Disclaimer: I went to the Seto Inland Sea last month … but the kanji is wrong so I guess I still don't own "Yu-Gi-Oh!"... Drat. ^^;

Author's Note: Ha, so I wanted to, but I didn't manage to post this before my vacation and then I got sick… from who knows what for like a week (I blame the long flight). But I'm on the mend and that means a new (longer) chapter for you guys! Enjoy!

Terms -

Noren - fabric drapes that act almost like a door in a doorway.

Yu – This symbol: ゆ

Seiyu ‐Japanese Walmart, literally. Owned by the same corporation.

Obi - The tie that goes around the waste for a Yukata or Kimono

#4 – The number four can be read a few ways, one of which is 'shi' in Japanese. While it has a different kanji from the number four, 'shi' can also be how one says the word 'death', giving the number four a similar connotation to unluckiness as the number thirteen does out here in the US

Showing the back of the neck - This is thought of as very attractive in Japan.

Seiza - Proper sitting stance while kneeling on the floor.

Arashi - Most heavily merchandised, well known, and popular Boy Band in Japan. Members include Masaki Aiba, Satoshi Ohno, Kazunari Ninomiya, Jun Matsumoto (MatsuJun), and Sho Sakurai. The group rose to fame in 2005 around the time when they sang the opening theme to the drama "Boys Over Flowers", in which MatsuJun played the leading male role. It's impossible to not see their faces everywhere in Japan…. Seriously.

Meiji Chocolate -Think Japan's version of Hershey's Chocolate, but not as sweet.

NHK - Japan's National Public Broadcasting Service System. A bit like BBC.

Today's chapter title literally means "Hot Springs"

-YGO-

Chapter Ten: 温泉(Onsen)

The notice on the desk fluttered as the doors shut. The gentleman walked around to the side and peered over at the item left by his secretary. A leave request? From... Yugi Muto... His eye narrowed slightly. Really? At this critical stage? Or was it so critical...

He found himself torn. Yugi Muto normally was a very upright, good young man, eager to please and understanding of circumstances. But as of lately... he felt that Yugi had been keeping something from him.

And he didn't like secrets.

Pulling out a pen, Pegasus signed the request, approving it. Perhaps... he needed to get a second opinion.

-YGO-

The girls room was just as stunning as the boys' had been. Kisara followed in after Tea and Serenity, just as excited as she had been before.

Wow.

It was the only word that kept repeating over and over in her head.

"I'll let you girls dress for the onsen then," Aikawa said, before shutting the door and giving the girls their privacy.

Kisara held her bag close to her, unsure of what to do next, when she heard Tea call her over, "Kisara, come on. This is your first time wearing a Yukata, right?"

Kisara nodded, slipping out of her slippers and walking over to the light pink thin cotton robes on the beds. Serenity had already begun to undress down to her panties and bra, leaving Tea to show Kisara what to do.

"These are actually pretty simple," Tea said, "There are more complicated ones that you wear at festivals, but these are really meant just to get you from point A to point B. So you pretty much just wear them like one of those bathrobes that I have back at home."

Kisara nodded and began to follow Tea's lead of stripping down to her undergarments, which she noticed, were much plainer than Tea or Serenity's. They had gotten them at the Seiyu store near Tea's apartment, so they were nothing special. Apparently, people in this time wore them, so she had been fine with something basic at the time. However, now she felt an odd twinge of embarrassment for only having something so simple, but she let it pass. At least she had some and wasn't borrowing from someone else.

As she wrapped the robe around her and started to tie it off, she found herself interrupted by Serenity, "Oh, Kisara, wait, it's left over right, not right over left…"

Kisara glanced up to see Serenity gesturing to the sides of how Kisara had wrapped the sides of the Yukata around herself incorrectly. She blinked a few times before blushing and switching it as Tea continued.

"Oh, thanks for catching that, Serenity," She said, "Yeah, sorry, it didn't occur to me; right over left is for a dead person."

Kisara looked up, shocked, "A… dead person?"

Tea laughed, "Yeah, it's part of how they're dressed before cremation, so it's considered unlucky to wear it that way. The same way that the number 4 is considered unlucky, since it can also read as 'death'."

Kisara nodded, a little spooked, but understanding. As she wrapped the yukata around herself properly this time, Tea helped her tie a bow in the back with the 'Obi' tie as she called it. Serenity finished putting her hair up before turning to the other two.

"Kisara, you should put your hair up," She said, "May I?"

Kisara glanced over as Tea checked the Obi one more time on her, "Huh?"

