Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Points of Authority ❯ Once a Jerk ALWAYS a Jerk... ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

"So...," Kenzie began for dramatic effect, wanting Kaiba's curiosity to pull him to her instead of spite or hate or anger; it had worked. He turned to look at Kenzie with a blank expression, his body still turned toward the window in a twisted fashion.

"...Where's the 40-inch plasma thin screen?" she asked quite plainly.

Kaiba wasn't put-off by Kenzie�s blunt tone (most people were a little intimidated at the seriousness of it), in fact, she saw his jaw jerk into a bit of a irritation.

"I don't have time for television," he stated in a curt tone, glaring at Kenzie for a brief moment before turning back to his window.

Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Psychological / Romance / Drama | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.03.2005 | Pages: 8 | Words: 7.3K | Visits: 209 | Status: Completed

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Points of Authority

Once a Jerk, ALWAYS a Jerk...

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Without much thought Kenzie had brought out her dueling deck from her purse and handed it to Mokuba. He was sitting right next to her in excitement, which Kenzie couldn't help but smile at his rattling mouth.

Of course, Kenzie heard the occasional grunt from Kaiba, but whenever she looked up he was always looking out of the window he was next to. She was sitting adjacent to his part of the limo; Kaiba was parallel to the driver's seat and Kenzie was in the "side seat" of the limo.

It was a really nice limo, too. Mokuba had to actually shake Kenzie back to reality when all she was doing was looking around, her eyes gulping in the richness of the vehicle.

Black leather seats, a very nice, black velour finished carpet...she almost felt bad for even having her old tennis shoes on the floor...

...But then you remembered this was Seto Kaiba's limo.

That thought had left Kenzie rather quickly though, considering that she had spotted a hugely furnished CHERRYWOOD mini-bar table...thing right in front of her.

But something struck Kenzie as odd.

Weren't most business men into having a television in their limo? Of course, they never watched it; it was just for show.

Before speaking, though, Kenzie crossed her legs and arms, to show Kaiba that she wasn't opening up to him...as Kaiba was to her.

"...Where's the 40-inch plasma thin screen?" she asked quite plainly.

Kaiba wasn't put-off by Kenzie's blunt tone (most people were a little intimidated at the seriousness of it), in fact, she saw his jaw jerk into a bit of a irritation.

"I don't have time for television," he stated in a curt tone, glaring at Kenzie for a brief moment before turning back to his window.

Kenzie recoiled from his biting frustration in a bit of a quirky pout with her fixating her eyes else where. 'He's such a stiff,' she mused. 'Then again, I wasn't really expecting him to go into some long, drawn-out speech about where his showy t.v. is, anyway...'

Suddenly broken out of her thoughts, Kenzie heard Mokuba shriek...in glee? Or was that surprise?

"Wow! You've got one of those spirit-type monster cards!" he remarked, looking at her card in majesty. "And it's Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi! That one's really hard to get!"

For some reason, Kenzie suddenly felt a little embarrassed by all of Mokuba's remarks, like it was an implied compliment of sorts.

Of course, Kenzie's flattered state had been shattered when Kaiba choose to speak up.

"Heh," he grunted in mock-amusement. "Don't tell me you have one of those lame spirit-creature decks, because I've stomped out everyone and anyone who's come across me with one."

A deadly serious resolve had overcome Kenzie; she didn't take kindly to people insulting her deck. The strategy and thought she had put into making it...

It just made her blood boil when someone tried to make fun of it.

"No, Kaiba; it isn't," Kenzie said to him lowly, trying to keep her anger in check. It was no use to take out her frustration on Kaiba no matter how much of a jerk he was. He didn't know how much she prized her deck and just being able to duel.

No, Kaiba was ignorant to Kenzie's situation. He didn't deserve her wrath...

...Yet.

Mokuba continued to name off cards off-handedly, as if to try and impress his big brother for Kenzie by doing so. She could really care less, as she was trying to find out why the prescription name was giving her an unpleasant feeling in her stomach.

Kenzie sat back, letting the leather seat cushion her back as she stared blankly at the messy, scribbled prescription the doctor had given her. Mokuba was still rattling off names of cards beside her, and she was trying to block out Kaiba's condescending grunts.

