Disclaimer: I don't own yugioh!
Anzu yawned tiredly and glanced at the clock on the opposite wall. It was almost 11:30pm and with that came the realization that they would be stuck here until morning. It wasn't as horrible as she thought it would be. Being stuck with the antisocial Kaiba was far better than she'd imagined. While his rude, overbearing persona remained, he was tolerable when he was quiet or pondering unknown facts to himself. She smiled softly at his relaxed form. He was sitting on the opposite couch, legs crossed, head propped on his hand which was resting comfortably against the armrest of the couch and his tired blue eyes sealed shut. She knew he wasn't sleeping and giggled quietly imagining him snoring and drooling like Jounouchi. The sight would be priceless but this was Kaiba she was talking about. Calm, centred, immaculate Kaiba.
"Stop staring at me Mazaki." She blushed having been caught and his blues eyes opened staring at her amusingly. She briefly wondered how he was able to tell she was staring when his eyes were closed. Shaking her head she dismissed the ridiculous (and paranoid) thoughts which filtered through her mind.
"I wasn't staring." His eyebrow rose mockingly and he straightened. A clear decisive look in his eye and she shifted under his probing gaze. He seemed to be looking right into her soul and it made her uncomfortable.
"Oh?" He grinned unfolding his legs. "But I could sense your bug eyes staring at me for almost ten minutes." Dark eyes gleamed in the dimly lit room. "Like what you see?"
Anzu could have fallen of her couch and melted on the floor. Her blush (of embarrassment!) flooded her cheeks and she lowered her eyes demurely, wishing that her hair was longer to hide her damn face. "Don't flatter yourself." She mumbled wishing she wasn't so timid all of a sudden. His words rang in her head and her eyes lifted to his. Anger sparkling in those light blue depths and her fingers curled into a small fist. "And I do not have bug eyes!"
Seto snorted. "Whatever you say Mazaki." He checked his watch again and sighed running a hand through his hair Anzu's eyes were trained on the simple action. His gaze shifted to hers and she hastily turned to the other direction wincing inwardly as her neck throbbed from the movement. Trying to steer the conversation in a less embarrassing direction, she attempted a friendly conversation.
"Well it looks like we're not going to be leaving here tonight--"
"Good grasp of the obvious."
"So," She said stressing on the word glaring at him for interrupting her. "I thought we might get to know each other better."
Seto's face twisted in disgust and he spat, "What is this? First day at school introductions?" Anzu frowned at him and crossed her arms angrily.
"No. I just thought since we're going to be here for a few more hours we might as well get to know each other so we won't get into this mess again!" She was quite fed up with his rude behavior and if he didn't want to make some sort of truce then they would continue arguing for the rest of their lives. Well at least their high school lives.
"Fine." He muttered. "I'm bored as hell so I might as well play along." His eyes held hers and she gulped at the stony look therein. He must have seen or heard the action because his eyes sharpened, a glint of sadistic amusement appearing.
"Okay." Anzu replied uneasily ignoring his gaze. "Well tell me about yourself." Seto rolled his eyes mumbling something about her stupidity.
"I'm the C.E.O of KaibaCorp, I have a little brother who is thirteen years old and I'm a famous duelist. Any more inane questions?" She glowered at him hatefully deciding whether or not to answer him or slap him upside the head. She chose the former.
"I already know all about that!" Calming herself she spoke steadily. "What I mean was, tell me about your family, hobbies, frie--" She was about to say friends but caught herself in time. According to the frosty overlord opposite her he didn't need friends.
"Very well." He replied quietly. Too quietly in her opinion. "My parents died and my relatives used up my inheritance and left Mokuba and I at the orphanage. When I was nine I was adopted by a ruthless businessman, Gozaburou Kaiba to be precise after a game of chess which I cheated to win." His eyes narrowed daring her to comment when she didn't he continued. "After that Mokuba and I moved into his mansion where I was forced to study until my head was about to explode." His face was impassive and Anzu stared wearily at him while he finished his monologue. "After six years of being abused and pushed beyond my limits I finally succeeded in acquiring the company resulting in Gozaburou's death." His gaze burned into hers and he smirked. "He committed suicide. Now that you know I expect the stupid questions to stop."
Seto rose from his seat and walked to the window staring at the midnight blue sky while Anzu sat rigidly looking at him unable to fathom how such a young boy was put through so much sorrow. She fixed her eyes on her lap mindful that he may see her sad gaze through the window's reflection and accuse her of pitying him. Far from it actually. She expected to hear some boring tale about growing up in the lap of luxury without lifting a finger to get something. She sighed inwardly. Kaiba was such a complex character. He suffered and persevered and all because of his little brother. Why else would he put himself through all that torment?
She looked over to the man who was changing so much in her eyes and smiled. He had to be the most selfless person she had ever met and she briefly realized why he was so uncommunicative around others. He never trusted anybody and he had a right to. So many people must have betrayed him. Standing up she dusted her rear absently and walked over to the quiet male.
"Kaiba?"
"Save it Mazaki. I don't need your pity."
Anzu looked down for a moment composing herself. "I'm not here to give you pity." She whispered softly as if talking to a scared child. "Why did you tell me that?"
"You wanted to know." He said dismissively. "Besides I wanted to scare you." She stared at his reflection. Eyes cold and hiding years of sadness, mouth set in a firm line, face devoid of all emotion and she realised that somewhere deep inside he was hurting.
"It did scare me." She saw the muscles in his arm twitch and after a short bout of silence she asked. "Did he do the same thing to Mokuba?"