"Your hair, you want to show off the back of your neck," Serenity told her, sitting down on the bed and motioning for Kisara to do the same, "I'm a wiz at braiding, let me put it up for you."

"Oh… okay…" She said, grabbing her new brush and handing it to Serenity.

"Glad you're good at it, I'm awful at braids," Tea said as Serenity began the process.

"That's only because you've kept your hair short for years," Serenity laughed, "You should consider growing it out. Boys love long hair. I'm surprised that my brother hasn't asked you out yet, Kisara. He's always going on about long hair being incredibly sexy."

"Why would he ask Kisara out?" Tea said, spinning around to see them, "No offense, Kisara, but he's dating Mai, right?"

"He didn't tell you? They broke up," Serenity informed the two, "Or well, I think she broke up with him. He wouldn't give me any details…"

"Wait, when did this happen?" Tea asked, aghast.

"Um… last week," Serenity said, thinking for a moment, "I guess, I shouldn't say that about him though. He's not heartless… I think he was actually pretty broken up about it…"

"Aw, poor guy…" Tea said trailing off.

Kisara had noticed that Joey seemed to have an ebbing flow of energy in the store, which was different from when she had first met him… but she didn't even know he had been dating someone. He never said a thing. She suddenly felt very guilty for not somehow providing any additional support.

"At least he had you at the shop last week, Kisara," Tea said continuing, "I'll bet it was a huge help."

At the comment, Kisara found herself feeling just a bit better, as Serenity exclaimed, "Done!"

Serenity practically threw Kisara a hand mirror to look at herself. Her eyes widened as she marveled at how Serenity had somehow managed to get all of her hair up in a braid that wrapped around into a bun on the back of her head. Most of the time, her hair draped around her face, covering her completely. But this… this was… she felt very pretty.

"Well, come on, let's go!" Serenity said, as she practically jumped off of the bed towards the door.

Pulling herself out of her trance, Kisara quickly dropped the mirror onto the bed and followed the girls out of the room towards the elevator, which descended down quickly and gently to the bottom floor. Upon the doors opening, Kisara found a number of people out and about in Yukata as well. All the men were in a navy blue while all the women were in pink. It was almost amusing to see everyone matching and it brought a smile to her face.

The three girls walked over to a giant pink noren with a giant 'yu' hiragana symbol emblazoned over it, where Tea grabbed the three there quickly before they entered.

"Wait wait, selfie!" She said, pulling her phone up.

Kisara had since learned about selfies a number of times. Tea had shown her whenever they went out to dinner since, as Tea put it, she was an avid instagrammer, and was constantly posting selfies and pictures of her meals to the 'internet', something Kisara was still having trouble grasping the concept of. Pulling her hands up to the signature 'peace' sign that Tea had taught her, she smiled as the three girls snapped a photo on the tiny phone, another thing that Kisara was beginning to learn about. She didn't have one herself yet, but Tea figured Kisara could probably get one of her own soon enough after a few weeks of working at the game shop.

Tea pulled the phone back to show the girls the photo, "Great! I'm glad I remembered to do this before going in."

"Why?" Kisara asked.

"Well, you can't take photos in there," Tea said, shooting the photo off in a text to… "Yuugiou"

Kisara figured it out quickly and smiled. She had a feeling that Tea had a crush on Yugi, but out of respect had said nothing. It was cute though. The three girls entered the onsen's locker room, where to Kisara's surprise, all of the women inside were disrobing completely before them. Tea read one last text quickly before shutting her phone off.

"The boys say 'cute'," Tea said, "Also, Tristan wants to meet up with you later, Serenity."

"Of course he does," She said, walking over to a locker, "But he'll have to wait till Joey's asleep or I'll never hear the end of it."

Kisara's eyes widened further as both Tea and Serenity also disrobed and she looked at the ground, almost mortified. To her knowledge, she'd never stripped down in front of someone else, let alone total strangers.

"Kisara you okay?" Tea asked.

"I… are we supposed to…"

"Yeah, I thought you knew…" Tea said, "Are you okay with that?"

Kisara hesitated when she glanced around to see all of the women, in various shapes, heights, sizes, all happily getting ready to go into the hot springs. Her mind's gears worked away. No one was even batting an eye. Was it just her?

"Don't worry, no boys will see you. And it's all girls here," Tea continued, "If you want, you can carry a towel around you until we get to the springs."

Kisara nodded, now very self-conscious, but after a moment's thought, steeled herself for the experience at hand. She quickly took off her clothes and wrapped a towel around her, like Tea had said to do, before the three of them walked out to the onsen. Serenity stretched out her arms and let out a long sigh, before picking up a bucket from the fountain and dumping it over her shoulders.

