"When everybody else is getting out of bed,
I'm usually getting in it.
I'm not in it to win it,
I'm in it for you."
If it's Love by Train
XII
"Mr. Kaiba?" Seto swung his chair around to find Kisara standing in his doorway, looking at him with curious eyes, "Did you call to see me?" Seto nodded.
"Yes I did. Come in." Kisara slowly entered the office, closing the door behind her. "What's with all this 'Mr. Kaiba' stuff? Don't we know each other a lot better than that?" Kisara looked down and bashfully smiled.
"Oh Seto, you know that's what I call you when we're at work. It's more professional." Seto rose from his seat—he too was smiling as he inched closer to her.
"Is that why you have your hair up today? You want to look more professional?" Kisara's hair was tied into an extremely long pony tail, something Seto himself had never seen before. The look suited her, though, without her bangs in the way, Seto could fully admire the beauty that was Kisara's face. Kisara could see that Seto was looking at her in this way and turned red.
"Oh, Seto, what is it that you're looking at?" Seto took one step more and suddenly Kisara and Seto were standing right in front of one another, only centimeters apart, their bodies just barely touching. Seto gently took hold of one of Kisara's hand, causing Kisara to hold her breath for a moment and look up at him in surprise.
"You, Kisara, it's always been you who has held my gaze all this time, ever since you started working here." The cute and embarrassed smile changed, suddenly, to a more seductive and keen smile. Kisara's hand slipped out of Seto's hand and pushed Seto down onto the couch behind him. Seto was so shocked that he could say nothing in response as she walked over to him.
"I'm happy to hear that, Seto. I've had my eye on you for quite some time as well," Kisara climbed onto Seto as he was laid out on the couch, motionless, "It's about time we did something about this sexual tension between us, isn't it?" Seto gulped and nodded. Kisara loosely wrapped her arms around Seto's neck before puckering her lips and moving in for the kiss. Seto closed her eyes, ready for the first kiss he would ever experience—
"Nii-sama, wake up!" Seto jerked forward, his jaw colliding into Mokuba's skull and knocking him over. Mokuba fell backwards off the bed and landed with a loud thump onto the floor. "OW! Nii-sama, JEEZ! That hurt!" Seto twisted his head and looked down.
"What happened? Where am I?" Seto frantically looked around at his surroundings, not immediately recognizing where he was, "What day is it?" Mokuba got up, looking rather disgruntled with his brother.
"You're at home and it's the same day it was when you fell asleep."
"Where's Kisara?" Mokuba's disgruntled look was replaced with confusion.
"She left about a half hour ago, around the same time you fell asleep. You told me you were going to take a shower and come downstairs to make me breakfast, but you fell asleep so I made you breakfast instead!" Mokuba looked cheery and proud, presenting a plate of deformed pancakes to Seto's face. While Mokuba had, in all his innocence, made pancakes in spite of the fact that Seto didn't eat pancakes, he still took the plate from his little brother and smiled.
"Thanks, Mokuba. These look great."
"Thanks, Nii-sama! Now about Kisara… what's up with you two? I was out of it most of the day yesterday so I couldn't ask, but what was with her showing up here? Did you ask her to come and take care of me?" Seto became defensive.
"What? Of course not! I didn't ask her, she just showed up here. And I didn't ask her to take care of you either, she volunteered. I don't know why, she's just weird." Mokuba rolled his eyes, taking the plate of pancakes from his brother's hands and placing it onto the bedside table. With the most serious face the thirteen year old could make, he sat down beside Seto and readied himself for a mature heart to heart.
"Will you just admit you like Kisara already? You're not fooling anyone." Seto looked practically insulted to hear such words come out of his younger brother's mouth.
"LIKE her? Oh please, Mokuba! I can hardly stand her!"
"Then why was she one of the first things you asked about when you woke up?" Seto looked down and folded his hands in his lap in contemplation.
"I… well… I had a dream about her while I was sleeping." Mokuba's eyes widened.
"Whoa! Really? Nii-sama, you totally like her!"
"Since when does having a dream about someone automatically mean that you like them?" Seto snapped, rising from the bed to pace back and forth in the middle of the room.
"Because she's the first person you've dreamed of that didn't give you a nightmare." Seto paused from his pacing and looked back at Mokuba, completely astonished. Mokuba grinned with delight, crossing his arms across his chest with pride. Mokuba was right. Never in his life had he dreamed of someone other than his step father beating him, or his younger brother in trouble, or his company falling apart… she was the first person he had had a pleasant dream about.
"What happened in the dream?" Mokuba asked after giving Seto the appropriate amount of time to take in what had been said. Seto looked away in embarrassment.
"We were, uh… kind of, about to kiss." Mokuba leaned forward on the edge of the bed.
"And… did you kiss? In the dream, I mean." Seto shook his head.
