Okay, this is my first fanfic . . . so don't get mad at me if this is not one of the best you've ever read. I'm a busy person, so I'll probably update only once a week or once every two weeks. Sorry if it bothers you; I'll try to update as soon as possible.
I don't know much about Japanese culture, so all of my writing will be "Americanized". I'm using the dubbed names because I'm more used to them, and I'll be using a schedule like the one I have for Serenity's and Mokuba's school schedule. There might be more of this type of stuff, so I'll tell you only once.
You can probably guess, but I'll tell you anyway—the main pairing is Seto x Serenity. Others are Yugi x Tea, Joey x Mai, and Duke x Serenity x Tristan (I just put this here 'cause they like her so much . . . not like anything's gonna happen between them).
Well, I hope you enjoy the story!
Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh . . . I don't even own anything that does remotely with it. Sad, huh?
P.S.: This chapter has been rewritten...and revised...and all that...
Swirls of red, orange, yellow, brown, and autumn-colored leaves spiraled down the road between towering business buildings. Cars crawled, and the sidewalks were crowded with people all trying to get to work. A small group of people, one in many, was walking down one. They looked no different from anyone else around them, except that they were not businessmen and women, but students in school uniform.
"Hey, Yugi," a girl with short brown hair said.
"Yeah, Tea?" The addressed, a short boy with tri-colored spiky hair, looked up at her.
"Have you seen Joey and Serenity yet? I mean, they're usually late, but not this late. If they don't catch up soon, they won't make it to school on time."
Someone snorted in front of them. "Of course they'll get here soon. Serenity would die if she got a tardy. Even Joey doesn't get more than one tardy a month with her around." The speaker turned around, dice earring swinging. He flipped his hair. "Just shows how responsible she is. At least, compared to her dog brother."
"Yeah, I hope so," Yugi said, in response to Duke's first comment. "We have a project in class, and he brought some of the work home over the weekend. If he doesn't come to school on time, we'll get a bad grade. The teacher checks that we have everything every day."
"Don't worry," Ryou said, his soft voice barely heard above the bustle. His brown eyes roamed over the crowds. "I just think--"
Tristan cut him off. "I told you that you should have paired up with someone else. Joey's a knucklehead."
"Here he is," Ryou muttered, his brown eyes looking across the street. Apparently, Tristan didn't hear him, because he was still going on.
"The last time we had to do a project together, he lost everything on the day we had to turn it in and we got an F. I learned that he was a bad partner the bad--"
"What are you talking about? You were the one who lost them! What's your point, anyway?" A blond jumped before them, his loud accented voice causing a few people to look over. "Are you trying to tell Yugi to ditch me on the project?"
A girl with auburn hair materialized before them. After a quick gaze at what was happening before her, she grabbed her brother's arm. "Joey, calm down. He's just joking around. Right, Tristan?" A slightly pleading look was on her face, hoping that Tristan would get the point that she was trying to get across and not go on.
"Of course," he answered smoothly, trying to make a good impression. It was always worth it to leave off teasing Joey to please his sister. There was always another time to ruffle the guy up. "So how are you doing today?" he said in his most gentlemanly manner.
Serenity was ignoring the fact that Tristan was trying to flirt with her; she was just happy that he had gotten the clue one way or the other and smiled in response. She then turned towards Yugi and the others. "Sorry for being so late. Joey was a little slow in getting out of the house today, and I almost slept through my alarm." She put on a smile, the sweetest one she had, to make them forgive her.
Yugi smiled back and turned towards her brother. "Did you…do anything over the weekend? You know, on the project?" He didn't want to say if he had it with him, because he was afraid that Joey might be offended.
Joey nodded. "Yep. I researched and wrote down a draft. It's in my backpack. You wanna see it?" He started to dig in his bag, and his friends could see how messy and unorganized it was inside. People were tripping over him, and were cursing at him for being in their way. The gang sweatdropped, seeing him in the middle of the sidewalk. They were about to leave him there. Fortunately, Ryou was kind enough to remind him that they had to get to school soon.
