Chimamire Namida

Chimare Namida Ch. 1 - "Ban Tori"
By Shawna
DISC: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh and am having no monetary gain from this story.


"Seto, where are you going tonight?"
Seto Kaiba jumped at the sound of his brother's voice, not having heard him come into the room. His hands fumbled and he ended up with a knot in the tie he had been trying to put on.
"What have I told you about knocking, Mokuba?" He asked, irritated. He saw his brother's wild black hair and big slate blue eyes filled with innocent curiosity reflected in the large mirror he was standing in front of and instantly softened. "I've also told you where I'm going tonight. I have a business meeting."
Mokuba looked unconvinced. "You never have business meetings on Saturday nights, and you never have them tlatelate. And you never, ever wear this cologne to meetings with your business people.” Mokuba picked up the bottle of lavishly expensive cologne that Seto had sprayed on just a few minutes before. It had some romantic name and a sexy, aphrodisiacal scent, and was definitely not something Seto would wear were he trying to convey the impression that he was a serious businessman. He snatched the bottle away from Mokuba, only half joking in his haste to have it back.
“Don’t touch that,” he said with a grin. “Its very expensive and cologne isn’t stuff for kids.”
Mokuba pouted and Seto ruffled his hair. “I just wanted to try something different tonight,” he said, kneeling down to get eye to eye with Mokuba. “Now, Katana is going to come over and stay with you tonight, so I want you to behave yourself for her, eat your dinner, and be in bed by ten o’clock, alright? I’ll be home late, so don’t try to stay awake waiting for me.”
Seto grinned, but Mokuba still looked upset. “But we always share dinner, Seto,” he said sadly. “How come you’re having dinner at this meeting?”
Seto placed his hands on Mokuba’s shoulders. “We’ll share breakfast tomorrow, I promise,” he said before embracing Mokuba warmly. At first Mokuba kept his arms stubbornly at his sides, but then he consented to the hug and wrapped his arms around Seto, holding him close.
Seto had to untangle Mokuba before he could rise. “You know I love you, baby brother,” he said as he ushered Mokuba out of his bedroom, grabbing the jacket that went with his suit off of the hanger by the door as he passed.
“I love you too, Seto,” Mokuba said, with slightly less of his usual enthusiasm for those words. Seto hid a grin behind his hand. Mokuba could be almost bratty when he did not get something that he wanted, which, in this case, was for Seto to stay and have dinner with him. He would have liked to appease his brother and stay, but there was something he wanted to do even more tonight, and he could not just blow off the date he had made. He left Mokuba in front of the television, making him promise not to watch too much, and then hurried out to the garage where his driver, Hatoshi Takadera, was waiting with a small, inconspicuous car already running and ready to take Seto to his destination. Were he really going to a business meeting, Seto would have had Hatoshi drive him in the limo, but as he was not going to any meeting, he wanted to escape excess attention. Mokuba would have been very suspicious if he had seen Seto riding off in this small, unimpressive car, but Hatoshi knew exactly where Seto was going and so had no questions. He did, however, sigh inwardly as they went out the back way of the large, gated house, leaving Seto's little brother behind, deceived and already lonely. Hatoshi did not approve of Seto’s actions, though he knew very little of the true nature of what was going on, he had his suspicions and none of them were good, but he was in no position to speak out about it. He had a good job working for the Kaibas and he would not risk losing it.
Seto had barely been gone fifteen minutes when a small blue car pulled up to the gates of the mansion. The man at the gate leaned out of the small building he occupied.
"Hello, Katana-san and Miss Katana!" He said warmly to the woman and the girl who was obviously her daughter in the car.
"Hello Yuichi," the elder woman replied softly, watching the gate as it began to open, Yuichi having activated it.
"Young Kaiba-san hyped himself up on sugar earlier today, so be careful," Yuichi said, addressing the younger girl, and she flashed him a smile, her dark emerald green eyes shining in the fading sunlight.
"I will be."
