Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh... Sadly
Chapter 3: Seto's house
When I woke up from that flashback I was on the floor of the library. The librarian and Seto looked at me worried. My breathing was coming out in short quick pants and the scar burned. Why couldn't I get a happy memory for one? Maybe of a time Amane and I had fun somewhere or a time dad took me to the library. Why were they all of depressing memories. Slowly I tried to level my breathing. I closed my eyes, I did not want the sympathy that would be on their faces. Couldn't Seto see that? I didn't want people to say they were sorry, I didn't want them near me at all. In fact if I had the choice of dying or being popular I could die. It would be easier, not as painful. When I thought of pain the scar flared up and I gasped from the pain. "Bakura, Bakura are you okay?" Seto said. He sounded so worried, most girls would be all for that. Me on the other hand, I would rather him kick me while I was down. Pain I could deal with, people worried and concerned about me, not so much.
Either way I put on a fake smile and said, "Yea I'm fine, lunch must not be sitting with me very well. But I'm fine now." Seto eyed me, he didn't believe me. How could he see through me and others couldn't? Only Amane had been able to do that. I learned to be a very good liar. "Really Seto I'm fine now, don't worry," I said waving him off. Despite what I said he still helped me up. Why did I let him? Why was I actually acting like we could be friends? He was the rich, powerful CEO of a multimillion dollar company! I was a girl who lost everything in a car accident, the little I had anyway. There was no way he wanted me, no one wanted me.
"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked when we were in the hall. Why had the bell triggered that memory? Then I remember what hadn't been shown. My phone tone, the reason I was looking for Amane was because dad had called. The ring tone sounded like our school bell. How many flashbacks would school bring, how of my past could I stand before I went nuts? Not much, I thought worriedly. Why did I have the strangest feeling that this all wasn't going to end well? "Bakura?" Seto said. CRUD! I forgot that he asked me a question! Know he'll know something is up!
"Yea I'm fine!" I said to hastily. Seto raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He knew when to drop thing, thank goodness for that.
"What's your next class?" he said changing the subject. I sent a silent thank you to him mentally and then took out my classes and handed it to him. He quickly read it and stated, "World geo." I nodded and he handed me back my classes.
"What's yours?" I asked him. It was a fair question, he knew mine so it was only fair.
"Same actually," he said smiling at me. Why did he keep looking at me like that? Like he liked me? Why was he playing with my mind? So many questions! Then my dad's voice came, all answers come in good time. So, I could only sigh. "Something wrong," Seto asked. He was nosey wasn't he? I shook my head. "You remind me a lot of myself you know. We are both super smart, both have little siblings, and both have sworn off humanity. I was taught to you, I have a feeling, you swore them off for a different reason," he said. He doesn't know how true that is, I thought. We did sound alike, didn't we? Maybe this could work, no I scolded myself, people are bad news.
"Yes, I wasn't taught. My dad, he loved people. Heck, even my mom has friends! But no one likes me! No one would want a loser like me! I swore off humanity because I haven't met one person beside Amane and my dad who likes me!" I said. I was shaking in rage, I couldn't help myself. This all was so unfair. In fact I almost missed what Seto said next.
"I want you," he whispered. Had I heard him right? I shook my head, I mustn't have… no one wants me. My life was so unfair! "Let's get to class," Seto said. Great, I thought, out of the library he is still stiff. Stiff and cold, like death itself.
When we got to class Seto and I sat next to each other. People stared at me and whispered. Thing like 'what was that girl think' or 'ice cold kaiba got a soft spot for the new girl?'. Did he? Did he like me? Did he really say that he wanted me? I felt like screaming, this all was too much! "Settle down class," the teacher said walking in. a women, mid-thirties I think, walked in. she had brown hair that spilled halfway down her back, she also was heavy set, not fat, but not skinny either. She spoke in a sing-song tone. I looked over to Seto and raised an eyebrow. He nodded already knowing my thoughts, something was wrong with this woman. Why was she being so nice? "Now when I call your name say here and come get a text book," she said smiling at us all.
"That lady gives me the creeps," Seto whispered to me. I nodded in agreement, she was creepy. The teacher looked at us with a big smile plastered on her face. She was the definition of creepy. I looked over at the board, Mrs. Plastly. She even had a weird name.
