Chapter 29: Disturbances
Angrily swiping his card through the reader to let himself into the room, Kaiba all but yelled into his phone, "I don't give a shit, Isono! Just get it done and make sure that they don't find out. If they have even the slightest suspicion that we're investigating them—shit, just tell Ogata if he fucks up, he's done. Got it? I don't care if you have to go to his goddamn apartment and rip him out of bed, just get him started or find me someone more skilled than him to do this!"
"S-sir, Ogata is the best that—"
Interrupting Isono as the door finally closed and locked behind him, Kaiba snapped, "There is always someone better."
"Understood, sir. Is there anything else?" Isono politely inquired, taking his employer's anger in stride.
"Just get it done and get it right," Kaiba told him, looking around the spacious hotel room for any signs of Yami. "Failure is not an option."
Bowing to his boss even though the action couldn't be seen, Isono respectfully said, "Yes, Seto-sama. I will take care of it, so please enjoy the rest of your evening without worry."
Hanging up without another word, Kaiba threw his phone onto the desk with a loud curse. Only then did Yami appear from inside the bathroom with a mild look of concern on his face. "What happened?" Yami asked as he slowly approached Kaiba.
"They fucking lost him, the incompetent pieces of—"
Yami interrupted the rant to ask, "Lost who?"
"The man from earlier," Kaiba told him with a scowl as he irritably ran his fingers through his hair. How hard was it to tail one man?
"You're really worried about him, aren't you?" Yami asked as he started to loosen Kaiba's tie.
Allowing Yami to undo the knot, Kaiba muttered, "I'm concerned about who's behind him."
"I don't understand," Yami said as he finally managed to get it untied.
"He's only a pawn," Kaiba explained, although it was still lost on Yami. Kaiba wanted to know if Gozaburo's old mistress had any connections with the man, but he knew that he was getting into dangerous territory.
Using the tie to gently pull Kaiba's head level to his, Yami kissed him eagerly in am attempt to start their evening on a better note. Kaiba tried to lose himself in Yami's kisses, but his mind was still obsessing over the issues surrounding the suspicious stranger at the banquet. He offered no resistance as Yami stripped him of his suit jacket and Kaiba did his best to focus on the attention being lavished on him. It was difficult, but Yami was undeterred by the challenge of distracting Kaiba from his concerns.
Kaiba's hands moved automatically to rid Yami of his jacket and the pleased sound it caused was starting to successfully refocus him. Just when the gentle sway of Yami's hips against his was starting to work, Kaiba's phone rang and he swore loudly. It was tempting to just ignore it and let it go to voicemail, but given the state of things, Kaiba just couldn't do it. Walking over and flipping it open, Kaiba growled, "What?"
"That's how you address the person who's putting their ass on the line for you?" Ogata greeted Kaiba with a laugh, easily picturing the way Kaiba was probably fuming. Even though Ogata Katsuro was in his early twenties, he was still the best in his field and knew that he could get away with a little more than the average person because of that. It was quite entertaining to watch the uptight teenager get so wound up and Ogata tended to push the boundaries as a result.
Ignoring the jibe, Kaiba informed him, "Isono has all of the information you need to know."
Flopping onto his couch with an audible noise, Ogata asked, "Am I interrupting something?"
"Why?" Kaiba responded instead of confirming.
"Because I know that you prefer to brief me yourself since you don't trust anyone else to get all of the details right—not even Isono-kun," Ogata replied with a smirk. "So did you score a hot chick at the party or something?"
The forwardness of Ogata's comments disturbed Kaiba and he gritted his teeth as he simply answered, "No."
"An ugly one?" Ogata continued with a laugh. "Come on, you can do better than that!"
"Like I would waste my time with one of those?" Kaiba snapped, getting more irritated with every word Ogata said.
Laughing heartily, Ogata couldn't resist teasing, "Then you picked up a guy? Or did a guy pick you up?"
Kaiba's eyes strayed over to Yami and he momentarily wondered what Ogata had found out in unauthorized research. It made Kaiba nervous, but he betrayed nothing to the infuriating man. "No, and you're really starting to—" Kaiba started to say before he got interrupted by Ogata.