"Ummmm, Joey, don't you think you should show him later? We need to get to school, or we're going to be late." Ryou had a studied patient look on his face.
Joey quickly looked up, and a second later, a sheepish look crossed his face. "Oh, right."
After waiting for her brother to catch up, Serenity walked along with the rest of the group. She was lost in her thoughts, enjoying the view around her. She was still not used to seeing so clearly, even though it was over a year since she had the eye surgery. Her mind told her it was because she knew what it was to be blind. Nothing was ever taken for granted by her now ever since she had learned what her brother had gone through to get the money for her. Quickly banishing the unpleasant thoughts from her mind, she let her eyes wander around her. It was not long before she saw her school before her.
"See ya, Joey!" she called, rushing towards the school gates. She in high school, ninth grade, and her school was much closer to home than the others' was, since they went to another high school. She was lucky that her school was along the way, though, so she never walked to school alone. "I'll meet you here after the club ends!" Barely hearing the 'see ya!' from Joey and the others, she rushed towards the gates and the throngs of people inside.
Once she was inside, she went to her locker and got her books for biology and her gym clothes for PE. Everything else was kept in her locker, because she could get the rest of her things during break. Fortunately, she had a spot that was usually not crowded, and a locker on the top, so she was able to do so quickly. Gathering her things in her arms and closing the locker, she looked around for her best friend, Mokuba Kaiba.
She didn't really know her best friend's brother very well, though she had met him a couple of times during his tournament. On the contrary, she knew Mokuba—and better than most people did. Except for his brother, the famous Seto Kaiba, of course. She had met the raven-haired boy during his brother's tournament, then at school. She had just been starting classes at Domino, and had no idea what it would be like, and knew no one there. Her brother had thought that the high school he went to wasn't safe for a girl like her, and she was immediately enrolled in another high school in the city. Mokuba was just as surprised to see her as she was to see him, and they became quick friends. Mostly, it was because they had similar pasts and had known each other before. Both of them knew what it was like to have an abusive father and both of them had brothers who took care of them and loved dueling. It was no matter that Mokuba was one of the richest kids in the world and that she was one of the poorer people in the city. They were happy around each other and understood each other, and that was all there was to it.
She threaded through the mingling crowds to find her friend. Unfortunately, their lockers were pretty far from each other, so it took a while to get there. He had a locker in a more crowded side of the school where the popular kids hung out, so she kept her distance to look for him. She was not one of the popular people, and they thought she was a geek for getting good grades and loving school so much. Even though Mokuba also got good grades and loved school, he was accepted because his brother was the famous Seto Kaiba. Many of the girls at school had a crush on his brother, and would miss no chance to get a good look at him or talk to him.
Mokuba was not there. She scanned the crowds of people, cringing mentally and hoping that she wouldn't have to go into the middle of one to get him. She sighed uncertainly when she saw he wasn't there. Serenity was happy that he was not there, but she was not so happy that she hadn't found him yet.
After searching through other halls in the school and the grounds outside, she went up to the school library to see if he was there. Even after looking in the room dubbed "the hangout room' because so many hung out in the unused but opened classroom, she still had not found him. She bit her lip, a little worried. Mokuba would never miss a day of school, even if he were sick with a high fever or bad cold. Of course, his brother would try to keep him home, but he would still come. Trying to get him to go to Kaiba Corp. never worked, either. He liked school that much. Maybe he was late, though she highly doubted it. He was usually at school before she was.
The bell rang and she scanned the crowds before her once more before heading out to their gym class, which they had together like every other one of their classes. She still did not see him as the gym came in sight before her. Well, there was still the chance of him being late or absent for once. It happened to everyone, right? With a sigh, Serenity went inside the girls' locker room to change for her first class of the day.
