Nothing Builds A Friendship Like A Crisis (part 2)

Nothing Builds a Friendship Like a Crisis (part 2)

Co-written with multifandoms27 Summary: Kaiba hired you to assist Mokuba for one day as Mokuba performed his monthly inspection of the local, Domino City branch of Kaiba Land. You were totally up to the task, until things spiraled out of your control in the worst way possible. Dub canon plus a version of DSOD. Female Reader. Set maybe two years post DSOD. Fun fact: I always write my Reader character with personality and specific description. This means she may not be as generic as is customary for this type of story. Each reader character also has a specific place in the Yu-Gi-Oh world, and is basically an OC with set connections and feelings about the various canon characters and other reader characters. This is reader B, who is immune to the siren song of romance, cheap, eccentric, logical, and hands-on. Word count: 1,495 You can read part 1 here.

Mokuba was dressed for work, wearing a button up shirt, tie, and dress pants. If he were in an office, the choices would have seemed normal, but since the two of you were spending the day in an amusement park, he looked quite out of place. At the moment, Mokuba was talking to each of the attendants working in the arcade, asking them questions, looking at spreadsheets, and trying to gauge how popular the newest game cabinets were. You wore your usual cargo capris, brightly colored socks, and a t-shirt decorated with little images of Scapegoat ringing the ends of the sleeves. Atop your head you wore a baseball cap and sunglasses; you had no intention of being identified in any paparazzi photographs if you could help it—fame seemed like more trouble than it was worth.

Standing around, you eyed the snack bar, wanting one of the neon colored slushies marked as “extremely sour” on the menu board, but simultaneously not wanting to spend your money on overpriced theme park drinks. Men in dark suits and sunglasses loitered around as well—Mokuba’s security detail: Cole, Bishop, and… you couldn’t remember the names of the other two. Eventually, Mokuba finished talking with the employees, and walked back. You helped him sort his notes—asking questions, listening closely to his answers, acting like both of you were adults, even though Mokuba wasn’t one, and you rarely felt like a grownup. The guards did a good job of gently brushing away anyone who tried to approach without permission, as Mokuba finally concluded he was certain all Kaiba Corp regulations and standards were being met in the arcade. It was time for fun. Starting with rhythm games before moving on to dancing games, you and Mokuba had a blast. After working up a bit of a sweat, you leaned against the metal handrail attached to the dancing game, “Why are you so good at this?” Mokuba grinned at you, “Practice.” “Practice? I don’t want to have to practice to get good at games!” You enjoyed joking around with Mokuba, it felt natural, almost like he was your little brother—no, thoughts like that were dangerous. Even if Mokuba had taken a shine to you, there was no way the Kaiba brothers were about to let you into their circle of people they truly trusted and cared about; even Yugi barely managed to make it in, and he was one of the sweetest people in the world. One of the guards, Bishop, approached with a slushy in each hand. You had interacted with him a few times over the past year, and he was always attentive to people’s needs. Gratefully, you took the proffered neon green concoction, surprised at how sour the drink was; you loved tart foods. Beside you, Mokuba chugged down his own pink slushy, giving himself a brain freeze. “Arrrgh, why doesn’t this happen to you?!” You shrugged, “I eat slowly. It has its perks.” The two of you made your way outside, where the bright sunlight and gentle breeze contrasted with the dim, noisy interior of the arcade building. Continuing to sip on your slushy, you wondered if you had somehow overdone it playing dancing games. You did enough cardio workouts in your daily life that it shouldn’t be negatively affecting you like this, but… You forced yourself to keep walking across the park, sipping at your cold drink and trying to act like you felt fine. “Can we go on the new roller coaster now?” Mokuba interrupted your thoughts. “I haven’t had a chance to ride it since it opened two weeks ago.” He turned to face you, “Woah, are you feeling okay?” “Not really.” Talking caused an unexpected spike of nausea. “I think I need to sit down for a minute, but you can go ahead and ride.” What on earth had you done to yourself back there? Mokuba hesitated. “I’ll be fine. You can ride it again with me before we leave.” There was no way you were going to hold Mokuba back, even in such a small matter.

“If you say so.” Mokuba sounded unsure. As though sensing his boss’s uncertainty, Bishop suggested, “We can leave two of the guards with her, in order to make sure Ms. l/n remains undisturbed while we’re on the ride.” Mokuba nodded, “Good suggestion.” He grinned at you, “See ya later.” With Bishop and one of the other guards in tow, the short teen headed for the waiting line.

