Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Sweet Revenge ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 8 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: DefiantVixen 
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Drama / Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 06.19.2009 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.7K | Visits: 369 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Drama / Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 06.19.2009 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.7K | Visits: 369 | Status: Work In Progress
Sweet Revenge
Summary: After Joey’s girlfriend, Carla dumps him for Seto; Joey stumbles across Ryou being mugged and learns that he’s a girl! Seto can’t stand Carla, but finds Ryou interesting. How does Mai fit into all of this?
Pairings: Seto/Ryou, Hinted; Joey/Mai
Disclaimer: I don’t own the Anime Yu-Gi-Oh! or any character associated. I do own Carla Whitmore. She is an original character and all likeness to people living or dead is purely coincidental. This character is not based on anyone else’s character design, again if any likeness, it’s purely coincidental.
Warnings: Female!Ryou. The use and introduction of a female Original Character. Any fans of OCs and OC pairings should leave now. Anti-OC pairings and blatant bashing of my own character. I created her; I can do what I want with her. And I plan to. A bit of character bashing on the OC’s behalf and a few swear words, but nothing over the top. Set after Yami is sent to the afterlife, so no Yamis in the story. And Seto goes to school.
AN: Hello again everyone! I have some good news for you; this chapter is all about Ryou and Seto ^^ I hope Seto is somewhat in character in this chapter as there is a little bit of fluff here.
Thanking; Snaky for reviewing. I appericate you taking the time to comment on my story. Comments and suggestions are always welcomed. Don’t be afraid to drop me a line ^^
-
Chapter 8:
Stepping outside to get some fresh air during her free period, Ryou breathed a soft sigh of relief, happy to be out of the classroom and away from gazes of concern directed at her from just about everyone in the room.
It was utterly unnerving the way she could feel their eyes on the back of her head, forcing her to become tense and sit a little straighter in her seat. She absolutely hated to be the centre of attention, and she would feel totally out of her depth when all eyes were on her for any reason.
And the fact that Yugi, Tea and Tristan were all fidgeting about what the big secret is that she and Joey knew off was making matters worse as well. She didn’t want them to wait, but she also didn’t want to discuss her ‘secret’ some place where anyone could easily over hear.
There are already enough rumours going around the school about a white haired girl and who that could be. Some guys even asked Joey whether or not she was hot, which prompted him to try to kick their teeth in, yelling at them to stay away from ‘Rei’.
Surprisingly, Joey managed to keep Ryou’s true gender a secret, even managing to call her ‘him’ and ‘he’ in front of the others. He must have been too distracted from ranting and raving about Carla.
Maybe the fact that she was dressed in a boys’ school uniform might have helped as well.
School was going as well as to be expected, yet there was a sense of peace in the air as Carla didn’t return to school after her confrontation with Joey and Seto, which in itself was not uncommon, she ditched school a lot.
Still, after what she did yesterday to Joey, Ryou would have thought that Carla would have made sure she told everyone at school what Joey ‘did’ to her and about the ‘white-haired hussy’ to try and get sympathy votes from some of their fellow classmates while trying to make Joey out to be this terribly abusive boyfriend or something.
All the while, trying to get Seto’s attention, but failing miserably as he wasn’t even remotely interested in her.
However, not a single person confronted Joey at all today with the demand of knowing what he did to poor, really inwardly soft-hearted Carla. It seemed that their confrontation at the front gate and the way Joey was notorious for being a badboy with a heart of gold outweighed everything that Carla said or done.
Thank goodness!
The last thing Ryou wanted was for Joey to suffer from school rumours, making him out as being the bad guy when it was obvious that Carla was the villain in all of this.
However, Carla was never the one to simply let matters lie and hated to be a loser in anything, so she was probably at home, plotting and scheming away that this very moment.
Ryou knew it was wrong to make assumptions like that, but she could not help but feel this enormous resentment towards the half-raven-haired young woman. She wasn’t that fond of Carla, especially now, but she knew enough to know that she rarely gave up without a fight and if she did lose at something, she would whinge and whine until she got her way.
And thank goodness for the fact that Seto seemed to utterly detest Carla with all that he is. He’s completely immune to her ‘charm’ and manipulative ways. The way he handled her this morning was amazing!
