A/N: Completely forgot to write one last chapter! I'm new to posting fanfics (I usually write them out and forget about them) but I'm going to try this out and see how it goes! Reviews are appreciated, but no flaming! Enjoy and let me know what you think!
Chapter 2
Kia walked the hour-long journey to the Kaiba Mansion from the orphanage. Her feet were aching from the long walk, plus the fact that the shoes the orphanage had given her were cheap and inadequate. She finally reached the mansion and rang the Blue-Eyes White Dragon shaped doorbell. Kaiba answered the door.
"Ms Boulevard, you're a few minutes early" was his greeting. She smirked at him, feeling as though she should bow to him or something weird like that.
"Yes, I do try to be earlier than the appointed time" she explained as he stood aside and let her into the house. "It's a concept I have in my head. It's much better to be a few minutes early rather than a few minutes late..."
"I agree with your concept Ms Boulevard." Kaiba assured her as he closed the door and led her to the kitchen. "Mokuba will be down in a moment, I wanted to know what you'll be teaching him and how you'll do it." He stated and sat on a high chair at the breakfast bar. He motioned for her to do the same. As she sat down, she had a look around.
The walls were a forest green colour all around the room, with a deeper green coloured tile above the appliances. The floor tiles were a strange oak colour, strange because one would think it was floorboard upon first glance. The cupboards and counter sides were oak (wooden this time) and the actual counter-top was green marble. The breakfast bar was designed in the same fashion, the cushioned seats being green to match the rest of the room.
The spotlights above them shone onto the various areas about the room. Six pointing at the counter-top that ran along two and a half walls in the room, another in the middle to point at the island, yet another pointing to the breakfast bar where they sat and two more pointing at the dark green stove on the opposite end of the room. Kia thought of the dreary brown kitchen back at the orphanage.
"Well, the Irish test in Ireland is divided into two levels, honors and pass. Pass is very basic Irish whereas honors is advanced Irish. Has Mokuba ever studied Irish before?" Kia asked him, bringing her attention back to their conversation. He seemed very relaxed as he poured whole orange juice into a glass and offered it to her. She took it gratefully, thanking him as she did.
"He had a year's worth of tutoring from a psychotic Irishman last year" Kaiba offered. Kia almost spat out her drink with laughter.
"A psychotic Irishman?!" she squealed. Kaiba smirked. He found it strange that he liked her laugh.
"Precisely Ms Boulevard" he said, swirling the juice in his glass. He couldn't look at her without smirking. He had known this since she first arrived six months prior. He watched as she covered her mouth with a slim hand and laughed her quiet, gentle laugh.
"Well in that case, I'll have to assess his level before we start anything" she concluded after her fit of laughter. Kaiba nodded. "I had a feeling I'd need this test today" she smirked, as she took the test paper from her bag. Just then, Mokuba walked into the room.
"Evening Seto. Oh, uh, good evening Ms Boulevard, I assume?" he asked, holding out his eleven year-old hand for a handshake. Kia smirked at him and took his hand.
"Please, call me Kia. Permission to call you Mokuba young sir?" was her slightly cheeky reply. Mokuba chuckled as they shook hands.
"Permission granted m'am" he replied with a smile. Kia handed him the paper with a cheeky grin.
"Just to go through the plan, I need you to take this assessment test today so I'll know what to teach you tomorrow" she explained. He nodded as he strolled into the adjoining dining room and sat down. He read the first question and began to write furiously almost immediately. From what she could see, the dining room was every bit as fancy as the kitchen, with a long oak table and dark walls. There was plenty of lighting though, so Mokuba could work away at his test.
"I suppose you'll need to wait here until he's completed the test, won't you?" Kaiba asked. Kia looked down at her feet. Kaiba followed her gaze and saw her rubbish shoes. Mentally, he gasped at the poor quality but didn't react physically.
"I wouldn't want to put you out..." she muttered, thinking of the long walk home, only to have to make the trip thrice more.
"I insist."
"Um, pardon?" She was confused. Yugi and his friends always said Kaiba was a ruthless, cold-hearted game player who only did things for himself. She had seen many examples of such behavior when she first arrived, but those occurrences became more and more scarce the longer she stayed here. Now though, he was being courteous and downright strange.
"Did I say something wrong?" He cocked his head to the side in genuine puzzlement. He thought he was being nice, offering to let her stay for the two hours Mokuba would be doing her little test. Now he wasn't sure...
"Are you feeling alright Kaiba?" she inquired with an unsteady voice. Kaiba straightened up slightly.
