Chapter Eleven

'So, what is this, a week ago you were over the moon excited that things were starting to look up between you and Handsome. Now you look like doom and gloom,' Risa stated before leaning in to whisper. 'Don't tell me that you were such a horrible lay that he dumped you after one time?'

Alisa's face turned a fiery red, 'I am not a horrible lay,' she hissed in a low whisper. 'We never got that far.'

'What do you mean, you never got that far,' Risa demanded, and their new part timer looked over at them.

'Please, ignore us,' Alisa told Kimberly, who looked like a deer in the headlights. 'You're scaring the new girl.'

'Because I am in shock,' she grabbed her and began to drag her back to the backroom. 'Kimberly, please watch the front. We'll be right back.'

'Call us, call me,' Alisa cried as she was dragged off to the backroom. When the door closed, she said, 'You know, I hope that we keep her. Cause I really do think that she thinks we are insane.'

'Don't try to change the topic,' Risa told her as she stood guard before the door. 'Now spill the beans.'

'What beans, if we spill beans this back room is going to smell for quite some time,' Alisa pointed out.

'Alisa Isabella Prism, you stop stalling and tell me what happened between you and Handsome,' Risa crossed her arms before her.

'There is nothing that happened between us. We came to a mutual understanding and decided that we needed to give each other space.'

'Wait, what two absurd idiots,' she looked at one, 'decided that they liked each other, but instead of getting it on like a pair of bunny rabbits gave each other space?'

Alisa looked away and shoved her hands in her pocket and walked over to the new magazine shipment they received. 'Alisa, what aren't you telling me?'

'Nothing, just,' she picked up a magazine. 'Look at what is in this summer? You think I can pull off a romper like this?'

'Stop evading the question,' Risa ordered in a commanding voice.

Alisa placed the magazine down and turned to look at her, 'The real reason that we decided to give each other space is because we share a common desire.'

'What is that,' Risa noticed how her face fell and her lips curved downward in a frown.

'We don't want to hurt him,' Alisa answered in a soft whisper. 'Mokuba deduced that we were together or that I could possible like Kaiba and asked for time.'

'And Kaiba being the big brother agreed,' Risa stated.

'It was both of us, not just Kaiba. Plus, with a cool down period between us, we could decide if this was something else or just our hormones.'

'And what have you decided,' Risa watched as she shifted her back towards the table behind her and leaned into it.

'I,' she looked down at the floor her eyebrows drawn together as she deeply though of her answer, 'think I like him. He might vex me and get under my skin most of the time, but he also excites me in ways I haven't felt before.'

'So, he's no longer an NPC that just wonders around aimless with one liners. He's a Champion that rides on a white horse and saves the Damsel in distress.'

'I am no Damsel, and I don't think that he's the gallant White Knight that you imagine,' she pointed out.

'Fine, he's not a Knight but he is your love interest and even if you aren't a damsel in distress this is your story. I believe that you and Kaiba are trying to do the honorable thing by taking Mokuba's feelings into consideration. However, it's stupid! Mokuba is just doing what his brother was doing, both brothers are trying to sabotage each other with the same woman.'

'Mokuba didn't tell me not to see Kaiba, just to give him time to process and get over his feelings,' Alisa corrected.

'But still, that doesn't mean that you should put your love life on hold. You and Kaiba aren't getting any much younger and given time Mokuba will get over it. So don't be a moron and get your man before some comes up from behind and steals him from you.' Risa told her as she slapped Alisa on the back. 'So, get on your phone and tell Handsome that you want to take things to the next level and get all hot and heavy.'

'Ow! That hurt,' Alisa cried as she flew forward and tried to rub at the place where she hit her.

'Remember that when you have your first child if it's a girl to name it after me, your Champion of Love,' Risa ignored her.

'Ugh, not going to happen,' Alisa said as huge tears welled up in her eyes from the pain, Risa needs to hold back on her enthusiasm because her hits hurt more.

'What are you doing on the floor,' Alisa was squat over, 'you should be on your phone, calling your Baby Daddy.'

