Bargains

by Higuchimon

Seto can deal with almost anything on his own. But when he does need someone else's help, he might not get the bargain he thinks he's going after.

Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit.
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters
Title: Bargains
Romance: Seto x Pegasus
Word Count: 3,672||Status: Complete
Genre: Romance, Humor||Rated: PG-13
Challenge: Yu-Gi-Oh Pairings 9 & 3/4: Medium Round
(adopted): Seto x Pegasus
Notes: GX is alluded to, but you don't need to know about it to understand the story.
Feedback: All forms eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Summary:Seto can deal with almost anything on his own. But when he does need someone else's help, he might not get the bargain he thinks he's going after.

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In retrospect, he wasn't surprised. Two powerful, wealthy, attractive (or so many people claimed) young (Pegasus hadn't yet hit thirty, he counted as young) men conducting a business meeting not in either of their respective offices but in a hotel room in a city neither of them lived in but both had a branch office in, thus giving a plausible reason for being there?

Anyone could've made the mistake. He should've thought of that. But at the time, all Kaiba Seto had on his mind was putting the finishing touches on his plans for Duel Academia and for that, whether he liked it or not, he knew he needed (he even hated the word) help from Pegasus J. Crawford.

It could've been worse.

He could've needed Yuugi.

Regardless, he did need help...no, he needed someone who would handle one of the more annoying parts of building a school meant to teach duelists, someone who could do something that he wouldn't have the time or inclination to do and Pegasus suited his needs. Nothing more, nothing less.

He stalked into the hotel lobby, head held high, trench coat snapping briskly in the breeze. He'd made certain to clear off the rest of his day before this meeting, wanting all the time he would need to persuade Pegasus to his way of thinking. He didn't know how much time Pegasus cleared for it. All he knew was that it had best be enough.

"Ah, Kaiba-boy!" At that voice, something tightened in the back of Kaiba's neck and he turned to face Pegasus as the silver-haired man rose to his feet from the wide armchair before the crackling fire. "So good to see you again!"

Thirty seconds and under ten words and already Kaiba wondered if he'd packed his aspirin.

"Pegasus." He kept his tone as clipped and business-like as he could manage. He wasn't here to indulge Pegasus's sense of humor or anything else about Pegasus except the business matters they were there to discuss.

Pegasus examined him for a moment, tilting his head first this way than the other, before he sighed. "Kaiba-boy, I don't know if you've heard the news, but God really didn't make it a sin to smile. You should try it."

"I think we have business to discuss and not here." There was no way Kaiba would give anyone the chance to listen in on his business matters. He'd made it plain to this hotel's security that if his privacy was breached, he would see to it they paid for it. They certainly acted as if they believed him and that suited him enough.

"You really should get out more. Relax. Have you thought about finding a girlfriend? Or a boyfriend. Whichever you prefer." Pegasus's lips twitched upward in a fashion Kaiba knew well was meant to disarm him. He refused to allow that. He would never be disarmed in front of Pegasus if he could help it.

Instead of answering, he turned his swift steps to the large desk where a receptionist waited. She'd surely heard everything but kept a professional smile on her features.

"Reservation, Kaiba and Crawford."

"Yes, sir." It took only a few moments for her to dig around and find the room key card. He'd reserved the room a week earlier and it theirs at least until morning, though he sincerely doubted they would need it for even half that long.

Pegasus stood beside him, silent as a shadow, though probably not for long. Kaiba knew the other shifted moods and perspectives with more speed than sanity. The first moment no other eyes were on them, he'd start up the snark again.

He almost looked forward to it. There weren't many people he could fairly match wits against. Yes, Pegasus had committed several infuriating crimes, such as having Mokuba kidnapped, attempting to take over KaibaCorp, and turning Kaiba's precious Blue-Eyes into a Toon, but Kaiba knew he was no saint himself. At least with Pegasus, he knew they would both be honest about their own faults.

The elevator wasn't quite the work of art that the one he'd recently had installed at KaibaCorp's main building was, but he wasn't surprised at that. He always had the most up to date tools he could manage. Still, the white velvet and gold trim looked elegant enough.

"I wonder what kind of wine they have available," Pegasus mused. Kaiba couldn't tell if it were meant as small talk or an actual question. He shrugged; either way, he didn't care.

"I suppose something that's not vinegar." He'd never really enjoyed the taste of wine that much. He could drink it, and did at business functions, but he preferred other beverages.

