MilleniumGirl: I've decided to continue this one after all... I was going to stop writing because not a soul had reviewed, but SOMEONE did, so she is the star of this chappie! Thank you Nicole! And, I guess I have to do the disclaimer too... So, yeah, I don't own Yu-gi-oh, because if I did I wouldn't be wasting my time writing this when I could be getting the dubs translated faster Anyway, continuing!
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Last time on To Tutor, or Not to Tutor?:
"What's that?" Yami said, peering at the paper scrap. Tristan clutched it to his chest, sighing deeply, and said, " My presentation is based off this... It's one of my most prized possessions. Serenity gave it to me."
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Yugi nodded. "Let's start with this. Tristan, what do you think you're having the most trouble with?"
"Being apart from Serenity for so long."
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Yugi had officially assigned some new members to the tutoring crew, but his problems sure weren't getting solved any faster.
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Another day, another new adventure...
Yugi Moto sighed as he walked into class the next day. Quite frankly, he was tired of Tristan. Tristan was too obsessed with taking care of Serenity for his own good... it was really too bad. Tristan would have achieved academic goals beyond his wildest imagination... wait. What was he thinking? TRISTAN? ACADEMIC GOALS? Ugh, he must be more tired then he thought...
However, the new day harbored some surprises. Mrs. Grocher had been standing at the front of the classroom for several minutes before the students took notice of her.
"Class," she said hoarsely and then cleared her throat. "We have a new student today."
"Yay, I won't be the newbie anymore!" a kid in the back of the class shouted.
"Erm... continuing," Mrs. Grocher said. "I want you to show our new transfer student just how wonderful the student body at Domino High really is. Show her we are a united class, strong in our actions, dignified, intelligent..."
Yugi looked at Tristan.
"... responsible, and respectful. We always take others into consideration while we..."
Duke passed a picture of the new student falling asleep in the hall. Joey snickered.
"... a wonderful society of teenage children..."
Kaiba started reading a book.
"...family, privileged and persevering..."
Only Bakura was paying attention. (A/N/: That's Ryou; Yami B is Yakura in this story)
"...striving toward a common goal as Domino High School expects! Let's welcome the new student!"
The class looked up. The girl came in and gingerly made her way to the front of the room. Mrs. Grocher was smiling and revealing all her large yellow teeth at once.
"Thank you, dear, now tell the class your name!"
"Nikki," she said, gaining her confidence again. "I'm a transfer– you probably already know that."
Mrs. Grocher, still smiling, said, "Why don't you put your name on the board, Nikki?"
The students chose this moment, even after the teacher's speech, to be uncooperative. Show Nikki their true selves.
Yakura, whose feet were up on his desk, suddenly shouted out, "That's stupid. Don't do it, Nikki, we all heard your name twice already."
"Maybe some of us weren't paying attention," Mrs. Grocher said, adjusting her glasses.
"Maybe some of us think it's cliché, but you're right, Mrs. Grocher, some of us may still be asleep and not have heard her name," Kaiba said icily, lowering his book slightly.
"Asleep?" Mrs. Grocher peered at Kaiba through her glasses.
"Yes, asleep, as in the state of the subconscious mind," Kaiba said with a smirk.
"Yes yes Mr. Kaiba, I know what asleep means, so don't be cheeky!" she snapped. "You get detention for that!"
The entire class knew not to mess with Kaiba, but apparently Mrs. Grocher had missed out on that lesson. Nikki's eyes moved from face to face, and she slowly slid into a desk somewhat close to the shrewd teen with the icy eyes and the brown hair.
Kaiba put his book down and looked Mrs. Grocher squarely in the eye. "Detention?" he said cooly.
"Yes..." Mrs. Grocher faltered, for she was being stared down. "Erm, actually, forget that, why don't you and some others show Nikki around... and Tristan, go with Yugi for some practice."
Kaiba smiled and slid the book into his desk. A chance to get out of class was always welcome, and he had gotten out of the detention he had been assigned for 5 seconds. He walked out the door, and several others followed his example. Mrs. Grocher kept all the other kids, but Bakura, his yami, Duke, Joey, Tea, and Yami had slipped out to "show Nikki around." She followed too, of course, and Yugi and Tristan caught up with the group behind Kaiba.
"We're going to the library," Tea said cheerfully. "We can teach Tristan in there... Oh how rude of us, we didn't introduce ourselves to Nikki yet!"
"Wait until we get in the library," Kaiba said in a low voice, and they heeded him. Yugi shut the door behind them, and they took a seat at a table. Yugi had begun to politely introduce himself when Tea literally stepped over him to get to Nikki first.
