"Hello," I said that next Friday, looking in my stranger's direction when I heard him approach. I was somewhat nervous, unsure of where we stood after having an actual conversation the week before. I'd thought on it several times over the course of the past week but couldn't come up with a solid conclusion as to whether he planned for things to go back to the way they had been, or if the whole 'talking' thing was going to continue.

Eventually I decided I would take my cues from him. He came to the library to work after all, and even if I had enjoyed speaking with him, I didn't want to become an unwanted distraction.

I waited anxiously while he deposited his things on the table, biting my lip and trying not to look too nervous. I think he noticed my apprehension and moved more slowly than usual, wanting to see me squirm. His smirk was practically tangible.

Then, finally, he sat himself down and asked, "Is there a particular reason you're fidgeting like an overanxious puppy?"

I blinked, initially a tiny bit hurt by his tone. A second later though, I realized something, and the little frown I'd been wearing slowly curved into a pleased smile. I doubt he even realized it, but those words- that sentence- meant that something had changed between us: my stranger was willing to speak to me. So maybe he wasn't exactly initiating a friendly conversation, and maybe he'd been more than a little rude, but it was still better than the single-worded greetings and farewells we'd shared previously. Progress- no matter how questionable- had been made.

And I was ridiculously happy about it.

"You don't have to say 'overanxious puppy' like it's such a bad thing, you know," I said playfully, completely ignoring his question. I was more or less certain it was supposed to be rhetorical anyway. "I like dogs."

For some reason that made him snort out a laugh.

"Of course you do."

He fell silent after that. I listened closely while he went about getting out his laptop and other supplies, waiting for some sign that he'd want to keep talking.

He never did give one, but, funnily enough, I was completely fine with that. We'd spent weeks sitting in silence, and I had loved it. Just because things were slowly changing between us didn't mean I couldn't appreciate what they'd been like before.

Once I was sure he really didn't want to say anything more, I put on my headphones and leaned back in my chair, and we descended into the rich, wonderful silence I had grown so familiar with over the past weeks. I even opted to turn on my music instead of listen to his movements, finally relaxed enough around my stranger that I no longer found it necessary to focus constantly on him.

When the sound of the clock tolling reached my ears above the soft music, I got to my feet and gave him a small smile.

"Have a nice week."

The dry, "Doubtful," I received in response was so brief and cool and him that it made me laugh.

"If it makes you feel better," I said lightly, unable to help but try to improve his constantly-dour mood, "my mother's taking me shopping with a whole bunch of her friends tomorrow. Imagine sitting around for hours while middle-aged women chatter about ex-husbands and how much weight they think they've lost." My smile stretched a little bigger. "That ought to make whatever you're dreading seem a bit less awful."

He let out an amused exhale. I wasn't sure, but it sounded suspiciously like a repressed laugh.

"I'll keep that in mind," he said, but his voice was just a tiny bit softer than it'd been before.

"You do that."

I left then, but I could feel him watching me as I walked out. And even though I'm not sure, a little part of me thought that maybe his gaze hadn't felt quite so oppressive as usual.

That possibility was enough to make my whole week.

My stranger was already there when I arrived that next Friday. Although he had beaten me to the library a handful of times before, it was a rare enough occurrence that I was more than a little startled by the sound of his rapid typing.

His polite, "How was shopping?" shocked me even further.

My eyes snapped up near to where his face would be, and I couldn't help but stare blindly in his direction for a very long moment, gaping like a fish.

"Pardon?" I finally blurted, unable to believe I'd heard properly. That he'd inquired about some inane event in my dreadfully boring life was shocking enough, but for him to have done so in such a non-demanding, almost civil manner was unbelievable. His voice hadn't even been cool or toneless… rather, he'd almost sounded interested.

It was impossible.

"Before you left last week? You talked about your mother taking you shopping," he prodded. I didn't have to be able to see to tell that he was looking at me like I'd drooled all over my shirt.

"R-right," I said. I tipped my head forward, letting my long hair fall around my face to hide the blush that was surely staining my cheeks. "Er. It was- well, about what I imagined it would be. I guess maybe not so bad as I'd thought. One of my mother's friends- she tried on clothes for me for about a half hour, asking how I thought she looked every time she put on something new. Her reaction when she realized what she was doing almost made the rest of the day bearable."

"You're kidding."

"Perfectly serious," I said. "I did feel a little bad though, about going along with it for so long. She was mortified."

"I expect she'll get over it eventually," he said, sounding appropriately amused.

Silence settled for a moment, and then I slowly asked, "What about you? You didn't seem to think you'd have all that great of a week. Was it better than you expected?"

"Startlingly," he replied, "yes."

I waited a second, listened for any signs that he wanted to stop talking- things like tapping fingers or shuffling feet, but there weren't any. He wasn't even messing with his computer.

