Ashes doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Chapter Five

Bringing on a bookkeeper at all had been one of Seiji's suggestions – it was supposed to take some of the workload off the secretaries, who stayed busy enough, and there was never a lack of paperwork within the corporation. Hiring Takagawa Yuumi had proved successful; she was quiet, needed little guidance outside her training, and kept the filing rooms on Kaiba's floor in perfect order. Over her two years of employment, seeing Takagawa had become common enough that Kaiba rarely paid her any mind, and uncommon enough that he never really had to deal with her. Every now and then she had to bring him some paperwork or get his signature for someone, but that was it.

It was about a week before the press dinner when she darkened his doorway, uttering a soft, "Do you have a moment, Seto-sama?" In the past three weeks Kaiba had thought of her all of twice – when he read her message, and when Jounouchi hadn't given any reaction to her message; Kaiba had expected to see at least some change in him. Seeing her there reminded him of his piqued curiosity.

"Yes. What is it?"

"I need to get your consent to look at some records," she explained, crossing the room in a brisk walk and pressing the papers down to the desk; she kept her palms pressed against them for a moment, taking a deep breath before she backed off and stood up straight, her shoulders back.

Kaiba eyed the papers, looked up at her and tried to read her. "And why do you need to be in anything you need consent for?"

She shifted again, gripping her hands in front of her; she kept a strong tone. "Spring cleaning. Right now I'm going through the archives and sorting old contracts, finding the ones that are obsolete and the ones still in effect so we can better find them if we need to. We have an off-site handler for the really old ones, and I'm going to move some of the more recent contracts out of the basement, leave some down there... You know. Busy work."

"Sounds tedious." Kaiba shrugged, pulling the papers towards him and rotating them so he could scan what it said. Her purpose was filled in on a handwritten line. All of the typed parts looked like a lot of bull about clearance and privacy and security; she'd already signed the paper. "No one's done this yet?"

"I suppose not; the company went through a lot of reconstruction and hired hundreds of new employees a few years ago, if I understand it right; there's still a lot of old documents that haven't been properly organized. It keeps me in the job." She smiled weakly; she was still too stiff.

Kaiba signed the papers, holding them out to her. "How is Jounouchi doing?"

Her hand froze mid-reach for the release forms, and she blinked. "You should know better than I do," she said slowly, taking the papers and watching Kaiba like she was waiting for him to strike.

She wasn't so far off the mark. "He's been busy; I know he spends a lot of time with you. He's been in an exceptionally good mood."

"It's nothing indecent," she replied firmly. "Jounouchi is a good friend."

"Does he share good news with good friends?"

She stammered just slightly; maybe she was catching on. "O-of course – but you know as well as anyone, I'm sure, that Jounouchi rarely has good news."

"Rarely isn't never."

"I – "

The door opened and Nori sauntered in smiling. "Well hello, Yuumi. I hate to be a bother, but I need to talk with Seto-sama for a bit."

Takagawa inclined her head. "It's not problem; thank you, Seto-sama. Have a good day." With that Takagawa left the room, leaving Kaiba with his curiosity unsatisfied.

"And what do you need?" he asked, folding his hands on his desk and waiting for whatever bad news Nori had; as a rule if she didn't make an appointment to see him, she was delivering some sort of urgently terrible news.

"I want to discuss the dinner – we have a loose script to adhere to, after all, and it'd help if you knew it."

"You mean the same script for every press event? Be charming, be bold, and make them want more. I remember."

Nori shook her head, grinning with what was either pride or amusement; it was sometimes hard to tell with her. Kaiba couldn't imagine anyone enjoying a job that contained little more than playing puppeteer as much as she seemed to. "Not quite; we want you to tune down the shock factor a bit, and keep general likability high. You're approaching a new demographic with the Sylph, and the big video game nerds tend to be a bit on the paranoid side. Shut-ins, even; they probably wouldn't take to you hanging out of helicopters and taking over the city for the day the way that the Duel Monsters crowd did."

