HELLO EVERYONE!!! Miss me? Yeah, I didn't think so ^_^ hee hee Okay, I
got the idea for this story like...a year and a half ago, but didn't start
writing it till now(I'm such a procrastinator, ne?) I had the idea because
I wanted to do this one scene...but it doesn't really fit anymore...ah
well. At first this was going to be really quick and a little ooc, but then
I decided to not do that...and so was born this fic!
Okay, if you have read The Joys of School Projects let me just say, that I highly doubt I'll be doing a sequel. If I did, it would be PWP, and don't want to do that to that story...so....yeah....But thank you for reviewing!! And um, feel free to review for this story too ::wink wink nudge nudge::
Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING!!!! DON'T SUE ME!!!!
Warning: This contains yaoi (guy/guy stuff) Don't like it, don't read it.
Little note about updates: I won't be updating as regularly as I did for my other fics simply because of school...grrr...believe me I'm *very* angry about that fact. But this will be completed, so don't worry about me just cutting it off. I pretty much got it figured out what I want to happen, now I just got to figure out how it happens!
'thoughts'
"Spoken"
*** means lapse in time or character switch (the story will make it clear)
*flashback* means....well, I think you can figure that one out on your own notes
*
Chapter 1
Jounouchi Katsuya stood outside the tall steel gates of Kaiba Corporation. Gazing up at the immense building large snowflakes flitted down from the sky and fell softly on his face and quilted his hair and coat. His cheeks were raw and the tip of his nose was numb from the cold. The blizzard like conditions whipped around him, pushing and pulling and tugging at him in every direction with the wind howling demands in his frozen, red ears.
It was all Kaiba's fault.
***
Katsuya was lounging in an oversized T-shirt and a pair of boxers near the space heater he had set up in the corner of his bedroom, rubbing his hand together and blowing warm air onto them. A mist of white smoke lifted from the hot chocolate he had resting on his desk. It was January and the temperature had reached a record low for Domino City.
Peachy.
"KATSUYA!" He heard his father bellow from the downstairs. Jou jumped, nearly burning his hand on the heater. "GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!"
Jou flinched and trudged across the room slowly. He was in for it now. His father was going to kill him. The blonde boy entered the kitchen and was immediately assaulted. His vision had been completely blocked.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" His father screamed. Katsuya peeked tentatively out from underneath the dish towel his father had flung at his head upon entrance. The man was currently standing in a tower of a rage and waving a piece of paper around. Katsuya squinted his eyes.
"It looks like a paper...um, do you want a pen or something?" Jou asked politely. "They're in the cabinet.".
The vein in his father's neck began to pop out...oh, that is not good.
"Katsuya," He said with feigned calmness. "This is a bill. A bill for that credit card I gave you. Do you remember what that credit card was for?"
"...Emergencies." Katsuya muttered.
"Yes, Katsuya, emergencies. NOT TO BUY SOME DAMNED CLOTHES!" Apparently feigning calm was too much work for his father.
"But it was an emergency!" Katsuya pleaded.
"Impressing your little friends does not count as an emergency!" He spat angrily.
Katsuya glared. "It wasn't my friends I was trying to impress!"
His father opened his mouth to say something, but snapped it shut. A grin flitted across his face. "So there is someone. Care to tell me who?"
Katsuya's face turned a shade of red. "It's no one..."
"All right Katsuya. I suppose I can understand that...when I was your age I did some pretty stupid things to impress the girls, too." He smiled at his son tenderly, though he still looked a little mad. "So you go and return those clothes, and we'll have no problem."
Katsuya began wringing his hands and biting his bottom lip; it was a nervous habit he had had ever since he was a little boy. "Uh, actually, I can't do that."
His father's vein popped a bit more. "Oh?" He said in a shaky voice. "Why not?"
"Because...there's no return on sale items."
His dad's eyes became unnaturally wide. "Sa...WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?! DO YOU REALIZE HOW EXPENSIVE THAT ALL WAS? MY ENTIRE WARDROBE COSTS AS MUCH AS ONE SHIRT!"
"Err...it wasn't that expensive..." Jou said slowly. His father thrusted the paper underneath his nose with a trembling hand. "Oh. Okay...I guess it was. Wow. I didn't even notice that zero..."
"OUT!!" His father screamed pointing at the door.
Katsuya looked at him incredulously. "You're kicking me out?!"
"THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL I'M PAYING FOR THIS BILL! NOW GO OUT THERE AND GET A DAMN JOB!" He yelled.
"You expect me to go job hunting? Now?! Do you know what time of year it is?" Jou pointed to the window. "It's like a blizzard out there! The weatherman advised people to stay inside!"
His father shook his head. "No, he advised people to stay off the roads."
"...You want me to walk? I'll freeze!"
