"Are you ready yet?"

"Just about."

"Again, this is your date. I don't give a damn if we're late."

Seto glanced at himself in the mirror and made a last-minute adjustment to his tie. He decided to make it simple: black suit, black tie, black shoes, white shirt, and a silver tie clip to top everything off. He wasn't going to make a statement, anyway. Mokuba was lucky he had nothing to do until tomorrow.

"Okay, I'm done." Mokuba stepped into the foyer, adjusting the lapels of his jacket. His suit was a dark navy, his shirt white, his shoes black, and his tie a soft grey heather. He even managed to tame his hair with some pomade, showing off his gentleman-style haircut and side part. Seto had to give his brother credit; he could clean himself up when he had to.

"Oops, wait-" Mokuba disappeared inside his room again, only to reemerge seconds later with a matching grey heather pocket square sticking out of his breast pocket. "Okay, done for real now." He grinned and raised his arms, gesturing to himself. "Do I look like Bruce Wayne now?"

Seto rolled his eyes and unlocked the front door. "This better be worth my time, Mokuba."

The limo ride to the ballet wasn't long, though Mokuba insisted they stop at a florist on the way so he could pick out a nice bouquet for his lady friend. Seto groaned inwardly the entire way there, and continued to groan as Mokuba practically dragged him out of the car and towards The Lincoln Center's entrance. The other attendees were dressed up as well, most of them older than they were, and some of them Seto's colleagues in the business world. A few of them shot curious glances their way, probably wondering what the famous Kaiba Brothers were doing at a ballet. It definitely wasn't a Duel Monsters tournament.

"Everyone's staring." Mokuba grumbled through clenched teeth, as they went to find their seats.

"That's mostly your fault, not mine." Seto hissed back. He resisted the urge to uncomfortably tug at his collar when he noticed an elderly couple whispering and pointing at his younger brother. Great, just great.

Mokuba dropped a small booklet in his brother's lap. "Just in case you cared - I managed to nab an extra program for you on the way in. Thought it'd keep you occupied for a minute."

The elder Kaiba rolled his eyes. "You're so thoughtful."

The lights dimmed, and the audience quieted down. The music began to play, and the show unfolded before them. This wasn't the first time Seto had to watch something he wasn't particularly interested in; Gozaburo made him watch the occasional opera and ballet or two in his childhood in order to "instil culture" in him. Years of being forced through this got him to build up a resistance of the sort, and he was able to feign interest easily. He kept his back straight the entire time, his eyes trained on the stage. He saw it as a game of some sort: he would challenge himself to pay attention for the whole performance, and if he didn't he would lose. Being a naturally competitive person, it helped motivate him to stay alert. Mokuba, unfortunately, wasn't as resilient as he was and was already starting to nod off. Seto elbowed him in the ribs every once in awhile to keep him awake.

The music changed, and the lights changed colour. Everything was cast in deep blue; something sad was going to happen. The dancer playing Juliet was practically swimming on the stage, her movements fluid and graceful. There was no resistance to her movements; her limbs cut clean through the air as she danced and twirled to the music, her eyes closed and brow furrowed to mirror Juliet's sorrow.

"There she is!" Mokuba tugged on his brother's sleeve and jerked his chin towards the stage. The rest of the dancers were there now, swaying along to the music. "She's second to the right - blonde hair. Pretty, huh?"

"Shh!" An old lady sitting behind him rapped the younger Kaiba hard on the head with her rolled up program booklet. Mokuba shot the woman a glare before shutting up and returning to the play. Seto could only smirk and shake his head before glancing back towards the stage. The New York Ballet Company was renowned for a reason. He wasn't a ballet aficionado, but he knew a good dancer when he saw one.

Wait...

Seto's eyebrow raised slowly as he leaned slightly forward in his seat, trying to to get a better look at one of the dancers. There was something familiar about the one dancing to the far left.

He grabbed the program resting on his lap and flipped through the pages, stopping when he found the list of dancers in the corps de ballet. His eyes scanned the list, and he swore he felt his heart stop when he landed upon the all too familiar name.

Mazaki...

He rubbed his eyes, making sure he wasn't dreaming. He had to be. When he opened his eyes and found out she was still dancing on the stage not too far away from him, he shook his head in disbelief. What was she doing here...?

The few hours seemed to fly by, and suddenly Seto found himself standing up and politely clapping his hands with the rest of the audience. Mokuba cheered obnoxiously, and even put his fingers to his mouth to let out a shrill whistle. The old lady sitting behind him wasn't very fond of that.