'Umm, about that,' Alisa hugged her knees, 'I don't actually have his number. I meant to ask for it the last night that we were together, but we got distracted and forgot.'

'OMG, how can you forget the most important thing when starting a relationship,' Risa was going to hit her, but seeing the sad and pathetic state Alisa was in, decided against it. 'Well, what are we going to do?'

'What do you mean we?'

'I am your cupid, until you manage to actually get the guy we are in this together,' Risa told her.

'We should actually be helping Kimberly,' Alisa suddenly recalled that they left their new hire completely alone.

'Right, but we are going to have to figure something out. Otherwise, you two are going to continue to be idiots. You that biggest one,' Risa pointed out as she left the backroom to go and check up on Kimberly, who was having trouble with the espresso machine.

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Mokuba stared at his brother, who had deep bags under his usually stern hard cobalt blues that now seemed strained and tired. He was in his lab, busying himself with a VR headset for their new interactive gaming system. It was the third night Kaiba had stayed overnight at the lab, drowning himself in work. 'Seto,' he called out to his brother as he walked over to him.

'Morning, Mokuba,' was his answer as he remained focused on the work before him.

'Seto, don't you think that you are pushing yourself a little too hard?' You should take some rest and go home.'

If he went home all he would do was think of her. He hadn't known how annoying it was to care about someone so much and not be able to see them until now. It was almost like an obsession to want to keep her within arm's reach, however they both agreed to taking time so as not to hurt Mokuba any further. Him especially, since he had tried to sabotage his brother's nonexistent relationship with her since the beginning. It was the least he could do, but two weeks and he was struggling to keep himself from going over to her place afterwards and just forgetting their promise to wait a month. Now, he was drowning himself in work, so that he would have something to engross himself in and not give into his urges. 'Seto, Seto, are you listening to me,' Mokuba asked him as he waved his hand before him.

'What,' he snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at Mokuba, 'Sorry, I was just thinking of ways to modify the headset.'

Mokuba expelled a sigh, 'Here I had just thought that it was one sided, but I see I was mistaken.'

'Excuse me,' he was too tired to try and work his brother's logic.

'Come on, we should have a seat,' Mokuba told him and saw Kaiba looking for a set of chairs automatically. 'How about some fresh air on the roof garden,' he suggested. 'You could use some sunlight.'

'If that is what you wish,' Kaiba agreed, since he did indeed feel tired and in need of a break.

As they took the elevator up, one of the board members, Mrs. Rothworth, entered with her assistant in tow. 'Ah, Mr. Kaiba, Mokuba, it is good to see you two,' she said, 'however, it seems that Mr. Kaiba has seen better days.'

'Mrs. Rothworth, good morning,' Mokuba answered, while his brother muttered a greeting in return. Mrs. Rothworth was the one who had insisted that his brother find a wife, so that they could secure Kaiba Corps. heir, should anything happen to him.

'How are things going with that little friend of yours,' Mrs. Rothworth asked Kaiba ignoring his earlier dismissal.

'What friend,' Mokuba asked as he turned to look at his brother who flinched.

'Ah, so things aren't going so well and here I thought that you two made a lovely couple at the charity ball. You sure kept her at your side all night and even made sure to win her favor by winning her donation.'

'You met someone at the charity event? Why didn't you tell me?' Mokuba asked Kaiba, but Mrs. Rothworth kept answering and butting in.

'Yes, she was a lovely young lady, but it seemed that things went sour between them.' She looked Kaiba up and down taking in his tired appearance, his skin was pale washed out and he looked a little thinner. 'You know, the girls on the list I gave you would have never turned you away. They are still available to you and Mokuba, if you so wished to set up a meeting with one of them.'

'Thank you for your generous offer, Mrs. Rothworth,' Kaiba voice was cold and calculated, his face impassive. 'However, as I have said before my brother and I will decided to look for our own partners separately when we are ready.'

'Right,' they arrived at her stop, 'but a little help doesn't hurt.'

She got off before Kaiba could say anything else, 'Hn.'

'So, you met someone, and you didn't tell me, here I was under the impression that you liked Alisa,' Mokuba blurted out.

