Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Masquerade ❯ A Lesson On the Past ( Chapter 3 )

Nero: aieya! *sounds like Uncle from Jackie Chan Adventures* I've been really lazy now! Ever since that nasty deleting accident and deleting the long and slightly good chapter 3 of Masquerade, I've been lazy and didn't want to update. But, I finally figured I needed to. Thanks for the reviews everyone, and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

Summary: Rezi reports to the Kaiba Mansion to give Seto some dance lessons. To repay her, he leaves her with something to think about…

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! It belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. I own Kusanagi Rezi and her family as well as a few more Original Characters. I don't own Jeeves, he belongs to my friend Bukasha 2K ^-^ Check out her stories!

Comments: I think that this is going to be very different from the original chapter 3. I had some citrus in plan, close to lemon almost, but due to my stupidity it was all gone. Hopefully this one will turn out better since I'm writing it as I go.

Chapter Three- A Lesson on the Past

…In a Masquerade ball, you can be just about anyone, because of that elegant mask you wear that covers your true face. You can fool everyone into believing that you are something that you truly aren't…Am I hiding my true intentions and feelings for you?...Maybe… -Kusanagi Rezi speaking to Kaiba

The blaring of the alarm clock reached Rezi's ears, and she turned over, trying to force herself back into her deep slumber. Her body was so used to that alarm clock, but part of her wished she could sleep more often. Her blonde bangs fell over her eyes as she rested her chin on her arms, looking at her clock, which read 6:00 am. She hit the button, turning off the annoying sound before anyone else could wake up. The radio clicked on and began to play a bit of soft music.

A song Rezi once heard in America came on and she sat up. "You can…make a killing…" she sang softly before opening her closet door and grabbing something simple to wear. She didn't think she had to look special at all to give someone dance lessons, even if it was Kaiba Seto she was teaching. She had settled for a pair of blue jeans and a pale blue tank top. She headed toward the bathroom to settle on a quick shower.

Stepping inside the running water after stripping down to nothing, she focused her eyes on the fogged up shower door, steaming wafting about in the entire room. She closed her eyes for a moment this time, deciding to think on this crazy situation. If she had never let her S slide out of the locker nearby, then she wouldn't have been blackmailed into this silly Masquerade ball; she would've had to pick a partner already, so why did Seto prefer her over the many other willing girls? She opened her eyes, revealing a slight Jade tint to them as she rinsed the soap away from her form followed by turning off the water. She reached for a towel after opening the door slightly. She inhaled deeply, picking up the scent of pears and peaches. Her wet hair as tied up into an easy to manage high ponytail, her blonde bangs on the sides of her face; they dried much faster.

Rezi moved a bit slower than usual; part of her didn't even want this. She wished that they didn't have to attend some silly Masquerade ball, where they'd pull off their masks directly at midnight.

"There's no point if they already know WHO's behind the mask…"she started again, slipping on her tanktop and pulling it over so that it covered the buckles and zipper of the jeans. She walked by the door, slipping on her black boots, and grabbing her jacket from the coat hooks. She couldn't believe she'd have to doll herself up to look like some Victorian aristocrat who spat on the weaker classes. Then again Seto fit that position already. She checked her wallet for a reasonable amount of yen when a black limo pulled up.

She raised an eyebrow, and prepared to walk past it, when a slim man, a guy who reminded her of that butler from Batman, Alfred.

"Kusanagi Rezi-san?" the old man spoke. "Boku no namewa Jeeves-desu…" Rezi nodded slowly, still deeply confused.

"Master Kaiba requests your appearance at the Kaiba Mansion at no later than nine o'clock, correct?" Jeeves asked. Rezi gave another nod.

"Yes, he does." She replied.

"I was sent here to be your escort. Master Kaiba does not want you to be late." Came Jeeves' voice again. Rezi walked over to the old man and the door opened. She peered inside.

"Ohayo Gozaimasu."

Rezi raised an eyebrow. "Ohayo…wait a second here, first you send an escort for me, and next YOU'RE inside the limo? I thought you'd be home or something." She started.

Seto glanced at her for a moment before looking ahead of him. "You don't know me very well Kusanagi," he started. "I'm a very punctual person, and I expect the same with my clients." Rezi got inside letting Jeeves close the door afterward and she set her bag on the floor in between her legs.

"How long is this lesson going to last, and how long will it take for me to master the art of dancing for this little Masquerade ball?" Seto started immediately after the vehicle had begun to travel down the road. Rezi looked up from her cellular phone, closing it momentarily.

"It depends. Are you a quick learner?" she replied. Seto nodded. "Yes, in fact I am."

Rezi nodded once more, knowing that this was going to be the only conversation they'd have on the way to his mansion. "Alright, it may take a day and a half, probably even two." She finally replied, pressing a few buttons her phone. She kept it on silent mode, just in case it annoyed Seto, and it probably did. She knew nothing though. 5 minutes later, the sound of the keys click-clack reached her ears; Seto was typing again. He was forever doing that, being that he ran a billion-dollar company almost every single minute of the day. It was amazing that he actually pulled out some time to get lessons. Rezi guessed Seto wasn't a fan of making an ass out of himself; no one was.

