Chapter 3: Marketing

He was starting to become truly annoyed with school. It wasn't as if he needed to prove anything at this point, other than to the state so he could keep custody of his brother. Why they felt he needed to show dedication to school as a way to determine his devotion to his brother was preposterous. The two were in no way related to one another. While he was now eighteen and by law able to be a guardian, his custody of Mokuba now hinged on these last few months of school. It was ridiculous, but he wouldn't lose him, and he was tired of dealing with lawyers about this. Why he couldn't find one to break through this ridiculous clause he had signed at fifteen to keep his brother he didn't know, but here he was.

It probably wasn't helping that he hadn't slept in nearly a full day, or that he had to deal with his new employee this afternoon. But there was no way around that. He needed to be sure this woman was aware of what he needed, and also understood that she was as good as his new right hand from now on, at least where foreign business was concerned. He should really invest in getting a reliable program to translate. Certainly it was worth the money it would cost him. Computers were so much easier to deal with than people. His new translator better either be pleasant enough to deal with, or quiet when she wasn't supposed to be translating. Otherwise he was going to have to kill her.

With a grumble to himself he walked down the hall from his math class. He'd finished everything for the next week in that subject, one he took with only three other students in the school as they were the only one's able to keep up, so at least he could sleep when he got home tonight. He would not miss anything about Domino High, especially the homework. What an irritant. And why his teachers felt he needed to prove that he could do these simplistic tasks was beyond him when he was running a multibillion dollar corporation. He made more in a day then they would in a lifetime. It was also beyond him as to why he wouldn't allow himself to halfass these things just to get through. But then, no one else could be better than him, it was unthinkable. That thought was reinforced when he walked into his home classroom and spotted Yugi, the only person that ever managed to beat him at anything. Resentment filled him, but he ignored it, sensing an odd vibration in the room. It was mostly noticeable because Yugi and his entire repertoire of idiots was staring at him, appearing mystified… and disturbingly excited.

Ignoring this, because he refused to be sucked into whatever it was this time, he moved to his desk and stopped dead, seeing a girl, a young woman, sitting in the seat that had always been empty beside him. He looked down at her in stunned shock as she flipped through a history book idly. With hair the color of snow and skin nearly the same pale sheen she all but shone in the light coming through the window. Kisara. It was all he could think as he stood there staring openly down at her, and in that moment time stood still for him. She was here… sitting right here in his class, this ghost from the ancient past, looking exactly as he remembered, exactly how she did in his dreams and the visions he had been shown. But that was impossible. All of it had always been impossible.

Then she sensed his gaze and looked up. At once he was captured by her eyes. Those pretty, deep blue orbs that so entranced him in his last life caught him up with ease. And despite all his hatred and denial, all his disbelief, he recognized her, sensed the soul resting inside her as his own noticeably resonated with it on a level he could no more explain than understand. He felt as if he had been sucker punched, and for a brief moment he was sure, would have bet his entire fortune, that she recognized him as well. His heart filled with an unimaginable hope and lightness, something he had never felt before, and her perfect pink lips parted nearly imperceptibly. He felt his whole body about to collapse into her, and then it all came crashing down around him.

Behind him the teacher cleared her throat and laughter erupted around the class. The spell was broken, shattered as easily as a dropped mirror, by the amusement of the teenagers in his class by what they suspected was nothing more than teenage interest. Kisara's double jolted at the sound, startled, and he saw color flood her white cheeks, tinging them bright pink as she quickly looked back down at her textbook. Rage filled him, howling at the injustice of such a meeting here of all places, and only years of self control kept him impassive. He sat down, ignoring the teacher calling the class to order as he sent a warning glare around the room. That shut them up, and he wasn't even mollified by their fear as he normally was. He looked forward at the board, as if ignoring her and everyone else, but his whole being was trained on her as she sat beside him, less than two feet away.

For her part she seemed grateful when class started, clearly either embarrassed or unsettled by the attention of the class. As the lesson began she let out a quiet sigh and went back to flipping through her book, clearly forgetting about the encounter within a minute or two. She didn't look over at him, or show any sign of recognition. In the next forty-nine excruciating minutes of class he came to the heart wrenching realization that she had no idea who he was. His heart sank like a rock even as the logical portion of him reminded him that he had hardly recalled his past life, let alone believed in it for years despite an abundance of proof. This girl had no reason to remember it, no more than he had until forced into it.

