![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
[fanfic] WiP: YGO fic, Guard Dog
Okay! Some notes, cause we actually have notes to do now. ^^;;
First off, this story is a bit more perverted than our usual fare. Why? Primarily because we don't care. We've been snickering over the leather, the chains, the bondage outfits and the duellists staring at each other's asses since we first saw the show in Japan, September 2000. (Duellist Kingdom arc, natch.) At this point we've been snickering over it for so long we've long stopped censoring ourselves. It's still pretty clean though.
Some facts may be slightly screwed, my apologies. We've been collecting the manga and watching HKs of the anime looooong before it got dubbed, so occasionally our memories are a little fuzzy on which stuff is manga-only, which is anime-only and what happens when. The dubs don't help much either.
A few scenes have been rewritten after rereading the end of the manga and checking out summaries of Yu-Gi-Oh XG (Yu-Gi-Oh Next Generation, takes place 10 years after the end of Yu-Gi-Oh, anime currently out in Japan). Some things are kinda heading in a different direction too, which is kinda cool.
Anyway, think that's it. Have fun!
Guard Dog
(About 3 years post Battle City.)
"Congratulations, Mokuba." Kaiba Seto looked over the rims of his computer glasses to look at his embarrassed looking younger brother. "You have broken your previous record of scaring away bodyguards within a one weeks time."
"S'not my fault." Mokuba mumbled, crossing his arms and not-quite sulking in a way that only someone on the grasp of being a teenager can.
"And what was wrong with this last one?" Seto's tone border lined between annoyed and exasperated, but still held an undercurrent of fondness for his mischievous younger sibling.
"He wouldn't let me go anywhere!" Mokuba exclaimed. "He said it was too 'potentially hazardous' for me to go out and Duel with other players, but he wouldn't let anyone come in and duel with me, and he didn't anything about Duel Monsters!" The last was spat out like it was the most inconceivable thing in the world.
"Uh-huh." Seto sat back in his chair. "And what was wrong with the one that -did- play Duel Monsters?"
"He treated me like I was some baby!" The long dark haired boy grumbled. "And he tried to put me in footie pyjamas. FOOTIE PYJAMAS!!!"
"The horror." The sarcasm was so thick you could cut it with a spoon.
"I'm NOT a little kid anymore, 'Niisama." Blue-grey eyes glared at dark blue ones. At thirteen, almost fourteen, Mokuba was rapidly catching up to his brother's reputation in the industry. While he may not have shown the same interest in business, he had long surpassed Seto in information gathering and more recently in programming. The two often teamed up on projects for Kaiba Corp, Seto building the hardware while Mokuba created the software.
"I'm well aware of that." His brother assured him. "But I am also aware of the fact that members of Kaiba Security would rather swim in a tank of hungry sharks than to guard you for an hour. In fact, I've gotten several offers to watch them in person as they hang a piece of meat around their necks and jump into the water."
Mokuba's face darkened slightly at that. "They're all lame." He muttered, clenching a fist.
"They're also necessary."
"Feh."
Seto sighed, sliding off his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose. The threat and risk of the youngest brother being held hostage in exchange for money or power over Kaiba Corp had greatly reduced within the past year. He was practically subdued around his assigned bodyguards in comparison to what he had done the past several attempted kidnappers.
They'd actually made money twice, the would-be ransomers paying him to take the youngest Kaiba back.
But the risk of extortion was still present, no matter what reputation for wildness Mokuba may have had. Hence, the need for bodyguards.
"You've got that look again." Seto slid the glasses back on his face, peering over the rims again to raise an eyebrow at his brother, who had a glint in the stormy eyes. "What have you got on your mind?"
A small smirk curled up in the corner of the younger boy's mouth. "A proposition for you."
"A proposition?" While it wasn't un-heard of for Mokuba to purpose a 'business deal' between the two of them, it wasn't common either. "What sort of proposition?"
Gone was the surliness as Mokuba bounced towards the desk. "It's like this, see? I don't need a full time bodyguard, I'm safe enough at school, at home and here-"
"-Except for the occasional turncoat." Seto pointed out. While his screening procedures were strict and most of his employees were loyal, there were the few rare dissenters.
Mokuba nodded, taking it all in stride. "And that, I just really need one in transit from home to school, or to here. And when I go out to play-" There was a strong emphasis on his 'going out to play'. There had been a few fights about Mokuba not spending all of his time at Kaiba Corp., instead that he should go out and spend time playing with children of his own age as well. After all, Seto's goal in taking over Kaiba Corp in the first place, to allow Mokuba a normal childhood.
.... Or at least as normal of a childhood as one could get while being a Kaiba...
"-So therefore, I'm thinking all I need is one bodyguard, who doesn't look and act like an android and scare everyone away. Someone that has experience with kids and Duel Monsters and will test out our latest improvements on the Duelling Systems and isn't afraid of helicopters and travelling like that one stupid one. And most of all, is willing to have FUN."
Seto leaned forward, resting his elbows in the desk and intertwining his fingers together. "Sounds like you already have someone planned."
He got a not-quite innocent smile in response.
"Alright." He sighed, knowing this was a loosing battle before it even started. "But they have to pass my standards first, otherwise it's back to Kaiba Security Officers for you. And I don't want to hear about any problems."
"Understood, 'Niisama!" Mokuba shot him a cheeky salute, a broad grin on his face. "Thank you!"
"You're welcome." He smiled back, the small curving of his lips a fond expression for his younger brother alone. People may have viewed him as a dragon, cold sleek and cunning, but those same people often failed to look past his brother's innocent appearance to realize that Mokuba was a dragon as well. Granted, a dragon kit still, slowly testing and growing into his wings, but already a force to be reckoned with.
Mokuba dashed around the desk to give Seto a quick hug, despite the fact that he often claimed to be too old for such displays of affection. He returned it, messing up the long black strands as he did so. Mokuba shot him a mock-glare for his troubles, smoothing out his hair with affronted dignity before smiling at him in a silent laugh. With one last wave, he trotted out the door, closing it behind him. "Later, 'Niisama!"
"Don't get into too much trouble!" He shouted back, knowing it wouldn't do any good. It was like his brother had changed dramatically and hadn't changed at all in his minds eye. He was, and probably always would be the snot-nosed brat he had been when they were younger. And yet at the same time, he was growing up.
He spared a moment to marvel at the changes in both of them since their parents had passed away before reluctantly shaking his head and returning to work.
+++
+++
"You're joking."
Mokuba crossed his arms, a stubborn look on his face. "Nope."
"Hey!" The person underneath Kaiba's knee wiggled in a futile attempt to break free. "What the hell is going on?!"
He ignored the person. "Him?!"
"Yes."
"Get off me!"
"Why?"
Mokuba began to count the points off on his fingers. "He's got fighting skills, we already know we can trust him, he likes us-" Both he and the other made a muffled sound of protest in the back of their throats "-and he's proved in the past to be a reliable protector."
"He's brainless."
"It's not nice to talk about others when they CAN HEAR YOU!" The other man snapped, attempting to hit him. Kaiba shifted his grip, immobilizing the person further.
"He's stubborn and refuses to give up, AND he's the number three duellist in the rankings, right after you and Yuugi." Mokuba crossed his arms. "Plus he's got street smarts, which is something none of the rest of those lame-brains have."
Kaiba looked around at the fallen still groaning bodyguards around them. Mokuba had a point. A very good one at that.
"What's going ON?!" The other boy spat, trying to futility jerk his arms free.
"He'll need additional training." Kaiba pointed out, reviewing the fight scene he'd walked into, leading to their current position. At the time he'd thought he had walked into another attempted kidnapping, which he had. But instead of the sweatshirt hooded ruffian attempting to beat his men to kidnap Mokuba, said ruffian had been preventing the kidnapping at the hands of his supposedly trusted 'security guards'. "I took him down easily."
"Fighting multiple people at once is different than fighting one on one." Mokuba countered. "And I never said he was -perfect-, just that I think he's the perfect person for the job."
"Let go already!"
Kaiba debated for a moment while the teen beneath him continued to futilely struggle. Personal opinions aside, it was the best solution around. Things certainly couldn't continue as they were.
Personal opinions aside...
"Three months training, I approve afterwards." He said.
Mokuba nodded, accepting his terms. "Takes both of us to fire him." That way neither could accuse the other of getting rid of him in a bout of anger.
"Yo! Don't make me kick your butt!"
"Agreed. But until he's on, you behave for the normal guards."
Grey eyes narrowed at that, but his brother nodded. "Anything else, 'Niisama?"
"Hellooooo-?"
"We can decide later, if he passes."
"He will." Mokuba appeared confidant. Kaiba nodded curtly and released the lanky limbed teen beneath him, rising quickly and stepping out of the way.
Mokuba moved forward, a hand extended to help him up as he smiled. "Sorry about that."
"What the hell is going on?!" The other boy growled, brushing himself off.
"Well..." His brother's grin grew wider. "How'd you like to work for me, Jounouchi-kun?" He asked innocently.
The mutt just stared.
+++
+++
The chimes on the front door of the Kame Game shop rang, signalling the arrival of another customer. "Irrasshai!" Yuugi called, not looking up from the poster he was attempting to put on the wall.
Years had come and years had gone, his other self had passed on to the other world, friends stayed and left and he had finally accepted the fact that he was never going to be much taller than Jiichan.
"Tadaima." A familiar voice called back, causing him to pause.
"I'm home-?" He echoed turning around to see who was at the door, thus causing the poster to fall over, draping across his head and temporarily obscuring his vision. He grappled with it, attempting to pull it off his head, muttering obscenities to the people who created such paper menaces.
The obstacle was removed by a familiar and long missed grinning face. "Yo!"
"Jounouchi-kun!" He smiled back in delight. Jounouchi was back! Poster forgotten, he flung his arms around his friends waist holding on to him tightly. It had been ages since he'd seen his friend!
"Whoa, Yuugi, gimme a second here." His taller friend laughed, reaching up and fastening the thrice-cursed poster to the wall, slightly hampered by the fact that Yuugi refused to let go. Jounouchi laughed, then wrapped one arm around him and rubbed the knuckles of his other hand into Yuugi's spiking locks as they play-wrestled like they were still in High School.
"You've gotten stronger." Yuugi noted, from a headlock, using a free arm poking at an arm. "And taller! Where have you been? I've missed you!"
"Yeah, well..." The tall blond dropped him, scratching the back of his head nervously. "Sorry to worry you. Ya did get my postcards right?"