Smiling wanly at the two remaining security guards, you walked over to a nearby bench, slowly sitting to avoid roiling your stomach further. You watched as Mokuba and Bishop slipped under a velvet rope blocking off the secondary access line to the coaster and made their way to the front. After seeing the two of them start to enter the next available car with the other park goers, you closed your eyes and let your head sink back, glad to be sitting still and resting.

Listening to the people passing by, the soundtrack for the roller coaster line, and the distant screams of riders enjoying themselves, you relaxed. After a few minutes, you began to feel better, which was just as well, since Mokuba was likely to be bounding up any second now. A couple more minutes passed. It was too quiet. Opening your eyes, you realized the roller coaster wasn’t running. Your eyes traced along its brightly colored path; you didn’t see any cars running on the tracks, only empty cars at the loading station, which weren’t being filled. So the previous cars must still be on the tracks, and since you couldn’t see them, it must have been in one of the covered portions. Groaning, you pushed yourself up and made for the ride. With the two guards at your side, it was easy to make it to the front of the line, where a young woman was trying not to panic as she talked into her intercom. Finishing her call, the ride operator covered her face with her hands, “I’m gonna lose my job…” “What’s wrong?” You asked as you approached, eyes scanning over the ride’s control panel as you spoke. Noticing you and the guards, the young woman tried to straighten up, “Oh, uh, one of the magnetic brake systems completely engaged when it wasn’t supposed to, and now the ride is stopped at the top of the second peak.” She pointed to the relevant part of the ride, which was covered by an outer tunnel, hiding the cars from view. “I’m hardly an expert, but that can be caused by a sensor malfunction causing the security protocols to engage, right?” You wished you knew more about how roller coasters worked. The young woman nodded, “That’s right, but if that happens, I should be able to fix it by restarting the system, and it’s not working!”

A rapidly approaching helicopter almost drowned out your next question, “How long before someone gets out here to fix it?”

“A technician should be here in a couple minutes, but I don’t—” the helicopter was too loud now, drowning out the ride operator’s words. It seemed louder than the Kaiba Corp copters you had been near a few times.

Squelching down your unease, you moved to get a better look at the helicopter, which was unmarked. The copter stopped over the place where you knew the roller coaster cars with Mokuba were stuck, and two men jumped out onto the roof of the tunnel. Was this a rescue operation? Turning to yell to the two guards with you, you saw them motioning to one another in a way that made it clear this was not supposed to be happening. At this angle, it was hard to see what the men from the helicopter were doing, but they appeared to pry a panel off of the tunnel and drop down inside.

More black suited men were arriving at the loading platform now, shouting terse commands and code words you recognized from studying the security protocols last night; this was bad.

Some of the guards began to make their way into out-of-bounds maintenance areas, drawing guns from their suit jackets and preparing to climb steep emergency staircases up towards the place Mokuba was trapped. Caught up in watching the security men, you failed to notice what was happening until the ride operator grabbed you and pointed. Three men were rising from the hole in the tunnel, with a bound but struggling Mokuba in tow.

“Mokuba!!” The helicopter drowned out your cry, as the four figures disappeared inside. The roller coaster cars suddenly started moving again, its passengers’ screams becoming audible as the helicopter began to fly away, rapidly disappearing in the distance.

Leaning back against the side of the control panel, you slid to the ground, your knees almost touching your shoulders. “Mokuba…” This time the word was barely audible, your throat tight as tears threatened to spill from your eyes.

Chapter 1

Synopsis: A girl going through college wanting to make friends, but is faced with two problems in doing so - her hermit lifestyle and social anxiety. However, as she navigates through college she meets a boy and they become fast friends. But...is that everything?

Warnings: none

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• ───────────────── •

Redd Nichols moved through the campus ways into the cafeteria. Many people were crowded there, laughing and talking, but some were doing homework or sitting alone. She was one of those people. Making friends wasn’t her strong suit, and certainly not on a college campus where she knew next to nobody. She sat at one of the tables which already had a man there, but she made sure to sit on the opposite side of him.

She opened her computer and got to work on a homework assignment. She didn’t have anywhere she needed to be, she could sit in that chair until the campus closed for all she cared. However, the urge to make friends kept nagging at the back of her mind. She just started here, but it seemed like everybody had their cliques. She stole looks at the man from over her computer.

Like her, he had brown hair. It was short and slightly curly, and he had blue eyes. That was all Redd managed to see before he looked up at her. Quickly, she looked back at her computer and hoped he hadn’t caught her.

“Can I help you with something?” The man asked.

