I DO NOT OWN YU-GI-OH!

Chapter 14 – All in Good Company

"Wait." Tea demanded, surprisingly knocking them both off their feet.

What am I insane? she asked herself. She opened her eyes to see Kaiba pull away from her and give her a slightly upset/slightly confused look. He was breathing heavily and so was she.

"Explain 'wait' to me." He growled out, and she saw his arm muscles flex.

Tea didn't say anything, she was confused herself. There was something wrong, but she just couldn't... place it... oh yeah! "K-Kaiba. We were arguing." She simply said, and she saw a frown imbed its way to his forhead and eyebrows.

"Were." He echoed. Where was this leading?

"Y-you can't just shut me up by kissing me all the time!" She stammered out. She glared at him, stern in her accusation. "I know you Kaiba, you've found a way –a clever one I might add- to avoid my questions and to shut me up. Well, it's not gonna work any more. We are going to have a conversation – a real one!- with no," she coughed to herself, "interruptions."

"Fine." He said after a small pause. He pulled away from her and crossed his arms and then proceeded to stare at her.

"Well, first of all... this has been bugging me for a while but... why did you kiss me?"

"Which time?" He asked, his eyes grilling her, one eyebrow slightly raised.

She grit her teeth. He looked so damn calm and collected. It was the businessman in him. She hated that jerk. "How about just now."

"I don't-" He was interrupted.

"'-have to explain my reasons to you'. Yeah, I've heard it before." She rolled her eyes, but then saw that he was extremely aggitated.

"I bet you like being 'interrupted'." He said smoothly, his agitation replaced by calm and demeaning banter.

She scoffed and folded her arms too.

His attempt to veer the conversation so that he was in control was working.

He smirked. "I bet you couldn't resist me for even a week."

She squinted. The bastard was being egocentric again. Dammit, why did she have to bring him back out? Maybe she should have just shut up and accepted the quiet -and encredibly good kisser- jerk. She huffed. "Well, I bet you couldn't resist me for even a week!"

He let out a small mocking laugh. "Right, Gardner. You don't know who you're talking to." And with that he turned and walked away.

She watched him go, determined to keep her mind straight from now on. This was Seto Kaiba she was stranded on a deserted island with; this wasn't supposed to be a dream vacation or even a nice getaway... this was hell.

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This was hell! Duke felt like he was going to throw up.

The small boat swayed with the waves as they headed further and further out to sea. If it was bad enough getting up in the morning, when it was still dark out, it was another to smell fish and smoke and –ugh- old man sweat.

"How ya holdin' up landluver?" Dan Tsukira asked, looking over at the boy who was sitting on the couch next to him on the pilot's deck.

"Okay, I guess." Duke replied, and got the courage to stand and look out the window. The ocean was slightly turbulent, with light clouds that were becoming brighter as the sun rose up.

"We're almost to the fishin' spot. Are you ready to do some work?"

"I suppose." Duke said and began to feel like he regretting coming out here.

Dan put Duke to work, hauling, pulling and tying lines and throwing nets. He mopped the deck, several times, and helped bring in a heap of fish from the cold water. After several hours of this, it was noon time, and he collapsed on a bench to get some rest.

"So, old man, where'd you see these ships anyway? Was it here?" He asked, and Dan nodded.

"Yeah, it was around here. Don't see any today though."

"Great." Duke mumbled and caught a can of beer that was thrown at him. "Uh, I'm a little young for this. You do know I'm only in high school."

"If you're in school, why are you out here then? Why are ya lookin' for them ships?"

"They're attacking a..." Duke paused, he was about to say 'friend'. Were the Kaiba's really their friends? He cleared his throat to started over. "They're attacking some colleagues of mine. I thought I'd help out and find where they're coming from."

"Strange how ya ended up out in the middle of the ocean then, huh?"

"Well, it would almost make sense, because it would provide a relatively secluded area and it would make it a hard place to track down." He said, almost thinking aloud. He unknowingly cracked open the beverage in his hand. "And with the ships cloaked, it makes it almost impossible to track where they're coming from, with a whole ocean to search in." He said, and took a long sip of his drink.

Then he choked and coughed. He spit it out and made a mess of the deck again. He groaned and handed the beer to Dan again.

"Forgot it was beer." Duke explained, still coughing.

