The sun is beginning to rise the following morning, creating an orange hue in the sky. The large windows in the living room of the cabin allow a great amount of natural light inside. The whole house is silent and the only thing she hears is the sound of her calm breathing. On the couch, Mana sits crossed legged with her eyes closed, feeling the warmth of the sun hitting her body. Her oversized shirt, one of many that she has snagged from Atem, hangs partially off one of her shoulders and she wears shorts underneath.
"So you do know how to act somewhat normal," a voice says from behind and she smirks with her eyes still closed. She feels the couch move a bit from someone sitting down on the opposite end.
"I can say the same about you, Seto. I'm so proud of you," she teases. "You actually haven't done anything work related since we got here."
He silently takes a sip out of the mug he is holding, gazing out of the window to have the perfect view of the sunrise. This weekend meant so much to Kisara. To be surrounded by love, not only from him, but their friends as well. It is nice to do something without all of the paparazzi swarming them for a change. But once they leave from there, it will be back to business as usual.
He looks over at her as she calmly meditates, her hands out and her index finger and thumb pressed together. "Thank you," he says out of the blue. Thinking back to the argument he had with Kisara, he remembers that he never truly thanked Mana for saving the day at the amusement park. If it weren't for her, things could have gotten chaotic and people could have gotten hurt.
Her lips curl into a smile, knowing what he is referring to. "Anytime, Seto."
"I still think you're a weirdo."
"I still think you owe me a new outfit," she shoots back without hesitation. She giggles softly when he hears him mutter something under his breath.
Soon they will be headed back into the city and he will resume his role. The short weekend has been a nice way to get away from everything. But soon they will have to go back to their normal responsibilities.
"It's nice that you did all of this for Kisara," she continues, her eyes still closed. "I like this side of you."
"Oh shut it."
"No, really. I'm glad that you set aside time to do this for her. She was really starting to think that you didn't care," she tells him and he stays silent to listen to more of what she's got to say. Kisara and Mana are best friends and he's sure they talk about everything, including her fears. "I never thought that though. She told me how you would do little things for her while you were working. Like have a meal waiting for her every morning by your personal chef, or making sure there's always gas in her car. You have quite an interesting love language."
"And I suppose you know all there is to know about love."
"No, not at all. But here's what I've noticed from talking with Kisara, and correct me if I'm wrong. But you guys have two different love languages. Your love language is via acts of service. Hers is via quality time. I think if you two just keep continuing to work together and communicate, then you will be alright."
"Heh. You're actually making sense today," Seto says with a smirk. "Are you always this intuitive when you meditate? Should probably do this more often." Without looking, he catches a pillow that Mana has flung his way and he looks over at her to meet her playful warning gaze. He makes a promise to himself that he will make more time for Kisara no matter how busy he gets. Her happiness means the absolute world to him. She has always stood by his side and had his back. His love for her knows no limits, though he would never say that out loud to anyone but her. And she deserves the world.
Mana stretches her arms over her head before dropping them at her sides, feeling content after her small session. She takes out her phone to catch up on what's going on in the city by scrolling to the local news page.
"And what about you and Atem?" he asks out of the blue and she looks over at him. Rarely do they ever have small talk like this.
"Well..." Mana chuckles and tugs at her shirt. Little does he know. Their lives are about to drastically change. In fact, it already has as they speak. In all honesty, the news of being pregnant hasn't truly hit her yet. When she looks down to her flat stomach, there is obviously no difference and she doesn't feel different either.
"I take it he's still upset over the park incident," Seto assumes with a smirk. "He's barely said a word to me since coming here."
"In his defense, you guys don't exchange a lot of words to begin with," Mana points out. "If anyone's weird, it's you two and your silent language." The two cousins are different yet very similar in a lot of ways. Both have this silent yet strong presence that just commands any room they walk into. In contrast, Seto prefers to be at the forefront of things while Atem prefers to be the force behind the scenes. Atem is also more nurturing and caring compared to Seto's cut and dry personality.
"Speaking of amusement parks, did you ever find out who was behind all that?" Mana asks, getting more serious. "Whoever it is must really have something against you to be trying to ruin all of your events."
"I have a hunch," he replies. "And once I confirm who it is, they're going to pay."
Mana continues to scroll through her phone until her eyes land on an article in particular. "It wouldn't happen to be Ziegfried would it?"
At the sound of his name, Seto's head whips over to look at Mana, his eyes wide and intense. "What brought you to that conclusion?" It's the same conclusion he had come up with, but how would Mana know?
