A/N: Chapter twenty! Can you believe it? The plot strikes again! Some things in this chapter I don't usually incorporate in my stories, but I'm still taking some of the requests I never got to fulfill into account. It also adds something to the story, I think.

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It seemed, as time went on, that Seto was spending more and more time alone. Kisara could tell that what was going on with these people who were after her was worrying him. It would worry anybody, really, but... he was up to something, and Kisara was sure it had to do with this.

He spent a lot of time in his office, working on something, though what Kisara didn't know. She would always over hear him muttering under his breathe, she was sure he was talking to Seth. Instead of continuing with the 'not letting you out of my site' tactic, Seto was planning something else, and keeping her at a distance. And Kisara knew that this could only mean one thing. Whatever Seto was planning, he thought it was too dangerous for her to get involved.

It started out slow but over the months Kisara had realized what was going on. By the time March came, he had begun to work by himself every night.

"Seto?" she said, knocking softly on his office door.

"You can come in," he said. She opened the door. "Kisara, what is it?" he asked in a concerned sort of way as he shut his laptop.

Kisara leaned against the door as she closed it behind her. She looked him in the eye, her eyes displaying concern that seemed to mirror the tone of Seto's voice. "I miss you," she said softly.

Seto sighed. "I'm sorry, Kisara," he said. He stood up, walking over to her. He placed one hand on her waist and brushed her hair out of her face with the other, bringing her gaze up to look at him directly. "I'm always right here when you need me."

"It hardly seems like it anymore," Kisara said, glancing downwards. "What've you been up to Seto?" she asked, leaning in closer to him.

"Don't worry about it, Kisara," he said. She gave him a look as if to suggest that this was out of the question. "Everything will be over, soon," he reassured. He kissed her.

Kisara closed her eyes. "Seto, don't think that I don't know what you're doing," she said, warningly.

"Are you complaining?" he asked. Kisara sighed. "Okay, what am I doing?" he asked.

"You're trying to make me forget why I came in here in the first place," she said.

"I thought you said that you missed me," he said, kissing her again.

"I do miss you, Seto," she said. She kissed him in return, giving up on finding out what he was up to. She would find out later, eventually. "If you're not going to tell me what you're up to, will you at least take a break from whatever it is for tonight?"

"I thought you'd never ask," he said smiling.

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Kisara was in the living room the next night, watching television with Mokuba. Seto walked in the room, wearing his coat and carrying his briefcase.

"Going somewhere?" she asked warily, glancing from the briefcase up to his eyes. He had that look, the one of cold determination where he refused to let his emotions show.

He nodded.

"When are you going to be back?" Mokuba asked.

Seto paused. "I don't know," he said after a long moment. He seemed to hesitate before he spoke again. "You two take care of each other," he said, turning towards the door.

Kisara jumped up and grabbed his free hand. He didn't resist her pull as she turned him around to face her.

"You're going after them, aren't you? You know where they are," she said. He didn't answer, the look in his eyes said it all, his stubborn refusal to display emotions feeling as she glanced into his eyes so close to him. She wrapped her arms around him, kissing him deeply. Mokuba looked back at the television, knowing that there was something going on he didn't understand, and more than used to seeing his brother and Kisara kissing by now.

Kisara knew there was no use trying to talk Seto out of it, he'd been planning this for so long, and she wished she had known that he was going to go after them sooner. She knew that Seto wouldn't do something like this recklessly, that he would have to be pretty sure of himself and his chances. The plan had been to wait for whoever it was to come after them, but they had been waiting too long. And there was no way she could convince Seto to take her with him on a trip so dangerous.

She broke away, still keeping her lips very near his. "Please come back safe," she whispered. He stood there for a while, not saying anything, not moving. He hadn't moved since she had grabbed his hand, except shifting a bit to allow her to hold and kiss him. He broke her embrace gently, looking in her eyes.

"I love you, Kisara," he said, before turning back away and walking out of the room.

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Later, Joey and Yugi were waiting in the front area of the game shop.