Mokuba turned to look at Kaiba when he didn't deny his statement, 'You don't, do you? I mean, you two don't always get along and half the time it seems like you two are about to bite each other's heads off.'

Kaiba heaved a heavy sigh as they arrived on the rooftop and were greeted by the bright afternoon sun and fresh breeze. His body shutting down to the pleasure of the relaxing environment. 'Seto,' his brother brought him back to reality.

'I don't know how to explain what happened,' he rubbed his face trying to rid himself of his sleep.

'What happened?'

'I am not sure, one minute I find her unsuitable for you and the next minute I can't stop thinking about her,' Kaiba confessed as he took a seat on one of the benched underneath the tree shade.

'So, I was right,' Mokuba joined him.

Kaiba just nodded his head, 'I am sorry, I swear it was never my intention to go after the woman you liked.'

Mokuba saw his crescent fallen face with the crinkle between his brows as he debated with what to say to make it up to him or make him believe it. 'I know, you were looking out for me. However, I am getting older, and I don't need you to keep doing so, I can handle myself and my future partner.'

'It's just that she's a wrecking ball without a safety, plus her attire is questionable as well as her free spirit which stresses a sane person,' Kaiba grumbled. 'So of course, I had to protect you, otherwise I was afraid when you took her out in public, she'd make a fool of herself and you, by association.'

'What changed,' Mokuba found it interesting that he would fall for someone with so many flaws.

Kaiba was silent as he thought about the question, he tilted his head back to look up at the clear sunny sky. 'I don't know, she's infuriating. Like a maddening diseased that slowly gets under your skin and makes you look forward to seeing her. The way her smile lights up the room, whether it's because she's genuinely happy or plotting some mischief, it's charming and alluring. She provokes me and instead of getting vexed, I ravish the pleasure of it.'

'Sounds like you have a weird fetish,' Mokuba made fun of him.

Kaiba laughed, 'Just because I find our little spats enjoyable, doesn't mean I have a fetish.'

'Right, you just like her because she challenges you at a different level,' Mokuba summarized.

Kaiba nodded his head and slowly sat up right, 'Speaking of which,' he turned his gaze towards Mokuba, 'why aren't you angry?'

It was Mokuba's turn to inhale deeply, 'I should be, but I can't find it within myself to be mad at you or hate you. Because either way she wouldn't have picked me, I told you that she already liked someone. I just didn't know that it mutual.'

'That makes two of us,' Kaiba agreed with him.

'So, what are you going to do now?'

'We are going to honor our agreement and wait until you're okay with this,' Kaiba told him.

'Don't, if you feel this strongly about her,' he referred to the fact that he was working himself to death, 'you should go after her.'

'But she wouldn't want to do this if it means hurting you,' Kaiba told him.

Mokuba nodded, both of them cared more about his well-being than their own happiness. 'Okay, I'll make this up to you and her.'

'No, no,' Kaiba shook his head, 'just like you I am an adult and I can handle this myself.'

'Okay, then how about this I won't talk to her in private or make it awkward between us when we go to Yugi's this weekend,' Mokuba told him.

'I am not going to Yugi's,' Kaiba protested.

'Of course, you are, because she'll be there, and you'll have the perfect excuse to meet with her. It won't be a breach of your agreement and a good opportunity to tell her how you feel. Plus, it'll give you time to rest and eat. Otherwise, if she sees you now, you'll scare her away,' Mokuba pointed out.

'Do I look that horrible,' Kaiba asked.

'Yes, you should probably call it a day and have someone take you home,' Mokuba told him, 'we don't need you falling asleep behind the wheel.'

'Yeah, but maybe I'll take a nap first,' Kaiba covered his mouth as he yawned.

'Okay, I'll let you rest and tell your secretary that you are going to be taking the day off today so to hold all your calls,' Mokuba told him as he got up pulling his cellphone from his pocket and sending out a text.

