Chapter 3

The school day was short and long. Short because Kaiba was still not anxious to begin his interview with the odd girl yet long because he wanted it to be over with already.

Today, because he would be busy with his interview most probably, a goon was going to pick his brother up with a car. After the attack yesterday, Kaiba wanted no chances for his brother to be injured.

At the door to the girl's room, Kaiba could put no reason for his nervousness especially since he had gone to the trouble of seeming authoritative, powerful, and adult-like. Still, when he entered the room and saw her blue crystalline eyes look up to see him, all his preparation seemed in vain. It was like she could see right into his mind and thoughts.

Kaiba thought that the girl knew how much a façade he had put on. He could see that she could see it in his hard cerulean eyes, eyes that a little boy had developed so soon in his life in order to survive. He might seem like an adult, but she knew that deep within there was still a young boy trapped and yearning to break free.

Almost shaking as these thoughts came from nowhere, Kaiba pulled a chair from a desk and sat on it. He was not very close to the bed, deeming safety in distance.

Such pale hair and skin were out of place anywhere, except maybe in wintry lands where it would aid in hiding the wearer against the snows. So pale she was almost pasty—a walking corpse. But, there were few people who had such vibrant life reflecting in their eyes. And this girl's eyes were such a striking blue, probably all the more so because of her white skin and hair, that Kaiba almost found himself staring into them without his control. Quickly, he regained his composure, guessing his lapse had been so brief the girl had not even noticed it.

At one more glance into those piercing eyes, Kaiba could almost shudder. There was little this girl would not notice. It made him feel uncomfortable, which had not happened in such a time that he was anxious to start and forget this little encounter. Why would he hire someone who could make him feel so uncomfortable? Besides, the girl seemed too young. If he wanted someone her age, he was certain he could have pasted notices to the walls of his school and had similar prospects. Still, he had told Mokuba they would test her out, so he had to do his end.

"What's your name?" This had been bothering him for awhile. If he was going to have images of this strange person, he wanted to be able to put a name to it. In a way, he thought it would lessen the power of it.

The girl's soft voice was hesitant as she responded, "Kiseira."

Kaiba scrawled something on the paper he had brought, wondering if the girl did not think to add a last name or did not know it.

"Seto," she said quietly, "I know you."

Astounded and unable to make a noise from his throat at all, Kaiba stared at her. Sitting up in bed tranquilly, slightly nervous, a stranger, a young girl, and she had managed to make him feel like he had to defend himself.

Finally, wanting to remove the echo of those words from the still air, he said, somewhat hoarsely, "Yes, I saw you outside my house before the attack." Maybe that was all she had meant by her strange sentence. Maybe she was simple or trying to remember what happened and so pointing out what she knew.

This encounter was one that would stay in his mind forever.

"Thank you," the girl was murmuring, lowering her eyes, "thank you for saving me again."

He wanted to curse aloud. How could one word make all the difference to the translation of a sentence? He decided she was simple. It would make the rest of what she could say that much easier to bear.

Staying strictly to formal questions might help also. "I need to know how old you are, where you're from, what kind of family you have, and why you were just wandering outside."

She had no answer for a long while. Then, maybe because she felt Kaiba's growing urgency, Kiseira said, "I-I am not certain about those questions."

"Then what are you certain about?" He was growing exasperated and not just from her ignorance about herself.

No one other than Mokuba had ever seemed immune to his growing distemper. Still, this girl took as much time as she wanted to answer. At least Kiseira did answer. But then, maybe it would have been better if she had not.

"I belong here."

Kaiba stood up and left, unable to handle such answers any longer. If he had to stay, the CEO was not certain he would manage to rein back his temper. The goons could sense his temperament and stayed silent.

On his paper only one word was still scrawled, and when he glanced down, Kaiba realized he had misspelled it. For some reason, this version seemed truer, and in his anger he threw it away from him. He had had enough of odd feelings and visions.

