Queer as Tachi – Chapter 77
Seto Kaiba had forgotten all about the bet he had made some months earlier, and wasn’t paying attention to the calendar when he got a phone call out of the blue at the office one September morning. He was busy at his desk when his secretary buzzed him and said he had a private call waiting on the line, from someone identifying himself only as Alastair. Curious, Kaiba decided to take the call, wondering what the young man could possibly want from him now. He picked up his phone and wondered, “Yes?”
“I’m sorry if I’m interrupting anything,” Alastair immediately said. “Do you have a minute?”
“At the moment, yes,” Kaiba placidly replied. “What do you want?”
“I need your help.” Alastair took a breath, and that was when Kaiba noticed he was talking in an anxious hush. “I’m going to apologize right up front if this causes you any trouble or makes your life difficult,” he said, “but I don’t have anywhere else to turn. I’m in a lot of trouble.”
Kaiba frowned. “Where are you?”
“Somewhere in southern
“Now just hold on.” Kaiba
flicked his fingers over his keyboard, closing all the open pages and pulling up an
internet browser to search for a map of
“Yeah. For some reason, they were doing random searches at the airport and decided to stop me. They opened my package and what do you know? It turns out I wasn’t delivering life-saving medications to a research hospital after all.” Alastair huffed a short, anxious sigh. “I’m serious, Kaiba. I don’t know who else to go to for help. I don’t mean to impose on you, but if you can’t get me out of here, I’m going to be spending the rest of my life rotting in a Chinese prison!”
“Just calm down.” Kaiba ran a few more commands on his computer, not liking what information it was coming up with. “If you start panicking, you’ll only call more attention to yourself. Not like you haven’t already, as a tall, red-haired caucasian who doesn’t speak the language.”
“Thank you so much for pointing that out,” Alastair sarcastically snapped. “I don’t know what you can do, but anything will help. Money, a tip on who to talk to keep my ass out of the fire, anything.”
Kaiba cradled the phone against his shoulder as he reached out with both hands now, typing away furiously in search of options. His voice remained even as he spoke. “Do you have any idea at all where you are?”
“In a very backwards town somewhere along one of the roads leading south,
outside
“Chinese usually doesn’t if you only speak Japanese,” Kaiba retorted. “How the hell did you get there? Where did you land?”
“
“Well, you’ve got that part right.”
Kaiba sat back in his chair with a sigh, combing a hand through his hair. “If I don’t know where you are I
can’t wire you any money, and that would only get you so far. Is there some kind of embassy you can go to? Maybe in
“If I was still in
Kaiba could hear the worry trembling in the voice on the phone, and it made him go quiet. “Do you still have your passport?” he asked, more calmly.
“Yeah…”
“Do you have any money at all?”
Alastair sighed again. “I have everything I own in a bag on my back, but I don’t have any money that the locals will take, no.”
Kaiba thought for a moment, staring blankly at the computer screen in front of him. “I don’t know what I can do from here, Alastair. I don’t know anyone you can go to.”
Alastair gritted his teeth to keep tears from rising in his eyes. “I’m begging you, Kaiba. If you can think of anything, please. Help me.”
Kaiba sighed into the phone, closing his eyes and leaning forward on his desk. “Didn’t I tell you this job would get you into trouble sooner or later?”
“I know,” Alastair said tiredly. “I was planning to get out. Really. This was supposed to be my last job, and then I was going to tell them to fuck off. But it looks like they got to me first.”
Kaiba sat there without response for a while, glancing at the blinking phone lines,
the folders of documents on his desk, and the bars at the bottom of his computer screen
listing all the things he had been in the middle of before this call. “Alastair,” he said at last, to make
sure the young man knew he was still on the line, “do you think you can make it to
“That’s what I’m trying to do,” Alastair said softly. “I think I can get there, sooner or later. Why?”
“The only business contacts I have are in
“Do you think one of them would help me?”
“Probably not.”
“Then…”
“But they’d help me.” Kaiba rapidly closed everything on his computer and prepared to turn it off. “I want you to know, this is a huge pain in my ass and I’d like nothing more than to leave you to rot just for making me even consider doing this.”
“Doing what? What are you talking about?” Alastair demanded.
“You have to help yourself, Alastair,” Kaiba snapped. “You have to get to Hong Kong by this
afternoon, by the time it takes for a plane to fly there from
There was a short silence, and then Alastair sounded stunned. “You’re sending a plane?”
“I’m coming to get you, dumbass.”
An even longer silence. Alastair’s voice was weak when it finally returned. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me until you’re halfway over the ocean. Relations between
“Yeah, yeah, I got it,” Alastair said faintly. “I’ll be there, I promise. Thank you, Kaiba.”
“Don’t get caught,” Kaiba added, more softly, before hanging up the phone. He heaved a long, aggravated sigh as he noticed the other lines blinking for his attention, and then pressed the intercom button. “Cancel all my calls and meetings for the rest of the day,” he ordered his secretary. “I’ll be out of the office, period, and no one is going to get an explanation. I also need a helicopter prepared for an overseas flight, now.” He released the line and went about packing up his laptop in his briefcase to take along, his eyes roaming past the photo of Mokuba propped up on his desk. He would have to call his younger brother at some point and let him know that he would be home very late, but it could wait. He wanted to get in the air and have some better idea of where he was going and what he was doing before sharing any plans with anyone. Word had apparently traveled quickly through the office, because just as Kaiba was picking up his briefcase to leave, Roland rushed into the office. “Is the helicopter ready?” his president demanded.
“Yes sir, Mr. Kaiba,” Roland immediately answered. “What’s going on? Is there some kind of problem?”
“Nothing you need to worry about.” Kaiba
breezed past him and headed for the door. “I
need to fly to
“Yes, sir,” Roland agreed with a note of defeat. He didn’t like to have to be the one in charge when Kaiba decided he suddenly needed to be somewhere else. Bad things always seemed to happen then.