Dan smirked and patted him roughly on the back. "It's alright, Dukie, you'll get used to it. Kids your age should be partying and having fun, drinking plenty of beers."

Duke winced. "First of all, that's not a very encouraging thing to say, and two... don't call me Dukie. The name's Duke. One syllable."

Before Dan could reply, his eyes got a faraway look and he squinted. Duke frowned. What was wrong? Was the guy gonna have a heart attack?

"I sees it!" He exclaimed and pointed up and behind him.

Duke spun and saw something silvery shimmer in the distance. He covered his brow and squinted as well. A low hum began to be heard, and it passed over their heads, high in the sky.

Duke watched it fly off away from them.

He turned and saw that Dan had out a compass. He pointed it in the direction the ship had come from. Duke half-smiled. The old guy was good, he had to admit.

"We sure are lucky we saw it, ain't we?" Dan asked Duke.

Duke nodded, and tossed his dice in the air and caught them. "We sure are."

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Kaiba washed his hair and was walking back to the beach.

He thought about the girl he was stranded with. She had some nerve sometimes. Who did she think she was? Saying that his reasons for kissing her were simply a clever device he had created to shut her up.

Kaiba thought about it a minute. Ok, maybe it was a clever device. She did talk a lot. A lot.

But no matter what he kept telling himself, he genuinely felt the need to protect her. He didn't feel that way about anyone, except for Mokuba; and even he could take care of himself most of the time.

Kaiba frowned. He really missed Mokuba. And he was worried. So worried, that the very thought of Mokuba suffering because of himself, was making him sick to the stomach.

He tried to think about something else. Unfortunately, the only other thing to think about was Tea Gardner and their little bet.

This was going to be a piece of cake. He never lost a challenge, even though he had never experienced one like this before. He was still confident he would win, though. He'd find a way to make her crack.

The sooner he made her lose it, the sooner he could feel her mouth on his again; her skin against his...

"Gah!" Kaiba exclaimed and rubbed his forehead.

He was confused at his own thoughts. When did he begin to feel this way anyway? Maybe he was becoming insane by being trapped with only one other person, and it so happened to be a female... the same age as him... with a great body...

And it didn't make matters any worse that she responded to his forward nature. She hadn't once slapped him or refuse to kiss him back. That was strange. Did she really like him that much? Or did she just like kissing that much?

Did she kiss the others in her little 'gang-o-friends'? He shuddered at the thought of her kissing Joey or that other one. Or kissing Yugi... he growled low in this throat. He was becoming agitated.

He then stopped in his tracks, in the field before the treeline before the beach. Was he... jealous?

Why should he be! She certainly wasn't his girlfriend... he shook his head, trying to rid the thoughts of Gardner as being referred to as anything other than 'Yugi's cheerleader' to him. To consider her a girlfriend was worse than even calling her a 'friend' –and he didn't even think of her as that.

Then what did he consider her?

He pondered a moment longer before coming to the conclusion that she was simply a person he was stranded with that he so happened to enjoy touching and kissing... on occasion.

Just then his stomach growled. Dammit, he was hungry.

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Tea sat on the beach thinking of ways to avoid Kaiba. If she could just avoid him for a whole week, then she wouldn't be 'tempted' to promote physical contact.

She sighed angrily. It was always him that seemed to promote contact between them. All three times they kissed, he was the one who started it. So she shouldn't have a problem. He was the one that was going to crack soon.

She was... pretty sure of it, maybe...

She heard sand swiff behind her, and a shadow soon passed over her.

Just the person she was trying to avoid.

She turned her head slightly and saw that he was glaring at her expectantly.

"What?" She snapped, and stood up to face him.

He reached out with both arms and held onto her shoulders and began to push her backwards. He forced her back and into the ocean.

"What are you doing!" She exclaimed and Kaiba just stood there, both of them waist high in the water. "Why are we standing out here in the ocean?"

"I was hungry." He said, and she frowned. She felt his hands flex slightly on her bare shoulders. She looked up at him, but saw that he was looking away from her and out into the open ocean, as if suddenly interested in a particular cloud in the sky.

She felt one of his thumbs gently rub against her skin, and she couldn't help but shiver. She blamed it immediately on the cold water. One of her eyes ticked.

She knew what he was doing! He was trying to crack her! He was doing this on purpose, the bastard.

