Love and Rivalry

Chapter 3

Aria walked into her last class of the day on Monday. History, the only class she shared with Kaiba. She had been dreading this class all weekend. Seeing him at the pizza parlor on Friday night really sent her for a loop. It wasn't his presence that shook her up, it was the fact that he was out on a Friday night, enjoying pizza like any other teenager. It almost made him seem...human. But who was the kid he was with? Does he take an orphan out for dinner once a month for some good publicity?

She gave a quick glance into his corner of the room. A breath of relief shot out when she saw that it was empty. She continued on over to where Yugi was sitting with Joey, Tristan and Téa. "Hey guys, how was your weekend?"

"Not too bad, how was yours Ari?" came Joey's reply.

"Could've been better. Riku was at home all weekend so I didn't get out much."

"He's still holding you on a tight leash eh?" asked Tristan.

Aria shrugged. "I was able to do some prep work on some programming to help better prepare me for the start of my internship today."

Téa's eyes widened in remembrance. "I forgot about that! You're going to work for Kaiba Corp right? Can't say I envy you there," she said with a wink.

Joey put his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair. "Why would you want to work for that rich boy? If you thought Riku kept you on a tight leash, it will be nothing compared to working for that tyrant."

"Believe me, I wasn't too excited about it either," replied Aria. "But apparently it's a very sought after opportunity and will look amazing on my applications."

"Hmph, still think you're selling your soul to the devil," said Joey with a sniff.

Aria gave him a pointed look. "It's a big company, I doubt I'll even see the guy."

"Speaking of Kaiba," broke in Téa. "Wasn't it weird to see him out at the pizza parlor on Friday night?"

Aria was glad that she wasn't the only one who noticed. "I know! But who was that kid that was with him?"

Tristan answered. "Oh, that was his little brother Mokuba. Even though he's a Kaiba, he's actually a pretty sweet kid."

This new information sent Aria's mind awhirl. It really shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that Kaiba had a family, but Aria just couldn't see the guy getting along well with anyone.

"He'd be a great kid," said Joey, "If he didn't worship the ground that Kaiba walked on."

It was then that their teacher walked into the room and asked that everyone take their seats. Aria walked back to her seat and gave one last look at Kaiba's empty chair. Was there more to Kaiba than he was letting on? Was it all a ruse? Or was he really the cruel and blunt billionaire everyone made him out to be?

She shook her head as she tried to clear her thoughts of the blue eyed CEO. Aria had enough things to think about then trying to solve the puzzle that was Seto Kaiba.

History went by painfully slow. It didn't help that Aria was constantly looking at the clock, waiting for the bell that would signal the end of class. She had been a bundle of nerves all day, dreading the moment she had to walk into Kaiba Corp.

The bell finally did ring, and Aria was out of her desk and out the door in record time. She didn't even say a quick goodbye to her friends. She only had a certain amount of time in which to catch the city bus that would take her downtown to her new workplace.

Aria reached the bus stop within plenty of time. The bus pulled up five minutes later and she was on her way. The bus ride allowed her to collect her thoughts and slow her breathing. And her erratic pulse. The bus stopped just outside Kaiba Corp's front doors. Aria stepped out and craned her neck to look at the giant skyscraper that stood before her.