(Disclaimer: All the characters belong to Kazuki Takahashi. The premise of this story belongs to Yash Chopra.)
(a/n: I've gone insane, haven't I? I've made a companion fic to '...With the French Maid in Kaiba's Room!'. I blame it all on my sudden renewal of love for Hindi movies. Damn them!)
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The Bunny and the Porcupine
A little culture never hurt anyone. Well, unless you're prim Rebecca Hopkins on a trip-gone-wrong with none other than womanizing rich jerk, Mokuba Kaiba. (companion fic to 'WTFMIKR!)
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Part One: One Trip
The one who comes in my dreams...
He comes and teases me...
Tell him to come face-to-face with me sometime.
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"Europe."
With the statement, the papers were thrown onto the coffee table and the girl crossed her arms, waiting for a response. Her mother remained still on the couch, her eyes not even moving to the papers. Instead, the woman's pair of dark sapphire eyes were locked on her daughter with an expression of irritation and pure disbelief.
"No."
"But why?"
"Becky, I'm not going to have this fight with you again," she said, reaching over to grab a cigarette. She paused while she lit up, then spoke again with her hand bouncing with each word. "I want you to settle down. Have some kids. You're already finished college, what more could you want?"
There was a brief silence, Rebecca staring at her mother in disbelief. "Well, maybe a career? I didn't obtain my Masters in Cognitive Psychology for nothing!"(a/n1)
"You're still young. Get married, then get a job. Lord knows that women with careers scare the crap out of men--"
"No, they scare the crap out of Ishida Narita," she pointed out, emitting the name like it was a virus. Quickly afterward, she turned around and refused to look at her mother, the very name of Ishida placing her in an even worse mood. She could imagine her mother's expression -angered, as always, because of her rejection of men that she thought were worthy.
"Bec--"
"Rebecca."
"Fine. Rebecca," her mother placed a finely French manicured hand on her shoulder and in return, she flinched. "I'll allow you this one trip on one condition."
Rebecca tensed. "What?"
"You agree to marry Ishida when you come back."
---
"Europe?"
"Yeah, it'll be great! The foreign chicks, fresh air, awesome cars, more foreign chicks--" the speaker paused mid-ramble to observe the not-too-impressed look on his older brother's face. "C'mon, Seto! I'm gonna go whether you like it or not."
"Have you forgotten your position in Kaiba Corporation?" the CEO asked while going through a pile of papers with one hand and typing with the other.
"Serenity will take care of that!" the younger Kaiba dismissed with a wave of his hand. Kaiba's expression failed to lighten -in fact, it had hardened if anything.
"Serenity is in no condition to cover in your position," Kaiba informed, leaning forward in his desk. "You're not going."
"Can I go if she says yes?"
"No."
Deciding that it was pointless to argue with his stone-cold brother (who was most likely saying 'no' to him in preparation to refuse his own children's future demands), he left the room without another word. There was the bizarre hope that ignoring everyone in the household would gain him his desire. He certainly wasn't used to be refused and wasn't sure exactly how to handle it.
While lumbering down the stairs, he whipped out his cell-phone and dialed one of his friends.
"Takeshi!" he exclaimed when the hung over man answered his phone. "You sober?"
"I dunno...What day is it today?"
"That doesn't matter! Listen, I need you to help me. My brother refuses to lend me the money to--"
"Money to what?"
There was only one female voice in the Kaiba Mansion that would be allowed to speak with such an authoritative and slightly intimidating tone. Serenity Kaiba stood behind Mokuba in all her motherly glory, one child strapped to her back and the other to her front in those baby knapsacks that Kaiba despised. Sometimes Mokuba wondered whether her bones would break from exertion -her mind was almost gone as it was and she was certainly taking Kaiba down with her in the fall.
"Uhh... pay for college?" he answered tentatively, phone held in midair. Reluctantly, he hung it up and waited for his sister-in-law to lash out at him as she had recently taken a liking for it.
"You received a scholarship to cover six years' tuition."
He knew she wanted to fold her arms but was prevented by one of her gurgling creatures. He also knew she wanted to give him a piercing look but considering how her eyelids kept drooping, that wouldn't be happening any time soon.
"Serenity, are you okay?" he asked sincerely. His dark brows furrowed in concern regarding his wobbling sister-in-law.
"Of course! Of course! Of..."
"GAH!"
Catching a 120 pound woman with her twin children strapped to her was not an easy feat and within one minute, Mokuba found himself screaming for help. Quickly, two maids came rushing from either direction and after un-strapping the children, Mokuba was left to the task of taking Serenity to bed where she promptly passed out.
"I'm in a house full of psychos..." he muttered while leaving the room.
