NOTE: Okay, I'm really TRYING to make you people happy! But, know what? I'm glad that I'm doing so! You guys are telling what needs to be in here! I thought I was focusing too much on SetoxTea, but you tell me you want more. I know I need more JoeyxMai, and you say "YES!" So, thanks for helping me! And…I'm really hoping you guys are liking this story. I guess it's okay…. Well, anywho, on we go! Oh, and the standings:

TEA:

Seto: 19

Yugi: 0

Noa: 0

SERENITY:

Mokuba: 10 or 11

Duke: 0

Tristan: 1

I really think we have apparent winners. So…I might be ending the polls soon. Get your votes in while you can!

Oh, also, I'm going to be using a thing in here that closely relates to You'll se what I mean! Oh, and Seto may seem a bit…deprived…or feeling the effects of deprivation...in a weird way. Don't get mad! It's not much…a couple sentences or so. Anywho, read on!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Chapter 10: Pass 'Round the Secrets and Feelings

July 7

They had been here for a week.

For Seto Kaiba, it had been one week too many.

And being that they had been here for a week:

It had been a very…technology-less week.

Poor, poor, Seto.

What he wouldn't do for a cell phone, or laptop…heck, even just to hold a CD!

But NOOO! His brothers had to rummage through his danged belongings and confiscate everything fun to him.

Now people: that…really…bites…bad.

Seto turned over in bed and looked at the clock. It was quite early for him actually: 8:34 am. He sighed. Hadn't he proved himself to his brothers that he could go without some piece of hardware for a while? Couldn't they at least give him back his dang cell phone?

Honestly, he felt like they were the older brothers, instead of him, being that they always seemed to have some sort of trick up their sleeves for the brother. And then, a startling voice wound it's way into his head:

At least they act more mature than you ever will.

Sure, in real life, he had never heard this spoken to him, but he was sure that one day, he would hear it…if it wasn't already revolving around Tea Gardner's brain. Yes, that was the voice that had revolved in his mind a minute ago.

She could point out every fault in him. She had the perfect comebacks for a civil insult fest. She could be…just like him. He snorted at the thought. There was no way. He and Tea Gardner were on opposite sides of the chart. Her, be like him? That theory was for lunatics.

Then, I guess…I'm a lunatic, a random thought came up.

Why would that be so? He reasoned with himself.

I just said that she acted like me…then denied it. Make up my mind!

Or, better yet, SHUT UP! Why am I even talking to myself. Okay…I'm a bit concerned now…. I really need to go back to work.

Ha, that's a laugh. Usually, people say they need a VACATION! And here, the vacation is what's killing me!

This is pathetic!

I can't believe I'm still talking to myself.

La, la, la, I CAN'T HEAR ME!

I don't have to hear to listen to my thoughts.

OH SHUT UP!

Seto groaned and tossed in his bed. This whole thing was pointless and confusing. He needed a vaca-. Whoops, wrong word. He needed work.

How did he even get onto the subject anyway? Oh yeah! He had been thinking about Tea Gardner being much like himself, when he got into and argument…with himself. Was it even like himself to be talking with himself? Oh, God, this was sure a project on the brain. Seto just decided to ignore everything, and try to get back to sleep. That of which was impossible.

Noa sat alone at the dining room table, bobbing his head up and down to the music he was listening through the headphones on his CD player. His cereal lay, half forgotten, before him, even though the spoon was still raised to be injected into his mouth.

Heck, he just loved the song too much to take a break.

Suddenly, he heard the music coming in through his right ear fade away, and be replaced with a, "Hello?" Noa jumped and fell backwards in his seat, therefore landing on the floor. His headphones hijacked out of his ears, and his CD played fell out of his lap, landing on the floor with a soft "thunk."

He looked up at the intruder.

"Noa! I'm so sorry. Here, let me help you up," Tea stretched out her hand. She was concerned, however, it had been funny. She was trying to unsuccessfully hide the grin spreading on her face.

A smile appeared on Noa's lips. It had been pretty funny. He grabbed Tea's hand and hoisted himself up, with her help. He smiled to himself. Was he over his blushing-every-time-he-saw-her stage?

"Sup, kiddo?" she smiled at him. Noa felt a twinge of pink appear on his cheeks.

Nope. Still in that stage.

"Nothing…just eating…or," he looked at the almost empty bowl, "was eating."

"So," Tea sat down next to him, "Where's your brother?"

"Which one?"

"Both, I guess. I never see you or Mokuba anywhere, without you two being

within vision of each other. And I thought Kaiba had some new ways for this summer…."

"Well…Mokie is still sleeping…and I guess Seto is too. He deserves a break, I guess. After all, he has tried to change considerably over the past two days. And he's not really used to this sort of stuff."

"A break after two days? That's…sad," Tea shook her head.

"Well, look, he usually is cooped up in some sort of office or whatnot everyday, staring at a computer, or testing out some other piece of technology," he then put on a triumphant smile, "So, that's where Mokie and my brilliant plan came in: we took his suitcase and removed everything technological thing he had packed," he face fell slightly, "Which…except for the clothes, was practically the whole thing."

"I see. And then, there's the fact that he's been hanging out with you two for the past two days, which I'm sure can put anyone on their deathbed, with the amount of energy possessed within Mokuba and you," Tea smiled, playfully.

"Yeah…" Noa nodded. His eyes then snapped open, "Hey, wait!" Tea laughed.

"I'm just surprised Kaiba hasn't gone blind yet," Tea added on.

"Yeah…I was thinking about that too," Noa went off.

"God forbid he should be anything but perfect," Tea sighed. Noa turned and gave her a funny look. Tea noticed this, "What? What did I say?"

"God forbid he shouldn't be…perfect?" there was a slight and barely noticeable hint of hurt in his voice.

Tea looked confused, "What's your point…?" She thought for a second, and then saw the connection, "Oh! No! I didn't mean it like…like I want…or think…he's perfect or anything! Lord, no! I was being sarcastic! You know, he always seems to have this air around him that just screams, "I'm the perfect, almighty, overlord."

"Glad to be so highly thought of," a cool voice suddenly penetrated the air. Tea and Noa whipped around, and saw Seto leaning against the frame of the doorway.

"Hey Seto!" Noa piped up. Tea didn't say a thing. He had heard all that? What else had he heard?

"How long have you been here?" Tea scowled.

"Good morning to you, too, Gardner," Seto rolled his eyes, and sat across from them.

"You know, you could make your presence known to others…like normal people do," Tea continued to frown.

"Well, as you yourself said, I'm not normal," Seto retorted.

"Are you trying to imply something? That supreme overlord theory is really lighting up in my head right now," Tea testified.

Seto narrowed his eyes, "You're starting to sound as immature as the mutt, Gardner. Don't push it-"

"I'll push it as far as I want!" Tea stood up. "Heck, your younger brothers are more mature than you are!"

For once, Noa didn't mind being called younger. He was glad to be in the "good" category, in Tea's mind. He sat up a little straighter, just to act a little more… mature.

It was Seto's turn to stand, "You are beginning to get on my nerves, Gardner."

