Chapter Text
A crash and a billow of smoke and sparks, as the roof finally falls in and the flames completely engulf the building. Yami grins, satisfied in victory. This is a good vantage point; sitting on the edge of a gazebo, the centrepoint of a small park surrounded by blocky buildings, each standing stiffly separate from its neighbours - one of them now nothing more than a bonfire for Yami to admire. His grin quickly fades as he looks back down to the note in his hand, a hurried cluster of hieroglyphs.
Next month. They should have almost a year, but now it’s suddenly a matter of weeks. He crumples the paper up and tosses it cleanly over the park fence and into the fire.
He can hear the sirens approaching, too late to save the building. Yami congratulates himself on his timing as he climbs down, makes sure his hood covers his hair, and slips away, the first fire engine pulling up just as he vaults the gate to the park.
Within minutes, the remains of the building are surrounded by firefighters and a looser circle of police officers.
Domino City Police Department central headquarters, home of the Major Crimes Division, is a grand, architecturally-imposing old building, with fine decorative stonework and quite possibly the worst coffee in the city. That was why Seto Kaiba, newly-minted MCD Detective, had built his own coffee maker on his first day off in his new position, and installed it in his desk. That, in turn, was why he had inadvertently become friends with Detective Kujaku, who took him under her perfectly-manicured wing and gave him entirely unsolicited but irritatingly useful advice, in exchange for a decent cup of coffee every morning. His grudging friendship with Kujaku had automatically qualified him as an equally-grudging friend of her partner, Detective Ishtar, who at least shared Seto’s zero-tolerance policy towards small talk.
Unlike Mai.
“You don’t have to sit on my desk, Kujaku. I imagine your own chair even has the benefit of being more comfortable.” Seto’s tone is snappish, but Mai just laughs, taking another sip of coffee.
“But the company isn’t as good! Anyway, Kaiba, you don’t have to put up with me for long, Isis and I are going across town for a case as soon as she’s done.” Mai nods towards the Chief’s door as she speaks, Isis’s silhouette just visible through the frosted glass.
Seto only grunts in response, skimming his paperwork for his most recent case, so Mai continues, “Congrats on the double homicide, by the way. You wrapped it up pretty quickly.”
“Hm. It was a trivial case.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. Too many people around here will do that for you…” Mai’s tone is wry. “Although I suppose you’re less likely to be written off as just a pretty face and a good rack. Not that you don’t have a pretty face…” She winks.
Seto rolls his eyes. “Please. My intention wasn’t to dismiss my own abilities. I obviously closed it quicker than anyone else could have--” Mai huffs in mock-offense, but doesn’t interrupt. “--but I’ve been here a month, and half the division still thinks the mayor is the reason I was promoted.”
“Is ‘the mayor’ how you refer to him at family dinners?” Mai’s tone is teasing, but her expression is understanding.
Seto’s smile is icy. “You assume we speak at family dinners.” He sighs and snaps his folder shut. “Just because I don’t have a partner doesn’t mean I can’t work an actually challenging case.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
Seto turns in his chair to see Isis approaching, files under her arms and what Seto thinks of as her ‘fortune-teller smile’ on her lips.
“Ishtar.”
“The Chief asked me to drop over the file for the next case you’ve been assigned, Kaiba.” Handing a file to Mai and a much thicker one to Seto. “And if you’re looking for a challenge, I doubt you’ll be disappointed. Chief has decided to reassign the Ghost Arsons to you.”
“Seriously?” Mai ignores her file in favour of leaning over to read Seto’s over his shoulder. “That case gets assigned every time there’s a new one, it’s been bouncing around the division for what, ten years? But only ever experienced fire scene investigators and senior detectives get it.”
Seto doesn’t reply, flicking through the file. Mai’s right, it’s almost ten years of arsons, beginning with a multiple-fatality case in the immigrant quarter and ending last night with an abandoned apartment block next to a park not far from DCPD HQ. Just under 20, he estimates, and a wide variety of targets, mostly warehouses and odd buildings. Eleven fatalities in all, of which nine were due to the first fire. The only commonality to the fires is a near-total lack of evidence, with some of these fires still only classed as “suspicious” as opposed to "arson".
“Much as Detective Kujaku and myself would like to stay and discuss such an interesting case, we do have our own to tackle. I wish you luck, Kaiba.”
“Yeah, I think even you are going to need it, hotshot!”
Seto is in a dark mood when he arrives at the crime scene forty minutes later. A pair of detectives had deliberately let him overhear them speculating that he only got the case because the mayor was pulling strings, and another had practically demanded to join the case as Seto’s partner because “you’ve only been here a month, kid, it’s a waste of resources to let you try”, then called him a spoiled brat when he refused.
