A/N: So, I'd like to thank my lovely readers for their reviews! I really enjoyed reading what you guys thought of the story so far. I'm very happy that you guys are enjoying the story so far. That being said, this story is going to be more manga-esque in terms of the events that occur and the progression of the story. In other words, it'll be written as more manga based than realistic. So, be prepared for randomness and sometimes insane scenarios. So, I look forward to feedback, which can be as lengthy or terse as you want it to be, simply telling me if you guys, my lovely readers, are enjoying the story so far or, if not, what you don't like about it. I just ask that you don't be rude and nasty in your review because I'm kind of sensitive. Other than that, enjoy the fanfic!
Disclaimer: Well, I clearly don't own YuGiOh because, if I did, Seto and Téa would obviously be together.
"What a truly beautiful necklace," Téa breathed as she examined the necklace. It was old and faded, and the gold was no longer as shiny as it had been thousands of years ago, but it was remarkable nonetheless.
"We found it during the excavation last week. It'll have to be cleaned and restored before we can add it to the display, but that shouldn't take too long. We found some more jewelry inside the tomb, most likely Nefertari's but we're not absolutely sure as yet," her colleague said and Téa's face immediately fell.
She had wanted to accompany them on the excavation but had been unable to because of her classes and the fact that she was in charge of the new Egyptian clothing exhibition at the museum.
However, that didn't matter to her because her department now had several new items and she was more than happy.
"I'll take this down to the lab," her colleague said and Téa nodded. As he walked away, he called over his shoulder, "by the way, Dr. Cohen is looking for you."
A few moments later, Téa entered Dr. Cohen's office. The moment she did, she saw her superior look at her and smile before he looked ahead and Téa noticed that there was another occupant in the room.
"You wanted to see me, Dr. Cohen?" she asked as she moved towards his desk.
"Ah, yes. You're just the person I wanted to see," he smiled at her as he stood and crossed towards her.
As he reached her side, she saw the person sitting in the chair rise and turn just as Dr. Cohen said, "Téa, this is Mr. Kaiba."
As Dr. Cohen said that, Téa found herself face to face with none other than Seto Kaiba.
"Mr. Kaiba, this is Téa Gardner. She is the junior curator of the ancient Egypt collection here at our museum," Dr. Cohen informed Kaiba, who simply stared at Téa, who had yet to recover from her shock. Clearly, neither one had expected to encounter the other so soon, and especially there of all places.
Finally, Téa snapped out of her shock and, with a forced smile, extended her hand, saying, "pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kaiba."
Kaiba regarded her outstretched hand for a moment before he finally shook it and gave her a slight nod.
"Now, Téa," Dr. Cohen motioned for her to sit, completely unaware of the tension between her and Kaiba, "Mr. Kaiba is going to be sponsoring an exhibition in our department. It's going to be called "Monsters in Ancient Egypt" and will focus on Duel Monsters in ancient Egypt."
Téa turned towards Kaiba at that, but he didn't move. Instead, he sat there, looking bored and emotionless as usual.
"Since you are in the running to become senior curator of the ancient Egyptian collection, I've decided to put you in charge of this project as a test to determine whether or not you have what it takes to be senior curator. While I will oversee everything and offer you any help that you require, it will all depend purely on you," Dr. Cohen informed her and she nodded. It wouldn't be that hard then. She happened to adore ancient Egypt, so she was more than certain that she wouldn't have a problem putting the exhibition together.
However, Dr. Cohen's following words caused her heart to immediately fall. "For this project, you will be working very closely with Mr. Kaiba for the next three months."
Immediately, Téa felt her face twitch but nodded and maintained her smile. Sneaking a peek at Kaiba, she saw that his face was still an emotionless mask and wondered how he managed to never show any emotions, except for his usual ones of disgust and arrogance.
"In addition to this project, you will still be responsible for your other duties. I believe we've recently acquired some new items during that excavation last week," Dr. Cohen said and she immediately nodded.
