Throughout all his hardships as a child, Seto Kaiba had one constant: his composure. He couldn't control his parents dying, or being bullied at the orphanage, or his adoptive father being abusive, but he could control how he reacted, and having that kind of self-control enable him to take everything in stride, even running a multi-million-dollar corporation at only sixteen.

Even an assassination attempt at the hands of his own employees.

Even the times he and his brother were in life threatening situations.

Even when he learned he was the reincarnation of an ancient Egyptian priest who lost his true love and defending the pharaoh from a dark spirit trying to destroy the world using monsters summoned from human souls.

Even when he lost his own Duel Monsters tournament.

But in the moment, facing his past in the present, his composure betrayed him. He stared and his mouth gaped open.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," her voice was modulated and soft, but confident. She stood upright and offered her hand. He studied her face. Her pale skin and slender frame made her look younger than she actually was. It took him a solid five seconds to realize she'd spoken to him.

"Um…and…and you as well," he stammered. He took her hand, raising it to his lips rather than shaking. 'Why did I do that?' he mentally chided himself.

"Won't you have a seat?" Mokuba offered, directing them to armchairs facing Kaiba's desk. They each took a seat as Mokuba and Seto positioned themselves behind the desk.

"I suppose you have several questions for us," Hayes began. "We'll try to answer as many as we can."

"We certainly do," Mokuba replied. He and Seto agreed it would be best if he did all the talking, "For starters, how did you even discover Gozaburo Kaiba was your biological father?"

"The man I believed was my father passed away when I was 18. My mother told me the day after the funeral that I wasn't his. He never knew." Sabrina spoke as if reciting a speech she'd rehearsed for weeks, continuously looking to her lawyer for reassurance. "My mother worked for Lockheed Martin. She and Gozaburo Kaiba met at a joint operation: KaibaCorp and Lockheed were working on to design cost effective long-range weaponry for the US Army."

"It makes sense," Mokuba mused, "Though our father was not the type to engage in illicit behavior." It was the most delicate way he could say his adoptive father cared too much about money to risk a potential drain on his funds, or to take part in anything that didn't directly or indirectly make him money.

"It was a one-night stand." Hayes interjected, "Her only explanation to my client as to exactly how it came about is that they were both 'very, very, drunk'. They were celebrating because they'd won the contract bid."

Sabrina looked at the floor, a little ashamed of her true heritage, being the product of her mother's drunken indiscretion.

"And you've waited seven years to pursue this. Why wait?"

Sabrina shrugged. "My mother never pushed this in order to protect or family's reputation. When she retired and had no professional image to maintain, I decided to claim what was mine by right."

"And what do you suppose that entails Miss Harrison?"

It was here that her lawyer removed his hand from hers to retrieve documents from his briefcase. "My client," he interjected, taking over her half of the conversation entirely, "is asking for nothing more than her fair portion of Gozaburo Kaiba's estate, his life insurance policies and inclusion in the company."

"Define inclusion," Mokuba inquired, maintaining his perfect business composure.

"A two percent stock in KaibaCorp shares as well as employment within the company." He handed a packet across the mahogany desk.

"That's a hefty 'ask'," the young lawyer noted as he took the bundle of papers.

"We of course intend for all of those monetary compensations to be based on their value at his death without having to adjust for inflation or varying exchange rates."

"And the stock?"

"Two percent is two percent."

"That is a lot to be handing over to a stranger."

"You fear another foreign stockholder?"

"Fear? No. Mistrust, yes."

Hayes let out a cynical laugh. "Because history might repeat itself?"

"Beg pardon?" Mokuba frowned, giving a chance for the lawyer to change his answer rather than asking for clarification. The brothers had distinctive features that no one would ever confuse the two, but when the younger brother got mad, his eyes narrowed and his voice grew sharp, making him sound exactly like Seto.

"Please, Mister Kaiba…Mister Kaibas," he corrected himself. It was easy to forget the CEO was still in the room sitting behind to Mokuba's right. He hadn't stirred during the proceedings, but judging how his eyes darted from lawyer to client, he was still fully involved in the conversation. Hayes continued, choosing to direct his attention at the elder brother, "The almost hostile take-over of KaibaCorp by the own'ers teenage son is a world renown as is the fact the deciding factors were the 2% shares held by both you and your brother. If we were to go to court over evenly dividing all of Gozaburo's assets, we'd be asking for much more. At the time of his suicide, he still owned 49% of KaibaCorp. That divided three ways is a staggering 16.6% of your precious corporation. 2% and a position would be more advantageous for you as individuals and a company."

