A/N: Okay, this, as you can probably see, was a lot longer than I originally expected. I even had to cut the ending short because it would have ended up too long in my opinion. I said that this was originally going to be a one-shot. But I've got to add what happens next, otherwise it's not complete for me. So it will be two chapters, end of story. Those who voted for this better love me!

And I had to go back and re-italicize Kisara's notes because for some reason, it wouldn't save it. Sorry for any confusion.

Disclaimer: It's a moot point. Obviously I do not own.

Warnings: Suggestive vulgar themes and possible typos even though I edited this.

The day Seto got back to Domino City from Egypt, most of the events that had occurred in the pharaoh's memory world were already dismissed from his mind. Sure he might have accepted what had happened in ancient Egypt but that didn't mean he had to dwell on it. He was finally going to wipe all the doings of the dork squad and their talk of destiny away; it was time he moved on with his life. Really moved on, becoming a more serious character as the CEO of Kaiba Corp. Running halfway around the world and chasing a fairy tale was not what being at corporate leader entailed.

On the top floor, he quickly marched his way into his office and looked around. It was the same as it had been before he had left it to go to Egypt. In fact, the weather outside the windowed walls was as dismal as it had been when he had caught himself talking to the Millennium eye. Dark gray storm clouds were scattered across the horizon and large drops of rain pelted the windows with an annoying tapping that Seto was used to tuning out. Sighing, he ignored his waiting desk in favor to stand before the glass wall and stare dejectedly outside. The reflection it gave off showed his usual stoic expression and gave a hazy depiction of the white suit he was wearing.

Lately, he had dropped the leather, over-large white coat, and the redundant belts to clothe himself in something that was more business-like. Something that would make his employees take him more seriously, even if they still sometimes mocked him for still being a teenager.

Work came before the personal tastes he had in clothing style.

And then there was the daunting fact that he might even drop the white suit for the ever-loathed school uniform he hated so much. Lately his stockholders weren't too happy about the idea that he had dropped out of high school to run a company without even a simple high school diploma. He hated that uniform so much. To him, it symbolized the chains that the school administration forced him into. It symbolized the superiority that his stockholders believed they had over him. But more importantly, it symbolized the tacky and inappropriate use of polyester.

Seto gave a contemplative sigh, wondering what would happen if he were to go back to high school. What would Yugi and his club of geeks think about that? ...

Before his thoughts could proceed any further, there was a flash of movement that seemed to inevitably catch his attention. He turned his head to face the street opposite of the one his building stood on and saw immediately what had captured his focus.

It was bright, white hair that stood in vivid contrast to the gray environment that surrounded the girl the hair belonged to. Blinking in surprise, Seto tried straining his eyes to see past the dense layer of rain to get a better look.

And then, for a fraction of a second when the rain seemed to clear in his line of vision, he instantly recognized her. It was that Kisara chick from ancient Egypt! But he thought she had died in the arms of the ancient version of his carbon-copy...

That was a stupid thought; if it was ancient Egypt, then everyone from that time era would be dead by now. So who was this girl? A simple reincarnation like he and Yugi were or something to that effect? What was she doing here?

Seto stared at her longer and noticed she was wearing the pink and blue uniform of the Domino City High School. He blinked, never remembering her attendance there when he had still went...

She must be a new student then, probably. Or just younger than him.

But still, it didn't account for the reason as to why she was just standing out in the street staring dumbly at the building with wide, vacant eyes. Her long, pale white legs shone just as brightly as her hair did in the rain that made the day go extremely dark. After a few minutes of watching, Seto could only conclude that she hadn't moved an inch and was probably too stunned to do anything. What was the silly girl thinking, anyways? Standing, exposed to the rain? She could get sick!

Without even so much as debating with himself on what to do, Seto swept out of the office and within minutes was crossing the street to confront her, to demand why she was loitering outside his company for no apparent reason. Except, by the time he had finally made it outside, she was no longer standing but sitting on the cold, wet ground with an air of hopeless defeat. It made absolutely no sense to him.

For some mysteriously and inadequately explained reason, he suddenly found himself kneeling over her.

"Hey!" he said, perhaps in a tone a bit too harsh when conversing with a complete stranger. "What do you think you're doing? You could get sick out here!"

She simply and very slowly swiveled her head to unleash the empty gaze onto him. She didn't answer him but her eyes seemed to say, Why am here? I don't understand...

Taking in notice of her uniform, he asked, "Shouldn't you be in school?"

She still gave no answer. Seto was starting to becoming frustrated by her silence.

"Kisara? Your name is Kisara, isn't it?" he asked, wondering if Kisara's reincarnation had kept the same name, as he did.

