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Chapter Four – Ties that Bind
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Mokuba had been sleeping peacefully, oblivious to the conflict that raged around him. But his subconscious realized there was something important going on, and it dragged his protesting mind slowly out of dream land. Finally, his eyes opened sleepily, then shot open all the way as his brown eyes focused on the scene in front of him. "Big brother!" he exclaimed.

The gun dropped silently to the carpeted floor, landing with a soft thud. Nanashi stood there, trembling, head bowed in defeat. "I can't...I just...can't..." she whispered, barely audible. She'd lost...and it wasn't just her who'd lost. But in the darkness of failure that flooded her mind, a silver strand of hope appeared; the beginnings of a plan that just might work...

Seto leaped into action, rushing forward. As he did so, he pushed his hands against the girl's shoulders, moving her easily, and pinned her forcefully into the wall. She didn't resist. He lifted up her chin, silent tears streamed down a slightly tanned face. "Now," he growled, "let's try this again. Who are you?"

She opened her eyes. "Nanashi."

He stared at her a moment longer. Something seemed vaguely familiar, although he hadn't been able to place it. Suddenly, he jumped back. "I know you," he murmured. "You're the girl the Gozaburo...that Gozaburo..." he uncharacteristically tripped over the words.

He never got to finish that sentence, for that was when Kaiba's Corp.'s whole security force finally burst into the room. All eyes instantly trained on Kaiba, then shifted to Nanashi as every gun focused on her. "Mr. Kaiba, are you alright?"

"Of course I'm alright," he snapped irritably.

Two men broke away from the group, each grabbing one of Nanashi's arms in a firm grip. She didn't move to stop them, and kept her expression blank. A third man patted her down, searching for more weapons. Finally, after much deliberation, he decided the easiest thing to do would be to just take off her jacket. Searching through everything in there would take days.

The first man who spoke ventured to speak again. "The police have been notified, sir. They should be here any moment."

Kaiba's cold stare made him wish he never spoke, or had let someone else do it. "Tell them," he pronounced the words slowly and deliberately, "that it was a false warning. Do not let them in."

The man stared at his boss. The authority in his voice was unmistakable. "Y-yes, sir," he stammered, then left to take care of that situation.

"What do we do with her?" one of the guards asked.

Seto walked over to the discarded jacket. He shuffled through its contents. "She doesn't have any other weapons on her?"

"No, not that I'm aware. Although, to be absolutely sure, we'd have to stri-"

He cut the guard off. "She stays here, with me." He pulled out a dangling pair of handcuffs, and tossed it indifferently to the guard, who deftly caught it. "Put those on her. Then leave."

"Yes, sir." He quickly tightened the cuffs around her wrists, and left with the rest of Kaiba Corp.'s security team. He was curious about the odd girl, like everyone else, but had no choice but to leave. You didn't mess around with Seto Kaiba.

The door slid shut with a soft thump. "So, you do know who I am," she commented quietly. "Or rather, what." The last part came out as kind of a hiss.

"The creation of my stepfather, yes. Intended to be the ultimate assassin. He obviously failed there," he added distastefully.

"I made my own choice."

"I see. So, how much did they have to pay you to change your mind?"

"Money," she hissed back. "means nothing to me." Her gaze settled uneasily on Mokuba, who kept shifting his focus from her to Seto, confused and more than a little frightened.

"Not what, but whom," he amended, reading her expression. "You're weaker than I thought."

She whirled on him, eyes flashing. "Don't you get it? They know who I am, and they sent her here to see if I could still be used. My failure is only a minor setback. There's a million other assassin's out there they can send after you. Meanwhile, my friends must pay for my failure. And they won't hesitate to use the same ploy with him." She jerked her thumb at Mokuba. "I don't intend to sit around and discuss how weak I am. I'm leaving." In one fluid motion, the handcuffs slipped off her wrists and flung themselves at Seto's feet. She spun around and headed to the door.

He was one step ahead of her. "Computer, lock the door." The computer bleeped in answer.

She paused, but only for a second. "Computer, override. Authorization, she who is without name alpha 2 gamma."

"Authorization accepted."

She continued, the door sliding open for her with a slight hiss. "Good bye."

"Wait!"

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Sorry bout the long wait; and the second cliffy in a row. I didn't intend it to turn out that way, but didn't want to keep ya'll waiting any longer. I was stuck for awhile, then the other night got struck by inspiration! Too bad it didn't carry over past the cliffy...well, I'll try to update sooner!