A/N: Sorry for the long absence, but this might become my normal updating schedule. A chapter per month. Maybe faster once I finish "Chance." Anyway, thanks for the reviews!!!

Chapter Eight

"Wow, you look…"

Duke was momentarily speechless as he stared at the goddess standing at the top of the stairs in a cerulean silk dress that hugged her athletic body at all the right places. Her hair was held in a complicated up-do with tendrils of it framing her pixie-like face and her graceful neck, which was also adorned with a pearl necklace.

"Fake? Like a Barbie on her best day?" Delia asked with a grimace as she looked down at herself.

"No. Absolutely stunning." Duke's eyes followed her down the stairs. "I didn't know you had it in you," he said still with that look of awe in his eyes as he took her gloved hand.

"Well, tell that to the team of make-up artists my mother hired."

"I'll keep that in mind." He flashed a quick grin. "Now, are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Delia straightened her shoulders and took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing," she whispered as she let Duke lead her into the grand ballroom of the hotel.

Today was the annual charity ball held by her parents. Anyone who was anyone in the Japanese world was here, not to mention all of her parents' business partners from across the globe. She pasted on her best smile as she made her way through the guests, stopping here and there to exchange a word, acting as the perfect hostess's daughter. She wouldn't have done it, if her mother had not promised to give her two weeks of vacation free from any offices and namely, Seto Kaiba.

The last few weeks had been a strain on her nerves. After that kiss on the balcony, she wasn't sure how to act around him, except he acted perfectly normal around her, so they somehow returned to their antagonistic relationship. However, they were both extremely aware of one another's presence, which made staying in the same room very stressful. It was no wonder that lately Kaiba always had a meeting or two to occupy his time almost every single day, so she'd rarely seen him or talked to him.

"Delia, is that you?"

Delia whirled around at those words. A big grin split across her face once she saw who it was.

"Jyn!" she exclaimed. Forgetting all propriety, she enveloped the person in a giant hug, which was returned with equal enthusiasm.

"Wow, I almost didn't recognize you at first," Jyn said once she let go of him. Standing at six feet tall, with midnight black hair and moss green eyes, and a model for Calvin Klein's new line of men's fall fashion, Jyn was every girl's dream. "Since when did you turn into a lady?"

"Since my mom bribed me with two weeks of vacation from school," she said with a grimace, but then her smile returned. "Let's not talk about me. How've you been? And where's that brother of yours?"

"Right here behind you."

She whirled around again and laughed when she almost tripped over her dress. "Kirk!" She gave the same hug on the younger brother as she bestowed on the older. Just a few inches shorter than Jyn, Kirk shared the eyes with his brother but had dark brown hair. The two brothers seriously made a picture standing next to each other, as shown by the covetous eyes thrown in their direction from many of the female guests.

"Good to see you too. And Duke too! I'm almost glad I showed up," Kirk teased.

Delia hit him on the arm, but they stood there and chatted, catching up with one another. Soon, one by one, her other old friends automatically found their way to them. It wasn't hard, considering Delia was having trouble suppressing her laughter.

"Delia!"

All of them stopped talking and turned to see Hara fighting the crowd of people to get to them with Kaiba behind her. Again, Delia observed just how good-looking Kaiba was, even in a tux; no, especially in the black tux. Jyn fidgeted next to her. No wonder, since he was the one who broke Hara's heart four years ago.

"Don't worry. If I forgave you, then Hara did too," she whispered to Jyn because she'd almost killed him when she found out what he did. The others grinned.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Hara literally glowed with happiness. She then introduced Kaiba to the rest, who had the cold, arrogant, and composed expression, which Delia was sure alienated every one of her pals. As Hara talked, she pulled him away from the group.

"What's wrong with you? Can't you be a little nicer? I mean, if you're going out with Hara, you have to be nice to her friends too," she hissed.

"They're you and your sister's friends, not mine," he said calmly. "Besides, who ever said I was going out with Hara?"

Delia blinked. "Well, I assumed you're here as her date, right?"

"No. I actually came here by myself because I received an invitation. I merely met Hara on the way."

"Oh, well, that…" She was at a loss for words. Yet, she straightened upon seeing the amusement in his eyes. "Still, try to be nice."

She was about to head back to the group when Kaiba grasped her arm. "I need to talk to you," he demanded in a tone that brooked no argument.

She threw an annoyed glare at him, but upon seeing all her friends still talking with Hara, she nodded. They took the elevator to the lounge on the second floor, where they could be alone.

"OK, so what do you want to talk about?" she asked, folding her arms and leaning against the wall in a totally unladylike pose.

