Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!
Warnings: Shounen-ai; BL; slash; boy x boy; homosexual relationships; yaoi, SetoJou; Kaiba Seto x Jounouchi Katsuya, a shitty artist attempting to write, may be OOC, and spoilers up to the end of the series.
Notes: Please read the notes from the previous chapters as well (if you haven't already done so) as they still apply for this chapter.
Wow the last time I updated was the 19th of June 2008. Excuse me while I hide from everyone. Sorry it took so long! I really wonder if anyone even remembers this story or are still following it or even still waiting. Haha… I hope I get to finish this story though. I haven't written anything in ages so I hope my writing didn't get worse.
And yes, Katsuya swapped the photos during that awkward moment in the park in the last chapter.
The One Who Monopolized My Thoughts
The mall was always the busiest during the weekends. Not to mention there was a giant clearance sale at a popular brand name store where everyone was rushing to try to get their hands on whatever they could. Katsuya couldn't keep track of how many people had accidentally bumped into his shoulder already. He had only been at the mall for half an hour and his shoulder was starting to feel sore.
"Hey guys, how does this look?" Anzu held up a purple tank top against herself and posed with one arm on her waist.
"Shopping already? Shizuka and Otogi haven't even showed up yet." Hiroto was grinning as he leaned against the wall.
"There's no harm in browsing! Besides, we're not going to get to shop afterwards so what's the harm in doing a little now before everyone's here? We're at the mall after all."
"Women." Hiroto shook his head slowly, earning a glare from Anzu.
Yugi only laughed softly at the situation, completely used to the typical interaction Anzu and Hiroto had.
"So, Anzu," Katsuya began, "you said you had some good news for us?"
Anzu was the one who called them all out to announce some sort of 'big news'. They decided to make it a movie date since they all haven't seen each other for a while.
Everyone Anzu invited had successfully reserved the day free for her except Ryou, who had previous engagements. For once in his life, Katsuya was looking forward to seeing Ryuuji again. They may not have been the closest grapes in the bundle in the past but if he could become friends with Seto, then no one can really predict how close two people can become in the future. And no one would ever guess that Katsuya and Seto were friends now.
"It's a surprise! I'll announce it once everyone's here."
"Hey, Yugi, did you hear anything from Kaiba lately?" Katsuya turned to his friend.
Upon immediate mention of Kaiba Seto's name, everyone turned to look at Katsuya, wearing stunned expressions on their faces.
"Actually I did get a call from Mokuba about Kaiba," Yugi answered.
"Why are you all looking at me like that?"
"I thought Yugi was joking when he said you were bringing up Kaiba often these days," Anzu said, still looking quite confused.
"Only a few times and it's no different compared to bringing up any other kind of topic."
"That's true but this is Kaiba and you we're talking about… you two weren't exactly…" Anzu tried to think of a good term.
"Friends?" Hiroto offered.
"Yeah, I guess."
"Well we are n-" Katsuya stopped himself from saying 'now'. "Not that bad." Oh damn, it would've been weird if had to make up a cover story to explain how he was keeping in touch with Seto.
"Are you kidding me?" Anzu said.
He sighed and hoped his friends won't make an even bigger deal when they actually see him and Kaiba hanging out in the future. "What did he say, Yugi?"
"Kaiba's coming back soon from America. I think he said the 15th of October."
Katsuya was about to respond but became completely distracted when he caught a glimpse of his adorable little sister amongst the crowd of shoppers.
"Sorry, guys! I'm late!" Shizuka exclaimed as she came running towards them along with Hikaru.
"It's alright. Who's this cutie?" Anzu smiled at Hikaru, who immediately hid behind Shizuka.
"He's a friend of mine who lives next door. I was watching him for his parents but his father called an hour ago to tell me that he had sudden plans and wasn't able to pick Hikaru up yet. I was already late and didn't want to bail so I left the house with Hikaru. I'm sorry I didn't ask everyone else about this first. His father said that he'd probably come pick Hikaru up after the movie."
"Of course it's alright." Anzu didn't mind. No one did.
Yugi nodded and smiled at Hikaru but only received a glare from him.
"Is he glaring at me?" Yugi whispered discreetly to Katsuya.
Katsuya nodded. Hikaru probably recognized the Duel Monsters champion and probably hated Yugi more than him. He didn't think Hikaru liked any of them except perhaps Anzu. Hiroto and the soon-to-arrive Ryuuji were his 'love rivals' while he and Yugi were duelists. Katsuya sighed at that thought. He wondered what kind of man Hikaru's dad was if he raised a son to hate duelists so much. He couldn't be that bad since Shizuka hasn't said anything bad about him yet.
"Anyways this is Hikaru," Shizuka began, "and Hikaru, this is Anzu and Yugi." She pointed at them respectively when she mentioned their names. "And the one walking towards us right now—Ryuuji—you've already met once before." She shouted his name and waved at him as he approached them oh-so-charmingly.
