The Most And No Less
~*~Home~*~
Serenity quickly threw her coat and purse on the ground and flopped on the couch, tears spilling from her red eyes, head leaning on the armrest. "How am I going to pay for Kaiba's window without a job?" She asked herself in her head, rubbing her eyes, "And what if Joey finds out."
"What's the matta, sis?" Joey asked, rubbing her shoulder. "Did dat good- for-nothin Devlin turn ya down!? I told ya he was no good!" Joey yelled, waving his fist in the air like an old person.
"No, no. I turned him down. And I-I quit. B-Because the uh, c-customers were, uh, uh, rude." Serenity lied, in between sniffles, "Yeah. T-the customers. They w-were horrible."
"Oh." Joey paused, looking at the ground, "So, why are ya cryin sis?"
"I, uh, kinda bumped into Kaiba. On the way home. That's why I'm soaked." She paused, hoping Joey wouldn't immediately run over to Kaiba's and challenge him to a fight without even knowing exactly what he even did to his sister.
"WHAT? What did he do to ya sis!? Tell me!" Joey yelled, face growing red with anger.
"Oh, uh, I threw my shoe at his limo window when it splashed me, and, I, uh, shattered it into a million pieces." Serenity stated, sitting up but still looking down, feeling rather awkward.
"Way ta go, sis! I didn't think ya had it in ya!" Joey cheered, patting his sister on the back. Serenity rolled her eyes and sighed.
"But it's $200.00 And now that I'm unemployed how are we going to pay it?" Serenity sniffed, "not to mention you hate having contact with him."
"Ah, we'll do it somehow. Jus focus on your grades. I'll take care of da money." Joey sighed, his sister hugging him and thanking him.
~*~At School~*~
"Serenity Wheeler! Come up here this instant!" The teacher, Miss. Shunai yelled, slamming her hands on her desk, angrily.
"Y-yes?" Serenity squeaked, afraid of what was yet to come.
"Didn't the other teachers and I tell you to get some help! You've improved a little, but not by much. That's it; we're finding you a tutor!" Miss. Shunai stated as she pulled out a box. She opened it, and inside was files, each with a course name on them. She took Serenity's schedule and pulled out the files that contained the names of people who passed with flying colors in all of her courses. One name kept showing up, and unfortunately for her it was the guy she owed already: Seto Kaiba. And even more unfortunate for Serenity, Kaiba happened to be in her homeroom. So, before Serenity could protest.
"Mr. Kaiba, please see me." Miss. Shunai yelled, curling her index finger towards herself. Kaiba grunted, then slammed down the book he was reading, and approached what Serenity called, "the bench". Kaiba just noticed that the girl that owed him plenty happened to also be at the desk. He smirked.
"Is it not the little criminal?" Kaiba questioned, smirking at Serenity. She blushed, ashamed of breaking the window.
"Mr. Kaiba, it appears that you have taken most of the classes Miss. Wheeler is taking and passed with flying colors. I know you have denied the offers in the past, but would you care to play as Serenity's tutor for awhile?" Miss. Shunai asked. It was a formal routine. He was often chosen as the number one tutor since he was so intelligent. But, he always declined rudely, stating a bad quality about the student and returned to his seat. But surprisingly.
"Fine. I will be Wheeler's tutor." He stated with a smirk, Miss. Shunai unsure if he was being sarcastic. He smirked, cupping Serenity's chin. "Besides, she owes me much already. What's one more thing to the pile?"
Serenity gulped as Miss. Shunai lifted her brow at the apparent flirtation. "But it IS going to be strictly learning, no romance!"
Serenity sighed and nodded, extremely embarrassed and worried what he would expect from her to pay him back for the window and the tutoring.
The bell rang, and Serenity tried to hurry out as fast as she could to avoid Kaiba and the tutoring section, but was stopped when someone grabbed her shoulder.
"Meet me at the curb, Wheeler. And remember, you owe me." He stated coldly, then brushed ahead of her to go to his next class.
~*~At The Curb~*~
Serenity stood at the curb of the school, awaiting a shiny black limo to pick her up. Why did she have to worry about Joey so much? Why couldn't she have studied harder? Would Kaiba be in the car? So many questions ran through her mind. But the one question she was curious about most was, "Why did Kaiba accept to tutor me? He has never accepted that before for anyone else..." Did he hate her brother THAT much that he was willing to possess his sister just so he could take away one more thing from Joey?
