Jewels: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Note: In this Seto is now 23

Name: Krystal Crawford-McKinley
Better Known As: K.C. McKinley
Age: 23
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Height: 5'4"

Sitting here in front of the beast that was the man that I was madly in love with, I now had to question the meaning of life and death.

"And that's where you're going to leave it?" Akai asked, his usually happy demeanor now that of concern, "You're just going just going to leave the first book of your new series with a cliffhanger?"

"Yes," I replied flatly, "It will leave my fans wanting more."

"The fan mail is going to be horrible," he said, setting the manuscript on the kitchen table.

"You'll manage, you always do," I said.

"Krystal…you've never done a cliffhanger as drastic as this…"

"It will be fine, don't worry so much."

"Easy for you to say."

"What was that envelope you were fiddling with earlier?" I questioned trying to change the subject. Akai was a wonderful manager, but he could worry way too much at times; but even through his worry I could see a smile creep across his face at the mention of that envelope.

"As one of Domino City's most eligible bachelorettes, you have been invited to-" he started only to be cut off by me.

"No," I said sternly, "Whatever it is, no." I headed out of the kitchen, but I heard him following me.

"This is an invitation to a ball to win a chance to go on a date-."

"No…"

"With Seto Kaiba…"

I looked at him and burst out laughing. "You're kidding right?"

"No…" he replied.

"It's pointless for me to go Akai. Even if I wanted to win, he wouldn't choose me," I said plopping down on the couch, "I'm Pegasus's niece, you know about the rivalry between those two."

"You're nothing like you're uncle, plus the world knows you as K.C. McKinley, and not as a Crawford," he said, trying his best to convince me to go, "I really doubt your family history will matter."

"It matters…trust me."

"Too bad, I already RSVPed you."

"You what?!"

"I knew you wouldn't want to go, but I know you too well and knew that if there was an obligation you would go."

"Akai!"

"Just go."

"When is it?"

"Tonight."

"You will regret this."

-Later-

I sat at a table and looked around; there were nineteen other bachelorettes in attendance. There were a couple of models, a fashion designer, three or four heiresses to major corporations, and a few others whom I did not recognize.

'Well this is exciting,' I thought scanning the room, 'Can't wait to tell Akai how exciting this ball was.'

SETO'S POV

"I can't believe you're making me do this," I said to Mokuba as we stood looking at all the bachelorettes.

"Seto…as your brother I think you should have a more meaningful relationship than the few one night stands that you've had," he replied, "I mean, you're 23 and number one on Domino's most eligible bachelors list, and you can't be there forever…and I don't want to see you there."

"I'm running a company," I retorted sternly, "I'll be on that list for as long as I want."

"That's sad bro…that is really sad," he said shaking his head.

"I don't care…I don't want to be a part of your little version of The Bachelor," I stated.

"Too late," he said, pushing me towards a small group of bachelorettes.

I looked over my shoulder and glared at him; he was going to pay for this. I shouldn't have to justify why I'm single, nor should I have to be pushed into a 'meaningful' relationship…I have too much work for all the romance crap that comes with a serious relationship. But now that I was surrounded by these women…I needed to at least talk to them.

-A Couple Hours Later-

"And when I got back here from Paris today I was really surprised at how much things have changed in just two years…" one of the girls was talking my ear off about her two year fashion designing escapade in Paris, and trust me when I say, her voice wasn't the greatest to listen to.

I let the chatter of the other people drown out her voice and as I scanned the room for hopefully someone else to talk to; my attention was caught by a girl sitting not far from where I was, looking bored as she seemed to be doodling on a napkin.

"Excuse me," I said, standing up and leaving the now disappointed girl behind me. As I got closer to the girl who was doodling on her napkin, I could see that her eyes, like her hair, was brown…and the concentration her eyes even for that little doodle, matched that of a duelist's.

"Bored are we?" I asked once I reached the table.

KRYSTAL'S POV

"Bored are we?" someone asked.

I looked up from the doodle on my napkin and saw none other than Seto Kaiba standing in front of me, dressed in a finely pressed business suit (we all know the one).

