Author's Note: Hi again guys! Thanks, as always for the support on the last chapter and I really hope you like this one! XxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
"You can take away all my love, what do I need it for?"
Kisara had never noticed how hectic the mansion could become in the mornings, but maybe that was because she was usually out for a walk in the grounds with Kai at this time.
But this morning there were people running every which way; Mokuba had woken up late and was now tearing around the huge house trying to locate his school textbooks, finish the end of some homework and manage to eat a breakfast, most of which at the same time. Seto had been glanced a few times, as he'd had an unexpected house-call from a few of KaibaCorp's directors and was now upstairs, running through business matters with them.
And she was quite surprised at herself aswell; not only running about after Kai, who had decided to scamper off with Mokuba's homework whilst the youth had wolfed down some cereal, but also managing to answer the door to the intimidating KC officials because the maids had been run off their feet. All in all, a morning in the Kaiba mansion wasn't as peaceful as Kisara had first believed it to be.
"So, what do think of life here, now that the honeymoon period has worn off?"
She didn't know which startled her more; the fact that one of the maids had addressed her directly instead of merely shooting her a look, or the use of the word honeymoon, which conjured up connotations involving marriage. With a blush, Kisara wrestled Mokuba's homework from Kai and laid it on the table, looking back to the maid; it was one of the trio who normally giggled together. Mokuba had told her the girl's name a few days ago … Akiko? Akara? Ooooh, Japanese names all sounded the same to her when compared to French ones.
"I- It's a bit rushed, a-alright … I'm very sorry, b-but I've forgotten your name …"
"It's Akari, Miss Ashbrook."
Kisara nodded her head upon hearing this, rolling her eyes towards the heavens; yeah, that was the name Mokuba had told her. The young maid laughed, but it wasn't the amused giggle from last week, it was a more friendly chuckle of sorts, and then exited the kitchen as the front doorbell rang; most likely more KaibaCorp people.
"Thanks Kisara, can I ask you something?"
Mokuba was looking at her now, having retrieved his homework from the table and storing it safely in his schoolbag, away form Kai. Smiling, the young French woman placed the puppy on the floor and nodded in response to Mokuba's question, grateful that Téa had called last night and arranged for them to meet up in Domino at eleven …
"It's your turn, Mokuba."
Catching on, the teenager laughed as he pulled on his pair of trainers, having to fight with Kai for the lacers; poor Seto still didn't know what the whole 'your turn' thing was about.
"Would you mind looking at this, and letting me know if it's right? My teacher's a real pain …"
The youth trailed off as his brother's fiancée nodded and walked around to his side of the table, not entirely sure of what was being asked of her. But Kisara was quick to smile as she read down through his French homework.
A knock at the door of the study made him look up, along with the four men leafing through some fiscal extensions for the new dueling tournament. Things had definitely caught up on them this morning; the mansion had been pretty peaceful since Kisara's arrival, but that had been because he'd managed to get ahead of schedule prior to the whole arranged marriage saga. Today, everything had returned to normal with unexpected visits, Mokuba getting up late and the maids being rushed around the house.
"Come in."
Seto looked back down to the report on his desk; he had read through it about a dozen times, but not a single printed word had been processed by his brain. His thoughts kept returning to downstairs, especially when he'd heard both Kisara and Mokuba running after Kai and shouting her name, and the doorbell ringing a few minutes ago. He'd rather be down there and helping out in his house, than cooped up here … and he wanted to see how she was coping with the rushed atmosphere.
"Mr. Kaiba, a messenger just arrived from SchroederCorp and delivered an invitation for you and Ms. Ashbrook."
"Thanks, Akari."
The young maid approached his desk and laid the small, elegant envelope on it, bowing lightly to the four officials and turning to take her leave from the occupied study.
It took Seto another twenty minutes to convince the officials that they didn't need anymore budget extensions; the tournament would start after Christmas, and he had no doubt that retail would get a boost over the holiday period.
"That should conclude our business this morning, gentlemen."
The four older men nodded and stood from their seats, handing back the reports and each heading for the door of the study. The new tournament looked set to raise KaibaCorp's name even higher in the gaming world, with all the big names having confirmed their entrance, and guests from all over the world.