Yuugi crossed his arms, raising an impatient eyebrow. "Yes I got them. 'I'm alive, see you soon' doesn't quite explain where you've been for three months. Was starting to wonder if you had gotten eaten."
"Yeah.. heh heh, not quite..." Jounouchi shrugged. Unfortunately, with their past with the strange and unusual, the 'eaten' comment was meant more literally than metaphorically. "I was training for a new job. It came up kind of suddenly, so I didn't have time to tell you before I left."
"Jounouchi-kun." An eyebrow was raised, meaning the small boy meant business.
Jounouchi sighed, shoulders slumping as he gave up the veneer of secrecy. "I'm working over at Kaiba Corp." He muttered.
"Kaiba-kun?!" Yuugi's eyes widened. Jounouchi -hated- the eldest Kaiba with a passion. Well, perhaps it had muted slightly with time, but there was still a spark of animosity between the two. Yuugi never quite understood the purpose of it, or why both of them went out of each other's way to barb the other, but he still considered Kaiba Seto among his friends.
Even if no one else thought that way.
"Is everything alright?" He inquired. If Jounouchi was working for Kaiba-kun, then it was probably very serious indeed.
"It's not what you think!" The blond hastened to assure both of the smaller boy's sides. "I'm working for Mokuba, not Kaiba. Well, Mokuba's a Kaiba too, but Kaiba... eh, you know what I mean. I'm his bodyguard. Mokuba. That's where I've been, training. Not here, I mean, I was somewhere else, training. Cause I'm a good fighter, but I still can't kick Kaiba's butt, so I was off learning how to wipe the floor with him. Or try to anyway... ...I'm not explaining this too good, am I?" He ended it with a slight wince.
Yuugi frowned. "Jounouchi-kun."
"Yeah?"
"Are you doing this of your own free will or because you had no other choice?"
Jounouchi chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well... Little bit of column A, Little bit of column B..."
"Jounouchi..."
The blond chuckled, taking a step back and holding his hands up in supplication. "It's like this, see? You and Honda and Bakura and everyone else is smart, does well in school, right?"
Yuugi winced. Actually, his grades had been barely passing due to the fact he spent so much time either way from school or gaming, but he wasn't about to point that out at this exact moment...
"So when we gotta outta school, you all had someplace to go. Anzu to New York, Otagi and you to your game shops, Bakura to England, Honda with his automotive, but me? I'm not so good with school. Part time jobs are great and all, but I only got two things I'm good at. Fighting and Duelling. And neither one are exactly something I can get a steady pay check with. And this..." Jounouchi grinned, a light turning on in his eyes. "This is something I'm good at."
"Duelling and fighting?" Yuugi echoed, just a bit of a smile escaping.
"EXACTLY." The light turned into a full-blown mega-watt lighthouse, the grin stretching from ear to ear. "Not to mention it gives me a place to live AND food and get to check out the latest duelling stuff before it goes on the market! And Mokuba's a good kid, I don't mind hanging out with him."
"But..."
The grin faded. "But I gotta deal with Kaiba. My room's next to Mokuba's, Mokuba's is just down the hall from Kaiba's. Just in case of emergencies. Those two have a separation complex or somethin'. Not that I blame them or anything..."
Both Kaiba brothers had been through a lot. Yuugi still didn't know all the history behind them, but he knew enough to understand their reasoning. Yuugi nodded. "So you're not being coerced or forced into this?" He asked carefully.
"None what so ever." Jounouchi met his gaze levelly. "Yuugi, I WANT to do this. Excited about it, actually."
"Obviously." He couldn't help but to tease. It earned him another headlock, his hair being messed up despite his laughing protests. It was good to have Jounouchi back, where he knew where he was. He had really started to be concerned when no one else seemed to know where he had disappeared to either.
"So, what have you been up to, Yuugi?" Jounouchi grinned, one arm still wrapped companionably around his shoulders. "How's everyone doing?"
"Well... if you have the time, Mister Jounouchi 'I'm Employed and Disappearing for Months at a Time' Katsuya..." There. He'd stop teasing him about it there, but it had stung that Jounouchi had left without a word.
Jounouchi chuckled nervously again. "Sorry about that, Yuugi... Tell ya what, though. I don't have to report in to work until tomorrow, so you have all night to fill me in, okay?"
"And for you to do the same." He agreed, easily escorting his friend into the back rooms. He had some tea brewing there earlier, and he was sure he had enough snacks to last them a few hours at least...
Wait, this was Jounouchi... Who was he kidding? They'd be out of them in an hour. He grinned, causing the blond to look at him with a bit of trepidation.
He'd tell him later.
+++
+++
Kaiba looked down at the object that had been placed next to him as if it were a live rodent. "What is this?"
"I would think..." Jounouchi raised an eyebrow. "-that you would be able to recognize a turkey sandwich."
"I know what it is." Kaiba frowned back. "What is it -doing- here?"
Jounouchi resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "It's for you." He explained not quite so patiently. "To eat. Y'know? Food?"
The executive's frowned deepened. "You were hired to guard Mokuba, not act as my nanny." He said dismissively, turning to go back to work.
"Anything that affects you affects Mokuba." The blonde retorted stubbornly. "If -you- pass out from low blood sugar, -I'm- gonna hafta deal with a panicked little brother. Eat."
Kaiba just raised a disdainful eyebrow at him before resolutely ignoring him and resumed typing on the keyboard.
"Fine." Jounouchi growled. "I'm going to pick Mokuba up from school. We should be back in half an hour. If the sandwich isn't eaten by then, I'm shoving it down your throat."
With that, he turned and stalked off, the suspicious sound of a snicker following.
+
Half an hour later, a suspicious Jounouchi returned. The sandwich remained in its original position, untouched.
He did exactly what he said he was going to do.
Mokuba helped.
+++
+++
Jounouchi hated mornings. It was the worst part of the day.
Here he was, working a stable, steady job, which is more than anyone thought he could ever do, and doing a fairly good job at it too, if he did say so himself, but was he allowed to lie around in the morning, relax and maybe take in a cup of coffee? No.
Mornings were what he was beginning to refer to as 'His Blue Period'. As in 'Black and Blue'.
Because every morning instead of waking up, stumbling around to get dressed and eat breakfast, he was woken up by that obnoxious jerk Kaiba and dragged downstairs into one of the holographic practice rooms for quote 'practice' unquote.
Or, as Kaiba would put it, in dog terms: Being tossed around the room by one stuffed shirt millionaire named Kaiba Seto under the guise of improving his fighting skills. Privately, Jounouchi thought it was Kaiba Stress Relief.
But he couldn't deny that his fighting was improving between the three months under Sensei and these morning 'Sparring Sessions'.
And right about now, from his position eating practice mat, neither could Kaiba.
Funnily enough, the first thought through his head was not victory or triumph at his finally pinning Kaiba, but a faint bit of horror that he was -really- going to pay for this later.
In the background, he could hear some of the early morning techs, who were used to watching him get tossed into the mat on a daily basis talking, making a faint buzzing sound in the background. A few of them had joked with him at various times about placing bets on who was going to win. He'd teased back that it was rigged, no one was going to bet against the boss, to which they had readily agreed. Well, now it seemed like at least some were going to bet against the boss from now on.
Although, new bets were probably going to be placed on his life span after this...
He released Kaiba and quickly backed up, giving the volatile businessman plenty of room to get up in. Which Kaiba did quickly, the gleam in his eyes reminding Jounouchi of the Blue Eyes White Dragon just before a big attack.
Then Kaiba did something even scarier than facing down the wrath of one of his dragons.
He smiled.
A smug, self-satisfied twitch of the lips that was more terrifying than loud shouts and death threats could have been.
"Good job." Kaiba commented mildly before straightening his clothing in that prim way of his and walking off towards the showers.
Jounouchi stared after him. Good job? Good JOB?! Well, yeah, he supposed that's what Kaiba was training him for, to be able to fight someone and win, but still... Good job?
All things considered he would have preferred a pat on the head and some cryptic comment about him being a well-trained mutt.
Less disturbing.
+++
+++
"Jounouchi-kun..." Small hands shook his shoulder "Jounouchi-kun!! Wake up! Please wake up!"
"Mmmplgh." He rolled over, waving a lazy arm in the direction of the voice. "G'way."
"Jounouchi-kun, PLEASE!" The insistent voice was enough to finally snap him out of his slumber. Sheesh, it felt like he had just gotten to bed...
"Mokuba?" He grumbled, opening his eyes and sitting up, grateful he'd put on sleep pants over his boxers. Although if late night visitors were going to be come the norm, he might want to debate about sleeping in a shirt too, like Mokuba. Mokuba was staring at him, dark hair and eyes wild and chaotic. "Wassup?"
"It's..." The younger boy hesitated, as if uncertain what to do now that he had his attention. "It's Niisama. He won't wake up."
"It's the middle of the night, Mokuba." Jounouchi pointed out logically. He'd hope that Kaiba was asleep. Like he'd hope to be.
"No, you don't understand!" Mokuba was practically vibrating with distress. "Niisama... Niisama has nightmares. Bad ones. Really bad ones, from like, before. They got REALLY bad after Yuugi locked him in the card and even worse after he took the darkness out of him, but they'd been getting better. He used to wake me screaming..."
"Okay," He wouldn't admit it, but the hairs on the back of his neck were starting to stand upright from just the sheer amount of terror and panic the small boy put into the descriptions of the nightmares. He'd -been- there when Yuugi had taken the darkness out of the elder Kaiba. And after some of the situations and duels they'd been in, even he'd had a couple of really doozies when it came to nightmares. "Okay. What do you want me to do?"
"Come on." Mokuba grabbed his hand, like he was much younger than his fourteen years and dragged him out of the bed and down the hall to Kaiba's bedroom. Jounouchi followed with some trepidation. He was getting used to Ol' Blue Eyes, as he lived and learned about him, but that didn't necessarily mean he was exactly -fond- of Kaiba Seto.
"In here." Mokuba tugged him on to the giant bed of the master suite. "He usually calms down once he knows I'm here, but it doesn't seem to be working. You sleep on his other side."
Eeeeeeh? Sleep? Next to Kaiba? What the hell?
Heedless to his reluctance, Mokuba climbed into bed next to his brother, careful not to pin any limbs or actually restrain his brother. Just be near enough for his presence to be noticeable. Jounouchi took a few steps closer, keeping an eye on Kaiba, just in case. The brunette was pale against his sheets, beads of sweat beading against his forehead, making Kaiba look ill instead of caught in the throws of a nightmare. Even if he was tenser than a twig ready to snap.
