Days passed into weeks then months. The routine was nowhere near as monotonous as some would have thought as there were the occasional bullies that thought that trying to pick on Mokuba would be a good way to line their own pockets with 'lunch money'. It was those moments when Mokuba would confound them with a grinning face, as he would see Chance walking up behind them.
Threats of vengeance were never carried out, as Chance was a bit stronger than she looked and dragged the offending students to the office if they were in school on their lunch break, and would drag the bullies to their homes to speak with their parents if she caught them well away from the school. Mokuba never asked how she would manage to get their addresses but had a healthy respect for her abilities, as did his friends.
Chance tried to keep a professional distance from her charge, but the more she interacted with Mokuba, Seto and the others the more she found her own feelings getting tangled into the jumbled mess that was her life still. However it was a little easier for her to maintain some distance since Seto had indeed taken care of the issue of her lack of housing the same day she mentioned it to Tammy. She now had a beautiful apartment in one of the newer high-rises near the heart of the city.
Holding her cat she sighed one night as she talked to it. "Jamok, what am I going to do. I love Mokuba like a little brother, and even Seto's grown on me. Once you've known him long enough he tends to let his guard down a little, and I get a glimpse of the potential Seto could have been if he hadn't been raised as he was by Gozabouro." Looking out the window that was well above the level of the roofs of most of the buildings she saw only her reflection as it was dark and the lights were on in her room.
"I mean, if Seto were the completely heartless bastard that he portrays himself as, Mokuba wouldn't love him as he does and Yugi, Joey, Tristen and Serenity wouldn't be his friends. In any rate school is coming to the close of the year for all of them. And over the last three months I've noticed that the whole group seems to be settling down, as if they were all expecting something to happen and when it didn't they were relieved." She puzzled on this a little and while she did she let Jamok down as the cat was struggling to be released.
Jamok looked up at her from his place on the floor to see her curled up with her knees to her chest and commented "R-r-r-row?"
Smiling slightly Chance got up and fed him before getting ready for work. It was a weekend so it was the perfect time for the 90-day evaluation to take place. Seto and Mokuba would be out of school and with that, she had those days off unless Seto had to go out of town and Mokuba wanted to go out.
The luxury of sleeping in was a treat for her since her days usually started well before Mokuba's did. As her day started about 11am today she hurried through her morning routine, grabbed a breakfast bar and a piece of fruit and headed out the door to jog down to the Kaiba Corp offices.
Waved through the security the guards now knew her and smiled before going back to their work. Chance went right up to the main office and as she stepped out of the elevator she glanced at her watch. She was in time with a few minutes left over to finish her breakfast. Trading greetings with Tammy she sat down and quickly finished her breakfast bar.
Shortly before her scheduled meeting she watched as Seto and Mokuba stepped off the elevator with take out bags from the local fast food place. Mokuba moved over to Chance while Seto asked for and looked through the phone messages that had come over the lunch hour. "Hold my calls Tammy, unless it's an emergency. I want to get through this and it shouldn't take long."
Chance was getting a little nervous at this but a look at Mokuba's face revealed nothing that she would consider untoward. He seemed relaxed and in the general good mood that he seemed to always be in. Forcing herself to relax she stood and followed the brothers into the office.
As she glanced around she took the chair that was offered her and was surprised to see a take out bag appear in her lap. Looking up at Seto and then to Mokuba she saw only a very slight trace of a smirk and a full smile. "Uh, thanks." Was all she could think to say before opening the bag and seeing the grilled chicken sandwich she usually ordered. Blinking in surprise she looked up again with a clear look of confusion on her face.
Seto was actually enjoying this little show. Sitting where he was from behind his desk it was vastly amusing to see someone who didn't rattle easily look so disconcerted at a sandwich. If this was all it took to get her out of her normal routine with them he was going to have to do it more often. Clearing his voice he started, "Mokuba thought that since it was about the lunch hour you might be hungry. Go ahead and eat while we go over your performance."
Still a little disconcerted she looked over at Mokuba who was hiding a giggle of youthful mischief behind his hand as his eyes danced with the suppressed laughter. "Go ahead Chance. Its not like it'll jump up and bite you."
"How... How did you know."
"What you usually ordered? You'd been to that store often enough that the folks at the register recognized your name and picked up your order." Mokuba interrupted Chance.
"Thank you." With that she took the sandwich out of the wrapping and started eating while Seto pulled up her record on his computer.
"Despite some unorthodox methods, there's been no cause for complaint in your performance. You've stayed up to date with what is happening and provided excellent reports, both verbal and written. The only complaint that Mokuba has is that you work too hard." Seto summed up.
