Summary: Valentine's Day. Love is in the air... and what kind of big brother would Joey be if he didn't keep an eye on his sweet, innocent sister? Of course, he'll need help. Seto/Joey... eventually. Follow-up to "To Seto, From Joey". Post Dungeon Dice Monsters AU in which Serenity recovered her eyesight earlier than expected.
Author's notes: Thanks for still reading this, four chapters in ^_^ Don't worry, it won't be another 30+ chapter epic (though I actually feel that it was only 15. Each part was pretty short)!
As you may have noticed, updates will be sporadic. Midterms. Papers. Projects. Nuff said.
Special thanks to Kimmie for helping me with certain wardrobe issues. With luck, this information will be used more than once ^_~
Blue Lagoon Loon: Yeah, Kaiba's acting a bit... odd... Forget about the plan! Run, Joey, run!
innominate: I hope the rest of the month goes a little better :) And I did not know about the indirect kissing thing (I learned something new! Yay!). And similar is fine, no credit needed. Besides, you probably had the idea first, and I unconsciously used my psychic connection to the universe to read your mind ^_^ Re Kaiba: your questions will be answered, eventually...
tdei: The power of YGO: you can get sucked into the fandom without even watching the show. Scary, but glad you like the story regardless ^_^
Warnings: Occasional language. Occasional shounen-ai.
Disclaimers: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. And remember, kids, drive safely, not like a crazy man. No belts were harmed in the making of this fic.
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Operation: Valentine
Chapter Four: Mission Start
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I hear the loud, annoying honk of some guy leaning on his car horn and not caring that he's pissing off the whole neighbourhood at 4:30PM on the dot on a Saturday. Gee, I wonder who that could be. Happy Valentine's Day, world! I give you... Seto "Bastard" Kaiba! I check myself in the mirror one more time. I look okay, right? Not too casual, but nothing that'll make me stand out. Perfect for keepin' an eye on whoever's planning to date my sister. I get my bag and make my way outta my apartment building before somebody calls the cops on Kaiba for bein' an ass.
He's parked pretty close by. At least, I'm guessing it's him. How many blue two-door sports cars with shaded glass out there have "SETOKAIBA" on the license plate? I tap the glass on the passenger side door. The horn stops and I hear a "click" as the door unlocks for me.
I open the door and peek inside just in case it's a kidnapper or something. Brown hair, blue eyes, and a white trench coat. "Are you getting in or not?" he asks, impatient from waiting a whole two minutes. Yup, definitely Seto Kaiba.
It takes a bit of work, but I manage to sit down with my bag on my lap. I reach out and close the door. There's barely enough room. "Hey, Kaiba. Nice car. Kinda small, though."
"Well, I didn't think you'd bring your luggage with you," he shoots back, eyeing the bag. "What on earth is in there?"
I check it off on my fingers. "Binoculars, chips... You've got a cellphone or something on you, right?" He nods, frowning. Good. "Handcuffs and rope in case there's trouble, flashlight, and... I forget. Some other stuff."
Kaiba shakes his head. "Your sheer idiocy astounds me. Why in the world would you need all that?"
"Hey, I dunno where they're gonna take my sis!" I retort. "Might come in handy." I check my watch. "Let's head out. You know where she lives?"
"Of course I do. What kind of incompetent do you take me for?" My partner in crime throws one last look at my gear before pulling away from the curb and into traffic.
Ya know, I'm kinda surprised Kaiba just called me an idiot and left it at that. A few months ago, he would've gone on to "pathetic duelist", added some general-purpose "you suck", and garnished with a sprig of "chihuahua". I like the change, love the change, but it keeps making me think he's up to something. Am I gonna call him on it? Nope. I'm gonna enjoy it while it lasts. He's almost nice to me, he's helping me, and I'm not gonna mess with that until after Serenity's date. I just hope he doesn't spring the trap 'til tomorrow.
Ten minutes later, we're parked across the street from my sister's home. We sit and lie in wait.
"Wheeler," he suddenly says.
I stop scanning the street for Duke or Tristan. "What?"
"What if you misheard and she only wants to date one of them?"
That's what I'm hoping. I shrug. "Then it's none of my business and we go home."
A snort. "Great plan, Wheeler."
"Oh, shut up. Let's just see what happens."
At 4:51PM, a convertible with the biggest set of furry dice I've ever seen roars down the street from the other direction and screeches to a stop. Duke and Tristan both get out, and they both walk to the front door. After a quick fight, Tristan's the one that knocks.
Serenity opens the door, all smiles. Tristan says something, my sis says something, but then Duke butts in and says something else. It's too far away for me to hear. Serenity says some more stuff, locks the door, and then...
...takes Tristan's arm in her right...
...and Duke's in her left.
And the happy trio drives off.
I can't believe it. My little sister is... is...
Kaiba coughs. "Do you want me to follow them?"
My little sister... ARRGH! Snap out of it, Joey! "Hell yeah! Don't let 'em get away, Kaiba! Get 'em!" Why isn't he moving?! I shake him. "GET 'EM!"
