He slowly walked back up the steps with the box in his arms, entering his room to see Kaiba sitting excitedly at the foot of his bed, and his expression blanked when his blue eyes landed on the box.
Kaiba slowly registered what his brain was seeing.
Yami. Carrying a box with a police badge on it.
Ignore it, because Yami would explain it since he wasn't making any moves to hide it.
The box landed on Yami's desk with a hollow thunk, and Kaiba watched listlessly as Yami pulled out stacks of documents and his stomach curled. G-Goddammit.
Yami was really working with the police!
That cop had come to ask Yami for help.
And Yami, being the kind person he was, was helping her.
Now he had to say something, because he couldn't sit by and watch them take advantage of him.
"Excuse me," Kaiba enunciated, grabbing the nearest pillow and placing it in his lap for warmth because he hadn't put anything on underneath his bathrobe. "What the fuck are you doing?"
"Briefing you," Yami replied calmly, and Kaiba blinked. Um. No thanks?
"I don't consent to being briefed." Kaiba said nastily, and Yami replied with the same tone.
"Then die."
A map landed on the desk and was unrolled with a furious force, and Kaiba felt a scream climbing up his throat. His life was being threatened again or was Yami being unreasonably paranoid?
He'd try one last time.
"You're being ridiculous," he said quietly. "What's really going on?"
Yami's eyes flashed dangerously in the semi-darkness, making his heart skip a frantic beat.
"I'm being reasonable," Yami replied steadily, lowering his head to study the building again. "What's really going on is that the police are in over their heads. If we don't play this correctly, they'll all be casualties, and I wish I was being dramatic when I say that."
Kaiba winced and crossed his arms gracefully. "Come on. They're national security—"
"So if they slip, who catches them? That's exactly why you should be scared," Yami snapped, his fear edging in his voice, coming off as anger when he tried to mask it. "Because they're securing the building at your little work thing on the 17th, you and Mokuba will be there. I'm not taking any chances. Both of you are my entire family. I'm not fucking around until this event passes."
Stunned into silence, Kaiba lowered his head and felt an odd pressure building behind his eyes, and he nodded to himself. That was…oddly touching.
"The event is called the Summit Challenge," Yami began, and Kaiba interrupted him with an annoyed frown.
"No it's not—"
"Your event is called 'sitting VIP ducks'," Yami talked over Kaiba ruthlessly, seeing the CEO's face pale, and he barreled on with his bad news. "This group called the Rare Hunters descends upon high-profile gatherings containing international VIPs and hit as many heads as they can. Get it? their name—rare hunters, headhunters—your head, the Prime Minister's head, all have the same value. One of these challenges was successfully done 10 years ago, if you were old enough to remember that news…"
Kaiba blinked rapidly and felt himself floating far…far…away.
Holy. Shit.
Yes, he did remember the mass slaughter event Yami was talking about.
He'd been 13, and Gozaburo had devolved into a paranoid madness after coming home with a bloody scratch on his shoulder, claiming a bullet came close enough to hit an artery, and he limped around the house dramatically even though his legs were fine, moaning about how he'd avoided death due to God's blessing.
It was…whoever had been firing's blessing. And he remembered cursing the sniper for not having better aim.
Yami was still talking, and he forced himself to listen, aware that he was now in the same position his dead stepfather had been in years ago, and the people responsible were planning the same shit.
"Winner is someone who reaches 60 points the fastest. From memory, the scoresheet is as follows," Yami said heartlessly as he listed on his hands. "Head, 15 points. Upper body, 10. Torso and below—"
"Wait, wait, so they don't…shoot to kill! Is what I'm hearing!" Kaiba cried, and Yami shook his head tensely.
"Depends on the person playing the game," came the awful answer, and Yami turned to face the window, his shoulders shaking slightly as he quietly admitted, "I was invited to join. I declined."
