Glimpse Beneath the Mask [WARNING: OCs, Yaoi, and YURI]

[Sketch-Inu]

Kaiyas eyes teared up slightly as she listened to Laliahs father. It seemed so sweet that he wanted only for his daughter to be safe. He was the kind of father that would buy his daughter birth control if she was getting serious with her boyfriends, all he desired was to know what she was getting into. He did not even seem that upset, if anything he was upset that she did not tell him how deeply she cared for Kasujou. Though she saw why she would be afraid to tell, her mother finding out would not go as smoothly.

When she felt Laliahs arm link with hers, her attention snapped to her. Her face was slightly red and she looked shocked. She smiled once she calmed down though and nodded. Even though she was still upset with her brother, there was a nagging voice telling her that she understood why he would be on edge. Plus the fact that being with Laliah may make the anger disappear faster, she always ended up getting over things easily once she had some fun. That and her brother was always one to apologize when he did something, so he would end up making up once this whole thing blew over.

She allowed the other girl to drag her off, heading back to one of her favorite games. All she could do was hope for the best for her brother and hopefully she would not be denied seeing Laliah and even Nariko. Hopefully Kasujou would tell her how her dad was feeling, it was a good thing to know.
 

[Sketch-Inu]

Yugi watched as his daughter led the other away, he did feel like discussing this to him alone. It may make Kasu more comfortable if his sister was not there to hear of his episodes. Once the girls were out of sight, he walked to the couch and took a seat. He left enough room for Kasu to join him, but he was not going to demand it.

"I suppose that I might be overreacting. Its just...I never really know what she does out there. I just try to trust her, knowing that shes a smart girl. But I cant help but think that maybe I have been too lenient. Also...I just met you, so while you seem like a nice logical boy, I'm still not to sure on what to think.." he explained.

He was not sure how much Kasujou cared what he thought, he could be just like his daughter and laugh in the face of an authority figure. Then again, he knew that he was a Kaiba, so he must have not been to rebellious, especially being Mokubas son. That kid was always more open and willing to keep his kids trust. The only thing he wanted to be sure was that Kasujou would be careful with his baby, even though by this time a normal girl would have done many things it was hard to let go. As long as Kasujou was careful and Nariko was willing, then he may be able to accept it, but he was still terrified.

"Well..I'm sure you are getting tired of my ranting." he replied with a small chuckle, hinting that he was probably going to back off unless Kasujou detested him doing so.
 

[Strawberry Pocky Parade]

"Oh, no!" Kasujou answered promptly, "You're just telling me how you feel...I really don't mind." He expressed a weak smile, hoping that it'd be the apropriate response. He saw how Mr. Mouto had seated himself, but he wasn't sure if he wanted him to sit down next to him or not. Would that seem like too friendly a thing to do? Just so he didn't offend him, he remained standing.

"I know you've just met me, sir," he continued after a moment, "But..." he trailed off, not sure what else to really say. "You say that I seem like a nice logical boy, and I'm inclined to agree--but of course, a lot of the fools at my school say that too..." He tried again. "The truth is, is that I would never ever even dream of encouraging Nariko to do anything that might make her even the slightest bit uncomfortable..."

He slipped one of his hands through his beltloop casually as he spoke, beginning to feel a little bit more at ease now that he was speaking from the heart and knowing that everything he said was absolutely true. "Nariko isn't a bad girl. She doesn't make bad decisions. If you think that you've been too lenient on her, it's possible that you might have been--but it doesn't change the fact that she's a wonderful person now. I'm not sure how deeply Nariko cares for me, but I can assure you that I care about her. A lot." He smiled to himself softly. Would it be too much to explain that he wanted to marry her someday? Would he think that Kasujou was lying just to gloss things over? Her father seemed the reasonable type, but one could never be sure.

"The thing is, I'm not just dating her to show her off like some of the other guys do. I really do care..."  

[Sketch-Inu]

He looked at Kasujou while he talked, it seemed he was being sincere. Plus, though up there for a long time, nothing too deep could have happened. If it did, then maybe it was time he had a talk with Nariko, just in case it was going to happen in the future. For now, Kasu appeared that he wasn't planning on hurting his daughter, nor did he want to show her off. The thing was, she was not the type to be considered a mans trophy, she made fun of the girls considered trophy's, so he must have loved he as more. He smiled softly, accepting Kasujou reply, but he was still planning on talking to his daughter later.


