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: Thank you for your patience if you've been watching this fic since chap.1, I know it's been awhile since I last updated :P
One more exam to go. Math. Whee.
ColeyCarissa: Maybe ^_^
Iba: *blink* *blink* *cough*... And thanks :)
innominate: Yami doll? Ooh lemme see!
Hmm... "The Dragon: Revealed"? Nope, that sounds like a supermarket tabloid... And if Joey plans to get on top of the situation, he's going to need the hardware (take that as you will).
r*a*d*i*a*n*y: Why would Kaiba get kicked out? Well, I don't think very many nice restaurants would let just any guy wearing huge gleaming metal arm cuffs and tight pants with boots (with belts sticking out from the sides) inside...
Driver's licenses... It doesn't matter whether it's legal wherever they are. Domino seems very lax law-wise. Kaiba could try to kill someone in front of a live audience and nobody would bat an eye, I think.
serina: Well, I suppose I could make the chapters longer. Just don't expect a new one anytime soon. It took over a month to find the time for this one, so you can imagine how long it'd take for a lengthier one.
Tuulikki: I guess I'm just as bad, then. I typed up the rope and handcuffs with the purest of intentions, but then I read it over and... yeah *cough*
Warnings: Occasional language. Occasional shounen-ai.
Disclaimers: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. And remember, kids, don't play with your food. No tables were damaged in the making of this fic.
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Operation: Valentine
Chapter Five: Dinner
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We walk into the restaurant. It's packed full of couples enjoying their romantic dinners; dim lighting, soft music, the works. I scan the tables, looking for my sis and those perverts. Two, two, a double date, two, THREE! There they are, an angel on Earth with the sweetest smile but, sadly, no taste in men, and two ugly pervy guys with pervy plans for said angel.
I grab Kaiba. "Over there! By the window!" I hiss.
"Right." He stalks over to the guy with a fancy vest and a nametag. "I want a table for two by the window," he says bluntly.
The guy with "Steve" on his vest looks him up and down and sniffs. "Do you have a reservation?" I guess he's not impressed with Kaiba's looks. Or mine. We're not exactly dressed for the occasion.
Not that it matters. We don't have a reservation. How're we gonna-
Kaiba crosses his arms and glares. "Yes. It's under 'Kai-' or rather, 'Wheeler'," he states, as if reality itself will bend over backwards and obey the great Seto Kaiba just because he's, well, the great Seto Kaiba. Looking at him, standing there tall and proud with that look on his face, I can almost believe it.
Steve starts to tremble, desperately flipping through a big book on the counter for anything that even looks remotely like "Wheeler", but in the end he shakes his head. "I'm s-sorry, ah, gentlemen, but I'm quite sure we don't have any reservations under that name."
"And I am equally sure that you do." Kaiba casually hands the guy a twenty. "Check again."
The cash works its magic. Steve blinks and crosses out somebody else's name before scribbling mine into the book. "Ah yes, there it is! If you would follow me, please?" And he guides us to our table. It's three tables away from you-know-who. I sit so that I'm facing away from them. Kaiba sits across from me. Steve the waiter guy gives us two menus. "Would you like something to drink, sirs?"
"Water."
I'm too busy worrying about other things, so whatever. "Yeah, me too."
Steve leaves to get us our drinks.
The fact that I owe Kaiba goes on the back burner. My sis is way more important. I open up my menu and pretend to read it. "Kaiba, what're they doing?" I whisper.
He moves his head a little so that he can see over my shoulder. So cooperative. Too cooperative. "They seem to be chatting and enjoying themselves."
Gah. "Whaddaya mean, 'enjoying themselves'? What're they saying?"
Kaiba glares at me. "How am I supposed to know what they're saying? Do I look like I have bat ears?"
With just a little bit of effort, I manage to keep my mouth shut. See? I'm makin' an effort, Yuugi! It helps that Kaiba's staying away from the doggy insults. I guess he's makin' an effort too, though god knows why.
Still, I can't stand not knowing what's going on behind me. I try to turn around so I can see for myself, but Kaiba shoves my head back down hard and I slam face-first into the table. "Hey!" His grip is like steel; I can't pry him off. Must be the angle, 'cause there's no way even his fingers are stronger than mine. That's just too much.
"Do you want them to see you?" he hisses. Good point. I stop struggling. "If anything interesting happens, I'll tell you." He's still not letting go.
Ow ow ow my poor head you sadistic bastard... "Okay, okay! You win! You can let go of my head now!"
He finally takes his hand off my skull. I rub my forehead where it hit the table. There's gonna be a terrific bruise on that spot tomorrow, on top of the one I gave myself yesterday. I look at my menu so I don't leap across the table and strangle Kaiba. He looks at his menu, then glances over my shoulder.
"Their food's arrived."
Like I care. "Yeah? So?"
His eyes narrow in disgust, but not at me. Weird. "Your two friends are worse than pigs, Wheeler. I've seen animals at the zoo with better table manners."
"Shut up," I grumble. "And Duke's not my friend." Not really the best comeback I've ever thought up, but I've got a head injury, okay? Plus, I'm not in the mood to defend those two right now.
The waiter guy comes back with our water. Took him long enough. "Are you ready to order?"
Kaiba puts his menu down and orders an appetizer and some sorta steak. I go with pasta. Steve scuttles off.
