A/N In the process of editing, sorry if there are any inconsistencies with the current Yu-Gi-Oh plotline. I haven't watched the show in several years and I'm working with my memories of the characters for their personalities so I also apologize for any OCish-ness.

Full Summary: Tea's worst nightmare has come true; A full week with the notoriously, cold-hearted Seto Kaiba. In his house. Alone. Save for Mokuba. Can the two come to terms and work together while resisting the strange attraction that flows like electricity between them?

Edited 12/11/2013

Chapter 1

Thursday: Impression

-A strong effect produced on the intellect, feelings, and conscious.

The hallways were crowded; a mass of bodies shuffling in every direction. The thrum of excitement and relief that the day was over radiated gleefully, only serving to enhance her irritated state.

Tea Gardner narrowed her eyes hatefully as she spied the object of her fury close his locker and sling his book bag over his shoulder. Walking in his direction, she was tempted to bump him roughly with her shoulder as she passed to make her displeasure known. Instead she stomped to her locker directly across from his, resisting the urge.

By now the crowds had thinned as the eager students raced to be freed from the torturous building of knowledge. She glanced over her shoulder to see if the offending boy had left and froze in surprise. Of course was standing there, staring at her of all people. His thoughtful expression fell into a frown as he noticed her gaze. Still unmoving, Tea glared at him letting him know she was just as unhappy with their predicament as he. A tiny smirk appeared on his face at her defiance and he turned to leave.

"Infuriating," she mumbled under her breath as she turned back to her locker. She played the scene over and over again in her mind analysing every aspect as she packed her school bag. Each book found itself being thrust more forcefully than the last as her anger grew. Sighing, she pushed the interaction to the back of her mind and shivered as she thought about how much time she would have to spend with those ice blue eyes in the too-near future. Stupid school. Stupid parenting class. Stupid baby/family project.

It would just figure that she would be paired with the infamous Seto Kaiba of all people! The only reason she was taking the course in the first place was to bring her average up. This was supposed to be a simple, easy course that would involve little homework, and work to even out her average after her embarrassing disaster of a mark in economics last semester.

Mrs. Yamanaka must be having a real laugh, Tea thought acidly. "Oh, I have an idea!" Tea mimicked her teacher's overly girly voice to the now empty hallway, "Let's throw the school's two most well-known enemies together for a family project where they will have to live together for a whole week looking after a robotic baby! Ooh, that will be spectacular! Let's do that!" she kicked her neighbour's locker, stubbing her toe in the process. "Shit!" she moaned and bent to clutch her throbbing foot.

There was a quiet burst of snickering behind her in response.

Tea yelped and fell to the floor. Blushing, she turned her head slowly to see her audience. "Yugi, you shouldn't sneak up on people like that," she muttered, relieved it was only her friend.

"That would have involved interrupting your ever-so-entertaining speech though," Yugi said solemnly as he held his hand out to help her up.

They stood there, Tea glaring and Yugi mock seriousness. Both of their lips twitched slightly until they gave into peals of laughter. When their laughter died down to a low chuckle, they glanced over at Tea's abused bag.

"So, bad day huh?" Yugi asked, smoothly picking up her book bag from the ground to carry for her.

She sighed dejectedly as she clicked her locker shut. "Yeah. How much did you hear?"

"Enough that you don't have to explain," Yugi smiled brightly. "So…you and Kaiba are going to have a baby…"

"Like hell!" Tea screeched, smacking him sharply upside the head. "Don't even joke about that!"

Yugi laughed at his friend's outburst, "Well…technically-" he broke into giggles again when her eye twitched in irritation, "even if it's a mechanical one…"

"Whatever," she grumbled and stomped away from the lockers in the direction of the school's south exit.

"Oh, c'mon! Tea, you know I don't mean anything by it!" He hurried after her quickly retreating form.

Tea subtly slowed her pace so that he could catch up with her. When he did she sighed softly for the umpteenth time that day. "I know, it's just…it's a touchy subject. Thanks to my rotten luck I'll have to spend a whole week with the bastard."

Yugi couldn't keep the grin from sliding back onto his face. "Yami thinks it's pretty funny," he teased, watching and waiting for the cherry red colour to return to his friend's face. As expected, she did not disappoint.

"Yugi! How could you tell him!?"

The boy pranced away from her reaching fingers and he ran, laughing as she chased him all the way to their street five blocks away. The chase came to an end when Yugi darted into his house – dropping her bag on the step –and locked the door behind him.

