A Monopoly Of Blue Eyes

by FeistyFox

He had refused to believe in his past, refused to be sucked into the fairytale that had been hurled at him again and again. But it appeared that his past had found him whether he wanted it or not. She was here… sitting right here in his class, this ghost from the ancient past, looking exactly as he remembered, exactly how she did in his dreams and the visions he had been shown.

17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Fine Print

As he waited for his private jet to take off impatiently he looked out the window of the runway, wanting nothing more than to get home and wondering what the holdup was as they had been scheduled to take off fifteen minutes ago. Almost immediately after the merger went through he'd had to go take care of an entirely different problem in Northern Japan. At least Sarah had been amenable to staying with his brother while he was gone, not that she had anywhere else to go at the moment, and of course she had already said she would. It wasn't like her to go back on her word no matter what the circumstances. At least with this now taken care of he saw no reason to have to leave Domino again in the foreseeable future, which was just as well because he had been as close to sick with worry as he was capable of leaving both Sarah and Mokuba there without him. They weren't safe, both in danger in different ways, and he was rightfully afraid that something would happen when he was gone. It hardly helped that Sarah simply went ahead and did what she wanted regardless and Mokuba was still chafing at the restrictions he put in place to keep him out of harm's way. Really, it could be exhausting, but he preferred to be there than leaving them to their own devices entirely.

Tapping his fingers he glanced over at the seat next to him, where his briefcase was sitting, being sure the major source of his worry was where it was supposed to be. After the incident at the mansion he had refused to leave the millennium rod out of his reach. He had left the object in a safe in his bedroom, assuming that until he could get a more secure location set up that it would be perfectly fine. Instead the damnable thing had betrayed him, somehow ending up on top of his dresser where it could easily be spotted, and of course it had been. He was sure somehow the thing had planned it, although he wasn't clear on how that was possible, not that any of it should have been possible at all.

He felt as if everything was working against him and the very sincere promise he had made to allow Sarah the life she wanted, the peaceful one she deserved to have, the one she had more than earned in her last life. He had known the moment something started happening that night. He had felt an odd tingle down his spine, the same one he had when he had first picked up the millennium rod in the ruins, and not two seconds later white light had flashed, filling his office in blinding radiance and causing his hair to stand up on its ends. He had hurled himself out of his office, having no idea what had set Sarah off and sure that the dragon had escaped her tentative hold on it.

As he raced up the stairs every item that ran on any sort of electrical current began to go haywire as the dragon's lightning overpowered any and all safeguards used to monitor powerflow. Instead of finding an enraged blue eyes in his hallway, which he was honestly expecting, he instead found Sarah standing against the hallway wall across from his bedroom with her hands over her ears to block out the cacophony of noise, and Mokuba looking about with sleepy confusion. Sarah, who was staring into his room with an expression of dumbfounded fear, skittered away from the doorway as soon as she caught sight of him. When he asked what had happened he wasn't expecting a straight answer, and he certainly didn't get one. Sarah had lied through her teeth about not seeing anything, it was written all of her face, and her troubled blue eyes would hardly meet his.

After she retreated to her bedroom and Mokuba was back asleep he had gone back downstairs to try to prevent any further damage to his home. His night staff was moving about the house frantically trying to get all the lights to work properly and he had eventually gone into the main circuit board and reset everything manually himself, replacing over three-quarters of the fuses that had been completely burned out. He had been surprised there wasn't more damage. And even so, the next few hours lights had switched on and off by themselves, mostly in the family wing, as if reacting to something he couldn't turn off. He would be lying if he said he didn't know what, or more precisely who, that person was.

When he finally got back to his own room he had shut the door quietly and opened his top dresser drawer, where he had shoved the millennium rod when Mokuba and Sarah were turning things off in other rooms. He scowled at it as he snatched it up, fully sure that this had everything to do with it. "Look, you hunk of magical junk, try something like that again and so help me I'll throw you in a pit of hot lava and watch you melt with great joy!" The eye gleamed gold and he saw an image of his blue eyes standing beside him in the desert, her wings spread out protectively overhead to block the blazing sun from hitting him as she watched for danger. He wasn't impressed by the message, which was a clear indication that the item wanted his dragon back by his side in the most literal way possible. "I'll decide what to do with her, not you!" He hissed down at it, realizing how crazy it was he was having a conversation with this stupid thing. "I'm not the fanatically loyal priest you remember, so get it through whatever brain you have that I'm in charge, not you! Now what the hell did you just do?"

