I don't know WHY I still do this, but…

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN Yu-Gi-Oh!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Duelist Kingdom finals continued, the final duel being between Yuugi and Pegasus. Keiko knew that someone very powerful was dueling her adoptive uncle, but was unable to even move thanks to the torture from the thugs watching her cell. She heard a voice nearby…a very familiar voice.

'Honda…definitely Honda. But who's the other person with him?' Keiko asked herself, trying desperately to lift her head.

Honda was carrying both Ryou and Mokuba up to the balcony when he heard a couple of Pegasus's thugs laughing. He pressed himself against the wall and listened.

"I don't know why Mr. Crawford wants us to watch over this girl…she's practically half-dead anyway…how could she escape?"

"Don't underestimate this child," the other thug interrupted, glancing back at the cell they were standing in front of.

Honda had decided that he had had enough. He managed to knock out the two thugs out and drag Keiko, Ryou, and Mokuba up to the balcony.

"What happened to them?" Anzu asked, rushing up to look at the extent of Keiko's injuries.

"Never mind them, they'll be fine…what's up with that?" Honda asked, pointing to the dark sphere surrounding the dueling arena.

"We don't know, but we're gonna find out. Come on!" Jou cried out as they ran down to the arena.

Finally, the duel ended, and Yuugi had actually beaten Pegasus. The sphere had dissipated, and Yuugi stepped up to his friends. Pegasus had run off, and Yuugi was determined that Pegasus J. Crawford was going to keep his promise. Ryou had woken up at the same moment, and promised to watch over Mokuba and Keiko.

"Besides…" Ryou muttered to himself once the others had left, "Seto Kaiba would murder me if anything happened to either Mokuba or Keiko." Unfortunately for Ryou, Bakura regained control and took possession of the Sennen Eye from Pegasus. Bakura returned and let Ryou take control again just in time, for Mokuba was beginning to wake up.

"Ryou?" Mokuba asked just as Yuugi, Anzu, Honda, and Jou ran back into the room.

"Mokuba! Are you all right?" Yuugi asked as they stopped near the boy, making sure not to crowd him.

"Where's Seto? Where's my brother?" Mokuba asked quietly.

"I'm not sure, Mokuba…but wherever he is, I'm sure he's okay." Yuugi said as Jou walked over to where Keiko was lying unconscious and picked the girl's slender frame up carefully, not wanting to know what Seto Kaiba would do to him if Keiko was hurt while he was carrying her.

They made it outside the castle with no accidents (to Jou's relief), and Seto was there when the castle doors opened. Mokuba ran crying to his older brother, and Seto simply looked at Keiko with apologetic eyes.

'Keiko…look at what that jerk Crawford did to you…I promise I'll make it up to you,' Seto said silently as he walked up to Jou and took Keiko from his arms, carrying the girl away. "Come, Mokuba…there's a helicopter waiting for us…"

"Wait for us, Kaiba!" Jou cried out, running after Seto and Mokuba. Honda and the others were not far behind.

On the helicopter, Seto had set Keiko down beside him, letting the still-unconscious girl lay over his knees. He sighed as she continued to lie there unmoving.

"Poor Keiko…" Yuugi said, breaking the silence. "Will she be okay, Kaiba?"

"I…I'm not sure, Yuugi…we'll have to wait until I can get her to one of my doctors to be that sure…" Seto said, looking down at Keiko with a loving expression on his face.

"You really do love Keiko, don't you?" Yuugi asked, thankful that the others were asleep.

Seto glanced at Yuugi for a moment, then turned back to Keiko, carefully pulling a lock of hair away from her sweat-covered face. 'She's been hurt enough in her lifetime…it's time I stopped being so superficial about her…'

"Well, Kaiba?" Yuugi asked impatiently.

Seto sighed and turned back to Yuugi. "If you really want to know…I'm sure Keiko's the only girl I'll ever love."

"That serious? Does Keiko feel the same way?"

"She does…"
"You think so?"

"I don't think, Yuugi…I know she feels the same as I do…"

"I see…" Yuugi said before falling silent, closing his eyes. Seto turned his attention back to Keiko, who had just started to move a little.

"I hope you'll be okay…I don't ever want to lose you," Seto whispered quietly, gently running his hand through Keiko's red/blonde hair. He silently hoped that one day he could actually do something like this while others were watching.

~*~TIME CHANGE~*~

The Battle City Tournament had just started, and Keiko had been living with Seto Kaiba ever since she was taken from Duelist Kingdom and rushed to a doctor. A few of her more serious injuries were still healing, so she was told not to participate in the tournament. Mokuba was always watching over her whenever he was in the Battle City Headquarters.

"Why are you watching me like this, Mokuba? I'm fine…really, I am," Keiko told Mokuba, somewhat ashamed that she was being watched over by a child five years younger than she was.

"Because you know as well as I do that Seto would never forgive me if I didn't!" was the boy's quick reply as he looked at Keiko with his dark grey, nearly violet, eyes.

"Fine…I understand fully, kiddo," Keiko answered, using a term that she knew only Seto called Mokuba.

"Hey! Seto!" Yuugi cried out, trying to catch up to Seto. "What's going on?"

"What do you think, Yuugi?" Seto replied harshly.

"I meant, how's Keiko doing? Is she feeling any better? Why isn't she in the tournament?" Yuugi's rapid-fire questioning began to annoy Seto, and he raised his hand to get the shorter boy to shut up.

"Keiko's doing a lot better, Yuugi. She still has a few half-healed wounds, which is why I told her to stay out of the tournament."

"I see…I was just wondering why I haven't seen Keiko in Battle City."

"Well…now you know, don't you?!" Seto asked angrily.

"Kaiba…calm down. There's no need to get angry."

"Whatever…" Seto growled, storming away with an anger so obvious that all the people in his way instantly did whatever they could to get out of the CEO's way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well…that's it for now! Hopefully, Chapter 5 will be up soon after this!