Nariko stormed down the stairs, her mood completely changed. It was only cause now she felt that she was being compared to her sister. Her grades weren't all that bad, they weren't great, but still. She mumbled as she reached the bottom of the stairs, stopping abruptly. Her father was sitting solemnly on the couch and Kasu was standing. She looked back and forth to the two before saying anything.

"Whats going on here?..." she asked, in a tone that seemed unsure.


Yugi just smiled softly as he rose from the couch. He didn't want to ruin his daughters fun, the talk could wait.

"Nothing honey, I was just speaking to Kasujou while your mother had her word with you. Now you two run off and play, Kaiya and Laliah are playing DDR, you can go join them. Just makes sure to stay downstairs." he said with a grin before heading into the kitchen to finish the snacks he was preparing.


Nariko looked confused at her father, once he was out of the room she turned to Kasu.

"He didn't say anything bad did he?" she asked, knowing he would be honest with her.

Hopefully she didn't get him in any trouble, she walked closer to him to be able to talk to him better. That and also she wanted to be close to him, just to hold him beside her.
 

[Strawberry Pocky Parade]

"Your dad really cares about you, you know," her boyfriend answered after a second. "He didn't say anything 'bad,' he just told me how he felt about us being together... Kindof. He worries about you, essentially." He was a bit warry on wrapping his arms around Nariko after what had just happened, but he did take her hands.

"What did you mom say...?" he asked, worry showing on his face now. He was afraid to ask 'did we get caught?' or 'will I ever be able to see you again?' He already thought that Mrs. Mouto knew... and he was already walking on egg shells around her; not telling her anything about his family.


"Let's just pretend that didn't happen, Okay?" Laliah suggested once they got back into the den. She saw how hurt Kaiya looked when her brother snapped at her, and she didn't want her to think much on it just in case she felt hurt about it again. "Since you chose the last song, is it okay if I choose this one?" she asked, already trying to put the event behind her. She didn't really want to think about what her sister had really been doing upstairs. She wouldn't have been surprised if she and Kasujou were having sex, but she still wished on behalf of her sister that she wouldn't move so fast with a man she hadn't known that long.

It wasn't that she didn't trust Kasujou, but she just didn't know him very much. His sister was very nice though... She trailed off, grinning to herself softly. Yes, Kaiya was a very nice person. She was cool and friendly...not to mention she had spunk.  

[Sketch-Inu]

Kaiya looked at her and just smiled softly. She already knew that she would be fine, her and her brother never really had strong arguments unless it had been something extremely serious. To be honest, she could barely remember the last time they fought, but she remembered the last time she annoyed him, though thats was all for fun.

"I'm alright..I understand hes jumpy and we always make up anyway. Though it scares me and makes me a little uncomfortable, I trust my brothers judgment. He's not the type to go on impulse." she replied.

She didn't meant o keep it in the air, but she had to say how she felt about it before she put it behind her until Kasujou brought it up, if he did. Also, she wanted to put Laliahs nerves at ease, she knew her brother may have gone farther then she had hoped, but she knew that it meant that he had no desires for another. So hopefully her words helped, but to make things stay comfortable between her and Laliah she dropped it after that.

"Yeah of course, I usually switch off picking the songs. Then we can both choose one we agree on for the final round. I was hoping to do Only you last, if your okay with that song. It has to be unanimous, thats how my rules work." she explained with a wink.


She smiled softly as he took a hold of her hands, shaking her head softly.

"Don't worry, mom alone wanted to rag on me about my grades thats all." she explained.

Apart of her wanted her mother to come down stairs however, so then she would be able to meet him. She was just glad that she had not noticed Kaiya looking like the younger Kaiba brother. If she had not noticed her, then it would be harder to recognize Kasu, she hoped that is. Turning to the stairs she called up them.

"Mom--! Come down and meet Kasujou." she called out.
 

