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Post by Scribbler on Feb 12, 2012 17:38:56 GMT -5
Rocket Dof, it turned out, was a competent player but nowhere near as good as Mokuba. Even with the idle time that had elapsed since he last played, he was still better than her. Despite this, his old competitiveness failed to rise. In the face of several easy victories, he found himself holding back, making beginner’s mistakes and failing to perform at his best.
Eventually Rocket Dog slammed her hands flat on the table they had been using. The cafeteria was empty of people except them, though Sakura and her office-mates did keep sticking their heads around the door to check on them. Personally, Mokuba reckoned they were also checking Rocket Dog hadn’t broken anything – or, well, him. She had a real temper on her, which had been gradually turning her pale face red with each win over him.
“That’s it!” she yelled, jabbing a finger at him. “You’re letting me win and that pisses me off.” He had noticed that she swore an awful lot; more even than Jounouchi when he got mad.
“Uh …” Hands raised like someone in front of a firing squad. Mokuba couldn’t think what to say. He hadn’t been trying to lose on purpose. At least, he didn’t think he had been. “Sorry? It’s been a while since I played.”
“Bullshit,” she snapped. “I can see in your eyes that you know what you’re doing, so why aren’t you doing it?”
“I … don’t know.”
She made a disgusted face, but flopped back into her seat and folded her arms. Her entire posture screamed ‘DON’T EVEN TOUCH ME!’ though her lower lip jutted out like a petulant little kid’s. “This is such bullshit. I was expecting a challenge. Jeez, I thought a KAIBA brother would be more fun to play against.”
Something in Mokuba bristled. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
She didn’t respond except to tug at her bangs.
Mokuba sensed he was being compared with his brother again, although this time unfavourably. The thing bristling inside him grew spikes. Snapping up his pieces again, he slammed them down on the game board with renewed vigour, his mind sharp as a spear and ready to stab into a fresh round.
“Bring it on.”
A tiny smile touched her dark mouth. “Fuck, yeah! Now that’s more like it.”
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Post by cypsiman2 on Feb 12, 2012 18:27:12 GMT -5
"So, what the heck was that about Kaiba?" Jounouchi said as Seto returned to the picnic; honestly, the whole thing of Seto going on fake dates with Anzu was one thing, but that kiss on the news yesterday, and the way he restrained himself around her today, you'd think the guy was really starting to fall for Anzu. Heh, like that was even remotely possible, Kaiba probably had those glands surgically removed or something.
"Isis informed me that a friend of a friend was looking for employment in the Advanced Electronics field and she wanted to recommend an interview with me. I took a glance at her credentials, they were noteworthy. The interview's been scheduled for Friday morning."
"Huh." Otogi said, taking a bite off some chicken. "Didn't figure you'd interview prospective employees personally."
"Normally that is the case, but if this works out she will be placed in a very high position. I do not trust such placements to anyone but myself."
"She?" Honda raised an eyebrow. "Uh, don't you think that might create some, uh, image problems?"
"The anti-fraternization policies at Kaiba Corp are strong and well known." Then, as though that were the final word on the matter, he turned to Anzu. "Speaking of Friday, I was wondering...are there...any movies you'd like to see?"
Goddamn, Kaiba was a better actor than Jounouchi gave him credit for, he deserved an award for how real he looked just then.
....
"One more time!" Rocket Dog said as Mokuba defeated her for the sixth time in a row.
"Why, you that eager to get your ass kicked again?" Mokuba was drawing upon old memories, memories of when he once had his own little gang of hoodlums; it had mostly been for show, to try and be the kind of gamer that he thought his brother had wanted him to be, but now he did it in defiance of his brother, not giving a damn that his brother would no doubt be upset if he saw him acting like this. "Sorry Rocket Dog, you're ten years too early to go against me, you should find someone else to practice against."
"Yeah, 'cause there are so many here who want to play a goddamn kiddy game with the freak girl. Seriously, it'd blow their tine pea-brain minds if they saw me like this." Despite the disdain that she spoke with, her posture and body language conveyed a different message, one that gave Mokuba pause; the oversized clothes and all the piercings, the defensiveness about her mother, the interest in Capsule Monster Chess, it painted the picture of a girl who'd been forced to grow up way too fast, way too early. And here he was getting out of sorts just because his pituitary gland decided to step up its game a little early.
"Maybe you'd be surprised?" She looked at him challengingly, yet inquisitively. It was a very weird expression. "I mean, think about it; Duel Monsters is popular with teenagers and adults, even though it was made for kids, so why not another game?"
