Wow! We're getting through this story. Another six, maybe seven to go. I had better start working a bit faster to finish my next story.
Warnings for this chapter: Some gross references to bodily functions, but that's about it.
Chapter 15
Help!
Seto Kaiba never ate deserts. Instead, he usually finished a meal with sweetened black coffee.
But he did offer Katsu desert and she opted for the parfait. Since parfait was one of Mokuba's favourites, the chef knew how to make a really awesome one; with syrup soaked sponge, fresh seasonal fruits, ice cream, and lashings of whipped cream, liberally topped with a freshly made chocolate sauce flavoured with matcha green tea.
The desert would never have defeated Jonouchi, but halfway through Katsu was fit to burst, and feeling very bloated and uncomfortable. Reluctantly, she was forced to put her spoon down and sit back in her chair to try and aid her digestion.
Being full was still an alien feeling. It was uncomfortable and something that she did not like. Trying not to eat the same vast quantity of food in one sitting that Jonouchi had always been able to shovel into his gob, was a challenge, and one that she had yet to master.
Her dress felt extremely tight, and without taking it off there was no way to lessen the pressure on her tummy.
Seto was quick to notice the way she was sitting uncomfortably in her chair, with a rather bilious and flushed face. He knew that look from the few times that Mokuba had over indulged and then vomited. He did not fancy having to deal with Katsu doing the same thing. "I think we should take a stroll around the garden to walk off our meal." Trying not to smirk too much, he concentrated on his coffee.
Feeling in need of some fresh air, Katsu readily agreed that a walk was a nice idea.
The garden was most welcoming. The evening air was clean and the breeze was soft and cooling, carrying with it the gentle perfume of chrysanthemum and jasmine.
Katsu soon found herself fighting the urge to belch, but her attempt to stop herself letting rip was unsuccessful. Her esophagus constricted uncomfortably and her tummy let out a loud rumbling sound as the belch escaped upwards and out of her mouth.
To her surprise, Seto laughed at her. "Go on, let it all out."
"What?!" Katsu's eyes widened. "I thought you would think I was disgusting!"
"Why should I? Mokuba always gets wind after he eats too much. I always tell him it's better out than in. You will feel less uncomfortable once it shifts."
Katsu made an embarrassed chuckling sound. Would he think the same if she let out the fart she was also holding?
Luckily, Seto walked over to a rose bush and plucked a bloom from the stem, carefully, so as not to prick himself on the thorns.
Katsu was also careful about letting her gas go as quietly as she could. Unfortunately, it came out as a long raspberry pfa...rrrp! Jonouchi would have been proud of that one, but as Katsu, she was just plain embarrassed.
If Seto heard it, he didn't say anything. It smelled pretty bad too, so Katsu hurried away from where she was standing, over to the ornamental pond.
Thankfully, the odour did not seem to follow her.
Sitting down on the edge of the pond, she peered into the darkened water and rippled her fingers on the surface to see if there were any fish. Several Koi Carp immediately brushed the surface, their mouths wide open in search of food.
"They haven't been fed yet this evening. Mokuba, or sometimes myself, if I'm here, usually do it around seven thirty." He lifted up the lid on the nearby bench seat and took out a plastic tub of fish food. "Here, you do it. Two handfuls should be enough."
Nodding, Katsu stood up and scooped out one handful. She swept her hand over the pond to evenly spread the food, and then repeated the action with a second handful. The fish immediately lunged for the food, making ripples and splashes as they did so. Seto, put the lid back on the food and placed it down.
He then picked up the single white rose that he had picked a few moments ago and stood beside her.
They stood in silence for a minute, watching the fish thrashing about in their feeding frenzy.
Soon, the feeding fish settled back down again and Katsu tensed as she felt his arm slip around her waist. She fixed her nervous stare on where the feeding fish had just been, and clutched her arms over her chest to protect herself.
"Here, I picked this for you." He held the rose out in front of her. "Be careful. I think I picked off all the thorns but I may have missed one."
"Thanks!" She almost squeaked and tried not to snatch it from him. Shit! How did she get out of this situation without decking him?!
She nearly squirmed when he leaned down and nuzzled her hair. "You know, you don't have to go home tonight," he whispered softly in her ear.
"Oh! I do!" She shrieked, stepping sideways, away from him. "Anzu has plans for tomorrow."
He looked slightly crestfallen, which was an amusing look on Seto Kaiba, but he kept his hand on the small of her back and moved with her. "You seem nervous. Do you have a problem with me?"
At this point, she should have said 'yes' but instead bit her lip and looked bashful. She no longer found herself thinking or feeling like Jonouchi. She was genuinely attracted to Seto Kaiba and his offer was tempting – wasn't Jonouchi keen to lose his virginity?
But this was all wrong. Jonouchi was as straight as an arrow.