"You would think he wouldn't let me in his home for being related to Joey...." She pondered out loud, unaware of the limo that just pulled up to the curb. It honked and she was instantly pulled out of her questions and focused on not being interested in the Kaiba household, even though she was dying to see his home and how he lives.
The doors slid open and she sat down in the far back seat. She hated the feeling of the hard, black leather. She didn't even realize the shadow in the far corner was Seto Kaiba himself until she heard the sound of furious typing and assumed it was him. She fiddled with her purse, acting as if she wasn't interested in what he was doing. She decided to put on some Chap Stick, but it was so dark in the limo she couldn't find it. After minutes of searching, she threw the purse, and then pouted. "Why me...Why me..." She mumbled until she got hit in the eye with her own purse.
"Hey!" She shrieked, angered that Kaiba threw the purse at her.
"What the hell is wrong with you and your damn obsession with throwing your stupid girlish toys!" Kaiba replied coldly but confidently like always. Serenity was steamed.
She rubbed her right eye, "You hit me in the eye!"
"Good. I would like to see the mutt get out of paying for another eye operation. To think he would steal it from his own friend." He smirked evilly.
"You don't have any idea what you are talking about, Seto Kaiba! You have no right to say that! He did not steal that money. Yugi gave him that! And that money saved my life for your information! How dare you-"
"Your not my mother, Wheeler. You do not have the right to talk to me that way."
"Mothers!? You want to talk about mothers!? YOUR OWN mother was obviously horrible at raising children! I mean, look at you!" Serenity replied cruelly.
"Maybe if I actually HAD one..." He mumbled, looking down.
"What do you mean...?" Serenity paused, knowing she shouldn't have said that. That's why she tried to not be mean to anyone. But, she never heard Kaiba have a slight loss of confidence. Did hell just freeze over?
"My mother died when Mokuba and I were very young. Happy?" He replied softly.
"Oh...I am so sorry!" She apologized sitting next to him. But, Seto quickly brushed away the tidbit of sadness.
"Who gave you permission to sit next to me?"
"What? I don't have cooties."
"Wheelers' will never have the right to even breath by Kaiba's."
"But you said you hated your father and you overthrew his company! Kaiba's are obviously not that great..."
"That is my step-father, Wheeler, who was the asshole. Not my real father." He replied, the sadness once again returning. "No. I promised myself I would forget about them and just focus on what is best for Mokuba and me." He thought, attempting to hide his emotions.
"So both of your real parents..."
Silence.
"Oh. I am really sorry. You're right; I shouldn't have said those things."
"Has Hell frozen over?" Seto asked, Serenity giving him a confused look.
"What!?" She asked.
"You must be more intelligent then your puppy brother, Wheeler."
"Erm, thank you..?" She replied, wondering why he would say that and whether it was a compliment or another strike against her brother.
The rest of the ride to the Kaiba mansion was long and Kaiba and Serenity didn't talk at all.
~*~The Kaiba Mansion~*~
"Whoa..." Was all Serenity spoke when she stepped into the Kaiba mansion, Seto 10 meters in front of her as if he was afraid of someone seeing him with a Wheeler, even if on his own private property.
When they stepped in, Kaiba immediately ran off, leaving Serenity to wonder if he would ever come back. Luckily, she saw Mokuba.
"Oh, hey Serenity!" Mokuba called out, running towards her. Serenity looked around.
"Say, how many rooms are in this place?" She asked, not knowing it was so large.
"Ah, just about 204. Nothing special." He stated, sighing as if it was no big deal. Serenity rolled her eyes.
"So, where's Kaiba?" She asked.
"Living Room. I got to go. See ya around, Serenity." Mokuba yelled, running off. She nodded, then headed towards the living room.
~*~Living Room~*~
"Kaiba, why did you agree to tutor me!?" She yelled/asked furiously.
"To ensure that you would pay me back for the window. And you can start, now."
"Fine. But it's just adding to the 'owe-you' list! Wait, what do you mean?"
