Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, this story is for my own amusement.

Author's Note: Thank you all for your kind words! Once again, I love you all!!!! Sorry it took so long to update, I was away for Thanksgiving. Oh yeah, and I was reading over my own work and I realized at one point I said Tea was fifteen, and at another I said she was sixteen. I apologize for that, she is really fifteen in this fic. I know I make a lot of errors, I'll try to stop. Please read and review! No flames!

Chapter three Secret Kept?

"Wow, Seto, it's Friday, you know what that means, right?" Mokuba asked excitedly.

The boy was already in his school uniform, spooning cornflakes into his mouth. Despite how neat his clothes were, his hair still hung lank and messy around him. He was grinning as he looked up at his big brother, but Seto's mind was preoccupied. Instead of eating, he was stirring his own soggy cereal in constant circles.

For the second time Mokuba felt like something was wrong. He wished that he could ask his brother what, but deep inside of him he seemed to already know the answer. Seto wasn't happy about Christmas coming up because it reminded him of Mother, and she wasn't around anymore.

Because of you. A dark voice sneered inside the young Kaiba's head. Mokuba sighed, contemplating over all the hardships the two had suffered. He was trying his best to make the present better, but Seto's head was always in the past, no matter how much he denied it.

And then of coarse, there was the fact that he had ripped his room apart last night looking for something. Something that he wouldn't tell Mokuba about...

"What, Mokuba?" Seto finally asked, breaking the boy's thoughts. Mokuba noticed that he actually looked tired for once, which was strange. Seto normally stayed up way past twelve, and was always full of energy in the morning.

"Christmas." Mokuba replied, trying to sound cheerful. "Christmas is coming up soon. We need to get a tree, don't we?" The young CEO gave a faded smile. "Yeah, I guess we do."

Outside, the brothers thought they heard singing, but the voices only passed by, not even hesitating to stop by their doorstep.

As soon as Tea's eyes were open, her thoughts automatically returned to Kaiba's journal. With sleepy blue eyes, she turned over to it, where it lay innocently on her dresser.

"Why are you so interesting?" she complained, pushing her messy hair out of her eyes. As she stood up, she remembered her original plan. To give the diary back today. She couldn't help but feel a groaning sensation in the pit of her stomach.

Kaiba was so mysterious...and it was almost nice hearing what he thought. When Tea had first learned that it was his, she figured it would be brimming with gloating victories and sneering insults, but it wasn't.

Instead it told about how Kaiba was parentless, and how he used to go out caroling in the street to scrape up a bitter amount of money...

Tea shook the image out of her head. She didn't ever want to picture the multi-millionaire Seto Kaiba like one of those children she had seen only yesterday.

Her fingers itched to open the book once more, her mother's voice broke her train of thought. "Tea, are you up? You only have an half an hour to get ready!"

Shock hit Tea hard. "Why did I sleep so late?" She grumbled to herself as she pulled on her uniform. She ran a comb through her short brown hair and scooped up her book bag. Before walking downstairs, she stored the diary inside of her pocket.

"That was the quickest I've ever seen you get dressed." her mother marveled, placing a plate of pancakes before the brunette.

"Well, I normally wake up much earlier." Tea retorted, helping herself to syrup. Her mother nodded."It's already Friday. You should really buy your friends their gifts..." Tea heard her mother's voice trail away as she entered the kitchen.

Tea heard the words, but she didn't fully register them. She was too busy taking out the little black book once more. She flicked through it, trying to find the spot she had left off.

I should really get a bookmark or something to hold my place...she thought when she finally found the page.

Her eyes fell upon the words, but before she could read them, she stopped as shame took hold of her. She suddenly realized how awful it was that she was thinking of Kaiba's personal thoughts as if they were just part of some novel that she was reading out of interest.

But that was what she really was doing, wasn't she?

No. Tea told herself firmly. Your just a little curious, after all, Kaiba such a mystery! All your doing is...getting to know someone...that's it! Yeah, just without him knowing it.

Tea still didn't feel completely convinced, but it was enough to make her turn back to the book.

I was just reading over what I wrote yesterday. Sound rather desperate, don't I? Desperate...that's a word he used to call me all the time.

Sometimes I wonder what other people would think of me if they read this. Those people who think of me as rich, conceited Seto Kaiba.

Yeah, I realize the way I act around other people. And you know what, I don't care. None of them will ever understand, so why should I even try? It's useless. Nothing that they can say will ever console me. Would they even try to console me? Something makes me doubt it.

Yugi and his friends make act like they care, but I know they only see me as a rival. And that's fine, because that's how I want them to see me. All I want to do it defeat Yugi in a duel, that's it. No friendship, no trust. Trust and friendship only turns into lies. That's what I've learned over the years.