However, the messed up stated of the bed spoke otherwise. A keening noise escaped from Kaiba's clenched jaws, causing Jounouchi to jump.
"Jounouchi." Mokuba looked up at him. He sighed. Damn it all. He slowly climbed onto the bed, careful of where he put his hands and feet as Mokuba began to talk, explaining that he was here, Gozaburo was dead, Jounouchi was here as well, Seto was safe now, he could sleep easier. After a while it seemed to work, the stiff-corpselike posture of Kaiba melting into a more natural approximation to sleep, some of the colour returning to his face. Mokuba's voice trailed off into a slow whisper as he fell asleep as well, his body curling up against his brother.
He snorted softly to himself. Both Kaiba looked more innocent like this, younger. Heck, even Kaiba looked more like his actual age instead of an old man in a young body.
He yawned, stretching out to sleep. He'd catch a few zzz's here, then take Mokuba back in a few hours, to make sure they wouldn't have a repeat of this tonight.
In the meantime, he'd guard their slumber.
It was in his job description after all.
... wasn't it?
+++
+++
His office door opened, then shut quickly, footsteps approaching the desk, then stopping in front of him. Seto snarled silently. He'd given his secretary explicit orders not to allow anyone in here, upon pain of decapitation. Or some other severe body-reducing event.
However, when he glanced up to rip who ever had interrupted his work a new one, the words stopped dead in his throat.
Ass.
An ass so tight you could bounce coins off of, clad in a pair jeans so worn that denim had turn into a soft flexible material that covered those curves in an all-revealing loving grasp.
Kaiba found himself drooling like Pavlov's Dog.
Then that ass turned around, to reveal an equally as impressive crotch in the front, with a not insignificant bulge pressing against the zipper. The jeans rode low, flashes of smooth belly teasing over the top of an equally worn leather belt.
Oh... my...
"Dammit, Mokuba..." The muttered voice startled him out of his revere as he jerked his head up out of crotch level to look up into the face of one slightly annoyed looking Guard Dog. Jounouchi turned in a circle again, arms reaching behind him to mess with the belt, something furry obscuring his view of that ass. "-How the hell am I supposed to attach this freakin' tail?!" Belatedly, Kaiba noticed that the mutt was also wearing a pair of dog-ears, similar to his own golden-retriever blond hair on the crown of his head. And a leather vest. Where the hell had these come from?! More importantly, why was the mutt actually wearing them?
And was that a dog collar wrapped around the mutt's neck?
He pointedly cleared his throat, stopping the mutt from completing yet another circle in front of him. While it was highly amusing and made for wonderful entertainment, it was also very distracting.
"Oh. Kaiba." Jounouchi looked at him from under that mop of golden hair, looking more puppy-like than normal. "Just wanted to let you know Mokuba and I are on our way out. We should be back around midnight."
"Dressed like that?" He inquired loftily, allowing himself to lean back in the chair and take in the entire ensemble. Rips and tears in the jeans he hadn't noticed before gave him glimpses of solid muscles under the soft material and were probably the only thing that were allowing the mutt to move in pants that tight.
Jounouchi rolled his eyes. "It's a -costume- party. I'm a werewolf, Mokuba's a vampire-? Your brother's only told you what? A dozen times every day for the past week?"
Of course. How ridiculous of him. He'd finally given permission for his brother to go, only if the guard dog went along with to watch over things.
... in that outfit, there'd be no problems at the party, every one would be too busy watching HIM.
"Right." Seto nodded, long used to not showing what he was thinking on his face. Not that he worried about the puppy actually reading his facial expressions. He was well aware of exactly what the mutt thought of him.
He did -not- have something stuck up his ass.
Now up Jounouchi's ass...
"Have a good time." He dismissed the guard dog and bent his head back to his task, pretending to be absorbed in his work. "And tell Mokuba I said eleven-thirty, no later."
"Yeah, yeah." The mutt grumbled, heading back to the main doors, muttering to himself about being polite and ungrateful heartless brainless dickless bastards.
Seto didn't feel too bad. After all, the original agreement had been for them to be home by eleven. But he was used to playing these games with Mokuba. However, the mutt in the middle was a new twist to their minor power plays.
But the view as the mutt left was very nice... The jeans clung to those curves very well. Just how long had the mutt had those pants?
. . . .
It was very nice the mutt was leaving, yes, that was it. No thoughts about tight denim or leather or the like in his head. Business.
His secretary is watching the mutt leave as well, a glazed expression falling across her face as the blond gave a friendly wave goodbye. He saw her then proceeded to lean off the side of her desk, to further watch the mutt's exit before his doors shut, blocking his view of them both.
He hit the intercom button. "Do you require a bucket?" He inquired icily
"Bucket?" She stammered.
"For the drool?"
"N-no."
"Good. Keep it that way." With an angry jab, he turned off the intercom.
Damn fools, staring at HIS mutt.
+++
(Authour note: as 'Neechan would say, Behold The Power Of Ass! ^^;;)
+++
Kaiba looked down at the object that had been placed next to him as if it were a live rodent. However, this time instead of wasting time asking about what was obviously a tuna sandwich, he glanced up at the bearer of food. The mutt had a dark scowl on his face, jaw set determinedly.
Mindful of what had happened the last time food had been brought to him, he glanced away, resuming typing. "I do not require a nursemaid."
"Yeah, well maybe if you didn't spend all yer time nursemaidin' everyone else, ya wouldn't need someone to act as one." The blond was obstinate.
"Is that a threat?"
Jounouchi leaned forward and -grinned-. "Just remindin' ya of what happened last time. I'll see ya in half an hour. With Mokuba."
With that, the mutt sauntered out.
Seto snorted in distain as the doors shut, pointedly not watching the other boy's exit.
However, once he was certain that he was in no danger of being observed, he began to eat. But only half the sandwich.
No one ordered a Kaiba around. No one.
+
The next evening, upon retiring to his rooms, he found an outfit laying out on the bed. It was remarkably similar to his clothing from Battle City. A black turtleneck, buckles, belts and a white over garment with studs around the flared shoulders.
That was where the similarities ended.
Because despite the similarities, it was obviously a maid's uniform, the white garment in question a rather dangerous looking apron over what would clearly be a tight black dress.
The Mutt was very unsubtle when it came to getting his point across.
... Mokuba probably helped.
+++
+++
"C'mon, Mokuba. Help me out here." Jounouchi muttered as he hefted the fourteen year old out of his brother's bed. Kaiba would be getting up in about a hour, which meant it was time for them to get back into their own beds before Ol' Blue Eyes rose and found them there.
Which would be a lot easier if Mokuba was still the cute LITTLE eleven year old he had been when they had first met. He wouldn't be the slightest bit amazed if Mokuba ended up taller than he brother in a few years. He was almost halfway there as it was.
In the mean time, it was a good thing that Jounouchi had been working out lately or he wouldn't be able to do this at all. And it was a good thing he could catch a few hour naps while Mokuba was at school, or he'd never get through the day.
Although just getting through the morning sparring sessions with the Blue Eyed Dragon there was interesting. One of these mornings, he was just going to leave Mokuba on his brother's bed and let him explain.
Eh, could probably dismiss it as a nightmare.
Yawning, he deposited Mokuba in his bed, pulling the blankets over the sleeping kid. This is probably what it was like to have kids of your own, the strange wake up calls in the middle of the night. This certainly hadn't been part of the job description when he signed on.
Course, neither was sleeping with the ice bastard Kaiba either.
Sleep. As in just sleeping. Not sharing a bed for any recreational purposes. Nothing like that. Not that he -wanted- to do anything in a bed with the bastard Kaiba...
Jeez, it was too early in the morning for this. He hadn't even woken up yet and his mind was already playing tricks with the innuendo.
He shut the door to Mokuba's room and wandered over to his own, stretching absentmindedly. Sleep. Sleep was good. He still had about an hour of rest before Kaiba woke him up to go get sweaty and grapple.
Again with the innuendo!
Eh, fuck it. The lack of sleep was getting to him.
+++
+++
"Oi, Mokuba..." Jounouchi didn't bother looking away from the large television screen as he trounced the younger Kaiba in a racing video game. "How come your brother wears all those buckles and stuff? He tryin' ta outdo Yuugi in the bondage statement department or something?"
The dark haired boy snorted, not quite breaking out into full laughter. "Didn't you know? 'Niisama's got this anti-gravity problem, from a lab accident. If he doesn't strap his clothing to him, it'll fly off."
"Yer kidding." The blond tore his gaze from the screen to stare at the wild haired teen. "Tell me yer kiddin'."
"Yup!" Mokuba laughed, using the distraction to pull his racer ahead of Jounouchi's. Jounouchi muffled a curse and turned his attention back to the game.
"Brat."
This earned him another laugh, even as Jounouchi regained his number one spot on the track. "Nah, honestly, I don't know why he dresses like that. Think he does it for intimidation purposes. It still disturbs the board members, cause he doesn't dress like he should. So maybe it's a status thing."
"Makes sense. He dresses like that ta show he's powerful 'nuff that he doesn't got to dress like the rest of the corporate flunkies." And the strange flared outfits certainly leant to the frightening air that cause many of the weaker players to run screaming from the possibility of duelling Kaiba. He grinned. "-Or it could be that he simply doesn't like suits and ties."
Mokuba snorted, drawing attention to their own causal clothing - the dark haired boy had never run out of his love for stripped shirts and neither of them were often seen out of their usual jeans.
Jounouchi grinned. "Ya do know yer brother's a freak?" He asked, tone light and teasing.
"Yeah." Mokuba grinned back, his expression fond. "But he wouldn't be my 'Niisama if he wasn't."
"Ya got that right."
+++
+++
"Yuuuuuuuuugiiii!!" While the smaller man was expecting a joyful welcome from his best friend Jounouchi, he was not expecting the double tackle he got from his best friend and the younger Kaiba as soon the door opened to the Kaiba household.
The younger Kaiba who was now nearly as tall as him, with a great deal more mass as well. "Aah!"
"Nice to know I'm welcomed..." He commented weakly, the breath nearly squeezed out of him.
Jounouchi was a hands-on, easy to read person. If he liked you, you got hugs, play wrestling and hair messings. If he didn't like you, you got fists in the face and feet in the gut. Mokuba in the past had been affectionate only towards his brother, but a few months in Jounouchi's influence had obviously changed that.