"Yes of course, why do you ask?" He was quite confused now. If she were anybody else, he would have either barked at them, or fired them by now. Even that thought alone confused him further. Why doesn't he give out? Why does he care if she likes him or not?
"Uh Kaiba? You're acting really unusual now..." Her concerned and gentle voice brought him out of his trance.
"Apologies Ms Boulevard, my mind was elsewhere momentarily..." He stood up from the chair and gestured for her to follow him. She put her glass back on the bar and followed him into the entrance hall. For a heart stopping moment, she thought he was going to send her on her way. Instead, he led her into the glamorous living room.
The walls were cream in colour with a golden trim; the long shaggy carpet was a rich caramel colour. The couches in the room were off-white with golden edging and there was a caramel chaise-long in one corner. In the other three corners, there were bookshelves full of DVDs and a TV set, attached to a DVD player. Kia gazed at the beautiful décor and thought back to the barely adequate conditions in the orphanage. The chandelier above her head shone a beautiful full light around the room, reminding her of the basic light bulbs with wires fully revealed back home.
"Take a seat" Kaiba offered. He stood by the varnished fireplace where a small but cosy fire was kept enclosed. Kia moved to one of the couches and perched herself delicately on the edge of it. Kaiba frowned. "You can sit properly you know" he stated impatiently. He wanted her to be comfortable, that's why he moved her from the kitchen to there.
"Um, but I uh..." Kia didn't know how to explain why she couldn't. If she said she felt dirty, that would obviously be mistaken to be of a sexual nature. She wavered slightly on the edge of her seat, quite literally in this case.
"Ms Boulevard? Are you feeling alright?" Now he was concerned. She cringed.
"I don't feel comfortable sitting on such clean upholstery Kaiba..." She smiled slightly at him, blushing as she spoke. He looked her up and down.
"You don't look unkempt Ms Boulevard, I don't see a problem arising from you sitting properly on my couch." He smirked at her as her face dropped. She was still uncertain though, so Kaiba moved toward her and gently touched her shoulders with his fingertips. Without much resistance, she allowed his fingers to push her shoulders onto the back of the couch. "I said you could sit comfortably, you shouldn't make yourself uncomfortable because you know that a couch of such a ridiculous colour will show up the smallest mark of dirt..." he explained as he moved back to his place at the fireside.
"Uh, I... Thank you?" She was at a loss at what to say in response. Her feeble thanks was miserable and plain embarrassing. Kaiba however, smirked.
"Not a bother, the couches are there to be sat on..." He checked his watch nonchalantly and noted the time. "It's quarter to eight, when do you have tea? he enquired. Kia pondered his question for a second before she replied.
"About half seven to be honest, but I..." She was stopped by a hand raised by Kaiba in objection.
"You're a guest in my house, it would be rude not to offer refreshments. I'll be back in a moment Ms Boulevard" he smirked as he left the room. She was gob smacked, for want of a better word. Standing up warily, she tip-toed to the DVD collection to have a look at his vast collection. She giggled as she saw the four "Die-Hard" movies aligned perfectly under a label reading 'Action'. She found more to giggle at, the "Saw" movies, "Mama", "The Conjuring" and "Silent Hill" under 'Horror'. "Sweeny Todd" under 'Mildly disturbing, borderline entertaining'. There was even a tab labeled 'Mokuba's Favorites', with an array of her childhood favorites included in the line-up. She laughed when she saw the 'Seto's Favorites' tab, with only one DVD under it.
"I'm not that interested in movies to be quite honest..." Kaiba's voice suddenly behind her gave her a heart attack. She jumped in response, backwards and hit into Kaiba. His strong hands caught onto her arms to steady her. "Woah, are you okay?" he asked with a smirk on his face.
"Oh my gosh... I wasn't expecting you to sneak up on me... Don't do that again..." she gasped. Kaiba twirled her around on the spot, still holding her arms.
"My apologies Ms Boulevard, I'll try not to 'sneak up on you' again" His smirk became more pronounced as he changed his tone of voice to one of a mocking nature, as he re-used her words against her. She began to laugh.
"You don't seem like yourself at all Kaiba, are you sure you're feeling alright?" she asked again. His smirk dissipated as he realised she was genuinely asking the question. It wasn't a joke, nor a mockery, it was concern.
"I've never felt better" he stated with a half smile, much to Kia's amazement. Regardless, she smiled back at him and was still smiling when she left the mansion an hour later.
