Title: View from the Other Side

Series: Part 09 of Entangled. Takes place approximately a month into the new school year.

Summary: Yami gets the chance to learn more about Kaiba through the eyes of one of his employees. Kaiba is obviously less than thrilled about it...

Pairings: Kaiba x Yami

Rating: Rated M for a graphic sexual lemon and language.

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! does not and will never belong to me.

A/N: This chapter has a short lemon drop immediately in italics. Chapter three is where all the fun will be, though.

…you know, sometimes I don't know if these serve as warnings or the promise of something to come.

Oh, and if you don't remember who Ogata is, read chapter 29 of Another Lesson as a refresher.

Chapter 01: Salutations

Imperceptibly sighing as he exited the school, Yami felt some of the tension ease from his body as he left it all behind for the day. He had stayed after school to make up a surprise pop quiz that he had missed in algebra earlier in the day, but Yami couldn't stay irritated when he remembered the reason why he had been late to class.

"Yami, we're going to be late," Kaiba warned as the former pharaoh continued riding him in the abandoned conference room.

Slamming down hard with a strangled gasp, Yami growled, "Don't fucking care right now."

"You should," Kaiba said, although he was secretly amused by Yami's sexual aggression.

Leaning forward and lowering his voice to a pitch that sent a shudder through Kaiba, Yami murmured, "You should shut up and fucking move, Seto."

Instead of wasting more time with witty retorts, Kaiba started to stroke Yami's cock, torn between prolonging the pleasure and making it to class on time.

Pulling himself away from the memory before it continued any further, Yami tried to calm himself. He knew that Kaiba had a meeting that was going to run late, so Yami forced himself to behave for his own sake.

Yami was so lost in his own thoughts that he was startled by someone calling out, "You must be Yami."

Instantly on full alert, Yami carefully regarded the handsome twenty-something year old man standing in front of him. He didn't seem to have malicious intentions, but Yami remained on guard as he kept his regal bearings in projected self-assurance. "And you are?" Yami asked as he came to a stop in front of the man.

"Interested," the stranger responded, a glint of playful perversion in his eyes as he smirked at Yami.

Although the boldness of the answer stunned Yami, his demeanor betrayed nothing. He sounded haughty and more than just a little bored as he dismissively said, "I'm not, so—"

Lightly capturing Yami's wrist and pulling him into a one-armed embrace, the man murmured words meant only for the former pharaoh's ears, "Why would you be when you have Kaiba Seto?"

Scarlet eyes went wide in shock before narrowing as his blood ran cold with dread. He didn't know how the man knew such a thing or what he intended to do with the information, but Yami would protect Kaiba and his reputation at any cost. Scoffing at the allegation and freeing himself with an indignant huff, Yami asked, "What are you talking about? And who are you to make such accusations?"

Chuckling at the fiery determination to protect Kaiba, the man smiled comfortingly at Yami as he reassured him, "It's my job to know such things."

"You're a reporter?" Yami asked coldly, his eyes narrowing dangerously in disdain. He had managed to avoid them so far, but Yami knew how much Kaiba despised them.

Laughing at the notion, the man denied, "No, but I take particular pleasure in fending them away from him. He doesn't mind if I get a little…creative with them sometimes."

Furrowing his eyebrows in confusion, Yami tried to figure out the mystery of the man who was detaining him. "Who are you?" Yami finally demanded outright, realizing he wasn't going to understand otherwise.

"Call me Katsuro," the stranger said with a sensuality that Yami had no doubts had seduced countless men and women alike. "You might know me better as Ogata, though."

It was a name that Yami had heard before and he tried to remember more details surrounding the mysterious revelation. "You work for Kaiba," Yami stated, although he sounded a little unsure of himself.

Raising an eyebrow at Yami's statement, Ogata was a bit surprised that the teen knew that; he hadn't expected Kaiba to openly discuss such things. "That's right," Ogata confirmed, hoping it would lessen Yami's suspicions somewhat. "I'm an investigator of sorts, although I don't work for the Corporation itself."

When Ogata explained his position, Yami suddenly remembered the night in the hotel room when Kaiba had received a call from the man in question about the mysterious stranger that had accosted him. Kaiba obviously trusted Ogata enough to give him his personal cell phone number; the only other employees that did were Isono and the driver. It put Yami at ease somewhat, although he was still confused about why the man had sought him out at random. "Is everything okay?" Yami asked uncertainly, wondering if something had happened to Kaiba.

The flash of concern in Yami's eyes warmed Ogata and the changes in Kaiba were starting to make sense. "Everything's fine, although I'm sure the meeting tonight will put him in a bad mood," Ogata commented with a chuckle. "Then again, they always do, don't they?"