"Likable?" he replied. He didn't like the rest of what she said; it implied he was counting on wimps and imbeciles to revive his company. Then again, he had employed Jounouchi to help him do it.

"Yes."

"And how do you propose I do that?"

"Well, be nice – show your sensitive side a little." She winked, taking a spot on the love seat and crossing her legs. "You always look so good with Jounouchi; just lower the acting to a more domestic level than usual."

"Have you considered that it's going to look suspicious for us to be so close before the release, then break it off once the Sylph really takes off?"

She shrugged, leaning forward and examining the potted plant on the coffee table. "New pot?" Kaiba didn't answer, turning back to his work. He didn't have time to play charades with her about whatever it was she wanted to say. She'd either say it, or she'd give up and leave.

It took her a full five minutes to spit out what she thought. "Seiji would tell you that it doesn't matter – once the Sylph succeeds, we'll be just as much of a success. He'd tell you whether or not people realize that Jounouchi was a ploy is irrelevant."

"And you don't agree?"

"I do. Chances are that when this is over, Jounouchi will be old news faster than you can blink. People will move on to a new piece of gossip, and you'll be back in favor with the public. We'll have averted crisis, and it'll be the dawning of a new golden age of Kaiba Corporation."

Kaiba smirked to show superiority – but it was all he could do to avoid looking as relieved; he wasn't a superstitious man, but it was easier to believe they were really going to get out of this slump when he heard someone else say it. The idea of being back on his own two feet, on his own terms, was enough of a reward to have gone through over half a year with Jounouchi. "Then it's all a success."

"Not... necessarily." Nori shifted, looking at Kaiba almost petulantly. "Because I'm... Well, Jounouchi will walk away with more money in his pocket and your name to drop, but... Don't you stop and worry about him?"

"No."

"Not even the smallest bit? I mean, come on, Kaiba – it's been obvious from the beginning that he's not in a good place right now. The way he's been thrown around as a smoke screen for Kaiba Corporation..."

"I'm not worried about him." Kaiba didn't have the luxury to worry; he'd taken his guilt in check. He deceived Jounouchi. He used the other man's weaknesses, and he exploited them like a pro. Jounouchi had known him for years, known exactly what sort of man he was hopping into bed with the moment they met at Tragedy's End. If it bothered him now, then it was his cross to bear – not Kaiba's.

She sighed as she stood, adjusting the lapels of her jacket with a slight smile. "Then I guess you're right: this has all been a wonderful success." And just like that, she jumped gears, back to being cocky and smirking like she really did own the place. "Now, until then, don't screw up."

She was less irritating when she was acting normal; having something to contrast that against made it even tolerable. Kaiba wasn't sure how to handle employees who put someone else's well-being ahead of self-preservation. "I don't plan on it."

--

When Kaiba told Takagawa that Jounouchi was in a good mood, it was a relative truth. If Kaiba compared it to how Jounouchi usually acted, then he was in a great mood. If he compared Jounouchi to how he had acted when they met four years ago, he was in a foul mood.

Sometimes Kaiba had to debate which he should hold his standards to.

For three consecutive days Jounouchi had been bumming around the mansion; he'd played some games with Mokuba, slept in his own bedroom – he'd been staunchly avoiding Kaiba's room for about half the month – and just sort of followed Kaiba when nothing else was deemed entertaining. The worst thing about being followed around by Jounouchi was that one thing hadn't changed – he couldn't quite keep his yapping under control. "Just another week?" he said out of the blue from where he'd been resting on the sofa. Kaiba was doing paperwork, hardly paying Jounouchi's lounging any mind. On the rare days he spent in the mansion, Jounouchi was little more than a fixture, just another conversation piece on the table or the wall.

"What's in a week?"

"The release – one week after the press dinner, right?"

Kaiba nodded, sorting the packet of papers he'd been reading into the cabinet behind him and taking another out of a lower drawer. "Four days, actually; dinner tomorrow, and the release is Friday morning. They wanted to hold it off for another month."