"Yugi, get out here so I can kick your sorry ass! How could you tell him!?" She banged futilely on the door, screaming at the top of her lungs. All she got in response was a muffled laughter. With an enraged cry, she slammed her fist once more on her friend's door and turned to leave scooping up her bag on the way.

Grumbling and fuming all the way home she began to wonder what it was she was so mad about in the first place. She was now seventeen – eighteen in five days – a senior at Domino High, and her childish crush on her best friend's 'other inhabitant', Yami, had long since dissipated. She had been so naïve. He was from a different time and his heart belonged forever to the woman he left behind in it. Admittedly yes, Tea was the reincarnation of the beautiful Teana that Atem loved so much…

Ew…

Did that mean she and Yugi were meant to be together like the people they were reincarnated after!? She shuddered. There was no way, Yugi was her best friend! No, she defiantly did not have those feelings for her short, pointy-haired friend.

The reason she was probably so upset was because she admired the dead pharaoh greatly. Before, when Yami had first joined them, she had confused her feelings of admiration for love. He was strong, confident, so sure of himself, and always came to his friends' aid when needed. It would make sense for her to be upset about someone she admired so much seeing her in such an embarrassing situation.

Reaching her house, Tea wearily climbed the steps to the front porch and let herself inside. It was a huge, western styled house with large, sun windows and a porch wrapped around the outside.

"I'm home!" Her voice echoed around the dark, empty house. As usual, she was alone. Her parents worked overseas as journalists – part of a reporters without borders kind of program – and were rarely home. She would sometimes spend months by herself and when her parents returned, it was only for a couple weeks. They would leave Tea monthly deposits in her bank account for the basics plus a little extra for leisurely spending.

Removing her shoes, she made her way to the kitchen to make herself a snack to eat while doing homework all the while muttering about stupid, short friends who couldn't keep their mouths shut.

Bring!

Bring!

Tea's head snapped up at the shrill sound of her phone ringing. My parents just had to pick the most irritating ring tone the phone settings offered, she thought lethargically as she eased herself out of the chair she had been sitting in and made a mental note to change the tone later. She stumbled groggily over to the phone hanging from the wall in the kitchen.

"Hello?" Her eyes flickered over to the clock on the wall. 6:45… shit, it's late.

"Hey dere Tea! What are you up to?"

"Oh, hey Joey," she looked around puzzled as she tried to figure out what it was she had been doing. Her gaze landed on the open book of Japanese homework with what looked like a puddle of drool on it. Wiping her hand across her cheek, she blushed. I must have fallen asleep while working on it, she mused as her attention turned back to the conversation. "I was just working on some homework. Why? What's up?"

"The gang and I were thinking we'd go down to de bowling ally for a couple hours, maybe have some pizza. We were wondering if yeh wanted to join us?"

"Uh, well, I haven't completely finished my homework yet-"

"Don't worry about it! Come have some fun with us Tea. They say yeh only live once!"

Tea chuckled. She could just imagine him wiggling his eyebrows at her and pulling out that cheeky grin of his. Joey Wheeler was a master of persuasion if nothing else. "Pick me up in ten, I need some time to change out of my uniform," she replied smiling.

"Dat's our girl! I'll be dere soon. Don't take too long to get ready; we don't want to be waiting for yeh to curl you hairs or somethin',"he joked.

"Real funny, jerk!" she clicked the phone back into place hanging up on the blond joker.

Knowing her friend would probably be too impatient to wait ten minutes, she hurried into her bedroom to change out of the pink jacket and blue skirt that made up her uniform. Pulling on some shorts and a long sleeved shirt, she dashed into the bathroom to wash her face and scrape her hair into a ponytail. Knowing the guys, she would end up paying for at least half of the evening - Joey and Tristan were moochers - so she grabbed her wallet and went to wait outside for Joey's rusty Cadillac, a present from his parents on his seventeenth birthday. She didn't have to wait long. Sure enough the Cadillac came bumping and groaning around the corner of her street five minutes earlier than he'd said he'd give her.

"All right Tea! You're ready! You sure you don't need to primp a bit more?" Tristan called from the back seat as the car came to a jerking halt in front of her house.

She smacked him sharply across the head before climbing into the seat beside him. "Shut up ignoramus, it's just bowling," she said snippily and turned to face the snickering boys who sat in the front.

Tristan laughed along with them and slung his arm casually around Tea's shoulders, ruffling her hair.

Tea couldn't help joining in with their laughter as Joey started the car and pulled out onto the road in the direction of Domino Lanes.

