Chapter 22 - Happily Forever After
Crimson stood rooted to her spot, both hands over her mouth and eyes widened. Her parents were the first to freak out.
"What did you say to him?" Her mother asked. She couldn't believe it. To her, Kaiba was the single richest kid in the world, and the smartest. Never beyond her wildest dreams did she ever imagine he would even talk to her precious daughter. And now, her daughter loved him.
Crimson slowly lowered her eyes. It was at times like this that she wished she had a more controlled mouth. She was always the type that couldn't keep secrets in. And now, this was one that she wished she had kept.
Kaiba's face turned back to cool emotion. He opened the door and Mokuba went outside first, gazing back to look at the others. Kaiba let himself out as well, though he paused after setting one foot outside the door. He turned to look at Crimson one more time. Then, he left. Crimson brought up her eyes. Her heart was pounding like crazy. Both her parents looked at each other and then back at her with amazed expressions. The rest of the gang whispered amongst themselves.
"Crimson...Yasmine?" Yugi asked. Crimson looked at him.
"You all should go home... your families might be worried." She said those words in a soft tone, almost tiredly, before turning and running up to her room. She raced up the stairs and threw herself on top of the bed once she reached it. Using her Anklet, she closed the door and locked it.
I trust you, Seto. Please, don't break my heart this time...
The next morning, Crimson was up first. She quickly showered and came down to breakfast. Her parents both stopped whatever they were doing to look at her. She quickly walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table.
"Um...good morning," her dad said hesitantly. Crimson muttered something, keeping her head down and twisted a strand of her hair between her fingers. Her parents looked at each other again. They took their cereal bowls and sat at the table.
"So...Crimson...what...what would you like for breakfast?"
"I'm not hungry." Crimson's parents looked at each other again and shrugged. Crimson sighed and left the table. She hurried up to her room again.
In her room, Crimson walked over to her dresser and started at herself in the mirror.
"I miss Seto already," she said to her reflection. Her reflection, she thought, seemed to represent her inner self. She could tell it anything and it would listen. "I want to go see him, but I can't waltz into his office. He said himself he was so busy he was going to be working every day straight for two months. I need a reason!" Crimson looked at her reflection. It was silent, holding a strand of her own black hair.
"Say something!" Crimson moaned. Her reflection stayed still. Crimson walked away in exasperation and so did her reflection. Crimson stopped. When her own reflection had moved, she saw the mirror image of her bed. And on it were the two cards she had taken out of her pants before throwing them in the laundry. Crimson whirled around.
"Enchanted Javelin..." Crimson walked to the card and picked it up. Underneath, she saw Kaiba's Blue-Eyes. She stared at it for a couple of seconds. She finally picked it up. A shimmer of power and fear ran through her body.
"Wait...I need to return this to Seto..." Crimson trailed off as it finally occurred to her. She smiled. "This is perfect..."
Crimson gulped. She had never realized how tall Kaiba Corporations really was until she had stood before it. Her parents had been really hesitant in letting her come here, but eventually Crimson persuaded them. Actually, she just showed them the Blue-Eyes and they gave immediate consent.
Now, Crimson stood in front of the building holding the Blue-Eyes in her hand. She had freshened up quite a bit. She was wearing a pair of khakis with a white halter embroidered with pink paisleys. To be less revealing, she wore a matching khaki sweater. Her black hair was tied up in a braided bun, complete with a pink ribbon. She even had on some make-up, though a minimal amount.
"Here it goes," she whispered. Taking a deep breath, she walked inside the glass-doored building. Almost immediately, she was caught with the fresh scent of technology. Random employees walked in front of the receptionists' deck with papers in their hands. The receptionist herself was a young woman with long blonde hair and a very formal blue dress suit. She looked up as Crimson walked forward.
"Welcome to Kaiba Corp. Are you here for a job interview? If so, you will have to come back later. Mr. Kaiba has been absent for a few days and has a lot of work to do."
"I know," Crimson said. "But this is important. I have something belonging to Seto that he would really appreciate if he had back as soon as possible. I am a friend of his... he won't mind seeing me...hopefully..." The receptionist looked at her skeptically.
"A friend? I haven't heard of Mr. Kaiba having many girlfriends... what is your name?"
