Author's Note:
Now to introduce the man who's easily my favorite character into the story: the one and only Seto Kaiba. Kaiba is beautifully, woefully tragic, and a genius to boot. I just had a discussion with a good friend about knowledge--knowledge is power, but power corrupts. Therefore, the smarter you are, the greater inclination you'll have towards evil. So we really shouldn't be mad at Kaiba for what he does. The gorgeous beast can't help it.
Explain that to Yami-Girl, though…or don't; she'll probably just fall asleep.
**
Chapter Four, Ninth Duel: A Stroke of Luck
**
You say that you'll be there to catch me
Or will you only try to trap me?
These are the rules I make
Our chains were meant to break
You'll never change me
Here comes the cold again
I feel it closing in
You're falling down and
All around me falling
Stroke of luck or gift from God?
Hand of fate or devil's claws?
From below or saints above?
You come to me now...
(A Stroke of Luck)
(Garbage)
**
Seto Kaiba was half-asleep in the back of his limousine. His limo was his sanctuary, his safe place, his private bubble where the world could not touch him. The leather seats were always cool and inviting, the partition dark and protective. The tinted windows turned the brightest morning to cool twilight.
That was how he liked it.
He was on his way back to Domino High School after a month away, outfitting a company known as Industrial Illusions with holographic technology for their founder's greatest creation--a card game known as Duel Monsters. Kaiba himself was a champion at the game, good enough to compete on the national level. He wished he could find the logic in having to go to school even though he was already CEO of his own company, KaibaCorp.
The roads shimmered with water from a rain he'd just missed. A particularly large puddle always collected in front of the bus stop, something Kaiba loved to gloat about from the safety of his limo. As the limousine turned the corner, only a few people were waiting at the stop, Domino High School uniforms milling around and blurring together in Kaiba's tired vision.
A girl with hair the color of dark chocolate was standing at a comfortable distance from the others, headphones clipped over her ears, lost in her music. She was staring into a middle distance, so she didn't see the limo turning the corner, and therefore didn't have enough time to jump back before the wheels splashed water all over her uniform jacket--which was blue, Kaiba noted, like the boys' uniforms, not pink, like the girls'.
"Hey!" she squealed, and he was close enough to hear it through the closed windows before the limo purred away from the curb, leaving her sodden and dripping on the sidewalk. He chuckled at her soggy outrage, but was suddenly interrupted by the sound of something shattering perilously close to his ear. He instinctively ducked and covered his head, glass raining down on him from behind. A large rock bounced onto the leather seat beside him, surrounded by shards of what had once been his rear window.
"Mr. Kaiba!" his driver barked, slamming on the brakes. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Leo," Kaiba reported, twisting around to look out the ruined rear window. He saw the brunette girl sprinting from the middle of the street towards her waiting bus. Leo was already out his door, waving his fist in her direction and yelling, "Hey! Hey, you! You little bitch!"
"She threw a rock at me," Kaiba muttered.
"What should we do, Mr. Kaiba?" Leo asked, getting back into the limo.
Kaiba waved his hand dismissively. "The window can be fixed. I'm going to be late for school. Just keep driving."
"Yes, sir." Leo started the car again, and a cool breeze kept Kaiba awake for the rest of the drive, which annoyed him. Jet lag was still with him, and the dark interior of the limo was the perfect lair for sleep. He had no idea how he was going to stay awake through an entire day of classes. School was such a pointless activity. Why did he even bother going back?
It wasn't like anything ever changed.
**
He heard the whispers as soon as he walked into the hallway.
"It's Kaiba!"
"Hey, Kaiba's back."
"Did you see that Kaiba's back in school?"
When he walked into the classroom, Ms. Chono shook her blonde waves of hair over her shoulder and gave him a smile that would have melted a lesser man into his socks. He glared at her and moved to his seat at the back of the room, across from that blond waste of skin, Joey Wheeler. Wheeler's wood-brown eyes narrowed at Kaiba from beneath his shaggy yellow bangs as Kaiba walked down the aisle.
Chono began to take roll. "Mr. Kaiba, nice to have you back with us," she said as she looked at him. Kaiba nodded politely.
"Yeah, if by nice, she means, awful," Wheeler chuckled.
Kaiba snarled at Wheeler, but a shout from Miho Nosaka interrupted them. She was looking at someone in the doorway.
"Eeewww!" she cried. "What happened to you?"
To Kaiba's surprise, the brunette girl from the bus stop tramped into the room, water still trailing from her hair and spotting her uniform. Now that he could see her up close, he could see that her hair wasn't just dark chocolate. A roof of vanilla-blonde bangs framed her face and called attention to her admittedly stunning eyes. They were slightly slanted, framed by dark lashes and could only be called...red. She was wearing the blue uniform jacket meant for the boys to wear, and she had the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Around her wrists were two thick black cuffs, and they matched a buckled belt around her neck. A large pendant held pride of place on her chest--it was shaped like a pyramid and hung from a cord, also tied around her neck.
