"Maybe we're perfectly not meant to be,

Or more alike than we're willing to see.

Maybe we're not meant to not disagree.

Maybe we're crazy, baby."

-All That We Needed by Plain White T's

XI

There was a thick white blanket covering the entire outside world in front of her. Kisara's big blue eyes widened with wonder and awe as she watched small white flakes fall from the sky and continue to bury Domino City. She couldn't believe it… it was snowing! Without a second thought, she took a step forward and let her foot sink into the snow. She felt like she was stepping on clouds and a smile overtook her face. She ran around, leaving footprints all over the walkway and front yard.

Kisara continued to do this as her distressing thoughts disappeared from her mind completely. She loved playing with the snow, balling it in her hand, tossing it in the air, and tasting it in her mouth. She hardly even registered that her body had become numb from the chilled air; she wasn't dressed at all for the weather. Her glee was interrupted when she twisted around whilst dancing in the snow and caught sight of Seto standing in the doorway… staring at her like she was a crazy person. She froze immediately.

"What are you doing?"

"I've never seen snow before," Kisara stated in a matter-of-fact tone, trying to justify how strange she must've appeared to Seto.

"How are you getting home?" Kisara hadn't thought of that. The safest way to get home would obviously be a taxi but there probably weren't many that would be able to come and get her in this weather. She frowned with the realization that she may not be able to get home. Seto had come to this conclusion far before he had even asked the question; it was the reason why he had come downstairs in the first place.

Seto sighed. "I suppose I could set you up in one of the guest bedrooms for the night. The plows won't be here until the morning. You can leave then." Freezing to death sounded a lot better to Kisara than spending the night at the Kaiba Mansion. Seto was the person she had just been trying to run away from, the person she never wanted to see again, and the person who made her feel... She shook her head and crossed her arms.

"That's quite alright, I'm sure I'll be fine walking home on my own."

"You're going to walk home, in a snowstorm?"

"Yep, that's what I just said," Kisara turned around to begin her venture back to her apartment. After taking the first step, she looked down at her feet and realized that she was wearing sneakers… and that she couldn't feel her feet anymore as a result. She shrugged before saying, "See you later!"

Seto rolled his eyes. Kisara was obviously going to make this difficult for him. That didn't concern him too much, though, since he had something that would bring Kisara back to her senses. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys, giving them a little jingle. Kisara stopped and stared. Then she was pissed.

"Hey! Those are the keys to my apartment! How did you get them?"

"You left them in my house and if you want them back, you'll have to come and get them." Kisara gritted her teeth. Was Seto trying to mess with her or something?

"Are you trying to bribe me to sleep over at your house? Because that's pretty creepy and I'm sure it's against the law." Seto shook his head with disdain and tossed the keys over to Kisara. She clumsily caught them in her hand.

"Nope, I'm only trying to keep you from making a dumb decision. It's not like I have time to train a new assistant because my old one decided to freeze to death but if you really feel that way, then you can get the hell off my property." Kisara bit her lip. It was nearly ten o'clock at night by then and it was starting to get bitterly cold. She was already freezing and a walk from Seto's house to her house would take hours. She didn't have much of a choice, or rather a much more intelligent choice that she could make.

"Fine, I'll stay over," Kisara grumbled, walking back towards the house and into the Kaiba Mansion. "You better not be up to any funny business, though." Seto closed the door after her as she was taking off her shoes.

"Never in your lifetime, Kisara, believe me. And that actually would be against the law," Seto said dully, "You can sleep in the room across the hall from Mokuba. It'll have all the necessities you require and even suitable sleepwear. I'll most likely be in my office for the remainder of the night which is down the hall to the left. If you need anything, you can let me know." Kisara nodded and followed Seto up the stairs. When they reached the top, Seto turned left to return to his office and Kisara turned right.

"Seto…" Seto stopped, "Thank you for your hospitality." Seto said nothing and continued on into his office. Kisara wearily walked to her room and collapsed on the bed. She was exhausted. After changing into some pajamas left in the drawers, she got into bed and fell asleep within seconds. She was far too exhausted to think, contemplate, or even make sense of what had happened earlier that night and it made it much easier for her to sleep.

It was five in the morning and Seto was just starting to feel tired. He hadn't the slightest clue what was keeping him up so late, but there was something giving him great inspiration. He had gotten so much work done over the course of the entire night and had even plotted out some new inventions. As thrilled as he was, his excited mind couldn't ignore the fatigue that was finally starting to catch up to him. Five in the morning was rather late for him, Seto reasoned, but he didn't want to sleep.