"Only starting?" Tea spat back, "Then I obviously haven't done my job. I had hoped to have started a week ago!" Noa saw that the argument was really heating up. Before Tea began listening to her feminine hormones, and throwing nearby objects at Seto, he was going to high-tail it out of here. So, sighing, he stood up, and left, unnoticed by the two bickerers.

"Are you always this much of a pain, Gardner? No wonder you're here on this trip. You're parents must have jumped at the chance to get rid of you!"

"WHAT? Why you imbecilic JERK! My parents LOVE me for that matter! I'd either be some bum out on the streets; or still in America if they didn't!"

"Well, had you stayed put in the US, it would have been proof enough for me that God exists!"

Tea flushed, "YOU MORON! My, GOD, what did I do to deserve this?"

"You annoyed the heck out of me, that's what!"

"WELL, WE'VE REACHED A MUTUAL FEELING FOR ONCE!"

"GOOD!"

"GOOD!" Tea ended, and collapsed into the chair, catching her breath. That had been one heck of an argument. Seto just breathed heavily, trying to calm his blood pressure.

A small applause erupted from the doorway. Both turned to see who had been spying on them.

Yugi, Joey, Serenity, Duke, Tristan, Ryou, Mokuba, Mai and Noa stood there, clapping.

"Thank God that's over!" Joey smiled, "I though you'd explode before that was done, Tea!"

"But you sure put up one heck of a fight," Tristan chimed in.

Serenity laughed, and said, half quietly, to Mai, "I'd like to see those two married one day." Mai laughed in consent. Joey spun around.

"THAT IS NOT FUNNY!"

"Am I the only one who thought it was?" Mai inquired.

"No, I liked it," Mokuba laughed, glancing over at Noa, whom had heard the comment as well, and didn't like the sound of it.

"What'd she say?" Tea inquired.

"Nothing," everyone chimed in. They didn't want Tea on another rampage.

Tea shook her head and sighed, "Well, I've officially lost my appetite," she glared at Seto, "So, I'll be leaving."

"Good riddance," Seto muttered. Tea shot him a look that clearly said, "Don't push it." Seto shot back a look that said, "I'm-going-to-use-you're-own-statement-and-push-it." With that, Tea stomped out of the room.

Seto stayed put. He, on the contrary was still hungry. Everyone else, save Noa, filed in and took their seats, all, except Mokuba of course, trying to stay a bit away from Seto. He still had his temper going.

Tea tramped up to her room, slamming the door behind her. She sat herself on her bed, and took out a piece of paper, ready to get her anger out. This always helped.

First, she would draw a picture of the person she was angry at (in this case, Seto). Next, she would have a fun, and stressful time, scratching out, scribbling over, X-ing out, and poking holes in the paper, over the picture. Lastly, she would crumple of the disgrace, and/or shred it to pieces; afterwards throwing it away. This way, she got to have fun (drawing and stabbing) and she got her anger out.

It was strange. But it made her happy. It was fool-proof.

Tea proceeded to draw Seto Kaiba's disgraceful head from memory, just as she had drawn Noa's for Serenity. Of course, with Serenity, she had drawn the boy in a mere five minutes. Seto…well…unconsciously, she was adding as much detail as possible…and somehow, making it look very real and professional.

She finally finished it, and looked it over, surprising herself. Wow. She hadn't meant to make it look this good. She just wanted a resemblance to make it look more real, so that she could pretend it really was him that she was going to shred.

But this…this was really good. She nodded her head. She had always liked art…. Therefore, she had become quite the spectator in it. And this…somehow, she admitted, sighing in defeat…this was too good to throw away.

Tea lay back on her pillows. Instead of getting rid of her anger, and ripping it to pieces (Seto Kaiba), she had proceeded into making it one of her masterpieces.

She put her hands over her face, What was going on? There had to be some law on making a rich jerk look so good.

One of her own phrases popped into her head, God forbid Seto Kaiba shouldn't be this hot.

Tea held up the sketch and looked it over once more. It was missing something…. Ah ha. She found it. Tea sat back up and erased the frown on his face that she had drawn (heck, it was the only memory she had of his mouth). She tried a smile…yet, it just didn't seem to fit. It was too…un-Kaiba-ish. She sighed. Who did she know have the ultimately perfect smile?

Then it dawned on her. Tea smiled and dove under her bed, fishing out something. She brought up her old photo album and flipped to her favorite picture: the last one.

He had the perfect smile. It would be perfect. Here Takanaka had the best smile in the world….

Tea peered closely at the photo, and then at her picture. She slowly made that same smile on Kaiba that was on the boy in her photograph. Then, she proceeded to making the eyebrows on him a little softer; so that he wouldn't have that strange, evil look about him.

She smiled when she had finished. Perfect. Heck, I've made him even more hot! Geez…I'm turning into a ditzy-slut. She shook her head at the thought. So caught up in admiring her handiwork (even if it was Seto Kaiba), she didn't notice the striking resemblance between the picture and the photo….

Joey sat out on the beach, enjoying the sun. Oh, this was the life. He was so glad to have come on this trip. It had been wonderful.

Except for the fact that Kaiba was here, but that some advantages, like free entertainment.

Otherwise, everything was good.

"Hey, Joe," Tea suddenly came up to him.

"Hey, yourself," Joey smiled. "Where'd you run off to?"

"My room."

"Special ange' management ting?" Joey inquired, smirking.

"You…might say that," Tea scratched her cheek a bit. Her friends knew about her "anger management solution."

"Didn't it work?"

"Yeah…I guess," Tea relied. Joey looked at her sternly. "I swear, it worked! I'm not mad anymore! I had the best time tearing the blasted paper to shreds," Tea lied.

Joey sighed, "Fine, I believe ya."

"Speaking of beliefs," she pointed out, "I believe you," she then pointed to someone lying on their towel not ten feet away, "should go fraternize with Mai."

"Frater-what?" Joey inquired, "I'm doing nuttin' o' da sort! Tea, are you startin' ta become all perver-"

"JOEY! That's not what fraternize means!"

"Oh…. No big words, Tea, you know dat! I wasn't exactly an A student in English."

"Don't I know," Tea rolled her eyes. Every night before one of their vocabulary tests, Joey would call her up, asking for her to quiz him. She then explained:

"Fraternize, Joey. It means associate with." The blank look stayed on Joey's face. Tea sighed, "Go talk to her."

"Oh, is that all it means?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you say so?"

"I did say so…just in a synonymous way." The blank look was back. Tea rolled her eyes, "I said the same thing in a different way."

"Oooohh…" Joey nodded his head, "I get it!"

"Good. Now, what are you waiting for, the next millennia? Go talk to her already!"

"Ah ha! I know what a millennia is!" Tea gave a hopeful look. "That happens to be…" Joey thought for a second, trying to remember what Tea had said, "a sy…non…y…mous…word fer century: one-hundred yea's!" Tea slapped her forehead.

"It's one thousand years, Joey! And century is one hundred years, and a millennia is one thousand years!"

"Oh…yeah," Joey rubbed the back of his head, "I knew dat."

"Sure you did. And pigs fly," Tea sighed.

"I'm pretty sure I see Wheeler on the ground, and not up yonder," an oh so familiar cold voice suddenly appeared.

"KAIBA!" Joey popped up from the ground spontaneously and snarled.

"Up pup, pup," Tea held up her hand, "Look, Kaiba, could you just leave us alone? I'm still trying to get over our last argument."

