Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ The Past is Present ❯ Run in with the Enemy ( Chapter 3 )

~ Chapter 3: Run in with the Enemy ~

When the end of the day on Friday finally rolled around, Marie grabbed the books she needed from her locker to take home, and was about to head out the door when she saw Yugi walking in the opposite direction. She quickened her pace to catch up to him and without looking walked straight into-Seto Kaiba.

"Hey watch it! What the-" Kaiba yelled, spinning around in surprise.

"G-gomen!" Marie gasped, bending down to pick up the books she had dropped. Then she looked up at him and realized who he was. "Oh, it's you." She was still angry at him for what he said to her and wasn't in the mood to deal with him at the moment. However, he was very intimidating with his glare, and she began muttering apologetically, "I didn't mean to run into you. I was in a hurry and wasn't watching where I was going."

"Obviously," Kaiba smirked, but then he bent down to help her pick up her books.

"Um….thanks," she said, "Oh yeah, my name's Marie by the way." He probably thinks I'm a total loser. When he didn't respond she continued. "Yeah, uh, sorry about Tuesday….I don't know why I said that to you."

"Whatever," Kaiba snapped coldly, his smirk turning into a frown, "just make sure that you stay out of my way and don't run into me again!" Then he turned and stalked off down the hall without a backward glance as his trench coat billowed out behind him. She watched him go and sighed.

After a moment she shrugged her shoulders and turned around. She looked up just in time to see Yugi disappear around a corner. "Hey Yugi, wait!" she called, running over to catch up with him. He turned around in surprise. "Hi," she said, "I don't think I ever got to introduce myself the other day; I'm Marie."

"Oh yeah, you're in my history class right?" he asked, smiling slyly at her. Marie nodded. "I'm meeting my friends at an ice cream shop called Dairy Palace, would you like to come too?" he asked her shyly.

"Yeah, that would be great!" Marie replied happily.

"Ok, it's only a few minutes from here so we can walk, that ok with you?" he asked.

"Yup, sounds fine," she smiled.

They walked for a moment in silence before Yugi commented, "Soo………I saw you talking to Kaiba before."

"Wha? Oh no, I wouldn't call that talking. I dropped my books and he was helping me pick them up." She replied hurriedly.

Yugi grinned, "That's odd. Kaiba doesn't usually help people out, especially when he's in one of his moods, like today……….."

Marie groaned inwardly (not Yugi too). "I don't even really know him; I've only seen him on TV."

Yugi glanced up at her curiously, "So you play duel monsters?"

"Mmm, hmm, I learned from my Grandmother who was the city champ when she was younger," Marie replied, happy for the change of subject.

"Wow, you must be really good!" Yugi exclaimed.

Marie just shrugged and then replied, "I'm ok I guess but not nearly as good as you. I heard about how you whooped Kaiba with your Exodia the Forbidden One cards. And you even beat Maximillion Pegasus, the creator of Duel Monsters!" she continued happily. Yugi looked up at her and smiled. "Do you have your Exodia cards with you? May I see them," Marie pleaded.

The smile left Yugi's face and he turned and stared straight ahead. Marie stopped, surprised by Yugi's sudden change in attitude. "I lost my Exodia cards after my duel with Kaiba," he muttered.

"Ohh, I'm sorry-I didn't realize…."

"It's ok," he replied, and then he quickly changed the subject again, "What else do you like to do in your spare time?"

"Um….I enjoy riding horses. I've been riding since I was five," she responded, "and I like to read and write."

"That's cool," Yugi said. "You just moved here right?"

Marie nodded her head, "I moved here at the beginning of last year from Cairo, Egypt because my sister got a job promotion, but I was home schooled before that. I never really have time to get out much, but hopefully that'll change."

"Wow, you used to live in Egypt!" Yugi asked, referring to her last comment. His large violet eyes gleamed with happiness. "What was it like?"

Before Marie could reply however, she and Yugi heard a sound in the ally they were passing. Suddenly three huge guys came out of the shadows and stepped in their path. Marie recognized one as Justin Knotts from history.

"Well, well, well; look what we've got here boys!" he smirked.

"What do you want?" Marie asked them nervously.

"Me and the shrimp have some unfinished business to take care of, baby," he replied menacingly, "so I think it's best if you stay out of the way." One of the thugs came over and grabbed her arm.

