Chapter Thirty

It took some arguing for the Kaiba brothers to be allowed to stay for the remainder of the concert. Kisa was adamant, but Mr. Walton was insistent that Seto pay recompense for the damages and injuries incurred during his little stunt first. In the end, right there behind the show stage, Seto cut a large check for Mr. Walton and a separate check as a donation to the event itself.

Seto, Mokuba, and Kisa's sisters stood just off the stage as Black Mesa played. There was new energy from the group, unlike what Seto experienced when he saw them in Germany. Kisa was the origin of it, the tinder that fueled their fire and, when she turned to smirk at him, he knew that he was the cause of that fire. He'd reignited her, as she had done for him. If he had it his way, that fire would never go out again.

After the concert, Seto learned of Miss Murdoch's deception. The two friends, Kisa and Murdoch, argued for a few minutes before coming to an understanding. Murdoch was forced to apologize. Kisa was planning on leaving the city, but not for Germany and not that night. Kisa was going to spend the holidays with her family, but she wasn't planning to leave until Sunday. It was a truth the woman stretched 'to light a fire under his ass', as she put it.

"Thank you, Miss Murdoch," Seto said.

The woman stared up at him, dumbfounded for a few seconds, then grinned and slapped his arm. "Shit, someone had to do it. Sorry about your face."

"A small price to pay."

They parted that night with a promise to meet at the airport on Sunday. It was set to be the first real vacation Seto had taken in over a decade and he had a lot of planning to do. He would be damned if everything didn't come out perfect.

Some things never change.

Nearly all of Saturday was dedicated to packing and doing some last-minute Christmas shopping Seto hadn't been expecting to do. He had the perfect gift in mind and didn't care how much it cost to get it. They were so busy that Seto and Kisa didn't see each other again until their flight. Their interaction at the terminal was brief, but romantic, with the whole of the crowd around them cheering as Seto swept her into his arms and kissed her, not caring who saw.

Sunday evening, amidst a raucous dinner at Aunt Moriko's, Seto received a call from Vinzent Hoffmann himself. Seto retired to the back porch to take the call.

"Congratulations, Herr Kaiba," Hoffmann said. "I hope you and Miss Miyoshi will come to oversee the installation next fall. Perhaps this time you will come for an extended stay. Allow me to give a proper tour of the country."

Seto leaned back against the railing, looking in on the activity through the back door. Kisa and Aunt Moriko were fussing about the kitchen, pulling food from the too-small table into the larger dining room. Kisa caught his eye as she hefted a wicker basket of rolls and gave him a sultry smile.

Seto smiled back. "If everything goes to plan, I'll take you up on that offer."

"Oh?" Hoffmann laughed. "I see. Well, best of luck to you, Mr. Kaiba."

Seto hung up with butterflies in his stomach. He didn't think he needed luck, but he appreciated the thought anyway.

Seto woke up before Kisa on the morning of her birthday, Christmas Eve. He laid there watching her for many minutes, before easing himself out of her bed and padding barefoot down the hall to the bathroom. His cheek didn't hurt as much anymore, but looking at it in the mirror made him flinch. Once showered and dressed Seto snuck back in to retrieve a little velvet gift box out of his bag and slip it in his pocket.

Kisa stirred, rolled over, and looked up at him with bleary eyes. "What time is it?"

"Early." Seto brushed the hair out of her face and kissed her lips. "Take your time getting up and meet me out front."

Kisa nodded and snuggled deeper into her pillow. "Might take a while. The sheets smell like you."

Seto chuckled, kissed her again, and left the room.

Lighted garland was wrapped about the posts and rail of the staircase and around every door frame. The house smelled of pine needles and yeast bread. It was a familiar scent, one he didn't know he missed. In the living room, the couch and armchairs had been slid aside to make room for a large fir tree. It was bedecked in baubles and handmade ornaments that reflected the tiny multicolored lights that sparkled on every branch. Presents were piled high under and around it, covered in wrappings and bows of every color imaginable. The faint sound of Christmas music was tinkling from the radio in the kitchen. Seto went towards the sound to find Aunt Moriko at the table, humming along while rolling out a thick dough. The room was filled with the spicy scent of cinnamon and cloves.

"Good morning!" Aunt Moriko said. "Thought I'd get up and make Kisa's favorite."

Seto went over to the counter and grabbed a mug out of the drainer. Next to the coffee machine was a bowl of thick creamy icing.

He smiled as he poured himself a cup of coffee. "I thought cinnamon rolls were for Christmas morning."

"Usually, but I think we can make an exception." Aunt Moriko spread a mixture of butter and cinnamon over the flattened dough. "It's a special day, after all." She threw Seto a knowing smile. "I've got a friend with a nice B&B on the water if you and Kisa wanna getaway to be just with yerselves for a couple days. Told her to keep a room open just in case."

Seto poured himself some coffee. "We may take you up on that offer if everything goes well."

"An' why wouldn't it? Don't you start talkin nonsense."

He watched her roll the dough into a spiral, then cut it into thick rounds and place them on a baking sheet.

"Boy! Get yer fingers outta that icing."

Seto retracted his hand. Kisa covered her mouth in a fit of giggles and he glared at her.

"Kisa was doin it first," he said.

She gasped. "Tattletale!"

"What you smiling about?"

"Nothing important." Seto set his empty mug in the sink. "I'm going to step outside for a minute."

"Alright. Take yer coat. Weatherman says it's gonna snow today. Bout time too. Haven't had a white Christmas round here in a long time."

