Where This May Lead
Chapter 3
Seto Kaiba had very little childhood. His scant seven years before the deaths of his parents were precisely that – scant. Orphaned and suddenly fully responsible for his younger sibling, Seto matured quickly. Too quickly, he sometimes thinks. But he has never held it against Mokuba. Mokuba was not responsible for the car crash that killed their father.
Perhaps, Seto believes, it is because of this fact that he was unable to remain stoic in the face of Mokuba's accident. He could not bear to lose another family member – his last. He supposes that this is also the reason why he accepted Anzu Mazaki's presence that night so unquestioningly.
He admits freely that she is a godsend. She appeared at that worst moment and offered his family the strength they could not draw from each other. She offered him her shoulder to lean on and he had accepted. Now, as he watches her converse with his brother, he wonders if either of them could have done this without her.
Mokuba has made remarkable progress. Apart from the scare a week ago with the asthma attack (dangerous when one suffers from severe chest injuries) he has not regressed in the slightest. For this Seto is infinitely thankful. In this past month Seto believes has felt more exhausted and eons older than ever before.
Mazaki smiles brightly at something over his shoulder and Seto realises that the nurse has just left. Visiting hours are over. Mazaki rises with her customary unconscious grace. She hugs Mokuba as much as his injuries will allow and leaves the room. Seto, not knowing why, is suddenly desperate to follow her. Mokuba sense his frustration and, with a teasing grin, tells him to, "Go ahead."
Seto catches up with her just before she reaches the exit. She smiles at him and they fall into step with each other. They arrive at the parking lot and Seto scans the area for her Porsche. A masculine car by most standards but she has somehow made the sleek silver machine the epitome of feminine power. He continues to walk with her and, finally, she speaks:
"You seemed distracted today." Her voice is tranquil and Seto sees the options set before him – expound or not, the choice is his. Tonight, he chooses to expound.
"I was thinking."
"Hmm?"
He realises she is keeping her interest minimal to avoid offending him. He also realises that he has become comfortable around her. That prompts his next statement.
"Mokuba didn't have much of a childhood," he says, "He never really knew our parents."
"He told me that your father died in a car crash," she says. There is sadness in her tone that he knows is genuine, "And your mother in childbirth. He said that's why you were so… that's why you couldn't stand up to this like you always do."
"He would be right."
Her surprise is evident. She turns to face him, back braced against the still closed car door. Her eyes shine in the moonlight and the watery quality suggests tears he does not want to cause.
"You didn't have a childhood, did you?"
It is sympathy, not pity, she presents him with and for that Seto is eternally grateful. He does not know why he has chosen to speak to her but he does know that the restlessness he has been feeling all day has evaporated in her presence. Still, he cannot reply verbally. He shakes his head – rather, jerks it once from left to right – and keeps his gaze focused on some invisible thing in the distance.
Eventually he manages to mumble, "Childishness was one luxury I couldn't afford."
"I never said – It's always been you two against the world, hasn't it?"
She's right and she knows it. For once Seto is not disturbed by the situation. In fact, it feels rather… nice… to have someone understand. Empathy may not be within her reach but he does not expect that from many.
"You may have been an arrogant, rude, cruel boy, Kaiba, but you are a selfless person."
The compliment is so abrupt and so sincere that he has to look at her again. He is not on the receiving end of many sincere compliments and one from someone who has known him at his worst is something he wants to remember for the rest of his empty life. She is staring directly up at him and the concept of her beauty broadsides him.
He doesn't want to think that it is his voice that sounds so broken when he croaks, "Thank you."
Instead of replying to him verbally, Anzu does something no one but Mokuba has done for him since the morning of his father's death. She hugs him.
In the moonlight, under the barely visible stars of Manhattan's skies, she wraps her slender arms around his shoulders and gives him that which he has longed for since the age of eight. There is nothing in the world that can stop him from raising his arms and mirroring her gesture.
Mokuba's hugs have always taken from him. When he hugs Mokuba, Seto is the one giving of himself; giving affection and support. Now, here, Seto draws comfort for himself from Anzu Mazaki. In her embrace Seto finds solace, understanding, sympathy, and – if he squeezes hard enough - love. For that moment, Anzu Mazaki is everything in his world – his mother, father, friend, and lover.
Seto ignores the resounding clicking of the cameras that are hiding in the bushes. Nothing can spoil this moment for him. He never wants to let her go.
Ages later, he pulls away and she is crying. He can feel a chill on his cheeks that tells him he has also wept. He looks at her and she smiles through her tears.
As he watches her car drive away, he thinks; One day, I'll marry her.
Randomly placed Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh is the property of Kazaki Takashi. No profit is made from this story.