J: I did not receive any reviews yet, which is understandable seeing as some of my first few chapters made you TeaXSeto fans go "UUGGH!" From how familiar it looked. Let's face it people, there's not a lot of ways to get Tea into Seto's house, and there's even less likely hood of him going into hers :P I promise it changes back towards the whole main plot. Just gotta push through the other chapters! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Whoever is reading this has probably thought the same thing as I am right now. The disclaimers are only used to make us sadder because we already know we don't own these awesome people and places!
Chapter Five- So It Begins!
"Guess what? I'll be staying with a friend after all…No, it's not Yugi, Joey, or Tristan…No, it's not Mai or Serenity either…I'm staying with my oh so good friend Mokuba and Seto Kaiba…That's right, Seto Kaiba…Yup, more or less I'm being held against my will as their dance instructor…No, I don't think telling Dad would be a good idea, jerk wad or not we don't need more legal problems because Dad destroyed Kaiba's place with an army raid…Okay, I'll call again tomorrow then, night mom, love you." Tea hung up the phone and sighed. It had been three hours since Kaiba had so nicely informed her that she wouldn't be able to go home until she was done being their dance teacher. She was at home for the moment, but only to get everything she would need for an overnight stay that would last more than a week, if not longer. She'd packed her tooth brush, deodorant, hair brush, and other unmentionables. Her ride back to prison had arrived ten minutes ago, but she refused to leave the safety of her own home until she called her mom to give her an update. Mrs. Gardener was more than exhausted after that phone call alone.
Tea did one more run through the house to make sure that everything was off and nothing could cause a fire. All the lights turned off and her overnight bag in hand Tea left the house and locked the door behind her.
Her escort was a totally different guy that looked to be over 60 years old, 'He must have used some weird technology and read my mind. God forbid I find any happiness in the beginning of my prisoner life.' Rolling her eyes Tea stepped into the limo and let herself be taken away back to Kaiba Hell.
Tea couldn't help but smile when she exited the limo and found Mokuba waiting on the first step before grabbing hold of her hand and dragging her into the house," I'll give you a tour, otherwise you'll get lost. Oh! And I have to show you…Not my room! Never mind! I'll show you where my door is, but you can't go in my room yet. Oh, and I definitely have to show you where Seto's room is so you don't accidentally walk in on him sleeping or something. Do you want to play my new game with me after supper?"
"Mokuba, did you eat sugar for lunch?" Tea stopped the motor mouth tween in the middle of the large hallway they'd walked into.
Mokuba actually stopped to think over the question and smiled brightly at Tea," Pretty much I guess. Seto let the chef have today off so I had to make my own lunch. So I had toast with peanut butter and sugar sprinkled on top, and I had a can of Rock Star to go with it. This is the door to my room! And that's the door to my brother's room. Oh, and your room is over there, do you want to see it?" Tea didn't even get to answer and was dragged to the bedroom two door past Seto's.
Tea had just expected a plain bedroom with a bed, side table and lamp and small walk in closet. Instead she was met with a four poster canvas bed with an oak dresser, beautiful touch activated lamp, a small hallway sized walk in closet already filled with her clothes and a large screen TV hooked up with a DVD player and the latest game station. On the right side of the room was a large window covered with beautiful blue drapes. Hesitantly Tea pulled back the drapes to find a spectacular view of the sea that partially surrounded Domino City. Slack jawed Tea could just barely ask," H-how did I get a room like this?"
Beaming in pride Mokuba replied," When big brother decided to make you our dance instructor the other day he asked me what room you would like. I asked him if I could handle anything in your room, and he said I could do whatever I wanted. So do you really like it?"
Tea grabbed Mokuba in a big hug and spun him around in a circle," Are you kidding? This room is incredible! I love it Mokuba, thank you!" 'Maybe being their dance instructor won't be too much a nightmare as long as Mokuba takes care of things.'
"If you're done being a pair of homosapians then I suggest you familiarize yourself with the rest of the house." Seto had been walking by to get something from his room when he caught sight of Tea carelessly smothering his brother to death.
Tea let Mokuba go and faced Kaiba with an unimpressed expression," So sorry for acting like normal human beings. Just because you're smarter at some things doesn't mean I don't have enough intelligence to know what the word homosapian means." Tea took Mokuba's hand and dragged him out of the room rudely past Kaiba.
Mokuba waited until they were out of his brother's ear shot before sneakily whispering to Tea," Actually big brother was just making sure you're still smart. Last year after exams I heard Seto muttering about how you were his female equivalent in intelligence. Don't tell him I told you or he'll extend my grounding period. Now this is the kitchen as you can plainly see, and if you continue straight out that door you'll come to the door that leads to the Busy Body Basement. That's what I call it anyways. It's where Seto goes when he wants to exercise or physically release his frustrations." Tea listened to everything Mokuba told her to make sure she memorized all the info she needed in order to get around the building without ruining a certain someone's day.
