Kaiba went into work the next day with a zeal. After his drive with Aria, Kaiba's pursuit of her had been renewed with a fervor. He would show her that there are ways around their working relationship. He just needed the right moment. But there was something, or someone, Kaiba needed to look into first.

There was nothing Kaiba hated more than a disloyal employee. He knew he wasn't a kind hearted boss by any means, but he paid them well and expected them to act accordingly. Aria said it had to be one of the other six programmers, which at least gave him a place to start.

Kaiba hit the intercom on his office phone to page his secretary. "Susan, send Rowland in."

"Right away sir," came the curt reply.

About five minutes later, Rowland walked in, black suit and shades as was his customary look. "How can I be of service sir?"

"We have a breach in our company," explained Kaiba. "Someone is trying to steal highly classified plans. I need you to thoroughly investigate the backgrounds of the six programmers on the Special Development team. The snitch is most likely one of them."

"I'll leave no stone unturned," Rowland said with a bow. He deftly turned around and left the room.

Now Kaiba had his own research to commence. Turning to his computer, he began investigating his competing counterparts. There were only three other companies in the world who were in direct competition with Kaiba Corp, and who could also produce the same level of technology. Kaiba had always kept a close eye on them, not willing to ever let them get the advantage on Kaiba Corp.

Kaiba pulled up the three companies' websites. Maxilect was a Russian company that specialized in video game technology. Kaiba noted that they had dabbled in Duel Monsters, but nothing compared to Kaiba Corp. The second company was Inflexion, a software company located in Dubai. They cranked out high-tech programs for Fortune 500 companies, but as far as Kaiba knew, they had never done business with Industrial Illusions. That left the third company, Schroeder Corp.

Kaiba didn't know too much about Schroeder Corp, a German technology company. The CEO liked to stay out of the spotlight. Kaiba didn't think he'd even met the man. The name Schroeder did ring something in Kaiba's memory, but he couldn't place his finger on it.

Kaiba leaned back in his chair and contemplated the information before him. Although there have been a few attempts in the past of stealing Kaiba Corp technology, usually it was someone working alone, trying to make a quick dollar by selling it to one of Kaiba's competitors. They never made it very far. But Kaiba had never known one of his competitors to try and personally steal his intellectual property. Was this person working alone then? But then who could be working with Aria's stepfather so that he could use such powerful threats against her?

Kaiba gritted his teeth in anger towards Riku Ito. If he ever got his hands on the man, Kaiba would make sure that he personally paid for all the undue hardship and neglect he caused Aria over the years. A small chuckle escaped as Kaiba realized his protectiveness over the young woman. He could just see Mokuba squealing with glee.

Kaiba's mood turned somber again as thoughts of what Riku could be planning surfaced. Even if Aria's stepfather did get a hold of Kaiba Corp's latest plans, Fenrir Inc was at way too low of a standard to be able to do anything with them. They are simply too small of a company to be able to handle a project of this magnitude.

Kaiba stroked his chin as a new theory began to form in his mind. He knew that Riku had promised someone very powerful that he would get them Kaiba Corp blueprints. But what was he getting in return? Kaiba remembered Aria mentioning that it seemed that Fenrir would be promised the contract for the software. But what if it was something more personal? Something only Riku would benefit from? He would have to discuss it with Aria later.

Thinking of Aria led Kaiba to remember his "plan" for this week. He hadn't been joking when he said he would show her a way around their boss-employee relationship. And he hoped to put it into action by the end of the week. With a smug look plastered on his face at the thought of spending time alone with Aria, his bushy haired little brother decided to enter his office unannounced.

Kaiba quickly cleared his throat, while making his face impassive so as not to betray his previous thoughts. Turning back to his computer, Kaiba tried to look like he had been busy all along.

"You don't have to play charades with me, Seto," Mokuba said as he approached his desk. "Ever since Aria arrived, you have been way more distracted. Some might even say...enamored," he said teasingly.

Kaiba snorted as he continued typing away on his keyboard. "Hardly," was all he said in reply, when deep down he knew there was some truth to Mokuba's words. But he was never going to admit that to him.

"Are we doing anything this week?" asked Mokuba. "I thought maybe the three of us could go out Friday."

Kaiba ignored Mokuba's obvious mention of the "three" of them. "I can't this week, I have...plans."

Mokuba's eyebrows shot up in understanding. "Oh, you have 'plans'," he said using air quotes.

Kaiba rolled his eyes. He was not going to let Mokuba in on what he was planning with Aria. Funny how he didn't remember little brothers being this annoying. Or nosy. "Just because school is out Mokuba, doesn't mean you get to loiter around all day. Don't you have some activities planned or something?"

Mokuba laughed. "You are the worst at keeping tabs on me. I'm off to soccer practice now actually, I just came to ask if you were okay if I slept over at a friend's house tonight."

