Hello all! Well this is my second YGO fanfic, a multi-chapter story that is basically a Seto/Serenity fic with some Joey/Mai in it. I hope that everyone who reads this story of mine enjoys it greatly and please, feel free to leave me a review! I will greatly appreciate it and thank you so much! Oh, and just to let you know, I only own the plot of this story, not Yu-Gi-Oh!
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Prologue
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A wonderful reviewer of this story asked me to set the storyline by providing profiles for each major character (i.e. to establish age, personality, etc.) There are no OOC situations in this story, but I also thought it would be helpful to present the profiles for more in-depth character analysis.
Profiles:
Seto Kaiba: Rich, handsome, powerful and influential, Kaiba is the head of his own multi-billion dollar company and rules over it, along with every other aspect of his life, with an iron fist. Cold, smart, ruthless, but not heartless, he thinks friendship is a waste of time and cares for no one besides his only other living relative, his little brother Mokuba. Things start to change, however, after the enigmatic Kaiba finds himself in a peculiar situation with a young girl named Serenity. Along with getting to know Serenity, Kaiba is now having to look at his life in a different light and discover who he truly is. As for appearance, Seto has brown hair and piercing blue eyes and, along with running his own company, is a senior at Domino High School. Seto is eighteen years of age.
Serenity Wheeler: Young, pretty, and innocent to the point of being naïve, Serenity unintentionally met Kaiba late one night after getting into a bad situation. Feeling indebted for his help, Serenity tries to make friends with the guarded Seto Kaiba and earn his trust. Serenity has an older brother, Joey, and also attends Domino High School, where she is a junior. Serenity has light brown hair and warm hazel eyes, and is seventeen years old.
Joey Wheeler: Serenity's older brother, Joey is a friendly, easy-going, if not too smart, guy. He would do anything to protect his little sister and is loyal to his friends till the end. Never having gotten along with Kaiba, Joey hates the fact that his sister is interested in getting to know Kaiba better and vehemently denies the fact that Kaiba is "good". Distrustful of Kaiba, he does not approve of Serenity visiting him and, if he could help it, would cut off any and all ties to the rich CEO in a heartbeat. Joey has blond hair and brown eyes and, like Kaiba, is a senior at Domino High School. He has a crush on his friend Mai and is eighteen years old.
Mai Valentine: Rich, pretty, and younger then she looks, Mai is a fiery young woman who is a force to be reckoned with. Smart and witty, she is a friend to both Joey and Serenity and would stand by them throughout anything. Although she constantly teases Joey, she knows she has a crush on him and is embarrassed to show it any other way. With curly blond hair and sharp violet eyes, she speaks her mind and doesn't let anyone intimidate her. She attends Domino High, where she is a senior. Mai is eighteen years old.
Mokuba Kaiba: Mokuba Kaiba is Seto Kaiba's younger brother and only other living relative. Young, energetic and fun-loving, Mokuba has not had life wear him down as it has done with Seto. He makes friends easily and keeps his heart full of hope. Mokuba wishes to find peace for his turmoiled older brother. Mokuba has shaggy black hair down to the middle of his back and large, dark eyes. He is fourteen years old.
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The Meaning of Life
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1. Of Thoughts & Decisions
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'What is the meaning of life?' Seto Kaiba thought, staring blankly at his computer screen. The brown haired CEO was leaning back in his chair, his chin in his hand. It was after hours at KaibaCorp, and there he sat, once again, working until all hours of the night.
Or at least he was working, that is, until his mind decided to turn to its own thoughts instead of finishing up that day's work.
'What is the meaning of all of this? Kaiba thought again. 'Every day I sit here, at my desk, and everything is always the same.'
His cool blue eyes suddenly focused on what was on his monitor. 'Nothing but the same thing, day in and day out. What does it all mean?'
He brought his hands up to his pale face and rubbed it. "God I need some sleep," he said out loud, "For once I think all of this work is finally getting to me. Ha, look, I've even started talking to myself." He sighed. "I really do need to leave."
He reached his hand out and turned off his computer. "This can wait." he said. He stood, placed some papers into his briefcase, and snapped it shut.
Walking to his office door, he took one look back at his cold, deserted office. There wasn't much in it except for the necessities. No pictures hanging, no plants, nothing personal at all. His office never seemed warm. It only seemed sharp and cold, as if it were a knife waiting to cut you as you walked in.
He sighed softly and lowered his eyes as he turned off the lights, shut the door behind him, and made his way out.
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Earlier that day
"Hey Joey, aren't you even going to wait for your baby sister?" Serenity gasped, light brown hair flying, as she ran to catch up with her big brother. School had just let out and she had seen Joey making his way out to the parking lot without her.
"Oh, hey Serenity." Joey said, smiling. "Heehee…guess I just got caught up in my own thoughts. But hey, I got some exciting news though."
"Oh yeah?" Serenity answered, "What's that?"
"Heehee…," Joey said, "Well you know how I was lookin for a job?"
"Yeah." said Serenity, expectantly. She looked up at him, enjoying how happy her blond big brother seemed to be.
