Chapter 5

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Sakura paced the halls of the hospital like she had done so many times before. This time she wasn't alone, and it wasn't close friends accompanying her. It was her new boss and classmate, Seto Kaiba.

"You know you've done so much, you really don't have to stay. You've got so much to worry about, you-"

"Can it. I'm not going anywhere." He sat back in the waiting room chair, trying to make himself comfortable.

"I... I really appreciate you coming and doing all of this but... why are you here?" She asked, looking up at him from her seat next to him.

"Because, I was curious. And I wanted an excuse to get out of school." She smirked.

"Wow, you are a real boy." He chuckled, surprising her again. Getting to know the Seto Kaiba was turning into a great experience. Maybe people just didn't understand him. Maybe they didn't care to. But if that was the case, then it was their loss.

"Ms. Miko." The doctor called. She looked up at Kaiba worriedly, then stood. He rose with her and accompanied her to the back room where her brother lay, asleep. "I'm afraid, the tumor seems to be growing at a much faster rate than before. We cant tell what is causing this growth rate, but it's beginning to crush the brain against the skull, causing the blackouts. From the location of the tumor, you must already know his memory will be failing soon." Sakura nodded.

"This could start at any moment now. He could wake today and not remember the last week. But more importantly, I'm afraid, he has less time than we previously estimated." Sakura couldn't look up at the doctor. She knew this might happen. She knew she'd have to deal with this sooner or later. She just couldn't face it as strongly as she wished she could.

"How long?" She asked, still looking away. She could see Kaiba behind her out of the corner of her eye and felt a bit... more comfortable.

"Less than six months." Sakura paused. Her eyes darted around and she chewed on the inside of her cheek. Finally she bit back the tears threatening to fall and smiled up at the doctor.

"Thank you so much for all your help. Can I see him?" Kaiba was stunned. This girl, who's love and devotion to her brother were so obvious, was able to smile in the face of a death sentence for someone she cared fully for. She had her business face on, but both she and Kaiba knew, there was no dealing with death.

The doctor let her in, pausing as Kaiba followed, but let him in as well when she turned back and waved him on.

"Sakura... who's this?" Her brother rasped.

"Don't you recognize him silly? It's Seto Kaiba. He's my new boss." She chuckled, tugging the hair from his eyes. Immediately the boy tried to right his position, straining himself to sit up and greet Kaiba proper.

"Please don't exhaust yourself." Kaiba insisted, moving to the boy's side. Jiro held out a hand and Kaiba shook it.

"I was hoping to see the boy who gave Sakura her dream job." Kaiba's eyes moved from brother to sister and she had been looking fondly at her older sibling.

"You know I want to be an accountant." She said, ruffling the hair she just fixed.

"You know I want you to be happy." He retorted, combing his fingers through and making it so he could see again. "You've got your whole life ahead of you. You need to enjoy it. I'm glad you took this job. I can how see it makes you smile. That's what life is about. I want you to smile always." His tone held something distant, and it pierced her subconscious.

"Jiro..." He lifted his hand to stroke her cheek and she took it. This was how families should be. Kaiba watched as the two exchanged hopes for each other. A hope for life. A hope for happiness. The very things Kaiba and Mokuba had for each other. The very thing they fought so hard for. It broke his heart to know that his biggest fear, that he shared with them, would befall them.

"The doctors want to keep me for a few days. Looks like you're going to be getting a vacation from taking care of me." He said with a smile.

"I'll visit every day." She promised.

"Like hell you will. Have your friends over. Throw a party. Go out and get a date. I'd like to meet and scare at least one of your boyfriends away before I go. It is my job." He chuckled, but Sakura didn't seem amused.

"I've got plenty on my plate to have to worry about dating." She said bitterly.

"Work... school... chores... whats the point in existing if you're not going to live?" Sakura sighed heavily, but he wasn't done. "Go ask a guy out or something. Just remember, no keggers and no preggers." Sakura's face turned bright red, and Kaiba had to stifle his laughter.

"Preg... you're insane."

"Heh... yeah... soon enough."

Sakura made her way to the study hall. She was having the same issues as the day before. Her brain didn't seem to be functioning at one hundred percent. She figured it would take four times as long to do her work today, just as it had done the day before.

'I hope I didn't catch something in the emergency room.' She thought to herself. Before she could enter the room someone called out to her.

"Sakura, this way." She turned, but didn't have to. She knew it was Kaiba. He led her to the room he used to study in private again and she took her seat next to him.

"How are the designs going?" He asked, getting straight to business. She looked him over deflatedly and pulled out her small travel portfolio. She removed fave pages and handed them to him. The first three were a guard and two vendors, all three pieces complete. She even went as far as to make four full drawings on the paper, front, back, and one of each side of the character portrayed. In random areas of the paper where it wasn't used, she drew more intricate details of the clothing they wore, their faces and hair, and their hands and feet.

The other two papers were incomplete drawings of landscapes. One of the main town where the players would start and one of the view from that main city's walls. The drawings were exactly what he wanted, and she had only been working on them for four days.

"Five pages?" He said under his breath. He figured she would be moving at a slower pace as most of his 'work from home' employees did. Especially given the current circumstances.

"Sorry. I've been busy lately. Over the next three days I'll have time to work on more. I'm usually faster, but... I have no excuses. I'm sorry." He glanced over at her. Was she serious? He expected maybe this much work per week.

