DISCLAIMER: Nope, still doesn't belong to me. * sigh *
Before we go on with business, I would just like to say… * clears throat; gets down on her knees * … that I'm really, really sorry for delaying Chapter 4 for this long! I've been hit with a severe case of the procrastination bug ( the terror that haunts authors everywhere ) and for a long while I couldn't get off my lazy ass long enough to write, but a good kick in the butt got me going again, so here I am! ^^
Anyway, I hope y' all will enjoy this next chapter. I'm having a lot of fun writing this fic, and I hope you guys would enjoy reading it as well.
COME UNDONE: Into loads of trouble
"Malik, I would have you know that I still think that isn't one of your better ideas." Ryou stated dryly as he was dragged like a small child along the street.
"Oh, c'mon, Ryou! Don't be like that! Besides, this is for your own good."
"Right…" The other boy thought, wisely deciding to not actually say it out loud to his friend, who was humming some J-pop song under his breath while having a tight grip on Ryou's pale wrist.
"You know, Malik, I find it strange that you hate Britney Spears, but you actually like Hayashibara Megumi." Ryou said out of nowhere, but the blond was smart to sense trouble when it started brewing.
"Oh, boy, looks like we're gonna have another one of those pointless arguments again…" Malik sighed inwardly. When Ryou was pissed, he wasn't the type to actually yell and scream at you until your eardrums bled into oblivion ( that was more of Malik's style ). Oh no. He was more of the type who posed you a sardonic question that would trigger off your defensive debating instincts, and then you'd trade philosophic banter about a trivial subject with him until you realized your chances of losing to Ryou's amazing I'll-put-you-into-an-endless-guilt-trip skills were as huge as a cow.
Well, losing be damned! He was in the mood for a good fight, after all.
"Unlike Ms. Spears' pop, Hayashibara Megumi's songs actually make sense. But I suppose a classical geek like you won't understand that kind of concept now, would you?" Malik replied, smiling a bit too innocently for Ryou's liking.
Ryou glared heatedly. "And I suppose a persistent blond such as yourself would understand a concept such as 'Why-are-you-dragging-me-to-such-a-stupid-place-when-I-clearly-don't-want-to-be-there—'"
"Jeeze! God! Stop with the stupid blond jokes already!" Malik abruptly released Ryou's wrist and whirled around to face the silver-haired boy. Rage was dancing in the other boy's amethyst eyes, and one way or another, it actually scared Ryou.
"I'm sorry if my God-given hair color insults you so much, but I'm just trying to fucking help you! What is wrong with you?!"
People curiously stared at the two bickering teens, probably hoping for some sort of a fistfight to occur soon.
"Well, if it occurred to you to just listen to me, then you'd realize that I actually don't want help. I could find a job on my own, you know." Ryou replied calmly, setting off Malik's temper a few degrees higher still.
"And if you really listened to me then you'd realize that you could actually get a decent pay even if you worked for only a few hours in that joint!"
Now Ryou looked skeptical. "And just where did you get that information?"
Some of Malik's frustration dissipated as he grinned cheekily at Ryou. "I have my sources."
Ryou seemed to consider it for a while, but his reluctance kicked in again. "I have my reasons for not wanting to work at that club…"
"If this is your paranoia talking, I swear for the nth time—"
"No, no! That's not it! Really!" Ryou seemed a bit too defensive, and Malik raised an eyebrow at that small fact. The hazel-eyed boy sighed under his friend's doubtful gaze. Malik could actually be perceptive at all the wrong times. "Part of Malik's questionable insanity, I guess…" He thought, affirming it with the fact that Malik had downright twisted relationships and an even weirder tendency for mood swings at ( again ) the most inappropriate of times.
"You're getting that dazed-eyed look again! For Kami's sake, when will you stop with your suddenly-I'm-daydreaming phase?"
"Sorry." Ryou mumbled sheepishly. Now that was one bad habit of his that really needed to be remedied, he thought. It didn't really do well to think of dreams, rainbows and hell, even fairies in the middle of the bloody street and have people staring at you thinking "Oh there goes that loonybin, poor, poor psycho boy—"
"You're doing it again!" Malik gave a loud 'Auuuugh! Why do I have to get stuck with a daydreaming idiot for a best friend?' and started pulling at Ryou's wrist again.
"Let's go now before I change my mind and decide to apply you as a stripper or something."
"…What?"
