Nightfall2525: all you're questions will be answered later on, except one of them, which will be answered in this chapter. And no, not the one with Yugi and Tea, that one will be found out later….
Everyone! Say thanks to Joey-lover for finding out my age. Yes, I have turned 16. So this time, it'll be a double post, I guess you can call it…. Chapters are a bit of a disappointment though… I expected this to be a lot easier and better then it was… oh well, I tried.
Joey-Lover: I WAS thinking of washing Tea's clothes, but then what will she wear for that time? (My friend had an idea, but I didn't want to post that… it was rather perverted…)
Well! Better get on with this chapter.
Tea…. Came a distant voice… Tea….
"Yugi?" she asked, connecting the voice with the picture in her mind. Her best friend was running in a sea of soft, hazy colours. His violet eyes have already disappeared into one of those warm smiled of his, and he kept looking back at her, waving his hand for her to come to him… but she was not able to… every step she took, he would move back by five. "Yugi, come back… can't… reach…"
Tea… Tea…"Yugi!"
"TEA!" A strong voice roared into her ears, causing her to gasp and wake up immediately. Her back shot upwards and her eyes were practically bulging out from their sockets.
"What?! What? What do you want from me?!" she panicked, not having taken in the real world yet, and still not recognizing the man standing beside her. "Who are you? What have you done with Yugi?" she cried. Her breathing became heavy for a moment, before a plump hand covered her mouth.
"Shhht! Not so loud!" he hissed. "The Signor might here us!"
Tea's expression softened, and her mind calmed down, now being pulled out of dream world and able to take in her surroundings properly. "Roberto?" she asked softly.
His temporarily sharp eyes squinted in frustration. His beard swayed back and forth as he shook his head wildly. "Yes it is me!" he hissed, trying to hold pack his urge to yell. "Just follow me. We haven't much time."
"But where-"
"Ask later, follow now."
She slid out of bed, and followed him out the door. Daytime already? She moaned inwardly, protecting her eyes from the strong sunrays, coming through the large windows.
He led her into the staircase, and down the many flights of stairs. Once on the bottom floor, he rushed her to get her shoes on while he waited at the door. He held the door slightly open with his foot, and started bouncing impatiently. "Come on, Tea, hurry up…" he said to himself through clenched teeth, watching her disappear through the door on the other side of the large room. He kept looking at his watch, wishing she would hurry up. He wanted to leave so badly, that his body itched with impatience. He heard a loud creak and the rest of a noisy echo as she reappeared through the heavy door. She slipped her shoes on as she sprinted across the sunny room, and back into the dim staircase.
"Now what?" she asked, not seeing anywhere else to go but upstairs.
He pointed right passed her at a door, barely visible within the shadows of the walls surrounding it. "That is where my aircraft is." he said, sounding rather proud of himself for having his own aircraft. "Now, come, and close the door gently, to not make so much noise."
Her eyes followed his body, creeping passed her, and opening the door v e r y s l o w l y. His head moved this way and that, while his eyes shifted around, then looking calm, and sure, he waved his hand for her to come in. She winced as her hand touched the freezing steel doorknob, but was sure she didn't let go until it was fully closed. A soft clack couldn't be helped as the door clicked back into its place. She removed her hand slowly as she did not want to make the knob move, and turned her head to look at the craft. She whistled under her breath as the rest of her body followed her head. It certainly was not as impressive as Kaiba's Blue-Eyes aircraft, but was still quite impressive. It was, too, shaped like a dragon, but was more snake-like, and the only thing that would move was its neck. It looked as if it was made out of solid gold, and rubies were used for the eyes. She knew that in reality, it would have to be made out of something lighter, and it's large red eyes were actually windows.
"Isn't she magnificent?" Asked Roberto, admiring the piece with his hands of his hips. "The Signor helped me make it, obviously…" he nodded his head, and stared at it for a little longer, before jerking his head and shoulders and took a step forward. "Well, let's go." As he walked, he took out a golden switch, and pushed a button. A staircase unfolded from the golden dragon, surprisingly without making a sound. With another push of a button, the roof separated into several triangles, and slid into the dark walls.
