Disclaimer: Check for it in chapter 1.

Man, it's been such a long time since I've posted another chapter. Too long, actually. I'm very sorry for taking so long. I've been extremely busy, and by the time I had the time to update again, the holiday season had already passed, making me have to wait again. Again, I'm sorry for that. Thank you for being patient nonetheless.

Well, with that out of the way, let's begin the chapter.

A Kaiba Christmas Wish

Chapter 7

The get together

Kaiba's mansion: office

It had been a year since Seto and Bellona had been dating in their spare time, which they made sure was quite often. Recollecting when he first met her, he found it unimaginable that he would actually enjoy someone's company this much, especially with someone whose attitude matched his own. On another note, he noticed how his personality had been slightly affected by having what most would call a social life. During the year he had been dating Bellona, he hadn't fired a single employee from any of his businesses. Was he getting soft? To make sure he wasn't, he thought back on his times he spent with Yugi during duels. While he still had resentment for being only the second best, it didn't bother him as much. His face then soured at the possibility of actually 'becoming' soft. Shaking his head, he reached for the phone, and dialed Joey's house.

After a few rings, Joey answered.

"Yeah?" he answered. "Make it quick, 'cause I gotta be somewhere."

"Joey Wheeler?" Kaiba asked, making sure the person he was talking to really was Joey.

"Kaiba?" Joey's response was in startlement. He never expected Kaiba to ever call him. "Why are 'you' calling?"

"Just wanted to tell you that if I ever see you on my lawn without permission again, I'll call animal control on you!"

"What!" Joey fumed. "I already told ya! I was waiting for Mokuba, and saw a gopher in the grass, and wanted to take a closer look!"

"Yeah, and I suppose next you're going to tell me that you were trying to catch it."

"Well, uh…"

"Thought so. Just consider this a warning, mutt." He then hung up the phone, leaving Joey's day a mess.

Sighing in relief, he went back to his paperwork. He was glad that he really 'wasn't' getting soft. After a few more minutes, the phone rang. He picked it up.

"Kaiba Corporations." He answered.

"Hi big brother."

"Hello, Mokuba."

"I got the blueprints for the academy you wanted to build."

"Ah, good. Thank you."

"I'm bringing it to you right now. I'll be there in an hour."

"Okay then. See you then."

"So does Bellona know yet?"

"No. She hasn't arrived."

"Oh. Then I guess you didn't ask her that other question."

This statement made Seto slightly blush. "That's enough."

"Okay. Well, see ya." Then he hung up.

Seto then went back to his paperwork. About a half hour later, the phone rang, and he picked it up.

"Miss Crawford is here, sir."

"Good. Let her in, and tell her sister to wait in the living room. And tell Bellona to come to my office."

Then he hung up. He put away the rest of his paperwork, and stood up. Within a couple of minutes, Bellona entered. She gave Seto a hug, and then took a seat on the chair he had previously been sitting in.

"It's good to see you, Seto-deary." She said sweetly, but with a hint of sarcasm. She knew it annoyed him when she called him that.

"I see you still haven't learned that it's disrespectful to take a seat when it's not offered to you."

Bellona shrugged. "Meh, doesn't matter." She then stood up. "Now, I know you didn't have me travel over the ocean just to comment on my formalities."

"Yes. I called you here for two reasons. The first one is business. Over the course of my life, I realized that there is so much potential in duel monsters duelists that are wasted amongst weak teachers."

"You're referring to Yugi's grandfather, aren't you."

"Correct. Although Yugi is in fact a worthy duelist, that skill comes from his millennium puzzle, and not from himself."

"And this means….."

"It means, that with an academy dedicated to dueling being built, I can bring out the best duelists, while weeding out the hopeless ones." He then faced Bellona again. "And that's where you come in."

Bellona grinned. "Oh really. Let me guess. You want me to fund your academy."

"In a way, although not the way you think. What I want from you is to invest on advertising around the world. The more people hear about the soon to be built dueling academy, the more sponsors we'll get."

"And you couldn't do this yourself because…."