"Oh, the water's nice!" She called to the other two.

"Awesome!" Tea called, picking up a bucket and handing it to Kisara, "Okay, you'll need to throw water over top of you to get rid of any grime on your body before you go in."

Kisara nodded, sucking in a breath and pulling the towel away, placing it on a bench. Facing away from the other girls, she dipped the bucket in the water and in one fell swoop, dumped the water over herself like she had seen Serenity do. She gasped, but found the experience enjoyable and laughed. It had been warm and the steamy air prevented any chills she might have had. The girls repeated the whole thing about three times before Kisara grabbed her towel again as they walked over to the spring which was outside.

As they got to the spring, Serenity got in first and waved for them to come in. Tea followed quickly, leaving Kisara to be last once again.

"Oh, that's nice!" Tea exclaimed, leaning her shoulders back into the water.

Kisara glanced around, as though to make sure no one else would see her, before again, she pulled the towel away and made her way into the water. Immediately, her toes tingled at the heat, but she could feel her muscles practically call out in delight. It felt marvelous. To her amazement, the spring seemed to be filled with something in addition to the water. It was murky, but not in a dirty manner, as though a mist had fallen into the pool itself, hiding herself and the other girls within the pool.

"This is amazing!" She said, letting her shoulders submerge as well into the water.

Tea laughed, "I told you! The water also has minerals that are great for sore muscles."

"Really?" Kisara asked, "They can do that?"

"Oh yeah, there's all sorts of onsen like that, with specific natural treatments in the water and such," Tea said, taking a deep breath and relaxing, "This one is also supposed to prevent aging.."

"Hmm, yeah, man, this is a treat," Serenity said, "I don't know when the last time I was at an onsen was…"

"Yeah, it's nice…" Tea said, trailing off.

Kisara nodded and let herself relax on one of the large smooth stones in the water. She felt a flush of heat run to her cheeks as her back, legs, and arms felt like they'd melt in the warmth of the water. The sound of a body falling into water startled the three of them though out of their tranquility, but no sign of someone in their vicinity could be found.

Serenity wrinkled her nose in annoyance, "How much do you want to bet that was Joey on the other side?"

"10,000 yen," Tea said.

"Really, you're not going to go higher?" Serenity asked.

"Other side?" Kisara asked, suddenly alert.

"Oh yeah, the springs are separated out, so there's some for the guys, probably over that wall over there," Tea told her, "But it's not like anyone can look over them."

"Oh…" Kisara said, trailing off.

So that's where the sound had come from… The whole concept of this place seemed like a fantasy to Kisara. Boys bathing on the other side while no one here seemed to mind. What's more, no one looked twice at one another or averted their eyes as though embarrassed. It was as if the sexual nature often associated with the image of the human body had been stripped away and everyone just saw one another as other people. Just there to relax, take a break from life, nothing more... It was incredibly invigorating in some ways, but it also allowed her whole body to release tension in practically every muscle. As Tea and Serenity talked and caught up with one another, Kisara found her eyes flutter. The air in her chest seemed to rise up, like it would bob in and out of the water while the heat infiltrated her chest, waist, and bottom half. Her feet in particular seemed to be pruning, but she felt so relaxed that she could hardly stay… awake…

"Kisara!" Tea said and Kisara sat up instantly.

"Are you okay?" She asked, "You looked like you were about to fall asleep in the water."

"Oh… I…" Even as she began to speak, her head felt very light and she brought a hand up to hold herself steady.

"Maybe you're not used to the water…" Tea mused, "Sometimes if it's too hot, you can get lightheaded and pass out. Why don't you go out to the footbaths?"

"The footbaths?"

"Yeah, they're right outside. You just put your Yukata back on and you can walk right into the pools. Just follow the signs."

"Oh… okay…" Kisara said, not sure if it was really a good idea to go by herself.

However, she didn't want to bother Tea or Serenity, who seemed to be enjoying themselves thoroughly in the baths. So, doing as she was directed, Kisara stood up and again grabbed her towel. She wrapped it around herself and made her way inside, finding her locker and pulling her undergarments out and the yukata on once again. She found a few strands of her hair had come out at this point and did her best to put them back, but they seemed determined to slip out. She made her way towards the exit when an older woman stopped her.

"Oh, deary, you've got your Yukata on incorrectly," She said, "Left over right, remember?"