"Tea, I tought you said dat you did get over it," Joey looked at her. "Is your "fool-proof" plan failing?" he smirked.

"It didn't fail!" Tea jumped up. "It just…didn't work quite the way I wanted it to…that's all," she looked away, whispering meekly.

"Then, it failed, Gardner. There's no other word for it," Seto replied.

"Oh yeah? I'm sure Tea could come up wi' somdin dat could be…synon…synon…synony-what's it with 'failed!'"

"Synonymous?"

"Dat's da one!" Joey pointed out.

"You're dumber than I thought," Seto sneered, and shook his head.

"Watch it-!"

"Kaiba…it'd be very sagacious if you left as of now," Tea said, testily, clenching her fists, trying to hold her anger down, "Please."

Joey was dying to know what the word 'sagacious' meant, but wasn't about to ask in front of Seto.

"…Fine." It was a simple answer. An answer so simple that it took Tea and Joey both by surprise. Seto smirked, and began walking away. He suddenly stopped, "And Wheeler…FYI, sagacious means 'wise…' something I'm afraid, you are no where near

being."

"YA DIDN'T HAFTA TELL ME DAT! I KNEW WHAT SAGA…SAGA…WHAT IT MEANT!" Joey threw a fist up. Seto huffed and walked away. Joey edged over to Tea, "I'm really starting to really dislike dat guy…. He can read minds." Tea suddenly laughed.

"But he had the Rod in the past, not the Eye," Yugi suddenly approached them.

"Oh, hey Yug. Uh…you heard dat?"

"Yep. And I doubt Kaiba can read minds, Joey. That's…the realm of sci-fi. You're just…."

"I'm just wa'? Joey narrowed his eyes.

"Obvious."

"Now dat's a word I know! Fo' sure!"

So, after that little charade, Tea had eventually pushed Joey in Mai's direction. Ever since Battle City, she had been pushing Joey along the road of Romance, trying to get him to really express himself to Mai. And she was determined (she had made it her summer goal) to get them together.

Joey stumbled over to where Mai was lying down. Joey blushed slightly. Goodness, she looked beautiful lying out in the sun like that in her bikini…just relaxing.

"Uh…hey Mai," Joey said. Mai opened an eye, and smiled.

"Hey Joey," she sat up. It was about time to stop tanning anyway.

"Yeah," Joey sat down next to her, "So…sup?"

"Nothing much," Mai shrugged, "Just the usual: tanning."

"Why?"

Mai looked at him incredulously, "Why what?"

"Why you tannin'?"

Mai laughed, "Because every girl wants to do that to make themselves better looking in men's eyes…or just to get a regular summer tan."

"Well, if you want my opinion," Joey worded this statement slowly, and carefully, "Opposite o' your theory, I dun think ya need a tan." Mai blinked. Not that was a compliment if she had ever heard one. Beautiful…or at least, pretty, without a tan. Joey really was a sweetie….

Tea smiled triumphantly, "See! I knew that it was a good idea to finally get those two together! Look at them! They're perfect for each other!"

"Yeah," Yugi nodded, smiling. He didn't have much to say on the subject. Yugi then wondered if her should really say this next thing. They were on the subject, so he guessed so…. "Tea?"

"Yeah, Yugi?" she looked down at him.

"You…have you…ever…thought about…I dunno…getting…having…a…boyfriend I guess?" he sped out the last part. "Sorry, if it's not my business, but we were just on the topic, and you know, I was just a bit curious, since you never seem to care about that sort of stuff for yourself, and I personally don't think it's a normal girl thing to not care, and I was just worried something might be wr-"

"Whoa! Slow down, Yugi, geez," she laughed, "it's okay." She looked at him, "Yeah…I guess it's not normal…" she faded off, thinking, "I mean, even Serenity's been thinking along that subject for a little bit. I mean…I might have had some thoughts on it (she blushed a tad here), but…not much…I think," she squatted down to Yugi's level, "Aren't you sweet; caring about my welfare," she pecked him on the cheek.

Yugi went about a red as the ripest tomato on the stalk. Tea felt that they had been friends long enough where he wouldn't care about something so minor. Heck, he cared a lot. But it was a good care: it affected him in ways of which Tea knew not.

"Yeah…I…care…just worried…you know…" Yugi stuttered.

Tea smiled and hugged her friend, "That's what I love about you, Yugi. You care." Yugi froze at the statement. That's what she loved about him? Did that mean…could that mean? Did he have a chance?

Of course, maybe it was just a casual term…or a slip of the tongue.

Yugi desperately hoped it was the first idea he had thought up.

He wanted a chance.

"Yug's a total tomato! Look at that!" Tristan laughed.

"Quite literally!" Ryou took a little chuckle at it.

Tristan, Ryou, Duke, Noa and Mokuba were playing make-shift soccer, with the volleyball.

Noa just pouted, Yeah, well, I'd be blushing too if Tea hugged me.

"Aww, is little Noa jealous?" Mokuba said quietly to his brother, jumping on his back.

Noa fell forward slightly, then regained his balance and kept Mokuba up on his back, "Oh, shut up. I should drop you right now for toying with me."

"I wasn't toying; I was stating the obvious," Mokuba laughed.

"The obvious what?" Duke inquired, peering over at them. Mokuba got a sneaky look on his face.

"Nothing," Noa stated blandly, and dropped his brother right then and there. Mokuba yelped and fell backwards onto his backside. He jumped slightly from the pain.

"Oww…" Mokuba cringed.

"Serves you right," Noa stuck out his tongue.

"You are such a child!" Mokuba sat up with great difficulty, ready to pound his brother.

"You more than me!"

"Not so!"

"Uh huh!"

"Aw, aw!" Mokuba shook his head.

"So too!" Noa yelled back.

"Whoa, clam down you two!" Ryou suddenly interjected, pushing the two away from each other. "Now, what's all of this about?"

"Did you want the minor argument, or the idea that started it all?" Mokuba threw back.

"The original will do, I suppose," Ryou replied.

Mokuba smirked, "Noa was j-"

"It was nothing; none of your business anyway," Noa turned around. He then remembered to start dragging his brother away from the scene, not being able to trust him.

"Well…that was different," Duke supplied.

"That kid's been messed up in the head since we first met him…probably even before that," Tristan added.

"I HEARD THAT!" Noa shouted, a little bit away.

Duke jutted Tristan in the ribs, "Get your helmet, set up the sandbags and string out the barbed wire: this war is gonna be a messy one. I'd get the machine gun and grenades for back-up," he laughed.

"Not a bad idea," Tristan sighed taking a ready stance as Noa came running into him, red in the face from anger. Mokuba stood in the distance…er…lie in the distance, laughing his head off.

"Ow…here we go again," Tristan sighed as Serenity wrapped him up with band-aids and such.

Noa winced when Tea applied rubbing alcohol to one of his wounds.

"Whoops, sorry kid," Tea apologized, "But at least you're taking this like a man…unlike somebody," Tea looked at Tristan. Tristan scowled back at her. Great. Now he had these new injuries on top of his ones from yesterday.

Noa swelled up with pride. Tea had been on his side!

