I wanted to get this new chapter uploaded before I forgot, so here it is. ^^
Chapter 38
"So this is where our date is?"
It was the middle of Sunday afternoon, and Alex and Kaiba had just arrived outside of Domino Museum, with Roland driving the limo. Alex looked to Kaiba and addressed her question, looking surprised.
Kaiba replied, "Yes. I didn't want to go too far because of your injury."
Alex smiled and replied, "Everyone's been worrying about it, but it looks worse than it is. I feel better, and the bruise will go away."
Kaiba nodded and replied, "Ok, but tell me if it gets worse and don't try to hold back from telling me. I know how you can be."
Alex nodded, agreeing to Kaiba's request. She looked at the museum and commented,
"Is there any particular reason that our date is here?"
Kaiba replied, "You mentioned that you wanted to look more into your bracelet. You haven't had time for it, so I thought if we got the museum to ourselves for the afternoon, that would work."
Alex replied, "Hold on. You reserved the entire museum just for us? So the public isn't allowed?"
Kaiba replied, "This makes our date more intimate, and we won't get disturbed."
Alex replied, "Just how much did this cost?"
Kaiba smirked and replied, "It's best that you not know."
Alex shook her head and replied, "Ok, if you say so."
The two of them got out of the limo, and after Kaiba gave instructions to Roland, Roland drove off. Kaiba then held out his hand for Alex to take, and the two of them walked towards the museum entrance. There were a couple of security guards at the entrance, whom Kaiba had specifically requested to work for the afternoon.
Once the couple got to the entrance, they noticed someone walking away. Alex and Kaiba recognized that person, and Alex said,
"Yugi, what a pleasant surprise. Did you want to visit the museum?"
Yugi smiled and nodding, he replied, "We both did, but I see that it's closed."
With her free hand, Alex pointed at Kaiba and teasingly replied, "You can blame him."
Yugi looked confused and replied, "What do you mean?"
Kaiba replied, "I reserved the museum for the afternoon."
Alex added, "It's our date spot."
Yugi smiled and replied, "I understand. In that case, I guess I should go."
As Yugi was about to leave, Kaiba said, "Wait, Yugi. I wanted to thank you."
Yugi was surprised and replied, "For what?"
Kaiba replied, "For helping Alex yesterday. She told me what happened and that you helped her out. I'm grateful."
Yugi smiled a bit and replied, "Alex is my friend. I just wish I had gotten there sooner-"
Alex interrupted, "Yugi, stop blaming yourself. Like I told Seto yesterday, we all have to stop blaming ourselves. It's done, and I really am feeling better. Otherwise, I wouldn't be out here today."
Yugi replied, "That's true."
Alex replied, "Did you want to look into the Greek exhibit again?"
Yugi nodded and replied, "Yeah, but we don't wish to interrupt your date."
Alex looked thoughtful and turning to Kaiba, she said, "Maybe we can let Yugi into the museum? As a way to say thank you for yesterday?"
Kaiba was about to protest, but then relented when he saw Alex giving him a cute, pleading look. He smiled for a moment and then replied,
"Ok, I'll make an exception. But no one else."
Alex nodded happily and replied, "Thanks, Seto. You're the best."
Kaiba smirked and replied, "I know."
Yugi laughed awkwardly and added, "You don't need to go through this trouble. We can just return on another day."
Immediately, Alex shook her head and replied, "No way. Think of this as our way of thanking you, and it'll be good to have the museum to ourselves. We won't get disturbed."
Yugi nodded and replied, "I guess that's true. Ok, thank you then."
Kaiba nodded and replied, "Let's go inside then."
The three of them entered the museum. Meanwhile, from a nearby distance, Max observed the encounter, and he wasn't surprised to see Kaiba with Alex although he was surprised to see Yugi. Max felt terrible about how he treated Alex yesterday and wanted to apologize properly to her. But he could tell that it would be a challenge to do so. He wanted to find a way to enter the museum, but he would have to wait for his chance.
Alex, Kaiba, and Yugi made their way inside the museum, passing by several exhibits, including the Egyptian one. Kaiba briefly glanced at it but then shook his head, recalling the memories of his time there. As they walked, Alex commented,
"It's kind of weird having this place to ourselves. I wouldn't have minded being out with the public."
Kaiba replied, "Our dates always have to be special, and we won't get any unwanted attention this way."
Alex nodded and replied, "That's true."
The group soon made their way to the Greek exhibit and stood in front of the picture that Alex and Yami had looked at before. She pointed at a particular spot of the picture and said,
"This is what interested us before. You see that woman? Her bracelet looks really similar to mine."
Yugi had switched places with Yami, so Yami commented, "Yes, I agree, and I had that vision then."
Kaiba looked at the picture and replied, "So that's why you two were here before."
Alex nodded and replied, "Yes, that's right."
Kaiba looked at Alex and asked, "What do you know about your bracelet?"
