NOTE: First things first: I'm sorry. I've had a bunch of mess ups in the last chapter. Seems I'm still too used to using "Joey" and "Duke" instead of "Katsuya" and "Otogi." Sorry! Please ignore that and continue reading it as if they were the Japanese names. I just have lived off of the American stuff, so, I'm really used to those names. Anywho, I'll try to catch myself in times ahead. Sorry again!
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!
Chapter 6: Flirtatious Ways
Mokuba slowly and quietly opened the front door to the mansion. He crept inside, and shut the door silently. Mokuba then proceeded into quietly tip-toeing over to the stair, as to not disturb anyone that happened to be sleeping.
He didn't have to worry about that.
"My, you're home late," a voice suddenly rose out of the shadows. Mokuba jumped and clutched his heart, holding onto the banister of the stairwell also.
"Seto, don't do that!"
"Sorry, kid," Seto turned on a light, to reveal himself sitting on one of the front room couches.
"What are you dong up so late anyway? Why were you just sitting there?" Mokuba poured out questions.
"Waiting for you to return home. I must say, I was a bit astounded when you weren't home at most by eight," Seto replied, coolly.
"Well, for your information, it just so happened, that Anzu and I didn't just have dinner…unexpectedly," Mokuba informed.
"Do tell," someone stepped out of the shadows, where the light did not reach.
"You're up as well?" Mokuba inquired needlessly.
"Of course. What did you expect?" Noa replied.
"You're right? Why wasn't I expecting it?" Mokuba pondered. "Well," continued, "I know why you're here," he directed towards Noa, "However, what about you? I have yet to hear an explanation of your presence," Mokuba then looked towards his older brother…the chestnut haired one.
"I-" he started.
Noa smirked, and interrupted, "He's here for the same reason; I'm sure." Mokuba's eyes widened, but he shrugged.
"I don't blame him. She's quite the catch."
"I am not here to babble over Mazaki," Seto stood up, heatedly.
"Oh come off it, you already admitted she's awesomely hot, and beautifully gorgeous," Noa smiled.
"I said no such thing!" Seto retorted, a little too quickly.
"This, I've got to hear," Mokuba took a few steps closer, grinning.
"Did too! You said, and I quote, 'Besides being so (emphasis on 'dang)'…hot,'" Noa smirked triumphantly.
"Really now? Well, Seto really is a human male after all," Mokuba chimed in.
Seto narrowed his eyes, getting the picture. So he had never fallen for a girl? Was it really that strange? Heck, Catholic priests didn't marry…and in ancient times, he had been a priest.
So, does this mean you're finally accepting that ancient fact? an, oh so familiar voice in his head chimed in.
Crap. So he had.
That all depends, Seto replied.
What? Depends on whether you are going for Anzu or not?
Yes…I mean, no! I wasn't a dang priest and I'm not falling for that dang Mazaki!
Suddenly, a new argument popped up.
"So, what did you do with Anzu this night?" Noa became angered again; his face contorting into a scowl. Seto snapped out of his thoughts, and turned to face his brother.
"Oh. Well, after dinner, she asked me to stay over a little bit," he omitted the fact that it was because she had been a tiny bit intimidated, "and we sort of found this really good three hour movie on television, so we watched that. Yep, that's about it."
Noa's eyes softened slightly, "Ah, I see." So there hadn't been much interaction? That was good.
Mokuba smirked. So naïve, he thought.
"Well, guess I'll be heading up to bed. Had quite the night you know," Mokuba yawned and walked up the stairs.
"Oh! That reminds me," he turned back down to face Noa, "don't try asking her out or anything for Sunday, if you do happen to see her. I already asked her. Night!" He continued to walk up.
"WHAT? Again? Hey, you! GET BACK DOWN HERE!" Noa yelled up. Mokuba paid no attention to him. Noa ground his foot into the carpet.
Little…date-happy…freak, Noa sided. Seto rolled his eyes and followed Mokuba on up the stairs.
Mokuba turned left at the top and walked past two doors before reaching his own, on the opposite side of the hall. He stopped and looked back at the two locked doors he had passed.
