I've been away from for so long that I completely forgot to put a disclaimer in the last chapter, but it's okay, peeps. I fixed it. I'm currently listening to a mix of songs that seemed to fit Bakura (or at least how the pictures from DA looked), including "Blank Sheet of Paper" by Tim McGraw, "Over My Head (Cable Car)" by The Fray, "Accidentally in Love" by Counting Crows, and "Just Want You To Know" by the Backstreet Boys. Mostly song rock, pop, or country songs. Mind you, this is all for Ryou Bakura, and not his yami, which explains in itself why there are no hardcore songs. If anyone wants a list of the songs I chose, feel free to message me. I don't feel like going into the whole playlist.

A disclaimer is very necessary (so I don't get sued). NJPickleFiend doesn't own YuGiOh! or it's characters in any way, though she'd kill to have Bakura and Marik. And maybe Yami Yugi, too. But not Kaiba so much... Maybe a little. She only owns the plot and her OC, Brielle. And the other OC soon to make an appearance. I think that was the longest disclaimer I've ever written...

Love Like Winter

Chapter 2

Unfortunately for me, I had to wait another two periods before I got my lunch period, one of which again, I had with Kaiba. I wondered if he was contemplating a schedule change, because each and every time I saw him, he only seemed to get grumpier. At one point, he even got up and moved to a different seat when he saw me moving towards the window seats. I was sure the other students, those of whom I recognized from previous classes with him, were starting to speculate all sorts of reasons why the infamous Seto Kaiba detested one junior girl. I could practically hear them whispering in the halls as I passed. Great...

The lunchroom was what confused and eluded me. I spent a good five minutes trying to find it, asking the other students around me. Unfortunately for me, I'd gotten the freshman kids who were also new to the school and had their lunch period a few after mine. After a while, I even contemplated barging into one of the classrooms to ask one of the teachers; surely they would know.

I was spared from that humiliation, however, by a girl walking out of the nearest bathroom, smoothing her skirt delicately around her. She looked up with a start to see another person wandering the halls so late after the bell had rung. I smiled at her briefly before continuing my search. She stood there for only a few moments before she called out, "You look a little lost."

I turned to face her and laughed nervously, "I kinda am. I'm supposed to have lunch this period but..." I glanced around the hall.

"Oh, that's because you're on the wrong side of the school. It's around the back," she said, smiling. "You're getting closer, though. I'll show you the way. I actually have to go there now, too." She flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder and lead me through the halls.

"If you have lunch this period, why are you on this side of the school?" I asked.

"My locker's down there," she explained. She looked at me with bright green eyes and smiled. "I'm Hina Kiryu."

"Brielle Goodwyn," I supplied.

"Oh, so you're the new transfer student?"

"How could you tell," I said, flatly, pulling at my sweater. Her laugh was light and tinkling, and infectious. I found myself laughing with her. We came upon the cafeteria shortly after and made our way inside. It was crowded and loud; I tried in vain to search for an empty seat, but Hina half-dragged me to the far corner. Luckily, there was a table by the window that was unoccupied, but it looked like it had seen better days.

Hina didn't seem to mind, and beamed at me before picking up the table and repositioning it so that it rested on the window sill. "We can see if we can get one of the janitors to fix it. For now, I just do this. Works like a charm." She didn't seem to mind that the table was slightly tilted up at the end, and neither did I. I liked having a seat with a view; it fed my artistic mind. I just hoped that no one would disturb us and knock the table off its resting place.

While I debated on whether or not I would go up to grab something to eat, I noticed Hina looking at me with a bemused smile. I stared at her inquiringly and finally she told me what was on her mind. "So, is it true you duped Kaiba out of a date?"

"What?" In my shock, I jumped so badly my knee met the underside of the table. Clutching my new sore spot, I noticed Hina chuckling. "What are you talking about?"

"Some of the people in your class told me Kaiba was acting snobbier than usual, and that it had to do with the new transfer student," she explained. "You must have really done something to shake the guy up so bad. So, what did you do?"

I hung my head and sighed. "I did nothing! As soon as I walked into my first class with the guy, he glared at me like I was the scum of the earth. I've never even met the guy before in my life, but my dad now works for his company, apparently."

