AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ahhhh gomen!!! It's my last chapter for a while (I think) and it's such a short chapter… been very busy recently, rewriting this chapter, as well as this story's Chapter 33 (which is taking me FOREVER to finish… gods I just can't seem to end it), and Chapter 6 of my Kenshin fanfic (I came to a screeching halt when I got to Okita's section, sadly enough).

For those of you who don't know, I'm now replying to reviews on my LJ, . You're welcome to comment there, too.

Oh, also, shameless self-advertising (courtesy of Ayame Aka Kaiba): READ MY KENSHIN FIC!!! The title is The Four Swords, and you can get to it by clicking on the link for my profile above.

Finally, sorry some of my lameness leaked into this chapter. I couldn't figure out what the heck I wanted to happen, so random things just… started happening. Basically. Parts of it are really lame. I apologize in advance.

Chapter 19: Dinner

We didn't finish looking for dresses until later that evening, just before dinner. I didn't want to say good-bye to my friends so soon, so I called the mansion and told the cook I was bringing guests for dinner. She sounded surprised, but said she would be ready.

When we pulled up into the curved driveway, I was surprised to see another car also parked in the driveway. Kaiba's limo had its own garage behind the house, and the car he sometimes used was kept at the office.

Once inside, I was shocked to see more than two people sitting at the table for dinner. I almost cried when I saw who was there.

"Hey," Yugi said in his usual, friendly manner. I ran to hug him, Joey, Tristan, and Duke. Beaming happily, I asked them why they were here.

"We got your invitations in the mail today, and they said to go to Kaiba's office. Turns out we were supposed to get fit for tuxes," Tristan said.

"Apparently, we're supposed to be the groomsmen," Joey said with a big smile. "And Yugi's Kaiba's best man!"

"Oh," I was all I could say. I was surprised. Not only had Kaiba let Joey be in the wedding, he'd asked Yugi to be his best man.

"And now we get to stay for dinner!" Duke cried. "Free food!" he, Joey, and Tristan yelled in unison. The rest of us blushed, embarrassed.

"Can't take them anywhere, can we?" Tea asked, rolling her eyes.

I had barely noticed Kaiba and Mokuba already seated at the table, although Yugi had begun to talk to Mokuba. Without acknowledging Kaiba, I took my usual place beside him.

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Dinner was a most lively affair. Mai sat to my left, and we spent all night teasing Joey and Tristan, who was flirting with Serenity. Duke was livid over Tristan's attentions, and immediately began vying for Serenity's favor. Tea and Yugi talked quietly to Mokuba, but were inevitably drawn into the fun.

I left my old, demure shell behind and became a vivacious and outgoing young woman. I taunted and baited the guys, laughed with Mai, conspired with Tea and Serenity, joked with Yugi, and flirted rather shamelessly with Duke. Energy rushed through my veins in place of blood, tingling and exciting.

"Hey, Joey, if you're not going to eat that can I have it?" Tristan asked, digging his fork into 'it'.

"What do you think you're doing? That's my food!" Joey stabbed Tristan's fork with his, and they began sparring with their forks. Calmly, I reached over with mine, speared the piece of potato, and ate it.

"Actually, it's mine now," I murmured sweetly.

Duke burst out laughing. "Why you!" Joey yelled, raising his fork at Duke. He stopped laughing, eyes narrowed.

"Look Joey, I didn't have anything to do with that. She took it on her own," I smirked at Joey. "But if you want to play fork wars…" Duke said, raising his own fork.

"Oh man," Tea moaned. "I can't believe the guys are playing fork wars at the Kaiba mansion."

Mai laughed. "Boys will be boys, right? You gals had better pick your knights—Joey's mine."

I smiled. "Well, he's not going to win at this rate," I said, pointing. Tristan and Duke had ganged up on Joey, both of them dragging food off his plate.

"Oh," Mai groaned. "The one day Joey doesn't defend his food to the death…"

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"Let's play a game!" Mokuba piped up from his seat next to Kaiba. We all turned to look, intrigued.

"What kind of game, Mokuba?" Yugi asked in his ever-pleasant way.

"Something less embarrassing than fork wars," Tea muttered under her breath. Duke and Tristan snickered.

"Hey, it's not every day you get to use special Kaiba forks in fork wars," Tristan joked under his breath. I stifled a laugh, not daring to look at Kaiba to see what he thought of his forks being thus abused.

"I don't think that's what my brother wanted them used for either. So let's play something less… destructive," Mokuba suggested slyly.

"Why do I not like the sound of 'less destructive'?" Tea asked with a sigh.

"Because you asked for less embarrassing," I teased.

Mokuba caught my eye and smiled. I smirked back. He winked at me. That kid had a fast mind.

"After dinner, Mokuba," I suggested. "I think Joey's going to need more food."