Valkyria : Sorry! Sorry! I would've posted this a lot sooner if weren't for my retarded internet! My providers are sending some techs out here later today -hopefully- so they can fix it AGAIN. *sigh* I managed to find a really weak signal for now, since I'm running on wireless on my desktop!

Griever : Not that she gave you her excuse, we'll go ahead and let you read. Hope you guys are having a fun Friday!

Disclaimer : We claim no rights to the anime/manga Yu-gi-oh!

Current Song : Winter Love by BoA

Chapter Eighteen : Manipulation.

"How can anyone believe that this is true." Malik muttered poking at the glossy cover of the magazine. "I mean it's so obvious that this picture is cropped."

"The picture doesn't matter." Bakura spoke up roughly. "It's the words below it. If I was raving fan girl of Vivian's I'd be excited about the impending birth."

"What's the plan boss?" Malik asked nudging Bakura aside and taking a seat in the chair that was placed in front of Atemu's desk. "You're not just going let your PR department handle this are you?"

"I should." Atemu replied heavily rubbing his temples, he could feel a pounding heading coming. "It'll save me the trouble in the long run."

"The media is already all over this. What I want to know is how does Vivian think she can get away with this. What is she going do when everyone finds out that she's not pregnant." Malik wondered curiously.

"We don't know if she is pregnant or not." Bakura muttered nodding his head towards the magazine. "The only plausible thing for her to do is to hop into bed with someone and hope to get knocked up."

"I wouldn't put it past her." Atemu muttered darkly. "This isn't going to be easy to deal with. If I go to the media and say that the child isn't mine, it will only smear me and my companies image, saying that I'm no good man who won't take responsibility for my actions."

"That's true." Bakura agreed quietly. "But you can't take this sitting down Atemu. I can take care of this if you want me to."

"That's awfully generous of you Bakura." Malik teased. "What are you going to do the woman? Kill her?"

"Maybe."

A chuckled escaped Atemu's throat before he could stop it, earning curious looks from Bakura and Malik.

"No killing or maiming or anything like that of the sort Bakura, though it is appreciated."

"So?" Bakura asked frowning. "What are you going to do? This could ruin Ishigami Corp and if your father finds out…"

"Forget his father. I'd worry about his mother." Malik shuddered. "Have you seen that woman mad? It's scary enough to piss in your pants."

"I'll just wear a wire and get her to confess that the child isn't mine and turn it in to all the magazines publishers in the city and then it's her image that will be ruined." Atemu explained with a dark grin pulling at his lips.

"You." Malik blinked and shook his head. "You instantly just came up with a plan?"

Atemu flashed Malik a fool toothed grin. "I'm the CEO of a multi-billion international company. I have to keep on my toes at all times."

"When is all of this going to take place?" Bakura asked curiosity coloring his voice. "And who's going to help with it?"

"You two of course." Atemu replied as if was the most obvious thing in the world. "You said that you wanted to help out didn't you? You're not going back to Egypt so soon?"

"I left Marik in control of the company for the time being, but it's not wise to leave him there for a long period of time. He can't control his temper and it is quick to offended someone -no offense Malik-"

"None taken. It's entirely true."

"She must be expecting you to call her." Bakura said nodding his head towards the slim cell phone sitting on the desk. "Ask her out to dinner somewhere nice and public."

"Take her to Eden, that restaurant on the east side of town, make her feel as comfortable as possible."

"Why the hell should he make her feel comfortable?" Bakura asked with a scowl. "She's the one who's out to ruin his reputation."

"If she feels comfortable then she won't be suspicious. She'll think that Atemu will try to strike some kind of deal with her to avoid this whole mess." Malik explained.

"Like marrying her?" Bakura suggested darkly. "How desperate can you get?"

Malik snorted and shared an amused glance with Atemu. "You're talking about desperate? Aren't you the one who bought an entire pizzeria chain just to get Ryou out on a date."

"Shut up!" Bakura snarled, he held up right hand with the platinum ring on it. "It paid off didn't it?"

"Yeah," Malik chuckled. "It sure did."

"I'm glad that the both of you are getting along now."

