At school, it was a general rule between the friends that they wouldn't talk about matters that the other children shouldn't be involved in. This was a rule not unlike the one that said students weren't allowed to show Public Displays of Affection in school, in other words one that always got broken. Consequently, they sat around at lunch talking about the recent events. It had been three days since the first attack, and Ryou especially was getting worried.
"Knock off the worry-wart routine Bakura, maybe she's just not gonna do anything," Tristan said hopefully.
"Not likely knuckle-head. She's probably only getting stronger." Duke stood with his arms crossed, pessimistic as usual.
Out of pretty much nowhere, Kaiba came walking over to them, distaste showing on his face.
"Wheeler, for some reason unfathomable to the human mind, Sensei gave me back your test instead of mine." A piece of paper fluttered down on Joey's head. "I can't imagine why. A 17% hardly sounds like me."
"Yeah, we sorta thought that . . . we didn't think Joey got this." Duke grabbed Kaiba's test paper off Joey's desk, a test that got 110% and had a smiley face sticker next to the score.
"YE-HA! 17% that's like a record!"
". . ."
"Kaiba, why do you have to be so mean! You could have just given Joey back his test quietly!" Tea was indignant at such a display of hostility.
"oh, but where's the fun in that?"
"Tea's right, why are you always so mean to us Kaiba? We just want to be your friends!"
"Yugi, get it through your head. I don't like you. I've never liked you. I hate having to waste my breath talking to you. I'm going to leave now." And with that, Kaiba left.
"Geez, Kaiba's such a jerk."
"You'd think he owes us one for saving his brother all those times, but no. Still just arrogant and self-sufficient." Duke glared in Kaiba's direction.
"Yeah, really. Mokuba means everything to him, you'd think we'd get a little thanks. But no, for Kaiba it's always 'me this and me that' nothing for anyone else."
A ladybug crawling around the window suddenly took off and flew away. It flew into an alley and became an orange tabby cat. It strode back off to the penthouse, thinking that this was all too easy.

***

As a sparrow, Fukamito flew back into Korimo's home through the open window. He got to the middle room to find Korimo going over the footage he'd gotten at the school.
"Good job Fukamito, he's perfect." She froze the screen on Kaiba. "His weakness is his little brother, and he's already against Yugi. I also assume that he's been involved with them before, making him just the right guy for the job."
"What will you have me do now, milady?"
"Find this brother of his, and become whatever you need to in order to lure him here. Make sure he gets to the back of the building, and I'll take care of it from there." Korimo grinned. Fukamito bowed his sparrow head, and went in search of Mokuba.

***

"Seto, I'm home," Mokuba entered his house after getting home from elementary school. "oh wait, that's right. Seto has Kendo practice today." Mokuba put down his books and changed out of his school uniform, into jeans and a t-shirt.
The boy went back downstairs and sat to do his homework, when he heard a pathetic mewing at his backdoor. Mokuba got up and found a tiny white kitten staring up at him from the porch.
"Oh, you poor little thing!" Mokuba bent down to the kitten's level. "Are you lost?" He reached out to try and pet it, but the kitten scampered away timidly. It went a few feet and looked back, almost like it wanted Mokuba to follow it. The boy complied. "It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you," Mokuba said calmly. Every time the boy tried to get closer, the kitten moved farther away. Mokuba didn't even notice when he was led into the city, and tricked into going behind the tallest building in Domino.
"What's the matter little guy? I'm not gonna hurt you," Mokuba repeated.
"No, but I'm going to hurt you!" the kitten transformed before the little boy's eyes into a tiger, and leapt at him. Mokuba screamed and the tiger knocked him unconscious with one blow of his huge paw.
Korimo stepped out of the shadows. "Really Fukamito, I think you took this a little too far. I believe I told you to leave the rest to me."
"Sorry Milady, I was out of line."
"Yes you were." Korimo ignored Fukamito's bows and picked up the little boy gently. She gave Fukamito a rolled-up paper. "Deliver this to Seto Kaiba and meet me at the old warehouse downtown. We've got a lot of work to do."

***

Fukamito entered the Kaiba mansion through the open backdoor. He stumbled around as a bird, with the message in his beak until he found Mokuba's undone homework. He put the message down at the same moment he heard Kaiba's key click in the door. He became a fly and waited on the ceiling.
"Mokuba?" Kaiba walked into the room, worried that his brother hadn't come to meet him like he usually did. He saw Mokuba's books all spread out, and his sneakers tossed carelessly to the floor. Even before he found the note, Seto knew something was very, very wrong.
"Seto Kaiba," he read, "I have your brother and I'm not especially kind to children . . . tell me what I want to know and he'll go free . . . come to the warehouse on 13th street at 9 o'clock tonight, or else . . ." Kaiba slammed the note on the table. "do none of the petty criminals in this whole world have ANY imagination?!" Kaiba asked through gritted teeth. Fukamito flew out the window, and to the meeting place. There was work to be done.

