I don't have much to say about this chapter, so let's get on with chapter ten!

Seto sat beside Kisara trying to keep his mouth shut, but being unable to for one of the few times in his entire life.

"…So, you're really never going to—"

"Nope," Kisara cut him off. She'd been tight-lipped and brisk since the moment they'd entered the recording studio and the mood still hadn't worn off even as they were being driven back to her new place in Seto's Town Car.

"Hn," Seto responded. He felt like he was finally getting a taste of what it was like to be on the end of his own brusque, removed manners. It was quite effective.

Apparently, the recording had gone well, not that Kaiba had a head for these particular things. Everything had taken a down-hill turn, however, when she'd finished for the day and told her manager and the representative from the studio that she wasn't ever going to be creating another album after this one. Ever.

There had been screaming and shouting and fit-pitching, something Seto was used to but hadn't liked when it was directed at Kisara. Luckily for the people doing the screaming, she was able to handle herself, but Seto had still seen her becoming more and more uncomfortable in the face of so many who were against her and had ended up stepping in order to get her out of there. Kisara hadn't said much since then.

Seto had been listening to Kisara's songs the entire night before, getting a feel for what made Kisara into Kat Belvsky. It was a rather elusive connection considering how broad a spectrum the pseudonym took action in, and Seto still wasn't sure he had it completely pinned down, especially not after today.

Most of Kisara's earlier songs were of a more… almost child-like quality, reminding Seto of the preteen girls that followed their elder siblings to dueling tournaments, trying to imitate the maturity they found themselves surrounded with. This new album, on the other hand, seemed to actually have attained that maturity. It was definitely stronger than the previous four, and not in the near-desperate, in-your-face way that the one album she'd done in Ki[Sara]. It set Kisara's fans up for a more powerful, in-control Kat Belvsky. But with this being her last album, they would never fully receive what the songs encouraged them to expect. It in all ways epitomized the saying, "Leave them wanting more," a saying Seto had never really given much credence too. His own theory was more of a blow-them-out-of-the-water variety. He didn't understand what she was doing.

But he wasn't about to tell her that.

"So what did you really think?" Kisara finally asked into the dimness of the rear of the Town Car, her voice scratching a bit after a full day of using it. Maybe he didn't need to tell her if she could tell what he'd been thinking of anyway.

"I think it's going to be a huge letdown for all of the fans of Kat Belvsky when they don't see anything after this final album," he told her truthfully, not holding back any punches.

His differentiating between herself and Kat made Kisara smile. She nodded to what he'd said.

"Other than that, I saw nothing wrong with it," he continued.

She nodded again, the smile still on her face.

He couldn't help but ask, "Why did you want me to come along?"

The grin broadened and she turned to look at him, her blue eyes gleaming even in the darkness. "I just wanted to know that there was someone in the studio that wasn't in it for profit and just wanted to see me do well. It helped knowing that there was someone on my side should I need them to be. And you were. Thanks for that," she finished.

Seto snorted quietly. "I sat there, and then I got us to leave. I don't think I deserve any shining armor or noble steed just yet."

Kisara made a lilting, dismissive sound, turning to look out through the windshield once more.

"With Kat Belvsky gone, that means that you'll have phased out every single stage name you've ever taken," Seto commented, having put a fair amount of thought into it as Kisara had sung.

Kisara didn't even blink. She must have thought about it for quite a while as well.

"…That's not quite right, actually," she eventually said, having gotten lost in thought at some point along the way.

Seto narrowed his eyes. "Oh?" Even with Kisara, he didn't like being told he was wrong.

"Thanks to you, I'm bringing Kitty Belle back from the dead, just in time for Kat to disappear." She sounded almost grudging.

"So you are," Seto agreed quietly.

Kisara slumped against the back of the seat. "It's not that bad of a thing, I guess," she relented easily enough, trying to get a smile onto her lips for show.

Seto was a little offended by Kisara's apparent lack of enthusiasm for his job offering. Any other person in the world would be willing to pay him for the opportunity. Kisara was treating it like a chore.

"Mr. Kaiba? Ms. Belikova?" Roland nervously cut in from the driver's seat. "We've arrived."

He meant at Kisara's apartment. Seto had both picked her up and was now dropping her off in front of the glass-fronted, crystalline building. Just looking at its façade, it was no wonder why Kisara needed the job he'd offered her.

"Before you get out," Seto began as Kisara made for the door handle, "I need to give you something for your job tomorrow."

Leaning forward, he grabbed the briefcase that Roland handed back to him from where it had been sitting on the passenger's seat. While Roland had driven them to the studio, he had stayed outside with the car, guarding the precious briefcase.

Flipping the latches, Seto looked over at Kisara through the corner of his eye. She had her head tilted at a curious angle, reassuring Seto that she was still worthy of what he was about to give her.

