Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Title: Sow and Reap
Author: Serena J
Rating: R for use of the f-word and some sexual content
Genre(s): Romance, Angst
Pairing(s): Primary Seto/Joey/Atemu
Spoilers: none
Beta: Mishiko
Disclaimer: Just the words, not the folks.
Summary: When Seto takes an impromptu vacation, he turns everyone's life
upside down.

   Chapter 3: A Gain, A Loss



   Chapter 3

   The rest of the week was pointless and forgettable.  I went through the
motions of operating the company, paying just enough attention to not burn
the place down.  Mazaki selected staff to travel with us from current staff
members I tolerated well.  She selected office intermediaries from a list
provided by my father.  Except for the new Office Senior.  For that
position, I chose my cousin Noah.

   Noah and I had grown up together and while I held no illusions that he
was loyal to me, I knew his personal inheritance and standing depended on
maintaining good relations with 'Dear' Uncle Gozaburo's heir.

   Over the weekend, I assisted Mazaki in packing her old apartment. 
Actually, that consisted of me calling a service to do the physical labor
while she and I sat in the living room and analyzed the latest MGCo data.

   Monday, at 9am, Mazaki knocked on my door and presented me with
something that stepped out of a wet dream.

   "Kaiba-san, this is Bakura Ryou."

   He bowed deeply.  "It is an honor to meet you."

   He was young - 18, 19 maybe - tall and slender with an almost feminine
grace.  His hair was white, set off by soft brown eyes.  He was
immaculately dressed in a navy double-breasted suit and white shirt.  His
tie and cuff links were the same color as his eyes.

   Suddenly I knew why he'd been hired to be my personal secretary. 
"Mazaki, find Bakura's CV."

   "Here, sir." She handed me the document from the papers she was holding.

   It was brief.  He had graduated only a few months ago from a good school
with a business degree.  He had a second certification from a school with
which I wasn't familiar.  He was young because he'd been an advanced
placement student.  Still, his credentials were a bit thin for someone
personnel insisted was at the Senior-level.

   It did make me think.  "Mazaki, find me your CV."

   "Oh.  Yes, sir." She left the office and returned a bit more slowly with
her own document.  I noticed that she too had been an advanced placement
student.  She had a little more experience than Bakura but not much.  I
dismissed her and she closed the door as she left.

   I looked at him again.  He was stunning.  My Father was a bastard but he
was a perceptive bastard.  And he knew me unfortunately well.  "Bakura,
whatever my Father told you, I have no intention of sleeping with you and
telling you my personal confidences." His face turned nearly purple,
telling me that I had guessed right about his primary skill set.  "If you
want to retain this job, I will expect your unquestioning loyalty at all
times.  Do you understand?"

   "Yes, Kaiba-san." He bowed deeply, apparently relieved that I hadn't
fired him on the spot.

   "Fine.  Contact the school and find out what books or equipment or
whatever I will need for the first day and purchase everything that is
required.  Mazaki can approve the costs.  If you have other questions, see
her as well."

   "Yes, sir.  Thank you.  Excuse me sir, what exactly are my duties?"

   "Whatever I tell you to do." I said frankly.  "I should think that would
have been clear."

   The rest of the week consisted of arguing with my Father about my
management choices, arguing with him about my personal staff choices,
arguing about how best to precede with MGCo and arguing about anything else
that arose.

   Not all of our arguments were pointless.  In many, I simply had to
present a strong enough justification and he let my decision stand.  In
some, he presented a point that I had not considered.  Several of our
discussions, however, were simply attempts to exert his will over mine. 
And I confess that on more than one occasion, I was unnecessarily
disrespectful.

   When we discussed my personal staff for the fifth time, I snidely
thanked him for Bakura.  "Since he has no discernable skills, I presume you
have provided him as a gift for my personal entertainment.  I guess you
have come to accept my 'lifestyle' choice."

   He slapped me hard enough to split my lip and push me back a step.  But
then instead of striking me again as was typical, he stepped back and faced
the window.  After a minute he spoke.  "Make no mistake; I do not accept
your perversion.  I do acknowledge however that so long as you indulge in
the disgusting practice, your public behavior reflects on the Kaiba name.
Consider him your in-house Geisha.  Use him as needed."

   I was speechless.  Bakura was a gift; a concession to my preferences
over Father's.  The harsh words I had intended died away.  I wiped my lip
and bowed.  "Thank you, Father." The man was barbaric in so many ways it
defied comprehension, but this action came from genuine good intentions. 
For once.

   "Mazaki." He said.

   I stood up.  "Yes?"

   "I want her.  Transfer her to my staff."

   We'd discussed this before.  "Out of the question.  She is
irreplaceable."

   "No one is irreplaceable, Seto." Neither of us pursued that thought.

