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The Moody Loner Types

Roland strode quickly through the ground floor of the Kaiba Corp offices. Beside him, the company's CEO, and his long time boss, faltered momentarily in his pace as the news he'd just been given, sank in. Recovering quickly, Seto covered the remaining short distance across the foyer. He pressed the button for the lift and waited for it to arrive in stony silence.

Roland, long since used to reading Seto's mood, wisely held his tongue.

The lift doors opened and both men entered. Roland reached forward to press the button for the 86th floor and the lift smoothly began its ascent.

'So, what exactly is the problem?' Seto finally asked.

'Well, sir. It seems that she's not actually registered anywhere in New York. There are no accounts of any tax payments and no listings of her name under any employment or residential records.'

'Hold on, wasn't it just last week that we found three men who were specifically hiding from us?'

'Yes, sir.'

'Three men who could actually have been anywhere in the world for all we knew.'

'Yes, sir.'

'But we can't find Mai Valentine?'

'No, sir.'

Seto frowned.

The lift slowed and then came to a gentle stop. The doors slid open to reveal a wide, open plan area filled with stylish, chrome and glass desks; most of them covered with work. As Seto made his way through the busy mill of his employees, there was a noticeable dip in the noise level as heads turned and all conversations either dried up completely or suddenly switched to very important sounding, business-related topics.

It had been a conscious decision by Seto to move a small section from each department onto the 86th floor. It had meant moving the other directors to a lower floor and he'd also had to give up the squash court area that Gozoburo had been so fond of in his time as CEO but, so far as Seto was concerned, both of these factors had simply been an added bonus. He was pleased to be rid of anything that reminded him of his adoptive father and he'd gained much amusement hearing the whining of the directors as they complained about the 'reduced views' from one floor down.

The only drawback to the arrangement had become evident immediately after the Kaiba Corp office bombing, when the elevator that usually carried Seto directly to his private offices, had crashed to the bottom of the building, seriously damaging the shaft in the process. Since then Seto had been forced to use the other lifts, all of which brought him up into the middle of the communal, open plan office area.

Whilst Seto respected his employees greatly, he didn't particularly enjoy having to see them on quite so regular a basis and, despite what numerous sycophants tried to pretend, the feeling was mutual.

The sooner the lift was fixed the better it would be for everyone.

Until then Seto, along with the rest of his workforce, had to put up with irritating breaks in conversation that would last the length of time it took for him to cross the space. He and Roland walked in silence until they reached the large glass doors that separated the main area from his private offices. As the heavy door swung shut behind them there was a distinctive sound as a hundred or more employees all breathed a sigh of relief in unison.

'Have you checked the bars?' he asked Roland, picking up from where they'd left off.

The two men strode across the vast space of Seto's reception, passing the tasteful, abstract paintings that hung on the wall and the small seating area that was provided for clients and business associates while they waited for Seto to become free. As they approached a second large frosted-glass door at the furthest end of the room, a middle aged lady, seated at a modestly sized desk, raised her head to watch them.

'We're in the process of doing so, sir,' Roland replied. 'But there are over five thousand registered bars in New York City so it's -'

The lady behind the desk gave a discreet cough. 'Mr Kaiba, there's a - '

Seto held up a hand to stop her mid-sentence. 'E-mail any messages, Andrea. I'm busy right now,' he said curtly as he walked past her desk and pushed open the door to his office indicating, with a small nod of his head for Roland to continue.

Andrea watched the door as it swung slowly closed after her boss. She rolled her eyes briefly and then smiled to herself.

'You're going to regret not getting a warning for this one,' she murmured quietly under her breath as she got back to her work.

OooooO

Seto swung the large door open and entered the comfortingly familiar surroundings of his office. For all the grandeur of the reception area Seto's office was quite understated. Along one wall a bank of dark mahogany panels discreetly concealed a wide screen plasma television, a raft of the latest gaming technology and, in an area that used to house a small bar, a sink unit and a narrow wardrobe that always held a few changes of clothes for any given situation. To the right of the door was a sleek black leather sofa and a low coffee table. Directly ahead, placed in front of the huge windows so that the sky reflected off its glossy black surface, was a large desk with a well worn leather chair placed behind it.

