Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!
Warnings: Shounen-ai; BL; slash; boy x boy; homosexual relationships; yaoi, SetoJou; Kaiba Seto x Jounouchi Katsuya, a shitty artist attempting to write, may be OOC, and spoilers up to the end of the series.
Notes: Please read the notes from the previous chapters as well (if you haven't already done so) as they still apply for this chapter.
I'm not even going to try to figure out cool combo ideas for Yu-Gi-Oh! the card game. Holy shit, man. I was sitting here trying to read things up but I lost the patience. SO MUCH CARD-GAME-BLAH. Wtf are they talking about? -Doesn't understand- I apologize in advance if I the characters are not pro enough. I'll try to dodge the card game if I can. XD
You guys aren't looking for card game action in this fic anyways. Haha.
Some people wanted to know why Jounouchi's question was left unanswered in chapter three. It was left out on purpose. No worries, I'll get back to it later in the fic.
Look at my FFnet avatar on my profile page! XD;…
The One Who Mystified The Sea
He was running along the familiar block, a surge of nostalgia streaming through him. He couldn't believe he was late. It was so important too.
Deciding to take a shortcut, he turned into an alley and headed straight towards the gate at the end. Swiftly, he climbed up the gate in his way and used his arm as support to swing himself over it. He slept in this morning so he was late delivering his papers. He had a terrible nightmare and upon awaking, found out he had forgotten to set his alarm the night before. He was 20 minutes late!
In his dream, he was playing Duel Monsters. All was pleasant until the last battle where he lost most embarrassingly. His opponent, to his dismay, was none other than Kaiba Seto, the jackass who ruined his evening last night. He didn't bother to pay a morning visit to Seto this time since he was running late; he was also slightly upset over last night's event.
He finally made it to the game shop and almost fell over when he stopped abruptly in front of the door, cutting off that built-up velocity. He would probably wear off the sole of his shoes if he kept doing that.
It was still 30 minutes too early for the game shop to open for business so Katsuya reached out to press the buzzer.
Mutou Sugoroku, dressed in blue and white striped pyjamas with a matching sleeping cap, mumbled as he opened the door slowly. "The shop's not op- Oh! Jounouchi!"
"Hey Grandpa. Is Yugi ready?" He peered into the shop and Yugi, right on cue, was hopping down the stairs with a slice of toast in his mouth and trying to put his left sock on simultaneously.
Yugi reached the bottom of the stairs and struggled to get his socks on. He removed the toast from his mouth and looked apologetically at Katsuya. "I'm sorry I'm not ready yet, Jounouchi! My colleagues wouldn't let me leave last night."
Katsuya burst into laughter at the irony of the situation and Yugi joined him after glancing at the clock.
"You boys are too energetic so early in the morning." Sugoroku scratched the back of his head and yawned. "You boys have fun; I have to get the shop ready for business."
As if the yawn was contagious, Katsuya yawned right after. "You're already eating breakfast. I was planning to go out for breakfast with you. I rushed out of the house for work today, rushed home to change and came here right after. I didn't have time to eat anything."
Yugi chuckled. "We can go get food. I'll just order a drink or something." He smiled at Katsuya and then gave him a hug, which was returned happily.
The embrace brought out Katsuya's tender smile. It felt pleasantly warm. It was as if their souls and hearts were embracing as well.
"Sorry for calling you to hang out so suddenly last night, Yugi." They both pulled away gently.
"It's all right, Jounouchi! I am glad you wanted to hang out. You always seem so busy. It's too bad Anzu and Honda couldn't join us too."
Anzu and Hiroto both had work or school while Yugi was usually only free on Tuesdays. Katsuya was normally busy on Tuesdays except for the time between delivering papers and Amaranthine, but he still found himself preoccupied with chores and tasks in the hours he had before work. Even without the chores, there wasn't exactly enough time to 'hang out' and he would only be able to do so with Yugi, so Yugi was surprised when Katsuya actually suggested to hang out during the little time he had.
They headed out the game shop and towards their regular breakfast hangout during their high school days on Sundays. "Why didn't you just bike here?"
"My dad stole it when I went home to change. Said something about gas prices." He let out a soft laugh before starting again. "We really should start hanging out more often or I'll uh…I'll…" He was scratching his slightly flushed cheek lightly with his right index finger.
Yugi chuckled, nodding knowingly.
"Er…You know."
"Yeah." Katsuya would miss them too much. "I feel the same way."
"Whatcha getting, Yugi?"
Yugi pursed his lips while staring at the menu, trying to decide on a drink. "Hmm."
The waitress came by their table and greeted them with a smile. "Jounouchi! Yugi! I haven't seen you two in ages. I thought this place wasn't good enough for you, now that you both graduated."
