Valkyria : Hello! Twelve Chapters and just an inch away from two-hundred mark. Like I have said dozens of times before, you guys are awesome! I love you lots! This is an incredibly short chapter, more like a rush job if I'm being brutally honest with all of you and myself. But, I promise a nice juicy chapter of Yuugi's POV in Chapter Thirteen. And since we have basically gone through everyone POV's I'm going to go Yuugi-Atemu Jounouchi-Seto Ryou-Bakura and then Honda-Otogi. I know the constant change in POV's can get annoying, but please, bear with me?

Disclaimer : I claim no rights to the anime/manga Yu-gi-oh.

Current Song : Serenade by Tackey & Tsubasa.


"I was born and raised in the chaos that was and still is Tokyo. I loved growing up in the casino my parents owned and through this experience I learned that you must be patient to win it all. Whether it be blackjack or one particular man who went by the name of Hiroto Honda; the current object of my amusement, frustration and from the looks of it, attraction." - Ryuuji Otogi.

Chapter Twelve : King of Hearts.

Ryuuji Otogi, current head of the gaming division of Ishigami Corp and self-proclaimed best gambler in Domino, considered himself to be a very patient man when he handled things both personally and professionally. He had to be considering most of his projects took more than a year to complete. But, there were things that he even found himself growing impatient with. Hiroto Honda was one particular thing.

The day he had come into Honda's office was a day that was imprinted in his memory. He had come to a halt for the coding of one of his games, a trilogy that was currently at the top of the selling charts, and heard that Rebecca Hawkins, an intern, specialized in computer logic and AI and was a genius in coding. So, biting back his pride at failing something he was damn good at, Otogi asked around before finally finding Rebecca on the wine division floor. He found Rebecca and Honda wine tasting -lucky bastards- and playfully arguing with each other.

Politely, he had asked for Rebecca assistance for the day and was, much to his surprise, quickly shot down and asked to leave. Not deterred by the man's rudeness, he had asked Rebecca personally if she wanted to come and was, once again, interrupted by the aggravated man. It was at that very moment that Otogi noticed Honda speaking -or rather yelling- with a French accent. It sounded so sexy that Otogi could only watch in fascination and increasing arousal as Honda quite soundly told him off.

Sure, he had been to France before and heard the language spoken many times, but there was something about the way Honda spoke that was alluring. It was so alluring that Otogi had to quickly step in and propose a card game before he had a little problem. He won, of course, and proceeded to take Rebecca for the day and to put salt on the wound had taken one of Honda's precious wines as well.

It wasn't until after they left Honda that Rebecca proceeded to beat with him within in an inch of life as they rode the elevator up to his floor. Okay, so that was an exaggeration, but she did hit him hard enough to leave bruises. He promised that he would apologize to Honda in return for Rebecca cooperation. If he ever got around to it that is.

And so, they managed to finish their latest game and launch it on time. In celebration, he wanted to pop open the wine he had taken from Honda, but found himself hesitating which was strange because he never hesitated on anything. It was then, in the middle of celebrating crowds of his team, that he realized he felt guilty for what he did to Honda. He couldn't imagine it, comprehend it really that him off all people felt guilty about his winnings. Confused about what he was feeling, Otogi returned home with the bottle of wine and placed it in his fridge, hoping to forget.

But, much to his displeasure, that wasn't what happened. He returned to work the next day unable to take his mind off Honda or the guilt he felt. These distractions showed up in his work and from the looks of anger his team was giving him, he thought it was best if he just took the rest of the day off to clear his head.

Taking the day off seemed to work, he cleared his mind, went to the local casino and came out with almost triple than what he came in with, hooked up with a nice girl and took her out to dinner and finished the night off with a nice one stand that he was able to look back on with fondness.

Everything seemed okay until he ran -literally- into Honda one night while working on a draft to another game. He could only stare at Honda who looked deliciously disheveled in a pair of gray slacks and white collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Before he could start any kind of conversation, Honda gave him a look of disdain and left him standing in the middle of the hall aggravated, offended and much to his surprise, aroused. Honestly, he must some sort of masochist to be remotely aroused at the hatred Honda seemed to display towards him.

