::Kitzaku::
Disclaimer: I do not own YuGi-Oh, Monopoly, or um… basically anything in here. U.u;
Authoress Notes: I know it's been a while. And while I haven't gotten creepy e-mails from random reviewers threatening me to continue this, I felt the need to have to continue it anyway. (I've been getting those e-mails from Fragile Reviewers.) I can't remember how long it's been since I've updated, but I really hope that you all haven't forgotten about me! I haven't forgotten about you!
I'm still a big Otogi fan. Though, now my loyalty lies within Otogi/Honda and not Otogi/Jou, but this story MUST continue! ^_^ I'll figure something out, because I basically forgot how I was going to end this thing.
The beginning of the fic will seem sort of hilarious, and way out of character. It's supposed to be like that. I am well aware of the chaos that I am causing by making the characters act how they are. I was talking to a friend and I came up with this realization:
To make things interesting, how about I write each chapter in a different genre? This is stupid humor, and the others were like… drama or angst or just stupid, I'll find a genre for each. Does that sound good to you readers? I could write like… a lemon or a Supernatural or an Action chapter too. ^_^ That'll sprout ideas. Tell me what you think.
::A Roll of the Dice::
"I don't understand it."
"Understand what?"
"You!"
"Me?"
"Yes, you!" You're… different."
Yugi was seated behind the desk at his Grandfather's CardShop. He looked up at his best friend with worried eyes. Those same eyes followed his friend as he paced back and forth in front of him.
"I'm different." Jou stopped pacing and eyed Yugi with uncertainty. "And what makes you say that?"
"For one, you're not wearing pants." Yugi blatantly pointed out.
"WHAT?!"
~*~
Earlier that morning, Ryuuji Otogi had woken up early and opened up shop before Ryou got there. As usual, business was slow, then again, it's a rare a random gamer would go shopping at 7 am much less on a weekday. It was summer, and as tradition goes—you mainly sleep until half past noon.
Oh, sure Otogi had thought about what Ryou had said the night before. He'd thought about it a little too much in fact. His head still hurt—so in an attempt to make it stop—
"I'll make some tea." He said.
So he did. And it was good.
The telephone rang because it had no regard what-so-ever to Otogi's private time and had this insane way of ringing right at the moment when you really can't afford it to. Reluctantly, Otogi was obligated to answer the damn thing.
"Hello. Ryuuji Otogi speaking."
"Good." Came the voice on the phone. "Just the man I wanted to talk to."
"Kaiba?"
"That would be me." Otogi could feel him smirking over the phone. How he could feel that was beyond him, but apparently he could. It was sort of like knowing there's going to be a commercial on your favorite show right when you really don't want there to be. This random simile reminded Otogi of his phone and its own knack of being inconvenient.
Phone. As a matter of fact he was talking on one. He must be, because he was holding one to his face, staring off into space.
Shit.
"Otogi, I must speak with you."
The black haired gamer was brought back to reality. "Yes, of course. Do you want to schedule a meeting?"
"No, I'm at your shop standing in front of the door that you managed to forget to unlock when clearly the sign on your shop says it's OPEN."
Otogi sheepishly peered around the corner to see Seto Kaiba standing there outside his shop holding a cell phone.
If he could be more descriptive about how Seto was standing there, he would have been. But there wasn't a way to describe it.
He was standing.
…like a flamingo. Only on two legs.
Holding a cell phone.
That's when Otogi realized it was Seto and not some flamingo standing outside his door.
"Oh, hey Kaiba."
Seto stood there.
Then… he rolled his eyes, "Stop taking so damn long and let me in." He hung up.
So Otogi did so. And it was good.
Seto wasted no time in stalking in a gruff-like manner over to the counter, propping his briefcase on it like an FBI agent, spun it around a couple of times for show until finally opening it.
"You will see," he began, "That the pronoun 'it' was used to describe two different things in the same sentence, and used three times."
"I see." Otogi nodded twice.
"You will also note," Seto continued, "That this briefcase is filled with Monopoly money."
