Author's Note: I do not pretend to know everything about the YUGIOH series. I have only watched parts of the English dub and learned some other details from websites and other fanfictions. Because of my lack of knowledge, this story is AU. It is also a male/male pairing: Seto Kaiba/Yami Yugi, who, for all intents and purposes, will be known as Atemu or Atem Mutou in this fic.
Obviously, knowing as little as I do, I do not own the series. I also don't own Louis Vuitton or whatever other brand names may pop up, or the Aston Martin Vanquish. Although I would love to own an Aston Martin. So don't sue me. I'm poor.
Mm, I love to drive. It's so much fun! Well, here we go again. Also – footnotes at the end for those of you who don't know what a pass-through is.
Thanks for reading! Reviews are bliss, and thank you SO much for all the favorites. In response to a question about Kaiba's upbringing: In this universe, it wasn't anything crazy like major abuse. We'll just say he had a particularly hard time because of his future.
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What am I doing?
It was late in the evening, and Atem was standing in his kitchen with the receiver to his ear and twisting the phone cord in his hands. The television screen glared at him across the pass-through, eerily illuminating the otherwise dark apartment. He picked up the television remote from the shelf on the pass-through and muted the sound as the phone continued to ring for what seemed to be the hundredth time. Figures. It's late, who would still be at the office at this time? However, the Egyptian was startled when an obviously embarrassed female voice- though at what, Atem wasn't sure- greeted him.
"Kaiba Corp, front desk. How may I help you?"
"Ah, I need to speak to Kaiba-san…."
"Name?"
"Mutou Atem."
A few seconds elapsed as Atem heard the rustling of papers that could only be a list of approved callers.
"I'm sorry, sir, your name isn't on the list."
"It's important."
"I can't patch you through unless you're on the list."
Atem sighed, rubbing his temples and sinking into a chair.
"I have details regarding an order he placed at Louis Vuitton," Atem said, only half-lying.
Kaiba's offer of a date had, after all, come out more like an order for Atem to join him. The secretary at the front desk paused to consider.
"Very well. I'm patching you through."
The crimson-eyed man was forced to listen to that boring elevator music businesses often play as he waited for Kaiba to pick up the phone.
"Kaiba," came a gruff voice.
"Kaiba-san," Atem said, "I wasn't sure you'd still be at your office."
"I am always at my office."
"That can't be healthy."
"Hn. What is the point of this call? I'm busy."
"Friday night. Where should I meet you?"
Atem could almost hear the shock in the brunette's voice as he answered.
"No need. I will send someone for you around six-thirty. Your address?"
"The apartments in the West Villa," Atem replied, "Number 347. I trust you know where that is?"
"Of course," Kaiba said, "And since I'm assuming you don't have much of the appropriate attire, I will also send along something for you to change into."
An eyebrow arched in slight disbelief and amusement and the shorter of the two chuckled into the phone.
"Friday night, then."
"Hn."
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"That's fabulous," Anzu beamed over a cup of morning tea, "I'm so happy for you!"
"Yes, well, it could turn out to be a disaster," Atem said.
"Don't be so pessimistic," she frowned, taking a sip of her tea and fixing a cup for Atem.
He shrugged and accepted the cup when she passed it to him. It was Thursday morning, and Atem was skipping work to spend time with Anzu and Yugi. Yugi, however, had yet to wake up. Of course, he also didn't know he was skipping work. Anzu had turned off the alarm without him knowing to allow him a break. Besides, it wasn't like Yugi and Atem's Jiisan couldn't do without help for one day. Atem's teacup had been drained twice before either of them spoke again.
"So, any idea what you're going to wear?"
"Kaiba-san said that he was going to send an outfit for me…."
"Really?" Anzu took a sip of her tea. "That's… kind of weird."
"How do you think I feel? He basically told me he was sending it because he didn't think I had anything appropriate to wear."
"Wait a minute, just where are you going?"
"Some dinner show, I don't know."
"Oh my. You're probably going to… oh, you're so lucky!"
"Anzu, what are you talking about?"
"There's this really popular, high-class restaurant that's been putting on dinner theaters lately. I think it's called The Crescent Blossom? Yeah, that's it."
"What are you two talking about?" came a sleepy voice from the kitchen entryway.
The two more early risers turned to look at the newest participant of their conversation; one very tired looking Yugi Mutou.
"Why are you here anyways, Atem? Don't you have work?"
"I'm skipping. So are you."
"Wait, what?" That seemed to have snapped Yugi out of his sleepy state. "What do you mean I'm skipping work? What will Jiisan say?"