As curious as Tea was to see this basement built to withstand Seto Kaiba's temper tantrums she felt it better to let Mokuba show her everywhere else so he could lose some of his sugar energy. It was past three and the kid showed no signs of slowing down. 'It was probably one of those really large cans of Rock Star…They should make the cans child proof.' Tea thought this as Mokuba led her down another hallway that only had one door. Mokuba smiled coyly in a cute childish way and asked," You wanna see what's behind the door? Because I can promise it will be worth the look."
"Well, when you suggest it as something that's absolutely wonderful of course I'll want to look. Just promise me that I'm not walking into a room filled with a bajillion posters of Kaiba because he likes to remind himself of how attractive he is when a girl actually rejects him." Mokuba rolled his eyes and shoved Tea towards the singular door. He backed up a few steps when she reached for the handle, and covered his ears when she pulled the door open.
Tea had been expecting a tiger or some other kind of exotic pet to be lurking in the backyard, instead she found herself staring at a gigantic swimming pool shaped like a Blue Eyes White Dragon. The head was a closed off hot tub and the tail had a large water slide that went straight into the deep end which was the Blue Eyes' mid-section. A huge smile spread over Tea's face, turning to Mokuba (who had thought she'd scream about the hot tub) she practically begged," Can we go swimming? Please? I love water slides. Can we go, please?"
Mokuba and his lingering sugar buzz ripped off his shirt to show that his shorts were in fact swimming trunks, giving her a cheesy thumbs up and smile combination he teased," I'm ready, and you have five minutes to get changed before I go in without you." Tea had bolted at the word 'five.'
Seto Kaiba was on his way to the basement to vent his current headache generously provided by his press representative harassing him to make more public appearances. He'd just reached the door when he felt a gust of wind pass behind him. It was usually Mokuba flying to the door to get his new mail ordered game, but at that current point in time it was Tea with a large smile on her face. 'Mokuba must have shown her the hot tub, I will never understand why –' 'fwoosh' Seto's thought was interrupted by Tea once more flying past him, only she was wearing a bikini two piece that was black with thin rainbow stripes going diagonally across the front and back of both pieces. 'Never thought a girl could change that quickly…' Seto looked from the door to the basement back to the flying figure that was Tea Gardener. Too curious to resist he followed after the swimsuit clad teenager.
He turned the corner just in time to see Tea and Mokuba rush out the back door. Both runners went straight for the water slide that Mokuba must have started while Tea had changed. Whenever Mokuba brought his classmates over the females ones flinched away from the slide due to the water temperature. Tea on the other hand jumped right over Mokuba's head to go down the spiraling slide first. Seto's gaze traveled away from the hyper active monkeys and over to the bubbling hot tub. After a time check and much debate Seto finally retreated from the door and went to his bedroom to locate his long since used swim shorts.
Tea surfaced from the cold water in a big enough way to get more water on Mokuba's wet lion's mane. Floating on her back she sighed," Alright, I give up."
"Huh? Were we just fighting or something?" Mokuba stopped mid splash when Tea had said that. He could have sworn he didn't even initiate the splash war yet.
Her azure eyes focused on the cloudless sky above she explained to the confused tween," No, I was fighting with myself. I thought for sure I could convince myself not to like this place 'cause of your brother practically trapping me here. But it's just not possible for me to not like this place!"
"Good to know Gardener, now I won't have to order that electric shock collar." Seto's unannounced arrival caught Tea by surprise and sent her under the water. When she resurfaced Seto was just sitting down in the hot tub.
Seto couldn't remember the last time he'd been in the hot tub and he seriously needed to consider using it more often. The hot water and massaging jets were bliss for his stressed body. "Wow Seto, didn't expect you to be joining us. Actually, I didn't think you were ever going to use your swim shorts again." Mokuba grinned when Seto just gave a lazy wave to indicate he didn't want to be bothered.
Tea stuck her tongue out at the back of Seto's head and turned her attentions back to Mokuba, who at that moment was heading to the slide again. She quickly followed suit and climbed up the ladder after her young companion. At the top Tea could get a clearer view of everything in the area, including Seto's face. Squinting to focus more she made out his relaxed features and slow lifting shoulders. 'He's asleep already? We can't have any of that!' Broadening her gaze she found exactly what she needed.
Mokuba had gone down the slide and ended with a beautiful cannon ball, the resulting splash caused enough water to fly in Seto's direction and hit his exposed back. Seto cracked open an eye enough for Mokuba to receive a glare. At the same time he was glaring he caught sight of Tea quietly making her way towards the garden hose and an old empty bucket. Closing his eye and returning to his sleeping appearance Seto could only smirk on the inside. 'There are a lot of things that can catch me by surprise Gardener, and sneak water attacks aren't one of them.' He was definitely going to enjoy the next few minutes.
