Chapter 1

It was a Monday morning, and Alex had finished preparing all her items for her first day at Domino High. As she looked at herself in the mirror, wearing the standard female school uniform, she thought,

Geez, this uniform looks ridiculous and the skirt is awfully short. Good thing I'm wearing shorts underneath.

Alex took a deep breath and once she felt that she was mentally ready, she took her backpack and left her apartment. Outside the apartment building she resided in, there was a bus stop, as she would need to take a bus to get to school. The bus soon arrived and after Alex got on and took a seat, she had a little time to think to herself.

I wish I could get this mission over with. But Cas said this is a long-term mission and I can't afford to make any mistakes.

Alex knew full well what would happen if her mission failed. Even though a part of her was scared of failure, she felt that she had nothing to lose, as she had already lost everyone and everything that mattered to her.

The bus soon arrived at the stop that was closest to Domino High. Alex got off and then walked towards the school grounds. As she did so, she looked around the school grounds, taking in the sights and committing things to memory. She observed the students chatting happily, asking one another about their weekend. No one paid attention to her, and Alex was glad for that.

She entered the school building, trying to go towards the principal's office to get her schedule. As she walked, someone suddenly ran into her from behind, causing Alex to fall. Fortunately, she landed on her knees rather than face first on the floor. Although she was momentarily thrown off, she quickly recovered and then looked to who had bumped into her. Usually, her first instinct would be to attack without hesitation. However, she had to play the part of a typical high school student, so she had to hold back. As her eyes fell upon the person who bumped into her, that person held out his hand to her and said,

"Hey, there. Sorry to bump into ya."

Alex smiled and quickly shaking her head, she replied, "It's ok. You must have been in a hurry."

She took his hand and got up from the floor. The boy, who was the same age as Alex but with blonde hair and brown eyes but wearing a guy's uniform, replied,

"Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't want to be late. You must be new. I'd remember someone as beautiful as you."

Alex blushed a bit and replied, "Um, yeah. The name's Alex. I'm a transfer student. It's my first day."

The boy grinned and replied, "Heh, I hear ya. Name's Joey. I hope we're going to be in the same class. You must be on your way to the principal's."

Alex nodded and replied, "I am. Can you show me the way? I mean, unless you risk being late."

Joey replied, "It's fine. The teach should make an exception for today. Let's go."

Alex brushed herself off and then followed Joey as they headed to the principal's office. The two made a bit of small talk although nothing of much substance. Once they arrived at the principal's office, Joey waved to Alex and said,

"Here we are. I should go, but you have a good first day, Alex."

Alex smiled and replied, "Thanks, Joey. Maybe I'll see you later."

After Joey hurried off, Alex entered the principal's office. After Alex introduced herself, the principal welcomed her and then handed her the class schedule. As the principal and Alex left the office to head to the class where Alex would be, Alex thought,

This day has already been a bit eventful. I met Joey Wheeler. I wasn't expecting that to happen so soon.

Alex and the principal walked for a bit and then they stopped in front of the door to a classroom. The principal looked to Alex and told her to wait. After Alex nodded, the principal knocked on the door and entered the classroom. He then talked to the teacher briefly before he left the classroom. The principal smiled at Alex as he left to return to his office, wishing her a good first day. The teacher then approached Alex and asked her to enter the classroom, which Alex did. Inside the classroom, students were whispering loudly and the teacher had to cough loudly to get them to quiet down. He then turned to Alex and said,

"Would you like to make a brief introduction?"

Alex nodded and replied, "Sure."

She then turned to the students, who had suddenly gone quiet. She recognized Joey, who grinned at her, and she smiled back. As the students waited, Alex took a breath and said,

"Hello, everyone. My name's Alexandra Lawrence, but I prefer to be called Alex. I'm here for a year long exchange program, and if it isn't obvious, I'm from America. I hope to get along with everyone."

The teacher smiled at Alex and said, "Thank you, Ms. Lawrence. Let's see where you can sit."

The teacher looked around the classroom, and Alex noticed that there were a couple of empty desks. Alex briefly looked confused and thought,

Strange. I thought Kaiba was supposed to be in this class. I see Joey, Tristan, Tea, Bakura, Duke, and even Yugi. Cas arranged it, so I'd be in the same class as all of them. Could her intel have been wrong?

The teacher pointed to one of the empty desks and said,

"Why don't you sit behind Mr. Muto?"

Yugi waved his right hand and Alex nodded, heading towards the empty desk. As she took her seat and took out her things, Yugi quickly turned to her and whispered,

"Nice to meet you."

Alex smiled and whispered, "Same here."

