Chapter Sixty-One
61
Proposition
"CONNAR!" Syrus called out for the girl everywhere on the island. But there wasn't a response from her.
Even with help from Zane, Alexis, and Bastion.
No one could find a single trace.
"Where could she be?" Alexis asked.
"Who knows, Lex." said Zane,"But wherever she is...we'll find her."
Alexis nodded.
It was all so overwhelming, when Syrus had burst into the infirmary in tears for his brother, who was visiting Atticus with Alexis at the time, and stated that Connar was missing.
"I can't believe Connar...is a Kaiba." said Alexis.
"Yes I must admit it's quite shocking." said Bastion.
Zane was silent as his gaze hung on his little brother Syrus who seemed lost in his own thoughts as well.
"...I'm sorry I couldn't tell you Syrus." he said softly,"But I had to-"
"I understand." said Syrus,"...I get it. Really I do. It's just..." he paused as he tried to find the words.
"Just what, Sy?" Zane asked.
"...Just too much to take in...and comprehend all at once..." he sighed and stopped in his tracks.
"...Listen to me, Syrus!" said Zane as he turned his brother toward him while he kneeled down to be at eye level.
"No matter the situation...or where she comes from" Zane stated,"Connar is still Connar." he said,"She's still our Connar! No matter if she's Connar Rose K or Connar Rose Kaiba they're the same person...understand?"
Syrus blinked as he thought back to the memories of his younger self, playing toy cars with the pink haired girl with big blue eyes and a bright smile, together, at a park in a sandbox. He smiled as he narrowed his eyes and nodded.
His brother, returning the smile, also mirrored the gesture.
"Good." he said firmly,"Because we're her friends." he said,"And as her friends, we'll always accept her...no matter what." he smiled,"Especially now, when she needs us most."
Syrus blinked and nodded softly.
"You're right..." he said softly,"Thanks Zane."
"Sure, little brother." Zane said smiling tenderly,"Now let's go find our pesky little sister of a friend, shall we?"
"Right!" Syrues grinned.
"...You all are looking in the wrong places." Chazz said as he made his way to join the search party with Jaden in tow. Though no one left him a welcomed gaze,"Stop looking at me like that!" he huffed.
"Sorry Chazz...but you can't exactly blame them for being mad." said Jaden,"After all...you're kind of the reason she's in this mess."
"YOU DON'T THINK I KNOW THAT!?" Chazz huffed.
"Well...atleast he seems to feel a little guilty..." Syrus muttered.
"Sy..." Jaden chuckled with a sheepish grin.
"Listen up!" Chazz huffed,"I may be the reason she's in this jam...but it's not my fault!" he stated,"Even so..." he sighed,"You're right...I'm the one who put her there...that's why I'm also the one who can get her out of it."
he said with firm devotion.
"...You said we were looking in the wrong places..." Zane stated firmly with crossed arms,"So then...where should we look?"
Chazz blinked and closed his eyes as he thought.
"There is... one place." he said softly, and everyone turned their attention onto him.
XXXXX
Connar stood about knee deep in a restless sea to calm herself and clear her head.
The waves pushed her to and fro, unsteadying her balance on uneaven sand banks below as her feet sunk deeper. She gazed head and down at her reflection in an unsteady ocean, pink hair flowing wildly with the ocean breeze...
"Connar!" Chazz's voice called out from a distance, startling her as she turned her head toward the shore.
"Connar please...let's talk about this!"
"NO!" Connar snapped as she waded deeper into the bobbng ocean,"Don't come any closer-EEK!" It seemed the further out she went, the more restless the waves became.
"Connar, STOP!" Zane called out as the wind picked up,"That's dangerous!"
"Who cares if it is!?" She called back as she waded a little deeper and hugged herself as the rising water chilled her bones, while the wind chilled her body. She was determined to stay there a bit longer.
"We care, Connie!" Syrus called out to her,"Please come back to shore!"
"No, I don't want to!" She shook her head,"Please just leave me alone! Let me just stay here for a bit-Aiieeyaah!" a bigger wave washed over her nearly knocking her into the water while he friends called out to her.