Duke laughed, "That's what you get for picking on little kids, Taylor." Tristan just grumbled back in reply. Duke looked up at Serenity, "So, we still up for tonight?"

Tea looked up, "What's tonight?"

"Duke asked me out to dinner," Serenity replied, "And yes…I guess we're still up…as long as you got a car."

Duke's eye twitched, and his hand flew to the back of his head, "Of course I got a car! Yep! Yug's letting me borrow his!"

"Oh, okay," Serenity said, as Tristan frowned the whole time at the conversation. He hadn't liked losing that match….

Duke sighed, and leaned against the doorway to the bathroom. He turned around and saw Yugi walking up the stairs.

"I…uh…just remembered I have to go do something!" Duke rushed out of the bathroom towards Yugi. He whipped past the boy, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, and pulled him back down the stairs, a few steps.

"Hey, Yugi," Duke whispered, "Can I borrow your car tonight?"

Yugi looked at him, "My car? Tonight?"

"Yeah…to take Serenity out." Yugi looked a bit worried. "Oh, come on! I'll be careful with it!" Duke pleaded.

"Hmm…. I guess…as long as you answer a few questions," Yugi supplied.

"Fine! Like what?"

"When did you receive your license?"

Duke squinted his eyes. Was this guy for real? "December of '02."

"You have corrected vision, or good vision?"

"Should."

"Ever been pulled over by a cop?"

"No."

"Ever gotten into a crash?"

"No."

"Ever come close to one?"

"Sort of…." Yugi winced here.

"Ever hurt your car in any way, shape or form?"

"Oh, for cryin' out loud, Yug, I'll take care of the blasted car!" Duke yelled out.

Yugi considered it for a moment, "Hmm…okay. Come for the keys when you need them." And the boy walked away.

Duke sighed. He would have had an easier time asking Kaiba….

Seto walked down the hallway, ready to go back to his room and lay upon his bed, with nothing better to do. Because he had no work to accomplish, he had nothing of interest to do. In summary: Seto was just plain down-to-earth bored.

He walked past Tea's open bedroom door, then stopped. He took a couple steps back and looked inside.

There sat Tea; upon her bed:

Typing on a laptop.

Seto shook his head: he was thinking about this WAY too much. He didn't need the technology that badly. He just…missed it. Who cared if she had a laptop…with Internet access…something different from this beach…something he was used to…. Seto scowled.

Just walk away…he told himself.

Too late.

Tea looked up and smirked, "Looks fun, doesn't it?"

Seto turned his head, "I have no idea what you're talking about. I was just surprised that you actually owned one of those, let alone could afford one," he scoffed.

Tea glared at the screen, "Geez, I'm not in the poor house, or on the low scale of the economy. Just because we're not all as rich as you doesn't mean we're inferior and can't keep up with the technology of the day."

He stayed silent for a moment. Okay, so maybe she had a point. Plenty of people had laptops, cell phones, camcorders, digital cameras and all of that sort. Maybe he was thinking about money too hard.

Seto looked back at her out of the corner of his eye, "What do you do with that, anyway?"

Tea rolled her eyes, "There's more to computers than stocks and bonds. I use it for real fun. Writing stuff…reading stuff…talking with other people; no work involved."

"Humph," was all Seto had to replied.

Tea looked back at her screen and busily began to do something, "So…I'm surprised you've actually lasted this long without a little computer in your hands."

Seto glared at her, "There's more to life than computers, you know."

Tea looked at him, wide-eyed, "Did I just hear that correctly? Seto Kaiba saying that there's more to life than technology? Geez…pot calling the kettle black," she snickered as she continued to work at something on her computer.

The two stayed silent for a minute. Finally, Seto said, "I don't have time for this pointless conversation."

"What do you have time for? Going back to bed? That's all you do, it seems, since there's nothing else," Tea sneered. Seto tried ignoring her, however, yet again, she did have a point. Great, now she was proving him wrong, on top of having certain similarities with him. Tea sighed, and closed the head of the laptop. She got off her bed, and grabbed her computer, walking over to him.

Tea held it out, "Here." Seto looked at her blankly. Tea rolled her eyes, "Come on, I'm being nice. Let bygones be bygones. Do whatever it is you do on computers. It has Internet access, if that's what you need."

Seto looked at it for a second, and then hesitantly took it in his own hands. He briefly brushed her fingers when taking the mechanism. It sent pricks up his arms.

"Why are you doing this?" Seto inquired, as she walked past him out of the room.

Tea stopped and looked behind her, "Like I said, I'm trying to be nice. Besides…maybe Noa was right. Maybe you do slightly deserve it." She paused for a moment, "Coming from you, I expect it back in the condition I left it in…or better. And don't let your brothers find it. I don't want my computer confiscated as well," she added with a sly smile.

Seto just nodded, and Tea walked away.

He didn't understand her.

One minute, she was raving mad at him.

The next, she was trying to be nice.

Talk about mood swings.

Yet…

He sort of enjoyed it. Personally, he liked having her on "better" terms with him, than on angry ones.

Seto then took the computer back to his room, which happened to just be across from where he stood.

Seto laid back against the headboard of his bed and opened up the laptop. He moved his finger across the mouse pad to get it off the screensaver, and noticed that once the screen popped up, Tea had left it onto the front: the users' section.

Windows XP Professional®…not bad, he conceded in his mind. He noticed two icons: Tea Gardner and Guest. He supposed, of course, that he was to go into the Guest icon. After all, it did say "Logged On" underneath that icon.

Seto entered the computer, and saw the screen pop up. His eyebrows rose in amusement when he saw the screen. It seemed this was what Tea had been doing while they were talking.

There was a message posted on it, written in red (courtesy of Paint ® of course):

Kaiba:

Well, I take it that from here until the last of the month, you'll be wanting to use my laptop, so I figure. Feel free to do so. Yes, I CAN be nice…you just never seem to bring out my good side (Seto gave a small laugh here). Anyway, feel free to put all your documents and whatever else crap on this little Guest icon thingamabob (DON'T CRITICIZE MY VOCAB. EITHER!). As said, there is Internet access and yadda yadda ya…get your email, whatever. I'm sure you know how to do that.

Tea

PS: DON'T go digging around in MY stuff. I know you've GOT to be more courteous than that.

Seto smirked. As if he had had the intention of doing so. However…hadn't she said she wrote things on here? Like: what kind of things?

Did it matter?

No.

With that, Seto proceeded onto his work: checking stocks and progress on Kaiba Corp.

Seto sighed and looked at the clock beside him. He had been on the computer for a good two hours. He probably ought to give it a rest. Besides, it wasn't as if he was home. This wasn't his computer. It was nice enough to just be a loan…which still surprised Seto thoroughly.

Was there anything else he wanted to do today? Sure, it seemed, according to Tea, that he could use it again tomorrow, however, it always seemed best just to check.

He looked over the screen, and noticed that PS at the bottom…making his wonders arise again.

He wouldn't dig necessarily…he would just browse…look at titles maybe…see what this girl actually was capable of doing, or truly did.

He opened up the My Computer section, and found Tea Gardner's Documents. That's where he clicked. Heck, Seto Kaiba could be nosy. It's a fault in everyone. Look at what he had done with Pegasus's mainframe back at Duelist Kingdom: he had completely trashed it…er…blown it up is a better sense.

