It was already evening again, meaning the end of the day was drawing closer and closer with every passing minute. Lower rank employees were allowed to leave first, just like the procedure was rightfully supposed to work.

Roland ended up abandoning you too, since today it was his turn to take Mokuba home. After all, Seto didn't want his finishing late to affect his little brother's sleeping schedule too much. To summarize it all, you and Kaiba were once again the only ones left in the office at this hour.

And once again the president's phone rang as if to purposely annoy the man you had almost started feeling sorry for at this point. You had lost count of how many calls this one made today. Kaiba, already sick and tired of having heard dozens of voices through that apparatus, picked it up rudely which of course wasn't anything new. "What the hell do you want?"

"This is the management department. S-Sir, this space-elevator project... what you're proposing is—" The man on the other line — most probably the same one from the meeting today — started, but was quickly cut off by Kaiba who had probably lost a part of his senses. "Really, really cool?"

You thought you were either imagining things or that you had started hallucinating from all the stress and caffeine today and so turned your head in Kaiba's direction just to flash him a disturbed look. What he just said didn't match his face and personality. At all. Their conversation continued as you silently wrapped up your work.

"Well, when you need to go into space and you don't have a convenient way to get there, I'll be laughing at you. From outer space. Where I will be!" Kaiba didn't give the man on the other line one more second. He had already ended the call and almost broken the phone for the twenty-seventh time today. By then, you had assembled everything you needed and were standing in front of the brunet. "Kaiba, you can't be serious."

"Says the one who wiped her snot with my bedsheets." The CEO was quick to counter, even smirking. Arguing with you like this seemed to be an effective cure against his piled-up stress and demotivation, as if his non-existent health bar refilled itself every time you gave the brunet a flustered reaction. You on the other hand blushed uncontrollably this time. "Just how long do you plan on haunting me with that?!"

"I didn't even wipe my snot with them..." You muttered, pouting subconsciously as you looked away to the side, just so you could avoid Kaiba's devilish gaze. The brunet chuckled in his own sadistic way before returning to staring at you silently. You sighed — hopefully for the last time today — before telling your boss that you were just about to take your leave. "I'm done with my amount of work, so I'll get going now."

"Where's Roland?" Kaiba asked, a sense of déjà-vu washing over you as you brought the palm of your hand to your forehead, patiently holding yourself back from just slapping yourself quite literally. "He left early, Sir... You told him to bring Mokuba home." The brown-haired CEO shut down his computer before getting up from his seat. "Drive me home."

"Excuse me?" You weren't even surprised anymore, though you couldn't exactly say that you could follow this sudden development that well either. You had to admit that you didn't particularly have anything against doing your boss a final favor today, not to mention that you could even borrow the company car for your personal purposes again. And so, the two of you made it to the ground floor and outside the Kaiba Corporation building where for some odd reason you were greeted by an unfamiliar woman yet not unknown voice. "M-Mister Kaiba!"

"And you are?" Kaiba retorted in his signature harsh tone — the one he used to either people he despised or wasn't acquainted with. The woman dramatically pretended to be physically hurt by that question as she brought her hand to her chest which led you to notice the inappropriate way she was dressed. Perhaps inappropriate was an exaggeration, but she had just put on a top in which she could show off her cleavage rather effortlessly. "How rude!~ I'm your fiancé of course!~"

So this was the complicated woman that you had talked to over the phone yesterday, was the first thought that coursed through your head while you wore your almost unbreakable pokerface. You felt like Kaiba would have said something unnecessarily rude, so you quickly stepped in before he had the chance to open his mouth. "Ma'am, I thought we had talked about this over the phone yesterday. Mr. Kaiba isn't going to marry you."

"So you're the tramp from yesterday! How dare you end a phone call right in my face!" The woman seemed genuinely angry this time to which you simply took a step back instinctively. Kaiba on the other hand went for offense rather than defense by getting in front of you by reflex, shutting the woman up with a simple glare. "I think my secretary has made herself clear enough, so get out of my sight before you make me reconsider."

Kaiba's threat was quite effective, given the woman's immediate silence. The brown-haired CEO told you to simply avoid her and follow him to the company car in which the two of you casually got in as if ignoring that woman was the most natural thing to do under those circumstances. "Are you sure it was alright to do that?"

"I'm KaibaCorp's president, everything I do is more than alright." Seto narcissistically stated in that usual arrogant tone of his that would usually annoy you, but for some odd reason didn't right in that instant.

When you had finally adjusted your seatbelt was also when you started the engine and drove in the direction where Kaiba's mansion was located. Apart from the radio that you had turned on, it was silent which reminded you of something work-related out of the blue. "Oh by the way, Dartz called this afternoon. He wanted to start a joint-operation with Kaiba Corporation and his own company."

"I have no intention to let myself or my company get infected with Paradius' hocus-pocus mind tricks, so that'll be a no." Kaiba said without even thinking about the answer he would give, urging you to laugh, but since this was more or less a serious matter, you kept quiet. "Are you sure? This could be a nice opportunity to finally build a good relationship with the Paradius company."

"After the crazy stunt they pulled on KaibaCorp and Industrial Illusions back in the Orichalcos Arc? I'd say I don't owe those sickos any relationships." The brunet CEO huffed, leaning his head against his seat a bit more, acting like a child whose mother didn't appreciate the toy house that it had built. It was a shame that your boss thought of this situation that way, but what he said wasn't exactly a lie, so you couldn't possibly argue with that. "Alright. Then I'll call Dartz tomorrow and turn down his offer."

