Random Stranger

Summary: In a desperate attempt to get Tristan and Duke to back off, Serenity grabs the arm of a random stranger and says that he's her boyfriend. Unfortunately for her, the random stranger she picked isn't as random as she'd like him to be. Silentshipping.

Disclaimer: No, I am not, and will probably never be, the proud owner of YuGiOh! Even though you probably guessed that already...

Author's note: It is time for yet another story of me! Well, it's only my third real, multi-chapter story, but still. I personally love the plot of this story; I tried to be somewhat original. You see, in almost every SxS story (including my own) Seto and Serenity fall in love first, deal with Joey second. And, of course, because they are so in love, they can overcome that. Or Seto dates Serenity precicely BECAUSE he wants to see Joey sweat. That's not my goal here. In my story, those two will pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend, just to get their family and friends to back off. Maybe romace will blossom... Maybe, okay, certainly, 'cause I'm a sucker for romance XD. Seriously, even if I have a bad ending in my for something, I end up with the most fluffy happily-ever-after scenario. Anyway, I've talked (typed) long enough. Enjoy the story!

Chapter 1: Random Stranger

Seto Kaiba gracefully signed his autograph at the bottom of the paper, handing it back to his employee to show his consent for the development of a new, improved gaming system. That baby was going to bring in a lot of money.

As his employee left, Kaiba leaned back in his chair smirked. Business was going better than ever. His new Duel Disks were already sold out, he was planning on creating an even better system for the sake of Duel Monsters, and he was two days ahead of his schedule. And not only he himself was doing well. His little brother, Mokuba, was getting straight A's in school; only yesterday had the fifteen-year old showed his rapport card to him. The kid might not always show it, but he was almost just as brilliant as his older brother. Well, it was to be expected. After all, Mokuba was a Kaiba. The boy would have a bright future, just like his brother.

Oh yes. Life was good.

A short knock on the door brought him back to reality. Maybe his employees had heard about his good mood and wanted to take advantage of it. Tough break for them; good mood or not, Kaiba would still scowl at anyone who wasn't worth his time.

"Come in," he said to the door, knowing the person on the other side would be able to hear him.

The door was opened, and a head full of long, black hair peeked around the corner. Ah, it was his little brother, and not some dim-witted employee of his.

"Hey Seto. Are you busy?," Mokuba asked casually as he walked over to his brother's desk.

"Surprisingly, no, I'm not busy," Seto answered as he got up from his chair. His response made Mokuba raise his eyebrows in surprise. His brother was always busy. Not that he minded; Seto had the bad habit of getting grumpy when he was stressed.

"So… if you're not busy, could I ask you a favour?"

"Depends on what you want," Seto stated simply as he leaned back against the wall, waiting to hear his brother's request.

"Well… I eh… I was wondering if I could use the limo tonight," Mokuba said, crossing his fingers behind his back.

"Again, it depends. What do you need it for?"

Mokuba cursed behind his breath. The question had been unavoidable, but that didn't mean he was happy with it. Seto would never lend him the limo; his older brother would definitely think his reason was ridiculous.

"Well… I eh… I kinda have… a date," Mokuba managed to get out, still keeping his fingers crossed the entire time. "And well... I though that she might… might enjoy a limo ride."

So, Mokuba had a date. How amusing. The best part was that Seto knew it would be Mokuba's fourth date with the same girl, and that Mokuba still thought that his brother didn't know anything about his little girlfriend. Of course, he'd done a complete check-up on the girl, only to come to the conclusion that she was actually acceptable. A fairly high IQ, good education so far, a nice family tree and pretty rich, the last meaning she probably wasn't after Mokuba just for the money. Yes, this Rebecca Hawkins was a good choice on Mokuba's behalf.

Of course, he still thought that woman were a complete waste of time. Sure, they were fine workers, but relationships with them would only cause drama and pain. Gozaburo had taught him that, if he wanted to be successful, he should not get involved with women. Or men, for that matter. They would only hold him back. And in that case, Seto completely agreed with his stepfather. A relationship would either resolve in a broken heart, or a marriage with or without children. Both were not good for business. A broken heart made people sad, not able to think about anything else. He couldn't have that; he had to focus on many other important issues. And a marriage… That would probably be even worse. The wife would always demand time from the husband, wanting to be close, just like other couples. He didn't have time for that; he had a company to run. No, getting a girlfriend was definitely not in his schedule.

However, just because he didn't want a girlfriend, didn't mean his little brother couldn't have one if he wished so. Mokuba would have to figure woman out himself. After all, experience was the best teacher.

"Fine. Take the limousine. But if you so much as scratch it, you're in big trouble."

