Author's Note: So sorry for the wait guys; finals are on at the moment so I'm really sorry if this is a bit thin. I had every intention of starting at the SchroederCorp bash, but I got side-tracked; next chapter will be the big bash, I promise! I'm a little bit ambiguous about this chapter, so all type of feedback is welcomed! Enjoy guys! XxxxxxxxxxxX


"What if I told you it was all meant to be?"


He hated the pink-haired idiot and he hated going to pointless events like this; he could have gotten ahead on some KaibaCorp reports, or maybe even enjoyed watching television for once in a while. But no; he had to go to SchroederCorp and pretend to be welcoming and accepting of a new gaming business in his HQ city.

With a groan of annoyance, Seto placed the brief he was reading back down on his desk; he had read through it a few times, but the information wasn't being comprehended; his eyes merely scanned over the words, not taking any of it in.

Mokuba had been up early for school today, in order for Kisara to look over his homework. Although not overly-thrilled that the teen was using his fiancée as a tutor, Seto couldn't complain about Mokuba's French grade improving in the last week; he'd worked his way up from a C to a B all because of Kisara's help.

And yet he felt guilty every time she did something helpful like that, or played the finally re-tuned piano. For the first couple of days, maybe he hadn't realised it, but Seto knew what guilt felt like; the horrible sickly feeling he had experienced when Noah had brainwashed Mokuba. Why he was feeling guilty, the young man had only discovered yesterday at the KaibaCorp building. One of the receptionists at the front desk had gotten engaged a few days ago and had been idly chatting with her colleague; the picking of a wedding gown had been top of the conversation, but the two women had soon progressed to other topics, such as finally finding 'the one'.

'The one' had never existed in his future plans; run KaibaCorp smoothly, get construction underway for the Dueling Academy and … well that was as far as his plans had stretched. Never had Seto Kaiba imagined he would get married, let alone so young. But apparently all little girls dreamed about their wedding day, or at least that was what he'd heard. Wasn't marriage supposed to be about love and trust and all that jazz? He'd never seen much of wedlock's workings whilst growing up, so Seto did what he normally done when curious; no more than two seconds and the internet had returned countless definitions of the word 'marriage'.

"Marriage is an institution in which interpersonal relationships (usually intimate and sexual) …"

He didn't need to read any further than that; intimate and sexual never worked well together in his life. Plenty of the sexual part, but none of the intimacy, and that was the way he liked to keep it. Girls came and went from the halls of the mansion; glimpsed during the night, maybe even heard on occasion, but they were never to be seen by morning. Marriage was overrated in his opinion.

And that right there was why Seto Kaiba was currently feeling rather guilty; Kisara had probably been dreaming of her wedding day for years, only to be told at twenty that she couldn't start looking for 'the one' because he had already been chosen for her eight years ago. And as much as he wanted to blame his old man and Jonathon Ashbrook for ruining her dreams, Seto blamed himself aswell. If he were being honest, the girls that made it to the mansion were easy pick-ups. All he had to do was stand in one place for more than ten seconds and he had a companion for the night … but Kisara was a different story.

"Intimacy: the feeling of being in a closely personal association and belonging together. Intimacy, meaning to know everything about a partner; secrets, fears, aspirations and needs. To be completely at ease and comfortable in the presence of a lover."

The girls he picked up for the nights he needed some warmth beside him were easy; they were pretty in their own right and knew it was only for one night. Kisara was beautiful and well-educated, just like the girls who threw themselves at him. But she was different. Maybe it was because she didn't jump at the chance to be with him as most young women did, but there was that something about her. It was layer upon layer; the blush covered all, as did the quiet and shy personality … but underneath that was a sly side he had only glimpsed for a little while in Domino with her.

He'd never wanted to know anything else about the girls that spent one night in the mansion, but he did with Kisara; he wanted to learn what made her laugh and smile like she had that day in the city.

Seto blinked as he noticed he had picked up that picture yet again; himself, Kisara, Kai and the parrot in the pet store. Why he kept it on his desk, the young man didn't know but it had gained an odd look from one of the company officials the other morning. Putting the small Polaroid back in the same questionable place, Seto closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair before standing from his desk; maybe stretching his legs would clear his head.


Light blue or dark? Kisara placed both dresses on her bed as she hovered between the two. The white gown that had been next to them in the wardrobe was definitely out of the count; it looked too much like a wedding dress for her liking and would surely raise the topic.

There were some dress shops which had a smaller selection of gowns than her wardrobe; the sheer number of dresses was overwhelming. Each one was of much better quality than the formal wear she had left back in France and, by looking at the names on the labels, much more expensive too.

