A Bunch of Blues

A Champion's Crown

A/N: I'm putting Serophia, my OC, on the spotlight this time around, but Seto Kaiba plays a major role in this story. A lot. xD Belongs with Life's Changes, The Perfect Gift, No Room for Doubt, and Baby's Day Care.

DISCLAIMERS: I do not own the cards mentioned in this story or Seto Kaiba and the other YGO characters. Takahashi has full ownership of them. So basically, I just own my OCs—which is Kaiba's offspring and her potential opponent. :)

The room was silent with only the sound of slender fingers click clacking across the keys that lined his laptop. Well, it was silent as it could get what with all the huffs of frustration coming from the suede couch placed in the room. Seto Kaiba took a moment to peek over the monitor at his daughter who was obviously aggravated; flipping through her barely constructed deck of Duel Monster cards. He had already resolved to help her in her last-minute agenda once he had finished finalizing the plans for the latest game that Kaiba Corp was set to release next year, but it seemed he would have to do it a lot sooner since Serophia was losing her cool—fast.

"Your mother always told me that flying into a blind rage wouldn't help." The CEO spoke up, line of sight still focused on the outline displayed in the computer screen.

Serophia mustered a relenting sigh, placing a stack of rare cards back into the confines of Seto's metal briefcase.

"I know, Dad." She ran a hand through her thick brown locks. "It's just... If the shipment for the replacement wasn't delayed, this wouldn't be happening." She scowled, crossing her legs on the couch.

Kaiba scowled, briefly reminded of the reason he had blown his top yesterday at the man who had informed him of the delay. Serophia's deck was well-constructed—filled with a barrage of powerful monsters and well-played traps and nifty direct attacking spell cards. It was, in every way, a power deck modeled after his own. And with the dueling tournament finals happening this afternoon, his daughter was stressing herself out trying to reconstruct her unbeatable deck that had previously been ruined.

"You don't blame the twins, do you?" He asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"Hm?" Eyes wide, she shook her head. "Of course not. It was an accident, and if I hadn't left my deck so carelessly around, it wouldn't have caught fire anyway. So it's kind'a really my fault." She grimaced, scratching the back of her neck.

Seto smirked, shifting his attention to the document spread pulled up. "It kind of is."

Serophia blinked at her father with an incredulous expression. "Dad!" She whined. "You're supposed to comfort me, not make me feel worse."

He chuckled. "Was only siding with the truth." Sighing, Kaiba put his laptop on hibernation and approached the distressed girl mulling over the various spell cards she could possibly squeeze into her last-minute strategies.

With any luck, she could probably construct a deck that would be worth a shot at the finals tournament, but it wasn't going to be good enough. Her previous—ruined—deck had taken her all the way to the finals without a hitch. It had served her well, and now that it was temporarily incapable, her winning formulas were crippled. He knew his daughter was only thankful that the cards in her deck were replaceable, and he could easily acquire them with ease. Pegasus was more lenient around Kaiba nowadays, but that did not stop the suspicion and annoyance that the brunette felt towards the man.

Pegasus had sponsored this tournament that his daughter was competing in. And since it was a tournament hosted by the creator of the game himself, it was expected to be grand. It was obviously a publicity stunt because Pegasus heavily stressed that the only competitors allowed in his tournament were children ranging from ten to eighteen years old. Kaiba would have to agree that the terms were kid-friendly indeed, and ruthless at the same time. A lot of teenagers with dueling skills had cropped up in great numbers over the years, so Seto figured that Pegasus was using this to his advantage.