Chapter 7: Reimbursement
Sitting at his desk he continued to ignore this amazingly dull lecture and stared blankly forward. He was now at a point where he was actively counting down time until the end of this horrid cycle if idiocy. As of now he had sixty-seven days, three hours, and, he glanced at his watch, thirty-eight seconds of school left. Closing his eyes for a brief moment he recentered himself, pushing his feelings of frustration and impatience away. While the uselessness of this whole exercise was enraging in itself it wasn't helping that he had a new idea he would much rather be working on for his theme park. He was sure it would be a lucrative addition, assuming he could get the artificial intelligence program to integrate properly.
However, with eight full hours a day devoted to school, at a bare minimum, he didn't have the time to program the way he wanted to. The coding for it would take him weeks even if he had nothing else to attend to, and he certainly couldn't neglect going into the office to run the day to day minutia that needed to be taken care of. With his luck someone would not only steal all his ideas, but somehow blow the building up. While there were many advantages to employing so many highly intelligent workers, there were certain downsides as well. He'd found that many people who were highly skilled and intelligent were eccentric, sometimes bordering on insane, and impulsive when an idea got into their heads. It had lead to some odd accidents when they began experimenting. It was worth the clean up cost though. Some of them were very creative.
As he started to tap his hand impatiently on his desk something very unusual happened. A neatly folded square of paper landed on the left side of his textbook, which was sitting open and unused on his desk. The book itself was only open because the teacher had insisted. He had already memorized it and hardly needed to see it to know what was in it. He stared down at the paper with a frown. He had never once had anyone pass him a note, with the exception of the time Mokuba had hidden one in his textbook when Gozaburo was driving him into the ground. At school he was far too antisocial and intentionally off putting to have anyone trying it. He had received several 'love' notes in his locker, although those all came with strings attached and he had simply tossed them in the trash without opening them.
Glancing sharply over in the direction it came from he saw Sarah sitting innocently at her desk, with all her attention seemingly on the teacher. She was writing diligently in her small notebook which had the exact line pattern as the note on his desk. Not that the missive could have come from anyone else since she was the only person to his left. Having somehow failed to rid himself of her several times now he had come to grudgingly accept her presence over the course of the last two months, or at least acclimate himself to what she did to him no matter how unintentionally. After she had saved Mokuba, and he knew he owed her dearly for that, he simply couldn't contemplate terminating her no matter what affect she had on him. If she'd asked he would have given her nearly anything to repay her, because he was now deeply in her debt, but she seemed to want to avoid mentioning the whole incident, which he was in favor of himself. Still, he found it odd that she didn't bring that day up. She hadn't even asked how Mokuba was, although he had caught her on the verge of asking a few times. And yet she didn't. She didn't ask after him, didn't ask for a reward, didn't ask for anything at all, making it clear to him that she respected that his brother was none of her business. It wasn't something he was used to dealing with, a person with no notable interest in getting anything other than what they earned and keeping their noses out of his affairs. He found that even more puzzling after sussing out her financial situation. Until recently she had practically been living on air, and judging by the brief glance at the miniscule, and very empty apartment she was staying in she was in dire straights.
When she refused to take an advance on her paycheck so she could feed herself he was at a loss as to what to do. There was no other way for him to help her, and it seemed she was aware of that. He wasn't used to having a compulsion to help anyone but his brother, and her stubborn pridefulness got in his way. It was irksome. Why wouldn't she simply let him help her? It wasn't like he was actually giving her anything, only letting her have something she would soon have anyway. Even as he thought that though, he knew very well what the difference was. Sarah, it seemed, would not allow him to buy her. That… that was appealing.
And then, once he accepted that about her and given in to her opinion on it, everything had gone wrong. She had defied him openly in class, brazenly so. And, though he hated to admit it, he had been at least slightly at fault there. It had mostly been her, largely really, but he was generous enough to take some responsibility. And oddly, since that evening in his office where he once again didn't terminate her, she seemed to think they were… he didn't know what. But she had no business relaxing around him in any manner the way she had. And she certainly was blowing every professional boundary out of the water by somehow making him smile when she should have been nothing but terrified of him. He knew very well she was waiting to pack up her office when he called her up that night, but one look at those resigned, beautiful eyes and he knew his half formed thoughts about it were useless. He hadn't even bothered to put on a show about it.
