I finished another chapter! And faster than I've finished most of my other chapters…maybe because I keep thinking I have no time to write, so I keep on doing it and finish before I know it. And my internet time is now limited, so I guess when I get bored and use up my internet time, I type up my fanfic instead…

Well, enough of me rambling. Thanks to my reviewers!

lilxangelxsweetz: Yes, you make plenty of sense…this chapter has less silent shipping, but the next chapter should have more.

bingbing: Maybe my writing did get better over the summer…And about the word foolery, well, the word never got marked when I typed it, so…And yes, he calls her Serenity in private. This chapter will clarify that…And fool mutt is sweet? Never thought insults were supposed to be nice…And what were you thinking, them proposing so soon? Yeah, right…it'd spoil the whole thing! And I think I answered it all…

Once again, I do not own Yugioh or anything else. Except the shop, maybe…Enjoy the chapter!

Sitting on the curb of the high school parking lot at the end of another school day, Serenity had her head in a thick book. She had absently put her backpack at her side, only halfway closed. Her math textbook, which didn't fit in her backpack, was on the other side of her. Her eyes were glued on the text on the pages of the novel in her hands.

"Hey, Serenity! Over here!" a voice called out.

She looked up at the voice, but it took another call to figure out that the call came from her left. Her mind was still inside the story. "Oh, hi, Tea. What are you guys doing over here?"

"We're not allowed to come here anymore?" Joey asked as Yugi and Tristan caught up.

"Of course you are! It's just not like you guys to be here right now. Don't you have to go to work?"

"Nope!" Yugi answered for them. "Grandpa said I could go have some fun today, and he also excused Joey."

"And my job isn't until six, remember?" Tea added. "Tristan…he…"

"Doesn't have a job," Joey stated.

"You don't have to tell the whole world!" Tristan grumbled.

They ignored him, except for Joey, who snickered. Tea asked, "So, Serenity, do you want to go to that donut shop with us? You know, to get a small snack and a drink or something?"

"Well, um…I don't know. Kaiba's going to be here soon…" She glanced over to the parking lot entrance just to make sure he wasn't here yet.

"So," Tristan huffed, his joblessness temporarily forgotten. "It's not like you need to keep the appointment or anything. Staying with your friends for one day won't change anything. He's a stuck up prick, anyway."

"Tristan!" Tea admonished. "You know she's just trying to help him find her best friend!"

"That doesn't change anything." He turned away from Tea and addressed Serenity. "Come on, just spend an hour with us."

"Yeah," Yugi said. "Just an hour won't hurt."

"Well…I don't think I can…"

"It's just one day," he urged.

"I know. It's just that…well, I didn't help him yesterday. So if I don't help today, either, it won't be one day; it'll be two. And he might not let me help anymore if he thinks I'm slacking off…"

"Serenity, forget about that." Her brother tried his turn in changing her mind. "Who cares about him? You can charm anybody into letting you do things, sis. You don't need to worry about that. It's just a trip to the donut shop."

Yugi interrupted them. "Well, it's too late now." He was looking over at the road. "He's already here."

They all looked and saw the exact truth in his words. Kaiba's sleek, expensive car was heading towards them at a fast but leisurely pace. He pulled up right at the curb not two feet from them.

Kaiba swung open the door and got out without a glance at them. "Well, if it isn't the geek squad," he drawled. Shutting it, he walked purposefully around the front of his car and swept his gaze over them as if they were insignificant animals in his way, arms crossed and legs planted firmly on the ground. "Serenity, you're coming along today, right?"

All eyes immediately turned to her at the use of her first name. Two bright red spots burned on her cheekbones. "Ye—yes…" she stuttered.

"Good. Let's go then." He turned on his heel and strode towards the driver's seat.

"Hey!" Joey called out. "You can't tell her what to do! We were—"

"I don't care what you were doing. And I'm not telling her what to do."

Knowing that he wasn't listening, Joey ran in front of him and blocked him with his body. "Where do you think you're going, moneybags? I'm talking to you!"

"What happened to the agreement yesterday, Wheeler? Forgot it already?"

