*achoo!*
Mohawk.
*achoo!*
Dreadlocks.
*achoo!*
Afro.
*achoo!*
Pigtails.
"... I'm terribly sorry about his." Mokuba said, patting his other-brother's back. "But the good news is that it does appear to be a 24-hour bug."
Noa sniffed, looking misterable as the pink ribbons in his hair shimmered cheerfully. They were definitely going to have to look into upgrading the virus checker. "-Thanks."
+++
+++
Yuugi looked at the boy. The boy was a bit on the short side, same age as Mokuba with medium length spiky black hair and dark eyes. He had a habitual baseball cap on it with a logo that was familiar, but Yuugi couldn't quite place.
The boy shifted nervously under Yuugi's scrutiny. "Can I help you?" The boy finally muttered.
"Is your name Satoshi-kun?" Yuugi finally inquired.
"Yeah."
He wasn't a bad kid, Yuugi decided. Bit of a temper and a definite competitive streak, probably somewhat of a loner as well. But not a bad kid. "Do you get into fights with a Mokuba-kun?"
"Kaiba?" Satoshi stuck his hands in his pockets, looking around sulkily. "Yeah. So?"
"Do you want to play with Mokuba-kun?" Yuugi asked seriously. "Or just his toys?"
The dark haired boy gave him a look like he was insane. "Are you nuts? Yeah, Kaiba's got all this cool gear, but he's like this 'kid genius' and won't play Duel Monsters with anyone." He snorted. "As if he's gonna beat everyone."
"So you want to duel him." Yuugi nodded, smiling inwardly.
"Hell yeah." Satoshi grinned and Yuugi could see the glow in his eyes. It was the same look Jounouchi got when he was about to face someone stronger than him, like he couldn't wait to see how it turned out.
He paused, looking at the boy's clothing again, finally remembering where he had seen the logo on the boy's clothing. Duel Monsters was not the boy's first gaming love. He reached into his back pocket, pulling out a small egg shaped container and holding it out. "Here."
"What's this?" Satoshi took it, examining it closely.
"Middle ground." Yuugi smiled. "Ask Mokuba-kun about it." With a friendly wave, he trotted back over to where Jounouchi was leaning against the wall, looking bored as he waited for Mokuba to get out of detention for fighting. Again.
"Yo." Jounouchi waved. "What was that about?"
"I think I might have solved the fighting thing." Yuugi smiled at him. "But now there might be a rivalry thing." Satoshi seemed like the kind who thrived on having a rival to push his limits. It probably wouldn't be a bad thing for Mokuba either. The younger Kaiba hadn't been going out to play with kids his own age as much since Noa's rebirth.
"Oh?" Jounouchi smirked, reaching out and ruffling Yuugi's hair. Yuugi grinned back, leaning against the sun warmed wall next to Jounouchi. "And people say -I'm- the over protective one."
"Hardly." Yuugi said dryly as Jounouchi wrapped an arm around Yuugi's shoulders, pulling him slightly closer. Jounouchi chuckled in response, closing his eyes and tilting his head towards the sun. Jounouchi looked tired lately. It worried Yuugi, since Jounouchi wasn't talking about it.
The one time he'd asked, Jounouchi had a bit of a hunted look and changed the subject. Yuugi hadn't asked since. When, or if, Jounouchi needed him, he trusted Jounouchi to say something.
"So what'd ya do?" Jounouchi questioned, a corner of his mouth tilting up in amusement.
"Suggested a compromise." Yuugi rested his head against Jounouchi's arm. "It's up to Satoshi-kun and Mokuba-kun to do something about it, of course."
"Of course." Jounouchi agreed easily. There was a limit to their older-brother like meddling, after all. But Yuugi thought this would work out.
Mokuba was the CapMon Champion after all.
And Capsule Monsters was very much like a cross between Duel Monsters and Pocket Monsters.
+++
+++
'Niisama's secretary was named Ryuu Georgina. She was named after her European Grandfather and wore a St. George's medallion around her neck. Mokuba had asked about the medallion when he was younger and she'd told him the story of St. George and the Dragon. Mokuba didn't like St. George, St. George killed dragons. Like St. George, Ryuu-san was also practised swordsmanship and kept a shinnai behind her desk, just in case anyone got stupid while waiting to see 'Niisama.
Mokuba trusted her enough not to attempt to kill 'Niisama with the bamboo sword.
Her desk was also bullet proof, a minor fortress. So was 'Nisama's desk. It wasn't a widely known fact, but after some of the more hostile take over attempts, Mokuba had insisted. It sounded childish now, but it was still a minor reassurance.
Mokuba liked her because she wasn't scared of 'Niisama and she kept chocolates in a drawer that she would occasionally share wit him. He'd give her a box of chocolates every month or so to make up for the candy that she gave him. In exchange, he stayed on her good side. And as anyone with half a brain realised, the secretaries were the true power in the office.
"Have you seen Jounouchi?" He asked as he approached her tall desk. "I haven't seen him since we got back from school." Usually Jounouchi checked in on him a few times an hour while he was in his lab. Not seeing him was highly unusual. From his position draped around Mokuba's neck, Noa nodded in agreement.
"He's in with your brother." She gave him a slight smile. "They-"
'Niisama's door slammed open, 'Niisama dashing out of the room at a full run. Mokuba blinked. 'Niisama running was unusual, but 'Niisama was also not wearing his coat. And he was smiling.
"BASTARD!" Jounouchi shouted running after 'Niisama, who hit the button for the elevator. Jounouchi was wearing 'Niisama's white coat and looking highly annoyed.
The elevator doors opened, 'Niisama calmly taking a step back into the elevator, hitting a button. The doors started to close.
Jounouchi put on a burst of speed, just barely making it as the doors closed behind him. Mokuba caught a flash of 'Niisama's triumphant expression before the door completely closed and felt a brief moment of worry for the blond.
"That makes five times since Jounouchi-san returned that they've run out of the office." Ryuu-san sighed, shuffling some papers. It was probably a good thing that there was no one else in the waiting room to watch the grown men chasing each other around. "Jounouchi-san has been unusually sombre lately, I'd almost speculate Kaiba-sama is trying to cheer Jounouchi-san up."
Or 'Niisama was trying to play with Jounouchi, in his own way. 'Niisama didn't have much practise at playing, he'd never had much time for it.
"They had a..." Not quite a fight, or an argument, or a disagreement. "...Misunderstanding. 'Niisama's fault."
"Ah."
The elevator doors opened, 'Niisama striding out, looking slightly mussed and very pleased with himself. Jounouchi was sprawled in the elevator, looking more dishevelled than 'Niisama and breathing hard.
"Is something wrong, Mokuba?" 'Niisama asked, running a hand through his hair in an attempt to smooth it out.
"Nope." Mokuba smiled back. "Just stealing chocolates." 'Niisama seemed to accept the excuse, patting him on the head as he moved towards the door. Ryuu hit the button to open his office door, for which 'Niisama absently nodded his thanks and disappeared inside.
Jounouchi hauled himself to his feet, hiccuping as he did so. "Dammit, is not fair." He grumbled as he wrapped an arm around his lower ribs. "He's not -hic!- ticklish."
"Do you require assistance, Jounouchi?" Noa inquired as the blond leaned against the desk, holding his breath. Jounouchi hiccuped a few times, the noise muffled before the hiccups finally seemed to stop.