The item did nothing and he glared at it. Realizing he had no real way to force it into an answer he set it on the table next to his bed and went to sleep after vehemently warning the damn thing to stay where he put it. The next day everything seemed to be back to normal, save for Sarah's subtly cagey behavior at breakfast. Certain she had seen some sort of manifestation of magic didn't mean he was going to confirm it. He had decided to pretend everything was as it should be and that had just been some sort of electrical failure. He was sure given a few days she would forget the incident and move on, or convince herself it had never happened the way he had done for years. By the end of the day, with the merger all but agreed on, she appeared her normal self again. She was back to her cheerful state and chattering animatedly to him about wanting to watch Mokuba's kendo match the following week while they gathered up their things in the conference room.

Nothing else had happened in the five days since and he had turned his attention to another pressing matter in his free time between firing incompetent people and restructuring his manufacturing plant. He estimated he had about eight days at the most from the time Sarah found her apartment destroyed and the time she decided she had been at the mansion long enough and moved out on her own with or without his help finding a place to live. If she hadn't been there watching Mokuba he suspected he would have even less time, but it was an unexpected boon. Despite her assurance that she knew he was being kind, and a very firm belief that he would never hurt her, which he was satisfied to hear, he recognized the need she had to be in her own space. It gave her control over her life and her own personal comfort zone, and he did indeed understand that even if he would much prefer her at the mansion on a permanent basis. He also understood on a much more professional level what it would look like if she stayed longer than she already had. Not that he had told anyone, but given enough time it was bound to get out from either someone on his household staff or security detail. The tabloids paid a hefty fee for stories on him, and he was sure having a young woman living with him would be a great prize for a motivated individual. Eventually someone would risk it and take the money. The last thing he wanted after she had proved herself to be a competent and exemplary employee was to look like she was sleeping her way into his good graces. It would completely ruin her reputation, not only at Kaiba Corp but anywhere she might go, and he didn't want that to happen to her.

So after a negotiation with her that was easily ten times more difficult that the merger, as she was as blatantly stubborn as him when she got something in her head, he had managed to get her to agree to let him look at apartments with her as long as he was clear she could veto his choice for any reason she desired. He had rolled his eyes at the stipulation, but after nearly three hours arguing about how she didn't need his help at all he had forced himself to let it go. After another hour he had nailed down what he thought a realistic budget for said apartment was because Sarah wasn't at all interested in letting him know how she spent the money she earned. The reason for that, he had finally worked out, was that she was spending almost nothing on rent, or really anything. When he had asked her why she had obstinately refused to discuss it and it had taken him another two hours to pry that information from her.

Sarah had eventually informed him that she wasn't about to spend money on anything frivolous, as if a place to live was somehow financially irresponsible, when she could be saving her money. When he asked her what she was saving for, agreeing that investments were always a good idea, her only answer was 'an emergency'. At that point he had a terrible headache, but was so invested in the thing that he couldn't back out. It hardly helped that Mokuba kept purposefully drifting by whatever room they were bickering in and sending him the most devilishly delighted looks. He knew what his brother was thinking, he was thinking it was about time someone gave him a hard time about something. He was sure Mokuba was only more satisfied because it was Sarah and his brother knew very well his unspoken affection for her was stopping him from completely losing his temper at her refusal to do what he wanted.

Finally, after nearly six hours of debating over two days, he had managed to convince her what a reasonable range for rent was a month with what she was making, although it had been as pleasant as pulling teeth to get her to agree with him about it. He was also seriously considering adding negotiator to her list of responsibilities because that had nearly killed him. There was no way a lesser man would have made it through that he was sure. So, with a concrete place to start he had been searching apartments in Domino in both the paper and on the internet. He had learned a few things. The first was that apartments in safe neighborhoods with adequate security were hard to come by, the second was that even when one opened they were generally off the market in less than six hours. Domino was doing so well financially that it's population was increasing rapidly as many people flocked from more rural areas to find work. Realty was clearly a seller's market right now and rent had been hiked up across the board.

What was even more frustrating for him was that even at the high end of her range, and he was sure she wasn't going to budge one cent over that amount, none of the apartments he was finding were even close to what he wanted her in. Many of them didn't have any kind of security. Those that did were at a minimum, with most of them having outside staircases like her last apartment, which he felt heavily contributed to no one noticing there was an intruder. Wondering what it cost to get a place with at least a doorman, an inside entrance with some sort of lock or private access, and in a good neighborhood he began to research. What it cost, it appeared, was about three times what Sarah was willing to pay, and even if she would he could see it was too much for her budget. Her entire paycheck would be going to rent with nothing left over.

