Title: Legally Blond

Pairing: Eventual Puppyshipping (Seto/Joey), past Snareshipping (Duke/Joey). Sideships: Persevereshipping (Duke/Téa), Ardentshipping (Tristan/Serenity), Puzzleshipping (Yami/Yugi)

Rating: T

Words (Chapter 7): 2,258

Author's Notes: I'm sorry I took so long on this chapter and you all had to wait! I kind of got insanely busy the last couple of weeks and didn't want to rush to get this done on the few moments of free time I had. I did post a one-shot and two chapters of another chaptered work I couldn't help but start. If you guys could check those out, it'd be very appreciated. But now I'm here and I hope you enjoy chapter 7 of Legally Blond. Again, apologies for the wait! PS – I did that thing I do where I write out parts in advance. I've got two things that are Puppyshipping moments written out! Just gotta write what's in between them.

Kaiba's POV:

Working for an ass like Pegasus was probably the worst part of trying to become a lawyer in this town. He was annoying as hell and for a man who could hold a person's life in his hands and damn them to hell if he didn't do his job right, he rarely seemed to take things seriously.

Whoever said those who can't do, teach, however, was sorely mistaken in this instance. Pegasus knew how to do his job exceptionally well, and his teaching skills might have been a little off, but there was never a doubt he produced some of the best lawyers to come out of this school through his internship.

I, of course, was living proof of that. Yet I was still here as his damn assistant and associate, working my way up to junior partner. I knew I was better off than most, his former students usually had to wait years following graduation to even get back on his radar, first gaining experience in other law firms. I deserved it, of course, having worked my ass off to get this far, so I knew it wasn't just luck. No matter what people may have said.

Most lawyers in his league wouldn't even have time to teach law students as well, but Pegasus' fame and fortune didn't come from having a lot of clients. It came from having the right clients. Clients like the rich and famous, the likes of which included the Princeton family who was moving up in the world and of course, my own stepfather.

I watched as Pegasus began greeting the students who filed in early, flamboyant as ever, and leaned against the desk to glare at some of the ones who stared at me for too long. I wasn't much older than them but they needed to still learn respect.

Among the ones filtering in, I noticed the blond I'd confronted on the bench the day before. He seemed in his own world, though, and hadn't noticed me yet. Brilliant. I'd just keep an eye on him until I could see his face when I realized I was the teaching assistant for the professor who actually could make his law school career hell. Crowler was tough and full of himself, oh yeah, but Pegasus actually had pull.

He set himself up near the middle of the lecture hall. Good move, too far in front or back was a rookie mistake.

I don't know what it was about this guy that even got me to give him advice. Assistant teacher or not, I knew I wasn't going to actually teach after all this anyway, so it's not as if I cared about seeing people succeed. They should fail on their own two feet rather than succeed holding someone else's hand. The thing was, you could just tell he wasn't like the other students in this room. He was different. I wanted to see how he survived this.If he survived this.

It could be fun to see him beat the odds…or crash and burn. Either one.

The rest of the students drifted in, some powerwalking through the door to avoid being late, and when they settled in, Pegasus decided it was time to start.

"Good afternoon, my little protégés. Though I'm sure you all know it already, I'm Maximillian Pegasus, but Professor, or Pegasus, or Professor Pegasus will do. I'm the top lawyer in Tokyo, probably in all of Japan, but I don't mean to brag now."

I rolled my eyes, hiding it by turning to the desk and shuffling papers so the class didn't see me. Of course he meant to brag. He had license to brag. I didn't mind if people were cocky, if they deserved it like he did, but I couldn't stand false humility.

"Now, over the next nine months, you will be blessed with having me guide you through defensive law as if it were a Labyrinth and I were Daedalus." I had a feeling only a quarter of the class got the reference. "Then you will be off studying with the other fine professors here at Tokyo Law, and eventually taking internships and becoming associates at the various law firms around the country. I will warn you now, I don't take interns except in their first year. So, in order to work for me, you must impress me now. Sounds fun, doesn't it?"

He clapped his hands together and I turned back around, examining the crowd. Half of them looked scared out of their wits. Smart. Some looked confident that they'd be doing just that, impressing Pegasus when they barely knew their stuff. A few others just looked confused, or maybe they were wondering what the hell Pegasus was on. That had been my reaction on my first day.

"Every year, I take four or five interns from my class, students who are truly exceptional. Now, I don't mean just in grades, either, I need to see that you have what it takes to think like a lawyer, act like a lawyer, to be a lawyer. I hold on to those interns for their stay at Tokyo Law; if they do well, I give them excellent recommendations and let them do their associateship at another firm to gain extra experience. Most come back to me after a couple of years and if I feel they grew the way they needed to, they become an associate for me, headed to hopefully become a junior partner. It's very rare that I bump an intern up to associate immediately, but it has happened over the years. Standing beside me is living proof of that."

He motioned to me and I crossed my arms, looking bored at the class. "This is Mr. Kaiba, for those who don't already know him. He is easily the best student I've had in the last five years, one of the best of the decade. He is also my teaching assistant, so if there's ever a time you cannot reach me or I am unable to come to class, he will usually be available. That obviously isn't always true, if I'm needed in court, chances are he'll be by my side. Mr. Kaiba is what I will be measuring you all up against and he will be helping me choose my interns. I suggest you don't get on his bad side, because compared to him, you'll all look like a fish out of water."

The class had turned their scared looks towards me. They didn't know that Pegasus was overstating how much influence I had on him picking his interns, but whatever. They should be scared of me anyway. I caught the blond's eye, he'd finally seemed to take notice of me, but I didn't see the same fear in most of the other students. If anything, he was making a face that I was sure should be read as, "Really? This guy?"

