Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ The Arrangement ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

The Arrangement

Chapter Two

Selina softly seated herself upon her bed, pulling the note her father had given her from her pocket. What could he possibly have to say to me now? I'm sorry? She thought to herself somewhat bitterly.

Slowly, she pulled it from its envelope and read.

Selina,

I know I haven't been the world's best father to you. In fact, I haven't even been a father to you since your mother died. There isn't much I can say to you now except that things will be better this way. You will never have to deal with me anymore, nor will you see me again. As soon as I receive my money from your husband, I will be leaving Japan forever. You look more like your mother everyday. Despite our differences and quarrels, I need to tell you that you were…never a mistake. Enjoyyour life with Mr. Kaiba.

Darrin

Selina glanced over the note before crumbling it up and allowing tears to fall from her face. Duke had never told her that her own father had sold her. I guess…maybe it is better this way. Sighing softly, she smoothed out the note and placed it inside the nightstand beside her bed, before curling up and drifting off into a world of sleep and dreams.

~*~*~*~

"Please Duke, really, it's nothing," Selina reassured her cousin as they sat in the waiting room of Domino City's hospital.

"You said that last time and you had to get stitches," Duke replied, narrowing his eyes.

"Selina Mazika," a nurse called out, holding a clipboard in her hand. "Dr. Keito will see you now."

Selina and Duke followed the nurse down a hallway into an examining room where Dr. Keito was waiting for them.

"What happened this time Selina?" he questioned quite seriously.

"I tripped on a floorboard and stumbled down the stairs, hitting my head on the railing. You know how clumsy I am," she replied, averting her eyes and forcing out a nervous laugh. She hated lying to both him and her cousin, but she could never tell them the truth about her and her father.

"You seem to have become very clumsy lately, are you feeling alright?" Dr. Keito questioned further, looking not at all amused.

Selina nodded her head slightly, trying to calm the pounding of her veins by rubbing her temples.

"That cut above your eyebrow looks pretty bad, as does the cut on your knee. I'm thinking more stitches are in order."

Selina winced at the thought of being sewn up yet again, but shook it off as Duke and the doctor lead her from his office to another room to clean her wounds.

"I'll return in a few minutes, don't go hurting yourself more," he teased, before leaving the two cousins alone.

"What really happened Selina?" Duke questioned, not at all believing her story.

"I told you Duke."

"But this happens so frequently," he countered.

"You know where I live. It's doesn't exactly have the smoothest floor or the strongest. Sometimes the boards are loose and I slip, it's nothing," Selina altered the truth some. True, she lived in a house in need of repairs, but that wasn't the cause of her pains. She glanced up at the door when she heard it open and noticed Dr. Keito returning.

"This will sting at first Selina…you know how it goes," he said, pulling a needle from a tray.

"Yeah, yeah, just get it over with please."

Ten minutes and fifteen stitches later, Selina was being led down a hall to another room.

"Now, I want you to spend the night here to ensure you don't aggravate your stitches, you remember what happened last time. Your roommate will be an eleven year old boy who had his tonsils removed two days ago. The only reason he is still here is because his family member is a rather…busy person and so we think it best he remain under hospital care until he is completely better. Ah, here we are," Dr. Keito said, turning to open the door to room 416.

Inside the room was a young boy with long black hair, seated on a bed eating chocolate ice cream. His violet eyes were wide and starry as he looked up at the television. Beside him was the form of an older boy with short brown locks and deep blue eyes. Upon hearing the door open, he turned his head towards the intruders, his eyes instantaneously narrowing.

"Ah, Mr. Kaiba, you're still here. Mokuba, tonight, you have a roommate." The doctor walked into the room, and was followed by a young girl with a small patch above her left eye and gauze around her right knee. There were a few scratches on her arms and a bruise on her left shoulder. Despite her broken look, her jaded sapphire eyes held so much life, and her smile was warm enough to melt anyone's heart. She limped over to her bed, leaning on a taller, black haired boy with deep green eyes.

"Kaiba," Duke acknowledged, seating himself beside Selina on her bed.

"Devlin," Kaiba replied, nodding his head. He turned his eyes to glance at the girl with Duke who was currently chewing on her lip.

"This is my cousin, Selina Mazika. She had a bit of a fall," Duke said, smirking at the look he was receiving. "Unfortunately, I have to get back to work dear cousin." He rose from his seat and began to head for the door.

"I'll walk with you. I need to stretch my legs as I've been sitting here with Mokuba watching mindless cartoons. And I have some business I need to discuss with you," Kaiba stopped him, rising from his chair and following Duke out the door.

Selina sighed and flopped her back onto the pillow of her hospital bed before pulling her deck out of her pocket and flipping through it.

"You duel?" she heard a small voice ask from her right.

"Sometimes," she replied, turning to face the young boy across from her. "Do you?"

"Sometimes," he replied, bringing a scoop of ice cream to his mouth.

Selina chuckled and put her deck aside. "I'm Selina. I'm guessing that you would be Mokuba Kaiba?"

"Yep," Mokuba answered. "What's that thing?" he asked, pointing to a metal case sticking out of Selina's purse.

"This?" she asked, pulling out a case the size of a small cell phone. Upon Mokuba's nodding, she answered his question completely. "This would be the prototype of a portable holographic version of Dungeon Dice Monsters that I've created. Familiar with the game?" she questioned, her eyes daring as she moved to Mokuba's bed and placed it on the tray where his now empty bowl of ice cream sat.