“Oh no, no sorry I was just staring off into space.” Redd spoke nervously. Why was this so hard for her to do?

“It’s okay. I’m Sam. Sam Reed.”

“Redd.” She finally looked back up at him.

His eyes were a dark blue, but he had the kindest smile. She gave him a smile back. “What’re you working on if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Oh just stuff for programming.”

“Ew.” She grimaced, remembering her high school coding class.

“I know.” Sam rolled his eyes. “But it’s what I have to do.”

“Is it your major?” Redd asked.

“Sort of.” Sam typed more on his computer and sighed dejectedly. “I’m a computer science major but this isn’t what I want to do with my life.”

“What do you want to do?”

“Build computers.” Sam’s smile was brought back a little bit. “I’ve always loved building stuff. Computers, Lego’s, Gundam kits, you name it.”

Redd nods. “That’s cool! I’ve built a couple Gundam’s myself, but never a computer. You must be pretty smart.”

“Eh, I don’t think so. It’s just something that comes with instructions and you follow it, just like Lego’s, or IKEA furniture.” Sam clicked his mouse twice before typing more into his computer. “What about you? What’s your major?”

“Oh, General Education for now, at least until I can figure out what I want to do.” She sheepishly looked away. Sometimes Gen Ed majors got some bad reputation, and she didn’t want this potential friend to be put off by her major.

“That’s cool. Any idea of the major you want to declare?”

“No idea yet, but I’m hoping to get there soon.” Redd put her gaze back on her computer.

“I’m sure you’ll get it soon. Hey, I have to run to class, but it was lovely chatting with you.” Sam closed his laptop and Redd could see his broad shoulders. “I’ll see you around?”

“Yeah! For sure!” She smiled and waved as he left the table.

If she saw him again, she would want to strike up another conversation, which means this is possibly her first college friend! She couldn’t wait to tell her uncle.

• ───────────────── •

Getting home around an hour later, she could smell cigarette smoke. Her uncle Lance was home. “Lance? Why are you home? I thought you were working tonight.”

She dropped her bag at the front door and moved through the house, ending up at the back of the house. Lance was standing at the back door, half in and half out. He had a cigarette between his fingers as he turned to look at his niece coming through the house. As he turned however, he revealed a woman with bright blue eyes that seemed to glow. Redd stopped and shifted uncomfortably.

“Hey kid, how was school today?” Lance asked, flicking his cigarette.

“Fine…who is this?” Redd pointed to the woman she’d never seen before.

“Oh her? This is a girl I work with, Maelstrom.” Lance pointed to her with his thumb.

Redd sensed something wrong with her. She noticed Maelstrom had her hood up, but it seemed like something underneath it was jutting up under the hood. Aside from that, something was just…off.

“Nice to meet you.” Redd noticed the air was stiff.

“You too. Lance, I should probably take my leave.” Maelstrom spoke with urgency.

“Alright, I understand.” Lance and Maelstrom seemed to share a knowing glance, one that made Redd uncomfortable.

Maelstrom shouldered past Lance and past Redd before leaving out of their front door. She blinks a little before looking at her uncle. “New girlfriend?”

“No, I work with her.” Lance took a drag from his cigarette.

“Uh huh, and what was that look at the end?”

“She’s married.” He avoided the subject. “Besides, she’s not my type.”

“What kind of name is Maelstrom?” Redd asked.

“The kind of name you shouldn’t utter so casually.” Lance threw his cigarette down and stomped it out. “So, spaghetti for dinner?”

“Sure. Wait, hold on, you can’t say the first part and not elaborate. Is she one of us?” Redd asked after Lance closed the door.

“No. She’s just someone I work with sometimes. A boss of a boss of a boss of my boss.”

“You never tell me what you do.”

“And for good reason. What happened at school today?”

Redd decided to drop it. Lance was normally dodgy about his work life. “Fine. I met a man today.”

“Man or boy?”

“He seemed like a man to me. His name is Sam.” She smiles at the memory.

“What did I tell you about men?”

“I know, I’m going to get to know him more before I trust him. I got it.” She put her hands up. “You really think I’d reveal everything to him on the first day?”

Lance chuckled and ruffled her hair. “Atta girl. Now come help with the spaghetti. You want garlic bread?”

“Oh do I!”

• ───────────────── •

First chapter wohoo! I know its probably a slow and weird start, but I promise this will pick up soon. Thank you for reading this far, and I hope you enjoyed!

Please send in AOT asks. Heres my masterlist so you can see who I write for! Thanks!

