Disclaimer: Characters, worlds, people, games, and everything else is owned by and copyrighted to Kazuki Takahashi. This is a non-for-profit fan work with no particular personal gain in mind. I own the writing and nothing else.
As I haven't finished reading or watching the series, please excuse any greatly differential plot points, however, it is meant to be slightly AU and the characters probably have their own OOCness about them. Also, this is my first time writing this fandom and my first fic in almost two years, so please be kind… thankyou.
Etsuyo
Money. It was the bane of his existence. Well, of anyone's existence really, he thought dejectedly as his eyes trailed over the "positions vacant" adverts in the local paper. A black pen hung limply from Jonouchi Katsuya's right hand, unable to circle anything. His hours at college left him little time to work at a part time job, even if he didn't factor in homework. So it would have to be something on the weekend, really. But not many places were open on the weekend, which was presenting quite a problem for the blonde. His eyebrows furrowed as he began to read another advert: "Casual worker wanted" Okay.. that was a good start, he could do casual. He scanned down further; "Kitchenhand needed for coffee shop in the heart of the city, 15 hrs a week." Good.. good.. Katsuya's eyes actually started to pay attention and he leaned a little closer to the paper to get a better look at the description. "Day work only, Monday to Friday."
He dropped the pen.
It was always the way, job's he could actually apply for and they wanted people during the hours he needed to attend college. And, whilst college could sometimes be the most boring place in the world, he needed to be there so he could learn. But to be able to keep going, he needed a job. And at present it seemed life just didn't want him to further his education. Sure, there were weekend jobs, for people who could do production work or drive buses or operate forklifts. However, Katsuya couldn't do any of these things. He must have missed that day in high school where they trained all young adults to be ready to join the forklift-operating workforce. Damn.
If there were any unqualified weekend positions, he was sure they went to the privileged or people who didn't really need them. Probably, anyway.
He'd gone straight to college from high school, as had his three other best friends Yugi, Anzu, and Honda. They'd even decided to attend the same university, so although they weren't all doing the same degree they could at least see each other sporadically around campus.
But, he reminded himself, he wouldn't be able to continue that much longer if he didn't find a job soon. He figured he had enough money to last him one more months rent, then he'd be forced to drop out of college and take up a full time job just to allow himself to continue living under a solid roof, and eating at least once a day. Three squares meals would only be a bonus.
Thinking of this he mentally rallied himself and shook his head slightly before peering down at the newspaper again with renewed enthusiasm, as if this change of mind would actually alter what was already printed.
Anything was possible, right?
And maybe luck is on my side, Katsuya thought, as he spied a promising advertisement: "Weekend worker needed, possibly some afternoon shifts in upcoming month," He could work with that, right? "for filling and assisting work. All applications to Shichi Corporation Resources Dept..." then the contact details followed.
A corporation? Katsuya groaned, he had no chance there. An image of Seto Kaiba smirking at him bedecked by proof of his vast riches flashed through his mind. Jeez.. that guy... Katsuya and his friends hadn't seen Seto since they had graduated, and the guy certainly didn't lower himself to going to the same university as the rest of his ex-classmates. Oh no, if he was going to study it'd be somewhere expensive, advanced, and famous. The kind of place where you graduated and walked into a position running a company. Although, in Seto's case, he already did.
He probably owns half the world by now, Katsuya thought lamentably. It irked him that there were people in the world who never had to do any real work, and simply got to sit back and enjoy their riches, being able to spend their money on whatever they wanted. Well, of course there would be a certain amount of effort required to hold all that buisnessy stuff together, but mainly it was the lounging and the spending of the millions that was what that kind of life was all about, he was definitely sure.
The words of job-seeking advice from Yugi's grandfather came floating back to him; "Even if there's only a tiny chance you'll get it, apply for it, you never know your luck." With this in mind Katsuya copied out the address onto an envelope, placed a copy of his resume inside and sealed it shut.