Even dripping wet, she was kind of pretty.
It's not like I care, Kaiba told himself.
"Yami Motou, what happened to you?" Chono echoed. "You're a mess."
"Some rich jerk in a limo splashed water all over me at the bus stop!" the girl named Yami pouted, her full lower lip dipping slightly.
"Oh, man!" Joey said. "What'd you do?"
Yami grinned wickedly, looking suddenly proud of herself despite her sodden appearance. "I--"
"She threw a rock and broke my rear window," Kaiba announced loudly, folding his arms over his chest.
The girl's crimson eyes widened as she saw Kaiba sitting in the back row. "You? You're the one who splashed me today?"
"And you're the one who broke my window," Kaiba retorted.
Tristan chuckled in surprise. "You really pitched a rock at his window?"
Yami frowned. "I was aiming for his head," she said dangerously, glaring at Kaiba.
"Oh, I'm so frightened," Kaiba deadpanned. "What are you going to do, kick me in the kneecaps?"
"You want to start something?" Yami challenged, advancing down the aisle with a hip-swinging walk that was totally at odds with her school uniform.
Kaiba stood up, drawing himself up to his full six feet two inches. He smirked at Yami and held his hand about half a foot above her dark head. "Sorry. You must be this tall to ride."
Yami bristled, but Chono interrupted. "Both of you, stop it! Kaiba, sit down. This is no way to start your first day back. Yami, if you don't want another detention, you'll hold your tongue."
"Kaiba?" Yami whispered to Joey as she sat down in front of him. "As in, KaibaCorp?"
"As in CEO," Kaiba answered, having overheard. "You might want to think twice before throwing any more rocks."
Yami pouted, turning towards the front. "I can't believe I missed."
**
Kaiba hated watching videos in class. He couldn't read with the lights out like that. The chairs weren't comfortable enough for sleep. Nothing else to do but find a source of distraction. He looked around the room.
Joey Wheeler was leaning over the back of his chair and snoring--audibly. Kaiba couldn't tell for sure, but he might have been drooling. How revolting. Meanwhile, Tristan Taylor was making goo-goo eyes at Miho Nosaka, who was drawing hearts in the margins of her notebook. The goofy, dreamy look in Taylor's mahogany eyes didn't match his latest haircut; the sides were buzzed so short as to be practically nonexistent. Miho gave no notice of Taylor's devoted stare; the yellow ribbon around her pale ponytail waved in time with her scribbling. Ms. Chono was reapplying her makeup at the front of the room, focused intensely on her compact as if it were her gradebook.
Finally Kaiba's eyes rested on Yami Motou, who was looking sleepy and bored in her chair. She was writing on her hands with a purple pen; if Kaiba leaned forward a bit, he could read what she was writing, since she was sitting with her body turned sideways.
Send me the rough draft
I'll seal it with tears
Maybe you'll read it and I'll reappear
Like Saturday night I'll be gone before you knew that I was there.
That was written on the left hand. Kaiba frowned, watching the hand sway back and forth as Yami scrawled on the right. The song was "Rough Draft" by Yellowcard--he had their CD; they were playing Warped Tour this summer.
Kaiba felt his teeth grit. How dare she like the same music as he did! He didn't want to have anything in common with the little runt.
Maybe the right hand was something girly and popular that would assuage his fears. He casually leaned closer as Yami switched hands, displaying the right one to Kaiba's view as she colored in an ankh on the left.
The needle on my record player has been wearing thin
This record has been playing since the day you've been with him
No more long rides home, no more of your station
I didn't like it anyway
Kaiba was livid. A New Found Glory. He'd missed their only local concert six months ago because he'd had too much work to do. He hoped Yami had missed it as well, just for spite's sake. Luckily Yami was decorating her hands with ankhs and swirls and tiny hearts, effectively negating the angsty lyrics, which made Kaiba feel better.
Still...if she listened to New Found...and the way she'd snarled at him this morning, without a care as to who he was...
She wasn't important, he tried to remind himself. She was just a girl, a girl who'd made his entire morning miserable.
A girl who challenged you, his mind argued. A girl who could be your equal.
I have no equal! he thought back, sweeping the argument away. The thoughts were interrupted by a swirl of chocolate hair. Kaiba realized that Yami had turned around, and was staring back at him.
**
Yami didn't give a damn about the Japanese version of "Macbeth". In any language, she found the story to be one of the worst in history. Everyone in it was stupid.
She could feel someone's gaze resting on her and snuck a peek back to see Kaiba staring at her. She glared, and he shifted his gaze.
