Author's note: Thanks for the feedback guys! I appreciate it 'muchly' (it can too be a word!)
………………………
Chapter 2
Anzu waited until she was well out of view of Kaiba's office before she allowed herself to slump against the wall with relief.
So apparently the Big Bad Wolf wasn't completely out to get her, despite what the predatory gleam in his pretty eyes would have her believe as he'd ogled her legs. Of course his leering wasn't done out of admiration, she noted, he would never actually see her that way. In typical Kaiba fashion, he'd simply meant to make her uncomfortable and assert his dominance.
And he'd succeeded too, she'd been mortified to realize even while she felt her cheeks heat up right in front of his piercing gaze. He'd smirked, relishing his small victory, just another point to add to the scorecard that was rapidly filling up in his favor. God, he was such an asshole.
He sat calmly behind his desk like some sort of master strategist viewing each unnecessary interpersonal relationship competitively. Always trying to outmaneuver those he labeled as his opponents, each smile, glance, utterance just another move in the never-ending game he'd created for himself.
It annoyed her. Anzu could kick back and play Scrabble or Monopoly now and then, but she couldn't stand games when it came to people. She liked the direct approach, never beating around the bush or equivocating, she would always cut through the shit and say exactly what she meant.
Granted, it would sometimes lead to putting her foot in her mouth, or making a complete idiot of herself. But life was too short to concoct elaborate walls around her heart or throw up smokescreens left, right, and center. How could somebody truly live their life if they didn't do it honestly?
She hated the way Kaiba made her feel with his games. In his lair, on his turf, he already had the upper-hand. Then to stand before him while he lounged in his office in a skirt that had never made her feel so self-conscious every other time she'd worn it. His sex appeal was more than apparent in such close quarters with brown hair falling carelessly into smoldering navy blue eyes. Strong, slender hands casually rested on his desk, and the button up shirt he wore hinted at the muscular frame it covered. When did he get so hot, anyway?
Which was just another thing that annoyed her about him; the fact that such a cold-hearted bastard could be so beautiful… it just wasn't right. Or fair.
Anzu shook her head, and pried herself away from the wall. This was stupid. She wasn't here to fret over the ridiculously good-looking guy she couldn't stand, she was supposed to be waking up his brother.
Now there was the true Kaiba mystery: How the two widely different siblings shared the same genes. Mokuba was a sweet, shy little boy who actually kind of reminded her of Yugi sometimes. She'd first met the smoky eyed cutie when she'd passed the elementary school by her house on her way to catch the bus a few months ago.
It was still rather early, and Mokuba told her after the fact that Seto had dropped him off before classes so he could set up his science project before the other students arrived. Of course, not two seconds after the limo vanished from sight, some over-muscled thug looking to make a quick buck, advanced on the poor kid.
Anzu was no kind of hero, and under normal circumstances wouldn't think of challenging the brawny guy who could have easily snapped her neck. But she really hated bullies, and something about Mokuba's innocent, frightened features made her move. A face full of pepper spray and a kick to the crotch later, and the thug was incapacitated until the cops arrived.
Since that day, Anzu had her own four foot tall, dark haired little fan club. Mokuba would wave at her every morning when she passed his school on her way to her own, and he'd even given her chocolate on Valentine's day. The boy was smitten, and Anzu was quite taken with his sweet disposition and quiet cleverness.
If her job was looking after him all summer, then maybe this all wouldn't be so bad. At the very least, time spent in Mokuba's pleasant company would take the edge off her inevitable association with Seto.
"Knock, knock," she called out even while she opened the door Kaiba had instructed belonged to his brother. "Awake yet, Mokuba?"
"Yeah."
Kaiba Mokuba sat in the center of his bed in dinosaur pajamas, his gray-lavender eyes focused solely on the big screen TV in front of him, shaggy dark hair sticking up in every which direction. He bit his lip in an adorable expression while he concentrated on his video game.
"Hey you," Anzu grinned at the boy. "Your brother told me you'd be sleeping."
Mokuba paused the game and set the controller aside, before turning to her with a wide smile of his own. "I wanted to be awake when you got here."
"Cool," she plopped down on a bright blue beanbag near the foot of his bed. "So how awesome is it that the two of us get to hang out all summer?"
