I DO NOT OWN YU-GI-OH!
Chapter 4 – All's Fair in Love and War
Mokuba and the others had made it back, due to Mokuba using the lifeboats' onboard communications system. They were rescued from the water. The last he saw of his brother was the Blue Eyes jet jetting away, the attack planes following close behind him. Mokuba knew Seto was trying to distract the fighter planes away from the rest of them, but the Blue Eyes jet never came back, and even now, back at the Kaiba Corp. building on the beachfront, Mokuba had not heard from Seto in almost two days.
The radar and hailing frequencies turned up only static and empty waters. Mokuba had sent off rescue helicopters to search for his brother, but so far they had turned up nothing. Even with the best technology, Mokuba still couldn't find him. And the coast guard said after 24 hours, it was almost hopeless to look anymore. But Mokuba ordered them to keep looking.
Mokuba sat in the large office of the Kaiba Corp. beachfront building, on the top story. It was so quiet in the empty office. Old scans and papers littered the large desk, and the computer was keeping contact with the coast guard. He was trying, he really was. Besides..... he couldn't go on without Seto..... Mokuba felt tears in his eyes. He could almost hear his brother scolding him for crying.
There was an email from the main headquarters telling him about something of the stocks. Even though Mokuba had tried desperately to so far keep it a secret, it seemed like the press was getting wind of the CEO disappearance, and the stocks for Kaiba Corp. were going down. Mokuba frowned. He had to fix this. He began typing away a memo to be sent to the stockholders.
He may have been young, but he was still a Kaiba! He typed furiously, and heard a buzz from the secretary from downstairs. His brow furrowed, and he hit the intercom key. "What is it?" He asked, not too happy about the interruption. There was a pause from the otherside of the speaker. Mokuba blinked. He sounded like Seto just then; a little too much like him. He shook his head. "I'm sorry, what do you need?" He asked again.
"Your friends are here to see you again." She said, and Mokuba nodded to himself.
"Let them up." He said, and stood from his chair. He was short, but he was also growing. He was sure he'd get as tall as Seto one day. The thought about maybe never seeing his brother again hurt his heart, and he felt tears again.
He went to a mirror in the side bathroom, and splashed his face with cold water. Then he dried it off, and pulled his hair back into a neat ponytail. He straightened his shirt and walked back out. He had to show that he could be as strong as his brother, even if it was in front of his friends. He couldn't let them see how upset he was, because that would only make them more upset about their own missing friend.
The door opened, and in walked a horde of teenagers. Mokuba knew them all. Yugi led the way, with Joey and Tristan following close behind him. Then there was Duke and Serenity had even come to see if there was any news of Tea and Kaiba. He was saddened at the reminder that Tea wasn't with them –they didn't seem whole without her. It was just like he felt about Seto.
They all looked hopeful, but Mokuba simply shook his head, giving each one an understanding glare. "Still nothing, I'm sorry, you guys." He said, and Serenity sniffled, and was patted on the shoulder by Tristan, before Duke could even think of it.
Joey would have gotten into protective-odler-brother mode, but thought about more important things. "I heard on da news that Kaiba Corp isn't doin' too well. I guess word travels fast around here."
"We didn't tell anyone." Duke replied, and Mokuba just nodded.
"I know you didn't. It was probably someone from the rescue teams." Mokuba replied, and sighed. He walked back to his desk, and sat down. "You guys can stay in the guest quarters here as long as you like, until we find them." Mokuba bit his lip, he had almost added 'if we find them'.
Yugi only nodded in reply. He was worried about Tea and Kaiba. He looked at Mokuba as he sat in the chair at the large desk. He had his hair pulled back, and Yugi frowned slightly. He looked like his older brother Kaiba right then. Mokuba even had a furrow in his brow that reminded him a lot Kaiba's own perpetual frown.
It was quiet, and Mokuba held his necklace tightly with the picture of Seto on the back.
