Necropolis demon
Disclaimer/looks to the left/ hmmm /looks to the right/ hmmm, clear…I OWN YuGiOh/from the sky comes a satellite plummeting towards me/ I MEAN…NO I don't… /Satellite misses me by an inch/ phew…I live.
Necro: The magazine names that you will read in this fic were just made up ok…but if there's a magazine out there that has the same name as the ones I've mentioned here, I don't own it ok!
The GameChapter 19 Calls and Photo Shoots
Rays of sunlight made their way into a slumbering teen's bedroom, filling the quarters with a feel warmth and security. The sleeping teen roused from bed, momentarily wincing at the brightness of the room that he had not yet been accustomed to. Nevertheless, he woke up feeling utterly refreshed, ready to face the whole of Sunday with a happy smile.
Ryou yawned and stretched, relishing the feel of the comfortable sheets and the plush pillows under his head. He got out of bed, his feet touching the texture of the carpeting; ah…it would take some time to get used to waking up in a four-poster bed.
The white blond gave another yawn then headed to the bathroom, HIS bathroom, and looked at his reflection on the mirror. It was nice to see himself there, under the perfect lighting of the luxurious bathroom…even the tousled hair of the white blond made him smile.
After cleaning up and tending to his wild morning hair, Ryou made his way downstairs to the kitchen, feeling foreign to the mansion's interior though he had seen it in several visits before. Guess things just seemed different when you actually live in the place.
Kaiba was already in the kitchen dressed in his at home clothes which consisted of a pair of black pants, a white shirt with the KC logo and a dark blue bathrobe that he wore like a trench coat, eerily flaring out as if possessed…hmm, how DOES Kaiba do that whole flaring tail thing?
The CEO was sitting with one leg over the other while reading a newspaper as the steam from his coffee mug rose, not seeming to notice the pale figure in sky blue pajamas entering the room. "Good morning Kaiba" greeted Ryou with a smile, sitting across the wooden kitchen table.
"Good morning Ryou," Kaiba replied casually, actually looking up from what he was doing long enough to greet the pale teen who thought of this action to be odd; Ryou expected a curt nod or just silence from Kaiba…but the teen actually looked up and greeted back… how peculiar.
"You seem to be in a rather good mood this morning," said Ryou, "I assume that you got a lot of good deals last night?" he said with a smile.
"I suppose you can say that," replied the CEO, inwardly smirking at the 'deals' he made last night; he had to call in a lot of favors for it but it was worth it.
A wall phone in the kitchen rang and Kaiba being the closest to it answered the call, "Hello…yes this is Seto Kaiba…yes I arranged for it…of course" the brunette spoke, taking a glance at Ryou once in a while.
"Ryou, take care of this call for me will you," said Kaiba, handing over the receiver.
"Finally, my first business transaction." Ryou said to himself nervously as he took the receiver from Kaiba.
But before Ryou could speak to the caller, the person on the other end of the line beat him to it "Hello…Ryou?" came the caller's voice.
So familiar… "Um…yes, this is him…" wait a second…he knew that voice, could it be?
"F-father? Is –is…that you?" the white blond's eyes widened; his father was calling him!
A chuckle from the receiver, "Yes, yes it's me Ryou." The caller replied cheerfully and Ryou could sense his father smiling, "really now Ryou, you still have that habit of stuttering?" Ryou's dad added.
Ryou smiled and started babbling excitedly about how happy he was that his father called and about the contest and his life; Ryou's father was very pleased to hear his son so happy…he was also surprised to hear that his son became the assistant of a CEO of a big company.
As his apprentice continued to gleefully chat on the phone, Kaiba smirked proudly at a job well done; Ryou was right, it WAS hard to contact the archeologist…Kaiba had to call in several favors and corporate detectives to track down Ryou's dad.
The father and son's conversation was short since Ryou's dad had to continue working on something. Although the conversation didn't last as long he'd want it to be, Ryou was happy and contented. It's been so long since he last heard his father's voice…the call really meant a lot to him.
Placing the receiver back in its slot, Ryou turned to see a smirking Kaiba leaning smugly on the kitchen table, "You arranged that call? For me? How?" Ryou started, not knowing where to start.
"Yes, I did arrange for it and…it was hard as hell to contact your father you know, I had to call in a lot of favors to merely track down your father. Had to phone the Cairo Museum in Egypt too to see if they had any records on which excavation site a 'Mr. Yaten Bakura' was assigned." Said Kaiba.
"Ka-Kaiba…"
"I promised you that I would get your father to call you when you agreed to our deal didn't I?" the brunette reminded, "you didn't think that I would back out on my word did you?"
Now…Ryou had tears forming at edge of his eyes, "Th-thank you so much!" without warning the white blond latched his arms around Kaiba's neck for a hug.
Kaiba stiffened…and indecisively enjoyed the feel of Ryou's arms around him, that body so close and warm against his chest.
