Title: Legally Blond

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

Rating: T

Words (Chapter 19): 4,000

Author's Notes: Hey everyone! Before I go to the story, I want to just say that I got a few anon reviews so if you're one of them, I replied in the bottom author's notes! Thank you to everyone who faves/follows/reviews, it's so encouraging to get those emails, even if I can't answer right away. It means a lot to a writer who isn't always able to write when she wants and has more ideas than her fingers can type in a night. I'm glad you still like this, here's part 19. Thank you for your patience. I tried to make it long and interesting to make up for the wait and I think it is (it's 4,000 words and 10 pages!)

Joey's POV:

"Okay, Pegasus said that this case will definitely be on the test, so we'll divide up the work. I'll take the facts, Joey can take the closing arguments, and Téa and Duke can summarize the witness statements," Rebecca said, already grabbing a highlighter from the bed.

We'd been at this group study for hours now, but getting to the last few bits of the study sheet Rebecca had made up. I was on the floor, laying on my stomach in her and Téa's dorm, while the couple was seated next to each other on Téa's bed. The two desks in the room were currently ignored, filled with empty takeout containers and soda cans instead of their usual books.

"Does anyone else find it unfair that he works us to the bone and still makes us take his tests? We're drowning here," Duke whined, jotting down notes in the margin of his book.

"There's got to be a way to do all of this, every other group of interns has," Téa said, though her positive attitude seemed strained.

"His other interns didn't have a case like this," I mumbled, pulling the cap from my pen off with my teeth.

"If you just told the alibi," Duke started, stopping in his tracks when I glared at him. "Never mind. No alibi. Got it."

There was the sound of pens and highlighters against paper for a few minutes before a knock came at the door.

"Maybe Mahad decided to join after all?" Duke suggested as Téa got up to answer it. She looked through the peephole and sighed.

"Not Mahad," she grumbled, pulling the door open. "Hello, Kaiba. What can we do for you?"

I looked up in surprise, pen cap still hanging out of my mouth like a cigarette. Kaiba looked around the dorm at us, raising his eyebrow at me.

"Wheeler. We have work to do."

I scrunched up my eyebrows, taking the cap out of my mouth. I was ready to retort, but to my surprise, Rebecca did first.

"Why? We need him."

"Yeah, we're studying," Duke added.

"I don't care. Let's go."

"Excuse you, Kaiba, but it is almost nine o'clock at night. You cannot just show up at my dorm and demand Joey come with you. We are still students and we have things to do other than be at the beck and call of you and/or Pegasus at every moment of every day," Téa ranted, crossing her arms.

Kaiba looked from Téa back to me, who was looking back and forth between him and her. I knew she could be tough, but I didn't expect her to practically yell at Kaiba in the middle of a doorway.

"Gardner, I am your boss, and –"

"We're not on the clock right now, Kaiba. If you'd like to speak to Joey out in the hall, maybe you could try asking like a normal human being."

They glared at each other for a few minutes and I wondered whose eyes were a deeper shade of blue for a second until Kaiba spoke up again, not looking away from Téa still. "Wheeler, can I see you in the hall?" Though it sounded a bit like a command still, at least it was technically a question.

But, I'm a little shit, so that wasn't enough for me. "What's the magic word?"

He turned from Téa back to me, glaring harder. "Now."

I rolled my eyes, pushing myself off the ground. "Actually, it was please, but you still have that ever-present stick up your ass, so I'll accept your substitution." I dusted off my jeans and moved out to the hallway, Téa sending me a look that simultaneously portrayed concern and intrigue as she shut the door. "So, what work could we possibly have to do right now?"

"I've looked into it and one of the other places Valon works for is the country club Magnum's daughter frequents."

I blinked at him, waiting for him to elaborate. "…and?"

"We need to go and see if there's any proof of them meeting up there."

"Why do we need to do it? Can't you go alone?"

"Pegasus doesn't want me to." He gritted his teeth at that; obviously, it was a sore spot.

I sighed. "Well, Pegasus is also giving a test early in the morning, before we have to go to court, and we're trying to study. I can't exactly fail out of law school here."

