Chapter 5


Disclaimers: I don't own Yu-gi-Oh.


Larissa Thorneley got up on a bright morning, clutching her bed sheets to her body. It was 8:15 A.M., and she was eager to make a good start on the day. But first she had to get out of the hospital at once.

"Ms. Thorneley, here's your breakfast." Said the nurse, emerging from the hallway.

Larissa nodded her head and let the nurse put the tray on the table next to her. She shifted her body to face the nurse. "Um, miss, has anyone called Seto Kaiba stopped by this morning?" she asked politely.

The nurse scrunched her face in concentration. "Why, yes. He stopped by to see you. He was making sure you were all right from your ordeal last night. He's a tall man with broad shoulders, blue eyes and brown hair?"

"Yeah, that's him. Did he leave an address or number where I can contact him?" Larissa asked, shoving her long blond hair behind her ears.

"Um, he didn't but Mr. Tetsaki called to say that Mr. Kaiba would be staying at Brimland Hotel." The nurse replied.

"Okay, thanks." Larissa said distractedly, picking up the tray from her bedside table. She needed to eat. After all, she didn't want to visit Kaiba with an empty stomach.


"Serenity…" she could hear a voice calling out to her.

"Seto!" she called numbly.

She ran to his embrace… His arms were tight around her… "Serenity…" his sweet, gruff voice whispered in her ear. His familiar scent reached her nose. She inhaled deeply… She would give up everything just to be in his arms forever…

Then his grip loosened and she pulled back in surprise.

His face changed drastically into Duke Devlin's. To her surprise, she felt like a piece of her was renewed again… Like Duke was a half of her that she could not remove…

She was staring deeply into his eyes, feeling confusion. Her heart was beating madly. Who did she really care about? Seto or Duke? She was confused.

"Serenity… forget Kaiba… stay with me…" Duke beckoned her, enclosing her into a hug.

She burst into tears and she couldn't help but hug him back.

Serenity Wheeler woke up with a start. She felt numb… She felt lonesome. She couldn't take it anymore… she didn't even know what to do. Should she even talk to anyone today? She was confused… Who DID she like?

Serenity shoved her bed sheets aside. She was getting up today, whether she liked it or not. AND she won't think about her present love triangle until later.


Joey Wheeler groaned as he stretched his arms in the air. He had just woken up at the sound of the stupid alarm clock. 'It's a good thing I'm early today.' He thought.

He yawned and stretched his arms even more, getting used to the bright sunlight. It was shining through his bedroom window, and he was in a cheerful mood.

He had gotten used to the early morning routine with Serenity and he was not apt to forget it. Serenity was the one who usually got up first, and finished up first. She was the one who usually came banging at his door whenever he was running late.

But today… there was no call from his sister. He sighed. He had been expecting it until he remembered that his sister had gone to live with a creep whom he never even trusted. 'There's got to be something in the law about that kind of stuff! I knew he would hurt her… damn that bastard! He said he wouldn't do anything to hurt Serenity. And he did, damn it…' Joey thought, swearing. He shouldn't have! He just KNEW it.

Joey knew that he had to take this with the higher authorities or something, but he had no guts to do so. 'What the hell will happen if they see the other case better than mine? I won't stand a chance if I have a bad detective. I don't have that much money to hire a good one… I have to think of something else…' Joey thought, banging his fist on the table.

He had to find a way to make his sister happy without having to mention the creep.

Joey paced, thinking all the while. 'Maybe I should ask Tristan… hey wait! That's a good idea!' Joey thought excitedly and dialed Tristan's number.

"'Lo, Tristan! It's me Joey. Hey listen, I have a problem about Serenity."

"Hey, Joey. What, are you going to let me court her?" Tristan said in a happy tone.

Joey rolled his eyes. "You didn't hear the news did you? Kaiba died and Serenity doesn't want to talk to me. Can you please check her out for me?" Joey asked, keeping his patience intact.

"Well, no problem. See ya later Joey." Tristan said and hung up.