What a jerk, she thought absently, watching him sit--well, sitting was probably the wrong word. Lounging was probably a better description of the graceful slouch that had him draped all over his chair. In the stingy light, his hair was the color of caramel in shadow, and Yami couldn't help but wonder if it was as soft as it looked. Some of it was hanging just over his blue eyes, which were hooded by thick dark lashes, completing the picture of a boy who was bored to death.
Yami looked down at the spots of muddy water still dotting her white blouse and blue jacket. Jerk, jerk, jerk, she reminded herself. Splashing water on me, being so mean...
Again she felt the press of eyes on her back. Whirling, she saw slits of ice narrowed at her from the back of the room. Feeling her own eyes narrow, she gave in and turned her body a little in her chair to meet those steely eyes with a bloody gaze of her own. Seto Kaiba may have been a jerk, but he was a hell of a lot more interesting than the Japanese "Macbeth".
**
Kaiba spent the rest of the day compiling a mini-dossier of information on the little red-eyed upstart. He was surprised at what he found.
Yami Motou had only been in school a little over three weeks, but she was already quite the name in Domino High School. The first day, she'd stood up to the hall monitor, Ushio, who hadn't been doing so well since. She'd also managed to help foil an expulsion in progress by the Wicked Witch of Expel, something that had never been done before.
So now the two stooges, Joey Wheeler and Tristan Taylor, had a new accomplice. Ms. Chono's makeup couldn't hide the dark circles under her eyes.
Another weird fact was that Yami Motou was never seen anywhere without that strange pendant of hers. It looked Egyptian and complemented Yami's bronze skin and odd coloring. Kaiba couldn't really say anything about that, though--he wore a pendant as well, a locket, and never left the house without it. It was shaped like a playing card from the Duel Monsters game he was so fond of, and inside it was a picture of the most important person in his life--his younger brother, Mokuba.
Kaiba clicked open the locket as the last class of the day wound to a close. Seeing his baby brother's violet eyes and easy smile under his wild black hair always made the elder Kaiba stronger.
It's all for you, kid. As long as you're around, dragons don't scare me and I can forgive the horrors of school.
It was only when the bell rang that he wondered if Yami's pendant was special to her, too.
**
"Hello, kids," Sugoroku Motou said cheerfully as Yami and Joey tramped into the Kame Game Shop. He always liked to have Yami and her friends around the store--there was never a dull moment. "How was school today?"
"Turned my hand green in chem." Joey waved a stained hand at Sugoroku. "Check it out, Gramps."
Sugoroku grinned. "A definite improvement over last week's pink!"
"You're telling me!" Joey chuckled, slapping the old man a high-five.
"What about you, honey?" Sugoroku turned to Yami, his gaze fixing pointedly on her hands. "I see that a film was shown in class today."
Yami laughed and held up her ink-stained hands. "Yup. Hey, Grandpa, guess who's in our class at school? Seto Kaiba, the CEO of KaibaCorp."
"I hate that stupid jerk," Joey fumed. "He thinks he's so much better than everyone else."
Sugoroku chuckled and turned to take a box off the shelf. "Maybe this will cheer you two up. I just got a game in today--the one that's such a hit in America." He handed a few cards to Yami and a few to Joey. "It's called Duel Monsters."
"Cool. Some of this art is really nice!" said Yami, hopping up to her usual perch on the counter and looking through the cards. They had pictures of whimsical creatures painted on them. "I like this one." She held up a card with a picture of a monstrous winged skeleton on it, grinning out from the card, which read "Summoned Skull" above the picture. "He looks strong!"
"How do you play with these?" Joey asked.
"You play with two players, right Grandpa?" Yami asked. She turned to Joey. "You each stake a card on the match, and whoever wins gets to keep both."
"That's right." Sugoroku displayed a few more cards on the counter. "The game is set up so that the players are both wizards. They use their cards to cast spells or summon monsters to fight!" Sugoroku pointed to a monster card, a robed skeleton that read Skull Servant. "The cards have different attack and defense strengths. The first player to lose all their life points loses the game."
"Cool," said Joey.
"That sounds like fun!" Yami said, flipping through more cards. "Any dragons in it?"
Sugoroku chuckled. "As a matter of fact, there are quite a few, but one outshines the rest, and this old man is fan enough to have one!" He reached beneath the counter and showed them a card. "This card is my treasure!"
The card was of a white dragon, poised to attack, jaws gaping to show razor teeth. Its visible eye was the blue you could only see at the exact moment of dawn, when the night left the sky. "Blue-Eyes White Dragon", the card proclaimed.
Yami's pink lips parted in a small o. "Oooohhh...he's beautiful!"
Sugoroku's eyes were a darker, nightsky version of Yami's red, and they gleamed with pride. "This is the Blue-Eyes White Dragon! It's so overpowered that they stopped production, and now it's ultra-rare. Collectors would pay through the nose for one of these!"
