As Anzu walked down the mansion steps with Isono at her elbow, she was greeted with the two men arguing beside an open car door.
"Please, Seto. Stay here," Yami begged, dropping all pretenses and crossing his arms in frustration. "Your home is the safest place. I don't want you leaving the premises until the people after you have been dealt with!"
"There's no one after me," Kaiba shot back half-heartedly, but he had to secretly agree.
Anzu approached them on unsteady feet and addressed the CEO sternly, "I'm going to ask you to stay here. We don't know who bribed my entire task force, but I'll find out."
Yami gave Seto a steely look and pointed at the doors of the mansion.
"Inside please." Yami said testily, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Don't make me use force."
Anzu stepped back fearfully and stayed close to the tail end of the car, watched the two men have a glaring contest, and she had to wonder if they really were dating or they'd just said that to mess with her.
"Force me then," Kaiba said lamely, already thinking about giving in, but he was bored at home with nothing to do other than worry himself crazy while working.
Yami sighed and shook his head, reaching forward to grab Seto by the hand, lacing his fingers tightly through his and pulling him into the mansion, giving him a hopeful smile over his shoulder as he said, "I'll do something nice for you when I return."
"Oh yeah?" Kaiba felt his feet follow automatically, and he realized he'd lost, so he gave in and let Yami pull him into the living room and sit him down on the couch with a push and stand over him with a small smile, the shine in his glasses hiding his eyes.
"Take those off. You look better without glasses," Kaiba said instantly, and Yami leaned down to give him a quick kiss on the cheek and whispered in his ear, "if you want to see why I'm wearing them, hack the feeds at the docks to watch…and see if you can figure out my secret… Only if you promise to stay here, alright?"
Kaiba gripped his knees tightly and nodded once, eyeing Yami's lips hungrily as they hovered inches from his nose, and he reached up to pull him down into a tight kiss, feeling Yami's hands land on his shoulders to grip him tightly, giving him firm, reassuring squeezes after a quick flick of his tongue sent a shiver down his spine.
Yami jerked away first and pressed the back of his hand across his mouth, flushing hot as he gave the top of Seto's head a loving pat before turning to walk out the door.
"Don't treat me like a dog you're leaving at home!" Kaiba yelled after him, and Yami gave him a playful middle finger over his shoulder.
Anzu stood frozen in shock in her spot by the car, having seen the kiss through the window, and she turned away to blush furiously when Yami came striding out of the house.
"He wanted to be helpful but doesn't know his own status," Yami said gruffly, his lips still stinging from the kiss as he wondered if she'd seen that, and the way she was refusing to make eye contact with him told him all he needed to know.
"Do you want to ride separately?" He asked quickly, tapping the keys on his car and hearing a blip! as the headlights lit up. The concussed agent probably wanted to ride alone…for peace of mind.
Anzu swallowed thinly and shook her head.
This would be a great time to see how well they could get along in an enclosed space.
Atem showed interest in helping her, not killing her, so she'd tell herself that to manage her fear.
"Okay. I'll ride with you, but try anything, and the entire department of—"
"Please, Miss Mazaki. I have no reason to harm an active agent," Yami gave her a handsome smile and ducked into the driver's side, patting the roof of the car with one hand. "Bakura is waiting. Let's hurry."
Anzu blinked and felt another pang of fear shoot through her chest. "Ryou Bakura?!" She cried as she slowly sank into the passenger's seat with a shallow wave of dizziness, and a bottle of water was handed through the driver's side window from the manservant and then passed to her with another charming smile.
"If you feel unwell, tell me," Yami said seriously, offering her the bottle of water. "From what Seto told me, they hit you pretty hard."
Anzu grit her teeth and accepted the water as she buckled in and observed all the gear Atem had mounted to the windshield and the dashboard. The car pulled out of the driveway, and she gripped the water bottle harder, recognizing a police signal jammer on the dash too. It felt like she was sitting in a real criminal's lair. Every measure was thought out meticulously, and there were three dash cams, one with a heat sensor, and another one with a laser.
Undoubtedly from courtesy of Mr. Kaiba too…
The scenery zipped by in a blur, and she had to make sure she'd heard correctly, "Did you say Ryou Bakura, the white-haired…" She struggled for a positive word but could only come up with descriptors like asylum patient, and 40-time violent offender, known arms dealer, and alleged smuggler.
"That's the one," Yami replied calmly as he stopped gently at a light and snuck a glance at her to see her gripping her seatbelt in fear, so he added, "I put him in the hospital a couple years ago. He won't try anything with me ever again."
"Comforting," Anzu muttered, her fingers sweating as she gripped the seatbelt harder. The monster hierarchy had been established. Atem was clearly at the top and no one messed with him, even if he claimed to be 'in retirement'.
