Did I ever mention I don't own Yu-gi oh? Next lawsuit!

Fire and Ice

By Sakura Takanouchi

Chapter Five

I knew well the voice, which haunted my nightmares and willed me to escape to Domino. He had followed me here. I looked around my room, panicking. 'If he knows my phone number, he must know where I live…' My apartment was in a fairly well off district of Domino, and it had a police station one block away.

I know I should have felt safe, but I couldn't get to sleep. Not after that phone call. Who knows when he'll decide to show himself. I needed to surround myself with my friends… and I knew that with my brother around, no one could come near me. But that didn't stop me from staying awake all night.

In the morning, I finally passed out around four. I groggily got dressed and made some coffee. Then, I noticed a car's incessant beeping. I looked out of the window. The car was a limo, and it had KaibaCorp flags!

I hurriedly brushed my teeth and ran outside. There, Kaiba leaned nonchalantly against the hood of the limo. "Here's your bag…" he said awkwardly.

"I got your message," I said. "Hey, are you going to give me a ride to school?"

"I guess so," he said, and we both got into the car. After a few minutes of driving, I noticed a Starbucks. My energy level was negative, and I desperately needed a caffeine shot.

"Seto, can we stop at that Starbucks for a minute?" I asked. He pulled into the parking lot, which proved to be quite difficult.

"Are you feeling alright?" He asked, for once letting his emotionless face slip and he actually looked concerned.

"It's just… nothing. A phone call. Relax, it wasn't yours," I said, laughing at Seto's expression.

"You really look tired. How about we blow off first period, and you tell me about it over a cup of coffee?" He said, taking the keys out of the ignition.

"That sounds…really good. Thank you," I got out of the limo and waited for him to follow. When he didn't, I poked my head into the open window.

"You're forgetting this is a limo," he said, opening the backseat door. I climbed inside, and sank comfortably into the leather seats. Seto handed me a KaibaCorp mug of rich, black coffee. "We have a machine built in that makes ten times better coffee than Starbuck's." I drank one cup, and he refilled it. "Now tell me what's on your mind."

"Alright." I stared into Seto's eyes, which were not cold and heartless as usual, but warm and comforting.

"I moved not only to Domino City to be with my brother and to live by myself, but I also came to escape from someone. I was being stalked, so I came here to get away from that. But, I got a phone call last night, after yours-" I cradled the coffee and took a long sip. "He's back."

Seto's blue eyes flared with anger, rage, and … jealousy? "Why didn't you tell me this before?" He growled. He set his coffee down in the cup holder and grasped my shoulders. "I'm getting the best security KaibaCorp can offer to protect you, so you'll never have to think of him again. " I couldn't help noticing the way he said him, like it was some sort of disease. He hugged me tightly and possessively, which actually made me feel better. I had never felt this safe before. I sighed as he released me, and I looked at him and said, "You're the first person I've ever told about this. He…threatened me so I couldn't tell anyone."

"Don't even think about him. I'll make sure no one harms you."

"Thank you." I didn't know what else to say. I felt so… calm. This is the Seto that I knew would protect me, but not smother me like my brother. Joey! I had completely forgotten about him. I had seen the way he had tensed up when I had asked about him. Kaiba was silent, just staring out of the window, as if he was watching, protecting me, even now. I wanted to forget everything around me and dream, dream about anything. My life is getting way too complicated.

"So shall we go back to class?" Seto asked. "I'll pick you up after school if you like."

"I'd like that." I answered, smiling gratefully at him. We arrived at school a few minutes later. I had finished my second cup of coffee and was feeling a lot better. Now the only person I had to worry about was Joey.

Yugi sat in the third seat in the third row, the exact middle of the classroom. And he didn't mind, really. But today, his thoughts wandered to topics he had rarely addressed in his mind. 'Serenity…' he thought, twisting the chain on which his Millennium Puzzle hung. 'Why did she stop coming to duel with me? I miss her…' then his Yami came forth, as always, when he sensed that Yugi was troubled.

