Adult-FanFiction.org : Yu-Gi-OH

Rent to Own	By : Sparks Category: Yu-Gi-Oh > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 19912 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 12
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or its characters, or profit in any way from this story.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
Author's Note: Hello again everyone! Sorry for the longish wait. I want to say again just how much I appreciate the comments, especially those of you who have reviewed multiple times or been blunt/honest with me. If I slip up, let me know! Anyway, this is the first of 2 new parts today. After that the next update should be pretty soon, as it's half-done already. Anyway, enjoy!

"This is all COMPLETELY your fault, you know," Kaiba grunted, adjusting the cucumber slices over his eyes with one hand as he held his phone with the other. "I wouldn't be having this problem if it wasn't for you."

"I keep telling you, boss, I had no idea that 'J' was the kid from school you never stop talking about," his assistant sighed into her headset, struggling to triple-task between driving, talking, and staying awake.

"I do NOT never stop talking about him," the exhausted CEO protested, giving up on the cucumbers and sitting up in his bed, tossing them into the trash. "Cynthia, if you keep insisting on bringing this topic up, I'm going to have to start docking your pay."

"You wouldn't," she smirked, swerving around a jaywalker. "Not after everything I did for you last night." Cynthia had done her share of all-nighters since she took on the job of Seto Kaiba's PA, but flying around the country harassing jewelry-makers and the KaibaCorp R&D team, all for a kid who her boss INSISTED was "just a stupid 3rd-rate mutt from school" was pushing it, even if she DID get to take one of the private jets. (Thank god it wasn't that ridiculous Blue-Eyes White Dragon one,) she thought to herself.

"I so would. But honestly, I SHOULD dock you anyway for cancelling my appointments for the rest of the day and calling me into school sick. I have things to do," he growled, holding the phone away for a moment as he stifled a yawn.

"Sir, you NEED to rest. The way you kept calling me last night, there's no way you slept more than an hour tops. You're no good to KaibaCorp half-unconscious. And when was the last time you took a whole DAY off?" Kaiba opened his mouth to respond. "And Duel Monsters tournaments don't count, sir." The brunette's lips closed into a scowl. Cynthia couldn't hear it, but she knew her boss enough to sense it. "Exactly. You don't know. But, as your personal assistant, I DO know. ....Well, I would, if you actually ever TOOK a day off."

Kaiba blinked. "Is that bad?"

Cynthia sighed. "Yes, sir, that's 'bad.' The company will be OK without you for 1 day. Roland can handle things, we'll keep you updated, and you can.... relax," she shrugged. "Also, there is no way in hell I'm coming into the office today after being up for 30 hours straight, so I HAD to cancel your appointments."

Kaiba flopped back into the pillows, finally defeated. "Cynthia, someday I'm either going to marry you or have you killed."

"I know, sir." She smiled as the call ended.

------

Joey returned to homeroom, and just as his friends began to lunge at him with questions, the bell rang, staving off his interrogation for at least another 45 minutes. (This may be the first time I've been happy to hear that thing,) the blonde mused, pulling out his books. That was when he noticed his notebook and froze.

(Oh god.... Did Kaiba read it?) Joey quickly went through a mental catalogue of all the embarrassing things written in there: confessions from his gang days, proof his father abused him, terrible attempts at poetry..... and his crush on Kaiba that he had been struggling to kill off since the CEO had joined their class. All of the above were humiliating enough, but if it was KAIBA reading his private diary, he could imagine his handwriting and spelling being just as horrifying to the brunette.

("he really does care about you, and he said he really hopes you aren't angry at him. ....don't tell him I told you that, though. He'd sulk for ages.")

("I had to end a meeting early because I couldn't stop thinking about you, Mutt,")

("MINE.")

