Chapter 4: Truth Revealed?

Seto sat across from Shizuka in the limonene, whereas Jin sat in the front seat with the driver slowly observing the activity outside the car. Seto eyed Shizuka before he began the long discussion with her.

"Why were taking so long, Shizuko?"

"I," Shizuka mumbled, "was talking to my sensei."

"For two hours?"

"We had a big discussion about my paper." Shizuka rubbed her left arm. "I wanted to know why I received the grade I had."

"And did you have a bad one?" Seto asked causing Shizuka to twitch a bit. Seto scoffed, "Forget it. I'm just angry that you didn't call the office. Thanks to you, I had to postpone the meeting. I wanted that deal done and over with. Now, I'm vulnerable to the time they have."

"I said I was sorry." Shizuka sighed. "I didn't think that—"

"—that's right. You didn't." Seto scoffed. "You're lucky I desperately need an advisor. Otherwise, I'd fire you." Seto finished. He didn't face Shizuka but instead peered through the window to see the outside actives.

Shizuka gulped after hearing those words.

"Man, when are we gonna eat?" Jounouchi grumbled a final time before Anzu looked with narrowed eyes.

"I'VE TOLD YOU A MILLION TIMES! WE'RE WALKING OUR WAY THERE AND IT CAN'T BE HELPED UNLESS YOU HAVE MAGICAL POWERS TO MAKE US TELAPORT THERE!" Anzu yelled it all in one breath and holding Jounouchi's collar causing all the spit to splash on his face.

Everyone was silent until Jounouchi blurted, "You know, whenever you yell, you turn more and more unattractive."

Anzu became enraged and had the sudden desire to rip dear Jounouchi into a million pieces. Fortunately, both Honda and Otogi held her back while poor Yuugi tried to talk some sense into her.

"Ano, Kaiba-san," Shizuka sighed, "Are you sure it's okay to eat here?" Shizuka sat on her seat and tried to keep her little when-I-turn-nervous habits to herself.

"You have a problem, Shizuko?" Seto asked without looking at his employee but the menu.

"Ano, because…" Shizuka tried to ignore the feeling, "We're being stared at by so many people."

Seto raised his eyes to glance towards all those customers. 'Jesus, it's like they've never seen two people eat?' He scoffed.

Shizuka tried to hard to calm her blood from flowing into her cheeks. With all these people staring, it was almost like they were in a date. They were two persons, a boy and a girl, sitting at one table. They would be caught up by everyone's attention. And last, they would be slightly blushing from this attention. Well, maybe the fact that one of them was secretly disguised herself as a man threw everyone's thought off.

'Are they staring at us because they think Kaiba and I are on a date?' Shizuka asked herself questionably. 'Kaiba's wearing a suit and I…' Shizuka took a moment to look at herself, 'am not as decent but…I guess we do look like we are on one. But I'm still wearing my Shizuko get up. So do they think—? ' Shizuka paused and mentally slapped herself, 'I can't think like that! That thought might as ruin Kaiba's status in society!'

"Are you talking to yourself, Shizuko?" Seto raised his eyebrow after seeing Shizuko actually slap herself. Shizuka looked at Seto, which she had assumed he had already ordered his dinner.

"Eh? Oh, I'm okay. Haha, just fine…" Shizuka lowered her gaze.

"I hope the food in this place is cook quickly! I'm so damn hungry!"

That voice; that's tone; that complaint! It sounded all too familiar to Shizuka. She looked towards the door where she had realized that the gang was here, in this restaurant? She turned back to Seto and had realized that he was in perfect view of them. One more problem, which somehow linked to her, and she's fired for sure. She had to think of something, and fast! "Ano, Kaiba-san, do you mind switching seats? Um, the light…it's…too bright."

"But the light source is above the table, so we're going to get an even amount of light." Seto replied with a What-the-hell-are-you-talking-about tone.

"An-and the vent is starting to annoy me." Shizuka scratched her neck.

Seto sighed out of defeat and stood up while Shizuka did the same. Seto sat at the seat Shizuka once called hers. "Happy?"

"Arigatou," Shizuka smiled in a cute mater while Seto blushed slightly then shook it off.

'It's so weird to call him a guy…' Seto thought in disgust.

Shizuka made another look towards the group. 'Okay, the waiter is looking for a place to seat them. Where exactly could they sit?' Shizuka's gaze shifted to an empty table, 'Crap! There's one right next to us!' She turned for more of a search, 'Okay, there are more tables. So that means (counting) there is only a one out of 15 that the waiter would escort them to the table next to us.' Shizuka sighed.

"Here's you're table," Shizuka heard the waiter's voice, "You're waiter will be here shortly."

'You've gotta be kidding me,' Shizuka sweat-dropped seeing her brother and the gang located on the next to them. 'If you're punishing me, Kami-san (1), I am deeply sorry for…whatever I've done—!'

"Ah! Shizuko-kun!" Anzu's voice echoed seeing the boy.

'—really, really sorry!'

"Shizuko-kun?" Anzu apparently was walking towards her.

"Ah, konbanwa (2), Anzu-san!" Shizuka sweat-dropped. "It's nice to see that you are as radiant as always." Shizuka complimented without even realizing what had came out from her mouth.

"Arigatou," Anzu blushed after knowing Shizuko had some concern for her, "What are you doing here?"

"Ano, I'm here for dinner," Shizuka replied in the same manner, "…with my boss, Kaiba-san."

"Kai—Kaiba-san?" Anzu repeated then noticed Seto across from Shizuka with a little vein pop next to the temple of his head. "Ah-ha," Anzu laughed in a fake manner, "Konbanwa, Kai—Kaiba."

