"Where's my guitar strap?"
"Who cares about your guitar strap? Where's my pick!"
Mr. Ishida watched as Kyira and Matt ran all over their apartment searching for the things they needed. Shaking his head, he stopped them. "Did you guys bother to check the van?"
Both Matt & Kyira stopped, looked at each other then slapped themselves on their foreheads. "Right."
Mr. Ishida laughed, "Come on we promised we'd pick up Takeshi and the others." Heading for door, they walked.
Mokuba looked at the time, "I better get going." Getting up he walked out of his room and headed for the front door. Walking out he stopped to see Kaiba standing outside as his car pulled up into the driveway. "Big brother."
Mokuba walked over to him. "I thought you said you'd be at work today. What are you doing still here?"
"Plans changed, now hurry and let's get this over with." He said getting into the car. Mokuba nodded and followed after him, glad that he was going after all.
Hiro looked out at the crowd. "It's packed, " he said in awe.
"Hiro, get back here." Kyira said pulling him back.
Hiro looked annoyed. "What! Can't I take a peek?" Takeshi was pacing back and forth.
"Cut that out Takeshi. You're making me more nervous than I already am." Satoshi said.
Matt walked in. "You guys all look as if you've seen a ghost."
Kyira shot him a look about to snap at him but decided not to. "Whatever," She muttered, "I'm going to grab my gear." Walking past them, she went to the other room that had all their equipment. "Oh my gosh!"
"What's wrong Kyira? Did you see another spi…what the!" Matt stopped in his tracks.
Hiro, Takeshi & Satoshi followed behind him. "What's wrong?" They asked in unison only to stare in shock. All their instruments had been tampered with. The drums were pulled apart and holes had been punched in them, all the guitars had the strings snapped off, and the bass was smashed on the key board.
"This…this is horrible! Who would do such a thing?" Kyira cried out running to her guitar.
Matt clenched his fist. "Cowards!" He spat out grinding his teeth. Laughter could be heard down the hall. The group turned to see their rivals walking down the hall laughing at some private joke. They looked over at them and faked concern.
"Oh my, what happened to your instruments?" One of the members asked.
Takeshi jumped forward. "What does it look like?"
Matt pulled him back. "Do you guys have any idea who could have down this?" He asked them calmly. All of them shook their heads.
"It's such a shame. How will you perform now?" The leader asked sounding more triumphant than concerned.
Matt gritted his teeth, trying to hold back his anger. "We'll manage…somehow. I wouldn't concern yourself if I was you." The band's leader narrowed his eyes, "I see. Good luck then after all you're performing in 30 minutes." Grinning broadly, he walked out, his fellow band mates following behind. Kyira fell to the ground. "What are we supposed to do now?" She was in tears. Hiro was examining his drum set looking upset. Takeshi had picked up his bass or at least its many pieces realizing it was useless. Satoshi just looked at his keyboard in shock. "They're so low. Those cowards, I know they did this." Takeshi said through his teeth.
Matt sighed, "It doesn't matter, the damage's been done. Now we need to decide what to do and we have to hurry. We can't go out with these instruments obviously." Kyira got up biting her lower lip trying to hold back her tears. "There's no use, we can't do anything. Even if we do manage to get new instruments, we wouldn't get them here in time. We have no choice but to forfeit." "Are you crazy? We can't do that!" Takeshi cried out.
Kyira turned to him her eyes gleaming with her tears, "What else are we supposed to do! We have no instruments and no time! We can't fool anyone! We're screwed!" With that, she ran out crying heading for the building's exit.
Kaiba's car had just arrived at the arena. It was packed with people, but luckily for him he could go anywhere easily with no problem. Getting out, he and Mokuba headed for the entrance when someone ran out ramming right past Kaiba. Mokuba jumped out of the way and was about to call out to the person when he stopped. "Kyira?" He asked rather surprised. Kaiba turned around to see Kyira running down the street and turning to the side of the arena.
Mokuba looked up at his brother about to say something when Kaiba took a step forward. "Let's go Mokuba." He said going inside the arena. Mokuba looked back to where Kyira was and then followed behind his brother. He wondered where it was Kyira was going in such a hurry. Dwelling over it he spotted Matt walking all over, the lobby as if he was searching for someone worry etched in his face.