'Thanks, I'll see you at home,' Kaiba watched as his little brother took off to get a start on the day. After he was gone, he laid out as best as he could on the bench and stared up at the endlessly light blue sky. In the distance he could hear the busy morning traffic as people rushed to work. Alisa was probably busy as well, catering to all the people getting last minute coffee before they were due at work. He sighed as he closed his eyes and tried to relax for a moment, his head was throbbing from how tired he was feeling.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Risa looked down at her phone as she received a text message, 'How interesting,' she muttered as she sent out her owe message asking why.

'You know, you are setting a bad example for our new employee,' Alisa pointed out as she heard another message drop on Risa's phone.

Risa ignored her as she crinkled her nose, before she gasped and looked up at Alisa. 'What did something happen?'

'OMG, we have a delivery to make,' Risa got up off her chair and rushed over to Alisa's side to grab her shoulders and shake her. This was it. This was the moment that they had been waiting for and it was happening a day sooner than expected.

'What do you mean we have a delivery?' Alisa questioned, startled by Risa's sudden outburst and nearness. 'We don't do deliveries.'

'Oh, but this is a special delivery,' Risa pulled her off her stool. 'Come on, you have to go and get ready.'

'Get ready,' she muttered.

'Yeah, I don't think they'll let you near the building if you go dressed like this,' she said as she looked with disappointment at her green sweats.

'If I can't go like this, Kimberly can go and get some fresh air. I am sure that she'd enjoy some fresh air,' she said appalled that her beloved sweats were being criticized.

'No, no, no, Kimberly is going to do some special training with me,' Risa rejected. 'Now go up and put on something decent and don't think about putting on your expensive black sweats. No matter how nice the material, it's still a set of sweats.'

'I am offended you know,' Alisa gasped.

'Oh, and do something about your hair,' she said grabbing Alisa's fishtail braid.

'You want me to put on make-up too,' Alisa asked sarcastically.

'That would be a good idea, your skin looks a little pasty,' Risa pointed out.

Alisa scoffed as she ran away before she was insulted any further with some other flaw. 'Don't take too long,' Risa called after her.

'I'll take as long as I want,' she grumbled, 'I am not the one that decided to make a special delivery.'

'I heard that,' Risa called after her as she exited the bookshop.

Ten minutes later she came back downstairs, 'Wow, you clean up nicely without me,' Risa praised her as she walked back inside the bookstore.

Alisa felt out of place without her sweats but was grateful for the breeze and breathable skin. 'Of course, I am not five. So, what do I need to deliver? Do I need to call a cab, I am assuming this is a large order?'

'Nope, just this,' she put a cold blended drink on the counter inside a bag with a straw.

'This is crazy,' she muttered as she walked over to pick it up. 'Where am I going?'

'Kaiba Corp.,' Risa announced and watched as Alisa suddenly perked up, but at the same time crinkled the space between her brows as she became conflicted.

'But,' she wanted to object.

'No, just go,' Risa ordered her, not giving her an out.

'Who, is the delivery for?'

'Don't worry about that, the client will be waiting for you.'

'The receipt?'

'On the house,' Risa watched as she opened the bag and looked at the beverage. She grabbed the bag and closed it, offering her the handles, 'Stop wasting time! Otherwise, by the time you get there it'll be melted.'

'Fine,' she grabbed the drink and took off, 'see you later.'

Kimberly turned to Risa after Alisa left, 'So what is the special training that I have to undergo?'

'How to handle the shop once Alisa disappears and promises to be back,' Risa answered with a smile and broke into a laugh as she saw Kimberly's face fall at the thought of closing the shop alone. 'Don't worry, it doesn't happen often. Well, now that she'll be entering the honeymoon stage of her relationship, I am not so sure on that promise, but I'll set her straight.'

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Mokuba watched as Alisa walked between the two giant Blue Eyes in admiration as she headed towards Kaiba Tower. 'Hello,' she greeted him as she arrived before him a refreshing breath of fresh air. 'I am assuming this is for you?'

'Hm,' he nodded as he took the bag from her.

'How have you been,' she asked as she looked up at him with a soft smile.