Tea hadn't caught the last second in which Seto was fully conscious, Mokuba on the other hand was making his way back up the ladder. He knew what Tea was planning, and he also knew what Seto was going to do. Perched at the top he made himself perfectly comfortable and waited for the show to start. 'Should have brought the video camera out…Oh! Never mind, I can watch it on the surveillance cameras later.'
The bucket in hand Tea tip toed over to the pool and scooped up enough water to fill the bucket half way. Going even slower to prevent the water from sloshing in it's container Tea got just close enough to be within splashing distance. Changing the position of the bucket she steadied herself to make a run for it and just began to swing the bucket forward. She was halfway through her swing when Seto spun around, lunged forward and grabbed her by her arm, falling back into the hot tub he took her down with him.
Seto couldn't resist bowing in Mokuba's direction when he burst into laughter. Mokuba though he was laughing hard, still didn't miss it when Tea resurfaced and jumped onto Seto's back and latched on in a death grip. Slightly staggered but still sturdy Seto growled and reached for the infernal woman on his back," What the hell are you doing Gardener? Get off!"
Tea managed to duck out of Seto's reach each time he attempted to grab her and continued to smile in triumph," I'm not getting off until I dunk you Kaiba!"
Kaibe ceased his attempts to pry her off and instead developed a very unsettling smirk that only Mokuba could see. 'I can see where this is going and it won't end well. It will end hysterically!' Mokuba thought this when Seto took hold of Tea's legs. In a voice much too sultry for Tea to be comfortable in her position he said," Fine, I don't mind getting a little wet. Let's see how long you can hold your breathe Gardener."
Tea wanted to threaten him to rethink his decision but the sensation of falling backwards made her hold her breathe quickly right before she was submerged. She didn't miss that Seto had yet to release her legs and somehow she just knew that he was still smiling. 'Little does he know that part of dancing is working on breathe control. I can't wait to see his expression when I beat him!' Her own smirk of confidence on she crossed her arms and waited for the moment when Seto would release her legs and go up without her.
Mokuba stood by the edge of the hot tub with his waterproof watch in front of him to how the stop watch function. The numbers showed four seconds and counting with no sign of either of them surfacing anytime soon. 'Who will win? Seto and his unwanted martial arts lessons, or Tea and her rigorous dancing?...Why couldn't there be someone else around to make bets with?' Sighing at his misfortune Mokuba refocused on his wrist watch. It read almost six seconds, glancing at the water's surface he saw streams of bubbles without any clue as to who they were coming from. At six seconds 21 millaseconds the water broke from both Tea and Seto surfacing at the same time. Mokuba's voice was filled with wonder when he told them," Wow, you two are impressive! You both broke big brother's old record from last year."
Seto gave Tea the smallest of looks showing a flicker of acknowledgement as a decent rival this round. Tea pushed her overgrown bangs out of her eyes in order to give Kaiba a reproachful glare for his unnecessary drowning attempt. At the moment she did Seto caught sight of a golden flash from her forehead. Suddenly feeling very tired Tea hoisted herself out of the hot tub, to explain herself to the bewildered Mokuba she said kindly," As much fun as I've been having I don't think I can keep going. I did only get close to three or four hours of sleep. Think you can have fun without me Mokuba?"
Although she showed a smile Mokuba could see something else going on with Tea through her eyes. It wasn't pain exactly, but something harmful was happening to Tea that she wasn't saying. Deciding that she would talk when ready Mokuba nodded his head and watched Tea walk away.
Seto had not only seen the unspoken ailment through her eyes he'd also seen some kind of golden red tinted glow surrounding Tea's whole form. It lasted only a brief second but that was all he needed to get a bad feeling for the future.
Tea flopped onto her swanky four poster bed with a big sigh. 'What the hell just happened? One second I'm feeling better than life for almost whooping Kaiba's ass, then it feels like something went straight through my heart. Next thing I know I'm ready to fall asleep! Maybe I ate something bad.' Tea's thoughts were as quiet as she was tired, she'd barely managed to get out of her swimsuit and into her blue silk pajama shorts and tank top. At that moment she felt more than happy just to melt into the soft blankets she was laying on. As her eyelids began to flutter shut a fleeting image of a smug white haired jerk came to mind.
"Poor pathetic Tea, that little soul tap alone left her weak." This voice echoed from the darkness in a tone that was both elegant and demonic.
Bakura sat on a lone floating platform with the millennium ring's light surrounding him. His dark brown eyes glared towards the spot he believed the voice had come from. His voice gruff from irritation he warned the unseen speaker," Once a day, that was the agreement. You get her energy and I get her, if you attempt to drain her more than once she won't be able to recover fast enough for any soul taps for at least a week, you understand that wretch?" The response of waspish laughter only made Bakura even more annoyed. If he didn't need the blasted irritation's information and abilities he never would have gotten in touch with her in the first place.