Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Juliet Kaiba ❯ Sweetheart ( Chapter 4 )

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

Sorry this took a while, people, I've had a tonne of work at college!!! Um, in this chapter, Juliet bumps into Duke Devlin and Mokuba argues with Seto.

Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Psychological / Mystery | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 12.07.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 5.3K | Visits: 230 | Status: Work In Progress

Part 4 - Sweetheart

While all of this was going on, Juliet was storming through the streets of Domino with a heavy bag of food in her hand, muttering to herself about her previous encounter at the burger bar. It wasn't actually the young boy she was angry with…it was more herself…

When she was 8 years old, Juliet had been found by the side of a country road sporting a near fatal head injury. She had been blubbering like a toddler, but the doctors who dealt with her said that she was lucky to be alive. The elderly couple that had discovered Juliet couldn't identify her and the only clue to her identity was a gold bracelet around her wrist with `JULIET' engraved on it.

After being in a coma for numerous weeks Juliet regained consciousness, and the doctors asked her various questions about herself - none of which she could answer. She had amnesia, caused by the head injury. When her health was near enough back to normal, Juliet was sent off to a nearby orphanage, where she met Marnie, Trey and Harley. It frustrated Juliet that she couldn't remember her past, something she had longed to understand for so long. It aggravated her that she didn't know the date of her birthday, what her mother had looked like, or what her surname had been. That was what she was angry with…not the boy.

Juliet was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she wasn't really watching where she was going. It was therefore no real surprise when she ended up walking smack into another person, who was just leaving a shop on the high street. Juliet, caught by surprise, dropped the bag of food she was carrying. The person she had just walked into dropped a heavy looking carrier bag.

“Oh I'm sorry,” she heard them say in a male sounding voice (though in her time with the band, she'd learned never to be too careful). “Here let me help you with that…”

“Oh it's okay,” said Juliet as the stranger leaned over to pick up her bag of food. “My fault.”

To save the stranger the trouble, Juliet hurriedly leaned to pick up her bag and ended up painfully bashing heads with him. A little dazed, Juliet looked up and laid eyes on the stranger for the first time. He appeared to be the same age as her, and had long jet-black hair that was tied back in a ponytail. An earring in the shape of a dice hung from one of his ears and he had large forest green eyes that Juliet found herself staring into for the best part of a minute. The stranger, who seemed just as dazed as Juliet, didn't notice until a few minutes later.

“Hmmm? Something wrong?” he asked, picking up her bag.

Juliet felt herself going pink.

“Sorry,” she said. “I gotta go…”

She all but snatched her bag from the stranger's hands and made for the end the street leaving the stranger frozen to the spot, seemingly confused.

o0o

Trey, Harley and Marnie were sitting on the swings in the park opposite the KaibaCorp skyscraper. Since they had signed the deal with Seto Kaiba, he had given them keys and directions to an apartment in uptown Domino. He had explained that he built it at the beginning of his career in Domino with the intention of living there with his little brother…but then he had decided to live at the mansion instead and the apartment had become more unused KaibaCorp property. They had a feeling that he wasn't telling them everything but didn't press it. After all, he was giving them a place to live for the duration of their time in Domino. After making the deal, the rest of the band went back to the park to wait for Juliet, suddenly realising how hungry they were.

“Where is she?” moaned Trey, glancing at his watch, “she should have been here half an hour ago - if my rocket-burger's cold…”

Marnie rolled her eyes at these words and glanced across the park.

“Keep your hair on Trey, she probably just got held up,” she said calmly, even though she had to admit that it was unusual. Juliet never got held up by anything…there was nothing in the world to hold her up.

“Yeah right Marnie,” said Harley, swinging a little, “next you'll be telling me that Trey's dating a model...”

“Trey's dating a what-now?” came a familiar voice from nearby.

Trey refrained from murdering Harley to turn his attentions onto the owner. Standing near a rusty looking slide and holding a bag of food that appeared to have seen much better days was Juliet. Trey leaped up from the swing to grab the bag from her, shouting, `yoink!' as he did so.