He’d decided visiting the crime scene asap was more important than studying the case file. Valuable evidence could be lost if it rained, and although the fire scene investigators would file a full report by the afternoon, Kaiba preferred to examine the scene himself.
He pulls up on the street facing the ex-building and gets out of his car to survey it. He can see trees and the top of an ornate gazebo in the little park behind, a view that would have been blocked from street level yesterday by the stocky little apartment block. There’s police tape cordoning the plot off, but he’s the only person here. Good.
Twenty minutes later, he’s almost sorry there’s no one around to vent his anger on. The collapse took any chance of figuring out if doors and windows were open or closed out with it. The origin point of the fire seems to be impossible to determine. He can’t even tell if an accelerant was used or not. Kaiba isn’t a fire scene specialist but he’s observant and he knows and understands the physics behind a building fire; he’s seen his share of fires since joining the force and he’s never struggled like this to figure out even the basics of the event. He takes a deep breath and makes a heroic effort not to kick over a burned-out rubbish bin.
Yami takes a drag on his skinny cigarette and leans on the pillar of the gazebo, shifting to get a better view of the cop. He likes to keep a close eye on his crime scenes; he’s confident enough in his ability to keep hidden and evade the police that he can drop by a few times and keep an eye on the investigation. About a third of the time the cops don’t figure out the gift he’s left them, but he was really hoping this wouldn’t be one of those times. He’s running out of chances…
He’s distracted by the sight of the cop as he turns around. He’s young, and tall, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist like a swimmer. His brown hair is rather severely neat, and even from halfway across the park, Yami can tell his sharp features are handsome.
He weighs his options. The cop’s body language is angry, and even if he’s some kind of prodigy, he’s clearly too young to be a senior detective. Did the cops send a single junior detective to Yami’s crime scene? Are they even taking this seriously? If Yami slips away now, the fire might not even be officially classed as an arson, might not be investigated thoroughly. He drops his cigarette and grinds it out under his heel, irritated. That leaves his other option; engage with the cop. He’s never done something so risky, but he’s heading into the endgame. He doesn’t have the luxury anymore of simply sitting back and hoping they figure it out and solve his problem for him.
Tossing his cigarette butt into a bin as he goes, he approaches the fence and leans against it; it’s taller than him, thin metal bars, so he braces his forearms against it and watches the cop…
Who immediately turns around and sees him.
Yami’s heart is racing as the detective surveys him, his cool blue eyes taking in Yami’s leather trousers and oversize hoodie … and then fixing on Yami’s face, his gaze intense. He’s just as young as Yami had guessed, not more than a few years older than Yami himself.
“You! I want to ask you a few questions,” the cop barks, coming straight towards Yami, right to the fence, towering over him through the bars.
Yami smirks up at him from behind the bars, ignoring the pounding in his ears and the cold in his stomach. “Can I help you, officer?”
“What are you doing here?” His stern, unfriendly expression and his high cheekbones make him look haughty, arrogant, and his tone is harsh and demanding. Yami idly wonders if he has any friends.
“It’s a park, officer.” He keeps his voice smooth and calm, knowing it’s a terrible idea to bait him but unable to resist the temptation.
The cop’s jaw tightens. “Do you know anything about the fire?” Tossing his head back at the burnt out shell of the building.
Yami hesitates, keeping his eyes wide, knowing it makes him look younger, innocent.
“If you know something, you better tell me.” The detective shifts closer, looming over Yami.
“I can’t tell you anything about the fire, but I might know something about the building you should know…” Yami watches the cop carefully. He’s sure his wariness is evident even through his cocky demeanor.
“Tell me!”
Yami grins, pushing back off the fence and tossing his head to the stone tables and chairs under a row of trees. “I was about to play a game of chess, but it’s more fun with an opponent. Beat me, and I’ll tell you everything.”
“Listen, brat--” The detective glowers, those icy blue eyes gleaming with anger.
“Unless you don’t think you can win?”
Yami can see the conflict play out on the man’s face. It’s such a childish challenge, he should obviously refuse, he’s on the job ... but Yami can tell the detective wants nothing more than to play and win.
“Of course I can win,” he growls.
“Then let’s play a game.” Yami’s eyes sparkle and he turns and walks away.
Seto takes a deep breath when the man - barely more than a kid, really - turns away, irritated with himself for having let him get to him. This is ridiculous, he’s a detective in one of the most elite divisions on the force, and actively working a case; he shouldn’t be playing chess in a park with a short-ass punk with an attitude. But he finds himself walking to the gate and entering the park, following his potential witness to the chess tables.
