NOTE: The standings (not much has changed…PLEASE KEEP VOTING PEOPLE!):

TEA:

Seto: 9

Yugi: 0

Noa: 0

SERENITY:

Mokuba: 4 or 5

Duke: 0

Tristan: 0

Oh, and people that were going for a Serenity/Noa: I'm sorry, but that is out of the picture now. Please vote on Serenity for someone else. Thanks.

Disclaimer: I own neither Yu-Gi-Oh! (I don't own "Soak Up the Sun," by Sheryl Crow that was originally in here.)

Chapter 8: Feeling Fun?

July 5

Seto woke up. He groaned. And why, for the fifth day in a row, had he woken up, unnaturally? He heard the answer outside the door: the geeks.

Seto pounded a fist into his pillow and put his face into it. He was sick of being rudely awakened. He thought the point of vacation was to relax…and not be disturbed. He had, as of yet, accomplished neither.

Seto slowly lifted his head, warily and looked at the time: 9:22. Okay, so they had let him sleep a little bit…but not long enough. If these freaks would just let him get some normal rest (waking up around 2:00 sounded good…), then he might have been less cranky. Scratch that. He was always cranky. Maybe less…ack, never mind.

He rolled over in bed, and looked towards the window. The sun was peeking through the closed blinds. Another wasteful day. What was he going to do this time? Read…lounge…eat…try to get more sleep…tease the twits…annoy the mutt…yeah, those sounded promising.

However, in mentally tallying his list, something flickered inside of him…. It was Mokuba's words:

"Why should I trust you? Everything else you say to everyone is a complete lie. Seto, you're living a lie! You're denying what you've had and that you've ever been happy! Give it up! Just go on with life, in a trustworthy way! Everyone has a past, Seto, and they all talk about it! Start being one of those people! Maybe it'll change you for the better! Maybe it will make you smile again!"

What exactly had he meant? What did Mokuba want from him? Why was he even caring? He was living his life as he had for twelve years….

Twelve years a misery, a voice said. Seto sighed. Yes…twelve miserable years…. It was true. He hadn't been truly happy for many, many years: over a decade. The only happy moment he had really had recently was when Noa came to live with them. But even then, Seto was still cautious of the boy: the boy that he trapped them, and tried to take away his body, soul and power.

Seto shook his head. He wasn't going to think such hateful thoughts. Noa was his brother. Sure, technically, he was a stepbrother, but Mokuba and Seto didn't care. To them, he was a brother. And Seto hoped Noa thought that way too.

Hoped was the key word there. Ever since he had come to live with them, the boy hadn't seemed completely happy. Sure, he showed happiness on the outside…but what about his feelings on the inside? Was he really happy? Or did he feel….

Seto sat up. Was that the reason for Noa's glumness a lot of the time? He was feeling left out?

Seto understood that. Maybe the green-haired boy felt that he had intruded on a loving, brotherly relationship. Seto started to think. He was trying to remember if Mokuba and he had had any brother visits lately…and left Noa out.

And the more Seto thought, the more he remembered. They had had a lot of them…. Too many, to leave out Noa. Seto felt heaps of guilt on his shoulders now. So he had been right yesterday. There was a good chance of Noa leaving his side: there had always been. As long as Seto didn't open up more, he might never have anyone….

He had lost his best friend in life…and now, it seemed he might be losing his brothers…. Sure, Mokuba seemed to have forgiven his big brother yesterday; but did he really? There still must have been something inside Mokuba that wanted to hate Seto.

Seto's eyes closed. It was his fault entirely. He was driving everyone-even his brothers-away from his life. It was Gozaburo. He had done this to Seto. All those "morals," all those "lessons;" they really had been implanted in his head.

Seto stood up, out of bed. Well they were going away. He was moving on, just like Mokuba had told him to. Noa was going to get the attention he deserved (he probably hadn't gotten much during his life with his father….). Seto was going to accept the past…slowly though. It was going to be difficult to change twelve years of a certain lifestyle. But he was willing to try. Seto Kaiba never backed down from a challenge. And this was going to be his hardest one yet….

