#𝐊𝐂 ── ic; president.

[shachou]

@universestreasures asked: how long have you been lying to me ? (Mokuba)

His brother was in possession of unique privileges, unavailable even to those who worked closest to him. The office over which he reigned was off limits to anyone who did not comply with a reasonable list of prerequisites that involved a scheduled meeting or justified urgency, as well as a formal announcement of their arrival at his secretary's desk.

Mokuba, on the other hand, had unrestricted access. The younger Kaiba had not exactly refrained from making use of said privilege, coming and going as he pleased; oftentimes, bringing lunch for them both as an unsubtle way of forcing a break into Seto's packed schedule.

The younger Kaiba's arrival that afternoon was particularly sudden. The way in which the boy approached his desk alerted him to something not quite within the ordinary. But before he could delve any further to pinpoint exactly what it was, Mokuba had already spoken, his direct question immediately eliciting something akin to perplexity that reflected on the way his eyes narrowed and fingers paused their continuous sequence of clicks upon the keyboard.

When Seto spoke, his tone remained neutral; albeit guarded.

❛  You could begin by telling me exactly what makes you think I've kept something from you. ❜

[shachou]

@universestreasures asked: Someone new had been seen in his designated department as of late, someone he didn't expect to see. It was not a new trainee Isono have to go through the process of training, but rather one of the most important people to the company itself: its heir, Kaiba Seto. The young boy had apparently been working in the company itself for quite some time now, no doubt to gain experience. Though he never came here until recently, his head down, seemingly working on a secret project that he had been working on for hours on end intensely.

Curious about the boy's work, and wanting to see if there was anything he could do to aid him in his project's development, he walks over to the young teenager, standing to the side of the workdesk to avoid getting in the way of his hands as they work. "Seto-sama? Pardon me for the intrusion. I merely wanted to ask if there was anything you needed assistance with regarding your personal project. I or any of the other staff will gladly assist you with any should you ask for it."

(From KC's Resident Goat, Isono)

For some years now, his access to most forms of self-determination had not only been limited, but completely taken away from him; buried underneath textbooks and higher education curricula. The shift in this torturous routine, although still ruthless considering who oversaw it from the comfort of his iron throne, was a welcome one. Kaiba Corporation's resources were ideal to make his project a reality, an unprecedented invention he had begun to blueprint in his mind since his first introduction to engineering.

The interruption was not welcomed, as proved by the abrupt pause that was immediately followed by a sharp side glance.

❛  Isono, is it not ? ❜ Prior to his arrival, he had acquainted himself with the names, faces and positions of everyone in this particular department. Rather than a gesture of consideration, his intention had been to learn, beforehand, who exactly would serve as his adoptive father's eyes and ears this time. After all, he wasn't so gullible as to assume he would be left unmonitored. ❛  You could at least pretend that you have not been given instructions by my father to keep me closely supervised. ❜

[shachou]

@universestreasures

He lacked a partiality for established celebrations. The association of specific thematics to certain days of the year seemed more akin to an imposition of societal commitments he couldn't truly bother to care for. Not that he didn't benefit from them. After all, Kaiba Corporation's sales statistics did happen to show a major increase during these holidays—- Christmas being a prime example.

Mokuba wasn't like him. No, the younger Kaiba had a most evident proclivity for celebrating everything that made its way into the calendar, and often found a way of involving him despite his lack of enthusiasm. For all his coldness, Mokuba had warmth to spare. It was a polarity that often left others wondering just how Mokuba turned out the way he did when he had Kaiba Seto, the very manifestation of a glacial blizzard, as his only relative while growing up.

There was only one exception to the aforementioned aversion. Only one day of the year where Seto actually took the initiative to address what was taking place. Mokuba's birthday. It wasn't a secret that his brother had a special liking for the day that surpassed his excitement for any other. It mattered to Mokuba, and so it mattered it Seto.

It was a message from Isono that alerted him of Mokuba's arrival that evening, signifying the end of his work for the day. Not only did he knew from prior years that offering Mokuba his undivided time was even more well-received than any gift he gave his brother, but there was also a certain matter to be discussed tonight that was sure to take all their attention.

