Chapter Three: Confessions

The Coffee Bean was conveniently located right across from the Domino City Park, which is sadly the only piece of grassland left in this urbanized municipality. After we'd ordered our preferred beverages (I got a cinnamon mocha cappuccino while the jerk stuck with a classic cup of black coffee), we made our way over to the lonesome bench that was right in front of the park and sat down in unison. We were like two negative charges of a magnet, immediately separating to either side of the bench. I looked down at my cappuccino, feeling uneasy again, and traced the edges of my cup with my small fingers. I looked over at him, trying to think of something to ask him that wouldn't be too personal. His face was turned away from me, so I couldn't read his expression. I sighed and I thought I'd give civilized conversation another shot.

"So, Kaiba," I began, "What do you plan on doing after you graduate?"

After I'd asked the question, he didn't turn around to face me. In fact, he didn't react at all. It was almost as though he hadn't heard me. I was about to ask again when he turned around to face me. His eyes were looking down and he looked thoughtful again, almost as though he were searching for the perfect words. As the silence continued between us, his hair blew lightly in the wind and I couldn't help but observe how perfect his face was structured. My heart picked up speed again as I continued to stare at him. I looked away after a few seconds to once again questioned why I was feeling this way around him. I just had to keep reminding myself how much I disliked this guy; remind myself of all the nasty things he'd said to my friends and me.

I sighed again and smiled slightly, "Well, are you going to answer me?" I asked, mockingly, imitating the same tone of voice he'd used with me when he'd asked the same thing earlier.

He glanced up at me with a serious and almost mean look on his face. A few more seconds of silence passed until he finally answered me in a cold tone, "I guess. But it's a stupid question. I mean, what do you think I'm going to? I'm going to continue running my company, of course."

He sounded like the old Kaiba, the Kaiba that he normally was and the way he acted before today. I probably should have been relieved that he had been rid of whatever fatal crisis had been bestowed upon him, but I wasn't. To my surprise, it actually stung a little and I felt my eyes start to water. I couldn't help it. Like all women, I'm an over-emotional mess that takes every stupid little thing personally. I looked down at a plastic bottle on the ground, trying my best to hide the fact that he'd actually insulted me.

"Did I hurt your feelings, friendship girl?" He asked, the cold tone was still there but blended into it there was... there was concern. I didn't look up. I just shook my head defiantly, refusing to admit to any kind of hurt. I heard him sigh loudly followed by a soft mumbling to himself before he asked in a softer voice, "What are you going to do after we graduate?"

I waited a few minutes before I replied. Mostly because my crying thing hadn't finished itself and partially because I could tell he felt kind of bad and well, I wanted to rub it in a little bit. I slowly lifted my head and turned toward him. As soon as I saw the expression on his face, I broke out into a fit of laughter. He looked like a sad puppy that had been thrown into the middle of the road. His look immediately got stern and his whole body stiffened. He glared at me, obviously unamused. My laughter quickly turned into a few soft giggles before dispersing all together.

I looked over at him, with a small smile, and took in a deep breath before I finally started to answer the question. "Well, since you asked..." I began, "I plan on moving to New York to, you know, become a dancer," I finished with a shrug.

He raised an eyebrow and smirked the most annoying and demeaning of smirks. I held my breath, anticipating an outburst of laughter or a rampage of insults, but neither came. Instead, he sat back against the bench, deserting his regular stick-straight perfect posture, followed by a look of interest while he responded. "Huh, I didn't know you danced, friendship girl."

I was insanely dumbfounded and taken aback. In my shock I stuttered a bit while I spoke, probably making myself seem as though I were founded dumb. "Um... ye... yeah... I love to dance... ever since I was little... whoo dancing!" Whoo dancing? I wondered how many more times I could manage to make myself look like an idiot. I blushed again for oh, let's say, the millionth time today. I laughed nervously, wrapping up the whole idiotic scene which of course, resulted in his laughter. But this laugh was different than any laugh I'd heard from him. It actually sounded happy and for once, he wasn't so tense and seemed kind of carefree, if Kaiba could ever be such a thing. Just witnessing his happiness, it was so completelybeautiful; words could never describe it. My breath was stolen.