"Hey, do you think you can come with me for a second? I gotta give her these." Mokuba motioned to the flowers he was holding.

He didn't want to run the risk of bumping into her, so he came up with a flimsy excuse. "I'm not going to interrupt your wooing, Casanova. I'll wait in the car." Seto gave his younger brother a pat on the shoulder before turning around to leave. There was a crowd, so it took him awhile to push himself out.

The air was brisk but refreshing, and it felt nice on his face after being stuck in that suffocating theatre for so long. He stuffed his hands in his pockets as he descended the illuminated stone steps, ready to retire for the night. He may have slept the whole day but the jet lag was still strong. It was probably going to take a good day or two before his internal clock was fixed.

He could eye the familiar black car in the distance, and he picked up the pace a little bit.

"Thank you! I'm so glad you liked it."

"You did? Really?"

"You're too kind. Thank you so much!"

He could recognize that singsong lilt anywhere, even if she was speaking English. He glanced around for a quick second and found her standing not too far away, speaking to what he presumed was a group of admirers. Male admirers. He wondered why she didn't stay with the rest of the dancers. Didn't they usually have afterparties or something?

Her fan club dispersed, and she was left on her own. Her long black peacoat shielded her body from the autumn breeze, and her bangs were pinned back with a silver clip. Her arms were cradling a very bushy bouquet of roses. She turned towards the steps, and that's when he realized he was staring at her for too long.

Blue eyes met blue eyes, and both pairs widened in surprise.

"Kaiba...?" Her voice was slightly trembling with incredulity.

"Mazaki." Seto took a single step forward, his hands still in his pockets. He hoped his voice was at least a little more firm than hers. "It's been awhile."

"Likewise." Anzu switched back to Japanese. She eyed him up and down for a moment, and he suddenly felt self-conscious. "What are you doing here?"

"I can easily ask you the same question."

Her eyes narrowed, and he couldn't help but smirk. "You haven't changed-"

"Nii-san!" Mokuba's voice tore through the tense atmosphere, causing both adults to turn their heads. The younger Kaiba casually made his way over to them; the blonde Russian dancer was clinging to one arm, and a brunette was hanging off the other. A small group of other people, presumably other dancers, trailed closely behind. "I thought you already left." The teen's eyes traveled over to Anzu, and he slid his brother a sly grin. "Hey, who's this? She's pretty-"

He paused for a moment and took another glance at her. His expression instantly changed from smug to confused. Seconds later, his eyes lit up and he suddenly looked like he was eleven again.

"ANZU!" Mokuba practically wrenched away from the two girls (they didn't look very amused by this) and launched himself towards his old friend, enveloping her in a tight hug.

Anzu reciprocated his enthusiasm, laughing musically and patting her free hand against his back. "Mokuba! My goodness, you've grown! You have to be at least a foot taller than me now." She pulled back from the younger Kaiba's embrace and moved her hand to his shoulder, seemingly forgetting about Seto's presence. "You're all grown up. I almost didn't recognize you without that long hair."

Seto couldn't help but snort at her comment, and Mokuba threw him a quick dirty look before cheekily rubbing an index finger underneath his nose. "My brother doesn't seem to think so, but I'm glad you noticed!" He retreated to his new group of friends, who were animatedly chatting amongst themselves. "Say, we were gonna head out for a few hours...sorta like an afterparty for the awesome show you guys did tonight. Did you want to join us?"

Anzu giggled, but politely shook her head. "Thanks, but I'm gonna have to sit this one out. You go on and have fun." She raised her head towards her fellow dancers. She switched back to English. "You guys best keep out of trouble." When the other dancers rolled their eyes in jest, she only laughed louder. "No, but seriously. Have fun. I'll see you guys at rehearsal tomorrow."

"Don't wait up, bro." Mokuba winked and flashed his brother another one of his toothy grins; Seto almost rolled his eyes. Just as he was about to leave, however, the younger Kaiba stopped himself in his tracks. "Hey, wait - Anzu, how're you getting home?"

The dancer's eyes widened at the slightest. "Oh, I take the subway. It's not that long of a ride, really-"

"Seto, why don't you take her home?" Mokuba glanced at his brother, and he simpered when his brother blinked in confusion. "You can't leave a lady to ride the subway by herself at this hour!"

Seto gritted his teeth, but chose to keep quiet. Is he planning something? What makes him think he can tell me what to do...at least without consulting me first?

