june 14, 2004

-V-

chapter 07

d i p l o m a c y

The shopkeeper looked up enthusiastically as the bell above the door sounded. There hadn't been any customers that Friday, and business in general had not been good. The man needed to ensnare any prey, or rather, customers, that walked through the door.

He hurried over to greet the young couple that had just entered. "Hello, hello!" he said enthusiastically. "Welcome to I Love You, Baby, the special store for all your baby's special needs! We have a good deal on Gucci baby booties, and if you'll look over to your left, there is a lovely assortment of Ethan Allen cribs and changing tables."

Serenity whispered to Kaiba, "Isn't this all a little extravagant for a baby? I've never owned anything Gucci."

"That is because you live in a cesspool, with a dog masquerading as your brother. I, however, want Rei to have the best money can buy, and I have rather a lot of money to spend on the best. I would rather my daughter not feel as if she was raised in the slums."

"You know, Kaiba, we're going to have to go talk to Joey later, and you could at least try to be somewhat diplomatic. And I agree, Rei needs the best you can buy her." Serenity started looking around in interest at all the brand-name baby products, from Kate Spade diaper bags to Mercedes-Benz strollers.

They left the boutique some time later, Rei sucking on her new Tiffany's pacifier. Before they had gotten very far from the store (walking, at Serenity's insistence), she turned to Kaiba, and looked up at him seriously. "I'm not too proud to admit it when someone does an enormous favor for me. So I just thought that I should thank you for all the baby furniture I wouldn't have been able to afford." Her words were sincere, though the look she gave Kaiba made it clear that she was rather reluctant to be in his debt.

"You're welcome, Wheeler," said Kaiba stiffly. This statement was so against his condescending nature that, after a brief and awkward silence, he added, "but I didn't want my daughter sleeping in a cardboard box on your kitchen table. I didn't want her to catch the poverty germs that live in your…residence."

-V-

"How a human being can live in a place like this is beyond my comprehension." The building was even worse than he had imagined, and he had imagined bad.

"Listen, Kaiba," said Serenity exasperatedly. "Your remarks were somewhat poignant and cruel the first time, but now all you're doing is annoying me. And not because my feelings are hurt. You need new material, Kaiba. The stuff you have is getting old."

Kaiba rolled his eyes, promising nothing to the irritated girl.

"And when we go in," she continued, "could you please keep your mouth shut? If you start insulting Joey, the two of you will get in a big fight and I'll just stand there and laugh as he knocks your teeth out."

I would be more than a match for that weak Puppy, Kaiba thought, but grunted his compliance with her request. The two entered the somewhat dilapidated apartment complex (Kaiba kept his pristine black coat well away from the dingy walls), and proceeded up the two flights of stairs to the Wheelers' apartment.

Serenity passed the baby carrier to Kaiba while she searched her pockets for her key. The two had decided that bringing Rei along would help them to better explain the unusual circumstances to Joey. Serenity knew that the idea alone might be too difficult for Joey to understand, but if she brought along living, breathing proof, he might not be so irritated at the idea of the baby of his sister and worst enemy.

Actually, when Joey found out that the father of Serenity's baby was Kaiba, he was going to flip out.

Serenity let the trio into the apartment, calling "Joey?" somewhat hesitantly. Upon receiving no answer, she entered into the living room/dining room, and invited Kaiba to sit down on the couch. "I'm going to put Rei in my room, because seeing you will be startling enough, and seeing Rei will just about give Joey a heart attack. Now sit!" she commanded, bringing Rei to her room.

"I'll stand, if it's all the same to you," he said, looking at the couch suspiciously, as if he was expecting to see lice crawling around on its hairy surface.

"Whatever," she replied, returning. Let him be uncomfortable, she thought uncharitably. "You want something to drink?"

"Only if you have imported spring water from the Swiss Alps."

"Hmph." She went to the kitchen, got a soda, and sat at the small table, pulling out a math homework.

Every so often, she would look up to observe the tall CEO. While Kaiba walked around the room, contemplating the family pictures on the table, and the other decorations on the walls, Serenity contemplated him. She couldn't understand him. The night that she had been over at his house had been the night his younger brother had died (it was front-page news of the Domino Times the next morning). Serenity had thought Kaiba would be devastated; after all, if Joey had died, she would have been beside herself. Yet Kaiba was the same arrogant bastard he had been that night; it was almost as if he were in denial.