Pegasus sniffed. "I would hope not. Imagine what I'd have to do if they tried to give us vinegar."

"I have better things to imagine." Such as exactly where to put each dorm on the island and how many rooms for each. He still hadn't entirely made his mind up on if he should have separate buildings for both genders in all three dorms.

Another sniff. "I'm sure." A brief moment of silence. "Have you heard those interesting stories about what can happen between two people in an elevator if it breaks down? There are so many of them out there."

Pegasus did this on purpose. Kaiba knew that for a fact now. He turned to pierce the other with his best disapproving look.

"If this elevator breaks down, then I am in no way responsible for what might happen next and there isn't a jury on this planet that would convict me." It wouldn't surprise him at all if someone offered him a medal for that.

A low, amused laugh echoed from Pegasus. "I don't think that's something we have to worry about." He gestured just as the elevator came to a stop. "We're here."

The penthouse suite spread out before them as they stepped out of the elevator, a gleaming fantasy in chrome and leather of all the finest workmanship, half a dozen rooms of which only one he planned to use.

Kaiba started directly for the glass-covered table in the center of the room, setting his briefcase on it and opening it up. "Are you ready?"

"Really, Kaiba-boy." Pegasus stood by a sidebar stocked with various forms of wine, a glass held loosely in one hand. "I can't think of anything more annoying than trying to work without something refreshing at hand."

I can. Kaiba sat back in his chosen chair and practiced the art of patience. "Don't take too long."

"Don't tell me you're on some kind of a schedule. I believe you said you had nothing else to do today and wanted to make certain I didn't as well?" Pegasus sniffed one of the bottles and set it back with a distinctly annoyed look. "Something about wanting to make certain we had all the time we needed to settle this little business offer, I believe it was."

Seto refused to even look at him. "What makes you think I want to spend more time around you than I have to?"

"You're going to hurt my feelings if you keep that up, Kaiba-boy." Pegasus strolled over, two glasses now held in his hands. "Here, I made this for you." He offered one to Kaiba, who eyed it with the same sort of distrust most people gave to milk that might well be past its 'best served by' date.

"No." He cranked out two more words with a visible effort. "Thank you."

Pegasus set it down on the small table near him, where it wouldn't be in the way. "You'll want it later. Trust me."

"Not half as far as the Blue-Eyes could toss you." Kaiba brought up the relevant files and reread them one final time. "If you're quite ready." He didn't make it a question. They might have all the time they needed, but he didn't want to need more than necessary.

"So what is it that you need my assistance with?" Pegasus took a deep breath of his wine before sipping at it. "I thought you had everything completely under control."

"For the most part, I do." Kaiba kept his attention firmly on business. "But something came up."

Even as Pegasus arched one eyebrow in query, Kaiba pushed the papers over to him. The older man didn't so much as move a muscle. "Ah, the situation with Kagemaru. Interesting."

Damn it, Pegasus always knew too much. Kaiba wondered if he had spies inside of his organization. He wouldn't put it past some of his employees to shore up their paychecks by reporting matters he preferred kept under wraps to people like Pegasus.

"This could turn into something I don't want, but I don't trust those cards." He'd heard rumors about how they'd been sealed, rumors that involved blood and death, matters he preferred not to get involved with. He also had questions concerning why Pegasus chose to make those cards, but those could be asked another day.

"Nor should you." Pegasus shook his head, more seriousness than usual in his eye. "What exactly are you asking of me?"

"I want a school to teach proper dueling. I don't want to have to get involved with everything mystical that comes along." Much as he didn't want to, he knew that mystical matters would come up. Better that the people who could deal with it did so. He was a businessman, not a sorcerer. "What I want is for you to deal with those things when they happen."

Pegasus sipped at his drink again, leaning back in his chair, legs crossed over one another. "What do I get out of this for keeping your fat out of the fire?" Kaiba knew full well that he liked being able to set the terms of this bargain. And he knew that he himself didn't like not being able to do the same thing.

"What is it that you want?" Best to find that out soon. He didn't intend to give Pegasus much. What else could he want, anyway? The man was as rich as Kaiba was, potentially even richer. What could he ask for that he couldn't buy from somewhere else?

Whatever it might be, Kaiba didn't like the look in Pegasus's eye. Thoughtful, speculative, determining exactly what he could get away with asking for and what he knew or suspected Kaiba would turn down flat and what they could negotiate on.

"Oh, I don't know." Pegasus lounged back, so at his ease that it made Kaiba sit up straighter. "There are so many options."