Yugi turned back to face the teacher while Alex finished taking out her things. As the teacher was preparing to start his lecture, Seto Kaiba suddenly entered the classroom. Immediately, a lot of the female population sighed happily upon seeing the handsome, multi-billionaire CEO. However, Alex only kept her eyes on her notebook, not realizing that her target was finally present, until the teacher sighed loudly and said,

"We are honored that you have graced us with your presence today, Mr. Kaiba. Do take your seat, if you please."

Kaiba only grunted in response. Meanwhile, Alex heard his name and finally, she briefly looked up from her notebook. Indeed, there was Seto Kaiba in the front of the classroom, looking like he owned the world and not caring that he had arrived late to class. Finally seeing him in person for the first time, Alex got an idea of her target. He looked intimidating and serious although very handsome. Alex shrugged and thought,

If only I could just eliminate him and get this mission over with. But again, I can't afford to rush.

As she was about to look back to her notebook, Kaiba suddenly made eye contact with her. Although it was only for a moment, he looked at her, as though accusing her of something. Alex looked confused, not knowing what to make of it. Deciding that it was best not to engage in some sort of staring contest, Alex then looked back to her notebook.

Meanwhile, Kaiba stood there, seeing Alex. He thought,

Why is she here?

As he continued with his thoughts, the teacher glared at Kaiba and said,

"Sometime today, Mr. Kaiba. I'd actually like to do my job."

Kaiba just grunted and walked over to his usual seat, which was next to Alex's. Once he was seated, he continued to cast menacing glares at Alex. Although Alex knew that Kaiba was staring at her, she ignored him, figuring that she'd escape first chance she got.

The teacher was able to commence with his lesson, and the morning passed by uneventfully. Once the bell rang to signal that it was time for lunch, Yugi turned to Alex and said,

"Alex, why don't we go on the roof for lunch? It's a really nice day."

Alex tilted her head and asked, "Are we allowed to do that?"

Joey and Tristan approached Yugi, and Joey said,

"Yeah, of course. And we want to get know ya better. What do you say?"

Alex nodded happily and replied, "Sure, I'd like that."

Alex gathered her things and as she was about to follow Yugi and the others out of the classroom, Kaiba glared at her and whispered,

"I know who you are."

Joey observed the exchange although he didn't know what Kaiba said. Although Alex was momentarily thrown off, she then smiled and said,

"Oh, I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm Alex, the new exchange student. And you are?"

Joey approached the two and turning to Alex, he said, "Let's go. You're wasting your time trying to have a conversation with moneybags here. And Yugi's waiting."

Alex nodded and replied, "Oh yes, of course."

Without sparing Kaiba another glance, Alex followed Joey to the roof of the school building, where Yugi and a few other friends were waiting. As Alex and Joey were getting themselves settled, Joey said,

"Sorry we're late. Mr. I'm-better-than-the-world was harassing poor Alex. Who does that on their first day?"

Alex replied, "Oh, it wasn't that bad. But thank you for rescuing me, Joey."

Joey grinned and replied, "Yeah, no problem."

Yugi nodded and replied, "It's ok. Alex, why don't we introduce ourselves?"

The group of friends each took their turn introducing themselves to Alex. Although Alex already knew who they were from the intel Cas had given her, it was nice to meet them face-to-face.

After the introductions were done, Tea said,

"I'm so happy to finally have a female friend in our group. And I want to hear all about America."

Alex grinned and replied, "Sure. I'd like that. I'll try to answer your questions although there may be some things even I don't know."

She laughed a bit, and the others laughed as well. Tristan then turned to Alex and said,

"So you mentioned that you're part of a year-long exchange program. Why Japan?"

Alex shrugged and replied, "Why not? I've always been fascinated with Japanese culture and Japan is one of the leading countries in technology. Isn't that right?"

Duke replied, "That's true. Does that mean you know what you want to do in the future?"

Alex looked thoughtful and replied, "I'd really like to go into computer science. It might be a bit ambitious for me, but I'd like to go to MIT."

Yugi looked amazed and replied, "Wow, that's awesome, Alex."

Alex replied, "Well, I don't know if I can do it. My teachers at my old school said that I'm smart and have talent, so I could very well get in. But MIT is a difficult school."

Joey replied, "You'll get in. I can see it. A beauty like you with massive brains to boot."

Alex laughed and replied, "Awww don't put me on a pedestal. I may not get back down to Earth."

Alex continued chatting happily with the others throughout lunch period, having been able to come up with a believable cover story beforehand. The truth was that she really did want to go into computer science. Of course, this was before all the crazy events happened that led up to her being where she was right at this moment.

The school bell rang, warning students that classes were about to begin in five minutes. Alex quickly gathered her things, and Yugi said,

"We should head back to class."

