A/n: Hey, peeps! Ppl! I cannot explain how much your reviews amused me. maybe I Should change the title to kissing but missing, lol. But tea'll kill me. she'll be like, DIE authoress! Grsh! X-x and that wouldn't be cool. Seto kicking some yami a$$ would be, though…..mwa ha ha. But then yami'd be a bloody pulp. Too much fangirls, he has. - -;;;; they'll be MAD! X-x Well, anyway, enjoy my chap.

%%%%%Seto's POV %%%%%%

"Mokuba!!!" I hollered. "Pick up your toys!!!!!" My voice reverberated around the walls of my mansion, as I fixed the jacket of my suit.

Maids and servants scuttled around, to avoid me, and to make the final preparations on the house for the dinner I was supposed to have with the home economics teacher. Bothersome thing….. It had been a week gone by, already, since the disaster at the dance……and Gardener and I haven't spoken since….

I hope this stupid dinner goes by quickly, I thought. I have plans!

Actually, after graduation, I was going to whoop and holler and have a big celebration, with the guests (me) and the host (me). Internally, that is. An internal celebration. All by myself…

Bother. Well at least this'll only take some thirty minutes… that's good..

The doorbell chimed around the house in huge, clanking noises, and immediately I turned to my TV screen in my room, of the surveillance camera outside the front porch. I could see the teacher, Mrs. Li and--

Darn it! I thought---I forgot….

Tea was there as well.

Scowling fiercely, I turned away, still absently fixing my collar in the dark, dim room, mentally preparing myself. Okay. I'm just going to act stiffly polite and stuffy, pretending everything's just fine and dandy. Surely Tea would try to talk to me, but I had nothing to say. This was a final part of our project, and that was all. Really, I told myself, as I left my room and went to greet our 'guests.'

"Hello, Mrs. Li. Fine evening, isn't it?"

"Yes, it certainly is," she agreed, looking a little shocked and pleasantly surprised as I helped her off with her coat and let the butler take Tea's. We had had a mutual agreement made earlier. "Very nice service indeed," went on Mrs. Li, as I led her gallantly to the dinner, eager to get this over with.

The servants had decorated the dinning room hall beautifully, and I heard Mrs. Li gasp, impressed. It was nothing new to me, of course, though it saw in the corner of my eye Tea was looking a bit uneasy.

"Oh, who made the cornbread?" Mrs. Li chortled, clapping her hands as we sat down. "How did you two know it was my favorite?!" She took a bite. "Mm! Very good!"

I sat down at the furthest possible seat from Tea, which was directly across from her. Could I'd made her sit at one end of the table and me on the other, I would have. But I didn't want Mrs. Li to think something was going on between us.

Not that there is……

"I did, Mrs. Li," said Tea in answer to her earlier question about the cornbread. "But Kaiba helped…." She darted her gaze at me, then looked away when I didn't acknowledge it.

"Mm, very good," mumbled Mrs. Li through a full mouth, eating away. "Go on, you two! Help yourselves!"

"I've already eaten," I lied, waving away a servant with a tray full of food. The truth was, I wasn't the least bit hungry.

"Me too," Tea chimed in, flicking a glance at me.

I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Well, okay, more for me!" laughed the teacher, as if she didn't care. But I could tell she was noticing some tension between us by the shrewd glint in her eyes. Very perceptive….right. "Anyway," went on the teacher, wiping her fingertips, "about this project. I can see that you two have done a very great job, working together." I hid an eye roll at the words, 'working together.' . "I saw that, Mr. Kaiba," said Mrs. Li with a slight smirk, shaking her finger at me.

"Saw what?" I said irritably. I mean, really, even I have my limits.

"That eye roll. Now, answer me this: I bet you thought that you'd never get through this with Mrs. Gardener as your partner, eh?"

"No, that's not what I thought," I snapped.

"Oh, so you did think that you would?" the teacher said, all sly. I could feel both their gazes on me.

I tipped my head back slightly and slitted my eyes so they would know who was in control here. "I had not one doubt that I could ace this subject. After all, I get straight A's in everything. Much harder than home economics, even!" I finished with a mock gasp.

Mrs. Li paused, and looked down for a second, her gray hair like a cotton ball in the chandelier's candlelight. "So you don't believe home economics is important, Mr. Kaiba?" she said smoothly.

"I didn't say that." I muttered.

"Isn't it what you think?"

"Does it matter?" I snapped.

"No….." she let the word trail off airily. "But anyway, let's get back to the project…."

Finally……this time I didn't say it aloud. I knew my grade was on thin ice.

"Now, Ms. Gardener, what did you think of Mr. kaiba as a father?" The teacher inquired, turning to her right, referring to when we had the 'twins'.

Promptly Tea began to choke on her sip of water. Yes, again. I rolled my eyes again and made a big show of exasperation, but inside….

What? Do you really want to know her answer? You already know it.

"Um, I uh," she said when Mrs. Li was patting her back, "think….he was…..a very good…..father….."

Could she be any more reluctant-sounding? I glared at her,.
"And you, Mr. Kaiba? What did you think of her?" Mrs. Li turned back to me, casually helping herself to some more pie. "By the way, doesn't Ms. Gardener look charming tonight?"

I gritted my teeth. Then, I shot a glance at her in indulgence. "Yes……." I finally muttered.