"Pick something." Kaiba bit the words off. "Did you want a percentage of KaibaCorp?" Not that he'd just give that. It would take much more than helping with Duel Academia to get that out of him.

Pegasus, however, shook his head. "I want something of much greater value."

It took all of Kaiba's strength not to want to know what could be of more value than KaibaCorp. But he managed to keep his lips sealed and only raised his eyebrows, wanting more of an answer.

"I've noticed that you haven't mentioned any art or game design classes in your curriculum. It's all dueling, history of dueling, ethics of dueling." Thin lips moved upward. "Ethics? Really?"

"Do you have a problem with what I want taught there?" He had ethics in dueling. A few, anyway.

"As a matter of fact, I do. If I deal with those matters for you, then I want you to add art and game design classes. Some people just want to create, they don't want to duel." Pegasus's gaze now turned a trifle distant. "Learning how can help them create better cards, of course, but they don't all want to become professionals. Studying at the school could help them."

Pegasus had a point. Kaiba didn't want to admit it, but he did. He grudgingly marked down the idea. "Is that all?" He'd expected something more.

And indeed, the other shook his head yet again. "Oh, no. You see, you might have art and game design taught, but what use could you put the graduates of that line of studies to? I need artists and designers. You'll keep me informed of all of the ones with potential there, and I will make them offers if I so choose."

Kaiba wondered if he might possibly need that drink after all. And yet again, he had to acknowledge that Pegasus had a point. He could possibly use game designers at KaibaCorp, but when it came to Duel Monsters, his company couldn't function properly without Industrial Illusions.

I need to fix that. Work for another day, he decided. "Is that it, then?" He couldn't think of anything else that Pegasus might ask for, but he knew better than most that Pegasus's mind twisted like a snake. He might well think of things that Kaiba couldn't imagine for the sheer twisted joy of seeing him squirm while thinking them over.

"Not entirely, no." The way one corner of his mouth twitched up told Kaiba without a doubt Pegasus wanted to think up some other demand. It would be nonsensical and ridiculous but it would be made nevertheless. He set himself to denying it, whatever it was.

"Then what now?" Perhaps if he didn't give Pegasus much time to think it over, he'd be able to head the nonsense off. Even though with Pegasus, a few seconds or less could be all that was necessary for said nonsense to evolve into existence anyway.

"There's no need to rush, as I believe I've said before. You should enjoy that drink before it turns bad on us." Pegasus gestured to where said drink still remained untouched. Kaiba didn't even look at it. "Really, Kaiba-boy, I would think you suspect me of poisoning it if I didn't know better."

"If you thought you could get away with it, you probably would." There were precisely two people Kaiba didn't think would try to kill him if the chance arose. One of those was Mokuba, the other Yuugi.

Pegasus laughed, silver hair gleaming in the lights as he tilted his head back. "No, Kaiba-boy. I like having you around. You're much more interesting to me alive than dead."

Well, that was a shiny new thought to take into his nightmares. "What is it that you want, Pegasus? Spit it out."

"Spitting is a very ugly habit." The older man's tone primmed up, even while amusement still glinted in that one eye of his. "I never spit."

"Yes, you've got other ugly habits." Kaiba did not want to let Pegasus get to him but it was the next thing to impossible to do that. He was just so goodat getting to people, especially when they needed him.

Pegasus set his wine glass down and steepled his fingers before his face. "This is one thing I want: you to spend a grand total of thirty hours a month in my presence. You can do this either one hour a day or combine them all into a solid day and extra or any combination you please, so long as at the end of the month we've spent that time together."

Kaiba thought the years he'd spent under Gozaburo's 'special lessons' were Hell incarnate. Now he had a new and entirely different vision of such a fate.

"You. Want. What?"

"Oh, I'm sorry?" Pegasus smiled in the most disarming way he could, not fooling Kaiba for a moment. "I thought my Japanese was good enough. Perhaps if I tried it in English?"

The younger CEO took a breath. He didn't know if it calmed him down or not, but he knew he needed it nevertheless. "Why would you want to spend that much time with me a month?" He imagined it wouldn't take more than two hours, at most, before he strangled Pegasus. Even if no one would convict him, he wasn't sure if he wanted to go to the effort.

"To find out if I want to spend more time with you, of course. Come now, is one hour a day that difficult?" Pegasus didn't move a muscle, still staring at Kaiba through his steepled fingers. "Isn't that something you'd like to know as well?"