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Kaiba walked down the beach silently, the morning sun just barely poking its head up over the horizon. He thought of Mokuba. He hoped he was alright. But, he was Mokuba, he was his brother, he was probably more than alright. He sighed and put a hand against his chest where the picture of Mokuba was on a pendant that hung around his neck.
He had long ago ditched his large trenchcoat, and was now in his tight black shirt that he wore underneath. He had even opted to go barefoot, since his shoes were practically useless now. Tea was asleep still in the hut. He hadn't slept last night, not a wink. He went through his deck a few times by the light of the fire outside, but then gave up and looked at the stars the rest of the night until morning, leaving Tea in the hut by herself.
This was technically their third day on the island, and already, they had not heard or seen from anyone. He was beginning to get worried. He had to take his mind off the possible bad future of being stuck on the island forever. Maybe if they built a bigger fire on the tallest cliff someone would find them.
He marched back to the campsite, and flung open the 'door' to their hut, and cleared his throat at the sleeping Tea. She grumbled and opened her eyes. She awoke and looked up to see Kaiba standing there, with his hands on his hips. She frowned, and sat up.
"What is it?" She asked, groggily.
"We need to go make a signal." He replied simply, and turned and left out of the hut. She stood up, and brushed herself off, wincing at the cut on her arm. It was hurting a lot, and she could see that it was still seeping blood into the bandage. She ignored it, and went out to see what Kaiba was talking about.
"Where are we gonna make this signal, pray tell?" She asked, wiping sleep from her eyes. He pointed up at a tall cliff. She glared at him and squinted. "And with what, tell me, all-knowing boyscout."
He scoffed. "Why, with a fire of course, know-nothing cheerleader." He retorted, and saw her frown emmediately, but he didn't think it was about the remark. "What?"
"A fire. That means, we're gonna have to keep it lit 24 hours, right? That's a lot of time and effort, and a whole lot of firewood. We need it for our own fire. Let's think of something else." She replied, and Kaiba couldn't help but agree with her. That would mean going up and down the mountain every few hours to rekindle it.
"With what then?" He asked hotly, being a little perturbed by his idea being discarded.
She thought a moment, and then looked down the beach, and saw Kaiba's large and bright white coat hanging from a tree.
Kaiba frowned when she started to stare across the beach. What in the hell was she looking at? Was it another crab? He followed her gaze, and then saw she was staring at his coat. Oh, hell no! But before he could protest verbally, she was running down the beach towards it. He growled and sprinted off after her.
Tea almost got to the tree before she was tackled to the sand. She struggled to get up, but was grabbed by the ankle and forced back down. She spun and kicked sand at her attacker, who of course was Kaiba himself trying to stop her from touching one of his favorite and most expensive coats.
He spit out some sand, and gripped harder on her leg, pulling her towards him. She squirmed as he pinned her down with his hands on her flailing arms, and his legs trapping hers. She was now under his body, heaving in exasperated huffs. She looked up into Kaiba's furious eyes. He was so close, she could almost hear his heartbeat, roaring as fast as hers –matching the pace of even the waves against the shore.
"Let me go!" She exclaimed under him, trying to struggle free, but getting nowhere.
"You are not touching my coat, Gardner!" He replied back, and saw the rebel in her eyes.
"It's perfect though, big and bright! And it's not something we need to maintain, like a stupid fire!" She explained angrily, struggling again, able to kick him in the side with her knee. He groaned, and his grip loosened a little, and she tried to peel out from under him.
But he held tight, and they just ended up rolling a few times, sand getting all over their clothes. "I'll say it again, you're not touching my coat! Do you have any idea how expensive it is?" He spat, still managing to trap her under him.
"It's already ruined! Not like you're gonna wear it ever again in public anyway, it's got a tear in it!" She exclaimed, and he frowned.
He made a frustrated grunt. That wasn't the point. The point was, she was trying to use his clothing as a means of something as degrading as a damn flag. True, they needed a signal, but not his coat! "There's still no way you're using it like that!"
"Then have you got a better idea, genius?" She asked back, and huffed loudly.
