Appeal

Twelve: One Giant Conspiracy

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Happy New Year, and thanks for sticking with me:3

Sorry for the infrequent updates, and for the nature of this chapter. I know Anzu's really bright, so what she does seems right to me … but what do you think?

Onward!

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Seto and Mokuba sat together, watching the television intently. Seto brushed the bangs out of his face; once, then again. He wouldn't have looked nervous to anyone else – but Mokuba knew.

Mokuba knew.

"With the help of a KaibaCorp employee who wishes to remain anonymous, we have picked up on a fascinating story," the reporter chirped. Her face was replaced by footage of the KaibaCorp building. "What could Seto Kaiba, Domino's celebrated teenage CEO, possibly do to bolster the success of his multibillion dollar company? He's been riding high for years, with no indication of decline – until recently."

The reporter returned to the screen. She adjusted her glasses and continued. "KaibaCorp's sales, while still far ahead of any contenders', are slipping. Why do you think this is, sir?"

The camera zoomed out to reveal a young, freckled Black Crown employee. He fidgeted under the attention. "Well, ma'am, KaibaCorp only really occupies this one niche, you know? And everyone who's interested in the stuff they release, well, frankly, they've bought it already. And they haven't really done anything… new lately, you know? I guess it's just, like, well, let's give them a new duel disk or whatever, some kind of interactive portable thing. You can only do so much of one thing, you know? They've gotta spread out, man." He lifted his hands. "We know Kaiba's creative and all. We'd like to see more of that."

Mokuba glanced at his brother. Seto would realize in a moment that he was gripping his knees to the point where his knuckles were turning white. Then he would quietly berate himself for his lack of outward control, and change position. Either that or he would take the laptop.

Kaiba frowned, crossed his legs, and took his laptop from the table next to their couch.

Huh. Or both.

"Well," continued the reporter, "we are here today to tell you that Seto Kaiba has been working on something new – and, according to our source, unlike anything KaibaCorp has released before. On location to tell us more, we have Tota Matsuda. Matsuda?"

"No," Kaiba said under his breath. "Who the hell would-"

He began to type furiously, eyes still on the screen.

Mokuba felt sorry for the employees' families sometimes.

Cut to a bookstore.

"Thank you, Miss Misora," said Matsuda. He turned to face the chubby-cheeked man standing next to him. "With me, I have a cashier for Domino Books. Sir, could you tell me more about what we were discussing earlier?"

"Oh, right, I had one weird sale not too long ago," remembered the cashier, rubbing his head. "Guy all decked out with sunglasses and a big hat and stuff, like he was hiding from someone. Straight out of a movie. Had this giant stack of…"

"Of?" prompted Matsuda.

"Gay books," said the cashier, glancing around awkwardly. "I mean, it's not like I'm against that kind of … stuff … but he had to have had at least thirty of them. Comics, romance novels, the works."

"If you think about it," said Matsuda, "could you imagine that that person was, in fact … Seto Kaiba?"

A dramatic pause.

The camera zoomed in on the cashier's face.

"Well, actually … yeah," he said, surprised. "The right height and everything, now that I think about it."

"What the hell," said Kaiba.

Mokuba agreed.

-

"So what?" Anzu grumbled at the television, placing a plate on the rack to dry and reaching for another. "I swear, people have no lives."

And neither did she. Ordinarily, at this time of day, she'd be out having fun with Yugi, Jou, and Honda. She'd called Yugi's cell around noon, and he'd picked up on the third ring.

"Hey, Anzu!" Yugi had said brightly. "What's up?"

"I was thinking of calling up Honda and Jou. We could go to Burger World and then the arcade," Anzu said.

Normally, Yugi would jump at that.

"…Oh," Yugi said. "Well, actually … um … I'm kind of busy right now."

"Oh, that's all right," Anzu had told him.

And it would have been all right. She'd have figured that he was doing homework or helping out Gramps or something.

If, right before he disconnected, she hadn't heard Jou and Honda laughing in the background.

What? Wasn't she good enough for them any more? Hadn't she been with them for everything? "Maybe it's 'guy time'," she said to herself.

Yeah, right. He'd have said something. Yugi didn't keep secrets from her! She slammed a glass down. It was a wonder the glass didn't break.

"…a video game. But not just any video game, our source says – a video game that has nothing to do with Duel Monsters."

Maybe they were out dueling. Anzu knew she was weak at the game, and she didn't mind, but if they weren't going to invite Anzu along, then why had Honda been there?

"A game aimed toward a different audience – the female audience. This is unusual in itself. But the nature of the game itself is far more intriguing."

Maybe they had gone to hit on girls at the mall or something. Jou and Honda had been grousing about their singleness a bit more often lately, she'd noticed.

"Our source suggests that Seto Kaiba is, in fact, developing a male-on-male dating simulation."

Wait, what?

Anzu stared at the screen.

Her thoughts immediately jumped to Jou. He'd been interacting with Kaiba more often lately. He didn't think that anyone noticed, but it was plenty obvious. The bite wasn't really there. Ever since that project that they'd had to work on together.

The project.

What if their pairing hadn't been just chance? It wasn't completely unlikely. And if the reporter's source was right, Kaiba would have a work-based motive.

Come to think of it, hadn't Jou, Honda, and the Kaiba brothers all gone out to dinner together? Honda had said that Kaiba had only really wanted Jou along.

"You're making too much of this, Anzu," she told herself. "This isn't one giant conspiracy."

But… hadn't Jou started disappearing once a week, a while after the project was handed in? He'd said that he had a new job, but he wouldn't tell any of them what it was. She'd figured it was embarrassing, like her short-lived Burger World stint, so she didn't push him.

What if it wasn't a job at all? What if he'd been spending time with Kaiba? He wouldn't want them to know about that, after all he'd said about the guy.

"No way. No way," Anzu said.

But it all fit into place.

And if it all fit into place, then Jou was about to be hurt.

She put a last plate on the rack, and noticed that the glass had cracked.

Yugi. She had to call Yugi.

Anzu flipped open her phone.

But … he, Jou, and Honda were all together.

She was upset with them.

"This is more important," she decided.

And she dialed.