Disclaimer: There was once a world where I owned Yu-gi-oh, but some higher power deemed it too great and destroyed it. But I know that it existed. I know it did.

A/N: Yeah, I kind of don't really have an excuse. End of senior year? Yes. Crazy Summer? Yes. Starting college? Oh, yes. So here I am, all settled in, and my roommate reminds me that I haven't updated ANYTHING in over half a year.

Oops.

So, I decided to work on this fic first, since I love it so much. Caroline, my super awesome roommate from the galaxy of tremendous amazingness, has agreed to read over it and help me along, since I am an insanely good procrastinator and cannot get things done. I gave her a five minute summary of Yu-gi-oh! to help her, but I'm sure I'll be answering questions as we go along.

By the way, if any of you are good artists, I would like to know how you guys picture Mikomi! I love feedback, and sometimes the best way to receive it (especially on an original character) is through depictions of that character.

Dedicated to: my maternal grandmother, who was diagnosed with breast cancer this spring and has recently beat it! I love you, Grammy!

Enjoy!

Footsteps in the Sand

Chapter 8

We are Family

"Hibana! The Kaiba party has arrived!"

"Alright!" she called back, rising from her spot in the break room. One of the older waitresses sighed.

"You know, despite how incredibly attractive that young man is, I do not envy you in the least."

"It's nice to know that I have your support," Komi quipped drily. She washed her hands at the kitchen sink before taking up her notepad and pen and plastering an obviously fake smile on her face. Mikomi left the kitchen and headed towards the back rooms, where a few men had already arrived. Seto, she had noticed, was not present; the reservation was for eight o' clock, after all, and it was barely seven-thirty.

She widened her grin. "Hello, gentlemen, and welcome to Kaneyama. My name is Mikomi, and I will be your server for this evening. Could I start you off with some drinks while you wait for the others to arrive?"

A small man in his late fifties beamed up at her. "That would be lovely, thank you. Some of, oh, what's it called…" he spoke in broken, accented Japanese before muttering in some language under his breath. French, maybe? Komi smiled.

"Sake?"

"Yes, that's it! A few bottles?"

"Of course, sir." She collected the others orders. Coming to the youngest of the group, a man that seemed to be only a few years older than herself, she came upon some irritation. The blonde had smiled and began to chat her up, sliding in what she knew to be some of the worst pick up lines ever.

"Was your father a thief? Because I think he stole the stars and put them in your eyes," he commented as she refilled his water. Nearing the end of her rope, she turned to him with her business-smile in place.

"No, sir, my father is not a thief. He's a Texas oil tycoon. Please, excuse me." She left the private room and hustled to the kitchen, where she slammed the water pitcher onto the counter. One of the assistant chefs looked up and smiled.

"Someone rubbing you the wrong way, Komi-chan?" he questioned cheerfully as he sautéed whatever was in his skillet. "Want me to take care of it?"

Mikomi smiled, feeling better. Tono-san was nearing his late fifties and gave off the "tough grandfather" sort of vibe. "No, thank you, Tono-san," she said laughing. "There's no one I can't handle." Tono-san snorted good-naturedly at the comment.

"You'll find someone one day. They're out there, you know. I've got one, but I can't escape my wife," he grinned broadly.

His infectious smile spread to the brunette, who, feeling much relieved, took a calming breath and returned to the private room.

Kaiba arrived promptly at eight o'clock, another gaggle of business partners in his trail. He gave Mikomi a quick once-over as he entered the room, observing her already strained expressions. He glanced over to the table wondering why in the world she would be– his eyes found the culprit almost immediately.

The rest of the night went much more smoothly than it had before. Mikomi received fewer flirtations from the young German and a heavy tip. She found that she really appreciated American generosity. Seto closed up his talks, and the dinner ended, the foreign businessmen retiring to their hotel suites.