'It's a process of elimination, sir,' Roland continued. 'We're checking all bars systematically -,' his voice trailed off as he registered the change in Seto's expression. Following his boss' stare he blinked in surprise at the sight of an attractive woman stood leaning against the wall closest to the window. She was dressed in a grey suit with a white shirt and high grey boots. She would have looked professional had the skirt been just that little bit longer and the shirt actually buttoned up enough to disguise the ample cleavage.

She turned to face them and smiled. 'Y'know this is some view, you can see my apartment from here.'

'Mai?!'

Roland looked at his boss in surprise. In all the years he'd known Seto, he had rarely heard him sound so... stunned.

'What are you doing here? How did you get -?'

Mai raised an eyebrow. 'Nice to see you too.' She walked slowly across the room and perched herself on the edge of the desk, levelling a steady look at Seto.

'I didn't mean -' Seto began before stopping himself and placing the tips of his long fingers to his temple. He closed his eyes for a moment and then took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again Roland thought his expression was reminiscent of the one he would often adopt before heading into a duel. 'Roland...'

Roland recognised his cue to leave. 'Should I go and...' he was about to say 'continue the search' but quickly realised how redundant that now was. He also doubted that his boss would want the woman he had been searching so hard for to actually know how much effort he was putting in. The sentence dried in his throat and he stood for a moment with his mouth hanging open.

Seto frowned, understanding the dilemma Roland was facing and grateful that he had managed to stop himself blurting anything out. 'Yes,' he nodded briskly swinging the door open for him, 'if you could ...'

'Right away, sir.'

Roland took one last look at the woman he'd been trying to track ever since he'd got back from England. At least that's one job I can cross off my to-do list, he thought with a satisfied smile as he discreetly closed the large door behind him.

'You escaped alive then?'

Roland looked up to where Andrea was busily typing, her eyes fixed on the screen.

'Hmm, no thanks to you. You could have warned us.'

'I tried. It's not my fault he was too busy to hear.'

'He's always too busy, you know that. And I know you're perfectly capable of getting his attention when it suits you.'

Her eyes still fixed on the screen and her fingers still working furiously, Andrea gave the merest hint of a smile. Roland shook his head in mock disapproval before turning to make his way back to the lifts. He was almost at the outer doors when Andrea's voice stopped him in his tracks.

'Did she give him the present yet?'

He turned and looked at her.

'What present?'

The rhythmic tapping of the keyboard paused briefly and Andrea looked up to meet Roland's eyes.

'You might want to consider sticking around to see the fireworks,' she said mischievously.

OooooO

Seto calmly closed the door behind Roland and took another deep breath. So she had turned up unannounced and had caught him off guard - again. That didn't mean that Mai Valentine was going to get the better of him this time. He had already mentally written off the night in the club as being an aberration caused by mental exhaustion. He wasn't planning on having a repeat performance - ever.

Mai was watching him, casually swinging her legs back and forth from where she was sat on the desk.

'So, Mai, it's nice to see you again,' Seto bowed his head formally towards her. She returned the gesture. So far so good, he thought to himself. 'You look,' he hesitated for a moment, suddenly realising that he wasn't quite sure how to describe her appearance, 'different,' he finally managed with an awkward smile.

'Thanks,' she grinned and smoothed down her tiny skirt. 'I figured if I was going to be visiting your fancy office I should dress the part.'

Seto resisted the urge to ask just what part she thought she was dressing for. She had clearly intended for her outfit to blend in with the other office workers although Seto was certain that he would have noticed if any of his staff ever looked like this.

'I'll be honest,' he said running a hand through his hair, 'I wasn't expecting to see you here.'