Besides, I hate the thought of them pitying me. I hate pity in general. So many people passed the orphanage, frowning at me and Mokuba, whispering to their companions about what a shame it was. And the maids and butlers used to look at me with mournful stares after Gozaburo dealt with me for failing. But none of them ever did anything. They pitied, but they took no action. They didn't care enough. Maybe they didn't care at all. Pity's like guilt, a wasted emotion. The only one who ever really did anything was Mokuba.

He's the only one who understands, who knows who I really am. He's the only good thing I've got at the end of the day.

What I have at the end of the day...Garden screeched that to me a while ago. I pretended that it meant nothing, but it really made me think. The words rang inside my mind, haunting me for days. I bet she'll never know that.

Tea Gardner. A cheerleader to her little group, giving her speeches on how wonderful friendship is, and how beautiful life can be.

Life. Beautiful. Hah.

I have to admit, however, even if her annoyance outshines it, that she is quite beautiful herself.

Tea spit up her juice. Coughing hysterically, she stared at the words before her. "Tea, are you okay?" she heard her mother asked worriedly. "Yeah, mom!" she gasped.

Once she had regained control of herself, Tea's eyes shot back to the words. She thought that she had never been more surprised in her whole life. She had excepted him to call her annoying, but beautiful? What was the world coming to?

Tea angled her eyes as she reread the line. Was that an insult or a compliment? "...she really is quite beautiful." Color instantly rushed up her face. No one had seriously called her beautiful before. Sure, Yugi had said it, but to be sweet, nothing more...

Coming from Kaiba, she felt almost flattered. Flattered so much, she barely took noticed to everything else he had wrote.

With a shout from her mother, she realized that she was going to be late for school. Her head swimming, she crammed the journal back into her pocket, and swung the bag over her shoulder.

Seto was out the doors before the limo had even parked. As everyday, the chauffeur bid him a good day and drove off. Seto barely noticed. His icy eyes were focused on the school building before him.

At home, he had felt comfortable enough to show how distressed he was, but not here. Instead he made himself look even more irritated then usual. Inside his head, thoughts were spinning wildly.

Maybe I left it inside my home room...or the cafeteria...or one of the classrooms... Damn! It could be anywhere! Seto clutched his suitcase even tighter then normal as all the possibilities ran through his mind. He had to keep himself under control. He couldn't let anyone see how nervous he really was.

"Ow! Hey, Kaiba, dat hurt! Ain't ya gonna apologize?" Seto turned around to see Wheeler's enraged face. "Ya rammed right in ta me!" Seto smirked at the blonde duelist's fury. Maybe he could take some of his anxiousness away by angering Wheeler.

"Why should I apologize to a dog?" he sneered. Joey's face turned so red with wrath, Seto wouldn't have been surprised if smoke spouted out of his ears. "Don't ya dare call me that, money bags!" Seto merely smirked, angling his stony eyes at the steaming boy. "And what will you do, bark at me?" he asked cooly, turning away.

"You just wait, Kaiba, I'll get back at you soon enough!"

Seto forced himself to keep moving, though he felt like his heart had suddenly stopped beating. He kept his eyes forward, pretending that Wheeler's comment had meant nothing. But that same horrible image of Wheeler with his journal had appeared before him, like somebody was pressing the picture flat against his face. Feeling very sick, he headed to the closet place his journal could be-the cafeteria.

"Can you believe that creep?" Joey fumed, rounding on his friends. Tristan nodded fervently while Yugi frowned politely. "I'm gonna go give him a piece a my mind!" Tea, who had been staring glassy-eyed at where Kaiba had walked off, suddenly snapped out of her trance. "No, Joey don't do that!" She pleaded as he stormed off.

"And what are ya gonna do about it?" he raged, while the rest of the group followed, hot on his heels. "Joey, man, don't this again." Tristan groaned, trying vainly to grab hold of Joey's arm and stop him from moving. "You know what happens every time you get into a fight with Kaiba." "Whatta ya mean by dat?" Joey snarled. "I'm gonna give Kaiba everythin' he deserves..." "Joey, it won't fix anything!" Yugi fought. Joey refused to listen.

All there attempts were useless. Joey dragged them all the way down to the cafeteria, where he was sure he had seen Kaiba enter.

The cafeteria however, like every morning, was swarming with people. It was a custom of Domino High to serve breakfast as well as lunch, so the many groups of people seemed normal to Tea, to matter how much they upset her friend. The girl's blue eyes scanned the crowed room, trying to pick out the young CEO.

Sure enough, she found the lone, tall figure all the way in the back of the room. Her stomach gave a funny jolt when she saw where he was. The same spot they had bumped into each other yesterday. He was searching frantically for something.

Tea bit her lip, her insides squirming. "Lemme at 'im!" Joey roared, who had obviously seen him as well. Both Tristan and Yugi were holding him back. Tea glanced worriedly at her friends, fingering the diary in her pocket. She knew Kaiba was looking for it. It wasn't fair to keep him guessing like this. He was going to go out of his mind searching for it, not to mention obsessing over the theory that somebody may have found and read it. After all, Kaiba had wrote things in it that he had never, as far as Tea knew, told a living soul.

