Jasmine POV
Flashback – 10 years ago
"Papa do I have to wear this dress? It's so puffy!" I whine, looking up at my papa, him wearing his traditional red suit, he's comfortable though! I'm having to wear a red poufy dress with far too many frills,
"My dear you look beautiful in this dress, you'll be the most beautiful one of all" he says, smiling at me happily, I don't get see him this happy often so when he says this I smile widely at him for this, deciding that I won't whine anymore about the dress. If it makes papa happy then I'll just suck it up.
"Now come along let us greet our guests" he says taking my hand and leading us outside, I catch a last-minute glimpse of my reflection, thankful that papa allowed my silvery hair to mostly stay down, I hate it when my hair has to go in a bun, however I have the top half of my hair up with the rest falling to my elbows.
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen! On behalf of myself and my beautiful daughter Jasmine here, we are delighted to have you all here" Papa says after the doors open up for us, before us is a lot of people all dressed in their finest for my father's charity ball. It's been the talk of the year, I mostly stayed out of the way, but papa likes to keep me involved, asking for my opinions and asking my help in some areas, wanting me to learn how to do all these tasks and jobs for when I am older.
Everyone applauses at my father's appearance, I smile politely, hands holding the other in front of me,
"Now my only wish is for you all to enjoy your night here with us, and I do hope you like our entertainment, and please do attend the auction where all the payments will be going to the charity, thank you and enjoy" he says, I clap as well as the others to my papa, he places his hand on my shoulder, I look up at him in response,
"Let us mingle my dear" he says, I smile and nod in agreement, he takes my hand and we begin to talk with others, most people are partners in my father's business with some of their families, or people whom he wishes to partner with or have them join his business. I haven't met a lot of these people before but I suppose this will be my future so I will need to remember names and faces.
"Ah Gozaburo, I'm so glad you could make it" papa says, I look to where he is facing to see a man coming to us, oddly wearing a similar suit to papa, dark haired with a moustache,
"It was a pleasure to receive your invitation Pegasus, might I introduce you to my two adopted sons, Seto and Mokuba" he says, I narrow my eyes slightly, he seemed to enthlasis the words 'Adopted' like someone showing off a prized dog breed or something.
I look in front of me to see a young boy, long black hair and in a white suit that looks like the tie is a little too tight him, and beside him is I assume the older brother who looks roughly my age or a little older, short brown hair with blue eyes the same as the young boy, possibly proving them to be brothers by blood and wearing an almost twin suit to his brothers.
"It is a pleasure to have you with us, might I introduce my daughter Jasmine" papa says, I smile up at him before looking to Gozaburo and his two sons, just my papa saying that I am his daughter is all he needs to say,
"It's nice to meet you all" I say smiling politely at him then smiling a little brighter at the brothers, Mokuba smiling at me shyly and Seto smiling but I'm not too sure if is genuine or just for politeness,
"I'm starting to feel thirsty papa, I'm just going to the drinks table" I say, looking to my papa, he smiles and nods,
"Alright my dear" he says, resting his hand on my shoulder, I smile happily at him for this, just that small gesture makes me feel the love he has for me,
"Would you like me to get you anything papa?" I ask, looking to him in question,
"No thank you my dear, I already asked Neal for one" he says, I smile at this and nod then start to make my way away from them,
"Can I go and get a drink too?"
I look behind me to see that Mokuba is looking at me with innocent questionable look, knowing it was him that asked I smile at this about to nod,
"Don't be forgetting your manners Mokuba" Gozaburo says, I look to him with an emotionless look, seeing at the corner of my eye that Mokuba is looking down with embarrassment,
"I'd be happy to take you Mokuba" I say, he smiles at me for this, taking Seto's hand and comes with me, I smile at him when he looks to me, and he smiles and nods when a little away from our fathers,
"How are you enjoying your time with us?" I ask, taking a glass of orange juice, taking another for Mokuba as he couldn't reach, he smiles at me for this in thanks,
"It's a big place, I think it's even bigger than our home" says Mokuba, I smirk at this, it's nice not to have to speak formal for a little while,
"it's nice to get away from studies" Seto says, I smile and nod in agreement,
"It is, what subjects do you like most enjoy?" I ask, looking to him questionably,
"Business and management, my tutors say that I have a great mind for it" he says,
"That's a good thing considering your heir to the Kaiba company" I say, he nods in agreement,
"What do you like?" Mokuba asks, I smile at him for this,
"The same actually, and I enjoy the arts" I say, they nod at this,
"Sorry I must be quite boring" I say, smiling apologetically, they chuckle a little but in jest, shaking their heads,
"You're a lot nicer to talk to then the other people we spoke to" Mokuba says,
"Thank you" I say,
"Ok away from school and work and stuff what do you like to do for fun?" I ask, leading them to a corner where some seats are and we sit down together,
"I like to play chess myself, Mokuba tends to play with me" Seto says, I lighten up at this,
"I love playing chess! My father taught me, I love coming up with different strategies. I like to think it helps me with playing cards" I say, they look at me from this,
"What cards do you play?" Mokuba asks, both looking at me curiously,
"Duel Monster cards. I know typical considering my dad invented the game, but I love it" I say,
"I play it too, Mokuba gave me my first card" Seto says, I smile widely at this, enjoying this,
"What card is it?" I ask, eager to hear,
"Blue eyes white dragon" he says, I smile widely at this, wait until he finds out!
