First all new chapter, from now on everything will be a surprise!
After officially meeting Serenity little changed. At least, there were few big changes. We spoke every night and on occasion she would text me during the day.
She was distant however. As though she was holding herself back. I ignored it, she had every right to be distant from me. I hoped we'd go back to how things were though.
Kaiya, on the other hand, was nearly bubbling with excitement. I assumed Serenity had told her mother about the mentoring program and who her partner was.
"Mr. Kaiba, why didn't you tell me you and Serenity were friends?" she asked the moment she saw me.
"I didn't want it to affect our professional relationship," I told her. It was a partial truth. To my surprise, she laughed.
"Oh, Mr. Kaiba you needn't worry about that. I'm more than old enough to know that we have a professional relationship and how disastrous the results would be if we got too comfortable."
"Oh, of course."
"That being said, I'm glad that you've got a friend and someone like Serenity will be good for you." I nodded, she was a suitable person to have as a friend. We were compatible. As I pondered on her comment Kaiya said something I didn't catch.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?"
"I said, the two of you should be sure to spend some time together before she leaves for school."
"Yes, perhaps you're right. I'll have to make arrangements."
That evening I was reminded once again how much Kaiya loved to go above and beyond her duties, one might go so far to call it meddling.
As I was finishing up the reports I had been working on there was a knock on the door. I frowned, my secretary had gone home hours ago and the two other people who had access to my office floor were Kaiya and Mokuba, neither of whom knocked.
"Come in," I called, curiosity getting the better of me. Really, I shouldn't have been surprised to see Serenity. She smiled shyly and fiddled with the strap of her pale yellow sundress.
"Hi Kaiba," she said giving a small wave.
"How did you get up here?" I blurted.
"My mom let me use her key card. She said you wanted to see me?"
"Oh, yes of course. I meant later so that we could do something before you left though." She nodded, looking as though she was trying to decide what to say.
"Why?"
"Excuse me?" I asked, not understanding what she was after.
"Why do you want us to spend time before I leave?"
"Well, we're friends and-"
"Are we friends Kaiba?" She crossed the distance between us until she stood right in front of me. "You don't tell me things, you spent most of our time talking hiding everything."
"I panicked, okay?" I admitted, unprepared with who forward she was being. "I'm sorry I lied, but I didn't know how you'd react."
"And you thought lying was the better choice?" It seemed like one of those trick questions women ask where no matter what your answer was you were wrong.
"Um, yes?" I sighed. "It was stupid, and I'm sorry. Okay?" Serenity looked at me with a skeptical eye before smiling.
"Okay," she said. "But don't you ever do that again." She poked me in the chest as she spoke. It was kind of funny, she was so small and delicate, yet there she was being the intimidating one. "Promise?"
"Promise."
"Good. And we're spending two days a week together before I leave." I looked at her as though she had just declared Wheeler the new King of Games.
"Are you insane?" I demanded, my tone dead serious. "I haven't got the time for that, I have a company to run!" She rolled her eyes at my outburst.
"Spending time together isn't hard, you need to start acting your age more."
It was decided, without my approval I might add, that Tuesdays and Saturdays be our days to spend together, though what she hoped to accomplish I never knew.
For the first couple weeks she would borrow her mother's key card and sit in my office while I worked. She brought her sketch book and didn't say a word until I declared I was finished for the day, earlier than I usually would.
After that we would talk, about nothing really, and I would take her to dinner at a place of her choosing.
On the third Saturday I finally caved. The moment she walked in, at precisely three as always, I closed my work.
"Come on, we're going out," I informed her.
"What about your work?" I sighed and glanced longingly at my computer.
"I can do it tomorrow." She smiled that genuine smile I hadn't seen in a while.
"What have you got in mind?"
"You'll see."
"Kaiba Land?" Serenity asked once we had parked. I'll admit, Mokuba had suggested I take her there at some point and I didn't like keeping her in my office all afternoon while I worked.
