Chapter 3: Mokuba's Project

Jeans, Seto thought, staring at Anzu at exactly 6:55 that evening. She's wearing jeans.

Anzu looked just as surprised at Seto's outfit. "Am I underdressed?" she asked doubtfully, looking at his suit and tie. "I could change…"

Seto was about to say that of course she should change, where did she think they were going, the thrift store? Then he remembered something he'd heard once, that you should never ask a woman to change for you. Now did they mean clothes or personality?

"No, you look great the way you are," Seto emphasized. At least she wasn't hideous; there was no way he could take her out in public wearing that outfit if she was one iota less attractive. No makeup, though. He suppressed a sigh.

Anzu self-consciously followed Seto out to the waiting car. On the bright side, he hadn't brought a pretentious limousine. On the downside, he still had a driver. Seto held the door for her and she slid into the car nervously, wondering if one was expected to greet the driver and what she should say.

Seto got in next to her and the car pulled away from the curb. An awkward silence descended until Anzu cleared her throat and asked, "So where are we going?"

"Sakura's," Seto replied.

"Sakura's?" Anzu asked in surprise, thinking of the brand-new five-star restaurant that had just opened up on the ritzy end of town. "I thought we were just going for drinks!"

"They have a bar," Seto said. Anzu tugged at the door handle. "What are you doing?" he asked, alarmed. "We're on the highway!"

"Let me out, I have to change my outfit," she told him. "No way am I going into Sakura's wearing jeans."

Now she gets it, Seto thought irritably. "No, really, I said you were fine," he said, glancing at his watch. "Besides, we can't go back now, or we'll be late. I made 7:15 reservations."

"You made reservations for drinks?" Anzu asked incredulously.

Seto sighed. And Mokuba expected him to put up with this primitive?

Anzu stuck close to Seto as they entered Sakura's, hoping that he would camouflage her clearly too casual outfit. She was definitely the most underdressed one in the place. Seto stopped on their way in to greet several people who were apparently business associates, who barely acknowledged Anzu with a nod. She relaxed once they were sitting at the bar and her jeans weren't quite so obvious; at least she'd worn a nice black top.

"Sake," Seto told the bartender. He nodded and transferred his attention to Anzu, who had a moment of panic. She didn't drink very much, and when she did, she preferred fruity drinks with little umbrellas in the top. But she didn't think there was one single umbrella in all of Sakura, with its polished glass surfaces and elegant wooden walls.

"A martini," she said, hoping that sounded classy enough. She already wanted the night to be over.

"On my tab," Seto added.

"Oh, no-" Anzu protested, but halfheartedly. If he wanted to drag her out, away from her cozy couch and pressing pile of laundry, for ultraexpensive drinks, he'd better be prepared to pay.

"No, drinks are on me tonight. Since I invited you." He punctuated this statement with a crooked smile and a light touch to her arm and much to her shock, Anzu's heart skipped a beat.

It's just because I had all those greasy fries with lunch, she told herself firmly. Clogging up my arteries.

"Well, thank you," she said, smiling back at him.

"So, do you like your job?" Seto asked.

Anzu paused for a moment to study him and make sure he actually cared about the answer. He didn't look particularly enthusiastic, but he wasn't falling asleep either, so she decided he was being sincere. Ish.

"I love it," she said, perking up despite herself. "This internship is a really good fit for me, and I'm hoping that I can get a full-time job there. I'll find out in the fall. In university I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with my life, you know? But I discovered that I really like working with children. Do you like kids?"

"I… can tolerate quiet ones," Seto said dubiously.

Anzu blinked. Their eyes met, and the same thought ran through both their heads: I have nothing in common with this person. The bartender set their drinks before them, and Anzu dove for hers desperately.

"I care about kids," Seto said defiantly, as if he wanted to prove Anzu and his own thought wrong. "I built KaibaLand, after all. Mokuba and I were willing to let it run in the red so that we could keep admission costs low."