Kenzie was trying to remember where she had heard the name of the prescription again? “Dilaxicon”…?

Kenzie remembered reading about it in one of those brochures in her doctor's office back home…

…And that's when she remembered the co-pay for the drug ranged about 300-400 dollars, depending on the pharmacy - and that was only for a couple days worth of pills!

Shifting restlessly in her seat from her “new-found” information, Kenzie sighed irritably but softly enough to not raise any questions; there was no way she was going to waste her money on some silly drug and forsake her vacation! She had earned this vacation, and she knew if she deserved anything in her life, it was this!

But before Kenzie could continue her sulking, Kaiba's voice broke through her thoughts.

“What's wrong with you?” he queried in a most disinterested and maybe even bothered manner. “You keep mumbling.”

Looking up, Kenzie was more taken by the abrupt loss of her thoughts than Kaiba's bored tone.

Or his constantly glaring eyes…that seemed to demand the world from her.

Kenzie stared at him blankly for a few moments before shoving the prescription back into her purse. “It's nothing,” she replied dismissively, finding more interest in the cherry wood mini-bar across from you.

“'House of Adhesive Tape'…?” Mokuba queried aloud, catching the attention of Kenzie and Kaiba. Mokuba's eyebrow had risen as he looked to his brother, scratching his cheek thoughtfully in confusion. “I've never heard of that one before…”

“That's because it's not worth mentioning,” Kaiba snapped quickly, turning to Kenzie in a heated, icy glare. “And it just goes to show how much of an amateur you are for carrying such trash in your deck.”

Kenzie barely got angry; already knowing this would be the norm with Kaiba from now on. It still kindled a small flame of anger from his rude comment, but she wasn't just going to blow up over something that he did all the time; it would make her look bad.

But she still humored him nonetheless.

“Kaiba, I'd appreciate it if you stopped making assumptions about my deck,” Kenzie warned him in a plain tone, glancing out the tinted window in front of her as she did. “You don't even know the first thing about my deck.”

Kaiba gave a derisive grunt, mostly likely more taken by Kenzie's lack of anger from the previous comment. “I don't need to when I already know it wouldn't stand a chance against my deck.”

Kenzie folded her arms resolutely, knowing that she could one-up the CEO. “Chyeah, like you know what strategy is.”

“And what's that supposed to mean?!” he spat quickly, practically daring her to continue. However, Kenzie was unfazed. She knew the power of her deck.

Kenzie smirked, giving him that “knowing” look of superiority. “It means, Kaiba, that you obviously don't know what strategy is if you haven't bothered to research my deck.” She slid in a disbelieving glance. “I mean, really, what kind of strategy is beating people senseless? There's no merit in that simplistic gall.”

Kaiba gave Kenzie a “once-over,” like he couldn't believe she had just said something like that to him.

Then his face darkened.

…To the point where Kenzie actually felt a little uneasy.

“Look you disgusting simpleton,” he began in a deadly-low heat. “The mere fact that you don't understand the power and strategy of my deck shows how little you know of being a true duelist,” his face played in a sickening smirk, eyes glinting, “Or really, the lack thereof.”

Kenzie's mouth immediately snapped open, insults and argument ready to fly. “What?! You don't even kno-“

“And don't tell me I don't know what I'm talking about,” Kaiba had raised his voice to cut her off, “because I know exactly what I'm talking about.

“Besides,” he paused for malicious, dramatic effect, reveling in the fact that he knew that his words would find their way underneath Kenzie's skin. “How can a Default Duelist - someone who can't even be considered a duelist, except by default - tell me what's wrong with my deck?

“You're out of your league if you think you can tell me what to do,” he finished coolly, eyeing Kenzie with a look like he knew he had won the argument.

It was hard for someone's eyebrow to twitch when their brow was already dipped in a deep glare…but somehow, Kenzie had accomplished that; it was quite visible, she knew, because Kaiba's smirk was getting wider.

Kaiba's words had struck her deep; Kenzie's pride had actually taken a hit, but she continued to stay calm. “Kaiba, if you really think my deck is as worthless as you claim, then I want you to prove it to me.”

He answered with a “yeah right” snort.