"That's one of my favourites too" I say he smiles at me for this, and this time I know its genuine, they both seem a lot more relaxed to me, our conversations going to different subjects and hobbies that we each enjoy, but I can see unlike Seto that Mokuba isn't relaxing back into the seat as much as Seto, I look to see what the cause could be and then my eyes go back to his tie,
"I'm sorry, Mokuba is that tie on too tight?" I ask, looking to him a little worriedly, he looks down looking embarrassed,
"Yeah, Gozaburo did it but it's too tight, I asked him to loosen it a little but he wouldn't" he says, I look to him more concerned, if it's too tight it could hurt him,
"I tried loosening it or even taking it off but it won't budge, he tied it too tightly" Seto says, who I see is looking at Mokuba worriedly, I look to them both and nod then, I stand up after putting my glass on the table,
"If you would both kindly follow me" I say, they stand up hesitantly, and I lead them through the room, then go to a door and lead them out,
"Wont we get in trouble if we leave the party?" Mokuba asks, I look to him at this, seeing the worry and fear of being told off,
"Don't worry, you're with me, I can vouch for you" I say, leading them through a couple of corridors until finally reaching my private study room,
"Mokuba you sit down and don't lean back" I say, making my way to my desk and getting a pair of scissors out, then walking over to him, going to my knees in front of him, Seto stood beside Mokuba, watching protectively, eyes wearily when seeing me with scissors in hand,
"I'm going to cut the tie off, I promise to be careful, but I need you to stay still Mokuba" I say, he nods at this, then sits straight, I look up to Seto in question, wanting to make sure he is ok with me doing this, he nods at me after a second's thought, I understand his hesitation, Mokuba is his brother he would be protective of him.
Carefully I take the tie a little away from Mokuba's neck with a finger, then put the scissors to it and then very carefully I cut it off, threading it off the collar of Mokuba's shirt.
"Thank you" Mokuba says, looking relieved and in less pain, able to lead back more, I smile at him for this, unbuttoning his shirt by two buttons but look at his neck worriedly when I see that there is a red line all around his neck where the tie was hurting him.
"I have some cream, are you allergic to anything Mokuba? Your neck is very red from the tie" I say, he looks at me then to Seto, who I see looks to see for himself and his eyes widen at the red mark around his neck, I can see anger in his expression which I don't blame, I only met these two barely two hours ago and I feel anger towards Gozaburo for hurting Mokuba like this, how could he be so careless?
"He's ok with creams, he's only allergic to nuts" he says, I nod at this, then stand back up and go to my desk and after putting my scissors away I bring a bit of cream out from another drawer and go back over to Mokuba, sitting by his side,
"Do you want to do this Seto? I don't want to make Mokuba uncomfortable" I say, showing him the tub of cream, he nods at this, and takes the cream before sitting on the other side of Mokuba and begins applying the cream on Mokuba's neck, I see his shoulders tense now and again, I assume from some areas being sorer then others,
"it will help the healing" I say, to them both,
"Thank you, Jasmine" Mokuba says, I smile at him for this, happy to have been of help, my eyes meet Seto's and I see him growing a smile and nods in appreciation, I smile back.
"Come on, we better get back before we're missed" I say, handing Mokuba his tie which he puts in his pocket of his suit jacket.
"So, what cards do you have in your deck Jasmine?" Seto asks, I smile at this, Seto doesn't seem the type to open up or talk a lot, but it's nice that he seems to be opening up to me,
"I like dragon types and spell casters" I say, he nods at this, seeming to be happy with my choice,
"What's your favourite card?" Mokuba asks, I smirk at this,
"Blue eyes white dragon" I say, they look to me and smile.
"I mean in your deck, Jasmine" Mokuba says, who seems to be smirking a little which I return,
"Blue eyes white dragon" I say with a giggle, they both look at me with shock,
"You have a blue eyes white dragon?" Seto asks, looking to me in shock, I smile at this and nod,
"Yep, and it's never let me down" I say the three of us continuing down the last corridor,
"I don't think your dad made many of those dragon's, did he?" Seto asks, looking to me curiously, I frown trying to remember,
"I think he made five? Maybe six I'm not too sure" I say, opening the door with a little help from Seto, these big doors are not exactly light!
