Chapter 8

It was well known by Kaiba Corp employees that their CEO was a cold and ruthless employer. He was absolutely fair, but heaven help anyone caught slacking or making unnecessary mistakes. Everyone knew Seto Kaiba and his personality, which is why many of them couldn't figure out why he tolerated the bubbly, upbeat, and spunky young woman who popped by his office every now and then. Not that they were complaining. The woman was quite welcome around the building. She always said hello and made a point of making conversation with people, asking them how they were and how their families were doing, etc. And for whatever reason Kaiba always seemed slightly warmer after her visits, a reaction most thought only Mokuba could bring out.

There were always rumours that she was his secret girlfriend floating around, but few dared express opinions like that aloud after one loud mouth lost his job and most hope of finding a new one. Only Roland and his home staff knew Alex's real story.

Already his, and to a lesser extent Mokuba's, lives were entirely in the public eye. Seto did everything he could to protect Alex from suffering the same thing. The fact that she kept her own name when Seto brought her to the Kaiba mansion helped.

Seto leaned back in his office chair and looked away from his laptop to the lone photo he had on his desk. It was one of him, Mokuba, and Alex at Kaiba Land about a year after Alex had come to live with them. Mokuba and Alex had huge smiles and were holding up peace signs with their fingers, and he even had one of his rare smiles on as the all hugged each other and Alex took the photo.

Kaiba could never understand, much less explain, why he felt so protective of Alex and so quickly. The night he found her he didn't even think twice about bringing her to his home and taking care of her. It didn't make sense how he came to care for her as much as he did Mokuba within weeks of her being in his home. But with everything else going on in their lives he rarely questioned it. They already had enough mysteries and mayhem, gaining a little sister was the least of his worries.

And yes, she maybe the same age as him, but she definitely didn't act it most of the time and he was older than her by a few months so he was entitled to call her his little sister.

As if thinking about her conjured her his office door suddenly flew open, "Hey Seto!"

Try as he might, he couldn't fight a grin when he saw her. "Hey little sis," he said.

She stuck her tongue out at him but otherwise didn't respond to the little sis comment. Seto's grin grew fractionally at her childish antics. "What brings you by today?"

"Can't a girl just visit her brother? Why does there have to be a reason?" Alex asked crossing her arms.

Seto chuckled, "There's always a reason."

Alex rolled her eyes but grinned. "Ok yeah I had a reason. First I wanted to make sure you had lunch," she said tossing him the paper bag she'd been holding. It was a sandwhich from his favourite bakery down the street. "And second I wanted to say thank-you in person for the gift last night. You totally saved my hide."

At this Seto looked up at her frowning. "I didn't send you anything last night Alex."

Alex's smile disappeared. "What you mean? I thought you sent the white Egyptian Queen costume to my door last night."

Seto shook his head. "The note said it was from me?"

At that Alex blushed and scratched the back of her head. "Weeeelll, you see, the note was sort of on the inside and it wasn't signed…"

Seto leaned back and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Alex, how many times have I told you not to open unmarked packages? And why on Earth would you wear a costume sent to you by God knows who?"

"I thought it was from you!" Alex argued feebly her blush growing.

"You know I would never send you an unmarked package because I've told you not to open unmarked packages before," Seto said looking her in the eye.

"Ok! Ok! I'm sorry! But I'm fine! Nothing happened see?" Alex said throwing her hands up.

"This time," Seto muttered.

"I heard that," Alex glared.

"You were supposed to," Seto replied evenly. "I'm going to look into it. Even if it was harmless, I want to know whose sending you things anonymously."

Alex continued to glare for a second before relenting and went over to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks big bro."

"And speaking of looking into things, Mokuba says there's something you wanted to tell me?" Seto asked.

Alex frowned. "Um, not that I can think of."

"Something to do with a boy?" Seto prodded raising an eyebrow.

Twerp, Alex thought recalling her conversation with Mokuba a few days ago. "Don't you worry your pretty little head about it Seto," Alex said sweetly trying to be cute. She was met with a stone face that clearly said 'I most certainly will worry about this, now tell me his name NOW.' More or less.

The staring competition lasted a few more seconds before Alex threw her hands up.

"Fine! It's Yami!"

Seto looked stunned. "You're dating Yugi Mouto?"

"No," Alex replied annoyed. "I'm dating the spirit in Yugi's puzzle: Yami."

"Oh dear God, not you too," Seto moaned dragging his hands down his face. "This is why I tried to keep you away from the Geek Squad."

Alex rolled her eyes. "You know, for a big, bad, hardass CEO, you're a massive drama queen."

"Wait isn't Yugi dating Tea Gardner? He's dating both of you at the same time?!" Seto's face started to take on a purple tint.

Alex drew herself up to her full five foot five inches and glared down at him. "Enough Seto. Even if you won't admit it out loud we all know that somewhere inside of you, you know Yami is real. If you try to break up Yami and I, or Tea and Yugi, or our friend group in general, I will be extremely upset with you. You need to accept this and move on."

After a long silence Seto finally spoke. "Are you happy?"

Alex's eyes softened. "I'm so happy my heart could burst Seto."

Looking into her eyes he saw the truth of her statement. And if he were able to be completely honest with himself he might admit that they seemed to fit together. Like they were meant to be. Too bad Seto Kaiba isn't known for his honesty.

"Fine. Do what you want. You're a big girl," Seto said rolling his eyes.

Alex grinned knowing it was his way of accepting their relationship and giving them his blessing. "I gotta get back to school and you have a company to run. Don't forget about family dinner night next Saturday!" she said giving him a quick hug and waving as she left.

"I won't," Seto said smiling. Then the door closed behind her and he frowned. A secret gift sender. It could be harmless… or incredibly dangerous. It didn't sit well with him, especially with the reports of shadowy men and disappearing girls around the campus.

I will protect you Alex, he thought to himself. I won't let you get hurt this time.

This time? He questioned the thought. When had he ever failed to protect Alex?

Clearly he needed more coffee.