The weekend went by quickly for Aria and was soon back to work again on Monday. She was able to get out with Yugi and the gang over the weekend, but she actually looked forward to getting back to work to continue on her assignment. It was exciting trying to write a program for a specific purpose while also obeying the parameters of said program.

She suppressed a giggle at how nerdy that sounded. She really did fit into her group of friends that Kaiba had dubbed "The Geek Squad". Which was kind of ironic as Kaiba was probably the biggest geek out of all of them. He just had the billion dollar price tag to go with it.

Kaiba...things have been interesting between them. Especially at school. When Aria walked into her history class on Monday, she had caught his eye. She wasn't sure how to acknowledge him, so she just gave a quick nod and took her regular seat. It used to be so much less complicated when she just thought he was an arrogant jerk. At least then she knew how to act around him. But now, she wasn't so sure.

Aria's mind whipped back to the present. She almost forgot she was sitting at her computer at Kaiba Corp.

Aria refocused herself and continued working, her eyes darting quickly back and forth as she read and deciphered code. She heard a frustrated sigh from beside her. She looked over to see her co-worker, Jim Roberts, pull his hands through his hair in exasperation.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"I keep getting these stupid error messages whenever I try to add my layer of code to the already existing ones. No matter how many times I go through it I can't seem to find the problem."

"Maybe it's not your layer that's the problem. Maybe it is something in one of the other layers that isn't compatible with yours."

"No, I don't think so," he replied. "Langley himself approved the other layers."

Aria rolled her eyes. "Well I'm sure Langley's not perfect, just because he approved them doesn't mean they're not infallible. Why not ask him to review the previous layers, see if he missed something."

Jim let out a snort. "I think I'd rather keep my job." He shook his head. "No, I think I'll take my chances and try and get my layer to work."

Aria looked at him in astonishment. Were all the men in this room really so spineless? And to Langley of all people. "Tell you what, how about you send me over the previous layers and see if I can find anything amiss."

He looked back at her quizzically and then shrugged. "It's your funeral."

Soon Aria had the previous layers loaded onto her screen. After about half-an-hour, she found something in the second layer. It was easy to see how it was overlooked, as the coding worked fine with all the other layers, it was just the last one that it wasn't compatible with.

Aria doubted that Jim would have the nerve to bring this to Langley's attention. Maybe if she did it then the other workers would see that they didn't need to cower in fear of Mr. Langley.

Aria got up from her work station and walked up to the front of the room to Langley's desk. She stood a few feet away and cleared her throat. "Excuse me, Mr. Langley?"

"What is it Miss Ito," he replied without looking up at her.

Annoyance welled up inside her at his rudeness, but she quickly squashed it back down. "I was helping a co-worker with the five layered system. It appears there was a discrepancy in the second layer that was prohibiting him from adding the final layer."

Langley finally stopped what he was doing and looked up at her. "What are you doing working on the five layered system? And I already approved the second layer."

Aria used all her willpower to stop her eyes from rolling. "Yes, I was told. But when I looked back over it there was an error that only came up when the fifth layer was added."

Langley's eyebrows furrowed in anger. "Are you trying to tell me how to do my job?" He said this so loud that everyone in the room had stopped working and were staring at the confrontation.

Aria refused to be intimidated by this bully and stiffened her spine. "No I am not. But I did find it prudent to alert you to an inconsistency in the coding. Especially since you failed to notice it the first time!"

Now she could see a vein starting to throb in Langley's temple. She may have taken it a step too far. She was always getting into trouble with her big mouth.

"That's it Ito. You're out!" barked Langley. "I don't care what Mr. Kaiba sees in you, I want you out of my lab! You can finish your internship down in records."

Aria stood there agape. Now she had done it. But her look of bewilderment soon turned into one of anger. Her fists shook at her sides as she tried to formulate a retort. But she didn't have to. For as just the words were about to leave her mouth, Seto Kaiba walked into the room.

+++

Kaiba sat in history class trying to look bored. But the truth was that school had become more...bearable lately. As the day wore on he found himself eagerly awaiting his last class of the day. Adversely, work had become more frustrating. He spent his whole weekend playing catch up as he had found it increasingly difficult to work during the evenings when he knew a certain green-eyed girl was stationed only a few floors below him.

As Kaiba sat there, his eyes immediately went to her when she entered the room. He immediately chastised himself for acting like an infatuated teenage boy. But he couldn't bring himself to look away.

When her eyes met his, he used all of his self-control to keep his face impassive. He thought he saw a slight flush creep up on her cheeks but before he could inspect further, she gave him a quick nod and then hastily sat down in her seat. He was surprised she had indicated his presence at all. She was a spit-fire, he knew that much about her. But he had noticed that recently around him she acted more nervous than anything. A small smile played on his lips. Unless he goaded her that is.

When the bell rang, Kaiba attempted to act nonchalant and deigned not to look at Aria as he walked past her desk and headed for his limo.

