After hours, when Kaiba's Coats was shut down for the night, Seto sat at Noa's desk—which he more often thought of as Gozaburo's desk, and couldn't decide if that comforted him or not. The business's tax folders were spread out before him, and a calculator sat in his hand as he tried to figure the business's selling value.

The numbers had changed so drastically since so many of the workers had quit, and Noa had been out of commission for weeks. So he focused on finding a middle ground of profit margins. When he still came up with several varying numbers, he pulled up his cell phone. He opened his browser, searching phone listings for accountants. When he found the number he was looking for, he dialed.

"Roland," came a tired voice on the other end.

"This is Kaiba," Seto said. "I'm in need of a consultation, if you have a free moment."

"Mister Kaiba," Roland said, his voice brightening. "You caught me at a good time. I just finished with a client. What kind of consultation do you need?"

"I don't expect you to give me free advice, so if you want to send me a bill for your time when we're done, I trust you would still have the business address on file."

"Assuming I can assist you in just a phone call, I don't think that would be necessary."

"I don't want to take advantage of your services," Seto insisted.

"But there's a reason you called me, rather than some other accountant, I presume? Don't worry about it. What can I do to help?"

"If you insist. I've been offered an opportunity to negotiate selling Kaiba's Coats."

"Congratulations," Roland said brightly.

"I presume I have you to thank for setting up the contact. He claims to have heard about my desire to sell through you."

"Oh, I see. You wouldn't happen to be talking about… Dartz, would you?"

Seto smirked. "My father would be rather impressed, and likely confounded, if he knew Dartz was now a client of yours. I'm glad to see you're having some success in your career."

"Thank you. But I hope I didn't overstep by speaking to him."

"I told you I was in the market for a buyer. It just happens that he'll be sending his assistant back in about—" Seto pulled the phone away from his ear to check the time. "In about twelve minutes. I'm assuming I can expect him to keep his appointment?"

"He's very punctual."

"I thought so. In the meantime, I still need to come up with some idea of my business's value. I've been crunching a few numbers, but I need some direction. Do you have any experience with valuing businesses?"

"Certainly. Has your coursework not covered calculating business value yet?"

"It has, so I have some idea how to come up with a number. I've been multiplying my annual profit by four."

"That's a good rule of thumb. You seem to have a handle on this."

"But I don't have your experience. What time frame should I be using to calculate my profits? The current year? The most recent full fiscal year? Or should I take an average?"

"You said Dartz is planning to negotiate, is that correct?"

"Yes. We haven't discussed a deal yet."

"Then all you need now is a number in your head. No matter who your buyer ends up being, you don't want to get lowballed."

"Agreed."

"Since KC's business model, I assume, necessarily had to have changed since you took over your father's post, you can't exactly use an average of past profit margins as a sample of what your buyer might see in the future. Essentially, he's buying your profit, and if he expects a certain number that he can't seem to reach, the deal may go sour."

"So I can't use an average, then."

"I would advise you to use a projection. Being realistic, calculate how many suits your workers can produce in a given time period. Say, a week, or a month, or even two weeks. Add in whatever you would take in for outside alterations in the same time period—are you still accepting outside alterations?"

"We are."

"Right. Then multiply out until you have an income number for fifty-two weeks. I believe I can remember some of the numbers I usually worked with as your father's accountant, but I'd like to know what you come up with."

Seto had most of his numbers written down already, so he added up his profits and calculated them for a year like Roland suggested.

"At a fifteen percent profit margin, I come up with roughly seventy-five grand, yearly."

"The numbers off the top of my head come close to eighty, if I remember correctly."

"So KC was more profitable when my father owned it," Seto said, a touch of bitterness lacing his words.

"I wouldn't say that. If half your employees quit and you're still close to keeping up with him, I'd say you're doing impressively well."

"Then why does my bank account claim I'm not bringing in nearly as much profit as these projections suggest?" he asked, somewhat rhetorically.

"Are you giving away a lot of product?"

"I'm not."

"But someone is."

"I'm working on putting a stop to it. But there is also a lack of efficiency with my new employees, and Noa has been out of work for weeks, so we're not producing at the same rate as what we should be."

"Which means fewer clients are able to come and pay you. You have quite a few orders that are behind, I take it?"

"Of course."

"If you were to hold on to the shop another six months, I would expect things to even out. If you're intent on selling, however, I'm sure a new owner could sort them out as well, and you won't have the headache."

"I prefer the latter. So, this seventy-five thousand dollars is the number I multiply by four?"

"Correct."

"Then my business is worth three hundred thousand dollars?" Seto asked, still feeling like he was doing this simple math wrong somehow. The numbers didn't quite make sense.

"You own the prestigious Kaiba's Coats. Why do you sound so surprised?"

"I suppose because I can figure that if my business makes seventy-five thousand dollars a year in profit, I should be taking home a little more of it."

"You are at a disadvantage, not knowing as much about the industry as your father did."

"Then Dartz will be at a disadvantage as well. Why would he be interested in buying?"

"Because Dartz can afford to find and appoint someone who does know the industry. Trust me, I do a portion of his bookkeeping. He can afford it, on just what he makes off the one company of his whose finances I assist in accounting for."

"I believe you. He wouldn't be known as the wealthiest man in the hemisphere otherwise."

There was a brief knock on the glass door Seto had locked nearly thirty minutes ago.

"Speaking of, I believe his assistant has arrived."

"Just a quick tip, if I may?" Roland inquired.

"You may," Seto agreed, getting up and making his way to the front shop.

"I implore you not to accept his first decent offer too eagerly, no matter what it is."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"I wish you well, Mister Kaiba."

"I appreciate the assistance," Seto said before hanging up.

He slipped the phone into his pocket as he reached the door, to find a man he didn't know staring at him through the glass.