She pushed his hands away, and tried to go back to shore. "Why would you bring me all the way out here, just because you were hungry? You're going crazy, Kaiba, I mean OW!" She yelped and hopped in the shallow water.

She hopped in a circle, reaching into the water, trying to grab whatever was attacked to her big toe.

Kaiba calmly waded over towards her and plucked her out of the water, carrying her in his arms to shore. He dumped her on the sand and knelt down next to her and proceeded to take the crab off her foot.

Tea huffed, angry at Kaiba, even though she was in pain. "How'd you know it'd do that?"

"I told you before, you're good bait." He replied but then the crab scurried from his grip and scuddled down the beach. He cursed and chased after it. But so did Tea.

She got on one side, and he got on the other, and they moved side to side trying to catch it. Kaiba lunged, but it ran under Tea's legs and she scrambled around to chase it again.

Kaiba got up and continued, determined to catch the elusive beast.

When they thought they had it cornered again, they both jumped at it and their hands both landed on the crab's back, pinning it in the sand. Tea smiled in triumph. She looked over at Kaiba, who was down with her, his hands entertwined with her own against the struggling crab.

She pulled away and Kaiba held onto the crab in the sand.

She watched and winced as he slammed it against a rock and knocked it either out or dead.

He glared over at her and then his eyes trailed down her legs and to the cut where the crab had latched onto her foot. She saw that look of mischief in his eyes. Who knew that she would ever see the mischievous side of Kaiba? But somehow that didn't comfort her; she knew what he was getting at.

"Don't even think about it. These are new clothes, Kaiba, you aren't going to-" She screamed as he swiftly grabbed her and tore at the bottom part of her shirt. She pushed him away, but he wasn't finished ripping the fabric, and she ended up tumbling ontop of him.

His hands had braced themselves around her waist, his fingers tangled in the torn fabric of her shirt. Her hands were on the scruff of his collar, and their faces were inches apart.

She was so close that her hair brushed the sides of his cheeks. They were silent, in their little akward position. He shifted under her and one of his knees raised to move against her hip.

The single movement made Tea lose her train of thought and she was suddenly finding herself lost in those deep blue eyes of his. But she had to stay strong! Somehow...

He almost cursed aloud. This was the very thing he was trying to avoid! But he could feel her bare skin against his knuckles and fingertips; not to mention the position they were in. She was so close, all he had to do was merely close the two inches and he would taste her.

The stubborn, competitive Kaiba came out though. He would not be the one to lose the 'bet' here. He would win this and he would make her kiss him before the week was done.

She must have been thinking the same thing, because she finally pushed off him. She stood and brushed herself off and finished ripping the material of her shirt off and she went off to bandage her foot alone.

Kaiba smirked. He saw the blush on her face she was trying to hide.

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Mokuba enjoyed it when Serenity came over. She provided a comfort that he was missing at the moment. She was someone he considered a friend. And he needed a friend desperately at the moment.

With Seto still missing, and having to bear the responsibilities, Mokuba needed someone.

Serenity had just left for home. It was strange to suddenly not have her there. He settled down in a large couch and turned on a television to see the news.

They were talking about Kaiba corp, of course. He sighed and turned it off. He shut his eyes, tired from the day. Just when he thought was about to doze off to sleep, there was a large crash and he heard the now all too familiar sounds of blasts of artillery.

The room shook and he looked up. The ceiling cracked and then the roof fell down ontop of him.

A/N: Hey everyone! I updated! It's amazing! Not much more than angst for the two in this chapter, and please, everyone –calm down about Mokuba. It's not as bad as it sounded –okay, maybe it was, but still... you'll just have to wait. Anyway, uhhh, hope you all enjoyed. I hope everyone continues to review as diligently as you have been. I appreciate it so much, and I hope everyone will continue to do so. The reviews are what keeps me going. You all are some of the reason why I enjoy writing this. the other reason is my own personal enjoyment anyway, uhhh, sorry again for the lateness, but I was working on a Fruba (fruits basket) amv, and I was really into it. My next amv project will be 'lifestyles of the rich and famous' done to the one and only Seto Kaiba! LOL! It should be fun! Wish me luck at my convention, I'm gonna try to sell a pic I did of Kaiba with no shirt on! droooooooooool