Mokuba leafed through the paperwork they had everything plain and organized: documented, legal, thorough. After skimming the basics, he handed them to his brother to scrutinize. "We will certainly have to bring this up to our legal department, but we will certainly have a resolution by the time of your return flight. Everything is organized and well ordered, but did you have any questions for us?"

"Hayes sat back in his chair, glancing at a nervous Sabrina. He shook his head indicating he had no questions, but it was obvious she wanted to ask something. He leaned closer to his client. "Sabrina?"

"It's not profession; it's more personal," she didn't sound timid, more that she didn't want to come across as unprofessional.

"It's fine," Mokuba shrugged, "I'm sure you probably have questions about your family. If we don't want to answer any questions, the worst that can happen is we won't. You won't be any worse off."

"Did he have any hereditary diseases?" It was obvious why she would ask such a question.

"No. Not that we knew of."

"What about other children? Has anyone else ever made claim?"

"None that could prove it."

"And I take it he never wanted any other children? He showed no interest in marriage or adopting another child?"

Mokuba let out a scornful laugh. "He didn't want the two he had. Not really, though I think he did realize at some point he needed a son if he was to have any sort of staying power, but he didn't want any more children, and honestly, I doubt he ever would have wanted a girl."

"I guess I've been wondering with the life I had, if things would have been different by having my biological father in my life. If knowing the truth or spending time…"

"You didn't miss anything," Kaiba suddenly spoke. "It seems you had a normal childhood; something you never would have had were you raised a Kaiba. He was abusive and heartless and was proud of it." His cold tone was laced with bitterness.

Sabrina was taken aback by his sudden insertion into the conversation. "Then why were you so desperate to get him to adopt you" Her face showed some sort of surprise, as if her mouth spoke something without her brain's permission.

Had it been any other meeting, any other encounter, Seto would have merely have them escorted out of the building. He never handled personal criticism or something that could be constructed as such, he just dismissed the source. But coming from her, he couldn't bring him self to be short. His eyes softened. "It was strategic, for Gozaburo and me," he explained, "Gozaburo got a good public image and two boys smart enough to carry on his legacy. My brother and I got out of the orphanage without being separated into an environment where our physical needs were met, and our education could be accelerated." When he put it like that, even he couldn't deny how much he and his adoptive father were alike. Business first and always.

"I see," she said, "That was my only question…or line of questions." Her face showed no disappointment or regret. She understood both Gozaburo's and Kaiba's business sense. Perhaps faced with the same dilemma, she would have done the same.

"Well, if you have any more, you're certainly welcome to call or email our legal department. They'll forward it directly to me." He stood signifying the meeting was over. The two plaintiffs followed suit, shaking hands with Mokuba again. Seto escorted them to the door, shaking hand with Sabrina first, then Hayes.

"I know it's a bit early, but would you tow like to grab dinner with us? The entire basement floor has our cafeteria and we could get you the owner's discount."

Mokuba seemed just as shocked by the offer as Hayes.

"We aren't otherwise engaged," He looked to Sabrina to verify she wanted to stay. "We'd like that. Lead the way."

"I need to shut everything down for the day and I'm sure my brother needs to pack everything up." Mokuba looked up from gathering all his legal papers to nod in assent. "Why don't you head there and look at the menu and we will meet you there?"

"Just direct us and we will see you there."

Seto opened the office door to show them to the elevators. "Just take the elevator down to the second basement. The entire floor is the cafeteria, and there's a huge selection so be sure to look at all the stations before you decide what you want."

"Thank you. We'll see you there," Hayes smiled with genuine pleasure and gratitude.

"Thank you, sir," Sabrina said, bowing slightly again before scurrying off behind her lawyer who, a few paces ahead, had stepped aside, waiting to escort her.

Once they were out of sight, Kaiba closed the door and huttiedly began shutting down his office.

"This wasn't part of the plan," Mokuba snapped as he closed his briefcase.

"Plans change," replied Seto, "We can talk in the elevator." They both finished, bidding a quick farewell to Yui before heading to Seto's private elevator.

Kaiba's direct elevator was keycard accessible by only a handful of privileged staff. Forty floors was a long ride down, but with no other stops to inhibit them, they might very well beat their guests to the cafeteria.

"What's with the gentlemen act?" the younger asked as they rode down. "I've seen you more apathetic with less money at stake."

Kaiba remained facing the door, trying to comprehend his circumstances and his feelings, "I thought perhaps we could catch them off guard with a little courtesy. Besides, if she is a legal heir and does get a portion of the company, however small, we don't want to leave a bad impression."

Mokuba conceded the wisdom in his brother's decision. "It's fortunate for us she is asking for so little and is looking to settle out of the court," he commented. "Can you imagine the media heyday?"

Seto didn't answer.

"Bro!"