Kaiba grew cold all over and stared at Yami's silhouette by the window, waiting for him to elaborate and hating what he would hear, but Yami was done talking about himself and turned back around to tap the building plans.
"They like chaos. They will try blocking exits and you'll want to avoid the sidewalk at all costs, so you're looking at places to hide. Inside."
"What!" Kaiba cried, feeling himself sinking. "So we're willingly walking into a death trap, and we can't leave?! Mokuba will be with me!"
Yami blinked silently and then nodded once.
"Here's to hoping I get them all before your event moves to the top floor for…" Yami grimaced, "dancing and music. I have your event schedule courtesy of Anzu. If I know them at all, they will wait until everyone has gathered on the roof, and then move through the crowd to eliminate targets."
Kaiba couldn't believe what he was hearing. Weren't the police doing something about this?!
"Oh, and our hard-working agents will be trying to secure the building any way they can," Yami continued, reading his mind eerily. "But they don't know the faces of every possible Hunter, as they recruit new people every year. This event is like a resume…for people like me. Make waves internationally, be labeled a high-profile killer, make money."
Kaiba trembled and struggled to find his voice.
But Yami didn't have to do this event to make money….
"I have something called pride, and I don't value the idea of someone aiming into a crowded rooftop party and hoping their bullet exiting will hit someone bigger than their first target," Yami scoffed, rolling his eyes. "This is disgusting behavior and extremely unrefined."
Uh huh! Kaiba felt a maddening laugh climbing up his chest.
So Yami would participate if it was somehow more refined?!
"I won't be in the building with you because I will be somewhere else," Yami said thoughtfully, sitting down behind the desk and prying open a silver laptop which Kaiba realized with a jolt was one of his new ones. "I want you to study these plans tomorrow. I've highlighted each route by safety and priority depending on where you are in the party. You will need to trust me."
"I want you in my ear. I want to be armed. I want…Mokuba to stay home," Kaiba breathed as he gripped the edge of the pillow he had tucked in his lap. "I'm not putting him through that willingly."
"If you can worm Mokuba out of it politely, then yes, by all means, keep him home—"
"…Yami? ... Seto?"
Yami tensed when he saw Mokuba standing sleepily by the door with his phone glowing in one hand and a bundled-up blanket in the other. Oh no, another nightmare?
"H-Hey kid, I'm not dressed, can you wait a bit?" Kaiba asked nervously, and his heart plummeted to his stomach when Mokuba replied with a brash tone, "I heard you guys doing stuff. I know you're not dressed."
Oh dear, Yami bit the inside of his cheek, wondering if it was his shouting 'please' that had woken Mokuba up. Oops.
"I can also hear you guys talking about death traps. I want in," Mokuba announced boldly, and Kaiba's stomach churned further as his throat closed up in protest.
"Yes, your in is staying home," Yami nodded fervently, getting up and walking over to the bed with the laptop balanced in one arm and the stack of files in the other. "But since we are all awake, let's play a quick game. Ready? Seto please put on some clothes."
Kaiba ground his teeth furiously and didn't move, but Mokuba let out an excited cheer.
"Yay! I love games with you Yami!"
"Me too," Yami replied with that eerie flat voice Kaiba hated so much.
Seto was pushed aside playfully by Mokuba, so he got up to get dressed, seeing Yami begin setting papers face down on the bed, and when he returned, the entire bed was covered with white sheets of paper, with Mokuba standing apprehensively at the foot of the bed, looking way too happy about it.
"We're playing Match the Face," Yami said with a wink, reaching forward to flip one paper over to reveal a horrifying mug shot, and Kaiba bit the tip of his tongue so hard, he tasted blood. And he wondered why Mokuba had nightmares and needed therapy.
"Ew. Yuck," Mokuba said, crossing his arms with a huff. "Ugly."
"Mass murderer ugly," Yami said, nudging Mokuba with his elbow and pointing at the box on his desk with the police insignia. "This is about your safety and Seto's safety at the gala thing two days from now. Memorize these right before you sleep, so it'll sink in."
