#people either seem to love or hate Mokuba this chapter

[chimerickat]

Chapter 2

When you caved in and agreed to help Mokuba with his plan, you never expected him to actually have a plan of action. You figured you would “help” for long enough for him to feel like the entire thing was pointless and then try to find another way to help his brother. 

You didn’t expect him to drag you to the campus Duel Monsters club.

“They all have a shared interest with my brother!” he’d said. 

Well, sure they did, and by that logic, you should go around meeting all the MBA candidates, too. 

“Don’t be ridiculous!” was the only response you received to that suggestion. 

In the end, you caved to Mokuba’s insane plan, and joined him in checking out the Duel Monsters club members. The club met up in one of the lecture halls on a weekly basis, and when you walked in with Mokuba, the two of you sat toward the back of the room. You watched as people noticed Mokuba Kaiba and then they began pointing him out. 

You leaned over to whisper to Mokuba, “Maybe I should have come alone. These people seem interested in you.”

“That’s how we weed out the groupies.” 

You frowned but gave him a nod. 

The meeting started with announcements and some information about some upcoming tournament. You looked down at the list of questions that Mokuba had given you. Could finding someone for Seto Kaiba really be so simple? 

Once the announcements ended, the social hour of dueling and comparing cards and discussing strategy began. You moved away from Mokuba and let him attract people. 

Before you had time to decide who to approach first, you found yourself approached by the leader of the club. At least, you assumed he was the leader since he had been doing the announcements. He held out his hand and welcomed you to the club. 

“Have you been playing the game long?” he asked. 

The truth came out before you had time to think. “Just a little while, but I’m not very good.” You left out the part where you had tried picking it up to attract the attention of a certain CEO. 

“How could that be true? I noticed you came in with Mokuba Kaiba.” 

You wanted to laugh, Mokuba knew how to play Duel Monsters, but didn’t love it like his brother. He had other games that he preferred. “I guess I’m just not smart enough for the game.” Or rich enough to really invest in the cards needed for an amazing deck. 

“Well some of our members enjoy teaching others. Let me know if you want me to introduce you to any of them.” 

His statement sounded like a goodbye, but as he turned away, you reached out and put a hand on his arm, stopping him. “Actually, I’d love to know, who’s the best player here?” 

“That would be me.” He winked. “But I’m not accepting students.” 

“Oh what a shame!” Well, he had the arrogance to go with it, but you would verify that statement with other members of the group. You wrote his name down in your notebook. Since you couldn’t assume Kaiba was into women, you might as well get some options from both genders. “Thanks for your time!” 

You stepped away from him, eyeing the rest of the club members. 

There was a girl that you couldn't help but notice. You weren't sure if your eyes gravitated toward her because she was beautiful or because of her outfit. Either way, you could see her standing next to Kaiba. 

And you hated the image. 

You recognized the ugly emotion that you were feeling. Envy. If you looked like that, Kaiba might notice you. But knowing that your feelings were shameful didn't stop you from deciding to avoid the girl. She was paying far too much attention to Mokuba anyway. (A little voice pointed out that she wasn't paying very much attention at all compared to most of the people here, but you firmly squashed that voice.)

Now the girl currently involved in a duel looked promising. Her hair was tied up, and she seemed to be ignoring anything beyond the cards in front of her. Kaiba could appreciate an attitude like that.

You approached the duel. It was easy to pretend to be interested in the game when you were trying to figure out if this girl was any good. You smiled at the other people watching the game, sizing them up. They might be contenders as well. 

Then Mokuba broke away from the group surrounding him and approached the girl you’d noticed earlier. Darn. He’d noticed her, too. He smiled, and she smiled back at him. 

You tried to refocus on the duel, but your eyes kept drifting Mokuba’s way. 

They were laughing! 

You looked around for someone else. Anyone else. An alternative to that badass Kaiba bait. You focused on a cute girl with bows in her hair. She was pretty. 

So you approached her with a smile, intent on introducing yourself, but as you got closer, you overheard her conversation. She was telling the girl next to her about her boyfriend. Well, a girl with a boyfriend… that was big nope. 

You retreated before getting her attention and turned back to the duel. It was almost over, and you felt like the serious girl might be your best bet so far. 

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Mokuba approach with his new friend. You turned toward him, avoiding eye contact with the girl next to him. 

Mokuba gestured to her, forcing you to look over. “This is Machiko!” 

“Nice to meet you!” She smiled, and you hated to admit that she was even prettier up close. 

You smiled back, but before you could say anything, Mokuba said, “I’ve invited her over to the mansion to check out the duel system that we’ve got.” 

You raised an eyebrow at Mokuba. Was he going to go after her himself? 

He caught your expression and shook his head. “You know, during that gaming party we’re throwing?” 

You’d play along, but you weren’t sure if he was really planning a party. “Oh, yeah. That.” You turned to Machiko with a smile. “You should totally come to that.” 

She pushed her long hair back over her shoulders. “I guess now that midterms are over it would be nice to get out.” She looked at you and then Mokuba. “I was just telling Mokuba that I’m in my first year here, and I haven’t had the chance to meet anyone yet.” 

You looked at her outfit. She looked like she’d just stepped out of a fashion magazine with her high heeled boots and belted sweater dress. Bangles chimed every time she moved, and her makeup looked professionally done. You would assume that she or her parents had serious money. “Where’d you go to school before Domino?” you asked. 

She waved a hand. “Oh, nowhere local, but Domino U is such a good school I was surprised I even got in.” 

You wanted to interrogate her more, but duel that you’d been watching ended in a victory for the girl. “Mokuba, you should invite them too,” you told him, nodding toward the girl specifically. 

He made a face, clearly second-guessing your opinion, and you glared at him. Then he rolled his eyes as if to say, fine, I’ll waste my time with her. “Yeah, absolutely.” 

Once Mokuba walked over to the others, Machiko moved closer to you. “Can we exchange numbers?” 

“Sure.” You got your phone out, surprised that she would want your number. Was this just a ploy to then get Mokuba’s number? 

The two of you exchanged each other’s numbers, giving you the chance to get her last name. You’d creep on her over the internet later. Then she surprised you by putting her phone away without asking for Mokuba’s number. 

She looked over to where Mokuba was talking with the two people who had been dueling. “Are you and Mokuba dating?” 

“Ugh, no.” The truth came out before you could really consider your answer. Then you thought about why she was asking. Could you let her go after Mokuba thus ruining any chance that she might catch Kaiba’s eye? 

“Oh, are you related then?” 

“No just friends.” You gave in to your better impulse. “He did recently start seeing someone though.” You studied her face for a reaction. “Just in case you were thinking about it.” 

She laughed. “I suppose it did sound like I was interested.” 

“You’re not?” 

“Not my type.” 

You didn’t believe her, but since she was a stranger, you let the subject drop. Besides, you had more digging to do. There had to be something that made her incompatible for Seto Kaiba. “Do I hear an accent?” 

She covered her mouth, surprised. “Maybe. I did spend part of my childhood abroad.” 

Oh. Well, that was no good. You would probably find a beautiful instagram with thousands of followers. She probably had lots of experience with different cultures and spoke multiple languages fluently. 

She was a nightmare. 

You didn’t have energy for socializing anymore. “Well, it was nice meeting you!” 

“Yes! I’ll text you.” 

You just smiled at her before turning away to grab Mokuba. Now that he had the perfect girl for his brother, surely the two of you could leave. Instead of crashing his conversation, you stopped short of the group and caught his eye. Once Mokuba was looking at you, you pointed your thumb toward the door. It was a silent, can we leave? 

He shook his head. Rude. 

So you ditched him. You didn’t need to stick around for the rest of his social act. The questions that he’d given you had been dumb anyway. He probably hadn’t even bothered asking Machiko a single one. 

He caught up to you soon after you left, which meant he must have noticed you leaving. “Party tonight!” he announced, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. 

“Is that when you told Machiko to come over?” 

“Not just her! I invited plenty of other people, too. Gotta give Seto some options, right?” 

“I guess…” you said. “Machiko is really pretty though.” 

“Jealous?”

“NO!” Your answer came out too quickly and was far too loud. You hadn’t meant to shout. You backpedaled. “I don’t have anything to be jealous about. She’s not in the running to be your best friend.” 

The arm wrapped around your shoulders squeezed you, pulling you in closer to Mokuba. “You’ll always be my favorite.” 

You leaned your head into his chest. “You too.” 

And then he had to ruin the moment. “Now time for a party!” 

You groaned. You knew you would end up attending the party, but that didn’t stop you from wanting to whine about it first. 

“Also, you’re part of my plan to get Seto there.”

You stopped walking. Your head twisted so you could glare at Mokuba. “No. Nope. Never going to work. No. Hard pass.” 

“It’s a perfect plan. Listen…” 

So you let Mokuba convince you that he had a great plan. Of course, Mokuba was able to convince anyone of anything. Knowing how he worked should make you immune, but it didn’t. 

And that was how you found yourself knocking on the door to Kaiba’s home office later in the evening. He called out for Mokuba to come in, and you assumed that applied to you too and opened the door. 

You leaned into the doorway, poking your head around the partially open door. “Hi, um, sorry to bother you. Uh…” 

He looked up at you, and you tried not to melt when you saw the glasses perched on his nose. Somehow those glasses were attractive on him. He arched an eyebrow. “Where’s Mokuba?” 

“He’s not here, and I… oh…” This was so uncomfortable. You felt like you were one word away from incomprehensible stuttering. “He said I could try out the demo, but I think I did something wrong. I tried calling and Mokuba isn’t answering. There’s smoke?” You wanted to run as you watched a scowl take over Kaiba’s face. “I’msosorry!” You resisted the urge to bow, but your hands found their way to your thighs. 

“Remind me why my brother allows you to roam around unsupervised?” 

His sharp question made you flinch. You weren’t a disobedient pet. He held up his hand, palm out as if to stop you from speaking. With his other hand, he pinched the bridge of his nose. His eyes shut for a moment. 

Then he removed his glasses and dropped them on the desk. “Fine.” He stood up. As he walked out of the room and down the hall, he didn’t even glance your way. Nobody made you feel small like he did, but as you followed him to the gaming room, you still found yourself studying him as discreetly as you could.

When he pushed open the doors to the gaming room and saw Mokuba with a small crowd gathered around the dueling station, he turned to shoot you the dirtiest glare. 

“I really am sorry,” you said. 

He turned to leave, but it was too late, Mokuba had spotted him and was coming over to physically grab his brother. “Seto! So glad you could make it. Meet my new friends from the Duel Monsters club…”

Mokuba pulled him away, relying on his brother’s desire to keep him happy. However, Kaiba was a ticking time bomb. He would tolerate Mokuba’s nonsense for only so long before losing patience. So Mokuba led him straight to Machiko to start off.

Machiko, for her part, seemed to panic. You watched with growing curiosity as Machiko’s eyes roamed around as if she were looking for an escape route. It was unexpected. The girl in the skintight dress with red lipstick and perfectly done hair seemed to want to get as far away from Kaiba as possible. 

In her heels, she was almost Kaiba’s height. 

They looked good together, but he barely looked her way. 

Then she was backing away from the Kaiba brothers. Mokuba seemed to try to keep her talking but she was shaking her head. Then Machiko beelined straight for you. 

She grabbed your arm and looked back over her shoulder at the Kaibas. “Was that what I think it was?” 

“A rare meeting with the great and powerful Seto Kaiba?” 