"Hey, what are you doing? Get off me!" she shouted, pounding him with her fist.

"Leave her alone Justin!" Yugi shouted, taking a step forward, "it's me you want, keep her out of this!"

"Anyone who's friends with you is an equal target!" Justin sneered back.

"Why don't you come get me?" Yugi mocked, "Or do you have to hide behind your thugs?"

"Yugi," Marie hissed, "what are you doing? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Justin walked threateningly over to Yugi, who glared at him defiantly, and pulled him up off the ground by his hair. "Don't you ever say that again you little twerp. Do you understand?" he growled. Yugi grimaced with pain and closed his eyes, but he refused to answer. This seemed to make Justin angrier and he tossed Yugi back to the ground. He rolled for a few feet and Justin kicked him in the stomach. He groaned slightly, but stood up shakily holding his stomach with his hands. He glared at Justin but said nothing, refusing to fight. Justin then punched him in the face and kneed him in the stomach. Yugi started falling back, and Justin shoved him to make the fall harder. Then he gave Yugi another good kick, much harder than the first, and Yugi fell back to the ground with blood spurting from his mouth, staining the white sidewalk. He groaned and fell back unconscious on the hard pavement.

"Yugi!" Marie cried; she kicked her thug in the shins, and elbowed him in the face with her free arm. He howled with pain and pushed her forcefully up against the brick wall of a nearby building. He raised his arm threateningly and slapped it against the wall, just inches from her head. She flinched, but then bit down hard on his fingers. He cursed loudly and balled his hand into a fist. Marie gasped and braced herself for the blow.

The thug started his punch, but his arm was stopped in mid swing by…..Seto Kaiba? "What do you think you're doing, you bastard?" he snarled as his eyes narrowed dangerously, "Why don't you pick on someone who can fight back?" The thug released Marie and took a swing at Kaiba, who ducked, and kicked the thug's legs out from under him. He crashed down to the ground and slammed his head on the pavement, knocking him out cold. "Funny how we keep running into each other," Kaiba smirked at Marie and then turned and walked calmly toward Justin.

"What do you want?" Justin asked angrily, "Why don't you just mind your own business and let the shrimp and the girl get what's comin' to um?"

The smallest trace of a smile made its way to the corners of Kaiba's lips. "I'm just here to chew bubble gum and kick ass…." He grinned wickedly. "And I'm outta bubble gum."

"What? Who are you?" Justin spat.

Kaiba's blue eyes hardened, and he grunted, "I'm Seto Kaiba, and I'll crush you and your cronies with the entire weight of Kaiba Corporation if you don't get out of my sight right now!"

Justin's eyes grew wide, "It can't be! S-Seto Kaiba?" he took a few steps back, and then turned and fled in the opposite direction. Kaiba watched him run, showing no hint of emotion. After Justin had disappeared around a bend he turned his head and looked at Marie.

"Thank you Seto," she breathed, "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't shown up."

Kaiba tensed slightly, surprised at the use of his first name, but Maria didn't seem to notice. Her attention was drawn to the small boy, who was lying on the pavement and gasped, "Oh no! Yugi!" she ran over and knelt down at his side. "Yugi?" she asked gently, rubbing his shoulder softly. He didn't open his eyes, and Marie looked up at Kaiba who had already started walking away, "Wait! Seto, stop!" she pleaded.

He glared at her for using his first name again and spat out, "What?"

"Come back! Yugi needs help!"

"You can help him yourself, I've already wasted enough time here," he replied coolly, continuing forward.

"PLEASE!" she cried desperately, "he needs to get to a hospital!"

Kaiba stopped, paused for a moment, and then sighed. "Very well, I'll call for someone." Next he spoke onto the microphone in his coat collar. "It's me. Tell Roland to bring the chopper down to the abandoned warehouse on Oak Street, and make it quick. This is an emergency; oh, and Mokuba, tell my secretary to cancel all my appointments for the next few hours."

"Who was that?" Marie asked curiously, momentarily forgetting her problem.

"That was my little brother, Mokuba," Kaiba replied, "not that it's any of your business."

Marie smiled faintly, but turned her attention back to Yugi when he moaned softly. "He's not doing too well," she said, her tone filled with worry. "When's our ride supposed to get here?"

He raised an eyebrow, "Our ride?"