Joey groaned and replied, "Yeah, but I'm not looking forward to it."

Alex looked curious and replied, "What class is it?"

Tea replied, "English. Most of the class struggles with it although I do ok."

Alex nodded and replied, "Yeah, I understand. Even Americans struggle with English, and it's supposedly our native language."

The group headed back inside and returned to the classroom. As Alex returned to her seat, she glanced at where Kaiba's seat was. Fortunately, Kaiba was no longer glaring at her, instead absorbed with some work on his tablet. Joey leaned towards Alex's right ear and whispered,

"I forgot to ask, but what's the deal with you and moneybags?"

Alex shrugged and whispered, "I have no idea. I've never met the guy before today."

Of course, this was the truth. Alex had lots of intel about Seto Kaiba although today was the first time she met him face-to-face. Joey looked as if he wanted to ask Alex something else when the teacher entered the classroom and said,

"Mr. Wheeler, please save your flirting until after classes are over. Or perhaps you'd like detention?"

Joey quickly bowed to the teacher and replied, "Sorry, teach."

He then quickly went to his seat. The teacher then said,

"Ok, class. Starting today, we're going to be focusing on the finer points of Shakespearean English."

Immediately, most of the class groaned with the exception of Alex, Yugi, Tea, and Kaiba, who just didn't care. The teacher coughed and continued,

"Yes, I am aware that it's a difficult subject but an important one. You should appreciate literature, no matter its age. Now, for the particular play, we will be studying Romeo and Juliet."

Immediately, Alex rolled her eyes although she did so quickly. She thought,

That is so cliché, not to mention that I know the play inside and out.

The teacher turned to Alex and said, "Ms. Lawrence, as I'm aware, you are very familiar with the play, so I'd like to have you help the other students who may struggle with understanding it."

Alex nodded and replied, "Sure, I can do that."

The teacher smiled gratefully and then continued the lesson.

The rest of the afternoon classes passed by quickly. Once the final bell rang to signal that classes were over, Joey immediately got up and said,

"Finally!"

Alex laughed and replied, "You really don't like school that much?"

As students began to leave the classroom, Joey replied, "It's alright but quite boring. I'd rather duel any day. Say, Alex, do you duel?"

Alex was surprised by the question and replied, "Um, a little although I'm not very good. I used to duel a bit with my friends back in America."

Yugi added, "That's cool. We should all duel sometime. I mean, if you want."

Alex smiled and replied, "I'll think about it." She then looked at the time and added,

"Oh, I should get going. Lots of things to do and all that."

Joey looked disappointed and replied, "Awww, and here I was hoping we could all hang out now that classes are over."

Alex replied, "I'd like that but just not today. If it's ok, how about we all get together sometime this weekend? We can talk details more tomorrow."

Joey replied, "That's several days away."

Tea shook her head and replied, "You can wait, Joey, and Alex might have a point. It'd be better for all of us to have fun on the weekend."

Yugi nodded and replied, "Yup, that's right."

Alex gathered her things and getting up, she said, "Ok, I should get going." She smiled and added,

"Thanks for making me feel welcome. I think I'm going to like it here."

Alex waved goodbye to Yugi, Joey, and the others and then left the classroom. As she headed to the front entrance, though, she noticed Seto Kaiba standing there. He hadn't noticed her yet, so she was about to turn around and look for another exit. Suddenly, Kaiba called out,

"You."

Alex looked Kaiba in the eyes and said, "I have a name. It's Alex, but I suppose I'm insignificant. Then I wonder why I am honored to be addressed by the great Seto Kaiba."

Kaiba scowled and replied, "I don't want to associate myself with anyone that has to do with the geek squad, but we need to talk."

Alex replied, "Geek squad? If you're referring to my new friends, that's not a very nice name for them. They welcomed me, and I'm grateful for that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do."

She attempted to leave through the front entrance. However, Kaiba was blocking the way. He evenly replied,

"Not until we talk, little girl."

Alex replied, "I have better, more important things to do. Please excuse me."

Again, Alex attempted to leave when Kaiba still wouldn't let her pass. She quickly looked around and seeing that the coast was clear, she punched Kaiba in the stomach. He cringed from the pain, and Alex took the opportunity to run past the entrance. She ran until it looked like she was in the clear. Alex then slowed down until she was walking and thought,

What a nuisance. What's his deal?

Meanwhile, Joey had witnessed the exchange in secret, as he wanted to catch up with Alex and ask her something. But as Alex and Kaiba talked, with Alex punching Kaiba and leaving afterwards, Joey couldn't help but grin. He thought,

Alex is totally awesome.