Whee still catching up and dealing with life. But here this is.
Story belongs to Melzart; anime on which it is based belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.
Appearances
by Melzart
. . .
Chapter 10
Balance of Power
Horrific sniffling and half-stifled sobs reached Kaiba's ears, who was leaning on the bathroom door.
"Naomi! Open up!"
He was trembling, seized by an indescribable terror.
"Go away!" she managed to retort, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
Leave me alone…
At the end of his patience and more worried than ever, with a thrust of his shoulder, he barged in to come across the apocalyptic sight of that body, normally so beautiful, lying dejected on the floor.
Calm came again once he took in the nightmarish scene.
"Leave us alone, Mokuba," he ordered in a low voice, without turning his head to look at his younger sibling.
"But Seto- "
"Do as I say, Mokuba."
So he went away, resignedly and with reticence.
"You leave me alone, too," she breathed. "Go!"
Kaiba couldn't perfectly summarize what he felt in that one moment. Everything signaled what he felt – that it was pity, which mostly repulsed him – but there were so many other sensations clearly indicated to him that the pain that was stuck in his chest resembled most compassion and suffering.
Anything but pity.
She didn't dare move, turned away from him, hoping that he would leave the room.
I have to scare him. I have to be. He couldn't have ever imagined that I could be so weak. Why's he taking so long?
She could feel his gaze weighing down upon her, which granted her, ever so slowly, a rising feeling of anger.
In the midst of all of the torment she hadn't even realized he had slipped closer behind her until she sensed the body heat; when she did, she froze, keeping her head bent downwards. So he couldn't see her face.
He hesitated for a moment before placing his hands on her shoulders, not sure whether she would let him touch her or not. But deciding to act, he laid his hands down delicately, which all the same earned a violet rebuke, another rejection.
"I told you to leave," she ordered him again. "I don't need you."
Kaiba's breathing seemed strained, and his emotions were oscillating between anger and hurt at the words she had just spoken. Rejected. Again. So much cruelty.
I think you do.
She stayed resolute despite everything, holding back her tears only because he was present. She could almost always find the energy to throw him back.
Kaiba felt tired. So tired, and so suddenly. All he had wanted was to hold her for a moment in his arms, to be useful, do something for her, and she said no to even that small bit of comfort.
As if submitting, his lips approached her ear. He murmured very quietly and very low:
"…I know you don't rely on anybody…"
She went to move away from him but stopped short when an unbearable pain rocketed down her side. She was forced to listen to him, not even able to get up without feeling excruciating pain.
"…but listen to me, Naomi," Kaiba continued, his body now directly touching hers.
With his fingers, he brushed aside several wisps of her hair.
She seemed more calm, potentially due to the physical contact.
"I know… that we fight… and we may do so again when you're better…. if that's what you want."
She didn't move, demonstrating that she was attentive to his words.
"But… until then… of course I'll leave you alone."
For the first time in almost two weeks, Kaiba felt calm, in harmony. Softly, his arms wrapped around her - and he didn't feel any struggling.
"Come on," he urged her as he helped her stand in such a way as she felt as little pain as possible.
Quietly, he took her under his arm and helped her to the comfort of her bed. Although the bathroom was right next to the bedroom and thus it was a short journey, Naomi was still limping, and thus it took longer than it would have otherwise.
She kept her head down, completely silent, and Kaiba easily guessed that she was still in some state of shock.
He had found just the right words, proposing at worst a truce between them during the time she was recovering. He at least had respect for his adversary. And she appreciated that profound solicitude.
She had also found a bit of pleasure in the moment, despite the feelings of bitterness and anger.
He ended up simply holding her instead, trying desperately to catch her eye which she instead kept pointedly fixed at the sheets a few feet away. Worse, even, she began turning her head so that he couldn't see her.
"Would you like something? You just have to ask," he risked offering, basing his action off the fact that she hadn't pushed him back and asked him to forget about her this time through.
Nothing. He hoped she understood his obstinacy, his drive to not leave anything up to her.
She stayed quiet, and shook her head no as she sat on the corner of the bed.
Naomi… talk to me. Say something. Anything.
He was hopeless and would have given anything for her to cry instead of lock herself in silence, that submissive silence he normally demanded from everybody else and that now didn't suit him at all.