He had been momentarily frustrated by that until the businessman in him made a very logical, if underhanded, suggestion. Apartments were indeed a seller's market, which meant right now would be an excellent time to invest in them. If he owned an apartment building then rent was clearly up to his discretion and he could easily make it affordable for her, and thus not have to worry about her safety. Of course, he could never let her know that as it would have her throwing a fit, but it could be done without too much trouble on his end. And really, it wasn't as if she had stipulated that what she paid for her apartment had to be the same as everyone else in whatever building it was, as she had simply assumed it would be. She had also never said she wouldn't rent from him, likely because she would never suspect he would buy an apartment building just to have her safely living in it. This really seemed to be the easiest solution to be sure she was somewhere safe though. And he knew very well he would never get her in where he wanted otherwise. For all her self-confidence he had picked up on the fact that she didn't treat herself nearly as well as she should. He was sure it was a result of the abuse and that somewhere in her head she was sure she wasn't worth anything. He would be happy to keep proving to her that she was worth a very great deal, but it was going to be a long term and systematic process. He didn't have time to change her entire mindset in the few days that he had.

Switching his focus he began hunting for an apartment building that met his criteria rather than an individual apartment. He found three that would be acceptable and were within driving distance to both Kaiba Corp and his home, but as he wasn't in Domino looking at them was a bit tougher to pick between them. He needed someone to go in and inspect them if he couldn't do it himself. Conveniently, he had just the person for that job. Pulling his cell phone out as he switched to working on a memo for the plant he called Roland.

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba?" The man answered on the second ring.

"I trust everything is going smoothly?"

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba." Roland agreed. "Mokuba is at school and Sarah arrived safely to Kaiba Corp this morning. Nothing unusual has happened since you left yesterday."

"Good." He said, expecting nothing less. "I have a task for you."

"Of course."

"I have three buildings I need you to look at. I want to be sure they're secure places and that they aren't falling apart."

"I'd be happy to do that." He agreed. He gave the man the addresses and Roland spoke after he took them down. "Are these possibilities for Miss Drake?"

He narrowed his eyes, not liking that Roland appeared to have an opinion, but kept his voice neutral. "Yes."

"I'm glad." He said, sounding sincere. "Her last apartment wasn't in the best location."

He relaxed, his irritation vanishing. "Did you go with her when she went to clean?"

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba. She wouldn't let me help, but she got it done."

"Shocking." He said sarcastically, not at all surprised she had refused and done it herself. "Let me know what you find."

"Of course, I'll have this done by tonight."

Less than five hours later Roland had emailed him a lengthy report on all three buildings, which he opened when he got to his hotel, noting one that clearly stood out above the others. Liking the pictures that had been included, which showed a very well maintained building and spacious rooms he made a call to his lawyer. By the next morning he was in legal possession of the place, having agreed to a price the owners set, which was high for what it was, but as the offer came out of nowhere and they signed it over immediately he didn't quibble over it.

Calling Roland back as he finished up at the sight this morning the made sure that a top of the line security system was put into one of the two penthouse suites and anyone at the door letting people in had passed a background check. Fortunately, one suite had been open for a new renter, although he wouldn't have hesitated to evict or pay someone off to get Sarah into it. He didn't see a point in putting her in anything less than the best and largest apartment there since he'd gone to the trouble of buying it. So, settled, he left feeling as if he had his life back in order in all arenas. Stretching his legs out and feeling satisfied with himself he was pleased when the plane began to taxi down the runway, more than ready to be back home.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When he got home that afternoon, having been given the keys to Sarah's apartment when Roland picked him up, he was greeted by Ando who took his briefcase and bowed to him. "Welcome home, Mr. Kaiba." He hummed in reply, his eyes searching for what he was really interest in, which were not pleasantries. Used to him Mr. Ando wasn't offended, or if he was he had the good sense not to show it. "The younger Mr. Kaiba and Miss Drake are in the family room." He told him, answering his unspoken question.

He nodded shortly and walked that way, wondering what they were doing. When he got to the family room, which was actually a large parlor he had converted into a cross between an entertainment center and a living room that and Mokuba spent a fair amount of time in, he found them sitting on the floor on opposite sides of a coffee table playing duel monsters. Sarah was watching Mokuba suspiciously from behind three cards as his brother smirked at her. He watched from the doorway, unnoticed, as she agonized over a decision for a long moment. He noticed that her sunburn had faded since he left and her skin was white again, apparently she didn't tan, simply went from burned to pale. "I'll play this card." She said at last, laying down some sort of warrior monster. "And attack your life points directly?"