The wind blew violently just then, which caused a piece of my hair to fall in front of one of my sapphire eyes. Before I could move it back into place, I felt a cold hand brush against my skin and tuck the fragment of air gently behind my ear. I hadn't even noticed that he had moved closer to me, away from his side of the bench and once again I was spellbound by the magnificence of his eyes. Even though his hands were now folded together in his lap and far from my face, I could still feel his touch on my cheek. My whole body was covered in goose bumps and I was overtaken by the urge to just touch him, to simply trace the edges of his lips, but I couldn't move. My heart was pounding in my chest, my whole body ached with desire, and I struggled to breathe until finally, he looked away and moved back over to his side of the bench.

I wanted to speak but my mind was in a jumble; my thoughts were scattered and scrambled beyond comprehension. What I couldn't comprehend was this day. It was filled with incident upon incident where I felt so... so overpowered with this rush of emotion around him. Not only that, but Kaiba was experiencing some seriously serious mood-swings. I couldn't help but wonder if he was tragically experiencing menopause or something along those lines. Or maybe he was suffering from multiple-personality disorder. I wouldn't be surprised if Britney Spears turned up as his long lost sister. I was deep in thought when he started to speak, "So friendship girl, you said you wanted to do some stupid... confessing thing, so... may I ask you about your family?"

"You... you want to know about my family?" I asked quietly. There's no doubt in the slightest that I was shocked but I was also kind of flattered that the Seto Kaiba cared enough to ask me about my family. He nodded slightly, a nod so subtle that it was barely even noticeable. I wasn't so sure I wanted to tell him about my family because it's not usually something I talked about. The only other person who really knew about my family at all was Yugi. But there was also a part of me that felt compulsively compelled to tell Kaiba anything he wanted to know. I took a small sip of my cappuccino and decided then that I would answer his question. I turned away from him before I started my little babble about my family, negotiating with myself that I would tell him about my family, but I would avoid letting him know how I felt about my family.

"Well," I started, "My father passed away when I was about five years old. I can't say that I was really affected by it though because I was so young and I didn't really understand the whole concept of losing someone. It kind of affected me later though. As I got older, I started to realize all the things I was missing out on, you know, things that you could only do with a father. Father's Day has always been my least favorite day of the year. It depresses me more than you know."

I spoke slowly, annunciating each word, looking down at my cappuccino the whole time I told my story. I continued, "And my mother... well, she's kind of different in a crazy way. Since father died, she's become so attached to me, making me her only source of happiness. For years, she's depended on me to help her with every little thing and whenever something happens that brings me closer to moving out - like graduation, for instance - she loses it. She's so scared of my leaving her and I know I should be sympathetic toward her but I can't bring myself to. A part of me can't deny that I'm mad at her. I'm mad at her for not being strong enough to be a mother when I needed a mother. I'm mad at her for making me the mother." I stopped myself from going further. I knew that I'd said too much, most of which was completely unnecessary. I guess the whole goal of avoiding feeling had totally been thrown out the window because really, throughout the whole explanation of my family, there were nothing but feeling words. So I concluded that, if the guy didn't already think I was a total loon, he definitely did now, without a doubt.

I didn't even bother to look up to see the expression on his face and I wasn't looking forward to what he had to say. Whatever it was, I didn't need it right now. Talking about my family had made me feel pathetically low and despite his odd change of personality, I expected no kindness from him.

"I'm sorry that all those things happened to you," he said quietly; sincerely. I lifted my head, turning it slowly toward him, my eyes gathering with those (annoying, might I say) tears. He opened his mouth like he was about to say something then closed it again, exhaling loudly as he did so. A few uncomfortable moments passed before he finally attempted to speak again, "You know, I would have never guessed that you'd gone through anything even remotely terrible. You somehow manage to stay so content and so hopeful. It's... it's really admirable and something I wish I could say for myself."

I blinked, letting a tear trickle down my cheek. "Do you mean that?" I asked. He nodded again, looking straight ahead, with a small but genuine smile. Somehow, he of all people, managed to cheer me up and I was once again back to my regular chipper self (women recover fast). I turned my whole body toward him, scooting a bit closer, so I could prop my legs up on the bench. I then clapped my hands together and spoke, cheerily, "Well, now I think you owe me. So, tell me about your family."

