Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh

He had said it before and he still believed it: emotions were an annoying thing.

Kaiba's thoughts were sour when he finally got out of the hospital, ignoring the doctors concerns of course. A great deal of his genius mind was now mulling over the web he had managed to entangle himself in. He'd had the same thoughts on loop whilst he spent the previous week recovering, only drawn out of them by a few awkward meetings with his brother.

Even he couldn't fix their relationship with a snap of his fingers.

And then there was Kisara, whom he had sworn himself to be assisted by. The idea still both confused and irritated him, to be helped to change his ways. Internally he scoffed at the idea, but at the very least it might help him recover some of what he had lost over the last year. Then again, when she had seen that his personality wasn't all that good beneath his shell maybe he could gain some peace from Kisara. As it stood he'd have to make it clear to her that there was a thin- no, make that very thick line in the sand he would not cross in regards to...connecting with other people.

In face, make that a chasm.

Of course his feelings were still a bit mixed on her but that topic was pushed far to the back of his mind, right now she was simply a complication. An idea coming to mind, he pulled out his phone and selected his right-hand man from his contacts.

"Roland." He said sharply, not waiting for a response. "Get a limo to the hospital, I'm going back home. Cancel all meetings or calls that are waiting, I don't care who it is."

"Yes sir." Was the brief response and the conversation ended, if it could be called that.

Yes, he had a plan now. Kaiba smirked at the thought of what was to come, not least of all the thought that his shareholders would likely be scurrying around like rats trying to either get rid of him out or talk to him. And perhaps they may have had a point if he'd remained in the same stagnant state...but they were about to find out that he was far from done with KaibaCorp.

If only they would wait a few days.

A loud yawn could be heard in the living room of the Celera household, followed by faint rustling as the occupant of the sofa shifted on the piece of furniture. Kisara yawned, curling in on herself in an attempt to conserve what warmth she had.

"Wakey, wakey sis!" A cheery voice crowed beside her.

Kisara's eyes opened slowly and she looked over to see a beaming little girl standing beside her with a duvet wrapped around her. The girl had the same white hair as her sister, though it was much shorter; cut jaggedly around her shoulders. Her eyes were different too, being brown and warm in a complete contrast to Kisara's own blue ones.

The elder sister smiled gently. "If it's time to get up then why are you wrapped up like that?" She asked, making the young girl pause and appear to seriously think about her answer.

"You're right! It must still be sleeping time." The girl finally responded with another large smile.

Then, without warning she jumped out of her own duvet and into Kisara's, crawling under it until she were face to face with her sister. The elder girl giggled at her childish nature and wrapped her arms around the smaller girl, the pair sharing body heat.

A voice interrupted the loving scene. "You know, you're leaving your brother cold if you do that, Amelia."

The small girl pouted up at the man who was watching them with an amused smile on his worn face. "B-but I'm warm now! Tell Kenji to come down here!"

"I think he already is." Was the man's response, followed by the sound of running feet and a blur of black and white visible for a few seconds before it dove under the covers.

Kisara let out a groan that soon turned into a giggle as she felt the small boy pull himself up to the same position as his sister. His head poked out of the duvet, revealing the same brown eyes as Amelia, mixed with a shock of black hair. All in all, he was the most normal one of the family aside from their mother.

"You should join us too, daddy!" Amelia squeaked happily, causing the older man to smile though he shook his head.

"I'm a bit to big to fit, beside it's time for me to have my own sleep." He said in a cheerful tone which was masking the exhaustion he clearly felt. The man had the same black hair as his son, with brown eyes a shade darker than Kenji's, underneath which were noticeable dark rings which displayed his lack of sleep.

Kisara looked at him sadly, pained that her father had to work so hard to keep them together. "Wait a second, dad, I haven't seen you in a while."

"I suppose that's true." He agreed, making his way over the lone chair which sat beside the sofa. A sofa which also doubled up as Kisara's bed.