She just stared at you, and her stare told you that she was on to your bullshit. “Mokuba just introduced me as if we’ve been friends for years,” she drawls. “Years.” 

Mokuba must have gone over the top again. He clearly hadn’t heard a word you’d said earlier. “Interested?” 

She scoffed. “Still not my type. Rich men make terrible husbands.” 

“You know from experience? And husband?”

She just shrugged as if it should be obvious why she would make such a statement. 

You had to wonder how much of Machiko was real and how much was an act. You’d helped Mokuba creep on her prior to the party, and just like you expected, she had an Instagram full of beautiful travel shots. Her family had money. 

“So how many failed marriages have you had so far then?” 

She smiled at you. “Four, but who’s counting?” She giggled, and you couldn’t help but join her. 

Then you looked over at Kaiba and Mokuba. Kaiba’s patience seemed to be wearing thin. You could tell from the sneer on his face that he had either said something rude or was about to say something rude. Either way, he was going to storm out of the party within the next ten minutes. 

Machiko still seemed to want to talk, and you were pretty sure that you’d missed part of the conversation, but you excused yourself, pretending that you had to use the bathroom. Then you left the party. 

You didn’t have the nerve to go inside Kaiba’s office when he wasn’t around so you waited in the hallway outside the door. Sure enough, you didn’t have to wait long before he stormed down the hall. He paused to glare at you once he noticed your existence. “Your friends or Mokuba’s?”

“Neither.” It was the truth.

He scoffed, and then walked past you and into his office. He left the door open, and you took that as an invitation to join him. As you settled into one of Mokuba’s couches, you wondered if there was any way to ask Kaiba about those bags under his eyes. Was he unable to sleep or choosing not to sleep? Was it stress? He looked less unwashed today but his face still seemed a little zombie-like. 

Instead, you stole a book off of Kaiba’s bookshelf and settled into the couch to read. Mokuba would find you here easily enough once he’d ended the “party”.

[alectoperdita]

Shoot to Score (20223 words) by Alecto Chapters: 5/6 Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Kaiba Seto Characters: Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler, Kaiba Seto, Mutou Yuugi Additional Tags: Minor Bakura Ryou/Mutou Yuugi, Fictober 2020, Alternate Universe - College/University, Athletes, Archery, Basketball, Slice of Life, Romance, Awkward Crush, Idiots in Love, idiots to lovers, Mutual Pining, Confessions, First Dates, First Kiss

Summary:

Yuugi called it an “obsession.” Jounouchi disagreed, thank you very much.

In which Jounouchi—a junior member of the university basketball club—nurses an unfortunate crush on the archery team's hot but haughty captain.

🏀🏹🏀🏹🏀🏹🏀🏹🏀🏹🏀🏹🏀🏹🏀🏹🏀🏹

"Don't you fucking dare," Kaiba roared, ready to leap across the table and confiscate his brother's phone if necessary.

Forget his dignity. It was his sanity at risk if she caught the slightest whiff of the situation. He broke into a cold sweat at the very idea. Not even the kilometers of sea and land between Japan and South Korea would be able to save him then.

"Language," his brother snarked in return, and Kaiba was on the verge of either grounding the brat or withholding his monthly allowance. "Fine, I won't tell Kisa-chan on one condition—"

Kaiba's blood froze at the devilish light that glinted off Mokuba's teeth-baring grin.

Fact: High-school boys were absolute shitheads.

"Introduce me to Jounouchi."

[brisfanfictions]

Chapter One [Andy Biersack]

Andy was sat in the corner, nodding his head along to the song that was playing over the loud speakers. The music was loud, the house was crowded with people, and the lights were off; the only illumination coming from the strobe lights. Andy had a beer in one hand, and his other was being used to help explain the story he was telling to his group of friends.

Halfway through telling his story his eyes glanced up, catching the door just as it opened, just in time to see you walk through the door with a scowl on your face and your best friend by your side.

Rosalie Ashlen Watson, or Rose as her friends and family call her, was at a college party. Only being 19 years old, she had been dragged to the party by her best friend and college roommate, Lillian or Lily. She wasn't a party fan. Especially when she had heard from her best friend that Andy Black, a famous musician from the band called Black Veil Brides and his own album "The Shadow Side." Her friend was a fan, but she just didn't really like him. He just didn't really sit well with her.

She walked through the doors, scowling in disdain at being there. She would rather have been at home, reading a book or just drawing in a notebook. When she glanced over into a room, she spotted Andy and shot him an angry, hateful glare. Without another glance, though, she headed to the opposite side of the house while her friend went to grab a couple wine coolers for her and herself.

Andy's eyes stayed on Rose for longer than he intended as he tried to understand why she glared at him so hatefully. He wasn't used to people glaring at him, but rather looking at him in what could only be described as admiration. His voice slowly trailed off, ending his story halfway through. "I'll be back" he muttered under his breath to his friends as he pushed himself up from his chair.

He got up easily, making his way through the crowd carefully. The beer in his cup sloshing around as people pushed back against him. He rolled his eyes slightly as he stepped out into the foyer where she had just been standing. He took a sip from his cup as he continued moving in the direction she went. Andy was dying to know why she seemed to hate him.

Rose didn't know that he had been staring much longer than he should have. She wasn't in a relationship with anybody. However, she preferred to avoid everybody. Despite her being polite and sweet to others, she just absolutely hated Andy with a burning fire in her soul.

Once she found a peaceful place to hang around without anybody near her, she pulled out her phone to randomly scroll through her social media platforms. Then she started to play her dating simulation games. Just to keep herself occupied. She hated Andy because he was a No Good Bad Boy type of guy. She was more into the sweet, kind and loving men that would treat her with so much adoration and dedication to their relationship. To her, she saw him as a cheater that played with girls' hearts for fun and just to toy with their emotions.

Andy made his way through the people, occasionally stopping to talk to someone who grabbed his arm. He took another sip from his cup, smiling as he finally spotted her sitting in a chair against one of the back walls. He chuckled softly seeing the scowl etched into her face as she did something on her phone.

He kept the grip on his cup tight as he pushed through a group of people, stopping a mere five feet in front of the girl. He carefully set his cup down on the table in front of her, pulling a chair over, sitting on it backwards, his arms resting on the back of the chair. "Hello there gorgeous. I'm Andy, and you are?" he asked smoothly, picking his cup up off the table.

Sometimes she loved her games. However, her scowl was of concentration since she was playing a highly and very important game. That was called "Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links," which is her absolute favorite game. Among all her dating sim apps. It was highly addictive and nice.

She heard somebody approaching, looking up from her phone and bangs for a second. Once she saw that it was Andy, she went back to her game. Finding it more important than talking to him. Yet, he just didn't take the hint that she didn't want to talk to him. "I'm not interested," she remarked. She wasn't going to offer this guy her name because she didn't trust him as far as she could throw him.

His look of amusement turned into one of shock as he heard her say she wasn't interested. He wasn't used to being turned down that quickly, let alone being turned down at all. "I sort of got that from the glare you sent me earlier, beautiful" he said, regaining his composure quickly. "But, I'm here to ask you why" 

He went silent, watching her carefully as he ran his fingers through his hair again, leaning up slightly to try and see what she was doing. "Are you playing Yu-Gi-Oh!?" he asked curiously, taking another sip from his cup, his eyes never leaving her.

"Because you're egotistical and think that every girl will come crawling to you on their hands and knees just to bend to your will," she smoothly answered him. Still not glancing in his direction again. "You are a player and don't care about whose hearts you break. Only looking for the next 'play thing' or a new panty to add to your 'collection.'"

She didn't know what he did. Nor did she care. After he asked the question about her game, she looked up and shot him a cold hearted glare. "So what?" She questioned him. "Seto is hotter than you. He maybe egotistical and cold, but at least he isn't tossing girls aside when he's done with them. And he is kind underneath his mask. The proof is the way he treats his brother, Mokuba." After she was done her mini rant, a clear sign that she is utterly in love with a fictional character, she went back to her game. Since she was playing as Seto Kaiba and he was at level 16, doing her best to level him up towards 20.

"You think I'm an egotistical player?" he asked, shock once again filling his features and now voice. "And exactly how did you come to that conclusion?" he asked curiously as his eyes scanned over her looking for answers.

He never saw himself as a player, or as the egotistical type, given a few moments in his life that he regretted, but he tried not to let those few moments define him. After her sudden outburst, he sat back in his chair slightly, being careful not to fall as he was taken back. "You never know, if you got to know me you might find that Seto and I have a lot more in common than you seem to believe" he replied, drinking the rest of what was in his cup before setting it down on the table easily. "But I can understand when I'm not wanted" he said, only partially lying as he stood up, getting ready to go find himself another beer.

She rolled her eyes as she turned back towards her own game. Her eyes shone with much love and adoration for the male, fictional character. "I know you are," she answered him. "Being a musician isn't all its cracked up to be, huh?"

She still kept her eyes on her phone. "You drinking the alcohol really isn't helping your case a bunch either, 'dude.' You have black hair, which you dyed when you were in that stupid band. The only thing you have in common with him is the eye color, but Seto's is darker and more concealed. While yours is just after getting the next 'fuck' or drink. Ain't that right? Seto wouldn't drink to get drunk. He'd be too responsible for his baby brother to do stuff like that."

Andy looked down at her, arching one of his eyebrows as he listened to her list off what he could only assume were the reasons why she didn't like him. "I honestly would not trade being a musician for the world." he said, changing his mind about going and getting a beer, and sitting back down in front of her. 

He ran a hand through his dyed hair, rolling his eyes slightly at her words. "I don't drink to get drunk anymore, although I used to, I don't anymore." He said truthfully. "And, contrary to what you may believe, I didn't come to this party to 'fuck' anyone, nor did I come over here to try and 'fuck' you." he said simply.

"I wouldn't want a musician anyhow," she said, scoffing. "I'd want a lawyer or a doctor. Somebody with a practical job. Or even a CEO of his own business would do. Mostly because musicians only get paid with how much a person listens to their song. And your fan base is only followed you as a single artist because of your looks or that you were a part of Black Veil Brides."

"I wouldn't let you touch for it to lead to that." And she meant it, too. "I don't trust the drinks at any party. Since a creep could have laced the alcohol with a roofie. Besides, you could be drunk enough to 'fuck' a fan, huh?"

Andy sighed softly, shaking his head. "Music is a practical job. Granted some get a better deal than others do as far as money goes, but for the most of us we all have the same end goal." he said, pinching the bridge of his nose gently, "We all want to make those who listen to our music feel like they're not alone. We give our fans a means to escape reality, and be happy, and if that's not practical enough for you then I don't know what else to say."

He took a breath, trying to keep himself calm as he spoke again, "But it's good that you don't trust drinks at parties. Better safe than sorry." he said softly. "And I'm no where near being drunk, but if I wanted to 'fuck' a fan, I wouldn't need to be drunk to do it.”

"Its not a nine to five job that is good for family," she countered what he was saying. Despite her tone, she was enjoying this little debate. Even though she can sense that he was angry. "Musicians take up more time than that. Since they move around for tours and their schedules are always off. Private tours and flights. And what would a child think if their mother or father is always off doing their own thing? They'll think that the parents are fighting and running off to do whatever."

She snorted in a bored way, rolling her eyes. "Says you. Some people prefer to be drunk to fuck. As some drunks call it, its liquid courage. Anyways, I'm sure that my friend would like you to be her first. She's the fan. Not me. I don't listen to Scream-O music. I'm a pop fan."