Opening the lid, Seto turned it so that it was facing Kisara.

"A duel disk," she identified after a moment.

"Not just a duel disk," Seto corrected. "The next generation of duel disks. No one outside of my company is even aware that it's been developed, and I expect it to stay that way." Kisara vaguely remembered that one of the forms Seto had had her sign during her first visit to KC headquarters had mentioned basically that the full wrath of the seven circles of hell would be unleashed upon her if she even mumbled a syllable related to any of the secret projects Kaiba Corp. had going on behind the scenes that she might be privy to.

"What do you want me to do with it?" Kisara asked, doubting that he intended her to conduct one-sided duels in her apartment, but one never knew with Kaiba at the helm.

"Since you've never handed a duel disk of any kind before, I want you to spend tonight just getting used to it," Seto instructed, all business. "Mokuba put together some note cards that have basic instructions on them that are in here for you to go over."

Kisara nodded, taking in the polished black metal that watched her from inside the suitcase. It looked ready to take a bite out of her.

"No other duelists are being allowed to take these off of Kaiba Corp. premises," Seto continued. "S—"

"So don't screw this up?" Kisara supplied.

Seto nodded grimly. She may be his… friend. But that wouldn't stop him from razing her to the ground if she betrayed him by leaking this technology, even if it was an accident.

"Don't worry," Kisara said, seeing how fidgety he was about handing the disk over, almost like a parent dropping their kid off at daycare for the first time. She gave him a little quirk of her lips. "I'll take care of it," she promised, gently pulling the case from his fingertips, looking him in the eyes the whole time.

Kisara didn't just end up taking care of the duel disk. She ended up making it sing the next day; her first day actually practicing with it in one of the underground Testing Blocks of Kaiba Corp. She ended up losing to the machine she was facing off against, but she did so spectacularly. Every time she or the machine took out the other's monsters, she was illuminated in the blazing white of the shattering act of annihilation, the light flashing off her hair and the spiral earrings and snowflake pendant Pegasus had gifted her with.

Seto had watched the entire duel from the observation deck, and, once it was over, had rushed to her side to get her opinion of the experience while it was still fresh. He could have sworn her eyes were glowing as he'd first walked up to her. That was exactly the sort of reaction he wanted his product to evoke in those who acquired it.

They were now in the elevator going to the top floor of the Kaiba Corporation building, and Kisara had started to feel the soreness in her arm. She kept wincing as she tried to massage some feeling back into it other than pain. "What are you going to do about the arm clamp?" she asked. The disk itself was currently being examined by Seto's Testing staff that was making sure that it was holding up against the wear of such an energetic duel. So far the reports were good.

Seto sighed through his nose. The problem of the arm clamp had been reduced, but it wasn't anywhere near being solved. But, as always, Seto had a backup plan, and he saw no choice but to implement it now.

"We can't get the clamp to work on a universal level, so we're not even going to try. You'll have to go through a fitting tomorrow, and so will everyone else who tests one, and then those who actually buy one. We're also adding in some of the more complex technology we'd taken out earlier. These new duel disks are going to be more advanced than the earlier ones and consequently more expensive, but they're going to be so remarkable that only the best duelists who are capable of handling them are going to be able to get their hands on them. The disk will be customized to comfortably fit only them and other little details will be configured to make the disk completely unique to its duelist."

Seto and his people had come up with the idea of customizing the arm clamp and had then just ran with it, finding every possible way to make each duel disk special and completely original, including allowing the buyer to choose their disk's color. No one had even a bought one yet, but Kaiba Corporation already had a system in place that would eliminate any possibility of disk copy-cats.

"What if you go overboard and no duelist is able to handle them?" Kisara asked, impressed but wary.

"That's what you're here for." Seto glanced over and gave her a wolfish grin. "You and about twenty others have the privileged job of deciding what stays and what goes in the design."

"But you get the final say, right?"

"Naturally."

Kisara snorted but nodded good-naturedly.

Seto was glad to see her actually enjoying her job after her initial unwillingness and uncertainty. Having a duelist who only said 'meh' as an answer to every question asked of them in regards to the product didn't help anything. But when the duelist actually became interested in the process they were a part of, they contributed to making that product so much better than it would have been with the person who said 'meh.'

The doors opened to the top floor, and they stepped out, on their way to his office. As they walked past his secretary's desk, Seto noticed that she was absent from her post. He vaguely wondered if she'd finally broken down and couldn't take it any longer.

At the moment it didn't matter all that much. He currently only needed her to get an ice pack for Kisara's arm, but he could do that himself if he absolutely had to.

"So when do I come in next?" Kisara asked, the spark in her eyes returning, further heartening Seto's belief that he'd made a good choice by hiring Kisara.

