Categories > Anime/Manga > Yu-Gi-Oh! > [ Bend and Not Break ] [ A Seto Kaiba Story ]
The umbrella taunts and twists in the raging winds before it is finally blown out of your clutches and flung headlong into the haphazardous slew of rain, sleet and hail. With shaking hands you turn up the collar of your rain coat, trying feebly to keep out the brutal assault of the chilling rain as you catch one last fleeting glimpse of the umbrella as the wind carried it away into the hazy unknown shrouds of fog.
Idly, you wonder if the same fate would have befallen yourself if you allowed Seto to sweep you off your feet, plunging you into a future as obscurely unpredictable as this raging storm. You would laugh at that could your throat permit it, having vaguely realized your feet were moving on their own accord down the drenched sidewalks to the blazing neon sign of the coffee shop, which is now a dim glow amidst the thundering rain.
Dutifully, you push all absurd thoughts of the man in question to the far unreachable back of your mind, where it lingers absentmindedly replaying the affairs of yesterday as if to slowly drive you insane. It was all so vivid now, these thoughts of him which were almost tangible. You could still feel the intensity of the kiss, and the intoxication of his sweet passion, duly you note that you had somehow finally arrived at your destination. As you push aside the doors and feel the warmth and the rich scent of the bitter sweet brew, you could scarcely remember feeling more relieved to be at work.
That is, until you see Kaede engage in a bitter showdown with a rather stocky, short bald man. He is sweating and yelling and clutching the handle of an ivory coffee mug with such force that his knuckles turn the same bone white color as the cup.
"I demand a refund!" the stocky bald man exclaims, lunging the empty coffee mug towards the skeptical Kaede with much vigor. "I ordered a /cappuccino/, and you gave me a /french vanilla cappuccino/."
"Sorry sir, but I can't give you a refund." She calmly points out, devoid of her usually bubbly borderline annoying attitude, looking at the line to the cash register, which was getting increasingly longer. She sighs, using her free hands to dry a newly washed mug with much more force then necessary.
He looks taken aback, and he thrusts his empty cup once more before slamming it down on the counter, "And why not? Are you deaf, or just incapable of doing your job and making me a cappuccino?!"
She snaps, and the clean cup thunders onto the table, while Kaede looks down at the stocky man with a rage in her eyes that you can only receive from coffee house employees during the morning rush. "I can't give you a refund because you drank the cappuccino, you idiot. How do you expect to get a refund for a drink you already drank?"
"I had to drink it all, how else could I tell if it was what I ordered or not?" he asks, with a rather matter-of-fact tone, while customers murmur behind the two. You sigh, wishing you had some more Tylenol in which to nurture your newly formed migraine with.
Kaede composes herself and smiles in a strange, venomous way."Are you just trying to scam a poor, sweet, innocent young woman into giving you free coffee? How am I supposed to know what was in that empty cup, do I look like Ms. Cleo to you?"
"If this is your idea of satisfactory customer service, then you just lost yourself a customer." he snaps, pausing to scratch his head before turning sharply and pausing again as if waiting to be handed a cappuccino and an apology.
Cringing and fumbling around in your coat pockets for a Kleenex, you count down in your head for when the typical, smart-ass Kaede remark would be made.
5...4....The stocky bald man was still waiting....3.....2....
Kaede sighs an overdramatized sigh of relief. With her hand on her forehead, Kaede's tone resembles that of a damsel in distress, "Oh, and I just lost myself a giant pain in the ass."
For a moment it looks as if the stocky bald man had mistaken "giant pain in the ass" for "medium cappuccino on the house," but then he whips around and stares at her with disbelief. "This is absurd! I am taking my business elsewhere!"
As he storms out and the door slams shut, Kaede returns to her normal demeanor and smiles at the door, giving it an unusually cheery "Thank you, come again." She then whirls around to the throng of horrified people waiting for their coffee. "Now, who's next in line?"
Nobody moves for a second or two. You slip off your coat, don the uniform apron and get behind another cash register, and as the morning rush subsides you manage to regain composure and not sneeze a giant wad of snot in anybody's coffee, but you feel the floor slip out from under you at several occasions. But it was nothing another Tylenol couldnt fix.