He rolled his eyes once more, "No, it's not a nine to five, but that doesn't diminish the practicality or importance of the job." he spoke seriously. "And as far as children go, its not the easiest thing in the world but you raise them up to know what is happening and why their parents are doing the things that they do. Sometimes you bring them along, and you always make time to come back home for them. It becomes complicated yes, but it is possible to do. Trust me, I know people who make it happen." 

He chuckled softly, "I don't need liquid courage, and like I said before, I'm not here to get drunk and 'fuck' someone random. I'm not a complete asshole."

She finally cracked a smile. She hid her smile behind her hand. She believed that it is possible to do, but the nine to five job is actually pretty boring to her. Her dream job is to be an author. It is like being a musician, but the difference is that it takes time to become popular. "Would you want to have kids someday?" She asked him. "I think having kids is a great thing. Especially when you're pregnant. Great life experiences, too."

She giggled when she heard what he said. "Tabloids and magazines would like to tell you otherwise. I don't listen to those. I listen to my heart. I always have."

"I think one day I might like to have kids, definitely. But just not right now obviously." he said with a small laugh. "I don't get to experience the pregnancy thing obviously" he joked, "I do think of it a lot though, the having kids thing, not the being pregnant thing" he laughed softly.

He ran a hand through his hair again, smiling softly. "Trust me I know all about the tabloids and magazines, I can't change that though. They write what gets them reads whether its true or not" he said with a shrug.

"I read somewhere that childbirth is like breaking all your bones at once times two," she said in thought. "I'm glad that modern medicine can save women now than what they could have a hundred years ago. More women died from child birth than anything else back in the 18th to 19th century." Then she smiled more when she heard that from him. "Being pregnant isn't a walk in the park, but I hear its rewarding when you can actually feel the baby kick and punch in the womb. I wouldn't know since I'm a virgin and never been pregnant before."

She watched him run his hand through his hair yet again. "Did you ever experience a fan going to the press to say that the baby she had was your child? Like what Justin Bieber and Michael Jackson experienced?" It was a curious thing to her. Why those kinds of hardcore fans get pregnant, have their child and it looks like their favorite celebrity to go around and say that its their illegitimate child. Without any proof.

"If that is the case I'm glad I will never have to experience the hell of childbirth then. I mean, granted it seems pretty great afterwards because you have your cute little bundle of joy, but I don't even like spraining my ankle, let alone breaking bones" he said with a laugh. "But I've always heard that pain is beauty, and beauty is pain. So I'm sure that also applies to the childbirth situation, does it not?" he asked seriously.

He mentally smiled, loving the fact that someone was having a semi decent conversation with him instead of trying to get something out of him like sex or money for once. "Actually yes, this one time I had a woman try and say her one year old son was mine, the only flaw with her story is at the time she would have had to conceive the child, I wasn't even in the country to have been the one to get her pregnant." he said, shaking his head slightly at the memory.

"I wouldn't know that beauty is pain or pain is beauty because I don't really do much to myself," she said with a shrug. "I put so much junk in my body, it is surprising that I haven't gotten diabetes or anything. I've always had a high metabolism. And walking around campus also keeps me fit as a horse. But, to your question, I'm sure that childbirth is in that 'beauty is pain' category. After all, during the pregnancy and a woman hits a certain month, they're 'glowing,' so to speak."

She laughed when she heard that story, smiling brightly after she was done with a good three to five minute laugh. Her lungs and face hurt from smiling and laughing. Then she lightly shoved him as she continued to speak to him. "Are you sure she didn't buy a concert ticket and flown out to one of your shows? It is possible she did that. Much like in Justin Bieber's case. A woman had claimed to have met him on tour, but he never did. He even agreed to a paternity test, which came back negative."

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Previously {AT THE START}

Next

[phoenixfeatherquill]

Endgame (2/10)

Chapter 1

It was like something out of a movie.  Mai Valentine stood in their doorway.  As usual, she was dressed to the nines—tall knee high boots, leather jacket, a corset.  It was drizzling outside but her long blonde hair remained voluminous.  Her cheeks were wet, but whether it was tears or rain, Serenity couldn’t say.

Joey seemed to be at a loss for words.  Serenity couldn’t blame him.  Since Joey and Mai had separated, he hadn’t heard from her at all—no letters, no phone calls, nothing.  And she knew Joey worried for her and quietly Googled for any kind of mention of her in the dueling world.  

But here Mai was, back in Domino City…staring at her brother with a kind of yearning and sadness that broke Serenity’s heart.

“Come out of the rain,” Serenity requested.  She pushed past her brother and took Mai’s arm, gently leading her inside the apartment.  She grabbed her brother’s arm too and led them both to the breakfast table.  

“Here,” She poured Mai a cup of coffee. “Oh, Mai, you’re soaked through. Give me your jacket. I’m going to bring you a blanket.”

Watching his younger sister fuss over Mai seemed to shake Joey out of his stupor, but only slightly.  He poured himself a cup of coffee as well and turned off the stove.  Mai watched him and cleared her throat a few times.  She couldn’t seem to say anything to him though and eventually she resorted to staring at her coffee.  

Serenity returned from her bedroom and wrapped a thick quilt around Mai’s bare shoulders.  She glanced up at her.

“Thank you, Serenity,” Her voice was low. “It’s good to see you again.”

“You as well,” Serenity smiled.  Joey realized with a jolt that his sister had her jacket.

“Um—where—where are you going?” His voice became strangely high-pitched.

“Just going to go out for a little bit,” Serenity said pleasantly. “I’ll be back soon. Mai, Joey made a fantastic breakfast. Have some pancakes. Drink more coffee, it will warm you up.”

Before Joey could protest, she quickly exited their apartment.

It wasn’t raining very hard.  Mai must have been standing outside their door for quite a while to be as drenched as she was.  Serenity shivered a little and belted her pink jacket tightly.  Now that she was out of the apartment, she wasn’t really sure where to head to next.  The grocery shopping was finished and she didn’t have classes on the weekends.  

She texted Tea to see if she wanted to go shopping or get brunch.  Tea replied quickly and told her regretfully that she was tied up helping Yugi all day.  His grandfather was expanding their little shop and they would be moving boxes for hours.  

Serenity thought about offering to help but ultimately decided against it. She considered her other options and ruefully wished Duke and Tristan didn’t have designs on her—it would’ve been nice just to hang out with some friends.  

It was with utter aimlessness that she ended up at Kaibaland.

She blamed happenstance and the article she read in the paper.  She did not particularly want to run into Seto Kaiba after she humiliated him over a game of chess.  Joey would’ve wanted to gloat, Serenity just wanted to forget the event.  Chess, as much as she loved it, brought back painful memories…

Still, it was unlikely Kaiba would be physically at Kaibaland.  From what she understood, he ran things remotely from the KaibaCorp Tower.  That was where his office was.  

She could at least get out of the rain.  

There was the demonstration that she’d read about, specifically catered to novice duelists and children.  According to the signs, it was a “League Day”—promoted to those that wanted to learn Duel Monsters.

Serenity considered.  She had always wanted to learn Duel Monsters…really learn.  On her own terms, not with the fate of the world or someone’s soul or whatever else. Just as a fun game.  

She went to the entry registration computer and put in her name.

XXXX

“Seto? Are you okay?”

Kaiba didn’t answer his little brother.  He was examining one of the older hologram arena models, measuring the dimensions.  It was probably time to upgrade these bulky arenas—nowadays, everyone had a duel disk system which made these arenas obsolete.  

Mokuba, who’d followed his older brother to Kaibaland, sighed impatiently. “Seto, c’mon. You’ve barely talked to me since yesterday. Are you still upset about what happened?”

Kaiba glanced at him.  “What’s to be upset about?”

Mokuba fidgeted.  “The last time you lost a game to someone you disappeared off the face of the earth and I got kidnapped by Pegasus. So sue me if I’m a little anxious about how you’re taking this.”

Kaiba exhaled slowly.  “I’m not going anywhere, Mokuba. What do you think about getting rid of these arenas?”

Mokuba did not look convinced but he sighed in resignation.  “I like the old arenas, Seto. Not everyone can afford duel disk systems. Keeping these here as an affordable option allows more people to have access to our technology, even on a limited basis.”

Kaiba considered this point.  He typed something on a mobile tablet and stood up from the arena.  The two of them walked wordlessly out of the little arena down the halls of Kaibaland.  

“Seto, seriously. Can we talk about what happened?”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Kaiba ignored the astonished younger duelists who stopped and pointed at him. “We should at least upgrade the arenas. They’re so outdated, they’re an eyesore.”

“Okay, whatever,” Mokuba rolled his eyes as they passed through the lobby. “Distract yourself with work. That always works out well for…”

Mokuba stopped short.  Seto realized his younger brother had paused in step and impatiently turned around to see what on earth he was looking at.  

There were always duels going on in the atrium—some with duel disks, others seated at tables with KaibaCorp tutors reviewing and offering tips and hints. Towards the far end of the atrium, there was a kid playing at one of those tables with an older girl.  He crowed in victory and Kaiba rolled his eyes at the kid…until he realized the losing opponent was Serenity Wheeler.  

What was she doing here?!”

Mokuba glanced nervously at Kaiba.  Kaiba stared at her for a long moment and his younger brother realized the expression on his face—Seto was offended.

Ignoring the gasps from the other duelists, he marched over across the room towards the small table.  

“You lost! Ha ha! I beat a grown-up!” The kid was shouting triumphantly. Kaiba expected Serenity to be upset but instead she looked amused.

“Great job! Guess I have a lot to learn…” The two of them paused and the kid squeaked.  Serenity blinked at Kaiba as he towered over them.

There was a moment of silence and Serenity opened her mouth to speak.  But before she could, Kaiba spat out:

“I thought you didn’t play Duel Monsters.”

Serenity’s mouth twitched and she cleared her throat.  “I don’t. That’s why I signed up for a novice demonstration…to learn.”

She smiled at her opponent, who was openly gaping at Kaiba, his mouth wide open. “And why Yuki here beat me soundly.”

Her pleasure at losing confused all parties around her.  Mokuba cleared his throat and picked up her deck curiously. “Is this yours?”

“No, I rented it from one of your stalls.”

Kaiba openly snorted as he looked over his brother’s shoulder.  The deck was the most basic of strategies, with no personality to any of her cards.  A true duelist selected cards that matched their personality and strategy.  In fact, Kaiba never really liked the stalls in Kaibaland that allowed duelists to rent or purchase pre-made decks, but Mokuba insisted this helped the younger demographic, who had no idea how to build a proper deck.  

“Not very good,” Mokuba admitted to her and Serenity laughed. “You should build your own—I’m sure Yugi or Joey would help you.”

Kaiba rolled his eyes and Serenity chuckled.

“Yugi and Tea are completely revamping and restoring his grandpa’s shop—they’ve been covered in sawdust for the past month. I hate to interrupt them for something like this, just because I’m curious about learning. I was actually planning on asking Joey to teach me, but…well, he’s a little busy this morning.”

“You wanted Wheeler to teach you?” Kaiba said in utter disgust.

Serenity frowned at him.  “Joey is an excellent duelist. And a very good teacher.”

Kaiba snorted audibly.  She stood up angrily and Mokuba cautiously stepped in between the two, in case the other Wheeler lost her temper.  

