I started writing this for NaNo. I've actually got several chapters done, just... not in any particular order. The next one is done completely, though, and the two after that just need editing. I'm currently working on a different story, so whether I will be updating this fic very much is debatable at best. But I though you guys might as well enjoy the fruits of my labour. And who knows? Maybe I'll get inspired.

I do not own YuGiOh, by any stretch of the imagination. No profit is being made from this story. It's written purely for personal enjoyment.

Seto Kaiba allowed himself a victory chuckle at his opponent's expense. God, he thought, Joey Wheeler really was an idiot. He finished off his move and watched as Joey's Red Eyes Black dragon disappeared in a shower of pixels. In their reflected light, Seto could see Wheeler standing stock still as his life points hit zero, his eyes wide, his mouth hanging open.

As if he were actually surprised. Honestly.

And yet, if he were truthful, there had been a few moments were Seto had even questioned his own ability to win this duel. Wheeler had challenged him a total of four times since Seto's near victory in the Battle City tournament, a quite impressive number considering the Kaibas had only returned from America a week and a half ago. Since then, Wheeler had been unrelenting in his challenges, and each time, though Seto refused to admit it, it became more and more of a challenge to defeat him. Of course, this only served to make Wheeler's eventual defeat (and they were all defeats, in the end) all the more delicious. In an angry outburst during the heated exchange that accompanied that first difficult duel, Seto had snapped out, "I don't have fun!"

Wheeler had laughed at him.

Well, Seto had to admit that, while he may not have fun in the conventional sense, watching the other boy's face crumble under the weight of his own failure time and time again was a pretty close substitute.

His knowledge of human psychology told him that this was abnormal, but then again, since when had ever he been a shining example of a psychologically healthy specimen? He really couldn't bring himself to care about that sort of thing. His multi-billion dollar corporation proved that his brain functioned just fine when it mattered, and really, he was allowed to enjoy himself once in a while, even if it was at the expense of others (and it usually was). That moment when he revealed a face down card or summoned his Blue Eyes White Dragon or finally put his strategy into action and watched Joey Wheeler's life points tick down to zero, saw the shock and disappointment in his eyes... It was such a rush.

And this was the best part.

"That was just pathetic, Wheeler. You played even worse today than you did two days ago, and that's saying something."

"Shut the hell up, Rich Boy!" Wheeler hissed as he slapped his borrowed Duel Disk into Seto's waiting palm. "You know, I almost had you beat a couple of times back there."

"Almost, if you're delusional enough to think that's what that was, still isn't good enough," Seto shot back. "You're still just a third rate player, in the end. Duelling you is a waste of my time. Tell me, exactly how long to you plan to keep this up?"

Joey sneered at him.

"Until I beat you."

Seto raised an eyebrow at him. He tucked the disk back into his briefcase along with his own, and hefting it aloft, turned his back on Wheeler to walk casually across the school yard toward the waiting limo.

"So," he tossed tauntingly over his shoulder. "I take it you'll be challenging me forever, then?"

Wheeler made an incoherent noise of rage.

"I swear to God, Kaiba, next time I'm gonna take you down!" Wheeler screamed after him.

"Sure you will, Mutt," said Seto sarcastically, waving the comment away. "Sure you will."

"You may have beaten me in this duel!" Joey had said after his Battle City defeat. "And you may even beat me in the next duel, too! But I'm going to keep coming back until I win, Kaiba."

As Wheeler swore loudly somewhere behind him, Seto found himself shaking his head and chuckling softly to himself again. So, Wheeler planned to keep this up until he finally beat Seto, did he? Fine then. It wasn't as if Seto actually minded duelling him quite so much as he let on. Really, he kind of, maybe, in the most abstract sense, enjoyed it. Somewhat. A tiny bit. Sometimes. And besides which, he was perfectly confident in his belief that Wheeler was never going to actually win against him. He could challenge Seto every day, if he wanted. It didn't matter.

In fact, Seto kind of hoped he would.