Kaiba grinned, walked towards her, and held her hand. "Maybe it's because I want to share my power with you. However, you can't just expect to have a free ride. You have to contribute. Or are you that much of a brat?"

Bellona frowned, and then pulled her hand away. "And what makes you say that? I'll have you know that I've improved over the course of this year!"

Kaiba smirked, and then crossed his arms. "Oh really. Enlighten me, then."

"Well, I've stopped insulting waitresses for starters…"

"Oh yeah. I've heard about that in the newspaper. Something about food poisoning in a restaurant. Heh, I guess that 'would' stop someone from disrespecting the hand that feeds them."

"Shut up! Anyways, I also gave to charity. I gave cardboard boxes and printer paper I wasn't using to some underprivileged schools. I figured it was better to let 'them' have it instead of it being a potential fire hazard in my basement."

Seto looked at her strangely. "Cardboard boxes?...Printer…paper?"

Bellona scoffed at this. "Well it was more generous than you! When's the last time 'you' ever gave to charity!"

"Good point, although I 'am' building an academy to make up for it."

"Yeah, with something 'you' will benefit from."

"As will you if you contribute."

"Speaking of which, where is it going to be built, anyways?"

"It's far from here, but not hard to spot. I have a meeting with the landowner tomorrow. I want you to attend as well."

Bellona shrugged. "I guess, seeing as how I have nothing better to do."

"Good. Then it's settled."

"So, what was the second reason you called me here?"

Seto paused for a moment. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small black box. Bellona recognized the type of box it was, and gasped in surprise. Her cheeks blushed profusely. Was this really happening to her? He slowly opened the box, revealing a diamond ring with a 24 karat gold rim. He put the box in her hand, which she gripped tightly, her gaze in shock.

"So," Seto started. "What do you say?" He really wasn't comfortable with displaying emotions like this, so asking 'will you marry me' directly was out of the question.

"…Well," she started. "We 'have' been dating over a year now…it makes sense…" then she realized that Seto had been standing the entire time. "Wait a minute. Aren't you supposed to be on one knee?"

"And sink down to a commoner's level? Don't make me laugh."

"It's called tradition, Seto-deary, and I suggest you respect it."

"You mean like how 'you' respect common sense formalities?"

"Yeah, but this is different!"

"Fine!" he then bent on one knee. "But if I have to lower myself like this…" He then grabbed Bellona's legs, pulled them towards him, and caught her before she could hit the ground. "…then you're doing it too."

Bellona sat there in his arms. She wasn't sure whether to make a snappy comeback, or punch him for tricking her. Suddenly, she felt her heart rush. Something about him taking charge like that felt exhilarating to her.

"…No one has ever been that bold or arrogant before." She told him while glaring. "You do know that I've ruined people's lives for less than this, right?"

"Doesn't matter. I'm rich enough to fend you off. Besides, you know you like it."

"Don't flatter yourself."

"Likewise."

"Don't use my own words against me, Seto-deary!"

"I told you not to call me that!"

"Too bad, Seto-deary!"

"You can be so stubborn at times!"

"And you can be such an arrogant bastard!"

They both glared at each other for a few seconds, and then Bellona pushed Seto face up on the ground. Seto pulled her down with him, engaging in a passionate kiss. When the kiss ended, he spoke again.

"So I'll take that as a yes?"

"Sure. I guess you deserve me, if only by a small margin."

Kaiba smirked at this. "And you call 'me' an arrogant bastard."

The two then resumed kissing. Seconds later, the phone rang again. Grumbling, Seto stood up, walked to the phone, and picked it up.

"This had better be important."

"Your brother is on his way upstairs." Then he hung up.

Kaiba hung up the phone as well. "Mokuba's on his way upstairs."

Without another word, Seto quickly started working on a random part of work on his computer, and Bellona sat on one of the chairs. When Mokuba entered, he had Melanie with him.

"Melanie?" Bellona said. "Why aren't you in the living room?"

Mokuba tilted his head. "You mean you told her to stay in the living room?"

Upon hearing this, Bellona's cheeks flushed a bright red.