Mokuba's face lit up as he cracked a huge smile at his big brother.

"Thanks Seto! I promise I'll be very, very careful with it."

"You better be," Seto muttered as Mokuba ran out of the room, scared that his brother might change his mind if he stayed a second longer.

A sigh left his lips as he sat back down in his office chair and continued working on the function rapport he'd been working on before he'd been interrupted by one of his employees and Mokuba. It didn't take long; within fifteen minutes the rapport was done, printed and send. He was done for the day.

A quick look on his watch told him it was five thirty; he'd only overworked for half an hour, which was about an hour and a half earlier than usual. Huh. So maybe this day was perfect.

Still as content as he'd ever been, Seto grabbed his briefcase and made his way out of his office, actually saying goodbye to his secretary before he got into the elevator that took him to the ground floor. As he walked outside, he figured that, since Mokuba took the limousine and his chauffeur, he might as well walk home. Of course, he had a car in the building's parking lot, in case it was needed, but for some reason, he felt like walking today. And so he did.

He began to walk towards his mansion, enjoying the breeze that cooled down the heat of the summer sun. As he walked, a few people pointed, whispered and stared, but he simply ignored them. People always did that, and even though it was annoying, he'd grown accustomed to it. Their puny little lives were so boring and pathetic that seeing someone that actually had success nearly made their eyes pop out of their sockets. Well, at least there wasn't a bunch of his damn fangirls around. They were always trying to touch him in some way while screaming his name from the top of their longs, which was extremely annoying.

For about ten minutes, he walked a straight path. When he came to the first and only crossroad in his entire route home, he automatically took a left turn. The right was shorter, true, but it was also much more annoying. See, the right was the mall. He hated the mall. There were always tons of people there, and if someone recognised him, he had no place to run. The left was the park. On a summer day, the park was usually crowded as well, but there were plenty of places to hide if some crazy fangirl decided chasing him around would be a sane thing to do. Yes, the park was his best bet.

He entered the park and immediately quickened his pace, wanting to get through it quickly, so the chance of someone recognising him would be minimum. He dodged a few running children, killed a bee that was trying to sting him and managed to get past a group of teenage girl that were eying him. So far, so good.

Little did he know that he would curse himself for not taking the car in less than a minute…

Serenity Wheeler let out an aggravated sigh as she made her way through the park, desperately trying not to listen to the two guys that were walking shortly behind her. If she did, she was sure she would go nuts.

The two guys, Tristan Taylor and Duke Devlin, had asked if she would go to the park with them. She had quickly agreed. Even though they could be quite annoying in their bickering over her, it was nice to get some attention. And since her brother Joey was with his girlfriend, Mai Valentine, she could use some attention. But now, as she was walking through the park, she realized that the boys were far from interested in her at that point; they were too busy bickering about who would hold her hand, who would give her flowers and who would escort her back home. As if she herself had no say in it at all. It was very tiresome, and frankly, she wished she would've stayed at home.

"Hey Serenity. I got you some flowers," Tristan said as he offered her a small bouquet of handpicked poppies.

"Oh… Well, thanks Tristan, I…"

"Serenity, I got you flowers as well," Duke jumped in, handing her a huge bouquet of red roses. It was obvious he had bought them at flower stand in the park. "You know, red roses are the flowers of love."

"I know… Thank you Duke, but I can't…"

"Serenity, look, I bought you some candy," Tristan interrupted, pushing a medium-sized, heart-shaped box in her already overfull hands. After all, everyone knew that candy was better than flowers.

"Tristan, that's very sweet, but…"

"Hey Serenity, I bought you even better candy," Duke stated, putting a big box of chocolates on her pile of gifts; she could barely see where she was going with all the stuff in her arms.

She struggled to keep all the artefacts in her arms from falling; it was quite hard to walk, see where she was going and keep all the stuff under control all at the same time. And these were only flowers and candy… If they continued like this, she'd be buried alive in their 'sweet' gifts. She had to put a stop to this. And fast.

"Eh… guys… would you please help me to carry this?," she asked sweetly.

"Of course Serenity! Here, let me…"

"I can carry way more than him, Serenity! I will…"

After some more bickering, Duke ended up carrying the flowers while Tristan took care of the candy. Serenity sighed in contentment. Not only could she see where she was going again, she had also stopped the boys in their race to get her the best gift.

She really didn't understand why they wanted to impress her so much. She didn't see herself as something special or anything. Sure, she was slim, had a beautiful, open face and kind eyes; things a man melted for. Than again, she was also small and her curves were barely existent. Men liked the tall, curvy kind of woman. Right? So why were they chasing her like animals? Frankly, they were scaring her more than pleasing her.

