Stephan: Okay, so I've gotten e-mails from fanfiction telling me people have put me on their alert lists and stuff but no one has reviewed much (for both my stories) so I know you're out there! lol, I need someone to talk to!

A New Job

The bell on the door jingled as Kari stepped into the shop. She looked around and saw someone sleeping behind the counter and two guys dressed in fine tailored suits sitting with an empty chair in front of them. They wore black sunglasses and had earpieces hanging out of their right ear. They looked at her and stood up. She hesitantly walked over to them with her limp. One of them motioned for her to sit and she did. They too sat and there was a long silence as she looked around the shop, a bit creeped out.

"Name?" one of them asked out of nowhere, surprising her a bit.

"…Kariana Ushimato…" she answered skeptically.

"Alright, Miss Ushimato, we're going to ask you a few questions to see if you're qualified."

"Okay." She sat upright with her legs closed and her hands on her lap.

"How old are you and what is your education level?"

"18 and I finished high school this past year."

"Are you considering college?"

"Um…I don't know…not really…" she said honestly. He nodded, putting his hand up to his earpiece.

"What is you current living status?"

"I'm living with a friend right now but I need a job so I can-"

"Have you ever cared for someone?"

"What?" she choked.

"Have you ever taken care of someone, Miss Ushimato?"

"Oh…" she blushed, embarrassed, "I've babysat my cousins ever since I was thirteen. But what does that have to do with-"

"We'll be asking the questions Miss Ushimato." He interrupted and she locked her jaw tight. She was starting to freak out a bit. What was this even for? She was really beginning to wonder but didn't dare to try and ask. The guy put his hand to the earpiece again but held it there longer this time. Both men stood up causing Kari to flinch.

"We would like you to come with us Miss Ushimato." The guy said to her and she looked at the like they were crazy.

"To where?" she asked.

"We are not obligated to tell you." The other guy said.

"Then I'm not going with you." She scoffed. Both men looked at each other and nodded.

"Let go!" Kari yelled as the two men carried her out of the shop. She flailed her arms and legs but it was no use; they were much stronger than they looked. A black limo pulled up and one of the guys opened the door before the other tossed her rudely into it. She landed on the seat before falling onto the floor on her stomach. The door was slammed closed and the limo drove off.

"She's on her way, sir." One of the guys said. There was a pause before he spoke again. "Yes sir. But she is a bit upset." Another pause, "Yes sir."

Kari pushed herself up with her arms, letting out a painful groan. "What the hell?" she mumbled, sitting back and looking around. Her eyes widen with horror. She crawled to one of the doors and tried to open it with no avail. "No, no, no, no, no!" She tried the other one and had the same outcome.

'I'm being kidnapped!' she thought, pushing on the window button but it refused to go down. 'I'm going to die!' she turned her head forward at the sound of laughter. A small window rolled down so she could see the driver.

"There's no reason to fret, Miss. You're going to be okay."

"Okay? Are you crazy?! You're kidnapping me and you're telling me it's going to be okay?"

"Just calm down Miss, we're not going far. Besides, I do believe you got the job."

"What job?! I don't even know!" she exclaimed but he only laughed, rolling the window back up. "Hey! Don't do that! Let me out!"

Kari opened her eyes, sitting up from the seat, when she felt the limo come to a stop. 'Okay. When they open they door I'm going to jump at them and then run off! Yeah, that'll work…I think…' There was a soft click as the door opened. She was about to jump but at seeing who it was she ended up falling on her face. She raised herself up and stared with wide eyes.

"Mokuba?!" she exclaimed.

"Hi Kariana." Mokuba smiled, holding the door open for her. "Come with me. My brother is waiting for us." Kari stepped out of the car and followed him up the path to the mansion.

"Wait, your…Huh?" she babbled, confused as to what was going on.

"You're going to be working for him now." Mokuba told her, a butler opening the front door. Mokuba folded his hands behind his back, going through the door with Kari in suet. She was going to say something in response but the extravagancy of the mansion had hypnotized her.

'This place is huge!!' she thought, gaping around at the gothic style décor. It was only a matter of minutes before they happened upon a large study, Mokuba stopping at the entrance. Kari caught herself before she could run into the pre-teen boy. She looked over Mokuba's shoulder and saw a brunette guy. He looked very high maintenance, dressed in a fine navy blue suit and black tie with his hair combined neatly. He looked very cute and oddly familiar.