The memories of Cynthia and Kaiba's words last night and this morning came back to him, somehow making him feel even MORE confused. It just didnt' match up with every other action Kaiba had ever taken towards him. The insults, the fighting, the whole paying-for-sex situation... none of it matched up. (Besides, there's no way someone like Kaiba would care about someone like ME,) he thought bitterly. (Nah.... he doesn't care about me... he cares about the slut in the dog collar that was all over him yesterday. None of this stuff was for Joey Wheeler, it was for HIM.) Even as Joey thought it, he wasn't sure if he was angry, hurt, or RELIEVED by it.

Just then, he felt someone shaking his shoulder. "Huh?" He blinked, finally focusing back on the real world.

Yugi was standing over him, a worried look on his face. "Joey, the bell rang. We gotta go to Chemistry now."

Joey's eyes widened. He had spent an entire period thinking about Kaiba. "Shit, sorry Yug," he murmured, quickly gathering his things and standing. "Musta been daydreaming."

His best friend just nodded and followed, chewing his lower lip uneasily.

-----

He somehow continued to evade questions until lunch. It was probably the most academically productive day of Joey's high school career. But now... here in the cafeteria, at a small round table with his 3 best friends, he was trapped.

Normally lunch was a time for Joey to chat with his friends, and on lucky days when he found enough change, actually eat something. He didn't like to ask out of pride, but sometimes his friends would share some of their lunches with him. Once, he traded a Larvae Moth card to some newbie freshman for some chicken nuggets. That was an awesome day.

But today was not an awesome day, let alone a normal lunch day.

The first reason why was the simplest: the brown paper bag sitting in front of Joey at the table. It was embarrassing to think that just the concept of having a lunch was such a newsworthy event in his life, but as far as he could remember, the last time he brown-bagged it to school was elementary school, when his mom and Serenity were still around. He looked up at his friends to find them all staring.

"It's...uhh... leftovers....from my new part-time job?" His eye darted back and forth, watching his friends' reactions. Calmer, but still suspicious/worried.

"That's great that you found a new job, Joey," Yugi said helpfully, pulling out his own lunch.

"Where are you working?"

Joey twitched. (Dammit Tea, shut up!!!!) "Well, uh...you know..." He prayed that a food fight or an earthquake or something would happen to distract the interrogation as he slowly opened the bag and pulled out the contents. He blinked in surprise. He had been afraid that there would be some kind of unexplainably expensive, 3-course French meal in there, but instead there was what looked to be a simple sandwich, a can of soda, and an apple. (Clever sonuvabitch,) he thought, half irritably, half in admiration. "it's just...temp work...." he continued stammering as he unwrapped the sandwich. As he took a cautious bite, he had to choke back a moan as the flavor hit his palate. It was a sandwich, alright.... on fresh-baked rye bread, with the most incredible roast beef Joey had ever tasted, and some kind of sauce that probably had a name he wouldn't be able to spell for the life of him.

"Temp work with Kaiba?" Tristan glared, taking a swig from his thermos.

Joey froze. "What are you guys talking about?" he asked as he slowly lowered the sandwich.

Tea spoke up first. "We saw you get in his limo yesterday."

"You WHAT?!"

The trio winced as everyone in the cafeteria turned to stare at the source of the frightened yelp. "Inside voice, dude," Tristan hissed. The red-faced blonde made an apologetic face and glanced around, waiting for their classmates to go back to what they were doing.

"We were worried about you, so we kinda followed you to the west gate to see what was up," Yugi explained apologetically. "We didn't hear anything, just saw you get in the limo and drive off. Joey...if you're in some kind of trouble, you can tell us. You know that, right?"

(Yeah, sure, Yug. Oh hey guys, my dad is a drunk abusive ass with a gambling problem and he sold my body to Kaiba for the next 3 months so he can avoid getting a real job, and part of me kinda seems to like it. that's TOTALLY a discussion I wanna have,) he thought ruefully.

"I know," was what he actually said. "Look, I know you guys are worried and all, and I’m sorry, but you gotta believe me that I'm fine."

"You're really not in any trouble?" Yugi pressed, still looking up at him with concerned eyes.