He narrowed his eyes. What was in there? Seto had told them that he knew one was a bedroom, but the other remained a mystery. Of course, except for the one time Seto had broken into one of them, they had always been locked: even when they had lived with Gozaburo.
Mokuba remembered the day he had asked Gozaburo why the doors were locked. It had been their first day at the mansion. Gozaburo's eyes had become full of anger and hate, and he yelled at the boy for having asked such a question, which, and quote, 'was none of his business anyway.'
Seto had kept the doors locked, in fear. Yes, the guy did have fears of some things. Especially those two rooms. He too, had been severely yelled at, and punished at the topic of the rooms. And even though Gozaburo was long gone, Seto still felt that they had a haunting aura in them. He described it as Gozaburo's presence still drifting there…watching them…making sure those rooms would never reveal their secrets. Yes, Seto could, too, be paranoid. Everyone was at some point in their lives.
Mokuba shook his head. Why was he even thinking about this now? He had gone from thinking about Anzu to the two doors. And usually, he paid no mind to those doors. How strange….
He smiled though, and opened the door to his room. After then changing into his silk pajamas, he climbed into bed, and turned out the light. He took off his glasses, placed them on the bedside table, and closed his eyes. He really wasn't supposed to look at anything without his lenses on.
He recalled everything that happened just hours ago. What a grand night it had been…. He sighed, and felt the warmth rising in his face. One night…. It wasn't just a silly little school-boy crush anymore. No…. In one night it went from there, to love.
The next morning as the three Kaibas walked into the lobby of the Kaiba Corp. building, the secretary's voice rang out, "Mr. Kaiba!"
All three of them turned to face her.
"Er…sorry, Mr. Noa," she fixed her fumble. Noa broke off from the threesome and walked over to the desk. Seto and Mokuba stood, waiting for their brother.
"Yes?" Noa inquired the secretary.
"Um…sir…today is one of those days…that you make your way around the city to check up on production, sir," she stuttered, handing him a slip of paper with a list of stores on it. Noa sighed. He hated this job.
Once a month, as CEO of Kaiba Corp (Seto was now full time president, and Mokuba was vice-president), he had to make these trips around the city to check up on how sales were doing; how many products were needed, and so on. It gave Kaiba Corp. a good estimate of how sales were doing around the world. Not that some people in other parts of the world didn't do this job either. Why he had to be the one to check these things was beyond him. Couldn't he just hire someone?
Of course, there was the problem that Seto didn't really trust anybody but his family members, and therefore decided that they should keep it the way it was: the CEO made the rounds.
He turned around and saw that Seto had approached him, "That reminds me. I'll be making the rounds with you today."
"Huh?" Noa inquired, "Why?"
"I personally wish to observe what is happening at these stores," Seto replied.
"Okay…but I tell you: you're in for the bore of your life," Noa shook his head and directed his brother with a swift finger motion over to the truck-loading dock.
When the two reached the Kaiba Corp. delivery truck, they saw that everything that might be needed was packed in and ready to go.
The driver approached them, more timidly than Noa had ever seen him. Then again, Seto was here too.
"Ah…Mister Seto Kaiba. Pleasure to see you! Um…will you be joining us today?"
"Yes," he replied simply.
"Oh! Very good, very good," the driver looked around, "well, I suppose we had better start, then. Climb on in," he said. The driver gave a quick bow and then rushed the to the drivers' seat of the truck. Noa and Seto wedged themselves into he tiny space available (there were three people in the car now, instead of two), and they drove off.
"Will it be our regular first stop, Mr. Noa?" the driver inquired.
"Yep."
"Where's that?" Seto interrogated, looking sideways at his younger.
"Kame Game Shop," Noa replied, without looking at the list he always had. He had memorized the list by now.
Seto wrinkled his nose in disgust. No matter how well the "bond" between Yugi's group and the Kaibas had grown over the years, Kaiba still had a slight dislike for Yugi and his gang. It wasn't as great as it had been nine years ago, but it hadn't exactly disappeared.
They arrived there only ten minutes later.
The driver stayed put as Seto and Noa jumped out. Noa proceeded through the door to the shop, Seto following suit.
Noa suddenly stopped his brother from stepping ahead, by holding an arm out in front of him.
"Noa-" Seto started.