"Even if there were some out there, that would still be hardly any-damn-body."
"Well, there's a bulletin board, right? You could put up a poster calling for gamers to meet up in one of the rooms, you could even keep who you are anonymous if you'd like?" Her eyes were softening, getting lighter. Mokuba felt himself squirming on the inside a little, proving that Anzu was not the only older girl to have that effect on him.
"Now that's the first decent fucking idea I've heard in a long while. Yeah, I could put in a part where you have to bring in a copy of whatever you want to play, keep out the moochers and leechers and hecklers that way. Yeah, I think this could work out real good. Thanks Mokuba, you're a real treat." She gave him a firm pat on his shoulder and made her way out the cafeteria.
"Well." Sakura Mazaki came in, a very pleased look on her face. "I'm certainly glad I brought you in today."
"Heh, thanks." Mokuba had to look away, lest she see the powerful blush that had overtaken his face.
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Post by Scribbler on Feb 12, 2012 18:52:58 GMT -5
“I’m serious, Mokuba. That’s the first time Rocket Dog has spent more than half an hour in anybody’s company and it hasn’t ended in an argument.” She eyed him closely. “She’s been in and out of here the better part of nine months now. She goes home sometimes, but she comes back so often you’d think she actually likes this place – which isn’t the impression she generally gives while she’s here. She must really like you.”
Mokuba’s blush threatened to make his entire face melt. “Nah, I’m just the only one childish enough to play Capsule Monsters with her.” He scuffed his feet. “Uh, how … how old is Rocket Dog? I mean, she seems real mature, but … y’know.”
Sakura raised an eyebrow in a way that indicated she did indeed know, but she just replied, “Fourteen.”
Not that much older than him. Fourteen and nearly-thirteen was more promising than twelve and sixteen. Especially when that sixteen-year-old was dating your also-sixteen-year-old brother. Aaaand that was enough of THAT thought. Mokuba shook his head. Honestly, a few board games with a girl and he was thinking things like THAT about her? Was he totally beyond hope? Still, at least Rocket Dog’s clothing didn’t accentuate her figure the way Anzu’s and Sakura’s did. It would be easier to spend time with her than with them and not show himself up if he came back here.
“Uh, Sakura?”
“Yes?”
“C-Could I, um … could I come and visit the Haven Centre again tomorrow? After school, I mean? Just for a while?”
Her smile was knowing but not patronising. “I think we can manage that.” Then her expression faded. “But listen Mokuba; don’t get too attached to Rocket Dog.”
“Excuse me?”
“Don’t misinterpret my meaning: she really is a lovely girl under all that hostility. To put it in context, our cases don’t stick around the centre very long if we can help it. We’re not a permanent stop, as I told you earlier. Either our kids go home, go to other family or move on to greener pastures somewhere else. Rocket Dog … well, as I said, she’s been in and out of here for a while. She never tells us when she’s about to take off, and when she comes back she doesn’t talk about where she’s been, even when we know she hasn’t been home. So like I said: don’t get too attached. She travels light, and that means people as well as possessions.”
Mokuba digested that. Then he squared his shoulders. “I don’t mind.”
“Then we’d be happy to have you, kiddo.”
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Post by cypsiman2 on Feb 12, 2012 19:08:53 GMT -5
"Well Kaiba, a shocked as I am to say it, but you were actually halfway decent company today." Anzu, despite herself, felt vindicated when Jounouchi said that.
"The same could be said of you." Again, that vidication; for most people that would have been the height of rudeness, but for Seto to not slander Jounouchi with a half-dozen epithets after spending an hour in his company? There was hope for him yet.
"Now remember darling, tomorrow at five, Eighth and Knight, the sign has noodles on a chess board." Of course, not everything was pleasent; Rebecca was still insisting on her dinner-date with Yuugi, and Yuugi...
"Right, I'll be sure to have my best suit on." Anzu breathed in hard through the nose and expelled those negative feelings in a sigh.
Everyone had packed up their things, cleaned up the messes they'd made, save Kaiba who'd made no mess whatsoever, and off they were on their way; everyone, save she and Kaiba.
"I'll drop you off at your home."
"I walked here, I can walk back on my own."
"It would be my pleasure to do so."
"You're really not going to take no for an answer, are you?"
"I hardly think it that much a burden for you."
"Fine, you can drive me home."
....
"So Mr. Mokuba," Isono said the moment Mokuba entered the back seat, "I take it this was an illuminating experience for you?"
"What do you mean?"
"You're not as tense as you have been lately; your shoulders aren't so tight and your eyes aren't darting so much."
