Untitled Romance In Domino

By: Castianna

Chapter 2

Later that day when Ashley, Rae and the gang were hanging out with the gang at the park when Seto Kaiba happened to walked up to them. "Ready to lose this time Mouto?" He sneered.

Yami glared back. "Over my dead body."

"Well that could be arranged. So don't tempt me." With that he turned to walk away. As he passed Joey he glared and muttered. "Mutt."

"Why I oughta….." Joey started to go at Kaiba with his fist ready, Tristan and Yugi grabbed him and held him back.

Kaiba looked towards Ashley and Rae, Just what Yami needed, two more sickening fan girls crowding the duels. "New cheerleaders Yami? Let's hope they don't pollute the air with gag worthy friendship speeches at every duel."

Tea glared at Kaiba, her hatred for him evident in her eyes. Kaiba glared back. The feeling was mutual. Ashley was in a daze… Kaiba had noticed her…. He thought her a fan girl... Little did he know that she would gladly wear a t-shirt claiming Seto as her hero! 'He's so hot…..' She sighed mentally. 'But it wouldn't help if everyone here found that out….' She sighed, "Dare to dream…" She muttered quietly.

Seto heard the curly haired girl mutter something and it caught his attention. 'She's not bad looking, but why is she hanging around with Yami?' He thought. 'Wait, where did that come from? The last thing I need is to be thinking of one of Yami's fan girls as a person.'

"I have more important things to do with my time then hang around with the geek squad, some of the Mutts bad gaming skills might rub off on me." And with that final insult Kaiba walked away, checking Ashley out one last time as he walked by her.

'Did he just check me out?' Ashley's face turned a little pink as her thoughts took a little trip to the clouds. Ashley was jolted back to reality by being knocked over by Joey on his mad dash to freedom to attack Kaiba.

"What does he mean, Bad gaming skills? I came second at duellist kingdom didn't I?"

"Of course you did sweetie. He's just jealous." Mai said, trying to mend his pride.

She kissed him on the cheek.

"Your right Mai." He said, "I'm hungry." All was forgotten. Joey and Tristan were off to the nearest burger joint before anyone could say anything.

Later

The gang decided to head to Yugi and Yami's place to sit and watch TV. Tea had nicely offered to give the girls some clothes, as they were all around the same size. Then they had settled their stuff in the quest bedroom at Yugi's. Ashley was bored with everything so she decided to go for a walk. It was getting dark outside but it was still early. She headed out the front door and down the street towards the park where they were hanging out earlier.

She got to the park and started walking down one of the paths. The paths were lighted so she wasn't afraid of being alone. She turned onto another path and headed towards the spot they were hanging out earlier. A few minutes later she started to feel like someone was following her. After another ten minutes the feeling was getting increasingly worse, so she made up her mind to head back to the main gate and head back to Yugi and Yami's place. She turned down another path that looked like it headed back to the main path. She looked over her shoulder as three people turned onto the same path. She picked up the pace, and so did the people behind her. She was getting scared now. She broke out into a full run. The People behind her started to run as well. They were running faster than her, one of them reached out and grabbed her. Ashley let out a scream and tried to pull away but one of the guys tripped her and she fell to the ground. She could see now that it was three men. And terror gripped her as she realized what was happening… She was going to get raped. She opened her mouth to scream and one guy laughed, He pulled something out of his pocket and used it to gag her.

A lone teenager walked along a secluded path in the Domino Nature Park, He was troubled and couldn't sleep. He kept thinking about a girl, and couldn't get her out of his head. He was lost in his thoughts, His feet leading the way, not sure where he was going. Then he heard a scream rent the air. Startling him from his thoughts he looked up and listened. Hearing a second scream he started to run towards it. Not really understanding why, but he just had to help. Up ahead on the path he could see a group of guys, two were holding the girl down and the other was pushing up her skirt. Not taking the time to think he rushed forwards and kicked the first guy he reached and then grabbed the one trying to rape the girl. He punched him twice in the face and once in the gut. Shoving him out of the way he went for the third guy. But he and the other guy had already started running away. All three guys decided to run and left the poor girl where she was.

Seto watched them run out of sight then turned his attention to the girl. Kneeling down beside her he could see tears pouring down her face and her eyes were shut. There was something vaguely familiar about the girl. Shaking the feeling off he started to untie the gag.

Ashley peeked her eyes open and looked at the guy who saved her. She couldn't see anything in the dark but a shadowy figure.

Seto reached out and put one arm under her back and helped her to a sitting position then grabbed her more firmly pulling her to her feet. He was about to let her stand on her own when she cried out and almost fell back to the ground. He reached out and caught her. Placing one arm under her knees and the other around her shoulders he picked her up and started to carry her bridal style.

Ashley was in a state of shock. Several times she opened her mouth to thank him but the words wouldn't come out. Seto was thinking over the options available to him. He could take her to the hospital but that would draw attention to him. He could take her to her house, but he didn't know where she lived. She appeared to be in shock still and was lost in herself so he didn't want to disturb her. His final option was to take her back to his mansion and have his personal physician look at her injuries. Picking the path that led to his mansions private entrance to the park he headed for home.

When Kaiba got to his house and under the entrance light he looked down at the girl in his arms. He nearly dropped her; it was the girl from earlier. What was she doing out at this hour? She should have known that the park wasn't safe for women after dark. Opening the door he carried her across the hall and up the stairs, down another hall and into a bedroom. He set her on the bed then turned and walked out of the room. "I'm calling a doctor don't move." He said over his shoulder.

Ashley stared unbelieving after him. Seto Kaiba was her knight in shinning armour? Her eyes were wide and her cheeks slightly pink. Her head was sore from when it hit the pavement and the sharp lighting of the room was making it throb even more. So she closed her eyes and drifted into sleep.