"Shh!" Noa said quietly, looking at him sternly. He nodded his head in direction of the cashier counter. It was then that Seto heard small voices.
"Rebekah…someone just came in-"
"Oh Yugi…they can wait. Can't you just spare me one more, small, little kiss?"
"I suppose-"
Noa had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing. He motioned for Seto to keep put, and walked quietly up to the counter. He leaned over and watched the small fiasco of Rebekah Hawkins absorbed in Yugi Muto's arm, and just about kissing the heck out of each other.
Noa cleared his throat, "Are we interrupting anything?" Yugi and Rebekah pulled apart, and Yugi's head shot up, reddening slightly.
"Ah! Noa! Check-up so soon?" he shot up from behind the desk, to look like her had been standing there the whole time, instead of one the floor with his girlfriend wrapped around him. Rebekah heaved herself up right after him.
Yugi saw someone behind Noa and peered around him. His eyes widened slightly, "Oh! Kaiba! You're here too…."
"Shirking off from our duties, are we?" Seto smirked and walked over to the register. Yugi turned a deep red, but Rebekah reprimanded him.
"That depends on what duties you are talking of. There are of course, business duties. Then, there are also the duties to your fi-"
Yugi covered her mouth, "Ah, yes…um…you caught me: I was shirking off." In a whisper, he added to Rebekah, "Remember, this is Kaiba…."
Rebekah just looked at him sternly, seeming to say, I know who that is!
Well, let's describe Rebekah after all of these years:
She still had her golden blonde hair flowing straight, and down to her mid-back. She was also wearing a pair of full-set glasses (not to be confused with the half-moon glasses she wears in the "Waking the Dragons" era). She really did look pretty.
"So…should I take you to the back room then?" Yugi answered Noa.
"As usual," Noa nodded. "Seto, just stay here look to see how much of the stuff is stocked. Kaiba Corp gaming is-"
"Over there," She jerked a thumb back, "Last time I checked, I was the one in charge of Kaiba Corp."
"Yes, well, last time I checked, I was SUPPOSED to be the head of Kaiba Corp.," Noa answered, heatedly. Yugi could see where this was going.
"Uh, Noa! You wanted to check the back room?"
"Oh…yes!" Noa nodded and Yugi led him back there. Upon seeing them leave, Seto wandered over to the Kaiba Corp gaming section of the shop. The Mutos looked like they were doing pretty well here.
He heard Rebekah browsing around the store. He smirked.
"So…this doesn't look good at all," he commented impulsively.
"What doesn't look good?" Rebekah ran over.
Seto's smirk grew, "You keeping Yugi from doing his work. Not good at all for a future couple: nope, not good at all."
Rebekah reddened, "F-Future couple?"
"Oh? Didn't you blurt that you were his fiancé?" Seto pretended to look over the items on the shelf.
Rebekah reddened further, "I…well…yes."
"And if you keep Yugi from working, how's that going to help the family? Tsk, tsk," Seto liked laying down the shame upon her. After all, he was sort of jealous of her. At eight years old, she had been in college! HE was a genius, but he hadn't been sent to college around eight! And then there was the fact that she was one of the most superb duelists around. This really irked Seto. She could probably match him in anything. And Seto liked to be an individual.
"Well, what would you know about having a fiancé…or wife…or even a girlfriend! Last time I checked, you didn't have any of the three!" Rebekah practically shouted. Seto slowly turned. In payment, Rebekah received a fierce, cold, yet burning glare from him.
"Maybe that's because I don't need you lowly people," he sneered.
Rebekah took that, not only as a personal insult: but an insult to her gender.
And she should be angry.
"What? Are you not into girls? Is it the opposite way around?" she toyed with ideas, while leering mischievously. Seto wanted to break her in half. How dare she imply that preposterous idea!
"You insolent female-" Seto continued to glare at her. And for once in her life, Rebekah was saved by the bell. Literally. Both of them shot up to see who had entered the Game Shop.
"Hey Rebekah!" a voice greeted. Rebekah looked at her, slightly confused.
"Um, hi!" She mentally kicked herself. I know who this person is! Come on, Rebekah: you know the name…come on!