Finally, he got a response. It was a simply nod, but albeit, a response. Pressing his mouth into a thin line, Seto contemplated, and finally resolved onto a decision. He couldn't simply let her stay out in the street in this state.

"Come on," he said, grabbing her upper arm and pulling. "Let's get you somewhere inside." To his annoyance, she didn't budge. Instead, her eyes stayed fixed on him, unmoving. And then, her lips parted and he saw her mouth something.

Seto, she seemed to say, though no noise issued from her throat. It was all Seto could do from stumbling back in surprise, wondering wildly how she could know his name.

And then, in a very theatrical moment that seemed unreal, Kisara fainted.

Reflexively, Seto reached out and stopped her fall before she could hit her head on the concrete. With a sigh, he resolved again to pick her up and carry her inside. As he did so, he couldn't help but worry about her extremely light weight; it didn't seem healthy, even for a girl with a small frame as hers.

When he got her inside the Kaiba Corp. building, he ignored all the surprised stares and gossiping whispers that erupted around as everyone of his employees caught sight of the unconscious girl in his arms. When he had managed to make it to the elevator, the simple whispering had increased to a very loud volume that Kaiba was compelled to whirl around angrily to them all as he waited for the elevator to open.

"Don't you have work to get to?" he barked at them. Immediately, they all fell silent and began bustling around to continue with their jobs, sensing the overhanging threat of being fired if they slacked off any.

And they should be afraid, Seto thought irritably as he stepped inside his elevator.

When he made it back to his office, he laid Kisara onto the couch that Mokuba often used to watch television and set off to make a phone call.

He picked up his phone and dialed the number to the high school. It didn't ring for long before the familiar voice of the school secretary answered.

"Domino City High School," she said as the customary greeting. "How may I help you?"

"Yes, I believe you may have a student missing. She was standing outside my company's building a few minutes ago. She told me her name was Kisara before she fainted." There was a small shuffling of papers coming from the other end of the line and moment of silence before she replied.

"Kisara? Yes, she was registered here just the other day and didn't come to any of her morning classes." There was a considerable pause before the secretary continued. "You said she told you her name?" she asked doubtfully.

"She didn't actually say anything, why?"

"Because Kisara is a mute." Seto was subdued in an awestruck silence. Can it be true? Kisara being a mute? But her past life could speak...

"A mute?" Seto repeated. There was an impatient sigh.

"Yes. Meaning she can't speak-"

"I know what a mute is!" he snapped angrily. Just because he had dropped out of high school did not mean he was an idiot. To his annoyance, the secretary didn't seem intimidated or even merely affected, for that matter, of his sharp tone. She seemed, more or less, plainly bored.

"Mr. Kaiba," she said with what could have been called patience. "First, I would like to offer thanks on behalf of the school's administration for finding a lost student. It does not mean, however, that you are allowed to treat people with disrespect, especially since you failed your duties as a citizen of Domino to complete high school."

Seto kept silent, having heard this speech many times before from people who tried in vain to make him feel guilty for his choices. The key word here being "in vain." He felt no such remorse in wanting to run a company full time in order to support him and his brother, Mokuba, properly.

"Would you like for us to send the truancy officer over to retrieve Kisara?" the secretary asked, when he had made no reply.

"No, that's all right," he said coolly. "I don't think she's in any fit state to attend school today." He threw a quick glance at the sleeping girl before returning his attention back to phone's receiver. The secretary seemed to hesitate but then seemed to reluctantly accept the fact that Kisara would be absent at school that day.

"Very well," she said in a tight voice. Seto remembered this as a sign that her patience was running thin. He allowed himself a satisfied and wry smile, pleased to know he was getting on her nerves.

"If you don't mind, I would like to know her home address so I can take her home when she wakes up."

"I'm sorry but the administration has a strict policy on a student's privacy-"

"Right, and as if she's not in any position for me to take advantage of her right now," he barked at her, words like ice: cold, hard, and razor sharp. The secretary still seemed to remain unperturbed.

"Respect, Mr. Kaiba," she reminded him as he heard the furious tapping of keys on a computer. "It would do you well to learn it." Seto said nothing, thinking it would be better to ignore the hag than to lash out again which would probably only result in a respect speech, much like the friendship speeches Téa would often deliver; Seto's attention span wouldn't be able to endure the monotonous torture.

The secretary told him the address after two more staccato and sharp taps on the computer and he wrote it down on a slip of paper before hanging up without a mention of any customary goodbyes. He stared at Kisara's address for a few full minutes, listening to the even breathing of her nearby.

He knew where the street was, near to the outskirts of the city. Meaning that if she was walking, she had a long way to walk. Drumming his fingers impatiently and in a metronomic fashion, Seto couldn't help but mull over why Kisara would walk that far, take a detour toward Kaiba Corp, intentionally be late for school to stand resolutely outside the building, and then end up fainting. What did she know of him to skip school and stare at his company?