“What kept you?” asked Harley, as Marnie struggled to scavenge a pack of cold fries from Trey. Juliet wandered over to a patch of grass underneath the swings and seated herself down there.

“Sorry,” she said, “it's just…something cropped up…”

Marnie, who was holding her burger over Trey's head, turned to Juliet when she said that.

“Really? Like what?” she asked, spraying Trey in the face with a ketchup sachet.

Juliet sighed, and brushed off little flickers of ketchup that had hit her clothes.

“When I was leaving the burger bar, some weird kid stopped me,” she said, “He knew my name but that's not the weird part. He wanted to know why I left him and his brother years ago…he said I was their sister. When I said that I didn't have brothers he got really upset.”

As Juliet spoke, the others listened wide-eyed, Trey stuffing odd chips into his mouth. Juliet saw their shock and carried on.

“I was so sure when this kid spoke to me that I didn't have brothers and I wasn't from this area…but I know about as much about myself as you guys do…” she said sadly, “I've built up a knowledge of myself, based on what I want to be true. What if I do have brothers and sisters out there who are looking for me? What if I've been so blind that I've missed them?”

Harley sighed.

“Juliet…” he said, “the reason you lost your memory is because you are destined to find it.”

Juliet smiled. That was one of Harley's more mature moments when he decided to act his age - unlike Trey, who was making some comment about reading that crap in a fortune cookie. Harley swiped the BurgerWorld bag from him and started to root through it. He took out his burger and fries and passed the rest to Juliet, who smiled gratefully.

“Thanks Harley,” she said, then turning to the other swings, “shut up Trey.”

Marnie, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, pulled a thoughtful face.

“There's one thing I don't get,” she said, her mouth half full of chip, “the kid would have only held you up by a few minutes - he wouldn't have made you late…”

Juliet blushed ferociously at these words. She was going to have to tell them about Duke.

“No,” she said, taking a sip of a soda, “you're right…the kid didn't hold me up at all. It was the super cute guy I bumped into afterwards that held me up.”

Trey's jaw dropped and piece of gherkin fell to the floor. Marnie whooped ecstatically. Harley's face went as green as his hair.

“How come you always bump into the cute ones?” she asked.

Before Juliet could reply to that question, Harley cleared his throat loudly.

“Speaking of loaded...when are we going to tell Juliet about the deal we made today?” he asked, gazing pointedly from Marnie to Trey.

Juliet was confused.

“Deal?” she asked, “what deal?”

“Well, while you were gone fetching food, we decided to practice,” explained Marnie, “and the guy that owns that skyscraper asked to see us.”

She pointed to a skyscraper that was situated across from the park. In Juliet's opinion it was a silly place to put one, but she wanted to know more about the deal and so stayed quiet.

“His company's going to sponsor our concert!” Trey all but burst, as though he couldn't hold the news in any longer, “and they've given us a place to live! Isn't that great?”

Juliet didn't reply. Instead she simply stared at the skyscraper opposite. KAIBACORP was written across it in bold letters, and for a reason that she didn't understand felt a sense of unease.

o0o

That night, Juliet didn't sleep at all. She kept having the same nightmare, and it wouldn't go away. She'd had trouble sleeping ever since her Dad had died. Juliet didn't understand why; she and her father didn't exactly see eye to eye. When she was smaller, and her mother was still alive, that was who took care of her. When she died, Juliet's father hadn't got a clue what to do with her. She learned how to take care of herself pretty quickly. Juliet kept having a nightmare, well; it was more a memory, of when her father was alive.

o0o

Inside the skyscraper, Seto was sitting at his desk holding a telephone receiver to his ear. He was trying to call Aldara on her cell phone so she could find the number of his company publicist but she hadn't got it switched on.

“Ridiculous machine,” he snapped, as the usual answer phone message came up. It was past lunch and all ready there was a stack of work to be getting on with. He was beginning to wish he hadn't sent her to the Villa Arcade with Mokuba.