Joey spoke, "Can you baleve dat moneybags is actually askin' us for help? Ya know what I think?"

"Joey..." Yugi said warningly, not wanting to listen to his friend's immature comments about Kaiba.

"I think 'e must really love that Kisara girl if 'e is doin' this," Joey said.

Yugi blinked in surprise at the profound statement from the usually thoughtless blonde. Every once in a while, Joey would say something that had depth otherwise unimaginable for him. It was like that room of monkeys with typewriters that are said to eventually produce the entire works of Shakespeare.

"Yeah, Joey. I guess he must," Yugi said, smiling.

Just then, the door to the game shop opened, the bell ringing. Seto stormed in carrying a briefcase, coat flaring out behind him in a dramatic scene that seemed rather typical for Kaiba as far as Joey and Yugi were concerned.

"So I suppose you two are wondering exactly why I'm here right now," he said. It was true; all he had said was that he need help, and that it was important. When questioned as to why he wanted help, all he said was that he had to protect 'her'.

"There is a group of people that have somehow learned to summon the spirit monsters much in the way you observed people doing in the Pharaoh's memory world. They're trying to build up their forces, and have resorted to murder to get what they want at times," Seto began, cutting right to the point. Though Yugi and Joey didn't have much time to be shocked. "I've estimated their numbers to be no more than twenty. Still quite a lot, but considering as many of the monsters seem to be pathetically weak, there's not much to worry about there. Still, the more I have with me, the better. That's where you two come in."

"How do you know all this?" Yugi asked.

"Yeah, 'n how do ya suggest we fight these guys?" Joey added.

Seto seemed to ignore Yugi's question. He but the briefcase down on the display self of the shop that was in front of him. "This is how, Wheeler," he said, opening the case. He took two items out of the case and handed one to each Yugi and Joey.

"A duel disk? Is that your answer to everything?" Joey asked.

"But what are these symbols on the side?" Yugi asked, noting the inscriptions that looked strangely familiar. And the item wasn't styled quite the same as an ordinary duel disk. It was much smaller, and the space for a deck was missing.

Seto smirked. "This is the perfect blend of technology and magic," he said smugly. Joey and Yugi blinked. Had Seto Kaiba just said the word magic? And used magic on a duel disk? "This will allow you to summon and control your own spirit monsters much the way the ancient Egyptian equivalents that the Pharaoh and Priests used."

"How did you create this?" Yugi asked incredulously as Joey gaped. "And you only brought two. Won't you need one?"

"No, I won't need one, I think this will do just fine," Seto said, pulling the Millennium Rod into view from where it was hanging at his hip, hidden by his coat.

"How-"

"I didn't come here to play twenty questions, but be rest assured, I received this item with full co-operation on the behalf of Ishizu Ishtar. Now, will the two of you still help me or not?" Seto asked.

Yugi's expression softened at Kaiba's request for help.

"Look, I know ya don't wanna keep answerin' questions, but will ya at least tell us why ya chose ta ask us for help?" Joey asked.

"Besides the obvious convenience of the fact that the two of you live in Domino? Yugi is the reincarnation of the Pharaoh, and I knew if I asked him for help he'd want to bring at least one of his little sidekicks along, and I'm afraid the rest of your little squad is even more useless than you are when it comes to matters like this, Wheeler."

Joey blinked a couple of times. "All right, moneybags, you can count us in, right Yug?" he said determinedly, looking at Yugi. Even though Kaiba had called his friend useless in the process, Kaiba had, in the past five minutes, admitted to them things he'd spent so many years denying. Some things about Kaiba were never gonna change, but if Kaiba could chose to ask him for help over anyone else, then that was good enough for him.

"Yeah. So, when do we go?"

"If the interrogation's over, now would be nice," Seto remarked, turning towards the door.

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A/N: Please Review!

And thank you, thank you, thank you! To all my reviewers since last chapter: yugioh rocks, Eris-Dark-Goddess-of-Chaos, crazyvegimab, something541, Yoshimi Minamino, AQUADropS, Duelist's Heiress, Sakana, elias Herrera, and andy!