"So I would choose to be with you,

That's if the choice were mine to make.

But you can make decisions too,

And you can have this heart to break."

And So It Goes by Billy Joel

XXVII

His hand hovered in front of the door, waiting to knock. His eyes were fixated on the phone he was holding in his other hand, watching the time closely. Even though Seto had been standing outside of Kisara's apartment for almost five minutes, he didn't have the courage to knock. For one thing, it wasn't quite noon yet, and for another… he was petrified. He had been happy that Kisara was going to give him a second chance—his life had been miserable for the last month without her—but he didn't know what he could do or say to get her to forgive him. What he had done, after all, was unforgivable… he knew that, he understood that. Still… what could he have done? He had been afraid of his feelings towards her… much like he was standing in front of her apartment, waiting to knock and be let in.

Just as his phone changed to 11:59am, Seto considered leaving right then and there. The same fears he felt at the Tokyo Game Show were returning to him… he couldn't do this. He couldn't be in love with Kisara and be open with her about it. He was too guarded; he had been scorned too many times before in his life. Just as he was about to leave, however, he remembered her smile. The way her eyes lit up whenever she saw him, the softness of her hand when it linked with his, and the tingling on his lips after every kiss they shared. That was what kept him planted in that spot, and invoked him to knock on the door the moment the clock showed noon.

Kisara opened the door to find Seto, dressed to the nines in a full tuxedo and tie, with the largest bouquet of flowers she had ever seen. Seto saw the way her eyes shined, just like they used to every time she saw him. However, her face remained unemotional and the light quickly disappeared. She didn't look the least bit happy to see him. In response, Seto held out the flowers to her and moved in for some sort of gesture of affection.

Kisara stepped back instantly.

"There's a chair in the living room set up. You can sit there while I put these in a vase," Kisara said in a business-like tone. Seto opened his mouth, intending to apologize for what he had done, but decided against it. He would do as Kisara instructed instead.

Seto walked into Kisara's living room to find that the furniture had been switched around. Her cushion chair had been moved to the other side of the room where her small coffee table had been placed in front of it. On the opposite side of the coffee table was the small wooden chair, typically seen at her desk that doubled as a table for when she ate. He was trying to make sense of the change in scenery when Kisara came up from behind him and pointed at the wooden chair.

"You can sit right there," Kisara stated, walking past Seto and sitting down on the cushion chair opposite from him. Seto, once again, did as he was told and sat down. "I didn't have a desk to sit at, but I figured this would do just as well." Kisara pointed to the coffee table, asking Seto to pretend it was a desk. At that point, he was completely lost.

"I'm not sure what's going on but, like I said the other day, I appreciate you giving me a chance—"

"If you're ready to begin, then I will start with the questions. If you have questions of your own, you can ask them at the end," Kisara said, cutting Seto off. She crossed her legs and flipped open a notepad in her left hand.

"Okay then. I'm ready to begin with… whatever this is."

"Good," Kisara replied curtly, looking down at her notepad and reading the page below, "My first question is: Why are you here?"

"I'm here because I wanted to explain myself… explain my actions, that is. Everything that happened a month ago. You see, Kisara, I—"

"And why do you feel the need to explain yourself? I mean, why are you really here, Mr. Kaiba?" Seto still wasn't completely sure of what Kisara was doing but decided to answer her question anyway.

"I'm here because I'm sorry for what I did and my hope is that, despite the terrible thing I've done, that you'll consider taking me back." Seto watched with curiosity as Kisara began to take notes. He couldn't help but wonder what it was she was putting down on paper.

"Well, alright then. I've got a couple questions regarding that as well." Kisara's eyes returned to the previous page to read the questions she had written down. "So why are you interested in the position of being my boyfriend?" Her eyes moved back up from the paper to match Seto's gaze. Seto sat up straight in his seat before he answered, crossing his legs and putting on his own professional poker face. If Kisara wanted to pretend this was a business, Seto was going to be hired in no time. Business was the language Seto had been raised to speak.

"I'm interested in the position of being your boyfriend because I'm the best. Not to mention, I care about you very much. You're one of the few people I'm very fond of," Seto stated, now feeling sure of himself. Kisara, however, showed no reaction to Seto's statement. Instead, her eyes moved back down to her notepad to read off the next question.

"I see. And what are your qualifications?"

"Well, my qualifications are that I run a multi-billion dollar company and can provide you with anything and everything you could ever possibly want." Kisara's eyes narrowed.

"Mr. Kaiba, I think you and I both know that money and power is hardly a concern I have for your qualifications to be my boyfriend. Please answer the question seriously this time." Seto was confused for a moment by what she said but quickly realized what she meant. He had to pause and think before answering.

"My qualifications are that I'm determined; when I want something, I go for it. I'm self-sufficient; I've been raising myself and my little brother since I was five years old. I'm kind… well, when I want to be or when Mokuba's around. I try to be an open-minded person and understanding when I'm with someone I care about deeply." Kisara's lips twitched as they formed an unconscious smile, before quickly vanishing behind the mask of her business demeanor as she turned her head back down to read the next question. She was determined to have him answer all of the questions before she showed any sign of accepting him back into her life.

"What would you say are your three biggest weaknesses, as a boyfriend?"

"My three biggest weaknesses are…" Seto sighed before he continued, "That I'm not always the most honest person in the world; I admit, it's hard for me to trust someone enough to confide everything in them. I'm not always in tune with my emotions, which makes it hard for me to be in tune with other people's… I know I sometimes pretend emotions don't exist just so I don't have to deal with them, which is wrong. I also have a tendency to overreact to things and make drastic, stupid decisions because of it." Kisara could see how sorry Seto was, especially with the last statement he made, but she quickly looked back down at her notepad to distract herself from showing it.