"…You don't want to talk to me," he said again.
Tears came and began to break through Naomi's blank expression. And even though he saw it, and it yanked at his heartstrings, he still received a plain no for an answer.
Without saying another word, he went for the door, ready to give up.
"Kaiba," she whispered, loud enough for him to hear.
Which caused him to pause just past the doorframe.
"I want… I'd like you…" she stammered, visibly frightened by her own initiative.
The words came haltingly from her mouth, and practically slowed with each new syllable.
"…to stay," she managed, and she still wasn't looking him in the eye.
I'm weak. It's a shame, isn't it, Seto.
… stay?
He didn't turn around but didn't mull over the question for long, instead returning softly back to the bed. He was sure she wanted his company. Carefully, he lay down on the bed beside her, turned to face her to assure himself that he wouldn't miss the slightest reaction.
Normally he would have done practically anything to avoid a situation that was this embarrassing – having to console somebody else. It wasn't at all part of his routine. But for the first time, he wasn't too opposed to it, and was even very touched by the fact that he was obliged to do so.
"Look at me, Naomi."
She dodged his gaze once again, trying as hard as she could to stop her tears from running down her face.
With his hand, he softly led her face towards his. But her eyes still were anchored to the bedspread.
No. Raise your head high, Naomi. As high as you can, his thoughts urged her.
With a sort of half-smirk, he tried to reassure her.
"It'll get better soon."
He saw me before that… before I even woke up. And he's always there. I have to be so frightening… but there's so many things….
He prevented her from squirming away again, refusing to give anything up, including his wish that she would share her suffering with him.
Share. What a funny word for such an egocentric man.
More tenderly still, his lips now hovered slightly over her cheek; he then proceeded to leave a clear imprint on each bruise, as if he hoped to dispel them with his touch.
An immense river of sadness rose again in Naomi's throat, who was continuing to wrestle with herself. Don't sob. Don't sob.
Naomi… do you not sense how much I need you? Forever… more and more…
"Look at me," he breathed again, kissing every inch of her face and brushing over her lips.
It hurts so much, Seto… stop.
But the words stayed tied down in the darkest corner of her heart. Only her red eyes still betrayed her.
All he wished for at that precise moment was to finally be accepted, for her to trust him. Everything else was just her physical recuperation. At least in appearance, her desire was floating somewhere between her heart and her head.
He separated himself from her so he could help her turn towards him, taking great care to not whip her around too brusquely.
But what the hell could be going on in that small head of hers?
I know you're suffering, Naomi, but I'm here. Speak to me.
She seemed to be calming down, reassured by the touch of his fingers on her shoulder and neck, laying close to him. And then her voice seemed so profound, so sincere.
"You pity me, don't you," she murmured suddenly, shattering the silence.
Do I disappoint you?
Kaiba stopped where he was, noticing a very slight interest in her voice. She was afraid of disappointing him? Is that what was tormenting her the most?
"No!" he avowed quickly.
But he saw in her defeated expression that she didn't believe him.
He forced her, tenderly, to look at him again.
"I'm Seto Kaiba. I have no pity," he told her, in all due seriousness.
Some people know more than others, Naomi, I promise, he continued, his mind now on the bastards who were now getting what they deserved.
"Really?" she asked.
Very tenderly, his lips touched her forehead.
"Yeah. Thought you should know."
She didn't appear to be any more comfortable – obviously, something else was haunting her. Kaiba noticed it practically immediately.
Trying to keep all of her dignity, and bracing herself as she expected the worse to come flying from Kaiba's lips, she managed to admit, with a sort of strangled confidence:
"…I didn't want him to touch me," she murmured, her eyes still fixed pointedly away from his own.
Touch me
He understood that she was referring to the ghastly aggression she had undergone and wasn't completely certain how it all had even turned out, seeing as she was already half in a coma by the time he attacked her on the cold floor of that hangar.
A malicious glow came to her eyes as she remembered the bastard. And even though she didn't dare to finish the rest of her thoughts aloud, it looked as if he had heard her confession. And the worried lines on his face had once more relaxed into nothing.
