Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Juliet Kaiba ❯ Gone but not forgotten ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Part 3 - Gone but not forgotten

After leaving the staff meeting, Aldara had driven Mokuba to the arcade in her car. Mokuba had stared out of the window the whole journey and refused to say a word, despite Aldara's best attempts to make conversation. She knew that he was miserable because Seto hadn't taken him to the arcade, and that in itself made her angry. As Seto's PA, Aldara knew that Seto's business drive overruled him. He often couldn't see the true beauty of what he had and went out to his office to order more business stock and obtain things that he didn't.

Aldara knew that she shouldn't judge Seto the way she did; she knew from experience that he had lost some irreplaceable things in his youth - but she couldn't help but wonder whenever Seto bought stock whether he was trying to buy back what he had lost. Buy her back…

Aldara and Mokuba arrived at the arcade just in time to miss the parade. After looking fairly disappointed, Mokuba forlornly played on a couple of shooting games and then announced that he was hungry. Aldara sighed. It wasn't his fault that his brother had let him down.

“All right,” she said. “Let's go for lunch…there's Figo's, Taste of Siam, Monsieur Kristoffs…”

She listed all of the most prestigious restaurants in Domino. Mokuba screwed up his face as though she'd just force-fed him a lemon.

“Noooo,” he said. “I don't want to go to those places…I want a burger!”

With that, Mokuba grabbed Aldara's wrist and dragged her off through the crowds of engaged game players.

“Far easier to please than his brother,” muttered Aldara.

o0o

Juliet's room was right at the end of the corridor. Diane took her inside. It was a poky little thing with a bed in one corner and wardrobe in the other.

`'Your things have been brought up,'' said Diane. ``So I'll leave you to get used to your room.''

She walked out of the door, leaving Juliet alone. She walked over to the small window she'd now got, her head full of thoughts. She was only 8 years old and had all ready lost both of her parents. Now she wasn't even allowed to sleep on the same corridor as her brothers, the only family she had left. Juliet sighed. She was all ready missing them.

o0o

Following the meeting, Seto retreated to his office on the top floor of the KaibaCorp skyscraper for a bit of solace. It had been decided that what the company needed was to pull a publicity stunt by supporting a new film or budding musical talent. Seto had no idea where to begin; he never really kept up to date with either industry.

He slumped down behind his desk and breathed a heavy sigh. After checking that there was nobody else in the room, he reached into a pocket that was hidden inside his trench coat. He fumbled for a moment and then pulled out what appeared to be a folded up piece of paper. He put it on his desk and unfolded it, revealing an old photograph. It depicted a young girl of around eight years old, who was smiling broadly at the camera. She had long dark hair and steel blue eyes that were glowing with innocence. The photograph of the girl fitted like piece of a jigsaw puzzle next to the photograph of Mokuba that hung around his neck. Seto gazed at the picture of her miserably.

“I wish you were here,” he murmured. “You'd know what to do…”

The words had barely escaped him, when a loud racket entered the room through the open office window. Seto, angered at being dragged out of his private thoughts, jumped up from his desk and stormed over to his window, eager to find out who the perpetrator was.

“Who the hell…” he said to himself as he gazed out of his window at the street below. The town was practically deserted, save for the park that unfortunately lay opposite. Seto had no idea whose brainwave it had been to build a park across from the headquarters of his company, and it had caused him nothing but trouble ever since its birth.

This particular day was no exception. A group of teenagers were sitting in the park, with a van they had driven inside. They had an assortment of instruments, such as guitars and drums. An orange haired boy was playing the drums extremely loudly, which was what Seto had heard moments before.

Seto rubbed his temples and opened his window fully.

“HEY!” he shouted across to the park, over the noise of the drums. “KEEP IT DOWN, WILL YOU!!!!!!”

At the sound of his voice, the only girl in the group tapped the orange haired guy's arm and he stopped playing for a moment. She said something to him and he turned to Seto.

“SORRY MAN,” he shouted. “WE'RE JUST TRYING TO PRACTICE…”

Seto was about to tell them to practice somewhere else when he realised something. Despite their van and humble music materials, this was a budding musical talent. There was bound to be someone who liked their music… He couldn't let a chance like this pass him by.

