AN: And you all thought I'd finish without fully setting Seto and Tea up. WAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Silly readers. I'm just getting warmed up! More Tea abuse. Can you tell I really don't like that girl? Whatever. Well, the beginnings sort of important. Introduction of a OC. Ends the real meat though. It's so... so... oddly romantic. There we go! Extremely, oddly romantic.

Hurts XV

I stopped the car and jumped out, locking the doors. A few of my employees looked up in surprise as I ran past them, trying to get to the elevator. Naturally, it was out of service... and my engineers were out of a job. After running up the stairs to the fifteenth floor, I stopped in front of my secretary's desk and stood there panting.

"Mr. Kaiba." My secretary nodded. "Your guests are just finishing their coffee. Here's your cup."

I nodded and rubbed my shoulder; the painkillers were wearing off and it was starting to throb.

"Can... can you... can you pick up..." I tried to say between wheezes.

"Pick up these pills?" She finished. I nodded. She smiled and wrote something down. "They'll be here by the time you meeting is finished."

I nodded, took my coffee, and entered the conference room. I looked around and noted that of the 9 firms (one of the best was nearby) three of the representatives were women.

"Hello." I smiled. "Sorry about the delay, but..."

"If your boss, this Seto Kaiba, still isn't here, I'm leaving." One of the men told me.

"I'm afraid you misunderstand." I said with a cold smile. "I am Seto Kaiba."

"Mr. Kaiba." One of the women said, coming forward, and moving to shake my hand. "Please excuse my rash friend. We are all tired and over worked. Now what may we do for you?"

I nodded and mentally gave her company high marks. It took me five minutes to explain what I wanted and for them to tell me what I could get. I finally settled on one of the companies that were considered in the top five. I sent the others away and sat down to speak with their representative. Ironically, she was the lady who had been so diplomatic earlier. I grabbed another coffee and gulped some Advil my secretary had, since my painkillers hadn't arrived yet. The architect, Ms. Roe, and I talked for another couple hours and finally settled on a price after we had eaten our lunches. We said our good-byes and I went to my office. I riffled through my drawers and found the work. I didn't feel like staying in the office, so I decided to work at home for the day.

I walked out of my office, nodded to my secretary and handed her a slip of paper.

"Hand this in when you pick up your pay check tomorrow." I told her.

"What is it?" She asked.

"It's your application for a raise."

"But I didn't..." She protested. I held up a hand.

"Did my prescription finally get here?" I asked. She nodded and handed me a large pill bottle. I gulped two and shoved the rest into my pocket. Nodding to my secretary- I would really have to learn her name- I walked to my car. I got into my car and pulled out my cell phone and dialed Mokuba's room phone. If I couldn't visit I'd at least call.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I flopped down on the couch and sigh. My parents were out of town for the week and I had absolutely nothing to do. The phone rang and I picked up.

"Hello?" I asked dully.

"Tea?" A voice asked. "Yugi. Yami and I are going down to the coffee shop. I think Joey's coming with Mai and Bakura might show. You wanna come?"

"What about Tristan?" I asked for no real reason.

"He's working. I think he wants to pay off his car by the end of the month. So, you coming?"

"I'll be there." I nodded. I grabbed my coat and rushed out the door. It was getting pretty dark, but I would be all right. Joey could probably give me a lift home anyway.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I groaned and shut down my computer. I was finally finished my work. I shuffled into the kitchen and groaned as I realized that we were out of coffee. I found my keys and jumped into my back Mercedes. I would have my coffee.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I pulled my coat around me tighter and hurried down the street. I wasn't afraid of the dark, but I didn't want to get mugged or something. I called it being dually cautious. Joey called it fear. I rolled my eyes and glanced around. I still had about five more minutes. But if I ran, I could probably make it in three...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I turned on my blinkers and turned the corner. It was dark out and I didn't want to hit anyone or thing. I sighed as the light I was approaching turned green, so I sped up. I was just crossing into the intersection when a person hurtled out of the darkness in front of my car. I slammed on the breaks but I couldn't stop in time. The individual was knocked back and flew a few feet to the left.