"What do you want, Friendship Girl?" Seto asked without seeing Anzu's now grunting face.

"Hmph! I just wanted to say Konbanwa to the nicest man in the world." Anzu grunted in reference to Shizuka.

"Anzu-san!" Shizuka hushed Anzu down trying help to keep Seto's temper down.

"NO!" Anzu yelled, "He insulted me in public!"

"What's going on here?" Shizuka heard her brother standing up from his chair. All Shizuka could do was put her elbow on the table while her hand massages her forehead, preparing herself for the up coming riot.

Shizuka groaned being, once again, stuck with paperwork at 12 o'clock in the morning. 'Documents that need Seto's approval go here, Bills go here, and complaints go here,' Shizuka took the paper, crumpled it, then threw the thing in the trash. "Man," Shizuka slammed her head onto her desk. "Onii-chan and his big mouth."

"Ooh, Kaiba eats here like the rest of us!" Jounouchi taunted after Seto gave the waitress his credit card for the bill.

"Jounouchi…" Mai silently scolded her boyfriend after receiving looks from Shizuka, "Just leave him alone, just for tonight."

"No," He whispered Mai, "He's here with Shizuka—"

"—that is disguised as Shizuko now. If you make one wrong move, she'll be discovered for sure, you ding dong!"

"And he still continues to taunt him." Shizuka sighed to herself. "And in the end, it pisses Seto off and I end up getting more paper work than Sakataki and Kyoko combined." Shizuka picked herself up before taking the pile that needs Seto's approval into her hands. She opened the door to her office and walked to the nearest door to hers, which was Seto's.

"Kaiba-san?" Shizuka knocked on her door. Yet, no reply came out, "Kaiba-san? I'm coming in." She took her key to Seto's office and opened it. She walked into the room placing the papers where they belonged in his office. "Oyasumi, Kaiba-san." She had held the doorknob before she had realized that Seto has not yet responded.

"Kaiba-san?" Shizuka turned to see that Seto's head placed down on his desk nestled by his arms. She hadn't even realized that the lights were off and the only light source was the moon through the shades of the window. Behind him was the shades pulled down with moonlight beaming through the tiny spaces between the shades. She looked at him with such curiosity. She walked towards the sleeping Kaiba and bent a light lower to meet his eye level, "Kaiba-san?" she whispered.

Seto slowly opened his eyes as his blurred vision had not fully fixed on Shizuka. His eyes saw Shizuka's face, half covered by the soft pale moon light, and half covered by the darkness of the room. The only item he saw was the little blue rose ornament that dangled from the necklace. He grumbled, "Shi—Shizuka?"

"Eh?" She asked without making a sudden movement. "Kaiba-san? It's Shizuko."

"Hmm?" She slowly got up at the same pace as Kaiba's. "Where are we?"

"We're in the office, Kaiba-san. You were so obligated to work late." Shizuka paused to see Seto's confused look. "It's about midnight."

"Midnight?"

"Hai," Shizuka responded a little uncomfortable, "Ano, I'm going to head for home. I'll see you tomorrow, Kaiba-san."

Kaiba groaned massaging his temple, "I'll give you a ride, Shizuka."

Shizuka stood still before commenting, "Ano, I'm Shizuko. Shizuka is a home sleeping." She sweat-dropped from thinking of herself sleeping at home when she's in reality she's in the office with Seto.

"Really?" Seto asked almost dazed. "Hmm, let me arrange a ride for you anyway, ano…"

"—Shizuko?" Shizuka's response sounded almost pissed. She was unsure if Seto was testing out his suspicions or just feeling too tired to think. Whatever was going on, she didn't feel like playing games. She was tired for God's sake. "There's not need. I have a ride waiting for me outside." She lied.

"Ohayo, Shizuko!" Kyoko's smiling face cheered Shizuka who apparently came to work early for once.

"Ohayo, Kyoko-chan," Shizuka smiled back as about to open the door of her office.

"Shizuko," Sakataki leaned out of his office to face Shizuka with a phone next to his shoulder, "Kaiba wanted to see you as soon as you got in."

"Hai!" Shizuka retorted happily but stopped abruptly before entering Seto's office. 'He wants to see me? As soon as I came into office? Does this mean…oh crap!' Shizuka cursed herself. 'Crap! Crap, crap, crap! I should have not answered him back yesterday. I knew he was testing me…' Shizuka continued to debate herself before entering.

"Kai—Kaiba-san?" Shizuka entered the room to see Seto's chair facing the window. She bowed her head, "You called fore me?"

"Shizuko-kun, I'm unacquainted by your status here at Kaiba Corp."

Shizuka's head shot up after noticing a change in Seto's voice. The chair swiveled to face Shizuka, to reveal a teenager that looked like he was still in high school. Shizuka just released a small smile. "Mokuba…" She sighed.

"You knew my name?" He asked with a questionable look.

Shizuka silently cursed herself before turning to him with a small chuckle. "I heard about you through my ex."

"Ah, hai. Shizuka Kawai, she's a nice one." Mokuba laughed remembering the talk Seto and he had about the new guy. Shizuka couldn't help but smile. Mokuba had a certain charm about him. This charm was pleasant; despite his age, he was still able to be the kid in everyone's eyes. "She's the sister of Jounouchi Katsuya, isn't she?"

"Hai, Kaiba-san," Shizuka smiled solemnly, wondering why he had asked that question.

