Chapter Two: The Acceptance Letter

Hey everybody! I'm glad I got so many reviews. Oh, and btw, whoever wanted to know how long I've had my ff.net account, I've had it since August 2, 2003. See the stars I use in my border, they represent Serenity. The dollar signs represent Kaiba. Anyways, here's Chapter Two. Oh yeah, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

$*$*$*$*$*The Wheeler Residence$*$*$*$*$*

A groaning Serenity woke up from her peaceful slumber. Today was the day. For weeks she had been anticipating this very letter, and today, the first of the month, was the day it was destined to arrive.

She rubbed her eyes and then put on her fluffy pink slippers and her soft cotton blue robe. She looked at the time.

"Oh my gosh! The mailman must've come already!" and with that said, she raced downstairs.

$*$*$*$*$*The Kitchen$*$*$*$*$*

Joey was sitting at the kitchen table. As soon as the blur named Serenity raced past him, he opened his mouth to say something, but Serenity didn't have time to listen.

"Hey big brother. No time to talk, gotta get the mail." she blurted as she raced out the door.

$*$*$*$*$*The Porch$*$*$*$*$*

Serenity crossed her fingers as she closed her eyes and approached the mailbox. Nervously, she opened the small door, and found.....

"Nothing?" nearly cried a very crestfallen Serenity. There was nothing in that mailbox. Never in her life had she been so disappointed. She waited for weeks and weeks, checking the mail early in the morning everyday just to see if the letter had come in before time.

$*$*$*$*$*The Kitchen$*$*$*$*$*

"What's da matta sis?" asked Joey as she moped into the room.

"It didn't come. I guess I wasn't smart enough for The Designing Institute." mumbled the tearing Serenity. Yes, Serenity wanted nothing more than to go to this school. It was the top notch school of its kind in Japan (AN: That's pretty good) and she desperately wanted to get in. She felt that getting accepted to this school was the best progression for her hopefully future career: A fashion designer.

"Oh, then I guess this letter from this really smart fashion college is for me. Hmmm, I never even remember applying." joked a happy Joey as he waved an airtight sealed letter in front of his forehead.

"Gimmee that." she said as she lunged for the letter. But Joey kept it far from her reach.

"What's da magic words?"

"Please and thank you, now gimmee!" she cried as she jumped to get the letter that was high in Joey's towering hands.

"Ok" was Joey's simple reply, and he let the letter fall delicately into Serenity's eager hands.

As soon as the letter was in Serenity's grasp, she tore it open.

And she smiled:

Dear Miss Serenity Wheeler,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been welcomed into the noble arms of Japan's finest designing/art college. (AN: Ok, she might be a bit too young for college, but let's just say she's so smart that colleges are looking at her in her sophomore year) Here, you will be become a master in the grand art of fashion technology, and with successful graduation, will be granted a degree to practice fashion designs in some Europe's most critically acclaimed "Grand institutes".

Enclosed in this letter are the papers you will need to fill out to assure that you are willing to enter our school. Please fill out and send by the first of January, or as soon as possible.

Congratulations!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Oriel Defaccio

Dean of Admissions

"Well?" asked a very anxious Joey "Did ya get in?"

"Yeah, I did, Joey, but I wasn't accepted for the scholarship program." she said as she scanned the letter and its contents over and over again.

"You weren't accepted for the scholarship? There must be something wrong with those freaks, want me to teach them a lesson?"

"No, Joey. I'm sure that there was someone smarter than me out there who deserved the money more than I did."

"I doubt that. You're da smartest girl I know."

"Yeah but... I guess I need a job that'll pay me enough money in about 2½ years to pay the tuition fees." said Serenity as she put her head down on the kitchen table "Where am I gonna get that kind of job, Joey?"

"I don't know, unless you work in one of those really big, corporate owned industries or businesses. They make millions." suggested Joey as he sat down opposite from his sister. But he immediately regretted his words as he remembered who he unfortunately knew that worked at one of those companies. Well, he didn't work there, he owned the place.

Serenity beamed. Maybe KaibaCorp had a job opening. But judging by how Joey reacted yesterday when he saw her at the Kaiba mansion, maybe that wasn't such a good idea.

$*$*$*$*$*The Outer Gates Of The Kaiba Mansion$*$*$*$*$*

"Ummm...." Serenity was once again at a loss of words. Joey was getting impatient.

"What were ya doing in that creep's house?"

"Did he do anything to you?" asked Tristan who was starting to glow red with jealousy and anger.

"I was visiting Mokuba." she lied looking up the pathway to see if Kaiba had successfully gotten into the house before Tristan saw him. "Mokuba and I became pretty good friends after Battle City, you know, and I'd thought I'd catch up with him a bit."