"Chill, I'm only messing with you," Ogata told him with a snort. "Although hooking up with someone might actually help you, you know? Lower your stress levels, make you tolerable to be around…"
"I only put up with you because you are skilled," Kaiba informed him. "I sincerely doubt that you getting fucked would make you any more tolerable."
"And they say you don't have a sense of humor," Ogata replied with a snicker. "But seriously, what's going on?"
While Kaiba explained the situation to Ogata, Yami could only stare at Kaiba in surprise. He was used to Kaiba cursing excessively when angry, but hearing him respond in such a manner was unusual. It made Yami curious about the person on the other end of the line, but he got the impression any inquires would be immediately dismissed.
The longer their conversation wore on, the more bored Yami became, especially since he was trying to respect Kaiba by not overtly paying attention. Yami found it a little odd that Kaiba remained in the room while he discussed the issues; normally he would have isolated himself to talk about business. It made Yami wonder if it really was such an important phone call and he decided to test his theory.
Yami approached Kaiba and ignored the warning look he received in response. Instead his fingers started nimbly unbuttoning Kaiba's dress shirt, although Yami was once again surprised when he wasn't irritably pushed away.
Deciding to take things a step further, Yami slowly slid the shirt off of Kaiba and sensuously trailing his fingers over sensitive skin in the process. Yami smirked when he saw the way Kaiba instinctually moved the phone away from his mouth in case a noise involuntarily escaped him. Taking it as a sign to continue, Yami began slowly kissing his way down Kaiba's chest as his hands mirrored the path along his back.
Up until that point, it was nothing that Kaiba couldn't easily control his reaction to. The soft kisses and gentle caresses didn't stir Kaiba's desire as much as it stilled his irritation at Ogata's perverted banter and short attention span. There was something comforting about the touches and Kaiba returned the favor by stroking Yami's cheek as he held in a sigh that couldn't decide whether it wanted to sound irritated at Ogata or pleased with the attention he was receiving.
It was only when Yami gracefully lowered himself to his knees and looked up at Kaiba with a seductive smugness that he stumbled over his words. "Do you understand that…that failure is not—"
Ogata noticed the trip up in speech and he seized upon it. "You do have someone with you, don't you?" Ogata triumphantly interrupted, sounding entirely too entertained for Kaiba's tastes.
"I fail to see what would make you say that," Kaiba scornfully replied as he stopped Yami from successfully undoing his belt. "Or why you would think it's true."
"Oh, please," Ogata said with a snort. "Even you have to cut loose sometimes, Seto-chan."
It was one thing for Sakaguchi to call him that; anyone else was an entirely different matter. "Ogata," Kaiba growled angrily, causing Yami to look up at him questioningly.
"Can't you moan, 'Katsuro,' just once?" Ogata teasingly implored him.
"No," Kaiba flatly refused as he absentmindedly ran his fingers through Yami's spiky hair to calm himself. Why hadn't he hung up yet?
"Pfft, you're no fun," Ogata pouted playfully. "As your senpai, there's so much I could teach you…"
Laughing harshly, Kaiba countered, "Like what? How to file a sexual harassment lawsuit? Besides, you're not my senpai—I'm your boss."
"Mm…oyabun," Ogata cooed, chuckling at the almost inaudible noise it earned him. "I could teach you how to enjoy your youth. It would be such a shame to waste it when you're actually attractive."
The faintest flush of color tinted Kaiba's cheeks and he adverted his gaze from Yami's under the guise of looking at the clock on the nightstand. "I don't need your assistance in that area—"
"Because you have someone there to help?" Ogata finished the sentence hopefully.
"Why the hell are you so interested?" Kaiba demanded angrily as he removed his hand from Yami's hair.
Having caught Kaiba in a trap, Ogata gleefully pointed out, "You haven't denied it yet. So who is it?"
"None of your damn business, asshole!" Kaiba snapped, realizing belatedly that he had revealed too much to the older man.
"Come on, you can tell me," Ogata tried to persuade him. "You know I'll find out anyway, so you might as well…"
It sent a tendril of cold fear through Kaiba and his heart started to pound at the mere thought of it. "You know the consequences of that," Kaiba threatened in a menacing tone. Ogata was useful, but that didn't mean he couldn't be replaced.
