NOTE: Okay guys, this chapter is mainly meant for humor and to sort of see how life was around the Kaiba household with their new cook/ (in Mokuba and Noa's cases) friend. So, with that said, laugh and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Yawn Recently got outta bed…to tired to write right and yawnmake a catchy disclaimer. So, with that said, I say plainly, "I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Chapter 7: Life's a Laugh and a Love

August

Tea woke up one Saturday morning. She looked at the clock. It was seven fifteen. If all went accordingly, and weekly, Seto would be up in forty-five minutes, thanks to his loving little brothers. So, she went down the hall to the bathroom to take a shower. She came out half and hour later, after having readied herself fully. She then went back to her room and made her bed.

Then, she waited for about ten minutes. Eight o' clock rolled around the corner. Nothing happened. It was strange. Usually, Mokuba and Noa had by now woken Seto up…. She decided to look into the matter.

Tea walked out of her room and down to Noa's bedroom. The door was ajar, and she could hear them talking.

"Should we do this one, again?" Mokuba asked.

"No, we did that one recently…how about this one?" Noa pointed out.

"No, I don't feel like doing that one. Geez, there's nothing to pull on him today! I guess we're just going to have to let him sleep…." Mokuba pouted.

Tea opened the door further, "Hey guys." The two looked up suddenly and hid the book behind their backs.

"Hey Tea! Why are you up now? We haven't pulled anything…yet," Noa inquired.

"Ah, I just woke up, that's all. But, I was wondering why you guys weren't the cause."

"Well, to tell you the truth…we ran out of things to pull," Mokuba confessed.

"Ran out of pranks? You two? The masterminds of wake-up calls and pranks? Wow! I never thought I'd live to see the day," and with that, she left. Except, she went back to her room.


A couple minutes later, something landed in the middle of Noa's bed. Both of the boys jumped slightly and looked down to see what it was.

Tea popped her head in the door, "It's a spare…use it well." Then, she went down to the kitchen. Tea found the Cheerios cereal box, a bowl, a spoon and some milk. After reading the cereal, she sat down to eat.

But, she didn't eat quite yet, "Three…two…one…." A loud horn blast rang through the air. She laughed when she heard Seto yell after being woken up.

"GARDNER! WHERE ARE YOU!"

"In the kitchen!" she shouted back, still laughing. She couldn't help it. It was too funny. She heard Seto pound down the stairs, and his brothers shouting out his name for some reason. One set of footsteps followed him. She didn't know where the other brother was. Tea's back was turned to the entrance of the kitchen, but she heard Seto walk in onto the linoleum floor.

"GARDNER! I KNOW YOU HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS!" Seto shouted.

"Geez, no need to shout, I'm right here," Tea said, turning around to face him. On seeing him, she stopped, and turned back around quickly, "And…you assumption was correct…I did have something to do with it." Tea put her elbow up on the counter and held her head, stabling it by holding the bridge of her nose.

"Gardner, you will turn around and face me this instant and tell me why you intended to help those two!" Seto commanded.

"I'd rather not face you…but I will tell you why…." Tea was cut off.

"Why won't you face me?" Seto demanded. Actually, Tea would rather not tell.

Tea heard Mokuba come up, "Seto."

"Not now Mokuba."

"But Seto…."

"Not right now, Mokuba. Can't you see I'm a little busy?"

"But…."

"Mokuba, be quiet!"

"…"

"Now Gardner, answer me." Aw man, she just couldn't bring herself to tell him why she couldn't face him. It'd actually be kind of embarrassing for her…and eventually him too. Apparently, Seto had decided last night to only sleep in his boxers….

"GARDNER!"

"SETO!" Mokuba finally shouted.

"WHAT!" Seto turned to face his little brother.

"Um, you might want to put these on first," Mokuba held of one of Seto's pairs of pants. Seto looked at him strangely for a second. Then, he glanced down and saw why. Seto snatched the pants and walked up the stairs, squeezing the life out of the poor pants.