"Pretty awesome," he confirmed, beaming at her. "We're going to have fun."
"You bet we are!"
For the first time that day, she actually felt pretty good about herself. Sure, the world was out to get her, but at least one Kaiba was glad to see her. The hopeful little boy's smile was enough to push all the stress from her tense muscles, and a newly relaxed Anzu suddenly felt the inherent playfulness she'd inherited from her mother slipping in.
She shot up from the beanbag, adopting a stern pose reminiscent of Mrs. Aihara's from earlier and raised an eyebrow in mock seriousness.
"But don't be fooled into thinking this is all about fun and games," she soberly stated. "I do have a whole list of activities that are off limits, regardless of how cool they are."
Mokuba looked as though he didn't know whether to be nervous or amused, "What do you mean?"
"Well for starters, scrap all plans you might have been formulating for an end-of-the-school-year-musical-celebration," she was the picture of seriousness as she presented the rule, "There will be no singing for the duration of the summer."
The boy dissolved into laughter, "No singing? At all?"
"Hmm," she pretended to give it some thought, "Well, I suppose I can't stop you from hitting a few notes in the shower, but for your own safety I must insist you keep it to a bare minimum."
He grinned, "If you say so."
"Oh, I do say so," she insisted as she approached the bed, leaning towards him conspiratorially, "And here's the really important part: under no circumstances are you to ask me to sing with you."
"Why not?"
Anzu crumpled onto the mattress with a belabored sigh, and snatched up a pillow to bury her face in.
"I can't sing," she admitted tragically.
Mokuba plucked the pillow away, and studied her face carefully, "Of course you can sing."
"Oh no I can't," she gravely informed him, "I once thought I could too, before I was confronted with the terrible truth."
She was mostly teasing, but Anzu was telling the truth; she did have a terrible singing voice and there was a signed contract in her wallet to prove it.
"You see Mokuba, one day my three friends, Yugi, Jounouchi, Honda and I got this wild idea to test out Yugi's grandfather's brand new Karaoke machine," she began the tale as though recalling a troubling memory.
Truthfully the incident, while mortifying, was one she remembered with amusement now and she was certain her charge would agree.
"Honda was first up, and surprised us all with a voice reminiscent of a young Frank Sinatra."
"Frank, who?"
Anzu smiled fondly at the boy's confused expression, "An American singer whose popularity soared back in the 'old days.' I'll bring some of my dad's old records by sometime for you to listen to… for strictly educational purposes of course."
He nodded excitedly, "Really?"
"Of course," she couldn't resist reaching out to ruffle his hair. "Now where was I? Oh right. Yugi and Jounouchi performed a tolerable duet. It was nothing to write home about, but it didn't make you want to go deaf either."
Mokuba snickered, "And then it was your turn?"
"Ah!" She pressed the back of her hand to her forehead as though traumatized, "If only I'd contracted laryngitis that day and spared my poor friends such torture."
"That bad, huh?"
She recalled the horrified expressions on the faces of the three people she held dear and smiled ruefully, "Jounouchi actually drew up this written contract and made me sign it, swearing I would never sing again. Honda demanded to know what the song had done to deserve such abuse."
"And Yugi?" the boy leaned forward, on the edge of his proverbial seat.
"Yugiactually went so far as to suggest that maybe singing wasn't exactly an area I excelled at," she informed him, "But he's the nice one."
"Okay," Mokuba said through his laughter, "No singing, I understand. What else?"
"What else?"
"Well yeah," his eyes were wide and sparkling beneath messy bangs, "You probably have more rules to make sure I don't get any ideas that will just end up embarrassing you. What else can't you do?"
"Math," Anzu said seriously, "If it wasn't for Yugi's patient tutoring, I would have bombed that course worse than I did this year."
"I'll make a mental note not to do any math this summer then," he decided. "What else?"
Anzu smiled inwardly at his eagerness while drawing her eyebrows together to regard him suspiciously.
"I see your true design," she nudged him playfully with her elbow, "You mean to know all my weaknesses so you can exploit them."
The boy was the picture of innocence, "Not I."
"Hmm, right…" she eyed him carefully even while she mentally went over her long list of shortcomings. "Well at the risk of having you fire me over my lack of marketable skills, I suppose it would be unfair of your caretaker to withhold such valuable information."