Little did Serenity know that that night, Kaiba had come to grips with the fact that Mokuba was dead. Kaiba knew that, though he would not get to see his little brother again, Mokuba was not in pain, and not suffering anymore, and he knew that he had to focus on his daughter now and not dwell on the past.

To be sure, he had been appropriately sad and gloomy at the funeral, but inside he had achieved a sort of nirvana, and though the memories had at times been rough, Kaiba had quickly learned to deal. Considering that he had discovered emotion, true emotion, only two weeks ago, Kaiba was dealing magnificently.

Or maybe, thought Serenity, there is a difference. Every time he looks at Rei, he gets this look on his face that I could never have imagined there. It's almost as if he's revealing his, if he even has one, soft and tender side. She snorted. The idea seemed implausible, but then again, there was much about him that she didn't know.

thought Serenity, She snorted. The idea seemed implausible, but then again, there was much about him that she didn't know.

An hour later found Kaiba still on his feet, going for his 17th circuit around the small room. He was completely and utterly bored, waiting for the Mutt. "Wheeler, when is your brother supposed to be here?"

Serenity looked up from her homework. "He got off work half an hour ago. Usually he comes right home, but if he decided to stop somewhere, then I don't know. It's not as if you have better things to be doing."

Kaiba almost laughed out loud at the statement; he was the CEO of a company of incompetent bunglers, and had to oversee them all or they'd fail miserably. Taking the afternoon off to go shopping hadn't exactly helped either. He had a million little things that needed to be done, including that matter with N-Tech and that bastard Harrison.

Kaiba was off on another trip around the room, thinking of all the vicious ways he could kill that man, when he heard footsteps outside in the hall, and then the sound of someone fumbling with a set of keys. Showtime, he thought.

He stood in his usual crossed-arms pose and watched as Serenity went to open the door for her brother. He was eager to see the Mutt's reaction to his presence.

Joey was juggling two bags of groceries as he fumbled for his keys. Darn locked doors… they should be easier to open. He was somewhat surprised to see Serenity open the door for him; usually, she was focused on doing something else.

"Hi big brother!" she squealed, hoping to be able to talk to him before he entered into the room and saw Kaiba.

"Hey Serenity," he replied, pushing past her before she could stop him. It was a good thing he knew the house so well; his vision was obscured by the two grocery bags in his arms, and he had to rely on instinct to make it to the tiny kitchen.

Depositing the bags on the counter, he turned to see Serenity blocking his way out the door. She looked serious, and said, "Now Joey, don't be alarmed—"

"Alarmed? Serenity, what happened?! Are you okay? Is everyone okay?" Did something break—"

"No, no," said Serenity hurriedly. "Nothing like that. Actually, I wanted to warn you that we have company over—"

"Warn me?" asked Joey suspiciously. "You don't have your boyfriend over, do you?"

"Not likely," sneered a voice that Joey knew all too well.

"KAIBA!" yelled Joey. "Serenity, what is KAIBA doing in our living room?" He tried to push past Serenity, eager to get at the disdainful CEO.

"Joey, wait!" said Serenity firmly, not letting him out of the kitchen. "I invited Kaiba here because I, or rather we, have something to discuss with you."

Joey's legs gave out beneath him, and he fell on his butt on the tiled kitchen floor. He looked up at Serenity, alarmed. "Oh my holy god… please do not tell me that you two are getting married because he… knocked you up…" He winced, assuming the worst.

Kaiba's raucous laughter echoed from the other room. "You know, Pup, you've almost got it half right!"

Serenity glared daggers at Kaiba. "You know, you are not helping the situation!" She barely restrained Joey, who was fighting to get at Kaiba and yelling, "I'LL KILL YOU, ASSHOLE!"

Serenity grabbed Joey's head in a way that always made him calm, and said very quietly, "Now Joey, please don't get angry at Kaiba. Just be reasonable. For my sake."

Joey grumbled. "Fine, but he better not mess with me!"

-V-

"So, lemme get this straight," said Joey, after Serenity was done explaining. "You and…him…are the godparents of some dead woman's baby? And she's gonna be living with us?"

"Partially, Joey. She'll spend the week at Kaiba's house and the weekends with us. I figured that it'd be better to just tell you, than try and keep it a secret."

"Damn straight," asserted Joey. "I think I have a right to know when my baby sister's getting mixed up with guys like you, Kaiba."

"For your information, Wheeler," spoke up Kaiba for the first time, "it is none of your business, and the only reason she's telling you is that you happen to live with her. I'd prefer to keep my daughter away from you."

"Well, I think that if you keep her, Kaiba, she'll go psycho-sadistic just the way you are."