The two boys looked at each other and grinned.
Katsuya reached over to Yugi and placed him in a headlock. "Yugi's been extremely busy you see."
"It was Jounouchi's fault!" He waved his arms in emphasis. Their playful laughter filled the room.
The waitress giggled at the two boys who haven't changed at all in her eyes. "So what would you two like?"
"Just give me your breakfast special for today," Katsuya responded cheerfully as he let Yugi out of his lock.
"I'll have that crushed ice lemonade," Yugi said, equally cheerful.
"Okay! Play nice now." She smiled before leaving them and into the kitchen.
"So…" Yugi started, "Why are we going to Kaiba's?"
"Only for a bit!" He felt awkward. Going to Kaiba's mansion wasn't exactly on everyone's list of 'things to do' when spending time with close friends. "I don't want to go there alone."
"Kaiba's in America though. Why do you want to go there when he wasn't even there?"
"It's Mokuba who I want to visit."
"Well I have nothing against visiting Mokuba. But it really surprises me how you've been bringing up the Kaibas so much lately."
"Don't worry over it, Yugi. Just feeling nostalgic." Which wasn't a lie.
"Here you go, boys!" The waitress brought their drinks. "Lemonade and a glass of milk. Your meal will be ready shortly."
"Thanks!" They chimed in unison.
"Let's play a quick game of Duel Monsters before heading there though. You brought your cards?"
"And my disk."
Katsuya grinned again. He couldn't wait to finally play a game with Yugi again.
"And that last card that you used! That was epic! Man, I really should get a few new cards!" Katsuya pushed the button for the doorbell.
"But that combo you used after my Kuriboh was destroyed was really smart, Jounouchi. You've improved so much that you probably can take Kaiba down."
"I can kick that bastard's ass in Duel Monsters any day. He's the only one who thinks otherwise."
"Who can kick my brother's ass?" The voice came from the intercom. "Is that you Jounouchi? Yugi? What are you guys doing outside my gate?"
"You didn't call?" Yugi looked at Katsuya, slightly startled.
"I thought you were going to call." He defended himself.
"Sorry for dropping in so suddenly, Mokuba. Is it all right if we visit?" Yugi bowed at the intercom slightly as if it were Mokuba to apologize.
"I'll send someone to open the gate and lead you to the mansion door."
"How come it's you who answered the intercom and not a servant, Mokuba?"
"Because I can. The system is hooked up all over the mansion. There's a video in my room too." He decided to tease Katsuya, remembering the one time Yugi told him that Katsuya disliked it when people called him pretty. He was asking him how Katsuya was that time, for Seto's sake. "You look prettier, Jounouchi." He laughed.
Katsuya waved his fist at the camera above the gate. "Just wait 'til I get inside!"
"Jounouchi doesn't like it when we tease him on the looks that Mai forced him to adapt to," Yugi explained between giggles.
"I'm still manly!" Katsuya exclaimed with an arm in the air just as one of the servants arrived to unlock the gate. The servant gave Katsuya a puzzled look for a split second before welcoming them into the Kaiba mansion. To this, both Mokuba and Yugi guffawed.
"Sha-Shaddap!" He flustered and stomped towards the mansion door behind the servant and in front of a hysterical Yugi.
"I can't believe you, Yugi!" he began again when they reached the door.
Yugi blushed slightly, embarrassed that he laughed at his friend. "But you are prettier than be-"
"Stop! Augh!" Katsuya pressed both palms to both sides of his head, twitching.
The door opened and revealed Mokuba. "Just because you're pretty doesn't mean you're not manly." Mokuba's hands were on his waist.
"Holy. You've grown!" Katsuya's eyes widened. "Not taller than me though."
"And I'll be growing more. Look how tall Big Brother is! It's likely I can grow taller than him." He had a smug look on his face.
"Yeah! You do that and I'll kick his ass in Duel Monsters!"
"No one can beat my Big Brother." Well except for Yugi.
"I've improved a lot now!" He made a fist in front of himself.
"Well you can always try." Mokuba grinned. "Aside from losing to Yugi sometimes, my Big Brother would never lose." He titled his head slightly, with a smug grin. "Though that was history. Yugi should be careful the next time he faces my brother."
"I'll show you all!" Katsuya exclaimed.
Yugi chuckled hesitantly. He wasn't sure what to say. Mokuba was still the same when it came to Seto.
"Come in. You can leave your shoes here." Mokuba pointed at one of the corners of the entrance. "And Jounouchi, 'well groomed' is probably more accurate. You were always kind of pretty."
"It feels weird hearing this from another guy." He twitched again.