"I pay people to keep tabs on you, and yes that's fine."

Mokuba shook his head and rolled his eyes. "I'll see you around big brother." Mokuba left with a wave of his hand.

Finally, able to relax, Kaiba rubbed his eyes in fatigue after the encounter with his brother. Mokuba was too insightful for his own good. Or maybe he just had too much insight into him. Kaiba was glad his little brother liked Aria, but he was treading in new waters here. If he was honest with himself, he didn't know what it looked like to have a girlfriend be part of their family. It had just been the two of them for so long.

But Aria was not his girlfriend, at least not yet. And although Kaiba wanted her to be, this summer was to be solely about spending cordial time together. He wasn't even going to call them 'dates'. Kaiba liked the idea more and more of keeping their relationship simple. It gave him time to get used to the idea of having someone around who meant more than just a friend to him.

Kaiba looked at the time and saw that it was just past one o'clock. He rose from his chair to head down to the level below him. It was time to implement part one of his plan.

+++

Aria also went into work with a zeal the next day. Not only did she want to catch the man who was leaking information outside of Kaiba Corp, but she felt buoyed by the fact that Kaiba now knew everything. And he didn't hate her! Aria had been deathly afraid of Kaiba's reaction to her past dishonesty, but she saw something in Kaiba yesterday that she didn't think he possessed; compassion. Compassion that she had been forced into her situation by her stepfather and that she didn't want to betray Kaiba Corp.

As Aria rode the elevator alone to her floor, she could feel a goofy grin plastered on her face. As the doors opened however, she smoothed her features, not wanting to draw attention to herself from her fellow colleagues. Aria wanted to remain as inconspicuous as possible so that she could observe them unnoticed.

Walking out onto the floor, Aria headed straight for her office. Not even daring to look at the other offices. She would do her snooping later, when she could make it less obvious.

After working for a few hours on her assignments, Aria saw that everyone was seated in their offices. Seeming like it was a good time to survey the other programmers, Aria got up from her desk, and started to head for the kitchenette/copy room that was directly across from the stairwell. She grabbed a folder that was full of "files" that needed copying.

Starting down the left side of the room, once Aria had reached the middle, she pretended to trip on one of the office chairs that was sitting at the board room table. She let her folder slip out of her hand and her papers went everywhere. She stood still for a moment, allowing herself to first look frustrated, then she bent down to begin picking up the papers.

The three offices on the left side of the room, starting at her office, contained Hiro, Daniel and Jim. She was grateful their backs were facing her so she didn't have to worry about being caught staring. Hiro she noticed sat pretty still as he worked, occasionally twirling a pen around his fingers as he pondered. Then as if a thought had suddenly struck him would type furiously for a few minutes before stopping and going back to his pacified demeanor.

Daniel was a little more agitated. He constantly chewed on the end of his pen as he typed. Aria espied a few that were broken on his desk. But otherwise he seemed engrossed in his work.

The last office was Jim. Although having spoken to him briefly down on the 10th floor, Aria had not had another chance to speak to him. Jim sat very serenely with his hands on his keyboard, typing and pausing as he studied his work. She couldn't perceive any other odd behaviors from him.

Thinking she had spent enough time on the floor, Aria quickly gathered up the rest of her papers and continued on to the copy room. She proceeded to copy all of her files and then headed back into the board room.

Aria again walked up the left side of the room, for she feared it would look odd if she walked up the right side since it was a farther route. But instead of going up to her office, Aria took a seat at the center table in order to spread out and "organize" her papers. And by sitting on the left side of the table she would face the opposite side of the room, allowing her a full view of the other three offices.

To her left was Takeo's office. At first he was as unassuming as the other workers, until he picked up his phone hurriedly, talked quickly in what sounded like Japanese, then hung up just as fast. She made note of it in the back of her mind.

The middle office contained Gin. Aria couldn't believe how close his face was pressed up against his computer screen. She thought that his nose must surely be squished against it. And yet he had his fingers on the keyboard, typing away like his life depended on it.

The last office was Tenzin's. He sat perfectly ramrod straight in his chair as he worked. The only thing out of place was that his leg seemed to have a nervous tic to it, as it was constantly hopping up and down.

Finished with her paperwork, Aria gathered them up and returned to her office. She was disappointed that her scrutinizing hadn't revealed anything concrete, but at least she had laid some kind of foundation as to her co-workers habits. It was better than nothing.

After working for another half an hour, Kaiba entered the room. Aria couldn't help but follow him with her eyes as he crossed the room to the front of the table. With the secret of the blackmail now out in the open, Kaiba appeared more determined than ever to pursue her, despite him being her boss. If anything, that fact seemed to make him rise even more to the challenge. The thought made Aria's heart sigh in contentment.