   "We are leaving this weekend;" I pointed out at last.  "It would take
too long to train her replacement."

   "You'll manage.  You hardly need a beard and a lover at the same time."

   "Then take Bakura.  I can find another lover.  A competent secretary is
considerably harder to find."

   Thankfully for me, Father and I were interrupted and the discussion was
not revisited before my team left.

   We flew into the new town on Saturday.  I spent the plane ride and the
limo ride doing paperwork.

   "Kaiba," Mazaki snapped.  She, Bakura and I were spending so much time
together that common courtesy was rare.  "MGCo."

   "Where?"

   She grinned.  "Two miles from the condo.  Tomorrow.  A local gaming shop
is celebrating its twenty-year anniversary.  Kame Game Shop."

   I laughed.  "I know the place!  I got my last Blue Eyes White Dragon
there."

   "It would be a shame if we didn't stop by for the celebration." Bakura
grinned.

   "Agreed.  Mazaki, I want one of everything KaibaGames sells, with Kame's
logo stamped on it by dawn tomorrow."

   "Nice.  I hope you remember my anniversary." She grabbed her phone and
called the appropriate department.

   Saturday night and part of Sunday morning were spent preparing for our
impromptu visit.  We arrived just as MGCo was finishing their presentation.
I inadvertently overshadowed the scheduled KaibaGames representative, but
it was worth it to see the executive from MGCo turn green.  The shop was
achingly familiar and reminded me painfully of Honda and Joey.  For a
moment, I thought I even saw them.

   I had been planning to spend the day there, but Mazaki received a call
about an upcoming Australian launch and we left to resolve that issue.

   Sunday night I actually got a look at my new home.  Mazaki and Bakura
had condos on either side of mine.  It was larger than the suite I'd had at
my Father's containing four bedrooms, five baths, a den, a game room, and a
formal dining room that seated ten.  We made it the conference room.

   I woke as someone shook me gently.  "Kaiba." The voice was warm and
soft. It was followed by a warm soft kiss.  "Kaiba."

   Joey used to wake me early, before he had to leave for school, kissing,
sucking, caressing.  It was my favorite way to wake up.  My hand was
sliding down to more interesting points when I realized that Joey's chest
had a series of scars from a knife fight he was in years ago.  This man's
chest was smooth.

   I shoved back, distancing myself and pushing him out of my bed.  "Who
the fuck -?" I tried to calm down but my adrenaline was running for several
reasons.

   "Kaiba-san, forgive me." Bakura's broken voice came from out of my
eyeshot and when I peered over the edge of the bed, I saw him sitting
there, teary-eyed, wearing nothing but a pair of silk shorts.  "Anzu said
-"

   "Fuck!" I swore.  "MAZAKI!"

   Wide eyed and stricken, she stepped into my bedroom.  She was clutching
my standard morning coffee as if it could protect her from my wraith.

   Suddenly, the absurdity of the moment occurred to me.  Honda would have
called us hopeless.  Joey would have told me jump his bones since they were
being offered.  Mazaki was trying to play matchmaker and poor Bakura was
simply smitten.  I laughed.  I couldn't stop.  It was the first time in
weeks, something was honestly funny - me.

   Mazaki wasn't sure if I'd completely lost my mind when I gestured for my
coffee, but she handed it to me anyway.

   I took a sip and felt myself begin to actually wake up.  Dreams of Joey
slipped back into my memory.  "Ok.  I'm ready.  Status?"

   "You have thirty minutes to dress for your first day of school."

   "I hate rushing.  Bakura, tomorrow wake me at 6.  Just wake me; unless,
of course, you like the floor."

   "Yes, Kaiba-san." He still sounded miserable.

   "Mazaki, no match making.  I will pick my own lovers in the future and
they will not be from among the staff.  Clear?"

   "Yes, Kaiba-san." She said with a bow.

   We got moving.

   There were two carloads of us by the time we left for school.  Mazaki,
Bakura and I were in one car.  My security detail was in the other.  Mazaki
was dressed for corporate war - suit, tie and Bluetooth.  Bakura and I were
both wearing the school uniform - Bakura as a concession to school
administration.

   "You could hardly imagine her in fuzzy slippers when she's dressed like
this." I observed.

   "I'll fuzzy slipper you, you - oh.  Damn.  Mazaki.  Hold on.  Quiet, you
two.  Yes?"

   We got to school while on a conference call to Russia.  Dueling was
becoming a massively popular hobby there and we were considering opening
our own chain of stores in that market.  My security detail pushed through
the surprising crowd of students and made a path for us.  It was silly.  As
soon as I hung up, I heard someone shout and the team forcibly pushed a
student -a blond boy - back.

