Disclaimer: I do not own YGO. Hey, you know what? I just noticed I had a really weird habit! When I type a new story/chapter I always change the font, size, and… sometimes color… Even though they are all the same on the internet. I am sooooooooooo weird! But you know what, I AM PROUD! (also a bit crazy, but STILL PROUD!)
Karai and Renet- Thank you soo much for the review. Certain reviews just grab my attention and make me want to start the next chapter. In your case, this was one of those! Seto and Tea have also become one of my favorite pairings too! Every time I get on I look for them! I am hopeless…. oro… I am updating and guess what time it is…. Guess! I'll tell you… Be prepared… 4:03AM! I am dead serious by the way. I am a compy addict! It's not helpable.
LovinLove124- Continue A Blooming Friendship please!
Online Accident
Chapter 2: Wake up call
Saturday, October 15, 2005, 4:16AM
Tea awoke to the crickets of the night chirping loudly outside the guest bedroom window. Her eyes were closed as she didn't want to open her eyes. She unconsciously snuggled into her warm pillow when it made a sound. She shrugged it off until… 'Wait, pillows don't make sounds' Tea opened her eyes to look up at a sleeping Kaiba. His head was tilted to the side and his face was peaceful. 'He never has a peaceful face… well maybe when he's around Mokuba, but any other time would mean the end of the world!' Tea thought to herself before it hit her… SHE WAS IN KAIBA'S LAP/ARMS! Which ever it was, it freaked her out! She hastily scrambled out of his arms only to fall on the floor with a loud 'thud', causing Seto to stir. She didn't want his peaceful face to slip so she quickly got back into the bed that her back was up against. Unfortunately, his eyes slowly opened as he took in his surroundings,
"Tea, what time is it?" He asked warily as he rubbed his eyes,
"Uh…" 'Wait... He called me by my first name!' She looked to the clock on the nightstand next to her, "Uh, it's 4:16." (Actual time as I wrote this! ;D)
"Great. I didn't get any work done," Seto grumbled as his head rested in his propped up hand,
"Uh, Kaiba?" Tea asked with a quaky voice, "Can you drop me off at Yugi—"
"Stay here for as long as you need." Kaiba said bluntly. For some reason the mere, not even mention of Yugi from her caused his insides to stir, "Tomorrow we'll go to your house to get your stuff."
It was obvious that Tea had feelings for Yami. Even he knew this.
"But—" Tea's words were cut off as Seto got up and left the room quickly. He needed to clear his thoughts.
"Whatever." Tea said as she lay her head down to try to rest.
Seto warily walked into his room and shut the door behind him. He drowsily walked over to his bed and plopped down on the rarely used, but welcoming sheets.
He always fell asleep in his office. When he had to work, late nights were something he was used to.
He turned his head to the side, eyes closed as he rubbed his back. He slept in a chair less then he slept in his bed. Normally he would sleep in the sofa that was in his office. 'Tea lost her parents. Just as I did. BAH! Why am I thinking about her? She is… an… orphan. Just as myself. She lost her parents and I brought her here. DAMMIT! She is screwing up and invading my thoughts! Hell, I even told her she could stay here! What is wrong…with……..me………..' Seto thought as he finally drifted off to sleep. In another room in the Kaiba mansion……. (A/n. Hehehe...does evil snicker)
'Why am I here? Why didn't Seto-wait! I CALLED HIM SETO! WHATS WRONG WITH ME?-Why didn't KAIBA drop me off at Yugi's or, or my house. Why bring me here? It didn't make any sense. Before, Kaiba would probably have just left me there on the ground. BUT HE PICKED ME UP AND BROUGHT ME TO HIS HOUSE! I just don't understand Kai- BAH! Why am I thinking about Kaiba when I should be thinking about my dea—' no, she didn't even want to think it. She wanted to just go to sleep and never wake up. Just go to sleep and never wake up. Just go to sleep and never wake up. And she did the first part, just not the second…
"Gardner… Gardner wake up." A deep voice called to her, "C'mon Gardner, we have to go get your stuff, it's almost quarter to 9:00 and I have stuff to do all day." The voice said a little louder this time, gently shaking her arm back and forth,
"5 more minutes, Dad." Tea mumbled as she rolled over, now facing the owner of the voice, but still asleep.
