It was a crowning moment of achievement. For a moment, all Anzu wanted to do was stand quietly in the small space of her new apartment and breathe in the fresh smell of success. She'd finally done it. Things had begun slow. Moving to America all on her own had been agonizing and frightening. She had spent more than a few nights sleeping in motels and even more dozing off in bus stations. Those were not her greatest memories. Nothing came without hard work, though, and those days were far behind her. Finally now she had her own place- in New York City no less! It wasn't big and it wasn't fancy but it was hers.

Better yet, the studio downstairs was all hers too. No more waiting tables and earning meager scraps called tips. She'd scrimped and saved and gone through enough hardship. She was right where she wanted to be. Tomorrow she'd start advertising, but tonight she could sleep in a bed. Her own bed.

"Hey hey!" A voice broke her out of her stupor only seconds before a push. "Don't just stand there when your hired help is moving your boxes for you!" All said in a teasing tone as she was nudged again to get out of the way.

She couldn't help the smile. "I really appreciate you helping me like this, Mokuba."

There wasn't a lot of people she could call. For a while she had toyed with the idea of looking Mokuba up and asking him for much more help than moving- a place to stay, money, food… but no. Her pride was too great for that. Moving boxes, however, was something else entirely. She'd looked up the corporate branch just after she'd ordered her new furniture. He was the only familiar face in this bustling city and she was truly grateful. He was a small piece of home- unfamiliar as he was to her now.

The younger Kaiba had grown up into quite a handsome young man. He was still working his way through college, but that didn't shorten his duties at Kaiba Corporation USA. Unlike his elder brother, however, he saw no problem with helping friends (or having them, for that matter) or with taking a day off from the office.

He set the box down on the table (which he'd also helped unpacked and even built for her), wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. Summers in the city were brutal. He needed to push her into getting an air conditioner before he left. "It's no problem. How could I let you flounder around on your own in good conscience?" A grin as he teased her.

Her pointer finger was quick to waggle. "This is not floundering! Have you seen the studio downstairs?" Her quick anger died just as fast as she started gushing. "This is it. This is my time." Her tone drew sort of airy as the smile grew on her face. "And no one helped me get here but me. So don't you dare call it floundering again." Reprimanding again.

Mokuba's arms crossed over his chest and he smirked, so very reminiscent of his brother. "Oh? I'll just let you carry in the bed frame from downstairs all by yourself then."

"Don't get hasty!" There was no way she'd be able to bring that up all by herself. "I promised you a home cooked meal for payment. You won't get it if you don't finish the job." Grinning like she had the upper hand.

The boy relented slightly. "Fine fine. Let's hurry up then. I'm hungry already." He hadn't had a lot of time for home cooked meals. When he'd transferred to America he tried to live as "on his own" as he could. It was plenty hard with the temptation of money always being there but he thought he was doing fine. Seto thought it was a stupid endeavor; it worried the elder sibling, Mokuba knew. But it was just something he needed to do for a while.

So turning down an actual home cooked meal was not in the books for today. He'd make her cook three times over by the time they were done.

"That's what I thought." Her hands set on her hips with a haughty look before she broke down in laughter. There was no way she could keep up that attitude with how bubbly she was feeling inside. She was just too excited to even play it.

Turning quickly she motioned for him to follow her back down the twisting set of stairs. He followed closely, ready to get this bulk haul over with as quick as possible. Caught up as she was she was rushing, too. One step was taken too quickly, her ankle twisting in an awkward way and before she knew it she'd lurched forward. What a way to start a dancing studio, with a broken leg.

There was a quite stiffness to the air, not quite panic but she wasn't ready to flail either. Her arms reached up to grab the nearest strongest thing to hold herself up and suddenly she found herself with her hands clutching the front of Mokuba's shirt. He'd acted as quickly as he possibly could, taking her hips and forcing her up against the railing to break the rush of the fall. When she'd grabbed him back he thought she was going to push him away.

An apology was formed quick on his tongue- he certainly hadn't meant to grab her inappropriately. Slowly, though, her hands let up, lying flat against him. He felt a warmth pool in his cheeks as he stared down at her.

Before he could even begin to think properly he'd leaned down to press a quick and clumsy kiss to her lips. For a moment, a brief and shining second, she seemed to become pliant, accepting even. And then she pushed him back roughly, probably more roughly than she'd meant to.

He fell back against the opposite banister, a sorry look on his face. "Anzu- jeez, I don't… I'm sorry." What had come over him?

Just the way she was looking at him, it hit something within him. Anzu had always been a strong woman, as far as he could remember. Being a savior had been as an intoxicating a feeling as it was blinding.

The woman smiled, turning her head away. She couldn't seem to meet his eyes. "It's alright, Mokuba. Just don't do that again, okay?"

"I won't."

The words were firm as he closed himself off- a trait his brother might have taught him without realizing. And as soon as he'd said it he was heading down the rest of the stairs. When she found herself down after him she wondered how things would end now tonight. She couldn't let him be angry at himself. It was an accident, a small little mistake. It wasn't worth condemning himself over.

"Mokuba-"

He turned back, untouched almost, grinning at her. "Come on, we have a lot of work to do."

It wasn't right. She didn't want to leave this unaddressed. But touching on it now when Mokuba seemed already to have moved on wasn't easy either. Slowly she nodded, though frowned. The young Kaiba watched her, feeling uneasy.

He hefted up his end of the box, Anzu on the opposite side doing her best to lift her part. Silence, save for soft grunting of exertion, filled the air as the bumbled up the stairs. When they reached the top he finally said- "I don't know what came over me."

"It's alright." A quick repeat that she cursed herself for. That wasn't going to fix things. Her eyes met with his and she smiled. "I'm glad I called you." And she was, too.

For a moment he didn't know what to say. This was quite a conflicting message. He forced a smile. "Me too." Maybe not as forced as he thought as they set the box down. "Now, about that dinner."

"You're just like the rest of them, you know? Food over everything else." She rolled her eyes, though was still grinning.

"Just don't try convincing my brother of that."

They both looked at each other before breaking out into laughter again.