A/N: Late due to uploading errors. But it's Friday, at least! So, um, if you have any questions (e.g. "But, Jonouchi's friends!") read Emulsification first. It's another fic that sorta-kinda fits in between this chapter in the last
Also, due to school, this fic is on hiatus until Friday, November 25. I UPDATE AGAIN IN NOVEMBER. I'm not dead, just in school. If I need more time, I'll let you know.
Disclaimer: Kazuki Takahashi owns Yu-Gi-Oh and the affiliated characters/plotlines/card games. Rebecca Black owns the song "Friday". LittleKuriboh owns the one Abridged Series quote I couldn't help but work in. I own nothing except my words.
Written as a personal Challenge, for myself: Write a non-parody, semi-serious story. Easy enough, I guess. It must be a songfic for the viral hit "Friday" by Rebecca Black. That's where it gets tricky.
Warnings: Implied yaoi that I was too lazy to write. Have to give something to the non-smut fans.
Chapter 10: The Implications of "Ball" (...Which I Unfortunately Couldn't Use)
Yesterday was Thursday, Thursday
Today i-is Friday, Friday (Partyin')
We-we-we so excited
We so excited
We gonna have a ball today
Kaiba shut his laptop firmly and checked his watch.
It was exactly 7:30 PM on Friday. It would take him four minutes at the most to take the elevator down to ground level and make his way out the door. He was already high off the endorphins of his most recent success- at last, Naomi Inc was his! As the elevator descended, he almost shuddered in anticipation of his prospective duel victory. Kaiba was- dare he say it?- excited.
And in more than one way.
He'd exited the building, running into Jonouchi (as usual). It was seven-thirty four, and they were both perfectly on time.
"Mutt," Kaiba acknowledged coolly, with no evident ill will. There was a nearly invisible lusty glint in his eye, one that Jonouchi only just managed to catch.
"Moneybags," Jou replied, his voice considerably less malicious than it had been earlier, when he'd insulted Kaiba for his dragon fetish... again. Though, to be entirely honest, he knew better than anyone that Kaiba only had a kink for power, especially the type that came with wielding such monsters.
"What do you-" Kaiba continued their weekly ritual, but he was suddenly interrupted by a woman in a disheveled pantsuit shoving the doors open, thus disturbing the two boys. Kaiba was sorely tempted to fire his secretary.
"Mister Kaiba!" she exclaimed, panting. Evidently, she'd run all the way down there, full-speed ahead. "Sorry... I'm really sorry!"
She took another few heaving breaths.
"What?" Kaiba was irate. He was on his off time, Ra damn it!
"You have to be at a charity ball in less than two hours!" she finally managed to gasp out. "I'm sorry! We just got an invitation in the mail! And you have to go... the Board of Directors said so... it's in the list of rules they've created for you to maintain a proper public image."
"Screw the rules, I have money!" Kaiba growled. He was so firing his Board of Directors. The secretary cowered.
"B-but Mr. Kaiba..." she stuttered. He aimed his glare on her, and any courage she may have had died on the spot. She squeaked, "Please don't fire me!"
"I've explained this dozens of times. Keep my Fridays free. Why the Hell do I have a ball today?"
If someone looked closely enough, they could see froth beginning to form at the edge of Kaiba's mouth.
"Sorry, Mr. Kaiba," the secretary cowered. Then, she tried to appeal to his logical side, "But there are a lot of potential clients who will be attending also-"
"I take Friday evenings off," Kaiba explained, as if speaking to a six-year-old. "From seven thirty to midnight."
"B-but Mr. Kaiba," the secretary was panicking. If she couldn't convince Kaiba to obey the Board, they would fire her.
"Um, Kaiba?" Jou cut in, waving his hand in front of the taller man's face. "Hey, if you've gotta go to work, I can just challenge ya to a duel some other time..."
"I don't have time to duel a proletariat like you," Kaiba replied automatically, as if the words "challenge" and "duel" had triggered some sort of instant reaction in him. "I need to get home."
"I'll duel you on your way back and catch a taxi home," Jou tried to bargain, falling into their usual pattern.
"Fine," Kaiba replied, as his limo pulled up to the curb.
"Mr. Kaiba!" the secretary was shocked. "You have a ball today! In less than two hours, nonetheless! You still have to go home, shower, who knows what?"
"I can't be expected to go," Kaiba sneered condescendingly at her. "It's too short-notice."
"But... but you attended the emergency meeting that came up at three AM yesterday!" she protested. At this rate, if the Board didn't fire her, Kaiba would.
"Yesterday," he dragged out the word, as if she were a toddler with comprehension issues. "Was Thursday. Today, it is Friday."
"Mr. Kaiba, I'm so, so sorry, but you really, really have to go-" the secretary begged, on her knees by now.
