Jounouchi Katsuya walked down the public sidewalk, mulling over the situation in his head. The heat of the early-summer sun was just starting to warm up the city.
'Well, at least I'll get to keep whateva' I earn.' The optimistic blonde reminded himself.
It would certainly be a big change from all the jobs in the past.
Jounouchi's father had gone missing several weeks ago. It wasn't that surprising, given the countless loan sharks and bookies he'd been dodging. In fact, all of Jou's previous 'jobs' (usually off-the-books affairs) had been set up so they could keep their miserable rat-hole of an apartment. But when the old man ran up even more debt than those jobs could ever pay, the poor excuse of a father abandoned his son and fled to avoid the bloodthirsty collectors.
Honda had stayed over the first few nights, in case any of the debtors tried to get something out of Jou. But thankfully there had been no sign of them.
It was strange, finally having a place to himself. Every one of his friends reassured him that it was for the best, but Ryou and Yugi knew from experience that Jou was still upset- absentee fathers were kind of their forte. He and Yugi had some long walks together, some of which ended in tearful hugs.
On the bright side, however; with his father legally declared truant, Jou's mother was required to send him child support. The hateful woman refused to have 'that man's son' living under her roof, and Jou didn't protest. Now he was in his own apartment- it was smaller, yes; but closer to school, and immeasurably cleaner.
Not to mention it was much safer.
But another job wouldn't hurt. He could save up some cash for community college, or maybe even a car. Jou had never been much for cars, but then Mr. Kubo had offered him a job doing random errands around his auto shop. The teen soon became hooked, and he spent as much time after school there as he could. Now that the summer break had begun, he was going to have to balance this new day job as well as his evening shifts at the shop.
All too soon, the impressive and intimidating spire that towered above Domino was in sight. Jou was still trying not to panic as he marched up the steps of the enormous structure that was the KaibaCorp Head Offices building.
'What am I doin'? Rich-boy hates my guts- and I'm givin' him permission to make my life hell!'
The Brooklyn-born duelist had to force himself to keep moving several times that morning, and he nearly chickened out twice. But then he remembered the overjoyed look on Mokuba's face when the kid was sure Noah wouldn't be destroyed.
'...aw, what the hell. It's not like he can murder me in a crowded buildin', right? Especially not a buildin' he owns, monitored by security cameras only he can access, an' filled with security guards loyal only to him- oh, cr*p.'
The main lobby receptionist had been instructed to send Jou directly to the CEO's office, so she gave him a temporary pass-card and pointed out the express elevator.
The express elevator sped directly up to Kaiba's main office, and Jou stepped out onto 75th floor. The new employee's eyes went wider than Yugi's as he stared at the lavish décor. The secretary's desk was a deep, cherry wood, and her office chair appeared to be some sort of red leather. Several seats and tables lined against the walls; all of them looked very ornate and clean.
However, as much as he wanted to keep staring at the plush lobby; there was soon a *beep!* from the intercom, and the secretary told him to go through the doors to Kaiba's main office.
Jou only hesitated for a second before pushing past the heavy doors. The honey-blonde teen stood in shock as his eyes took in the elaborate office. There was a giant desk made from a rich wood, with several matching chairs in front and along the walls.
The cobalt-blue walls weren't empty, either. A large series of calendars and maps lined the wall on the left. They seemed to relate to the location of KaibaCorp's other offices and distributors. The right wall was also covered, but it instead showed various promotional pieces such as early drafts of posters for Duel Monsters Tournaments and KaibaLand merchandise.
"If you're done staring, mutt, I did call you in here for business matters."
Not even taking in the dog reference, the young blonde nodded dumbly as he sat down in one of the handsome chairs in front of Seto Kaiba's desk. The CEO's own office chair looked insanely expensive- the dark wood was covered by what looked like deep blue leather fastened with silver bolts.
Kaiba immediately started explaining the main responsibilities of Jou's new job. It wasn't terribly hard- today he would just be looking over the security cameras. He was expected to notice anything that wasn't 'conducive to the company's operations' or, as a frustrated Kaiba finally put it several times later, "Just take notes on anyone who's goofing off or stealing something!"
Jou asked a few questions, but they were all fairly reasonable, saving Kaiba from further annoyance. They were all easily answered, and soon both duelists felt more at ease.
"You have a decent knowledge of the Duel Monsters trading card game that we produce, and the electronics that we design and distribute to accompany that and other children's games. That's part of the reason why you will be working this position- I'm guessing even you can recognize whether someone is working on something related to our products or not."
Jou frowned slightly- was that an insult? It was hard to tell with Kaiba's professional tone.
But the executive continued before Jou could say anything. "I have an open slot right after 1 o'clock- you will give me a summary of what you've learned at that time."
"Er, awright."
"If things go well today, then tomorrow you will be introduced on the actual work floor as a new go-fer. This will give you the plausible excuse to run between floors and check on people. Any questions?"
Jou blinked and raised his hand awkwardly.
"Yes?"
"Erm, Kaiba? What's a rodent got to do wit' any of this?"
The brunette just stared.
...this was going to be harder than he originally thought.
After another set of explanations and instructions, Jounouchi was guided to a specific security office and handed the keys and codes necessary to do his job. The nervous teenager did as he was told, and began scanning the many screens lining the small office. Each one corresponded to a security camera located somewhere within the massive building's infrastructure. Every floor of the KaibaCorp office was equipped with multiple cameras- and although Jou was only responsible for a few floors, he still had plenty of screens to watch.
1 O'clock finally rolled around, and the blonde was ready when the lead executive strode in, exactly on time.
"So, have you found anything of significance, mutt?"
Jou ignored the barb and gave his first report. "Well, ya see that guy?" He pointed at one of the farthest security camera screens. "Look at what he's doin'- he's workin' on coding, but he ain't from your IT department. So why is he working in HR when he looks like he's got a talent for computer stuff?"
"Interesting... it seems as though he's merely working on a personal project, but nothing harmful or treasonous." Seto turned to look at his newest hire. "I'm surprised, mutt- you said that you weren't very familiar with computers."
The other boy shrugged. "Yeah, well, the computer down at the shop is, like, prehistoric; an' when it breaks I always try 'n fix it for Mr. Kubo. He's older and not so good with technology."
"Hm." The CEO turned his attention back to the monitors. "What else?"
The blonde then pointed out a few other minor incidents- a receptionist who kept pulling out a romance novel whenever no one was looking; a man who seemed to be chatting online whenever he wasn't being watched; and a very seedy looking man who had stolen several lunches from a break room fridge.
Kaiba had to admit, the boy had an eye for noticing the 'off' things; however he also needed to find any traces of espionage or theft (on a larger scale than two ham sandwiches and a burrito, that is).
"Not bad, but I will expect you to work on recognizing larger issues as well. I'll check back on you later this evening, and tomorrow we'll discuss moving you out onto the actual work floor."
Jou did a mock salute. "Yessir!"
Seto rolled his eyes as he walked out of the room. The faintest glint of a smile appeared on his face as he strode up to the elevator.
It seemed as though he had made a rather productive decision after all.
Unbeknownst to the two duelists, Jou's productivity was about to get a violent check.