I know. I know that you belong to me, Naomi…
"Did he..." she began, in a voice stripped of confidence.
Rage broiled up again in Kaiba's body, knowing that it was taking very little to set him off now.
But yet again, he drew upon his own fears to comfort her, hiding the true emotions clawing at him behind his voice.
"No, he didn't."
He wouldn't have lived one more minute. I would have killed him with my bare hands, Naomi.
She scrutinized him hard, looking for the slightest sign that he was trying to protect her from herself.
"Do you promise that- "
But he promptly cut her off.
"Yes, I promise. He didn't touch you."
I was afraid I might be late… because….
His cold eyes indicated to her that he wasn't lying. Not even for the sole profit of reassuring her.
With even more tenderness, he put his arm around her.
"Try to sleep a little," he whispered as he waited for her to finally close her eyes.
"Yeah… okay," she said, exhausted.
.. .. ..
He's like a martyr. Tortured day at night for even daring to think to put his hands on you. But it's still not enough. It'll never be enough for him.
A bitter, disgusting smile came to Kaiba's lips, whose thoughts were then suddenly interrupted.
"Who? Who's tortured? " she asked, numb with a sleep that was taking its precious time in coming.
Stupefied, as if he suddenly didn't remember if he had said the words out loud or had kept them for himself, he appeared lightly troubled.
But he was sure of it. He hadn't said anything. How could she have heard him?
"I didn't say anything, Naomi. It must have been a bad dream."
"Yeah… of course," she murmured before finally falling asleep.
Now, he could get to sleep himself. She had begun to open up to him. And he had decided to not rush things.
"Kaiba!" she spluttered out dryly.
She had opened her eyes as she spoke to give the allusion that she was still fully alert.
"What day is it? Tell me!"*
She looked panicked.
"Thursday, I believe," he answered, pressed by the desire to calm her.
"No, what day? Is it Christmas?"
He sighed.
"No. It's the twenty-third. It's in two days."
He even surprised himself; he hadn't even thought about it since before Naomi and Mokuba had been rescued.
Naomi's face contorted so much she seemed on the verge of exploding.
"Oh my god!" she shouted. "Help me up!"
Kaiba held her back in the bed, for better or for worse.
"What?" he demanded, not exactly sure what to think.
What the hell is she thinking?
"I really have to do something. I'm already late!"
She began to tremble again, trying to rise once more.
"If you do not calm down, I'll tie you to the bed," he warned her, his anger already beginning to sprout.
"But you don't understand!" she babbled. "I have to go!"
Kaiba got up then, holding his breath.
"Alright then. Just calm down."
She shook her head frenetically, torn in half between the desire to not tell him anything and the duty to do so.
"It's important!" she insisted.
Kaiba, taking care not to hurt her, pinned her down.
"That's enough, Naomi. You're not going."
She froze under the icy, authoritative tone he had summoned.
Then she let herself fall back down onto her pillow.
"No, no, I'll miss it all…"
Kaiba sat beside her, the air of superiority seemingly oozing out of him.
"Alright. What's this all about?"
But she shook her head no, helpless.
"Naomi. If I can help you, I will. But you have to tell me what's wrong."
She didn't have any other choice.
"It's not about me. It's for the kids at the orphanage," she admitted with a large sigh.
Of course.
Kaiba softened upon registering the reason. He knew it. Even though he probably hadn't wanted to admit it. It was just, with all the recent events, nobody had thought about it.
"I…"
She looked quite pained to have been forced to tell him her secret.
"I give them presents… I come to see them and this year… I'm late. They have to be wondering where I am."
Kaiba, more concerned than ever, couldn't help but feel moved, lost in admiration. He would have loved to have met a person so devoted and charitable as hers when he was a child.
"I haven't gone through my list. They're going to think I've forgotten about them…"
So this was how she had spent the last few Christmases, her heart wide and magnanimous, piously hoping to not once shrink to a mere shadow of what she was the year before.
Kaiba was speechless, stupefied. She was making him remember so many bad memories. But the ocean of her humanity could melt all the glaciers of the fortress of his heart.
"Help me," she begged him.
She went to try to get up a third time. But Kaiba, concerned about the fact she was still awakening, stopped her.
"Where's your list?"