A ding on Aria's computer made her tear her eyes away from the subject of her reverie. Kaiba had sent out a general message to all of the programmers. Short and simple it read, Group meeting. Now. Aria would have to talk to him one of these days about his people skills.

Not wanting to upset their boss, all of the programmers immediately left their work to convene at the communal table. Aria took a seat at the far end. She didn't want anyone having any ideas as to her feelings towards their boss. Not only to quiet any company gossip, but the consequences could be catastrophic if the insider got wind of it. Who knows what he would do with that type of information?

After everyone was seated, Kaiba immediately went into the coming week's deadlines. Talking to each of the programmers, Kaiba would listen to their progress and then talk with them about the next steps and when he needed it done. Lastly, it was Aria's turn.

"Ito," Kaiba asked, "How are the seven layers coming for the hologram program?"

Aria hesitated. It was coming along, just not as quickly as she would have liked. "Slowly," she admitted, "I hope to have the final three layers done by late next week."

"You have until Monday," came his curt reply.

Aria's eyes bulged. That was less than a week away! Aria wanted to protest but she feared looking foolish in front of the other programmers. But more importantly, she feared disappointing Kaiba.

Kaiba dismissed them and exited the room via the stairwell. Aria sat for a few moments trying to collect her bearings. She was definitely confused as to why Kaiba would give her such a tight deadline, especially after their drive yesterday. But shouldn't she be glad that he wasn't giving her any preferential treatment?

Aria steeled herself. Just because her and Kaiba's relationship seemed to have gone up a step, did not mean that she got a "get out of jail free" card. It just meant that she was going to have to work some late nights this week. Some very late nights.

+++

For the rest of the week, Aria would stay as late as 10 p.m., trying to make sure that she would be able to meet her deadline by Monday. Her colleagues didn't seem to be under the same pressure, as everyone else would be gone by 7 o'clock.

Even Joey started to complain about her working so late at night. When she came home Thursday late for the third night in a row, Joey couldn't keep his opinions to himself any longer. "I understand if ya gotta pull a few late nighters every now and then, but to do it for a whole week is just too far!" he said angrily. "I may have vouched for the rich boy once, but he is taking way too much advantage of you."

Aria pleaded with Joey that he wouldn't do anything rash like stomping off to go run his mouth at Kaiba. She assured Joey that it was just this one deadline and that she was still trying to get into the swing of things. Fortunately Joey seemed to back off after that.

Although Aria didn't appreciate Joey's indignation, she couldn't help but feel the truth in his words. Was Kaiba taking advantage of their relationship? She thought he would be working towards drawing each other closer, not pushing her away. These thoughts once again made Aria doubt the kind of man Kaiba really was. Did he care about her? Or did he care more about his company? And she hated to admit that she had been expecting another attempt at him courting her but was disappointed when each day he never sought her out. Could she be any more pathetic?

Friday started the same as any other work day for Aria. Except she had decided to go in an hour early so that she could get off early in order to avoid Joey's wrath. Kaiba came down during the day to do his customary sweep of the floor. Aria tried to ignore him as she was extremely busy and couldn't afford the distraction. She couldn't help but watch him from the corner of her eye when it seemed like he had finished and was ready to head back up to his own office. She saw him pause. Aria wondered if he was thinking of coming over to talk to her. He apparently decided not as he abruptly turned away and headed back through the stairwell.

Aria let out a breath of frustration but she tried to shake off the feeling of bitterness that was settling into her stomach. It was her own fault for getting involved with a billion dollar playboy anyway.

The hours flew by for Aria and too soon the sun was beginning to set in the window behind her though she hardly noticed it. When movement caught her eye, Aria looked up to see Tenzin turning off the light in his office and heading out towards the elevators. He was the last programmer to leave for the night. When Aria looked at her clock, it read 6:30. Blowing out some hair from her eyes, Aria hunkered down to get done as much of the final layer as she could. She had hoped to spend Monday making sure all seven layers worked perfectly together.

Becoming so engrossed in her work, Aria didn't notice someone standing in her office, until they cleared their throat. Looking up she gasped to see Kaiba standing with his arms crossed, smirking down at her.

"Burning the midnight oil are we?" he asked.

She looked at her clock, it read 7 p.m. "Hardly," she said, failing to keep the annoyance completely out of her voice.

"Are you hungry?"

Aria looked back up at him quizzically. "Starving but I still have a lot of work to do." She went back to working on her computer, hoping that he would get the hint that she was not in the mood for his games.

Instead of responding, Kaiba simply turned on his heel and left the room. She watched him go, albeit sadly. Maybe she hadn't wanted him to take the hint that strongly. Sighing in dejection, she went back to work, too tired to analyze what just happened.

Fifteen minutes later, the smell of fried food wafted through the air. Lifting her head up from her screen, Aria saw Kaiba put two big bags of what looked like Chinese takeout onto the board room table. Did he just bring her dinner? Curiosity getting the better of her, Aria got up to join him.