"I knew it. You're a secret agent," Mokuba muttered under his breath as he quickly flipped over another paper with an ugly, sneering face on it, but this man was bald, so he flipped it down, intent on finding another one, but Yami stopped him.
"Wait! It's Seto's turn. You can't take two turns in a row if you got one wrong—"
"Yami, really?!" Kaiba cried, throwing his arms up in the air with exasperation. "It's getting past midnight. He should be in bed."
"But he's not, because he's here, so, your turn," Yami replied gravely, resting his hand protectively on Mokuba's slender shoulder. "One night of staying up to learn this won't hurt him. You both need to see these faces and I'm trying to make it fun. Your move."
Mokuba swallowed his fear and said nothing. Somehow, this explained all of Yami's weird quirks like 'code word of the day' and 'hide the weapon' games. It was nice that he cared that much, and it made sense how Seto was super in love with Yami to a point where Yami had moved in permanently with them.
Yami was a fun but serious guy…
Kaiba let out a furious huff and strode forward to snatch up a piece of paper, flipping it over and hating the ugly deranged smile he was met with, and randomly flipped another one over, relieved to see it was the same, ugly man, but with less hair. Cool. He'd aged.
"Point 1, Seto!" Yami grinned, moving forward with his hand outstretched. "As a reward, he gets to read this man's profile."
"How is that a reward?!" Kaiba snarled, but Mokuba's laughter made his anger lessen, so he snatched the electronic pad Yami had handed him, and a chill went down his spine when he scanned the criminal's information.
"His name is Umbra—lame—and he likes pushing people off buildings. Next."
"Oh, boo," Mokuba grinned and his arm shot out to flip over another mugshot. "My turn!"
Kaiba could feel a slight headache coming on, but he gripped the pad and reminded himself that Yami was being extremely nice and accommodating by doing this game instead of showing them face by face and reading out a list of horrors.
To make matters worse, Isono entered the room with a tray full of coffee, water, and warm milk after having heard them all up and rowdy, and the manservant had to set the tray down when his hands shook so much, he couldn't hold it steady.
Ugly faces were lying on the bed, memory card-game style while the Kaiba brothers matched faces, and Yami refereeing, giving out scores whenever someone matched a pair.
"Isono can do one, I'm tired," Kaiba announced, backing up to take a short reprieve from looking at the hideous faces.
"But I didn't win one yet!" Yami cried as Mokuba snatched the pad out of his hands and scrolled through the long list of criminals to read the rap sheet of the short, bald man with a fat nose.
Mokuba snickered and pointed at the bald criminal, "his name is Lumis, also lame, and he's the partner of that guy Seto flipped over on his first try!"
"Gross." Kaiba commented as he lifted the coffee off the tray and Yami commanded him to put it down.
"No more of that. We're doing a lightning round with the arrival of a new player," Yami said calmly, nodding at Isono. "Guests first."
"Yeah!" Mokuba cheered, and Isono's eyelid twitched when he realized he was being made to identify criminals too. How…considerate of Yami to make this a fun game for the young master.
His shaking hands reached out to flip two over at once, and a young man with white-blond hair and dead eyes greeted him, and he couldn't let go of the mug shot fast enough, his fingers tingling.
"Wow, Isono pulled the Ace!" Yami said with his false cheerfulness rising, and Kaiba gripped the edge of his coffee cup, still considering taking a sip out of rebellion.
"What? That's not his name, is it?" Mokuba asked with a frown, and Yami beamed at him.
"No. He is the leader of all these…m—people," Yami struggled for a positive word before he settled on 'people'.
"You were about to say 'monster'," Kaiba said conversationally, and Mokuba supplemented with, "no, he was gonna say 'murderer.'
Isono felt faint, and he pushed the mugshot aside, slightly nauseous, but Yami wasn't done with him.
