Chapter 4: Calm before the Storm

At exactly 9 p.m., Izumi Maeda walked out the doors of the Intercontinental Hotel and got onto her motorcycle. The foggy night air made her trip home difficult, but she managed to arrive onto Hako Road with no harm.

As Izumi parked her bike outside, she glanced around cautiously to make sure no suspicious figures were lurking nearby. Hako Road was not the safest of streets, particularly at night. The entire area was known for crime, but it was a cheap area to live at and all Izumi could afford.

After being satisfied with the fact that the only other figure on the street was a calico cat walking lazily along the sidewalk, Izumi proceeded to stride up two flights of stairs to reach her apartment, number 24. She double checked behind her to make sure no one was following her before opening the door with her keys and quickly shutting it and bolting the locks behind her.

A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she finally flopped down onto her couch and flipped on the television. Izumi lived by herself; both her parents lived in the countryside trying to keep a small restaurant business alive. It earned them a small living, but not without a lot of arduous work. Thus, they were unable to follow their daughter when Izumi applied and was accepted to attend Domino High School.

Izumi threw her keys onto the coffee table. Attached to the keychain was a small, portable container of pepper spray, disguised as something that looked like a mini flashlight or a pen of some sort. Luckily enough for her, she never had the chance to use it. Channel surfing the TV set, Izumi finally settled on the local news channel, which was reporting on the damage as a result of the giant thunderstorm that morning.

"The thunderstorm knocked out power for 10 hours for residents in Kobe and Osaka, but repairmen are now working on the situation," the TV reporter announced. "It is estimated to take up to 24 hours to reestablish all of the power outages. The most costly damage that occurred today was at a Kaiba Land dueling arena located right outside of Osaka. High speed winds ripped off the roof of the arena, allowing the inside to flood and cause millions of dollars worth of damage to the Kaiba Corporation…"

The report suddenly cut to a press conference room, with Seto Kaiba on the podium. He was making an announcement:

"Damages to the arena are at an estimate of 3.5 million dollars. However, we are going to take this opportunity to introduce Kaiba Corp's newest dueling technology by building a brand new arena in place of the former one. This technology is currently in the testing stage as we run numerous examinations on it before it is released to the public. There will be better graphic renders of duel monsters for more realistic effects, as well as other upgrades I can not disclose at this time."

"Mr. Kaiba! Mr. Kaiba! Can you tell us when the rebuilding will begin?" one enthusiastic reporter questioned.

"Well, as soon as the insurance clears, we will begin—"

Izumi rolled her eyes as she changed the channel. Thoughts of Yugi and his friend's warnings began to recollect in her mind, but by now, she was as sure as ever that she had no reason to worry. Seto Kaiba obviously was a very, very busy man with an entire corporation to run. Where would he find time to plot against her?

- - -

Izumi woke up the next morning still on the couch. Trying to remember why she hadn't gotten up and into her bed, she vaguely remembered a TV special on dolphins that caused her to doze off. Forcing herself up and into the bathroom, she quickly showered and dressed for school.

The skies that morning were clear. Puffy white clouds amassed in the sky above, but no precipitation was in them. When Izumi entered the school building that morning, all seem to have calmed down. No one questioned her any longer about the incident between her and Seto Kaiba yesterday, as she breathed a sigh of relief and headed towards her first class.

At noon, Izumi, along with all the other students, began making way towards the cafeteria for lunch. While walking, someone unexpectedly tapped on her shoulder. Turning around, she found Tristan and Yugi inspecting her intently.

"Hey…." Izumi said, looking at them confusedly. Their glares kept searching her face and body to the point where it almost made her uncomfortable.

"Are you okay? Did anything happen to you yesterday?" Yugi finally stumbled out, unable to find a bruise. Izumi suddenly laughed at the cause of their actions, making her almond eyes crease and disappear into a line amusement.

"Are you guys kidding me? That's what this is about?" Izumi said, scolding them. "I'm fine. I have not been severely beaten by Kaiba nor have I been expelled."

"Wow, I thought you were a goner for sure," Joey said, suddenly joining the small group along with Tea. "Good to see ya though," he added, patting Izumi on the back. The group now continued towards the lunch room together sat at a corner table after everyone got their food. The rest of lunch was uneventful, peaceful even, as the group cracked jokes and laughed with Izumi.

Their laughter halted at a mid-chuckle when a huge spoonful of macaroni and cheese went flying and landed flat on Izumi's face. The entire cafeteria ushered to a silence as Izumi suddenly stood up, fuming, while glaring around trying to find the culprit.

Suddenly, one student yelled "FOOD FIGHT!" and that was all it took to unleash the entire cafeteria into a frenzy of war with ketchup packet bombs, pizza slices, and cartons of milk. Trying to escape the insanity that had suddenly sprouted, Izumi made her way towards the exit, hoping to clean herself off in the girl's bathroom before her next class started. Barely making it to the door, the principal suddenly walked in front of her, blocking her way. At the sight of Mr. Kashi, the tall and often described as wolf-like man, students suddenly stopped their food throwing and immediately looked down as if nothing ever happened. Expecting to be lectured at, everyone was surprised to hear Mr. Kashi suddenly bellow out "You! Maeda. Into my office, NOW!"

In the back corner, away from all of the frenzy that just occurred, Seto Kaiba sat smirking to himself.

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Author's Note: I've actually already started ch. 5. I was going to make it into one chapter, but it was going to be waaay too long. Send me feedback for faster update please )