"Well," Joey continued, "I was tellin that to Yuge and the gang earlier, and Yugi mentioned that his grandpa was looking for someone to be a clerk at his shop! Isn't that so cool Serenity?" Joey's smile spread even wider across his face. "Well I was just about to go and tell him that he can quit lookin cause I'm his man!"
Serenity laughed while her brother pointed to himself. "Oh wow, Joey," she told him, "That's great! I sure hope you get it!" She beamed up at him.
"Whadya mean, you hope I get it?" Joey said, looking at her, "Of course I'm gonna get it! Ol' Gramps Motou can't resist this mug! Just watch me!"
Serenity laughed as Joey started jumping up and down in excitement. "Alright Joey, just don't go in there and call him 'Gramps' ok?" They both laughed at this. It was true; Joey had been talking about getting a job for weeks now.
Money had been tight, and even she was thinking about getting one. Anything to help out, anyway. It was hard with just the two of them.
"Well, I think that's great Joey," Serenity said to him, "And I know you'll get it. So go ahead and go over. I'll just walk home with Téa, or maybe I'll hitch a ride with Mai." Serenity ignored the slight blush that came over Joey's face when she had mentioned the blond bombshell Mai Valentine. She wasn't about to get into twenty minutes of trying to calm him down as he loudly proclaimed all the reasons why he didn't like Mai.
"Anyway, don't worry about me," she continued, "I'll be fine."
"Ok then, Serenity." Joey said, "then I'll see you at home later on, k?" Joey started running to where his car waited for him. "Ok!" Serenity yelled out to him, waving at him as he sped away. She watched him get into his car and drive away. Fast.
She turned back around, facing the school, and placed a hand on her hip. 'Hmmmm…now I wonder where Mai or Téa could be?' she thought, trying to think back to when they were talking about their plans earlier that day at lunchtime. 'Oh, Serenity, baka!' she thought, 'Mai had an appointment with her beautician right after school and Téa was going to go check out some dance class.' She groaned, and then looked up at the clear December sky. 'Oh well,' she thought, 'I guess today's not that bad…I might as well take my time and walk home.'
She started out of the parking lot and made her way down the street. She didn't live too far away, but then again, she didn't live too close either. She figured that within twenty minutes she would be home.
'This really is a nice day for a walk,' she thought to herself, 'Maybe I should go by that old park near my house later on. It would be a nice change of scenery and I could sit at a picnic table and study for awhile.'
After awhile, she turned down the street she lived on and made her way up to the apartment that she and Joey shared. Unlocking the front door, she made her way inside and threw her backpack and books on the small couch in the living room.
'I'll just leave a note for Joey…' she thought, picking up a writing tablet by the phone. She wrote him a brief message that said she was down at the park if he got home before she came back. While she was writing this, her stomach growled.
'Ohhhh…' she thought, 'maybe I'll just have a quick bite to eat before I leave.'
She made herself a sandwich and then sat down on the couch, turning on the TV to watch some anime.
When she was done, she looked up at the clock and saw that it was getting late. 'Oh no,' she thought, 'If I want to get some studying done then I better hurry.'
She grabbed her backpack and a few books and made her way out the door. As she started walking down the street, she hummed a bit to herself and thought of how peaceful it was outside.
Usually Joey was bugging her for something or another, but with him at the game shop, she felt like she could be her own person. She liked not having him around all the time. It gave her a chance to be her, not just 'Joey's sister', as she knew the rest of the gang thought of her.
Right now, solitude was her friend.
As she reached the park, she saw a little picnic table near a water fountain and decided it would be the perfect place to sit.
She shivered a little and pulled her coat closer around her. The wind had picked up a bit and the sky was overcast. She didn't think it was going to rain, but it sure was cold.
She reached the picnic table and sat down, placing her books in front of her. The park was very quiet, and she started taking notes, soon losing track of time.
It was only until rain started to fall lightly that she noticed how late it had become. She knew that she and Joey didn't live in the best neighborhood, and cursed herself for losing track of the time.
She started gathering her books up when she suddenly heard someone yell, "Hey! Excuse me Miss, but have you seen a little brown and white dog anywhere?"
A man came panting up to her. He had on a brown trenchcoat and seemed a little dirty, but he looked friendly enough.
"Please," the man continued, "I have to find him. He belongs to my little boy. That dog is all he has now that his mother is gone."
'Ohhhh…' thought Serenity, and couldn't help feeling sorry for them. "I'm sorry; Sir, but I haven't seen one at all." She turned around to scan the park for any little critter that might be running around. "I don't see anything at all around he—"
She was suddenly cut off as she felt a hand come down over her mouth and felt something hard and cold touch her neck. It was a knife.
"Just don't scream and everything will be alright." the man whispered to her.
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Alright! Yey, that was my first chapter of "The Meaning of Life"! Well I hope that you all liked it very much…I just revised this chapter and will be revising the others as well so that they are better then what they used to be…new format, added a few new things to the story…yey! Anyway, I will appreciate any and all reviews, so PLEASE R&R! Oh, and sorry this chapter is so short, the next chapters will be longer and hopefully better…well…R&R! Ja ne!
~Seren147