"Arigatou," Mokuba smiled, "I just wanted to see the new employee that my brother hired. You can go back to work. Oh, before I forget, please call me by my first name, Mokuba. Using the surname makes me feel uncomfortable."

Shizuka, however, never left the room. She still stared at Mokuba trying to reminisce what he had looked like when he was younger. He still had his jet black hair tied in a ponytail only a little above his neck but seemed tamer and shorter. Maybe not that short, just enough to reach his shoulders. He also seemed taller and leaner. The funny thing was he was starting to actually look like Seto.

"Is there something wrong, Shizuko-san?" Mokuba asked after noticing that Shizuka has never left the office.

Shizuka snapped back from her thoughts after hearing his question. In response, she shook her head and replied, "Iie. It's nothing. Ano…" Shizuka tried to thing of something to make up for her staring, "I was going to ask you why you're here in Kaiba Corp, and not your brother."

Mokuba blinked at her. He looked at her strangely with a what-are-you-talking-about tone, "My brother is at home working." He shifted his gaze back and forth between her and the laptop next to him. "He does that every week. He stays home and makes me come into the office so that I get the experience in being in the company."

"Sou desu ka (3)…" Shizuka played her with her sleeve out of embarrassment. Judging by his tone, it seemed like it was information that she should have known, "I'll be…uh…heading for work."

Mokuba nodded slowly with a soft smile and a raise in his eyebrow, "Okay. Make me proud." He said ending with a small chuckle.

Shizuka bowed to Mokuba before she opened the door next her and exited. Mokuba watched the door slowly closed with only one thing to say, "That new employee sure is weird." He sighed before he continued to type on the laptop next to him.

Shizuka closed the door behind her and with a light sigh. She walked up to Sakataki, who was in the small office in front of hers. "Nishizuki…"

Still in the same phone call, Sakataki placed the speaker end of the phone on his shoulder. He turned around in his swivel chair to see Shizuka fuming. "Aniki-kun-I have-to-go-now. Sayonara." He quickly said to the phone and hanged up. "Shizuko! Buddy! What's up?" He tried to make a kiss-up of himself.

"You told me Kaiba wanted to see me?" She replied through her teeth.

"I did. And you did see Kaiba, didn't you?"

"Oh yeah, I saw him." Shizuka laughed sarcastically, "The thing is—let's see—you didn't tell me it was the younger Kaiba!" She exclaimed only loud enough to make Sakataki's ears bleed.

"What seems to be the problem?" Kyoko walked up to Sakataki's office where all the commotion was taking place.

"What? You couldn't tell it was the younger Kaiba?" He asked almost confused by Shizuka's actions.

"Of course I can tell!" She exclaimed back while scratching her head furiously. "After all, he's like—what—a high school student?"

"I know. Ain't he kawaii?" Kyoko smiled. However, both Shizuka and Sakataki found it un-amusing and glared at Kyoko. "Okay, sorry for voicing my opinion."

Sakataki ignored Kyoko's response, "Just why, exactly, are you panicking—?"

"—I just made an ass of myself in front of him—" She replied while massaging her temples.

"—like a girl?" Sakataki finished to only having Shizuka frozen.

'Ah, man…' Shizuka laughed sarcastically, 'what a time to bring it up…'

"I don't know how comfortable you are about your masculinity, but 'guys'," He quoted, "don't 'freak out' when they make an ass of themselves in front of their bosses. We usually scoff, ridicule and-or lie about it. But we don't come out of that office making a big hullabaloo (he said with big hand motions). We can only do that when we screw up with girls. Okay?" Sakataki asked with almost concern.

Shizuka slowly exhaled while nodding. "Okay," Sakataki sighed while patting Shizuka's shoulder, "Okay…" He patted his shoulder one last time before Shizuka and he turn and made their way to their offices, while Kyoko just stood there. Kyoko was unable to understand this male thing, as much as she and Shizuka understood the behavior of men Sakataki had explained.

Shizuka walked through the streets of Domino as Shizuko once more during lunch break. Remembering that she made a fool of herself in front of her boss' brother, she had wanted to escape the office for a while. Funny thing was she wasn't alone this time. Jin had been following her. After the last incident (her being late to work), it was decided that Jin would accompany her whenever she comes into the office and out.

"So, Jin," Shizuka needed to start a conversation with her bodyguard, "Is there any type of food you want to eat?"

Jin didn't respond.

Shizuka eyed him strangely before trying to make another attempt. "Earth to Jin! Human Shizuko, try to talk to very quiet alien Jin." She said playfully. However, Jin just stared at her like she was a manic.

Jin sighed knowing that this guy wouldn't take silence as an answer. "Nothing in particular."

"See?" Shizuka smiled. "Why can't you just respond when someone talks to you?

"Becoming close to someone becomes a distraction." Jin replied looking around.

"Why is it a distraction?" Shizuka asked. Jin stared at her for a moment without realizing what he had just afterwards.

"I'll tell you one day."

All Shizuka did was smile back before turning to open a glass door to a place where she and Jounouchi would eat usually. The place was a decent sized. There was a light color scheme of tan and brick read. And the placed seemed bore of a café instead of a restaurant.

"This way, please." A waitress directed Shizuka and Jin into their table. As soon as Shizuka and Jin sat the waitress gave them their menus before saying, "I'll be back."

Shizuka read the booklet and hadn't noticed Jin's stare. His eyes watched Shizuka as she took no note of it. The waitress came back and the two made their orders. She left once more and, once again, Shizuka was somehow preoccupied to notice Jin's stares. This was surprisingly interesting to him.

