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Rendezvous - Chapter 2
I step out of my car just inside the impressive gates of the Kaiba mansion at 4:55 pm, the guard who opened them insisting that the house valet park my car while another guard walks me up the long driveway to the front door.
"You're late," the stunning brunette scoffs at me after his butler has escorted me into the sitting room.
"S-sorry," I stutter, immediately wishing I could take it back. Gods! Could I sound any more like a dweeb!
A slim eyebrow assess me, narrow sapphire's quietly browsing my frame. I hope the outfit I have on is okay. Yugi said that it made me look 'hot', but I'm not so sure. Self-consciously I cross my arms across my loose t-shirt, wishing I could also somehow cover up the leather pants that perfectly match the black jacket, which the butler hung up when I came in.
What if Mokuba was playing a trick on me, or Yugi, and black and crimson aren't really a favorite color combination of Seto's?
"Well? Are you going to stand there all evening, Mouto?" he taunts with a smirk.
I quickly shuffle over to the couch across from him, flopping down gracelessly. Gods, he must think that I'm so pathetic! I can't talk, I can't walk, I'm obviously not comfortable in this outfit and I can't even sit properly! Maybe I should cut my losses and go home now before I make an even bigger fool of myself.
"I assume you haven't eaten," he asserts, still smirking at me, though he now seems more amused.
"No," I reply, glad for not stuttering this time.
"Then you'll eat dinner with me. It should be ready in about 20 minutes."
"Okay. That sounds good," I manage to smile. Gods, I sound so lame!
"We'll duel until then. You did bring your deck, didn't you?" he raises that same eyebrow at me as a stark panic creeps over my shoulders.
Oh, Kami.
I invited myself over to Seto Kaiba's house to duel and didn't bring my deck. It's official. I am the biggest loser on the planet.
I hang my head in response to his question.
"You came over to duel and forgot your deck," he states with amusement.
"I could go home and get it!" I pipe up.
Great, now I sound like an eight year old.
"That's not necessary," he retorts, obvious laughter in his eyes. "I'm sure I have cards that you can use."
Reaching into the desk where he's seated, he pulls out four deck boxes and tells me to choose one. I randomly grab the dark blue one and he puts the rest pack where he got them from. I pop the deck box open to reveal two complete decks of about 40 cards each. I thought I'd have to create something from scratch; trust Kaiba to have random decks laying around for dueling.
"To be fair," he begins, lifting out one of the decks and starting to shuffle it, "I'll use one of these decks as well."
Deciding that I'd sound less like an idiot if I don't speak, I simply nod in response and begin shuffling my own deck. Kaiba then surprises me further by pulling out a pair of old-fashioned dueling field sheets. Shrugging, I pull the six cards for my hand and place my deck in the proper place on the field.
It feels a little odd to be playing Duel Monsters without the holograms, but I have to admit that it's actually kind of nice. I would have never thought that Kaiba would even want to play without his powerful Duel Disk system.
We're just getting into the thick of things when the butler comes to tell us that dinner is ready.
"Oh, well," I sigh, moving to gather my cards
"Leave them," Seto insists heading out of the study. "We'll play some more after we eat."
Seeing the formal setting for dinner just makes me even more nervous. Which fork do I use first again? And which one is the water glass? I don't want to turn the wrong glass down and then have only wine to drink with my meal. What are we eating anyway? Gods, I hope it's not something ultra fancy! I'm going to be making a big enough fool of myself with the silverware!
"Yami!" Seto's voice cuts into my panic, his hands stopping mine from twisting the bottom of my shirt into something unrecognizable. "Why the hell are you freaking out? It's just dinner!"
"S-sorry," I mutter, looking away.
I can't believe that I'm turning into some neurotic wimp about this! Why would Seto even want to have anything to do with me?
I nearly jump out of my skin at the hand placed in the small of my back to steer me to the table.
"Seriously, Mouto, what's wrong with you?" Seto prods. "You've been acting like a skittish deer since you got here."