"Woah," Joey said appreciatively. "I feel like I'm wasting a fortune just looking at that thing!"
"Can I hold him?" Yami reached gentle hands for the card and held it carefully, tilting it in the light, and then she gave it back to Sugoroku.
"Let's play Duel Monsters at school tomorrow, Yami!" Joey decided.
"Okay!" Yami agreed happily.
The little bell above the door rang, signaling a customer.
**
It was getting late, but Kaiba didn't want to go home. Mokuba would be there, anxious to hear about his day, and he hadn't the heart to tell the little boy that it had been awful...again. Kaiba knew his unhappiness bothered his little brother, and he tried his hardest to keep as much pain from Mokuba's life as he could.
Now he was just walking the streets. Carrying his briefcase full of rare cards, Kaiba decided to check out a local game shop to see if there were any new Duel Monsters cards he didn't have. After this awful day, didn't he deserve a few lousy cards?
The little bell above the Kame Game Shop door rang to announce his entrance, but the sound was drowned out by Joey Wheeler's loud voice. "I need some cards, Gramps! Gimme a pack with plenty of strong ones!"
The owner of the shop, an older man with grey hair peeking out from under a bandanna, chuckled. "You can't tell until you open the pack!"
"I didn't know you played Duel Monsters, Wheeler," Kaiba said, stepping up to the counter. "I'm sur--huh?" He gasped, seeing someone sitting on the counter, bronze legs dangling. Her white knee socks were uneven, and her black ankle boots were knocking against the counter. She was still wearing the blue coat of the school uniform, which caused her vanilla bangs to stand out sharply and her crimson eyes were smiling. Kaiba felt his teeth grit. "You!"
Joey grinned at Kaiba's discomfort.
"Hello there," the old man said to Kaiba, his mauve eyes twinkling beneath his grey brows. "I'm Sugoroku Motou. Welcome to my shop."
Kaiba nodded politely.
"Have you met my granddaughter?" Sugoroku asked kindly. "Yami, where are your manners?"
"I don't know," Kaiba said. "I haven't seen them all day."
"Shut the hell up, Kaiba," Joey snarled.
"No bloodshed in my shop, please," Sugoroku chuckled. "Yami, were you causing trouble again?"
"No, Kaiba's right. I was rude today, and I want to apologize," the girl named Yami said, extending her hand to Kaiba, who was surprised. "No hard feelings?"
Kaiba's smirk slashed his face. "You may be new around school, but you'll soon learn I'm the king of hard feelings." It was the girl's turn to look surprised, and she retracted her hand, looking a little embarrassed.
"You play Duel Monsters, Kaiba?" Joey attempted. "We were going to play at school tomorrow. Want to join in? I'd love to kick your ass."
Kaiba snorted. "You actually think you're in my league, Wheeler? Let me see your cards."
Joey handed them to him, and Kaiba gave them a once-over before laughing scornfully and tossing them back at Joey. "Please! You could never win against my deck with cards like these! Playing you would be a complete waste of my time. I'm good enough to compete at the national level!"
Joey bristled, and Yami held him back. "Kaiba, could you at least pretend to be nice? Joey, calm down..."
Joey snarled. "Wouldn't lose in a fight..."
Kaiba ignored them both and focused his attention on Sugoroku Motou. "I might be persuaded to buy. Do you have any good cards he--" The question was halted as Kaiba saw a card sitting on the counter. "It can't be! The legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
Sugoroku was too fast for Kaiba--he snatched the card off the counter and laughed. "Do you like it?"
"Where'd you get it?" Kaiba asked desperately, placing both hands on the counter. "What's it doing here? Let me have a look at it!"
Sugoroku grinned. "Just a look."
Kaiba handled the card delicately, reverently. I've never even seen this...I never thought I'd actually hold one...it's a level 8 card...its attack and defense are through the roof...it's incredibly rare! If I owned this card...I'd be INVINCIBLE!
He was so awed by the card's splendor that Sugoroku easily plucked it out of his hand. "Okay, look's over."
Kaiba immediately slammed his briefcase down next to Yami on the counter. She gasped as he flicked open the catch and the lid flew up.
"If you give me that Blue-Eyes White Dragon," Kaiba said, "I'll trade you all of these cards!"
"My, my," Sugoroku said. "That's quite an impressive collection."
"Wowza!" Joey said in awe.
"A whole briefcase full of cards! Holy moly cow!" Yami leaned over the case. "Look at all these monsters--whoa baby! Look at this guy! The Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon!"
"Is that good?" Joey asked.
"You bet!" Yami said. "He's got twenty-eight hundred attack points!"
"I guess two heads are better than one!" Joey grinned.
Sugoroku laughed at them, still holding the card out of Kaiba's reach. "I'm sorry. It's a generous offer, but no deal."