"Yes, amusement parks are a typical summer past time for students. I thought you might enjoy going to one without having to wait in line for three hours on any given ride."
"That sounds like a great idea, I've never been to an amusement park before," she gushed clearly brimming with excitement. "What's your favourite ride?"
"The It's a Small World Compared to my Ego ride is entertaining." She stared at me with a mix of confusion and disbelief. "I'm kidding."
"That was so much fun!" Serenity laughed as we got back to my car, the sun having long since set. She had dragged me from place to place with a child like wonder. The Blue Eyes roller coaster was her favourite ride and she had insisted we ride it over and over. I'm not sure why she liked it so much, all she did was scream in terror and cling to my arm. "What was your favourite part?"
"The games," I replied after thinking on it a moment. Kaiba Land boasted an amazing arcade and I had always been good at games. Serenity smiled and snuggled into the Blue Eyes plush I'd won, it was the top prize requiring a number of tokens. Serenity had taken one look at it and just melted.
"It's so cute and fluffy!" she'd gushed the moment she saw it. It wasn't small, about the size of a labrador retriever, and made out of high quality materials. It had been satisfying to win the thing even though I knew as the owner I could've simply demanded it.
"Thank you so much for winning him," Serenity said for at least the twentieth time. I didn't mind, I don't get thanked very often.
I reached her home and parked in the driveway, along the ride Serenity had fallen asleep. I nudged her gently, but she only mumbled something unintelligible. With a sigh I made my way over to her side of the car and scooped her up. Thankfully she clung tightly to her Blue Eyes saving me from carrying her and it.
I hit the doorbell with my elbow and soon Kaiya came to the door.
"It seems I wore her out," I said in answer to her bewildered look.
"What did you two do today?" she asked, stepping back to let me in.
"I took her to Kaiba Land." I glanced down at the sleeping girl in my arms. "Um, where should I put her?"
"Oh! She has the upstairs." I nodded and climbed the stairs. Their home had an interesting layout; the main floor held all the common rooms along with a small bedroom, full bathroom and an office. Upstairs was all one room with an en suite bathroom. I found it curious that Serenity had the larger room, but she had an easel set up in one corner along with a desk and several bookshelves. Perhaps she required more space and the privacy along with it.
I set her down on her bed unsure what to do next. In the end I simply turned out her light, leaving her a key card to the executive floor of her own. I then bid good night to Kaiya and went home.
Our twice weekly days together changed after that, Kaiya scheduled 'fun' work events on Tuesdays such as testing new prototypes, demoing new games and things like that. On Saturdays Kaiya would leave me a clear schedule after 2:30. What happened to the rest of the work I'm not sure, but I think Kaiya started enforcing the floor supervisors to be more self reliant.
Regardless, Saturdays became the day I finally taught Serenity duel monsters. It was a long and painful process that I included Mokuba in, just to give myself a break from having to start from the ground up.
Mokuba had been surprised when I told him who 'Kisa' was.
"But Seto she's-"
"I'm well aware who she is."
"Y-you are? And it doesn't bother you?"
"Not in the least." Mokuba shrugged and from then on greeted Serenity like an old friend.
Summer went by quickly and soon enough it was out last day together. I was unable to see her off the next morning so our farewell was held when I dropped her off for the last time.
"I'm sorry, Kaiba," she said before exiting the car.
"Why?"
"I wasn't very understanding before. I thought I knew you, but I guess it's easier to see what we want than the truth," Serenity said softly. "I saw you as someone powerful, who had all the answers, but that's not true. You may not always know what you're doing, but you try to do better. And when you make a mistake, because we all do, even you, promise you'll talk to me. Okay?"
"Okay." She instantly brightened and threw her arms around me before getting out.
"Good! I'll either phone or text you once I'm settled in Tokyo." I nodded and waved goodbye, the space around me feeling slightly empty; I had grown accustomed to her.
Who spotted the YGOTAS reference lol. Also, I'm thinking I may begin to lead into romance soon. They've been talking for about a year now... Leave me your opinion on the matter.
Reviews = Karma