Personashipping (Seto x Rishid)
(another one I missed)
Seto Kaiba rapped on the door for a second time, with perhaps a little more force than necessary. He hated to have to ask twice.
The door finally slid open, and the tall, foreboding figure of the criminal mastermind Marik Ishtar stood in the doorway.
"Yes?" he said, in a deep, calm voice. "Oh, Kaiba-san, forgive me. I did not know who was there."
Seto couldn't deny that the man's immense height made his skin crawl. He had been used to being the tallest one in the room for a very long time, and had used that small superiority to his advantage. Now he was on the other end, and he didn't like it. Marik looked down on him with placid, pale green eyes, an entire side of his face disfigured with deep scars in the shape of Egyptian hieroglyphics. He looked like he had stepped out of a history textbook, his head bald but for one long black ponytail at the back of his head, ankh earrings dangling from his ears, and his eyes darkened with kohl.
"Drawing for the Battle City semi-finals will be beginning in three minutes," he said.
"Ah. Yes. Thank you."
He started to reach for the door controls that would close the door again, but Seto slapped his hand on the door frame, holding it open.
"Excuse me, but I'm not finished," Seto said, controlling his voice with just the right parts irritation to business-like. If he could not be the tallest person in the room, he could certainly be the the most authoritative. He had played these games for way too long to be that easily intimidated – this Marik might be a criminal mastermind, but he appeared to rule with mystique and fear. Seto Kaiba knew that those were the cheapest tricks around.
"Is something wrong?" Marik said, in that deep, placid voice.
"I've heard rumors about this so-called Millennium Rod," he said.
"Ah."
Seto's eyes narrowed. Did this man have more than one facial expression? He looked and sounded like a robot.
"Mr. Ishtar, I'm not one to believe in fairy tales, but if there is any way that you're able to manipulate someone using this thing, whether it's hypnotism, or just suggestion, I'm going to have to ban its use. I will not have my tournament rigged in any way."
"I see," Marik said, inclining his head slightly. "You will want to inspect the Item?"
"I will."
"Please come in."
"I'll stay where I am, thank you."
Marik's face still didn't change. He nodded, turned into the room, and walked to where a small, thin item was wrapped up on the table. Seto took a quick glance at the room while Marik's back was turned. None of the lights were on. Wisps of cold air escaped the room – it felt like he was looking into a cave. Marik hadn't been using the lights or the room-specific heating/air conditioning system. Seto wasn't going to complain as it was less of a waste of his money, but it gave him goosebumps. He scolded himself inwardly. This was just another one of Marik's cheap tricks to try and get an advantage. Seto wasn't about to fall for them.
Marik returned to the doorway, unwrapping the object. He held it out. Seto looked at it dubiously for a moment. It looked like an ancient Egyptian magical girl wand, a thin gold rod with a horned sphere at the top bearing the eye of Horus. If Seto was going to be honest, it looked like someone had seen Yugi's Millennium Puzzle and decided to try and imitate it in order to unnerve opponents. Finally, he took the object, turning it over in his hands.
It was much lighter than he expected. And it didn't feel particularly cold...it should have, shouldn't it? Because it was made of some kind of metal.
A soft shudder ran through Seto. Something about holding this felt eerily familiar – like it had happened before in a dream. But something was missing – a pulsing warmth...
"Would you like to test its use on me?" Marik asked.
Again with that soft, unfeeling voice. Seto glanced up at him, raising an eyebrow.
"I told you I'm not one for fairy tales."
"You wanted to know if it works, didn't you?"
Seto stared at the thin staff in his hand. He rolled it over in his hand again. He looked up at Marik. Then he shook his head, and handed it back.
"How can I use something that's not even real?" he said.
Then he blinked. Why had he said that? But he knew it, somehow – somewhere deep, where he tried to stay away from, because feelings from there were nothing more than untestable hunches. He knew that the object he held wasn't real.
A faint, brief flicker of shock shot across Marik's eyes. The moment of knowing passed, and Seto felt extremely pleased with himself at that glimpse of expression in the man's eyes. But that feeling passed quickly too. He and Marik stared at each other for a long time.
"Who the hell are you?" Seto asked.
"I am Marik Ishtar," the man said.
Seto's eyes narrowed. He frowned. Then he shook his head again.
"Suddenly...I'm not so sure."
And he wasn't. The calm, deep voice. The placid expression. The soft presence. This was not the aura of a criminal mastermind. He wasn't sure who, exactly, he was talking to.
They stared at each other for another long moment. It was, of course, Seto, who ended the confrontation – always take the initiative away from your enemy.
"I'll be seeing you on the Duel Arena," he said, turning and stalking away.
He felt even more irritated than ever. Using his intuition tended to do that to him.
A/N: My deepest apologies to Animom, author of Spectator Sport, from which I shamelessly stole inspiration for this oneshot from. We both have different impressions of Seto's personality, though, so this turned out much different from Spectator Sport, in the end. Still, I apologize. Next is Persevereshipping (Otogi x Anzu).