"Mrs. Pastly? Even had a creeper name," I whispered back. He gave me a grin.
"Wonder if she is a pedophile," he whispered again.
"I don't want to know," I replied.
Then he voice rang out, "Ryou Bakura," she called. Again I cringed, that name! Seto put his hand on my arm to calm me down. He gave me a small smile of encouragement. "Ryou," she called again.
"Here," I called getting up. When I got to her desk she handed me a textbook smiling. "Umm Mrs. Pastly?" I said.
"Yes?" she said not looking up from her screen. What was so important on that screen?
"Could you, ummm, please call me Bakura?" I asked. Don't call me Ryou, I pleaded in my head. The teacher look offended at my question. Oh dear, I thought.
"Why can't I call you Ryou exactly?" she asked eyes narrowing. Great, I thought, the pedophile teacher hates me!
"The name holds bad memories and everyone calls me Bakura," I tried to explain. Really, I thought, why do I have to explain?
"fine," she said waving me away. Well then, I thought going to my seat with Seto.
"Looks like Mrs. Pedophile doesn't like you," Seto said laughingly. I rolled my eyes but still slightly smiled.
"Should I be glad? Maybe I'm safe," I whispered. This made Seto have to bit his tongue from having to laugh. "You know you want to laugh," I said poking him. He swatted my hand away still trying not to laugh out loud.
"Seto Kiaba," Mrs. Pastly called.
"Go," I said motioning to the teacher. He rolled his eyes and walked forward. As if on cue, when he walked past the people whispered. 'That is the CEO of kiaba corp' and 'he has come out to mingle with the commener' I thought the last one was rude. Seto seemed nice enough, to me. He got up and took his text book stiffly and headed back. "You seem to be very popular among the whispers," I commented.
"As long as Troll Face doesn't say anything, I'm good," he said. I laughed softly at the comment and then Mrs. Pastly started to teach and we fell silent.
My last class of the day was P.E. Seto didn't share this class with me, sadly. He seemed like he could be a friend, maybe. Maybe, just maybe, I could let myself have one or two friends. Yugi and Seto seemed like good choices for that one or two. Turns out, I had this class with the blonde friend of Yugi's. I crossed my fingers and hoped he wouldn't notice me. But of course, he did. "Bakura! Right?" he asked me walking towards you. I nodded, please don't talk to me, I thought in my head. Nope, not going to happen. "Fancy seeing you here," he said mocking my accent. I rolled my eyes, that joke wasn't funny. "Guess we have the same P.E. too bad Yug isn't here too," the blonde boy said. Yug? Does he mean Yugi? I merely shrugged in response, I didn't feel like talking really. "You don't talk much to you?" the boy asked me. This made another boy laugh.
"She does when she is talking to Kiaba," the boy said grinning at me. Shut up, I felt like snapping at him. What did it matter if I talked to Seto? He understood me.
"Money bags?" the boy said. My fists clenched, how dare he make fun of Seto! The other boy nodded still grinning. Yugi's blonde friend put his hand through his untamed hair, "Is that true Bakura?" he asked me. Sighing I shrugged. "He's bad news," the blonde kid informed me. How, I wondered, what had happened between Seto and Yugi's friends? "By the way, I'm Joey," he informed me. Joey, I thought.
The teacher interrupted whatever I would have said, "Okay! Line up everyone." We all obeyed, she seemed scary. This woman had long black hair, was twig skinny (like me) and was Asian. She looked as all over with her narrow eyes. "I am Mrs. Morgan but you will call me Coach," she told us. I swallowed she was creeping me out. Not like troll face but in a more scary sinister way. "I will call you by your last name and last name only," she explained to us. When she said that, I relaxed. No Ryou in here! She took roll and I found out Joey's last name was Wheeler. Interesting, I thought. Wonder if he played duel monsters. "Today," Coach called breaking my thoughts, "we will be playing kickball." Kickball, great, I thought. Amane and I never really like that game. One of the few we didn't really. "I will decide you teams," she explained and came down the row saying your team. My team was the same as Joey's. This was going to be a long P.E. class.
