Yami dashed into the elevator and stabbed the button with his thumb, sweating with nervousness.

An arm thrust in through the steadily closing doors and pried them apart.

His colleague, Boro, threw himself into the elevator with Yami at the last second, and he bent over, panting as the doors slid silently shut once more.

"Boro-san!" Yami exclaimed, taking a step back and staring at his coworker. "You could've yelled. I would've heard it!"

"A-Are…you…are you insane?!" his colleague panted in response, sliding his phone out of his pocket and shoving it under Yami's nose. "What are these responses?!"

Yami blinked and felt his heart skip a solid beat as he stared at the screen. It was an email from himself, and it seemed Kumi had taken the liberties to answer the interview questions!

But wait….

Favorite color?

Blue + white!

Favorite animal?
…dragons.

Favorite pastime?
dueling

Was she emulating Seto Kaiba on purpose?!

"What kind of…ridiculous answers…" Boro panted, readjusting his cap back onto his head and straightening up, leaning against the railing of the elevator as it continued to travel upwards.

Frowning, Yami continued to read the replies.

How I kept boyfriends around? (name positive trait)

Using my big beautiful….peeniss….. hahaha just kidding!
Eyes.
Everyone says they love the color of my eyes!

He bit his tongue painfully, causing his eyes to water. Okay, this was no longer funny.

"You approved this?" his colleague cried, shaking his head in disbelief. "Looks like you didn't even read it before hitting 'send'!"

"I lost my phone, and didn't check my mail last night," Yami replied humbly, handing the phone back.

Boro stared at him for a long moment before pushing the phone back towards Yami, shaking his head. "No, read all of it."

Now deeply nervous, Yami scanned the rest of the answers quickly, hearing the elevator doors slide open.

Favorite study snack or drink?

Beer. Whiskey if im feeling dangerous.

Skin care regimen?

Water.

"Is she trying to be funny?" Yami whispered, following Boro through the aisle of their office, catching stray glares from other coworkers as they passed. "Skin care regimen…water?"

"Yeah, you found a real hilarious one, Atem," his colleague grumbled, reaching his desk and setting his camera bag down onto his chair. "Did you get to the bottom yet?"

"No…" Yami balked, quickly scrolling down.

What I look for in a man I hope to marry?

Big **** and *** lots of *** and **** and ****, and he has to have *****

Most annoying trait I've encountered in a man

The fact that he licked my armpit during ****, so take note gentlemen who may be reading this, don't fucking do that while ***-ing

Both men fell silent for a long moment while they stared down at the phone, and Yami felt a cold trickle of sweat run down the back of his neck.

"Yooohoo! Atemuuu!"

The editor-in-chief poked her head into the cubicle, her long black hair hanging off her shoulders. "I saw you two come in! What's with the dark faces? Did the "elusive beauty" slip out of your hands again?"

Yami raised his head slowly to stare at her bleakly, and Boro snatched the phone out of his hands to pass it to her.

Her eyes widened with interest, and she began reading it aloud, "Favorite color, blue and white, favorite animal…dragons? This girl seems—"

"Shh!" Boro hissed, moving to stand beside her, his back facing the aisle, and he dipped his head down to whisper. "She's either trying to be funny or doesn't understand the seriousness of these questions."

"Dragons are a type of fantasy animal," the editor-in-chief argued back pleasantly, smiling while she continued to scroll down.

She let out a soft squeak after reading the remaining answers and she clapped a hand over her mouth, her cheeks turning red while she giggled.

"Not funny, not funny, not funny!" Boro whispered, his face also turning red with embarrassment. "We aren't an 18+ magazine!"

"D-Did she say these things to you while you typed them?" she asked incredulously, addressing Yami, and Yami shook his head softly.

"She took my phone and wrote the answers herself."

Yami watched with increasing amusement as she threw her head back and let out a full laugh, her shoulders shaking with mirth.

"I like this girl!" she giggled, handing the phone back to Boro and winking at Yami. "We won't print the 18+ comments, so have her re-write those seriously. But everything else we can publish. She sounds creative!"

"You can't be serious!" Boro gasped, and Yami blinked rapidly, wondering if his ears were playing tricks on him.

"Yeah, it's funny! We have a girl with a real personality here," the editor-in-chief said, waving a hand over her shoulder and walking away. "It'll make her face-reveal even more anticipated!"

Yami watched her go, and felt Boro elbow him in the arm, "Yo, I feel like you get special treatment around here, huh?"

Yami shook his head in exasperation and stepped out of the cubicle, giving his colleague a small smile over his shoulder before heading back to his desk.

