Hello! I am ToxicTsukino! I write a variety of fanfiction here on the internet and it's been a while since I've delved into the Yu-Gi-Oh fandom. The last time I wrote anything of the sort, I was seventeen and extremely juvenile! LMAO But ten years later and I'd like to think I've grown up a little. Failsafe happens to be my childhood best friend and back in the day we were obsessed a multitude of different fandoms. We've reconnected recently and through her motivation to write a fanfic series titled, "It's Always Sunny in Domino City"...she dragged me back into YGO hell. Despite us sailing some different ships; we had one of them in common. Violetshipping/Puppyshipping. Being a cheerleader turned into me actually collaborating with Failsafe and writing something that diverted in a damn multichaptered RP/fic. SO here's basically the result of re-entering YGO hell, being a fanfic cheerleader, and sailing the same ship. In terms of Jounouchi and a couple of references-I'm obsessed with J-Fashion and pop culture. Mai and Jounouchi have really big/gaudy hair hence my idea that they'd look gyaru/gyaruo maybe and would have worked a kyabakura (host/hostess) clubs at one point or another to make big $$$ to survive. PLUS, I thought it would be an interesting way for our boys to cross paths! ;) Anyway, I hope you enjoy as much as I had fun writing it! -ToxicTsukino

I'm failsafe on AO3, and I've written for a variety of fandoms. After a strange year of not writing much at all, a childhood obsession crept up on me and dug its claws in. As ToxicTsukino explained, she and I have talked about it a lot, and it led to the creation of an AU of a fic which wasn't even finished. I hope you enjoy this and that you'll check out my other fanfic. I haven't posted RP-as-fic before, so this is a new experience for me in spite of how much I've written. Feedback is appreciated. -Fail Safe

PART I

It had been a couple days since Jounouchi had encountered Honda working at the izakaya…and well, Kaiba of all people. The first thing Jounouchi did as soon as he got home was be sick. He threw up all over the bathroom but was partially grateful that his father wasn't present to witness him projectile vomit all over the floor. After he cleaned up his self-induced mess and himself; he decided to call up his friend and give him an ear full.

"Don't EVER let me drink again," he warned.

"Where the hell did you think you were? The last person I expected to show up at my workplace was you. Plus, you were the one who wanted to take shots of sake in the first place," Honda retorted in defense. He sounded like he was outside walking somewhere…

"Why are you working there anyway? You're going to school aren't you?"

"Money doesn't grow on trees. Me being in school is not enough. Tuition is steep and you know my folks can't fork over the entire expense of it all. Even if they did….I'd feel bad. They work hard enough as is. The goal is to eventually take care of them in the future. I'm not a kid anymore, and not to hop on your ass Jou-but you're not either. We can't be playing around like we did before or life is going to eat us. You're going to have to be as much of a member of society as I am having to be," explained Honda pointedly.

"Gee thanks mom," Jounouchi muttered glumly.

"It's nice to know you got home in one piece," Honda commented with a chuckle.

"Psh! No thanks to you! I ate shit thank-you-very-much. Don't ever ask that dickhead for favors ever again. While I'm grateful for bumming a ride off of him and all; I still got my dignity handed to me...literally. Forreal, fuck that guy," said Jounouchi.

"He can't be all that bad if he had been willing to escort you home," pointed out Honda.

"Yeah? Well…hopefully that's the last of me seeing Kaiba for awhile. The last thing I need is to cross paths with him while I'm in this state..."

There was a drawn out silence on the other end of the phone. Jounouchi could hear the jingle of possibly Honda's belt chain or his house keys as he walked to where ever he was headed.

"What are you going to do?" Honda finally asked.

"I don't know yet. I got sick. That can't be helped. It was bad timing. I'll find something. Don't worry about it," answered Jounouchi.

He could almost see Honda's shitfaced grin and he said it.

"Or you could dye your hair black and finally look Japanese like the rest of us respectable adults. Then become a temp salary worker. It's good money. It's hard to be vain when you're dirt poor Jou..."

Jounouchi rolled his eyes, "First off, society can go suck my dick. If you want to be slave to the man up there then fine. You do that. I won't piss on you for it. I got different plans. I want to duel professionally and that takes standing out if I'm gonna to do that. Duel Monsters is a game for people like us. How the hell am I gonna appeal to people when I look like any other kid on the street?"