Seto walked out of his room, his clothes in hand; ready to go take a shower. Yes, today, he needed no prodding. Today, he was going to open up…maybe even join the geek squad in a few games…if his mind allowed him to.

He walked into the bathroom, and saw Ryou brushing his teeth, and Tea emerging from a shower stall (fully dressed, mind you). He hair was still wet, and she had it up in a sloppy ponytail, just so that the water would drip down her back and shoulders.

On noticed Seto, she said, in awe, "You're actually walking around at this hour? What did your brothers do, threaten to close down Kaiba Corp. stocks?"

"Ha, ha, very funny," Seto replied, sarcastically, "Actually, I got out of ed on my own today, if that's any matter to you," he added, the sentence dripping with the poison, just prodding Tea to add more remarks.

"I see," Tea retorted, simply, "We're making progress, then," Tea smirked, and walked out of the bathroom. Seto rolled his eyes, and entered one of the other stalls.

Around 10:30, Mokuba and Noa ran out of their room, Noa tailing his brother.

"I'm gonna beat ya downstairs!" Mokuba cried back.

"Right! And I'm a teenage girl!" Noa cried back, trying to show his brother that he wasn't about to lose.

"That you are!" Mokuba replied, grabbing hold of the banister, and swinging onto it, so that he was now sliding down it.

"Hey! And…no fair!" Noa cried, jumping onto the opposite banister…though backwards. He realized his mistake, while traveling down. He looked behind him, only to fall off the rail at the bottom, and plummet into someone, who, as Noa could only guess, due to the fact that he didn't hear a thud come from the person he had rammed into, was caught by someone else.

He heard someone laugh (Mokuba, obviously), as he rubbed his neck, and turned to she who he had fallen on. Noa went form apricot to cherry in two seconds flat.

"I-I-I-I'm s-s-so s-s-sorry, T-T-Tea," Noa stood up shakily, offering his hand. However, Tea wasn't really paying attention to him. She was paying more attention to the person that had saved her fall.

"Kaiba?" she inquired, looking up at his face.

"Seto?" Noa looked up at him.

"Seto!" Mokuba ran over to him. Seto quickly pulled Tea to her feet, and let go of her. He turned to his brothers.

"Seto…my watch says it's only 10:32. I think it's screwed up," Mokuba said, shaking it.

"It's not screwed up, Mokie. I'm just…earlier than usual, that's all," Seto replied, slightly smiling (or trying to, without making it a smirk. It was quite hard actually…).

"Wow! What was your motive?" Mokuba bounced up and down.

"Motive…what makes you think there's an ulterior motive behind this?" Seto inquired, amused.

"Because there's always one for something weird you do," not Mokuba, but Tea, answered, dusting herself off.

Seto scowled at her. Just when he was being nice; she goes and ruins it.

"No motive. I was just waiting for you two to get down here…so I wouldn't have to spend the rest of eternity watching this blasted television. Besides, I have nothing else to do…thanks to a certain duo," Seto gave a small glare to his brothers.

"Really? You mean…you're gonna come outside with us?" Mokuba piped up.

"…Yeah," Seto finally answered.

"YEAH!" Mokuba grabbed his brother's wrist, and dragged him out the door.

Tea watched as Mokuba dragged his brother outside. She turned around, and saw Noa there, with his head hanging down. His bangs obscured his eyes, in shadow. Something ticked in Tea, telling her something was defiantly wrong.

"Noa?" she bent down beside him, "Are you alright?"

"Huh?" Noa looked at her, his eyes shining…with sadness, "Oh…yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"You don't look like it."

"This is my natural look."

"Not the Noa I know."

"You don't know the real Noa."

"Excuse me?" Noa suddenly realized he had said too much.

"I've…got to go," Noa said, running outside. He had been so busy pitying himself; he hadn't noticed that he had actually spoken to Tea for once, without blushing madly.

Noa reached the outside, and saw everyone else, happily playing out on the beach. Mokuba had dragged Seto over to the volleyball net, where they were playing one-on-one volleyball (and the others were watching this in awe and amazement, thinking: Seto Kaiba…playing volleyball?)

Noa sat down in the sand, and drew circles in it with his finger. There was that feeling again…. He sighed, and looked up at the sky.