"What?" Hiroto shouted.
"Ryu-RYU-?" Katsuya was appalled. "Since when did you two get so close?" Did this mean that Ryuuji was one step ahead of Hiroto? She only called him 'Honda'! (1)
Katsuya ran up and grabbed Ryuuji by his shirt collar.
"Whoa." Ryuuji moved back instinctively. "It's good to see you too, Jounouchi."
"Don't 'good-to-see-you-too' me, Otogi! Explain yourself!"
"Still the same I see, Jounouchi. You'll have to be more specific on what I am to explain."
"You know what I'm talking about!" He was so taking back ever feeling glad to see Ryuuji again.
Anzu shook her head and sighed. "You guys…"
Katsuya whipped his head to Hiroto who was frozen from shock. "Why aren't you saying anything?"
"Calm down, Jounouchi." Ryuuji removed Katsuya's hands from his shirt and took a few steps to hug Shizuka. "Shizuka! I missed you!"
Shizuka giggled and returned the hug. "But we spoke last night."
"What do you mean you spoke last night?" Jounouchi almost shrieked. Both he and Hikaru were glaring daggers at Ryuuji.
Ryuuji ignored Katsuya's question and greeted everyone else. "It's pretty busy here today. Huge sale huh?"
"There's a sale?" Shizuka's face lit up.
"Yeah. What do you think of this shirt, Shizuka?" Anzu held up the same purple top against her body again.
"It's really cute. You should try it on."
"W-wait weren't we going to the movies?" Hiroto interrupted. Everyone could read his mind repeating 'please no clothes shopping, pleeeeease'.
Yugi nodded. He too didn't want to go clothes shopping. "We should get our tickets or else they might sell out," he suggested.
Anzu sighed and returned the top to the proper rack of clothes. "Fine."
As they walked through the busy mall towards the theatres, Ryuuji swung an arm over Katsuya who was still glaring at him.
"Get off me, you." He directed the glare at the offending arm.
"Jounouchi, are you jealous?" Ryuuji said playfully and rubbed the bottom of Katsuya's chin with his index finger. "Wow your skin's really soft."
Katsuya slapped the hand away. "Hey, you shut up about that."
"I can call you 'Katsuya' if you feel left out," he joked and waggled his eyebrows but ended up bursting in laughter. "Haha! Sorry I couldn't even keep a straight face when saying that."
Hiroto suddenly had an idea and tapped Shizuka on the shoulder. "Hey, Shizuka. How about c-calling me 'Hi-Hi-Hii-'" He was blushing and his words didn't seem to form.
"He?" She cocked her head to the side, confused.
Everyone else sighed internally. Hiroto was such an idiot.
"What the idiot's trying to say is 'Hiroto'," Anzu helped.
"Sure!" Shizuka giggled. "I don't mind."
Hiroto beamed. "Shi-Shizuka!" He was definitely in heaven but Katsuya brought him back to Earth with a good punch across his head. "Ow!"
"What are you trying to pull, asshole?" He grabbed Hiroto's collar just as he did with Otogi.
Hikaru didn't like the idea either and kicked Hiroto's left shin.
"Ow!"
"Big Brother! Hikaru!"
Shizuka's sweet voice made Katsuya drop Hiroto to the ground instantly. "D-don't be angry, Shizuka. It was reflex. Really, reflex."
Shizuka frowned.
"I think I deserve an apology," Hiroto claimed as he stood up and fixed his shirt.
"Why you!"
Hiroto quickly hid behind Shizuka.
"You coward!"
"Big Brother!"
Damn it!
Yugi was starting to get nervous at the scene the boys were making and glanced at Anzu who looked like she was feeling the same way. "S-So uh…we're all here now, Anzu! What was the great news?" He hoped a change in subject would calm the boys down.
"Oh! Of course!" Anzu clapped her hands together. "I got accepted to the performance arts school in America I always wanted to go to for dance!"
Everyone was quiet for a few seconds before the news sunk in. They practically jumped her as they congratulated her and cheered.
Yugi beamed. "That's so great, Anzu! I'm so happy for you!"
"How long is it going to be for? Are you going to come back?" Shizuka asked.
Anzu nodded. "It'll be two years but I don't know if I want to stay there longer or not. I still haven't decided if I want to pursue a career over there or not." She was looking at Yugi when the last few words left her lips.
"We're going to miss you a lot," Katsuya said.
"I'm going to miss you guys too."
"All those extra English classes you took must have paid off," Hiroto commented.
Anzu laughed. "This might be the last time I'll see some of you guys so we better make it worthwhile. Let's celebrate! Movie time!"
Before they knew it, the movie was over and everyone was exiting the theatre. Katsuya shifted uncomfortably in his seat before getting up to stretch and following the others out. A two hour romantic comedy was a bit much for Katsuya but he was outvoted by his friends. He secretly did enjoy the movie but he wasn't going to ever admit that.
