Kaiba froze. His body tensed as he listened to footsteps slowly come closer behind him. Was it Aria? Was it one of the nerds telling him that she wasn't coming? Either way, he was about to find out in a matter of seconds. Forcing his body to relax, Kaiba immediately began schooling his features back into an indifferent gaze, instead of the anxious, insecure grimace that may have been showing before.

A figure finally approached the side of the table. Kaiba looked up, a breath of relief escaping when he saw that it was Aria. Gone was the school uniform and black slacks. Instead she stood before him in jeans and a green blouse that was cropped at the shoulders. He decided he was starting to like her in green very much.

"Is this seat taken?" Aria asked shyly with a slight blush to her cheeks.

Instead of answering, Kaiba stood up and walked over to the other chair, and pulled it out for her.

"Thank you," she murmured, lowering her lashes while taking the offered seat. Her blush deepened.

After sitting back down, Kaiba stared at Aria while she fidgeted in her seat. Say something, anything! He mentally shouted at himself. By some miracle he was sitting across from Aria on a date, a real date. He refused to mess this up. But how was he supposed to talk to her after everything like it had never happened? And then he realized that was exactly what he needed to do.

But before he could put it into action, the doors to the kitchen swung open.

Mokuba approached their table, a tray carrying two cups of water on one hand and a couple of menus in the other. "Welcome to Bartini's," he said brightly, placing the water in front of them. "My name is Mokuba and I will be your waiter this evening." He handed them each a menu. "While you peruse our delicious selection, can I offer you a beverage to start?"

Kaiba almost rolled his eyes at his brother's imitation of a waiter. It was so like Mokuba to put himself in the center where he could watch his only brother be very much out of his element. Glancing over at Aria, he saw that she looked much more relaxed, smiling at Mokuba and trying not to laugh at his charade. Kaiba instantly felt gratitude for his little brother's presence. With him there, it made the atmosphere feel much more lighthearted.

After taking their drink orders, Mokuba gave an exaggerated bow and left with a wide grin on his face.

With Mokuba's go-lucky attitude gone, the tension once again settled around the table. Kaiba took a long drink of water, his throat suddenly feeling dry. If he wanted this to go well, then he was going to need to start talking.

Picking up his menu, he pretended to peruse the options. "I hear the food here is quite good." He gave a sly glance at Aria who blinked agape back at him, as if dumbfounded by his small talk.

She eventually came to her senses and also picked up her menu, hiding behind its folds. "Yes, the food here is quite excellent," she said without looking up.

Kaiba smiled to himself, amused by her shyness. How could the same woman upraid him to his face one moment, and then act totally bashful the next? "Though you think they'd be able to hire better help," he said simply, keeping his eyes down on the menu.

Kaiba held his breath waiting to hear Aria's reaction, when none came he chanced a look up and saw a surprised look on her face. She then pursed her lips as if trying not to smile but soon failed as a bubble of laughter broke forth.

Kaiba let out a small smile with a quirk of his lips, though inside he was brimming with joy at having made her laugh. This was how a date was supposed to go. No having to worry about their work relationship interfering (since there was no longer one!) or if an evil stepfather was going to exploit the relationship. For once Kaiba felt he could simply just enjoy Aria's company.

When Aria's laughter died down, her expression grew somber. "I don't think I ever properly thanked you for saving me from Riku."

Before she could say anymore, Kaiba leaned over and placed his hand on top of hers. "For tonight, let's forget about Riku and Pegasus shall we? For once I just want to enjoy a nice date with a cute girl from school."

Aria blushed at his words, but raised a comical eyebrow at him. "I don't recall you asking me out on this date," she said playfully.

"It's a blind date mutual friends set up," Kaiba replied, grudgingly taking back his hand.

Aria snorted in laughter. "Are you finally admitting that the 'nerd herd' are your friends?" she asked teasingly.

"Okay, through my brother's mutual friends. Let's not push it."

Aria chuckled. "So...Seto," she said with mirth in her eyes, "How are things at Kaiba Corp? Any big projects on the go?"

"Funny you should ask," Kaiba said with a smirk, "I am actually preparing to start creating prototypes for one of our current projects. But progress might be slow as I just lost one of my top programmers."

Aria ducked her head. "I'm sorry to hear that. But maybe now with her no longer working for you, you could see her in a different...capacity."

Kaiba stared blankly. Was Aria insinuating what he thought she was? If her beet red face was any indication, he believed so.

"I'll admit that was my hope," he said. "But I heard she won some fancy scholarship to the top computer program in the country. I'm not sure she'll have time for me."

Aria gazed at Kaiba, all humor gone from her expression. "For you Seto, I'm sure she would make the time."

+++

Did she really just say that?

Feeling very embarrassed by her forwardness, Aria hides back behind the menu. "You know, I think you're right about the service here, isn't it about the time we ordered?"

As if listening, Mokuba immediately comes out the swinging doors carrying their drinks. "Are we ready to order?" he asks, setting down the drinks and taking out a pencil and paper.

"Uh..." Aria says, realizing she hadn't even read any of the menu yet.

"We'll share a large pizza, jalapenos and mushrooms on one side, banana peppers and pepperoni on the other," Kaiba ordered, handing his menu back to Mokuba. "Oh and extra cheese all around."

"You got it!" Mokuba says, scribbling furiously on his notepad. "I shall be back shortly with your order."

After Mokuba left, Aria stared perplexed at Kaiba. "How did you know what I liked on my pizza?"

Kaiba shrugged. "I simply remembered what you had the last time we were here."

Aria shook her head. "Nothing ever escapes you does it?"

