AN: Apologies for it being a month and a day since my last update. I waited a month to give myself a chance to finish the next chapter, which is nearing finished. Sorry!

And first, my dear reviewers:

Didihoney: Thanks, but this chapter is going to have a pretty major cliff-hanger if I do say so myself… Heh heh, pants caught on fire, but it had to be done. It's probably for the greater good overall. I mean, she likes him so she just has to do something about it. Well, he has to do something about it, because she's too shy to do something too forward. Step in, chapter twelve!

essence of light: I know what you mean. I used to be a person who didn't like to review. I was really awkward about what to say, but I'm in the swing of it now. Thank you for the compliments, it can be a little disheartening to see that for all the words I've written, the reviews don't really balance it out. But I'm okay – you guys are the best!

PinkStarz: Muahahah… revengeance! (Personal word o' mine) Perhaps he doesn't opt for the smartest revenge, but whatever hurts – right?

B.E.W.DWarriorPrincess: Yeah, I like to keep things emotional. Thanks for the confidence boost – I always get paranoid I could be going wrong somewhere when writing out the next chapter.

thefutureMrs.Kaiba: Thanks – indeed, if I do say so myself. For the all words I wrote and strain I endured (eleven had been particularly difficult because of all the interchanging of viewpoints and plot I needed to cram in), I hope people thought 'awesome'. It makes an author proud.

Kaibasquallsgirl (now with a 07): Why the 07? I'm intrigued. I'm sure it wasn't there before! Interesting little poem and don't apologise for the review – hyperactive reviewers are always welcome! He didn't kiss her back because… well, shock, confusion, rejection… all kinds of reasons, but mostly… he has no clue. Because he's a boy and boys are clueless. That, and he's repressing anything he even suspects to be an emotion if he can help it. Which, by his behaviour, he isn't managing so well.

Chapter Twelve: Divergence

Last night had been the worst disaster ever, Serenity decided. After last night, Serenity had little time to listen to Joey, but did her best to appear interested as the two headed to college. It was the night after the calamity that had occurred, the one Serenity refused to even name.

The siblings walked down the street in a manner that left younger kids laughing at them, not that Joey noticed. Serenity's gait was quick and she had her hand firmly clamped around her brother's arm as she half dragged him toward the college.

Serenity knew class was going to start without her if she didn't hurry Joey along, but he was so happy, his face alight as he told her all about how great Mai was and how he felt like he was going to spend the rest of his life with her. Serenity had a slightly creased eyebrow at that notion – she wasn't sure how Mai would feel about that, but still, her brother could be surprisingly persuasive.

She stifled a sigh of relief as the college came into view. She practically pushed a dreamy Joey across the road toward the surrounding grass that made up the grounds of the college where their friends waited. Yugi had a small smile on his face as he saw Joey's preoccupied expression and Serenity could hear Tea give an 'aww' as she too caught sight of Joey. Tristan smirked when the two siblings finally made it to their gathering.

"Looks like Joey has a new hobby – drooling over Mai," the tall boy chuckled and Tea playfully hit his arm, not noticing as Yugi watched with intense interest before turning his eyes away.

"Drooling was already one of his hobbies – he just has someone to direct it at, instead of food," Tea teased Joey, who didn't seem to be really paying attention, or care. Serenity sighed and shook her head at the sight of her brother. He had quickly turned into a lovesick puppy and it made Serenity hope she never behaved like that ever.

"Come on," Serenity began hustling Joey towards Yugi, "let's get to class before we're late!"

Yugi took hold of one of Joey's arms and began guiding him inside, but paused to look past Serenity and his eyes darkening to indigo narrowed slightly.

"What is it?" Serenity asked, without noticing the older boy's expression. She turned and saw the familiar limo draw up and the door open. Serenity began to get a mixture of that sinking feeling in her stomach and a flaring of desperate emotion, clawing to escape the multimillionaire's presence, and fast.