"Hey Bakura," Joey said standing next to me while we waited to kick. He was grinning at me and I felt uncomfortable. Where was Seto when I needed him? Wait did I just think what I think I just thought?
"Hey Joey," I said. My mind was too weird to figure out at the moment.
"So tell me a little about yourself," he said. Why, I wondered.
"What do you want to know?" I asked. I prayed to myself it wasn't going to be about why I moved here or anything that related to Amane. That may cause another flashback.
"Well, where did you live before here?" he asked. Yugi didn't tell him, interesting, I thought.
"England, hence the accent," I said. I didn't get how people couldn't piece that together.
"Oh," he said and then it was his time to kick. I breathed a sigh of relief. No more questions, I thought. For my sake, I was right. He left me alone for the rest of the time. Once the bell rang I was eager to go. Seto had invited me over and I wanted to see how he lived. Was he as miserable as me? Could he help me not be as miserable?
Maybe, I thought and was just about to run out when joey called, "What's the rush Bakura." None of his business and if I told him he would think I was stuck up or something. I didn't want that, I liked Yugi.
"Doing some research, eager to start," I told him. That was true, that was what Seto and I were going to do, research.
"Oh I thought maybe Yugi, Tristen, tea, you, and me would do something," Joey said shrugging. Really, I just met these guys! Why are they being this friendly towards the new albino? Maybe they weren't like the others…
"Maybe another time," I said giving him a small smile. Maybe, I thought. To be honest, I wasn't sure whether or not I would ever do anything with them. Then, I waved goodbye and ran to find Seto. Time to go, time to find out, time for questions to be answered!
Seto was easy to find. He was taller than most of the students and he tended to keep to himself. You could always find him away from the others. I walked up to him grinning. "Ready?" he asked. I nodded, I knew Seto would either have a driver or could drive so getting there wouldn't be a problem. As we walked to the car that was parked he got into the back with me. So he did have a driver. "I hope you don't mind but we need to pick up my little brother, mokuba, before going to my house," he told me. I shook my head, I understood, little siblings come first. Amane always did, and I have a feeling it was the same for Seto and Mokuba. We stopped in front of the middle school. A little boy with messy long black hair came bounding toward the car. When he got in I saw Seto smile. "Hey Moki," Seto said to mokuba. Really, Seto, I thought waiting for the flashback. This scene was all to like how it used to be with me for there not to be. I was right…
FLASHBACK
The time was normal. Dad was gone on a trip and I was left to take care of Amane. Judging by the scene this was a year or two before Amane died. So she was about 9 or 8. Still a normal kid, smiling and talking to her elementary friends. She came bounding towards me, her blonde hair bouncing as she came running up to me. "Hey Maney," I said smiling at my little blonde sister. She hugged me and grinned uo at me.
"Hey Ryou," she said to me. I looked her over, no new bruises or scratches. That was good. Me on the other hand, I had a few. This kid shoved me into a locker every time he saw me. Making me have a pretty big bruise. I just hopped Amane wouldn't notice.
"How was your day?" I asked her as we started to walk home. She went on about how her and her friend stuck up for this kid and the bullies didn't even through a punch at her. She thought it was cause of me.
"They're too scared of you to hit me," she said proudly. This could be true, I had beat a couple of bullies who bullied Amane. Never mess with the Bakura family. When we did get home dad's care was in the driveway. "I thought dad wasn't supposed to be home till later this week," Amane said.
I grinned, "Looks like daddy came home early," I told her. We looked at each other grinning, that didn't happen every often. We both took off running inside, happy dad was home.
FLAHSBACK ENDS
"Bakura," Seto's voice interrupted my flashback. Darn it, I thought. "Okay give. Whats going on," he said crossing his arms. Mokuba wasn't paying attention, he was watching a duel on his laptop. "Please tell me," Seto said. This time he sounded really concerned. I really didn't want to concern him, might as well come clean.
"Whenever someone says something, or does something, that happened in my past… well, I get a flashback. The one I just had was of a time I pick up Maney and dad came home early," I explained and then covered my mouth. I use Amane's nickname on accident. Opps, I thought, busted.
