Seto's breath shuddered, caught in his anger and the dozens of glares like fingers weaving into his hair. One step, one gulp of air beyond that night, and the onlookers pushed him back under, into the threats and the heavy pulse of the music and fast-draining time. He kept his head down as he crossed the campus, scrolling through his phone, ignoring them all. The stories hadn't died down. Now, they were starting to call them a couple.
It had been a week and Crawford wasn't in the country. Whatever he thought of the rumors, he hadn't made public. Seto's opinion didn't seem to carry any weight and his objections couldn't be too loud anyway.
Behind him, Isono kept pace. Once Gozaburo heard of Crawford's offer of security, he appointed him as Seto's personal babysitter. Seto liked Isono, but the charade had gotten old three days ago. What was supposed to be a security measure only made the obscene notion of a threat more real. No one with a bodyguard kept their sense of personhood, of autonomy. They didn't get to know obscurity or slip away unnoticed. Training to wear the Kaiba name meant knowing when to draw attention, and more importantly, when not to. Now there was no choice. Now, even knowing how insane this was, even knowing he wasn't a target, Seto felt like one. And for once, hadn't agreed to it.
At least he had access to the labs. He was paying for most of the components he would need for the projector, but the school's hardware and computers were his to use.
For the next year or two, Seto planned to live in the campus lab. It felt like his safest course of action to avoid Gozaburo and Pegasus. Maybe he'd get Fuguta to bring Mokuba to campus after school. Find some semblance of self again.
"Gonna pretend you didn't see me?"
Seto didn't need to look up from his phone to confirm it was Joey.
"Like normal."
"Wouldn't call dancing with–"
"Is there something you need?"
"Nah. Just checking in. If you ever need to talk about it, I'm all ears."
"I don't need to talk about anything."
Least of all with an ex he preferred to forget. All Seto needed right now was to be left alone. They could talk about him all they wanted so long as they stopped staring.
"Sure, sure," Joey said, walking beside Seto. "But like, I know you're full of shit."
"What exactly do you think you're bringing to the table?"
"Help listening so you don't keep it all bottled up?"
"I'm not fucking you."
Joey spluttered. "You gotta know I don't mean that."
"Do I?" Seto asked, and glanced over from his phone.
"I know you think I'm dumb and all, but no one would be dumb enough to try fucking you when Crawford's laid claim."
Seto almost couldn't fault him for it, if only because Wheeler really was that crass. Most people were, apparently. Harsh, unyielding reminders of his reality. Right now, he was a trophy no one was bold enough to look at. Who would get close? Who would bother to try?
"I'm busy, Wheeler."
"You know, you're the reason no one sticks around," Joey said, and thankfully, fell back.
I know.
He went back to his phone and the safety of drowning out the masses. Rumors had blown over before and would blow over again. Resisting the urge to take a deep breath, Seto swiped to delete an email. Then another. Maybe he could match the pattern of Isono's steps and forget them. Gozaburo would find a way to make someone he respected a noose around his neck.
He swiped his student ID to get into the lab, and even inside, the classmates he had been studying with for six years gave him the same slightly panicked stares he had gotten from the rest of campus. One dance stole six years, just like that. It was like everyone expected Crawford to be hiding behind him, waiting to pop out when they said one misplaced word.
They went as far as to move to the other side of the room when he walked in. The equipment wasn't portable and their avoidance felt like nails to the back of his scalp.
Through them, Gozaburo's smug laughter was saying drown them before they drown you. And Seto knew even before he glanced up that he couldn't.
He knocked at the lab director's office. He had an open door policy, so Seto went in.
"Which of the lab spaces was reserved for me?"
Gansley jumped when Seto spoke, barely collecting himself before looking up.
"We modified your reservation. It's now workroom A."
"I asked for one of the cubes," Seto said. He planned to build a small projector and to write a paper. He needed a table's worth of space at most.
"Workroom A is yours for the year," Gansley said. "Along with any equipment you need. We went ahead and ordered the parts on your list that we didn't have on hand."