The elder brother snapped back into reality. "What?" he asked, clearly trying to push away the distraction in his mind.

"I said, we're lucky we can keep this out of the tabloids."

"Oh, gosh, yes," Seto breathed as if this was the first time he'd heard it, "The media would have a heyday." He looked over at Mokuba and caught his unenthusiastic expression. "You already said that, didn't you?"

"Yup."

"And I missed it?"

"Yup?"

"I'm sorry. Did you already say if this gets out we'll be flooded with paternity suits?"

"No, but you are right. One success will leed to thousands of attempts."

The elevator slowed to a crawl, securing itself at the second basement.

"Moki, I want to talk to her alone. No lawyers." Kaiba said just before the doors opened. "Can you arrange that?"

"I can try. No guarantees," Mokuba replied with tempered enthusiasm, "I've never been a wing-man before."

The cafeteria was busy as the evening rush was just beginning. Stations of food from salads to desserts lined two walls and stood in islands along one half of the floor funneling toward a cashier station in the middle before opening up to the eating area on the other half. Ordering was chaotic, but the four were spared having to stand in line to pay; a simple nod from Seto and they were through, choosing the secluded annex area to have a quiet place to eat.

Where Mokuba and Hayes led the conversation upstairs, Seto took full charge of the conversation, directing everything at his newfound sister. "So, if KaibaCorp were to take you on, what field would you prefer most to work? Your major is in graphic design, right?"

"You've done your homework," Sabrina noted, "I initially wanted to go the advertising route, but I currently do textures for machinima engines. I think it would be fun to do textures for VR or hologram tech."

"Well, our R&D department in our American HQ is starting to dabble in AR and VR gaming. We definitely will need graphic artists."

"Oh, I don't want to work at the American HQ. I plan to be in Domino, working for the world HQ. Better opportunities, better tech, better money…and apparently better food." She brandished a dragon roll with her chopsticks. "This is a superior sushi roll."

"You've clearly done your homework as well," Seto countered, noting hre proficiency at using chopsticks (and Hayes lack thereof) "You'd do that though? Just pack up and leave your family and job to move to Japan?"

"What can I say? I relish adventure, specifically business adventure," She gave him a smile.

It seemed so paradoxical that she was so innocent yet relished such risks and being put out of her element. It made Kaiba furrow his brow as he tried to read if she was more Gozaburo that he initially thought.

"You are finding Domino City to your liking then?" he inquired, continuing to aim the conversation at Sabrina rather than both Americans.

"Oh, yes. We feel right at home. I was expecting more of a culture shock, but everything here from the airport to the car rental services has been very accommodating."

"Is there anything you need to make your stay more comfortable? My brother and I can direct you to the best shops in the area if you'd like." He wanted to keep interacting with her, but was running out of fodder. He glanced to Mokuba, hoping he could try and separate woman from lawyer.

His younger brother tried to play wingman twice, and both times it didn't work. He tried escorting Hayes to the bathroom only to have Sabrina insist she had to go as well. Another time, Hayes stood to get more food, but Sabrina chose the same time to refill her drink, despite Mokuba's offer to refill it himself. Seto grew progressively more and more frustrated as they remained inseparable either by design or chance. By the time the dinner was done, the Kaibas had gathered little more personal information on their newfound sister. Seto took out his frustrations in the elevator.

"A complete waste," he snorted.

"Perhaps not," Mokuba tried pacifying him, "We found out she's a hard worker, good at expressing herself, and focused."

Kaiba let his shoulders sag in defeat. "She reminds me of father. Did you hear her? She's all business. This whole paternity settlement is another business arrangement for her. She'd move away from family to a job, she even answered personal questions like she was at a job interview."

"She sounds like you," Mokuba jabbed. "You may have expected her to be different because she's a woman, but it's no surprise to me that Miss Harrison is a cold-hearted money-driven vixen."

"How sad," Seto confided, "At least she'll fit in our family perfectly well."

The elevator stopped at the lobby floor. Kaiba had his car pulled around for him, and the two brothers rode home discussing other business matters related to KaibaCorp. While this was the biggest issue at hand, Seto still had a company to run and Mokuba still had responsibilities to the legal department and classes. When the reached the front door of the mansion, Mokuba headed upstairs.

"How about we hash out all the red tape after dinner?" he called over the railing, "Sound good? I want take a mental break. This is a lot to take in all at once."

Kaiba shrugged passively. "That's fine with me. I'll be in my office, come grab me when you're ready."

Inside his office, Seto tried to focus on his computer screen, but his thoughts kept diverting back to the face of the woman he'd spent all afternoon with. He had so many questions and no one to ask.

Maybe someone could. But they hadn't spoken in years.

Maybe Yugi.