"Yes, I'm coming with you. I want to make sure Yugi's ok."

He was about to protest, but seeing the determined look on Marie's face made the words die on his tongue. "Whatever. Roland should be here in less than five minutes," Kaiba replied, annoyed. "Why do you care about those geeks anyway?"

"I've never had people treat me like they do before. I feel like I'm-accepted." Kaiba rolled his eyes but didn't answer.

The time seemed to drag by until a helicopter finally came into view. The noise of its vibrating wings grew into a roar and the wind beat down on them as the chopper landed in the street. Roland hopped out and opened the door for them as together, Marie and Kaiba hoisted Yugi up and carried him into the helicopter. A young boy with long raven hair, sitting in the passenger seat, looked around and exclaimed, "whoah! What happened to Yugi, big brother?"

"He had an accident," the stoic voice answered.

Marie looked at the young boy curiously and asked, "Is this your little brother, Seto?"

He looked up and grunted in reply, "Yes, this is, Mokuba. Mokuba……Marie."

"Hi!" Mokuba said brightly, "My brother doesn't usually let other people call him by his first name. He must like-"

"That's enough Mokuba," Kaiba snapped, "Roland, what's taking so long? Why aren't we moving?"

"Sorry sir, we'll be up shortly!" said the hurried voice from the cockpit.

"Seto, is Yugi going to be alright?" Mokuba asked, looking down at Yugi's haggard form.

"Of course, Mokuba," Kaiba replied, "don't worry about him, kiddo."

Marie glanced over at Kaiba, who had his lips pressed together in a straight line and was staring out the window. She knew that although Kaiba would never admit it out loud, he was indeed worried about Yugi. She looked back at Yugi who was lying stretched out across two seats. Reaching out, she took his hand and felt his forehead. His skin was cold and clammy as he had lost a lot of blood.

"Mokuba, call the hospital and tell them we're on our way. Then call the Kame Game Shop and tell Yugi's grandfather to meet us at the hospital," Kaiba ordered.

"Ok," Mokuba replied, glad for something to concentrate on.

By the time he had made the calls, the hospital was coming into view. Marie never let go of Yugi's hand and kept encouraging him to hang on. Kaiba continued to stare out the window, deep in thought. When the chopper finally landed in the hospital's parking lot, three nurses came running out of the building with a stretcher. Kaiba and Marie once again carried Yugi out of the helicopter and placed him gently onto the stretcher.

"What happened to him?" one of the nurses asked Kaiba.

"She can answer better than me," he grunted, nodding his head at Marie.

"He was beaten up really badly, by some jerks in an ally," she replied, still fuming.

"Ok, thank you for your cooperation," the nurse said, "we will take him from here, but you may stay in the waiting room for an update on his condition if you would like." With that, the nurses whisked Yugi away. Marie watched him disappear into the large brick building for a moment before turning to Kaiba. "Do you have money?" Marie asked, "I have to call my grandma to let her know where I am." Kaiba, surprised that she didn't have a cell phone with her, handed over some money, and she walked inside the hospital to make the call.

"Sir, would you like me to wait here?" came Roland's voice from inside the helicopter. Kaiba didn't answer but dismissed his offer with a wave of his hand. Roland, knowing this was Kaiba's way of telling him to leave, started the chopper back up, but Mokuba stopped him. "Big brother, are you sure you'll be ok?" he asked in concern.

"Of course Mokuba," Kaiba snorted, turning his back on his brother and walking slowly up the walk to Domino Hospital. "I'll be home later."

"Ok, if you're sure," the small boy replied hesitantly. The helicopter rose slowly into the air, spun slowly around, and flew up out of sight. Soon only the faint hum of the beating wings in the distance could be heard. Kaiba took a deep breath, and opened the door to the hospital.

Marie, who was in the waiting room, finished her call and chose a comfortable chair to relax in. She picked up one of the magazines that littered a nearby table and began to read. It had been a hectic day, and she was due for a break. Suddenly she gasped as a thought came to her; none of Yugi's friends knew he was here or even what had happened for that matter. I have to let them know what happened, so they don't worry about him, she thought, and then she smirked. There was little chance that they would not worry, even if she told them what happened and that he was in good hands. They had proven that to her in history the first day………She got up quickly and walked down the hall to the main exit just as Kaiba opened the door to come inside. Marie stopped in surprise and asked, "What are you still doing here? I thought you had things to do."