"No, we didn't. I woke up before anything happened," Seto paused and then continued, "But the weird thing was that… I don't know. I kind of woke up… wanting to kiss her." Seto crossed his arms and turned away from Mokuba, feeling abashed to even be revealing such things. Still, it was true, and he had wanted to kiss her. Not to mention that dream was the most sexual dream he had ever had which made it strange, enjoyable, and confusing. "I don't understand why I dreamed about that."
"It's because of all that sexual tension you and Kisara have, DUH! I learned about it in health class. It's this thing that two people feel when they like each other and think the other person is hot or something." Seto turned around towards his brother, looking angry and disgusted.
"What? Your school taught you that? That's absolutely barbaric. I should take you out of that school. And for the record, I don't think Kisara is, 'hot' or anything similar to that word." Mokuba rolled his eyes. His brother could be so blind to his own emotions that it made conversations like this seem meaningless. Nevertheless, he wasn't going to give up on making Seto realize the truth.
"Okay, so you don't think she's hot, but she's definitely beautiful."
"Of course she is! …Hey, wait, I didn't mean to say that!" Mokuba grinned.
"Why won't you just admit the truth? Or at least admit it to me? I'm your younger brother and last I checked, we told each other everything. What's changed?" Seto turned away again, embarrassed by what he was about to say next.
"It's not just that I'm afraid to admit the truth to you but more that I'm afraid to admit the truth to myself. I've never 'liked' a person before… or at least, not in the way that I 'like' her. I'm not even sure if I'm really feeling the things I feel or if I'm just going crazy."
"Oh, you're going crazy, alright… crazy about KISARA!" Mokuba burst out laughing.
"Mokuba, this is serious. I've never felt this way before and I'm not sure that I should." Mokuba stopped laughing and got up.
"So you like a girl… so what? This is a normal thing that happens. In fact, it's a great thing. You've finally met someone you can stand being around that isn't me." Seto shook his head.
"No, it isn't supposed to be this way. I'm not supposed to 'like' people or be attracted to anyone. I'm Seto Kaiba. I love you and I love Kaiba Corp. but that's it. I'm not supposed to want anything else in my life except those two things. I've never wanted anything else for myself." Mokuba walked over and grabbed a hold of Seto's arm, bringing Seto's attention back down to him.
"Nii-sama, I know this wasn't the way you were raised. I know Gozaburo tried to beat all human emotions out of you but love… love is part of being a human being. Human beings are meant to want love in their lives." Seto rolled his eyes.
"That has to be the dumbest thing I have ever heard you say."
"Well, it's true! And I still don't see what the problem is with having a girlfriend."
"Maybe the problem is the fact that I don't know what a relationship is. Or the fact that I don't know what a relationship entails," Seto stated as he began to pace again, "I don't know if I'm meant for something like this… and with another person? What happens when I mess it all up? I've never taken a risk I didn't think I could win."
"That's the thing, though, isn't it?" Seto stopped and turned back to Mokuba, "The fact is that being in a relationship with someone is a risk you take without having any idea of what will happen down the road. But you know what? That's why people go for it. That's why there are so many movies and books about love. Because taking that risk is both exciting and scary and not knowing what will happen next makes it the greatest adventure of all."
"Wow… Mokuba, how are you thirteen and you know all of this?"
"Oh, I read it on the internet somewhere. People blog about that kind of stuff all the time! Anyway, does this mean Kisara's going to be your girlfriend?" Seto sat back down on the bed and let his arms drop to his sides.
"I don't think it's as easy as that."
"Sure it is! All you have to do is ask her out." Seto shook his head.
"No… first she has to like me back."
By the time Kisara had gotten to her apartment, changed into pajamas, and gotten into bed, it was 6:30a.m. Despite the fact that on most days, she would already be out and about, running errands and getting ready for school at that time, she was exhausted from her encounters with Seto the night before and earlier in the morning. Not only that, but she had gotten a text not too long ago letting her know that school would be closed for the day because of snow.
Placing her phone by her bed, she curled under the covers and prepared to let herself fall into a deep slumber. It was then that her phone went off. At first, she ignored it, figuring it was another useless text from the school, thus allowing herself to drift into a place where none of that would matter. The phone continued to ring, however, meaning someone was calling. Kisara opened her eyes and grabbed her phone. The caller I.D. read, "Cleopatra" and despite her exhaustion, she answered.
"Hello?"
"Kisara, it's about time you picked up your phone! I've been trying to reach you for weeks. Where have you been?" Kisara smiled at the sound of her best friend's voice. It had been weeks since they had talked. In fact, Kisara hadn't tried calling once since she had moved.
"Cleo, you realize it is 6:30 in the morning here, right?" Cleopatra laughed.
"As if that even matters, I know you wake up at four a.m. Who do you take me for?" Kisara smiled and sat up. Cleopatra was the same as she had always been since they were kids; fun and straight to the point.