"When's the Masquerade Ball again?" Rezi asked finally. Seto never even looked up at all; his eyes remained glued to the screen.

"Next Week, Tuesday." He started. "Before vacation." Rezi nodded, trying to keep herself busy. She didn't even know how long it would take her to get there by cab. She rubbed the back of her neck for a moment, crossing one leg over the other, pressing away on her cell phone; she had decided to talk to her friend Dachi, who was visiting America just to catch up with Ryuuji Otogi and his Dungeon Dice Monsters tour. He was staying there for about 3 weeks to a month, traveling to New York City, Pennsylvania, among others.

Rezi bid her goodbye to Dachi; she was going into a tunnel and she wouldn't get any reception there. She said that there was a load of traffic in there too; she would be a while. Pocketing her phone, she glanced out the window at the leaves that were beginning to change colors. They were arrays of the warm colors; oranges, yellows, and reds. Some leaves were golden brown and looked absolutely beautiful as they fell to the floor. She remembered the day she and her family had visited the Aki-Matsuri (Autumn Festival) at a Shinto shrine. The leaves were turning these exact colors and she was 5 or 6 years old at the time; she couldn't remember. She remembered the autumn kimono her mother Sachiko had made for her, before she became so busy, and her step father Rei. Rei and Sachiko were dating at the time, and Rezi didn't mind.

She remembered the brilliant gold, yellow, and golden brown colors the kimono had, mostly of autumn leaves, and the sash that had Sachiko's own vision of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu. She remembered everything from the games, the prayer ceremony, the food and the things she had cherished the most that day. It brought her back to the present. She was a drug addict who was going through withdrawal, hallucinating at random times, she refused to go to any of the festivals with her family this time so she could stay home and wallow in her high and pass it off by studying. She blew her money on S, nearly died taking L in almost broad daylight, and she was regretting every moment of it.

An old friend of hers said it was good, and that it would help you lose weight and keep you awake enough to get passing grades. Rezi put her trust in that friend of hers and she had no clue it would lead her to an addiction. She had decided that she would put herself in a rehabilitation clinic until she was sure that this was over. But then again, that would separate her from her family, and she cherished her sisters more than anything. This would crush her parents, and they'd probably hate her. Habits like taking drugs were hard to break. She was getting good grades all on her own without the drugs, but she did it out of peer pressure. Rezi thought she could take it once and leave it alone, but she didn't know how wrong she was.

She looked down at her hands; they were shaking slightly, and she blinked a few times. Her vision started to get blurry for a moment, and it took her a while to notice that she had started to cry. Why shouldn't she? She had pulled herself into a world of nothing but trouble and she felt like she couldn't get herself out of it. She wanted desperately to escape it, and she'd do anything to get there. The tears rolled down her face freely, and her mouth didn't change at all. A serious expression painted her face as she looked out the window; she refused to breakdown in front of Kaiba Seto, who would do nothing but insult and comment on how pitiful she was, and she didn't need that.

Her eyes closed again, and the tears that continued to slip down her cheeks, stained her hands and jeans. Her bangs moved from her shoulders to the sides of her face, hanging there. The inside of the limo felt ice cold to her and she wrapped her arms around herself. She wanted to stop crying every time she thought about her life today and how it looked like shit because she was foolish.

"Why are you crying?" Seto finally asked. Rezi looked up at him; he had turned away from his laptop for that split moment, because she was crying.

"I don't think I should tell…I'm not in the mood to hear you insult me…" Rezi finally replied, looking away from him and out the window again; she wouldn't take his insults.

Seto reached his hand out toward her, his fingers reaching underneath her chin before grasping it gently, managing to feel the wet trail from her tears on his thumb. Despite that, he hadn't been that close to notice that her skin was soft and it was warm. He titled her chin upward so that she could look at him. He pulled her a bit closer, keeping up his eye contact. He noticed her eyes were considerably a dark green color and glazed with tears.

"I asked you a question, therefore I deserve an answer." He finally replied. Rezi closed her eyes, her palms resting flat on the leather of the limo's seating.

"Because I'm tired…" she started. "I'm tired of living the way I do. Yes, I'm not filthy rich like you are, and I don't have the dueling status you do, I'm a drug addict who's too fucking stupid to notice that I had everything I wanted and needed without Speed or LSD. And every time I think about it, It tears me apart inside knowing that I can't be truly happy the way I used to."

Seto glanced at her. "Face it, people fuck up in life…get your act together Kusanagi, you can't look back on the past. Obviously your happy life is holding you back. You want away from your addiction? Work your ass off and stop wallowing in guilt." He replied.

"Look, your style of life doesn't always work with other people. Can you honestly tell me that there is nothing worth looking back on in your past?" Rezi shot back next.

