A/N: Hello! :) Another story for you all. This is another story written by me and another friend. (Blehlove) her account is mentioned in my profile. 3 we've been writting fanfics together for YEARS, and this is our latest one. I really hope you all enjoy it. Please review. please? We would really like any comments. it helps us to move the story along :) This Story contains Yami Bakura; however, for the sake of the story he has the full name 'Ryo Bakura'. HE IS NOT RYO, he is just using the name.
Disclaimer: We do not own YGO or any characters. We just own the two OCs and the plot. Kaiba is a beast. :3
Chapter One
In the cold, sterile hallway, he stood, surrounded by big men dressed in suits of black. The bright fluorescent lighting reflected off the glossy, white tile walls. It struck a spot in his mind, irritating him to no end. Just being there made him want to demolish the entire building. Ironically though, he was the same as this proverbial naked avenue. Nothing to embellish what was inside. Just cold, uninviting walls. Fixing the collar of his own white suit, Seto Kaiba nodded to one of his bodyguards. The tall, muscular man silently opened the door and flashing lights flooded the CEO of the greatest gaming company in the world. Step by step, Kaiba immersed himself into his inevitable hell. "I hate the fucking paparazzi."
"Mr. Kaiba! Mr. Kaiba, thank you for attending this press conference. It truly is a pleasure!" a short, stout man wailed at the top of his lungs, trying to be heard over all others. He held up his microphone as Seto walked past him without a single glance.
"I'm sure it is. You animals couldn't go a week without me giving you something to cry about." Kaiba scoffed, flattening out his tie and stepping up to the podium. He was rushed by a wave of voices and flickering cameras. With a sigh, Kaiba slightly raised his hand and the elements ceased.
"Hello… again." He said, emotionless. "Let's make this quick. I have better things to do. I suppose you're all here to pry about my younger brother, Mokuba Kaiba." Kaiba began shuffling through some papers. The wave came crashing back down on him immediately. He pointed to a tall, skinny man, with a notepad and pen. "You… what?"
The man began to shake, but then again, who wouldn't with that Kaiba charm? He stood, nervous, but tried his best to be heard. "My question isn't about Mokuba. It's about you." He said, pausing slightly. "…How are you coping?" He immediately regretted his question.
"What is there to cope about? He's not dead; he has simply made some decisions that haven't been beneficial. As far as I am concerned, Mokuba will be set on the right track, I can assure you. I refuse to let this situation run Kaiba Corp. to the ground." The irritation in his voice was very much apparent. The short, fat man raised his mic to Kaiba again.
"What about Kaiba Corps sterling reputation? You're perfect records have been tarnished by Mokuba's misbehaving. Your reputation is at stake. How will you contain the factor of chaos?"
Seto chuckled, and then began to laugh louder. "Chaos? I have never lived with chaos as part of any equation. I think you have forgotten who I am. Seto Kaiba has plans for everything. Kaiba corps reputation is certainly not tarnished; you can look forward to an even more powerful Kaiba Corp in the near future." He said, smirking. If only he wholeheartedly believed that. His eyes scanned the crowd, and stopped on a person fighting to get to the front.
A young woman with long, dark brown hair raised her hand. She held her notepad close to her. The frame of her body was elegant in comparison to the husky, unappealing bodies surrounding her.
"Kaiba, you have all these assurances for Kaiba Corp. and you say that your company will remain supreme, but don't you think, even a little, that living in this blue print may have driven Mokuba to rebel? Doesn't it seem like he needed to get out? What are your thoughts?"
Kaiba stood, unable to understand what gave this woman such courage. No one dared ask him such a question. As if he could possibly be the reason Mokuba had gone astray. He stared deep into her eyes. How dare she? "Kaiba Corp has always been a warm and secure place for Mokuba to grow and develop into a successful young man. We have supported him in everything he does, within reason. He has always had freedom, alongside structure. Mokuba's decisions were made by his own accord." He said, jaw clenched. Seto desperately held back his rage.
"I asked about your thoughts, not Kaiba Corps…" she said, staring at the heartless man in front of her. With softened affection in her eyes, she looked down to her notepad, and turned to walk away. Kaiba had had enough of this patronizing.
"I think we're done here." He said, sharply turning and exiting the platform.
"But sir! You just got here! You can't leave yet!" someone yelled.
"I can do whatever I want. I'm Seto Kaiba." Seto exited the press room, and entered the cold hallways once again. He began to walk past his guards, and go off on his own. The anger and frustration in him had built up with such acceleration that all things around him had vanished. Who was that woman? Who the hell did she think she was? Scolding him that way; Scolding Seto Kaiba!
Seto had been walking for quite some distance, and discovered he was in his parking shelter. Of course, it was private and only he had access to it.
"Hello Sir." a woman in Kaiba Corp uniform said, softly. "Shall I call your limousine?"
"No. I'm taking my own car." He replied, emotionless and cold as usual.
"Very well, sir. Have a safe trip." She smiled. All Kaiba Corp. employees had learned to smile past his freezing, robotic exterior.
Seto grabbed the keys to his car off of a rack placed on the desk. He opened the car door and quickly slipped into the driver's seat. Sliding the key into the ignition, the engine roared to life. The sleek, silver sports car flashed its head lights. In the dark car, the dashboard had shown blue. Seto sped out of the parking garage and onto the highway of Domino City. Driving usually seemed to calm him down and clear his head; however, he couldn't shake the image of that young woman. That disappointed look on her face. That look that showed how terrible she thought he was. The wench didn't know anything about him, or his relationship with Mokuba. He was the best brother he could be.