However, Katsu was straight too; which meant that she found men attractive – particularly rich, tall, lean muscular men with shaggy brown hair and sparkling, assertive blue eyes!
She nearly screamed out loud at her crazy, mixed up situation, but managed to calm herself enough to mutter coyly. "I'm... not sure I'm ready yet."
Instead of calling her a frigid, gold digging time waster like she thought he might, he smiled lovingly. "I am sorry if I made you feel awkward. If you are not yet ready, I understand. You are still welcome to stay the night in a guest room. It would be nice to have your company over breakfast in the morning."
Katsu almost spat her teeth out! How the hell she remained calm, she would never know. Unsure of how to get out of her current situation, she found herself agreeing to stay in the spare room.
"I need to let Anzu know I'm not coming home," she informed him, pulling out her phone.
Seto rolled his eyes, but didn't voice his thoughts about Katsu worrying so much about the opinion of Yugi's bossy cheerleader.
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When Anzu received a text message from Katsu telling her not to worry, but... she would not be home tonight, she nearly dropped her phone. No way! She wasn't...?
All sorts of thoughts about her in bed with Seto Kaiba went through her mind and she found herself feeling sick.
Trying to compose herself, she shakily sent a message back advising Katsu to think very carefully about the implications of what she was about to do. She waited a few moments but did not get a reply.
Anzu wanted to believe that Katsu had enough common sense not to go through with what she thought she was about to do. But! If she was as hot headed and impulsive as Jonouchi...
Should she let Yugi know about the mistake his best friend was about to make? Probably better not to worry him, but... right now, all she needed to hear Yugi's calming voice of reason. Groaning, she hit dial.
Yugi was in his room playing Fall Out 4 when his phone rang. It was sitting on his desk within easy reach, and he reached out a hand and swiped his finger across the screen to answer it. "Hey Anzu! What's up?" He quickly put it on speaker so that he could continue his game while talking.
"It's nothing... I just wanted to talk, that's all."
"Okay... Is Katsu back yet? Shit...!" He swore at a mutant that had just ambushed him.
Anzu was shocked at his language and irritated that she only had half of his attention. "Yugi! What are you doing?"
"Oh! Erm... sorry! Fall Out 4. Crucial stage." The huffing noise on the other end told him that she was not amused.
"That horrible violent game? Ugh! I don't know why you play such trash."
"I think we had better quit the game, Aibou," His other self advised. Yugi nodded in agreement.
"I will turn it off," he said, sheepishly. He hated upsetting Anzu.
Quitting the game, he picked up his phone. "Is something wrong Anzu?"
"It's nothing," she sighed. There was a pause. She knew he suspected something. "I er... I wasn't sure if I should tell you or not. Katsu isn't home. She's staying at Kaiba's."
Yugi felt his stomach lurch at the thought. "No way! As in like, with Kaiba?" He gulped down the lump in his throat that was threatening to choke him. What if his friend made a terrible mistake?
"I don't know if that's what she's doing..." She fretted, "What if..? I don't know what to do." She hoped he might have a suggestion.
"We have to stop her!" He shouted, banging his fist on the table angrily. Yami Yugi hovered at his shoulder in ghost form, looking similarly incensed.
Yugi sounded really upset and Anzu suddenly regretted calling him. "No..! At least, I hope not." There was an awkward pause.
"Katsu would never do something like that!" Yugi stated forcefully. "Deep inside, she is still Jonouchi." He could never entertain the thought that the real Jonouchi would disappear so completely that Katsu would fall in love with, of all people, Seto Kaiba.
"Even so Yugi, it is possible that she might. She admitted to me that she likes him and finds him attractive. She is trying to hang on to the small threads of Jonouchi that still remain, but she is becoming more female with each day. I'm with her more than you are and I have noticed how she is changing. I'm worried that she will..." unable to finish her sentence, she tailed off.
Even though he knew she could not see him, Yugi grimaced and shook his head. No! It wouldn't happen, it couldn't happen. "We have to stop them. I will ring Jonou... I mean Katsu and remind her who she actually is."
"No! Yugi! You can't! What if Kaiba is with her? He will know it's you calling and get suspicious. Even worse, he might find out!"
"Can you call her then? It won't seem as bad if it's you."
"I know it's hard Yugi, but we're just going to have to trust her." Anzu let out a sigh. "I just needed to speak to you. I need to know if I you think I should ring her?"
Just then, Anzu's phone beeped to notify her she had another message. "Oh! Hang on a minute Yugi. I have another message from her."
Reading the message, she felt a sense of relief. It appeared that Katsu was not sleeping in the same room as Seto kaiba, after all.
"This is what she has just sent me, Yugi." She read the message out too him. "Don't worry Anzu. I ain't that stupid! I'm sleeping in the spare room."
Anzu waited for Yugi's response.
