Disclaimer: Come on people! I'm willing to pay the big bucks to own some of these characters. Yes, alas it is true. Yu-Gi-Oh sniffle isn't mine.
A/N: All right, I know a lot of you are fighting the urge to kill Taryn so Kaiba can keep his sanity but this chapter isn't the one. Instead I decided to add a little something to keep everyone happy. A little Seto/Anzu time. Be prepared for a couple tones of sap and mush galore.
Italics – Japanese
Regular – English
Chapter Five
Sunday 5:00pmTheir captor's were staying true to the kidnappers hand guide for dummies and, just as Seto predicted, had an inkling for his gold incrusted checkbook. Yet they were going about it entirely the wrong way. They had already stolen his wallet and cell phone that would give them all quite a pretty penny. Unfortunately it wasn't pretty enough and the guards had taken to harassing Seto to cough up a good chunk of his life earnings.
All of the guards that had made themselves known to Taryn and Seto, a measly three, had barged into the room, guns in hand. His personal favorite, the guard sporting a ponytail, presented him with a high-end laptop, while his accomplices took stand over their two hostages at gunpoint.
Ponytail guy slammed his hand down on the table causing the piece of furniture and everything resting on it to shake. "Transfer the damn money!" he growled, patience withering away.
"No."
"Transfer!"
Damn bastard was grating on his nerves. "Need I explain to you the definition of no?" Seto sneered. The bodyguard looked set to knock out a few of his pearly white teeth but surprisingly had enough control to hold back.
"Kaiba, give them the money. They said they would let us go when you do," Taryn bothered to remind him.
The billionaire pinned her with icy blue eyes. "Just whose side are you on?"
"Hello! Gun pointed at my head," she gestured at her appointed guard as if Seto had never noticed him before, "I want to get out of here as much as you."
"On my bank account?"
"If that's the price of freedom."
Hate was too tame a word to describe how Seto felt towards Taryn at that moment in time. All of the offers she made to comfort him and be of assistance, showering him with unwelcome attention, and the blonde couldn't care less if he lost every hard earned penny to his name, if only it kept her safe.
The nose of a gun barrel was pushed none too gently against the back of Seto's head. "This is your last chance," the guard warned, "Shut up and transfer the damn money."
Holding off on any more snide remarks, Seto attacked the keyboard with a renewed vigor that surprised everyone. Within moments he was jumping from program to program, not allowing them more then a handful of seconds to register on screen.
"Hey…. Hey! What are you doing?!" Ponytail guy had the nerve to ask.
Seto didn't dare remove his eyes form the laptop screen. "I'm handing over my money to you worthless scumbags." He spat. Just a few more intricate codes and he would be finished.
Ponytail guy, undoubtedly the team leader, took the laptop, when Seto rested back in his chair, to double check that he had in fact transferred the money. Little did they know that in roughly half hours time the money would be transferred a second time, in smaller amounts, to an account Mokuba like to refer to as Seto's retirement fund.
"You've got your money, give me my promised freedom," he ordered.
The shortest of the captors openly observed Taryn. "We're not done with you just yet."
That didn't bother the billionaire in the least. "By all means take her, but our time together has come to a close."
"You're not the one calling the shots." A gun was jabbed against the back of his head.
"Oh I beg to differ."
With lightening fast reflexes Seto leapt from his seat and spun around, sending his metal chair into the man behind him. The guard stumbled backwards, struggling to maintain his balance in the small space given, with no success. Another kick and both the chair and guard went down, bashing his head against the wall. The jarring action caused him to lose hold of his handgun, watching as it slide past Seto and underneath the table.
Although Ponytail guy already had two guns hanging in his holsters he still made a dive for his partners weapon, ignoring the option of pulling his own. The actions were only making things easier for Seto. Opting to take him out while he was distracted Seto kicked the guard in the side, forcing him onto his back. He aimed a second kick at Ponytail guys head with the heel of his boot and succeeded in knocking the man unconscious.
"S-s-stop right now or… or I'll shoot!" the remaining guard threatened. He stood by the closed door, holding Taryn at wobbly gunpoint. "Don't-don't think I'm not serious!"
"If you play nice I won't have to harm you either," Seto replied, making sure to keep his tone calm and actions slow so as not to startle the guard. With eyes on the remaining captor, he reached down and removed both guns from Ponytail guy's holsters. "Taryn, open the door."