Sighing heavily, Ogata said, "Lighten up, you know I don't mean any harm."
Ignoring the comment, Kaiba coldly said, "I believe that you have wasted enough of my time. Get to work and I expect a preliminary report on my desk by morning."
"Fine, fine," Ogata agreed with a long suffering sigh. "I'll let you get back to the lucky bastard who managed to—"
Kaiba hung up before he heard how that sentence ended; Ogata was no good to him dead. "I fucking hate that guy," Kaiba muttered as he resisted the urge to shatter his phone against the furthest wall.
"Who is he?" Yami asked as he finally unbuckled Kaiba's belt and slid it free from the loops.
"A pervert who doesn't know when to quit," was the honest answer, but there was no way that Kaiba was going to admit to such a thing; it was bad enough having to endure it. "An investigator of sorts," Kaiba finally responded, silently willing Yami to leave it at that.
The long pause told Yami that there was more to it than that, but he decided against pushing for more information at the moment. Instead he settled for a simple, "Oh," as he started to undo the button on Kaiba's pants.
Stopping Yami before he reached the zipper, Kaiba gestured over to the bed and he was pleased when the other complied without complaint. Dropping his cell phone on the nightstand, Kaiba joined Yami on the bed and wasted no time in stripping him of his red shirt. As much as he enjoyed seeing Yami in it, Kaiba preferred him out of it at the moment.
Yami watched with mild amusement at the precise and methodical manner that Kaiba used to undress him. He could tell that Kaiba was still distracted, but Yami was confident that he could change that. With a little effort, the shirt was removed completely and carelessly tossed aside.
Kaiba allowed his hand to roam as it pleased while he balanced himself on his other and kissed Yami's neck. The quiet moans he caused drew Kaiba in and he continued licking and nipping at Yami's sensitive neck, enjoying every sound and sigh it earned him. He considered it his reward for putting up with the events of that evening and he was more than happy to collect it now that everything was over for the night.
He had made it half way down Yami's chest when his phone rang again and Kaiba swore loudly in anger. There had been enough interruptions and he was thoroughly sick of it. Leaning over Yami to reach his phone on the nightstand, Kaiba irritably demanded, "What?"
"Sir, I'm sorry for the—" Isono started to apologize before Kaiba cut him off harshly.
"Say it," Kaiba ordered, his lust replaced with dread.
Bowing out of habit, Isono stated, "Ogata requested access to Hoshino's file, Seto-sama."
Flopping onto his back with a heavy sigh, Kaiba asked, "What's in the file that makes you wary to give him access?"
Isono hesitated as he tried to find a way to explain things to his less than patient boss. "Given the…uh, personal nature of Hoshino's file, I feel that it's best not to—"
"Fine," Kaiba agreed, not needing to hear anything more. "Tell him I will review it tomorrow and pass along any pertinent information."
"Yes, Seto-sama," Isono respectfully complied. "Also…"
Kaiba hated that tone of voice; it was the one Isono always used when he had to say something he knew that his boss would hate to hear. "Also?" Kaiba repeated, wondering what it could be this time.
"Also, Fujita-sensei requested the business card Tanaka handed you," Isono informed Kaiba.
Sitting up, Kaiba sarcastically retorted, "And let me guess? He wants it now, right?"
"It would help facilitate faster—"
Not interested in the excuse, Kaiba got out of bed and ordered, "Get up here and make it quick."
"Yes, Seto-sama," Isono said before disconnecting the call.
Rebuttoning his pants as he walked over to where the rest of his clothes were, Kaiba hastily put on his dress shirt. He only bothered with half of the buttons and he looked up when Yami asked from under the covers, "Should I…?"
Kaiba was well aware of the fact that Isono probably knew far more than he wanted to about his relationship with Yami; it wasn't like it would come as a surprise to his head of security to see the former pharaoh in bed. "You're fine," Kaiba reassured him as he picked up his suit jacket with the offensive card in it.
A quiet knock on the door drew their attention and Kaiba opened it to reveal Isono. Granting him entrance, Kaiba waited until the door closed before taking out the card and handing it to Isono, who accepted it with gloved hands.