A small smile tugged at Ryou’s lips as she lifted a hand to touch her cheek where Seto touched her this morning. She could still feel the tingling sensation she felt when he pressed that tissue against her wound.
Despite his cold and sarcastic demeanour, she knew from experience that Seto was really a nice guy inside. She’s seen that side of him whenever he was with his little brother, Mokuba. She loved watching to two interact from afar; they were so sweet.
“Hey, look, it’s that girly-Boy again,” an eerily familiar voice sneered, forcing Ryou to snap her head up in surprise. “Or is that, boyish girl?”
Ryou felt her eyes widen and heart begin to beat rapidly in her chest as two unshaven males stepped out from behind a building and she immediately recognized the two from the alley way that attacked her last night. There was no mistaken them, they even have the cuts and bruises that Joey willingly unleashed on them. And they looked utterly pissed.
“Oh no...” she unconsciously whimpered as she took a step back, her breathing becoming harsh from fear. She was pretty sure that they weren’t here to apologize for last night...
“Hey, where’s that blonde boyfriend of yours?” the taller of the two asked as he began to circle her almost like a vulture, his beady brown eyes drifting up and down her body. “We owe him for last night.”
“I’m sure Joey will be happy to introduce you to the rubbish skip again,” Ryou managed to say without stuttering; hoping that if she didn’t sound as afraid as she truly felt inside, they might leave her alone. “You seemed to enjoy it last time.”
However, that seemed to be the wrong thing to say as the guy’s eyes flashed angrily and he lashed out a hand, snaring her painfully by the forearm.
“Why, you little bitch!” he sneered at her, jerking her arm back and almost making her stumble over her own feet. “You’ll pay for that!”
“No, stop, please,” Ryou pleaded as she felt tears sting at her eyes, the memories of last night rushing back in full force.
Not again, please not again.
Suddenly, a large hand gripped the guy’s arm, clamping down on it tightly enough to make him let Ryou go in surprise. Cradling her arm against her chest, Ryou stumbled back and looked up to see the ever tall and somewhat comforting figure of none other than Seto Kaiba.
“I suggest you back off,” Seto said in a cold and underlying threatening tone, his cold blue eyes as hard as steel and his expression free from emotion.
“Seto-san!” Ryou said as a tear slipped from her eyes, relief abundant in her chest.
He was here; he was actually standing here in front of her, protecting her. She almost couldn’t believe it. She never felt so happy to see him.
The guy looked surprised at Seto’s sudden appearance but he quickly recovered and reefed his arm out of Seto’s grip, stumbling back when Seto purposely let go. “What ya want, Kaiba?” he asked with a glare of intimidation.
However, Seto wasn’t easily spooked, especially not by some dirty street punks who loitered around school making a nuisance of themselves. “Is there a problem here?” he asked coolly.
“Yeah, there’s a problem here,” the guy retorted as he puffed his chest out and haughty stuck his nose into the air. “You!”
“Yeah,” the other guy echoed as he scowled at him, seeming annoyed at his presence. “Get out of here, Kaiba, this ain’t got nothin to do with you.”
Aint got nothin’? Yeah, a fine example of this school’s extraordinary education system.
“Really?” Seto said as he raised an eyebrow in their direction, taking a step forward to plant himself in front of Ryou, blocking their view of him. He then glared coldly at the two and folded his arms over his chest in an intimidating manner. “What if I make it my business then?”
“Yeah, whatever,” the guy closest to him said as he cracked his knuckles and a smirk slipping onto his lips. “Knocking you down a peg would be fun.”
Seto simply narrowed his eyes. “Ryou?” he said as he spared a glance over his shoulder, his stomach subconsciously clenching at the sight of a frightened Ryou.
The sound of Seto’s voice pulled Ryou back to reality and she shook her head briefly before turning her brown eyes to look at Seto, a shiver racing down her spine when she noticed a look of blazing anger in Seto’s usually cold blue eyes. “Ah, yes?”
“Tell me,” he said as he kept her gaze, his strong stance not once wavering. “Are these the ones that attacked you last night?”
“Y-yeah,” Ryou stuttered as she felt self-consciously, clutching her arm tighter against her chest. “I thought Joey got rid of them, though. They...”
