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Part Two: Two Strangers
Is she a girl or magic?
Is she happiness or poison?
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"What a jerk!" were the first words Rebecca Hopkins emitted when she plunked down into her seat. She had meant for it to be a personal exclamation, especially considering her friends were having a lively and almost obnoxious conversation, but the voices stopped and three pairs of eyes turned to her. Instantly, Rebecca felt her face heat and she began to look through her purse to avoid looking at them.
"What jerk?"
"Who's a jerk?"
"You met a hot guy, didn't you!"
"No!" Rebecca cried out, wishing she could disappear within her purse. "I didn't meet any hot guy!" Her voice lowered. "He certainly wasn't hot."
Her friends began squealing again and this time, she was attacked with no place to hide.
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"Hey guys," Mokuba said, dropping down his backpack and falling next to one of his friends. The two other boys were in the midst of a riveting card game and looked up momentarily to greet Mokuba before returning to it. Leaning back, Mokuba was hardly affected. He knew exactly what to say to get their attention.
"What a rack...!"
The cards were promptly dropped and just how Mokuba liked it, he became their god.
"You met a chick?" Tatsuya exclaimed and Takeshi's eyes widened with anticipation for Mokuba's next words.
"Hell yeah... And damn, did she fall for me. She was running..."
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"...for the train," Rebecca explained, knowing there was no way out of telling her story. "And this guy..."
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"...put my hand out for her to catch. The moment our hands touched I knew..."
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"...that he was a complete pervert! His eyes were fixated on my breasts the entire time! And when he pulled me on the train..."
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"...she fell into my arms and our bodies were almost meant to fit into one another. She barely reached my shoulder and I could see I distinct blush on her cheeks. Then, she..."
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"...tried to read but he kept bothering me and..."
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"...she kept sending me these sultry looks. Y'know the kind, where..."
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"...he just wants to get into your pants? Luckily, the door opened and he..."
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"...gave her a long and heavy kiss. It was awesome," Mokuba finished, grinning.
"Jeez, and that was just on the train!" Takeshi exclaimed, sending Mokuba an incredulous look. "I dunno how you do it, man! You're like honey to the women -they can't get enough of you!"
"It's in the genes," Mokuba said, stretching his arms above his head.
"Yeah, your brother's wife is hot," Tatsuya commented and Mokuba replied with a careless shrug.
"She's okay, but the girl I ran into today..." He shook his head in mock disbelief. "Ten times hotter. I bet she'd be great in the sack."
While his friends excitedly agreed, Mokuba inwardly sighed. No, that girl would be anything but great in the sack. In fact, she was such a prude that he bet she had never done it before. No, he knew she had never done it before. After all, she was Rebecca Hopkins, self-assessed bitch.
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Getting off from the train, Rebecca shielded her eyes from the sun and blindly looked around the station. Her friends' expressions coincided with hers and none spoke until a group of rambunctious men (more like boys to her) broke the tension.
"Hello, ladies!" one greeted, smiling and bowing down. His long blond bangs fell into his sparkling blue eyes, reminding Rebecca of a pool beneath a waterfall. Her friends giggled and instantly, the introductions began rolling.
"Takeshi," the blond said, taking Heather's hand and kissing it lightly. She blushed deeply and responded with own name.
"I'm Jennifer," her Korean friend introduced, holding out her hand to the other guy with wild dyed red hair and multiple piercings.
"Tatsuya," he said, voice so deep that she could almost hear a purr to it. He shook Jennifer's hand and they both seemed quite nonchalant with the introduction, unlike Heather and Takeshi, who were stealing glances at one another. The final man still had his back to them, staring out at the train track that disappeared into an empty field.
"Oi, Kaiba!" Tatsuya called out and Rebecca instantly blanched, stopped breathing and wished to keel over and die. It couldn't be... Not him... Anyone but him! But the hair, now that she thought about it, was a dead giveaway. No one could have shaggy hair like his in such a shade that it appeared more amethyst than black.