"Chris showed me the necklace and it is absolutely breathtaking. From the looks of it, it's a shebyu collar from the 18th dynasty of the New Kingdom, which puts it somewhere between the 16th century BC and 13th century BC. Most likely 14th century BC during the reign of Thutmose IV since shebyu collars originated during his reign. It might have belonged to Queen Nefertari," Téa hurriedly explained, unable to keep the excitement from her voice. She saw Kaiba's eyes widen ever so slightly and immediately cleared her throat, her face turning a slight pink.
"Amazing, isn't she?" Dr. Cohen asked, looking over at Kaiba, who gave a slight nod, if it could be called that. He continued, "I've never met anyone with such a love for ancient Egyptian culture. Even though she hasn't been here that long, Téa has already established herself as an invaluable asset to our museum."
At his words of praise, Téa flushed and immediately looked down, clearly embarrassed. At that moment, they heard a beeping and Téa looked down at her pager.
"Looks like they need me in the lab," she said as she looked at the message on her pager. "Would you please excuse me, Dr. Cohen?"
"Of course, Téa. Always such a diligent worker," Dr. Cohen smiled at her. Returning the smile, Téa replied, "I try my best, sir."
"Which is precisely why I've entrusted this to you. Despite it being so large of a task, I have absolutely no doubt that you will make it perfect," he smiled at her.
"I promise you that I will make sure everything goes off without a bang," Téa smiled back at him when her beeper went off once again.
"It seems that that is my cue," she smiled at them. Turning, she said, "thank you once again for entrusting such a task to me," to which Dr. Cohen replied, "there is no other person who I feel is more capable than you."
Nodding, Téa moved towards the door before she paused and looked over at Kaiba. Forcing herself to smile, she said, "and I look forward to working with you, Mr. Kaiba."
Rather than respond, Kaiba merely gave her a slight nod while still stoically staring at her. With a parting nod to Dr. Cohen, Téa turned and practically dashed from the room, happy to escape.
"Just my luck," Téa groaned to herself as she made her way down to the lab. Of course she would have to work with Kaiba of all people.
"And my promotion depends on him. Of all the museums in the world, why did he have to walk into this one?" she groaned before she sighed and pushed the door, walking into the lab.
"Of all the museums in the world, Gardner just had to work at this one," Kaiba mumbled to himself as he made his way to the elevator 30 minutes later. What was she even doing working at a museum?
From what he'd remembered, hadn't she loved dancing?
"Just my luck," he continued mumbling to himself as he pushed the button. A few moments later, the elevator opened and he found himself staring back at none other than Téa.
A scowl immediately seized his features, which was mirrored on her face as well.
"Excuse me," she said as she moved to step out of the elevator. However, Kaiba quickly blocked her path, forcing her back into the elevator.
"I don't think so, Gardner," he scowled at her before he stepped into the elevator along with her.
"Keeping me in here against my will is illegal, Kaiba," she said as she moved to leave the elevator once again. As she did, Kaiba quickly shifted his body so that he blocked the door just as the elevator closed.
"What is wrong with you?" Téa demanded as she looked up at Kaiba, who was now glaring at her.
"What are you doing here, Gardner?" he hissed at her, completely ignoring her question.
"I happen to work here, Kaiba," she snapped back at him and he scowled at her.
"Why? Of all the museums in the world, why did you have to work at this museum?" he asked and she stared at him, an incredulous look on her face.
"Did you just quote Casablanca?" she asked, surprise evident on her face and in her voice.
"What?" Kaiba asked, his features overcome with confusion. "What are you talking about, Gardner? And answer my question!"
"It's a movie. Where have you been living? Under a rock? And I'm here because this museum is where I did my internship," she said the last part slowly as she made sure that she enunciated every syllable, looking at him as if he were an idiot. Clearly, he didn't appreciate her snarkiness because his eyes immediately narrowed and he glared at her.
"Don't forget, Gardner, that your promotion depends on me," he suddenly reminded her as a smile appeared on his face. At his words, Téa's face blanched and she sighed.
"Don't remind me," she mumbled and Kaiba gave her his trademark smirk, continuing, "so I think it would be in your best interest, Gardner, to keep me happy and be an obedient little curator."
At his words, Téa gave a sarcastic laugh, saying, "blackmail from Seto Kaiba. Why am I not surprised?"
At that moment, the elevator reached the ground floor and the door opened with a ding.