He shoves me back to my side of the car, hits the gas, spins the wheel, and, with a scream of tires, does a massive U-turn, scraping the paint off cars parked on the other side of the street. Kaiba floors the accelerator and we screech after Duke's convertible. Nothing snaps you outta sister-induced shock like a near-death experience.
I look back at the massive destruction we just caused and decide right there to put on my seatbelt. "Kaiba..." People come outta their houses, waving their fists at us.
He shrugs it off. "That's what insurance is for." His blue eyes scan the road for our furry-diced prey. "What are you going to do after I catch up with them?"
"We are gonna follow 'em around and make sure nothing weird happens to my sister. Incognito," I add. It's a little too late for incognito, though. Kaiba and low-profile don't mix. Maybe we can change the license plates later.
This guy should not be allowed to drive. Ever.
We follow the convertible wherever it goes, hanging far enough back so that they don't notice us. Everybody else sure notices us, though, what with Kaiba driving like he owns the road and all. Maybe he does, but who's he tryin' to impress? Me?
The Dukemobile eventually stops in the parking lot behind a nice restaurant. Duke, Tristan, and my little sister get outta the car and walk inside. Me and Kaiba park after they're in. We wait 'til we're sure they're not coming back out before doing anything.
I have to climb over my bag to get out. "Hey, Kaiba, can I put my stuff in the trunk?"
He sighs and unlocks it. I stuff my bag in the trunk and I'm about to close the lid when something else occurs to me.
"Kaiba."
"What now?" he growls at me.
"The trench coat. Off."
"What?"
"We're tryin' to keep a low profile, Kaiba! You can't go in wearing that! Everybody'll know it's you!"
"Everybody will know it's me anyway!" he argues.
"Just don't tell 'em your name and it'll be fine! It's not like they're expecting you or something!"
He thinks it over. "You're absolutely right, Wheeler. Nobody would believe that I, Seto Kaiba, would willingly spend time anywhere near you."
"Right- hey!"
Kaiba shrugs off the white trench and takes out the skinny wallet in the inside pocket. The wallet goes into the back pocket of his pants and the coat goes in the trunk. Too bad the belts on his arms don't come off so easy. He takes so long I get fed up, grab his right arm, and start working on them myself.
He spins around. "Wheeler!" he hisses.
Touchy. "You're taking too long!" I struggle with the first one. "You do one arm and I'll do the other, okay?" The belt comes off.
Glare. He yanks off the last belt on his other arm and tosses it in the trunk.
After a bit of work, I get the other one off. There. Done. I stuff the two I've got into my bag, zip it back up, and slam the lid closed.
I look at Kaiba. And stare at the belt around his waist. The one with the giant "KC" on the silver buckle. Almost as much of a giveaway as the coat.
He shifts a little. "Why are you staring at my crotch, Wheeler?"
I go red. "Am not! I just... want the belt off." Man, that sounded bad. "It just sorta... jumps out when I look at-" I should just shut up now.
He looks at me, crosses his arms, leans against the car. "Maybe I should just strip naked in the parking lot right now," he suggests. Sarcastically, I hope.
But wouldn't that be a sight to see. Seto Kaiba doin' a striptease, right here, right now, in that same cold, arrogant way he does everything else, totally in control, using the car as a prop, with the setting sun changing everything to gold... I force the mini-movie outta my head. What were we talking about? Belt. Yeah. "It's got your company initials on it!" And my voice did not come out funny, thankyouverymuch.
He grumbles a lot, but he takes it off in a totally non-stripping way, opens the trunk back up, and tosses it in. Kaiba doesn't look happy. "I usually don't walk around without my coat. Or a belt."
Metal arm cuffs, black turtleneck, locket that guides the eyes down to tight black pants that are in no danger of falling down-
nope, definitely not boxers, not that I'm looking or anything
-boots, and a pissy attitude. "You still look bad-ass, Kaiba. Can we go now?"
"I suppose." He looks me up and down, smirks. "The jacket. Off."
Eh? "Uh, why?"
"If I can't wear my coat, neither can you," he says oh so reasonably.
Serenity and her dates will be long gone by the time we walk inside at this rate! "Aw, c'mon, Kaiba..." I can see he's not budging. Not worth arguing over, so the jacket comes off and into the trunk it goes.
I check myself out. Jeans, white shirt, sneakers. Almost the same as my usual look except that I'm not wearing a T-shirt today. Compared to Kaiba, I look... "I look okay, right?"
He doesn't say anything, just leans against the car, looking at me in that way he has.
This guy goes outta his way to drive me nuts. "Right? Not that I care, but it's, you know, a nice restaurant." And if everyone in there's in fancy evening wear, I'm gonna get kicked out and Kaiba'll have to watch my sister without me. Now that I think about it, Kaiba'll probably get kicked out too, but for totally different reasons. So much for my plan.
But Kaiba smiles. "You look fine." He fishes a small gizmo outta wherever he was keeping it and sticks it to Duke's convertible. "A tracking device," he explains. Hey, that's a pretty good idea. With that thing, Kaiba won't have to drive like a crazy man to keep them in sight. Tech-boy brushes his hands off. "Shall we go?"
We've wasted too much time already. "Yeah. Let's."
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TBC...