Seto Kaiba's POV
"Mokuba," I spoke quietly, wondering if my younger brother could hear me over the television.
"Yes, big brother?” He turned around to stare at me, his hands sat perfectly still over his crossed legs as he puzzled over what I wanted.
"Get ready for school, we'll be leaving in ten minutes.” Mokuba jumped up and raced off to his room, black hair flying behind him as he went.
I could hear the thumping coming from the ceiling above me as he put his clothes on. Several minutes later, he came rushing down the stairs and to the limo that was waiting out front for us. I followed him, with my white trench coat billowing behind me. We dropped Mokuba off at the middle school first then the driver dropped me off at the high school.
As I got out, I saw that Yugi's group was already waiting in the front of the school building, but they seemed to have an extra member. She was looking over at me, nothing showing in her eyes. The moment I made eye contact, she turned away.
"That's Seto Kaiba." I could barely make out what Yugi was whispering into her ear.
"So? I don't care who he is!” She sounded rather angry. I could see that as soon as she said those words she regretted them. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound so angry, I apologize".
I began walking towards the school, Yugi once again mentioned something to the new girl, however I wasn't paying attention. Joey was standing right in my way, and while I wasn't sure if he had done it on purpose or not, it got on my nerves just the same.
"Move, mongrel," I felt the deep urge to pummel his face in, but I controlled it.
"What did you call me?” Wheeler growled, raising his fist as though he thought to punch me.
"You heard me, move,” I ground out between my teeth, my control slipping away as well as the emotionless mask I always carried around with me. Wheeler always did have that power...
Then, suddenly the new girl was beside him. I took the opportunity to look her over. She was thin, nearly just skin and bones. Her hair was blue-black, as dark as the midnight sky and it seemed to glow. Her eyes were icy blue and seemed to have a coldness about them. Her face was emotionless, her eyes the same, except for a small hint of fear that was barely detectable. There was a light bruise on her cheek, and a slightly darker one on the base of her throat. Immediately, I knew that she was abused at home, there was no other reason for the bruises and seeming malnourishment.
"Why don't you take three steps to the right, and go around." I set my eyes to hers and I saw her visibly flinch. Suddenly she looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a car, petrified and frozen from pure fear. I could feel my gaze softening, but before anyone could notice I did just as she said and went around the obstacle that was Joey Wheeler. I walked into my classroom after I grabbed my biology book out of my locker. I was the only one in the class, until Damon Fortuna walked in and sat down exactly five minutes later. We didn't talk, we never talked, but then again, I didn't really talk to anyone besides Mokuba and Wheeler when I insulted him. There was never a reason to. After ten more minutes of silence, someone stumbled into the room. Looking up, I caught sight of the new girl. She glanced at me, then at Damon and her quizzical gaze soon turned to horror.
"Mercy", Damon questioned, then he rose to his feet and hurried over to her, enveloping the blue-eyed girl in his arms. She immediately, without hesitation, began struggling like her life depended on it.
"Let go", I watched as her elbow collided with his side, and while Damon winced he didn't release her.
"Mercy, stop dammit, I'm your brother!” She seemed to freeze before staring into Damon's eyes. They looked nothing alike, it was hard to picture him as her brother.
"I have no brother", the way she said it was emotionless, but her eyes showed pure pain, it nearly hurt me just to see it. What was wrong with me?
"How could you say that, Mercy? I'm your brother".
"No you're not, now let me go", Mercy, the new girl, began struggling with renewed strength.
Right before I was about to stand up for the poor girl, Wheeler walked into the room. "Hey! Let the lady go", he yelled. Damon let go of Mercy and she fell backwards onto her backside. By the way her face turned tomato red, I'd say she was embarrassed.
"Mercy, don't be like this. Don't act like you don't even know your own brother. I know you're angry, but I have a reason for doing what I did. I would've come back, I promise."
Come back for what? I silently wondered. I watched through the corner of my eyes as she got up and wiped herself off. "Thanks Joey". She walked towards the back and took a seat next to the window. Joey followed like the lost dog he is and sat in front of Mercy, while her 'brother' went back to his seat.
"So Mercy, is he really your brother?" Joey questioned her. She glanced at him, then turned back to the window.
"He used to be, but not anymore".
"What'd he do to you, it must have been something huge for you to ignore him like that".
"He abandoned me." I sat up straighter, I had been wondering the same thing. Mercy glanced at me, then Damon, but finally settled her eyes on Wheeler. Damon seemed to be embarrassed. Those three words had my mind wandering. Wondering what he abandoned her for... how could someone abandon their siblings? I would never be able to do that to Mokuba.