"Nah. I -hic!- Dammit! I got it." Jounouchi waved it off. "Thanks though."
"Welcome." Mokuba smiled back. "But if you need back up, let us know."
"Thanks." Jounouchi pushed himself off the desk, took a deep breath and march towards the door with a determined air. The determined air faded as Jounouchi paused, crouching slightly as he opened the door and peered in. Satisfied that the door was evidently clear, he took a step back, squared his shoulders again and kicked the door open, leaving a shoe scuff mark at about head height as he stormed in.
"DAMMIT YA JERK!" Jounouchi roared as the thick office door started to swing shut. "-NOW- YA FINALLY EAT YOUR LUNCH!!!"
Mokuba leaned in to get a peek a 'Niisama, who was placidly sitting at his desk, a half eaten sandwich in one hand and an angelic expression on his face. So -that's- what they'd been fighting about. The door closed.
"One of the girls in the accounting office is holding bets on if they're sleeping together." Ryuu-san said mildly, pulling up something on her computer and starting to type. "Me? I'm betting who's on top."
+++
+++
Yuugi watched Kaiba as they flew towards the remote island that housed the Duelling Academy. The brunette had been brooding darkly the entire trip, saying nothing. And while it wasn't unusual for Kaiba to brood, this time Yuugi had a pretty good idea what the brooding was about.
"Do I need to get a shovel?" Yuugi asked over the noise of the helicopter blades.
Kaiba startled, broken out of what ever his thoughts were. "What?"
"I asked if I needed to get a shovel." Yuugi repeated, fighting the urge to grin diabolically. He didn't get to very often, but he also didn't want to spook Kaiba.
Several thoughts flickered through Kaiba before he recognised the comment. Kaiba may have been hard for other people to read, but Yuugi found it was all in the eyes. Kaiba's eyes rarely lied about what he was actually feeling.
"Possibly." Kaiba admitted, facing out the window and there by missing Yuugi's stunned expression. "I would have thought Jounouchi would have told you."
"Contrary to popular belief, Jounouchi-kun doesn't tell me everything." Although, in this one instance, Yuugi wished he would. He'd been terrified when Jounouchi had showed up at his house and asked if he could spend then night, looking slightly haunted. The fact that Jounouchi had refused to talk about what ever it was still worried him. Although by the way he'd... not quite flinch whenever Kaiba's name was mentioned, it hadn't been hard to narrow down the reasons.
"Hm." Kaiba continued to stare out the window, although Yuugi could see his face in the reflection.
"He also hasn't been by the Game Shop since then." Yuugi added softly. That got a reaction, Kaiba's eyes widened. Kaiba knew as well as he did that the Kame Game Shop was Jounouchi's second home. Always had been, always would be, as long as Yuugi was there.
"I... had a lapse in judgement." Kaiba finally ground out. "And then compounded that error with an even more foolish decision. Jounouchi is not talking to me either."
"Have you tried apologising?" Yuugi questioned.
Kaiba flinched slightly. "Not... as such."
Yuugi thought about it for a moment, then reached out and rested his hand on Kaiba's arm. Kaiba startled, but did not pull away from the contact. "Jounouchi-kun can hold his grudges for a long time." Yuugi said gently, patting Kaiba reassuringly before removing his hand. "But when he forgives, he forgives completely."
Kaiba stared at his arm for a moment, then looked up at Yuugi. Yuugi smiled back in what he hoped was a reassuring manner.
Finally Kaiba turned and looked back out the window again. "We should be there shortly."
"Aa." Yuugi agreed, falling silent again. At least now Kaiba didn't seem to be brooding quite as much. But Yuugi still had a bunch of unanswered questions. He sighed, looking out his own window. All he could really do was trust his friends.
True to Kaiba's word, within minutes the helicopter was circling a volcanic island, giving both Yuugi and Kaiba a good look at the place before touching down.
"What do you think?" Kaiba shouted as they exited the helicopter. Kaiba was bent almost in double to make sure he avoided the blades. Yuugi was crouched as well, not so much out of fear that his head would be taken off, he was short enough to not have to worry about that, but to avoid getting an unexpected haircut.
His hair was ridiculous enough without the top part being a buzz cut. But his hair was naturally like that, there was nothing he could do about it.
He stopped next to Kaiba, looking up at the main entrance to the Duellist Academy. "I think I like it." Yuugi grinned. He could just feel the possibilities coming from it. Students, people coming here to learn... it was amazing.
Kaiba smirked. "Wait until you see the insides."
"And the graffiti Jounouchi left?" Yuugi couldn't resist adding.
"Yes, and the graffiti that Jounouchi left." Kaiba grumbled, walking proudly into the school. Yuugi laughed as he trotted to keep up.
The school was huge, painted in the primary colours. Kaiba blandly explained the levels, Ra Gold, Obelisk Blue and Osiris Red. If he was expecting Yuugi to protest Osiris being the lowest level, Kaiba was sorely disappointed.
Good things came from underdogs.
Yuugi was however, confused by the fact it looked like parts of the school were currently undergoing a re-paint. The red was being darkened while the gold was being lightened. The blue was remaining the same colour however.
When he asked, a haunted look flickered across Kaiba's face as the tall brunette made a comment about grayscale and colour-blindness. Yuugi decided it was probably a subject he was better off not pursuing.
He met Kagemaru, the Superintendent to the school, who had hidden the Sacred Beast cards on the school. He felt kind of... off to Yuugi, but so did most of the teachers at the school. None of them seemed to be the caring teacher sort. Kaiba had shrugged when Yuugi had questioned him about it, pointing out that one gained power and strength through adversity, not coddling.
Yuugi thought that said a lot about Kaiba.
The tour took several hours, Kaiba seeing to various small details as they toured, ensuring the school was ready for students. Yuugi relaxed as they walked around, liking the place, and liked the feeling of possibilities for the future. Good things were going to happen here. Kaiba smiled when he said as much, a look of muted triumph and pride.
They left the same way they had come, via the helicopter. Yuugi looked down at the buildings as they lifted off, silently wishing them the best. Kaiba grunted, looking forward, as he always did.
"You don't have a shovel, do you?" Kaiba finally inquired.
Yuugi thought about it for a moment. "No." He admitted. Kaiba smirked in triumph. Yuugi grinned back. "... But I have a frying pan."
+++
+++
"Noa, stop slipping your food on to Mokuba's plate." Jounouchi scolded. "He -can't- eat it."
Both teenagers looked contrite. For a moment anyway, then they both started giggling again. Kaiba not-quite rolled his eyes. He'd finally agreed to let Noa join them at the dinner table, once Mokuba had explained that he'd figured out Virtual Food. Noa couldn't actually taste or smell the food, they hadn't figured that out yet, but it was a step closer to dealing with people on a people level and not a Virtual level.
But this meant that any foods Noa didn't like the texture of, he attempted to slide on to Mokuba's plate, where it looked just like the rest of Mokuba's food. Except that when Mokuba tried to take a bite of it, he'd end up biting his fork with no food on it, the 'food' disappearing as soon as it was in Mokuba's mouth, since the Solid Vision and Solid System projectors couldn't project -in- something.
Mokuba had attempted it the other way around once or twice, only to discover that wet food made the Solid Vision flicker. Both boys thought it was horribly funny. Kaiba was still twitching about Noa invading yet another aspect of his daily life.