The car pulled into the docks, and Anzu itched in her skin as Atem sped past several containers in a blur, making her nauseous enough to grip the door handle.
"Hey…slow down," she growled, pressing a hand to her head and tenderly brushing over the bandaged bruise, wondering if she'd make it through the day.
Yami eased up reluctantly and made another harrowing turn around a stack of red containers, passing by the parked car and hearing Anzu cry out in surprise, "that's my car! Let me out here!"
Anzu's anxiety rose when Atem didn't stop the car and continued to drive through the rows of containers, his eyes narrowed in determination as they came to a lurching halt in a narrow space between two rows, and the spiky-haired assassin turned to give her a dry smile.
"Not sure it's safe to get in your car. Let's check on your corrupt agents," he said shortly, and he climbed out fluidly, closing the door behind him with a solid thunk! as she protested, "they just made a mistake!"
Sure, we all make mistakes, but taking a bribe is a conscious decision, Yami thought mildly, once again feeling jittery while waiting for the agent to climb out of the car and wobble unsteadily on her feet. He immediately rushed to help, and she jerked her arm out of his grasp, flushing dark red and glaring, "don't touch me."
Yami backed away defensively and held his hands up with his fingers splayed. Fine.
"This way," he said coolly, walking ahead and feeling his phone buzz in his pocket again, but he ignored it. Keeping his senses sharp, he eyed the cameras mounted along the light posts, wondering if Seto was watching.
Seto was watching, and what he saw made his blood run cold. The instant Yami glanced up into the camera, his face was obscured by a bright dazzle of lights that left a dead spot in the lens. Whoa. Holy shit. What was Yami wearing on his face that managed to burn the camera out?!
The glasses.
And this is how he's avoided being detected on a facial scan for the past two years?! Kaiba reeled, sitting back in his seat to watch the female agent follow Yami down the narrow alleyway between the containers and arrive at a small clearing where groups of agents had been lined up on the ground, sitting tied up and gagged, some looking worse for wear with their hair mussed up and their ties askew.
"Aoyama-san!" Anzu ran forward to help her partner off the ground, but Atem blocked her way with a stiff frown.
"You might want to wait for backup," Yami said quietly, angling his head warningly at Bakura who was leaning at the far end of the container, smoking a cigarette beside his bike.
Shit, Anzu growled, automatically going for her weapon but her fingers slipped on an empty holster. Damn it!
She saw a small pile of their standard issue weapons on the ground, so she ran to pick one up, hearing the white-haired man call out to her lazily, "don't bother. They're all empty."
Anzu grit her teeth and stood over the pile of weapons, feeling helpless as she watched Atem approach Bakura with his hands held up defensively before he reached into his blazer pocket to pull out a phone, and the two exchanged…contact information?
Bakura smirked when he saw the payment go through, and he flipped his phone back into his pocket, eyeing the female cop over Atem's slender shoulder with a scowl, "is that how you are now? You're playing with the other side."
"The only side I play is my own—the one that benefits me the most," Yami answered nonchalantly, also tucking his phone away. "Don't you dare insult me like that again."
Bakura bared his teeth and slammed his helmet on his head, swinging one leg over his bike and giving Yami a solid middle finger before revving the engine and peeling away with a screech, leaving a dark mark on the ground and the stench of stale gasoline lingering in the air.
Anzu dared to relax and walked over to pat her partner down with a grimace, searching for a phone and feeling a rush of panic when she came up empty. Damn. No one had a phone?! And she realized maybe she should've taken Seto Kaiba's generosity earlier….
Yami disappeared around the back of the container, searching it for any explosives or hidden cameras out of habit, hearing the agents whispering frantically on the other side.
"Miss Mazaki… I-I'm so sorry…"
"Shut up. You gave me a concussion. Where's your phone?" Anzu snapped, eyeing the row of men and noting that they'd all gone silent the moment she showed up and had hung their heads in shame.
Great.
Time to ask the terrorist for help.
Yami finished his sweep of the container and stood a safe distance away, wondering why she hadn't called for backup yet, and to his pleasant surprise, she was walking towards him…willingly. Oh, maybe he could earn her trust after all.
"I need to borrow your phone—a phone, any phone…please," Anzu said testily, feeling a throbbing headache wrapping around her temples, making her see spots.
"You need to sit down. Here…" Yami slid his phone out and placed it warmly in her hand while leading her strongly to the chair inside the container and eased her down into it before stepping back to give her space.
Anzu palmed her face and leaned her elbow down on her knee while pressing the phone to her ear, listening to the rings and hearing a familiar voice pick up on the other end.
"I see you're calling from a secure line. Name or badge number please."
"It's me, Mazaki badge ID 12006," Anzu sighed into the phone, feeling Atem giving her a respectable amount of space that made her wonder if he really was all that bad, because he'd been nothing but gentlemanly.