Seto heard Ryou’s suddenly drop away and he turned slightly to face him, his eyes widening a fraction when he realized that Ryou had this blank expression on his face, visibly paling from a realization of some sort. “What is it?” he asked, unable to keep the concern from his voice.
“Oh god,” Ryou suddenly whimpered as she covered her mouth with her hand, feeling physically ill when her mind replayed the events of last night and what they said they were going to do to her. “They want to...”
Shit, Seto silently cursed. He thought that Ryou took the attack last night way too easily. Seemed like the shock of what happened to him previously was finally starting to set in and he was going into a state of shock. Not good...
“I see...” Seto murmured under his breath as an uncharacteristic feeling of murderous intent aimed at the two before him started to fill his entire being, his adrenaline kicking in. The last time he felt this kind of anger was when he learnt Mokuba had been kidnapped as an attempt to get him to follow some ill advised rules. “They’re brainless buffoons, they aren’t easily deterred.”
“What did you just call us?!”
“Brainless buffoons, eh?” The tall guy all but bristled along with his partner before rolling up the sleeves of his jacket, appearing ready to battle it out. “We’ll show you!”
Again, Seto found nothing intimidating about the two of them. “Is that so?” he simply asked.
“No!” Ryou suddenly protested, even going as far as grabbing the back of Seto’s jacket with her hand. She didn’t want this to result in another physically confrontation, especially in school grounds. Seto could get hurt or in trouble and she didn’t want that to happen. “Seto-san-!”
“Stay over there and don’t move,” Seto suddenly commanded as he pointed in the opposite of where the goons were, his voice and his gaze holding an expression that he didn’t want any argument from him.
Although Ryou didn’t want Seto to get into a fight because of her, she also knew that she could not argue against him, and if she stayed her she would just get in his way. With a sigh of defeat and a look of reluctance, Ryou nodded her head shyly and took a step back, releasing her hold on Seto’s jacket. “Be careful Seto-san,” she whispered as she turned to move away.
“This won’t take long,” Seto said over his shoulder, sparing her one last glance before turning his attention back to the two in front of him.
“Yeah, you got that right,” Again the tallest seemed the most outspoken. He cracked his knuckles once again, that smug smirk not once wavering from his lips. He then took an abrupt step forward, wanting to be the first to initiate the fight.
However, Seto managed to grab the guy’s wrist as he drew it back to try slug him on the jaw. He then twisted the wrist in his hand, forcing the guy to momentarily lose his concentration and turn his back on him. Seto kept a firm grip on one of the currently nameless goon, pinning his arm behind his back painfully as his partner charged at him, his own arm raised to punch him.
Acting quickly, Seto forced the other guy to stand in front of him, literally using him as a shield to take the punch from his own partner in crime. The punch landed true on his nose, seemingly breaking it for a second time as he howled in pain and his friend to leap back in surprise.
With a look of mild disgust, Seto dropped his hold on him and took a casual step to the side, watching with a sense of disinterest as the guy crumbled to his knees, holding his nose as blood seeped through his fingers as his friend hovered above him, guilt and concern in his posture..
“Dude! Are you alright, bro?”
“Pathetic,” Seto sneered as he continued to look disinterested. He also held a sense of discontentment; he wanted them to put up more of a fight so he would have ample excuse for beating the living shit out of them. He may just have to be content to getting them arrested for something.
He turned around and confidentially walked away. These two really aren’t worth the time or effort as he had better things to do with his time. “I’ve seen house cats put up more fight than you.”
“First Wheeler, now Kaiba?” the guy with the broken nose muttered. “Man I am so over this.”
“Yeah, that bitch ain’t worth it,” the other agreed.
As he approached the white-haired youth, Seto felt a sense of concern appear in his chest when he noted the way Ryou was leaning against the wall, long lithe arms folded loosely over his stomach. “Are you alright?” he asked, a tiny bit uncomfortable as he wasn’t used to asking about the wellbeing of others.
“I...don’t know,” Ryou found herself stuttering as she wrapped her arms around herself, her slender frame tremble from stress. The realization of what could have easily happen to her last night and just then hit her hard, like a brick to the head and she found herself abruptly turning toward Seto and then throwing herself into his chest without a thought of the consequences. She immediately felt Seto stiffen at the contact and she was only mildly aware of what she was doing.
