The banquet hall was brimming with people, and it was huge. Then entryway to the hall was very crowded, so Jem hovered close to Kaiba. She would have done this even without their current problems—she was afraid to get separated from him in this mess of people. God, what if someone actually tried to chat with her? She checked again to make sure he was right there. At one point the crowd thickened and their path narrowed. She slipped in front of Seto, single file, and then turned to make sure he was still behind her. He was, but one of his men had intercepted him at the door for a check in. She stood just out of earshot as they spoke softly and the crowd buzzed, but he could easily see her from where they stood.

She waited patiently, looking around. Mokuba waited with her. From ahead, she heard a woman's voice. "Oh, it's you! My Kaiba-pooh!" she called just before crossing between Mokuba and Jem, yet seemingly still out of earshot of Kaiba.

Jem snorted and held out her hand as the woman was about to pass through. "Excuse me," interjected Jemmea. The woman stopped, and turned to Jem, her smile fading. "Did you just call him, 'Kaiba-pooh'?" she asked, trying to stifle her laughter. Mokuba watched, unsure about what was about to go down.

"Why yes, he is a champion duelist, only one of few who is worthy of a beauty and talent such as myself." The woman narrowed her eyes. "And who might you be? Were you planning on trying to make a move on my Kaiba?" she seemed to threaten. Jem looked at Mokuba, who seemed to expect Jem to become defensive or boastful. There's no need, Jem thought, she called him 'Kaiba-pooh.' This will take care of itself.

"Oh, no," replied Jem, "I mean, I was thinking about it, but now that you are here- Wow, I could never compete with a-" Jem noticed the duel disk she was wearing, even though Jem knew that this woman was not in the tournament, "-duelist," she concluded, "of your talent." Jem was working really hard to keep it together. God, where is Jude when I need someone to appreciate this with me?

"So you've heard of me!" The woman brightened.

"Oh yes." No she hadn't. "You are one of my idols. Now that you are here, I know that I have absolutely no chance. And the way you call him, 'Kaiba-pooh', that is just so... cute," Jem finished.

"Oh, you're a dear!" The woman beamed at her before she ran off. When she disappeared, Jem was holding her breath to prevent herself from laughing. She could now see Mokuba, who was realizing what she had done as a nervous smile started to creep across his face. A smile of something unfamiliar and enjoyable. His brother, though a jerk, was always very straightforward and clear about insulting people. He had never played games like Jem just had. Mokuba recognized the fun in it, but was still unsure of the consequences. When Jem made eye contact with him, she couldn't hide her smile and reached up to cover her mouth. They both looked to Kaiba.

The woman nudged Kaiba's goon out of the way and clasped her hands together, leaning close to Kaiba's face. "Oh Kaiba, darling! Remember me?" As she leaned in, he leaned away, looking a little horror struck.

"That's one of the girls you told me about on the train, isn't it?" Jem murmured to Mokuba.

"Yep, that's one of them," Mokuba confirmed as they both watched.

Kaiba collected himself when he realized what was happening and who was in his face. "You again," he condemned loud enough that Mokuba and Jem could hear. He leaned back towards her menacingly. "I thought I told you last time to stay the hell away from me," he sneered.

Her face melted and her voice grew quieter. "But, Kaiba, it's me. Vivian Wong? Top ranking duelist, model-"

He cut her off. "Oh, I know who you are. Which is strange, because I've never actually seen you do anything worth noting. Now, I will make myself very clear: I don't have time to deal with nimrods like you, so if you ever approach me again, I will make sure you will never be allowed to step foot anywhere with even a view of any property, event, or anything else that is owned by myself or the Kaiba Corporation." He turned to the man he had been talking to. "Anything else?"

"No, sir," he said bowing.

"Good," Kaiba snapped. He crossed an arm across his body and swept it back, pushing Vivian aside. Jem could see Vivian as she watched him walk away, her shoulders hunched, her mouth gaping, and eyes sullen.

"Guess she has never been told 'no' before," Jem commented.

"The last person she should be around is my brother, then," Mokuba speculated.

Kaiba, extremely irritated, did not look back. When he reached the two he raised a hand and set it on the small of Jem's back, encouraging her to move forward with him.

Jem, in one last bit of fun, turned over her shoulder, causing her to wind into Kaiba's grasp more, and called, "Nice meeting you!" If Viv wasn't in total shock from the violent rejection, she certainly was now. Jem saw Vivian's whole being melt as Jem turned back to face frontward, Kaiba's hand still guiding her forward.

"Jem," Kaiba warned sharply. Then he unhappily asked, "Did you promote that?"

"No, I didn't need to do anything. I heard her call you 'Kaiba-pooh,' I just neglected to save her," Jem explained softly. There was a chance Kaiba would have found this funny had the event in question not been what had irritated him in the first place.

Across the room, the gang had already settled down to eat breakfast. Joey was in the perfect seat to watch the whole exchange go down. However, he could not hear them, all he could hear over the buzz was the chatter from his table.

