Chapter 41 – Blame

Had it been a rough day for Tea, and it was only the beginning of lunch by the time she was mentally exhausted. Seto's cut had not healed overnight as the brunette probably wanted, and so nearly every student and teacher felt it was their duty to ask him what had happened. It was only half-way through the day, and Tea had overheard stories of car crashes, CEO assassination attempts, robotic technology, and even one about suicide, which more than unnerved her. "No wonder Seto doesn't have many friends… They all treat him like he's some superhero," she thought as she took her lunch out of her locker and began walking towards the cafeteria. "They really don't respect his privacy at all, do they? I guess that comes with being the CEO of a big corporation, though."

However, it wasn't the CEO's constant annoyance of the other students that bugged her. It was actually her own group of friends, the trio, which worried her. They all asked her about the CEO's injury, and without thinking she had told them exactly what happened, meaning that she had told them about Seto's employment at the orphanage. Now they wanted answers, and she was forced to once again tell them a secret. Only this time the secret wasn't hers; it was Seto's, a man known for his secrets.

"How am I going to tell him that they now know he works at the orphanage?" she thought, leaning against her locker and placing her forehead against the cold metal. "He already has enough to deal with, and now he's going to find out that I told my three friends one of his biggest secrets. If I don't tell them, they'll never trust me again with anything, but if I do tell them, he won't trust me. Man, I really screwed this up."

"What's wrong?" a sudden voice asked, making her open her eyes and turn around in surprise. Seto was standing in the middle of the hallway staring at her, his signature glare painted on his face. They had decided to make it look as though they were mere acquaintances in school, never hanging out but talking from time to time. Nothing serious meant no new stories for the tabloids to eat up. It was easy for the kids to read that the two weren't friends; it was easy for her to read the concern in Seto's eyes.

"I…uh, well…" All she could do was look at him. How was she going to tell him? She could see the mark on his face, making her feel even worse. "I get him hurt, and then I blurt out his secrets. I'm horrible when it comes to this…"

"Tea, what's wrong?" he asked, taking a step towards her. "You're quiet, and you're never quiet. Obviously something is wrong with the normally cheerful cheerleader."

Tea blinked and let out a long sigh. "Might as well get this over with…" she thought, hoping he wouldn't lash out at her for it. "I told… Yugi and the group asked me what had happened last night, and I told them about the car chase."

Seto's eyes narrowed at this. "And what's wrong with that?" he asked slowly, indicating that he was putting two and two together fast.

"And I…told them…about you working in the orphanage."

It had been a whisper so that nobody else could hear it, but it sounded like she shouted it at the top of her lungs, for the most awkward silence she had ever felt in her life suddenly hung over the two. A minute or two went by before Seto asked the question she knew was coming: "Are you serious, Tea?"

It was harsh, but looking back up at the CEO, she could see the worry in his eyes. "I gave away his cold façade; the wall that he spent years building up I just crushed with my big mouth."

To her surprise, Seto walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "What did they say?" he asked, scanning her face for any sort of information he could gather.

"They didn't say anything," she answered. "They were too shocked to reply since it was at the beginning of class when they asked me. The teacher began talking before they had time to question me, but I know I'm in for it now…"

Seto just stood in place for another moment before letting out a sigh and backing up a step. "Why don't I talk to them about this?" he inquired, making her blink in surprise. "I think it would be easier for them to understand if I personally say it."

"I… That's your choice. I don't really care."

"Okay, but I want to talk to them outside in the courtyard about it. Nobody eats outside, and I don't need the school knowing that fact on top of everything else today. I don't have the energy for it."

Nodding her head in understanding, Tea watched him walk down the hallway and into the cafeteria before following suit. Sure enough, as she entered the cafeteria (and Seto exited out into the courtyard), her friends all looked up in unison and waved her quickly over to the table. She slowly walked over and smiled at her friends. "Hi guys," she whispered.

"We have some questions for you," Joey stated, smiling and pointing his finger up at her. "We think you know exactly why, too."

"Yeah, well… I talked to him about it, and he said he would rather have you question him than me," she answered.

Joey shot up out of his seat and began running outside, the trio already knowing that the CEO often sat out in the courtyard during lunch. Not to eat, of course, but to work. The two quickly followed Joey, and Tea closed her eyes and let out a small sigh before following them outside as well. "I'm causing so many problems right now…" She quickly caught up with the group, who was now sitting on the opposite side of Seto, before sitting down next to the CEO at the metal table.

"So… I heard she told you guys about my other job," he began, looking at them all with concerned eyes.

"Yeah," Joey said. "Tea told us you worked at the orphanage."