Once the stream of caffeine addicted customers has ceased, you feel relieved, but the task of focusing on the burning pain at the back of your throat was becoming more and more prominent. Clasping the handle of a steeping cup of tea (Tea...in a coffee house? Sacrilege!) you attempt to quench the dryness in your mouth and get rid of the grating sandpaper feeling that had swollen your tonsils to the size of golf balls.
Right about now, you would rather witness another raging war with the stocky, bald man from earlier in the morning than be feeling so sick. You dry swallow another little pill as a flustered Nahoko putters around, perfecting the art of looking busy yet not really managing to get any work done at all.
She pauses for a moment, "You look like crap," she remarks, and then flutters back to doing whatever "work" she is doing.
Time seems to drag on into a gentle, drizzly, gray afternoon. Outside of the warmth and (sometimes) peaceful coffee house the drenched sidewalks start to fill with the early flow of lunch-breakers, clasping the handle of an umbrella with one hand and the handle of a brief case in another, marching on dutifully to and fro with purpose. A familiar feeling began to rise up from the bowels of your stomach and the world came in and out of focus as your dreary eyelids closed of their own accord, eager for sleep.
You grope for another Kleenex as Kaede finishes cleaning the discarded coffee cups off the tables and pauses.
"You look like crap." she muses aloud.
Sniffling, you scrounge for another tissue, and manage a comeback, "It had to be today that I receive such wonderful compliments, right?"
"Yep." Kaede grins, as you blow your nose. The phone suddenly rings, and your eyes turn to it, hoping to set fire to the dreadfully annoying machine.
"You can take it." you mutter, as you stir a large cup of hot chocolate, hoping it will tend to your stuffy nose. You sniffle and look at Kaede, the phone perched on her shoulder, as you sip the warm, creamy drink.
"KL Cafe, Kaede speaking, how may I help you?" she answers the phone, as you irritably smother a cough in the back of your throat. You watch her as she takes the call, still as bubbly and peppy as she usually is, even though she was a complete wreck this morning. You groan, and turn to reach for the box of Kleenex, while Kaede sets a large black coffee down next to your hand. Kaede twists the phone cord around her finger, "Yes, sir. We'll have that ready for you, and you can pick it up whenever you want," she pauses. "Thank you. Goodbye."
You shoot Kaede a silly grin. "KL Cafe, Kaede speaking, how may I help you, tee-hee!"
"Very funny, ____. Why don't you take the rest of the day off?" she gives you a sympathetic look as you sniffle in discomfort.
"Why?" you ask, and brush her aside.
"Because you're spreading the plague!" Kaede exclaims, as she dramatically throws her hands up in the air. When she realizes you're ignoring her, while you wash the dirty dishes in the sink, she continues, "If you leave, I'll send some soup home or something."
You stop to nearly cough up a lung, and Kaede rolls her eyes. With that, you turn to your friend who gives you a horribly sweet smile, and you sigh. "Fine. I'll leave. But I don't want to hear about all the work you had to do on your own because I stayed at home," you smile. "Plus, I'll be expecting that soup later."
Kaede hands you your purse, and replies, "Deal."
You shove a dish towel into Nahoko's hand and turn to grab your coat. She fumes as you walk away, and when the door to KL Cafe slams shut, you can almost hear Nahoko's rant buzzing around in your head as you walk back down the street to find your car which was so conveniently parked three blocks away.
*
Later that evening, the ceiling of your living room comes into focus, as you slowly wake up. You lean back onto the couch and stretch, reaching for the television remote that's lying on the clean glass center table, and forgetting about the empty mug in your lap, you lean forward, and almost drop it on the carpeted floor. You sigh in relief, glad that you didn't spill the last remnants of hot chocolate that the mug contained. "Phew." you set the cup on the center table and quickly decide that it's time to summon a couple of blankets, and watch some lame soap operas.