Glancing to the clock on the toolbar of his computer screen, Seto took note of the time; Mokuba should be heading out pretty soon if he planned on making first period. Picking up the small envelope Akari had left, the young CEO followed the exiting men out of his study and showed them to the front door, thankful that the meeting hadn't been the drawn-out ordeal it usually was.
God only knew what this invitation thing was for, but knowing the German it was probably a big key event of some sort. The Schroeders had only finished the construction of their newest branch about two weeks ago. It would be their first one in Asia and Seto was not happy abut it at all; he hadn't wandered over to Germany and the Schroeders' HQ city to set up another KaibaCorp, so why should the pink-haired idiot intrude on his territory?
Felling a tug on the end of his trousers, he looked down, smirking as Kai growled and shook her small head from side to side, the hem of his trousers gripped by her teeth. Picking up the puppy, and somehow managing to keep his fingers safe, Seto glanced at his watch; why wasn't Mokuba gone already?
"See here, Mokuba; you need to take away this extra e, otherwise it means you're writing as a girl. Overall, it's fine, just some of the sentences could be spun around; they're fine in English, but they read backwards in French. And the phrase you're looking for here is 'in the eyes of society' or aux yeux de la société in French."
That was Kisara's voice, speaking more words than he'd ever heard her produce in one go. Quietly, Seto walked up to the kitchen door and looked in; Mokuba was sitting at the table, black pen in hand and rapidly writing down what Kisara had just said. She sat beside him, a red pen in her hand, having underlined where he was going wrong. Not too keen to interrupt, Seto leaned against the wall and watched for a few seconds. She laughed, she smiled and she looked happy. Maybe the return of the usual, hectic routine hadn't thrown her all that much; one of the directors had even mentioned that she'd answered the door to them.
"Mokuba, you're going to be late …"
Despite himself, Seto had spoken; either that or the teen would miss first period altogether. Violet eyes shot up and locked onto the clock. In a matter of seconds Mokuba had hastily shoved books and notes into his bag before rushing for the door, a slice of toast in his mouth.
"Thanks Kisara!"
The young woman smiled, giving way to a yawn midway; it was only nine in the morning, and already the mansion had had so many visitors. She dreaded to think what the rest of the day would hold in store.
"It's okay; you survived rush-hour, congratulations."
She giggled lightly as Seto spoke and lowered Kai to the floor. She watched as he walked closer, the puppy determined to latch onto his trousers.
"You mean, it won't be that busy again?"
"No, not until tomorrow morning anyway … and just wait for the weekend."
His eyebrows raised as he said this, making her laugh all the more; something told Kisara that Seto wasn't kidding but she couldn't help being amused either. Since the shopping trip to Domino on the day of Kai's arrival, it was like a wall had been knocked between them. Kisara rarely stuttered when talking with him, although some things might trigger a blush. He had yet to figure out what exactly that trigger was, but at least the initial awkwardness had been overcome.
"Are you okay for a limo into Domino?"
Yeah, initial awkwardness was gone, but that didn't mean he knew how to converse with an attractive young woman just yet. Maybe avoiding the topic with small talk was a much better way to go, for now anyhow.
"Yes, Roland gave me Kosuke's number …"
Kisara lifted up her mobile phone to emphasize her words, but what caught Seto's eye was the background of the silver touch-screen phone. Two faces were smiling back, two faces he recognised; one was currently living with him and the other he hadn't seen in over three years, but had spoken to on the phone only days ago.
"Is that … Vivian Wong?"
Kisara looked to her phone, having forgotten which background she was using, and nodded her head, looking back to Seto. He had walked over to her side of the table and was standing behind her, looking at the phone.
"See, I took Geography at a master's level in University and got to spend a year in China studying the country. I lived with Vivian over there. We were best friends …"
Blush noted as Kisara trailed off. Judging by her tone of voice, Seto guessed something had happened to that friendship since the picture had been taken. In the image, the two were standing close, with wide smiles.
"You do know she's taking part in the new tournament, don't you?"