'Perhaps you care for her more than you know,' he told Yugi.

'Perhaps,' Yugi said, his thoughts dissipating as he concentrated on his schoolwork.

At lunch, Joey wasted no time in coming up to Yugi, who was sitting in his usual spot, eating a sandwich.

"Have you talked to Serenity today?" He asked.

"Sorry, Joey. In fact, she hasn't even come by the game shop in days. I wonder why…" Yugi stared at his sandwich and took another bite.

"I'm her brother, I should know where she is at all times!" Joey said angrily.

"Calm down, Joey. She's probably just eating lunch with her own friends," Yugi said calmly.

"Since when do you see so much of her, anyways?" Joey asked, suspicious.

"Oh! I've been teaching her how to play Duel Monsters over the past week, and she's been coming by the game shop to get new cards. But she hasn't come by in awhile…" Yugi looked downwards in an attempt to hide look of sadness on his face.

"That's great that you're teaching her how to play Duel Monsters!" Joey smiled good-naturedly. "Now I've got to go find Serenity. Maybe we can all duel together sometime. Later!" And then Joey walked back into the main building, searching for Serenity.

Yugi sighed and took a bottle of water from his lunch box. 'I guess… I do enjoy the time we spend together more than I let on,' he thought. From a distance, his Yami smiled.

"So, do you want to give the speech or should I?" I asked as we sat down to eat our lunches. Being the leaders for our gym class, we had requested an indoor lunch so we could plan our huge meeting.

"You do it," Seto said.

"Sure," I replied. "Now, coach just wanted me to remind you that the lumber is in the storage closet along with the paint and decorations I'd bought. And if we wanted to use a portable basketball hoop, or the one that lowers from the ceiling, we'll have less space for everything else."

"But we mapped it out perfectly. The snacks and arcade will take up the most room," Seto argued. "We'll have enough space only if we use a portable hoop and stick it to the wall, or to a booth."

"Okay," I said, smiling. The culture festival was really coming along, and so far we had gotten the volleyball team and the basketball teams to help with the food.

"Now, we also have to talk about volunteers for working shifts at the booths. Of course, the arcade games and rides do not need constant supervision, we just want to make sure nothing gets stolen or broken."

Seto had no lunch, but I couldn't help noticing the bandages on his fingers as I ate. "Seto, what happened?"

"Had a late night working," he replied. But I remained concerned. I reached out and took his hand. When I ran a finger over his bandaged hand, he shuddered. "It hurts, you know."

"You shouldn't be working late like that," I said, massaging his hand. "You're the CEO, get someone else to do it."

"Everyone else are incompetent and untrustworthy. I can't expect them to do anything greater than their work contract, or promote someone to handle the things I trust no one else with."

"Maybe your standards are set too high," I said, setting his hand down. I then glanced out of the windows looking into the courtyard and caught a glimpse of my brother. "I think we can call this meeting adjourned," I said, standing up. "I see my brother."

Seto said nothing, just let me go. He sat in the classroom, not moving, not speaking, until the afternoon bell rang.

"Okay, class!" I announced during the gym class meeting. "We have about three weeks before the culture festival. Construction will occur during the week before the festival during this class and after school. Seto and I have mapped out the gym into different areas. There will be an arcade, carnival games, and food stands. I have a sign-up sheet here. If you are in a club, you do not have to sign up. We would appreciate it if most of you do sign up, so that we can give you shifts and you can explore the festival. Any questions?"

The students were talking amongst themselves, and I stepped back and turned to w here Imato-sensei and Seto were standing.

"Any of you who would like to help with after-school construction, just check the box by your name on the sign-up sheet," Imato-sensei said.

We then played basketball until gym was over. We didn't change for gym that day, but I hung around the gym so I could talk to Seto.

"I'm sorry, I can't do anything after school today," I said, pulling on my backpack and standing up. "Joey's meeting me and we're going downtown to some of the dueling rooms. Yugi's been teaching me to duel, and he said I should get more dueling experience."