With no other jobs to apply for he walked down to the end of his street to mail the letter, then headed to the arcade to meet Honda.
"I won't be able to come again on Saturday, I've got to help Grandpa with the new shipment of Capsule Monsters that's coming in." Yugi, still shorter than almost everyone he knew smiled apologetically up at Katsuya and Honda. Yugi lived at home still and his Grandpa let him pay his board by having Yugi work in his shop on the weekend. Although Yugi had been doing that for years, Sugoroku Mutou had decided to put a little more excuse behind it so that Yugi would stop offering to work another job to pay for his room, and even gave his grandson money on the side so he could continue to go out and enjoy spending time with his friends.
"Capsule Monsters? Man, does anyone even play that game anymore?" Honda said, adjusting his bag as he walked.
"What are you talking about? I know for a fact that you took out your set only two weeks ago!" Katsuya grinned, ducking as Honda took an annoyed swipe at him.
Although, there was probably a lot of truth in what Honda had said, new games came out almost every week it seemed and the old ones seemed to fade out of existence just as quickly. Although the more popular ones lasted longer of course, and Duel Monsters in particular seemed to still be an extremely popular game. The Kame Game shop certainly seemed to be receiving deliveries of boxes of cards on a regular basis and one could only assume that they were being sold instead of piling up.
They continued chatting even as they slowed down outside of Katsuya's apartment and walked into the entrance hall. Yugi was happily chirping about the new types of Capsule Monsters and Honda was feigning disinterest while Katsuya quickly ducked into the alcove where all the letterboxes were located. He removed his mail then rejoined his friends, frowning slightly as he spied a foreign envelope.
Honda seemed to pick up on his friends distraction first, "What's that?" He asked casually, pressing the button to call for the elevator that would take them to the 4th floor of the apartment building.
Katsuya paused to re-read the company's logo and address printed on the envelope before replying; "Just something from a 'Shichi Corporation'"
Both of his friends threw him a confused look, obviously wanting him to expand on that, "Uh…" Katsuya racked his brains, "Oh! I think I applied for a random job with them. Must be a rejection letter!" The bright tone and broad smile seemed somewhat at odds with the negative statement he'd just made. But honestly, he hadn't counted on hearing back from them at all, and he had applied for so many jobs lately, it was no wonder it had taken him a while to recall this specific one.
"Ah." Yugi returned his smile with a look of veiled sadness, all Katsuya's friends knew how badly he needed a job at the moment, and what it would mean if in a month he couldn't come up with the required rent. Yugi had even offered that he move in with them, and although they didn't, at present, have a spare room for Katsuya, Yugi and his grandfather assured him that if it came to it they could find the space. He just really didn't want to be a burden to anyone else, so had sworn he'd try his best to support himself and only agree to something temporary with one of his friends if worst came to absolute worst.
The elevator stopped at the fourth floor and the three boys got out and headed down the hall to Katsuya's small apartment. They were currently all in post-study de-stressed moods, having just spent the last few hours at work in the college library; thus it was time to reward the effort with some game-playing.
A number of hours and defeats at Soul Caliber later, Katsuya was once again left to his own in his apartment, suddenly burdened with the task of dinner. He wasn't really a cook, something which he would not deny, so meal times usually consisted of something microwavable. He didn't eat altogether a lot, a fact which he often failed to mention to his friends. He knew Yugi, in particular, would start worrying over him if he did. However without a job it was hard to afford it, and shelter and study came before food, right?
Spying a cup of instant noodles (a student's main source of nutrition) he grinned and reached over to pick it up. Underneath it he found his mail, which he hadn't bothered to open yet, so whilst the hot water cooked the noodles he extracted the notices without much interest. Finally he came to the rejection letter, and although he knew what it would say, there were at least 30 seconds left until the noodles were done and he needed something to do during that time.
Yes, he'd heard all the lines before; 'We are sorry to inform you…', 'Unfortunately your application was not…', 'No…' …
With resignation he tore open the envelope and took out the letter.
