I know, I know…don't remind me. I haven't updated in awhile. Partially, it's because I only got 1 review for my last chapter; it was that disheartening. But also, I've been busy with preparing in band for three major concerts, and a bunch of art commissions. So I'll probably be slow in updating the next chapter, too…

So yeah. That's all I really wanted to say. I don't own Yugioh…

Let Chapter XX begin!

The winds blew across Serenity's face, whipping the strands of her hair before her eyes. Her hands were carrying her math book, so she tried to shake the pieces aside once more, yet to no avail. They were changing directions too much, so if she could get her hair out of her face, it would simply find its way back to where it was before.

Peering ahead through slit eyes, she tried to look ahead. Not that many people were out here, even though it was pretty early in the afternoon. Most were indoors out of the cold weather or in a sheltered place. It hadn't been this windy in a long while, and it was bringing freezing temperatures with it. At least there wasn't much sign of rain.

She wished that she still had the speech club to go to today, out of all days. Instead, it was the other way around. Many of the members had been gone for some trip for their history class, so no one found it worthwhile to stay and do nothing. And because she had only learned today when she saw the sign on the door, she had to walk home now. Her brother could have picked her up earlier, but he was at work already. The bus wasn't a bad idea, either, but she didn't have enough money to pay the fare.

The wind was getting to strong. She caught sight of a café she often frequented. Why not go in there? She knew the people there well enough for them to let her simply stay inside without buying anything. It was as good a place as any.

Quickly, she made her way to the door. Surprisingly, as little people around as there were, she almost ran into someone when she reached the little café's entrance. They let her in first, holding the door open for her and her full hands, and with a grateful thank you, she walked in with relief.

Her eyes scanned the place. There weren't too many people in here…well, instead of sitting here, maybe it would be better to talk with the manager, who was almost like a mother to Serenity. She hadn't talked to her in a long time, and a little pang of guilt jumped in her when she remembered her promise to visit her a month ago. Now was a good of time as any, especially because her friend probably wouldn't be too busy with this few customers.

"May I please talk to your manager?" Serenity asked one of the waitresses.

"Oh, she isn't here right now," the girl replied. "She had some business meeting or the other. Is there anything I can do to help you?"

Her opportunity was lost. Who knew when she would be able to meet her friend again? "Oh, it's okay. I just wanted to talk to her—she's a good friend of mine. But it's nothing big." Without waiting for the next question to pop out of the waitress' mouth, she hurried to a small booth by the window.

She gazed soberly out the window. The wind really needed to let up soon, or at least calm down a bit, or else she would have a hard time getting home. Well, the least she could hope for would be for the wind not to get any stronger.

She would wait fifteen minutes, no longer, she promised herself. There was no use staying longer, and she didn't want to impose on those who worked here, especially if she didn't order anything. If only she had the money…

As Serenity's eyes roved over the road, a lonely pedestrian caught her eye. He was walking towards the café on the sidewalk, barely visible from the window. Automatically, without any prompt, her mind started to play her little evaluation game again.

From here, it was too hard to tell anything. But of course, it always was—how likely was it that her assumptions were ever even close to correct? It was just a game, not something that she thought was true about them. She knew that it was the worst way to judge people, from first impulse or appearance. Still…as he slowly came closer, she thought she could at least tell a few things.

The person wasn't hurrying somewhere, that was for certain. So what was he or she doing out on such a windy day? There was probably something on their mind. Or maybe they were early to an appointment and decided to take their time. But the first assumption would make things more interesting…she followed that instinct instead.

The person soon drew close enough for her to see that he was a man. Not old, almost young…it was something in the way he carried himself. He didn't seem to be overly happy—who would, with dreary weather like this?—and he didn't look burdened with emotion, either. Actually, he looked like he was either hiding something or pushing it away. Or at least, he looked like someone familiar who usually did that…but who? She didn't know anyone who did that.

As he got closer, she was certain she had met this person a few times before. There was something in the way he held himself, and even his build looked familiar. With a shock, she realized she did know this person. The hair, the eyes, the clothing style…Who else could it be?

By the time she got over the shock, Kaiba was pulling open the door to the café. Without stopping, he made his way to her small table.

"What are you doing here?" Serenity asked in surprise.

"I don't know, really." He took a seat across the table from her. "I was just walking by when I saw you in here, and decided to pay you a visit."