[Strawberry Pocky Parade]

"Just a moment, dear!" Anzu's voice called. She was in the middle of checking her datebook: something that Nariko had said to her reminded her of an upcoming dentist apointment, and she'd forgotten when exactly it was.

Kasujou had butterflies when Anzu descended the stairs. She was attractive for an old woman...Perhaps when she was in her teens, she was quite beautiful. Perhaps. Now that he saw Nariko's mother, though, he could tell who got their looks from whom. Laliah seemed to look like Mrs. Mouto the most, and Nariko looked a bit more like her father. "Hello," he introduced himself, "I'm Kasujou..." He gave her a polite bow that he hadn't been able to give her husband and awaited her response.

Anzu was looking at him a little peculierally. "Have we met?" she asked.
"I don't believe so, mam."
"I'm sorry, then. You just remind me of someone from the past but... I just can't seem to put my finger on who it is..."
"Oh...er.." the boy tried. A lot of people said that he looked like his mother. Perhaps she'd seen Kaiba Shizuka in the newspapers, and that was how she knew his face? He had no idea. "...I don't think we've met..."


"Oh, yea, sure!" Laliah answered, "That's actually one of my favourites!" The song that she chose was "Traveling-PlanetB Remix" by Utada Hikaru. It had a slight techno sound to it, but it was poppy and had a strong beat.  

[Sketch-Inu]

Nariko looked slightly nervous as she wondered where she might have recognized the boy before. Once she could not figure it out, she let out a sigh of relief. Then she smiled up at her mother, glad she seemed to be pleased with the boy, she was not ready to say that he was her boyfriend yet.

"Yeah, hes from school. We met at lunch one day and then I decided later you should meet him. Isn't he great?" she asked.

Hopefully for now she would just assume her daughter had a crush on him. She could see her dad was making food for them in the kitchen, he was always so nice to them and their friends.

"So mom, would it be alright if they spent the night? Kaiya could bunk with Laliah, they seem to be getting along, and Kasujou could have the spare room. Please mom." she pleaded slightly.


Kaiya smiled at her approval and began to follow the arrows. So she would not become rusty, she did a few extra moves to add to the effect of the game. She just hoped that she was not coming off as a show off to her new friend. Then she thought it would be cool if Kasu joined in and played with her next, then they could both have fun being creative. Now she couldn't wait for them to join them in the den.


Yugi soon came out of the kitchen. He held a tray full of snacks for the kids to have before they had dinner later on. On the tray were freshly cut sushi, some rice, a bowl of popcorn, some tea and some water for hydration after the DDR game they were playing. He could see his daughters eyes light up at the food and he chuckled softly at the sight.

"I hope you guys will be hungry later. This will hold you over until dinner tonight, if you and your sister intend to stay that is." Yugi replied with a smile.
 

[Strawberry Pocky Parade]

"The spare room?" Anzu echoed. The spare room seemed pretty far away from the girls' rooms... It seemed reasonable enough... She didn't like the thought of having a homomone driven teenage boy in the house when she was so used to Yuugi and her girls, but.. She gave Kasujou a discrete look down, and judged him to be a good boy with decent intentions. Perhaps they really were just friends. Maybe he'd help her daughter to pick up her grades just a little bit so that at least the school wouldn't be calling her at work.

"Okay. That's fine with me. Does your father kno--Oh, Yuugi, there you are." Kasujou's head snapped around when he saw Mr. Mouto come into the room.

'Mouto YUUGI!?!' he realized. He managed to hide most of his shock, but didn't realize that he'd paled just a little bit.

"Oh, so you already know, then, darling?" Anzu asked her husband, moving over to him and placing a hand on his shoulder afectionately.
"About what? Oh, about them spending the night? I was going to talk to you about it, actually, to see what your thoughts on the matter were."
"I don't see a problem with it..." Anzu confessed, not knowing what had unfolded upstairs.

"Hey, Nariko, lets go watch the DDR..." Kasujou suggested.  

[Sketch-Inu]

She was a little surprised when she saw how quickly her boyfriend snapped to face her father. It was weird how the simple name of her dad seemed to shock him so much. Though still in confusion, she was glad that he got to spend the night. Then she looked at him and nodded, though still rather confused.