Once seated in his office he tried to empty his mind and focus on work for once. For about an hour he succeeded, but it seemed the gods were against him. In order to continue he needed to go down to the computer lab to talk to Langley. A phone call would probably suffice, but Kaiba wanted a face-to-face explanation to ensure that everything was being followed to his exact specifications. He wasn't going to let one girl affect the quality of his task.

With an embittered sigh, he got up from his desk and headed to the computer lab. As he got off at the 10th floor, he noticed through the hallway window that everyone was staring towards the front of the room. He lifted an eyebrow in curiosity and then noticed that Aria was not a part of the stupefied group.

What had she gotten herself into now he thought. He hurried to the door and almost ran in. What he came upon was Aria standing at Langley's desk, fists clenched at her sides, her whole body shaking. Langley was half standing up from his chair with his knuckles planted on the desk. Both were staring each other down.

"What seems to be the problem here?" he asked evenly, coming to a halt behind Aria.

Neither one looked his way, nor did anyone respond.

He crossed his arms, a glower forming on his face. "I asked you both a question," he said a little more forcefully.

This at least caught Aria's attention, and her hackles seemed to deflate a bit. "Nothing Mr. Kaiba. I was just getting ready to gather my things and head down to records."

Kaiba switched his focus onto Langley. "Care to explain."

Langley fully extended his frame and straightened his attire. "Miss Ito thought it wise to involve herself in another's work that was not her own. Apparently, she thinks she is more capable at doing my job."

Kaiba had to quickly grab Aria by both arms to stop the little vixen from charging at Langley. It looked like she was ready to scratch his eyes out.

She controlled herself but did not step out of Kaiba's arms. Still looking at Langley she said "I found an error in the second layer that he had already approved. When I called him out on it he accused me of insubordination and told me to get out."

Kaiba looked over Aria's head at Langley, contemplating how to handle the situation. Once he was sure she wasn't going to charge again, he reluctantly let go of her arms. "Miss Ito." She turned to look at him. "I want you to go back to your station and complete the project I assigned to you."

Aria stared at him dumbfounded. "You're not going to let him- "

"I said return to your station" he repeated, this time with a hard stare.

For a second it looked like she was going to defy his order. But instead her shoulders slumped, and she bowed her head. "Yes Mr. Kaiba."

Kaiba observed her go and then turned back to Langley. When he saw the smug look on his face, he was almost tempted to punch him out himself.

"In the future Langley, whenever you feel like demoting someone, I want you to run it by me first. Are we clear?"

A bit of the smugness evaporated off Langley. "Perfectly sir."

"Good. Now that I cleared up your little altercation, I did have a purpose for coming down to see you."

After speaking with Langley, Kaiba turned to leave the lab but stopped at the door and turned back to Langley. "Oh, and Langley."

He looked up.

"I heard you overlooked an issue with the second layer. Make sure it's resolved." And with that, he left.

+++

The next day at school, Aria couldn't help but feel like life was against her. All she wanted was to get out. Out of her stepfather's house and out of the cage she has felt like she's lived in for the past five years. Free to make her own choices, free to go her own way.

But it felt like it was no longer just her stepfather who was trying to stuff her into a cage, but now also Langley while Kaiba stood by holding the key. She still couldn't believe he let Langley treat her so abhorrently. Mind you, Langley didn't seem to treat any of his employees well, but he definitely held a deeper prejudice against her because of her sex. Maybe Kaiba thought the same as Langley. Maybe the whole "letting her prove herself" act was just that, an act, a charade. She didn't know what he got out of it, a completed work of coding apparently.

All of these thoughts had been running inside of Aria's head all day. By the time history class rolled around, she was afraid that by the time she saw Kaiba, she would be showing him what a real woman was made of.

Upon entering the classroom, she forced herself to not even look at his corner to see whether or not he was sitting there, and immediately took her seat. All she had to do was pretend that he didn't exist. Staring at the front of the room, waiting for class to start, her eyes instinctively went to a figure walking through the doorway.

When emerald met sapphire, she inwardly cursed herself and looked away in distaste. So much for acting like he didn't exist. At least he was sitting behind her, which made it much easier to ignore him. With her eyes at least, but she found her mind constantly straying to the man who sat behind her.

Aria couldn't leave the room fast enough when the final bell rang. She didn't even hear Yugi shout her name as she practically ran to the front doors of the school. But as she threw them open, she was abruptly halted by what she saw.

Rain. And not just a light sprinkle either. But a deluge. It was like the heavens had opened up and let down the shower that caused the great flood. What was she supposed to do? She didn't think to bring an umbrella, not that it looked like it would do much good. She hated the idea of arriving to work looking like a drowned rat, she just couldn't give Langley any more ammunition to use against her. Guess she'll just have to clean herself up as best she could in the lobby bathroom.

Determined with her decision, she was just about to step down into the downpour when a voice stopped her.

"Looks like you could use a lift."

She closed her eyes and let out a breath. Why did it always have to be him?

She turned around to see Kaiba walking towards her. He was holding an umbrella in his right hand and a briefcase in his left. He was the only 17-year-old she knew that could make himself look thirty but youthful at the same time. "I'm good, thanks."

