The offices of the KaibaCorp high rise were uncharacteristically quiet for a normal Thursday afternoon. Usually, employees on all floors were hurriedly bustling about, trying to squeeze in meetings and finish projects so they could slip out early on Friday. VR and holograms were tested in soundproofed rooms, but the dampened white noise still permeated the surrounding floors in such a way one would only notice it if it was missing. Guided tours of the facility, deliveries, third party developers and clients all added to the foot traffic to give the company all the hallmarks of a successful, billion-dollar corporation.

But this day was different. The VR testing floor was being rewired, and a recent snowstorm had repercussions threefold: tours were down due to the inclement weather, several workers had called in sick and clients both local and international were unable to attend meetings with such poor travel weather. Few people, coupled with chilly, overcast weather had turned the entire corporate headquarters into a sleepy, almost gloomy version of itself.

Seto loved it. The glass panes that made up the entire south wall of his office overlooked a commercial district covered in snow with gray clouds threatening even more wind and snow. He liked gray skies, and he loved being able to work without being interrupted by calls and appointments. He was hardly thrilled about so many workers being gone, but age had softened him to understand that people got sick or had sick family and missed work. It was just as well, at least today he could work in peace. He'd asked the heads of each department for proposals on a new product to announce by September so it could launch just before Christmas, but with the world fully digital, where was there left to go in the gaming industry? His emails showed dozens of ideas, but few held any long-term potential.

A gaming console? That field was already dominated.

A collaboration with Industrial Illusions to launch a new generation of Duel Monsters? He was loth to work with Maximillian Pegasus again.

New rides and attractions for Kaiba Land? Meh, the theme park didn't make enough revenue to warrant more investment.

Fully immersive VR helmets? People would never buy them after the Argus VR incident. Over six thousand deaths had cured the general populous of fully immersive virtual reality games. Not even the Kaiba Corp logo could sell a deathtrap.

A buzzer from the phone on his desk interrupted his focus on the monitor. It was the first time his secretary had paged him all afternoon.

"Mr. Kaiba," the voice came through, static more prominent through the speaker whenever her voice inflexed too much in one direction or the other, "Mister Mokuba was wondering if you had a few minutes to look at a possible financial issue or if he should wait until tomorrow?"

Seto sat back in his chair and pushed the button on the cradle, "No, I can talk to him now. Is he here or do I need to go down to his office?" Had it been anyone else disturbing him, he would have turned them away, but not his brother.

"He said he's on his way up," Yui's voice scratched, "He'll be here in about five minutes."

"You don't need to announce him, just send him in when he comes," Seto said before returning to his emails.

Mokuba was one of the few people given permission to enter his office without knocking. He would have liked to keep his brother as his personal assistant, but he also understood that Mokuba wanted to be hos own man and his interests were not in the family business. At thirteen, his younger brother graduated from high school and scored high enough on the bar exams to be the second youngest student to be accepted into law school, graduating at only twenty. His end game was to own his own law firm, but until he had enough prestige and his own money, he worked for Kaiba Corp in the legal department.

The younger Kaiba entered through the mahogany doors carrying a thick folder in his hand. While it seemed that Seto had looked like a twenty-five-year-old ever since he was sixteen, ten years of aging had changed Mokuba from child to man in a drastic manner. He'd hit a growth spurt, now standing only four centimeters shorter than his elder brother, his thick black hair short and choppy the way most young men his age wore it.

"Hey," was his only greeting as he tossed himself into the armchair, sprawling in a most unprofessionally comfortable fashion.

"Give me just a second," Seto entered a few keystrokes before closing his email. "What am I taking a look at?" He pushed his chair away from the computer screen as proof of his undivided attention.

"I've been contacted by a lawyer whose client insists she is the biological daughter of Gozaburo Kaiba." He laid copies of the emails they had exchanged on Seto's desk.

The CEO raised his eyebrows in mild astonishment. "We haven't had had one of these in years," he mused as he looked over the emails, "What makes this woman different?"

The law student anticipated the question and had the last document in his hand already, "We always ask these gold diggers to submit a DNA sample so we can do a paternity test. Not only did she do so, ensuring she had accompanying witness statements verifying it was her sample, but she tested positive. She's his daughter."

"There must be some mistake," Seto insisted, leaning over the emails, trying to scrutinize them, "You and I both know full well, our father didn't have any love affairs except with his wallet."

"I've scrutinized everything. It's all there. She's an American citizen, and she's gone through all the right channels through both US and Japanese laws. Her lawyer is well respected and I checked him out as best I as I could. He's on top of everything and has a spotless record."

Seto furrowed his brows. "What about her?"

"Sabrina Harrison, twenty-three, oldest of four kids, mother married only once, but she is widowed now. Born and raised in North Carolina, has a master's degree from Duke University: graphic design. She currently works at a fair-sized corporation that does machinima animation for various game publishers."

"Good money?"

Mokuba shrugged. "The company is worth a little under five million dollars US, so she has to be making a decent income. Not exactly a Kardashian level of wealth or notoriety but she's made something of herself."

Kaiba sat back in his chair and put his hands behind his head, lacing his fingers. "Criminal record?"