His perfect posture immediately returned, his whole body stiffened and his fists clenched into tight balls. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this was clearly a sensitive topic, something that angered him greatly and something that he often tried to never think about. I wasn't sure how to react. Kaiba didn't seem like the type of person that welcomed comforting and I wasn't willing to reassure him that he didn't have to tell me. A selfless person would have said, "Never mind, I understand," but I couldn't bring myself to do that. I found myself wanting to know every aspect of his life and I'd take anything that he was willing to tell me. I sat patiently, anxiously waiting for him to say something.

He remained completely still for what seemed like an eternity. In reality, it was probably only a few minutes but my desperate need for him to confide in me made it seem like years. Just when I swore I was about to burst with anticipation and longing, he inhaled an unsteady breath and began to speak in a voice that closely resembled a whisper, "My mother died when I was five. She was giving birth to Mokuba and she just didn't make it. I remember... I remember I was so devastated and all I really needed then, was someone to talk to. But no one was ever there, not even my own father. My father followed three years after her, dying in a car crash, probably drunk or something. I had no one left but Mokuba and honestly, that was more than I needed. Mokuba has always meant the world to me and I'd cut my own arm off to keep him safe."

He continued to look straight ahead, breathing unsteadily like he was trying to hold back tears. My hands were shaking and I was overwhelmed with sadness and understanding. All this time, I had mistaken Kaiba for someone who was a heartless and emotionless robot; someone who was cold and harsh just for the sake of hurting other people. But that wasn't the case at all. It was easy to tell now that people had done nothing but exploit him his whole life and in his attempt to defend himself from being used again, he wore an arrogant exterior. I could tell that his story wasn't finished but now, I was in no rush to force it out of him. I waited silently until finally, his confession continued.

"At the orphanage, everyone was terrible to Mokuba and me. Even though the other kids got to me, I wouldn't let it show. I had to be brave for Mokuba and I was willing to do anything to keep his spirits high. I had decided then that I would take every opportunity we had to get out of that horrible place together. Months passed until finally, Gozoboro Kaiba came to visit for some publicity stunt that would further benefit his damn company. I took the chance to challenge him to a game of chess, figuring that this would be our way out, and if I won, he would have to adopt both my brother and me. Clearly, I won. As soon as we arrived at his mansion, I was forced into textbooks immediately. I was pushed beyond my limits and I hardly got any sleep... and..."

I knew then that there was no way he could continue. It hurt him too much to talk about it. I reached over and held his hand in mine, trying my hardest to fight back tears. "Kaiba... I'm so sorry. I..." I didn't know what to say. I'd always been the nurturing type, but I was pretty sure that Kaiba wasn't the type to be nurtured.

He turned his face toward me and stared into my eyes that were probably filled with sympathy, something I was sure he detested. I tried to look away from his gaze, but it was too late. I was already entranced by his hypnotic eyes and I could feel my heart start to flutter once again. I found myself longing to press my lips against his perfect neck and I craved to feel his hand brush against my cheek again. I was so deep in my desiring thoughts that I hadn't noticed he'd slipped his hand out of my grip and had placed it on my cheek, almost like he were reading my mind. And then in that instant, he pressed his cold lips against mine. I wanted nothing more than to weave my fingers through his hair and unbutton his shirt to reveal his beautiful chest. I wanted to explore every inch of this creature who had to be the epitome of perfection. But I was paralyzed in place, finding it a challenge to even kiss him back and follow his strong lead. I could feel one of his hands caressing the back of my neck, while the other crawled up the back of my shirt. He pressed his body closer to mine and my shaking hands slowly folded themselves on the back of his neck. His kiss was full of pain that he'd kept inside all these years; I could feel the need pouring into me; I could feel my need pouring into him. His kissing started to slow and become gentler. The tenderness sent shivers up my spine; I wanted him to kiss me like this forever. But of course, all good things have to come to end, haven't we learned? He held his mouth still against my bottom lip for a few seconds before finally pulling away. If I could speak then, I honestly would have begged and pleaded for him to put his lips back where they were.

He then wrapped his arms around me as though I were a porcelain doll that would break if he embraced me too harshly. I melted into him instantly without even giving the act a second-thought. The walls around me had officially crumbled and all cautious and denying thoughts had disappeared. I admitted it to myself right then and there, at that very moment in time and I didn't even bother trying to convince myself that it was untrue.

I was in love with him.

x-x-x

This is the last chapter I have finished so far. I'm hoping to have the next chapter complete within the next couple days. Please tell me what you think. Constructive criticism is most welcome. Gracias, amigos.