Author's Info: This got up really quickly, although it was mostly due to the fact I stayed up with a friend for hours instead of going to bed. I don't really mind; I'm a late night person anyway. It just made sense to finish my chapter since I was so close. I hope you guys like this chapter. You get a very brief glimpse into the other sides of the Makoto sisters. Next chapter is the first installation of the duel segment. I hope you enjoy it!

The "what"s: Listening to Desert Rose by Sting and the random Sailor Moon episodes my friend pulled up. Thinking about how awkward life can be sometimes, and how funny these awkward moments can be (so long as they're not happening to you, of course).

Disclaimer: If I owned Yu-Gi-Oh, I would gladly be spending my time adding on to the Yugi centered universe. Everyone knows we need to see Yugi and Kaiba duke it out once Yami is gone. As it stands, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, but I do own the twins and other OCs, as well as the current plot. Please tell me what you think of it!

Extra Note: Three hundred views of Destinies of the Divine Descendants and one hundred fifty views of Sando No Jigoku. I'm pretty excited about this. Please enjoy.

Chapter Seven

"So you really think you stand a chance of defeating me?" Kaiba asked, more than a little amused, and irritated, by her attitude. He hadn't moved at all, despite the fact lunch had started more than five minutes ago. Yumi glanced up from her book. She also had not moved from her seat, instead taking out her book from earlier. She had hoped becoming engrossed in her book would mean the others would leave her alone.

"I don't think, Kaiba," she said seriously, "I know I at least stand a chance of defeating you. It's no long-shot, either. I don't believe in pulling underhanded tricks. I'll defeat you fair and square, or I'll go down with my head held high."

"If you're so confident, why speak about defeat at all?" Kaiba scoffed. "I think you just don't want to admit my skills are superior to yours in every way, so you're trying to get around it with all your vague nonsense."

"Even the King of Games has to lose sometime," Yumi said, still being serious, "and while I don't intend to lose, it's still possible. The future is rarely absolute, so even if I did have the ability to see into the future, it could still be changed by one man's drive and determination."

"Spare me your nonsense," Kaiba said, thoroughly annoyed.

"But that's what you believe as well, isn't it?" she countered quietly. "That, even though everything can look like you're headed into ruin, if you just face it with grim determination and fight with everything in yourself, you can change Fate itself. Nothing is ever completely spelled out for us. It is possible to change the future if you're willing to try hard enough."

"And what would you possibly know about that?" Kaiba snapped. "Don't act like you know me. You don't know the first thing about me."

"I know more than you think," she said, her voice taking a quiet, pained tone that surprised Kaiba. Her face was hard and expressionless, like a stone mask. "There's a lot about me you won't find out in your precious background checks, Kaiba. Maybe our duel today will show you that, and, who knows, you might actually learn a thing or two."

"Like it will really matter," he said. He was really beginning to look forward to when he could beat her in the duel. He would greatly enjoy shutting her up. His gaze drifted to her when she didn't reply. She was staring at the book, but her eyes weren't moving; she was obviously not reading the book. There was a pained and disturbed light in her eyes. After a moment, she stood up.

"Please excuse me," she said, "I think I need a moment to collect my thoughts." With that, she walked out the door. Kaiba simply shrugged it off; it wasn't something he should care about anyway. There was no need to get involved.

"So what did you want to talk about, Tsuki?" Yugi asked when they had entered the deserted classroom. He was curious as to why they had to go elsewhere to discuss this topic, and he knew that, whatever it was, it was of extreme importance.

"Yugi, do you consider my sister to be your friend?" she asked. She knew he would say yes, but she needed to make him understand just how important all this was to her, and, more importantly, to her sister.

"Of course I consider Yumi to be my friend!" Yugi said, shocked Tsuki would even ask such a thing after he had already said so. "Especially since Yumi was willing to talk to me and invite me to watch her duel against Kaiba."

"So you'll cheer for my sister during the duel?"