But then again, he knew her, even though it was only through her past life. So, was it possible that she somehow found out about him as well? She did mouth his name to him so that meant she had to know him from somewhere.

Idiot! Kaiba roared to himself. Of course she knew him. Practically the whole city of Domino and maybe even all of Japan knew him! He was the young CEO of a large gaming company that mass distributed holographic technology all over the world. His face had appeared onto countless television screens, his name was practically posted on every corner of every street of every town of every country in the world! Who didn't know him?

He looked up, tired of glaring at his own hand to see that Kisara was awake and staring her vacant gaze onto him. He sighed, unable to stop the glare that was etched on his face. Rising from his desk, he took a pad of paper from a drawer, a pen, and went over to her. Roughly, he shoved them to her. She, like the secretary, didn't seem to be phased by his innate rudeness.

"I want you to tell me why you were standing outside this building to skip school." Kisara looked at him with those blasted wide and innocent eyes and looked down at the writing supplies in her hand. She pondered on them for a moment and then wrote her answer.

I got lost.

Three words. Three simple words were the only thing she could account for.

"What do you mean you got lost?" he demanded. She gripped the pen tighter as she wrote something longer.

I just moved to this city and I lost my way to school. Today was my first day.

It seemed plausible enough; she couldn't ask for directions considering she couldn't talk. But it still didn't explain all of her actions.

"Then why were standing across the street and staring at the building?" he asked, none too kindly. She wrote another line.

I felt drawn to the building, somehow. I can't explain it. And then you came out and I somehow... recognized you. Like you were someone from a lost dream.

"Hn," he huffed as he read her answer. Did that mean, then, she was into all this fatality crap? He looked up at her and stared into the depths of her big blue eyes. They stared back and for once, Seto saw something other than the usual normality of her being naïve. There was something more, something ancient, and intellectually experienced.

"What are you doing here, Kisara?" he asked, more softly. She turned away from his own blue eyes to look down upon the pad of paper she was holding.

I don't know.

It was another set of three words. Angling his eyebrows, he stared at the curvy, black-inked cursive handwriting of hers.

"What do you want with me?" he asked without looking at her, watching her write.

Nothing, only-

She paused and he looked up to see her blushing fiercely. It didn't surprise him; he often saw that reaction from girls who decided to summon the courage to speak to him. Only, with Kisara, her embarrassment seemed to go beyond the normal reaches of petty hormones.

And then she quickly scratched out the second word.

"Only what?" he asked, trying to maintain a soft tone in order to persuade her to divulge what she was thinking. She couldn't speak, so her thoughts were hidden from him. Even from the deep and expressive eyes, he could depict not a single thought of hers. And that made him extremely curious.

She looked at him, biting her lower lip and then reluctantly wrote again,

It's nothing really. Only I had this dream that I can barely recall. I think you were in it and it was like in the distant past. Maybe Egypt because I get this feeling of a desert and-

Her words stopped. Seto looked up to see a defiant and stubborn expression plastered on her face. And from that, he knew she would say no more on the subject. He couldn't help but wonder if she had dreamt what he had witnessed in the pharaoh's memories. Was it possible?

He blinked, realizing she was writing again rapidly. (He realized that by being a mute, she must have had experience with writing people notes.) However, when he read what she had shared with him, it wasn't relevant to what she had previously written down.

Why don't you go to school? You seem young enough.

Seto tried keeping a neutral expression as he read her words. Quite frankly, he was sick of answering to people who questioned that. But he had to remember, this was Kisara. She was genuinely curious and had no prior knowledge of his background.

"I dropped out of high school to run my gaming company full time." She blinked, her mouth set open in besotted gape. She wrote again.

How did you own a gaming company?

"I inherited it from my step father after he... disappeared." She contemplated him, blinking again but very slowly. Then she quickly began writing again. It slightly amused Seto at how she could so quickly she could turn her attention form one thing to another.

You should go back to school.

He frowned. Who was she to tell him what to do?

"Why?" he asked, voice strained so as to not let her on of his anger.

High school is a once in a lifetime experience. You shouldn't miss it no matter how responsible you are.

"It's not just about me, you know," he interjected. "I have to support my brother."

Couldn't you just work after school or something?

"I wouldn't get much done that way."

How do any of your business relations take you seriously if you're just a teenager without a simple high school education?

"They don't. They want me to go back."

Then you should.

"Look, it's not up for discussion!" he barked at her. He instantly rose to his feet, towering enormously over her, expression clearly angry. However, when she looked up at him, there was no trace of fear in those stupid eyes of hers.

She wrote again on the pad and lifted it up for him to see.

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you.