"I can honestly say that there is nothing worth looking back on, now don't change this from you to me." Seto replied. Rezi looked into his eyes, shaking her head. "You are so sad…." She started. "You're such a liar…you have a younger brother. Don't remember any of the times you played with him when you were a kid? Or protected him?"

"I do remember those times…I can't forget them at all. I've never told him that because I look to the here and now. I have no need to look back into the past." Seto replied. Rezi tried at pulling back, but Seto refused. She sat upright this time, which meant sitting closer to the taller duelist.

"Why can't you do the same?" Seto finished. Rezi looked at him again watching as he opened his lips to speak again. "I can't be with someone who's concerned with their past…you have to change the way you are now, and when you, put your selfless addiction behind you and forget about it."

"Be with someone?" Rezi asked this time, picking up that sentence. "…Here's the big problem. I'm not you, Seto. I don't shove off my past, because some memories are worth thinking about. I can't live looking to the here and now like you do." She finished. Seto removed his fingers from underneath her chin, moving her bangs out of her face for a moment; her eyes were still as dark as his own.

"Then you're a fool. All your past will do is hold you back, and your selfless addiction will beat you, and you'll end up committing suicide for all I know. And I highly doubt that Moutou would accept that." He said softly. Rezi looked away from him; he was actually right this time.

"Look at me…you and I know I'm right this time." Seto commanded softly. Rezi looked at him again, her vision getting foggy again. Tears slipped down her face again, coming to meet at her chin and dropping onto her jeans.

"Didn't I tell you before?!" She started. "I'm not you! It doesn't come easy to me!" Seto leaned forward, his lips coming to connect with one of the trails of tears on her cheeks, before they moved lower toward her lips. Rezi pulled back a little bit more.

"You don't have to be me, Kusanagi…every time you think of how happy you used to be in the past before your supposed addiction, you seem to cry your eyes out, wishing you were that happy again. You're an idiot if you can't see that you can do that now…" Seto replied again, his eyes closing; he couldn't believe he was actually helping someone this time around, and this was the best situation for him to get Rezi to think about something else. Already, he was tired of hearing her whine and complain about her addiction, an addiction that she caused herself, and now regrets. Yes, regret is alright, but there is such a thing as regretting too much. Seto thought she needed to get over it, stop thinking about her past so damned much and maybe it wouldn't trigger her guilt for her addiction now.

"…" No words came out of Rezi's mouth this time; she realized that Seto was right this entire time, and she was thinking that it would make her just like him, always looking to the here and now, but she didn't have to be him to forget any of it at all. If she could go a few days without any of those stupid drugs, then she could get rid of them forever.

I've decided…no more… she thought to herself. Seto leaned even closer, letting his lips come against hers. They felt warm, almost inviting. Rezi's eyes remained open more out of surprise than anything else at the moment, but they closed slowly and she actually kissed him back. Seto let one of his free hands come into her hair softly, pulling away for a moment. Rezi shook her head leaning forward, allowing herself to start the next kiss, and Seto accepted it all too willingly, hormones just about to the racing point. He let one arm come around her waist as she pushed him downward against the seat, the kiss having not been broken yet. Rezi pulled away to look at Seto, who's eyes never left her gaze.

"What….what are we doing?" she asked.

"I'll answer that later…just as long as you lean down here and kiss me again Kusanagi." Seto replied, his hand still in her hair. Rezi nodded leaning downward to kiss him again and their lips met for a third time, both teenagers' eyes closing the moment it happened; Rezi's hands had been placed on either side of Seto, who kept one arm around her waist and the other in her hair. ((Obelisk: ^-^ ALRIGHT! F*CKIN in the LIMOO! *grooves* Nero: ¬.¬ Shut up and let me finish.))

They stayed like that for quite sometime, until the brown haired duelist moved closer to her exposed neck. His lips were about to touch softly, when Jeeves' voice intervened.

"Master Kaiba, we have arrived at the mansion."

Rezi pulled away, sitting back this time, grabbing her messenger bag and slinging it over her shoulder as Seto collected his things. The limo pulled into the driveway and Rezi opened the door as Seto exited on the other side.

"Let's begin." Seto started, closing the main door behind Rezi.

~*~ End Chapter 3 ~*~

Nero: ^-^ I liked writing this! I hope you readers enjoyed reading it too!

Osirus: T_T Why are you being a tease?!

Obelisk: YEAH!

Ra: Shut up Two Mouth and Toothless. According to Nero maybe in chapter 5 or 6 will contain lemon.

Nero: He's right! Ra!

Ra: *cough* REVIEW! I COMMAND YOU TO, OR I WILL SEND YOU TO DIE IN THE REALM OF MAI! OR SERENITY! REVIEW DAMN YOU! REVIEW!

Nero: O_O Calm down!

Ra: T_T JUST REVIEW! RA COMMANDS YOU TO!