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
Title: Unarmed and Extremely Dangerous: 1-5: Waiting In Line
Characters: Seto, Otogi
Word Count: chapter: 4,344||story: 4,344
Genre: Friendship, Drama, Humor||Rated: PG-13
Feedback: All forms eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Summary: Caught up in a bank robbery, Seto and Otogi must deal with the robbers. Their only weapons are a deck of cards and a handful of dice. Luckily, that's all they're going to need.


Otogi Ryuuji hated waiting in lines. It didn't matter that he could generally manage to make certain such a wait wasn't too long, especially if there were enough attractive ladies in line, but when that didn't happen, he was just as stuck as anyone else. Today, that was what he had to deal with. Ten people awaited service ahead of him, with no less than half of them holding stacks of paper or bags like the one in his own hands, indicating that their business would take some time. Eight of them were guys and the two women were too far ahead of him to do anything other than smile at.

Not that Otogi was averse to trying a bit of flattery on the male customers, but the look he'd gotten when he'd started to lean closer to the young man in front of him had made even him back off some. Never let it be said that Otogi didn't know how to apply a little discretion when the time was right for it. That was all there was for the people ahead of him, and since he was the last in line, that covered all of his options.

He could have sent someone else to do this cash drop if he'd really wanted to. There were four clerks working under him who would have done it in a heartbeat, especially for the free cup of coffee he provided for whoever did. Today he did it for himself. The only real reason for it was that he wanted to get out of his office, even if it meant waiting in line. Running Black Crown kept him even busier than it once had now that he was out of school. That meant he grabbed any moment he could to get some fresh air and sunshine.

There were differences between this run as one of his clerks would do it and when he did it. For one thing, he expected them to return in a reasonable amount of time. He, on the other hand, could take all he wanted. He could also get more than a cup of coffee if he so chose. The thought of having a leisurely lunch at a good restaurant appealed to him. Once I'm done here, that's what I'm going to do. He knew of a restaurant not that far away that served the best Chinese food in all of Domino City. One phone call to the store to make certain his clerks didn't panic and start looking everywhere for him would give him all the free time he wanted.

Unfortunately, all of those people were still ahead of him, so for now he would have to stand in line until they were finished with their business. He didn't want to be rude and sigh and generally give everyone a bad impression of himself. Another peril of being famous; if people thought he was too much of a jerk, they wouldn't shop at Black Crown. Repairing the damage caused by his father (and himself, if he wanted total honesty) had been hard enough. There was no need to make matters worse by ruining his public reputation.

That didn't change the fact he hated waiting in lines anyway.

Though if one had to wait in line, the lobby of Domino First National was a pretty good place to do it. The lobby itself was large and roomy enough so crowds didn't actually feel crowded, and several potted plants scattered all over gave the place a sort of alive feeling. Small offices were visible behind glass doors, as well as two or three doorways that led (so far as he could tell) to hallways that led to the deeper reaches of the building. In the lobby proper, there were even several cushioned chairs here and there, as well as a long couch, he presumed for people who didn't want to stand and wait while being seen for important matters.

The deep red carpeting had to have cost at least as much as what was in his own apartment, if not a little more. Where draperies didn't, expensive artwork hung on the walls, mostly smaller paintings of scenes around town as well famous people from Domino itself. Otogi wasn't at all surprised to see the largest of those paintings was Kaiba Seto himself. It's smaller than I would've expected it, he decided. A bronze plaque gleamed underneath it with writing on it; Otogi found he was too far away to read it, unfortunately. He wasn't going to give up his place in line to check it out, either. Maybe on his way out.

He shifted around and pulled a couple of six-sided die from his pocket, then began to flip them around, tossing them up and down carelessly. He always caught both of them, no matter how far up he threw them or where they went. One or two of the people ahead of him in line had their children with them, and one boy simply stared in awe as Otogi played with his dice.

