Nine Years:
Chapter Twenty: What is with him!
"Alright, let's see what we have here" Serenity's doctor muttered quietly to herself. She pulled on some rubber gloves and straightened her glasses. Hovering over her leg, she pulled out a tool that would slice the cast open smoothly.
"Whoa...that's not really pleasant" she said chuckling while Serenity seethed quietly to herself.
"Well doctor…it has been a while since I shaved my injured leg" Serenity said while gritting her teeth. Inside, she was grateful she had chosen to wear a long skirt.
Her physician chuckled. "Of course. Now then, stand up. Walk a bit. It might feel stiff or numb but try to shrug it off"
Serenity nodded and stood up, the injured knee immediately breaking into a fall. The doctor immediately supported her. "Try again"
Serenity sighed and limped around the room, holding onto the walls for support.
"You're doing great" the doctor commented.
'Yeah right' Serenity thought ruefully.
"I don't think you'll need rehab. Though, seeing the way you are supporting yourself…" she paused, walking towards a closet. She pulled out a cane wrapped in plastic. She removed the plastic coating and handed it to her.
Serenity gaped at her. "You're kidding…right?"
The doctor shook her head. "No I'm not" she said firmly handing it to her. Serenity reluctantly accepted it. "Alright…I'm setting up an appointment for you to come in about three days to see how you're holding up. Here you are" she said, ripping out the appointment slip from her clipboard.
"Don't do much physical activity" she ordered.
Serenity nodded and walked out the door with her new cane.
"Can we get ice cream?" Kari immediately asked when seeing Serenity.
She frowned. "We just had breakfast" she exclaimed.
Kari pouted and led her to the waiting room where Kaiba was sitting. Kaiba immediately stood up and chuckled when seeing her cane.
"Hush" Serenity snapped at him as she held hands with Kari.
"What? I didn't say anything" Kaiba replied simply, smirk still intact on his face however.
She glared at him but he kept his face forward. They arrived at the parking lot and headed straight home.
During the ride, all that popped up in Serenity's head was Kari's upcoming birthday. She frowned; Mokuba was supposed to help her but instead he concentrated on his own problems. She wondered if his proposal date went alright, though. He didn't mention anything about it.
However, she did remember him mentioning something about Disneyland being around here.
"Hm…" she pondered aloud.
"What's the matter?" Kari asked.
Her pondering thoughts came to a halt as she was reeled back into reality.
"Huh…oh um…nothing! Just was thinking"
"About what?" Kari pressed.
"Nothing sweetie" Serenity said. She smiled wryly at her daughter's nosy antics.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Kaiba looking at her peculiarly.
"What" she asked bluntly.
Kaiba didn't answer but gave her one final look before looking away. They arrived at the mansion in mere minutes and Serenity was the first one out of there. Living in the mansion with him was one thing, sitting next to each other in a car was another. She sighed; she didn't like the living arrangements. She wanted to get out of Japan as soon as their vacation was over.
She stopped thinking her longing thoughts and concentrated on Kari. Worry fell on her face. She looked behind her and saw Kaiba holding Kari's hand. She headed towards the mansion doors again and started walking, a meek smile adorning her lips. She liked the picture she saw behind her but…
'What if she wants to stay here with him...'
She sighed and looked behind her again. No doubt Kari would object on them leaving.
Her thoughts came on Kaiba. Would he miss Kari? Would he object on them leaving? Would he take drastic measures to keep Kari with him?
A picture of Kaiba's lawyers popped into her head. She shuddered.
Or…
'Would he let her lead her life and forget her?'
No…he wouldn't do that. Not after the bonding they did in such short time, which was pretty unbelievable. They bonded together as if it were a natural thing.
But she didn't want to lose Kari.
'We have separated lives in separate countries'
"Mom? Is something bugging you?"
Serenity shook her head and put on a bright smile. "No honey" she lied. She didn't want to induce Kari with her thoughts.
Kari stared at her, unbelieving every word she had said. She pouted. Why did grownups have to hide everything?
Serenity bit her lip and shook her head. This wasn't the time to think about such thoughts. When the time came, she would think about it again.