They originally wanted to watch a movie about a rookie duelist who ends up saving the world, becomes the Duel Monster's champion, finds love and pretty much just kicks ass. But since Hikaru was with them they decided to watch some romantic comedy the girls and Hiroto seemed worked up over.
"The part where Kouji wanted to impress Ayumi was so funny!" Anzu giggled and continued chatting with Shizuka and Hiroto. These three immediately started to discuss their favourite scenes once they finally stepped foot into a lit room.
"Tanaka Momoko really played Ayumi well. I love her acting!" Shizuka exclaimed and turned to her brother. "You recognized her right?"
Before Katsuya could answer, Shizuka's phone began to ring, blasting out the theme song to one of Tanaka Momoko's romance drama shows. "Oh, hold on a sec." She answered her phone. "Hello? ... Yes, we just finished watching the movie. Oh? Okay, see you soon."
"Who was it?" Katsuya asked.
"Hikaru's dad is here. He's coming upstairs now."
Just as she finished speaking, Hikaru let go Shizuka's hand and ran towards a tall man who looked like he was in his late 30s. "Daddy!" he exclaimed and jumped into his arms.
"Wow, I've never seen Hikaru smile like that before," Katsuya said quietly to Shizuka.
"He really loves his father," she stated simply.
The man walked over to the group with Hikaru and smiled. "Hi, I'm Kuroki Akira. Thanks for watching him for me. I hope he wasn't any trouble."
"Oh not at all," Shizuka said. "He was wonderful like always. Oh and these are my friends. Mutou Yugi, Mazaki Anzu, Honda Hiroto, Otogi Ryuuji and my older brother, Jounouchi Katsuya."
There was a slight pause before Hikaru's father responded. "It's a pleasure to meet you…" The response seemed to be particularly directed to Yugi and Katsuya.
"Nice to meet you," the group chimed.
"Mutou Yugi, the Duel Monster's champion and Jounouchi Katsuya who ranks third currently in the world. These are quite the people you know Shizuka."
Shizuka only giggled. "They're just regular boys once you get to know them."
"Oh." A smile crept up on his face. "I'm looking forward to it but I have to take Hikaru home now or we'll be late for dinner. Goodbye, everyone." His eyes moved to Yugi and Katsuya. "It was nice meeting you."
Hikaru gave the two duelists a glare before turning around with his father and leaving the mall."
"Okaaay…that was majorly awkward and weird," Katsuya admitted.
Yugi nodded. "I can't explain why but I got the same feeling."
"Maybe you look like someone he knows," offered Ryuuji.
Katsuya really doubted that it was as simple as Ryuuji suggested. From what he heard from the kids at the park, Hikaru's dad didn't like Duel Monsters. The meeting now just reinforced that fact. What bothered Katsuya the most was that Kuroki Akira seemed to have a stranger smile for him than he did when he was facing Yugi. Did he dislike him more than the World Champion? Maybe there was something on his face because Hikaru clearly disliked Yugi more than him. Should Hikaru's father not be the same? Oh whatever. He supposed not everyone was going to love Duel Monsters—to each and their own. At least Kuroki Akira wasn't attacking them about it like Hikaru does. Katsuya shook his head and dismissed his thoughts on the matter since it was starting to make him feel paranoid about his face.
"Jounouchi! Check your locker!" Susumu cried behind the door of his own locker just as Katsuya stepped into the staff room.
"Why? Did something happen?"
"You'll see. You'll be so amused." Susumu grinned.
Curious, Katsuya walked over to his locker immediately and looked inside. There was a sheet of paper inside that didn't belong to him.
Amaranthine Monthly Survey
Date: September 27th
Created By: Jin
Question: What kind of underwear do you think the hosts and waiters wear?
Please fill in below the type of undergarment YOU THINK each of the following people wear. This survey is anonymous and the results will be tallied and announced on Sept 27 at 11:00 pm. After completion, please submit this sheet into Jin's locker.
Hosts:
Aikawa Isamu: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Nishino Susumu: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sato Jin: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sekimoto Seiichi: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Shimizu Yuki: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Waiters:
Chiba Daisuke: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Fujita Kyou: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Imagawa Shigeru: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Jounouchi Katsuya: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Ri Isao: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Shindou Naoki: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tsuruya Yuudai: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
What the hell? What was Jin up to now? Katsuya grinned. It looked fun! He already knew he was going to put 'panties' next to Yuki's name and 'G-String' for Jin because he's a jerk who deserves to be messed with.
Katsuya placed the survey back into his locker so he could change first.
"Nishino, Do you have any idea what this is about?" Katsuya inquired from the changing room.
"Not sure. I got here not too long before you arrived. I bumped into Shindou leaving though and he said to not tell our bosses about this. It's supposed to be some secret monthly fun survey for employees only," Susumu replied.