Both ends of the 'Yuugi sandwich' snickered happily, shaking him slightly as they broke apart, pulling him to the warmth of the mansion.
"Wasn't sure if you'd really come or not!" Mokuba grinned; bouncing around him as Jounouchi took is pack. "Cause 'Niisama's gonna be here too, but I made him promise not to challenge you to any duels. It'd be a shame to ruin a perfectly good movie night fighting."
Hint hint, nudge nudge. "I'll do my best not to challenge him to any duels either." He promised.
"You'd think Duelling was all they ever thought about in this household." Jounouchi grumbled good-naturedly. This earned him wide-eyed incredulous looks from both the still Number One Ranking Duellist and the Number Two Ranking Duellist's younger brother.
"It's not?!"
Yuugi found himself being pulled through the maze of the house by Mokuba, both of them laughing madly as Jounouchi chased them, mildly-cursing all the way. The blond chased them around a large room obviously meant as a comfortable living room, the three of them duck, dodging and scrambling over furniture, their laughter punctuated by the occasional yips and yells until they collapsed in a snickering heap on the sofa.
He glanced up in time to see the elder Kaiba standing in the doorway with a dispassionate eye. "Yo, Kaiba-kun!" He waved.
Kaiba inclined his head and walked away.
"Don't take it personally." Mokuba suggested from his sprawled position, pinning Jounouchi's legs to the sofa. "He's just not used to having other people in the house."
"Oi, Mokuba." Jounouchi prodded the dark haired boy with a leg. "Is he? ...Y'know."
The younger Kaiba seemed to know immediately what the blond was saying. "He should be fine."
"Okay." Any apparent worry dissipated at Mokuba's words. Yuugi raised an eyebrow. Jounouchi? Worrying about Kaiba? When did this happened?
Of course, he supposed that having lived under the same roof as him for the past several months might have had something to do with it. And Jounouchi had yet to show up at the game shop cursing and sputtering like he used to after an encounter with Kaiba, so that was a positive sign.
Yuugi grinned. It was always nice to see his friends get along.
"So, food first or movie first or just grab snacks to watch during movie?" Jounouchi was practically crackling with glee, nearly pushing the two smaller people off the sofa onto the floor.
"Food!" Mokuba cheered, hopping off. "We can bring it up here and watch the movie!"
Jounouchi just grinned, glancing over with a slightly apologetic shrug. "What can I say? Kid after my own heart."
"You've trained him well, Jounouchi-kun."
"Hey!"
+
Several hours later, the spiky haired boy glanced down at his best friend, who was sprawled out over two of the three futons they had put on the floor and snoring. Mokuba wasn't much better, using Jounouchi's rising and falling chest as a pillow, snoring in counter point to the blond.
Yuugi smiled serenely at his friends. They had worn each other out, watching the movies, munching on popcorn and junk food, wrestling like kids and chattering away at each other. He should really be asleep with them as well, he'd been just as bad as the two of them, but he wanted to enjoy the peaceful moment a while longer.
Jounouchi seemed happy here. Yuugi was both relived and uneasy. Jounouchi and Mokuba got along well, but he had a few unanswered questions. Most of them dealing with the taller man standing in the doorway watching them.
He slipped out from under Jounouchi's sprawled arm and quietly padded over to Kaiba. Once again, he wished he were just a little bit taller. It was hard to feel intimidating when you barely came up to someone's chest. They stood in silence for several minutes, watching the sleepers, before Kaiba finally acknowledged him.
"Yuugi."
"Kaiba-kun."
Yuugi sparkled at the stoic businessman. "It's nice to see my friends finally getting along."
Kaiba grunted.
Yuugi smiled wider. "And I just wanted to let you know that while I may not have a puzzle any longer, I do have a shovel." He said sweetly. "And a tomb robber that owes me a favour or two."
Actually, it was more like he owed Bakura a favour or two, but Ryou would probably be more than happy to help out...
And if he didn't, Malik knew the -best- places to hide a body.
An eyebrow lifted, Kaiba turning the full force of his attention at him. "Is that a threat?" The words were a low hiss, a menacing rumble from a not-quite slumbering dragon.
"No. Just letting you know." He smiled cheerfully. "Jounouchi-kun is my best friend. I don't like to see him hurt."
He liked to get see his friends get along. However, that did not mean he was going to stand by and do nothing if his friends were hurting each other. And Jounouchi was far less likely to hurt Kaiba then Kaiba was to hurt Jounouchi. Although, granted, Kaiba was more likely to do it without realizing it.
"I have no interest in playing with the puppy." Kaiba said disdainfully, returning his attention towards the slumbering boys again. "He's Mokuba's concern, not mine."
Yuugi nodded. And that would be why Jounouchi talked about the older Kaiba as often as he did Mokuba. And why Kaiba was staring as much at Jounouchi as he was his brother....
Well, he supposed some things never changed. Kaiba was, and probably always would be stubborn, especially when it came to letting people in close around him. It was just one of those things that made him Kaiba.
Just as Jounouchi was stubborn when it came to the people he cared about.
It would be interesting to see who would win the clash of the thick skulls.
"Just as long as we both know where the other stands." He smiled genteelly and patted Kaiba on the arm. "Good night, Kaiba-kun. Sleep well."
Kaiba grunted in response. Yuugi merely bowed his head and and returned to the futons, curling up next to Jounouchi again.
He was aware of the taller boy's presence lurking in the doorway for a while.
+
Yuugi woke up again a few hours before dawn, glancing around the unfamiliar surroundings. To his surprise, he counted three heads beside his own on the futons instead of two.
Jounouchi was next to him, snoring away softly. On the far end he could make out Mokuba's wild locks.
And Kaiba slept peacefully nestled in between the two of them, Mokuba now partly sprawled across his brother instead of his keeper. Jounouchi hadn't seemed to have noticed, one of his arms draped across Kaiba where it had earlier been around Mokuba.
He hid a grin, silently wishing his other self could see this, their fearsome rival looking not quite so fierce, in a peaceful way.
One thing his other self had taught him was that there was an art to sharing a bed with other people. It had been awkward, the first several times his other self had slept outside of the puzzle, for one reason or another. Didn't matter that they were two parts of a whole, or that they were similar sizes, it was just... odd, to be asleep and roll over and find someone there. Limbs didn't match up, waking up with hair, non-corporal or not, in your face and mouth.
Not to mention buckles getting tangled up...
But after a while, they just kind of figured it out. Yuugi always slept better with his other self nearby, feeling safe, protected.
He'd fallen out of the habit in recent years, his other self having passed on, but none of his current bed companions apparently had any of that awkwardness.
Almost made him wonder. Maybe they were getting along better then either was saying.
A yawn blind-sided him and he lay back down, snuggled contentedly next to his larger friend's side. It was nice, almost like when his other self had been there....
+
When Yuugi woke up again, long after the sun had risen, it was just the three of them again, Yuugi tucked up against one of Jounouchi's sides, Mokuba against his other, pinning the blankets covering Jounouchi down.
Perhaps he had just dreamed that Kaiba had slept with them last night.
Then again, perhaps he wasn't.
He smiled, sleepily betting on the latter. Especially when Mokuba stirred and whispered his brother's name.
On the other hand, perhaps it wasn't any of his business. But it would certainly be interesting to see what came of this.
+++
+++
Wake up.
Climb out of Kaiba's bed.
Put Mokuba back in his bed.
Go back to sleep. In own bed.
Wake up.
Glare at smirking bastard Kaiba.
Go to spar.
Hand Kaiba his ass.
Get ass handed back several times.
Take shower.
Get dressed.
Wake up Mokuba.
Eat breakfast.
Finally wake up. Coffee good.
Notice something odd in reflection of coffee pot.
"WHERE THE HELL DID THAT COME FROM?!"
"Language, Jounouchi-kun." Mokuba scolded from over his bowl of Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs.
"Yeah... but... but... " Jounouchi gestured empathically towards his reflection, then reversed the motion and tugged at the leather collar around his neck.
The one with the initials 'KC' hanging from the front like tags on a dog's collar. It certainly hadn't been on him when he went to sleep last night...
"Oh. Cool!" Mokuba grinned. "I see you got your communicator!"
"Communicator?" What did that have to do with dog collars?!
"Yeah." Mokuba turned the collar of his school uniform to once side, to show off the 'KC' pin displayed there. "Niisama and I use them to communicate, usually while hosting a duel. Is easier than a phone, cause all you have to do is press it once to start talking, so it's hands free, which is nice when we're looking for trouble. It's pretty much for emergency use only. Since you got one, think this means that Niisama finally accepts you as my guard."
Oh.
Well, that still didn't explain how the dog collar got there...
Note to self: Get more sleep. Obviously messing with awareness levels.
"Couldn't I have gotten something round? Something that screams less 'Property of Kaiba Corp'?"
+++
+++
First off, this story is a bit more perverted than our usual fare. Why? Primarily because we don't care. We've been snickering over the leather, the chains, the bondage outfits and the duellists staring at each other's asses since we first saw the show in Japan, September 2000. (Duellist Kingdom arc, natch.) At this point we've been snickering over it for so long we've long stopped censoring ourselves. It's still pretty clean though.
Some facts may be slightly screwed, my apologies. We've been collecting the manga and watching HKs of the anime looooong before it got dubbed, so occasionally our memories are a little fuzzy on which stuff is manga-only, which is anime-only and what happens when. The dubs don't help much either.
A few scenes have been rewritten after rereading the end of the manga and checking out summaries of Yu-Gi-Oh XG (Yu-Gi-Oh Next Generation, takes place 10 years after the end of Yu-Gi-Oh, anime currently out in Japan). Some things are kinda heading in a different direction too, which is kinda cool.
Anyway, think that's it. Have fun!
Guard Dog
(About 3 years post Battle City.)
"Congratulations, Mokuba." Kaiba Seto looked over the rims of his computer glasses to look at his embarrassed looking younger brother. "You have broken your previous record of scaring away bodyguards within a one weeks time."
"S'not my fault." Mokuba mumbled, crossing his arms and not-quite sulking in a way that only someone on the grasp of being a teenager can.
"And what was wrong with this last one?" Seto's tone border lined between annoyed and exasperated, but still held an undercurrent of fondness for his mischievous younger sibling.