Their meals had come. Before Jin, there laid a set of tempura that varied shrimp to vegetables. Within that set, he had rice with other assortments, one of which was tofu. And next to his set was a small cup of broth. And for Shizuka, all she had was a salad out of varied greens and an Italian dressing. Never in his life had he seen a man order iced tea and a salad as a lunch meal.

"Is all that you plan on eating?" Jin asked reluctantly looking at her so-called meal.

"Hai," She replied without even thinking.

"Are you sure? Aren't you going to order more? After all, you need to eat up because you're going to work long hours anyway." Jin broke his chopsticks and sharpened them. Shizuka was going to respond but she heard, "Are you dieting?"

"Di-dieting?" Shizuka choked. "By dieting, what do you mean?"

"Like girls do," Jin scoffed after he chewed on his tofu. "They practically make themselves starve to death and then work out for God knows how many hours."

Shizuka laughed in a fake manner, "No kidding…"

"You had a girlfriend, ne?" He asked before taking some tempura into his mouth. "Didn't she diet? Or watch her figure by making herself starve and then run 20 to 50 miles a day?" He muffled at the thought.

"Ah…not really," She tried think back of when she did so.

"Then why don't you eat more?"

"Ano," Shizuka sweat-dropped, "I guess I'm trying to make myself look available to the ladies."

"Shizuko, you're skinny as hell." Jin mocked. "If I weren't your bodyguard, I could beat you up in six seconds."

"That's nice to know," Shizuka laughed, silently thanking God that he was her bodyguard. "After my break up with my last girlfriend, I think it's been hard for me to look for someone."

"Shizuko-kun?"

Jin turned to see a tall brunette make her way towards Shizuka. Her attire was casual with just plain jean skirt and a t-shirt covered by a jean jacket along with what looked like boots.

"Ah, konnichiwa, Anzu." Shizuka greeted. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I just came from work. I'm on a lunch break. How about you?"

"Same goes here. Oh, this is my office mate, Jin. Jin, this is Anzu my fri—I mean, ex's friend." She quickly recovered. Jin extended his hand as Anzu did the same, thinking that his formality was a bit awkward.

"Well, I'll see you around, Shizuko-kun." Anzu waved before taking her leave. Shizuka waved in the same happy matter. But her expression soon changed when she saw Jin's eyebrow.

"It's—uh—hard for you to look someone, heh?" He finished his broth.

Knock-knock

"Shizuko-kun?" Mokuba asked shyly entering the unlocked office. When no reply came, he fully opened the office to see neat filing cabinets, organized shelves, cluttered desk, and a computer nearby, but no Shizuko. Mokuba scratched the back of his head as he thought aloud, "Where is he?"

"Fef should be comin-af back, bosh-af."

Mokuba turned to see Sakataki's popped up head out of his office with his lunch still in his mouth. "Excuse me?" Mokuba raised a brow.

Sakataki swallowed his lunch and repeated, "He should be coming back. Any minute now in fact. He and Jin went out for lunch."

Mokuba nodded his head and thanked Sakataki. In return, Sakataki made a small salute and went back to his lunch break. Mokuba shook his head because of the employees that his brother hired. He walked deeper into Shizuka's office. He silently closed the door until he heard the spring of the doorknob settle in place. Mokuba diverted his attention back towards the desk where all the information he wanted in the first place.

"Gomen nasai, Shizuko-kun," He whispered to himself. "Demo…Seto told me to watch out for you."

He continued to creep slowly to Shizuka's desk. He carefully moved some papers, hoping that none of them were in a certain category or organization. Then he browsed the other contents of her desk. Writing utensils weren't that important to look at. Neither were the random post-its that occupied some of its space. That's when something caught Mokuba's eye, the picture of Jounouchi and herself on her desk.

'What the hell is this doing here?' Mokuba asked himself. He took the framed document onto his hands where he closely examined it. At least Jounouchi was being his usual self, a complete idiot posing with a goofy grin and bunny ears behind his sister's head. Shizuka was also in character. The shy, timid girl folded her hand diligently with a small smile spread across her lips.

'This is Shizuka currently?' He doubted it. As much as he hated to admit it, but it seemed like the all the yelling and argument in the Kaiba household actually held some purpose. (4)

Briiiiing-Briiiiing

Mokuba yelped slightly after hearing Shizuka's office phone ring. A small gust of hot breath escaped his lips as he held his chest while breathing in rhythm. 'It's just the phone…' Mokuba sighed taking the photo frame from the floor and placed it where it originally belonged.

Moshi-moshi? Anyone there?

A voice came out of Shizuka's answering machine. Mokuba turned after hearing so. He had recognized the voice. That's probably why his eyebrows started to narrow.

Hey kid! Are you there? Oh well, you're probably out or something. Listen, I need to tell you something. Your—(pause) girlfriend's brother has to stay over at my house. It seems that the ding-dong fell down the stairs again. (groaned) Pathetic, really. Okay, call me back.

'What the hell was that? Doesn't that voice belong to that Mai character?'

The door behind him opened rather quickly. Mokuba turned abruptly to see Shizuka making bewildered looks at him. "Is there something you're looking for, Mokuba?" Shizuka closed the door behind her as she removed her fall jacket and hung it in her coat rack.

"Me? No—I—I mean—hai!" He sweat dropped, almost making it obvious that his job was to spy on him for Seto.

After a couple of minutes of awkward silence, "And that would be…?" Shizuka asked almost in a sarcastic tone.

"Oh! The…umm…" Mokuba thought hard, "The—the—the—" He snapped his fingers after each word.

"—papers for your signature?" Shizuka took a guess at it.

"Hai!" Whatever it was, it had saved him.