"You've activated my trap!" Mokuba sniggered in triumph. "Say bye to your monster, and all your life points."

"No! Not again!" She all but wailed throwing her cards down on the table. "How are you doing this? Is that all you have in your deck? Trap cards?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He teased in a friendly manner.

"Ugg!" Sarah sat back, blowing her now much shorter hair out of her eyes. He actually did like it, although he was sure she hadn't believed him when he said it. It had just been so odd to see her with hair that wasn't down to the small of her back. The cut was stylish and accented her soft features nicely though. It was different, but he was getting used to it. "Can't we play scrabble again? I like that game."

"No, never again." Mokuba denied adamantly, gathering up his cards. "You were making up words."

"I was not!" She protested. "They were Welsh. I let you check them on your computer and everything."

"Whatever, you cheated." He informed her.

"You know there are counter trap cards." He commented as he walked in, amused with the interaction. He was deeply pleased that his two favorite people got along with one another so well.

Both of them turned toward him and Mokuba grinned at him, bouncing up, and Sarah smiled brightly in welcome. "Nii-san! You're back!"

"There are cards that stop trap cards?" Sarah demanded, aggrieved. "You could have told me that!"

Mokuba sniggered as he embraced his brother back briefly, allowing the affection before going and sitting on the couch beside the remains of their game. He glanced over the cards, seeing that his brother had crushed her with his six samurai deck. This was a difficult set of cards to beat even for a very skilled duelist if the person that had it knew how to use them. He had certainly made sure Mokuba knew how to use them, having spent countless hours playing with him as they both enjoyed it, and at this point even he had a hard time outsmarting his brother. He was rather embarrassed to admit that Mokuba had nearly beaten him several times now. Oh, he had pulled it off at the end, but one game in particular had nearly destroyed him, with only a very fortunate draw saving the last of his life points. "You could have dueled her with a kinder deck, Mokuba."

"What's the point if it's not a challenge?" Mokuba asked as Sarah's eyelid twitched in tolerant exasperation. He could tell from her expression that she had likely been trounced several times over.

He smirked in agreement and Sarah got up, stretching her back. "Welp, you suck, Mokuba Kaiba, and I blame your brother as well for teaching you." He smiled at that and she put her hand on her hip as she looked at him. "Hey, Seto. I'm glad you're back"

"Hello, Sarah."

Her eyes twinkled as she finally got normal and socially polite response from him. "How did it go?"

He shrugged, leaning back into the cushions after he gathered up the cards she had been using to see what she had. "There shouldn't be any more problems."

"Sounds… productive." Mokuba replied as he flopped onto the couch beside him, no doubt guessing he had done some serious house cleaning.

"Oh, it was." He agreed, confused by the odd variety of cards in Sarah's deck. He recognized most of them as Mokuba's extra cards, or ones he had played with in the past and abandoned as he progressed as a duelist, but there was no cohesion about them at all. It looked like she had just picked up a pile and shuffled them together. No wonder she had lost. "This deck is a mess." He informed her.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Maybe I also need a regional champ tutoring me at this game."

Mokuba sent her a strange glance as he continued to look through the deck, not correcting her. "A regional champ?" His brother asked.

"You know." Sarah waved her hand at him as she sat on her knees on the floor to tidy up the space, putting Mokuba's cards in a neat pile and folding up the dueling mats they were using. She always seemed to be organizing something. It was like she didn't know he had a hoard of housekeepers to do it. "Seto taught you, it seems like an unfair advantage." Mokuba's eyebrows drew together as he glanced between them. Sarah tilted her head in that adorable way she had when she was uncertain about something. He watched her out of the corner of his eyes, enjoying observing her. "What?"

"Seto isn't a regional champion." Mokuba told her slowly, as if she were simple.

"He's not?" She asked, full of innocent confusion. She turned to him. "You said you played in those before. I assumed you had won."

Mokuba chortled, realizing he hadn't told her and that was the source of her confusion, and he shook his head slightly, setting her cards back down. "Yeah, Sarah, he won."

"Then wouldn't that make him the regional-"

"Seto is ranked second in the world. He's only lost to one person, like, ever." Her face went blank and Mokuba turned to him. "I can't believe you didn't tell her that."

"It didn't seem to matter." He replied, and he saw Mokuba turning that over like mad. Of anyone on the planet Mokuba had seen this obsession of his the most, and all it's often insane manifestations. He was sure he was very interested in the fact that he hadn't been bragging about his ranking to her as it was as important to him as Kaiba Corp. "Sarah doesn't have much of an interest in duel monsters."