He sat down with a sigh, happy to be off his feet. Then, turned his loving eyes to his children, meeting Kisara's first. "So, what have you three been up to this week? I'm sorry I've been busy..."

"That's okay, we know daddy works hard!" Amelia chirped, Kenji nodding along enthusiastically.

"Ah, I'm lucky to have you." He said sincerely, before waiting for the answer to his original question.

It was Kenji who answered first, pushing himself further out of the duvet as he did so. "We haven't done much at school, though Ame's been moody."

The little girl stuck her tongue out at the accusation. "Have not! Anyway, it's just because sis has been busy with her job, we haven't seen her much either."

Kisara looked down at them and gave a reassuring smile, though she didn't feel it herself. She had a depressing job working in the warehouse of a supermarket, packaging and labeling items. That might not be so bad but lately she had simply felt tired of it, though she pushed on to ease the burden on her family. Long hours and minimum wage could do that to a person, even if they needed the money.

"Kisara, you shouldn't work so hard." Her father chided softly, looking at her with sad eyes.

She knew he didn't want her to do such work and would prefer that she get a more fulfilling job, but this one was the one which was the most reliable for her.

So she smiled back at him. "I'm fine dad."

He frowned, but didn't press the matter. His daughter deserved better, he didn't know how long her soft, gentle exterior would last against the harsh nature of their life. The four sat in a comfortable silence, each enjoying the others presence as though they had not seen the other in a year. Given both Kisara and her father both tended to be out of the house a lot recently, that statement wasn't too much of an exaggeration.

"I'm offended I wasn't invited." Came the soft, amused voice from the door.

All eyes in the room turned to see a woman who bore a strong resemblance to Kisara standing at the door, her hand rested on her pregnant stomach.

"Sorry dear, I didn't want to wake you." Kisara's father responded, his eyes slightly more awake at the sight of his love.

She snorted and started to walk over to him. "I've told you before, Sora, waking up to you is A-okay in my book."

With that, the woman positioned herself gently on his lap, gaining a kiss on the lips for her compliment. "Mmm." Sora mused, smiling at her. "But this way you got to wake up to all of us, Emi."

The woman chuckled at him, resting her head on his chest. "Always the charmer, even with three children in the room."

He just laughed back and Kenji objected. "Hey! Me and Ame are Seven next month!"

"Wow, you're getting old." Kisara said with a soft smile, playing along with the two children.

The parents smiled at their antics and let themselves relax in one of the rare moments when they could all be together.

However, this was broken by a sharp knock at the door.

Emi groaned and moved to get up, but Sora pulled her back. "Don't think about it, I'll get it." He said, pushing her into his seat.

"Over protective..." She grumbled, but allowed her and her swollen stomach to be sat on the chair.

Sora rubbed his eyes as he walked through the small living room to the front door, wondering who it would be at this early hour. He prayed that it wasn't the post as it would undoubtedly contain yet more bills which he could not afford right now, if only they would wait a few weeks...

When he opened it however, he was surprised to see a man dressed in a suit which he could have sworn he had seen before. He squinted at the shaded eyes but decided that he couldn't place the face and mentally shrugged.

"Can I help you?" He asked, unsure as to what a man like this (who had clearly arrived by the limo parked outside) was doing in this part of town.

The man looked at him warily, but then spoke. "I was informed that a Miss Celera resided here?"

Sora blinked. "My wife?" He asked, despite the wrong title having been given, to which the man frowned.

"I don't know, how old is your wife?" He replied.

"Thirty two." Sora responded, now becoming anxious as to what exactly this man wanted. He started running the worst possible scenario's through his head before the man interrupted his thoughts much to his relief.

"Ah, no then. I am here for a Miss Kisara Celera?" He said, to which Sora nodded slowly, still unsure if not more so now.

"My daughter, then. Still, unless you can tell me who you are and what you want I must ask you to leave." Sora stated, not wanting to open his family up to any danger from whoever this man represented.