"Did you run into Kaiba?" asked Joey a little suspiciously, wondering if his sister would lie to him. Then he cancelled out that possibility, Serenity was too nice of a girl.

"No, he was at a business meeting all day. Mokuba called me and asked me to come over because his brother wasn't there, and you know that Kaiba would never let a Wheeler into his house." Serenity smiled, her story made enough sense for Joey and Tristan to buy.

"Are you sure?" Joey asked

"About what? I came, I played, I left. End of story." Serenity lied once again. Then she grabbed her brother's arm and started dragging him. "Come on, Joey. It's almost lunchtime, and we wanna beat those awful lunch crowds, don't we?"

"Yeah, I guess." said Joey listening more to his stomach than to his sister.

"Hey, Serenity, can I join you?" Tristan asked a little shyly.

"Ok, Tristan." she answered happily, making Tristan blush even harder, if that were humanly possible.

"But Serenity, I don't eva want you near dat house again, got it?"

"Ok, but what about my play dates with Mokuba?"

"Well, we'll see about him. But you hafta stay away from the otha Kaiba brother, I don't trust him, especially around you."

"Ok, Joey." she said.

$*$*$*$*$*End Flashback$*$*$*$*$*

Serenity plopped herself down onto her sofa and picked up the newspaper.

"Whatcha doin?" asked Joey nervously.

"Looking for a job." she simply responded.

"Why?"

"To pay for college, silly."

"Where?"

"Anywhere that can get me that kind of money."

"Like....?"

"A big million dollar corporate office. I could work as a secretary or something."

"Any specific companies in mind?"

"Yeah."

"Like what?"

"KaibaCorp." Serenity muttered.

Joey was at a loss of words.

$*$*$*$*$*Kaiba's Office$*$*$*$*$*

Kaiba was lounging back in his swivel chair, thinking about how his brother just made a secretary quit.

"Mokuba just had to put peanut butter in her shoes, didn't he?" he asked himself. That secretary that had just quit (Compliments of Mokuba) was the oldest secretary in all of the eastern hemisphere. She had been working there since Gozoburo (AN: Is that how you spell his name?) was alive, but Kaiba didn't fire her. He liked her. She was the one who always used to let him sneak into Gozoburo's business meetings and spy on his plans.

But for once, Kaiba was actually glad that Mokuba had played his little prank. That old secretary was feeble. She was too old to be working, yet she refused to quit. But that made Kaiba wonder. Why did that old woman refuse to accept retirement when she was over the age of seventy, but immediately scream her secession from Kaiba's employee line when she found something sticky in her shoes after her nap? Kaiba had realized that that woman had wanted to quit all along, but was too stubborn to admit it. She was just using Mokuba's prank as an excuse to leave.

"I need a new secretary." He said to himself as he thought of the as he out in the newspaper.

$*$*$*$*$*The Bus Stop$*$*$*$*$*

"No way, Serenity. You're not going." Joey firmly stated as he watched his sister board the bus.

"Joey, you're so overprotective."

"But dat jerk will neva hire ya. He'll humiliate ya instead."

"At least let me see if I'm qualified for the job. It can't be that bad."

"Serenity....I don't wanna see ya get hurt." Joey said as he remembered what kind of jerk Seto Kaiba was.

Serenity daintily stopped on one of the bus's steps. "Don't worry, Joey. I can handle myself. If I get the job, I can pay for college, and if I don't, well there are always other jobs in the world."

"But I'm just afraid."

"Of what? That I'm gonna fall in love with him?" Serenity asked as the doors closed. This caught Joey's attention.

"Come back here!!!!" he shouted as the bus left in a cloud of gray smoke.

$*$*$*$*$*Kaiba's Office$*$*$*$*$*

Mokuba watched his brother for a second. Recently, he had discovered that a special person in someone's life can change them completely. Well, actually he hadn't discovered that. He just saw it on a TV show, and he thought that it looked really cool.

'Maybe that's all that Seto needs.' Mokuba thought to himself.

"What?" Kaiba asked noticing Mokuba staring at him.

"Nothing."

Kaiba shot a suspicious look at Mokuba, then returned to his laptop.

$*$*$*$*$*KaibaCorp's Waiting Room$*$*$*$*$*

'What girl would Seto like?' Mokuba continued to ponder to himself as he entered the waiting room.

Any guy would've killed to be in this room. There were girls crowded in it. Blondes, brunettes, redheads, tall girls, skinny girls, practically girls of every color and size. All of these girls wanted to be the KaibaCorp secretary, basically to see the elder Kaiba everyday.

