What I said last time was a lie. With standardized testing, I actually had more time on my hands. I thought that studying for my Chinese exam would take up time, and even though three days of the week were minimum days, I still came home at 5:15. I also had a bridge project, but…I don't know what I did. All I know is that I finished this chapter early!

Thanks again for the reviews!

Bingbing: Ha ha…I liked that part, too. I just had to add it so he wouldn't seem so inhuman.

Snowmouse: WHAT MADE YOU THINK THAT! I'd never, ever, ever do that, even if I were paid a million dollars. He's too cute—at least in the show. You know, I really should have just said that I might do that just so I wouldn't reveal too much of the plot…Oh well. Too late. Now you know.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh… for the third time…and I never will…

"Where the heck is my sister?" Joey muttered for the hundredth time, pacing before the gates of the middle school. "She should have been here almost two hours ago!"

Tea sighed. "Joey, just be quiet for a bit, will you? You've said that enough already."

"And stop pacing before the gates, hun," Mai remarked. "It's not going to do us any good. We just came here, and we haven't even looked for her yet."

He spun around to face her. "I know you guys just came here!" he said heatedly. "But I've been here forever!" He went back to the gates and shook them as hard as could, trying to let out his frustration. Yugi and the gang just stared at him.

"He almost looks like a rabid dog," Duke commented in a hushed voice to Tristan. Ryo, who was standing between them, nodded in agreement.

"Well, maybe we should try looking around for her, Joey," Yugi said. "Mai's right; we've done nothing but stand here the whole time. Even before we came, I doubt you did any searching either. No offense, of course," he added quickly.

Just then, the sound of an approaching car reached their ears. Even Joey turned to look, wondering who would be here this late other than them. They watched interestedly as the car cut through the parking spaces and propelled towards their vehicles, which were parked in the spaces right before the gates. Every window was tinted so they couldn't see the driver or if anyone was with him or her. The expensiveness of the car only made them more curious as whom it could be. As it turned into one of the parking spots, most of them could have ran over there and torn the driver's window off of the door. That was only an inkling of how impatient they were to figure out who was intruding.

It came as a surprise when they saw auburn hair coming out of the passenger's side and a sweet face that was as familiar to them as each other—Serenity. She ducked back in to get out something that looked like a backpack, then shut the door and ran over to them. "Joey!" she cried, running over to them. "I'm so sorry! I was so busy with what I was doing that I forgot to tell you where I was!"

Joey heaved a sigh of relief and hugged her. "It's okay, sis. Just tell me next time."

"Who were you with, Serenity?" Yugi asked, interrupting her brother. "What were you doing? We were worried about you."

"She was with me," a somewhat familiar voice said behind them.

"You!" Tristan shouted before he even turned around completely to see the man approaching. He knew him by the sound of his voice. "What were you doing with her? If she was hurt, you'll pay!"

"I thought that was her brother's job," Kaiba said mildly. "Have you become her become her protector or something, Taylor? Or is the puppy not capable of doing so himself?"

"You won't be getting away easily from me either, Kaiba!" Joey, who had finally stopped gaping, had gotten it through to his brain that his eyes and ears had seen and heard that one of his enemies had been with his sister. Alone. "You'd better think again before you even come within a mile of my sis—"

Kaiba ignored the rest of what he was saying. He turned to Serenity instead and gave her a look that told her to explain before things got out of hand. At first, she did not see it. Her eyes and attention were on her two friends spewing threats, like everyone else, and she was a little embarrassed. The intensity of the gaze averted her attention, however, and the message in he CEO's eyes was as clear as day.

"Joey, Tristan, Duke, I can explain…" Serenity started. Duke had joined in now. She stopped when she realized that the three were oblivious to her voice and had not even seen the look Kaiba had given her even when they were facing him. Her gaze became a little desperate as it turned to the man she had spent the whole afternoon with, obviously needing help in getting Joey, Duke, and Tristan's attention. However, he did not seem to notice and did not give her any help. She turned to the others, and, fortunately, they were kind enough to help her.

"Guys, I think Serenity wants to say something," Yugi said. They didn't hear him, either. "Guys…" He turned back to her and smiled apologetically.

Mai sighed. "Joey Wheeler! Duke Devlin! Tristan Taylor!" she shouted at them. They finally stopped and looked at her. "I can't believe you guys," she said in a slightly angry voice. "Serenity was trying to tell you something, an you were so busy shouting insults that you couldn't hear her or Yugi. Can't you guys at least keep one ear open, if not both?" The boys appeared sheepish. Mai ignored them. "Now, what were you trying to say, hun?"

"Thanks," Serenity said gratefully. Mai nodded. "Kaiba didn't do anything—"

She was cut off once more when they exploded yet again. She sighed quietly to herself. "Please, will you just listen?"

Kaiba interrupted. "Look, I have no time to stay here and listen to you pathetic people argue. If you want to, do it on your own time." His voice was cold enough to make them all shut up. "So are you going to stand here and fight, or will you let the girl say her part? Because if you are going to argue, then I will be happy to leave you here to do your business."