"By the way," he suddenly shoved something into her hand. Téa looked down and was surprised to see money in her hand. She looked up at Kaiba, who said, "I always pay for dinner, Gardner. Always."
Just as he said it, the elevator door began to close. Quickly, Kaiba stepped over, preventing the door from closing, and turned back to face her.
"And be prepared, Gardner," he smirked at her, "to work very, very hard for your promotion because, if even one thing goes wrong for this exhibition, forget about your promotion. I'll make sure that you never work at another museum ever again."
With those words, he turned and walked towards the exit, his trench coat flapping behind him.
"What?!" Mai exclaimed and Téa sighed before she nodded and moaned, "my life is over."
"Aww," Mai moved to comfort her, "it's only three months, Téa."
At Mai's words, Téa immediately looked up and glared at her.
Clearing her throat, Mai shook her head and said, "I mean, maybe it won't be that bad."
Téa's eyes narrowed even more and Mai swallowed, realizing that she'd once again said the wrong thing.
With a tiny smile, she asked, "would you like some tea, Téa?"
Téa looked at her best friend before she let out a loud groan and buried her face in her pillow.
"Why me?!" she whined into the pillow.
"Really?!" Mokuba exclaimed, his eyes wide in surprise as he stared at his brother, who was scowling.
"Why don't you scream in my other ear as well, Mokuba? That way, I'll definitely become deaf," he snapped and Mokuba rolled his eyes.
"It's perfect, Seto! You and Téa, working side by side for three months. Early morning meetings, late night rendezvous. Oh, it's a recipe for romance!" Mokuba was saying, completely oblivious to the look that his brother was giving him.
Shaking his head in disbelief, Kaiba asked, "what is wrong with you, Mokuba? Where are you getting all of these ideas from?! Are you on drugs?!"
However, his younger brother ignored him, still lost in his little fantasy world. Mokuba continued, "I'm sure that you two will fall in love in no time. Maybe by winter, so you guys can have a fall or winter wedding next year! Maybe a fall wedding so I can wear a nice gray or brown suit. Then again, a black tuxedo against white snow would provide amazing contrast. Who cares? I'd look great either way."
"Mokuba!" Kaiba yelled and saw his brother immediately turn to face him.
"What's the matter, Seto? Why are you yelling?" Mokuba asked, shaking his head. Sometimes, he just didn't understand his older brother.
Kaiba took a deep, calming breath before he said, "will you please calm down?" which earned him a confused look from Mokuba, who quickly replied, "I am calm, Seto. You're the one who's yelling. I'm simply saying that I want to wear a tuxedo at your wedding. Or maybe a nice gray or brown suit for the fall."
Kaiba stared at his brother for a few seconds before he sighed and, shaking his head, pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Unbelievable," he mumbled, causing Mokuba to give him a mischievous smile.
"Aww, what's the matter, Seto? Is a certain someone worried about having to wear a chicken suit sooner than he thought?"
At his brother's gibe, Kaiba looked up and narrowed his eyes. "Don't be so cocky, Mokuba. Nothing had happened between me and Gardner."
Smiling wickedly, Mokuba said, "yet," earning a scoff from his brother, who added, "and nothing is going to happen! Ever!"
Shrugging, Mokuba immediately gave him a cool look and nonchalantly replied, "we'll just see about that. Start shopping, toriniku," before he turned and left a surprised Kaiba staring after him as he left the room.
"Ah, there you are," Dr. Cohen smiled as he entered the display on clothing in ancient Egypt. Téa looked up from fixing a headdress on a female model and smiled at Dr. Cohen.
"Hello, Dr. Cohen," she smiled at her superior when another figure appeared. Téa looked at Kaiba and gave him a slight nod of acknowledgement, which he ignored.
Trying not to roll her eyes, Téa turned back to Dr. Cohen and asked, "is there something that you need, Dr. Cohen?"
"Well, Mr. Kaiba is here and was wondering if you two can begin working on the exhibition to sort out the starting details and draw up a rough proposal. Apparently, he won't be available next week due to business," he explained to her and she quickly nodded.
"Of course, Dr. Cohen," she smiled and quickly straightened the headdress. "I can start right after I finish straightening up in here."
