Against Protocol by Mooguri Klaine
Author's Notes: If you guys noticed that I shift tenses at specific paragraphs or situations, that's good! NO, it doesn't imply that I suck in grammar, but it was there for a purpose! So find out what it means! XP
And thanks for the reviews! ((beams happily)) Keep 'em coming!
To Nachzes Black-Rider: First reviewer! Thanks a lot! Yes, Seto/Yami all the way! They're the cutest couple ever! XD
To shadowsofchaos61: Ooohh, Yami and Seto look good acting like totally bad asses! I totally agree with you on that! XD Thanks again!
To Kekewey: Constructive criticisms! Keep 'em coming! Writers want nothing more than to improve their writing style, so thanks for that! Fine poetry you got, by the way! :D
Disclaimer: I wouldn't dream of assuming that I own Yu-Gi-Oh. What I own around here are the story, and some wild ideas that keep popping in my little head. XD
Warning: Shonen-ai material and yaoi run around wildly in this fic of mine. Back off if it's not good for your health.
Rating: R, for language and violence, especially on Seto's part. Expect something else too… like sex! ((faints)) Though I won't be serving that. At least not yet. ((evil laugh))
Summary: Deception is the name of the game. And with a game like this, death is the only guarantee. And there are rules that demand absolute adherence. What happens when you go against protocol? READ, REVIEW, AND RECEIVE A PRIZE! XD
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Chapter One: Misleading
(A/N: Readers! Don't forget to write your email addresses in the Reviews Section so I could give you what I promised! Thanks!)
Seto sits down on one of the available chairs outside a café. The afternoon sunlight pours on the cobbled pavement, yet the brunet pays no mind; umbrellas are conveniently positioned to block the harsh light. He takes a sip from his cup of cappuccino.
Even with his eyes closed, he can easily sense passersby staring at him with varying levels of interest. True enough, several girls point and giggle in his direction, eyeing him like some rare find. He flutters his eyes open, and sees a girl approaching him.
He promptly takes off the sunglasses from his eyes, and sends an icy glare at the young lady, who instantly backs away and scurries back to her group. This makes Seto smirk. As if he loves basking in the sun while people get to gawk at him. The only reason he is sipping coffee in Downtown is that he can't take any more of Mahado's crap - somehow, he seems to be on the hot seat every time a mission commences and ends. The russet-browned male happens to be one of his superiors, unfortunately. The former's continual litany of lectures with lines like, "that was highly unnecessary" or "going against protocol" are enough to send anyone up the wall. So Seto wants to get as much space away from anyone at the moment, especially that Mahado jerk.
His cell phone then rings without warning. Though Seto is not the least bit surprised. Headquarters is bound to look for him; after all, he went out without informing his whereabouts, save for Mokuba. In-house agents aren't supposed to go out without proper endorsement from a superior, and in this case, Mahado yet again. And chances of Mahado allowing him to go anywhere would be wishful thinking. But what the heck.
Seto flicks it open. "Yeah?"
"This is Dark Magician, Seth."
"No surprises there. It's not like I have tons of names in my phone directory," Seto quips. The phone operates on a secure coded line; so naturally, the call means only one thing.
"Whatever. Where are you?"
"Far enough to rid myself of your face."
"Quit joking around, Seth," Mahado snaps.
"I wasn't joking. What do you want? Don't tell me you miss me already."
Seto smirks as Mahado curses him from the other line.
"Big brother?"
"Mokuba, I thought I made it clear that you're the only one authorized to call me…"
"I was just gone for a minute to pee; I didn't think Dark Magician would take the initiative…"
"Fine. What is it?"
Mokuba's tone turns serious. "We got a new lead."
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Forty-eight hours, and more than five thousand miles later, Seto comes home from the mission, extremely tired and pissed off. The lead came all the way from Singapore City, and he was instantly dispatched to investigate on it. The situation turned from bad to worse. The informant practically dragged Seto in what seem to be like a tour of the city, in which Seto fell unceremoniously in the Singapore River. The rest was just plain torture. Yet in the end, the man wasn't able to present anything essential. This angered the brunet agent even more.
Seto is still suffering from jetlag, only aggravating his pissed-off state. People know better than to barge and annoy him at the moment. Even Mahado is wise enough to keep out of his way. He dumps his jacket on a nearby chair, and plops down on the couch. He stares at his clenched fists, feeling the anger building up in his hands. Then without any pretense, he allows his right fist to smash through the glass top of the table in front of him. The sickening crash throws the shattered glass like glittering diamonds in the air. Blood drips on the carpet.
"Why?"
Outside Seto's door, Mokuba looks up at an agent, and shakes his head, bangs of jet-black locks shaking slowly.
