With a grimace, Kaiba looped an arm around Kyara's shoulders. "An old friend?" he mumbled into her ear.
"Not exactly..." she smiled weakly at him. "I'll explain later."
From behind the two, Yugi tugged at Kyara's sleeve. "C'mon, they're beginning to let people in!"
Kaiba let Kyara and Yugi to the front of the line. But before they could enter, they were halted by one of the security guards. "Hold it," he said gruffly. "You're gonna have to wait in line, just like everyone else."
Sighing in exasperation, Seto rolled his eyes and fished a dark blue card from his pocket and showed it to the guard. "Just let me in."
To Kyara's surprise, the man let Seto pass. "Just go right on in, Mr. Kaiba." he said.
"Hey! What about us?!" Kyara cried.
"Come on, or we're going to be late." Kaiba nodded at the guard."They're with me."
As he walked inside, Kaiba couldn't help but smirk at the sight of Toshiro, who was stuck waiting to be admitted.
Once inside the Convention Center, Kyara couldn't help but groan when she saw the interior. "Great. More waiting. When do we get to duel?!"
Kaiba gestured towards the row of tables in front of them. "I think we have to register first."
"Oh. Of course."
But before setting off, Kyara turned back to yell at the other two. "Meet me back at that fountain in fifteen minutes, okay?"
"Sure." Kaiba and Yugi replied in unison.

* * *

"Name?"
"Kyara Nayako."
The woman at the registration desk frowned for a moment as she glared at the computer before her. "Let's see...here we are. Nayako...Placed second in the qualification rounds."
Out of pure boredom, Kyara began tapping her foot impatiently on the carpeted ground. Patience may be a virtue, but not always. Finally, the woman typed something into the computer and handed Kyara a piece of paper that the printed spit out. "Here, your first duel is set for 3-o-clock today, and here," she tapped the bottom half of the sheet with a pen. "Is the hotel you'll be staying at if you make it through the first round."
"Hotel? But my house is only a ten minute drive from here!" Kyara replied.
The frumpy woman shrugged. "Hey, I don't make the rules. All contestants are provided with rooms at the Convention Center Hotel. Deal with it."
Deciding it was better to not argue her case any further, Kyara took her form and hurried off to find Yugi or Kaiba.

* * *

"Name?"
From where he stood, Kaiba glared at the speaker, but said nothing. The person at the registration desk, another woman, seemed to cower under his stare. Meekly, she asked again. "Name, please?"
The duelist before her threw her a who-does-it-look-like-I-am glare before finally replying, "Seto Kaiba."
The woman gave a quiet sigh. "Mr. Kaiba...Let's see now..." she attempted to type and advoid his stare at the same time. It took an eternity for the printer to finally spew out Kaiba's form. The woman handed it to him. "Uh, well, let's see. Your first duel is-"
"I can read, my first match is in two hours." Kaiba snatched the piece of paper up and strode off.

* * *

"Name?"
"Yugi Muto!"
From where he was seated, the third registration manager was forced to stand up in order to see the duelist, Yugi being so short and all. "Oh, there you are." he hurridedly inputed the name into the computer. "Mr. Muto?" he craned his neck because he had lost sight of Yugi again. "There you are. Here's your form. Your first match will be in 2 1/2 hours. And don't forget to check in at the hotel."
"Thank you!" Yugi said as he took the paper.

* * *

Seated at the fountain by Center's main lobby, Kyara scutinized every detail of her form carefully, but nowhere on the sheet could she find the name of her first opponent. In exasperation, she threw the paper down, but was forced to dive ungracefully after it when it nearly fell into the water. "Damn!" she cursed as her arm came in contact with the icy water.
Fortunately, Seto intervened just in time before the rest of Kyara would become soaking wet. "You okay?" he asked.
Kyara grinned sheepishly as she strode a good distance away from what she saw now as a hazardous fountain. "Yea, thanks."
"No problem." Seto shook his head amusedly at Kyara's recent 'antics'. "You ready to check into that hotel we're supposed to stay at?"
"Yes, but we have to wait for Yugi first."
"Oh, okay." Kaiba waited beside Kyara somewhat reluctantly. "About the hotel, where is it?"
"The top seven floors of the Convention Center is the hotel."
Finally, Kyara caught sight of her short-statured friend among the throngs of people and duelists. "Yugi! Over here!"
"Hey guys!"
Now that the trio was complete again, Kyara pointed at th set of stairs that led to the upper levels and the hotel. "Ready to go?"
"Yea."