"Give my driver the directions to the location of this so-called 'ball'," he finally snapped. "I'll go."
The secretary internally cheered before running over to the driver and giving him directions to the place where the ball would take place.
"I'm still gonna duel ya," Jonouchi insisted.
"Of course, mutt," Kaiba smirked. "I wouldn't have it any other way."
They got into the car before Kaiba shut the door.
"All right," Jou half-smiled. "Rock, paper-"
"No," Kaiba interrupted.
"... okay..." Katsuya leaned over and wrapped his arms around Seto, amorously brushing his fingertips across his lover's cheek.
"Not that, either," Kaiba frowned. Seto added, "Unfortunately."
"Fine," Jou pouted.
"Jonouchi..." Kaiba started. Then, Seto shook his head. "No, Katsuya. The other week, we had a discussion about the media, and you said that it didn't matter to you if other people knew about our... relations... and it doesn't matter to me, either. I don't need to improve my public image, and the fiasco with Naomi Inc is over, so my stocks no longer need to be as valuable at the moment. I could care less about what the Board of Directors thinks; I'm firing them all, anyway. Screw their rules, I have money. And power."
"Seto," Katsuya raised an eyebrow, his voice taking an amused tone. "Are ya trying to ask me to 'come out' with ya?"
"..." Seto averted his eyes for a second before gazing back at his lover. "Possibly."
"Seto!" Katsuya exclaimed, surprised. "Really? Ya mean it?"
"Yes," Seto agreed. Kaiba went on to explain, "There isn't any reason for us to hide it any more. It only serves to make you insecure about our... relationship... and force us to waste time arguing."
Katsuya knew that Seto meant, "I love you want I want the world to know it. You're mine, and I need to be constantly reassured of that fact."
He was, after all, a master at Setospeak.
So, Katsuya replied with a wink, "There are things better than arguing that we could use our mouths for..."
And he proved it by using his lips to capture Seto's.
.-.-.-Roughly 20 Minutes Later, Kaiba Mansion-.-.-.
As soon as the car stopped at the mansion doors, Katsuya instantly noticed that something was off about Kaiba. Seto was almost perfectly in character, though.
"Mr. Kaiba, sir," Isono, the butler, addressed his superior. He had to be extra-careful; Kaiba was always particularly impatient on Fridays and he seemed especially impatient today. "Should I prepare a room for your guest?"
"No," he replied coldly, wrapping his arm around Katsuya's waist in an oddly characteristically possessive motion. "My lover will be staying in my room tonight."
Isono gave a little surprised jolt at that. He'd had his suspicions about the boy, but he'd never expected his boss to straight-up admit to it.
"There is a charity ball tonight," Kaiba informed him. "We are due there in an hour and a half. Clean the car, then go home."
"Yes, sir," Isono bowed sharply before turning and completing his task. It wasn't his job to ask questions.
"Nyeeh? Seto?" Katsuya was confused.
"You didn't seriously expect me not to show you off, right?" Seto smirked. "You're mine."
The idea of Seto not showing off what was his was pretty ridiculous. This was, after all, the guy with the tallest building in Domino, the same guy who wore large, flashy trench coats and tight-fitting clothing. But, still...
"You're sure I'm show-off-able?" Katsuya quirked an eyebrow. Very few would consider a tough-guy thug even vaguely close to what one might call "presentable".
"I could do worse," Seto played along, cracking the rare joke. He'd rather be out with Katsuya Jonouchi, the former gangster, over any pedigree top-model. To prove it, he affectionately kissed Katsuya's mouth and captured his waist.
"Bastard," Katsuya swatted his hands away playfully. "We've got somewhere to be tonight, don't we?"
"Right," Kaiba suddenly stood up straight, leading Jou down to the bathroom. "We should shower first."
"All right," Katsuya smiled mischievously, stripping Seto of his suit jacket and beginning to unbutton Seto's neatly done-up dress shirt. Seto himself went to work on Katsuya's frayed jeans, unzipping them and slowly pulling them down his hips.
Katsuya bit back a groan of pleasure and tried desperately to focus on just undressing Seto. They really didn't have the time for this...
Seto unbuckled his own belt and removed it, then removed Katsuya's boxer-briefs from his person. Just for fun, he gave Katsuya's ass a soft smack.
"Eep!" the blond squeaked. Seto took his momentary surprise as an opportunity to lift Jou's arms above his head and strip his shirt off. Schucking off the rest of his own clothing, he cornered Katsuya in the shower, then turned on the water.
And both boys looked into each others' eyes, almost identical smirks on their faces.
They'd never considered sex in the shower before.
And, as their bodies began moving together, Kaiba mused that they would be fashionably late to the ball.