"Thank you," Dr. Cohen said, offering her a smile before he turned and left her and Kaiba alone.
"So, this is what you do," Kaiba finally said, walking around the interior and looking at the models inside. He touched a linen dress on one of the models and Téa quickly turned around, hissing, "don't touch anything!"
Immediately, Kaiba pulled back his hand before he caught himself and scoffed, mumbling, "calm down, why don't you?"
Téa scowled to herself and quickly finished fixing the last model before she turned towards Kaiba and asked with a stiff smile, "are you ready to start?"
Before Kaiba could answer, Téa was already walking out of the display and heading towards her office.
"Now," she said as they entered her office, "are you re-"
"Is this your office?" Kaiba smirked as he looked around the office, which was relatively small. Téa narrowed her eyes at him and nodded.
"Yes, Kaiba. Is there a problem?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I thought it was a display too," he mumbled and Téa had to inhale deeply to remain calm.
Turning to him, she said, "if you've finished insulting me, Kaiba, would you like to begin to lay the foundation for the exhibition?"
He scoffed and she grabbed paper, saying, "we need to come up with a theme."
"We already have one, Gardner. It's called 'Monsters in Ancient Egypt'. How are you going to put this exhibition together when you can't even remember a small detail like that?" he asked and Téa let out a frustrated sigh.
"I remembered that, Kaiba," she said through clenched teeth, "but there has to be order. I can't just throw a bunch of duel monster tablets together and call it a day. We have to find some way to organize it so that it is aesthetically pleasing."
"And just what do you know about aesthetically pleasing, Gardner?" he smirked and Téa clenched her fists. Was this what she was going to have to put up with for the next three months?
"Enough to know that you aren't," she bit back and earned a wide eyed look from Kaiba, who was surprised at her response.
"As I was saying, Kaiba," she continued before he could interrupt, "what pieces have you obtained? Is there something that connects them all apart from the fact that they're all monsters of ancient Egypt?"
He shrugged and said, "I believe figuring that out is your job, Gardner, not mine."
She glared at him and Kaiba, giving her his trademark smirk, pulled out a list and handed it to her. "All of the items are listed here."
As she took the list, Téa asked, "how did you even get involved in this? From what I remember, you didn't really like ancient Egypt. And I didn't know that you even cared about history."
Kaiba scoffed at her remark, saying, "of course you would think it's about history."
At her confused look, he continued, "my company is heavily involved in the dueling world. If KaibaCorp was to sponsor an exhibition that shows that duel monsters were real, do you have any idea how much publicity my company would receive? How much sales would go up?"
"Of course," Téa shook her head in disbelief, "business. Why am I not surprised? Only you would exploit history for gains."
"From what I understand, Gardner," Kaiba began, "aren't you currently making a career out of history?"
"That's not true!" Téa quickly replied. "I happen to love history."
"And I happen to love when my company sales go up," Kaiba smirked at her.
"Unbelievable," Téa said to him before she turned her attention to the list in her hand and quickly scanned through the items, which were more than she'd expected.
"Hmm, we could do a theme of elements," she mumbled to herself as she doodled something on the paper with her pencil.
"How typical," Kaiba mumbled and Téa immediately grew rigid.
"What?" she asked, turning to face Kaiba, who had a blasé look on his face. "What exactly is wrong with that theme?"
Kaiba shrugged and replied, "I'm sure that it is genius to you, Gardner, but it is a rather overused theme, don't you think?"
As he looked at her, Kaiba saw Téa's right eye twitch and inwardly smirked. He didn't know why but he rather enjoyed pushing her buttons.
Inhaling deeply, Téa closed her eyes before she exhaled. Opening her eyes, she merely stared at him, her face cool and composed.
"Right," she said, her voice full of resignation before she turned away and continued looking at the list.
"As I was saying, we'll do a theme of elements. And, to make it even more attractive, we can build models based off of the tablets so that there are 3D representations of the monsters," she continued, excitement tinging her voice. As he watched her work, Kaiba was genuinely surprised that she was so excited over stone tablets. She was actually glowing with happiness as she scribbled down her ideas about how to organize the tablets.
Although he would rather die than admit it, Kaiba was positive that Dr. Cohen had indeed made the right choice when he'd assigned Gardner to put together the exhibition.
