Wow! It's been over two weeks, and I am so sorry! Please forgive me for the length of time that it's taken to get Chapter Eight up – things have been so busy at school that I'm having trouble keeping my head on backwards! Or is it straight… ah whatever!
On a happier note…
YOU GUYS ROCK! Thank you so much for all of your amazing reviews and input! Dances around holding a '100+ reviews' Kaiba plushie. I really never expected to get this far, and I'm so glad that you all have liked the story so far. It really gives me the will to keep going!
Nii-san: I hope you like this chapter! There's lovely Isis bashing and only a limited reference to Ryou (snickers.)
(Sigh, I love Ryou…)
RR
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Donald Trump, and I don't have magical powers. So there.
Like The Rain by Revolutionnaire Rouge
Chapter Eight- Dinner Present… and Past
He opened the stove, and a blast of hot air issued forth from it and swept his bangs out of his eyes. The cheese on top of the lasagna bubbled nicely, and he could see that in some areas it was starting to turn a golden brown color. He grabbed an oven mitt from a nearby drawer and slid his covered hand under the hot pan. Carefully, he took the pan out of the oven and carried it over to the island in the middle of the kitchen.
"Et…" he set it down on the island's surface," Parfait!"
Smiling slightly at his perfect creation, he turned back and opened the stove again, this time, bringing out a long baguette that had been baking, happily stuffed with parmesan cheese and garlic. He took a knife and cut the baguette into smaller pieces, listening as Mokuba talked to someone in the dining room. Seto couldn't make out what they were saying, but the voice that replied was quiet and female – he guessed that it was one of the new maids he had just hired. The newer maids still hadn't quite got the schedule down; they must have forgotten that on Monday nights, Seto took the day off early and made dinner for himself and Mokuba. He always made extra too, so that the cook wouldn't have to worry about making lunch for himself and Mokuba the next day. It was a system that worked for everyone – despite Seto's famous temper, and the rumors that he fired more people in a day than Donald Trump, he had had the same cook for the last five years.
Kaiba took off the apron that had been tied loosely around his waist, and slid the oven mitts on again. In one hand, he balanced the plate with the pieces of garlic bread, and in the other, the pan filled with still bubbling lasagna. He pushed through the swinging door that led from the kitchen to the dining room.
"Dinner is served!" he announced, looking around for Mokuba.
Seto stopped dead in his tracks. The voice that he had heard talking with Mokuba hadn't been a maid. No, not at all.
"Nii-san," Mokuba said happily, pretending to be ignorant of his brother's shocked face," We're going to need another plate."
He locked eyes with Anzu Mazaki, who was standing next to Mokuba, eyes wide, giving her the appearance of a deer caught by the headlights of a vehicle. Unfortunately for her, that vehicle was no PT Cruiser. Mokuba glanced at the two, and then left Anzu's side.
"Um, never mind, I'll go get it."
Mokuba bumped into Seto as he tried to squeeze past his brother and escape to the kitchen. Caught unawares, Seto was pitched off balance, and, with slow horror, he saw the pan of hot lasagna slide from his hands and fall. He saw Anzu lurch forward on instinct, her hands outstretched to catch it. She caught the pan at the bottom, and almost let it go as the heat seared her hands. However, Seto was back on track, he quickly took the pan from her and set it on the table, along with the bread.
"Saved," she sighed to herself. Anzu turned her hands palms up to look at them. Seto could see that they had turned an ugly red, but from her reaction, he guessed that they weren't bad – maybe not even burnt. However, as she looked up at him, he could see in her eyes that someone could have stuck her hand in a meat grinder and she probably wouldn't have reacted – she was too preoccupied by fear.
Fear of me? he asked himself, smirking.
"What are you doing here Mazaki?" he asked, his voice monotone. Anzu Mazaki was the last person that he had wanted to see in his house at any time, especially dinner, but here she was. It was like he couldn't escape from her, and he was getting tired of it.
"I invited her over," Mokuba said as he brushed out of the kitchen and past Kaiba, carrying another plate and set of silver ware.
"Go put those back in the cupboard Mokuba, she won't be staying."
Mokuba ignored him and set the plate down at the chair opposite of Mokuba's – the one on the left side of Kaiba's own chair. He arranged the silver ware and then turned to his older brother.
"I invited her over," he said again, this time in a more stubborn tone. Kaiba sighed inwardly; Mokuba had taken that tone with him a few nights ago, and at that time, they had been fighting about Anzu Mazaki. What was it about that girl that made Mokuba so rebellious against him?
