DIS: Wow, thanks once again to everyone that reviewed and gave me feedback! I'm glad I'm still keeping the suspense factor in for you all. I apologize for the long wait. I try to keep people updated on why updates might be slow, what I'm doing in relation to writing via profile notes. Lately it's just been full of drama and although it's not entirely resolved, I'm in a much happier situation. In any case, here is the next chapter! Enjoy!
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Chapter Twenty-Two, Windows are opening
Jounouchi sighed and glanced at the clock on his stereo. He was sitting at a red light and although he had not been there long, his mind wandered with the inactivity. The numbers read that it was almost a quarter past seven. There was a dull glow from the sunset, casting light hues across the sky, colouring the clouds the colour of a bruise. Across from him, yellow and red lights gleamed from cars as they idled diagonally across from him and traveled further away, down the street. And yet, his mind was not really on his surroundings. They were occupied by his conversation with Anzu. Her sudden interest – and notice – of his mood had startled him, shaking him out of his self-absorbed misery. He had been trying for so long to make it seem as if he was perfectly alright with divorcing Mai. Nothing could make him forget her and even if a part of him hated her, nothing could make him stop loving her, either.
People say that they won't ever take back a cheater, Jounouchi thought as he turned his eyes away from the clock and back to the red light. It's the logical response. Cheating is never good, is always bad, and cheaters are not meant to be trusted in a relationship. I promised myself that nothing would make me take Mai back and I've stayed loyal to that so far. I won't ever forgive her for what she did to me, for ruthlessly breaking my heart, but despite all of that...I still want to be with her. I don't know why. I can't explain it. Watching Honda has made me remember when I used to be that idiotic. I would have stepped in front of a car for Mai if she asked it; I might as well have. Some days I don't feel like I'm even living.
The light abruptly turned green and Jounouchi moved his foot from the brake to the gas, plunging forward, the traffic gliding beside him and all around him. He glanced at the numbers again. It read seven-seventeen. He couldn't stand this. Everything reminded him of her. A clock, a tree, a leaf, even the dirt on the ground reminded him of her. There was always a memory. Simply looking at Rena reminded him of being in the delivery room with her, frightened to death, and having his circulation cut off as she held onto his hand. Every night when a sunset like this happened, he was reminded of her and he hated it. He hated missing her, hated knowing that he missed her, and hated knowing that she still loved him and that he still loved her. It was all so disgusting and yet so comical at the same time. The irony of it was simply too much.
If she ever has me again, she'll just throw me away. She doesn't give a shit about me, he thought bitterly, his hands tightening on the wheel. His foot pressed down on the pedal, the speedometer's lever gradually inching upward, past thirty-five, past forty. Why the hell should she? She's just upset that she isn't controlling me anymore. That's the only reason she's miserable. She's lost at something. It went higher and higher, up to sixty, and past sixty-five. She hates losing. Even having Rena is a game to her. She's won so far because Rena is with her. She thinks I can't take care of her. She's probably laughing at me.
A red light flashed in front of him and there was a steady stream of traffic. He blinked in dull surprise and stomped on the brake, causing a loud, high-pitched sound to emit from the rubber grinding against concrete. The pedestrians crossing had made a dash across the street, fearful of being hit. He had stopped right behind the crosswalk line. For a long moment, he sat with his hands clenched around the wheel and then slowly loosened his grip. Sighing, fell back in his seat.
"No," he mumbled to himself, "that's all a lie."
X
Kaiba's eyes narrowed slightly on the female standing in front of her. There was a stunned expression on her face, as if she was not sure she had heard him correctly. He remained relaxed, his arms folded over his chest as he watched the delicate play of emotions cross her face. She seemed to be struggling to process the last piece of information he had given her; he did not blame her. Hearing that someone's parents were trying to kill them was rather alarming, regardless of the person or what type of environment they grew up in. A few minutes passed with her continuing to stare blankly at the ground, which aggravated him somewhat. When she still did not say anything, he pushed away from the limo, uncrossing his arms. "Do you intend to continue to say nothing or would you like to continue the conversation?" he asked irritably. Anzu blinked and raised her eyes to his face at last.
