Title: Legally Blond

Pairings: Eventual Puppyshipping, past Snareshipping. Sideships: Persevereshipping, Ardentshipping, Puzzleshipping

Rating: T

Words (Chapter 12): 1,200

Author's Notes: This chapter is shorter than the ones I've been writing, but I liked where I went with this one. I brought in the first glimpse of Mai in person (meaning, not just Joey watching her on a television screen) and I love it so far. I hope you guys aren't bothered by how short it is, I think it's just more dialogue than background.

Kaiba's POV:

The fact that Wheeler was glaring at me in every class wasn't surprising. What was surprising was that he was back in class to even begin with. I guess he wasn't a quitter after all. Good. I wasn't wasting my breath on that one.

I looked around the room, not wanting to get into a full blown staring contest with him (once when the semester started was enough) and jotted down a few notes on different students. Ones who I knew didn't have a shot at the internships, ones I knew were desperate for it…ones who could surprise us after all.

I hadn't put Wheeler anywhere yet.

I looked up to listen to Pegasus' question, and take note of anyone who tried to answer it (though, frankly, I was getting sick of writing Rebecca Hawkins every five minutes. Didn't her arms get tired? Jeez.)

"In order to create a defensive strategy, one must know how the prosecution is building their case. Makes sense, I'm sure. How can one counter something if you don't know what it is? So, who can tell me the ways a prosecution would build a case against your client?"

I jotted down the names of those who raised their hands, eyebrow raising at the fact that Wheeler was one.

"Mr. Devlin, give me one."

"They'd prove motive."

"Good. How does a defense fix that? Hm…Miss Nosaka?"

"Disprove the motive."

"How?"

"Uh…"

"Exactly! Miss Gardner."

"Introduce a new suspect?"

"Perfect! Once a jury hears a motive, it's hard to disprove the motive. It's much easier to add reasonable doubt in the form of a new suspect with a motive all their own. How else would a prosecution try to prove your client guilty? Miss Hawkins!"

"They'd prove the client had means and opportunity."

"Good. Who can tell me how to defend against that? Mr. Wheeler."

"Your client would need an alibi."

"And what makes a good alibi?"

"Witnesses, or video, something that can prove you were there."

"Perfect! Glad to see some of you aren't asleep today. The rest of you…you're running out of time to impress me. It's almost as though you don't want to be my interns!"

I pursed my lips, raising my eyebrows at the crowd.

"Speaking of which, class is just about over. Please turn in your résumés to Kaiba and then you may go. They must be in by this week or you are out of luck. Not to sound like my colleague, but I don't appreciate slackers."

Some of the class giggled along with Pegasus. No doubt they all knew the obvious reference, even those who weren't actually taking Crowler. They packed up quickly, forming a queue in front of my desk (which was technically Pegasus' but since he never used it, it was mine) and handing me their résumés.

Hawkins was one of the first, skipping up to me and handing it to me like it was as sacred as a Bible, and I resisted rolling my eyes. I collected the rest, ignoring the girls who tried a little too hard to bat their eyelashes at me as if that would give them a better chance. 'Barking up the wrong tree, ladies,' I thought to myself, as Wheeler came up. Speaking of barking…

He pointedly handed me his, and I smirked at him. "Surprised there's no kibble bits."

"Oh, go fuck yourself," he mumbled, swallowing a bit too hard when he looked behind me. I could only imagine Pegasus' reaction behind me.

"Mr. Wheeler. Good work today. I hope you're not giving my assistant a hard time, though." He sounded so amused, I didn't have to turn around to figure what his facial expression probably was.

"He's the one giving me a hard time, Professor," Wheeler said, eyes narrowing when he looked back at me.

I crossed my arms, leaning forward. "It's my job, mutt," I answered. I couldn't help the fact that my smirk grew when he balled his fists and I could tell he was only holding back his return fire because Pegasus was still in earshot. He stomped off and I put the résumés into a folder. I then jotted down Wheeler under the 'could surprise us' column. We'd see by the end of the semester.

"Do you think he just woke up one day and decided, 'I feel like being a lawyer today,'?" Pegasus asked. "Come on, we have a meeting with a client in about an hour. I need to brief you."

I nodded, finishing packing up as he headed out.

"Oh, and Kaiba boy? Do remember to think with the head on your shoulders when you make your recommendations."

I looked at him, glaring at his implication while he gave his own smirk at me. Working for an ass like Pegasus was definitely the worst part of trying to become a lawyer in this town.

Mai Valentine-Magnum was a piece of work. She had this look that I guess was basically what straight men would drool over, but honestly, she just reminded me of my pain in the ass cousin.

"Your associate is sick of me already," she told Pegasus and I rolled my eyes.

"He's sick of everyone," Pegasus answered. "Back to your case."

She shrugged, completely undeterred by the fact that she was facing a murder charge. "I don't blame you, Seto. Can I call you Seto?"

"No."

"I'm not always everyone's favorite person, Seto. Little Miss Loudmouth, my ex used to call me. Total loser that one was. If I'd wanted to murder any man I'd ever slept with, it would have been him."

"Mrs. Magnum, please. Can we get serious here?"

She sighed and looked straight ahead at Pegasus. "Listen. I didn't do it. Now, I've heard you were the best of the best. I need the best of the best right now. Do you want to take on my case or not? Because I don't have time to waste on finding a competent lawyer."

He looked at her, shutting her file. "I am the best of the best. I'll take it."

If I'd had a vote, I would have vetoed, but I didn't. Mai nodded, and she and Pegasus got to talking and signing papers.

When we were on our way out of the prison, Pegasus clapped his hands together. "Well, I've just had a brilliant idea!"

"Take on a case that no one could win and ruin your spotless career record?" I asked.

"No!" He sounded like he didn't notice my sarcasm. Or didn't care. He probably just didn't care. "How ready are your recommendations for the internship?"

"I was literally just handed their résumés an hour ago," I answered flatly.

"Good! Have them ready by midnight. I have an idea of who I want anyway. I just need my trusty assistant to agree."

I looked at him like he had six heads. "You're going to…start the internships early? On this case?"

"I knew you'd love the idea, Kaiba boy! I look forward to your email tonight. Ta, ta!"

I watched him in shock as he walked to his car, shaking my head.

"He's mental." He had to be; there was no other explanation for this idea.

Author's Notes: If you guys want to let me know what you think, I'm always up for responding to reviews/comments. Thank you guys for reading this far. 12 chapters so far! This is awesome. Also, I love writing how ridiculous Pegasus is in all this and how sick of him Kaiba is like 100% of the time.