Yugi looked away quickly, hoping Katsuya did not notice that he agreed with Mokuba.
"So seriously, why are you guys here? If you're looking for Big Brother, he's still in America."
"I actually have no idea why we're here. It was Jounouchi's idea." He was looking around the spacious room in awe. "Since I'm here, do you mind giving us a tour? This place is huge."
"Sure. I don't mind. I don't go to the office until after lunch. You guys were lucky I was actually home," Mokuba answered. Of course Katsuya knew about Mokuba's schedule from Seto already.
"Kaiba's room first!" Katsuya suggested. "I want to see if he wallpapers it with Blue Eyes White Dragons!"
"No, he doesn't." Mokuba laughed. "And I don't know if I should let you in there. Big Brother won't be very happy about it if I let people into his room without permission."
"Aww…But he'll never know."
Mokuba thought for a moment before responding. "Okay." Seto probably wouldn't mind if it were Katsuya.
"Seriously?" Katsuya blinked in disbelief. "What's the catch?"
"Nothing. You were right. He won't find out." He started heading up the stairs with Yugi trailing behind. "Come on or we'll leave you behind. You won't get to see his Blue Eyes pyjamas."
"His what?" He ran after them, laughing. Even Yugi was giggling. "You serious?"
"As serious as a Kaiba can be. I gave it to him as a birthday present last year as a joke. It was a part of a bigger present though. He wears it for me when I ask him to."
Mokuba headed to the end of the hall at a grand door with golden handles.
"Here it is." He pushed it open and the room inside was astounding. Both Yugi and Katsuya's jaw dropped.
"Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy fuck." Katsuya rubbed his eyes.
"Jounouchi…" Yugi looked at him with concern in his eyes. "Mokuba is in here."
"Oops, sorry."
"Hey. I'm not that little. Big Brother swears all the time when he thinks I'm not around."
"Wow. It's so…"
"Sparse?" Yugi helped.
"Yeah. Your brother's room has to be the biggest waste of space in this whole mansion."
"Nah. There are a lot of rooms that aren't used in the mansion. This room is actually quite special."
"Well it's huge. Too huge." Katsuya couldn't see how it was special. It was just huge. Unless that's why it was special.
The room was spacious. It didn't contain a lot of things, only the necessities. There was a large, neatly made bed in the middle of the room against one of the white walls. The sheets were made of silk and were blue like the deep ocean. The bed frame was polished and black, most likely made from ebony wood. The nightstands by each side of the bed were made from the same material as the bed frame, as was the dresser which stood near the wall across from the bed. There were gorgeous white with a hint of light blue polished lamps sitting on the nightstands, which were probably specially designed.
On the ceiling above them was a prominent ceiling fan. The walls had simple light fixtures attached to them, all lining up along the room approximately two meters away from each other. Each and every one of them had an open ended blue frosted glass casing over top to channel the light.
Katsuya walked further into the room. His feet melted into bliss when he reached the blue rug on the light brown hardwood floor. The rug was extremely soft and fluffy that it felt nice to step on. It'll probably feel even better if he didn't have his socks on.
The only other thing in the room was a glass work desk, centered in front of an amazing grand window with blue and white curtains. Yugi walked up to the curtains and pushed them aside a bit, revealing a sliding door which lead to a magnificent balcony. It took their breath away.
"Beautiful view, isn't it?" Mokuba walked up to them. "You can see our garden from here."
Both Yugi and Katsuya only nodded.
"Silk curtains…" Yugi ran his fingers along the blue silk layer. The white layer behind it was linen.
"Why doesn't your brother have a bookcase in here? I thought he would have a lot more in this room. There's still so much space left," Katsuya asked.
"We have a library in the mansion. He doesn't need a bookcase in his room."
Katsuya walked over to the desk next to Seto's black leather chair. There were two silver framed photos and a miniature glass Blue Eyes figurine next to the phone on one end of the desk. On the opposite end, he found an exquisite designer pen holder filled with pens and pencils. Other than those few items, there was nothing else on the desk. One of the photos showed a younger Seto and Mokuba and the other was identical to the photo Katsuya had in his room on his own work desk. It was the picture they all took together during their graduation—the one where he and Yugi jumped him in an attempt to get him to smile. The same picture that made Katsuya smile everyday. The picture he loved…
He reached out to stroke the picture. He couldn't believe Seto had this on his desk. In fact it was uncharacteristic of Seto to have it anywhere in his home.
"Ta da!" Mokuba pulled out the pyjamas he was talking about in Seto's dresser. "Cute isn't it?"
"Oh my god." Katsuya laughed out loud. "I absolutely cannot see your brother in that."