'Yeah, well, you were taking your sweet time finding me. I thought I'd help you out. You can tell your guy that he doesn't need to search all the bars in New York, just the ones this side of Central Park.'

Seto hesitated slightly at the realisation that she had clearly worked out what he and Roland had been discussing when they had come in. It was an arrogant presumption on her part and he briefly toyed with the idea of making up a story that would explain away the conversation but then quickly dismissed the thought. It may have been an arrogant presumption, but it was right after all.

'You could just give me your phone number you know.'

'Where would be the fun in that?'

She grinned at him and Seto found himself grinning back, drawn in by the warmth and humour of her smile.

'How did you get in here?' He asked, changing the subject.

'I was hanging about in your little reception area when Mokuba stopped by. He let me in. He left a note for you too.'

Mai hopped down from the desk and strode across to Seto to hand him a piece of folded paper. She stood and watched him as he read it.

'Anything interesting?'

'It's an invitation to go to lunch.'

'Your brother invites you to lunch? That's a bit formal isn't it?'

'It's not like that. There's this little deli around the corner by the park that we go to whenever we both got sick of corporate dinners and five star restaurants, which is frequently, and also when we both had the time, which is less so.'

'That sounds nice, so are you going?'

Seto glanced briefly at his watch and felt a familiar twang of guilt. 'I can't,' he said dryly, 'my psychiatrist is due in a little over half an hour.'

'Psychiatrist? Is that the one you were telling me about?'

'That'd be her.'

'I thought you hated seeing her?'

'I do, but needs must. The board of directors have insisted I see someone -' he sneered slightly, 'I think they're worried I'll blow up more buildings unless I get an hour's worth of psycho-analytical profiling each week.'

'But aren't you the CEO?'

'Yes, but I still have keep the directors happy.'

'Seems like a bit of a jip to me. If I owned a multi-million dollar company I wouldn't put up with that sort of crap. Hell, I wouldn't even get out of bed if I didn't feel like it.'

Seto graced her with a raised eyebrow and a slight smile. 'Do you think that might be why you'll never own a multi-million dollar company?'

She smiled and made her way over to sit herself down in his leather office chair. She wriggled slightly to get comfortable and then stretched her long legs out to rest her feet on the desk in front of her.

'How hard can it be?'

Seto rolled his eyes and, choosing to ignore her teasing, looked again at the note. He was about to fold it and put it back in his pocket when he noticed there was a little more writing concealed behind an extra crease in the paper. Seto slid his long finger beneath the fold and frowned. In large, hastily written letters it read: 'Re Mai: be nice'. The word 'nice' had been written in capital letters and had been underscored a few times.

Seto looked across at Mai who was smiling innocently. He looked back at the note and felt his good mood being quickly replaced by an overwhelming sense of foreboding.

'So, was there anything else you wanted, other than to narrow down my search parameters?' he asked, eyeing her with a sudden wariness.

'Oh, right, I nearly forgot,' she took her legs off the desk and reached down to the floor, disappearing behind the desk. When she re-emerged a moment later she was holding a large brown cardboard box. 'I have a present for you.'

'Oh?' his eyes narrowed further. 'What is it?'

'Well, why don't you open it and find out?'

Much had been written about Seto Kaiba in the past. As well as all the mindless gossip magazines that Mai's colleagues favoured, business journals and newspapers constantly wrote articles analysing 'Kaiba's' business style, trying to figure out just what it was that made him tick. Most people cited his natural genius for technological design coupled with his ruthless ambition as being the defining features of his success. Others pointed to sheer hard work and determination.

Much speculation had been raised about the suspicion and mistrust with which Kaiba apparently viewed anyone but his younger brother. His admirers called it caution, his critics called it paranoia. Seto always thought of it as simply being justified.

It was with a certain amount of suspicion and a great deal of mistrust that Seto now reached out towards the box. He slowly peeled away the tape holding the top closed and cautiously raised a flap.