As lunch rolled around he saw the gang of idiots ready to pounce on her, but she was saved in a fortunate way by a girl he had seen around the halls from the welcoming committee. The girl appeared relieved that she got to escape the room, and he was sure she had also noted that other people were eager to speak with her. He wondered why she was so anxious, but then again Yugi and his gang of morons were rather awful. He assumed their first impression, whatever it had been when he was in his alternative math class, had been about as favorable as any interaction he'd ever had with any of them, which was a pretty low point as far as socialization went. He tried to hide that he tracked her out of the room with his eyes and thought he succeeded.

Tea and Yugi visibly deflated when she left and he saw them share a glance with each other. Knowing very well they had turned their abush to him he got up abruptly and walked out of the room before they could talk to him. Thankfully, no one bothered him as he stood outside under an old tree that had no doubt been standing there longer than the school had. It was his prefered place to eat, or work during his lunch as was more common. It was out of the way and he could see most of the schoolyard, which didn't allow anyone to sneak up on him. Over the last few years his concern over that was less to do with enemies than some of the more aggressive females that had no doubt set their sights on him, or more precisely his fortune. Most of them were vapid idiots, the other few were much more conniving, which was only more despicable to him, largely because he was convinced that if he wasn't wealthy they wouldn't have turned one batting eyelash his way.

For the full forty minute lunch period he was inside the school server, trying to figure out where the hell this girl had come from. Frustratingly, nothing had been inputted into the system yet except her picture with an associated reference number. Obviously the secretaries weren't under nearly as much pressure here as they were at Kaiba Corp. to do their jobs. So, left with nothing but her image he studied it critically, with no fear that anyone would know what it was he was examining. He found he was increasingly flustered that it only confirmed what he was already sure of in his very bones. She was an exact replica of Kisara, from her white hair to her slender collar bones. For the first time in several years he found himself out of control of his emotions. He was rocking crazily between what he could only term giddy delight, panic, irrational affection, and utter animosity. And it seemed no matter what he tried to tell himself one part of him wanted nothing more than to wrap her up in his arms and hold her until the world ended and the other part of him wanted her and all the baggage she brought with her as far away from him as humanly possible.

The longer he stood outside the angrier he became, more than annoyed that this girl had dropped into his life out of nowhere simply to unsettle him, and for the first time in his life he was nearly late to class, stalling as long as possible outside before forcing himself to go back. She was sitting there when he came in, clearly trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. He continued to try to ignore her for the next three hours, but didn't even come close to being successful for all she was drawing not one iota of attention to herself at all as she sat quietly and unobtrusively taking notes. The worst part was the longer he sat there the less angry he became. He felt some hidden part of him, the one that seemingly woke up when he first saw her, struggling fiercely to get to the surface. He tried to beat it back, not even listening to his civics lecture, but wasn't able to. It began to hum contently at him, or more like her, and he found himself relaxing despite his odd swirl of unsettling thoughts.

He had no idea how a part of him could be happy right now and resented her all over for that as the final bell rang. As the blaring sound filled the room she got up quickly, glancing up at the clock fretfully as she shoved her things haphazardly into her bag. He stood up as she tried to race out of the room and turned toward the other door to avoid her just as she was trapped by Yugi and Joey. Her posture told him that she wasn't happy about being stopped in the slightest. He hesitated for half a moment, which wasn't like him at all, as they tried to make nice with her. While he might hate Yugi and his gang, it wasn't the invitation they offered that irritated him. It was the anxiety he saw bloom on her face at being surrounded, as it was clear she felt as if she was, her eyes darting around the room at the four that were still behind her.

Shoving away the sudden need to save her from the situation he walked out, telling himself this was none of his concern and that he owed her not one thing. He caught sight of her glancing at him and recognizing another escape route as he left. Walking out of the building he moved to the sidewalk where he should be picked up by his driver. Why the man wasn't already here was irritating, but he pushed that aside and pulled his phone back out, navigating back to the school server in the hope something else had been put into her electronic file since lunch.