"Kariana, this is my brother Seto Kaiba." Mokuba said holding his arm out in gesture. Kari's eyes widened a bit but not for long. She suddenly remembered just who he was. She knew his name, heck everyone did, but his face…not so much. She wasn't one to watch TV or read the paper; as she saw it, if someone didn't care enough to know about your life then why bother with them? What would it matter if you knew every single song of some drugged-upped rockstar or the personal life of 'today's most popular idol'? They didn't care about you, so why care about them?

Kaiba looked up from his laptop, a pair of glasses perched on the tip of his nose. Kari, suddenly realizing she was out of view, stepped to the side and bowed. "It is nice to meet you, Mr.Kaiba." she wasn't a big fan of his but she was no ruffian either; she had manners.

"Have a seat Miss…?" he asked, motioning to the seat before his desk.

"Ushimato." She replied, walking in and taking the seat.

"Right." He said before typing something onto his laptop. Kari waited a few seconds before speaking again.

"So, um, why am I here?" she asked. Kaiba stopped what he was doing and looked at her.

"Because I'm hiring you."

"For what?"

Kaiba sighed, taking off his glasses and setting them on his desk. "For my brother." He replied simply. She gave him a funny look before looking back at Mokuba, who only smiled. She turned back to Kaiba.

"But what-"

"I'm going to be working on something for the next few months and I need a personal care taker for him; someone to cook for him, clean, help him with homework. Those sort of things."

"Okay, so why not just have your cooks cook, your maids clean, and his teachers teach?"

Kaiba looked over at Mokuba, who blushed bashfully. He looked back at Kari, folding his hands. "Because my brother has decided to go to a public school, so we're moving somewhere more convenient. It will be a much smaller living space and I saw no point in hiring five people to do something one person can."

"Then why me? I'm no one special. I just got out of high school, I've never had a job-"

"I know." Kaiba interrupted, a bit irritated, "My brother insisted on picking someone himself. And you just so happened to be it; to my consent or not, it was our deal."

"So…that's it?"

"Yes. I will send you the paperwork and further information tomorrow. For now I will have someone take you home."

"So I need to give you my address-"

"I already have it." Kaiba responded, going back to his laptop. Kari stared at him awkwardly. Mokuba tapped her on the shoulder and nodded for her to leave. She stood up and bowed one more time.

"Thank you." She said before following Mokuba back out.

"You don't have to be alarmed. Seto can found out almost anything on anyone." Mokuba said, sounding a bit proud of the fact. Kari didn't think it was really something to be proud about but who was she to judge?

She arrived back at Tea's house thirty minutes later and was 'forced' to tell her everything. She didn't get past saying 'Kaiba' before Tea went on a rant about him. Kari knew the group wasn't fond of him but in her eyes she didn't have much choice. He was a rich guy offering her good pay for a simple task. At least she thought it might be simple.

'Wait…how much is he paying me?' she thought as Tea finally started to wind down, 'Guess I'll find out tomorrow.' She shrugged mentally.

Tea sighed. "You hungry?" she asked, standing up from her bed.

"Starving." Kari grinned, leaning over the back of the chair she sat on. She had always had this habit of sitting in chairs backwards, something Tea's parents hated. But she didn't care and Tea didn't mind too much.

"One more week." Tea said, turning around from her doorway, "That's all my parents will allow, got it?" Kari nodded. "Good. Now get off your butt and let's go make something to eat. My parents won't be home till later and if you're starving then you're going to help me cook."

Kari sighed but stood up. Whenever Tea said something like that it meant that she would be doing all the cooking. 'Oh well,' she thought, 'I'll just make her do the dishes.' She grinned, following her friend out of the bedroom. She wasn't completely sure what she was getting into, working for Seto Kaiba that is, but there was no way she was going to turn an offer like that down; especially since she'd have to start looking for apartments like…now. That thought left a bad taste in her mouth. 'At least the job came easy.' She thought, trying to distract herself from the thought of apartment hunting. Tomorrow was the beginning of her future and she wasn't sure whether to be excited or afraid…