The aroma of freshly cooked eggs filled the air as Joey and Tristan woke the next morning. They walked down the stairs following the scent as if in a trance. When they found the kitchen, the saw Téa and Kaiba pushing a plate back and forth. "You need to eat Seto. How else do you intend to heal?" Téa asked?
"I will be fine. I need to get ready for work, and I can't do that until I have had my coffee." Kaiba stated irritably as he pushed the plate back to Téa.
Téa pushed the plate back and replied, "You're not getting your coffee until you eat. And, you are definitely not going to work."
Kaiba smirked and said, "You have classes today at the University. How do you intend on stopping me?" Once again he returned the plate.
Téa knew he was purposely pushing her buttons at this point. She pushed the plate back to him and answered, "I am not going to go to the University, because don't trust that you will stay home and get the rest the doctor says that you require."
Kaiba frowned, she didn't trust him…He could see why she wouldn't trust a workaholic like him. But, it did still bother him. Suddenly, Kaiba saw the plate move and looked up to see Wheeler taking a bite out of his piece of bacon. Wheeler saw the glare Kaiba shot him with and smiled, "You should thank me Kaiba. I am giving you free marriage counseling."
Téa started to laugh and said, "Well Seto, since we are now out of eggs and bacon, it looks like you are going to be eating Rainbow Cereal."
She shook the box to emphasize his loss and he grunted in response. She chuckled and continued, "I am just kidding. I will fix you some more eggs."
Kaiba got up and walked away from the table. "Where are you going Seto?" Téa asked.
"Back to bed," he answered.
"Well, you didn't manage to get him to eat breakfast, but at least he is going to get some rest. One out of two isn't bad." Tristan said.
Téa let out an irritated sigh, but allowed it. Besides she did need to go to school whether Seto was going to be stubborn or not.
…
When Seto woke up again, he found the house was empty and was relieved that Téa did decide to go to school. He walked downstairs and finally claimed his ultimate prize…a cup of black coffee. He smiled as he inhaled the sickeningly sweet aroma of his favorite cup of coffee. He pulled out his cellphone which was vibrating in his shirt pocket.
"Kaiba speaking," he said nonchalantly.
"Ah, Mr. Kaiba, How did you like your facial reconstruction?" A voice asked from over the phone.
He recognized that voice and growled, "Isabelle!"
"Yes my darling, it is I. Now unless you want Téa to suffer the same fate, I would suggest you comply with my demands." She answered confidently
Kaiba replied, "I don't follow orders, I make them. Now, I suggest you crawl back into that hole you died in, before I drag you down there myself. You will not touch Téa, I will make sure of that."
"Really Mr. Kaiba, you will protect Téa like you defended yourself yesterday? I say, you must not care for her as much as I thought you did." Isabelle answered slyly.
Kaiba was getting irritated, "What do you want Isabelle? More than anything, I hate wasting my time."
"Now we're talking," Isabelle replied, "I want a video apology on the news tomorrow for the 'practical joke with my now technicolored suits' and I want Téa and the rest of the wedding party to be wearing my designs the day you two tie the knot."
"Fine," Kaiba said.
Isabelle got quiet, she didn't expect him to cave so quickly.
He then continued, "I will do it just as soon as the people in hell get ice water." He then hung up the phone and threw it against the wall. Téa was walking in the room just then and had to duck in order to avoid being hit. "Sorry," He mumbled, "How was school?"
"Reporters were following me around all day, but other than that things were okay," Téa answered.
Kaiba's clenched in anger, although he had to admit he was relieved. If the media was following Téa, Isabelle couldn't hurt her while he was recovering.
"Are you hungry?" she asked while she dug through the kitchen cabinets for an afterschool snack. "I was thinking about making cookies for when I go pick up Mokuba from school."
Kaiba nodded, he really wanted real food, but considering he couldn't cook if his life depended on it…it was probably safer to just eat the cookies.
As she reached up to grab the flour off of the top shelf in the cabinet, her skirt slid up her leg slightly, revealing an interesting scar. Kaiba walked up behind her and pulled her into his chest. He ran his hand up to the scar and asked, "Téa, how did you get this."
Téa shivered as his hand ran up her leg. The question caused her to pause, 'Should she really tell him? He didn't tell her his past and although she was curious, she was fine with it. Maybe he would bestow the same curtesy on her.' She answered, "Seto, a couple days ago when I asked about your past, we agreed to leave the past in the past and look towards the future. I would appreciate it if we could do the same with this."
Despite his curiosity, he agreed. He knew he could draw it out of her eventually, but for now he would have to gain her trust.