"K-Kaiba!" Jennifer stuttered and she began shaking Kira, who hadn't bothered to introduce herself yet. "As in, Kaiba Corporation?"
At that moment, as if waiting for the excessive reaction, Mokuba turned around and smiled deviously, his eyes in evil little slits yet appearing unbelievably delicious to all the girls. Well, all the girls but one.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Rebecca demanded, pushing past her friends and grabbing Mokuba by the collar of his leather jacket. His smirk never faded and that increased her anger. "Can't you just take one of your freakin' jets?"
"Now you chose to acknowledge me?" he asked, smile suddenly fading. Rebecca's grip faltered and although she wanted to yell at him some more, she half-heartedly released the weasel. An unnatural silence followed, five patrons having watched the scene but unable to understand the premise behind it. Finally, it was Takeshi who put the pieces together.
"Ah, so Mokuba dated you, didn't he?"
Rebecca's three friends all released simultaneous strangled gasps and in turn, the Duel Monster's champion turned cherry-red.
"Hardly!" she growled, surprised at the animosity in her own voice. Her eyes were focused on the ground and she had a feeling if she had to explain what happened between her and Mokuba, she wouldn't be able to control herself. Thankfully, Kira took her gently by the shoulders and began to steer her to the general direction of the exit from the station.
"We'd better go," Heather said, noticing their exit. The guys nodded and then Takeshi held out his hand again. Although she hesitated for a moment, Heather found herself shaking his hand once more and they said their goodbyes.
"Out of all the people they could have spoken to..." Rebecca was muttering when her friends caught up with them.
"Well, not exactly," Kira interrupted, her voice as timid as ever. "Most of the people on the train were European. We obviously looked like tourists, and so were they."
"Japanese guys are so hot!" exclaimed Heather and Jennifer shot her a dirty look.
"For Rebecca's sake, we should forget we ever met them!" she snapped and Heather pouted. "Anyway, where are we going from here?"
"Cab." Rebecca pointed to the desired vehicle. "Hotel. Sleep. Tour tomorrow."
"Well, I agree with the first two..." Heather said coyly and Jennifer stiffened. Placing a hand on Kira's shoulder, she signaled her to stop and stared at Heather with an incredulous look.
"What are you plotting?" she demanded and Heather released a strangled laugh.
"Nothing!" she protested, although she laughed shortly again. "Well, except for this."
She then held out her right fist and unfurled it to reveal a small crumpled white paper ball. Rebecca could already feel her critical demon begin to claw her way out while Kira seemed overcome with trepidation, glancing from the hysterical Heather to the ticking time bomb Rebecca and then to Jennifer, who was filing her nails...?
"Open it," she said in between chews of her gum. "I wanna get to the hotel, frick it."
"Well, not with that attitude..." Heather began but one look from Rebecca changed her mind. "Then again, I think Rebecca should have the honors."
"Of chucking it out?" she asked, partially not joking. She reached to snatch the paper ball away from Heather but was beaten to it by Jennifer.
"It's an invitation..." she said, arching her left brow. "A formal dinner party in some restaurant...?"
"It's written on the back of cigarette paper!" Rebecca cried out, feeling herself losing control quickly. "You guys would have to be insane to go!"
"It starts at nine and we're supposed to say we're with table six..." She stuffed the paper into her back pocket and smiled. "Can't hurt to try! I bet it'll be real fancy, with Mokuba being a Kaiba and all..."
"I'm not going!" Rebecca insisted. By this point they had reached the hotel and after paying the cab driver, Rebecca continued. "Really, I'm not!"
"We heard you the first time," Heather responded dryly while Kira talked to the receptionist about their hotel room. "You can stay here and watch foreign television shows."
Rebecca puffed her cheeks out, indignant. "Useless friends!"
"Uhm, we're in 28..." Kira nervously spoke, holding out the key to whoever would accept it. Heather and Rebecca both pounced on it but Rebecca prevailed as the victor. Smiling smugly, she flounced off to the room while her friends followed grumpily.