"Okay..sure.." she said as they headed for the den.

Once they were out of ear range, she looked at him.

"What made you so shocked Kasu?" she asked.


((Yeah its short xD))
 

[Strawberry Pocky Parade]

"Your father is Mouto Yuugi!" Kasujou answered, his eyes widening again as if Nariko had no idea either. "I know him! My uncles know him! My entire family knows him! He's like...a legend, Nariko! Did you know that!?"

He stopped his excited whispering to Nariko and turned to make sure that the adults were still in the kitchen. "I bet your mom knows my family too! What's her first name? Anzu? She probably does--but my Uncles...They spoke of this guy who..." he gestured to the male in the kitchen, "That's your father!!"  

[Sketch-Inu]

Nariko was in shock, she met a boy from a family that her family was familiar with. There was so much coincidence and irony that it made her stand in shock a few moments. How did his family know of hers, how were they all connected? It didn't make any sense to her, how would his family know of hers, there was nothing extremely special about them.

"I don't understand how your uncle knows about my father. I mean I understand about him knowing Seto Kaiba from the news. Not to mention that your uncle is a famous CEO. But theres no other way my father and your uncle could know each other. The only thing I can think of that my father did that was amazing that he was the king of games." she replied.

Though she never really knew what the King of Games meant. She always just assumed that he won some championship and then it was over in a year or two. Even if she was proud of him, it was only a nice story to tell, but it never seemed relevant to anything great. Her father never went into great detail about it and she never knew why.
 

[Strawberry Pocky Parade]

"Exactly!" Kasujou nearly laughed. "He's the King of Games!" He watched Nariko's lack of reaction and decided that she probably had no idea what this was. "Your father--he's really good at games and stuff, right? He was the WORLD CHAMPION of Duel Monsters from the get-go! My Uncle Seto and him were intense rivals--and I mean...intense. Your father was red, my uncle was blue. That sort of thing... And then my other, Uncle Jounouchi, he and your father were best friends in high school. My mom and your mom were good friends, and of course, my dad and your dad were...kindof friends... There's someone else they talk about a lot too--do you know of anyone named Yami? From what I've been able to gather, Yami and you dad were like... a tag-team... and Uncle Jounouchi thought that your mom loved that other guy instead of your dad--but I guess since your mom and your dad got married, she didn't... " he trailed off, scaring himself a little bit with how he seemed to know Nariko's family better than her.  

[Sketch-Inu]

Nariko stood dumbfounded as Kasu rambled on, still leaving her in the dark. The only thing she really got was that their families knew one another. Though she was lost when he began to talk about some guy names Yami, who the hell was that? her dad had never mentioned such a guy, yet by what it sounded like they were really close friends. It all seemed to piece together, but why and her father never mentioned it was the question.

"My dad has never said anything about any of that. I think I do remember him seeming upset when my mom was nagging about Kaiba outing himself. He seemed like he was telling her that she was overreacting and that he was glad he was happy. I suppose my dad and your uncle do know some things adout one another. Now I really want to meet your parents." she replied as they headed for the den.

Once they got down there, she saw their sister working that machine to Only you by Captain Jack, his sister was pretty impressive. It seemed like she was putting more into it then a normal player, she had some extra creativity. Leaning next to Kasu, she watched them as they danced to the song. The others did not seem to notice them standing there.
 

[Strawberry Pocky Parade]

"Well, then you will," Kasujou said somewhat quietly. He wished that Nariko had said, 'I want to meet your parents because I LOVE YOU!!!' But he knew that she felt for him, and he knew that she was merely commenting on how it was interesting how their familys were connected.

When they got to the bottom, his eyes lifted to see Kaiya shaking it up on the DDR mat. It brought a smile to his face to see how comfortable Laliah and Kaiya were getting to one another. While his sister did her moves, Laliah did the basic steps, singing to the song and cheering on his sister.

"Don't hurt yourself!" he ordered to his sibling, seeing how slippery the DDR mats appeared to be. He decided that he'd inform Kaiya of what he'd discovered later, when most of the house was asleep... or maybe on the way back on the train to tokyo...