There were about ten folders when he opened up the first folder. Eight of them he didn't ay attention to. For two of them, he did. One was a loophole.

Had she not specifically written, "Don't go digging around in MY STUFF."? Well, that's what one of the folders was named: My Stuff. For all he knew (or chose to know) she could just have been indicating that.

The other folder that caught his eye was something that had been on his mind two hours ago: what did she write? The folder: My Fics.

Seto was smart enough to know that by "Fics" she meant "Fictions" and by "Fictions" she meant "Stories." That's what she wrote.

So he had the overall subject that she wrote stories. Why not go deeper and see what exactly she wrote about?

So he clicked there. Inside were three folders: My Stories; Emails; Read (Stories). That first one looked promising. Again, he clicked.

And even more folders popped up. Well, he had certainly learned one thing: Tea Gardner was organized…and a pack-rat. Or maybe she had just learned to store every possible copy of her stories. After having clicked on another folder, which had (supposedly) the title of one of her stories on it, he had come up to more folders: Original and Modified. He supposed the Modified was the way to go.

He had just planned on scanning the first page to get a gist of what she liked to write.

He ended up beginning to read the thing sentence for sentence.

She actually has quite the talent, he thought, while being caught up in the story's plot.

It was about an hour later until he had finished up to where she had left off. He had smirked when she had brought in a certain vampire in her story. She had seemed…if he wasn't mistaken, to base the character off of him. He wasn't surprised though. Truthfully, she seemed to have gotten many of his aspects. And, he didn't really mind: which was the weird part, mind you.

She had left notes to her readers on the bottom.

She posts these, so it seems, Seto thought again, seeing that there was a URL at the bottom, reading: (Not a real site, I hope you know!)

Seto closed the document. Sure she had other stories…but those would have to wait for another day. Heck, her first one had been quite well written, in Seto's eyes; and for ANYONE: that was a HUGE accomplishment. Her others would probably be just as good, if not better, seeing as she seemed to have these in sequential order, starting from the dates she began writing them.

That then presented Seto with one last thing to do….

"Duke Devlin, I swear, if ANYTHING happens ta my sista, you are goin' ta pay so hard, it won't matta how rich ya are; 'cause you still ain't gonna have enough!" Joey warned Duke as he and Serenity were about to leave for their little "outing."

"Relax, Joe, nothing will happen to her," Duke said, catching Yugi's keys in the air.

"…Same goes for my car," Yugi stated.

"Believe me, I know," Duke replied. Man, the kid is conscientious about it…like it's his own son or something. He almost snickered aloud, but thought better of it. "Not a scratch on Serenity OR the car, okay?"

"Kay…but make sure ya keep your promise," Joey cracked his knuckles.

"Promise. See ya guys!" he waved as he and Serenity walked out to the parking lot.

"Bye! Have a nice time!" Mai called out, smiling. She whispered to Tea, "It's about time she started going out. Maybe she'll actually get somewhere with men tonight," Mai said, hopefully.

"Yeah…" Tea replied, a tad doubtful. She was looking over in Mokuba and Noa's direction. Noa had a small smile on his face, as usual, but Mokuba…he was frowning slightly. Tea was beginning to hope Duke wouldn't get her.

Duke could take rejection. Mokuba…had sensitive feelings…if that's at all what he felt…for Serenity.

And then there was Tristan. Tea looked over to see that he was sulking. Heck, he could deal with rejection too. After all, wasn't that first crush of his that Miho girl? Maybe they could get together later….

Besides, Tea was beginning to put two and two together: Mokuba's expression; and what Serenity had told her about that strange dream. It was beginning to look like-

"Destiny! Here we are! The restaurant: Destiny!" Duke proclaimed as he pulled into the parking lot of the fancy restaurant. He had pulled out a few brochures back at the beach house to find this place….

"Wow Duke! This place looks wonderful!" Serenity awed.

"Come on," he hoped out of the car, and proceed to the other side of the BMW to open the door for Serenity. She stepped out and smiled at him.

"Thanks."

"No problem," he smiled, and took her by the arm into the restaurant.

They were seated at a semicircular booth, and given menus. Afterwards, they were left for a few minutes to browse through the list of cooking. In no time at all, they were talking, having found what they were going to eat.

"You know, Serenity, you're looking quite beautiful tonight," Duke complimented.

Serenity blushed, "Oh…thanks." She had decided to go a little more formally: a sleeveless lavender top, with a black skort and some black knee socks and black lace-less shoes. Her hair was done up in a half-ponytail, and a silvery clip was placed in her hair.

Duke had come no short of the semiformal end himself: a green knit top that was just a couple tints lighter than his piercing eyes, and a pair of black slacks, with loafers.

The conversations drifted onto many topics. Dinner came, and they slowly ate through it, still talking. It was only until after dinner that Duke started getting a bit…impulsive. Maybe it had been the glass or two of red wine he had had.

He scooted over closer to Serenity in the booth. Serenity didn't really notice this. All she felt was a subconscious feeling flutter in her stomach. And it wasn't the most comfortable feeling. She looked up and turned her head, to see Duke much closer than he had been. In fact, he was only about a good foot away from her.

"Uh…Duke?" Serenity inquired.

"Yes?" he slid closer, and took her hand. Serenity's arm went cold. She wasn't liking this very much. Boys had never been this way around her. They flirted, like Duke had been earlier. They admired; like Duke had been earlier. The whistled…Duke had done no such thing. Serenity had always noticed these signs of pleasure in other males before. It was only dawning on her now just how much Duke really seemed to like her….

"I…I…" Serenity couldn't voice her feelings to him.

"You what?" he spoke quietly. Was it just her, or was his head leaning closer and closer by the minute?

"I'd appreciate…if…if…" she still was having a hard time.

"What would you appreciate? A ride under the stars? A trip somewhere else? Maybe…maybe a kiss?" Serenity froze. Kiss? She hadn't even had her first kiss! This WASN'T the Duke she knew. She knew him having wine wasn't going to be a good thing.

"Um, Duke, really-" she stopped. His head was leaning in close to hers. She hesitated. Should she…give in to this guy? Many other girls did. He seemed to really like her. Maybe this was the guy she had been looking for over Noa.

Maybe not. Those two words coursing through her head (along with the sudden sensation in her stomach) caused her to act slowly. Just as Duke leaned in, Serenity turned her head, and he ended up kissing her cheek.

Duke pulled back. Okay…not bad. Sure, he had been looking for more of the mouth-to-mouth kiss, but starting off my kissing her cheek was fine. They'd grow into each other….

Or not.

Serenity gathered up er courage, "Thank you, Duke…for this great evening. But…but I…. I can't return the feelings you seem to have for me. Don't get me wrong. You're a great friend, but…I just…I don't feel the same way for you. You understand? I'm sorry…it just…wasn't meant to be, I guess," she gave quite a sorry look to him.

Duke was crushed. He had just been rejected….

So this is what rejection feels like… he thought. He had never felt it before. Girls feel for him all the time. But…when he actually wanted a girl, she hadn't fallen for him.

He sighed. She was right. Maybe…it just wasn't meant to be. Or maybe…maybe she hadn't had enough time. He had been too impulsive. Dang wine, he cursed. He always felt some sort of side-effect after drinking it.