“Just because you refuse to acknowledge it, doesn’t make it any less true,” Serenity spat. “He’s ranked in the top ten of every competition in the last five years—but what gets me is you know this. You saw how good he was in your own tournament! You just refuse to admit it, because you’re as stubborn as he is!”

Kaiba glared at her.  The stare was devastating; a more nervous person would have quailed before it, but Serenity stood her ground.  Mokuba blinked anxiously between them.

Finally, Kaiba spoke.  And he said something that surprised Serenity.

“Come with me.”

Before waiting for her answer, he turned around rapidly and strode forward. Serenity crossed her arms defiantly—did he really expect her to follow him after he insulted her brother that way?

But Mokuba seemed as surprised as she was.  He looked at her and gestured for her to follow him.  She thought it might be satisfying to refuse and tramp out of Kaibaland, but…the truth was, she wanted to satisfy her curiosity more. With a sigh, she nodded at Mokuba and followed Kaiba.

XXXX

“Um…Seto, where are we going?”

It was Mokuba who asked the tentative question.  Kaiba had not looked at either of them in the eye and Serenity was to the point of wondering if his directive had been a slip of the tongue and she was just stalking him around the building.  At least Mokuba was equally bewildered.  

After two or three elevator rides, they arrived in Kaiba’s office--the Kaibaland office. Did he want a chess rematch? Serenity would have to turn him down on that front; chess brought back painful memories and she only played herself or for very special occasions.  Irritating Kaiba was not one of them.  

But he did not demand she take out her chessboard.  Instead, he went to his desk, took a seat, and started rummaging through his drawers.  

Serenity looked at Mokuba for explanation, but he just shrugged at her.  

Kaiba’s head snapped up.  “Where’s your deck?”

She blinked and slowly offered him the rented deck.

“Not that one,” He fairly snarled. “The other one. You used one in the virtual world, didn’t you?”

Ugh, she’d almost effectively blocked that misadventure out.  Tristan had gotten turned into a robot monkey, she’d revealed to some of the best duelists in the world that she chose her personal deck based on which cards were cute, and they’d all nearly gotten stuck in the virtual world for good.

She knew her deck was poorly made, which was why she’d chosen to rent a deck for that day.  Why did Kaiba want it?

“Did you leave it at home?” Kaiba accused in a tone that suggested she might have committed murder while she was at it.

“No,” Serenity scowled.  She dug through her messenger bag and pulled out her deck.  She handed it to Kaiba.  

He flipped through it so rapidly she was shocked that he could even see what was in her deck, let alone assess it. He tossed a few of her cards on his desk—St. Joan the Forgiving Maiden, Goddess with the Third Eye—and continued to rummage through his deck, mixing more cards with hers.

“Seto?” Mokuba was staring at his brother in utter astonishment.  

Kaiba ignored him.  He was in deep concentration.  At one point, he even left his desk, crossed the room to a large safe, unlocked it, and pulled out a few more cards.  

Serenity’s mind swam.  Was he…he couldn’t be building her a deck, could he?

She looked at the desk.  Archlord Marie, Archlord Krystia…Archlord Lucifer?!  She hadn’t even heard of these monsters…but they were beautiful, that was for certain.  

After about twenty minutes of Mokuba and Serenity staring at Kaiba while he flicked through cards, discarded most of her deck and replaced it with other cards, he finally finished.  He shuffled them rapidly together and looked sharply at Serenity.

“Here.”

Serenity looked at Mokuba for confirmation.  He shrugged.  Slowly, she reached out and took the deck from Kaiba.  

“You’re not going to learn how to use this deck from Wheeler,” Kaiba informed her coldly.

She didn’t know the game well enough to ascertain whether that was true or not. She looked at the deck in her hand and tried to figure out something to say.  Kaiba was looking at his phone, at what appeared to be a calendar.  

“Next Friday,” He said finally.

“Excuse me?” Serenity blinked.

“Next Friday. 6:30PM. Bring the deck. You can go now.”

After a long moment, Serenity looked at Mokuba, who gave her another helpless shrug. It was clear that as close as the brothers were, the younger Kaiba had no idea what on earth was going on. Bewildered, she allowed Mokuba to lead her to the elevators to take her to the lobby.

XXXX

When Mokuba safely escorted Serenity to the lobby, he immediately turned on his heel and returned to his brother’s office.  Seto was standing at the tall windows, staring out with a somewhat blank expression.

“What the hell was that?!” Mokuba demanded.  

Seto looked at him and didn’t answer.

“You’re giving her Duel Monsters lessons? Seriously? Why?!”

The elder Kaiba didn’t reply.  It was possible he didn’t know the answer.  

[ayma-nidiot]

In the White Light - Prideshipping fic Chapter 6

Also on AO3.

Chapter 6 – Like A Red Rose

Huh? Where am I? Kaiba had reawakened in a place that didn’t appear to be his plane. To add to his confusion, his surroundings seemed unusually… tall. So, Alister has send me to a giants’ world, has he? Another hallucination… I know I’m still on the plane!

Just then, three boys began to storm in from the trap door above. “Oh boy, oh boy, some food! Finally!”

“Say, Tony, maybe we can play chess after dinner!”

“Okay, Dennis, I’m up to it! We deserve a break after what we’ve gone through.”

Is that… Kaiba had to do a double-take at the third boy who entered. He looks just like Mokuba…

“I don’t know about Aaron up there, haha!”

Aaron felt hurt by Tony’s words, but he eventually noticed Kaiba sitting on the table. “Oh? What a cute little dragon!”

L-Little? Kaiba growled and attacked, but all that came out was a tiny ball of light.

“Aww, he’s so cute!” Aaron picked Kaiba off the table and started to pet him. “Can we keep him?”

Brat! …Huh? Kaiba looked into a mirror nearby. Sure enough he was in dragon form, but no bigger than a housecat. Aaaah! I look like one of Pegasus’ toon monsters!

“No can do, man. We can’t afford dinner for four!”

“Hmph!” Defying his friends, Aaron picked some food off the tiny dining table and fed it to a barely willing Kaiba.

“Hey, that’s mine!” Dennis nearly threw a fork at Aaron. “You’re going to pay for that!”

“And we mean literally,” Tony added. “How about you and your new pet go get us dessert. Hahaha!”

Without thinking, Kaiba snapped back, “Are you brats always this friendly?”

“Whoah!” Tony dropped his spoon. “He can talk!”

You and me both, Kaiba thought, not impressed at his pipsqueak-sounding voice.

“Okay, we’ll get your stupid dessert!” As Aaron carried him out, Kaiba gave the boys one last snarl before they crossed the trap door. I won’t fall for any of this, Alister!

“Wow, a dragon that can talk!” Aaron sounded amazed as he walked out. “Maybe when you grow big and strong, you can finally squash KaibaCorp! All right, I’ll go find you some food while I go look for dessert, too!”

Ugh, don’t remind me… For once, Kaiba could keep his power-hungry tendencies in check, and was thankful for it. “Say, Aaron… When did all of this KaibaCorp nonsense start?”

“I don’t really know… It feels like it’s been forever.” Aaron jumped onto a nearby ledge. “Let me think… Gozaburo bought out our land about a year ago, then when we refused to move, he started attacking. That’s when I met my friends… I know they seem mean, but they work really hard just to find me something to eat. I kind of owe it to them to return the favour.”

“Oh, I see…” Kaiba frowned, feeling a little ashamed. My father… What a repulsive man he was.

“Hey, are you okay, little guy?” Aaron stopped walking.

“It’s… It’s nothing.” It’s also a good thing that I’m not wearing my usual clothes, complete with the KaibaCorp logo.

“Well, if you insist.” Aaron continued down the ledge. “We shouldn’t stay in place for too long, or Gozaburo’s men might find us. A lot of my old classmates had to go hide… I hope they’re okay. It’s a good thing us kids are so small, haha!”

Alister, I think I’ve learned a long time ago that my stepfather hurt you! I’ve seen enough!

Aaron’s next words disturbed any further thoughts. “Say, do you want to play chess when we get back?”

“Huh? Where did that… Er, of course! I was the best when I was young.”

“But you’re already young.”

Crap… Well, I’m not lying. “Wait… Aaron, look over there.” Kaiba nudged his head to his right, indicating a tower of smoke.

“Oh no! That’s where the hideout is! Quick, uh… What should I call you?”

“Seto is fine.”

“Let’s go, Seto! We have to save my friends!”

“Wait! It’s too dangerous!” Kaiba tried to break free and stop Aaron, but that only made him tighten his grip.

When he arrived at the scene, the entire hideout was in flames, and all Aaron could really see was the frame of the building. “Oh no! They might be trapped!”

“No!” Kaiba released himself from Aaron’s hold and pulled him by the collar, vigorously flapping his wings.

“Please, Seto!” Aaron’s voice sounded different this time.

“Mokuba?” Kaiba stared at the brief mirage of his younger brother before he could hear tanks nearby.

“Aah! It’s KaibaCorp! Quick, we need to find a new hiding spot!”

“Grr… Face me, Alister, you coward!” With a loud roar, Kaiba could not only feel himself grow, but also turn back into a human. “Let’s finish this duel!”

The mirage of Aaron disappeared, with Y-Dragon Head and X-Head Cannon taking its place. But the former didn’t last long, as with a quick blast, one of the tanks had taken it out.

“Hahaha! Feeling the burn yet?” At last, Alister had shown his face.

“What burn? Your mind games aren’t working anymore! See, your little illusion you call a ‘friend’ is already gone!”

“But it is no illusion. You see, those were my three best friends growing up. We also had a pet cat that Aaron and I particularly loved. He was one of the few happy moments in our lives back then… We all looked out for one another, and the cat even brought us a few scraps of food every now and then. But he died trying to protect us from a tank, and that’s when the tanks ran my other friends out of town!”

“…”

“So now you’ve had a taste of my past, and you’ll see how it feels to be attack by the tanks that ruined my life. Oh, and by the way, I thought I’d like to mention what’s happened in our current reality. I just used a trap card called Tank Corps, powering up my KC One Crayton and giving it 1500 extra attack points. I had more than enough to defeat your Y-Dragon Head and inflict 2000 life points of damage on to you. So now, I place a card face down. Your turn!”

“My Y-Dragon Head is down but not out! I use Monster Reborn to bring it back! Now say hello to XYZ Dragon Cannon! And thanks to its special ability, I’ll discard one of my cards to get rid of one of yours! Your Tank Corps is gone!”

“Oh!” Alister turned around as he watched the tanks around him blow up, leaving only the KC One Crayton in its place.

“Now, XYZ Dragon Cannon, attack!”

With six blasts of light, the XYZ Dragon Cannon struck its foe, creating a storm of light that took everyone back to the real world.

“Hm. I should have expected this brutish behaviour from you. You really are just like your father after all! That’s why… That’s why I’m going to end you today, so that people like you will get the suffering they deserve, and the less fortunate can live in peace!”

“Shut up, you- Aah!” Kaiba wobbled as the plane started to nosedive. Oh no… Mokuba! He’s in the cockpit!

“I wouldn’t worry too much about your brother if I were you. It’s a shame you can’t even protect him… Now you know how it feels. And you’ll suffer even more when I take your soul, then that of your precious pharaoh!”

Kaiba blushed, but still keeping up his usual anger. “What the hell do you know?”

“You saw what he did back there… He sees you as nothing but an enemy, a monster to save the world from. Do you really think he could ever fall for you?”