Seto sat bundled in his padded winter coat in one of Aunt Moriko's rocking chairs. He watched the activity in the house across the street. His old house. The owners were a nice couple, older than Seto and Kisa, with children of their own. He watched through the window as a little blond-haired boy jumped from cushion to cushion on the couch, singing a Christmas carol from the look of it, while his younger brown-haired sister watched and laughed and clapped her hands. It looked like a nice family. Happy. He was certain his mother would have liked them, no matter what they did to her house.

There was a faint pulling longing deep in his heart. He wanted that house back, wanted to put it back the way it belonged, with its segmented rooms and baby blue shutters. He wanted to tear up that garden and put his mother's flowers back, make it like how she'd dreamed, and make it his own.

But it would never be his, not anymore. Ayaka made sure of that. He didn't want to ruin the happiness that had settled there in his absence anyway.

Seto heaved a long sigh and his breath puffed out of him in a thick white cloud.

"Thinking again?" Kisa was coming out of the house, bangs pulled back out of her face by a thin toothed headband and her winter coat over a pair of thick fleece pajamas. Even fresh out of bed and in her nightclothes she was beautiful.

"That seems to be my problem, doesn't it?" Seto asked.

"We'll work on it." Kisa sat in the rocking chair next to him and slipped her hand into his. "You sleep okay?"

"Not especially."

"Not used to not taking work with you everywhere?"

Seto gave her a half-smile. "It'll take some adjusting, but I think I'll manage."

"Good."

They sat in silence, rocking and listening to the sounds of the neighborhood. The distant melody of music, the lap of waves against pylons, a church bell ringing the hour. It started to snow and little faces crowded into windows to watch the first fat flakes fall from the sky.

"Snow on Christmas eve," Kisa said. "Feels like forever since the last time it snowed."

"When was that?"

"Probably… ten years ago?" She snuggled deeper into her coat. "Felt like a lot of stuff just stopped back then, you know. No more white Christmas's. No more soccer."

"No more boys climbing your trellis."

Kisa laughed. "I didn't say no one ever climbed the trellis after you left. They just weren't you."

Seto rubbed his thumb over her chilling fingers. "I think I would like to live here again, someday."

Kisa perked up and leaned forward. "Really? I'd like that. I think we all would."

Seto leaned his head back. "Could make it my second home. Travel between here and Domino regularly. I would still have my company to run, but there is something to be said about opening a secondary headquarters nearby. Work with local businesses."

"Sounds like you've been thinking about it."

"Not especially. It occurred to me while I was sitting here. I want to know this place like my mother and father knew it. I want to grow to love it like he did. There's only one problem."

"What's that?"

Seto met her eyes. "Where would I live?"

"With your money, you could probably live wherever you want." She nodded up the street. "There's a neighborhood called Golden Beach across the bridge, on the other side of the river. Those houses are mansions. Hell, you could buy up however much land you want and build your own house."

"You like the area?"

Kisa shrugged. "I guess. Buncha hoity-toity types over there. They work in the city all week and just come back for the weekend."

"Then I'll pass."

"Just cause I don't like it? You don't need me to tell you where you can and can't live."

"I want it to be somewhere you would like."

Kisa rubbed her forehead. "Okay, you're giving me a headache. Can you please tell me what this is all about?"

"I couldn't help myself." Seto pushed to his feet. "I'll be more direct."

He pulled the little box out of his pocket and knelt in front of Kisa's chair. She watched him with brow creased confusion until he got down on one knee. Her mouth dropped open.

"Kisa, if I ask you a question, you promise not to run away?"

"Shit…" Kisa covered her face with her hands. "Don't do this. I'm in my pajamas!"

"Would you rather I wait until you're properly showered and dressed?"

"Yes… No… I don't know." Her ears were turning red. "Ooo…" She forced her hands down and pressed them into her lap. "Okay, just do it."

Seto chuckled, then took a breath to calm the fluttering of his insides. "I won't waste your time with fancy words or drawn-out prose. I love you as much, no, more than I loved you back then. I would love nothing more than for you to be my wife and take my name. My birth name."

"You mean-?"

"It wasn't something I considered before because I forgot I had another name. Kaiba Corporation will still be Kaiba Corporation, but it doesn't need me to be a Kaiba for me to run it. Next year, after we return to Domino, I'm changing my name back. I won't be Seto Kaiba. I want to be who I was born to be. Seto Miyazaki."

Kisa covered her mouth with her hands. Tears were leaking from her eyes, leaving cold trails down her cheeks.

Seto opened the box. Nestled inside a pillow of red satin was a ring, white gold, with a circle of tiny blue diamonds surrounding a bigger princess cut. He pulled Kisa's left hand away from her mouth and slipped the ring onto her finger. It was a little too big, but that could be easily fixed.

He held her cold fingers in his own. "I'm not perfect. There'll be days where I come home late from work. There'll be nights when I can't sleep and times when I wake up from nightmares so terrible I'll need you to help me through them. With you and a lot of time, I know I'll get better. Someday I'll lay down beside you and be able to sleep through the night. Someday you'll be able to hold me with your hands on my back and I'll not shy away from your touch. It'll take a lot of time and a lot of work, but with you, I believe I can get there."

He looked into her eyes, at the shining aquamarine depths, and, for a moment, he nearly forgot the whole point of his speech.

"Kisa, would you do me the honor of becoming Mrs. Kisa Miyazaki?"

Kisa was nodding. She pinched her eyes shut and threw her arms around his neck. "After a speech like that, how could a girl say no?"

She kissed him, long and slow and full of smoldering fire. Seto wrapped his arms around her. He didn't care about the cold or the snow. He didn't care about the little faces peering through the windows or the bells in the distance.

He was Seto Miyazaki.

That was something he would never lose again.

The End