A/N: Nope, no ownership declared or implied. Just a bit of innocent borrowing, nothing more, and nothing less. Yu-gi-oh will never be mine.

I must make a dedication here to my dear friend Scuba Muffin...this chapter is for you because those pictures you sent me so totally inspired the heck outta me! You rock!

Thank you ...Twilight...

Chapter 4

Serenity woke up and smiled. She looked around her new apartment and couldn't help but let out a soft giggle. She still wasn't use to waking up in a strange place, but as soon as she wiped the sleep from her eyes she had to smile. This was her place and she made her own rules. Life was good. She threw herself back down into the soft pillows and stretched. Loving how it felt to not hear Joey and Mai arguing in the morning (Mai was an early bird and he needed to hit snooze 20 times this led to a lot of discord).

Slowly she got out of the bed and made her way into the kitchen. Only two days left of school and then Christmas vacation started! She was so thrilled she could hardly stand it. She started boiling the water for her tea and poured herself a bowl of cereal. She wanted to get to work early today in order to do a bit of catch up. She had poured all of her energy into getting settled in her apartment this weekend, thereby neglecting some schoolwork.

It really wasn't her fault and she hardly felt bad about it. Saturday had been the party and…and her challenge. Oh man, she dropped her head onto her hand—why couldn't it all just be a nightmare produced by a bad meal? What a horrible joke. Then there was the whole Tristan thing, what the hell had the boy been thinking? She looked at the roses that had been delivered yesterday with a note of apology. Jerk.

A soft blush lit her cheeks, and then there was Seto Kaiba. She had kissed him. She had really kissed him. Unfortunately she had also really enjoyed it. He threw a new twist in her challenge. She wanted to use him to piss her overbearing friends off, but he was dangerous. That kiss proved it. How stupid was she thinking that she could maintain complete control? Her only hope was to laugh at no one's present. She would devastate Tristan, who deserved it, hurt Duke, who would be comforted by his fan club, and she would infuriate Kaiba, who would not take rejection lightly. She knew he didn't want her, but then again, the man hated to lose at anything. Why would her challenge be any different? She had stepped in it.

She finished her tea and cereal, quickly showered and dressed then raced off to school.

Kaiba came down to breakfast in a bit of a fog. It had been a long weekend, made even longer by Mokuba's self-inflicted tummy ache. It would be more than pleasurable to get back to the office. He slowly entered the dining room and greeted Mokuba who was lost in some random comic book. Too bad the boy didn't read books, maybe it was time he started enforcing good reading habits…

He sat in the chair and heard a loud, rather obnoxious and rude sound emanate from his backside.

Mokuba was in hysterics laughing while two of the servants hide their smiles behind their hands. They were giggling, Kaiba was not.

Quickly Kaiba stood up and picked up the offending 'noise-maker'. "What is the meaning of this!" His eyes narrowed on the small boy who was now clutching his stomach due to the pain the laughter was causing.

"You should have seen your face big brother," he managed through gasps for air.

"I can't wait to see yours once I punish you." Kaiba seethed.

That shut the boy up. Mokuba looked at him with wide sad eyes that looked on the verge of tears, though Kaiba believed the said tears were from laughing too hard.

"But Big Brother I was trying to help…remember you said I could help!" He ran over to Kaiba and tried to placate him.

"What the heck are you talking about Mokuba?" Kaiba demanded, crossing his arms over his chest. His stare did not falter. It was one thing to be laughed at by his brother, but it was completely different to be laughed at by his staff.

"What are the two of you still doing here?" He growled at the forgotten servants. They both paled and left the room. This was just wonderful, soon the whole staff would hear of this incident and everyone would have a grand laugh at his expense. He would be a joke in his own house. He would fire both women as soon as he dealt out punishment to his brother.

"You said I could help you win the challenge by making Serenity laugh. I think I made everyone laugh. I laughed and they both laughed," he motioned towards where the servants once stood.