"Yes, of course! Yumi wants to win against Kaiba badly, and she believes in the heart of the cards. She's dueling to protect the things she loves, and to earn Kaiba's respect by proving she has what it takes to work for him. Yumi is an amazing duelist, I'm sure, and I'm also sure her technological skills are top rate. Maybe Kaiba will even take on her game."

Tsuki stared at Yugi in shock. Somehow he had seen all of Yumi's reasons for wanting to duel and he respected her for it. Even Yumi's best friend in Tokyo had never really understood why she went through all that work to get where she was.

"Thank you, Yugi," Tsuki said gratefully, "for being such a good friend to my sister. I've never met anyone outside our family who really understood her, yet you're able to understand her in a way even I can't. Please keep looking after her. Yumi won't admit it, but she's really very lonely. She works hard and does a lot for our family, more than Dad and I ever really pay attention to. If it weren't for her, our family probably would've fallen apart a long time ago, but she doesn't really have anyone to keep her from falling apart. She always feels like she has to be strong, like she's not allowed to show her weaknesses to anyone. Even to me, her twin, she doesn't cry or empty her problems very often. In fact, I rarely know what is really on her mind.

"What I really want to say, though, is this: please continue to be a good friend to her. Even if she doesn't cry to you, even if she never seems to remove her mask, you don't know how important your friendship is to her. You became friends immediately, which has never happened to Yumi before. I don't know why it was so easy for the two of you to become friends, but I do know that you and Yumi are meant to be close. Please don't hurt my sister. I can't forgive anyone who hurts my sister, even if they're my friend."

"I would never intentionally do something to hurt Yumi!" Yugi exclaimed. "If Yumi trusts me as much as your say, then I'm very happy. Yumi s a very good person and she deserves friends who will stand by her. I promise we won't turn our backs on her, and we'll be there for her whenever she needs us."

"Thank you, Yugi," Tsuki said gratefully before kissing his cheek. She was so happy to know there was someone else who would look after her sister, someone she could trust and look to as well. She didn't know why, but she felt drawn to Yumi's short new friend and she looked forward to spending more time with him.

That's when she saw Yumi walk by wearing an expression she rarely ever saw on her sister's face. She quickly went to the door, not even noticing Yugi's confused expression or the blush on his face. She just knew she had to get to her sister as she ran down the hallway in pursuit of her.

"Yumi! Yumi, stop!" she called out, but her sister didn't answer. She slipped into the empty classroom and grabbed her sister's arm when she caught up with her, startling Yumi. "Yumi, what happened? What's wrong? Who did this? Did they upset you?"

"It's nothing, Tsuki. There's nothing to worry about," she said in an attempt to reassure her sister. She had hoped to get some time alone, without her sister noticing her absence, but it seemed that was simply impossible. "I just needed a few minutes to myself, that's all."

"Yumi, you know I'm not going to believe all that nonsense," Tsuki snapped, frustrated by her sister's unwillingness to tell her what was bothering her. "How about telling me what's really going on? Did Kaiba say something to you?"

"Not exactly," Yumi admitted. "We were talking and he just . . . brought back some rather unpleasant memories." Tsuki's eyes darkened. Yumi rarely ever got upset like this. She was beginning to despise Kaiba; he was very good at hurting her sister, and she wasn't even sure how he was able to do it. He didn't even know Yumi, yet he was able to bring back all the painful memories from Yumi's past. He was certainly Yugi's opposite, and she would make him pay for what he was doing to her.

"Which ones?"

"I'd really rather not say," Yumi said, her gaze turning to the window. "Can you go ahead? I just need a few minutes. Don't worry, I'm coming back," she promised, which made Tsuki feel a little better. She knew her sister wouldn't make a promise she had no intention of keeping.

"Alright, Yumi, but if you don't I'll make you regret it," she swore. "After all, you have a duel to win against Kaiba after school today. You can't be the Amunshem if you run away from a challenge."

"Don't worry. I have every intention of defeating Kaiba after school," Yumi swore. Tsuki smiled.

"Good, and, if you win, I'll buy your favorite drink as a reward," she said, winking at her sister.