"Listen to you two," said Serenity in disgust, interrupting the argument. "You sound exactly the way you did four years ago at that silly tournament. You were little boys then, and from the way you're behaving now, you haven't matured at all." The two men looked at each other, somewhat chastised. Their behavior was rather juvenile…

"Now, I want you both to shake hands, and declare a truce. I want you to agree to disagree, and I want this to be the end of these silly spats."

Kaiba felt déja-vu, as this command was very similar to the one Miro had given them not long ago. The CEO did not feel young and immature, but the words of his maid and of Serenity made him reevaluate his actions. Looking back, he supposed they were a bit young and cheap for one of his level.

He stuck out a hand, as did Joey, and the two looked each other in the eyes and shook firmly.

"Good," continued Serenity. "Now that that's over, Joey, let me introduce you to Rei."

She went away, and Joey took the opportunity to whisper fiercely to Kaiba, "It sounds that Serenity's going to be hanging around with you a lot, and as much as I don't like that, there's nothing I can do. But if you upset her in any way…"

"Good god, I think you're carrying the "overprotective older brother" role a bit too far, Wheeler…"

Joey gave Kaiba a smoldering glare, but Serenity returned with Rei, and Joey took an instant liking to his little niece, and all thought of ill will towards Kaiba drifted away. "Wow, Serenity, she's adorable!" he exclaimed as Rei looked at him with her soft blue eyes and gurgled happily. He picked her up, and said caringly, "Hi, Rei, I'm your Uncle Joey!"

Kaiba nearly retched at the putrid tone Joey had adopted, but he understood the devotion Joey was showing to the baby; after all, she was very sweet and extremely well behaved, and (thought Kaiba never thought he'd use the word) quite adorable. Watching Joey fawn over Rei made Kaiba's protective paternal instincts kick in, and he wanted to snatch Rei away from Joey, afraid that Joey might drop her, or something equally heinous.

Half an hour later, Kaiba looked at his watch and said, "Well, this has been pleasant and all, but I have stuff to do tonight, so I'm afraid we have to leave."

"You can leave her with me, Kaiba, you've had her for two weeks now. I'll watch her tonight. I'm supposed to anyway. It's a weekend."

A silence followed. In all honesty, Kaiba didn't want to leave Rei with Serenity. He enjoyed taking care of her at night, and he didn't think Serenity would know how. But on the other hand, he did have stuff he needed to do, and as much as he loved to take care of Rei, and play with her and feed her and wash her, he was a bit behind on what he needed to do. Perhaps a night of work was the best thing at the time.

"Fine, Wheeler, but you better not put her in a cardboard box!" threatened Kaiba.

"Of course not, Kaiba. I have a lovely drawer in my room, and it's not too full right now…" She faltered under his furious glare, and added, "It was a joke, Kaiba. You need to work on your sense of humor. Don't worry, she'll be fine."

She took Rei out of Joey's arms, and held her up to Kaiba's level. "Now kiss Daddy goodnight, Rei," she said.

Surprising all three of the adults, Rei leaned forward and gave Kaiba a big kiss on the cheek. Joey grimaced (Imagine kissing Kaiba, he thought with disgust), and Serenity's eyes widened in surprised, but Kaiba was frozen in his shock. Nobody has kissed me for as long as I can remember. Mokuba was more a hugger, and Gozaburo…hah.

To his extreme embarrassment, he felt tears well up in his eyes at the touching gesture. Kaiba's old training resurfaced, and he thought to himself, NO WAY! I REFUSE to cry in front of the Mutt! Only wimps like Yugi cry! And I am NOT a wimp! Kaiba hastily gave Rei a kiss on the forehead, then turned and made his way out the door, swiping at his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt.

Joey looked at Serenity, bewilderment evident on his face. "Was Kaiba crying?" he asked.

"I think he was, Joey." Serenity smiled down at Rei, who smiled back up at her. Seto Kaiba, arrogant President and CEO of Kaiba Corp, did have an emotional and tender side to him after all.

-V-

After waiting 10 minutes outside the building (and trying to conceal his face, lest anyone should recognise him as the CEO of a multi-million dollar corporation), Kaiba was picked up by one of the limos.

Sitting in the back, Kaiba stared moodily out the tinted window, wiping his eyes now and then to rid them of those infernal tears. He was thinking about Rei. Specifically, he was thinking about how one kiss on the cheek from her could reduce him to tears. Granted, she was his baby, but even Mokuba's kidnapping by Pegasus had not elicited anything more than anger and vengeance. The thought of leaving Rei had made Kaiba cry, and he was confused by his reaction.

