I've always had a special fondness for Yu Yu Hakusho, so I had to write at least one fic for it. Hope you enjoy!
‡
Kurama bent and placed a light kiss on the forehead of the woman in the doorway. "I'll come visit again next week, Mother."
She gazed up at him with sincere warmth and affection in her eyes, just as if he were her real son. It had been almost a decade since she had taken him in off the streets. When she looked at him with that expression it made him wonder if she'd forgotten that he wasn't really hers; that there were 17 years of his life before they'd even met that she knew absolutely nothing about. He was deeply grateful to this woman, and could honestly say that he loved her, but it was always at the back of his mind that he was, in a sense, an imposter. "Take care Shuuichi, try not to over work yourself," she cautioned with a gentle, slightly worried smile.
He returned the smile, trying to match her, if not with equal sincerity, at least with equal affection. "I promise I'll keep that in mind," he assured her, "You take care of yourself, too, Mother." He gave her another quick kiss and started down the stairs leading from the townhouse door to the street. He looked up from the bottom to find her still watching him with the same expression of tender concern, and gave her a small wave before setting off at a brisk walk.
Once out of sight, he checked his watch. He wasn't in any danger of being late, but he'd been hoping to get into the office early and make some headway on the new project before the morning meeting. If they could land this contract with the giant Kokuryuu Security, it would open up a whole new world of possibilities for the company, but there were a few serious obstacles that would have to be overcome. First of all, there would be stiff competition for this deal. Kurama had already sniffed out a few other contenders, and some of them would be difficult to beat. Koenma Finance was still only a mid-sized company, and although Kurama was confident that the quality of their work could match that of any of their competitors, some of the larger companies simply had more resources at their disposal. Frankly, taking on such a big challenge as handling Kokuryuu Security's assets would stretch Koenma Finance to its limits, at least until the immense added revenue from the contract could be converted into more personnel and better infrastructure. Somehow, Kurama would have to convince Kokuryuu Security that Koenma Finance was 1) up to the task, and 2) a better choice than all of the bigger, better known companies that would be vying for the same contract.
That was where the next obstacle came in. Jaganshi Hiei, the CEO of Kokuryuu Security, was well known for having a... forceful personality. Kurama's research on the man had turned up countless horror stories of mega-million dollar deals falling through just because Jaganshi had taken a personal dislike to the representative of a company. The rule of Kokuryuu Security's CEO was apparently absolute. The company's vestigial board of directors had no say what so ever. If the representative of Koenma Finance took one wrong step with this man, they could lose any chance of making a deal, regardless of their qualifications. There was a silver lining here, however.
A few days ago, Koenma Finance's CEO (Koenma), COO (Urameshi Yuusuke), and Secretary (Kurama), had been discussing the Kokuryuu deal over coffee in the company lounge. Yuusuke had flippantly suggested that, if all that mattered was Jaganshi's personal opinion of the company's representative, all they needed to do was send Kurama to seduce him and they'd land the contract for sure. He had meant it as a joke, of course, but Koenma had taken it seriously.
"I see your point," he mused, squinting in concentration and sucking furiously away at his ever-present pacifier.
Kurama was startled out of his usual calm. "Just a moment, Koenma-sama!" He had objected, "It can't be as simple as that! It's true that there have been stories of Jaganshi breaking off deals because of personal dislike, but the ones telling the tales are the injured parties. We can't say for sure that they aren't embellishing the facts. Jaganshi-san may have had more concrete objections that the losing companies preferred not to advertise. Even supposing the stories are completely accurate, I've never heard of a single instance of Jaganshi-san making a deal with a less qualified company because he had personal preference for their representative. As far as my information goes, only the reverse is true. If he dislikes a representative, then the deal is lost, but there's nothing to say that if he likes the representative…"
"Hold on just a sec, Kurama," Yuusuke interrupted with a scowl, "Just who're you calling a 'less qualified company,' huh? I know you can't be talkin' about Koenma Finance. It ain't like we're asking Jaganshi to make a bad business decision, here. We just need him to look past them big-name, bloated companies you say 're trying to steal our contract, and see us for what we are; a seriously bad-ass company." He paused for a second. "Ya know, the more I think about it, the more I like it!"
Kurama sat back and crossed his arms. "But as I was saying, there has never been an instance of Jaganshi-san's liking a representative influencing his decisions in the slightest. For that matter, there has never been an instance of Jaganshi-san liking a representative."