“That’s none of your damned business!”

“Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t.” Alister drew another card.

Despite how concerned Kaiba felt for his brother, Mokuba could handle the plane fairly well, even though he was so small. “Oh! Roland, am I glad to see you!”

“Mr. Mokuba! What’s the matter?”

“There’s no time to explain… Seto and I are on a plane that’s about to crash land! You gotta send help!”

“On it, sir!”

“Mr. Mokuba!” Another one of KaibaCorp’s employees came onto the video call. “I’ll help you fly the plane! Just follow my instructions word-for-word, got it?”

“You got it!”

“Push the buttons on the right…”

“Uh huh.” After following a few more instructions, Mokuba had barely averted the mountain ahead. “Yay! Now I can just put the plane back on autopilot and go see if Seto’s okay.”

Meanwhile, Alister felt so confident in himself, despite the heavy hit he just took. “I summon Kinetic Soldier in attack mode! I play Junk Dealer to bring back Science Soldier and Cyber Soldier of Dark World back with half of their original attack points! Next, I activate my trap, Soldier Revolt, to destroy all of your in-play cards and the cards in your hand when I have these three monsters on the field! Next…”

“There’s… a next?”

“You bet there is! I now play Sky Union… Now get ready for my strongest monster, the Air Fortress Ziggurat! Not only is it strong – both naturally and from the Seal – I can summon a Robot Token for every turn it’s in play.”

“This is nothing…” Kaiba drew one of his cards – one that hurt him badly in the duel with Yami Yugi, but one that he couldn’t be more thankful for now.

“Seto! Please, stop this duel!”

Ignoring his brother’s pleas, Kaiba continued, “I use Pot of Greed to draw two cards. I place one card face down, and now my turn is done.”

“And so are you! Air Fortress Ziggurat, attack his life points directly!”

“Not so fast! My face down card lets me use your Junk Dealer, and I protect my life points with Judge Man!”

“So? You’re just delaying the inevitable.”

Kaiba could hear the faint sound of choppers in the distance. “The only thing that’s inevitable here is my rescue – and your doom.”

“So you even hide behind your army of cronies like Gozaburo! Raaaaa!” Alister’s anger grew more profound, increasing not only the Seal’s power, but also damage to the place.

“Forget about that snake! I’ll make sure you do with Soul Exchange! I know I can’t take your Ziggurat, but I can take the tokens! Then I use these tokens… as tribute for one of my strongest monsters! The Blue-Eyes White Dragon!”

“Seto, don’t!” Mokuba cried.

“Ngh…” Upon playing this card, Kaiba’s back pain and nausea started to set in.

“You know if you use that card, you could go mad again, right?” Alister teased. “Then you’ll turn back into a dragon and feel the pain when the pharaoh attacks you again. So you’re not going to win either way! It’s either become that dragon the pharaoh hates or lose your soul to the Seal of Orichalcos!”

With a strong mind, Kaiba managed to wear his pain off. “You’re wrong. I’ve made a vow today that I will stay strong and not let the curse take me again. But enough about me… Our monsters now have an equal attack power of 3000.”

“Hmm, such fighting spirit!” On his seventh turn, Alister spoke up, “I activate Toy Robot Box, discarding three cards to summon three more robots! I’ll use one of them to activate my Spell Canceller.”

“So stopping violence… with more violence. Maybe you’re the one who’s like Gozaburo. What would your brother say?”

“Y-You know nothing, cur! Now, my Ziggurat, attack his-”

“A wasted effort. I activate Tyrant Wing, giving my Blue-Eyes 400 attack points!”

“Way to go!” Mokuba cheered.

Mokuba… I’ll protect you. “Now I can take down your Ziggurat!”

Now I’ve only got 1000 life points… Alister thought as he began to lose hope. “You’re going to lose…”

“If you didn’t notice, you’ve got no monsters, and I’ve got my Blue-Eyes!”

“I didn’t mean the duel… If I have to lose my soul to Orichalcos, then I’m taking you and your fucking little brother with me!” Alister declared as the plane’s propellers stopped.

“You will do no such thing! I summon… The Fang of Critias! He fuses with my Tyrant Wing and Blue-Eyes White Dragon to create… The Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon!”

“No… No, it can’t be!”

“Tyrant Dragon, destroy those tokens and eliminate the rest of Alister’s life points!”

“Hah… Hah…” Alister panted as he fell to the floor in defeat. “I’ve… lost.”

“Alister!” Mokuba fully expected what was to come next. “No, don’t go!”

“Mikey…” Alister stretched out his hand with the Dyna-Dude action figure in it. “Mikey, forgive me… I’m not a good older brother… So I deserve… this…”

“Alister…” Even after everything Alister did to him, Mokuba couldn’t help but shed a tear for the man who just lost his soul.

“I’m sorry, but we don’t have time to worry about him! This plane’s about to crash!”

“Th-Then we’ve got to do something!” Mokuba led Kaiba to the cockpit. “No! What are we gonna… Seto, look at your Duel Disk! It’s glowing!”

“Yug, look, your Duel Disk is glowing!” Joey alerted from several thousand feet below.

“Yours, too! Ah! Timaeus! Hermos!”

“Look!” Téa was the first to notice the crash-landing plane. “The dragons are saving that plane!”

“We’ve got to go see!” Tristan suggested. “Hurry!”

As the friends got closer to their destination, Yami Yugi noticed the third dragon as well. “It’s Critias! Could it be…”

“Yug, watch out! The plane is crash landing now!”

Aided by the dragons and the soft lakeside, the plane landed with only minor damage – something that Kaiba was certainly thankful for as he exited.

“It's...” Téa pointed. “It’s one of Kaiba’s planes!”

“Hmm?” Kaiba noticed Téa, Joey, and Tristan first. “Oh great, if it isn’t the Dweeb Patrol. What are you doing here?”

“Listen, rich boy, we’re the one who should be asking questions. Who is that you’re carrying?”

“…Just some guy I dueled on this plane.”

“By the looks of it, his soul… It got lost to Orichalcos, didn’t it?” Téa remarked. “Then… We’ve got to get him to the hospital, too.”

“‘Too?’”

“It’s a long story, but Weevil Underwood and Rex Raptor lost their souls, too,” Tristan replied. “And all for some petty revenge.”

“Anyway, we were looking for you! Especially Yug over there, he was pretty eager to see you again.”

“Yugi… He’s here?” Kaiba felt the butterflies again – but they were the good kind now. “L-Let me see him!”

And just like that, Yami Yugi revealed himself to Kaiba once more, staring at him with a pleasant silence.

“Yugi…” Kaiba could feel his heart pounding as he took a step forward.

To his surprise, it was Yami Yugi who took the first approach – and a very emotional one at that. “Kaiba… Oh gods, Kaiba, I thought I had lost you for good!”

Kaiba didn’t know what to make about the fact that a pharaoh – a revered king – just knelt in front of him while crying.

“I’m… so glad… I thought I had failed to save you… I thought I had… Eh? What are you doing?”

In the midst of his thoughts, Kaiba had given Yami Yugi a strong hug, bringing him back to his feet in the process. That’s right… Ever since our first duel, I have felt this way. Even more than a rival, pharaoh… You are…

“…beautiful…” Kaiba pushed the long golden bangs out of the way to get a better look at Yami Yugi’s eyes. His eyes… I thought they were purple before, but they glow like a red rose.

“What? Kaiba, this isn’t funny- Mph!”

Any insignificant thoughts Yami Yugi might have had at that moment were stifled in Kaiba’s kiss.

[graveyardshift-writer]

Endearment and Enmity Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh.

Title: Endearment and Enmity

Rating: T-M depending on chapter, M overall

Summary: When you’re literally married to the person you despise.

Warnings: Homosexual relationships,vulgar words and adult situations.

Author’s Note: I don’t know why I wrote this.

Chapter 2: Fallacies

Living in the Kaiba mansion wasn’t that bad all things considered, although he still missed his old apartment in San Antonio. The size of the mansion was just as much of a curse as it was a blessing. It was nice to have all the space, because this allowed him to have a completely different living space from his… spouse. Especially since it was just him, Kaiba, the small live-in staff and technically Mokuba (who was studying abroad) who still had a room set up. However, all the unnecessary space made the mansion seem so empty… not like a home at all.

When Kaiba had first made his ‘proposal’, he’d assured it would only last about three years, five years at most. Mostly just to get the CEO’s peers to clearly see that he had no intertest in women. Although it seemed like a long time, it was still only a fraction of the time it would take to pay back his student loan debt. As much as he didn’t like Kaiba, at least the guy kept his promises and paid it all off as soon as they both signed the marriage certificate. Jonouchi could have divorced him on the spot, but if Kaiba could uphold his promise, he would as well.

The brunet allowed him to finish covering down for his head nurse as he got his affairs in America in order. He was quite sad to leave America where he’d made several new friends that now he’d probably never see again. Plenty of military personnel in fact since Joint Base San Antonio was the military medical training hub for Soldiers, Airmen and Sailors, a lot of them had a second job at the hospital or worked there as ordered by the military for some reason or another, and they’d introduced him to military culture.

Once he had all of stuff packed, and all his affairs in order to move back to Domino City, Kaiba first had them sign an American marriage license to make the marriage seem more credible given Jonouchi’s dual-citizen status and a long-distance relationship would explain why they’ve never been seen in public together.

Once back in Domino City they weren’t legally married under Japanese law where same-sex marriage wasn’t recognized yet except for a few cases. Kaiba had, however, been right when he said that a big enough donation would make the city look the other way. It made Domino City all too happy to legally recognize their marriage license and issue them a Japanese one as well. It made Jonouchi feel bad though, to think about the legitimate and loving same-sex couples across Japan who couldn’t be married under Japanese law, yet Kaiba could for business purposes just because he was obscenely wealthy. If that wasn’t special treatment, he didn’t know what was.

The two duelists had made a promise that they wouldn’t tell anyone the true reason of their marriage as not to either humiliate in Jonouchi’s case, or demonize in Kaiba’s case, either of them in the eyes of their friends and loved ones. Well, Jonouchi’s friends and loved ones at least; for Kaiba it was loved one, peers, and the public opinion.

Speaking of their friends and loved ones, their marriage had no doubt caused quite the shock, Jonouchi ended up lying to his friends and family that he’d been keeping the ‘relationship’ secret for three years because he didn’t want to cause any drama if it didn’t work out and, and that Kaiba needed time to publicly come out of the closet. His sister was hurt that he’d keep something like this from her, and was still giving him the silent treatment about it.

Mokuba was the opposite to Jonouchi’s sibling, he was ecstatic over his brother getting married to someone who was both a familiar face and 'wasn’t a gold-digging hoebag’ in his own words (guy had a colorful vocabulary). However, Kaiba admitted to him soon after the 'wedding’ that Mokuba knew him so well that he probably knew it was all a façade and went with it because he was just glad his big brother wasn’t totally alone now.

Now, there was no way in Dante’s Inferno that Jonouchi would resign to become a housewife (he cringed at the word) after he’d spent so much time and stress to become a CRNA, so with some heavy persuasion, which was actually just carefully worded blackmail, Kaiba agreed to let his new spouse work under the condition that he would work at a private hospital owned by Kaiba Corp.