"Why tonight though? Is everyone going to come back for the results or something? It seems a little hasty. Jin wasn't even in during the evening so how was this going to work?" Katsuya poked his head out from the change room. "Hey help me tie this apron on will ya?"
"Sure." Susumu nodded. "And I really don't know. I guess they are. Everyone's kind of excited to know the results." He helped Katsuya tie his apron and then patted him on the shoulder. "I'm curious to find out what everyone thinks I wear."
"I'll be sure to write 'commando' for you." Katsuya grinned.
Susumu laughed and headed to the stairs. "See you downstairs, buddy."
"See ya."
An hour of his shift has passed and Katsuya was starting to get a little bored and irritated. It wasn't because there was nothing to do; Saturday nights tend to be busy but catering to customers can get a little boring. This was especially true since Katsuya started having spy adventures with Seto—everything else just pales in comparison. He really didn't think he could do this kind of work for life and he really felt this way when he's trying not to flip off at rude, selfish and spoiled customers.
Rude customers—this was exactly what Katsuya was dealing with right now and it was irking him to no end. He became really good at maintaining a 'professional' smile now since Mai beat etiquette into him but he was still the rough and rude Jounouchi Katsuya his friends all knew and love, so in the back of his mind, he was cursing and telling them off. As much as he loved his co-workers, days like this just makes him wish he wasn't in the service industry.
"What do you mean Seiichi has to go now?" the current customer sitting in front of Katsuya shrieked.
"I'm sorry, Miss but Sekimoto is booked completely tonight"—every night actually, he mentally added. "You only reserved him for an hour so now he has to tend another customer," Katsuya explained.
"Seiichi and I are in the middle of a conversation right now! I am a regular here! You can tell the bitch who's next to wait another 10 minutes can't you?" The customer who looked like she was in her late 20s turned to Seiichi, no longer wearing her mad-bitch face. "Seiichi, darling, please stay?"
Seiichi smiled but it wasn't his usual charming smile...it appeared to be slightly forced? Of course Katsuya only noticed this because he knew Seiichi well. Anyone else wouldn't have picked it up.
"Ayako, you can't yell at Jounouchi like that; he's only the messenger."
The customer, apparently named Ayako, flushed and pouted. "But, Seiichi! I just don't want to share you! Why can't you just accept my offer and leave this type of work? I can afford to take care of you so you'll never have to work again," she whined.
Oh boy. Katsuya imagined himself rolling his eyes since he wasn't allowed to act on it. She was another one of those possessive rich female customers. Seiichi just keeps getting these types of customers. Although they were troublesome, Katsuya couldn't help but feel a little bad for these girls who fall 'prey' to some of the hosts here sometimes. They fell so deeply in love and occasionally to the point of delusion.
"I'm flattered, Ayako. You're sweet but I couldn't do that to you. I'm a man so I must make my own living," the host explained.
Ayako looked like she was on the verge of tears but Katsuya only glanced at his watch, getting impatient. Seiichi really needed to wrap this up or else Katsuya was going to feel the wrath of the subsequent customers when he tries to explain why Seiichi was late and why they would be losing five minutes with the host because of it.
Seiichi seemed to notice the plead in Katsuya's eyes and said, "how about I talk to Mai about letting you book me for two hours instead of one like everyone else next time, sweetie? I have to go now before Jounouchi here gets into more trouble, you know?" Seiichi smiled again and chuckled. "We wouldn't want that now would we?"
Reeeally doubts she cares, Sekimoto, Katsuya thought.
Ayako remained silent so Seiichi grabbed her chin lightly and tilted it up to face him.
"Hey," he said smoothly, "I'm going to miss you too but we gotta do what's right."
Ayako blushed deeply. "Y-Yes. Okay, Seiichi," she stammered.
"Good. I hope to see you again soon." Seiichi gave her a light peck on her cheek before leaving the table.
"Is there anything else you would like, Miss?" Katsuya offered.
"No, just the bill."
"Alright." He walked off to catch up with Seiichi, glad Ayako was finally calm.
Once he caught up to Seiichi, he whispered, "you know, you shouldn't lead them on too much like that."
"I know..." Seiichi replied sadly, "but what else can you do? You don't want to lose them but you also don't want to keep feeding them too hard. I'm glad most of the customers aren't like this." He sighed.
"If it gets too fanatical, we're gonna to have to get Mai to set things right again. I swear, Sekimoto, you need to stop looking so hot or all the men in the world are going to be single because of you."
Seiichi blushed like he always did when Katsuya complimented him.
"Okay, go to your next customer before I get my ass in trouble."
The table Seiichi headed to seated a gorgeous woman and a man who looked very familiar to Katsuya. Where has he seen that face before? He couldn't put his finger on it.
Hmm...
"Oh my god, I know now." Katsuya's head suddenly shot up from his arms on the desk. He was tired so he had decided to rest during his short break. "That man is Yamamoto Kenji!" He remembered seeing him on the news and such. What was Yamamoto Kenji, the owner of YamamotoCorp doing here?