"Umm…" Shizuka stared at him. She then pointed at a pile of papers located behind him with the combinations of kanjis and hiraganas saying Papers to be sent to Kaiba-san.

"Oh." Mokuba chucked lightly to himself to hide the stupidity he felt inside, "I knew that. I was just…testing you. You know, to see if you had any idea where things were, in your office."

Shizuka nodded slowly as if she was retarded.

Mokuba turned trying to hide his face that clearly screamed—I screwed up completely. He picked up the papers from the desk and made his way to the door without another word being said.

Safe behind his brother's office walls, Mokuba sighed heavily before retreating to Seto's chair. "I hope he's right about this. If not, I feel like a complete imbecile."

Briiiiing-Briiiiing

Mokuba looked at the phone and saw Seto's extension number blinking bright red while it rang in course with the rhythm. He silently sighed to himself before bring the receiver to his ear. "Moshi-moshi?" He asked.

"Did you do what I have asked of you?" Mokuba sighed after hearing the familiar tone of voice from his elder sibling. "Well…?"

"Gomen ne. I looked around his office," Mokuba switched hands with the telephone. The now free hand massaged his temples that caused a slight pain in his head, "I found nothing. I don't know if your theory was even correct."

"You've found nothing? It's just an office! Anyone can surely find their way in an office. And Shizuko's not even sloppy!"

"I said I was sorry." Mokuba sighed back knowing his brother's raged. Mokuba heard his brother's grunt on the other line before responding, "I'm not too good on this spy thing. But I did get a good look at his desk though." Even though Mokuba couldn't see him, Mokuba betted that Seto's attention was caught. "There was a photo on her desk."

"Oh?"

"It was a picture of Jounouchi and his sister, Shizuka." That's when between the two began. "Seto?"

"I'm okay. I'll be back in the office tomorrow. I need you to be there as well."

"Nani?" Mokuba made a combination of a gasp and a groan. "Me? Aw, come on. I went to the office today. I don't see why I have to go tomorrow—"

"—you won't have to go to school for tomorrow—."

"—I'll be there!" Mokuba heard Seto chuckle a bit.

The next day…

Mokuba walked into Seto's office with a perplexed look on his face. Seto's eye didn't move from the computer screen and took little interest of this expression plastered on his younger sibling's face until Mokuba's voice broke the silence, "You're employees are weird."

Seto responded abruptly, "Why?" He didn't even lift his head from his computer but instead shifted his eyes so that he may see his expressions.

"I was in the restroom and there was someone, I think, calling on his cell phone—"

"—that's not weird." Seto quickly concluded. "I don't forbid as my employees to use their cell phones. They can use their cell phones wherever. Just not during our meetings—"

"—But he's in the restroom! It's considered weird to be using your cell phone in the restroom." Mokuba added emphasis on his words. He tried to explain that ordinary people didn't use the bathroom to use their cell phone. Mokuba laughed at the thought of "getting better reception" there. Using the bathroom was strictly for "taking care of business"!

Seto laughed at his comments. "What's so funny about it?" Mokuba protested. "It's not like I want to look down on the floor and ask him if his call is considered as a personal or a business one." Seto just continued to laugh. "Hahaha, laugh while you can." Mokuba responded sarcastically. "The only funny thing about it is this guy was speaking in feminine speech."

Seto's laughter ended expeditiously. Feminine speech…? From the Male's bathroom…?

"Do you know who it was?"

"Why would I ask that in the men's bathroom?"

"I…did my best, so it's enough now, right?" She said in a shaky voice. She tried to resist the trembling pain within her. She couldn't turn back, not now. All Haruko could do was gasp from her niece's statement. "I can rest, right?" Misuzu smiled hoping that it covered the image of her suffering but made a small yelp from the pain on her back.

"You mean it hurts?" Haruko gasped while not accepting the fact that Misuzu had lied. "You've been hurting all this time?" Following her motherly instincts, she approached her struggling niece. But Misuzu's voiced stopped her from continuing any forward. Misuzu embraced herself with her stuffed dinosaur in her arms. Misuzu didn't want her "mother" to worry. She instead smiled warmly and caused Haruko to continue, "That's a lie. Just say it's a lie. You're going to start recovering, right?" She held back her tears, "Your dreams were supposed to have ended, right?"

"Gomen nasai, okaa-san." Misuzu took a step forward. Misuzu continued to walk as she explained herself. "Demo…I was able to finish everything, so—so I'll go to my goal, okay?"

Haruko denied her thought. She forbids Misuzu to continue walking towards her. "It just started! Didn't we just start our lives anew yesterday? We're going to take it back; the happy life that should have started 10 years ago. We're going to take it all back starting now! Our happiness just started!"

Misuzu continued with her happy smiled, "Iie, we did everything. It's enough already. A lifetime's worth of happiness was crammed into this summer…"

"Iie!" Haruko refused to believe it. She shook her head, denying all the lies Misuzu had said to her. "That's wrong! There are still lots of things I still want to do, lots of things I want to do with my beloved Misuzu! All that starts now—!" She yelled still holding back those tears.

"—One more time," Misuzu smiled still making her way towards Haruko, "the summer vacation when I thought I'd do my best; the summer vacation that started when I met Yukito-san." She remembered all the fun times she had with that "free loader" of theirs. "Even though a lot of things happened, even though it hurts or was painful at times, I'm glad I tried my hardest!" She smiled. "Because my goal was to be happy…because I wasn't all alone…so…that's why…I'll go to my goal now, okay—?"

