Yugi, Joey, Tea and Tristan sat on the grass outside their school, playing truth or dare. Yugi, who'd reluctantly accepted, started. "Tea, truth or dare?"
She hummed, a finger against her chin. "Truth."
"Okay. Uhmm... Is there anyone you like?"
Joey sighed. Yugi really was oblivious.
She nodded, her cheeks tinted pink slightly. "Tristan," she changed the topic quickly, "Truth or dare?"
He crossed his arms, grinning smugly. "Dare, of course."
"I dare you... to shave your head."
Tristan gasped, gaping at her with his mouth hanging wide open.
"I was kidding," she giggled. "How about, go take a drink from the water fountain."
"Aw, that's lame," Joey whined.
"Are you trying to kill me? I can't do that!"
"I dared you." Tea smirked, worthy of a revenge-pursuing Seto Kaiba. She didn't know why he was bothered so much, but she knew he was.
Tristan shuddered, pushing himself up with one hand. He gave the group tortured glances every few seconds as he walked to the fountain and almost against his will, even drank from it.
He plopped back down next to Joey and Tea and crossed his legs again, holding his churning stomach.
"So how was it?" asked Tea.
"Great, I only gagged a few times. 'Kay... Joey, truth or dare?"
Joey leaned back on his hands, he puckered his lips to the side in contemplation. He couldn't look like a whimp now though, could he? "Dare."
Tristan chuckled mischieviously. "I dare you to tell Kaiba..."
Joey winced. This couldn't be good. "Tell him what?"
Tristan leaned closer, whispering into his ear his evil plan.
Joey shrunk back, eyes widened at the newest supervillian. "No way!"
"Come on, just write it on a note. He'll never know it's you!"
Tea was definitely curious. "What's the dare?"
Tristan motioned for her to come closer and whispered it to her too.
She stifled a laugh and quickly shared it with Yugi.
Yugi's whole face seem to curve in worry. "Do you think that's a good idea?"
"It's just a joke. You'll do it, right? You have to." He elbowed Joey's arm to get him to loosen up.
Joey continuously switched his sight from Tristan to the ground and back in uncertainty. "I guess."
Tristan gave him a wide, goofy grin and patted his head. "Good boy."
Joey shoved his arm away. "If ya eva' do that again, I'll pound ya."
Seto seated himself in his chair, mentally ranting about how his morning had gone. Letting Mokuba attempt to make his precious, precious coffee hadn't been the greatest idea. He had almost been late. He stopped quickly when he noticed a folded piece of paper sitting on the corner of his desk. 'Not another love letter...' he sighed, grabbing the note and unfolding it beneath the desk where nobody could see.
He scanned the writing several times before accepting that he could not understand it, and discreetly slipped it into his pocket. 'What is this, some kind of threat? Who would threaten me at school, though? Is it in another language? Certainly not one I recognize. A riddle?'
He was getting more anxious by the second. Was he in danger? What did this absurd writing mean? He couldn't just sit still for the rest of the day. No, this was important.
"Excuse me," he interrupted the teacher's role call, standing up swiftly and pushing in his seat. "I must leave now."
He ignored the teacher calling after him and dialed a number on his cell phone as he rushed through the halls.
"Roland, I need to get to Kaiba Corp. now. I have received a strange note, possibly a threat that I need analyzed immediately."
Within fifteen minutes, Seto was at his company, handing over the note. "Check it for any signs of who might have written it, and I need to know what it means."
"Yes, Mr. Kaiba." She took it carefully, giving him a professional nod. "Please wait in your office. We will contact you when we have the results."
"Thank you, Ms. Hale."
And wait was all he could do. While he was in his office, he took one of his business cards and re-created it on the back. Of course, it was in much neater handwriting. He took it someone who wrote that sloppily had to be some airheaded thug, surely no matter of importance for a man like him. Nonetheless, he had to know. "Roland."
Roland approached his desk, hands folded behind his back. "Yes, sir?"
Seto held up the card for Roland to read. "Do you recognize or understand what this says?"
He shook his head in response. "I don't believe I do."
Seto scowled and dropped it down onto his desk. "Thank you, Roland. You may take a break."
Roland bowed his head gratefully. "Thank you, sir. I shall return to you with your results."
Seto didn't answer. He spent a while with one leg over the other, his foot making a tapping motion in his impatience.
Roland's return was more than welcome. He handed Seto several papers, as well as the original piece of paper, the cause of all this trouble. "They were unable to determine what it says, however they did find the fingerprints of Joseph Wheeler."
"Wheeler," Seto sneered, eye twitching with rage. "It must be in some type of infantile code. I'm sure he's trying to threaten me somehow, mocking me. That does explain that wretched handwriting skills. Send it back to them and tell them to keep trying to decode it."
Roland nodded and exited the room again.
That evening, Seto went home after some convincing, muttering incoherent, angry babblings under his breath.
"Seto!" Mokuba exclaimed excitedly, smiling as he ran and latched himself onto his big brother's waist.
Seto sighed and returned a stiff, half-hearted, one-armed hug. He'd been busy lately, but he wasn't particularly in the mood.
The smile vanished off of Mokuba's face immediately. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
"It's nothing, Mokuba," Seto assured him, "Just some idiot at school. Wheeler to be precise."
Mokuba nodded in understanding, slightly disappointed. He didn't like his brother's moods sometimes.
"Are you still watching a movie with me tonight?" he asked in a childish, whiny voice, his eyes brimming with hope, though he really didn't expect a yes.
Seto's mouth curled into a half-smile as he ruffled Mokuba's hair a bit. He was still annoyed, but he wouldn't let it get to him. "Sure. Just give me a few minutes."
Mokuba instantly beamed. "Oh, thank you, Seto!" He ran off to go look through the movies.
Seto hung up his coat and slowly made his way to his room, putting away his tie and placing a few papers on his nightstand.
'They'll call me. I just have to relax and go watch a movie with Mokuba like a promised I would...'
"Hey, Seto!" Mokuba held up a few DVD cases, "Have you thought of anything you want to watch? I picked out these, but I've already seen them, so I don't mind."
Seto shrugged. "I don't care, just pick something."
"Okay." He lay them back on the floor and bit his lip, trying to decide which would be best.
As Seto watched, a thought struck him. "Hey Mokuba, do you happen to know what 'smexy' means?"
Mokuba turned his head with an odd, but amused look and burst into a small fit of giggles. It was awkward hearing his brother say that. "Where did you hear that?"
"It doesn't matter. Just tell me what it means."
"It's just a weird way to say sexy. That's all."
Seto looked absolutely stunned. If he blushed, he would be right now.
"Uhm, Seto? Where did you hear that?" No answer. "Are you alright?"
"Nothing to worry about. I have to go make a few calls."
'How did Mokuba know that? Maybe I should hire a home tutor after all.'
Mokuba was left in confusion. 'What was that about?'
Seto hurried to the phone, embarrassment making his adrenaline rush. He only hoped nobody figured it out.
"Wait." He stopped abruptly, picturing the note in his head once more. "Why did Wheeler call me sexy?"