"Hmph! If your company got a deal just 'cause your representative has a pretty face would you publish it to the world? We can't say that's not how Jaganshi does business."
Kurama wasn't going to back down. "Nor can we say that it is."
"What's the harm if we're wrong? Besides…" Yuusuke's eyes big chocolate eyes glinted and an evil grin spread over his face. "Even if it's never happened before, this is you we're talkin' about, Kurama. My money's on Jaganshi eat'n out of your hand within the week. You've worked miracles like that before, haven'cha?"
Kurama's eyes narrowed. "That was years ago."
"Back when they still called you Youko Kurama. You're supposed to be Minamoto Suuichi now. We get that, but know what?" Yuusuke met Kurama's chilly glare with a steady gaze. "You've still got the best part a' Youko Kurama in you. If you didn't, I…" Koenma coughed, "…OK Koenma and I wouldn've hired you."
Kurama looked away. "The best part of Youko, you say," he murmured, so softly that he couldn't be heard by the other two. "Have I really got such a thing?" He wasn't even really sure what Yuusuke meant by that, anyway. What was the 'best part' of Youko?
‡
By 17, Kurama had reached the top of the business world as a brilliant and audacious hedge fund manager, with a reputation for always coming out on top even betting against odds that looked impossibly long to everyone else. The finance world had even dubbed him "Youko" Kurama for his fox-like cunning and mischievousness.
But even Youko Kurama wasn't infallible. Eventually he took one risk too many—an enormous risk which plunged the fund into bankruptcy. This was followed by a law suit when the team sorting through the fund's assets discovered that some of the company's practices had not been entirely legal. Dealing with the suit ate up any resources Kurama and his business partner, Kuronue, had come out of the company's failure with. If that had been the end of the matter, Youko Kurama might have come out from the experience intact and fought his way back to the top again, but it wasn't. Kurama's business partner, friend, and—as he had just been beginning to realize at the time—more than just a friend, hadn't been able to take the combined strain of the bankruptcy and legal suit. One morning, Kurama had woken to find himself and his bed drenched in blood, the cold, stiff body of Kuronue lying next to him with a razor blade still clenched in one hand, and a deep gash across his long, white throat.
That had broken him. He'd left everything, the legal suit, any hopes of building a new business, and even his identity, and took to aimlessly wandering the streets. He was occupied with the desire to follow Kuronue, but somehow he could never completely make up his mind to do it.
As he hung in this limbo, not wanting to be alive, but not able to kill himself, he had been discovered by Minamoto Shiori, a widow who had recently lost her husband and her only son in a car crash. Apparently, Kurama resembled the late Shuuichi Minamoto, and Shiori had taken him in and cared for him as if he was her own son. At the time, Kurama had been in no state to care, or even really notice what happened to him, and so he allowed Shiori to continue using him to plug the gap that Shuuichi had left in her life. At first, Kurama didn't make any effort to be a replacement for Shiori's lost son, and Shiori didn't seem to expect it, happy to have someone to nurture even if the only connection to her son was a slight physical resemblance. As time went on, however, and Kurama's own pain began to become a little less all-consuming, compassion for Shiori's suffering began to edge into his consciousness. Occasionally, she would slip up and address him as "Shuuichi," and he began to answer to that name. He had never actually told her what his real name was, and so he gradually adopted the name of "Shuuichi" as his own. Then there were Shiori's whistful reminiscences of her son's kind, gentle, considerate nature. Having already adopted the name Shuuichi, Kurama found himself also molding himself into his picture of Shiori's gentle son. He had lost himself completely after Kuronue's death, and instead of finding the old Youko Kurama again, he allowed his shapeless, battered spirit to ooze into the mold of a completely different character.
It took him a couple of years to figure out that he'd made a mistake. As his wounds healed and his spirit recovered more of its strength, he discovered that, no matter how perfectly he'd learned to act the role of Minamoto Shuuichi, his thoughts remained stubbornly his own. The more he recovered, the more he chaffed at the restrictions of his adopted persona. He had intended to go to medical school after graduating from college, as Minamoto Shuuichi had planned to do, but the call of Youko's old interests was too great to ignore. He switched tacks and applied to business school instead. It took him no time at all to finish his Masters, and he began trying to work his way up in the business world.