"Well," Kaiba said coldly," I'm uninviting her. You didn't even ask me before you invited her!"
Mokuba put his hands on his hips, and stared up at his brother defiantly.
"You can't do that Nii-san. She's my guest, and she's staying. You don't have to talk to her if you don't want to – I'm the one that asked her to come over. I just thought that maybe we should be a little gracious to the girl who saved my life!"
Kaiba blinked, taken aback. He was about to spit out a retort, but Anzu beat him to it.
"Look, I'm going to go," she said, her tone of voice unreadable," I don't want to cause any more trouble than I apparently already have, and personally, I don't like getting talked about as if I weren't here. Thank you for inviting me over Mokuba, but I can't stay."
Anzu ran a hand through her hair, turned away from the two brothers, and started walking towards the exit of the dining room. Mokuba glared at his brother and ran to catch up with her. He reached out and tugged on her arm – Seto couldn't bark out a warning fast enough – a little harder than he intended. Anzu let out a cry that startled only Mokuba, and she ripped her arm out of his grasp. Seto saw her lip tremble slightly, but she bit it, and held back another cry.
"OhmygoshAnzuwhathappeneddidI-" Mokuba asked in one breath, confused. Anzu turned back around and walked out of the room without another word. Seto guessed that if she had tried to open her mouth, she would have started crying, and he knew that Anzu would never want to lower herself that much in front of him again.
Seto sighed, and slid off his oven mitts.
"Mokuba, stay here," he commanded. Mokuba started to say something, but Seto cut him off with a glance.
"At least be nice to her," Seto heard Mokuba mutter as he walked out of the dining room.
He caught Anzu right before she reached the grand staircase. She hadn't heard him approach her; she let out a startled cry as he grabbed her by the uninjured arm. Anzu spun around, yanked her arm back, and glared at him.
"I was just going," she snapped," I thought that was what you wanted."
"It-" he paused for a moment. Was it? That had to be why he had ordered her out in the first place, but-," Let me see your arm."
Anzu cradled her injured arm against her chest, and glared at him again," Don't touch me."
Before she could react, he grabbed her arm, and slid up the long sleeve of her shirt.
"Do you know how many people have done that in the past 48 hours?" she grumbled. Seto ignored her, instead staring at her bandage.
"Who rewrapped your cut?" he asked harshly," A cat?"
Indeed, the bandage was a mess. Her arm was wrapped loosely with what looked like a long paper towel that had been secured with band-aids. Blood was oozing out from the cut and spreading along the make shift bandage.
"I did it myself," she said, scowling at him," with one hand. And we didn't have any big bandages."
"Jeez Anzu, you could have at least had Mai help you wrap it properly!"
She was silent at that comment, and when he looked into her eyes, he knew the truth.
"Who else haven't you told?"
Anzu looked away," Mai's the only one…"
"Who else haven't you told the truth?" he demanded.
Anzu was silent.
"That's what I thought. Come on. When Mokuba grabbed your arm, the cut must have reopened."
He grabbed her good arm again, and led her to the bathroom. He got the first aid kit, and then took her back to the dining room.
"I want Mokuba to see that I didn't kill you," he mumbled. He thought that he heard Anzu giggled, but he didn't turn back to look at her. As they reentered the dining room, Mokuba bombarded him with questions, but Seto silenced him with a glance. Mokuba silently followed the two into the kitchen.
Seto was relieved as Anzu climbed up onto the island herself – he hadn't been looking forward to arguing with her in front of Mokuba. However, he was surprised as she, without a word, undid her old bandage, and held her arm out slightly.
Mokuba watched with large eyes as Seto carefully cleaned Anzu's cut and rewrapped it tightly. Anzu didn't complain once during the entire time – Seto wondered if maybe she was as tired of fighting as he was.
"Did you watch how I did it?" Seto asked her as he packed away all of the supplies. Anzu nodded, and looked startled as Seto clicked the first aid kit closed and handed it to her.
"No, it's fine," she said," I can get one!"
"Don't argue Mazaki – just take it. We have plenty around the house, and you apparently have none. Next time, however, have someone help you with it. You'll need to clean and rewrap that cut at least twice a day to prevent infection – if you can't do it yourself, have your lover help you with it."
