WARNING: If the last thing you read was the Pancake Breakfast chapter: YOU HAVE ANOTHER CHAPTER TO READ! This here was a double update, and I don't want anybody accidentally reading ahead when they haven't read the previous chapter (I updated Ch. 10-11 today). SO READ CH. 10 FIRST! Just to make sure that you haven't glimpsed at anything, that's what all the indentations are there for. A long pause to make sure you're reading in the correct place. I myself know that I always go to the last chapter that is posted on the scroll bar: in which it could have been a double update (which I sometimes check for). This was just a helpful note. Now, either read on, or go back and read on! Later!

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Chapter 11: Confession is Good For the Soul

"You were right; you were right! Okay? There, I said it! YOU WERE RIGHT! Now just leave me alone about it! I'M SICK OF THE SECRECY! I'M SICK OF THE LIES, THE PAIN – EVERYTHING! YOU WERE RIGHT! SO JUST LET IT BE!" Tea ranted on.

Seto was almost afraid to ask, "…Right about what?"

"I'm-!"

"I AM being abused!" Tea cried into his shirt.

I knew it, Seto thought. But what he didn't know was how to deal with all of these hysterics.

"It may not be much, but Uncle Kaz still does hurt me a lot!" Tea continued to cry.

So it was her uncle… Seto was trying to put pieces together. Still she cried.

"I cant' take it anymore," she whispered, chocking on sobs, "It's too overwhelming."

Seto slowly pushed himself up. She still continued to cling to him, as if she would never let go. She didn't show any signs of wanting to stand, so the CEO backed up and lay back against the wall.

He helped Tea sit a little straighter, and let her cry against him. He knew this was totally out of character for him, but he understood how she felt. He completely understood. And she didn't deserve this treatment: any of it.

He slowly stroked her hair, letting her sob and calm her nerves. What he didn't expect was the flow of confessions and revelations that followed.

"My parents died when I was about a year old," she sniffed, "I never knew them. But that has never been much of a problem for me. Anyway," she sniffed again, "I was given into the care of my aunt and uncle. My aunt was due with my cousins in a couple months or so, so this "early delivery" was a bit unexpected for them…and I suppose slightly unwanted.

"Nevertheless, Aunt Rika showed me all the love and care I could hope for: she treated me as if I was one of her twins. Treated me like her own child….which in a sense, I guess I am…since they adopted me and all.

"But Uncle Kaz thinks otherwise. He regards me just…as a niece. But he still expects me to act like one of his kids…actually, he expects more of me! It's the same lecture over and over again…he expects me to be the child he supposes my father would have brought me up to be.

"My father was supposed to be something of a genius. So, Kaz expects the same of me. That's where all of those computer programs I design every year go, I suppose: to his company for the selling. I don't know if that's a good thing or not.

"Still, with all of this responsibility come great burdens. Should I disappoint him greatly in any way…I always receive the end of his anger. Every night that I become the bearer of bad news…he disappears for a couple of hours in the basement. And then he comes up to my room…and…hurts me. I think he goes down there and drinks or something-"

Tea broke off here for a moment, letting the tears flow. Seto didn't urge her to continue. But the looks of it, this was the most she had ever confessed to anybody. He would let her take her time.

So Seto gently stroked her hair and she cried into his chest. ?almost unconsciously, he pressed a light kiss to the top of her head. This seemed to calm her a bit…somehow.

Tea suddenly pulled out of his grasp, sniffling and rubbing her eyes, "You probably think me to be really…pathetic, don't you? I mean-" a small smile broke out here, "Twice with this waterfall of tears in two days. That's pretty bad on…my part," she looked at him.

Seto gazed back at her. One moment she was in a fit of tears, and the next, she's trying to make a joke out of it. He really did not understand Tea anymore than he had before. Truth be told, Seto felt he had understood her more at the beginning of school on Friday, rather than now.

"No," Seto regarded hesitantly. Tea looked back at him, confused, "It's not feeble at all. None of the matter is." His gaze was firmly set on Tea's eyes. He bore into them seriously, as if trying to dig more secrets up out of her.

Tea couldn't hold his gaze. She bit her lip. It was so intense…. What more did he want from her! Suddenly, Tea's eyes welled up and she fell back into Seto's arms (who had barely caught her in the sudden action), crying again.

This time, he really didn't know what was wrong with her.

"What…else…do…you…want?" she stifled out, "I've told you practically everything you want to know! What now?" she cried out, clutching his shirt.

Seto blinked. Had he been too serious with her? But it was a grave matter after all….

