Here we are, the last chapter. Well, second to last. There is going to be an epilogue after this.
Chapter 18: We End it with a Dance
"Please come and hand me your projects when I call your group," Mr. C said emotionlessly. He called Kari, Kaiba, and Misty first. They handed him a replica of an Egyptian Palace, complete with the walls around it and some town structures. Overall, it was impressive.
Mr. C eyed it suspiciously, then sighed and reluctantly handed them a paper with their grade. It was a perfect score. After sitting down in their seats, they pretty much waited in silence for the period to end. After all, it was Friday—the winter dance was that night.
Everyone went on about their day in silence. You could feel some of the students' anticipation radiating off of them, which bothered Kaiba a good deal, since he didn't see the point in going to the dance that night. This is the reason why he was especially annoyed. He was forced to go, because if he missed it, it would be marked as a day absent unless if he missed it for a good reason. He could lie and say he had a business meeting, but that would technically be cheating to get out of it and ruin his pride. Seto Kaiba was never late or absent for anything; he wasn't about to start.
It came to eighth period. Kari was staring out the window instead of paying attention to Mrs. E. She wasn't exactly sure if she was excited to go to the dance or not. She decided that she should be excited, since she was going with Misty and Akina as a group and would have a lot of fun with them.
"I hope that you are all going to the dance tonight, yes?" Mrs. E looked around the room for head nods. "Fan. Tastic. I will let you out early today since it's almost the end of the period anyway."
With that, students bolted out of their seats and out the door. Kari casually got up, noticeably not as enthusiastic as some other girls, and went outside to the same spot she went to for the whole year during ninth period.
Kari opened up her notebook and started putting finishing touches on the final draft of the Blue Eyes White Dragon that she was working on before Akhenaden attacked her. She must have been focused on her drawing, since soon she realized that Misty and Akina came and sat down to her left, and Kaiba was seated to the right of her, on his laptop as usual.
Quickly glancing to the left and right of her, Kari resumed her drawing. But something sticking out in Kaiba's binder caught her eye. She immediately recognized it as her first draft of Blue Eyes; the one she had thrown away.
"You kept my rough draft of Blue Eyes?" Kari asked Kaiba curiously.
Kaiba wasn't sure how he should respond, so he didn't say anything at all and tried to stop himself from blushing. Key word: tried.
Knowing that she heard him, she went and reached for the paper that had Blue Eyes on it. "This one isn't too good, and you probably took it out of the recycling," she said. Instead, she took the final draft of Blue Eyes White Dragon out of her binder and put it in his binder where the rough draft used to be. "Take this one instead."
Then she proceeded to make another final draft in her notebook, one that she could keep herself.
Kaiba was sort of happy that he had a better version that Kari gave her. Then he paid attention to his laptop screen for the remainder of the school day.
Kari heard a knock on the door to her apartment. Already knowing who it is, she opened the door to let Misty and Akina, both holding bags, inside.
"The dance is in an hour, which means we have to start getting ready now. Do you know what dress you're going to wear, Kari?"
"No, but I'll figure it out—"
"What? Why not? Show me your dresses!" Akina quickly as Kari led her to her closet.
"These aren't bad," she said as she looked at each dress in turn. "But not the best for the dance…"
"Do you know what you're wearing, Misty?" Kari asked she subconsciously heard Akina going on about her dresses.
"Yeah. Akina came to my house and already picked it out." She reached into the bag that she was holding and held up her dress for Kari to see. It was a strapless, gray dress that went slightly above the knees. It was black at the top, and slowly faded into lighter shades at the bottom. It looked very nice to Kari.
"Wow," Kari said, impressed.
"She's probably going to pick out a good one for you too—"
"I've got it!" Akina said triumphantly as she pulled out a dress from Kari's closet. It was also strapless, and it was a shade of dark blue. It had a black ribbon at the waist that held up a black mesh material that had a pattern on it, and the dress just went over Kari's knees.
"This one's perfect for the dance. We'll figure out shoes after we all put our dresses on." Akina said.
After about a half hour, Misty, Akina, and Kari were in their dresses. Kari and Misty finally saw Akina's dress, since she didn't show them until now. It was yet another strapless dress that went over her knees. The top was black while the bottom was a little frilly and white. A red ribbon was tied at the waist that held up a black mesh material, similar to Kari's dress. It looked good on Akina.
"Now that we're all ready, we can go," Akina said.
"But the dance doesn't start for another half hour," Misty pointed out.
"Then we'll just leave in fifteen minutes," she replied.
While they were talking, Kari went to get her cell phone. She made a quick call and told Akina and Misty to go outside in ten minutes.
They all slipped on their shoes, and once it was time, stepped outside of the apartment building. Sure enough, a car was pulled up to the side, waiting for them. Kari smiled as the driver stepped out of the car.