"We're not lovers!" she screamed, causing Seto to smirk. That was one joke that would never get old. Anzu looked away from a smirking Seto and a confused Mokuba, red faced. Seto held out his hand to help her down, but she snubbed him.
"I can get down myself," she muttered. Anzu slid off of the island, but bumped her back in the process. She doubled over and lost balance, and Seto caught her once again. Still in his arms, Anzu glared up at him fiercely. He shrugged, and sent her a smirk that he could tell made her furious.
"Déjà vu," he said cheekily, and Anzu pushed herself away from him and straightened. Mokuba observed with curious and confused eyes, but he didn't bother asking – he knew that he wouldn't get an answer.
"Don't tell me that I have to rewrap the cut on your back too," Seto said, reaching out slightly. Anzu slapped his hand away, and scowled.
"Don't touch me again," she snapped.
"Fine, whatever," Seto replied, wondering how in the world it had come to this," Just make sure you get some one to help you. Like I said before, your lov-"
"Just shut up!" Anzu screamed. Both Mokuba and Seto stared at her, eyes large. She was breathing heavily - part of Seto's mind flashed to the museum night - and scowling fiercely, fists clenched. However, despite her venomous words and angry gestures, Seto saw the truth in her crystal blue eyes. He felt surrounded by them, and could see how close she was to breaking down.
"I'm leaving," she said simply. Anzu set the first-aid kit on the island and walked out of the kitchen, once again making her way to the exit. Mokuba turned on his brother.
"Seto, what were you thinking?" Mokuba asked in a tone that chilled Seto.
"Anzu hasn't done anything to you but defend herself!" he continued," All you do is cut her down, make her feel like she's worthless; tease her and agitate her and antagonize her. What has Anzu Mazaki ever done to you? I've seen her – in the beginning, she tried to be nice! She took all of your crap and still offered her friendship and kindness. And what did YOU do, big brother? You insulted her, her friends, and everything she believes in. So Anzu fought back, and now all you two do is bicker-"
"I-"
Mokuba sharply cut him off," Don't even try to tell me that she started it, Seto. I know you well, maybe even better than you do yourself. You started it, and you continued it. It's you that continues to pester Anzu. You're the reason that screams and yells and cries. And for everything that you've done to her, Anzu still came and saved me. She is still friendly, still treats me like a real person. Anzu's the only reason that you're not frantically trying to search the world to find me. If she was anything like you, Seto, she would hate me just because I'm related to you, but no – she still saved me. So Seto, answer me. What were you thinking?"
Seto took a deep breath. She's probably already gone… he thought. He found it hard to stare into his younger brother's eyes, eyes that were so full of conviction and questions.
"As of the moment Mokuba," he answered, voice hard," I'm thinking that the lasagna has gotten cold."
Mokuba's jaw dropped, and he stared at Seto in disbelief. Seto sighed internally. There was only one thing he could do to appease his brother…
"I'll go get her."
Seto turned before he could see the expression on Mokuba's face, and exited the kitchen. He quickly made his way through the winding halls and down a set of stairs, to the entrance hall.
"Mr. Kaiba! Mr. Kaiba, Sir!"
A young maid, the one he had stationed to replace Helena, briskly approached him. The maid had a slightly worried expression on her face.
"What is it?" he snapped, not wanting to deal with whatever trivialities were bothering his employee. Despite his brusque reply, the maid did not flinch or draw away – a restrain that Seto took note of.
"Sir, only a few minutes ago, Miss Mazaki, Mr. Mokuba's guest I'm sure you know, passed by me while I was on my way down. She looked lost, so I asked her if she needed any assistance, and while she said no, I believe that she had gotten herself completely turned around. Miss Mazaki insisted that she knew where she was going, Sir, but when she passed, she was headed towards…" the maid paused for a moment, as if choosing her next words carefully," She was headed towards his room."
Kaiba's face twisted into pure fury… Why would she?... How DARE she!
"I'm sure she didn't intend to Sir," the maid said quickly, reading the volatile expression on his face. Kaiba growled a response, his mounting anger too great for him to be polite. The maid nodded, waited a moment, and then padded away, understanding her dismissal. As soon as she had exited the entrance hall, Kaiba let out a string of long curses. I have to stop her-
He vaulted up the stairs, cursing Anzu in every way possible. Kaiba stormed down the halls, the occasional maid quickly scurrying out of his way. Anyone who had worked at the Kaiba Mansion long enough knew that Seto rarely ever got angry – but when he did, to stay out of his way as respectfully as possible. And now, Kaiba was more than angry – he was livid.