"You really pick up on the details, don't you Mr. Isono?"
"I couldn't do my job if I didn't, Mr. Mokuba."
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Post by Scribbler on Feb 12, 2012 21:06:09 GMT -5
Mokuba considered his answer. “It was okay,” he eventually settled for.
“Just okay?”
Mokuba rolled his eyes. “It was the most mind-blowing, brain-boggling, world-changing experience of my life EVER! Is that better?”
“Sarcasm doesn’t suit you, Mr. Mokuba.”
Mokuba took that better than he expected and settled down on the back seat with a satisfied little smile.
….
Seto pulled up in front of Anzu’s house and peered at the driveway. “Is your mother not home?”
“We don’t own a car,” Anzu informed him stiffly. “She’ll be home later on the bus.”
“Oh. Right. Yes.” He seemed uncomfortable that he had forgotten. Seto Kaiba, uncomfortable? Anzu felt like checking the sky for winged pigs. He gripped the steering wheel with both hands and stared at its centre like he was trying to make the airbag spring out through sheer force of will. “Today was … not entirely abysmal.”
“You can admit that you enjoyed yourself, Seto. It won’t break the world.”
He continued to stare at the wheel.
“Seto?”
“Why was this your request? I offered you anything you wanted and you chose … this. Why?”
Now it was her turn to stay silent until prompted.
“Anzu?”
“I guess I just wanted to prove to you that we’re not so bad as a group. Let’s face it, Seto; we’ve all known each other for a long time now, and while what’s happened to us and between us has never been easy, or even tolerable sometimes – you have this tendency to be a giant douchebag and we, apart from Yuugi, have this tendency to react badly to douchebaggery – the fact is we all have a lot of shared history. With that fact, you’d think we’d all get along better. Or something. I guess I just … I wanted to see if it would ever work.”
“If what would ever work?” he asked quietly.
“Friendship,” she replied.
He snorted. “You and your friendship speeches.” But the derisory note in his voice sounded more forced than usual. “You’re like a broken record.”
“Hey, you’re the one who asked.”
He finally looked at her. “Yes. I did.” His stare was penetrating and yet totally incomprehensible. She waited for the other shoe to drop. “Anzu, I –”
Someone knocked on the glass of the passenger window. Anzu jumped and nearly cut off both boobs with her seatbelt, wincing, she was not pleased to see a fast-becoming-familiar smile and red suit.
“Ripo Ta,” she growled, glad the tinted window obscured her expression from any cameras. “She must’ve been camped out in front of my house waiting for me to come home.”
Seto’s expression darkened. “Leave her to me.”
“Don’t screw up and ruin whatever good publicity we still have from yesterday,” Anzu warned.
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Post by cypsiman2 on Feb 12, 2012 21:35:04 GMT -5
"What is your actual name?"
"Excuse me?" Ripo Ta found herself taking a step back away from Seto Kaiba, his glowering presence permeating the area around him.
"Your real name; I'm going to be generous and assume that your parents did not name you after a poorly conceived play-on words."
"...Mizuki Kato."
"Very good. Now, Ms. Kato, what exactly do you imagine you will be able to get from Anzu by hounding her like this?"
"The truth." She drew herself back up as best she could. "My viewers have questions that they would like answered and I will see to it that they get those answers."
"Is that so?'' Seto Kaiba grabbed the mic from her hands and faced the camera. "Anzu Mazaki and I are..." Damn it, this was not his element; Mokuba could have helped him to prep for a situation like this, except that he had to enter puberty at the most inconvenient time possible.
"Are?" Damn it, if he didn't speak soon, the damage would be done.
"Anzu Mazaki and I are in love and it is my deepest hope that we will remain that way for the rest of our lives. I will not see her day-to-day life harassed. We will be attending the Mayor's party this Saturday, and she will be the most beautiful girl in attendance and I shall bask in her radiance." Seto breathed carefully. "There, does that satisfy your viewership?"
"Yes, yes it does!" Ms. Kato said, half panicked. That brought a small smile to Seto's face. She ran off with her cameraman and was soon out of sight.
"Huh." Anzu stepped out of the car. "I'd say you handled that...remarkably well."
"Yes." Seto allowed that one word to escape from him. "I think I'll focus on my work tomorrow. Make sure things with Mokuba are okay."
"That sounds like a good idea. I'll give you a call after school, check up on you."
"That's a reasonable plan."
A pregnant pause.
"See you Friday." Seto Kaiba got back in his car and drove off.
