Back in 2009 or so, I posted a three chapter story titled "Without Realizing It" (back when my pen name was still MangaReader322). I took the story down about two months after it was first posted, and I finally got around to re-writing it - over five years later. I fixed things, added things, and now I am posting the story once again.

I'm adding this forward because I don't want anyone to be confused, like "wait, haven't I read this before?" Because, if you've been following me for a while, odds are that you did. However, if you have questions, my inbox is always open. I hope you enjoy.

I groaned softly as I settled at my desk, reaching across my chest surreptitiously to massage one of my shoulders. Stress was going to be the death of me, I swear. I had been on my feet for hours, and my day had sadly only just begun. Again, I wondered why I ever thought that working for Kaiba Corporation would be easy. After all, I knew Seto worked his employees hard, and I knew Kaiba Corp. was the leading gaming industry in the world - so why did I accept his offer to work at one of his legal offices? It had to be the money; seeing all those zeros on my paycheck certainly made my job here more bearable. Especially when I was trying to save up and travel the world. I was most looking forward to visiting Egypt, where I was born, since all my childhood memories were from my life in America. Now here I was in Japan, working as an assistant to one of Seto's most renown lawyers for the past two years.

This was my third attempt at holding down a steady job - simply because I grew bored of routine so easily. My first boss had been a gentle old man, but his second heart attack forced retirement. My second boss was a cool, harsh woman, and I simply could not work the long hours she kept trying to force on us employees. So I came from Kyoto to Domino, hoping to find a place I could do well in, and I met Seto Kaiba. The selfish, gloating bastard that everyone loved to hate. And, for inexplicable reasons, he and I actually formed a mutual bond. When he heard about my need for a job, he told me about the opening in his company. That was how I met Yugi Mutou.

"Too many trips to the copier again, Sennen?"

Speak of the devil... My boss looked at me sympathetically as he passed by my desk, a third cup of coffee clutched in his hand. I offered a sheepish grin to him as a response, and he gave me an all too knowing look as he slipped into his office. He did not shut the door all the way, and through the crack I could see him flopping back into his leather office chair, sipping from his cup with an open expression of bliss. The young Rebecca must be working at the cafe today, I figured - she was the only one who took extra care to make his drink well.

I pulled my leg up onto my chair so I could rub my calf. I was twenty-six; Yugi was two years younger than me, and somehow he was my boss. But it really was not a surprise - he was smart. Very smart. And he was kind as well. That's how he was already the top lawyer in the country. His wining attitude gave him and the company the boost it needed. I stopped rubbing my sore muscle and set my chin on my knee, thinking. It wasn't my fault they installed the copier on the other side of the office, and it wasn't Yugi's fault that he needed a hundred things copied multiple times a day. And even with his positivity and upbeat attitude, I knew the busy season was taking a toll on him, too.

Though he was a nice person, he was also quiet and private about himself. Composed, but always ready with a smile. He took people at their face value and genuinely believed in them. It was both foolish and admirable. He was one of the few I had met that didn't treat their underlings like servants. When he asked me to drop honorifics from his name, it wasn't patronizing - he honestly wanted me to be familiar with him. When he asked me to get coffee for him, it was because he couldn't get it himself at the moment.

By this point in my career, he had actually become my friend, though we were almost opposites. I was a bold type, I spoke my mind often without thinking over my words. I was short for a man, but I was able to fight if I needed - but I could never imagine Yugi throwing a punch. I rarely dated, my looks attracted people, but my aura made them weary. But Yugi drew people to him like flies to honey. He made people want to be better. I knew little about his life in the romantic aspect, I did not know if he dated or if he was even straight. We certainly didn't talk about our love lives with one another. He was one of those people who, after you had finished telling your life story to them, you realize that they hadn't said a thing about themselves.

"Sennen?" Yugi's voice drifted through the crack in the doorway and I got up immediately to see what he wanted.

