Chapter 4

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Serenity raced down the dimly lit streets, taking any short cut along the way, no matter how dangerous.

'Dad's gonna kill me!' She thought, beating herself up for the miss-management of time. She had been working at the Rosary Rhyme Orphanage after school today when one of the girls suddenly disappeared without a word, and left Serenity to close. She had told her boss many times that she had a curfew, and had to be home by 10, but her boss told her to tell her father to set priorities, which wouldn't have went well.

She ran through the damp alleyways, trying to make it home before 10:30, to minimise punishment, but it wasn't looking good. She raced through the alleyways she would normally never think to go down, trying anything to cut time.

The horrid screeching of the little metal death-box beside his bed shook him from what was supposed to be a nice relaxing sleep. Kaiba threw two tremendously heavy legs over the side of the bed and wondered if they always weighed this much. He picked back up the little metal death-box, and hit the reset button on the side, so it would tear him away from his comfortable $3,800 bed the next morning. After all these years of waking up early, he still wasn't a morning person.

It seemed that instead of wiping all the stress of the previous day away, the day just seemed to be holding it above his head, waiting for him to wake so it can drop it on him and resume with it's job. He still had the Virtual Machines to work on a bit after school, but they were just about ready for beta testing. The time trials for the hologram generators were all done and being stamped with the Kaiba seal of approval at this very moment. The Dueling stations were being synchronized with the generators this evening and the power transmitters were being tested for shortages this afternoon. Nothing he needed to be there for, but all things he needed to know about. And then there was Mokuba . . .

The knock on his door had an "I'm sorry, please forgive me, I love you" tone to it. Quiet, respectful, and slow.

"Come in Moki." Kaiba said, slipping on some expensive morning footwear. The door creaked open and a guilty Mokuba hobbled in. He leaned his crutched against the bedside dresser and gave his big brother a hug.

"I'm sorry I ruined your day yesterday." he said, as sadly as he could.

"Moki . . . you didn't ruin my day. Something else did." Mokuba looked up at him, with big questioning eyes.

"So it wasn't my fault that you yelled at Serenity?" He said, wiping tears away with a sleeve.

"What? Yelled at . . ? No. That was . . .No. It wasn't your fault." It caught him off-guard that Mokuba would ask such a question.

"Then why . . .?" He prompted.

"Well, I . . .wait, how did you . . ." Kaiba gave a stern questioning glare to Mokuba, who shook it off rather easily.

"I ran into Yugi at the Pizzeria on 3rd street, with my friends from school. He told me what happened in the lunch room. If I didn't wake you up early and bother you about the orphanage, then you would have been in a better mood, and not taken it out on her . . ." Kaiba gave him a hug, and shushed him. 'Today might be worse than yesterday.' he thought to himself.

'What to do . . . I do almost feel a slight bit of guilt for snapping on her like that . . .But I don't apologize. Perhaps I'll just do her a favour? That's enough to excuse me from saying it, and I wont be bothered by this any more. . . but . . . where is she?' Kaiba snapped out of his thoughts, realising that class was already 15 minutes in and Serenity was nowhere to be found. Kaiba pushed thoughts of her away as he focused on the class-work.

It was a few minutes before the end of class when he finally had it. He would bring her the homework from the classes she missed for as long as she was out, as a token of good will. It's something any classmate could be stuck with, but could also refuse. She didn't need to know that he decided he would take the liberty. Knowing that he didn't say no to such a minimal task would be enough to say 'I don't hate you I just blew up from stress, and you got caught in it.' . . .Right? It was good enough for him.

"What do you mean out?" The boy said, grabbing a fistful of green cloth.

"You heard me. I told ya, when my sister gets back, I'm out. She's back, I'm out." Joey said, brushing off the angry kid.

"You know what backing out means. You sure you wanna?" Joey had enough. He quickly turned on the boy, slamming his fist into the wall next to his face, making a point.

"You know I'm one of the strongest members, and that I don't need you. You need me. And that just isn't profitable for me anymore. I'm outta here, and if you try anything, and I mean anything, I'll make sure you and whoever else regrets it. Got it?" He said through his teeth. He dropped the boy before he could even swallow, and left.

"Hey, hon. Wanna ride?" Ah, the feisty, beautiful Mai. How was it that she always showed up at the right times? Her white and lavender convertible Ford Mustang GT roared as she pulled her sunglasses down to get a better glimpse of him.

"Hell yes." He said, jumping the door and getting comfortable. "How'd ya know where I was?" he asked.