But it didn’t matter to her at this point in time; she just wanted a some comfort, a sense of safety of any kind.
“They tried to...” she trailed off as she curled her fingers tightly into his school jacket, tears flowing freely from her eyes as her far-too thin frame shook from shock. The tears appeared unstoppable and all she could do was cling desperately onto Seto and hope that he doesn’t push her away.
Seto looked lost for a moment, unsure of what he should do as he gazed down at a mop of white hair. His hands hovered with a sense of uncertainty in the air, inches away from Ryou’s form, ridged and stiff from surprise. Then he slowly lowered his hands and placed them awkwardly on Ryou’s shoulders, his brow creasing in concern when he realized he could literally feel the bones shake and tremble under the skin.
“I told you, you shouldn’t be a school today,” Seto found himself muttering to the teen as he let him cry into his chest. Ryou needed to do this; he needed to get these emotions of fear off his chest.
However, Seto’s eyes widen in alarm when he felt Ryou suddenly go limp in his grip and he hand to wrap his arms securely around his tiny frame to stop him from falling onto the ground.
“Shit,” Seto muttered again when he realized that Ryou fainted from being overwhelmed by everything that had happen to him.
Picking Ryou up in his arms, Seto was immediately aware of three things; he was unusually light, unhealthily thin and seemed to have some short of thick wadding around his chest as he could feel it even through the material of his school uniform.
Drawing him subconsciously closer when he suddenly shivered in his arms, letting his head lean against his chest as he held him bridal style, Seto turned and looked up at the main school building, his blue eyes lingering on the window he knew was to the school’s nurse’s office. He knew that Ryou has over exerted himself and was in a state of shock, and needed medical treatment he was ill advised to give. He was not a doctor or a nurse so he could not give Ryou the treatment he needed.
Realizing that class was still proceeding around him, Seto knew that now would be the best time to move. Less people around to ask questions and no distractions; if Joey or any of his fellow cheerleaders should stumble across him with Ryou in his arms, he knew that a huge scene would occur with the Mutt accusing him of doing something to Ryou.
He’ll let the nurse deal with the Brat Pack.
Mrs Mayhue, or Melissa she liked to be known as, was the school nurse and believed heavily in patient confidentiality. The students in this school flocked to her whenever they had a problem they needed advice on or secret treatments they were too scared or embarrassed to speak with their family doctor or parents about.
If there was anyone else who could know whether Ryou was really a girl in disguise, it would be her, but getting any information out of her would be incredibly difficult. She could shut her mouth tighter than a sea clam if necessary.
Entering the room, Seto was only mildly surprised to find it empty but felt a sense of relief none the less. Making his way over to one of the beds, Seto gently placed Ryou down onto the cot, making sure to move slowly as not to jar any of his previous injuries. As he pulled his hands away, he felt his fingers trail through Ryou’s hair and he noted to himself how soft it felt, almost like silt.
Reaching up onto his full height, Seto peered down at the bed, studying the Englishman’s face, his brow creasing in a sense of concern at the light flushed look to his cheek, his own brow furrowed in an expression of discomfort; Seto hoped it was nothing he done that warranted such an expression.
As he continued to study the slender teen, Seto noted to himself how small and fragile he appeared, and yet Ryou was stronger than many others’ gave him credit for. He also had this mesmerizing beauty to him; visually unlike anyone he had seen before. He had this air of angelic grace to him, despite being to hell and back, and covered with scars from previous injuries.
He could easily find out whether or not Ryou was in fact a girl right here and now, but it would be morally wrong to take advantage of him in this state. Seto might be considered a ruthless CEO and billionaire, but even he had morals to stand by.
Besides, Ryou was proving to be an interesting individual, a puzzle for him to unlock without help.
Turning to leave the room, Seto looked up just in time to see Melissa appear in the door way, her hazel brown eyes widening in surprise when she looked at him and then the young unconscious male on the bed.
“Mr. Kaiba?” she stuttered, despite being years older than he was, she still winced when Seto swept by her with a grace of arrogance in his movements.