For a split second, he thought he recognized something in her expression.
"In my bag. But I don't know where it- "
"Okay. I'll be back. And I'm warning you…"
He pointed his finger at her to make sure that he would be obeyed.
"Do not move from that bed. Understand?"
She hated being here at his mercy. But she didn't have any other realistic options. Submitting, she bowed her head.
Before she knew it, he came back with the bag that his men had found in the hotel hallway before her disappearance, and dropped it beside her.
Shocked, she still hastened to find the piece of paper she coveted so badly. Kaiba allowed her pause, putting one hand on hers.
"Is this it?"
She nodded again.
In a single fluid motion, he snapped up his cell phone.
"Roland, come up here."
Apparently, everything boiled down to a phone call for Kaiba. Naomi wasn't sure if she should be worried or relieved about that.
Roland quickly made his appearance just past the doorframe to take custody of the list, feet respectfully behind the line.
Nobody entered Kaiba's bedroom. He certainly was no exception.
"I require that everything be done in the given order. And I want it all to be completed before the end of the day. Understood?"
"Yes, sir," Roland said, bowing respectfully.
"But I have to go there," Naomi almost shouted. But Kaiba cut her off.
"No. You are not moving from that spot. My men can take care of themselves."
Roland, waiting in the hallway, started to leave but was held back by his boss, who had strode up to him to make sure that Naomi would not overhear the rest of the conversation.
"I have another request."
Kaiba let his eyes wander over to Naomi, who was trying to hear what he was saying, unravel whatever mystery.
"I want every child in the orphanage to receive our newest model of the Duel Disk and a new duel monsters deck for each of them. Assure also that they can amuse themselves with whatever toys that they desire. And also…"
Roland felt his heart melt with all of the sudden generosity, but he kept attentively listening.
"… they should not go hungry. Bring them the best candy you can find. Anything necessary so that they can have a wonderful Christmas."
"That's very generous of you, sir," Roland told him sheepishly. "But there's a chance that we can't do all of this by – "
"Everything should be ready by, say, tomorrow afternoon. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, sir," Roland bowed again.
Kaiba then seemed to remember something, and it happened to be a much more serious.
"Oh. By the way… how is…"
Kaiba didn't finish his sentence, instead anxiously taking another look back at Naomi.
Luckily his assistant knew whom he was talking about without having to press him for more information. Especially since he had had some time, although fleeting, to lament the damage that had been inflicted on the woman in question.
"Badly, sir. But we're making sure her end isn't anywhere in sight, just as you asked for."
"Good. Very good," Kaiba responded vacantly, his eyes still glued to Naomi.
.. .. ..
"Happy?" Kaiba asked as he joined her once more.
But Naomi didn't feel any more reassured; the remorse had not yet left.
"What?" he asked as he sat by her side, seeing that she could herself sit up if supported by the numerous quantity of pillows surrounding her. "You don't trust me?"
She barely had the courage to look back up at him, visibly ill at ease.
"No, that's not it," she said. "Only… I'm not like you. I'm not used to – "
But she cut herself off suddenly, as if afraid of wounding him.
"I mean – I guess I mean I just don't deal with things with a phone call…. and I don't give orders, you see."
Why does she criticize me all the time? Does she think I have all the time in the world? I'm in charge of an important company. It's important to give orders and to be obeyed.
She paused, biting her lip, conscious that perhaps she hadn't managed to correctly convey her thoughts.
"I appreciate what you've just done. I really do. It's just I would have preferred to do it myself. You know? It's more… personal."
In a relieved grin, which he still tried to hide from her, he replied:
"I know. But you can't… you'll get tired too quickly. Don't worry. My men will take care of it, I'm sure. And…"
Without really meaning to do so, Kaiba had closed the distance between their faces, as if he were trying to breathe in the scent of a flower.
"… you can verify everything before it ever leaves for the orphanage. They'll bring everything here beforehand. Alright?"
Can I kiss you? Hold you against me?
Naomi raised his eyes towards him, and then let them fall away again.
"Thanks," she breathed quietly.
But this time, Kaiba was not about to let her flee from his gaze. Tenderly, he cupped her chin with his fingers, then let them softly slide over her cheek.