"Mom…"
"Yes?"
Kari ran over to her side and looked up to her. "You promised you would go to dad's party thingy if your leg got better. It is better…isn't it?"
Serenity stiffened up and she knew Kaiba was smirking behind her. That…victory smirk of his. She wrinkled her nose.
"Yes. I know I promised…" Serenity mumbled.
"Okay…I just want to see if you will live up to your word" Kari said smiling brightly.
"Of course" Serenity said stiffly. The thought of going to Kaiba's thank you acknowledgement wasn't really in her mind the day Kari told her about it. Important things were. She sighed. A promise was a promise, even though she regretted it. She scowled, hating Kaiba for using Kari to get to her.
Kari rushed up to the double doors and burst inside of them, running up the stairs as fast as her legs could take her.
"You don't have to go"
"Huh?" Serenity turned around and met with Kaiba. She furrowed her eyebrows, confused. "What do you mean?"
"I don't want you to go because you are obligated to" Kaiba elaborated.
Serenity kept quiet. He was acting sincere towards her. Why? What was he up to? She frowned. Was this an attempt to steal Kari away from her, spend more time?
Well, now that she thought about it, Kaiba wasn't really being a usual ass. He became more calm and rational minded thinking about others instead of himself. She liked what she saw but would it last? She smiled wryly…last time it didn't.
"I'm going because I promised her and she's going to be there"
"I'll talk to her" he replied as he headed up the stairs, ignoring what she said. She opened her mouth to protest but heard the door knob jiggle a bit before someone entered.
"Hey 'Ren…came back as fast as I could. Sorry, I forgot all about your—" Joey babbled rapidly but stopped abruptly when seeing her.
"Hey! You don't have a cast anymore! But…a cane" Mai exclaimed. She hugged her. "How long before you get rid of that?"
Serenity shrugged. "I'll know in my next appointment"
Mai smiled at her and went up the stairs to Matt's room.
"Yeah dat's great!" Joey too hugged her. "Sorry sis…woulda taken ya but I was caught up in the moment. It's strange how Matt caught a fever suddenly…" he trailed off. Serenity nodded agreeing.
"Who took ya?"
"Kaiba" she stated simply. She started walking up the stairs.
"Now I really feel guilty" Joey mumbled. Serenity laughed.
"It's alright"
They arrived at the second floor and went there separate ways; Joey in Matt's room and Serenity in hers.
"How's he holding up?" Joey whispered when seeing Matt's sleeping form on the bed.
"I just gave him some medicine. Let's go, I don't want to bother him" Mai whispered back. Joey nodded and left with her.
Moments later a figure opened the door quietly, but door hinges gave him away, making an eerie sound. He scowled.
Being the light sleeper he was, Matt immediately opened his eyes. He sat up.
"Mom? Dad?" he called out quietly in a nasally voice.
"Shh…" he said, putting a finger to his lips. "It's Kari's uncle"
Mokuba entered fully and closed the door quietly.
Matt crossed his eyebrows together, confused. "What do you want?"
"Your fever"
DPD: Domino Police Department …
"Do you deny you have committed this assault?" Minomoto asked the brunette in front of her harshly. She glared at the Tea ferociously with her dark brown eyes.
In the corner were Morris and Ayano, glaring at her the same. Morris smirked at his partners actions. She always believed by being ruthless and merciless, the suspects would talk.
Tea looked at her with her azure eyes, glaring at Minomoto also. She was getting irritated with her behavior; it was truly annoying.
"What assault…" Tea drawled coldly.
"Listen, you can make this easy or hard, either way you are going to jail" Minomoto snapped.
"How so? Just because you found blood on my car?" Tea scoffed.
"The blood matched is identical to Serenity Wheeler's blood" Ayano spoke up. "Care to explain how it got there?"
Minomoto smirked.
"She could've been framed" Tea's lawyer now spoke.
"Tire tracks were also found in the scene. It matched Ms. Gardner's car" Morris spoke.
"Again…framed" Tea's lawyer immediately said.
