AN: Thank you to BethxAngel for favoriting and following this story. It is very much appreciated! Here is chapter 2!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of its characters, I only own the OC and her parents.

Chapter 2: First Day At Domino High

The smell of chocolate wafted throughout the house from inside the kitchen until it finally made its way up into the upstairs bedroom where a figure lay on its side, a purple comforter covering the person's face. A woman's voice came from downstairs.

"Amber, it's time to get up! Breakfast is ready!"

The figure moaned and rose up slowly, the comforter falling to reveal long and wavy strawberry blonde hair covering a young woman's face. Amber pushed her hair out of her face and fluttered her warm, golden eyes open as she tried to adjust to her surroundings. When her vision became clear, she realized she was in her room at her stepparents' home and not her original room before she had to stay at the orphanage.

I miss you, Mom. Her eyes began to water so she grabbed a tissue from her nightstand and dabbed at her eyes. The images from her dream slowly dissipating. But they were memories and they were of the best times she had when her mother was still alive.

She had no memory of her father, he died when she was only two. Her mom told her it was a rare disease that he had been battling since he was younger but she didn't go big on the details. Her mother was in a horrific car accident when Amber was only eleven, six years ago today, and that's why Amber had to go to the orphanage. Luckily, she was only there for about five or six months when Arthur and Linda Dawson visited and instantly grew very attached to Amber.

Linda's voice broke her thoughts. "Amber, are you coming down? Your food is going to get cold!"

"I'll be right down!" Amber hastily brushed her hair back and put an orange headband on to keep her hair out of her eyes, and raced down the stairs to the dining room.

She approached the dining room as the smell of bacon filled her nostrils. She absolutely loved bacon, and it paired nicely with the chocolate chip pancakes she had been smelling since she woke up.

She saw a figure hiding behind a newspaper but she knew it was her stepfather, Arthur. He usually didn't read the paper at the dining table but when Amber saw what was on the front page, she understood. The headline read: KAIBA CORP. HAS DONE IT AGAIN!

Linda Dawson had just been hired at Kaiba Corporation as the new personal assistant to the company's CEO. Amber figured her stepfather was trying to get to know a little more about the company his wife was now working for. Today was her first day there, and Arthur seemed a little nervous as he put the papers into his briefcase, just on top of his badge and pistol.

Arthur Dawson was a Private Investigator for Domino City's police department. He was the best one they had, in Amber's opinion anyway, and she knew she and her stepmom were very safe with him around. So, why was he nervous that Linda was working at Kaiba Corp.?

Perhaps he is nervous since this is her first day at a new job? Kind of like how I'm feeling about going to a new school. She surmised to herself as she took her place next to her stepfather. Linda emerged from the kitchen with two plates filled with eggs, bacon, and chocolate chip pancakes. She set one plate down in front of her husband and one plate down in front of Amber.

"Mm, this looks and smells good, Hon." Arthur said as he picked up his fork and began digging in his eggs.

"Thanks, Dear, I really hope you enjoy it." Linda smiled as she began cutting into a pancake. "So, Amber, are you excited about your first day?"

"I guess… I just don't like the uniform. Maybe if it was purple and had a longer skirt, then it wouldn't be so bad."

"Well, maybe you could put an accessory on your top or hair that's purple, and you could probably wear your black leggings under the skirt." Linda suggested. She knew purple was her stepdaughter's favorite color. As for the blazer and the skirt, there was no changing that. It was school policy not to alter the uniforms in any way. But nothing in the rule book said you couldn't add accessories or wear leggings.

"I guess I could do that. Thanks, Mom. I'll be ready in thirty minutes." Amber finished her plate and put it in the sink, setting down her drinking glass next to it. She ran up the stairs to get ready for school.

XxXxXxXxXx

Meanwhile, on the other side of Domino City…

The sun was shining brightly through a third story window of a glamorous looking mansion. The window was to a master bedroom and the occupant of said room was straightening the collar of his white shirt tucked into his blue school uniform. His hard cerulean eyes examined himself in the mirror. Though his face was stoic, he was really dreading going to school.

He hated being around people not at his intellect level. Hell, even the teachers didn't compare to him. But he had to go since he was still considered a minor, and it was the only way that he could keep custody of his brother, despite being an all powerful CEO. He only had one more year to go, then he could finally focus all his attention on more crucial matters.

Knock, knock, knock

"Who is it?" The blue-eyed brunette snapped. The door opened to reveal an older gentleman wearing a black suit over a white shirt and a black bow tie. He also wore black pants and black shoes. He had his arms by his sides as he bowed to his young master.

"Master Mokuba was wanting to know if you were going to join him for breakfast, Master Kaiba."

Kaiba gave an affirmative nod and the man bowed again before stepping out and closing the door.