"It is rather cold, isn't it?" He mused, then smiled with all the fatherly love and then some he could manage at the moment. "Hey, maybe you should wear those clothes you bought!"
"But...they're sort of tight...and thin..."
His father bestowed upon him a grin that implied he wasn't all there. "Well why don't you wrap them all around you? Like a shawl!"
"But-"
"NO BUTS MISTER! GO GET A JOB! I MEAN IT! I'M NOT PAYING FOR THIS STUFF!" His father said, then sneered at his son. "You're wasting daylight, Katsuya. I'd get a move on."
Katsuya graced his father with a departing withering look and stalked out then door...then stalked right back in to put on some clothes.
***
Katsuya's glove cladded hands wrenched open the newspaper for the eigth time that day. He and his father didn't get the paper delivered to their house, so he had to buy it out of one of those machines that cost 50 cents. The damn thing had eaten two whole dollars before relinquishing a paper. Apparently getting the paper the normal way was "expensive and unnecessary". All the news worth knowing would be on TV or heard through the grape vine, or at least that was his father's belief. He really was a cheapskate. He and Kaiba would get along famously.
Of course, Katsuya knew he really shouldn't be complaining about his father's odd habits. He was a good man...a little too fond of the drink at times, but all in all a good man.
Jou pulled his coat closer, the snow was beginning to fall even harder. So far, all the jobs he tried for were a complete bust. They all wanted "college graduates" or "qualified people" or "no snot nosed brats". Honestly, what was the world coming to? He had gone out for a job in the Domino Bank, but they said he was too immature and suggested he try to become a clown for the local party business.
It was really mean of them to suggest that.
The clown position had been filled for weeks.
He scanned the help wanted page with tired eyes. OH! What was this? 'No experience necessary'? Well, hell! Katsuya had that! He was chalk full of no experience! He read the rest of the ad and hung his head in defeat. It was for Burger World. There was no way he would work there. It was bad enough he had to put with Anzu at school, he did not intend to work with her. The prospect of flipping burgers while vainly trying to drown out one of her friendship speeches with music inside his head made him feel a bit queasy.
He read the page again, his eyes pausing on one ad.
No experience necessary.
Salary of nine dollars an hour.
Personal assistant needed
For Kaiba Seto.
Jou read the ad again. Nine dollars an hour was pretty good. And being a personal assistant didn't seem so hard. Plus, it was Kaiba Seto. It only seemed fitting that Kaiba should hire him. After all, it was his fault Katsuya had to buy the clothes.
If he wasn't so damn attractive Katsuya wouldn't have felt the desperate need to impress him.
***
"Morons. Each one of them. Why do I even keep them on if they're not going to work?" Seto asked himself as he blow dried his hair with one hand, and attempting to hold the towel that continued to try to slip off his slim hips with the other. He turned the blow dryer off with a sigh. "I suppose I'll fire them in a few weeks...or at least dock their pay."
Seto was by no means happy.
It was the first day of Winter Vacation, which should make any student thrilled beyond belief. And he would have been, if it hadn't been for said morons. He had been so busy as of late with his company that he hadn't been able to spend as much time with his little brother as he wanted. Mokuba said he understood that Seto was preoccupied and that it was all right, but Seto wouldn't hear it. The last thing he wanted to do was ignore his brother. So he had decided that he would actually take a Winter Vacation for once. Usually he would use the time off school to his full advantage to get work done, but not this time.
At least, that was plan.
"Damn idiots." He muttered as he slid a blue button down shirt over his head. "Its just a little bit snow."
*Flashback*
Seto sat up in bed, yawned and stretched his arms lazily above his head. He hadn't slept in till 6:30 for longer than he could remember. It felt really good. The phone beside his bed rang.
"Yes?" He spoke into it.
"Um, hello Mr. Kaiba." Came a girl's voice. Seto resisted the urge to groan in frustration. It was that blonde girl that worked the front desk. How that girl had ever managed to get into the local college had been a mystery to Seto for the longest time. She was a complete air head. He had satisfied himself with the thought that she had slept around to get in, which was entirely plausible. She hit on him every chance she got.
"What do you want?" He growled.
"I thought you should know that more than half of the workers scheduled for today said they couldn't come in."
Seto's eye twitched. "And that would be because...?"
"Why the snow, of course." She replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"The snow?" He repeated flatly. "They didn't come in because it snowed a few inches last night?"
"Well, it's supposed to snow even more today...a lot of other businesses closed for the-"
"I'm not closing." He snapped. "I'll be there shortly. Compile a list of all the people who refused to come in because of the minuscule amount of snow we received."
"Yes sir." She said, then with a giggle added. "I'll be anxiously awaiting you."
Kaiba hung up.