Seto slowly felt himself wrapping an arm around the small of her back and pulling her closer to him. He used his other hand to continue stroking her hair.

"I want nothing more of your past…. I…don't know what I want. Maybe I was too serious with you. You're too…fragile for all of this-"

"Fragile!" Tea's head suddenly popped up. But deep inside, she knew he was right. Her eyes became downcast and she laid her head against him again, two tears silently running down her cheeks.

"…You don't deserve any of this treatment. No one does-" Seto broke off slightly. Tea heard the small crack in Seto's voice. "You know," he continued, "…you're right."

Tea looked up at him without moving her head, "What do you mean?"

"What you said back in…actual detention. We are more alike than either of us thought." Tea waited for him to continue. "We've…both lost our parents…" he paused, "and…we've both suffered the pain of our foster parent…." Seto stopped. He had never revealed this to anyone. Only Mokuba…and Gozaburo (wherever he was) knew of this.

Tea shifted to look up at him, "You meant to say that…you-"

"Have undergone the same fate as you? …Yes. Pain. It was in my life as well," Seto said, finding that the more he spoke, the easier it became to reveal his past.

Tea turned to look back at the floor, astounded. Then again, she figured, it did seem sort of logical. His stepfather was supposed to have been some evil jerk to Seto and Mokuba.

This must be why he's actually here…with me instead of ignoring me. He's gone through the same thing… Tea thought.

The two stayed in silence for a few more minutes. Seto still consoled Tea and Tea still lay silent upon Seto's torso.

She soon broke the silence, "…Thank you."

"….For what?"

"Just for being here. For listening to me…and relating. It helps to know I'm not actually alone in this ordeal."

"You're never alone," Seto replied, whispering it to her ear. He leaned back slightly, then said louder, "Especially you, Gardner, with that group of friends you've got." A pang suddenly hit him in the chest. Her friends…that note. Should he tell her? Maybe it was for the best….

"Gardner?"

"Yeah, Kaiba?"

"I think you ought to take a look at this," she dug into is pocket and fetched out the slip of paper.

Tea took it lightly, and by the feeble light, grazed over the writing. Soon, the note dropped from her hand.

"They really think that? Oh no…I've let this get so out of hand!" she collapsed against Seto once more and let a few tears flow down.

"…You'll have to tell them."

"…I know. But it will be hard."

"Really? After you've come to me with your problems?" Seto inquired; a hint of amusement in his voice.

Tea smiled slightly, "You're right…it might not be so hard after all." Now that she thought about it, Tea couldn't believe she was actually here…lying against Seto Kaiba. If the world wasn't coming to an end soon, then pigs would sure fly. Tea would make sure of it. She could see it now…pushing Joey off the top of the school, watching him flap his arms futilely. If Seto wouldn't get a kick out of that!

Tea suddenly gave out a small laugh. This caught Seto's attention.

"What's so funny?"

She snickered, "Just thought of something slightly amusing…that's all."

"Like?"

"Know the saying, "When pigs fly?"" Seto nodded. "Well…I just though I might be able to make that possible if I pushed Joey off the top of the school…and maybe get him stuck on the flagpole or something: suspended in the air-"

She was cut off by Seto's sudden laughter. Tea looked up. He really was enjoying the thought. She quietly joined in the laughter. And she couldn't help to notice how handsome his laugh really was. It was so different from that cold and slightly maniacal laugh that he always gave out in duels. Now…it was rich and gleeful sounding.

She unnoticing stopped laughing and just started watching him. Seto calmed down slowly, and shook his head, turning back to look down at Tea. He found her watching him.

He quirked an eyebrow up, "Gardner?"

She shook slightly, and then turned away, sliding off Seto's lap. They sat in some more silence for a few more minutes. No one said anything. They both waited for the other to say or do something.

It was Tea who finally broke the silence between them.

Quickly, she turned around and gently hugged Seto around the neck. Seto froze. This was new….

He wasn't exactly sure of what he should do.

Not only that, but there was a nasty blush crawling up his face.

But as soon as it had happened, Tea had immediately stood up and gone back to collect her forgotten things from the girls' bathroom. She had pretty much forgiven Seto for barging in. After all…it was for good intentions, wasn't it? Well…at least, to Tea, it seemed that way. She had screamed, had she not?

Seto sat there, watching her retreating form. Nothing seemed to be like it had been not one day ago.

First he had found out that Tea was "adopted."

Then he found out about her abuse secret.

Now…they seemed to be getting…close. With many occurrences to prove it too!