"You're ranked second in the world?" She asked, really floored by the information. He smirked, deeply gratified he had impressed her as he felt that was normally an impossible feat. "The whole world? And you've only lost once?"

"Yes." He told her calmly, although really had had lost a few times to Yugi, but he refused to acknowledge that. Besides, one loss or a hundred were all the same to him. He would defeat Motou eventually.

She stared up at him for a moment, her large, wonder filled blue eyes holding him in place, before turning to Mokuba. "Blatant advantage!" She insisted, the friendly drama spilling over. "I demand vengeance via scrabble!"

He huffed out a laugh as Mokuba groaned. "No!"

"Oh come on!"

"I'll teach you if you want to learn." He told her, surprising even himself with the offer. He had no interest in teaching others, except for Mokuba of course, as he was neither patient nor kind by nature. But the idea of teaching her how to play was suddenly very appealing. It would be… fun.

"So you can also wipe the floor with me?" She asked, a smile playing on her face. "I think it would be safer to live in ignorance."

Shrugging, he replied. "It's up to you. I'll try to be nicer than, Mokuba. I'll at least help you build a solid deck before I trounce you."

"I'll have to think about it." She told him. "And weigh the pros of learning against the cons of you thinking I'm an idiot when you find I'm unteachable."

He sent her a look that told her that was ridiculous. "Then you can weigh them while we go look at your new apartment." He said as he got up. "Unless you intend to live here from now on?"

Her face showed more surprise. "My new apartment? But I haven't found one yet."

"I found you one." He informed her as he headed back out of the room. "Would you like to see it or not?"

She scrambled up hurriedly to catch up to him. "But, Seto-"

Mokuba called from the living room. "Haru and Rebecca are supposed to be over in ten minutes. I don't have to cancel do I?"

Sarah swayed where she was, appearing uncertain, as if she was worried. "I said that was alright yesterday when he asked. It's okay isn't it?"

"Yes." He agreed, not caring that she had allowed that and more than happy that Mokuba would be safely inside the mansion with his friends. "Roland can stay here with all of you. We should be back in an hour or so."

"Cool." Mokuba replied, snagging his deck. "Now that I've warmed up on Sarah I'm ready for some actual competition."

"Hey!"

He chuckled. "Come on, you."

"I mean, that's a little disheartening. I thought I was being at least mediocre in the entertainment department." She replied as she trotted after him, then changed the subject, letting the whole thing go with ease. "You were supposed to hunt for apartments with me, not by yourself."

"It seemed more efficient this way."

She rolled her eyes as they got to the front door and she slipped her shoes back on and got her bag out of the front closet. Really, he needed to break her of getting her own things and letting the staff do it, but he knew he never would. It was simply one of her quirks, one that like so many others he liked about her. "Right, that's the reason."

He ignored that. "It's ready for you if you like it."

"What does ready mean?" She asked.

"It means it's in a good neighborhood and the security systems is installed. I also had the doorman go through a very intensive background check."

"That seems rather excessive, Seto." She told him as she followed him out the front door.

"I don't think so." He said in the tone that told her the conversation was over unless she wanted to get into a smack down fight. Not that he would put it past her, but really he was hoping this would all go smoothly. "I'll drive. I want to be sure it's what I asked for."

"Haven't you seen it?"

"Only pictures." He told her, wondering when she thought he'd had the time.

Shaking her head she walked along the driveway with him toward his personal car. "What if it's awful and you had a security system installed anyway? And I never said you could do that by the way. How much did that cost, because I'm going to pay for it."

She most certainly was not. "It was a negligible cost."

"I mean, if you're a billionaire." She threw back. "Which I am not. I can pay my own way, Seto."

"I'm very aware of that." He agreed, reaching out and opening the passenger side door for her politely. She stopped in front of him with her jaw set stubbornly and he continued. "Before you go ahead and decide I should have nothing to do with this please look at it from my perspective."

She eyed him suspiciously, but gave him a little ground. "What perspective might that be?"

"Mokuba is with you a great deal, at least half of the time he's not in school you're with him. I'm very sure that he'll end up at whatever apartment you get at least once a week. It would make me feel much better if you had a decent security system, which cost substantially less than a full time bodyguard. He's expressed how much he would dislike that, and I'm fairly certain you also don't want a bodyguard standing in your apartment while he's there as you value your privacy."

"So… it's for Mokuba?" She asked, her voice laced with disbelief.