"Sweetie, when you're a rich girl who's got any experience dating, you learn a few tricks on how to spy on men." She replied, winking at him. He gave her a weird look, and she sighed. She pulled out her GPS and tapped on a few buttons, then turned it to face him. "This doubles as a mobile phone tracking device. The day you gave me your cell number was the day I started spying." Joey looked at the machine, seeing a little arrow with his name on it pointing to their exact location. He frowned.

"Why are ya tracking me?"

"I just wanna see what you're up to." She said, closing the GPS.

"You wanna see if I'm cheatin' on ya." He said, folding his arms in front of him. She sighed again, then looked at him. "Why would I cheat on you? You're the most beautiful, fun girl out there!" He said. She laughed

"I know, I just wanted to hear you say it!" With that she hit the gas and zoomed off, laughing with her boytoy.

It seemed the day dragged on too long. It was only lunchtime when Kaiba was ready to leave and just blow off everything. He almost did. He didn't need to apologize. They were trying his patience. It was their fault. . . and yet, he still felt a little guilty. He figured he should just go home and that this was all just an off day. He wanted too. Why he stayed was beyond him.

"Hi Kaiba! Do you want to sit with us?" Yugi chimed, happy as ever.

'As if' Kaiba thought. "Where's Serenity?" he said bluntly.

"Why would you want to know about such 'disgusting filth'?" Tristan said, stirring his cafeteria lunch with a plastic spork. Kaiba gave him a glare and ignored the rest of his sarcastic noises and remarks.

"I haven't seen her today. Joey's absent too." Yugi pointed out.

"Where do they live?"

"Why do you want to know?" Tea jumped in, staring Kaiba down with little effect.

"That's not your concern." He replied, keeping his eyes on Yugi.

"They dont live together." Yugi said. "Serenity lives with her father. Joey lives alone." 'At least I wont run into that damned mutt.' Kaiba thought to himself. Yugi was kind enough to give directions to her house, and Kaiba simply nodded and left.

"A pizza parlor?" Mai said, raising an eyebrow.

"It's all I can afford . . ." Joey said, a bit embarrassed. He didn't understand why Mai wanted to hang out with him so much. He wasn't like her other friends. He couldn't bring her to the restaurants that she was used to. He couldn't take her half the places her friends could. It just seemed so weird that she would want to spend time with a poor kid.

A smile flashed across her face. "I haven't been to a pizza parlor in ages! I used to have so much fun. So much better then those ritzy titzy places my parents used to take me." She said, flipping her hair and getting the directions to Joey's favorite pizzeria on her GPS. 'Now I remember why I love this woman!' Joey thought excitedly.

As they pulled into the pizzeria, Joey noticed a limo pulling in to the same parking lot.

"Kaiba doesn't like pizza . . ." He thought aloud.

"Or really much of anything." Mai added. Joey smiled. She knew him too well. Joey and Mai stood, waiting to see the person getting out of the limo, so they could decide on whether to go to another place or to sit down and enjoy some pizza.

"Oh, it's just Mokuba." Joey said, a bit relieved.

"Hi Joey!" Mokuba said, noticing them. Joey and Mai were already making their way over to him. Mokuba smiled and waited, seeing as his crutches took too much energy from him at times.

"So, what are you doing out of school?" Joey asked, staring him down, much like Kaiba would, which made Mokuba want to laugh and cringe at the same time.

"I had a doctors appointment, and got the rest of the day off. And you?" He attempted the same stare down, but just looked too cute to get away with it.

"I skipped." Joey said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Mai smiled and Mokuba laughed.

"Wanna sit with me?" He asked. He was alone, probably because most of his friends would be in school at this time, so Joey shrugged and followed him in. "So, Joey," Mokuba started, once they were all seated and pizza was ordered. "Did Seto really yell at Serenity?" Mokuba asked, wide eyed and cute as hell.

"Yeah. No offense Mokuba, but that brother of yours needs a good kick in the a-"

"Joey!" Mai said, maternal instincts kicking in.

" . . .Butt." Joey said quietly. Mokuba laughed.

"I know. But I haven't met someone who could yet, so I'll stick with my puppy dog eyes." He said happily. "Has he apologized to her?"

"Kaiba? Apologize?" Joey was stunned that someone, no, anyone would even think to ask such a question.

"Yea, I guess it was a far shot. I tried to make him this morning . . . I even cried a little, that always works." He said giving a silly pout face, and laughing. Joey and Mai laughed too. The PA announced that their pizza was up and they all dove in, fighting over the last two pieces when the time came.