"True," his eyes were full of repressed laughter.
"And I can tell I can trust you with such incriminating information," she reached out to pinch his cheeks, "You have an honest face."
He blushed fiercely and Anzu giggled, completely charmed by the adorable sweetness of her charge.
"All right," she leaned in, glancing around nervously. "I'll tell all so long as you swear not to repeat it to anybody."
"I swear," he promised solemnly.
"Hmm, that won't cut it," she held up her smallest finger, motioning for him to do the same, "You'll need to pinky swear."
Mokuba obligingly linked his pinky through hers, and they shook on it.
He was so cutely grave about the ritual that Anzu impulsively leaned forward to give him a warm hug, "I can tell we're going to be great friends."
The boy, now speechless, could do nothing but blush.
………………………
The second Anzu stepped outside the Kaiba mansion she was enveloped with a feeling of liberation. Sure, she'd had a lot of fun playing with Mokuba all day, but that didn't change the fact that she was still on his brother's turf. It was nice to be heading home to the comfortable, familiar environment… even if her traitorous parents did live there too.
Anzu's feet were light as she practically skipped to the edge of Kaiba's driveway, and she grinned at the security guard as he unlocked the massive gate to let her through. Jounouchi had called her cell phone earlier to arrange transportation for the end of her shift. He'd been determined to pick her up after work, but she'd known her 'doting' friend was being far from charitable with his offer. He just wanted to scope out Kaiba's digs and possibly get a couple of insults in should the lord of the manor be kicking around somewhere.
Nonetheless, Anzu wasn't about to turn down a ride home, even if her friend was liable to start giving her a hard time the moment she set foot inside his precious pick-up truck. There were some things a girl just had to get used to when all her friends happened to be of the teenage guy variety, and she was definitely accustomed to the lack of maturity surrounding her every day. Most of the time, she even liked Jounouchi and Honda's teasing.
Today, she knew Jou's good-natured abuse would only provoke a Charlie horse to his upper arm, and an icy glare. After all, her predicament was nothing to be laughed at, and she had to keep the boys in line lest they get any ideas that their behavior was acceptable.
She smiled faintly at the prospect of taking out all her frustration on her thick-skinned chum, even as the crunch of gravel revealed an approaching vehicle. She blinked rapidly as she peered towards the source of the disturbance. Jou on time? Unheard of!
… And apparently his record was still intact as it was not a bright green pick-up truck that entered her line of vision, but rather a sleek navy blue Porsche convertible with the top mercilessly up in such blistering heat. She watched with unconcealed awe as the beautiful machine expertly maneuvered across loose gravel, continuing in a straight line with nary a spot of dust marring the smooth curves.
The car was all that was sexy, classy, and alluring, moving with subtle grace and speed, like a limber dancer gliding weightlessly on rough pavement. It slid skillfully to an effortless stop in front of her and purred softly while it lingered. Anzu tried very hard not to salivate.
Suddenly, the tinted passenger window rolled down, and she forced her jaw closed upon spotting the driver.
"What, no limo?" she asked Kaiba, raising her eyebrow at the gorgeous steed he commanded.
Which was typical of the calculating young man, really. Why wouldn't he drive his own car once he was legal, equating the road with his very existence, determined to control his own destiny. Wherever said road would take him was where he wanted to be, and he'd have his own foot on the gas, and his own hands on the wheel all the way.
Countenance fashioned to reflect expertly cultivated indifference with just a dash of distaste, Seto merely looked at her,
"Get in."
"Excuse me?" she stepped away from the seductive vehicle, taken aback by the command.
To be trapped inside such an enticing set of wheels with a guy she despised and loathed… A guy whose cold blue eyes revealed no insight into his true motivations and provided no clues as to where he intended to take her. A guy whose casually undone top three shirt buttons revealed a glimpse of solid chest muscles so perfectly defined, she had an insane urge to run her hands over them and –
"Are you deaf?" he interrupted her erratic thoughts with a tone of disgust. "Or were the instructions too confusing?"
She was just considering fondling this jerk's beautiful chest?
"I've got to be out of my mind," she muttered to herself.
"I won't dispute that," Kaiba commented, and she was irritated to find herself blushing. Honestly, twice in one day!