Noa couldn't help but feel like a burden. He was the one who had intruded into their lives. He hadn't been thinking about it much lately, since there hadn't been any brotherly interaction, on account of Seto was ignoring everyone. But now…. Noa let a tear fall down his cheek. That must have been Seto's motive to get up: to spend time with Mokuba. Noa brought his knees up to his head, and cried into them.

He was crying again…just because he wasn't part of their circle right now…. It had happened before…and obviously Seto hadn't noticed yet, when Noa would come down to dinner with red, puffy eyes, and tear strained cheeks.

And here, he wasn't in his room…he was out in public. Weakling…a familiar voice rang in his head. Noa looked up, his eyes narrowed. Go away… Noa responded to his own thoughts. You'll never fit in…. Will to. Give it up: emotions are for the weak. You know that…you've known that for little less than eighteen years…. Blah, blah, blah, blah, NOT LISTENING! LISTEN SON! AS YOUR FATHER- NOOO! Excuse me? Sorry…saw Star Wars recently….

Wait a minute, Noa finally sided…am I having a conversation with myself? That's seriously whack…. Well, technically it's not me…memories of my father, but…AH! There I go again! I'm talking to myself! Stop it! STOP!

So, Noa stopped thinking those seemingly pointless thoughts then. He resumed his emotional breakdown instead…if that was any better.

Joey noticed the glum looking Kaiba…no, not the chocolate haired one: the distressed, talking to himself one. He wondered what could be up with him. Noa was always a smiling, cheerful, kid…except for the time where he was wickedly cruel, trying to take possession of their helpless bodies, and take his revenge on Kaiba! But, that's no matter, Joey resided.

He walked over to the boy, and sat down beside him, "Sup, Noa?"

"Huh?" Noa looked up, wiping his eyes quickly, before anyone could see the tears.

"You cryin', kid?"

"No! What would make you think that?" Noa denied, harshly.

"Well, gee, kid, your eyes are all red, and it looked like tears there and-"

"Alright, shut up already!" Noa spat. Joey looked quite taken aback. Noa looked at him sheepishly, "Sorry…not in the best mood."

"Mood swings, eh?" Joey laid back.

"Excuse me?"

"You were completely happy yesterday, and now you're a completely, miserable person!"

"Gee, thanks," Noa rolled his eyes.

"No, I mean…everyone's been like that lately, you know? Serenity was like that for the past two days…for some reason, I dunno," Joey pondered. Noa looked away with a worried look on his face.

"Anyway, I'm just saying it's been happening a lot. So, what's up with you?"

"Ah…well…uh…nothing. Yeah…nothing…I guess…just moody today, for some reason," Noa replied.

"Uh huh," Joey responded, "there's always a reason. Not just some reason, but a reason. I know why I'm always glum," Joey replied.

Noa perked up, "And why would that be?"

"Because- Because…you're ears are too young to hear about it," Joey pinked a little at what he was about to expose, and stopped. Actually, he was about to talk about Mai….

"Mokuba, I really need to-" Seto stopped as the ball hit him in the shoulder. Not on accident, heck no. He let it hit him on purpose. For the past ten minutes, he had been trying to tell Mokuba something, but the kid just wouldn't listen.

"Seto! You did that on purpose!" Mokuba cried back.

"Yes, fine, you caught me!" he picked up the ball and held it, "Now will you just listen?" Mokuba looked a tad confused, but slowly nodded. Seto sighed and continued, "Look, I have to go talk t o Noa. Did you not notice that you left him completely in the dust?"

"Well…I thought he'd tag right behind," Mokuba scratched the back of his head.

"Well, he didn't. And now look at him," Seto jerked a finger behind him.

"Oh…but Seto…this is…a two player game…it would mess up the proportions if we had an odd number," Mokuba was just laying out the facts, not seeing where Seto was going.

"I'm fully aware of that. Just give me a second," he set down the ball and walked back over to Noa. This is harder than I thought, Seto sighed mentally.

"Hey, kiddo, you okay?" Seto bent down in front of Noa, who suddenly looked at him, after having been talking with Joey.