"I…I'm so happy, that you did all that for me…so very happy…" continued Ryou, murmuring happily against Kaiba's chest…
Ok…Kaiba had a slightly crying teen latched onto him, but said teen wasn't crying because he was sad but because he was happy…what to do? Kaiba pondered, should he hug back? Give a pat? Push the teen away? Or hold still?
That wouldn't work…comically distressed by the embarrassed and flattered blush threatening to show on his cheeks, Kaiba opted to briefly hug back…but just when his arms were about to completely hold Ryou…a deviously placed interruption came walking in.
"Seriously! In front of my virgin eyes? GET A ROOM!" came Mokuba's teasing voice, immediately startling the two teens into realization of what their situation looked like.
"M-Mokuba!" yelped the blushing Ryou, embarrassed and shocked at the supposedly naïve boy's implication. Immediately, the two teens separated, Ryou blushing madly and Kaiba inwardly embarrassed at his position; he was about to hug Ryou back…oh the never-ending tortures from Mokuba that lay ahead.
Grinning, the mischievous and teasing imp dashed to the other room with Ryou chasing behind. By the doorway, Ryou paused and turned to Kaiba, giving the brunette a sincere and heartfelt smile, "Thank you again…Seto" then he dashed after Mokuba whose taunting voice could be heard from the other room.
Seto…did Ryou just call him by his name…'Seto'? Such thoughts raced in Kaiba's head, no one ever called him Seto…Mokuba was the only one who ever dared to or ever cared to…
His name was always such an intimate way of addressing him…'Kaiba' was so impersonal…it wasn't HIS name, just something he took along with his inheritance from his adoptive father… Kaiba never really liked his adoptive father, the guy was so controlling he could break anybody's spirit…well, the guy certainly did a great job on breaking Seto…
If it hadn't been for Gozaburo…people would probably be calling him 'Seto', Kaiba would probably be a normal and happy person…but then again, if it hadn't been for Gozaburo's patronage, the young prodigal child named 'Seto' along with his brother Mokuba would be worth nothing in the real world…nothing.
Though his name was but a ghost on the lips of others…it was nice to hear such sentiments in the way Ryou said it.
Thank you again…Seto, such sincere emotion…In the other room, Ryou had just managed to persuade Mokuba to stop shouting, lest the help start making wrong assumptions about their employer and their employer's assistant's relationship. "Oh Ryou, you're just so cute when you're all flushed with embarrassment…and don't think that I didn't hear what you called my brother." Mokuba teased.
"W-what? It was just his name…and it sort of slipped ok…I make mistakes you know."
"Fine, let's just say that was a 'mistake' then," the young boy spoke sarcastically like his brother would, were all Kaibas blessed with the gift of sarcasm or something?
"So, you guys are going to a studio later for a photo shoot right?" spoke Mokuba, bringing up the topic. Later that afternoon was going to be a photo shoot for the qualifying contestants of the KaibaCorp contest; the pictures would be legally taken and used for magazine issues featuring the contestants and such, unfortunately for Ryou it was a required thing.
A sigh, "Yes, we're going," said Ryou, "though I don't know why I have to go too, the media's got loads of pictures of me already…those damn annoying…stalking perverts." Ryou grumbled the last parts in a way that was so unRyou-ish; he did after all dislike all those reporters who gave him his negative public image in the first place.
Mokuba could only laugh at Ryou's last comment, "Oh Ryou, you're turning into Seto! Where has your innocence gone?" the boy mock wailed as Ryou rolled his eyes.
"How about you? Where has YOUR innocence gone?" seriously…where DID Mokuba learn to imply that thing he implied in the kitchen about Ryou and Kaiba?
"Ouch touché, well, if you're going to get corrupted by big brother, I hope that he gets influenced by you too!" smiled Mokuba; it would be nice to have Kaiba soften up a bit and Ryou toughening up is a good thing too.
As scheduled, the duo along with Mokuba headed to a studio for a photo shoot in the afternoon, Mokuba had nothing else to do so he went along with the two teens. Ryou and Mokuba got a chance to chat with the other contestants whom Ryou had become friends with during the recent party while Kaiba spoke to the photographer and magazine publishers about what the color schemes of the backgrounds were supposed to be or how many shots he allowed for publication.
Everything didn't seem so bad to Ryou and perhaps maybe, just maybe, he would be fine with posing for the magazines…and then…the dreaded make-up crew just had to come in to the scene.
The make-up crew did their job and applied make-up and such to the contestants, most of the contestants found this annoying if not insulting to their manliness because, for one they were all males and two they did NOT want to wear blush or any of that girly stuff.
But no matter how hard the manly contestants and Ryou tried, they lost and ended up getting powdered and dolled up, which was kind of funny and awkward since Ryou already looked girly enough as he was…
The others continuously joked about Ryou, thanks to Mokuba initiating the laughter, saying that he would look good with his lashes curled and his lips reddened…Ryou blushed profusely as he got annoyed, but he laughed along with everyone else anyway; at least the joke was friendly and wasn't meant to harass…he would have to remember to get back on Mokuba.
