YUGIOH

Blast in the Past

Chapter 9.

Tristan coughed, "Speak of the devil...."

"Hey, terrors!" The woman called out. The voice was familiar to Kaiba, and he turned just as his girlfriend grabbed him, giving him a nice big frenchie on the lips.

Tristan non-challantly looked away, as Joey also turned, kicking a rock, mumbling, "Why can't I find a girlfriend with a body like hers?"

This was the second time today Kaiba's face flushed, though for a different reason, as he found trouble pulling away from the embrace. In his world, he had some trouble finding even time for a relationship, and had actually never been kissed before....this was his first. She finally pulled away, and gave him a wink, saying, "So how's it going?"

It was Mai! She was the girl who normally hung out with Yugi's group....atleast in his world. In that world, Kaiba actually never had the chance to really know her. She was a complete stranger to him. He knew she was good enough in Duel Monsters though, to make it to the semi-finals of Battle City. Atleast the girl he dated in this world wasn't some loser like Tea or....frightening to even think, Wheeler's sister!

"Hey, what's wrong?" Mai asked, nudging Kaiba a bit, "My kiss left ya that speechless today, huh?" She teased. Kaiba wasn't really sure what to say to her. She was a girlfriend....how were you even supposed to act around them??

Saving Kaiba the embarrassment of still being speechless without realizing it, Joey jumped in - still pouting, as he said, "Seto attacked us today, Mai!"

"Yeah, he went after us for picking on that Yugi kid." Tristan also whined.

"Well, then I'm glad to hear it. You guys should be ashamed of yourselves in the first place picking on some poor kid!" Mai said. She turned back to Kaiba, saying, "It's about time you started to get your act together. So, did you get the tickets, yet?"

"Tickets?" Kaiba asked.

"You know....tickets for the concert coming this weekend? I would really like to go to it." Mai said, crossing her arms, annoyed.

"Don't worry 'bout that, Mai....we're all going." Joey said.

"Yeah, we were going to steal something today to pay for it." Tristan said.

Joey rolled his eyes, smacking Tristan, saying, "Will you shut up!"

"What??" Tristan asked.

Mai sighed, and looked at Kaiba, saying, "You're not pulling that again, are you? You guys are gonna get caught, and I'm NOT going to date someone who's rotting in jail!"

"Listen, I don't know what these clowns are talking about....we're not stealing anything!" Kaiba snapped.

"Sure you're not. I'll seeya later, Seto...." Mai said, lightly brushing his face with her hand, as she turned around and headed away.

Kaiba unconsciously rubbed the side of his face Mai touched, but his anger was quickly growing as she walked away, thinking about what had been said. What pissed him off the most was that even in his life, there was a time he actually 'had' stooped to this level before....back before Yugi shattered his heart, and changed him from the monster he once was, the monster that created Death T, and the monster who used to use his security to bully kids on the street and steal their rare cards for him. Even now, was he really no better than that? Could he ever escape the darkness in his heart, even in a world with his parents still alive? That thought disgusted him to no end. He grabbed Joey, saying, "What the hell are you talking about stealing something??"

"Hey, what are you grabbing me for?? Tristan's the stupid one that told yer girlfriend about it, not me!" Joey said defensively.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, Seto....I wasn't thinking, it just slipped out!" Tristan said.

"We're not stealing anything, you got that??" Kaiba snapped at them both, and shoved Joey away from him.

"Yeah, yeah, it wont be mentioned again." Joey said. Then straightening his clothes, he winked, "So what time....you know, do you wanna....'hang out'??"

'This moron thinks I'm still going through with stealing something....how stupid can he be??' He thought. Kaiba sighed, crossing his arms, and said, "I'll try and say this one more time, very slowly for you, just so someone with your intelligence can understand this....we. are. NOT. stealing. anything! This is not a cover-up, this is not some kind of 'code'....it's not happening!"

"What are you talking about?" Joey asked. "You know we gotta do this! This was your idea, after all. And if we don't, we don't go to the concert. And if you don't pay for Mai, she's gonna be pissed with you, and you know it!"

"There are 'other' ways to earn money than to steal it, Wheeler." Kaiba mentioned. He had hoped it wasn't his own idea, but had a feeling it probably was. After all, no matter what world he was in, could he ever listen to anyone or anything but himself? He was always his own person, no matter what.

"Not in the short time we have, there aint!" Joey said. "What are you thinking we should do, go get a job? We wouldn't even get our first paycheck until the week after, and then it's too late. Besides, I just can't imagine the great Seto Rykuma working at a burger joint." He laughed, as well as Tristan.

'Neither can I.' Kaiba thought to himself. "Well I'm not lowering myself to stealing. We're going to have to figure out a another way to make the money for the tickets."

"Well, that's great. We were supposed to work together on this, then split the profits three ways. Now if you're backing out, we're left out in the cold. How are we supposed to get it??" Joey asked.

"Well....you can always ask your Mommy." Kaiba teased.

"For one thing, I dunno where my Mom is....she's been divorced for years. And I can't exactly ask my old man for the cash. 'Hey Dad, can you spare some of your beer money so I can buy some tickets??' Yeah, that would work out real well! A couple black-eyes later...." Joey mumbled.

"Maybe I could ask them....for me, anyway." Tristan said.

"Great...." Joey said, finding a can nearby to kick.

Kaiba didn't know anything about Joey's family life, and after hearing what Joey had to say about it, he really didn't want to know, either. He actually felt slightly responsible too, for supposedly being the one that made this plan on stealing, in the first place.

"You know Kaiba, just cause Mai said something about you shouldn't be stealing, doesn't mean you gotta listen to her. I mean come on, what are you pussy whipped or something??" Joey asked, jokingly.

"Pussy whipped...." Tristan laughed.

Kaiba grabbed Joey's collar again, saying, "It's not 'her', you moron! I could careless what she thinks. This decision is mine alone....I'm not stealing." He threw Joey off again, saying, "I'll see if I can come up with something." Kaiba then left, heading to pick up Mokuba, then go home.