The box suddenly seemed to come to life. The remaining flaps lifted and, with a noise like a baby being throttled, a grey form leapt from the box. In a flurry of movement it sped away and almost instantly disappeared from view beneath the leather sofa.

The box hit the ground with a dull thud.

Seto stood staring at the spot where the creature had disappeared. His lips were tightly pressed together and the fingers of his left hand were twitching slightly. After a moment he turned to Mai.

'What was that?' he asked, his voice dangerously calm.

Mai's smile faltered slightly. 'It's a kitten.'

'A kitten?'

'Yes, well... I say a kitten - more of a full grown cat really. I think he's still quite young though - given the speed at which he moves,' she paused for a moment and then looked at Seto. 'Maybe he's a teenager.'

'Mai... why have you bought me a kitten?'

'Teenage ca-'

'A cat then. Why the - what made you think I would want a cat?' His tone was irritable, almost disbelieving and Mai began to have difficulty maintaining her normally high levels of confidence under his icy stare.

'I don't know,' she shrugged casually, 'you seemed like the fluffy animal type ...' Seto's cold blue eyes bore into her own. 'What? Honestly, he's quite cute when you get to know him. He's just nervous of new places.'

Her warm smile was met with frost and Mai experienced a very rare moment of self doubt as she contemplated the 'brilliant' idea that had led her to this point.

'Come on, I'll get him ...' getting up from the chair she walked decisively towards the sofa feeling his hard glare following her every move. She lowered herself to her haunches and lifted the corner of the sofa to try and entice him out. 'Seriously,' she said, giving Seto another unconvincing smile, 'when you see him you'll see how cute - ' with a small cry she dropped the sofa and fell backwards as the cat raced past her and, with a worrying tearing sound, scurried up the curtains to perch high up on the upper rail.

Mai stood up slowly and dusted herself down slightly self-consciously. 'Ah,' she said with a small grimace, 'I was afraid he'd do that. He spent the whole of last night sat on my curtain rail at home.'

She steadfastly avoided meeting Seto's eye which was fortunate for him as he was suddenly finding it difficult not to laugh.

'I guess he likes heights or something. I couldn't coax him down for anything. In the end I had to get this broom and - '

'What's his name?' Seto interrupted, running a hand over his mouth to try and physically wipe away the remnants of his smile.

'Oh, um, Flea.'

'Flee? As in - runs away a lot?'

Mai looked at him strangely for a moment before allowing herself a small laugh. 'Huh, yeah, I guess, if you wanted it to mean that - it could work.'

Seto closed his eyes again and tried to suppress the smile that was forcing its way back onto his face despite his better judgement. 'So,' he began, talking slowly and clearly as if to straighten things out in his own mind, 'let's recap. You've turned up here unannounced and bringing with you the fantastic gift of a fully grown cat,' he approached her with a deep scowl on his face but Mai could see the humour glinting in his eyes as she instinctively began backing away, using the large black desk as a barrier. 'A cat that has a tendency towards hiding under furniture and climbing curtains - expensive silk curtains in this case - ' he paused momentarily to look ruefully up at the series of small rips and snags that marked Flea's rapid ascent, 'and who I now find out is endearingly named after a parasitic insect!' he slammed both hands down on the desk and glared at Mai who was grinning at him unrepentantly from the opposite side.

'Now now - ,' she said in a mockingly soothing voice. 'Mokuba said to be nice remember!'

Seto's eyes widened further. 'You read my private note?!'

'Well it wasn't sealed!'

'You are... I just...' he sighed and sat down heavily on his office chair, leaning back to examine her fully. In all his life he had never come across someone so brazen, so confident, so audacious as Mai. Her behaviour was so... exasperating that he was unsure just how to react. That she kept leaving him speechless was testament to the fact that, somehow, for whatever reason, the woman had the ability to get under his skin - and he wasn't entirely convinced that it was in a good way.

After a moment he leant forward in his chair and, resting his elbows on the desk, he steepled his fingers, still looking at her thoughtfully.