Jounouchi thought it made dinner conversation more lively. Noa and Mokuba could carry the conversation between them if they wanted, which they often did, meaning Jounouchi didn't have to think of anything to say. Which was good, because Kaiba was often not exactly the world's greatest conversationalist.
"So, anyway." Jounouchi sighed. He'd been hedging around this question all day and this was probably the best opportunity he was going to get to ask. There were witnesses, for one thing. While he and Kaiba were back to polite speaking terms, he was still a little wary about the businessman. "Was wonderin' if I could get this weekend off. Or just Saturday night if there's something going on."
Kaiba looked slightly surprised, as did Mokuba. Jounouchi wasn't entirely surprised by that, it was the first time he'd -asked- for a night off since he'd started work. But he was also giving them most of a week's advance warning. "I know of nothing of any importance scheduled for next weekend." Kaiba said thoughtfully.
"Except Movie Night on Friday." Mokuba pointed out. "The rest of the weekend is free."
Which meant that he'd usually be tripping off with Mokuba where ever the teenager wanted to go. Without Jounouchi around, it meant that Mokuba was either stuck in the house or had a bunch of guards following him around, which sucked all the fun out of going out.
"Is there a specific reason?" Kaiba asked curiously.
"Yes."
Three pairs of eyes looked at him expectantly. He stared blandly back, stubbornly shovelling some food into his mouth.
Mokuba broke the silent stand off. "Isn't this about the same time of year that Yuugi's Other Self left?" He mused, glancing at Noa for verification. Noa tilted his head to the side, consulting his endless memory bank.
"This weekend, actually." Noa verified.
Kaiba raised an eyebrow at Jounouchi. Jounouchi shrugged back. He was caught. "I don't like Yuugi leavin' alone on these anniversaries." Jounouchi said simply. He didn't think Yuugi would -do- anything stupid, but it was still a comfort to have friends around when remembering those who had left. And the Pharaoh had been Jounouchi's friend too.
"He can stay here the weekend." Kaiba offered. Mokuba and Noa nodded in agreement.
"You sure?" Jounouchi questioned. Usually if there was a free weekend, Kaiba preferred to wallow in the isolation and lack of idiots wanting his attention.
Kaiba shrugged. "If nothing else, it will lend itself to a quiet weekend." He said with understated dry humour. Mokuba shot his brother a horrified look, but Jounouchi chuckled.
"I'll ask him." Jounouchi nodded.
"If he doesn't agree, you can have the weekend off." Kaiba delegated. "Or Mokuba may wish to join you at the Game Shop for part of the weekend."
Mokuba nodded, a stubborn look in his eyes as if daring him to refuse his company as well. Jounouchi grinned and nodded his acceptance. Kaiba silently waved it off, obviously considering the matter closed.
"Thanks." Jounouchi said anyway, returning his attention back to his food.
"And Noa, I saw that. Get your peas off of Mokuba's plate."
"Awww...."
+++
+++
"Mmmm..." Yuugi leaned back, using Jounouchi as a backrest. Not that his best friend was arguing, Jounouchi was sticking closer than usual to Yuugi tonight. For Yuugi's comfort or his own, he wasn't sure. "I'm stuffed."
"Not me!" Jounouchi chortled, reaching over and grabbing another handful of fries. They had hamburgers for dinner tonight, while lounging like complete slobs in the entertainment room. Mokuba pounced, fighting him for the deep fried potato chunks. The two squabbled over the food for a moment as Yuugi scrambled out of their way. Noa floated above them and laughed.
"Thanks for having me over." Yuugi smiled at Kaiba, who was watching the proceedings with an amused look on his face, but refrained joining in.
"It is not a problem." Kaiba shrugged it off. Jounouchi won the wrestling match, shoving the fries in his mouth with a great amount of smug enthusiasm.
"C'mon, Noa." Mokuba stood up and brushed himself off. "I just remembered something I have to do. See ya in a minute!" He cheered, dashing out of the room, the floating ghost on his heels.
"What's that about?" Jounouchi questioned.
"I haven't a clue." Kaiba shrugged. "I think it has something to do with being fifteen."
"Possibly." Yuugi agreed with a chuckle. It seemed strange, like they were never that young.
"Eh, he's being a kid." Jounouchi waved it off, straightening the remains of the hamburger boxes and bags. "Don't- EEP!"
The blond started doing some sort of wild armed flail that might have been dance-like if it wasn't for the expression of alarm on his face. "Get-it-off! Getteroff!getteroff!"
"Jounouchi?" Kaiba questioned, sitting up and moving towards the blond.
"HA!" Jounouchi peeled off his shirt, tossing it in the middle of the floor like it had personally attacked him. "THERE'S SOMETHING IN THERE!" He declared, pointing at the shirt accusingly.
Kaiba raised an eyebrow. Yuugi was about to comment when he felt something moving in his left trouser leg. "EEP!" He squeaked, straightening. He tried shaking his leg to break what ever it was out of his pants leg, but it kept crawling up his leg. "It's in my pants!"
"I got it!" Jounouchi declared. "Street Punk Manoeuvre #23! Fleece no Jitsu!"
Yuugi suddenly found himself sprawled on the ground, minus pants. He hadn't even unbuckled the belts. Pural. "Jounouchi-kun?" He questioned, looking at the blond sitting next to him.
"Sometimes the fastest way to separate a man from his wallet is to separate him from his pants first." Jounouchi shook out Yuugi's pants. "Learned all sorts of weird things running on the streets."
Kaiba looked amused. "How do you wear boxers under your leather-EEP!"
The billionaire straightened, eyes going wide in shock as he reached for his shirt. Ha. Turnabout was fair play. "My turn." Yuugi laughed, stumbling over Jounouchi and grabbing Kaiba's shirt in an attempt to pull it off. Unfortunately, this didn't seem to work due to the fact that Kaiba's buckles actually worked, holding his clothing on and Yuugi somehow ended up with his head up Kaiba's shirt when Jounouchi tried to get Yuugi's foot off his hand.
-Which is when Mokuba and Noa opened up the entertainment room's doors.
Yuugi, Jounouchi and Kaiba looked up.
Shizuka, Mai, Anzu, Ryou, Malik, Ishizu, Rishid, Otogi and Honda stared back.
Yuugi freed his head from Kaiba's shirt. "This isn't what it looks like."
It wasn't. Really.
"Riiiiiiiiiiiiight." Mokuba nodded. "We're gonna close the doors now."
Which he and Noa did.
Kaiba closed his eyes, rubbing his forehead like he had a headache.
Jounouchi jumped on something, then held up a wiggling sock with triumphant glee. "I caught it!"
+++
+++
It was either a large scarab, or a big dung beetle. Technically, there wasn't much of a difference. All dung beetles were in the scarab family, but not all scarabs were dung beetles.
Either way it was a mystery how it got there. Especially ahead of the Egyptian travellers.
Once their shock had worn off and the fact that they had company sunk in, there had been a frantic dash to hide Jounouchi's.... abnormalities. And in Yuugi's case, to get his pants back on. Jounouchi usually didn't bother hiding his ears or tail while hanging out with the Kaiba brothers or Yuugi, so he didn't have one of his long sleeve shirts to camouflage his tail nor anything to hide his ears with him.