Bakura had just sat down. "So Yugi, congratulations as always on making it to-"

"Nrrr, I still don't get it!" Joey yelled. "What does she see in him?"

"Here we go again," commented Tristan.

"Dat Kaiba is such a jerk, what's he ever done for her? I've only evah been nice to her. If it's not da money, or da dueling, den what?" Joey brooded.

"He let her come to him, Joey," Duke tried to explain. "He was never in her face or anything, nor will he ever be. That just works for some girls."

"What are you talking about?" asked Bakura. Mai and Serenity, who had arrived for the final round of the tournament, looked to the others with the same question.

"Jem and Kaiba, the two of them seem to be together," offered Yugi.

"Romantically?" asked Mai.

Yugi nodded.

"Well, how do you know?"Serenity questioned.

"We saw the two of them together-" began Tristan.

"Yeah," broke in Joey. "When we first saw dem she smacked him right across da face. It was da greatest ting evah."

"Now that," said Mai, "is something I would have liked to see."

"What do you think they were fighting about, anyway?" Téa asked.

"Beats me," answered Duke. "Most likely it was some kind of weird foreplay."

Joey, who had been stuffing his mouth more fiercely than usual, paused for a moment and shivered. "I don't know if I'll evah be able to forget dat image."

"Was I the only one who noticed the sexual tension between them all this time?" Téa finally interjected. The group now turned to her, slightly wide-eyed. "I think it's great it finally happened. It's good for them," she stated without regret.

Meanwhile, Joey looked back to them. Kaiba had taken his hand off of her to pull out a chair at a small empty table near the front of the room. She slid down into it as he stood above her, his hand still on the chair, but his eyes scanning the room, still clearly aggravated and on edge. Once she was seated, he took the chair next to her. Mokuba climbed in the chair on the other side of his brother.

Joey had not noticed how Kaiba's eyes had then locked across the room. Kaiba had found Mauro, who was staring at the small table. He met his gaze and gave him a fierce glance back. Overlooking this small detail, Joey exclaimed, "Did anyone else see dat? He was just so nice to her! He's never made a crude comment towards her dat I've seen. Why would he be so nice to her when he isn't to anyone else? He even has Mokuba always running his errands and carrying his briefcase around for him. I mean, what da hell?"

"He does it because he's clever," Duke said. "Let's face it, she's a fox, and how does she act when anyone else approaches her or makes a move towards her? He likes to show off that he's the only one good enough for her or whatever. He treats Mokuba the way he does because Mokuba lets him and he can get away with it. But what self-respecting girl is going to let anyone treat her like that?"

"What self-respecting girl would be with Kaiba?" Joey argued.

"Well, she has to be self-respecting," Tristan surmised, getting what Duke was saying, "otherwise she wouldn't be good enough to show off. Kaiba's got the girl and he has no problem flaunting it."

"Or it could be that he actually just likes her," Yugi said. They all turned to him. Yugi smiled weakly and put a hand behind his head.

"Well, they would have to have something in common. I mean, any two people who like each other enough have to, right? It seems their commonalities just happen to be disliking everyone else and insulting others, Joey in particular," Bakura speculated, taking the attention off Yugi.

"Well den a course he's gonna like her. Dat's da only girl he would like, da one just like him, da prick's ego is so big," Joey said.

"Why do you keep talking about it?" Serenity asked. Joey just growled.

"Because he's been trying to befriend her for awhile," Duke explained. Then he turned to Joey. "It was the way he was touching her just now, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?" asked Serenity as Joey continued to growl.

"A little while ago, Joey tried to walk Jemmea somewhere and touched her in the same way Kaiba just did, except she nearly tore Joey's arm off," Duke replied.

"Joey, honestly-" Mai began, attempting to lecture him.

"Nrr it doesn't bother me!" Joey burst in protest. "I had just really wanted to see da good in her. But after all da chances I've given her and after all da tings she's said and done, I give up. She's just as bad as he is and I shoulda seen it a long time ago," he said before he dug back into his food.

Yugi looked back at Jem and Kaiba across the room. I know she does have good in her heart, even if she doesn't want to show it, Yugi thought. A deep voice responded to his thoughts, 'Yes, and Kaiba is the same way.' As his friends moved on and continued to eat their breakfast, Yugi observed the two of them. He saw Kaiba in his tense posture and expected glare, defensive as usual, staring across the room.

Jem took her napkin and placed it in her lap before she looked up to Kaiba. He noticed her turning to him and quickly shifted his gaze before she was able to see him staring across the room. For a moment, they looked at one another. Yugi thought he saw Jem with the slightest hint of a smile when she looked at him, and Kaiba even seemed to relax a little, though it was impossible to tell with the two of them. She then looked back down and opened her menu, laying it out in her place setting. As she started to look it over, Yugi noticed her ever so discretely move her hand and gently place it on Kaiba's knee. It seemed so natural. Yugi smiled to himself and returned to his breakfast. I'm with Téa, I'm glad they found each other.

Next Chapter: "Secret Weapon

Kaiba would not have my daughter. I needed her back. If he was going to play dirty, so would I.