"I tend to be really aware about what and who is around me. You've had some really good training to be able to melt out of my radar like that." Mokuba took up the discussion. "But you work too hard. We've been kinda keeping an eye on when you use your passes to the health club and the gun range. You can't be getting more than five or six hours of sleep a night. Why you aren't dragging by this time is beyond me."
Chance looked at them both, slightly irritated that she was being watched in her off hours but instead answered to the charge that she was working herself too hard. "I only need 5-6 hours a night when I'm working regularly. Besides, with the interspaced school breaks and the weekends that you two give me off. I have the time I need to just unwind and get more sleep if I need it or just relax. Everything else is coordinated to help me keep going at my best."
"Well if you ever need an evening to yourself or something, let me know. I mean it won't kill me to stay in once in a while to give you some time to yourself. Not to be prying into your affairs or anything, but you can't be socializing too much with me taking up just about all of the primetime hours that would normally be used for things like that." Mokuba at least had the decency to blush under the intense look that Chance leveled at him.
"So other than you think I work too hard and that my performance has been satisfactory is there anything else? I'm willing to bet you have other things to do this afternoon, and I do not wish to take up more of your time than is absolutely necessary." Chance leveled a look at the elder Kaiba.
Impressed that this young woman had the backbone she did he forestalled her getting up to leave with a gesture. "There is one more thing that we need to discuss. Due to the reports we have and the information we have on you now, I am going to renegotiate your contract."
Chance's eyebrow twitched upwards at hearing this. She could only wonder what the changes he was looking to implement were. "Ok, so we're negotiating my contract. Shall we begin?" As she settled in, she also set her mind on haggling as many concessions as she could evenly get away with. Granted there was a lot that she wanted, but knew that they would be unavailable till her next contract negotiation.
Both Mokuba and Seto were surprised at how fast she had accepted the renegotiation and it took the elder Kaiba a moment to pull out her hard copy file to grab the copy of the contract she was in now, and the changes that he proposed. "Look this over. I think you will find the changes more than adequate for your station."
Finishing off her sandwich and wiping her fingers off she grabbed the copy of the contract and then looked over the proposed additions. Having enough presence of mind to keep from letting her eyes bug out she kept reading. Instead of renegotiating the contract every year, the change was that she would remain the Bodyguard until Mokuba turned 18 years of age. Contract negotiations happening when circumstances warranted it. But with all of the concessions that she already had there were new ones.
Housing would be provided and paid for by Kaiba Corp with in reasonable limits.
The discretionary fund that she had been provided with before was now increased almost double.
Paid sick leave
Paid vacation (starting with 14 days per year and increasing 1 week every 2 years)
Kaiba Corp was now absorbing her insurance premiums entirely
She looked those over in shock before noting that her actual pay had not increased and moving on to the expected duties and required actions. This was slightly longer as well and some of them were not so much of a surprise. She also considered them a small pittance against the concessions she was being given.
She would be on call 24 hours a day now.
Training was now added to her duties. During the school breaks, unless she was on holiday leave as well, she was to report to the security branch of Kaiba Corp to conduct several training seminars for new employees and refresher courses for the veterans.
Quarterly evaluations.
The last one she raised an eyebrow at. "Quarterly evaluations? How about evaluations every six months, more often if the situation calls for it. I would not think that either of us like being here on weekends and if my performance is satisfactory I do not see where seeing me four times a year to tell me this is of any use to either of us."
Mokuba shrugged at the logic. He too had pushed for semester evaluations instead of quarterly but Seto had put that in. Both of them looked at Seto and were reassured by his slight smirk that it was a card well played. "Fine, semester evaluations. But the moment you drop below the standards you've set for yourself expect to be in my office to discuss it." Penciling in the necessary change he stood to take it out to Tammy to have it changed and reprinted for signing when Mokuba beat him to it.
Chance gave Seto a 'what can you do?' shrug before taking a pull at the drink she had been given. The silence was slightly charged for some unknown reason and it made Chance uneasy as she waited for the Contract to come back. As she looked across the desk she realized that Seto was staring at her with an intent expression on his face.
"Something wrong?" She asked quietly.
"Nothing. Just remembering something." Was all the answer he gave, though the tone of and lack of inflection in his voice practically screamed 'NOT TRUE'.
Knowing when to drop the subject, Chance wisely stayed silent on the subject as they waited. Another few moments later Mokuba came back with the necessary copies of the contract. Once signed, Chance took her copy and quietly disappeared out the door to go back home. Mokuba looked at his brother and had to ask. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen something of a ghost."