Unsure of the exact time, your eyes quickly dart to the digital clock on the microwave, as you trudge down the hall to your room. It's a good half an hour after eight, and the perfect time to call Kaede up to see how things went at work. The bedroom door opens with a creak, and you scoop a few blankets up into your arms, and toss the phone onto the bed. Feeling slightly better than you did earlier, your lips curl into a small smile, and you dial in Kaede's number, before balancing the phone on your shoulder.
"Hey, this is Kaede. I'm not available at the moment, so please leave your name, number and a quick message and I'll be sure to get back to you. Thanks for calling!"
You smirk at her stupid answering machine, and leave a message. "It's ____. Call me."
With that, you hang up. A blinking red light on your voice mail catches your attention, and you push the worn in "listen" button.
The recorded voice begins its introduction, "Message received at two fifty-three PM,"
You listen to Kaede's familiar voice on the other line. "Hey, It's Kaede! Just letting you know that I'll be by later tonight, to see how you're doing. If you need anything give me a call. Work was murder without you today, so get well soon. See you later!"
You delete the message, and walk back to the living room with a smile, "She's probably on her way then."
As soon as you set your blankets down, the phone rings, as if on cue. You rush to it, and push the speaker phone button, so you can attend to the dirty dishes. "Hello?"
"Feeling better?" Kaede asks, as you walk to the kitchen.
You smile and turn the water on, twisting the handle to the left so that it's warm enough. "You can say that. What happened at work?"
"It was just a long, long day."
"I see. I thought you were heading over here sometime." you inquire, as you twist a strand of your bed tossed hair around your finger.
"I'm working on it!" she shrieks, and just as you're about to fire off a retort, there's a soft knock on the door.
Your eyes widen, and you clear your throat. "Kaede..."
"What?" her voice practically echoes throughout the house, and you snatch the phone, turning the speaker phone off.
"I don't think you should come over. I have a visitor." you hiss.
"Uhh...okay?" she says, her tone showing more than a hint of confusion.
"Someone just knocked on the door." you inform her, slightly irritated.
"Oh, that's right! I sent that smug-looking hotshot hunk you're obsessed with over to your house with that soup I promised!" Kaede says, smothering a girlish giggle.
"You /what/?!" you exclaim into the phone.
But before you know it, the line's dead, and there's another knock at the door. You groan, and walk over to it, hoping you'll be able to scare Seto away with your newly stricken state.
Idly, you wonder if the same fate would have befallen yourself if you allowed Seto to sweep you off your feet, plunging you into a future as obscurely unpredictable as this raging storm. You would laugh at that could your throat permit it, having vaguely realized your feet were moving on their own accord down the drenched sidewalks to the blazing neon sign of the coffee shop, which is now a dim glow amidst the thundering rain.
Dutifully, you push all absurd thoughts of the man in question to the far unreachable back of your mind, where it lingers absentmindedly replaying the affairs of yesterday as if to slowly drive you insane. It was all so vivid now, these thoughts of him which were almost tangible. You could still feel the intensity of the kiss, and the intoxication of his sweet passion, duly you note that you had somehow finally arrived at your destination. As you push aside the doors and feel the warmth and the rich scent of the bitter sweet brew, you could scarcely remember feeling more relieved to be at work.
That is, until you see Kaede engage in a bitter showdown with a rather stocky, short bald man. He is sweating and yelling and clutching the handle of an ivory coffee mug with such force that his knuckles turn the same bone white color as the cup.
"I demand a refund!" the stocky bald man exclaims, lunging the empty coffee mug towards the skeptical Kaede with much vigor. "I ordered a /cappuccino/, and you gave me a /french vanilla cappuccino/."
"Sorry sir, but I can't give you a refund." She calmly points out, devoid of her usually bubbly borderline annoying attitude, looking at the line to the cash register, which was getting increasingly longer. She sighs, using her free hands to dry a newly washed mug with much more force then necessary.
He looks taken aback, and he thrusts his empty cup once more before slamming it down on the counter, "And why not? Are you deaf, or just incapable of doing your job and making me a cappuccino?!"
