Later that very same day, Seto had returned to working endlessly on his report when a mess of raven-coloured hair burst through the door.
"Hey Seto!"
"What is it Mokuba?" Seto questioned simply without raising even a single eye from the computer screen he was currently entranced in.
Mokuba sighed. "Can't you ever stop working? At least for a day…"
That was when Seto lifted his gaze to meet that of his brother's. "Sorry kiddo, I wish I could. But see, right now I have a very important report due tomorrow and I have to make sure that it is top notch. Maybe when I'm done we'll go to the park…"
The younger Kaiba's frown then turned into a small smile. "Can we bring Joey too?" he asked, turning the ever-so-lovable puppy dog eyes on his elder brother.
Seto heaved a long and exhausted sigh. "I suppose so…"
"Yay!" the raven-haired pre-teen exclaimed as he ran out of the room and disappeared around the corner. The CEO waited until he was out of sight before returning to his work.
Meanwhile in Joey's room…
"Hey Joey!"
The blonde groaned and rolled over onto his other side, still half asleep. When he opened his eyes, he noticed Mokuba standing in front of him with a huge grin plastered across his face. "Mokuba? What are you doing here?" he asked groggily, sitting up and gazing at the young teen.
"Seto's going to take us to the park as soon as he's done working!" he replied, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.
"What? Really? That doesn't sound like the Kaiba I know…" Joey pondered aloud.
"Who cares? I'm not complaining!" Mokuba smiled gleefully. Joey returned the smile and slowly started on getting himself out of bed. Mokuba helped as he grabbed Joey lightly by the arm and pulled him up off the bed.
"Thanks Mokie. Now I better get dressed if we're going to be going out soon…"
"Okay! I'll meet you downstairs for lunch!" With that, he disappeared from the room almost as quickly as he had entered it.
As soon as Joey realized that he was alone once again, he casually strode over to the dresser at the end of his bed and pulled out a pair of baggy, black jeans and a black muscle shirt and slipped them on. He then looked up into the mirror and ran both his hands through his messy blonde locks. He really didn't care how he looked; he just figured that his hair wasn't going to change the rest of his appearance. It was then that he decided to start heading downstairs for lunch. He was starving, seeing as how he never had anything for breakfast earlier that morning. Eating was definitely not an option right now. He needed to eat in order to keep his stamina up or he would surely faint at any given time. His energy had not yet restored to its maximum potential so he had to make sure to do everything to keep his body healthy and stable.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Mokuba was busy helping the chef prepare a hardy meal for both Joey and himself.
"Hey Mokuba, what's cooking?"
The young, raven-haired teen looked over his shoulder and smiled. "Hey Joey. Finally made it downstairs, eh?" Both males giggled at this comment as Joey took a seat at the table. While he waited on his meal, he was surprised to see just who had come waltzing into the kitchen. It was none other than Seto Kaiba. But that couldn't be possible, could it? Joey was almost positive that Seto was supposed to working on his report. When would he get the time to come downstairs and eat like a normal person? Okay, so maybe Joey was exaggerating a little bit about the whole normal person thing, but you couldn't blame him. Seto never really acted normal when he was around others. He was a workaholic and no one, not even his own brother could deny it.
When Seto took a seat opposite Joey, the blonde kept direct eye contact with the CEO until the food was served. Even as he ate, he would occasionally look up from his plate and stare into the brunette's cold and lifeless cerulean blue orbs. Seto noticed this and decided to break the silence.
"What are you staring at, Wheeler?" he sneered.
Joey was silent for a brief minute before answering. "N-nothing. Nothing at all," he replied casually. Seto only scoffed and returned to his plate of egg salad sandwiches served with veggies and dip on the side. Joey couldn't see what his problem was, but guessed it probably had something to do with working so much. Everyone usually gets a little bit cranky and irritable if they work too hard or too long. This was probably just one of those times and he wasn't in the mood to do anymore complaining.
Approximately fifteen minutes later, Seto and Joey both got up from the table and carried their dishes over to where they cook was standing. Joey thanked him for such a delicious meal while Seto simply set his plate down on the counter and walked out of the room. Joey attempted a fake cough in order to try and get the CEO's attention but failed; either Seto didn't hear him or he was just simply ignoring the blonde. Joey thought that it was more along the lines of option B. Oh well, it's not like he really wanted his attention or anything…or did he? No, that was out of the question. Of course he wouldn't want Seto's attention pinned on him. Was he crazy? If anything, he wanted the CEO to ignore him. Well, if that really was the truth, then he got his wish because not even ten minutes ago was the first time that Seto had spoken to Joey since the other day. That was definitely a miracle in itself…
"Seto!" Mokuba exclaimed as he burst into his brother's room for the second time that day.
Seto looked up from his computer screen and sighed. "What is it now, Mokuba?"
"You said you'd take Joey and me to the park today! You said! You said!" he pleaded as his eyes began to fill with tears.
"I said I'd take you if I managed to finish my report…"
"And you're done, right?"
Seto heaved a rather heavy sigh. "Yes…"
"YAY!" he shouted so loud that his voice rang throughout the whole upper floor. Seto simply placed his head in his hands and sighed once more. He was really hoping to avoid a trip to the park but figured that since it made his brother happy, he might as well go along with it. He wasn't completely finished his report but decided that he could just wrap it up when they got back. How long could it possibly take to complete half a page? He didn't know it, but he was going to find out the answer to his question the hard way…
"Are you coming? Are you coming?"
