Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Stranger of the Duel ❯ The Proposition ( Chapter 2 )

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yugioh or any of the characters. I just own my original characters, ok?

Cali finally found him sitting under a tree, typing furiously into the computer. He didn't even notice she'd approached until she spoke.

"Are you Seto Kaiba?" she asked, although she already knew the answer.

He looked up at her, Scizoran, "Yes. Welcome to Domino City," he responded, closing his laptop, and getting up. He held out his hand to shake it.

As she took it, he asked, "What business do you have here?"

"So you know me, then, Kaiba?"

grrr "I know of your father."

"I see. I'm sorry to inform you that he has passed away of a rare virus last year."

(they were still holding hands...^_^)

"My deepest condolences...." Kaiba murmured, dropping her hand.

"Yes, but he is out of his pain. I am thankful of that."

She said I. Does she have no other family? But that means…

"I am now running Scizoran Enterprises."

Hah! She's running Scizoran! Her father might have been able to compete with me...the only company, in fact...but this girl can't. She's too timid. He looked into her eyes, expecting submissiveness. Instead, he found fire. I guess not. God, she's pretty. Shut up! I'm turning into that mangy dog, Joey! He's always chasing after the girls at school…what a loser…I'll never become like him! I forbid myself!

"Are you all right?" Cali, asked, snapping Seto back into the real world.

"Yes. Um..." Kaiba had always been awkward around girls, well, friendly ones anyway.

"I have a proposition for you. May I come by Kaiba Corp later today to discuss it with you?"

"Uh...sure. I'll be there until eight."

"Good. See you then!" Cali answered as she left.

I'd never met him before. I didn't realize his eyes would be so....What am I thinking!?! I can only do business with him! Just business…

***7:00***

Cali approached the looming Kaiba Corp building. She had walked from her hotel, and was a little bit tired. She sat down on a bench to touch up her hair and makeup before entering. Gotta look professional. I just know he doesn't think I know what I'm doing.

Seto was in his office, typing, viewing charts, pie graphs, etc. He'd completely forgotten about Cali's proposition. Mokuba was playing a video game on the wall sized TV screen. Mokuba glanced over at his brother. He works so hard. He never has any fun. He turned back to his game.

Cali walked up to the large reception desk. The secretary, who'd been reading a magazine, looked up lazily at her.

"I'm here to meet with Mr. Kaiba," she said.

"Have you made an appointment?" the girl asked.

"Not formally, but he told me to come see him before eight o'clock today."

"He spoke to you!?!?!?!?" the receptionist asked in surprise. "Take that elevator. He's on the top floor."

"Which is the way to his office from there?" Cali asked.

The girl laughed, "It's the whole floor."

wow Cali followed the secretary's instructions. Once reaching the top, a glass door faced her. She knocked on it, instead of just entering.

Mokuba opened the door for her, and took the elevator downstairs. Seto didn't like him to be bothering him while he was conducting business.

"ahem, Mr. Kaiba?"

"Yes, I know, wait a minute," he said, not looking up from his papers. "Oh, Miss Scizoran, I thought you were someone else."

"Oh. Would you like to discuss my idea now?"

"Yes. Please take a seat." He gestured vaguely towards a couch.

Cali sat down, and was surprised that Seto actually sat next to her. She had expected him to remain at the desk.

"What do you have in mind?"

"Well, as you know, my father erected this company in the hopes of incorporating virtual reality to some of the top games…"

"Go on…" She knows Kaiba Corp already has Duel Monsters VR pods…

"…but we've failed that goal. His next idea was to organize an online gaming tournament, since our company mainly deals with the internet. I was thinking that Scizoran Enterprises and Kaiba Corp. could collaborate on this project. We have the internet capabilities to run the tournament quickly, and in real time. My company does not have the knowledge of Duel Monsters, though. I've never played the game. I know you have though, obviously. Your use of this experience could help with the rules and layout of the online game. What do you think?"

An online duel monsters tournament? Last year I would have agreed in an instant, but dueling with Yugi has taught me about the heart of the cards. How much heart could digits on a screen have?

"Miss Scizoran, I'm sorry but I'm going to have to decline your offer."

"What!? Why?"

"Ask Yugi Motou. He'll tell you."

Oh, that Seto Kaiba! I wish I'd never come to Domino City! If I had known he would decline this opportunity…maybe it's not such a great idea as my father and I thought. Maybe it's stupid. I shouldn't be CEO of Scizoran, I should quit. NO! My father never quit, and he's always counted on my to take on Scizoran Enterprises after him. I must do a good job. I shouldn't have jumped to the conclusion that Kaiba would accept.

"I'm sorry, Miss Scizoran."

"I understand; it's a risky investment."

"Thank you. Goodbye."

"I'm sure we'll meet at school."

I have to ask, I just have to…

"Cali?"

"Yes, should I use his name? He used mine! Seto?"

"Umareyougoingtothedanceatschool?"

"Pardon me?"

"Will you go to the dance at school with me?"

Cali's eyes iced over, just thinking about how blunt he was with her. "No." And she left.

No biggie, I didn't even want to go to the dumb dance anyway. Certainly not with her, I was just trying to make her feel better after letting her down. Really.

Cali walked into the park near the Game Corner. Why did I say no? Getting closer to Kaiba will get me closer to-

A scream was suddenly heard in the park. Nobody was around except for Cali! She ran towards the middle, where she thought the sound was coming from. There was a large pond. She didn't know how deep it was, but there was a young boy, right in the middle of it! His rowboat had capsized, and the kid couldn't swim!

Cali took off her jacket and jumped into the frigid water and swam toward the boy. She couldn't swim very fast because the water began to numb her muscles quickly. The boy's head was barely above the water level.

Finally she reached him, and grabbed onto the boat for support, to rest a little. Then she started heading back to the shore. Her legs were hardly able to move. The boy was unconscious. When she got to the shore, she put the boy down, calling for help. Still no one was there. The park was normally empty on weekday nights such as this one, and it was big enough for her shouts not to be heard from the road. She was nervous, but performed CPR on the boy. She removed her outer business jacket and wrapped it around him.

She picked him up, and carried him out of the park, not easily though. She was extremely tired. She got to the Game Corner, and opened the door by throwing all her weight onto it. Yugi was behind the counter, and ran around when she and the boy collapsed onto the floor. The boy was shivering quite badly, but he was conscious. Cali, smiled and looked up at him.

Yugi didn't see who the boy was; he had wrapped his head under Cali's jacket for warmth.

"Cali, is that you? What happened?"

"Yugi….the boy….fell in the pond…."she said, panting for air. (what? She was really tired!)

"Yugi?" the boy poked his head out from the jacket.

"MOKUBA?!?!?!?"