As if I'd give him an honest answer!
Wrong? Me? Oh, it's nothing. I've just been hopelessly in love with you since high school, but have been too chicken to do anything about it until now.
Yeah. Like I'd tell him THAT!
"Duh! He has a huge crush on you, big brother! That's why he came over!" Mokuba helpfully explains from the doorway behind us. Nice kid. I'll remind myself to kill him later.
At Seto's surprised stare, I can feel all the blood vessels in my face opening up to a dark blush.
"Excuse me," I mumble, beating a hasty retreat.
Grabbing my jacket from the coat rack by the front door I run to the gate guard and beg for my car. Unfortunately, the valet isn't as fast as I want him to be and Seto catches up to me before I can hop in my car and speed away.
"Why are you leaving?" he frowns as he walks toward me.
"I would think that was obvious," I mumble as my face flames up again.
"Maybe not," he retorts, stepping into my personal space, an enigmatic smile to his lips.
Could he...?
Nah. Not a chance.
The valet then pulls up with my car, but Seto sends him away.
"Come on. Dinner's getting cold," he insists, one of his hands lightly placed in the small of my back as he escorts me.
Back at the dinner table, Mokuba looks appropriately chagrined. I wonder what Seto said to him? Whatever it was, the little black-haired imp is on his best behavior for the remainder of the meal. Afterward, Seto and I return to his study where he proceeds to whip the pants off of me in four Duel Monsters games out of five before I mention how late it is and that I should probably be getting home.
"I had a good time, Yami," he confesses as I climb into my car.
"I did too," I smile. "Maybe we could do this again."
"You sure that you won't try to run away the next time?" he smirks.
"Whatever," I scoff, hating my face for the blush rising up over it.
"Dinner will be at 4:00 pm tomorrow," he asserts. "Bring Yugi so that Mokuba won't have to bother us for entertainment."
"O-okay," I stammer, starting the car and driving away.
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"Well?" Yugi practically pounces as I come in the front door. "How'd it go? It must have gone pretty well 'cause it's after midnight! Tell me everything!"
I laugh and kick off my shoes.
"Let me get ready for bed and we'll talk in my room," I smile at my adorable little brother.
"Promise?" he wheedles.
"Promise!" I grin back.
After a quick, relaxing shower, I get into my pajamas and join my brother under the covers of my large bed. Over the years, we've spent many, many hours snuggled up talking to each other until the early morning.
"Okay, start at the beginning," he prods eagerly.
I start with arriving barely on time and expound into leaving my deck, following up with my freak out at dinner.
"Oh, Yami," he sighs, sadly. "This isn't sounding good at all."
"Oh, it gets better," I chuckle, before relating my running out after Mokuba let the cat out of the bag about how I feel about his older brother.
"I'm sorry, Yami," he looks away apologetically. "I shouldn't have pushed you into this."
I wrap my arms around him soothingly, knowing that he's honestly upset that I could have gotten hurt by anything he did. Then I proceed to tell him about the rest of the evening; how Seto came and got me before I could leave, how dinner turned out to be delicious and the company fun, how Seto and I played Duel Monsters for hours with two random decks that he'd put together. By the time I get to the part about my mentioning the time and needing to leave, Yugi is smiling happily.
"See! See! I told you so! I told you!" he bounces on his knees, looking more like my 5 year-old little brother from ages gone by, rather than his actual persona as a new high schooler.
"There's more," I whisper, grinning.
"What? What?!" he demands with another series of bounces.
"He invited me to dinner tomorrow," I reveal.
"Really? Wow!" he laughs, tackling me in a bear hug of happiness.
"And he wants me to bring you too," I continue under his smothering embrace. "He says it's to keep Mokuba entertained so that we don't have to."
"He wants you all to himself," Yugi leers.
"M-maybe it's not like that," I counter.
"Uh huh. Seto and Yami sittin' in a tree..." he sings.
I tackle him with tickles before he can finish the verse.