He usually catalogues the appearance of any potential suspects or witnesses, but he knows he won’t forget this person even if he doesn’t jot any notes. The young man has dark skin, almost as dark as Detective Ishtar’s. His eyes are bright, a blueish colour that’s closer to violet, and framed with eyeliner. His hair is easily his most notable feature; thick and afro-textured, it frames his delicate face like a sunburst, deep black at the roots, lightening to a rich, reddish colour at the tips, with scattered individual hairs gleaming almost gold. His mouth is small but his lips are full…
Seto’s eyes snap back up. Lips are not an appropriate focus for his attention. He has to beat this arrogant brat at his game and find out everything he knows. He’s not worried about the game taking long; he’s been a competitively-ranked chess player since he was a child.
“Tell me your name.” Seto sits opposite the man, arms folded, watching him set out their pieces.
“I’m called Yugi,” he says with a smile that’s slightly too cocky to be charming. His rich voice bears the hint of an accent that Seto can’t quite place. He would guess Arabic as a first language.
“You can be white, I think it suits you better,” Yugi continues.
“Hm. Fine.” Seto doesn’t want to admit that he always chooses white for himself. “Tell me what you know.”
Yugi sets down the last piece and leans back, gesturing for Seto to make his opening move.
“I told you, I’ll tell you everything if you beat me.”
Seto smirks, moving a pawn. “Which I will. And I’m a busy man, so how about you save us both the time and just tell me while we’re playing?”
Yugi makes his own move and grins back at him. “Are you an arson specialist, officer?”
“None of your business,” Seto snaps, immediately making his next move. Yugi immediately makes his. Seto’s finding his skill hard to gauge; he’s making each move as fast as Seto is, but it’s an unconventional strategy. He’s either very good, or bluffing. Seto isn’t about to go easy on him, but an immigrant youth in a baggy hoodie, hanging around a park in the mid-morning, seems more likely to be bluffing than a chess genius.
They each make their next ten turns in silence and Seto is forced to re-evaluate his assumption. He should have won by now if the brat was bluffing, but he’s sitting there, that cocky little smirk on his distracting lips, and Seto’s forced to admit - at least mentally - that he’s a skilled player.
“I wasn’t surprised, actually,” Yugi says conversationally, just as Seto’s trying to decide which tactic will be most successful against his opponent’s unconventional, slippery style.
“What.”
“I wasn’t surprised that building burned down. There was always something weird about it, since I’ve been coming here.” His tone is light and casual, then dips into something almost dramatic as he moves his knight. “Check, officer.”
Seto holds back a growl. “How long is that?” Capturing Yugi’s knight with extreme prejudice.
Yugi shrugs, tapping his bishop twice against the board before moving it. “Months? I like the chess sets here.”
“Go on.” He makes an effort to keep his voice calm. He will win, he’s Seto Kaiba, he can count the number of chess matches he’s lost on one hand. “What was weird about the building?”
“Check.” A grin. “You’d see people coming in and out, men, but only at night, and the lights were never on. Just seemed a bit odd. I avoided getting too close.”
It’s difficult to give both the chess game and the conversation the attention that Seto feels they deserve. He’s not about to lose a chess game to some arrogant, jumped-up kid. But he’s slipped up and started offering Seto the information that he said he’d only provide if Seto won, and he grudgingly has to admit that solving the case is more important than the chess game.
“Ever get a good look at any of the men?” He practically slams his queen into place. “Check.”
Yugi pauses, looking over at the burnt-out building. “It was usually dark. But there was one man I got a good look at, who I think might have been in charge over there. Tall, with grey hair and a narrow beard, a bit darker than you maybe.”
Seto follows his gaze, making a mental note. The lights were never on…
“Checkmate.”
Seto’s attention snaps back to the board, replaying their last moves, shock and rage rising in him. And he suddenly realises Yugi has stood up and is moving away, already past Seto’s arm’s reach, to the gate opposite the one Seto entered through.
“Wait!”
“Good game.” Yugi gives him a cheery wave, his attitude casual but he’s moving surprisingly fast. “And to tell the truth, I told you everything I was going to tell you anyway. Pretty good prize for second place.”
Seto’s on his feet and starting after him, but Yugi turns and vaults the gate, slipping between two buildings and vanishing from sight, and Seto curses and turns back, staring at their chess game.
For a brief moment, he thinks he’d throw away the case just for a chance at a rematch.