Knock You Down

Prequel to Path of Most Resistance: How did they get to this point? They didn't even like each other before, and now they were spending evenings together with Mokuba, like some dysfunctional family… Post-DSOD, violetshipping kaijou fluff

Inspired by a song from way back. It's a very hetero song, but the sentiment is applicable. This is a prequel to a story I have already written called The Path of Most Resistance. If you wanna check it out, please do!

Chapter 1: Status Quo

Kaiba Seto had rarely done it, but when Jonouchi Katsuya said that he'd always be second best, he lost it. It was true that Kaiba could never regain his title as top duelist from Mutou Yugi, but why so soon to point it out? It had only been a year since graduation, since the pharaoh. On the eve of a tournament, highly publicized with high profile duelists like Jonouchi, Kaiba kicked the blond out of the tournament. He didn't care what Jonouchi's sponsors would say to him. He just wanted Jonouchi out of his face and licking his wounds.

So maybe he had gone further with it, calling Jonouchi a hack, but people knew that this was the typical way of Kaiba Seto. But the disappointed eyes of his younger brother Mokuba were not what he wanted to see at the moment.

"This is just petty, Seto," Mokuba said, sitting cross-legged in the car next to Kaiba. They were on their way to the tournament. Kaiba would not be competing.

It was as if Mokuba didn't know him. Kaiba could afford to be petty, though he hadn't anticipated Jonouchi's fanbase to be so large and vocal.

Kaiba didn't look up from his phone. He continued scrolling through emails, answering them. He said, "Put your seatbelt on, Mokuba."

He heard a click.

"Jonouchi needs to learn to watch his mouth. There are consequences to pissing people off."

"Sounds like someone I know," Mokuba said.

Kaiba paused mid-scroll and tossed a glance at Mokuba. He decided that he wouldn't dignify it with an answer.

The car slowed to a stop, and after a moment, the car door opened for the brothers. They stepped out and walked down the pathway to the arena. Kaiba kept up his pace, aware of Mokuba's growth spurt. He was now up to Kaiba's shoulder and could keep up with his long strides. More than he was able to just a year ago. They entered the building to see Jonouchi with registration arguing his heart out.

"This is ridiculous. He can't just kick me out."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Jonouchi, but I've been told that your name has been removed from the list," said the man at the desk.

Kaiba smirked to himself.

"It's not funny, Seto."

"I wasn't laughing."

Jonouchi sighed dramatically and messed up his hair, turning to see Kaiba and Mokuba. His eyes instantly narrowed at Kaiba. Good. He knew. And just like the mongrel he was, just like Kaiba expected, Jonouchi marched over and jabbed his finger into Kaiba's chest. Kaiba dropped his smirk and gave Jonouchi a deadly look.

"What's wrong, deadbeat? You can't participate in the tournament?"

"Shove it, asshole. Didn't realize you were so damn petty. Is your ego that fragile?"

Kaiba snorted. "Last I checked, dogs can't play card games anyway. I did you a favor. Seeing you duel would've been a joke."

Anger flashed in Jonouchi's eyes. The look, and others similar to it, was something that Kaiba always enjoyed getting from him. Knowing that someone felt so affected by his actions was gratifying. Kaiba smirked again.

"Why you-" Jonouchi lunged at Kaiba, but Yugi wedged himself between them.

"Jonouchi, it's not worth it."

Honda appeared behind the two and grabbed the back of Jonouchi's jacket collar. He said, "You're not helping yourself this way, Jou."

The words had some sort of calming effect on the blond. But that just wouldn't do. Kaiba said, "Yes, mongrel. Listen to your masters. You don't want to be sent to the pound, do you?"

The three men gave Kaiba a glare.

"Look, Kaiba. I know you like getting your rocks off tormenting Jonouchi, but this is humiliating," Honda said. "People expect him to attend this tournament."

Kaiba tensed. He didn't appreciate the comment. The mutt wasn't important enough to give that kind of energy to. His ears burned a little as he said, "And I expect respect from all duelists attending these tournaments. Jonouchi was Jonouchi. And he got kicked out of the tournament. Surprise."

"Kaiba," Yugi, who had grown a few more inches, said. "Is there anyway you'd reconsider?"

"And why would I want to do that?"

"I think what Seto is trying to say is that, at this point, it's a bit too late for another change. I'm sorry, Jonouchi, but you just have to sit this one out."

Kaiba could feel Mokuba's eyes on him.

"Unless my brother thinks he can make something work…"

"Nothing I can do anymore," Kaiba said. He started down the grand hall to the arena.

"Well, then if he can't compete, he , Honda, and Yugi can watch with us," Mokuba said. "Sound good, guys? We have the best seats in the house."