Opening the door to his office for her, he was about to say that two days from now would be ideal in order to give his Testers time to check over the disk and to give her a chance to once again become tabula rasa, but he was interrupted before he had a chance to say anything.

"Mr. Kaiba!" his secretary practically wailed, having been waiting on the other side of the door. "They know, sir! They know, and they won't stop calling, and—"

"What do they know?" Kisara queried for Seto, who was still stunned that he'd worked his secretary so hard that phone calls had her at the breaking point.

Suddenly, the frazzled woman couldn't say anything and could merely gesticulate, shaking a hand in Kisara's general direction.

"They know that Kisara's working for me?" Seto inferred, raising an eyebrow at the antics.

The secretary nodded, her hair bobbing with the erratic movement, and was able to get out, "It's all over the news."

Looking past the secretary, Seto saw that, displayed on the screens of the television he had installed on one of the walls, were various clips and shots of himself and Kisara, alternating with each other every now and then, with a newscaster's face spaced in at odd moments.

"…While I know I wasn't supposed to talk about what I was doing here, is it really that bad that everyone knows?" Kisara asked after a moment of watching the distant screen with him.

"Did you tell anyone?" Seto heard himself distantly asked, not knowing just yet what his feelings on the subject were.

He felt the air currents shift as she shook her head. "No," she verbally rejected.

Taking in a deep breath, Seto focused on the problem, if there even was a problem, at hand.

"They keep mentioning tabloids, as well, sir," the secretary softly interjected, giving him an even bigger picture to deal with. After a while of Seto merely thinking, she asked, "Sir, what do we do?"

Finally deciding that his feelings were that of annoyance and resignation, Seto replied, "We answer in kind."

"Uh, let's see. Parlaay voo… um, frenchie?" Joey asked, or rather attempted to ask.

"Oui. Pouvez-vous me dire comment se rendre à la gare de train?" Yugi responded easily.

Joey blinked owlishly. "…Non. Dat means 'no,' right?"

"Oui," Yugi said again, nodding tolerantly.

"Uh huh." Joey chewed on his lower lip for a moment as he flipped through the French book he'd snagged off of Yugi's desk. Apparently, Joey had finished all of his homework (which Yugi had taken to mean that he'd done of few problems from each subject and left it at that) and decided to come over to hang out with Yugi. Since Yugi was still doing homework, primarily French, Joey had decided to help him out… sort of.

"So… wait, what did ya ask me before?" Joey asked, more confused than ever.

"I asked you if you could tell me how to get to the train station," Yugi informed, thinking it was time to remove the French textbook from Joey before he hurt himself using it.

"Oh. Yeah, I couldn't tell ya that," Joey said, relinquishing his hold on the book. "Ya'd better get someone else to study with, Yug."

"Don't worry about it." Yugi tossed the book onto his bed. They'd been sitting on the floor, and now they both stretched out their legs.

"What time is it, anyway?"

"Um." Yugi looked. "Seven thirty." Seven thirty on a Sunday night… not exactly the most exciting time of the week, especially when one was doing homework for the following Monday.

"I'd probably start headin' home," Joey supposed unenthusiastically.

"You can probably stay for dinner. Grampa won't mind."

Joey's face brightened. "That'd be great!"

It's about time you talk to your grandfather about what Pegasus gave you, Yami said.

Must I? Yugi asked, his face bunching unattractively.

You ran out of excuses to keep it from him this morning, Yami pointed out.

Yugi groaned, catching Joey's wide-eyed attention.

"What was dat?"

"Yami's making sense," Yugi muttered.

Don't say it like it's such a rare occurrence, Yami jokingly complained.

"What's he makin' sense over?"

"Pegasus left me something to give to my grampa—"

"Throw it out!" Joey shouted.

"That's what I want to do. Yami doesn't think it's a good idea," Yugi defended.

It's not, Yami declared as Joey simultaneously shouted, "It is! Toss it, Yugi, whatever he gave ya."

"It's not for me. It's for my grampa."

"So?"

"So it's not really mine to throw away," Yugi reasoned.

Exactly, Yami thought.

"But, Yugi, knowing Pegasus, your grampa might not be around to throw it out himself after he opens it. Don't give it to him," Joey practically begged.

"I don't really think I have a choice," Yugi said as he stood up and walked to his bureau. He'd kept the envelope in his sock drawer for the past day, and now he retrieved it.

"Come on, Yugi," Joey said, scrambling to his feet. When he caught sight of the envelope, he paused for a moment. "Dat's it? It doesn't look big enough to hold a curse or nothin'."

"That's what I hope," Yugi said, heading for the door. Joey followed at his heels, a frown on his face as he watched the envelope in Yugi's hand suspiciously, like it might blow up any second.