"With that street yankii aesthetic? No offense Jounouchi, but do you really think mothers will let their precious children look up to you when you look like you scrap on other people for a living? You gotta clean up your image man... If you want to play games-that's totally fine. However, you need a day job to support this endeavor. You can't just solely survive on whatever to get by while you play around," Honda lectured.

He was right in a sense. However, Jounouchi knew it would be hard to get hired just anywhere. His look would hold him back and he knew this. He didn't have cash right out the door for a new wardrobe as much as he wanted it… Another worry also lingered that the blonde just had to voice to his friend right then and there.

"So what the hell am I supposed to do? Work at a combini so I can have my hair dyed? For scrap change? Really? How the hell am I gonna get the hours off to compete?" argued Jounouchi.

"You'll figure it out. Get a night job. You can play during the days and work in the evenings. That's how I'm doing it," Honda suggested.

"Hey...Honda. Be a pal. Send in a good word for me at your place," Jounouchi coaxed.

"Pffttt! Like hell I'd do that-you fucking freeloader. You'd drink or eat your paycheck away and my boss would hate me for even getting you into the door. I'd be risking my pay or my own job for your sorry ass. Find your own gig fucker. I have faith in you. You can do it if you just try," Honda retorted jokingly with a laugh.

"You're a total pain in my ass….but hey, thanks for today. I appreciate it," answered Jounouchi with a weary smile.

"Think nothing of it. We all have bad days man.. Just don't stay down for too long okay? Otherwise the world is gonna pass on by..."

With that, Honda bid him goodbye for the night. His words rang through Jounouchi's head. Honda had a point. He couldn't be complacent. Otherwise, he would never reach his goal. He was at a loss in a sense... Who the hell would hire him?

It took a couple of days thinking on it. He roamed around the streets to get away from his father's drunken fits as he pondered. It finally hit him after day three of the ritual just who to call…

Jounouchi dialed the number into the cracked screen of his cell phone trying to recall the last time he had even pressed 'call' for this particular number.

"What a surprise! Jounouchi long time no speak," the familiar female voice answered upon the fourth ring.

"Hey Mai…. I need some advice. I thought you'd be able to help me..."

Weeks later and after a good word in from Mai...as well as some lessons from the older woman-Jounouchi was working at a host club in the red light district. At first, he had been hesitant about taking on such work. He had always mistaken the work for being some sort of gigolo. However, it wasn't that sort of work at all unless someone decided to make it be. Men merely socialized with lonely female patrons-luring them with champagne calls at the possibility of a relationship that was more than what it really was. The pay was surprisingly good. If he moved up ranks he would be able to pay for himself and his father's habits. He'd get to afford the newest duel disk that Kaiba Corporation came out with. More importantly, he'd be permitted to duel during the daylight hours before his shift at the host club.

There were cons about working this type of job. First of all, it was somewhat of a lifestyle. There was a lot of primping and upkeep involved that Jounouchi never knew was even a thing. He noticed that his blonde hair fit right in. There were many other guys with gaudy or rough appearances. They were the type of men that looked like they were ex-gangsters that hit people with metal poles and rode motorbikes. There were also guys that looked like boy idols or rock stars… The most popular or requested hosts were those sorts.

Jounouchi didn't know where exactly he fit in because he was neither. His first advance paycheck went into cleaning himself up. Mai knew exactly where to go to shop. She had worked many different night jobs before. She preferred working in casinos but occasionally would work at kyabakura herself. She enjoyed dolling up and getting to wear sparkling swallowtail dresses and making her hair super big. It was something she wasn't always permitted to do while working at the casinos.

They went to various boutiques trying on off-duty street wear and as well as suits for nights at the club. All were fitted to his body shape and he wasn't quite used to the feel of everything because he had worn ratty clothes from high school for so long. Mai lectured him on the importance of accessorizing and flashing brand names in his coordinates… It would show that Jounouchi wasn't a broke boy and that he could afford to "court" a lady even though he was off the market.

As they went to the hair salon for Jounouchi to get a trim and bleach-touch up, Mai also stressed about the importance of not dating his clients.