"We still have some things to work on, but I'm happy enough with where we are."

Ryou gave Yugi a sly smile which instantly had him wary, such a look didn't belong on his friends face.

"Does that mean you two are going to go on some dates really soon?"

Yugi ducked his head when he felt his cheeks warm at the thought of going on some actual dates with Atemu, he was never really the shy type, so why was he acting like it now?

"Maybe." Yugi mumbled. "I doubt we'll have any time though, since he has a business to run and I have school."

"Excuses, excuses," Ryou teased , reaching over to ruffle Yugi's hair. "Trust me, if Atemu is anything like Bakura then he'll make time for you."

"How are the both of you doing?" Yugi asked. "Are you enjoying Egypt so far?"

If Ryou noticed him trying to change the subject, he said nothing of it. "We're doing okay, and yes, I am enjoying Egypt. Though I can do without the heat."

"I hope I can come visit instead of the both you coming all the way to Japan."

"You'll have that chance very soon."

Yugi blinked at the strange statement. He didn't have any money to travel all the to Egypt and asking Atemu to take him there was out of the question

"What do you mean? I don't-"

"Of course you do." Ryou cut in smoothly. "You'll be coming along with Atemu at the end of year."

"End of the year?"

"Oh," Ryou smiled at him in sudden realization. "He must not have told you yet. Every year Atemu travels to all of the headquarters to check on them. So it's like one big around the world trip."

"I don't mean to sound cynical Ryou, but you shouldn't look that far ahead."

Ryou tilted his head curiously. "You don't think that you and Atemu will last that long?"

"I'm not saying that!" Yugi protested quickly before releasing a weary sigh. "I just want to take this as slow as possible. If we jump to fast then I'm afraid everything will come crumbling down around us."

"But if you constantly worry about it then you're going to miss out Yugi. I'm not saying that you shouldn't take it slow, just don't hesitate to pursue something when it feels right."

"That's the problem." Yugi said solemnly, his heart twisting at the words that were leaving his mouth. "Sometimes I don't feel as if this is the right decision."

"I don't understand." Ryou said with a thoughtful frown. "What aren't you sure about? Are you still worried about your grandfathers shop? You seemed so happy with Atemu earlier."

"I am…it's just that-"

"You're scared." Ryou cut in softly. "Scared of pursing something that you fear might not last as long as you like. Scared of giving your heart away to someone who can just as easily step on it. That's the same way I felt about Bakura."

"Really?"

"Really." Ryou chuckled. "When I first saw Bakura that day. I thought he was most handsome man I ever laid eyes on. I couldn't believe that he was asking me of all people out. I was a high school senior who planned on becoming a teacher. I didn't think I had anything to offer a rich and intelligent man like him."

"That's wasn't true at all!" Yugi blurted out hotly. "You had plenty to offer back then and you still do now."

"So do you. Atemu loves you Yugi. He's waiting for you, and I have a feeling that he'll wait forever for you until you're ready."

Then show me then. Show me that life has more to offer than just jumping from bed to bed.

A small weak smile pulled at Yugi's lips as those harsh words Atemu told him that day came back like a slap to the face.

"Yugi? Are you alright? You've gotten pale."

"I'm fine Ryou. My thoughts ran away from me."

I love you. I love you. How can Atemu say those words so easily and I can't…?

"Talk about drama."

"Yeah. No kidding."

"You get yourself in the most complicated situations Katsuya."

Jouonchi frowned at his lover. "Honda is my best friend Seto. How can I not get involved? And it is our fault that this whole thing happened in the first place."

"Our?" Seto raised an eyebrow. "Don't you mean you and Yugi's fault? I had absolutely nothing to do with this."

Just as Jou suspected. Seto had indeed come to check on him, he had opened his front door to see his lover glaring down at him, blue eyes demanding a explanation for his lack of response to the dinner invitation.

Honda had left no less than twenty minutes ago, stating that he had to run home and get a overnight bag. Jou really wondered how long his best friend was planning to ignore Otogi.

"Even though, you could have stopped the both of us. What happened to that manipulative personality that I see every once in a blue moon?"