Sarah had no business doing anything but what he hired her to do and yet she was continually making herself a nuisance to his peace of mind. The note was a clear indication that she was not respecting his position. Notes were not passed around to one's boss. They were passed to acquaintances, or friends. He gazed back down at it, knowing that looking at it would only encourage her, but… Well, he was bored. That was the only reason, he assured himself, of picking it up and quietly unfolding it.
As he flattened it out over his book he saw she had written it in English and wasn't sure why for a moment. Then it occurred to him that if it was somehow intercepted it would be much harder for a teacher to read than Japanese. The only one's who were really fluent in the class right now were himself, Sarah, Bakura who hailed from England, and Tea, whose only notable talent in school appeared to be learning that language.
Enlighten me. Are Yugi and the weird five on drugs? They are creeping me out. Despite himself a snort of amusement hit him when he read it, and several heads turned at the slight noise. Tea was staring at him as if he'd grown a second head as his lip curled up at the corner and Tristan, who sat on the other side of him, tried to edge away from him, clearly worried for his safety. He wasn't even surprised by the question. With the way they acted what other conclusion could anyone draw?
Picking up his pen he scribbled a response surreptitiously before refolding it. Sarah had never learned the art of origami, it was clear from the simplistic way she folded it, but at least she had done a neat job of it. Tea's mystified eyes followed the note as it sailed to Sarah's desk in utter amazement. He had never once voluntarily engaged in a civil conversation with anyone here. No.
She shot him a look of disbelief at the simple answer and he shrugged slightly, although he had no real way to explain any of this that wouldn't sound crazy. Eyebrow raised she scribbled something else and tossed it back. He read it quickly after making sure the teacher still had her back to them as she wrote on the chalkboard. I don't believe you. That's the only reason they would act that way. And why is Tea stalking me? Does she like girls? Actually, that kind of explains it, and while flattering, not my thing.
His smirk threatened to turn into a smile and he saw Yugi staring openly at him out of the corner of his eye. Sarah also noted it and made a motion for all of them to mind their own business as her eyes darted to their teacher. Clearly, she didn't want an afterschool detention for getting caught. The whole lot of them shot her disbelieving looks but went back to learning biology as he scribbled his reply. Why would I care who or what Tea is attracted to?
This time she was waiting for it to come back and opened it without hesitation. He was finding the taboo communication entertaining no matter how archaic and juvenile writing things on a piece of paper was. She lobbed it back over quickly. I don't know, boredom? She replied. What's going on with them then?
Let me assure you that you will sleep better at night by simply letting this go. He was finding it oddly difficult to flat out lie to her, but sincerely did not want to drag her into their madness. It was mostly because he hated all of it and also because he wanted her to have nothing to do with it. Even as he passed the note back he knew that answer wouldn't satisfy her, not with all of them hounding her to befriend them at every opportunity.
That was confirmed when the note was back on his desk. Now you have to tell me.
He sighed under his breath before deciding to simply tell her. If he didn't one of them would do it and he would certainly be described in an insane and disturbing way. He didn't want her thinking he was as mentally ill as the rest of them. Letting her know how crazy they were didn't mean he was involved in their delusions, no matter how real. He sent her an annoyed look as he sent the note back. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as she read it. Do you see the necklace Yugi has on? Her eyes went up and she picked it out before going back to the note. The amazing six believe a dead pharaoh inhabits it. The miracle of the dead man come to life has brought the troop together. As far as Tea goes, she is in love with the dead man. She stalks everyone with cat like intensity in order to make them feel loved and part of the friendship circle.
Her eyebrows drew together and she reread the explanation at least twice, turning the paper over to see if he had put more on the other side despite having room below what he already had on the front. She saw him watching her baffled reaction out of the corner of his eye and replied. A dead pharaoh? Like from Egypt, ancient Egypt?
Yes. He tossed back.
Shut the fuck up.
He turned his laugh into a cough behind his hand, delightfully shocked by the crude statement by her when she was always so sweetly and consciously polite. He was actually very sure that she would never actually say that out loud and was half sure she knew it was scandalous to write it down, but wanted to see his reaction. Several people jumped or began to move about uncomfortably at the sound and he turned the page of his book over to hide the note in case anyone looked over to see what he was reacting to. Even Joey seemed nervous by his amusement, and he was too stupid to be nervous about anything. The teacher sensed the shift in the atmosphere and turned to face the class. "Is something wrong, Mr. Wheeler?"
