Throughout her life, she had been able to relate those things that were deemed "unfathomable" to destiny. She had always had the mindset that destiny would reveal what it wanted to eventually, and that time had no reason to be rushed. Fate would unroll itself in due course. This principle had always put her mind at ease.

Until now, at least.

And so with little surprise did Ishizu Ishtar find herself knocking at the door of the acclaimed "Ice Prince," who—though needless to say—had been given the title for good reason.

"Come in."

She hadn't been expecting a warm welcome, but this was a stretch—even for him. Then again, Ishizu was sure that the young CEO wasn't exactly pleased with the fact he was being whisked away to the burial site of his three thousand-year-old rival…

…not to overlook the fact that they were traveling via ship, while he was probably accustomed to something more luxurious.

She gripped the door handle and opened it in with a click. The room looked completely unused, for lack of a better word. In fact, the only changes she noticed were a silver laptop, briefcase and trench coat resting next to a wooden table.

Ishizu wryly wondered if silver happened to be his favorite color.

Her eyes quickly skimmed the rest of the apparent décor before falling onto the fair-skinned individual she had been looking for. Her "gracious host" sat in an arm chair, apparently too enthralled in to spare her a second glance.

She waited patiently, hands folded in front of her.

Seconds turned into minutes when he finally decided to acknowledge her presence, either out of courtesy or annoyance; she chose the latter.

"Ishizu, come to fill my head with more nonsense about how 'fate' led me here, and that by choosing to come, I have chosen to accept my 'inevitable destiny'?" he asked offhandedly, marking his page.

Her eyes narrowed at his blatant display of mockery. He glanced at her, a smirk lining his lips.

"No, actually. I am in no mood to quarrel with you about something you seem to find absolutely useless. I suppose that is why your responses are usually so cliché."

His smirk turned into a scowl as he glared at her.

This was enough. At this rate, she would never be able to ask him the question that had been plaguing her mind ever since she had returned to Egypt—a question whose answered seemed to be utterly inexplicable.

"Kaiba Seto, why did you help me?"

The question left her lips before she even had the chance to process it. Ishizu saw his brows furrow together, and then rise lightly as he asked,

"Help you with what?"

"My brother…" Ishizu said softly, "Had you not given the Pharaoh that card before his duel with my brother's darker half…there is no way that he could have won."

Kaiba laughed contemptuously.

"I gave Yuugi that card to see if he was clever enough to play it correctly. He did and won, which happened to save your brother. I played no direct hand in saving him."

"But you did so, Kaiba Seto, indirectly. Without that card, the Pharaoh would surely have lost. Then my brother would be…" she trailed off, her hand instinctively brushing against her bare neck.

"Listen to me, Ishizu."

She looked up to see that he was standing a few feet away from her, arms folded across his chest. When he spoke, his tone was low.

"I agree, perhaps giving that card to Yuugi allowed him to save your brother from his 'darker half,' as you call it. However, that is all that I did. Should you be thanking anyone, thank Yuugi."

Ishizu held his piercing gaze firmly. "I did not come to thank you. I came to ask why you decided to help me." She cut him off before he had a chance to speak.

"And you did help me, Kaiba Seto, whether it was intentional or not. Do not deny it."

His shoulders slackened and his features hardened. It was obvious to see that he wasn't used to agreeing with others so easily—especially when it concerned something he did obliquely.

"Whatever the case…" Kaiba began, running his fingers through his dark hair, "your brother is fine now. Isn't that what truly matters?"

Ishizu nodded, slowly.

But…

"But you have still failed to answer my question. Why did you give the Pharaoh the card he needed in order to win the duel?"

Kaiba looked at her through a fringe of his hair. Whether it was because he was wearing all black, or because his patience was on the edge of breaking, he looked even paler than usual.

"…Yuugi's chances of winning were around three percent." His voice was strained, as if what control he had left was about to shatter.

"I decided to make it a twenty percent duel to see if he could face the odds and win, and he did."

Ishizu straightened, looking at him sharply. "You mean to tell me that the only reason you gave him the card was to see if your suspicions proved true?" Her voice was calm despite her rising anger.

So it had all been a ploy to see if the Pharaoh had enough skill to win against the odds stacked against him? That was all? He hadn't done it to help anyone, but only to see if his assumption was verified?

Kaiba seemed to notice the rage in her eyes, because he said, after a moment of deliberation, "No, Ishizu. That isn't why, not entirely… It's not…" He closed his eyes, evidently unused to and frustrated by this lack of articulation.

"Then why?"

He opened his eyes and looked at her.

"You really want to know?"

"I do."

Then everything seemed to happen at once.

With a blink of an eye, it appeared, Kaiba was in front of her. His right arm was extended to the wall behind her, and he was so unnervingly close that every breath she took caught the scent of his cologne.

She remained composed in spite of his sudden nearness.

"I believe I asked for an answer, and not this display of how close one can get to another without striking a nerve."

"Have I struck a nerve yet, Ishizu?" he asked, voice barely audible.

Kaiba didn't wait for her answer, and instead leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. Ishizu pulled back immediately, only to be stopped when he grabbed her wrist—not forcefully, but securely enough that she couldn't move away from him.

"I did it for you."

Ishizu searched his face for some sign of ridicule. She only found complete sincerity—along with something else in his eyes that she wouldn't admit to herself. With her gaze directed to the floor, Ishizu began to pull away from him. The grip on her wrist loosened instantly.

Without a word, Ishizu moved to the door. She was too overcome to say anything. This was the second time he'd left her utterly speechless.

When she reached the door, Ishizu cast a glance at him over her shoulder. He had returned to his arm chair and was reading, as if nothing had happened.

"I thank you then, Kaiba Seto," she whispered softly, managing to find her voice for at least this small word of gratitude.

As she shut the door behind her, Ishizu heard him say, albeit quietly:

"You're welcome."


So. I felt like it was time for a brief change. What with all this Logicshipping-ness I've been writing, it was nice writing a vague Trustshipping fiction.

Bwa-HA!