"I'd mistakenly thought your priority was getting your friend cleared of murder charges. My mistake."

He began to walk away and I groaned, reaching out to grab his arm to stop him. He raised his eyebrow expectantly at me and I let go. "Don't do that. That is such a jerky, manipulative move." Clearly, he knew I'd rather fail and get Mai declared innocent than pass with her in jail.

He looked from me to the door and back. "How many more cases do you need to study?"

"I think three…"

"What if I went over them with you when we got back?"

I raised my eyebrow. "You'd really do that? That's actually really nice of you, didn't think you had it in you."

"Offer expires in thirty seconds."

"Okay, okay." I laughed a bit, nodding. "I'll get my stuff."

I opened the door, catching bits of a hushed conversation that ended abruptly when I walked in. "I think there's something happ—" "It's none of our business." Both Duke and Téa seemed quite angry, but her eyes softened when she looked at me.

"You're going?" he asked pointedly.

I nodded, sighing. "We need something on Valon. He thinks he's got it." I grabbed my books, looking around for my bag.

"Don't stay out too late. A good night's sleep is essential for test taking," Rebecca advised, leaning over to pull my bag from the chair at her desk.

"Thanks," I mumbled, taking it from her. "I'm sorry I'm leaving you."

"Don't worry about it, we've got it. You will study, too, right, Joey?" Téa asked.

"Yeah, I'll read in the car," I covered, not wanting to tell them that Kaiba offered to help. I looked at Duke, who was still seething. I didn't have time to figure out why, so I said a quick goodnight. I didn't know if Kaiba's countdown was still going.

"I'm ready," I told him as I left the dorm. "How'd you even know I was here?"

He didn't answer as we walked to the elevator. Because that wasn't creepy at all.

If I'd been thinking about it, I'd have found it odd how easily Kaiba seemed to know how to get to the country club. As it was, I spent the car ride decently distracted. The rich jerks of my life were constantly confusing me and making my life more difficult than it had to be, starting with exhibit A sitting right next to me and exhibit B back on campus. (Exhibit C was Pegasus, but he was an old rich jerk. That excluded him from my thoughts, for now.)

Duke had looked way too bothered about me leaving with Kaiba, which didn't make any sense because they could very easily still study without him. In fact, he didn't know how much longer he'd want to even stay in the dorm with them – a good night's sleep sounded pretty good. But then my thoughts swam back to that night at the party and I felt guilty for still not telling Téa about it at all.

Then there was Kaiba, who half the time acted like a coldhearted, smug bastard which was infuriating (and infuriatingly attractive) and the other half was this cool guy who ate homemade pizza with his little brothers and made jokes and is nice (also attractive)? Nope. Could not compute. Unable to form a connection between the two Kaibas (except attractiveness…shut up, brain). Maybe one was an evil clone he sent off to work and to give students really insulting pep talks.

"Quit staring, Wheeler."

I blinked my thoughts away, looking away from his profile to the road. "Wasn't staring," I mumbled.

"You've been quiet."

I laughed, looking back at him. "Want me to talk? Because I can be loud and obnoxious, if it makes you feel better."

He rolled his eyes. "No. I like it when you're quiet, but quiet and staring at me is creepy."

"Right, and knowing which friend's dorm I was in, and not telling me how when I ask – that's not creepy."

"So, you're admitting you were staring," he said with a damn smirk.

"And you're admitting you're a stalker."

"You're an idiot. I went to your dorm first. Your roommate told me where to find you."

I looked away in slight embarrassment. It was a very obvious answer, and yet I hadn't thought about it. "Oh." I watched the dark outline of the trees as we passed them. "And I wasn't staring."

"Then what were you doing?"

"Just thinking."

There was silence for a moment before, "About what?"

I chuckled. "You care?" He didn't budge, saying anything or making any expression to give away his thoughts. "Or you actually do want me to talk. I think I'm growing on you, Kaiba, no matter what you say."

"You're obnoxious, and avoiding the question."