Seto immediately removed his hand from her arm when she said that. She thought he was her dad. Hesitantly, he put his hand back on her arm and shook her a little more roughly this time, "Wake up, Gardner."
"Huh?" Tea opened her eyes and raised her head slowly to meet his eyes, "Good morning, Kaiba." She said in a monotone voice.
"Get ready. We're going to go get your stuff in a little while." Kaiba said as he looked down at her,
"Hmmm… no. I don't feel like staying here." Tea said sadly as she turned, her back to Seto, and was lying completely on the bed again.
"Where do you plan on staying?" Kaiba asked.
"Yugi's. I'll feel more welcome there." She said harshly.
"I asked you to stay here." Kaiba responded.
Tea's head shot up as she turned around to face him with an angry look in her eyes, "Look, Kaiba. Don't feel obligated to give me shelter just because my par—" She closed her mouth and turned away, her brows furrowed and her blue eyes glazed.
"I don't feel obligated. And if I didn't want you here, would I offer?" Kaiba smirked.
"Well at Yugi's I'll be treated with respect. I won't get that here." She spat back, her voice filled with venom, "Besides, why DO you want me here?"
Seto didn't respond automatically. He didn't know how to answer that. He really didn't know why he wanted her there. He just did. Seto felt different when he was around her the moment he found out she was DancingQueen1704.
"Tea," It felt strange to call her by her first name, even though he had said it last night, "I know what you're going through." Seto said calmly as he sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at her,
"Yeah right." Tea said icily and glared at him even icier. She had learned how to do that from Seto's constant teasing.
"If you don't remember, I'll enlighten you. I am an orphan and have been since I was 12, Mokuba since he was 6. Our parents died in a car accident and we were told that they were dead. Simple as that. We were sent to an orphanage for adoption. Many families were willing to adopt me without Mokuba, but I refused unless he came with me." Seto said, not taking his gaze away from hers the whole time, "When I was 13 and Mokuba 7, a man named Gozaburo Kaiba came to the orphanage. He was looking to adopt a smart kid. In this case me. He said he'd adopt me, but I refused unless Mokuba came with me. So Gozaburo made a bet with me. We play a game of chess. If I won then he had to adopt both of us. If he won, he would simply leave the orphanage without a kid. We played. I won. He adopted us both and immediately made me study all day. Not only that, he would abuse me. Hit me, slap me, whatever it took for me to stay awake and study. Even when I reached the goals he made for me, it still wasn't good enough. The only fun I had was with Mokuba and Duel Monsters. When I was 15 I threw Gozaburo over and took over the company and changed it into what it is today. So, yeah, I think I know what you're going through." He tore his gaze from hers and looked at the wall with a blank stare.
"Wow, Kaiba. I didn't know all that happened. I mean, I knew you were an orphan, but I didn't know that much." Tea replied sadly. She really had no idea that his childhood had been like that.
"Hurry up. We'll leave as soon as you're ready, Tea." Seto stood up, ready to leave the room,
"I'm sorry all that happened to you, Kaiba." Tea said, her head down.
"Don't be sorry. It wasn't. I had Mokuba. And by the way, don't call me Kaiba anymore. Just Seto." Seto said, "There is some spare clothes in the closet for now. Get ready. Well leave soon." Seto said, closing the door behind him, only to be greeted with a large tackle from a jumpy 12 year old,
"Hey Seto! How'sTea?Whenarewegoingtogetherstuff?Cansheplaywithmewhenyouguyscomeback? I'mhungrywhensbreakfast? Wherearewegoingtohavemyparty?" Mokuba asked in a hurry. Seto just gave him a confused look, (A/n: That was so hard to type. I was struggling to not put spaces in between the words!)
"What did we agree to?" Seto looked up at Mokuba with a stern look,
Mokuba sighed, "Not talking so fast so that if I ask a question, you can understand me. Like that time I asked if I could have a thousand dollars and you didn't understand it, so you said sure." Mokuba looked innocently at Seto,
"Yes and no. You'd spend it all on who knows what." Seto's face went into a small smile, "Now do you mind getting off me Mokuba?"