Kisara glanced down and noticed that indeed, she had messed it up. Embarrassed, she thanked the woman and went back to the lockers where she re-wrapped her yukata around her. She had just learned that, why had she forgotten? To be fair, though Japan seemed to have many delights, it came with its fair share of unusual customs and ways of life that Kisara found difficult to keep track of. From using chopsticks to sitting Seiza, which she was positive was created by someone wanting to inflict revenge on someone else's ankles, there were many things she wasn't used to yet.

Once she had corrected the yukata and tied off the obi again, now not as pretty as Tea had done it, she followed the signs to the footbath, which appeared to be deserted upon her arrival. She glanced around, but no one was there. Perhaps they were all at the regular onsen that apparently she wasn't able to manage…

She sighed and found a little area where she could step into the stream. In the dark, the only lights came from within the stream itself. It must be more of the electric magic that seemed to sparkle throughout this world. It was beautiful and allowed her tense mind a bit of relief, letting a sweet smile grace her lips. She slipped off her shoes and dipped her toes into the warm water before fully immersing her foot.

However, as she pulled the ends of her yukata up while she stepped into the water, she found the ground littered with rocks that seemed to be placed there intentionally. Wow, that hurt! She winced in pain, thinking that maybe she just had to get used to it as she tried this time with her other foot. Nope. Nothing. Tea said this was supposed to be relaxing… Gritting her teeth, she proceeded further into the stream, little gasps of pain escaping her lips with every step.

Across the way on the other end of the ryokan, completely out of sight and out of Kisara's mind, another guest slammed his locker door open and pulled his yukata back around him. Idiots. That's what they all were. Going on about some dead pharaoh like he was their friend and about magic and fate and destiny. Destiny was something only fools believed in and it aggravated him to no tomorrow that the one guy who could defeat him held such a belief. Seto let out a long, irritated breath and stormed out from under the noren, which held back the heat of the onsen from the general area. He didn't feel like going to his room, not that he had anything to do there anyway, but he didn't want to go back to the onsen either. A disgruntled sound escaped him. He let his head drop and his gaze cast itself up to the window where Fuji-san stood unmovable, as though taunting him.

Why Mokuba had made him come to this was beyond him. Slowly, he strolled through the open areas of the ryokan, letting the calmness of the surroundings work to unwind every muscle in his body once again and guide him to a quieter area of the luxurious hotel, the footbaths. Glancing around, he at first thought he was alone, when he heard the sound of a splash coming from his left. He glanced over to see a sight that he wasn't expecting in the slightest. Wading in the public footbaths was one of his guests, her long braided hair starting to come a bit undone here and there now as she cautiously stepped through the baths, little 'ow' sounds coming from her as she forced herself to walk through the manmade stream. It was so bizarre seeing her alone doing… whatever it was that she was doing, that he felt that he had to say something.

"What are you doing?"

Kisara spun around, almost slipping, before finding her balance, though dropping part of her yukata into the water in the process, clearly startled, "Huh?"

There near the porch entrance was their benefactor's brother, Seto Kaiba. She found herself frozen in the pond.

He quickly glanced around before resolving himself to repeating himself, "What are you doing in there?"

"Oh, uh… I got light headed, so Serenity and Tea said to take a walk in the footbaths," She answered, trying to hide her surprise, "I've uh, never been to an onsen before and I guess the water was just a little hot…"

Seto slowly nodded. Lightheaded... Apparently they were both having problems with their heads, though his was more of a headache from dealing with listening to Yugi and his friends' inane conversations. He looked up again, to see her back to gasping in bits of pain. For some reason, it caused him discomfort. Why was she… He stepped down from the porch and peered into the lit-up pool to see that she was standing on the rocky path, with smooth, but extruding stones littering the way. His forehead wrinkled.

"You know, you don't have to step in that part to relax," He said, offering a word of advice, "There's a smoother section up there probably."

"Huh? Really?" She asked, surprised.

He nodded, trying to keep his attention away from her as she moved to climb out of the water to go around to the other side. She passed over a little bridge and stepped into the water before finding it much more calming and easier to walk through.

She laughed as though relieved, "Oh, I see what you mean, this it much nicer."

Seto shrugged, but said nothing. He felt oddly uncomfortable, like he was unsure of what to do with himself. There was still so little he knew about her, which made him very cautious. Maybe he should just leave…

Kisara looked up from the stream to see Seto turning to leave. Her eyes widened and before she realized what she was doing, she spoke, "Um, Seto? Er, Mr. Kaiba?"

