~A Wild Rose~
Zane's Babysitting Adventure!
1
"Hey Guys- Seriously do we have to dig into this!?" Zane could hear Connar's voice from down the hall. Along side his brother's laughter...
They must have been picking on her again.
He could step in to say something...but he didn't want to interrupt their fun.
"Yeah we're totally digging into it!" said Jaden, "I wanna hear all about your time being babysat by Zane!"
"Not gonna lie, Connar- Zane being your babysitter is a bit of a wild story- I kinda wanna hear about it too."
"Not you too Alexis!" Connar huffed, "Come on guys this is stupid. It was a long time ag0 just drop it-"
But of course none of them were gonna drop it. In fact- Syrus was the one leading them all right to him-
"Zane!" Syrus called his brother's name-
He certainly wasn't getting out of this now...
"Zane...Syrus repeated, panting as they finally caught up to him, "My friends don't believe me when I tell them you used to babysit Connar when we were little! Could you tell them it's true so they stop calling me a liar?"
Zane blinked.
Was it really so strange that he could be a babysitter?
After all he has a little brother...that should be proof enough to show that he was capable of it...
"Well...yes." said Zane, "It IS true. I did used to babysit Connar...when she was about7...why is that such a strange thing to believe?"
"No way! so it really IS true!?" Jaden gasped.
"See Jay? I told you!" Syrus huffed.
"I remember my brother saying something about it but...I didn't think it was ACTUALLY true..." said Alexis.
"Is...it really that surprising?"
"More like just hard to imagine you babysitting a little girl." Alexis giggled.
"So what happened!?" said Jaden, "How did that even happen!? Give us the DEETS man!"
Yeah...
He wasn't getting out of this one...
"The deets, huh?" Zane chuckled awkwardly as he pondered back to those days, "Well...let's see...how it began..."
He thought back over the years of the past...recalling one of the most...interesting times of his life...
XXXXX
Zane Truesdale.
A gifted student and promising young duelist!
Even when he was young he was making waves in small tournaments. Needless to say he caught a lot of attention...
Some more unexpected than thought to be...!
"This better be important." Seto Kaiba muttered quietly into the phone receiver so as not to cause a distraction.
He was meant to monitor yet another tournament as a special guest meant to give the grand prize to the tournament's victor himself.
All part of the charitable cause of the Seto Kaiba Life style in making a grand name for his company.
"What!? Again!?" he huffed. It was his care taker once again, tending to the care of his fiesty young adoptive daughter, young Ms. Connar Rose.
She was a lover of duel monsters and all things Kaibaman, a characterized persona he made for himself as a symbol of hope for kids...
A symbol he believed in so strongly, that he even went so far as to make it a card for his favorite children's card game.
When you piece it together... it was almost as if she was meant to be his. Though...he didn't really believe in tripe like fate and destiny.
He did believe however that she was his now.
And that was enough.
"So...go find her!" he hissed. It seems this cretaker was just as incompetent as the last.
Just how hard could it possibly be to look after a seven year old girl?
"It's hide and seek, simple as that." he huffed,"She hides, you find her. That's it!" he grumbled, this time catching the attention of his younger brother Mokuba who was also there to keep his brother company and set a good face for their Corporate name.
"What's going on, Seto?" he whispered to which his older brother waved his hand to hush him so he could try to translate the panicked voice on the other end of the receiver.
"What do you mean she's not in the house!?" he grumbled."Is this some kind of joke? She's a 7 year old child. How far could she possibly go on her own?" He huffed,"It's a big house for God's sake look again! More carefully this time!"
Mokuba's eyes widened as he listened to the conversation and let out a sigh face palming.
It seems this caretaker lost his niece too...
Connar in general, is very polite and well mannered.
She is generally in very good behaivior.
But...not unlike any small child, if she gets bored she finds ways to entertain herself.
This is why it is wise to never ignore small children.
Without supervision, they could be bound to get themselves into all sorts of trouble, as well as raise a little hell themselves just to keep things entertaining.
Connar was no different.
Chances are the caretaker underestimated the amount of responsibility it took to care for a small child and left Connar to do as she pleased...again.
Frankly she gets quite bored of that.
"Tell her to check Yugi's place!" Mokuba whispered. Seto shot him a glare, his brother knew how he felt about Yugi. But... he wasn't wrong.
"Listen." Seto Kaiba gruffed," If she's really not at home, you should try checking all her favorite places" he stated, " She knows the city very well for her age so there are more than a few places she likes to go and won't hesitate to take herself there." he sighed,"I made a list on the fridge... follow that and call the numbers, or go and physically check them yourself I don't care, I don't pay you to call and complain to me about how you can't do your job!" he huffed,"You told me you had experience in this field." he stated,"But so far the only expertise I have seen you show me is limitless use of my internet connections and entertainment system set ups." he muttered,"Not to mention running up my phone lines, Did you think I wasn't aware of your frivilous pass times?" he stated, "Now go find my daughter before you find my pink slip!" with that he clicked the phone off in frustration and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"They lost Connar?"
"Apparently." Seto huffed, " She turned around for 'a quick minute' and my child was gone. Poof. out of sight." he sighed.
"Like we haven't heard that one before..." Mokuba sighed,"...I thought this one said they had experience!?"
"Apparently, they lied." Seto sighed.
"Tell me about it." said Mokuba,"Entertaining the kid is the biggest part of the job." he sighed,"If you ignore her, of course she will get bored and find elsewhere to play and be entertained."