He held his phone at his ear, looking down at a desk covered with papers.
"Sennen," he repeated, muting his phone, "I can't find those contract copies they sent over last week."

"I filed them." I stepped to the corner of his office where his master files were kept, quickly rifling through a couple of drawers. This wasn't unusual – Yugi was very good at his job, but he preferred to do everything electronically, leaving me with the job of filing. Paper documents just got in his way, as he complained every time his desk got...well, the way it was now. Knowing him these years, I've learned that he was impatient. I took over the job of sorting paperwork so that he didn't have to worry about keeping track of documents. It's funny, but looking back, we had never actually discussed it. I had just done it without asking, and he never questioned it. He seemed to prefer it. Now that I look back, that right there probably should have told me something.

I pulled out the file he was looking for and walked back over to slip it onto his desk. "Yes," Yugi was saying into the phone, "I've got them right here." He gave me a grateful look, and I stood with my hands folded behind my back. "Yes, you were saying something about the land agreements?" I reached over, flipping the file open to the document he needed - another thing I did without him ever asking. I stayed there for the rest of the call, flipping to this page or that page as I tried to follow half a conversation. Finally, Yugi disconnected the call and rolled his eyes.

"Idiot," He muttered, shaking his head. He looked at the watch on his wrist, and I noticed the faint bags under his eyes. "All that, and I still have a meeting in ten minutes…"

"I'll make sure no one bothers you until your meeting." I assured him, re-closing the file and returning it to its drawer. Then I slipped out of the office, closing the door behind me softly. If he was that stressed, it was only right of me to make sure he had time to relax. I had sat in on a few of his meetings before, so I knew how important it was for him to have a level head. Seto was not the easiest person to work with, but he got the job done. I wouldn't be surprised if I found out that Seto hired Yugi just to make absolutely sure that his opponents couldn't. I went back to my desk, sinking gratefully back down into my chair – a large, comfortable, swiveling thing. It was heaven to my aching muscles.

But on this particular day, the inevitable happened. A faulty latch on his office door of all things changed my life. I heard a slight click, and saw his door inch open—as happens with latches that don't quite fit anymore. Without pausing to think, I got up to close the door again and, quite by accident - I swear - I glanced in through the three-inch wide opening. And what I saw nearly made my jaw hit the floor.

My composed, oh-so private boss had his chair swiveled sideways and leaned back, one of his legs up on the desk - I had never noticed how long his legs were until then. His hand was hovering near the forbidden area of his pants, and his head was thrown back, eyes closed. If it hadn't been for the visible movement of his hand sliding around the spot between his legs and the vice-like grip his other hand had on the arm of his chair, I might have thought he was asleep.

I admit, I sometimes wondered what Yugi did when he was overly stressed. Perhaps a spa day, or a long hot bath. One of my friends from college became a surgeon and according to her, the one thing that people of stressful professions - pilots, athletes, entertainers - do is more common than you would think. And apparently, Yugi did it as well. He got himself off. Understandable, of course - the surge of endorphins that orgasms created were as effective as any prescribed drug could be, though hell of a lot cheaper.

Now, before anyone judges me prematurely, I did exactly what any good assistant - what any good friend - would do. I set a world record for the quietest closing of a door in the history of mankind, and I crept back to my desk. I sat perfectly still in my chair, waiting to see if I would wake up. If it weren't for my eyes being wide enough to actually roll out of my head, no one walking by would think anything odd had just happened. But something did happen, and I couldn't stop myself from thinking about it.

Five minutes later, Yugi left his office and went to the meeting in a calm, confident walk. Fortunately for me, he didn't look at me as he went by. I hadn't managed to get my eyes back to their normal size yet, and my face was unbearably hot. But, as he was gone, and after a lot of thought, I realized nothing had changed. It was just a private moment I'd stumbled into, and he obviously had not seen me. I could pretend that it had never happened.

All right, I admit it. I was being completely naïve.

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