Kisara…

-

Mokuba pounded through the door in his excitement. Then, remembering about Metsukiao probably sleeping, he went quietly upstairs to check on her. A maid was sitting with her, feeding her, so Mokuba left without a word. The maid, however, managed a weary smile.

If his plan worked, there would no longer be any reason for their maids to grow exhausted through the added work. They could always quit, but his brother had hired loyal workers, so it was doubtful they would be leaving anytime soon.

His brother's room was closed, so Mokuba went downstairs to the girl's room. However, before he could freely prance into the room, the goons outside stopped him.

"Sorry, sir. But I can't let you within. Your brother's orders."

"Huh? Why?"

The goon was uncomfortable with all the regulations, but the elder Kaiba was his order-giver. "I'm sorry, but he didn't say. You should go talk with him."

The boy looked at the door once more, nodded, and went back upstairs. He wondered what could have happened while he had been in school. Maybe it was nothing but a precaution.

He rapped lightly on the door and waited while tapping his fingers and feet. Mokuba may not have been aware of his impatience; rather, to him, it was an inability to hold himself still.

The reply from inside seemed to take a long time. In fact, Mokuba wondered about the lack of clacking from his brother's keyboard.

"Seto?" Now he was getting curious. Not worried, for maybe his brother was somewhere else or catching up on his lack of sleep.

Finally, there was a sound of stirring and steps. The door opened silently on its well-oiled hinges. There was his brother before him, but Seto did not look very good. Obviously, he had not been catching up on his sleep, for his face seemed haggard and drawn. Something had to have happened in order to make him so weary and aged. There was nothing Mokuba could think of that would make his brother react in such a way. Seto hardly let anything touch him anyway.

"What is it, Mokuba?" He ran a hand through his hair, and the boy could tell it was not the first time.

"I was just wondering…What's going on, Seto?"

Kaiba closed his eyes, wishing that when he did so it brought some relief instead of more images he had no desire to see.

He wished he could answer his brother. Chuckling slightly, making his brother think he was demented or growing hysterical, Kaiba's high-pitched sound ceased as suddenly as it had started.

"I want you to go down there and get rid of her."

Mokuba blinked several times. "Who do you mean?" He was desperately hoping it was not Metsukiao Seto was referring to.

Kaiba shuddered once, getting a grip on himself. Opening his door wider, Kaiba came out with a determined glint in his eye. "Never mind. I'll do it myself."

"Wait!" Mokuba dashed after him, deciding it was the strange girl he was referring to, which was not much better according to the boy. "I thought you were going to help me see if she could be Metsukiao's nanny!"

"There is no way that K-Kiseira is going to be a nanny in this house. It is just won't happen."

"But, Seto…" Mokuba grabbed his brother's arm, not doing the least to halt him. Instead, the boy had to trip down the stairs at a faster rate. Therefore, since he was getting dragged along quickly anyway, Mokuba quickened his pace even more and came to a stop in his brother's path.

A hard glint in his eye, Mokuba held out his arms in order not to let his brother pass. "I'm sorry, Seto, but I want to see the prospective nanny before you get rid of her. After all, it seems I care more for Metsukiao more than you do." There was a bitter tone in the boy's voice to go along with the glint in his eye. "So it goes to follow that I should be the judge of her caretaker."

"Mokuba, you're getting yourself involved in something you don't understand."

"Then tell me!"

Kaiba looked at his brother eye for eye. Both were determined to get their way. When it came to something really important, Mokuba could hold out as long as his brother.

Finally, not willing to shove past, Kaiba muttered, "Fine. Go see her, talk with her. Then, give me three excellent reasons to keep her besides that you like her." Kaiba would never have done such a deal if he had not been certain the girl was half mad.

Slowly, Mokuba nodded and lowered his arms. "I still wish you would tell me what happened. But, I can't think of anything wrong with her so far. She seems so pure and innocent, Seto. I have to try it." Then, he turned and hastened down the hall with his black hair streaming out behind him.