   "STOP!" I yanked the guard away from my eventual classmate.  "This is
ridiculous.  I couldn't possibly need this much security at school."

   "Please step back sir and allow us to do our jobs." The uniformed idiot
replied.

   "Your job is defeating the purpose of me being here.  How can I possibly
mingle with the masses if you obstruct them at every opportunity?" He
looked at me blankly.  "You are dismissed."

   "I'm sorry, sir, but..."

   "But you may consider yourself dismissed or you may consider yourself
fired.  Either way let go of him!" I yanked the guard's hand off the boy
and turned to ask if he was all right.

   Joey looked back at me, stunned.  "Tak?"

   I looked at him.  I felt my mouth open but no words came out.

   "Kaiba-san, I'm sorry but we have to go to the administrative office
before class." Bakura tugged me and I followed automatically.

   I looked back over my shoulder to see a wretched Joey and a confused
Honda.  "Mazaki!" I snapped, looking around.  She wasn't with us.

   "She's handling the security issue.  She'll catch up.  We're late
already."

   I looked back again, but Joey and Honda were gone.

   I spent most of the morning taking placement tests.  My team and I had
discussed this.  We knew there were some classes that were unavoidable. 
Composition, physical education and some form of literature were going to
be on my schedule.  Nearly everything else I was likely to test out of.  We
decided that to fill my schedule, I would volunteer to be a teacher's aide
or tutor classes I was too advanced in.

   Finally, as my classmates were finishing lunch, I was joining the
Headmaster to review my results.  My phone had been off for the entire
morning and I was almost afraid to turn it back on.

   "Let's see, Kaiba-san." He pulled out a computer printout and a
checklist.  "You've done quite well in Algebra, Calculus and French.  Your
English could use a little vocabulary work so we'll place you in the Junior
class.  Sophomore for..."

   "Sophomore?" I hadn't expected to be that low in anything.

   "...Chemistry and Biology.  Senior for World History and Civics.  You'll
be Freshman Lit." He seemed amused as he checked off classes, placing marks
in one or more columns until he'd gone through all of my test results. 
"There!  Well, I am impressed!  We've never had a student who'd come so
close to testing out of our program."

   "Close?" What could I have possibly have missed?  I reached out and he
passed me the results and the raw scores.  The majority of my classes were
at the Senior level with one Junior and two Sophomore.  Fiction was never a
priority in the Kaiba home but still....  "I really must protest Freshman
Literature."

   "Journey to the West was a novel long before it was a manga.  You really
should read the original."

   "I have." Although to be honest, it was several years ago and 'Saiyuki'
was one of Mokuba's favorites animes.  If it were someone else, a mistake
like that might be possible.  Not for me, of course.

   "Then you'll read it again.  This is a year-by-year list of graduation
requirements.  You've only got a little more than a year to finish -"

   "A year!"

   "That's really quite impressive, Kaiba-san.  These are the classes I'm
recommending this semester.  You have three slots left for electives.  We
also require that students join one athletic and one social club or group."
He gave me a booklet listing my options.  "I'll give you a few minutes to
make some selections.  Excuse me."

   As soon as he left, I called Mazaki.  "Status?"

   "Security is resolved; they'll have the new personnel in place by
Wednesday.  James called; they want to meet with us next week to discuss
marketing.  I routed him to Noah for scheduling.  Bakura is -"

   "STOP!  Who cares?  Mazaki, did you find him?"

   "Who?"

   "Joey!  He and Honda - they're here!  They were in the crowd this
morning." I had to laugh.  "Joey was the one security tried to detain."

   "Oh.  I didn't realize.  I'll get security back here and find them. 
Would you like them transferred to another school or a more permanent
solution?"

   "Would I..." I didn't finish the question.  One of the very first things
Mazaki did for me was to remove an inconvenient ex-lover - she had his
employer abruptly transfer him to another city.  "Mazaki -" I stopped. 
"Anzu, please just find them.  You do it.  Find them; tell them why I left.
Tell them...." What?  That I love Joey?  That I want to marry him and make
a life together?  "Never mind.  Forget it.  Forget I ever said anything." I
hung up.

   Mokuba's birthday, four years ago.  That was the last time I'd cried. 
It was the first time ever that we'd been apart on one of our birthdays and
he had only been at school for a month.  He was lonely and miserable and
there was nothing I could do.  After I hung up the phone, I cried for an
hour.  Alone, in my room, wishing I could be with him.

   I took a deep breath and pushed my emotions down.  I am Kaiba Seto.  I'm
known for my cold, heartless demeanor.  I do not have emotional breakdowns.
I looked through the options and selected three classes.  When the
Headmaster returned, I gave him the list.