"That woman," he muttered between clenched teeth," barges into my home, turns my own brother against me, and now…and now…"
Balling his hands into tight fists, Kaiba continued down the halls, and as he did so, the number of maids he crossed became less frequent, and eventually just stopped. The hall got darker – not for the lack of adequate lighting, but because of the layers of untouched dirt and grime that coated the walls and decorations around him. The dust didn't bother him though, because Seto was too busy just trying to push away the dark feelings and memories that poisoned this hall. The entire hall dwelled upon him, waiting for the perfect moment when his back was turned to collapse down upon him and smother him in the black emotions of hate.
Seto stopped. He listened carefully, and then sped up as he heard light footsteps. Seto neared a turn in the hall, and the footsteps got slightly louder. Seto turned the corner.
Here he was in the darkest section of the hall – it stretched on for about a hundred yards and then stopped. The hall was dark, almost black, covered with years of hate and regret. Seto was about to turn and go back, even if it meant leaving Anzu to wander the mansion for eternity. He heard the high pitched squeal of a door that hadn't been opened in a number of years, and looked to the end of the hall just in time to see an arm clad in a long sleeve disappear into a room.
"Of course…" he muttered angrily," She had to choose that room…"
Quickly, Seto made his way to the door that Anzu had just passed through. She had left the door slightly ajar so that a thin strip of light could pierce the shadows of the room. Seto pushed the door open a little more, and slid inside. He took a deep breath.
It only took a few moments for his eyes to get adjusted. The little bit of luminosity that filtered from the hallway did almost nothing to brighten the room, but it didn't matter – he knew every feature of the room, every crevice, nook, and cranny. From where Seto stood, he could see Anzu's back – lighter shade of black in the almost pitch dark room. She was moving slowly around the room. Seto could hear her occasionally brush or bump up against the furniture in the room. Then, the sound stopped. In the dim lighting, Seto could see that Anzu's head was cocked to the right, as if staring at something in confusion.
Seto felt around the area near the door.
Anzu let out a small shriek, and threw a hand up to the level of her eyes to block out the light that had exploded into the room. She spun around, shading her eyes, and stared at Seto, who still stood next to the door. Slowly, she lowered the hand from her above her eyes and moved it to her chest, trying to calm her rapid breath.
"Sheesh…" she said scowling," Don't do that. I think you took about ten years off my life."
Seto ignored her comment – he was too busy trying to get his rage under control.
"What are you doing here?" he asked his voice like a dagger. Seto saw that Anzu's face paled slightly at his words.
"I-"
Seto glared at the girl, trying to eliminate any feelings of sympathy as she stared up at him.
"You realize that you're even farther from the exit now than you had been when you left the dining room, don't you? I can't believe you Mazaki! What were you thinking," his voice gave way to mounting anger," Just traipsing around my house and going wherever you please! You have no right to be here!"
Anzu looked as if she wanted to disappear. She turned her eyes to his, and when then locked, he could see her mixed confusion and resentment. Under his fierce gaze, her eyes lost their intensity, until she seemed almost dazed.
"I… got lost," she finally said, shamefacedly. Seto let out a cruel bark of laughter, and the girl turned from pale faced to red.
"Serves you right," he sneered," I told you that you would get lost. I should have just left you to wander and rot."
Anzu's jaw dropped – she looked genuinely shocked and hurt," Wh-" she stopped, and just stared at him, stunned," I-"
Seto wondered if maybe he had crossed the line. If maybe he had gone too far. The look on her face…
"You shouldn't be here," Seto said coldly, glaring past her to the humongous portrait that hung on the opposite wall. Anzu followed his gaze, and Seto realized that it was the picture that she had been staring as when he had first entered. Seto took a few steps forward, until he was even with Anzu. He was so absorbed in the picture that he didn't even notice as Anzu took a few steps away, throwing him a wary glance. There was a moment of silence as they stared at the portrait – Anzu emanated cold confusion, Kaiba, smoldering fury.
"Who is he?" Anzu asked, her voice a shaky whisper.
Seto continued to stare at the picture, weighing his options. The commanding eyes of the person in the portrait froze his insides. Cold, accusing eyes that Seto had been avoiding for years.
Why should he tell her?
What were the risks of resurrecting the old demons of the past? Why bring that up again, when he had been fighting it for years?
Should he tell her, so as to make up for the cruelty of his previous statements?