"Miss Isis, I don't think this is the right time to talk to him," Mokuba says.
The woman briefly sighs, and puts a hand on Mokuba's shoulder. "Then please tell Seth that we will talk to him after he is well-rested. The Director wants a word with him." And managing a small smile, she turns away, her raven hair catching the slight wind.
"The Director…"
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"Look at that hair!"
"Isn't he cute?"
"He looks weird…"
Every head turned to a prominent figure walking down the length of the office. The said figure was covered from head to toe in black leather, the same uniform bedecked on field agents. Yet no one has ever seen the young man before.
"He's a field agent?"
Seto looked up from his desk irritably. He was doing his mission report on their last investigation at a suspicious factory in Geneva, Italy, which in his opinion, a complete waste of time. Little by little, his concentration was slowly slipping away from him. He knew that the office housed quite a lot of chatterboxes, among the likes of Karimu and the bubbly girl Mana, but he never expected the place to be this rowdy. The noise was starting to annoy the number one field agent.
He stood up and searched for the source of the alleged racket. And it wasn't hard to miss. The boy was just located a few tables away from where Seto's desk was. Despite the suitable lack of height, the new visitor still stood out of the crowd. Several unruly spikes stood defiantly in the air, and ended in blond locks that fell on the youth's face; colors of violet, red, and black clashed against each other. The youth was a couple of shades darker than Seto; the tanned skin seemed kissed by the sun. The boy must've came from a tropical country. That or the visitor liked sunburns.
Seto continued his silent perusal of the newcomer. "Standard issue uniform," he muttered. The young man was a field agent. Blue-eyed Seto was not one bit impressed. 'Probably he's some small fry agent from another branch,' he thought. Agents get to be transferred from one branch to another, either to be trained with more field work or the branch wanted to discard the hopeless agents without hurting their feelings. And just by looking at him, Seto quickly assessed that the newbie was a reject. With a small shrug, he sat down once more to resume his task.
Seto was halfway typing the word 'signal' when a vein pulsed in his temple. The office was practically spitting off unholy noise. This totally pissed the tall agent off. So he abandoned his cubicle, and went to where the boy stood, along with Mahado, Mana, and Karimu, where they laughed happily with each other.
"Hey shrimp, beat it," Seto spoke without proper introduction, practically wiping the smiles from the agents' faces. "If you're here to make some god awful noise, kindly step out of the building and bother someone else."
Mana gasped, and looked sourly at Seto, The blond-haired girl was about to hurl a retort, but the visitor stopped her with a careless wave of a hand. Mahado's frown was pronounced as ever. Karimu was simply gaping at Seto, looking incredulous.
"I'd like to know your name," the boy's voice spoke of crisp English, yet there was no mistaking the foreign accent that melded in his speech.
Seto raised an eyebrow. "Are you in any position to address me like that?" he asked. Then he noticed the crimson tinge in the youth's eyes. How unusual.
The young man stared back at him in mild interest.
Behind Mahado, a door opened, and out stepped Isis along with a portly old man. The foreign agent turned around, and then called out, "Grandpa!"
'Grandpa?'
The Director beamed, while bringing his arms wide, welcoming him. "Why, I thought you'd be arriving tomorrow!"
"I thought I might surprise you," the boy replied, a big grin pasted on his face.
Seto stood still, quite shocked, but wasn't displaying any. Director Sugoroku Mutou saw Seto and quirked his eyebrow in interest. The youth seemed to notice this, and asked his grandfather, "Who might he be?"
"Oh! So you've already met my grandson Yami, Seth?"
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"What?!"
Seto stands up angrily from where he sat, hardly believing what he had just heard. His right hand pulses with pain, blotting the bandages crimson red. He looks up at the Agency's superiors, one by one, who are silently watching him, unmoving and unblinking. He woke up a while ago and was told by Mokuba to meet the Director.
Rarely do the high members of the organization meet up in one place. Most of them are around somewhere else, dealing with other businesses, coordinating with the country's leaders regarding national security, and some others. All tasks are carried out in clandestine; only a selected few know of the existence of The Shinobi (1), a secret branch of the Central Defense Department of Domino. Yet here they are, gathered together around Seto like steel sentinels, displaying not a hint of impatience. Their attendance means something extremely serious.
"You heard me, Seth," the Director's voice is resigned and weary.
"I heard you perfectly well," he snaps back. "What I don't understand is why you came up with that rash decision."
Isis, the only female supervisor of The Shinobi, cries in outburst. "Watch your tone, agent Seth! You are addressing the Director!"
Director Sugoroku raises his palm. "No Isis, it is quite alright," he says. "He has his reasons for his indignation."
