Having A Heart

Summary: Kaiba believes that the heart is just a big muscle that pumps blood around the body. Serenity tries to convince him that the heart is a place where you keep the ones you love. Will she succeed? And will he place her in his heart? Silentshipping.

Disclaimer: I don't own YuGiOh... not yet, that is.

Author's note: Finally, chapter 8! This one took quite some time, and I'm not completely satisfied about the result, be hey, it'll manage. My humble thanks to Catalyna Cullen and honeylove90 for their nice reviews on chapter 7! Thank you^^


Chapter 8: When Did Your Heart Go Missing?

Serenity stared at her reflection in the soup. Her eyes were filled with guilt. She couldn't eat this. It was way too expensive. She herself couldn't afford it, and she couldn't let Kaiba pay for her dinner.

"Mister Kaiba?," she asked carefully, trying to find the right words.

Kaiba, who didn't seem to have any trouble with the fish soup, looked up from his bowl, staring her right in the eyes, making it even harder for her to say she couldn't accept the dinner.

She broke the gaze by looking at her lap. "Well… I don't think I can eat this," she stated softly.

"And why is that? Are you some sort of vegetarian?," he asked mockingly. He wouldn't be surprised if she actually was. She seemed like the type of person that just couldn't bear to eat anything that was once alive.

"Eh… no… It's just… I can't afford this." She felt her cheeks turn red in shame. At that moment she was glad she was facing her lap.

Serenity didn't see Kaiba rolling his eyes. "I know. That's why I'm paying," he said slowly, as if she was the dumbest human being he had even talked to.

"No, I can't let you pay for this," she said, a lot more firmly this time. "It's all so expensive, it costs a fortune…"

"And I am a billionaire," Kaiba added, stating the obvious. "Geez Wheeler, I thought you were smarter than that mutt of a brother of yours."

Serenity looked up from her lap, staring at him in wonder. Did he just gave her a compliment? It was well hidden, but she was certain he did. A small smile crept up her face as she picked up the spoon and started eating.

Kaiba looked at Serenity, who was now eating happily. She sure was a strange girl… Usually, he could see right through people, immediately knowing their motives. And he hated it when he couldn't see through people the very first moment. Yet, here he was, having dinner with the only person he hadn't and couldn't figure out. The only person that had ever intrigued him.

Well, at least she was eating now, which was a good thing. After this, he would be even with her, probably never see her again, and return to his normal life, where people actually made sense.

"Mister Kaiba?"

Kaiba looked up, glaring at Serenity with an annoyed look on his face. "Will you cut the 'mister' crap?," he demanded firmly. He hated it when people called him 'mister' when it wasn't business related. It made him feel so darn old.

"Uh… Yes, of course…," she said, a bit startled by his sudden outburst. "Can I… Can I call you by your first name?"

She was afraid she'd pushed it too far this time. She had never heard anyone call Kaiba by his first name, except for Mokuba. But she just hated it to call people by their last name. She thought it sounded rude and disrespectful. Besides, she liked Kaiba's first name a lot better than his last. It was softer, nicer. Better. She just hoped he would allow her to use that beautiful first name.

"Whatever," was Kaiba's reply. He didn't really care if people called him by his first name or not. The reason nobody dared to call him by his first name was because nobody had ever tried to do so.

She smiled. 'Whatever' was good enough for her.

"So… Seto," she started again, but this time with a big smile on her face.

"Hmm?," he replied, not looking up. He simply continued eating his soup.

"Why do you hate Joey so much?" It was something she had been wondering for some time now. Joey had already told her every single aspect that he hated about Kaiba, but she'd never known why Kaiba hated Joey so much.

"Oh, where do I start?," Seto said, his voice full of sarcasm. "He's overconfident. He lacks a brain. He acts like a stray dog. As a matter of fact, he even looks like a stray dog with that ridiculous hairdo of his." He could go on, but he decided to stop there, sparing Serenity.

Serenity couldn't help but giggle at Kaiba's last comment. She had tried to convince Joey to get a hair cut so many times, but he just wouldn't listen to her. He probably thought his hair made him look like some sort of gangster or something

"I suppose you're right about his hair," she admitted. "But he's a really nice, caring person if you get to know him."

"Somehow, I sincerely doubt that."

She smiled sadly. Her brother and Kaiba would probably never get along.

"What's so horrible about being overconfident?," she asked suddenly, remembering Kaiba's words. She agreed with Kaiba, Joey was a bit overconfident sometimes, but she couldn't really see why that was such a horrible quality. It was the first thing Kaiba had thought of in his list of thing he hated about Joey, so he must really hate that. But why?

Seto was silent for a moment. Not because he didn't have an answer. It was the answer itself. He started hating overconfident people since he had met his stepfather.

Gozaburo had always though he was in control of everything. When Seto had been buying up Kaiba Corp. piece by piece, trying to obtain fifty-one percent, Gozaburo had been proved dead wrong. He knew Seto had been buying up Kaiba Corp., and that Seto had obtained forty-nine percent. He was so confident he would win, that he didn't bother to re-buy Seto's share in the company. In he would have, Seto's plan to take over the company would have failed. Since that day, he had known overconfidence was a bad quality.

"Seto? Did you hear me?," Serenity asked carefully, a bit worried.

"I heard you."

"So… what's your answer?"

He sighed. "Let's just say I have my reasons to hate overconfident people," he stated firmly. Firmly enough to make her drop the subject.

Serenity didn't know what to say next, so she simply got back to eating her soup. The both of them finished their soup quickly. The main course was brought soon after. It was a steak, decorated with a nice-looking red sauce that Serenity didn't know. The steak was lying on a bed of nut rice.

