Hello! I'm back with Chapter 7, which I know ya'll have been waiting for. Enjoy!


Last Chapter....

Digging deeper in the chest, he soon found what he was looking for: a burgundy velvet box, accompanied by a yellowed slip of paper.

I leave this to my dear Seto, with hope that he someday finds a woman worthy of his unconditional love.

Elinor Bennett-Kaiba

Seto chuckled at the script. How very like his stepmother to leave a sentimental note.

'I found her, Elinor. She's beautiful, intelligent, and enchanting; you'd adore her.' He clutched the box tightly in his hand, mind formulating a plan.


Téa pulled her black Jaguar into the mansion's circle driveway and cut the engine.

"Darling? I'm home!" Téa stepped inside the foyer, frowning slightly at the odd silence. Seto couldn't possibly be at the office so late in the evening.

"Seto? Roland? Is anyone home?" Placing her bags down, Téa began her search of the first floor.

"Hmm. No one in the kitchen or billiard room." She sighed. "If this is your idea of a joke, dear, it isn't funny." Téa wandered into the living room and almost laughed. Seto was sprawled out on the couch, a hand over his eyes. 'So the mighty Seto Kaiba is human.' She crept toward him on tiptoe so as not to startle him.

"Seto darling, wake up," Téa said softly, placing a hand on his arm. Seto groaned and muttered something incoherent. Téa crossed her arms.

"Is that any way to greet your girlfriend?" The next thing she knew, Seto had pulled her down so that she was lying on top of him.

"So I wasn't dreaming," he breathed, sending shivers down her back. "Welcome home, Téa." Téa hummed and rested her head in the crook of Seto's neck.

"Tired?" she asked, looking up at her boyfriend. Seto kissed the top of her forehead.

"Was it that obvious? I'm fine now, though. How was your trip?"

"It was all right. I sorted everything out with our investors and they accept my position as co-president of Kaiba-Starlight. And what did you do without me this week?"

"I went exploring around the mansion. Were you aware that we have a ballroom?"

"You've lived here almost all your life and never knew the mansion had a ballroom?"

"Gozaburo never used it," he said in his defense. Téa cocked an eyebrow but let it slide.

"Anything else interesting turn up?" Seto thought of the velvet box currently tucked away in his study.

"Not that I can think of." He wrapped his arms around Téa's slim waist as she snuggled closer to his body.

Lying there, listening to Seto's even breathing, feeling the warmth of his strong arms around her... it all felt so right, as if they belonged together in such an intimate embrace. Téa supposed it was because she and Seto had been dating for so long, but she could see the two of them exactly like this after a trying day at work. As if reading her thoughts, Seto remarked casually,

"We should do this more often. Snuggle, I mean. Not spend a week apart."

"'Snuggle?' Such a cutesy word is in the vocabulary of multi-billionaire Seto Kaiba?" Téa teased, poking Seto's cheek.

"If you ever tell anyone I will flat-out deny it."

"Mm, yes. It would be quite a blow to your reputation," she said with a yawn. Seto chuckled.

"I think it's time to turn in for the night, sweet." He made to sit up but Téa just snuggled closer to his chest.

"I want to sleep out here tonight, just like this." Seto decided to indulge his girlfriend and settled back down.

"Good night, mon ange."


The investors may have been happy with the Kabia-Starlight merger, but there were other problems cropping up. There was the official press release to deal with, as well as figuring out the new departments. KaibaCorp was primarily a gaming company, dabbling here and there with other technology. Starlight Software, on the other hand, ran a wider scope; it had sister companies that dealt in medical, financial, and security fields.

As such, when the two companies merged, more departments were created—more than KC's current facilities could hold.

"Kaiba-Starlight Corporation, please hold a moment— Ms. Gardner is momentarily out, would you care to leave a message? — I'm sorry sir, but Mr. Kaiba's in a meeting—Ah, Ms. Gardner! The papers you requested came in this morning." Téa took the folder from Jeanne and gave her a sympathetic look.

"I'll take my calls in my office, Jeanne. You're doing a great job manning the phones by yourself."

"Thank you—Oh, yes. Drop them off at the front, please; I'll make sure they reach the proper departments…"

Téa stepped inside her newly decorated office and placed the files on the table, sighing wearily. She was just about to take a seat when the phone rang.

"Kaiba-Starlight Corporation, Téana Gardner speaking," she answered, trying to force some cheer in her voice.

"You don't sound so good, hun," Mai's voice remarked on the other end. "What's up?"

"Everything," Téa moaned, perching on her desk. "Just as I fix one problem with the merger, twenty more pop up. Seto and I are up to our necks in paperwork."

"I take it then that you and Kaiba haven't spent much couple time together, then?"

"Not since I came home a few days ago," she admitted. "But neither of us are really making much of an effort."

"That's not good, sug. All work and no play makes a relationship dull." Téa laughed.

"Mai, really. I don't think it's that bad. 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder', yes?"

"Don't get smart with me, missy. Now, I order you and Kaiba to drop everything and enjoy yourselves this weekend, got that?"

"I-" dial tone. Téa stared incredulously at the phone. "Joey's really rubbing off on her," she muttered, placing the device back in its cradle. Cobalt blue eyes took a cursory glance around the room, taking in the stacks of business-related papers, files, and miscellaneous notes. "She expects us to take a break this weekend with all this work waiting?" Téa sighed again and picked up the files from Jeanne. Best start at the bottom and work her way up…


Across the hall, Seto wasn't faring any better. Five meetings in the span of an hour, dealing with the most trivial things… he was ready to kill someone. And the pounding in his head wasn't helping matters. Jeanne tentatively poked her head inside the conference room.

"Excuse me, sir, but a Mr. Kyouya Ootori is here to see you."

"Very well, bring him here, Jeanne." Minutes later a man with jet-black hair and sharp raven eyes joined him at the table.

"Working hard or hardly working, Kaiba?" he said by way of greeting.

"Hello to you too, Ootori. What brings you stateside?"

"I'm not allowed to visit a fellow businessman?" Seto snorted.

"You rarely make trips outside Japan unless it's for business." Kyouya allowed himself a small laugh.

"Still the same, I see. How is Téa-chan?"

"Rather stressed at the moment, I imagine. Have you seen the chaos of this place?"

"Mm." Kyouya bridged his fingers together, studying Seto with a smirk.

"You have no idea how she is, do you? And here I thought you'd learned something from the Host Club." Seto glared.

"Shove it. The merger's taken a lot more work than we expected so we're working overtime."

"Excuses, excuses. Time with your girlfriend is always a priority, no matter how busy you are. Téa-chan will doubt your love otherwise."

"You're beginning to sound like Suoh."

"One of Tamaki's rare moments of genius," Kyouya quipped, rising from his seat. "I mean it, Kaiba. Spend some time with Téa-chan this weekend. You'll thank me later."


That's that for this chapter! Yes, I brought in Kyouya Ootori from Ouran High School Host Club--grown up, of course. Can't you just picture Kyouya and Seto being friends, if they ever met?

Read & Review, if you please!

~v-g