It wasn't long before he ran into problems. Something, either the years spent masquerading as the gentle Shuuichi, or the trauma of his failures as Youko Kurama, had made him much more cautious and careful. Too much so, apparently. He was still just as sharp, but he found himself continually passed over for promotion in favor his bolder co-workers. Years passed, and Kurama's career remained stalled.
Whatever progress he'd made, he owed to his chance meeting with Urameshi Yuusuke. Yomi Inc., the company Kurama was working for at the time, and Koenma Finance were competing for a contract. Kurama had been tagging along as a secretary to Yomi inc.'s representative when Yuusuke happened to overhear a conversation between Kurama and his boss. Finding himself with only a potted plant between him and the delegation from Yomi corp., apparently engaged in an argument over how to proceed with the deal, Yuusuke had hunkered down to listen.
It was a very important deal for Yomi corp., but the representative thought they had enough of an edge over the competition to hold out for better terms.
"I disagree," Kurama had said quietly, but firmly, "It's not worth the risk. Koenma Finance might not be a well known company, but I've looked into them. They're a more reasonable candidate for this contract than you seem to be aware. I'm sure Makai Corp. knows it too. From what I saw at the last meeting, they may already be leaning that towards them. Furthermore, they're already charmed by Koenma Finance's Urameshi-san. It would be a mistake to underestimate the power of a character like that on Makai Corp.'s decision. If you press them for better terms now, I'd say there's about a 75% chance that Makai Corp. will simply stop negotiating with us and give the contract to Koenma Finance."
Some of the more junior members of the team had begun to shifted uncomfortably and exchange concerned looks, but Kurama's boss hadn't even bothered to look up from his paper all through this speech. "Tch," he spat when Kurama had finished delivering his diagnosis. "What do you know, Paper-pusher. Not worth the risk? Weak thinking like that is why you've been stuck in the same shitty job for the last five years."
Kurama's eyes had taken on a cold glint. Yuusuke repressed a shiver as Kurama answered in a soft, ominously controlled tone, "Perhaps my thinking is weak, but in this case I believe it to be realistic. I repeat; if you continue to hold out for better terms, you will almost certainly lose this deal. Are you prepared for that?"
The representative slapped his paper down on the table and glared up at Kurama in disgust. "I repeat; your opinion is not wanted!"
"Very well." Kurama, voice still carefully neutral, but eyes radiating icy contempt, bowed slightly to his boss and withdrew.
Two days later, Koenma Finance had the contract, and Kurama was out of a job. Yuusuke had caught him as he was on his way out of the hotel where the negotiations had been taking place.
"Hey you!" Yuusuke reached out impulsively and grabbed a handful of scarlet hair to stop his prey from disappearing into a waiting taxi. His hand was instantly knocked away, but his objective was achieved. The young man whirled around and stared at him with suspicious green eyes. Yuusuke just grinned. He liked the half feral feel the redhead was giving off right now. "I'm Urameshi Yuusuke. How'd you like to work for Koenma Finance? Don't worry, we'll give you a much better job than the one you've just lost. We'll even listen to what you say. Pinky swear." With that he stuck out his little finger.
Kurama had been staring incredulously at Yuusuke's proffered pinky, but finally the corner of his mouth twitched up into a smile, followed shortly afterward by a fit of laughter that had Kurama doubled over and dripping tears of mirth. "It's very hard to say no when you put it that way, Urameshi-san." He hesitated only a moment longer before extending his own pinky and linking it with Yuusuke's.
With a completely straight face, Yuusuke began to chant. "Yubikiri genma, uso tsuitara, hari senbon nomasu, yubi kitta," which soon had Kurama laughing again. "C'mon. Get your things outta that taxi. I'll give you a ride."
Still trying to catch his breath, Kurama complied.
‡
It wasn't until Yuusuke was attempting to introduce his new recruit to Koenma that he realized he'd never asked Kurama's name.
"This is… uhhh…" he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "What was your name again?"
Kurama repressed a smile. "Kurama," he said, reaching out to shake Koenma's hand. He stopped mid motion, however. "Em… well no. It's actually Minamoto Shuuichi…" Somehow, he'd gotten caught up in Yuusuke's energy and forgotten all about his assumed identity.
Koenma didn't take the proffered hand. He was squinting up at Kurama and sucking on a pacifier, which Kurama had been making a great effort to ignore ever since entering the room. "Hmmmmm…"
Everyone in the room—Yuusuke, Kurama, the rather ugly gentleman hovering behind Koenma that no one had bothered to introduce, and the bubbly receptionist, Botan—waited with bated breath for Koenma to speak.