"Yes Mokuba, I'm coming. Why don't you go downstairs and get ready? You can tell Joey to get ready as well. I want to get out of here as quickly as possible so that we can get back at a decent time," the brunette stated matter-of-factly.
"Why? What's your hurry?" Mokuba inquired curiously.
"Nothing, I just don't want to be long," the elder brother informed solemnly.
"Okay, well I'll meet you downstairs!" With that, the mess of raven black hair disappeared from the room faster then you could say Duel Monsters. Seto, on the other hand, took his time getting ready. First he went to shut his computer down, next he walked over to his closet to find one of his trench coats to wear, which he almost immediately decided on his silver one that he had worn during the Battle City tournament. Once he had slipped it on, he then walked over to his bedroom door that was still wide open from when Mokuba had come rushing in and placed a key in the lock. He turned it once to the right and as soon as he heard it click, stepped out of the room and pulled the door shut behind him. Being absolutely sure that he had locked his room up tight, he headed down the stairs and to the front door where he saw Joey and Mokuba waiting for him.
"About time," Mokuba stated impatiently, yet he couldn't manage to hide the small smile that was trying to peek through his serious facial expression.
Seto smirked. "Well I could have not come at all. Would that have been better?"
"No!" Seto couldn't help but laugh at his little brother's reaction. He chuckled to himself and then stopped almost immediately when he realized that Joey was watching him.
"Ahem, anyway, I suggest we get going."
"Just what I was thinking, big bro!" Mokuba exclaimed happily, following his brother out the door with Joey trailing close behind. When they got outside, they noticed a bright red Camaro sitting just outside the garage doors, not a speck of dirt anywhere on it.
"Sweet car dude," Joey commented, trying not to drool.
"Thank you…" Seto replied as he eyed his rival suspiciously.
"Well? What are we waiting for? Let's all hop in so we can get this party started!" Mokuba shouted joyously. Joey smiled as he got into the backseat of the car. Mokuba, of course, sat in the front seat with his brother. The rather tiny pre-teen decided to turn on the radio and find some good tunes to listen to on the way to the park. He finally stopped channel surfing when he came across the song Breaking the Habit by Linkin Park. Both Joey and himself started bobbing their heads to the music as Seto simply focused all of his concentration on driving. He had often said that music distracted him, but had always let Mokuba listen to whatever was on the radio at the time. It kept him busy and stopped him from the asking the annoying question of, 'Are we there yet?' over and over again. For once in his life, Seto was glad for music.
When they eventually made it to Domino Park, Mokuba literally leapt from his seat and raced over to the swing set. Joey did the same, except instead of running over to the playground to play with the younger Kaiba, he walked over to a nearby bench and sat down. Seto followed him, intrigued as to why he was not playing with Mokuba.
"What's your problem?" Seto asked, although it sounded more like a demand.
"Why would you care?"
"Because you're not acting like your normal self. The Joey I know would be eager to go and play with my brother. But instead you decide that you want to waste this day away by sitting in the park on a boring bench. Something's definitely up and I want to know what." This certainly didn't sound like Seto and Joey even thought of a crazy idea that aliens might have warped his mind. Heh, same old Joey… But seriously, why was someone like Seto Kaiba so concerned with what he was and could be doing? It just didn't make sense…
"I just don't feel like doing much today, that's all…" Joey lied.
"That's a lie. You felt fine when we left the mansion so why the sudden change?" The brunette raised an eyebrow in curiousity.
"I told you! I just don't feel like doing much of anything today!" Joey practically shouted. Seto, however, did not back down. In fact, he took a seat next to the blonde. Joey didn't realize until a few seconds later that the brunette was positioned awfully close to him. He slid a little way down towards the end so as to regain his private space.
"I know that's not it because I was once in the same position. Well, maybe not the same position but you get my point. Every time Gozaburo took Mokuba and myself to the park, I never felt like doing much of anything. You want to know why? It was because Gozaburo ruined my childhood. He took away all of my toys…my life. I had nothing. That is why whenever he expected me to play with my brother, I wouldn't because I had forgotten what it was like to be free and to play at my own will. He took all that away from me and I'll never forgive him for that…"
Joey turned to Seto who looked as though he was about ready to cry, but fought back the tears. "I know how you feel. My father treated me the same way…"
"I figured as much. That is why I don't want you to ever return to that house again. I don't want you to get hurt because…because…" He couldn't continue. The sadness overcame him and tears had now begun trickling down his cheeks. Joey didn't know what to do now. He had never been in a situation like this, especially with one such as Seto Kaiba. Seto never cried, so why now? Was it because he couldn't handle the horrors of his past anymore? If that was true, then Joey didn't blame him. He would have broken down too. Just then, the unthinkable happened. The blonde moved closer to his rival so that both their hips were touching. Seto looked up, tears still held deep within his eyes. Both teens refused to break their gaze with one another and soon enough, something extraordinary occurred. Both males leaned closer as their lips locked, invoking the most passionate kiss either one of them had ever experienced. They didn't know why, nor how this had happened, but one thing was for sure…they were glad it did…
Mysterious Mistress Kura: -wipes tear- I can't believe how sweet this ended. I loved writing this chapter because it held so much emotion. I hope all you readers enjoyed it just as much as me. Please review and tell me what you thought. I don't know how much longer this story will last but I'm thinking of making it maybe one or two more chapters. It may be more, depending on what kind of ideas I can come up with. Well, I guess I shall end this little note here and let you all review! Ja ne everyone!