"Kind of.Seto concentrates on Duel Monsters, but I know the basics of the game. Can you teach me?" he suddenly asked, his eyes lighting up as he gave her the puppy face no one could refuse.

"Certainly," she said, booting up the simulation.

Twenty minutes passed, and Selina was preparing to attack Mokuba's third heart point while she still had all three. The two of them were so engrossed in their game that they didn't hear the door open or notice the two navy eyes watching them closely. That is, until Selina heard a shuffling of feet.

"Hello," she said softly, turning to meet Kaiba's gaze.

"Duke's cousin," he stated, seating himself beside Mokuba yet again and raising his brow at the holographic simulation before them.

"Selina," she replied, turning back to the game and attacking Mokuba's last heart point.

"Awe, you beat me," he frowned playfully.

"All's fair in love and war kiddo," she smiled.

"Another?" he asked, putting his puppy face into play.

"If your brother doesn't-"

"It's fine, just don't strain your voice Mokuba," Kaiba warned, his eyes glancing up at Selina's and back to the prototype. 'I wonder if that is what Devlin was talking about when he said he wanted to go to portable holographic systems.'

After allowing Mokuba to win the second game of Dungeon Dice Monsters, Selina closed the system, causing it to revert back to its original size. Slowly, she moved over to her own bed and put the prototype away before pulling out her deck once more.

"You duel?" This time, the voice was deeper, and more challenging than curious.

"Sometimes, depends on the challenger," she replied, her eyes flashing.

"Am I a worthy opponent?" he questioned, narrowing his eyes.

"That depends on your skill level, but I'm willing to test you out," she countered, pulling another prototype out of her purse. "We'll use my own small simulation program. Unlike what your company creates, I've created a small system where the monsters are only the size of your index finger," she said, holding out her finger so Kaiba could see just how small.

"Fine," he said, placing his deck in its respective place.

"Don't go easy on me Mr. Kaiba. I may be an amateur in your eyes, but I'm a skilled duelist in mine."

"Don't expect me to," he said, drawing his five cards.

~*~*~*~

"And now I activate Polymerization to fuse together my three Blue Eyes, creating the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon," Kaiba said, smirking and feeling quite proud of his comeback. "Rules say I have to wait one turn before attacking, but there's nothing you can do to stop your defeat."

Selina's face didn't waver as she glanced at the life point monitor. Hers stood at a small 1100 while Kaiba's stood at 1700. One direct attack from Kaiba's monster would cause her to lose. Quietly, she drew a card, a smirk forming on her face while she thought up a plan. "I activate Pot of Greed to draw two cards," she began, pulling two cards from the remainder of her deck. 'Perfect,' she thought calmly. "Now, I place two cards face down on the field and sacrifice my monster and play my Summoned Skull, in defense mode. That's all."

Kaiba's smirk grew as he began to carry out his play. "I activate Block Defense, causing your monster to revert to attack mode. And now, you do realize that because your monster is in attack mode, you'll lose life points," he stated.

"I'm well aware. But I suppose you can't stop Fate," she replied, her eyes dancing with hidden excitement.

"Well, I'll place one card face down and attack your Summoned Skull with my Ultimate Dragon."

"And I'll counter with my face down card, Mirror Force!."

"And I'll counter your trap card with Seven Tools of the Bandit, at a cost of 1000 of my own life points. And now, my Ultimate Dragon is free to attack."

"Wrong," Selina said quietly, flipping over her other face down card. "Magic Cylinder takes your attack and redirects it back at your life points. Sorry Mr. Kaiba," she said, watching his life point monitor read zero. "It looks like you lose."

Kaiba frowned as he collected his deck and narrowed his eyes at the girl across from him. There was no doubt about it. She was a very skilled duelist, even though he had made a fatal error paying no attention to the second face down card and luck was on her side. "I commemorate you. The only person to have defeated me was Yugi Muto."

Selina's eyes lighted up at the mention of his name. "How many times has he defeated you?"

"One too many," he frowned, glancing through his deck. "Where did you learn to duel strategically?"

Selina smirked as the light danced around her eyes like glistening diamonds amidst a sea of blue and green. "Yugi," was all she said, her smirk growing at the look on Kaiba's face.

~*~*~*~

Selina's eyes snapped open as a knock sounded on her door. "Mistress Selina," a deep male voice called from the other side. "May I enter?"

Selina slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes and smoothing her hair. She shook her dream, or rather remembrance on how she first met Kaiba from her head before answering back. "Yes."

A man, no shorter than six foot three entered her room. He had spiky blonde hair and dark chocolate orbs. At his hip was a pistol, hidden slightly beneath his black coat. "My name is Ichigo, I'm Mr. Kaiba's personal body guard," he said, stepping closer to her.

"It's nice to meet you," Selina replied, slightly taken aback by his height and stern appearance. "Is something wrong?"

Ignoring her question, Ichigo smirked at the beautiful girl before him. He would most definitely enjoy this task. "Roland had some other business to attend to, so Mr. Kaiba sent me here to lead you to dinner, which will begin in twenty minutes."

Selina's eyes widened as she glanced at the clock. She had slept nearly the entire afternoon away! Quickly, she rushed to find her bags, only to notice the closet door opened and her clothes neatly hung up, along with clothing she had never seen before.

"Mr. Kaiba had some things ordered for you," Ichigo stated, noticing her look of confusion.

Without wasting another moment, Selina grabbed a knee length black dress with off-the-shoulder sleeves and hurried to ready herself for her first dinner with the Kaiba family. Anxiousness rose in her heart as she realized this would be the first time she had seen Kaiba since that fateful day in the hospital.