She has no right to know. How dare she ask! How dare Anzu bring this n-
"Kaiba?"
Anzu's worried inquiry broke him away from his momentary lapse. Something in her blue gaze made him wonder – how could someone that he had treated so horribly still manage to sound concerned for him?
"His name was Gozaburo Kaiba."
Every part of his mind was screaming at him," WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
Anzu nodded slowly and turned back to the dominating picture. The man depicted stared back, his glare not so different from that of Seto.
"He looks nothing like you," Anzu whispered.
Seto scowled, but was at least relieved that she didn't say they looked alike – many had done that in the past and suffered greatly for it.
"He wouldn't," Seto replied," He was my stepfather."
"Oh," Anzu simply replied," So your parents are divorced?"
He should have been furious with her. He really should have. It had seemed as though the entire world knew his past, but here Anzu was, questioning, bringing everything back. He remembered back to when Anzu had tried to compare her parents to Gozaburo – she had said "your father" then, but he hadn't corrected it. He had assumed that she knew. Instead of feeling furious, he felt something inside smother the angry flame that had reared up previously.
She had ignited previously quenched fires, and just as quickly, bedded them back down again.
For the first time in a long time, Seto felt his mind empty out.
"No Anzu," he said flatly," My parents are dead."
The little voice that had been screaming in the back of his head had given up. Anzu blinked, and her clear blue eyes met his own clouded orbs. He could read the sympathy in her eyes. Seto stood there, beneath the judging gaze of his previous repressor, and, without thinking, spilled everything.
"I was born as Seto Natachi, my parents were Ashiya and Makoto. My father was a college professor, and my mother designed computer programs. When I was five years old, Mokuba was born – my mother died in childbirth. My father tried his best to raise the two of us without her, but it was hard. He would always work long hours to provide for all three of us, and many times, when he couldn't find anyone to watch us, he would bring us to his classes with him."
Seto paused for a moment. Anzu was just standing there, staring up at him, eyes and ears absorbing everything. He didn't stop long enough to ponder what he was doing.
"Three years after my mother died, my father died in a car accident. He had been spending too much time at the college working and had worn himself out. He fell asleep at the wheel, and crashed into a vehicle going to opposite direction."
Anzu's eyes widened.
"Mokuba and I were parentless. For a year, we were passed around from family member to family member – treated like an extra nuisance while everyone tried to figure out what to do with the inheritance that my parents left behind. Although their will entitled the money to me and Mokuba, they were somehow able to discover a loophole, and the family greedily took all of my parents' well earned livings, leaving myself and Mokuba broke. The "family" eventually decided that we were too cumbersome of a task, so they took Mokuba and I to an orphanage a few towns over, saying that they couldn't afford to take care of us. They just wanted us out of the way. Mokuba was too young to remember any of that.
So, we were sent to the orphanage, where Mokuba and I spent the next year and a half of our lives miserable. I wanted nothing more than to get Mokuba and I out of that miserable Hell-hole they called an orphanage. I wanted the best there was for Mokuba, and I would do anything to get it.
That opportunity came with Gozaburo Kaiba. I was ten, Mokuba was seven. I had heard from one of the older children that Gozaburo Kaiba was coming to donate money to the orphanage. I knew from the news that he was a rich, rich man, and that immediately piqued my interest. I also knew that he was a chess advocate – something that I happened to be particularly good at. I studied and practiced my chess skills until the day that he arrived at the orphanage. I challenged him to a game of chess, making the bet that, if I beat him, he would adopt Mokuba and I.
That day, I became Seto Kaiba."
"Kaiba, I-" Anzu started, but she was almost speechless. Seto ignored her – he wasn't finished.
"Gozaburo adopted me, but reluctantly. He trained me, tested me, and challenged me to be better than the best. I was going to be the heir to Kaiba Corporation, and it was my job to be perfect."
Without realizing it, Seto sighed, and ran a hand through his hair.
"And now we come to the more widely known information. Gozaburo pushed me, almost tortured me to be a ruthless business person. There was no consideration for what I might have ever wanted – I had on path set before me, and there was no way to escape it, no way to turn around," he said bitterly.
"The one thing that he underestimated in me was how much that he had taught me about the business world. It took me five years. It took me five years, but I pulled the company right out from underneath his feet. I gained possession of 51 percentof the company – just enough to have major control. Gozaburo was… so shocked and betrayed… that he had a heart attack."