She spun back to face Yugi, who watched Serenity with interest and she shook her head. Yugi looked confused, then realised he had Joey with him and began tugging the blond haired boy towards the college's main entrance before an altercation could break out, promise or no.

"No need to rush away, little gang," Kaiba's deep voice was filled with cool amusement and Serenity witnessed Joey's back freeze at the sound. She had spoken to him, he should be fine despite his shoulders noticeably tensing. Hopefully.

Slowly, Joey turned to face the brown haired boy, his eyes clear and alert. His eyes locked with Serenity's pleading ones for several moments and he relaxed to Serenity's relief.

"Got class, Kaiba. Don't wanna be late," Joey grunted and with a careless wave, left. Serenity felt a swell of pride at Joey's clear attempt to follow what he had promised. Yugi did not follow instantly, stuck between walking with Joey or Serenity. He wasn't sure who needed his presence more. His violet eyes on Serenity's, he saw her give a slight shake to her head and he reluctantly nodded before hurrying after Joey.

Before Serenity could do anything, she felt two hands take her waist. She went to squirm, unused to the feeling of anyone touching her like that, but she was turned around and briefly released before the hands moved to securely grip her shoulders. Unsurprisingly it was Kaiba. He looked down into her eyes that were slowly filling with fear. His own had a wicked gleam. Tea and Tristan were still standing nearby, apparently waiting for another college friend. She could hear them cease their playful conversation. She accurately guessed it was because of what appeared to be transpiring between Kaiba and herself.

"What are you doing?" she hissed, her eyes glowering. He ignored her expression and felt his mind fill with satisfaction. Vengeance would be sweet.

"I am doing what you tried to do to me yesterday. I'm making you mad," he smiled and promptly leaned down, kissing her calmly. He wasn't sure what drove him to take it any further than a simple chaste kiss – perhaps it was the desire to create a more believable illusion for Tristan and Tea to get angry over, or some unchecked feeling within. He didn't care at that point though and soon his arms were acting alone, slipping off her shoulders and wrapping snugly around her waist while he found his lips teasing hers apart. Somewhere in the back of his mind he registered her hands come to rest on his chest. A part of him thought she was accepting it and quite enjoyed that idea, but after a few more long moments they pushed hard and they broke apart.

He unconsciously licked his lips and came back to reality to find Serenity scarlet faced and beginning to yell at him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" she screamed and their eyes locked for an instant – hers blazing with a definite hint of embarrassment while his appeared to gaze back almost warily.

Taking a few shaky breaths, Serenity fled into the college, leaving Tea and Tristan to deal with the situation. Tristan still had some feelings for Serenity, but they had faded over time as he spent more and more of his time with Tea. Now however, they seemed to flare out of control and he found himself charging at the taller man. He flung a wild fist at Kaiba, who was still in a minor daze, and his fist connected with the older man's jaw. Kaiba grunted in pain from the blow and felt himself being tackled to the floor by the dark eyed fool. Punches rained down on him, but Kaiba didn't really care, his mind analysing how well his strategy had worked. Sufficient vengeance on her lying to him appeared to have been achieved, but a part of him irked him. It hadn't particularly liked seeing Serenity get angry and upset like that. Perhaps he shouldn't have pushed further, but he wasn't sure he had been thinking straight when that had happened. The kiss shouldn't have progressed.

With a hiss, Kaiba hauled Tristan off him, giving him an iron fisted punch to his gut and standing. With a growl he realised his suitcase had been left behind in his limo and he scowled. What could have made him forget a thing like that? Kaiba stalked into the building, leaving Tea to tend to Tristan, who was curled on the ground and whining in a way reminiscent to Joey's nickname. A part of Tea was mad her new boyfriend had reacted to violently to Kaiba's possession of Serenity – a clear indication in her mind that he still had feelings for her friend, but still who wouldn't defend their best friend's sister?