Yeah. You keep staring. Otogi loved an audience, especially when he did his best tricks with dice. This didn't even come close to being his best, but he still liked the attention. It served to keep him occupied. Perhaps he'd add a few more of the other dice in his pocket. For all that the standard six-sided was his favorite, he liked to branch out now and then. It would probably make this kid's eyes bug out even more if he started to play games with four-sided dice or even the twenty-sided one.

The bell over the lobby door rang and he glanced over his shoulder to see a couple of teenager girls come up behind him. Too young for him really, seventeen or eighteen to his twenty-three, but a few winks and smiles never did anyone any harm. One of them caught his eye and stared before she nudged her companion and whispered something in her ear.

I love being recognized. That was another perk of going out and doing this for himself. More than one person had asked for his autograph while he was out. Did I remember to bring a pen? Of course he had. He always did, along with a few business cards. He'd brought more than one new customer to the store because of that habit.

"Excuse me, I don't mean to bother, but I was...we were wondering..." The first one inched closer, fidgeting, as nervous as if she'd never spoken to a strange, possibly famous, man in public before. So deprived, if that were true. "Are you...are you Otogi Ryuuji?"

Otogi slipped on his best smile, still twitching the dice back and forth in his hands. "I am." A quick glance over the two of them revealed the one who'd spoken had a deck holder attached to her belt. "Let me guess, you're a duelist?" She had a backpack on that looked capable of holding a duel disk as well. Real duelists never went anywhere without the capability of dueling.

She blushed a deep cherry red, a very becoming shade with her coloring. "I'm just getting started, really. But I've played your game before. Dungeon Dice Monsters." Her blush didn't seem to fade as he smiled down at her. "It's really fun. I'm still not all that good at some of the more advanced moves, but I've been doing my best."

"Keep practicing. That's the way to get good at anything." He tossed his dice in the air and caught them without looking. It was true; he'd practiced that move more times than he could recall offhand, and he'd lost half a dozen dice until he'd finally caught the trick of it. "Maybe I could give you a few pointers later?"

From the way she bit back a surprised squeal, one would think he'd offered to sponsor her to the next Dungeon Dice Monsters tournament. Her flush deepened until he worried it might cause a permanent change to her skin. "I...I'd love that! Please! I mean, if it wouldn't be a bother!"

"I wouldn't have offered if it was." Giving pointers to players definitely wasn't a bother. It served to sharpen his own skills at times, though nothing served half as much as gaming against someone else. Maybe I should find out if Yuugi wants another game. He pulled one of his business cards out and scrawled down a time on it for that weekend. "Come by the store and I'll see what I can do for you."

She accepted the card, tucking it into her purse with the air of one granted a gift from Heaven, and clutched at her friend's arm, nodding at him over and over. "Thank you, sir. Thank you so much." She hesitated for a moment before she spoke again. "I'm Endo Miku. This is my best friend, Maruyama Sayuri."

He flashed one of his better smiles at both of them. "A pleasure to meet both of you." He wasn't lying; anything or anyone who could kill a few minutes of boring line-waiting was a pleasure for him. He could hear them talking to each other even as he turned around to face the line again. He noted with pleasure that two people had completed their business while he was occupied with the girls. Good, he wouldn't have that much longer here.

"No, I'm not going to ask him to duel!" Endo hissed to her friend. Otogi kept a straight face, his attention more on the way he tossed his dice than anything else right now. "That's Otogi Ryuuji, Sayuri! He'd wipe the floor with me!"

He wasn't sure how he stopped himself from bursting out into laughter at that. He wasn't the best duelist ever, but he knew enough to get by with. He couldn't be as certain that he'd 'wipe the floor with her' as she was but if it enhanced his reputation, why bother denying it?

A door banged open and a familiar voice spoke up. "And I want those papers in my office by tomorrow afternoon." Otogi glanced over to see Kaiba Seto striding out from what one of those small offices he'd noticed before. Two of the bank workers followed him, both looking slightly harried. They had, after all, obviously just come from a meeting with the young CEO. That would harry anyone.