"I think Kaiba might be having a stroke." He told her.
The old woman wasn't amused. "And why is that?"
"I think he just laughed."
The class erupted with snickers as he put on his bored expression and stared at Joey unblinkingly. Sarah was keeping her face down, pretending to read a passage in their books while looking uninterested in what was happening. It was a good move as she always acted that way no matter what drama was unfolding in the class. For his part he glanced up at the teacher, because open eye contact tended to make others feel the one staring was innocent, who rapped her knuckles on the desk. "Quiet! Is there a problem, Mr. Kaiba?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Not that I'm aware of. I think the mutt is hallucinating. It was only a matter of time before what little self awareness he had escaped."
"You jerk!" Joey tried to stand up to get at him, but Tristan and Bakura grabbed him and hauled him back down.
Their teacher was not pleased at all. "Mr. Wheeler, I am tired of your interruptions. Settle down or you can spend the afternoon sitting in detention." The blond seethed as he smirked. "And, Mr. Kaiba, try to keep the sharp tongue of yours from cutting someone in half. Now, if we could return to the Muromachi period…" The lesson resumed and he saw Sarah tap her foot and glance at the clock as things settled down, clearly thinking the conversation was over. He supposed it was, but as the class got back underway the edge of the note sticking out from the page kept tugging at his attention. Deciding that it had been a pleasant distraction he started writing on it again.
Five minutes later, when the class settled back down, he sent it over. The paper fell on her notebook and she appeared surprised that it was back in her possession. Your vocabulary is impressive. Care to tell me how many languages you're capable of cursing in?
A small smile appeared on her face as she replied. All of them, but French is the best. Very descriptive.
I don't know what I was expecting. And as far as I know they are insane. I try to avoid them, but sadly keep getting sucked in.
He could see that Sarah was pleased he was still communicating with her as she scribble secretively. I'm afraid to ask what that means. Exactly how many dramas are going on in this class as we speak?
At least thirty-two that I know of. Considering I don't care or want to know, I would bet at least twice as many.
You don't strike me as a betting man.
I have my moments. For instance, I bet I could get Joey into detention in the next five minutes.
She hid the spreading smile behind her hand as she wrote back. You're just bored aren't you?
As if you aren't. We need a new sheet of paper.
She folded the note and shoved it under her book and ripped out a new sheet. I'd be more impressed if you could get Tea out of my hair. Any advice?
Don't ask me. After three years of systematically pushing, insulting, yelling, and goading she's still after me. He told her. I even threatened a restraining order, but it wasn't worth all the paperwork.
She sighed tragically, if quietly, and his lip curled up again. Then she came up with an idea. Maybe we could get her on drugs and then she would focus on something other than harassing the crap out of us.
You're on your own. She's left me alone more than usual now that you're here.
That had her thinking. You're not much help really.
He smirked. If you're looking for help you've come to the wrong place.
I walked into the insane asylum. I see that now. Is there another school I can transfer to?
What would the point be? You only have three months left.
Damn you and your logic.
You aren't the first person to say that to me.
Shocking. Even in writing her sarcasm was palpable.
His eyes darted to the clock then went back to the paper. I need a chemistry partner for our final lab. You did well enough on the last one I suppose. Can you measure things?
What makes you think I want to be your lab partner again? She asked.
Lack of options.
She sighed. … I can measure things.
See you in the lab then. The bell rang and he stood up. Walking out of the class he saw her packing her things away, tucking their notes into the front pocket of her bag before getting up. As he headed to the west side of the building he saw her stopping at her locker, doubtless to get her lab manual. Figuring he would go ahead and get them a table, he put his things in the back if the class and looked over what the teacher had already placed at each lab station. Figuring this was going to be more complex than their last experiment he took out his own manual and flipped to what was next. As he did a slim shadow fell over his book.
Glancing up he glared in annoyance at one of his more persistent admirers. Keko had long dark hair and deep brown eyes. He was half convinced that she had hemmed her skirt even shorter than they came, but then again she was taller than most of the other girls here so maybe it was just her height. Keko had been after him since the start of the school year and was smart enough not to get upset when he continually rebuffed her the way some of her peers were. Instead she kept coming back, artfully inserting herself into his presence whenever possible. She was skilled at the subtle art of seduction already, but he wouldn't be tricked into anything no matter how she looked.