"Hey there Matt!" Mokuba called out to him as Kaiba glanced back for a second. Matt spotted Mokuba and quickly walked over to him, still looking around every few seconds.
"Hey there Mokuba. Glad you could come." He said trying to sound calm. Mokuba looked at him sort of funny like.
"Is everything ok? You seem sort of worried." Mokuba asked.
Matt stopped looking around, "Huh? Uh…no everything's alright. I just lost Kyira for a sec that's all. We're short on time and all…"He continued starting to mumble more to himself than talking to Mokuba. Kaiba watched them both from the corner of his eye. "Kyira? We just saw her run out of the building a few minutes ago." Mokuba said. Matt looked panic stricken for a second before forcing himself to calm down again.
"I see, I see. She must really be upset." He muttered to himself running his fingers through his hair as he fidgeted a bit.
Mokuba still slightly confused figured something had to be up. "You sure everything is alright?"
Matt smiled, "No, no everything is alright. Well I better go, you guys should go find your seats and all." He finished as Hiro and Takeshi came out also looking worried and stressed as they looked around the lobby for Kyira. Satoshi was in the back trying to see if they could find replacement instruments in time.
Mokuba nodded looking over to where his brother was only to find him gone. "Yeah good idea, I guess Seto already went ahead. See you later." Mokuba waved heading into the large room where the contest was going to be held. Matt frowned running outside hoping to find Kyira.
Kyira fell to the ground, her tears blinding her. She wasn't sure where she was and she didn't care at the moment. She was upset and frustrated. Everything they did and worked for was now in ruin. They've been preparing what seemed all their lives for this and now it was all going down the drain in the blink of an eye before they were truly able to prove themselves. "This sucks!" She cried out before breaking down into further sobs.
Kaiba turned the corner when he thought he heard someone cry out. Looking to his left, he spotted someone on the ground in a small alleyway. Turning in he smirked slightly. "So it would seem." He said as he approached Kyira.
Kyira's head shot up as he heard Kaiba's voice. Shocked she quickly wiped the tears from her face and stood up dusting herself off. "Seto…what…what are you doing here?" She said still trying to compose herself. "Looking for you." was all he said as he stared at her. Kyira looked away not able to look into his deep, dark eyes.
"Oh," she said quietly. Kaiba took a step forward, reaching out towards her face, gently lifting it up so she'd look up at him. As he did so, Kyira's lip trembled slightly, tears forming in her eyes. I'm not going to cry in front of him. I won't! I won't! She thought to herself, trying her hardest to hold back her tears. Kaiba just looked at her a sort of softness showing in his eyes. "Are you planning on telling me what's wrong?" He said with a hint of care in his voice.
Kyira bit her lip. "We…we're not going to perform today." She started her voice threatening to disappear. "We…we…we…" She couldn't hold it in anymore and dropped to the ground crying. Kaiba was taken back by this unsure of what to do, crouched down and held her in his arms.
Matt ran back into the lobby, only to find three worried looking guys staring at him. "No sign of her yet?" He asked. All three of them shook their heads. Matt sighed started to pace.
"This is just great. We get our chance and it's all going to…"
"Just shut it Takeshi, you're not making things any better." Satoshi interrupted him.
Matt stopped pacing. "I can't find her anywhere. Hey Hiro any word about instrument replacements?" He asked hopefully.
Hiro shook his head sadly, "Nothing, it'd all take too long to get here and the only one's left anyways are way out of our price range."
Matt sighed, "I guess we should go and notify the judges of our forfeit then." He said sadly, as Hiro, Takeshi and Satoshi all looked at him horrified. "We have no choice." He added as he looked out the entrance door hoping to see Kyira coming back.
"I see." Kyira nodded as she sniffled a bit. She looked at her shoes as she leaned against the wall. Kaiba looked at her then started to walk away. "You should go back. Your brother is looking for you." He said.
Kyira looked up at him as he walked away. About to say something she stopped and sighed. "I guess so." She said half-heartedly.