He was silent, but his hands still held her down. If she wasn't so angry with him, and if he wasn't Kaiba, then she would have liked the physical contact; it was almost like they were rough-housing. But no, this was Kaiba, and he was only touching her to keep her from getting his coat. She suddenly saw a smirk crawl on his face. And evil one.
"Oh, I've got an idea." He said, and reached with one hand and grabbed the end of her shirt, and began to tug up. She screamed, and used her free hand to try and stop his other hand. Maybe he was just playing, but she didn't like it! "This shirt is bright too, we'll use this." He said and tried to tug again, but she growled, and fought his hand with hers.
"Kaiba! Don't you even dare.... ah!" She screamed again as he got it almost up to her bra.
"It's not anything I haven't seen before anyway." He replied, that smirk still etched on his now sweating face, his bangs hanging over his eyes. He looked really sexy close up, with his face slightly flustered and his eyes intense and focusing only on her. But she didn't let that distract her.
"Kaiba, no!" She pushed his hand back down, but he was indeed strong. She had to do something! Knowing Kaiba and his 'bandaging practices' using the rest of her shirt as the flag was probably a good idea in his head.
She thought back to grade school, what was the first thing she did in a fight? She bit, of course. She was a biter! She couldn't reach his hands or arms. His head was the closest thing to hers. She squinted, then reached her head up and bit him on the edge of his ear. She held on, as she felt his hands stop in mid tug. That had done it!
Kaiba hadn't expected the biting thing.... and he hadn't expected the sudden strange feeling in his gut. She wasn't biting too hard, just enough to make him feel a little in pain. He was stunned, and he swallowed hard, fighting the strange feeling that was now turning into fluttering in his lower abdomen. It almost felt like someone was burning his inner intestines, and then running ice along the wound. It was very uncomfortable.
They must have stayed like that for a while, but all Tea knew was that Kaiba, even though he hadn't had a bath, smelled really good. And being so close to him was making her lose her train of thought. Why had she bit him again? What was the reason? She finally let go, and her head pulled back and rested on the sand. She looked up at his face. He had the strangest expression. It was almost like he was confused, angry, and in pain –all at the same time. It was very odd.
"Wh-" He began, "What in the hell?" Was all he got out, but it sounded very upset.
For once in her life, she had heard Seto Kaiba stutter. She was almost proud of the small feat, but regretted it, as she saw that whatever confusion might have been in his face, was now gone and was fully on anger. He pushed off her and stood. She leaned up on her elbows.
"Are you really so childish that you'd actually bite me?" He exclaimed, fuming with anger.
She stood, and brushed the sand off. "You're the one who was being childish, over something as stupid as a lousy jacket that you can't even use anymore!" She spun and continued to head towards his hanging jacket. Not wanting a repeat of what just happened, Kaiba let her yank it from the branch and fling it over her arm to carry. "You know it's the best idea for this 'signal' thing you want to do. Let's just stop arguing and go up there and put it up!"
He didn't say another word, and began to walk towards the high cliff, pushing past her, as he walked faster. She sighed as she watched him march ahead, obviously sulking over how she actually had a better idea than him. She then winced suddenly. That wound was really hurting, and all the thrashing around the arm was doing before was now coming back to send hot bursts of pain through her entire arm and shoulder. She switched arms that was carrying the coat to the one that was fine, except for the crab bite.
He heard her made a noise of pain behind him. He frowned, but kept walking.
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They made it up after almost an hour or hiking, and tied his jacket tightly to a long thin tree that had been knocked over in an earlier storm. Tea dug a hole in the ground with a large shell and some rocks, and then they held it up with rocks and boulders. It was impressive, they both had to admit –although they did it in their heads. They hadn't spoken since the beach, except for a few orders here and there when they made the pole and was mounting it.
Tea collapsed on the ground, exhausted. It was now afternoon, and she was tired and hungry. Kaiba was staring out from the cliff into the horizon and the ocean. He seemed to be thinking something intently, but she didn't care. All she knew was a throbbing pain running through her arm from the wound she had gotten. She didn't know it, but she made a sound of pain.