His eyes scanned over her message quickly and then looked back down again to her. Her eyes were sincerely apologetic, pleading with him. It was so unbearably... pathetic-looking to Kaiba that he was suddenly sorry about losing his temper so quickly. He sighed and looked away from her.

"It's fine," he dismissed in a grumbling, uncomfortable voice. It was strange but this Kisara could actually make him feel uncomfortable. Before he knew it, she was shoving the pad under his nose with a newly written line.

But you're still unhappy.

He looked back into those strange orbs of hers and felt, somewhat, in awe of her. As if drawn to her simply because of the fact that she cared if he was happy or not.

"Nobody can be happy all the time." He stopped, seeing she was pointing incessantly to another line she had written below that one, anticipating what he would say.

It's a person's goal in life to try and be happy. Otherwise, there really wouldn't be a reason to live.

He arched an eyebrow, surprised that she could predict what he would say next.

"That's a nice trick," he speculated smoothly. She grinned and then took the pad back and wrote another line for him to see.

When you're a mute, you pretty much learn how everyone is going to react. Most people are the same.

"You're really observant, aren't you. But tell me, do you think I'm the same as most people?" He was leaning close to her, perhaps too close to be considered as a simple casual pretense. Though it didn't seem to bother her to any degree. It annoyed him, however, that he felt this chemical interest and desire to want to be closer to her. Emotions and feelings like these he usually kept bottled up inside, showing them to no one. Emotions clouded reasonable judgment, emotions only served as a distraction from your main goals in life. Emotions were, in a nutshell to Seto Kaiba, a trivial folly and should be suppressed whenever you made a simple interaction with another being.

Emotions had caused people to commit suicide, to commit murder, to commit theft, arson and other unspeakable deeds. Emotions were not a need in life and Seto believed that society would be a much more enjoyable experience if people were smart enough to not brand themselves with such idiotic feelings.

Drawing away from his mental monologue, Seto read something else Kisara had written for him.

You're human, just like anybody else. But your eyes seem more guarded than everyone else's I've seen.

Seto gave a humorless smile.

"Did you ever consider that I'm more happier when I don't have to deal with anyone else?" Kisara's hand scribbled her reply.

I don't believe that. Everyone needs someone to help make their life happy.

Seto's smile disappeared as he pulled away from her. This was a moot subject, none of her business, and he was not going to go into detail about his own personal Sally-sob-story just because she seemed so helpless.

"Come on," he said, not responding to her written line. "I'm taking you home." He walked toward his office door, watching her out of the corner of his eye. Disappointment was evident in her face but other than that there wasn't much of anything. Not even the surprise of him knowing where she lived. Unwillingly, she rose from the sofa and followed him out.

~0~0~0~

He hadn't said another word to her, barely even acknowledged her when they were in the limo together. She didn't seem to be averse to the silence, she herself refused to make conversation- even though she still had the pad and pen in hand. Instead, she stared out of the tinted windows, seemingly lost in thought.

The neighborhood she lived in was quite shoddy and poor in quality. Definitely not the place of someone who had a high social outlook. And Seto slightly pitied her for living in such conditions, she seemed far too innocent to be trifled with the worries of a bad neighborhood.

However, she robotically got out of the car, paying no attention to the pathetic excuses for humans down the street who were dancing distastefully to the loud, vulgar booming of music being emitted from a beaten-up old stereo.

And then Seto suddenly remembered being possessive, protective of the girl who was already out of the car. But before he could allow these feelings to progress any further, he ordered Roland to quickly drive out of that God-forsaken place.

Now, Seto was lying on his back in bed. It was around midnight. He had sent Mokuba to his usual bedtime at around eight and he himself went to bed early at ten, to try and drive the persistent thoughts away from his mind.

It didn't help though. He simply lay wide awake, unable to empty his mind enough to go to sleep.

So, he ended up replaying the encounter with Kisara again and again in his mind, unable to wipe away the regret he suddenly felt when seeing her disappointed face.

However, if he somehow managed to get past that, the next thing his mind would replay was his second phone call to the Domino City High School. His pride couldn't help but sting a little after hearing the secretary's surprised voice when she learned he was going to enroll again.

And no matter how often Seto would repeat to himself that he was simply enrolling for the sake of his company, there would always be a nagging voice in his head that vigorously disagreed with him.

It was for his company! Not for the pretty mute girl who ended up on his doorstep one afternoon. And he would prove as such by not engaging Kisara in any conversation or any type of interaction whatsoever.

However, if she wanted to write a simple note to him, he would reply to her simply to be polite, nothing more.

Seto sighed angrily as he finally drifted to off to sleep, knowing fully well that he was lying to himself.

And there you go! Another chapter definitely coming!

Please review and I will give you a cyperspace glomp and promise to love your forever and always!

Nuit Songeur, out!