"You expect me to give this…" he lifted up the whoopee cushion off his seat. "To her?"

"That would be stupid Seto, I want you to put it under her. When she sits on it…"

"Mokuba, I know I'm not much of a ladies' man, but I do know they don't find flatulence funny. If I slipped this under her," he couldn't imagine how he could stick this absurd thing under Serenity's backside in the first place, "she'd reward me with a slap not a laugh." He shook his head, clearing the thought from his mind.

"Then let's stick it under you!" Mokuba yelled gleefully. "I almost died laughing just now Seto! Don't you think she would too!"

Kaiba's jaw flexed, the idea of making an ass out of himself to attain laughter was not appealing in the least. "Mokuba, women don't find this funny." He understood Mokuba was trying to help, but this was not helping.

"Big brother, she has a wonderful sense of humor and I think she would laugh, especially if it happened to you." Mokuba's gaze hit the floor, he looked quite sad that Seto was rejecting his idea.

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Why do you think she'd laugh so hard if this happened to me?"

"Because you're so…not funny." That was nicer than 'uptight' or 'hard-nosed', then again he had come up with this idea because Joey had called his brother a 'hard-ass'. Hmmm maybe it wasn't such a good idea. Serenity might sit there stone faced while the rest of the group laughed, embarrassing his big brother. He would lose the challenge and be made fun of. "Then again Seto…it is a lame idea." Mokuba shifted his feet, he had failed.

Kaiba gave Mokuba a smile, he only reserved those for the boy, and patted his head.

"I'm sure you'll think of something else to help." Kaiba knew his intentions were good even though the end result was horrible. "Don't you have to get to school?"

"You aren't going to take away our annual sleigh ride tonight will you Seto? As my punishment?" Mokuba looked like he was going to cry.

Kaiba sighed heavily, he never could punish Mokuba. "Of course not. Be ready, I'll be picking you up after school today and we'll go. I might be a bit late if my meeting runs long, but I shouldn't be terribly late. Stay inside where it's warm until I come in and get you…deal?"

"I can't wait Big Brother! We're going to have so much fun." Mokuba raced out of the room, but hesitated in the doorway. "Seto I am sorry about what I did."

"Forget it Kiddo." Kaiba sat down with his paper once Mokuba had left. He sipped his coffee and ate a quick breakfast before he left for work.

The day went by relatively hassle free. The children were so excited about the upcoming Christmas break that one only had to threaten 'lots of extra homework' to get their attention. Serenity was too happy about the break to actually go through with said threat, it would only mean tons of extra work for her when they handed it all in. Besides, it wasn't long ago she was a child and the breaks were what she lived for. Her Christmas gift to all of them would be giving out only the work she had intended.

Class had been dismissed a half hour ago and she was slowly cleaning up her classroom. This was her favorite part of the day. Tidying things up and going over the turned in work. She liked to see how the children were progressing under her care. She smiled as she sat down to grade the spelling test she gave.

"Excuse me Miss. Wheeler?" One of the secretaries interrupted.

"Yes?" Serenity looked up smiling.

"I have a student who is waiting for his ride, seeing as you're the only one still around and he's been such a 'joy' in the office I was wondering if he could maybe help you in here." The woman wore such a stern frown Serenity almost laughed. Why this woman chose to work with children was beyond her.

"No problem, I actually could use the help."

"Great, I'll send him right down." She turned and left. Serenity shrugged and continued on with her grading. She was going to leave once she was done marking the tests, but she was sure she could find numerous things to do until the child was picked up.

"Hello Seren…uh…Miss. Wheeler."

Serenity looked up and smiled when she saw Mokuba.

"Let me guess…your brother is running late picking you up?"

"He had a big meeting today, but he promised it wouldn't be too long. Thanks for letting me come down here, she thought I was breathing too loud." Mokuba sat down with a soft sigh escaping his lips. He looked a bit upset.