As the silence stretched on Mai began to feel increasingly hot under his cool gaze. She sat herself in the chair opposite him and mirrored his stance. The confident grin faded until the pair were left looking at each other, eyes locked in mutual contemplation.

'Why a cat?'

'I didn't go shopping for a gift for you if that's you were wondering. It was more a sort of... chance encounter,' she glanced up at the small grey bundle of hair that stared back at her with large black eyes. 'The poor little critter needed a home - '

'And you thought of me?'

'Well, I figure that moody loner types should stick together, don't you?' she arched an eyebrow with a small smirk.

Ignoring the dig, Seto sat back in the chair and shook his head as if something didn't quite make sense to him. 'Why me? Couldn't you -'

'It's against the terms of my lease. I had him one night and the super gave me hell. Ripped up all my best silk curtains too.'

Seto gave a brief snort of laughter in appreciation of her sarcasm before fixing his steely stare back on her. 'That still doesn't explain why you came to me. Surely you must have other friends who would be better suited - '

'No.'

'You're saying I'm the best suited to look after a homeless cat?' he asked disbelievingly.

'No, I'm saying I don't have other friends. Not in New York at any rate. I don't really seem to have the knack for making them,' she gave him a rueful grin. 'I told you, us moody loner types should stick together.'

'Wouldn't that detract slightly from the 'loner' side of it?'

Mai just smiled.

Time seemed to stretch between them once more as he stared at her. For all her teasing and joking around he had noticed a hint of sadness suddenly dimming the brightness in her eyes. Her comment about friendship had been made dismissively, as she seemed to make most comments, but for a moment, just briefly, he felt like she had reached out to him. Now he just had to decide whether to reach back.

He glanced up at the wild eyed cat.

'Okay, I'll take him.'

Mai grinned. 'Oh, thank God - I was thinking I'd have to find a broom from somewhere to try and get him down.'

He stood and walked to the curtain to contemplate his latest acquisition. 'Is there anything else I should know about him? Like any jabs he needs to have done or - '

Mai joined him, folding her arms and craning her neck upwards. 'Oh, I'd just hit him with everything if I were you,' she said nonchalantly. 'Mangy creature like that has probably picked up everything from fleas to rabies.'

Seto looked at her with a deadpan expression. 'That's great.'

She turned to look at him with an expression of genuine gratitude. She reached out and placed one hand on his arm. 'Thank you, Seto.'

Seto felt a wave of pleasure wash over him as he accepted her thanks even though he was unsure as to why such a gesture from her should make him feel so good.

'Yeah well,' he said gruffly trying to disguise his smile, 'I'll get someone from PR down here and get some positive publicity out of it or something - if I can ever get him down from the curtains that is.'

'Well, good luck with that.'

Her hand left his arm and the warm smile was suddenly replaced by her usual brash one. She reached over and grabbed her bag that was hanging off the back of his chair.

Seto blinked in surprise at the abrupt change in her attitude. It was as if all the barriers that had been eroded had reappeared all at once. 'You're leaving?' he asked incredulously.

She turned and gave him a brief shrug. 'Well, you know, people to do, things to see.'

'Shouldn't that be the other way around?'

'My way's more fun,' she purred flirtatiously before winking and walking towards the door.

Seto scowled. He had the nagging feeling that she was manipulating him. Not about the cat - well, not just about the cat at any rate. It was as if she had made the realisation that she had given too much away, made herself seem too vulnerable, and was now trying to over-compensate for it. Her assertive personality had re-emerged with a vengeance and, although her behaviour seemed designed to make her more alluring, for Seto it was having the opposite effect.

He liked her he admitted, liked her a lot in fact. She was funny, quick-witted, strong and very attractive - even without all the tight clothes and makeup. But, all that said, he couldn't let her keep waltzing into his life thinking she could call all the shots. Two can play at this, he decided.

Moving quickly he intercepted her just as she reached the door. She looked at him inquiringly.