Alex looked thoughtful and replied, "Not much. Cas gave it to me just before I left on my mission. She said it would protect me, and she mentioned that since I didn't have any adverse reactions to it, I must be meant to have it."
Yami looked surprised and replied, "Wait, you never mentioned this."
Alex shrugged and replied, "I didn't think it was relevant at the time. I've asked Cas about this thing, but she can be cryptic sometimes. If I had to guess what she meant by her comment, she probably tried to give this bracelet to other agents in the past. But something bad happened to them."
Kaiba replied, "What do you mean?"
Alex replied, "If you're asking if I know what the bad things are, I don't. When I was an agent, I wasn't told about everything that goes on, including things about other agents. Cas could probably tell you, but that's only if she wants to. If I was back at the agency, I could find a way to get information behind her back. But I try not to do that."
Yami nodded and replied, "That's understandable. You wouldn't want to betray her trust."
Alex nodded and replied, "True. I don't always understand the justifications behind her actions, but I know she has some sort of purpose."
She then turned back to Kaiba and added, "After Yami started to look into my bracelet, he found out it was of Greek origin, so yeah, here we are."
Kaiba nodded and replied, "I see. I wonder if we can find anything useful from this."
He looked at the exhibit, lost in his thoughts, when he suddenly experienced a memory flashback.
Priest Seto was gazing at the moon, enjoying the rare peace. He was thinking over all that had happened recently, and the turmoil that ensued. It was then that a young woman wearing a hooded cloak approached him. He turned his gaze towards her and said,
"I've seen you before with the pharaoh."
The woman smiled and replied, "You are observant. Speaking of which, I just finished talking with him."
Priest Seto replied, "What is your business with him?"
The woman looked slyly at him and replied, "Quite direct, aren't you? But that's between him and me. All will be revealed in due time."
Priest Seto scoffed and turning to look back at the moon, he asked, "What do you want with me?"
The woman replied, "Nothing too important. It's interesting how events have turned out."
She paused and then added, "You'll tell me it's none of my business, but I feel like being nice today."
Priest Seto looked at the woman and asked, "What do you mean?"
The woman smiled and replied, "You may not find personal happiness in this life, but you will in the future. But your future self will probably laugh at the idea."
Priest Seto looked quizzically at her and asked, "Why are you telling me this?"
The woman replied, "To give you a bit of hope, I suppose. And everyone deserves to be happy, even if finding it gets delayed."
Before he could ask any more questions, the woman walked away. Although he could have followed her, he chose to stay where he was, more confused by their conversation than anything else.
"Seto, are you ok?"
Kaiba snapped back to his senses and observed that Alex and Yami were looking at him with concern. He asked,
"What happened?"
Alex replied, "You looked like you were lost in thought or something."
She looked at Yami and added, "Kind of like what happened to you."
Yami nodded and looking at Kaiba, he asked, "Did you have a vision of that woman?"
Kaiba replied, "I suppose. But it doesn't mean anything. Maybe I'm just too tired."
Yami gave a look, and he turned to Alex, who shrugged her shoulders but didn't say anything. They both knew that Kaiba refused to believe in anything that had to do with the past, and at least, Alex felt it better not to push him otherwise.
Kaiba looked at the silent exchange between Alex and Yami, wondering what they were thinking. As he was about to call them out on it, though, his phone suddenly rang. He picked it up and answering, he said,
"What is it?"
There were some muffled sounds on the other end, and Kaiba looked a little angered and bothered. Alex and Yami wondered what was going on, but they waited until Kaiba finished his call. Once he was done, he turned to Alex and said,
"There's some disturbance, which I need to attend to. I won't be gone long."
Alex looked concerned and replied, "What's going on?"
Kaiba replied, "Nothing too bothersome, but I need to deal with it myself. Stay here with him."
Before Alex could say anything else, Kaiba walked away from the two of them, heading towards a back entrance to the museum. Once Kaiba was out of sight, Yami commented,
"Something bad must have happened if Kaiba trusts us to be alone."
Alex smiled a bit and replied, "I agree. But I guess we won't find out until he returns."
Once Kaiba reached the back entrance of the museum, he was outside, where there were a couple of guards who were holding Max by the arms. Max was struggling to get free, but the guards were extremely strong, so it was useless. Kaiba looked at him and said,
"So this pest tried to get in, did he?"
One of the guards replied, "That's correct, sir. We followed your orders and looked out specifically for him. What do you want us to do with him?"
Kaiba replied, "I'll take care of it but stand guard nearby. I wish to talk to him alone."
The guards let go of Max and the other guard replied, "Yes, sir. But we'll be standing nearby in case our assistance is needed."
The guards then walked away, just far enough so that Kaiba and Max could talk alone without the risk of being eavesdropped. Kaiba then looked evenly at Max and asked,
"What are you doing here?"
