Souvenir

Disclaimer: Just own the words, not the folks.

File Away - Reprise

It’s amusing to see our picture on the front of the Japanese tabloid.

Well, it’s not exactly our picture.

“Kaiba Heirs Missing?” the headline blares over the shot of two young boys with question marks in place of their faces. I would expect to find such a story in a more reputable paper, but I guess they’re all too afraid of Kaiba Corp.

Apparently, some ambitious, Japanese reporter used her cunning and connections to find out which boarding school Mokuba and I were supposed to have been attending. She then paid her own way to Louisenlund near Kiel, Germany to get an exclusive interview with the Kaiba brothers about the death of their ‘father’ and the subsequent fight over his fortune. I can almost imagine her shock upon reaching the school and finding that we weren’t there and that we’d never even been enrolled as students.

I smile to myself at her speculation that we’d actually been paid actors used to give Gozaboro appeal as a family man seeking to keep his sons safe and not a greedy, warmongering bastard for being a weapons manufacturer; though her suggestion that my mother had been an out of work porn star hired to ‘play’ his wife brings anger and sadness rather than amusement.

It’s been almost ten years since she died, but I still miss her so much. I wish Yami could have met her. I know that they’d have gotten along well.

I wish Mokuba could have known her better. At least he’s now able to experience something of what having a real mother is like, living with the Ishtars. Maybe I should send a copy of this article to him. I’m sure he’d be just as amused as I am that no one knows that we’re real, alive, safe and happy.

Looking up from the article, I stare at the last picture I have of him on my dresser.

That smile; that bright, happy smile reminds me again that I did the right thing in getting Mokuba away from that bastard. And if I never see my little brother again, just seeing that smile on his face makes it all worthwhile.

“Seto?” Yami’s voice and light touch to my shoulder draw my attention.

“Sorry, Yami,” I respond into his concerned face. “I’ll go get ready now.”

Dropping the paper on the bed behind me, I pull out clothes to put on after my shower and head into the bathroom.

My original reason for coming up to my room had been to get ready for our double date with Raphael and his girlfriend that Yami had set up for this evening, instead of settling down to read the article I’d only skimmed yesterday.

Honestly, I’m not too keen on the idea of going on this date at all, and it’s not that I don’t want to meet Raphael’s girlfriend. I would just rather spend my free time with Yami.

I’m also still getting used to Raphael treating me as a person and not as his sworn enemy and don’t want to add another person to an already difficult circumstance.

I embarrass myself with yelp of surprise as Yami’s arms slide around me under the shower spray.

“Did I scare you?” he chuckles lightly against my back.

“Maybe a little,” I mumble.

A moment later, I’m anything but afraid as he presses his growing arousal against me and slides his hands between my legs.

“Yami, our date...” I pant lightly.

“Mmm, I cancelled,” he replies, turning me around and pressing me against the wall.

“But...”

“You didn’t want to go anyway, did you?” he nuzzles into my neck.

“I just wanted you to be happy,” I admit.

He pulls back and offers me his matchless smile.

“Let’s finish our shower and I’ll show you how to make me happy,” he leers.

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“Hn. ‘How to make him happy’, indeed,” I scoff as I slip my still slightly tired and sore body from Yami’s embrace and head into the bathroom.

As much as I’d rather lay there in his arms for the rest of the day, it’s already after 11:00 am and I need to be at work by 1:00 pm.

After drying off and getting dressed, I go to wake Yami for my ride to work, only to find him stretching naked beside his bed.

“Like what you see?” he teases when he catches me staring.

“Maybe,” I reply evenly.

“Hmm. Too bad you have to go to work,” he jokes, slipping past me into the bathroom.

Almost an hour later, after Yami’s gotten ready and I’ve fixed us a light brunch, we’re heading into the city for him to drop me off at work.

“You know that it’s not because I don’t like Raphael,” I intone after we’ve been riding a few minutes. “And it’s not that I don’t want to meet his girlfriend.”

“Well, this is the third time we’ve cancelled, Seto,” he responds. “So, have you figured out what the problem is yet?”

I shake my head even though I know perfectly well why I have a problem with meeting Raphael’s girlfriend. I also know that it’s a crazy reason and one that Raphael would label stupid and that Yami would try to ‘fix’ anyway he could.

“I think I know,” Yami poses. “And it’s not something you should worry about because it won’t happen.”

“You don’t know, Yami,” I state with certainty.

He’s silent for a little while and I figure that he’s dropped the conversation for the moment.

“Even if she doesn’t like you,” he startles me with saying, “That won’t change anything between me and Raphael. We’re not going to start fighting over it. So relax.”

“H-how did you...?” I trail off staring at him incredulously.

“I’m still your best friend, Seto,” he grins at me as we pull up to my job.

“Yami...you...”

“You’d better go so you won’t be late,” he interrupts, still grinning. “Meet me at the hotel tonight after your shift. We’re having dinner with Raphael and Rebecca at the restaurant. I’m making a special pastry for the occasion.”

I open my mouth to protest, but realize that it won’t do any good and promptly close it back again. Squeezing his hand tightly as both a ‘good-bye’ and a ‘see you later’ since the street is too bright and busy for me to steal a kiss, I step from the car and head into work.
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I look around the restaurant as I wait for Raphael and his girlfriend, silently admonishing Yami in my head. He knows that I’m not that eager to be here and still he disappears into the kitchen leaving me to greet them on my own.

Well, he did say that he would be making a special pastry; I just assumed that he’d already have it ready when we got here.

“Hn. Like he’d serve something that was less than fresh,” I scoff to myself.

Glancing at the entrance for a forth time, I spot Raphael coming in the door with a slim blonde. I stand and wave them over to the table, steeling myself for whatever reaction comes.