"As much as it's tempting, do not date your patrons Jounouchi," she said.

"Even if they're cute?" Jounouchi mocked, borderline joking about it. Heck, if they were cute-then they were cute!

"Unless you want the girl to interfere with your other girls at the club seeing you or for you to lose a client-you shouldn't. This is merely business. You need to keep them coming in regularly and drinking. I know you're a shit liar but hopefully the other guys there will give you pointers on vague flirting or how to 'nanpa'," Mai answered.

"Playing catch?" Jounouchi repeated referencing to the term nanpa.

"Your first task as a newbie will be to lure girls to your club from the street. So you better learn how to be smooth real quick," explained Mai.

Jounouchi felt the pressure hearing the warning from his friend. He was awful with women. If they were also anything like Mai, he'd have an especially hard time. He wasn't quite sure how to do that or the other thing…. 'Douhan'… Most the hosts were required to phone up some of the girls for dates outside of the club. Usually, they would consist of dinners and the like that eventually lead to them going into the club by the end of it. You got a hefty commission for these types of dates and the blonde knew he'd have to make a lasting impression in order to have one of the girls he was "courting" answer their phones.

Another thing Jounouchi was anxious about was the drinking. Mai had given him some pointers on how to pace himself but have the other girls drink instead.

"Try to snag girls who you know can handle their alcohol and have cash coming in. Don't aim for prostitutes or other hostesses unless you're desperate. If I were you, I'd even market myself outside of the regular shift and outside of the red light district. Linger in the rich parts of town. Women have money there and won't be stingy. Don't be picky with age either. This isn't romance. This is a business. Keep that in the back of your head and you'll go far," suggested Mai.

Jounouchi had to keep the last bit of her words in his head. This was purely business. If he got too distracted with working here; he'd lose sight of his goal. He didn't want to make a career out of becoming a host. Matter of fact, he didn't want the gang to know he was working as one either. If he could avoid them figuring out about this then he would be able to concentrate more-all the while be lectured by Anzu and Honda about this decision less.

Heck, it hadn't been his suggestion. It had been Mai's! She had said the hours and regulations were perfect a fit for what he needed and that if he did well he could earn a to of money. More than he had even seen in his life. Mai had recalled having friends who quit hosting or hostessing to open other clubs or other businesses with their hard earned savings once they retired from the life of being a night worker. If Jounouchi played it smart, he would either graduate from being a host and be stable or would succeed in being a duelist and be able to leave the lifestyle of being a night worker all together.

The night before his first shift at the club, he took a good look at himself in the mirror. He had a flashy burgundy suit, a satin black dress shirt half buttoned down, with a sparkling studded belt that had a dragon with ruby eyes as the belt buckle. He had black pointy snake skin boots with buckles adorning his feet-though he had to admit, those were the most uncomfortable shoes he had worn in his life compared to his worn out sneakers.

In all, Jounouchi even felt like dressed like this-he could have given that prick Seto Kaiba a run for his money. Not that it mattered or anything... He just thought he cleaned up damn well.

He had chosen his host name to be 'Kat'...a short derivative of his own given first name. It would be easier to respond to. He also found it cute that 'Kat-kun' could be used by his female patrons if they felt like it.

Many weeks later, Jounouchi-or as he was now known as "Kat"...adjusted to the life of a host club boy. It took many failed attempts at picking up girls, marketing himself outside of the red light district, and throwing up many glasses of alcohol...and jokingly being called a light weight by his patrons and fellow hosts for him to adjust.

The money was decent after his trial period was over and he was allowed to work on salary. Jounouchi was modestly rank number five at the club within a month of working there. He was a bit of threat but he knew he had the 'nice guy' thing going for him along with his ability to empathize with the girls who vented to him. He wasn't as much of a diva as the rock star looking boys, wasn't cute like the idol-y ones, or as tough as the yankii ones. He was perfect medium and women didn't mind it at all. He was personable and that's what got him requested a decent amount.

One night, the man at the front desk paled as he took the first call for the night before the club opened.

"B-Boss! It's a big one!" he announced as he placed the caller on hold.

"Eh?" the man in his mid-thirties named Sato questioned.

"A patron has bought on the entire club for the night. A businessman for his clients," the desk man continued on.