I took this to mean that he wouldn't mind keeping up our conversation for a tiny bit longer.

"What were you so unenthused about anyway?"

"Business," he said evenly. "I was in America for most of the week, sitting in on talks with a potential partner."

Whatever I'd been expecting him to say, it wasn't that. For someone who sounded near Joey's age to have a position important enough to attend overseas meetings… it was unbelievable. My stranger had to have been brilliant.

Then again, he was dedicated enough to do office work in the library. Maybe him being a high-up businessman shouldn't have surprised me like it did.

It did surprise me though. Surprised me and impressed me. My eyes were a little too wide, and I think I sounded just a little more awed than I should have when I said, "I guess you're pretty good at this business-stuff, then."

I could feel the smirk he gave in response.

"I suppose you could say that."

"But… you don't like it? Or is just America you don't like?"

"I have no problem with my work, nor with America," he said. "My issue is with the imbeciles that attend the meetings. A baboon would have more sense than the gaggle of them put together."

I giggled despite myself. Little as I knew him, I couldn't help but think that statement fit my stranger perfectly. It was also beyond amusing to me, that Mister Cold, Blunt, and Brusque would be complaining about the people who had to deal with him on a daily basis.

Kind of made me wonder what kind of conversations they had behind his back.

"I can't imagine you're all that much of a joy to work with either," I joked, unable to help but smile. Just a little.

"That's hardly the point," he said. "I can do my job properly. The same cannot be said for the idiots I was forced to deal with."

"It couldn't have been that bad though," I reminded him. "I mean, you said it was better than you expected. That's something, right?"

"A minor something."

"Meaning…?"

He huffed.

"Meaning the only reason it wasn't as bad as it could have been is because the talks failed. Barring a few- hopefully rare- exceptions, I will not have to deal with those morons again."

I blinked, unsure I'd heard him correctly.

"You're happy the deal didn't work out?"

"Not happy." He paused. "More like… relieved that the other company had nothing to offer. If they'd been able to come up with better terms, talks would have continued, a deal might have eventually been made, and I would have had to tolerate those idiots for years to come."

That made slightly more sense.

"I guess I understand that… Um, if you don't mind, what company do you work for anyway?"

The question had seemed innocent enough, but for some reason I got the impression that it was the wrong thing to ask right as soon as the words left my mouth. My stranger hesitated palpably, very clearly not wanting to answer. Feeling absurdly guilty for evidently making a mistake of some sort, I opened my mouth to take the question back, to say I really don't care and we can quit talking now, but he spoke before I had the chance.

"Kaiba Corp."

I blinked.

Okay. Wow.

For a moment I was frozen at the name 'Kaiba', but then what he said really sunk in, and I couldn't help but wince sympathetically. It was on the tip of my tongue to say something along the lines of 'I'm sorry,' but I didn't want to accidentally offend him. I mean, my stranger might actually have liked his boss- he hadn't said anything bad about him anyway. Maybe it was only Joey and his friends that Mr. Kaiba treated so awfully.

That in mind, I decided it would be best simply not to say anything at all about the Kaiba Corp CEO.

"Oh, cool." Grasping for a way to continue the conversation, I asked the first question that came to mind. "Um… Can I ask who offered the partnership, or is that something you aren't allowed to tell me?"

"It isn't exactly a secret," he said. "Industrial Illusions. I'm sure you heard of them. They're-"

"-the company that makes Duel Monsters cards," I finished. "I do know that much. But, um…" I bit my lip, not wanting to sound like an idiot. After a second though, curiosity got the better of me, and I hesitantly asked, "Why?"

"What do you mean 'why'?" he asked. "I wouldn't think the reasoning would be that complicated. Generally most businesses tend to make deals that would lead to profit increase."

I blushed beet red.

"No, that's not- I mean…" I took a deep breath and started over. "I always thought Kaiba Corp and Industrial Illusions already were partners. Almost everything Kaiba Corp sells is related to Duel Monsters, and… wouldn't that be illegal, if the two companies weren't working together?"

"Not necessarily."

I waited for him to elaborate, but he apparently had absolutely no plans to do so. Quiet stretched on for an awkwardly long time, until finally I couldn't help myself and nervously blurted, "Could… could you explain it to me?"

His eyes snapped to my face then, looking me over so intently I could feel it. It was disconcerting- knowing he was staring, but not being able to stare back. I dropped my gaze to the table, but it didn't make me the least bit more comfortable.

"Why on earth would I do that?" he asked finally. "What I do at my job doesn't concern you in the least."

