The little boy was growing. He's not so little now.
He grew inside himself through time, never let his feelings out.
He kept his grief and anger locked within him deep inside.
He never let the grownups know; never let them see him cry.

His happy light had faded, his joy now but a dream
His young, warm, cobalt wide blue eyes
Were now just bleak and mean.

He'd learned the hard way not to trust
or let feelings make him glad,
for everyone just left you;
they left you feeling sad.

o

He couldn't believe it. Refused to believe it.

But his eyes didn't lie, and there she was, that same girl he'd interviewed yesterday. Nadie Epps. Or Nadia, as the instructor had called her. He had not figured she'd enroll to this school, to Domino High of all places. But there was no mistaking it, even though she wasn't wearing the black skirt and white blouse she'd worn yesterday to the interview. Now she was dressed in the typical school uniform for girls, blue skirt with the standard pink jacket and bow. But there was no denying the fact that she stood out. Compared to the other fair skinned students, himself included, she looked dark and exotic and wild, coffee brown skin, dark brown eyes, and dark unruly hair which he could see was more brown toned in the light. She looked, in effect, as though she'd come straight from the Mediterranean or Northern Africa. She hadn't seen him yet, eyes glued shyly to the floor. But she had a small smile on her face as if she were happy to be there.

He scoffed.

What the hell was so special about this place anyway? It was just a school...no better and no worse than any other school in the district, he supposed. He caught the curious gaze of the other students. Unlike himself, who regularly dealt with foreigners or business transactions, they'd never seen an actual American before, and their faces shone with open and unconcealed curiosity as the teacher directed her to the last available chair in the class, near the back and right next to...

Ryou Bakura.

Across from him, he could see the disappointed look of Katsuya Jonouchi. Jonouchi, who'd looked insanely happy at the prospect of a new student. A new girl, of whom he could possibly persuade to be his girlfriend. Kaiba rolled his eyes. The Neanderthal was happy with any girl who gave him even the slightest attention. He turned his head, staring at the blackboard. What that girl did in her free time was her own business. As long as she got to work on time and stayed away from him. Just because she worked for him didn't mean he had to socialize with her in school.

He glanced away from the blackboard, opening his novel and tuning everything out. He didn't need this class. He excelled in Science and Mathematics, got A's without even trying. It was all child's play to him. The only reason he even bothered with school was because there was no way to get out of it, legally. And one of the clauses of him running the company stated that he had to at least graduate. It was one of the things he barely tolerated and certainly did not enjoy, but that couldn't be helped.

By the end of the class, after the excitement of having a foreign student had settled down, everyone gathered into their separate groups for lunch. He stood, not looking anyone in the eye, and strode from the room. He never ate lunch here. He wouldn't be caught dead with these nobodies. He walked out the door of the building and across the yard over to the blue- green sedan that waited at the entrance of the school every day. Leaving the grounds was against school rules, but no one ever bothered saying anything to him about it. After all; He was Seto Kaiba. The only valuble person this school had to offer. If they lost him, if they offended him, a multi-millionaire shareholder and CEO, they'd also bring about torrents of bad publicity for their school. Perhaps this was why they never questioned him. The driver shut the car door behind him before pulling away from the curb. "Good afternoon, Mr. Kaiba," he greeted solemnly. Kaiba gave a curt nod in return.

"Same place, boss?" the man asked obediently.

"Yes." Kaiba replied coolly. Every day he ate lunch at the small cafe near the end of the block. It was quiet, calm, and nobody bothered him...just the way he preferred to keep it.

O

The students gathered around her curiously, asking various questions.

She was flustered; she'd never been the center of attention before and it was very unnerving. They talked in fast excited voices- voices she could barely decipher. She could speak Japanese, but not this fluently. She answered their questions as short and as quickly as she could, and after a moment the curious teens drifted away. No doubt they thought she was rude; one of those loners who thought they were just too good to associate with anyone. She felt a surge of regret. She wanted to call out to them, to bring them back, to explain that she wasn't like that at all. They had just been trying to be friendly— but her voice caught in her throat, and she couldn't bring herself to say anything.

