Disclaimer:
These get tiresome after a while. One would think putting it on the first chapter would suffice.

Author's Note:
I'll guess that I'm not the only one who looked at Chapter 3 with a bit of disinterest. Lord help us all, Ceara has no plot, and that chapter really highlighted that. I may have no plot. Oh, dear. Kaiba hasn't quite realized that Joey's sister has caught his attention, and Serenity has absolutely no clue that Mokuba's horribly mean and unfair brother has taken an interest in her. It's kind of cute in an angsty sort of way.

I'm combing through my writing notes at the moment, trying to find some of the notes for this story. Some of the best ones were lost because they struck while I was taking a walk or a shower. I've considered investing in a voice recorder for my walks. The shower...perhaps that weatherproof paper would work. I have no idea.

Chapter 4

Midterms quickly settled in. To her dismay and distraction, Joey didn't share his sister's need to study instead inviting his friends over to hang out. Serenity could handle Yugi and Tea; both usually studied with her. Not that one could get much studying done with the noise Tristan and Joey were making. As much as she adored both her brother and his friend, she couldn't see how either expected to pass their exams.

Exam week disrupted Serenity's work schedule. She reduced her hours at the coffee shop to give herself more study time. Half her shifts were spent catching up on gossip from both her coworkers and the regulars. Most of it was fairly routine, but she was unnerved to discover the Kaiba brothers were still coming in during what would have been her normal shift. She had noticed that she was running into the elder Kaiba less frequently at school, and when she did see him he never acknowledged her existence. Her feeling that things were returning to normal shattered as she realized Seto Kaiba's odd behavior was best explained by the older teen's focus on the exams.

She tried not to think about that as she approached her first set of exams. Meeting her brother and his friends at the game shop, she quickly ascertained that most of the group felt they'd done fine on their exams. Joey professed confidence in his scores, but his decision to not commit to his opinion earned him a knowing look from everyone in the room. Trying to annoy the blond, Tristan drew him into a debate over who had done better on his exams. Serenity couldn't help but laugh, but Tea rested her chin on her hand and sighed, "Some things never change."

The second day of exams took its toll on everyone. Joey had studied as much for these tests as he had for his first exams, only now his nerves were showing the strain. He was lashing out at anything and everything, scaring his sister at one point as he took out his frustration on his locker. She couldn't see how that helped, but it was enough to encourage her to steer clear of Joey until after school..

That afternoon, she walked toward the school yard with her friends, everyone discussing the awful exam they had just completed. As soon as they reached the edge of the yard, Serenity heard a familiar voice yelling. "Yeah...well..."

"Ever the debater. Give it up, Wheeler." Looking across the school yard, she could see Joey squaring off against Seto Kaiba. While the upperclassman may have decided to leave her alone this week, his hatred for her brother seemed to strike at the worst possible time. Joey was fuming as Kaiba started to turn away from him. "At least, I can dress myself."

"What's that supposed to mean? We're both wearing the school uniform." Joey looked down at his uniform, which had admittedly been rumpled from living on the floor of his room

"And yet somehow," Kaiba sneered, "you managed to show up this morning looking like you slept in yours."

"Maybe I was up late studying. Ever think of that, Kaiba?"

The teenaged CEO turned back towards the blond duelist. "You? Study? That's a joke." He snorted for emphasis. "Do you even know how to read, Wheeler?"

Serenity had listened to Kaiba's insults long enough, first at the coffee shop and now in the school yard. Aggravated, she pushed her way through the crowd and stepped between the two teens. The tension was palpable. The girl was too worked up to lose her resolve, though. "My brother reads just fine, Kaiba:

Amused by the interruption, the upperclassman smiled smugly at Joey. "Still can't fight your own fights, Wheeler? How pathetic! First, you have Yugi fight your duels, and now your sister has to win your arguments for you. What's next? Is Tea going to start beating up people for you?"

Before Joey could respond, Serenity all but exploded, "I don't have to do anything for him! My brother can take care of himself."

"Is that so?" A faint smirk tugged at the corners of Kaiba's mouth as he slowly advanced toward Serenity. His eyes darkened with each step as they focused on the redhead trying bravely to hold her ground. He missed the fact that Yugi and Tristan had closed in on the trio. He also missed seeing Tristan throw his leg out as Kaiba came within an arm's reach of Serenity.

The tall teen fell with an unexpected lack of grace, knocking his target down in the process. He tried to maneuver himself to hit the ground first, but her struggling made it nearly impossible. By the time they hit the ground, Serenity was at the bottom of the pile. Looking up at him, near terror in her eyes, she pushed him with all the strength she could muster, "Get off me!"

He rolled off of her and onto his feet in one smooth motion, looking relatively unruffled as he brushed himself off and offered a hand to her. She quickly brushed it aside. "Suit yourself," Kaiba shrugged as he spun on his heel and started to make his way out of the school yard. In the time it took the teenager to find her feet, three voices had erupted, all of them targeting the lanky duelist:

"Kaiba, where do ya think you're goin'? I'm not finished with you!"

"Kaiba, you really ought to apologize for knocking down Serenity."

"Kaiba, you jerk!"

The last was lost in the vehemence of the other two. Tristan didn't care. He felt he'd voiced his opinion of the older student strongly enough when he tripped him. While Joey and Yugi attempted to gain Kaiba's attention, Tristan turned to check on Serenity.

"I'm fine," she blew a stray hair out of her face, "just annoyed. I don't understand how Kaiba can be so heartless!" Trying to still her racing heartbeat, she took a few deep breaths. For one brief moment, she'd been able to hear Seto Kaiba's heart beat as clearly as she could hear her own, smell the musky cologne that lightly evaporated off his skin. She didn't know why, but the experience had left her feeling more exhilarated than angry.

As Kaiba vanished from the school yard, Joey whirled around to face Tristan and Serenity. "Hey, Serenity, ya okay? Kaiba didn't hurt you or nothin', right?"

She could clearly see in her brother's eyes his desire for a reason to go after the aloof teen again, and she realized in that instant that she had tired of being a flash point between them. "Yes, Joey. I'm fine."

"Good." His tone suggested that he was actually disappointed to find his little sister intact, but Joey quickly turned to run out of the school yard, "After that, I could definitely use a snack."

Seto Kaiba sat at his desk lightly rubbing his arms. He'd taken the brunt of the fall in his wrists trying to keep his full weight from slamming into the slender girl. It had been worth it, though, just to see the look on the geek squad's faces as he nonchalantly stood up from knocking over Joey's sister. Thankfully, Mokuba hadn't seen the fight, or Kaiba knew he'd never hear the end of it. He'd be subjected to claims that he had tripped into her on purpose, that he'd lingered over her a little longer than necessary to hear her heart beat synchronize with his, to smell the light clean scent that wafted up from her startled form.

He sighed. Eventually, he'd figure out who tripped him and make them pay. That much was certain. For now, he might use the afternoon's events to further torment the spirited Serenity Wheeler.