"Well, no." I swallowed. "I am curious though. I mean, if you have to work, then it isn't a big deal, but I would like to know, and-"

"Quit blabbering." I clamped my mouth shut, and he let out an exasperated breath. "If you're honestly interested, I suppose I can waste a few minutes of my time." Without waiting for me to comment, he went on, "Your issue is that you misunderstand the business definition of a 'partnership'. It doesn't mean two companies working together. It means two or more people working together to run a single enterprise. What Maximillion Pegasus wanted was to dissolve both separate companies and instead form a single, larger one."

"Oh." I made a face. Even though there was no reason I should have known any of that, I felt a little foolish for having to ask. "Um. What's wrong with that then? I mean, why didn't Kaiba Corp accept?"

"The official reason? Kaiba Corp's profit is nearly triple that of Industrial Illusions. If an agreement had been reached, the money would have be split evenly between partners."

"…And the nonofficial reason?" I thought on that for a second, and then answered my own question. "Well… Seto Kaiba and Maximillion Pegasus have a history, don't they? I mean, a bad one. That's what Joey told me anyway. Is… is that why he didn't accept? Other than the money thing."

"More or less," he said coolly.

"But…" I hesitated, worried I was making a bother of myself. He must've seen what I was thinking though, because he let out a resigned sigh and I could hear him move forward in his chair, like he was leaning a little closer to me.

"Whatever it is you wish to know- ask. I've already neglected my work from the moment you stepped foot in this place; I might as well ignore it completely."

While not reassuring in the conventional sense, his words did prompt me into speaking.

"Um, I just- If there isn't a partnership, how is Kaiba Corp able to sell Duel Monsters products?"

"Kaiba Corp can sell Duel Monsters products," he said, and I was relieved to hear that there wasn't any annoyance in his voice at all, "because Pegasus agreed to let it do so. He knew the technology would help his own business, and so he allowed it to be developed."

The answer was so uncomplicated that I wanted to kick myself.

"And you don't think that qualifies as a stupid question?"

"Given that there's little chance you've heard any of this before- no. It wasn't a stupid question." He paused. "Are you done interrogating me now, or would you like to know my whole life's story as well?"

"Well…"

"Sarcasm."

"You might have been sarcastic, but I'm serious," I said. "I can't even see you. Your whole life's story might be a bit excessive, but couldn't you give me something personal? Just so I feel a little less blind around you."

"I don't do personal." Which really wasn't surprising in the least.

"Not even with a blind girl who can't possibly know who you are?" I prodded, albeit weakly. If he declined to respond, I knew I wouldn't keep on it, would apologize for asking and leave the matter alone. Knowing this- that it was the only time I'd allow myself to really ask my stranger about himself- I kept on with my string of logic. "I mean, I could be the most dishonest, untrustworthy person on the planet, and anything you tell me would be entirely safe. It isn't like I can spread dirty secrets about a nameless stranger."

He went silent at that. After a while, I decided he must've decided not to give me an answer at all, and sighing lightly, I picked up my headphones and put them on, turning the music up so I wouldn't keep listening for a reply he probably wasn't going to give.

I didn't care about that though- not really. We'd talked so much more than I could have hoped for. After thinking on it for a while, I even got to supposing that maybe he'd been giving me loads of personal information all along. While none of his business chat had centered on himself, the knowledge and confidence and passion that'd been infused into his voice while he spoke said a lot.

It said so much, in fact, that I couldn't help but think he'd unwittingly given me a glimpse into one of the most important parts of his life.

Then he shocked me to the core and gave me even more.

It wasn't until I was getting ready to leave- after the clock had tolled and I was getting up to go. I gave him my usual smile and good-bye, and then, right before I turned around, he casually said, "I absolutely despise Oden." (1)

I beamed.

"Thank you," I said.

Of course, he snorted like it didn't matter. And it probably didn't to him.

To me though, that little piece of my stranger meant a lot. Enough that I couldn't help from grinning so big that, after my mother picked me up, she asked if there was anything wrong with me.

There wasn't. Anything wrong with me, I mean. I was just happy. Happy that he was talking to me, happy that something new was finally happening to me, and happy that, for the first time, it almost seemed possible that maybe, one day, my stranger and I might actually become something close to friends.

Author's Note-

Yes, it's been over a month. I had an awful mix of writer's block, a very annoying broken finger (seriously, I broke a single frigging finger, and it made trying to type so frustrating), and lack of time in which to write. I'm back now though. Back, and confident that there won't be any more month long waits between updates.

I am sorry about that by the way. Thanks to everyone who's stuck with this for so long, and I hope this chapter isn't a disappointment. I realize it's short, but there is tons of interaction so hopefully those two things balance each other out.

That's everything I think. I'd love to see what you think of the chapter- praise and criticism are both welcome.

1-Oden is a Japanese, soup-type dish. It's listed as Seto Kaiba's least favorite food on the Yugioh Wiki.