"Oh, sorry." Mokuba said in embarrassment.
"Now, what did you ask me?" Seto asked, brushing off his clothes,
"How's Tea?" Mokuba looked up at his brother with his index finger on his chin, "When are we going to get her stuff? Can she play with me when you guys get back? I'm hungry, when's breakfast?" Mokuba tried remembering, "Annnnnnnnd... Where are we having my party?"
"Let's see... Tea's fine. We are going in a little bit. It's up to her. We'll wait for her to come down. And we're going to have it here. Also... we need to have a talk about how Tea and I met online, Mokuba." Seto said almost cheerily as he ruffled his brothers hair,
"Uhh...um... well... err... " Mokuba gulped as he realized he was about to be forced to speak when...
"What's going on out here?" Tea asked at she stepped out of the room. She was wearing a lavender, short-sleeved shirt with a black stripe that went from the side to the other side, but gets thinner, and a blue jean skirt, same length of the one she worn when she met Seto at the park.
"Just me and Mokuba settling something. Right, Mokuba?" Seto looked at Mokuba from the corner of his eyes,
"Uhh...right." Mokuba looked down.
"Well, I'm kinda hungry. Have you guys eaten breakfast yet?" Tea asked, noticing how tense Mokuba was. She heard the conversation for the last couple of minutes and had saved Mokuba at the opportune moment.
"YAY! Breakfast!" Mokuba zoomed towards and down the stairs singing his little song 'Breakfast, Breakfast, Breakfast.' Unfortunately, those were practically the only words to the song.
"Wow. He's energetic for 10 in the morning." Tea said, dazed at how much energy Mokuba actually had at this time. When she was 12, she would sleep until 3 in the afternoon at times.
Heh, you think that's bad. You should see him on Christmas morning... at 5:30AM. It's like a horror movie that's actually scary." Seto said as he started towards the stairs while Tea just stood there dumbly.
Was it just her, or did SETO KAIBA just make a funny?
"You coming, Tea?" Seto asked from the top stair,
"Oh, yeah. Sorry." She said embarrassedly. She only took 3 steps toward him when they heard something coming from the kitchen,
'Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast! I can't wait for... Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast!' Along with that a small banging sound was also heard coming from the kitchen.
"What is—" Tea was about to ask before she was cut off.
"It's Mokuba's song. He sings it almost every day." Seto replied as he kept walking down the stairs.
"And the banging?" Tea asked as she kept going down the long staircase also,
"Him banging his fork and whatever else he's holding on the table." Seto replied as a maid came up to meet him at the bottom of the staircase,
"Good morning, Mr. Kaiba. When will you be leaving today?" She asked politely, while bowing.
"At..." He looked down at his watch, 'It's 10:07 now...' "By quarter to 11."
"All right. And what would you like for breakfast this morning, sir?" She asked in a cheery voice,
"Eggs would be fine." He stated as he walked right past her.
"Okay, sir." She said bowing again until she noticed Tea standing at the bottom of the stairs dumbly as she admired the HUMONGUS house she was in, "Excuse me, Mrs. Gardner, what would you like for breakfast?" She asked warmly.
"Oh! Sorry I was just admiring the house." Tea said as she returned to this world, "Um.. Eggs are fine. And it's just Tea."
"Alrighty! Good morning Tea!" The maid said as she started to leave the room,
"Excuse me, but what is your name?" Tea asked,
"Oh, it's Amez!" (A/n: It's pronounced like aim, but with an 'ez' at the end!)
"Good morning to you too, Amez!" Tea smiled as she walked into the mail area of the house until she didn't know where she was going, "Oops, I forgot to ask where exactly the kitchen was in this HUGE house." She lightly whacked herself in the head for forgetting,
"Tea, it's the swinging door to your left." Amez said , sticking her head out from one of the many rooms in the house.
"Oh, thanks!" Tea said as she walked into the kitchen, "Thanks for not telling me where the kitchen was, Seto." Tea said in an agitated voice before she realized what happened. She had just called Kaiba by his first name without hesitation.
"I thought you followed me." Seto said bluntly as he took a sip of his coffee.