"Oh, hey. What are you doing here? Weren't you playing volleyball or something unnatural for you?" Noa's lips turned up slightly.

"Yes…very unnatural," Seto smirked, rolling his eyes, "However, it's unnatural for you not to be there with us."

"Seto, maybe this vacation is doing something to your brain. That was a two play-"

"I know, I know," Seto stood up, "Just ask someone to come along," Seto glanced at Joey. He closed his eyes, and clamped his hands shut, swallowing all insults he had at the moment. This was going to take all of his concentration just to say this simple sentence, "Maybe…ask…Wheeler."

Joey's eyes widened, "Okay, now I'm startin' ta worry. You alrigh', Kaiba? This would never happen in a million years, an'-"

"It's a simple yes or no question Wheeler, or is your brain too small to even process that?" Seto turned away and walked off, letting out a deep breath. He had to throw in that last insult, small as it were. It just felt so calming…natural…needed…. Maybe he was addicted or something to nasty comebacks. Oh well. He needed to feel right about the situation and he did so.

"Alrigh', there's the Kaiba we know and ha-" he stopped looking over at Noa, "We know and…uh…why don't we take him up on his offer, come on!" Joey grabbed Noa's arm and raced over to the volleyball net.

Serenity was sitting in the sand, staring out at the ocean, just thinking. That blasted dream had occurred again, and she had been woken up when someone had yelled, and collided into someone else. (If you haven't noticed, she's referring to when Noa collided into Tea.)

Sure, it had been a late time for her to wake up; nevertheless, she wanted to know what that godforsaken dream was going to say! She never got any closer to hearing what was going to happen! It was tearing her apart!

But most of all, she wanted to know what Mokuba had to do with all this. And why did her heart always flutter when she looked in Noa's direction?

She looked towards the volleyball net, where Noa and Kaiba were playing against Mokuba and Joey. She saw the four, and immediately, her heart began racing. WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY?

She fell back onto her towel, which was next to Mai's. Mai winced slightly hearing the impact, "You alright, hun?"

"Yeah…just thinking," Serenity scowled at the sky.

"What's on your mind?" Mai inquired, sitting up.

"…Nothing, just-"

"Hey, SERENITY!" two voices called out. Serenity looked over, and saw Tristan and Duke running over to her. They stopped at the edge of her towel.

"Hey, wanna get a drink or something at the drink bar over there?" Tristan inquired.

"Or maybe you'd prefer a nice snack from the kitchen that we could enjoy out here," Duke said, trying to push Tristan out of the way. However, being that Tristan was pushing him away, neither were having the best of luck.

"Uh…that's really nice guys, but…uh…" Serenity couldn't figure out the words to reject their offers.

"Hey, Serenity!" Tea walked over, holding a circular object.

"Sup, Tea?"

"I dunno. I just wanted to know if you wanted to head up to the patio and…who knows…just rock out, or something," Tea flashed the music CD.

"You mean dance?" Serenity inquired.

"Yeah! I don't want to be the only one up there," Tea laughed.

"Sure!" Serenity jumped up to take Tea up on her offer. Tristan and Duke watched her with their mouths hanging open, reaching the sand below them.

Mai sighed, and relaxed, "Tough luck, guys. Maybe another day." Though, she highly doubted her words.

"Can we do something else?" Seto sighed, as the volleyball rolled out of play. He was getting sick of this sport very quickly.

"You know, Seto, you're right. You're new at this whole "fun" thing. We'll take it slow and easy," Mokuba came over to his brother and sat down beside him.

"Thank God," Seto fell backwards. Noa reached the two.

"He's tired already?" Noa asked, concerned, "That's weird…because this seems like nothing, compared to all that stuff he does in the basement back home."

"Adding you two to the exercise quadruples the work," Seto breathed.

"Hey!" they both shouted, simultaneously. Seto gave a quick, "ha." Joey had left the three and walked over to the patio, where Ryou was quietly enjoying a slushie.

"So, what do you want to do?" Noa inquired.

"Go back to bed," Seto closed his eyes.

"Oh, come on! You can't fall asleep now!" Mokuba shook his brother.

"Watch it…. I can do whatever I want…I still have the keys…can take you home anytime I wish…" Seto drifted off.