Yami watched the exchange from the bed and became curious about the startled way Isono studied the business card and how his nostrils flared ever so slightly. The older man quickly masked his reaction with a mere, "Ah," as he put the item away in a small evidence bag.
"What?" Kaiba questioned, trying to ignore the way the smell of the perfume made his stomach turn.
Bowing lowly, Isono answered, "I now understand why you thought that person was connected."
"Have Fujita analyze it for fingerprints and find out if it's that worthless whore's perfume," Kaiba instructed him, unaware of Yami's reaction.
The venomous hatred in Kaiba's tone stunned Yami; not even Gozaburo was spoken of with that level of hatred all the time. Yami wondered who could possibly deserve such a hateful reaction from Kaiba. He briefly considered the slutty girl from earlier, but Kaiba's previous reaction led Yami to believe otherwise. But if it wasn't Reiko, then who else could it be?
"I will have him get started right away, Seto-sama," Isono promised.
Sniffling quietly in reaction to the lingering scent of flowers, Kaiba looked away for a moment to compose himself. "I want extra security assigned to Mokuba, understand?"
Having worked for Kaiba for so many years afforded Isono certain insights and he told his employer, "I already ordered it when we became aware of Tanaka's presence."
"Good," Kaiba commented with a nod to himself, pleased with Isono's initiative.
"Will there be anything else, sir?"
Hesitating for the briefest of moments, Kaiba quietly said, "I also want a team assigned to Sakaguchi-san, but…"
The order surprised Isono, although it was for an entirely different reason than the shock Yami was currently experiencing. "We will take great care to make sure that he is unaware of the surveillance," Isono stated, confident in his team's ability.
"Hold my calls for the rest of the night," Kaiba requested. "Mokuba is the only exception."
"Will that be all?"
Nodding at the older man, Kaiba dismissed him. Once Isono was gone, Kaiba immediately walked toward the bathroom and tossed his jacket on a chair as he passed. All he wanted to do was wash his hands and get rid of the cloying scent of flowers that had sickened him from the first day he had smelled it. Only then did Kaiba return to the bedroom, taking off the rest of his clothes on the way.
Sliding under the covers and hitting the switch to dim all of the lights, Kaiba was unsurprised to feel an equally naked Yami move closer to him. "Seto…what—"
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with," Kaiba told him, although he sounded more tired than irked. "It's being handled."
Debating about whether or not to ask, Yami finally had to question, "Do you really think that Sakaguchi-san is involved with whatever is going on?"
"It's for his own good," Kaiba said as he tried to stifle a yawn. Lying down had been a mistake; it made him realize just how tired he actually was.
"He would never hurt you," Yami stated with complete and utter conviction. Although he had only known the older man for a short time, Yami could tell that much.
The assertion confused Kaiba momentarily until he realized, "You think I suspect him of being involved?"
"Do you?" Yami questioned as he sat up to look down at Kaiba.
It was second nature to Kaiba to mistrust in kindness; trusting another was something he rarely did and he couldn't afford to blindly believe in someone like Yami and others did. In the past, he had always been suspicious of what Sakaguchi's goal had actually been, but now he knew where Sakaguchi's loyalties were and Kaiba could only hope it didn't come back to haunt him some day. "I'm concerned for his safety," Kaiba softly admitted, feeling strange about saying such things out loud. "If I'm right about who I think is involved, Sakaguchi-san could potentially be at risk. I'm just taking steps to prevent anything from happening."
Lying back down and snuggling closer, Yami nuzzled Kaiba in a silent apology for doubting him. "Do you really think anything will happen?"
"I won't let it," Kaiba vowed as he wrapped an arm around Yami and held him closer. He felt at ease with Yami there; it was easier to keep the unspoken fear at bay. He had considered ordering security for Yami, but Kaiba decided that would only make the former pharaoh and those closest to him targets for Hoshino Akiko if she was involved. It would let her know that there was someone he wanted to protect there and Kaiba doubted that she would go after Yami otherwise; he had been overly cautious to make sure that there were no public suspicions thus far.
"Is this really that dangerous?"
Kaiba could only shrug; he wasn't honestly sure. He knew that she was a conniving woman who would go to any lengths for money, but she was far from what he would consider intelligent. "It's not so much that she's dangerous—I just don't want to take any chances."