Everyone in the break room, which was a few kitchen staff members, was staring at Katsuya, surprised at the sudden outburst.
"S-Sorry, just talking to myself," he explained.
Should he tell Seto? If he recalled correctly, Yamamoto Kenji was Seto's primary suspect for the stealing incidents occurring in KaibaCorp so maybe he should. But maybe he shouldn't since it looked more like Eimei was the culprit now. Also, what good would informing Seto that Yamamoto Kenji came into Amaranthine be?
Maybe he could ask Seiichi what was 'discussed' during that particular hosting period. Seiichi always had a soft spot for him it seemed so he might break the 'customer privacy policy' if that's what Katsuya wanted. He just couldn't help but feel very curious with this coincidence. What are the chances of this happening? And imagine how proud Seto would be if he actually discovered something useful for him.
Okay, wait. He shook his head. Why would he care if Seto was proud of him or not? He wasn't some puppy trying to get his master's praise. He should just forget about this whole thing. What could he possibly gather from a conversation in a host club?
It was finally the end of his shift. Katsuya was helping the other waiters clear off the tables of the last set of customers and wiping them clean. Ugh. Some of these customers are such pigs; they left such repulsive messes on their tables and even on the chairs sometimes.
At the instant Katsuya finished cleaning the last table, someone jumped onto him and tackled him onto the booth in front of him. Katsuya yelped and turned to look at his attacker who was guffawing like a maniac.
"Jin Jin! This is not funny! You could've killed me!" He threw his cleaning rag at Jin's face as payback.
"That's disgusting!" Jin stopped laughing and hurled the offending cloth into a nearby bin for soiled rags.
"I'm sorry. I thought that's where the dirty rags went."
"Oh you are so going to regret that." Jin grinned. "We all know you're ticklish, Katsu."
Horror overlaid Katsuya's face. "Hey there, handsome-person-who-can-take-a-joke. I've missed you." He laughed uneasily but practically squeaked when Jin smirked. "Get off me!"
"No," was all Jin said before grabbing Katsuya's waist and giving him a tickle attack.
Katsuya screamed, laughed and squirmed under Jin. "N-N-Noooo! I-aha-hate you, Jin Jin!"
Jin stopped his attacks after a minute when he heard Isamu laughing and shouting "get a room".
"Don't be jealous," replied Jin to the comment when he finally got off Katsuya.
The blond was coughing now from the excessive amount of laughter. He wished he could return the favour but Jin wasn't ticklish.
"Are you here for the survey results, Jin Jin?"
"Yeah and it seems like the others from the morning shift are just arriving."
"You are messed up, man."
"No one believed me, but I didn't make up that survey."
"Add me to the list of non-believers." He grinned.
"I'm serious. I mean I did come up with the idea to do a monthly survey but that wasn't the topic I was going to print off. Someone else did this and put my name on it." He then smiled mischievously. "But whoever did this is fricken brilliant."
"Who else would do something like this? Only you."
"As much as I'd love to take credit for this one, it really wasn't me. If it was me, I wouldn't make everyone come back to work just to see the results. Come on, some of us don't want to be at work all day."
When Jin put things that way, it did sound like he wasn't the one who made the survey. Jin wouldn't deny credit for something like this too.
"Well it doesn't matter. I'm going to head upstairs and tally the results. Can you tell everyone to wait down here?" Jin decided.
"You're lucky that Kurata left a little earlier today."
Katsuya walked over to where the rest of the hosts and employees were congregating.
"Hey, Jounouchi," a few of them said.
"Hey. Jin Jin said to wait down here for him. He's gone upstairs to tally the results."
Seiichi excused himself from a conversation with Isamu and walked over to where Katsuya was standing, next to Amaranthine's piano. "Do you need a ride home later, Jounouchi?" he offered.
"That would be great." He wanted to ask Seiichi about Yamamoto Kenji but it was probably better if he got him away from Amaranthine to discuss the matter. Maybe he could slip it in during the car ride but he didn't really live very far away from Amaranthine meaning he'd have to get all the information he required in five minutes and be discreet about it. It might be a little strange but... "Sekimoto are you busy after work?"
"Uh...no, why?" He appeared slightly taken aback.
Well this was kind of awkward. "Well I just suddenly really wanted to do something after work. I haven't hung out with a friend this late for a long while and I thought maybe we could do something for an hour. We could grab a drink or something. Non-alcoholic of course." He hoped he sounded convincing enough.
Seiichi smiled softly. "That would be lovely but I don't think there are many places still open at this hour that serve only non-alcoholic drinks."
"Oh. T-That's true." Katsuya rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Although I can make you a smoothie or something back at my apartment if you'd like." He chuckled.
"If you drive me home after then I'm up for it."
"Results are in!" Jin exclaimed as he descended the stairs from the break room.
The group cheered excitedly.
