Wow, a lot of reviews! Sorry this chap took so long . . .and that it's a bit shorter, but it's finally here!
.
.
.
.
Chapter 5
.
.
.
.
It had been quite a while since Serenity was back at school. She missed half of the first week of school, and the weekend just seemed to add to the anticipation of returning. The school towered over her, similarly to the first day, but instead of feeling intimidated, she felt an odd embrace of sanctuary and happiness. She smiled at the thought of seeing Joey and all of her friends for the first time in nearly four days.
She missed them on the way to school, but was determined to have a great lunch. Making her way to her first class she checked all the bruises she had to make sure the remaining marks were hidden. Most of them had disappeared, and her split lip looked like little more than a crack from chapped lips. The bruise on her forehead was still there, but she had covered it up with a bit of make-up.
Serenity stepped into her first class, and handed a note from her father to the teacher. He looked it over, stopped, looked it over again, then looked her over, stopping where the bruises that showed were. Serenity ducked her head, embarrassed and turned to seat herself when the teacher allowed. She almost stopped when she noticed a pair of blue eyes on her, but she wanted to make it to her seat before anyone made any comments.
"How's your father?" Kaiba said, trying to make a point.
"Fine." She replied, keeping her eyes averted.
The class went on and on, for what seemed like forever. The teacher would stop every once in a while and just look at her. Kaiba would turn every once in a while, and make his gaze apparent as well.
The class finally ended, but as she left the room, she felt someone grab her arm.
"You know I know." Kaiba's voice crept from behind her. He pulled her aside, taking her into an empty classroom.
"What d-do you mean?" She stuttered. Her heart jumped a beat. She knew she had to face him sometime, but for some reason, he always caught her off guard.
"You know what I mean." He said, loosening his grip, and looking at the slightly covered bruise on her arm.
"Kaiba, I told you-"
"I don't believe you." He stood over her, kind of like an angry parent, and gave her a look that said 'Straight to your room!'.
"My father . . .My father would never do that." She assured him. Unfortunately for her it wasn't assuring enough. His eyes formed slivers, just wide enough for him to see out of.
"So you want me to take your word on this?" She nodded. Her heart beat faster. She hadn't made eye contact, so she couldn't see his face. Couldn't tell what he was thinking. "Fine. But I warn you now, if I see something even slightly wrong, I'm calling the cops. And he better hope that they find him before I do." With that, Kaiba left. Serenity stood by herself in the empty classroom, dizzy and scared.
"I heard Serenity was in first block! I wonder where she's been." Tea said, leaning over her lunch.
"Yea, me too, I hope she wasn't sick. That would be awful." Tristan added. He stabbed a meatball with his plastic spork, which sliced right through it instead of picking it up.
"It is that season." Yugi said, a bit dazed. He looked like he was coming down with something.
"Hi guys!" All heads turned.
"Hi Serenity!" They all said in unison, which was somewhat scary. They all paused.
"Are . . .you ok?" Tea said, getting up to stand by Serenity's side.
"I'm fine. I just . . . well, who knew the city was dangerous at night?" She joked.
"Give me their names! I'll slaughter them all!!!!!!!!!!!!" Tristan was no longer in his seat. He was kneeling at her feet, clutching her hand.
"Tristan, It was dark. I didn't hear their names, or see them, but thank you for caring so much . . ." She said with a smile, trying to make him stand up. After a few minutes he did. Taking a seat and beginning her lunch, she gazed off, looking out the window into the field beyond. Her stomach felt like a block of ice. She just couldn't eat. She wasn't sick or hurt, something just didn't sit right.
"Hiya Ren!" Serenity smiled. If one person in the world could make her feel good, it was Joey. He seemed to be in the best mood.
Lunchtime was full of laughs and all worries seemed to disappear with Joey egging on new jokes and fun.
Finally done with school, Serenity started on her way to the orphanage. The street was full of people passing, walking and waving. A few lesser gangs, the kind that didn't do any real crime, but wanted to be feared, stood at the entrance of alleyways waiting for people to get close enough so they could glare at them. Groups of kids sat on stoops, chatting and listening to music. Domino lit up as school got out. Music, chatter and the sound of cars passing by played the melody of the town.
Serenity smiled and waved at the kids she knew from school, and looked away from the questionable characters she passed. As busy as it was in the day, the streets were still dangerous, and people looked the other way all the time.