"I know, I know. I'm just joking. How are you?"
"Well, to be honest, I'm pretty peeved that you left. I mean, you didn't even bother telling me that you were going to move. I had to find out from your parents. What's the deal with that? You can't even say goodbye to your best friend?"
"You know it had nothing to do with that, Cleo. I didn't tell anyone I was leaving except my parents. I didn't want to make a big deal of it," Kisara paused, "Though I suppose the real reason I never told you in the first place was because I knew you would be against the idea."
"You're damn right I would've been! Still, it takes a lot of guts to do something like that, so I can't say I'm not impressed. I just wish you could've told me at least. I would've tried to be supportive after a while, I know moving to Japan was something you had always wanted to do and you're my best friend so I'm always going to stand by whatever decisions you make. I love you like that." Kisara could feel tears welling up in her eyes. Just to hear her best friend's vivacious voice was enough to bring her back to the memories they shared together, growing up and going through everything. She hadn't realized how much she missed Cleopatra until then.
"I really am sorry for leaving and I'm especially sorry for not telling you."
"Eh, it's okay. I get it, anyway. You're a free spirit and I wouldn't want you to be any other way. Now that that's out of the way, how is it there? Are you going to school? Do you have a job?"
"Everything is fine. I'm living in Aunt Senbi's apartment. She's pretty much never here which means I have to have a job to be able to live. The funny thing about the job I have is that… I'm working for Kaiba Corp." Kisara held the phone away from her head as Cleopatra squealed with excitement.
"Are you serious? You're working at Kaiba Corporation? I can't believe it! Do you ever get to see Seto Kaiba around there?" Kisara smiled with delight, knowing Cleopatra would get a kick out of what she was about to say next.
"Actually, I see him practically every day. Get this, not only do we go to the same school, but I'm his assistant at work. Isn't that crazy?"
"That's probably the coolest thing I've ever heard. I mean, you're working with a celebrity! You must be making a ton of money if you're working for him. What's he like? Do you guys get along or is he a total jerk like they say in all the papers?" Kisara fell silent. She wasn't sure whether she should reveal to Cleopatra everything that was really going on or not but after living on her own for so long with no one to talk to, she felt she had to.
"Actually… I just came back from spending the night at his house." Kisara could hear Cleopatra gasp into the phone, "Before you get too excited, it's not what you think… although I'm afraid it's starting to become that."
"Are you saying that you like him? Is that what you're telling me? I need to hear all the details right now!"
"I think I do actually like him and it scares me to even admit that to myself right now," Kisara said, tightly holding the phone against her ear as the anxiety began to well up inside her.
"What are you talking about? That's great! I bet he likes you too. After all, what's not to like? He's totally hot, Kisara. I'm jealous!"
"But Cleo… you know what happened the last time I liked a guy. Heck, you know what happened the last time I was in a relationship with someone. It went terribly wrong and I'm not sure I can go through that again."
"You're crazy to even attempt to compare Seto Kaiba to that loser. Come on, Kisara. You're in a new country, a new school, a new job, and this is a new guy. You can't let the mistakes of your past ruin your chances of truly being happy with someone."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. I better go though, I have stuff I need to do soon."
"Alright girl, I love you and call me once and a while! Don't go forgetting about your best friend, got it?"
"I got it. Love you too, goodbye." Kisara hung up and lied back in bed. Kisara was aware that Cleopatra knew a thing or two about life and it was why she felt she could trust her judgment but that didn't change the fact that the only reason she had moved to a new place was to runaway from the exact thing she was about to get herself into; a liking for someone, a relationship, or worse… falling in love.
A/N: Hey there everybody! Another update on the "For Love's Sake" train and I hope you enjoyed it! This was a bit of a difficult chapter to do since… it's really just talking. It's important talking, but talking nonetheless. Oh, and there was a dream sequence at the beginning too. I just realized after writing this chapter that I almost always put in a dream sequence or two when I'm writing my stories, isn't that strange? I don't know, maybe it's because I dream every night and I think my readers will find them just as important and interesting as I do, haha. On another note, I think most if not all of you have noticed that I write review replies using the system they have set-up (this is the first story where I do that instead of writing them into the chapter). I do find it to be more convenient, but I feel bad for the anon reviewers who write me some of the sweetest reviews ever! I try to include a general "thank you" to all my readers at the end of each chapter to express my love to the anon reviewers, but I just had to bring some extra attention to them because I got a super sweet batch of reviews for last chapter. One person even wrote that they read my entire story twice and didn't find any mistakes, which is a super sweet and probably not true but an incredibly kind thing to say all the same. On another note, I've decided to try and update once every month on the 12th from now on. I just figure I'll enjoy having a set date for myself and you'll enjoy that too. Sorry this was so long, thanks for reading!