"Tea, knock some sense into him!" Tristan grunted, still gripping Joey's arms. Tea only gave him a nervous stare before walking over to where Kaiba stood, leaving all her friends, including Joey, gaping at her.

"K-Kaiba?" Tea mumbled in a meek voice. He turned over to her, irritation etched over every inch of his handsome face. "Yes?" he asked curtly. Tea gulped, she knew he was going to be angry. Not angry, Tea reminded herself, ballistic...

"Are you...are you looking for something?" she inquired lamely. "Yes." he repeated, sounding even more agitated then before. He turned back to the table. "Umm...Kaiba, I...I think..."

Once more, Kaiba turned his blazing eyes back onto her. Tea realized they looked puzzled now. He suspects me. Tea informed herself as a wave of anxiousness broke over her. "What is it?" Kaiba asked impatiently.

Tea's heart was ramming against her chest. Her fingers were wrapped so tightly around the journal that she could feel her knuckles going white. Even so, she didn't seem to have the strenght to pull it out of her pocket. Her mouth went so dry she could hardly form sentences.

Taking a shuddering breath, she muttered. "nothing...", and turned to walk away. In her head she cursed her own cowardice.

"Gardner, wait."

Tea looked back at Kaiba. He didn't look angry anymore, only confused. He was simply staring at her, as if trying to analyzing her very soul. He suddenly paled and looked away. "Forget it."

Serenity Wheeler was home, sick and in bed. Her throat ached constantly as she was seized by yet another faze of coughing. She grabbed a tissue and blew her stuffed nose, which had been rubbed raw from the many times she had blown it. "Sick on Christmas...great." she muttered thickly, lying back down.

The only light she could see was how well her brother was taking care of her. While at home he seemed to have devoted his entire life to making sure she was comfortable. So what if the toast be made had been a little (well, maybe more then a little) burnt? It was still a sweet thing for him to do. She smiled, not able to imagine having a better brother.

Even so, it was still a glum thought that their first Christmas together after many long years was going to be spent with her taking cough medicine and fluids.

Serenity had decided to move in with her brother and father. Not exactly a permanent move, but after Battle City she had realized that she couldn't live without the other half of her family. Instead of just living with one parent, she took turns, living a few months with each. Sure, it was confusing moving so much, but it was worth it if she got to see her brother more often.

There came a knock on the door, and she heard her father's footsteps trod over to it. Minutes later, she heard the familiar sound of the door scraping against the floor as it opened, and someone coming in. "Hi, Mr. Wheeler. I just came to wish Joey's little sister better health...mind if I go see her?" Serenity remembered the voice clearly. It was Mai, one of Joey's friends from Battle City! Her spirits rose a bit at the thought of seeing a familiar face.

"Sure, came her father's gruff voice, just go up the stairs...." The sound of Mai's heels tapping against the floor filled Serenity's ears, and moments later, the blonde emerged from the doorway.

"Hey girl, how are you feeling?" she asked kindly, retreating into an empty chair. "Alright." the auburn sighed. "Thanks for coming to visit." The woman grinned. "Hey, I'm already out of school, remember? Dueling gotten me loads of cash, so I'm not exactly begging for a job. I figured the least I could do was check on Joey's sick baby sister." Serenity grinned, not at all minding being called "Joey's baby sister". She liked being associated with him. She was so proud to be his sister.

"So, how's things going between Tea and Yugi?" Serenity asked, who had heard all about the plot from Joey. "Great!" Mai chimed. "I already got her the dress- you should see it, it's to die for! Now I have to convince Tea to go with Yugi-it shouldn't be that hard."

Serenity nodded, her arms folded behind her back. "Although I bet it would be a lot easier if Tea hadn't gone and found Kaiba's diary." She heard Mai's voice mumble. "What?" Serenity blurted out, shooting upright. A minute later she wished she hadn't, it made her head throb painfully.

But that wasn't the only reason her head was spinning. Although she had hardly conversed with Kaiba, (A/N: Is that true? I think I heard it somewhere...) she knew from both her brother, and his attitude in public, that he was an arrogant, emotionless creep. The thought of him having a diary just seemed unreal.

"Oh my gosh!!!!, Mai cried frantically, I shouldn't have said that! Just pretend you didn't hear it, kay?" Her beautifully manicured hands were gripping her face.

"Don't worry Mai, I won't tell a soul." Serenity assured her."But what are you talking about...Kaiba's diary?"

Author's Note: And so...end of chapter three. Kind of a cliff hanger, but not really. Poor Tea...you know what this is going to lead too. I hope that you all liked it, it's because of your comments that I try to update so quickly. Your all so nice! Please give me your opinions and ideas...but no flames! Thanks!