A/N: hey guys! guess i couldn't stick to my one week hiatus, huh? but that's alright with you guys, i hope!

anw, i'm glad y'all shared the same views and feelings that i felt regarding the characters. trust me, i feel like bashing Seto too. but, as i said, things weren't as they seem. so what exactly was i referring to? hmm... you guys can check it out in this chap. haha!

anw, hope you guys will like it despite some harsh language used! keep the reviews coming as always!


Mokuba was no less sympathetic to his older brother ever since Seto grudgingly spilled to him what made him return to Domino City in such a sour mood. Rather, he seemed pretty annoyed by his brother's stupidity.

"Honestly, Big Brother, what were you thinking?" Mokuba bristled.

"I didn't do it, Mokuba," Seto gritted as he shoved away his morning coffee. "How many times do I have to tell you that?"

Mokuba looked at him pointedly. "Yeah, but apparently Tea believed so. How could you be so stupid?"

Seto threw his chair back as he rose. "Don't ask me things that I've already asked myself!" He fumed, stalking off from the dining hall. "Finish up your food, and then hurry to school. I don't want to be hearing any more complaints about your tardiness. You're not even a student there for one week and already I'm hearing all this rubbish."

His words silenced his little brother beyond belief. Yet, without so much of an apology or turning back, he slammed the front door shut behind him. His driver, noticing his scowl, immediately clambered into the limousine and started the engine.

"Is Mr Mokuba coming along, Mr Kaiba?" the driver asked hurriedly.

"He's capable of going to school on his own," Seto answered sharply. "Just drive me to the office."

The moment Seto reached the KaibaCorp HQ building, he headed straight for a newly-installed elevator that would take him straight to the 27th storey that housed his office. Misa detected his sullen attitude and promptly handed him all the necessary reports before she excused herself.

However, on her way out, Seto stopped her. He avoided looking at her, "Did … Did Tea call?"

Misa threw him a confused look, but replied in a certain voice, "No, Mr Kaiba. No calls came in for you." She cocked her head to one side as she asked cautiously, "Do you … need me to contact her or something?"

Seto waved her off. "There's no need. No interruptions for the entire day. I don't care even if there's an apocalypse."

Stifling a wry smile at her employer's sardonic sense of humour even when he was in a lousy mood, Misa hurriedly excused herself. Seto pulled the files slowly towards him. He hated getting down to work when his focus was nowhere there. But he had been unable to focus on anything at all since that incident back in New York. Two incidents kept replaying in his mind – the moments with Caroline, and Tea's slaps.

Subconsciously, he winced as he raised a hand to touch where she had slapped him. He had made her furious, and although she did not show it to him outwardly to him, he had made her cry. His fists rolled up into a ball. He had made her cry…

He reached out for his cellphone that was stuffed in his coat pocket. Why am I waiting for her to call me? He thought angrily as he speed-dialed her number. I was the one at fault! I'm the one who'll have to plead, beg, whatever. He closed his eyes as he listened to the phone ring on the other end. I don't want to lose her … I love her…

"Hello?" came the familiar voice on the other end. Seto felt a strange sensation in his heart the moment he heard it.

He clutched his phone tighter. "Tea, it's me." He could sense that she was about to disconnect the call, so he quickly spoke, "Don't hang up!"

"Who are you to tell me that?" she shot back.

"The man who loves you," Seto whispered strugglingly into the phone.

"And then slept with another woman?" Tea's voice broke over the phone, and Seto wished he could rush over there and hold her. Anything, anything but to make her cry…

"I didn't sleep with her, Tea. I swear to you, I didn't go that far with her." His voice softened, "Please, Tea. I need you to trust me."

XO XO XO XO

Tea pushed her cellphone away from her face as she gave in to the tears once again. I want to be able to trust you, Seto, her heart cried out silently. But I saw you, and her. How am I to trust you? She glanced miserably at her activated cellphone. What do I tell him?