Seto recalled last night, with them heaped on the floor…last night with one of her emotional outbursts….her first outrage in fact. Seto had never seen her so distraught before!

Then there was this morning in the cafeteria. No matter what anyone said, he had felt something happen in there. That was the cause for his small speech about her not being a curse.

And then this…the consoling…the crying…the hugging…argh! It was getting to be WAY too friendly for Seto. He shook his head. This was not right. Not right at all…. Sure, the original detention was made to help them to get to know one another better and come to better terms with each other (that had worked like a charm….), but not like this! Not with this much intimacy!

Seto Kaiba didn't know what was going on between them, but he was determined to stop anymore of these occurrences…and in his case at least…this surfacing of a couple small feelings and desires to help her.

She could take of herself. She was just new to getting a grip on her problems. That was all she had needed solace for, and it was a once in a lifetime chance of receiving it from Seto Kaiba.

No more.

Seto Kaiba's true and cold personality was back. He wasn't going to let it slip away again. He had already made himself look like a sentimental fool in front of her. What would she say to the others when they finally were released from this prison?

Seto suddenly groaned. Release…. He still had to suffer a good two and a half days with her. What a nightmare. What a living heck-like torment.

This brought up new thoughts. What were his brothers up to now? Surely they had noticed his absence. Were they worried? What was happening to them?

"Kaiba Corp., this is Noa Kaiba speaking," Noa answered the phone, sitting behind the chair at Seto's desk high up in the Kaiba Corp main building.

"It's me," a voice answered.

Noa sat up, taking his feet down from the desk, "Mokie? Oh, hey. How's the search going?"

"Bad, bro. You know Seto doesn't wear his little tracking thingamabobs in his school clothing, so we can't find him that way. Satellite transmissions are knocked out because of the storm, so we can't reach his phone, and- Oh! God knows what's happened to him! WHERE IS HE?" Mokuba suddenly yelled into the phone, making Noa push the device a foot away from his ear.

Once the boy had quieted, Noa pulled the phone back, "I don't think you were loud enough, Mokuba. You only made me deaf in one ear." He chuckled slightly.

"Noa! This is no laughing matter! This is serious!"

"I know, I know, calm down already!" Noa reassured, "Look, I've got search teams around all of Japan, as of now. If there's no sign of him, we'll go world-wide." (Sounds a little extreme, I know, but these are the Kaibas you know…their kidnappings aren't exactly light….

"Okay…. You think maybe it was Pegasus again? Or maybe Marik is back to evil ways…though I wouldn't know what he wants with Seto. Maybe the Doom Squad is back!" Mokuba began panicking.

"Calm down, kid!" Noa reprimanded, "We'll see when there is something to see." He then noticed a small red light blinking on the telephone receiver. "Hey, Mokuba? I've got another call coming in here, so I'll have to let you go. Good luck with the rest of the search, okay?"

"Okay…. Say, how is Kaiba Corp. doing now…in Seto's absence?"

"Exactly as it should ha-" Noa stopped. "Exactly as it should be," he affirmed, "I've got to go now, later."

"Bye." Mokuba hung up. Noa switched lines, "Kaiba Corp., this is Noa Kaiba speaking."

Noa set down the phone. He had just finished a conversation with another business associate. Apparently, they wanted a deal to be settled. Noa smiled. This was exactly how he had been brought up: as a businessman in training.

He recalled his conversation with Mokuba. Noa had been about to tell him that things were going "Exactly as they should have been if I were still the President." However, sensing how hurt Mokuba would feel at this, and the fact that Noa hadn't given a single thought to this idea in so long, made him rephrase the sentence.

He really didn't mind Seto being the CEO/President of Kaiba Corp. All the same…. Noa ran a hand over the polished mahogany desk. It felt good to be back in power. It felt good to be the man he had been brought up to be. It felt good to be at the top.

He liked this power. No wonder Seto enjoyed it so much.

So what if Seto wasn't here to pass on a deal? Noa could handle it. Mokuba had specifically asked him to be in place of Seto's position in his nonattendance. He had immediately and gratefully accepted.

Noa would handle this deal…and anymore to come his way.

Okies! So, you got two chapters for the price of one! Yeah! I know they weren't the most exciting…but you DID get to FINALLY hear about Tea's problems! At least that's off my back! Now I just have to get down to love…. You guys should REALLY like the next chapter…. I have it totally planned out! Yeah! PLEASE REVIEW!

PS: I know the whole shower idea last chapter seemed pretty pointless, but I just wanted to show you that the two wouldn't be unhygienic slobs for fours days…. Talk about gross. So, that was just to bear a point, okay?