He needed to get a handle on this situation now…!

Setting his camera bag down gently beside his chair, he sat down and powered his computer on, thinking he could contact Kumi by sending himself an email, since she was having so much fun answering the interview questions in her own way.

He pulled up his own email and composed a fresh message, typing frantically.


Kaiba heard Yami's phone buzz audibly inside his desk drawer, and he pulled it out, expecting to see a call from Yugi asking for the phone back, but to his surprise, it was another email Yami had sent to himself.

Odd.

Pausing in his work, Kaiba made sure to save his progress before indulging himself into Yami's business once more.

"To: Atem
From: Atem

Subject: KUMI-SAN!

Dear angel,

Please return my phone. It contains my life and entire address book!

Also, thank you for answering the interview questions. The only few that require a serious answer are these:

How I kept boyfriends around?

Favorite outfit to wear while studying

What I look for in a man I hope to marry?

Most annoying trait I've encountered in a man

Let's meet up again, okay? When are you free? Please reply soon."

Kaiba hissed in annoyance and tapped his nails against the edge of his laptop. If he was only being asked to re-write these answers, did that mean all the other answers for his questions had been accepted?!

He didn't know how to answer these questions, hence the bullshit!
How did you keep a boyfriend around?!

Sighing, Kaiba eyed the phone on his desk and gave the bottommost button two rapid taps. Time to ask his secretary.

Footsteps rushed to his office door and creaked it open softly. She stuck her head in through the door before stepping in and closing it quickly behind her, bowing stiffly.

"Mr. Kaiba?"

"Status update from the lab downstairs?" Kaiba asked tensely, wondering how he could possibly begin to ask these questions without sounding suspicious.

"They haven't sent up a report, so I don't know," she answered truthfully, eyeing the door hopefully. "Anything else?"

"No," Kaiba said stiffly, mentally kicking himself and wondering why he couldn't bring himself to say it. "That's all."

"Okay," she said, bowing quickly and straightening up again, blinking rapidly when she noticed the tips of Kaiba's ears were slightly pink.

Ah, right! She had forgotten!

"I'm so sorry!" she cried, bending herself down into a bow again, and Kaiba felt his eyelid twitch. "I forgot to bring you last week's magazine!"

Kaiba tucked his tongue between his teeth and bit down lightly.
She was perceptive.

"But…there wasn't much on the main feature page which I thought was strange," she said, straightening up and fixing her blouse nervously. "So I didn't think you'd be interested in the rest of the magazine."

"You're right, I'm not." Kaiba answered viciously, mentally kicking himself again. How was any of this a good gateway to ask what she looked for in a man?

"I see," she said, nodding politely, and she slowly made her way to the door, feeling her cheeks burn. Something still felt odd, but she couldn't figure out what.

Her fingers had just wrapped around the door handle when she heard Kaiba speak again, "Wait."

She turned around politely, biting back amused laughter when she noticed the CEO's cheeks steadily growing red.

Just fucking say it! Kaiba berated himself silently, and he opened his mouth to speak, cringing at himself internally when he did.

"How do you keep a boyfriend around?"

There was a slight pause, and his secretary seemed to take the question into stride, "I would ask him out on a date every now and then to keep things fresh!"

"Yeah, no," Kaiba said automatically, and he bit his tongue, regretting speaking immediately and tried to correct himself with, "What else?"

"Ah…" his secretary bit her lower lip nervously, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards. "Um…if—I mean, I would personally…give him a gift. Something he would like? I would make sure to openly…reciprocate."

"Right," Kaiba said plainly, wondering if he ought to be writing this garbage down verbatim so he could immediately send it to Yami without having to think about it again.

"Anything else?" he asked as he pulled his computer closer and began surreptitiously typing slowly.

"openly reciprocate/give a gift"

His secretary blinked, wondering if Kaiba was now ignoring her after hearing an answer he liked.

"No, that's all I think," she said nervously, clasping her hands in front of her, and noticing that Kaiba's fingers had stopped moving over his keyboard, and her heart skipped a beat.

Was he…writing this down?!

"But if he's not the gifting type, I would find another way to reciprocate," she said in a rush, feeling her face grow dangerously warm again. "Like physically, with a…hug or…something!"

To her extreme astonishment, she saw Kaiba's fingers slowly begin typing again and she dared to smile.

"How do you know…that he's…" Kaiba paused and spoke through gritted teeth. "Marriage material?"