"Come on!" Roberto bellowed, already in his seat. "Let's go, lets go!"
Tea dashed up the metallic steps, and sat in the passenger's seat. The staircase and the door retreated swiftly and silently. With a jerk of a switch, the machine lifted smoothly, and once they were out, went into a steady hover.
"So, where are we going?" she asked, hoping that this time he'll have an answer for her.
"Into town." He answered, focusing on his radar. "You need new clothes."
"Is Kaiba really letting you spend his money on me? Wow…." She whistled. Knowing Kaiba, he'd never want anyone spend his money 'uselessly,' as he'd say.
"Not his, mine." He said calmly, as if he didn't mind to spend his own salary on someone he's only knows for a few days.
She did not feel comfortable about this. "But, Roberto, you've only kn-"
"Ah! It's no problem. You see, I live with the Signor, I don't have family. I love Signor Kaiba and Mokuba like they are my sons, but I can never get close enough to the older one. Mokuba's always there. He talks to me when he has a problem, he asks me to play tag with him… I guess you can say he is more like the son I never had…" he looked at his radar, and calculated how much time was left of the flight. " So, that brings me to the question: Why spend my money on you? Well, you see, I used to take Mokuba into town all the time, and spoil him with toys and stuff, and the Signor hated it, so we used to sneak out. Now, my little boy is getting too old for those things. I've had no reason to spend my money, but now, I do. This is just getting rid of some extra waste I carry around." He waved his hand around at his last statement.
"Wow…" she said under her breath. He really was a nice man, and she felt awful about taking his money away from him, even after his reason for spending it. "So, you've known the Kaiba brothers their whole lives?"
He heaved a hearty laugh at this. "Well, not their WHOLE lives, only since the day they were adopted by… eh… by… ehmm…." An eyebrow twitched as he struggled to remember the stepfather's name. "Forget it. We're here!" He looked out the window to make sure he did not hit any branches on the way down.
The aircraft landed with a slight jolt, and the two fell out of their seats, while grunting slightly…. But… they both heard a third, high-pitched grunt, along with theirs.
"Did you hear that?" Tea hissed, suddenly worried.
Roberto rolled his eyes. "MOKUBA!" he yelled with his face slightly turned to the back.
As if to answer, a swift, black blur fell out of a small closet right behind Roberto's seat. "Sorry…" was the sweet, innocent apology muffled by the floor. "It's just… I didn't have anything better to do… so… I decided to join you…" he looked up at them, his black eyes wide, and pleading for them to take him along.
Roberto looked at him with intimidating eyes for a second, then they softened and he smiled at the black-haired boy. "No problem, just be patient, first we get clothes for Tea."
"Ok!" he said, and nodded.
The three descended from the unfolded stairway. Tea looked around at the thick forest around them. "Why have we landed here?" she wanted to know, as she kept eyeing the tall trees.
"Because don't you think we'll attract a little too much attention if we'd have landed in the town?" He chuckled, revealing his crooked teeth. He put a hand one her back, and the other on Mokuba's and pushed them onward. "Come, come, we don't want to take too long."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
"Go! Faster, faster!" Seto ordered his worker men. They had fallen behind yesterday because of the rain, and Seto did not want to waste anymore time. He wanted to start the electricity by tomorrow, but seeing that there was still much work to do, he would have to wait another two days. "I want another waterslide, a few more rides, a haunted house and a playground." He bellowed out his commands. "This has all got to be done by tomorrow, so we can start on the electricity, the painting and the finishing touches." he at least wanted to TRY and get this done by tomorrow, although he knew it wouldn't be possible. "This whole park has to be done by next week Tuesday. Do I make myself clear?"
"But, Sir, that gives us only six days to finish." One man complained from the top of a ladder. A few whistled at this comment, knowing better then to aggravate the boss, especially at this time, now that he is uptight.
"Exactly…" he said dangerously, as his cold eyes narrowed into piercing slits. "Better get to work then…"
Speed of the hammerings increased, showing that they all understood. Seto sighed and rubbed his head out of frustration. He flopped down next to a finished Ferris-Wheel, and wiped his red, sweaty face. He was still astonished at how anyone can fear the rain so much, and abandon an important job, when they knew he had such an important deadline. If this amusement park was not done by the time the festivities come, he will not be able to handle the humiliation. (0.o Yup, he is too out of character… but I cannot do anything about it… I'm not very good at those kinds of things.)