"We both know I like the idea of you having it as well, but yes, it's also for my brother's safety."

He saw in her eyes that he had won this round. "Fine." She sighed after several long moments. "I guess that makes sense."

"Good." He was satisfied and she slid past him and sat down. He closed the door once she was settled and went to the driver's side. As soon as he was in she continued. "But this is the only thing I'm budging on."

"Agreed." He replied, figuring that was fair, and fully intending to work around her about everything else. What she didn't know would keep her safe and him sane. Turning on the car he pulled out as she buckled her belt. He picked up the conversation as if there had never been a pause. "But I'll find something else for you if this isn't acceptable. I don't want you in another slum."

She sighed heavily. "There's a drastic difference between a slum and the apartment I was in, Seto."

He disagreed. "The apartment you were in wasn't safe and hardly up to the standards you can afford."

"I don't need a big place." She defended. "I liked that apartment."

He sent her a look, calling her out on that lie as he turned down a road. After opening up about his past with Gozaburo, no matter how little he said, he felt more comfortable speaking about his life. Maybe it was because that initial barrier was now down, or maybe it was because he had seen no pity or judgement in her eyes when he told her. All he had felt from her was a resonating sadness, a sadness for both of them, an understanding of what it was like to be isolated and unloved, to be at the mercy of another person. "Sarah, you aren't the only one that lived in a less than pristine environment. I remember very clearly what the orphanage we were put in was like before Gozaburo adopted us even if Mokuba doesn't. Don't convince yourself you deserve less than you do." She went quiet after that and he assumed she was bothered by his insight. The real difference between them though, was not the abuse and neglect, it was the purpose behind it. Gozaburo had been a cold and calculating bastard, but he'd had an end goal for his future. He had won his place as the Kaiba heir through cleverness and insight, and endless hours of torment as he continually proved himself. Gozaburo had hated him for being smarter than him, but he also respected that very thing he hated. So while he had suffered, he had also learned to value himself, and the gifts he was born with and was forced to hone. Sarah on the other hand, had been abused and neglected for no other reason than she was in the wrong place with the wrong person. So while he had been assured of his worth, no matter how brutally, she had been assured of her worthlessness. It was a distinct and defining difference.

After several minutes he spoke again, interpreting her silence correctly. "That man ruined your childhood, don't let him ruin the rest of your life. You've done terribly well for yourself with no help from anyone. I think you know the odds of that happening as well as I do. You should be proud of what you accomplished. You should take care of yourself the way you want. A pleasant and safe place to live is the very least you can give yourself."

"How bad was the orphanage?" She asked him, obviously unsurprised he had been in one. He supposed she had been in the system enough to have at least guess how it worked here. That, or Mokuba had mentioned it to her at some point.

He was quiet for so long he was sure she thought he wasn't going to answer. "It wasn't as bad as it could have been. It was loud and dirty, but no one hurt us other than a tussle I got into on my first day when a couple of other boys started in on Mokuba. Still, I was smart enough to know what would happen to us if we stayed. We'd either be separated or stuck there until we turned eighteen. In Japan there isn't much you can do with no family or connections. It would have been hard to support myself, let alone Mokuba if he was even still with me."

"So you traded one evil for another."

He shrugged, she was right, but he didn't regret the choice. "Mokuba was safe and taken care of. That's all that mattered to me."

"He told me he didn't like the man that adopted you. There's something wrong with men like that, men that hurt children." She looked out her window. "Maybe if I had been smart like you I would have gotten out faster."

That was a naive line of thought. "Our circumstances were different. There wasn't an out for you."

"I should have run away sooner." She told him with a sigh.

"And then what?" He asked bluntly. "How would you have lived? You would have either starved to death on the streets or had to sell yourself." She flinched, but he wasn't put off. He was ever the pragmatist and if she hadn't gotten herself here that was exactly what would have happened. "You took the lesser of two evils the same way I did and bided your time. It is what it is, Sarah. Turning it over in your head doesn't change anything."

"Don't you ever think about it?" She asked with frustration in her voice. Clearly, she did think about it.

"I used to." He told her.

"How did you stop?" She asked, really wanting to know.

He smirked, remembering the exact moment he had. "I ripped Kaiba Corp out from under Gozaburo and he committed suicide." She turned her head toward him sharply. "I didn't think about him again."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that." He assured her.

She watched him for a moment. "I don't believe you." She finally told him.

"Why not?" He asked as irritation ran up his spine.

She looked back out the window. "Because you're still happy he's dead." She told quietly. "Because you're still proud of what you did."