Kaiba followed at a slower pace, knowing he had to tell the goons to let his younger brother through. Once he did that, he stayed around down below though he could think of no reason why he did so. It was not as if he thought Kiseira would harm his brother.

-

Inside the room, Mokuba smiled at the girl still sitting up in her bed. She returned the gesture after a small moment of not moving.

"Hello. I'm back. Mokuba, that is. I was wondering if I could get to know you a little." He thought starting by asking requests was no good. "What do you like? Where are you from? I'll tell you about myself if it will make you feel better."

The girl looked saddened. "I don't know the answers to your questions, really. I wish I did. The only thing I know is Seto."

Mokuba screwed up his face. "You have amnesia?"

Helplessly, Kiseira held out her hands in a gesture of complete confusion.

"But you knew your name. Seto said it."

"Yes. Kiseira."

Mokuba decided now was better than later. "Well, if you have no where to go or be, maybe you want to stay here."

"This is where I belong."

A look of happiness crossed his face. "Good! But, I will have trouble convincing Seto. He seemed to think, well…" There was no way Mokuba could rudely say his brother wanted her gone for some unknown reasons. "Do you like babies?"

Her face changed to one of surprise and then a small smile adorned it. She nodded.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Mokuba continued, "So, you know how to care for one? There is one here who needs a nanny."

Greatly hesitant, the girl answered, "What girl doesn't know how to care for a baby? It is within them, the need to comfort, soothe, protect. As soon as a baby is placed in my arms, they will know what to do and how best to care for a child. My mind will recall the past when my own mother cared for me in my dependence state. My voice will know what sweet, reassuring nuances to use in order to bring the babe to blessed reprise. All you have but to do is let the cry sound in my heart and the rest will follow as it must."

Mokuba blinked some more, thinking her words sounded something like poetry. He was convinced, but he knew his brother did not think much of poetry.

"But you know nothing about yourself?"

"I've told you all I know."

Trying to think of three reasons in order to convince his brother, Mokuba hopped up and called over his shoulder, "I'll be back soon with the baby!"

This time, when he left, the door remained open. Mokuba did not want her to feel like a prisoner.

Before too long, he came back bearing his little Metsukiao, a great smile on the boy's face. He walked over to the wide-eyed Kiseira and held out the infant to let her take her. With a small inhale, she reached a trembling hand to the infant, a smile adorning her face. Supporting the little girl's head and neck, Kiseira removed her from Mokuba's arms and cradled her closer to her body just like a new mother. For a moment, humming under her breath, she forgot the boy entirely.

Mokuba was beaming happily. It was just as she said. Put the babe in her arms and she knew what to do. He handed over a warmed bottle of milk. Kiseira did not take it for a moment, staring beyond the boy, a very faint blush tingeing her cheeks. Mokuba turned and saw his brother in the doorway.

-

It was all nonsense.

But, for some reason, Kaiba could not just wait for his brother to finish his business. He had to come see if the girl was still saying odd phrases and causing complete awkwardness with his brother.

"Hi, Seto. I am about to demonstrate the three reasons. Or rather, Kiseira is."

The girl looked to Mokuba with surprise. He nodded reassuringly, turning back to his brother. "See, Seto. One: she knows how to hold Metsukiao. Two, she can feed her. And three, uh, well that will be that she can change the diaper, but I don't want to be present when that happens."

Kaiba shook his head. He seemed to be doing his best to ignore Kiseira, instead focusing on his brother.

Mokuba could sense more refusal coming from Kaiba. "But, Seto, those are three good reasons, and you know we need a nanny. Why does it seem like you're going to say no? Why were you so anxious to get rid…I mean, you know."

Kiseira, still wide-eyed, was glancing from one to the other.

"In fact," Mokuba said doggedly, "I want you to give me three reasons not to have her."

This was unfair. Kaiba certainly had had plenty of reasons before he came here. Yet, in this room, it seemed they all fell away and left him bare. He would have to make do.