"Don't worry. It'll wear off soon enough."

She turned her head sharply to her right, glancing at the boy beside her. He had a wealth of white blond hair which fell in chunky layers around his face and shoulders. His large brown eyes held a serene calmness as she stared at him, startled.

"I...I thought everyone was gone..," she whispered slowly. He smiled. A shy, friendly sort of smile.

"It's ok," he said again, "I just transferred here a few months ago as well," he spoke as if that explained everything. "They'll lose interest soon…then you'll be just like everyone else. An ordinary person."

She couldn't stop the look of disappointment that slipped onto her face. He looked puzzled.

"...Don't you want to be like everyone else?" She blushed, then. It was stupid. Of course she wanted to be like everyone else! She certainly didn't want to stand out, to draw any unnecessary attention to herself. But to know that they were just interested in her because she was new...because she was nothing special...

"Are you alright?" She looked up. She hadn't realized he'd been waiting for an answer. She forced a smile on her face. "Fine...just fine." He seemed to accept her answer, reaching out a slim hand.

"I'm Ryou. Nice to meet you."

She gaped at him in shock. She'd been prepared to do a lot of bowing, but hadn't expected anyone to offer a hand shake. Then again, this boy didn't seem as if he were even from Japan. He had a slight accent, which was hard for her to identify since he was speaking in Japanese. He'd said something about being a transfer student though, hadn't he?

She took his hand, grasping it lightly. He had small, almost effeminate fingers similar to her own. His nails were low, as if he bit them frequently.

"I'm Nadia," she offered, smiling nervously.

The boy smiled again, and she wondered what he could possibly be so happy about. He stood suddenly, pushing his chair in carefully, neatly, and grabbing a thin paper bag.

"Well, we'd better get going or we'll miss our lunch." She nodded mutely, staring reflectively at his back. He hadn't seemed curious about her; just politely inquisitive, not at all excited about her arrival. She suddenly smiled. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, being an ordinary person. She'd looked forward to starting a new school in the hopes of starting over, making new friends. They tended to move a lot because of her father's work, but he'd promised the family that they were here to stay. Finally. She'd get a chance to get to know people, to make friends. People were curious about her, yes, but she hadn't had a real conversation with anyone as of yet; more along the lines of playing twenty questions, that is, of answering the questions they fired at her. Except with that Ryou guy. He seemed subdued and mellow, a kind face in the midst of the excitement of the other students. She looked up suddenly to find that she was alone.

CRAP!

Now what was she supposed to do?! She grabbed the lunch box her mother had persuaded her to bring, a childish plastic thing from the younger days of her SpongeBob obsession - and dashed out the door, barely catching sight of his figure as he rounded the corner up ahead. Where was he going? She stepped around the corner, glossy black Mary-Janes clicking against the hard floor.

He was gone. Briefly, her heart sank.

But there was only one place he could have gone.

She pushed open the wide double doors and stepped out hesitantly into the sunshine. She hated the outdoors, hated the bugs and the heat and the dirt; hated sweating. But then again, she hated the thought of eating alone even more. Various students seemed to be out here, eating, goofing off, or both. She kept her eyes glued to the ground as she followed Ryou's descending form. He was headed towards a lone tree, at the far end of the yard.

There was no time for embarrassment as she dropped awkwardly down beside him. He looked surprised.

"Oh...I'm sorry," he said, actually looking apologetic, "I didn't realize you were behind me." She nodded.

"Do you mind if I sit here?," she tried to sound nonchalant, casual, but it came out as sulky and impatient. He didn't seem to notice.

"No, no. Go right ahead."

And that was the last thing he said.