"Oh, so is that why you were always running off, to spend time with Yugi? Well, I was going to tell you that I have to work, so go to your brother." Seto crossed his arms and turned away from me.

"Fine! I will!" I said, and started walking towards the main gym entrance. Seto watched me leave. 'I shouldn't run after her, she's got more men than sense.' He thought. 'And if she doesn't give them up, I'll make it easier for her.'

"Joey!" I cried as I ran up to him and threw my arms around him.

"Ready to go downtown?" He asked. I nodded, and we got into his beat-up car and drove to downtown Domino. It's not much, just about twenty blocks of developed buildings and parks. The KaibaCorp tower is by far the tallest building in Domino.

We parked on the main street of downtown, and Joey told me of several dueling rooms he knew of only several blocks away.

"This one's for novice duelers like you, so let's go in," Joey led me into a room filled with tables, where people were dueling each other. It wasn't fancy holographic projections, like I had seen in my brother's duels, but I liked it this way better.

Joey introduced me to several of his dueling friends who were there, and told me to take a seat at the beginner's table. I did, and then another duelist sat down in the chair across from me and asked if I wanted to duel!

"My name's Kira," She said amiably. "Is this your first duel?" I nodded. "I've been dueling here for a few weeks, and this place really does strengthen your dueling skills. So let's start!"

She flipped a coin, and I called it right, so I went first. I pulled five cards from my deck to my hand, and stared at them. 'Let's see… Yugi always told me that if I don't have any high attack monsters my first turn, then I should put something in defense. And I can put magic and trap cards face down as well.' I noticed that 'The Forgiving Maiden' was in my hand, so I put it face down on the field. "One card face down, and that is all." I said. Inside I was happy. It's my first duel!

Kira studied the cards in her hand, and then put a monster in attack mode on the field, but did not attack me. It was a good move, since her monster had less attack points than mine had defense points. Joey watched my first few moves, but then began to wander around the tables, occasionally giving pointers and advice. He became known as "The kid who came in second at Duelist Kingdom," much to his and my amusement.

We played out the duel, and I learned lots of interesting things about Kira. She was considerably older than me, a sophomore at Domino College, and she seemed to be the most talented of the duelists there.

I ended up losing the duel by three hundred life points, but I had made some moves I considered very clever, and she had told me so. It was a "teaching game" 1 anyway, so I didn't mind losing. I left with Joey, and we walked together down to an ice cream shop and bought double-scoop cones. We ate them while staring at the street, watching the people go by.

"I saw some of your duel," Joey commented. "You looked really good. I'm proud of you, sis."

I nodded and smiled, licking my ice cream happily. I now had a place where I was welcomed, and I could come back whenever I wanted. Although the culture festival kept me really busy, I was sure I'd be able to spend some time there in the future.

Just now, all I had to worry about was the present.

A/N

So, I need some feedback! Yeah, that was a real soggy attempt at her dueling, but you guys don't know how boring a read that stuff is until you try to write it! But I may put in some more, since its getting such a positive effect. Does dueling emit rays of happiness for you people? I think that school stuff, and Seto/Serenity stuff is more interesting, but so have ye!

Also, another topic I have failed to address: How many people are even in the tiniest bit favoring a Serenity/Yugi pairing? WARNING! Just because I say this doesn't mean I intend to put it in this fic! I may, or I may write a totally different fic about that! But I just wanted to know, ya know?

1: Ever read Shonen Jump's Hikaru no Go? Well, a teaching game is one where the more experienced one wins narrowly, and shows their opponent some good strategies. Normally beginners start with playing teaching games to see how they can fully utilize their deck.

Two more things: Kira is no one in particular, I just take my OC names from manga that I have written. (Yes, I write manga). Last but maybe the most important, or not however you look at it: For those who read my other fic Meaningful Simplicity: Act 5 is the last one, story-wise. But I've hinted so much at extra chapters its not even funny.

Expect Chapter Six up soon, but school is very time-consuming,

Sakura Takanouchi