He watched his worker men hammer away, on wood and plastic alike, while others were smelting metal. They seem to be working alright… maybe there is hope after all…
He let out a soft grunt as he heaved himself to his feet, and went to help out the others, just to pick up the pace a little.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Tea whistled at all the little shops and restaurants, and started to feel nervous at all the people flooding the area.
"Well, let's go." Said Roberto, and took a step, but didn't take anymore, for he had realized Tea was not following him. "What's wrong, child"
"It's… it's just… there are so many people, and-" she started, but was cut off by Roberto and Mokuba clamping their hands around her wrists, and started dragging her.
"These are people, not dogs. They wont stop and smell you." Roberto grunted in frustration, as Mokuba nodded in approval, and they both pulled her through the large, cramped, stuffy crowd. This place was like an outdoor mall, with no roads or streets for cars to pass, so one can only imagine how crowded it could get.
They were pushed, and shoved, then finally spewed out from the edgy mob, and accidentally stumbled through two heavy glass doors. Roberto rubbed his head, for he was the one who wound up opening the door with his head. Tea was lucky enough to be the one following him, and not hurting anything. She started giggling when she heard the two hard objects collide, and was now on the floor bursting with laughter.
"Oh… my… god!!" she said between laughs, trying her best not to let them interfere with her speech. "That… was… so…. AHAHA" she couldn't finish… it was impossible for her to talk at this moment with so much laughter being hulled out of her lungs.
At that moment, Mokuba burst through the doors, hoping to get a glimpse at what Tea was cracking up about. "What? What have I missed?"
Unable to speak just yet, Tea pointed a finger in Roberto's way, and kept holding her now pained side while she rolled around on the floor, literally laughing her guts out.
Roberto had a blank, yet embarrassed look on his face. "Are you through yet?" he grumbled while he hid his face with his worn-out suede jacket.
The laughing had turned into giggles, and soon stopped. She cleared her throat before she was able to speak again. "Yes, I'm finished." She said as she whipped a tear away with her pinkie, still on the floor on her stomach.
She froze when she noticed a tapping foot right next to her face. The foot led up to a pink-haired woman who was taking out her frustration on a piece of bubblegum. "Excuse me, but if you're going to roll around on my floor, I'd rather you leave." She blew a bubble, the colour of the gum matching her hair perfectly.
Tea cleared her throat again, and answered hoarsely. "Yes, sorry." She stood up, and dusted herself off. Having rolled around on the floor, and being completely blinded by laughter, she had not been able to look at the store properly. She had to squint her eyes from the gleaming floors, and bright-coloured clothes. Her first impression of this store was it was too colourful, but it was, as a matter of fact, quite a large store and she decided to look around here for a moment, before leaving the store to relieve her now aching eyes.
The large bubble popped, causing Tea to jump slightly. "Well, are you going to look around, or just stand there all day?" the pink-haired woman asked, still smacking away at her gum.
Tea nodded, and started walking down one of the isles.
Roberto looked down at the younger Kaiba, and they both sighed… this will be a l o n g day.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0- (no body needs to know how Tea went shopping….)
They walked out of a restaurant after having a late lunch. Roberto put a hand on his full stomach, Mokuba was jumping around, not able to stand still one moment longer, and Tea just laughed at the boy's hyperness, wearing one of the new outfits she bought: a mild purple t-shirt with indigo jeans, fitting comfortably on her slim physique.
She took a deep breath, and pushed it out in a heavy sigh. After many hours of non-stop walking, she was ready to sleep standing up. She looked at the two males in front of her, and followed them mindlessly, carrying at least five huge bags of clothing.
Mokuba was so energetic… he was talking and babbling "so we're going to the park, and then to the arcade, and then…. And then… and then…" while he was bouncing around on his feet.
Roberto was looking down at him, and smiled, as if he knew what the kid was even saying. "Ok, ok, no problem…" he said over and over again.