The sight that greeted him at the mansion's foyer was close to a comedic one. A beaming Mokuba closely followed by Isono who had his hands full with what he assumed were gifts the younger Kaiba had received during his outing.

❛  Hmph... I see there's no point in asking about your day.  ❜ The kid ( at nineteen years old today, was he even a kid anymore ? ) had had a most productive one, no doubt. ❛  Since you've been spoiled enough, perhaps I should return this.  ❜ The words were followed by a movement of his hand that brought to view a small gift box. Inside it was the result of an unprecedented visit to the Kame Game Shop. A specific piece from a Duel Monsters and Capsule Monster Chess collaboration that his brother had seemed particularly excited about. But an incredibly difficult one to find, even for him. The Blue Eyes White Dragon was extremely rare, in all its iterations. Enlisting the assistance of Yugi's grandfather, of all people, had been a last resort that ultimately had been used when all other options proved futile. As disinclined as he was to admit it, what that old man lacked in mental acuity, he made up in resourcefulness.

[shachou]

@hhorakhty asked: ❝ were you ever going to tell me or were you just going to make me guess what you're thinking and feeling. ❞

What an annoying tendency, yet one to which he had become somewhat accustomed to given how ingrained it was in Atem. Tell him about what, exactly ? Crypticness was hardly useful when the purpose seemed confrontational. Surely Atem was well aware that his mind was far from the average one; never stagnant, always rushing with systematic paradigms and conceptualizations. So what, in that vast array of possibilities, had the former pharaoh taken issue with ?

❛  I seem to have missed the memo that compels me to keep you informed of everything that goes through my mind. ❜ It wouldn't be him if a sardonic remark wasn't given in response.

The intrusion wasn't exactly welcomed—- not when he was engrossed in his own work and Atem was expected to be focusing on his own. He had long since reiterated that his office was off limits during work hours, except for urgent matters. And by the looks of it, he doubted this was an emergency.

He was feeling indulgent though ( on hindsight, he had become rather lenient with Atem, as of late ), so he opted to entertain whatever it was that the other was there for, rather than shutting the conversation down entirely.

❛  So—- what is it ? Make it worth my time, at least. ❜

[shachou]

@universestreasures asked: can we at least try to be civil ? (Kisara)

He did not welcome her presence. In fact, beyond the brief moment where they shared the stage at the event's presentation ceremony ( said brief moment consisting of him passing by her while he was exiting the stage and she was entering it ), he had expected her to keep herself at a prudent distance from him. Not that their interactions had ever strayed from the strictly professional, but she had certainly secured his utter hostility given the result of their duel—- and just how she had managed to get the upper hand. The repercussions of such a loss were wide and even now continued to reverberate; almost an echo of what his first loss against Atem had been. For weeks he had been hounded not only by the press, but by shareholders and directors alike who openly voiced not only their displeasure at his performance but their fear of a plunge in the company's stock price. As if the loss itself wasn't humiliating enough.

He had retreated to a more secluded area for a transitory respite from the tediousness of forced socialization, not for her to take it as an opportunity to approach him. To have the very source of such chaotic turn of events in front of him was maddening; it fed into the restlessness that would not quiet down until he had exacted retribution and pried the card she had used to defeat him from her hands, where it should have never been in the first place.

❛  Am I not being civil ?  ❜ It wasn't a question, but rather an obvious form of sarcasm. ❛  Last I checked, you wouldn't be here if not for your contract with Kaiba Corporation, that I have maintained.  ❜ A matter of profit, nothing more. His own bitterness over her existence didn't blind him to the fact that the public happened to have a specific and very evident liking for his company's collaboration with her. ❛  That's more civility than you even deserve.  ❜

[shachou]

@apricotheart asked: ❝ i wouldn't find the need to tell you 'i told you so' if you weren't so allergic to admitting i'm right. ❞ ( i feel like these are fighting words but that's never stopped anzu before lmao )

She had a talent of getting under his skin, and a tendency to exploit it. The drastic shift in their... affiliation had done little to minimize those instances where her determination clashed with his obduracy. Adding to this, it seemed she had become astute at not only noticing, but also reading the cues that were usually imperceptible concerning both his physical and mental state. An undesired but unexceptional consequence of allowing her into his world, his apartment, his bed.