Mokuba had always been a level-headed kid. He knew the difference between right and wrong, but recently, Seto hadn't understood what made his sweet brother behave so strangely. Mokuba was coming home later and later. His education was suffering, even with aid from the worlds most prestigious tutors. He cared so little about the rules Seto tried to enforce. Had he tried too hard to enforce rules? Was he too harsh on his brother gone astray? Mokuba was alive and well, but what if Seto had put down the phone for just five minutes… Would it have mad a difference? Seto grinded his teeth and clenched his hands around the steering wheel. The knuckles of his lanky fingers had faded to white. With the window down slightly, the wind tousled his auburn locks. There she was, in his head again. She was obviously no one special, just some random reporter who he would normally ignore time and time again. But in his emotional state, with his darling brother now a delinquent, everything pressed on Seto's lungs.
He was seething, livid, furious; oh he was all of these things and then some. He despised this place; what was he, Ryo Bakura, doing at a counseling center? It was everything; the generic grey carpeting and chairs covered in cheap cloth with geometric shapes, and even the damn fluorescent lighting. It all vexed him to no end. He tried not to breathe in too deeply; the sterile smell in the air was almost as bad as a doctor's office.
So why was he here? Why was a rich and powerful man such as himself waiting to see a holier than thou counselor? Well because it was unavoidable, a word that Bakura was unfamiliar with, impossible did not exist when you had the money and the connections and the god damn guts to do everything that he had done. But he somehow could not weasel himself out of this situation, he was actually quite lucky though, he should have been punished much more harshly, but being who he was got him out almost scot free, almost.
A years worth of probation and counseling for being the head of a very large black market chain. Oh yes, he was a thief in the extreme, he was a thief who had thieves working for him. He didn't even have to do the dirty work himself, although he did like to indulge in a little of the action every once in awhile. Art, jewels, artifacts of every origin were his specialty, nothing cheap of course.
To the outside world he was a first class citizen; wealthy, charismatic, handsome, and generous. No one would have ever guessed how dark Bakura's world really was. He had no problem taking care of anyone who got in his way. No one knew about that though, no one knew the lengths that he would go to take care of a problem, and that was a very good thing. He may get a little more than probation for murder…but that wasn't important, not now. All that mattered right now was getting through this first session with his counselor and then getting through a whole damn year of it.
"Bakura, Ryo?" The shrill voice of a receptionist startles Bakura out of his reverie. She beckons him over to her desk and gives him some paperwork to take to his counselor. "You can go back now." She points him in the direction of the hallway and he proceeds with not even an ounce of enthusiasm.
The door reads Ilana Quinn and he knows he's in the right place. 'Probably some old foreign woman.' He thinks as he opens the door, not even bothering to knock.
"Oh you must be Ryo, please take a seat." He's taken off guard by the figure behind the desk in front of him. She's not at all what he was expecting, not even slightly old, she looks to be about his age. Her dark red hair and bright blue eyes stand out significantly against her porcelain colored skin. Her hair is short and asymmetrical, way edgier than he would've expected from a counselor, well he was expecting an old spinster, and she was anything but. 'Maybe this won't be so bad after all.' Maybe he could just block out what she was saying and imagine her in a more compromising position.
He does as she says and takes a seat across from her. "So Ryo, why are you here today?" Her voice is soothing, the kind of voice that was supposed to get you to spill your guts. "Bakura, just call me Bakura." She smiles warmly and nods her head in acceptance. The chair he was sitting in was uncomfortable and he wanted nothing more than to dart out of the room as quick as he could. The thief in him took in every detail of the room, every escape route, it was habit, he couldn't help it. He was impressed by the art that was gracing the walls, all originals, she had good taste.
"Alright then Bakura, why are you here today?" She made it a point to enunciate his name. She knew damn well why he was there, and it aggravated him even more that she would still bother to ask.
"It's not by choice if that's what you're asking, but I must be a good boy and comply with the judges wishes." The sarcasm and cynicism in his voice was apparent. When he was in public he was the poster child of courtesy and generosity, but that was necessity, he needed everyone to believe he was a good person, but frankly he didn't give a shit what this woman thought. Her warm smile turned into more of a smirk. What could this woman possibly be thinking?
"Look I don't really want to deal with you anymore than you want to deal with me, but like you said, you have to do it, and so do I, having the 'amazing Ryo Bakura' as a patient will give me one more credential to add to my resume." He almost laughed at the woman. She was just using him, it was quite humorous. She was intriguing to say the least. But the sassy tone in her voice irked him a little.
"Well then now that that's established lets get some general information down, I have a job to do if I like it or not." He was a little insulted; usually women threw themselves at him or were at least interested in being friendly with the well known and loved Ryo Bakura.
"I'm here because I am the leader of a very large black market operation, and somehow that information was leaked, but luckily I had the money and the power to pay off most of the law enforcement and only received a very light punishment. No one knows of this except, the judge, my lawyer, and now you, so if you value your life Ms. Quinn I suggest you keep this information to yourself." He sounded surprisingly casual as he threatened the woman in front of him.
Her smirk did not falter and only seemed to grow as she clicked her tongue against her teeth. "I don't take kindly to threats, and I am certainly not frightened of you. The conversations that take place in this room are confidential, as with all my patients, but if I believe that you may hurt others or yourself then I am by law required to inform somebody, so if you value your 'perfect reputation' I suggest you don't threaten me again." The nerve of this woman! She had no idea what he was capable of!
Bakura was both stunned and angered into silence and the rest of the session continued smoothly as he gave her the basic information she requested. The dark thoughts that crept into his head as he sat in that office would only be negated when he got out of this place and into the streets that he knew so well, tonight he would indulge himself in a little excitement.