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Post by Scribbler on Feb 12, 2012 21:52:32 GMT -5
Anzu stood on the street for a while, watching even after he had turned the corner and passed out of view. How was it that Seto was able to take charge of even the most irritating, nonsensical situations and people and make them make sense? It was something about him that had always irritated her: his habit of ignoring or flat our denying supernatural things because they didn’t fit into his world view. Yet something that had made him annoying when facing down magical swordsmen, dragons and insane schizophrenic Egyptian boys wasn’t so annoying against more mundane foes like reporters and school bullies.
A clicking sound made her turn. That damn woman Seto had spoken to was still there, though this time she was leaning out of her van with a camera-phone to snap Anzu’s picture before she and her cameraman drove off. On the side was emblazoned her huge smiling face and ‘Ripo Ta: Your Girl for Gossip’. The photo was about as real as her name, and just as poorly conceived: did she really think nobody would notice she had airbrushed out every single one of her pores plus the bump on her nose?
“Sweet!” the woman said before slamming the door and yelling something at her companion. They squealed away, leaving Anzu truly alone for the first time since that morning.
She wondered where that photo was going to end up. She supposed an image of her looking wistfully after Seto could only bolster things for them. She sighed, so tired out by the life of a celebrity girlfriend she didn’t know how real celebrities could stand it. Who on earth would volunteer for a life like this? To be known only for who you were with, not your own talents or merits … it was soul-crushing.
Slowly, despite it still being light outside she dragged herself into her house, removed her shoes, flopped down onto the sofa and fell asleep in her school uniform.
….
Seto entered the mansion to find Mokuba had arrived wheat seemed like mere seconds before him. Wary of the kind of mood his brother might be in, he painted on a blank look and swept across the foyer in his usual imperious manner. He greeted Mokuba with a nod that betrayed neither pleasure nor caution.
“Mokuba.”
“Hey, Big Brother!” Against all expectation, Mokuba hugged him. Seto froze, arms glued to his sides against the unprecedented attack on his dignity. “How was the picnic?”
“Uh, fine.”
“Cool. I had a great time too.”
“You did?”
“Uh-huh.” Mokuba released him, linked his hands behind his head and sauntered away. “Would you like something to eat? I haven’t had anything yet. I was too busy to eat at the centre.”
“Uh, no thank you, I’ve already eaten.” Seto eyed Mokuba’s retreating back and called after him: “Mokuba!”
“Yeah?”
“What did you do there?”
Mokuba paused, thought about his answer, and then replied. “Played games mostly.” He grinned like a Cheshire Cat that had not only got the cream, but broken into the dairy. “I’m going back tomorrow, so don’t include me in any plans you might have, okay?”
“All right.” Confused and fighting not to show it, Seto watched him go.
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Post by cypsiman2 on Feb 12, 2012 22:15:24 GMT -5
"So, was it everything you imagined?" Sakura Mazaki looked down at her daughter, saw bleary eyes half covered by matted bangs.
"Oh, Mom." Anzu sat up and rubbed her eyes, and Sakura took the cushion next to her. "He's growing on me, okay? He actually managed to make it through the whole thing without saying one nasty thing to Jounouchi or Honda or Yuugi..." Sakura caught the pause but didn't have the chance to read into it before her daughter resumed speaking. "But that "Ripo-Ta" woman," Anzu made air-quotes and everything, "She was here, camping out. And, Seto got rid of her right away, really well too, but...I'll be lucky if I survive Saturday, dressed up like a doll and trotted out in front of a bunch of people who will never see me for me. No matter how fond of Seto I become, there's just no way I can let this last past then."
"There's a saying; behind every powerful man is a woman, but from the sound of things that's not the life for you." Anzu nodded, her expression weary and drained. "Well, I don't know what to say; I've never had to deal with anything like what you're going through, I didn't know any playboy billionaires when I was your age." Despite herself, Anzu snickered at the idea of Seto being a...
"Oh my..." Anzu started laughing. "I just pictured Seto Kaiba as Batman, and Mokuba as Robin." Somehow, it seemed that did the trick, at least for the moment. "Thanks Mom. I'll figure something out." Anzu got up and headed towards her room when the phone started to ring. She was the closest and so she picked it up. "Hello? Seto?" She paused, then put her hand on the speaker. "He wants to talk to you."
Sakura took the phone. "Yes?"
"I want to thank you for taking Mokuba to the Haven Centre."
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Post by Scribbler on Feb 12, 2012 22:39:12 GMT -5
“Sure thing. He was very useful to have around.”
“He is certainly more pleasant to BE around now.”