The car pulled forward through the gates and slowly up the long driveway, and parked near the door to the enormous man. n. The young girl reached into the backseat, drawing forth a book bag and then got out of the car, not bothering to look back at her mother, and went to the door. She was rather short for her 16 years, and thin but nicely curved. Her vibrant turqoiuse hair was voluminous, and fell around her face, curling back in just above her shoulders. Her eyes were large, wider than average, and were an electric green in color. Her friends told her she was 'cute' and boys did flirt with her occasionally. The main hindrance to her romantic life was, she firmly believed, that her bust was slightly below what would be considered 'average' size. It did not matter who told her that her bust was fine, especially considering how thin and small she was, she knew it was holding her back. These were not the things on her mind at the moment, however, as she rang the doorbell twice and waited. Her mother's car pulled out of the driveway and disappeared down the street.
Ayumi Katana's mother had been Seto and Mokuba's nanny since the late Kaiba-san had first adopted them. They no longer needed a nanny, but Seto did not like to leave Ma hoa home alone and so Katana-san still worked as a sitter when Seto needed her. Now that Ayumi was 16, however, her mother had deemed her old enough to watch Mokuba whenever she was available and Seto needed a babysitter because he was out, and so the task had been delegated to her. Ayumi was the sage age as Seto and significantly smaller and so he was often skeptical about her ability to handle Mokuba and he also seemed to just personally dislike her. This frustrated her to no end and she had come close to quitting several times, only to find him begging her to stay and her always giving in to him. Sometimes, though, she had to wonder just why Seto kept her around.
There was a giggle from the other side of the door and then it was thrown wide open. Ayumi barely had time to open her arms before they were full of Mokuba, who was laughing and bouncing excitedly.
"Katana! Katana! Katana!" He chanted happily, squeezing her tight. She smiled, trying to loosen his grip on her.
"Mokuba! How are you today? Where did Kaiba have to go so urgently on a Saturday night?"
Mokuba drew back from her a few steps. "Why do you care where he went? He's always so mean to you." He pouted.
Ayumi grinned. "Well, I don't really care," she said, humoring him. "But my mom wants to know."
Mokuba smiled widely. "Oh!" He said loudly. "How is Katana-san? Is she okay? Are you two getting along? How are things at your house?"
Ayumi put a hand gently on his shoulder, silencing him. "Everything is fine," she said. "But I asked you first, about Kaiba, remember."
Mokuba paused briefly. "Seto went to a business meeting."
Ayumi was taken aback. "A business meeting? On a Saturday night? Did he say who it was with and what the reason for it was?"
Mokuba leaned back on his heels. "No, but I remember that he wore this cologne called..."
Mokuba said the name of the cologne and Ayumi's eyes widened. There was no way any sensible businessman would wear that stuff to a meeting. He must have gone a date or some such thing. A pang went through Ayumi, but she was not exactly sure what emotion it was. She dismissed it as jealousy over the fact that Seto got to go out on dates while she got to baby sit. Not that she did not enjoy being with Mokuba, but it would be nice to have dates, too.
Mokuba clasped her hand and started tugging her towards the door. "Come in Katana! Seto said he would be home late, so we have lots of time."
Ayumi resisted briefly, keeping herself in the doorway before she gave in and allowed Mokuba to drag her into the house, lead her towards the large living room and sit her down on the couch in front of the big screen television set.
"I was just about to watch a movie," Mokuba said, pressing the play button on the DVD player. Some animated children's movie popped up on the screen and Ayumi put her head back on the couch. Normally, she would have prepared for the long haul while watching a children's film, but she already knew that a half hour or less into the movie Mokuba would lose interest and ask her to play a game or just talk about something with him. She could not deny it; she enjoyed Mokuba's company a great deal, but it bothered her to no end at the moment to think that Seto was out on a date.
She spent the entire first half hour of the movie brooding over her own inability to find a suitable and boyfriend-worthy male in her neighborhood. Her jealousy had nothing to do with the fact that Seto was out on a date with someone other than her, indeed, she could not care less about who Seto chose to keep company with. She had known him since he had first arrived at the home of the now deceased head of the Kaiba Corporation, and she knew how he operated. There was only one thing he cared about getting in his 'relationships' and she wanted no part of such activities.