"I'm…sorry, Serenity. I acted wrongly. I'm sorry to have made you feel uncomfortable. Forgive me," Duke apologized. Oh well. It wasn't the end of the world. There were plenty of fish out in the sea, so the saying goes. Of course, she could still grow into him later in life…

"You're forgiven. I just hope you forgive me," Serenity replied.

Duke smiled at her, "Of course. I could never stay mad at you."

"Thank you," Serenity smiled. "Can you just do me one favor?"

"What is it?"

"Don't tell Joey about any of this. I won't speak to him either.

"Done and done-er," he laughed, "You read my mind, no offense to him."

"None taken," Serenity laughed along.

Afterwards, Duke then paid for the dinners, and they went back outside to the car.

Duke was just about to open up the passenger side for Serenity, when she asked a most peculiar question.

"Duke?"

"Yes?" he looked up.

"Do you think…maybe I could…drive, this once?" Serenity folded her hands together in prayer fashion.

"Drive!" he was slightly taken aback at the request.

"Yes. I have my permit. And you're a licensed driver. And…Joey doesn't' usually let me practice, because he's all overprotective and everything. Could you maybe, let me? Joey doesn't have to know," Serenity pleaded.

"True," Duke considered, "Heck, why not. Yugi won't mind, I'm sure. And I'll be watching your back." HE climbed into the passenger's side, and Serenity jumped up in triumph. She ran over to the driver's side of the car and climbed in. Duke handed her the keys, and she pushed them into the ignition. She then turned the keys and the car roared to life.

Carefully, she put the car into reverse and looked out the back. She pushed down slightly on the gas pedal and they moved out backwards. Once they were fully out of the parking space, Serenity pushed the car into Drive, and slowly drove out onto the main road.

The road was quite quiet that night. Duke was admiring Serenity's driving skills.

"You haven't practiced much? You drive great!" Duke complimented.

"Thanks," Serenity smiled, "That's not to say Mai doesn't take me out places sometimes." Duke laughed. That was just like Mai to side-step Joey's brotherly boundaries.

For Serenity's sake to concentrate, the ride was mainly silent. Duke turned don the stereo to a low, just to cut back on the silence of the night. It was strange, there really weren't any people out on the road. You would think that some teenagers or whatnot would be driving around, out to clubs or so.

Duke was relaxing against the seat. He looked at the upcoming intersection. He casually turned his head and saw the first pair of headlights they had seen all that time on the road. They were coming down the road from the right.

He looked the other way and saw another car speeding towards the intersection from the left. Duke frowned. That wasn't right…. The cars seemed to be going much too fast…. All three of them were nearing the intersection.

Ideas were popping up in Duke's head quickly. Was Serenity registering all of this? They had the go on the green light. Yet the other two cars still weren't slowing down, so it seemed. Of course, the BMW was also nearing the intersection, and Serenity didn't show much sign of stopping.

And it then dawned on Duke:

No one seemed like they were going to stop.

"SERENITY! STOP!" Duke shouted out. Serenity jumped and suddenly noticed the speeding cars to both sides of them. She floored the brakes, and the silver car went screeching down the road. The two other cars weren't stopping any time soon.

"Hold on Serenity!" Duke leaned over, and shielded her, but wrapping her in his arms. Serenity still had the brakes going.

All of the sudden…

In a split second…

CRASH.

The gang sat in the lobby downstairs, all doing their own thing. Mokuba and Noa had a movie running on the television. Joey was going up against Yugi in Duel Monsters. Tristan was playing Ryou in Checkers. Mai had a Seventeen ® Magazine in her lap, while chewing on some bubble gum. Seto was sitting in a chair (there to keep an eye on his brothers) while reading one of the two novels that were "graciously" brought for him by his brothers. Tea was on her laptop (which Seto had given back to her earlier).

Tea smiled as she heard the two Kaiba brothers gasp at some of the relived suspense in their movie. She popped open a window for her documents, ready to go to work on one of her fictions. She squinted when she saw a most unfamiliar document sitting in the box, at the end of her list of ten folders.

Doc.1…what's that? Tea inquired herself. She opened it up. The first word told her almost everything, and took her quite by surprise.

Gardner,

I suppose a "thanks" is in order…for letting me have access to your laptop. It was appreciated…and unexpected. I don't think I'll ever understand you; you and your giddy emotion swings. Your memo upon the screen was quite…interesting, and a bit humorous, I might add.

Kaiba

PS: You're quite the talented writer, so it seems. That "Blood Red Sunset" was intriguing. That Keiyo character…the vampire?...had quite a familiar personality. I wonder why…?

Tea reddened. He…he read that? After I told him not to go looking through my stuff! Argh! That character was…based off of him! That's why the guy is the vampire! Man…now he knows…oh goodness…. But…he said the story was…intriguing? Since when does he compliment people? I have a talent for this…? He thanked me for letting him use this? Good LORD the Apocalypse is coming!

"What's up, Tea?" a voice cut through her thoughts. Tea looked up and saw Mai standing in front of her, smirking.

Tea reddened a bit more, "Nothing, nothing! Just an email, that's all," she gave a fake laugh.

"Oh, come on, let me see!" Mai reached for the computer.

"Ah, no! No! Sorry, what I meant to say was…I uh…deleted it…to get more free space…you know…in the Inbox? Yeah, hehe," Tea quickly exited out of the program.

"Oh come off it, you liar!" Mai grabbed for it again.

"Mai, stop!" Tea pleaded.

"Girls, whoa! Hold up, it's just a little computer. Why do you care about her email anyway, Mai?" Ryou came over to them. Tristan took this time to turn the checker board the opposite way.

"Because: she was blushing, and that means there's something juicy going on that I want to know about!" Mai protested. Joey, Yugi and Tristan looked up from their places, and each rushed over to her.

"Whoa! What happened now?" Tristan inquired.

"What's this about, Tea?" Yugi asked.

"What's goin' on?" Joey interrogated.

"Oh, people! Just leave me alone, already!" Tea sighed, and stood up, breaking the chain around her. She shook her head and marched up to her room.

"She's got serious privacy issues," Mai put her hands on her hips.

"Yep," Joey agreed, "Always been like dat."

Tea turned the corner and stopped. She waited until she heard the people go back to their places downstairs, and then looked around the corner. Where she looked: a certain chair with a certain CEO reading a novel.

He really said that stuff to me… I don't believe it… she thought. Suddenly, she saw his blue eyes catch hers. Tea panicked and quickly rounded the corner, pushing herself against the wall. She didn't want Seto to think she was stalking him or anything, because she liked him or whatnot. No…. It wasn't like Tea Gardner at all.

Seto looked up from his book, only raising his eyes. He had felt someone looking at him. And there was Tea…at the top of the stairs, with just her profile peeking out, looking his way. He smirked as she jumped back behind the wall.

I'm starting to wonder if I really should have written that thing…. Ah, have no worried about it. It was just a shock for her to see it for the first time. Nothing more. Everything will resume normalcy by tomorrow, Seto played out in his mind.

Serenity slowly opened her eyes and looked up, breaking slightly free of Duke's protective hold on her. Her eyes widened, "Oh…my…God."