Tonight will be fun, she thought happily as she settled into the leather seats of Joey's second-hand car, it's just what I need to get my mind off of this project

…

Wait a minute-

She turned to look at Yugi in the passenger seat. He noticed her stare and winked at her, grinning. She beamed at the boy realizing that this outing was his doing. He knew she had been upset about the project with Kaiba and planned the trip to get her mind off of it. Leaning forward she grinned happily, "Thank you," she whispered in her friend's ear.

Yugi reached back and squeezed her arm affectionately, "No problem Tea."

Seto sighed heavily as he threw his book bag into the limo waiting for him outside the school. He heaved himself inside and waved to the driver, signalling him to start moving.

It had been an exhausting, irksome day in which his parenting class teacher, Mrs. Yamanaka, had decided to pair him with the insufferable Tea Gardner for a family project.

He wouldn't even be in the class if it weren't for Mokuba switching the courses on his course option sheet as a sick joke. It was just his luck that he hadn't thought to check over his options once more before handing the form into the guidance councillors. By the time he had realized, it had been too late to switch out of the pathetic excuse for a high school class.

They would have to live together for a week. Seto rubbed his temples trying to soothe the headache he could feel coming on. They would, of course, be staying in his manor. Seto Kaiba would not be spending a week in the house of a commoner, you could be sure of that. He frowned at the thought of her being in his living space for that length of time. She would see him in his working environment. As long as she doesn't get in my way…

His thoughts turned to Mokuba and how the boy would take the situation. His brother would probably enjoy his discomfort at having a stranger in their house. The ebony-haired youth had become disgustingly attached to Gardner and her nerd herd. How could his brother actually like the annoyingly, pig-headed Yugi from whom Seto had suffered so many humiliating defeats. He would feel slightly betrayed if he didn't know Mokuba would always choose his side over his rivals'. He had continually supported Seto from the sidelines of almost every duel and for that the he was secretly grateful, even if he pretended he needed no one.

But that was in the past. Unfortunately for Kaiba Corps, Duel Monsters, as with all games, had ridden the tide of popularity only to crash upon the shore along with every other discarded fad. It was rare to see anyone with a duel disk on their person these days. Seto had found himself in need of a new product and so his inventors were put to work. Kaiba Corps began producing the latest in gaming software: Earthe. It was a virtual reality where gamers could actually enter the world of Earthe and battle virtual monsters, level up, and meet new people. The game had taken off a little under a year ago and already had spread to the rest of Japan and the Western world. It was a virtual, global community with sectors dividing one country from the next that allowed people to travel between and meet gamers from different cultures. He had made a fortune from the game and was sitting pretty at the top, taking all the credit, of course.

Speaking of Earthe, he had a meeting tomorrow afternoon concerning its spread to the United States. It would be a huge leap for Kaiba Corps as the US would be a huge benefactor and increase sales for Earthe greatly making the company more influential in the great nation. He was mentally running over the proposal presentation as the limo pulled in front of the Kaiba manor. The gravel made crumbling sounds as the tires eased over the driveway coming to a complete stop. The driver came around to open the door for his boss. Seto climbed agilely out of the leather interior and nodded to the man before walking briskly to the main entrance of the house. He had a lot to go over before tomorrow for the meeting. As an afterthought he decided he'd better tell the maids to set up one of the guest rooms for the insufferable, know-it-all Gardner as well.

Upon entering he was thrown back by a sudden weight leaping at his person. A thick mass of ebony hair smooshed up against his face and he wrinkled his nose at the feeling.

"Mokuba, what did I tell you about jumping on me when I get home?" he asked sternly, trying to shake the boy from his person.

"Sorry brother," the thirteen year-old smiled letting go of his brother and stepping back to give him some space, "welcome home!"

Seto couldn't help but smile at his childish antics and ruffled the boy's hair as he passed, heading in the direction of his office.

Mokuba followed behind him, tailing the taller boy like a puppy until they reached Seto's office on the second floor. The older brother strode through the door, setting his bag on the mahogany desk in the centre of the room. Mokuba entered as well and silently closed the door behind him.

The room smelt pleasantly of pine and leather. Mokuba used to love dozing in the cushy, black leather chairs opposite Seto's desk while he waited for his brother to finish working and play with him.

"Seto…" the boy said nervously, eyeing the tall brunette shuffling through papers.

"What is it Mokuba?" Seto replied his attention on the documents before him.