"It looks nice," she said with a smile.

Kaiba shrugged. He never really looked at what he was eating. He just… well, ate it.

As they were eating, Serenity thought of something to talk about. Eventually, she came to the conclusion that there were two subjects that Kaiba might enjoy talking about: Kaiba Corporation and Mokuba.

"How are things at the Corporation?," she asked cheerfully, hoping that he would open up a bit.

"We're currently working on a secret project," he simply answered. He wasn't planning on discussing his work. He wouldn't want his competition to get their hands on his projects. Besides, Wheelers didn't have enough brains to understand any of the complicated technology he was working on anyway.

"What project?," Serenity asked, trying to expand the subject.

"What aspect of 'secret' don't you understand?"

"Oh… yes, of course. I'm sorry."

Silence followed once again.

"How's Mokuba doing?," she asked after a while, trying to get a conversation going once again.

"He's fine," Seto answered, cutting off yet another subject.

Serenity sighed. She'd given up. Seto Kaiba just didn't want people close to him, and she realised that now. She realised it, but she didn't understand it. Why would a person want to be all alone in the world, without anyone to keep them company?

"Why?," she whispered, not realising she'd just spoken her thoughts out loud.

"Why what?," Kaiba asked with a hint of curiosity in his voice.

Her head shot up. Damn… She just had to say something, and he just had to hear… She might as well tell the truth. Lying wouldn't bring her anywhere anyway.

"Why… why do you tend to push people away?"

"Because I don't want people close to me."

"Why not?"

Seto sighed. He was having a major déjàvu… Mokuba had asked him the exact same questions about a week ago, in the car, after they'd given Serenity a ride home. And he still didn't want to answer those questions.

"I have my reasons," he simply said, giving her the exact same answer he had given Mokuba. But, unlike Mokuba, who'd pushed it a little more, she just nodded and continued eating.

Kaiba's simple statement turned out to be the last words that were exchanged between the two during the rest of the dinner. Throughout the main course, or what was left of it, and the dessert (a beautiful looking strawberry ice coupe) both of them were silent. I wasn't until the waiter had brought them the bill when Serenity gained enough courage to speak again.

"You know, you should really let me pay for… well, at least something," she said with a small smile. She still thought it wasn't right if she'd let Kaiba pay for all of this, even if he was a billionaire.

"No," he stated simply, as he rolled his eyes… again.

"But why not?"

"Because, Wheeler, I am buying you dinner, so I'll be even with you. If I let you pay, it wouldn't count. Besides, this would cost you about a year of your allowance, while this is only a trifle for me. Understood?"

She nodded slowly, while smiling slightly. She understood.

Seto paid the bill, then called his chauffeur to tell him to pick them up.

The two of them left the restaurant, which probably wasn't such a good idea. It was freezing outside. Serenity, who was wearing a dress without sleeves, shivered. She hugged herself, trying to warm herself up a bit.

Seto looked at her from the corner of his eye, then looked at his watch. It was gonna take at least five minutes for his chauffeur to get there. By then, she'd probably be suffering from hypothermia. So, as a gentleman, he did what he needed to do. He took off his jacket and handed it to her.

"Here."

She stared at it in awe for a few seconds, before she realised she was being rude, and quickly took it. She put the jacket on, which looked pretty ridiculous, since the thing was about ten sizes to big for her. She was just happy it wasn't one of his trench coats; otherwise the thing would've completely consumed her.

"Thank you."

Silence. Serenity cursed the silence in her brain. But she couldn't break through it. A few times, she opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, but then she closed it again. She just didn't know what to say. About everything that had been discussable had been discussed over dinner… barely.

And so, the silence remained. That was, until the limousine arrived. Serenity walked over to it and wanted to open the door, but Seto grabbed her arm in order to prevent that. When she looked at him quizzically, he nodded towards the chauffeur, who had gotten out of the front seat and now opened the door.

This time, Serenity got in first, soon accompanied by Seto. The door was closed by the chauffeur, and soon the limo started to move.

Once again, the silence was there. It was getting rather awkward now, at least, for Serenity that was. Seto enjoyed the silence. In his hectic life, moments of silence were a rare treat.

After what seemed like an eternity, the limo pulled up in front of Serenity's apartment. She was happy when she saw that the lights were dimmed, meaning that Joey wasn't home yet, a fact she was very grateful for.

The door was opened once again. Seto, sitting closest to the door, got out first. Serenity soon followed. He walked her all the way to her front door, which was a sweet gesture in Serenity's eyes.

"Thank you for… tonight," she said, smiling at him.

"Don't mention it."

He was about to turn around and leave, when Serenity realised something.

"Wait," she said softly, causing him to stay a little longer.

He looked at her quizzically. As an answer, she took off his jacket and handed it back to him.

"You forgot this."

He didn't answer, but simply took the jacket from her and put it back on.

At that point, she had gathered enough courage. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him, as if she didn't thought her thanks were enough to show her appreciation for the nice evening.

And he just stood there, as if he was frozen. There were a lot of thoughts running through his mind, the one more confusing then the other. Yet, he didn't push her away. Anyone, anyone else who would've dared to do such a thing, would've had their ass served on a silver platter by yours truly. But strangely enough, he actually… enjoyed the contact he was having with this other human being.

The moment ended way too soon, as she pulled away, smiling at him. In return, he simply turned around and walked away, not showing any emotion. Yet, as he was walking, a grin crept up his face. He had been wrong.

He did have a good time.

And that's all folks! Damn, this chapter was a pain in the ass, letting those two conversate and get closer without Seto being completely out off character... Ah well, I think it worked out okay^^ Anyway, as always, if you have the time, please review.