“If anyone asks, tell them you found him here,” Seto said with an underlying of demand in his tone. He then turned and continued down the school hallways, not looking back or hesitating in his steps.
Summary: After Joey’s girlfriend, Carla dumps him for Seto; Joey stumbles across Ryou being mugged and learns that he’s a girl! Seto can’t stand Carla, but finds Ryou interesting. How does Mai fit into all of this?
Pairings: Seto/Ryou, Hinted; Joey/Mai
Disclaimer: I don’t own the Anime Yu-Gi-Oh! or any character associated. I do own Carla Whitmore. She is an original character and all likeness to people living or dead is purely coincidental. This character is not based on anyone else’s character design, again if any likeness, it’s purely coincidental.
Warnings: Female!Ryou. The use and introduction of a female Original Character. Any fans of OCs and OC pairings should leave now. Anti-OC pairings and blatant bashing of my own character. I created her; I can do what I want with her. And I plan to. A bit of character bashing on the OC’s behalf and a few swear words, but nothing over the top. Set after Yami is sent to the afterlife, so no Yamis in the story. And Seto goes to school.
AN: Hello again everyone! I have some good news for you; this chapter is all about Ryou and Seto ^^ I hope Seto is somewhat in character in this chapter as there is a little bit of fluff here.
Thanking; Snaky for reviewing. I appericate you taking the time to comment on my story. Comments and suggestions are always welcomed. Don’t be afraid to drop me a line ^^
-
Chapter 8:
Stepping outside to get some fresh air during her free period, Ryou breathed a soft sigh of relief, happy to be out of the classroom and away from gazes of concern directed at her from just about everyone in the room.
It was utterly unnerving the way she could feel their eyes on the back of her head, forcing her to become tense and sit a little straighter in her seat. She absolutely hated to be the centre of attention, and she would feel totally out of her depth when all eyes were on her for any reason.
And the fact that Yugi, Tea and Tristan were all fidgeting about what the big secret is that she and Joey knew off was making matters worse as well. She didn’t want them to wait, but she also didn’t want to discuss her ‘secret’ some place where anyone could easily over hear.
There are already enough rumours going around the school about a white haired girl and who that could be. Some guys even asked Joey whether or not she was hot, which prompted him to try to kick their teeth in, yelling at them to stay away from ‘Rei’.
Surprisingly, Joey managed to keep Ryou’s true gender a secret, even managing to call her ‘him’ and ‘he’ in front of the others. He must have been too distracted from ranting and raving about Carla.
Maybe the fact that she was dressed in a boys’ school uniform might have helped as well.
School was going as well as to be expected, yet there was a sense of peace in the air as Carla didn’t return to school after her confrontation with Joey and Seto, which in itself was not uncommon, she ditched school a lot.
Still, after what she did yesterday to Joey, Ryou would have thought that Carla would have made sure she told everyone at school what Joey ‘did’ to her and about the ‘white-haired hussy’ to try and get sympathy votes from some of their fellow classmates while trying to make Joey out to be this terribly abusive boyfriend or something.
All the while, trying to get Seto’s attention, but failing miserably as he wasn’t even remotely interested in her.
However, not a single person confronted Joey at all today with the demand of knowing what he did to poor, really inwardly soft-hearted Carla. It seemed that their confrontation at the front gate and the way Joey was notorious for being a badboy with a heart of gold outweighed everything that Carla said or done.
Thank goodness!
The last thing Ryou wanted was for Joey to suffer from school rumours, making him out as being the bad guy when it was obvious that Carla was the villain in all of this.
However, Carla was never the one to simply let matters lie and hated to be a loser in anything, so she was probably at home, plotting and scheming away that this very moment.
Ryou knew it was wrong to make assumptions like that, but she could not help but feel this enormous resentment towards the half-raven-haired young woman. She wasn’t that fond of Carla, especially now, but she knew enough to know that she rarely gave up without a fight and if she did lose at something, she would whinge and whine until she got her way.
And thank goodness for the fact that Seto seemed to utterly detest Carla with all that he is. He’s completely immune to her ‘charm’ and manipulative ways. The way he handled her this morning was amazing!
A small smile tugged at Ryou’s lips as she lifted a hand to touch her cheek where Seto touched her this morning. She could still feel the tingling sensation she felt when he pressed that tissue against her wound.