"By being a guinea pig. See, I just created a new Duel Disk that when you draw a Field Magic Card, enter it in the newly built Field Magic Card slot, and then press the button. It will read it and take you and your opponent to a place in the world that shares the environment. For example, if you and your brother were dueling and you drew the water field magic card, "Umiiruka", inserted it, and then pressed the button both you and your brother would be transported to two extremely small islands parallel to each other in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It's quite incredible. And lucky for you, you will be the first to try it out." He explained smirking. Serenity sighed, knowing she had to go a long with it.
~*~At Kaiba Corp~*~
Kaiba, Mokuba, and Serenity went into the "Testing Room". She was given a smaller, but more futuristic-looking Duel Disk. She was then given a deck made completely of Field Magic Cards. She inserted the deck and her life points lit up. She was dueling a computer, so she would lose anyway. She drew a card.
"What did you draw?" Mokuba asked anxiously. Kaiba tilted his head, not remembering exactly where he assigned Yami to take the duelest.
"Yami; I think it decreases the attack of fairies and increases fiends or dark monsters." Serenity stated, wondering if to play a magic card meaning "dark" was safe.
"What are you waiting for, Wheeler!? Play the card already!" Kaiba yelled. Serenity gulped, inserted the card, and then slowly hit the green button.
. . . . . And then she disappeared.
"Yes! It worked!" Kaiba cheered, typing furiously into his computer. On the screen listed all the field magic cards alphabetically on the left, and on the right it showed where on Earth it took them. Towards the end of the list was Yami, and on the right, was. . . Nothing. Kaiba gasped as the door broke open, Yugi and Joey entering.
"KAIBA! Miss. Shunai told me and Yug that ya have ma sista! Now where is she!?" Joey yelled, Yugi nodded shyly behind Joey.
"That's what I would like to know." Kaiba whispered, still searching around to find where Serenity went.
"What do ya mean!? WHERE IS SHE KAIBA!?" He yelled once again, face growing redder then blood.
"I-I. . . Don't know." Kaiba paused, his face blood-drained. I'm going to find out, right now." Kaiba stating, putting the other copy of the duel disk on his arm and grabbing a "Yami" card from his deck. He pressed the green button and vanished before Mokuba and Joey could protest.
"Uh, you guys. Doesn't the card "Yami" mean dark, as in Shadow Realm?" Yugi stated, Mokuba and Joey looking at him confused, but knowing he was in the right direction.
~*~Home~*~
Serenity quickly threw her coat and purse on the ground and flopped on the couch, tears spilling from her red eyes, head leaning on the armrest. "How am I going to pay for Kaiba's window without a job?" She asked herself in her head, rubbing her eyes, "And what if Joey finds out."
"What's the matta, sis?" Joey asked, rubbing her shoulder. "Did dat good- for-nothin Devlin turn ya down!? I told ya he was no good!" Joey yelled, waving his fist in the air like an old person.
"No, no. I turned him down. And I-I quit. B-Because the uh, c-customers were, uh, uh, rude." Serenity lied, in between sniffles, "Yeah. T-the customers. They w-were horrible."
"Oh." Joey paused, looking at the ground, "So, why are ya cryin sis?"
"I, uh, kinda bumped into Kaiba. On the way home. That's why I'm soaked." She paused, hoping Joey wouldn't immediately run over to Kaiba's and challenge him to a fight without even knowing exactly what he even did to his sister.
"WHAT? What did he do to ya sis!? Tell me!" Joey yelled, face growing red with anger.
"Oh, uh, I threw my shoe at his limo window when it splashed me, and, I, uh, shattered it into a million pieces." Serenity stated, sitting up but still looking down, feeling rather awkward.
"Way ta go, sis! I didn't think ya had it in ya!" Joey cheered, patting his sister on the back. Serenity rolled her eyes and sighed.
"But it's $200.00 And now that I'm unemployed how are we going to pay it?" Serenity sniffed, "not to mention you hate having contact with him."
"Ah, we'll do it somehow. Jus focus on your grades. I'll take care of da money." Joey sighed, his sister hugging him and thanking him.
~*~At School~*~
"Serenity Wheeler! Come up here this instant!" The teacher, Miss. Shunai yelled, slamming her hands on her desk, angrily.
"Y-yes?" Serenity squeaked, afraid of what was yet to come.