Finally, after days of constantly running into each other, Otogi threw his hands up and decided that he would corner Honda and force him to accept his apology. At this point he would do anything to get rid of these feelings.

Leaning back against his leather chair, Otogi propped his booted feet onto his desk and directed his eyes to the full bottle of Pedro Ximenez. He had asked an associate of Honda's to convince the man to come up to gaming division so that they could talk to each other. Well, he had to toss a few thousand yen in the deal, but as long as it was done he supposed he didn't really matter.

Otogi smiled in pleasure when three firm knocks echoed in his office, rising up from his chair, he made his over to the door and pulled it open revealing an irritated Honda who was tapping his loafer covered feet impatiently.

"Honda-san," Otogi greeted, moving aside. "I'm happy you came. Please, come in."

"I don't have much time." Honda stated firmly, Otogi shivered at the French accent slipping through. "So please, tell me what is it you want."

"I wanted to speak to you about our last conversation with each other." Otogi closed the door and discreetly locked it. He had no intention of letting the man leave until he was well and finished.

"Our last conversation?" Honda echoed, taking to leaning against his desk. "We have had many conversations. You need to be more specific."

"Our little card came?" Otogi leaned against the door, his eyes locking onto Honda's. "And plus that wonderful Pedro Ximenez, which is behind you by the way."

He watched, with a sense of amusement, as Honda whirled around and purred at the sight of the full, untouched wine bottle. Who knew he would get such a reaction? He wondered if- no, no, it's been not to go there.

At least, not right now.

"You have not drunk this?" Honda questioned curiously, turning back around with the bottle in his slim hands. "Was there something wrong? It is a good year."

"No," Otogi quickly reassured, seeing the hurt and slightly confused look Honda was wearing. "It's fine. You could say that I felt guilty about the way I obtained it, and I wanted to return it." he bowed his head. "I apologize, Honda-san. Rebecca has told me how much you valued your wines and I was wrong to take it from you." he glanced up from his bangs to see Honda looking quite flustered and mildly pleased. "Will you forgive me?"

"W-Well, I suppose I shall forgive you." Honda smiled, holding out the bottle. "I know it is not appropriate work ethic, but would you like to taste it? It is very good."

Oh he would like to taste something, but it wasn't that wine. Pulling his lips into his charming smile, Otogi nodded his head, moving forward to the small refrigerator and pulling out two chilled glasses.

"It's warm." Honda cautioned, pouring a good amount into each of the glasses. "So it might take away some of the taste..." placing the bottle on the desk, Honda held the glass up. "Kampai."

"Kampai."

Taking a careful sip, Otogi released a pleased noise when the sweet taste assaulted his taste buds. He should have tasted this earlier, this was as good as an orgasm. He took the glass away to find Honda staring at him with a pleased expression.

"I take it you like?"

"Very," Otogi shook his head when Honda offered the bottle. It was tempting, but he didn't want to get caught drinking too much on the job. "You have very good tastes, Honda-san."

"Ah! Thank you." Honda chuckled warmly. "And I accept your apology, Otogi-san if you accept mine? I too was rude to you that day."

Otogi waved Honda's apology aside. "It's over and done with now, but I would like to be your friend." he tilted his head and smiled, mentally chuckling when Honda snorted at his look. "If you'll have me?"

"If I must," Honda sighed with mock-exasperation. "I will be your friend. If and only if you don't steal any more of my wines, yes?"

"Yes," Otogi grinned happily, Honda could be assured that he wouldn't go after his wines again. No, he would be going after something more delicious, more rare than the finest wine and the best designed video games.

And that was Honda himself.


A/N : Well? There you have! Otogi's feeling a mixture of frustration, attraction and confusion. Let's hope he can get his feeling straight, eh?

Next Chapter : A Grandfather's Worries.