Her attempts at convincing him to slow down his schedule had begun not long after he set foot in New York for what was another business trip to oversee operations over his company's American branch. After an unusual increase of her visits during lunch time ( a rareness considering she had her own schedule and career that kept her busy throughout the day ), and a decrease of night meetings, she finally him confronted about him looking like the living dead and needing to get some proper rest beyond the scarce hours of sleep he got every night. Of course, he had brushed her off by completely denying his exhaustion.

That particular night though, he was alone in the office of his penthouse when, without notice, the world seemed to momentarily spin. To counteract this, and for what he intended to be a moment but extended much longer, he leaned his head on his hand, fingers holding his temples as he closed his eyes. He didn't notice nor hear Anzu arrive until her voice echoed around him.

' I wouldn't find the need to tell you 'I told you so' if you weren't so allergic to admitting I'm right. '

The words were immediately interpreted as the contentious sort, his head snapping back up and his narrowed eyes searching and focusing on Anzu's.

❛  Spare me the lecture. You're only seeing what you want to see. ❜ An exaggerated version of reality, in this case. Working through exhaustion was commonplace. This was nothing.

[shachou]

@universestreasures asked: ❝ would you come with me please? i adore your company. ❞ (From Mokuba, and yes, he's totally doing puppy dog eyes here LOL)

Mokuba's voracious appetite for everything sweet ( particularly all that included chocolate as an ingredient ) wasn't exactly a secret—- not to him nor a good portion of Kaiba Corporation's employees, who had been subjected to the younger Kaiba's sugar-induced energy bouts. Thus he was hardly taken aback when his brother began talking extensively about some new seasonal parfait that had just been made available at his favorite café. The description of the sickly sweet concoction was far from compelling, but of course, Mokuba —on the other hand— could not wait to try it.

That was fine with him. Though some measures and limits had been implemented to keep his brother from turning desserts into the biggest food group in his diet, Seto wasn't so uncompromising as to entirely keep him away from spoiling himself. But what he had not expected was for the younger Kaiba to want to drag him along during their lunch hour that very same day.

Declining had been the first option. He couldn't introduce changes to his schedule at such short notice. And besides, he had a meeting to attend not long after lunch. But the younger Kaiba was insistent, his entreaties taking the form of both words and a characteristic look that Seto knew all too well.

Tch. Whatever. But he would at least set some conditions.

❛  Only if you're able to secure arrangements to have us avoid unnecessary delays. This place is overcrowded. And you know well I can't afford to overextend my lunch break today. ❜

[shachou]

@universestreasures asked: ❝ could you just think about anyone other than yourself for once? ❞ (Ishizu)

❛  Hmph. ❜ She was late. So much so in fact that he had almost begun to accept that perhaps he miscalculated the likelihood of her arrival. But of course, whether sooner or later, it was only a matter of time before one of the Ishtars decided to stick their noses into affairs that did not concern them. Her, in particular. Surely word had already reached her of not only his current business there, but the underhanded means that had secured him unlimited access to this area without the aggravating interference of bureaucracy.

❛  You're even more delusional than I thought if you think you're in any position to make demands of me. ❜ He stepped forward, purposely applying a force to his foot as it was brought down. A thud, followed by a cloud of dust that was raised into the air. The movement itself was symbolic to his control over these collapsed ruins. An unsubtle way of rubbing salt into the wound, and a clear message that until he decided otherwise, he owned this place.

❛  A sacred place ? I don't care what you call this, it's only sand and dust to me. ❜ The pause that followed was nothing short of menacing, because he was not about to let anyone step between him and his goal. ❛  I'll stop at nothing until I've retrieved what I'm looking for. This is your only warning, Ishizu: don't get in my way. ❜

[shachou]

@ofhardknoxxx asked: 𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐒 𝐍𝐎 𝐄𝐗𝐂𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆, other than for his own merit. Jonouchi hadn't ruffled the feathers of a certain CEO for a while ⸺  and after seeing a special collaboration with a partnering company, there is a fuel ignited within him.