"Would you like some Christmas cookies?" Serenity offered. She pointed to a table full of them. It seemed every child brought cookies to her along with a gift. It was quite generous, but if she ate them all she'd gain a hundred pounds…

"I love cookies!" He smiled and ran to the table.

"You can choose 3 and that's it. I wouldn't want you to ruin your appetite for dinner or have you get sick." She smiled as she watched him carefully choose.

"Thanks Miss Wheeler…" Mokuba sat down.

"Please call me Serenity when no one's around. Miss Wheeler sounds too stuffy, besides we're friends right?" She continued to watch him eat his cookies.

"Sure Serenity." They talked for a while and she was able to finish grading her papers.

"Big Brother!" Mokuba shouted towards the opening door.

Why did her stomach do that stupid flip-flop at the thought of seeing him? She would have to watch a ton of sad movies to get enough motivation to resist laughing at his gift. There could be no wiggle room. No laughter at all…

"Hello Mr. Kaiba." She stood up and walked around her desk to greet him, hey, she had to be social or he would try that much harder.

"Why so formal?" He asked as his eyes drank her in. She could almost read it on his face, 'why so formal after that hot kiss we shared?' She felt a slight blush cross her cheeks. He saw the flush and smirked at her honest reaction.

"Fine…Kaiba…hello."

"Come on Mokuba let's go." He looked at his watch as he waited for the boy to gather up his things.

"What are you doing tonight Serenity?" Mokuba asked as he zipped his bag closed. He kept thinking up new ingenious ways to aid in his brother's plight to win the challenge.

"I'm going home Mokuba, I have a date." Kaiba's face paled a bit and the smirk disappeared. She knew her comment had thrown him for a loop, so she simply smiled up at him innocently. Could he possibly not like the idea of her dating someone else? She almost laughed at the expression he had on his face.

"With who?" Mokuba asked, he sounded a bit sad…

"With a bag of popcorn and an old movie."

Mokuba smiled brightly, "So close to Christmas? You have to do something Christmassy…like take a sleigh ride…"

"Mokuba…" Kaiba warned.

"Do you like sleigh rides?" Mokuba asked her.

"Sure I do but…" She tried, but was interrupted.

"Then you have to go on one-tonight." He smiled in triumph.

"Let's say I wouldn't mind going on one, where the heck does one find a 'sleigh-ride' place?" She shook her head and continued to smile. She always saw sleigh rides on Christmas commercials and holiday specials, but she had never seen one race through the streets of Domino.

"We're going on one tonight and you're coming with us." He smiled and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards the door.

"Uh…Mokuba…I…uh." She was stammering as she looked helplessly at Kaiba. His smirk was back and her stomach did that stupid flip-flop again. How the hell did she get herself roped into this? No, it wasn't in her best interest to spend any more time with this man. "I'm sure your brother would rather spend time with you alone, I don't like intruding on family outings…" It sounded lame, but hell it should work right!

Mokuba turned to look at her with big sad eyes. "You don't want to go with me? Don't you like me Serenity?" He sounded as if he was ready to bawl. Kaiba looked at his little brother with a frown. He knew this game, the boy had every expression patented and could make his voice quiver like a pro.

"It's not that I don't like you Mokuba…it's just that…"

"You would rather watch an old movie with some popcorn than spend time with a kid who isn't worth the effort." He pouted his lower lip and sounded even more pathetic as a tear slipped down his cheek. This was getting good Kaiba nearly snickered at the show. He was usually on the receiving end of this head game so watching the struggle was quite amusing.

"Mokuba…I…uh….please don't be so upset." She knelt down to his level. Her heart was breaking. "I'm just sure that your brother would rather have some family time with you and I'm not family." She wiped the tear off his cheek then gave Kaiba an imploring look…please help me out here, I know you don't want me to go…

"It would be such fun to share our traditions with someone, I'm sure my big brother wouldn't mind…would you?" They both looked up at Kaiba who's expression seemed hard. Serenity didn't want to spend time with him. If only Mokuba was involved she wouldn't mind but not him, dear God, not him. "Please Seto tell her you don't mind." He turned his tear-streaked cheeks up at his brother, eyes threatening to spill over again. The boy knew how to melt the human glacier.