Kissing the part of Kaiba's chest that he had access to, Yami reassured him, "I'm sure it'll be fine."
"Nn," was all Kaiba responded with, but he still couldn't shake the bad feeling he had about the whole thing.
It had been a long day and Yami was thoroughly worn out from it all. Even though he had been looking forward to their time alone, Yami was becoming more inclined to relax instead of enjoying more strenuous activities. Besides, it was kind of nice to be surrounded by silence after so much noise at the party.
"Don't you dare fall asleep on me," Kaiba growled as he nudged Yami.
"You're tired, too," Yami pointed out, although his words came out through a yawn.
Making a displeased noise, Kaiba muttered, "Was dancing with Anzu that exhausting?"
Yami chuckled at the comment and it caused Kaiba to scowl. "Did that bother you?"
"No," Kaiba huffily denied, although it wasn't entirely true. He had hated seeing them together, but he wasn't about to admit that.
Even though Kaiba hadn't asked for details, Yami supplied them anyway. "Anzu was upset when aibou started dancing with Rebecca and she wanted to get closer to them to keep an eye on the situation, so I helped her out."
"Hn," was all Kaiba said, still feeling displeased about it all.
"At least I finally got to talk to Sakaguchi-san again," Yami continued, yawning again. "That was fun."
Kaiba frowned as he said in a disapproving tone, "I'll bet." He knew more than anyone else how unpredictable Sakaguchi could be in a conversation and he was oddly nervous about what might have been discussed.
Nudging Kaiba gently, Yami told him, "There's no need for that."
Kaiba sounded miffed when he questioned, "For what?"
Laughing quietly instead of answering, Yami reflected on his conversation. It had been far too brief, but it surprised Yami that Sakaguchi had observed differences in them both with such limited interactions. The older man was pleasant to talk to and it made Yami feel a little bit closer to a side of Kaiba that he was still discovering.
"You're seriously going to sleep?" Kaiba asked in a disbelieving tone after a prolonged silence occurred.
"Mmhm…"
Scowling, Kaiba grumbled, "This is such a waste of a hotel room," although he couldn't fault Yami for being tired. Being around so many people in close proximity was tiring on a good day; at least when he was dueling in front of a large audience, he only had to deal with his opponent.
"There will be others," Yami predicted faintly.
Sighing heavily and ruffling Yami's hair lightly in response, Kaiba could only say, "Good night," because what else was there to say?
"I'll make it up to you in the morning," Yami mumbled before he drifted off to sleep.
Reaching over with his free arm to turn the lights off completely, Kaiba lay in the quiet darkness and listened to Yami's breathing. Kaiba supposed he should be annoyed that they weren't taking advantage of the comfortable bed while they had complete privacy, but he was strangely okay with it. For some reason Kaiba was fine with just holding Yami as he slept, knowing that no harm could come to him while he was safe in his arms.
Kaiba remained like that for a while, mentally unwinding at his own pace. Eventually sleep claimed Kaiba, but not before he could softly kiss Yami's forehead and wrap his arms around the former spirit with a contented sigh.
A/N: Thwarted again! At least the next two chapters will more than make up for it…
But yes, it's an early update since I'm procrastinating on writing essays. Aren't you glad I don't write my chapters at the same slow speed as they blasted essays?
On a lingual note, "Senpai," is a term the Japanese frequently use for a younger person to address an older person that is close to them. Most often in you hear it in anime when two friends in different grades are talking, or in a company with someone who has been in a department longer, but is at the same level or a little higher than the other. "Oyabun," is one of the ways to refer to the head of a yakuza gang and it's often just translated as, "Boss." Given the shady nature of Ogata's dealings, it was a play off of what Kaiba was saying.
It's a pity I didn't get the chance to show Yami and Sakaguchi's conversation, but there will be others somewhere down the line in a different story. This one will soon be drawing to a close, but there's still more to come!
I still can't believe I've surpassed the 100,000 word count yet again… o.O;; Thank you for sticking through this with me!
NEXT CHAPTER: Untitled
Yami keeps his promise, but it's not in the way he would have imagined…
I should have it up on Sunday, December 14th and it's got lots of lemony goodness to help brighten your day, so please be sure to check back then!