I must've glared at him because soon he was glaring back, ignoring everything Pegasus was saying. Maybe he'd crash and burn after all, first day and he already was zoning out in class. He broke the eye contact; luckily for me because I never liked to and a minute later, Pegasus was asking me to give him the attendance sheet and lesson plan for the day.

Throughout class, I kept glancing by the blond, but he didn't seem to be paying attention to me anymore. A couple of times, Pegasus asked a question and I saw his hand go up, but he was quickly overshadowed (as was half the class) by an eager know-it-all of a blonde who seemed determined to answer everything.

I almost felt bad for the friends she was with. Almost. I mean, they could have easily decided to not hang out with someone so annoying. I also started to dread her, because I had a feeling she was more than just a shoe-in for a spot in the internship.

Luckily for me, Pegasus only taught one class at Tokyo Law, which meant I only had to be back inside a classroom twice a week for two hours each. Since he also didn't have a lot of work to ever do at his office, I was almost always permitted to do my own work at home.

I walked through the door of my apartment and furrowed my eyebrows at how quiet it was. I checked my watch – 2:15. I cautiously walked through the hallway and to the living room, where I saw what I was looking for, part of it anyway.

A long body was sprawled out on the couch, with its face covered by a large open book, framed by messy black hair. I rolled my eyes and smiled, lifting up the book and shaking my head. The damn thing was heavier than some of my law books used to be, how had he not broken his nose?

I was careful not to lose the page as I set it down on the coffee table, putting my briefcase down as well. I moved back up to full height and stared down at my brother who still hadn't woken up yet.

All it took was one quick snap of my fingers by his ear before he jolted awake, sitting up with wide eyes. He looked around frantically, visibly calming down when he saw me. "Oh, Seto, it's just you. I had a weird dream about mind control and prophecies and…dragons? It was weird."

I bit back a chuckle, even as an adult, my little brother had an overactive imagination. "Write it down before you forget it. You could make it into a book." That was his dream, to be an author. A really good, well-known one. Well, that was one dream; the other was to open a theme park. We needed a bit more money before that one could happen.

"Where's Noah? Did he get back from class yet?"

Mokuba stared into space and scrunched up his nose, trying to remember. After a minute, I sighed. "Forget it, I'll go check myself." Clearly, he'd been asleep for a while. "Stop staying up so late and you won't need midday naps. You're supposed to be applying for jobs."

"I did! I swear, I applied to three different publishing companies this week," he insisted, and I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. He'd just graduated college (early, because he's my brother and he's a genius) and I decided to let him enjoy the summer before having to worry about work.

"Alright. I believe you." I walked away, turning down the hallway leading to our bedrooms. I stopped outside one of the doors, listening. At first it was quiet, but then I heard the all too familiar sound of my stepbrother swearing. I knocked lightly, waiting until I heard the muffled, "Come in," before entering.

The teal-haired youngest of our family was glaring at a pile of metal that I assumed was supposed to be turning into a robot, tip of his index finger against his lips. "The damn thing shocked me," he explained. Mokuba was a genius, but his talents laid in creativity. Our stepbrother Noah was an ace with computers and technology.

"I see. Well, I just wanted to let you know I was back, and see how class went." He'd just started at a technical university, his first year.

"It was fine, I switched out my class on Saturday to a different one on Fridays though, so I won't be home for dinner Fridays anymore."

I nodded; I knew that was all he wanted to say right now. He could be either very quiet or very talkative, but if something went wrong, he'd be telling me or Mokuba. I turned to walk out, about to head back out to the living room to make sure I had everything in order for the next day. Halfway out the door, however, I was stopped again.

"Oh, wait, Seto? About that financial aid issue." I grimaced a bit, I hated the way financial aid worked sometimes. My brothers and I all got most of our way in university paid through scholarships because of our grades, but the rest came through the school's aids. For the third time now, universities held back aid because they knew who our 'living parent' was. It didn't matter that we didn't take a dime from him, that we didn't even live with him, just the fact that he was alive meant the people in charge thought he'd be paying our way.

"Right, did you get the paperwork in fixing that?"

"I went to, and they said they'd look at it, but that's the weird part. They said that the remaining balance had already been paid? I didn't know if that was you and you just didn't get to tell me or if it was…" He trailed off and I could tell that he must have gathered from the look on my face that it had not been me. "What should I do? Should I go talk to him?"

I shook my head. "Just focus on your books and grades. I'll handle it," I said sternly. He nodded, looking a little relieved that he wouldn't have to deal with our father. "Don't work on that for too long, it's your turn to pick dinner."

"Pizza," he said simply and I rolled my eyes.

"Would it kill you and Mokie to ever pick something healthy?" I asked on my way back out the door.

"Yes!"

Author's Notes: How do you guys like the tidbit of this universe's Seto's life? If you read my other stuff, I've mentioned before I adore Noah. I can't help it, he's just an interesting character, especially in AUs! I didn't want to fully go into the whole Gozaburo thing but I wanted to give a peek at it because it's going to be brought up later (and maybe be something Joey and Seto bond over? Wink, wink?) In terms of ages, by the way, Seto is 25, Mokuba's 20, and Noah's 18. Joey/Duke/Téa are all 21-22. A little weird that they're closer to Mokuba's age than Seto's but… As for my question on opinions for if Duke and Téa should stay together, I'm still deciding so if you want to keep giving your opinions, that's fine! Also, I have another chaptered idea that I cannot decide what pairings to use.