Lucky for Ryou, the lady who applied his foundation decided to pity him and applied just a bit of make-up on his face than to what was the normal amount.
The photo shoot was simple enough, just stand in front of a colored background and pose according to what the photographers wanted. There were at least 10 contestants who had made it into the finals and there was a maximum of 3 poses per contestant that a magazine could use. There were a lot of magazine photographers from different magazines, this from 'Gamer Weekly', that from 'Dueler Monthly, and so on…
…Surprisingly or not, it depends on a person's views of the competition, there were also a few other magazines like 'Totally Gals', 'Teen Zine' and 'Sweetz' that were supposed to be magazines that had a more likely female audience…which was exactly why it was surprising. Why would a chick paper take pictures of the contestants in a competition that is based on a manly concept of creating a monster game? Chick papers don't cover that kind of stuff like football or baseball…they cover Hollywood news and such right?
Poses were planned, pictures were taken and it took a while before moving on to the next person. Basically everything was simple, the participants were photographed, each of them doing three poses that the gaming magazines would choose from, Kaiba posed in his white trench as well since the gaming magazines also wanted a picture of the contest's host.
Like the contestants, Kaiba was pissed at having to wear make-up and all that; he had never really gotten used to the annoying make-up people and that powdery foundation…this knowledge of Kaiba's dislike of make-up artists Ryou found amusing.
When the gamer magazines were finally done taking their photos they took there leave, so did the other contestants, but Ryou wondered why he had to stay behind when everything was already done…then, it struck him.
Fan girls…the other photographers for the chick magazines were still there…for him.
Ryou groaned and inwardly pleaded, 'no, not that, anything but that…' looking clearly distressed much to his dismay and Mokuba's amusement… Ryou was most definitely not going to hear the end of Mokuba's taunting.
"Um, Kaiba…do I really have to pose more?" Ryou asked Kaiba, desperate for a 'no' from the CEO.
"Yes" Kaiba replied, "these people are from several teen magazines, I'm sure you are aware of that," at this Ryou gave a weak smile, "they're here to take pictures for their respective magazines."
Ah…Ryou could practically sense Mokuba grinning and laughing his head off at Ryou's reluctance.
"Oh c'mon Ryou, it wont be so bad!" piped up Mokuba, "just pose and look good then it'll be all over"
"No fair…why do I have to do this?" the white blond pouted.
As Ryou sulked quietly with Mokuba joked about how the girls would vote Ryou to be one of the top 10 eligible bachelors in Japan. "But of course…you'll have to be next to Seto!" said Mokuba…speaking of Kaiba, Ryou turned his attention to where his partner was at, inwardly annoyed at the fact that Kaiba had put him up to this humiliation.
But when Ryou found Kaiba already sitting in a chair while people where adding a bit more foundation on the CEO's face, Ryou stood there shocked…Kaiba was posing with him too?
The past shots were all singles…was Kaiba going to be in a shot with him?
Oh…he was. As the second photo shoot commenced, the photographer had some shots of Kaiba and Ryou together taken as well as Ryou and Kaiba's singles. And darn…there were a LOT of photos to be taken by all those different magazines.
All those photos, the magazine people said, were going to be used for their special issues on the KaibaCorp duo…
They posed together, Kaiba in his stunning white trench coat from battle city, the artificial wind blowing the tail backwards at a good angle. Ryou had changed into his white trench for these shots; Kaiba wanted the masses to not entirely acknowledge Ryou as simply an apprentice in the contest…so the pictures of Ryou for the gaming magazines had to show Ryou as a contestant like everyone else so that it would be fair. In those said photos, Ryou was merely dressed in casual clothes, a blue and white striped shirt, blue pants and whatnot, the same outfit he had worn in Battle City.
Kaiba wanted to make sure that Ryou's apprentice image would be used strictly for business and any other things that wouldn't make things seem like favoritism for a contestant. If these separations of distinct images weren't done, people would think that Kaiba was advertising his apprentice as a contestant rather than as an assistant.
So yeah…basically, the gamer magazines would have the qualified shots in which Ryou would be strictly projected as a normal contestant without the patronage of the host. The other teen magazines related to news related photos would have the workplace images.
Necro: this…was…a…confusing chapter for me. I had writer's block in the middle of writing this. So things just…went a bit crazy in the middle. I'm sorry, I was sick in the hospital while making this…really sick, had to stay there for a few days for observation. Sorry.
Just a note: I'm sure you guys know that guys DO wear make-up too in some really special media occasions right? Just a bit so it won't be apparent but it's there…it could be powder and a bit of blush, well, it depends actually.
Review…Review…REVIEW! …Please…? Reviews make me feel better/nurse comes in with gigantic needle/ save me!