Isono had been a quiet but strong cornerstone of Kaiba Seto's life for much longer than he'd realized. Every morning he was there with coffee and reports. He did what he was told without complaint. He worked late hours- in fact, sometimes he went days without going home. Just like his boss. He was far about top tier when it came to Kaiba Corporation employees. Kaiba didn't have to worry about Isono screwing things up.
When he did, though, as it was inevitable for anyone that was not Kaiba himself to be perfect, he took scoldings as he should have. He apologized profusely and then he righted his mistakes. He took pay cuts without batting an eye. He took raises without egotistical pride stroking. He didn't need praise but reveled in it when he got it- rare as it was, it was hard not to.
Isono did many things for Kaiba that he realized he took for granted. And he'd known the man a lot longer than almost anyone else, save for perhaps Mokuba. Yet it was with pure shock that Kaiba watched the scene unfold in front of him. His body guard stepped in front of him during a crowded street press conference to take a bullet.
It made sense. Isono was his body guard after all, not just his personal assistant. Isono had signed way the right to his life the day Seto stepped into power and promoted him. But when it happened Kaiba couldn't breathe for the first few seconds, watching that black suited body tumble to the ground with a grunt. Kaiba had a great deal of trouble trusting anyone in his life. No one was worth that much effort anymore, except his kid brother, as Mokuba deserved.
But Isono? Somehow even hiring him with such a footnote Kaiba had perhaps thought the man would never do a thing like this. Or maybe it was that he thought it would never come to this. That he should have spotted that target dot a few seconds sooner. That he should have seen the shooter lurking from the building across the street. Or that he was god damn Kaiba Seto and he was impervious.
Whatever the case was, watching Isono fall in his place left him reeling. It took only a few more seconds for panic to be washed over by his usual steely demeanor. He didn't have time for fright. Or questions. He took to his knee, listening as a few rounds from his security team were fired in the air. A body came out from the window with a cry. He wasn't even watching anymore.
He'd scooped Isono's body into his arms and headed for his garage. Driving to the hospital himself would be much faster than waiting for an ambulance to arrive.
"Seto-sama…" Isono was having trouble breathing, wheezing out the name. "Your suit…" The stark contrast of pristine white splashed with sudden violent, dark red was a mess. "I apologize…"
That was just the kind of man Isono was. "Shut up you moron." How could he be so idiotic at a time such as this?
The body was dumped into the passenger seat before he got into his own seat, turned the engine, and sped out of the Kaiba Corporation garage. The hospital wasn't that far away. His hands gripped the wheel, almost nervously, not that he would ever call it such a ridiculous thing. "-sama.." Isono was still going on. Kaiba glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "I-… can't.." It wasn't like him to say that he couldn't do anything. In fact, Kaiba was sure he'd never heard him say that before.
"You can and you will. And you will stay awake. Do you understand me?" Couldn't what? Surely he wasn't talking about his life. Kaiba refused such a notion.
Isono reached up, thick fingers dipping into his own wound, trying to pack it, to keep it from bleeding too much. "Y-yes sir…" Seto had issued an order. Who was he to refuse it?
It was unfortunate that there was a gridlock up ahead. Kaiba spotted it from less than a mile away, cursing underneath his breath. They didn't have time for this. He spun the wheel, jerking them both harshly as he turned down a much less used street. It would take precious time out of their trek. But they would make it. They had to. Otherwise…
"Isono!" He shouted as he watched the other slump much harder.
There was no immediate response- not until he reached up, a shaking hand gripping Kaiba's shoulder. "It's fine…" Whatever Isono's plans for the end of his life had been, this seemed fine. He was calm. Because he'd done his job. He'd protected Seto with his own life. There was nothing greater to him than that.
Try as hard as he might, even in the twisting back roads, Kaiba couldn't keep from letting his eyes look at that hand. His teeth clenched though he felt his face draining. The thought of losing Isono- he was such a good worker, after all. It would be a waste… "We are not finished. You are not relieved of your position until I say so." Kaiba would keep him there with duty. The ever dutiful…
It felt damning when he saw the quirk of Isono's lips underneath his thin mustache. "O-of course, Seto..Seto-sama.." His voice was fading. His grip let up in favor of leaning a little harder than he meant to as Kaiba hit another curve. His head ended resting against a very tense shoulder, glasses slipping. His eyes were closed. "I apologize, sir…"
"You're not failing me now, are you?" Kaiba tried, refusing to seem desperate. He just couldn't realize the tone in his voice for what it was. Kaiba Seto did not get desperate. Not over body guards. "After all this it only takes one bullet?"
"Sir…" Isono wasn't hurt by the statement. He was worried. Seto had always been the strongest person he knew. Never in his life did he think he'd heard this sort of sound from his boss. Even as a child with those forcibly hardened eyes, Seto had never sunk to this. Not even under Gozaburo's hand. How was it that he… such a lowly man had this effect? Impossible.
"You're pathetic!" He hissed, wheeling down a different alleyway. "You'll be lucky to keep your job after I waste the money on patching you up!" Devolving into angry hysterics was all that seemed left to him. And when Isono didn't respond he felt sick. Had he stopped breathing? "Isono!" Still nothing. He swallowed past a lump in his throat. "…Isono." Quieter, but firm, as if backing away would make him turn up.
He exhaled, feeling the very life leave him. He looked over the top of his sunglasses. "Seto-sama… it's always been you and Mokuba-sama… and Kaiba Corporation." He always believed in their future, no matter how bleak. He believed in his boss, in the brothers. That they would lead the way no matter what. "It… it was an honor." He continued even as Kaiba growled for him to shut up again, gripping Seto's arm. "I'm proud of what you've become."
Shock hit Kaiba a second time that day. He couldn't quite place why. Isono was proud? In his confused flurry he didn't recognize the fading away of the older man leaning against him. Trying to parse out the previous statement was much more important. In the end it got a scoff. "You think that really matters?" Isono was a personal assistant. That's all he'd ever been. No matter how long he'd been around for. No matter what he brought in the morning or the work he accomplished.
He was just a fucking employee.
…he had no right.
"You think-" The quiet in the car finally seeped in and he looked over. "Isono." There was no response, and his so-called lowly employee was no longer breathing. That much was very clear. "…Isono." He knew it was fruitless. Yet he couldn't stop. The call of that name came several more times, increasingly more panicked with each one.
By the time it was over the car had screeched to a halt and Kaiba had taken Isono's suit jacked in his hands, trying to shake him back to life. It was all worth nothing. The desperation flew from him in a fury, entire body shaking eventually as he went on to tell Isono how worthless he was. How could he not survive one single bullet? After everything? This was how he decided to give up?
The tirade went on much longer than it should have before Kaiba sat back, arms going to the steering wheel, having winded himself. His eyes closed, refusing to look at the dead body in his passenger seat. Isono's dead body. And for what? For him. HE could have survived that bullet. It was such a waste. But Isono had always said he was much stronger…
"Proud." Of him. Isono had every reason to be. Kaiba got praise all the time but it had never impacted him like that of a dying man's breath.
Not just any man.
Not just some fucking employee.
Going back to Kaiba Corporation that evening he was hollow but threw himself into his work. It was the only thing he knew how to do. The office heated up much too much to keep his jacket on and eventually he slipped it off. The stains were hardly noticed in the dim lighting of his office.
"Isono put on a fresh pot of coffee." It was going to be a long night.
Much longer when Kaiba forced himself to remember that Isono was no longer there.