Once the throbbing in my head goes back down, I start thinking about more important matters again, like Serenity. To tell you the truth, this whole situation's making me a nervous wreck. They can be doing anything, anything, to my sister right now. And only Kaiba would know. "What're they doin' now?" I finally ask Moneybags.
Kaiba glances over. "Eating." He sips his water.
I wait a minute. "Now?"
"Eating."
Another minute. And another. And another. Horrible visions of my sister getting molested are running through my head. I can't stand this! "What about now?" I drink some water from my own glass, trying to stay calm. I'm overreacting. I just have to keep calm-
"Having an orgy on the table."
I spit water all over the place. So much for stayin' calm. "You bastard!" I choke out.
Kaiba wipes himself off, smirking at me. "Relax and stop drawing attention to yourself, Wheeler. Be a good boy and drink your water." He chuckles. Not even angry I sprayed water in his face. I guess he's having too much fun.
I spend the next fifteen minutes mutilating my napkin and trying not to think about what I know can't be happening three tables down. I hate Kaiba. Hate him.
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The food finally arrives after what seems like forever. I dig into the appetizer despite the fact that I want to toss the whole plate at Kaiba's ugly smirking face. It's not like I get to eat like this all the time, ya know. The deep-fried calamari's pretty good, but I let Kaiba have the last piece anyway since he's paying. I think. I hope. The pasta's okay, but I'm too stressed out to really enjoy it. I end up twirling the noodles with my fork and bugging Kaiba every other minute just because I can and I'm petty like that. At least he's not smirking anymore. In fact, he hasn't been answering me back for a while now. Seriously, I wanna know what's going on behind me.
"Kaiba..."
He just keeps eating.
"Kaiba."
"Unless there's something wrong with the food, I don't want to hear it."
"Is Serenity-"
"They're eating. They were eating five minutes ago, they're eating now, and they'll still be eating when you ask me again, which is something I am not doing because YOU KEEP INTERRUPTING MY MEAL!"
"Okay, okay, sorry!" I finish off my noodles even though I'm not really hungry, just to keep myself busy. I'm not a "sit and wait" kinda guy and not knowing what's going on behind me is driving me totally, absolutely nuts. Kaiba sure eats slow for a guy with such a big mouth.
I can't not know. I just can't. I have to ask-
Glare. "I have a steak knife."
-but I shut up real quick. Kaiba's scary like that. Why the hell did I want his help, again?
I finish eating and pick up an ultra-polished tablespoon just to have something to do. It's pretty cool how the reflection in it is upside down... and if I angle it just right...
There we go. After lots of squinting, the light brown and black blobs start looking like people. Upside down Serenity and party. Yup, they're eating. Not that I didn't believe Kaiba, but it's always better to see for yourself, right? They're just eating. Well, Duke and Tristan are eating. My sister's drinking... I think.
Okay, that's not too bad. I'm feeling better already. Steve comes to take the plates away and I hear Kaiba order dessert. I'm too caught up in my spoon to care.
Then Duke lifts something off his plate. Serenity leans forward and he eases it in.
Tristan looks at Duke, then at Serenity, and lifts something off his plate...
They're taking turns feeding my little sister.
I can feel my right eye twitching. They're... They're...
Someone snatches the spoon right outta my hand. Kaiba. I frown. "Hey, I was usin' that! Whaddaya think you're-"
And I gag as he shoves it in my mouth.
He pulls it back out and scoops another spoonful outta the ice cream he ordered. I manage to swallow the first mouthful he tried to kill me with.
The bastard knew they were...! I clench my hands into fists, each one with Kaiba's name on it. I wish I still had my fork. I wanna... I get myself under control. Breathe, Joey, breathe. "Kaiba, I thought I told ya to tell me if something hap-" In goes the spoon and I end up choking on my words. I'd beat him up, but then Serenity would know I'm here, she'd know that I'd broken my promise to her and she'd be sad and disappointed and look at me... Damn. I can't make a scene and Kaiba knows it, too.
"Did she look upset to you?" he asks calmly. He takes the spoon out and puts it down.
"No, but-" I get force-fed some more ice cream. I swear he's enjoying this. At least he used a teaspoon this time. You ever try to swallow around a tablespoon? Not fun.
He lets go of the spoon, leans back. "Then it's none of our business."
I take the spoon outta my mouth. None of our business my ass. The man's useless. Should've just followed my sister around in a taxi or something. "You should've told me anyway," I growl, trying to stay calm.
Kaiba lifts an eyebrow. "And what would you have done about it?" he asks me in that tone that means he thinks I have a negative IQ. "Attack them in the restaurant?"
I hate it when Kaiba's right. Not that I'm admitting he's right. After a while, I sigh. I give up. "So what're we gonna do?"
He glances at their table. "It looks like we are going to follow them to their next destination."
Aw, don't tell me... I turn around. Yup, they're gone. Him and his ice cream and his distractions and argh but they're gone so I guess I'll have to kill Kaiba later instead of right this second. If I didn't know better, I'd think that he was slowing me down on purpose, but why the hell would he do that?
Steve comes over, Kaiba asks for the bill and pulls out his wallet when he gets it. He's loaded. I catch a glimpse of a photo before he closes it back up and puts it away. He catches me looking and Glares at me. Touchy.
I manage to finish off the ice cream before we head out. After all, I don't want it to go to waste.
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TBC...