"...I don't know what to do, Mokuba."
"Relax Seto." Mokuba blinked, " She probably went to Yugi's. At least he plays with her when he's not running the shop... And if he is, he has plenty of things she can play with otherwise."
"That's not what I mean." he sighed,"It seems no matter what I do, no one can seem to handle her."
"She can't be that bad, can she?" Mokuba chuckled,"She's always very well behaved. When she pulls things like this, it generally means she was bored." he stated, " That's on the care taker Seto, not us." Mokuba sighed.
"A Care Taker's job is to ensure care is given to the child." Seto stated ,"Make sure she is fed, cared for and otherwise safe...I don't think playing with her falls in their category."
"Hmm...I guess you're right, huh?" Mokuba sighed,"...Maybe it's time we actually get her a proper baby sitter?" he stated,"One who actually knows how to entertain kids..."
"Hmm...perhaps."
"Someone who will play games with her and not leave her to her own devices...or maybe we can take her to a day care?" he blinked,"She'll have other kids to play with then."
"I don't want to do something like that..." Seto sighed,"It's too similar to an orphanege, she might think we're giving her back or something... that we don't want her anymore."
"Sorry Seto but I'll put my foot down on that." Mokuba said playfully,"If you wanna give my Connar away you're gonna have to fight me~!" he joked, in hopes to cheer his brother up a bit. It seemed to work since the older Kaiba cracked a wry smile.
"Congratualtions to our Tournament Winner!" The announcer called out,"Zane Truesdale! And to sweeten your pot, your prize will be handed to you by the great man himself who made this Beginner's tournament possible~ Seto Kaiba!"
"We're up, Seto." Mokuba chuckled and his brother gave a heavy sigh.
"So it seems...Let's get this over with..." he sighed, "Something tells me I'll have to find my daughter myself..."
The young bluenette stood properly with good posture as he waved to the cheering crowd. He was only about 10 and already had a fan base, showing promise for a possible future in the pro-leages. This was not the first time Seto Kaiba has met with young Zane Truesdale as the victor in these tournaments...and little did Zane know, this wouldn't be the last either.
"Congratulations." Seto said with a smile as he handed the trophy to the boy and offered to shake his hand.
"Thank you, sir!" Zane smiled politely and bowed before shaking the man's hand.
"Smile for the photos kid~" Mokuba beamed as the pictures began.
"Heh...Syrus will be so excited to hear about this when I get home I'm sure." Zane said softly.
"Hm?" Mokuba blinked,"Syrus?"
"Oh, sorry." said Zane,"My little brother... He loves Duel monsters too."
"Ah...little brother you say?" Seto chuckled as he glanced over at Mokuba,"Well I'm certain he will be quite proud to see you come home a champion."
"...More like he thinks it will give him bragging rights." Zane sighed with an awkward chuckle.
"How old is he?" Mokuba asked as he smiled kindly,"Your brother?"
"Syrus?" Zane blinked,"He's about 8." He chuckled.
Mokuba blinked and glanced over at his older brother.
"He sounds to be around the same age as Connar, Seto."
"Indeed..." Seto said softly,"And he likes Duel monters like her too..."
"Connar, sir?" Zane blinked in confusion.
"Oh, sorry!" Mokuba chuckled,"She's our kid-er...well...his kid." Mokuba laughed as he nudged his head toward hia brother,"My niece."
"I see." Zane smiled."I wasn't aware you had any children sir."Zane blinked,"Is she here too? " the boy began shifting his head around, to see if he could find any children that looked to be related to the Kaibas.
"Oh no."Seto chuckled,"She'd be too excited about all the duels and try to sneak into the tournament with her own duel disk..."
" And try to participate in the tournament too!" Mokuba snickered.
"Haha."
"You laugh now, kid."Mokuba chuckled at the blue haired boy's amused chuckle,"But it's no joke." he blinked, " She'd definitely do it!"
" She's pretty good too." said Seto, "Wouldn't surprise me if she actually went pretty far in this thing if she tried..."
"Maybe I'll be lucky enough to see for myself one day." Zane chukled, "She sounds like she would be a delight to meet."
"Hmm..." Seto chuckled, "To be honest...I wouldn't mind if she actually spent some time around other young duelists..." he blinked, " It could help enhance her own personal growth."
"Not to mention keep her entertained." Mokuba chuckled.
"I know that feeling." said Zane,"I'm trying to get Syrus more motivated too." he blinked,"I think hanging out and dueling with other kids might be good for him also."
The Kaiba brothers blinked and exchanged a glance with one another. They both seemed to have the same idea. There didn't seem to be any flaws. Zane had a little brother, so obviously he knew how to handle younger kids. Plus that brother was Connar's age, so she'd have a playmate and a possible friend. Which would be a nice change for her since she was usually alone at home with caretakers most of the time rather than other children.
She was even home schooled...so it's not like she had experience with kids in the school yard either...
On top of that, both of these siblings were young duelists. It would put Connar more in her element than trying to get the attention of the caretaker who didn't understand the concept of "play".
"Say...Kid?" Mokuba blinked,"If I said we might just be able to help each other out here...would you listen?"
"Pardon?" Zane blinked curiously.
"Zane Truesdale." Seto Kaiba said his name firmly catching the boy's undivided attention.
"Mr. Kaiba...sir?" he blinked.
"I have a proposition for you."
To Be Continued