^^^^^^^^^^
The walk seemed like an eternity. And Ryou thought that nothing was worse that that.
Well, apparently, he thought wrong, because this was much, much worse.
"This sucks!" Malik spat out in response to the fact that he couldn't accompany his friend to the room for the interview. Ryou was highly amused by the fact that Malik actually thought that he'd do the interview with him.
But when he was standing outside the door of the club's boss, he felt himself start to sweat. As Malik eloquently asked him one day, "You don't really deal with rejection very well, do you?"…
…And he was 95% sure that he was going to be rejected. No, wait, judging from the facial expression of Yami-sensei, he was 99.9 % sure that he was going to be trashed in this interview—
Hey, wait just a minute…
Yami…sensei?
?!?!?!…Alarm sirens blared in Ryou's head. What in the name of all that was holy was Yami-sensei doing there?! And why, oh why, was he sitting in a chair that was supposed to be for the boss of the club? That meant that he was the boss…So if he was the boss, then that meant that Ryou would be answering questions from him, which would mean that his future actually depended on Yami-sensei…
His head ached. He wanted, no, needed to get out of there.
"Yami-sensei…"
"There's no need to call me 'sensei' in this place, Takahashi-san." Yami-sensei's deep baritone spoke out, startling poor Ryou who was having a bit of difficulty breathing at the moment.
"What… what…?" Ryou wheezed out, unable to look at Yami in the eye.
"You've come here to apply for a job, correct?" Yami calmly asked him. Ryou stared at him and nodded, wondering how he could just be that way.
"But sensei…" Ryou said suddenly, ignoring Yami's "Haven't I told you not to call me sensei in here?"
"This is a club. You're a teacher. You can't just… just go around owning clubs! I'm pretty sure there has to be some school rule against this!"
"Not really. If you've read the handbook well, you'd notice that there really isn't anything in it that says that we teachers can't get other jobs."
Ryou couldn't say anything to that.
Yami drummed his fingers on his desk as he leaned back on his swivel chair. "So, what job would you like? A Bartender perhaps? Or a Singer? Maybe a Dancer? Janitor? Though I suspect you wouldn't really like that…"
"Uhh… I was wondering if you needed any extra waiters…"
"Oh! You want to be a waiter!" Yami pursed his lips thoughtfully for a moment. Then he clapped his hands and leaned forward. "Okay, Takahashi-kun, you're hired."
Ryou's eyes almost popped out. "That fast?"
Yami shrugged. "Yeah. I'll only need you to leave your resume over here…" He tapped his desk lighly. "… And sign this contract." Ryou saw his hands reach out under the desk to pull said contract. "… And you're all set." Yami smiled warmly at him, gesturing at the contract.
Ryou left his resume and skimmed through the contract for a few moments, before taking a pen and signing with his signature at the very bottom part. He handed it to Yami, who calmly stood up and held out a hand. Ryou gave him a perplexed look before taking it.
"Welcome to the Psychedelic Monkey, Ryou-kun." Yami beamed at him as he shook his hand.
"Th-thank you, sen--… err, Yami-san."
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, a rather obnoxious one at that. Yami gave Ryou a wry smile. "Well, since you're here now, I better introduce you to my partner and the co-owner of this club. I guess that's him right there since that's his trademark 'I'll-make-your-ears-bleed' knock."
"Uhm…" Ryou was rendered speechless yet again.
"Come in! The door's not locked!" Yami called over, and the door swung open to reveal…
"Yami! You little bastard! I told you to replace that stupid janitor of ours, but noooo! You have to be a lazy ass—" And the speaker stopped.
And stared. Ryou felt like he was going to melt like butter at high noon at the other's gaze.
"What is he doing here?"
Yami ignored him and slung an arm around Ryou's shoulders. "Ryou-kun, I want you to meet Hidomu Bakura, my partner, co-owner of this club and overall dumbass. Bakura, this is Takahashi Ryou, our newest waiter." Yami watched as the two exchanged glances, one suspicious while the other one nervous. Yami was obviously missing something here.
"Am I missing something here?"
Bakura turned his gaze to Yami, narrowing his eyes. "We've met."
Yami raised an eyebrow as he looked from Bakura to Ryou. "Oh, really? When?"
Ryou was the one who graced him with a reply, albeit soft and almost inaudible. "A week ago, Yami-san. My friend and I came here and Bakura-san… introduced himself to me at the bar."