I was, actually, trying to avoid the question but… "Thinking about tomorrow. What's court like?"

"A bunch of hungry sharks sniffing out the blood in the water."

I waited for him to elaborate, sighing when he didn't. "Thanks, that was super helpful."

He was silent again for a moment. "We're going to win."

"Heh?"

"You're worried about Mai. I get it, I guess. I mean, I think she's annoying as hell, but you care about her. So, I'm telling you that we're going to win."

See? There he goes again, showing this side of him that may be a real person with feelings. Before I could respond, he pulled up to a large gate and I realized we were there. I was about to ask how we were supposed to get in when he reached into his coat pocket, pulling out his wallet. He slipped a card out and rolled down his window, reaching over to slide the card into a slot, taking it out when the red light on the slot turned green. Next thing I knew, the big iron gates were opening in front of us.

"Wait, Kaiba, do you like… go here?"

"Nothing gets past you, does it?" he asked sarcastically, slipping the card back and driving through the gates.

"You really are a rich prick, eh?"

"Watch it."

"Who else goes to a country club?"

"Not that it's your business, but my family has a lifetime membership. I don't use it; I just can, if I wanted to." I didn't say anything as he pulled up to a huge building, getting out and handing his keys to a valet. "I shouldn't be long," he said, and I quickly grabbed my bag to follow him out.

When we entered the lobby of the building, I noticed grand doors on almost every end, a glimpse of what looked like a restaurant behind one open set. Beautiful chandeliers lined the ceiling and there was an elevator with gold doors on one end. Looking around at the people in their fancy dress, I felt significantly out of place. I hadn't even thought to ask Kaiba if I could change out of my jeans and t-shirt before we left campus.

Kaiba, on the other hand, walked straight through the lobby to the desk like he belonged. No, he did belong – he walked like he owned the freaking place. I tried not to let my awe and awkwardness show as I followed him, wondering how he was going to go about this. I had no knowledge of how anything worked in a place like this.

"Ahem," he cleared his throat, getting the attention of the girl behind the desk. She looked about our age, maybe more towards his age, and smiled warmly when she saw him. "Mr. Kaiba, I haven't seen you around in a while. Are you here for—"

"No," he cut in before she had a chance to finish. "I'm actually here to see if you could do me a favor."

He leaned in closer to her and she leaned in, interested. "I could certainly try. We at the Golden Oaks pride ourselves in customer service."

He smirked a bit and I couldn't help but think he looked like he was flirting. Maybe he was trying to, and I didn't want to think I had any feelings about that except that I was starting to feel out of place. He definitely didn't need me here for this. "I'm working on a case and one of the workers here is involved. I need to know if he and a certain member have had any contact."

She tilted her head. "Mr. Kaiba, before you go any further, I'm sure you know I can't break member confidentiality."

"I'm not asking you to break anything, of course. I know how important discretion is here." He leaned in closer. "Just maybe…accidentally give access to security cameras. In the pool area, specifically." He winked and I wanted to gag.

She smiled and looked down, shaking her head. "I can't do that, but I can tell you that interpersonal relations between members and staff is strictly prohibited." She looked up at him. "And I should also tell you that the next time you try to charm your way into breaking the rules, you might want to pick a girl who's into guys." She winked back as the phone rang, picking it up. "Golden Oaks Country Club, how can I help you?"

He turned from the desk in frustration. His eyes scanned the but mine stayed on him. I couldn't believe it. That was it?

He froze for a minute and turned his back to the doors, starting to walk towards the exit.

I didn't follow. "Are you kidding me, Kaiba?" I growled. "You interrupted my study session for nothing? I thought you at least had a plan."

"Shut it, Wheeler. Don't make a scene, just come on."

I scoffed. "No, I don't have to blindly listen to you. I don't know what you think but you're actually not in charge of me and—"

"Shut up," he reiterated, grabbing my wrist and starting to pull me away until…

"Seto?"

"Fuck," I heard him mumble under his breath. He let go of my arm like it burned and turned around. I followed suit, furrowing my eyebrows at the large figure. He sized up both me and Kaiba (me with a lot more disgust) and I tried to put together where I'd known him from.