Jounouchi hummed softly, sitting up and stretching his arms up; Kaiba heard his shoulders pop. "I'm glad they didn't. The contract... how long after the release do we call it quits? The contract doesn't say."

"Yes it does," Kaiba said, not holding back his exasperation. "The terms say that when the profit hits a certain amount, the contract ends. It could be anywhere from a week to a few more months." Looking up, Kaiba leveled his gaze with Jounouchi's – and noticed that the blond looked like he hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in some time; he was a bit slumped, and his eyes were so heavy... hell, he looked like he was shaking a little. More than tired, he looked... sick. Writing it off as a hangover, Kaiba added, "I want to get this over with just as much as you do."

"Yeah." Standing, Jounouchi made his way to Kaiba's space and leaning in from the side of his chair, kissing Kaiba – not like their rougher media kisses, or the pecks they faked for Mokuba, but as though he'd never kissed Kaiba before, as though he wasn't sure if he knew how. It was enough to shock Kaiba into submission, familiar enough that he didn't quite stop; it wasn't as though they hadn't kissed dozens of times before. Jounouchi's fingertips grazed Kaiba's chin as he backed away, lingering over him for just a second and licking his lips. "You confuse me, Kaiba."

"Huh?"

Then Jounouchi was standing upright, clearing his throat. "I'm going to go take a nap, and I'll probably go home after that. Do you want me to meet you here before dinner tomorrow?"

"Yes," Kaiba said, a little lost but no worse for wear. "Your suit arrived last night, and I'd like you here in the morning so we can make sure it fits. After lunch we have a meeting with Nori about conduct and the scripting of the night."

"See you in the morning then."

Once Jounouchi was gone, Kaiba took a moment to taste his own lips, trying to place the flavor, the difference. Of the various tastes that kissing Jounouchi had assaulted him with... It was a new one.

It didn't have the aftertaste of liquor.

-end chapter five-

notes
Thank you to purkle -- I just realized what a nightmare this story can be! Brace yourself boys and girls, because I've got a lot to talk about. Sorry!

First of all -- you might have noticed in the summary that the story just got two chapters longer. That's because I apparently wrote seven chapters for Part I, not six. It really came as a blessing, because Part II could use the extra chapter to bring together the loose ends. Also, major props to the littledetails community (particularly rosewalker and ciorstan) for the details about contracts in big companies. I still sort of fudged around the exact details, but it helped a lot. I seriously suggest it for anyone with weird questions!

I ran into a sort of inconsistency within the story at the end of chapter four and the beginning of chapter five; Takagawa Yuumi. It occured to me later that at this point in the story we start calling her by her last name in the writing, but still by Yuumi in dialogue -- which lead me to wonder, what had I called her in earlier chapters? I found that'd I only mentioned her in earlier chapters (outside a few conversations) once, and that was as Yuumi. At the time, she didn't have a last name. ;;; I decided that since it was only once, and it was obvious that Takagawa & Yuumi refer to the same person, that it wouldn't be too horrible of an error to make the switch from first to last name. Sorry!

I looked at the span of time over part one -- and it's so scattered and ill-defined! Part of it is to contribute to the mood of this Part I, as it's supposed to be very rocky and confusing for all parties, but a lot of it really does seem sloppy, and I probably should've handled it a little better. So, to compensate for my shortcomings (lol), let me explain quickly: between chapter one & chapter three about a month passes. Chapters three & four are consecutive in time, and this chapter is -- as stated in the beginning -- three weeks after that. Hopefully chapter six will make sense when it's released. :D

Also; to the reviewers wondering how canon!Jounouchi came to be alcoholic!Jounouchi in this story: we've still got an entire half of the story to talk about this, lol. Part I is from Kaiba's point-of-view, and Kaiba & Jounouchi don't exactly have the sort of relationship where they talk about motives and issues. Have some faith, and I promise I'll try my best to tie everything together for you in the end.

Last but not least: shout out to rebootmaster and his conversation pieces. XD

I'm sorry these notes are so long! I suddenly realized that I had a lot to talk about regarding this story.