"One, I'm older. Two, I'm in charge. Three, I said so."

Mokuba made a comical face. "Se-to, those are not good reasons. If that's the best you can do, I can't believe you would think you're in charge. We should vote on it or something."

"Mokuba, I'm not jesting."

The boy muttered under his breath, "It's so hard to know when you are or aren't."

Undeterred, Kaiba continued, "Why can't you just respect my wishes? We'll find someone else."

Sometimes, Mokuba could not believe his brother. Here he was, speaking of getting rid of the girl before her face.

"Why can't you respect mine? Unless you tell me something substantial, there's no reason to keep your state of mind. Why can't you just tell me what so unnerved you?"

"I wasn't unnerved!" he snapped.

Kiseira inhaled sharply and clutched the infant tighter. On turning toward her, Mokuba's face softened from seeing her nervous look.

"Fine." Kaiba turned his back to everyone. "Let her stay here as nanny until…"

"Until what?"

Kaiba chose not to answer. At least now he was getting a shred of decency. Mokuba still knew what his brother's unsaid words were. Until we find someone better. The boy grinned. There would be no one up to Seto's standards. Kiseira would be staying infinitely if they had to wait until Seto found someone better. Mokuba would make sure to teach the girl anything she did not already know in order to help her stay. He liked her a lot.

Rubbing a temple, Kaiba turned back into the room. "You ought as well get the tour now." Before I change my mind, he finished.

"Yippee! You get to be Metsukiao's nanny!" Mokuba pranced out of the room.

Kiseira had nothing to say. But she knew what it meant since she stood with the child who was now beginning to doze. Then, she gathered her long, weathered coat with one hand and took it under her arm before following.

Striding down the long corridor with sparse pictures on the walls, which made it as inviting as an abandoned castle, Kaiba passed by his brother who was now walking. Kiseira hastened to keep up with the young man's strides, falling in line with the boy.

They went up a set of wide stairs carpeted in the middle and the wooden edges bare. By then, Kaiba was so far ahead it was a good thing Mokuba was walking next to her.

There was another hallway to go down, and Kaiba vanished within the doorway at the end of it just as the other two reached the top.

Mokuba stopped and tugged on Kiseira's sleeve gently. "Don't worry. He'll get used to you. It just takes him awhile to come around, sometimes. But I'm sure he'll eventually like you as much as I do. Who couldn't?"

She gazed at him steadily. "I could think of some."

He smiled. "But now you don't have to worry about them. They aren't allowed in here. No one will hurt you here." They moved on.

What if he already has? she thought.

Then, the open doorway was looming closer, as well as Kaiba's guarded face, and the girl continued past to peek within. While the hallway may have had only one lone carpet covering the bare floors, scarce portraits of warmth and beauty, and sheer curtains at the end to attempt to let in life and vitality, this room was not so.

Grasses practically bursting with animals hidden within them colored the walls so effectively the original color could scarcely be guessed at. Warm, sturdy curtains of mauve were swept back from both sets of windows in order to let in as much sunlight as possible. Today, with the whipping winds, the light was like a child playing with the switch, clouds capturing the sun and then suddenly releasing it. The carpet was lush and soft, its glittering amethyst appearance not exactly fitting with the mauve curtains and spring green grass of the walls, but it still helped make the room more comfortable.

Besides accumulating toys of all variety, making the place more like a toyshop than an infant's room, the crib rested against one wall. Within were several soft blankets. Most were white, but one, and this was the only touch of it, was pink. Above the mahogany crib hung an assortment of things. One was a collection of black-and-white pictures. Another was a table of math skills, having subtraction and addition. Also, there were a couple written theories of some well-known philosophers, including Socrates, Sartes, and Pascal. Then, to the relief of at least one person in the room, there was an average, colorful crib mobile. The last was obviously the touch of Mokuba.

The boy was already making a small face at the sight of all the things hanging over the crib, and he came back over to Kiseira.

