*****
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. I'm simply obsessed with it. Don't sue me, because I'm broke. The only things I own are Dark Magician and Malik toys. /end boring legal junk
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Written for Lady Pluto, my wonderful beta reader for "When the Last One Falls". As she said, this is a "nice little fluff disguised as a serious plot". My first het/non-slash fic. *pokes eyes out* And it DIDN'T KILL ME! Amazingly enough. Seto/Ishizu.
SUMMARY: Phones are evil objects... oh, and it's fun being insane.
****
INSANE
It was official. He was insane. He could already see the little men in white coats coming up the driveway of the mansion.
Of course, if they tried that, he'd just get security to remove them, but still.
Insane wasn't a good thing to be.
When you were insane, you couldn't run a company. Play Duel Monsters. Taunt puppies. Annoy little friendship-spouters.
Then again, when you were insane, nobody bothered you.
What was the downside again?
Right... when insanity had set in, you did things like the thing he was about to do.
The phone was beginning to resemble a poisonous snake and for a moment, he considered not even doing it. Then he remembered the promise he'd made to his brother and groaned. He had to go through with it now or Mokuba would never forgive him.... He had to do it, even *if* the phone did look like it was about to bite him. He didn't like the phone much right now, either. It was going to be the instrument of his destruction.
And the evil thing just rang. The sound broke the stillness of the room and made him jump. Who would be calling on his private line? Realizing the only way to find out would be to actually *answer* it, he picked up the offending object.
"Kaiba."
"Good morning, Seto," came a cool female voice from the other end and his heart stopped. How did she know he was about to call her?
"Ms. Ishtar."
He heard the smile in her voice. "Just Ishizu, please."
"As you wish. To what do I owe this honor?"
"Can't I call just to say hello?"
Kaiba blinked at the phone in confusion before realizing she couldn't see him. "Ishizu, we're not exactly friends. So why would you be calling me?"
There was a pause. "You caught me. I need something from you."
"Doesn't everyone?"
"Just a small favor, really. You won't even notice."
"Get on with it already." He reached for the glass of water on his desk and took a small sip.
"Well, you see... I need a date for tonight."
"Excuse me?" Good thing there were no important papers in front of him as his desk was now quite soaked from the spray.
"I have a dinner party tonight and my brother just informed me he has no wish to go as my 'date' for the evening."
"Why me?"
"Why not?"
"As I just pointed out, we're not exactly friends, Ishizu."
"I realize that and I would like to... change things."
One eyebrow went up. "Really."
"Will you come with me tonight? We can talk more then."
"Very well," Kaiba finally said, wondering just when those funny little men in spotless white coats would arrive, "what time do you want me to pick you up?"
****
"Thank you for doing this," Ishizu said as soon as she got into the limo, "my brother's being an ass. As usual."
Kaiba looked out the tinted windows at the front door where Malik stood, waving goodbye with a smirk on his face. "He seems happy to be staying home."
Ishizu snorted. "He won't be home long - he's got plans to meet Ryou Bakura. I heard him on the phone earlier." She muttered something under her breath in Arabic that Kaiba wasn't so sure he wanted a translation of. "He hates these things even more than I do."
"Then why do you go?"
"Someone has to fund my digs," she said simply, smoothing her white dress over her knees. "Contrary to popular belief, my money is not unlimited."
"You don't have a..." Kaiba searched his brain for the right word. "A patron?"
"No. Nobody wants to make that much of a commitment."
"Why not?"
Ishizu shrugged. "In the long run, there's not a lot of profit, and that's what most people are after. In case you hadn't noticed, research isn't very profitable."
"Have you considered giving it up?"
"Of course not!" Ishizu looked horrified. "It's my life's work! Would you give up Kaiba Corp if someone asked you to?"
"No."
"Well then." With that, a comfortable silence fell until they arrived at the restaurant. It was surprisingly quiet for a dinner party, but perhaps they were early. Ishizu didn't even look at him as she led the way in, but when Kaiba saw that the place was completely empty, he stopped dead.
"Ishizu?"
The dark-haired woman turned to look at him a little nervously. "Yes?"
"Explain."
"Uh..." her voice trailed off. "Explain what?"
"Innocent doesn't become you, Ishizu Ishtar. What is going on?"
"Please don't be mad at me," she pleaded. "I needed a reason to get you to come out with me..."
"Wouldn't a simple 'will you have dinner with me' have worked?"
"You're not the easiest person to approach, Seto," Ishizu said. "I was scared you'd say no if I tried that."
"So you arranged this little deception? Made up the story of a dinner party and asked me to come? I assume Malik knows about this."
"Who do you think gave me the idea?" Ishizu asked. "Please don't be mad."
"And if I am?"
"I will understand."
Kaiba studied the woman before him. "And if I walk out the door now?"
"I won't bother you again." From the look on her face, she expected him to choose that option. Well, Kaiba had a few surprises up his sleeve, too.
"And if I stay?"
A smile came to her face. "I promise you a dinner party that you'll never forget."
"A dinner party for two?"
"The best number."
And as he extended his hand and she took it, Kaiba pondered if insanity was really so bad. A moment of insanity had led him to this moment, and he wouldn't give up one second of it for anything in the world.