Serenity had absolutely no interest in either of the boys. Sure, they were sweet, but the thought of actually dating one of them ran shivers up her spine. She was simply not interested, but they were too dense to see that and she was too nice to tell them.

Tristan was a very nice guy; a bit dumb every now and then, but nice. He'd sat by her bedside when she'd just had her eye surgery, and he'd taken her too see her brother after she'd been released, something she wouldn't have been able to do on her own. He cared for her. She liked him, as a friend, but she couldn't see herself dating him. He'd be one of those guys who made every decision for the girl he was dating, thinking he was being polite. She might be innocent and a bit naïve, but she could still think for herself; after all, she was seventeen years old, hardly a child anymore. No, Tristan was definitely not her dream guy.

Then there was Duke, the smooth, handsome one. He had probably dated hundreds of girls, seducing them with his good looks and his smooth tongue. He would always know what to say to make a woman feel good, and Serenity was sure he'd be a very passionate lover. Yet, she couldn't see herself with Duke either. He wouldn't be able to be faithful to her. After all, he was quite famous and very handsome; the girls would be all over him. Correction; the girls already were all over him. He would never be able to resist the temptation to mess around with other woman, and she wanted someone who would be satisfied with her. Only her. Duke could never give her that.

She wanted someone who would care for her and protect her, without smothering her or acting as if she couldn't think for herself. She wanted someone full of passion, passion meant just for her. She wanted someone who was strong and fierce, but also sweet and caring. Looks didn't matter to her; neither did money. If her prince charming was an ugly, one-eyed vagabond, than so be it. She just wanted someone who would love her unconditionally.

She sighed when the bickering voices of Duke and Tristan pulled her back into reality. Someone who would love her unconditionally… Yeah, right. Like that would ever happen. Every woman wanted someone like that, but barely anyone ever got their wish. She would probably never find the man of her dreams. After years of searching, she would give up on finding the perfect man and end up with either Tristan or Duke… If they hadn't settled down with someone else already.

Well, at least one person would be happy about her miserable future. Joey would be the happiest man in the world if she would stay alone for the rest of her life; that way he would be sure that she would be safe from a broken heart. Joey was the best brother anyone could have, but sometimes he was a tad bit overprotective. Okay, he was very overprotective. She loved him deeply, but she hated it when he babied her like she was five year old. And he always did that. She had lived with him for several years now; he was technically her guardian, but he took it way too serious. She still had to be home for diner, needed to be home before ten and he still told her to brush her teeth every morning and evening. And, of course, dating was out of the question. She was seventeen years old, but Joey still thought that was too young to date. The only positive thing about that was that Joey scared Tristan and Duke off. When Joey was around, they wouldn't even think about putting the moves on her. Unfortunately, Joey wasn't around now… So she was stuck with two teenage boys full of hormones that were obsessed with her, or better, with bickering over her. Fantastic.

"So, baby, how about you and I go out to dinner tonight?," Duke asked her, winking to her in the process. "I'll pick you up at say… seven?"

"Well… Duke, I'd rather…," Serenity started, trying to decline as politely as possible. Luckily for her, she didn't have to, thanks to the interference of Tristan.

"Hey, back off, Duke! Serenity's going out to dinner with me! Right, Serenity?"

"Eh… I don't think…"

"Bullshit! She likes me way better than you. Right, Serenity?"

"Duke, I really can't…"

"Yeah, right. I actually care for her, unlike you. She likes me better!

"Guys, please…," Serenity tried again, but it was of no use. Those two just wouldn't listen.

"Oh, come on! Like any girl would ever choose you over me, let along someone like Serenity! She likes me better!"

"No, she doesn't!"

"Yeah, she does!"

"No, she doesn't! She likes me better!"

"No way in hell! She's in love with me!"

"I'm the one she loves!"

"Like any girl could love someone with that ridiculous pin-shaped haircut of yours!"

"Hey, my hair doesn't have anything to do with this! Girls don't fall in love with hair; they fall in love with personality and style!"

"Yeah, and your hairstyle's ridiculous! Besides, I've got way more style than you."

"I have more style in my little finger than you got in your whole body!"

"You're lying! I am more stylish than you!"

"You're not more stylish than me!"

"Am too!"

"Are not!"

"Am too!"