All the girls cleared the way for Mokuba. They all wanted to feel like his "Older sister" so they could get a good word in for the job. They all complimented him on his "cuteness and charm" but he paid no attention to them.

Mokuba sat down in a seat that one of the girls had given up for him, still entranced in the search for a girl for his brother, he didn't even bother to say thank you to the girl.

"It has to be someone unexpected." Mokuba said quietly to himself. He also discovered on TV that the one you're most likely to fall in love with is someone you already know and would never have expected. That left Mokuba with a few girls: The girls in Yugi's group.

"There's Tea." Mokuba spoke to himself. Then he cringed at the thought of having Tea as a sister-in-law. "Nah...too talkative. I don't know anyone who'd want to date her."

"How about Mai? She's not really one of them, but she takes there side more than anybody else's." Mokuba thought about that for a second. Mai didn't really seem like Seto's type, and Joey liked her anyway.

"Maybe Seto wouldn't like anyone in that group. He always calls them Yugi and co., or the idiots, or the vexations, or the ones so desperate, they believe that cards have hearts." Mokuba slightly giggled at the terms his brother referred to as opposed to Yugi and his friends. Then a small thought squirmed his way into Mokuba's mind.

"What about Joey's sister? She's sweet, pretty, and so...optimistic. She's his exact opposite, perfect! Now, what was her name?" Mokuba asked himself as he tried to recall the Wheeler sister's name.

"Serenity!" he said just a tad too loud. A lot of girls turned to look at Mokuba, hoping that the name he just blurted wasn't the name of his brother's girlfriend.

"Hello, Mokuba." came a soft and caring voice.

Mokuba turned around and just the girl he was looking for. There sat Serenity Wheeler. She was filling out the application that was mandatory for the job when she heard someone call her name.

"Hi there." Mokuba greeted back "Are you trying to get the job?"

"Well, I'm hoping." Serenity squeaked under the angry eyes of all the jealous girls that had attracted the younger Kaiba's attention. She had no idea that this many girls were willing to vie against each other just for a job.

"Want me to put in a good word for you?" Mokuba asked.

"Well, that wouldn't be fair. I want to get the job because I'm qualified, not because we're friends."

"Ok." responded Mokuba, not listening to Serenity. Instead he was fantasizing his brother's wedding day. 'I wonder how Serenity would look in a wedding dress.' he questioned, trying to form the perfect wedding day scene.

"I'll be right back." he told Serenity as he went into his brother's office.

$*$*$*$*$*Kaiba's Office$*$*$*$*$*

"Hey, big brother, guess what."

"What?" his brother asked impatiently as he still kept his eyes glued to the computer screen.

"Serenity's trying out for the secretary job."

"Serenity?" his brother asked drawing a blank in his mind.

Mokuba sighed "Joey's sister." he reminded, wondering how Kaiba could forget who his future bride was.

"Well, well, well, our little gymnast wants the job? This ought to be amusing." He said loud enough for his brother to hear as he closed his laptop.

$*$*$*$*$*Twenty Minutes Later$*$*$*$*$*

Kaiba had already interviewed a few girls, yet he was yearning to interview Serenity. He was saving her for last because after interviewing nearly a hundred of these teenage bimbos, he needed a good laugh.

$*$*$*$*$*Two Hours Later$*$*$*$*$*

"Mokuba, send in the next girl." Kaiba groggily ordered as he rubbed his eyes. This was hard work.

Mokuba checked outside the door, and there she sat. The last girl waiting was Serenity.

"I'll be right back." Mokuba told his brother as he walked into the waiting room.

$*$*$*$*$*The Waiting Room$*$*$*$*$*

"You're up next." Mokuba told Serenity.

"Great, wish me luck!" she exclaimed as she got up.

Mokuba stood near the office doors and starting pointing to it, and started nodding his head frantically, and then he gave her a thumbs-up signal.

'I guess Mokuba wants me to get the job.' Serenity thought to herself as she took in a deep breath and opened the office doors.

$*$*$*$*$*Kaiba's Office$*$*$*$*$*

Kaiba looked up to see who the next bumbling ditz was, and to his torturing pleasure, it was the Wheeler girl.

Serenity noticed the smirk on Kaiba's face, and regretted ever coming.

"You know, KaibaCorp is looking for a secretary, not a gymnast, and even if we were, we'd want one who's actually good and can keep her balance." Kaiba sneered. 'This is going to be fun' he thought to himself.

"Hey, that was an accident." Serenity mumbled as she rubbed her neck and enjoyed watching her feet.

"Really? That accident is the best performance I'd expect from a Wheeler."

"Are those questions and comments really necessary for an interview?" Serenity shyly asked.

"No, but I can make them be."

"Can we please get on with the interview?"