“Well, aren’t you gorgeous?” Raphael’s companion exclaims.

“Becca!” Raphael cautions.

“Well, he is! Why didn’t you tell me that Yami had hooked such a hot, young thing?” she retorts, staring at me unabashedly.

Sputtering apologies to me, Raphael pulls out her chair before sitting down and offering introductions.

“Rebecca Hawkins, this is Seto Koizomi. Seto, this is my girlfriend, Rebecca,” he smiles genially.

“Girlfriend?” Rebecca snips; Raphael’s unexpected cringe at her tone is a sight I’ll not soon forget.

“Sorry, Becca. This is my fiancée,” he replies hurriedly.

It’s all I can do not to laugh at Raphael’s reaction. I’d thought that nothing scared him. I guess I was wrong.

“Nice to meet you!” she beams extending her hand to me.

“Nice to meet you too,” I respond, somewhat impressed by her unusually strong grip.

“So, where’d Yami run off to?” she inquires glancing around. “I’ve been looking forward to embarrassing him for weeks!”

“Becca, come on,” Raphael almost pleads, “You’re embarrassing me again.”

“Yami told me that you work at a café, Rebecca,” I interject, not so much to save Rapahel, but to keep myself from laughing at seeing him so overwhelmed by this woman’s behavior.

“I used to,” she nods, “But now that my classes have started, I don’t have the time.”

“Classes?”

“Becca’s working on a dual Doctorate of Computer Science and Mathematical Informatics,” Raphael smiles proudly.

“That must be interesting,” I reply, my mind wandering for a moment back to when I’d had free reign with Mr. Mouto’s computer.

If my life had been different, maybe I could have gone to school like Rebecca.

“Oh it is!” she expounds. Her explanation about why she loves what she’s studying flowing into a stream of technical jargon that I am a little hard pressed to follow.

“Becca, you’re doing it again,” Raphael snickers.

“Hey, his eyes are only partially glazed over, so that means that he understands most of what I’m talking about!” she pouts.

Raphael laughs loudly at her and I find myself relaxing a little more in her presence. She is certainly not what I expected. And seemingly not someone I need to guard against.

‘I still wish Yami would hurry up,’ I think to myself.

“So you finally asked her,” Yami’s teasing voice inserts. I turn with a start as he walks up on my left.

“Finally is right!” Rebecca grins, flashing her ring at him.

“I don’t know what he was waiting for,” Yami grins back. He slides into the empty seat beside me and briefly takes her hand to examine the ring more closely.

“I think he was just scared,” she laughs.

“Hey!” Raphael exclaims. “I was trying to wait until you finished school, but you can’t seem to stay away.”

“Well, he did say that, Becca,” Yami concedes with a smirk.

“Mmm, I guess he did,” she smiles at Raphael. “And he’s right that I can’t stay away from school. But I can’t help it! I just love learning new things!”

Ignoring Raphael and Yami’s light laughter, she turns her decidedly inquisitive gaze my way.

“So, Seto, you look like a college kid. Where do you go to school?” Rebecca asks politely, bringing an abrupt halt to my relaxed mood.

“Um...,” I balk and look to Raphael, who seems just as dumbstruck as I am. Rebecca glances between us, her brow furrowing before she turns to me again.

“Let me guess. You didn’t finish high school,” she poses.

“No, I...I’ve never been, so...” I trail off.

“So you didn’t finish junior high, then,” she presses.

“Becca! You’re being nosey!” Raphael admonishes.

“Whatever,” she dismisses. “So, have you taken any of the entrance exams?”

“Becca!”

“What? All he has to do is pass the entrance exams and he can go to almost any school he wants! I’m just trying to help out,” she snaps back.

“Becca, you can’t just intrude on someone’s privacy like that!” he admonishes in a loud whisper.

I appreciate his effort, but my mind has latched on to Rebecca’s statement.

“Is it true?” I prod, quietly. “Could I really go to college just by passing entrance exams?”

“Sure!” She smiles brightly. “Maybe you could even get into a higher level school like mine if you do well enough! I’d offer to tutor you myself, but I barely see daylight as it is. You seem pretty smart. I’m sure if you went to a prep school now they’d have you ready for next January’s exams. You could be in school by next April!”

“Prep school?” I shake my head at the thought of how much that would cost. And even if I could afford prep school, I’d never be able to afford University. How stupid of me to have gotten my hopes up. I have to accept that only Mokuba will be able to attend college.

“Seto?” I look up from my hard stare at the table into Yami’s concerned crimson. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, Yami,” I force. “I simply realized that I could never take the University entrance exams.”

“Why not?” He frowns. “You’re smarter than most of the kids who graduate from high school.”

“My brain isn’t the problem,” I scoff.

“Then why...?”

“I couldn’t afford it!” I interrupt, my voice louder than I’d intended. “Even if I could somehow take care of prep school, there would still be the entrance exam fees, University fees and tuition!”

“See, Becca! This is why I told you not to press into his affairs,” Raphael admonishes in a loud whisper.

“I-I’m sorry,” she murmurs. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“It’s fine,” I insist, sitting up straighter.

“So what did you make us?” I ask Yami sitting quietly beside me, hoping to break the suddenly somber mood.

After a momentary intense stare at me, he smiles brightly and waves to one of the other chefs.

“Bon appetite!” He beams as the confectionary masterpieces are placed in front of us a few moments later.

“Hey, shouldn’t we have this after dinner?” Raphael inquires.

“Meh! Life is short; eat dessert first!” Yami smiles.

“Sounds good to me!” Rebecca laughs and digs into her treat.

The rest of us follow her example.