The peanut gallery--Yami and Joey--was even more surprised. "Gramps turned him down? Double wowza!" Joey hissed at the same time Yami said, "Holy macaroni!"
Kaiba glared at them. "Apparently, the supply of geeky catchphrases is inexhaustible." His eyelid twitched and he turned back to Sugoroku, who obviously knew what the card was worth. "No matter what?" he asked.
Sugoroku shook his head and smiled. "Kaiba, isn't it? I know why you want this card so much. However, I have a good reason to hold onto it...it's not just because it's a strong card."
Yami leaned forward to hear the story, kicking her feet happily. Even Joey looked interested.
"An important gamer friend of mine from America gave me this card. This card is as important to me as my friend! I could never give it up! It's the same with common cards. If you really treasure something, it grows a heart of its own, just like this card!" Sugoroku smiled down at the Blue-Eyes White Dragon in his hand and patted the briefcase. "You would never trade anything for that heart! So take good care of each and every card in this trunk, Kaiba! Then you'll find the true strength of this game."
Kaiba tried hard not to growl. "Fine." He snatched the briefcase off the counter and stalked out of the shop, the bell voicing its pain. He heard their conversation as he left.
"Wow, Gramps, great speech!" Joey cheered.
Yami laughed. "Even without using a rare card, Grandpa has never lost a duel!"
**
When Kaiba opened the front door of his mansion, he was greeted by the sound of pounding footsteps before he was attacked by a waist-high ball of black hair that locked its arms around him. "Seto! You're home!"
Kaiba smiled and ruffled the wild black hair. "Hi, Mokuba."
"How was your day?" The dreaded question.
"All right," he lied. "How was yours?"
"Had a pop quiz today," Mokuba sighed. "Were you nicer today like I asked you to try to be?"
Kaiba decided to sidestep the question. "As a matter of fact, there's a new girl in school. She and I had quite the exchange today."
Mokuba saw right through him and smiled sadly. "You ticked her off."
"So much that she threw a rock through my rear window," Kaiba admitted with a chuckle.
"Maybe she likes you," Mokuba said hopefully.
"I seriously doubt that," Kaiba sighed. "At least I hope not. What a strange girl she is. But I found a new game shop today," he added with happy inspiration. "You'll never guess what I saw."
"What?" Mokuba asked, taking his brother's hand as they walked into the dining room.
"A Blue-Eyes White Dragon."
Mokuba's violet eyes went wide as he took his seat beside his brother. "Noooo way! Seto! Did you buy it?"
Kaiba frowned. "Unfortunately, it wasn't for sale. But don't worry, kiddo," he said with a slight smile. "I'll get it."
**
And so Kaiba sought out Yami Motou the next day at school, visions of white dragons dancing in his head. Luckily, Wheeler and Motou stuck out like thumbs. Sore ones.
Someone yelled, "Damn! I'm out of life again!"
"YAY! I WON!" someone else yelled, and Kaiba saw two small fists jab into the air, thick black cuffs buckled around the matchstick wrists. It could only be one person, he thought darkly, but manufactured a smile quickly as he approached the table where the two were playing Duel Monsters, just as Wheeler had said they'd be.
"Kaiba," Yami said, surprised, chocolate hair swirling just above her shoulders, straight as rain.
He rigged the tight smile on his face. "It's fun to watch you playing!" he chuckled.
Yami smiled up at him in a friendly way, red eyes twinkling. "Want to sit down?"
"No, thanks, I'll just watch. By the way," Kaiba said silkily, "do you have the Blue-Eyes White Dragon card with you by any chance?"
"How'd you know?" She blinked innocently up at him, still smiling. "I begged Grandpa to lend it to me just for one day! Had to promise not to play with it though."
"Could you show it to me one more time?" Kaiba asked. "Ever since yesterday when I held that card, I've been so excited I couldn't even sleep! And...well...what your grandfather said yesterday made me realize what it means to love the cards!"
Yami bit the bait. Hard. Her eyes sparkled and her smile filled them. "Okay, then, I'll show it to you!"
"Mmm..." Kaiba purred when he had it in his hands. "It is a beautiful card!" Little does she know she'll never touch it again...
It was true that Kaiba hadn't been able to sleep the night before, but he'd spent all that time making a plan. He reached stealthily into his pocket for something--a color copy of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon he'd made from a catalog. Making the switch, he handed the copy to Yami. "Thank you, Yami. I appreciate this." More than you'll ever know, you red-eyed dope...
He smiled into Yami's innocent grin. "Have fun with your game, Yami."
She nodded, looking down at the copy in her hand.
**
Kaiba chuckled as he left the school building. There is NO way I'm going to lose at the next tournament. Seto, you genius...
"Kaiba!" a small bell-like voice called, and he turned to see Yami Motou running towards him, pendant glittering as it bounced around. She skidded to a stop in front of him, chest heaving beneath her tight white blouse from the effort. Kaiba watched the way her breathing moved her for a second before calmly bringing his eyes to her flushed face.