"Nothing I can't handle," he grinned, taking another bite of the orgasmo-sandwich. His friends were still giving him the "we don't believe you" look. Shit. After a few moments of chewing, Joey continued, more seriously this time. "Ok, look. I didn't wanna tell you guys because it's embarrassing, so can you keep it secret? Like, SERIOUSLY secret? If Duke or somebody hears this I'll never live it down." After his friends' nods of agreement, he moved on. "Thanks. I...um... I'm stuck working part-time for Kaiba now," he winced.

"Should've known," Tristan muttered.

"Oh god, are you OK Joey??" Tea bit the straw in her chocolate milk worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. My old man went and took the liberty of 'setting me up' with it... I didn't even know I'd be workin for Moneybags till he dropped me off," Joey grimaced. It was strange, lying but not lying like this. "It's pretty embarrassing, but he's been...nicer than I expected so far," he said carefully.

"Well, if you're working at his office, I'm sure Kaiba'd want to keep things professional," Yugi mused.

"Yeah, right. He'd probably make Joey scrub his floors in a maid costume or something just for laughs!" Tristan bit into a french fry like it was a Seto Kaiba voodoo doll.

(God don't give him any ideas, Tristan) "Heh. Nothin like that, seriously. Yug's right, he's got a company to run. I think he kinda...gets off on me bein on his payroll, but that's all." Joey almost cringed at the accidental double-entendre. "I think he's as embarrassed about the whole thing as me, so don't talk to him about it, OK? He told me to keep it a secret."

"If you're SURE you're ok, Joey." Yugi nodded, wiping some peanut butter off his mouth.

"I'm sure," the blonde smiled again, putting all his efforts into looking convincing.

-----

It was 7th period. The regular teacher was out, so it was study hall. Their substitute teacher was more interested in her coffee and the new issue of Cosmopolitan that she was trying to stealthily hide inside a textbook than she was in enforcing the "study" part.

Thus, it wasn't much of a surprise when a football-shaped folded piece of looseleaf landed on Joey's desk. Joey unfolded it, barely bothering to conceal the note under his desk.

--Seriously, I know something's wrong. What's up?-- was printed in Yugi's neat, almost cute handwriting.

Joey sighed and started scribbling away. --Yr rlly not gonna let it go, r u?-- He quickly refolded the paper and flicked it back to his friend's desk.

--Nope! ^_^ -- When the blonde glanced over, his petite friend was making practically the same face he had drawn on the paper.

Joey sighed. --Roof?-- he scribbled back, tossing back the paper. When he got the "OK" nod from Yugi, they both slowly stood and snuck out the door. Ms. Blough was too into the quiz to notice a thing.

----

The 2 boys plopped down on the roof, leaning against the protective chain-link fence. After an awkward silence and about 3 false starts, Joey finally spoke up. "Um, Yug? No offense, but.... d'ya think I could talk to Yami for a minute?"

The small boy blinked, surprised and a little hurt. "You can tell him, but not me?"

Joey scratched his head. "It's.... look, I'm really sorry, I really am, but I think he's the only one who can answer my question."

Yugi sighed. "Promise to explain it to me later?"

The blonde hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah. ....might be a while, but yeah."

Apparently that was good enough, because the next moment his best friend had traded places with the Pharaoh. "...Joey?" Yami looked around in confusion, not used to being let out when there wasn't a card game involved.

Joey gave an awkward wave. "Hey. Ummm... is Yug listening right now?"

Yami raised a suspicious eyebrow. "Is that a problem?"

"Um, honestly? Yeah. I know you used to block him out.... trust me when I say you're gonna wanna do that now," he winced.

Yami nodded, closing his eyes briefly. "Alright, it's done."

A suspicious squint. "Really? Cause seriously, if---"

"It's DONE." An authoritative glare that "regular" Yugi would never be able to pull off silenced him.

"Ok, ok." Joey took a deep breath. "So, like...your spirit is tied to Yugi's puzzle, right?"

"That is correct."

"And when he wears it, you can like....switch places like you are now, right?"

"Also correct." Yami was drumming his fingers on his knee, apparently bored by the line of questioning.