Silently, they observed the room and chose out the beds. Kira and Rebecca would be sharing one while Heather and Jennifer took the other. While they unpacked, their silence remained reserved until the lighthearted sounds from a cell phone keypad being touched was heard. Three heads turned to the sound of the disturbance and were all prepared to turn back to what they were doing when Heather, the cause of the disturbance, began to speak.
"Hi, I'm just confirming the names of Mokuba Kaiba's guests...Table six...yes..."
"WHAT!" Rebecca dove for the phone but was retrained by her two other friends grabbing her by either arm. "Why the HELL are you doing that! They probably don't even remember our names, it's all a hoax, you're INSA-"
"Oh, Rebecca Hopkins and three guests? Well, thank you very much." Hanging up the phonem she smiled smugly to an unnaturally palid Rebecca. "Hmm."
"Wow, he gave away that information awfully easily..." Kira said in a near-whisper, frowning.
"Eh, they're foreign. Probably get all worked up when someone calls and speaks to them in English," Heather dismissed.
"Actually, we're the foreign ones," Kira pointed out but was dismissed by Heather throwing her hands above her head and giving the ceiling a 'who cares?' look.
"Listen, that's not the issue here," Heather proclaimed, standing up on the bed and letting her little 5'0" self (plus the 2 feet of bed) tower over them. "It's clear thta in order to go, we need Rebecca."
"Never!" Rebecca cried out, tossing her head and once again attempting to wrench her arms out of Kira and Jennifer's grasps. "Never! I'd rather sleep in a barn! I'd rather get drunk! I'd rather marry Ishida! Just don't make me see him!"
.Five Hours Later.
"I hate all of you," Rebecca mumbled, her arms refusing to move from their folded stance and her eyes formed into vindictive slits. Heather, onyx hair messily tied up with loose curly strands falling out and wearing a seductive thin red dress, squeezed her upper arm and giggled.
"I love you too!" she exclaimed, her eyes busily scanning the room for the men they had met earlier in the day. Rebecca sighed and turned around to give her friends a pleading look. Unfortunately, Jennifer and even mousy Kira seemed excited to be within the hall, pointing to paintings and observing the elite.
The hall was magnificent, certainly nothing they would have expected from such a rural area. It had been recently built, and it didn't take Rebecca too long to realize that it belonged to Industrial Illusions. Violins played in the background and servers approached them every so often to offer wine or an appetizer. All the girls refused all the offers, too nervous to consume anything.
"So, I wonder why Mokuba placed your name on the list," Heather said, bringing up the subject that Rebecca had been trying to avoid since her irritating friends made that phone call. "Is it because you two had somethin-"
"We had nothing!" Rebecca had meant to hiss, but it came out in a shout. Heads turned and Rebecca attempted to hide behind Jennifer's lanky and tall frame. When they returned to their conversation, deciding that staring at the crazy girl was only amusing for so long, Rebecca was ready to emerge from her hiding spot but stopped breathing when grabbed her from behind.
One of arm slithered around her waist while the other rested around her neck. She was too shocked to move -that was until the hand attached to the arm around her neck slid into her v-cut neckline and then further down...!
"Becky, what color is your bra?"
"What the hell do you think you're doing!" Rebecca cried out, grabbing the hand and twisting it at an abnormal angle. The perpetrator released a strangled cry and fell to his knees instantly, allowing Rebecca to see his face. She wasn't surprised.
As usual, Mokuba looked stunning in evening wear, although his shaggy hair ruined the Prince-like image that had the potential to be created, not to mention the earrings in his left ear and that eyebrow piercing. Sometimes it amazed her that he was the Vice-President of Kaiba Corporation, and she supposed her look of incredulity leaked out because Mokuba quit whining and in an instant, his usual implying look occupied his features.
"I see you're still happy to see me?"
Dropping like hand like it was diseased, Rebecca turned around and walked off, planning to leave. However, her ears picked up on her friends laughing and realized that Mokuba's friends were hitting on them. Enraged, she turned back around and nearly fainted when she saw Mokuba escorting none other than Heather to the banquet tables. In fact, all of them were escorted except for her.
