Chapter 12: It's Just Lunch
The very thought was revolting to him. Seto was so disgusted with himself, in fact, that he was unable to sit still in his chair. His leg was continuously, a poor habit that Seto previously thought his step father had beaten out of him. Seto placed his hand down on the shaking leg, commanding it to cease its movement. He could picture Mokuba in his mind now, amused more than anything… but Seto just wanted the whole ordeal to be over. Seto pondered whether he had time to run, though it would've been in bad form since a waiter had just seated him at a table.
Serenity's plea from a week prior had no effect on Seto but was clearly effective with Joey. That made sense, considering the two were siblings, but Seto had hoped that the mutual hatred between himself and Joey would hold strong. That wasn't the case it turned out, since a few days following their discharge from the hospital, Seto received a call from Joey asking to hang out.
"Now when you say 'hang out,' what exactly does that entail?" Seto remembered asking Joey as a counter to the suggestion.
"I don't know. I was thinking you and I could grab a bite to eat some time and go from there," Joey responded.
"Do we really have to do this? I mean, I know what Serenity said, but do we actually have to listen to her? I personally disagree with what she said and think she's full of crap."
"Hey man, that's my sister, and while half the time she annoys the crap out of me, 100% of the time she's not full of it," Joey then paused before continuing, "Besides, I don't want to piss her off. She can get a little crazy when I make her mad."
"Sounds like a personal problem rather than a 'me' problem. Wouldn't you agree, Wheeler?" Seto changed his desk phone to speaker and put down the receiver. He then started rustling through some of the files that were lying on his desk before saying, "Besides, I'm sort of in the middle of something. You know I run my own company, right? I'm not sure I'll have much time for hanging out between now and never."
"Look Kaiba, I'm not really into this idea either. To be honest, the very suggestion made me sick to my stomach… but, Serenity suggested it, and she was serious about it. I don't know what Mokuba's stance is on all of this, but the fact that he requires you to have human contact means you and I are in the same boat; we don't have anything going on," Joey stated, "Let's just hang out once and if it's the worst meal in the world, we can at least tell our siblings we tried and go about the rest of our lives never seeing each other again."
Seto was thrust back into reality from the memory when a waiter came up to him and asked if he needed a refill of water. Seto shook his head and then looked down at his sleeve. The clock read 12:32pm. The mechanic was late for their lunch appointment. He uncrossed his legs when he noticed his leg started shaking again. He planted his feet on the ground and took a deep breath. He needed to somehow not murder Joey on sight… or at least not in the restaurant. Seto tried to focus on the positives of the 'hang out' which was exactly what Joey had promised: if it didn't work out, they would never have to see each other again. Seto was hoping for just that.
"Hey Kaiba, sorry I'm late," Joey said, running up from behind Seto and slipping into the seat on the opposing side of the table, "I couldn't find my keys and then traffic was a nightmare."
"Oh, so does that mean you were able to actually fix your car or did a real mechanic have to fix it?" Seto replied, hoping the comment would spark an argument that would end the lunch appointment sooner.
Joey laughed, "Nah, my manager Fumiya is lending me his car while I try and work out a deal to get my car fixed. You wouldn't believe what car mechanics try to charge, even for their own coworkers! It's ridiculous if you ask me."
"Are you two ready to order?" A waiter asked, appearing out of thin air.
"Yeah, I'm starving! I'll have the spicy umami miso ramen please," Joey said without needing to look at the menu.
"I'll have the vegetable soup ramen, thanks," Seto replied quickly, handing the menu off to the waiter. He was surprised by how quickly Joey had responded, but Seto wasn't sure why. It was only a week or so ago that he had shared his first meal with the mechanic and saw the way he funneled food in his mouth. It was clear to Seto that Joey was passionate about food… or at least getting it into his mouth as fast as humanly possible.
"Hey, thanks for taking the time to meet with me, by the way. I'm sure you have a lot going on at work with the company and the business and… you know, all that CEO stuff," Joey said, taking a big gulp of water after speaking.