"Well, you can't say this piece of evidence is framed…" Minomoto drawled as she placed the video tape in a VCR. A laptop was slammed in front of the lawyer and her client. Tea frowned, her lawyer doing the same. "This tape was recovered from a restaurant. It had cameras inside and outside. The restaurant was near the crime scene so we recovered it" Minomoto explained as cars moved about. The video was black and white.
"You see Ms. Wheeler crossing here…" she said as she pointed with a fingernail. "And Ms. Gardner's car here…"
"You can't tell if it's her!" the lawyer immediately objected.
"Boy aren't you small-minded…" Minomoto muttered to herself. "Our analyst's have made it possible to enlarge and view the driver clearly…" Minomoto spoke as she pressed some keys and enlarged the scene several pixels. "And as you can see…it is Ms. Gardner here" she spoke, as she circled Tea with her fingernail. She smirked proudly at their silence.
"You can't deny this any longer Ms. Gardner…" Morris spoke.
"Officer…would you please escort Ms. Gardner to a cell?" Minomoto asked.
An officer came in and cuffed Tea, taking her away. The lawyer stood up and packed her things, frowning.
"I don't understand. Why did you present this information last when you could've just saved time?" the lawyer asked Minomoto.
"Jury might need more evidence" she said as she rolled her eyes heavenward. "Besides, I like seeing suspects and lawyers squirm…" she smirked coldly.
Kaiba Mansion…
Kaiba knocked on Kari's door and when hearing her say 'come in' he opened the door and closed it when entered.
"What are you doing?" he asked as he pulled out a chair from a desk.
"Oh nothing. Just was talking to some of my friends…" she said as she closed the laptop.
"Where'd you get the laptop?"
"Mom"
He smiled. "Of course…speaking of your mother…" he trailed off. Kari watched him from her bed, crossing her eyebrows.
"What about her?"
"I don't think she wants to go to my party. You shouldn't press her to come"
"But…don't you want her there?"
"Yes…but she feels obligated to come and I don't want her to feel that way"
"Oh…did she send you up here?" Kari asked frowning in disapproval.
He chuckled. "No. I sent myself up"
"I don't want to force mom…but I want her to come…" Kari muttered.
"Think about it…" he said as he went her way and ruffled her hair. He left her room, only to come face to face with Serenity. He frowned.
"Were you eavesdropping on us?"
"N-no…I mean…well I came to see if she wanted lunch a-and…" she stuttered. Why was she stuttering? She narrowed her eyes and smacked him in the arm. "Why'd you do that!"
"I was doing you a favor!" he said as he headed towards his room, unfazed by her smack.
"No you weren't! You're making her think I'm selfish! And I didn't ask you to do it! Did I? NO!"
"You wouldn't have come anyway" he entered his room, she too following. He closed the door, her not bothering to notice as she ranted on.
"I promised her and I want to be with her"
He sighed and ruffled his hair. "So what do you want me to do?"
"Tell her I'm coming"
"You're coming?"
"Yes!"
He shrugged but soon nodded. He began unbuttoning his shirt.
"W-What are you d-doing!"
He stopped midway and smirked. "I'm going to take a shower"
"So you start undressing in front of me!" she screeched.
"It's as if you haven't seen me undressed before" he said as he chuckled. She stormed out of there, blushing furiously.
"Freak!" she muttered. She leaned against his door, trying to calm herself. What was with him? Why was he being so…forward with her! She sighed and pushed herself up.
"Something wrong Serenity?" Mokuba asked as he came out of Kari's room. He looked at her peculiarly.
"N-No…" she said as she shook her head. "What were you doing in Kari's room?" she asked.
"Oh just talking with her…" he trailed off.
She frowned quizzically before asking, "What are you doing here anyway? Aren't you supposed to be in Kaiba Corp.?"
"Finished work" he said shrugging. "See ya" he said as he waved her off, proceeding to his room.
She arched an eyebrow. Both brothers were acting peculiar.
A/n: What is Mokuba up to now? What did he do with Matt and Kari…Please review and I'll tell you…in the next chapter. :)