"Okay then, Kaiba, where do you think you're going?"

"To my car. The last time I checked, I didn't have to ask anyone to walk over to my vehicle."

"Well, I was talking to you! When someone talks to you, you're supposed to listen to them!"

"The last time I checked, I had a right to freedom of hearing what I want to and ignoring what I don't want to, too. Did the laws change without my notice?" Sarcasm and boredom were oozing out of his voice.

"I thought a smart person like you would know what courtesy was—!"

Serenity knew that if someone didn't do something soon, there would be fists flying. Taking a breath, she stepped between them, and not looking at either of them, said, "I don't know what you two are arguing about. Kaiba, it's my decision if I want to go or not. Joey, it's also my decision as to whether I will or not. What you are both arguing about really has nothing to do with you."

What she had done was so out of her character that both stayed quiet when she stopped. Now that she had done what she intended and silence had stretched out, she wasn't so confident about her words anymore. She stepped back from between them.

It was Kaiba who broke the silence. "Well, it's your decision, like you said. What do you choose? And be quick with it, because I don't have all day." He looked at the time on his cell phone to emphasize the point.

"I…I think I'm going to go to the donut shop with my friends for awhile. I'll find my way to KaibaCorp a bit later, though," she added hastily, realizing how stupid she sounded.

"Donut shop? So that's why everyone's here? To go to a donut shop?" He looked amused.

No one answered the remark, knowing it would be pointless to do so. He sighed. "How long are you planning to take, then? If I let you walk over there, you would take forever to get there and up to my floor."

Serenity was surprised into silence a moment. He would actually let her go to the donut shop with her friends for awhile? "Umm…" She looked at Tea, Yugi, Joey, and Tristan in turn. "How long do you want to stay there for?"

"Long enough to get a snack and finish it," Tristan answered sourly.

"Around half an hour would be long enough, right guys?" Yugi said, trying to keep the peace between them. None of them answered with more than a small, reluctant nod.

Kaiba looked again at the time. "Alright. Half an hour, no shorter, no longer." However, he didn't move.

"You can go now, Kaiba," Joey said.

"I know." He still didn't move.

"Hello?" Tristan hinted. "It means for you to leave."

"Where would I go? KaibaCorp? As soon as I walked to the doors, it would be time to come all the way back over here."

"You want to come with us?" Serenity blurted out, surprised.

"No."

"Then what…" Tea started.

"I'm not the one who wants to go anywhere. If you want to go anywhere, you can go." He checked the time yet again. "As of now, you have 29 minutes. If I were you, I would hurry up and make some use of the time."

There was another silence. "Well? Are you going to that donut shop or not? If you're not, then I want to get to KaibaCorp and get some work done, Serenity."

"Al—alright then. Come on, guys, let's go."

As they walked off, Serenity looked back at Kaiba over her shoulder. He stood in the same spot for a moment longer, looking at the direction of the school, then abruptly turned around and walked back to his car. She turned back around and heard the engine starting, and saw the car drive by them towards the exit. He turned into the road and drove off into the financial section of Domino, the same way Serenity and her friends were walking.

"I can't believe you were stupid enough to yell out a number in the middle of English class, Joey," Tea was saying. "Seriously. The teacher didn't even ask a question, much less talk to you. Even if you were falling asleep, at least answer with I don't know. It makes you seem smarter if you have to say something."

"Hey, I'm usually right with the answer if I don't know the question!" Joey shot back.

Yugi looked skeptical. "Um, Joey, nice try, but that's Math…and you usually yell out the wrong number, anyway."

"And remind me why you fell asleep in the first place, Joey?" Tristan said, elbowing him.

Serenity was drinking her iced mocha when she heard her brother say, "What do you mean, fell asleep? I was just working hard, that's all! I was thinking about all of the work our teachers put on us and trying to make some sense out of it!" She choked on her drink and almost sprayed some of it out of her mouth.

She took a moment to swallow the drink, which took quite a bit of effort, then said, "Joey, what subject exactly were you thinking of then? English class requires counting?"

