Warning, this chapter contains abuse and swearing
He gasped again as he was punched once more in the gut, blood flooded his mouth. The two men holding him both of his arms shoved him to the ground. They stepped aside to let at their boss look down at him with a sleazy smirk. The boss had combed back slick hair and dark sunglasses covering his eyes. He pulled out a red handkerchief from his white's suit pocket and wiped away the blood from the injured boy's bleeding lip. The man stood back up and threw the handkerchief at the boy.
"Now you understand we are serious about payment, kid. After all you had the money to pay the debt your old man created but, you threw it all away. If you miss a payment again Jonouchi Katsuya then we will just have to take it out on your sister" the sleazy man said
The boy lowered his head letting his now dirty blonde hair cover his eyes. He didn't say a word, even if he could no amount of pleading would make Bosu Don Yoku change his mind. Yoku chuckled, Jou knew his threat was real and he would get the money one way or another. He left leaving the injured teen in the alley way. Jonouchi slowly stood onto his feet, he whimpered as his whole body cried out in pain. He limped back to his so-called home. Thank gods, his shitty excuse for his father was passed out drunk on the couch. The last thing he needed was for him to be yelling at him for more money to gamble or drink away… He couldn't stand to look at him now, it was because of him Jou was stuck in this situation
It had only been a couple since the Duelist Kingdom tournament, his sister Shizuka was going to get the eye surgery she desperately needed. But Bosu Don Yoku had caught word of Jou having the money to pay off his father's gambling debt. So Jou had the shit beaten out of him to be taught of lesson on paying the loan. The blonde sighed heavily and went to the bathroom to wash the blood and dirt off him. He stepped into the shower and turned the water to freezing cold. The water stung his wounds but at this point, he was numb. He had to get the debt paid off for Shizuka sake, he could care less if he got hurt. But…if his sister got hurt because of him, he would never be able to forgive himself.
Jou was so far in his thoughts that he didn't realize his body was shivering. He shut off the water and dried himself off, for now there was not much he could do. His body hurt and he couldn't think of anything that could get him out what he needed sleep. That night it did not come to the teen that had suffered so much. He spent his restless night between worrying for his sister and figuring out a way to pay back the debt. It was when he was between his half asleep and half-awake state, he came up with an amazing idea. He could get a loan, a bank would sure give him the money. He had worked several jobs so paying the money back wouldn't be a problem. Plus, they wouldn't kick his ass if missed a payment, this plan was fool proof.
That following morning Jou put on his best clothes, which was a collared button up long sleeve with his nicest pair of jeans. He didn't look too fancy but, hey looks weren't everything right. He fixed his hair and took a deep breath and started heading out. Suddenly his father threw a half empty bottle at him. He gasped as some of the liquor had gotten onto his clothes.
"Where are, you going ya fucker" his father yelled at him
"I'm heading out" Jou said quietly
"Before you do leave some money, bills aren't cheap because of your sorry ass" he grumbled
"I have no money" Jou said
The teen immediately regretted saying that, the drunk father got up and sent his fist into Jou's face. The teen winced as he was knocked down to the floor. His father sent some hard kicks into his stomach, this added more to the injuries he suffered from yesterday. He felt some blood fill his mouth, then his father spit on his face
"Ungrateful little shit" he growled
He went for Jou's wallet then back to his couch and resumed his drinking. Jou winced as slowly got up and left the apartment, the joke was on his father. Whatever money he had on him Bosu Don Yoku took, leaving him pennyless. He needed to leave quickly before his father figured that out. He did his best to dust himself off and make himself look presentable. But the liquor made him wreck like the closing time of a bar. Right now he probably looked like he had lost a fight, technically he did but still...he needed to convince the bank to give him a loan. If he walked in like this...No he can't think like this, he would get that loan and he could go back to having somewhat of a normal life. The teen walked to the bank, it was raining very lightly so that helped with the liquor smell. As he approached the bank he did a last check to make himself look presentable. He took in a deep breath and entered the bank with a smile on his face.
The rain poured down heavily, it didn't even bother Jou. No at this point nothing could phase the teen. Those words, that's all that stayed in his mind. "From your background, you cannot be approved from a loan of this number...You are a hard working teen, you will make the money in no time...Try appealing for a loan when you build some credit". They didn't even try to help Jou, even when he begged and pleaded with them saying he would pay back the money with the interest. But they didn't hear any of it and had been escorted out by security. Now Jou had no plan...no idea on what to do...he felt hopeless
A car's tires screeched against the roads as bright head lights nearly blinded Jou. The teen didn't react, if he could die right now he would gladly accept death. He had nothing to live for. With him dead Yoku couldn't get his money from his dad and they couldn't get out of his sister. Everything would work out from his death. But even then, death did not come so easily for him. The driver of the car braked just on time, the bumper of the car had tapped Jou's legs. The teen winced a bit, the driver of the car got of the car and started cursing Jou with every word known to man.