"You're good?" he asked, disbelief in his tone. "Were you planning on swimming today to work?"

"I hear it's a very economical way of traveling," she replied archly.

He gave a small chuckle. "Well since we're heading the same way, how about I save you the trouble."

He walked up beside her and opened up his umbrella in the rain. "Shall we?"

Aria badly wanted to say no. She didn't want to have to need Seto Kaiba for anything. How could he be the cruel, standoffish CEO one moment, and then turn around and be the charming, considerate gentleman the next?

She looked back out at the rain. What choice did she have? She nodded, not looking him in the eye and stepped out with him into the rain.

The umbrella wasn't meant to have two people underneath it, but she was still staying relatively dry. She tried not to walk too close beside Kaiba, but whenever his arm brushed up against hers, it sent shivers shooting up and down her spine. She couldn't remember ever standing this close to him before, or of feeling so...aware of him.

Aria gritted her teeth together and focused on the limo ahead, while trying to quell her racing heartbeat.

Upon reaching the limo, Kaiba opened the door for her to get in. She mumbled a quick 'thank you' and quickly scurried over to the other side. Kaiba soon followed.

After clicking in her seatbelt, Aria was reconciled to look out her window the whole ride, hoping to give Kaiba the message that she wasn't in the mood for small talk. But when she felt a sprinkling of water hit her, she couldn't help but look over.

Kaiba was running his hand through his hair, trying to shake out the water. It left his hair looking disheveled but even more attractive. Aria could feel her cheeks beginning to warm. She always knew Kaiba was good looking but that was when she only saw him as a conceited know-it-all. Now after being exposed to this other side of him, it was harder to ignore. Much harder.

She quickly lowered her eyes before he could catch her staring. That was when she noticed that the whole left side of his trench coat was dripping.

"You're soaked!" she exclaimed.

"I can change when I get to work, it's no big deal."

That was when Aria realized why she had remained quite dry below the umbrella. Kaiba must've been holding it more on her side.

"You know, if you keep this up," she said, "Then you might ruin your reputation as the most ruthless CEO in Domino City."

He smirked at that. "I'm not too worried," he replied.

Aria shook her head and went back to looking out the window even though she could barely see anything as it was raining so hard.

"Am I going to get the cold shoulder from now on then?" Kaiba asked after a few minutes.

Aria didn't answer. She knew deep down she was acting like a petulant child, moping over the unfairness of the world. Why did Kaiba care anyway? He was getting what he wanted. In the end, men like him always got what they wanted.

Kaiba let out a heavy sigh. "I know you're upset over what happened yesterday," he began, "But I couldn't reprimand Langley openly without there being repercussions."

Aria looked over at him incredulously. "What do you mean you couldn't? You're the head of the bloody whole company! And he was obviously in the wrong and you just let that snake get away with it!"

Now Kaiba began to look irked. "And what do you think would've happened if I had set him down while praising your discovery?" he said flatly. "Your job would've become a living hell, that's what."

Aria paused, doubt beginning to form in the pit of her stomach where her anger had been brewing.

"Believe me when I say this Aria, Langley would've had you quitting by the end of the week."

Aria fell back against the seat deflated. She knew Kaiba was right. It would've only cemented Langley's dislike of her and he would've just found another way to send her packing.

She heard Kaiba give a light chuckle beside her. "What's so funny?" she asked.

"I'm trying to figure out which I like better. The Aria who gives me a run for my money with her temper and wit, or the Aria at work who acts much more..." he waves his hand in the air, pretending to think of a word "...submissive".

Aria let out an unladylike snort. "You would prefer your employees that way."

Kaiba gave her a knowing smile. "At least you always speak your mind."

Aria didn't have time to respond as they had just pulled up in front of Kaiba Corp.

Kaiba got out of the limo first, holding the umbrella again for Aria.

Aria climbed out and they began walking together towards the building. Again, she noticed that the umbrella was held mainly over her.

When they came out of the revolving doors and started walking across the lobby, Aria immediately became very self conscious to be seen next to the CEO. What would people say? Would they think they're like...together? She shook the thought away as it was pretty far-fetched that a man like Kaiba would pursue a girl like her.

When they entered the elevators, Kaiba swiped his key card and pushed the 10th and top-level buttons.

"I look forward to seeing how your assignment is coming along," he said simply as the elevator moved upward.

Aria noticed that Kaiba was back to all business. She was a little relieved as she knew how to handle this Kaiba. The other Kaiba was still very much a mystery. And it's not one she was sure she wanted to solve. "It is coming along very nicely. I plan on submitting it to you by the end of the week" she replied.

The elevator stopped at the 10th floor and Aria steps out and begins to walk away.

"Miss Ito."

She stopped to turn around to see Kaiba with one hand on the door to stop them from closing.

"Try not to rile up Langley too much, for both our sakes."

Aria couldn't help but give a small smile and watched as Kaiba stepped back into the elevator as the doors closed.