"Are you on your way home, Yami?" he asked, trying for normalcy.
Yami looked sad. She pressed her pink lips together, then said, "Kaiba, please give my card back."
Kaiba's blue eyes widened. So she knew.
Yami pressed one foot delicately in front of the other. "I didn't want to say anything about you switching the cards because everyone was watching and I didn't want to embarrass you..."
"So you think I stole your card?!" Kaiba said angrily, desperate to cover up. "I gave it back to you!"
Yami rolled her eyes. "I know you played me for a fool, but I didn't think you thought I was that much of a fool. Even I can tell the difference between a copy and the real thing. Please give it back."
Time to go. "I know nothing about it," Kaiba said, enunciating every word so that she might get the idea.
Yami's eyes were bloody red. "You must know! You have to know how important that card is to my grandpa! If I don't keep my promise and bring his card back, I'll break Grandpa's heart!" Her hands were curled into fists and pressed to her chest, her color hectically brilliant. "He's my family. I can't betray him!"
Kaiba chuckled, running a hand through his hair. "Oh, come on. Before you start complaining about your grandfather, why don't you try believing your friend?"
Yami frowned darkly, sadly, dark brows dipping on her bronze forehead. "You are not my friend. You lie to me. You steal my grandfather's card, and then you treat me like an idiot. You are no friend of mine, Seto Kaiba!"
Kaiba growled. "Shut up." And he reached for her, threading fingers through her hair to pull her nearer, lifting her at a painful angle. She gasped, and Kaiba stared into that flushed, warring face. They were so close that a sharp breath would have made their lips touch. "I do not care," he hissed, breath mingling with hers, "about 'loving the cards' or stupid things like that. And I do not care about you. Tell the old man this, and you remember it well for yourself. It's not how you play the game. It's whether you win or lose. And I have won."
With that, Kaiba tore his hand from her hair and stalked off. She didn't chase him, but she did call after him, her voice as chilling as if she were laying a curse on him.
"I will teach you a lesson, Seto Kaiba! And when I'm done, I will take Grandpa's card, his heart, back!"
I'm shaking, Yami, he thought. Come and get me.
**
Mokuba Kaiba was playing a video game in the den before supper. "No, no, no!" he said as his character careened towards oblivion. "Nononono--arrrgh!" He dropped the controller as the death music played on the screen.
The telephone rang, interrupting his mourning. Jumping up from his seat on the floor, he ran to answer. "Hello, Kaiba residence, Mokuba Kaiba speaking," he answered politely, just as Seto had taught him to.
"Hellooo," a sleepy female voice purred. "I'm looking for Seto Kaiba. May I speak to him, please?"
A girl's voice. Mokuba blinked violet eyes as he thought it over. No one ever called Seto, not here at home, anyway. But he'd mentioned a girl last night. The boy grinned to himself. It would be good if his brother made some friends, got out more. He spent way too much time with his technology, in Mokuba's opinion. But Seto was so stubborn...he said he and this girl had had a disagreement. Maybe he wouldn't want to talk to her...
"Who shall I say is calling?" That was another thing Seto had taught him to ask.
"This is Yami Motou," the girl on the other end of the line trilled. "It's verrrry important that I speak with Seto Kaiba. Won't you please tell him I'm on the line?"
She sounded like she really wanted to talk to Seto. Mokuba made his decision.
"I'll get him. Will you hold on, please?"
"Certainly. Thank you," the girl purred. "What's your name again, sweet heart?"
"Mokuba," the boy said. "Mokuba Kaiba. Seto's my big brother."
"Well! I didn't know he had a brother. It was nice speaking with you, Mokuba," she said.
She's nice, Mokuba thought as he brought the cordless phone to his brother's study. Someone so nice wouldn't be mean to Seto...
**
The drapes in Kaiba's study kept the offending daylight at bay, and he held court from the leather chair behind the cherry wood desk. Right now he had the Blue-Eyes White Dragon on his desk, simply staring at its splendor. Mine. And now I'll be unstoppable. No one in the WORLD will be able to beat me...
The door squeaked open to reveal Mokuba, his eyes shining from beneath his black hair. "Seto. The telephone is for you. It's a girl," he said, grinning.
"A girl?" Kaiba took the cordless phone from Mokuba's reaching hand.
"I'll leave you alone," Mokuba said cheekily, running back out into the hallway.
Confused, Kaiba brought the receiver to his ear. "Seto Kaiba."
"Hello, Kaiba," a voice like dark chocolate answered. "Remember me?"
Kaiba felt his teeth grit as if he'd heard nails on a blackboard. "Yami Motou? I thought I told you to leave me alone."
"Nothing doing, hon," came the answer. "You've got my grandfather's heart, and I want it back."