"Did you spend the night with Devlin?" he asked as if he had all the right to know.

She stared for a second before answering coolly, "That's none of your business." Why the hell did he care? Sure, she'd come to Tokyo with Duke yesterday and spent the day with him seeing all the sights, but Kaiba didn't need to know that.

"Answer me!" He lost his composure for all of a second and she saw the ruthless man strapped under the calm façade. However, she decided to risk it and play his little game.

"What if I did? Why do you care?"

"I said I don't like you spending time with Devlin before!"

"And why should I listen to you?" Too late, she realized she and Kaiba was merely inches apart. She tried to step back, but to no avail since her back was already against the wall. Her heart leaped when he leaned forward and placed each of his hands on the wall next to her shoulder, so she was trapped in that small space between him and the wall.

She literally stopped breathing as he hissed, "I don't care if you listen, because either way, I won't let you be with him."

He moved in closer so that his lips brushed the corner of her mouth.

"No, don't…" she barely had time to say the words before his mouth crushed against hers.

Crushed against him, she was powerless to stop him from ravishing her. And ravish her he did, there was no other words for that hot, hungry and wild kiss. She never had a chance or the will to resist. She opened her mouth and he plundered. His hands had locked around her waist as she molded herself against him.

Pleasure bloomed, slow and tempting, until she wanted more.

Seto could feel the fire in his blood urging him to take. She was pliant and unresisting against him, her lips soft and welcoming, but they were at a ball, and anyone could walk in on them at any moment. It was that sobering thought that pulled him back from the tempting haven of her lips.

He slowed down, hoping that would cool the heat between them, but she whimpered and clung on to him. His lips curved at her enthusiasm as he managed to free himself for a breath of air and whispered, "We have to stop."

Seeing the glazed and passionate look in her eyes made his restraint worth every moment. He watched with amusement as thoughts slowly returned to her mind and her eyes narrowed down to slivers.

"How…how could you…?" The words stuck in Delia's throat as she glowered at him, still completely flushed from the kiss.

"You didn't seem to care a minute ago."

"I…" Another wave of heat crept up her face. "Hara, she likes you so much! We can't do this to her! Besides, she and you suit on another so much better than you and me!"

"If that was the case, I would've asked Hara here and kissed her."

She blinked, startled. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I like you more." He rolled his eyes. "Why do you think I told you to stay away from Devlin?"

Delia wondered if there was another girl who'd had a guy confesses to her like he was ready to kill somebody. Yet, she was happy, deliriously happy. The smile almost reached her eyes before she thought of Hara.

"No. You can't. We can't!" She heard herself the words even though what she wanted was the complete opposite. "It's not fair to Hara. I can't hurt her like this, not again…"

She felt as if she was trapped in a bad romance movie. Two sisters falling in love with the same man; one's open about her feelings while the other one hides it; the man loves the latter but the girl doesn't want to hurt her sister. Yeah, she could almost see how this ends—with neither of the sisters getting the guy.

"Hurt her? What about you?" Kaiba demanded.

"Me? I'm fine. I can handle it. Hara's different. She's too emotional."

She thought back to that time when Hara almost hurt herself after Jyn broke up with her. Hara could be a lunatic sometimes, so she didn't want to risk the same thing with Kaiba.

"Kaiba, please…" she begged.

"Seto, call me Seto," he said, ignoring her plea.

She wasn't sure what to make of that, but nodded. He was about to say something more, doubtless to convince her that Hara was not the one for him, the elevator rang and the door opened. Duke and Kirk stepped out and looked at them.

"So here you are. Your parents are about to make their speech, so they asked us to find you," Duke said and pulled Delia toward him while giving Kaiba a death glare.

Kirk didn't say anything but only looked at the two of them suspiciously, fixing a conspicuous glare on Seto, as if saying "I'm watching you."

Delia didn't have the guts to look back at Seto as she followed Duke and Kirk and somehow managed to avoid him for the rest of the night.

On Monday, Delia dreaded going back to work at Kaiba Corp. She was supposed to have two weeks off, but when she brought up that point with her dear mother, she was reminded that they never decided on when those two weeks were, so she'd have to wait until she showed some progress in her work and studies. She should've known better than to trust her mother.

Now she'd have to face Seto again. It was funny how easily she changed from thinking of him as Kaiba to Seto. She'd tried not to think about him the entire weekend, but it didn't work. Hara also didn't help by talking to her about Seto all the time. Sometimes she just wanted to tell Hara the truth, but whenever she was about to, she always recalled the time when Jyn broke up with Hara. It wasn't something she wanted to do to her sister again.