"James!" she said happily as her old work partner appeared.
"Hey, aren't you that clueless person that was dueling Kari in the park once?" Akina asked. That was the first time she had met James, and she still remembered him somewhat. James stared at her with what seemed like a pathetic stare to Akina, since she could do one much worse, but Akina just ignored his feeble attempt and just decided to be grateful he was giving her a ride.
"Who is that?" Misty turned to Kari.
"Just a friend of mine. I asked him if he could drive us to the dance." Kari explained.
Shrugging, Misty stepped in his car after Akina. Kari followed and was about to get in after them.
"It's about time you called me for something! I haven't appeared for several chapters!" James complained.
Kari just rolled her eyes and got in. He was still the same.
James pulled up to the front of the school. Kari, Misty, and Akina thanked him and got out, then he left them standing there. There were some couples outside of the school doors, but it sounded like most were inside the gymnasium.
"Looks like we're right on time," Kari said they headed for the entrance.
When they stepped inside, they nearly flinched at how much louder the music sounded in there than outside. The gymnasium was lit a little, with small decorations hanging from the ceiling and walls. It seemed as if people were just talking with each other at first, waiting until their friends came. Kari looked around the room to see if she could find any familiar faces. Not seeing anyone she particularly knew, she turned back towards Akina and Misty and listened to their conversation.
"Hey! Kari!" A voice sounded behind her. She turned to see Téa coming over to her, seeming as if she was just talking with Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Bakura who were behind her.
I wonder how I could have missed them… Kari thought since she could spot them almost anywhere.
"I like your dress," she said.
"Thanks, Akina picked it out. I also like yours," Kari said, mentioning her sleeveless light colored dress.
Téa smiled in return, talked a little with them, and went finally went back to her group. Kari once again turned around and joined their conversation on anime.
Soon the lights dimmed and people started walking towards the center of the gym to dance. Kari, Misty, and Akina decided to sit the first song out since they didn't like it. Kari's eyes once again scanned the room. It looked like a few other people were sitting down as well. Her eyes stopped at a figure sitting at the end of the tables. It was Kaiba. He obviously had no intention of dancing, since he probably didn't want to be there in the first place.
Shaking her head, she stood up and said, "I like this song." A new, fast song came on and she went to the dance floor. Akina and Misty followed and decided to dance as well.
They stayed on the floor for a while, dancing to the fast songs that they liked, and other times they talked during the ones they didn't. Finally, a slow song came on.
"We're going to take it slower now. Everyone should get on their feet and dance," the DJ's voice rang throughout the gym.
Soon people were starting to slow dance in couples and Akina, Misty, and Kari were next to the only ones left without someone to dance with. Bakura came up and outright asked Akina to dance with him. She nodded and they started slow dancing, joining all of the other couples on the dance floor.
That was unexpected, Kari thought with surprise. Akina hardly talked with Bakura at all. Oh, well.
"I don't really want to slow dance," Misty said. She then went to the bathroom and stayed there until the song was finished. Kari chuckled at that. She supposed that Misty would do anything to get out of slow dancing.
Then Kari was left by herself. Contemplating on whether she should just follow Misty to the bathroom or not, she walked towards the edge of the dance floor.
"Will you dance with me?" a voice asked from behind her. Kari turned around to see Kaiba standing behind her.
Kari was quiet for a second, then nodded. She figured he was probably just standing there alone as well. He took her hand and led her onto the dance floor. They slow danced in silence, but it wasn't really awkward silence at all. Both of them just listened to the music and looked at each other. Kari was glad that the lights were dimly lit, since she was blushing.
That slow song was the last song of the dance. Soon the music got softer and a lot of people went outside for the remainder of the night. The gymnasium grew lighter. Trying to hide her blush, and unsure of what to say, Kari quickly said, "Thanks for the dance," and went outside.
She met Akina and Misty out there, and they talked for a while. Misty's sister came to pick her up, and Akina went with her. Kari stood there alone again, after deciding to just walk home since she had a coat to cover up her dress.
"Why are you just standing there?" Kaiba, again, came up from behind her.
Kari, blushing again, said, "I was just about to walk home…"
She was about to start walking, when Kaiba grabbed her hand, pulled her close to him, and kissed her.
Kari was a little surprised, but kissed him back. His arms were around her waist while hers were around his neck. It felt so right to them, being with each other.
Because their love was still alive, even after thousands of years.
Yeah, that's the last chapter. And the dresses they were all wearing are actually real dresses. Akina Sachi helped me pick them out…actually she basically did it for me since I have no experience in fashion or what looks good on people. And, as I told you before, there is still an epilogue coming up. So stay around.