As usual, Seto remained seated. Mikomi brought out a coffee for him and sat down, sipping quietly at her own tea. He accepted the coffee gratefully, especially after Mikomi withdrew a bottle of ibuprofen from her apron. The two sat in comfortable silence. Kaiba's sigh broke it.

Mikomi quirked an eyebrow inquisitively.

Kaiba shook his head in dismissal.

Mikomi sat back in her chair.

When Seto had finished his coffee, she returned the dishes to the kitchen and reemerged with some fruits.

Although neither spoke a word for the next half-hour, neither felt bothered by the lack of conversation between them. If anything, the fact that he did not have to actually vocalize his thoughts helped Seto more than if the younger brunette had sat and hung on his every word.

When he left, the farewell was a short "I'll see you tomorrow."

And, for some reason she could not explain, Mikomi found that she did not mind the idea in the least.

Mikomi and Mokuba watched the elder Kaiba as he strode impatiently through the house. After his third pass through the living room, Mokuba spoke up. "What are you doing?"

Seto threw an irritated glare at the boy. "I'm looking for my cell phone." Mokuba gave him a look. "What?"

"Are you serious? You always have your cell. You're like a teenage girl." He sat back, ignoring his brother's intensifying glare. "Sometimes I wonder if you had it surgically attached to your hand."

"This, obviously, disproves your 'theory,'" grumbled the elder brother, pulling apart the couch.

Mikomi frowned. "No need to be so snippy." She ignored his glare. "You left it on the table last night. I have it at home."

"Couldn't you have brought it today?" he growled.

"It's sitting on the table next to the door. I put it there so I wouldn't forget it… but I did anyway," Mikomi admitted unashamedly.

Kaiba stared at her (whether in confusion or appall, he did not know) before releasing a sigh. "Well, come on, then. I can't use it if it's at your apartment. It's late anyway, so I can drop you off instead of Roland. Roland," the man strode into the room.

"Yes, sir?"

"Stay with Mokuba."

"Yes, sir."

Kaiba turned to Mikomi. "What are you waiting for?" The girl rolled her eyes at his impatience, and hauled herself off of the couch.

"Your car or mine?" Kaiba scoffed. "Yours, then. Bye, Mokuba." The two strode through to house to the garage, and Kaiba slid easily into the driver's side of the Veyron as Mikomi similarly eased into the passenger seat. Although it had taken her a few months, she was now comfortable with the fact that, whenever she rode with Seto, she was riding in the most expensive cars in the world. The Bugatti, however, easily topped the charts, and every time she sat down, she marveled at the fact that she was riding on over a million American dollars.

Seto drove the fastest route to her apartment, managing to park in front of the complex in seemingly no time. Mikomi hopped out, hauling her purse over her shoulder and oh so carefully shut the door. As she walked up to the doors, however, she noticed the lack of footsteps behind her, and turned to find the young CEO still seated in his car. She frowned.

"Kaiba, I'm not going to come back down when you can just as easily come up to get it."

He looked at her through the rolled-down window. "I wasn't the one who left it up there."

"Well, I wasn't the one who left it at the restaurant in the first place!" she retorted, somewhat agitatedly. The two continued to glare at each other, neither willing to concede victory to the other. Finally, Seto rolled up his window and stepped out of the car. Mikomi ignored his venomous gaze and led him through the door and to the elevator.

"Oh stop sulking, Kaiba. It'll be over quickly," she teased. The young man snorted and crossed his arms, but the malice had drained from his visage.

"I know it. I'm just anxious to get it back; those foreign partners are still in town, and I have to play host to them, so I don't know if they've called about some inane question that could be answered if they would look at Kaiba Corp.'s Wikipedia page," he sighed, rubbing his forehead. Mikomi commiserated with him – the questions she had overheard at the meeting the night before were simplistic, and she was sure she could have given complete answers to most of them.

She hummed in understanding. "Well, just think of it this way: they'll be gone soon."

Kaiba chuckled darkly. "Strauss wants to leave his son here to gain some work experience before returning to Germany."