She snaps, and the clean cup thunders onto the table, while Kaede looks down at the stocky man with a rage in her eyes that you can only receive from coffee house employees during the morning rush. "I can't give you a refund because you drank the cappuccino, you idiot. How do you expect to get a refund for a drink you already drank?"
"I had to drink it all, how else could I tell if it was what I ordered or not?" he asks, with a rather matter-of-fact tone, while customers murmur behind the two. You sigh, wishing you had some more Tylenol in which to nurture your newly formed migraine with.
Kaede composes herself and smiles in a strange, venomous way."Are you just trying to scam a poor, sweet, innocent young woman into giving you free coffee? How am I supposed to know what was in that empty cup, do I look like Ms. Cleo to you?"
"If this is your idea of satisfactory customer service, then you just lost yourself a customer." he snaps, pausing to scratch his head before turning sharply and pausing again as if waiting to be handed a cappuccino and an apology.
Cringing and fumbling around in your coat pockets for a Kleenex, you count down in your head for when the typical, smart-ass Kaede remark would be made.
5...4....The stocky bald man was still waiting....3.....2....
Kaede sighs an overdramatized sigh of relief. With her hand on her forehead, Kaede's tone resembles that of a damsel in distress, "Oh, and I just lost myself a giant pain in the ass."
For a moment it looks as if the stocky bald man had mistaken "giant pain in the ass" for "medium cappuccino on the house," but then he whips around and stares at her with disbelief. "This is absurd! I am taking my business elsewhere!"
As he storms out and the door slams shut, Kaede returns to her normal demeanor and smiles at the door, giving it an unusually cheery "Thank you, come again." She then whirls around to the throng of horrified people waiting for their coffee. "Now, who's next in line?"
Nobody moves for a second or two. You slip off your coat, don the uniform apron and get behind another cash register, and as the morning rush subsides you manage to regain composure and not sneeze a giant wad of snot in anybody's coffee, but you feel the floor slip out from under you at several occasions. But it was nothing another Tylenol couldnt fix.
Once the stream of caffeine addicted customers has ceased, you feel relieved, but the task of focusing on the burning pain at the back of your throat was becoming more and more prominent. Clasping the handle of a steeping cup of tea (Tea...in a coffee house? Sacrilege!) you attempt to quench the dryness in your mouth and get rid of the grating sandpaper feeling that had swollen your tonsils to the size of golf balls.
Right about now, you would rather witness another raging war with the stocky, bald man from earlier in the morning than be feeling so sick. You dry swallow another little pill as a flustered Nahoko putters around, perfecting the art of looking busy yet not really managing to get any work done at all.
She pauses for a moment, "You look like crap," she remarks, and then flutters back to doing whatever "work" she is doing.
Time seems to drag on into a gentle, drizzly, gray afternoon. Outside of the warmth and (sometimes) peaceful coffee house the drenched sidewalks start to fill with the early flow of lunch-breakers, clasping the handle of an umbrella with one hand and the handle of a brief case in another, marching on dutifully to and fro with purpose. A familiar feeling began to rise up from the bowels of your stomach and the world came in and out of focus as your dreary eyelids closed of their own accord, eager for sleep.
You grope for another Kleenex as Kaede finishes cleaning the discarded coffee cups off the tables and pauses.
"You look like crap." she muses aloud.
Sniffling, you scrounge for another tissue, and manage a comeback, "It had to be today that I receive such wonderful compliments, right?"
"Yep." Kaede grins, as you blow your nose. The phone suddenly rings, and your eyes turn to it, hoping to set fire to the dreadfully annoying machine.
"You can take it." you mutter, as you stir a large cup of hot chocolate, hoping it will tend to your stuffy nose. You sniffle and look at Kaede, the phone perched on her shoulder, as you sip the warm, creamy drink.
"KL Cafe, Kaede speaking, how may I help you?" she answers the phone, as you irritably smother a cough in the back of your throat. You watch her as she takes the call, still as bubbly and peppy as she usually is, even though she was a complete wreck this morning. You groan, and turn to reach for the box of Kleenex, while Kaede sets a large black coffee down next to your hand. Kaede twists the phone cord around her finger, "Yes, sir. We'll have that ready for you, and you can pick it up whenever you want," she pauses. "Thank you. Goodbye."