Despite himself, Seto found himself looking over his shoulder at Kisara, just as she realized that she had nothing to really say to him. Why had she called out? Because she didn't want him to leave? They barely knew each other, no farther past their names. Was she hoping for his company? So stupid, so stupid…Her eyes widened when she suddenly realized one of the many blank areas of her knowledge about him that she could ask him about in this moment that made sense.

"Um, well, if you're not here for the footbath… then why did you come here?"

The question made Seto pause in his tracks. There really wasn't a reason… "Couldn't take the riffraff that was passing as conversation I guess…"

Kisara nodded, a bit of confusion arising within her, "Oh… if it's not too… intrusive of me to ask then, if you, you don't like the others very much do you, right? So then, why did you come in the first place?"

Seto found his eyes being draw back towards her, questioningly. No one had bothered to ask him that yet. And what's more, there wasn't a hint of deception in her voice it seemed. Like she genuinely wanted to know. It was incredibly unnerving to him. Having been raised by the infamous Gozoboro Kaiba, he'd been taught that everyone had a selfish purpose behind what they did. But... he couldn't sense any of that in her…

In the calmest demeanor he could, he answered plainly, "My brother threatened me into going. He thinks I need more social interaction."

At that, Kisara couldn't help but let a small giggle escape her, though she covered it quickly, "Really, he threatened you? How?"

"He… threatened to sell something of mine…" Seto said; mulling it over in his head, it sounded a little ridiculous now that he said it like that.

"He could do that?" She asked, the idea of this intimidating guy being threatened by a teenager sounding incredibly amusing, "Couldn't you just hide it?"

"Only for so long," Seto said, shrugging again and sitting down on a nearby bench, "It's hard to hide important things from family."

Kisara smiled and nodded, "It must be nice, to have one another though."

He looked up at her, slightly astounded by the comment. She had spoken of the fact that they were a family so warmly, "Yeah, I suppose it is… Do you have any siblings?"

Kisara's eyes shot up as a panic filled her mind and she prayed it hadn't shown much. What did she say? Yugi had asked her not to tell Seto about what had happened to bring her to this time. She quickly perused her mind for a suitable answer. Seto's eyes narrowed as he waited for an answer. Was it okay to say that she didn't know? Maybe… if she didn't mention anything about the tablet and Kmt….

"I… I don't know…"

"What do you mean, 'you don't know'?" Seto asked, his eyes narrowing at the statement.

"I… I can't remember everything from my past… I can remember some things… but, there was… something… something happened and I can't… I can't remember everything… so maybe I do, maybe I don't. But right now, I am unaware of any…" She trailed off, being as honest as she could.

"So you have amnesia?" Seto stated skeptically, "You've got to be kidding me. Who's the current prime minister of Japan?"

"The what?" She asked.

He narrowed his eyes again. Okay, another one, "Who are the five members of the boy band Arashi?"

"Arashi?"

Again, nothing and Seto's eyes widened in surprise. She really didn't know? Even he knew; it was impossible to escape seeing the 'almighty' MatsuJun's face on every Meiji chocolate bar, let alone in nearly every NHK drama out there.

"You… really don't know?" He asked and she shook her head again in a resounding 'no'.

He leaned back on the bench, his mind moving at an alarming rate. Despite numerous movies, books, and series out these days which had the plot point of amnesia, he'd never actually met someone who suffered from it. It was perplexing and she expected him to believe her?

"So then… how did you meet Yugi and them?" He asked, trying to gather more information.

"I… they're helping me," Kisara answered, "We met at the game shop and Yugi said he'd help me find my family. And then I took up a job at the game shop to support myself for the time being…"

"You didn't go to the police at all?" Seto asked.

"I… we… kind of… but there wasn't much that they could do…." She said, suddenly looking down at the water. It was now that she was lying and she felt a deep shame for doing so. But she had promised…

"So you're just blindly waiting to find your old life?" He asked, critically.

She glanced up at him, his statement so widely harsh that now it was her turn to be taken aback, "Well, no. Life doesn't just stop while you solve a problem. You have to keep living, even if you don't have all the pieces you know?"

Seto blinked, astonished by the comment. Maybe it was because of the present company he normally found himself around, but to hear someone acknowledge that you can't just stop living because of a problem was incredibly refreshing. It was a lesson he'd learned a long time ago when it had just been him and Mokuba. Back then, problems abounded all around them, but life didn't stop. He couldn't mope around, otherwise Mokuba would have been bullied and faced even more issues without him. He had to stand up and keeping moving, even when it was hard.

Kisara spoke up again, breaking his train of thought, "Besides, this just gives me the chance to see and do everything all over again for the first time. Like tonight!"