Despite his cold and sarcastic demeanour, she knew from experience that Seto was really a nice guy inside. She’s seen that side of him whenever he was with his little brother, Mokuba. She loved watching to two interact from afar; they were so sweet.
“Hey, look, it’s that girly-Boy again,” an eerily familiar voice sneered, forcing Ryou to snap her head up in surprise. “Or is that, boyish girl?”
Ryou felt her eyes widen and heart begin to beat rapidly in her chest as two unshaven males stepped out from behind a building and she immediately recognized the two from the alley way that attacked her last night. There was no mistaken them, they even have the cuts and bruises that Joey willingly unleashed on them. And they looked utterly pissed.
“Oh no...” she unconsciously whimpered as she took a step back, her breathing becoming harsh from fear. She was pretty sure that they weren’t here to apologize for last night...
“Hey, where’s that blonde boyfriend of yours?” the taller of the two asked as he began to circle her almost like a vulture, his beady brown eyes drifting up and down her body. “We owe him for last night.”
“I’m sure Joey will be happy to introduce you to the rubbish skip again,” Ryou managed to say without stuttering; hoping that if she didn’t sound as afraid as she truly felt inside, they might leave her alone. “You seemed to enjoy it last time.”
However, that seemed to be the wrong thing to say as the guy’s eyes flashed angrily and he lashed out a hand, snaring her painfully by the forearm.
“Why, you little bitch!” he sneered at her, jerking her arm back and almost making her stumble over her own feet. “You’ll pay for that!”
“No, stop, please,” Ryou pleaded as she felt tears sting at her eyes, the memories of last night rushing back in full force.
Not again, please not again.
Suddenly, a large hand gripped the guy’s arm, clamping down on it tightly enough to make him let Ryou go in surprise. Cradling her arm against her chest, Ryou stumbled back and looked up to see the ever tall and somewhat comforting figure of none other than Seto Kaiba.
“I suggest you back off,” Seto said in a cold and underlying threatening tone, his cold blue eyes as hard as steel and his expression free from emotion.
“Seto-san!” Ryou said as a tear slipped from her eyes, relief abundant in her chest.
He was here; he was actually standing here in front of her, protecting her. She almost couldn’t believe it. She never felt so happy to see him.
The guy looked surprised at Seto’s sudden appearance but he quickly recovered and reefed his arm out of Seto’s grip, stumbling back when Seto purposely let go. “What ya want, Kaiba?” he asked with a glare of intimidation.
However, Seto wasn’t easily spooked, especially not by some dirty street punks who loitered around school making a nuisance of themselves. “Is there a problem here?” he asked coolly.
“Yeah, there’s a problem here,” the guy retorted as he puffed his chest out and haughty stuck his nose into the air. “You!”
“Yeah,” the other guy echoed as he scowled at him, seeming annoyed at his presence. “Get out of here, Kaiba, this ain’t got nothin to do with you.”
Aint got nothin’? Yeah, a fine example of this school’s extraordinary education system.
“Really?” Seto said as he raised an eyebrow in their direction, taking a step forward to plant himself in front of Ryou, blocking their view of him. He then glared coldly at the two and folded his arms over his chest in an intimidating manner. “What if I make it my business then?”
“Yeah, whatever,” the guy closest to him said as he cracked his knuckles and a smirk slipping onto his lips. “Knocking you down a peg would be fun.”
Seto simply narrowed his eyes. “Ryou?” he said as he spared a glance over his shoulder, his stomach subconsciously clenching at the sight of a frightened Ryou.
The sound of Seto’s voice pulled Ryou back to reality and she shook her head briefly before turning her brown eyes to look at Seto, a shiver racing down her spine when she noticed a look of blazing anger in Seto’s usually cold blue eyes. “Ah, yes?”
“Tell me,” he said as he kept her gaze, his strong stance not once wavering. “Are these the ones that attacked you last night?”
“Y-yeah,” Ryou stuttered as she felt self-consciously, clutching her arm tighter against her chest. “I thought Joey got rid of them, though. They...”