"I can't force her to come," Kaiba stated. "However, I won't prevent her from joining us either." He looked at his watch with impatience, they had reservations for dinner before the sleigh ride and they were dangerously close to being late.

"Please, please, please." Mokuba bounced in place. Kaiba waited for him to threaten to hold his breath. He had told Mokuba that that trick wasn't effective because the body would render itself unconscious before it allowed itself to be deprived of oxygen that long. You'll breathe again once you pass out Mokuba…

"I'll go if you're sure your brother wouldn't mind." She stood up and went over to her desk, please say 'no'. Quietly she gathered her things. She then turned to face the brothers Kaiba. Both of them were watching her, how unnerving, she was going it seemed. She silently wished Kaiba would stop looking at her, it was as if he had carnal knowledge of her, which he did in a way. She blushed at her recollection of their kiss.

"Don't forget your coat." Kaiba snickered as he grabbed it off the hanger. He held it open as she slipped into it. His hands purposely stroked her neck right before he pulled her hair out from under the confines of the coat. She nearly shivered at the contact. He had so much appeal, but he was dangerous and she would remind herself of that fact, constantly.

Kaiba wasn't thrilled with the idea of her intruding on their special tradition, but he didn't want to hurt Mokuba's feelings. Besides, it was a good strategy to learn what made her laugh. He would use this time to learn what made her tick. Maybe he'd even trick her into kissing him again.

They walked out to the waiting limo together. Kaiba walked ahead while Mokuba chatted endlessly about their Christmas traditions. Despite Kaiba seeming like a cold-hearted jerk, it seemed he always made sure Mokuba had a merry Christmas. She liked that idea, that Kaiba made sure Mokuba's childhood was made happy.

Mokuba climbed in first and scooted onto the side-facing seat. That move forced Serenity to sit on the front facing seat right next to Kaiba. She sat as close to the opposing door as possible. She wanted little or no physical contact with him, it was safer that way. Although, she chided herself, she knew he wouldn't try anything with Mokuba in the car with them.

This wasn't a date; it was merely her tagging along on their family outing. She situated her bag between her and Kaiba on the seat, and then shifted to place her pocketbook next to it. Lots of space was needed between them. She wanted him further away than arm's length. He smirked at her, he knew what she was doing and he found it quite amusing. If she had to go through all the trouble of setting up a barricade then she was keenly aware of the attraction.

He had her.

"So where are we going to dinner?" Mokuba asked.

"Carmine's." Kaiba answered. It was Mokuba's favorite restaurant.

Serenity frowned, with all the money she had used to pay rent and all she hardly had any left until her next paycheck. "Maybe you guys could pick me up after you eat." She offered.

"That's stupid, why not have dinner with us Serenity?" Mokuba almost whined. This was the perfect plan to have her get to know Seto, it couldn't be changed now.

Kaiba knew that a teacher's salary was low and it being her first year it had to be even lower. "Consider this a gift from my little brother to the teacher who took care of him after school."

"I can't accept." Serenity didn't even look at Kaiba when she answered. She had to refrain from looking at his eyes; they were too appealing for her own good.

"Oh please Serenity. You just have to. You did accept the gifts from your other students. Besides consider this an exchange of gifts, you did give me some cookies remember?" Mokuba was trying his best to get her to change her mind.

"You had more Christmas cookies Mokuba?" Kaiba glared at the boy. The memory of Saturday night still haunted him.

"Serenity only let me have 3. They were the best though." He turned his attention back to her. "Please you just have to say yes!" He gave her the puppy dog eyes again.

"Fine," she whispered, knowing that a total night spent with them was going to be the death of her. "Thank you both."

A/N: I love making Mokuba into a scheming maniacal child. He's a Kaiba right! Anyway, next chapter is her date with the Kaibas… Please read and review, inspire me to update quick…