“Don’t assume it’ll last,” Sakura warned. She sounded like she was talking from one parent to another. How odd that it felt perfectly natural despite their age difference and different circumstances. Seto Kaiba was a boy who had grown up too soon and had too much responsibility heaped on his shoulders. He had coped better than half the kids she cared for, but the fact remained that much of his youth had been stolen by acting as both brother and parent to Mokuba, and by the fingerprints Gozaburo Kaiba had left on his psyche. “Teenage and pre-teen mood swings happen around once every six minutes, usually without provocation or explanation.”
“I’ll bear that in mind.”
After their conversation was over, Anzu watched her mother.
“What?” Sakura asked. “Do I have spinach in my teeth or something?”
“Mokuba worked out well?”
“Sure.” Sakura shrugged. “I offered to take him with me today to give you kids a break and to show him that life could be a lot harder. I know he hasn’t exactly had the easiest childhood, but the kind of neglect and abuse Haven kids had endured is sobering no matter what your circumstances, and Mokuba IS heir to a massive fortune now his stepfather is gone. I think everyone needs a reality check once in a while and this was his.”
“I guess.” Anzu looked thoughtful. “Reality check. Yeah,” she murmured, and Sakura got the feeling she wasn’t referring to Mokuba Kaiba at all.
….
“Yuugi?” Sugoroku poked his head around the sitting room door at the sound of Yuugi’s arrival. His footsteps had eschewed the kitchen, where Sugoroku was tucking into his dinner, instead heading straight for the couch. A body hitting the cushions alerted Sugoroku that all was not well. With a sigh he pushed away his plate and went through. “Yuugi?”
The prone figure under all the cushions, which had been piled on top of his head and neck like a shield, didn’t answer him.
Sugoroku poked his foot. “Didn’t it go well?”
“It went well,” came the muffled response. “It went REALLY well.”
“You don’t sound very pleased.”
“Oh, I’m pleased. I’m ECSTATIC.”
“Yuugi, at least look at me while you’re being sarcastic.”
Grudgingly Yuugi removed the cushions and folded his arms across his chest. “Everybody got along great.”
“Isn’t that a good thing? You’ve been saying for years that Seto Kaiba needs to loosen up and admit he’s your friend.”
“I know that.” Yuugi’s arms tightened. “I just didn’t expect to feel so rotten when it finally happened.”
Sugoroku just looked at him for a moment, and then he pushed aside Yuugi’s lower legs to plonk himself on the couch next to him. “C’mon, talk to me. A problem shared is a problem halved.”
It took a long while, but eventually Yuugi said in a much more subdued voice, “I feel like I’m losing her, Grandpa. Before I even had a real shot at her, I think I’m losing her.”
It didn’t take a lot of detective skill to tell who he was talking about. “Now Yuugi, don’t be silly. We both know how Anzu feels about Seto Kaiba.”
“You didn’t see them today, Grandpa.” The sad note in Yuugi’s voice was heart-breaking.
“No, but I and most of Domino saw them yesterday, and from what you told me, their relationship is as fake as my teeth.”
Yuugi winced at the comparison. “That’s what I thought, too, but … Grandpa, it was weird. Seto was NICE, and despite what happened yesterday, Anzu seemed to like being with him, and I don’t think it was an act for either of them. Even Jounouchi didn’t know what to make of it and he HATES Kaiba.”
Sugoroku wasn’t sure what to say for the best.
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Post by cypsiman2 on Feb 12, 2012 22:55:47 GMT -5
After considerable deliberation, Sugoroku spoke. "Yuugi, do you love Anzu?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"Do you love her?"
"Yes, of course! I love her so much, I wish I were the rich jerk with skin made of ice and..."
"Yuugi!" He cut his grandson off, he did not want him going down that path. "If you really love Anzu, then you want her to be happy no matter what, right?"
"Well...yeah."
"Then if she and Seto really do fall in love and really are happy together, then you'll just have to suck it up and be happy for her. And that's IF they fall in love; in case you haven't noticed, this week has been far from predictable."
"That's for sure." Yuugi miserably groused. "Who would've thought that Rebecca would show up to help take care of Mikata, and then force me to go to dinner with her tomorrow?"
"You never mentioned that." A thought crossed Sugoroku's mind. "Was she there at the picnic?"
"Yeah. She spent the whole time wrapped around my arm, telling me how amazing tomorrow was going to be, and how the gossip sheets would eat it all up."
"I see." Sugoroku rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Did Anzu show any...displeasure, about this?"
"Eh?" Yuugi stopped to think about it. "Well, whenever Rebecca got too close, Anzu would find something for her to talk about with someone else."