Why did SchroederCorp have to throw a big bash to open up? Wouldn't it be just as easy to open and start work without all the expenses? Even as she thought this, Kisara knew it was only her mind trying to avoid going. Big-scale events weren't exactly her forte and Zigfried was bound to throw something noticeable and flamboyant to gain the attention of the press.

Sighing, the young woman turned her back on both of the dresses; she had hours yet to decide which one to wear. With a sudden thought, Kisara picked her mobile phone up from the desk and held it over the two dresses, using the camera to take a picture and send it to Téa, along with a text enquiring "which one do you think?". She'd become good friends with Téa since their shopping excursion at the start of the week, with the duo meeting up twice more since then; it was nice to have another female to talk to.

"C'mon Kai …"

The little puppy's ears immediately pricked up as she heard her name; bounding across the room to get under the young woman's feet and out into the hall before her. From there, Kai sped her way towards the staircase that led downstairs. Following the little husky at a walking pace, Kisara allowed her mind to wander as she placed her mobile in the pocket of her hoody and awaited Téa's reply.

They'd met up yesterday evening and just walked about Domino for a while, with the brunette pointing out various places and telling the stories that went with them. She'd also met Mai Valentine last night; the tall, busty blonde. To be honest she had seemed intimidating at first, and definitely not a woman to get on the wrong side of, but the blonde had quietened down once Téa had introduced them; Mai had come across quite friendly after that.

Oh, no … Kisara completed a u-turn as she spotted Kai at the foot of the stairs; the puppy was still in the throes of being house-trained and Mokuba had gotten halfway there. She scratched at the door if she needed to make a number two, but with a number one ... the hard marble floor of the downstairs foyer was still her favourite, as the pup had just shown. One door, two doors … door number three on the right side of the hall; bathroom. Kisara took the roll of toilet paper from its holder and headed back towards the stairs.

As she neared the top step the young woman heard a heavy thump, along with Kai's excited yapping and a groan. Rushing the last few feet to the stairs, Kisara looked down the flight, only to be met by a most unusual sight.

Seto blinked once or twice with confusion as he stared up at the high ceiling; one minute he'd been walking from the kitchen, intending on going back up to his study, and the next he was laying flat on his back. How exactly did that happen?

A stifled giggle made him look sideways, towards the stairs he had been heading for only seconds ago. Kisara clamped a hand over her mouth as she tried to keep a straight face, the roll of toilet paper evidently too late to prevent an accident. Seeing the roll of tissue and only now identifying the telltale odour on the air, Seto put one and one together, then turned his threatening gaze to little cute harmless Kai, who made a run for the kitchen.

With her straight face just about holding, Kisara quickly descended the rest of the stairs, dropping the roll of toilet paper and walking over to where Seto lay on the ground. Just keep breathing normally, she told herself, and try not to laugh.

"A-are you a-alright?"

There was no blush this time; the stammer was caused by the laughter she was trying to hold in. Nodding his head, Seto groaned yet again; company CEO taken down by puddle of puppy urine … it made a catchy headline. And with that thought in his head, the young man smirked and let loose a laugh. The sound of his laugh only served in breaking her straight-face as Kisara placed a hand over her mouth, letting the giggles take over completely. Well, at least Seto now knew one of things that made her smile and laugh; him lying in a pool of puppy-pee.

"N-need a hand?"

More giggles escaped as she outstretched a helping hand, still laughing with amusement. Seto nodded as he too laughed lightly and took hold of her hand; it seemed so small in his. Standing up, he almost found himself back on the floor as his foot slipped in what remained of the puddle. Laughing all the more, Kisara instinctively clasped a hand onto his forearm, steadying him as she remained standing outside the puddle. Smirking a thanks, Seto took a step towards her and escaped Kai's present.

It was only as he stood before her that Kisara once again noticed how much Seto towered over her. Mirroring her right hand, her left rested on his right forearm and the young French woman stood on her tip-toes. Seto raised a questioning eyebrow when she looked up to him. With a blush Kisara dropped down to her normal height.

"I w-was trying to guess h-how high … the shoes should be; for tonight."

"Well in that case, shouldn't you be standing closer to get the right height? It's no good standing that far away."

It was only then that Kisara noticed she had been standing an arm's length away from him. Before she could make an excuse to retreat back upstairs, Seto had stepped forward and her feet had responded by resuming the tip-toe position. The only difference being that no arm's length separated them this time.

It definitely wasn't the close proximity of another person that made her blush, Seto could tell. Kisara didn't blush as he stood close; she merely averted her gaze to the side, but he didn't. They'd no doubt end up doing it sometime tonight, so Seto reckoned they might aswell get the awkwardness out of the way …

"W-what are you d-doing, Seto?"

Kisara blinked as she felt a light, carefully-placed hand upon her lower back.