"I'm sorry," she murmured as she disconnected the call and tossed the cellphone onto her bed. The tears showed no sign of stopping, and Tea hunched over in her seat until her face was in her lap. At least this way, her sobs would be more muffled. She didn't need people to know that she was still broken over the incident.

On that very day when she caught him in Caroline's arms, Tea rang up Yugi to inform him that she would be on the next flight to Domino City. The childhood friend of hers sounded surprised by her sudden decision, but even after she safely reached her homeland, he did not prod her with questions concerning why she returned in such a state. He probably had a feeling that something was not quite right. However, he opted to just be around to offer her solace: going out for ice cream with her, arguing with her the merits of their favourite bands. He even offered for him and the guys to have a cookie baking session with her, which Tea immediately refused for obvious reasons.

She appeared fine in the day – smiling, laughing, joking with Joey. When night fell, her strong façade crumbled away slowly until she came face to face with her vulnerable self in those hours when she was supposed to be asleep. The sharp features of his face would pop up in her mind, and she would start recalling his piercing azure eyes and the varying hidden emotions that came along with it. The rare moments when he really smiled or laugh. His stubbornness. His arrogance in the way he handled matters.

When she realized that her pillow was damp with tears, her mind had thought back to the gentleness of his kiss and the warmth of his embrace. He had always made her feel secure, and more confident of herself than she could ever imagine. Then her eye would catch sight of her bare finger where a diamond ring once adorned, and any sense of comfort would just die away. Hurt would overcome her, and unable to face it any longer, she would cry herself to sleep.

Tea was adamant to keep all her sadness locked up in her room. She wanted to spill it all out to Joey, Tristan and Yugi, but she simply could not. Something was stopping her from doing likewise although she had no idea what. Worse still, this devastation was like a silent killer; slowly consuming her until Tea was not sure if she could still hold herself together.

"Are you alright?" a smooth male voice interrupted her train of thoughts.

Sniffling, Tea glanced up to see long slender fingers holding out a piece of tissue for her. Mumbling her gratitude, she took it and forced herself to smile at the stranger. The stranger smiled back at her, answering her terse smile with a more laidback, casual one of his own. Without requesting for prior permission, he took the empty seat beside her and turned his hand over to reveal a packet of tissue papers in his palm.

"One tissue paper isn't going to be enough," he said with a laugh. "I don't know why people always offer one as a gesture of help when really, they should just give the entire packet."

"Like what you're doing now?" Tea replied wryly as she dabbed at her eyes.

The stranger shrugged. As he did so, his long black bangs flipped off his face. He had blue eyes, just like Seto. But while the KaibaCorp CEO's was icy-cold and unforgiving, this stranger's eyes radiated the calmness of an open sea. Tea quickly glanced away. Despite their differences, the glint of confidence in the stranger's eyes and Seto's were hauntingly similar.

The stranger gestured towards the soaked tissue paper. "So, why the tears?" Suddenly he smacked his forehead before he extended a hand, "Oh, sorry. How impolite of me. I'm Suwa Nagawaki."

Tea frowned as she tried to register the information. "How come your name sounds familiar? And your face… have I seen you somewhere?"

Suwa chuckled at her reaction. He waved his hand at the notice board behind her. "Like duh," he retorted, glancing at the pictures on the board. "Your seniors usually refer to me as the Suwa Nagawaki. Alumni, swimming ace, academic pro, Mr Rich-and-Popular." He made a face at his nicknames. "I was wondering why they couldn't gush over Kaiba." Tea stiffened at the mention of the name, but Suwa was oblivious to it as he rolled his eyes. "That guy's the richest and brainiest, and according to my sister, the hottest. But hey, guess there's some perks to being me." He paused and threw her an apologetic look. "I'm so sorry. I'm blabbering again. That's my biggest problem."

