Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Don't Tell ❯ The Thing About Pizza ( Chapter 1 )

About the timeline: It's a couple years after Duelists' Kingdom, but Battle City hasn't happened. Confused yet? Kaiba hasn't met Ishizu (sp?) either, and Yami and Tea haven't had their 'date' where Yami meets Ishizu, but Serenity has had her eye operation. Okay, now you're confused :)

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yu-gi-oh!... so please, don't sue me! [begging] I mean, isn't obvious that I don't own Yu-gi-oh? If I did, Serenity would be madly in love with Kaiba and not the least bit interested in Tristian, and Joey and Mai would have kissed by now.

=A/N=

KR: LOL, this was my first fanfic, which I'm just now finally getting around to posting here... and, um, it kinda sucks... sweatdrop...

Kaiba: Yup. Sounds like it.

KR: HEY! You weren't supposed to agree!

Kaiba: Then you shouldn't have said anything... [reading] Ack! Okay, that is not me. That is just NOT me! I refuse to partake in this fanfic!

KR: [evil laugh] Ah, but you have to! I'm the author; you must do whatever I want! [evil laugh]

Kaiba: Yeah, but you couldn't even spell author the first time; you had to go back and fix it...

KR: ... Oops? Whatever. You WILL be in this fanfic!

Kaiba: Never! I will no- Ack!

KR: [smirks] Too late!

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Chapter One: The Thing About Pizza

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{Wednesday afternoon}

'I hate this...' Seto Kaiba paused for just a moment to glare at his paperwork before getting back to it. 'I really do.'

Finally he gave up, and started pacing around his office. 'What is the matter with me?' he wondered. 'I didn't used to have trouble concentrating, but lately... I can't keep my mind on anything. I can't concentrate in school either...' He smirked. 'Well, okay, no loss there; the best thing school ever gave me was enough free time to work on the duel disk without being bothered... But work's important, and it's just as bad here. Even Mokuba says I'm distant.'

He paused in front of one of the large windows, watching the other kids streaming home from school. He, of course, had gotten here faster because of his limo (he always stopped at his office for a few hours before going home). He was absent-mindedly watching the people several stories down and across the street that were waiting for the 'walk' sign, when he saw something that made him narrow his eyes. 'Joey! The 'puppy-dog...' And... Oh my; now that's something I'd never have imagined...' Joey was holding hands with a girl. "Joey has a girlfriend... call the presses..." he muttered, smirking again.

Suddenly the girl looked up, as if she felt him watching her. Kaiba gasped; he'd seen her before, but he had had no idea she was Joey's girlfriend. She had just started attending the same school as him recently, and they had geometry together (the class in which he paid the least attention of all, of course). The fact had already been firmly established among the other boys that she was the prettiest girl by far in that class. And he supposed she was sort of attractive, with that incredibly long orange-ish hair, but he defiantly didn't have time for girls.

Suddenly he winced, realizing that he was staring (thankfully the windows were tinted so you couldn't see in, but it was still embarrassing...). 'Paperwork,' he thought sternly, and turned away.

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{Wednesday evening}

"I KNOW!" Mokuba shouted, right in Kaiba's ear.

Kaiba groaned, running a hand through his hair and gingerly examining his laptop for damage (he had bumped it quite hard when he jumped) before turning around.

"How many times have I told you not to do that?" he demanded.

"What?" Mokuba asked innocently.

Kaiba sighed. "I think you know quite well-"

"No, really," Mokuba said seriously. "What? Sneaking up on you, yelling in your ear, or interrupting you while you're working?"

"All three," Kaiba said dryly. "All right, fine, WHAT do you know? Besides how to sneak up on me better than anyone I've ever met?"

"Thanks. But anyway, it must be girl trouble! I've considered every other possibility I can think of, and that seems like the most likely one."

"E-excuse me?" The older brother eyed him warily. "What do you mean, girl trouble?"