"More like shoved his tongue down your throat, you mean." Yami gave them both a teasing smile. He took satisfaction in the fact that Ryou blushed prettily while Bakura growled low in his direction.
"Really, Bakura, you have absolutely no shame." Yami 'tsked' and shook his head.
"Watch your mouth, you fucking peeping tom."
"Well, I believe we're straying from business here." Yami clapped his hands together and ignored Bakura's curses. "Ryou-kun, I speak in behalf of the staff when I say that we are very pleased to have you here with us. Especially Bakura." He grinned at said person's direction.
"Why you—"
"Anyway, your work starts tomorrow at exactly seven p.m. Report here first so Mariku, our manager, will be sure to tell you your schedules and shifts. That's all, Ryou-kun. If you want, you can leave now."
"Ano… Won't I be wearing a uniform or anything?"
Yami laughed and patted his back. "Of course you will! You'll just have to wait and see tomorrow. 'Till then I'll be seeing you in class! Don't forget to do the homework I gave you!"
Ryou gave him a look that plainly spelled 'what-the-hell?' and promptly nodded. He turned to walk past Bakura when the other boy caught his wrist, halting him. "Y-yes?"
Bakura stared at Ryou. He wanted to say something actually nice that would maybe bring Ryou down to his knees so he can sweep the beautiful boy off his feet, but the only thing that he managed to say was "Don't be late."
Ryou stared back at him, seemingly questioning, perhaps looking for a deeper meaning hidden behind Bakura's dark eyes. Then he nodded, breaking the spell. " Don't worry, Bakura-san. I won't be."
Bakura released his wrist and let him walk past.
Yami leaned back on his desk. "Quite the nice catch you've got for yourself there."
Bakura gave him a reproachful glance. "And your little pet Yugi isn't? What? The sex getting boring or something?"
He smirked. "Actually, it has never been better."
"Then lay off him."
"What? You're not jealous, are you?"
"No, you idiot. So, shut up." Bakura snapped. "It's just that you've hired one of your students. Now I know that you really have to be some sort of a mental case."
Yami shrugged. "Takes one to know one."
Bakura wisely chose to ignore that comment. "I just hope we can do something for him to not get involved with the shit going on in this joint."
Yami's expression turned serious. He approached Bakura and put a hand on his shoulder. Although they didn't look like it, they were actually best friends since childhood, and no one understood Yami like Bakura and vice-versa. They were really very much alike.
"Bakura, we'll all try, but if it happens, it happens. You know what happened with Yugi."
The spiky-haired teen nodded. "You know, for an idiot, you're really okay."
"Yeah, same to you, dumbass."
^^^^^^^^^^
"Look, we're not selling it, and that's final!" One blond-haired, amethyst-eyed negotiator known as Mariku Osiris yelled as he simultaneously slammed his fist down onto the wooden table, the mug beside him almost toppling down.
"Even with all the benefits we're offering you? Besides, we could make the shabby old place—"
"No, no and no! Jesus Christ, are you deaf or something, Mr. Crawford?"
Pegasus Crawford frowned heavily. "Very well, then." He calmly stood up and gathered his papers. He extended a hand to the obviously peeved Mariku. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Osiris."
Mariku rolled his eyes and took the offered hand, grumbling under his breath. "Yeah, whatever."
"Annoying children… how could these little ducklings like him and that Nahoshi and Hidomu own and manage such a high-maintenance club?" Pegasus thought, forcing one last smile for Mariku.
"If it's not too much trouble, I wish to speak to Nahoshi-san and Hidomu-san next week. Are they free?"
Mariku snorted. "Yeah, you can try next week. Although I doubt that it would produce your desired results."
Pegasus' lips turned into a neutral line as he nodded, resisting the urge to wring the young man's neck. 'Thank you again and good day." Mariku waved him off and Pegasus exited, feeling a little less than pleased.
"So, boss, how did it go?" His 'butler' and self-appointed right hand Honda Hiroto asked him as soon as he entered the limousine headed straight for home.
"What do you think?" He countered in a less than amiable tone.
Honda winced. "Not too well, I guess."
"All too right, unfortunately."
Suddenly, the distinct ringing of someone's cellphone could be heard and Honda excuse himself to dig from his pockets until he had the phone.
"Moshi-moshi?"
"Who is it?" Pegasus asked tersely.
Honda covered the receiver and turned to Pegasus. "It's Mako, boss. He's asking if the operation is still on go."
"Of course it is."