“I don't need to prove anything since you're nothing more than a Default Duelist,” he answered in that mockingly plain tone of his, gesturing arrogantly with his crossed arms and puffed chest. “It's already been established that your deck is worthless. You were beaten in the American Tournament by third-rate duelists; the fact that they were cheating is irrelevant because they were third-rate.

“You're not even a real duelist; you're nothing. I don't even have to acknowledge that you exist,” Kaiba finished, leering in delight.

Kenzie was calm; she was so angry that she was numb of the fever-rage that was sweeping through her body. Kaiba had hit home in so many ways that he couldn't even understand…

The whole right side of Kenzie's face jerked…once.

But she was NOT going to blow up; doing so would acknowledge that Kaiba had found a way to dig under her skin.

No. She wasn't.

Because that would mean that he won.

Kenzie noted how oddly quiet Mokuba had been during the intense “dialogue.” However, she felt more than a little put-off by Kaiba, so she held her hand out abruptly, startling the youngster from the gesture, demanding her deck back.

Taking the deck from the hesitant hand of Mokuba quickly - if not rudely - Kenzie went to fish for the deck box in her purse.

“So, you have nothing to say?” Kaiba jeered arrogantly from his seat. Kenzie was trying to pay more attention to the hidden deck box in her purse.

“Well, I can't blame you. After all, I did tell you the truth; it must be hard to come to terms with it after you've blinded yourself by lies.”

Kenzie stopped short of getting her deck into the box, fitfully slamming it into her lap as she heated glared at the CEO.

“The only reason why I'm not saying anything to you is because I just realized how fanciful and delusional the world inside your head really is,” she commented in acidic resolution. “In fact, I can't even tell if your brain is located in that gigantically swollen head of yours or your own ass.”

His brows narrowed swiftly, his face cringing in insult; Kenzie knew she had finally gotten to him. Ha! Now she had won!

Kaiba pressed some button on his arm rest and the limo came to a violent stop, making inertia play on everyone's body.

“Get out of my limo,” he told her in curt anger. “You can walk the rest of the way.”

Grabbing her purse and heading for the door in front of him, Kenzie paused and turned to him, giving a disturbingly sweet smile, “With pleasure, Seto,” and then stepped out, leaving the CEO to shut his own door.

Kenzie's back was turned to Kaiba and the open door, a smile of sweet satisfaction on her face from the cringe he gave her when she used his first name so familiarly.

“Next time, why don't you be a good girl and faint on someone who actually has time to put up with it!” he bit out hotly, slamming the door in a “WHOOSH”.

Spinning on her heel heatedly, Kenzie glared at Kaiba…well, the door with an icy rage, anger swelling to her cheeks as she barely kept from lashing out at the air. Trying to keep control, Kenzie could only watch as Kaiba's limo skidded away from her.

Breathing in deeply, Kenzie let go of her frustration from Kaiba's earlier comment. He wasn't here so there was no need for her to keep a hol-

*BAM*

“DAMmit!” Some brazen “innocent” had run into the back of Kenzie, almost knocking her over! “Watch where you're going!”

A hesitant, almost cowardly voice responded to Kenzie's snappy attitude, making her feel like a true heel.

“I-I'm really sorry,” Kenzie cringed, wanting to kick herself. “I d-didn't meant to-“

“No, I'm sorry,” Kenzie cut him off, disheartened. “It was my fault and I shouldn't be taking m-…”

Suddenly, she noticed the boy's wildly colored, star-shaped hair and his short stature.

“Wait… You're Yugi Moto, aren't you?”

He gave a confused look, bringing a thoughtful finger to his cheek. “Well yeah…”

In a flash, Kenzie had grabbed up his hand, shaking it with subtle enthusiasm. “Wow, I can't believe this. You beat Seto Kaiba, right? You're officially my hero.”

Yugi smiled shyly, as Kenzie took notice of the blonde-haired, brown-eyed boy next to him. He was pointing to himself in desperation.

“An' ya know who I am, right?” he almost pleaded.

Kenzie turned fully towards him, smiling softly. “Joey Wheeler, right; placed second at Duelist Kingdom. Loved your plays against Bandit Keith; I really don't like that guy.”