"He wouldn't let me go anywhere!" Mokuba exclaimed. "He said it was too 'potentially hazardous' for me to go out and Duel with other players, but he wouldn't let anyone come in and duel with me, and he didn't anything about Duel Monsters!" The last was spat out like it was the most inconceivable thing in the world.
"Uh-huh." Seto sat back in his chair. "And what was wrong with the one that -did- play Duel Monsters?"
"He treated me like I was some baby!" The long dark haired boy grumbled. "And he tried to put me in footie pyjamas. FOOTIE PYJAMAS!!!"
"The horror." The sarcasm was so thick you could cut it with a spoon.
"I'm NOT a little kid anymore, 'Niisama." Blue-grey eyes glared at dark blue ones. At thirteen, almost fourteen, Mokuba was rapidly catching up to his brother's reputation in the industry. While he may not have shown the same interest in business, he had long surpassed Seto in information gathering and more recently in programming. The two often teamed up on projects for Kaiba Corp, Seto building the hardware while Mokuba created the software.
"I'm well aware of that." His brother assured him. "But I am also aware of the fact that members of Kaiba Security would rather swim in a tank of hungry sharks than to guard you for an hour. In fact, I've gotten several offers to watch them in person as they hang a piece of meat around their necks and jump into the water."
Mokuba's face darkened slightly at that. "They're all lame." He muttered, clenching a fist.
"They're also necessary."
"Feh."
Seto sighed, sliding off his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose. The threat and risk of the youngest brother being held hostage in exchange for money or power over Kaiba Corp had greatly reduced within the past year. He was practically subdued around his assigned bodyguards in comparison to what he had done the past several attempted kidnappers.
They'd actually made money twice, the would-be ransomers paying him to take the youngest Kaiba back.
But the risk of extortion was still present, no matter what reputation for wildness Mokuba may have had. Hence, the need for bodyguards.
"You've got that look again." Seto slid the glasses back on his face, peering over the rims again to raise an eyebrow at his brother, who had a glint in the stormy eyes. "What have you got on your mind?"
A small smirk curled up in the corner of the younger boy's mouth. "A proposition for you."
"A proposition?" While it wasn't un-heard of for Mokuba to purpose a 'business deal' between the two of them, it wasn't common either. "What sort of proposition?"
Gone was the surliness as Mokuba bounced towards the desk. "It's like this, see? I don't need a full time bodyguard, I'm safe enough at school, at home and here-"
"-Except for the occasional turncoat." Seto pointed out. While his screening procedures were strict and most of his employees were loyal, there were the few rare dissenters.
Mokuba nodded, taking it all in stride. "And that, I just really need one in transit from home to school, or to here. And when I go out to play-" There was a strong emphasis on his 'going out to play'. There had been a few fights about Mokuba not spending all of his time at Kaiba Corp., instead that he should go out and spend time playing with children of his own age as well. After all, Seto's goal in taking over Kaiba Corp in the first place, to allow Mokuba a normal childhood.
.... Or at least as normal of a childhood as one could get while being a Kaiba...
"-So therefore, I'm thinking all I need is one bodyguard, who doesn't look and act like an android and scare everyone away. Someone that has experience with kids and Duel Monsters and will test out our latest improvements on the Duelling Systems and isn't afraid of helicopters and travelling like that one stupid one. And most of all, is willing to have FUN."
Seto leaned forward, resting his elbows in the desk and intertwining his fingers together. "Sounds like you already have someone planned."
He got a not-quite innocent smile in response.
"Alright." He sighed, knowing this was a loosing battle before it even started. "But they have to pass my standards first, otherwise it's back to Kaiba Security Officers for you. And I don't want to hear about any problems."
"Understood, 'Niisama!" Mokuba shot him a cheeky salute, a broad grin on his face. "Thank you!"
"You're welcome." He smiled back, the small curving of his lips a fond expression for his younger brother alone. People may have viewed him as a dragon, cold sleek and cunning, but those same people often failed to look past his brother's innocent appearance to realize that Mokuba was a dragon as well. Granted, a dragon kit still, slowly testing and growing into his wings, but already a force to be reckoned with.
Mokuba dashed around the desk to give Seto a quick hug, despite the fact that he often claimed to be too old for such displays of affection. He returned it, messing up the long black strands as he did so. Mokuba shot him a mock-glare for his troubles, smoothing out his hair with affronted dignity before smiling at him in a silent laugh. With one last wave, he trotted out the door, closing it behind him. "Later, 'Niisama!"
"Don't get into too much trouble!" He shouted back, knowing it wouldn't do any good. It was like his brother had changed dramatically and hadn't changed at all in his minds eye. He was, and probably always would be the snot-nosed brat he had been when they were younger. And yet at the same time, he was growing up.
He spared a moment to marvel at the changes in both of them since their parents had passed away before reluctantly shaking his head and returning to work.
+++
+++
"You're joking."
Mokuba crossed his arms, a stubborn look on his face. "Nope."
"Hey!" The person underneath Kaiba's knee wiggled in a futile attempt to break free. "What the hell is going on?!"
He ignored the person. "Him?!"
"Yes."
"Get off me!"
"Why?"
Mokuba began to count the points off on his fingers. "He's got fighting skills, we already know we can trust him, he likes us-" Both he and the other made a muffled sound of protest in the back of their throats "-and he's proved in the past to be a reliable protector."
"He's brainless."
"It's not nice to talk about others when they CAN HEAR YOU!" The other man snapped, attempting to hit him. Kaiba shifted his grip, immobilizing the person further.
"He's stubborn and refuses to give up, AND he's the number three duellist in the rankings, right after you and Yuugi." Mokuba crossed his arms. "Plus he's got street smarts, which is something none of the rest of those lame-brains have."
Kaiba looked around at the fallen still groaning bodyguards around them. Mokuba had a point. A very good one at that.
"What's going ON?!" The other boy spat, trying to futility jerk his arms free.
"He'll need additional training." Kaiba pointed out, reviewing the fight scene he'd walked into, leading to their current position. At the time he'd thought he had walked into another attempted kidnapping, which he had. But instead of the sweatshirt hooded ruffian attempting to beat his men to kidnap Mokuba, said ruffian had been preventing the kidnapping at the hands of his supposedly trusted 'security guards'. "I took him down easily."
"Fighting multiple people at once is different than fighting one on one." Mokuba countered. "And I never said he was -perfect-, just that I think he's the perfect person for the job."
"Let go already!"
Kaiba debated for a moment while the teen beneath him continued to futilely struggle. Personal opinions aside, it was the best solution around. Things certainly couldn't continue as they were.
Personal opinions aside...
"Three months training, I approve afterwards." He said.
Mokuba nodded, accepting his terms. "Takes both of us to fire him." That way neither could accuse the other of getting rid of him in a bout of anger.
"Yo! Don't make me kick your butt!"
"Agreed. But until he's on, you behave for the normal guards."
Grey eyes narrowed at that, but his brother nodded. "Anything else, 'Niisama?"
"Hellooooo-?"
"We can decide later, if he passes."
"He will." Mokuba appeared confidant. Kaiba nodded curtly and released the lanky limbed teen beneath him, rising quickly and stepping out of the way.
Mokuba moved forward, a hand extended to help him up as he smiled. "Sorry about that."
"What the hell is going on?!" The other boy growled, brushing himself off.
"Well..." His brother's grin grew wider. "How'd you like to work for me, Jounouchi-kun?" He asked innocently.
The mutt just stared.
+++
+++
The chimes on the front door of the Kame Game shop rang, signalling the arrival of another customer. "Irrasshai!" Yuugi called, not looking up from the poster he was attempting to put on the wall.
Years had come and years had gone, his other self had passed on to the other world, friends stayed and left and he had finally accepted the fact that he was never going to be much taller than Jiichan.
"Tadaima." A familiar voice called back, causing him to pause.
"I'm home-?" He echoed turning around to see who was at the door, thus causing the poster to fall over, draping across his head and temporarily obscuring his vision. He grappled with it, attempting to pull it off his head, muttering obscenities to the people who created such paper menaces.
The obstacle was removed by a familiar and long missed grinning face. "Yo!"
"Jounouchi-kun!" He smiled back in delight. Jounouchi was back! Poster forgotten, he flung his arms around his friends waist holding on to him tightly. It had been ages since he'd seen his friend!
"Whoa, Yuugi, gimme a second here." His taller friend laughed, reaching up and fastening the thrice-cursed poster to the wall, slightly hampered by the fact that Yuugi refused to let go. Jounouchi laughed, then wrapped one arm around him and rubbed the knuckles of his other hand into Yuugi's spiking locks as they play-wrestled like they were still in High School.
"You've gotten stronger." Yuugi noted, from a headlock, using a free arm poking at an arm. "And taller! Where have you been? I've missed you!"
"Yeah, well..." The tall blond dropped him, scratching the back of his head nervously. "Sorry to worry you. Ya did get my postcards right?"
Yuugi crossed his arms, raising an impatient eyebrow. "Yes I got them. 'I'm alive, see you soon' doesn't quite explain where you've been for three months. Was starting to wonder if you had gotten eaten."
"Yeah.. heh heh, not quite..." Jounouchi shrugged. Unfortunately, with their past with the strange and unusual, the 'eaten' comment was meant more literally than metaphorically. "I was training for a new job. It came up kind of suddenly, so I didn't have time to tell you before I left."
"Jounouchi-kun." An eyebrow was raised, meaning the small boy meant business.
Jounouchi sighed, shoulders slumping as he gave up the veneer of secrecy. "I'm working over at Kaiba Corp." He muttered.
"Kaiba-kun?!" Yuugi's eyes widened. Jounouchi -hated- the eldest Kaiba with a passion. Well, perhaps it had muted slightly with time, but there was still a spark of animosity between the two. Yuugi never quite understood the purpose of it, or why both of them went out of each other's way to barb the other, but he still considered Kaiba Seto among his friends.
Even if no one else thought that way.
"Is everything alright?" He inquired. If Jounouchi was working for Kaiba-kun, then it was probably very serious indeed.
"It's not what you think!" The blond hastened to assure both of the smaller boy's sides. "I'm working for Mokuba, not Kaiba. Well, Mokuba's a Kaiba too, but Kaiba... eh, you know what I mean. I'm his bodyguard. Mokuba. That's where I've been, training. Not here, I mean, I was somewhere else, training. Cause I'm a good fighter, but I still can't kick Kaiba's butt, so I was off learning how to wipe the floor with him. Or try to anyway... ...I'm not explaining this too good, am I?" He ended it with a slight wince.