Duke, upon hearing this, looked up as well, "Whoa…. It's…a miracle." Having floored the brakes so much, Serenity had caused the car to slide to a stop not one foot away from where the two cars coming from opposite sides had collided.

"D-D-Do you think…the drivers and passengers are…are…" Serenity didn't want to utter the word 'dead.'

"I…don't know," Duke shook in his seat. That had to be one of the ten top ranking scares of his life…most of the others had occurred during Battle City. This one ranked high up in there.

Serenity had to say the same. This one probably ranked up there with when she had been chased by a virtual dinosaur in Noa's Virtual World.

"Hey, look!" Duke pointed to one of the cars. The car coming from the left, had a door juggling, trying to get open. Finally, it released with great force, and a man in his mid-thirties came tumbling out. Duke hopped out of the car, "Hey, man, you alright?"

"Just…a few scrapes here…and there…bit shaken," the man stood up, grabbing onto his scrap-yard heap. Duke whipped out his cell phone, ready to call 911 (do they have a "911" in Japan? Who cares…).

"Hello? Yeah, we've got a major crash scene here! …Um…intersection of-" Duke looked around at street signs, "Shinjowa and Riyoku. …Hurry up, will ya!" and then Duke snapped his cell phone shut.

"What about that other guy?" Serenity pointed to the other car.

"I…don't know what's going to happen to him," the man whom had stumbled out of his car said, "By the way, I'm Henri Erheiste."

"Duke Devlin…and that's Serenity Wheeler," Duke replied.

Henri's eyes widened at the familiarity of the name, but decided now would NOT be the time to bring up Dungeon Dice Monsters, "Thank you…for calling."

"No problem," Duke nodded.

"You two are pretty lucky," Henri surveyed how close they too, had actually come to crashing, "Just a few scratches from metal scraping across metal, and-"

"WHAT? Oh, Yug's gonna kill me!" Duke put his hands up to his head, deciding to survey the damage as well.

"Duke…Yugi won't kill you…he'll understand. Everything will be fine," Serenity tried to calm him down.

"Serenity! Not to blame this on you or anything. Actually, you pretty much saved our lives…and most of the car, but still! He's going to ask about the scratches; that leads to what exactly happened; that leads to maybe having to say you drove; that leads to Joey completely killing me for TWO reasons: one: letting you drive and two: coming this close to having you in an accident! My life is totally screwed!" Duke ranted.

Henri inspected it, "Actually…maybe not."

Duke's head popped up, "Excuse me?"

"There just might be a way…. Yes…. Down the road," he pointed down the way Duke and Serenity had been traveling, "not too far from here actually, is a repair shop, called Fixits. They're actually known for getting cars fixed up in a jiff, mainly because the location is so remote; that way, they don't have many customers. Of course, the prices can get hefty, but-"

"Screw the prices; keep going with the description!" Duke pleaded.

"Well, they usually have cars fixed in about three days…."

"THREE DAYS? I need it fixed TONIGHT!" Duke practically shouted.

"I know, I know. If you'd let me finish…. I bet with some…persuasion… they might just finish it for you tonight."

"Persuasion?" Duke's hands involuntarily went to his pockets, to think. His hand landed on his wallet. He smirked. Persuasion….

"Thanks a bunch! Hey, do we need to stay here, or can you handle it?" Duke inquired Henri.

"Naw, I've got it. Actually, you weren't really part of the crash, so I don't think you really need to be here," Henri nodded his head.

"Thanks!" Duke said. He went over to Serenity's side, "Would you mind if I drove the rest of the way? Not that you're bad or anything-"

"No, I understand! Actually, I was going to ask if you would. I'm still a bit shaken up…wouldn't be good to let me drive," Serenity nodded, and crawled over into the other seat. Duke hopped in.

"Later! Good luck!" Duke waved to Henri. Henri nodded and waved back. Duke pulled the car in reverse, and turned onto the turf lining the roads. He pulled around the crash scene and sped off.

"How are we going to do this, Duke?" Serenity inquired, "We still have to get back to the beach house, and get back here in the morning before Yugi sees his car missing."

"I know. I'm still working out the details," Duke replied. This was going to be difficult. First, they needed to persuade the mechanics to fix the car by early tomorrow morning, if that was even possible. Then, they needed a ride back to the beach house, if all went well. It would be best to get there after everyone was asleep, so that no one would question them right then, and Yugi probably wouldn't notice his car missing. Lastly, they needed a ride back to the shop tomorrow…again, if all went well.

"Help me, Serenity," Duke asked.

"Okay," Serenity nodded. "What first?"

"Okay. How's a plan for bribery sound?" Duke inquired.

"What?"

"Remember what Henri said? Persuasion is the key. You think…double or triple the payment will do?"

"I would think so!" Serenity looked taken aback, "If not, they're highly unethical!"

"I know. So then, that leaves us with getting back to the beach house. It's what," he looked at the clock, "eight o- clock? That's it? Well, there probably won't be any taxis or whatnot on this so called "remote" road."

Serenity thought for a minute, "Hey! How about we call Mai! She can come up with an excuse to come and get us! And in the morning-"

"She can take me back, and I'll get the car, driving it back to the house, even before Yugi wakes up! Serenity, you're a genius! And I mean it!" Duke smiled at her.

Serenity blushed, "Thanks."

"Mai won't care if we screwed up. She can keep a secret, I think," Duke wondered.

"Yeah, she can, when it's important," Serenity added in.

"Hey! There it is!" Duke pointed ahead at the "Fixits" sign blinking in the night. Duke pulled into their drive and parked the car. He hoped out. Serenity stepped out with him. She wasn't going to be left alone in the night.

The two ran into the main building to talk with the manager. A middle-aged man stood behind the front desk.

"What can I do you for?" he inquired.

"Hi. My name is Duke Devlin. I was wondering how fast it would take to touch up some scratches on a car."

"Hmm…depends how big and how many scratches there are," he said, thoughtfully. "Could I take a look?"

"Sure!" Duke nodded, and the three walked back outside again. The manager inspected in the car and nodded.

"It seems to just "touch-up" these scratches…it will take approximately two, maybe three days."

"But I need it in by tomorrow morning!" Duke retorted.

"Tomorrow morning? We're good, but not miracle workers," he shook his head.

"But sir…is there any way? It's really important that we get this back tomorrow!" Serenity pleaded, her eyes shining.

The manager looked her over. What a pretty little girl. She really did seem to want to get this in, for whatever reason. "It's…possible, I suppose, but…there will have to be an increase in the price…."

"Double."

"Excuse me?" the man looked up.

"I'll pay double the normal fee. Will that cover it?" Duke inquired, sternly.

The manager weighed his options. Double the normal fee. That certainly would be very nice. Heck, the boy had suggested it, why not go with it? He had been thinking a little lower, but Duke was the one whom had brought it up.

"Sure. Double will do fine," he smiled. "Now, when did you say you needed this back?"

"Tomorrow morning. Between 6:30 and 7:00 am," Duke replied.

"Ah, I see. Seems possible." He nodded. Sudden, he whistled loudly, making Serenity jump. About five mechanics came running over. "Men! We have an all nighter tonight! Who's in for a bonus?" The five men gave a shout as an agreement. Duke nodded. He popped into the car to drive it into the station. The men led him to where it needed to be.