"Gozaburo," Kaiba spat out and it hit me. Gozaburo Kaiba.

"I didn't expect to see you here. Are you here to see me?" He seemed way too giddy at that idea and not in the good way. He reminded me of a snake that just found a lost mouse.

"Not in the slightest. We were just leaving."

"We." Gozaburo seemed to be tossing the word around in his head. "So, I guess my old suspicions were true about you after all." He shook his head, making a face as he looked between me and Kaiba. "You could at least not parade around your low-class dates among my people."

I went to go defend myself, though for the insult or the insinuation by yet another person that Kaiba and I were dating, I wasn't sure, but I didn't get a chance.

"As usual, you have no idea what the hell you're talking about." Kaiba was still the epitome of control and confidence. Two things I knew I'd probably never have if my father was looking at me the way his stepfather was.

Over what, I wondered. Being gay, or would that be fine if I was a socialite? I was briefly reminded of the look Duke's parents used to give me.

"We'll be going now," Kaiba declared. "Wouldn't want anyone to think you've gotten your kids back in your life." He turned around and this time, I willingly followed his example.

"I guess it's true, Seto," Gozaburo said as we walked. "You can take the boy from the slum but not the slum from the boy."

If his stepfather's words bothered him in the slightest, you couldn't see it in Kaiba's demeanor. We walked back out in silence; the only time he spoke was to tell the valet which car to pull around.

I'd almost forgotten about the test and Kaiba's promise to help me study until we got back to campus and he parked in the lot behind my dorm building instead of dropping me off in front. We walked in silence to my dorm, a very awkward silence. He was still bothered about not getting anywhere with the country club (or about his stepfather?) and I was too exhausted to be angry anymore.

I also had a lot of questions, but every time I went to bring any of them up in the car, his white knuckles on the steering wheel kept me from doing so. When we got into the dorm and I noticed my roommate was gone again, I sighed, plopping my bag onto my bed. I watched him awkwardly move some books aside to place his briefcase on the desk.

"You don't actually have to help me study, I think I can handle it on my own."

"I told you I would, didn't I? Don't be stupid and refuse my help."

"I'm not trying to be stupid—"

"Succeeding though."

"—I'm just trying to be considerate. That was intense back there, Kaiba."

"We just didn't get what we needed. We'll work around it."

"I'm not talking about the case, and you know it." My voice was beginning to get louder. "You once told me not to talk out of my ass about what a great life you had and I'd like to understand. If you don't want to talk about your stepfather, that's fine, but you don't have to take it out on me. I'm not a fucking punching bag for you to take your stress out on. So, if you're going to be your typical douchecanoe butthead self, I don't need your help."

We stared at each other for a minute before I sighed in frustration, sitting on the bed.

"Which cases do you still need to go over?"

"The Mapplethorpe Case," I started.

"You don't need that one."

"What?"

"You don't need it."

"How do you even know?"

He rolled his eyes. "Are you sure you're not trying to be stupid? Use your head, Wheeler."

I thought for a minute. Duh. He was the teaching assistant. "You've seen the test."

"No shit."

"What else is on it?"

"I'm not telling you that."

I stood up. "Oh, come on."

He scoffed. "Wheeler, I am not helping you cheat."

"You just told me I didn't need a case!"

"Because it's late and I have court in the morning. I don't want to be here all night reviewing cases that won't even help you on your exam."

I sighed, before catching sight of the briefcase again. "Do you have them with you?"

"No."

I smirked. "I don't believe you."

"Wheeler." We stared at each other again before I made a dash for the briefcase. Unfortunately, he saw it coming and before I knew what hit me, my wrists were being held by his hands. "You know I could report you for cheating."

"The teaching assistant giving me hints in my bedroom at almost midnight would probably get in trouble in that scenario, too," I answered, realizing after the words left my mouth just how bad of a scenario it sounded.

He looked down at me – those damn few centimeters difference in height – and I took his momentary distraction to get the upper hand. Literally. I used his grip on my wrists to push him down on the bed. I didn't think far enough in advance to realize I'd be pulled on top of him, though.