Her numb legs had led her to a park. She saw a bench, and headed straight for that, while the other two ran around on the huge field of dried grass. She flopped down onto the wooden bench with a satisfactory sigh, and stretched her legs out in front of her. She looked up at a clock tower not far away from her. It read 3:02. Four hours of non-stop shopping… she thought, and mentally whistled. Who'd have thought it would be this long… and tiring? She looked up again, at nothing in particular, as afternoon sun hit her face. It was so warm… so soothing… so…. So peaceful. She was so much at ease at that moment that everything was pushed aside. Nothing mattered to her anymore. It was as if the sun absorbed all of her problems, and hulled her away from reality and back into dream world.
A sudden hand grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her up and out of the sun's way. Reality hit her again, but the pains of life were still temporarily forgotten.
"Mokuba?" she asked, wanting to know what he precisely wanted.
"Come on, Tea play with us!" He chimed, his eyes full of joy and mirth.
"I don't know…" she answered, quite unsure if her legs would be willing to take her anywhere for the next few days.
"Aw, come on… please…?" he looked at her with the most irresistible face ever, that she thought she'd shoot herself, had she turned him down.
"Oh, alright." She said, giving in. No wonder why he's Seto's weakness. He can manipulate anyone, even if it means forcing down an unbreakable barrier.
He chuckled playfully, and sped off. Roberto waddled towards her. "He's in your hands now." He wheezed, and sat down stiffly on the bench near her bags.
The corner of her mouth lifted to a smile, as she scanned the area for the little black-haired boy. She found him while he was running all over, laughing like a hyena. "Alright, Mokuba…" she said under her breath. "Time for you to be caught!" she growled aloud as she sprinted after the boy.
Roberto watched the happy scene gleefully. His beady brown eyes squinted in a smile. They look so happy… a happy tear rolled down his cheek. If only I had a family of my own. He sighed and swiped the tears of his face. Tea had caught up to Mokuba, and started attacking him with endless tickles. He fell to the ground, and she dropped to her knees to continue the tickle-torture. Even she was laughing at his non-stop laughter.
An old lady with a wooden cane sat down next to him, with a bunch of tissues in her hand. "Lovely day, isn't it?" she asked lively, before blowing her nose loudly.
Roberto grimaced at the viscous noise, and nodded in response.
"Yes… as I thought." The old woman replied, then pushed a heavy, wet sneeze that landed all over Roberto.
"Ok Kids," he bellowed suddenly, just wanting to get home and wash himself from the germs that were just sprayed all over him. "We're leaving in ten minutes!" He got off the bench, and attempted to wipe all the spit from him. He looked down at the elderly woman when she was too busy blowing her nose (again) and shook his head.
(no, this is NOT a useless part… you'll see what happens…)
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Tea walked up the stairs to the bedroom floor with Mokuba, while Roberto went into the kitchen to make supper.
"Wasn't today fun?" the kid's energetic voice echoed throughout the long, dark stairway.
"Fun…. But tiring… I feel a little bad though." She said, her eyes on her feet "I spent a lot of Roberto's money today. I didn't even know I was going to buy so much!"
"Don't worry about it. He offered didn't he?" the echo's quieted as they stepped out of the staircase and onto the floor. Mokuba leaned on the railing surrounding the huge gap in the middle of the round floor.
"Yea…" she sighed. "But I'm sure Kai….ba…" her eyes grew suddenly, as she forgot Kaiba was bound to know she got all this stuff. I mean, who wouldn't? She was no longer in her smelly old uniform, but in brand new clothes! This was not something she'll be able to keep quiet. "Mokuba, what will happen when your brother finds out about this? Will he get angry at Roberto?" she tugged at her hair. "Ooh, this is all my fault. What if Roberto looses his job…..?"
Mokuba stared blankly at the stressing teenager before him. She takes things way too seriously. He stated mentally, as the sight before him confirmed his thoughts. Of course Seto will forgive Roberto. He's been like a father to them. "Tea…" he said, at an attempt to calm her down, but her rambling wouldn't stop. "Tea." He said more firmly, but still, she was too caught up in her own anxiety to even notice him. "TEA!" he shouted, and grabbed the back of her shirt to catch her attention. She froze, and turned to face him. "Stop taking things so seriously. Roberto will be fine, don't worry."