"I didn't ask for that."
"The university has put its full support behind your work."
The university was afraid of pissing off Crawford. That was only a slightly better explanation than if Crawford had called and insisted on it.
"The robotics students would make better use of the space."
"They have their workspace," Gansley said, and stood to get a key out of his wall-mounted rack, then offered it to Seto. "It's yours as long as you need it."
At this point, arguing for less space was wasting his own time and energy. Later in the year, when the hype around a single dance wore down, they could address this again. Seto's work would easily fit in a small box. He could move in a moment.
And gladly would.
Seto took the key. "Say the word when it's needed."
He met Isono outside the door, and shook his head. He wasn't in the mood to talk. They walked across the lab, past the large 3D printer and the simulators. A few of the other grad students were soldering on circuit boards at the high-top lab tables, and they buried their head in their work when Seto came close.
It wouldn't last forever.
Room A was the first on the wall at the end of the room. Seto unlocked the door and went in with Isono. The room had been designed for a team. There was a long work table in the center of the room, three chairs on either side. Along the walls, there were more work stations underneath hanging upper cabinets. Some of the equipment Seto requested had already been moved onto some of the tabletops, and after dropping off his bag, he began to unpack.
Isono pulled a chair to the door and stationed there.
One thing at a time.
Minutes passed to the sound of shuffling boxes and tools. The boxes took more space, and for the first few weeks, Seto wouldn't need anything but his laptop.
"Do you think they're trying to keep me happy to get in good with Crawford, or they're afraid of me?"
"It would depend on who you asked."
"They've stored me out of sight. Moved all equipment in here so I don't need to wander the lab."
"They wouldn't have given you a public workspace. Maybe a cube."
"That's what I asked for," Seto said, and got his laptop from his bag. He set up at the end of the table, intentionally facing the window dividing the room from the open lab.
Every time he looked up, he stared at someone sitting out there.
Them before you.
Seto shook the voice from his head, replacing it. One look at a time.
"They can't hold onto this for long. The stories have come and gone before."
"Nothing to this extent."
"But the rumors have always been there."
A few pictures here and there, then Seto's name in articles sporadically. Gossip blogs referenced a potential relationship. But through all the rumors, no one ever reacted this frustratingly.
"I could have flexed my gun to get you a lesser space."
Seto's gaze flickered to Isono for a moment, then back to his laptop. "That seems excessive at this stage."
"It'd be the most excitement that man's had in his life," Isono said.
"And that's reason to pull a gun?"
"Only to flex it, Seto-sama."
Seto got back to work while Isono read from his tablet. Tomorrow, Seto would need to bring his own tablet, one for sketching instead of reading. Some of his designs were already finished, but he wouldn't have gotten it right on the first try.
Around lunch, Seto stopped working. He rubbed his eyes—his contacts were dry—and got up.
"I'm going to grab a coffee."
"Where's the machine?" Isono asked.
"The math building next door has a shop. I'm not going far."
He didn't mention that he had made the trip dozens of times before, all without issue. Didn't say that it was just coffee and he had it under control. Seto had been alone on campus for the six years he had been enrolled. Nothing happened then, and if something happened today, he would applaud the fictional assailants for their effort.
Seto took his wallet and phone, leaving everything else in Isono's care. The walk to the math building wouldn't take more than a minute at his normal pace, but he dragged out his steps for the extra time. The sun was out, bright, directly overhead. It was the sort of day Seto normally would spend sitting on the quad, studying.
Maybe he wouldn't work all day. If he did camp out on one of the quad benches, then everyone else would have to deal with him.
Being petty wouldn't get him anywhere. He was lashing out meaninglessly. But even the idea of it felt good, like freedom. When his ears rang, he didn't want it to be with gunfire, but the rush of this adrenaline. You don't own me, not today.
But when he stepped into the convenience shop, the students put down their intended purchases and rushed out with defensive posture. Even the single worker behind the counter looked ready to run.