"Red," said Anzu, clearly not understanding.

"Not profitable," Seto explained, mentally sighing. It had been a long time since he had to dumb things down this much. "It was costing more to maintain KaibaLand than we were making off it."

"Really?" Anzu looked surprised. "So you took a hit, just so underprivileged families could enjoy KaibaLand too?"

"Right," Seto said, mildly surprised that she caught on. "The deficit was nothing KaibaCorp couldn't afford. Although, since I hired Shina, we've just about broken even," he said reflectively. "She's very good."

"How did she do that?" Anzu asked.

"Oh, by cutting costs – replacing old bulbs with energy-efficient ones, putting in native plants that don't need as much water as the fancy imported ones, that sort of thing. She also had the idea to allow other companies to advertise within KaibaLand, so we've been getting revenue from that."

"She sounds like a very good manager," Anzu said diplomatically.

Seto narrowed his eyes. Anzu clearly hadn't liked Shina – not that he blamed her – but she felt like she had to be nice, even though the other girl wasn't even here. Pathetic. Say what you feel, he thought cuttingly. Changing the subject, he asked, "So you discovered that you like working with children. Did you ever think about teaching?"

"I did think about it," Anzu said, looking brighter. "But I like the camp thing right now. It's nice because I get to help out with a lot of differently themed camps – it adds variety to my day, and it's great experience, you know – in fact, earlier today, before our meeting, I went to supervise that water sports camp, I think you said Mokuba went there once, and…"

Seto listened to her ramble on, nodding at all the right places. Good god, he was sick of energetic women. Shina had directed all her energy towards making his company profitable, which was good; his previous girlfriend was a personal trainer and ran at least eight miles a day; before that, his girlfriend Lora had started her own company (not as successful as KaibaCorp, of course) and was ferociously devoted to making it solvent. Anzu's energy manifested itself in her bubbly personality and was therefore the most annoying out of all the other girls he'd dated. Next, he was definitely dating someone low-key, like a professional massage therapist.

"Spring camp just started, and this is the first season I'm actually working at," Anzu chattered. "Camp runs during the three main school breaks – spring, summer, and winter. During the off-season the camp department staff works together to coordinate lesson plans for the upcoming year. We have plenty of weekend and after-school activities, of course, and we also host some field trips from local schools."

Well, he supposed that this career suited Anzu; she needed something to direct all that positive energy towards. Not a lot of money in it, though. He'd guessed, when he picked her up in front of a ramshackled apartment building with tiny windows, that she was struggling to make ends meet, like most university graduates. He was rich, though. Seto knew that this would make it easier for him to seduce most girls… but he wondered about Anzu. She'd always been different.

Different. Stubborn. Backwards. Deluded – deluded, that's a good word for it, he thought, and drained his glass of sake.

Rebecca smoothed down her hair, her heart pounding with nervous anticipation, and rehearsed her opening line. Hi, Yuugi – just stopped by to see how you were doing. Your grandpa is at my house right now! You should come over with him next time.

She pasted a smile on her face, pushed open the door to the Kame Game Shop, and froze. Yuugi was behind the counter, all right, and Kaiba Mokuba was next to him.

Yuugi glanced up when the door opened. "Oh, hey! Rebecca!"

"Hi, Yuugi, just stopped by to see how you were doing," she said dully, glaring daggers into the top of Mokuba's head. The jerk wouldn't even look up. "Hi, Rebecca," he said unenthusiastically.

"I'm doing great," Yuugi said, smiling at her. "You know what, I think my grandpa is at your place right now, visiting Arthur."

"Yeah, you should come with him next time," she said, still unable to pry her eyes away from Mokuba.

"I'll have to, one of these days," Yuugi said, this time sounding a little confused that she wasn't looking at him. "By the way, I like your shirt."

This finally snapped her out of it. "Thanks," she smiled. It was a cute blue top with puffy sleeves and buckles going down the shoulders, and two slim buckles crossed at her waist. She'd worn it for him – she knew he liked buckles.

