Chapter Nine: Worst Case Scenarios
Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of Yu-Gi-Oh.
o o o
Mokuba Kaiba woke up to a very stormy morning and a very empty house.
He didn't like being alone very much. Usually, there was someone in the house with him, be it a maid, the butler, his bodyguards, or his older brother. He was always watched over by people because, being the younger sibling of one of the most powerful men in the world, he was especially prone to surprise kidnappings...Mokuba chuckled when he thought about this, but his amusement was quickly overshadowed by panic.
It was annoying, no doubt, to feel like your whole personal life was under surveillance. But now, he was so used to not being alone, he felt especially vunerable. Over the years, the guards and extra protection became like a security blanket against the world.
He peeked through the silk curtains of a window. A fine silver drizzle misted the air outside and was picking up speed. Mokuba groaned.
Rain reminded him of the day when he and Seto had found out that their father had died in a car accident.
The sky's stone-grey clouds were suddenly illuminated by the twisted arms of a bolt of lightning, followed about six seconds (Mokuba counted) by roaring thunder. Six seconds...that would mean the storm was really close, around a mile.
Where was his brother? Where was Tea?
o o o
How was it that every single time I say something to her, I manage to make that girl cry? Seto scowled and crossed his arms. He was heading back home, whether or not Tea was with him.
...Well, it's not like he could have cared less about what could (or would...) happen to her, anyway. He didn't give a rat's ass about idiots, so why should she be an exception?
Seto strummed his fingers on the jet black leather seats, tapping his feet impatiently. The driver had better get him home before Mokuba woke up. His brother was terrified of thunder storms. Ever since...
He shook that thought out of his head. Don't dwindle on the past. Focus on the future.
Focus on rising to the top and overpowering all opposition, that's what his stepfather had drilled into his mind since he was twelve. "Thinking about your past will only bring you down, it will make you weak and pathetic, Seto! Just like the rest of the losers out there!"
Tea...what a loser.
She was just like all of the other stupid girls in Domino, thinking that she could change what everyone in the world couldn't about him.
And that could never happen. He didn't WANT to change. He was comfortable with who he was, and if she couldn't accept that, well...
Her life wouldn't be very pleasant without a job.
He smirked as he flipped open his cell phone and dialed a number. It was time to get a replacement.
o o o
Yami turned at a corner...and was at a dead end. He swore, and many nearby stray cats yowled in response.
He was lost.
No, not lost, Yami was probably thinking, just to save face. Just a little unsure of where he was going...
His mind was too crowded with thoughts on Tea. Tea Gardner, the woman who had stolen his heart...er...or should he say, the woman whose heart he had stolen and crushed underneath his heel.
He had finally reached his destination...The Turtle Game shop. Actually, a newly constructed branch of the Turtle Game Shop. Yes, it had grown over the years. After Solomon passed away, Yugi inherited it, but it was bittersweet. Yami was sad, but Yugi took the harder fall. He spent a long time in therapy.
By the time his thoughts were back on Tea, he had walked to the shop's door and had pushed it open. A bell hanging in front of the door rang. Almost instantly, Joey, Yugi, and Tristan rushed out from the back room, their faces pale and anxious.
"So..." Joey said hesitantly. "How'd it...?"
One look at Yami's sad face was enough to quiet him.
"She wasn't willing to forgive us-"
The three others groaned.
"-but I did find out that she's working for Kaiba-"
"WHAT!"
"You're not serious?" Tristan said, looking at Yami as if he had gone mad.
"You mean we came all the way from Japan to find Tea , and she's teamed up with Kaiba?" Joey said, in horror. He still remembered Kaiba's dog- based line of insults all too well...
"Yes, Joey. Kaiba called her and wanted her to see him as soon as possible..." Yami said quietly.
Yugi watched as Yami's eyes grew sad and blinked away tears. Though Yugi did in fact still have a crush on Tea, it didn't matter anymore. He knew that Yami was in love with Tea. The way his voice soften so slightly when he said her name...how his self-confidence crumbled at the sight of her. There was no way that Yugi was going to let Yami give up.
He grabbed Yami's hand and steered him towards the door.
"Come on."
"Yugi, where-?"
"We can't give up, we just can't. If we never get to apologize to her, not only will me, Joey, and Tristan never forgive ourselves, but you'll lose her forever!"
