Silence hung through the air as the duo worked. However, internally, hundreds of letters and words swelled within any remaining empty space awaiting analysis. With the copious amount of hours going through the intense research, the task still didn't seem any less trivial. As she read through the last paragraph of the report, Lydia paused to record the report number in order to reference it later. After setting down the report, she sat back in her chair and released a deep sigh. Her thoughts felt like they were swelling within her waiting to burst.
"I didn't think this would take so long," Lydia admitted.
"If I recall, you were the one who suggested doing this in the first place." Kaiba responded. His gaze didn't falter from the report he was reading.
"I thought it was only fair. Besides, I knew it would take a long time, but I guess I never thought it to be so tedious."
"Hn, I did provide a warning about that."
"I know, but I think we're due for a break."
"I'd rather not,"
"Why?"
"It would only delay productivity. If you're that desperate, my secretary could just bring you something."
"We deserve a few minutes of an actual break though,"
Kaiba's gaze finally broke with the report he was reading as he glanced to the brunette. "If it will get you to stop pestering me, then you're welcome to do so."
"What about you?"
"I already gave my answer."
Lydia raised an eyebrow to the young CEO. She released a low sigh before bringing her gaze to him. "Why do we always have to do what's convenient for you?"
"Excuse me?"
"I'm curious. Why don't you ever let us compromise something?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"I think you do; you're just too stubborn to admit anything."
The brunet brought his gaze up to meet hers. The blue within his irises seemed to freeze over to magnify their intensity. "I prefer not to compromise ideas that aren't effective."
"How do you know they're not when you never try them?"
"I don't need experience to tell me something's a bad idea."
Lydia frowned. She couldn't pinpoint whether his words were an intentional jab towards her or not. Either way, it didn't leave her with a good feeling. "Well, I'm going to take a break, so you can do what you want."
"Hn, whatever,"
The brunette stood and left the office. As she shut the door behind her, she released a long sigh. Ugh, that jerk!, she thought. I could've smacked him for that. She stepped away from the door and decided to walk around the halls briefly. The floor had noticeably less rooms than any of the other levels, although perhaps that was due to the CEO's office being the focal point of the floor. As she approached the end of the short hallway, she noticed an open doorway at the end of the path. Being one of the few doorways in the hall other than the elevator, and the only open one for that matter, she curiously inched towards the room.
Lydia peered inside the room to find a sitting area and a small kitchen in the corner. Her best guess that it appeared to be a break room. She stepped into the room to observe its aspects until her gaze settled on a table in the corner of the room. "Mokuba?"
The ebony-haired boy looked up. "Oh, hi, Lydia, what are you doing here?"
"I could say the same to you." She smiled. "What are you working on?"
"Homework; I thought since you and Seto were working, I'd just come in here. The only other person that comes in here is Seto's secretary, and that's not even that often."
"I see." She nodded as she looked around the room. Upon seeing the refrigerator, she opened it and plucked a water bottle from its contents.
"So, are you and Seto done working today?"
"No, we're just taking a break of sorts."
"He's not being difficult, is he?"
"Oh, no, well… He's getting a bit frustrating." She chuckled.
Mokuba frowned. "I'm sorry, Lydia. My brother just gets too stubborn for his own good sometimes."
"Definitely,"
"But he's not that bad a person! Most people get too intimidated to see that. My brother's really not as evil as people say."
"I wouldn't go as far to say he's evil; he's just pretty… guarded, I guess."
"Exactly. Seto's not very good at communicating, but just give him a chance. You'll be able to work together if you're patient with him."
"I hope so."
"Just trust me, you will,"
"Okay. Thank you, Mokuba."
"You're welcome!" Lydia smiled as she went to leave the room. She stopped as she passed by the counter and noticed the coffee maker was just freshly brewed. She supposed a peace offering couldn't hurt.
She reentered the young CEO's office to find it exactly how she left it with the brunet positioned at his desk. However, rather than hunching over a pile of reports, he sat typing at his computer. She stepped up to his desk and held out a mug to him. "Here," she said.