"How much did you hear?" she asked while not looking at her.

"Just some noises. Nothing important."

This caused Kaiba to blush slightly. Mokuba just stared in confusion. Shrugging it off, he got out the blueprints. "Anyways, here's the blueprints you wanted." He then handed it to his older brother.

"Thank you, Mokuba." Seto answered. "Bellona and I will go to the meeting tomorrow. Feel free to go to Yugi's house for the time being."

Mokuba smiled. It wasn't often that he got to visit his friends, especially with his brother's permission. "Thanks, big brother."

"Sure. Now it's getting late, so everybody get to bed. We have to be there early."

And with that, everyone went to their respective rooms, and Bellona and Melanie went to their respective guest rooms.

The next day: Construction site

After dropping off Mokuba and Melanie, Bellona and Seto had been waiting in the middle of a huge vacant lot, with the exception of a miniature office with a 'closed' sign on the door, for quite some time now. After a couple minutes, an elderly figure exited the door. He was quite short, completely bald, tanned wrinkled skin, dark brown eyes, and a brown kimono, complete with black slacks on his feet. He slowly walked toward the couple, and closely examined their features. When he was finished, he looked up at them.

"Glad to see you." He said. "I am Lei. I own this land you see."

"You're late." Seto answered.

"I know, but I'm old, so that's to be expected. But like I was about to say, when you pitched the idea of a dueling academy, my rickety old heart leapt for joy. How could I 'not' agree? However, I want to make sure that the academy will remain a true dueling mosque, and not become some commercialized university for rich kids."

"That's why I have a wing for those without a lot of money. The underprivileged, if you will." What Kaiba didn't mention was that this specific wing was going to be used to store who he would deem as the worst duelists. Not on income of course, but on a placement test.

"Close enough." Lei said. "But before I sign the contract, I want two conditions. First, I want to see how well the owner of the academy can duel. And second, I want to see if you're a team player."

"Fine." Seto then brought out his new and improved dueling disk. "Let's get this over with."

"Now yer talkin'." The old man said as he removed his kimono, revealing a black tuxedo. And on his arm was an unusual dueling disk. It was much smaller than the one he was using, and the only place that seemed where cards could fit was where the deck and graveyard should be, as well as spell and traps, yet no room for monsters.

"I don't get it." Kaiba said, slightly confused. "I've never seen a dueling disk as unusual as that before. Where did you get it?"

"I made it myself. However, I kept it secret until the day when something like this would happen. Like that special box of yours, it makes dueling seem more real. And on top of that, all you have to do is toss your card into the center, and the monster comes out like it was real. The same goes for set and activated spells and traps." He still saw the confusion in the youths faces, so he chuckled. "But see for yourself. But before we begin, let's make a wager. If I win, we use this dueling disk for the academy, and I get paid royalties. Oh, and you publicly admit that my dueling disk is superior. If I lose, it's yours for free, and you can take the credit for it. So, do we have a deal?"

"Do it, Seto-Deary!" Bellona exclaimed. "Either way, we win!"

Seto scoffed. "Easy for you to say!" then he turned towards Lei. "Fine, I accept."

"Excellent. Now, let's duel! And to make this a little shorter, let's only use 4000 life points. Oh, and I'll go first."

And so the duel began. Lei put down three face down cards.

"I shall now activate Pot of Greed, and draw two more cards." So he did, and put them in his hand. "I now summon Goblin Elite Attack Force (2200/1500), in attack mode." He threw the card at the center of them, and it turned into the said monster. "I will then end my turn."

Bellona looked at the monster in amazement. "Wow! That's sure impressive. And coming from me, that's saying a lot."

Seto now drew a card. He set two cards face down. "I'll activate Change of Heart, and take control of your monster!" He did so, and the monster now switched sides of the field. "If this new monster is anything like the regular Goblin Attack Force, it's going to have its same side effect. Now, Elite Goblin, attack his life points directly!"

Just as it was about to do so, Lei quickly flipped one of his face down cards. "Not so fast, young-un! I counter the attack with Draining Shield! It's a trap card that negates one monsters attack, and gives me life points equal to its attack."