Kaiba left his office and went straight up to the helipad on the roof of KaibaCorp, stepping out into the wind just as his requested helicopter began to land. It was one of the bigger military helicopters from the KaibaCorp fleet, the kind that could handle the long journey. He had briefly thought about taking his Blue Eyes jet, but then he couldn’t do any work on the flight, and there was simply too much for him to do to just take a day off like this. He may have been on a rescue mission, but it would be a working one. He waited for the wheels of the aircraft to touch down, and then strode right up and leaped into the open door before they could even extend the ramp. The helicopter didn’t hesitate for a second, rising back into the air and turning to head south and west towards the open seas.
The sterile military cabin of the helicopter thrumming with the noise of its rotors
was nowhere near as comfortable as his soundproofed top-level office, but Kaiba had to at
least admit that here, he wasn’t being constantly hounded by phone calls and lackeys
begging for an audience. He sat on one of the
long benches at the side of the cabin with his laptop, using this opportunity to write
more script for Legendary Heroes. The
uninterrupted flight gave him plenty of time to concentrate on his work, and by the time
the pilot informed him that they were approaching Hong Kong, he had churned out pages and
pages of programming script as well as ideas for character design and level format that he
probably wouldn’t have been able to get done in a week at the office. He closed his laptop temporarily while they headed
into Chinese airspace, and then took out his cell phone.
The far rear of the main compartment was the quietest place to make a call. “Mr. Yang?
Yes, I know, it has been a long time. No,
it’s just a minor favor, really. My
helicopter is having a little trouble and needs to make an emergency landing on your
helipad. Yes?
Thank you. My crew can attend to
it quickly, I won’t be a burden to you for more than a few hours. Thank you, very much.” Kaiba smiled coolly to himself at how easy it was
to ask bizarre favors when businessmen owed you for past deals, and leaned into the
cockpit. “We have permission to land on
top of the
The pilot and copilot readily agreed, never the kind to ask questions of the man
who paid them handsomely – with overtime – for flights like this. Within minutes they had set down on the helipad on
top of one of the high-rise buildings in the heart of
Kaiba strode up to him and bowed very slightly. “I’m sure it won’t take long to fix. You have my gratitude for letting me land here.”
Mr. Yang smiled understandingly. “If there is any help my air staff can give to your crew, they have but to ask.”
“I’ll let them know.” Kaiba bobbed his head again. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to get something to eat in town. My crew knows how to contact me if there’s an issue.”
Yang bowed in return. “You may pass through at your pleasure, Mr. Kaiba.”
Kaiba gave him a cool, professional half-smile and turned to leave, inwardly amused at how easy it was to play the game. Once he had gotten to an elevator and was making his way down, his phone rang. He glanced at it to see that it was Alastair’s cell number before answering. “Where are you?”
“Within a few miles of crossing into
“I just landed. Pay attention.” The elevator chimed to let him know he had reached the lobby, and the doors slid open to let him glide his way out. “You know the First Asia Financial building?”
“Vaguely. I’m sure I can find it.”
“There’s a little tea shop right across the street from it, in the shadow of the skyscrapers,” Kaiba reported as he walked straight through the lobby toward the main doors. “It has an outdoor patio with a bunch of koi paper lanterns hanging all over it. I’ll be there.” He stepped out into the sunshine, squinting for a moment as he noted the traffic he would have to cross to get to the tea shop. His curt business tone faded abruptly from his voice. “Are you all right?”
“Better,” Alastair admitted. “I’m still looking over my shoulder, though.”
“You should. It won’t be safe till I get you on board my helicopter.” Kaiba smirked, even though Alastair couldn’t see it. “And if I hear you gripe about it being one of my stepfathers’ military copters, I’m leaving you here.”
“No complaints from me,” Alastair said. “Fine. First Asia Financial, across the street. I don’t know how long it’s going to take me.”
“Fine. I have something to keep myself occupied in the meantime. I’ll trust you to take care of yourself, so only call me back if there’s an emergency.”
“All right. I’ll see you soon.”
Kaiba clicked off the phone and finally stepped down to the sidewalk, glaring at traffic until there was a gap for him to cross. He had been to this tea shop before, when conducting actual business with the financial company, but never had to waste hours in it like this. He didn’t remember much about it, just that it had really good egg rolls. The place appeared to be family-run, for an older woman, an aunt or grandma or something of that sort, met him at the door with a greeting in extremely broken English. He responded in Chinese, making her smile in welcome, and allowed himself to be seated at a small table toward the front with a view of the street. He only ordered tea and egg rolls, and assured the shop owner that he was waiting for someone and didn’t need to be bothered. He already had his laptop out when they brought his tea, and he flashed a little extra money to keep the refills coming without having to ask. From there, all he could do was wait and work.
A bustling tea shop in the middle of a foreign city was no more conducive to work than the cabin of a military helicopter, but somehow Kaiba managed to get quite a bit done. No one interrupted him, and he barely lifted his glance when someone even walked past his table, just to verify that it wasn’t the man he was waiting for. He mapped out his game’s expanding boundaries and plotted twists in the story to make for more interesting game play, and wrote up lengthy scripts based on his knowledge of how duels unfolded, taking breaks only to pick up his cup and sip thoughtfully at his tea while he re-read what he had written. It surprised him to see just how much he was getting done, in spite of his odd choice of office for the day. He only nibbled casually at his egg rolls, forgetting about them for long stretches while his fingers flew over the keyboard, trying to keep up with the speed of his brain. He had finished off one pot of tea and had a second one brought to him when he finally caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of a figure swathed in a charcoal gray full-length coat ducking through the door. Kaiba lifted his head just in time to see Alastair come to a stop beside his table, slightly out of breath and looking rather worn and haggard. His stylish dark coat was covered in dust, his tired eyes were ringed with dark circles, his red hair disheveled and flopping sadly over his forehead. He stood for a moment gazing at Kaiba in disbelief, and then huffed a relieved sigh. “You’re really here.”
Kaiba held his gaze for a moment before nudging an adjacent chair with his foot. “Sit down. You look like hell.”
Alastair dropped heavily into the chair, letting the huge backpack on his shoulder fall onto the floor beside him. All of the tension and fear seemed to lift from his shoulders as he settled into the chair, leaning back and closing his eyes. While he sat resting, Kaiba flagged down the hostess and asked for a couple of glasses of water. Alastair only stirred when he heard the glasses being set down, opening his eyes and looking at them, and then at Kaiba, who sat with his attention back on his computer, finishing up the sentence he had been in the middle of typing. “Thanks,” he breathed.