Joey, Tristan, and Duke mercifully fell quiet, but they still glared at the CEO. Serenity quickly jumped in before she lost her chance. "We were looking for Mokuba. Neither of us knows where he is. I didn't see him at school, and Kaiba says that he last saw his brother right before he headed off to school. We don't know what happened to him." Her words were met by silent looks of surprise and shock. She looked uncertainly at all of the faces.

"Mokuba's missing?" Tea exclaimed. "What do you mean?"

Kaiba ran a hand through his hair in annoyance, then crossed his arms. "She means exactly what she said. How long does it take for you to understand a few simple words? Do I have to make it simpler? What about this: We have not seen Mokuba today. We do not know where he went. Is that clear enough?"

"Where could he be, then?" Duke asked.

Everyone sweatdropped. "He's at home, playing video games," Kaiba answered sarcastically, the obvious lie dripping from his voice like water from the end of a pipe. "Of course not!" he exploded, finally giving in to his pent-up anger. "Why do you think we spent an hour and a half looking for him? If we knew where he was, do you think I would bother searching for him in every street in the city? How thick can you morons be?"

"You didn't have to bring her along with you, did you?" Ryo knew that the tension in the air was going to lead to something soon. "We wouldn't even be here having this argument if you had just let her stay here and wait for her brother."

"Why don't you try saying that to her, then? I wasn't the one who wanted her along." Kaiba let out a hiss of anger.

Everyone turned and looked at her. "Well, he didn't make me go along… I guess I wanted to. Mokuba's my best friend." Her eyes stayed focused on her feet.

"You wanted to?" Yugi asked, surprised once more. "You could have just let Kaiba find him, you know. It would have been better, too, if you had…"

"I know," she said softly. "But I couldn't help it. I guess I worry too much."

"Well," Joey declared, "we're going home. You don't need to worry too much. I'm sure Kaiba will find him soon. That is, if he really lives up to his reputation with technology and stuff." He turned to his friends. "Thanks for coming."

His sister pulled lightly on his sleeve. "But, Joey! I want to help still!"

He turned back around. "What?" he asked, confused.

"I still want to help look for Mokuba. You said that Kaiba would be able to find his brother himself. Can I help, please?"

"You haven't asked me yet. What makes you think that I'll accept your help?" Kaiba's eyes were distant once more, but his voice was incredibly dry.

"And you will not ask him," Joey instructed. "He won't listen, anyway."

"Please? Mokuba's my best friend!" Her eyes turned sad as he shook his head.

Kaiba was reminded of Mokuba when he saw Serenity looking at her brother that way and a small spot opened in his heart. "Wheeler, you don't have control over your sister's life. You should already have one for yourself. If she wants to help, she can. It's her decision."

"Really?" Serenity's face brightened, reminding Kaiba of his brother yet again. It fell again, though. "If Joey says no, I can't."

"Are you really going to let him tell you what to do? I told you that you didn't know what it meant to make your own decisions. Your brother makes them all for you."

"But I have to listen to him! He's my brother!"

"Just because he's your brother, it doesn't mean he's always right." I'm a brother, and I'm not always right, he thought to himself. "If you really want to help, then you won't need your brother's consent to do so."

Joey grabbed the CEO's collar. His anger that had died away less than five minutes ago had come back. "Stop giving my sister notions on living life. As far as I'm concerned, your view is often wrong."

He ignored the boy before him. "Well, what's your answer? Do you want to help me or not?"

Serenity looked around her, not completely sure. She really wanted to help her best friend, but she knew she shouldn't do what her brother didn't want her to do. He was right about these things most of the time. Yet she didn't want to be constrained from living life the way she wanted to, just like Kaiba had said. Would her brother love her less for her decision? What if it hurt him that she had totally disregarded his words? She knew that someday she would have to go against her brother in something. Why did it have to be today, though?

She looked at the rest of her friends gathered around her. None of them looked like they cared what she decided. No, that wasn't right. None of them looked like the decision would change anything. She finally turned back to Kaiba. The look on her brother's face, which was turned towards her, almost made her reconsider.

'Are you going to let him tell you what to do? I told you that you didn't know what it meant to make your own decisions. Your brother makes them all for you.' Kaiba's eyes brought the words back up to the surface once more.

"I—I think I want to help," she answered hesitantly.

"You think, or are you sure?"

She stayed quiet for a moment. "I'm sure."

Serenity sat curled up on her bed, staring out into the middle of nowhere. A journal lay before her, but she seemed to have forgotten it. The pen lay on top of the words, the last sentence halfway completed, uncapped.

Her walk home with her brother had been very quiet. Joey had simply let go of Kaiba with a rough shove at her words, and began walking home. The others were shocked, too, but they said goodbye to her before she went after her brother. Kaiba had nodded and walked over to his car. When she caught up with Joey, she also was treated in the same way everyone else had been treated.

She had no doubt that he was saddened by her decision. Every other time, she had done exactly as her brother had told her. Going a different direction had set him off in a new direction, too. He had expected his sister to always be the same, she guessed, but that was impossible. Older brother, can't you see that I need to start making decisions for myself? I can't always depend on you, she thought with anguish, seeing him once more in her memory.

