing his rival overthrown from his position from the very top of KC must spell victory for him…
Thinking about Joey's choking made her remember the dinner that she cooked for their new neighbors. Serenity picked up her plate from her lap and followed her brother at the kitchen.
Time to make a special delivery…
Seto had to stifle a laugh upon hearing Takamori's speech. "With all my abilities, I shall strive to make Kaiba Corporation the best in the world of entertainment and gaming, and I shall continue what the previous CEO, SetoKaiba, left behind…"
Hah! Like he can pull it off! That guy even failed to establish his very first small enterprise, let alone a multibillion-dollar company!
He rubbed his temples in annoyance. If his calculations were correct, the company that he worked so hard to keep will go down in no time at all!
"I'm going back to my room." And with one graceful turn, he walked back into his bedroom, leaving Mokuba alone for the rest of the night.
"But big brother -!"
SLAM!
…
"What about tonight's dinner?"
KNOCK! KNOCK!
Serenity looked at the oak door in front of her, her fist still settling on its smooth surface. There was no nametag on it yet, so she had no clue as to who their new neighbor is. The meal she made for them was carefully balanced between her right arm and abdomen…and she was hoping that their neighbor would open up soon…
KNOCK! KNOCK!
Mokuba was shocked when somebody knocked at their front door. Man, who could it be at this time of the night? His stomach growled in impatience, and he sweat dropped. It's going to be hard convincing Seto to come out when he's in a bad mood…but it's harder to ignore the pangs of hunger…
He decided to fix the latter. After finding out who their visitor, that is…"Coming!"
She could see a shadow below the door, indicating that someone's going to answer. This is it, Serenity thought. Take a deep breath, and put on your best welcome smile…
CLICK!
The door slowly opened, as Mokuba peeked to see who the person is. Seeing that it is partly open, Serenity peeked through the opening to greet her neighbor. Cobalt blue eyes met auburn hazel ones…and when they recognized one another, the door swung open and both parties looked at each other like fishes out of the water.
"Mokuba?"
"Serenity?"
"What are you doing here?"
Serenity was the first to recover. "Oh! I…er, I just want to welcome you to our neighborhood!" She smiled awkwardly, and the young Kaiba raised an eyebrow. Realizing the bulk in front of her, she pushed it towards him. "Look, I made you some dinner."
Dinner…
Growl…
She giggled.
Mokuba fought the blush that was starting to heat up his face, but failed sadly. "Sorry about that…Heheh…Thanks. That was so nice of you." He took the Tupperware container from her. "What is this?"
"It's tempura rice. Hope you'll like it!"
Mokuba smiled at this. He liked Japanese foods. "Er…why don't you come in for a while? I need to get this transferred before I fell from hunger. Thinking about this just makes me even hungrier!"
And she immediately accepted the offer…
The interior of their apartment isn't that bad nor shabby, Serenity thought, as she waited for Mokuba to return with her container. The place is just like theirs …more like a mirror image of it. The only difference is that (Mokuba) Kaiba's place is much cleaner…Joey tends to leave his belongings on the spot where he threw it, leaving her to clean it up. It wasn't until she gave him a good reprimand that he changed the error of his ways.
As she watched Mokuba washing the container, a thought suddenly hit her: if he's staying here, then his elder brother should be…
Oh.
My.
God…
SetoKaiba is definitely with him! Serenity started to slightly panic. What am I going to do…?
As if on cue, the door to his brother's bedroom swung open, and out stepped the person Serenity was thinking about. Seto was still clad in his black, long-sleeved shirt, black pants and his trademark blue trench coat. He sensed that another person was in their humble abode, and that person smelled familiar, much like the mutt that he hated so much…
…and boy, he was sooooright.
There, seated on the sofa, was the girl who was with Joey during Battle City, his…younger sister.
Serenity slightly swallowed, petrified at the spot. His ice blue eyes met her own ones, and they looked at each other for a while; the former in surprise and the latter in fear…but even though she was terrified, she still managed to utter a greeting…
"G-good evening…"
And in that moment a heavy wave of tension filled the Kaiba household.
Serenity and Kaiba were still staring at each other when Mokuba came back from the kitchen carrying her container. He looked at his brother then to Joey's sister, before breaking the silence. "Er…here's your Tupperware container Serenity. Thanks for dropping by, we really appreciate it –"
"You're that mutt's sister, aren't you?" he immediately asked. Offended as Serenity was (with Kaiba calling Joey "mutt" and her, "the mutt's sister") , she answered with a slight nod.
"Her name's Serenity, big brother. She wants to welcome us here in their neighborhood. And look, she even brought dinner! Now we don't have to worry about what to eat tonight!" Mokuba tried to cool his brother down by saying so. But Seto's stoic face never changed an inch.
"You can have it Mokuba, I'm not hungry. Now if you will excuse me," and he went back into his room and slammed the door hard. Serenity's eyes were starting to get glassy from all the insults that she heard. Sniffing a bit, she held up the back of her palm to wipe away the tears that are starting to fall.
"I'm sorry about Seto, Serenity," the younger Kaiba apologized, handing her his handkerchief. "It's been rough for him today. I hope you understand - "
"It's alright Mokuba, I do." She bowed politely before the kid before heading for the door. "I hope you enjoy the dinner. And you ever need anything, don't hesitate to drop by at my place." She twisted the doorknob, looked over her shoulder and smiled at Mokuba. "I just live next door, after all."
He smiled in return. "Don't worry, we will."
And the door closed with a soft slam…
Silence filled the living room, with Mokuba standing in the middle of it. If Serenity's living next door, and she's Joey's sister, then that means…
His eyes went large with realization…"Oh my God…"
And that's all for the third chapter! I'd like to thank all of you who reviewed and gave your comments about this fic!
Kudos goes to the following reviewers…
Cloaked Fox – Hehe, looks like I found myself a good critic. (smiles) Thanks for pointing those things out; I watched how Noah took care of the old Big Five and rest assured that they will be taken care of by Seto here…although in a different way. (sweatdrops) Thanks for reviewing, and please don't hesitate to say what's on your mind. It's a good thing reviewers like you exist to keep my feet on the ground and not go overboard. (bows down) Thank you!
Tawnykit - (bows down) You're most certainly welcome! I was starting to worry that my English's bad…hehe…Thank you for the advice!
See y'all in Chapter 4!
-LeiDeeKaiba