Kaiba didn’t shift his glance at all. “There’s one egg roll left, if you want it.”
Alastair looked to find the plate sitting by the half-empty pot of tea, and after glancing to verify that Kaiba wasn’t kidding, snatched it up and ate it quickly without comment. Kaiba finally looked over, his face remaining stoic while inwardly he thought that Alastair looked like he hadn’t slept or eaten in days. He scarfed down the egg roll in record time and then drained one glass of water, sitting there in withdrawn silence for a bit as he took the second glass to him and drank it more slowly. Kaiba put an end to his current file and shut down his computer, putting it away and setting the briefcase on the floor beside Alastair’s backpack. The red-haired young man turned his eyes to him at last, looking contrite and timid. “Thank you,” he mumbled. “I owe you my life.”
Kaiba smirked. “No you don’t. But you do owe me something for taking a big chunk out of my day and flying all the way to China and back to rescue you. I’ll recoup that payment later.” He sat back in his chair and laced his fingers together, his eyes firmly on Alastair now. “How did you manage to get here so quick?”
A wry smirk put a little bit of sparkle back in Alastair’s gray eyes. “I added to my litany of crimes. I stole a motorcycle.” He shrugged slightly. “I left it in a parking lot a few blocks away, the police will find it and return it to its owner eventually. It’s not like it would have made things any worse than they already are.”
“You’re still nothing but trouble,” Kaiba said with a shake of his head. “I should have known better than to get involved with a ruffian like you.”
Alastair didn’t seem to hear the humor intended by the remark. “I know,” he said softly. “I’m amazed that you bothered to come and get me, I thought I’d have to beg just to get you to slip me the name of some business associate of yours or something. This country sucks,” he whispered darkly. “If I’d been caught, sitting in prison for the rest of my life would have been the happy ending.”
“I told you. You made yourself expendable,” Kaiba snorted. “Nobody cares about couriers. It was only a matter of time before someone made you carry a hot package into a very bad place.”
“You don’t have to say ‘I told you so,’ I’ve already beaten myself up plenty over it,” Alastair grumbled. “Believe me, this is the end of it. I have nothing to go back for, I have everything with me.”
“That’s lucky,” Kaiba mused. “Had some inkling, did you?”
“Not really. I’ve taken to carrying it all lately. Just in case a better future comes along.” He finished the glass of water and set it on the table, and then sat forward with his hands clasped. “Whatever I can do to pay you back, I’ll do it. It works out pretty well, actually.” He lifted his head and smiled faintly. “I’ve got a job interview in Tokyo next week.”
Kaiba’s eyebrows lifted curiously. “Oh?”
“With Sony. It’s a long story, I’ll tell you later,” he said modestly, “but…it goes to show you were right.”
“Of course I was,” Kaiba said arrogantly, “I always am. But what specifically was I right about this time?”
Alastair shook his head slowly. “You don’t remember, do you? You made a bet with me.”
Kaiba’s eyes shifted away while he thought, and then a smug smile began to dawn on his face. “Oh, yes. I said you’d be living in Japan inside of two months.” The smile faded slightly. “I think you missed the deadline, though. It’s been more than two months. That means you win.”
“But I’m still moving to Japan.” Alastair sighed moodily. “If I can get the job, that is.”
Kaiba refrained from saying anything encouraging, instead catching the hostess as she blundered past and handing her the cash to cover his tab. “Come on. We shouldn’t sit around here too long. Let’s get you on the plane and out of the country.”
Alastair nodded and picked up his heavy bag, shouldering it and waiting to follow Kaiba. He, in turn, took his briefcase and led the way out the door. Together, the two young men in their impressive coats crossed the busy street and headed up into the financial building, not glancing around at all as they strode purposefully for the elevators and went up to the roof. En route, Kaiba whipped out his cell phone and had his crew prepare to take off, so that when they stepped out of the elevator and out onto the helipad, the helicopter was already fired up and waiting for them, ramp extended. Without acknowledging any of the company employees that might have seen them pass, Kaiba went straight to his craft and inside, Alastair a step behind, and just tapped on the cockpit door to let the pilot know that they were aboard. The copilot brought up the ramp and shut the door tightly, and they were off, rising high above the city and fleeing without any indication that they had a fugitive on board.
Alastair fell heavily onto one of the benches, watching out the window as cityscape gave way to ocean and he was finally safely beyond pursuit of the Chinese authorities. Only then did he let out a deep sigh and close his eyes, going limp with relief. Kaiba set down his briefcase but remained standing for a bit, leaning on the bulkhead while he made another phone call. “Hey kid,” he said when Mokuba answered. “Listen. I had to make an unscheduled flight out of the country, but I wanted to let you know that I’m on my way home. What? No, I’m on a helicopter. I’ll explain everything when I get home. A few hours. Look, I can’t really say much about it right now, I’ll tell you all about it later, all right? Good. I’ll see you later tonight.” That done, he sat down on the bench across from Alastair and pulled out his laptop once again, fully intending to go right back to work. “It’ll be a few hours,” he reported as he called up his files. “You may as well get comfortable.”
Alastair eyed him curiously. “What’s so important that you need to keep working on it?”
“A project for the company.” Kaiba glanced briefly over the top edge of his screen. “What, there’s no sense in wasting all these hours flying back and forth. I’m trying to recoup some of my losses for the day.”
“I’m sorry,” Alastair said instantly. “I didn’t mean to get you so involved. I really do owe you my life. I’ve never been so afraid that someone was going to kill me as I have these last couple of days.” He sat forward and buried his face in his hands, tired and relieved and humbled all at once. “How could I be so stupid? Everything’s gone just fine before, I never suspected that they’d turn on me and offer me up as a sacrificial lamb just to see if they could get something illegal past Chinese authorities.”
Kaiba kept his eyes on his computer screen. “Forget about it. It’s over. You’re coming to Japan like you wanted, you don’t have to even think about it anymore.” One blue eye focused on him over the screen. “Unless the police have your information.”