Once they had arrived home, nothing changed. They went about their chores silently, not needing to communicate to know what to do. Joey shuffled through the mail and put them on the table, then went to do his homework. Serenity cooked the dinner. As they ate, she tried to cheer her brother up. But somehow, she could not find the right words. All of them seemed to make the situation worse. She could only think that they needed to discuss her decision soon. The only problem was, she didn't have the courage to do so. She didn't know how her brother would react to her bringing the topic up again, and certainly didn't want to anger him. All that was left was to wait for him to say something about it.

Chores after dinner finished, they had gone separate ways into their rooms. Serenity finished what was left of her homework and tried writing in her journal to ease out all of her emotions. Somehow, she ended up drifting away instead.

She didn't notice when her brother came in the room. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't realize that he had read her confusion in her journal. Without knowing, she had started the much-needed talk. "Serenity, why did you help Kaiba?" he asked softly, not making much of an attempt to hide the hurt that flickered in his eyes.

Looking into her brother's eyes, she remembered all of the times he had been there for her and all of the great times they had together. It made her hurt to have to change it. Hugging her knees, she looked down at the journal, not seeing the words. "I had to find out what happened to Mokuba," she answered in a small voice. "He's my best friend. I would do anything to help him."

"But that doesn't mean that you need to help Kaiba. He's just going to use your help to find his brother, and then he's going to cast it all away without a thank you. That man is cold, sis, and he doesn't care what happens as long as he gets what he wants."

She looked up with a small amount of shock. "But how do you know that? How do you know he'll do anything without a care? Would he really throw away something as valuable as friendship to do what he thinks is right?"

Joey walked over to her window. He stayed silent for a moment, then sighed. "During Duelist Kingdom and his tournament, he often made attempts to make an end to…how things were. He tried to end his life a bunch of times, and once he almost did it, when he was going to blow up that duel tower with himself inside. And you know why? All because he couldn't get what he wanted. He couldn't beat Yugi in a duel. The only thing that kept him alive was probably the memory of his brother. He's dangerous, Serenity, and it's not safe to be with him."

Her mouth formed a small 'oh'. She looked up at her brother standing silhouetted by the window and wished that he would understand. "Joey, I really wish things could be the same as they always were, with you there so I could have a happy life. But…but things can't always be this way. I need to start making my own decisions and learning from the mistakes I make."

He turned back to her and walked until he was only a foot away from her and the bed. "Why start with Kaiba, though? When you start making your own decisions, you start with something that won't have such huge consequences, and has a great chance of having a good outcome. With that man, one misstep can lead to you being hurt, and it's certain that he'll just forget about anything you did for him and never look back."

"Joey, I don't know how to explain, but I think I'm doing the right thing. It's not about him; it's about Mokuba. I can't just sit here and expect him to look for his brother alone. It would be the same as what you said—hurting someone else. But it won't just be Kaiba that ends up hurt, it'll be Mokuba, too, because he'll think that I didn't care about what happened to him."

"He would forgive you, at least. Not like his brother."

She moved so that she was sitting right before him. "How do you know that he wouldn't ever look back? He's lived a hard life, and it's tough just to let your emotions all out at once when you've kept them bottled up for so long. Haven't you seen how different he acts when he's around his brother? He doesn't know whom he can trust anymore. That's why he acts so cold and distant. He knows that his life isn't always a positive impact on those around him. Since he doesn't know how to change the habit of pushing others away, he simply thinks that he can make things better when he's gone. Maybe it's not his ambitions that make him that way, but something else."

"Look, Serenity, I'm not going to try to change your mind because I know I can't. And I admire your courage in starting to look out for yourself. All I'm trying to tell you is to be careful around him. Maybe you're right. But there's still the possibility that you're not." He tried to smile, but a trace of sadness still lingered in the corners of his eyes.

His little sister smiled a genuine smile, then got on her knees and hugged him at his level. "Thanks for understanding, Joey. Thank you so much."

"No problem," he answered.

They broke the hug, and Joey said, "Alright, I'm going to leave you alone for awhile. I still need to do a bit of homework. So you can do whatever you have to do."

"Umm, Joey?" she asked a hesitantly.

"Hmmm?"

"Why did you change your mind about letting me help Kaiba? Not that I don't appreciate your faith in me," she added hurriedly. "But before, you seemed set on keeping me away from him. Why change your mind now?"

He turned around, looking more like his old self. "You know, I really don't know. Maybe it was your determination or something." He scratched the back of his neck. "I don't know."

"Oh," she answered, not completely sure she understood what her brother had just said. "Well, thanks."

He walked out of the room with a distracted nod and shut the door behind him. As soon as it was closed, though, Serenity's happiness fell away. "Am I really doing the right thing persuading him to let me help Kaiba?" she asked the space around her. She got no answer.

Okay, so this is it for this chapter. Sorry if it was boring, but I had to put all of the talking in to make it clear. The action will come up soon, I promise! Please review! If you don't, then I won't post anymore chapters, and those of you that want to keep reading will never be able to…it's for your own good! Cause I feel really ignored. Review, pwease?