   "I see you chose three self-study classes.  And you've left your clubs
blank." I didn't respond, waiting for him to make his point.  "My
understanding, Kaiba-san, is that you are here for more than just
education. Frankly, with your test scores, I could easily substitute
classes you've tested out of for some of our requirements and grant you a
diploma in six months.  Three if you put your mind to it.  But that's not
why you're doing this, is it?"

   "You seem to think there is more involved?"

   He smiled.  "We have six dueling clubs in this school.  The debate about
the educational merit of dueling reaches even small town educators.  I have
no problem with dueling or with you.  But if you want to seem less
unapproachable and privileged, you might want to look at some of the
classes with more group activities.  Sociology would be a good one.  Maybe
one of the Creative Writing or Art classes.  And, for your athletic group I
suggest the Cheering Squad."

   "I hardly think -"

   "I'm sure you feel you have no reason to be there but, if you would,
simply trust my experience on this.  It is only for the semester.  You can
change groups if you'd like.  But it will bring you in contact with a large
number of students in non-classroom settings and, well, often the local
paper is there.  That kind of press can't be bought, especially for a young
man in your position.  Think it over.  Bring me your final selections
before classes tomorrow."

   I left the administrative offices and called Mazaki.  When she didn't
answer, I called Bakura.  "Status?"

   "None." He sounded frustrated.  "I can't do anything until I have your
class list, sir.  I've very sorry.  They won't even allow me to pre-select
the books you might need."

   I read off the list of classes that the Headmaster indicated.  "There
will be three more but I'll decide those tonight."

   "Yes, sir."

   "I will need a gym uniform and..." I hesitated and then decided 'what
the hell?' "...and see if the Cheering Squad has a uniform."

   There was a moment of silence.  "The...what?  I'm sorry; I don't think I
heard you clearly."

   "Bakura, I should think it would be clear even to you that if I attend a
large number of sporting events, I will come in contact with a large number
of students.  Since this entire exercise is to give me a friendlier image,
what better place is there than supporting my fellow classmates?"

   "Oh.  I see.  Of course, sir.  I didn't think."

   "Get me a uniform and find out what's involved with the group - is there
a try out, that sort of thing.  Where's Mazaki?"

   "She, uh...she's..."

   "Damn it, I've been unavailable all day!  Where is she?"

   He sighed.  "She said it was personal, sir."

   I shivered.  Personal.  For her or for me?  "Fine.  Have my car brought
around.  I'm ready to go home."

   "Yes, sir.  I'll get the books for these classes and have them delivered
as soon as possible."

   I went home alone.  The day staff had come and gone.  The evening staff
hadn't arrived yet.  Just me in a huge condo with no friends or family to
share it with.  If I still had my bike, I would have....

   ....I'd left that rusted out junk heap at the airport.  I called the
hanger to see if it was still there - it was.  KaibaGames had been paying
¥500 a month to store it.  I changed clothes.  Not down to Tak's wardrobe,
but simple for me.  Then I had the car take me to the airport, telling them
that I'd phone when they needed to return.  It was a shame that I'd left my
phone in my room.

   She was still a rusted out junk heap, but she started.  This time, I had
plenty of cash in case I ran out of gas.  I got lost once on the way back
to town, but I didn't really care.  I wasn't in a rush.  I stopped by a
noodle shop and got three orders of soup to go.

   It was around 10pm when I pulled up in front of Honda and Joey's place.

   I stood in front of their door for a good five minute before I found the
courage to knock.

   Honda opened the door and looked at me.  Finally, he bowed.  "Welcome,
Kaiba-san.  To what to we owe this honor?"

   "Please don't call me that." My heart was pounding so loud that I was
surprised the whole building couldn't hear it.

   "Who is it, Hon-" Joey appeared over his shoulder and stopped cold. 
"-oh."

   "I want to explain." I started to come in; Honda pushed me back.

   "No explanation is necessary.  You and your secretary were slumming."

   "We weren't...." I couldn't even say it.  "It wasn't like that." I tried
to lighten the mood.  "I brought free food." I held up the bag.

   "It costs too much." He said and closed the door.

   My car was waiting out front.  The bike was on a trailer behind it. 
Mazaki was waiting inside.

   "What did you tell them?" I asked her after we'd sat in silence for a
while.

   "The truth." She said simply.

   "What did you tell them?" I repeated.

   "The truth, damn it!" She wiped her face.  Her eyes were red.  "You
already have a lover and you don't have time for people like them.  You are
a Kaiba and the last thing you need is to run through back alleys with a
pack of stray dogs."

   "You used to run with that pack."

   "It was convenient.  It was meaningless." She sniffed loudly.  "To both
of us."

   Neither of us spoke again.  When we got back to the condos, Bakura
looked like he was close to having a stroke.  The three of us ate cold
noodle soup in silence.
   I took Bakura to bed with me.