Mikomi froze. "What?" Seto nodded his head. "If I have to serve dinner to that imbecilic boy one more time, I'll explode! A girl can only take so many bad pick-up lines before they stop being funny!"

Kaiba suddenly frowned. "He was hitting on you?"

Mikomi looked at him curiously. His voice sounded deeper than usual, and she could have sworn she had seen something akin to anger flash through his eyes. "Why should you care?"

She had never seen Kaiba surprised before, but she had to admit it was an amusing experience. He blinked his sapphire eyes in an almost-innocent manner, and his frown had twisted into a confused pout. She laughed and waved off her statement. "Never mind! It doesn't matter. Ah, here we are!" The elevator beeped and the doors slid open, and the pair exited into the hall.

"Why should you care?"

Seto was stunned. Why did he care? What business was it of his if stupid little Lukas Strauss decided to flirt with his lab partner/waitress/babysitter? Skirt-chasing, insipid, poncy, blathering Lukas Strauss…

He could not deny the distinct vein of rage that had jolted through him when he had heard her irritated words. Before he could stop them, his anger tumbled off his lips. He was hitting on you?

However, only one thing now crossed his mind: he was getting Lukas Strauss away from Hibana as quickly as he could, regardless of tact or injury to the German branch of Kaiba Corp. And that thought, as true as it was, scared him.

"Never mind! It doesn't matter!" He snapped back to attention at his companion's voice, and he managed to see her laughter dance briefly through her jade eyes before she faced forward. "Ah, here we are!" He followed her off the elevator and down the hallway.

"Here we are… 434. Keys, keys…" she mumbled as she dug through her purse. Once she unlocked the door, she pushed it open, only to be met with a cacophony of mewls from her cat, who wound in and out of her feet. "Alright, I know, I'll feed you in a second!" As if he understood, Byakuya leapt atop the counter and stopped his cries. Instead, he studied the newcomer. "Hey, I guess I didn't put it on the table. Wait here – I'll be right back," called Mikomi as she disappeared into the apartment, turning on lights as she went.

Seto was left in the entryway. After a few minutes, it had become painfully clear that she wasn't going to reemerge soon, and he took the opportunity to sweep his gaze around the home.

Her living area was sparse, but well-furnished, and it flowed neatly into her kitchen that, while small, contained everything she needed to make her own meals. A small hallway led to what he assumed to be a bathroom and a bedroom. However, the most interesting part of the humble abode had to be the black kitten that had been analyzing him for the last five minutes.

The kitten stared at him. Seto stared back. They stood in silence for a little longer before Seto surprised the both of them by extending a hand for the small cat to consider. Byakuya sniffed the hand before moving under it, rubbing against the new person's palm.

"Alright, here it is, I left it in my coat… pocket…" Seto looked up to see Mikomi's stunned face, his phone resting in her hand. She shook her head. "Ah, yeah, here it is. I had put it in my coat this morning, and forgot to give it to you."

"Great," Seto took the phone and checked his messages; luckily, no missed calls. "I'll be going, then."

"Right. Okay, I'll see you tomorrow." Seto nodded, pushing the phone into his pocket. She grasped the handle and opened the door. "Goodnight, Kai-"

"SURPRISE!"

The two teens jumped as the two voices yelled. The kitten had jumped onto the closest human and clung to his shirt. Seto, too stunned to remove the cat from his expensive button-down, just stared at the couple in the hallway. Mikomi managed to find her words, but they only served to astonish the man further.

"M-mom? Dad?"

A tall blonde woman and a large dark-haired man filled the doorway as they rushed to hug their daughter. "Oh, honey, we just wanted to come in town and surprise you for your birthday!" the woman gushed, quickly laying kisses on Mikomi's cheeks. After a moment, though, she paused and stared at the still-speechless Seto Kaiba.

"Honey, I didn't know you had a boyfriend!"