Chapter 37 – Stuck
"Thanks for the ride home," Tea stated as Seto and her entered his sleek, black car.
"It's no problem," he answered as he sat in the driver's seat and put the key in the ignition, bringing the car to life. "It's the least I can do since you told Jade you're still going to help out even though that project was over with."
"Yeah, well… I have to admit that these kids grew on me," she replied as Seto pulled out of the orphanage. "I would hate to leave them behind now, especially when some of them are just now getting used to me."
"What do you mean?" he questioned, glancing over at her before turning his attention back to the road.
"Well, I know that Lilith girl was having some problems, and I wanted to make sure she was okay before I left…at least, when I still thought I was leaving. Plus some of the boys were still a little untrusting of me for awhile, but I think they all like me now. Hopefully."
"They do. Strangers are weird to them, and when they realize you are there to stay, only then do they fully trust you."
"Do you know this from experience?" she asked, wondering if he would answer the question or not.
He sighed lightly and chuckled, "Yeah... I remember when new helpers would arrive to work for Jade's father. We would all become so frightened of him or her, because we didn't know for sure who they were and why they were there. Obviously they weren't there to adopt us, so why did they keep showing up? It was…bad times back then with strangers. Plus some workers didn't stay for very long, and you never knew why as a kid. You always blamed yourself…at least, that's how Mokuba and I tended to take it. After all, we weren't liked by many kids other than Jade or Sophie, so the blame usually lingered its way to our little group. But we made the best of those times, and I have to admit that I enjoyed that part of my life a lot more than…than the time after I was adopted."
Tea nodded her head in understanding as a calm silence filled the car. Seto's elbow was resting next to the closed window now, his hand underneath his chin, as he drove with one hand, most likely thinking more than paying attention to the street. "That's all you can do, though," she stated after a moment passed between the two. "You can't just constantly dwell on the bad things that happened in life. You have to move forward and make the best out of tomorrow. If you don't, you'll miss everything going by as you constantly think about what could have been."
She watched as a small smile formed on Seto's lips. "That's what I'm still learning to do," he whispered. "And I thank you for helping me through this stage."
"I didn't do anything."
"On the contrary, you made me think about somebody other than myself."
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked as they stopped at a red light.
"Around the time when you and I were arguing, I seriously began to question myself," he slowly explained, looking over at her. "I was so worried about having to get yet another prescription after the doctor promised me I wouldn't get anymore. I kept thinking about what went wrong, why I constantly had to rely on medication to get by… and then I saw how you helped me that day when Joey decided to use me as a punching bag."
Looking forward to break their locked gaze, Seto let out another sigh. "I realized that I was thinking so much about myself and my problems that it was hurting me. Your whole speech about being hated… It made me realize that I needed at least somebody other than Mokuba to help me out. Sophie wasn't there…she was just hurting me inside." Seto's voice had dropped to a mere whisper, and she could see his grip on the wheel tightening. "So Mokuba told me to get a friend, and I did. At first I was little worried about the idea, but I decided to apologize to you, knowing I would be around you a lot more often now that you worked at the orphanage, and hoped to eventually at least be on friendly terms with you." He smiled over at her and shook his head. "I never thought it would get me here…"
Tea just looked in awe at Seto, surprised that the light was still red after all this time. "I didn't realize what an impact I was on you…" she replied.
Before he could say anything, both Seto and she felt a sudden crash to the back of the car, sending them both forward in their seats but not enough to set the airbag off. "What the hell--?!" he exclaimed, turning around in surprise. Tea did as well and saw a red car right against them, pushing their car forward. Putting the car into gear, Seto quickly drove forward and turned to the right, watching in the rear view mirror as the car slowly followed.
"Who is that?!" Tea exclaimed as she looked in the side mirror to see it following them.
"I don't know," Seto answered warily. "But we're getting out of here. Now."
"Good ide—" Then a sound penetrated the silence that had enveloped the town. A gunshot.
She immediately looked over to see the color had completely drained out of the CEO's face. His grip on the steering wheel tightened until his hands were as white as his face, his eyes turning suddenly all black before the blue returned. She blinked in surprise before looking back to the mirror. "What the… Did he just zone out? Or maybe he's just scared, although he has every right to be at this point." She could feel her own heartbeat racing inside her.
"Just make sure your seatbelt is on," Seto stated. She glanced back over to see the color slowly returning to his face. "I'm not letting you get hurt."
She nodded her head and made sure it was on properly before swallowing the lump in her throat. Hearing another shot, she turned around to see a motorcyclist beside the red car, which was gaining on them fast. Another shot rang out, and she noticed the gun in the motorcyclist's hand. "What is going on?" she asked, her eyes wide in shock.
"Probably one of the local gangs," he answered as he turned another corner. Unfortunately, the red car also turned. "Why he's choosing to follow us, I don't know."