The grip on her arm tightened. "Hold it. She isn't doing anything."
Seto had to refrain from rolling his eyes at the man's stupidity. "Taryn will open the door and if you so much as hinder her in the slightest I won't hesitate to put a bullet in every vital organ of you body. Don't believe me? Go ahead and try." Emphasizing just how serious he was the young CEO raised both arms simultaneously, leveling one gun at the guard's head and the other at his crotch.
Choosing life over excruciating death he released Taryn as though burned and pushed her in the direction of the door when she made no instant move to follow Seto's order. As he already predicted the door was unlocked and swung open with ease.
"Kaiba? What are you planning on doing?" the blonde asked from her position in the doorway.
Flicking the safety on, Seto fit one of the guns in the waistband of his pants, holding securely onto the second, before pushing Taryn into the hallway. "I am leaving, and if any mentally retarded delinquents decide to follow it will be on pain of death." He kept his remaining gun aimed at the last standing guard until he closed the door to their temporary prison cell and locked it. Freedom at bloody last, and with no help from Taryn's end.
Seto glanced down the dimly lit hallway that stretched in both directions. If memory served him correctly to the left of them was a staircase that if leading anywhere it had to eventually lead to a door out of the building.
"Kaiba! Hold on! Where are you going?" his Canadian cling on ran to catch up with him. "Is it even safe?"
"Safe? You want to have a discussion over whether or not it is safe to leave this hell hole?" the billionaire increased his pace as they neared the stairs. Money could by power but it certainly didn't by intelligence. "If you rationalize remaining in three highly inadequate kidnappers hands then do us all a favor and remain here. I, on the other hand, have more important business to attend to."
Four flights of stairs later the pair reached the ground floor and a steel door locked from the outside. Not bothering to warn Taryn about his actions, Seto raised the gun he was still carrying and shot the lock off. An ear splitting, short-lived shriek sounded behind him. If only his little performance had been enough to cause a fainting spell.
"What-what are you doing?! You could have hurt me!" She grabbed his arm, failing to make him turn around and face her. "The bullet could have ricocheted off of the door and killed me!"
"It didn't though, now did it?"
Pushing the blonde behind him, Seto opened the last door to freedom. A bitter cold wind swept into the confined area and carried with it a light dusting of snow. The temperature change was shocking to a person's system, but the billionaire proceeded forward none-the-less, pulling his coat tighter around him.
"Wait, Kaiba! You never told me where you were going!" For the first time since their kidnapping she sounded fearful of what his response was going to be. Not that brandishing two guns had any influence in the matter.
Pocketing the second gun and using the action as an excuse to keep his hands warm, Seto spared her a glance over his shoulder. The blonde was jogging to catch up with him, her cheeks and nose already red from the cold. Increasing his pace, Seto rounded a corner.
"Where am I going? Away from you."
He didn't hear it coming, nor had the thought crossed his mind that it would come, but whatever it was connected with the back of his head and consciousness was lost.
Sunday 10:00pm"That was Mokuba," Anzu announced from her seat in the back of Taylor's car. "Do you mind if we swing by the airport and pick him up? I'd rather not leave him to his own devises if I don't have to."
Taylor smiled at her from the rear view mirror. "Do you even have to ask?"
The drive to the airport took a lot longer then Anzu would have like but she used the free time to do like Delaney in the front seat, and catch up on missed sleep. The trio of friends had spent their day running around Toronto in hopes of finding Seto, or any clues that could lead them to him. Any luck they may have had decided to remain hidden. They had postponed the search until morning and were heading back to rez when Mokuba called.
It took a good ten minutes of scouting the parking lot before they found an empty space to park in, and were able to make their way inside the airport towards baggage handling. Anzu didn't have any chance to worry about searching for the young Kaiba when they arrived. It wasn't nearly as crowded as she expected and Mokuba spotted her almost immediately.
"Anzu!!" Her name was yelled across the airport, followed by a hurling body. Mokuba threw himself into her arms, mumbling incoherently against her jacket. He had sounded so reassuring over the phone, but Anzu knew with his nii-sama in danger it could only last so long.
"Hey, Mokuba," she said, when he finally looked up at her with red rimmed eyes, vacant of tears, "How was your flight?"
"Long. I'm just really hungry." He pressed his face back into her jacket. "Jou wouldn't let me have any more candy."
