Chapter Six: Fighting a Losing Battle

Disclaimer: Why do I even bother?

o o o o o

Seto was still standing exactly in the same place for nearly ten minutes in a state of utter shock. He jolted out of his stupor, then shook his head and walked to his office. Maybe he could get some work done without thinking about her.

That kiss...was one of gratitude. It wasn't supposed to mean anything, he thought stubbornly, trying to focus on the program on his computer. What a shame that it was all in vain. A shame it was indeed.

Try as he might to convince himself, his thoughts kept on wandering to that certain blue-eyed brunette. He stubbornly refused to admit that he was attracted to her.

He had met many pretty girls in his life...too many. And they impaired his judgment on all women. How they all worshiped him stupidly, drooling like the brainless fangirls they were. But Tea, she was very different from them. She actually could think about things other than how she looked or when he would "fall" for her. Even though it was extremely foolish of her as his employee to challenge him when she knew full well that he could fire her without a second thought.

But you could never do that, could you? a rather obnoxious voice at the back of his head said. Silently, he agreed with it. He probably couldn't bear to see her cry again. One sign of tears and he turns into a puddle of mush...

Yeah...he was going soft.

o o o o o

Tea waited impatiently for the arrival of Mokuba. She and Seto were sitting in the living room. Seto was sitting in that Kaiba-like way of his, working on some program on his laptop. Tea, on the other hand, was draped across the other end of the sofa, head hanging off of the armrest haphazardly. She tapped the soles of her feet on the coffee table, then drummed her fingers on it as well. She sighed, waited for about thirty seconds, then checked the clock and sighed again. Over and over and over again. It was driving Seto mad.

"Stop it," he snapped at her. He turned back to his computer, satisfied with the immediate silence. Every other employee of his would have quivered in fear and stopped, not to mention to have probably not been impudent enough to be sprawling around in his presence in the first place. Take note that Tea wasn't every other employee.

Almost as soon as his hands touched his keyboard, the girl tapped her foot and drummed her fingers even louder, enjoying the annoyed and irritated look that she was getting from him.

"Stop it!" he yelled, his irritation getting the better of him.

There was another moment's silence before she drummed her fingers and banged both of her feet hard enough to wake the dead.

He wanted to strangle her right then and there. But of course, if looks could kill, she'd already be dead anyway. He leaped up from his seat, walked over to her side, and grabbed her forcefully by her arm in the blink of an eye. Tea was speechless for a moment, but swiftly regained her senses.

"Let go of me you corporate jerk!" she spat. Seto gave an evil smile and held her up high in the air by her wrist. Not only was it a rather low blow for her pride, but it hurt a good deal too.

Seto laughed coldly. "As I recall, I asked you to stop, and you didn't. So what makes you think that I'm going to?"

Her other arm was free, and she swung her hand at his face, but to no avail as he caught it with his other hand.

"Feisty, aren't we?" he said in an amused voice. Tea glared daggers at him. Then suddenly, an idea popped in her head. Her legs were still free right?

She kneed him in the stomach with just enough force to get him to fall over.

Big mistake.

It appeared that she didn't know her own strength. Seto fell backwards, dragging Tea down with him. He fell on the floor, while she fell with full impact on him.

Seto made a pained grunt and looked into her clear ultramarine eyes. His face was dangerously close to hers. Every part of his body was screaming at him to take that chance. For it could be the only one that he got...but then, he realized what he was doing, and pushed her off forcefully.

"Get the hell off of me, woman!" he cried.

She untangled herself from him and stood up sheepishly. She felt so ashamed. It was her who was supposed to be strong. She flushed a light red, but soon regained her composure.

"You were the one who pulled me down too, you IDIOT!"

"In case you didn't notice, you were the one who had started all of this, fool. Besides," he sneered, "I'm not the one who is as heavy as a pregnant cow."

Tea could have sworn that she felt her blood boil. "I am not fat!" she shrieked indignantly. This comment bounced off of Seto harmlessly. His sneer grew wider by the second.

"You should really shed off some of those extra pounds, you know. It's bad for your health. Might I suggest the Atkins diet?"

"URGH! Why am I even talking to you? For someone who is supposed to be a genius, you sure don't act like one, mister Kaiba."

"Was that supposed to be an insult?" he smirked.

They stared daggers at each other for a short while before they heard the front door open, and the footsteps that were not far apart from each other to be an adult's.

"Mokuba's home!" Tea cried. Good, I won't have to deal with this idiot again, she thought to herself, blatantly ignoring the fact that she could have left the kitchen anytime she wanted to. She walked to the kitchen door and opened it. Seto in the meantime, stood up and dusted off his trench coat. Mokuba walked in, ran up to Tea, and gave her a big hug.

"Hey Tea!"

"Hi Mokuba!" she smiled. "And how was school?"

Mokuba stuck out his tongue. "It was BORING!"

Tea couldn't help but to crack a grin at his childish antics. She wished that she could be an innocent, carefree child again. Not like she ever had a carefree childhood...but it was nice to imagine at times what life could have been like, right?