"—IIE, IT STARTS NOW!" Haruko yelled. "I'm saying it all starts now!"

The scene abruptly ended by a flashing ray of light. There Misuzu stretched out her arms to Haruko. Their bodies met with the quiet sound of their clothes clashing. All was quiet till Misuzu softly said, "…goal…" Leaves softly drifted its way down onto the ground as a voice sang.

ano umi dokomade mo aokatta tooku made
That eternal ocean blue ocean stretched into the distance

"What are you guys watching?" Sakataki asked walking to Kyoko's small office space, where Shizuka and Kyoko were.

"Shhh!" The both hushed the man. Shizuka and Kyoko turned their heads back to view what has become of Misuzu.

"I've finally reached it." Misuzu sighed in a soft voice. She was held by her mother's arms on the ground as the hot summer sun shone down on the small family. "The place I've always looked for, the place of happiness; the place of…eternal happiness…" She corrected herself with a softer voice. Her body was now weak.

"Iie. I don't want…" Haruko cried as tears started to flow nonstop.

"That's a bad picture of her with all those tears comin' out—" Sakataki commented watching the screen.

"Sakataki no baka!" Kyoko hushed hitting Sakataki's head with random papers rolled up into a bat.

Misuzu made one last glace at her "mother" and said with a soft voice before letting go. "Okaa-san…arigatou…"

Haruko held her child's hand and squeezed it hard. "Misuzu!" She cried to the heavens hoping to be heard.

"You watch this crap, Shizuko?" Sakataki turned his head towards his boss. He quickly stared back in shock in seeing Shizuka's face.

"Misuzu…" Shizuka whined seeing the what-could-have-happened memories while the song Aozora continued to play. (5)

"You have got to be kidding…" Sakataki sweat-dropped. "When lunch break comes along, I thought you would have left to eat out. But no! You stay here and watch dramatic animé with Kyoko." He made one more glance towards Shizuka, who simply sniffed while wiping her tears as the closing story of the animé came. Sakataki sighed, "I swear, you disappoint me, Shizuko. You've got to be the most pitied man in the universe. "

"What happened to Misuzu?" Kaito walked into the scene with a plastic bag in his hand.

"I take that back." Sakataki said sarcastically while crossing his arms and changed the direction of his face.

"You've missed it, Kaito." Kyoko sighed turning off the small, transportable, TV screen. "It was a touching episode." She took the little base of the TV and carefully placed in her drawer located to the left of her. She closed the drawer and sealed it with the lock of her key.

"And…You don't mind telling me what happened?" Kaito raised his eyebrows.

"Well—" Shizuka started.

"Iie!" Kyoko forcibly slapped her hand in front of Shizuka's mouth, which only muffles came out. "You weren't here to watch it. You suffer the consequences of your actions."

"Aw, crap!" Kaito cursed himself almost sarcastically, "And I went all the way down five blocks to get the lunch that you too desired, Kyoko." Kyoko twitched hearing the words lunch and desired. "Here's the ramen set my dear pal, Sakataki, ordered. The chopped pork with udon noodles I ordered. The plain onigiri with hamburger Jin ordered. And—" He took out the containers of the plastic bag and distributed one by one. "—oh yes, I almost forgot!" Kyoko smiled to herself as Kaito extended his hands with a container towards Kyoko.

Kyoko smiled, "Why thank yo—"

"—Here, Shizuko, my dear, your tempura ramen." He placed the container into Shizuka's hand.

"Ar-ri-ga-tou go-i-ma-zu!" Shizuka muffled through Kyoko's hand in a weird chibi voice which sounded phonetically correct.

Kaito smiled at his little crossdresser. "I guess that's it!" He turned to take the rest of the contents of his plastic bag. Kyoko quickly released her hold on Shizuka and walked towards Kaito.

"Mochizuki! Why did you give Sakataki, Jin, and Shizuko their lunch? And not me?"

"Simple," Kaito sighed, "Sakataki wasn't watching; Jin wasn't even there, and Shizuko…" He paused, "Shizuko is just a sweet kid."

"That's it?"

"And he offered to tell me what happened unlike someone I know." He heavily emphasized this 'someone'. Kaito continued to walk away. However, Kyoko wasn't that easy to shake off. She had followed him screaming insults.

"This is how a full weekday in Kaiba Corp. turns out?" Shizuka asked Sakataki as she pulled the lid off of the lunch container. She stood next to him as he sharpened the chopsticks.

"Eh," He shrugged.

Briiiiing-Briiiiing

Sakataki diverted his attention towards his office phone. He looked at the button blinking along with the ring. "Oi, Shizuko." He called, "It's you're extension." Shizuka swallowed the piece of ramen noodle that she had chewed on and nodded. Sakataki placed the container on his desk before making his away towards the phone. He lifted the receiver and pressed the button for Shizuka's extension. "Kaiba Corporations, Nishizuki Sakataki, how may I help you?" He spoke with his secretary voice.

"Uh…hi. Is Shizu—Shizuko there?"

"May I ask whom I'm speaking to?" Sakataki sighed.

"Please tell him it's Mai."

"One moment," Sakataki responded as he pressed the hold button. "Oi, Shizuko." He called to his boss who was currently chewing on one of her tempura. "It's this Mai-girl. She wants to speak to you." Shizuko nodded. She swallowed the last remains of her lunch and walked to the receiver of the phone. "Moshi-moshi?"

"Hiya, sexy!" Mai responded in a seductive voice.

"Eh? Mai—Mai?" Shizuka choked. "What the…?"

"I'm just joking with you." Mai laughed. "Who was the guy that I talked to before?"

