Drabble Notes – Seto/Ryo, and yet a third one from that same AU that I intend to work on someday. As this was an early version however, I can now say that Ryo definitely wouldn't be able to leave KaibaCorp if he'd wanted to.

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In the space of time he'd been at KaibaCorp Ryo had managed to become very sick of CEOs as a whole. They all acted the same, and by that he meant they all acted arrogantly crazy. As if they thought that being rich made them immune to all laws and moral standards.

When he was younger he had always admired Seto Kaiba. The media constantly tried to put Kaiba down and Ryo had always defended him against the opinions of his peers who believed what the media said. But now he was starting to think the media might have been right… Maybe Kaiba did have a screw loose somewhere.

It was the only way to explain his behaviour since Ryo had arrived at the company. From the start the CEO had taken an interest in him. At times it seemed like a romantic interest, but once Kaiba had gotten his way with the employee he would suddenly do a full turn and pretend Ryo didn't exist.

His brother didn't make things any better either. Although he was unaware of the way Kaiba had treated Ryo in private it was plain to Mokuba there was an attraction between the two, and in turn Mokuba made it plain to Ryo that he did not like this. Having a lot of influence at the company meant that it wasn't difficult for Mokuba to get Ryo into trouble and whenever Mokuba said something Kaiba always listened to him. If anything Kaiba seemed delighted at the opportunity to get Ryo into trouble, making him perform the most mind-numbingly dull tasks.

It was an insult to his intelligence and Kaiba knew it. It almost seemed like he wanted Ryo to react to the negative treatment he was getting now in contrast to the favourable attention he'd been receiving when he first came to the company. Ryo was almost sure Kaiba was putting him through another psychological test but he couldn't work out why or what was expected out of him this time. Last he checked getting angry with your boss only ever got you fired.

Although leaving was an option. He was only tied to KaibaCorp as long as he worked there. Leaving would mean he wouldn't have to put up with any of the CEOs ever again. Though this would be the same as quitting, and he couldn't bring himself to do that. Kaiba would never respect a quitter and for some reason he still wanted Kaiba to respect him.

At the moment he was doing some copying, another pointless task he'd been enlisted to do due to a complaint Mokuba had made about his behaviour. He'd heard someone walk into the room and a quick glance showed it was Kaiba himself.

He looked back at the copier pretending he hadn't seen him but Kaiba had already walked over.

"Enjoying your new tasks Marufuji?" he asked tauntingly.

Ryo didn't respond. He couldn't give Kaiba the satisfaction of seeing he was getting to him, or risk insulting him and losing his job.

"Perhaps you'll think twice of talking back to my younger brother in future," Kaiba continued, knowing full well that Mokuba wasn't entirely blameless but wanting to make Ryo think he believed it to be that way.

Ryo nodded mutely.

"What do I have to do to get a reaction from you?" sighed Kaiba in an uncharacteristically child-like annoyance.

"Just don't send me to see the Manjoume Group again, or to Industrial Illusions for that matter," Ryo replied, testing the waters. He had not yet told Kaiba about the events with Shoji or Pegasus yet due to an internal conflict as to if it would be wise or not.

Without revealing whether he'd caught on or not Kaiba responded, "I thought it'd do you good to get to know other CEOs."

"I'd rather know them at a distance," Ryo commented shortly.

"Why, what have they been doing when you went there?" asked Kaiba humourlessly.

"Nothing different from what you did when I first arrived here. Or do you not recall that now?" said Ryo, willing his patience to run out.

Before he could have prepared himself for a response from Kaiba he felt the CEO grab him. He tried to back away but the copier blocked his path.

"They have touched you… With their corrupted hands…" he said in a dark, soft tone.

Ryo couldn't work out if he was in trouble or not. Because Seto Kaiba was impossible to read. And this was doubtlessly one of the reasons Ryo found him so attractive.