I can laugh now, right? She thought to herself wildly, feeling a smile curling her lips upwards against her will, but she reminded herself that if she lost her composure now, Kaiba looked like he might fire her….

"H-He would have to be…extremely nice," she said with finality, and she saw Kaiba's eyelid twitch so visibly, it looked like he had winked.

Oh, that was considered a bad answer.

"He has my best interests at heart," she said again, wondering why this felt like an interrogation. Kaiba wasn't interested…in her, right?

"And what are those?" Kaiba growled, hearing Yami's phone buzzing again in his desk drawer and he ignored it. He was fucking working on the answers, could Yami shut the fuck up for two minutes?

"My best interests?" she asked, her eyes widening, and she glanced at the door nervously. "Is this part of my job description, Mr. Kaiba?"

Kaiba ground his teeth furiously, understanding that his secretary was now thoroughly spooked by his sudden personal interest.

"Asking for a friend," Kaiba said, trying his best to keep his tone light, but he knew his anger showed on his face.

"You have a friend who is interested in me?" she asked, brightening up instantly. "Have I met him before? Was it Yami?"

Kaiba chewed the tip of his tongue again, cursing himself internally while his mind spun with another horrible excuse.

"Asking for a friend, who wants to know if a man is worth marrying!" Kaiba said furiously, curling his fingers into a fist, and to his relief, she smiled warmly and took a few tentative steps towards his desk.

"Ah…that friend," she said, understanding immediately that Kaiba was once again talking about himself and was asking for advice, so she tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. "If you love each other deeply, marriage is the next reasonable step, right?"

Kaiba opened his mouth and closed it so quickly, his jaw ached. Off topic.

The question was "what did you look for in a man you hope to marry" not "a man I want to marry".

"What…traits would he have," Kaiba breathed, thinking if he whispered, he could refrain from yelling.

His secretary took another step towards the middle of the room and sat down on the couch facing the TV and crossed her legs stiffly, looking thoughtful.

"He needs to be caring, and considerate. He needs to look after me, but also manage to look after himself. I want to be my own person, but have him support me emotionally too," she rattled off, acutely aware that Kaiba had resumed typing again, and she risked another secret smile. "And that's all."

"What's an annoying trait?" Kaiba asked instantly, and she paused, composing herself before answering again.

"I find it annoying when…he relies on me too much," she said simply, rising to her feet and pressing her skirt back into place. "I'm a very independent career woman. I can't stand men who cling to me for support."

She smiled genuinely at Kaiba, wondering if the CEO could relate to this sentiment. Perhaps there was a man in Seto Kaiba's life that was making him act this way. The thought made her giggle, and she earned furtive glare from Kaiba.

"You can be honest with me, Mr. Kaiba," she said quietly, lowering her gaze respectfully. "We're about the same age. I think we would've been in the same graduating class actually."

"What?" Kaiba said absently, saving the words he had typed and glancing up at her over his laptop screen.

"Who is he?" she asked boldly, and she watched Kaiba's eyes widen slightly before they narrowed into a cold glare.

"No one," Kaiba said firmly, wondering how he had been found out so quickly, and he watched his secretary laugh lightly.

"He's not the guy who has been bothering you, right?" she said politely, blushing. "The stalker! You mentioned a stalker!"

"He wasn't stalking me," Kaiba said firmly, thinking the accurate term should be "hunting". "He just doesn't know how to take 'no' for an answer. We're done here."

His secretary looked as if she was about to protest, but she remained silent, bowing and leaving the room quickly to answer the phone that could be heard ringing on her desk.

Breathing out a stressed sigh, Kaiba reached for Yami's phone and connected it to his computer with a spare cord.

This had better be worth it.


Yami thunked his head down on his desk, feeling his eyelids ache.
Tired. Sleepy. Bored.

"ATEM!"

There was a loud clatter from the nearby cubicle and Yami raised his head slowly, his heart thudding nervously in his chest as he wondered what Boro had discovered.
Maybe he had found Kumi's blog!
That wouldn't be a first time his coworker found a girl's blog…or porn advertisement.

Boro rushed into his cubicle and crashed forward clumsily, shoving his computer onto the desk and pointing a shaking finger at the screen, "I think she has access to your email, unless you sent this to me just now."

Blinking slowly, Yami leaned forward and scanned her words, holding his breath and hoping for the best.

How I kept boyfriends around?

I would give him a gift, or find a way to reciprocate in a way that only he can appreciate.

Example: If he always asks me out on dates, I would be sure to ask him out in return and offer to pay.