"I heard you, and understood the first time," Anzu snappily replied to his previous query. "I just… no thanks, Kaiba, I already have a ride and since I'm off the clock –,"
"I wasn't asking, Mazaki," he casually informed her, "I'll be driving you home every day as it's the only available time for us to discuss Mokuba."
"Oh." She brushed a sweaty strand of hair away from her forehead and glanced down the road. "Well, I guess that makes sense, but to tell you the truth, there's really not much to discuss in regards to Mokuba today, and I did already arrange a ride, so maybe we could skip this part just this once."
"You expect leniency simply because it's your first day in my employment?" He narrowed his eyes, "I don't know what kind of jobs you've had before Mazaki, but that's not how I run things."
"And I get that, I do." Anzu continued to study the far road just in case Jounouchi's truck magically appeared. "But you didn't tell me this morning that I would have to ride home with you, and Jou's going to be here any minute."
She realized that maybe dropping the name of Kaiba's sworn enemy wasn't the way to go about getting her way when she noticed the scowl working its way across his attractive features.
"I'm sure it will be just as easy to call Katsuya back and tell him to go back to his doghouse," Seto said with a sneer, "Now get in."
Anzu rolled her large blue eyes, and was about to acquiesce when the uncomfortably familiar problem of her short skirt presented itself. Just as she'd been unwilling to give him a free show earlier in his office, she wasn't about to sit next to him in the lust-inducing car in such a state of exposure. Unless…
After a mere moment's hesitation, she quickly unbuttoned her blouse to reveal a pale pink spaghetti strap tank underneath. Then, she hurriedly ducked into the car, concealing a good portion of her legs with the newly discarded white cotton.
She was painfully aware of the obviousness of the act as she fastened her seatbelt, but decided that the awkward display of underwear would have been worse. Even so, she winced as she felt another point slip away in Kaiba's favor. He really was such a jerk.
"May I suggest disposing of the skirt when you get home, if it's such a nuisance," his patronizing voice added insult to injury.
Anzu gritted her teeth and replied with the icy glare she had been saving for Jounouchi. (She refrained from attacking him with the Charlie Horse, also meant for her friend, though the urge was strong.) Then, she turned away from the jerk to dig through her bright yellow handbag for her cell phone, and selected said friend's number on speed dial.
"Heya Anzu!" Jounouchi answered on the third ring, "Listen, I'm real sorry I'm late, but you'll never guess what happened to me. No, go ahead guess!"
"I don't know, you encountered Bigfoot harassing a group of orphans and had to throw down with him?"
"Close," he enthusiastically replied, "So close, but actually-,"
"Save it, Jou," she cut him off before he could get into it, "I don't need you to drive me home, I was able to make other arrangements."
"Other arrangements? I thought you refused to get within 10 yards of Honda's motorcycle let alone ride on the thing."
"I don't."
"Well Yugi doesn't have his license yet, so unless your parents decided to actually give you a break and let you take the car, then I'm at a loss."
She sighed loudly, "I do have other friends you know."
"Oh yeah?" Jou's tone was dubious, "And which of these supposed pals of yours is playing chauffeur today?"
"That's none of your business," she snapped.
"Oh-ho-ho," he was clearly growing amused. "Don't tell me our Anzu went out and got herself a little secret boyfriend."
"Knock it off."
"Please, do tell. Who is this mystery man?"
Anzu grinned evily, and glanced over at her driver, "Kaiba Seto."
Dead silence. She smiled victoriously, before her friend finally collected his wits to reply,
"Spend one day working with the bastard and you're already getting cozy? Anzu, I'm disappointed."
"Shut up," she commanded. "It's not as though I had a choice in the matter."
"You mean he forced you to… I'll kill him!"
"Relax, it's not like that." She glared at Kaiba as he irritably cleared her throat to signal she should wrap this up. "Anyway, I've got to go. I'll explain later alright?"
"You'd better! I don't like the idea of you occupying the same vehicle as that-,"
Anzu hung up, unwilling to indulge her friend's rant in her current state of mind. She couldn't continue to be distracted with Kaiba just inches away, the two of them confined to such close quarters. She wished he'd take the top down, and open them up to the hot summer evening, allowing the humid air to settle between them like a barrier.