"It only comes out when a business deal arises." Seto drawled sarcastically. "But you might just see it spring up if this problem between Ryuuji-san and Hiroto-san doesn't resolve itself soon enough to my liking."

It was Jou's turn to raise a eyebrow at the older man's words. "Doesn't resolve itself soon enough to my liking? Correct me if I'm wrong Seto, but I don't think Otogi and Honda's relationship problems run on your clock."

"It does when they put you in the middle of it." Seto countered coolly. "I didn't come here to argue with you about this."

"You started it." Jou bit back childishly. "I care about my friends well-being, especially this particular situation."

"You tossed them the ball, it's up to them whether they drop it or not. Now, are you coming to dinner with me?"

"I'm going to give you a rain check. I'm waiting for Honda to come back with his things."

"I'm sure he won't mind if you just leave a note." Seto persisted softly. "With the tournament and this whole fiasco with Atemu and Yugi we've barely seen each other lately."

Jou's heart twisted with guilt at Seto's words. The older man was right. They hadn't been spending much time together lately.

"Okay." Jou relented, going into the kitchen and digging out a pen and paper. "I'll leave him a note and we can get going."

"We'll head to my house first." Seto said trailing behind the blond. "It's a formal restaurant so we'll need to change first."

"Formal…?" Jou questioned before sighing heavily. "You know I don't like those type of restaurants Seto. I don't know why you bother to try and take me to them all of the time."

Jou didn't fight when Seto wrapped his arms around his waists, he shivered when he felt the older man's hard chest against his back.

"I want take my boyfriend to some place nice. You would deprive me of that?"

"Don't say that." Jou protested, squirming lightly in the others arms. "You always make me feel guilty when you do."

"Good."

"Seto!"

I feel like a spy sneaking around like this. If I wasn't such a coward I'll be walking around like nothing's wrong.

Ducking his head around a tall bush, Honda gave a sigh of relief when he spotted no familiar black mustang.

Good. No sign of Otogi. I can get my things and be back at Jou's in no time.

Honda would realize later on that if things look easy, nine times out of ten, they're usually not.

Strong hands wrapped around his hips and deep smooth voice whispered in his ear. "Gotcha."

A high-pitched screamed echoed throughout the usually quiet neighborhood, causing dogs to bark and car alarms to go off simultaneously.

"Shit!" pulling the unfamiliar hands off his body. Honda whirled around to see a smug Otogi standing behind him, emerald eyes were literally glowing with amusement.

"You scream like a woman. Has anyone told you that?"

Ignoring the scarlet red blush he knew that was on his face. Honda crossed his arms and gave Otogi a cold glare.

"What are you doing here? You're trespassing."

Otogi shrugged and Honda's eyes focused on those broad shoulders briefly before going back to the other man's face.

"I have no idea that I'm trespassing. I received no kind of court order that tells me to stay away from here."

"I'm telling you to leave. I don't want to talk to you right now."

"Not right now?" Otogi pressed lightly. "Maybe later then?"

"Yes! Later!" Honda responded through clenched teeth. He knew that he was being manipulated and goaded, but at this point he didn't care. As long he got Otogi out of his hair for the time being.

"Good." Otogi nodded with a full-toothed grin over his face. "Over dinner? This Friday?"

Honda wanted to cry. All of the planning. All of the sneaking around he did. And for what?

Nothing!

"Yeah." Honda whimpered, his pride and will being smashed to pieces. "Friday's good."

"Excellent! I'll see you later."

Honda watched as Otogi walked away with a skip in his step before releasing a heavy sigh. He leaned his head against the apartment door and closed his eyes in resignation. This didn't go the way he planned at all.

The whole conversation they had made him realize that he absolutely no will when concerning Ryuuji Otogi. He wondered if he affected Otogi the same way?

A snort escaped his lips at the thought. "The way he's chasing me around. I wouldn't doubt it at all."

A/N : This chapter was rushed and I'm not exactly proud of it. Nonetheless, I hope you guys have enjoyed reading it. Honda has a hot dinner date with Otogi next Friday! Yugi is not to sure about his impending relationship with Atemu! And Malik, Bakura and Atemu have a plan for Vivian! So many things happening at once!