She beamed, clearly enjoying the footbath she was in and the beautiful scenery around them. She spun around, letting the water lap against his legs. Stunned by what he had just heard, it took Seto a moment to take it all in. He'd never considered anything like that, but there was something clearly… endearing about the idea, to be able to start over again. But it was so incredibly confusing as to how someone in her situation could be so positive… As he watched Kisara wade in the footbaths, the same question kept coming back to his mind. Who was this girl? She was just so… vividly hopeful… How could anyone…And hope… Hope was something he'd never had much of. He sighed, falling back into his defensive barrier.

"So then, what brought you into the game shop in the first place?" He asked, trying to act uninterested when in reality, he felt his curiosity, for better or worse, killing him.

Kisara stopped what she was doing and turned back to him, "Hm? Oh uh… I just… was looking for help that's all."

"So you choose a game shop?" Seto questioned, incredulously, "Do you just enjoy playing games or something?"

"Well… no…" Kisara began, "I guess it was a little silly… I actually don't play many games. I have no idea how to play Duel Monsters, if you can believe that."

Seto felt like he'd been hit with a rock over the back of his head, "What?"

"What?"

"You don't know how to play Duel Monsters?" He asked, "It's like, the most popular game of the century."

She shrugged and shook her head, when she lost hold of the side of her yukata, which fell into the pool, "Oh shoot."

She stood up out of the low-lying pool and wrung out the cotton robe, "Nope, never played. But Joey said he'd teach me how since it would help when selling cards and stuff. And since Yugi can't since he's so busy…"

Seto found himself snorting in derision, "You hope to learn how to play from Joey Wheeler?"

"Well… yeah, why not?" She asked, clearly confused by his tone.

"Joey Wheeler is the worst excuse for a duelist this side of the globe," Seto said, standing up.

The out of the blue insult to her boss clearly caught Kisara off guard as she stood up in full as well, "I thought Joey was pretty good. He's placed in tournaments, hasn't he?"

"Psh, by sheer dumb luck. You won't learn anything for a third-rate duelist like him," Seto said stepping towards her, the idea of anyone, particularly her, learning from Joey Wheeler repellent.

Kisara brought her shoulders back in a bit of a defiant attitude, and, pursing her lips, stepped forward, "Well, how else do you suggest that I learn, then?"

"You should learn from a competent duelist," Seto said, his normal arrogance coming out.

"Such as?" She asked.

"Well, you might learn a thing or two from me," Seto said with a shrug and folding his arms, though as it slipped out from his mouth, he felt like he'd just said 'call' in a poker game while holding a bad hand. What was he doing?

Kisara's eyes widened. Was he… offering to teach her? "You… you're that good?"

She knew he was good; she wasn't sure why she had asked. She was just so astonished he would even suggest it… Their eyes locked, his narrowing with a confidence so assured that Kisara found herself taken aback, but also impressed at the same time. She felt her heart pound.

"I'm the best," He declared to her.

"I thought Yugi was the best," Kisara remarked after a moment, a little smug that she did know that much.

"He's gotten lucky," Seto said.

"Aren't you too busy?" She asked.

Seto paused, "I set my own schedule."

Kisara looked down at the ground, when the thought came to her head, "But… why would you care how I learn how to play Duel Monsters?"

Seto found himself suddenly put on the spot. Why did he care… "Duel Monsters is a game that demands respect. You can't enjoy it without thoroughly understanding it. And I'd hate for anyone to lose that chance just because they learned from someone like Wheeler."

Slowly, an amused smile, came to Kisara's face, "Well, okay then, if you're really okay with teaching me…"

Seto found a grin come to his face. Whoever this girl was, she didn't know what she was getting herself into.

"Only if you're up for the challenge," Seto taunted.

He had meant for it to be an intimidating statement. But somehow it didn't quite come out that way… Maybe more… encouraging… but that seemed like the opposite of his words… He furrowed his brow a bit in question, when out of nowhere, Kisara began to smile before breaking into a laugh, holding her gut as she did so.

"What?" Seto asked, a bit jolted by her reaction.

"I… I don't know, I guess because I'm friends with Yugi, I didn't think you'd actually want to even talk to me. And now you're offering to teach me Duel Monsters…" She brushed a strand of hair back from her face which was being graced by a warm blush.

"Well… you're not really annoying like the rest of them," He said, awkwardly looking away from her, "And it sounds like this would help you…. With your job anyway."

What was he doing?!