Deciding she didn't care, she returned to her plan of leaving but remembered that Kira had the key. Stalking across the room, she hardly noticed the stares in her direction. Rebecca was never the type to notice her own sex appeal, and this night, she had quite a bit of it. Her body fitting azure gown caught the looks of almost everyone in the room. The multiple tiny sparkles seemed to attract even the lights and the skirt had small flares of slits that flicked behind her like the blue core of flame.
Therefore, she was even oblivious to the irate look Mokuba was giving his friends as they silently adored the blonde beauty. She had done a complete one-eighty since the last time they had seen her -hair tied in a ponytail, library clothing and glasses. To the males, she had become the good girl turned bad. When she approached the round table, she held out her hand and demanded the keys. Kira was ready to hand it to her but Mokuba darted up and grabbed Rebecca by her bare shoulders.
"Becky-"
"Rebecca."
"Fine, Rebecca. Anyway, you shouldn't be going home by yourself. It's dangerous for a girl to be out alone in a foreign country..." he explained, leading her to an empty seat on the other side of where he had been sitting.
"And now, Ladies and Gentleman, we present to you the entertainment for tonight -Lady Kabob, world renowned Opera Singer!"
"I think I should be more afraid of you," Rebecca hissed, but found herself sitting anyway. She was hungry and she supposed that if food was in the deal, she would stay long enough to scarf it all up. Unfortunately, her ears weren't adjusting too well to the opera singer in the middle of the stage, a stereotypical fat lady with curly blonde hair, overly pink cheeks and a massive purple dress.
Mokuba chuckled at her remark, patted her on the back (taking a nice feel while at it) and then proceeded to completely ignore her. She hardly cared -the menu was more interesting and appealing than Mokuba, anyway. She lifted up the laminated booklet high in front of her face to cover the budding couples. Unfortunately, she couldn't read anything on it and her auditory canals began to pick up on Mokuba's conversation with Heather.
"Jeez, this is sooo boring..." Heather was moaning. "No offense, or anything..."
"None taken," Mokuba responded and then laughed. "I'm wondering whether that woman is singing or crying!"
"Do you have any musical talents, Mokuba? I read in an article that your brother can play wondrous music on the violin."
"Well, I've been told that my fingers have a type of magic in it when I play the piano..."
"Really?"
"Oh yes... Ah, Harriet, is it?"
"Heather..."
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I was so lost in your eyes that I forgot your name..."
Heather released a deep sigh. "Really, Mokuba?"
"Oh, really, Heather..."
Between the sickening cooing to the right of her and the screeching woman to the left, Rebecca had enough. Slamming her menu to the table, she stood up and then stalked to the stage, but not before knocking her chair down first.
"Rebecca, what are you doing?" her friends seemed to be saying to her through their wide eyes and frantic looks around them. Rebecca ignored their trepidation, climbing straight onto the stage and requesting for the microphone from the opera singer. The woman seemed flustered but noticing Rebecca's politeness (not to mention a sort of mad gleam in her eye) she didn't protest and left the stage without quarrel.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," Rebecca began, surprised that her voice didn't waver. "I'm sorry about interrupting that wonderful performance, but we have a local celebrity in our audience. Not only is he the Vice President of Kaiba Corporation, he is also a world renowned piano player. Today, he happily agreed to play a piece for us. Let us welcome, Mr. Mokuba Kaiba!"
The light fell where her hand pointed and Mokuba started, nearly falling out of his chair. People began to clap and although he tried to protest getting up, he was pushed by Heather herself. Rebecca inwardly cheered.
Mokuba hesitantly came to the stage, shaking the entire time and then stood up next to Rebecca.
"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded through the side of his mouth.
"Well, you did say that your fingers had a ... what was it? A 'type of magic' in them?"