"Eww... You drink that stuff? I can't stand it." Tea said emphasizing her distaste for the drink by sticking her tongue out.
"Yeah, I agree, Tea. It is pretty gross!" Mokuba agreed as she sat down in between them.
"Three egg plates coming up!" Amez called as she walked into the kitchen from the door opposite Tea came in, while balancing three large plates on her arm. (A/n: Like in Mexican restaurants. The food server guys that come to the table with, like, 7 plates of food balanced on 1 arm... It scares me...)
"Wow. I thought we were just getting eggs. Not full course breakfasts!" Tea awed.
"Yeah. For us, eggs mean eggs, bacon, toast, and fruit!" Mokuba replied as he wiped away some drool from his mouth.
"Oh… I see." Tea said as she eyed the food, waiting to eat.
After breakfast Seto, Tea, and Mokuba all shuffled into a limo and headed to Tea's house.
"So, Tea? How long you gonna stay with us?" Mokuba asked, looking up from his Nintendo DS.
Tea just looked out the window, not hearing the question Mokuba asked,
"Tea? Earth to Tea!" Mokuba waved a hand in her face to get her attention,
"Oh. Sorry Mokuba. I was just thinking." Tea smiled warmly at Mokuba, not paying attention to the blue eyes that watched her every move. Seto knew that smile was fake. He knew she was just putting on an act. Why? He didn't know.
"Where here. You guys can come in if you want. It'll only be a minute." Tea said as she stepped out of the car, Mokuba and Seto following behind.
"So, this is where you live?" Mokuba looked around like a small…er child in an amusement park, "It's… It's so small compared to mine!" Mokuba kept looking around the house as if he was searching for Easter eggs, "But it's so cozy and welcoming!" Mokuba plopped down on the couch after going through almost the entire house in less than a minute.
True. Tea's house wasn't that big. It was smaller than most by a little bit. Tea never thought much of it, but she was going to miss her house. She was 16 and couldn't live alone. At least not by the law.
"You can just wait here. I'll be down shortly." Tea said as she walked up the stairs and went into her room, "You guys can get something from the kitchen if you want."
"Seto?"
"Yes, Mokuba?" Seto walked over to Mokuba and sat down next to him.
"Why is Tea coming to live with us?"
Seto visibly stiffened at the question. He still hadn't told Mokuba WHY Tea was coming to stay with them. Even though Tea had already been there for 2 days, Mokuba still had no clue as to WHY she was even there.
The night Seto came home with Tea in his arms…
FLASHBACK
"SETO! You're home ea—" Mokuba stopped when he saw Tea limply in his arms, "What happened! Why is Tea unconscious? Seto! You're not answering me!" Mokuba ran up to Seto with worry written all over his face,
"…" Seto just looked at his brother in a way Mokuba knew all-too much. Seto wanted to be left alone.
"I'll just go to my room." Mokuba ran up the stairs hurriedly as Seto kicked the front door closed.
Seto walked calmly up the stairs to one of the many guest rooms in his enormous mansion. When he finally managed to open the door without dropping the brunette girl in his arms, he walked in, placed her on the bed, and even tucked her in. After he did, he just stood there, staring down at her unconscious form.
Why he was acting that way was unknown to him. He felt… felt like he wanted to make her feel secure. Like she wasn't alone. Like she had people who cared… Why he felt that way was a mystery. The moment he realized that she was the person who he had had an 'online relation' with, he felt… Like he could really trust her… Like he… His feelings were so scattered… He didn't know what he was feeling… He just knew he wanted to be there for her.
When he finally managed to tear his gaze from her face, he walked out of the room and to his office.
He sat down in his chair and opened up the laptop. Once it started up he clicked the file that held the designs for the new duel disk, but his fingers wouldn't budge on the keyboard. Realizing that he wasn't going to be getting any work done, he shut off his laptop and exited his office, heading to the guest room where she was. When he opened the door, she was still asleep, so he merely sat down in the chair that was placed next to the bed and watched her.
FLASHBACK END
MUAHA— wait, that wasn't a cliffhanger… Oh well…….. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Yes. I feel better. I will try to update sooner than I did for this chapter! RxR!