Kisara glanced down, before looking up again at him, smiling wide and suddenly, Seto felt a red heat coming to his cheeks, so he turned away, when she changed the topic of conversation, "Well, I'm done… Are you going into the footbaths then?"

Seto kept his line of sight cast way, "Not tonight."

Kisara watched Seto's gaze, which seemed to stare right over the lake, "Are you going upstairs then?"

Seto let out a sigh before muttering a response, "Yeah… I guess."

"May I join you?" She said, "I mean, on the walk up?"

The words sounded almost like a song as she said it and Seto found himself feeling jumbled up inside. He closed his eyes and nodded 'yes', not trusting himself to speak. As the two walked up to the porch and replaced their slippers onto their feet, the night air brushed by them, for once bringing the cool air of the mountains down with it. Seto's thoughts trailed back to his actions of the night, trying to understand them.

Why had he just agreed to helping her? It offered him nothing… But whenever he looked at her… he found himself at an odd sort of peace, like he could relax around her, which logically confounded his mind. She was an unknown. She didn't even know who she was, if indeed her words were the truth. He gazed up at Fuji-san, which they could barely see in the dark. He was so confused. Hope you're happy with yourself Mokuba, he thought. As the words crossed his mind though, he found himself slightly worried. From this distance, they wouldn't be able to see any lights from the mountain, he knew that, but still…

"Are you worried?" She asked suddenly, "About your brother?"

Seto stopped and turned towards her, amazed that she had picked up on that, "I… suppose… I'm sure he's fine, I just wish they hadn't done the night hike. It's impossible to see anything…"

"I don't know about that," She said, thoughtfully, "I mean, you can see the outline of Fuji-san, right? And sometimes, that's all you need to be able to enjoy something and have the faith to move on, right?"

For about the third time that night, Seto found himself oddly astounded at her words. Faith… maybe that was what was so striking about her… She seemed to have an uncanny ability to see the good in a situation that he found utterly hopeless. Like seeing a little more with each step on a dark hike up a mountain… It then occurred to him that this, if she really did have a form of amnesia… then this was the first time that she was seeing Fuji-san. It was unfortunate because the view earlier had been so brief before the sun had fallen on them… But she was still enjoying it, even when she could only see the silhouette of the volcano against the starry backdrop.

"Kisara…"

"Ye—"

BANG!

"Ah—"

"Look out!"

What happened next occurred so quickly that Seto half had to backtrack in his mind the events to figure out exactly how they managed to get into the situation they were in now, where the sound of fireworks roared across the lake, lighting up the night sky, and he somehow was holding Kisara very close to him.

With the bang of the first firework startling her, Kisara had slipped off of the side of the porch and instinctively, he'd grabbed her arm back to keep her from falling backwards into the garden beside them, pulling her forward and into him in the process. Now they were mere centimeters apart and their faces were practically touching. They both swallowed hard as fireworks in blues, purples, golds, silvers, reds, and pinks shot into the air.

Across the way by the 8th station of Mt. Fuji, Mokuba Kaiba smiled as the final element of his plan unfolded below and under his breath urged, "Go get her, Nii-sama!"

The two both found themselves going red and unable to move, not knowing what to do. It wasn't until other guests came outside to look at the fireworks that Seto found the logical answer in his head that was to let her go. They parted and he found himself bringing a hand to the back of his neck and muttering to her between the blasts.

"You alright?"

"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine… thank you…" She muttered back under her breath.

"You're welcome," He commented.

They both seemed bent on looking away from each other as the fireworks continued to go off. Finally, as the finale ended, Seto managed to speak.

"So… how about I come by to teach you next week after your morning shift finishes," He said, following the logical plan of setting up this thing he'd agreed to do.

"A… alright," She answered.

"Twelve then?" He replied, fiercely determined to not look at her.

"Okay."

They walked upstairs together quietly towards their respective rooms. They got back to her room first and she awkwardly hit the combination to get in.

"Well, good night, Kaiba," She said, "Thanks for a good evening."

"You're welcome," He said, before after a moment of thought, he added, "Kisara…"

"Hm?"

"It's… you can call me Seto," He said, practically fumbling his words to his own annoyance, "You don't need to be that formal."

And yet despite his awkwardness, the statement made her smile nonetheless, "Okay… good night, Seto."

"Good night, Kisara."

With one last smile at him, she opened the door and went inside. As she shut the door, she leaned against it and let out a long breath as a bit of excitement overwhelmed her. She didn't know why, but she was looking forward to learning how to play Duel Monsters more so than she had been before. Seto wasn't super outgoing and at times, he was difficult to read. But at the same time, he had made it so her night wasn't so lonely, or disheartening… again, the word trust came to her. She wanted to trust him.

