(Good grief, it's been awhile since I updated this thing. I just pieced together another chapter, so let's go ahead and do that, shall we? Thank you all for the lovely reviews, and please enjoy this next Kaiba-centric enstallment.)

Chapter 15:

The days passed by too quickly it seemed for the competitors of Duelist Kingdom. Especially for Yami, who was almost always spending time with Yugi. The two spent so much time together, they had begun to teasingly call one another 'partner,' especially after they had worked together in a tag-team duel against two guys named Lumis and Umbris, as well as another tag-team duel against the Paradox Brothers.

Out of all of them, Yami and Yugi were definitely the best duelists, winning games against Mako Tsunami, Mai Valentine, Rebecca Hawkins, Rex Raptor, Vivian Wong, and even their own companion Seto Kaiba with great ease.

Kaiba, feeling that he was one of the best duelists on the island, his ego having been inflated just a little more than usual due to an earlier win against a fellow contender, had challenged Yami to a duel.

So proud was Kaiba of his three Blue Eyes White Dragons, so happy that he could merge them together into a single beast known as the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. But... it wasn't enough.

Seth always used the Blue Eyes as well, so Yami was intimately familiar with the monster. He knew its strengths and weaknesses almost as well as he knew his own monsters.

Thus, defeating Kaiba wasn't nearly as difficult as it may have sounded.

Kaiba moped for several hours after his defeat; he had had nine star chips, and he'd been hoping to get just one more off of Yami, making it an even ten, so he could enter the finals. But, instead of winning one, he had lost one.

He still had eight more though. Maybe he could still win two more star chips in time for the final competition.

His brooding thoughts were interrupted by not only two but three very loud, obnoxious voices.

"Kankan, ketabasu sukoshi kankan...!"

"Oh, would you losers stop singing that stupid 'kick the can' song?!"

Jounouchi, Honda, and Otogi all froze in their tracks, staring in surprise at the tall brunette.

"Hey!" Honda yelled back, shaking his fist in the air. "What's your problem, man?"

Jounouchi snarled beside his friend. "Yeah! There ain't no law on dis island 'bout havin' no victory dances!"

"And for your information, we happen to be celebrating a victory!" Otogi joined in, flipping his hair. "Jounouchi won another star chip from beating Espa Roba, so he's just that much closer to getting into the finals!"

Smirking, Honda wrapped an arm around Jounouchi's neck and began to tussle the blonde's hair. "Yeah! And none of us thought he would have any star chips left by this point, but he's already got nine!"

"Hey! Honda! Leggo o' me!"

Nine star chips? Jounouchi had nine star chips?! That mangy mutt had more star chips then he did?!

Growling in agitation, Kaiba turned on his heel and strode away, wondering under his breath if there was a nice cliff nearby that he could jump off of.

He stalked over to where Mokuba was sitting with Anzu, fiddling happily with his Capsule Monsters pieces, where he promptly collapsed onto the ground and glared of into space.

"'Nii-sama!" Mokuba squealed excitedly, smiling broadly at his beloved older brother. "Want to play CapuMon with me, 'nii-sama?"

"No."

The younger boy flinched when he heard the short growl that escaped his brother's mouth and looked away, looking very disappointed.

Anzu cocked an eyebrow at her fellow brunette. "Problem?"

Kaiba gave her a sidelong glare, telling her loud and clear not to speak with him, but she refused to back down. On the contrary, rather than look intimidated she only glared back at him, meeting him fire for fire.

He sighed, finally giving in. "I just found out that the mutt is more likely to go to the finals than I am. While I was busy losing my star chips, he was out winning another one."

Anzu nodded and looked away, not asking him any more questions.

"It's just frustrating," Kaiba went on; for some reason, when Anzu wasn't talking to him, it only made him want to talk to her more. "If anyone deserves to go to the finals, it's me. Not … not the mutt. And not that good-for-nothing from Egypt, either."

"Who? Yami?"

Kaiba growled deeply in his throat, letting that alone be his answer.

Anzu rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed. "Look, just because the guy duels better than you doesn't mean you have to get all uppity about it."

"He can't duel better than me! No one duels better than me!"

"Oh, really?" the female brunette answered the male. "If no one can duel better than you, mister egotist, then why are Yami and Yugi both able to duel circles around you so easily?!"

"They're cheating. They must be cheating!"

Kaiba suddenly found himself on the ground, his cheek turning bright red and stinging badly. Hesitantly, he raised his hand, his fingers gingerly caressing the skin of the smarting side of his face.

"'Nii-sama!" Mokuba wailed, his eyes full of concern as he raced to where his brother had fallen. He cried out when the older boy pushed him away with an angry growl, the eyes of the younger brother beginning to appear more wet than usual. "Seto...?"

"You just don't get it, do you?" Anzu asked, her voice low and cold. "You're so centered around yourself, you don't even realize how badly you behave towards everyone else!"

"Enlighten me."

"So there are people who duel better than you. Big deal! Grow up and get over it! Just because you lost one game to Yami doesn't mean the entire world can stop its spinning and go crashing down into the abyss just because it would please you! Just because you feel a little down, that doesn't mean you have to vent out all your frustrations on everyone in your immediate surroundings!"

She slowed down, noticing that he was simply looking up at her, not moving and not saying anything.

After taking a breath, she continued. "You accused Yugi of cheating, when you and I both know she would never do that. I don't even know why you would say such a despicable thing, but you did. Not to mention how much you just hurt Mokuba, your own brother."

Kaiba glanced over to where his younger brother was sitting on the ground, large eyes staring back at him through a haze of tears that threatened to overflow.

Sighing, he rose to his feet, walking over to where Mokuba was sitting and taking the younger boy in his arms, hugging him tightly.

"Gomen nasi, ototo."

Mokuba clung to his older brother, sobbing into his shoulder; it was probably safe to guess that Kaiba had been forgiven.

Anzu watched the two of them from a few feet away, her face completely neutral. Neither approval nor disapproval could be read in her features.

Kaiba called to her when she turned to walk away, calling her back. "Mazaki-san."

She turned to look at him, her face still neutral.

Awkwardly, Kaiba looked at the ground, not wanting to make direct eye contract. "Gomen. And... arigato."

After a minute, a small smile grew along her lips, as she realized that he meant it. "Don't mention it."

With that, she turned on her heels and walked away, leaving the two brothers still standing there in their embrace.

Kaiba stared after her for a minute. It was... strange. She understood him; she spoke with him in a friendly tone that few others would grant him; she hit him; she yelled at him; she insulted him and argued with him.

How? How could she turn him on so easily?! By slapping him, no less!

"'Nii-sama?"

Turning, the older one faced his younger brother. "Yes, Mokuba?"

The younger one smiling shyly, sniffling and wiping tears from his eyes. "Would you... teach me how to play Duel Monsters?"

Kaiba smiled, knowing that, if nothing else, Mokuba had forgiven him. And right now, that thought just made his day.

"Of course, little brother."

I can't write Mokuba to match the way he actually behaves in the series and I feel like I need to apologize to Takahashi for messing up one of his characters.

Anyway, yeah, there's out latest installment. Let me know what you guys think and hopefully I can get a new chapter up sometime soon. Until then, see you guys later!