Sarah was oblivious to what was happening as she set her things down at the station next to him when she came into the class moments later. Keko, turned to her with a sharp, calculating expression. "What are you doing?"
Sarah responded with sweet innocence, but all at once he was sure she was not at all clueless as to what she walked in on. "Getting ready for class to start. What are you doing?" Keko's eyes narrowed and Sarah feigned ignorance of the situation as she sat on the empty stool next to him and pulled out her chemistry notebook. "Don't you sit over there?" She pointed rather vaguely to the other side of the room near Bakura and another boy from the junior class who must have tested up a grade in this subject.
"Sometimes." Keko agreed too nicely.
"I thought you said we needed partners for this lab?" Sarah asked him.
Dark amusement filled him. He knew she was toying with the other girl and it was nice to have Keko irritated for once. "I did."
She nodded and looked up at the other girl. "Whom are you partnering with?"
Anger flared as Keko started to puff up. Her voice was sweet as sugar however. "I was going to ask Seto."
"I have a partner." He stated blandly.
"I see." If a glare could have started a fire Sarah would surely be ablaze. "I'll talk to you later maybe?" With that she drifted off to the front of the classroom and toward a few of her friends.
"You're going to pay for that." He remarked.
Sarah flipped through her lab manual, trying to figure out where they were at, not at all interested in having chased the other girl off. "Huh?"
"Keko has been trying to hook her claws in me for the last few months. She's mean and manipulative. She'll make you pay for getting rid of her."
"What is she going to do? Ignore me? Snub me? Put a frog in my locker? I find myself less than worried. Besides, I could tell she was bothering you, so you're welcome." He shrugged, clearly feeling as if he had done enough warning her. "So what am I meant to measure?"
"Here." He grabbed her shoulders and scooted her sideways, all the way off the stool, so she was in front of all the lab equipment. She squeaked at the move but he held her as she caught her balance. "Just do what I tell you to do."
She sent him a look. "Seriously? That's not it's supposed to work. You're going to partner with me on this, not make me do the whole thing."
"I intend to do my part." He informed her. He was not one to shirk responsibility, which she should know as they had already been partners on their last few project.
Sarah shook her head. "Bossing people around is not a partnership." She informed him. "We're meant to work together on it." He opened his mouth and she put a finger up to stop him. "It'll be more fun if you work with me instead of trying to control the whole thing."
"It isn't meant to be fun. It's yet another simplistic exercise made to try to educate the masses."
"Maybe, but we could make it fun." She indicated Tea and Yugi, who were at the station in front of them. They were chatting and laughing at who knew what as they moved things about to get ready. "Other people are."
"I refuse to imitate Motou in any way."
"I'm asking you to relax, like, a smidgen." She told him. "Not imitate anyone. What's even going on with the two of you anyway?"
"That's none of your concern." How dare she pry into his personal affairs? Especially those involving Yugi.
"I suppose not." She agreed. "He was simply a convenient example as he's right in front of us."
"This is an insipid discussion. Let's get this over with."
Sarah began to pull things over so they were in the proper order. "Alright, Seto." She replied neutrally. They set the experiment up rapidly and then sat back as the components worked on reacting. It was clear Sarah quickly became bored by the silence and began to gaze almost wistfully at some of the other groups that were laughing and joking about. For the first time envy began to tug at him as he too saw that many of his classmates were enjoying themselves. It had never occurred to him that he should be jealous of that, not until she showed up and for some reason wanted to talk with him about irrelevant things. He had also never felt awkward, not in any real sense, until he was trying to figure out how to break the silence he himself had imposed. After several minutes he rolled his shoulders and ignored the feeling. "Fine, what do you want to talk about?"
Sarah pushed a glass cylinder under the bunsen burner before she replied. "I don't really know. What do you do for fun when you aren't here?"
"As I'm sure you've worked out I don't have much free time."
"I know, but you have to enjoy something." She replied, turning the knob to lower the flame as she quickly ran her finger under the lab instructions. "What do you and Mokuba do together?"
He thought he should be angry about the prying, but wasn't. "Mokuba likes to build computers."
Sarah sat back again. "Do you help him?"
"When he gets stuck on something." He agreed. "Or if he asks. I don't like to try to direct him. It makes it a less creative process." Mokuba had an interesting knack for technology, a quirk they shared. He knew he wouldn't want anyone telling him how to create anything and gave Mokuba the space he needed to experiment. However, his brother often liked him there while he worked, even if he was doing something for Kaiba Corp on his laptop while they sat in the same room together.