"Sorry you had to see that," Noa came up next to Tea.

"It's alright," Tea said. The two looked at her, surprised. Then, she continued, "My mind's only been scarred for life." The two burst into laughter. Tea shared a giggle. Walking up the stairs, Seto had heard the comment as well. He couldn't help but to crack a small smile.


One week later (Sunday, though)

Tea ran out of her room and ran down the hall to the bathroom, carrying her clothes. She had to hurry up taking her shower, or she'd be late making breakfast. She reached the door, and turned the handle. She had only opened the door slightly when she yelped and closed it again. There was an equal yelp inside.

Tea fell back against the wall and slid down. Great…first, (last week) she'd seen Seto in boxers…now a towel….

"GARDNER, WOULD IT KILL YOU TO KNOCK?"

"You could learn to lock a door, you know! What are you even doing in this bathroom? Don't you have your own in your room?" Tea inquired, putting her head in her hand, trying to etch away the sight.

Seto wiped some toothpaste spit off the mirror (having spit it out there when he yelped), "The shower's busted."

"Well, learn to lock a door, at least…would that kill you?" Tea retorted.

"That's…broken too," Seto replied.

"You're rich! Get them fixed!"

"I only found out today!"

"Ugh…well, hurry up then, if you want your breakfast on time!" Tea stated.

"There are other showers, you know," Seto said back.

"Name one that isn't being used, or is broken," Tea smirked to herself. She had him now.

"Um…." He couldn't think of one. Mokuba and Noa had their own showers, but they were probably using them now. His was broken, and this was the only other bathroom in the house that had a shower. "There aren't any."

"Bingo," Tea replied. So, she waited, sitting there. Once, she got up, went to her room, and returned with a sheet of paper. Otherwise, she waited, pretty much twiddling her thumbs.

Finally, Seto came out, "There, happy?"

Tea stood up, "Geez, how long does it take you?" She began walking inside.

"I'd like to see how long you take," Seto retorted.

Tea closed the door and was about to lock it, when she remembered it was broken, muttering, "Men take so long with everything."

"What was that?" Seto asked from outside the door, "I heard something about men."

"Nothing…" then Tea remembered her sheet of paper. She opened the door again, stepped out and stuck the paper to the door. "Sometimes I wonder if common sense is anywhere in that miraculous brain of yours." She walked back inside and closed the door. Seto looked at the paper:

KNOCK FIRST!

Seto sighed. She had a point. Wait though…had she just complimented him? "Miraculous brain of yours…." Interesting…. He pressed a button on his watch.


Tea came out half an hour later. She took down the sign and suddenly, almost walked headlong into Seto.

"By the looks of it, you take just as long as I do," he commented.

Tea looked at him strangely, "What'd you do, keep time?"

"Thirty minutes and twenty-four seconds," he said, looking at his watch.

Tea sighed, exasperated, "Well…maybe it's just that I have more stuff to do."

"Right…you know you can't use make-up as an excuse, because by the looks of it, you don't use it," Seto smirked.

Tea knew he was right…but something about that statement bothered her, "Are you saying I need it?"

Seto turned around, walking away, only saying, "No, I'm saying that you don't need it." Tea just stood there. Had he meant that as…a compliment?


Tea ran down the stairs to go make the breakfast. Noa and Mokuba were already sitting at the table, waiting.

"Hey Tea, no offense, but you're late," Noa said.

"You can thank your brother for that," Tea said, running into the kitchen's cooking section (which was branched off from the kitchen's table."

Noa looked at Mokuba, confused, "What'd she mean by that?"

"I don't know…maybe it has something to do with…you know…." Mokuba looked cunningly at his brother.

"Or, we can just ask Seto," Noa said, just as Seto walked in.

"And here's the man himself!" Mokuba exclaimed.

Seto walked over to the phone, "What's up?" He dialed a number.