Placing the receiver back down, he turned to his laptop and clicked on `e-mails'. As usual, a number of e-mails had arrived from the company's suppliers stating which materials would be received and when. Everything was as it should be and Seto was filled with a sense of satisfaction.

Seto was just leaving the e-mail screen when there was a knock at his office door. He looked at the clock on his desk, which said 1:21. He had no appointments for 1:21…did he? He really needed to talk to Aldara.

“Come in,” he said, and the door flew open, revealing both his little brother and PA. He'd never been so happy to see them in his life.

“Ah, Aldara, why didn't you….” He was about to lecture Aldara for switching her phone off when he noticed the state of them both.

Mokuba was crying his eyes out, and tears were rolling straight from his eyes to the carpet. He was clutching a sodden tissue that Aldara must have given him. She, meanwhile, was white as a sheet. Seto looked from one to the other.

“Whaton earth happened to you two?” he asked.

Mokuba walked over to the desk, still crying. Aldara followed him at a slightly slower pace.

“We…we saw…Juliet…” Mokuba sobbed, “She was at the Burger bar.”

Seto felt the words scratch him like claws. Juliet had been gone for years, but hearing her name still hurt him. He turned to Aldara.

“Is this true?” he asked.

Aldara looked from Mokuba to Seto. She knew she was delivering a fatal judgement on the conversation.

“In all honesty,” she murmured, “it did resemble her a lot…”

Mokuba knew where this was going.

“Resemble? It was her, Seto!” he said, “ It was Juliet…our sister!”

Seto sighed and closed his laptop. This was it. He was going to have to tell Mokuba the same thing he always told him whenever he mentioned Juliet.

“Mokuba…what have I told you about Juliet?” he asked, “She abandoned us. She couldn't care less about you or me or the company…she gave up on the family and as punishment we gave up on her.”

This comment always frustrated Mokuba. He had been extremely close to Juliet and hearing Seto criticise her hurt him inside.

“That's not true and you know it,” he wept, “Juliet was the one who taught me to have faith in you and never to give up. You may have given up on her, but I never will!”

Seto rose to his feet from behind his desk, though whether he was going to yell at Mokuba would have to remain a mystery because as soon as he left his chair, Mokuba ran out of the office, slamming the door behind him. Seto stood behind his desk half-heartedly for a few minutes, before sitting back down and opening his laptop again. The subject of their sister always proved to be a sore point between Seto and Mokuba.

Aldara didn't know very much about what had happened between the Kaibas as children to make their sister the taboo topic she was. She had been an orphan herself, abandoned by her parents as a baby because they couldn't cope. Aldara had lived at a state orphanage for many years, with no sign of being adopted and constant bullying from other girls who thought they ran the place. She had been there for a long time when they arrived.

She knew they were special the first time she saw them. There were three of them - two boys and a girl - and they had the forlorn look seemingly reserved for orphans fixed across their faces. In the time that followed, Aldara watched them from afar. She learned that their names were Seto, Mokuba and Juliet, and they had been brought into the orphanage after their Dad died in a car accident. Aldara had the most dealings with the sister, and she struck her as kind and gentle, though also bold and stubborn. There was nothing she wouldn't do for her little brother, and whenever she saw them together he would be clinging to Juliet like a baby monkey. Aldara often tried to pluck up the courage to start a conversation with Juliet, but never got there. There was one thing for sure; Seto Mokuba and Juliet were closer than anyone else in the orphanage.

Aldara wasn't sure what happened next. Well, not exactly. She knew that a man named Gozaburo Kaiba adopted the three of them and that was the last she heard. Aldara was adopted too - by a businesswoman who inspired her to set up her own company. However, time, money and experience proved to be major setbacks and prevented her time and time again.