The brunette found herself laughing at his words. "No, it's alright. It's quite entertaining, actually. You remind me of my friend, Joey."

Suwa's blue eyes widened in disbelief. "Wheeler's your friend? Well, that's surprising. But don't remind it to him that I forgot to return him the uhh.. that video game that I borrowed two years back." He lowered his voice. "I kinda lost it."

"So that's where the game went," Tea commented dryly. "He was frantically trying to find it back then. But he sort of gave up on it. So you can stop worrying."

Suwa broke into a relaxed smile, giving a thumbs-up to her. "That's the way to go, Tea!"

She eyed him suspiciously. "How did you know my name?"

He half smiled. "I've seen you around. So, Tea, why were you crying again?"

The smile was wiped off from Tea's lips. Wordlessly, she gathered her bag and got up from her seat. She kept her head down as she mumbled, "Sorry, I have to go."

Her newfound friend held out a hand to halt her. "I'm sorry," he said sincerely, making sure that his blue eyes looked straight into her cerulean ones. "I didn't mean to pry into your personal matters."

Although he looks similar to Seto, Suwa is nothing like him, Tea thought. Why can't Seto be as aware of my feelings as this stranger is?

The wave of a hand in front of her face startled her. Tea blinked rapidly before she realized that Suwa was peering strangely at her. Tea could feel her face heating up. This was so embarrassing.

"I'm sorry," Tea sought a way to explain, but she ended up confessing. "It's just that … you remind me of someone that was very close to me. And … and he did something that hurt my feelings."

"Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't know that I resembled your boyfriend." He flashed her a grin as he said jokingly, "I bet you were wanting to beat me up just now."

Somehow, that managed to make Tea crack a smile. "Not really." She glanced at her watch. "Listen, I have a class to rush off to. Econs with Yukari-sensei. Have you had her before?"

Suwa scrunched his face up in disgust. "Oh God, yes. For two years straight. She successfully made them the two hellish years of my life." He steered her to the door by the arm. "Anyway, all the more you should get going. Have you ever been late for her class?" When Tea shook her head, he snickered. "Trust me, you won't want to stand outside class carrying two pails of water for the entire lesson."

Tea grinned and thanked him before she dutifully scurried away towards her classroom. Suwa shook his head laughingly as he turned back on his heels to where he had left his bag. Suddenly, something rectangular and blue caught his eye. He bent down to pick it up and flipped it open. He checked for any form of identification and he finally found one: an identity card belonging to Tea Gardner.

She must have dropped it when she was hurrying out, he realized. Just then, something fluttered out from the wallet. Curious as ever, he examined what it was, only to get the shock of his life. As he put back the items back into the wallet, he mused, Seto Kaiba's the boyfriend Tea was talking about? That's highly interesting … He gripped the wallet tighter as his jaw was set into a firm line. Kaiba …

XO XO XO XO

Seto scowled as he checked his cellphone for the umpteenth time. When Tea had hung up on him, it frustrated him. When he sent an SMS and it was still not replied, it annoyed him. Now, after flooding her inbox and voicemail, and still not getting any reply, it pissed him off.

I need you to hear me out, Tea, he sent a frantic, mental plead to her. He did not exactly believe in all those ESP crap, but for now he was so desperate, it was worth a try. What do I have to do to get you to listen to me?

He fished for the diamond ring in his coat pocket and examined it carefully. When he had flown down to Shanghai recently, he made sure it coincided with the World Diamond Fair. He had graced the event, not so for the image of his company, but rather to survey which of the diamond rings would be the most suitable one for Tea. He finally came across one that immediately reminded him of her, and wasted no time in forking out close to US$1 million for it.

She was supposed to wear this until the day when I can replace it with a better ring, he rued, clutching the ring in his fist. But now … she hurled it at me, and returned it to me in the most undignified manner. Then again, I didn't really honour my commitment to her in the most refined way. He swallowed hard as he amended his thoughts. I disrespected it by offering Caroline to end it off without even consulting Tea.

