Chapter One: Kaiba the Tutor

"Leilani, get up!"

A tanned hand emerged from under the comforter and yanked a pillow under the blankets. "NO! I don't wanna get up! Getting up means talking in Japanese!"

"Up or no shopping tomorrow, Lani! You know the rules; no work, no cool new Japanese school uniform!"

"WHAT!" With a loud thump, Leilani rolled out of bed and hit the polished wood floor. "I'm up, I'm up!"

"Remember, you have to go to that place…Kindo Corp? Something like that. Anyway, you have to go there at about two this afternoon for a special business class. You'll be there every day. Wear something decent!"

Lani looked at her mom and sighed, running a hand through her slightly crimped hair and blowing her bangs out of her face. "Okay, Mom!" she yelled as Mrs. Kerry walked away.

Leilani pushed herself off the floor and dug through a box of clothes. (Rhythm: Lani just finished moving to Japan from Hawaii.) Finally, she grabbed a pair of jeans with the cuffs rolled up into capris. Yanking on a blue Happy Bunny t-shirt that read "Crazy doesn't even begin to cover it," and a black corduroy jacket, she figured she was "presentable."

The Hawaiian girl hurriedly pulled her hair into a mass of tiny, beaded braids and grabbed her purse, emptying it into a mini backpack. Swinging it over her shoulder, she pulled on socks and a pair of blue sneakers.

Pounding down the stairs, Lani slid open the screen into the living room. "Mom, I'm gonna head out now. Be back after my class." Lani grabbed her skateboard from behind the door and ran out.

Domino City, she thought in wonder. I can't believe I'm here! She jumped the board onto a bench and shredded down its length. Finally, she saw the huge tower in the distance. Even from here, Lani could see the bright red letters reading Kaiba Corp.

"I still have four hours," she groaned. Suddenly, Leilani collided with someone.

"Hey, watch it, punk! You nearly made me lose my flute!"

Lani whirled around, barely grabbing her skateboard and stopping it from rolling into the street. Grabbing the slim black flute case from the gutter, she turned to face the girl she'd run into.

The girl had short black hair and green eyes. She was wearing a pink sweater set and khaki pants with black dress shoes. She looked like a (dun dun DUN) preppy. "Give that back!" she snapped, snatching the case from Lani's hand. "And get out of her here; you're in my way. I have a big duel in fifteen minutes!"

"Kohani, where are you going?" A guy, about Lani's age or maybe a year older, came up behind the girl. He had icy blue eyes and brown hair, and was wearing a Matrix-style blue trench coat over his clothes.

"My duel," the girl answered. "Get lost, Seto! I don't need you to babysit me!"

Quietly, Lani grabbed her board and snuck off.

Walking into the massive lobby of Kaiba Corp, Lani immediately noticed how much she stood out. Everyone seemed to be wearing drab gray business suits, for one thing. Lani, in her blue jeans, t-shirt, jacket, and blue sneakers, with a skateboard in one hand to boot, was attracting too much attention.

Walking over to the reception desk, she said, "Excuse me, I'm here for Mr. Kaiba's business class, and-"

"Up three floors, first door on your right," the receptionist replied without looking up.

"Uh, thanks." Leilani fished around in her backpack for a minute before finding her cell phone. Putting it on rumble, she pulled out a tube of lip gloss and a compact. Checking her appearance quickly, she applied a nice, thick layer of ultra-shiny chocolate gloss before pounding up the stairs.

Opening the first door on her right, Lani found the room empty. There was a briefcase on the conference table, but nothing else. Slowly, the girl eased herself into the room and leaned her skateboard against a chair, sliding into it at the same time.

"You must be Ms. Kerry."

Leilani jumped, knocking her board over. Looking up, she saw the same guy whose sister she'd bumped into earlier. "Um, yes, I'm Leilani," she said, standing up and extending a hand.

The guy looked at Lani's hand in disgust. "Seto Kaiba. Mr. Kaiba to you," he said coldly.

Lani sank back into her chair, eyes burning. "Fine. I'm assuming my mother signed me up for a private class. Am I correct?"

"Yes. Now, we'll get started. You come here ever day at two o'clock sharp. For every minute you're late, you'll work half an hour for Kaiba Corp to learn responsibility. Since I don't have time to tutor you personally-"

Leilani jumped up. "No way! My mom paid the big bucks for you, not some low-class, stuck-up-"

"Ms. Kerry, if you had permitted me to finish, I believe you would have heard me say that I can't tutor you personally here. You'll have to come with me to my various appointments and meetings."

"Oh." Lani sank back down. "So, where are we going?"

"A few different places. First off, I have a stop at Domino High to smash someone in a duel. Then we'll start on your education. The limo's downstairs." Kaiba got up.

Leilani picked up her backpack and reached for her skateboard. Kaiba's hand fastened in an iron-hard grip around her wrist.

"That stays here." He spun around and headed for the door. When he was about a yard away (ROL: A meter, for you people outside of the US.), the door banged open. In the doorway stood Kohani.

For a minute, dead silence fell over the room. Then, Kohani grabbed a walkie-talkie hanging from her waist. "I'm calling security. Seto, what were you thinking? We don't let gangsters in here!"

"GANGSTER!" Leilani squealed. "I'm not a gangster!"

"Kohani, we are not calling security on my student!"

Lani had to fight a fit of giggles as Kohani's jaw dropped. "Wh…WHAT!"

Lani shrugged. "Small world, isn't it? Double aloha to you, by the way." She grinned and slid past Kaiba's sister.

"Kaiba, we have an important phone call for you," a worker said, holding out a portable phone.

"Tell them I'll call them later. I'm leaving now."

Kohani stared as she saw her brother and that punk girl stroll casually towards the elevators.

