Kaiba didn't know why he was walking back into the accursed mall, but for some reason he felt that this was more enthralling than working on improving that artificial intelligence program. Maybe it was time for a break, in all the years he had been CEO of Kaiba Corp. his only time he left to himself was to duel in the tournaments and the World Championship duels.
But now he was talking with this girl, whom he once saw as an enemy. It was odd really, she always tried to get him into the "friendship" thing, and now she seemed to have succeeded. He wasn't even putting up a fight! At the very least he wouldn't allow himself to sink low enough to join their group of friends.
As they turned into the card shop, the very wrong person just happened to be exiting with a merry fistful of rare cards. When Yugi saw Tea and Kaiba together, he nearly dropped his cards. He was late!
" No, I'm too late! No, I may still have time." Yugi thought to himself before addressing them, " Tea, I didn't know you and Kaiba…" He put on a fake stutter, the statement was to test the waters, he had to see if they were really together.
Tea and Kaiba replied at exactly the same time, " No!"
This was good for Yugi, now he knew there was still time to get in between them, " Well, Kaiba, what are you doing here? I didn't think you went to malls."
" I don't, I'm just looking for someone." Kaiba responded with a hint of hate in his tone.
Yugi was used to Kaiba's tone, so it rolled right off of him, " Who are you looking for?"
" Some girl…" Tea started in a fanciful tone, "She invited him here for a date." She continued, mocking Kaiba.
Now Kaiba could take her little ribbing alone or amongst a crowd who did not pay much attention to them, but in front of Yugi, that was just too much. He wouldn't, and couldn't respond to that like he had been thus far today. As much as it would surprise her, he had a reputation to hold up.
" Some woman wanted to talk to me concerning the future of Kaiba Corp., I should have known it was just a hoax. I'm leaving now, goodbye." He said, and with a flap of his now trademark white trench coat he disappeared into the mall.
Tea almost felt like going after him, but she couldn't with Yugi watching. With any of her friends around, she just didn't feel like she could be at peace with him like she had been just a moment earlier. She really couldn't explain it, but she figured it might have been something about the way they all collectively felt about Kaiba. After all, he had insulted and humiliated Joey on two separate occasions, and was such a stubborn jerk about anything that normal people understood to be friendship. But she still couldn't believe how well she got along with him without Joey, Tristian and especially Yugi around. Maybe…It had something to do with how Kaiba felt about them?
Yugi bent over to pick up his cards that he just realized he had dropped. He was glad there was no real damage to them, since they were all very good cards, and would pick up the game of any competent duelist. Tea helped him pick up the last card, and they mentally agreed to go to the food court. It was like that with them, they had been friends for so long, and had been through so much; that they could think almost in unison.
Once they had gotten their food, Yugi started to talk, " Hey Tea, what was Kaiba doing here?"
" Like I said Yugi, he was meeting some girl. I don't really know who, or why, but I know it must have been something big to make Kaiba come to the mall. A place I'm pretty sure he has no love for." Tea responded, taking a mouthful of Raman.
" Well whatever it is, I'm sure he'll want no help from us, so don't worry about it." Yugi said, wording it just so that he gave the impression that Kaiba didn't like her.
It wasn't false either, so it wasn't very dirty at all. If he were to win Tea's heart, he would have to defame Kaiba in anyway possible, and boost his own image. Something that he had to be very careful of, if he made one wrong move, he could very well lose her forever. He would not let that happen, he loved Tea too much than to lose her to Kaiba, where her past self was so miserable.
Ishizu watched from across the food court, it was an ill omen indeed. While Yugi was around, there was no hope for Tea and Kaiba, and if she were Yugi, she would stay as close to Tea as she could to block Kaiba. It was going to be quite the war, and Ishizu was sure that if she lost, Tea would suffer. She may not have known it for absolute certain, but she believed in destiny, and her ancestor Fate.
Kaiba on the other hand was in his limousine, swearing that he would stay in his house over the weekend to work on Kaiba Land. He promised his brother and himself, and he wasn't going to disappoint. He put dueling on hold, and he would put wild goose chases and confused feelings on hold too if necessary. He couldn't afford anymore distractions, and Tea was on the top of the distraction list.
Author's Note: It doesn't look good for destiny. With Kaiba locking himself at home, and with Yugi most definitely planning on moving in during that time, what can possibly happen to make the most unlikely couple work?