"SHIT!" I yelled, jumping out of the car. Running to the figure, I hunched over them and tried to see if they were okay. It was a girl and she wasn't moving. I knelt beside her and felt along her neck to see if I could pick up a pulse. It was there but faint. I checked her body for injury, but found nothing more serious then the odd bruise. Tapping her checks gently, then a bit harder, I tried to wake her up. "Come on! Come on! Please wake up! I'm begging you!"

"Hmmm." The girl moaned. "What?"

"Thank God." I sighed, then switched from grateful to angry. "What the hell were you doing running out in the middle of the street? I could have killed you!"

"Who are you?" The girl asked, obviously still in too much of a daze to hear me.

"Tea?" I gasped. "What the...?"

"Did I get hit by a car?" Tea asked. "What am I doing here?"

"You ran out into the middle of the road and I hit you." I explained, helping her sit up. "You should be more careful."

"I didn't want to stay out in the dark longer than I had too." Tea told me as we stood together. She still sounded dazed and I wondered if she was actually knew who I was or if she was even thinking straight. Noticing that she was still unsteady on her feet, I wrapped an arm around her waist, in hopes of keeping her vertical.

"Where were you going?" I asked. "I'll give you a lift."

"Be nice." Tea mumbled. Her bland comment, her tone of voice and stance, coupled with the fact that she hadn't attacked me, proved my theory. Tea was still dazed and didn't actually know who I was or what was going on.

'Maybe if I get her to her house or a friends before she comes to her sense, we can avoid a nasty fight.' I thought. It was my best option so I went with it.

"Where were you going?" I asked again, helping her into my car.

"I need to go to the coffee shop." Tea mumbled to herself. I buckled her in and got in on the driver's side. I was surprised that we were going in the same direction, but let it pass. When we finally made it to the shop, Tea was waking up from her daze. Working quickly I got her into the store and sat her down at a table.

"Okay, Tea." I sighed. "I'm gonna leave. Here's some money, in case you need to make a phone call."

"Phone call." Tea repeated, a bit less blankly then I would have liked. I began to mentally panic but remained calm on the outside. I walked to the counter and ordered a coffee with cream and a bagel. When my order had come, Tea was waking up from her daze and was looking around, as if she couldn't remember where she was. I pulled up the collar on my trench coat, to hide my face, and hurried out the door, escaping into the night.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Tea!" A voice called from behind me. "How did you get here so fast?"

I turned around to see Joey and Mai standing behind me.

"I... I don't know." I told him honestly.

"What do you mean?" Yugi asked. I looked behind Joey and Mai and saw that Yami and Yugi. Bakura was already at the counter ordering some coffee and other hot drinks since it was his turn to pay. Obviously Joey had dropped by the game shop and given them all a ride here.

"One minute I was running down the street and then into the road when this car came out of nowhere and slammed into me. It's all kind of a blur until a few minutes ago. I think someone was talking to me and helping me into a car. They gave me some money, in case I needed to make a call." I mumbled, looking down at the coins; it was enough for three phone calls at a pay phone.

"How did they know you were going here?" Yami asked, suspiciously.

"I think I told them." I shrugged.

"Are you okay?" Mai asked. I nodded. "Well, then. There's nothing to worry about. You will give her a ride home though, won't you Joseph?"

"Of course I will! Still, I'd like to give the jerk who hit you a piece of my mind." Joey muttered.

"I think they're the one who gave me the ride. They mentioned hitting me." I said to myself, then continued a bit louder. "It was really my fault though. I ran out into the street without looking either way. And it was dark. And I didn't cross at the corner. I might have well been wearing a neon bulls-eye on my shirt."

"If you'd been wearing that, you wouldn't have been hit." Bakura joked, handing me my hot chocolate.