Koenma leaned far forward in his seat, still peering at Kurama's face. "You couldn't be… that Kurama… Youko Kurama?"
Botan and the ugly gentleman gasped.
Kurama froze.
Yuusuke tilted his head to one side and asked, "Who?"
Koenma slipped out of his chair and cracked his forehead on the edge of the desk. There was a flurry of activity as the ugly gentleman rushed to attend to his injured boss and Botan berated Yuusuke for his stupidity.
"How can you not know who Youko Kurama is? Are you really a business man? Youko Kurama is practically legendary!"
Yuusuke was twisting a finger in the ear that Botan was attempting to yell into. "Whatever. So I didn't pay much attention in business school. Just cut to the chase and tell me who this big shot is supposed to be. Other than him…" he waved a hand in Kurama's direction.
By this point, Koenma had recovered, although a magnificent bump was beginning to distort the "Jr" tattooed on his forehead. He waved away the attentions the ugly gentleman was trying to bestow on him, and addressed Yuusuke. "It's not too far-fetched to call Youko Kurama a legend. He was only in his teens when he became one of most successful men in the world of finance. He ran a hedge fund, and for about three years, it did so well that people began to think he was some kind of god. He was absolutely ruthless as a business man, too. Whatever it took to get what he wanted, he did. It's said he wasn't above using his body to get ahead, either. Speaking of which… he was supposed to have been silver haired with golden eyes, but… there's something about your face… after all I really can't see you as anything but that Kurama, even if the coloring's a little off. Am I right, am I right?"
Kurama closed his eyes and smiled slightly, recognizing defeat. "It wasn't all me, you know. I had a very good business partner. Please don't forget to give Kuronue his fair share of the praise… or the censure."
"Oh?" Yuusuke mused, "so our Kurama here, used to be such a big shot, eh? How the hell d'you end up working as an under-secretary for those fat-heads at Yomi inc?"
"And what happened to the hair and the eyes?" Botan added curiously.
"Em… I made a few bad decisions leading to bankruptcy and a law suit, and Kuronue… Kuronue…" Kurama found himself unable to finish the sentence. "As for the change in my appearance, Kuronue and I started the fund just as a boyish prank, really. We were trying to hide our identities from the start. Kuronue hid his face with a hat, and I used a wig and colored contacts…"
"Oh," Botan sighed, "how anticlimactic. Seriously, just a wig and contacts…"
Yuusuke was leaning against the office wall, arms crossed, and a thoughtful expression on his face. "A ruthless businessman, huh… I'd say you've changed a lot, but then again…" he remembered the arctic chill Kurama had been emitting while facing his boss.
Kurama blinked, and looked at Yuusuke curiously, maybe a little hopefully. "But?" he prompted.
Yuusuke gave his head a stiff shake. "Nah, never mind. What the hell does it matter whether you're Youko Kurama, anyway? I didn't know such a guy existed 'til five minutes ago. So come on, and I'll show you around the place."
"Not so fast, Yuusuke," Koenma broke in, "I haven't agreed to hire him yet. Whoever he is now, he used to be a business man treacherous enough to be given the title of 'Youko.' I can't hire someone like that lightly."
"Yeah, I can kinda get that, but I picked him up in the first place because he wasn't like that. OK, he was giving off some scary vibes, but he was standing up to his dick-head boss and calling the situation like it was. Totally up-front and honest. Maybe he's treacherous with his enemies, I don't know, but isn't that a good thing for us any ways? All I know is he'll be honest with us."
"Mmmmmm…"
Yuusuke leaned over Koenma's desk and insisted, "Kurama's a good guy! I'd stake Koenma Finance on it!" Kurama couldn't understand why Yuusuke was pushing so hard for someone whose name he hadn't even bothered to ask until five minutes ago, but he was rather pleased, all the same.
"Yuusuke, Keonma Finance is my company, not yours. Don't go betting things you don't have in the first place," Koenma sucked more vigorously at his pacifier and screwed up his face in an expression of deep concentration. "However, this time I'll trust your instincts. Kurama can stay. You've been in need of a good secretary, haven't you? He can work under you. That means it's your responsibility to keep an eye on him, am I making myself clear?"
