Play for A Spell- Chapter 5
Seto lay awake in his virtual tent, staring at his virtual roof. The detail of the virtual environment, he had to admit, was remarkable. As was the realness of just how faithfully Negi Springfield's annoying voice had been translated into Chisame's virtual reality.
That stupid Negi, Chisame's friend, or according to her, nemesis, had been prattling on to Mokuba inanely about magic and wizards for over an hour since Seto had said good night to Chisame, and slipped into the narrow tent he had been forced to share with them.
He felt bad for Chisame, though. Her tent was just as small, but there were a lot more girls in the group…all of which were expected to sleep in that confined space with Chisame. The girls probably went to Mahora Academy, he reasoned. He'd found the virtual reality machine in Chisame's dorm, after all. Logically, that must have been how the stupid girls he'd agreed to save (for the sake of acquiring the VR simulator they were now inside, naturally) had found it. They probably lived in the dorm, too.
How banal, Seto thought. He'd never lived in a school dormitory: he'd had a room of his own at the Kaiba building for the longest time now…..before that….Seto didn't want to remember the place he had shared with Mokuba. He'd never been to boarding school, never had to share living space with classmates like that. If I had, he thought, smirking, I probably would have gone crazy by now. I couldn't stand living with airheaded little brats like that. I have my company to deal with. Brats like them would only get in the way. Plus, I couldn't leave the dorm to duel.
Chisame-chan lives with it though, he thought. He couldn't believe Chisame had said he could call her that, when they'd said good night. It was so….friendly. Seto wasn't a friendly person. Charismatic, yes. A leader, certainly. But "friendly"….that wasn't something that came off Seto in droves. In fact, his nemesis, Yugi, had made it very clear….Seto was unfriendly. He refused to be part of their little club.
Yugi didn't get why. To Seto, it was obvious. Yugi and his dorky little friends were always babbling about magic and teamwork….two things that Seto had never really believed in. There was nothing magical about Seto's life. Magic and teamwork were just things stupid people dreamed of when they couldn't do things on their own. Seto was fine on his own…he didn't need friends, didn't see any use for them. Or for believing in fairy tales.
Nevertheless, Chisame had been friendly to him. Her friendliness was less repelling to him than Yugi's. It probably had something to do with the fact that Chisame didn't offer friendship to just anyone. Not like Yugi-san, Seto thought, almost chuckling to himself in the darkness. Yugi-baka is a total friendship whore. He thinks everybody wants to be his friend.
And he calls me egotistical! Seto laughed bitterly to himself in the dark, as the high-pitched drone of Mokuba and Negi's conversation washed over him, annoyingly, again.
Seto hated listening to Negi tell his little brother fairy tales about wizardry. Seto knew the truth: the only "magic" in the world was hard work. This Negi kid needed to get over himself, and realize the truth.
Magic didn't exist. Magic hadn't brought them here, virtual reality tech had..good virtual reality tech, Seto thought, the kind he'd like to get his hands on, but tech nonetheless. Seto wasn't really magical, either, despite the wizard outfit he wore in the game. Magic wasn't real.
Seto wondered to himself if one of the reasons Chisame was so friendly to him was the fact that he was the only other person besides herself that could convince these idiots that magic wasn't what had trapped them, and wouldn't help them the way good old-fashioned gaming would.
He was a pragmatist. Just like Chisame-chan.
Across the clearing where they slept, in her own virtual tent, Chisame was awake, wishing all the things Seto was thinking were true.
Author's Note: Thank you, first of all, to everyone who's added Play for a Spell to their Story Alert and/or Favorite Stories list. I'm glad you all like this story so much..It's the 1st one I've written. I'm sorry I haven't updated it in forever. I've been working on my two new oneshots, Hold On, Don't Cry (for Fruits Basket) and Where the Heart Lies (for Soul Eater/Negima). I've also been promoting my friends' fics..but more info on that is on my profile, so I don't need to yak about it to you here. My newest fanfic, A Night of Rebirth, has also been a distraction :P It's a Yu-Gi-Oh/Soul Eater crossover..it's a Halloween-themed romance fic, so if you like that kind of thing, please check it out!…I've also been trying not to fail English IV O_0 Nevertheless, the increasing popularity of this story inspired me to write another chapter. Chapter 6 will be up soon, as well. Please review this chapter…I'd love to hear what my fans think of it! Y'all are the ones that make this possible, after all Keep reading, and keep supporting this fic.
-Storychan