Time to get this over with. I have a company to run after all. And with that thought he grabbed his steel briefcase and headed down to the large dining hall.

As he entered the brightly lit room, he saw his brother, a thirteen year old with long black hair wearing a dark gray uniform, already waiting at the long table. The younger boy smiled when he saw his older brother approach.

"Good morning, Seto!" A small smile grazed Kaiba's lips. The kind of smile only Mokuba ever got to see.

"Morning, kid. Did you sleep well?"

"Uh-huh. And you?" Kaiba acted like he didn't hear him and glued his own face into the newspaper, specifically the article about his company. It was an article about the latest virtual duel disk design and he wanted to see what lies were printed about it this time. There was always false information printed here and there to try to bring Kaiba Corp.'s reputation down a notch. The media was full of nothing but liars as Kaiba believed.

Mokuba frowned but said nothing to his brother. He figured the reason Seto was ignoring him was because he must have had nightmares about their stepfather, Gozaburo, again. But, despite knowing about the nightmares, he knew it was a very sensitive subject where the elder was concerned. Mokuba knew his brother meant it when he always said his business was his business and the younger teen knew to stay out of it. But that didn't mean he didn't worry about his big brother.

At this time, their hot breakfast of waffles, sausage, bacon, eggs, and fruit was placed before them and they began eating. After a moment of silence, Mokuba felt he should say something.

"So, Seto, I was wondering if I could have a few friends come hang out this weekend?"

That got Kaiba's attention. He knew his brother had several friends but the ones he typically hung out with (not at the mansion and Kaiba hoped it stayed that way) were the "geek squad" or "nerd herd" members: Yugi Moutou(his forever arch rival), Joey Wheeler(or as he calls him, "the Mutt"), Téa Gardner(the annoying cheerleader, always giving friendship speeches), and Tristan Taylor(he just doesn't really care for him simply because he hangs out with the other dorks).

"And by 'hanging out', do you mean here? Cause if so, it had better not be any of the geek squad."

Mokuba winced at his brother's harshness, but he knew to expect this reaction from his brother. "Actually, I was going to invite them to hang out with me at Kaiba Land." Smooth, Mokuba, like he'll believe that one.

Kaiba stayed silent for a moment as he gazed into his little brother's violet eyes before saying, "It's alright with me but on one condition: Roland accompanies you."

Mokuba's face fell at that comment. "Seriously? Why do you have to treat me like a child? I mean, I understand why you worry, but you know I'll be alright with them."

Now, it was Kaiba who looked at his brother with incredulity. "And, somehow, they're almost always involved when something bad happens to you."

"But that's not their fault. And they always help rescue me, anyway." Mokuba reasoned.

"You're taking Roland, Mokuba, or you don't hang out with them at all." Kaiba glared at his little brother with the "you will do as I say" look. Mokuba sighed dejectedly; he knew it was futile to keep arguing with his big brother, especially when the elder was being overly protective.

"Yes, Big Brother."

Kaiba smirked in satisfactory and glanced at his watch. They still had forty five minutes to get to their individual schools but Mokuba's was a little farther so he really needed the younger to hurry as he made it a priority to see his brother get to school safely.

"Are you ready? We need to get going." Kaiba stated matter of factly, pointing at his Rolex.

Mokuba nodded and grabbed his bag as they made their way out the extravagant doors. Normally, they would ride in their limo, but Kaiba felt like driving for a change so he unlocked the doors to his metallic blue viper. Once they were settled in, he drove out the gate and sped towards the skyscrapers that towered in the distance.

XxXxXxXxXx

Linda escorted her stepdaughter to the principal's office so Amber could get her class schedule and whatever else she needed for her first day. Once Linda was sure Amber had everything, she hugged her goodbye and told her that her stepfather would pick her up at four. Linda was required to be at her new boss's office at nine for he would be arriving around twelve since he was an attending high school student. She still couldn't believe she was now working for an eighteen year old.

Amber glanced around the hallway she was in, trying to make sense of the map the principal gave her, when a soft female voice startled her. "Do you need some help?"

Amber looked up to see a girl about her height with shoulder length brown hair and sparkling azure eyes. She, too, wore the pink blazer and short blue skirt. Her friendly smile was warm and inviting so Amber felt she could trust her enough to help.

"Actually, yes, this is my first day here and I'm not sure where I'm going. The principal gave me this map but I can't make sense of it."

"May I see your class schedule?" Amber nodded and handed the brunette her schedule. "Oh! You have Chemistry first with Joey and I. I'll take you there. It is a maze but you'll get used to it in no time."

"Um, excuse me, but who is Joey?" Amber asked with great interest. She was liking this stranger helping her out already and if this "Joey" character was a friend, then she would like to get to know him too. Amber loved meeting new people. She sure wasn't the shy and timid girl she used to be at the orphanage. She would always be grateful of the two boys who made her feel like the luckiest girl in the world for that, even if she never actually saw them again.