Yugi nodded and stared at the light blue pyjamas with patterned cute Blue Eyes White Dragons. He didn't think he could duel Seto without trying to see him in that next time.
"Hey, what's in that room?" Katsuya pointed at the beautiful white double doors with light silver-blue handles. "Private bath?"
Mokuba nodded. "It's the biggest bathroom we have in the whole house. I have my own private bathroom too."
"Whoa. This I have to see." He reached for the handle and pulled one of the doors open.
Their eyes widened for the millionth time that day.
"You guys seriously have too much cash."
Mokuba only laughed.
"Talking about bathrooms, I need to borrow one," Yugi stated.
"Sure." Mokuba walked up to the intercom and pressed one of the buttons there. "Hiro, can you please take Yugi to the guest restroom?"
A 'Yes, Master Mokuba' was heard over the intercom and the butler knocked on the door shortly after.
"I'll be back." And with that Yugi left the room.
Katsuya jumped onto Seto's bed and hugged the silky sheets.
"Isn't it rude to go into someone's house and sprawl over their bed?" Mokuba placed his hands on his hips. But since Seto liked Katsuya, he probably wouldn't mind.
It was really for 'revenge' that Katsuya jumped onto Seto's bed. All for what Seto said to him last night. He figured Seto wouldn't like it if he did that so he did. And god the bed felt so good.
"Well whatever. I have to get someone to re-clean this whole room before Big Brother gets back anyways." Mokuba sighed. "Really, Jounouchi. You never answered me. What's your real reason in coming here? It has to do with Big Brother doesn't it?"
"You're really smart, kiddo." Katsuya sat up from Seto's bed. "I have a letter to give you. I had to do it personally." He handed him the folded piece of wrinkled paper from his pants pocket.
Mokuba took a seat on Seto's bed and smoothed the paper before reading it.
It was written in English. (1)
Feliana,
The mermaid swam west but in the end she chose to return to the east. Her heart was in conflict when she met him. However she has a duty and a destiny to fulfill. Never forget that.
Love,
Aquiminthe
Katsuya didn't understand the note at all, but Seto assured him that Mokuba would understand. Seto also told him to tell Mokuba what was going on if he asked. He watched Mokuba intently as he read the note, wondering if Mokuba really did understand that gibberish.
"Big Brother he…" Mokuba's eyes were serious now and he turned to direct them at Katsuya. He's back.
"He what?"
Mokuba got up from the bed and tapped the intercom again. "Hiro, take Yugi to the game room instead of bringing him back here. We'll meet him there soon."
Another 'Yes, Master Mokuba' was heard again.
"Tell me what's going on. Does it have to do with Eimei?" Mokuba asked as he returned to the bed.
"Eimei? What? The console company that makes Ascendancy?" Wasn't it YamamotoCorp?
"Something felt weird about Kaiba Corporation lately so I checked it out. There were hacking attempts from Eimei."
And Kaiba didn't know about this? Unbelievable!
"Is it even safe to be talking about this here?" He looked around insecurely and then leaned to Mokuba's ear. "Aren't there spies?" he whispered.
"What? No. Why would there be? No one can get to Big Brother's room, the security is too tight."
But that doesn't explain why Seto didn't tell Mokuba about this whole façade in the beginning. He could've easily just brought Mokuba into his room and explained his plans. But then again, Seto did say he didn't want to risk anyone overhearing. So why was he here doing this?
"Did Big Brother tell you there were spies?"
Katsuya nodded.
"Then there probably are. But I haven't noticed anything of that sort."
But… "Maybe they're only following him." Maybe Seto knew this. It was likely Seto would check up on Kaiba Corporation during the time he was Matsuo to find out if there were more spies around.
"Then their target may not solely be Kaiba Corporation. Big Brother might be their main target."
Uh oh. That doesn't sound good at all.
"Wait. How did you know we thought the spy was after Kaiba Corporation?"
"It says in 'Aquiminthe's' letter." Mokuba pointed at the piece of paper. "What I got from it is, something is happening to our company and Big Brother has returned but still is carrying out his plan."
Katsuya arched an eyebrow and his mouth parted in shock at this news. How in the world did that note equate into what Mokuba just said? How would anyone conclude to company secret missions from that message? Aquiminthe and Feliana were just mermaids from a fictional story.
"Don't worry about it, Jounouchi. It's Kaiba-code."
So apparently 'Kaiba-code' involves two mermaids. Right…
Katsuya wasn't going to ask.
Mokuba nodded as Katsuya explained Seto's story and how he was involved briefly, making sure to leave out a lot of the embarrassing details.
"So Big Brother included you because you accidentally caught him?"
"Yep."
"Jounouchi can you do me a favour and give this note to my big brother?"