A slow grin touched Otogi's features as Kaiba headed towards the door. There was no way that he couldn't pass him. The two of them hadn't had much contact over the years, except for the occasional nod as they'd run into each other at gaming events. But right then, Otogi wanted to do something fun, something more than just talking to a couple of fans. This would do nicely.

"Hey, Kaiba!" He spoke clearly, if not very loudly, but in the echoing lobby, everyone could hear him. Several people, including the two girls behind him, actually stared, surprised that he would actually dare to address the forbidding young man who turned to look at him.

"Otogi." Kaiba's voice was calm and slightly bored as he stopped. "Is there something I can do for you?" Given the frigid tone of his voice, most people would have quickly begged off with a simple excuse for a greeting. Otogi wasn't most people. He didn't even come close to being most people.

Though, in truth, he didn't have much in mind when he'd hailed Kaiba beyond alleviating his own boredom. His thoughts raced, then as he tossed and seized his dice again, he knew what he wanted. "You know, I don't think you've ever played a game of Dungeon Dice Monsters." A simple statement of fact, not an accusation, even if it were a fact that wouldn't mean much to anyone who wasn't him.

Very rarely could anyone say they had seen Kaiba Seto taken by surprise. One eyebrow slightly raised revealed that a few more could be added to the list, if they were smart enough, or knew Kaiba well enough to know what the gesture meant. Otogi grinned to himself. This was going to be interesting.

"And so what if I haven't?" There was no hint of interest in the voice at all, only the mildest of annoyances at having his schedule interrupted. Otogi didn't care. He wasn't standing in line staring at the back of the next person anymore, and that was all he wanted.

"Then you should. Who knows, you might even want to see what else I can do." He preferred producing his own games but getting a contract with KaibaCorp could spread his games far beyond Japan, something he hadn't managed to do just yet. The idea appealed to him. The chance of going international certainly did.

That elegant dark brown eyebrow crept up a mere fraction of an inch. Otogi knew damned well what he was capable of doing and Kaiba would be a fool not to at least give him an opportunity. Kaiba Seto was many things, not the least of which were arrogant and pig-headed, but Otogi was very certain 'fool' wasn't on the list.

"I could clear an hour or two from my schedule tomorrow afternoon." Kaiba allowed after a brief glance at his watch. "Bring something worth looking at."

Otogi already knew exactly what he was going to do. Both then and now. His voice dropped just a bit and he leaned back, hands dropping to his hips, one of his favorite positions and tones for conducting business. He'd thrown more than one person off their game by it. He didn't think Kaiba would be one of them, but anything was worth a try. "I've got time this afternoon, but not tomorrow. And my office already has a Dungeon Dice Monsters table set up." He didn't need to make threats, even if Kaiba were the type to listen to threats. His offer was simplicity itself. Not to mention, the spectators looked a scant moment from calling for the popcorn. I should see if I can get it televised. I could probably rent a decent-sized apartment on the proceeds alone.He might have to split them with Kaiba, but there would be plenty left over.

Kaiba stared down at him, something that Otogi chose to interpret as respect in the back of his eyes. Otogi smiled back at him, confidence dripping from every pore. "As soon as I'm done here, then?" He could have lunch ordered in. The chance to make a deal with Kaiba Seto didn't come along every day of the week.

"Very well." Kaiba pulled a cell phone from an inner pocket and turned away, lowering his voice as he spoke to whoever answered.

Otogi wasn't ever certain how he stopped himself from cheering. For an impromptu device for killing a few moments in the bank line, this was turning into a very interesting afternoon. He even managed to get a little higher in line as the next few patrons hurried out, probably to spread the news about what they'd seen to all their friends. He wondered how many of those friends would believe them.

He was just two people from the head of the line, with Kaiba having just ended his conversation, when another interruption arrived. Otogi might well have ignored said interruption, if it didn't consist of half a dozen men in ski masks, each well armed, bursting into the room. One of them stepped to the front and cocked his weapon, getting everyone's attention almost immediately.