Maybe it was best he told Kisara this; it felt like there had possibly been a bust-up. Vivian had neglected to mention Kisara when he had called her and invited her to the dueling tournament … surely the whole world had heard of the arranged marriage by now.
Her blue eyes had shot up to lock with his, not really expressing anything except surprise for a few seconds, and then Kisara broke out into a wide smile rivalling her happy face in the picture on her mobile phone.
"Really?"
Seto nodded his head; so maybe there hadn't been a fight, judging by Kisara's reaction. But still, why would best friends not even ask about each other? Women were confusing at the best of times, but Seto had a feeling he was way in over his head. Only now remembering the small envelope in his left hand, the young man opened it and scanned down through the text; good guess on his part earlier. According to the invitation, to celebrate the opening of their Japanese branch of SchroederCorp, Zigfried was throwing an "A-List" formal evening at the new building. Why did new branches always have to open with such big events?
"Kisara …"
Sighing, Seto handed the invitation over; he never held much pleasure for this type of thing. It would be a long evening full of high-profile company owners and women flaunting their jewellery and dresses. But to not show up, would mean bad reflection on KaibaCorp.
"I can't believe we bought so little!"
Téa laughed as she said this, looking down to the lonely bags standing by the coffee table in the KaibaCorp lobby. Hours of shopping had culminated in a very small amount of clothes bought. Instead, the two girls had spent the afternoon talking and walking about Domino … but mostly talking. Kisara had met Yugi Muto today; he seemed nice and he and Téa made a cute couple, but it only seemed to drive home the fact that she was engaged and knew nothing of the workings of a relationship. Mokuba and Rebecca had passed them at lunch time, with Rebecca hanging out of her boyfriend's arm.
"I feel so greedy; you should see the dresses and shoes in my wardrobe, Téa."
"Oooh, which one will you wear Friday?"
Kisara shrugged her shoulders as an answer; she didn't really want to go all that much. This Friday night was the formal event at Zigfried's new Schroeder building and she and Seto had been invited, as he'd shown her that morning. To be honest, big-scale things with lots of coverage didn't really suit her. And worse than the sheer amount of press coverage the evening would receive, the emphasis on her and Seto would be high aswell.
She and Téa had passed so many couples today, and they weren't engaged, yet shared a level of personal knowing and intimacy she wanted. Maybe it was wrong though, to want so much from a farce. Kisara knew what her mind wanted, but her heart said no; how could two people ever learn to love one another, and that had been proven this morning when they had shared the empty kitchen and barely a conversation had dared intrude.
She wanted to be able to accept a peck on the cheek, as Téa had from Yugi earlier, to hang out of a lover's arm as Rebecca had with Mokuba. To pass hand-in-hand with a partner as many couples had done so today. Every little girl dreams of her wedding day and finding Mr. Right. The first meeting; maybe a bump in the street, or the chance spilling of coffee onto a stranger. The arrangement to meet somewhere, someplace another time and the weeks and months of romance and total comfort between two people. Then he'd drop down on bended knee and produce the perfect engagement ring, whether it be modest or spectacular, it would be total perfection. To say yes and embrace that man was the climax moment, and then to tell all family and friends.
The arrangement of the wedding, setting a date and picking the dress of your dreams. All little girls dreamt of such things, and then saying "I do" at the alter and walking back down the aisle as one married couple, sharing name and lives. Most little girls dreamed of such things, but to Kisara Ashbrook it would remain a dream. People had to fall in love with each other, not simply move in and hope it would happen.
A more upbeat girl like Téa or Rebecca would take the first step and make it clear what they wanted, but she didn't do that. She was to marry one of the most sought-after young men in the world and be forever grateful that someone would take her at all.
"Kisara, you okay?"
Her blue eyes blinked back to the present, seeing Téa to be looking at her with concern. Flashing what she knew was a convincing smile, the older girl nodded.
"I'm fine."
A/n- Thanks a million for taking the time to read my story guys! Also, if there's something you'd like to see happening in the next few chapters, then let me know! Thanks again! XxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
2nd Revision - 28/January/2011