His   choice   to   approach   the   younger   male   is   smooth   one   (   so   he   thinks   ),    casually   leaning    over   the   counter   adjacent   to    the    brunet.   Lips   curl   upward    as   brows   perk   in   a   matter-of-fact   arch.

❛   You're   actually   cute,   aren't   ya   ? ❜

Pertaining to his direction over his corporate empire, Seto wasn’t prone to irresoluteness, self-reproach, or a tendency to revisiting his administrative decisions. His confidence in his management of Kaiba Corporation was as formidable and sturdy as his certainty of his own superiority as a duelist. There was, however, one particular hindrance sauntering daily across the hallways of his company that had, as of late, made him question his own mental lucidity—- because surely, surely, he couldn't have been in complete possession of the entirety of his mental faculties when he consented to the hiring of the deadbeat that was now staring at him so casually.

The other's presence, by itself, was aggravating enough. Coupled with that ridiculous expression that conveyed some form of amusement and the question that followed, it succeeded at further eliciting his irritation. The CEO didn't need to demand an explanation to know exactly what was prompting Jonouchi's words. Oh no, in fact, there were plenty of signs of the reason at every corner; the hallways, the media, his very own board of directors. The consequences of Mokuba's idea of a joke were wide and unavoidable, with the kid having already become the recipient to two consecutive life sentences of grounding ( with a third one looming closer and closer, given how thin his patience was being stretched ).

But it would be a cold day in hell before he gave Jonouchi the satisfaction of ruffling his feathers. So he raised his chin, prideful as ever, and regarded the other with a sneer.

❛  You're biting the hand that feeds you by wasting my time with your nonsense. ❜ And because he knew it would take a more tangible threat to dismiss Jonouchi, he soon spoke again. ❛  But I'm feeling generous. If it’s termination of your employment that you are looking for, I can provide that without delay. ❜

[shachou]

@universestreasures asked: “Hey, Ni-sama?” The preteen says, holding s toy car in his hands that he had been playing around with on their miniature model of the upcoming American version of Kaiba Land. “When I get old enough, will you teach me how to drive in one of your super cool sports cars?”

(From Mokuba)

His pause at his brother's question was brief, a transient moment of contemplation before an answer was given; blue eyes never leaving the task at hand as he spoke.

❛  Being 'old enough' isn't as important as you proving to me you're capable of handling such vehicles responsibly. When both happen, I'll consider it.  ❜ 'Old enough' wasn't good enough, after all. Not when it came to operating machines with high horsepower.

[shachou]

@tanabaa asked: ❝ i didn't lie, i simply presented a selective truth. ❞ / from tanabaa :)))

❛  So you resorted to manipulation. And you still dare to act as if you have the moral high ground over me.  ❜ A scoff was immediately given in response, irritation visible in the way his arms crossed over his chest. Of course, she couldn't possibly have anything of interest to discuss with him. If truth be told, he suspected this was the case the moment he had received her phone call, requesting for them to meet. The adjective 'important' had been used, along with a brief explanation that she had something she needed to give him, but she hadn't provided further details. This was hardly out of the ordinary. After all, it wouldn't be her if she wasn't being annoyingly cryptic.

Of course, now he knew why she had remained secretive of her motives. Surely she was aware there was no way he would have taken time out of his day to meet with her for this.

Of all possible scenarios, this one he had not even considered. Never mind the fact that he had never envisioned ever meeting her in such a casual place as a café. But what truly made this meeting ridiculous was what she had just placed on the table. The dress and matching accessories she had worn to the event she recently accompanied him to, neatly tucked inside a black bag. The mere sight of it made his eyes narrow. She better not have made him come here for a dress.

❛  Keep it. Given your outdated choices, I'm sure your wardrobe will appreciate the change.  ❜ He hadn't provided her with options that fitted the dress code expecting her to return them after the event was over. It wasn't generosity, but the simple fact that he had no use for any of these items. ❛  Is that all or are there any other 'selective truths' I should know about ?  ❜ Sarcasm latched on to his every word.