Max replied, "I wanted to see the museum, but then I saw that it was closed, so I tried to find another way in."
Kaiba scoffed, almost laughing at Max making such a poor excuse. He replied, "Oh really? So you didn't happen to see me and Alex?"
Max pretended to look surprised and replied, "Alex is here, too? I'd like to talk to her if I can-"
Kaiba slammed his hand against the wall, almost hitting Max in the process. He looked angrily at him and replied,
"That's never going to happen. I know what you did to her, and you should be lucky that Alex is forgiving. But the same can't be said of me. I've tolerated you for her sake, but that may not last for much longer. You will stay away from her and leave her alone. If you even care about her happiness, know that this is what's best for her."
He took a breath to calm himself and then added, "Don't expect any future acts of mercy from me. But for now, you're free to go. But be warned. If you ever get near Alex again and cause her any harm or pain, I will stop at nothing to eliminate you."
Before Max could reply, Kaiba motioned to the guards to approach. Once they did so, Kaiba said,
"Take this pest away and make sure he doesn't get near the museum for the rest of the day."
One of the guards replied, "Yes, Mr. Kaiba."
The guards then held Max by the arms and took him away, while Kaiba went back inside the museum. As Max was being dragged, he thought to himself,
He's more of an obstacle than I thought. But I'll get rid of him and rescue Alex.
Kaiba returned to Alex and Yami, who were having a conversation about the woman in the picture. The two of them noticed Kaiba approaching them, and smiling, Alex said,
"Welcome back. Everything ok?"
Kaiba smiled a bit and nodding, he replied, "Yeah, I took care of it."
Yami looked curiously at Kaiba and asked, "What happened?"
Kaiba replied, "Nothing too bothersome. Just an intruder that I had to deal with."
Although Kaiba wouldn't say anything more on the matter, Alex felt like Kaiba was withholding something important. However, she didn't press him on the matter. Instead, she turned her attention back to the picture and said,
"We've looked at this entire thing, but I can't seem to find any other clues. I wonder if this is a dead end."
Kaiba scoffed and replied, "We simply need to approach this from another angle."
Alex looked curiously at Kaiba and asked, "What do you mean?"
Kaiba replied, "We go to the source material."
Alex widened her eyes, understanding what Kaiba meant, and she replied, "You want to fly to Greece?"
Kaiba replied, "Correction. We fly there. We can take the private jet."
Alex shook her head and replied, "I don't know. Isn't that a bit unnecessary and perhaps excessive?"
Kaiba replied, "We need to explore every angle and possibility, and I'll spare no expense to help you. Besides, we could use a vacation, too."
He smirked at Alex, and unable to hold back from smiling, she teasingly replied, "Are you suggesting that we skip school for a while and fly to Greece?"
Kaiba replied, "Exactly. It won't hurt for us to miss a few days of classes, and I can write it off as being work-related."
Inwardly, Kaiba also thought that it might be a good idea for him and Alex to be out of the country for a few days, to be away from Max and the possible threat that he posed. Alex replied,
"Well, I guess it couldn't hurt. We should take Mokuba with us, though. I'm sure he'd like a vacation, too, and it could prove to be educational."
Kaiba nodded and replied, "Ok, we'll bring it up with Mokuba. I'll make an excuse."
He turned to Yami and said, "I would invite you, too, if I could, but with that guy around…"
Yami nodded, getting what Kaiba was implying. He replied, "You want us to keep an eye on Max."
Kaiba replied, "It wouldn't hurt." He turned to Alex and asked, "Will this be ok with you?"
Alex replied, "I would have liked for Yugi and Yami to come along, but I can understand why that might not work. But yeah, this is ok with me."
She turned to Yami and added, "We'll report anything that we find, of course."
Yami smiled a bit and replied, "We would appreciate that."
The conversation slowly died down afterwards, and as it was getting close to sunset, Kaiba turned to Alex and said,
"I made dinner reservations for us, so we should get going."
Alex nodded and replied, "I understand."
Yami added, "I guess that's our cue to leave."
He then switched places with Yugi, and Yugi said, "Thanks for letting us see the exhibit again."
Kaiba nodded, and after holding onto Alex's hand, he led the way out towards the museum entrance, with Alex and Yugi following him. Once they were outside, Roland was waiting for the couple inside the limo. Alex turned to Yugi and said,
"I guess this is where we go now."
Yugi nodded and replied, "Yeah." He turned to Kaiba and asked, "Are you two going to leave the country right away?"
Kaiba shook his head and replied, "It'll probably be a couple of days before we leave. I want our plans to be set and nothing to interfere with them."
Yugi replied, "I understand."
Alex smiled and replied, "I guess we'll see you tomorrow in school."
Kaiba and Alex then entered the limo, and as Roland drove off, Yugi waved goodbye to them. Once they were out of sight, Yugi walked away from the museum, heading back towards the game shop.