I maneuvered it so that I had him pinned down, legs on either side of his waist, and wriggled my hands free to pin his down. "Ha!" I declared, sticking my tongue out at him.

He rolled his eyes, and a moment later our positions were switched. Next thing I knew, I was underneath him, his breath practically on my face. I tried to wrestle myself free, I had barely even registered him flipping us, never mind pinning my arms down. "You are stronger than you look, Rich Boy," I said, a little out of breath. He was; one hand was holding down both of mine while the other held him up so he wasn't flush against me.

He didn't let up and it hit me the other ways this position could be used. I could feel the heat rising to my face and hoped it wasn't visible.

"Wheeler." His voice came out almost like a warning, but he still didn't move.

"So, uh…" I didn't know why I was talking. I knew I'd say something stupid. But Kaiba was on top of me, those ridiculously blue eyes looking into mine and his face so close and I could feel something stir in my stomach and I knew that if I didn't talk I'd do something that would be even stupider. "Should we talk about why everyone seems to think we're…" Dating? Fucking? "Something?"

That must have snapped him out of it, because the iron grip on my wrists loosened. "The essay is on the Bull-Dog Sauce Case," he said as he got up, grabbing his briefcase.

I blinked for a few seconds and sat up. "Guess you don't feel like talking," I mumbled, rubbing my wrists.

"Because you want to talk about a topic not worth discussing."

"I think it is worth discussing, actually."

"Why?"

"Because people think—"

"If you're still worried about what people think, Wheeler, clearly my talk last month didn't do enough."

"Oh, bullshit," I snapped. "Don't act like you don't care what people think, either, Kaiba."

"Worrying about other people's opinions is a waste of time."

"So, you're saying you don't care what Pegasus thinks of you?"

"That's different. That has to do with my—"

"With your career? Well, newsflash, this is my career, too, and I'm going to give a shit if my fellow interns think I'm screwing my way to the top. If my client or witnesses or my boss's own family all seem to think it."

He turned back to me, glaring. "Look, Mutt, I don't know why anyone would think we're anything more than coworkers but clearly, they're wrong. That would never happen in a million years, so how about instead of worrying that other people think you've gotten where you are for the wrong reasons, how about you prove you're not by doing your part to win this case for us? If anyone is stupid enough to think I'd actually want to screw you, never mind screw you and let it influence your standing, they have their own issues."

Ouch. Okay, that hurt a little. Not even just the words – he said them with such venom. As if doing anything with me would disgust him that much.

"Whatever. Just go. Be sure to tell your brothers about what issues they have." He and I glared at each other a moment longer before he took his steps to leave. I watched him get to the door, throwing it open. "For Mai's sake, I hope you're a better lawyer than you are a liar!" I called as he shut it.

Just when I thought maybe I could actually like the guy. I laid back down, digging my phone out of my pocket, typing a text to Yugi. "Straddled Kaiba. Now talk to Atem."

Author's Notes:

Oh my gosh. That was so intense to write! I stayed up so late to write that final scene. I knew I wanted something to happen between these two but of course, Kaiba can't help but be a jerk, especially when he's already in a bad mood. Next chapter is the start of trial, which is going to be interesting since the dynamic duo isn't going to be meshing like they'd started to. And of course, I brought back one of the characters I hate, Gozaburo! Please let me know what you think.

Here are the two replies to guest reviews. Since the names came up as just guest, I'm putting the whole review and replying. Sorry, guys. If you did not leave an anon review, just ignore from here on.

Guest: "Really liking the bonding between them. Really hope Tea dumps Duke soon and finds someone else, she's sooo nice and deserves someone better." I agree, our dancing queen deserves a good man. She'll get her happy ending, I promise! I love the girl too much not to give it to her. Thank you for reviewing!

Guest: "I was internally screaming when I saw you uploaded another chapter, no joke. Thank you for the new chapter, this fan-fiction is amazing! :)" I'll have you know, Guest, I internally screamed at such a nice review! Thank you for leaving it!