It was true and Yami had to check his instinct to join in the laughter. There was something so refreshingly honest about the man, although Yami suspected he probably drove Kaiba crazy sometimes with his carefree attitude. "Then what do you want with me?" Yami finally questioned, still having some reservations about Ogata's sudden appearance.

"Would you join me for dinner?" Ogata politely invited, grinning when he saw Yami's stunned expression. "I'd like to get to know you without Seto-chan interfering."

The request was so unusual that Yami ended up asking in disbelief, "Why?"

Speaking honestly and with an affectionate warmth that intrigued Yami, Ogata explained, "Because you're the reason he's become a better person and it makes me curious. But he's rather…protective of you, so I haven't really had a chance until now to try and meet you."

"Oh," Yami managed to say, blushing slightly from Ogata's words.

"Come on, I'll take you to Sakaguchi-kun's, my treat," Ogata tried to persuade Yami. "I'll even drop you off at the mansion when we're done."

The familiar address of the restaurant owner surprised Yami; he knew how closely Kaiba guarded Sakaguchi and their shared past. "You know Sakaguchi-san?" Yami asked, his resistance starting to fade. It was such a rare opportunity for him to get to meet up with the man and Yami was sorely tempted.

Nodding with a smile, Ogata said, "Yeah, me and the old man know each other very well. He's really quite taken with you, you know."

"Yeah," Yami said with a fondness that made Ogata happy. "I love getting to talk to him."

"Now's your chance," Ogata tried again. "And Seto-chan won't be there to get him to stop telling embarrassing stories…"

"Does Seto know you call him that?"

Smirking, Ogata confirmed, "Oh, he hates it."

"Is that why you do it?" Yami questioned with a knowing look.

"That boy is far too serious for his own good," Ogata commented, silently grateful that Kaiba had started to lighten up over the past few months. "That's changing now, though. Thanks to you."

Flushing slightly and adjusting his bookbag strap's position on his shoulder to mask his embarrassment, Yami was about to agree when Ogata's phone started to ring.

"Speak of the devil," Ogata joked with a laugh as he showed Yami the caller ID before answering it. "Hey, Seto-chan!"

"Don't fucking call me that, asshole!" Kaiba snapped angrily, although it didn't faze Ogata in the least. "Now where the hell are you? You should be here by now!"

Shrugging with a grin that Kaiba couldn't see, Ogata dutifully explained, "Yeah, I changed my mind about that meeting. Something else came up that was far more interesting than a bunch of boring ass suits rambling about whatever corporate drama that doesn't even involve me."

"What the hell does that mean?" Kaiba all but shouted, causing Yami's eyebrows to arch up in surprise as he heard the loudness of the anger through the phone's speaker. "You don't just get to decide that you don't feel like showing up! And trust me, if your presence wasn't required, I wouldn't inflict you upon myself so willingly! So if I tell you that you're supposed to be at the meeting, you damn well should be here!"

"Plans change," Ogata stated with a wink at Yami, completely nonplussed by his boss' rage.

"And what the fuck is so much more important?"

Grinning, Ogata sounded particularly perverse as he replied, "You would know."

The implications of innuendo momentarily confounded Kaiba. "Would I?" Kaiba asked sarcastically, deliberately disregarding Ogata's tone. "Oh, please enlighten me about what would cause you to jeopardize your job."

"We both know that you aren't going to fire me," Ogata confidently provoked. "Besides, I'd much rather spend my evening entertaining—"

"Ogata!" Kaiba interrupted menacingly. "Do not presume to think that I won't terminate you for your blatant subordination."

Pouting playfully, Ogata protested, "You're no fun, you know that?"

"I'm not supposed to be fun and you're supposed to be at this fucking meeting!" Kaiba reminded his wayward employee. "Now where the hell are you?"

"Going to send Isono-kun to come get me?" Ogata predicted, knowing Kaiba all too well. "Because he's going to miss me since I'm just getting ready to leave here for my date, so…"

Yami silently mouthed at Ogata in shock, "Date?"

Acknowledging Yami with amusement, Ogata moved the phone away from his mouth long enough to softly murmur, "Trust me," so that Kaiba couldn't hear him.

"Tell your slut to wait until after the meeting is over!"

It wasn't the first time that Kaiba had used such crude terms to talk about Ogata's tendency to mess around with a variety of men and women, but it was still a shocking indicator of how riled up the teen was over his flagrant disobedience. "That's a terrible way to talk about your boyfriend," Ogata taunted, hoping that Yami hadn't heard what Kaiba had said.

"I will talk however—wait, what did you just say?" Kaiba interrupted himself to dangerously demand clarification. "Ogata, what have you done?"