When the elevator stopped, she took a deep breath and straightened. She kept telling herself that she'll get through this. After all, the worst was Hara finding out. It couldn't be worse than last time.

Yet, she still wasn't prepared enough when the door opened to reveal Seto and Hara standing on the other side. Her heartbeat picked up painfully as Seto slanted a look her way.

"Good morning, Delia!" Hara said with her usual cheer.

"Morning. Where are you off to?"

"We have a meeting with the marketing department. Seto wants my take on some things."

"Oh, well, enjoy the meeting."

Delia was very careful to leave the elevator by Hara's side. Seto hadn't so much said a word to her in this entire time, which was just as well. They had nothing to say to one another anyway. She didn't want him to start persuading her to accept what was between them, because she had a feeling she'd cave in eventually.

She sighed when the elevator closed behind her. That went rather well, though the atmosphere was quite tense, not that Hara noticed anything.

She smiled and shook her head at Hara's obliviousness as she headed to the office. At least she'd be able to work in peace for a few hours before them come back.

It turned out Delia miscalculated just how long she'd have time to work in peace. Seto didn't come back the entire day, meaning she didn't see him at all. And when she did see him, at around six o'clock, she was promptly informed, by Hara, that Seto had invited her to another business dinner.

Delia shrugged and told herself that she didn't care. She returned home just as usual, but for some reason the lights were on.

That's weird. She and Hara were usually the first ones home every day since her dad was never home and her mother always gets back around midnight or so. However, once she entered the living room, she grinned at the sight that greeted her.

"Daddy, what are you doing here?"

"Delia, sweetheart, welcome home." Her dad stood up from his seat on the sofa and threw open his arms. She ran to him without hesitation and hugged him back. Oh, how she missed him!

"Welcome back!"

Even though Daddy wasn't home most of the time, she and Hara still talked to him two or three times a week on the phone and he made sure to come back every year during their birthday and always brought them tons of presents. In addition, he randomly sends home exotic items he'd found during his travels to them.

Once Delia had gotten over her initial excitement at Daddy's return, she saw the two strangers sitting on the sofa. One of them was an older woman probably in her twenties, and the other one was a youth like herself.

"Hi, I'm Delia Yasune." She extended her hand in greeting.

"Hello, I am Ishizu Ishtar." The woman shook her hand and turned to the young man sitting beside her. "And this is my brother, Marik Ishtar."

"Nice to meet you." The two of them shook hands.

"Delia, sit down," her father said and gestured to the seat beside him.

"Sure," she said, confused. Usually, when Daddy had guests, she'd often been told to go to her room and behave herself, so why did he want her to stay this time?

Soon, her dad explained that Ishizu and Marik were archeologists. They had found a new site in Egypt that might uncover something new about Ancient Egypt. They were here to talk to him about sponsoring the excavation.

"But Dad, since when were you interested in archeology?"

"It has always been a hobby of mine. If I wasn't so old, I'd go on this excavation myself," her dad said and explained that he'd been supporting the Ishtars for some time now.

"So what's so special about this new site?" Delia turned to ask Ishizu.

"I'm not completely sure, but it might help us uncover more about the origin of duel monsters," Isis replied politely with an enigmatic expression.

"Origin of duel monsters?"

"Yes. We believe that duel monsters existed thousands of years ago in Egypt, but the game was a bit different from today's because it was actually dangerous. Those who lost the game will suffer greatly." This time, it was Marik who spoke.

Delia nodded skeptically. "That's cool and all, but do you really think you could prove anything?"

"We could if we have more clues. My sister and I think there are stone tablets where the Egyptians kept record of the game."

She was about to ask something else when her dad spoke, "Ms. Ishtar, this is out of the blue, but if you don't mind, do you think you could include one more person in the excavation?"

Ishizu looked at her father, clearly confused by what he meant. "I apologize, but I just think Delia would be glad to go with you. It'd be a great experience for her."

Delia's jaw dropped as she heard those words. Going to Egypt on an excavation?

"Uh…" Ishizu hesitated and glanced at her. "Of course. If Miss Yasune doesn't mind, but these excavations can be quite dangerous. I can't guarantee her safety."

Her parents said nothing, so she understood that the choice really was up to her. "Of course I'll go! It's going to be great! I've always wanted to see Egypt!"

Her dad smiled and so did her mom even though she looked a bit troubled. "All right. Then Delia can go with you to Egypt," her dad said.

"Thank you so much, Daddy!" She hugged her father again happily.

"Did I miss something?"