The man gave a small smile which seemed like it was supposed to be reassuring. "Don't worry, I will tell you. My name is Roland and I am here on behalf of Seto Kaiba." Sora raised his eyebrows at the name of his old boss but let the man continue. "I have been asked to deliver this letter to her, though I don't know the contents, he apologizes for not delivering it in person but he is rather busy"

He revealed a expensive looking letter which appeared to have been hastily sealed and Kisara's name scribbled on the front. Sora took it from the man wordlessly and Roland left equally as silently.

The weary man shut the door of his house and made his way back inside, wondering if this letter was related to him saving his daughters life. Would he now want something in return from her...well Sora would defend her from anything in that case. No man had enough money to take his daughter away from him by force.

When he arrived back in the room he noticed that his family were looking at him curiously. Sora made his way over to his seat, Emi moving up to sit on his lap once more, before handing the letter over to the girl still sprawled on the sofa. The two children on her lap eyed it curiously, neither knowing who would send their sister letters which were written by hand. They could least distinguish boring ones (bills and statements) from interesting ones (birthday cards and such).

She looked down at it in surprise. "Hmm, who's this from?"

Sora looked at it with concern.

"Seto Kaiba, apparently." He saw a look of recognition flash across her face, which only increased the unease he felt from the letter. He also ignored the awed looks from the two younger children, as much as he disliked the CEO he would not deny his children their aspirations.

Kisara pulled the flap open gently, her soft hands not ripping the paper as it opened. Once it was open she slid the letter out and unfolded the paper to read it.

It read:

Kisara,

No doubt you have been wondering if I had either ignored or forgotten our agreement two weeks prior. That is the subject of this letter to some extent: I hereby invite you to a press conference being held later today.

If you had other plans I suggest you cancel.

Things may become clearer to you once you arrive, maybe then you will see that there is no need for this task you have appointed yourself.

Directions enclosed.

S. Kaiba.

She stared in surprise at the letter, who knew he would actually act on her words. Though she suspected that it was more his brothers direct challenge of him that was pushing him forward, but that didn't make the small, warm feeling in her chest any colder.

She was helping him and for some reason he cared enough to show her...

"Well?" Her father prodded patiently, not missing the small smile which had spread on her face as she read the letter.

Kisara started and fumbled the letter, which was snatched up by a rabid Kenji as soon as he laid his hands on it. He pulled it up to his face, only to have it pulled out of his hands by his twin as she attempted to read it herself.

The young girl stared with unguarded awe at the neat handwriting addressed to her sister. Kenji moaned and leaned over her shoulder, clearly irritated that his twin had gotten to hold it whilst he could not. When the two had finished reading it, it was Kenji who looked up with wide, wondrous eyes.

"Wow! You get to go see him!" He practically squealed, Amelia in a similar state of amazement.

Emi however had narrowed her eyes. "What?" She asked in a slightly harsh tone, fully aware of the reputation that the older Kaiba had.

Kisara cowered slightly under her the blue eyes which she had inherited and looked down at her empty hands. "U-uh, S-Mr. Kaiba invited me to a press conference which he is holding later today, I don't...know why..." She finished in a mumble.

Emi and Sora glanced at each other, neither openly saying what they thought: that Seto Kaiba was up to something. Sora had good reason for not trusting the man who had fired him, he had seen the emotionless man first hand. He still had a hard time believing that the man had saved his daughter, but the proof sat before him. His wife was just as suspicious, perhaps she disliked the CEO even more than he did because she had seen its effect on their family. She had been less than well off when they had met and had never wanted her family to be in a similar state.

Kaiba had put them here for no reason.

In her eyes, he was a bastard and nothing more.

His wife sighed and looked down at the letter. "Do you have any idea why he would invite you?" She asked. Her daughter paused, then nodded.

"W-we spoke when he woke up." She stuttered. Sora mused that she always reverted back to her shy self when put under pressure, his daughter truly was one of the purest things in his life.

"About?" Emi continued, interrogating her daughter.