“They don’t. They only got as far as searching me, I bolted before they could take my passport or any identification.” Alastair looked around the cabin and then shrugged out of his coat, stretching himself out on the bench and pulling the coat around him for a blanket. “I think I’m going to try to sleep, even though it’s not the usual comfy digs I’d expect from you. I haven’t slept in days, I feel like I’m going to fall over.”
“Good luck,” Kaiba snorted.
Alastair closed his eyes, finally able to breathe deeply in comfort. After a moment’s silence, he spoke again, some of the humor returning to his voice. “I don’t suppose I could impose on you for dinner when we get to Domino, could I? I haven’t eaten in probably three days either.”
Kaiba didn’t look up, though a stab of concern seared through his heart upon hearing that. He wanted to berate his companion for not taking better care of himself, but all he said was, “I’ll take care of it.”
“Thanks.” And with that, Alastair fell silent. Kaiba raised his head after a minute or two, and realized he had already fallen fast asleep with his head pillowed on one arm.
The sun had just barely set by the time the lights of Domino City came into view on the horizon, and the helicopter pilot informed his boss that they were coming up on home soon. Kaiba had spent the whole flight working, but for a few short breaks to walk around the cabin and stretch his legs, because the hard bench made his ass fall asleep if he sat there unmoving too long. Alastair hadn’t stirred at all since lying down, so deeply asleep that not even the rough flight of the helicopter could bother him. The approach to landing meant Kaiba had to put his computer away for good, and he stepped to the door of the cockpit to verify that everything was on course and on schedule with the pilot before returning to the cabin. It was time to wake up Alastair, but as he stood there looking down at him, part of him didn’t want to disturb the young man’s slumber. He didn’t need to be told that it was uncharacteristic of him to have made this journey with no expectation that he would be getting anything of value out of it, he knew it already. He had his own deep, unspoken reasons for spending an entire day in the air just to fetch Alastair, wasting time and money and putting off Mokuba with a promise of an explanation when he got home, but he had no way of expressing them to anyone. It was hard enough admitting them to himself. He couldn’t stop his thoughts from rambling about how beautiful Alastair looked when he was asleep, so vulnerable and peaceful. Kaiba fought himself, trying to keep himself from doing anything that could possibly be interpreted as sweet, much as he wanted to run his hand over Alastair’s cheek, maybe brush away the messy strands of hair obscuring his lovely face… Kaiba shook his head rapidly, waking himself from his inner thoughts. At the very least, he could confess to himself that he was glad Alastair was safe from harm now, and would be coming home with him tonight. He could see the lights of the city coasting by beneath the helicopter now, and knew he couldn’t delay any longer. He crouched down beside the bench and shook Alastair’s shoulder, just enough to wake him. Alastair blinked blearily and raised an arm to rub his eyes, making his coat slide onto the floor. “Hey,” Kaiba said quietly. “We’re about to land. We’re in Domino.”
Alastair moaned softly and pried himself up onto one elbow. Kaiba leaned back to give him room. “You mean I slept the whole way?”
“You didn’t miss anything.” Kaiba pushed himself to his feet and sat back down on the opposing bench, giving Alastair plenty of space to sit up and ruffle his unruly hair and pick his coat up off the floor. “I’ll call Mokuba as soon as we land, so dinner will be ready when we get home.”
Alastair sat demurely in place, hands in his lap. “You mean…you’re letting me stay with you?”
“Where else are you going to stay?” Kaiba sniffed. “Thought so. You said you have an interview in Tokyo next week? You can stay at our place until then. After that, it’s up to you to do what you want with your life.” He looked over the young man across from him, head to toes. “I can’t just dump you off on the street,” he muttered. “You’re in horrible shape. You need food, you need a shower…”
Alastair nodded without comment, only reaching to put his coat on before they landed. Kaiba sat back and crossed his arms, enduring the landing and then getting up with his briefcase. The rotor’s wind set both men’s coats billowing regally as they crossed the KaibaCorp helipad to the elevator, where they could slip inside the deserted building and head for the company garage. With a few quick phone calls, Kaiba had a car waiting for them and the assurance that the house would be lit and dinner would be warm when they got there. They stashed their baggage in the trunk of the car and then slid into the back seat, from where Kaiba instructed his driver to take them straight to the Kaiba estate. Between the exhaustion and the humility of being so indebted to Kaiba, Alastair was feeling horrible, but he kept quiet as they rode through the city. Then, contrary to his expectations, he felt Kaiba’s hand come to rest on top of his as they sat side by side. He glanced down at it, and then at Seto, finding him just gazing absently down at his lap, as if pretending he was not touching Alastair at all. Alastair smiled softly to himself, twitching his hand just a little to let his companion know that he noticed, but otherwise leaving it be.
Mokuba met his big brother at the door, eyes full of question and annoyance that he should be so mysterious and so very late for no apparent reason, but all of that changed as soon as he saw the second man follow him through the door. The annoyed frown turned into a surprised smile. “Alastair! What are you doing here?”
Alastair mustered a smile for the younger Kaiba. “Hey, Mokuba. I’m, uh…”
“I lost a bet,” Seto said bluntly.
“What?” Mokuba gave him a weird look. “What are you talking about, bro?”
Kaiba sighed and shook his head. “Nothing. Alastair is going to be staying with us for a short time, he’s in the process of moving to Japan.”
“There’s a bit more to it than that,” Alastair admitted. “And I’d be glad to tell you all about it over dinner.”
Mokuba thumbed over his shoulder. “It’s all set up in the other room. Come on.”
The maid came to greet them, then, and Kaiba indicated the dilapidated backpack on Alastair’s shoulder. “Take it up to the guest room. On second thought, take it straight to the laundry. It reeks of international traveler.”
Alastair gave him a startled look as the maid took his bag from him. “Then what am I going to wear tonight?”
“You can borrow something of mine. Come on.” He set his briefcase aside in the study and kept going straight back to the dining room. “Food first, then you need a shower. And leave your coat, I’ll send it out to get cleaned tomorrow.”