Two years before, one event had changed Aldara's life for good. Seto Kaiba had taken over KaibaCorp. A distant longing to see Seto, Mokuba and Juliet again caused Aldara to stride up to the KaibaCorp skyscraper all those years later requesting a job. Upon arrival, she noticed that Seto was a changed man. He was no longer the gleeful happy child she remembered. When Aldara casually asked about Juliet, she was instructed under no circumstances to speak that name in his presence and never told the reason. Seto gave her the job - it was Aldara's job to phone people for him and look after Mokuba. There was one thing she noticed above everything else - Juliet was gone.

Seto started typing on his computer again and pulled a sheet of paper from his drawer.

“Aldara, get the company publicist on the phone for me,” he said, “I've just made the ultimate deal.”

Aldara was confused but she pulled her little book of numbers from her handbag anyway. She thought that the company meeting had been about what they were going to do about KaibaCorp's public image. There were no deals involved…were there?

“Ultimate deal?” she questioned, as she flicked through the pages, looking for the number.

Seto nodded and a smile fought its way onto his face.

“It has been decided that in order to save my company's image we are going to sponsor a new film or band,” he explained, “support them from the beginning until they make it to the big time…as it happens I have just discovered the perfect specimen. They were only too happy to sign the contract…now, where is that phone?”

Aldara picked up the phone from Seto's desk and started to dial the number.

o0o

“Is that everything?” asked Harley, slamming the doors of the van shut and clapping his hands together. After their fast food breakfast, they had packed up their things to travel to the apartment they had been assigned. It was always a long and complicated job and the park location didn't help matters. Every 5 minutes someone had to go and salvage Trey from the slide.

Juliet gazed around, her steel blue eyes carefully scrutinizing everything.

“Well, I can't see any instruments lying around,” she said.

Harley pulled the van keys from his pocket, when Juliet suddenly looked around and sighed deeply.

“Where are Marnie and Trey?” she asked.

A few seconds after the words left her mouth, the sound of raucous laughter erupted from their left. Timidly, Juliet and Harley turned to see what was going on. Trey and Marnie were playing on the seesaw, laughing like a pair of loons. Harley failed to stifle a laugh at the bizarre sight and even Juliet's features crumpled into a grin.

“What in the name of…?” was all anyone could say.

For want of something better to do, they stood there and watched them for a while. Harley was the first to speak; his voice reminiscent of paper cut.

“I've been meaning to ask you,” he said. “You didn't really feel anything for…”

But Harley never got the chance to finish his question because at that moment, a shadow was cast across the van.

“Excuse me?” the someone said.

Juliet recognised the voice immediately and turned to see the guy she'd bumped into earlier. He was standing by the van and looking directly at her with those dark green eyes he had.

“Sorry if I'm interrupting,” he said, walking over to Juliet and totally blanking Harley. “But I didn't catch your name earlier and I just know it will cost me.”

As Juliet smiled, Harley frowned and she heard him mutter `oh brother'. The stranger's eyes flickered in his direction and Juliet felt herself go pink.

“This guy your boyfriend?” he asked, prompting Juliet to blush. Harley was clenching his fists, ready to strike out.

“My name is Juliet,” was the eventual reply. “What's yours?”

The stranger gave her a lopsided grin. He had thought as much.

“It suits you,” he commented. “My name's Duke Devlin and I think we should go out some time.”

Harley had seen many a guy make this kind of move on Juliet and it always ended in disaster. He glanced across at her, waiting for the wisecrack. Juliet was watching this Duke Devlin, a dangerously contented expression across her face. As the other guy pulled a card from his jacket pocket, Juliet didn't move and Harley realised with horror that she wasn't going to turn this one down.

Oh Juliet…what are you thinking? He asked himself.

“Here's my calling card,” said the Devlin boy proudly as he passed her the card. “Feel free to call me at any time…Day or night.”

He winked at the latter and Harley shuddered.

Juliet glanced down at the card as Duke Devlin walked out of the park, oblivious to the fact that Harley's fists were still clenched and Trey and Marnie weren't laughing any more.