Seto just stared. Now that he knew who he was looking at, he began to consent with his brothers: she really did look much more beautiful in real life than a photograph….
"Anzu! Hi!" Rebekah suddenly remembered. She looked up at Seto and noticed him just quietly watching…gazing…staring at Anzu. She smirked and jabbed him on the arm. He looked angrily at her.
"Forget what I just said. You are a real guy," she said quietly to him, before walking off to hug her friend. Anzu smiled.
"Hey yourself! Have I been gone too long? You forgotten about me?"
Rebekah let go of her, "No! Actually, Yugi showed me a couple days ago you in the newspaper. I just sort of had a mind-blank there."
"When haven't you had a mind-blank," Seto suddenly said. Rebekah whipped around, glaring at him. Anzu looked slightly startled.
"Hey Kaiba. Didn't see you there. Long time no see," she smiled.
"Sure: if you call about four days a long time."
Anzu rolled her eyes, but kept smiling. Same old Kaiba. His brother sure is different though…. Anzu went into a half-dream state, remembering the previous night's events.
Rebekah's voice suddenly cut through her daydream, "YUGI!" she shouted out, "AN-" she had just been about to call out "Anzu's here!" when Seto clamped her mouth shut. Twice in five minutes….
Seto whispered to her, "Don't say her name unless you want a hoard of elephants to run through."
Rebekah looked at him like he had just gone completely insane. Seto had been referring to Noa's enthusiasm of course. Seto uncovered her mouth, and then said, a little more loudly, "Muto! One of your cronies is here!"
Anzu scowled at him, "I am not one of his cronies!" She marched past him up towards the register to wait for Yugi to appear.
"And for once you didn't actually kick me lamely," Seto said, more to himself than her. Yet she had still heard.
"I don't reduce myself to that anymore, no matter how much you taunt me. Anyway, I have better uses for my legs than just kicking you," she retorted.
Seto scoffed, "Like showing them off?"
Somehow, quicker than light itself, Anzu had an over and slapped him upside the head. Rebekah's eyes widened as she saw what Anzu had done. Of course…it wasn't unlike Anzu to do something like that.
"Now that was going WAY too far! You're brother might have been flirting with me, but that doesn't give you the right to try!"
Seto stopped. Why he stopped, he wasn't too sure. After all, he had expected Mokuba to do such a thing…it just had never sounded right, though, "Mokuba was flirting with you?"
Rebekah looked back and forth between them, "Mokuba was flirting with her?"
"Hello?" Yugi had now appeared behind the counter. With her back turned, Yugi couldn't see that it was Anzu who had entered.
Anzu turned around, "Hey Yug!" Yugi smiled immediately, "Hey Anzu!"
"Everything looks in order-" Noa stepped out from behind the shop. He looked up, and suddenly spotted Anzu standing amidst the crowd. HE dropped the clipboard he ad with him. It clattered down onto the tile floor. Everyone turned to stare at him. Seto could have smacked his head right about then.
Noa looked down, "Whoops! Clumsy me!" he laughed slightly and then bent down to pick up the board.
Yugi turned back to Anzu, "So, what's up?"
"Oh, you know, just dropped in for a visit. Gets kind of boring out there," Anzu shrugged, "I'm not used to the freedom yet. Always been so busy, you know?"
"Yeah," Yugi nodded.
"Busy. Yes, Yugi would know all about that, now, wouldn't he. Question is: busy doing what?" Seto tried concealing his snickering. Lord, how he loved toying with this, especially with sentimental Yugi and his hot-headed fiancé.
Yugi turned a deep red. No matter how hard Yugi tried to be friends with him, this guy could really get on his nerves. Rebekah turned red in anger and glared daggers at the other genius in the room.
Anzu looked back and forth between all three of them, "Am I missing something?"
Seto laughed, "Oh, you sure missed something."
"Okay," Noa rushed out from behind the counter, "Seto, why don't you take this list and go with Yugi to get the stuff needed out of the truck," he practically shoved them out the door. He turned to Rebekah.
She held up a hand, "Thanks, but…don't start shoving me too. I'll go make some coffee for Yugi…he's going to need it," she replied, walking out to behind the shop.
Noa exhaled slowly, and leaned against the counter, "Glad that's over."