Yuusuke drew himself up, and with an equally serious expression, said "Aa. I'll take responsibility if I'm wrong."
Koenma sighed. "Anyway, hurry up and take him on that tour, eh? You've been interrupting my important business for a while now."
The ugly gentleman leaned down close to Koenma's ear and whispered very audibly, "Important business, Koenma-sama? But weren't you just taking a nap?"
"URUSEI! EVERYONE OUT OF MY OFFICE! NOW!"
‡
Kurama smiled at the memory, although it hadn't shed any light on what Yuusuke had meant by "the best part of Youko Kurama." At the time, Yuusuke hadn't even known who Youko was. Kurama chuckled as he sat down at his desk. That was just like Yuusuke, really.
Yuusuke had only known what Koenma had told him: that he had been ruthless, treacherous, and not above using his body as a tool. Kurama winced. That was probably what made Yuusuke think up the whole "seduce Jaganshi-san" plan. It probably wasn't what Yuusuke was thinking of as Youko's good side, however. True, as Youko Kurama he'd been an unabashed believer that the end justifies the means, but back then his ultimate end had been self gratification. He'd never found the idea of getting intimate with disgusting old business men gratifying, so he'd never done it. Certainly, he may have encouraged people like that to think that he might. He'd done things like pretend not to notice when men stood far too close to him, or swallowed his disgust at someone's touch, but he always contrived to disappear the moment things might go any farther. He supposed things hadn't really changed much. How many times had he smiled at people he'd rather kill, born with hands on his ass, and tolerated prospective clients of Koenma Finance rubbing up against him in elevators that were far from full? But he'd never actually seduced a client outright.
Part of his reason for holding back now was his wish to avoid seeing his boss's disappointment. It wasn't as if Yuusuke was one to play by the rules, but he had an honor code of his own. Kurama was sure that using sex to close a deal wouldn't sit right with him. Kurama had heard him say before that such underhanded tricks left a bad taste in his mouth.
"Which begs the question, why is Yuusuke a proponent of my seducing Jaganshi-san?" Kurama wondered. Surely Yuusuke wasn't being entirely serious about it. Perhaps Yuusuke only meant for Kurama to win Jaganshi-san's approval in a platonic way. Kurama was sure that must be all there was to it.
"Although…" Kurama looked down at the Kokuryuu file on his desk. On top, there was a newspaper clipping with a photograph of the CEO. "…Perhaps seducing this man wouldn't be so distasteful, after all," he found himself thinking. If you put aside the forbidding glare, the CEO had a rather attractive face, with delicate features and large, almond eyes. Kurama shook his head. Yuusuke's absurd joke was putting ideas in his head. He would win Jaganshi-san's approval as a businessman and potential colleague, with maybe a little extra charm and friendliness thrown in. That would be it. Anything more was just ridiculous. After all, Kurama suddenly realized, they had absolutely no reason to assume that Jaganshi-san was interested in men in the first place.
‡
"Minamoto-san…" the receptionist tore her eyes away from the visitor to glance at one of the memos on her desk. "You're scheduled to have a meeting with Jaganshi-sama, right?" She returned to gazing up into the brilliant green eyes. "The meeting room is on the thirteenth floor. I'll show you the way…" she slipped eagerly out of her chair and reached for his arm, but Kurama raised a hand to stop her.
"Please don't trouble yourself on my account. I'm sure I can find it on my own," he assured her, maintaining a pleasant smile, but speaking in a tone that brooked no argument.
"Oh. Well if you're sure," the receptionist gave his arm a wistful look before returning to her seat. "If you take the elevator up the 13th floor, turn right, and walk to the end of the corridor, you'll find the meeting room. Say… After you finish with Jaganshi-sama, how about I take you for a reviving cup of coffee? Trust me, you'll need it!" She gave him a conspiratorial smile.
"I'll keep your offer in mind," he answered politely. Hopefully, she'd be gone by the time his meeting was over. He excused himself and headed in the direction of the elevator. It was a pretty fancy affair for an elevator, paneled with rich, dark wood; another reminder, if he needed one, of the wealth and power of the company he was here to negotiate with.
The doors began to open onto the thirteenth floor and Kurama prepared to step out, but before he could, someone was already rushing in. They collided in a flurry of papers. Kurama, keeping one foot in the door to keep the elevator from closing, gathered up the scattered documents and presented them to the person who had run into him. She was a leggy blond in a stylish, fitted suit. She would have been quite attractive, if it weren't for the shell-shocked expression on her face. She took the papers from Kurama wordlessly, eyes not even focusing on him. Kurama stepped out of the elevator and turned to watch as the doors closed. The woman still hadn't moved.