'So that's it, you're going to dump an unwanted feline on me and just go?'

'Well, I'm sure you're busy,' she said casually and took hold of the door handle.

'I'm always busy.' Mai started to open the door but was surprised when she found his hand suddenly moving to keep it closed. He leaned in close to her. 'That doesn't mean I can't make time for what's important.'

Mai recognised the same words he had used after the incident in the lift. As she recalled the kiss that had followed she felt a tingle run up and down her spine.

Her intention had been to turn up at his office, screw with his head a bit and then leave, preferably with him floundering in her wake. It had worked a treat at the club and, despite one or two moments where her skin had seemed to heat up by a few degrees when he stared at her, she felt that it had gone pretty much in her favour this time too. All that was left to do was for her to get out of his office. She had even planned the walk she would use to cross the reception area - a hip-swing strut that she had mastered in her youth and which had stood her in very good stead ever since. It had all seemed to have been going exactly to plan.

Now though, with his lean body pressed in so close, with a reminder of their past moments of intimacy hanging in the air, suddenly she found her heart beating ten to the dozen. She opened her mouth to say something witty but closed it again when her mind refused to follow through.

Seto bent towards her slowly, his hand reaching out to smooth back a few stray strands of hair at the side of her face. His long fingers gently brushed against her cheek and it felt to Mai as if every nerve ending in her body was suddenly at the spot where he made contact. As he came in closer she could feel the heat from his body and could smell the musky scent of his cologne.

Instinctively she closed her eyes, she moved towards him and her lips parted, ready for the kiss that she felt sure would follow. The seconds seemed to stretch to an eternity as she felt the slightest breeze of his breath on her face and then, with a sudden movement, she felt him pull away.

'I look forward to seeing you again soon, Mai.' Seto's voice was polite but dismissive.

Mai's eyes snapped open to see Seto standing with the door slightly ajar, indicating graciously towards the exit. She blinked once or twice and then, as if in a dream, she walked out the door, all thoughts of the hip-swing strut forgotten as she suddenly had to concentrate on even getting her legs to move in a standard forward motion.

She was half way across the outer office when she turned to look back, a small frown furrowing her brow as if she was at a loss to understand what had just happened.

Seto smiled and gave her a cursory nod which she returned before frowning again. For a moment she looked like she was about to say something and then she shook her head as if trying to dislodge an unfamiliar thought, and continued on her way, almost stumbling out of the office's outer door.

Roland and Andrea looked on in rapt curiosity as the door finally swung closed behind her, then, in unison, they turned to look at their boss.

Seto was leaning up against the door frame of his office with his arms crossed and a look of great satisfaction on his face.

'Huh,' he said after a moment, 'well, that was fun.'

Moving swiftly Seto strode into his office but a moment later came straight back out again.

'Roland,' he said briskly as he shrugged on the overcoat he'd quickly grabbed, 'intensify the search. I want to find her - quickly.'

'But sir, if she was just here didn't she - '

'No, she didn't. She's this side of Central Park if that helps.'

'Not really,' Roland said quietly with a dark frown.

Seto chose to ignore him. 'Andrea, call Mokuba, tell him I'll see him at the deli in ten minutes -'

'But, Mr Kaiba,' she began.

'- if he's still free for lunch.'

'Mr Kaiba!' she repeated sternly. Seto paused and looked at her - Roland had been right about her ability to make him listen when she chose to. 'You have an appointment with Dr Wilkins in fifteen minutes.'

'Ugh,' Seto spat with a look of distaste, 'the shrink, I'd forgotten,' he thought for a moment. 'Cancel it. No - wait,' he grinned, 'when she gets here tell her I'm out but say there's an interesting case for her to study in my office. She'll find him on the curtain rail.'

'Oh,' he added just as he was half way out of the door, 'see if you can get hold of a broom from somewhere.'

As the door closed slowly behind him, Roland and Andrea exchanged a baffled look.