"Is that so?" Sugoroku stood up. "I don't think the die's been cast just yet Yuugi." Then the phone started to ring. Sugoroku answered it. "Hello? Yes, he's right here, hold on a second." He put his hand on the speaker. "Yuugi, it's Anzu."
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Post by Scribbler on Feb 14, 2012 6:56:33 GMT -5
[Sorry I didn't post yesterday. I was really ill and spent something like fifteen hours in bed sleeping]
“Yuugi?” Was that his imagination or did she sound pleased to hear him? Then again, Anzu usually sounded pleased to hear him when he got on the phone. That wasn’t any indication of anything. Yuugi shook his head; he needed to stop thinking weirdly. He was starting to freak HIMSELF out. “Yuugi, are you okay?”
“Huh? Yeah, sure. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“The phone made a really strange noise just then.”
“Oh, right. Uh, nope, all’s fine and dandy over here.” ‘Fine and dandy’? Who even said that? Ach, he was hopeless. “Did you, uh, want something in particular?”
“I was just making sure you got home okay.”
“Oh. Right.” His insides did a little jump for joy. She did care about him more than Seto! “Well, I’m fine. Did you, uh … did Seto get you home … okay … too?” The jump became a cringe and the joy morphed into embarrassment.
“Yeah, sure, we got home fine. Some reporter woman was waiting for us, but Seto chased her off. I guess I just wanted to make sure nobody was lurking at the shop for you the way she was for us.”
Yuugi looked at his grandpa, who was pretending not to listen in. “No, no reporters were here waiting for me to get home.” He didn’t correct himself when Grandpa nodded assent. “I think the press conference worked out well on that front.”
“Not something Rebecca would like to hear.”
“No, I guess not.” Yuugi sighed. “I know she means well, but honestly? I don’t know what she hopes to achieve by this dinner tomorrow.”
“Isn’t it obvious? She’s making a play for you, Yuugi. Rebecca may be the smartest kid on the planet when it comes to book stuff, but when it comes to dating she really is still just a little kid. She thinks that while I’m occupied with Seto and can’t be present to supervise and prise you two apart with a crowbar, she can make you see what a wonderfully mature person she is and have you fall madly in love with her.” Anzu paused, sucking in a fresh breath. “Or something.”
Yuugi stared at the phone. We that was … vehement. “Anzu, are you okay?”
“Fine!” she trilled. “Perfectly fine. Hunky dory. Fine and dandy. Uh … I think I hear my mom calling. G’night, Yuugi.” The line went dead before he could respond.
Yuugi carefully placed the receiver down and looked at his grandfather. “I think you may be right, Grandpa.”
“About what?”
“I don’t think the die is truly cast yet.”
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Post by cypsiman2 on Feb 14, 2012 12:20:21 GMT -5
[Hey, no problem. You need to sleep or whatever else in real life, you do that.]
Seto Kaiba had been hard at work all morning; today was a day where he would be in his environment all day and he wouldn't have to devote any time to thinking about what he was going to do to keep Anzu happy, what to give her, how to make her fall for him...damn it, that was exactly what he WASN'T going to be thinking about! No, he was going to focus on signing all the forms he could, meticulously reading over each one to catch every single loophole so that he would know just what it was he was signing off on. He didn't understand how other people could be so lazy about their contracts, just dashing their names off without even glancing at any of the print, much less the fine print; then they had the gall to complain when they were fired for being in violation of their contracts.
"Mr. Kaiba, sir?" He heard his secretary's voice over the intercom. "Your 11:30 is here."
"My 11:30?" Seto checked his schedule quickly and saw no entry for that time. Then, following a hunch, he checked the next day. "Wonderful." Somehow, inexplicably, the meeting with Isis's recommendation had been set for Thursday and not Friday. "Fine, let her in."
The double doors to Seto Kaiba's office opened up, and upon seeing the slight figure that approached him, Seto felt his insides turn into a mushy goo that churned all about against themselves. The woman had delicate, pale looking skin, long long light white-blue hair that extended to her waist, and blue-eyes that he saw every time he went over his deck. "Hello Mr. Kaiba, I'm Mikazuki Hashimoto."
Yes, of course; what were the odds they would have both shared the same names as their previous incarnations?
[Mikazuki means moonlight, or so my google searching says.]