"I heard at the office you played Duel Monsters." She said. "How does that game work?"
His eyebrows drew together. He thought everyone on the planet knew how it worked as it was the most popular game there was. "You work for the biggest gaming companies in the world and you have no idea how the game works?" He asked in disbelief.
"Nowhere on the application for my job did it say I needed to know anything about it." She pointed out. "I just have to translate. So how does it work?"
"It's…." He paused. "It would be easier to show you then explain it." He settled on. "And I can't very well do that now."
"Okay." She said, not appearing overly disappointed he wasn't going into detail about it. "Are you good at the game?" She asked, searching for some sort of talking point. "Have you ever competed in any of the big tournaments they have on television?"
He didn't even know what to say to that. He was the second best duelist in the world. If not for Yugi's annoyingly lucky victory at Duelist Kingdom he would be the best. He had in fact beaten him before. That she didn't know that he dueled at such a high level told him she hadn't read a single article about him at all. "Yes." He replied stonily, refusing to admit his pride was stinging.
"That's neat!" She replied, her entire being radiating brightness. "Did you rank or anything?" He simply stared at her unblinkingly and her smile faltered. "Did- did I say something wrong?"
He sighed, his anger undone by her genuine interest. "No." Feeling as if talking about it would sound like bragging, or turn into something than a comfortably superficial conversation, he turned the topic around. "What do you do for fun?"
"I like music." She told him, not bothered by his questions. "And I used to be on the track team at my old school. I liked that a lot."
That explained how she escaped those thugs that had Mokuba. He still hadn't found out who had hired them, which was enraging. "What events did you compete in?"
"I'm better at long distances than sprinting so mostly I did that. I competed in some relays too." He moved the cylinder off the burner so it could cool as she spoke. "I was alright at it, but not really college competitive." She smiled in remembrance. "But I liked it anyway."
"Do you still run?"
"When I can. When I have to." She said, her eyes turning stormy. He went alert to the change, sensing much more behind that comment than she intended. When she continued, looking down at her hands, he knew he was right. "Why didn't you tell the police it was me that helped him?"
Because he hadn't wanted them involved while he had investigated, because it would only lead to trouble for her, because he was sure she was out of her mind with fear that they would discover she was a runaway. He chose not to share any of that with her. "Why did you help him?" He asked her quietly.
There was a significant pause before she answered. "I don't know, I didn't think about it when I did it." She told him. "He just looked so scared. No one should be scared like that."
He was sure she had been scared often, but didn't say it, and didn't fault her for it. Taking his pencil he scribbled down a note about the reaction of the liquid as he spoke. "Thank you." She turned her attention to his face and he stared back at her, wanting her to know he was grateful even if he hadn't acted that way in the month since it happened. "I won't forget what you did for him."
Something very strange passed over her face. "You don't owe me anything." She told him. "I really didn't know who he was when I helped him."
"I know you didn't." He agreed. "But I still won't forget."
She looked away, clearly embarrassed. "I don't think you forget many things, Seto." She replied. "I wonder if that's a blessing or a curse. Either way, I don't think I envy you that talent. What a burden it must be, to remember everything."
His stomach clenched as he once again saw her, limp and lifeless in his arms as he lifted her up to the great dragon. He blinked and she was back in front of him, sitting quietly on the stool as she fiddled with their project. It was a burden, this knowledge of his last life, this knowledge of hers. In that moment he promised himself he would never tell her about it. What he had gone through, what he had been made to believe and feel, had nearly unraveled him. He wouldn't do that to her. Wouldn't make her question who she was on such a fundamental level the way he had. He wouldn't make her hurt with the knowledge of her sacrifice, wouldn't let her feel like she was obligated to feel anything about him unless she wanted to. It wouldn't be right. It would be nothing more than manipulation on his part. And the thought of doing that, of influencing her actions, was abhorrent to him. No, he would never tell her, and he would do everything in his power to be sure that unlike him, she wouldn't get drawn into any of this. She deserved her own life, and to chose her own path. She'd fought so hard to start one here in Domino, that to take it away would be as close to a true sin as he could envision. Yes, in this life she would be only Sarah, motivated by only her own wants and needs, not by the wants or needs of anyone else. That, he thought, was what Kisara deserved. The freedom she had been denied over and over again in her last life.