Serenity walked out of the locker room in her uniform that consisted of a short-sleeved white shirt and navy blue sweats, dirty white sneakers stepping on the dry blacktop. Walking to her assigned spot, she watched the door of the guys' locker room, hoping to see Mokuba walk out. She was still biting her lip in anxiety, hoping that nothing had happened to him on his way to school. He did have limos, chauffeurs, and even his brother's car at his disposal, but he preferred to walk. He came from the opposite direction that she came from, so they would often meet at the gates. Now, the nagging feeling of nervousness would not go away. She knew it was foolishness to think that something could have happened to her best friend, but she still could not banish the feeling. After all, wasn't he pretty good at defending himself now, after all of those kidnappings he had been in before and his brother's self-defense lessons?
She must have seen at least twenty boys walk out of the locker room, but none of them were Mokuba. Most of them had been sixth and seventh graders in her period. Shyly, she walked up to one of the guys that Mokuba would sometimes hang out with, hoping that they could tell her something. "Um, do you know if Mokuba's here today?"
He turned around to see a shy girl in auburn hair that he knew didn't talk that much. "Why would you want to know, huh?"
"He's my friend," she said defensively, "and I just wanted to know."
"Come on, give the girl a break," one of his friends said. "Sorry, we don't know."
She nodded in reply, then walked to her spot once more just as the bell rang. Mokuba still wasn't there by the time the teacher had come, and she was left to do her exercises and running alone, in which she was not very fast at, merely average. Volleyball, their class unit right now, was a drill in a group of three. They bumped and set the volleyball in turns to practice. Luckily, she was good at the sport and made a good impression for herself.
After gym was science, and Mokuba still wasn't at school. The bad feeling came back once more, and she pushed it away to focus on her lessons. The lesson was just interesting enough to keep her occupied, but by the time the class was ending, her thoughts went back to her friend. Thinking that he could not attend school because he was either busy with work at Kaiba Corp. or very sick, she got the work for the day from the teacher and left the class.
As she rounded the corner, she thought she saw Mokuba walking through the streets before the school. He disappeared before she could make certain that it really was him, so she made no effort to make sure. The kid had looked like someone or something was dragging him. It couldn't have been him. It just wasn't possible. Mokuba was a regular kid, except for the fact that he was the brother of a major company owner, so why should anyone want to hurt him? Especially now, when all the trouble had finally ended? There was no way that her friend could be kidnapped; he was her friend and that was just the way things were and nothing could change them. Or could it?
Serenity shook her head in frustration. Mentally chiding herself for her wild imagination and letting it wander so far, she sighed quietly to herself. Just because he wasn't at school didn't mean he was hurt or kidnapped or something. People were gone everyday, and no one thought about them twice. Why was she even thinking so much about him? True, he was her friend. She shook her head once more, trying to clear her head of the thoughts.
She thought her crazy mind had blocked out the annoying thoughts already when she got to her locker. Therefore, it was a surprise when she found herself thinking about it again unconsciously when she was putting away her science things and getting out her geometry textbook, her calculator, and math notebook. She almost slammed her locker door on her fingers in surprise. The feeling went away just as quickly as it came, and anger filled in the spot. She stood in the same spot for a few more seconds, trying to get herself to think of something more pleasant. Unfortunately, it didn't happen and the thoughts still taunted her like an annoying bee flying around her head. She really needed to get her mind focused on something else.
She went to the usual hangout for Mokuba, her, and a small group of friends. She usually chattered quite a bit during break with her friends, but her friends knew something was wrong when she stayed quiet. They left her alone. The bell rang for third period, and they were saying goodbyes and splitting up for their classes.
Algebra II and math were always favorite subjects for Serenity. She didn't know why, except that she liked the challenge that was in it that others didn't like. Her grades were always good, only beaten in all of the Algebra II classes by Mokuba and, occasionally, by a few other students in the class. She was always excited about the class. Today, though, she was not as attentive and active. As the teacher went on about numbers and variables, her gaze drifted outside to the streets in front of school from her seat in the middle of the room by the windows. The classroom faced the front of the school, so she got a good view of what had made her crazy about half and hour ago. Nothing unusual was happening down the streets. Cars were still driving through mid-morning traffic, people were still walking the streets like they always did. There was nothing out there that advertised any type of kidnapping or such.