'Congratulations…'
Okay, that wasn't a word he was used to. Confused, Katsuya read on.
'We are pleased to offer you a trial placement with Shichi Corporation. During this time other applicants will be also trialed, if you are successful we would be happy to offer you permanent employment.'
There was more, but although his eyes were moving over the text, he wasn't taking it in. This was… a job offer. A job offer?! His heart leapt.
No... wait… a trial offer. But, that was still good. He'd just need to do his best and show them that they wanted to permanently employ him. Yeah, that's what he'd do. And even if they didn't like him, it solved his immediate money problems. And that's what was important. Although, why the hell they wanted to give him of all people a chance was beyond him. He had figured he would have been way under qualified for the job and had no chance at getting as much as an interview.
They must have been desperate.
Katsuya was so distracted it took him a whole minute to notice that the timer on the noodles was going off. Great; over-cooked, limp and soggy noodles. But it was worth it – soon he'd be able to afford proper microwavable meals!
Barely able to contain his happiness, and his muscles struggling with the wide grin on his face, Katsuya simultaneously poured out the noodles and grabbed his phone to call his best friends and tell them the good news. Because what better to do with good news than share it with someone?
Kaiba Seto was not an altogether joyful person. He was a curt conversationalist, a ruthless businessman, a mean card player, and had a dislike for every single thing on Earth except maybe his younger brother, Kaiba Mokuba.
All this was not exactly a secret.
As such, with the giant scowl Seto was currently sporting, leaning back in his leather chair at the head of the conference table, most of his heads of offices were unconsciously shifting uneasily in their seats. It was only fifteen minutes into the meeting and already Kaiba looked unhappy with something. Rather, someone. The CEO's scowl had been developing ever since the initial reports of Shichi Corporation's progress had started to be read aloud.
Most of the managers and assorted higher-ups could sympathise with Kaiba's obvious dislike of the new developments; Shichi Corporation had been a recent take-over for Kaiba Corp. and thus far the gamble had not paid off. It was natural that there would be some loss with expansion; however it had been too long without payback and profit. Seto was beginning to get unsettled about it. He did not make bad business decisions. So why was the company losing money? The answer, if it did not lie with dwindling production or lack of demand, which in this case it did not, lay with the way the company was being handled. Bad management hurt an entire company. Kaiba had allowed the previous CEO of Shichi Corporation to remain to take care of business matters from that end after their pay out, with Kaiba's influence to keep the company on track of course. But it seemed now that this had been a foolish decision. He should have gotten rid of all higher management staff and input people he trusted, so to speak, to get the job done properly. Yes, he was sure the current failings of his empire's newest acquisition could be held responsible in their previous CEO's workings. He would definitely have to do something about this, and fast, having his own company's elite's instigate any doubt in his ability to work as CEO whatsoever would be devastating to his career. Any one of them, he was sure, would jump at the opportunity to promote themselves. So he had to shift blame to the appropriate party, quickly.
The Production Rep. sat down, and in the ensuing silence all eyes turned once again to their great and, rather unnerving sometimes, leader.
Kaiba cleared his throat; "Clearly there is a problem here," He always liked to get straight to the point, no sense in beating around the bush. "Shichi Corporation has not supplied the revenue it should have brought to Kaiba Corp. this quarter. I believe the problem lies with its management, namely, the lack of management from our company that it has been supplied with." He eloquently sidestepped the next logical sentence which was to admit that this was a failing on his part. Because, of course, it wasn't.
"I will therefore take it upon myself to handle this problem. I will investigate Nobita Matsuno's management methods and if I find that they are the cause of this loss of profit, as I suspect they are, I will take appropriate actions to rectify the problem."
He stared defiantly back at the rest of his employees, daring any of them to suggest the fault had been his, or that he would be unable to solve the problem and put their company back on top.
No one said anything, and Seto allowed himself to smile inwardly; so they still respected him after all. Thank God.