"I...suppose we can," Anzu answered uncertainly, the first sign of weakness Kaiba had seen from the girl since he had met her. A dry smile tilted a corner of his mouth upward. Mentioning her own parents did nothing but cause a mild irritation, yet once Yami's parents were mentioned, she was reduced to just another typical female. "I don't think anything else you have to say is going to cause me anymore harm than what you just said, though," she added as an afterthought.
"I never said we were finished with that particular subject, Mazaki," he told her plainly. His hand moved to his pocket for another cigarette and with a firm clench of his fingers, he brought his hand down to his side, reminding himself that he had only just smoked.. "Yami caused a lot of trouble while he was with his parents - or so I was told. While involved in the criminal world, he was somewhat protected by Hanazawa. Once he left that protection, they could get to him more easily. He's evaded them so far. He's stayed in Domino before and this seems to be the one city where he's safe in for an extended amount of time. The longer he stays here, though, the more likely they are to learn that he is here." Kaiba sighed to himself. If there was one instance in which he could not deny his nicotine cravings, it was when he was in an agitated mood. He lit up another cigarette and continued, "His original plan was stay here for the concert that he was supposed to be playing and then move on to another city after a week or two of relaxing. Now that he's become your accompanist, though, and has feelings for you on top of that, he's going to end up staying much longer than is safe for him."
"He'll have to stay throughout the auditions...the practices...and then the actual time that the ballet will be performing at the opera. That could be months."
"Exactly my point. An astute deduction," Kaiba sarcastically said. "Yami doesn't stay in one place for months. Ever. I've dealt with his finances for a long time and any time that he contacted me, it was always in a different place and we both made certain that it was a private meeting. Once I realized why this was, it made sense why I was usually the one trying to get a hold of him. It was too much of a risk for him to call to another location from where he was." He took a drag of his cigarette and surveyed Anzu for a moment. "He's putting his entire life on the line for you just so that you can get a head start on your career. Do you know how much that means from a guy like him? He's been running for years and all of a sudden, you pop into his life and he throws away every caution that he developed for himself."
"I never knew," she murmured quietly. "I never knew or else I would have – "
"Would have done what?" Kaiba interrupted sharply. "There's nothing you could have done, nor is there anything that you can do. Yami doesn't listen to other people and the only person he's ever listened to in his entire life was Hanazawa. Not simply because he lead everyone, either, but because he had respect for Hanazawa's intelligence. Do you honestly think he would ever listen to you? Even if you told him to go now so that he would be safe, he wouldn't listen. Yami doesn't love people. He doesn't even like them half the time. He's not here because he just cares for you. He's here because he wants to be with you. It would tear him apart if he left."
"I don't care," Anzu said stubbornly. "I'm not letting him get himself killed. I don't even get why they want to do that to him!"
"Partially because he was the only one Hanazawa really favored. He did what he had to, but he was never as 'great' as his parents were, which drives them crazy." Kaiba paused, taking a long, soothing drag of his cigarette and releasing the smoke from his thin lips. "In the beginning they were just going to drag him back. Now that he's been able to stay out of their reaches, they're pissed and want to kill him. These aren't rational people, Mazaki. They're criminals. Yami has unintentionally made himself out as the better of the three, by skill and by being clever. To them, he's not even their son and I'm sure he has no warm feelings for them, either."
"How horrible...To have no mother, to have no father, even. But I don't understand how you can know all of this without being involved in that circle of people." She sent him a suspicious look. Kaiba rolled his eyes at her and tossed his cigarette towards the street, where it landed in a rain gutter. He already knew that his knowledge of such things made his fellow businessmen wary of him and his intentions; he didn't care what they thought or felt about him. With the girl, however, he needed her trust so that he could persuade her to be more careful of her surroundings. If she was, Yami wouldn't have to worry as much about her and Kaiba wouldn't have to worry about Yami becoming even more suicidal than he currently was at the moment.