"You heard that, Mako? Yeah, that was the boss… Didn't I tell you that this morning? I told you that the Angel Dust and Ecstacy are to be put in small packets… Yeah, yeah, 50 ml., whatever, I don't care! As long as you can slip it wherever you can! Okay? Okay. Yeah, I'll be there " And with that, Honda hung up and put his phone back into his pocket.
"No complications, I trust?" Came the smooth question of Pegasus.
Honda nodded, to his satisfaction.
"In no time, we'll have that club into our hands."
^^^^^^^^^^
TBC…
Whew, finally! * wipes sweat * Okay, who saw the Honda with Pegasus thing coming? Eh, well, this is an AU, so I can make Honda to be whatever I damn well want him to be. In the next installment, Pegasus unveils the devious plan that will make Yami, Bakura and Mariku give up the club. And Ryou starts working there and finds a bit of trouble waiting for him. The romance also progresses… Stay tuned!
Here are the shout-outs to the reviewers!
Sugar-Kat: Yup, I've updated finally since I realized that I just had to finish this thing before it drove me nuts… Wah! You stole Yugi's sugar again! Yami is so going after you. * snickers * Thanks!
DreamingChild: Malik's opinion on Yami is, I think, the general opinion of virtually everyone. He speaks for all of us, ne? ^^ Yeah, Ryou is both the lucky and unlucky guy for having someone like Malik ( who is, as you said, insane )as a best friend. I think they make the perfect best friends, and if Bakura and Mariku didn't exist, I'd probably be promoting them as a couple! ^^ Thanks for the review!
Destiny: You get your answers in this chapter. Yup, Bakura and Yami are friends and partners, but not in a romantic way. Ryou is a waiter, and as much as I would have liked him to be a stripper… it won't happen yet. Yes, take note of the 'yet'. * grins * Mariku? Oh, you'll definitely be seeing more of Mariku, I promise that…^^
Harakiri: Malik. Is. A. Whore. You took the words right out of my mouth. Hehe… Thanks for the review!
Tri: Thank you! ^^ I really do try to twist the plot whenever I can. Well, Ryou has met Bakura again at Yami's office, but he's definitely going to see him again at work. So, watch out for that!
jenna: Here's the update, already! I'm glad you're liking this one, thanks! ^__^
Wizzu: Waah! * falls over herself * Thank you so much for your praise! I'm so happy that you liked the Ryou/Malik dynamic! * glomps * Arigatou! ^__^
Maruken: Yep, 'kinky' is definitely a cool word. ^^ Well, Malik didn't really get drunk in this chapter, but he will in the next one, and that's for sure. Yup, Yami knows Bakura, all right. Thanks for the review! ^_^
a-yolanda13: Thanks! ^^ Glad you liked the fluff. Yami and Yugi are going to make another appearance very soon, and this time, it won't be that pretty. ^__^
Amy Hirosaki: Ryou won't be saying any 'hey babys' anytime soon, that's for sure. If anything, the people he's going to be serving will be the ones doing the propositioning. ^^ Thanks for the review!
akuryounoseiki: You're welcome! ^^ I'm mentioning you here again, so… thanks for the review! What? You're too lazy to upload your fics? But I wanna read some of yours, too! * wails * As for the Amane thing, I made sure to do a bit of research for this so I wouldn't be getting all the technical facts wrong. I'm glad you noticed that bit. ^__^
AngelStarFire Hikarist: Wai! * glomps * Thanks for the review! ^^ I promise that there's gonna be more B/R and M/M stuff as this story progresses, and Yami and Yugi will also have their share of moments as well. * grins *
person6: When I saw your name, I swear I almost fainted right here! Especially since I absolutely adore your fics, namely "Sign of the Seer", which I think is just bloody amazing. ^^ But all I can really say now is thank you, because your review was really very encouraging and quite flattering. * blushes * Yeah, the three yamis are ex- drug lords, and their past is going to be revealed soon. Why would someone as young as they are ( they're all 19, as I've mentioned ) be involved in that kind of business in the past AND now own and manage a club all by themselves? They must have gone through some tough times for that to happen, ne? ^^ Of course, there will be much B/R fluff, since this is about them, and they're my favorite, too! * squeals * And it's not only you that can relate to Malik, I can understand him as well since I sort of have the same problem myself. I'm glad that there's someone other than me who can relate to Malik's 'commitment-phobia' situation. Thank you so much. * glomps * ^__^