"Didn't the other teachers and I tell you to get some help! You've improved a little, but not by much. That's it; we're finding you a tutor!" Miss. Shunai stated as she pulled out a box. She opened it, and inside was files, each with a course name on them. She took Serenity's schedule and pulled out the files that contained the names of people who passed with flying colors in all of her courses. One name kept showing up, and unfortunately for her it was the guy she owed already: Seto Kaiba. And even more unfortunate for Serenity, Kaiba happened to be in her homeroom. So, before Serenity could protest.
"Mr. Kaiba, please see me." Miss. Shunai yelled, curling her index finger towards herself. Kaiba grunted, then slammed down the book he was reading, and approached what Serenity called, "the bench". Kaiba just noticed that the girl that owed him plenty happened to also be at the desk. He smirked.
"Is it not the little criminal?" Kaiba questioned, smirking at Serenity. She blushed, ashamed of breaking the window.
"Mr. Kaiba, it appears that you have taken most of the classes Miss. Wheeler is taking and passed with flying colors. I know you have denied the offers in the past, but would you care to play as Serenity's tutor for awhile?" Miss. Shunai asked. It was a formal routine. He was often chosen as the number one tutor since he was so intelligent. But, he always declined rudely, stating a bad quality about the student and returned to his seat. But surprisingly.
"Fine. I will be Wheeler's tutor." He stated with a smirk, Miss. Shunai unsure if he was being sarcastic. He smirked, cupping Serenity's chin. "Besides, she owes me much already. What's one more thing to the pile?"
Serenity gulped as Miss. Shunai lifted her brow at the apparent flirtation. "But it IS going to be strictly learning, no romance!"
Serenity sighed and nodded, extremely embarrassed and worried what he would expect from her to pay him back for the window and the tutoring.
The bell rang, and Serenity tried to hurry out as fast as she could to avoid Kaiba and the tutoring section, but was stopped when someone grabbed her shoulder.
"Meet me at the curb, Wheeler. And remember, you owe me." He stated coldly, then brushed ahead of her to go to his next class.
~*~At The Curb~*~
Serenity stood at the curb of the school, awaiting a shiny black limo to pick her up. Why did she have to worry about Joey so much? Why couldn't she have studied harder? Would Kaiba be in the car? So many questions ran through her mind. But the one question she was curious about most was, "Why did Kaiba accept to tutor me? He has never accepted that before for anyone else..." Did he hate her brother THAT much that he was willing to possess his sister just so he could take away one more thing from Joey?
"You would think he wouldn't let me in his home for being related to Joey...." She pondered out loud, unaware of the limo that just pulled up to the curb. It honked and she was instantly pulled out of her questions and focused on not being interested in the Kaiba household, even though she was dying to see his home and how he lives.
The doors slid open and she sat down in the far back seat. She hated the feeling of the hard, black leather. She didn't even realize the shadow in the far corner was Seto Kaiba himself until she heard the sound of furious typing and assumed it was him. She fiddled with her purse, acting as if she wasn't interested in what he was doing. She decided to put on some Chap Stick, but it was so dark in the limo she couldn't find it. After minutes of searching, she threw the purse, and then pouted. "Why me...Why me..." She mumbled until she got hit in the eye with her own purse.
"Hey!" She shrieked, angered that Kaiba threw the purse at her.
"What the hell is wrong with you and your damn obsession with throwing your stupid girlish toys!" Kaiba replied coldly but confidently like always. Serenity was steamed.
She rubbed her right eye, "You hit me in the eye!"
"Good. I would like to see the mutt get out of paying for another eye operation. To think he would steal it from his own friend." He smirked evilly.
"You don't have any idea what you are talking about, Seto Kaiba! You have no right to say that! He did not steal that money. Yugi gave him that! And that money saved my life for your information! How dare you-"
"Your not my mother, Wheeler. You do not have the right to talk to me that way."
"Mothers!? You want to talk about mothers!? YOUR OWN mother was obviously horrible at raising children! I mean, look at you!" Serenity replied cruelly.
"Maybe if I actually HAD one..." He mumbled, looking down.
"What do you mean...?" Serenity paused, knowing she shouldn't have said that. That's why she tried to not be mean to anyone. But, she never heard Kaiba have a slight loss of confidence. Did hell just freeze over?
"My mother died when Mokuba and I were very young. Happy?" He replied softly.
"Oh...I am so sorry!" She apologized sitting next to him. But, Seto quickly brushed away the tidbit of sadness.
"Who gave you permission to sit next to me?"
"What? I don't have cooties."