Kurama shook his head and walked on. Now was not the time to be worrying about other people. He came to the end of the hall. The door marked "Meeting room" was already ajar. He hesitated a moment, pushed it the rest of the way open, and entered. The room was dim, with a long table running the length of the room and a projector screen at one end. Kurama's eyes narrowed. There was already someone in the room, lounging in an oversized leather chair at the head of the table.
"Excuse me…"
"So you're the rep from Koenma Finance, huh." A biting voice emanated from the depths of huge black leather chair at the far end of the table. Kurama narrowed his eyes, trying to make out the form of the speaker, but the projector beam shone from behind the great chair, throwing its occupant into shadow, and dazzling Kurama's eyes. There was nothing to do but resign himself to having a conversation with a disembodied voice.
"Yes, I am Koenma Finance's Shuuichi Minamoto. Douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu." He inclined his head slightly. He was aiming for polite, but not obsequious.
There was a brief silence, and though Kurama couldn't see Jaganshi's eyes, his skin prickled as if he were being scoured from head to toe with a burning gaze. "Just like all the other ones," the voice said at last. When I saw that Koenma Finance was sending me a male representative, I thought maybe your company had the good manners not to try and seduce me, but now that I've seen you, I'm not so sure. Did you people decide I was gay, or are you so confident in your looks that you figured you could hook me regardless of my preferences?" Kurama winced inwardly. Now the shell-shocked bombshell he'd seen in the elevator made sense. All the other companies had been thinking along the same lines as Yuusuke.
"Neither," Kurama lied. Well, he'd never really thought Yuusuke was serious to begin with, so maybe it wasn't a complete un-truth. Anyway, serious or no, the seduction strategy was clearly not viable. It was time to salvage the situation as best he could. Kurama arranged his features into a polite smile. "If you find me unsatisfactory, Koenma Finance will be happy to send someone else in my stead, but I assure you that, despite my good looks, I am a perfectly capable representative." His response had been a little cheeky, perhaps, but he wanted Jaganshi to know that he wasn't going to be intimidated that easily.
Jaganshi snorted. "Well, we'll see. Have a seat." An arm appeared from the shadows and waved at the opposite end of the table from the great chair. Kurama raised an eyebrow, but sat where he was bid. Jaganshi didn't wait to hear Kurama's sales pitch. He went straight for the jugular. "I've taken a good look at Koenma Finance. Not exactly a giant firm. What makes you people think you can handle a big contract like this?"
Kurama considered briefly, and decided that dissembling was not likely to get him anywhere with Jaganshi. Clearly, he was already familiar with Koenma Finance, and blind assurances that everything would work out fine would only serve to make Kurama look either stupid or dishonest.
"With our current capacity, it will be a stretch, but we're ready to expand."
"I don't have time to wait while you build yourselves up and sort yourselves out. I have plans to expand as well. Are you going to be ready to handle it?"
That was a good question. They hadn't known Kokuryuu Security was on the verge of expanding. Kurama's heart began to beat a little faster, but he kept his voice level as he asked, "When would that be?"
"Early next month."
Not soon enough to make it absolutely impossible, but too soon for him to be sure. "Would you be willing to give me an outline of how you plan to expand Kokuryuu and let me get back to you tomorrow?"
"And if want an answer now?"
"I think there's a high likelihood that we can be ready to handle the shift, but I can't say that with utter confidence until I've seen the scope of your prospective expansion and looked into how we might alter our plans."
"And you think you can do that in one day, huh?"
"Yes." It would be a very long night, but he didn't want to try Jaganshi's patience. Anything to keep Koenma Finance in the running.
"I'll give you two. I want you to make doubly sure that you guys aren't going to slow me down. The details you'll need on the expansion will be in your fax by the time you get to it."
Kurama took that to be a dismissal, and rose to leave. "Ah." Jaganshi's voice stopped him short in the doorway. "I want you to get started as soon as possible, so try not to get waylaid by the receptionist on your way out. Do you know where the back door is?"
Kurama smiled wryly. He'd almost forgotten about the flirty receptionist. "I appreciate the advice. I'm sure I can find it."