"In my line of business, it's necessary to have informants all around the world, in every city, so that I knew who my enemies are and who I can put a small ounce of trust in. I needed to know more about Yami and I used my resources in order to dig in his past."
"I don't feel that's very honest," Anzu said coldly.
"It isn't, but I'm a businessman. Companies don't flourish through honesty, which is something you should keep in mind." He fell silent, watching her. He could tell that she was battling with herself on whether she ought to believe him or not. He admired her tough exterior, but she had already shown him her weakness. It was interesting to see that so few days could make two people care so dearly for each other. It was clear by how much Yami had put himself out there that he cared for Anzu. The way in which Anzu had steadily broken down at the mention of Yami's parents only strengthened Kaiba's theory that Yami meant as much to her as she did to him. Kaiba didn't have the patience to ponder on the concept of love, as it was something that he had abandoned long ago when Mokuba died. It was Mokuba's death that made him give up on many things. But then, any other man would have felt the same if one of his colleagues had killed his brother. Grief passed through his mind briefly as he recalled the mistake that his associate had made, in believing that Mokuba's room had been his own. The life of a businessman, Kaiba thought bitterly. I can't imagine why anyone would want such a life.
For Kaiba, though, controlling a company was all he felt he was truly capable of.
"What should I do?" Anzu abruptly asked him, a defeated expression on her face. "I don't have time to find another accompanist and I don't think that Yami would even accept my firing him and getting a new one. I don't want to hurt him just so that he will be safe. I'm not sure if sending him away so that he'll live will be better if I'm just going to hurt his feelings..."
"I'm not asking you to send him away at this point," Kaiba explained, snapping out of his self-absorbed melancholy. "Right now you go throughout your life, completely oblivious. I need you to stop that. You need to be more aware of who you're looking at, what they're doing, and things like that. The more you observe, the less likely you are to get hurt. If Yami thinks you're somewhat capable of protecting yourself, then he won't worry as much as he would. He needs to focus on his own well-being. He doesn't need to think about you, too." Anzu was clearly stung by how harsh the words came out, yet he didn't really care what she felt at the present. The only way he could communicate the seriousness of the situation was through being honest, if brutally so.
"You're right," she said after a pause, turning slightly when they heard the doors open. Otogi and Yami were exiting the opera house. By the warning glance Yami threw towards Kaiba, it seemed that the meeting would come to a halt even though Kaiba would have liked to gain her trust a bit more. She trusted his intellect, but not his overall character, for which he did not necessarily blame her. He did not try and make himself out a trustworthy type, after all. "This is kind of awkward, but...do you think we should not have a relationship, then?"
He considered the question for a moment. Kaiba had never been in a relationship himself, but he considered life and business an everlasting relationship and therefore could face the problem like he did with any other issue that rose in his life. He flicked a look from Anzu's earnest expression to Yami's slightly stressed face. In any other circumstances, he would have told her that it would be best to steer away from a relationship, yet with this he felt differently. From what he knew, Yami had only had short flings with women. This was the same for Kaiba, who needed some kind of relief every once in a great while. Yami had always yearned for something closer, though, whereas Kaiba needed nothing but business to keep him busy.
"If you are comfortable putting yourself in that kind of position, I see no reason why not to continue in a relationship with him," Kaiba carefully told her. Her face lit up a fraction and so he briskly added, "However...I will give you the same advice that I gave him. You two are business associates, as far as the public can see. The relationship will have to work in order for this business arrangement to continue. Relationships between associates rarely work out." His hand passed over his pocket and then he dropped it without much thought as to what he was doing.
"I know," Anzu told him and released a long sigh. "I've never done anything like this before."
"I suggest you focus your mind on the problem I've presented to you, then," he said in utter indifference. "Now that this conversation is more or less concluded, I have better things to do." He pushed off his limousine and moved to open the door to enter and then paused, turning back to eye her. She looked young standing by herself, a somewhat pensive expression on her face. When she turned rough and commanding, she seemed older. Now that he had stripped away her layers, he was reminded of her age and a familiar weakness stirred his heart. He pursed his lips in aggravation, hating that he actually had a soft spot in his dark pit of a soul. He removed a card from one of his pockets and sighed, handing it to her. She took it with a quizzical expression, turning her eyes down to the letters printed on it. "In case you need assistance with anything...troublesome." Only then did he step into his limousine and once it rolled away, she was standing at the curb by herself, his card still in her immobile fingers.