Joey punched the air with his fist, clearly excited about something she had obviously missed. “YEA!! I'm famous, I'm famous, I'm famous…,” and he proceeded to dance around, jabbing the air with his fingers.

Too focused on Joey's odd dance and eccentric mumblings, Kenzie almost missed Yugi talking to her.

“You're the American Duelist, right? Kenzie Ray?"

But she didn't hear any of that. In fact, she was more concerned with how Yugi only came up to her collarbone.

"You're smaller in person," Kenzie mumbled to herself, but had obviously reached Yugi's ears since his cheeks colored. "I could've sworn that your profile said you were five-foot-five; you'd be at least an inch taller than me..."

Yugi searched around, trying to find a way from Kenzie's suspicious eyes, letting an uncomfortable "Uhh..." pass his lips.

Joey suddenly stopped his antics and began to circle you like an interrogator.

"'Ey, wait a sec... Yer dat American Duelist! Oh man!" Joey began to gesticulate wildly with his hands...

"I loved dat awesome play you did against dat d'fense dude in da semi-finals!" he exclaimed. "Ya know, dat one where ya flip-summoned dat sphinx cawd an' cleaned his field of all dem set-d'fense cawds an' went straight in fer da kill!"

Kenzie gave a small smile, bringing a sheepish hand to the back of her head; she wasn't exactly used to praise. "Well, it had to be done," Kenzie told him simply.

"Wow," Yugi exclaimed softly, gaining the attention of Kenzie and Joey. "I think you're the first modest duelist I've met," he finished, giving Kenzie a small smile.

It happened too fast for Kenzie to see, but somehow Joey had gotten Yugi into a shy headlock with one arm, pointing at him with his opposite hand, giving Yugi an ominous look.

"'Ey. You tryin' t' say I ain't modest, Yug'?"

Yugi looked a little edgy of his friend. "No! That's not what I meant! You don't really count because you got into Duel Monsters with me-"

Yugi's body fell to the ground as Kenzie tried to connect what was going on, Joey striking a defiant pose of his hands on his hips.

"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaat's what I tought," Joey sneered slyly. "B'cause we all know th' Great Joey Wheeler, Runner-up at Duelist Kingdom d'serves, t' boast a li'l bit more! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-"

"Go choke on a bone, Wheeler."

Kenzie's spine went rigid. There was only one person that could practically spit out a person's name in disgust like that... But she refused to believe that he was standing right behind her...

She had gone so rigid, in fact, that she was unable to move and process information in her brain for at least three, full seconds; she couldn't even process Joey's loud flying insults at a certain someone...

And even if Kenzie knew that one person stood behind her, there was only one way to find out if her suspicions were correct...

Kenzie's eye began to twitch at the heavy amount of foreboding perception that weighed on her stomach. Slowly turning around, Joey's mouth slightly mulled her dulled senses...

...And then she spotted him, contemptuous eyes staring her down, his bangs giving his look a more ominous feel, and an angrily flared coat that seemed to mock Kenzie's very being instead of actually being considered a fashion “faux pas.”

Kenzie's stomach had dropped like lead to her knees, leaving the rest of her legs to feel weightless under the fever-anger suddenly surging through her body. The muscles in Kenzie's face lost all contraction as she spoke steadily, acidic-ly, "Is it too much to ask for you to stay out of my life for more than ten minutes?!"

Kaiba stoically closed his eyes. "Don't try to blame your selective memory on me," he said evenly, opening his eyes to glare evenly at Kenzie. He extended his occupied arm filled with her suitcase, but was holding it like it was something he had just pulled out of the fridge that was two weeks past it's expiration date. "I only came back to give this back, because I won't be held responsible for it."

Kenzie answered him with a suspicious eyebrow in return for his impatient glare. Again, there was an odd, stand-off-ish silence.

After a while, Kenzie spoke, feeling secure that Kaiba hadn't trapped-up her suitcase -- she had the ones with the lock.

"Hmph," Kenzie took the suitcase back with as much attitude as she could, letting him know she was none-too grateful for his appearance...even if he did bring back her suitcase. "Would it kill you to be a bit nicer?"

This, of course, earned Kenzie a glare from Seto Kaiba...

...And that ever-infuriating trademark smirk she loved so much.