"All right, this is a robbery. Everyone put your hands up and keep quiet!" His black ski mask muffled his voice only a little, but his eyes spoke eloquently of how serious he was.

Otogi's eyes met Kaiba's as if on a pre-arranged signal of their own. Kaiba's eyes narrowed and Otogi's lips thinned. The same thought shot through both their minds. I do not have time for this.

Before either of them could make a move, however, the six men herded everyone, tellers and patrons alike, into a large group, backed up against the nearest wall. "Watches, rings, wallets, anything you've got that's valuable." The one who'd spoken first pulled out a bag and tossed it to one of his companions. "All in the bag. I don't want to hear anyone complaining or crying. Keep it quiet and you'll get out of here in one piece."

Someone's been watching too many bad movies. Otogi decided. Another of the robbers, this one wearing a blue mask, stepped forward, holding out yet another empty bag.

"All of your cell phones in here. No questions." He didn't appear even mildly phased by the various looks of horror directed toward him. "We don't want anyone getting jumpy and calling the cops or anything. You'll get them back later if everything goes all right." Otogi suspected he was trying to sound at least a little sympathetic and failed miserably.

Though he to admit, calling the cops sounded like a very good idea right now. With six armed thugs around, as well as quite a few innocent bystanders, he wasn't sure how to pull it off successfully, though. Not yet. Besides, I doubt they really plan on giving them back.Cell phones could bring a good price if sold to the right person.

The two girls, Endo and Maruyama, huddled near him, flashing terrified looks at the robbers. Endo murmured to the other, "I just wanted to cash my check! I don't have anything valuable!" Her hand fell down to the deck holder at her waist. "And they can't have my deck!" Somehow, Otogi wasn't surprised by that at all.

His thoughts raced as he put all of this together. The last thing he wanted to do was hand over anything that he held dear to people like this, especially his bag of proceeds from Black Crown. Besides, a bank robbery like this? So old-fashioned. All the classy burglars did it online these days.

But this was what he had to deal with. He tensed, checking out each of the robbers as the red-masked, yellow-masked, and purple-masked ones took up positions where they could watch all of the tellers and the customers, while also keeping an eye on the door. The other two, their masks blue and green, still worked their way through the line of tellers and customers, collecting money, cell phones, and everything else. The last one, the leader in the black mask, jumped behind the counter and got to work cleaning out the cash stacks there.

Six of them. He wasn't enough of a gun expert to know what kind they had, other than "shoots bullets which would definitely spoil my day and my looks", but that was information enough for him, as well as annoying enough.

He shot another glance toward Kaiba and thought he could read at least some of the thoughts going on behind those cold eyes. He's as annoyed by this as I am. Maybe more. Kaiba might make time for an interesting deal but to have someone interrupt his plans, however newly made, with something like this was another matter altogether. Something would be done. The only question was what, and how noisy it would end up being.

Ideas twitched their way slowly through Otogi's mind. This had echoes of a game to it, a challenge that could deliver great rewards if managed properly. He and Kaiba, he knew, were both past masters of arranging events to suit their purposes. One couldn't be a master gamesman of any kind if one couldn't adjust to changes in the situation. If they couldn't come out on top in this situation, then he'd eat his dice.

The first robber with the bag moved along the line of hostages, watching from behind his green mask as each customer or teller dropped something into it. He stopped in front of Kaiba and shoved the sack toward him. "Wallet." Otogi couldn't help a hint of a smirk at the look in Kaiba's eyes at that. After all, if someone were going to rob Kaiba Seto, a little class wouldn't be amiss.

Kaiba didn't move, his arms folded over his chest, standing still as a stone. He said nothing at all and the robber pushed the bag toward him once again. "You heard me." Well, he did know how to say more than one word. "Put your stuff in there! All of it! Now!"