"Why shouldn't I be?" He asked sharply, defensively. "After what he put us through?"

"I never said you shouldn't be." She told him. "But you do think about him, even if you don't want to. You all but told me that before you left on your trip. What he did, how he impacted you life, it made you who you are. You don't forget something like that."

"I made myself who I am today." He told her firmly, refusing to allow even the memory of that man the satisfaction of thinking any good part of him, any productive part, was his doing. "I was the one that outwitted him, I was the one that lived through him, I was the one that protected my brother, and took my company from him." He was frustrated now, but if it was at her or the subject he wasn't sure. "I did that. I did that the same way you worked out exactly how to get her and make a good life for yourself. If it were up to them we would be groveling slaves, at their beck and call for all of time. Instead we're both highly successful, brave adults. It was us who did that, not them."

"I wasn't brave." She told him, watching the passing scenery. "I was just more afraid that I would have to keep living with someone like him or worse to stay. I only moved here so I would be as far away from all of that as humanly possible. I ran as far as I could, and if there had been an opening I could fill somewhere farther away than Japan I would have taken it. I'm not brave the way you are, Seto."

"That's ridiculous." He told her, having seen her bravery over and over again. "I've seen you do any number of brave things, most of them were idiotic, but they were brave."

She shook her head, torn between exasperation and sadness. Sarah changed the subject abruptly. "So where is this apartment?"

He glanced over at her, easily noting the blunt topic change. "It's not far now." He told her, accepting the topic change. It wasn't exactly comfortable for him either. "You can't see the ocean, but I didn't want you right on the coast in case of flooding or a tsunami."

"Does that happen often?" She asked.

"Often enough." He told her. "Although if one is coming you can come to the mansion. It's safe there and has a flood wall."

Her lips curled up. "You're just prepared for everything aren't you?"

"You say that like it's a bad thing." He said as he turned left and into a parking garage.

"I'm saying it like you need to take a day off and go have fun, maybe once a year or so." She replied.

He sent her a dry look before pulling into a space. She looked around curiously as he parked, her sadness and regret vanishing as they entered the new surroundings. "The apartment building is above us." He told her. "You'll have two spaces assigned to you in case you have guests."

She found that odd, he saw it in the slight frown on her face. It was a luxury to have extra space in this country, but for the moment she didn't say anything. Getting out she followed him to an elevator, which had a security panel on it. He pulled an electronic card out of his pocket and handed it to her. Working it out quickly she swiped it and the buttons lit up green. Above their heads the elevator lights came on and she saw the machine coming down. She studied the card as they waited, noting it was rather nondescript, nothing to indicate what it was for. Holding onto it as the elevator opened she followed him inside, he noted without hesitation, and he hit the button for the top floor.

It wasn't the highest building in the city by far, but it wasn't the smallest either. The elevator took them to the sixteenth floor and she smiled slightly as they passed the thirteenth. "What?" He asked.

"In America the number thirteen is considered unlucky. Hotels and building never mark it, they always skip it or name it something different."

"That's stupid." He replied, having never noticed that on any of his trips before, but now marking it in his mind to look for the next time he was in that country.

"Yeah, but it's true." She told him. "It confused me when I was little, I couldn't figure out why adults couldn't count right."

He raised an eyebrow but said nothing as they got to the right floor. Stepping out she noted that there were only two apartments up here, one on either side of the long hallway. For his part he liked the privacy that afforded her. Spotting her apartment to the left he went to it and pulled the key out of his pocket. Unlocking the door he glanced inside then held it open for her. Sarah, who was craning her neck to see around him, moved forward. He stepped in behind her, letting the door close, and took the place in as he moved past her.

The apartment was nicer than the pictures had conveyed, bare as it was of furnishings. The walls were freshly painted and the carpets were new, likely replaced after the last tenant left. Everything was white and cream colored, making it shine as the late afternoon sun came in through the very large bay windows on the other side of the living room. He saw a hallway leading to the back and the kitchen entrance on the other side. This place was much smaller than the mansion, but easily as big as most middle class Japanese homes. Sarah would have plenty of space here, rather than being cramped into a single dingy room. "There's no way this is in my price range, Seto." She said, having stopped right inside the entryway. She had the same expression on her face as she'd had the first time she walked into his office. Her eyes were wide and disbelieving, sure that this was wrong.

"It is." He assured her, lying easily. "I gave them a quote of what you could afford and they accepted it."

"Just like that?" She asked warily.