Joey hung up, confident that he had gotten the situation straight. That was totally great—Tristan was going to check Serenity out for him. In the meantime, he could ask Tea or Mai what to do about Serenity. 'Next time, they should call me the ultimate genius Joey.' Joey thought, every ounce of courage in him as he got up.


"WHAT!"

Mai Valentine gaped at Joey Wheeler, her mouth wide open.

"I just told you, Mai. I don't know what to do about it. She never lets me talk to her. And I'm her brother for God's sakes! I'm the right person to talk to her. But she doesn't want to. Tristan was going to check her up for me."

"Joey, you're the most insensitive brother ever." Mai commented, a frown on her Barbie-doll-like face.

"But-"

"Joey… Serenity's your sister! You shouldn't give up. Go to Serenity! Find out what's wrong."

"Gee… I didn't know that I was being insensitive…" Joey said.

"GO!"

"Alright, fine, fine."


"I'm sorry miss, but Mr. Kaiba is busy at the moment. He told me that he didn't want to be disturbed. Please come back a bit later." The woman at the front desk told Larissa.

"But you don't understand!" Larissa cried, pretending to be desperate. "I'm his girlfriend! I must see him!" She had always had no trouble in acting. She had taken a drama class in elementary, and was glad to find out that she still had her skill.

The woman was already looking confused. She looked as if she didn't know what to do. 'Great, it's working!' Larissa thought happily.

"I'll let you in. But I have to ask Mr. Kaiba first if he does know you." She said and used the phone for a little while, using discreet tones so that Larissa wouldn't hear. Larissa took the cue and turned around, tapping her fingers and humming a tune.

Then the personnel got off the phone and gave her the necessary information she needed.

She headed up the large, furnished elevator. She adjusted her appearance as she peered into the mirror beside her. She had especially fixed up herself that morning. Taking permission from the nurse, she had carefully applied light make-up on her soft features. She had combed out the split ends on her light brown hair and made it as straight as possible. Now she was pretty sure she could pass off as a super model going to her shoot.

She thought about what she could say to Kaiba as she ascended to the 25th floor as the woman in the front desk informed her.


The intelligent CEO was checking out his paperwork as Larissa Thorneley entered. "Um, hi," she began shyly.

He turned his swiveling chair to face her. His eyes were the same sky blue orbs that she had remembered from the hospital.

"Hello." He said civilly. "Ms. Thorneley, if I'm not mistaken?" he asked. She nodded.

"What do you want?"

"To offer you a thank-you-gift… for rescuing me yesterday," Larissa said eagerly, reaching for her handbag.

"I don't need it, Ms. T-"

"Please, call me Larissa."

"Fine. But no thank you, you don't need to offer me any gift. I just happened to see you out on the streets." Kaiba said, dismissing her offer thoroughly.

"But I just want to-"

"No thank you."

Larissa raised her eyebrows. She had never seen someone so uneager to receive something. "Well… if you don't want to, I can just leave it on the table. Goodbye," she said, with a smile unfazed on her mouth.

Kaiba was actually shocked by her nerve, but he was used to it. He was calm as she left the room. And then he looked at the piece of paper that she had put on the table. It was a free promo of Starbucks Coffee, admitting one free frapuccino.


Back in Japan…

Serenity was already dressed by the time Duke Devlin had picked her up. It was 8:00 in the evening and as usual, a dark, gloomy night. She still missed Seto, and this night reminded her of him. She remembered their dates in the evening, when Joey was out and she was free to go out with him. They usually ate in restaurants and danced for fun (She taught him the dance steps) and even if she had aching toes by the end of the night, she quite enjoyed Seto's company. 'Oh, Seto… I wish you're here with me…'

She tried to imagine that Kaiba was Duke Devlin, but still he was not.

"Serenity!" someone she recognized as Duke called.

"Hi, Duke." After greetings and how-do-you-do's were exchanged, they took a short stroll.

After that came dinner at a restaurant. Nothing significant happened for Serenity, since she was too busy thinking of another guy.


A/N: Gotta cut it there, I'm sorry… I'm sorry I haven't updated this in a long, long time! So it's about time I uploaded this… Please read and review, I'll try getting the next chapter up as quickly as possible.