Yuugi frowned. "Jounouchi-kun."
"Yeah?"
"Are you doing this of your own free will or because you had no other choice?"
Jounouchi chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well... Little bit of column A, Little bit of column B..."
"Jounouchi..."
The blond chuckled, taking a step back and holding his hands up in supplication. "It's like this, see? You and Honda and Bakura and everyone else is smart, does well in school, right?"
Yuugi winced. Actually, his grades had been barely passing due to the fact he spent so much time either way from school or gaming, but he wasn't about to point that out at this exact moment...
"So when we gotta outta school, you all had someplace to go. Anzu to New York, Otagi and you to your game shops, Bakura to England, Honda with his automotive, but me? I'm not so good with school. Part time jobs are great and all, but I only got two things I'm good at. Fighting and Duelling. And neither one are exactly something I can get a steady pay check with. And this..." Jounouchi grinned, a light turning on in his eyes. "This is something I'm good at."
"Duelling and fighting?" Yuugi echoed, just a bit of a smile escaping.
"EXACTLY." The light turned into a full-blown mega-watt lighthouse, the grin stretching from ear to ear. "Not to mention it gives me a place to live AND food and get to check out the latest duelling stuff before it goes on the market! And Mokuba's a good kid, I don't mind hanging out with him."
"But..."
The grin faded. "But I gotta deal with Kaiba. My room's next to Mokuba's, Mokuba's is just down the hall from Kaiba's. Just in case of emergencies. Those two have a separation complex or somethin'. Not that I blame them or anything..."
Both Kaiba brothers had been through a lot. Yuugi still didn't know all the history behind them, but he knew enough to understand their reasoning. Yuugi nodded. "So you're not being coerced or forced into this?" He asked carefully.
"None what so ever." Jounouchi met his gaze levelly. "Yuugi, I WANT to do this. Excited about it, actually."
"Obviously." He couldn't help but to tease. It earned him another headlock, his hair being messed up despite his laughing protests. It was good to have Jounouchi back, where he knew where he was. He had really started to be concerned when no one else seemed to know where he had disappeared to either.
"So, what have you been up to, Yuugi?" Jounouchi grinned, one arm still wrapped companionably around his shoulders. "How's everyone doing?"
"Well... if you have the time, Mister Jounouchi 'I'm Employed and Disappearing for Months at a Time' Katsuya..." There. He'd stop teasing him about it there, but it had stung that Jounouchi had left without a word.
Jounouchi chuckled nervously again. "Sorry about that, Yuugi... Tell ya what, though. I don't have to report in to work until tomorrow, so you have all night to fill me in, okay?"
"And for you to do the same." He agreed, easily escorting his friend into the back rooms. He had some tea brewing there earlier, and he was sure he had enough snacks to last them a few hours at least...
Wait, this was Jounouchi... Who was he kidding? They'd be out of them in an hour. He grinned, causing the blond to look at him with a bit of trepidation.
He'd tell him later.
+++
+++
Kaiba looked down at the object that had been placed next to him as if it were a live rodent. "What is this?"
"I would think..." Jounouchi raised an eyebrow. "-that you would be able to recognize a turkey sandwich."
"I know what it is." Kaiba frowned back. "What is it -doing- here?"
Jounouchi resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "It's for you." He explained not quite so patiently. "To eat. Y'know? Food?"
The executive's frowned deepened. "You were hired to guard Mokuba, not act as my nanny." He said dismissively, turning to go back to work.
"Anything that affects you affects Mokuba." The blonde retorted stubbornly. "If -you- pass out from low blood sugar, -I'm- gonna hafta deal with a panicked little brother. Eat."
Kaiba just raised a disdainful eyebrow at him before resolutely ignoring him and resumed typing on the keyboard.
"Fine." Jounouchi growled. "I'm going to pick Mokuba up from school. We should be back in half an hour. If the sandwich isn't eaten by then, I'm shoving it down your throat."
With that, he turned and stalked off, the suspicious sound of a snicker following.
+
Half an hour later, a suspicious Jounouchi returned. The sandwich remained in its original position, untouched.
He did exactly what he said he was going to do.
Mokuba helped.
+++
+++
Jounouchi hated mornings. It was the worst part of the day.
Here he was, working a stable, steady job, which is more than anyone thought he could ever do, and doing a fairly good job at it too, if he did say so himself, but was he allowed to lie around in the morning, relax and maybe take in a cup of coffee? No.
Mornings were what he was beginning to refer to as 'His Blue Period'. As in 'Black and Blue'.
Because every morning instead of waking up, stumbling around to get dressed and eat breakfast, he was woken up by that obnoxious jerk Kaiba and dragged downstairs into one of the holographic practice rooms for quote 'practice' unquote.
Or, as Kaiba would put it, in dog terms: Being tossed around the room by one stuffed shirt millionaire named Kaiba Seto under the guise of improving his fighting skills. Privately, Jounouchi thought it was Kaiba Stress Relief.
But he couldn't deny that his fighting was improving between the three months under Sensei and these morning 'Sparring Sessions'.
And right about now, from his position eating practice mat, neither could Kaiba.
Funnily enough, the first thought through his head was not victory or triumph at his finally pinning Kaiba, but a faint bit of horror that he was -really- going to pay for this later.
In the background, he could hear some of the early morning techs, who were used to watching him get tossed into the mat on a daily basis talking, making a faint buzzing sound in the background. A few of them had joked with him at various times about placing bets on who was going to win. He'd teased back that it was rigged, no one was going to bet against the boss, to which they had readily agreed. Well, now it seemed like at least some were going to bet against the boss from now on.
Although, new bets were probably going to be placed on his life span after this...
He released Kaiba and quickly backed up, giving the volatile businessman plenty of room to get up in. Which Kaiba did quickly, the gleam in his eyes reminding Jounouchi of the Blue Eyes White Dragon just before a big attack.
Then Kaiba did something even scarier than facing down the wrath of one of his dragons.
He smiled.
A smug, self-satisfied twitch of the lips that was more terrifying than loud shouts and death threats could have been.
"Good job." Kaiba commented mildly before straightening his clothing in that prim way of his and walking off towards the showers.
Jounouchi stared after him. Good job? Good JOB?! Well, yeah, he supposed that's what Kaiba was training him for, to be able to fight someone and win, but still... Good job?
All things considered he would have preferred a pat on the head and some cryptic comment about him being a well-trained mutt.
Less disturbing.
+++
+++
"Jounouchi-kun..." Small hands shook his shoulder "Jounouchi-kun!! Wake up! Please wake up!"
"Mmmplgh." He rolled over, waving a lazy arm in the direction of the voice. "G'way."
"Jounouchi-kun, PLEASE!" The insistent voice was enough to finally snap him out of his slumber. Sheesh, it felt like he had just gotten to bed...
"Mokuba?" He grumbled, opening his eyes and sitting up, grateful he'd put on sleep pants over his boxers. Although if late night visitors were going to be come the norm, he might want to debate about sleeping in a shirt too, like Mokuba. Mokuba was staring at him, dark hair and eyes wild and chaotic. "Wassup?"
"It's..." The younger boy hesitated, as if uncertain what to do now that he had his attention. "It's Niisama. He won't wake up."
"It's the middle of the night, Mokuba." Jounouchi pointed out logically. He'd hope that Kaiba was asleep. Like he'd hope to be.
"No, you don't understand!" Mokuba was practically vibrating with distress. "Niisama... Niisama has nightmares. Bad ones. Really bad ones, from like, before. They got REALLY bad after Yuugi locked him in the card and even worse after he took the darkness out of him, but they'd been getting better. He used to wake me screaming..."
"Okay," He wouldn't admit it, but the hairs on the back of his neck were starting to stand upright from just the sheer amount of terror and panic the small boy put into the descriptions of the nightmares. He'd -been- there when Yuugi had taken the darkness out of the elder Kaiba. And after some of the situations and duels they'd been in, even he'd had a couple of really doozies when it came to nightmares. "Okay. What do you want me to do?"
"Come on." Mokuba grabbed his hand, like he was much younger than his fourteen years and dragged him out of the bed and down the hall to Kaiba's bedroom. Jounouchi followed with some trepidation. He was getting used to Ol' Blue Eyes, as he lived and learned about him, but that didn't necessarily mean he was exactly -fond- of Kaiba Seto.
"In here." Mokuba tugged him on to the giant bed of the master suite. "He usually calms down once he knows I'm here, but it doesn't seem to be working. You sleep on his other side."
Eeeeeeh? Sleep? Next to Kaiba? What the hell?
Heedless to his reluctance, Mokuba climbed into bed next to his brother, careful not to pin any limbs or actually restrain his brother. Just be near enough for his presence to be noticeable. Jounouchi took a few steps closer, keeping an eye on Kaiba, just in case. The brunette was pale against his sheets, beads of sweat beading against his forehead, making Kaiba look ill instead of caught in the throws of a nightmare. Even if he was tenser than a twig ready to snap.
However, the messed up stated of the bed spoke otherwise. A keening noise escaped from Kaiba's clenched jaws, causing Jounouchi to jump.
"Jounouchi." Mokuba looked up at him. He sighed. Damn it all. He slowly climbed onto the bed, careful of where he put his hands and feet as Mokuba began to talk, explaining that he was here, Gozaburo was dead, Jounouchi was here as well, Seto was safe now, he could sleep easier. After a while it seemed to work, the stiff-corpselike posture of Kaiba melting into a more natural approximation to sleep, some of the colour returning to his face. Mokuba's voice trailed off into a slow whisper as he fell asleep as well, his body curling up against his brother.
He snorted softly to himself. Both Kaiba looked more innocent like this, younger. Heck, even Kaiba looked more like his actual age instead of an old man in a young body.
He yawned, stretching out to sleep. He'd catch a few zzz's here, then take Mokuba back in a few hours, to make sure they wouldn't have a repeat of this tonight.
In the meantime, he'd guard their slumber.
It was in his job description after all.
... wasn't it?
+++
+++
His office door opened, then shut quickly, footsteps approaching the desk, then stopping in front of him. Seto snarled silently. He'd given his secretary explicit orders not to allow anyone in here, upon pain of decapitation. Or some other severe body-reducing event.
However, when he glanced up to rip who ever had interrupted his work a new one, the words stopped dead in his throat.
Ass.
An ass so tight you could bounce coins off of, clad in a pair jeans so worn that denim had turn into a soft flexible material that covered those curves in an all-revealing loving grasp.
