The cook had finished dinner and summoned the Kaiba brothers to the dinner table.
"Thank you, Rosa," Mokuba told the cook politely. Rosa smiled and bustled about cleaning up the kitchen while they enjoyed dinner and talked about their day.
"So what do you want to do tonight?" Mokuba asked his brother. Seto shrugged.
"I've been so bored all day, with the exception of Misty coming to talk to me, so anything will be fine," Seto answered nonchalantly.
"How about we have a virtual duel? Just for fun?" Mokuba suggested.
"Sure," Seto shrugged indifferently. It didn't take long for them to finish their dinner and Rosa had cleaned up the dishes. Mokuba thanked her again and followed Seto to their game room and got set up on his side. He put on the virtual reality helmet he and Seto had created and got his deck ready to duel against Seto. They dueled for a couple hours, jibing each other playfully like brothers do, and then Seto won by a narrow margin.
"Aww man!" Mokuba exclaimed disappointed. Seto chuckled.
"When will you learn that I will always win?" Seto asked playfully. Mokuba playfully stuck his tongue out at him. Seto laughed and ruffled his hair in a playful headlock.
"Hey! Stop!" Mokuba exclaimed playfully as he tried to get Seto off.
"How about no?" Seto retorted chuckling. Mokuba chuckled as they played and then after a couple minutes, Seto let him go.
"Good to have your playful side back," Mokuba remarked. "I've missed that side."
"I know…" Seto replied with a heavy sigh.
"I don't think you do…" Mokuba protested sadly. "This is the first time in a LONG time we've been able to relax and have fun and bond…"
"…how long?" Seto asked feeling the sting of that statement.
"About a year," Mokuba answered and Seto felt another sting.
"I'm sorry Mokuba… I hadn't realized I'd been that preoccupied for that long…" Seto apologized sheepishly.
"I hope Misty cuts our workload down so we can spend more time together like this," Mokuba remarked.
"Me too, Mokuba. It was fun spending time together like we used to," Seto agreed.
"Yeah. Speaking of Misty, how about we plan out some possible decks for her so she has something to learn with," Mokuba suggested.
"Alright, sure. She said that she wanted cards that complemented Wingweaver," Seto recalled.
"Naturally," Mokuba concurred and they went through the database looking for the right cards to complement Wingweaver, balancing between attack, defense, spell, and trap cards.
"I hope she doesn't take it too hard when she can't beat me," Seto remarked cockily.
"Be nice to her," Mokuba retorted and narrowed his eyes.
"Take it easy Mokuba. You've gotten quite an attitude when it comes to her lately," Seto pointed out.
"I like her Seto! And she's going to make things easier on us and ensure I won't be on the verge of losing you again! I don't want you chasing her away with your anger and coldness, especially after the hell it took to get her!" Mokuba snapped. Seto still couldn't believe Mokuba's sudden ferocity when it came to Misty.
"Alright, Mokuba, I understand," Seto told him softly.
"Good! If she goes away, I blame you!" Mokuba retorted. Seto was taken aback and let him cool down for a few minutes.
"Feel better?" Seto asked and put his arm on his shoulder.
"Yeah," Mokuba answered calmly.
"Good. We can present the combinations we planned for her and explain them possibly tomorrow, or Monday," Seto suggested.
"Sounds good," Mokuba agreed, warming up a bit after his outburst. Mokuba then got an idea. "I have an idea!" Mokuba exclaimed excitedly.
"Oh?" Seto asked as an eyebrow rose in curiosity.
"She's going to have to get familiar with the paperwork regarding Kaiba Land, right?" Mokuba began.
"Yeah? So?" Seto asked and rolled his wrist to encourage him to continue.
"Maybe we can have an outing at Kaiba Land so she gets familiar with it?" Mokuba suggested.
"I thought you didn't want us to work until Monday," Seto countered.
"I never said we were working," Mokuba shot back with a cool smirk.
"He's definitely your brother," Seto's inner self remarked with a chuckle.
"So, you want to go out to Kaiba Land for fun? Is that it?" Seto asked.
"Yes," Mokuba replied in a tone that said "Duh! Isn't that obvious?"
"Alright, I suppose we can do that," Seto shrugged nonchalantly. Mokuba smiled excitedly. This was going to be so much fun! And he'd ensure that Misty and Seto spent lots of time together while they were out at Kaiba Land. He figured he could see if he could encourage a relationship between them too, then Misty could never leave. Then, Seto would truly be back to his old, happy self he had been when they were little, forever.
"Great! I'll invite her tomorrow! Which day should we go this weekend? Friday or Saturday?" Mokuba asked.
"Probably Friday… less people to deal with," Seto answered. He didn't like going out with crowds; they made him a little claustrophobic.