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Post by Scribbler on Feb 14, 2012 18:11:23 GMT -5
[Continuity Point: How would Seto know about Kisara when we already established back at the beginning that this fic takes place in that nebulous I-don’t-know-about-you-but-I’m-not-even-entirely-sure-how-long-it-lasted time period between Grand Prix and AE (hence Atem is still present but doesn’t yet know who he is since they haven’t been to Egypt yet)? Since this is your fic and I’m guessing you’ve had this planned for a while based on Seto taking that call during the picnic, I’m willing to go with Mikazuki if you want her in – heck, it’d throw up some REALLY interesting and fun-to-write places for the plot to go – but I’m a bit of a continuity nut so this confuzzles me. I do have an idea of how we could get her in and still have Seto know who she is based on the timeline and his canon knowledge up to this point, but I’d have to ask your permission for me to write it since it’d involve me going back and inserting a dream scene between Yuugi and Anzu’s telephone conversation and Seto’s 11:30 meeting. Would that be okay with you?]
….
Rebecca leaned against the side of the bath and groaned. It was cool against her feverish brow but provided scant relief. Her guts ached and her throat felt like she had been gargling battery acid all night – which wasn’t too far removed from the truth.
It must have been something from one of those stinking restaurants. But which one? The way she felt right now, she would have happily burned them all to the gorund. She pulled herself up, thinking to shower and tidy herself in preparation for her date with Yuugi later today, but the movement aggravated her tender insides and she was diving unceremoniously for the bowl once more.
“I’d … ack … better … ohmygosh … feel better … ooorgh … before tonight … eeeeurgh!”
[Sorry for shortness of post. Still shaking off my own illness at present.]
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Post by cypsiman2 on Feb 14, 2012 18:42:51 GMT -5
[...Argh! I'd forgotten myself; technically Seto did see the vision of his past self holding up Kisara's body to the tablet with the Blue Eyes White Dragon on it, but while that would let him recognize Kisara, that wouldn't give him her name, no. And trust, I'm pretty persnickety when it comes to my continuity, so this is a pretty egregious error on my part. So yeah, if you were to go back and have Seto "recall" his dream about Kisara and fix the giant super plot-hole I created, I would be incredibly thankful and send you all the glass valentines hearts out there.]
Yuugi Mutou was cautiously optimistic as he made his way through his day at school; after his conversation with Anzu on the phone last night, he swore to himself that he wasn't going to assume the worst, or the best; he was going to continue supporting Anzu as best he could and let the cards fall where they may.
"I don't think even I would have thought in that metaphor." Yuugi's other self quietly said as he walked down the hall, the spirit floating along; it was always a bit peculiar whenever someone walked through the spirit, but since his image was more a projection for Yuugi's sake than anything actually there, no one even felt anything when this happened.
"It works, doesn't it?" Yuugi entered his final class for the day, saw Jounouchi, Honda, and Anzu already in their seats; Yuugi could tell by the tension in her hands that all this junk was really getting to her. Then he remembered something, and figured it wouldn't hurt to mention. Not out loud though, that was too risky; no, he went to his desk, and worked on a pair of notes, one nested in the other; the first was for Jounouchi, telling him to give the second note to Anzu, and the second note was a reminder that she would get to keep the new dress she was getting tomorrow no matter what. It wasn't much, but every little bit, right? Besides, it helped take his mind off his "date" with Rebecca; yeah, he didn't like being stuck in a fake relationship anymore than Anzu did.
[And like I said before, real life comes before internet, and health most of all.]
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Post by Scribbler on Feb 15, 2012 7:58:21 GMT -5
Seto stood in his room and contemplated going to bed. He eyed the turned down covers with distaste, but the fact was he was tired. Having slept badly for the past two nights, he hoped this would mean the dreamless sleep of the truly exhausted. The way things stood with Anzu at the moment, the last thing he needed was fresh turmoil from his subconscious when his conscious mind was doing a wonderful job of making his life miserable.
A knock on the door at least provided a distraction to increase his tiredness. He answered it, but found the other side empty. Sticking his head into the corridor revealed nobody who could have knocked either. Frowning, he made to shut the door, but a noise caught his attention. Was that … crying?
“Mokuba?” Sakura had warned him the emotional swings could strike without warning and make no sense. Mokuba didn’t cry very much, but the soft sobs could have been him. “Mokuba, are you there?”
Seto went to his brother’s room, listening all the way, but the sobs didn’t increase or decrease in volume. Rapping his knuckles against the wood panel, he waited for Mokuba to answer and experienced a brief panic when he realised he had nothing to say to him if he WAS upset. Had the Haven Centre been a big mistake after all?
“Mokuba, answer the door,” he called when nobody did. “Mokuba? Mokuba!”
“He’s not there.”
Seto whirled. “Isis?”
She smiled enigmatically at him. “Not really.”