As much as he knew that, however, Kaiba would never say that to her nor was he planning on it being a smooth three months. No, this exhibition would also draw publicity to his company and he couldn't afford anything but perfection.
That in mind, he turned back towards Téa and said, "by we, I suppose that you mean KaibaCorp because I'm absolutely not going to sit back and allow you to build models of the monsters."
Téa shot him a nasty look and quickly replied, "of course it'll be KaibaCorp," before she turned away, mumbling to herself, "as if I have the time and materials to build models of ancient monsters. Especially for you of all people."
"I can't deal with him anymore!" Téa exclaimed as she stormed into her apartment, slamming the door behind her. Mai, who had been reading a book, let out a yelp of surprise and accidentally threw the book.
"What happened?" she asked as she stood and looked around for the book, which had landed in the fireplace.
"Seto Kaiba is what happened!" Téa growled as she moved to sit on the couch. She plopped herself down just as Mai retrieved the book and moved to sit beside her.
"What exactly happened?" Mai asked and Téa let out an annoyed sigh. Massaging her temple, she said, "nothing specific. Seto Kaiba was just being his usual obnoxious self and I cannot work with someone like that. We've only been working together for a few hours now and I already want to wrap him up and put him on display. Maybe as a posh Neanderthal.l"
"That bad, huh?" Mai asked and Téa nodded.
"You have no idea. I don't know how I'm going to survive three months of this, Mai. I might as well kiss my promotion goodbye."
Immediately, Mai shook her head and said, "don't say that! You've worked so hard for so long to get where you are now. Are you going to let Seto Kaiba ruin your hard work?"
Téa looked over at Mai before she shook her head, a determined glint in her eyes. "Of course not! I'd rather eat my shoe than let Kaiba ruin my life!"
"That's the spirit!" Mai cheered her on and Téa nodded.
"So, who's going to go back to work and show Kaiba who's the boss?" Mai asked.
"I am!" Téa replied and Mai nodded.
"Who's going to put together the greatest exhibition ever?!" Mai asked and Téa replied, "I am!"
"That's the spirit! Who's going to become senior curator?!" Mai asked and Téa exclaimed, "I am!"
"Yes! And who's going to go with me to Vegas next week?" Mai asked.
"I am!" Téa yelled before her eyes grew wide and she turned to look at Mai, who gave her a small smile.
"What?" Téa asked, as she processed what Mai had just said. Mai looked at her and continued to smile before she stopped and sighed when Téa glared at her.
"What is this about Vegas?" Téa asked and Mai gave her another sigh before she replied, "I won two tickets for a week in Vegas," causing Téa's eyes to grow wide.
"What? How?!" Téa asked and Mai smiled before she replied, "I entered a contest a few weeks back while I was dating that radio personality."
"Didn't you break up with him after two weeks?" Téa asked and Mai nodded.
"He was too obsessed with the radio. All he ever did was talk about his job," Mai sighed and Téa shook her head.
"Anyway, I entered a contest that their station was having and I won the contest!" Mai exclaimed in excitement.
"I got the tickets this morning and I need a buddy to go with me and I thought who better than my best friend?" she asked and Téa sighed, shaking her head.
Just as Téa opened her mouth, Mai said, "before you even say anything Téa, just answer me this. When was the last time that you went on vacation?"
When Téa closed her mouth and look down, Mai nodded and said, "exactly. You never do anything fun anymore. Now, it's just work, work, work. Have some fun, Téa, or you'll wake up one morning and wonder where your life went."
Téa looked at Mai and was about to object when she sighed. Mai was right. All she ever did now was work. It had been years since she'd taken an official vacation.
"So, are you in?" Mai asked, holding out the ticket. Téa looked at it and thought about her work. Immediately, her mind flashed to Kaiba and she scowled.
Maybe a week in Vegas was just what she needed before she jumped into a three month long project with Seto Kaiba.
"Fine," she said and Mai let out a squeal of excitement.
"This is going to be so much fun! I promise you won't regret it, Téa!" Mai yelled as she hugged her best friend.
So, please be sure to review and tell me what you think about the story so far!
-DramaQueen95