"Alexis, get a life preserver!"
"I'm on it!"
"Zane! What are you doing!?"
"Syrus, you stay there!" Zane called back.
"CATCH!" Alexis tossed a life preserver into Zane's hands and he ran out onto the pier and tossed it out in a perfect ringer around her.
"Got ya!" Zane grinned in relief as he tried to pull her in.
"HEY!" Connar huffed as she found herself being pulled toward the pier-
Toward Zane.
"What part of leave me alone righ now do you not understand!?" she huffed.
"Well...I'm not leaving you alone in the middle of the Ocean!" said Zane,"So you can just forget that!"
"...I'm not even in the middle of the ocean..." she pouted,"My feet are still touching!"
"Not for long they won't" Zane stated,"The tide is rising and the wind is getting stronger...Now come back to the shore line or I'll have to be forced to dive in after you!" he huffed,"And I really don't want to have to do that Connar..."
"Well I really don't want to have to come to shore right now." she pouted stubbornly.
"Well I'm not leaving until you come back in...so I guess we're fishing then!" Zane sighed as he pulled the rope and tethered it tighter so that she wouldn't be swept away by the current and she huffed and puffed her cheeks resting her chin in her folded arms on the edge of the floatation device.
"You really are stubborn...aren't you, Connar!?" Chazz huffed as he waded out little by little to get closer to her.
"I wonder who made me that way, Princeton!?"
"...Your dad maybe?"
"...Yeah...that might be a good guess..." she sighed and closed her eyes as tears beaded down her cheeks, stinging Chazz right in the guilt.
"You need to talk to her, Chazz!" Jaden stated.
"Careful you don't screw up an make it worse!" Bastion called out.
"Will you SHUT UP!?" Chazz huffed," I know that!" he sighed as he ran his hand through his hair,"Connar...look." he sighed,"I get that you're mad at me...and you have every right to be." He said as he blinked,"But right now...we have a bigger issue...and it involves both of us."
"Connar blinked and looked at him."
"Please, Connie..." he blinked,"I can't get through this without you...I need your help...and if not for me...then for our school!"
For our school...
Connar stare at him silently for a while before averting her gaze.
"Then...after it's over..." he sighed,"You can hate me... And I'd deserve it." he blinked,"Because I've been a horrible friend..."
"Yes. You have." she stated and he gulped,"You've been a horrible friend...but..."
"...But?"
"...But I don't...hate you." she sighed,"I can't. Honestly? I don't think I ever could..." she blinked,"Because the truth of the matter is...the reason you can hurt me like this is because...you're the only one who knows me so well..."
"Huh?" Chazz blinked.
"Sure...I can talk to many people..." she stated as she looked around counting the worried faces that gazed upon them,"All of them could be good listeners..." she sighed as she rested on Jaden for a moment,"But being a good listener doesn't mean they get it. No one can understand..." she blinked,"Because no one else has been through it...but you have." she sighed,"That's why, you can. Which is why this just..." she sighed once more and ran her fingers through her hair,"It isn't easy."
Chazz blinked a few more times and sighed.
"You're right." he said firmly,"I do get it." he stated,"But...when has it ever been easy?" he blinked,"Hasn't it always been hard to be us?" he shrugged,"It's not about having money and wanting for nothing in life, with the world at your finger tips..." he blinked,"It's about all that pressure it comes with..."he said,"But you and me...we're different." he stated," But...we do have one thing in common..."
"And?" she blinked,"What's that?"
"We always went against that grind." he smiled as he held out his hand to her,"This involves you too Connie...come back with me...we'll figure it out together."
"I just don't know if I can... with you." she sighed shaking her head,"I feel like I'm drowning...no pun intended." She gave an awkward chuckle as she pointed out her awareness that she was indeed floating in the ocean in a life preserver.
"I know- and I get it Connie." said Chazz as he moved a little closer and held out his hand again,"That's why I'm telling you to swim to me, you dork."
"Give me one good reason why I should even trust you now!?" she huffed.