"We already called him. We told him you had a cold," Anzu said cheerfully. "Don't worry about it. We're all going to hang out today."
"Where are we going?" Yugi asked, although he was still a little upset about Anzu and Atem lying so readily to Jiisan. He was sure that Jiisan would have understood if they had told him the truth.
"We are going to get Atem spruced up," Anzu announced.
"What? When did this happen?" Atem asked, mildly concerned for his safety.
"Why?" Yugi asked, reaching for the empty teacup on the counter and the teapot, which was resting on the burner so the tea wouldn't get cold.
"Atem," she began, "is going on a date tomorrow night."
Atem sighed and buried his head in his hands, while Yugi nearly dropped his teacup in surprise.
"Really? That's wonderful! Who is it?"
"That's… it's…."
"Don't push him, Yugi. He'll tell eventually."
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By the time Atem finally got home in the afternoon, the news seemed to have traveled to everyone in the small group of friends. Calls poured into Atem's answering machine, congratulating him on having found a girl to make him happy. He sighed, deleting all of them after he listened to the nearly endless stream of the normally quiet Shizuka's message.
"You'd think I'd died or something, with all the attention this seems to have gathered," he muttered to himself. "Well, at least I can trust Anzu not to tell them that 'she' is a 'he'… and one they don't really like, as well! What have I gotten myself into?"
He was just settling in to watch some television when a knock sounded on his apartment door. Thinking for a moment that it was Friday and not Thursday, Atem experienced a fleeting moment of panic in which he believed that it might be the someone arriving to pick him up for his date. He was only somewhat relieved to find out who it was, however, because on the other side of the door stood not one of Kaiba's employees, but a rather familiar face indeed.
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"You're still awake?"
"Huh? Yeah. I have to finish that paper for English still."
"Oh."
Kisara sat on the edge of Mokuba's bed, watching him type away on the glowing computer screen even at the late hour.
"Should you really be here?" Mokuba asked, not looking away from the screen as he continued to work on his essay. "If one of the teachers catches you, we're both dead."
Kisara shrugged, pulling her long white hair out of her face and into a loose ponytail. She reached over and pulled a notebook out of her bag, borrowing one of Mokuba's textbooks and scribbling down answers to the assigned problems.
"It's all right, they won't catch us. The other girls are covering for me, and there weren't any teachers standing guard out in the boy's hallway anyways. How do you think I got here?"
"True," Mokuba said, pressing the save button just in case. "Almost done, just have to write the conclusion."
"Good, then you can help me with this. These last few questions are pretty tough."
"Is that the history?"
"Yeah."
"It's the yellow notebook in my bag, if you want. I can explain later."
"Thanks."
For twenty minutes, the only sounds in the room were those of Kisara's scribbling in her notebook and the clack of the keyboard as Mokuba finished his essay and finally sent the command to print the final copy.
"Finally," he muttered, pushing the keyboard away and stretching in his chair. "I'm so tired. I don't get how nii-sama could ever work such late nights."
"Hmm?"
"Oh. My brother works a lot. It's like his favorite hobby or something."
"That doesn't sound like much fun."
Mokuba shrugged, flipping the desk lamp on as he reached for his printed essay and then shut down the computer.
"I guess. Do you need me to explain those problems?"
"No, I think I got it. Where's your roommate?"
"You didn't know? He got pulled out of school for awhile, I guess his grandmother died or something."
"That's too bad."
"Yeah."
Kisara set the two notebooks and the textbook aside and folded her hands in her lap, blue eyes staring intently into gray.
"Mokuba?"
"Yeah?"
"I've been thinking… you miss Japan, right? And I want to see the place where I was born."
"Right…."
"So what do you say we go over break, okay? It'll be fun."
Mokuba paused and considered.
"Let's do it."
"Perfect," Kisara said, smiling, "I'll meet you before home room tomorrow."
"Okay. Good night, Kisara."
"Yeah. You too."
Kisara shut the door quietly behind her and made her way back to the girl's dormitory. Mokuba leaned back in his computer chair and let out a sigh, staring at the ceiling.
I wonder what nii-sama is doing right now….
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First off! A pass-through is the actual name for those half wall things that some people have in their kitchens. The wall extends from the floor to about waist height so that you can see over the top. Mostly they join kitchens to family or living rooms, and I have seen them commonly used as a way to pass food and plates over from the kitchen to those sitting in the living room watching television.
Secondly, Mokuba and Kisara attend a private boarding academy, in case you couldn't tell.
I apologize for the extreme abundance of dialogue in this chapter, and for the awful scene change after Atem answered his door.
Until next time,
Stellar Sundown