"I believe her. So does the other Me," said Yugi, confidently.
Anzu let out a sigh of relief. "She had me worried there for a bit. But, yes, I believe her as well. What do you think we should do?"
Yugi thought about it only briefly. "Message her back and suggest we all meet up at ten in the morning for a day out. That way, we can get her away from him before things get any worse. Can you let me know when she replies?" He was anxious. He knew he would not be able to sleep until Anzu got back to him to confirm that she would meet up with them in the morning.
"I think I will ring her," Anzu decided. "That way, I will be able to know for sure that she is not with him in the same room."
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When Kaiba showed Katsu to the guest room, she quickly realised that it was the very same room that Jonouchi had woken up in after being poisoned by Mokuba. She wondered if he had known what his younger brother was up to, or if he just did not care enough to be bothered; after all, the relationship between the brothers was pretty broken at the time. Mokuba had lacked any sort of parental guidance and was more or less left to become feral. She understood how much that sucked, because Jonouchi had been left behind with his father when his mother walked out. His father was already a heavy drinker, but his mental state seemed to deteriorate after she left, to the point where he no longer cared about his son, and just spent his days in a drunken stupor.
Witnessing his father's decline had been stressful. Jonouchi had to look after him. Sometimes it was like looking after a baby and sometimes it was like looking after a wild animal. Young Jonouchi was often punched and shouted at – even spat at.
Younger Jonouchi became distressed. He felt abandoned and lost. Craving some attention, he misbehaved at school. His behaviour lead to him hooking up with Hirutani and joining his vicious gang. He discovered how good he was at fighting, and that got him the attention he desired.
In his own way, Mokuba had only been doing the same thing. But it still did not make what he had done acceptable.
She hesitated in the doorway, as she recalled how Jonouchi had woken up on that bed feeling like shit and with a bitter, chemical after-taste in his mouth. It had taken a long hot shower and copious amounts of the complimentary mouthwash and toothpaste to rid herself of the taste and feel human again.
"Is the room okay?" Seto asked, gently rubbing his hand over the small of her back. "Only, you seem unsure."
"Yes! It's lovely. I was just thinking... it's way bigger than my room at home," she replied, coming up with a quick excuse for her hesitation.
"Good! I plan to rise at six forty five tomorrow morning. I will spend an hour in my private gym, and then swim and shower before breakfast, which will be at eight thirty sharp."
Katsu laughed. "Do you always like to do everything to a strict time?"
"I'm a busy man. I like to organise my day so that no time is wasted on unnecessary waiting about."
"I'm the opposite. I like to roll with the flow."
"Then I'm sure you will be happy to roll with my flow," he smirked. "If you feel like joining me in the gym, be outside your room at six fifty four. It takes exactly five minutes to reach my gym from here."
"I don't have any gear to exercise in! I can't exactly run in this." She looked down at the stilettos in her hand and the pretty blue dress she was wearing.
"What size shoes do you take? I will ensure my housekeeper brings you an outfit." He raised an eyebrow when Katsu told him. She had pretty big feet for a girl!
They were still smiling in amusement about Katsu's large feet, and it caught her off guard when he leaned down and placed a kiss on her lips. It wasn't a lingering kiss, more of an expectant, hopeful peck on the lips, but Katsu still froze. What was she supposed to do? By the way he was hovering and looking into her eyes, she suspected that he was hoping she might return the kiss and allow him to prolong it.
"Er... night Seto!" She regained her composure in an instant, and before he could say anything else, she had leaped into the room and slammed the door in his face.
Jumping back to avoid a broken nose from the door hitting him, Seto shook his head in bemusement. What a funny thing she was! On the two previous occasions he had invited women to have dinner with him, they had been so eager to sleep with him, that they had literally thrown themselves at him. But finding one that played hard to get was making the chase far more exciting.
Katsu locked the door, although, she suspected that if he wanted to get in, he would easily do so, because he probably had a master key!
Slumping on the bed, she sighed and touched her lips. Seto kaiba's lips had touched hers! She knew she should feel utterly repulsed by it. If she were Jonouchi, she would have been in the bathroom scrubbing her face by now. But she wasn't. Instead, she found herself thinking how gentle and soft his lips had been. His cologne had smelled nice. A knot of disgust coiled in her belly when she found herself wishing that she had prolonged the kiss.
Her phone rang and when she took it out of her clutch bag she noticed her hands were trembling. It was Anzu. Katsu rolled her eyes. Anzu was probably ringing to make sure she was not misbehaving with Kaiba.
After reassuring Anzu, and warning her not to say anything about her staying the night at the mansion to Yugi or Honda, she got ready for bed. No point in telling Anzu how he had kissed her and how close she had come to locking lips with him.
Feeling reassured, Anzu hung up and immediately called Yugi again, to give him the news that his friend was not doing anything they needed to be concerned about.