Instead the air conditioning, that would have been soothing in another vehicle with another driver, only served to further separate them from the warm world outside.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Anzu tossed the awkward question into stifling silence.
"I see that your brain has an equally hard time retaining information as it does processing it," Kaiba arrogantly replied, "If you've already forgotten that I mean to discuss my brother."
Anzu narrowed her eyes, "I know that. What I meant was what exactly did you want to talk about, in regards to Mokuba?"
"Well for starters, what did the two of you do?"
"We played video games mostly, ate lunch, he showed me the grounds," She smiled fondly, recalling their day.
"I assume he was pleased to see you this morning," the prospect clearly annoyed Seto.
"He was already awake when I knocked on his door, waiting for me. He's such a sweetie," Anzu giggled in spite of herself. "I told him I was excited to hang out with him all summer, and then gave him a breakdown of things we can't do as the result of my ineptitude in certain areas."
Kaiba took his eyes off the road long enough to look down his nose at her.
"You presume to place restrictions on Mokuba's summer activities simply because you find some things difficult?"
"Oh lighten up, already." Anzu sighed with annoyance, "It was just silly stuff, things like singing, and cooking, and math. Nothing important."
"I don't find math unimportant."
"Yeah well in the summer it is."
"Hmm," he turned a corner, and it suddenly occurred to Anzu that he hadn't asked her for directions which meant that he apparently knew where she lived.
She didn't know what to think about that.
"So you'd expose yourself to a mere child," Kaiba said suddenly, after a long pause, "Interesting."
"Huh?" She turned in her seat so she was fully facing him. "You moron! As if I would ever do something so depraved and immoral, just what the hell kind of pervert do you take me for anyway?"
"An inept one," he calmly replied without taking his eyes off the road. "I wasn't suggesting anything of the kind, and if you were following our conversation, you would know that."
She blinked, blushed for the third time that day, and sunk back into her seat.
"You meant exposing my weaknesses…"
"Obviously."
"Well, it was all in good fun okay?" she was suddenly defensive. "It's not as though I related all my deep, dark secrets or anything, I was just trying to put myself on the kid's level, trying to establish myself as his friend as opposed to his boss."
"You are his caretaker, not his friend, and regardless it is unwise to divulge incriminating information to one you are supposed to be in charge of, or anybody else for that matter."
"You know, you're absolutely right," Anzu mockingly agreed, "A child with the disposition of sweet Mokuba would jump at the chance to exploit his nanny. And I cringe at the ammunition I've given him! I mean, just imagine all the havoc he can wreak now that he knows my singing voice is awful! Oh, the horror! What have I done? What have I done?!"
Kaiba turned onto her street with a disgusted sigh, "You really are rather juvenile aren't you?"
"Well some of us teenagers are known to act our age," she informed him as though divulging a scandalous secret.
"I'd say you and your friends behave more like second graders."
"Yeah well we have fun," she defended herself and her friends, "Which is exactly what I plan to do with Mokuba this summer."
"Hmm," Kaiba stopped in front of her house, and turned to study her. Stormy blue eyes contemptuously swept over her features and Anzu glared back.
"What?"
"I just hope you refrain from introducing any more questionable methods to achieve your goal," he said with a hint of warning in his tone.
She laughed humorlessly, "Really? And what, may I ask, 'orthodox' methods do you employ to have a good time?"
Seto smiled enigmatically, and Anzu was shocked to find not a trace of his normal disdain.
"Good evening, Mazaki. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Oh I'm looking forward to it," she sarcastically replied, even as she hastily scrambled out of the car.
It wasn't until the Porsche was speeding away that she realized she hadn't been very careful about exiting the vehicle and as the result had no doubt given him a glimpse of bright yellow cotton panties on the way.
She vowed to burn her stupid, adorable miniskirt.
…………………………
"Ah, she made it home in one piece!" Mazaki Eri turned to her husband, feigning shock as her daughter angrily stormed into the house. "And here I was worried her demonic boss would subjugate her before the day was done."
"Just shut up," Anzu growled as she made a beeline for her bedroom.
"Hmm, her speech patterns seem to have degenerated into violent grunts," Eri observed as Mr. Mazaki tried to cover his laughter, "Perhaps she is under satanic influence."
"I have no parents!"
…………………………
Author's note: Next chapter, more of Seto's POV. Thanks for reading!