Coldly brushing past him with a malevolent smile, Rebecca left Mokuba alone on stage and a moment later, a piano behind him was illuminated. Deciding he had no choice, he shakily walked to the string instrument and took a seat at the bench. Poising his fingers above the ivory keys, he eyed the audience wearily before slamming his digits down.
The sound emitted would make an army of cats howling seem like a sonnet from Bach. Mokuba literally used every limb to pound out the keys, from his elbows to his feet and even his forehead. Everyone watched in horror except for Rebecca, who was watching with disinterest. She hadn't expected any better or any worse. When Mokuba seemed finished, the air was heavy and silent, but was broken by the solitary clapping of Rebecca, whose face remained stony. She turned around to leave, satisfied, but was stopped by a sudden sound.
It was music.
Someone was playing the piano and it was wondrous, beautiful, soothing music. Rebecca could feel her heart skip a beat and when she turned around, her fear was confirmed. Mokuba was playing with the grace of a musical prodigy, a small smile forming on his lips. His eyes were closed until Rebecca took an unintended step forward and he then looked at her. For some reason, he seemed different -not the wayward boy she always knew but someone else. His violet eyes teased her through his bangs and his smile grew wider while his playing became softer.
After touching the last key, he welcomed the grand applause. Rebecca, meanwhile, was dumbfounded to why he would do such a stupid thing as to embarrass himself by hiding his true talent. She was moreover upset that she had judged him wrong. Squeezing her hands into fists, she clenched her jaw and was ready to take off again when she was grabbed by the arm.
"You're not leaving without a dance, are you?" Mokuba asked, giving her a small smirk. His solitary dimple in his right cheek would have been cute had it not been for the lecherous and condescending look his eyes were giving her.
"Drop dead," she replied coolly but cried out when Mokuba swung her into his arms.
"Let me go!" she demanded while Mokuba swung her onto the stage to a nonexistent beat. Going to the middle, he held onto her tightly while she attempted to scratch his eyes out and pounded him repeatedly.
"I'm sorry, my girlfriend is mad at me because I didn't propose the way she wanted me to," Mokuba explained to the confused onlookers. Some faces softened, but their friends began whispering to one another. Rebecca was ready to scream at him but he held her in a position that her face was being smashed into his chest and she could barely breathe, let alone speak. "But, I'm going to ask her again. Do you guys think she should marry me?"
There was a chorus of "Yes!" and Mokuba laughed.
"Alright then! Rebecca Hopkins, will you marry me?" he asked the top of her head. She tried to say no but it was difficult.
"She said yes!" Mokuba cried out and everyone cheered except for Rebecca. Mokuba finally released her and she was ready to scream at him but was caught into an unexpected 'shut the hell up' kiss. The scene was almost like something from a fifties movie. He dipped her down low and despite herself, she weakened in his arms while their lips moved against each other's. However, the romanticism was broken when she felt Mokuba's tongue try to have a little fun and his fingers move up her leg and right when she was ready to start hitting him again, he released her and she fell straight onto her butt.
"Actually, now that I think about it... You're not the girl for me!" Mokuba announced. He then ran up to a bewildered Heather, grabbed her by the arm, blew a cherry to the still fallen Rebecca and then dashed out the twin doors.
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a/n: Sixteen reviews! Awesome, I couldn't have wished for more! (seriously) And since the amount of reviewers wasn't a crazy amount, I'm able to finally address each of the reviewers! (I've been wanting to do this with a fic for a while) However, since I got my fic deleted last time I responded to reviewers, you can read my responses on my livejournal. The url is on my profile page. Other than that... Uhm, the little sentence fragments underneath the title may seem a bit weird, but they're translations of songs from the Hindi movie I based this story on. I'm not following the movie exactly, because some things wouldn't make any sense (for example, I can't have Rebecca and Mokuba breaking out into song and dance. That isn't going to work here, haha), but it's fun adapting it to the Western culture.
Also, check out my profile page on Feb 14th. Something very interesting is going to be announced...
And yes... Review! Help me to forget about my evil psych midterm...Stupid tri-level hypothesis trick question! Gah, and I have another one next week... sobs