A joyous smile sprung to his lips as he felt her shiver at his touch and close her eyes as if she were losing control of herself. He couldn't help but wrap his arms around her and hold her close. Lost in the bliss of holding her to him, he momentarily forgot the risk that it could cause further harm; curiously, however, she did not try to shake off his grasp despite the fact she was holding her breath due to the pain. He even had the sense to notice a small groan escape her when their bodies drew closer.
Then, without completely letting her go, he stopped the tight hug.
"Sorry," he whispered.
A funny gurgling noise signaled the end of the embrace; and Kaiba guessed correctly that Naomi was hungry.
"What do you want to eat? I'll have it sent up."
"No. I'd like to go down to the kitchen."
"I think you should stay here."
But she insisted.
"I need to move around a little."
But the idea didn't please Kaiba at all, who preferred her immobile to injured even more than she was now.
She, however, succeeded in mustering the words that drew out his permission to go. Touching words.
"I don't think you'd let me fall. What could happen if you go with me?"
She trusts me, he repeated to himself, happily given a boost of confidence.
He took a moment to scrutinize her black stare. She was really pulling hard on the heartstrings.
"…Fine."
No, he didn't like the idea. But he had promised. He would be there.
The path to the dining room seemed very long but Kaiba had an uncharacteristic patience, and he walked at her speed, never seeming to want to rush her.
Marie, who Naomi had met a bit earlier at the Kaiba mansion, now came from another room to intercept them.
"Oh, madam, I'm so happy to see you again."
Then came Mokuba, who was meeting up with them as he went to have lunch. He flitted around the two like a butterfly, joyous to see her recovering at such a brisk pace.
He then helped his brother sit her down comfortably.
Departing from his normal self even further, Kaiba chose to not distance himself from the pair, and placed them beside him on one far end of the table.
"What would you like to eat, madam?" Marie hastened to ask Naomi.
She stayed silent, still deciding on her final choice.
"Err…"
She seemed troubled, hardly daring to order something as if she were in a restaurant.
"Come on, Naomi. Don't worry. Order whatever you want," Mokuba laughed, amused at the spectacle.
"Err… just a bit of gruel, I think…." she murmured timidly.
Kaiba's eyebrows shot upwards, as if to question her choice of a meal. But she ignored his reprobation.
"Yes… a little bit of gruel, that'd be great, thanks, Marie."
Marie seemed shell-shocked to have been spoken to so politely.
"Of course, ma'am. With pleasure."
Then she hastened for the kitchen.
Kaiba had been equally surprised. He bossed people around, without even worrying about thanking them. It was his personality.
"They're paid to do their job. You don't have to thank them or beg them, at least under my roof."
Naomi immediately bristled with irritation.
"Well, I don't care," she snapped dryly.
But Kaiba realized his mistake too late. Even Mokuba shot him a reproachful look. He didn't quite grasp how his brother could look so odious if he cared about him that much, all for the sake of superiority and hierarchy.
The atmosphere had quickly gone sour.
What's wrong with me? It's who I am, after all, sadly. But she has to learn I cannot allow myself that kind of weakness. It sounded so good in my head, too, Kaiba thought to himself, bitterly regretting the whole affair.
But he stood up straighter, proud, as if nothing at all had occurred to him.
Kaiba, you're such a monster.
Marie soon came back with lunch, Mokuba and Kaiba eating some of the same food Naomi had requested.
When she had finished serving the three their gruel, Naomi brushed Marie's arm gently.
"Thank you very much, Marie. That was very kind of you."
Marie froze, perfectly conscious of Kaiba's eyes boring furiously into the table in annoyance. But she bowed curtly, and then left them.
Except this time, Kaiba decided not to fan the flames and kept quiet.
She did it on purpose. He wouldn't forget it. It was exactly as if she had taken somebody else's orders in his house, humiliating him and debasing his authority.
He didn't doubt the fact that she was sympathetic for Naomi. But she had deliberately responded to her.
Naomi chose to not further offend him. She didn't care if it angered him or not. He had no right to treat people as if they were less than nothing. She had been horrified to discover the treatment, and had jumped to their defense three fourths of the time.
"Do you have classes today, Mokuba?"
"Oh, yeah," Mokuba said quickly, eager to find some similarity between the three again.