They'd quickly substituted a pair of Kaiba's reading glasses for sunglasses to hide the ears and borrowed one of Mokuba's shirts that had worked it's way into the couch cushions before letting one back into the room, the three of them slightly red-faced and mussed from their scramble. Which earned all three of them some rather interesting looks from their guests.
Mokuba had been completely contrite once he realised what the problem was, he'd forgotten about that when he'd invited everyone over. Malik, Ishizu, Ryou and Rashid were helping with another Egyptian exhibit, one that had -nothing- to do with Duel Monsters, they'd been quick to assure everyone. Mai was just stopping through Domino and Anzu had sprained her ankle and was using the down time to visit her family.
Otogi, Honda and Shizuka had only been a quick phone call away and more than happy to hang out.
The fact that this all -happened- to be on the Anniversary of Atemu's passing on was a -complete- coincidence, or so everyone assured everyone else.
For an impromptu party, it wasn't so bad if Jounouchi said so himself.
Which he did, as he bounced around and checked on everyone, assisting Mokuba in passing out beverages and snacks. Ishizu and Kaiba had ensconced themselves in a corner, talking about fate and other mysteries while Yuugi and Anzu curled up on the sofa and chatted bout how life was going. Honda, Otogi, Ryou and Mai were happily discussing their travels and interesting people they'd met. Mokuba had roped Malik and Shizuka into playing video games while Rishid and Noa hung out in the back ground and watched over their charges, making the occasional odd comment.
It took a little while for Jounouchi to relax, he hadn't spent a lot of time with large groups of friends in a while. Part of him wanted to unwind, loosen up a bit and relax his guard. They were his friends, he knew them and been on outrageous adventures. But the rest of him was twitchy about being trapped in a room with that many -people-, regardless of who they were.
Jounouchi finally did mellow out, sitting on the arm of the sofa with Kaiba on one side, Yuugi on the other, Mokuba sitting on the floor in front of him and Shizuka within sight. Various conversations flew across the room as people shouted comments at each other, laughter hovering in the air. Even if he was being a paranoid bastard, it felt good to have everyone together again.
"Hey, Jounouchi." Anzu helpfully reached over Yuugi. "You've got something stuck on your shirt."
PAIN.
White hot pain flooded his mind, blanking everything out except for the need to remove the source of that pain. Which he did, flinging it away as he looked around for any more threats to his person.
"Oh!" Shizuka's cheerful voice penetrated the fog covering his mind. "So -that's- why you don't grab the tail!"
Jounouchi blinked, the growl fading in his throat as he looked around. Anzu was laying in on her back in the middle of the room, the breath obviously knocked out of her. Everyone else was staring at him, their eyes wide in a mixture of surprise, shock and horror. The shirt he'd had around his waist was still in Anzu's hand, ripped off when he'd flipped her away.
Seto's reading glasses fell forward, the ears they'd been holding free from their confining grasp.
Shit.
"Anyone who tries ta blame Kaiba hasta go through me first." He snarled, defensively placing himself between Kaiba, Mokuba and the rest of the group. Ishizu was stuck back in his protective barrier as well, but she held her peace, one hand pressed against her mouth.
Mokuba looked at him with wide guilt laden eyes. "But-"
Jounouchi bopped Mokuba on the head. Mokuba rubbed the offended spot, looking balefully at his brother. "'Niisama!"
"He did exactly what he said he was going to do." Kaiba informed him coolly, then reached forward and rapped his knuckles on Jounouchi's head. Not enough to hurt at all, but enough to get a message across. "And don't hit my little brother."
Jounouchi grunted in return, feeling twitchy. Mai helped Anzu off the floor, sitting her back on the sofa. Anzu was rubbing the back of her head, looking slightly dazed.
"Well, I'll be." Otogi grinned at him. "Kaiba does have a trained lap dog."
One of Yuugi's hands on Jounouchi's arm kept him from jumping the dice boy. Honda hit his boyfriend on the back of the head instead. "Jounouchi-kun." Yuugi said, turning Jounouchi's attention towards him and his large innocent looking eyes. "Could you go down stairs and fetch my bag for me? The movies for tonight are in it."
Jounouchi could feel his ears flicker around, torn between -Fetching- and -Protecting-. "I..."
"It's okay." Yuugi assured him. "Please, go and Fetch it." This time there was no mistaking the slight command in Yuugi's voice. Jounouchi glanced at Kaiba, who was back to his impassive business self and Mokuba, who was watching him with a worried face. Kaiba gave him a slight nod and Jounouchi felt some of his defensiveness fade, replaced by the urge to -move-.
A not quite whine came out of the back of his throat as he turned towards the doors. "I'll be right back." He swore darkly.
+++
+++
Seto swept his gaze over the gathered group of people, assessing everyone's reaction. Noa and Mokuba had automatically flanked him, standing to his right. Mutou was sitting on his left, he and Jounouchi's sister watching the group with concern. Bakura, Malik, Ishizu and Anzu merely looked confused, Rashid and Mai were looking around doing assessments of their own. Honda looked irritated, but as his partner while Otogi seemed to think this was the biggest joke he'd seen in a while.
About what he expected, actually. Save for Honda, Seto had privately expected a shouting fight from him.
"There was an accident while closing down one of Gozaburou's former laboratories." Seto said placidly, drawing the attention away from the blond's departure. "The result is what you see."
"I tripped over a cord." Mokuba corrected, giving Seto an irritated glare for glossing over the details. "Jounouchi pushed us out of the way and got hit by some stuff instead. We offered to take care of surgery to make him look normal again... but he didn't want it."
"And the dog collar?" Bakura questioned softly.
"He was given the collar before the accident." Seto dismissed his fears. "It is his choice to continue to do so." Jounouchi had waved it off the one time Seto had inquired and refused to talk about it further, saying it was a convenient for the communicator.
It -was-, which had been part of the thought when he'd bought it to put on the blond. At the time, it had been meant as a jest, an ill-spirited joke. One he regretted slightly now.
"Jounouchi's here because he wants to be." Mokuba growled hotly, his hand clenching in fists as he glanced at Otogi. "Not because we -extorted- him into something!"
It was a bit of a low blow, referring to Otogi's past history with Jounouchi. Noa wrapped his arms around Mokuba, lips moving slightly as the green haired hologram whispered words to calm Mokuba's temper. Seto felt a small flicker of irritation at that, but dismissed it for the moment.
"If -anyone- makes any comments about Katsuya being less than human-" Seto glared around, making sure that he made eye contact with each person in the room. "-I guarantee they will -live- to regret it."
Mai tossed a handful of hair over her shoulder. "Don't you mean 'won't' live to regret it?" She inquired. Next to her, Anzu nodded, looking slightly confused and shellshocked.
"No." Malik said softly but firmly. "He doesn't. There are worst things than death." The rest of the Egyptians nodded in agreement.
"Oh, yes." Yuugi agreed, his voice a dark purr Seto hadn't heard since the passing of Yuugi's Other Self. He was slightly disturbed to realise that the middle of Yuugi's forehead was glowing as shadows gathered in his smaller duellist's hand, forming into a card. "Much worse things."
Yuugi looked at the card in his hand and let out an amused giggling, slightly higher than normal.
"I'm noticing that you aren't asking for us not to spread this to the press." Otogi drawled. "I'm sure it would be quite devastating to Kaiba Corporation if something like this got out."