Otogi looked into the briefcase and indeed sat that it was filled with a rainbow of different colored Monopoly bills. He nodded two more times.
"I came to you today," Seto said, closing the case. "Because I want to make a business proposition."
"You want to buy Park Place? I'm sorry, Yugi has that. But I have Illinois Ave.!"
"Tempting." Seto stroked his chin. "But, no. It concerns Dungeon Dice Monsters."
"That works too."
"I thought it might." Seto smirked again. "Sit down."
Otogi sat.
"On a chair."
"Right."
Otogi sat, on a chair no less. Seto sat on one too, to make it even. They pretty much stared at each other for a long time, not speaking a syllable. Otogi's mind wandered off to more random things. Like why the main character of Ultimate Muscle had the same voice as him, and if that was true, he also wondered if he screamed like a girl. He would have to try it sometime, when Seto wasn't around.
Seto cleared his throat and for the third time that day, Otogi was brought back to the real world. Seto had his hand folded in front of him, with a very stern look on his face. "Otogi, I'm here to talk about the cost split for my corporation helping to sponsor your game."
Otogi nodded.
"I was thinking," Seto went on, "20/80."
"Do I get the 80?"
"No."
"Then… 60/40." Otogi grinned. "I get the 60."
Seto sighed quietly and narrowed his eyes to make this creepy death glare Otogi's way. Then suddenly, his gaze softened and he leaved forward. "If you can do me a favor, we'll split all proceeds 50/50."
"… do I get the 50?"
Seto gave him an odd glance. "I'm not answering that."
"Alright then, deal. What's the favor?"
"Hold still."
Otogi's brows furrowed and he opened his mouth in protest. What sort of favor was that? He figured Seto would make him change a dice color to bright purple of something. Lavender might look nice now that he thought about it. But, if he was getting 50% of the proceeds, Otogi performed Seto's favor and he held still.
He didn't see Seto move at all. It was as if for a brief moment he was sitting in a chair across from him, and now he was mere centimeters from his face.
"K…Kaiba? What're you?..." He instinctively leaned back to further expand his personal space bubble, but Seto saw to it to fill that gap almost as quickly as it had been made.
"I said. Hold. Still." Seto breathed. He placed on hand on the chair back behind Otogi's head and the other on his cheek, tilting the black haired boy's head up towards his own. He smirked slightly at the sight of the confusement and shock in Otogi's bright green eyes, and filled the remaining gap between them in a forceful kiss.
For a moment, Otogi sat there allowed Seto to kiss him, when he realized what was happening, his nerves kicked in and he pushed the CEO back, breaking the kiss instantly. Breathing hard, he pointed towards the door. "I assume that will be all?" He spat.
Seto laughed and grabbed the pointless briefcase filled with Monopoly money. "That is all." And with a swish of his trench coat and the ring of the bell on the door, Seto was gone.
Otogi sighed and sat for a while in silence.
Until he slammed his head on the counter.
~*~
"OW! DAMNIT!"
"Jou…" Yugi said, worried. "That's the third pole you've run into in the past 10 minutes!"
"It's the government.' Jou muttered. "They put these damn light poles here."
"You've been spacing out." Yugi said. "It's been like this all day. "First your pants and now poles."
"I'm just tired." Jou shrugged… and ran into another light pole. "OW! DAMNIT!"
Concerned, Yugi knelt tenaciously beside Jou, helping him up. "Maybe I should hold your hand to, you know, guide you away from poles. "He said slowly, as if choosing his words carefully. Jou gave a slow nod.
"I don't think it'll do much harm." Yugi pulled him up and they continued down the road, Yugi tugging on Jou's arm every time the blonde was heading for another light pole.
"Uh, Jounouchi-kun?"
"Yeah, Yugi?"
"Where are we going again?"
"No. Clue."
They walked down the street hand in hand a few blocks in silence. Before both of them knew it, they were standing outside Otogi's game shop.
"Let's go in!" Yugi smiled.
"Ah…" Jou's face was suddenly very red and he took a step back. "We've been there plenty of times. Let's go uh, there." He pointed down the street.