"Only when it matters," he murmured so softly that Aria almost missed it.

Were they going to speak in riddles all night? Weren't they basically saying the same thing? Aria huffed in annoyance as she leaned back into her chair. "What are we doing here Kaiba? I feel like we're saying so much but not really saying anything at all."

Kaiba folded his hands in front of him and intently looked at Aria. "I want..." Kaiba sighed and rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably. Aria didn't think she had ever seen Kaiba act unsure of himself.

"I want for us to be together, Ari," Kaiba finally said. "But I seem to keep messing it up everytime." He huffed. "Which you can imagine I'm not used to doing."

Aria laughed softly. She could imagine.

"But for you," he reached over and grabbed her hand. "I'm willing to mess up again and again. My only fear is that I'm going to run out of chances."

Aria sniffed as her eyes began to well up with tears. "Oh Seto, if anything, I've been the one to keep messing up. Everytime you would start to get close, I'd run away like the scaredy cat I am." She wiped at the tears that had escaped down her face. "But I'm done with running."

Kaiba stood up from his chair and came over to her side of the table. Aria looked up at him, unsure of what he was going to do. He reached down, grasped both her hands and pulled her to her feet.

Once she was standing in front of him, Kaiba slowly brought her into his embrace. Aria willingly stepped in, allowing her head to rest on his shoulder. She couldn't help but to cry lightly as he held her while soothingly rubbing her back.

"I seem to make it a habit of blubbering all over you," she said, pulling away slightly.

"I don't mind," Kaiba murmured.

Aria was afraid to look up. Her heart thundered in her chest at being so near. But for once she didn't feel like running away. Bringing her eyes to his, Aria's breath caught in her throat. How could one of the most proudest men in all of Japan, choose to keep fighting for her? Especially after all the trouble she had brought to him and his company?

"Seto...Are you sure I'm worth it?" Aria hated to ask the question, but she needed to know for sure that he wasn't going to regret this later.

"I know you're worth it Aria," he said.

"How do you know?"

"Because," he said, wiping away a tear, "I love you."

At those three words, Aria knew that Seto would never willingly leave her. She knew he had made declarations of his feelings before, but never so blatantly. She knew it couldn't have been easy for him to say the words. She doubted Mokuba had even heard him say it.

Keeping his hand on her face, Kaiba slowly lowered his lips to hers. Aria closed her eyes, as she waited for them to meet. She had kissed Seto before, so she should have known what to expect. But when their lips met, it was like their first kiss all over again. Sparks flew, she couldn't think, she couldn't breathe. And all too soon, it was over. Seto pulled back, letting his arms fall to his side.

Aria's face fell, wondering at his timidity. Was he afraid that she was going to run away again? And she figured that was exactly the reason he was acting with caution. Here she was finally kissing him and he was afraid that she might break like fine china. She needed to show him that she was done being careful and was ready to start living.

Throwing her arms around his neck, Aria raised herself on her tiptoes, coming to him for a kiss. "I love you too," she said before pressing her lips to his. Kaiba stiffened for a moment but then relaxed as he wrapped his arms around her tightly, squeezing her as close as she could to him.

Aria didn't want the kiss to end. Kissing Seto was like jumping out of an airplane. Exhilarating and terrifying, all at the same time.

"One hot and spicy pizza ready for two!"

Aria immediately jumped out of Seto's arms as she saw a shocked Mokuba standing in the kitchen doors. She felt her face go hot. Mokuba just saw her entangled in his brother's arms.

Kaiba put his arm around her waist and pulled her to his side. "It's about time. I was wondering if our dinner was ever going to come."

Mokuba smirked at his brother as he brought the pizza to their table. "Oh, I don't know about that. By the looks of things, you could have used a few more minutes."

If Aria's face had been red before, she was sure it looked like a tomato now.

Kaiba ignored his brother's comment and again held out the chair for Aria to sit, which Aria quickly took. Taking his own seat, Kaiba looked the epitome of calm and control. Aria didn't know how he could look so unfazed by the fact that he was just caught embracing her in a passionate kiss. Meanwhile, she felt like she was dying of embarrassment.

"If you're done with the snide comments, waiter," Kaiba said with mock derision, "Then how about you hurry up and cut this pizza for my girlfriend and I."

Silence. Aria stared at Kaiba in astonishment and she was sure Mokuba was giving him the same look. Did he just say that she was his girlfriend? They were on a date, exchanging tender words, and they did just share a very romantic kiss.

Aria suddenly beamed. She was Kaiba's girlfriend! No more second guessing what their relationship status was, for it was all just made perfectly clear. Her insides bubbled with joy. She wasn't sure she would be able to keep it all contained.

"What are you both smiling about?" Kaiba said, looking between the two of them. "Is it so strange for me to have a girlfriend?"

Mokuba laughed and Aria followed. "A little bit yes," Mokuba said with a grin. "But not so strange with Aria."

Aria, touched by Mokuba's words, reached over and grabbed his hand. "Thank you for not giving up on me, Moki."

"Yes," Kaiba said quietly, "I do owe you for that one Mokuba."

After several heartbeats, Aria shook herself out of the heartfelt reverie. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving. Mokuba, would you care to join us?"

"Oh...I wouldn't want to intrude."

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Sit down little brother, you're just going to eavesdrop more on our conversation anyway."

Grinning sheepishly, Mokuba grabbed a chair from the outskirts of the room and sat down. As they chatted and laughed over the pizza, Aria felt for once that things were how they were supposed to be. She knew it wouldn't always be smooth sailing but after everything they had just overcome, what could possibly stop them now?