Kaiba had been a bastard, Tea decided, and Tristan had probably done the right thing, if stupidly chivalrous. What right did he have kissing her like that?

'What right did he have to kiss me like that!' Serenity ranted, her mind whirling restlessly about in her head. How embarrassing! How could he have done that!

She had shut herself in a bathroom stall in an attempt to hide. The only good she could find was that Joey hadn't seen. If Joey had… no amount of reminding him he was supposed to keep his cool would have worked. Unstoppable grand scale destruction would have ensued for sure.

She closed the toilet lid and sat down, burying her face in her hands, but resolutely held back tears. She would not cry because of Kaiba, the bastard.

'He had no right to do that!' she mentally ranted. Serenity found herself balling her hands tights and wanting to lash out. Experimentally, she punched the wall and recoiled, nursing her hand. That hurt more than people let on.

A small sniff escaped, along with the hint of a whimper. She would not cry! She… she wouldn't!

With a shuddery breath, she unsteadily stood and began to contemplate attending Business. A trace of a sob made Serenity hastily cover her face.

'If I get it all out first…' she grudgingly admitted and allowed herself to cry. Then perhaps she could get her own retribution, if what Mokuba had told her was accurate…

Kaiba wasn't surprised when he arrived to Mr. Bamako's lesson to find Serenity not there. He realised how upset he'd made her, but he allowed those thought's to slide away. He didn't want to think about that now when work would have to be done. Over analysis was a problem of his at times. It was all well and good in the business world, but it could fail when it came to people. The lack of understanding when it came to emotions frustrated him.

He took his seat, his hand feeling oddly empty without his suitcase in his hand. Sometimes his mind contemplated reasons why he would forget such an important thing in his life. The thing had everything – all his necessary papers for both work and school, it had storage compartment for his laptop and the object could be wielded as a deadly weapon when required… Kaiba found himself mechanically massaging his temples and avoiding eye contact with Mr. Bamako. The man irritated him for so many reasons, not just because he forced himself and Serenity to work on the project. The man was too used to speaking his mind and commanding others for Kaiba's liking. Sometimes it was almost as if Mr. Bamako didn't care that Kaiba was the CEO of Kaiba Corp.

Mr. Bamako began the lesson, going over the answers from last lesson and preparing them for more paired work for the lesson. Kaiba internally groaned at the idea of more paired work. His partner had been sulky and annoying, more so than Serenity. Speaking of Serenity, Kaiba was sure that Mr. Bamako kept glancing at the empty desk where she was meant to be with concern. The man needn't have concerned himself, because the door opened and a rather tremulous looking Serenity came in, her eyes with slightly red rims. Kaiba felt a stabbing of guilt, but quickly suppressed it. It was all her fault and he would not apologise, no matter if she begged and pleaded on her knees.

She was five minutes late, but Mr. Bamako never said a word, to Kaiba's annoyance. He hated it when teachers administered special allowances for some students over others. She took her seat and listened as Mr. Bamako went over what they were doing, repeating a few things for Serenity's benefit in Kaiba's opinion. Kaiba kept looking at Serenity to see her eyes remain firmly fixed on either Mr. Bamako or the displays around the walls.

"Now get back into your partnerships I set up last time," Mr. Bamako commanded and the class began to shift, picking up pens, paper and bags. Through the hustle, Kaiba watched Serenity get up. She didn't even look at him and Kaiba watched as she almost tripped over herself to get to Vaughn. Kaiba felt a slight twitch in his jaw and he quietly growled, stilling it.

The blonde girl grudgingly came back over and slumped in her chair with a frown. Last time he had pretty much ignored her and worked alone, and planned to do the same.

It was going to be another long lesson. They had always seemed excruciatingly long since Serenity had come into his life.

Serenity hated using Vaughn to her own ends, but she was desperate to make Kaiba pay. She had once thought she didn't have a conniving bone in her body, or that she had never used it. Today was going to have to be a different matter. She simply couldn't take Kaiba's behaviour anymore.