"I'm not interested in collecting hearts," Kaiba said. "Just cards. And I already told you I don't know anything about your grandfather's card. If you were careless enough to lose it, don't blame me."
A soft laugh sparkled over the phone line. "Me? Lose it? I admit a lot of things fall in my camp, Kaiba, but I would never lose something so important to my grandfather. No, it's you who has been careless."
"Me?" Kaiba was somehow glad the drapes were pulled-something about her voice was making him nervous. He was safe in here... "How have I been careless?"
"You've made me angry," was the answer. "And hon...you wouldn't like me when I'm angry."
"I don't like you to begin with," Kaiba snorted. "What do you want from me?"
"I want my grandfather's Blue-Eyes back."
"For the last time, you brain-dead munchkin, I don't have your grandfather's Blue-Eyes." If she asked one more time, he was going to hang up in her face.
"Don't lie to me, Kaiba. Lying to me tends to go badly." She sighed, and changed tactics. "If you won't give me the card back, I'll just have to win it from you, then."
"Win it from me?" In spite of himself, Kaiba was intrigued, and sat forward a little in the brown leather chair. "You actually think you can win it from me?"
"Those are the rules of Duel Monsters, correct? Each player stakes a card on the match, and the winner keeps both?" she asked.
Kaiba had to laugh. "You actually think you can beat me, the national champion, in Duel Monsters? You're crazy."
"So I've been told," was the amused answer. "Do you play, Seto Kaiba? Or are you a coward?"
Kaiba's laughter stopped abruptly, as if a switch had been thrown. "You ought to know that I'm anything but."
"Prove it to me, hon. Let's play a game," Yami challenged in a velvet voice meant for breaking hearts, not starting fights. "You will let me in tonight, and we will play, and when I leave I will take back my grandfather's card--his heart."
"Why you arrogant little..." Kaiba snarled. "Fine. I'd love to trounce you in a game, Tiny Bubbles. Come to my mansion at midnight. I'll even leave the gate open for you, and tell the guards to let you in. Bring your cards and a box of Kleenex--you'll need it when I hand you a crushing defeat."
"We'll see who weeps, Kaiba. See you later." A click and a buzzing sound replaced the soft dark voice on the line.
Kaiba began compiling a strong deck out of cards from his briefcase. Well, well. Who'd have thought the bitch could bite? See you at midnight, Yami Motou...
**
The night guard on the Kaiba property was bored as hell. He didn't understand why the young millionaire needed such tight security. No one would dare to try and break into th--
"Good evening, sir," a voice trilled from the driveway, and the guard flung his dirty magazines away, startled. He saw a girl standing before the gate, which was open and swinging back and forth in the night breeze. She was dressed all in black, and her chocolate hair was soft against the dark of her clothes, even in the serious moonlight.
"How the hell did you get in here--?" the guard sputtered, getting to his feet.
"Seto Kaiba left the gate open for me," the girl said smoothly, stepping silently towards him on booted feet with two-inch heels. "He and I have an urgent meeting, and he is expecting me. He told me you would let me in to see him."
The guard remembered Mr. Kaiba's very specific instructions for tonight. "I have a visitor coming at midnight. You are to let her in and not ask any questions. Tell her I await her in the poolhouse."
It sounded shady to the guard, but orders were orders. "Mr. Kaiba is waiting for you in the poolhouse. Walk around the house to your left and you won't miss it."
"Thank you," the girl said, and started walking. Then, suddenly, as if struck by an idea, she turned around and smiled silkily at him. "You did not see me tonight."
The guard watched her walk around the house, and when she disappeared, he picked up his dirty magazines again, as if she had never been there. He blinked suddenly, hearing a creak. "How did the gate get open...?" Walking towards it, he locked it firmly. No one was getting in tonight--or out.
**
Kaiba was walking out towards the poolhouse. It was the most private place on the property--he didn't want to risk waking Mokuba, no matter how big the mansion was, and he didn't want any interference by the guards. The dark hid his smirk as he walked around the massive swimming pool and flicked on the lights--
--to find two chairs and a card table set up already, and someone perched on it.
"There you are," Yami purred, legs crossed, elbows propped on one knee, hands laced together. "I was beginning to think you would stand me up."
"How did you--?" Kaiba shook his head. "Never mind. Let's get this over with."
Yami chuckled and uncurled herself from her sitting position, hopping off the table. "What's your hurry, Kaiba? Didn't anyone ever tell you not to rush?"
She walked around the table, giving him a better view of her. She was wearing what looked like a black tube top, except that two thin straps stretched from the gathered front to tie around her neck. Three chains were clipped to the belt loops of her tight black jeans, stretching around one side of her waist and jingling as she walked. Golden bangles climbed her wrists, also clinking against each other. It was a good thing he'd told the guards she was coming--she'd never have sneaked past them in that getup. Her pyramid pendant was, as always, around her neck. Black boots completed the outfit, and her hair was a brilliant contrast of light and dark, falling just above her bare bronze shoulders.