*Flashback done*
Seto grabbed his briefcase, leaving his black portfolio and laptop there. He would have no used for either. All the papers in the portfolio were on record at Kaiba Corp, and he had a computer there. He rushed out the door of his room, down the stairs to the main door before he paused.
"Mokuba?" He said, looking at his little brother who was currently playing some video game on their big screen TV. "What are you doing up so early?"
"I could ask you the same." Mokuba frowned. "I thought you weren't going to work during this vacation."
Seto set his briefcase down and walked towards his brother. "I know. But a lot of people didn't show up. I'm only going to work one day."
Mokuba sighed. "Okay. I guess I'll see you when you get done with whatever it is you need to get done." He quickly hugged his brother and returned to his game.
Seto looked at his brother for a few moments before going outside in the surprisingly strong winds. 'Those stupid bastards...'
***
"Mr. Kaiba! You're here! I was getting worried!" The girl at the front desk exclaimed loudly, flicking her curly blond hair back and batting her false eyelashes madly.
Seto rubbed his temple. "Please, Karen, I don't want to be here as it is. Don't make me want to leave even more."
The girl looked crestfallen. "It's Kari..."
"Whatever. Did you do what asked of you?"
She seemed to brighten a bit and held out a couple pieces of paper. "That's all their names, Kaiba sir."
He snatched it out of her freshly manicured hands. "Good." He replied curtly and pressed the elevator button.
"Um, Mr. Kaiba?" She said quietly from behind him.
"What?" He snapped.
"Do you want the other list?"
"...Other list?"
"Y-yes." She stammered. "You see...more people left toda-"
"How many?"
"Well...I- I don't know exactly how many...there were an awful lot-"
The elevator opened and he stuck one foot inside to keep it from closing. "Then how many are left? Do you at least know that?"
"Y-yes, sir." She answered nervously.
"Well?"
"There's only seventeen left, sir, counting me."
"Sevente..." Kaiba breathed.
Oh yes. There would be hell to pay.
***
Katsuya strided into the building with all the false confidence he could muster. Stupid Kaiba. He made him feel so...weak. Of course he could never let him know that. Katsuya would be teased mercilessly for it. The room he entered was pretty big, though in comparison to the rest of the building it was small. In the center by the back wall was a large black desk and some blonde girl snapping her gum in an irritable fashion and searching through her purse.
"Um, hello?" Katsuya said to her. She raised her head and glared at him. "Where is Kaiba Seto's office?"
"Top floor, take a right, last office on the corner." She answered quickly. "Hand me my coat, won't you?"
Katsuya gave her the heavy nylon jacket that was hanging on the edge of the desk. "Are you leaving?" He asked her.
"Of course I am! Everyone else is gone, and if it keeps up like that," She pointed towards the window. "I won't be able to get out of the parking garage."
In Katsuya's opinion, it really didn't look that bad outside.
Wait...had it started snowing harder...?
"Will you move?" She snapped. "I have to go."
"Yeah, fine, whatever." Jou muttered and stepped towards the elevator and out of her way. She murmured insults under her breath.
Once she was outside, Katsuya stuck his tongue out at her. It may have been childish, but he never exactly claimed to be mature. Where was that girl's holiday cheer? Kaiba would really have to fire her. She was a total bitch.
"Top floor, take a right, last office on the corner..." Katsuya whispered to himself as he sped walked down the hall towards said office. He paused at the door and attempted to smooth his hair and clothes. Taking in a deep breath he knocked three times.
***
Bang, bang, bang.
Seto twitched at the sound. It was that girl again. She had already been up there three times asking if she could get him anything, if he felt well, if he wanted to go out with her Saturday night. To the last he looked up and smiled with pretended glee as he said in a deliberately slow manner, "I have absolutely no desire to look upon your horrid face anymore than it is necessary...which if you've forgotten, it isn't." At the threat of losing her job, her lips thinned and she sharply turned to go down stairs back to her post. He hadn't heard a peep out of her for five hours after that.
Again the knocking sounded, only this time louder and impatient. Seto growled out, "Come in. It's open."
He heard the door open and soft footfalls on his carpet, but she didn't say a word. Seto snarled behind the computer screen. "Have you lost your ability for speech?"
"I-I wanted to talk to you." A voice said politely but with the barely veiled underlying of a grimace at the courtesy of it all.
Seto's eyes widened slightly. That voice...he knew it. He stood up to get a look at the person in his office. Jounouchi Katsuya stood in his doorway, his cheeks and nose red and his blond hair was wet from the melting snow that lay on top of it and was sticking to his face.
Seto took in a breath, he was unsure as to what to do. He hated being unsure about anything. "Close the door." He ordered. He noted that Katsuya did as instructed promptly. Something was going on. The puppy wouldn't do that normally.
"What the hell do you want, mutt?" Seto asked coldly.