'Who does he think he is!' Her mild demeanour was swept away with another bout of anger, but melted away as she continued working with Vaughn.

She spent the first fifteen minutes in a stony silence, but slowly melted and found her voice. Anyway, she felt bad keeping silent when Vaughn clearly wanted to talk. Conversation picked up and the two happily conversed about their work and various other things that cropped up while working through the set problems.

"So, uh… you got anyone special in your life?" Vaughn shyly asked some time into the lesson and Serenity felt her face heat up. Her hands automatically came up to rest on her cheeks, but she quickly halted and put them in her lap.

Her mind had frozen. Special people? Who counted as someone special in your life? Serenity was perfectly well aware what Vaughn was getting at, but… she wasn't sure what to say.

"I… Not really," she falteringly replied and wondered what had made her pause. Before she could speculate further, the buzzer went off signalling the end of lessons and Mr. Bamako gave them a few sheets of questions to complete for homework. People began filing out and Serenity turned to look at Kaiba, the fire of her hate fading.

Kaiba stared at her with icy unreadable eyes that bore into hers. She felt something on her shoulder and her head jerked around to see Vaughn glaring at Kaiba and his arm around her shoulders. Part of her was surprised that he would be so bold, but another part liked the fact that this evened up the score with Kaiba. His expression…

Kaiba's face openly glowered at Vaughn, but intensified further when his eyes rested on Serenity. He then curled his lip in disgust and left, his trench coat swirling angrily. She watched him depart and wasn't sure whether to follow and try to talk or not. She wanted to hit him, apologise, see if he was okay… She wasn't sure what she wanted from him anymore.

Vaughn let her go and shuffled nervously in front of her, his eyes flicking around the room, but never really looking at her.

"You okay, Vaughn?" she asked, tilting her head slightly to one side. Her mind was still distracted by Kaiba's abrupt and clearly irritated departure. Vaughn finally met her eyes and relaxed slightly.

"Serenity, I was wondering if you wanted to go out sometime," Vaughn asked with a gentle smile, his eyes glimmering invitingly. Serenity found herself feeling as if she was trapped. She couldn't think of what to say and noticed her mouth had drifted open. She swiftly shut it and instead frowned in confusion.

To her horror, she found herself thinking of Kaiba. As much as she liked Vaughn and his gentle charms, her mind kept recalling the strange and usually embarrassing or painful memories she'd spent with Kaiba. The convention at Kaiba Land, Bakura at the mansion…

"I- I'm sorry, but… I-" she said breathlessly and wanted to take off in the hopes of catching up to Kaiba, but remained stock still. Why did they have to end up fighting? She still smarted after this morning, but Mr. Bamako was relying on her to pull the project together. And she discovered herself wanting to learn more about Kaiba, to truly know him and not just what he let her see. Before she entertained the idea that he was challenging her to a private duel that he was hoping somehow she would work him out. That there was more under the surface and she was the girl to find it all. And underneath it all… she knew she might find herself.

'To learn about others was to learn about yourself,' she mused and a myriad of thoughts flew through her head.

'He is handsome… Kaiba is so… difficult… Of all the people I find myself liking, it had to be Seto Kaiba… Kaiba looking down at her clinging to him and smiling a little when Bakura had scared her… Kaiba appearing beside her at the business convention and surprisingly linking arms with her…' Serenity clasped her hands together, her brown eyes widening in shocking realisation. The clarity of her thoughts and words made her insides squirm.

"I… really like him…" she softly choked out and quivered.

"You want to?" Vaughn asked, his smile widening and Serenity violently shook her head. She noticed that everyone had left the room and suddenly she felt incredibly alone. Even Mr. Bamako had gone, but that saved her considerable embarrassment.

"No! I mean… I'm sorry, but I… I'm not interested. Sorry." Serenity told him, her eyes wide with fear at his reaction. She hadn't meant to snap 'no' at him like that, but it just slipped out that way. She was scared of upsetting Vaughn and saw his smile soften and slip slightly.