"Uh…" He quickly sits next to her to view what she is seeing on her phone. In the article there is a close up picture of the bomb underneath the White Lightning ride, but one thing in the image seems to be missing.
"The photo is edited," Seto notes. "The bomb we came across had a rose logo on it. But this picture does not." Mana scrolls down some more until they land on a video. In the screen cap it shows Mana carrying the bomb.
Mana gulps and reluctantly taps on the play button. The video depicts Seto giving Mana the bomb, a brief exchange of words before Mana flies up into the air to dispose of it.
"In this video seen here, Kaiba gives the bomb to a woman who appears to be Mana, the wife of Duel Monsters Champion Atem," the reporter says.
"This isn't the first time something dangerous has occurred under Herr Kaiba's watch, comes a familiar voice belonging to Ziegfried. He appears on the screen sitting across from the reporter. "He has clearly lost control and is trying to keep things under wraps. It seems he's more focused on getting everyone's money than worrying about their safety. This would never happen at my newly opened indoor theme park. Safety is our top priority."
"So that's what this is all about. He's attempting to take down my company to promote his own," Seto growls, taking the phone out of Mana's hand to look further into the article.
"And what about Mana's involvement in the situation?" the reporter asks.
"That's just a perfect example of him putting other's lives at risk. He'd rather have someone else do his dirty work. I believe she is an innocent bystander that was dragged into this."
Mana places a hand up to her forehead and groans. "Atem is not going to be happy to see my face plastered everywhere," she mumbles.
Seto stands up, carrying around the phone and scrolling through more news articles. It's trending everywhere at the moment and he knows the minute he returns, the media will have yet another field day with him. "I need to get back to the office immediately. I'm not going to sit around and let him drag my name through the mud!" He storms up the stairs.
Mana shakes her head and sighs heavily. "So much for a nice weekend away." She looks down in realization that Seto still has her phone. "Oh! Seto, gimme back my phone!"
She jogs after him, running up the stairs and meeting him at the top as he still angrily scrolls. "I knew the moment he started randomly showing up, he was up to no good."
"Let's be calm here," Mana says standing behind him and she jumps slightly when he turns around abruptly.
"I won't be calm until I make him pay!" he snaps.
"It just doesn't make any sense. The day me, Kisara and Téa ran into him at the park, it seemed he was trying to lend a helping hand. And now this. How did he even get footage? I'm so confused."
"It doesn't matter. All I know is that Ziegfried is up to no good."
"What exactly is his issue with you?" Atem asks, emerging from his room after hearing the conversation between the both of them.
Mana looks back at the sound of his voice and attempts to explain the situation. "Atem I—"
"There's no need, Mana. I already know," he says. Shortly after waking up, he received many notifications on his phone, including reading the same exact article containing the video of her and Seto.
"Long story short, Ziegfried and I have been rivals since we were kids. And now he is the CEO of Schroeder Corp after taking over for his father."
"So you two have a similar background," Atem says. "And let me guess. You think he's jealous of your massive success."
"I don't think. I know that for a fact," Seto says. "Kaiba Corp has always been one step ahead of them. And since he knows my company is far superior than his, he's attempting to ruin my reputation and I won't let him do that. I'll be returning to the city immediately." He tosses Mana her phone, turns around and heads to his bedroom, slamming the door behind him. Moments later they hear Kisara and Seto going back forth, with Kisara protesting their abrupt departure and Seto not taking no for an answer, insisting that he needs to get back to fix what Ziegfried has started.
"What a mess," Mana sighs.
"I'm even more convinced that Ziegfried was behind the banquet incident as well," Atem says. "We should probably head home too."
"Okay. I'll let Téa and Yugi know what's going on." She trots down the hall and goes up to their door. Just as she is about to knock, she freezes with her fist still up in the air after hearing a muffled noise coming from the other side. Her body shutters and she dims her eyes, her head turning Atem's direction who still stands in the same spot, waiting for her to knock.
He looks at her questionably. "What is it?"
"Um…"
After a few seconds, Atem puts two and two together and cringes. "Time to go," he says, quickly walking into his room.
"Uh-huh! Yup! I'll just text them later!" Mana agrees, running into their bedroom to go pack.
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The return to the city was exactly how Seto thought it was going to be. Upon arriving at the office, a sea of reporters and paparazzi swarmed the building. His younger brother who oversaw things as he was gone tried to hold everything down for as long as he possibly could. Seto found it best to just hold a press conference to answer any questions.