"No." His voice seemed much colder she noticed and she heaved a sigh of relief.
"That's good. He wouldn't deserve such a fate and neither did you." Anzu gasped when he turned around swiflty. Her eyes wide as she stared into his chilling gaze. The hair at the back of her neck rose, her mouth falling open and she felt her body grow numb under his penetrating glare.
"Don't talk about things that you don't understand."
Courage sprang from her stationary body and Anzu used it to voice what she wanted to say. "What don't I understand Kaiba? The fact that you suffered through a horrible childhood which you didn't deserve or the fact that somewhere deep inside you're punishing yourself by being miserable!" Her chest rose and fell with every breath she took and she tried to calm herself. Getting angry was not the right choice and she admonished herself for being so harsh. "I'm sorry Kaiba."
"Don't apologize." He said harshly pushing his way past her, moving to the other side of the room yet Anzu wasn't one to give up so easily.
"Kaiba listen to me."
"I don't have a reason to." He was distant again. All the teasing and playfulness from earlier dissolved and she was left with the cold spectacle of a man whose life was scarred by an abusive parent. He was constantly shielding himself from everyone, loathing a person who was fueled by their emotions and for once in her life she felt disgusted by him. Gozaburou Kaiba was dead yet he still lived like that man trained him to be. Cold, unfeeling --a monster. Tears glistened in her eyes and she stared at him in revulsion.
"You're a monster." Seto turned to look at her, his eyes barely showing a trace of emotion and she screamed. "You're a monster!"
"I believe you've told me that once before." It was true she did. Earlier when she had her brief moment of hysteria she called him a monster. She didn't mean it then but she did now.
"It's the truth." She replied in a fierce whisper. "Your stepfather is dead now why can't you let go of the past and move on?!"
"Shut up Mazaki!"
"No I won't." She walked up to him standing before him, her eyes showing anger and her face reflecting the strong emotion. "You make me sick! How can you stand there and tell me I don't understand when you're the one who doesn't." Seto didn't say a word. Didn't need to and watched as she attempted to make a difference. "Do you ever stop to think that Mokuba doesn't want a robot for a brother?"
His eyes hardened to icy chips. "Don't bring my brother into this!"
"I wouldn't if you weren't so damn stupid! Mokuba is a smart kid. He knows that his big brother is sad even if he won't admit it. You spend your days locked up in your office. Your laptop is you damn best friend!"
Gosh! Why the hell was she crying? Especially for someone who didn't deserve her tears. Brushing away the salty drops, she sniffled and drew in a shaky breath."Kaiba--" Anzu stopped noticing for the first time that he was staring at her. Not looking past her or looking through her as if she was glass.
"You don't know when to give up do you Mazaki?"
"No." She whispered feeling as tired as he sounded. "I can be pretty stubborn when I want to be." It was a pathetic attempt to lighten the mood but being as desperate as she was at the moment it was worth a shot. "Kaiba really, you shouldn't--"
"Shouldn't what?!" Seto interrupted her again. "Shouldn't lock myself in a dark room and hide from the world as you so eloquently put it?"
"I didn't say that."
"But you were certainly thinking it weren't you?" Things were spiralling into ugly again and it seemed they couldn't stop arguing. No matter what situation they were in they could never stop shouting at each other. Acting almost like an estranged married couple. The thought made her smile inwardly. Wouldn't that be hilarious? She and Kaiba married and constantly at each other's throat.
"Can't we just stop fighting?" It was becoming tiresome and he had no inclination of even listening to what she had to say.
"Throwing in the towel Mazaki?" His eyes gleamed with a surge of triumph and she sighed in defeat.
"Yes." Her voice had dropped to a bare whisper. "It seems I can't get through to you no matter how much I try so I might as well give up." Anzu took a few steps closer to him and grinned. "At least for today."
Seto shook his head ruefully and he had to admit he admired her tenaciousness. Unfortunately he didn't want to discuss this matter with her after today. "Sorry but this chapter is over and I have no intention of talking about this again." He brushed past her dismissively and walked towards the farthest end of the room as if he couldn't stand to be breathing the same air as her.
Anzu for the life of her couldn't fathom the being that is Seto Kaiba but she knew that he was in pain. His physical scars might have healed but the emotional ones were still there. Question was, could she be the one to help him? No. That was absurd. Kaiba didn't need her or anyone else as he pointed out to her numerous times and it truly saddened her. Looking back at him sulking in the corner she realized that for all his intelligence and maturity he was acting like a child.
He caught her sympathetic look and averted his eyes. So he really didn't want to talk about it again. No matter, one day she would pry it out of him again and it will be very soon. Smiling at her thoughts she took a few steps until she was halfway to his side, his look of disgust had her hastening her steps. She was almost standing before him when her world started shaking--literally. The ground below her feet started moving and the ceiling fans fell startling her. She continued to waver as the earth quaked and she heard Kaiba's distinct voice yelling at her.
"Mazaki get your ass over here!" He was standing by the door frame and she hesitantly made her way over to him but at that moment something horrible happened. Seto who staring at the brunette girl timidly making her way across to him noticed the shelf on her right jostled just as she reached in front of it. "Shit!" He cursed under his breath. "Mazaki watch out!"
Fear gripped her body as she heard the squealing cry of the heavy wooden shelf beside her and her body became numb. Unable to move and she stared as the cabinet came crashing towards her blanketing her in eternal darkness...
A/N: Sorry for the late update but I was feeling rather lazy and then there is Flight Attendant school which is like being in the damn military. So I hope you enjoyed this long awaited chapter and feel free to send a review.