The other Kaiba shook his head, "Underaged drinking her freshman year of college and minor traffic violations. Nothing serious. She's never been even implicated in anything majorly illegal or scandalous. She pays her taxes, works her job, and just seems to be pretty normal. I even tried to get into some of her social media accounts, but she leads a fairly private life." He gathered the copies and began putting them back in his folder. "What do you want to do?"

His elder brother leaned back far enough in his chair to face the ceiling. He stared at the blank white for a short time before finally replying, "Bring her and her lawyer in. I want to meet her." He leaned forward out of his chair. "And don't offer them any courtesies. Don't pay for the flights or putting them up or even suggest good places to eat. I don't want her comfortable."

Mokuba nodded in agreement. "Neither she nor the lawyer have stated what they wanted with this information, but it will probably be a few weeks before we can even have a meeting. I'll keep you posted." He stood, readjusting the chair before leaving, "Have you eaten lunch yet?" he inquired, changing the subject. "I'm about to go grab something if you'd like to come along."

"I did, I had Yui grab me something on the way back from her lunch break. We can do dinner instead."

The young lawyer shook his head. "I have a date tonight."

Kaiba narrowed his eyes at his brother. "With a girl?"

His brother laughed. "Yes, with a girl. We share a few classes at college, so I asked her out to dinner."

"Well, good luck." Seto wasn't very good with communication. He loved his brother and everyone knew it, but expressing it was hard for him.

"Thanks," Mokuba said genuinely, knowing it was the best his brother could come up with.

Though the rest of the day ran just quieter than normal, Kaiba couldn't help but wonder if his life of being the bearer of the Kaiba legacy was going to change with this new piece of information.

Only four days later, Yui's voice came through the phone into Seto Kaiba's office. Seto was looking over resumes for a new head of maintenance.

"Sir, there's a Justin Hayes on the phone. He wants to set up an appointment as quickly as possible, but he won't say why."

"Seto frowned. "How soon does he want to meet?"

"He says their plane flies back to the States in one week and he wants everything sorted out before then. I'm assuming he is referring to himself and his client." Her voice sounded confused. Most people weren't this demanding with her boss.

An American lawyer who flew in with this client. Kaiba sighed harshly enough it could have been perceived as a snort, though he never publicly displayed much emotion. "When's my next available appointment?"

There was a pause on the other end before Yui's voice came back. "4:00 p.m. today. After that, I don't have anything until Friday.

"Today then," he answered shortly, removing his cell phone and dialing Mokuba's number.

"Yes sir," Yui's voice crackled.

Mokuba's phone only rang twice before he answered. "What's up, Bro?" his brother answered his phone casually knowing full well that Seto never made social calls.

"Moki, the American woman, Gozaburo's spawn. She's already here," Kaiba spared him the formalities and got straight to business. "I know today is your day off, but can you come in and meet her and the lawyer." It was less of a question and more of a request.

"Already here?" Mokuba sounded surprised, "They must be serious. Yeah, I can be there in about an hour."

"I can send the helicopter if you'd like," Seto offered.

Mokuba laughed, "I'm fine, bro. I can take the train. You and all your ridiculous gadgets and blimps and dragon shaped airplanes are why we aren't a multi-billion dollar company right now."

"What can I say? I like my luxuries." The young business mogul showed no remorse for his expenditures. "I'll see you in a bit."

"See you there."

The Kaiba brothers met just before 2:00 to go over everything they knew and their offers should the other party decide to seek some kind of monetary settlement. After two hours of plotting attack strategies, they figured they were as ready as they'd ever be. They sat back and relaxed a few moments before the meeting started.

"You know, there was a time we wanted a sister," Mokuba mused as he reclined in his chair. "We even asked Gozaburo to adopt us one." The memory seemed almost cruelly ironic.

"You asked him for a sister," Kaiba reminded him. "As far as younger siblings go, you were more than enough of a handful. Two siblings would have meant twice as many kidnappings, and there were far too many of those…"

He was interrupted by Yui's voice. "Misters Kaiba, Mr. Hayes and his client are here for their appointment."

A knot of uneasiness came into Mokuba's stomach, though he could not say why. He caught Kaiba's eye before he acknowledged his secretary.

"Ready?" he asked. He watched as his younger brother pushed aside his uneasiness and took on an air of confidence, nodding firmly that he was prepared and assured. He nodded in return as he pused the talk button on his phone. "Thank you, Yui, please show them in."

Rather than having Yui escort them all the way inside his office, Kaiba met them at the door to maintain more control of the situation.

Mr. Hayes entered first, both bowing politely and offering his hand, "Mr. Kaiba, I appreciate letting us come on such short notice."

Kaiba shook his hand cordially, "It's no trouble," he lied, "The now is always the best time to take care of business." He directed Mr. Hayes attention to his lawyer, "May I introduce you to the head of our legal department, Mokuba Kaiba,"

"Ah, yes," Hayes stepped aside to extend another handshake, "Mr. Kaiba, the younger. A pleasure to finally meet you in person. From your emails, I would have assumed you were a bit older."

The two lawyers continued their pleasantries. Seto turned to greet Miss Harrison and suddenly froze. She stood before him a living ghost. A well figured, slender woman of average height and ivory white skin. Her hair was a platinum blond, but with a cool undertone that gave it an almost silvery shine. Her eyes, a pale blue, were large and round contrasted against her angular features. She bowed, her straight, waist length hair, falling in front of her shoulders. It took every ounce of his self-control not to say her name aloud.

Kisara.