"A job."
"A job?" Seto echoed. "You expect me to hire you?"
"Well...yeah."
Seto sat back down in his chair and resumed typing. He wasn't really paying attention to what he was typing. He just wanted an excuse not to look at Katsuya. The blonde's eyes made him feel uneasy. "And what would I possibly hire you for?"
"...Personal assistant." Katsuya answered.
Seto hesitated and smirked at the computer. "You do realize that would mean you would have to run errands for me, don't you?" Jou nodded. "Heh. I always said I was your master."
Jou was glaring at Seto. The CEO didn't have to see the puppy to know what he was doing. It was like a sixth sense.
"Look Kaiba," Katsuya said irritably, all pretenses of respect slipping away. "Will you hire me or not?"
"Why?"
Jou was surprise by the suddenness of his question. "Huh?"
"Why here? There must be dozens of other places."
"...They all turned me down. You were a last resort."
"I'm flattered." Seto scoffed. "What about the local kennel?"
Katsuya gritted his teeth. He knew where this was going. "They wouldn't hire me."
"Really?" Seto sounded genuinely shocked. "One would think that with your vast knowledge and experience with canines that you'd be a sure bet."
"Damn it, Kaiba! I'm-"
"Would you really work for me?" Seto cut in. "Do as I demand? Run seemingly unimportant tasks at a moments notice? Let me call you at all hours of the night to work for me?"
"Would you really hire me?"
Seto tsked him. "Answer my question first, puppy."
"Yes. I would." Jou replied. He waited a few moments. "Would you hire me?"
"Not a chance in hell, mutt." He replied.
"WHAT?!" Katsuya screeched at him. "Then why would you ask me all those things?"
Seto shrugged. "Curiosity."
"You...you..."
"On your way out, tell that girl at the front desk to bring me up the Cuttington file." Seto pointed to door for Jou to leave.
Katsuya's eyes narrowed into sharp slits. "She isn't there."
Seto faltered and looked up, instantly wishing he hadn't. Katsuya's honey brown eyes were burning angrily. Even though he wanted to drop the gaze, he knew that if he did it would make Jou think he had made Seto feel weak in some way. And even though he had, there was no reason for him to know.
"What do you mean?"
"She was leaving just as I came in. She said everyone else was gone, too." Katsuya flashed him a toothy grin. "Have fun working, Kaiba. Looks like you're all alone." And with that he headed out leaving Seto glaring at his back.
***
'That,' He thought to himself as he rode the elevator down. 'was the dumbest thing I've ever done. I should have pressed more for the job, if not just to be close to him!'
The lights flickered. Katsuya smiled. For some reason it gave him satisfaction to know that not everything ran smoothly in Kaiba Corp. And it wasn't just the flickering lights in the elevator, but also all the people who had gotten up and left. He stepped off the elevator and into the main lobby.
"It was just a bit of snow, I don't know what was..." Katsuya trailed off as he gaped the window. It looked as if someone had put a large white blanket in front of it. Wrapping his arms around himself, he pushed at the door with his shoulder. It opened about four inches before slamming shut again from the sheer force of the winds. He tried again, this time only managing three.
Katsuya groaned in frustration and slid down the wall. He knew that if he went outside the wind alone would knock him down, and he wasn't exactly a heavyweight; a strong enough gust could send him pretty far. Katsuya stayed on the floor for about fifteen minutes before deciding that not only was the lobby exceptionally cold, it was also extremely boring. Which brought up the question, why the hell was he down there when he could be with Kaiba?
An impish grin splashed across his face, he was beginning to like snow more and more.
***
"You." Kaiba said accusingly as Katsuya stood in his door way yet again. Albeit he looked drier this time.
"Yeah, Kaiba. Me." Katsuya made his way towards the desk and plopped down in one of the oversized chairs facing it.
Seto frowned. "What do you want, mutt? I already told you I'm not planning on hiring you."
"I know that." Katsuya said, eyeing the objects on Seto's desk.
"Then why the hell are you in my office?"
"It was boring down in the lobby."
"And you were down there because...?" Seto asked impatiently.
"I can't leave." Katsuya answered as he examined a white gold dragon pen with sapphires as its eyes.
Seto snatched the pen away from him. "What do you mean "I can't leave."? It can't be that difficult. Everyone else seems to manage to flee from this place."
"Kaiba, have you seen what it looks like outside?"
Seto glared. "No. I haven't. Go pull the blinds up so I can."
"They are up."
"...Oh." They both sat in silence before Seto questioned, "So how long do you think you'll have to be here?"
Katsuya forced himself to chuckle. "Are you that eager to get rid of me?"
"Yes."
Katsuya was relieved that Seto hadn't been looking him in the eyes. That had really hurt him.