A voice called out her name, startling her out of her thoughts that she had found herself so deep in the whole morning. It was the teacher, waiting expectantly for an answer to a practice problem. A small flush rising to her cheeks, Serenity quickly looked over the problem written on the board and hoped she was saying the right answer and that she had heard the question correctly. "X squared plus three."
"Correct," the teacher said, turning back to the board to go on about solving the problem. She sighed in relief.
The period that had once seemed so exciting to the girl now seemed to drag on forever. It seemed like hours before the bell rang, and she quickly picked up her stuff and went to the teacher for Mokuba's copy of notes. After answering a few questions from the teacher about whether she knew where Mokuba was and other small details, she got the notes and a study guide for the next test, which was to be on Wednesday.
Her elective, Computer Applications, was on the other side of the campus, and thoughts of her best friend left her for a few minutes as she tried to get through the crowds and to her class on time. It had always helped with her best friend there, because he always knew how to get them both through the crowds quickly, but she took a longer time in getting to her class because she could not do it herself. She barely reached the class before the bell rang, and she heaved a sigh of relief when she got to her seat. She also had a bit of trouble during the class without Mokuba's ingenious help with computers, but she made it through the project and was out of there and finished with the day's work as the bell rang. At least there was no homework for her to carry for her best friend this time.
She quickly went to her locker once more to deposit her load and get her lunch. She met her friends under a tree, and they enjoyed a somewhat talkative lunch, though Serenity didn't contribute. She barely even touched her food, but her friends didn't bug her. They knew when to ask and when not to. They knew this was one of the times not to. Serenity spent her lunch doodling in her notebook that she kept to write free thoughts and short pieces of fiction and to draw when she was inspired. Of course, she never did so in class, only during free times. She got a page out this time to sketch a picture of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, but could not concentrate and couldn't draw the wings right. She took the whole period drawing a few lines, erasing, drawing a few more, then erasing yet again. After someone asked to see it, she put it away and said that it was nothing good. Picking at her lunch, she was relieved when the bell finally rang for classes. There were only two more periods left of classes and her after school club, then she was free to go home and spill all of her feelings into her journal.
Her Language Arts and History classes were under the same teacher, so that meant no more changing classes until the end of the day. History and Literature book in hand, along with a notebook, she walked into the classroom into a seat far in the back. Usually, she had a seat in the middle, but the teacher had chosen spots and she was placed near the back. Time began to slow down once more, and the class felt like it would never end. The teacher's voice droned in the back of her head as Serenity took very simple notes, her heart not in the lesson at all. It was getting harder and harder for her to concentrate on the work throughout the day, and now it seemed it would never leave her in peace. The feeling persisted more and more often. By the end of the day, Serenity was almost nodding off, and the bell almost became an alarm clock. Getting the notes and homework for her friend the last time that school day, she considered skipping the club and going straight home to rest. The memory of what her brother had told her the last time she came home by herself, even in bright daylight, stopped her. She did not fancy having her brother lecture her on the dangers of the streets again; they were a little too creative for her liking. She could have sworn that her brother made some up to scare her.
After dragging her homework, backpack, and schoolbooks out of her locker, she wearily trundled to after school forensics club. She really hadn't wanted to join the club, but Mokuba had been pleading with her to join because he didn't want to go alone. He hadn't wanted to go, either, but his brother made him go because he needed the skills to work at Kaiba Corp. So she had been dragged along, and now she had to face another barrier in her way to home. There was another hour and a half of memorizing a DI until she could go home.