"No problem. I understand," he said, his eyes filled with apologetic understanding. Serenity nodded and hurried away, unable to bear watching the hurt she caused Vaughn any longer.

By the time she had exited the class though, Kaiba was long gone. Despite knowing this, she still tried the cafeteria and main entrance just in case, but he wasn't there.

'He must have drove,' she thought miserably. She felt like she always needed to talk when no-one was around. A sigh escaped her and she sat herself on a nearby bench. The weather was nice and sunny with a gentle breeze to make the temperature just right. Serenity relaxed for five minutes before making her way home. Tonight she needed to think things through and maybe try talking to Kaiba, whether he wanted to talk or not. Maybe they would even finally sort things out between them – whatever the hell was between them.

"Next to nothing," she said under her breath and unhappily left the grounds. All that ever seemed to happen to her was upsetting, embarrassing or incensing things.

'Well, no more! I won't take it anymore! Joey was right - we are too good for Kaiba! Ever since I've worked with him my life has been turned around and it's not fair. I'll call tonight and maybe it'll be sorted out. Joey, I'm sorry, you were right; Kaiba is trouble…'

Her heart felt like it was sinking. Should she tell him how she felt? Would he freak out? She didn't know. Serenity guessed it was a matter of getting him in a quiet room alone and just talking to see what kind of mood he was in and whether he was ready to be confronted.

'Too many thoughts… I'm getting a nice headache to go with everything else.' She felt herself begin to pout as she walked the streets, but smoothed her features and pushed on.

"Why did it have to be you?" she hissed angrily to herself and turned into her street with a troubled expression marring her beautifully innocent looking face.

She had a feeling she was going to need some painkillers and some time with her feet up before taking on the CEO of Kaiba Corp.

Kaiba sat in his large office chair behind an intimidating desk – effectively in the centre of his empire. And he was furious with one light brown haired, warm brown eyed girl. He had been alternately yelling at and firing people for the past two hours. The entire building was walking on extremely delicate eggshells.

Serenity Wheeler was an official enemy of Seto Kaiba's. The next time he saw her, he would get rid of her. The thought drifted away to recall previous memories that had been a source of great displeasure and emotional confusion. The few kisses between them had been drunken, anger inducing and vengeful, but had led Kaiba to feel embarrassed, angry and guilty. The guilt had been the worst because it led him down avenues of thought he didn't like to entertain at all, but somehow found himself wandering down anyway.

Also he remembered why he had forgotten all about his suitcase. It had been the anticipation of getting Serenity back for last night. She had made him forget his greatest asset; his suitcase that contained his entire life. The revelation had been disturbing not exactly because she had made him forget to bring it with him, but after the disastrous kiss, his guilt and slight – yes, slight – concern for Serenity had made him discard all thoughts of the suitcase.

Kaiba shuddered as a thought struck him; she had become some kind of patron of his emotions. When she was around, he felt his emotions opening up; even if it was anger or guilt at least it was something. Sometimes it was other things, but he wouldn't dare indulge them…

His emotions flew into a confused muddle around her. Repulsion mixed with twinges of an unnameable feeling that made him want to run away as fast as he could. He still hadn't worked out whether this was good or bad. They needed to be shut down, just like Gozaburo had moulded him.

Well, if Serenity was some crazy patron of his emotions, then she would have to be got rid of before his company ended up an economic smoking hole, he firmly decided. No-one had control of Kaiba's heart but Kaiba, he failed to convince himself.

He would get rid of her tonight and then he'd be free to finish the project and remain alone. For good.

Holding that thought resolutely in his head, he picked up the phone on his oversized desk and dialled home. He listened to the phone, his eyes darkening with anger with each ring. He was about to slam the phone back down when Mokuba finally picked it up.