"Joey? Oh, he's a close friend of mine. Wait!" The brunette stopped abruptly and turned to face Amber.

"My sincere apologies! I haven't even introduced myself! I'm Téa! And you are?" She held her arm out to shake Amber's hand.

"Amber, but you can call me 'Twilight'. That's what my friends call me." Téa's eyes widened and her smile got bigger as she realized what Amber just told her.

"Are you sure it's okay if I call you 'Twilight'?" Amber nodded with a smile that mirrored Téa's.

"Sure, you seem like a very nice person. I'd like to get to know you better."

As soon as Amber confirmed it, Téa squealed and hugged her new friend as tight as she could while shouting, "Yay! I have a new female friend!"

The two girls stayed like that for a few more seconds when the first warning bell went off. Téa released Amber from the bear hug but still held onto Amber's right hand and began sprinting down the hall.

"C'mon! We have about three minutes before the tardy bell rings!"

XxXxXxXxXx

After having already dropped Mokuba off at his school, the blue viper had just arrived at Domino High when the first warning bell rung, the sound barely audible when Kaiba stepped out of his vehicle. But that didn't matter to him. No teacher was foolish enough to give him a detention notice for being late, nor question him, or anything. They knew he was a successful CEO and there were always the chances he'd be late to class because of a business meeting, etc. So, it was not these fools' business that he was late because he took a little longer route to his brother's school.

Mokuba had realized Seto took a different route than the limo driver took to get to his school but he dared not say anything. He was glad to be spending more time with his brother, even if it was only by ten minutes.

He had just entered the building when he heard an all too familiar female voice.

"It's just down this hall, on the end to the right. We should make it before the bell rings!"

Kaiba turned his head to the right to see the girl, whose voice he recognized as Téa Gardner, aka "the cheerleader", run past him while holding onto another girl's hand. Though he wasn't able to see the second girl's face, he did notice she had strikingly familiar strawberry blonde hair. Kaiba knew that having natural strawberry blonde hair was an incredibly rare trait and there was only one person that he knew with said hair.

It couldn't be her… could it? Deciding his curiosity was more intriguing than making it to his own first class, he followed the cheerleader and her companion into the science lab at the end of the hall.

I'm just going to reassure myself that this girl is someone I don't know so my mind will stop playing the images from last night. Kaiba inwardly said to himself. He was absolutely certain he didn't know this girl. Just because it was a rare trait to have it didn't mean he would never again in his life meet someone new with strawberry blonde hair. But he knew he had to check it out. He needed the dreams he had last night to fully disappear and he hoped by disproving that he would ever see that girl again, then his mind would stop playing tricks on him.

As he stepped into the loud, chatter-filled class, he scanned the students until he found his target sitting next to Gardner and a disheveled blonde, or better known to himself as "the Mutt". She turned her head towards the door and he felt every inch of his body go numb. There, staring back at him were a pair of bright golden eyes that he knew all too well and had told himself many times to just forget about, that he would never see them again.

The images he dreamt the previous night rose back to the surface. Images of them and his brother hanging out, laughing, him telling their bullies to leave them alone, then her being adopted and that's when everything changed. He shook his head, fighting to get his mind to cooperate and stop showing him scenes of the past.

Kaiba turned around and swiftly walked back out of the class as the chemistry professor walked in, just as the tardy bell was ringing. The professor was about to say something to the older teen but upon seeing who the teen was he firmly kept his mouth shut, knowing consequences would be dire for him.

Amber couldn't believe who she just saw: it was her childhood friend, Seto! But as quickly as their eyes locked onto one another then he turned and left. Did he recognize her? Surely he did by the expression he held but why did he leave like that?

From the moment their eyes gazed upon each other, her stomach was full of butterflies fluttering and she felt like doing somersaults or something. She had missed him and his brother so much! But his expression was a little hard to read, however, it was enough to tell her that he wasn't happy at seeing her. But why? What had she done to make him look at her like that?

It's been years; perhaps he was just as shocked as I am. I'm sure there is nothing to worry about.

"Alright class, we have a new student: Amber Dawson. Amber, please come to the front and tell us a little about yourself."

Amber got up and walked to the front of the class and introduced herself. When she was done, she took her place next to Téa and Joey, whom she was meeting when her eyes caught Seto's, and for the rest of the class period, her body was on auto pilot. But her mind was somewhere else entirely. Her mind kept replaying the image of the tallest, most handsome specimen with blue eyes and brown hair she had ever seen.

AN: Wow, this chapter took a long time to write and I kept making changes, but I'm satisfied with it now. Please review, follow, or fave. Any support helps inspire me to keep going. Thank you and God bless!