"Katana," Mokuba said very seriously, breaking Ayumi from her thoughts.
"What?" She asked, concerned.
He turned his big blue eyes to her, his expression stern. "This movie is horrible."
Ayumi stared at him for a moment, having forgotten that there was even a movie playing, and looked up to see something disgustingly cute on the screen. She made a face.
"Yes, it is horrible," she said, getting into her book bag and rummaging around. Mokuba watched excitedly, bouncing a little bit as he sat. She found what she was looking for and pulled out a DVD.
"Yay!" Mokuba cried, grabbing it excitedly. He stared at it for a minute, giggling and pointing at the "Suggested 17+" rating on the package. He ripped into the package and had it in the player and playing within a few seconds. He sat back excitedly, intent on the screen. Ayumi grinned, watching him. She always brought Mokuba movies that were slightly racy, but nothing that was too much for him, to keep him occupied while she was with him. She had first thought of the idea only a few months before, and since then Mokuba had grown quite fond of her. When she had first come to baby sit him, Mokuba had made a petite terror of himself, treating Ayumi with complete disrespect. He would deliberately spill drinks, make as much noise as possible, and behave like a little demon in every way that he could. Ayumi could have murdered him on several occasions but then she had noticed Mokuba's fondness for movies. She began bringing him films, assuring Seto they were perfectly kid friendly when they usually were not, and since then Mokuba had warmed significantly to her, much more, in fact, than she had expected.
Ayumi was still upset at the lack of romance in her life but she began to get into the movie, having not watched it in awhile, and soon found that she had watched the entire two hours of it.
"Katana," Mokuba said, turning to face her as she was now sitting with her back against the sideboard of the couch and her legs stretched across it. "That was great."
Ayumi laughed and grin came over Mokuba's face. He climbed up on the couch and snuggled up next to her.
"It's getting cold," he said. "I hate winter."
"But it's still autumn," Ayumi corrected him.
"Well, it will be winter soon," Mokuba insisted.
"Not for nearly a month," she replied.
Mokuba wrapped his arms around Ayumi's neck and she put her arms around his waist and drew him into her lap. "It feels like winter right now, though, doesn't it Katana? It's been so cold."
"Yes," she agreed. "It has been cold."
Mokuba did not reply, but leaned his head on her shoulder and yawned. She rubbed his back gently and before long his breath had become deep and even and she knew that he had fallen asleep. She leaned her head back on the couch and stifled a yawn of her own. It was comforting to her frayed nerves to have Mokuba sleeping in her arms, but at the same time she was tired and wanted to go home. She knew she should not fall asleep while babysitting, but her eyelids were feeling quite heavy. Just for a minute, she thought. I'll just rest my eyes.
She put her head back on the couch and shut her eyes and sleep quickly claimed her.
It was more than an hour later when Seto finally arrived home. The door opened slowly, as though being pushed awkwardly, and two figures, locked in a heated embrace, stumbled into the house. Seto slammed the door behind them, not worrying about how much noise he made, figuring Mokuba was asleep in his distant and closed off bedroom. The person attached to Seto giggled, running their hands down his chest. The two stepped in to the living room, and Seto froze at what he saw there. Mokuba was asleep on the couch with the television still on; that was bad enough, but worse was that he was asleep in the lap of Ayumi Katana, his supposed babysitter, who was sound asleep herself. Seto clenched a fist, angry that Ayumi had not put Mokuba to bed, disengaged the person who clung to him, and then went and picked Mokuba gently up, cradling him in his arms and carrying him to his bedroom, tucking him snuggly into his bed. He kissed Mokuba's forehead gently before leaving.
The person Seto had come in with was kneeling down next to Ayumi, stroking her face lightly, when Seto returned to the living room. "Wake up, little shojo," the person cooed before Seto went over and pushed them away.
"Don't wake her up," he hissed. "Go to my room, I'll handle this and meet you up there in a few minutes."
"But she's so cute! Can't I play with her?"
"No!" Seto said, exasperated. "Go to my room!"