In her desperation to prevent her children from being raised by maids and nannies, Serenity took it upon herself to spend every waking minute of the day with her one-year-old twins. Not only did it harm her own sanity and health, she was beginning to take less of Mokuba's side and act more diplomatic with him. Not once since the twins were born did she let him drive off with one of Seto's cars or host a party at any of their lodges.
He felt like his life was robbed from him and thirsted for escape to somewhere far where people partied all night and slept all day. He had planned on Las Vegas, but then again, he hadn't been to Europe in a while and would be less likely to run into anyone associated with Kaiba Corporation. Not to mention that he found accents to be quite a turn-on.
Oh dear, this top is so bloody hot... Would you be a dear and help me out of it, love?
He grinned with anticipation.
It wouldn't take much to convince his brother to let him go. He just needed to work out a schedule -or simply bribe some pretty young thing into doing his tasks for him... Someone who was smart, subservient, and desperate for money... Then he would simply slip out, let his work be done for him, and no one would ever notice that he was gone...Of course, there was that financial problem, but a bit of hawking never hurt anyone. Kaiba wouldn't notice if half the things in the mansion where missing -he hadn't even seen a third of it.
Hyped-up by his master plan, Mokuba bounced to his room to pack.
---
The next morning, Rebecca awoke to the sun shining through her window, birds chirping blithely, and the lovely prospect of having to marry Ishida if she went on a simple trip to Europe. She groaned, slamming her head against her drawn knees. It certainly wasn't supposed to be like this.
She wanted to go with her friends to Europe so badly that it almost caused her to scream. It wasn't easy obtaining friends her own age, not only because she was already in college by the age of ten, but because of her constantly leaving the country for dueling tournaments. It was through a stroke of luck that she met her current group of friends when she was fifteen. Now, they were going on a trip to Europe to celebrate their High School graduation (University for her) and she was being stopped by her horrible, wretched mother! She knew that if her grandfather were still alive, she wouldn't be caught like a mouse in a trap.
Squeezing her eyes tightly shut, she began to take deep calming breaths. Once she regained her composure, she lifted her pillow up and seized her diary. Flipping through the pages, she sighed wistfully. Dreams. Every page was scrawled blue with dreams. Snapping the book shut, she nodded to herself. Even if she had to marry Ishida, she still had her dreams. Dreams about becoming a successful psychologist. Dreams about writing a textbook. Dreams that Ishida would become run-over by a truck...
The pleasing image of the man running for his life from a Chevy was broken by the peppy beat of her cell-phone.
"Rebecca, where are you?" one of her friends questioned when she picked up. It was hard to hear her through the loud crowd in the background.
"At home," she numbly answered, slightly irked that there was no greeting from the other end. Was it so hard to say, 'Hi'?
"What?"
"At HOME!"
"No, I mean, 'what' as in 'what the hell?'!"
Rebecca sighed, hating having to explain herself to her friends. "If I agree to come with you guys, Mom says I have to marry Ishida."
Her friend made a disgusted sound. "She's still on about that?"
"He is the son of her best friend..."
There was a pause on the other end. Then, "Come anyway."
"Did you not hear what I just said?"
"You're eighteen!"
"So?"
"So...?"
Closing her eyes, Rebecca gave the proposition less than a moment's thought before answering, "I'll be there in half-an-hour."
---
"Where did you go wrong?" Serenity asked her husband, a blank look on both of their faces. The pair sat on Mokuba's bed, exhausted after struggling to look for him and discovering that he had actually gone to Europe.
Kaiba sent his wife a glare, which she dismissed, and promptly stood up. "Me? Me?"
"Well, of course you. After all, I met your brother when he was still in High School."
"He was still obedient! This is your influence. You spoil him too much!" Clenching his fist tightly, he raised his arm and slammed it against Mokuba's desk. "That boy is not getting away with this!"
"What's the harm in letting him go for an innocent trip?" Serenity asked, walking up behind Kaiba and softly leaning against his back. "He is twenty, after all..."
"That doesn't matter! That kid is a kidnapper magnet!" Kaiba snapped.
Serenity gave a mock gasp. "Of course! Anyone could just walk up, grab him and stuff all 160 pounds of him into a duffel bag!" She began to laugh hysterically and Kaiba shrugged her off. He then left the room, muttering to himself. This day certainly was not good. For one thing, his little brother was missing (well, not exactly, but the path to Europe was a long and convoluted one) and for another, his wife had gone off the deep end.
He could still hear her laughing. Suddenly there was a thump. Rushing back to the room in a panic, he was annoyed to see her lying on the floor in the fetal position with her face red and laughing so hard she could barely breathe. Go figure, she had fallen off the bed.