*
*
*
Whee! I'm done with chapter one! ::flashes victory sign:: That was kinda long wasn't it... Did you notice Jou's dad? Did ya? He's not an abusive drunk! Yay! He's just a bit of an oddball father! Review please!!!
Okay, if you have read The Joys of School Projects let me just say, that I highly doubt I'll be doing a sequel. If I did, it would be PWP, and don't want to do that to that story...so....yeah....But thank you for reviewing!! And um, feel free to review for this story too ::wink wink nudge nudge::
Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING!!!! DON'T SUE ME!!!!
Warning: This contains yaoi (guy/guy stuff) Don't like it, don't read it.
Little note about updates: I won't be updating as regularly as I did for my other fics simply because of school...grrr...believe me I'm *very* angry about that fact. But this will be completed, so don't worry about me just cutting it off. I pretty much got it figured out what I want to happen, now I just got to figure out how it happens!
'thoughts'
"Spoken"
*** means lapse in time or character switch (the story will make it clear)
*flashback* means....well, I think you can figure that one out on your own notes
*
Chapter 1
Jounouchi Katsuya stood outside the tall steel gates of Kaiba Corporation. Gazing up at the immense building large snowflakes flitted down from the sky and fell softly on his face and quilted his hair and coat. His cheeks were raw and the tip of his nose was numb from the cold. The blizzard like conditions whipped around him, pushing and pulling and tugging at him in every direction with the wind howling demands in his frozen, red ears.
It was all Kaiba's fault.
***
Katsuya was lounging in an oversized T-shirt and a pair of boxers near the space heater he had set up in the corner of his bedroom, rubbing his hand together and blowing warm air onto them. A mist of white smoke lifted from the hot chocolate he had resting on his desk. It was January and the temperature had reached a record low for Domino City.
Peachy.
"KATSUYA!" He heard his father bellow from the downstairs. Jou jumped, nearly burning his hand on the heater. "GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!"
Jou flinched and trudged across the room slowly. He was in for it now. His father was going to kill him. The blonde boy entered the kitchen and was immediately assaulted. His vision had been completely blocked.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" His father screamed. Katsuya peeked tentatively out from underneath the dish towel his father had flung at his head upon entrance. The man was currently standing in a tower of a rage and waving a piece of paper around. Katsuya squinted his eyes.
"It looks like a paper...um, do you want a pen or something?" Jou asked politely. "They're in the cabinet.".
The vein in his father's neck began to pop out...oh, that is not good.
"Katsuya," He said with feigned calmness. "This is a bill. A bill for that credit card I gave you. Do you remember what that credit card was for?"
"...Emergencies." Katsuya muttered.
"Yes, Katsuya, emergencies. NOT TO BUY SOME DAMNED CLOTHES!" Apparently feigning calm was too much work for his father.
"But it was an emergency!" Katsuya pleaded.
"Impressing your little friends does not count as an emergency!" He spat angrily.
Katsuya glared. "It wasn't my friends I was trying to impress!"
His father opened his mouth to say something, but snapped it shut. A grin flitted across his face. "So there is someone. Care to tell me who?"
Katsuya's face turned a shade of red. "It's no one..."
"All right Katsuya. I suppose I can understand that...when I was your age I did some pretty stupid things to impress the girls, too." He smiled at his son tenderly, though he still looked a little mad. "So you go and return those clothes, and we'll have no problem."
Katsuya began wringing his hands and biting his bottom lip; it was a nervous habit he had had ever since he was a little boy. "Uh, actually, I can't do that."
His father's vein popped a bit more. "Oh?" He said in a shaky voice. "Why not?"
"Because...there's no return on sale items."
His dad's eyes became unnaturally wide. "Sa...WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?! DO YOU REALIZE HOW EXPENSIVE THAT ALL WAS? MY ENTIRE WARDROBE COSTS AS MUCH AS ONE SHIRT!"
"Err...it wasn't that expensive..." Jou said slowly. His father thrusted the paper underneath his nose with a trembling hand. "Oh. Okay...I guess it was. Wow. I didn't even notice that zero..."
"OUT!!" His father screamed pointing at the door.
Katsuya looked at him incredulously. "You're kicking me out?!"
"THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL I'M PAYING FOR THIS BILL! NOW GO OUT THERE AND GET A DAMN JOB!" He yelled.
"You expect me to go job hunting? Now?! Do you know what time of year it is?" Jou pointed to the window. "It's like a blizzard out there! The weatherman advised people to stay inside!"
His father shook his head. "No, he advised people to stay off the roads."
"...You want me to walk? I'll freeze!"
"It is rather cold, isn't it?" He mused, then smiled with all the fatherly love and then some he could manage at the moment. "Hey, maybe you should wear those clothes you bought!"
"But...they're sort of tight...and thin..."