"Yes, lots of business and company stuff," Seto replied, rolling his eyes. He scanned the room to see if there was anything else going on in the restaurant that could distract him from having to converse with Joey. Surely Joey was hoping the lunch would be exactly that; getting lunch and that being the end.
"Is it weird running your old man's company? I mean, considering you hated him so much? Do you feel like the employees talk shit about you like they did your dad?"
Seto's eyes fixated on Joey, "Excuse me?"
"Your dad, you know, Gozaburo Kaiba? I thought you said you hated the guy but now you're running his company and I just wondered if it was weird for you," Joey casually took another swig of his water.
"I'm not running his company; if you recall, my step father's company created and sold military weapons and mine creates virtual reality and holographic technology for Duel Monsters. It's a completely different industry and a completely different company," Seto said with confidence, despite wondering to himself why he was even trying to explain the differences to Joey. He doubted Joey would understand the implications of posing a question like that to Seto.
"Yeah, but it's still Kaiba Corp. though. It was literally named after the guy who created it and now you run it and it's the same name. Is that not weird? It's allowed to not be weird, if you don't think it is."
"I think you and I may have different understandings as far as what qualifies as 'weird,' Wheeler," Seto continued, "Speaking of topics that don't hold any importance, what's the deal with Mai?" Joey froze in his seat and immediately averted his eyes away from Seto's gaze.
"Mai who?"
"Mai Valentine, who do you think I'm referring to?"
"What's there to talk about?" Joey asked, attempting to appear casual but failing miserably. He took up his glass of water and started downing it. He wasn't sure why, but Joey thought that maybe gulping his water to the point of choking would make him appear normal to Seto.
"It seems like there's a lot to talk about if you consider the fact that you started acting strange when I brought up her name and the fact that your sister referenced you and her breaking up."
Joey put down his glass when the brain freeze took effect from the ice cold water. His head shook with pain as the cold pulsed within his skull. He took a couple minutes to compose himself before stating, "There's nothing to talk about."
"Great! I didn't want to hear about it anyway," Seto exclaimed. The waitress brought their bowls of ramen before Joey could think of a response. Joey was relieved to have the subject dropped. He didn't want to talk about Mai, especially not with Seto. The two twenty-something's welcomed the silence between them while they ate.
Joey tried only to focus on his food while sitting across from Seto. There was nothing the two of them had in common; that much was clear. He regretted having listened to Serenity's suggestion. Joey should've at least tried using a meet up website first before trying to spend time with Seto outside of a dueling context. The thought made him wonder if there was a meet up group specifically dedicated to hating Seto Kaiba but Joey didn't feel comfortable looking a website like that up on his phone while sitting across from Seto.
Twenty minutes of silence passed and when the check came, Seto placed his hand on it before Joey could grab it. Joey suspiciously stared at Seto as he handed off his credit card with the check to the waitress. Joey reached into his pocket and pulled out some cash only to have Seto wave it away.
"Don't you want me to pay for my food? Is this supposed to be a date or something?"
"On the contrary—it's a bribe. I pay for your food and you never, ever contact me again. Sound good?"
"That sounds great!"
The two former classmates were positively pleased with themselves as they exited the restaurant, hopeful that they would never see each other again. When Joey reached for the door, though, he thought about the door that waited for him at home. It was a door that led to an empty apartment… one he had occupied for the past four years since Serenity had moved for college and Joey had moved into a one-bedroom, no longer needing a two-bedroom. His sister's cautionary tale of loneliness also started playing in his head—more importantly, her subtle threat that she wouldn't take his calls the next time he ran into trouble. And if Serenity didn't pick up those calls, who else would? That was the thought that scared Joey the most.
"Wait, Kaiba!" Joey's call stopped Seto from reaching his car that was parked only a few feet away. The young CEO didn't know why he had stopped—Seto didn't owe Joey anything, least of all his time. Against his better judgment, Seto turned around.
"What now, Wheeler?" Seto groaned, "I thought we had a deal."
"We did, but I wager that we make another one. I challenge you to a card game!"
There was a huge grin on Joey's face which made Seto suspicious. Despite knowing Joey was certainly scheming, Seto was too overcome with arrogance to ignore Joey's challenge. Seto walked back to where Joey stood.