"The game is called find the match," Yami said conversationally, aware that he was pushing the manservant, but he needed everyone to see this man's face. In case he left the premises and came here, to hunt him down because some Yakuza was tortured for information about his whereabouts.
Isono hastily snatched up a paper at random, mildly relieved to see another ugly face, but no match.
"Seto and I are still tied for three points, Yami zero points, Isono, zero points." Mokuba summarized and Kaiba pinched his brow with a sigh. Mokuba was too into this game.
"How about an intermission and you go to bed, because it's now….1:30," Kaiba asked hopefully, giving Yami a tense grimace over the top of Mokuba's head. "Please." Speaking more to Yami than anyone else.
Mokuba let out a huff and nodded, getting sleepy anyway.
He walked over to the tray by the door to pick up the glass of water and made a face at Yami over his shoulder. "Goodnight. I don't wanna sleep in here anymore."
"Good," Kaiba replied testily, and Mokuba made a face at him too.
Yami felt himself smile and he slowly gathered all the mugshots off his bed, feeling slightly better about everything.
Kaiba sat on the lounge by the TV and traded the coffee for a glass of water instead, holding it and not drinking it while he listened to Yami clearing the files away behind him.
On some level, he'd already accepted that his life wasn't going to be normal when Gozaburo had adopted him, but Yami as his partner was making that reality hit differently.
Glad he cares a little, Kaiba thought gruffly as he took a rough sip, feeling sleepy even though he was still a bit stressed. He hated to admit it, but Yami's game worked.
His anxiety had lessened a bit, telling him he was in good hands.
Yami curled up in the bed and patted the spot beside him, watching Kaiba set his glass of water down and ease under the covers and drape an arm over his chest, mumbling something into the pillows.
"What's that?" Yami asked quietly, hearing Isono closing their door for them, and Kaiba lifted his head to give Yami a tense smile before he closed his eyes again and sank into the pillow.
"I said thanks and I love you."
"I love you too," Yami replied warmly, resting his hand atop the back of the CEO's soft hair, furiously telling himself they would make it through the day of the 17th.
Anzu kept her arms folded while Jounouchi regaled the entire department floor with his time spent at the Kaiba Mansion. He'd returned with five boxes of freshly made brick-oven pizzas he claimed he cooked himself with minimal help from a chef, and there was a 3-second clip of him throwing dough in what was allegedly Kaiba's first-floor kitchen.
He'd been asked to sign the same non-disclosure agreement, with the only difference being—Atem did not pat him down or ask him to put down his weapon.
"Y'know, I don't believe he's killed people," Joey had said nonchalantly in the crowded meeting room, so Anzu had to drag him out of there to show him the tapes they had of Atem heartlessly taking out a couple of foreign VIPs, and Joey fell silent after that.
And he'd been silent all of today too.
And he was still silent as they sat together in the squad car, on their way to secure the hotel building.
"Are you scared?" Anzu asked nervously, and her partner shrugged half-heartedly and didn't say anything, keeping his gaze nailed to the scenery passing by outside his window.
Maybe the videos were too violent, Anzu thought as they parked along the curb and saw a couple of yakuza hanging around the front by the valet, smoking blatantly while they slouched against the walls of the building. Nice. That was their 'backup'.
Joey mumbled something, and Anzu barely caught it. "What's that?" She asked with a tilt of her head, and Joey repeated himself louder, "I kinda like him. Atem—Yami."
Anzu bit the inside of her lower lip and didn't react, but deep down, she secretly agreed.
Atem was kind of likable, now anyway.
"We'll see how we do after this event," Anzu said with a bold nod, unbuckling her seatbelt to climb out of the car. "If we make it out alive, I'm treating us all to grilled meat."
Oh heck yeah, Joey muttered to himself as Anzu got out and closed the car door with a resounding thunk!
Author's note:
Match the mugshot –what a fun game