Kaiba shrugged carelessly, "I had a change of plans. Where are you going?"

"Umm…I just remembered, Yugi was supposed to meet his friends at some ice cream shop or something, but I can't remember the name." Marie explained. "It was like Dairy something, Dairy-"

"Dairy Palace," Kaiba remarked calmly.

"Yes! That's it.......Do you know where it is?"

"Yes."

"Will you show me?"

"Why would I want to waste my time helping you?"

"Uh, because you're a nice guy, and you have nothing better to do," Marie smiled innocently.

Kaiba was silent for a moment before at last muttering a reply. He turned and began walking briskly in the other direction, and Marie had to jog to catch up with him. "I'm only helping you this once," he snapped, "don't expect me to go out of my way for you and your friends again. And don't," he raised an eyebrow at her, "go spreading this around."

Marie looked up at him in slight confusion, "Uh, ok." They walked together in silence for a few minutes until she blurted out, "This is going to sound weird, but I feel like I've met you before."

Kaiba stopped and turned to her with a curious expression.

"I know it sounds crazy," she continued hastily, "but the moment I saw you I felt like I'd known you for like my whole life." Why did I tell him that? She turned to him slowly, "Did you feel like that-at all?" Kaiba stayed silent for a moment before turning away from her and focusing straight ahead. He indeed had had a weird feeling like he'd met the girl somewhere before, but he wasn't about to admit that aloud. Marie took his silence as a yes.

"Maybe our meeting was fate," she joked.

Kaiba snorted and turned away, "Oh please, not that destiny nonsense. You're beginning to sound like Yugi."

Marie blushed a light pink and reworded her answer slightly to appease him, "Or maybe we were both just in the right place at the right time." Kaiba grunted in reply.

After awhile, Kaiba led Marie to a small café with an aluminum ice cream cone on the roof with the words, Dairy Palace. They walked in and Marie scanned the tables for Yugi's friends; considering they were just about the only people in the building, they were not hard to find. Tea, Tristan, Joey, Ryou, and a boy who Marie had never met before were sitting at a small table in the corner of the shop. "Hey," she waved, jogging over to join them.

"Hey yourself," Joey replied.

"Want to join us for some ice cream?" Tea asked pleasantly. "Or do you already have plans?" She raised an eyebrow at Kaiba, who was standing in the doorway.

"Well…not exactly," Marie answered, shaking her head slightly.

"Is something wrong?" Tea asked, noticing Marie's grim expression.

"Um….yeah…the reason I came here was to tell you that Yugi….Yugi's in the hospital." she finished quickly. Then she tensed, waiting for their responses.

"WHAT? YUGI-KUN?" Tea exclaimed, dropping whatever it was she had been holding.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" Joey and Tristan both yelled in unison as the goofy looks on their faces turned into horrified stares. Ryou's eyes were as wide as saucers, and the boy whom Marie didn't know had a confused expression on his face as if wondering what could possibly have happened to Yugi to cause him to be sent to the hospital.

"I was walking with him and we were coming to meet up with you guys, when that jerk, Justin Knotts, stopped us and beat him up pretty badly."

"What!" Joey growled, "why dat no good motha fu-"

"JOEY!"

"I outta make him pay for what he did right now!" he fumed.

"Don't be a moron, Wheeler," Kaiba jeered, walking up behind Marie, "You'd have no chance against him in a brawl." He paused, pretending to think, "On the other hand, yes, go try to fight him. It would be very amusing."

"Oh, and I suppose you could take him, tough guy?" Joey challenged. Kaiba just smirked.

"Come on you guys, stop fighting," Tea exclaimed in annoyance, "we have to get to the hospital to see Yugi!"

"You're right Tea, and besides, the atmosphere in here is gettin' a little too stuck up and arrogant for me, if ya get ma drift," Joey answered. "I think we should leave before we all catch Kaiba-itis."

"Third rate duelist."

"Sleaze ball!"

"Chihuahua."

"Bastard! Tea, can I borrow your cell phone?" Joey asked Tea before Kaiba could respond, "I have ta call Mai `cause I know she'll want ta visit Yugi too."

"Uhh, come ON Joey!" Tea exclaimed grabbing him by the ear and pulling him out the door. "You can call Mai when we get to the hospital." Marie stifled a giggle as she heard Joey howl with pain, trying to get Tea to release his sore ear.