"What about your strengths?"

"My three biggest strengths are that, deep down in my core, I am a good person. I only feel that way because I raised a great kid like Mokuba who tells me every day. I do believe I have the ability to open myself to another person, even if it's the hardest thing I've ever done. If it turns out I don't have the ability, I do have the desire to have the ability at least. I would also put someone I cared about before myself in whatever situation that presented itself…" Seto felt the need to pause, before breaking his business-like tone and speaking to Kisara directly, "I really do want what's best for you, Kisara, even if that means that by the end of this you decide not to give me another chance."

That time around, Kisara's eyes didn't need to glance at notepad to ask the next question. Her eyes never broke contact with his as she asked, "And how was the past month?"

"Terrible. I've never been more miserable in my entire life, and I grew up with Gozaburo for a step father. It made me realize how much I care about you, and how much I missed seeing you every day. My life was empty without you."

Slowly, the emotions began to return to Kisara's face as she stared deeply into Seto's eyes. Her professional exterior began to melt as her mind was reminded of feelings from the initial break-up. She remembered the way she cried herself to sleep for almost a week. She remembered the self-loathing she felt for letting someone get close enough to hurt her. She remembered wondering if she could ever truly open herself up to another human being, let alone the man who had made her regret ever wanting to be vulnerable with another person again… a mistake she had made with the last man she had fallen in love with.

Kisara couldn't let the emotions take over, however. There was still one more question she needed to ask and she knew it was the most important question of all. "Why did you break up with me?"

Seto's eyes broke away from Kisara's before speaking.

"I was under a lot of pressure that day. We had to set up the booth, deal with reporters, then you went missing and then the next thing I know, I find you with Zigfried, who's been my arch rival since I was a child. Then when Schroeder Corp. stole my idea and was presenting, everything just hit me all at once… I had been betrayed, lied to, and stolen from… and you were trying to tell me something, so I guess I just snapped. I don't know what I was thinking or if I was thinking at all. I just reacted."

There was a long pause that followed. Seto looked desperately into Kisara's eyes, not sure of whether she would buy his story or not. There was an essence of truth within his story… he did have an instance of thought that she could be the one who had stolen his blueprints. At the same time, he had never doubted her, and the small essence that existed had disappeared instantly.

Kisara, on the other hand, could tell Seto was only spewing out lies. Did he really think, after six months of dating, that she couldn't tell when he was lying or when he wasn't? The fact that he was desperately looking at her was an obvious indication for one thing… but another was that he talked in such a way that Seto himself didn't even seem convinced. Kisara knew there was an entirely different reason why Seto had broken up with her, but the point of this exercise to begin with was to get him to say it—to be open with her about his true feelings. Kisara didn't write the next question she asked… she knew it had to be asked from the very moment he walked in.

"Are you in love with me?" Seto's face darkened and he fell silent. The one question he never thought he would have to answer, the answer he had questioned every since he first realized how he truly felt. Now was the moment of truth… could he accept his feelings and make them real by saying them out loud? Could he really be that vulnerable with another human being? Kisara needed an answer… or at least, she was looking at him like she needed one. Seto looked down.

"I… don't know."

"Do you really want to be with me?" Seto looked up with surprise. That was it? Kisara moved on to the next question that fast? Somehow he had thought 'I don't know' wouldn't have been a suitable answer.

"Yes," Seto stated with certainty. Kisara shrugged and closed her notepad. She set it onto the floor and uncrossed her legs as she looked at him.

"Well, that's the end of the interview. Do you have any questions you'd like to ask me?" Seto wasn't sure whether this was a trick question or not. Seto looked around the room, trying to think of something to ask. Was he supposed to ask the one question on his mind? Was he allowed to ask if they were getting back together? As he searched the room for answers, he noticed something he hadn't the first time he had walked into Kisara's apartment. All of her belongings were in boxes. It looked as though she had just moved in.

"I do have a question, actually," Seto asked, looking around, "Why are there all of these boxes? Are they re-doing your floors in your apartment?" Another thought came to his mind and fear struck him, "Are they kicking you out because you weren't able to pay rent?" No wonder Kisara hated him. Breaking up had forced her to quit and therefore be unable to pay her rent. Seto's heart was wrecked with guilt. "Look, I'll pay whatever you need so you can stay."

"No, it's not that. It's…" Kisara wasn't sure how to answer Seto's question in a way that wouldn't hurt him, but she also knew that wasn't possible, "Remember how I wanted to tell you something at the Tokyo Game Show? I was going to tell you that I got accepted to a business school. I'm moving to Hiroshima tomorrow and I'll be living there for the next four months."

A/N: Hi everybody! Kari here with another long-awaited update! I say "long awaited" simply because I actually received a PM from one of my readers asking when I was going to update and hoping it was soon, hahaha. I'm always so delighted and encouraged by all of your positive responses and feedback! It seems like all of you are enjoying reading this just as much as I am writing this which is always a nice thought. Now that summer has begun and I have the summer off until the Fall, I would love to update more than once a month but no promises (only hopes). Also, there should be a one-shot coming your way within the next month or two too, so keep your eyes peeled on my page for that!

On another note, my beta reader, Kura, just graduated from college so you all should leave her a nice little note of congratulations along with your reviews if you think of it. :) She is pretty much the best beta reader EVER and one of my best friends, so I am incredibly happy for her and all of her successes. :D I can't wait to see where life takes her next. 3 Until next time, thanks for reading!