"This is fine. It's a good pace." He said, unsure of why she was being so hard on herself.

"I know I can do better. Besides, if there's a figure you don't agree with, there should be enough time to get everything perfect." She said. She really did think ahead. He knew he would have only the best in his games, and if something was sub standard, he would turn it down. She wanted enough time to make everything perfect. She wouldn't procrastinate and risk any issues. She was, as usual, a stand up worker.

"How's your brother?" The question had been on his mind, but it felt weird asking such a personal question. He wasn't used to the closeness.

"He's alright. He's under twenty four, seven watch and the nurses are great with him." She pulled out her calculus papers and started working on them quietly, and he returned to his own work after handing back the unfinished pieces and putting the complete ones in his briefcase. Before the study hall ended he pulled out a smaller stack of paper and wrote something down.

As she rose to leave, he passed her the slip of paper that he had filled out. A check for $2200.

"I figured you might forget, but I'm not one to take things for free." She nodded gratefully and continued away, leaving him on his own separate way.

Over the next few weeks the world returned to normal. Every Monday Kaiba would look over the drawings she produced that week and he would write her a check for her efforts. He had come to expect ten characters and one landscape a week from her, give or take one or two.

Life for him was the same. He made his deals, made business decisions, and even had some spare time for his favorite pass time, Duel Monsters. He was the reigning world champion and damned proud of it. The one part of his life that he could indulge, and he wanted it perfect. That game gave him the closest feeling to a childhood he ever had. Between raising Mokuba, Gozaburo's 'training', and taking over the company, he never had the same experiences every other kid had. Playing the silly game was like a second chance at a childhood he never got.

He knew he would be invited to the upcoming tournament from the creator of the cards, Maxamillion Pegasus. He was the one who created the stadiums used in the tournament. He was a shoe in for the champion position as well. He knew he could take it. The only thing he had to worry about was the final holder of the blue eyes white dragon. The tournament invited the best duelists from all over, and anyone with such a powerful card would certainly be there. He just had to locate it.

"Yeah, if you want to, you can come by the card shop and we can show you Grandpa's rare card." Kaiba heard from the other side of the room. The words came from one of the kids that had been bugging him and Sakura before.

"You think he'll teach me how to play?" The blonde boy was talking to the short boy. What game shop were they talking about, and what about a rare card? It couldn't have possibly been there in Domino the whole time. There is no way that card could have been under his nose while he searched the world over. He had to make sure. And if it was there, he had to get it.

After school he headed straight to the game shop that he managed to link the boy, Yugi, to. It was apparently run by his grandfather. It wasn't a large gaming shop, or even a very outstanding one, but it was the perfect place to hide such a card, and one that he hadn't searched before. As he walked through the doors his heart stopped. The card he had been searching for. The one he had spent almost a year trying to find.

"The blue eyes white dragon!"

"I cant believe Kaiba." One kid said.

"Guy's got some nerve." The girl added. Yugi looked up at his friends, wanting them to be wrong about the teen CEO, but his psyche wouldn't allow him to defend Kaiba. They were finally able to leave the hospital and his grandpa was alright, but it didn't excuse Kaiba's actions. Yugi looked down at the torn card in his hands and sighed.

"Joey, Tea, Tristan, I've got to go to the game shop. I've got to watch the place while they keep grandpa." He said to his friends.

"We'll stay with your grandpa while you take care of the place." the brunette, Tristan said, grabbing the blonde, Joey and smiling.

"I'll help you Yugi. After we close, we can come back and get the boys." Tea said, patting Yugi on the back and walking with him. As they left they bumped into a girl trying to enter.

"Sorry... hey..." Sakura said, looking at Yugi and Tea confusedly.

"Oh, it's you. What are you doing here?" The truth was, her brother had been back and forth to the hospital for some time now, but she wasn't about to spill her life story to some strangers.

"Just visiting someone." She said nonchalantly. "You?"

"The same." Yugi responded. "But I gotta go." He said, waving goodbye to her. She smiled and bid farewell to them in return and turned into the lobby. There she saw the two boys that she had been so mean to in her first days at the school.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" She sighed, not wanting to repeat herself, but decided to be nice.

"Just visiting someone." She responded again. She smiled and continued, not wanting a full conversation. "I don't have much time though." She said, justifying her retreat. But it was true, she was having friends over in a little while and didn't want them to beat her to her own home.

Her visit was short and sweet. She really did have a time limit, but she made it a point to visit her brother every day he had to spend at the hospital. She left through a side door that she used to lead her to the allies that went straight to her home.

"Hey, I've seen you here before." A man said as she passed him. He was easily twice her age, and wreaked of alcohol. She began to walk faster, but the man came from behind and grabbed her arm. "hey, I was talking to you." He slurred his words and she wondered how he could even stand by the way he was leaning.

"Sorry, I guess I didn't hear you... But I have to go..." She said politely, trying not to anger him as she moved from him. His grip tightened, not allowing her to escape.

"Whats the rush?" He said pulling her toward the wall he had been leaning off of. She looked at him with horror and tried desperately to free herself, but he slammed her harshly against the concrete side of the building. With his strength obviously overpowering her, all she could do is beg.

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Another cliffie. ^.^'' Luckily I update very quickly. don't forget to review all. This is my first OC story, so I need all the critiques I can get.

Read, Review, Enjoy~ Love!