"Yes!" he replied defensively. "There's a such thing as page numbers, you know! And chapter numbers!"

All of them dissolved into helpless laughter. "Sure, Joey, sure…" Tea said between fits.

"Well," Yugi sighed when they all maintained self control once more. "Some things in life are just too good to pass by."

"And some people just are not great enough for that role."

"Hey, Tea, what's that supposed to mean? Who are you talking about right there?" A look of suspicion crossed his face.

"No one, Joey. No one you know that well…Right, Yugi, Tristan?"

"Of course," Yugi agreed cheerfully.

"Definitely. Why would our dear friend lie?" Tristan had a look of feigned innocence on his face that looked so fake Yugi, Tea, and Serenity sweatdropped.

"Hey! Stop siding with her!" He turned towards his sister for support. "Serenity, you're on my side, right?"

"Um…well…yeah! I guess..."

"What a great bunch of friends you are," he huffed, picking at his donut. "Leaving me all alone."

"Sorry, Joey," Tristan said sheepishly. "But you really can't disagree with what she just said."

"Yeah, sure, buddy," Joey said. "You can't disagree with her…"

Serenity zoned out of the conversation, which had now turned to homework that she didn't share. She was sipping at the last bit of iced mocha left in her cup when she saw a man in a white trench coat outside the row of windows. He opened the door and came in, not stopping to find a spot but walking directly towards them.

The others, who were still busy with their conversation, didn't notice. "Are you done with your half hour yet?" he asked coldly.

At the sound of that voice, conversation at the table immediately ceased. Fearing that his friends might say the wrong thing, Yugi hurried to be the first to reply. "Oh, yes…I think we lost track of time a bit," he said.

In reply, Kaiba simply turned away and started walking towards the doors. Serenity quickly gathered her things, knowing that he was expecting her to follow, and rushed after him. She didn't catch up to him until he was already out of the shop and making the distance between him and the building over twenty feet. "Kaiba, wait up!"

He didn't stop to wait, but he slowed down his stride a bit. Even then, she had to jog to catch up to him. And when she finally did reach his side, she had to speed walk to stay there. She didn't bother trying to tell him to slow down a bit to make walking a bit easier for her, especially with a backpack on, but he made sure that she didn't end up behind him.

She was breathing a little harder than normal by the time they reached his car, which was parked three blocks away. Gratefully, she slid into the passenger seat and dumped her backpack behind her. Closing her eyes, she let her head rest on the seat.

"Tired already?" Kaiba's voice asked dryly. "You still have an hour's work to do."

She opened her eyes and sat up, even though her body protested. "I know," she sighed. "But that doesn't change anything."

"You were sitting down for at least the last fifteen minutes," he said as he turned on the engine. "Even if you and your friends had walked from the school campus to here—which isn't that far—you can't possibly be that tired."

Even though his words were simple, something about his tone made them seem mocking. She kept to her silence, not wanting to have another smart remark thrown at her. She didn't know if he did it intentionally, but his words often stung with their tendency to make others sound so foolish.

Serenity was looking at her hands, but she could feel Kaiba's eyes turn on her when she didn't answer. She held her breath, hoping he wouldn't say anything else. Thankfully, his eyes moved off of her to the road, presumably, and she let the breath out quietly. Her eyes moved to look out of the window beside her. It was easier to look out of the windows now…

"Watch out!" she cried, seeing a man wearing completely black walking almost right in their path. How stupid could he be, wearing such dark colors out in the middle of the street and not bothering to even wait for the light? She quickly grabbed onto the seat as Kaiba turned the car sharply.

What happened next was a jumble of confusion. She heard a violent stream of cussing and cursing as she was pitched forward, losing her grip on her seat. Her hands searched frantically for something to hold on to, anything, before her head would hit anything that was in front of her. They found the dashboard and gripped it tightly, hurting her hands in the process. Screeching of wheels sounded all around her. She felt a bone-jarring impact, and heard the sound of something crashing into an object at full speed. Metal crunched. Glass shattered, and she felt it raining about her as soon as she heard the tinkling but deadly sound. Something soft and airy hit her, and she bounced off it onto the seat's cushion. There were screams, some which came from her. Another fit of cussing surrounded her.