"We're stuck in a car chase," she thought miserably, watching the motorcyclist and red car in the side mirror. "Shit…"
"Hold on tight," Seto suddenly warned loudly, and within a second, he turned the car to the left down an alley, nearly doing a 180-degree turn in the process. Tea felt herself begin to move before feeling a sudden grip on her arm. Looking down, she realized Seto was holding onto her. Once they started moving forward again, he slowly released her, his eyes never leaving the road in front of them.
"Seto…"
"I'm turning again," he said, looking in the back mirror to see the red car speeding up again. "I don't know what this guy's problem is, but he needs to get us out of this." Waiting until the road became visible, he made another left turn and began speeding down the road. Tea was happy that there were no cars out; otherwise, this would be disastrous. She could still hear the gunshots behind them as the motorcyclist and red car also made a turn, but she could see that they were farther away now.
"I think we're almost away from them," she observed, looking back over at Seto, whose breathing was extremely heavy at this point. She could read the worry and fear in his eyes, yet he was almost deadly focused on the road, scanning every possible exit out of this mess.
"You never know," was all he said before making another turn down a different alley. She watched as the red car went by and smiled, sighing in relief only for that smile to immediately vanish. The motorcyclist was following them now. "Shit!" he shouted, driving full-force down the alley.
"What's wrong?!" she exclaimed, looking over in confusion at him.
"I'm sure they don't like the idea as us being here to watch this happen," he answered. "Which means…" He quickly placed his arm right over her chest and, before she could say anything about it, slammed on the brakes hard. She felt herself go forward, the only things holding her back being the seatbelt and Seto's hand. The motorcyclist behind them shot a few bullets into the back of the car, making Tea cringe and shrink slightly in her seat, before the red car appeared at the end of the alley.
"I can't take them on," he answered, his voice raspy now. She looked over in horror to see a trickle of blood oozing down the side of Seto's cheek, and she saw a cut right next to his eye. "We're backing up." Putting the car in a different gear, he quickly looked backwards before reversing the car. The motorcyclist was obviously taken off guard and began shooting again at the back, only to have to run away at the last second before the car knocked the motorcycle out of the way. Tea could feel the tires bump over the other vehicle before reaching the roadway they were just on, and she watched as Seto shifted gears once more before driving forward at top speed.
She waited a few seconds before looking back to find no sign of the motorcyclist or red car anywhere. Turning back around, she let out another sigh of relief, this time hoping it was for good, before glancing over at her boyfriend. Seto's eyes were still deadly focused, but his breathing was still labored, and she noticed more blood begin to crawl down his cheek. She went to reach over and touch it only for Seto to move his face away from her. "I'm fine," he answered, his voice surprisingly at normal tone. "I just… Let's go home. I'm taking you to my place…is that alright?"
She slowly nodded her head and returned her hand to her lap. "Thanks…for saving me," she stated, eyeing him before looking out the window.
"I told you, I'm not letting anything happen to you," he replied. "I made that promise to you, to your friends, and to myself. I'm not breaking it anytime soon."
"But if you hadn't protected me, then you…."
"Tea, it's just a cut. I've lived through worse."
"I know, but…"
"Don't feel sorry, Tea. I didn't protect you just to protect you. I did it because I…I don't want you to get hurt."
She slowly looked back over to see a downcast expression on his face. "He already lost Sophie…" she thought as she returned her attention outside. "I'm sure he doesn't want to lose somebody else at this point." "Still, thank you."
She heard him chuckle before stating, "Now you see why we're moving them out of this area."
"Who?"
"The kids at the orphanage. That right there is the reason why we're moving these kids. To get them away from the violence and gang activity that's enveloping this part of Domino. I don't want them getting hurt as much as I don't want you getting hurt. And if that means building an entirely new place, I'll gladly put the money into doing so."
"Proof that you will do anything to protect those you love…" she thought aloud, not realizing she had said it before Seto chuckled again.
"More like to make up for those that I couldn't…."
"What are you—"
"Let's just drop it," he interrupted, smiling over at her. "I want to get you to the mansion and out of harm's way. I don't want to think of you as being alone after that; these gangs can track people down fast. Thank God these windows are tinted, but still… I want to make absolutely sure you're safe."
Tea smiled and asked, "Let me guess; you have the best security system on the planet in your own home?"
"Why wouldn't I?" he remarked. "Besides, I don't think I could make it to your house before driving home. My head is killing me."
This made the smile on Tea's face disappear. "How did you hit it?"
"I guess I didn't brace myself properly before applying the brakes," he answered in an almost nonchalant tone, turning the corner and driving down the street. She was glad that not only was nobody out, but the cops weren't either. Seto was driving at least eighty miles-an-hour, though she understood why.
"So you saved me before—"
"For the last time, Tea, I said I would protect you. I don't regret this. Besides, it will probably just leave a mark for a day or two."
Tea wanted to agree, but she could see more and more blood dripping down the side of his face and was finding that hard to believe. Instead of arguing the point, she merely nodded her head and waited as he turned another corner, entering the neighborhood of the rich and famous, before slowly pulling into the driveway leading towards the Kaiba mansion.