"Seto…" Noa started. Seto held up a finger and began talking to someone on the line.

"Today…Thanks," and Seto hung up.

"Who was that?" Mokuba asked.

"Repairman," Seto said. He could've sworn he heard a "yes!" from the other section of the kitchen.

"So, Seto…we asked Tea why she was late, and she said it was your fault…" Noa explained, "Why?"

"She said it was my fault?" Seto looked at them.

"Well, those weren't her exact words…she said something more like, 'You can thank your brother for that,' or something like that, you know?" Mokuba told.

"I see…well, she has some part in that problem as well...but, according to Gardner, all men are slow," Seto sat down.

In the other section of the kitchen, Tea winced. So…he had heard that.


A few minutes later, Tea came out with the breakfast and set it down. She purposely avoided looking at Seto…and not for the reason behind this morning's lateness. It was more a…feeling.

Seto noticed this and smirked. He was beginning to see a change coming over her…especially when she was near him. Actually, it annoyed him sometimes: she either stared or ignored him; she either complimented him (lightly) or insulted (or argued with) him…they were all signs pointing toward…those types of feelings.

He planned to know what was going on with her. He smirked evilly as he thought all this.


Tea waved goodbye to Mokuba and Noa. They were going to a friend's house for the afternoon. She closed the door, and then walked to and up the stairs. She was wearing those blue platform shoes of hers, and at the top of the stairs, she tripped. Guess who caught her?

"You're as clumsy as you are slow, aren't you, Gardner?" Seto helped her up the rest of the stairs. At the top, he still held onto her wrists.

"No…it's just these shoes, that's all," Tea retorted.

"Then why do you wear them?"

"Because they're comfortable, and I have to wear them…why else?"

"Just asking."

Tea now noticed he hadn't let go of her wrists, "You can let go of me now. I'm not that much of a klutz.

It was all falling into his plan, "No."

"Excuse me?"

"I said no. I don't think I will let you go," Seto smirked.

"You have no right to--" Tea started. Her heart was beginning to pound.

Seto felt her pulse quicken. One of the tests had been passed.

"Why'd your pulse quicken? Is something wrong?" he let go of one of her arms and put his hand around her waist, pulling her closer.

"W-what are y-you doing?" Tea stuttered.

"You didn't answer my question, Gardner," Seto looked at her softly. Phase two: bring on the charm.

"I-I d-don't know…" Tea continued to stutter. Seto began running his fingers up her arm and down her side.

"P-please d-don't d-do t-that. S-stop it!" Tea pleaded.

"Why should I?" Seto continued, now running his hands down both sides of her, "Why are you stuttering so much?"

Tea couldn't take it anymore. She had to get away. So, in a desperate attempt to shove him off, Tea kicked his leg back. But, as she was wearing those platform shoes, she tripped herself and fell backwards. In an attempt to hoist herself back up, she grabbed Seto's arm. But this only made it worse, as he toppled down with her.

Seto landed on top of Tea, inches away from her mouth. She was making this test too easy. Let's just say he looked at it this way: they were heaped together on the floor.

But Tea wasn't going to let Seto take advantage of this moment. She pushed him off her and slid out form under him. Then, she stood up and ran back to her room. Seto stood up and brushed himself off. She was good…yes, very good at hiding her feelings, but with her stuttering, and her pulse, she gave some of it away. He'd have to look more into the matter….


Tea slammed the door shut and locked it. Then, she collapsed on her bed. What had that idiot been doing? Was he trying to toy with her or something? Tea rolled over. It was too much. These feelings…Seto toying with her…she had to relax somehow.

The computer seemed a good place to turn to. So, she decided to go on the Internet. Tea booted up the computer and began the dial-up process. Soon, Google popped up as her homepage. She decided to look up recipes she could use as the cook. So, in the search box, she typed in "recipes."

