Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh doesn't belong to me...I wish it did! *sobs*

Chapter 8 - A Lesson in Name Calling

Yugi sat in his room. He had gotten the official postcard about the Duel Monsters Tournament. The Preliminary match was only a week away from today. He looked to his side, as if he were talking to an invisible childhood friend. But rather it was the spirit of his millennium puzzle.

"This Duel Monsters Tournament is really getting everyone hyped up." Yugi said.

Yami looked at his little companion, the optimism he had was quite amusing. Then again, Yugi was always optimistic about everything. "It'll be a tournament that you'll never forget." he said.

Yugi's expression turned faint. "I do feel guilty though. We're suppose to be searching for answers to your past..."

The spirit waved it off with his transparent hand. "Maybe it would prove to be a surprise to us all. I have a feeling it will be more then just an ordinary tournament."

"Do you really think so?"

"I know so. I am the pharaoh after all." he said, chuckling a bit.

"After what Ishizu told us, about you being the pharaoh and all...There just been more questions then answers."

"Yes, I know. Our journey has taken a dramatic turn. I feel that we can only be swept along with it." Yami put on a ponderous face. "About your new friend..."

"You mean Vari?"

"Yes. She's...something...different perhaps..."

"Really?"

"Something about her..." He muttered half to himself. (A/N: Hmm...sounds familiar... ^_^) He sighed wearily. "I'm not sure."

"Vari does seem to be unique in a way." Yugi said.

"Her father seems notable as well, but I felt some kind of disturbance also. Some kind of strong power lingering."

"He did acted strange after I lend him the puzzle to look at. What's does it mean?"

"There's no easy answer. Anyhow we need to take a break from all this excessive thinking. We should just focus on the upcoming tournament."

Yugi climbed into bed. "If you say so." The spirit slowly shrank away into the puzzle. Yugi closed his eyes drafting into sleep.

*****

It became sort of an after school routine. For the next three days Vari would go to Kaiba's mansion and each day they would spend two hours trying to train Vari's mind to be practically a human calculator.

"I think I'm finally getting it" Vari said happily.

"Good, you better or Mr. Hiraku will torture me with his never ending tactless ridicule."

"Always looking out for number one aren't you?" Vari mocked.

"It's survival. He who takes a knife and stabs you, you stab back ten times worse." he quoted.

Vari held a grimaced face, feeling a little repulsed. "Interesting quote." she said, bothered by his choice of words.

"It was a popular saying that my adopted father always preached, his lessons revolved on them."

"Hence I see where your lack of trust in people come from."

"Did you just observe that now?" he said derisive.

"No, I'm just stating it now." She looked at him hard. "Do you really believe in it?"

"I would say I have experience it. When your in a position like mines, there's a lot of suspicions. But I don't think you would understand that." he said rising his eyebrows a little. There was a harsh tone in his voice. He stared back at Vari as if daring her to say something.

Seto's ruthlessness showed it's true colors.

There was a long silence. Vari looked away for a moment, but then said "No I guess I wouldn't understand, but then again suspicion is nothing but skepticism. If you have that all the time, how would you gain supporters if all you see are enemies?"

Seto chocked his head slightly, he didn't particularly expect an answer from her. "Another one of you moral issues?" he scoffed.

"Just an opinion." Looking at her watch she said. "Looks like I'd better be going." She grabbed her bag and began to put her things away, that's when Seto saw the Duel Disk System inside.

"You're entered the tournament?" he asked surprised.

Vari noticed him peeking through her backpack. "Yep. I'm suppose to practice with Yugi and Joey."

"You sure you know how to duel? You'll probably won't last 5 minutes." he said.

She looked insulted. "I can duel just fine" Vari said reassuringly.

"I'll bet..." he smirked. "I'd expect Yugi to enter. I'd look forward to our match. They must have made a mistake with Wheeler though. That dog won't even make it through the Preliminary."

"Why do you insist on calling him a dog?" she said defensively.

"Because he is one."

Vari rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I must be going." she said in irritation.

"You're angry with me, admit it."

"Well, yes, if you must know. You always seem pick on the small people. It's as if you don't want to feel small yourself."

He looked at her unable to say anything. His face was just rendered speechless.

"That's it isn't it?" she asked. Still he said nothing. His body stood there stiffly, he looked directly at her, but not at her at all, like he was in a trance.

*****

"Can anyone tell me what 8+9 equals to? There was silence in the small classroom. "Anyone at all? Don't be afraid." the teacher said.

A red haired boy raised his hand, his pudgy face held an snooty grin, well as snooty as you can get for a six year old.

"Yes Michael?"

He stood up. "8+9 equals 17!" he shouted.

The teacher smiled "Very Good Michael! That's correct." The boy sat back down seemingly thrilled that he impressed the teacher with his correct answer. He grinned widely at all the other students showing off that he was the smartest one in class.