Anzu closed her fingers over the card and turned to see Yami and Otogi approaching her, the former with a somewhat anxious expression on his face. When he was only a few feet from him, she smiled reassuringly and took his hand. It felt unnaturally cold in her fingers.
"Don't worry," she said with a smile. "It's okay."
X
Malik strolled casually through the doorway of the office, Ryou following close behind. Ryou closed the doors and Kaiba, standing at the window, turned slightly to face them. Malik eyed the CEO thoughtfully. One thing he had always disliked about him was his innate ability to cover his emotions as well as he did. But, then again, it was also one of the things that he admired about him. There were very few men that could face threats as calmly as Kaiba did, with little or no repercussions. If anything, the threat dissolved or some kind of compromise was worked out. Malik was able to do such a thing, as well, but not nearly as good as Kaiba could. "Did things go well?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow. Kaiba, in his habitual fashion, was smoking languidly and appeared to be in deep thought. Malik had told himself he wouldn't get involved in this, but he liked Anzu and Yami deserved a normal life. No matter how much he disliked the man and his depressed, moralistic attitude, he felt some pity for him and assisting him in these matters was almost a duty.
"She took it rather well," Kaiba said mildly.
"I don't like this," Ryou quietly spoke up, moving to stand beside Malik. "This entire situation is just completely out of control. If Yami's parents find him in Domino, he'll lose his only place of refuge. It's bad enough that we've got Hanazawa's mistress here...She's a target as is. I just have a bad feeling about this. Yami should have been more cautious...He shouldn't have let himself get this close."
"Oh, shut the fuck up," Malik snapped exasperatedly. "Yami doesn't care about that and you know it. He wanted to get close to her and he probably bled himself out to her like the idiotic sap he is. The only thing that he hasn't indulged her on is his past. Kaiba had to do that for him because he's too much of a chicken shit!"
"Must you use foul language?" Ryou said in a sharp tone.
"It gives my speech some fucking flavor." Malik smirked when Ryou's eyes narrowed warningly at him.
"Enough," Kaiba said as Malik opened his mouth for another teasing retort. The two turned towards him in question. "I'm not interested in your immaturity tonight. I did as you both pestered me to do and it's done. What happens now is completely in their hands. If Yami doesn't completely lose his wits, he'll take precautions. He should know that he'll be here longer than he normally would and try to protect the only safe place he has. If he doesn't – well, then obviously he has less intelligence than I've given him." He took a drag off his cigarette and then sighed, forming a cloud around his head. "Unless I find anything disturbing, I don't intend on interfering in their relationship. If you were wise, neither would you two."
"He's already asked me to interfere," Malik stated plainly, rather aggravated with Kaiba's high-handed manner, "so thank you very much Mr. Hoity-Toity, but I can do as I wish. I'll be 'unwise' if I feel like it!" Kaiba rolled his eyes in revulsion.
"And what about Sakura?" Ryou queried. "Should we do anything about her?"
"...We'll keep an eye on her," Kaiba answered after a pause. He settled in his desk and put his cigarette out in an ashtray. "I don't trust her. Her connections with Hanazawa are too close. I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up being the reason that Yami's parents find him. No, that's one thing that I will meddle in if I must. I still have some control over her finances and I'll close her whole goddamn account if that's what I need to do."
"Hmm, I like that plan," Malik said with a grin. "Sounds malicious. I hate that bitch anyway."
"Don't we all?"
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DIS: Well, I apologize for the shortness of this, but there are some things that I am planning that can't be jammed in this chapter. In any case, please leave a review, telling me how I did. I hope I haven't lost my touch in the months that I haven't been writing... Ciao!