Everyone was focused her Delia as she thanked her parents and the Ishtars that no one noticed the door opening and Hara coming in.

"Hara! Guess what? I'm going to Egypt!"

Delia ran to her twin and gave her a gigantic hug like she'd been doing to everyone else in the past five minutes.

"Egypt?" A familiar masculine voice said behind Hara.

Delia's head snapped up and saw Seto. He looked rather strained and his eyes held a million questions that she didn't want to answer.

"That's great, Delia!"

That was when she noticed that Hara's eyes were watery and a little bit red. Her smiled looked faked and sad instead of genuinely happy. Delia looked at her and then Seto, wondering what happened between them.

"Hara, is something wrong?"

Hara shook her head. "No, I'm just tired. I'll see you tomorrow." With that, Hara walked into the house without a second glance.

"Delia, why are you still outside?" Her dad shouted across the room.

"You better not have done anything to her," Delia hissed to Seto, knowing that her parents couldn't really see him since the door was half shut.

"I didn't do anything. She was the one who brought it up. Your sister isn't as stupid as you," Seto said with a smirk and left before she could retort.

God, how dare he! Calling me stupid again! What is wrong with him? Jerk!

Delia slammed the door behind her, all the happiness suddenly leeching out of her.

"Delia, are you alright?" Her mother asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. I think I'm going back to my room."

Remembering her manners, she thanked the Ishtars again and went upstairs. She went to Hara's room, but her sister was taking a shower, so she just plopped down on her bed and waited for her to come out. She wasn't sure that she was ready for this confrontation, but it would have to happen sooner or later, so why not just get it over with?

Yet, when Hara came out of the shower twenty minutes later, Delia couldn't find her confidence, but she couldn't really leave considering Hara already saw her, so she decided to pick another tack. "So spill!" She put on a curious expression and demanded.

"Spill what?" Hara looked at her distractedly.

"What happened between Seto and you?"

"Nothing. There wasn't anything between us in the first place." Hara shrugged carelessly.

"That's not true! I mean, you're just as smart as him. You two get along great!"

"So what?" Hara snapped, her eyes glinting daggers at her. Delia was suddenly taken back. She hadn't expected this. Hara very rarely had a temper. "Just because we have something in common doesn't mean he likes me the same way he likes you!"

Delia felt as if she'd been punched in the gut, even though she'd prepared herself for what was coming.

"I'm not stupid, Delia!" So I am? "I know he likes you! He even told me that himself!"

"Wait! What?" Delia couldn't believe her ears. "He told you that he likes me?" How blunt could he be? She told herself that she was not happy about that.

"Yes! It's not fair! How come you get everything you want? First Jyn and Now Seto!"

"Not fair? You're one to talk!" Delia couldn't control herself anymore. All these years, living under Hara's shadow, and now she blamed her for everything that was wrong with her life? How dare she? "Why do you think I am so rebellious, Hara? Everything I try to do, you come out to be better! That's why! I've lived under you shadow my entire life! Everywhere I go I hear people comparing the two of us! How do you think I took it? So two guys don't like you. So what? I never blamed you for anything. You're just a spoiled brat!"

"Shut up!" Hara covered her ears and screamed, "Go away! I hate you!"

I hate you. Her words echoed in Delia's ears. Somehow they sounded so familiar. Why does it hurt so much? Everybody hates me!

Delia wondered where these words came from. They weren't her own. She wasn't so far gone as to become depressed, but somehow they were there, in her mind. The slam of the door brought her back to reality as her parents rushed in. Hara was crying hysterically now while she just stood there, staring off into space. Her parents barely gave her a hug before they went to Hara and comforted her.

"Delia, what did you do?" her mom accused while smoothing back Hara's hair.

"What did I do?" Her voice was full of disbelief. "It's not my fault! Just because I'm not the one shedding tears doesn't mean I'm guilty!"

"Delia…" Her dad said in that voice that parents have when they rebuked a wayward kid.

"Don't 'Delia' me! I didn't do anything!"

When both of her parents still looked as accusing as ever, she scoffed. "You know what! I'm out of here! I did nothing to deserve this!"

"Delia, wait!"

She ignored her dad's plea and ran out before he could stop her. Mechanically, she walked on the street. How it turned out like this, she had no idea. All she knew was that she needed to get away from that place. She needed someone to tell her that she wasn't a failure, to reassure her that everything will be fine. She wanted to remember all the good things, remember reassurances from before, but her memory seemed to be failing her.

She didn't know anything anymore.

A/N: It's finally starting to get interesting... I love the next few chapters!

Please REVIEW!!!!