Standing beside Kaiba, Aria's eyes widened at the amount of food laid out on the table. There were spring rolls, egg rolls, chow mein, sweet and sour pork, stir fry and what looked like three different sauces. Reaching out to open a closed box, she found her favourite Chinese dish; fried wontons. Her stomach growled in anticipation. "How did you get so much food so fast?" she asked incredulously.

Kaiba gave her a wry smile. "You aren't the only one who has had to work late nights. I have a few tricks up my sleeve for occasions such as this." He handed Aria a paper plate, which she immediately took and started to fill up with food. Kaiba smiled at her eagerness.

Sitting down in one of the chairs, Aria bit into a fried wonton and let out a moan of pleasure. She really hadn't realized how hungry she was. While she ate, Kaiba took off his trench coat, draping it over one of the other chairs. Rolling up his dress sleeves to his elbows, he took the seat two down from Aria, but then propped his feet up on the chair between them. He grabbed a box of chow mein and started digging in with chopsticks.

Aria couldn't help but appraise Kaiba as he ate. She always thought he looked a little on the skinny side underneath the trench coat, but with it off and his shirtsleeves rolled up, she found his forearms to be quite...muscular.

Kaiba looked up and caught her staring. He smirked. "Like what you see Ito?"

Aria felt her face go warm and quickly looked down to hide her blush. "I was just thinking that I don't think I've ever seen you this relaxed before."

Kaiba gave a dry chuckle. "You are one of the few people who I can be relaxed around."

With a sad smile, Aria realized that Kaiba didn't have many people who he was close to. She wouldn't be surprised if Mokuba was the only person. Trying to turn the conversation to a lighter topic she asked, "So, do you always bring dinner to your employees late at night?"

"Only the ones that are starving themselves," he said with admonishment.

"Well my boss gave me a very tight deadline, and he was going to have my head if I didn't meet it," Aria retorted wryly. Then it dawned on her. "Please don't tell me that you gave me that deadline so you could get me alone here," she said in disbelief. "Surely there was a better way."

"I don't know what you're talking about Ito," Kaiba replied, feigning innocence. "I simply didn't want our new intern to feel undervalued."

Aria snorted. "You know Joey was ready to come and tear you a new one because of all the late nights I was working?"

"Wheeler is all bark and no bite."

A laugh escaped her. "You really don't let up on the dog jokes do you?"

"I call it as I see it."

Aria rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile at Kaiba's bluntness.

They ate in silence for a few minutes until Kaiba spoke again. "I'm sorry if I pushed you a little hard this week," he said quietly, not looking up from his chow mein. "Part of me wanted to help you push your limits, to show you what you're capable of." He looked up at her. "But I think it was mostly selfishness, as I wanted to spend time with you."

Aria was speechless. She never thought she would hear a speech like that one ever come out of Kaiba's mouth. She swallowed, trying to find the right words to say back. "That means a lot...to me," she stammered. She nervously tried to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear but it failed to stay in place. Kaiba took his legs off the chair and moved to sit in it. He leaned forward and tucked back the same strand of hair so that it stayed. Aria's breath caught in her throat at his closeness.

Looking into those blue eyes, Aria felt herself become undone. What would it feel like to lean forward just the tiniest bit, and close the distance between them? And it was with that thought that made her sit back. She knew nothing would be able to work between them until the whole business with her stepfather was over and when she was no longer his employee. Just one more month.

"I think it might be time for me to go home," she said softly. She started to gather up their plates and utensils. Kaiba grabbed her hand to stop her. She slowly met his gaze.

"You are more than just an employee," he said, his gaze unwavering. "Never forget that."

Aria nodded, not trusting her voice to speak. Kaiba let go of her hand and Aria felt a pang of sadness at the loss of contact. She looked back at the table. "What are we supposed to do with all of these leftovers?"

"Take it home to the mutt." He shot her a grin. "I'll even give you a doggy bag."

Aria gave him a reprimanding look, but inwardly was glad to be back on familiar ground with him. She looked back at her office and sighed. "I don't think I'm getting any more work done tonight." She gathered up the bags of food. "I guess I'll see you on Monday then." What she really wanted to do was ask him if he had any plans over the weekend. But that would be crossing over into "dating" territory, so she held her tongue.

Kaiba came to stand mere inches in front of her. Aria was sure she could feel the heat radiating from his body. Was he going to kiss her?

"I'll drive you home," he said, reaching to grab the bags of leftovers from her hands.

"What? No limo again?" Aria asked.

"After our last drive, I found I really missed driving my own car around."

"Not just trying to impress the girl are you?" she teased.

Kaiba smirked. "I don't need the fancy car to impress the girl." He leaned in a little more until his mouth was almost against her ear. "Because I already have."