"Oh."

She fell into silence when she a waitress came over to give him a menu. She looked at Serenity for a second, considering if she should give her one also, then didn't and walked away.

"You're not getting anything?" he asked her when she was out of earshot.

Serenity shook her head. "I don't have the money. If I did, I would have taken the bus and been home by now."

He didn't take his eyes off the words before him. "Oh, I see. You're here to seek shelter from the outdoors because you didn't have a ride."

"The speech club was cancelled today, and I didn't know until this morning. I couldn't reach my brother to tell him, so I had to walk home."

"Why are they letting you stay here, then?" Kaiba asked, looking at her over the top of his menu. "I would have thought they kicked out people who simply use them if they're not customers."

Serenity's face reddened at the remark. "Well, I know the manager here. I was going to visit her for the meanwhile, but she isn't here today. They let me stay, though."

"Oh, okay. I see." It was quiet between them for a moment, then he asked, "What's good here? I've never been here before."

Why was he asking for her opinion? They probably had totally different tastes. "Um…what are you looking to get? A drink?"

"Maybe I should ask what you like to get from here instead."

"Oh." She was at loss for what to say. "The blueberry scones here are good."

"Really…" he said musingly.

"And so is their hot chocolate," she quickly added, then regretted it. She didn't like to have such strong judgements towards people that she knew, but he didn't really seem like the type to drink a beverage like that. He'd probably have coffee instead.

He put the menu down on the table. "Hot chocolate, huh?"

However, she didn't have time to answer. A waitress came over to take their order, seeing the menu lying unnoticed on the table. "May I take your order?" she asked.

"Two blueberry scones and two hot chocolates," he answered promptly.

The waitress looked oddly at him for one second, but he didn't seem to notice. Quickly, she scribbled the order down. Without another word, she took the menu and left.

"Why did you order two?" Serenity asked.

"Don't you want any? I thought you might be uncomfortable watching me eat when you didn't have anything."

She couldn't answer for a moment, surprised. He ordered something for her? How inconsiderate she was…how could she overlook such a nice offer? "Oh," was all she could manage. She saw the corner of his mouth quirk, and couldn't help turning red.

Serenity turned towards the window, trying to hide her face. The weather was still as bad, if not worse. Pleasantness slid from her thoughts. She should have just walked home earlier. It probably wouldn't let up for a long time. But now that she had become someone's guest, she couldn't just leave…

"Bad weather out there, isn't it?" Seto's voice broke through her thoughts. "It looks worse than before."

She nodded. "I should have just gone home earlier. It's going to be impossible to make it home now…" The wind looked so bad out there. It would be hard to keep her eyes open enough to see, especially since she had such sensitive eyes.

It stayed silent at their table until the food and beverages finally came. Serenity's appetite hadn't been that big in the first place, but now, after all of the depressing thoughts made their way in a march through her brain, she didn't even feel like looking at the scone and hot chocolate before her. But that would be impolite…She forced herself to at least take a sip of the warm drink before her.

Quietly, the two slowly consumed their snack, not talking. Serenity could feel Kaiba's gaze on her every once in a while, a look that felt like a stare. She didn't look up. Instead, she kept her eyes to look at the table and its contents. Why did she feel like she had done something wrong?

"Do you need a ride home?" Kaiba finally asked, breaking the silence. He had finished his scone and his hot chocolate already.

She looked up, a reply already forming on her tongue. "Oh, it's okay. You've already done a lot for me. I can just walk—"

"Stop being so humble," he interrupted. "If you want to find a way to not take my offer, think of another way."

As she groped blindly for a way to keep him from doing even more for her, a low laugh escaped his throat. "Calm down, Serenity, I'm just teasing you. You're too stressed out."

She didn't answer; instead, she let a slow exhale say it all.

"Are you sure you don't want a ride? The wind is getting strong out there, and dangerous." He looked out the window for a moment. "It'll be hard to see where you're going, especially with the wind and who-knows-what-else blowing around."

Serenity sighed and buried her face in one hand. "I don't know. I know I should just make my way home, but then…"

She stayed that way, her eyes closed against her hand. Why was he being so nice to her all of a sudden? He had told her so many times to keep her distance. And that wasn't all. After that email he had forwarded to her about Mokuba, they had decided to stay away from each other as much as they could, so they could each do what they needed to do without hindering each other. She wasn't even sure that she was supposed to go along with him when he met those men.