His father bestowed upon him a grin that implied he wasn't all there. "Well why don't you wrap them all around you? Like a shawl!"
"But-"
"NO BUTS MISTER! GO GET A JOB! I MEAN IT! I'M NOT PAYING FOR THIS STUFF!" His father said, then sneered at his son. "You're wasting daylight, Katsuya. I'd get a move on."
Katsuya graced his father with a departing withering look and stalked out then door...then stalked right back in to put on some clothes.
***
Katsuya's glove cladded hands wrenched open the newspaper for the eigth time that day. He and his father didn't get the paper delivered to their house, so he had to buy it out of one of those machines that cost 50 cents. The damn thing had eaten two whole dollars before relinquishing a paper. Apparently getting the paper the normal way was "expensive and unnecessary". All the news worth knowing would be on TV or heard through the grape vine, or at least that was his father's belief. He really was a cheapskate. He and Kaiba would get along famously.
Of course, Katsuya knew he really shouldn't be complaining about his father's odd habits. He was a good man...a little too fond of the drink at times, but all in all a good man.
Jou pulled his coat closer, the snow was beginning to fall even harder. So far, all the jobs he tried for were a complete bust. They all wanted "college graduates" or "qualified people" or "no snot nosed brats". Honestly, what was the world coming to? He had gone out for a job in the Domino Bank, but they said he was too immature and suggested he try to become a clown for the local party business.
It was really mean of them to suggest that.
The clown position had been filled for weeks.
He scanned the help wanted page with tired eyes. OH! What was this? 'No experience necessary'? Well, hell! Katsuya had that! He was chalk full of no experience! He read the rest of the ad and hung his head in defeat. It was for Burger World. There was no way he would work there. It was bad enough he had to put with Anzu at school, he did not intend to work with her. The prospect of flipping burgers while vainly trying to drown out one of her friendship speeches with music inside his head made him feel a bit queasy.
He read the page again, his eyes pausing on one ad.
No experience necessary.
Salary of nine dollars an hour.
Personal assistant needed
For Kaiba Seto.
Jou read the ad again. Nine dollars an hour was pretty good. And being a personal assistant didn't seem so hard. Plus, it was Kaiba Seto. It only seemed fitting that Kaiba should hire him. After all, it was his fault Katsuya had to buy the clothes.
If he wasn't so damn attractive Katsuya wouldn't have felt the desperate need to impress him.
***
"Morons. Each one of them. Why do I even keep them on if they're not going to work?" Seto asked himself as he blow dried his hair with one hand, and attempting to hold the towel that continued to try to slip off his slim hips with the other. He turned the blow dryer off with a sigh. "I suppose I'll fire them in a few weeks...or at least dock their pay."
Seto was by no means happy.
It was the first day of Winter Vacation, which should make any student thrilled beyond belief. And he would have been, if it hadn't been for said morons. He had been so busy as of late with his company that he hadn't been able to spend as much time with his little brother as he wanted. Mokuba said he understood that Seto was preoccupied and that it was all right, but Seto wouldn't hear it. The last thing he wanted to do was ignore his brother. So he had decided that he would actually take a Winter Vacation for once. Usually he would use the time off school to his full advantage to get work done, but not this time.
At least, that was plan.
"Damn idiots." He muttered as he slid a blue button down shirt over his head. "Its just a little bit snow."
*Flashback*
Seto sat up in bed, yawned and stretched his arms lazily above his head. He hadn't slept in till 6:30 for longer than he could remember. It felt really good. The phone beside his bed rang.
"Yes?" He spoke into it.
"Um, hello Mr. Kaiba." Came a girl's voice. Seto resisted the urge to groan in frustration. It was that blonde girl that worked the front desk. How that girl had ever managed to get into the local college had been a mystery to Seto for the longest time. She was a complete air head. He had satisfied himself with the thought that she had slept around to get in, which was entirely plausible. She hit on him every chance she got.
"What do you want?" He growled.
"I thought you should know that more than half of the workers scheduled for today said they couldn't come in."
Seto's eye twitched. "And that would be because...?"
"Why the snow, of course." She replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"The snow?" He repeated flatly. "They didn't come in because it snowed a few inches last night?"
"Well, it's supposed to snow even more today...a lot of other businesses closed for the-"
"I'm not closing." He snapped. "I'll be there shortly. Compile a list of all the people who refused to come in because of the minuscule amount of snow we received."
"Yes sir." She said, then with a giggle added. "I'll be anxiously awaiting you."
Kaiba hung up.
*Flashback done*
Seto grabbed his briefcase, leaving his black portfolio and laptop there. He would have no used for either. All the papers in the portfolio were on record at Kaiba Corp, and he had a computer there. He rushed out the door of his room, down the stairs to the main door before he paused.