While he hated that he had to technically work for the guy he had grown to despise more and more each passing day when he already had to bear with being married to him; the facility was a doctor’s office and acute care clinic that catered specifically to orphan or underprivileged pediatric patients, which Jonouchi couldn’t bring himself to disapprove of no matter who owned and funded it. It was almost sweet how the CEO in all his influence, wealth and power, couldn’t let go of his roots.

Not that he empathized with the man.

Being new, he was just a regular CRNA with RN duties since anesthesia was rarely administered with pediatric patients compared to adults. He wasn’t in as high as a position as he used to be at the hospital he used to work at, to his chagrin he’d have to work his way up all over again. And it wasn’t easy because being married to the owner of the facility meant that automatically one half of the staff hated him and swore up and down he got special treatment, while the other half consistently tried to kiss his ass.

Home life was dull, Kaiba was usually at work, and even when he wasn’t they lived in different wings of the mansion and so far, have had very little interaction since getting married. A small comfort, in the beginning of this convoluted 'plan’ the red eyes black dragon master was afraid that his… spouse, would require them sharing a bedroom and bed; or worse, sex. He’d seriously prefer sticking his dick in an ant hill over having sex with Kaiba, his animosity towards the CEO was just that strong.

They’d been married, and he’d been back in Domino City, for six months so far. They still didn’t even really like each other at all, and hadn’t so much as kissed for obvious reasons.

Currently Jonouchi was in one of loungerooms, which each floor had, but he was in the first floor one; he’d just gotten back from the gym after work, and didn’t feel like going up the stairs. He was lying on the couch in just his scrub pants and white cotton shirt, watching TV and munching on a bowl of seedless grapes.

All of a sudden, his 'knight in shining armor’ shows up, and Jonouchi just tries his best to ignore him but he stands there quietly staring at him from the doorway as if expecting acknowledgment, which he most likely was but Jonouchi didn’t give two halves of a fuck.

Eventually he relented “Can I help you, Kaiba?” He asked as calmly and politely as possible, but of course he sounded irritated.

“We’re going to a social event tonight.” The brunette informed him without a hint of bargaining.

But Jonouchi was a haggler nonetheless, and he groaned “Can’t you tell them I’m at work?”

“It’s an acute care clinic, not a full hospital, it closes at seven o'clock. The event starts at nine.”

“Can’t you tell them I’m sick.”

“Katsuya it’s been six months and I’ve used that excuse eight times already.”

“Can’t you tell them I died.” Okay that one was obviously a joke, but he was still irritated and didn’t want to go to some business event designed for extremely rich people to show off projects and hypothetically show everyone just how big their dick really was.

Kaiba sighed and walked over, resting a hand onto the couch to lean on it slightly. Oh great, now he was going to use one of those bullshit first-semester-of-community-college-psych techniques on him. Oh, joy how he really looked forward to being guilted by a guy he despised but was unironically hitched to. “Look, if this arrangement is going to work we have to at least occasionally be seen in public together as a couple, we don’t want this to look like a sham.”

“This is a sham, dumbass.” He popped another grape into his mouth and chewed with his mouth open just to spite the blue-eyed duelist, and to highlight the fact that he still didn’t give two halves of a fuck.

“Regardless, Katsuya, you should at least put some effort into this marriage, I can’t be the one pulling all of the weight.” Kaiba stated sternly, and his statement almost made Jonouchi throw the whole ceramic bowl of grapes at him.

Angrily the blonde retorted “Oh hell no are you going to accuse me of not pulling my weight! I gave up my life for this 'arrangement’!” His appeal to emotion fallacy fell to ears that belonged to an emotionless brain.

“Get upstairs, clean up and put on something decent. This isn’t an option, you’re going to go. It isn’t a very formal even so I’d suggest business casual.” And with that, Kaiba left the Livingroom, to get ready for the event as well. He put emphasis on the word suggest because Jonouchi had no choice.

-/-

“If you like me Kaiba just say so.” Jonouchi whispered, harshly but in a joking manner as his… spouse, practically dragged him out of the limo, insisting on their arms being linked together so they wouldn’t give away the fact that they hated physical contact of any kind with each other.

“Just stay quiet.” Kaiba instructed in a mumble, walking them both to the Centre where the event was being held – some old billionaire unveiling his next product to make even more money, seeking out fellow business tycoons to invest in it.

“Whatever.” The brunet continued to walk him in, and Jonouchi was relieved to see that it wasn’t a formal white-collar event, and the other people attending were in business casual as well, but all of them minus the presumably single ones had brought their spouses. Okay so maybe Kaiba had good reason to drag him with him, not that he’d give him credit or anything.

Once they were both seat at some random table, the CEO started giving him a 'pep talk’ “Don’t you dare talk to anyone. If you do, keep it limited to pleasantries only. I don’t need you saying anything unintelligent to my peers.”

“Yes 'dear’, of course.” Jonouchi sarcastically replied, but nodded as well. He didn’t want to talk to some random rich people he didn’t know anyways. He didn’t even like talking to Kaiba and he knew him.

“I’ll go grab us a drink, you wait here.” Kaiba said, then paused “Not because I care but, you know, have to keep the image of a marriage up.”

Jonouchi rolled his eyes, crossed his arms and not caring how unprofessional it looked “Whatever, Kaiba, just, no alcohol okay.” The blonde duelist didn’t drink. The blue-eyed man simply nodded and walked away, giving his 'partner’ a moment of peace.

Jonouchi heavily sighed. He really should have paid closer attention to the big print of that contract.

TO BE CONTINUED

Author’s note: I don’t have a name for the clinic that Jonouchi currently works at but it’s a children’s acute care clinic owned by the Kaiba Corporation. And when Jonouchi said he’d rather stick his dick in an ant hill than have sex with Kaiba, it’s a reference to watch?v=3vXNTCpM6rE

Please leave a review.

[sage-nebula]

for the post you just reblogged, yugioh!!

Oh boy.

To get this out of the way first and foremost, because we all know how badly I want this and think it should have happened—I would make Wishshipping 100%, undeniably canon.The thing is, this would be incredibly easy to do. The set-up is already there. Yuugi tells Jounouchi that he loves him using extremely strong language right before he attempted to sacrifice his life to save Jounouchi’s. He wanted Jounouchi to keep the Millennium Puzzle, his treasure, in the event of that sacrifice, trusting Jounouchi with the Puzzle (and therefore Atem!) above all else. And Jounouchi’s response? On top of trying to sacrifice his own life to save Yuugi’s instead (THESE BOYS, ISTG), he says “thank you,” which is pretty goddamn powerful from the standpoint of the Japanese language, which is strongest in its subtleties. If either Yuugi or Jounouchi were female, no one would doubt that Wishshipping became canon at the pier. No one. Given that they’re both boys, however, there are many, many more hoops that they have to jump through before people accept it.So that said? Let’s set up those hoops!As far as the actual manga goes, I probably would have altered their conversation on the boat to the Ceremonial Duel a bit in order to make it more concrete, particularly since that conversation provides the perfect set-up. Between already putting the idea of romance in the reader’s mind by almost having Anzu confess her feelings for Atem before chickening out (and it’s clear that it’s Atem she wants to confess to; her thoughts later on in the Ceremonial Duel about how it’s Atem specifically that she wants by her side forever aside, she also specifically asks Yuugi if Atem said anything, wanting to know if he was thinking of her), and then also having Jounouchi clue in to Yuugi’s feelings without Yuugi having to say what he’s thinking + the two of them talking about the future, the opportunity is downright perfect for it. So that said? I would have extended that scene a bit. As they talk about the fact that Atem will have to go on to the afterlife should Yuugi win the Ceremonial Duel (and as Yuugi says with certainty that he will be the one to duel), I would probably have Yuugi trail off a bit and quietly say something along the lines of how much he’s going to miss Atem once he crosses over. Jounouchi, of course, hears this, and comments sincerely that, yeah, he will, too. They all will, of course. Yuugi would nod, quiet for a moment more, and then—YUUGI: “Jounouchi-kun?”JOUNOUCHI: “Yeah?”YUUGI: “We’ll—you and I … we’ll always be together, won’t we?”JOUNOUCHI: “’Course we will. I’m never gonna give up on us, remember?”YUUGI: “Yeah!”The “I’m never gonna give up on us” is a callback to Death-T, wherein Jounouchi said, “I’ll never give up on myself, or on you.” Furthermore, Yuugi asking Jounouchi if they’ll always be together (perhaps rephrased like “you’ll always be by my side,” or phrased to call that to mind) is a parallel to what Anzu thinks about Atem during the Ceremonial Duel. Only, this story gets a happy ending.But since that’s still subtle enough so that I’m sure some would deny it, I would probably include a flash-forward epilogue that, perhaps, shows the two of them going a date, holding hands, to see one of Anzu’s dance performances. =) Something like that. And if I did make a sequel movie years later, well … a Big Damn Kiss (and at the very least a returned love confession!) would certainly be included.But yeah, this would be canon, particularly since it would be beautifully developed, healthy LGBTQA representation in an influential series aimed at kids. Sign me the fuck up, we need this.

Speaking of Anzu, better involvement for the ladies (and better treatment overall). Specifically:- Anzu’s dancing career needs more focus. I know that this is a series about games, but Anzu just had the one dancing game and that’s it. (Oh, and she did get to help out during Death-T as well—that was nice.) I want there to be more mention of her dream, and less focus on her involvement insofar as the romance subplot. And speaking of that? Once she realizes that Atem and Yuugi are two separate people, I want them to have an actual, legitimate conversation about how her feelings are for Atem, not Yuugi, because it’s pretty obvious that her romantic interest in Yuugi began and ended when she thought he was just an opposite personality of Atem’s. Once she realized they were two separate people, she went back as seeing him as something of a kid brother (emphasized when she refers to him as a “tough kid,” using the actual Japanese word for child, when talking with Atem right before Battle City started). Anzu was confused for a time and that’s fine, she’s a teenage girl and she is allowed to be confused without being vilified for it—but that needed to get sorted out definitively so everyone could move on with no hard feelings. More importantly, though, I do want more focus for her outside of the romance. She’s more than eye candy. Treat her like it.- Shizuka deserves to do something more other than be motivation for Jounouchi and his support during Battle City. I want to see Shizuka play games, such as music games. I want to see her bond with Mokuba, and other characters. Hell, I want a scene where Malik tries something with Jounouchi on the blimp (after revealing who he is), and Shizuka tries to fight for the brother who so valiantly fought for her. She’s his baby sister—let her show some temper and will of her own! Let her do something!- Mai should have won her duel against Atem in Duelist Kingdom, because frankly he was an ass for the entire duel and didn’t deserve that ass-pull victory. But since that would fuck up the entire plot, that duel needs to at the least be rewritten so that he’s not being an asshole to her for the entire match. Also, I hate that in order to force her to “develop” she was damsel’d during Duelist Kingdom so that Atem had to win her star chips back for her. Likewise, that she was damsel’d in Battle City to motivate Jounouchi, which … was unnecessary, considering Jounouchi already had motivation to fight Malik because of the pier duel. Honestly, her coma seemed more like a reason to get her “out of the way” and create drama, which is no good. Mai deserves better. Give her better.- I really would have liked to see Isis defeat Kaiba, advance to the finals, and get a real shot at facing her brother. Or, hell! Instead of having Mai face Malik and get put into a coma, force Malik to go up against Isis in a duel! Let them fight it out! Let Isis do more for her brother than orchestrate a tournament and then get kicked out of it so the boys can have all the fun!- The entire Kisara subplot needs to be rewritten, because Kisara was honestly created just so that she could be fridged to motivate Set + give him a dragon. She, like so many other ladies, deserved better than to be objectified (dragonified?) in a sense and then killed off just to give Set angst + Kaiba a reason to obsess over a dragon.Basically, justice for the YGO ladies 2k17, with a side order of I really don’t like Set/Kisara, or Kaiba/Kisara, or whatever variation we’re going with this week, because it was terribly written and I’m not letting Takahashi off the hook for it, even if he was extremely sick at the time the Memory World arc was written. (I mean, that’s said, but he wasn’t sick when he wrote Cyndia’s story, and she was also fridged to give a man reason to angst, so I feel like it wasn’t the illness that created the problems here. The only real problem the illness created was how rushed that arc was, and also Zorc’s dragon penis. Everthing else is on Takahashi.)