Seto heard Ryou’s suddenly drop away and he turned slightly to face him, his eyes widening a fraction when he realized that Ryou had this blank expression on his face, visibly paling from a realization of some sort. “What is it?” he asked, unable to keep the concern from his voice.
“Oh god,” Ryou suddenly whimpered as she covered her mouth with her hand, feeling physically ill when her mind replayed the events of last night and what they said they were going to do to her. “They want to...”
Shit, Seto silently cursed. He thought that Ryou took the attack last night way too easily. Seemed like the shock of what happened to him previously was finally starting to set in and he was going into a state of shock. Not good...
“I see...” Seto murmured under his breath as an uncharacteristic feeling of murderous intent aimed at the two before him started to fill his entire being, his adrenaline kicking in. The last time he felt this kind of anger was when he learnt Mokuba had been kidnapped as an attempt to get him to follow some ill advised rules. “They’re brainless buffoons, they aren’t easily deterred.”
“What did you just call us?!”
“Brainless buffoons, eh?” The tall guy all but bristled along with his partner before rolling up the sleeves of his jacket, appearing ready to battle it out. “We’ll show you!”
Again, Seto found nothing intimidating about the two of them. “Is that so?” he simply asked.
“No!” Ryou suddenly protested, even going as far as grabbing the back of Seto’s jacket with her hand. She didn’t want this to result in another physically confrontation, especially in school grounds. Seto could get hurt or in trouble and she didn’t want that to happen. “Seto-san-!”
“Stay over there and don’t move,” Seto suddenly commanded as he pointed in the opposite of where the goons were, his voice and his gaze holding an expression that he didn’t want any argument from him.
Although Ryou didn’t want Seto to get into a fight because of her, she also knew that she could not argue against him, and if she stayed her she would just get in his way. With a sigh of defeat and a look of reluctance, Ryou nodded her head shyly and took a step back, releasing her hold on Seto’s jacket. “Be careful Seto-san,” she whispered as she turned to move away.
“This won’t take long,” Seto said over his shoulder, sparing her one last glance before turning his attention back to the two in front of him.
“Yeah, you got that right,” Again the tallest seemed the most outspoken. He cracked his knuckles once again, that smug smirk not once wavering from his lips. He then took an abrupt step forward, wanting to be the first to initiate the fight.
However, Seto managed to grab the guy’s wrist as he drew it back to try slug him on the jaw. He then twisted the wrist in his hand, forcing the guy to momentarily lose his concentration and turn his back on him. Seto kept a firm grip on one of the currently nameless goon, pinning his arm behind his back painfully as his partner charged at him, his own arm raised to punch him.
Acting quickly, Seto forced the other guy to stand in front of him, literally using him as a shield to take the punch from his own partner in crime. The punch landed true on his nose, seemingly breaking it for a second time as he howled in pain and his friend to leap back in surprise.
With a look of mild disgust, Seto dropped his hold on him and took a casual step to the side, watching with a sense of disinterest as the guy crumbled to his knees, holding his nose as blood seeped through his fingers as his friend hovered above him, guilt and concern in his posture..
“Dude! Are you alright, bro?”
“Pathetic,” Seto sneered as he continued to look disinterested. He also held a sense of discontentment; he wanted them to put up more of a fight so he would have ample excuse for beating the living shit out of them. He may just have to be content to getting them arrested for something.
He turned around and confidentially walked away. These two really aren’t worth the time or effort as he had better things to do with his time. “I’ve seen house cats put up more fight than you.”
“First Wheeler, now Kaiba?” the guy with the broken nose muttered. “Man I am so over this.”
“Yeah, that bitch ain’t worth it,” the other agreed.
As he approached the white-haired youth, Seto felt a sense of concern appear in his chest when he noted the way Ryou was leaning against the wall, long lithe arms folded loosely over his stomach. “Are you alright?” he asked, a tiny bit uncomfortable as he wasn’t used to asking about the wellbeing of others.
“I...don’t know,” Ryou found herself stuttering as she wrapped her arms around herself, her slender frame tremble from stress. The realization of what could have easily happen to her last night and just then hit her hard, like a brick to the head and she found herself abruptly turning toward Seto and then throwing herself into his chest without a thought of the consequences. She immediately felt Seto stiffen at the contact and she was only mildly aware of what she was doing.