Lani fiddled anxiously as she stood in the elevator with Kaiba. "Um, Mr. Kaiba, what exactly did my mom hire you to teach me?"

"Responsibility. Business sense. Stuff to help you survive in the real world." Kaiba stopped talking as the elevator doors slid open. "But before we go, one of my assistants will get you some civilized clothes."

"NO WAY!" Lani protested immediately. "I'm not changing."

"Then I'll call your mother. You will not be seen with me looking like a skater brat." Kaiba's blue eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Then call her. I'm out of here." Leilani started calmly across the lobby towards the doors, until Kaiba's iron grip closed around her arm. "Ow! OW OW OW! Let me go, you're hurting me!"

"Kaiba, stop. The way you're holding her arm, you two look like a couple."

Kaiba dropped Lani's arm like a hot brand, and the girl stumbled away, rubbing the red spot where he'd been holding her. Slowly, she turned to face whoever had such control over Kaiba. It was a tall kid with spiky blonde hair.

"Wheeler. Get out of here," Kaiba snarled.

"Naw, don't think I will. I wanna check out the new dueling system. What is it this time? Microchips?"

Kaiba glared. "Shut up, Wheeler. It's still experimental. Get out of here."

"Okay, Kaiba. Take good care of those microchips for me. They'll go good with a bowl of dip." The guy grinned. (ROL: You've all realized by now that this is Joey, right?) As he turned around, he added, "And be nice to the hottie."

Lani grinned. "Yeah, Kaiba. Be nice to me."

"Seto, you can't DO this!" Kohani barged into the lobby, shaking a cell phone angrily. "This is Karmacon Industries! They're going to drop the deal unless you talk to them right now!"

Kaiba grabbed the phone, shoving Lani roughly towards the doors. "Get in the limo. I have to take this."

Lani blinked in confusion, hiking up her backpack and walking towards the doors. She didn't like Seto Kaiba one bit. He was bossy and stuck up and let his little sister boss him around. Even if he did have eyes Leilani would kill for, he was still a jerk. And she was stuck with him.

Sliding into the waiting limo, Lani pulled out a mirror and checked her makeup. That Wheeler guy had been cute; if Kaiba knew any more hot guys, even if he hated them, Lani was going to be ready.

"Hi! You must be Leilani!" The new speaker was a kid with spiky black hair and eyes just like Kaiba's, but slightly darker. He could only be about ten or twelve. "I'm Mokuba. Seto's been talking about you all week. He keeps saying you're some stuck-up rich American brat who can't speak Japanese. So, what are you, actually?"

Lani smiled, snapping the compact shut and tucking it away. "A rich American girl who's quite good at speaking Japanese and is being tutored by your brother."

"Oh, that's cool. I think. Well, today's your day! We have to go to Domino High for awhile. Seto has a duel scheduled there. You'll get to see him in action!" Mokuba was digging for a pop in the bar section. Only finding rapidly-melting ice, he sighed and started fiddling with the radio. Finally, not hearing anything good, he turned it off. "I'm bored," he announced. "How about playing a game of Duel Monsters with me?"

Lani goggled. "I can't play Duel Monsters! I don't know how, and besides I don't have any cards!"

Mokuba stared. "You can't duel? Then why are you hanging out with Seto?"

"It wasn't my choice! My mom's paying him mega-bucks to tutor me how to live in the business world since I'm going to inherit my family's company."

Mokuba shook his head. "No, that's not it. Seto's been offered money up into the millions to teach people before. But he's never agreed to do it. If he's tutoring you, it's because he thinks you'll actually learn something from him."

Before Lani could respond, the limo doors swung open and Kaiba slid in, accompanied by Kohani and some blonde chic.

"Seto, why are we bringing her?" Kohani complained. "You don't actually need her! All you're doing is dueling all day!"

"I come with Seto to all his duels. I'm his good luck charm. You'd know that if you were around more often, Kohani. But you spend all your time at a boarding school." The blonde turned away and kissed Kaiba on the cheek once before beginning to primp with a compact.

"Seto doesn't need luck! He's the best duelist ever!" Mokuba protested. "Besides, you just come along because you want to act like you're Seto's girlfriend when you're not!"

"Kaiba's the best duelist ever? That's news to me," Lani said suddenly.

"What did you just say?" Kaiba growled.

"That you're not the best duelist ever. As I recall, you don't hold the title 'King of Games'. Yugi Motou does. Which obviously means you're not the best." The Hawaiian girl smirked. She'd caught Kaiba in his own goof, letting his brother say he was the best.

Only dead silence followed Lani's words. Kohani looked smug, Mokuba look shocked, the blonde looked confused, and Kaiba looked furious. Right before he could make the decision whether to strangle, stab, or through Lani out of the limo, it rolled to a stop. Lucky Lani, because he was going for the second one.

"We've arrived at Domino City High School, ladies and gentlemen," the driver announced.

"Thanks for the ride," Lani said cheerfully, opening the door and sliding out. "Though the bar needs restocked."

"Miss Kerry, I highly suggest that from this point on, you keep your American Gift of Gab to yourself. Shut up. I don't want to hear it. And you," Kaiba added, turning to the blonde. "I don't even know you. Get out of here."

Lani goggled, again. "You take her in your limo and let her practically throw herself at you and you don't even know her? I mean, Americans can get low, but not even hookers get that trashy!" She tossed her braids back and stuck up her chin. "So take that, Mr. High-And-Mighty."

Seto's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I run this town, Leilani Kerry. And if you get me mad, your life in Domino City will be a living hell."

Lani smiled devilishly. "Don't try me Kaiba."

Kaiba shrugged. "Bring it on, Kerry. Bring it on."

She brought it.