"Mokuba?" He said, looking at his little brother who was currently playing some video game on their big screen TV. "What are you doing up so early?"
"I could ask you the same." Mokuba frowned. "I thought you weren't going to work during this vacation."
Seto set his briefcase down and walked towards his brother. "I know. But a lot of people didn't show up. I'm only going to work one day."
Mokuba sighed. "Okay. I guess I'll see you when you get done with whatever it is you need to get done." He quickly hugged his brother and returned to his game.
Seto looked at his brother for a few moments before going outside in the surprisingly strong winds. 'Those stupid bastards...'
***
"Mr. Kaiba! You're here! I was getting worried!" The girl at the front desk exclaimed loudly, flicking her curly blond hair back and batting her false eyelashes madly.
Seto rubbed his temple. "Please, Karen, I don't want to be here as it is. Don't make me want to leave even more."
The girl looked crestfallen. "It's Kari..."
"Whatever. Did you do what asked of you?"
She seemed to brighten a bit and held out a couple pieces of paper. "That's all their names, Kaiba sir."
He snatched it out of her freshly manicured hands. "Good." He replied curtly and pressed the elevator button.
"Um, Mr. Kaiba?" She said quietly from behind him.
"What?" He snapped.
"Do you want the other list?"
"...Other list?"
"Y-yes." She stammered. "You see...more people left toda-"
"How many?"
"Well...I- I don't know exactly how many...there were an awful lot-"
The elevator opened and he stuck one foot inside to keep it from closing. "Then how many are left? Do you at least know that?"
"Y-yes, sir." She answered nervously.
"Well?"
"There's only seventeen left, sir, counting me."
"Sevente..." Kaiba breathed.
Oh yes. There would be hell to pay.
***
Katsuya strided into the building with all the false confidence he could muster. Stupid Kaiba. He made him feel so...weak. Of course he could never let him know that. Katsuya would be teased mercilessly for it. The room he entered was pretty big, though in comparison to the rest of the building it was small. In the center by the back wall was a large black desk and some blonde girl snapping her gum in an irritable fashion and searching through her purse.
"Um, hello?" Katsuya said to her. She raised her head and glared at him. "Where is Kaiba Seto's office?"
"Top floor, take a right, last office on the corner." She answered quickly. "Hand me my coat, won't you?"
Katsuya gave her the heavy nylon jacket that was hanging on the edge of the desk. "Are you leaving?" He asked her.
"Of course I am! Everyone else is gone, and if it keeps up like that," She pointed towards the window. "I won't be able to get out of the parking garage."
In Katsuya's opinion, it really didn't look that bad outside.
Wait...had it started snowing harder...?
"Will you move?" She snapped. "I have to go."
"Yeah, fine, whatever." Jou muttered and stepped towards the elevator and out of her way. She murmured insults under her breath.
Once she was outside, Katsuya stuck his tongue out at her. It may have been childish, but he never exactly claimed to be mature. Where was that girl's holiday cheer? Kaiba would really have to fire her. She was a total bitch.
"Top floor, take a right, last office on the corner..." Katsuya whispered to himself as he sped walked down the hall towards said office. He paused at the door and attempted to smooth his hair and clothes. Taking in a deep breath he knocked three times.
***
Bang, bang, bang.
Seto twitched at the sound. It was that girl again. She had already been up there three times asking if she could get him anything, if he felt well, if he wanted to go out with her Saturday night. To the last he looked up and smiled with pretended glee as he said in a deliberately slow manner, "I have absolutely no desire to look upon your horrid face anymore than it is necessary...which if you've forgotten, it isn't." At the threat of losing her job, her lips thinned and she sharply turned to go down stairs back to her post. He hadn't heard a peep out of her for five hours after that.
Again the knocking sounded, only this time louder and impatient. Seto growled out, "Come in. It's open."
He heard the door open and soft footfalls on his carpet, but she didn't say a word. Seto snarled behind the computer screen. "Have you lost your ability for speech?"
"I-I wanted to talk to you." A voice said politely but with the barely veiled underlying of a grimace at the courtesy of it all.
Seto's eyes widened slightly. That voice...he knew it. He stood up to get a look at the person in his office. Jounouchi Katsuya stood in his doorway, his cheeks and nose red and his blond hair was wet from the melting snow that lay on top of it and was sticking to his face.
Seto took in a breath, he was unsure as to what to do. He hated being unsure about anything. "Close the door." He ordered. He noted that Katsuya did as instructed promptly. Something was going on. The puppy wouldn't do that normally.
"What the hell do you want, mutt?" Seto asked coldly.
"A job."
"A job?" Seto echoed. "You expect me to hire you?"
"Well...yeah."