"Wheelers' will never have the right to even breath by Kaiba's."
"But you said you hated your father and you overthrew his company! Kaiba's are obviously not that great..."
"That is my step-father, Wheeler, who was the asshole. Not my real father." He replied, the sadness once again returning. "No. I promised myself I would forget about them and just focus on what is best for Mokuba and me." He thought, attempting to hide his emotions.
"So both of your real parents..."
Silence.
"Oh. I am really sorry. You're right; I shouldn't have said those things."
"Has Hell frozen over?" Seto asked, Serenity giving him a confused look.
"What!?" She asked.
"You must be more intelligent then your puppy brother, Wheeler."
"Erm, thank you..?" She replied, wondering why he would say that and whether it was a compliment or another strike against her brother.
The rest of the ride to the Kaiba mansion was long and Kaiba and Serenity didn't talk at all.
~*~The Kaiba Mansion~*~
"Whoa..." Was all Serenity spoke when she stepped into the Kaiba mansion, Seto 10 meters in front of her as if he was afraid of someone seeing him with a Wheeler, even if on his own private property.
When they stepped in, Kaiba immediately ran off, leaving Serenity to wonder if he would ever come back. Luckily, she saw Mokuba.
"Oh, hey Serenity!" Mokuba called out, running towards her. Serenity looked around.
"Say, how many rooms are in this place?" She asked, not knowing it was so large.
"Ah, just about 204. Nothing special." He stated, sighing as if it was no big deal. Serenity rolled her eyes.
"So, where's Kaiba?" She asked.
"Living Room. I got to go. See ya around, Serenity." Mokuba yelled, running off. She nodded, then headed towards the living room.
~*~Living Room~*~
"Kaiba, why did you agree to tutor me!?" She yelled/asked furiously.
"To ensure that you would pay me back for the window. And you can start, now."
"Fine. But it's just adding to the 'owe-you' list! Wait, what do you mean?"
"By being a guinea pig. See, I just created a new Duel Disk that when you draw a Field Magic Card, enter it in the newly built Field Magic Card slot, and then press the button. It will read it and take you and your opponent to a place in the world that shares the environment. For example, if you and your brother were dueling and you drew the water field magic card, "Umiiruka", inserted it, and then pressed the button both you and your brother would be transported to two extremely small islands parallel to each other in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It's quite incredible. And lucky for you, you will be the first to try it out." He explained smirking. Serenity sighed, knowing she had to go a long with it.
~*~At Kaiba Corp~*~
Kaiba, Mokuba, and Serenity went into the "Testing Room". She was given a smaller, but more futuristic-looking Duel Disk. She was then given a deck made completely of Field Magic Cards. She inserted the deck and her life points lit up. She was dueling a computer, so she would lose anyway. She drew a card.
"What did you draw?" Mokuba asked anxiously. Kaiba tilted his head, not remembering exactly where he assigned Yami to take the duelest.
"Yami; I think it decreases the attack of fairies and increases fiends or dark monsters." Serenity stated, wondering if to play a magic card meaning "dark" was safe.
"What are you waiting for, Wheeler!? Play the card already!" Kaiba yelled. Serenity gulped, inserted the card, and then slowly hit the green button.
. . . . . And then she disappeared.
"Yes! It worked!" Kaiba cheered, typing furiously into his computer. On the screen listed all the field magic cards alphabetically on the left, and on the right it showed where on Earth it took them. Towards the end of the list was Yami, and on the right, was. . . Nothing. Kaiba gasped as the door broke open, Yugi and Joey entering.
"KAIBA! Miss. Shunai told me and Yug that ya have ma sista! Now where is she!?" Joey yelled, Yugi nodded shyly behind Joey.
"That's what I would like to know." Kaiba whispered, still searching around to find where Serenity went.
"What do ya mean!? WHERE IS SHE KAIBA!?" He yelled once again, face growing redder then blood.
"I-I. . . Don't know." Kaiba paused, his face blood-drained. I'm going to find out, right now." Kaiba stating, putting the other copy of the duel disk on his arm and grabbing a "Yami" card from his deck. He pressed the green button and vanished before Mokuba and Joey could protest.
"Uh, you guys. Doesn't the card "Yami" mean dark, as in Shadow Realm?" Yugi stated, Mokuba and Joey looking at him confused, but knowing he was in the right direction.