"You stupid fucking kid, get out of the god damn road" the driver yelled at him
Jou looked at him with dead eyes, why didn't he just run over him if he needed to be somewhere. Then the passenger of the car got out, this sent Jou's blood boiling. Standing there with a smug look on his face was Seto Kaiba, the very last person he wanted to see.
"If you are so desperate to die then go to the pound. They put down mutts like you every day." Kaiba insulated
"Why don't you tell your driver to watch where he is going" Jou yelled
The teen angry kicked the car, his eyes widen as he felt something snap. in a split second, he went down and whimpered in pain. His foot was in agony and he was showing his weakest in front of Kaiba. He forced his tears down, he didn't want to show himself any lower than he already was. Kaiba approached the whimpering teen, Jou looked up glaring at him. Even in pain he still tried to act tough.
"Move it dog" Kaiba said
"Give me a second money bag" he yelled out
Jou slowly stood up and put pressure on his injured foot, wrong idea as it sent him back down. The blue eyed teen sighed annoyed he grabbed Jou by the arm and pulled him into his car. Jou struggled and sent his fist into the C.E.O's face. Kaiba caught it and put it above Jou's head, Kaiba loomed over Jou as he was pinned underneath him, cold blue eyes glared into burning brown eyes.
"If you want to walk to the hospital in this down poor keep acting up. If you want to get a ride there then behave like a good dog" he said
"I ain't a dog, money bags" Jou growled
"Then get out and go to the hospital yourself" Kaiba chuckled
Jou would have gotten out and tried punch that smug bastard one more time. But his foot really did hurt and walking in the rain wasn't really a good choice. Jou slowly nodded his head. Kaiba smirked and got off him, he instructed his driver to head to the hospital, Jou looked out the window as they move, he sighed heavily then slowly looked at Kaiba. He was sitting there with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. He still didn't forgive Kaiba for cheating in his duel against his buddy. Threatening Yugi he would jump off a ledge if his life points went to zero...But he had to do this so he could rescue his little brother Mokuba...Jou would have probably done the same thing if he sister was in that kind of situation.
"How long are you going to keep scaring at me, mutt" Kaiba said
He turned to look at Jou with that same arrogant smug look on his face, it just made Jou's blood boil even more. God he so wanted to send a sucker punch into his face. Kaiba rolled his eyes and looked ahead of him, Jou sighed once more. He was really going out of his way to help Jou, the least he could do was be appreciative to him
"How is Mokuba?" Jou asked him, trying to break the ice
"He is fine" he said
"Oh alright... just checking" Jou said
The two sat in silence for the rest of the ride, the driver pulled up the hospital and opened the door for them. Jou limped inside with Kaiba walking behind him. A couple hours passed and Jou's foot was wrapped up in cast, the doctors told Jou he had non displace fracture in his foot. The bones weren't broken but they were still in place. The teen was also prescribe some pain killers and told be keep off of his feet for the next couple of days. What was odd was Kaiba stayed with him the whole entire time. Even when Jou told him that he would be ok, Kaiba still stayed with him for some odd reason. The doctor handed Jou some crutches and adjusted them to his height.
"Thanks a lot doc" Jou said
"It wasn't a problem Mr. Katsuya. Now after you are done here you can visit the billing office to pay for you visit" the doctor said
"Oh um... ok" Jou said dully
The doctor walked off leaving the teen to think of what to do, he couldn't pay the bill for the visit. Running was an option but, with the way his foot was he wouldn't be able to run too far. He was left in yet another stuck in a rock and a hard place, why did his bad luck have to get worse. First Yoku, then the bank, and now this.
"You can't pay the bill, can you mutt" Kaiba said
"How did you guess money bags" Jou growled softly
"It's easy to tell when a dog is stuck in a corner. I could pay it for you" he said
"What's the catch?" Jou said suspiciously
"Consider it pay back for helping to rescue my brother" he explained
"Oh...thanks, it really means a lot to me" Jou said surprised yet happy
"You will probably need a ride home too huh dog" Kaiba teased
"Quit calling me dog, money bags" Jou growled
Kaiba smirked to himself, pressing the blonde's buttons was way too easy. He wrote out a check for a hospital bill then helped Jou back to his car. His driver opened the door then closed it once they got in. Jou told the driver his address, Kaiba arched his eye brow in surprise. He didn't believe the dog could live in such a bad part of the city. But it could explain why the dog was covered in bruises, even when the doctor tried to tend to them but the blonde refused. Once they arrived at the said address the driver opened the door for Jou and grabbed his crutches for him. The blonde looked at Kaiba with a small smile on his face.