"And, there's other items like it, right? Like Pegasus's eye, and Bakura's ring-thingy, and..."

Yami's eyes narrowed impatiently. "Are you going somewhere with this, Joey?"

"....can you, like, sense those type of things?" The Pharaoh just kept staring at him, so Joey kept babbling. "I mean, if.... say, FOR EXAMPLE! I found some freaky magical thingie that would..say.... change me, or possess me or something...would you be able to notice?"

The Pharaoh thought for a moment, then nodded. "I can't be 100% certain, but considering how close you are to Yugi, probably, yes."

Joey's shoulders visibly relaxed there. "Ok...cool. So....do you sense any freaky magical thingies on me now?"

"No."

...his shoulders tensed again. That wasn't the answer he was looking for. "Ok. Ok..umm... I'll put it on. Maybe that'll help. But no looking!"

Yami rolled his eyes."You can't be serious."

"Just...urgggh, just tell me if you feel any shadow magic or whatever!" he fished in his pants pockets until he found the collar. He stood, turning away from Yami. "Ok, here goes..." he took a deep breath. (What if I put this on, and it really DOES make me go all nympho and I try to molest Yami or something?!) Somehow, that fear was almost a hopeful one as he lifted the collar to his neck. He then buttoned up his entire uniform jacket, the high collar at least covering the PROPERTY OF SETO KAIBA tag and most of the accessory itself. "ok, how about now?" he asked, turning back around.

The spirit looked at Joey carefully, then closed his eyes, as if he were reading Joey's aura. "I don't sense any other spirits, if that's what you're worried about, Joey," he began, tentatively. "But if you'd let me examine the-"

"Not gonna happen," Joey quickly interrupted, shaking his head emphatically. "But thanks. Look... I need a favor."

"Do you want me to check your gym clothes for magic as well?" Sarcasm from a spirit. Damn.

Joey decided to let it slide, lest he end up with a mind-crush for his trouble. "No. I need you to give me a 10-minute head start before you let Yug back out."

"Head start?" Yami gave him a quizzical look.

"Thanks a lot, Yami!" Joey called over his shoulder as he bolted away, leaving the Pharaoh behind, completely baffled.

----

Joey wasn't exactly Solid Snake, but thanks to years of juvenile delinquency, sneaking out of school during class hours wasn't a difficult task.

What WAS difficult was, when he finally hopped the fence and made it to the safety of the convenience store down the street, deciding where exactly he was going and why. He pretended to flip through some tabloids on the magazine rack as he thought about it.

Kaiba obviously wanted him to go to his office. The key said as much. And that made Joey want to avoid it as much as possible. But, he knew he couldn't accept the money and the gifts, and the chance to interrogate the CEO about them was too tempting to pass up. Also? He had absolutely nothing better to do.

Problem was, KaibaCorp was a few miles away. At one point, Joey had owned a bike, but some crackhead had stolen it years ago, and instead of a new one, his dad just gave him a black eye instead. He could take the bus or a taxi, but using Kaiba's money to go to Kaiba and GIVE IT BACK wasn't really an option. Oh hey, here's all your money back...except for the buck fifty I spent bringing it to you. Yeah, that sounded badass.

(Welp, walking it is,) he decided, slightly proud of himself for picking a course of action before the clerk even gave him the "this ain't a library" line.
---

When Kaiba had shown up at the office, it was around three. After going back to sleep after his call to Cynthia, he had taken a nap until around 11 and felt so lazy he disgusted himself.

That was the explanation he gave Janet, the lobby receptionist, when he came in. It was also the explanation he kept telling himself, because 'I have to be here in case Wheeler shows up with that key I sent him' was simply unacceptable.

But... he really did wonder if he would come. (As if he'll be able to figure out the elevator key himself,) the teen millionaire sniffed as he turned his own key and pressed the button for his office's floor.

For the longest time, that key had rested on a Louis Vuitton key fob. Today, the expensive leather-and-silver piece was replaced by a cheap, scuffed-up Red Eyes Black Dragon.
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