Nodding his consent, Alastair shrugged the coat off his shoulders and draped it on the back of a chair at the table. It was big enough for a dinner party but only set for three, and Mokuba had beaten them to the chairs to get his usual seat. Kaiba predictably went straight for the head of the table, leaving Alastair to slide into the seat to his left. Dinner wasn’t a major production, but it was more than their guest had expected to be eating that night if he hadn’t been able to raise some help. He was content to eat in silence, but Mokuba wasn’t about to let him. “So what happened? What’s all this about having to fly out of the country for the day, Seto?”
Kaiba gave the man on his left a brief glance. “Someone called me this morning begging for my help. Something about not wanting to be arrested by the Chinese police.”
Mokuba’s wide eyes went to Alastair as well. “What?”
“Your brother’s right, it’s a long story,” Alastair said quietly. “But, you deserve to know. You know that courier job you thought was so cool? Well, it really isn’t.” He fiddled with his chopsticks for a moment before settling down to eat and tell the story at the same time. “My employers set me up. They used me to see if they could get something illegal into China, without telling me, so that if I got caught, I’d take the heat instead of them or their client. I was told I was delivering medications to a lab researching cancer or something, but when airport security took me aside and searched my package, they found bottles of uncut black-market diamonds instead.” He kept his eyes on his plate as he explained, not wanting to face Mokuba. “I had no choice, I had to run, or they would have imprisoned me or worse. I’ve been on the run for a couple of days, with no money and no way to leave the country. All I had was my cell phone, and your brother’s office number.”
Mokuba shifted his incredulous gaze back to his brother. “And you flew to China to pick him up?”
Kaiba was also studiously concentrated on his meal instead of sharing conversation. “It was the only option,” he said as casually as he could. “There was nothing else I could do to help.”
“Whoa.” Mokuba looked back and forth between them, unable to believe what he was hearing. “That’s just crazy. Are you all right, Alastair?”
Alastair finally looked up and smiled faintly at the younger Kaiba’s genuine concern for him. “I’m really tired,” he said, “but yeah…all things considered, I’m okay.”
“But what are you going to do, now? That was your job. Are they going to arrest you if you try to fly back to Europe or something?”
“I’m not going back,” Alastair explained with a shake of his head. “As of this job gone wrong, I’m officially done being a courier. Everything I own is in my bag, I have nothing to go back for.”
“You can stay with us,” Mokuba immediately offered. “We have lots of room. You’ll be safe, here.”
“I told you,” Seto interrupted, “he’s staying through next week. After that, it’s up to him.”
“What’s next week?” Mokuba wondered.
“I have an interview in Tokyo.” Alastair managed a bit of a smirk. “You’ll probably like this one. I scored myself an interview with Sony, to help manage their internet security systems. Only, not in the conventional way.”
Mokuba began to grin. “What did you do?”
“I hacked into their mainframe. Just to get their attention. It was surprisingly easy,” Alastair said breezily, “I was shocked to see how badly they had some of their backdoor access covered. Any snot-nosed geek with a fast computer could have hacked in and stolen all of their game secrets and sold it around the world before they even knew it was gone.” Alastair glanced at Seto, and grinned to see the subtle shade of amusement glimmering in his blue eyes. “I popped my head up and told them if they wanted to make sure this didn’t happen again, they had better grant me an interview and offer me a job. It takes a hacker to stop hackers, after all.”
“It’s about time you put your skills to good use,” Kaiba said wryly.
Mokuba was laughing. “That’s awesome! So they agreed? Seriously?”
“Uh huh. Next Thursday.” Alastair paused to stuff some noodles in his mouth, enjoying the hot soup more than anything before him. “This wasn’t how I expected to get there, though,” he eventually went on. “I was supposed to make this run to China, and then go back to the base of operations in Germany and tell them I was leaving for good, and then I was going to buy my one-way ticket to Japan and show up in Tokyo. I didn’t want to come back here and say anything about it until I knew whether I had the job or not.” He glanced toward Seto. “I figured, of all the countries in the world where good computer jobs were there for the taking, I preferred to be in Japan…for personal reasons.” His glance returned to Mokuba and he smiled. “I did kind of want to move here anyway.”
“Cool,” Mokuba enthused. “It is good to see you again, even if it took some pretty awful circumstances to get you here. At least you’re here, and you’re safe.”
“Yeah.” Another shy glance toward Seto. “Thanks to your brother.”
Kaiba coolly sipped from his glass, not acknowledging the look. “You put yourself on the line for me a few months ago,” he muttered, “it was simply time to pay you back for it.”
“Oh, come off it, Seto,” Mokuba chided him. “You wanted to help and you know it. Don’t listen to him, Alastair,” he added with a dismissive wave of his hand. “He’s happy to have you here, too. Hey, if your interview goes well and you get a job at Sony, we’ll be seeing a lot more of you, right?”
Alastair smiled calmly, lowering his eyes. “I would like to hope so.”
“Stop pestering him with questions and let the man eat,” Kaiba broke in. “Didn’t you have a test today? How did it go?”
Mokuba groaned. “I hate history, I just want to say that up front.” He went on to tell his brother about his day at school, while Alastair gratefully immersed himself in his meal. The hot soba noodles in soup were the best for him, though he ate just about everything put in front of him and drained several glasses of water until he could feel his body starting to recover from its ordeal. It was pleasant enough to sit there in warmth and comfort and listen to Mokuba cheerily discussing school, KaibaCorp, and games with his brother. Eventually, though, the kid couldn’t be restrained and decided to talk to Alastair instead, about what kinds of things he could look forward to if he lived in Japan. “The train system is pretty cool. You can take the shinkansen from Tokyo to Domino in half the time it would take to drive back and forth. So, you could come visit any time you wanted, right?”
“I guess so,” Alastair said with a little laugh. “There’s no guarantee I’ll get a job with Sony, though.”
“What’ll you do if you don’t?”
“I don’t know.” Alastair shrugged stiffly and picked up his glass. “I guess it doesn’t matter until after Thursday. Maybe I won’t even like Tokyo, there’s other places I can look now that I’m actually here in the country.” He flicked another brief glance at Seto. “Even Domino.”
“Now that would be cool,” Mokuba said. “Don’t you think, Seto?”
Kaiba looked as calm and collected as ever. “What Alastair chooses to do with his life is up to him. What I think doesn’t matter.”
Alastair decided it would be a good time to change the subject. “Say, Mokuba. I’m thinking I might want to get a new motorcycle, now that I’m here.”