Seto took a deep breath.
"Kaiba, I- I'm so sorry," Anzu breathed," I just don't know what to say… Thank you for telling me, I feel honored."
Thank you for telling me… Thank you for telling me…
"Damn!" he shouted, and he turned furious eyes to Anzu. The girl, startled, shrunk back from the wild fire glare.
He had revealed everything to her. His past. She knew his past – she knew more than almost anyone else. And he hated her! He had mindlessly started rambling about his past, just as she had rambled on about her crush on Yami and hatred of Isis. How-
"Kaiba…" Anzu said, in almost a whisper," I know I said this before, but, I can kind of relate to your past."
Kaiba's eyes locked on hers.
"We-well," she stammered," It's just that, for a lot of your life, you haven't had parents… you've had to live in hard situations and overcome…"
"You," he said pointedly," know nothing. There is nothing similar in the lives that we've lived." He was infuriated with both her and himself that he had said so much.
"In fact," he added," They're completely different! You-you have parents! You've lived your entire life in a comfortable home, with someone to take care of you and tell you everything is alright! You've never had to sleep in a cot with you younger brother in a cramped room that holds fourteen other boys! You've never had to endure the beatings and berating of a crazy man who was blinded by greed and hatred! You haven't had to rise from the lowest of lows to get to where you are now – you've always been there, and have never had to work for it! Don't you dare try to compare!"
Seto watched Anzu's reaction. Instead of shrinking away and look afraid, she scowled – her first act of rebellion in a while. He had seen her angry before, and knew that she was angry now. Seto couldn't imagine why – HE was the one whose life had been intruded upon. She should feel guilty! But no, she just stared defiantly, and replied to his accusations.
"You're right Kaiba," she said, her voice shaking with fury," There are quite a few differences in between our families. Your parents tried their hardest to take care of you. Your father went on for three years after the loss of your mother! At least your parents LOVED you before they died!" she was screaming now, the sudden swing of mood having taken Seto by surprise," My parents try to deny my existence! They've never been present in my life, they've never been important! They never loved me, or even liked me. I was just a silly little girl who would become a business person, just like them. I'm someone who's easy to neglect! They never cared about what I might have wanted, only about what they wanted for me." Anzu clenched her fists, and Seto was sure that she was going to punch him this time.
"At least you had LOVE!" she yelled. Her voice echoed through the large room. Anzu looked all around, and finally focused on the domineering picture of Gozaburo Kaiba," At least you had a home with things. At least you had you brother. You didn't have to live alone, wondering if you were worthy of your parent's love! Your parents LOVED YOU!" Anzu screamed. She stopped, and glared at him. Seto hadn't been expecting an out burst, but there were many things happening recently that he hadn't been expecting.
For Anzu Mazaki to scream to wildly at him, with tears in her eyes, wasn't one of them.
However, it didn't surprise him that she stormed out.
This time, Anzu found the right way out. It wasn't that hard once she thought about it – she was able to make it to the entrance even when almost blinded with tears. She found that all of the halls and stairs ended up leading to the same place, out. It said a lot about Kaiba's guest policy.
She really hadn't been trying to make him angry. In fact, that was the last thing she had wanted.
"Stupid, stupid Anzu!" she hissed to herself, resisting the urge to bang her head on the wall," You should have known better than to try and compare yourself to Kaiba! Even if there are similarities, he would never see them!"
At the same time, she felt more than a little hurt – when Kaiba had been telling her that she didn't know about how his life had been, when he had went on about having someone to take care of her and tell her everything was alright, she got a bitter taste in her mouth. Contrary to what Kaiba had said, Anzu hadn't lived that life. She had tried to explain – she was unwanted by her parents, but when they did manage a stray thought in her direction, it was about how much they hated her own dreams, and how much they wanted hr to conform to their own goals. For years, Anzu hadn't had anyone. The closest thing that she had ever had to a family was her friends.
And now.
And now, they were being torn apart. They might not know, but Anzu could tell. She could see herself, slowing splitting from them, being shunned, the wedge of lies and secrets driving deeper into the bond that she had formed with her friends over the years. For the first time in her life, she had lied to Ryou, her best friend. And what had it been over?
Seto Kaiba.
Seto Kaiba was the reason. He was the problem, and the only solution that Anzu could think of was to cut him out of her life as quickly as he had entered it.
Anzu rushed down the stairs, rushed past a surprised looking maid, and rushed out of the door.