Seto sat back down in his chair and resumed typing. He wasn't really paying attention to what he was typing. He just wanted an excuse not to look at Katsuya. The blonde's eyes made him feel uneasy. "And what would I possibly hire you for?"
"...Personal assistant." Katsuya answered.
Seto hesitated and smirked at the computer. "You do realize that would mean you would have to run errands for me, don't you?" Jou nodded. "Heh. I always said I was your master."
Jou was glaring at Seto. The CEO didn't have to see the puppy to know what he was doing. It was like a sixth sense.
"Look Kaiba," Katsuya said irritably, all pretenses of respect slipping away. "Will you hire me or not?"
"Why?"
Jou was surprise by the suddenness of his question. "Huh?"
"Why here? There must be dozens of other places."
"...They all turned me down. You were a last resort."
"I'm flattered." Seto scoffed. "What about the local kennel?"
Katsuya gritted his teeth. He knew where this was going. "They wouldn't hire me."
"Really?" Seto sounded genuinely shocked. "One would think that with your vast knowledge and experience with canines that you'd be a sure bet."
"Damn it, Kaiba! I'm-"
"Would you really work for me?" Seto cut in. "Do as I demand? Run seemingly unimportant tasks at a moments notice? Let me call you at all hours of the night to work for me?"
"Would you really hire me?"
Seto tsked him. "Answer my question first, puppy."
"Yes. I would." Jou replied. He waited a few moments. "Would you hire me?"
"Not a chance in hell, mutt." He replied.
"WHAT?!" Katsuya screeched at him. "Then why would you ask me all those things?"
Seto shrugged. "Curiosity."
"You...you..."
"On your way out, tell that girl at the front desk to bring me up the Cuttington file." Seto pointed to door for Jou to leave.
Katsuya's eyes narrowed into sharp slits. "She isn't there."
Seto faltered and looked up, instantly wishing he hadn't. Katsuya's honey brown eyes were burning angrily. Even though he wanted to drop the gaze, he knew that if he did it would make Jou think he had made Seto feel weak in some way. And even though he had, there was no reason for him to know.
"What do you mean?"
"She was leaving just as I came in. She said everyone else was gone, too." Katsuya flashed him a toothy grin. "Have fun working, Kaiba. Looks like you're all alone." And with that he headed out leaving Seto glaring at his back.
***
'That,' He thought to himself as he rode the elevator down. 'was the dumbest thing I've ever done. I should have pressed more for the job, if not just to be close to him!'
The lights flickered. Katsuya smiled. For some reason it gave him satisfaction to know that not everything ran smoothly in Kaiba Corp. And it wasn't just the flickering lights in the elevator, but also all the people who had gotten up and left. He stepped off the elevator and into the main lobby.
"It was just a bit of snow, I don't know what was..." Katsuya trailed off as he gaped the window. It looked as if someone had put a large white blanket in front of it. Wrapping his arms around himself, he pushed at the door with his shoulder. It opened about four inches before slamming shut again from the sheer force of the winds. He tried again, this time only managing three.
Katsuya groaned in frustration and slid down the wall. He knew that if he went outside the wind alone would knock him down, and he wasn't exactly a heavyweight; a strong enough gust could send him pretty far. Katsuya stayed on the floor for about fifteen minutes before deciding that not only was the lobby exceptionally cold, it was also extremely boring. Which brought up the question, why the hell was he down there when he could be with Kaiba?
An impish grin splashed across his face, he was beginning to like snow more and more.
***
"You." Kaiba said accusingly as Katsuya stood in his door way yet again. Albeit he looked drier this time.
"Yeah, Kaiba. Me." Katsuya made his way towards the desk and plopped down in one of the oversized chairs facing it.
Seto frowned. "What do you want, mutt? I already told you I'm not planning on hiring you."
"I know that." Katsuya said, eyeing the objects on Seto's desk.
"Then why the hell are you in my office?"
"It was boring down in the lobby."
"And you were down there because...?" Seto asked impatiently.
"I can't leave." Katsuya answered as he examined a white gold dragon pen with sapphires as its eyes.
Seto snatched the pen away from him. "What do you mean "I can't leave."? It can't be that difficult. Everyone else seems to manage to flee from this place."
"Kaiba, have you seen what it looks like outside?"
Seto glared. "No. I haven't. Go pull the blinds up so I can."
"They are up."
"...Oh." They both sat in silence before Seto questioned, "So how long do you think you'll have to be here?"
Katsuya forced himself to chuckle. "Are you that eager to get rid of me?"
"Yes."
Katsuya was relieved that Seto hadn't been looking him in the eyes. That had really hurt him.
*
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Whee! I'm done with chapter one! ::flashes victory sign:: That was kinda long wasn't it... Did you notice Jou's dad? Did ya? He's not an abusive drunk! Yay! He's just a bit of an oddball father! Review please!!!