"Oh, that's Sakataki. He's my…secretary..."

"Secretary? He sounded pretty sexy for a secretary."

"Mai!" Shizuka gasped.

"Okay, I didn't mean it that way. How much time do you have until your lunch break is over?"

Shizuka made one quick glance towards the clock. "About half an hour more, I think."

"Thanks, 'Shizuko'. Can you tell Shizuka for me that I wanna take her out somewhere? I promise to take her back before thirty minutes."

Shizuka smiled, "Okay, I'll go—"

"—you mean Shizuka, right?"

"Right," Shizuka said sarcastically following Mai's lead. Shizuka said farewell before placing the phone down. "Sakataki, I'll be out for a couple of minutes. You can get me through my cell phone." Shizuka exclaimed going to grab her coat.

"'kay," Sakataki responded still watching Kyoko chase Kaito for her lunch.

Shizuka cursed to herself as she ran down the street. 'Fifty minutes and counting! I'm late by fifty minutes and counting.' Shizuka yelled, inwardly. She raced by every person she passed. Heck, she didn't even care that her teal, smoked, crinkled, seersucker mini skirt was flying! All she knew was she had to get there before anyone, especially a tall brunette boss, notices she was gone for a long amount of time. She thanked God that she wore sneakers.

Up ahead, Shizuka saw a familiar building with a big KC in front. She cried out in joy as she ran her way inside. That explains why no one was about to see her.

Shizuka ran to the bathroom located for the women. She pushed the door hard. Yet, it would open. She pushed harder. Still, there was no sign of success. 'What is this world coming to?' She shoved the door some more. Luck never gave her a chance.

She turned the opposite way and red MALE RESTROOM in bold kanji letters. 'If a guy sees Shizuka in there, it's not my fault.' Shizuka finalized. With another effort, Shizuka pushed the door that blocked her from the bathroom stall.

But it too was locked.

'What the? Kami-san(1)!' She screamed to herself as her fists pounded onto the door.

"May I help you?"

Shizuka's back stiffened hearing a recognizable voice. The tone sounded dark, husky, and defiantly masculine. 'Arigatou…' Shizuka mentally and sarcastically cried to God. Shizuka turned slowly to the owner of the voice and patted herself on the shoulder for having the right guess. "Konichiwa, Kaiba-san."

Seto had his arms crossed. He didn't look irritated. He looked like he had expected her presence.

"Shizuka Kawai, is it?"

"Un…" Shizuka agreed quietly as her head moved down to her sneakers, trying to avoid the man's gaze.

"Why are here in my company?" He questioned. "I don't believe you're trying to get a job here in Kaiba Corporations."

"Oh-no-no, that's-not-the-reason-why, Kaiba-san." Shizuka said in one breath while gripping her fist in front of her stomach. "I—I was um…looking for Shizuko." She mentally patted herself on the shoulder. "He left a text message on my cell and it sounded serious. I wanted to look for him and check up on him."

"And you intended to find him in the men's bathroom?"

Shizuka turned to remember why he had caught her in the first place. She quiet yelped seeing the multiple kanji that read MALE RESTROOM.

"Oh," She laughed, "My mistake. I meant to go here." She gently turned the other side to open the women's restroom. She fortunately remembered that it was locked when she felt the unmoving door.

"I'm sorry, but bathrooms in this area are for employees only." He said with a small smirk.

'Funny, I don't remember that rule before.' Shizuka scoffed in her head.

Pi-pi-pi-pi-pi

Seto looked to his pocket located on his blazer. He humbly asked Shizuka to hold the papers that occupied his hands. She unconsciously accepted the papers and held them with the grasps of her hands.

Seto took the cell from his pocket and took a glace at the kanjis laid across the screen. He pressed the button and spoke, "Kaiba."

Shizuka's eyes wondered her surroundings as if she had never been inside the building. However, she couldn't help but stare at Seto's expressions as he spoke to the cell. Sure, there was some yelling, sighing, and more Kaiba-grunting. Yet, it was intriguing that his flirting tone was soon changed into a serious-business-type one.

"Shizuka," He spoke, snapping Shizuka back from her usual monologue-like thoughts, "I'm very sorry to cut our conversation short. I'm afraid I have a couple of visitors waiting to have a meeting with me and Shizuko."

"Shizuko?" Shizuka repeated with her eyes widened.

"I'm afraid so. My secretary had just called and told me that Shizuko has been missing for a while now."

"Missing?" She repeated with a little more sweat this time. "Re—really? He—he can't be found?"

Seto shook his head. "He was supposed to be accompanied with his bodyguard. Unfortunately, he had not told anyone that he stepped out."

"—I told—! I—I mean, I bet he told that secretary of his that he was leaving." Shizuka corrected herself.

"I guess he did." Seto sighed. "Thanks for holding my papers for me. It must have been very impolite of me." Shizuka tried to contradict his statement, but he quickly grabbed the papers back. He had left a trail of blood within her index finger. "Oh," He said almost seductively, "I must have given you a paper cut."

Shizuka shook her head. "Iie. It's noth—" Shizuka stopped mid-sentence.

Seto took her hand hastily. Shizuka unconsciously, made her index finger stick out more than her other fingers. Seto drove his lips towards her finger and started to suck the blood away from her delicate finger. Shizuka blushed at all this. She didn't even the slight sting that had distracted her before. Doesn't anyone even notice this? It was strange that no one was even near the restrooms.

Seto raised his head from the tomato-red Shizuka. He smirked seductively and said, "I do hope you get a band-aid for that cut."

