'Why are they so happy to be back in school?' I thought, watching my friends laugh around with each other at lunch time. To me, everything in between the trouble Yugi and the rest of us would get caught up in was boring. I was a good duelist myself, so I'd often be dueling alongside Yugi and Joey against some depraved moron. I knew Nuria, also a duelist, felt the same about that one. I glanced over at Kaiba, who was holding a book and sitting a few rows across to us. He had even less of a reason to be here, being a CEO and all. I figured he came here to people watch or something.

I sighed, and Téa turned to me. "What's wrong, Lyra?" She asked. Sometimes Téa could be annoying, mainly because I liked my privacy, but mostly I didn't mind her. We'd been through quite a lot together, so she'd grown on me in this time. And I knew she was just concerned for her friends.

"Nothing, just thinking," I replied.

"Anyone in particular?" Joey joined in, smiling mischievously at me and nudging me slightly.

I gave him a look, but still smiled and answered. "No."

"It's okay if you were thinking about me, Lyra." Duke told me, keeping a straight face for a moment before breaking into a grin. I was used to the passes Duke would make at me, though they were always as awkward as the first time. Because even though he seemed like he was playing around, I worried that he was actually a little bit hopeful. I was pretty sure his feelings were only casual, though. He didn't seem too hurt when I laughed it off. Nuria casually changed the subject after that.

Lunchtime passed quickly, the last lesson not so much. I sat, bored as usual, a few places behind Kaiba. I couldn't help but stare at the back of his head for most of the lesson, trying to pay attention in case the teacher called on me. He was taking notes for the most part, but seemed quite bored as well. I wished I could get to talk to him more, but the only excuses I got were when something potentially life-threatening was going on and he was in it with the rest of us.

I'd barely ever had a completely casual conversation with him in my life, though I'd tried a few times. Usually it would just end up being awkward. I recalled our only conversation at school. It had been very short and incredibly embarrassing for the both of us, but it was a start. I suppose.

I was walking at a slightly faster pace than usual, being late to one of my classes. I rounded a corner too quickly, and made a sharp noise of surprise as I actually crashed into someone. Guess who?

"Ah, sorry," I'd said, mostly out of habit.

"Watch where you're going," Kaiba had said forcefully.

"Hey, I was running 'cause I'm late for class. Aren't you?" I'd asked.

"It's not your business," He'd replied shortly.

Fine, be that way. I'd been just about to walk past him when he spoke again, sounding oddly reluctant, but maybe unable to stop himself.

"Why do you even hang around those dweebs?" He'd blurted. "Two idiots, a wannabe ladies' man, a weakling, a priss-"

He'd stopped short there, and I could only stare at him in utter shock. Without another word, he'd swept past me, not even sparing me another glance. What on Earth was that all about?!

I'd decided to skip class after that. I'd needed some alone time while I read into Kaiba's words. I'd even texted Nuria to get her to come out of class so I could talk to her. We got into some trouble for that one afterwards, but we both thought it was worth it.

Nuria offered a whole bunch of theories, ranging from laughing hysterically at the idea that "maybe he was PMSing" to seriously suggesting that "he might even have a crush on you". I preferred not to assume anything either way, but I had fun making light of the whole situation with Nuria.

Other than that weird incident, Kaiba treated me as an annoyance more than anything else. I got along with Mokuba, though, despite his young age. Not that I wasn't legitimately friends with Mokuba, but I had to admit that I'd hoped that by making friends with him I could get to be around Kaiba a bit more often. I was still working on that one.

School ended, and I walked for a while with the rest of the gang, this time putting more effort into conversation so as to avoid it veering into awkward territory for me again. We hung out for a while, just talking.

When we split off at our usual place, it was getting dark, but it didn't worry me. I often walked home in the dark. It was only a 15 minute walk to my house anyway. I said my goodbyes and headed off by myself. As I walked past an alleyway, I heard what sounded like a boot scraping on the gravel. Before I could react, however, a pair of strong arms grabbed me. I struggled and yelled, but there were more than one of them, and I couldn't break free.

An arm was wrapped around my neck, trying to hold me in place, and I started to panic...