It seemed like eternity before it was silent. She raised her head cautiously, taking her hands off of her neck where she hadn't known she had placed them. She saw a few small cuts on her arm, but there was nothing else. She saw her legs still had enough room to get out of the vehicle, though some glass still sat on her lap. Nothing else felt wrong, though her back hurt a bit from being slammed into the back of the chair. Taking a shaky breath, she turned to look at Kaiba, realizing with a shock that she was lucky; was he even alive?

The first thing she saw were vivid blue eyes looking at her, filled with concern. She let out a shaky breath, knowing from them that he was still alive, and well enough to get out and get help. In the next second, she took in the cuts on him and the bruise on his face, then the light pole that was less than a foot behind his head where it had hit the car. Her eyes widened as she saw how close it had been to smashing him to his chair. "Come on, let's get out of this junk bin," he said, his voice raspy. "Be careful opening the door; glass still might fall from the window."

Still in shock from the accident, the words didn't get to her. One thought went through her mind hazily: How could Kaiba be so calm after being so close to getting killed? It drifted and disappeared.

"Open the door," he repeated. "We need to get out." When she still didn't answer, he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her lightly. "Serenity, are you okay? Answer me!" He shook her again.

She blinked, the haziness clearing out of her head, then stuttered, "Yes…I—I think…"

"Good. Now listen. Can you get your door open?"

Turning away from his grip, she looked at the door handle. She reached out to grip the handle and push it open, still full of nerves from the whole ordeal, but was stopped by pressure on her arm. "Not so fast. Make sure the glass still left on the window doesn't come showering upon you when you move the door. Careful."

She took a deep breath to calm herself, then reached out carefully and put a bit of pressure on the handle. The glass didn't fall. She pulled it as far as it would go, and a new crack appeared on the window. She froze. "It's okay," Kaiba said. "It won't fall yet. Just be careful…" After a slight hesitation, she pushed it open slowly.

Another crack ran through the glass, but nothing fell. Carefully, she stepped out, glass falling from her clothes and her hair. She turned around, relieved that she was safe. Kaiba followed shortly after, though he had more trouble coming from the other side, his height being only one of the things obstructing him. When he reached the door, though, he tripped over something inside that Serenity couldn't see and had to reach out to keep himself upright. He grabbed the top of the car door, and the rest of the glass came shattering down.

He cussed softly, though the glass didn't fall on him, his arm being on top of the window. When the shower stopped, he stepped out and took the door from Serenity's grasp, stepping back and almost slamming it closed. "That piece of trash isn't coming home with me," he muttered. "Let's get off the road."

"What about the man…? What happened to him?" Serenity asked, looking up at him.

"He's still alive somewhere. I didn't hit him. I'm surprised he isn't shouting in my face right now, though…" Sirens interrupted him. "Come on. Let's get off the road."

Surprisingly, even though he was the one who gave the command, he wasn't the one who followed it. Serenity walked on, anxious to get away from the horror, only to see he wasn't following. When she turned around, she saw him bending over something on the ground.

"Kaiba, I don't think…" She trailed off when she saw him picking up a small square of white off the road. He shook it free of glass, then opened it and scanned the contents as he stood in the middle of the road. Even when an official walked up to him and asked him to get off the road so the could survey the damage, he didn't budge. It wasn't until he was done that he walked away, much to the officer's surprise, and handed the letter to Serenity. "I think you'll want to see this."

She hesitantly took the paper, not sure she wanted to read it. She looked at the man before her, unsure, but he nodded, as if to say, go on, read it. When she did so, she felt as if the world was falling from under her.

"So it wasn't an accident," she whispered, tears coming to her eyes.

Like this chapter? There might have been some errors in wording, 'cause I wrote this kinda late at night, but yeah…My next chapter might be up in a week, or it might be up in a month. It all depends…we'll see. And does anyone think I'm making Serenity cry too much…? Review, please!