"Hey, did anyone pay for the bill?" she heard Ryou ask softly, as he, Tristan, and the other guy headed to the door.

"I don't think so Bakura, but keep your trap shut and nobody'll know!" Tristan hissed as they left the café.

Marie giggled at their antics, but Kaiba rolled his eyes and muttered, "Morons," under his breath.

After a few moments of silence, Marie turned to Kaiba with a nervous expression, the smile gone from her lips. "Um," she began hesitantly, "I-I just want to thank you again for what you did for Yugi and me, a-and I want to apologize for the way I acted before."

"You already apologized." he replied, "It's no big deal. I'll live." He turned and headed for the door.

"Wait!" Marie called after him. He turned around and regarded her calmly with his arms crossed over his chest. "Er," she said in embarrassment, "since we're already here……Would you like to get some ice cream? It'll be my treat…."

Kaiba didn't say anything at first but only studied her in amusement. Here was a girl who had hated his guts only a few days ago and was now offering to buy him ice cream-go figure, but it's not as though the Seto Kaiba would ever be caught dead at an ice cream shop with a girl no less. Still……she did owe him for helping her out, and he could use a break from work. He had been working non stop for the last week on the newest model of his virtual reality pod. At last he cocked his head and asked, "If I agree, will you quite your wining and leave me alone?" Marie nodded slowly, slightly confused by his attitude. "Fine then."

She gave him a timid smile, ignoring the swooning feeling in her stomach, and went to the counter to order two chocolate cones. She also ordered a hot chocolate for herself and a black decaf coffee-a request from Kaiba.

As they sat, enjoying their cones, Marie tried to figure Kaiba out. She realized that although he acted tough on the outside, it was only an act to hide his insecure feelings on the inside, and she was determined to find out why.

After they'd finished their cones and drinks, Kaiba led Marie out of the shop and they took a walk downtown. He didn't say very much, so it was up to her to start all the conversations. She got him talking about his company and the pressures of running a business as successful as his while still being in school. She asked him why he just didn't drop out of school now since he was already a millionaire and wouldn't need to go to college if he chose not to. After all, he already knew what he'd be doing once he was finished with his studies. His response surprised her. He told her that he was still in school because he wanted to be a good role model for Mokuba, and if he dropped out now, then he'd have no right to stop Mokuba from dropping out when he turned sixteen. He told her that he wanted Mokuba to have a choice of whether he ran the company when he got older or not, and staying in school would allow him that choice.

Marie glanced up at Kaiba admiringly. He truly did care about his little brother.

The subject changed to childhoods, but Marie found it much more difficult to encourage Seto to talk. This was obviously a sensitive topic to him. However, she did find out exactly why Kaiba had started shutting people out of his life. Marie listened carefully, and gave Kaiba her full attention when he spoke; little by little he started letting out everything he had kept bottled up inside him for all those years, and the more Marie learned, the more she realized just how many things they had in common.

Marie had been found by Gran and Becky at a museum in Cairo, Egypt. She had had amnesia and was so confused that she couldn't even tell them who she was. The museum manager said she had been hanging around there for a few days and didn't seem to have any family, so they took her in and became her legal guardians. Marie sometimes had trouble making friends, but she didn't shut people out of her life entirely like Kaiba had. She couldn't even remember her life up until Gran and Becky rescued her.

Marie had such a good time with Kaiba that she had lost all track of time, and it had grown very dark. She glanced down at her watch and noticed that it was 9:45 P.M.

"Oh wow, I have to get home!" she exclaimed, "Thanks for hanging out with me, Seto."

"Wait," Kaiba said, reaching out and catching her arm before she could go anywhere. Marie looked at him in surprise. She searched his eyes and saw a mixture of emotions. "I'm sorry Seto. I have to go. I don't want Gran to worry about me." He released her arm after a few moments, and she smiled at him before heading the opposite direction toward her house.

"Marie!" He called out softly after her. She stopped and turned around. "Maybe we could do this again sometime," he said giving her a rare and genuine smile. She grinned back and said, "I'd like that a lot, Seto."

PT: Ok, there you go. I would really, really, REALLY appreciate reviews to let me know how I'm doing, and I'd appreciate reviews for my other story A Beacon of Hope as well. Thanks!