Kaiba found himself drooling like Pavlov's Dog.
Then that ass turned around, to reveal an equally as impressive crotch in the front, with a not insignificant bulge pressing against the zipper. The jeans rode low, flashes of smooth belly teasing over the top of an equally worn leather belt.
Oh... my...
"Dammit, Mokuba..." The muttered voice startled him out of his revere as he jerked his head up out of crotch level to look up into the face of one slightly annoyed looking Guard Dog. Jounouchi turned in a circle again, arms reaching behind him to mess with the belt, something furry obscuring his view of that ass. "-How the hell am I supposed to attach this freakin' tail?!" Belatedly, Kaiba noticed that the mutt was also wearing a pair of dog-ears, similar to his own golden-retriever blond hair on the crown of his head. And a leather vest. Where the hell had these come from?! More importantly, why was the mutt actually wearing them?
And was that a dog collar wrapped around the mutt's neck?
He pointedly cleared his throat, stopping the mutt from completing yet another circle in front of him. While it was highly amusing and made for wonderful entertainment, it was also very distracting.
"Oh. Kaiba." Jounouchi looked at him from under that mop of golden hair, looking more puppy-like than normal. "Just wanted to let you know Mokuba and I are on our way out. We should be back around midnight."
"Dressed like that?" He inquired loftily, allowing himself to lean back in the chair and take in the entire ensemble. Rips and tears in the jeans he hadn't noticed before gave him glimpses of solid muscles under the soft material and were probably the only thing that were allowing the mutt to move in pants that tight.
Jounouchi rolled his eyes. "It's a -costume- party. I'm a werewolf, Mokuba's a vampire-? Your brother's only told you what? A dozen times every day for the past week?"
Of course. How ridiculous of him. He'd finally given permission for his brother to go, only if the guard dog went along with to watch over things.
... in that outfit, there'd be no problems at the party, every one would be too busy watching HIM.
"Right." Seto nodded, long used to not showing what he was thinking on his face. Not that he worried about the puppy actually reading his facial expressions. He was well aware of exactly what the mutt thought of him.
He did -not- have something stuck up his ass.
Now up Jounouchi's ass...
"Have a good time." He dismissed the guard dog and bent his head back to his task, pretending to be absorbed in his work. "And tell Mokuba I said eleven-thirty, no later."
"Yeah, yeah." The mutt grumbled, heading back to the main doors, muttering to himself about being polite and ungrateful heartless brainless dickless bastards.
Seto didn't feel too bad. After all, the original agreement had been for them to be home by eleven. But he was used to playing these games with Mokuba. However, the mutt in the middle was a new twist to their minor power plays.
But the view as the mutt left was very nice... The jeans clung to those curves very well. Just how long had the mutt had those pants?
. . . .
It was very nice the mutt was leaving, yes, that was it. No thoughts about tight denim or leather or the like in his head. Business.
His secretary is watching the mutt leave as well, a glazed expression falling across her face as the blond gave a friendly wave goodbye. He saw her then proceeded to lean off the side of her desk, to further watch the mutt's exit before his doors shut, blocking his view of them both.
He hit the intercom button. "Do you require a bucket?" He inquired icily
"Bucket?" She stammered.
"For the drool?"
"N-no."
"Good. Keep it that way." With an angry jab, he turned off the intercom.
Damn fools, staring at HIS mutt.
+++
(Authour note: as 'Neechan would say, Behold The Power Of Ass! ^^;;)
+++
Kaiba looked down at the object that had been placed next to him as if it were a live rodent. However, this time instead of wasting time asking about what was obviously a tuna sandwich, he glanced up at the bearer of food. The mutt had a dark scowl on his face, jaw set determinedly.
Mindful of what had happened the last time food had been brought to him, he glanced away, resuming typing. "I do not require a nursemaid."
"Yeah, well maybe if you didn't spend all yer time nursemaidin' everyone else, ya wouldn't need someone to act as one." The blond was obstinate.
"Is that a threat?"
Jounouchi leaned forward and -grinned-. "Just remindin' ya of what happened last time. I'll see ya in half an hour. With Mokuba."
With that, the mutt sauntered out.
Seto snorted in distain as the doors shut, pointedly not watching the other boy's exit.
However, once he was certain that he was in no danger of being observed, he began to eat. But only half the sandwich.
No one ordered a Kaiba around. No one.
+
The next evening, upon retiring to his rooms, he found an outfit laying out on the bed. It was remarkably similar to his clothing from Battle City. A black turtleneck, buckles, belts and a white over garment with studs around the flared shoulders.
That was where the similarities ended.
Because despite the similarities, it was obviously a maid's uniform, the white garment in question a rather dangerous looking apron over what would clearly be a tight black dress.
The Mutt was very unsubtle when it came to getting his point across.
... Mokuba probably helped.
+++
+++
"C'mon, Mokuba. Help me out here." Jounouchi muttered as he hefted the fourteen year old out of his brother's bed. Kaiba would be getting up in about a hour, which meant it was time for them to get back into their own beds before Ol' Blue Eyes rose and found them there.
Which would be a lot easier if Mokuba was still the cute LITTLE eleven year old he had been when they had first met. He wouldn't be the slightest bit amazed if Mokuba ended up taller than he brother in a few years. He was almost halfway there as it was.
In the mean time, it was a good thing that Jounouchi had been working out lately or he wouldn't be able to do this at all. And it was a good thing he could catch a few hour naps while Mokuba was at school, or he'd never get through the day.
Although just getting through the morning sparring sessions with the Blue Eyed Dragon there was interesting. One of these mornings, he was just going to leave Mokuba on his brother's bed and let him explain.
Eh, could probably dismiss it as a nightmare.
Yawning, he deposited Mokuba in his bed, pulling the blankets over the sleeping kid. This is probably what it was like to have kids of your own, the strange wake up calls in the middle of the night. This certainly hadn't been part of the job description when he signed on.
Course, neither was sleeping with the ice bastard Kaiba either.
Sleep. As in just sleeping. Not sharing a bed for any recreational purposes. Nothing like that. Not that he -wanted- to do anything in a bed with the bastard Kaiba...
Jeez, it was too early in the morning for this. He hadn't even woken up yet and his mind was already playing tricks with the innuendo.
He shut the door to Mokuba's room and wandered over to his own, stretching absentmindedly. Sleep. Sleep was good. He still had about an hour of rest before Kaiba woke him up to go get sweaty and grapple.
Again with the innuendo!
Eh, fuck it. The lack of sleep was getting to him.
+++
+++
"Oi, Mokuba..." Jounouchi didn't bother looking away from the large television screen as he trounced the younger Kaiba in a racing video game. "How come your brother wears all those buckles and stuff? He tryin' ta outdo Yuugi in the bondage statement department or something?"
The dark haired boy snorted, not quite breaking out into full laughter. "Didn't you know? 'Niisama's got this anti-gravity problem, from a lab accident. If he doesn't strap his clothing to him, it'll fly off."
"Yer kidding." The blond tore his gaze from the screen to stare at the wild haired teen. "Tell me yer kiddin'."
"Yup!" Mokuba laughed, using the distraction to pull his racer ahead of Jounouchi's. Jounouchi muffled a curse and turned his attention back to the game.
"Brat."
This earned him another laugh, even as Jounouchi regained his number one spot on the track. "Nah, honestly, I don't know why he dresses like that. Think he does it for intimidation purposes. It still disturbs the board members, cause he doesn't dress like he should. So maybe it's a status thing."
"Makes sense. He dresses like that ta show he's powerful 'nuff that he doesn't got to dress like the rest of the corporate flunkies." And the strange flared outfits certainly leant to the frightening air that cause many of the weaker players to run screaming from the possibility of duelling Kaiba. He grinned. "-Or it could be that he simply doesn't like suits and ties."
Mokuba snorted, drawing attention to their own causal clothing - the dark haired boy had never run out of his love for stripped shirts and neither of them were often seen out of their usual jeans.
Jounouchi grinned. "Ya do know yer brother's a freak?" He asked, tone light and teasing.
"Yeah." Mokuba grinned back, his expression fond. "But he wouldn't be my 'Niisama if he wasn't."
"Ya got that right."
+++
+++
"Yuuuuuuuuugiiii!!" While the smaller man was expecting a joyful welcome from his best friend Jounouchi, he was not expecting the double tackle he got from his best friend and the younger Kaiba as soon the door opened to the Kaiba household.
The younger Kaiba who was now nearly as tall as him, with a great deal more mass as well. "Aah!"
"Nice to know I'm welcomed..." He commented weakly, the breath nearly squeezed out of him.
Jounouchi was a hands-on, easy to read person. If he liked you, you got hugs, play wrestling and hair messings. If he didn't like you, you got fists in the face and feet in the gut. Mokuba in the past had been affectionate only towards his brother, but a few months in Jounouchi's influence had obviously changed that.
Both ends of the 'Yuugi sandwich' snickered happily, shaking him slightly as they broke apart, pulling him to the warmth of the mansion.
"Wasn't sure if you'd really come or not!" Mokuba grinned; bouncing around him as Jounouchi took is pack. "Cause 'Niisama's gonna be here too, but I made him promise not to challenge you to any duels. It'd be a shame to ruin a perfectly good movie night fighting."
Hint hint, nudge nudge. "I'll do my best not to challenge him to any duels either." He promised.
"You'd think Duelling was all they ever thought about in this household." Jounouchi grumbled good-naturedly. This earned him wide-eyed incredulous looks from both the still Number One Ranking Duellist and the Number Two Ranking Duellist's younger brother.
"It's not?!"
Yuugi found himself being pulled through the maze of the house by Mokuba, both of them laughing madly as Jounouchi chased them, mildly-cursing all the way. The blond chased them around a large room obviously meant as a comfortable living room, the three of them duck, dodging and scrambling over furniture, their laughter punctuated by the occasional yips and yells until they collapsed in a snickering heap on the sofa.
He glanced up in time to see the elder Kaiba standing in the doorway with a dispassionate eye. "Yo, Kaiba-kun!" He waved.
Kaiba inclined his head and walked away.
"Don't take it personally." Mokuba suggested from his sprawled position, pinning Jounouchi's legs to the sofa. "He's just not used to having other people in the house."
"Oi, Mokuba." Jounouchi prodded the dark haired boy with a leg. "Is he? ...Y'know."
The younger Kaiba seemed to know immediately what the blond was saying. "He should be fine."