***

At 9 o'clock sharp, Kaiba stormed into the warehouse.
"before anyone says anything, I KNOW this is an obvious trap and I HATE the fact that I was lured into it!"
Korimo's laugh echoed through the huge room. "Don't worry, Seto Kaiba. I thought you were too smart to be caught in something too simple."
Kaiba looked around angrily. "who are you and what did you do to my brother!?"
Korimo stepped lightly out of the shadows. "You don't need to know my name. As for your little brother, he's just fine." Korimo snapped her fingers, and the tiger came out of the shadows, with Mokuba in his mouth. The little boy was unconscious, and there were beads of sweat on his forehead. "I hope you excuse his appearance, my servant had to put a little spell on him to keep him from escaping. He'll be fine in a few hours." The tiger placed the little boy gently on the floor.
Kaiba gritted his teeth, but managed to calm himself down. Much as he hated to admit it, this girl had the advantage, and he knew he shouldn't try anything that would get his brother hurt. As soon as he calmed down, he realized that there were a lot more things he wanted to know about this girl before he gave her whatever it was she wanted.
"You seem to have thought this through quite well, but I'm curious. How did you know to capture my brother? What if I hadn't come? What if I hated him and didn't care at all?"
Korimo smirked. She loved dealing with intelligent people. "I know everything about you, Kaiba-san.
"Seto Kaiba, not your given name. You were adopted at age 12 by Gozoboro Kaiba after defeating him, the world chess champion at the time in a match. You always have the top scores in your school, you're the editor of the school paper so that no one can print something about you behind your back, and you're the best player on the Kendo team, but not the captain, as that would force you to work with others instead of against them. You're also rather good-looking, making you a girl magnet, but you're a terrible heart-breaker because you don't care about others at all. The only person you'd care to rescue is your little brother here, and as such, I have taken him hostage. I knew that I could not count on a person like you to help me with nothing in return. Now tell me what I want to know, and you may forget this exchange ever happened."
Kaiba stood almost in shock as he listened to this girl tell him nearly everything about himself. He composed himself and asked again. "But . . . how do you know all this?"
"What does it matter?" Korimo enjoyed the chance to psyche her opponent out, but she was getting impatient. "Let's just say I've done my homework, shall we? It won't change anything. Just give me the information I need, and you'll both go free."
Kaiba stood silently for a minute, thinking the situation over.
"What do you need?"
Korimo smirked again. "I need the downfall of Yugi Moto and his friends, and I want you to tell me what will bring them down."
"This isn't about those damn Millennium Items again, is it? Because if it is-"
"Seto, I can assure you it isn't. I just want a challenge."
"Hm, I'd still tell you that Yugi is pretty much unbeatable. I've tried."
"Perfect. I've beaten everyone in this world who taught me anything, I've surpassed everyone. I want this chance to prove that I'm stronger than anyone else."
In spite of himself, Kaiba allowed a smile to break out of the corners of his mouth. "Where were you when I had your goal? We could have been a perfect team."
Korimo's smirk hardened instantly, and she narrowed her eyes. The tiger placed a paw lightly on Mokuba's chest, ready to step down harder at the word from his master. "Seto, we're getting dangerously off-track. I will find Yugi's weakness with or without you, but only one of those ways will result in you getting your brother back."
"Those kids together may have no weakness. I've seen what they can do."
Korimo sat thoughtfully on top of a cardboard box. "Alright, then individually. Tell me about them. What are they like? You seem to know them quite well."
Kaiba gave up stalling, and decided to give Korimo what she wanted. After all, Mokuba would be safe and if he helped lead Yugi to his demise, even better.
"Yugi . . . He's the most important one, I guess. He doesn't deserve to be. He may be 15, but he acts like a little kid. He trusts everyone until he has a reason to distrust them, and once he distrusts someone, they'll never get back on his good side. I, unfortunately, haven't gotten there yet." Korimo cleared her throat, and Kaiba kept talking about Yugi. "I don't know how he manages to get through everything he does; he's so naïve, he'll leap without looking if he thought someone needed him."
"Very good," Korimo interrupted. "Now move on. Who else?"
"There's that little mutt Joey Wheeler. He's brave, but reckless. And not to bright. He's got a little sister, too. I've been around while he plays Duel Monsters, and he says she's his inspiration."
"How touching." Korimo replied dryly. "I think I know enough. Now move on."
"The girl in their group is Tea Gardner," continued Kaiba, who was beginning to realize what Korimo wanted. "She's a real bleeding-heart; she'd do pretty much anything if one of her friends was in danger. But she's smart too, and might not be the type to risk her life for someone else's." Korimo nodded.
"Tristan Taylor is Joey's little friend. He's headstrong and stupid, and girl-crazy to boot. He chases pretty much anything that moves, but he's really after Joey's sister."
"My, my, what a tangled web we weave," Korimo chuckled. "Now who else should I worry about? I saw six in their group."
"The other two are more recent additions. Ryou Bakura is the one with white hair. He seems like a little wimp, but he's one of the smartest of them. He thinks things through, but for some reason he never seems to score even near me on the tests. He's bright, but not too bright, and he's weak of body."
"Most elegantly stated, Seto. Then who is the one with black hair?"
"That would be Duke Devlin. He's smart too, but rather pessimistic. He doesn't get along with them too well, since he ALSO likes Joey's little sister. Honestly, I can't believe anything that bad happened outside soap operas, but apparently it did. But he doesn't seem as serious about her. He's got a fanclub of idiot girls who follow him everywhere, and it's well- known that he loves it."
"Very nice Seto, you may stop there. Now take your brother and leave." Kaiba ran forward and picked up his little brother while the tiger sat watchfully. Kaiba said nothing, and he walked to the exit.
"Oh, and Seto," He said nothing, but turned around. Korimo had her eyes closed, and when she opened them, a wave of purple light flew to his and Mokuba's eyes. "You will wake up in the morning, and none of this will have ever happened." Kaiba brushed off the warning, and left the warehouse, simply relieved that nothing had happened to Mokuba, other than that he was asleep.

*****