Or if he isn't the gifting type, I will be sure to reciprocate physically, by massaging his penis with my mouth, and that wasn't reciprocated recently so I'm feeling very pent up and angry.

Yami bit his tongue so hard, his eyes watered, and Boro violently shook his shoulder with a clammy hand.

"Hey! Hey, hey! Is this true?! Man, you can't do that! We work with these girls!" his coworker hissed in his ear before giving him a hard thump on the back. "Keep reading!"

Yami nodded weakly and did as he was told, feeling his arms and legs growing numb.

Favorite outfit to wear while studying

(same answer as before. Fuck you. Nobody cares what I wear while I study.)

What I look for in a man I hope to marry?

He needs to be considerate and thoughtful, having my best interests at heart. He needs to look after me, but also manages to look after himself. I want to be my own person, but having his emotional support is crucial.

"A serious answer," Yami whispered, feeling his head spin with a mixture of amusement and nausea.

"No, keep reading," his coworker said darkly, scrolling down to the last question. "There. This."

Most annoying trait I've encountered in a man

Men who are clingy and rely on me too much.

I especially despise clingy, spikey-haired, perverted men, who follow me around with a camera asking for photos of my hands and hairstyles, but has never properly asked me out on a date with flowers or even words. Instead, he covers his face and mumbles that he wants to go out with me.
How annoying, am I right?

"Oh." Yami said stupidly, seeing the words blur across the screen mightily.
Did Kumi do this on purpose?
She could've sent the email back in the same thread as a reply, but no, she had to send it to Boro.
She wanted this.
She wanted to humiliate him.

This behavior was…oddly familiar.

"You are crazy, you know that?" his coworker said darkly, copying the text and pasting it into a new box. "Where do you find these girls? Nevermind. We're going to edit this right here before sending it to Miss Watanabe. She's going to think this is less funny."

"Okay," Yami answered, still numb with shock and unable to feel his own body. "Just take out the…inappropriate parts."

"That's her entire answer," Boro sighed, deleting the paragraph underneath 'men who are clingy'. "But I suppose that's fine. All of her previous answers were short and to the point."

"And after 'reciprocating physically', just say…" Yami blinked rapidly, willing himself to remain composed as images of her head between his legs flashed through his mind. "…reciprocating with a massage. Remove everything after that."

"Already done," his coworker growled, and the computer was lifted off his desk.

Yami watched him leave, and his panic returned tenfold, causing his lungs to tighten.

Kaiba.
He needed to find Kaiba right now, so that he could track Kumi down and get his phone back.

Rising nervously to his feet, Yami snatched his jacket off the back of his chair and ran nose-first into his manager.

"Atem…heading out again? Without your camera gear?"

"I…yes," Yami said nervously, eyeing the elevator desperately.

"I see," his manager said gruffly, stepping aside to let him through. "Your mockup looks good. That's the only reason you can leave early today. Boro-san will cover your meeting spot again if needed."

Yami nodded stiffly, wondering why his supervisor was suddenly being so nice, but he brushed it off and bowed stiffly, waiting for him to walk by before he straightened up again and dashed to the elevators.


The phone on Kaiba's desk rung sharply, and he waited three rings before he picked it up, tapping 'save' on his computer before speaking.

"What."

His bodyguard from the first floor spoke quickly into the receiver.

"Mr. Kaiba. Mr. Mutou is requesting access to the top floor, says he has a meeting with you, sir."

He doesn't, but about time he showed his face here, Kaiba thought mildly, saying, "let him up," before hanging up swiftly.

Standing slowly and stretching, Kaiba took several long strides around his office, feeling his palms sweating with anticipation.

What was his goal here?

To make Yami go crazy.

But why? A small voice asked in the back of his mind. I'm the one that's acting crazy.

I'm doing this for fun, for payback, Kaiba growled to himself, continuing to pace, wondering what 'payback' Yami deserved.

Meanwhile in the elevator, Yami stood silently beside the bodyguard. He folded his arms stiffly across his chest, deep in thought.

Dealing with Kaiba was always a give-and-take.

What did he have to give this time?

Nothing.

No, wait. That was untrue.
Kaiba wanted to tease him about being a virgin.
He could bargain that.
Kaiba also wanted physical contact.
He could also bargain that.

I'm bargaining myself, Yami realized, wondering why he didn't feel more conflicted about it.

Well, it was for a good cause. It was for…Kumi, right?

"Step out," the man beside him commanded, and Yami quickly obliged.

The pretty woman at the front desk sprang to her feet and bowed quickly.