"Hey big brother!" Mokuba said to Seto, just realizing that he was there. "Why aren't you at work?" he asked. "You're supposed to be at work until ten."

"I had left some important papers in my office. When I got here, I decided to finish up the work here," Seto replied smoothly. Mokuba raised an eyebrow, looking just like his older brother when he did the same. The boy didn't seem to believe the story entirely, but chose not to dig for answers.

"Mokuba, why don't you go do your homework? If you finish early, we can make cookies," Tea said.

"Yay, cookies!" Mokuba darted out of the to his room as fast as he could.

Tea giggled, then turned back to Seto with a serious face.

"What was the real reason that you came home, Kaiba? And don't try to feed me lies, because I'm not stupid."

"Tch. You're crazy," he said. He picked up his laptop and turned to leave, but Tea blocked the doorway.

"What's so hard about it? Just tell me!"

"Stop pestering me, woman! Go and do your job before I fire you. For the entire time you've been here, all you have been doing is bickering like an old crone!"

"Stop trying to change the subject!" she yelled. "Tell me the real reason you left work!"

"...Get to work, Gardner," he said before pushing her aside and walking up the stairs to his office.

Tea growled in frustration. Why is he so hard to reach?

o o o o o

"Like this?" Mokuba asked Tea.

She giggled. "No, silly!"

The duo were in the kitchen, two little islands in a sea of broken eggshells and spilt cooking ingredients. Tea was teaching Mokuba how to crack eggs, though he currently didn't seem to be having any luck in the art. The result of their past attempts were sticky layers of egg yolks and whites splattered on the counter.

"...Um...how about I crack the eggs and you can pour the milk?" Tea quickly said.

"Okay!" he over enthusiastically said.

Tea cracked the eggs in to the bowl skillfully, and Mokuba poured the milk. Next was the flour.

"I wanna pour the flour!" whined Mokuba. Tea nodded absent-mindedly while she ticked off eggs and milk on the recipe.

"Sure, Mokuba...Just be sure to measure the flour right."

After Mokuba poured the flour, Tea added the sugar, cinnamon, white chocolate, and milk chocolate chips. They started cutting the dough into stars, moons, and suns.

o o o o o

Seto leaned his head onto his hand, staring at the blank screen of his computer. Once again, he could not concentrate, thanks to that girl.

Seto sighed. Why was he spending so much of his valuable time on a girl? Especially Yugi's head cheerleader.

Why does he get everything...? Wait...what! Where did that thought come from?

But if she was with Yugi, she would call him, and the rest of her loser friends, every once in a while. The whole time that she has been here she has not called anyone," he muttered.

He slammed his fist down on the table, then rose from his chair and left the room to go to the kitchen.

o o o o o

Tea wiped her brow tiredly. The cookies were finished, although not before Mokuba went to bed, and she could do what ever she wanted now...

'Come to think of it, I never did get to see much of the house. I've only seen the first floor and a small part of the second floor. Mokuba told me there was a third floor with Kaiba's office and libraries.'

She got up to explore the many areas of the Kaiba household.

In a mere few minutes, Tea was breathless and redfaced. The sheer number of rooms in the house was enough to make her dizzy, but actually exploring them was as exhausting as clmbing Mt. Fuji.

But, not to be discouraged, Tea went left to a door that looked promising, then placed her hand onto the brass doornob, turned it, and pushed the door open.

The room she was in was very formal and commanded respect to anyone that dared stray into it. Its walls were painted a royal blue and the chairs were so white that they made freshly fallen snow look gray and dismal.

On the walls were many pictures of Seto and Mokuba when they were younger. Tea thought it rather like a storybook that showed the progress of the character. Mokuba basically stayed the same throughout the story. Seto was a completely different account. At the beginning of this tale, she noticed that, though Seto never smiled, his eyes were still warm and full of the hope that most children have. But, as the plot progressed, Seto's eyes cooled, like lava hitting freezing ocean water. The last picture him was the year that he took over Kaiba Corp. His blue eyes were little bits of the South Pole, and a sneer curled at the edges of his mouth.

Tea turned away from the tragedy. She couldn't bear to look at a childhood spoiling before her eyes, it was much too familiar. As she walked toward the door to leave, the corner of her eyes saw a lone picture frame on a desk. She made her way to it and picked it up to observe it. The picture was very old and faded with age, but she could still easily see that it was a photo of a tall, thin man with brown hair and eyes, and a very lovely woman with charcoal hair not unlike Mokuba's. Her light blue eyes twinkled with kindness and-

"What are you doing in my office, Gardner?" a crisp voice streaked through Tea like a missile. She quickly put the frame down and turned around to face the almightiness of Seto Kaiba. The man towered over her, and compared to him, she was a meek little field mouse that couldn't escape from a very, very hungry cat.

"I was only looking around..." she said, but Seto cut her off.

"Did I give you specific orders to enter this room?" he asked her sharply. Tea flinched. His icy words stung her.

"Well, no, but-"

"Then you shouldn't be here. Get out."

Her gaze fell to the floor, and she walked quietly to the door. But as she passed him, she whispered something in his ear. "What ever happened...to sweet little Seto?"

o o o o o