No sooner did he manage to break in, which really was far too simplistic, than he was nearly bowled over where he stood. He stumbled, barely catching his balance as his head snapped around. More than ready to tear into whatever idiot had crashed into him he felt the words choking in his throat when large blue eyes met his, looking both started and contrite. "I'm sorry." Kisara's double said quickly in English, her hands outstretched to try to pull him upright, but jerking back when she saw the anger in his face.

He straightened himself at once, intrigued that she was speaking English. "You should watch where you're going." He told her in the same language, the words much less cruel than anything he would say to anyone else, but brusque all the same.

Her eyes shimmered with interest when he responded in English, but she switched back to Japanese all the same. "You're right. I apologize."

He took her in again, all but forgetting she had nearly tackled him to the ground. Even in the ridiculous school uniform she was the most lovely thing he had ever seen. The girl was well made by any definition. While her pale coloration was undeniably appealing to him her slim, athletic frame only enhanced her beauty in his opinion. He had never been overly obsessed with curves, but he did very much like the look of a fit woman. While it was clear she had all the… accessories of womanhood, she was certainly not as endowed as most of the females in his class. He found the difference appealing. He kept speaking in English, thinking that might sway her to speaking to him a little more. "You aren't from Japan."

She switched back to English as well. "No, I'm not."

Interesting. "Where are you from?" He asked, giving her his full attention as he forced himself to calm as they spoke, wanting her to relax around him.

"Vancouver." She supplied too quickly, as if she had rehearsed it in the mirror for several hours. Having a great deal of experience with sussing out liars he saw the untruth at once. Not to mention her accent wasn't at all right. He had done business with Canadians on multiple occasions from all over that country and not one of them had sounded like this.

"Interesting considering you don't have a Canadian accent." Surprise lit up her whole face and he pushed on casually. "Would you like to try again?"

"No." She replied bluntly. The part of him that was used to no one saying no was incensed by that. Another part of him like that she refused, like the challenge she suddenly presented to getting his way. He wondered why that was when he very much liked getting his way. She sidestepped around him. "Have a nice afternoon."

"We aren't done." He informed her, wanting answers.

"It looks like we are." She told him in an almost bored way, as if he were to be trifled with.

Clearly his normal approach of demanding things wasn't going to work on her. To his own surprise he dropped it at once, rather than pushing harder. He found himself concerned that their conversation was ending so quickly. He'd barely learned anything. "What's your name?"

The girl completely ignored him, although he knew she had to have heard him. He narrowed his eyes as she fled around a corner and pulled his phone back out to get answers there when he was interrupted yet again. And this time by a person he always hoped would stumble in front of a bus. "Hey, rich boy, did you see her?" Joey asked, sauntering up to him as if they were friends.

"Go bark somewhere else, mutt." He ordered, not bothering to even look at him.

The blond puffed up. "Look, you jerk, I'm tryin' to help you out-"

"Do not for one moment believe that I will ever need help from you in any manner." He interrupted, hearing his car pull up in front of him. "Now go chase a cat, or bury a bone, or whatever it is you do with your time." That said he got into the car, not bothering to wait for his driver to get out and open the door for him. "Kaiba Corp now." He instructed, his eyes locked on his phone as he ignored Joey flailing and spouting inane things at him through the window.

"Of course, Mr. Kaiba." Roland replied, pulling out onto the road at once.

As he saw there was still no information on the server his calendar app popped up, reminding him of his meeting with the new translator within the hour. Pressing his lips together he swiped the notice away and shoved the phone back in his pocket. Clearly he wasn't going to get any answers today. He would just have to bide his time until tomorrow. Until then he needed to focus on his company.

When he got to Kaiba Corp that afternoon he found it running smoothly, which was really in everyone's best interest after the day he had already had. He was off balance and ready to snap at anything that wasn't doing what he wanted it to do, whether that was a person, computer program, or ride at his theme park. Getting to his office he went into his personal bathroom and changed into a suit. Securing his tie as he walked out he booted up his computer, figuring he could at least read through a few emails before the translator showed up.

The task kept him occupied until his phone rang ten minutes later. Reaching over he picked it up. "Yes?"