After the incident in New York, Caroline had fled back to his mansion in tears. Seto had reached out to comfort her, but she quickly shoved him away.

"Stop it, Seto," she had warned him (half-heartedly, he knew). "I don't want to make matters worse. I sacrificed my ego, and I've had one slap from your woman. I don't intend to get another one."

"What are you trying to imply?" Seto had asked cautiously.

Caroline had stared straight into his eyes and said confidently, "I'm leaving. And I'm taking Seth. Until you decide who you want, don't bother to look for me or him."

"You're just going to take Seth and run?" Seto had thundered, grabbing her by the wrists. "Is that all you're capable of? Running?"

The blonde snorted at how ridiculous he sounded as she twisted her wrists free. "And is this all you're capable of? Putting the blame on others? I'm not going to take responsibility for something that wasn't my fault."

"What?"

Caroline had already dragged their son towards the front door, tugging at Seth's hand each time the kid turned around. Over her shoulders, she replied, "You did all those on your own accord. Don't use me as an excuse to suck up to your fiancée. If she left you, that just goes to show she doesn't trust you enough."

Seto had mustered all his fury and delivered it through his death stare and low, ominous voice, "You're a bitch, Caroline."

"Who you lusted for," Caroline had eyed him slyly before exiting. "Let's face it, Seto. You say you love someone, and lust another. Tell me, what sort of love is that?"

Seto sighed as he attempted to dredge the memory from his mind. How did he allow himself to be so intoxicated by Caroline for that moment? Ever since Caroline had left his house just like that, her last few words lingered in his mind. Was it true what she said? That he had been with her out of lust and not love? As much as he wanted to believe it – it would make despising her so much more easier – he knew that it was the other way round. Whether he liked it or not, he had loved her at some point in time.

But that's the deal, he reminded himself stubbornly. Me and her was once upon a time. But why did I …

"This is bullshit," he muttered as he leaned back into his chair, pressing a hand to his temple.

Without warning, his office door slammed open and a large object came hurling through the air in his direction. Seto ducked and let the object crash against his shockproof window. He peered at the object and discovered that it was a handbag. Or rather, it was a very familiar Louis Vuitton handbag. With an unimpressed expression, he picked the handbag up and held it out for the crasher.

"Welcome back to the office, Mischa," he greeted his image consultant somberly.

Mischa grabbed the handbag back from him as she continued to seethe, "I am so tempted to smack you directly on the hand with the buckle of my handbag, you know that Mr Boss? But I can't cos then I'll be assaulting my employer!"

Seto gestured for her to take a seat, and she did. "I'd like to say I don't know why you're so furious at me, but I'm assuming it means you knew."

"Yes," Mischa replied acidly, glaring at him. "Thank God for Mokuba. Why the hell did you mess up with Caroline for?" She eyed him carefully for a while. "Tell me, did Tea slap you? Cos if she did, then I don't have to."

"She slapped me. Thrice," He informed her. "So there's no need for you to slap me." No sooner had he said it did another slap landed on his cheek. It was much more painful than Tea's, and it effectively shut the CEO up.

Mischa blew at her palm and shook it in the air. "That felt great. You deserve more than just a slap. You deserve to be beaten up. I'll ask Misa to pen in a getting-beaten-up-section for you next Tuesday. I'm sure Marvell and our friends would be glad to participate." She fished a clip out from her handbag and pinned up her fringe. At a fleeting glance, Seto noticed she had a new hairstyle again. "Anyway, are you positive you didn't do it with Caroline?"

"How many times do I have to tell it to you people?" He shot back in annoyance.

His image consultant held up a hand, signaling him to keep quiet while she spoke, "Okay, so you didn't do it. Then shouldn't that be a good thing? Shouldn't you be able to explain to her all about it?"