"This seat taken?"

I looked up and smiled at Joey, Tristan and Yugi as they stood around our table with trays of food. Shaking my head, I gestured for them to sit, then noticed the newcomer. Her face was framed by her shoulder-length brown hair and her large eyes looked expectantly at me. It was Yugi who made the introductions, "Brielle, this is our friend, Tea. Tea, Brielle is the new student."

"I've heard," she said, kindly, "So, you're the one who got on Kaiba's nerves?"

And the vicious cycle started again. I had to explain the situation to everyone at the table, and Joey vouched for me that Kaiba was being, for who knows what reason, extraordinarily pissy today. Out of all the boys, I seemed closest to Joey; maybe it was just because he personally stuck up for me (well, sort of) against Kaiba, but I didn't mind. Joey was funny, hilarious, actually, and would go out of his way to make us all laugh with a joke.

It surprised me that I felt so comfortable around so many people. I usually kept to myself at my old school, and would go out of my way to avoid other students. I barely had friends; most of the other kids labelled me the freak of the school. It's funny, sometimes, how a change of setting can really give you a blank slate and a fresh start.

Tea reassured me that it wasn't my fault that Kaiba detested me (wasn't that what I was trying to explain the whole time?) and that he really was a jerk to everyone, no matter who it was.

Our group of friends talked, laughed at memories old and new, and shared advice and experience. I discovered a sister in Hina, who'd disclosed to me the fact that her current favorite manga was Ouran High School Host Club (I was intrigued and asked her to lend me a few volumes) and that she was a video game fanatic. She even began calling me "Kirie-chan", after the main antagonist in my favorite PS2 game of all time, Fatal Frame. The things I fought so hard to keep from my former classmates flowed through to my new friends; my obssession with gummy bears, ghosts, and anime, the fact that I really wanted to go to a school for art, that I sketch and doodle when I'm not paying attention in class. Not once did I hear the word "crazy" or "fanatical" or "freak". For once, I felt accepted. I'd found real friends on my first day.

"Brielle, didn't you bring a lunch?" Tea asked, after a while. I glanced at my watch and found that we still had another ten minutes before the bell rang. Had time really gone by that slowly? It seemed like we'd been talking for hours, when it had only been twenty minutes.

"I... forgot to bring my wallet," I said, hoping they weren't going to do what I thought they would. Sure enough, Hina looked shocked.

"You're not going to eat?"

I shrugged one shoulder. "I'll grab something on the way home."

"NOT acceptable!" she nearly screeched and threw some money at me. "You're going to get lunch! You'll starve the rest of the day if you don't!"

I tried to push the money back across the table, but Hina wouldn't have it. I stood, staring at the money like it was some sort of bug, and looked back the the lunch line, which was empty but for one or two people. Sighing, I resigned myself to it and went up to the line, secretly vowing I'd pay Hina back for her kindness.

As I loaded my tray, I tried to stay on the healthy side. As I reach to grab the last apple, my hand brushed against another students and we both pulled back, stammering for the other to take it. I looked at him, noticing first his light voice and British accent. He had long, white hair and chocolate brown eyes, set on a kind face. I also noticed his shy smile that made him look boyish.

Calmly, he picked up the apple and set it on my tray. "It's okay," he said, and went back to picking his lunch items with a small smile at me.

"Th... thank you," I mumbled, and went to pay.

Sorry about the late late late update, guys. I was having severe writer's block with this chapter, but thanks to a few dedicated reviewers, I decided to just cut the last part of what this was and submit it as it is now. So thank you so much to my friend, Laz (who continually pesters me about updating this story and not the Kaiba one. ^w^ What would I do without such... uh, persuasion...?), as well as Smash41KMF, ShadowedPuppeteer, The Karma Chameleon OO, Manderss.x.x, MewMewRadish, and Traitor of Heaven for all your lovely reviews. Hopefully, I'll have some more ideas so I can continue to write this as often as I'm able to write Just The Secretary. Thanks guys! Please let me know how much you liked (or hated XD) this chapter in a review!