‡
Kurama had a lot to think about on his way back to the office. Jaganshi was willing to give them time to adjust their plans. That meant, at the very least, that he wasn't going to dismiss them out of hand. He might go as far as to say that Jaganshi was leaning in their direction despite the obvious problems. Which was a little suspicious. Kurama knew there were other, larger companies in the running for this contract. Now more than ever, those companies looked like much safer bets than Koenma Finance. Perhaps the rumors were true, and Jaganshi had decided to give Koenma Finance a chance simply because he'd taken a dislike to the representatives from the larger companies. Jaganshi's behavior had certainly been eccentric enough. And yet, he'd felt a fierce intelligence from Jaganshi that made it hard to believe that he would make decisions on such an arbitrary criterion as the personality of a company's representative. Furthermore, it didn't seem like Jaganshi particularly approved of him either…
"So. How did the seducing go?"
Kurama blinked. He'd been so intent on unraveling the mystery of Jaganshi that he'd made it back to his desk at Koenma Finance without noticing. Yuusuke was leaning over the wall of his cubicle, looking expectant. Kurama collected his wits and looked at his fax machine. Sure enough, a fat pile of freshly printed data was waiting for him. He couldn't keep the smile entirely off his face.
"Holy shit! You did seduce him! I wasn't serious about that, you know!"
"No, no," Kurama assured his boss, "Nothing like that."
"You're smiling though, so there must be good news…"
Kurama sobered. "Well not entirely, no…" He explained the situation to Yuusuke. When he was done, he looked his boss squarely in the eye and held his gaze. "If, after looking at this," he gestured to the pile of information on the upcoming Kokuryuu expansion, "We determine that we can't be ready in time, I can lie to Jaganshi-sama. Once the contract is made, it will be too late for Kokuryuu to back out. Of course, we'll undoubtedly lose the contract the next time it's up for renewal, but by that time we'll already have gotten the revenue we need to expand. Furthermore, Jaganshi's reputation is so bad that losing the contract probably wouldn't hurt our credibility with the business community in general. It's something to consider."
Yuusuke stared back at Kurama. "You know, the way you were talking about Jaganshi up until a minute ago, I kinda thought that you liked the guy."
Kurama was a little surprised. He hadn't thought of it as liking, exactly. "He… has qualities that I admire... and he's certainly interesting. Yes, I suppose you could say that I like him."
Yuusuke stared at him a moment longer, then shuddered. "I gotta say, sometimes you freak me out, Kurama. I'm glad you're on our side, 'cause I'd really hate to have you as an adversary."
"Well?"
"If we can't do it, tell Jaganshi he can either wait for us or dump us."
Kurama smiled. It was what he'd expected Yuusuke to say. It was his duty to make the suggestion, and if Yuusuke had approved it, he would have put on his best performance to deceive Jaganshi, but he was glad he didn't have to. "Hopefully it won't come to that."
"Do you think he would?" Yuusuke asked.
"What?"
"Wait for us. If it looks like we won't be ready to handle Kokuryuu's expansion by the time he's ready to start."
"I'm not sure. He said he didn't want us to slow him down, but the fact that he's bothering with us at all suggests that he has reasons for not wanting to use the more obvious candidates. We might have a little leeway, but I wouldn't count on it.
Yuusuke nodded thoughtfully, "I see. So he's spotted our golden potential and really wants to use us."
"Or he has problems with the other companies…"
"Have a little faith in your own company, will ya?"
Kurama gave a wan smile. "I'll get started looking through this data. I should have a fairly clear idea whether we can manage it later tonight."
"Don't kill yourself, Kurama. It's past Koenma's bed time, so we can't get it Okayed until tomorrow anyway. 'Sides, didn't you say Jaganshi gave us an extra day?"
"Yes, but…"
"Right, so don't be stupid. Go home and get some sleep tonight."