"Now can anyone tell me what 89+89 equals to?" she said jokingly. All of the children had confused looks on their faces. "No, of course not that's why today..."

"It is 178?"

"Excuse me?" the teacher looked in the back of the room. A small quiet boy with brown hair sat nervously still.

"178" he repeated.

The teacher looked at the boy with curiosity. Her eyebrows rose. "That is correct." She said with a smile. All the students were impressed. The pudgy red head shot a glare at Seto, when the teacher's attention was to the board. He wasn't the smartest boy in class anymore.

"Can I play tag?" little Seto asked. A group of children around the same age were all clustered together in the playground.

The red haired boy walked up. "No" he sneered.

"How come?" Seto asked innocently.

"Because we don't like you" he sneered again. His crossed his arms as if the decision was final.

"Why?" he aked confused.

"You cheated when the teacher asked you that question." the red head said hotly.

"I did not!" yelled Seto.

"Did too!" the boy said angrily. "We all saw him!" he pointed his finger accusingly at Seto. "Right?" he asked his buddies around him. They all seem hesitate but nodded in agreement.

"We don't want to play with a cheater!" he said. "And your ugly!" he added.

"Yea!" some of the children shouted. "He's got big ears. and weird looking hair." another boy added.

Seto looked hurt, he didn't think his hair and his ears were weird.

"He's got cooties!" a girl cried out. Everyone scrunched up their faces making "Ewww!" expressions.

"Fine, I don't want to play with you anyway!" he huffed, and walked away angrily. They were mean to him, calling him names, and poking fun of him. Seto decided he would just stick by himself. He didn't need them. He didn't need anyone.

*****

"Seto?" Vari waved her hand in front of his face, he looked hypnotized. "Seto are you OK?"

"I'm sorry" he suddenly said.

"What?"

"I'm sorry if I've insulted you."

Vari looked at him quizzically. Before she could say anything the door opened. It was Mokuba.

"Seto, the office just called, they want to speak with you."

"Alright. I'll be right there." he said.

There was an awkward silence. Mokuba stood waiting. Vari bite her lip. "I'd better go, you have some business to attend to." she said quietly. The three of them stepped out of the study room. After Mokuba and Seto bid a hasty farewell, Seto went to answer the phone call.

"You like her don't you?" Mokuba asked.

"What?" Seto asked, pretending to hear him faintly. "Don't be ridiculous."

"You look at her strangely when you're with her. I think you like her."

"No, no I don't" he argued. He turned abruptly, giving the hint that he didn't want to go into the matter.

Mokuba glanced at him doubtfully. "Whatever you say."

*****

Shiro took the letter with him to work. His worst fears had come true. He had had sleepless nights, when his wife asked him what was wrong, he didn't have the heart to tell her. His pace quickened as he reached the room. He walked into the lab, Ishizu was already there.

"I didn't think you would come in this early" Ishizu said, seeing him walk in. But she noticed the troubled look in his eyes. "What is the matter? she asked.

"This" he said, lifting his hand up to show her an opened envelop.

Ishizu held a slight puzzled expression. "Kindly explain." she said.

But he didn't, instead he said to her. "I demand that you tell me your purpose for being here."

"I see..." she said quietly.

Shiro's patience was growing thin. "This letter was sent to my house, it had no return address, which means whoever sent it knows where I live. It contained a small message." He opened it and showed her the parchment. "I suspect you are connected to this somehow." he said accusingly.

"You believe that I will steal the chest." she stated.

"There are many suspects. I must included you as one of them."

"What you say is true. I am connected to this, but I am not the one working against you. In truth I work to find the real conspirator. That is why I am here, that is why I needed to decipher the chest. To find out what it contains inside before they do."

"Who's they?"

"They are everywhere and they are nowhere. They hide in shadows and in darkness. They are hunters, ruthless and determined, they serve one man."

Shiro's face grew. "And who is this one man?"

"You already know. You have encountered him before."

A/N: This chapter took longer then expected to write, mostly because I was busy with midterms and stuff and I got a little writer's block for a while there. I didn't plan on writing a small scene on Seto's childhood, but it kind of flowed with the story and I thought to myself, "What the heck I'll write it." It was inspired by A Gifted Child by Ori. One of the best Seto fics around! Go read it if you got the chance! Since I liked it so much, I've decided to write more flashbacks of Seto's past later on in the story, so you can expect more. As there is nothing very interesting in this chapter. But I promise later on it'll have more action. As you can tell, I kinda focused this chapter on a little Seto/Vari ^_^

Oh please review! I've taken great pains to think of what to write for this chapter so please don't let my hard work go to waste! R/R! And thanks to all of you who reviewed. I truly appreciated!