Kisara's cheeks flushed slightly as Kaiba's unwanted nickname flared up in her mind again 'Blue-Eyes' but she managed to reply. "W-well we talked about some things, h-his brother was there t-too. But w-we also spoke about...I can't say."

She trailed off, refusing to say any more on the matter.

"Kisara..." Sora started attempting to coax the answer out of her, he didn't want someone to take advantage of her innocent nature.

But she shook her head furiously from side to side. "No, I-it's personal." She started before blushing and pre-empting her parents response. "Not like that! It's p-personal to him..."

Her parent's paused, finding it hard to believe that Kaiba would reveal something like that to her but it wasn't like she lied...ever. Well she didn't make a habit out of it. Someone who never lied wouldn't get far in the world, that was just how humans worked. For her part, Kisara attempted to tell the truth as long as it wouldn't hurt someone, and even that was down to her discretion in the end.

"I suppose he'd had a rough day." Emi grudgingly agreed, holding her hand out for the letter herself.

Kisara gently pulled it out of her younger sisters hands who seemed loath to let go of it, but eventually relinquished it. She passed it to her mother and Emi frowned at the letter. conflicted as to if she should let her daughter go or not.

On one hand she believed in second chances to some degree and Kisara was old enough to make her own decisions. On the other, she couldn't forgive Kaiba for his treatment of her husband and feared that Kisara's innocence might make her a target for someone with as shrewd a mind as him. Not to mention the older Kaiba was three years older than her.

Finally, she relented with a sigh. "I suppose you can go...but we're coming too." Of course, she wouldn't hand Kisara over on a silver platter.

The family stood at the back of the large auditorium within KaibaCorp which the CEO apparently used for occasions such as this. Kisara heard a few people mutter that it had been a while since Kaiba had used the place. Two of her family were missing, her younger siblings, having been forced to stay at the neighbors. Her parents had simply said that this was an adult meeting and that they would have to stay away.

Needless to say, the twins hadn't been happy.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Emi smiled to her daughter, making sure she was also aware of the reporters around the hall.

Kisara smiled in return and shook her head slightly. "It's nothing much, I am just wondering why he wanted me to come..." She trailed off, lost in her own thoughts.

"Well, we'll find out soon." Emi commented, nodding her head in the direction of the stage, on which a microphone had just been placed.

Kisara nodded, feeling slightly self-conscious of all the odd looks they were gaining from the gathered reporters. She wasn't sure if it was helping or hindering them that Kaiba had ordered guards to ensure they not be hassled. She also thought that her and her parents seemed very out of place amongst the smart business attire, as the same could hardly be said for their clothes. It was functional, that was the best that could be said about it really, not that Kisara was complaining.

The idle chatter suddenly hushed as an imposing figured walked out onto the stage, who Kisara instantly recognized as Kaiba. But the man was now wearing some sort of white trench coat which flared behind him dramatically as he walked, she heard a few murmurs and managed to pick up that he had worn this before but not for a while.

Indeed the past seemed to have cropped up a fair amount in the snippets of conversation she heard. She could only assume that in the past he'd been a much more active figure in the business world, at least more so than he was right now.

"Greetings, I'm sure you're all curious as to why I am giving this conference." He started, his deep, powerful voice echoing across the room.

Kisara would admit she found him to be an impressive figure, a far-cry from the man on the hospital bed. Suddenly she wondered if challenging him had been such a good idea...would he make a fool out of her in front of all these people?

As if reading her thoughts, her father put a hand on her shoulder. "Just listen." He whispered, despite his own growing unease.

Kaiba started speaking again. "Well, simply put it is because I feel like I have to address these ridiculous rumors. Normally I wouldn't bother myself with such issues, but as my shareholders are no doubt wondering just how damaged I am, I feel obliged to speak." His voice was sarcastic now and even his very stance was one of mockery.

Once more Kisara was impressed that he could so blatantly challenge those who might end him if they tried hard enough.

"I will only say this once." He stated, his voice suddenly cold, with no hint of his previous amusement. "The accident has not affected me negatively, in fact you could even call it the thing which led me to KaibaCorps latest development." He had been raising one arm as he spoke, and now brought it down on the metal podium with lightning speed.