Kaiba stopped, "You shouldn't worry." Kyira glanced up and smiled slightly as he walked away. Sighing Kyira headed back for the arena. Pushing open the door, she was greeted by four very relieved guys.
"Kyira! Thank goodness!" Hiro exclaimed.
"'Bout time you came back." Takeshi said trying to sound annoyed. "Thank goodness." He said under his breath.
"Did you say something?" Satoshi asked as he looked at him while Matt pulled Kyira into a giant bear hug. Takeshi shook his heads while waving his arms.
"No, I didn't say a thing!" He said quickly. Satoshi shrugged.
"So, what are we going to do?" Kyira asked finally. All four of them frowned.
"We had to forfeit." Matt said finally. Kyira bit her lip figuring that's what they had to do.
"I figured as much." She said sadly. Hanging her head, she headed towards the back to get her stuff so they could leave. When a man walked into the lobby with a clipboard looking around for someone.
"Can anyone tell me where I can find an Ishida…"He looked down at his clip board, "A miss Kyira Ishida?" Kyira stopped and turned around quickly.
"Uh…that'd be me." She replied looking at the guys with an expression of confusion to match theirs.
"Oh good, we have a delivery here for you. Just tell us where to set up." The man said smiling.
"Kyira did you order something?" Matt asked her. Kyira shook her head.
"Don't look at me I have no idea what this is about." Kyira said and then turned to the deliveryman. "What exactly are you going to set up?" She asked. "Well let's see I have an order for two guitars, a bass, keyboard and a drum set. So if you'd tell us where…" "What!" All five of them exclaimed
"Oh my gosh! No way, that can't be ri…" Kyira started before she was interrupted by Takeshi.
"Who cares, let's not blow this a second time! Matt go tell the judges we don't forfeit quick!" Takeshi ordered. Matt didn't hesitate another second, flying out of the room as Takeshi started to quickly tell the deliveryman. Next thing they're on stage rocking out to the crowd as if nothing at all happened. They performed, said bye to the audience and then awaited the results. Backstage Kyira gripped her brother's arm as the rest of the members paced around nervously. Before they knew it, they were being called out on stage once again, having won the contest by a huge lead. The crowd was screaming and they were jumping for joy. Their rivals scowled backstage and left enraged. Kyira was all smiles as they performed another song. Finishing, she glanced up towards the back of the crowd to see Kaiba getting up and leaving. Watching him as Matt said his closing line to the crowd announcing the end of the nightly event, Kyira bit her lip. "Matt I'll be right back." She said quickly as she placed her guitar down and ran backstage. Kaiba's voice echoed in her mind. You shouldn't worry Twisting down a few short halls she was soon in the lobby where Kaiba was opening the door to walk out. "Seto!" She called out before she even realized it. She stopped in her tracks as Kaiba turned around having heard his name. Chewing on her bottom lip she slowly walked up to him. He just stared at her no expression clear on him. "I…uh I wanted to thank you. For coming and for what you did early. It really means a lot to us." She said trying not to look straight into his dark eyes.
"I'm not sure what you're talking about. I didn't do anything." Kaiba stated. Kyira looked up at him confused.
"You mean…you…you didn't get the instruments for…oh. Oh I'm sorry." She fumbled feeling embarrassed. Stupid, stupid now what do I say? She thought to herself.
"Uh well, anyways thanks for coming. It…it meant a lot to me." She said looking up at him. Kaiba smiled slightly making Kyira's knees feel weak. "Uh well I should be going. I…um… need to go help the guys pack up the stuff. So..uh…bye, Seto." She said smiling her hands behind her back as she took a few steps backwards before turning around and walking away.
"Kyira!" Kaiba said quickly . Kyira stopped in mid-step and turned around looking at him. Kaiba just stood there not saying anything. Kyira watched him wondering what he was going to say. It seemed like he wanted to say something but was holding back. "Bye Kyira," He finally said turning around and walking out. Kyira stood there slightly confused but shrugged it off and went back to help the guys.
Watching her walk away, Mokuba looked at the door and the hallway Kyira had just disappeared down. "What…was that about?" Mokuba said to himself. Confused he went outside to meet up with his brother.