It was too late, however, as at that moment, Ayumi opened her eyes wide, apparently startled by the raised voices. Seto was standing above her, his intense blue eyes on her face. She sat up quickly, rubbing sleep from her eyes.
"Hmm," she said, looking around, confused. "What time is it?"
"Past midnight," Seto said, gesturing behind his back for the person to leave the room. "You can go home now."
She stretched, swinging her legs over the edge of the couch and glaring at Seto. "First tell me where you went."
“I had a meeting,” Seto said without looking into her eyes. Over his shoulder, Ayumi caught a glance of a honey-blonde figure surreptitiously trying to leave the room.
"Hey!" She called, pointing. "Who's that?"
There was a titter from the other side of the wall, and the person slowly came back into the room. Ayumi's mouth fell open and for a moment she could only stare.
"Jounouchi Katsuya!" She exclaimed, rising quickly off the couch, rubbing at her eyes again, smearing her makeup without thinking about it. "What are you..." She trailed off, looking from Seto, with his rumpled hair and half unbuttoned shirt, to Jounouchi, whose neck was covered in bite marks and pants were undone. She bit her lip, suddenly embarrassed by the realization she had just come to.
Seto clapped a hand to his forehead. "Jou," he groaned. "Why don't you just listen to me when I tell you to do something? If you had gone to my room the first time I asked, she wouldn't have seen you and I wouldn't have to deal with this situation."
Ayumi stared at Seto, shocked by the way he spoke to the boy he had, obviously, just been sharing a rather intimate moment with.
Jou was unaffected by Seto's tone, however. He just laughed, came up behind Ayumi, and, before she could turn around, reached around her and put his hands over her breasts.
"Hey, not bad," he said, giving them a squeeze.
"Ah!" Ayumi cried out indignantly, swatting Jou's arms away from her and stepping back from him. She was so shocked that all she could do was stare, open-mouthed, at Jou and then at Seto, as if it were somehow his fault. Seto groaned again, louder this time, and sent a seething glare at Jou.
"Go to my room!" Seto said firmly, pointing towards the doorway that led to the stairs. "Before you make this situation any worse!"
Jou put his head down in mock submission and drudged toward the doorway. As he passed Seto on the way, he nipped playfully at his hand. Seto responded by giving Jou a hard smack on his backside, which sent Jou moving a little faster.
"Don't take too long!" Jou called to Seto over his shoulder as he disappeared out of the room. Seto turned his back to Jou and did not reply.
Ayumi was still standing in the middle of the room, shocked by everything that had just happened. Seto turned to her, noting the look on her face. He approached her slowly, and reached out his hands. The grip he took on her upper arms was so hard it instantly caused her pain and she gasped, trying to pull away but unable to escape his grasp.
"You're not going to tell anyone about anything that just happened, right Katana?" He said threateningly, pulling her against him and glaring down at her. She nodded weakly, but he did not seem satisfied by this and shook her a bit, hurting her.
"Right!" She gasped. "I won't tell anyone, Kaiba, I promise."
This seemed to appease him and he released her, the fire leaving his eyes as quickly as it had come. He was again the cool, detached, refined gentleman she had always known him as.
"Well," he said, unconsciously beginnio reo redo his buttons. "You're done for the night. You can go home now."
Ayumi nodded, grabbed her book bag off the floor, and dashed for the hallway, where she knew there was a phone with which she could call her mother. She kept glancing back towards the doorway that led to the living room, half expecting Seto to follow her, until she heard his footsteps echoing on the stairs as he made his way up to his room. Heaving a sigh of relief, she punched in the number for her house and waited for her mother to answer.
By the time she saw her mother's headlights outside, Ayumi could very faintly hear what sounded startlingly like Jou screaming, and she swore she picked up Seto's name in the high-pitched sounds. She shook her head, determining to forget what had happened this night, and hurried out the door, locking it behind her.
Unwilling to admit it to even herself, Ayumi had not acknowledged that somewhere in her mind and body, something had stirred up when Jou had grabbed her. It burned in the back of her mind and in the pit of her stomach, and try as she might, she could not squelch it.

*To Be Continued*