He wasn't sure what it was that was giving him such inspiration and such desire to stay awake. Seto could hardly pretend that it had nothing to do with Kisara sleeping over. The only other person to ever sleep over at his house in the past was Isono a few times, but only for emergencies. Seto never had guests over and certainly never had over-night guests. It freaked him out and almost kept him on edge as a result. Seto also couldn't forget the mental pledge he had made to stay away from Kisara.

Seto had managed to keep it up for a while and yet, there she was, taking care of his brother and then suddenly sleeping over. What was wrong with him? Was he secretly doing this to himself? Seto started viciously rubbing his eyes. It was late and his eyes were beginning to burn from staring at the computer screen. He had to at least try and go to bed…

"Seto?" Seto was sure that he was hearing things but decided to turn back and look anyway.

"Kisara, what are you doing up?" Kisara walked into the room and sat down on the couch opposite to Seto's desk.

"I wake up at four in the morning. What are you doing up?"

"I fall asleep at four in the morning."

"Oh." There was a sudden awkward silence in the room. "Seto, I'm sorry for how I acted last night. I was being rude." Seto raised an eyebrow.

"What brings this up?" Kisara shrugged.

"I take an hour to meditate when I wake up in the morning. It's the only time of day I really have to think about things." Seto crossed his legs and leaned back in his chair.

"Apology accepted. I understand, anyway... how I acted was inappropriate and I don't know what came over me. I'm sure it just had something to do with me being happy Mokuba was okay." Seto hadn't even allowed himself time to process what it was that he and Kisara had shared nor did he even attempt to figure out where that hug came from. Seto didn't hug people. He wasn't a hugging person to begin with. His behavior around this girl continued to baffle and confuse him the more time he spent with her.

"It's okay, I wasn't offended or anything. I figured it was probably just about your brother." Kisara got up to leave, "I think I'm going to try and see if a cab will come and get me now."

"Wait, Kisara. I have one last question for you." Kisara slowly sat back down, "I don't mean to be invasive, but I'd like to know what it was that brought you to Japan in the first place. I'm sure I haven't heard the real reason since you've changed your story quite a bit in the past." Kisara was taken aback. What did it matter to Seto why she came to Japan? Though she couldn't ignore how kind he had been to her and considering she was still planning on ditching Domino City forever the moment she left his house, she thought she would humor his request.

"You want to know why I came to Japan?"

"I wasn't planning on begging to hear the answer." Kisara sarcastically chuckled.

"Alright, I'll tell you why I came to Japan, the real reason. I came to Japan because a couple months ago I was in love with the biggest jerk I have ever met… an even bigger jerk than you, if you could believe it. Yep, I was in love with a complete loser and after a year of dating, he broke up with me for no reason. Just, you know, out of the blue. Suddenly I was too boring for him. Suddenly I didn't make him happy. Suddenly… he realized he couldn't get into my pants and decided to bail. I was with that jerk for an entire year—I went through hell trying to make us work because I was hopelessly in love with him. And what did he do? He took that love, spat on it, and told me it didn't matter anymore.

"As if that wasn't enough… he never left me alone. After he told me we were through, he continued to mess with my heart and head. He would tell me he loved me and then later that night would tell me how many women he planned to sleep with now that he was single. No matter what I did, I felt imprisoned by my own feelings and there was no escape. So, I decided to leave. Neither my friends nor my family knew what was wrong; all they knew was that I was going to Japan for a better life and for better job opportunities. And that was that. I left my family, friends, life, everything… just so I could get away from him."

Kisara was near tears at that point, all of her frustration seemed to flow out of her mouth without any realization. She hadn't meant to tell him the story in such great detail as she did but she had no control. She hadn't noticed that her hands had balled into fists and suddenly the room had become very hot. Emotions were stirred up within her… as they always did when she thought about him. Seto remained quiet for a moment, collecting his thoughts, she supposed.

"Well? Don't you have something clever to say about all of this? That's the real story. That's why I moved all the way from Egypt to Japan."

"I do have something to say about that," Seto began, "That's probably the dumbest thing I've ever heard. You're an idiot." Kisara didn't even think through the next few thoughts that went into her head. She began looking around for the nearest blunt object to throw at him. When she couldn't see one within grabbing distance, she decided to yell at him instead.

"Oh, okay, BE A GIANT ASS. I don't care what you think of me! I mean, why even ask me for the story if you were just going to tell me that I'm stupid for leaving?" Seto got up from his chair.

"Because," Seto stated, "You deserve better… much better. You deserve better in your life and in a man. To be thinking that guy is worth any amount of your time makes you a moron. Still, if that's your reason for coming here, I'm glad you left. I would've done the exact same thing." Kisara unclenched her hands and let her arms drop to her side in amazement. Was Seto... complimenting her? She was in complete shock. She barely knew how to react to such a thing.

"Do you really mean that?" Seto nodded.