You shoot Kaede a silly grin. "KL Cafe, Kaede speaking, how may I help you, tee-hee!"
"Very funny, ____. Why don't you take the rest of the day off?" she gives you a sympathetic look as you sniffle in discomfort.
"Why?" you ask, and brush her aside.
"Because you're spreading the plague!" Kaede exclaims, as she dramatically throws her hands up in the air. When she realizes you're ignoring her, while you wash the dirty dishes in the sink, she continues, "If you leave, I'll send some soup home or something."
You stop to nearly cough up a lung, and Kaede rolls her eyes. With that, you turn to your friend who gives you a horribly sweet smile, and you sigh. "Fine. I'll leave. But I don't want to hear about all the work you had to do on your own because I stayed at home," you smile. "Plus, I'll be expecting that soup later."
Kaede hands you your purse, and replies, "Deal."
You shove a dish towel into Nahoko's hand and turn to grab your coat. She fumes as you walk away, and when the door to KL Cafe slams shut, you can almost hear Nahoko's rant buzzing around in your head as you walk back down the street to find your car which was so conveniently parked three blocks away.
*
Later that evening, the ceiling of your living room comes into focus, as you slowly wake up. You lean back onto the couch and stretch, reaching for the television remote that's lying on the clean glass center table, and forgetting about the empty mug in your lap, you lean forward, and almost drop it on the carpeted floor. You sigh in relief, glad that you didn't spill the last remnants of hot chocolate that the mug contained. "Phew." you set the cup on the center table and quickly decide that it's time to summon a couple of blankets, and watch some lame soap operas.
Unsure of the exact time, your eyes quickly dart to the digital clock on the microwave, as you trudge down the hall to your room. It's a good half an hour after eight, and the perfect time to call Kaede up to see how things went at work. The bedroom door opens with a creak, and you scoop a few blankets up into your arms, and toss the phone onto the bed. Feeling slightly better than you did earlier, your lips curl into a small smile, and you dial in Kaede's number, before balancing the phone on your shoulder.
"Hey, this is Kaede. I'm not available at the moment, so please leave your name, number and a quick message and I'll be sure to get back to you. Thanks for calling!"
You smirk at her stupid answering machine, and leave a message. "It's ____. Call me."
With that, you hang up. A blinking red light on your voice mail catches your attention, and you push the worn in "listen" button.
The recorded voice begins its introduction, "Message received at two fifty-three PM,"
You listen to Kaede's familiar voice on the other line. "Hey, It's Kaede! Just letting you know that I'll be by later tonight, to see how you're doing. If you need anything give me a call. Work was murder without you today, so get well soon. See you later!"
You delete the message, and walk back to the living room with a smile, "She's probably on her way then."
As soon as you set your blankets down, the phone rings, as if on cue. You rush to it, and push the speaker phone button, so you can attend to the dirty dishes. "Hello?"
"Feeling better?" Kaede asks, as you walk to the kitchen.
You smile and turn the water on, twisting the handle to the left so that it's warm enough. "You can say that. What happened at work?"
"It was just a long, long day."
"I see. I thought you were heading over here sometime." you inquire, as you twist a strand of your bed tossed hair around your finger.
"I'm working on it!" she shrieks, and just as you're about to fire off a retort, there's a soft knock on the door.
Your eyes widen, and you clear your throat. "Kaede..."
"What?" her voice practically echoes throughout the house, and you snatch the phone, turning the speaker phone off.
"I don't think you should come over. I have a visitor." you hiss.
"Uhh...okay?" she says, her tone showing more than a hint of confusion.
"Someone just knocked on the door." you inform her, slightly irritated.
"Oh, that's right! I sent that smug-looking hotshot hunk you're obsessed with over to your house with that soup I promised!" Kaede says, smothering a girlish giggle.
"You /what/?!" you exclaim into the phone.
But before you know it, the line's dead, and there's another knock at the door. You groan, and walk over to it, hoping you'll be able to scare Seto away with your newly stricken state.
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