Seto hadn't done anything to deserve this. How long could they treat him as a pariah until he snapped?
He nearly turned to leave, but wouldn't give into the notion that this was somehow his fault. They were in for a fight even if they didn't want one. He would set his coffee down on the white flag of surrender with such force the stain wrote his name across it. Steeling himself, he fixed a coffee at the machine and grabbed a blueberry yuzu muffin for Isono. He took his time shopping the junk food, and meandered to the counter to pay when he was ready.
An arm reached from behind him, placing a canned tea beside Seto's purchases while he was taking out his wallet. Seto didn't bother checking who would be so bold. He was more concerned with how he hadn't noticed Bakura in the shop.
Bakura propped his arm on the counter and leaned on it to get an angle on Seto. "They're really rolling out the red carpet for you."
"At least they're respecting my personal space," Seto said, and looked Bakura up and down before paying for everything.
"This is the first step of the royal treatment," Bakura said, taking his tea before walking out with Seto. "It only gets more intense from here."
"Isn't that what you want? Me to get the stories you want and spend the rest of my life like this?"
"A year or two at most. Then you and Mokuba get free tickets to anywhere you want."
Seto glanced around to ensure everyone was still giving him a wide berth. There was no way to know how far Crawford's ears reached. Not a whisper of this could get back to him.
"And who's backing that promise?"
"Want me to flash a badge here?"
"I want to see it at some point."
But Bakura was right. There was too much risk in showing it here.
"Did you know when you went to Wales you'd end up in espionage?"
"Never went to Wales."
"You understand what I meant."
"I was recruited before I left. Turns out, people actually notice when you have a knack for not being seen."
"That sounds counter-intuitive."
"Crawford noticed you," Bakura said, and popped the cap on his tea. He sipped at it while they headed toward the lab.
"And you want me to encourage it."
"It'd help. He's known for figuring out anyone out of place. I'd imagine reading people is part of how he got where he is."
"And he won't figure me out?"
"He's pursuing you. That's an advantage no one's had so far."
Seto swiped his card to the lab, and Bakura walked in when Seto opened the door. Bakura went confidently in the direction of the engineering center, as if he had been there before. He only waited for Seto to lead the way when they were right inside.
Isono glanced up from his book when they came in.
"You're picking up strays," Isono said.
"Nice to see you again, Nakamura," Bakura said.
Seto locked the door, and was actually glad for the private space. Tomorrow, he could go back to resenting it. For now, he wanted answers without anyone eavesdropping.
"Did you actually come to Japan to get me to spy on him?" Seto asked, and Isono clicked off his screen.
"Spy isn't the best word for it, but essentially."
Bakura hopped on the center table to sit on the edge, setting the tea beside him.
"Seto-sama won't be spying for you," Isono said.
"He will if he wants to disappear with Mokie. And there are already plenty of spies, informants, insiders, whatever you want to call them. They're doing the heavy lifting. Intelligence isn't breaking into safes and hacking computers."
"You want his stories," Seto said.
"A lot of information isn't written down or put somewhere accessible. We may know he has travel plans, but don't know who he is meeting. Or we may know who, but not when. Stuff he may mention in passing."
"How difficult can that be to get?"
"Incredibly. Those are just examples. Information that may seem trivial to you could be the last puzzle piece for us."
"Who is us?"
Bakura shifted to pull out his wallet. He flipped it open to show Seto a badge.
"I don't normally carry it. Isn't good to be caught with one of these."
Seto took it and got a glance, but he didn't know the look of an official badge well enough to pick out a fake. Especially a badge issued by a foreign country.
He handed it to Isono, who would know.
"How long would you expect him to gather information?" Isono asked, and flipped the badge closed before handing it back.
"A year or so. It'd cut down his current sentence with Kaiba four or five years."
"And if Crawford decides things between them are serious?"
"We'll still get him out."
"You can't be confident in that."
Bakura pocketed the badge. "I am though. Discreetly moving people around is half of what we do."