To the surprise of the whole room, the podium flickered from the impact, disappearing moments later into thin air. Kaiba smirked at the room and Kisara met his gaze for a brief moment. It was his eyes which made her stop and stare.

They were burning with passion, such excitement despite the small rings which were faintly visible beneath his eyes. Presumably from lack of sleep.

"I present to you, the K-field." He stated boldly, dramatically pulling his black shirt back to revel a small device strapped to his wrist. "I have developed a method of exciting photons in order to create, as a simpleton might say, 'hard-light'. The demonstration you just witnessed was not powered by the device on my wrist, but a generator beneath me."

He tapped on the device and a traditional holographic checkered square extended before him. "Using this wrist-mounted device, anyone will be able to play classic games such as chess, or." He tapped the device and the hologram changed to a small playing-field which Kisara didn't recognize. "A game of duel monsters in miniature scale."

There were murmurs of awe from the audience and even Sora and Emi had to be impressed by the truly incredible breakthrough the man had achieved. Though their reason for being here was as yet, unexplained.

"In addition, the device will function as a touch screen for any phone the user has. Universal connectivity will be assured, even now the current prototypes are being put together for more rigorous testing!" He finished it a tone that practically dared anyone to question him, before finishing in a colder one.

"Hopefully, this will put to rest some of those uninformed stories that suggest I was a 'one-trick-poney'" he sneered, snapping his fingers to make the podium once more appear out of thin air.

"Questions." He asked sharply, and almost the entire room raised a hand.

The trio waited until the end of the conference by the request of their guards, though it didn't sound like a request. When the last journalist had left the guards too left, leaving them feeling confused.

"Does that satisfy you?"

Kisara jumped when she heard a smooth voice behind her, spinning around to see a smug Seto Kaiba before her. It was certainly true that he seemed much more...alive than he had seemed even after he had awoken.

Her parent's too turned and she noticed that Kaiba stiffened slightly when he caught sight of her father.

"Mr Cerela, Mrs. Cerela, I see you accompanied your daughter." He stated frostily, though it seemed like he was more irritated that he had not been allowed to gloat.

Emi didn't respond, Sora himself gave a stiff nod. "Indeed, we felt it prudent."

"Who knew what you would do." Emi muttered, making Kaiba narrow his eyes at the outspoken woman.

"I am going to pretend that I didn't hear that, fortunately for you I feel better than I have in years." His eyes met Kisara's for the second time that day. "More alive you could say."

Emi simply scowled and looked away and Kisara took the moment to try and push her luck. "M-maybe..."

"What do you mean." Kaiba snapped quickly. It was true that his return to true innovation had dragged him into a much healthier state of mind, his cold exterior was becoming less like the prison for his emotions he had formed it to be. Though that still didn't mean he intended to change his ways or become...nice.

"You'restillnotliveing." Kisara mumbled, looking at the floor instead of her conversation partner.

Kaiba's eyes narrowed. "I disagree, this is how I have always lived. The previous years were simply-" He stopped, not willing to admit weakness even if he had acknowledged it himself.

"Then you haven't been living!" Kisara suddenly exclaimed loudly, looking up at him with a passion which matched his earlier display. "It's not all about work, about competition. You need to be with other people, more than just your brother and experience...new things..." She faltered at the end, her sudden burst of courage leaving her as she receded back into her demure self.

Kaiba stared at her for a long time after that, as if trying to uncover a lie in her eyes that he couldn't find. 'Is she talking about all that friendship foolishness that the geek-squad prattle on about, naiive girl. If not, then what, and why do I even care?!' That last question was one that was really bugging the genius. Why should some poor girl have any influence over his life?

"Show me then." He finally commanded, sick of waiting.

He was Seto Kaiba, he got what he wanted.

(A/N) Had this on file for ages...regardless this story will likely be over soon, I've no plans to drag it out.

Tata