“COME TO MY OFFICE,” he shouted. “I WANT TO SPEAK WITH YOU…”

The band members all looked at each other.

o0o

The BurgerWorld in Domino was the closest burger bar to the Villa Arcade. Aldara hadn't been there for food since she had started working for Seto. He insisted on certain standards of eating, so if he took her for lunch it would be to the finer places in town. She popped in occasionally for a milkshake, but that was as far as she went. When she and Mokuba entered at the unforgiving hour of lunchtime, it was packed as usual. Queues a mile long took up most of the space in the restaurant and Aldara turned to Mokuba, grimacing.

“Are you sure you want to come here?” she asked. Mokuba nodded quickly.

“Yeah!” he said. “Let's find the shortest queue…”

Aldara rolled her eyes, as they all looked the same to her, but followed Mokuba anyway through the winding lanes of customers. Her jaw dropped as they emerged at the final aisle. Instead of numerous customers waiting to be served, there was just one - a young looking girl with dark hair that fell down her back and shoulders in straight locks. She was paying for her meal with what looked like coupons, which was taking an age.

“Let's wait,” said Mokuba, pulling Aldara towards the girl.

Aldara stood there for a while, examining the various menu boards that lined the walls, while Mokuba gazed around the restaurant. Finally, the girl in front finished paying and turned around to leave, bag of food in hand. As soon as she turned, Mokuba gasped, and Aldara had a feeling she knew why.

It was like looking at a ghost. The girl had a stray strand of hair that flopped down into bright blue eyes - the same eyes that Seto and Mokuba had. Mokuba stared at her, and she briefly glanced at him, but no recognition flickered in her face and she carried on walking out of the restaurant.

“Juliet?” said Mokuba, following her out. “Wait!”

The girl behind the counter looked blankly at Aldara.

“Are you ready to order?” she asked.

Aldara turned to the space next to her where Mokuba had previously been standing and turned to follow him. At first, she couldn't see him anywhere; all she could see was row upon row of agitated burger bar customers, but then she caught sight of him through the glass of the entrance doors.

Aldara quickly hurried out and caught part of what was being said. They were standing right in the middle of the pavement, and Aldara had a bad feeling about how much of a spectacle it could become.

“Why did you leave us?” Mokuba was demanding, looking extremely upset. “We're your brothers!”

The girl was clearly bewildered by this remark, and Aldara decided not to intervene after all - out of interest.

“Kid,” said the girl. “I don't know what you're talking about. I don't have any brothers…”

These words broke Mokuba's heart on impact.

“Yes you do!” he insisted. “Mokie and Seto - we're your brothers - or at least we were once! Don't you remember…”

As he said this, Mokuba took hold of the girl's hand and linked his little finger in hers. The girl stared at it for a moment as though horrified, before quivering and pulling her hand away.

“I don't know what you're talking about,” she repeated. “I'm new in Domino, so how could I be related to you?” With that, the girl turned and hurried away. Mokuba watched her go, and Aldara walked over to him.

“It's okay, kiddo,” she said, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

o0o

“So let me get this straight,” said the green haired member of the band, who Seto assumed was the leader. “You want to sponsor us, give us a place to stay while we're in Domino and fund a concert for us …what's in it for you?”

Seto sat back in his chair and regarded the whole band. Yes…they were perfect…. He could see the posters fully formed in his mind…

“Nothing you need to worry about,” he said. “Do we have a deal?”

The three band members looked at each other. Seto could tell that they were seriously considering the sponsorship. By the looks of their instruments and van, they had not had ample money for a long time and this was a chance in a lifetime.

“We should think this through,” said the white haired girl, who had introduced herself as Marnie. “After all, this is a band decision.”

The orange haired guy from before, who was referred to as Trey, nodded at this remark.

“Yeah, but band decisions generally apply to negative things, like splitting up or getting rid of people,” he said. “I don't see anything wrong with staying in Domino for a concert and being sponsored by KaibaCorp.”

There was a moment of silence and the green haired guy turned to Seto.

“All right,” he said. “You're on.”