Kaiba twisted around and shot Mokuba a look. "I'm sure they have their own seats."

"It's okay, Mokuba. Wouldn't want to breathe your brother's air," Jonouchi said. "Let's go, guys."

Yugi sighed, shaking his head at Kaiba. Honda and Jonouchi had walked off. "I don't know what you have against Jonouchi, but it's go to stop. We both know he's a talented and strong duelist and knocking him out of tournaments because he says something you don't like is ridiculous."

"He'll get over it. There are other tournaments."

"Sure. But I was hoping that you could move beyond rivalry like you did with me."

"There is no rivalry between me and Jonouchi." Kaiba rolled his eyes at Yugi. "And as far as I'm concerned, you are a consultant to my company and nothing more. We're not friends. Our only relationship is a business relationship, nothing more."

"That's fine. Just give Jonouchi some slack." Yugi turned away and walked off.

"Come on, Mokuba." Kaiba turned and walked in the opposite direction of the three men.

'Give Jonouchi some slack'. That was a ridiculous notion. If anything, Kaiba was thrilled by the idea of Jonouchi sitting on the sidelines of a tournament that he probably would have won. He liked thinking of the blond fuming and having the competition rubbed in his face while other duelists and fans sat watching him at the sidelines. His absence in the duels would be obvious. Jonouchi was, after all, in much of the advertisements, and to not even be in the tournament itself...Some fans would be disappointed, but in the dueling circuit, Jonouchi would be the laughing stock.

The unfortunate thing was that the tournament was a complete bore without the blond duelist. Neither Kaiba nor Yugi had signed up, and there were other veteran duelists who were unable to make it. The tournament had become amateur hour. He probably did Jonouchi a favor, though he did deny him the chance at the prize money and a potential sponsorship, though the hot head already had a contract. Like he told Yugi though, there were other tournaments. Probably ones that were more challenging for Jonouchi.

Next to Kaiba, in their private viewing area, Mokuba shifted and sighed. Since turning sixteen, the kid had become more vocal about his distaste with how Kaiba treated other people. He had also pushed to become more active in the expansion of Kaiba Corp. much to Kaiba's concern; he needed to focus on school and then a university. Kaiba loved the idea that Mokuba had an increased interest in the business, in potentially remaining by his side, but the reality was that Mokuba needed his own path, not the path that his older brother had made for the both of them.

"Seto, I don't understand why you can't be nice to Jonouchi. What has he done wrong?"

"He's an idiot. Need I say more?"

"If he were an idiot, he wouldn't be doing so well in tournaments. What else?"

Mokuba had a point. The game required some ability with thinking through strategy and analysis, but it was hard to give Jonouchi too much credit since he still used that ridiculous gamble deck. Kaiba racked his brain for something else, but he couldn't think of anything. If anything, as Mokuba was hinting at, he should be some sort of friend to the blond. After all, he had shown himself to be a true duelist, and he had helped Mokuba numerous times. Kaiba should have felt indebted to Jonouchi, but that would be admitting that to some extent he liked the mutt and there was no way he was going to do that.

"Nothing? So it's just an irrational dislike."

"Nothing I do is irrational."

"Then prove it. Prove that there is something about Jonouchi that is so reprehensible that you have to treat him like dirt," Mokuba snapped. He looked at Kaiba earnestly. "I bet that you won't be able to find anything that validates your behavior."

Kaiba huffed. He had nothing to prove. His dislike for the mutt was valid, though at the moment he couldn't think of a reason that would pass Mokuba's inquiry.

"Look, we have a dinner with Yugi in a few days. Let's invite Jonouchi, and then you can show me how awful he is."

"Mokuba, that's supposed to be a business meeting."

"Jonouchi has been using our new duel disk in tournaments. I bet he has feedback."

"I doubt it would be useful…"

"We can be the judge of that when we hear it," Mokuba said. He already had his phone out, clearly texting Yugi.

Mokuba could be a real brat sometimes, but, then again, he knew how to get what he wanted, a quality that was valuable.

"I'm also saying that we're paying for dinner, since we owe Jonouchi."

Kaiba glowered. He was not looking to make an investment in some loser.

"And…" Mokuba's phone pinged. "Both of them are coming."

Kaiba cursed how meddlesome Mokuba and Yugi were. Couldn't they just allow them to maintain the status quo? There was absolutely no way, absolutely no way that he and Jonouchi would climb over this obstacle. There was just no way.

This was short, but I wanted to take this a little slow. There are a lot of changes (hopefully positive) going on right now in my life, and I don't want to burn out. Let me know what you think! As always, review if you'd like. And don't forget to read The Path of Most Resistance if you haven't!

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