"You're three-thirty appointment is here, Mr. Kaiba." Yuka told him. The woman had been his secretary since he took over the company three years ago and was one of his favorite employees. She was everything he wanted in a secretary, anticipating his needs before he did.

He glanced at the time, seeing she was ten minutes early. He approved of that. "Impressions?" He queried, trusting her opinion.

"Polite but nervous." She told him, and he could only assume the translator was out of earshot. "Very young."

"Send her in." He answered, not caring one whit how young she was as long as she did her job. He certainly wasn't one to think that youth meant one was incompetent, not with the background he had. He also understood he was one of the few in the business world with that opinion, not that he gave a rat's ass what anyone else thought about who he hired or how he ran his company. He went back to replying to the head of his marketing department and less than two minutes later his door opened. "Sarah Drake, Mr. Kaiba."

Figuring staring right at her would make her more nervous, and not wanting this woman to think she meant more than she did he finished reading before glancing up, leaving her to stand there for a few moments and acclimate herself. When he finally turned his attention to his new employee he felt that same shocking sensation in his stomach he had when he walked into his homeroom this morning. Across the large office from him, still standing next to the door looking like a startled rabbit, was the girl. This had to be some sort of sick joke Wheeler thought up. However, the genuine bewilderment on her face as she stared at him convinced him otherwise.

Realizing he was showing too much all at once he slammed his iron clad control back up. Her eyes flickered at his change in expression and he knew he had already given this woman far too much ground if she had seen he felt anything at all. There was no way she could stay here. There was no way he could allow her to work with him. Not this woman. Not one that dared to challenge who he was or his focus in this life, rather than the crazed vision of his past one he'd had in Egypt. Not one that constantly reminded him of the damn dreams that plagued him on a weekly basis and drove him to near madness. He needed to get rid of her at once. The Frenchmen would do just fine. His mind made up he leaned back in his chair and indicated she could sit. He decided he could at least get some of the answers he wanted before he kicked her out of his office, and hopefully his life. Even as he thought that he felt a corresponding stab of panic in the pit of his stomach.

Walking forward across the large room she moved to where he indicated and sat down, her back straight and her head up. He watched her intently, trying to make her uncomfortable, trying to make her squirm so she would break. He had broken older and more experienced men this way, but after several silent moments where she refused to back down from the silent clash of wills he felt a grudging sort of respect.

He finally broke the silence. "Canada?"

She didn't miss a beat, didn't blink, and he began to quickly calculate her tells. "Washington. The state, not the capital city."

Perfect, she could go straight back there and leave him in peace. He leaned back in his chair, flicking his fingers at the door. "You can go."

"Wait, what?" He saw she understood the dismissal for what it was. For a split second, so fast he almost missed it, he saw raw desperation in her eyes. His stomach twisted unpleasantly at that, but he ignored it. He didn't feel guilt. He didn't have the luxury.

He shrugged. "Go. I don't want you."

Her jaw ticked as he turned his attention back to his computer. He had just lifted his hands to his keyboard when she surprised him. "No." Her voice was filled with barely controlled fury.

His eyes flicked up as he hadn't thought this trepidatious thing capable of any sort of rebellion, and certainly not against him, not now that she knew who he was. "Excuse me?"

She set her shoulders, ready to go toe to toe with him, something that rarely happened. It appeared she prefered fight to flight. "No." She repeated firmly. "I moved to the other side of the world because you wanted me as a translator. I'm here. I'm not leaving."

Despite himself he was amused with that. Amused she thought she could stay when he didn't want her. Still, he supposed he did owe her something for making her come all the way out here. "I'll pay to have you moved back." He told her generously.

Leaning back in her chair she crossed her legs, refusing to get up. "I like it here."

"Good for you." He replied dryly.

Her jaw set in a fully stubborn manner. "I'm not leaving."

His irritation with her challenge was being replaced with grudging respect. As much as he hated being questioned he did respect those that stood up for themselves, those that fought for what they wanted. Still, she wasn't staying here. "There's no law that says you can't live in Domino."

"I'm working here." She informed him boldly.