Mokuba took a pen from Seto's desk and wrote on the back of the note Katsuya had given him.
Aquiminthe,
Feliana will always be the sister who loves and supports you. Don't forget that.
However, let us walk a different path.
Love,
Feliana
Katsuya stared at the note, reading the English slowly in his mind, trying to comprehend its meaning. He wasn't fluent but he knew enough from school and past experiences to figure it out. He shrugged and stuffed it in his pocket after Mokuba handed it to him. Unlike Seto's message, it was probably just a reminder to Seto that Mokuba loved him, no other weird meanings.
"Thanks," Mokuba said with a smile.
"No problem. I better go now or else I'm going to be late for work."
"What about Yugi? He's still waiting in the game room."
Katsuya checked his watch. "We didn't make him wait too long. I guess I can still spare another fifteen minutes before heading to work…"
"Don't worry about it. I'll have someone drive you over so you won't be late. Let's just go have some fun in the game room with Yugi for now."
"Okay!" He grinned.
Mokuba smiled and led the way. Big Brother… I hate the story of Aquiminthe…
"Here's this lovely lady's chocolate-strawberry milkshake." Katsuya placed the order in front of the girl with curly pink hair. "And here's a Shirley Temple for this cute princess."
The girls giggled and thanked him.
He was pretty much lost in thought most of the night. His mind wouldn't stop thinking about the things Mokuba had told him. What if YamamotoCorp wasn't the real enemy or what if there was more than one company against them?
He walked over to another table and placed a dish of spicy chicken wings on the table and a cup of hot chocolate in front of one of the customers. "Here's your order, miss."
"I'm the one who ordered the hot chocolate," the girl in the next seat said.
Ah Shit. "I'm so sorry!" Katsuya moved the hot chocolate in front of the other girl and bowed to her as an apology.
Isamu, the host at that table, looked at Katsuya with concern since this wasn't the first time this afternoon where he messed up an order. It wasn't like Katsuya to mess up this much. Something's on his mind and it was bothering him.
"Jounouchi, you can't just daze out because these girls are so cute. You still have to serve them."
The girls looked to Isamu.
"Sorry, girls. Jounouchi's always in a daze when he sees cute girls like yourselves."
"We're not cute," one of the girls said while blushing.
"I apologize," Katsuya said with a smile. "I am guilty of it. You girls really are too cute. It makes my brain unable to register my surroundings properly."
"Trust me when I say you're cute," Isamu added. And Katsuya knew they would. For some reason girls always find Isamu 'cool' even though he was really just a very sweet and laid-back kind of guy. But he supposed that Isamu did have a very 'cool' air around him. It was also so amusing how these lines actually worked in Amaranthine. It must be due to the fantasy-like environment and the gorgeous men.
As predicted, the girls giggled in their seats.
"You boys and your lame corny words," the other girl teased.
"You can't deny that you like it." Isamu said as he leaned in a bit closer to the girl who said that. She blushed and backed up a bit as a reflex. Isamu smiled. "Well, you girls better eat those chicken wings before they get cold."
He fell onto the couch in the break room and sighed. He was tired. It was his break and he was glad he had not made any really big mistakes yet. He really had to start concentrating on his work more.
"Jounouchi! Your hair!" Mai's voice thundered in the room, causing Katsuya to jump and break from his thoughts. His hands frantically searched his apron for his comb.
Mai broke down into laughter when she saw Katsuya's reaction. "I..." She attempted to start but ended up laughing again.
Katsuya sat up from the couch and turned to face Mai. He was confused but he was combing his hair anyways.
"I can't believe Sato was right," she managed to say between her laughing. She was slowly calming down.
"Jin Jin's right about what?" He put his comb away.
"Sato told me that you were extremely paranoid about your hair because of me. He probably exaggerated though. I doubt you're extremely paranoid."
Katsuya sank back into his seat and ran his hand through his hair, messing it up in frustration. "Why do you all pick on me?" he mumbled it to himself.
"I'm sorry, Jounouchi. Your hair is lovely as it is, so you don't need to be paranoid."
"I'm not paranoid!" He wasn't!
Mai laughed again. "Yeah, yeah. Sato said it was because I was nagging you about it so much in the beginning."
"It's all your fault." He was half joking.
Mai stayed silent and took a seat next to Katsuya.
"Even Yugi says I look pretty."
"I wouldn't have hired you as a waiter even if you were a dear friend if you didn't have the looks. You were always pretty, Jounouchi. You were and always will be pretty but you also were and always will be a man in my heart." She rested her hand on top of Katsuya's, giving it a light squeeze. "A real man."
Katsuya gave her a smile.
