AN: I'm pretty sure I've got the timings wrong here, which I apologise for, but Duelist Kingdom being over with and Battle City having not have happened yet works well with my story. Also, I decided to use the English names opposed to the Japanese ones, simply because I watched the anime and it's a lot easier for me.

Anyway, I'll shut up now and let you read.


Yugi stifled a yawn with his hand as he peered into his locker. It was the first day back at school for the start of a new year and his body complained at being up so early once again. The time since he and the gang had arrived back from Duelist Kingdom had flown by quickly and he was surprised to be back in school again.

But none was more surprised than Joey Wheeler, whose forehead now currently lent against the locker next to Yugi's. His eyes were closed and he seemed asleep. Yugi nudged his arm.

"Wake up, Joey." He commanded, shaking the boys arm a little more. Joey groaned before turning his head, turning pleading eyes on Yugi.

"Five more minutes, please." He whined. Yugi shook his head with a small grin.

"You should have gone to bed earlier." A voice commented. Both Yugi and Joey turned in the direction of the sound to see Téa Gardner waltzing towards them, her dark brown hair bouncing with each step.

"Yeah, yeah." Joey answered before yawning quite loudly. Téa rolled her blue eyes and Yugi struggled to hide his smirk.

"It's reasonable advice." Téa suddenly snapped. Any hint of tiredness flew out of the boys eyes as they stared in shock at their friend. They exchanged glances.

"Téa," Yugi hesitantly began. "Are you okay?" The girl sighed and fiddled with the sleeve of her pink blazer.

"I'm fine, it's just that new girl." She replied. Joey frowned.

"What new girl?" He inquired.

"I don't know, she's just new." Téa answered with a bite. "She's come here from France or something." Now Yugi frowned in confusion. His friend Téa was usually so friendly and kind towards people, even strangers - yet she had a look of distaste on her face as she spoke about the girl. It made Yugi wonder what the new girl had done to upset Téa.

"Okay… so what about her?" He asked curiously.

"Well I was only warning her about her piercings." Téa explained.

"Piercings?" Questioned Yugi.

"Yeah, she has an eyebrow one and a nose one." Téa clarified. "I was only saying to her that they were against school rules and that she should take them out so she wouldn't get into trouble. And then she just said No thanks and walked away from me!".

"That doesn't sound too bad." Joey pointed out. Téa gave him a sharp look.

"She was very rude, I was only trying to be helpful." She sniffed. Yugi gave his friend a small smile.

"It's her first day, maybe she's just nervous." He offered. Téa thought this over for a second and gave a small nod of agreement.

"You're probably right, Yugi." She replied with a smile of her own.

"Hey guys!"

All three turned in unison towards to the direction of the yell to see their other friend Tristan running over to them.

"I thought you would be late." Joey grinned at him. Téa checked her watch.

"He almost was." She commented. As if on cue the bell signalling the beginning of lessons rang out. They all made their way towards their first lesson, all four of them starting with maths that day. Upon arriving at the classroom and entering, they were all drawn towards the same thing.

"Hey, Téa." Joey said quietly. "Is that the new girl you were talking about?" He pointed over the far corner where a girl their age sat at her desk staring out of the window, her chin propped up in her hand as her elbow lent against the table. Her blonde hair was a mass of frizzy curls, spilling over her shoulders. With the standard pink blazer and blue skirt girls uniform she also wore black lacy tights in a floral design and heavy black boots on her feet.

"Yeah, that's her." Téa replied, answering Joey's question. Her tone was less hostile than it had been before.

"Do you know her name?" Tristan asked. Before Téa could even answer, Joey butt in.

"Why, are you thinking of flirting with her already?" He joked. Tristan threw him a scowl. During their little argument Yugi debated whether or not he should go over and introduce himself when the teacher appeared behind them and all of them filed to their seats.

"Oh man, look who's here." Joey suddenly said, his tone sounding woeful. Yugi glanced up curiously and followed his line of sight, only mildly surprised to see Seto Kaiba sat at a desk a little away from them.

"I guess this is one of the days he's in school." Yugi mused.

"But why today?" Joey complained. "As if the first day back at school wasn't bad enough."

"Just try to stay out of his way." Yugi pleaded, worried yet another fight would happen between Kaiba and Joey.

Don't worry so much, Yugi, the Pharoh's voice sounded in his head and the boy smiled to himself.

I'll try not to, he promised.


Elizabeth was bored. Very, very bored. They were covering a topic she had already done the previous year at her old school. With the money people paid for their children to attend that school she wouldn't be surprised if she found herself five years ahead of her peers. The teaching at St. Isabelle's was excellent.

To pass the time between questions, she doodled in the margins of her book. Nothing spectacular, just little swirls and chequered squares. And my mother says I'm not creative, she thought to herself bitterly. And it's all his fault. She glared at the back of the head in front of her, where none other than Seto Kaiba, established life ruiner himself, sat quietly writing away. She glared harder hoping he would somehow know how much hate for him she harboured, but she knew it was fruitless. She would just have to give him a death stare later, when he could actually see her face.

Elizabeth went back to her doodling, but her mind was too preoccupied. Her thoughts swirled much like the ones she had drawn on her page. Why her mother of all people? Of all the architects out there, why Helen Alice Walters? Sure, her mother had designed some extraordinary buildings that she hated to admit even took her breath away. But a hotel? It seemed very unlike her mother to accept. Elizabeth thought her mother only took on the most flamboyant and stunning work she could find. Then again, a hefty pay may have been the key factor in the situation. This made her even angrier as she thought about it.

Luckily, the bell rang out, shattering any thoughts she held at that moment. Elizabeth gathered her things and placed them back in her bag. It could have only taken a matter of seconds, but when she looked back up Seto Kaiba had disappeared from sight and any hopes she had of giving him a hard stare as she walked past fluttered from her mind. There's always a next time, she thought slyly to herself as she walked out of class with a smirk on her face. Her face soon turned into a mask of fury though as someone ran past her and knocked her quite roughly. Her black satchel fell off her shoulder and she just managed to catch it in the crook of her arm before it fell to the floor.

"Watch where you're going." The guy who ran into her mocked. All of his friends laughed. Elizabeth straightened back up, her eyes slits and her lips twisted into a bitter scowl.

"You're the idiot who ran into me." She retorted. The guys laughter stopped and he gave Elizabeth a cold look.

"You should apologise for that. Girls like you shouldn't be so rude to men like me." The boy said in a serious tone. Elizabeth scoffed.

"Make me." She challenged, quirking the eyebrow on which her piercing was on. The metal flashed in the light.

"I think I just will." The guy threatened before reaching for her arm.