A young girl woke up in her bed at the orphanage that has been her home as long as she can remember. Then again, she's five years old- that's not saying much. She yawned and stretched her arms above her head. As she brushed her brown hair out of her blue eyes, she thought about the day ahead of her… but, she couldn't help but think of the dream she just had… about the amazing monsters, the powerful priest… and the kind Pharaoh.

"I wish I had a dad like him," she whispered softly. "That would be…" she smiled. "Perfect." Suddenly, she heard someone call her name.

"Koujo! Come on, its time for breakfast!" Koujo smiled happily as she put got dressed and hurried down to breakfast. Today was the day, the day she'd been waiting all month for. Today, her hero was coming. Today, Seto Kaiba would be visiting the Kame Orphanage.

"Why am I doing this? I hate that damn place. Why am I going back there?" These questions played over and over again inside Seto Kaiba's mind. Yes, the Kame Orphanage was the last place he'd ever been truly happy… but it was also where his life had changed forever. It was the place where he'd met Gozaburo Kaiba…

"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Gozaburo. "What did you just say?" Ten-year-old Seto looked into the man's cold eyes, matching his stare perfectly.

"If I beat you in chess," he said, sternly. "I want you to adopt me and my brother!" Seto could hear his little brother, Mokuba gasp in amazement, but he didn't let up on his glare. This had to work… it just had to…

"Heh," came the reply. "You're an interesting kid… you're on."

"I beat him," Seto thought. "I cheated… and I paid for it." He smiled. "But in the end, I still got what I wanted.

Six years after the chess match. Seto was seated at the head of a table, surrounded by the highest-ranking board members of Kaiba Corporations. At the other end of the table was his "father," Gozaburo Kaiba. And he was all alone.

"The Board has spoken!" Seto exclaimed. "Starting today, Kaiba Corporations belongs to me!" A small drop of sweat rolled down Gozaburo's forehead, prompting a smirk from Seto. "Have I learned what you wanted…"Father"?" Gozaburo let out a low growl.

"SETO!" he yelled. "I have lost my game with you! Burn this into your brain! THIS is what a loser DESERVES!" He started to laugh as he got up from the table. Seconds later, he was plunging to his death- he had jumped out the window. And all Seto could do was smirk.

"Heh, heh, heh… To lose means to die… thank you… for teaching me."

"Seto-sama?" Seto shook himself out of his memories and looked up at his limo driver.

"What?"
"We're here, Seto-sama." Seto looked out the window- the old place hadn't changed much… other than the fact it was now falling apart. But everything else was the same. The old playground. The tree he used to read under. The porch where he and Mokuba played chess. He sighed.

"Everything's the same…" (A.N: Ever hear of the group, Navar? They have a song called "Everything's the Same" and it's REALLY good! Check them out!)

Koujo hurried through breakfast and rushed back to the bedroom where everyone slept. She had the last bed on the right hand side, in the corner, next to the window. By her bed was her small, four-drawer dresser, with only three of the draws containing clothes. The last drawer… was her treasure chest.

She sat down on the ground, pulled the drawer open and smiled at the contents. All her games- her treasures. She had everything in there, from Chess pawns to Dungeondice figures, Capsule Monsters to Duel Monsters cards. Duel Monsters- those were her biggest treasures. She wanted to be just like her hero- the best duelist ever. Yeah, maybe that Yugi kid had beaten him, but that wasn't what mattered. Seto Kaiba kept trying. He had made it out of here. So would she. Koujo took her deck out of her drawer, pushed it shut and headed out to the porch. If she went through the back yard, she'd get there faster- she wanted to be the first one to see him when he came. She wanted to be the first to meet Seto Kaiba.

Seto got out of his limo and walked up the all too familiar walk to the front door. There was still time for him to back out… he could just turn around and leave… At least that's what he thought he could do.

"Hey! Jofunu, give them back!" Seto didn't know what caused him to leave the front porch and go to the back yard. The voice. Something about the voice he'd heard pulled him back there… and he was resisting with all his might.

Koujo leapt as high as she could, trying to her deck away from the boy that had taken it from her. Jofunu was a lot older than she was and he was always picking on her.

"Jofunu, please!" she begged. "Give them back, he'll be here any minute!" Jofunu busted out laughing and looked over at his friend, Areuenu.

"Listen to her, Areuenu!" he howled. "She actually thinks she'll get to meet him!" Areuenu nodded, smirking.

"Give it up, Princess," Areuenu said, surly. "Seto Kaiba's not gonna want to have ANYTHING to do with ANY of us- he's just coming here to make himself look good."

"Shut up!" cried Koujo, fighting back the tears coming to her eyes. She didn't want to believe that Seto Kaiba was a jerk, even if everyone said he was. Her hero couldn't be a jerk. "GIVE ME BACK MY DECK!" Koujo brought her foot up and kicked Jofunu right in the groin. The older boy doubled over in pain, his eyes as wide as they could go. Koujo snatched her deck out of Jofunu's hand and started to run towards the front porch… only to be snatched by Areuenu.

"You little brat!" Koujo never knew what hit her. She felt the air driven out of her lungs as she fell to her hands and knees. She wasn't there long- Areuenu drove his foot into her ribs, sending her flying.

It wasn't anything she wasn't used to- the older kids were always hurting her. Sure, she could tell the adults…but that only made the beatings worse. So, she took them. It would be over soon- they never lasted long, just long enough to make a point. But today… it didn't even take that long.

"What the HELL do you think you're doing?!" Areuenu and Jofunu, who had finally recovered, immediately stopped what they were doing and turned around. Seto Kaiba was standing behind them… wondering what the hell he was doing.

This girl meant nothing to him. Truthfully, he couldn't care less if she got the hell beat out of her or not… at least he didn't think he did. But, here he was, saving her from bullies, just like he'd done for Mokuba all those years before.

"You both have three seconds to back… to run away." Seto gave the two boys a glare that seemed to penetrate deep into their souls… and they ran like the cowards they were. Seto smirked. "Whimps."

Koujo wasn't sure what had just happened- did Seto Kaiba really just save her from those jerks? She got to her feet and looked him dead in the eye.

"Kaiba-san! I challenge you to a duel."