"Of course, I was in a similar relationship—not a romantic one—but the relationship with my step father had the same effect on me. I thought about running away every single day I lived with him."

"If you wanted to run away, why didn't you just do it?" Seto's eyes shifted from Kisara to the doorway as there was a low creek from the door being opened. Kisara looked to see what it was that was interrupting their conversation and instead saw Mokuba, staring confusingly back at her.

"Kisara, what are you doing here? I thought you went home last night." Seto walked past Kisara, scooping Mokuba up into his arms and giving him a hug.

"You've got a lot of questions for a kid who's up at five in the morning. What woke you up? Are you still feeling sick?" Seto placed one hand on Mokuba's head. "Your fever is gone. That's good to know."

"I don't feel sick at all, Nii-sama. I actually feel a lot better. I woke up because I heard talking and I was worried you were up talking to yourself." Seto laughed and Kisara was in disbelief. She had never heard Seto genuinely laugh before. The morning continued to surprise her.

"I'm sorry our talking woke you up. Kisara's only over because…" Seto walked Mokuba over to the window and lifted the blinds. Mokuba's eyes widened when he saw all the snow that was on the ground.

"It snowed last night? That's awesome!"

"It actually started snowing last evening, but you were so sick you didn't notice." It truly was fascinating for Kisara to see Seto's soft side, a side that was almost never shown in the workplace. Still, she couldn't help this feeling that she was intruding on some very special moments. It was time for her to leave.

"And I was just on my way out the door. Thanks again for letting me stay over, Seto. I think the roads are clear enough that I can catch a cab home." Mokuba's head turned back when he heard this.

"You're leaving right now? Why don't you stay for breakfast?" Kisara shook her head.

"That's extremely kind of you but I really must be going. I wouldn't want to overstay my welcome. I'll see you two later!" Kisara quickly slipped out of Seto's office and back to her room to grab her things. They had already been packed so the only thing left to do was put on her shoes and walk out of the door. In doing so, she kept thinking back to her and Seto's conversation. 'I would've done the exact same thing.' Kisara wished she had heard Seto's response to her question. Why hadn't he done the exact same thing?

With her sneakers properly dried and tied, she set out the door and to the newly plowed street, flipping out her cell phone as she did. Walking through the snow, she figured out Seto's answer all on her own. 'My brother is the most important person in my life.' A couple years back, Kisara had read an article about Seto that attempted to reveal his childhood and his rise to power with what little sources that existed. After their parents died, Seto and Mokuba were left in an orphanage without a penny to their name and no chances of ever having a better life.

That was until Gozaburo Kaiba, one of the most prominent business men in Japan and CEO of Kaiba Corp., came to the Domino City orphanage to donate money as a publicity stunt and ending up coming home with Seto and Mokuba as his two new sons. That slice of Seto's history was known by everyone; Seto had challenged Gozaburo to a game of chess and if he were to win, Gozaburo was to adopt him and his brother. Gozaburo, also being known as a world renowned chess champion in addition to being a brilliant business man, had no choice but to accept the challenge and the wager that came with it without foreseeing that a ten year old would have the skill to beat him at his own game.

Kisara stopped when she finally reached the street and stared at the Kaiba Mansion. It was all clear to her now. Seto had planned to challenge Gozaburo that day he came to the orphanage. He had planned to make that bet and he had planned to win. He had done all these things because he knew that was the only way to give his younger brother the life he felt Mokuba deserved. All that Kaiba Corp. was, that the Kaiba Mansion was… was all for Mokuba. Not for the fame or glory, but for his younger brother, the only family he had left in the world.

"Hey lady, did you call for a cab or what?" Kisara snapped out of her thoughts. She hadn't even realized the cab had gotten to her already.

"Sorry about that," Kisara said, getting into the cab and shutting the door. She watched the Kaiba Mansion as the cab slowly pulled away and began to leave. There was something more to this man, Seto Kaiba, something deeper than she ever could've imagined. Maybe she didn't need to run away from this one. Maybe he was a man worthy of her time and feelings. Maybe, just maybe… they could work.

Kisara wasn't mentally or emotionally sure she was ready for any of this but she was at least willing to stick around and find out.

A/N: Greetings, readers! Kari here updating my story exactly 20 days from the last time I posted and feeling pretty good about it. Today is not only a special update day, but it's also my birthday! I think this is the first time I've ever posted a chapter on my birthday. But yeah, happy birthday to me! I turned 21 today! Not only that, but it's also Ash Wednesday, so happy Ash Wednesday! Back to the story, I was so thrilled and excited when I finished this chapter, I'm already halfway through the next chapter so hopefully that will be up soon. Thanks for reading, thanks for caring, thanks for being wonderful, and thank be to God! Have a wonderful day, folks. And a happy birthday to George Washington, too!