He blinked and gave her a sheepish smile.
"Because I'm here..."he said softly,"Choosing you...so can't you choose me too?" he blinked,"We're not our families...I understand you can't trust Princeton..." he sighed,"But...after everything we've been going through so far- don't you think you can come to trust Chazz as much as I've come to trust Connar?" he asked as he offered his hand one more time. She held onto her silence questioning on wheather to take his hand this time or not...
He looked at her with pleading, desperate eyes. She let out a heavy sigh and returned a gentle smile.
"Okay...Chazz." she said softly with a defeated, sheepish chuckle, taking the hand he offered. Zane smiled as he helped pull them back to the shore, relieved that she was finally out of the water. Her friends all gathered and welcomed her back.
"CONNIE!"
"Huh?" She blinked and in a beat found herself tackled back into the wake by a blue haired blur,"Syrus!?"
"Don't you ever do that again! I thought I had lost you!" he cried.
"S-Syrus-C-Come on!" She struggled trying to detach herself from his grip,"I wasn't literally Drowning!"
"But you WERE drowning!" he snapped, startling her,"...All alone...without telling anyone...without telling me." he sobbed,"I've known you for years..." he whimpered,"And yet I still don't know anything about you..." he sniffed.
"...Syrus..."
"I know I'm a big cluts." he said,"And I mess up all the time...and I'm not really good at anything." he sniffed,"I know all of that...but...still I..." he squeezed a little tighter,"I still want you to talk to me...about anything really!" he sniffed,"Anything at all...I mean...we...are friends...aren't we?"
"Syrus..." she blinked and smiled warmly returning his hug,"You're right...we are friends...and I shouldn't have any right to be upset about dishonesty...when I can't even be honest with all of you." she sighed as she took a slow pan around at the people who gathered around her, giving a small smile as she nodded,"So allow me to re-introduce myself." she said as she stood and bowed politely,"...I am Connar Rose Kaiba...and I'm happy to have met all of you." she smiled.
"And we're all happy to know you, Connie." Jaden said as he gave her a playful nudge,"So...about what went down in the Chancellor's Office..." he said,"What are you gonna do?"
Connar sighed.
"Well if it's already been decided...then there's not much I can do..." she said softly,"But...I might be able to make a phone call..."
XXXXX
"Connar!?" Mokuba blinked on the other side of the video monitor screen,"What are you doing, calling the business phone!? You know we're busy, and this line is not a toy!"
Connar and her friends stood gathered around the monitor, to support the nervous pink haired girl as she dialed the direct line. She took in a deep and shaky breath before finally maintaining a serious face. All of them just as nervous as she was at the possibility of who would be waiting on the other side of the screen.
"I called because I need to discuss business matters." she stated,"This is a sure fire line to talk to dad directly, right?" she blinked,"So put him on."
"What!?"
"I know he's there, Uncle Mokey."
"Well yeah- of course he is but-"
"Please...?" she sighed,"This is important..."
"...All right, Connar." he sighed and turned to his side speaking to a presence who was off screen,"Your daughter...wishes to discuss business with you."
"...Tranfer the screen."
"Yes sir."
They all gasped at the startling voice of the big wig they knew was on the other side and gulped as the video transferred, revealing Seto Kaiba's face on screen.
Connar gulped.
"Hello...dad."
"...Connar." he stated her name sharply sending chills through everyone.
"I...can hardly believe it's really him..." Syrus whispered softly,"That just makes this all...too real."
"Yeah..." said Alexis.
Seto Kaiba darted his eyes around the company she kept and let out a heavy sigh.
"You know I'm a very busy man, Connar." he stated firmly,"Yet, you call me on the direct business line...clearly you demand for my attention."
"That's-"
"Well now you have it." he said, cutting her off.
"I..."
"Need I remind you that You called Me on the business line?"
"N-No sir...I..." she sighed,"I'm aware of my actions."
"Good." he huffed,"Well?" he blinked,"I'm listening sweetheart." he smirked,"So let's talk business."
Connar blinked as she took in a deep breath...and gulped.
To Be Continued