Speaking of Zorc, less Duel Monsters, more Shadow Games. I LOVED the Shadow Games from the school arc. LOVED THEM. Oh sure, they were a remnant of corruption from the Puzzle and yadda yadda, but they were fun. They were interesting! They were far more interesting than thirty-odd volumes of goddamn Duel Monsters! We can have Duel Monsters for a bit, sure, fine, but I want to see more Shadow Games. Part of the reason why Malik is so wonderful is because his set-ups for Yuugi in Battle City were very reminiscent of Atem’s Shadow Games. The Pandora set-up? The pier duel?? Those are so creatively sadistic that I adore them, particularly the pier duel. More of that, less of boring card games, please and thank you.

And speaking of Shadow Games + boring card games, Jounouchi should have won his duel against Malik, idgaf. He can still (temporarily) die, but I would make that final attack connect, because he won that duel through sheer skill, and I’m still salty that he was robbed, tbh. The Sun Dragon Ra should have been his, without a doubt.

Lastly, as an overall thing, on top of giving the ladies more to do in the plot/giving them justice where it was needed, I would have removed a lot of the gross content that does pervade the manga. Things like a background joke of Jounouchi and Honda lifting Anzu’s skirt in chapter three, or Jouji’s entire character (he can be there as a baby, but he doesn’t need to talk or constantly hit on Anzu, especially since he’s a baby), or how Anzu was groped during the electric chair ride during Death-T (disgusting). Things like that don’t add anything of value to the manga and aren’t necessary to the plot at all, so I would remove them. Again, the manga is better than this. Takahashi is better than this. Let’s prove it.

[thecrazydragonlady]

The Immortal Pharaoh Chapter 27

Introducing everyone's favorite a-hole. I had to get him in here somehow. I just hope I didn't write him too OOC.

Enjoy!

Seto Kaiba was a man described by many in different ways: Brilliant, handsome, intelligent, rough, egotistical, maniac, disagreeable, so on and so forth. Not that he gave much to the opinions of others. He'd learned a long time ago that human ideas were fleeting and by the time one idea even had a chance to sink its teeth into him, he was already on the move, usually leaving those following him confused and dazed. There weren't many who could play his game. Which was fine. He didn't intend to leave many standing when he was done.

Kaiba, despite all of this, was not completely heartless (an idea mostly spread by those who hated him). There were many that loved him. A handful of kids come to mind first, the ones who sat in the orphanage he had once sat in before he was adopted.

He sighed, pulling at the tie around his neck. It wasn't often that he wore a suit but he had had a pretty big meeting today to deal with the collapse of Industrial Illusions since it seemed the owner and Kaiba Corps partner, Pegasus J. Crawford, was seemingly arrested. For what, he still didn't know. His men were still trying to get that information. A hand touched his arm and he blinked, looking down at the owner. Mokuba stared at him. His face was concerned and Kaiba tried to change his expression to assure him but all he seemed to be able to manage was a small smile. Kaiba reached up to pet Mokuba’s head.

"Are you alright," Mokuba asked. Kaiba sighed again, running a hand through his own hair. Mokuba allowed this for a second but didn’t accept it as an answer to the question. He stared his brother down until he answered.

"I'm alright," Kaiba promised, "just tired." Mokuba nodded.

"That meeting was pretty boring." Kaiba chuckled.

"Only because those wind-bags wouldn't shut up."

Mokuba made a face and mimicked one of them, "It would be best if Industrial Illusions was treated as a stake-holder controlled company until...." Kaiba chuckled lightly and flicked him on the forehead which caused him to stop.

"It's done. We don't have to deal with this again," he mentioned, handing his briefcase to one of the men who followed him. He finally undid his tie all the way. The door to the limo was opened for them and he started to usher Mokuba in when someone chuckled. He looked up.

Standing about ten feet away from them was a boy with long, wild, white hair. A gold ring around his neck shined in the evening light and it caught his attention only because it looked similar to the items he had recently agreed to hold on to. He straightened. The bodyguards immediately moved, protecting their boss as was their paycheck, but Kaiba didn't flinch, his expression changing not once. The stranger stepped closer. One of the guards ordered him to stop and he did, his lips twisted into a rather gruesome grin. Kaiba narrowed his eyes, "Who are you?"

"Don't mind me," he stated, "I'm here for some items you seem to be holding."

"I'm assuming you mean the ones that match your tacky jewelry," he nodded. The stranger snickered.

"Tacky yes but rather powerful." He held out his hand. "So I'll take them back if you don't mind."

"Don't bother," Kaiba snapped. "I know for a fact you don't own those items and I won't be handing them over." He started to climb into the limo again. "Thanks for wasting my time."

"I'm afraid I wasn't asking for them. I was ordering them back." Kaiba started to respond but the stranger started laughing; the "tacky" necklace started to glow but the light was quickly diminished by the inky darkness that dripped out of it. It surrounded them, rising up to form like a dome above them. Mokuba clung to his back.

"S-Seto," he stuttered. Kaiba raised his arm to keep Mokuba hidden behind him. He gritted his teeth. The stranger was still laughing as he stepped back, allowing the darkness to swallow him. Kaiba tensed. The guards looked around frantically.

Suddenly, something appeared out of the darkness and grabbed one of the guards who screamed before he was pulled into the wall. Three others met the same fate. Kaiba ducked with Mokuba, dancing around the tendrils that seemingly were appearing from nowhere. He kept a tight grip on his brother. He slung him around, haphazardly to keep him out of reach. Just as quickly as the attack began, it stopped. Kaiba froze. Mokuba froze. They listened. They waited. Another tendril came out then, coming straight for him which meant he only had time to dance left with his brother, pushing him back behind him.

"Seto," Mokuba shouted. Kaiba turned, finding a pair of pale white hands grabbing Mokuba's jacket, yanking him quickly into the darkness. "Seto!"

"Mokuba!" He grabbed his leg, tugging. The darkness and the hands didn't release him. In fact, they overpowered him. Mokuba's leg slipped from his grasp and he stumbled forward, nearly landing on his face.

Kaiba rolled. He growled, looking up only to discover that he was on the street, alone.

Mokuba was gone.

It didn't take long for the realization of what had happened to hit him. Kaiba shouted before punching the concrete, causing his knuckles to bleed. People from inside the Kaiba Corps building, rushed out, concern laced on their voices as they came closer. He ignored them.

Kaiba stood. He was usually intimidating just as is; this time, everyone physically backed off from him, fear quaking through their bodies at the mere sight of him. He roughly pulled his phone out of his pocket. He redialed his last call.

The phone rang as he stormed his way back into the building. It took a few seconds but then...

"Hello Kaiba," Isis stated. "I'm surprised you're calling me...."

"Cut the crap Isis," he snapped. "My brother's been taken." She fell silent and he could hear movement in the background, like she had just shot out of her chair.

"What did you say?"

"My brother's been taken," he seethed, "and I'm going to get him back with those stupid items you asked me to protect."

"Kaiba...." He didn't wait. He closed the phone with a snap and he immediately spoke to the people following behind him.

"I want those items we put in the security vault brought to me now," he ordered. They bowed to him. A few disappeared to do as they were ordered.

Within moments, he had what he wanted. He had changed as well into a fully black outfit with a white coat. It was his preferred outfit. He usually wore it for all occasions. It didn't take long, essentially, for him to return outside to where the limo was still waiting, only with a new hired hands waiting for him. They bowed to him. Another car drove up then. He didn't bother to glance at it until someone called his name, "Kaiba! Wait!"

"I don't have time to wait Isis." He froze. Isis wasn't alone. Behind her stood a slew of familiar faces and he grunted, "Great. You brought the dork squad."

"Calm the fuck down Kaiba," Jounouchi returned. "We're here to help you find Mokuba."

"If you're the help then I'd be better off looking on my own."

"Look man, we only want to help," Honda added. Kaiba glared at him and the three of them entered into a staring match that Yugi was certain had lightning flashing between them. Yugi sighed.

Anzu clapped her hands and the three of them turned to look at her, "That's enough of this childishness from the three of you. We've got Mokuba to worry about." Kaiba turned.

"I never stopped worrying."

"We got that," Anzu mumbled. Isis stepped up.

"What exactly happened Kaiba? Why are you taking those items," she motioned to his case, "With you?" His grip tightened on the handle.

"Some freak with white hair and one of these things appeared and took my brother." Yami stepped forward.

"Then that means Bakura's made his move." Kaiba eyed him up and down.

"And who are you? A new member of the dork squad?" Yugi wanted to scream since it now seemed that lightning was flashing between the two of them. Anzu clapped her hands again.

"Alright, seriously. We don't have time for this," Yugi cut in before she could, "Kaiba, this is Yami. He's the one who owns the items you're about to ante up."

"Right. Just realizing I still don't care."

"You should," Isis added, "Since Yami is a skilled shadow games duelist; he might be your only chance at getting your brother back at all." Kaiba eyed him again. After a few seconds of silence, he turned, starting to climb into his car. They rushed forward. The window was rolled down a bit and all they could hear out of him was, "Not interested." The limo speed off. The group was left to stare at each other, completely dumbfounded by what they had just experienced. Yami pointed at the retreating car.

"Is he always like this?"

"This was him being nice," Yugi noted.

"This is why I told you it was a bad idea to get him involved," Jounouchi groaned. Isis shook her head.

"He was our best bet to keep the items safe."

"It's alright," Yugi stated. All eyes turned to him. His face was set into determination. "Kaiba maybe didn't want it but we're going to help him either way. He's over his head with these shadow games. If he faces Bakura, you can bet that it's going to be an uneven match." Yami touched his chin.

"But it makes no sense. Kaiba isn't chosen by any of those items. Even if they were to battle, Bakura wouldn't gain the items."

"We can worry about the particulars later," Isis cut in. "We need to divide and see if we can find either of the Kaibas or Bakura." They nodded. It was agreed that Rishid would go with Jounouchi and Honda on foot in one direction, Isis and Anzu would take the car, and Yugi and Yami would head in a third direction. They agreed to stay in contact. If anyone found anything, at least one of them was to call immediately and let the others know. "Bakura is dangerous," Isis reminded them. "From everything we've seen, has powers over the darkness that we have not seen before. All of us will probably need to face him down; remember, he has some kind of agenda we can only guess at right now." Isis nodded to Yami, "None of us are weak but the risk of death will be much higher. No offense." He waved a hand.

"None taken."

"Great," Jounouchi stopped them, "If we're done being stupidly polite to each other, I suggest we get moving." He nodded to Rishid. "Come on big guy. We're going to need to check the back alleys. Kaiba'll stick out like a sore thumb." He nodded. Together, that group took off. Anzu climbed into the car.