Note to Self: Serenity needs sleeping pills...
---
"Shit, I am so late!" Running like a man escaping from an enraged wife wielding a rolling pin, Mokuba sped down the hall of the train station and onto the platform. He could see his friends poking their heads out of the windows and either yelling, waving or doing a mixture of both in an attempt to get him to hasten his pace. Not like he wasn't going breakneck already...
Right when the whistle blew, he jumped onto the train and threw his knapsack into the corner. He was ready to enter the carriage when he noticed someone crying out for the train to stop. Leaning out while holding onto the railing, his eyes were blessed with the sight of a very lovely young woman running awkwardly after the train, which was beginning to pull out. From her speed and desperation, her cheeks were red, chest heaving (to his enjoyment) and her golden hair spread out behind her like the flare from the sun.
Holding out his hand, Mokuba said no words, knowing that she would make it. He wasn't sure why -call it gut instinct, or whatever other words men would use to define 'intuition'. In a few moments, his instinct prevailed when her soft hand fell into his. Pulling her onto the train, he watched as the platform disappeared behind them.
"Ah, you're still holding onto me" she said, breathless. Mokuba broke his eyes from the scenery of nature to observe the beautiful girl in his arms. Well, technically struggling to get out of his arms. He released her apprehensively and furrowed his dark brows when she dusted off her blouse and attempted to tidy up her hair. Then, completely ignoring him, she went for her suitcase, which had spilled open upon contact with the floor.
"Huhn..." Chewing on the innards of his cheek, Mokuba pretended not to act offended by her superiority attitude and began to attempt to open the door to the actual seating area. Currently they were sitting in the room people tread within to get off from the train and it wasn't particularly comfortable.
"Open up..." he groaned to himself, tugging with all of his might. The door didn't budge. Then he changed to a mix between singing and grunting. "Op-en the door, darling..."
The girl cast him a dirty look, which he unfortunately managed to catch, and he stopped tugging. "It's stuck," he explained and she made a very round 'o' with her perfect pink lips while nodding as if attending to a child. Mokuba rolled his eyes and trudged to the corner to sit down. He was in the process of making himself comfortable when he felt something poke him in the rear end. Confused, he reached back and pulled out a very white, very lacy and large bra. Dangling it by the strap, he scooted over to the girl, who was still arranging her items in the suitcase, and poked her on the shoulder.
"Yes?" she snapped, her voice having the potential to seem like an angel's but right now, seeming very much like a demon's.
"Is this your--" The bra was snatched from him before he was able to finish the sentence. He gave her an awkward smile and she glared in response.
"So, going to Debrecen?"(a/n2) he asked. When she didn't answer, he continued to talk in a jovial tone, completely unaffected. "A few hours ago I got off from a plane in Budapest coming from Russia. Before that I had come from Japan. Long trip... slept a lot, though. Really needed to catch up on that...Yeah, it was awesome. I had this dream where I had become a female stripper and... hey, what are you reading?"
At this point, he had gradually crawled closer and closer to her until he was positioned quite artistically with his head leaning back below her book and forehead aptly against her chest.
"Do you normally read books upside down?" he asked when realizing he could read it perfectly while he was far from right-side up.
"Would you please do me the favor of--"
Her irate complaint was cut short, though, by the expression on Mokuba's face. He blinked once, his mouth slightly parted, before he released a small laugh. "I remember you!"
"W-what?" For reasons unknown to her, the girl blushed.
"You're--"
Mokuba was prevented from finishing his sentence when the door to the carriage opened. In jubilation, he jumped up, grabbed his knapsack, accidentally smacked the girl in the back of the head with it and skipped inside.
"Jerk!" she cried out when he was out of sight. Huffing, she gathered her own belongings and entered the carriage to find her friends.
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(a/n1: Yes, although Rebecca will be 18 in this fic, she does have a masters degree in Psychology. Why? Well, let's see... when she was 10 she was already in college so... you do the math.)
(a/n2: A city in Hungary.)
a/n3: Okay, time for my friggin rambles. Uhm, I'm just going to see whether I should continue this fic, just because I know the fandom for MokubaxRebecca isn't too big and I'm not sure whether anyone cares about their little love story (if anyone does support them, I suggest you join Setine's forthcoming fanlisting for them). But hey, there's always the insanity of KaibaxSerenity to amuse you if you hate the pairing! (oh yes, I've made them quite insane together... I don't think they're OOC, more or less just used to being married with twins. Think 'Red and Kitty' from That 70's Show). If you want emails when it's updated, tell me! Until next time (maybe)! Oi, my neck hurts.