If Seto could get Mokuba out next year, he could still save part of his childhood. More than anything, he was tired of penciling Mokuba in like he was just part of a schedule. A few hours on Sunday and dinner at seven sharp wasn't cutting it; never had. Seto was missing Mokuba's life while they lived under the same roof.
"I won't be able to find anything important."
"Let us figure out what's important. Get connected to him. Find out where he's going and why. When he's stressed. The people he keeps close. The most called numbers in his phone. You won't be asked to dig for anything. No picking locks or hacking. Only let us know anything that naturally comes up."
"Those things involve having an actual relationship."
"That's right."
"You don't think he'd look for me if I disappeared after dating a year?"
"He could try."
Seto went to sit down because this was a lot to take in. If Bakura could follow through with no potential risks, Seto wouldn't hesitate to agree. He entirely sided with anyone looking to slow Crawford's spreading control, but he had seen too many execution notices to risk himself and Mokuba. This had to be considered from all sides.
It seemed like there were three possible outcomes. One, Pegasus found Seto out and had him and his family killed. Two, Seto spied a while, and when the time came, Bakura couldn't follow through on his assurances. And three, it worked as Bakura promised.
Maybe a fourth option. Pegasus just liked to flirt and wasn't actually interested in Seto. This entire discussion could have been for nothing.
Half of those outcomes were against him. One of them ended up with Mokuba dead. He couldn't let that happen.
Doing nothing meant six years more with Gozaburo, and the chance Pegasus was serious and would pursue Seto anyway. If he did, Seto wouldn't have an out.
"He might not actually want a relationship with me."
"We've all seen the pictures."
"It would have been harder to cover the actual story without having me there as a scapegoat."
"That assumes he knew someone was going to try to kill him, and that he let it happen."
"If I agree to this and he isn't interested, are you people still going to get me and Mokuba out?"
"If you actually make the effort, I'll see what can be done."
Isono crossed his arms. "No one would agree to that condition."
"Making people disappear takes a lot of effort. I can't just make the promise now."
"We don't know Crawford will follow through," Seto said.
Bakura reached into his other pocket and produced a ticket.
"We have it on good authority he'll be at the Museum of Art's new exhibit opening this Friday. You'll run into him there and we'll find out."
Seto let Isono take the ticket.
"If Crawford thinks you're more open to it, he'll take the next step. From there, you only ever have to keep me up to date on what he says around you. As simple as venting to Ryou."
"What happens if I feel threatened in six months and need out immediately?"
"We're asking for a year."
"Bakura. If my life or Mokuba's life is at risk, are you going to get us out, even if it's a little early?"
"No one intends on you getting hurt. We'll start getting the escape method ready."
It didn't come across as comforting as it should have.
"I'll agree if Crawford pursues things at the museum," Seto said. "But only if that happens."
Because if Seto was going to be caught up in a relationship with Crawford either way, he wanted the assurance of an escape route. The only thing worse than six years with Gozaburo was a lifetime with Crawford.
Isono looked to Seto as if he'd gone insane. "Sir, you can't take this risk."
"There's a good chance Crawford won't let me keep evading him. If that happens, I need a way to get Mokuba out of the country."
"And for the whole doing it for the good of the public thing," Bakura said.
"Don't play the moral high ground. You're far from a saint."
"The saints weren't perfect."
"If this happens," Seto said, "No one approaches me for information. If you want to know something, you'll wait until I show up at Ryou's. Nothing puts Mokuba at risk."
"We'll be discreet. No worries there, Kaiba."
Seto took the ticket from Isono to stare at it, and gently tapped it on the tabletop. Crawford might not show up. Crawford might show up and say nothing to Seto.
They were on borrowed time. Maybe this was his best shot at ensuring Mokuba didn't have to be.
Thanks for reading and reviewing!
You can expect an update the second weekend of October.
A huge shout out and thanks to intheshadowofsignificance for helping rewrite the final draft of this chapter!