"You have girl troubles, Seto," he said matter-of-factly. "That's why you've been so distant. You've got a girl friend that you haven't told me about, and you got into an argument, and it all makes perfect sense!" He paused for breath. "So, who is she?"

Kaiba stared, wide-eyed for a moment. Then, without warning, he grinned one of his rare grins. "Hey Mokuba, how many cups of coffee have you had today? I said you could have one if you were really tired, but I get the feeling..."

"Umm..." Mokuba swallowed. "Well, it depends what you mean by a cup, after all..."

"You just watch it," Kaiba said sternly. "I might have to get you a babysitter if-"

"Uh, I got some homework to do, so..."

"Mokuba, your tutors don't give you homework."

"Darn..." He left. Hurriedly.

Kaiba, still grinning, got up and locked the door. He knew what was coming.

Silence.

"HEY!" Mokuba yelled, pounding on the door. "You avoided my question!"

He frowned, sitting back down at his laptop. There was no way what Mokuba had said was right, of course, but still...

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{Friday afternoon}

Serenity sighed inwardly. Her brother could be so strange, sometimes... She loved him, of course, but still... She'd lost track how many times he had complained about needing a snack, and the school was only five minutes from the pizza place they all liked to hang out at sometimes. Yes, he was strange...

She smiled though, glancing at their friends; from the looks they were giving Joey, they agreed with her. Along with the four they usually hung out (Tea, Tristian, Yugi and Ryou), Mai had also joined them (Serenity suspected that her brother might be acting so strange because she was around). She was so happy she had gotten to know them. After the eye operation a year and a half ago, she and her mother had actually moved back. Well, correction: she wasn't living in the same house as her brother or anything, but she lived within walking distance. Meeting Joey before the operation had made their mother want to learn more about him again, and in doing so she had started talking with their dad again as well. It wasn't a sure thing that they would ever be really close like they used to be, but at least they were on speaking terms.

"FOOD!" Joey said blissfully, interrupting her musing. She rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but laugh.

"Your brother's a basket case," Mai stage-whispered, though Serenity noticed that she was grinning. Joey was too caught up in staring at what everyone else was eating to hear.

After ordering their food and finding a table (one of the biggest in the place, since there were seven of them), the usual idle chit-chat broke out. Mai teased Joey about his eating habits, Yugi and Tea were uncomfortably aware that they were sitting next to each other, and Ryou was having a rather one-sided conversation with Tristian - one-sided because Tristian was staring at Serenity.

Serenity didn't even notice. She was watching the people, and suddenly she elbowed Joey (he choked).

"Who's that?" she asked, pointing at the boy who had just come in the door. "He looks familiar."

"Ugh... um..." Joey finally got his breath back, but as soon as he saw who she was pointing to he started choking all over again. "Kaiba!" he finally managed to get out. "Aw man, don't let him sit near us..."

Serenity snickered. "Isn't he the one that called you a-"

"Don't say it!" he said warningly.

"Well, anyway, it explains why he's familiar," she said. "He's all over the news and tabloids..."

Tristian shook his head. "I'd like to know why he's in a pizza place," he commented. "I mean, the guy's a billionaire. Why come here? He could go to the most expensive restaurant in town and not even put a dent in his pocket change."

"Tristian's right," Ryou agreed. "It is odd..."

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{Friday afternoon}

Kaiba sighed, pacing around his office again. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

'Maybe I just need to spend more time relaxing,' he though dismally. 'Who am I kidding; I like work... So why can't I concentrate?!'

In frustration he paused in his pacing to look out his window again. He frowned, wondering where that girl and Joey were; it was just about the time they were there yesterday, and the day before too. Of course, maybe they had gone to a party or something right after school; it was Friday evening after all.

'Whoa, hold it,' he thought, gritting his teeth. 'What am I, a stalker? I was watching for her, I mean them, yesterday without even realizing it, and now I'm annoyed because they're not there?'

He sat down again, uttering a depressed "Ug." 'I need help... I'm either going crazy or I'm the one who's been drinking too much coffee...' He glared around his office, suddenly feeling... just plain edgy.