"Yeah?" Mokuba answered with irritation in his voice. Kaiba's faced darkened even further if that was even possible and gripped the phone tight to stop him from flying off the handle.

"It's Seto. Call Serenity and tell her to get over to the mansion at seven. I want to talk to her, but don't tell her that. Tell her… you want to talk, or just see her. I don't care, just get her there. I need to speak to her." Kaiba felt cold and steely, as he wanted to; shut off from the world. Manipulative.

He heard Mokuba make a grinding noise in his throat much like he did and felt his resolute façade slip slightly, but swiftly recovered it. Mokuba was likely to try and stand up to him, but it would prove futile when he was in a very hard-headed mood, as he was today. Nothing was going to stop Kaiba from pushing Serenity out of his life for good.

"Seto, why are you trying to be so secretive around Serenity all of a sudden?" Mokuba questioned, clearly picking up the cold edge in his brother's voice. It didn't bode well at all.

"I merely wish for Serenity not to discover that I want to talk to her," Kaiba informed his brother in a falsely gentle tone that came out condescending. Kaiba could practically hear Mokuba bristle.

"Did you have a fight?" Mokuba asked apprehensively and Kaiba realised how this could play to his favour. A little bit of lying never hurt when it came to getting what he wanted.

"Yes. Will you call her?" he replied abruptly.

"'Kay," said Mokuba sullenly and cut the call. Kaiba leaned back into his chair as if to relax, but looked stiffer in his seat than ever. He glared at some paperwork in front of him before standing and striding to his door.

Some more people needed to feel his wrath before the day was out. More would be fired by the end of the day; he would guarantee it. A small cruel smile twisted onto his lips and he exited his room.

Mokuba lay on his bed in his room, his blue-grey eyes glowering at the phone.

"Bloody brothers," he muttered and rolled from his stomach onto his back to stare at the smooth ceiling painted to look like the Milky Way. He was starting to think he was getting a little old for it, but hadn't the heart to change it. Kaiba had commissioned it for Mokuba's tenth birthday after Mokuba had spent the best part of a year telling his brother all about how cool space was. And when Mokuba had seen his ceiling, he'd been awestruck. It had been the coolest thing he had ever seen. The detail still held up today, the swirls and individually painted dots almost as good as it was seven years ago. It reminded him that his brother really did love him and that he had to do what he told him, even if it did sound a bit questionable. Mokuba hadn't liked the cold tone in his voice one bit.

Mokuba got up and made his way to the phone, but stayed his hand.

"I think I'll go to the living room to handle this," he said to the empty room and stretched before strolling out of his room and downstairs. The mansion always felt empty whenever Mokuba walked around the place. It was far too large for just the two of them and Mokuba hated showing people around dozens of rooms that he hadn't visited in months or even a year or more.

He pushed the door open to the living room and grabbed the cordless phone off the heavy oak desk that sat to the side of the room. Reluctantly, he fished his mobile phone out of his pocket and found her number. With a slight pause, he dialled her number and patiently waited for a reply.

"Hi Mokuba, are you alright?" Serenity answered a little too soberly for Mokuba's liking. The teenager straightened his shoulders and frowned.

"Fine, but you sound unhappy. Are you okay?" he asked her, his voice filled with concern. Serenity paused and Mokuba wondered what on earth had happened since yesterday.

"I'm well, but if your brother and I don't work together on this project… well we'll never get it done. Mr. Bamako will tear his hair out from the stress," Serenity sounded like she was joking, but Mokuba suspected it wasn't far from the truth. He had to ask her to come like he'd said he would, but he wouldn't enjoy it in the least. Part of him dreaded what his brother had in store for Serenity.

"Uh, I was wondering if you wanted to come 'round here later, like maybe seven. You know, unless you don't want to. I'm not supposed to tell you this, but Seto kind of put me up to it. He wants to talk to you," Mokuba explained to her. She had a right to know what she was potentially in for if she came to the mansion.