Shizuka stood there both dumbfounded and speechless. Seto looked at the little blue string that hung around her neck. "I'm glad that you're still wearing the necklace." Shizuka quickly changed her gaze towards the little accessory around her neck. She hadn't even realized that it was even on.

Pi-pi-pi-pi-pi

"Is that yours?" Seto acted as if nothing had happened. Shizuka snapped out of her mental thought and took out her cell phone with the kanjis 1 NEW TEXT MESSAGE. She sighed and pressed the necessary buttons. 'From Sakataki?' She opened the message.

Shizuko, get back here as soon as possible.
You have an unexpected meeting with those guys that had to reschedule.
If you don't get back here now, we're all screwed.

"May I ask who that was from?" Seto asked.

"That—that was Shizuko." Shizuka hid the screen from Seto's eyesight. "He's on his way here." Shizuka's thumbs moved rapidly. She intended to reply to Sakataki that she was on his way. "I'll just tell him that he has to get here in a hurry."

"Go do that." Seto smiled somewhat. "I'm sure we'll meet again, Kawai." He spoke while Shizuka lifted her head in his response. He was already half way down the hall with a profile of his face and a small wave of his hand.

Shizuka sighed after she had pressed a confirmation to send the text. 'Kami-san, I understand that lying is wrong. You can stop punishing me.' Shizuka shook her head in disbelief. The problem now was to look for an available bathroom.

Seto smirked at his work. He had left an… unforgettable impression on the girl that captured his gaze. Having this thought in his head made him want to laugh even more. He pressed a single button on his cell and placed it close to his ear.

"Mokuba, is the meeting in the same conference room?"

"Hai! Aniki-kun, I'm don't understand why you had requested to have all the restrooms on the lobby and first floor closed. The ladies down there might have a riot."

"You may open them, Mokuba." He smirked. "I got what I needed."

'I'm late. I'm late. I'm late.' Shizuka repeated while staring at her watches with her shoes tapping on the elevator floor. The doors opened to the desired floor. After a few moments on the fifteenth floor, Sakataki ran towards Shizuko.

"Where in Kami-san's name have you been?" He exclaimed.

"I—I—I—" Shizuka started.

"Ah, forget it. There's no time." Sakataki grunted pulling Shizuka's sleeve. "You have to be in conference room2-50 in five minutes."

"In conference-what?" Shizuka asked as she was being pushed into the hallway where Seto stood with a small smile.

"Nice of you to join us, Shizuko." He said almost sarcastically. Shizuka tried to hide the increasing blush that swelled within her cheeks. Seto saw this and made him smile even more. "I want you to look over these files before entering the discussion. This way, you can be on the same track as everyone else." Shizuka nodded accepting the papers that were presented to her.

Seto took notice on the small bandage on her left index finger. "Did something happen on your way here, Shizuko?"

"Hmmm?" Shizuka stared up to meet Seto's gaze that met her finger. "Oh, that? I got a paper cut thanks to some guy that didn't let me use the damn toilet." Shizuka responded; without realizing the information that leaked out of her mouth.

Seto laughed to himself quietly and looked at Shizuka whose eyes scanned the papers that was handed to her. He smiled.

'So... it's been Shizuka that's been here all along.'

Shizuka's eyes popped up to see Seto's gaze as she followed him into the conference room where the two had spent the rest of the working day in.

(1) Means God
(2) Means Good Evening
(3) Means I see (as in oh, okay)
(4) Will be explained next chapter.
(5) This scene is in the 12th episode of AIR. This is a highly dramatic show, which was dragged into because of its video game (swirly eyes). So if you're not an I-love- drama-shows that--make-me-tear person, don't watch it. Otherwise, do so. Oh, and the translation was based on the Koi's version of the episode.

In regards for the last chapter:

PinkstarzNice to hear that you still have the love to write more fics and that you're a SPIRAL fan! (grins) yes! There is a God!
pink-strawberriesNya-ha, thanks! (blushes)
vendred13:The reason why Kaiba was a bit OOC last chapter will be explained soon. Hopefully…
k i k o k e n:Thanks for the advice. I'll keep that in mind!
Neoelite: Who knows? Does he know? (turns around and snickers in the background) I guess you'll just have to wait. Oh wait, you did. (laughs) That was a crappy joke…
Setine: Thanks. I found a copy of the story (thanks to Pinkstarz's profile). Hmm…Seto could be as blind as a bat, but I think you could think differently now. Kaiba Seto works in mysterious ways (laughs)
newblue: That's what most people tell me… I would go crazy when I'm dying for an update, I think.
XR.I.PXX:Who knows? (laughs)
StarWolf4: Don't worry. I don't intend on giving up… unless I have no other choice (raises her eyebrows thinking of how that option would come out)
Darkhope: That's good to hear!
Skitzoflame: I just did! (laughs)

Thanks for sticking by! When people review, I feel less and less like an idiot for typing such a fic (sweatdrop).

Ah! I'm not keeping up with my new year's resolution! (slaps her forehead) I'm a sad excuse of an authoress! At least I tried to give your all a long chapter so what no one kills me for giving short a short chapter and a long update… (Groans to herself) I'm sorry, guys. I'm really trying honestly! My hectic schedule—it's too much for me. (sighs) Well, I can always quit school. (laughs) But then, that wouldn't be cool. (bi-da!)

But next chapter will be a doozy, now that our dear Seto has a little suspicion about a certain employer of his. (wink-wink)

Anyways, thanks for reading and have a pleasant… ((insert time of day here))! (laughs) I'm really sorry for the delay. Please find it in your hearts to forgive me.