"Maney? That's what triggered it, huh? My nickname for mokuba, Moki. Amanehad a nickname too," he said piecing it together. This guy was too smart for his own good, I thought. On the outside I nodded. "How long has this been going on?" he asked. Maybe he could help me!
I thought about it, "Since Amane and dad died," I told him, "before then I never had any trouble." Seto seemed deep in thought over it.
"Sounds like PTSD to me. Maybe your mom should get you into a counselor or a doctor about it," he said. When he said that I thought of my mother taking me anywhere for my own good. That thought made me laugh. "What's so funny?" Seto asked.
"Sorry I just imagined my mom taking me ANYWHERE for my own good. Just this morning she told me she didn't want me, if it wasn't against the law she would charge me money," I explained to him.
"Really? She sound cold," Seto said.
"Very," I said looking out the window. "Where do you live anyway?" I asked eager to stop talking about my mother and Amane.
To my surprise Mokuba answered me, "We are almost there. Right nii-sama." Seto nodded and Mokuba went back to watching his duel. If I had read right, nii-sama mean honorable big brother or was it just brother. I couldn't quite remember. About another five minitues passed and then I heard Mokuba say, "We're here!"
"Good I'm hungry," Seto said getting out of the car, but before he went inside he helped me out of it.
"Thank you kind sir," I teased him and he grinned at me. Again, he offered me his arm and we went towards his house. His house was HUGE. It was a mansion. The entry way could fit my entire house I swear. The ceiling were high and a HUGE chandler hung from the ceiling. I stared in awe at it all. The stair case was one of those elegant winding one and he tile floor looked like a big chess board. The walls were all white but that just made it look more elegant really.
Seto chuckled at me, "You like?" he asked. all I could do was nod.
"this place is amazing," I told him. I dropped his arm and went to the middle of the entry way and spin around like you see in the movies. Oh how Amane would have loved it here. It was only after I said it that I realized I said it out loud.
"well now you can enjoy and live life for the both of you," Seto said. I blinked at him, I had never thought of that. Maybe instead of wanting to join her in the blissful after life I should live for the both of us. Wouldn't that be what she would have wanted.
"Never thought of it like that," I muttered to myself. Seto offered his arm to me again smiling. He could tell he just helped me enjoy life a little better.
"Come on, let's go to the kitchen. I'm starved," he said. I laughed taking his arm and walking around. The tile, I found out, was throughout the house. The entire house was a huge chess board. The long hallways seemed to be never ending and by the time we reached the kitchen I counted 15 doors, and that wasn't even the end of the hall.
"This place is HUGE!" I observed as we entered the kitchen.
"It was our stepfathers before he died," Seto explained. Now was the time to find out about Seto's past. How much were we alike?
"Tell me about your past. You know a lot of mine, but I know almost nothing about yours," I mentioned.
He sighed, "I knew I would have to tell you sooner or later." I waited, it was hard to dig up your past. "Well, our mother died when Mokuba was born and when I was eight, our father died. We were orphaned and none of our relatives wanted us. They sent us to an orphanage. Many people wanted to adopt me, I have always been smart. I wouldn't go unless they took Mokuba too. No one did, they all just wanted me. We stayed there for a while. I helped Mokuba the same why you helped Amane. He got bullied too. Then our step father came to the orphanage. I challenged him to chess and if I won he would adopt Mokuba and me. he accept and, as you see, I won. He forced me to study so I could take over the company. Before be it was a weapons company but I made it a gaming company. I took it over before I suppose to with the help of the Big 5. That's our past, what's yours?" he asked. his past was hard, but he was about to find mine was harder.