Seto gritted his teeth. "I tried, Mis. Countlessly. But how the heck am I supposed to explain it to her when she won't even listen to me?" He flicked his fingers in the direction of his cellphone. "I've tried everything. SMSes, calls, voicemails. She's not answering them."

"Or maybe she's avoiding you." Mischa suggested.

Seto raised an eyebrow. "Haven't you got a better reason than that?"

Mischa let out a frustrated sigh. "I have a better question which just goes to prove you're not as mighty smart as you think you are. Why the hell aren't you doing anything to win her back?"

"Huh?"

"Mr Boss, in a relationship, it's not just enough to know that the other person loves you," She advised her employer as how an older sister would. "If you hurt her, you can't expect that she'll come round and just come back to you like nothing's wrong." She touched his hand gently. "Win her trust and love back, Mr Boss. Prove to her that you really do love her." She reached in for something in her handbag, pulled it out and slid it across the desk to him. "Don't ask me why I always have an idea you need all these sort of stuffs. If she doesn't want to listen to your explanation, then make use of the words for something else."

XO XO XO XO

You're a bitch, Caroline.

You're a bitch, Caroline.

You're a bitch, Caroline.

Caroline shook her head furiously as she tried to get the voice and words out of her head. It hurt, but she chose that path, so she had to take it all face on. It was the only way she could get him to actually wake up, smell the coffee and make a decision between her and Tea.

She knew her words came out harsh, her sudden change of heart seemingly mean. If it incensed Seto to hear her accusing him of coming after her simply for lust, it killed her to spit it out to him as confidently as possible. Deep down, she really hoped that lust was not the case between them. She loved him too much to be able to take it if he suddenly announced that all along he had mistaken lust for love.

Part of her wanted to give in to her selfishness and claim Seto all for herself. Didn't he tell her that he could try to love her again, if given the chance? She would do all it takes to make him love her again. It did not matter how long it took, as long as in the end Seto gave his heart for her only. Yet each time she considered flying back to Japan from Milan where she now resided with Seth, Tea's face popped back in her memory. To be more precise, Tea's hurt, angry face. Caroline could empathize with her; she already felt what Tea was feeling once. Still it did not ease off the guilt piling on her conscience.

Seto will make his choice, she told herself firmly as she glanced at her reflection in the mirror. He will make the decision that's best for him. Caroline reached a hand out to trace the outline of her face in the mirror. As much as I hope it's me … whoever he chooses, I'll accept it.

XO XO XO XO

The bored silence in the classroom was suddenly replaced with an excited chatter following Yukari-sensei's latest announcement. To everyone's delight, it was her last day at the school, and in her place would be a new teacher. Of course, the buzz was actually caused by a circulated rumour that it would be a young, good-looking male teacher. Almost every girl in class was excited to find out who he was. The only one not remotely interested was Tea. Even her guy friends seemed more excited than she was.

"I heard it's some alumni," Tristan commented, glancing furtively at the doorway. "Apparently, he was quite a favourite figure here too once upon a time."

"When you said once upon a time, do you mean five years ago or fifty years ago?" Joey interjected stupidly.

"If a sixty-year-old guy is young to you, then perhaps," Tristan replied simply.

"Hey guys, I think the teacher's almost here," Yugi told them, and they all settled back into their seats.

The commotion died down as everyone focused their eyes on Yukari-sensei. She announced as she gestured towards the door, "Everyone, let me introduce you your new Economics teacher, Mr Suwa Nagawaki!"

Tea's head swiveled towards the door. Suwa Nagawaki? Did she hear it right?

As if to answer her, the said teacher strode in. Brushing his long black bangs out of his clear blue eyes, he beamed at the entire class and waved, "Hey y'all! As Yukari-sensei already told you, I'm Suwa Nagawaki, and I'll be your new Economics teacher! And also," He lowered his voice as he stepped closer towards the class. "I'll be your new form teacher. So don't I get a nice welcome cheer?"