"Yes, too much coffee," he said, sighing, and without giving further thought to the matter, called a limo.

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"So... going home early, Mr. Kaiba?" the driver asked cheerfully. Kaiba glared.

"No," he said flatly, in a tone that signaled the conversation was over. There was silence for a few minutes, while Kaiba scanned the streets without knowing what he was looking for.

"Here," he said suddenly.

"Um..." the driver started, eyeing the building, but thought better of it.

"I'll call you when I'm ready to leave," Kaiba said, and walked into the pizza place.

The instant he walked in, it was like being hit with a solid wall of noise. Kaiba winced, remembering why exactly it was that he avoided places like this. For a few moments he wavered, considering leaving, but by then the crowd had somehow pushed him into the line so he just ordered and found a seat.

But, of course, the annoyances didn't end there. After a moment, he began to feel like someone was watching him. He put down his slice of pizza down and looked around curiously. He was just about to put it off as being surrounded by so many people and the coffee when he thought to look behind him. His eyes widened and he hurriedly turned around again, resisting the urge to laugh.

He had met a solid wall of glares. Tristian, Joey, Tea, Mai and even Ryou were all staring daggers at him. The only two who weren't were Yugi, who was too busy looking terrified of his friends at the moment, and...

He just couldn't help but glance back at them again. Yes, they were all still glaring at him, but yes, there she was, Joey's apparent girl friend. He was filled, for just a moment, with some strange bitterness that he couldn't explain...

Kaiba ate in silence for a minute, brooding. Finally he just couldn't take it anymore.

"Nice to see you too," he said dryly, turning around in his chair to face them. "You know, if you don't stop glaring at me soon your pizza will get cold."

"Blunt, as always," Tea said snidely.

Serenity shook her head. "You know, I have to say," she admitted, trying not to giggle too much, "he's right. Well, partially. It might get cold, or I might just eat it all."

"Don't encourage him," Joey said. "Hey, that's my piece! How many have you eaten?!"

"Oh, is the puppy hungry?" Kaiba said, turning back to his food with a smirk.

"Let... me... go..." Joey growled at Tristian and Ryou, who were holding him down.

"Don't," Yugi said, shuddering. "He might break something."

"Just take a deep breath; you'll feel better," Tea coaxed Mai, who was looking rather disturbing.

Serenity took one look around the table and cracked up.

"Serenity," Joey groaned, giving up the struggle at last, "you're my sister. Who's side are you on?!"

"Well, I don't know," she said thoughtfully. "I mean, he is kind of hot... Hey, I was kidding; I was kidding!"

Kaiba went the most amazing shade of red, thanking the heavens he wasn't facing the other way. 'Hot...? She called me hot...? And she's Joey's sister, not his girlfriend? And her name is Serenity...' He shook his head violently, angry at himself. So who cares what a girl called him? It was really time he got out of here, he decided; he had suddenly lost his appetite.

He stalked out of the restaurant and stood under the street light waiting for the limo. It was refreshingly cool and quiet outside.

He never noticed that Serenity was watching him the whole time, out a window.

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KR: Well now, that wasn't all that bad... was it?

Kaiba: [groans, running fingers through hair] No, it was awful! I've never been so humiliated! You made me completely out of character!

KR: Oh, hush. [puts duck tape over Kaiba's mouth and ties him to a chair] There, that's better.

Kaiba: MMMMMWWWWHHR!

Serenity: [sweatdrop] Well, I thought it was pretty good, but, um... can he breath, do you think?

KR: Probably. Anyway, what do you guys think? Please, review! It's all pretty much like any other fanfic right now, but I promise it'll get better - if I get enough reviews... If I don't I'll... come up with a really nasty threat, trust me. Or maybe I'll just sulk.

Serenity: '...it'll get better...' Okay, now you're scaring me.

KR: Good. [evil laugh]

Serenity: Yes, you're really scaring me... Are you sure he can breathe?

KR: Um... You know, now that you mention it, he doesn't look so good...