"You seriously want to duel me? Right here and now? I didn't realize that lunch would make you eager to lose to me at duel monsters again after all these years."
Joey started grinning and shook his head, "I'm not talking about duel monsters. I was thinking more like… poker."
"Excuse me?"
"You know how to play poker, don't you? Texas Hold'Em? Maybe we could even play Black Jack or Craps if there's time."
"Wheeler, I hope you're not mistaking your loneliness for mine; I don't need to participate in gambling just so I can tell Mokuba I left the house today," Seto crossed his arms and turned away from Joey, insulted by the mere notion that Seto would gamble at all. A small part of him was curious about this 'poker' that Joey was talking about but he didn't want to let Joey onto that curiosity. Seto continued, "Besides, I don't even think there is a casino nearby."
"Kaiba, you don't have to be shy about it—if you don't know how to play poker, I can teach you! And to answer your question—yes, there are casinos everywhere. Does this mean you accept my challenge?"
"Why would someone like me ever go to a casino?"
"I thought you were the king of games, not the king of excuses. Besides, you might even be great at poker—or I might be way better than you. I guess we'd have to find out."
Seto wanted to object outright and leave again, this time with the hope that he really wouldn't see Joey again. However, the third-rate duelist's suggestions did intrigue Seto… he had never tried gambling before and Seto's intrinsic desire to play and master all games, particularly card games, was hard to control when interest was piqued. Maybe he could never see Joey immediately following a round of gambling or poker or whatever it was that people did at casinos.
"…Fine, you have my attention and I suppose I did block out the afternoon for our meeting. There's no harm in continuing if there are card games to be played."
"I'm glad you're on board!" Joey flipped out his phone and opened up his map application on his phone, "Let me look up the nearest casino and we can head in that direction."
"Is it weird to go gambling in the middle of the day? Are casinos even open at in the middle of the day?"
"Clearly you've never been to a casino" Joey replied and then lowered his phone, looking shocked, "The closest casino is called 'Battle City.' Does Kaiba Corp. finance casinos now?"
Seto snatched the phone from Joey's hand and took a closer look. What Joey was saying was correct—there was a casino only a couple miles away called Battle City. Seto had never given approval to establishing a casino but he also knew it had nothing to do with his business or his employees. Whoever had built this casino didn't realize the wrath of Seto Kaiba—or more specifically, his legal team.
"No, that isn't a Kaiba Corp. establishment but I can assure you that someone will be getting sued for this…" Seto said before handing back the phone to Joey.
Joey zoomed into the casino on his phone and looked even more perplexed, "That's so strange… my phone is saying that the casino is in the exact same spot as Duke's old dice shop used to be. Oh man, did Duke's dice shop go out of business and no one told me? Also, am I a bad friend for not knowing the last time I spoke to Duke? We used to be so close in high school."
"Which one is Duke supposed to be? Is he the one with the white hair that always seemed to disappear and reappear with your friend group?"
"No, that was Bakura which now that you mention it, I haven't spoken to him in an even longer time than—"
"Yeah, I don't care, can we go now?" Seto asked, taking out his car keys from his pocket and dangling them in the air.
"Sure, why not?" Joey followed Seto to the car and got in on the passenger side door. Joey searched his mind for the last thing he could remember of Duke but no memories were coming to him other than the memories from high school. Joey kept thinking to himself that it couldn't be right—high school was way too long ago. How could he have gone so long without talking to Duke or Bakura? Joey was astonished by how much time had flown by.
Whether he was friendless or not, it didn't matter to Joey because somehow he had convinced Seto Kaiba to go gambling with him.
-YGO-
A/N: I can't believe summer is almost over… I feel like it was yesterday that it just begun! Either way, I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend. I had fun writing this chapter, though I'm not sure how I feel about that last sentence. It was the only one I could come up with and I didn't want to delay posting the new chapter. Speaking of new chapters, feel free to write a review and let me know what you think of the story so far. Until then, I'll be soaking up the last of the summer rays. Look out for the next chapter next month and thanks for giving this chapter a read!