"Kaiba-kun shouldn't have to." Jounouchi's sister surprised Seto by speaking up. She looked at the pony-tailed boy with determined brown eyes that sparkled with barely muted anger. "You're his -friends-. What do you think would happen to Katsuya-niichan? Katsuya-niichan is NOT a Laboratory Project or... or... a Research Specimen or some Freak for people to gawk at! Katsyua-niichan is Katsuya-niichan!!!"
Honda's fist met the back of his boyfriend's head again. "Idiot." He said clearly. Someone wasn't going to get lucky tonight, Seto noted absently with a touch of morbid humour.
The door opened and Jounouchi bounded in, tossing the backpack towards the smaller boy. "I got it. Ya can stop talkin' 'bout me behind my back." Jounouchi growled. It could almost been mistaken for irritation if the blond's ears hadn't been pressed back against his skull, the tail tucked against his legs. The blond wasn't irritated, he was -terrified-.
"Thank you, Jounouchi-kun." Yuugi smiled reassuringly at his friend, digging into the bag. "I didn't know that Ryou-kun, Malik-kun, Rishid-san or Ishizu-san were going to be visiting today, but I brought 'The Mummy' and 'The Mummy Returns' to laugh at the historical errors. Anyone want mock them?"
"Brendan Fraser!" Shizuka clapped her hands together, sparkling happily. "In THOSE leather pants!"
"SHIZUKA~!"
+++
+++
"Hey." Yuugi closed the door to the entertainment door behind him.
Jounouchi looked up from his crouched position, his tail thumping against the wall a few times. "Hey."
"Got tired of people?" Yuugi inquired, crouching down next to Jounouchi and setting the frying pan he'd been carrying on the floor.
"Some thing like that." Jounouchi agreed. Yuugi wrapped an arm around Jounouchi's shoulders and was surprised when the blond tensed, flinching away. "Jounouchi-kun?" He asked quietly, removing his arm.
Jounouchi reached out, grabbing Yuugi's wrist. "It's not you." Jounouchi said softly, shifting his weight so he was leaning against Yuugi. "It's just... I'm not a dog, Yuugi."
"I know." Yuugi agreed mildly. "You're Jounouchi-kun."
The blond made a soft sound, a cross between a chuckle and a snort. Yuugi had gotten so used to Jounouchi being the one who reached out, it was strange seeing him avoiding it. "Sorry. It's just... everyone wanted to touch...."
"And you're not a pet." Yuugi finished for him. Now that he thought about it, he'd seen a few people reach up to touch the blond's flickering ears. Although everyone had judiciously avoided the tail.
"No. I'm not." Jounouchi agreed. He let out a snicker. "And that one time with Professor Yashimori chasing me around the museum was enough of a Mummy movie for me, thanks."
Yuugi chuckled. Jounouchi hated horror and monster movies with a nervous passion. "You okay?" He asked instead.
"No." Jounouchi said bluntly. "But at the same time, I'm kinda relieved. Was gonna end up telling most everyone about the ears and tail anyway, so I guess I just got it all over at once."
"Aa." Yuugi agreed mildly. That was one way to put it. He changed the subject to something a bit brigher. "I saw that you and Honda-kun made up."
"Yeah." He could feel Jounouchi's grin against his shoulder as the blond shifted more weight against him. "He's still annoyed that I'm keeping secrets, but we're buds again."
"I'm glad." Yuugi wrapped an arm around Jounouchi's shoulders for balance. Light, his friend was not.
"Apologised to Anzu for flipping her like that. She said she forgave me, then gave me a speach." Jounouchi continued. "Power of friendship and all that. I think I saw Kaiba snickering in the background for that."
Would not have surprised Yuugi the least if that was true. Impassioned pleas of friendship, light and warm fuzzy feelings still more amused than touched the cynical millionaire. "He still doesn't understand, does he?"
"He's gettin' there." Jounouchi's tail thumped a few times in amusement. "Otherwise everyone wouldn't be here tonight."
"You have a point." Yuugi leaned against Jounouchi, shifting some of his own weight against the blond so that they were both propping each other up. If Kaiba didn't want everyone here, they wouldn't be, Mokuba's wrangling or not. Kaiba was very good at making his displeasure known. "How'd the others take it?"
"About what you'd expect. Malik, his sister and Rishid figure it's none of their business. Their whole life is about keep secrets anyway, so it's just another one for them not to talk about." Jounouchi ran down the list. "Bakura seems a little twitchy about it. Haven't talked to Mai yet and Shizuka seems to think it's all very funny."
"And Otogi-kun?"
"Is having great fun playing Devil's Advocate with Kaiba." Jounouchi let out a soft snicker-snort. "He pulled me aside to privately ask if he honestly needed to kill Kaiba. Then commented that this suited me better than that dog suit of his and went back to teasin' Ol' Blue Eyes."
"Otogi-kun has a death wish sometimes." Yuugi mused.
"Which is why he has Honda to keep him in-line and sane." Jounouchi paused. "Sane-ish. Alive, anyway."
"I thought I was going to have to use the frying pan on him." Yuugi admitted, getting a chuckle out of Jounouchi.
"Naw. But I may hafta borrow it for Mokuba." Jounouchi sighed. "He's doing the whole 'teenage angst' thing at the moment. Speaking if which, he and Noa said you made a card? That scared the crap outta everyone, by the way."
"Really? No one's asked me about it." He reached into the habitual leather pouch on his waist that carried his cards and pulled the first one out. "Here."
"That's cause they're too scared to." Jounouchi commented as he straightened, taking some of his weight off of Yuugi as he took the card. "We all remember the Shadow Games... The fu-?"
Yuugi grinned at Jounouchi's confused expression. "I was sitting next to Kaiba-kun as he explained what happened in his own succinct fashion."
"Lemme guess, in under three sentences?" Jounouchi's lips were twitching like he wanted to smile but didn't trust himself to do so.
"Something like that." Yuugi agreed. "Then Mokuba-kun and Noa-kun backed him up and..."
Jounouchi let out a bark of laughter, which turned into a rolling chuckle. There was no hysteria or mocking in his voice, Yuugi was relieved to notice. Just a highly amused laugh.
The card was 'Kaibaman', showing what looked like Kaiba Seto wearing a mask styled after a Blue Eyes White Dragon, long chestnut coloured hair falling past his waist. It was a Level 3 Light/Warrior card with a measly 200 attack points and 700 defence points.
But the card's unique special ability was to allow Kaibaman to be sacrificed to bring a Blue Eyes White Dragon from your hand to the field.
Harming Kaiba brought the wrath of his two blue-hued eyed brothers to the felid. And both Mokuba and Noa were growing up to be very formidable people indeed.
"It looks like Kaiba in a chicken suit!" Jounouchi wheezed. Yuugi paused, then clapped a hand over his mouth to muffle the giggle that threatened to escape.
The door opened again and Kaiba stepped out, closing the door behind him as he looked at them coolly. "Your guests are getting ready to depart." He informed them curtly, obviously having had his fill of company for the night.
Jounouchi did a quick double take between the card in his hand and his employeer before breaking out in helpless laughter.
"What?" Kaiba demanded as Yuugi shrugged. Unfortunately, this coincided with Jounouchi suddenly leaning against Yuugi, sending both of them pitching to the side. Yuugi flailed around, attempting to stay upright and grabbed Kaiba's leg in his efforts. Kaiba was not anticipating the sudden impact of weight against him and stumbled, falling to the ground as Yuugi and Jounouchi rolled into him.