Kaiba turned his head slightly and stared at her. He saw her grip her arm and close her eyes tightly. He turned and walked over to her and looked down at her. She suddenly felt the shadow and flung her head up to see Kaiba staring down at her. "What is it now?" She asked.
"Let me see." He replied, and bent down next to her, and grabbed her arm a little roughly in his hands, and began to peel back the bandage. It looked bad. He wasn't a doctor, but he knew it was getting infected. He had read enough books to make him knowledgeable in at least the field of basic medical treatment. He needed to cauterize it before it got any worse.
He wouldn't have her get sick on him. That would be even worse hearing her complain all the time; or worse yet, she could actually die, and then he'd have her death on his mind. And he couldn't have that.
"Get up." He demanded, and she yanked her arm away.
"What is the problem?" She asked, frowning up at him.
"Get up now, we need to fix that." He replied, and grabbed her good arm and pulled her up to stand. "If we don't fix it now, it's going to get really infected." He said seriously, and began to pull her back down the cliff to the campsite below.
She was silent as he dragged her down towards the camp on the beach. He seemed like he was actually concerned about her. She shook her head. This was Kaiba! The same maniac who was constantly ripping her shirt, and even fighting with her about his stupid coat! When they got back to the camp site, she was really sore, and Kaiba pushed her to the ground next to the dwindling fire.
He added to it to make it big again, and then sat down in front of her. He took off his duel disc, and set it down. This itself surprised her the most. He then grabbed ahold of the part that latched to the arm and broke it off. Her jaw dropped. What was he doing? He got a thick stick, and attached the metal piece of the armband to the end with the makeshift string he had made before.
Tea watched him make the contraption. What was he doing? How would that help? But she concentrated on his determined features more than what he was doing. He seemed so serious as he worked. And he was so handy, a true boyscout, even though he said he had never been one. Well, he was a genius, and he seemed to solve problems quickly, so what did she expect –anything less than for him to be proficient in even the worst conditions.
He sighed. It was ready. He set the metal end in the fire and let it sit there, waiting for it to get hot enough. He looked over at Tea, who was staring at him oddly, with a confused look on her face. She obviously didn't know what he was about to do..... or did she. She suddenly tried to jump up and run, but he grabbed her shoulders and forced her back into her sitting position.
"Kaiba! No, you are not going to cauterize it!" She exclaimed, realizing just what he had meant by 'fix it'. "It's fine, you don't need to do that!"
"It's not fine!" He yelled back, and pulled off the bandage and she looked down at it. It did indeed look pretty bad, and it hurt a lot. She blinked a few times, and gulped. He was right. Maybe he did need to 'fix it'. She closed her eyes, and didn't move again. Seeing her cooperation, he released her shoulders and sat back, checking on the metal. It was ready.
He gripped the other end of the stick and pulled it from the fire, and scooted closer to her. She was staring at the stick, and he noticed she was trembling. Her tortured look turned even worse as he came closer, and placed a hand on her opposite shoulder to keep her from jerking. She closed her eyes, and reached out and grabbed his shirt in her other hand. She gripped it in a shaking, frightened hand.
He paused only an instant to look down at her hand as it gripped tighter against his chest, her fingers intertwined in the thin fabric. And then placed the hot metal against her wound, searing it closed, and she let out a painful scream, involuntarily trying to jerk away from the pain. His arm kept her in place, and she made a painful moan, and then passed out as he pulled the metal away.
She had fallen against his chest, in his arms. He looked down at her unconscious form, and let out the breath he had been holding in. He had to rebandage it now, and clean it with fresh water. He set her down to lay by the fire. He then got up to get fresh water. And then he had to find something to bandage it with. He couldn't help but smirk; he knew just the thing.
A/N: Well, well, well. I finally updated, didn't I?! Wow, this was a long chapter –I didn't mean it to be, but it was. If any of you had a problem with the whole cauterize thing being slapped in, yeah, I agree –but I only put it in to add extra drama.... oh well. Okay, it might be a while before I update, cause school is hectic! Anyway, review please! No flames!