'Good, you,' he asked as he reached out and gently touched her face, her cheeks were slightly hollow, and the skin was pulled back taut against her cheeks.

'Fine,' she lied as she slowly pulled away, not wanting to offend him but not wanting his touch to linger.

Mokuba frowned at the lie, but knew he had no say since he was the one that caused her slow deterioration. He had told his brother that he wouldn't interfere, yet he needed to right the wrong that he had caused. 'I didn't just text for the drink,' he told her as he ushered her inside the building. 'I wanted you to come so that I could apologize and ask for your forgiveness.'

Alisa followed behind him, 'But you have nothing to ask forgiveness for, I should be the one to be asking you.'

Mokuba shook his head, 'I was the one that was led by my own emotions and illusions. On top of that I asked you to put your life on hold for my own selfish reasons.'

Alisa looked away from Mokuba and marveled as they entered the building. They were greeted by a large half circular desk with two receptionists, who gave a warm welcome but went no further when they saw her with Mokuba. Once they passed the front desk, they were greeted with children of all ages running around the giant arcade. 'Still, knowing your affection, I should have stayed away from him.'

'A person can't run away from where their heart has strayed, plus without knowing it you've always picked him,' Mokuba led her to an elevator where he scanned his card for access.

'I think you are taking my books to out of proportion. I only decided on the Blue Eyes because it was the most well-known Dual Monster around the world.'

'The knight?' Mokuba probed as the elevator arrived and they walked inside, he pushed the G-button on the top and the elevator doors closed.

'No relation,' she automatically answered although after consideration and looking at his character profile she couldn't help but notice some resemblance.

Mokuba chuckled, 'Maybe that's why you two seem to work together.'

'I don't understand,' she quirked an eyebrow as he stared up at him confused.

'Give it time,' Mokuba told her, 'you'll understand. However, before you can do that you should talk to him and form the relationship that I imposed.'

'But,' that had been the plan originally, yet it was going to be a secret until they were sure Mokuba was going to be okay.

'I said I wanted to apologize and ask forgiveness, because keeping two people that care enough about me to listen to my foolish request isn't fair. I love my brother and don't hold his feelings for you against him, nor yours for him. I care for both of you, and I wish both of you happiness.' Mokuba told her with a genuine smile on his lips as he looked down at the beautiful woman before him.

After a pregnant pause and searching his face for any signs of regret, remorse or hidden anger she consented and nodded her head before throwing her arms around him. 'Thank you, thank you and I am so sorry. I know that in the future you'll meet someone beautiful that makes you happy and will love you whole heartedly.'

Mokuba enjoyed the embrace a little before stepping back as the elevator arrived and the doors dinged open. 'You should go and find your own happiness first.'

Alisa turned to the opened doors, looked back at Mokuba one last time seeking his approval, which he slightly nodded and without any more hesitating took a step forward out on to the roof top garden. This was it. She didn't have to hide her feelings anymore or feel guilty about seeing Kaiba behind Mokuba's back. As she walked about the garden, she wondered how he would react when he saw her? Would he approve or disapprove? She was also invading his space, since Kaiba Corp. was his place of employment, he might get upset about that. Alisa came to a stop as she neared a tree that towered over a bench offering shade and protection about the sun. On that bench was a tall male trying to lay comfortably on it with his legs hanging from one end. He was wearing a white lab coat which hung over one side and lightly blew in the breeze. One arm laid over his face, covering his eyes, his breathing was nice and steady, which made her wonder if she was intruding, since he hadn't stirred at her presence. She quietly walked over to his side and verified her suspicions, that he was sleeping.

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A/N: Man, this chapter was hard to write. I had to scrape it like three times before I was happy with how it came out. Because Kaiba and Mokuba have a strong relationship in the anime, I didn't want them to fight and hate each other over a woman so talking it out and accepting reality was my best conclusion. If there is any confusion, I want to clarify that the first part with Risa and Alisa takes place one week after the last chapter. When it pans over to Kaiba and Mokuba two weeks have passed since the last chapter. I couldn't keep these crazy kids away from each other for too long. I can't wait to see what happens next, so until next time.