"No, you're not." He corrected

"Yes I am." She brushed her sleeve absently and he noted her hands shaking ever so slightly with nervousness. "I speak eight languages and I'm learning two more right now. You hired me because I'm the best. If I weren't I wouldn't be here." He couldn't deny that. "The best translators work for the best employers. You're the best employer in the area. I'm working for you."

"Except you aren't." He assured her.

"I am. I'm a good worker. I won't disappoint you." She met his eyes and he saw that same flash of desperation despite her calm and collected tone. He felt his own emotions betraying him. Clearly, for some reason, she needed this position and was terrified she had lost it already. He disliked that she was upset immensely, and that he was the cause of it for no reason other than his hatred of his past and everything to do with it. Making her leave because of it was all but admitting to himself that he was affected by it and it did influence his decisions, and that was unacceptable.

He went back to watching her again as he internally debated, his finger tapping lightly on the arm of his chair. When she refused to break eye contact yet again he spoke, her resolve winning him over despite his hesitation. "What languages do you speak?" He asked at last.

It was clear she thought he was toying with her now, but answered his question at once. "English, Japanese, Mandarin, German, Spanish, French, Italian, and Welsh."

"Welsh?" He drawled, as if that were ridiculous.

"Yes, Welsh."

His lip twitched, thinking that was a ridiculous language to bother to learn and she silently seethed. Really, she had no control over those damn emotional eyes of hers at all. He turned his attention to the information about the two other languages she was learning. He hadn't expected her to be able to learn more, or to bother with it as the one's she already knew were more than enough to make her a very decent living. "And what two are you learning?"

"Swedish and Swahili."

Impressive. He had to admit it. But he couldn't just let her stay without some sort of stipulation either. That would make him look weak, as if he could be swayed just by arguing. "I need you to be able to speak Arabic in the next twelve months."

"Fine." She agreed.

"Along with the other two." He reminded her, knowing it was an overwhelming and unfair demand.

"I understand."

"I do hope so. You are a translator." He could tell he had rankled her, was in fact trying to provoke her so he would have any excuse to get rid of her that was valid and wouldn't make him reflect poorly on himself. Still, she had value. He should at least let her get herself fired. It was only fair. "Fine, you work for me. However, no one else knows that."

"Alright." She agreed, puzzled, but relieved she had somehow salvaged the situation for herself.

He clarified, not wanting her to think it was an idle demand. "And you should also know Domino High doesn't allow their students to have outside jobs." Her eyebrows drew together in confusion. "Keep that in mind if you have the urge to share where you disappear to in the evenings. It could easily get you expelled." She nodded, although it was clear she didn't really understand that rule at all. He knew from speaking with American's that this requirement at Domino high was strange. He had to get special permission to run his own company, which was ridiculous. It was fairly common to have a job in high school in America. He was fairly certain she had one at some point, although it could be nothing like what she was about to do here. "Also ask Yuka to send you a list of appropriate places to shop for clothing. What you have is adequate for everyday, but I need better than that at meetings with outside parties. You need to shine. You're too young to be taken seriously otherwise."

She frowned, but agreed. "I will."

"Yuka will take you to your office and give you your schedule. I expect you to be on time and ready to work. Any questions?"

"No, Mr. Kaiba."

He didn't like her calling him that. It made him feel… distant. "Seto is fine if we're alone or at school." He told her, the words coming out of his mouth before he could stop them.

Her head tilted a little and he cursed his words, now unable to take them back. He supposed it would be awkward for her to call him that at school. "Okay, Seto."

His name rolling off her tongue was music. Ancestors, he had to get her out of here before he completely lost his mind. "That's all. Yuka will take you to HR. They'll have you for the rest of the day. I'll see you tomorrow." She nodded and stood up fluidly. She had her hand on the door when he spoke, knowing he needed to keep control of this or it would be over. The only way to do that was keep the power dynamic in his favor. "And, Sarah?"

She turned her head. "Yes?"

"Lie to me again and I will fire you."

She nodded, her eyes swirling with thoughts, and left quietly. As the sound of the door shutting filled the room he took an audible breath, feeling his heart pounding hard in his chest and wondering how the hell he was supposed to work with her. What had he just agreed to? And what on earth possessed him to let her stay?