Flashback
Tea walked into first period. At first glance, she looked like she did every other day. But there were subtle mistakes in her appearance...her hair wasn't quite as smooth and brushed as usual, and her uniform's bow tie wasn't as straight either. No amount of makeup could disguise bloodshot eyes and her pale face. She made her way to the desks that she and her friends sat together at. Yugi, Joey, and Tristan were talking to each other in low voices. Yami wasn't there...that will make things less akward between them.
She cleared her throat. They all looked up, surprised, and everyone was silent for a few seconds...
"How could you, Tea?" Yugi whispered in a shaking voice.
Tea stared in confusion as he said this.
"What...?"
"...Tea..." Tristan's voice faltered, and he cleared his throat. The words, as if they had been stopped up like a hole in a dam, came rushing out in a tumble. "Yami told us that he caught you cheating on him."
The room's low bumbling and chatter seemed to disappear to Tea. Her ears seemed to have been stuffed with cotton, and her skin crawled and tingled with heat. She couldn't believe it. She really couldn't.
"How...? Why...? Who...?" she looked at her friends' faces frantically. They all said the same thing. They believed him.
"How could you do this to him!"
This time, for real, the room grew silent, and heads turned in their direction.
"Yugi, I didn't! I would never do that!" she pleaded. "Yami's lying, he-"
"Yami wouldn't lie to me! I trust him!" Yugi's eyes sparkled with tears. He flushed and stared at the ground, averting the classroom's stares, but he wasn't silenced. "And you...you go off with the next guy you saw, and you denied it after he saw you..."
No one had ever seen Yugi this angry before.
"Please, Yugi! You haven't even listened to my side of the-"
"Yami said enough for both of you..." he hissed. His fists, clenched and laying on his desk, were shaking with suppressed rage. "You...you..."
"Yugi..." Joey warned.
"Tea...don't sit with us."
"Yugi..."
"Tea, please!"
So...is that it? she thought jerkily. Without a second thought...believed Yami, didn't even listen to my side...after knowing him for nearly all of my life...after all of my speeches on friendship and trust...after...after...
She slowly, mechanically walked over to the only empty seat left, next to an open window.
She didn't stop at the desk.
Terrified screams blew up in the classroom as Tea fell out of the window. The class was on the third floor.
End Flashback
o o o
A/N: So far ya'll should know that it isn't Yami or Seto who calls her name...
so who does?
Mokuba stumbled through the hustle and bustle of the crowd that was New York City, down the streets in search of Tea and Seto. Where could they have gone? He was nearly hysterical with fear.
And he hadn't the slightest clue that he was unconsciously going towards the place where he needed to go-towards the dock. Towards Tea propelling herself off the edge of the pier.
o o o
"Tea!" Mokuba screamed when he saw her, her arms spread open as if she were welcoming Death, slowly falling face-forward, hair snapping in the wind like Medusa's snakes. He ran towards the pier, he had to stop her, grab her shirt, do something-
But it was too late. The loud splash proved it.
He watched in utter horror as the ocean's murky waters sucked up her body greedily like a five year-old eating spagetti.
"TEA, NO!" As he clamber up the wooden railing, a strong hand grabbed his arm and yanked him backwards.
"Mokuba!" Seto's eyes were quite possibly as dark and as violent as the ocean. "What were you doing? How many times have I told you not to-"
"Seto! You have to help, Tea-"
Right at that moment, Seto didn't care about his reputation, how much his business could be affected, and what he was thinking about her. The only thing present in his mind, as he yanked off his trench coat, tossed it aside, and jumped in the angry tides, was to get to Tea out of there before the ocean wrapped its cold tendrils around her forever.
o o o
Tea watched through half-closed eyes as the ocean's surface slowly creeped away from her as it grew darker and colder, like someone had spilled a bottle of ink into it and let it stain the water black. Her eyes were stinging from the salt water, and a fine stream of bubbles issued from her mouth.
Drowning wasn't a pleasant way to die. Something seemed to be clawing at the insides of her lungs, and her brain screamed for air. Purple spots danced a number in front of her eyes. The pounding in her ears from the water pressure didn't keep her from not noticing her vision growing fuzzy and dark...
Every memory in her life replayed itself in her mind. As a child, working on a computer program, eyes tired and sad...meeting Yugi for the first time...becoming friends with Joey and Tristan...her as she drew a smiley face on all of their hands, their symbol of friendship...
...Staring down Seto's ocean blue eyes before he crushed his lips against hers...
Just before everything was swallowed by a sea of white light, she felt a hand grasp her wrist...
o o o
Andi-Chan: Wasn't who you thought it was, was it?