Though he didn't show any hint of being fazed by their questions, internally he was furious. He had worked too hard to get where he is currently to have this happen. On top of that, ticket sales for the park have been down, causing him to pull out all the stops. Reoccurring appearances by duel champions, having all star tournaments at the Kaiba Dome within the theme park and more.
That seemed to alleviate the dip in sales a little, but Seto is still trying to save the reputation of his company, thus causing him to be on edge.
Kisara, Mana and Téa sit inside a private sky suite in the dome, watching a tag team duel between Atem and Yugi against two other duelist. The place is nearly packed to capacity and cheers fill the air to see the top two champions dueling together. It has been a few weeks since Ziegfried's appearance on the news.
Mana snacks on a bag of chips, sitting in between her two friends who discuss everything that has happened since they got back. "Life has really turned upside down since all of this has occurred," Kisara says with a frown. "I barely see Seto anymore because he's stressed out more than usual. And after that amazing weekend we had."
"I get what you mean," Téa sympathizes. "With all of these tournaments and events back to back, Yugi has been getting pretty flustered too."
Kisara looks over at Mana. "What about you?"
"Atem has been on edge," she replies, watching him duel below. It is close to coming to a conclusion with Yugi and Atem being the obvious victors of the duel. "The paparazzi have also been coming at me for a change to ask my side of the story. So he's having to shield me from them too."
Téa groans loudly, throwing her head back and plopping her arms at her sides. "Ugh, this sucks! And to think we trusted that guy. It's no wonder he was at the theme park while we were there. They were probably planting the bomb at that moment and those group of thugs that attacked us were a distraction."
"Makes sense. And then the day of the explosion, he had one of his guys take the fall for it," Mana chimes in. "The only thing is, who in the world recorded Seto and I?"
"Seto checked surveillance and we didn't see any signs of Ziegfried being there that day. So most likely another henchman."
"Geez, how many of goons does this guy have?" Mana says, putting another chip into her mouth.
"And the fact that he went all these lengths to ruin Seto's company. It just makes me so mad," Kisara says, narrowing her eyes.
"Seto mentioned the picture that was shown was edited and I second that. The bomb we came across had a logo on it. Apparently Ziegfried's."
"I say we spy on him," Téa suggests, causing Kisara and Mana to look at her with wide eyes.
"Spy?" Kisara repeats.
Mana chuckles. "Ha. That's something I'd suggest. I must be rubbing off on the both of you."
"Let me rephrase that. How about we go pay his amusement park a visit? Maybe...just maybe…we can prove that Ziegfried was the one that planted the bomb in the first place. I bet he still has the original picture and more!"
"I don't know Téa…" Kisara looks down in thought. It doesn't sound like a bad idea, but what if the visit to theme park ends up being a waste of time and they don't find anything? And even worse. What if they get caught? "Let me think about it."
The door to the suite opens, revealing Atem and Yugi. Mana hurries to down the final bunch of chips, raising the whole bag and stuffing it into her mouth and Téa cuts her eyes at her. "Nice," she says with disgust as they both stand up to join their husbands. "See ya Kisara!"
They leave the theme park and head to the limo waiting outside. The path leading to the limo, however, is surrounded on both sides by paparazzi. Typically they would be calling Atem's name, but the focus is on Mana this time around. Atem takes her hand and wraps his opposite arm around her waist as he leads her to the car, growing increasingly agitated. He would have preferred to stay at the cabin until all of this has died down. Between all of the appearances, having to worry about Mana's safety and now his unborn child, it has added more weight on him.
The four of them sit in the limo in silence. Téa has her head resting on Yugi shoulder while Mana does similar, leaning on Atem with her arms wrapped around him. It has been a long day to say the least. Téa's plan of going to Ziegfried's amusement park fills her head. Atem is already stressed as it is. Besides, if they were to come across any danger, she won't be able to do much to defend herself, thus leaving it all on Kisara. It's all really risky. They haven't told anyone that they are expecting yet, deciding to wait at a later time.
As Mana closes her eyes, the phone in her hand vibrates, making her eyes fly open. At the same time, Téa's phone does the same. They both exchange glances and look down to the group message on their phone from Kisara.
"I'm in."
Simultaneously they look at each other as the limo continues down the road to their destinations.
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Welp, it looks like the girls are gonna get into some more shenanigans. Leave a review!