"Whoever made this survey: I love you but I have one compliant. Why would you leave the bosses out? Mai is too hot to exclude."
"Hurry and tell us the results!" one of the waiters cried.
"Jeeze. Hold onto your panties, guys. The most popularly believed to be worn undergarment for Aikawa Isamu is..." He paused for suspense. "...briefs."
"Booo! That's boring," someone said.
"I agree. There was however, one hilarious response. Someone wrote 'a jockstrap because he gets his balls kicked by customers all the time'."
"Not cool, bro. That only happened once," Isamu protested while everyone was laughing.
"Nishino Susumu: boxers, me: come on seriously, guys? A thong? Really? You all either wrote 'T-back', 'G, V or C-string' or just plain 'thong'."
"You know it's true," Katsuya cried out between laughs.
"Sekimoto Seiichi: briefs, Yuki: unanimously panties."
Yuki, who was standing in a corner with his arms crossed, flushed. "Fuck you all."
"Tsk tsk. Such a dirty mouth, Yuki," Jin replied.
Jin continued to announce the results for rest of the list, humouring the group at the same time with his 'commentary track'. Laughter and chatter filled the room each time a result was read.
"So boxers eh, Katsu?" Jin was done his part and headed straight to Katsuya and Seiichi.
"Actually I'm wearing a red thong."
Seiichi's eyes widened and he felt his cheeks heat up.
Jin was equally surprised and peered at Katsuya's ass, as if he'd somehow see it that way.
"I'm joking. Stop looking at my ass." Katsuya laughed. "The survey is right."
"Suuure... No take backs." Jin waggled his eyebrows jokingly, earning a punch on his arm from Katsuya.
"Hey! I was going to offer you a ride home but I guess you can just crawl home instead," Jin said as he rubbed his arm.
"Thanks but Sekimoto beat you to it."
"Oh? I can drive you though since it'd be in the same direction. It'd be more 'on the way'."
"I'm dropping by his place for a bit so it's alright. Thanks, Jin Jin."
"At this hour? Don't you two have work tomorrow? Especially you, Katsu. You have to get up quite early to deliver papers don't you?"
"It's just one night." He totally forgot about that. He'll just have to take a nap after his delivering job. "I'll be fine."
Jin turned to Seiichi. "You haven't been drinking right?"
"Never when I drive to work. I only get female customers and they tend to be more understanding over the issue."
"Can I join in whatever you're doing?"
"Oh...I rather just have this be between Sekimoto and I. We rarely hang out one on one ya know?" Katsuya wasn't sure if this whole thing was a good idea anymore but he'll do it for Seto. He would've waited to ask another day if he wasn't afraid that Seiichi might forget anything Yamamoto Kenji said.
Jin looked at Katsuya and then back at Seiichi.
"Well, alright. Seiichi, you go start your car up or whatever. I need to talk to Katsu in private." He scooted Seiichi to the door.
Jin's strange behaviour perplexed Seiichi but he left without complaint.
"Katsu."
"Yes?" Katsuya raised a brow.
"Do you know about it?"
"Do I know about what?"
"You know... about Seiichi."
"Okay, you need to stop beating around the bush." He frowned.
"Never mind." He took out his cellular phone and handed it to Katsuya. "Here take my cell phone, I know you don't have one."
"Why?"
"I'll be at home so if you need me for anything, give me a call."
"Okay, you're creepin' me out, dude."
"I just want to make sure you're safe and that you make it home." Jin knitted his brows. "Okay, I know this sounds weird but just do as I say alright?"
"I can take care of myself, dude. I can beat you in a fist fight and you know it. And why are you acting like you're my mom or something?"
"Alright, I'm sorry. Call me superstitious but I just have this bad feeling okay? Humour me will ya?"
"Fine." He was still not convinced. Jin was being suspicious.
"Do I get to keep your phone then?" he joked.
"Just for tonight. I'll pick it up tomorrow."
"Is there something about Sekimoto I should know about? We've both known him and hung out with him for the same amount of time. He's a nice guy so why do you make it sound like he's going to kill me or something?"
"I'm not worried about him hurting you. If anything I'm worried you'll beat the crap out of him and I'd have to come bail you."
"I'm not going to beat Sekimoto. Where are you getting these strange ideas from?"
Jin sighed. "I'm probably just over-thinking. Just forget what I said."
"Now I'm going to be on my guard all night for no god-damn reason. Are you just messing with me again?"
Jin became silent. He was conflicted; he wasn't sure if he should tell Katsuya or not.
"Jin?" He hasn't called him that since they made up nicknames for each other.
"Sorry."
"What's wrong?"
"I just don't know what your stance is and after what happened last week..." He shifted his weight.
"My stance? Last week?"
"If your friend Yugi... If he was... gay. How would you react?"
Katsuya's jaw fell slightly. "Oh my god. Are you gay?" Jin was the straightest guy he knew! Or so he thought.
"No. Answer the question."