"So…what exactly are you and Kaiba doing here?" Anzu suddenly asked.
"Hmm?" Noa's head short up. He had almost forgotten that Anzu was there. "Oh! It's…uh…business duties. I get to be the "happy" person who goes around town checking up on needed manufactures in stores. What fun it is," Noa shook his head.
"Well, I can see why you handed the job off to Kaiba. Matches him head to head." Noa laughed at Anzu's comment. Anzu joined in at her own joke.
"You know: you're right," Noa laughed a little more, "but, he's the one who wanted to come along. He's going to have to face the job sometime," Noa replied.
"True, true," Anzu nodded in agreement.
"So…" Noa looked away from her slightly, "…what have you been doing with your time lately?"
Anzu batted a hand as if swatting a fly, "Ah, nothing much. Been shopping for junk around town…hung with a few friends…found out a little gossip…met your brother," tints of slight pink appeared on her cheeks here.
Noa gave a short laugh, "Don't I know."
Anzu looked at him, "So…he told you?"
"Oh sure," Noa replied, "Couldn't stop talking."
"Kinda like me at times?" Anzu found.
Noa turned to her, "You? Talking too much? I wouldn't think so! I believe there are two types of social people: those who talk too much, and those who talk too little. You, fall into neither category."
Anzu snapped out of her daze, "Hmm? Sorry, kinda lost it there." She reddened slightly, and leaned on her elbows on the counter.
"May not talk much, but do you listen?" Noa laughed.
Anzu gave a childish pout, with large, round, shining eyes, "I listen! I was just distracted, that's all."
"Pray tell what distracted you," Noa said.
"You really wanna know?" Anzu looked at him.
"I might, yes," he replied.
"Well…with this mixture of shadow and light in the room…I just couldn't help to think just how handsome you are," she smiled, running a hand down the side of his face. Noa reddened like a cherry. "Yes," Anzu continued. She bopped his nose very lightly with her finger, "Very handsome."
"I…you…you're joking, right?" Noa sputtered.
"Nope," Anzu combed her fingers through some of his long bangs, "I speak my mind when I want to. You should know that. Truthfully, half the time, I don't watch what I say. Sometimes my big mouth gets me into a lot of trouble."
"Well," Noa took her hand (the one playing with his hair), "You're no short end of the stick yourself," he referred to her beauty. He kissed her hand lightly.
It was Anzu's turn to go cherry red. (Geez, I'm starting to get hungry for my jelly beans….) "Oh, stop joking around! I don't look as good as people think."
"I wasn't joking. You should stop the jokes too," he replied, sincerely. He had also been referring to how she thought she didn't "look as good as people thought."
"Well," Anzu let her gaze travel, "looks aren't everything, you know."
"I'm aware of that," Noa replied.
Rebekah was making coffee for Yugi in the kitchen. She started to set everything up when she heard voices coming back from the shop. Noa and Anzu's voices….
"So…what have you been doing with your time lately?"
"Ah, nothing much. Been shopping for junk around town…hung with a few friends…found out a little gossip…met your brother…"
Rebekah lost interest in the coffee and continued to listen. As a small girl, she had always been one to listen in on certain…interesting conversations. It was one of her bad habits.
"Don't I know."
"So…he told you?"
"Oh sure! Couldn't stop talking."
"Kinda like me at times?"
Where was this going, Rebekah thought. Forgetting the coffee making, she stepped more towards the entrance to the kitchen and listened to the voices traveling down the hall….
"You? Talking too much? I wouldn't think so! I believe there are two types of social people: those who talk too much, and those who talk too little. You, fall into neither category."
"Hmm? Sorry, kinda lost it there."
"May not talk much, but do you listen?"
"I listen! I was just distracted, that's all."
Most interesting….Rebekah wondered, what exactly had distracted her?
"Pray tell what distracted you."
Yes! Rebekah exclaimed in her thoughts. Go on….
"You really wanna know?"
"I might, yes."
"Well…with this mixture of shadow and light in the room…I just couldn't help to think just how handsome you are. Yes: very handsome."