That definitely got the younger brother’s attention. “Oh yeah? What kind?”
“I don’t know. Anything but a big ugly American bike, probably.” He smirked over his glass. “I had a Ducati before, when I worked for Dartz.”
“Ooo,” Mokuba exclaimed, impressed. “What happened to it?”
“I don’t know. It kind of got lost along with the rest of his empire when he disappeared.” Alastair shrugged. “No matter. I’ve been saving up every penny since then, I always knew that when I settled down, I needed a new bike.”
“Just promise me I get a ride on it when you get it.”
Alastair smiled, and then caught the glare from the older brother, raising his hands defensively in response. “I’ll make him wear a helmet! Don’t worry, Kaiba. I wouldn’t do anything to endanger him.”
“You better not,” Kaiba growled.
“Not a chance.” Alastair glanced back at Mokuba with a kind smile. “I’ll treat him just as I would my own little brother.”
Kaiba eyed his younger brother, who was looking rather smug and pleased at the moment. “It’s late. What kind of homework do you have to do?”
“None, duh,” Mokuba replied, rolling his eyes. “Tomorrow’s Sunday.” He then sat up sharply. “Hey! That means we can hang out all day tomorrow, Alastair! It’s my day off. Seto…” He focused a wicked grin at his brother. “You should call into work and get the day off, too. It’s supposed to be really nice, maybe we can hit the pool one last time before fall.”
Alastair laughed brightly at the thought of Kaiba calling in and playing hooky from work, which only annoyed Kaiba further. “I already took one day off, today,” he grumbled, “I don’t think I should make it two in a row.”
“Oh, come on,” Mokuba sighed. “When do you ever get the chance to do something like this? You’ve been working your butt off on the game, you haven’t been around on a Sunday in weeks. I want to see you, big brother. More than just to say bye in the morning and good night when you get home.”
Kaiba sank a little in his chair, realizing he had a point. “I did get a lot of work done today, under the circumstances,” he mused. “Not having idiots bothering me every other minute with their problems, or that pathetic excuse for a development team dragging their feet on Legendary Heroes while I work twice as fast as them…”
“You did seem pretty focused on that computer,” Alastair noted. “Whatever you were doing, it was going well.”
Seto heaved a put-upon sigh. “Fine. I’ll call them in the morning and tell them I’m working from home instead of the office. They’ll just have to deal with it.”
Mokuba grinned across the table at Alastair. “Perks of being the company president.”
They finished up dinner shortly after, and sat for a while lingering on drinks and dessert. Alastair had grown gradually quieter by this time, and only listened as Mokuba and Seto talked over a few more things. At last, he felt himself nodding off at the table, and pushed himself out of the chair. “Sorry, guys,” he said, “but everything’s catching up with me. I think I’m going to go up and shower and go to bed.”
Kaiba sat back in his chair, looking up at his guest. “Give me a moment and I’ll bring you something to sleep in.”
“Thanks.” Alastair offered Mokuba a sweet smile. “Hanging out tomorrow sounds like fun. Count me in.”
“Excellent.” Mokuba grinned back. “G’night, Alastair.”
Upstairs, Alastair found the same guest room as before made up for him, with some of his personal effects from his bag laid out on the dresser. Presumably, the maid had unpacked it for him and tossed all of his clothing in the laundry. There was even a bathrobe set out on the bed, and house slippers. He went to the dresser and picked up his most prized memento, his brother’s charred action figure, caressing it with his thumb as if to assure himself that it had made it through the fire with him yet again. Tears sprang to his eyes before he could stop them, but he blamed it on being extremely over-tired and swept them away with one hand, laying the figure back on the dresser with his duel disk and other items and turning to strip off his well-used clothing. He had just bundled himself in the robe in order to go find the bathroom when Seto appeared in the doorway, a folded set of pajamas under his arm. “Hey.” He offered them to Alastair, who took them without a word. “You look a little better than you did earlier.”
“I feel like shit,” Alastair retorted. “I need sleep so badly. If you wouldn’t mind not waking me up in the morning, I’d appreciate it. So what if I miss breakfast?”
“You won’t miss much.” Kaiba nodded gently. “I’ll make sure Mokuba doesn’t bother you. He’s awfully excited to have you here.”
“Yeah, I noticed.” Alastair finally lifted his head and looked him in the eye. “I’m kind of glad to be here myself.”
Kaiba stood there with his arms at his sides, unsure what to do with himself now that he had completed his errand. He glanced to see that Alastair’s things had been brought into the room for him. “Is there anything else you need?” he asked.
“I don’t think so.” Alastair cradled the pajamas in his arms, giving a soft sigh. “I just need to clean up and go to bed. You can go on about your business, I’ll be fine. I’m sure you wanted to keep to yourself tonight anyway.”
Kaiba stepped aside to let him leave the room. “I didn’t say that.”
“No…” Alastair brushed past him, giving him a subtle glance out of the corner of his eye. “It’s okay. I’m sure you still have work to do.”
“A little.” Seto stood back and let Alastair walk away, down the hall to the guest bath across from Mokuba’s room. He wouldn’t have asked him to stay with him anyway, being as Alastair was still plainly exhausted from his ordeal, but part of him yearned for the contact, even the simple taste of his lips. Kaiba scolded himself for going soft and turned on his heel, heading back down the stairs to the study where he could catch up on any important messages he missed thanks to his unusual day out. It wasn’t hard to return his focus to his work, except for the brief space of time when he could hear the shower running upstairs, and images of Alastair’s naked body under the water kept flashing to mind.