He seemed to draw into himself, looking thoughtfully off into the distance and eating some sort of noodles from a bowl. She sighed. Perhaps his politeness had been just that. Politeness. It hadn't meant anything. It hadn't been an offer of friendship. And now he probably felt obligated to eat with her today. He seemed to enjoy being alone, or used to it. She shrugged it off, biting viciously into her ham and cheese sandwich.

The rest of the afternoon weighed heavily upon her; the constant interpreting of foreign words, the constant effort to enunciate her words so that her southern accent didn't render them unrecognizable. The constant bowing, of remembering the correct suffixes attached to the names of people she didn't know… By the end of the day, her nerves were stretched thin, and she ready to head home for a nap. At dismissal, she was walking slowly from the building, nursing a slight headache when she suddenly remembered.

Work.

Oh crap.

She panicked. She'd completely forgotten! She flew out the door, running full speed down the street. The school had let out at 3:45...she'd never make it! KaibaCorp was more than four blocks away, and his office well above the first ten floors.

Please oh please...

She stepped into his office at 4:03.

He was standing at his desk, glaring.

"Where have you been?! Do you know how long I've been standing here waiting?!" She couldn't speak, was too busy trying to catch her breath. She'd ran the whole way there, and her lungs felt as though they were about to explode.

Kaiba regarded her with cold eyes.

"I'm a very busy man, Ms. Epps. Perhaps you should consider other job options if you plan on making this a habit." he spoke calmly, as if he were undisputedly right. As if she'd been 20 minutes late, instead of three.

She finally caught her breath.

"I'm sorry! I mean, the school's pretty far from here...I came as soon as- " Wait a minute...three minutes?! Three lousy minutes and he had gone ballistic?!

He sighed impatiently, thrusting a thick folder in her direction.

"Sort these out by subject."

She sighed in relief. That was all? She'd been expecting some large impossible task, but perhaps the man had a heart after all. She'd surely be done by the end of the hour, at least. She came forward smiling in relief, and thought she saw the corner of his lips twist upward in amusement.

"And those as well." He gestured to a pile of other folders to his left on the floor against his desk. A high pile. A pile that came almost up to her knees. She swallowed.

Ok. No biggie. It won't take long. You're just sorting them by subject anyway. How hard can it be?

"On second thought, I'd like for them to be sorted alphabetically, as well."

She nearly choked. Okay, now she was sure of it. A ghost of a smirk was playing at his lips, and he had an odd glint in his eye. And something else. Something that dared her to refuse.

She didn't.

With an inward sigh of resignation, she plopped down on the floor, setting her school bag and lunch box down and flipping noisily through the folder in her hand. She heard an irritated sigh above her head.

"Not down there, you idiot! I can't concentrate with all that noise." She bristled at the insult. Certainly bosses weren't supposed to call their employees names, were they? Wasn't that sort of thing against the law? She'd only ever worked at McDonalds before this, but even they had stopped short of actual name calling. Still, it was her first day of work. And this was Japan, after all. Who knew what sort of behavior was acceptable here?

"...did you want me to move?," she asked stupidly, and immediately regretted it.

"How...perceptive of you." he replied dryly, those dark blue eyes intent on her face. So she rose clumsily to her feet, balancing an arm load of the folders and retreating to the far end of the room. At least, she hoped that was what he meant. He hadn't said anything about her getting her own office. He could at least offer her a chair or something.

He didn't.

He just stood there, scowling watching her lift and struggle under the papers without offering to help.

"Can't you move any faster?"

She bit back the urge to tell him to shut up. If he wanted it done quicker then why didn't he help her? She had been hired as a secretary; she hadn't realized manual labor came with the deal.

"I'm sorry," she gasped, "but these folders are heavy..."

"I'm sure they are."

She frowned. Was he deliberately trying to get a reaction out of her? She glanced back at him with glare, nearly dropping her load when she saw that he was glaring back.

Geez…what was his problem?!

She could tell it was going to be a long night.

o

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