"No." Kaiba bit the word off. He offered no explanations, nothing but sheer, cold-eyed defiance. Otogi's lips curved upward in approval. Stoic silence might not do any good with these men, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

The leader, or so Otogi presumed that was what the one who'd spoken first was, stalked over at a call from his underling. "What's going on?" He didn't wait for an answer once he realized what was going on, but stared at Kaiba in annoyance. "Look, just hand over what you've got. The sooner you do, the sooner we're out of here."

"No." Kaiba repeated the single word, staring down into the leader's eyes, putting every bit of his six feet plus height to good use in doing so. The idiots might not realize who Kaiba was, but Kaiba knew who he was and he wasn't going to take orders from anyone, gun or no gun. They could have enough weapons to outfit a small nation and he still wouldn't do anything he didn't want to do.

The leader began to raise his gun when the closest of the guards, this one wearing the purple ski mask, set one hand on his shoulder and whispered something into his ear. Eyes narrowed, the leader took another look at Kaiba. "What would someone like him be doing here?" Disbelief tinged his voice and Otogi wished he'd heard what the other said.

"I don't know, boss, but that's him. I'd know him anywhere. I've watched every duel of his every chance I had, ever since he swept the regionals back when he was a kid." The one robber shook his head, a gleam of something Otogi'd seen in many people staring at himself before, such as the girls who now stared at the developing situation in fascinated horror. "That's Kaiba Seto!" The look was commonly known as 'fanboy awe'.

Kaiba himself only nodded, head held high, and the leader swore creatively for several minutes before he stared back at the CEO. "So it's not like he doesn't have it to spare. So, hand it over. Everything. Watch. Wallet. Whatever you've got in that briefcase."

"I don't hand over what belongs to me to anyone." Kaiba grated the words out, still as immobile as a statue. "For that matter, even if I gave you my briefcase, you couldn't do anything with it."

The leader eyed him with dark suspicion. "And why is that?"

"You couldn't break my security system. Not only is it password protected, but it also requires a fingerprint scan and a retinal scan before it would open." Kaiba's lips twitched upward for a single moment. "Next year I'm adding a blood sample tester."

I wonder if he's joking. Otogi didn't think he was and knew that it didn't matter. What mattered was that these guys believed that he wasn't. Time for a little back up.

"Next year? I heard you already installed that." Otogi considered adding something about poison if the wrong prints were used. No, that might be a little too much.Simple lies were the best lies.

"You are joking." Both leader and his lackey stared in disbelief. Kaiba's silence said far more than any more proud words might have. The leader finally shook his head. "Fine. Keep your junk, just don't try to do anything funny with it. Remember, this is real life. Your pretty fake monsters can't help you here."

From the way Kaiba's hand twitched near his deck, Otogi suspected he was a heartbeat or less away from flicking out a card and showing them exactly what those monsters could do on or off the dueling field. He almost wished that Kaiba would. Seeing what they thought of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon in full living color a few inches from them interested Otogi. Just how realistic could solid vision be?

The one who'd recognized him appeared on the verge of asking for an autograph before he turned back to his leader, a somewhat different expression in his eyes now. It was an expression Otogi didn't like at all.

"You know, he is rich. Richest guy in Japan, if not the whole world. I hear he and his brother are damned close." He rubbed his chin for a moment, gaze going back and forth between Kaiba and his boss. "I bet we could get more for him than we could robbing this place. A lot more. And no one said we couldn't get a few million yen for him and rob this place blind too."

They're probably right. So far as Otogi knew, Mokuba could authorize any amount of ransom if he wanted to. The question would be, would either Kaiba want to? Otogi didn't think so. Teaching that to these guys would be the hard part. And what some people would probably call the fun part.

"Hey!" One of the girls squealed at that, the one who wasn't a duelist. Maruyama, that was her name. Her eyes were wild as she pointed to Otogi, as pale as her friend had been red earlier. "This guy here's Otogi Ryuuji! He's rich too! You could take them both! Leave us alone! We were just here to put her check in anyway anyway! We don't have anything!"

Otogi groaned as the leader and his lackey turned their attention toward him, the same sort of calculating expressions on their faces. And to think I liked that the girls recognized me.

To Be Continued