But it didn’t matter to her at this point in time; she just wanted a some comfort, a sense of safety of any kind.
“They tried to...” she trailed off as she curled her fingers tightly into his school jacket, tears flowing freely from her eyes as her far-too thin frame shook from shock. The tears appeared unstoppable and all she could do was cling desperately onto Seto and hope that he doesn’t push her away.
Seto looked lost for a moment, unsure of what he should do as he gazed down at a mop of white hair. His hands hovered with a sense of uncertainty in the air, inches away from Ryou’s form, ridged and stiff from surprise. Then he slowly lowered his hands and placed them awkwardly on Ryou’s shoulders, his brow creasing in concern when he realized he could literally feel the bones shake and tremble under the skin.
“I told you, you shouldn’t be a school today,” Seto found himself muttering to the teen as he let him cry into his chest. Ryou needed to do this; he needed to get these emotions of fear off his chest.
However, Seto’s eyes widen in alarm when he felt Ryou suddenly go limp in his grip and he hand to wrap his arms securely around his tiny frame to stop him from falling onto the ground.
“Shit,” Seto muttered again when he realized that Ryou fainted from being overwhelmed by everything that had happen to him.
Picking Ryou up in his arms, Seto was immediately aware of three things; he was unusually light, unhealthily thin and seemed to have some short of thick wadding around his chest as he could feel it even through the material of his school uniform.
Drawing him subconsciously closer when he suddenly shivered in his arms, letting his head lean against his chest as he held him bridal style, Seto turned and looked up at the main school building, his blue eyes lingering on the window he knew was to the school’s nurse’s office. He knew that Ryou has over exerted himself and was in a state of shock, and needed medical treatment he was ill advised to give. He was not a doctor or a nurse so he could not give Ryou the treatment he needed.
Realizing that class was still proceeding around him, Seto knew that now would be the best time to move. Less people around to ask questions and no distractions; if Joey or any of his fellow cheerleaders should stumble across him with Ryou in his arms, he knew that a huge scene would occur with the Mutt accusing him of doing something to Ryou.
He’ll let the nurse deal with the Brat Pack.
Mrs Mayhue, or Melissa she liked to be known as, was the school nurse and believed heavily in patient confidentiality. The students in this school flocked to her whenever they had a problem they needed advice on or secret treatments they were too scared or embarrassed to speak with their family doctor or parents about.
If there was anyone else who could know whether Ryou was really a girl in disguise, it would be her, but getting any information out of her would be incredibly difficult. She could shut her mouth tighter than a sea clam if necessary.
Entering the room, Seto was only mildly surprised to find it empty but felt a sense of relief none the less. Making his way over to one of the beds, Seto gently placed Ryou down onto the cot, making sure to move slowly as not to jar any of his previous injuries. As he pulled his hands away, he felt his fingers trail through Ryou’s hair and he noted to himself how soft it felt, almost like silt.
Reaching up onto his full height, Seto peered down at the bed, studying the Englishman’s face, his brow creasing in a sense of concern at the light flushed look to his cheek, his own brow furrowed in an expression of discomfort; Seto hoped it was nothing he done that warranted such an expression.
As he continued to study the slender teen, Seto noted to himself how small and fragile he appeared, and yet Ryou was stronger than many others’ gave him credit for. He also had this mesmerizing beauty to him; visually unlike anyone he had seen before. He had this air of angelic grace to him, despite being to hell and back, and covered with scars from previous injuries.
He could easily find out whether or not Ryou was in fact a girl right here and now, but it would be morally wrong to take advantage of him in this state. Seto might be considered a ruthless CEO and billionaire, but even he had morals to stand by.
Besides, Ryou was proving to be an interesting individual, a puzzle for him to unlock without help.
Turning to leave the room, Seto looked up just in time to see Melissa appear in the door way, her hazel brown eyes widening in surprise when she looked at him and then the young unconscious male on the bed.
“Mr. Kaiba?” she stuttered, despite being years older than he was, she still winced when Seto swept by her with a grace of arrogance in his movements.
“If anyone asks, tell them you found him here,” Seto said with an underlying of demand in his tone. He then turned and continued down the school hallways, not looking back or hesitating in his steps.