Serenity had just crossed the street when a limo pulled up next to her, and slowed to her pace.
' Oh, great. Kaiba again.' As much as she wanted to forget that he had seen what he had, she knew he never would. It was weird though. It wasn't like him to care about her . . .about anyone really. It was odd to her that a complete stranger would care, let alone the king of stand-off-ish-ness.
The window rolled down beside her, allowing the person inside a chance to speak.
"Serenity!! HI!"
"M-Mokuba? Oh, thank the . . . I though you were . . ." She stopped, smiling at the cute little boy.
"Seto? No, I'm not that scary!" He said making monster impression. He just couldn't be scary.
"He is quite a scary person at times." She laughed.
"Where are you going?" He asked, looking down the street, to where she might be going.
"To work. Do you know the Rosary Rhyme Orphanage?" His eyes lit up.
"That's where I'm going!" He almost shouted.
"What? Why?" She asked, mind racing for an explanation.
"It's a class I'm taking. I get credits to help the people in the Orphanage!" He was so excited , it nearly leaked from his pours. " Ride with me! Maybe we ca do this every day!"
"If that's not too much of a problem . . ." She said, grateful that she didn't have to walk the whole way.
"Hop in!" They chatted along the way and his presence made work go by twice as fast as it would have before.
The days seemed like a series of really really unbelievably good dreams. Yes, he'd been going to school every day, but other than that . . . really really unbelievably good dreams. He felt like a teen rockstar, every day after school jealous individuals would watch as a beautiful hot blond drove a fantastic white convertible around to the front of the school, and pick up one and only one student, to take him off to the time of his life. In their faces!
"Hi hun, Want a ride on the wild side?" Mai chose as her pickup line of the day. Joey smiled and jumped over the door, and buckled up. She laughed at him and sped out of the schools entrance.
The mall was quite a drive, but somehow it came and went to fast. Kids fresh out of school flooded the place, making employees a bit more grumpy than the rest of the day. Joey didn't care. Actually, he didn't quite notice.
"Joey, you cant afford that." Mai said, laughing a bit. He was always trying to impress her. He giggled bashfully and fiddled around with his pockets.
"Uh, Mai . . .I've uh . . .I've been kinda . . . Nah, you're right, I cant afford this." Joey said, putting the shiny necklace down. She laughed a bit, and took his hand leading him out of the store. Joey fingered the velvety box in his pocket, opening it, then letting it snap shut, hiding the precious ring inside. She didn't know that he'd been saving up for almost all of their relationship.
Yami walked down a busy street, seemingly going nowhere. He'd had his nose in a book, completely taken by the words written before him. Somehow, despite Yugi in his head, screaming at him to pay attention, he was captivated by the book.
A blaring horn released him from his trance as a truck came to a screeching halt mere feet away from him. Curse words were uttered, and Yami waved embarrassedly and tried to get out of the way. Looking around, he realised that he was almost two miles from where he started . . .and he only had two chapters of the book left. He decided to sit and rest for a bit.
"Yugi?" Yami was pulled from hiss book again. This time by someone a bit more friendly.
"Tea," He leaned toward her, "Actually, it's me, Yami." He informed her. She automatically straightened.
"Uh, oh . . .H-hi, Yami." She said, a slight blush creeping across her face. He smiled. As much as she tried to hide it, anyone could tell how she felt.
"What are you doing in this part of town?" He asked, trying to start conversation.
"Oh, I had a dance recital." She said, poking the ground with her feet. "What about you?"
"I'm . . . reading." He said, not quite sure how to answer the question.
"You went a long way from home just to read." She said, smiling. He was in fact, quite a way from home.
"I guess I got carried away." He said, trying not to sound as embarrassed as he was.
"Must be an incredibly interesting book!" Tea said, trying to catch a glimpse of the cover. Yami held it up, revealing the book as "Egyptian Power; The Millennium Items". She smiled at him. Of course, another book about Egypt.
"There's so much more the Millennium Items can do. I've really only broken the surface of the secret powers that lie within them." Yami said, getting a strange look in his eyes. He glanced down at the paragraph he started to read before she talked to him. He stopped suddenly, eyes widening.
"Tea . . . I can get my own body . . ."
.
.
.
.
Ok, so read, review, and I promise the next chappie will be up soon!