"Okay." Any apparent worry dissipated at Mokuba's words. Yuugi raised an eyebrow. Jounouchi? Worrying about Kaiba? When did this happened?
Of course, he supposed that having lived under the same roof as him for the past several months might have had something to do with it. And Jounouchi had yet to show up at the game shop cursing and sputtering like he used to after an encounter with Kaiba, so that was a positive sign.
Yuugi grinned. It was always nice to see his friends get along.
"So, food first or movie first or just grab snacks to watch during movie?" Jounouchi was practically crackling with glee, nearly pushing the two smaller people off the sofa onto the floor.
"Food!" Mokuba cheered, hopping off. "We can bring it up here and watch the movie!"
Jounouchi just grinned, glancing over with a slightly apologetic shrug. "What can I say? Kid after my own heart."
"You've trained him well, Jounouchi-kun."
"Hey!"
+
Several hours later, the spiky haired boy glanced down at his best friend, who was sprawled out over two of the three futons they had put on the floor and snoring. Mokuba wasn't much better, using Jounouchi's rising and falling chest as a pillow, snoring in counter point to the blond.
Yuugi smiled serenely at his friends. They had worn each other out, watching the movies, munching on popcorn and junk food, wrestling like kids and chattering away at each other. He should really be asleep with them as well, he'd been just as bad as the two of them, but he wanted to enjoy the peaceful moment a while longer.
Jounouchi seemed happy here. Yuugi was both relived and uneasy. Jounouchi and Mokuba got along well, but he had a few unanswered questions. Most of them dealing with the taller man standing in the doorway watching them.
He slipped out from under Jounouchi's sprawled arm and quietly padded over to Kaiba. Once again, he wished he were just a little bit taller. It was hard to feel intimidating when you barely came up to someone's chest. They stood in silence for several minutes, watching the sleepers, before Kaiba finally acknowledged him.
"Yuugi."
"Kaiba-kun."
Yuugi sparkled at the stoic businessman. "It's nice to see my friends finally getting along."
Kaiba grunted.
Yuugi smiled wider. "And I just wanted to let you know that while I may not have a puzzle any longer, I do have a shovel." He said sweetly. "And a tomb robber that owes me a favour or two."
Actually, it was more like he owed Bakura a favour or two, but Ryou would probably be more than happy to help out...
And if he didn't, Malik knew the -best- places to hide a body.
An eyebrow lifted, Kaiba turning the full force of his attention at him. "Is that a threat?" The words were a low hiss, a menacing rumble from a not-quite slumbering dragon.
"No. Just letting you know." He smiled cheerfully. "Jounouchi-kun is my best friend. I don't like to see him hurt."
He liked to get see his friends get along. However, that did not mean he was going to stand by and do nothing if his friends were hurting each other. And Jounouchi was far less likely to hurt Kaiba then Kaiba was to hurt Jounouchi. Although, granted, Kaiba was more likely to do it without realizing it.
"I have no interest in playing with the puppy." Kaiba said disdainfully, returning his attention towards the slumbering boys again. "He's Mokuba's concern, not mine."
Yuugi nodded. And that would be why Jounouchi talked about the older Kaiba as often as he did Mokuba. And why Kaiba was staring as much at Jounouchi as he was his brother....
Well, he supposed some things never changed. Kaiba was, and probably always would be stubborn, especially when it came to letting people in close around him. It was just one of those things that made him Kaiba.
Just as Jounouchi was stubborn when it came to the people he cared about.
It would be interesting to see who would win the clash of the thick skulls.
"Just as long as we both know where the other stands." He smiled genteelly and patted Kaiba on the arm. "Good night, Kaiba-kun. Sleep well."
Kaiba grunted in response. Yuugi merely bowed his head and and returned to the futons, curling up next to Jounouchi again.
He was aware of the taller boy's presence lurking in the doorway for a while.
+
Yuugi woke up again a few hours before dawn, glancing around the unfamiliar surroundings. To his surprise, he counted three heads beside his own on the futons instead of two.
Jounouchi was next to him, snoring away softly. On the far end he could make out Mokuba's wild locks.
And Kaiba slept peacefully nestled in between the two of them, Mokuba now partly sprawled across his brother instead of his keeper. Jounouchi hadn't seemed to have noticed, one of his arms draped across Kaiba where it had earlier been around Mokuba.
He hid a grin, silently wishing his other self could see this, their fearsome rival looking not quite so fierce, in a peaceful way.
One thing his other self had taught him was that there was an art to sharing a bed with other people. It had been awkward, the first several times his other self had slept outside of the puzzle, for one reason or another. Didn't matter that they were two parts of a whole, or that they were similar sizes, it was just... odd, to be asleep and roll over and find someone there. Limbs didn't match up, waking up with hair, non-corporal or not, in your face and mouth.
Not to mention buckles getting tangled up...
But after a while, they just kind of figured it out. Yuugi always slept better with his other self nearby, feeling safe, protected.
He'd fallen out of the habit in recent years, his other self having passed on, but none of his current bed companions apparently had any of that awkwardness.
Almost made him wonder. Maybe they were getting along better then either was saying.
A yawn blind-sided him and he lay back down, snuggled contentedly next to his larger friend's side. It was nice, almost like when his other self had been there....
+
When Yuugi woke up again, long after the sun had risen, it was just the three of them again, Yuugi tucked up against one of Jounouchi's sides, Mokuba against his other, pinning the blankets covering Jounouchi down.
Perhaps he had just dreamed that Kaiba had slept with them last night.
Then again, perhaps he wasn't.
He smiled, sleepily betting on the latter. Especially when Mokuba stirred and whispered his brother's name.
On the other hand, perhaps it wasn't any of his business. But it would certainly be interesting to see what came of this.
+++
+++
Wake up.
Climb out of Kaiba's bed.
Put Mokuba back in his bed.
Go back to sleep. In own bed.
Wake up.
Glare at smirking bastard Kaiba.
Go to spar.
Hand Kaiba his ass.
Get ass handed back several times.
Take shower.
Get dressed.
Wake up Mokuba.
Eat breakfast.
Finally wake up. Coffee good.
Notice something odd in reflection of coffee pot.
"WHERE THE HELL DID THAT COME FROM?!"
"Language, Jounouchi-kun." Mokuba scolded from over his bowl of Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs.
"Yeah... but... but... " Jounouchi gestured empathically towards his reflection, then reversed the motion and tugged at the leather collar around his neck.
The one with the initials 'KC' hanging from the front like tags on a dog's collar. It certainly hadn't been on him when he went to sleep last night...
"Oh. Cool!" Mokuba grinned. "I see you got your communicator!"
"Communicator?" What did that have to do with dog collars?!
"Yeah." Mokuba turned the collar of his school uniform to once side, to show off the 'KC' pin displayed there. "Niisama and I use them to communicate, usually while hosting a duel. Is easier than a phone, cause all you have to do is press it once to start talking, so it's hands free, which is nice when we're looking for trouble. It's pretty much for emergency use only. Since you got one, think this means that Niisama finally accepts you as my guard."
Oh.
Well, that still didn't explain how the dog collar got there...
Note to self: Get more sleep. Obviously messing with awareness levels.
"Couldn't I have gotten something round? Something that screams less 'Property of Kaiba Corp'?"
+++
+++
*falls over laughing*
no subject
not insufficient bulge pressing against
I think you mean 'insignificant;.
Get ass handed to several times.
There's something off about this -- 'get ass handed back several times'?
ooops
Thanks! This is what I get for using other people's spell checkers... M'used to mine. #^^#
Spellings corrected! Thank you greatly!!!
Re: ooops
*tackleglomps you*
I absolutely loved to read this; to find that *you*, of all people, wrote a YuGiOh-fic (and even one starring the Kaiba-brothers and Jounouchi) was quite a surprise, in the good sense of the word. The division of power between Mokuba, Kaiba and Jou (well, inasfar as he has any) seemed to fit their characters perfectly and - *blathers on for a while, without much coherency*
May I ask if you're also going to post this at ff.net?
Mind you, s'the only thing I remember after having read the whole thing...
Think there should be a 'know' in there.
Otherwise.... xD *fangirl squee/worshipping* I LOVE this! *adores Kaiba, Mokuba and Jounouchi interaction* It's so IC and believable and omg!!! <333333
Am sad you removed Yami Yuugi from this version though, but I guess that's alright. ;_; He's gone in the anime, isn't he? *saaaaaad*
no subject
(Anonymous) 2005-01-22 02:35 pm (UTC)(link)Just a few things I wanted to point out:
If Yuugi's "other self had passed on to the other world", then there's no need for Jonouchi to "assure both of the smaller boy's sides."
"He wouldn't be the slightest bit amazed if Mokuba ended up taller than he brother in a few years." Shouldn't it be "his brother"?
Diana
no subject
no subject
(Anonymous) 2005-01-29 01:45 am (UTC)(link)*goes to find more Jou/Kiaba fics writen by you guys*
-creaturesmint (from ff.net.. ^_~) XD
I loved the sandwhich
.
no subject
(Anonymous) 2005-01-29 01:52 am (UTC)(link)I loved the sandwhich!! XD XD Both the sleeping sandwhich (and thank you, my question I asked in the fic I commented on first was answered... XD XD), and the sandwhich Jou made Kiaba eat!! XD XD I laughed so hard both times, when he stuffed it down his throught, along with Mokuba (XD XD) and when Kiaba ate it! (After he was SURE no one was watching, and always remember, that NO ONE bosses a Kiaba around!! XDXD (Riiight.... XD XD)) XD XD Utterly adorible!!XDXD
And I also for got (or rather just remembered), the part where Jou saves Mokuba and gets sat upon by Kiaba, and Kiaba's anti gravity field, and everything!!! XD XD XD There are just too many wonderful things in the fic to mention them all, so I apoligise for not doing so! :( But, _I LOVED IT!!!_ XD XD XD XDXD
Anyway, sorry for ranting, and for any problems you might have understanding me, but I love this!! XD Rock on!! XD XD
-creaturesmint (from ff.net) XD
no subject
Er, sorry... will go back and clear that up a bit.
A running joke in the back of our head (which will be come more prevailant as soon as we get this next part done) is Mokuba is having fun dressing Jounouchi up. He's looking for a *cough* certian reaction. ^______________^
Whoo!
(Anonymous) 2005-04-18 10:24 pm (UTC)(link)I heart you for that reference. <3
no subject
(Anonymous) 2009-10-18 12:15 am (UTC)(link)