Seto shrugged and turned to his computer. This was something that wasn't really anyone's business and he preferred to keep it that way until the situation demanded otherwise.
Threats of vengeance were never carried out, as Chance was a bit stronger than she looked and dragged the offending students to the office if they were in school on their lunch break, and would drag the bullies to their homes to speak with their parents if she caught them well away from the school. Mokuba never asked how she would manage to get their addresses but had a healthy respect for her abilities, as did his friends.
Chance tried to keep a professional distance from her charge, but the more she interacted with Mokuba, Seto and the others the more she found her own feelings getting tangled into the jumbled mess that was her life still. However it was a little easier for her to maintain some distance since Seto had indeed taken care of the issue of her lack of housing the same day she mentioned it to Tammy. She now had a beautiful apartment in one of the newer high-rises near the heart of the city.
Holding her cat she sighed one night as she talked to it. "Jamok, what am I going to do. I love Mokuba like a little brother, and even Seto's grown on me. Once you've known him long enough he tends to let his guard down a little, and I get a glimpse of the potential Seto could have been if he hadn't been raised as he was by Gozabouro." Looking out the window that was well above the level of the roofs of most of the buildings she saw only her reflection as it was dark and the lights were on in her room.
"I mean, if Seto were the completely heartless bastard that he portrays himself as, Mokuba wouldn't love him as he does and Yugi, Joey, Tristen and Serenity wouldn't be his friends. In any rate school is coming to the close of the year for all of them. And over the last three months I've noticed that the whole group seems to be settling down, as if they were all expecting something to happen and when it didn't they were relieved." She puzzled on this a little and while she did she let Jamok down as the cat was struggling to be released.
Jamok looked up at her from his place on the floor to see her curled up with her knees to her chest and commented "R-r-r-row?"
Smiling slightly Chance got up and fed him before getting ready for work. It was a weekend so it was the perfect time for the 90-day evaluation to take place. Seto and Mokuba would be out of school and with that, she had those days off unless Seto had to go out of town and Mokuba wanted to go out.
The luxury of sleeping in was a treat for her since her days usually started well before Mokuba's did. As her day started about 11am today she hurried through her morning routine, grabbed a breakfast bar and a piece of fruit and headed out the door to jog down to the Kaiba Corp offices.
Waved through the security the guards now knew her and smiled before going back to their work. Chance went right up to the main office and as she stepped out of the elevator she glanced at her watch. She was in time with a few minutes left over to finish her breakfast. Trading greetings with Tammy she sat down and quickly finished her breakfast bar.
Shortly before her scheduled meeting she watched as Seto and Mokuba stepped off the elevator with take out bags from the local fast food place. Mokuba moved over to Chance while Seto asked for and looked through the phone messages that had come over the lunch hour. "Hold my calls Tammy, unless it's an emergency. I want to get through this and it shouldn't take long."
Chance was getting a little nervous at this but a look at Mokuba's face revealed nothing that she would consider untoward. He seemed relaxed and in the general good mood that he seemed to always be in. Forcing herself to relax she stood and followed the brothers into the office.
As she glanced around she took the chair that was offered her and was surprised to see a take out bag appear in her lap. Looking up at Seto and then to Mokuba she saw only a very slight trace of a smirk and a full smile. "Uh, thanks." Was all she could think to say before opening the bag and seeing the grilled chicken sandwich she usually ordered. Blinking in surprise she looked up again with a clear look of confusion on her face.
Seto was actually enjoying this little show. Sitting where he was from behind his desk it was vastly amusing to see someone who didn't rattle easily look so disconcerted at a sandwich. If this was all it took to get her out of her normal routine with them he was going to have to do it more often. Clearing his voice he started, "Mokuba thought that since it was about the lunch hour you might be hungry. Go ahead and eat while we go over your performance."
Still a little disconcerted she looked over at Mokuba who was hiding a giggle of youthful mischief behind his hand as his eyes danced with the suppressed laughter. "Go ahead Chance. Its not like it'll jump up and bite you."
"How... How did you know."
"What you usually ordered? You'd been to that store often enough that the folks at the register recognized your name and picked up your order." Mokuba interrupted Chance.
"Thank you." With that she took the sandwich out of the wrapping and started eating while Seto pulled up her record on his computer.
"Despite some unorthodox methods, there's been no cause for complaint in your performance. You've stayed up to date with what is happening and provided excellent reports, both verbal and written. The only complaint that Mokuba has is that you work too hard." Seto summed up.