"Don't think I did this because I was concerned about your luggage," he warned, his hand on his hip and making him look so snobbily aristocratic that she wanted to slap him. "I just didn't want your ugly suitcase in my limo to remind me that I even let the Default Duelist in the same vehicle, let alone a fifty-mile radius as me."

There it was; that very familiar surge of heat through her blood stream that Kenzie was becoming found of...

"I told you-"

"Huh? How come you were in Kaiba's limo?"

Kenzie had been cut off by a very bewildered Joey, and an equally confused Yugi. But before either Kenzie or Kaiba could answer, Joey's eyes brightened slightly.

"Oh, I get it! Dat's jus' sick, Kaiba!"

Joey received several odd looks.

"What are you talking about, mutt?" Kaiba demanded in irritation.

Joey smirked. "Don't tell me ya started abductin' girls off th' street jus' b'cause yer too much of a jerk t' get one by bein' yerself; dat's really low, Kaiba. Even fer you."

Kenzie and Yugi fell over. Kaiba seemed to prepare for blowing a head gasket. Then Kenzie realized what Joey had said, and shot back up.

"Hey! What the hell are you trying to insinuate?!"

"I swear...," Kaiba spat in lidded frustration. "Wheeler, if your brain was any smaller, I'd be insulting dogs by calling you one."

"WHAT?! DAT'S IT! KAIBA, IT'S YOU AN' ME: RIGHT NOW!!"

Joey flashed into a running-jump, his one fist poised into making pre-eminent contact with Kaiba's face.

"Joey, no!" Yugi feebly attempted to stop him.

But Joey kept on, and he was getting closer and closer to Kaiba...

Then, just as Joey launched his fist, mere inches away from Kaiba, the CEO somehow grabbed Joey's fist, stepping to the side, wound his arm around swiftly and led Joey to take an ungraceful flip to the ground.

Cement ground.

…On his back.

Yugi was at his friend's side in an instant, trying to help up the winded blonde. "You okay, Joey?"

"Yeah, you okay?" Kenzie asked, a bit concerned, but keeping her distance.

"Yea, I'm okay," Joey mumbled indignantly, Yugi helping him to stand, but with Joey shaking it off. "No thanks t' dat jerk..."

Kenzie made eye contact with Kaiba, immediately glaring at him in blame. "You didn't have to do that, Kaiba."

Kaiba's glare deepened in response, insulted that she would think otherwise. "Of course, I did. That stupid mutt needs to be taught a lesson, but I've been going a little easy on him lately. Hopefully the cement knocked some sense into that empty head of his."

Knowing that fighting with Kaiba would get Kenzie nowhere on this subject, she settled for a bland look, like what he said had left a bad taste in her mouth, deciding to go see for herself if Joey really was all right; the smack his back made with the cement made her feel a little sick, truth be told.

"Well," Kaiba started out in mocking jeer. "It looks like I can't keep a washed up mutt from finding friends in low places."

That was it! She was so tired of Kaiba making snide remarks!

With a steadfast resolve, Kenzie flashed right in front of Kaiba, her eyes glinting in dead determination. "Why don't you just go away?! You obviously don't like anyone else, and they don't like you, so why don't you just save us all the trouble and just not show your face in public?!"

Kaiba sneered disgustedly. "And obviously you don't retain information that well, otherwise you'd remember that you're a `nobody' and can't tell me to do anything, you stupid Default Duelist."

A hiss of extreme heat rushed through Kenzie's body, and she took a small breath to calm herself.

"I, am not a 'nobody', Kaiba," she said steadily, arms crossed defiantly with her eyes attempting to pierce the CEO's. "And you would be well to know that you are actually the 'nobody' since the only person who can accept you is Mokuba."

...

Kaiba took a moment before letting his eyes narrow dangerously. "Mokuba is the only person I need to accept me."

He glared at Kenzie like she was the most disgusting creature on earth before he decided to walk back to his limo. In a dramatic whip of his flared, white jacket he had left Kenzie to fume, Yugi and Joey looking on in awe. As the limo ominously sped off, there wasn't a sound uttered from the aforementioned boys that she had recently met. Instead, Kenzie continued walking down the street toward the direction of the hotel, silently feeling a little bad for saying such a terse thing to Kaiba.

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