…
Yugi paced back and forth as Joey told him about the night spent at the Kaiba mansion. "She loves him Yugi!" Joey said in an irritated voice. "I don't know how, but she does. And, I don't think it is going to end anytime soon. You should probably move on Yug."
"NO! I REFUSE TO LOSE TO A GUY LIKE KAIBA," Yugi screamed enraged.
"This isn't a game Yugi," Tristan rationalized, "Téa isn't a prize that can be won at some dueling tournament."
"NO, I WON'T LOSE HER!" he yelled as he ran out the game shop crying.
…
Téa decided to walk to Mokuba's school since it was about 2 blocks down the road. Kaiba watched her from the front porch as her figure faded in the distance. He was about to turn around and go inside when he felt something tackle him from behind. Once he caught his breath that got knocked out of him, he turned his head to see Yugi take a punch at his nose. Thoroughly pissed, Kaiba pushed Yugi off of him and asked, "What's your problem, shrimp?"
"YOU ARE, KAIBA!" Yugi yelled as he tried to take another swipe at him. However, he was surprised to find the hit didn't come even close to Kaiba. He looked up to see Kaiba holding him at an arms distance away. Kaiba was smirking as Yugi took another attempt and realized that his arms were much shorter than Kaiba's. Yugi realized that he was getting nowhere. Yugi then saw Téa and Mokuba in the distance running towards him. Yugi panicked, he had to show Téa that he was strong enough to defend her. He looked around and did the only thing he could think of. He kicked Kaiba in the groin and walked away saying, "Keep your dirty hands off Téa!" He then puffed up and did a macho walk past Téa.
Yugi's heart broke as Téa didn't even seem to notice him. She ran right past him to make sure Seto was alright. Seto stood up and walked to alleviate the discomfort. He then stood up tall and said, "Get the hell off my property." Téa helped him into the house and sat on the couch. That was when he asked, "Wait, where is Mokuba?"
…
Yugi complied, but he didn't realize that Mokuba was following him.
"Yugi," Mokuba called out.
Yugi stopped and turned around to look Mokuba in the eye. "What do you want Mokuba?" Yugi asked in an annoyed tone.
"You're going to lose her forever if you keep acting like this. You may have lost her love, but do you really want to lose her friendship too. She cares about you Yugi, but if it comes to the point where she has to choose, I have a feeling you're going to end up getting hurt." Mokuba stated.
"That is genius Mokuba! Thanks!" Yugi said as he ran off in the distance.
Mokuba scratched his head, "Wait, what did I say?"
…
"Seto, Do you know who attacked you yesterday?" Téa asked as she cleaned his wounds.
Seto nodded and replied, "Yes, but I promise that you are safe. She and her band of crooks will be dealt with."
"She?…It wasn't my mother who sent these people out to hurt you, was it?" Téa asked.
Kaiba sighed and answered, "No, it was an old business associate. She was sore about dropping her label and was out looking for revenge."
Tea wrung out the rag she was using to clean his cuts and responded, "Doesn't this seem a bit harsh over a stupid business transaction."
He winced slightly as she cleaned a particularly deep gash on his face. He then turned away and said, "I have some work to do."
She yelled as he left the room, "Your supposed to be rest…. Oh forget it!" She knew there was no reasoning with him.
…
When Seto made it to his office, he thought back to the events leading up to the night before. He had planned to be home for 2:00, but everything that could go wrong that day, seemed to do so. When he went to leave, he found his limo driver unconscious and all the tires slashed. After he made sure that the limo driver received medical treatment, he started to walk back to his office to pick up some papers he left on his desk. The phone on the desk rang and when he answered it, his heart just about stopped.
A robotic sounding voice said, "We've got your girlfriend, if you want to see her again, you will meet us at the park at 8:00 sharp. Come alone, or the girl dies." He heard a scream in the background right before the phone went dead.
Immediately he grabbed his brief case (which contained a revolver) and took off running towards the park. When he got there, he saw no one at first. He walked deeper into the park and before he knew what was happening someone snatched away his briefcase and he was surrounded. There were at least six men there, three of them he recognized as the models he hired to embarrass Isabelle. He tried his hardest to fight back, but 6 against 1 is enough to overwhelm anyone; especially since he ran the whole way here. The last thing he remembered was someone forcing his hands behind his back and feeling a blow to his stomach.
The next thing he remembered was waking up in his bed room with tea holding his hand.
Kaiba was back to reality with a tough question lingering over his head; Does she really care for me, or is she just playing the role as a dutiful wife? He needed an answer.