"It wouldn't matter. Yugi is Yugi no matter what. He'll still be my friend and I'll still fight for him. I would defend him from anyone who'd try to harm him."
Jin smiled. "I worried for nothing then."
"Sekimoto's gay?"
"I never said that."
"Then this conversation makes no sense." He was getting frustrated.
"You just didn't hear it from me."
"So you thought just 'cause we were gonna be alone, Sekimoto was going to make some move on me and I'd freak out and punch him out like some homophobe? I'm offended."
"No, that's not—well, yes... okay, I'm sorry! How can I know how you felt about these things? And you always tend to answer everything with your fists, Katsu."
"Just like how I should've answered this one. You could've just asked."
"It's a sensitive issue."
"Jin Jin, I don't know your stance but I'm pretty sure that just because someone isn't straight, doesn't mean they're going to jump on everyone of their gender when they're alone."
But the issue is that he likes you, Katsu! Jin just couldn't say it.
Last week, Jin noticed that Seiichi was feeling dejected so he went out for a couple of drinks with him after work. Things were fine at first but he didn't know how much Seiichi already had drank during his shift and things got a little carried away.
Seiichi didn't remember anything the next day since he was pretty wasted. He ended up telling Jin his secrets. It was amusing to Jin at first until Seiichi started mumbling Katsuya's name in grief.
When he brought Seiichi back home, the drunken man had mistaken Jin for Katsuya and started nibbling on him, clinging onto him and whispering things to him. Jin felt bad for his fellow host. It had to suck to have all these bottled up emotions he wasn't allowed to act on. From how Seiichi acted that night, Jin wasn't sure if he wasn't going to burst suddenly and pounce on Katsuya. That's why he was worried tonight. If Seiichi went home with Katsuya at this hour, if he takes a few drinks and does anything stupid, who knows how Katsuya was going to react.
"Don't be mad and that's not what I think." Jin brushed his hair back with his hand. "Look, I'll buy you ice cream or something as an apology. I'll bring it over tomorrow when I pick up my phone."
Katsuya fought back his grin. "Fine. It better be a bucket of one of those fancy flavours."
"Deal."
"Your roommate's asleep? Katsuya stepped into the apartment and hung his coat where he was told to.
"Been that long since you've been over eh? He moved out a few months ago since he got a girlfriend," Seiichi explained.
"Oh? No one else wants to room with ya?"
Seiichi laughed. "I didn't put up an ad since I make a good amount at Amaranthine now. I can afford the whole place and I appreciate the peace on school nights."
Katsuya nodded. It made sense.
"Why don't you wait here and occupy yourself with whatever you want while I go make you that smoothie. Let me guess, you'd like a mango-strawberry smoothie?"
"Hell yeah. That's my favourite. How'd you know?"
"You mentioned it once before."
"Can I go in your room?"
"Yeah, sure."
As Seiichi left into the kitchen, Katsuya entered the bedroom. His eyes widened slightly as he looked around. Man, it was messy; books, papers and clothing were all over the floor and the desk. This room either screamed 'single male student with no time' or 'a hurricane just struck this area'. Katsuya wasn't the neatest person on the planet but he still kept his room clean. It was one of the few things his dad cared about and would scream at Katsuya to do during high school. Actually, he screamed at him to clean the entire apartment.
He looked over at the photos on Seiichi's desk and the ones hanging on the wall above it. Most of them were group family photos but a few of them were of the Amaranthine gang and even one with him and Seiichi alone.
"Here you are," Seiichi said, holding out a tall glass of mango-strawberry smoothie. He made himself one too.
Katsuya turned around. He didn't even notice Seiichi entering. "Your room is a mess."
"Yeah..." Seiichi rubbed the back of his head. "I kind of forgot about that when you asked if you could come in here."
"Haha. It's alright." He took a sip from the smoothie and made an appreciative moan. "Oh my god, this is so good. Thanks man."
Seiichi grinned. "You're welcome."
They sat down next to each other on the bed.
"It must be tough to live alone."
"I'm used to it. It's better than coming home to yelling." His parents didn't get along with him. They used to treat him like their greatest trophy in life as Seiichi was the top of his classes, attractive, and musically talented. Everyone was jealous of them for having such a son. All of this changed when they found out about his sexuality.
"Speaking of yelling... you never get yelled at by any of our customers." Katsuya wished he was that lucky. "But I guess all those ladies are too smitten by your charm to ever get mad at you."
"Yeah, but most customers don't yell at us. I can't speak for the occasional rare male customers though."
"Earlier today, you had a man as a customer didn't you?"
"Nope. They're always female."
Katsuya just realized the irony; the top female-charmer of Amaranthine was gay.
"But I remember seeing a man at a table you were at. It was one of Kurata's tables."
"Oh... there was a man there but he wasn't my customer. That one was a pain to sit through."
"Why? What happened?"
"I don't think I should say..."
"I think I recognize him. Wasn't he Yamamoto Kenji, owner of YamamotoCorp?"