"That's correct."

"How long have you been doing that?"

"A year and a half now, maybe a little longer," he answered.

"And why are you working there?" Tristan asked, leaning forward on the table slightly.

"I used to go there, and the woman who's now the owner is a good friend of mine," Seto replied, looking down at the metal table with downcast eyes. "I promised her I would help her out when I got older, and you all know that I don't break promises."

"That's awesome, Kaiba," Yugi said. "But why hide it?"

"I don't want that orphanage getting unnecessary publicity," Seto explained. "I know it would be good for the kids to get a little more attention than they do, but paparazzi are dangerous, and they don't need that kind of stress in their daily lives. I try to keep it away from them as much as possible."

"Wow… You really aren't that bad of a person, are you?" Tristan questioned.

"What's the matter with caring about those who are now in the shoes you were once in?" Seto countered. "I know what it's like to lose a family, and I feel it's my duty to help them out."

"That's cool, dude, but… How do you find the time to do it?"

"Whenever possible, I try to go and visit them."

Joey smiled and chuckled. "Who would have thought that you seriously care about little children?" Seto said nothing, but instead opted to continue his glaring down at the table. Tea noted his odd behavior and wanted to say something but couldn't figure out what. "Well, I got nothing else to ask. I just was curious to see why the CEO of KaibaCorp helps out kids."

"It's a secret, Wheeler," Seto stated. "Don't go spewing it out to all your friends, alright?"

"Fine, fine," he replied as he stood up. "Well, I'm going back to eat lunch. Kaiba, I gotta admit, you and I have had our differences, but I think I can see a good side to you after all." He soon walked back into the cafeteria, and both Yugi and Tristan thanked Seto for answering their questions before going back as well, leaving Tea and Seto alone.

"I'm sorry about that," she said after a moment of silence fell over the two. "I know you don't like spilling your secrets out like that. Maybe if I didn't have such a big mouth, I wouldn't have—"

"Tea, it's alright," he interrupted, smiling over at her. "You told them the truth, and there's nothing wrong with that."

"But you were obviously uncomfortable in front of them."

"I don't like talking to others, especially on friendly terms. I'm just…not used to it, is all."

"Still, I feel awful about it. I can never keep secrets. I just end up telling it to others and then cause problems. Maybe I should—"

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked over to see Seto frowning at her. "Don't blame yourself like that," he warned, his voice deep. "You blame yourself for stupid shit like that, and you'll end up going down the same road I did. You are not horrible just because you told them a secret that you forgot about at the last second. It's okay, Tea. I know that they won't tell others about it, which is fine. It was only awkward to me because I'm not used to it. Don't blame yourself."

"What do you mean, the same road you did?"

"You wonder why I became depressed in the first place? It was all blame, and that's all it ever was. I blamed myself for every little thing that ever happened to Mokuba, Sophie, myself…everything bad was my failure. Don't think like that; it's too dangerous to do so."

"But still…I…"

"You made a mistake. All you can do is learn from that mistake and move on. Just look at me." Smiling slightly, he said, "I saved you, didn't I?"

"And what mistake would that have been from?"

"I…didn't save Sophie."

Tea blinked and bit her lower lip. "Way to go, Tea."

"So what stories have the kids in Domino High School come up for this mark?" he asked, smirking over at her and pointing at the cut.

"Oh, I've heard quite a good number," she answered, realizing what he was trying to do and deciding to go with it. "He doesn't want to remember her…not during school, anyways."

"Any exciting ones I should know about?"

"Well, somebody wanted to have you dead, but your skull deflected the bullet. Oh, and obviously you knew that your technology was so advanced because you're so intelligent that it attacked you by accident."

Seto chuckled and shook his head before clenching the bridge of his nose. "You wonder why I'm cynical when it comes to our student body."

"Actually no, I don't. Not anymore. But have you checked your cut out with the nurse? It looks pretty bad." The entire area was black and blue, and the cut still looked rather deep.

"No, and I'm not going to. She'll probably send me home, and I have enough work to make up as it is."

"I thought they told me we weren't—"

"I know, but I still have work from the company to do. That will keep me busy for a long time."

"Oh. I forgot about that."

"I wish I could…" Tea glanced over at him to see him sigh and slowly stand up. "Well, now that that's out of the way, I guess you don't have to lie to your friends anymore."

"Again, I'm sorry about that."

"Tea, don't be. Trust me…. You don't want to end up like me." She smiled sadly up at him and watched as he walked back into the cafeteria, and Tea slowly turned around in her chair and began to eat her long-forgotten lunch.