Before, he had channeled his emotions of sadness or depression into anger and cruelty, and he did not understand what it was to feel despair. The first time he had felt that deeply had been the night Mokuba died, and that event seemed to have opened a wound in Kaiba that had long been scabbed over. Now the wound was open, and fresh, and extra-sensitive, as Kaiba felt emotion long-surpressed.

He didn't want to dwell on these unhappy thoughts, but he was all alone in the limo and Rei's absence was apparent. Kaiba decided to do something he'd never done before.

"Driver," he spoke over the intercom, "roll down the window, I want to talk."

The nervous driver rolled down the window, wondering what he'd done to receive a berating from Mr. Kaiba. But once the window was down, he was shocked to see Kaiba's teary eyes, and said, "Would you like my handkerchief, Mr. Kaiba?" Inwardly, he winced at this offer; he thought that maybe he should have kept his mouth closed about the CEO's unconventional appearance.

Kaiba ignored the offer. Instead he asked, in a voice not like his usual one, "Do you have any children?"

"Why, yes I do, sir. Three of them. A daughter and two sons."

"And do you love them?"

"Why, Mr. Kaiba!" exclaimed the driver with surprise. "What a question! Of course I love them! Any parent that doesn't love their children has something terribly wrong with them."

"Do you miss them when they're away?"

The driver wondered where this conversation was going. "Of course, sir. Last week, my daughter went on a class trip, and I called her every night to make sure she was okay."

"But did you feel… feel as if…" Kaiba trailed off. He couldn't describe how he was feeling. He didn't have the words for it. "Never mind. I'm being foolish."

Kaiba looked back out the window. They were nearing the mansion, about two miles away. In the day's fading light, Kaiba saw a person walking along the side of the road. The figure's fluffy white hair instantly revealed his identity: it was Ryou Bakura, presumably heading to the Kaiba mansion to visit his grandmother.

"Stop here, driver," ordered Kaiba, and the limo pulled up alongside Ryou. Ryou looked over, startled, and Kaiba could see fear in his eyes. He wondered why Ryou was walking all the way to the Kaiba Mansion when he had seen him drive before, and he wondered why the white-haired young man was visiting so late. Usually, he visited his grandmother in the late morning.

Kaiba rolled down the window, and said (feeling extremely charitable), "Bakura, my driver will drive you up to the mansion."

Normally, Ryou would have felt bad accepting the ride when he was perfectly capable of walking. But the quicker he got to the Mansion and spoke with his grandmother, the better. He didn't know how long Bakura would be gone, and he did not want to be gone when Bakura got back home. "Thank you, Kaiba," he said, getting in the limo quickly.

Kaiba, sitting across from the white-haired young man, noticed the way Ryou was hiding his face behind his white hair, and also noticed the way Ryou was fidgeting nervously with his hands.

Ryou, not wanting Kaiba to get suspicious, said, "So, Kaiba, did you read the paper this morning? There's to be a museum exhibit on ancient Egypt, and the Millennium Items, and the history of Duel Monsters. It looks to be quite fascinating."

Ryou's trying to bring up Duel Monsters as a distraction didn't fool Kaiba one bit. He knew there was something wrong with the white-haired young man, but despite his curiosity, he was not one to pry in others' personal matters.

"I hear they have some unusual carvings depicting the earliest Shadow Games," said Ryou again, trying for one last attempt at conversation. Then he was silent for the remainder of the ride, and when the limo pulled into the circular driveway of the Mansion, Ryou got out quickly, with a mumbled "thank you", and hurried inside.

Kaiba followed the white-haired one inside, and went up to his office to get started on his business affairs. Well, he thought, if I really want to know what the problem is, I can always use my microphones.

-V-

It was 4 am before Kaiba decided that he might need some sleep. He closed down his computer, stacked his papers, and staggered down the hall to his bedroom on the top floor.

Once securely under his covers, and with the lights out, Kaiba's mind began to wander, and of course it was quite predictable the subject it chose to focus on.

I bet those two incompetent fools have dropped her on her head, and are too stupid and poor to do anything about it. I bet they heated up her bottle too much, and it burned her and she's crying. I bet they put her in a drawer, and closed it, and now she's suffocating in the Mutt's dirty underwear. That last thought was so utterly horrid, it made Kaiba want to cry.

Well, the Mutt would be stupid enough to do those things, but as for Serenity…? She is more responsible than her dumb Dog.

Still, I hope Rei is okay.