"So don't worry about it and just relax when you're down there."
What?
"Sato was worried about you I think. Even if it seems like he's always just being an ass, he really just wanted you to be at ease."
Oh, she thought I was upset over the whole 'looks' thing so I couldn't concentrate on work.
"You got it all wrong, Mai." It's completely off.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not that bothered by it. I know you're all just joking."
"That's good then." She thought for a moment. "What was bothering you then?"
"Uh. Don't worry about it." He scratched the back of his head. "I'm just tired." It was probably best to change the subject. "So why are you up here, Mai? You didn't just come up here to tell me I was a man, right?"
"Actually I originally came up to check on Shimizu."
"He's in here?" He didn't notice him at all.
"He came up just before you did. His customer spilled his drink on his clothes so he came up to change."
"What's taking so long then?" He looked towards the change room. There really was someone in there.
"Shimizu. Come out already."
Yuki stepped out of the change room and Katsuya's eyes widened at the sight.
"You two were talking so I didn't want to come out and interrupt." And he would've interrupted them for sure.
"What are…" Katsuya blinked. "Is that a Chinese bra?" (2)
"See? This is exactly why I didn't want to come out until you were done." He was flustered.
Yuki was in a stylized yellow kimono that otherwise would've displayed his chest if he wasn't wearing a silky light-blue Chinese bra.
"New outfit?" Katsuya asked as he stared. He has never seen Yuki in that kimono before.
"Stop being a perv." Yuki folded his arms across his chest.
"What? I did not deserve that insult."
"He was joking, Jounouchi," Mai explained. "But it's not like you're not one."
How can anyone tell? He said it so seriously. Yuki was always confusing like that. He seems like someone who's always serious, like Seto. Sometimes he would be joking, but you just couldn't tell.
Just then Isamu dashed up the stairs for his break. He stopped in front of the couch and dropped down onto it next to Katsuya.
"Whoa, Yuki. Your customers are waiting and they're going to jump you if you go down there like that."
"All my other outfits are in the wash. Mai told me to wear this new one." Yuki was hesitant about returning to the floor as well. "Isn't there something else I can wear?"
"You can borrow something from me if you like," Isamu offered.
"I think you should go down there like that, Shimizu." Mai was serious. "I think your reservation rate will increase a lot if people saw you in that. You look beautiful in it. Although I don't remember the bra being a part of the outfit. It's a nice touch though."
Katsuya and Isamu looked at each other with a grin on their faces.
"You wear Chinese bras normally don't you, Yuki?" Isamu asked. Yuki flustered more at this question. He chose not to answer and left the break room. Everyone then turned to look at Isamu.
"What?" Isamu crossed his forearms in front of his chest as defense. "It's not my fault."
Katsuya gave him an 'it's okay, man' pat on his shoulder.
"Wait a minute." Isamu turned to look at Mai. "You wanted him to wear a kimono that reveals his chest?"
"Actually there was something to wear underneath it. I don't know why he chose not to wear it though."
And everybody went silent. The answer was obvious. The bra was prettier. They only shook their heads.
This was weird. This was really really weird. Everyone will be staring at him if he just strolled up the stairs… or elevator and asked to see Matsuo. To be delivering him dinner of all things. It feels more like task fit for a lover rather than a friend. It's especially weird because everyone knew Matsuo was gay. Having another man deliver dinner to a gay man… Oh man.
Katsuya was walking around in circles outside the building. It was almost time for everyone in the offices to get off work. Maybe he should wait until they were gone before delivering. Seto was planning to work overtime anyways so it wouldn't matter if he just delivered it later.
"Um, Sir." The security guard tapped him on the shoulder, startling Katsuya and made him jump. "Do you have business at Hayasa?"
"Oh. I'm just a bit lost. I don't know how to get to the um..." Katsuya rubbed the back of his head. "The um, programming department." Which was a lie because it wasn't hard to get to at all according to the map Seto showed him last night. But he needed some sort of excuse to be walking back and forth in front of the building. Not that that excuse was any good…
The security guard raised his eyebrows; his suspicion meter probably rising higher.
"I have a friend who works here and I'm a bit nervous." He held up the dinner. "I brought my friend some dinner since my friend's staying overtime. I'm just a bit nervous about going in."
The security guard instantly brightened up with great blinding radiance. Seriously. "Chasing after a girl huh? Ah young love. Just like the fresh breeze along the seaside." He patted Katsuya on the back. "Don't be nervous, young man. She'll love it for sure. It's a sweet idea. Like they say, 'the way to a man's heart is through the stomach', it works for women too. I know this from personal experience of course. You see my wife and I…"
Man this guy loves to ramble. Katsuya zoned him out and wasn't sure what to say so he just smiled and nodded along.