"HI! My name is Tea Gardner, I am so happy you came to Domino; it's a great place, you'll love it! We could be very very very best friends! And, you can join a friendship circle! Look, Joey and Tristan and Yugi are already in it, Duke is sorta kinda, Kaiba wouldn't be if you paid him..."
"Hell no..." Kaiba muttered.
"... Ryou Bakura, Yami, Yami Bakura, yeah, they're all nice. So what'dya wanna be when you grow up? I'm going to be a dancer!!!!" she said, stopping for breath.
Nikki leaned back a little. "A teacher, probably. I think that would be a cool job! Well, you have to know a lot, and you have to handle people well, too, but..."
The rest of the group would have been delighted to hear what she had to say, but Tea wasn't done yet.
"...In New York, obviously, that's where the best of the best are, don't you think? Have you ever been to New York, I bet it's great, I was working at Burger World for a while so I could raise money for a trip there but I haven't been back there for a long time!" Tea laughed. "So, what were you saying?"
Nikki said, "Um, nothing important," in a voice to let Tea know she was being a little too friendly. Tea didn't take the hint, but Yugi interrupted her before Tea recapped any of her life's dreams again. Slowly but surely, they made their way around, and Nikki got to know them. She really found Kaiba interesting. He was calm and quiet, which she preferred right now, especially after having met Tea. Yami Bakura was a very colorful character, and Nikki made a mental note not to talk to him too much... This thought was strengthened when a teacher passing by the library door disappeared and Ryou Bakura hit Yakura on the shoulder and seethed "Bring her back! What have I told you about doing that in school?"
Then, Tea suddenly remembered about tutoring Tristan.
"Oh yeah, besides having that special friendship bond I was telling you about, we're all tutoring Tristan, so that's kinda like a friendship bond, too!"
"Wait... what?" Kaiba said.
"So Nikki, if you want to help us..."
Kaiba looked at Tea. "Me? FRIENDSHIP BOND?"
Yakura sighed. "Yay, me too, apparently. Oh well, at least it'll be funny watching the foolish monkey struggle." His hikari hit him again.
Kaiba looked horrified. "Friendship bond? YOU? ME?"
Nikki thought a "friendship bond" was a little overdoing it on the naming of a group of people helping a guy with his homework, but then again, this was Tea's name...
"Well... that would be..." Nikki started, but suddenly she realized the offer. "Wait, of course I'll help!" She smiled. Duh! She was going to be getting extra practice helping out and working with students, like a teacher! In the first few hours of going to a new school, she had been nicely acquainted with several kids, and become involved in an extra-curricular activity! If you could call it that... No, wait, it was more of a "friendship bond..." Nikki laughed to herself.
"All right!" Duke said happily. "Well, she's probably better then this at all of us except Yugi, so... got any ideas, Nikki?"
"Hmmm... First, Tristan, what are you struggling most with?"
"Uhhh, I dunno."
"Math? Science?" she said calmly.
"Everything, I guess," he sighed. "See, I can't focus very well. My mind is somewhere else."
"What is this "mind" you speak of?" Kaiba said in a bored voice. Yakura laughed, but was scowled at by his hikari.
Nikki smiled slightly and then said to Tristan, "Let's have a little contest thing. I just want to see how you compare to others."
"Sure, I love games," Tristan said, taking things out of his jacket and putting them on the table. "I just need to find my lucky..." he faltered off.
"Lucky penny?" Yugi suggested.
"Aw, nuts, my lucky ceramic wad is gone," Tristan said angrily. "I must have left it in my other jacket."
"Ceramic... wad?" Nikki said curiously.
"Yeah!" Tristan said. "Me and that ceramic wad I found, we're best when we work together."
"Yes, inseparable and alike, Tristan and his lucky friend. The ceramic wad being the smarter of the two, of course," Kaiba said with a small smile. Yakura laughed appreciatively again, and Joey broke out laughing, too.
"Good one, K..." he started to say, but then realized whom he was laughing with. He grumbled to himself and said, "Alrighty, Nikki, let's start this thing, and Tristan, you don' need dat ceramic thingy. You just use your brain power!"
Tristan nodded. "Brain power!"
Kaiba imagined small sparks flying out of his head.
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Next time on To Tutor or Not to Tutor: Let the championships begin! Can Nikki and the gang help Tristan before... (drumroll) The BIG TEST????
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MG: I'm a thinkin' this one's got one more chapter left in it.
Mokuba: Noooo! It can't die!
MG: Aw, but don't you want to see what happens to Ryou and Bakura in Death's Roses?
Mokuba: Heheheh, yeah, I do...
MG: Well, thanks again to Nicole (Nikki), who will be in the next chapter, along with anyone else who reviews and says they want to be in the story!