I heard ripping noises, and saw Mercy tearing a blank piece of paper into shreds.
"Whatcha doing Mercy", looking towards the voice, I saw Yugi standing in front of her, in the isle between the desks.
“Watch.”
She had only said one simple word, yet everyone paid their undivided attention to the ice blue eyed girl. After she was done with the paper, she opened the window, slowly and quietly, slipping the paper out of the crack. A bird that was on the window sill looked at the paper, before it snatched a piece in his mouth and took off, with wings spread wide, towards a tree.
Yugi looked at her like she was the best thing on Earth. "Wow, that's so cool Mercy! You knew exactly what it wanted!”
Suddenly, she looked over at me, her icy eyes met my gaze. I nodded my head in acknowledgement and she repeated the action. She intrigued me, she was hard to read, her face almost always blank, her eyes barely showing any emotion other than fear. For some strange reason I had the urge to make her laugh, or see her smile. What's happening to me, I questioned, rubbing my forehead lightly. Several of the students in the class came into the room right afterwards, some heading to their seats, some standing around in groups talking, but most of the girls crowded around Damon and I. It made me slightly angry that I could no longer see Mercy.
"Oh, look a new girl. What are you wearing? Ick!" the captain of the cheerleading team turned her glare onto Mercy.
"I assume they're clothes. However, you might want to try them on, I don't think you know the meaning of the word", she retorted. I smirked, then quickly wiped it off my face. She has a backbone.
"How dare you? Are you going to let the new girl talk to your girlfriend like that?" Tiffany asked, turning to Damon. Mercy glanced at Damon, then began laughing.
"Yes, brother, are you just going to let me talk to her like that. Stand up for your girl", she chuckled darkly. She nearly raised the hairs on the back of my neck, she seemed as if she was making fun of her brother, teasing him, taunting him.
"That’s your sister? But you're so sexy, and she's just plain. Kinda ugly too if you asked me", Tiffany's best friend, Mary, said while simultaneously sticking her nose into the air. Looking over at Mercy, she looked slightly hurt, and it was obvious she wasn't going to stand up for herself. The insult, even though it was directed at her, lit my blood on fire. I didn't want to see that look on her face. The way I was feeling was completely new to me, and I wasn't sure I actually liked it.
"Quiet, girl. You don't know what you're talking about". The words were out of my mouth before I even knew I was opening it. Every one turned to look at me, Mercy looked completely surprised, but then so did everyone else. I never talked in class, I never talked to anyone in school, ever. This girl was doing something to my mind! Dammit!
Slowly, everyone turned back to Mercy then headed to their seats as the teacher walked in.
"Alright class, today we'll be learning about atoms, now can any--hello, are you new?"
"Yes ma'am." I used my peripheral vision to look at Mercy. She seemed very uncomfortable.
"Come up to the front and introduce yourself". Mercy paled visibly and her hands began to shake. She seemed to notice and stopped immediately, bottling her emotions back inside her. She got up and walked up to the front of the class with her head held high.
"I'm Mercy Fortuna, and before you ask, no I'm not related to Damon,” And that seemed to be all she planned on saying, until the teacher frowned at her before asking her own questions.
"What do you like to do for fun, Miss Fortuna?” Mrs. Williams asked.
"Nothing", she replied, looking at the teacher as if she was the stupidest person ever.
"Where'd you move from, do you have any siblings, what do you're parents do for a living?" At the last question, Mercy stiffened, nearly unnoticeably and her eyes went back to cold and blank.
"I have no siblings,” she stared straight at Damon who looked pained. Still, even as she stared at him, she showed no emotion, her eyes were a blank slate. It was unsettling, to say the least.
"What about your parents", questioned the teacher. Annoyance flashed through her features, fading just as fast as it had come.
"My mom might be dead for all I know. I only have my father. He works as a security guard in the prison."
"Is there anything else you would like to say?"
"Yeah. Stay away," she sneered.
"Ok then, thanks for that information, please go back to your seat", as she began to walk down the aisle, Tiffany stuck her foot out. I was sure that Mercy would trip, but instead she stopped right before Tiffany, drew back her leg and kicked Tiffany in the ankle. The cheerleader yelped out, pulling her foot back under her desk and stared straight at the board.
She earned just a bit of respect from me in that moment.
[[Random Fact: Mercy's last name, Fortuna, actually came from a random pack of cigarettes I found lying in the road....]]