"Good evening Mr. Kaiba," I said standing up, "I'm guessing you finished talking to all the other bachelorettes and now it's my turn?"

"I finished talking to a few," he replied, not getting that I was joking.

'Good God, this man has no sense of humor,' I thought, 'This is like a giant job interview…and now it's my turn.' "Hmmm…and to answer your question, yes I was slightly bored," I said, trying not to say anything sarcastic or rude, "But a pen and a napkin can do wonders to keep a person busy."

He picked the napkin off the table, and when he looked at it his expression changed from one of a polite business/gentleman, to that of a disgusted and insulted duelist. "Toon Duel Monsters…including the Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon."

"They're cute and fun to draw," I said innocently. I knew how much Kaiba hated the Toon Monsters from his run ins with my uncle, but at the time I had been drawing I hadn't thought of that.

"They aren't cute…" he said sourly as he crumple the napkin up and dropped it in my wine glass that was still sitting on the table, "They're an abomination to Duel Monsters and I don't know how Pegasus could ever have thought it was appropriate to put those into the game."

I opened my mouth to justify the reasoning behind it, but then closed it. It wasn't my place to justify it, I didn't need to, and I wasn't going to out the fact that I was Pegasus's niece.

He let out an irritated sigh and mumbled something under his breath before looking like he was trying to regain his composure. "For now…we'll just forget about the Toons."

I stared at him skeptically before looking over my shoulder to see if there was anything that may have made him change so quickly, and I saw Mokuba standing there trying to act innocent, but I knew that he probably signaled to his big bro to be nice. So I looked back at Kaiba and gave a small nod. "Yeah…we'll just forget about them for now…"

"I don't think I caught your name," he said.

"Krystal Cr…" I stopped, catching myself before I could continue with that sentence, "Krystal McKinley."

"Most of the girls's names that I've gotten tonight I've heard of before, but yours doesn't ring a bell."

"That does and doesn't surprise me at the same time."

"And why would that be?"

"It surprises me that you haven't heard of me, because I have been on Domino's most eligible bachelorette list several times. But it also doesn't surprise me because I am better known as K.C. McKinley…best-selling romance novelist."

He clicked his tongue. "That's you?"

"Oh…so you have heard of me?" I questioned, highly surprised by this, "I didn't take you for a reader of romance."

"Not me…" he said, sounding slightly insulted, "Mokuba's girlfriend. She was going on about this romance covert ops book that she had been reading and she kept going on and on and on and on about it…and it's quite annoying when you're trying to work. But anyway, your name came up…well, your pen name."

"I'm sorry her review of my book was so annoying," I said.

"It wasn't that she was reviewing it, it was the fact that she was doing it in my office while I was trying to work," he said rubbing his temples.

"Well just wait until my next book," I said.

The look of his face was priceless; I needed a camera. Seto Kaiba was worried over a book, but I think it was more the thought of the review he was going to have to listen to while he was working.

"You think that one over while you're talking to the other girls," I said with a smile, "Cause the first book of my new series…is amazing." I walked away leaving him dumbfounded, and it was worth it.

-Later-

"Ladies, if I could have your attention please," Mokuba said, standing on the stage at the end of the room, "It's been a long evening and I know a lot of you must be tired from your trips to get here, so it is time to announce the six lucky winners of round one."

'Round one? Wait…what?' I thought quickly pulling the invitation out of my purse, and reading that the competition was broken into two parts.

As Mokuba started to read off the names I kinda spaced off since I figured that, because of our little spat over Toon Monsters earlier, Kaiba would not choose me, there for…I thought there was no reason to pay close attention, until…

"Krystal McKinley," I heard before a spotlight was shined right in my face. There were applause and I slowly (and reluctantly) made my way up on stage next to the other girls.

"Congratulations ladies," Mokuba said, "In two days, we will start round two."

"Wonderful…" I muttered.

Jewels: Okay…so that's chap 1! Probably not the greatest first chap in the world, but it gets things rolling. (They see my writin', they hatin', readin' and tryin' catch me writin' badly)…Yeeeeeeah, so I hope you liked the first chap haha