But she was mainly interested only in him.
"What's your favorite?"
"Math!" he claimed immediately.
Kaiba was beginning to lose his patience, hating more than ever being so voluntarily ignored.
He got up without warning, and came back several minutes later with his laptop underneath his arm.
Mokuba, not fooled by his brother's sulking, rolled his eyes towards the heavens as he wondered how thick-headed he could possibly act.
"You haven't told me yet," he then said to Naomi. "What's your favorite subject?"
"Oh. I would say… French. And history… and English, too… and…"
Mokuba broke into laughter upon hearing the smattering of different disciplines.
"…and math, and geography…"
If she had turned around then, she would have even seen a meager smile on Kaiba's face, who, without realizing it, was listening more than he thought he really was. But the grin was wiped away as soon as it had appeared.
"So, you like them all," Mokuba said again, who hadn't stopped chortling.
Naomi couldn't help but laugh a little along with him, which made Kaiba suddenly feel very hot, even though it was normally relaxing to hear her voice.
He was happy, however, that the two beings he loved most in the world understood each other so well.
"Oh, no, you're kidding!" she said. "I hate P.E. and physics and…"
Again, Mokuba broke into more laughter.
"Well, anything having to do with the word "physical", I think," she admitted.
She noticed the slip-up too late.
Kaiba couldn't stop a very frank smile now.
"How curious," he said loudly. "When we all know how well you excel in – "
But he didn't finish the last thought as his eyes directly met with her enflamed ones. Then she reddened violently.
More than simply satisfied, Kaiba turned back to his computer, resting on his laurels.
"Oh," Mokuba said simply, his eyes shifting quickly between anywhere but them.
He had just understood the reference his brother had made regarding the famous… discipline. Shooting up out of his seat, he stood, preferring to leave them to debate it in private. But he understood the relationship between them a tiny bit better now.
"Well, bye. I have to go."
Naomi didn't turn around, but wish him as well a marvelous day, and then pushed her bowl of gruel away from her, having finished it.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?"
Kaiba's eyes didn't leave his computer screen.
"May I mention that you did, too. We're even," he replied proudly.
That hurt her more than anything.
"Fine," she nearly sobbed.
Marie then approached to clear off the table.
"Marie," she said, readying all of the courage she had left to muster. "I would like for you to call a taxi and to ready all of my bags, if I have any. Please."
Marie stopped, and in a rare moment of inability to self-restrain, Kaiba's fist slammed down onto the table; he was shaking in rage but trying almost inhumanely to keep from screaming.
Stop, Naomi!
"I certainly wouldn't want to keep abusing Mr. Kaiba's very generous hospitality," she dared continue.
Marie feared an earthquake less than the wrath of her boss.
"Get out, Marie," he managed to say, successfully keeping his legendary sang-froid.
She didn't need to be told twice before she rushed out of the room, a gust of wind.
Naomi didn't like how angry he was either, but she decided wisely to not consider it and began to rise from her chair, feeling a quick shock of pain as she did so.
But Kaiba had sat down at the table directly in front of her, and he reached across and held her back by taking hold of her shoulders. He took care, extraordinarily given his fury, to not push down too hard. But she had still shaken at the sudden clamp.
"Now, that's enough. You will not leave this house, whether you like it or not. Do I make myself clear?"
Naomi met his glare with one perhaps even more terrible. She was more than insulted.
I'm not one of your damn employees. Who do you think you are?
"And just how long do you believe you can imprison me here for?"
Kaiba flinched at the remark. He hadn't been expecting it.
What? No, not that-
But on the outside, he turned even stormier.
"As long as I wish."
"You really think you can keep me here?"
"I will tie you down if I have to."
What did I just say?
She gasped in outrage.
"Then what are you gonna do? Torture me some more? You think I'm used to –?"
She quickly fell silent, not wanting him to understand the allusion she had subconsciously just let slip.
But it was too late: she had just punched him in the stomach, without meaning to, and she knew it full well.
Kaiba simply gawked, trembling in rage and wounded in one of the deepest parts of his person. She had already suffered so much both for and before him. And now the fact seemed to be climbing up his throat.