…
Mokuba was worried.
He had seen Anzu charging down the stairs, and had seen her glazed eyes, which only meant one thing. His brother had really screwed up.
Mokuba cursed under his breath – a trait that he had secretly picked up from Seto – and backtracked to the kitchen, the gears in his mind creaking with overexertion. He had been trying to figure things out, but his brother kept messing up. Now, there was no way th-
Mokuba's thoughts were whisked away with the jarring ring of the hall telephone. Mokuba walked over to the side table, picked up the cordless phone and pushed the "On" button.
"Kaiba Residence," he said politely. Very few people had the Kaiba's personal home phone number, so who ever it was, Mokuba assumed must be relatively important.
"Mokuba, I need to speak to Seto."
Mokuba scowled, and mentally sighed. The voice on the other end was the last person he wanted to hear right then.
"Hello to you too, Isis," he said, doing nothing to keep the bitter sarcasm out of his voice.
"Is Seto there?" the Egyptian on the other end asked.
"Yes."
Mokuba had picked up the pen that rest next to the phone base, and was doodling on the message pad. He had drawn a stick figure picture of Isis getting smushed by a giant pyramid. He did his best not to laugh sadistically as he continued to draw more Anti-Isis pictures.
"Well, can I talk to him? I called his cell phone a while ago, but it was off, which is strange for Seto and was wondering…"
Mokuba stopped paying attention as the woman continued to ramble on. He honestly didn't see why his brother bothered dating Isis – not only was she older, but she was annoying, clingy, and always talking about Seto's "Ancient Egyptian Destiny." The only time that she was even vaguely decent to Mokuba was when she wanted him to do something for her, or when she was in front of Seto. Otherwise, she was just rude and stuck up.
"Mokuba?"
Mokuba sneered and fiercely scribbled out his drawings," Yea?"
Isis sighed, her disgust evident.
-Right back at ya' lady-'Mokuba thought, glaring his disgust through the phone line to the woman on the other end.
"I'd like to talk to Seto."
"He's busy Isis."
"Doing what?"
"Work, like he always does."
"Well then let me speak with him!"
"He's busy!" Mokuba exclaimed, not really knowing or caring if Seto was busy or not. In his opinion, the less his brother talked to The Witch, the better.
"But I'm his girlfriend!"
Mokuba scowled," Like I've said twice already, Seto is really busy. He can't come to the phone right now, but I'll tell him you called" When pigs fly, he added silently.
"But-"
Mokuba hung up the phone. He didn't care if she did talk to Seto, and if she told him about how rude Mokuba had been – Seto had always believed Mokuba over anyone else. Mokuba just couldn't stand listening to Isis' voice anymore.
He crumpled up the piece of paper that he had drawn on, and tossed it in the nearest wastebasket, wishing that it had been the real Isis and not some doodles. Oh well, one could dream.
Mokuba pushed open his door, and flopped down on his bed, staring at his surroundings. On the dresser opposite of his bed was a picture of himself and Seto, when Seto was about seven and Mokuba was four. The two of them were sitting on the edge of a big stone fountain – Mokuba was soaking wet, and the bottom of Seto's jeans were drenched. Both of them were smiling happily, Seto looked as though he had been caught in mid laugh. Mokuba hadn't seen Seto laugh so openly in years.
There was no way that Mokuba was letting Isis get to Seto.
Mokuba rolled onto his stomach and grabbed his cell phone off of the nightstand. He flipped up the thin cover of the small blue device and began to scroll down his address book. Seto had made Anzu cry, which meant that Mokuba was going to have to backtrack and start over again. He had lost some serious ground tonight, and it would take a miracle to make it back up. Fortunately, Mokuba was good with that kind of stuff. He pressed the "Send" button, and listened to the ring on the other end.
"Hey Babe," a husky voice said as the person on the other end picked up," You comin' over tonight?"
Mokuba laughed," Hey Becky, Sorry but I can't. Maybe another night?" he joked. Mokuba heard Rebecca laugh on the other end.
"Alright, I can manage," she replied, her voice back to its normal, perky tone," So what's going on?"