Jounouchi paused for a moment, then started laughing again, the Kaibaman card held safely in the air. Kaiba grumbled darkly as he attempted to dislodge them from off of him. Yuugi gave up and started laughing as well, pushing futility at Jounouchi's limbs that pinned him down.
The door opened, Mokuba and Noa staring down at them, the rest of their friends peering from behind. Yuugi waved weakly as Jounouchi’s laughter just increased.
"Oh, honestly." Mokuba's palm quickly met his forehead. "AGAIN?!"
+++
+++
Jounouchi woke up as the door opened, picking up the scent of flowers and other assorted perfumes. He opened his eye and looked balefully at the doorway, where Mai was standing, dressed in a borrowed pale blue sleeping kimono. She smiled and wiggled her fingers at him, a silent 'Good Morning'.
He wrinkled his nose at her, unwrapping an arm from around Yuugi to motion that he'd there in a minute. He yawned, untangling himself from between Kaiba and Yuugi, shifting Yuugi over to where he'd been resting, the small spiky haired duellist sleepily snuggling towards the warmth Kaiba offered. Mai had her mouth covered with one hand, hiding a giggle as he walked over, idly scratching his belly.
He paused for a moment, his sleepy fuzzed brain slowly waking up. He motioned for Mai to stay where she was, then reached into the stocked liquor cabinet and pulled out the two-way radios held in there. He turned one on and set it down next to the sleeping people's heads before finally wandering out the door.
"Mornin'." He yawned again, turning on the radio he held. The reassuring sound of Noa, Mokuba, Kaiba and Yuugi's breathing echoed forth.
"Good morning." Mai smirked as he scratched behind an ear. "Not that I'm complaining about the view, but do you need to pick up a robe to wear?"
It wasn't exactly warm in the house, but it wasn't terribly cold either. "Nah, I'm good." He waved it off, leading her towards the stairs. "Tail gets all tangled up in the fabric, s'a pain. Take it you wanna talk?"
"You're as oblique as ever." Mai smiled at him, then hid her own small yawn behind a hand. "Pardon me. Ya got any coffee around here?"
"Kitchen." He nodded. "This way." He lead her through the maze of corridors down towards the back of the house, where the large kitchen was. It had taken a while for everyone to wind down enough to finally fall asleep, and even then almost everyone slept restlessly, waking Jounouchi up several times during the night. But still, he'd slept better with everyone there than if they'd all gone off to separate rooms.
"Mokuba talked Kaiba into getting an espresso machine a while back." He commented as they approached. "I don't know how to work it, but if you do you're welcome to try."
"Nah. Coffee's good enough for me." Mai shook her head. "Thanks though."
"Welcome." He pushed open the kitchen doors, then automatically set about making the coffee. He had to stop and remind himself to make double the usual amount. "We have juice too if you want it."
Mai shook her head, tossing her long golden hair over her shoulder and running a hand through it, trying to untangle some of the morning mess. "Pass." She shot him an amused look. "So. Are we going to do this the civilised way, or are we gonna have to take this into the backyard and have a duel to get it out of your system?"
He thought about it for a moment, then smiled, shaking his head. "Maybe later. Kaiba would probably appreciate it if you challenged him to a duel however." He'd already e-mailed her a while back about the challenge he'd given Kaiba, ten duels with no stakes before he'd duel Kaiba about the championship.
She grinned back, reaching over and patting his cheek. "You're growing up. Now, tell Big Sister Mai everything you're not telling everyone else."
"And what makes you think I've got something I haven't told anyone?" He teased, turning on the tap and washing his hands.
"Easy. I -know- you, Jounouchi Katsuya." She smirked back, an expression that would have been called 'evil' by lesser men. "Now spill."
He chuckled, turning the tap off and drying his hands off. Since he was up this early, he might as well be productive about it. "All right, ya got me. What do you want to know?"
She looked slightly surprised. "You mean there's more?"
"I'm workin' fer Kaiba." Jounouchi pointed out as he dug around in the pantry for flour and sugar. There were all sorts of bizarre things in here. "There's -always- secrets."
"Point." She thought about it for a moment. "How are you really doing?"
"Physically, Emotionally, Mentally or Spiritually?"
Mai shot him a look like she wanted something to toss at him. "Start with Physically and go from there."
"Physically..." He finally found some containers that labels looked roughly approximate to 'Flour' and 'Fancy Flour' and pulled them out. He walked back to the counter and set them down. "This doesn't go any farther than the two of us, Mai." He growled, mentally pulling himself for this. Jounouchi didn't usually talk about what was going on with himself, it was easier just to ignore it and focus on what was going on around him.
She nodded solemnly, apparently following his train of thought.
"Physically, I'm better than I was." He sighed as he pulled a large bowl from the cupboard below. "The human body isn't designed to spontaneously grow an extra limb, all tissue and bone had to come from somewhere. It's lucky I'm as young as I am or I probably wouldn't be here." Humans had growth spurts up until about age twenty-five, he was in his early twenties now, his last major growth spurt a couple of years prior.
"Some... where...?" Mai echoed, then her eyes went wide. "Oh, dear."
"From the rest of me, yeah." Jounouchi nodded, digging around for measuring cups. "Evidently I was real brittle there for a while, the docs still have me on vitamin supplements, trying to restore the calcium that was stripped from the bones, as well as all that other tissue and stuff."
"Weight loss the hard way." Mai quipped. "Still, ya look good, kid."
"Thanks." He flashed her a smile. "Hearing's improved, sight's gone a little weird. Night vision is a bit better, but I lost all my colour."
Mai raised an eyebrow. "Aren't dogs colour blind?"
"Actually, that's an old wives tale." He measured out a cup of flour, levelling the flour out before dumping the flour into the bowl and measuring another cup. "They see in a different range then humans and can't see orange or green, but they can see colour. Blue was the last colour to cut out. But the Docs think it was because my skull changed shape slightly to accommodate the funky ears."
"So they're not just decoration." She smirked.
The tail wagged a few times. "-Everything- is fully functional." He smirked back. "They're actually more of a pain than you'd think. Golden retrievers suffer from hip problems, skin allergies and ear infections." He made a face, his ears twitching. One of the problems with having his ears pinned down most of the day was it encouraged the frequency of the ear infections. He had drops to take care of it, but it was still annoying.
"Hip problems? But you're human."
"Humans aren't designed to have tails anymore." He pointed out, the tail wagging shyly as if it knew that they were talking about it. Damn thing really did have a mind of its own. "Pelvis had to be rewired to account for the tail, which plugs into the spinal cord."
"-Which is why you reacted so strongly when Anzu tugged on it." She nodded sagely.
"Hurts like bloody hell." He muttered darkly, adding some baking soda. Mai walked behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder, then sliding it down his back, her fingers ghosting along his vertebrae. He shivered slightly from the contact.
"I'm not trying to hurt you." She murmured, misinterpreting his reaction as fingertips touching where the tail joined his lower back. "I'm just checking something." He nodded in return, setting down the cooking ingredients and utensils, gripping the counter top.
"The muscles are all bunched up here." Mai commented, her thumb pressing into the flesh at the base of the tail. He flinched at the jolt of pain, a low growl rumbling in his throat. He tried to swallow it down, reminding himself that she wasn't a doctor, she wasn't doing this out of spite or because she thought of him as a freak. She straightened, taking a step back. "I may be able to do something to help with that later."