"…So then she told me that her love for me was like apple pie. Sweet, chunky and gooey in the inside and fluffy soft on the outside. We were in love and got married the following spring. Haha. I'm sorry for rambling. But anyways, let me take you inside to the department. It's not that hard to get to."
Katsuya felt dizzy listening to that insane rant from the security guard. Was his tactic 'ramble to the troublemakers to scare them off'?
He was ushered into the building just as a bunch of workers were leaving. They were off work now. Well at least the ranting did some good; he had an excuse to why he took so long. Not that Seto would care anyways.
They took the elevator of course, but at that moment, Katsuya wished he took the stairs. At least then he could escape and say he could get to the department by himself. But no, now he's stuck in a small and closed space with a rambling security guard. Maybe he was going to become claustrophobic after this.
The security gave a jolly laugh, kind of like Santa Claus. Katsuya was trying really hard to zone the rambling man's speech out that he forced himself to think about other things. Things like what 'Seto' rhymed with. Things that didn't make sense whatsoever. Anything. Just anything.
Damn you, Kaiba! Damn you for being on the fifth floor!
"…Last year's Christmas was beautiful. There was so much young love in the air. I took a vacation break then with my family and we all went skiing. I definitely recommend going skiing with that girl you're trying to catch." He gave a thumbs up. "Girls love the stars. Plus it's cold so they'll snuggle up to you. Oh look. We're here."
The elevator door slowly opened. It felt slower than usual. Katsuya was feeling impatient; he was tempted to just run into the wall, hoping he can walk through it. But he managed to refrain himself.
He stepped out of the elevator and glanced around the office. Only a few workers were left and they were all packing up and getting ready to leave.
"Oh, so who's the lucky girl?" the security guard suddenly asked, which made Katsuya jump again. Why was he still there? The security guard looked around. No one looked like they were staying overtime.
"Hey! Aren't you that waiter from Amaranthine?" One of the female workers spoke up.
Oh shit. How could they have that great of a memory?
"Y…yeah…" Was the only thing Katsuya could choke out.
"What are you doing here?" she asked as she put her folders away.
"I'm here to deliver some food to Matsuo."
The security guard gasped. "Oh! I am so sorry! All this time I assumed it was a lucky lady! I didn't know it was for the head of programming. But no worries! The way to a man's stomach is… wait I got that wrong. The way to a man's heart is through the stomach after all! You're on the right track!" He gave his thumbs up again as a good luck sign.
What is wrong with this guy?
"I'll um… That's his office right?" He pointed at the little office. "I'll just go in now." And he did. Without knocking. He quickly closed the door behind him right after too. He swore he heard the girls giggling when he went in.
Seto frowned as he looked up from his desk. The CEO was obviously not pleased with him entering without knocking. But did it really matter? It wasn't like he was going to walk into anything obscene... Yeah, it probably mattered. Katsuya mentally sighed.
"I brought your meal?" Katsuya smiled, uneasy with the hostile atmosphere surrounding Seto.
"You should knock."
"Sorry. I got scared." He took the seat in front of Seto's desk and sat down, placing the food on the table.
"Scared of what?"
"The security guard. He kept rambling his whole life story to me."
Seto immediately understood and responded with silence. Instead, he took the boxed meal out of the plastic bag and opened it up. Pasta.
"Chicken Alfredo Primavera." Katsuya said with a grin. "Try it! I already had some before coming here. I got off work a little early today."
Seto took the plastic fork and picked up some of the pasta. Just when he was about to take a bite, the door to his office swung open again. No warning of course. Which pissed Seto off.
"Oh darn! We were hoping to find some hot make out scene if we just suddenly walked in." Miss Double-D explained breezily to the duo.
Rice Krispies squealed. "But look! He made dinner for Matsuo."
"I told you he was seme." Miss Double-D gloated.
"Um…I'm not-" Katsuya tried to explain but was cut off by Miss Double-D.
"No need to explain. We understand. We'll leave now. Bye, Matsuo!" She tossed him a wink. "Good luck!"
The rest of the girls left as well, giggling and whispering to each other as they left into the elevator.
"Freaks." It was Seto. He ignored all of them and was eating while the whole thing was happening.
Katsuya got up to close the door again.
"Man, her boobs were like melons. What was that? A DD?"
Do you like it like that, Bonkotsu? He chose not to respond and continued eating his meal. It was delicious and surprisingly really warm for a delivery.
"Maybe we should call her Miss Double-D." Katsuya grinned. "What do you think, Matsuo?"
Seto forced himself to keep his smile inside. "That's what I would call her."