Rebekah's eyes widened. What was this? This was getting interesting. She paced down the hall quickly and peered behind the wall that led to the shop. It was there she saw Anzu's finger bop Noa on the nose. Then, she began fingering his hair. Rebekah's eyes widened and her mouth broke into a smile.
How romantic! It was just like one of her soaps she watched. Where were the tissues when she needed them?
But the fun wasn't over yet.
"I…you…you're joking, right?" Noa sputtered.
"Nope. I speak my mind when I want to. You should know that. Truthfully, half the time, I don't watch what I say. Sometimes my big mouth gets me into a lot of trouble."
"Well, you're no short end of the stick yourself." He then kissed her hand lightly. Rebekah's hand went straight to her mouth. Good Lord this was getting good!
The two were still talking when Rebekah noticed something outside the window of the shop. A man was carrying a load of boxes towards the door. That could only mean that Seto and Yugi were finishing up outside.
Rebekah knew how embarrassing it was to be intruded on in an "intimate conversation." Sure, even though Noa had interrupted her and Yugi, she had no bad wishes against him. It was Seto who had pressed on. And she didn't want Anzu to go and feel bad after just coming back.
So, that's when she kicked the wall…really hard.
Noa's head shot up, "What was that?"
Anzu looked around, "Rebekah? Are you alright back there?"
"Yeah!" Rebekah called out, rubbing her foot, "Just…slipped, that's all!" She then limped out from behind the wall.
That's when the door to the shop opened, and a small worker came stumbling in. Seto's voice could be heard outside, "Come on! Keep moving! You're on the verge of being fired, you know!"
Noa sighed and ran over to the man. He helped take a load of boxes from his arms. The man looked on to see who had helped him.
"Oh! Thank you Mister Noa! Thank you very much!" he smiled. Noa led him to the back room in the shop. It was then that Seto walked in, Yugi tailing behind him, looking at him very warily, as if Seto was about to turn around and attack him.
"That should take care of everything," Seto looked at the list. Great. Only nine more places to venture….
Noa and the truck driver appeared back a few minutes later.
"Come on, Noa," Seto nodded towards the door. Noa nodded. The driver rushed out and Seto followed him. Noa stayed behind a minute. He had one last thing to ask….
Yugi had walked back towards Rebekah to check on her. He saw her still trying to numb her foot. After seeing that, for the most part, she was okay, he stood straight and looked over the shop. That's when he spotted Noa talking to Anzu a little ways away.
Noa was holding one of Anzu's hands in both of his and talking to her. Yugi saw Anzu go pink in the cheeks just a little, and she laughed quietly. Then, she said something and nodded. Noa smiled. And before leaving, he kissed her hand (again). Then, the boy left. Anzu watched him go.
Yugi stood there practically dumbstruck. What had just happened there?
He heard his fiancé sigh. He looked over at her, and saw that she had a dreamy look in her eyes.
"Isn't it great, Yugi?" she whispered, "you should have seen those two flirting while you were outside. Boy, it was great! Just like one of my soaps-"
"FLIRTING!" Yugi covered his mouth immediately, but then realized it wasn't he who had spoken.
Yami…was that you?
Yes, Yugi, it was. I am terribly sorry. I was just…surprised, that's all. I never though…in a million years….
I know what you mean….
"She…they…" Yugi looked at Rebekah and back at Anzu.
"You're starting to sound like Noa. He was repeating pronouns too," Rebekah giggled slightly.
"What's so funny?" Anzu had made it over to the counter. Yugi just looked at her. Rebekah smiled.
"Nothing much, Anzu. Why don't you come on in back?" Rebekah waved over to the small hallway. Anzu followed Rebekah, and Yugi just watched them. For once, he was very curious…and wanted to know more…immediately. It wasn't like our shy Yugi, but he had changed over the years. Yami's traits had started becoming a part of him. He walked to the door of the shop and flipped the OPEN sign over to the CLOSED side. The shop could wait a little bit…at least until Anzu left.
Well? How'd you like it? This chappie was really dedicated to NoaxAnzu! Yeah! I swear! For all of you waiting…the next chappie…or possibly the one after that…will be SetoxAnzu! I promise! I've got it all planned out! Hope you liked the little flirting part! I sure did! PLEASE REVIEW!