"You said we could go out tonight…since we couldn't hang out last weekend…"

Seto stared blankly at the papers before him trying to recall when he'd made the promise. There was still so much to do and not nearly enough time to finish. A written copy of the proposal for tomorrow's meeting had to be drawn up, plus he needed to go over the details for the company gala he would be hosting in a week. It was a celebration of Earthe's one-year anniversary. There would be many important clients attending and he couldn't afford for anything to be less than magnificent. "Does it have to be tonight? I have a lot of things I need done for tomorrow," he asked preoccupied with his mental to-do-list.

Mokuba's face fell and he lowered his gaze. He had heard that line before. His brother always seemed busy these days and never had time to spare anymore.

Hearing no reply Seto looked up. His expression softened slightly at the semi pout displayed on his younger brother's face. When was the last time I spent time with him? He wondered. "I can make an exception this once, I guess. I can always get Sarah to write the proposal," he said pretending to be indifferent about the matter. It would not be good to let the kid realize just how persuading his pout could be. Seto Kaiba was not one to be easily swayed.

Mokuba's face lit up like the sun and he immediately let out a whoop of excitement. "Yes! Can I pick where we go?" he asked eagerly.

"Sure." Seto began gathering up his files and placing them into orderly piles.

"Let's go bowling!" Before Seto had a chance to reply, the boy rushed out of his office calling over his shoulder, "I'm going to go get ready! Don't forget to change Seto!"

Seto stood frozen at his desk. He slowly reached up and rubbed his temples again. It was going to be a long night. He picked up the phone on his desk and paged his secretary, Sarah, at the main office building ordering her to have a written copy of the meeting proposal on his desk tomorrow morning. After setting down the earpiece he collapsed in a leather chair, the headache worsening. Mokuba just had to pick bowling. Of all the disgusting, common, crappy excuses for public entertainment he had to pick bowling, Seto's least favourite common activity, period.

Mokuba's excitement was barely contained and the child bounced on the seats of the limo headed for Domino Lanes.

"Almost there, Seto."

Seto tried to refrain from rolling his eyes at the shorter boy. It was just bowling, nothing to get so worked up about. He glanced down at his outfit and remembered the scene Mokuba had made upon returning to find him. There had been nothing wrong with his outfit; it was what he would usually wear lounging around the house when he wasn't working: a white collared shirt with a loose tie. His brother had laughed exasperatedly and asked if he'd really intended to wear that to a bowling ally. Seto's irritation was growing and at this point he'd felt like throwing a chair at the kid. He may be his little brother, but there were times when Mokuba could be the most annoying-

"We're here!" Mokuba cried, hastily unbuckling his seatbelt.

Seto cringed and was forcefully dragged from the safety of the limo by the boy. He felt uncomfortably casual in the clothes Mokuba had picked out for him. The blue jeans were uncomfortably stiff compared to his work pants and the cotton, grey, long-sleeved shirt seemed too flimsy, nowhere near the crispness of a freshly ironed, collared shirt. He looked too average; just like every other teen in Domino. He hated it. His only comfort rested in the duel card pendent that hung from a silver chain around his neck.

"Steee-rike!"

There was a smattering of half-hearted applause as Joey bowled his sixth strike in a row. By now his friends had grown tired of his steadily rising points and were less than enthusiastic as they watched their numbers rise minutely in comparison.

"Oh yeah! Who's da man?" the blond grinned cheekily at his discouraged friends.

"Yeah, yeah we heard you the first time," Yugi groaned, his head leaning into his palm as he rested his elbow against the control centre. How tempting that reset button looked…

"Well get ready to start loosing Bucko, it's my turn," Tea announced as she hauled herself up from one of the seats shaped in a semi-circle around their lane. Out of everyone there, Tea had the best chance of catching up with Joey being only twenty points behind the loudmouth; her dancer's grace and expert hand-eye-coordination working to her advantage.

Grasping one of the heavy balls from the stand, Tea swung her arm back preparing to release the object in what would promise to be a strike to match Joey's when a sudden weight threw itself on her. She fell and the ball slipped from her grasp rolling defiantly into the gutter. A ping and booing noise from the screen above their heads told her that she had gotten a zero for the round.

"Ah, come on Joey! That's cheating-" she began but stopped when she recognised the wild ebony hair obstructing her vision, "Mokuba?"

The boy lifted his head to lock his grey eyes to her ultramarine ones. "Hiya Tea!" he exclaimed happily.

The rest of her friends' eyes were wide with the sudden appearance of the younger Kaiba. If Mokuba was here than undoubtedly the older Kaiba-

"Mokuba, what did I tell you about-" Seto's deep voice cut off abruptly when we saw the female residing under Mokuba.