Yes i'm part of the LGBT

Leenage Gutant Binja Turtles

Chapter 2

Synopsis: A girl going through college wanting to make friends, but is faced with two problems in doing so - her hermit lifestyle and social anxiety. However, as she navigates through college she meets a boy and they become fast friends. But...is that everything?

Warnings: none

previous chapter | next chapter | full masterlist

• ───────────────── •

The next time Redd was on campus, she looked for Sam. It was her first friend since high school, and she was excited. Seeing him sitting alone at the cafeteria, she moved over (at a normal pace) and sat at the same place she had before. “How’s your coding assignment coming along?”

Sam looked up, surprised, then recognized Redd. “Oh, it’s going okay. It’s due tonight and I can finally be done with it and move on to the next thing.”

“Well that’s good.” She smiled.

Sam didn’t speak for a moment and Redd realized she was staring. Clearing her throat she pulled out her own laptop and began to type. Sam finally spoke again. “How’s your own assignments coming along?”

“Oh, just fine. I finished an essay earlier today which I’m happy about, and I have some other stuff due tonight that I should be working on.” Redd shrugged.

Sam let out a small yawn. “Sorry, I didn't get much sleep last night. Glad you’re keeping up though.”

“Assignment kicking your ass?”

“Yeah. I really hate this class.” Sam chuckled.

“Well, midterms are around the corner, and then you don’t have much left to go.” She tried to comfort him.

Sam groaned and let his head slip from his hand, smacking against the table. The volume of the hit made people turn and look. Redd blinked a little before standing and reaching over the table. “Are you alright?”

Sam didn’t answer for a moment. Then snores. He had fallen asleep, or knocked himself out. Redd couldn’t quite tell. She wonders what she should do. Before she could answer her own question, Sam let out a snore so loud it woke him back up. He jolted and turned to Redd reaching over to him.

“What…?”

“You had uh,” Redd stuttered. “Slammed against the table and passed out. Just how much sleep did you get?”

“Twenty minutes.” Sam answered groggily.

“Maybe you should go home. Do you have a ride?” Redd looked around for anybody coming towards them that could be Sam’s friend.

“No, I drive here by myself.”

“How the hell did you drive here on twenty minutes of sleep?” Redd asked incredulously.

“I don’t know.” Sam shrugged. “It’s okay, I can drive myself.”

“I don’t think it’s safe for you to do that. I can drive you home.” Redd offered.

“But what about my car? It’ll stay here overnight.”

“We can either come get it later or I can drop you off here tomorrow.” Redd just wanted Sam to be safe.

Sam thought about it for a second. He’d only met this girl once before, did he really want her to know where he lived? But then again, it wasn’t like she had any malicious intent…she seemed kind enough. After a moment of thought, Sam nodded. “We can come here tomorrow.”

• ───────────────── •

Redd watched Sam stumble into his house from her car. She wanted to make sure he got in before she drove away. They gave each other one last wave goodbye before she began to pull out of his driveway. She was glad to know he was safe in his home rather than falling asleep behind the wheel.

It wasn’t long before her uncle called her. She saw his number pop up on her dashboard and she could guess he knew she wasn’t on campus right now. However, she answered, not wanting to be in more trouble for not answering.

“Hello?”

“Why are you not on campus?”

“How do you know I’m not-”

“I saw your car. I passed you a little while ago. What’s going on?”

“Sam wasn’t feeling well and kept falling asleep, so I drove him home.”

“You know where he lives?” Lance asked.

“Just learned today…why are you near here? What’re you doing?”

“Work. Hey, we’ll talk about this later. I gotta get going.”

“Okay, bye.”

“Bye kid.” Lance hung up.

• ───────────────── •

Lance turned to Maelstrom after hanging up, pocketing his phone. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine. She’s special.” Maelstrom had a certain look in her eye.

Lance recognized it and narrowed his own eyes. “You stay away from her. Matter of fact, tell your buddies to stay away from her too. I don’t need her getting caught up in this stuff.”

Maelstrom didn’t say anything, but turned and began to walk. Lance followed behind her, missing the conniving look on her face. Redd had intrigued Maelstrom, and with Lance forcing her away, it made her want to get ever closer.

• ───────────────── •

This one's a little shorter, but I hope you all enjoyed! I won't be posting every single day however, I'm a college student and I have another blog running. But I still hope you can enjoy this story even if updates are slow :3

Well, it’s like what you said here

EXPECT. we do one for each other! you get what I mean?

Oh yeah I get what you mean! Sorry for the late response, I've been pretty busy with family stuff :)