Katsuya laughed, leaning forward in his seat. He wanted to ask Seto what he thought about the meal but he didn't know if he should.
"I visited 'you-know-who' today and told him about 'you-know-what'." He decided to just get business over with.
Seto looked up from his food.
"He has a note for you." He took the extremely wrinkled paper out of his pocket and handed it to Seto.
Seto picked up the glass of water that was sitting on his desk and drank from it. Just when he read the note, he almost spat his water out but ended up nearly choking instead. He started coughing as his throat was trying to dispel the water from his trachea.
"Whoa! What's wrong, Matsuo? Are you okay?" Katsuya got up from his seat but sat back down when Seto waved his arm, motioning that he was okay.
"What did 'you-know-who' tell you?" Seto soon said.
He leaned closer to whisper. "Is it safe to talk?"
"I suppose it's safer to keep our voices low," he said in a soft voice.
Everyone in his department was gone. It was possible that a few other associates in other departments could be pulling an unpaid overtime too (usually to rush unfinished projects that were due soon) but if they kept quiet, they would be safe.
Katsuya nodded. "He told me that Eimei has been trying to hack into Kaiba Corporation."
Seto's eyes widened. "What?" He still managed to keep his voice low. "Eimei? Why would Eimei do something like that? Eimei has always been a very passive company."
He shrugged. "I don't know. That's what he told me."
"Eimei shouldn't have any personal grudges against me." Seto stared at the note again. "The note says he's going to look into it so we should be okay on that side."
"Where does it say anything like that?" What the hell? Was there a secret way to read the note or something? Was it meant to be read backwards? Should it be read by omitting every fifth word and second letter? He didn't get it. Maybe you just had to think like a Kaiba. And what exactly in the note made Seto almost choke on water? It didn't make sense!
"Don't worry about trying to understand it." He started to eat again. "We'll do our work a little later. It'll be safer then. While I eat, paper clip these files for me the way I do for the files in this folder."
"Okay…" What was he, his errand boy?
Nothing. He found nothing.
Seto had been hacking through files and doing searches through the database. He did everything. Hayasa appeared to be innocent. But that doesn't mean YamamotoCorp was innocent. It couldn't be Eimei. It didn't make sense to be Eimei. It had to be YamamotoCorp. Seto just knew it had to be. But he knew Mokuba wouldn't joke around with something like finding a hack attempt. So what does this all mean?
It was late. Already 8:30 pm. He got up from his desk and walked over to Katsuya who fell asleep on his chair. He removed the jacket that he laid over top Katsuya's shoulders and slipped it back on. It felt really warm and he felt stupid for feeling slightly happy about that warmth seeping into his body.
"Katsuya…" He shook him gently but Katsuya didn't wake up. He leaned in and placed a soft lingering kiss on his crush's cheek. He felt stupid again for doing such silly things. But what bothered him most was the fact that his heart raced a bit. He was a foolish man…
He suddenly remembered Mokuba's note. "However, let us walk a different path." There was just no way Seto could do that when there wasn't another path to walk. It was impossible.
"Get up or I'll lock you in my office!" He kicked the side of Katsuya's chair.
And Katsuya woke up.
Notes: Can you tell I love describing interior design? XD Ohohoho. For Seto's bed frame, think "black grand piano". Mmm sexy polished black ebony. XD I had to tie myself down so I didn't go on to describe the bathroom too. But trust me, it's beautiful in my mind.
I know I keep calling Jounouchi "pretty" in this chapter. Sorry if you disagree. I honestly think he's manly though. He makes me swoon when he does something manly XD… I am an insane Jounouchi fan. Look how manly he looks in my weird sketch of him with Seto in ribbons. (Well I think he looks manly in that :( …)
Something random… What does "Seto" rhyme with aside from "ghetto"? I've been trying to come up with words that rhyme with "Seto" since my friend brought up that "Seto" only rhymed with "ghetto".
I know "Katsuya" rhymes with "hot", "sexy", "adorable", "cute", "omg wow". -Gets hit by everyone- I'm just kidding. (Yeah, yeah, Seto rhymes with those ones too.) XD
I deserve to have rocks thrown at me for liking Jounouchi that much. (Please don't throw rocks at me.)
(1) Yeah I know that sounds weird since this whole thing is English…but just pretend XD…
(2) Uh. I don't exactly know how to explain this if you don't know what they are. They're silk and they have embroidery on them… They kind of look like bibs but they have a few styles… There are a few weird people these days that wear them as tops out in public… (Don't they know they're walking around in a bra?) Anyways, Chinese bras are pretty so if you don't know what they look like, try googling it or something. Haha. Sorry.
If I ever draw Yuki, I'll draw him in one. XD;…