She waited in vain for the retort that never came: he stayed silent, his eyes turned away from her.
"May I… go…to bed?" she asked, irony dancing on her tongue as she spoke.
Suddenly, Kaiba found again how to be calm, bitterly reproachful for what he had done.
Filled with remorse, he hung his head.
"Wait… I'll help you."
But she rejected him, slapping his hand away.
"I don't need you," she insisted with certainty.
Stop, Naomi. You're hurting me. Can't you see that?
But Naomi didn't bother to see as she straightened, despite the waves of pain.
Again, she refused his help when he tried supporting her by holding on to her shoulders.
"You can watch if you want. But don't come near me."
The war had started again far faster than he would have wanted. Then again, for a short time, he thought it might have even been over. He began shaking again. This time out of fear. Fear of maybe having to watch her fall and injure herself again. Fear of maybe having to watch her evade him again.
He never strayed more than three feet from her, religiously following her footsteps, one by one.
I don't need you, she had said to him. Twice.
He was scared now that maybe that might be true.
Why are things so difficult, Naomi? It's not what I want. But what do you want? Tell me.
Worried and so admiring at the same time, he kept behind her, praising her with occasional glances. She was so strong. Much too strong for him, he suddenly realized, as if for the first time becoming conscious of other beings inhabiting the planet who were just as gifted as he was.
There was nothing easy about her. And yet she seemed so simple.
And she was distancing herself from him again.
Wait! Don't turn your back on me. Not again.
She arrived in the bedroom where, incapable of waiting any longer, he rushed up from behind and solidly took grip of her arm.
She was about to protest that his body was far too close to her own when suddenly she saw his head dive below the level of her neck.
"Forgive me," he said with difficulty.
Forgive me? What the…
But he didn't say on that thought for long.
Which moved her.
"I didn't have the right. I had no right," he said.
He felt her become calm, surrender the fight in wrenching her arm away.
"But… I never wanted to hurt you. Ever."
His heart was beating much more quickly than normal. This fact didn't go unnoticed by Naomi, who brought her own heart into contact with his. She closed her eyes.
"You don't need me, I know," he began again.
Seto, I lied.
"…but… let me help you. I beg you," he whispered, almost as if he didn't want her to overhear him.
"…you…beg…me?"
A shiver whipped through the two bodies, as if leaping between them.
She's making me insane. Enough for an asylum.
She couldn't help breaking into a tender smile when she felt Kaiba's member harden who, in such a tight embrace, had no hope of hiding it.
Wrecked as he was, he wanted her as ardently as he had on the first day, no concessions, no compromises.
But despite his maddening desire, he wasn't pushing things to go farther, happy to hold her in his arms and to for her to stay that way.
On the verge of admitting her own desire to touch his body, she softly detached herself, not wanting to risk provoking him.
Her long journey from the ground floor had drained her of any force she had left. She wasn't in top shape to begin with. And she felt the weight of fatigue piling itself on ever further.
Having finally reached the bed, Kaiba laid down by her side.
"Can I stay?"
In the middle of willing her eyes to remain open, she breathed gently:
"If you sing me a lullaby or tell me a story."
Kaiba couldn't help but run his fingers through her hair. But he scoffed quietly at their little game.
"And if I don't?" he responded, signaling that he was not deign to carry out any of her demands.
She simply smiled and, energy gone, suddenly fell sound asleep.
She has you in the palms of her hands. She can crush you with a single fell swoop. Get a hold of yourself. You can't just stay here mulling around like some idiot. You're a prisoner! Oh, the irony. You can run the world, but you're incapable of running your heart. Get a move on. Get a hold of yourself before it's too late! Come on! Are you Kaiba or aren't you? Hello?
His eyes merely took in the sight of Naomi sleeping peacefully away.
Too late!
* Oh you'll find out. I'm about to summon it. (YGOTAS ref, sorry.)
** So Christmas is on Saturday… that means it's either 1993, 1999, 2004 or 2010 in the story. I'm saying 2004 here, because in Chapter 1 it claims Kaiba's 23, which means he'd be born in 1980 and his 24th birthday would be in 2004.
*** I dunno if some countries call it something different, because I was born an "ignorant American", but if you don't know, P.E. stands for 'physical education'.