Love and Rivalry

Chapter 22

Kaiba sat in his car outside of Aria's apartment. He methodically tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. Here he thought he was so courageous charging off to see Aria, but when he arrived he realized one flaw in his plan; he didn't know which apartment was hers. Kaiba scowled at his predicament. Other than going and knocking on every door, Kaiba wasn't sure how he was supposed to find her.

Just when he was about to leave his car to do just that, Kaiba spied one of the geek squad walking up towards the apartment building carrying a bag of groceries. Wasn't his name Travis or something? Kaiba huffed. Whatever his name was, it looked like he was Kaiba's ticket in.

Stepping out, Kaiba approached Tristan just as he was heading up the steps. Tristan paused when he noticed Kaiba, but if he was shocked at seeing him there, he didn't show it.

"Can't say I'm surprised to see you here," Tristan said, shuffling the grocery bag in his arm. "Are you here to see Aria?"

"Well I'm definitely not here to visit you dweebs," Kaiba sneered.

Tristan shook his head, but a small smile played on his lips. "Some people never change. Well you might as well come on up then, but I can't promise anything."

Kaiba was slightly surprised that he was given entry so easily but he decided it was best not to question it and instead followed Tristan through the front door.

Kaiba shrunk back at the dinginess of the place. How could Aria live in such a dump? He made sure not to touch anything as he continued up a set of stairs. Tristan finally stopped in front of a door that didn't even have a number on it and let himself in.

"Hey Tristan, did you bring back somethin' to eat?"

Kaiba inwardly groaned. The last thing he needed was having to face the guard dog.

"Yeah, and that's not all I brought up," Tristan said, nodding his back at Kaiba who was still standing in the hallway.

"Eh?" Joey asked. When he walked over to the doorway, Joey's face suddenly darkened. "Oh, it's you."

Kaiba crossed his arms but didn't respond. It wasn't worth wasting breath on this loser.

Joey leaned against the frame of the door, blocking Kaiba entry into the apartment. "I was wondering when you were going to show up."

Kaiba narrowed his eyes. It was no secret as to why he was here, still he didn't like that his being there was knocking a few points off his ego. "Where's Aria?" Kaiba asked, a slight growl in his tone.

"She's not here."

"And I'm supposed to believe that?" Kaiba snapped.

"Believe what you want, rich boy, but she's not here. Not like she would want to see you anyway," Joey coolly responded.

His patience spent, Kaiba grabbed Joey by the lapels of his jacket and pushed him hard against the doorframe. "Then tell me where she is," Kaiba said through clenched teeth.

"Kaiba."

Kaiba let go of Joey, letting him slide back down to the floor and stepped back. He didn't like that he lost his cool with the mutt, but when it came to Aria it seemed he never acted himself. Regaining his composure, Kaiba looked over to see Yugi standing in the living room.

"Why don't you come in and sit down so we can talk?" Yugi asked, an authority in his tone that Kaiba usually only heard when he was dueling.

"Are you sure Yug?" Joey asked, eyeing Kaiba warily. "Even after everything he's done to Aria?"

Kaiba glowered at Joey but remained silent. Truth be told, the dog was right. Kaiba had treated Aria abhorrently, and if it were up to Kaiba, he wouldn't let him see her either. But as Kaiba was learning, love was irrational and hardly ever made sense. Which also explained why Kaiba always seemed to feel off-kilter with Aria, he was much more used to things that were logical and could be explained.