"Yasmine Motou, but I go by Crimson." Suddenly, the receptionist broke into a grin.
"Oh, so you are Crimson. I guess Mr. Kaiba does have good taste after all. Sorry, but his younger brother Mokuba has been...saying... I am not sure if it is true. I really don't believe it. Mr. Kaiba has never had a friend, other than the CEO of Industrial Illusions. But, Mokuba was by here today and he said his brother had found a girlfriend, someone named Crimson..." Crimson looked down with a sigh. She kept speaking as if she had never heard the receptionist.
"This is important. I have one of Seto's Blue-Eyes and I think he would like it back..." The receptionist nodded.
"Of course. Your Seto's room is on the top floor before the Duel Stadium, at the far end." The receptionist accented his name in a way that made Crimson blush.
"Thank you very much," Crimson hurried to the elevator. She got inside and pressed the button with the largest number. The doors closed and the elevator shot up to one of the highest floors.
When Crimson finally arrived on the level she needed to, she exited the elevator. The hallway was deserted except for her. There were a total of five doors in total, and one was located at the far end. Crimson reasoned that that had to be the one and skipped to it. Before knocking, she straightened her jacket and her hair. Then, she knocked lightly.
"Who is it?" came a muffled voice from inside.
"It's me...Crimson..." She shivered at how soft her voice was.
Why did I have to tell him I loved him? I don't even know if he likes me back... sure we've kissed a couple of times...but...
"I didn't hear you. You might as well come in." Crimson closed her eyes and counted to ten. Then, she opened the door with a shaking hand.
"Hello... Seto?" Crimson walked a few steps into the room. A scent of leather furniture crept into her midst. The room was tidy; the only furnishings were a computer table in the middle surrounded by bookshelves. At the table sat Kaiba, typing furiously at his flat-screen computer. Mokuba was sitting to the side doing some math work.
Crimson walked in. The steady click of her black heels on the tile floor brought up Kaiba's gaze from his computer. He immediately stopped typing. Crimson looked down and fingered the Blue-Eyes card.
"Hello, Crimson," Kaiba greeted. He took his hands from the keyboard completely and smiled at her. Crimson looked at him, trying to control her thoughts.
"Hello, Seto... hi...um...I just wanted to give...you...something...something of yours..." She walked over to his desk and handed him the Blue-Eyes. "Thanks for letting me borrow it...it really did help...thanks..." Kaiba didn't take the card. Instead, he calmly looked at her hand.
"Say, Crimson. Is it cold in here?" Crimson scrunched her eyebrows.
"Cold...no, it isn't." Kaiba got up from his chair and walked around the table to her. Her heart almost stopped.
"Then why is your hand trembling like that?"
"My hand... oh...my hand...oh...it's not trembling... my hand likes to... to randomly shake...yeah..."
"It's because of yesterday isn't it?"
"Not at all...no... my hand just...is bored..." Crimson knew she was stuck. She looked back down at her hands. However, Kaiba took his forefinger and thumb and lifted her chin up so they could look eye-to-eye.
"Crimson. It's because of yesterday..."
"You have to be kidding. It's-,"
"Crimson..."
"...not..."
"Crimson..."
"...because..."
"Crimson..."
"...of yester-," Before Crimson could quite finish her sentence, Kaiba leaned over and kissed her for a full minute. When they pulled away, Crimson looked over at Mokuba. He stared back at the couple.
"Well..." he began rather loudly. "This problem doesn't make sense! I wonder why! Maybe I should ask someone...downstairs..." Mokuba quickly exited the room. Crimson giggled. Kaiba stroked her hair.
"So... now why were your hands shaking again?" Crimson smiled sweetly at him, wrapping her arms around his waist.
"I don't know... I don't even remember what I was talking about...maybe another kiss will help me remember..." Kaiba smiled and stroked her cheek.
"I remember. You were embarrassed about yesterday, right?"
"Maybe..."
"I can't believe you didn't think I loved you back..." Kaiba rained kisses down Crimson's cheek and she shivered.
"Well, you didn't say it-," Crimson was cut off abruptly as Kaiba's lips caught hers. He pulled back.
"Well, I'm saying it now...I love you, Crimson..."
"I love you Seto...and I hoped it would end like this..."
"Like what?"
"Like...happily forever after..."
The end.