"We'll end up dancing tonight at Schroeder's thing, so we might aswell get some practice in; you do know how to dance, don't you?"

With an indignant look, Kisara nodded; of course she knew how to dance, and maybe he was right. If she was used to dancing with him, maybe there would be less blushing tonight; probably not, but it was worth a try. At least there was no one watching now; there would be many eyes tonight. Smiling, Kisara placed one of her hands lightly on his shoulder, with the other held in his.

No music played, but that didn't stop the couple from making a few rounds of the large foyer, along with trodden toes and laughs at each other.


"Akari! Aka-"

"Shush!"

Another of the maids, Aki, spotted her friend to be looking out over the banister of the stairs and down into the foyer below. Unimpressed by the hissed whisper, Aki approached her friend with a narrowed gaze.

"Where have you been? Is the laundry-"

Aki was quietened as Akari placed a hand over her mouth and pointed down over the banister. Now curious, the second maid leaned forward and looked down into the foyer aswell, lowering her laundry basket as she smiled. It was nice to see Ms. Ashbrook without her customary blush, and it had been a long time since Mr. Kaiba had looked so happy, let alone laughing as freely as he was.

"They look perfect together."

Akari nodded as her friend spoke; the engaged couple seemed to compliment each other. The laundry could wait for a while.

It was Roland to next approach the pair, having been fruitlessly searching for his employer; the young man was usually in his study, so he had waited there a generous ten minutes and still no sign of Seto Kaiba. The head of KaibaCorp's security had been intending on booking a few days free of work, but would have to wait until his young boss re-appeared to do such. He had been heading towards the stairs when he heard the two maids speaking in hushed tones. Maybe they knew where the CEO had gotten to; nothing happened in the mansion without the younger maids knowing.

"Have either of you-"

"Shhh!"

Roland immediately ceased his speaking as the two young women turned on him, both shushing him at the same time. The younger one, Akari, silently beckoned him over and pointed down into the foyer. Roland walked over and looked down to where they were pointing, only to see two people dancing to silence, stopping every now and then to laugh at a stepped-upon toe. So that was where Mr. Kaiba had disappeared to. Smirking, Roland turned to the two young maids and began ushering them away; he guessed booking time off could wait, and Akari and Aki had better things to be doing, like actual work and not espionage.


"Sorry again …"

"It's okay."

Kisara laughed again as she apologised for another trodden toe, having been stood on the same amount of times. She could dance, but was used to doing so in high heels, not the flat sneakers she was wearing right now; well that was her excuse anyway.

As they stopped moving for a second, laughing at yet another missed step, Kisara noticed her hands had moved; one had been on Seto's shoulder and the other had been held in his, but now one graced each side of his neck and both of his rested on her lower back, with no clue how they had worked their way there. As she remained on tip-toes, the young woman tried to avert her gaze, but it was held in place by his cobalt eyes, dark brown strands falling down over them.

Now his hand was at the left side of her neck. The natural yet intimate movement took her slightly aback. She blushed vividly; Kisara blushed because of how close they were, of Seto dropping his head lower and her straining to the very tips of her toes, she blushed that this would be her first time kissing the man she was to marry and blushed at how cliché it seemed; dancing so romantically to silence.

Beep-beep!

Moment gone, eyes averted, hands dropped and tip-toes abandoned as the text message alert rang out sharply. Smirking and taking a step back, Kisara sated the nervous butterflies in her stomach and pulled out her guilty mobile phone; Téa had answered her query from earlier. The light blue dress.

"I'll t-take Kai for a walk …"

Seto nodded as she walked away from him and towards the kitchen to find the elusive puppy and her leash; he should probably get back to his study and try to properly read that brief from earlier. Avoiding the puddle that had already claimed him once, the young man headed for the stairs.

"Seto?"

His foot was on the first step when she spoke, with him halting and looking to her. Kisara faltered for a second; whatever courage she'd had a few seconds ago had just run for the horizon, abandoning her to silence as her mind raced; it had only been Monday that she'd berated herself for wanting more from the marriage; she had convinced herself she could never feel anything like love for him … and now Seto had just turned the tables with his quiet laugh and his clear blue eyes.

And now he was looking at her expectantly, those very eyes somewhat masked by brown yet again. Kisara smiled as Kai ran into the foyer, from the kitchen. When she looked back up, having lifted the puppy, he was already half-way up the stairs. But her voice had finally found the words that had run away.

"Thank you ... for the dance."

Blue and brown looked back to her, along with a smirk and small nod.

"You're welcome."


A/n- So let me have it then; I know this chapter wasn't the best and I'm really sorry about that. Once these exams are finished with, I promise I'll make it up to you! Thanks a million for taking the time to read it guys! XxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

3rd Revision - 7/February/2011