"What other cards do you have Seto?" I ask, looking to him curiously, he's about to ask when I hear some shouting, drawing our attention,
"Where is my daughter Gozaburo? She was with your boys now she is missing!"
Papa?
I hurry over to his voice, hearing Seto and Mokuba following me, seeing a large crowd gathered in the middle of the room,
"Papa?" I say, the people crowding part for me to get through for me to see papa standing facing Gozaburo, his eyes go to me immediately from where they were glaring at Gozoburo, and hurries over to me, bringing me into a tight hug which I go into more then willingly,
"My dear! Where have you been? I have been worried!" he says, looking to me urgently after putting his hands on my shoulders to look at me properly,
"Did these Kaiba boys do something to you?" he asks, my eyes widen at this, shaking my head at this in answer,
"No papa, I took them to show them some of my paintings in my study" I say, he seems to be looking at me for possible injuries maybe but must not see anything – as there isn't anything – and relaxes,
"I owe you and your boys an apology, Gozaburo. I over reacted" papa says, after standing up straight and facing him,
"I accept your apology – w-what happened to your tie?" his eyes immediately going to Mokuba near me, I look to him to see him looking at him shyly, clinging to Seto's side, slowly taking his broken tie out of his pocket, which as soon as he sees it, his eyes seem to take on a haze of anger that even frightens me some.
"What have you done to it? I told you to keep it on Mokuba, you must look smart for occasions such as this, do you wish to not look dignified in front of our host?" he asks, looking angrier as he carries, on, I step away from papa and in front of Mokuba, an urge of protectiveness surging through me,
"It was me Mr Kaiba, I cut it off Mokuba" I say, knowing that everyone's eyes are on me, especially Gozaburo,
"You – why?" he asks, still looking angry but trying to look calmer, for appearances sake of course.
"Mokuba was displaying signs of discomfort, so I looked at it and found it was far too tight on him, so I took him and Seto to my study room and cut it off, he had red marks all around his neck from it, I gave Seto some cream to put on the marks. You may need to talk to the person who checked their ties. If they had tightened it any more then it would have broken the skin and he would have been bleeding" I say, keeping a business look about me, one my papa taught me, I know it was him who tightened the tie, but if I say so he would be more outraged, embarrassment is much better. This way our guests will still work with him and his business but will remember the lack of care and attention he has to his children.
"I will do just that Miss Pegasus, I thank you for helping my son" he says, after straightening and seeming to have calmed himself, I make a light smile and nod, I look around at the others looking at us still.
"Please ladies and gentlemen, this is still a party, just a simple misunderstanding. And very easily rectified as you have seen. Play on!" I say loudly and the musicians smile at me and nod, some of the guests laughing at having a child diffuse the attention, but I spot some respected looks aimed at me.
"Very well done my dear. I am very proud of you" papa says, I look to him and smile, he gives me a one-armed hug which I go into.
"Thank you, Jasmine" Mokuba says, I look to him and nod to him and Seto who I see is looking at me as if he were working something out.
"Come along everyone, the auction is about to begin" papa says, both he and I walk side-by-side to the front row of chairs where the auction is set up in the next room.
Later in the evening –
"Thank you again for coming" Papa says, us seeing Gozaburo and Seto and Mokuba, all about to leave.
"We thank you for inviting us" Gozaburo says, I nod at this, then look to Mokuba and Seto, I smile at them then step forward,
"I hope we will meet again, it was very nice speaking to you both" I say, they smile at this, unexpectedly Mokuba hugs me, I smile at this and wrap my arms around him,
"I hope we see you again too Jasmine" he says, I nod at him at this after we come out of the hug,
"Seto, would you and Mokuba like to come with me and papa to a duel monsters tournament next week? I think you would both enjoy it" I say, he looks at me shocked from this then smiles and nods at me from,
"We'll look forward to it" he says, I smile wide at this,
"I will contact you to make plans when to pick them up Gozaburo" papa says, I see him nod in reply, though I can see a look of disinterest, must not be fan of the game, no wonder I don't like him.
I wave them goodbye and for the rest of the hour papa and I say goodbye to the rest of our guests,
"I think it went rather well my dear" papa says, I nod in agreement,
"Is it ok that they come with us papa, I know I should have asked you before inviting them" I say looking worried to papa, he smiles at me for this,
"not at all my dear, I'm happy that you made some friends and I think we will be seeing more of them very soon. However, I must admit I would rather you not spend as much time with Gozaburo, not alone anyway" he says I nod at this in agreement,
"Agreed" I say.
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter look forward to your thoughts on this x