Serenity had never been happier in her life to leave school. If she had been more into it, she would have skipped on her way out. As it was, she walked slowly out to the front gates, where she would wait for her brother to walk her home. The club instructor had let them out early today, so she still had to wait another ten minutes for him. She considered stopping by her locker to get her book so she could pass the time more quickly, then decided she was too tired to do so. The long walk continued to the school gates.
To her surprise, she was not the only one there. All of the other students had gone much faster than her, so by the time she reached the gates, she expected every classmate to have been out of sight, whether they were walking home or if their parents were picking them up by the bus stop. She saw a few cars out in the parking lot like always, but she also saw one that had a familiar person standing by one. By now, the sight would have been familiar. If Mokuba had been at school, of course.
Everyday after school, or after club, if it was a Monday, Mokuba's brother was waiting out in the parking lot to pick him up. It was easy to spot him because he was so tall; it helped even more that he had the best car around and there were always girls around him. Serenity's best friend would always offer her a ride back home, though she would turn it down politely, knowing her brother would scold her to no end if she went in the same car as his hated enemy, Seto Kaiba.
Today, he was still here. Serenity was so surprised to see him that she stopped short of the gates for a few seconds, her mind completely blank. It was soon filled with a jumble of what she feared.
She thought to go around another way, unnoticed, so she wouldn't have to deal with the young CEO of Kaiba Corporation. She looked wildly to both sides of her, searching for a way out. Unfortunately, he had seen her and was walking towards her when she looked back to where he had been standing. She swallowed and walked over to Kaiba, her small steps a huge contrast to the man's much longer ones, trying not to look nervous.
"Where's Mokuba?" he asked when he was still a few feet away from her. His blue-eyed gaze swept behind her easily. "Isn't he with you?"
Serenity clutched her books close to her, a little intimidated by him. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to say about her best friend missing from school. There was no way she could just tell him straight out and be blunt about it, because it wasn't polite and she didn't think she had the words to just say it simply, either. Instead, she stayed quiet.
Kaiba looked back at her when he didn't hear her answer. "Did you hear me? I asked if you Mokuba was with you." This time, he had a bit of irritation in his voice, as well as an air of commandment, slight as it was.
"Well—" she stuttered. "I . . . didn't . . . see him today . . ."
The eyes narrowed above her. "What? He wasn't here today? You're lying to me."
"No," she replied a little shakily, "I'm not. I was wondering if he was with you. You can ask anyone that was at school today. Nobody saw him."
Kaiba's gaze had turned darker with every word. "So that means either he cut school and is trying to stay away from home for as long as possible or else something happened to him." He stated it flatly, his voice slightly cold.
"He wasn't cutting school," Serenity interrupted quickly. She could tell that he wasn't talking to her, but she had to say it to defend her best friend. "He likes school too much to do so. Plus, there were no tests or anything in our classes today, so he would have no reason to cut." She left the rest of the jumble going on in her head unsaid, not wanting to voice any suggestions.
Kaiba ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "Okay. So what you're trying to tell me is that he wasn't at school today and you think something happened to him on his way to school, though you're too scared to say so yourself. You think that there is no other possible explanation for his absence from school today. Correct?" Serenity nodded, still not trusting her voice to talk without going on about her thoughts. "Alright then. So that means you're worried for him." She nodded once more.
He turned around, his white, sleeveless trench coat billowing behind him. He headed off towards his car, and stopped before it without turning. "So are you coming or not?"
Serenity didn't answer for a moment, surprised that he had asked and feeling uncertain. What would Joey say about this? And couldn't Kaiba find Mokuba a lot faster if she wasn't in the way? But she was too worried about what could have happened to her best friend to just leave his brother to search for him alone. "Wait up," she called.
He did not wait, but went to the driver's side and got in. She hurried and opened the door to the passenger side, slipping in and dumping her backpack on her lap to close the door. Just as she shut it, he had the engine running and drove off.
Sorry if the story seems slow right now . . . that's only because it's in the beginning right now. It'll get more exciting; I promise! Please review!