"Well, I will begin on a night 7 years ago. I had a flashback about it earlier. The night was cold so Amane and I were sitting in front of the fire. Our parents had been fighting for a year. My mom started to smoke and drink and my dad didn't like that. He wanted her to stop but she wouldn't. We could hear muffled yelling upstairs. Amane hated it, she was only 3 and didn't understand. I was 8, I got it a little bit more. Then I heard my mom yell WATCH IT," I mocked the way she said it, "then something was thrown. I think it was a vase. The next day my dad told us to pack our stuff and we left Japan. We moved to England where our trouble began. On our first day there I got picked on for my name, Ryou," I cringed, "they would yell me name then push me. Later they began to cut my arms. Amane got passed that though, she was more of a social butterfly. One day they strung me up to a tree and cut nmy arms and legs in several places, then left me there to bleed. A teacher found me and they were only suspended for a month. My dad wasn't always home, he had work to do in Egypt. So I took care of Amane like I was her mother. The mother she never got. We had good time and she had friends. I had no friends but her, she didn't know that. Well I think she kind of did, but didn't bring it up. I'll never know..," I stopped and took a claming breathe. This was a lot fo stuff. "The day she died.." again I stopped, this part was har, "dad had just gotten back. He was driving us home from school, our favorite song was playing, Long Live by Taylor Swift. We were all laughing and enjoying our stuff. He gave us our gifts, my ring and a necklace for Amane. That was the last gift he gave me," tears welled up in my eyes, "then the light turned green. He went forward like everyone else but some IDIOT decided to run his red light. The car connected with ours. I should I have been the first one dead, they don't know how I am alive. Amane and dad died. The last word Amane said was Ryou," by this time tears streamed in a stream on my face. "I wish was dead. I wish I would have died first so that way the last thing I heard was Amane saying my name. Instead I am forced to live without ever hearing her voice again," I turned to Seto. My face tear streaked but I didn't care. "Keep Mokuba close. For when he dies, it will almost kill you. You don't know how good you have it till he dies. Trust me on this," I told him. Tears streamed down my face, of pain, anger, grief. I didn't care who saw anymore, as long as it wasn't my mother.
Seto took my chin into his hand and lifted my head up so my eyes met his. He searched my face before saying, "If you died, then I never would have met you. I have never been so open with a person in my life, but you make me open. I have only felt this relaxed with books and Mokuba. I promise to keep him close… and you." My heart skipped a beat when he said and you. "You are the best person I have ever met Bakura. I feel like you understand me, more than Mokuba can. Even though you have been through harder time you understand stuff better. You are smart like me and we both care deeply for our younger siblings. I would do anything for Mokuba but if he did die, I would know he would want me to live too. You must live for Amane, live for her since she can't. Don't give up Bakura," he told me. For once, I believed someone. Believed that he was right, I did need to live for both of us. He then bent down and kissed me. My heart picked up pace, no one had ever even tried to kiss me. I let him kiss me there, in his kitchen. I would live, and Seto would help me regain my life. At first I was tense with surprise but I started to relax. I wrapped my arms around his neck and the world disappeared. It was just me and Seto. My pain from the scars and grief lifted for once. Then the door opened. We broke a part and I was blushing a lot. Mokuba walked in and lucky for us he was staring at his DS.
"What's for snack?" Mokuba asked not looking up from his DS. What was he playing that was so interesting?
"I am heating up some pretzels. Want one?" Seto asked him. Mokuba nodded still playing whatever it was.
"Whatcha playn'?" I asked Mokuba. He paused his game and sat at the table they had in the kitchen.
"This new game Seto go me," he explained grinning. "It's SOOO much fun! You should try it sometime," Mokuba said. It hurt how much Mokuba reminded me of Amane but Seto's words rang in my head, 'enjoy and live life for the both of you.' I will, starting now.
"I may just have to," I said smiling at him. The microwave dinged and Seto pulled out three pretzels. He sat down handing one to Mokuba and me. I took a bite of it and was instently in love the warm fresh taste. "These are awesome," I said taking another bite. Mokuba nodded with his mouth full and grin on his face. It seemed like yesterday her and Amane were doing the same thing.
FLASHBACK
Dad was going to come home the next day and we had extra money. This didn't happen a lot so I decided to treat Amane. I took her to a small pretzel place around the corner. "Where are we going?" she asked. I hadn't told her we had extra money and we were going to get pretzel. Her favorite food was pretzels but we never had enough money to buy them. This time we did.
"You'll see, I think you'll like it," I told her smiling at her. Her stomach grumbled and I laughed. Good thing we were going to get food, I thought.
"I'm hungry," she complained. I laughed, she wont be for long.
"Just wait a bit Maney," I told her. When she got hungry, she complained A LOT, other than that she didn't complain. Didn't complain about getting bullied or beat at all. I admired her strength. We got to the shop and her eyes got big.