"Are you sure you want to go there, Mr. Kaiba? That part of the neighborhood isn't very safe." The driver said as Kaiba gave him the destination.

"Remind me, because I forgot. Is your job to question my decisions or is it to drive me where the hell I want to go?" At that the driver promptly shut up, and pulled out of the school parking lot.

The houses the limo passed slowly began to change into worse and worse models of the same buildings, until finally they all seemed like they were all abandoned or just trashed. The limo pulled up to a gray-ish tan duplex. Numbers 17 and 18. Yugi had said that Serenity lived with her father in number 17, but the actual duplex looked like it could be a one bedroom apartment, instead of two separate living areas.

"Wait for me." He instructed. The driver swallowed hard and looked around, checking to see if any gang members were making the limo their personal leaning post at the time.

Kaiba marched up to door 17, and rang the bell, which surprisingly worked.

"What?" A grumpy middle-aged man answered, opening the door. He wreaked of alcohol, and it looked as if he hadn't shaved in a month. He presumed it was her father.

"Is Serenity here?" Kaiba asked, trying not to vomit from the smell of him. The man looked Kaiba up and down, scowling the whole time, before saying, "Why?"

"I have her homework from the classes she missed." Kaiba informed him. The man was trying his nerves. A few more minutes of scowling and glaring passed before the man made up his mind.

"Serenity! Come get your shit!" He yelled, moving aside, and leaning against a wall. The apartment was actually quite clean. There were a few articles of clothing thrown about, but other than that it didn't look so bad. The man waked into the kitchen area which was only a few feet away while waiting for her, and grabbed a drink. Kaiba could hear shuffling and finally he saw her come around a corner he hadn't noticed.

He was shocked. He watched her look up and get the same sensation of shock in her own eyes. She immediately looked away, as he looked her up and down. He didn't know what to think.

A large bruise formed over the side of her forehead. She had a split lip and a black eye as well. As Kaiba looked her over he realized that she had bruises on her arms and legs and she walked with a bit of a limp too. He didn't know what to say.

Serenity's father moved past her, telling her to hurry up, and provoking a noticeable flinch as he came near. Kaiba didn't think, he reacted. Before anyone knew what was happening he had Serenity's father up against the wall.

"What the fuck did you do to her?" He yelled, pinning him harder.

"Get the fuck offa me you fuckin punk!" He yelled back, trying to rid himself of Kaiba's grip.

"No!, Please Kaiba!" Serenity screamed, throwing herself at him. She grabbed Kaiba's arm, half trying to get him to let go, and half trying to steady herself. "Please, it wasn't him!" Kaiba only looked at her. Her face, her eyes, her tears. The flashbacks were unbearable, and only made him more angry.

"Kaiba let him go, please. I was being stupid! It was late and I was trying to get home, Kaiba let go!" Kaiba loosened his grip a bit, but it was still strong enough to keep her father in place. "It was dark out and I was cutting through alleyways trying to get home. A group of guys jumped me. They took my money and beat me up. Please Kaiba, it wasn't him." She had lost a lot of energy during the short confrontation, and fell limp at his feet. He could hear her sobbing while trying to hold herself up.

Kaiba's grip loosened even more, and this time her father could swat him away, landing a punch on his unsuspecting face.

"Get the fuck outta my house, you little shit. That'll teach you to come barging in, fucking prick." Kaiba was knocked back a bit, but righted himself quickly. Serenity was still on the floor picking up her homework that he had brought her. Kaiba bent down to gather her things and help her up, while her father took out a cigarette, lit it and glared at him as he walked away. After he heard the a door slam, he lifted Serenity's face.

"Was it really a gang?" He said, kneeling in front of her and holding her face so she couldn't look away. "Don't lie to me." He said, his voice dropping lower as he continued. Fresh tears lined her eyes as she nodded slowly. " . . . liar." he said a bit to harshly, making her flinch. He removed his hand, realizing how scared she was.

"I was jumped in an alleyway two streets down from here. There were four of them. They were laughing, like it was a game . . ." She couldn't look at him. Kaiba helped her up and handed her the homework, then he left without a word.

Serenity wept as she watched the limousine pull away, not realizing her father had left his room and was behind her. She cried out as he grabbed a handful of hair, lifting her a bit.

"Good job." He whispered by her ear, then dropped her back on the ground, turned and left.

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Pls dont kill me!!!!!!!!!!! I dont like it anymore than you do, JUST DON'T FLAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! R&R