A scowl took up residence on his brow. “What are you doing here? How did you get past security?”
“Don’t open the door, Seto. You’re not ready yet.”
“What?”
Isis’s expression turned serious. Nobody could do serious quite like Isis Ishtar – except maybe himself. Concern touched her blue eyes and she reached for his hand on the doorknob, but her fingers passed right through him. Seto stared at their hands in dawning comprehension.
“I’m already asleep, aren’t I?”
“Don’t open the door, Seto,” she insisted. “It’s not time for you to remember yet.”
He looked between her and the door. Dream logic determined that whatever he wasn’t supposed to do would equal a different response than expected. Ergo, opening the door would probably lead him back to the waking world rather than Mokuba’s bedroom. Scowling at himself and his weak will for falling asleep, Seto turned the doorknob and swung open the door.
“No –” Isis reached for him again, but she never got to him.
Seto looked out across a wide desert. Whirls of sand eddied in the stiff breeze, sending grit into his face and eyes. He was looking down on a stone platform, on top of which stood a man in flowing blue and gold robes. In his arms he held a girl who was clearly dead. Her sackcloth clothing was stained so dark with blood at the chest that it looked black, and was only identifiable by the red rivulets coursing down her arms and upside down throat. Some had run into her pale hair and dripped into dusty puddles on the stone beneath the man’s feet. His shoulder shook, making her body judder in turn. Finally, Seto was able to identify the source of the soft sobs.
“What the hell?” he demanded, turning back to Isis, but all that stood behind him now was darkness.
He looked back at the ridiculously out of place scene below. He couldn’t see the man’s face, but the girl’s was clear and yet serene in what could only have been a painful death. As he watched, the man turned and Seto found himself looking at a tanned version of his own tearstained face. The man pressed his face against the girl, smearing her blood on his cheek and mixing it with his tears.
“Kisara …” he said brokenly. “I’m sorry … Kisara …”
Seto wanted to know more, but then someone grabbed his hand from behind. He expected Isis, but Anzu had his hand in both of hers and was dragging him slowly backwards, like a suicidal man from the brink of a cliff.
“C’mon, Seto,” she said softly. “This way.”
“What the hell?” he said again, but her gentle voice coaxed him away. She had never spoken to him in quite that tone before. It was … enticing in a way he couldn’t have predicted. He stepped towards her, somehow feeling that whatever was going on, she was the port of sanity in a sea of approaching madness. “Anzu, what’s happen–?”
And then he was falling … falling … falling into darkness, a voice that might have been Anzu’s, but could have been someone else’s chasing him into the depths.
“SETO, PLEASE …!”
….
Seto startled awake in his armchair. Isono was bent over him holding a blanket.
“Sir?”
Seto pushed him aside. “I’m fine,” he said, ignoring the shaking of his own hands. “I’m … fine. I’m going to bed.”
These stupid, irrational dreams were going to kill him.
….
STUFF THAT IS ALREADY WRITTEN HAPPENS!
….
Seto had been hard at work all morning, using work as a means of keeping insanity from his door, as always. Today was a day where he would be in his environment all day and he wouldn't have to devote any time to thinking about what he was going to do to keep Anzu happy, what to give her, how to make her fall for him...damn it, that was exactly what he WASN'T going to be thinking about! No, he was going to focus on signing all the forms he could, meticulously reading over each one to catch every single loophole so that he would know just what it was he was signing off on. He didn't understand how other people could be so lazy about their contracts, just dashing their names off without even glancing at any of the print, much less the fine print; then they had the gall to complain when they were fired for being in violation of their contracts.
"Mr. Kaiba, sir?" He heard his secretary's voice over the intercom. "Your 11:30 is here."
"My 11:30?" Seto checked his schedule quickly and saw no entry for that time. Then, following a hunch, he checked the next day. "Wonderful." Somehow, inexplicably, the meeting with Isis's recommendation had been set for Thursday and not Friday. He was struck by a memory of his dream of her and shook it away. His dreams were their own form of madness as his brain tried to fit in all the things he was worried about and made a hodgepodge of them; today was for reality. "Fine, let her in."
The double doors to Seto Kaiba's office opened up, and upon seeing the slight figure that approached him, Seto felt his insides turn into a mushy goo that churned all about against themselves. The woman had delicate, pale looking skin, long white-blue hair that extended to her waist, and blue-eyes that he recognised even though the last time he had seen them they had been closed and rimmed by spatters of blood.
"Hello Mr. Kaiba, I'm Mikazuki Hashimoto."
Yes, of course; what were the odds she would have the same name as a dead girl from his dreams?
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