The two of you didn't chat much after that, so the ride was silent and quite pleasant for a change. Kaiba did make sure to say a thing or two to you from time to time, just in order to avoid you falling asleep while driving. And so, in almost no time at all, you had reached the Kaiba mansion and parked the company car in its usual spot. This was slowly becoming a routine and you didn't know what you were supposed to think of it.

Seto noticed that you weren't getting out of the car, so his guess was that you had the intention of driving home by yourself which he wasn't going to let you get away with so easily. Despite his quite awful personality, he was still worried about letting you go on your own, especially since it was late and consequentially dark, and also because he knew precisely and maybe more than anyone that you were very tired after today's load of work.

He was afraid you would get yourself into an accident by falling asleep at the wheel or reckless driving in general. But of course, his pride would never allow him to put all of those things into actual words and say them to your face. "What are you waiting for? Hurry up and get out of the car."

It could have been your wishful thinking, but was Kaiba actually inviting you to stay the night at his house? Out of his own sheer will? You certainly didn't want to pass on this opportunity, so you did what the brunet said without further complaints and followed him into his mansion. "Just try not to wipe your snot with my bedsheets this time."

* * *

Before you even knew it, it was already the next morning and you were currently driving Seto and Mokuba to the Kaiba Corporation headquarters. You had almost arrived at your destination when the CEO brought up a rather unusual topic. The topic itself wasn't really that odd, it was the content that intrigued you a tad. "[Name], regarding what you said about Dartz and Paradius yesterday evening."

"I want you to remind me to call them today. I'm thinking that their proposal might actually be of some use to me." Kaiba said, gaining a short side-glance out of you. You raised your brow in confusion, now paying full attention to the road again. "Why the sudden Change of Heart?" Your pun in relation to the Duel Monsters Card wasn't an intentional one, but that probably wasn't even worth mentioning when you questioned your boss about his motives.

"Let's say I reconsidered." The brunet retorted rather bluntly, not exactly getting you to follow his logic, but you figured he had his own reasons. After all, he wasn't one to do irrational things out of the blue, much less things that wouldn't be convenient to either him, his younger brother or their company.

"I'll catch up with you later, Kaiba." You said as soon as the company car was parked in a proper lot with the three of you on the exterior of it. The brown-haired young man raised a brow at you suspiciously, your group slowly approaching the entrance of the tall building. "And where exactly do you think you're going?"

You rolled your eyes at the CEO's rather unnecessary question, the first sigh of the day rolling off your lips already. "I have to meet with the management department and decide on something with them. And yes, it's all thanks to you and your leaving during the meeting yesterday." You pointed out specifically, in attempt to make your boss feel guilty or at the very least sorry. Then again, this was Kaiba we were talking about, and guilt was surely not in his dictionary.

And so, the two of you split ways, Mokuba going somewhere else entirely soon enough. The moment Kaiba entered the main office, the atmosphere inside it instantly became heavier, especially since he wasn't accompanied by you, the only person who could keep him in his place, more or less. "Where is Roland?"

"I'm here, Sir." The mentioned dark green-haired man said somewhat tensely, standing up from his chair quickly as if this were roll call. Kaiba was taking big footsteps towards his desk which made it appear like he was in a hurry, and took a seat. "Get Paradius on the line for me." And just like he was instructed to, Roland sat down quickly again, searched the correct phone number and dialed it.

"Paradius Company, Dartz speaking." Kaiba could have guessed the identity of the person by only hearing the man's obnoxious voice and the strong, annoying accent. He still couldn't believe that he was crawling to another company to request cooperation. Then again, it was the latter who initiated the contact, so Seto had no need to feel inferior. "I accept your offer, but under a few conditions."

"Ohh if it isn't Mr. Kaiba.~ To what do I owe the pleasure?" Dartz recognized the brunet's cold voice as well, almost instantly shifting into a playful mode, just like Pegasus would but less extremely. Kaiba didn't have the time to put up with the turquoise-haired man's small-talk since he had a busy schedule planned for today and wanted to finish early. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. You spoke with my secretary yesterday, and I've decided to give you and your mediocre company a shot."

"That is great and all, but what are the conditions you spoke of?" Dartz wasn't going to be careless, but despite how cautious he sounded, he was most probably not going to refuse the negotiations either way. Kaiba cleared his throat, the smirk that crawled on his face scaring the other employees in the room quite a bit. "I want you to send paparazzi after me and cause a scandal."

"...I don't quite understand why you would wish for such a thing, but— Besides, we're not a News Agency." The turquoise-haired young man on the other line tried to keep things formal and be rational with the other CEO. "Do you think I'm not aware of that? I know that you own small pieces of all companies world-wide, so don't try to act all humble with me. Pull some strings with those hocus-pocus mind tricks of yours."

"Alright fine... When do you want me to send reporters after you? And where to? And why?" Paradius' CEO bombarded Kaiba with questions which the latter found quite pestering. "Stop asking questions. I need them today evening, I'll have someone send you the address details via email."

"You need them tonight?! You do know that this is seriously short-term, right?" Dartz almost snapped on the other line, his reaction making Kaiba's mischievous smirk grow even wider. "Are you telling me that you're not flexible enough for the job? Well then, I suppose that means you'll have to kiss our negotiations goodbye—"

"Alright, alright, I will see to it that the job gets taken care of." The turquoise-haired young man almost sounded desperate which fed Kaiba's ego even more. "Isn't that brilliant. I wish you luck, you'll need it." And just like that, the brunet ended the call and looked up for a restaurant address on his computer almost the same moment. "Roland, I'm sending you some important data. Send it over to those Paradius freaks."

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Thank You for Reading!