By the time Alastair finally dragged himself out of bed and tugged open the blinds to see what the world looked like, he had been asleep for more than twelve hours straight. The Kaiba estate was as blissfully quiet as he remembered, and the world outside warm and inviting. He looked down on the green lawn half in shadow and the small but well-kept pool in the back yard and smiled faintly to himself, remembering that Mokuba wanted him to play in the water if it was warm enough. He found both of the Kaiba brothers downstairs, actually engrossed in a game of chess instead of work and play. The interruption was welcome, as Mokuba was naturally losing and needed an excuse to quit before he was humiliated for the four hundred and seventy-fifth time in a row. Alastair allowed himself to be escorted to the kitchen and given something to eat, regardless of how close it was to lunchtime, and sat down in the study to chat with Mokuba while Seto resumed work. The younger Kaiba confirmed that it was indeed as beautiful outside as it looked, and warm for this time of the year, so hitting the pool was not out of the question. However, Alastair pointed out that he didn’t even own a pair of swim trunks, but Seto glanced up from his computer long enough to say he had an extra pair that could be borrowed. He wasn’t going swimming, not by any means, but a wireless laptop could be set on the patio table as easily as the desk in the study. Alastair had noticed that the maid had swept up the clothes he was wearing the day before, and someone had even cleaned his boots while he was asleep. All he had right now were the pajamas, though he suspected wasting a few hours in the pool would give his clothes time to show up all nice and fresh and folded on his bed. Before too long, China and courier flights and the rest of the world completely vanished from his mind as he concentrated on the far more important task of wrestling Mokuba in the pool. Seto parked himself at a table beside the pool, under a sheltering umbrella, typing away at his important game materials so long as no one bothered him or splashed him or tried to get him to join in. Now and then, he stole a glance at Alastair as he played, ogling his trim body in the wet swim trunks. Alastair didn’t notice, as he was having a great time splashing around in the warm water and basking in the end-of-summer sun. After a while, he got out of the pool and snatched the towel hanging off the back of Seto’s chair, looking over his shoulder in the process. “So what’s this game you’re so immersed in writing?” he asked as he toweled himself off.
“A console version of my Legendary Heroes virtual game,” Kaiba replied, hardly diverting his eyes for a moment. “I’m not satisfied with any of the game engines out there so I’m creating my own.”
“Wow. That’s a lot of work.” Alastair watched him for a moment, curiously observing the mix of photoshopped graphics and bland, sterile script covering the screen. “How’s it going?”
“Not bad.” He sat back, leaning on the arm of the chair. It brought him dangerously close to Alastair, who was still looking over his shoulder. “It helps not to be at the office, surrounded by idiots.”
“Hey, look up, you guys!” They both did, realizing too late that Mokuba had his cell phone – a camera phone – and was taking a picture of them as they sat there together. They barely had time to stop looking surprised when he snapped it and then laughed. “Gotcha! Last day of summer, I had to do it.”
Alastair pulled the towel off his shoulder and whipped it towards Mokuba, catching him in the back as he tried to run away. “I’ll get you back later!” he called after the boy, who just retreated further and made a taunting face.
Kaiba just snorted. “Yeah, to get a copy of it, I’m sure,” he said under his breath.
Alastair pretended not to hear him. “So are you going to sit here all day, or relax for a bit with us? It’s an impossibly perfect day.”
“I’m fine,” Kaiba assured him, though without the usual edge to his voice. “You go ahead and enjoy it. I need to get to a certain place with this.”
“Suit yourself,” Alastair shrugged as Seto’s hands stretched back to the keyboard. “I’ll swim for a little bit longer, but I’ve almost had enough. I don’t need to be waterlogged.” He got up from the chair, making sure to sway his hips just enough as he walked back to the edge of the pool, for he knew Seto’s eyes were on him the whole way.
Kaiba did his best to concentrate on his work despite the distractions, and just before Alastair and Mokuba extracted themselves for the last time and came to dry off and call it quits, he finished the elaborate script he had been pouring over. It was the perfect stopping point, and gave him an excuse to declare the day complete. He would probably check over his email and other messages from work later, but not now. He pressed Mokuba about homework again, being as he had half a day left to procrastinate it before really needing to have it done, and sent his younger brother grumbling back into the house to change and get on it so he could be assured that it was taken care of. Alastair followed, ruffling the towel through his hair and saying something about showering off the chlorine from the pool, but the minute the door closed behind him he felt a hand hook his arm and pull him to a stop. Before he could protest, Kaiba had turned him around and kissed him fiercely, without preface or explanation. It took a second for Alastair to get over being startled, and then he was kissing back, parting his lips to let Kaiba inside. Heat rushed through his body as he pressed himself up against his companion, ravaging his lips hungrily, desperate to make up for more than two months of no contact. Kaiba had barely set down his laptop before diving in, and broke off the kiss for a husky whisper. “Let me put this away.”
Alastair laughed softly, running his lips across Seto’s cheek. “Finally done with it?”
“For now.” Kaiba grabbed the laptop in one hand and Alastair’s arm in the other, sweeping through the study to deposit the computer en route to the stairs and his bedroom. They snuck inside without disturbing Mokuba’s studies and closed themselves away, both eager to finally get a taste of each other after spending the previous day completely dancing around the issue. Alastair threw his arms around Kaiba’s neck and lunged in to kiss him, feeling arms wrap around his bare torso and catch him up as warm lips savaged his. They stood there like that for a while, only kissing, the tempo slowing gradually from the first ferocious attack to something softer, more serious, with prolonged brushes of their lips against each other separated by silent pauses in which their breath heated the space between them.
Alastair tightened his arms, pulling himself into Kaiba’s chest and hugging him firmly. “God, I missed this,” he whispered against the taller man’s neck.
Seto ran his hands up and down Alastair’s bare back, kissing lightly at his neck. “You taste like chlorine,” he complained.
Alastair laughed. “I told you. I need a shower.”
“You may as well wait until I’m through with you.” Kaiba pulled him back in order to stare into his eyes. “You’re gonna need one after that.”