Serenity let out a heavy sigh as she sat down on one of the park benched, waiting for the guys to calm down a bit. That is how it always went. They started with trying to please her, than they got in a fight over her and finally, the fight over her resorted in some childish 'are not, am too' game about something that wasn't even remotely connected to Serenity herself. Like who was more stylish, in this case. They also had fights about who was cuter, who was tougher and who was stronger. They were simply hopeless. Well, at least their bickering had saved her from replying to their dinner requests. The though of having to spend a whole evening with either of them sent shivers down her spine. It wasn't really the dinner part, that was… well, she could get through that. It was the part afterwards, when the guy takes the girl home. Then it was either a simple goodbye, a hug, or, in a good case, a kiss. She was sure both of them would try to kiss her. Oh, that would be… awkward, to say the least.

"She'll never be your girl!," Duke's voice yelled, snapping her back into reality.

"Oh no? I'll bet she'll say yes if I ask her right now!"

"Oh, I'd take that bet any day, Pin Head!"

"Watch and learn then, Dice Boy!"

Serenity jumped up from the bench, slightly panicking. Oh no, Tristan wasn't going to ask her if she wanted to be his girlfriend, was he? Oh man, how was she going to save herself from this?

"Serenity, I've turned around this long enough," Tristan said as he approached her. "Would you be my girl?"

He said it without any doubt in his voice, but she could see his knees shaking. Duke was standing only a meter away, just as anxious for her answer as Tristan himself.

"Well… Tristan, I…," she choked. "I…"

"Hah! You see! She doesn't want to be your girlfriend!"

"She just has to think about it for a little while! She'll say yes; just you wait!"

"I'm not waiting any longer!," Duke spat as he took a step forward, closing the gap between him and the other two. "Serenity, I like you way more than he does. Be mine."

"He's lying Serenity! I like you better! I'm more in love with you!"

"No you're not!"

"Am too!"

"Are not!"

"Am too!"

Serenity sighed in relief, thinking that the guys would forget about their proposals after a nice, long session of bickering. Sadly, she was mistaken.

"Well?"

"Eh… what?," she asked, blinking. She hadn't expected them to be done so quickly.

"Who do you choose?," Tristan asked, slightly pointing to himself to give her a last sign that she needed to choose him.

"Well… I… eh… I…"

"Serenity, you have to choose now. We're not waiting any longer," Duke said firmly. It was clear that they both were done with their bickering over her. They wanted an answer. Oh geez… How was she going to tell them she didn't want to be with either of them?

"Serenity, why aren't you answering us?," Tristan pushed her, as he crossed his fingers behind his back, still fiercely hoping she would chose him

"Well, guys… I…," she started, now completely panicking. "I… I… already have a boyfriend."

The words just dropped off her lips; immediately after saying them, she wanted to take them back. Why did she have to say that? She didn't have a boyfriend; this lie would definitely get her into a lot of trouble.

"Who is it than?," Tristan's devastated voice brought her back to reality.

"Eh… it is… eh… eh…"

She panicked again. Not realizing that she could just say some random name to get it over with, she started looking around like the answer would just magically appear. It didn't. There were a few playing children, a tiny swarm of bees and a group of teenage girl that were staring at something. Just as she saw that, she felt how that something, or better, someone, was walking past her. An idea popped into her head at that moment. It was a stupid idea, but it might just help her out of this mess.

"It's him!," she blurted out as she grabbed a hold of the arm of the man that was walking by her. "This is my boyfriend."

She felt how the man stiffened in her grip, and she quickly buried her face in his chest, the adrenaline now completely taking control of her.

"Please, please play along with me, sir," she whispered desperately, hoping the man would get her game and help her out.

"We… eh…," she heard Tristan mumble. He was probably a bit dazzled from the sudden news. "We… We should go."

"Yeah… we… eh… we'll see you," Duke added. The sound of two pair of running footsteps made Serenity relax a little bit.

She had to thank the poor man she'd grabbed; she owed him big time for not immediately pulling away and telling her that she was crazy. She lifted her head to look him into the eye while she spoke. However, when she saw his face, her heart stopped.

Oh god no… not him… Why did it have to be him?

And so I shall end the first chapter of this tale. I must say, I'm really exited about this story; I've got tons of idea's and I really don't know where to start. This chapter itself was extremely fun to write; I especially loved writing the bickering between Tristan and Duke. If I were Serenity, those two would annoy the crap out of me too... But hey, they do have a vital role in this chapter XD. Without them, this entire story couldn't have been written, because without them, Serenity wouldn't have a reason to just say some random stranger (*couch* Kaiba *couch*) is her boyfriend. So I think Duke and Tristan deserve some respect. Well... Tristan more than Duke... I don't like Duke (readers of 'Captured Heart' should know that) XD. Anyway, I enjoyed writing this chapter and I'm looking forward to writing more of this story. Hopefully you enjoyed reading it as much as I loved writing it. And please, if you have the time, leave me a review so I can improve my writing skills.