Anzu's cheeks flushed a faint pink and she shook her head." H-hey, wait...Mokuba, it's okay-"

"Don't worry about it. My brother will take you home, no problem!" Mokuba chuckled and patted his brother on the back. "Won't you, nii-san?" When Seto responded with a grunt, he laughed again. "Well, there's your answer." He leapt in to give Anzu one last hug before returning to the other dancers. "It was nice seeing you again, Anzu. Hopefully we can hang out sometime soon!"

"You bet, Mokuba. Have fun." She waved goodbye, and he threw another smile her way before leaving.

The brothers locked eyes for a split second before they separated; Seto swore he saw mischief on his brother's face, and it made him want to wring his neck.

Once Mokuba and his new friends were out of sight, Anzu returned her attention to Seto, who was already making his way towards the car. "H-hey, you don't have to do this, you know."

"It's fine." He opened the door for her and gestured inside; she scrambled over. "You said it wasn't that long of a ride anyway." When she clambered inside the car he ducked in after her. He gracelessly cleared his throat as he buckled his seatbelt.

"T-thanks." She sat on the opposite side, her legs pushed together and her bouqet resting on her lap. Her head was slightly bent, with her eyes focused on her shoes. He wasn't sure if the pink on her cheeks was from the cold or embarrassment. "Uh, I don't live too far. Just a few blocks down the road."

"This is a pretty upscale area," Seto remarked as the driver started up the engine. "I didn't know corps de ballet made enough money to live around here."

She quickly turned to stare at him. "What's that supposed to mean?" When he shrugged, the pink in Anzu's cheeks darkened a little. "W-well, they don't. My parents have been helping with the living arrangements, so I kinda got lucky. They were against me coming here to study dance, but once I got accepted to the S.A.B. they couldn't say no." She exhaled and relaxed a little, leaning back against the leather seat and raising a hand to tangle her fingers in her auburn hair. "I'm surprised you even know what corps de ballet means, Kaiba."

The young CEO scoffed and turned away from her. "Contrary to popular belief, I am cultured."

He swear he heard her suppress a snort. "Could've fooled me." She muttered under her breath. He made the wise decision to pretend he didn't hear that.

They sat in uncomfortable silence for the next fifteen minutes. When the car finally turned up at her apartment, Seto exhaled in relief.

He reluctantly stepped out of the car and walked her to the entrance, where he watched her fumble with her keys. Just as she was about to enter the lobby, she turned to face him one last time. He blinked a few times, as if it would somehow get him to figure out what was she was going to say. Her expression was unreadable, which irritated him. He hated it when he was faced with something he couldn't predict.

"Er," Anzu's cheeks were a light shade of rose, "are you busy tomorrow afternoon, Kaiba?"

He cocked an eyebrow in confusion. He had meetings scheduled all morning, but the afternoon was pretty empty...which was rare for him. "I don't think so. Why?"

"I finish rehearsal at two-thirty, which means I have the rest of the day to myself, and...well...it's been six years. I figured it would be appropriate to catch up." She gave him a timid smile. "Plus, there's this cute little cafe around the area where we can grab a late lunch. I'm sure you'll like it, even if it isn't uppity and high class."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He echoed her words from earlier, and she giggled at his response.

"Just giving you a taste of your own medicine, that's all. So, what do you say?"

He couldn't think of a logical explanation to this. Why would she want to spend her afternoon with him? There had to be a catch...maybe she was expecting something out of it. Yes...that had to be it. Maybe she needed help with expenses, or maybe she hoped he would know someone who could pull some strings for her. She had to have some sort of ulterior motive.

"Don't you have friends to hang out with?" Seto crossed his arms, trying to look intimidating, but her smile was still present. "I might have better things to do with my time."

"I do, but what's the harm in wanting to catch up with someone from back home? And you just said you weren't busy."

Well, she got him there. "Tch. Fine."

"Great!" Anzu tucked her bouquet into the crook of her arm, reached into her purse, and dug through it for a moment. She pulled out a crumpled gum wrapper and a pen, scribbled something quick, and handed it to him. "That's my number. You can call me if anything unexpected happens, but for now I'll be expecting you at the theatre tomorrow."

Seto stared at the wrapper in his hand before nodding. "Of course. I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Mmhmm. Thanks for the ride, Kaiba. See you soon." She opened the door to her apartment lobby and disappeared inside before he had the chance to say goodnight.

He was weirded out by how civil they were being with each other. Things would have been a lot different if they had the same conversation six years ago. They used to be at odds with each other, constantly disagreeing...but now, he has plans to spend tomorrow afternoon with her.

Maybe Mokuba was right. Being stuck in a plane for thirteen hours must have cut off the blood to his brain somehow.

Seto Kaiba has officially lost it.