"Jou?" Anzu asked, wondering if she had heard him correctly.
"Ouch, that hurts," the blonde appeared in front of her, "You didn't even notice me, Anzu? I thought we were friends."
His warm, almost cocky smile would have taken Anzu's breath away if the mere sight of Jou hadn't already left her speechless. Returning his smile with one of her own she waved Jou forward, pulling him into a one armed hug, seeing as Mokuba wasn't relinquishing his hold on her just yet. She needn't have to speak to express her delight at the appearance of one of her closest friends.
"How are you holding up?" Jou pulled away to ask.
"I'm managing," Anzu replied, her smile loosing it's glow, "You two, on the other hand, have some explaining to do."
Mokuba finally let go of the dancer. "That's easy, we're here to find Seto." The young Kaiba said it with such conviction and drive in his voice that trying to perform the impossible felt that much easier.
A familiar arm, lollypop in hand, was tossed over her shoulder. "Is this going to become habit, Anzu, or do we need to start taking the initiative and introduce ourselves to your Japanese friends?" Delaney asked, openly appreciating the sight of Jou before them. "Because if it is, I don't think that will be a problem." Nothing ever was for the punkster.
Apologizes were given and introductions made with handshakes shared amongst the group, or in Mokuba's case a ruffle of hair given by Taylor. It just went to prove Mokuba's adorableness was infectious for all nationalities.
Delaney continued to give Jou her most flirtatious smile. "Anzu if all the guys from Japan are as hot as your friends I might give up Englishmen altogether. Why don't you tell Jou he gets the privilege of being my man slave?"
A frown marring his face, Mokuba's gaze shifted from Delaney to Anzu and back. "Does she know we understand her?" he asked.
Laughter spilled forth from everyone at the pure innocence, with which the young Kaiba spoke, revealing such a simple piece of information. Taylor found the most humor in their new find and clung onto Delaney as a support post just to keep himself upright. The punkster, however, looked more then pleased with herself at the discovery of how much easier she thought seducing Jou had become.
Catching Jou's eye the brunette smile. "I'm sure they do now Mokuba."
Monday 9:00am (Dream/Flashback)
Anzu stood with her back to Seto, resting her forearms on the railing of the balcony that extended from his bedroom. A light breeze ruffled strands of brown hair, which Anzu had graciously left down for him that evening. The chill of the night surrounding them caused goose bumps to rise on her fair skin and she absentmindedly rubbed one arm to send them away.
It was peaceful on the upper floors of Seto's mansion, while the main expanse was over run with the dancers slew of friends and their farewell/congratulations party that was being held in Anzu's honor, due to her leaving for university in two days. The party had progressively grown rowdier as the hours past that upon Anzu's quick exit Seto hadn't noticed her absence. It certainly didn't help when ones attention was split three ways. Preventing Bakura and Mai from teaching Mokuba the finer points of a salt lick, monitoring that no beverages went within a five foot radius of his expensive white leather couch – a couch that by morning was being sold on pain of a stressful ownership- all the while hunting down Jou who had so disdainfully confiscated his cell phone to no doubt download and send porn on. They were not excuses; they were understandable reasons for not noticing Anzu's absence sooner.
Seto casually leaned against the doorframe out to the balcony, hands in his pants pockets. "The view inside, though no less captivating has perks all it's own. One being a welcome heat source."
Anzu smiled at him over her shoulder, aware he had been doing his own star gazing the whole time. "It took you long enough to find me, Kaiba-kun."
"I had pressing matters to attend to concerning your friends." He crossed the distance between them to stand beside the dancer.
"Our friends, Seto," she corrected him.
For the past month and even more so after Jou had his temporary vanishing act, 1 Anzu had been after him to accept the fact that the growing cluster of people currently ransacking his home were as much his friends as hers. They were no longer archrivals he would give her that, but Seto remained firm in his resolve against friendship. Aware that any disagreement on his end would kick start their most common argument he chose to change the topic of conversation, and save their last night together from bad memories.
"What made you decide to come up here?"
The dancer pressed closer to his side, looping their arms together. She remained silent for a few moments before a sigh parted her lips. "I needed a quiet place to think," Anzu admitted, "You would think I'd had enough time to get used to the idea of leaving but I still can't believe it…or maybe I don't want to believe it."