" ' Yes what?' " prompted the teacher, while Tea shifted uncomfortably.

"Yes she does! Is this really necessary?" I suddenly exploded.

Mrs. Li didn't bat an eye at my exclamation. "Actually, yes, it is."

Yeah right.

"It helps me to see how two enemies---"

Still enemies.

"--that are forced to work together---"

'Forced' being the key word!

"---end up achieving something great---"

Yes, until her nosy ex-boyfriend wants her back! So obvious……

"---and I think that's extraordinary." Mrs. Li finished, lacing her fingers together, looking first at my scowling face, then at Tea's uneasiness. There was a short silence where neither of us moved. Then, Mrs. Li spoke. "Of course, maybe I was wrong….."

We both looked up at her in surprise.

Mrs. Li admit she was wrong? She's as self righteous as Yami is! I couldn't help thinking. Maybe that's why I can't stand her…..

Mrs. Li gave a secret, hidden smile, then continued to sample each of the foods as dinner went on. Thankfully. I was in no hurry to prolong this wretched event any longer…….As Mrs. Li prattled on, I stole a glance at Tea, who kept stealing glances at me, and every once in a while our eyes would meet, and we'd both look away. Finally, I kept my gaze on something to distract me, at least until this dinner was over.

Finally it was over.

Finally!

As we were getting up, I played my gentlemanly role with Mrs. Li, leaving Tea to fend for herself. If you ask me if it was on purspose, I couldn't really say……then again, I never do a thing unintentionally….so…..

"Thank you Mr. Kaiba,, for a lovely dinner," Mrs Li shook my hand, and I clicked on my smile of sincerity. She bent forward and whispered, "You passed," then waved and went off on her car.

I sighed in relief. Math examination weren't bothersome to me. Physics were easy. But the hardest subject of all was:

HOME ECONOMICS. UGH!

As I turned towards my house, I felt a familiar touch on my arm. I wasn't really that surprised. As I've said before......

"What. Do. You . want." I said shortly, my false smile fading down at Tea.

"I'm glad." She said simply.

I blinked, not knowing what she was talking about. Then I realized. "…..Oh, you should be happy…." I said sarcastically, turning to her and breathing fire. "It's your grade as well!" I was referring to the fast she had practically called me a bad father earlier.

She flinched, knowing what it was. Sometimes we could read each other's intentions so clearly, and that was the main reason we couldn't stand one another. If you would know another person works, you'd get irritated with them pretty fast…..

"Wait," she said when I pulled back.

"What? Your little boyfriend's waiting for you, I'm suuure. And I emphasize on the 'little' aspect. " I said with a sneer.

I saw the angry glint that crossed her eyes. Predictable. "It's not what you think! Why must you be so.....difficult?"

"Whatever." With that, I turned away and she didn't stop me. I went into the house and slammed the door, so that it shivered on its hinges and then leaned against it, sticking my hands deep into my trouser pockets and looking to the right, at some old toys Mokuba still didn't pick up.

I don't still have feelings for her……did I? Feelings could be eradicated. Erased, like they've never been there, in the first place. It was easy. All I had to do was----

I closed my eyes and squeezed them shut for an instant, feeling a headache starting to press on my temples. I was mentally pushing out all the times we'd shared, and the fact that although at first my intentions weren't holy and chivalrous by a long shot, there was something about holding one's life in your hands and saving them from their doom. The feeling of a hero…… Yeah, right. It seemed pretty ironic to me, since I was the one who had destroyed millions of people's lives before, without even blinking, drove them to suicide, and worse……

Maybe that was why I couldn't talk to her…….Taking a deep breath, I held it for a while, then softly let it out. She deserves someone else…….right. It was the least right I could do by her. She had fallen in love with me only because I had saved her life…..

"Kaiba? Are you still there?" came this meek, clear voice from the other side of the door. I had been leaning on it and my eyes shot open wider, as it since intruppted my mental spiel.

"No…." My voice came out a mumble, then a mutter. "Go away." When there was no sound of running feet, I threatened, "Or I'll let loose the attack dogs!"

"Liar……" I heard a step. "You don't like dogs….." Which was true…….With a sigh, I opened the door and glared down at her upturned face staring warily up at me.

"What. And make it snappy."

"Yami …..is not my boyfriend." She said immediately, trying to see what I thought of that. "We're just friends."

Well. That WAS snappy….. "……good for you." I said noncommittally. She seemed slightly disappointed by my reaction, and turned away sadly.

"Well…..I……just thought you should know." She said at last. I watched her carefully make her way down the driveway, observing the way she lifted the hem of her skirt so not to get it dirty by the mud and the lawn, her figure getting smaller and smaller in the distance, then turning at the curb to look back. By then I was thinking, Don't look back…….don't look back……and then she did.

Never did do what I say……I stepped back, looking down, and when the door closed with a final creak, I made a mental note to fix…..

TBC!

A/N: yay ,tea finally got over her crush! On yami, that is. Whoo! I always did like yugi-kun betta….(glomps) . Well looks like they don't hate each other at least…..yay! I just LOVE it when enemies fall in love! SO romantic......sigh.......(glomps them both) boo hoo, this fics almost done….;.;….i think. It depends….on the reviews…..so hop to it! R&R