"You mean these?" Noa held up something reflective. Seto's head popped up, as he squinted at the objects. His keys.

"Where did you get those?" Seto sat up, threateningly.

"…Your pocket," Noa smiled sheepishly.

"Kid…you're a dead man," Seto jumped up, ready to swipe the keys out of his brother's hand.

"Hey, hey, hey! Watch it! I have been nose-bloody free for a good five days! Don't break the record!" Noa cried, ducking, tripping, and running at the same time.

"By the time I'm done with you, you'll wish it was just a bloody nose!" Seto cried out, jokingly. Mokuba just lay back, relaxing, while watching the whole fiasco. It was always nice not to be the one being chased.

Suddenly, the boy heard music start up. He directed his attention to the patio, where he saw Serenity and Tea in the middle of the floor. They were facing each other. Suddenly, hey started to dance, moving on opposite sides of the walk, twirling, sending their arms up and out, or down their body. They were just having fun.

Mokuba watched Serenity with interest. Many other heads had turned towards the two.

"Think we caught their attention?" Tea grinned at her partner.

"I would think so," Serenity smiled back, dancing off.

Seto stopped chasing Noa to see what foolishness the geeks were up to now. He watched the two dancing. No foolishness…not at all…. Beauty, that's what it is….

Seto shook his head, fast. Where it the Lord's name did that come from? Meanwhile, he heard a "thunk" next to him. He saw Noa on the floor, watching the two; his face growing redder.

"What's up with you?" Seto inquired.

Noa immediately turned up to face his brother, "N-Nothing. Nothing at all. Just a little flushed from the chase, that's all. Let's…continue to watch…here's your keys," Noa said quickly, just wanting to watch Tea dance.

Seto caught the keys and turned his attention back to the girls. They certainly had it in them. What really caught his attention was the way Tea moved…. It was so…graceful; professional; carefree; familiar….

Seto's eyes narrowed. He swore he had seen those moves before. Where, was beyond him. But they did look quite familiar. Especially this part…. Before he knew it, the steps to her next moves where recording in his head, right before she danced them.

Dang, did he remember those moves from somewhere else. Back then, they had been radical. Now…they were beautiful!

"Seto," Mokuba came up to him, tugging on his shirt.

"Yes?" Seto didn't take his focused eyes off the two dancers.

"Umm…" Mokuba snickered, trying to hold back a laugh, "I think you might have a serious case of "sunburn,"" Mokuba fell to the floor laughing. Seto turned to look at his brother, incredulously. Sunburn?

Seto felt a fraction of his face for a second. It felt warm…but it didn't hurt. His eyes narrowed, and then widened. Mokuba laughing…Noa's previous redness…his face heating up…. Lord, was he involuntarily blushing?

Seto quickly put a hand over his eyes, just to make him look tired, instead of trying to look like he was hiding something, and he lowered his head. He wasn't about to let anyone else see him like this. But his brothers weren't helping.

"Has Seto actually acted his age now?" Noa was up beside him laughing.

Mokuba wiped away an imaginary tear, "They grow up so fast."

"Shut up you two, will ya?" Seto replied. He peeked through his fingers and saw that slowly, the others were joining the dancing. Mokuba and Noa finally left him alone, and ran up there.

Tea saw Mokuba and Noa rush up to the patio. She looked back to where they had been, and saw Seto holding his head in his hand, in a tired fashion. She frowned slightly. What was wrong with him?

Mokuba ran over to the railing, "Come on, Seto!"

"No, thank you," Seto replied back, not as loud.

"Oh come on, Kaiba!" Mai said, dancing up to the rail, "It's fun! And believe me, you're the one here who needs it most!"

"Just leave me alone, Valentine!" Seto took his hand away from his face (where hints of red could still be seen) and stomped back over to the beach house, slamming the door loudly. Everyone looked at each other and shrugged, save Mokuba and Noa. They smiled at each other, knowing what was going on in their brother's mind.

So? How'd you like the chapter? Really it was a chapter to show that we're trying to make Seto "grow." You know, stories all have character development. We also wanted to see some conflict in here. Okies? PLEASE REVIEW!