"Wow, that's a big deal. That's huge money coming in," one of the idol hosts commented.

"Time to snag some regulars," a yankii man said with a grin.

Jounouchi, even a month and a half in, was still having a hard time at remember fake names. The other hosts conversed with each other as Sato took the call. His smile grew wider and he continued to chat with whomever it was on the other end of the phone.

"Thank you so much for your patronage. We will be seeing your guests soon," he said as he ended the call, "Boys, gather around."

Mostly everyone was already sitting at one of the large booths as the boss swaggered over looking as if he had won the lottery.

"We are being bought out for the night. I want each and every one of you to give the utmost quality service to our patrons for the night. They come from a very important businessman's meeting. A gift from him to the ladies of the neighboring company. The CEO he has worked with someone who happens to be someone who has has a liking for good looking lads! You know the routine. Move them into the direction of the high priced bottles. I'll even add some incentive to this-anyone who gets the most champagne calls or gets the most expensive bottle off of the shelf at the end of the night gets double the pay they usually make for the night. The person with the least scrubs the bathrooms. Don't be the let it be you who ends up being that guy," Sato announced.

Jounouchi was merely grateful he did not have to pay catch outside that night. He would have the ladies coming to him for a change rather than hoping he would be requested so he wouldn't be out hoping to get a patron invested.

An hour later him and all of the hosts were lined up ready to greet their guests for the rest of the very long night of ahead of them. In walked a group of chattering women. Most of them looked middle aged. They most likely had husbands or children at the house waiting for them. Some of the women were younger-possibly a little older than him, however Jounouchi knew not to aim for them. They were most likely secretaries or assistants. They wouldn't have steady income to be returning customers the way established women would be.

However, the next two people who walked into the room made Jounouchi pale. The woman who entered wasn't the huge deal at all to him. She looked like she dressed much too young for her age and maybe stole some brand name Gucci from her daughter's closet to come to the club tonight. It was the person beside her that scared the living shit out of the blonde haired host.

Beside her was no other than Seto Kaiba himself, looking bored as ever-as if he had been dragged there instead of willingly ready to come.

'What the hell is he doing here?' Jounouchi thought in panic. The first thing he thought of was being ratted out to his friend-circle through Kaiba...or worse-be blackmailed. However, at this moment it occurred to him that the last time he and the CEO had met, Kaiba had threatened to kick his ass if he ever caught Jounouchi drinking again.

He did not fancy having another fist lodged up his gut tonight…

Of course Kaiba would be exempt from the 'no men allowed in the club rule'! Money spoke and it was Kaiba's own money who had bought out the club.

"Kaiba-san, Yoshida-san-welcome to our humble establishment. Any of you ladies may feel free to a host of your choosing to entertain you tonight," Sato greeted.

Seto gave the bare minimum of a polite nod to the patron of the host club. The point of this exercise had been to impress Ms. Yoshida into investing her app-building infrastructure into Kaiba Corp. Of course, this would require her allowing him to hold considerable stock in her company, and she had so many young female employees that he had made a certain guess - a decision - about a type of courtship of her company that might be likely to gain bottom-up support. That didn't change that the oily, perfumed scent of the place sat any better with him. He couldn't help the slight crinkle of his nose for a moment as he adjusted, playing it off as a sniffle caused by, perhaps, an allergy. He was allergic to something, alright.

"Ms. Yoshida," he said politely, and he watched her eyes come up to his, "would you like to find somewhere... reasonably quiet to consider out conversation?" he asked.

The woman smiled at him in a way that made him feel like she might be concealing needlepoint fangs behind her painted lips. She frightened him like a fairytale grandmother in that moment, but he didn't let it show for an instant. She reached up and touched his arm above his elbow - weird electricity.

"Of course," she said, but there was something he hadn't intended behind it.

He still tried not to jump to a conclusion that would lose him what he wanted, what he needed out of this deal. He cleared his throat and forced a smile that to someone who knew him well might have been obviously fake, but so far it had served him reasonably well when he'd needed to pull one out of the bag.

"I thought..." he started to say, trying to assert some confidence back into his voice, but she had decided to take the lead. In the business world, especially at his age, he had learned when he had to - at the very least - play along with that, but he wondered if he had miscalculated and given entirely the wrong signal to this woman about just the kind of deal they were making.