"Are you having second thoughts about attending university in Canada?" Seto asked. A small part of him, yet to be acknowledged, hoped her answer would be in the affirmative.
"No," Anzu shook her head, "I keep thinking about you… about us really, and how far away you're going to be… A whole ocean between us, Seto, that's… really far…"
Unease settled over the young CEO, knowing his girlfriend was trying to say something and struggling. "What are you getting at, Anzu?"
She gently pushed at his shoulder to get him to turn and look at her. Blue eyes gazed into blue until Anzu ducked her head, surprising Seto with her sudden bout of apprehension. Out of nervous habit she began playing with the row of buttons down the front of Seto's navy blue silk shirt. Whatever was bothering her he wanted it dealt with before she left, either good or bad, drawing it out was the wrong way to handle things.
"Anzu…" When her name produced no reaction he tilted her chin up to look at him. "Anzu, what is it?"
The dancer must have seen something on his face that she liked for the next thing he knew Anzu had wrapped her arms tightly around his waist and pressed her face against his chest. "I've dreamt of being a professional dancer ever since I saw the nutcracker when I was six and nothing will change that. So university in Canada will never be taken for granite. I just never expected you to be apart of the equation."
"And that's a bad thing?" Seto replied, half in jest.
A shaky laugh escaped Anzu, and she looked up at Seto with a tearful smile. "I'm going to miss you so much… I… already feel like I do."
"We will just have to make do with our time together," he told her, wiping a stray tear off of her cheek, "And if that doesn't suit you then ask your roommate for assistance in hooking up your web cam."
It took a few moments for the comment to sink in. "Web cam?"
"Unless of course you would prefer direct satellite."
The bright smile she gave him sent nerve ends tingling like they were prone to do. "Oh goodness I love you, Seto," she practically breathed before pressing their lips together.
The kiss started chaste, just a soft brushing of lips in exploration, like it was their first time experiencing the act. Seto threaded on hand into her hair and used the other to pull Anzu firmly against him. She nipped at his bottom lip in appreciation, before gently massaging it with her tongue, teasing him to see who would break first. Aware that their time alone together was limited, Seto chose to forfeit and crushed his lips against Anzu's. When the need for oxygen arose the couple parted, breathing heavily. The sight of Anzu and her kiss-swollen lips stole the last of his breath and thought and he pulled her back towards him resuming where they left off.
"Hey, you guys! I found them, they're over here!" Honda's bellowing voice reached the couple from the bedroom doorway and Anzu pulled away. "What did I tell you, Jou, fork over your Game Boy Advance."
"Oi! I never agreed to that!" From some unknown place they heard the blonde reply.
Aiko, Anzu's older sister, was the next person to appear. She took one look at the couple standing just inside the balcony doors and grabbed a hold of Honda's ear, painfully, no doubt, by the yelp he gave. "What is wrong with you, Honda-kun, barging in at a time like this? I apologize imooto2, Kaiba-kun. We'll be heading back to the party now."
Back to the party and back to the areas of his mansion Seto had allowed Anzu's friends access to. That being the main floor of the mansion and only the main floor. His office – thankfully he'd had the right mind to lock it – and his bedroom were strictly off limits. Maybe the billionaire should have gone with his initial plan and locked everyone up in the gaming room.
"So this is where you've been hangin' out," Jou squeezed his way past Aiko, trailed by Mokuba and a sympathetic looking Yugi. "This your room Kaiba? Not too shabby, we should be partying up here. Dude, is that a TV?!" the blonde sent the figurine of a blue eyes white dragon spinning on Seto's nightstand in his grab for the remote. He sprawled himself across the bed and began to channel surf.
That was enough. The billionaire could tolerate inviting the geek squad into his home to reek havoc, their mere presence migraine inducing, but the invasion of privacy into his bedroom would not be tolerated. "I am quite certain I made it clear that no one was permitted to step one foot on this floor," Seto struggled to maintain a level tone of voice, "It would be in everyone's best interest to return to the party… downstairs."
Leaving Anzu's side Seto stalked towards the unwelcome presence on his bed, to retrieve the television remote. One click of a button and the TV was safely hidden inside the far bedroom wall.
Honda whistled. "I gotta get me one of those!"
"Is that right?" Aiko asked, a tad impressed herself, "Maybe later. Right now we're heading back downstairs. Come on, that includes you too Jou-kun." She began hording those not disrupting his bed out the door.