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Katsu was woken up at six forty, by a maid bringing her a pair of sports leggings, a bra-top, a pair of ankle socks and trainers – all a perfect fit!
So much for Kaiba giving her the choice of whether to stay in bed until eight thirty, or get up early for a workout! It was a good job that because of the paper round, she had always been used to getting up bright and early.
Thanking the maid, she pulled on the kit, and quickly brushed her teeth and rinsed the smudges of make-up off her face. She would never get used to having to scrape this stuff off her face before going to bed. Getting it off was a total pain unless you had some sort of make up remover, and scrubbing her face with soap and water made her skin feel tight and dry. She just wished she had some of that nice moisturising face cream that Anzu had given her!
Right now, the only thing she had to hand was the complimentary hand cream, so that would have to do – it couldn't be all that different to face cream, could it?
She plastered it onto her face and soon found out that it made the sensitive skin on her face sting, and when she looked in the mirror, her face looked greasy and shiny.
Oh God! She was a disaster! She could not let Seto see her looking like this! She looked like Frankenstein's bride!
A light knock on her door, indicated that Seto was here for her. Panic! Panic!
Grabbing the hand towel, she dabbed at her face as she answered the door. With any luck, he would not notice, and once she started exercising, a shiny red face would seem normal. Why did she even care what she looked like, anyway?
"Good morning!" He yawned, while trying to appear wide awake and ready. He still had bed hair and it made him look cute. He looked so far removed from the aloof, perfectly well groomed asshole that she and her friends had frequently encountered.
She liked this softer, much more relaxed side of him, a lot!
To hell with what her friends thought about her dating him! She was a woman, he was a man; what was wrong with them being an item, if that was what they wanted?
The more natural it felt to be a woman, the more natural it felt to date him. And she was achieving far more success with the opposite sex than Jonouchi ever had! All he ever did was make girls cry and run away.
"Mornin!" She beamed. "Ready to hit the gym then? Sleepy head!"
Chuckling, he tipped his head forward and combed his finger tips through his hair, before shaking his head and standing up straight again. "Better?!" It was worse.
Laughing, Katsu reached up and flicked her fingers through his fringe. She was surprised at how silky his hair felt. Pushing his hair to the side, she looked into his baby blue eyes and smiled. "Much better."
Taking her by the hand, he lead her to the elevator that went down to the spacious, lower ground floor.
From the front of the mansion, you would never even know that this lower level was here!
Stepping out of the elevator, Katsu was amazed by the sight that greeted them. The gym was divided into two halves, with a mirror along the wall on the area to the right of them, where a bench press and a rack of dumbells were situated. There were also some Yoga mats laid out, a water fountain and a small dance floor, with a punch bag hanging from a hook on the celing. On the other side, stood two treadmills, two ski trainers and two rowing machines. They were lined up facing out through the large windows, that overlooked the swimming pool.
Katsu ran up to the glass doors and looked out at the pool. "Wow! You own all this cool stuff?!" Jonouchi could not even afford a gym membership and had begged his way into a scruffy boxing gym, with its ancient, rusty, sweat covered equipment. Kaiba's stuff was all the latest technology.
"The door to the pool is actually from the sauna," he explained. "Because of the air conditioning, these bullet proof windows cannot be opened."
"Oh!" Katsu nodded dumbly. In her opinion, it would have been nice to slide them open for direct access to the pool. "Bullet proof?!"
"That's right. My stepfather had them installed." Not wishing to dwell on his cruel stepfather, he cleared his throat. "You get to the pool through here." He took her through a door leading to the pool. He also showed her the Tyrolean style sauna, shower room and traditional Furo.
They went back inside and Seto got onto the stepper to begin his warm up. Katsu climbed onto the other stepper.
She had never used one of these machines before so it was a bit of a novelty, but she very quickly got into it and was soon glancing across at Seto's machine to check how many watts he was putting out, and how quickly he was climbing. She upped her pace.
"Are you challenging me?" He smirked.
"Yeah," she beamed. "Whoever climbs the most steps in ten minutes wins." She was confident she would be able to beat him. He was pretty certain that she would not.
"Very well! We will re-set our machines and begin on the count of three."
"What does the winner get?" She asked, preparing herself for battle.
"If I win, I get a better kiss than the one I got last night," he winked. She had never seen Seto Kaiba wink and it should have been disturbing, but for some reason she found it sexy.
"What if I win?" She asked.
"You won't," he calmly stated.
Even though he was certain of his victory, she still made him promise to give her a lift to meet her friends, at ten o'clock. Knowing that he would not have to, he agreed.
Their little race started. But, try as hard as she could, Katsu was unable to out climb him on the stepper. It looked like Seto was going to get his kiss.
Just in case you had not heard of it, a Furo is a traditional Japanese bath.
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