"OH! Miss Mazaki! Are you okay? Location? Are you badly injured? I'll send medics your way—"
"No need, I already received attention," Anzu breathed, feeling tears burning the corners of her eyes as she ran a hand through her hair. "I need backup because my entire team took a bribe. My car's dash cam will show Aoyama-san assaulting me… Just send backup to the docks. I'm okay."
The operator hung up solemnly and Anzu pulled the phone away from her face, not even shocked to see a notification saying the call signal was being scrambled again. Smart. Untraceable every time. This phone was bolstered by Kaiba Tech, no doubt.
"Well, I'll be leaving now," Yami said delicately, eager to vanish before the swaths of police showed up. "You can keep the phone if you'd like, but you won't find anything on it, so…may I have it back?"
Anzu sighed and handed the phone back, unable to make eye contact while her cheeks burned.
This had to be the most humiliating day of her career.
Bruised, battered, and betrayed by her own team.
"Would you happen to know who bought out my team?" Anzu asked gruffy as she stared at the slender silhouette walking out of the container, into the oncoming darkness outside. The sun had almost set completely, giving the skyline a mellow, dark orange hue while the containers cast towering shadows over the agents on the ground as the lamps flickered on weakly above.
"I don't know anything about your situation here," Yami replied with a tense shrug, seeing headlights reflected against several containers in the distance, so he added quickly, "but come back in a few weeks on a Tuesday and search the shipment with containers labeled AWT. You'll want to bring extra men and cars."
Anzu nodded solemnly and called after him, "…And tell your boyfriend…thanks…"
"You know where to find us," Yami said calmly, striding past the line of tied-up agents and catching the eye of one who was glaring at him furiously.
"You! Fuck you!" The man on the ground spat, inching back in terror as his elbows hit the metal container behind him. "You and your maniac friends can fuck out of Domino."
Yami felt his temper flare, so he spun around to kick the man in the face, causing his head to smash backwards against the container with a loud thump! and hearing him groan while his colleagues shrank away in fear.
"Atem!" Anzu cried, rising to her feet and pointing at the cars in the distance. "Stop harassing my men and get lost!"
Yami gave her a reproachful look before he hurried away between several containers, his blood boiling. That man had started it first.
He sighed and took a deep breath, inhaling the crisp night air mingled with the metallic tang of ocean water nearby, and as he walked back to his car, he pulled out his phone to see a message from Seto that made him smile.
"Hey. Neat trick with the glasses. I'm interested. Need an investor?"
Ha ha, Yami thought endearingly as he typed a reply, leaning against the nearest container to listen to the scuffling and shouting from the agents a few rows down.
"I was in your lab making it. You totally weren't interested when I tried telling you what it was and we had sex on the lab couch. Remember that?"
And Seto's answer was swift and playful.
"I remember the sex but not the thing you were playing with, wasting my materials."
Yami smiled and was about to tuck his phone away when he heard a furious shriek, sounding like the female agent. He froze and perked his ears up, seeing his phone light up with another message.
"Damn. Better turn around. That agent we just helped is being doubled crossed again. DID THEY BUY THE ENTIRE AGENCY?! THOSE FUCKS"
Yami didn't bother reading the rest of the message before he shoved his phone back into his pocket and sprinted back to his car, prying the trunk open to grab his long-range rifle before he stopped himself. He couldn't kill any active agents on duty in a country he was currently living peacefully in.
Shaking his head, he slammed the trunk shut and pulled open the passenger door to grab a few knives out of the glove box before nudging the door shut with his hip and dashing back through the narrow alleyway, hearing frantic shouting echoing through the yard.
"What's gotten into you, Iwata-san? Has everyone here lost their minds?!"
Yami peeked around the edge of the container, seeing Anzu being restrained by two men while a third shakily held a gun to her head, bleeding from a gash on his cheek.
"Sorry, Miss Mazaki. You're the only one who isn't on board…" the man panted, swiping blood off his face and using both hands to steady the weapon. "You're a great team leader. You really are. I'm very sorry, but this is bigger than all of us."
Yami rolled his eyes and crept out from behind the container, hearing one of the tied up men on the ground cry out in surprise, "Senpai! Behind you!"
Oh shut up! Yami spun around to lash out at the man with his heel while letting the knife fly from his hand when he came out of his turn, sending it shooting straight at the man in front of Anzu, lodging the blade firmly in his shoulder.
The agent let out a howl and sank to his knees while the gun fell out of his hand, and Yami stood over him to knock him out with a quick knee to the jaw, and the man fell back onto the pavement.
The two men holding Anzu captive trembled and released her to pull out their guns, but Anzu was quicker, grabbing their arms to roll them forwards, and they grunted in pain when they hit the ground in unison.