Yugi paused in the doorway. "You coming Jou?"
"In a minute. Gonna enjoy the nicer perks of life for a bit." Emphasizing his point Jou nestled himself into Seto's pristine goose down pillows. "Hey, Kaiba, how come you never let me stay in a room as nice as this, when I stayed over last week?1 Were you holding out on me?"
"Yes. Now get off of my bed," Seto ordered.
Jou completely ignored the request with a smile. "Why? Is this your side of the bed?"
Much to Seto's carnage Anzu decided it was time to give her two cents and walked forward to grab his hand. "Actually, Jou, if we really had to designate sides you would be lying on mine. But then who can call them sides? Why just the other night when Seto and I were-"
A very bird like squawk was heard from Jou. "I'm up! I'm up! Don't wanna know any of the mushy details! Just… never tell me anything again!" He tore from the bedroom. "Yug' hold on! It's safer out here with you!"
Peace. The calm tranquility of peace managed to surround the couple in everyone's wake, although the mood had long been ruined, and faster then usual all thoughts of manslaughter left Seto until a reverberating crash reached their ears. Somewhere in his home there were people on deaths row.
"Seto, I'm sure it's not as bad as it sounds," Anzu quickly tried to pacify his growing temper. "The guys just like to rough house and now that they've had some alcohol it's a little more so."
"We'll have to see," he said through clenched teeth.
Holding firmly onto his girlfriend's hand to prevent her from sneaking off a second time, Seto left his bedroom, remembering to lock it on the way out, and hurried towards the main staircase and front hall. Otogi's voice sounded, letting the couple know their last party guest had arrived fashionably late. Reaching the top of the stairs Seto paused at the sight of everyone crowded around the DDM creator and what had to be his latest invention of the week.
Anzu gasped beside him and that was when the billionaire spotted the byproduct of the noise. A good-sized hole was in the far wall of the hallway, a few feet from the front door. On the title floor in front of the hole spread a nice array of crumbled drywall. To be perfectly honest Seto had expected something of a higher degree.
"Wait a second, Seto," Anzu quickly worked to dispel the situation.
Their hands were still firmly clasped together and the dancer used that to pull Seto away from his destination when he took the first step on the staircase. The sudden momentum in the opposite direction caused him to stumble backwards, taking his girlfriend to the floor with him. Anzu landed half on top of Seto, letting out a grunt as they hit the floor.
From somewhere on their left a flash went off in the midst of cheering. Every party guest in attendance was crowded around Mai, holding Anzu's new digital camera that had been a parting gift from Yugi. All night long pictures were taken, blinding people in all directions and catching embarrassing moment after embarrassing moment.
Anger was quickly encompassing the young CEO and…..soft lips?
Moving with all the grace she had learned as a dancer, Anzu threw her leg over Seto and straddled his waist, no doubt to keep him in his undignified sprawl across the floor. Her fingers threaded through his hair as she pulled ever so slightly away, to allow him to speak.
"What are you doing?"
Copying the billionaire's trademark smirk, Anzu whispered, "Enjoying myself," before resuming where they had left off.
In the back of Seto's mind he kept hearing a repetition of 'public displays of affection,' increasing in volume each time. But mind and body weren't in accord with one another and Seto's body seemed to know what it really wanted. One hand slid under the hem of Anzu's shirt, brushing against her soft skin, while the other cupped the back of her head, preventing her from moving away from what was becoming a very heated kiss. If they weren't being made spectacle of by her friends he would have found them a more… comfortable surface to continue their activities on.
"Look, they're at it again….. talk about steamy."
"Why did Mokuba runaway muttering very naughty things?"
"Hurry! Can't you get the camera to record?"
"Togi-chan, why don't you ever do that to me?"
"You're molesting my sister?!"
"I think it's pretty clear who's molesting whom right now."
"Anzu, I've taught you well young grasshopper. I mean….damn girl!"
Distracted by all the comments flying their way, the dancer broke their kiss in a fit of giggles, collapsing fully on top of Seto. In a very profiting way Anzu had managed to dispel his temper towards her friends, of course she drew his attention to a completely different activity altogether.
to be continued…………………………
1 A reference to my one shot side story 'An Offering of Tarnished Hands.'
2 Imooto – little sister