"The interview's already begun, and I'd like you to tell me why I'd ever hire a Wheeler to work within a mile of me?"

"Couldn't you forget this childish feud you have with my brother and realize that I'm just here for a job?"

"Yes."

"Then why can't you host an interview like you're supposed to and not try to lower my confidence?"

"Because, that takes all the fun out of things."

Serenity was getting quite annoyed.

"Here! You can have your stupid application, cause I don't know what stupid spirit possessed me when I ever thought of coming to this stupid job interview!" and she threw her application in his face.

"I hope you know that this lowers your chances of getting the job." Kaiba calmly responded.

Serenity angrily rolled her eyes and stomped out of the room.

$*$*$*$*$*That Night$*$*$*$*$*

After Serenity's little eruption, Kaiba and Mokuba started looking at the applications. While Kaiba jauntily threw the applications away before even getting a thorough look at them, Mokuba grabbed Serenity's.

"I don't like this one's name, this one seems too happy, this one is too young, this one seems like a stalker....." and Kaiba just kept putting those applications in the fireplace.

Mokuba was scanning every word of Serenity's application.

"Hey, Seto?" Mokuba asked as he watched his brother happily throw away another bundle of applications.

"What? And why have you been looking at that one application for so long?"

"Because it's Serenity's."

"Oh, then let me have it."

Mokuba was about to give it to Kaiba, but then took it back.

"Sorry, big brother, but you're gonna throw it in the fireplace saying 'I don't like her hair color' or something.

"Mokuba, I'm hurt. I would never categorize her like that. I'd throw away her application based on her freckles."

Mokuba rolled his eyes.

"Seto, Serenity's only sixteen, that's only a year younger than you."

"So? Our old secretary was nearly a century older than me."

"She was voted neatest cubby in preschool."

"How do you know that?"

"It helps by looking at the applications, Seto."

"That takes too much time. Now, are you going to throw out that flea-collar wearing idiot's application, or do you want me to do it."

"She doesn't wear flea-collars, Seto."

"She'd have to if she wants to go anywhere near her brother."

"She's really sweet."

"My, my, my, aren't we being so defensive. If you like her so much, then why don't you date her?"

'Because she's not going to become my wife, big brother.' Mokuba slyly thought to himself.

"I'd think she'd make the perfect secretary." Mokuba argued.

"And what makes you think I'd want to hire her?"

"I'll tell everyone you sleep with your blue eyes beanie-baby."

"Mokuba, you know that's not true."

"It's amazing how well you can doctor a few photos using technology nowadays."

"Mokuba, you wouldn't."

"I would."

"Tell me why you want me to hire that mutt's sister."

"Because she's my friend."

"That would be an unfair advantage to all the other girls."

"You didn't even bother to look at the other girls. Personally, I think Serenity's the best choice. She didn't even make a mistake on her application."

"Let me see that." and Kaiba grabbed the application and vowed to find a mistake that his immature little brother had overlooked, but he found...

"None?!" Kaiba said as he looked up at Mokuba's grimacing face.

"She's perfect, big brother."

"As a secretary." Kaiba reminded.

"And as your special person." Mokuba mumbled to himself.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, big brother. I'll go give Serenity a call and tell her she's got the job." and with that said, Mokuba raced out the door before his brother could object.

"Stupid kid....has a crush on the mutt's sister." Kaiba muttered to himself as he laid himself down on his black executive chair. Then a wicked smile spread across his lips.

"I wonder how the mutt will take the news....."

$*$*$*$*$*The Wheeler Residence$*$*$*$*$*

"Serenity, phone for ya." called Joey.

"Ok, Joey." Serenity said as she took the receiver.

"Hello? Hi, Mokuba! What's that? I've got the job?! Really? How? Oh never mind. Oh thanks, I'll be there tomorrow at nine, right? Ok then, bye!"

"Who was that?" Joey and the visiting Tristan asked in unison, very suspiciously.

"That was Mokuba." she simply responded.

"Mokuba Kaiba?" Tristan asked extremely nervous.

"Yeah, what other Mokuba do we know?" she joked as she sat down.

"What did he want?" Joey asked very seriously.

"He just congratulated me."

"On what?"

"Getting the job! Isn't that great?" she exclaimed.

"No!!!!!!" Tristan and Joey did not approve.

'Darn, now I have competition!' Tristan thought to himself.

'He's gonna hurt her!' Joey's mind kept repeating.

"Serenity, you're not going!!!" Joey and Tristan stated.

"What?!" Serenity asked as her anger rose.

$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*

Sorry that was soooooooo long. Please R/R, and I'll update faster. For every seven reviews, I'll put up a new chapter.