"I tend to be really aware about what and who is around me. You've had some really good training to be able to melt out of my radar like that." Mokuba took up the discussion. "But you work too hard. We've been kinda keeping an eye on when you use your passes to the health club and the gun range. You can't be getting more than five or six hours of sleep a night. Why you aren't dragging by this time is beyond me."
Chance looked at them both, slightly irritated that she was being watched in her off hours but instead answered to the charge that she was working herself too hard. "I only need 5-6 hours a night when I'm working regularly. Besides, with the interspaced school breaks and the weekends that you two give me off. I have the time I need to just unwind and get more sleep if I need it or just relax. Everything else is coordinated to help me keep going at my best."
"Well if you ever need an evening to yourself or something, let me know. I mean it won't kill me to stay in once in a while to give you some time to yourself. Not to be prying into your affairs or anything, but you can't be socializing too much with me taking up just about all of the primetime hours that would normally be used for things like that." Mokuba at least had the decency to blush under the intense look that Chance leveled at him.
"So other than you think I work too hard and that my performance has been satisfactory is there anything else? I'm willing to bet you have other things to do this afternoon, and I do not wish to take up more of your time than is absolutely necessary." Chance leveled a look at the elder Kaiba.
Impressed that this young woman had the backbone she did he forestalled her getting up to leave with a gesture. "There is one more thing that we need to discuss. Due to the reports we have and the information we have on you now, I am going to renegotiate your contract."
Chance's eyebrow twitched upwards at hearing this. She could only wonder what the changes he was looking to implement were. "Ok, so we're negotiating my contract. Shall we begin?" As she settled in, she also set her mind on haggling as many concessions as she could evenly get away with. Granted there was a lot that she wanted, but knew that they would be unavailable till her next contract negotiation.
Both Mokuba and Seto were surprised at how fast she had accepted the renegotiation and it took the elder Kaiba a moment to pull out her hard copy file to grab the copy of the contract she was in now, and the changes that he proposed. "Look this over. I think you will find the changes more than adequate for your station."
Finishing off her sandwich and wiping her fingers off she grabbed the copy of the contract and then looked over the proposed additions. Having enough presence of mind to keep from letting her eyes bug out she kept reading. Instead of renegotiating the contract every year, the change was that she would remain the Bodyguard until Mokuba turned 18 years of age. Contract negotiations happening when circumstances warranted it. But with all of the concessions that she already had there were new ones.
Housing would be provided and paid for by Kaiba Corp with in reasonable limits.
The discretionary fund that she had been provided with before was now increased almost double.
Paid sick leave
Paid vacation (starting with 14 days per year and increasing 1 week every 2 years)
Kaiba Corp was now absorbing her insurance premiums entirely
She looked those over in shock before noting that her actual pay had not increased and moving on to the expected duties and required actions. This was slightly longer as well and some of them were not so much of a surprise. She also considered them a small pittance against the concessions she was being given.
She would be on call 24 hours a day now.
Training was now added to her duties. During the school breaks, unless she was on holiday leave as well, she was to report to the security branch of Kaiba Corp to conduct several training seminars for new employees and refresher courses for the veterans.
Quarterly evaluations.
The last one she raised an eyebrow at. "Quarterly evaluations? How about evaluations every six months, more often if the situation calls for it. I would not think that either of us like being here on weekends and if my performance is satisfactory I do not see where seeing me four times a year to tell me this is of any use to either of us."
Mokuba shrugged at the logic. He too had pushed for semester evaluations instead of quarterly but Seto had put that in. Both of them looked at Seto and were reassured by his slight smirk that it was a card well played. "Fine, semester evaluations. But the moment you drop below the standards you've set for yourself expect to be in my office to discuss it." Penciling in the necessary change he stood to take it out to Tammy to have it changed and reprinted for signing when Mokuba beat him to it.
Chance gave Seto a 'what can you do?' shrug before taking a pull at the drink she had been given. The silence was slightly charged for some unknown reason and it made Chance uneasy as she waited for the Contract to come back. As she looked across the desk she realized that Seto was staring at her with an intent expression on his face.
"Something wrong?" She asked quietly.
"Nothing. Just remembering something." Was all the answer he gave, though the tone of and lack of inflection in his voice practically screamed 'NOT TRUE'.
Knowing when to drop the subject, Chance wisely stayed silent on the subject as they waited. Another few moments later Mokuba came back with the necessary copies of the contract. Once signed, Chance took her copy and quietly disappeared out the door to go back home. Mokuba looked at his brother and had to ask. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen something of a ghost."
Seto shrugged and turned to his computer. This was something that wasn't really anyone's business and he preferred to keep it that way until the situation demanded otherwise.