"My brother thinks all of this will help her develop with at least average intelligence. He even put a tape player over there to play different languages, music, and all sorts of other stuff a baby shouldn't worry about!"

There was indeed a tape player nearby that was almost taken for another toy. For all of his lack of concern for the child, Kaiba had certainly made sure the place was bedecked appropriately. No child in this house was going to be behind in studies.

Mokuba added, "I did most of the decorating, though. But, I hate pink. So, I hope it doesn't bother you."

Metsukiao coughed and yawned before settling herself more comfortably in Kiseira's arms. Mokuba, who had been glancing at his brother once more, reached out his arms to take the infant. Reluctantly, the girl gave up the child, pausing a moment to caress the child's head once. Then, Mokuba made his escape out the door again muttering that he'd be back in several minutes and they both better be fine when he did so.

Sounding like a machine, Kaiba began, "Your duties would pertain to any and all relating to the infant's care. That means you will have to get up at night to tend to her needs and answer every cry." He forgot who he was dealing with, it seemed, because he looked into her eyes once more to ensure she understood him. Instantly, he had the uneasy feeling of déjà vu once more. Just one glance into the sapphire depths caused a sick feeling in his gut that made him feel as if there was another time and place that he belonged or had been.

"Is everything all right?" she asked hesitantly.

With a jerk, Kaiba came back to himself, realizing he had been staring at her. Mentally warning himself to do no such thing again, he nodded curtly. "I will show you your own room, then. It is right next door to ensure you will hear the baby cry."

Even more hesitantly, Kiseira said, "Her name is Metsukiao."

Unaware that he was staring again, the young CEO could not reply. Anything he might say sounded needlessly cruel even to him. Abruptly, he turned and walked to the room next door.

Within was a much more commonly decorated room, well, not exactly common. There was a four-tiered bed with a canopy on one side, a writing desk and lamp on another side. Near to the window was a large, six-foot closet with a drawer next to it. Then, attached, was a small private bathroom.

Kiseira could hardly believe her eyes, and when Kaiba saw how wide her azure eyes had gone, he smirked. Since she had been found with nothing, he could guess all this seemed like needless space. However, perhaps once she was starting to be paid she could find a way to fill up the room.

"What do you plan on doing with school?" This girl was surely not old enough to be out of school already. He wondered if he should pretend to have amnesia and lose all track of himself in order to free himself of the burdensome ties of school. But, then, Kaiba did not have long to go.

"I doubt anyone will miss me or know I exist. I do not even know myself."

Her simple answer put him at a loss. It could either be wisdom or idiocy. Somehow, Kaiba was loath to pursue the topic as if forcing her to try to remember would take away from the purity of her thoughts. However, Kaiba thought he avoided it more for the reason that he would find no answers from her. She was like a Buddhist monk always having a riddle and never giving answers.

Instead, Kaiba went on to discuss payments, food, breaks, and policies. When he got to the part about warning her against improper actions, he found he did not have the strength of will to tell such an innocent creature not to do something that had obviously never crossed her mind.

If I need to discuss it with her later, I will, Kaiba thought. Grrr! Why am I even thinking about later? This is just lasting until I find someone more suitable.

"I'll go get your charge for you," he muttered instead, going straight to the door.

"Seto?" Her voice was like a breath of wind passing by his cheek.

Kaiba did not enjoy the odd thought or remembrances that came into his mind when she said his first name. That practice of hers would be the first warning she would have.

For now, Kiseira continued without knowing her danger, "Thank you."

He almost asked, "For what? You're the one who's going to have all the work to do. Why thank me? It was Mokuba who did it for you." But he did not. He saw the answer in her eyes, the only part of her to have any color. It was within the depths of their color, in the reason that Seto always seemed to have some memory when he saw her. Practically, he fled from the room in order to escape such an enchanter. The tall CEO was reminded of Ishizu with her so-called future-seeking necklace.

But he did not believe in anything like that. Or so he swore.