She heard the waitress come by with the check, and come and pick it up again. Words were exchanged, and so was money. "Thank you. Have a nice day," she heard.

A ruffling of clothes made her look up. "Let's go," Kaiba said, pushing himself away from the table.

I didn't even take his offer, she thought dimly. But she didn't really care. Even though she had been put in a lot of danger because she had been with him so much lately, she felt more secure around him. Picking up her things from the table, she followed.

He was right about the violence of the wind. As soon as he pushed open the door, her hair was whipping her face with its strands.

"My car isseveral blocks from here, at the big public parking lot. It's a bit to walk, but not as bad as walking all the way home, right?"

"Yeah, that's true," she answered. She hitched her shoulder to put her backpack in a comfortable position, and attempted to shake some strands of hair from her face, but some of them were stuck under a strap. "Seto, do you think you could hold my books really quick?" she asked him, her head slightly askew. "My hair…"

He looked amused, but he didn't say anything as he took them from her. Gratefully, she pulled the auburn strands free, then pulled them back. She reached into her backpack and quickly took out a hair tie, then put it up.

"Better?" he questioned.

She smiled, her spirit in a better mood. "Yep."

Serenity was about to take her books back when he said, "It's okay; I'll hold them. You look like you have enough to deal with already." Not waiting for another word of protest, he turned around and started walking.

It wasn't until they had crossed the street and were making their way across the next block that Seto finally broke the silence. Serenity didn't know about him, but she was at a loss for what to say…and for some reason, she had started feeling just the least bit nervous. It wasn't the bad type; it just seemed like the everyday, it's-not-something-bad type. "Are you going to come along the week after next?" he asked suddenly, quietly. "You know, when we're going to see what those kidnappers are up to."

His tone was so violent when he had mentioned those men that Serenity was surprised he hadn't been more vile. "Um, I guess…" she answered vaguely. "I don't know if I can go without Joey knowing exactly what I'm up to, because I know he would probably tie me up if I told him about it. So he would be sure I wouldn't leave." She left a part unspoken, a part that both of them didn't need to mention. And I'm scared…I'm afraid of what I'll see, and what will happen.

"You don't have to come along if you don't want to," he said after a period of silence. "It's not something I want to see, either. But I have to."

"I know." She gazed out at the semi-empty streets and stores around them. They seemed to be a reflection of her mind and heart. Everything seemed so…different, now. It felt foreign, and as if she was waiting for something to happen, just like the stores were waiting for their customers.

However, he didn't bug her for the answer she didn't give. Instead, both of them walked in silence to the large parking lot ahead of them.

They were just a couple of blocks from the parking lot when Serenity thought she felt something nagging at her. She could see the garage from here. Turning around, she scanned the sidewalks. Nothing looked out of place.

"Do you feel anything?" she asked uncertainly after a moment of hesitation. "Like…if someone was watching you?"

Kaiba nodded, the motion barely perceptible. She turned her head back once more, trying in vain to see anything out of the ordinary. If he could sense it too, it meant it was real, right?

Suddenly, she felt something grab at her bag and jerk her backwards. She tried to scream and saw Kaiba whip around, catching the movement with the corner of his eye. However, a cloth was thrust over her nose and mouth, thick enough to make it a struggle just to breath. She felt an arm constricting her throat.

"Stay back," the voice behind her demanded.

"Who are you?" Kaiba growled. However, he heeded the stranger's words, looking at something at her captor's belt. "Let her go!"

She felt the arm tighten around her, and realized at the same moment that there was something on the cloth, slowly bringing black spots around her vision.

"What will you do about it?" the voice said, taunting, and fading.

A faint shout echoed through her mind. She couldn't hear the words, and as she began to loose consciousness, she thought it was just a figment of her imagination. She felt the weight on her back disappear and felt a jolting motion after being taken off the ground.

Just before she blacked out, she thought she could hear a familiar voice shouting her name, and a strangely comforting image floated before her closed eyes, a man with dark hair and blue eyes.

"SERENITY!"

So, did you like it? I hope it was satisfactory enough, because like I said before, it'll probably be awhile until my next update.

I tried not to put too big of a cliffhanger because of that—I was originally going to cut it off right before she felt the arm around her and the cloth over her face. With just a "Suddenly—" But that would be too creul.

So. Happy reviewing?