"I'll hold you to that, little sister," Yumi said, smiling a little. Tsuki waved and went out the door. She knew Yumi would be alright now that she had said those reassuring words to her. Now she could focus on her real target: Seto Kaiba. She made her way back to the classroom contemplating the best way to kill him.

Yumi took a deep breath after Tsuki left the room. She was annoyed Tsuki had followed her like that, but she was grateful to her for making sure she was alright. Despite the fact she hated involving her sister in her problems, she could always count on her to know exactly what to do to make her feel better, especially when it came to matter concerning their mother.

Kaiba didn't know anything about her, despite the fact he had done an extensive background search on her. He knew nothing of what she had gone through, whether it was her mother's sudden departure, her time spent in the Guardian and Tomb Robber circuits, or all the things her sister, father, and so-called 'friends' had put her through. He would never really understand unless she was somehow able to show him. Sure, Kaiba had a difficult childhood, but he wasn't the only one. He needed to look beyond himself for a change. There was far more to life than him, his brother, and his company. She just hoped she would be able to show him all that.

"What the hell did you do to my sister?" Tsuki snapped, her face right in front of Kaiba's. Sure, she probably looked and sounded just like Yumi right now, but she didn't care. All she cared about was finding out what he had done to upset her sister.

"I didn't do anything to your sister. Last I saw, she was going off alone with Yugi."

"I'm Tsuki, you dolt!" she said angrily. "I want to know what you did to Yumi. She was really upset when she walked by me, and she never lets people bother her. What did you do to her?" Kaiba's eyes were flashing dangerously, but she didn't care. Yumi rarely ever got upset or needed help, and Tsuki swore she would be there for her sister whenever she needed her.

"You're right about not being Yumi; you certainly have issues about giving people space," he said coldly. "Besides, why would you assume I did anything to your sister? We merely exchanged words about our upcoming business agreement. Then again, I suppose I can see why you two are sisters: you both like to act like you know everything about everyone."

"You don't know anything about Yumi!" Tsuki said, her temper rising. "If you knew even the first thing about what she's gone through, you wouldn't say anything! You think you've had it so bad just because you were an orphan adopted by a power-hungry madman and had your brother kidnapped by a psycho business partner, but you don't know the first thing about my sister!"

"How do you know all that?" Kaiba snapped, his voice rising sharply. He hadn't mentioned any of that to Yumi, or to anyone else, so he knew they couldn't have gotten that information from Yugi or anyone else they knew. Even he didn't know that about him.

"That's enough, Tsuki," Yumi cut in. Her sister took one look at her before her protest died. Yumi's face was set with determination and she was glaring coldly at Kaiba. "I don't care about your preconceived misconceptions toward me, Kaiba, but you will leave my sister out of them. She does not deserve your scorn and mockery and I will not tolerate anyone hurting my sister."

"Then perhaps you should teach her to shut her mouth about things she doesn't understand," Kaiba said coldly, furious at the way she was addressing him. Yumi laughed humorlessly.

"You don't think I've tried that already? She clearly just got involved in my own personal business, using the information I worked hard to acquire against you."

"How did you get access to that kind of information?" Kaiba asked. He was studying her intently now in an attempt to size her up. She was becoming more threatening by the minute.

"Relax," Yumi said. "I'm not planning on using this information to get anything. I did it to learn more about my opponent. I take duels seriously, and I like to know the reasons why someone duels and what's important to them. I'll tell you everything you want to know after our duel is complete. You have my solemn oath."

Kaiba glared at her, but she remained unfazed. He had to admit that was impressive; most people would be cowering under such a look, especially his employees. Still, he would make her fear him. He would ensure that when he crushed her in their duel. School could not end soon enough for him.

Yumi sat down next to Kaiba, completely calm despite the way he was openly glaring at her. She knew he was only trying to intimidate her, and it wouldn't work. She had been in far worse situations than this and she had still come through. She would prove herself to Kaiba, no matter what it took. She would get the respect she deserved.