No, being insane wasn't such a bad thing after all.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. I'm simply obsessed with it. Don't sue me, because I'm broke. The only things I own are Dark Magician and Malik toys. /end boring legal junk
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Written for Lady Pluto, my wonderful beta reader for "When the Last One Falls". As she said, this is a "nice little fluff disguised as a serious plot". My first het/non-slash fic. *pokes eyes out* And it DIDN'T KILL ME! Amazingly enough. Seto/Ishizu.
SUMMARY: Phones are evil objects... oh, and it's fun being insane.
****
INSANE
It was official. He was insane. He could already see the little men in white coats coming up the driveway of the mansion.
Of course, if they tried that, he'd just get security to remove them, but still.
Insane wasn't a good thing to be.
When you were insane, you couldn't run a company. Play Duel Monsters. Taunt puppies. Annoy little friendship-spouters.
Then again, when you were insane, nobody bothered you.
What was the downside again?
Right... when insanity had set in, you did things like the thing he was about to do.
The phone was beginning to resemble a poisonous snake and for a moment, he considered not even doing it. Then he remembered the promise he'd made to his brother and groaned. He had to go through with it now or Mokuba would never forgive him.... He had to do it, even *if* the phone did look like it was about to bite him. He didn't like the phone much right now, either. It was going to be the instrument of his destruction.
And the evil thing just rang. The sound broke the stillness of the room and made him jump. Who would be calling on his private line? Realizing the only way to find out would be to actually *answer* it, he picked up the offending object.
"Kaiba."
"Good morning, Seto," came a cool female voice from the other end and his heart stopped. How did she know he was about to call her?
"Ms. Ishtar."
He heard the smile in her voice. "Just Ishizu, please."
"As you wish. To what do I owe this honor?"
"Can't I call just to say hello?"
Kaiba blinked at the phone in confusion before realizing she couldn't see him. "Ishizu, we're not exactly friends. So why would you be calling me?"
There was a pause. "You caught me. I need something from you."
"Doesn't everyone?"
"Just a small favor, really. You won't even notice."
"Get on with it already." He reached for the glass of water on his desk and took a small sip.
"Well, you see... I need a date for tonight."
"Excuse me?" Good thing there were no important papers in front of him as his desk was now quite soaked from the spray.
"I have a dinner party tonight and my brother just informed me he has no wish to go as my 'date' for the evening."
"Why me?"
"Why not?"
"As I just pointed out, we're not exactly friends, Ishizu."
"I realize that and I would like to... change things."
One eyebrow went up. "Really."
"Will you come with me tonight? We can talk more then."
"Very well," Kaiba finally said, wondering just when those funny little men in spotless white coats would arrive, "what time do you want me to pick you up?"
****
"Thank you for doing this," Ishizu said as soon as she got into the limo, "my brother's being an ass. As usual."
Kaiba looked out the tinted windows at the front door where Malik stood, waving goodbye with a smirk on his face. "He seems happy to be staying home."
Ishizu snorted. "He won't be home long - he's got plans to meet Ryou Bakura. I heard him on the phone earlier." She muttered something under her breath in Arabic that Kaiba wasn't so sure he wanted a translation of. "He hates these things even more than I do."
"Then why do you go?"
"Someone has to fund my digs," she said simply, smoothing her white dress over her knees. "Contrary to popular belief, my money is not unlimited."
"You don't have a..." Kaiba searched his brain for the right word. "A patron?"
"No. Nobody wants to make that much of a commitment."
"Why not?"
Ishizu shrugged. "In the long run, there's not a lot of profit, and that's what most people are after. In case you hadn't noticed, research isn't very profitable."
"Have you considered giving it up?"
"Of course not!" Ishizu looked horrified. "It's my life's work! Would you give up Kaiba Corp if someone asked you to?"
"No."
"Well then." With that, a comfortable silence fell until they arrived at the restaurant. It was surprisingly quiet for a dinner party, but perhaps they were early. Ishizu didn't even look at him as she led the way in, but when Kaiba saw that the place was completely empty, he stopped dead.
"Ishizu?"
The dark-haired woman turned to look at him a little nervously. "Yes?"
"Explain."
"Uh..." her voice trailed off. "Explain what?"
"Innocent doesn't become you, Ishizu Ishtar. What is going on?"
"Please don't be mad at me," she pleaded. "I needed a reason to get you to come out with me..."
"Wouldn't a simple 'will you have dinner with me' have worked?"
"You're not the easiest person to approach, Seto," Ishizu said. "I was scared you'd say no if I tried that."
"So you arranged this little deception? Made up the story of a dinner party and asked me to come? I assume Malik knows about this."
"Who do you think gave me the idea?" Ishizu asked. "Please don't be mad."
"And if I am?"
"I will understand."
Kaiba studied the woman before him. "And if I walk out the door now?"
"I won't bother you again." From the look on her face, she expected him to choose that option. Well, Kaiba had a few surprises up his sleeve, too.
"And if I stay?"
A smile came to her face. "I promise you a dinner party that you'll never forget."
"A dinner party for two?"
"The best number."
And as he extended his hand and she took it, Kaiba pondered if insanity was really so bad. A moment of insanity had led him to this moment, and he wouldn't give up one second of it for anything in the world.
No, being insane wasn't such a bad thing after all.