"Thanks." That would be wonderful, the thing was a pain in the butt sometimes. Quite literally. "Damn thing's grown since I first got it. Kinda like from a floppy puppy's tail to more solid adult dog's tail. It's bigger and not as flexible as it used to be. Same with the ears."
"So... how much of you is dog?" Mai said, never one to avoid the hard questions.
He sighed, giving the mass of dry powder in a the bowl a stir. "Enough." Enough to make him not human in any case. "I'm still something like around 90 percent human, give or take. There's really not massive amounts of differences between mammals when you get right down to it. Senses are different, not just the eyesight, but scent's better, hearing's better, things taste slightly different and... well... I'm more tactile now."
"I hadn't noticed." Mai said dryly. "You spent most of the evening draped over various people."
"Um. Yeah." It was kind of hard sometimes to control, or express, the need to touch. Sometimes it was like a bone deep ache, the craving for physical contact. Curling up with Yuugi was good, but movie nights where the best, where everyone slept in a jumble. Everyone was close, bodies and limbs scattered all over each other.
And it was the only time he let actually himself touch Kaiba anymore. They may have shared a bed, but they rarely, never, even so much as brushed against each other in their sleep. Yuugi, Mokuba and Noa formed a safe protective buffer with their presence between himself and all the... stuff with Kaiba.
"Anyway." Mai smirked. "Anything else changed?"
"Everything, really. My DNA was re-written." He measured the baking powder, levelling the spoon out as well. "Mmm.... Probably the best way to explain it is to think of it like cancer."
"Cancer?" Mai's voice was sharp.
"Yeah. Cancer's where one cell of the body duplicates incorrectly and then continues to duplicate uncontrollably, right?" He motioned back to his tail as he dumped the powder in with the rest of it. "Pretty much the same thing, complete with strange funny-lookin' growths."
"Doesn't cancer kill?"
"Yup." He agreed easily. "It'll get me in the end, there's no escaping it. Dogs don't live as long as humans do anyway." Life expectancy was about ten to fifteen years for a golden retriever. And while he -was- still mostly human, it did factor into things.
Mai made a sound, almost like a whimper. Jounouchi blinked, turning towards her. "Mai?"
"I'm..." She shook her head, blond hair covering her face.
"Oh... Oh, Mai." He set the start of the batter aside, reaching out and wrapping his arms around the older duellist. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."
"No, no, it's just..." She wrapped her arms around him, her nails cutting into his back. "How long?"
"Years." He assured her. "Years. I won't grow to be an old man, but you won't get rid of me that easily." Kaiba was enough of a cantankerous bastard that Jounouchi wouldn't be surprised if he made to be a centurion, provided no one killed him out of spite in the mean time. Jounouchi, however, probably wouldn't last half of that. The doctors had said forties, maybe fifties before everything broke down to the point of no repair.
Course, Jounouchi was enough of a cankerous bastard himself that he'd probably last longer than that. He hated those blasted doctors.
"Sorry." Mai muttered, resting her head on his shoulder. "It's just... I didn't think that..." That something like this could -kill-. It sounded silly after all.
"I know." Maybe he shouldn't have told her after all. "No one does, and I try to keep it that way, 'kay?"
"Act as if everything is peachy keen and it is?" Mai muttered almost darkly. She'd done that enough times in her life. It'd gotten her in trouble as well, kept her from reaching out for her friends.
"Exactly. Especially with these guys. If Kaiba gets upset about something, it affects Mokuba, if Mokuba gets upset-"
"-Daddy dragon goes hunting for heads." Mai finished.
He nodded, stroking her long hair. She was a jumble of scents, covered with scented hair products, lotion and perfumes, but underneath it all, she smelled angry. Hurt and angry.
"I'm sorry." He murmured. "It's something I've had to think about and come ta terms with."
"Can't they do anything about it?" Mai muttered miserably. "Reverse the effects or something?"
"No, Mai. No." He shook his head, tightening the embrace. "You weren't there... you didn't see the other... results. The other animals all horribly warped and twisted. They were trying to create beasts of war, creatures of terror, Gozaburou vision of the future."
He still dreamt about the the other experiments sometimes, their pitiful looks and screams from behind caged walls. "What would you have Kaiba do? Continue the experiments, have countless more animals perverted and tortured for the sake of a possible cure for one person? I can't do that, Mai. Hell, I probably wouldn't even survive a cure if they did find one."
She shuddered against him, tightening her own grip on him. "Sorry."
"It's okay." He rubbed her back. " It was an honest question. I still have nightmares about it, y'know. Not about me gettin' hit with the goop again, but if I hadn't... If it had been Mokuba who had been hit instead. Or Kaiba. Someone could have ended up dead. Or worse. There was some really scary things down there, Mai. Really nasty. I was lucky to end up like I did."
He was the real lucky one after all, he had gotten to leave that place. And he could still blend in with the masses. It could have been so much worse. He could have grown tentacles, scales, wings in inappropriate places or be a horrible misshapen green thing oozing puss from open orifices.
And he wasn't the only one effected by it. They still didn't know what was going on with the silver bit on Kaiba's arm.
Mai nodded, taking a deep breath and straightening up. He loosened his hold, meeting her eyes. "If... when the time comes and you want to get away from everyone... for some peace, just let me know, okay?" Mai said earnestly, patting his cheek again. "I can cash in a few favours, set you up some place. The tropics or something."
"'Old dogs know when to go off to die', huh?" He grinned back, wiping under her eye with his thumb. She wasn't -crying-, but it was only because she was a stubborn broad who refused to let the tears fall. "I'll remember that. Although chances are that I'll just get my self shot or run over by a car in the line of duty."
"You would." She growled, then ruined the fierce expression by sniffing.
"Bein' a body guard isn't exactly the safest job." He pointed out. "Especially to the Kaiba. It's something I've had ta think about. Speaking of which, I have you in charge of my will. The ex... exec..." What was that word again? Not 'executioner'...
"Executor?" Mai looked surprised. "Me? Why?"
"Cause I think you're the one who can handle it the best." He said honestly. "I don't want to do that to Yuugi, not after his Other Self's passing away, and the same for Shizuka. Mokuba's too young and Kaiba is... well, he's younger than Mokuba in a lot of ways, really. And I trust ya to be fair to -everyone-."
One of the reasons he'd chosen Mai over Honda, Mai didn't have a grudge against the Kaiba brothers. Mokuba and Kaiba were already aquatinted with death, first through the death of their parents, then with Gozaburou's death, both of which had left their marks on them. They'd been powerless during the first one, then had to dealt with the severe backlash of the second. And while he wasn't family, he was aware that he'd gotten closer to them than anyone else in recent history. They probably wouldn't deal with his death easily either.
He kinda hoped that maybe they and Yuugi would be able to... well, maybe not bond, but get each other through it, be there for each other. Get to be friends, like Yuugi always hoped.
He brushed some of the hair out of her face as she considered what he was saying. "It's actually very simple. The assets I do have, stock in Kaiba Corporation and such, gets divided evenly between you, Shizuka and Yuugi. Everything else can be given away or thrown out, except for what ever Mokuba or Kaiba want back or what ever people want to claim."
He tapped the collar with the communicator hanging from it. They'd probably want the Kaiba Corporation toys back.
Mai smirked back. "Your assets?" She repeated, obviously disbelieving.