"Alright, fair enough," Mokuba agreed. They spent some more time together and eventually went to bed. Mokuba dreamed about the possibilities of Misty and Seto getting coupled, getting married, having children, and living "happily ever after." He was happy with this dream and wanted it to be true more than anything. His brother deserved happiness, and it was due time he got it, after such a hard life and a near death. He only hoped Misty was agreeable to this.
"Please agree to be with him…" Mokuba prayed. In the meantime, he could enjoy his fantasies and his subtle pushing until it came true.
Seto also dreamed about Misty, but it was more focused on their conversation today. He dreamed she was a puzzle he had to put together, and he only had a few pieces to use. Each piece was one aspect of her that she had mentioned today. Each time he put the piece where it belonged, he felt his happiness meter rise little by little. Once he ran out of pieces, he tried to leave, but there was a blockade preventing him from leaving.
Misty had also dreamed about the conversation she had with Seto earlier that day. In her dream, he was a bit like an annoyed cat that wanted her attention, but would sometimes nip at her when she gave him attention, like how he got a bit snappish when she was teasing him a little earlier. Misty chuckled at the funny dream.
The next day, Misty had taken the bus to Kaiba Corp. again, as instructed, wearing jeans, boots, and a cozy sweater. It was chilly and cloudy out. She sighed contently as she walked into the front doors guarded by the dragons and felt warmer. She greeted Mary and was sent upstairs to Seto's office. She got in the elevator and got off on the top floor 5 minutes later and knocked on the office doors.
Seto and Mokuba were waiting for her in the office with the new hire data HR had prepared for her, on a tablet. This was the only thing they were going to do at the office, thanks to Mokuba's insistence. Mokuba didn't even let him check the emails. Seto's fingers itched to, but Mokuba glared at him.
"Monday!" Mokuba declared. They heard the knock. "Come in," Mokuba called to the door. Misty entered and smiled at them.
"Good afternoon," she greeted.
"Hey Misty! Come on in and sit down," Mokuba greeted and invited her to sit down.
"Thanks Mokuba," Misty replied as she sat down.
"Did you want a drink?" Mokuba offered hospitably.
"Sure, maybe some water," Misty accepted. Mokuba had Roland bring her some bottled water. "Thank you Roland," Misty thanked Roland with a smile as she took it.
"The HR forms you need to fill out are here on this tablet," Seto told her as he handed her the tablet. Misty nodded and navigated through the paperwork on the tablet and put in her information. She had to admit that was a smart, convenient way to get all the paperwork done, and it was faster. When she finished, she handed the tablet back.
"Well, I'll see y'all Monday," she told them, a bit of her Texan twang slipping through as she got up to go to the bus stop.
"Hang on Misty," Mokuba stopped her.
"Yes, Mokuba?" Misty asked curiously. Did she forget something?
"First off, I set up an arrangement with Edward to take you to and from work and your apartment. You just need to call him and tell him when you're ready," Mokuba instructed and handed Edward's business card to her.
"Thank you Mokuba," Misty thanked him with a smile as she put the business card in her wallet. At least she didn't have to worry as much about catching the bus on time to get to work.
"Another thing, we wanted to invite you out to go to Kaiba Land with us on Friday, for fun, and so you can get familiar with the park," Mokuba invited.
"Okay, sure," Misty agreed. "Do you want to meet there, or somewhere? What time?" Misty asked.
"We'll pick you up about 9:00 a.m. on Friday," Mokuba answered.
"Alright sure," Misty agreed with a smile.
"Great!" Mokuba exclaimed excitedly, making Misty chuckle.
"Is there anything else you need from me?" Misty asked proactively.
"Not until Monday. We can take you home now," Mokuba offered.
"Okay, sure," Misty gathered her things. Mokuba and Seto then walked with her to the private elevator and went down to the lobby, and then out to the limo.
"Hi Edward," Misty greeted with a friendly smile.
"Hello Misty," Edward greeted back reflecting her smile and opened the door for them. Once again, Misty had taken her place in between Seto and Mokuba at a reasonable space apart. Edward shut the door and then started driving Misty to her apartment.
"Oh yeah! We forgot to tell you! Seto and I planned out your duel deck last night, that way we can teach you next week. I think you're going to like it; we picked a good balance of cards to complement your Wingweaver," Mokuba announced excitedly. Misty smiled.
"Thank you. I'm sure it's a great deck," Misty assured him. "So, what can I expect on Friday? What kind of things are y'all especially excited to show me at Kaiba Land?"
"Do you like Roller Coasters?" Seto asked.
"He speaks!" Misty teased playfully. Seto looked at her confused with his eyebrow raised. "You've been pretty quiet today, except for a couple times back in the office," Misty pointed out. Seto shrugged.