"Of course. I kind of need to talk to him too," Serenity said sombrely and Mokuba wondered what was wrong. If his brother had done anything to hurt her, Mokuba swore he would hurt him. He liked Serenity too much to have Kaiba chase her away.

"Did he do or say anything to you? Because if he did, you don't have to talk – I'll do it for you," Mokuba offered and he heard a small half-hearted chuckle on the other end of the line.

"Thank you, but I couldn't. I need to speak to him myself. We didn't exactly fight, but… I don't know what happened. Don't worry yourself about it. I'll come by at seven then. Bye." And the phone went dead in his hand. With a heavy sigh, Mokuba put the phone down and kicked back on the couch.

He would have to find out what was going on later. For now some rest was in order until the evening. Work would have to be done.

Eight o'clock that evening…

Yugi strolled through his local park glad for a breath of fresh air. He felt like he had been cooped up all day with college and the game shop eating into every hour of free time he had. Still, duty prevailed when it came to Yugi and he was set on being a teacher if it killed him. He wouldn't fail his grandfather.

The brief meeting Yugi had managed to hold at the game shop concerning Bakura hadn't gone as well as Yugi had hoped. Tristan and Tea had turned up, but no-one else. Mai seemed busy, and he wouldn't alert Joey unless it became imperative. It had been an uncomfortable affair, where every glance at Tea had felt like an electric shock. Unfortunately, she was rather taken up with staring, when she thought he wasn't looking, at Tristan. In fact, Tristan kept glancing at Tea every so often. The way the two had behaved at college had been equally suspicious. Yugi hadn't liked what he had seen at all. He lightly kicked a stone off the path and he felt Yami-Yugi shift in his mind.

'You are unhappy,' the ancient Egyptian's thought's echoed in his head. Yugi wished he didn't have to share everything with Yami-Yugi, but he supposed it was a small price to pay for all he had gained; like the ability to win at Duel Monsters to begin with. A ghost of a grin flitted across Yugi's lips.

"I am… fine," Yugi murmured, his large violet eyes ranging around the murky park. It wasn't far from home, but still… the way the breeze caressed his neck made him shiver. Something felt wrong.

"I am always fine," Yugi mumbled sadly to himself. He would just have to forget about Tea and focus on helping Serenity before she got hurt. He would get along just fine, as he always did and do the right thing; bring Bakura in before he hurt someone.

Suddenly, a burst of light from a powerful torch nearly blinded Yugi, but in the brilliant haze a face contorted with malice was illuminated. Yami Yugi had already cried out the name before Yugi could choke it out himself. Bakura was lithe and strong, using the element of surprise to grab Yugi's wrists and viciously twist them so he yelled in pain.

Abruptly, Bakura let go and smashed a balled fist into Yugi's mouth, splitting his lip open and causing blood to gorily trickle down his chin. Dazed, Yugi fell to his knees, wrists burning and lip throbbing. Something unseen in the shadows appeared in Bakura's pale hand; how he came by it was unknown. All Yugi could say was it was cold and solid as iron as it crashed into his head and he slumped into the damp dusk grass.

Blood pooled about Yugi's head as the cruel white haired man gave one last look at his deed before he calmly melted into the night, leaving the prone body to lie in the damp grass by the park's path…

AN: This took what felt like FOREVER to finish. I already had two thousand words of it and thought 'Half done! Easy!' but it turned into a slow process of constantly checking my summaries file to remind myself what I had in mind. I'm just glad it's done. Maybe I'll finally finish this story… but we've got a way to go yet. I feel like I've ran a damn marathon, but I'm kinda tired. Thank you to my reviewers – you make my day guys! - one tired Cat Alex out for the count.

P.S – A hint of what's to come? Sure! Well… the big storm is coming, folks, so batter down the hatches! Yes, it's Serenity vs. Kaiba and the outcome is going to be intervened by a certain person… Also we learn about the fate of poor Yugi. Did he make it? Don't look at me – I just write it! See ya!