Yami nodded politely at her and moved towards the double-wide doors, pointing inside. "May I?"

"Yes," she said, nodding variously, her cheeks slightly pink, and she watched him step into the office quietly and close the door behind him with a soft clack!

Patting her face with her hands, she sat back down quickly and stared blankly at her computer.

That was the second time she had seen Yami this month.

Was something happening?

Kaiba had just sat down behind his desk when Yami entered, and he found that it was easier to smile at his rival now.

Yami stood by the door, gathering his nerve before striding forward purposefully and circling Kaiba's desk.

Kaiba leaned back in his seat, alarmed when Yami approached him too fast too quickly, and suddenly, arms were around his neck and Yami's lips were pressed against his.

Frozen in place, Kaiba's stomach churned with arousal while he briefly wondered if he should push Yami off.

But why? The small voice in the back of his head asked, and his lips burned pleasantly when Yami's tongue slid sensually over his bottom lip and padded lightly at the fronts of his teeth. Yami's breath was dangerously sweet, and there was an odd desperation to his actions.

His head spun while his chest buzzed with a familiar warmth each time Yami tried to deepen the kiss, and after a moment, Yami pulled away breathlessly, his cheeks flushed red and his angular eyes bright with determination.

"Now you do something for me," Yami said without missing a beat, and the pleasant warmth in Kaiba's chest shattered.

What the fuck. Way to kill a mood.

"Not interested," Kaiba enunciated, reaching forward to pull Yami closer for another kiss, but Yami dodged him cleverly, edging away and circling back to the front of his desk.

"I need you to find the girl again," Yami ignored Kaiba's comment and willed his pounding heart to calm down. His cheeks burned pleasantly and his lips throbbed strangely but he ignored it. He needed to stay true to his goal: finding Kumi and getting his phone back.

"No," Kaiba said coldly, his annoyance rising.
What the fuck was Yami thinking? Why could he never figure it out?
So the kiss was a pre-payment for finding "the girl"?!
What the fuck was the meaning of that kiss if he was just going barge in here demanding to see Kumi?
This was fucking bullshit!

"I need her address, or where you last found her," Yami said anxiously, folding his arms across his chest firmly, unable to look Kaiba in the eye. "And give me her phone number again. I know you still have it."

"What the fuck is your problem?" Kaiba hissed, resisting the urge to slam his fist down on his desk. "She doesn't like you back. Give up."

"Even if she doesn't, she has my phone!" Yami said haughtily, gazing fixedly at a billboard of Miyo-chan's sparkling water ad framed by several nearby buildings in the view of Domino just outside Kaiba's window.

"How about a new phone?" Kaiba suggested, thinking his tone sounded nasty, but he was acting on what he had written as answers for the magazine questions earlier. 'Give him a gift', right?

"No, a new phone won't replace all the contacts I have in my old phone," Yami answered keenly, turning him down gracefully. "No thank you."

"Fine," Kaiba fumed, rolling his eyes and propping his elbows up on his desk stiffly. "If I find her, I'll tell her to mail your phone back through the post. If."

Yami relaxed visibly and smiled warmly, "Thank you."

Kaiba grit his teeth and was about to say, 'you're fucking welcome', but Yami had already turned around and was walking quickly to the door.

Offended, Kaiba rose to his feet angrily. "Where the fuck are you going?"

Yami blinked, wondering if he was misunderstanding anything, and he didn't turn look behind him before answering, "See you later, Kaiba."

There was a long silence.

"Aren't you going to stay for lesson two?" Kaiba asked tersely, feeling his head rush strangely, causing his ears to hum.

"Lesson…two?" Yami repeated incredulously, wondering if he was going mad. Who knew that Kaiba was actually being serious about those kissing lessons?!

"Yeah, lesson two," Kaiba said, making a huge effort to keep his expression neutral, watching Yami's expression change rapidly.

"What's lesson two?" Yami asked with great difficulty, and he tightened his grip over the door knob.

Kaiba smiled thinly when he realized Yami was interested, so he picked his jacket up off the back of his chair and flung it carelessly on over his shoulders, pointing at the door. "Let's go. It's a date."

Yami blinked, standing very still as Kaiba strode out the door before him, leaving him alone in the middle of the office, suddenly feeling very small.

Did he hear that right? Kaiba wanted to take him out…on a date?!


Author's note:

LOLOLOL :D
ooo a kaiba yami daate! (finally ugh lol)

edited by: setokaibaes/marshmallons

please consider leaving a comment for my sanity and motivationnnn :D

hugs,
Ugli