"You should relax, young man," Ms. Yoshida advised him. She was the one who led him in a particular direction beneath warm-glowing lights and to a place to be seated. "You should enjoy yourself since you went to all this trouble..." she suggested, her tone still leading in a strange way that made Seto narrow his gaze a little.

Jounouchi found that all of his other fellow hosts had quickly made dibs for other women and lead them to other surrounding booths. The blonde was stuck standing there like a dumb sitting duck not knowing what the in hell to do... It looked like he was...trapped with Kaiba and whoever Yoshida-san was. He didn't know whether to intrude or not because they might be in the middle of a business deal. Jounouchi felt like too much of a newbie at the club to intercept on one of the other host's group of giggling patrons at the other tables. What to do... Here he was trying to avoid Kaiba at all costs and now he was stuck with entertaining only him or scrubbing toilets at the end of the night.

Those bastards! They were all trying to steer clear of that guy and knew to grab at the other girls fast and pull them away. Jounouchi hated to admit it but Kaiba was rich, powerful, and...good looking. It would be hard to compete with that guy at your table no matter how smooth of a host boy you were. Jounouchi also wasn't fond of entertaining older women who typically tended to paw at young men like him... They were always trying to sneak their hands or his where they didn't fucking belong. It was disgusting. He didn't want their acrylic claws near his dick or their aged bacon strips...

Seto didn't really know how this worked. He had been to bars, and he had been on business meetings that included a healthy amount of discussion or banter which felt almost like a date. There had been some he wouldn't have minded seeing again but had never really cared enough to get around to once the moment had passed. But there was something he had done wrong here. He knew it, because his heart was beating just a little faster than its usual clip and it wasn't a good feeling.

He cleared his throat. "So, we were talking about the API that might be useful for-" he started to say, but then she laughed at him again.

"If you want to be business partners, isn't the point to get to know each other?" she asked. "Come on," she said. She looked to her side and over at some of her younger employees and the way they were having a good time. "What made you decide to do this for them?" she asked, admiring and perplexed.

Suddenly, he felt like she was a little less hot on his trail like some kind of actual predatory creature, but he still felt uneasy. "I just wanted to make it clear that I was willing to meet you halfway with your vision for your company," he said, honest to the point of feeling almost bumbling because he was just trying to get it out. "I'll... go see if I can find us something to drink," he said. Something that wouldn't get either of them too intoxicated but something to take the edge off. Maybe he had misread the situation again. As he stood up, ready to figure out how all of this worked as opposed to a regular bar, he almost ran into one of the things he was least prepared to deal with.

The second he recognized Jounouchi, he felt some adrenaline course back into his blood, not quite killing the underlying tremor of nerves but giving it somewhere to go. They weren't quite far enough away from the booth to be out of earshot, so he seized Jounouchi by both his arms just above his elbows and pushed him back, as discreetly as he could, to somewhere he could demand explanation as soon as possible. When they were still again, he looked him up and down skeptically. He recognized him, but Jounouchi's new garb and lack of upper-lip stubble was weird.

Jounouchi paled as his eyes locked with Kaiba's blue hues. The taller male yanked him by the arm and dragged him over to the hallway where the bathroom was without any sort of explanation. He wanted to pull his arm away but knew it would be rude considering his occupation currently.

"What hell?" he began as he was shoved back into the wall, "Do I know you?"

He smirked teasingly knowing it was a shit banter acting like he didn't know Kaiba but it could be a fun one. Kaiba looked out of his element in a place like this, no matter how hard he was trying keep his cool. Suddenly, Jounouchi felt less nervous despite being pinned to a wall by the livid CEO.

"No," Seto warned. "You don't. Not here," he said. "But what are you doing here?" he asked in a very low tone of voice.

"I work here. It's a pretty good gig and it pays well. You were the last person I would never think to see pass through these doors so call me shocked," answered Jounouchi, "If you really wanna keep interrogating me you're going to have to do it later when I'm off the clock."

"You work here. In a place that serves booze as its primary source of profit? Or are you the primary source of profit..." Seto replied, cool and accusing at once.