"I already know the answer to that." And the answer to that was a clear, empathetic no.

Pegasus smiled. "Then it's agreed. One hour per day or the equivalent, until we determine our tolerance levels for one another."

There weren't many people who could surprise or shock Kaiba Seto into dropping his jaw. This particular moment belonged to Pegasus and Kaiba could seehis pleasure in it.

"Pegasus..." Words choked in his throat. He didn't think he knew what to say, only that he had a lot to say and the majority of it wasn't suitable for general audiences. He wasn't certain if it were suitable for mature ones.

"Did you have something you'd like to add to it? We can wrap this meeting up and start the first hour of this month right away if you'd like. The sooner begun, the sooner finished, correct?"

One single word did manage to work its way out of Kaiba's throat. "No!" One hour a day with this man would end up with one or both of them dead.

"Did you want to start tomorrow, then? We should sort this out soon. I do have appointments I must take care of." Nothing could break Pegasus's calm and that drove Kaiba faster to his own breaking than anything he could imagine.

But he didn't let it. He couldn't let it. He wasn't going to lose with this deal. If Pegasus thought he'd back out, he'd have to think again.

"I don't know what you're scheming, but I'll take this offer. Is that everything?" No matter how tempted he would be to strangle Pegasus, he could survive an hour a day with him. He'd dealt with losing to Yuugi, hadn't he? This couldn't be nearly as painful. Though it would certainly give the concept competition.

"Oh, I suppose that will do, for now." Pegasus reached for his wine glass once again. "But I think we should leave it open for renegotiation in the future."

Kaiba decided that perhaps having a glass of wine wasn't such a bad idea after all. But he didn't want that one there. He got up and moved over to the wine selection, using the time to bring his temper under better control.

He wants something else. He has to. He couldn't yet figure out what the something else was, but that didn't make much of a difference. He would find out and he would come out on top.

"You really should learn better manners, Kaiba-boy." Pegasus breathed almost into his ear and only by the thinnest of margins did Kaiba stop himself from spilling the wine he'd poured. "I gave you a drink and you ignored it."

"And I almost spilled this one because of you." Kaiba snapped, taking a long drink of it.

"That would've been a waste, wouldn't it?" Pegasus mused, reaching for the bottle he'd poured the first pair of drinks from. "I would've thought you heard me coming."

In truth, Kaiba knew he'd been too busy fretting over what Pegasus's scheme might be to have listened. The thick carpeting didn't help that, but he also knew that was little more than an excuse. He could've heard something if he'd put his mind to it. He refused to say that anyway.

"I'll have the paperwork ready as soon as possible." His lawyers would have to look it over and he knew he'd have to prepare a few annoyed looks for their reactions to spending time with Pegasus. All he needed their help for was to make certain any contracts didn't violate any laws to a level he disapproved of, not to pass judgment on his...

Why had he thought love life there? This wasn't a love life. This was a...social life. Yes. Social life. He didn't need anyone's opinion on his social life at all.

Though he did admit the thought of what Mokuba might say twinged him a trifle.

"And when did you want to begin our first hour?" Pegasus stared at him from over the rim of his glass.

Even without the contract officially signed, Kaiba knew starting it now would count toward it officially. Pegasus had already made that clear. The idea of spending a full day and six hours in Pegasus's company turned Kaiba's stomach, though. One hour a day would have to do. At least it would be more tolerable.

"We might as well get it over with." Perhaps this would at least give him some idea of what he would have to deal with.

"That's what I thought you'd think." Pegasus smiled. "Don't worry, I won't ask you to read comic books with me or to watch cartoons. You wouldn't appreciate them the way I do."

Kaiba could not have been more grateful for that. "What do you want, then?"

"To talk, my dear Kaiba-boy. Is that really such a horrible prospect?" Pegasus stared at him over the edge of his wineglass. "Do I bother you that much?"

"You have no idea." Kaiba didn't think words existed to describe how much Pegasus bothered him. He wasn't surprised at the low chuckle that came from the other either and refused to say anything acknowledging it.

He would come out on top of all this wordplay. There hadn't been a deal he didn't come out on top of and he saw no reason to start now. Pegasus would learn not to pester him.

When he saw the tabloid the next day, proclaiming his and Pegasus's secret love affair, Kaiba Seto learned what being pestered really meant.

He and Pegasus also argued for two hours over who would buy that tabloid and put it out of business.

They ended up doing it together. It was a very good beginning.

The End