A soft gasp escaped Alastair’s lips, and then he was leaning in for more, figuring that this was a good sign that he had been forgiven for disrupting Kaiba’s life so suddenly. Seto accepted his kiss, pulling him closer with his hands in the small of his partner’s back. Alastair practically melted into him, and then he was tugging desperately at Seto’s shirt, trying to pull it off of him. Kaiba helped, tossing it aside on the floor, and then seized him by the waistband of the swim trunks. Alastair smiled seductively and laid his arms over Kaiba’s shoulders, letting him do as he pleased with the only garment standing in the way of their passion. Kaiba tugged the shorts down over his hips, and paused to caress his naked skin and admire him before letting them drop to the floor. They were wet, though, so he bent and swiftly plucked them up, tossing them strategically through the door into the bathroom where they could safely land on the tile. Alastair stood aside with his hips cocked sexily, letting himself be ogled for a few minutes before Seto resumed touching him, smoothing his hands over Alastair’s hips and around his ass as he leaned in once more to kiss him deeply. Alastair pressed back against him, urging him toward the bed and to a seat. Kaiba obliged, though he pulled Alastair with him, choosing to lie down and let his partner fall beside him as they kept on kissing one another. After a bit, Alastair pushed himself up on his hands, giving Seto a sweet look before descending to kiss him everywhere else, his chest and neck and throat and anywhere that was laid bare to him. Kaiba tangled his hands in Alastair’s still-wet hair as he roamed lower, lavishing every taut muscle with a hot, wet kiss that had Kaiba softly moaning. He settled himself against the pillows and moved his feet aside so Alastair could settle between his legs without pausing his ministrations for a second. Alastair nuzzled his stomach and licked tentatively at his skin, glancing up to meet Seto’s eyes now and again to be sure he was enjoying everything. He received a placid smile in response, the sort of look that was both strange and beautiful coming from Seto Kaiba.
Alastair slid even lower, reaching to undo Kaiba’s pants and tug them down. Kaiba was more than happy to wriggle out of them, and then reclined back against the head of the bed to let Alastair continue with his intended goal. With a perfectly content growl, Alastair bowed his head and kissed along the inside of Seto’s thighs, teasing him before finally moving on to what they were both waiting for. Kaiba was already hard, and closed his eyes with a deep-voiced moan as warm, wet lips closed on him and suckled gently. Alastair felt the hands clawing through his hair again, and chuckled a little to himself as he traced his lips and tongue up and down the erection with steady patience. Kaiba braced his head against the headboard, his hands absently clutching and releasing at Alastair’s wet hair in rhythm with the movement of his lips, feeling the growing heat and pressure in his abdomen that he desired. It was so good, he had missed this as well, not just the sex but Alastair himself, with his talented mouth and gentle demeanor in bed. Each time Kaiba seemed to be relaxing and quieting, Alastair found a new way to lick at him, a different way of teasing him that made him cry out again and resume panting anxiously, lost in the dizzying sensations rippling through his body. His toes began to curl, and his body arched as he grew closer and closer to release, doing his best not to just grab Alastair’s head and force him down onto him. Alastair was breathing hard himself, finding it difficult to keep up the pace with just his mouth, so he closed his hand around Kaiba, rubbing with his thumb until he found a sensitive spot that made his partner jerk hard and let out a heavy gasp of surprise. Seto’s hands fell away, clutching instead at the bedspread, as he braced his feet and held himself in place, unable to thrust or twitch with Alastair lying on top of him, holding him down while he worked both lips and fingers over Kaiba’s erection. He could taste him coming, and sped up just enough, encouraging him the rest of the way. Whether because of his usual work stress or simply the tension of being Kaiba, it was taking him longer to let go and fall over the edge, but Alastair patiently kept pushing him, touching, stroking, licking, never once relenting. At last the waves of orgasm hit, and Seto’s head connected with the headboard with a dull clunk as he gave a shout and stiffened, feeling Alastair grip him firmly around the hips and hold him down while he greedily licked away every trace of the hot fluid spilling from him. As it passed, Kaiba slumped down, trying to catch his breath, his grip on the bedcovers easing. Alastair pushed himself up and prowled up to him, giving him a long, probing kiss to share the taste with him. As they broke away for breath, the red-haired young man whispered, “God you’re beautiful.”
Seto gripped him by the shoulders and gazed at him, at the passion raging in his stormy gray eyes. He wanted to say something, but no words came to him. Instead, he just bent his head and kissed him again, more softly, moving his hands to Alastair’s neck and cupping his face. Alastair stretched up to meet him, rubbing himself against Kaiba’s body to let him know that he was still rather aroused. They broke off the kiss shortly, as Kaiba considered himself sufficiently recovered to react, though he still didn’t move from his seat for a bit as it was rather comfortable and enticing to be reclining on his bed with the beautiful, slender young man stretched out on top of him. He combed his fingers through Alastair’s hair and then let his touch glide down his neck to his shoulders again, until with a sudden wicked grin he pushed Alastair to the side and flipped him over on his back. Alastair let out a startled breath as he thudded onto the bed with Kaiba hovering over him, but had no reason to worry. He cracked a smile as Seto reclined beside him with his weight on one elbow, bending his head to kiss his chest in a couple of places before remembering that swimming had left his skin tasting of chlorine. He decided to forego the foreplay and just get right to it, closing his fist around Alastair’s erection and giving him a dark smile. “Is this what you want?” he murmured throatily.
“Oh, please,” Alastair whispered back. “Anything, Seto, please.” He lifted an arm and curled it over Kaiba’s shoulder, around behind his head, in order to hold on.
Kaiba began stroking him gently, figuring to start out slow just to remind himself of the delicious feel of the hot, velvety skin stretched tight and hard before speeding up, because at this stage it wouldn’t be long before Alastair himself was coming. He lay looking hazily up at Seto, his lips still wet and glistening as he panted lightly. Kaiba plied his fingers expertly, tracing shape and dimension and stroking the underside teasingly first, then moving to grip him more securely and involve his entire fist in the action. Alastair’s hips arched toward him, seeking more. Kaiba could remember some of the things Alastair had done to him before, things that he found so completely amazing, so he tried a few of them, choosing just where and how hard to stroke him to make him scream. It wasn’t long before Alastair tensed, his fingers gripping hard on the back of Seto’s neck, his body trembling beneath Kaiba’s as it grew closer to climax. His eyes were closed, his lips parted just enough for every gasping breath and small cry of pleasure. Kaiba sped up even more, concentrating his motions on just one small, sensitive spot underneath the head until Alastair was keening uncontrollably, tightening his grip even more. One last cry burst from his lungs, his body recoiling violently as he came in Seto’s hand. Kaiba held him until he stopped, and then reached an arm around Alastair, pulling him into an unexpected embrace. They laid in motionless silence while Alastair struggled to catch his breath, and then Kaiba turned his head just enough to whisper something in his partner’s ear. “Welcome back.”