"Well, I think I've got everything I need," Mokuba said, coming from around the counter, lugging a bag full of papers. "Thanks for the photocopies. I'll look over these and let you know what I think by Monday, okay?"

"That would be great, and thanks again so much, Mokuba," Yuugi said appreciatively. "Grandpa and I really appreciate this."

"It's not a problem at all. I'm happy to do it – Bando-sensei will probably let me work with him on his next project if I can prove I'm a good businessman," Mokuba told him.

Yuugi laughed. "Your work at KaibaCorp hasn't proven that already?"

"Bando-sensei doesn't believe in nepotism," Mokuba grinned. "He said I had to prove myself on my own terms."

"Well, I'm still grateful," Yuugi said.

"I'll see you at karaoke this weekend," Mokuba said, lifting a hand on his way out. "Seeya, Becky."

She pulled herself together enough to say, "Bye", and Mokuba left.

"Becky?" Yuugi asked her, leaning on the counter and grinning. "That's a cute nickname."

"It's horrid," she said automatically. "Uhh—Yuugi, will you excuse me?"

"Sure," he said, but she had already turned around and was dashing out the door after Mokuba. She caught up with him as he was getting into his car.

"What was that about?" she demanded, getting into the passenger seat without asking. Mokuba had already put the bag full of papers from Yuugi there, so she lifted it up and put it on her lap when she was seated. "What are these papers?"

Mokuba paused, standing outside the driver's door. "Hi, Becky. You want a ride?"

"Get in the car," she snapped. He complied, shaking his head. "So, tell me." She started to look through the bag.

"Don't do that." Mokuba snatched the bag away from her and put in the backseat. "Some of those are confidential." He started the car.

"Why is Yuugi giving you confidential papers?" she asked as the car pulled away.

Mokuba sighed. "Well, he and I just decided this today, but I'm going to write a business plan for the Game Shop. I talked to Bando-sensei after class and he said it could be my project this semester, and if I did really well on it, I could work with him spring semester."

"Why didn't you tell me about it?" Rebecca demanded, miffed, before she remembered that Mokuba wasn't obliged to share every detail of his personal life with her. She changed tactics. "Why does the Game Shop need a business plan?"

"They're operating in the red this year," Mokuba admitted. "Just barely – the profits from the previous year cover it – but Mutou Sugoroku is worried."

"They what?" Rebecca sat upright. "Why didn't he tell my grandfather about this? We didn't know they were in trouble! We could give them a loan, or I could have worked out a business plan, or something!"

"Yuugi's grandpa was kind of embarrassed about it," Mokuba told her, his eyes on the road. "Yuugi really had to convince him to let me help out, and I sort of had to pass it off as a favor to me. Let me write you a business plan, please, I need a subject for my project. Like that."

"Oh." Rebecca sat back and frowned. "Well, I'm glad that they're getting help. But I wish I was the one helping them! My grandpa would want me to. The Mutous are our friends. And it would be a good way to impress Yuugi," she added as an afterthought.

Mokuba was silent. He knew Rebecca well, and in a moment, she would say…

"Let me work with you," she said abruptly.

"This is my semester project, Becky," he said with an exaggerated sigh.

"For Bando-sensei, right?" Rebecca demanded, referencing the finance professor that they both admired. "Well, I want to work with him next semester too! He won't mind if we work together on this project, and then he'll get two great students assisting him in the spring."

"Now you say 'do you mind, Mokuba, if I barge in on your project?'" he told her.

Rebecca waved her hand at that. "You don't mind. You and I have worked together on projects since secondary school. We make a good team. You're creative and I'm practical."

"I think this whole Anzu plan is very creative," Mokuba said, momentarily distracted.

"Do you mind?" she asked, turning towards him in the dark car. He kept his eyes on the road and counted off the seconds to appropriately time his pause.

"No," he said at last. "I don't mind if we work together."