"I didn't have much else to say. I let Mokuba take the reins," he explained simply. "So, back to my question…"
"Yes, I love roller coasters. They're so much fun," Misty answered. Seto smirked. "What? What's with the smirk?"
"I have a pretty intense roller coaster, based off the Blue Eyes White Dragon," he told her. "It's full of drops, twists, and loops, and goes really fast, some say it's too intense," he remarked in a cool, challenging tone.
"Oh? That sounds fun. I've ridden some pretty interesting rides before, so it shouldn't be too intense for me," Misty declared and smirked back at him.
"And you two can sit together at the front, and I'll sit right behind you," Mokuba piped up.
"Sure," Misty shrugged nonchalantly.
"In fact, I think it would be cool if you sat together on all the rides," Mokuba added.
"Oh?" Misty asked curiously. "Why's that?" Misty asked. Mokuba realized he said too much, and clammed up.
"Why would it be cool, Mokuba?" Seto asked. Misty and Seto both stared at him.
"It just would," Mokuba answered quickly and gave a nervous chuckle. Misty and Seto's eyebrows climbed in tandem on the same side of their faces. Mokuba noticed and chuckled.
"What?" they asked him simultaneously.
"Both of your eyebrows on your right sides of your faces climbed up at the same time! I've never seen that before!" he was fascinated that they responded so in sync with each other.
"They did?" Misty and Seto asked at the same time and noticed that and chuckled. "Wow!"
"But seriously, why do you want him and me to sit together on all the rides?" Misty asked.
"I'm curious to know that myself," Seto agreed.
"Mokuba?" Seto and Misty pressed, both giving him a tell the truth look. Mokuba got a kick out of that too.
"Ok! Fine! I want you two to sit together because I want you two to get to know each other more and maybe start a relationship," Mokuba confessed. Misty and Seto blinked at him.
"Mokuba, let's not get into this office romance thing… it… makes things… complicated, if they don't work out… plus, I think everyone will think Mr. Kaiba is showing me favoritism, and that's not fair," Misty pointed out gently.
"She's right Mokuba," Seto concurred.
"It's sweet of you to want that, but it's not ideal. I don't want to mess things up before I've even started," she told him gently. Mokuba felt disheartened and disappointed and a couple tears slipped from his eyes and he tried to hide them.
"I…just wanted you two…to be together… you're so good together, and you're so in sync… "Mokuba sniffled. Misty and Seto sighed. They didn't like him upset. It was a quiet remainder of the ride back to her apartment, broken only when she thanked them for the ride and then went up and unlocked the door to her apartment and went in. She was stunned; Mokuba was trying to hook them up!
"Would that REALLY be so bad?" her inner self asked.
"Yes!" Misty retorted.
"Why?" her inner self demanded.
"You heard me earlier. Office romances are complicated and I don't want people whispering accusations of nepotism about me. I just want to do my job," Misty reasoned.
"That maybe so, but I think it's bullshit…" her inner self countered.
"I didn't ask you what you thought…" Misty retorted.
"So? You're going to hear it anyway. Haha! Besides, Mokuba's right. You two are so good together! And it would only be a matter of time before you shirk that declaration considering the fact you belong here with them," her inner self retorted with a Cheshire cat grin.
"You seem so sure of yourself," Misty observed with a narrowed gaze. The Cheshire cat grin grew wider.
"I give it a month," her inner self bet. Misty ignored her and did a few chores.
Meanwhile, back in the limo, Seto felt suffocated by the silence on the way home. He wasn't sure how to react. Mokuba stared out the window with a heavy silence.
"Mokuba did you really want to try and play matchmaker?" Seto asked. Mokuba simply stared at him. Seto pursed his lips and sighed. "Mokuba, I don't think it would work between her and me…"
"Why not?" Mokuba demanded.
"For one, all the reasons she said… it would be too complicated, and we don't want the employees revolting because they think I'm favoring her."
"Bullshit. Since when do you care what they think?" Mokuba snapped.
"He has a point…" his inner self remarked. Seto pursed his lips in agreement with that.
"I think you're afraid she'll reject you," Mokuba declared. "I say go for it. You two are so perfect for each other. She's good for you."
"Mokuba, even then, it would be too soon to try. Let's have her help with the workload first before we even think about that. Then after some time, we'll see, but not now," Seto countered.
"But you promise you'll at least try later?" Mokuba asked.
"Yes, LATER, I will try, but not now," Seto promised.
"Deal," Mokuba agreed. When they got home, he went to plan out the perfect day at Kaiba Land. He may not be able to do any matching with them just yet, but at least he could encourage some good fun and maybe some chemistry to start with.
A/N: Thank you for reading ch. 4. I hope you enjoyed it! Just a friendly reminder to leave a review. Reviews= New chapters.