Yami bit back a sigh and knelt to stop the bleeding for the man he's stabbed while he listened to Anzu earnestly restraining the two agents while they shouted at her, "you should consider our offer, Mazaki-san!"
"Y-Yeah… 300 million yen... It's life changing," the other man gasped as Anzu bent down to pick up their guns and experience another wave of dizziness.
"How about, shut up and you get to live today?" Yami snapped gruffly, walking over to help Anzu into a sitting position on the ground while gathering the loaded weapons.
Trying to catch her breath, Anzu pressed a hand to her head and gave Yami a grateful smile in the dark, her heart rushing in her ears as she felt a pang of relief and gratitude towards the spiky-haired man.
"Thanks for coming back," she said weakly, feeling nauseous, so she turned her head to dry heave silently, seeing more spots dotting the corners of her vision. Oh crap. She'd never felt this shitty before…
"You're really overexerting yourself," Yami said calmly, kneeling beside her and resting a protective hand on her back. "You might want to consider staying under medical observation with us tonight. In fact, I insist. If you're the only agent who hasn't taken a bribe, you might want to move Tristan out of the safe location too…"
Anzu groaned silently and pressed a hand to her face, real tears leaking from her eyes while her head pounded with pain. Great. Just fucking great!
"Let's get you to a safe place," Yami urged, reaching down to grab her arm to help her to her feet, and Anzu shook her head bleakly.
"I'll deal with it—"
"You're working with this-this terrorist?!" The bleeding agent on the ground gasped, pressing a palm to his wound with the knife still sticking out of it while he struggled to sit up.
"Who are you working with?" Anzu shot back furiously, trembling with suppressed rage as Atem pulled her to her feet and began leading her away from the yard. "I'll find out!"
"Don't antagonize them anymore, or they'll send someone after you," Yami muttered under his breath, feeling Anzu laugh deliriously beside him and stumble.
"Someone worse than you? What do I have to lose now? My whole team and years of my reputation, flushed. Just like that," she said poisonously as the car came into view, and she let Yami open the door for her and ease her into the seat, putting the bottle of water back into her lap.
"Yes, someone worse than me or Bakura," Yami answered fluidly, circling the car and pressing the phone to his ear to call Seto. "I'm broken, remember? Look what I did back there, associating myself with you—Seto? ….Did you see that?"
"Yeah," Kaiba replied gruffly as Isono entered the room carrying a tray of coffee which he set on the edge of his desk and stood at attention. "What do you need me to do?"
"Bring the doctor back and have them stay with her overnight, and I'll assign the green team to watch over her on the third floor tonight. Be ready to receive us in 30 minutes."
"Okay," Kaiba felt himself smile and he hung up quickly, relaying the orders to Isono, who nodded and hastened to obey.
Yami slipped his phone back into his pocket and started the car with a low rumble, aware that the agent sitting beside him was still mourning the loss of her team, so he decided not to say anything to her until they had driven out onto the main road and had stopped at a light.
A couple of squad cars zipped by them with their lights on, and Yami tapped the steering wheel, completely unfazed while Anzu's eyes widened.
"So… What now?" She asked hoarsely, leaning her elbow down on the arm rest to prop her head up on one hand. "I can't trust anyone at the office after what just happened."
"We'll grab Honda—Tristan," Yami corrected himself quickly, easing on the gas as the light turned green. "Got an address? We can all stay at the mansion tonight. It's the safest place in Domino next to the Kaiba Towers lab. I personally made sure of it."
Mmm, bet, Anzu thought tiredly as she tapped the window with the backs of her nails. "Left here." And Atem dutifully turned the car down a residential road, rolling along quietly until they passed a row of closed shops, a glowing sign of an open gas station, followed by a small convenience store.
"Stop. Park there, wait here," Anzu muttered, and she patted her belt for her weapon and sighed, turning to give Atem a guilty look. "May I borrow a gun?"
"Sure, what would you like? Or shall I go with you?" Yami asked kindly, and Anzu grimaced, shaking her head.
"I'm already breaking protocol by taking you this far!" She insisted, feeling her palms sweat against the door handle. "Any small pistol will be fine."
Yami nodded and reached across the center divide to pull open the glove box, giving her a view of the neat little armory he had arranged in the tiny space. The sheathes for two knives were empty but two small pistols were still sitting snugly in their cases.
"Thanks," Anzu breathed as she grabbed the smaller one and slid it into her holster, hating how it fit almost perfectly, and she climbed out of the car to stride quickly into the convenience store.
Author's note:
Poor anzu really being put through it
Links to anti-facial recognition glasses: (link removed by ff. chek my AO3 for the link) –just imagine yami wearing a stylish pair of these that he made himself:D