"I'll have you know Seth, that this decision was suitably argued and scrutinized by the panel of respective superiors. Keep it in mind that this is properly represented and is not rushed –"
"Then why wasn't I included in that panel?" Seto interrupts.
Mahado snorts derisively. "Seth, your participation is hardly needed. You don't happen to be a superior. It is not in your happy power to dish out judgements."
"Magician, I happen to be the agent for this job. I'm the one you send to collect and analyze the leads. I am the one who bust my ass on every fucking mission, while you sit down, away from danger, hissing nonsensical orders in my ears like you know any better." Seto's words flow unhindered and unchecked, his blue eyes flashing dangerously. "If there's anyone you should've included in your decision-making, it's me."
"I beg your pardon –"
"Enough of this!" Sugoroku thumps a fist on the table. Mahado stops and gives Seto the most insolent glare he could muster.
"Seto, I for one apologize for that apparent mistake," the old man bows down promptly. Seto notices the Director's shift of his alias to his real name. This is not good. "Yet we think that it is high time to give up the search. It is not wise to go any further…"
Long silence.
"Tell me, old man, have you already given up on your grandson?" Seto's voice is hollow, devoid of any emotion.
"There is not one instance that I doubted," Sugoroku replies. "But five years of relentless searching tell me that we are not going anywhere."
Seto's azure eyes lands on a picture frame perched on the Director's table.
"I did not give up, Seto, I never did." he approaches the tall man and stands quietly in front of him. "I merely accepted the truth that I kept denying for a long time. It is time that you do the same…"
"…Yami is gone."
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"Five years…"
Seto stares at the sinking sun in the horizon. Clashing hues of vermilion, red, blue, and black paint the early evening sky.
"Just like his hair," he murmurs without thinking. A soft breeze brushes against his long chocolate fringes, slightly tickling his nose. Another day goes by, and he continually whiles away his time on the rooftop of the agency's high-rise building. He's been doing a lot of it lately – watch the sun as it wakes up and goes to sleep. More than a month has passed when The Shinobi gave up its worldwide manhunt for the Director's missing grandson.
Few stars lit up and twinkle quietly overhead. Night is already approaching.
After countless false leads, wild goose chases, and consecutive dead ends, the Council voted unanimously, based on insufficient amount of evidence, that chances of finding Yami alive was a big impossibility.
After five years, Yami Mutou's MIA status is finally lifted. (2)
He is now legally proclaimed dead.
Dead.
"Yami is gone," Sugoroku Mutou's voice echoes in Seto's head, each word heavily magnified, almost drowning him senseless.
Legally proclaimed dead.
So then, why does Seto feel that there's something horribly wrong and unsettling with that verdict?
----To Be Continued----
Footnotes: (1) Shinobi is another Japanese term for 'ninja' or an assassin. Actually, the word 'ninja' consists of two kanji characters; the first character represents 'shinobi'. It is literally translated as "without a heart". As for the second kanji character… I forgot… Gee, I think I should brush up on my Japanese again! XD
(2) MIA is short for Missing In Action, a military jargon pertaining to agents that disappear while on a mission. There is a big probability that those agents in question are dead already. O.o
Author's Notes: The first chapter seemed to drop its fast pace like that in the prologue, but I promise, things will certainly pick up! So stick with me! Chapter Two promises more action, comedy, and some other good stuff! ((grins))
REVIEWS! I feed on them! Tell me what you think of this story, the pairing /couple – in this case Seto/ Yami – my writing style, or you can tell me about the weather! XD REVIEW! REVIEW! XD
I did promise drawings, so regardless if you're going to review or not, you can just drop your email address at the Reviews Section, so I can email you! It's my attempt to draw Yami Yugi in a softer style, so let me share it to all of you! More drawings to come! I don't have a scanner, so I'm still having the other works rendered!
I'm plugging my other fics! Check them out if you've got the time!
Merry-Go-Round – my first YGO fic! Explore the Domino Theme Park with a sexually deprived Seto Kaiba. Watch out for alleys! XD I haven't updated this in months! ((sweatdrops)) Highly recommended for insane readers.
The Unfaithful – I deviate from my usual comical self and plunge to the world of angst! Two chapters long and the story is already finished! If you want to do some guesswork, this fic's for you! Highly recommended for readers who want a new (and disturbing) look into the YGO main characters.
Young Blood – my first YGO AU (Alternative Universe) fanfic! Prince Atem wakes up in a new era and looks for a lost lover. And an unspoken conflict threatens to destroy the frail fabric of humanity. Currently updating it along with this fic! If you want comedy, action, drama, angst, and mystery, CHECK THIS OUT AS WELL! Highly recommended for all types of persons!
Whew! I guess that's it! See you all in the next chapter!
Thanks a lot and Rock On! XD