"Grampa?" Yugi called, reaching the bottom stair. The shop area of the house was dark, the open sign facing in so that everyone outside saw 'closed.' But there was a little light spilling out from under the door that led to the television room. That's where Grampa Moto's slightly muffled voice spilled from.

"In here, Yugi."

Solomon was watching the Domino news channel. The weatherman was walking around in front of a green screen, apologizing for some technical difficulty they were experiencing.

"Are you staying for dinner Joey?" Grampa asked, seeing the blonde trailing in behind his grandson.

"If ya wouldn't mind, Mr. Moto." Joey gave his best cheesy grin to go with the unnecessarily polite sentiment.

Solomon snorted, seeing right through the boy's antics. "Go call your father and let him know."

"Like he'd care," Joey scoffed as he walked back out to the shop area to use the phone there.

"Uh, Grampa?" Yugi started, deciding to take his chance while Joey was gone and unable to throw a fit.

"Yes, Yugi? Oh, that unpleasant boy with the giant company, what's-his-name, uh…"

"Seto Kaiba?" Yugi offered. "Yes, him. He's going to have a press conference in just a few minutes. I can't decide whether to watch it or not. You don't want to encourage that sort of egotistical behavior in someone already so self-absorbed."

"I don't know if refusing to watch him would really make much of a difference, Grampa," Yugi said, smiling ruefully. What could Kaiba have to say right now that demanded news crews?

"I suppose not. Was there something you wanted, Yugi?" Grampa Moto asked, finally giving his grandson his full attention.

Yugi hesitated a moment, wondering if he might be putting his grandfather in danger considering the nature of the last package Pegasus had sent them.

In the end, he extended his arm towards his grandfather proffering the envelope. "I was supposed to give this to you yesterday, but I didn't know if I should," Yugi admitted candidly. "I got it from Pegasus in the park, and—"

"Oh!" Solomon interrupted, his face lighting up with something close to joy. "How wonderful! Thank you, Yugi!" The old man got up from his seat on the couch before the television and tottered over to Yugi, taking the envelope in his knobby hands. "I've been waiting for this for what feels like the longest time. I can't believe he actually came through!"

Yugi didn't even have a chance to ask what Pegasus had come through with before his grandfather had slipped past him and into the shop area of their home.

I guess I shouldn't have worried, Yugi remarked to Yami, a bit confused with the exchange.

Apparently not, Yami responded, seeming just as baffled as Yugi.

Joey reentered the room then. "Did ya do it?" he asked, walking past Yugi and plopping himself down on the couch.

Yugi joined him. "Yeah. He seemed really pleased that I got it to him, too."

"Oh." Joey's forehead furrowed. "That's… freaky."

"No kidding."

They sat in silence for a while, both of them not paying attention to their surroundings as they puttered around in their individual thoughts.

Joey came back to himself just as the press conference being held at Kaiba Corp. was beginning.

"Hey, Yugi! What's Moneybags doin' on the TV?"

Yugi jumped back to himself to see Kaiba standing behind a podium bearing the KC logo of his company.

"I have no clue. My grandpa said this was going to come on before he left, but he didn't say why."

Why became evident after the first few questions. It was about Kisara. Specifically about Kaiba's association with her.

They listened as, one by one, the media spat every rumor that was currently abounding about the two of them in Kaiba's face, hoping for something juicy to be spat back.

"Mr. Kaiba! Is it true what the tabloids are saying about your relationship with Ki- Ms. Belikova?" one reporter shouted above the others.

Kaiba scoffed quite audibly into the mike. "What do you think?" he retorted.

"Ya'd think he could give dem a real answer after makin' such a fuss by gatherin' them all up," Joey commented scathingly, hating Kaiba even when he was onscreen.

"Mr. Kaiba, for how long have you been associating with Ivan Belikova's daughter?"

"She has a mother, too, you know," Seto remarked sarcastically, again, not actually giving an actual answer. Even Yugi thought that that was probably a question you should give a real response to. Who knows what the press would say about Seto's refusal to elaborate further?

"Mr. Kaiba?" This time, it was a strong voice that called out, silencing all the other clamoring reporters completely. "Is it true that Kaiba Corporation has signed Kitty Belle to duel for them?"

Kaiba paused for several drawn-out moments, turning his head to the side. It gave the network time to get a second camera going to show that Seto was in fact staring at Kisara who had been hidden off-screen. She wasn't her normal pale, Yugi noticed, but was much pastier and sick-looking color.

"No," Kaiba finally started up again. "Kaiba Corporation has not signed Kitty Belle… We've signed Kisara Belikova. There's a difference."

Both cameras caught as Kaiba and Kisara gave each other identical grins of shared victory.

Thank you for reading!

I swear the plot will be showing up again in the next chapter (and, it will surely be longer… hopefully).