"Thanks again for helping me out, it means a lot right now" he said
"It's just thanks for helping my brother. Don't expect it to often mutt" Kaiba said
"How many times do I have to do I have to tell you money bags. I ain't no dog" Jou growled
He grabbed his crutches and stormed off back into his home. Kaiba chuckled as he watched the blonde go into the building, he was very fun to tease. His driver got back into the car and looked at his boss from the rear view mirror
"Where should we go now, Mr. Kaiba?" he asked
"Just stay here a few minutes" Kaiba said
The young C.E.O caught a car coming up, now this wouldn't interest him at all expect. This car was brand new luxury car. it was odd for it to be here on this side of Domino. He watched as two muscular men get out of the car, one of them opened an umbrella and held it out for another man coming out of the car. He recognized him as the infamous loan shark Bosu Don Yoku. Kaiba sat in his car curious, he knew Jou had won some money just recently. Did he blow through it money thought quickly he needed to get a loan from Yoku.
Kaiba didn't know why but he felt for some reason to go see where Yoku was going. He told his driver to wait for him, he went inside the building and walked up the stairs. He stopped when he heard things being broken and someone yelling. He recognized that voice as Katsuya's, he went to the apartment where the yelling was coming from. Suddenly when one of the apartment's doors open, Jou was about to run out. But one of the men from earlier grabbed him and slammed him hard onto the ground. The right side of Jou's face was swollen and bleeding bad, the blonde tried to get away but Yoku stepped on his injured foot. He glared down at him with broken glasses and a busted lip. Jou couldn't fight anymore, Yoku then pressed his foot on the blonde boy's head.
"Don't go trying to run away. now. You are mine now bitch, and I am going to get my money's worth out of you" he hissed
"Oy boss, we got witness" one of the men said
Yoku looked up to see Kaiba, he tsked then got out a cigarette case, one of his body guards lit it for him. He pressed it to his lips and began to smoke it.
"You're that Kaiba guy, the one that owns the company that makes those fancy toys. What's a guy like you doing here?" Yoku asked
"I could be asking the same thing Bosu" Kaiba said
"Ah, just working on a little deal. You know business stuff" he said
"That would include beating up high school students" Kaiba question
Yoku tsked again once more then, pressed down on it harder on Jou's head. The teen hissed in pain, he didn't struggle to get back up. He was too badly beaten to fight back.
"Listen we are both business men, when something doesn't go right we go to fix it. I'm just fixing a deal I had, so this feisty bitch is just gonna work off what is owned to me" Yoku said
"I see, how much does he have to work off " he said
"Aww you got a soft spot for the bitch" Yoku chuckled
"I'm more interested in getting a dog. How much" Kaiba said again
"A hundred thousand yen" he said
"Alright" Kaiba said as he pulled out his check book
"Did I say a hundred thousand, I meant to say ten million yen" he said
Kaiba's eyes narrowed but wrote out the money then handed it to Yoku. He smirked at Kaiba then got off then injured teen, he thanked Kaiba for the check and left with his body guards. Jou weakly got back up and sat up against the wall, he looked up at Kaiba with a beaten up smile. Then an older man came out. Kaiba's nose scrunched up as the stench of alcohol, the man glared at Jou then threw his empty bottle at the teen's head. It broke into tiny pieces, making Jou bleed even more.
"You stupid little fuck up, I gave you to Yoku so you get rid of the loan. But you can't even do that you piece of shit" he yelled
The young C.E.O studied that drunken man, he had dirty blonde hair that was over grown and was a mess. He had dark brown eyes that were full of hate for the blonde teen. He wore a large t shirt stained with liquor, his jeans pants were also stained with liquor. Kaiba didn't have to think for long, he could tell this was Katsuya's father. Kaiba walked up to the man, he grabbed him by the collar of his shirt then sent a punch into his face, knocking the man out cold. Jou looked at Kaiba surprised. The blue eye man turned to Jou and picked him, out then headed back to his car.
"Why?" Jou asked
"You are saying I shouldn't have done it then?" Kaiba asked
"No, I'm grateful you did...but why did you save me from Yoku?" Jou said
"I was interested getting a pet" Kaiba said