Mokuba and Rebecca chatted casually for a while. He couldn't help but think about how much Rebecca had changed since they had first met two years ago at Kaiba Land. Back then, she had been a little annoying brat who clung onto her "Teddy" and believed she was the smartest human being on earth. Now, she acted more mature, maybe even older than her true age, had dumped the stuffed toy, and attracted a boyfriend. Mokuba was still pretty sure that she thought she was a genius, but she was a little more humble about it since she and him had matched wits. Their friendship had started out rocky, involving Rebecca yelling at him for not understanding anything, and Mokuba screaming that she should grow up and act her age. However, over time, both of them had grown up, established a social and mental relationship, and now a personal one. The only thing that stood in their way was Rebecca's heavy college schedule. And the fact that Seto still didn't know that they were more than just good friends.
"I just got off the phone with the Wicked Witch of the Egyptian Waste," Mokuba said with a sigh," She wanted to talk to Seto."
"Oh," Rebecca said – she knew how Mokuba felt about Isis," What did you do?"
Mokuba shrugged, even though he knew his girlfriend couldn't see him," I hung up on her."
Rebecca burst out laughing," Serves her right! So how's Operation: Lonely Hearts, going?"
"Worse than it had been before. I invited Anzu over to dinner, just like we had planned, but something happened between them, and Anzu ended up storming out, crying. I just don't know what the problem is with Seto!'
"Hmm…" Rebecca, who was the co-conspirator of the operation, mulled over what Mokuba had said," I just don't know what to do…Plan B and C won't work because I'm guessing that, if Seto made Anzu cry, she probably hates his guts now."
"Yea, that's what I was thinking. I haven't seen my brother in a while, but I seriously doubt that he's going to be walking her home from ballet for a while…"
The two teens sat in silence, both thinking about what to do next.
"We just… need to think of someway to get them around each other again…"
Mokuba blinked, processing her words, and suddenly, his gears started grinding together a little faster. They were starting to gain speed as a thought came to his head…
"Rebecca?" he asked.
"Yes Mokuba?"
"You still dance, right?"
Oh la la! A cliffie!
Anyway, a few notes…
You are just going to have to assume that Anzu never knew about Seto's past before, and maybe even pretend that the whole Noah thing didn't happen. Yes, Battle City occurred. No, it's most likely the Noah Arch didn't. Also, while I know Kaiba and Mokuba's ages, I've tweaked things slightly so that it will fit in to the story!
I pretty much made up everything about Kaiba's parents.
Mokuba hates Isis, and for her, the feeling is pretty much mutual.
Poor Anzu.
Sorry, I just had to include some stray thoughts. Anyway! I again apologize for such the delay in the update, school had been a time killer. I don't really have that much spare time, and only manage to get about five hours of sleep per night, not including the 45 minutes or so of sleep that I can sometimes get on the bus. I'm taking two AP classes, and a second foreign language (Deutsche!). My capacity for forming full sentences is occasionally limited Also, I'd been having a bit of a creativity fart, which hopefully the finishing of this chapter eliminated.
Ah, now I remember what I was going to say. Many of you had commented on how unusually long the rainy season has been. I wanted to point out to those who didn't realize (Nii-san…) that in all actuality, this story has been occurring over a short period of time. I did the math, and, it's only been about six days. Don't panic on me, I swear it's true. There was a bit of a discrepancy in the fact that, somehow, I completely lost Sunday, so we're just going to have to assume that Anzu slept a reallllyyyyy long time. This is how it breaks down.
Chapter 1: Wednesday (Day 1)
Chapter 2: Thursday (Day 2)
Chapter 3: Friday Morning/Afternoon (Day 3)
Chapter 4: Friday Night (Day 3)
Chapter 5: Saturday Morning/Afternoon (Day 4)
Chapter 6: Saturday Afternoon/Early Evening (Day 4)
Chapter 7: Saturday Evening, Sunday (Honestly, I forgot to put Sunday in there, so just pretend), Monday Morning/Afternoon (Days 4,5, and 6)
Chapter 8: Monday Evening (Day 6)
See? It really hasn't been that long. Where I live, when summer comes around, it can rain at least once everyday for weeks. Which is nice, because that means I have more opportunities for inspiration. It's thundering now as I type.
WAH!
Thank you so much for all of the WONDERFUL reviews! I've heard that there is a new policy on replying to reviews, so until I find out more, I'm going to forgo the review replies. However, that does not mean that I've forgotten all of you awesome readers and reviewers! You guys have helped keep this story alive!
100+ Rocks!
I'm honestly not going to give a set date for the next update. Please bear with me everyone, things should get better as I get back into the swing of things. I hope.
Please review, and stay tuned for the next action packed romancified chapter of Like The Rain!
Luffles,
RR