"Nothing," Ogata denied in a singsong voice that only worsened Kaiba's suspicions, especially since it sounded like there was a silent, "Yet," attached.

"I swear, if you so much as—"

Cutting Kaiba off midsentence, Ogata said, "Oh, relax. I just wanted to get to know him a little better."

There was a long pause of silence before Kaiba finally questioned in a low tone, "Are you implying what I think you are?"

"That I blew you off to have dinner with your boyfriend?"

"Yes," Kaiba hissed, the single word sounding almost deadly. It sent a spike of fear through Ogata despite his confidence; sometimes it was easy to forget about that lethally aggressive part of Kaiba that had been lying dormant recently.

"I don't know what you're so worried about," Ogata casually commented. "I'll bring him back to the mansion when I'm done with him, so—"

Kaiba interrupted to threaten, "Don't you dare, you fucking bastard!"

"You'd rather have me take him home?" Ogata purred in a seductive voice that made Yami shiver unintentionally.

How has Seto not killed him yet? Yami wondered, knowing that such behavior must be typical since Kaiba had gotten rather worked up on the last phone call the two men. Gesturing at the phone in a silent request to speak to Kaiba, Ogata mercifully complied.

Kaiba was mid-rant when Yami softly interrupted, "Seto, it's okay."

It took a moment for Kaiba to process that Yami was now speaking to him instead of Ogata. "Has he done anything to you?" Kaiba harshly demanded, his rage still at the forefront of all his interactions.

"No, we're just going to grab dinner and then I'll head back to your place," Yami answered, unsure of why Kaiba was so worked up over the issue. "What's wrong with that?"

"Absolutely not!" Kaiba refused. "I will not allow him—"

"What are you so worried that he'll do to me?" Yami questioned, not missing Ogata's perverted smile.

"Yami, you don't understand."

"Then help me understand," Yami logically requested. "What are you objecting to?"

Taking a moment to compose himself, Kaiba finally said, "I don't want you near him."

"So I've gathered," Yami dryly retorted. "You still haven't explained why, though."

Realizing that they would be there all night arguing, Ogata took back his phone in order to address Kaiba once more. "Seto, you have my word, I'm not going to do anything to him. I'm not that stupid and I'd like to wake up alive and employed tomorrow, thanks."

Kaiba didn't like the situation at all, but he was running out of time to argue, otherwise he would be late to the meeting and that was unacceptable. "Ogata, I'm warning you, if you so much as—"

"He's off limits, I know," Ogata interrupted. "Give me some credit here."

As much as Kaiba wanted to cancel the meeting so that he could go to Yami, it was impossible and his presence was very much required. Mentally cursing and railing against the situation that Ogata has forced him into, Kaiba promised, "I will deal with your punishment when I'm done here."

"Yes, yes," Ogata said dismissively before hanging up on his irate boss with a self-satisfied smirk. "Well, now that that's out of the way, shall we?"

Before agreeing or refusing, Yami asked, "What is he so concerned that you'll do?"

"I take great pleasure in beauty," Ogata honestly answered with a charming look that Yami felt was hiding a dirty leer. "I have been known to…express my appreciation in ways that he would find unacceptable in regards to you."

"Is that so?"

"Indeed," Ogata said with a particularly wicked smirk. "However, despite my behavior on the phone and predilection for perversion, you really have nothing to worry about. It's just too much fun to rile him up sometimes, you know?"

Grinning despite himself, Yami nodded in agreement over Ogata's last statement. "Are you sure this isn't going to get you fired?" Yami asked, somewhat concerned.

"Trust me, if he hasn't fired me yet, he won't do it for this," Ogata reassured the teen. "He's just pissed that I'm getting the chance to have dinner with you while he's stuck with all those boring sycophants talking business. He'll calm down later, I promise."

Yami was more than a little intrigued by the man standing in front of him and the interaction he had just witnessed, which was severely tempting him to go to dinner with Ogata to find out more. Deciding that dining at Sakaguchi's restaurant was too tempting to pass up, Yami finally agreed, "Then let's get going. I'm starved."

A/N: Not a whole lot to add to this, other than it's currently looking like it'll be three chapters long instead of the original one I projected.

But hey, at least it's not another drabble?

NEXT CHAPTER: Untitled

Dinner and a show?

I'll post something on Sunday, June 7th. It might be this, it might be Offerings, or it might be the next part of Anywhen, Anywhere. So keep an eye out for whatever goes up next!

Also, review replies will be sent out as soon as I get home tonight. I'm once again horribly behind, so please forgive this authoress who keeps trying to balance everything. XD