"The Florist?"
"No! Ah… the one next to it!" Jou quickly corrected himself.
"… the funeral home?"
"No the other side!"
Yugi only sighed. "Jounouchi-kun, who don't you want to visit Otogi-kun?"
"…we don't get along."
"I thought you spent the whole day with him yesterday."
Jou fell over in shock. "Who told you that?!"
"Honda."
"Who told him?"
"You."
"I did?"
"That's what Honda told me."
Jou scratched his head. "I might have mentioned something…"
Yugi shook his head to get back on subject. "Jounouchi-kun! Don't be shy!:
"Shy?" Jou stood up again. "I aint shy. I'm a lot of things, but I aint shy."
"Then let's go in!"
"I dun wan-"
"HI GUYS!" Otogi's head popped up between them with a huge smile on his face.
"OTOGI!!" Yugi said rather happily, and Jou said it in a shocked-bad-timing sort of way, complete with falling over again.
"Is he alright?" Otogi pointed down at the tangled Jounouchi.
"Yes, he's just been out of it all morning." Yugi smiled.
Otogi scratched his head. "Him and me both.."
Yugi apparently didn't hear that because he went on, "It's not normal for him to wake up this early either." He tilted his head to the side. "He's been falling on his head too much."
"I could be drunk for all you know." Jounouchi said, rubbing his backside.
"Are you?" Both Otogi and Yugi asked with equal curiosity.
"No."
"Oh."
"Why…" Jou looked back and forth between them a little uneasy. "What would you do if I was?"
"Er…"
"Say, Otogi, your forehead is all red…" Jou abruptly changed the subject. "You get into a fight?"
"This?" Otogi rubbed the indicated red spot where he'd slammed his head on the counter. "Oh, I … ran into a desk."
"With your head?"
"Uh… yes?"
"Oh ok. Listen, I'm hungry. Let's go in and eat." Jou grinned, changing the subject for the third time in the past thirty seconds.
"Now you want to go in." Yugi sighed, but he had to run to catch up with the other two who had already beaten him inside.
"There's a kitchen in back, where my living quarters are." Otogi pointed to an unnoticeable doorway. "Go ahead and fix yourself something."
"ALRIGHT!" Jou all but fell into the kitchen.
No sooner did Jou leave, did Ryou walk in the door and signed in for working hours. He looked up to see Otogi and Yugi and smiled.
"Glad to see you're up early, Ryuuji-san."
Unwanted flashback of the night before flew before Otogi's eyes. Then just as unwanted Seto's one's followed. He subconsciously rubbed the red spot on his forehead and groaned. "Good morning, Ryou."
Ryou didn't appear to pay much attention to Yugi when the multi-color-haired boy waved a friendly 'Hello' towards him. (Authoress: T_T And normally I'm a huge Ryou/Yugi fanatic…) Instead, he stood behind Otogi as he put on his work apron. And, leaning forward, he whispered in Otogi's ear. There was a hind of coldness at the edge of his voice; malice. Otogi couldn't quite place it, but it was there, deeper, older and wiser.
"I thought about you last night…" that voice said again, so like Ryou and yet completely different. It made Otogi blush brightly, even more so in the presence of Yugi. But, when Otogi turned around, Ryou had finished tying his apron as if nothing happened and smiled.
TBC~!
Kitzaku: I just realized this, but pretend the reason Otogi and Jou were so out of it was because er… they had such a great time the day before they were um, dazed with love… or something. Like love zooooombies.
Yugi Muse: Pootaaato Chiiips… I looove yoooou. *wobbles*
Kitzaku: O.o; Not that kind of zombie.
Yugi Muse: Oh whatever, I'm playing Castlevania. *stomps off*
Yami Muse: *grins* R&R POTATO CHIPS!
Chibi Otogi Muse: *takes a chip and spits it out* Fumb Duck! Yoo writed R&R on 'em wif Pewmanent Mawkewrs!
Kitzaku: ^^;;;; *throws Muses in her closet* Don't pay attention to them…^^;