‡
So he'd been told, but it was 4 in the morning before Kurama finally pushed aside the plans he was working on and went to sleep, right at his desk. Only a few hours later, he was dragged back to consciousness by the feeling that someone was there in the office, watching him. He opened his eyes and saw, of all things, a dark little elfin creature perched on the low wall of his cubicle. It wasn't actually watching him at that moment. Its face was turned away, which gave him a few moments to examine the creature uninterrupted. It wasn't, he supposed, actually an elf, just a young man with a very slight build. He was dressed almost all in black. His black tank was tucked into the black cargos that were belted around a trim waist. The cuffs of his pants disappeared into the tops of tall black combat boots. The only thing that wasn't black was the long white scarf that was coiled over his shoulders, and of course the slender white arms and neck. Slender, but well toned, he could see. He might be small, but he definitely was no push-over. It wasn't until his examination reached the face that he realized this strange person roosting on his office wall at 7:00AM wasn't a total stranger. In fact, those delicate features and the wild thatch of jet black hair that crowned them were reproduced in a newspaper clipping lying not two inches from his nose. This was Kokuryuu Security's CEO, Jaganshi Hiei. He sat up with a start. Jaganshi caught the sudden movement and turned to look at him.
"So you're finally awake, Kurama."
Kurama opened his mouth automatically to make some sort of civil greeting, but froze. Jaganshi had called him 'Kurama.' He sat back in his chair and eyed the little man on his wall warily. "I believe I introduced myself yesterday as Minamoto Shuuichi."
"Hn. It took me a while to place you. You changed your name, your hair and your eyes, but something about you bothered me, and about an hour ago, I got it. You're Youko Kurama. Don't even bother trying to tell me otherwise."
"…And what do you want from me? You gave Koenma Finance two days to come up with a final decision. I don't really see what bearing my identity has on that decision."
"When I realized what kind of dangerous character I'd been dealing with, I figured I couldn't trust you to tell me honestly if Koenma Finance wasn't going to be up to the task. After all, you people get everything you want just by getting me to sign a contract. If you can't hold up your end of the bargain, I'll be the one hurting, not you. So I thought I'd sneak in here and take a look at the situation myself. You could really use my services in the security department, by the way."
"And where does perching on my wall come into it?"
Jaganshi shrugged. "It looked like you were seriously working on a way to make this deal work. I can't imagine why, but it doesn't look like you're intending to stab me in the back."
"You have my boss to thank for that," Kurama told him honestly, "I told him exactly what you said yourself a minute ago, but he refused. When he says he'll do something, he's means it."
Jaganshi eyed him. "I see. So you were going to sell me down the river after all, huh. I think I like you better for it. And? How does it look? Can you guys make it?"
Kurama paused for just a moment before saying steadily, "No. I'm not 100% sure yet, but from what I have seen so far, it looks as though the middle of next month is the absolute earliest we can be ready to deal with Kokuryuu's expansion."
"I'll wait for you."
Kurama blinked. "I beg your pardon?"
"The middle of next month, even the end of next month… I'm willing to wait that long."
Kurama was silent for a long time. This was too good to be true. Finally, he asked, "Why? I honestly can't see why you wouldn't just give the contract to one of the other companies that already have the capacity to handle the contract."
Jaganshi fixed Kurama with a long intense look. Kurama felt a little odd, a little giddy, under that look, but he refused to let eny sign of it show on his face. He just sat perfectly still, meeting Jaganshi's fiery glare with a neutral expression, and waiting for him to say something. Finally, Jaganshi averted his gaze. He shrugged and slipped down from the wall. "I can't stand the idea of working with the rest of those fools, is all," he grumbled. "I'll see you tomorrow, as planned. We'll finalize the deal then." He shoved his hands in his pockets and ambled out the door, still not looking at Kurama.
‡
"Say what?"
Kurama could understand Yuusuke's incredulity. He still didn't quite believe it himself. "We have the Kokuryuu contract. Jaganshi is willing to give us the extra time, if we need it."
"Why? And when the hell did this happen?"
"Jaganshi came to… visit… the office this morning. He told me then."
"This morning? It's only 7:30! How early did he come?"
"He was here when I woke up around half an hour ago. I don't know when he arrived."
Yuusuke just stared at him for a moment, before finally shaking his head. "Anyway, that doesn't answer the 'why' part of my question. Did he say?"
"I quote: 'I can't stand the idea of working with the rest of those fools.'"
"Ho? Good job, Kurama. You may not have seduced him, but at least you managed not to be hated."
"Thank you ever so much for the compliment."
"Any time. So we've got till tomorrow to come up with a plan, huh? Nooo problem. Let's get crackin'. Oh. But before that, don't think I've forgotten. I told you to go home last night, and you deliberately disobeyed my order. Look forward to your punishment."
"Oh?" Kurama smiled, "And what will that be?"
"Dunno. Can't think of anything right now."