"We have extra money?" she asked excitedly. I nodded and she ran inside. The owner knew us and sometimes gave us free pretzels. Not often because she knew we hated sympathy. It just was how dad brought us up.
"What will it be today girls?" the owner asked. I held up a ten dollar bill and she smiled. She knew what I meant, we are paying. She smiled at me.
"One cheese for her a regular for me," I told her.
"Right away," she said. Then she went and made us them. She handed them to me and I handed her the last of our money. Good thing dad was coming home tomorrow, I thought. Amane was jumping with joy as I handed her, her cheese pretzel. Her favorite food in the whole world.
She ate it and smiled, "good?" I asked laughing. She nodded with her mouth full and a grin on her face.
FLASHBACK ENDS
"Bakura you okay?" Mokuba asked. I smiled like I smiled at Amane so long ago.
"Yes I am fine," I said eating the rest of my pretzel. Amane would have loved it, even if it wasn't a cheese one. I wonder if she is eating pretzels in heaven. I bet she was… her own personal piece of heaven was a pretzel so it is only fitting that, that's the food she is eating there. Seto could tell I had another flashback. Mokuba's phone went off. He had a phone, already, I thought. Amane didn't, only me, we didn't have enough money for both of us to have a phone. Then again… Seto was rich.
"Hello? Okay… yea hold on let me ask," he put the phone on mute and turned to Seto. "Could I go over to Yugi's?" he asked Seto smiling sweetly. So Mokuba likes Yugi and her friends yet Seto doesn't. What happened here?
Seto thought it over then sighed and said, "Okay, I guess so."
Mokuba grinned at him, "Thank you Seto!" then he unmuted the phone. "Hey Yugi… yea I can come… be over in a few," he told Yugi then hung up. "You two want to go?" he asked us. We both shook our head. "I'll have a guard drive me and then call you Seto as soon as I get you, okay?" Seto nodded and off Mokuba went. He was so sweet, if Amane were alive I would hook those two up.
"You had a flashback. Didn't you?" he said as soon as Mokuba had left. I nodded and waited to see what he would say next. "about?" he asked.
"Amane's favorite food was pretzels. One time when we had some extra money when dad left I got her, her favorite food EVER! A cheese pretzel from this small shop around the corner. She was so happy and she looked like Mokuba when she ate it. He reminds me of her so much," I told him.
"I would have loved to meet her," Seto told me.
I laughed, "She would have fainted. You were her idol. All I heard was what Kaiba Corp was coming out with and how one day she would Seto Kiaba herself." I grinned at him, this was all true. She was obsessed with him. I couldn't imagine what she would have done if she knew about Mokuba.
"Really, and now look. You are sitting here with me," he grinned. "How lucky you must think you are," he teased. I rolled my eyes laughing.
"Half the time I didn't listen," I pointed out and Seto looked fake hurt.
"Oh it hurts," he pretened smirking at me. I shoved him lightly, so this is what it's like to have a friend. Then my phone went off, uh oh.
"Hello?" I answered it.
"You get home RIGHT NOW! You need to make me dinner," my mom said. Yep, I thought, she was drunk. I looked at the time 5:30, yep drunk time. I needed to answer cautiously or I would get burned when I got home.
"Yes mother, I am coming right now," I told her. My tone level, showing no emotion, the way she liked it. Like I was her own personal robot that did her bidding.
"You better be," she said and hung up. Great, I thought, I didn't make it home before drunk time and now I can't hide up in my room. I would be forced to make her dinner.
"Something wrong?" Seto asked. I sighed, all good things must come to an end.
"I have to go home. Like fast too, my mom is already drunk," I told him grabbing my backpack.
"Allow one of my drivers to drive you home," he offered.
"That would be great," I told him smiling.
"Oh and Bakura," he said.
"Yea?" what was he getting at?
"I would love to take you out on a proper date sometime," he said.
I grinned, "I'll hold you to that," I told him. He took a step forward and kissed me again. My heart fluttered.
"Sounds good to me," he said smirking. Then I left. His driver drove me home. I was so happy and blissful, but that was all about to change. For all answers do come in good time, and one was just about to show up.