The brunet looked up to her and skeptically shifted his gaze between her and the mug.
"It's coffee. I was down in the break room and I figured I'd get you something."
"Hmph, I'd prefer if you didn't raid my facilities, but thank you."
Her eyes widened at his remark. She didn't ever expect him to show gratitude towards her. "You're welcome. Also, I didn't raid it, Mokuba was there to supervise." She grinned.
"I see." Kaiba nodded as he took a sip from the mug.
"So, how many reports do we have left?"
"None, I just finished reading them."
"All of them? How many were left?"
"Only a handful."
"Oh. I wish I knew that earlier, I wouldn't have left then. Sorry,"
"It's in the past. What matters now is knowing what we're going to do next."
Lydia thought for a moment. "I started pulling research for the negative data; we can look through that."
"How much do you have?"
Lydia reached down into her bag and pulled out a pile of papers. "This," she replied as she handed it to him.
"Hn, this appears to be enough to work with. I suppose I misjudged you."
Lydia eyed the brunet closely. "Hey, Kaiba, listen; I meant what I said earlier and I want to be friends through this, but in order to do that, we need to work as a team. This project isn't all about you."
"Hmph, I don't exactly do the whole 'teamwork' thing." Lydia frowned as he spoke. "But, I suppose you've proven yourself to be tolerable."
"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" She smiled.
"Tch, take it what you will," The brunet rolled his eyes.
"Well, I appreciate it,"
"Let's just get back to the research. What did you find?"
"A lot of it was some news articles from a few years ago. Mainly stuff like this." She flipped through the pile before pulling a document out and handing it to him.
Kaiba's brows furrowed as he skimmed through the document. "We can't use this."
"Why not? Wasn't Battle City your tournament?"
"Holograms didn't cause those injuries."
"Then what did? It was on TV, remember? There were clearly people getting injured and falling unconscious from those duels."
"Kaiba Corp Solid Vision isn't responsible for any of that occult nonsense."
"What do you mean by 'occult'? What happened back then?"
"It's nothing you would understand. All you need to know is that Kaiba Corp wasn't responsible."
"Then why can't we use that in our report? We have enough evidence to say that holograms aren't a danger to people to refute that."
The young CEO thought briefly. "We'll see. What else did you find?"
"It's mostly stuff I don't understand. It's a lot about dueling and monster attacks."
"It's not that hard to understand."
"Well, I'm not a duelist, so…"
"Hmph, I could almost pity you."
"What?"
"I've never heard of someone in Domino that doesn't duel."
"I just never got into it. My friend tried to teach me once, but I never caught on."
"Hn, how unfortunate,"
"Well, Haru did her best, but I guess I just wasn't interested." Lydia shrugged. "Anyway, we should be able to work with those articles, right?"
"They'll suffice for now. It may be useful to find more data though."
"Sure, I can do that over the weekend. Is there anything specific I should look for?"
"No,"
"Okay. Hey, what time is it?"
"Half past four."
"Do you mind if we end here for the day? I told Yugi and the others that I'd try to hang out with them before I go home."
"Yugi? You're friends with those losers?"
"In a way, yeah. Aren't you too though?"
"I wouldn't be caught dead hanging out with those nerds."
"Really? Yugi makes it seem like you guys are close."
"Hmph, Muto doesn't know what he's talking about."
"Oh, alright. So, do you mind if we end here?"
"That's fine. I have work to finish, anyway."
"Okay! Just let me know when you want to meet up."
"Fine,"
"Bye, Kaiba," Lydia smiled as she left.
Kaiba watched the door shut behind her before turning back to his computer screen. Yugi… He scoffed at the thought of his long-known rival before resuming his work.
Wow, what a tough chapter! Seriously, by the time the first page was done, I already had at least four pages worth of outtakes. Hopefully things read smoothly despite that setback… and that the content was enjoyable since its pretty dialogue heavy lol. Also, hopefully you all enjoyed and I'll see you the next time! R&R!