Tea nearly gasped at the man before her. Her eyes ran unconsciously over his figure noting that, when out of uniform, he didn't look half bad. His hair was ruffled like he had dressed in a hurry and had not bothered to run a brush through his chocolate locks. Sexily dishevelled, her numb brain provided for her. His grey, pullover clung to him in all the right places showing off the curve of his biceps and lean form. He was also supporting deep blue jeans, designer of course, and tailored to fit judging by the way they showed off his long, toned legs. Since when does Kaiba have time to work out? I always thought he spent his free time thinking of new ways to ruin our lives. Tea shook her head realizing she had just been ogling her best friend's rival. An embarrassed flush caressed her cheeks and she hoped desperately that the lights were low enough that no one would notice. Unfortunately fate was not so kind.

"Why is your face red Tea?" Mokuba asked innocently being the only one that noticed in his close proximity.

Tea blushed harder at being caught. "It's because you way a tonne and I can't breathe," she lied smoothly moving to push the boy off her.

"Get off of that filth Mokuba, you don't know where it's been," Seto said coldly glaring at Tea.

Mokuba climbed off of the girl and Tea stood, dusting the dirt from her rear. Her eyes glittered with anger and she glared back at the elder brother. Oh, here we go…

"Look asshole, what makes you think you can speak to me like that?"

Seto smirked in amusement and gave her a once over as if her appearance alone was reason enough. His eyes lingered for a moment on the small strip of flesh left exposed between the hem of her shirt and waist of her shorts. Luckily for him the slight pause in his sweep went unnoticed by all but Mokuba once again. The boy gave him a questioning glance but didn't bring it up.

Tea's face flushed in anger at his implied reply. "What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be preparing for some dull meeting or something? Aren't places like this supposed to be beneath you?" She knew she was grasping for a line desperately trying to think of something that would pull their squabble in her favour.

"Don't pretend to know the inner workings of my company Gardner. And as for this…establishment, it was merely a passing whim of Mokuba's to come here. I obliged this once and accompanied him being his guardian."

"It's true, Seto really didn't want to come," Mokuba chimed in cheerfully, oblivious to the tension between the two brunettes.

Yugi, Tristan and Joey watched the two warily, unable to decide whether or not to intervene.

Tea flushed as she realized she has risen to his bait. Grinding her teeth to keep a flurry of insults from escaping she turned her head, determined to ignore his presence for the remainder of their stay.

Seto smirked and absently thought the blush was quite attractive on her. He would have to try and rile her up more often, if only for the pleasure of seeing that delicate shade of red stain her pale cheeks again. "What's the matter Gardner? Can't think of something to say for once in your life?"

"You're not worth my breath" Tea spat back, giving in to the bait once again.

Seto frowned and crossed his arms to show his impatience. "When it concerns you, silence is preferable. Please continue and this next week will at least be tolerable."

The reminder of the impending week at his manor made her groan. "This project is going to be a nightmare," she muttered under her breath.

"Ah, come on Tea. It won't be so bad living with us." Mokuba smiled sweetly at the girl.

"Oh sure-" Tea began before she was cut off hastily by Yugi.

"Okay that's enough for now, Tea we should be going. You still have that homework to finish remember?" the eighteen year-old tried to calm the furious girl down.

She huffed, irritated at seeing the truth in his words. She quickly grabbed her wallet off one of the chairs nearby as the boys made to grab their belongings as well. Seto watched her silently, his eyes never leaving her form as she followed her friends to the exit. It wasn't like her to back down so easily. They could have gone for hours, Seto knew from past experience.

"You running away Gardner?" he called after her trying to provoke the hot-headed girl once more.

She turned around to regard him briefly, opened her mouth, and then closed it again thinking otherwise. Instead she took a leaf out of his book and raised her chin, staring down her nose at him coldly, then turned and left with her friends.

He smirked and couldn't help but feel slightly affronted by her silent rebuke. Well played, Gardner he thought and his eyes strayed to the hem of her shorts as he noted how well they hugged her rear.

It would be a very interesting week.

"So are you going to keep staring at Tea's ass all night or are you going to pay attention to me?" Mokuba called out to his brother slyly.

Seto's face burned and he smacked Mokuba sharply across the head. "One game and that's it."

A/N The game is set. Some of the dialogue has been edited towards the end of this chapter, but otherwise everything is the same.

~LithiumFlower

Preview for Chapter 2: Friday: Solicitous

Tea's last night before she moves into the Kaiba mansion involves an unexpected party with tequila and… frogs?

Will Seto ever surpass and overcome the boring life he leads? ... It's unlikely; he's a stinker for plot development that way.

Plus more fluff filled encounters between the two!