In the hallway, once he had heard the door click shut, Seto made his way back to the room. Inside, he found the place deserted, for once a nice thing to come upon. As he laid down onto one of the beds, he folded his arms behind him and stared up at the ceiling, contemplating what had just occurred, that he had just met someone who was insanely mystifying, but also… seemingly innocent and happy.

Seto shut his eyes.

He felt his chest constrict and relax, as though unsure as to how to take in the events of the night. His instinct told him he was being reckless. How could he offer to teach her Duel Monsters? No one was forcing him. No one was holding him at gunpoint. And yet he'd offered when it offered him nothing, absolutely nothing in return. And this amnesia thing… it was rather difficult to believe and the skeptic in him told him she had to be lying. He could practically hear Gozoboro berating him for even considering anything otherwise. But at the same time, he felt oddly… alright around her. She seemed genuine… And the idea of Joey Wheeler teaching her how to play really was absolutely repugnant. That much, he could admit to.

His eyes snapped open, when another thought burst into the front of his mind. The thought of what it felt like to hold her close like that. It was something he hadn't done deliberately… well, yes, he had intended to keep her from falling, but he hadn't intended to end up so close to her… It had sent his heart racing in an absent-minded whirlwind, beating hard in his chest. With so much adrenaline in his system, he hadn't been sure what to do, as though all of his rationale had been thrown out the window. It made him feel a slight… nervousness, perhaps that was the word for it.

He shook his head and turned onto his side, gazing out the window at the outline of Fuji-san.

Was he… interested in her?

His eyes scrunched up and he shut them tightly. He wasn't sure why, but the idea sent a shock of anxiety into his system. No. He wasn't interested in her. And no, he wasn't afraid of her. Why would he be? If she was a lying thief, he could destroy the threat she would present with ease. And yet… She seemed to have such a sincere… and uplifting natural presence. If Kisara was who she said she was, then he had no real reason to be worried…

It wouldn't hurt to teach her how to play Duel Monsters. Right? He rolled onto his back. It wouldn't hurt. So what if he didn't get anything out of it, that was fine, right? And yet... for some reason, he felt like that thought wasn't quite accurate… The thought of her smile came to mind again. And something else, something warm, spread in him. It was almost… exhilarating. Seto pulled the sheets over himself and rolled back to his side, determined to sleep and block out the one name that kept coming to mind.

Kisara.

Her name was Kisara.

-YGO-

The night sky was clouded over, as was common in the summer months of Domino City. As he glanced over the reports followed by Ishizu, Pegasus let out a small sigh as he dialed a number.

"Hello?"

"Long time no see, dear boy," Pegasus said.

"Pegasus."

"The original," He said smiling, "Listen, I could use your help. I'd like to get a second pair of eyes on a few artifacts that my team has managed to dig up. Would you mind returning to Domino City?"

Silence fell on the other end of the line. He waited.

"What kind of artifacts?"

"A few from the time of that… nameless Pharaoh…" Pegasus said, trailing off, "I thought it might interest you."

More silence before the voice replied, "You're still digging those up?"

"They're the basis of my game," Pegasus said, as he looked over Yugi's report and request off for the weekend with a bit of disdain, "You didn't really expect me to stop, did you?"

"They're dangerous."

"Says you," Pegasus stated, "But then, if they're so dangerous, do you really want to leave them alone in the hands of incompetents?"

The clock's hand ticked by as his associated mulled over the request, "Fine. I'll be over in a week."

"I'll send you a jet," Pegasus said, "See you then."

The phone clicked, insuring Maximillion Pegasus all of the answers he was looking for. He was sure of it.

-YGO-

A/N: Ima sugu killing me~~~~ Ha, I'm a bit on an X4 high these days and I'm finally on the mend from Jet Lag. I can't remember if I mentioned it in my last author's note, but I went to Japan this past month (Weeeee!). Thus no time to write, but plenty of time to think, draft, sightsee, eat good food and go to a concert maybe… definitely. ^_^ I was very lucky and got to go to the last X4 concert at Zepp Tokyo. Tons of fun and the members were just great. Very infectious with their love of music and the fans are just wonderful to be around too. Though this has nothing to do with the end of the chapter haha, other than that one of the lines I wrote for Seto reminded me of one of their first songs… anyway, let me know what you thought! I'll try to get the next chapter up in a more timely manner. Until then… Koe ni Shitanara, tada susumu dake sa~~~

Later,

~Rena