After pressing "Enter" thousands of choices were have said to have popped up, but of course, only ten were listed at the moment. Tea began browsing through them. Suddenly, though, listed as number eight, there was the title of a most interesting website, and an interesting snip from the site as well:

Recipe to See if You're in Love

Do you wonder whether you have feelings for a special someone or not? Well, take a look at these checklists! (For boys and girls!) If you check off everything on here, eventually, you're solution will have been found! We also have a checklist to see if you and that someone seem to have the same interest in each other! Check now!

Tea snorted. What a retarded looking site. Like she was actually going to look through that recipe. Then again, maybe she would. Somehow, Tea found herself clicking on the hyperlink. The homepage for the site popped up. It was a corny site, decorated with hearts, and colored in pink. In the middle was the title of the site (of course) the summary she had just read, and two hyperlinks. One read Girls, and the other: Boys.

Tea, yet again, found herself clicking the Girls hyperlink. Another page popped up. Tea began looking down it:

Do you find yourself thinking about him?

Do you find yourself staring aimlessly at him?

Do you have weird sensations when he's around you?

And the list went on. Some of these things, Tea saw right away, she hadn't seen herself do (or feel) yet. Then, she came down to the bottom of the page. It was that checklist to see whether "you and that someone seem to have the same interest in each other." Tea took a look at this one. Here, there were only six things listed, compared to the fifteen or so from the other list.

Kindness is shown.

Compliments are given.

Smiles are passed.

You tend to come close to each other.

You both blush in instances.

You two have shared five kisses.

Tea snorted again. She was sure of it now: it WAS a retarded site. But, somehow, yet again, Tea felt some sort of urge take over and she found herself pressing the "Print" button. In no time at all, the paper had ejected from the printer next to her. She took it and looked over it.

What had she just done? What a waste of paper! Yet…maybe it could lead her on…. NO! She had NO such feelings…then again…why not make sure? After all, it wasn't a list FOR love, it was a list TO SEE if you were in love.

Tea took out a pen from the desk. As stupid as the thing sounded, she decided checking off the paper couldn't hurt. After all, it was a stupid site…it wouldn't mean anything if she did eventually check off the whole paper.

After she had checked off more than half the things on the "Girls" list, she began putting the pen away, when she noticed the bottom checklist again. Well…it couldn't hurt….

She decided to tally, instead of check. She labeled one side of the statement "T" and the other side "S." Wait…why had she put "S?" She usually called him Kaiba. Truly though, it did feel sort of good to use his first initial instead of his last.

Wait…she had seen that thought before. She looked back near the middle of the paper. Great. There it was:

Optional (this may not apply to everyone):

You like using his first name instead of his last.

How ironic. The minute she thinks that, she sees it…it just happens to be there. It was another one to check off. What fun.

Then, she ran down that last list and began tallying.

"Let's see," she said. She put one tally on each side next to "Compliment." After all, they had complimented each other this morning, whether Seto knew it or not. She tallied three down next to "Kindness," for Seto. He had given her a job, place to stay and helped her in the kitchen a month ago. Then, she began wondering…had she ever been kind to him?

Of course she had. She had looked after his brothers those many times and all of that. Instead of tallying, she just put a check there. She couldn't remember the number of times. The other stuff…blah...that would never happen. She didn't even know why she had started with the top two. However, those two were a start. She folded up the paper into eighths and walked over to her nightstand. She opened up the drawer and took out her journal.

She opened it up, took the pen out of her nightstand and wrote on the last page. Then, she inserted that slip of paper there, right with it. She closed the journal, clasped the button, and put it back in the drawer. She closed the drawer, then walked over to turn off her computer. By that time, it was 4:30. It was about time to start making dinner for the Kaibas. So, she finally emerged from her room and went to do her kitchen duty.


Well, how was that? Was most of it funny? That was mainly what the chapter was supposed to be…but it was also supposed to show some…beginnings…if you know what I mean. Anywho, review please!