She heard a sound and came instantly awake, she was in unfamiliar surroundings. How had she gotten here? And then the events of the night came rushing back with the force of a runaway train. She was just sitting up when Seto walked in the room. The sound she had heard was knocking. He walked across the room towards her and all she could do was stare at him. He was the most unlikely person to come to her rescue.

"Are you just going to stare at me like some besotted fan girl?" He asked.

"No, I'm sorry… I didn't mean ….." She began to turn a becoming shade of pink.

'Is she blushing…?' Seto thought then mentally shook himself.

"How is it that the night some guys try to rape me, The Seto Kaiba, just happens to be walking by?" Ashley asked, not really expecting an answer.

"Well, I wasn't in the park." He lied. "My property line runs along one side of the park. I was in my back yard when I heard the screams. Naturally I investigated."

"By the way, my name is Ashley." She said. "We weren't properly introduced this afternoon." She blushed a little deeper remembering how his eyes had locked on her for but a few moments. "Mr. Kaiba, I want to thank you…. For saving me."

Kaiba nodded. He shifted and looked away for a moment. Then he cleared his throat. Is there anyone you need to call, let them know you're alright?" He asked. "I have called a doctor for you, He should be here in a few minutes."

Ashley nodded. "I need to call Rachel. Oh, but I don't know the number where she is staying…" She trailed off.

"Where is she staying? I know all the hotel numbers in Domino."

"She isn't at a Hotel. We are staying at Yugi's." Ashley said.

Kaiba was silent a moment. "I will look the number up for you while the doctor is here." There was a knock at the door, and then the doctor walked in.

The doctor was a middle aged woman with jet black hair pulled severely into a knot at the back of her head. She wore a purple nurse's shirt and a pair of black pants. Seto left the room while the doctor examined Ashley. After half an hour the doctor completed her examination of Ashley's injuries. She diagnosed; 1 very painfully sprained ankle, 1 sorely bruised back, 4 stitches in a jagged cut on her hand, 6 stitches in a similar gash on her leg, a swollen and cracked lip, A slight concussion and a black eye. The doctor recommended that Ashley be put in a bed and stay there for a few days bed rest until her sprained ankle was healed up. The doctor wrapped it in a tensor bandage, and then she packed up her things and headed out. She met Kaiba in the hall and informed him of her diagnoses then went home.

Kaiba entered the room and walked to the bed. "Its 3am. I have a room you can sleep in for the night. I also have Mouto's number so you can call over there and let them know you're alright. Another thing, the doctor feels that you should stay here until your ankle is healed up. At my mansion you can have 24 hour care from my staff. I can send Roland, my driver, to Mouto's place tomorrow to get what ever things you will need." Then without a word from Ashley he scooped her up and carried her across the room to another door she hadn't noticed before. He opened the door to a room that was identical to the previous one. He carried her to the bed and pulled the covers back and set her down. Then he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

"Here." He handed it to her.

She took the phone and noticed that the number was dialled in; all she had to do was hit talk. The phone rang twice and then someone picked up.

"Hello?" The voice was anxious. It sounded like Yugi's grandpa.

"Hi, Mr. Mouto?" She said. "This is Ashley, Is Rae there?"

"No they are all out looking for you."

"Oh, Well I'm safe now; can I have Yugi's cell number?"

He gave her the cell number and she hung up and dialled it. The cell rang three times then Rae answered it.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Rae, It's me. I'm…" Rae cut her off.

"Where are you? Are you ok?"

"Umm I'm fine now, I'm with Kaiba, let's just say he helped me out of a mess, I really don't want to talk about it tonight, I will call you in the morning. I'm staying here for now, but I will call first thing."

"Ok, be careful and good night. Please don't do this again, You had me worried…"

"I know. Talk to you tomorrow?"

"Yes, first thing."

She hung up the phone and passed it back to Seto. Seto got up off the side of the bed and walked to the door, He turned off the light.

"Goodnight. And thank you again." Ashley said.

"Goodnight." He said and walked out the door, leaving it open just a crack.

'Just in case she calls out or falls or something….' Was his reasoning. He turned off the light and got into bed and rolled into a fitful sleep.

Shortly after 5am Ashley was having a nightmare. She was tossing and turning, hands were grabbing her from every direction, she tried to get away but they kept grabbing. She started to run but they kept trying to reach for her. She was running and then the land was gone from beneath her and she was falling off a cliff into ice blue water…. She screamed as she fell. There was a blinding light as the ocean disappeared.

Seto was jolted fully awake to a scream from the next room. He jumped up and ran through the door in time to see Ashley tossing around on the bed then fell off and onto the floor. He turned on the light and flooded the room in bright light. Ashley was lying absolutely still after hitting the floor he feared she may have hit her head again. He rushed to her side and gently picked her up, she began to scream again.

"No… Ahhh… let me go!"

"Shh… its ok…wake up now..." Seto was trying to soothe her.

Ashley stopped screaming and opened her eyes. She looked directly into ocean blue eyes filled with concern. Seto sat on the edge of the bed and continued to hold her in his arms. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against his chest. Her breathing evened out and she had calmed down completely. He was just getting up to leave and place her back in her bed when she whispered.

"Don't leave me." Her hazel eyes shot open, they were filled with fear, making her look vulnerable.

"I won't." He said and carried her to hid room and put her in his bed.

She snuggled up close to him and closed her eyes. Seto got under the covers beside her and placed one arm protectively on her hip. Closing eyes he fell asleep with the smell of her enveloping him. 'This feels right.' He thought. Then he drifted off to a deep sleep. A sleep of contentment.