The front door opened loudly, indicating Seto's return. Tea squeaked from anxiety, but Mokuba clapped his hand over her mouth before her downpour of jabbering could start again.
"Just say that your parents sent it over, or something." He said, as the heavy door to the staircase creaked open from the floors below.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Well, today wasn't completely useless. He thought with an inward sigh, as he started up the dark staircase. His face was tomato-red, as usual, and he was sweating so much, that it looked as if he had jumped into a swimming pool. His worker men, and himself, at least got the biggest art of the job done: making the skeletons of the rides. They even finished off most of the haunted house. He had to nod approvingly at this, thinking that he would have hardly gotten anything done by the end of this day. Maybe he would be able to start on the electricity tomorrow, if all goes well.
He reached out for the doorknob when he heard a loud screech. A familiar one, which reminded him of his unwanted company. This surely pulled him out of his unnoticeable good mood.
"What's with the noise?" he asked harshly, as he burst through the heavy door. He found Tea pushing herself up onto the railing, kicking her foot in front of her, whimpering as she pointed to the dangerous creature that sounded like it was attacking her.
"There's a spi-" before she could finish, she found a large, strong foot crushing the poor helpless bug, and was now grinding it with the heel of his shoe. She suddenly felt a great amount of pity for the small, powerless creature.
"It's a thousand times smaller then you are. Surely, it must be more afraid of you then you are of it." He said coldly, refusing to look in her direction.
Tea could find no answer to this. She pushed herself from the railing, and headed towards a restroom.
Something caught his eye… she looked different. "Wait a second," he stopped her strictly "where did you get those clothes?"
Uh oh…. This was what she feared… "Erm… my… er, my parents sent it over. They're uh…. Getti- getting worried about me, yea, that's it."
Mokuba, who was looking from his slightly opened door, slapped his head with frustration. Tea… you are one terrible liar…
Seto gave her an uncertain look, but dismissed her anyway with a slight nod of his head.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
"Roberto." She heard a muffled voice as she stood outside Seto's office, late that night.
"Yes, Signor?" she heard the other man ask timidly.
Their voices were suddenly drowned out by a long flush of a toilet…. It dragged on…. And on…. And finally stopped. Through that loud noise, however, she was able to hear their voices. Kaiba didn't sound angry at Roberto, in fact, he seemed rather warm towards him…. Then again, his emotions were unreadable, so it was almost impossible for her to tell.
"Ok signor, thank you, signor." She heard the older man say, then he sneezed nosily. She froze when realizing how close he was to the door, from the opposite side, of course.
At the strong twirl of the doorknob, she sprinted across the small floor, and ran up the staircase as fast as her legs would take her, and wouldn't stop until she landed safely in her bed. After a long yawn, she pushed a great sigh of relief. Good…. Roberto's still got his job.
With her concerns being lifted, she drifted off into a deep sleep.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Well, there's the first part of this update. Coming up next: Roberto gets sick. Who will replace him in the kitchen? How will the others react?
Oh! And this is my friend, Judo.
Judo: -waves-
He is the one who made up a different version to this chapter, but it was quite perverted, and I didn't really want to post that…. Anyway, he'll be here for a while (parents made me share my computer… damn!) , and might say a few random things… just ignore him though…
Judo: HEY!! Hullo?! I'm right here… -still trying to catch one's attention-
Just ignore the annoying pervert.
Judo: All right, that's it, no more mister nice-guy. Gets up and grabs Pyro (me) by the arms, and pins to a wall. Let's see you get out of this one…
Screen blackens… having some technical difficulties… please stand by…
BASHJudo's voice: CRAP! My bal-
Pyro's voice: Shut your trap. What in the bloody furnaces of hell were you thinking anyway?
Judo's voice: That, milady, is something you'll never understand. –Said in a husky whisper-
SLAP Having a little more difficulties… please stand by…Judo: enough with the 'please stand by's already.
Pyro: Hush!
Second part will be up soon, so be patien with me... you can review to this one in the meantime.