Stalking around to the opposite side of the card table, Yami pressed both hands to its smooth surface and leaned towards Kaiba, giving him an excellent view of small but beautifully shaped breasts beneath the black tube top. Forcing his gaze to her face, he could see that she had three holes punched in each ear, hoop earrings marching up the lobes. The first hoops had tiny ankhs dangling from them; the others were plain. "Are you ready?"
Kaiba felt his smirk curl his lips. "Moreso than you. You have no idea what you're getting into, Hot Pants," he said. "I can't believe you challenged me to a game of Duel Monsters."
"It matters not what you believe," Yami said, taking a seat at her end of the table. "Here are the cards, and here you are, and I am ready to play."
"Then let's start." Kaiba sat across from her and shuffled his deck.
She waved a finger admonishingly at him. "Once again you rush. This game will be a bit different from what you've seen before, and I haven't explained the rules yet."
Kaiba gave her a withering look. "I think I would know the rules better than you. I'm going to be a whole hell of a lot harder to beat than Joey Wheeler."
"Have it your way," was Yami's answer as she shuffled her own deck. "You insist on learning everything the hard way."
"I like it the hard way," Kaiba answered, narrowing his blue eyes at her.
She smiled remotely. "Funny," she murmured. "So do I." Shaking whatever thought she had away, she placed her deck down. "Life points at 2000. Whoever reaches zero first loses. Each deck has forty cards. We will see who is the better sorcerer."
"You bet we will." Kaiba drew his hand and smirked at the first card. Five stars--the Ryu-Kishin Gargoyle! You're going down, Yami Motou!...
He laid the card face-up in front of him, displaying the statistics of the monster--attack 1000, defense 500. "For my first play, I summon the Ryu-Kishin Gargoyle!"
The table shook a little. Kaiba looked at Yami. "Stop that."
"Stop what?" And her bangles clicked as she held her hands up, displaying open, empty palms to him even as the table jumped again.
"That--" Kaiba began, but a wisp of smoke startled him. He looked down at his card, and suddenly the gargoyle rose from it in a wave of dawn-grey smoke, its wings unfolding as it came to life on the table!
Kaiba didn't even try to hide his surprise. "The card! The card came to life!" He looked at Yami, whose slanted red eyes were calm as silence as she drew a card. A smile curled her full lips.
"I told you this game was different," she warned again, displaying her card to him. "Now, it's my turn, and the card I choose to stand against your gargoyle's attack is this one! The Blackland Fire Dragon!" She placed the card face-up on her side of the table, and just as with the gargoyle, the dragon seemed to almost climb out of its picture, curls of smoke escaping its nostrils and a growl escaping its parted jaws. It flapped its wings once or twice as if it felt good to be free, then stared at Kaiba with obsidian eyes.
Yami stroked a hand down the dragon's small head. It and the gargoyle looked like large toys in front of the players. "Isn't he cuddly?" Yami purred. "And oh so loyal." She pointed across the table. "Now, my dragon! Use your flame breath and roast that gargoyle!"
The dragon obeyed, stretching flat on the table and opening its small but mighty jaws wide to breathe a cloud of fire at the Ryu-Kishin. Kaiba glanced at the card across from him. The dragon's attack points were 1500, more than enough to beat the gargoyle.
"Damn!" he hissed, then blinked. "The card that lost is disappearing!..."
It was true. The gargoyle was fading away in a puff of grey smoke that was drifting back into the card it had sprung from as the dragon turned its nose up and trumpeted a victory cry. The smoke cleared to reveal Yami's smiling face across the table, arms folded to cradle her breasts. "Those are the rules in the Shadow Game version of Duel Monsters," she explained. "The monsters from the cards become real...and a penalty game awaits whoever loses!"
**
Author's Note:
And so, on one not so very special day, the brilliant dance begins.
The Japanese version of "Macbeth" as I saw it was entitled, "The Cobweb Castle". Now there's two hours of my life I'll never get back. Is it right for a college professor to block the door so his students can't leave?
Yellowcard did indeed play Warped Tour this summer, along with just about every other band I love, but I unfortunately did not get to see any of them, because I ended up giving my ticket to a friend. No, I was not happy about the fact that I didn't get to go, but Yellowcard is one of my friend's favorite bands. She did get the lead singer to sign her arm. At least one of us was happy. *shrugs.* So, I did a good deed and got to experience the feeling of giving.
Feels a lot like an ulcer.
So the lyrics in that particular section of the chapter were pretty much just me licking my wounds. Or making Kaiba do it. *smiles.*
Next chapter: The first climax between Yami and Kaiba, only not the fun kind.