"About two percent in Kaiba Corporation, once Ol' Blue Eyes signs the papers." He grinned. "Tradin' him for some other stocks I have. Kaiba Corporation annual turnover is currently about 150 billion yen, the three of you should get a sizeable chunk of change from that."
Not including what he currently had in his bank accounts. It never hurt to have a little extra cash. Who knew? Maybe they could go to the Bahamas and toast him with a piña colada or something. That'd be cool.
"Oh, shit." Her eyes went wide. "You're rich."
Well, maybe not rich, but at least well off. He leered playfully at her, his tail thumping happily at her comment. "I'm not just another cute blond, y'know."
Mai punched him in the arm for that. Ow. He'd forgotten she had a mean hook. He laughed, giving her another hug. "That's m'girl. Hard as nails, tough as diamonds."
"And don't you forget it." She hugged him back, making his spine pop in protest. Out of everyone he knew, he and Mai understood the other the best. You could take the punk off the streets, clean them up, dress them nice, but you could never completely take the streets out of the punk.
"Now." She released him. "I think you said something about coffee."
He glanced over and found that the coffee machine finished its job while they had been talking. "Oh, yup. How do you want yours?"
"I can do it." She waved it off as he reached into the refrigerator and pulled out a carton of half and half. He shrugged and pulled out a couple of eggs and the butter as well. He set it all down on the counter and they poured and fixed the coffee to their liking in companionable silence.
"So." Mai finally said, cradling her coffee cup in her hands like it was the nectar of the gods. "Kaiba."
"Yeah?" He felt his ear twitch in her direction as he took a quick slurp of his own coffee and cut a chunk of butter, sticking it in a bowl and popped it in the microwave to melt.
"He referred to you as 'Katsuya' last night." She said, playfully accusing him.
Jounouchi nodded. "He does that occasionally. Usually in private however." Late at night, when it was just the two of them heading for sleep.
"Ohhhh?" She said inquiringly. He raised an eye brow at her as he cracked one of the eggs into the bowl. Mai grinned at him. He debated a moment, then sighed. Really, who else was he going to talk to this about? -Besides Noa or Mokuba, but they really weren't an impartial audience. And if he didn't cough up something juicy, she'd probably start to poke at him with those nails of hers.
"Kaiba... kissed me a few weeks ago." He admitted, feeling his face heat up. Mai squeaked, bouncing enthusiastically.
"And?" She demanded, like a gossip monger pouncing on a particularly juicy tidbit.
"And... nothing." He tossed the egg shells into the rubbish bin with more force than strictly necessary. "I turned him down."
"You what?!" The bouncing stopped as she started at him incredulously. "Why? You like him, don't you? You've always been chasing each other around and all."
"Yeah." He sighed, cracking the other eggs into the mix and throwing away the shells. "But... He's my employer. And KAIBA. And I'm..." He waved a hand, giving Mai a 'fill in the blank' look.
"Damn pretty?" She came up with instead.
Great. Just make him spell it out. "Male? Street punk? Mediocre? Wouldn't know class if it hit him upside the back of the head? Not human?" He muttered, grabbing the half and half, measuring it out and dumping it into the batter, giving the mixture a harsh stir.
"Jounouchi Katsuya, if I -ever- hear you refer to yourself as 'Mediocre' or 'Not Human' again, I will shove -both- of my spike heeled shoes up your ass." Mai snapped, her own face flushed with anger. "You are NOT-"
"I know, I know." He waved it off. "I'm sorry. It's just... I'm..." He sighed again, at a lost for words.
Mai softened slightly. "Terrified? Scared out of your mind?" He looked at her in surprise, finding her looking into her coffee cup like it was a mirror. "It may sound strange, but I've actually fallen in love a few times myself." She offered, smiling bitter-sweetly. Including with his own sister.
"Yeah." He agreed, deciding to ignore the whole 'falling in love' flowery bit. "I can't... You're the first person I've even mentioned it to, I can't talk to anyone about it. I haven't even talked to Yuugi about it. He'd be happy, I think, but there's the tabloids and the press and everything. It's weird enough when they make stuff up, I can laugh it off, but if it was true and dragged through the mud..."
Mai reached out, resting a hand on his shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "Sorry." He muttered, leaning towards her. "It's just... confusing and I don't know what to do. Yuugi keeps tellin' me that 'not human' doesn't mean 'less than human', but he also cohabited in his body with a spirit for a couple of years. Most people don't see the world that way."
Most people would declare him a freak or a monster. Something out of a horror movie and demand that he be locked away or something. "It's okay." Mai assured him. "I'm not going to tell anyone. And if you need to talk about it, I'm here."
"Thanks." He reached up and gave her hand a squeeze. "Sorry to dump this on you."
"I told you to tell me -everything- you're not telling everyone else." She pointed out dryly as he retrieved the melted butter from the microwave. "So you can't say I didn't ask for it."
"Heh." He grinned, dumping in the butter and mixing the batter up to a proper consistency.
"So." Mai said, straightening her robe as she leaned against the counter again. "I didn't know you could cook."
"Just a bit." Jounouchi ducked his head as he turned on the stove and dug around for a skillet. "I worked part time as a delivery boy for a bakery while I was livin' with Yuugi, cause the early morning hours worked for me. One of the bakers got tired of me tryin' ta swipe treats from him, so he taught me how to make some simple things, help out around the kitchen. I'm not great, but even I can handle making pancakes."
"You do know how to treat a girl right." Mai purred happily.
"Eh, it was a good job." He admitted, putting the skillet on and grabbed a spatula, cutting a sliver of butter off the brick and letting it melt on the pan. "Not many other places would put up with my weird hours and I couldn't exactly say that I couldn't come to work that day cause my best friend was going through melt down cause his other half, who happens to be the spirit of an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh, up and left."
Mai let out a soft noise, like a snicker or an aborted snort. Yeah, their life was weird. "So what happened to the job?"
"I left it a few weeks before I got this one." He said, digging around for a ladle. He finally found one and stuck it in the batter. "Yuugi had a nightmare and requested that I quit."
"And you did?" Mai's voice was incredulous. "Just like that?"
"Yup. Day after I left, the place burned down early in the morning. The baker who'd been teaching me was badly burned and one of the other employees died." He pointed his spatula at Mai, whose sceptic look turned into one of mild horror. "Never underestimate anything Yuugi says. He can see stuff we can't."
She nodded, eyes wide. "So I'm beginning to understand."
Jounouchi grinned, pouring batter into circles on the warm skillet. He was about to ask if she wanted him to attempt to spell out her name in pancake batter when they were interrupted by the sound of screaming from the two way radio he had set on the counter. The scream was followed by a second, high pitched scream, then a whole choir of screaming voices.
Kaiba and Yuugi had just woken up to discover that they weren't cuddled up next to their usual snuggle buddy. Namely Jounouchi.
He cackled, picking up the radio. "I'm declaring it a Pyjama Day." He announced, giving Mai a wink. Mai covered her mouth to muffle her giggles as her coffee almost splashed out of the cup she was holding. "Come on down to the kitchen when you're ready, we have pancakes in progress."
"JOUNOUCHI!!!" Several voices roared as he held the radio away from his ear, trying to stifle his own laughter.
"Oh, and Yuugi?" He added, with what he hoped was an angelic grin on his face. "If you could be so kind as to bring your frying pan with you, I need it to cook breakfast."