"Well... I think that's what my customer called him. I can't remember his family name but he was definitely named Kenji."
"I'm a huge fan of YamamotoCorp!" He lied.
"Really?"
"Well, anyone in the gaming world really but I'm still a fan."
Seiichi smiled. "I have a 'This-Game' we can play on." (2)
"Maybe another night. I just want to talk tonight." He would really rather play but it was almost midnight and he needed to fish information out from Seiichi while it was fresh. Somehow.
"You sure? I have a great Duel Monsters fighting game."
Damn. He was tempted but he had to refuse for Seto's sake.
"Yeah, I'm sure," he said most regrettably. "Tell me why it was weird hosting Yamamoto Kenji instead."
"Well I wasn't hosting him. He was just there to talk to my customer. They were kind of arguing so it was awkward sitting there and listening to them while trying to work."
"Business meeting? Arguing game ideas?" He tried to sound excited. It must have been convincing enough since it made Seiichi chuckle.
"Actually, no."
"What were they talking about?"
"It's kind of private so... Why do you want to know?"
"Fanboy's curiosity and I like listening to odd work stories. I won't tell a soul, I promise. Come on, man. For me?"
The host's eyes softened. "Okay."
Katsuya grinned. Success!
"From what it seemed like... my customer, Noriko, used to date this man. He was trying to get her back but she refused. I was sitting there listening to them argue over it and I was pretty much there to make him jealous."
"How'd you host her like that?"
"Tried to pretend he wasn't there but at the same time not interrupting anything. She claimed he took up all her time with me so she made him pay for my services too."
"Nothing about business came up at all?"
"Well, the man's argument as to why she should return to him was because since his father had passed away, he now owned the most shares to his father's corporation. I think she left him before because he wasn't ambitious enough, had some problems and his company wasn't the best—just high standards I guess."
"Problem?"
"She said something about being tired of his sick paperclip fetish and he corrected her that he was just slightly obsessive-compulsive so it wasn't a fetish."
Well that wasn't what he needed.
"Apparently his company had to be number one before she'd date him again," Seiichi continued. "He said it would be soon because of a new project he was working on, but she didn't believe him."
"Wow. Why would he even want to be with some woman who wouldn't love him for anything other than his money and status?"
"I guess... you just can't help who you fall in love with." There was a hint of despair in his voice.
Why did Seiichi's eyes look so sad? There were rumours going around that Seiichi had been down lately but he never actually saw it. It always looked like the world was only beautiful in his eyes. Maybe those rumours were true after all. Not realizing it, he placed a caring hand on Seiichi's free hand, causing the host to flinch.
"Jounouchi?" He stared into Katsuya's eyes.
"I've heard that you were looking down lately. It's hard for me to believe that since you're always smiling." He squeezed his hand lightly. "But right now you do look a little down."
Seiichi suddenly pulled him into an embrace, throwing him off completely.
Whoa. He has had hugs before with other guys of course but never with Seiichi. Felt a little awkward but he returned it lightly, carefully placing down his smoothie on Seiichi's desk before doing so.
"You alright, man?" It was almost a whisper.
"Yeah, sorry." Katsuya wasn't protesting so Seiichi tightened the hug.
"Tell me what's wrong."
He paused and then exhaled deeply. "There's this person I like who would probably never return my feelings."
"The great host of Amaranthine? No," he said in mock horror, causing Seiichi to chuckle.
"Not great enough I guess."
"Do they even know?"
Seiichi shook his head.
"Well then how can you know? You should at least try."
"...I can't."
"Are they taken?"
"Jounouchi, do you remember how we met?" He changed the subject.
"Yeah. You were having an interview with Mai and I walked in her office to ask for my schedule to be changed. She got mad at me for not knocking."
Seiichi laughed softly. "The interview barely started when you walked in. Mai asked you what you thought of me and you said, 'He's really cute'." He blushed lightly. "And then she hired me on the spot."
"Was only speaking the truth and looks were her most important criteria."
"Most guys wouldn't say that about other guys."
The hug started feeling less awkward for Katsuya and instead, felt kind of nice. Seiichi was comfortably warm.
"Whoever it is you like, Seiichi, I hope it works out." He didn't know if what Jin said was true but if it was, then Seiichi's state was understandable.
Seiichi buried his face into Katsuya's shoulder. "Thank you," he whispered.
Notes: If you're interested, I posted a few of the "filled in surveys" the characters did on my FFnet profile page. You can see what Katsuya and some of the others wrote there.
Whew. I hope that wasn't too terrible. Now that I'm finally done this chapter...time to disappear for another three years before chapter 11! Okay, okay, I'm kidding. I hope I don't disappear again. XD;
(1) In case you forgot or didn't know: in Japan, people generally call each other by their last name unless if they are really close.
(2) In case you forgot: 'This-Game' is the name of YamamotoCorp's gaming console.