"Yes." He agreed, looking about himself rather than at her, knowing how to act through this with ease. "I do have some experience with negotiating a deal." She sent him an unsure look, not wanting to move farther in unless that was true. "It's at your limit." He conceded, knowing that if he took less than that she would never believe it. Even now he was stretching at her internal estimation, but if he made it look like she could barely afford it he would get her. "But it's worth the money."

She was still planted where she was. "This negotiation didn't involve you taking a hit out on anyone or something did it?"

"No." He told her dryly. "I didn't have to threaten to murder anyone."

"O-okay." She said at last, moving forward hesitantly. He let her wander around on her own, watching her as she explored the area quietly for a few minutes before making his own inspection. Going back into the hallway he found one large master bedroom with an attached bathroom, and a second room, which could either be turned into an office or another bedroom. Going into the main bedroom he noted a sizable walk in closet, and headed back out to the main living area after inspecting the spare bathroom, letting her finish now that he was satisfied with the new accommodations. She found him a few minutes later looking out at the view from the large windows. Just beyond it there was a very narrow porch that was just big enough to sit a few small seats out on so she could enjoy the view. From this room downtown Domino was spread out below, as the building was located up on a small hill, and from her bedroom he had seen the the edge of a local park.

When she came out he turned his attention to her. "Well?"

"This place is gorgeous." She told him honestly. "How did you even find it?"

He shrugged, as if it were inconsequential. "The place is yours if you want it. You can move in anytime." She nodded and looked around again, still appearing unsure. Clearly, she had never expected anything like this. He thought it likely she had been hoping for nothing more than a minimal upgrade from what she had. "You'll get used to it." He assured her. "I understand this is different for you."

"I'm not ungrateful." She told him sincerely as she fidgeted where she stood. "I don't want you to think that. It's a beautiful place."

"I don't." He told her, thinking she didn't have an ungrateful bone in her body, and relieved this had passed whatever criteria she had set in that willful head of hers. "You're grateful for nearly everything." He indicated the door. "Let's go back home. I have all the paperwork there for you to sign."

She stood there staring at him for a moment and he raised an eyebrow, more than half expecting a rejection. Finally, she spoke. "No one's ever done anything this nice for me before." She told him, her eyes suddenly glistening wetly. "Thank you, Seto." She said softly, her voice hitching on the last syllable of his name before going up on her toes and kissing his cheek sweetly, her warm lips pressing softly against his skin.

He stilled, shocked by the sudden and unexpected affection even as his stomach clenched warmly. Giddy pride raced up his spine at having far exceeded her expectations, which irritated the controlled part of him, but he ignored it, basking in her approval. He watched her for several moments, unsure of how to react to that as she turned her face half away from him so she could look out the window. He thought she was about to start crying, which didn't make a lot of sense to him if she liked it here. It wasn't really helping that bubbles of happiness were popping around his head and distracting him. "It's only an apartment, Sarah." He managed.

She adjusted her bag on her shoulder, fiddling with it nervously. "No one ever thinks about me. No one's ever been so good to me the way you are, and I was so much trouble about the whole thing." She told him honestly. "And there's no such thing as only an apartment after spending more than one night out in the snow because you don't have anywhere safe to go." She looked back up at him and a tear managed to escape, running down her soft, pale cheek. "So thank you."

His whole being went terribly, shockingly soft. He knew she saw the difference in him, he knew he was different right now, the way he only ever managed to be with his brother when he was hurt or terrified. The way he suspected he might be more if his life had been different, if there had been more people like her in it before now. Reaching out he wiped the tear away gently with his thumb. "You're welcome, Sarah." He murmured, fighting the urge to wrap her up and hold her against him yet again. The compulsion was becoming stronger, somehow, and he wasn't sure how he resisted. "Don't cry."

Reaching up she wiped at her eyes with the heel of her hands hurriedly. "What a silly thing to do when something good happens."

Thinking more good things needed to happen to her if this set her off he placed the tips of his fingers on the small of her back, turning her toward the door. "Dinner will be ready when we get back, assuming Mokuba and his friends haven't eaten it all. Come on. You can come back tomorrow."

"Can I stay with you one more day so I can buy a bed to sleep in before I move in?"

"You can stay with me as long as you want to." He assured her as they walked out. "This apartment will be here whenever you're ready." Nodding, she smiled up at him shyly and he tickled at her back, not thinking about it, only pleased that she was happy. Pleased that she was taken care of. Pleased that this had all gone over so smoothly. And pleased that after only a moment she leaned back into his touch as a very light blush covered her cheeks.