Five minutes later, Duke walked back out of the shop, "Remember…tomorrow."

"Yes, we'll remember that. You can expect it back, good as new."

"Good." He flipped out his cell phone, and dialed Mai's number.

Mai heard a familiar tone go off. Everyone looked up at the sudden ringing of pop music. Mai casually took out her cell phone and flipped it up, "Speak to me, hun."

"Hey Mai, it's Duke."

"Say what? What are you calling for, kid?"

"Look, Serenity and I are in sort of a small jam. Could you like…come pick us up or something?"

"What type of jam?"

"Long story. We'll explain later. Could you though? And not mention anything of this to Joey or Yugi."

"Or Yugi?"

"Yes. OR Yugi."

"Gotcha. Where are ya?"

"Place called Fixits on Shinjowa Way. I'd say it's about ten minutes south of where the beach is."

"Say no more. I'll come for ya," Mai said, "Later."

"Later." Both cell phones clicked off.

"What was dat all about Mai?" Joey inquired.

"Oh. Just a friend needing some help with something nearby. I have to run. Be back in a flash. Don't wait for me," Mai went out the door.

Yugi turned to Joey, "Why do you think she used my name?"

"Whatcha mean, Yug?"

"She said, 'Or Yugi.'"

"Oh…well…I have no idea," Joey replied, scratching his head. All I know is, I'm tired!"

"Joey, it's eight thirty," Tristan said.

"I know dat! And nine is when I crash!"

"And nine is when I begin my long journey through a sleepless night," Yugi smirked at him.

"Hey!" Joey retorted. Yugi laughed.

"No worries. I still have those earplugs Tea gave me."

Duke and Serenity sat in the front office waiting for Mai. Serenity looked out the window and saw a pair of headlights turning into the drive.

"There she is!" Serenity pointed. She and Duke hopped up and walked outside to where Mai had parked her car. Once they had walked to her, she immediately began questioning.

"Alright, spill. What happened? Why is Yugi's car in the shop?"

"Mai, you think we could like…talk about that here, and then drive afterwards?" Serenity inquired.

"Why?"

"To stall for time. We want to wait until most people are in bed. Mainly just Yugi and Joey," Duke explained.

Mai sighed, "Alright. So, what happened?"

"Well-" Duke started.

"It's sort of all my fault," Serenity suddenly brought up.

"No it's not!" Duke retorted.

"Yes. It. Is. Don't try to reverse my thought, Duke. I can be just as stubborn as Joey. Got it from Dad. I was the one who asked to drive. I was the one not paying attention to the intersection. I was the one-"

"Who floored the brakes and saved our lives…and Yugi's car from getting just more than scratches," Duke protested.

Mai looked back and forth between both of them, "Okay…I think I just got most of the picture. But, about this intersection crash thing…."

"Two cars were speeding from opposite ends of the intersection. All three of us wee heading for the cross at the exact same time. The other two didn't show signs of stopping, so I told Serenity to brake hard. The other two crashed, and we were about a foot away from joining the collision as well," Duke explained.

"Lord, it's a miracle," Mai said in awe.

"Exactly what I said," Duke nodded.

"Well…in that case, you two hop in," Mai directed. Duke and Serenity jumped into the back seat, and Mai drove off.

"Hey Mai," Duke started.

"Yeah?"

"You think you could give me a ride tomorrow, back here around 6:00 or whatnot to pick up Yugi's car? I need to get it back before he notices it's gone," Duke retold his plan.

"SIX?" Mai yelped. There was a bit of silence following afterwards. "Well, I guess so. Can always go back to bed. You did tell these people that you would be back at that time, correct?"

"Sure did."

"Good. 'Cause I don't want to come back here for nothing at SIX IN THE MORNING," she stressed.

"Oh, come on. Tea and Ryou are up at six-thirty in the morning half the time.

"Well, they were never right in the head to begin with," Mai said. Serenity laughed and Duke joined in.

"Speaking of Tea…I still need to find a way to look at that so called "email" she was blushing over," Mai stated, more to herself than the other two.

"Blushing over!" Duke and Serenity inquired.

"Yep. You should have seen her face: cherry red. It was priceless. I've GOT to know who sent that email to her. She ran up back to her room once Yugi, Joey, me and Tristan rushed over to her. She needs to open up more."

"Yeah, I guess," Serenity pondered.

The three reached the beach residence. Most of the lights in the house were out.

"Wow. They crashed early tonight," Mai said.

"Seems so. Not to complain or anything," Duke added.

"Still, we best be quiet," Serenity mentioned. The three then proceeded to getting out of the car and walking over to the front entrance. They slowly opened the front door, and crept inside.

"Aren't you missing something?" a voice popped up behind them. The three whipped around, scared and found Tea facing them.

"Tea! What were you doing out there?" Mai whispered.

"Out for a little stroll. Seems a certain, prized, silver BMW is missing. Oh, what could have happened?"

"Tea, please! We're getting it back from the shop in the morning! Just don't tell!" Serenity blabbed.

"Shop?" Tea whispered, confused.

"Yeah…it got a little scratched up…so we're fixing it before Yugi knows," Duke replied.

"Well, you're lucky that Joey decided to go to bed early tonight. When he goes, usually the whole party goes."

"Yeah. So keep it quiet, okay?" Duke commanded.

"Your wish is my command," and Tea stepped back outside.

"Why is she out there this late anyway? With no one out there with her, or watching her? It's not exactly safe," Mai said.

Little did they know, someone was watching her. He was watching from his window. He had witnessed the three come back. He had his suspicions. He was going to get answers….

Tea crawled into bed later that night. She sighed and looked at the clock: 10:43 pm. She dug her hand under her bed to search for her photo album, as a nightly ritual. Instead, her hand landed on a certain piece of paper. She took it out and looked at it.

"Kaiba…" she said to no one in particular. She ran a finger down the side of his face (on the picture). "You are such a mystery," she sighed. She set the picture back under her bed and rolled over onto her side, slowly falling to sleep. Softly, and drowsily, she whispered:

"I…always liked…mysteries…."

Phew, THAT was a mighty long chappie. 34 PAGES! Well, with the spaces. Of course, that's nothing compared to this other fic: What Doesn't Kill You. About 100 pages PER CHAPTER! Anywho, the length got on my nerves a bit. Oh, it now seems, that due to Duke's rejection, I have officially dropped him from the vote. So: VOTE NOW OR FOREVER HOLD YOUR PEACE! The others will be dropping like flies from now on! Duke was only the start! VOTE! Anywho, how was it? I think it was a sort-of, sort-of type chapter: sometimes interesting, sometimes not. But heck, it was long and that's all you need to worry about. Hope you enjoyed it! PLEASE REVIEW!

PS: There are plenty of reasons for happenings in this chapter. On the SetoxTea note: IT LEADS TO MORE SETOxTEA GOODNESS. It isn't just some silly little stupid corny thing I thought up; it has a meaning. The car crash thing I found just added suspense and a complication to the story. I also found that I had some "foreshadowing" before it. Sorry I didn't really get much to the JoeyxMai. Only a couple paragraphs. I'll get more on that later. I was just trying to reveal some things this chapter, start getting rid of vote options and all that. Yep, so that's it. PLEASE REVIEW!