So now Lei's life points rose from 4000 to 6200. And because of Elite Goblins effect, he immediately switched to defense mode.

"It doesn't matter." Seto stated. "He wasn't meant for attacking anyways. I now offer Elite Goblin as tribute to summon Luster Dragon (2400/1400), in attack mode!" The Luster Dragon appears in its usual fashion that Kaiba's dueling disk displays. "And I'll equip Axe of Despair on it, increasing its attack points to 3400. Now, attack his life points directly!"

It attacks, causing Lei to hold his ground from the impact, and taking away the bonus he got.

"I'll now end my turn."

So the score now was Seto with 4000 and Lei with 2800.

Lei draws a card, looks at it, and smiles. "I got a surprise for you, young-un! I now summon the Cyber Dragon (2100/3600), in attack mode! And because I don't have a monster on the field and you do, I can special summon him without any tributes."

"So? My Luster Dragon is still stronger."

"Yes, but not for long. I'll pay 800 life points to activate Brain Jacker, taking control of your Luster Dragon! And to remove any pesky surprises, I'll activate Heavy Storm, clearing both our fields of spells and traps!"

Seto now had a look of worry. He had clearly underestimated this old man. Unlike all the other duelists he had beaten, this old guy was straight to the point. No bragging, no taunting, no waiting for combos. Just plain direct dueling. And to top it off, the old man was using mostly cards that were only recently created, so he didn't have enough time to study them all.

"And now we shall end this duel. Luster Dragon! Cyber Dragon! Attack his life points directly!"

And so they did, taking a total of 4500, ending the duel.

Seto Kaiba fell to his knees in shock. He couldn't believe that he had just lost to some old man. The realization was almost unbearable.

"Don't take it too hard, young-un." Lei said. "Had you known I wanted to duel you, you would've come prepared. But let this be a lesson to you. Always be prepared for a duel, no matter what. You'll never know who might challenge you and when. Make sure that lesson is engraved in the minds of your future students. Now, as for the second condition, I've heard that you were acquaintances with Yugi Moto. It had been a dream of mine to duel such a champion duelist, and once I do, I can die a happy man. Now, come back in three days with Yugi at your side. Only then will I sign the final paperwork to hand over the land to you." He then crutched his stomach in slight pain. "And this is where we part."

"Why?" Bellona asked. "What's wrong?"

"Let's just say that when you reach a certain age, certain foods make you go." Then he held his stomach again." Gotta go!" And with that, he ran into his office, fast as lightning.

Even though Lei was long gone, Seto just sat there. He kept rehearsing in his mind what went wrong. Why wasn't he prepared? Had he been so distracted? Was he losing his touch?

Seeing his obvious troubled mind, Bellona sat behind him, and held him.

"It's alright, Seto. Had you been prepared, you would've mopped this old guys deck. Besides, there's more to life than dueling."

"Like what?"

"Well, like money."

"True…"

"And making people bend to your will."

"Keep talking…"

"And taking out your frustration on Yugi."

"…That might not work. Every card I've tried has failed so far. Nothing has worked yet."

"I believe I might have just the card to help you out."

Seto quickly turned towards her.

"What card?"

"A dragon type that I know you'll really love."

"Really. What's the catch?"

"You'll have to abandon the Blue Eyes Ultimate theme in order to make it work."

"Then what kind of dragon deck would it be!"

"Well, you'll see. Besides, today's cards are just too fast for such an outdated combo."

"And you have a better one?"

"Like I said, Seto-deary. You'll see."

"I told you to stop calling me that!"

She then kissed him on the lips, and then grinned. "I love it when you're irritable. Now let's go. We still have to arrange not only getting Yugi to duel this old guy, but to duel you beforehand."

So the two walked back to the limo, and then drove home.

END OF CHAPTER 7

Well, that's it for this chapter. I'll post chapter 8 tomorrow, and if I have time, the final chapter 9 (which will be a short epilogue) tomorrow. I hope you liked this chapter. And again, sorry for taking so long.