"Don't worry," she addressed Yugi, "We'll swing by the game shop too to check on Grandpa." He nodded.

"Thanks. Be careful if you find him there."

"We will," Isis assured him. She started the car and they took off. The two shared a look. They started running off in the third direction, hoping and praying to all the gods above that they made it in time before anyone was seriously hurt.

Next

[almasy-fics]

Retail Hell

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh Chapter: 1/? Rating: M (Subject to change) Warnings: Swearing, perving and aged up characters Pairing: Seto Kaiba/OFC Summary: Seto Kaiba has no choice but to shop for himself when his personal stylist ends up sick and ends up in a store named Dapper Gentleman Boutique. He's got the hots for the sales assistant.

Notes: A purely self indulgent piece of crap with added storyline!

AO3 Link Ko-Fi Link

Seto Kaiba had a personal stylist for a reason.

And this was it.

He had no idea what the hell he was looking at in this so called ‘Dapper Gentleman Boutique’, all the designer apparel was absolutely foreign to him. He knew the brand names of course, he wasn’t some sort of loser who just walked in off the streets, damn it, he was the richest CEO in all of Japan. Money was a mere object when it came to his clothing choices, he just would much prefer someone else to do the hard work for him.

How dare his stylist come down with pneumonia, stupid human immune systems.

It most certainly didn’t help that Mokuba was hot on his heels commenting on each and every item of clothing he saw…

“Look Seto, this Armani is bright green!”

“Look Seto, this Tom Ford has a hidden pocket for hip flasks!”

“Look Seto, I found a suit with pineapple print!”

“Look Seto, this one from a brand called Antons has people fucking on it.”

Wait what?

Huh, so it does.

He couldn’t find himself to scold Mokuba for swearing, when such a profanity was right in front of them clamoring all over the shirt in various positions. And oh would you look at that, they had both variations of same sex coitus on other shirts in this section, how inclusive.

“I think we’re in the wrong section Seto…”

To be honest, he was too concerned with attempting to shield Mokuba’s poor virgin eyes from the obscenely vulgar images before them to notice that a sales assistant had approached them, the aforementioned woman having to ask twice if they needed any assistance.

Seto appraised her before responding, eyeing her petite form before them. She was an obvious foreigner with her pale white skin, the waist high black pencil skirt accentuated her curves perfectly, noticing the way she stood tall in the black high heels she wore. Her ample breast size was accentuated by the deep purple long sleeved shirt she wore that was tucked into her skirt and she had the first three buttons undone to show a tasteful amount of cleavage. Several piercings were in her visible right ear and on her right nostril, glimmering in the natural light of the store. She adjusted her equally deep purple locks that were pinned to her left side whilst eyeing the brothers with apprehensive curiosity with her emerald green eyes behind wired spectacles. There was no doubt she knew who they were, he could just see it in the way she looked at them.

If he wasn’t so epically pissed off with his stylist right now, maybe he would have responded to this bombshell more politely.

“I’m fine.” He grunted, glowering down to her. Even with her high heels, she only came up to his chest, those extra five inches to her height not adding much. If she took those off and went down on her knees, maybe she could- No. Stop Seto! Down boy, bad! Do NOT sexualise the woman. Those shirts in front of them be damned, set them all alight. Burn the witch!

She raised an eyebrow.

“We need suits, please. Big brother’s stylist is sick so we don’t know what we need to get.” Responded Mokuba. Oh sweet little brother, always knowing when to take charge.

“Oh?” If she raised her eyebrow any higher he could have sworn she would have acquired a microphone out of nowhere and quote a certain superstar word for word.

But no one needs to know that he knows what the WWE is, and people definitely don’t need to know that he knows The Rock’s most popular catchphrase is ‘Do you smell what The Rock is cookin’?’

“Is there an occasion or is this business?” She asked. He had to give the woman credit, she was acting quite professional considering who exactly she was dealing with. Maybe he should throw her a bone to see how she reacts.

“My twenty-first.” He deadpanned. There, that was a good enough answer.

“And I am supposing we are wanting to steer clear from our exotic collection?” Their collective gazes made their way to the shirts they eyeballing before. Yes, definitely yes. The great Seto Kaiba would never been seen dead in one of those ludicrous things, even if the longer he looked at it, the absurd hilarity of the pattern did make the corners of his mouth shift slightly in amusement.

He just wouldn’t admit it.

“Yes please.” Answered Mokuba for him as he was inner monologuing yet again. He seemed to do that a lot in this store. Just another thing to blame his stupid sick stylist for.

Her plump red lips curved upwards, motioning behind her, “If you would just follow me, I will show you some more appropriate attire. Though to be honest, I do quite love our Antons collection. The store is based in Melbourne and we have an exclusive deal with them. We are the only place in Japan that stocks their products. It’s all so exciting!” She seemed to be happy with the product selection of this so called Antons. It made him wonder what other ridiculous designs the company owned.

Wait. An Australian boutique being a stockist to a Japanese boutique? How completely… odd.

As if she picked up on Seto’s confusion, she began speaking again.

“What? Did you think we were all about Drop Bears, riding Kangaroos to school and Tim Tams?” She stopped in another section of the store and turned back to the men. They were most definitely in a much more suitable part of the stores. No bizarre colours or overly sexual prints anywhere to be seen. “I’m kidding by the way, not about the Tim Tams though. They are amazing.”

“You’re Australian?” Asked Mokuba. Stop getting personal with the staff member, kid. We just need the damn suits!

“Born and raised.” She responded proudly, “Well, except for the past two years where I have been here, of course. Anyway… Do you have a brand preference? Colour preference?”

“Uh…”

“My stylist is the one who makes those decisions.” He deadpanned, earning a mirrored look from the salesperson. Yes, he was one of those customers, deal with it.

“The ones on TV?” Oh so now she was going to acknowledge that she knows who they are.

“Yes.”

“Sorry, but we don’t do shoulder pads for days here. It’s either look like an Aussie hipster, or look like you’re about to walk down the red carpet to a billion dollar budget movie premiere.” She looked the brothers up and down appraisingly before seemingly making up her mind. “You know what, have a look around here, pick what you think your stylist would pick out for you and try them on.”

“I’m not being paid to do your job.” Seto quipped with an impatient venom, yet she still held her professionalism, pushing her spectacles up the bridge of her nose with a single finger. Her eyes held his for a moment before she spoke.

“I am just trying to gauge what I am dealing with, sirs. It’s not very often we get someone of your calibre in here. I’d hate to do wrong by your stylist and choose garments that don’t scream Seto and Mokuba Kaiba.” She had a point. She was attractive and not a complete dunce- shut up Seto, shut up.

“Fine. Let’s do this Mokuba. We don’t have the time to waste.”

“Yes Seto!”

And to the designer suits they went.

“This is what your stylist would choose?”

“Yes.”

“Are you certain this is what they would choose?”

“Of course.”

“In a suit? For your twenty-first?”

“Did I stutter?”

Her arms were crossed against her chest, glaring at the sight before her in the mirror. What the hell was wrong with his choice? He even found a matching one for Mokuba. What the hell was wrong with a grey plaid suit?

Mokuba clearly wasn’t liking his choice either.

“Seto…” He pouted standing beside him in the mirror. Okay, was the world against him today or something? Mokuba always agreed with his choices! This was definitely something his stylist would pick out as a normal suit. Just what was wrong with it?

He swore he heard the salesperson whisper ‘I’m going to kill myself’ in English before attempting to straighten her face. It wasn’t working and she let out a tired sigh. Looks like she was finally showing her true colours.

“You know what, no. Get those abominations off and I will be back momentarily with something that isn’t from the nineteen-eighties.” She briskly walked away and Seto couldn’t help but watch her retreating form in the mirror, marvelling the way her hips swayed in every step, aided by her heels.

“She has a nice ass.”

“Shut up Mokuba.”

She definitely wasn’t making this shopping experience any easier.

The woman came back sooner than expected, several items in her arms. How she did it without tripping in her heels will forever be a mystery to Seto, but nonetheless he had to admit he was impressed with how quickly she came back.

“You want grey? Let’s one up this with a deep silver.” She handed him a silver, fitted Ermenegildo Zegna suit, “Then we match it with a simple white shirt and a cobalt blue tie to match your eyes.” She handed over the shirt and tie, “And for the kiddo we are going to go with a navy blue Tom Ford suit with a white shirt and black tie. Very Daniel Craig James Bond like!”

He saw Mokuba’s eyes light up at the very mention of him looking like Bond. Looks like she won him over. He immediately retreated back into the change room to put it on.

Seto had just a little more convincing to do.

“What? Are you wanting to look like you’re turning twenty-one or look like John Cena’s character in Southpaw Regional Wrestling?”

He heard her laugh quietly to herself when he made his way back into the change room with haste. Did he accidentally voice his guilty pleasure of watching a few tidbits of WWE?

Pfft, of course not. Seto Kaiba doesn’t make mistakes!

Okay, so she may have good taste.

“Damn.” Mokuba approved.

“Damn…” She approved with a smirk.

He could grow to like that smirk, have those juicy red lips all over his- NO! SETO! COMPOSURE! What the hell was wrong with him today?

Damn stupid, idiotic, sick stylist. It’s all your fault!

He looked at himself again in the mirror. He actually looked pretty damn good, and Mokuba most certainly looked like a fuzzy haired James Bond ala Daniel Craig.

“Permission to be painfully honest and Australian.”

Australian? “Fine.”

“Your stylist is a fucking no talent wanker and deserves to be fired.” Ah, so that’s what she meant.

It just made him like her even more.

“Uh Seto, what’s a wanker?” Before he could answer, the salesperson answered for him.

“Australian slang for loser, moron, idiot, douchebag. You get the gist.”

The way she was blatantly insulting the very employee he was upset with made his insides shudder with absolute delight.

Such a sadist.

“Right… So are we getting these ones Seto?” He was already getting out his wallet.

“My only despair is that we don’t sell shoes, I’m afraid. But I implore you not to approach your so called ‘stylist’ to find you the correct footwear. I would be remiss if they ruined my choices with subpar shoes.” A dark laugh escaped her lips as if she were imagining the very scene. Seto almost pictured that she was imagining that they would pair her ever so slightly perfect outfit choices with clown shoes.

How droll.

And did he just compliment her taste in fashion?

“Please get changed, bring these to the counter and I will get them steamed and ring you up!” She retreated to the registers without another word, and gave him the opportunity to watch the way her hips swayed once again.

“Seto, you’re staring.”

“Shut up Mokuba.”

Behind the counter she held that air of professionalism once more. Speaking of which, it looked like she was the only staff member in the store.

Oh, there are the others. Watching from a crack in the door to what he could only presume was the back room.

Cowards.

She wordlessly rung up the items on the register, opting not to voice the total price of the outfits. Not that it mattered, Seto Kaiba was Japanese for filthy rich and it took a swipe of his card and a signature and it was all done.

“I must admit.” She piped up whilst neatly hanging the suits and their accessories in their own bags, “I quite enjoyed this little encounter today.” With a zip everything was good to go and was handed to an eagerly waiting Mokuba. “Perhaps we could do this again sometime.”

That was it.

He pulled out a business card, hastily wrote down some numbers and shoved it into her hand, escaping the store before anyone could register what was going on.

Yes. Seto Kaiba just gave a woman he just met his number.

And he forgot to get her name.

Shit.