(A/N) Well, I finally got this chapter up! Sorry about the wait. Things have been pretty hectic lately, what with having to move to another province (that's right, I'm Canadian, whoo!) for my summer job. My short attention span probably didn't help much either... lol.
Anyway, thanks so much for your reviews! I loved each and every one of them! They're very encouraging. Also one reviewer asked me to include english translations for any Japanese words I use, which is a good idea so I'll make sure to do that.

Warnings: future shounen-ai (boys kissing boys, you know...); semi-frequent cussing/swearing, mentions of abuse; AU

Pairings: Future Seto/Jou; maybe Honda/Otogi; haven't decided on any others yet.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh, or any of its characters and ideas (honestly!).

Japanese-English Translations for this chapter:
-Inu - Dog
-Make Inu - Loser dog (roughly)
-Koinu - Puppy

-.-.-.-.-.-

Inescapable You

Chapter 3: Strange Bedfellows

At first, Katsuya wasn't sure what it was that had disturbed him from his uneasy dreams. What he did know, however, was that it felt much too early to even think about getting out of bed yet. He lay still, barely conscious of the insistent noise near his ear, and refused to open his eyes. It took a few minutes more before he realized that the noise was actually a voice; a low, demanding, insulting voice.

"Get up, you useless, lazy son-of-a-dog…!"

That was strange… Hiroto had never called him that before. His unispike-haired friend usually just resorted to dumping an entire pitcher of ice-cold water on the blond's head if he wanted him to get up before it was time.

"I mean it, Mutt. I do not want to drag your bloody, unconscious body around with me all day, so you had better get your ass out of my bed and…"

It didn't sound like Katsuya's father either. The old bastard would never sit idly by hurling threats like that. Not to mention the lack of slurred curses. Relieved to have puzzled out this much, Katsuya sighed and turned over. Having figured out that his old man was definitely not the one trying to get him out of bed, he gave up wondering just who exactly was. It was too early to be playing guessing games and he'd be damned if he was opening his eyes to take a look at this point.

Slipping back towards unconsciousness, the blond was hardly aware of the body next to him. All he knew was that it was incredibly warm and comfortable. He happily nuzzled further into the source of heat and, to his further delight, the mysterious voice choked and became quiet.

A couple of tense, silent minutes went by before he heard a half-frustrated, half-questioning, "Mutt…?"

"G'sleep," Katsuya mumbled, wrapping his arm around the person in an effort to keep them still. It was the weekend, for goodness sake! No sane individual would want to wake up before noon on the weekend. It just wasn't healthy.

The sleeping teen sighed contentedly as the other went silent again. So comfortable… He absently wondered whom he was cuddling up to but didn't think on it too hard. It was much too early to be completely logical. He was quite sure by now that it wasn't Hiroto, though. The brunette would have kicked his ass for snuggling up to him like this. Besides, Katsuya always slept on the floor, at Hiroto's home. This bed felt much too comfortable to be the old, lumpy futon.

"If you don't stop this ridiculous game, Mutt, I'm going to be very late and very pissed off."

Mutt… why did that sound so familiar? More to the point, why would he be hearing that in bed?

Knowing he'd never be able to sleep now, Katsuya slowly opened one eye and squinted up at the face above him. Icy blue eyes glared coldly back. Brain still foggy with sleep, it took a moment for the meaning of what he was staring at to sink in.

With a confused frown, he groggily muttered, "…Kaib'?"

The CEO smirked, raising an eyebrow while still maintaining his glare, "Are you always this cuddly in the morning, Pup?"

"Shit! Kaiba?!" Katsuya yelped, practically throwing himself away from the surprisingly warm body, "What th' hell're ya doin' in my bed?!"

Seto remained silent at this but his expression was practically screaming 'I know something that you don't.' They glared at each other, one bewildered and the other cold and angry. Slowly, memories of the day before came back to Katsuya until it finally dawned on him that it really had all been real. It wasn't just some nightmare that he could push to the back of his mind. He was actually leashed and collared, like the damn mutt that Seto had always called him, and on top of that he was tied to the arrogant bastard. His only consolation was that the blue-eyed duelist was in the same humiliating position.

It took another moment before he realized that he had actually been cuddling Kaiba Seto. Horrified and embarrassed by this discovery, Katsuya glared down at the bed covers. He knew he was blushing, damn it.

Seto finally broke the uncomfortable silence, "I need to go in for work. Now."

Still refusing to look up, Katsuya shrugged and muttered, "So go. I don't give a fuck what ya need to do."

"Get it through your thick skull, Mutt," Seto growled, apparently not pleased by Katsuya's rude statement, "At the moment, what I need, you need. That means we are going to the office. Understood?"

"Why is it that I get no say in what we do?!" Katsuya snapped, his voice rising as he finally tore his eyes away from the bed to glower at the conceited CEO, "Last night, it was all about what you wanted! You wanted to go somewhere, we went. You wanted to eat, we ate. I even spent my entire evenin' sittin' beside you on th'fucking floor while ya worked on dat fuckin' computer! I'm not doin' that again, Kaiba. No fuckin' way. I've got my own life too, ya know, so back off!"

Katsuya looked away again, breathing hard. His fingernails were digging painfully into his palms as he desperately tried to control his temper but it was so hard when he couldn't even get away from the one who caused the outburst. Usually he would be able to go off on his own for a while to calm down and start thinking clearly again, but that was impossible now. This was so damn frustrating!

Seto had not replied straight away to Katsuya's angry rant but when he did it was not what the blond had been expecting, "Your accent's more distinct when you're angry."

Confused, Katsuya blinked and shifted his eyes partially towards the brunette sitting calmly beside him. It was only then that he realized he was actually shaking. His fists were clenched tightly in his lap while the rest of his body shook from the tension built up inside of him. Even Seto must have noticed. Taking a deep breath, Katsuya slowly let it out and desperately tried to still himself.

"It… Yeah. Yeah, I know," he finally sighed, staring at the moon-shaped bruising indents on his palms once he forced himself to loosen his hands slightly. More silence followed. It was uncomfortable, maddening even, but Katsuya refused to be the first to break it. He wasn't going to let Seto push him around anymore. Either they agree on a reasonable alternative or Katsuya would just sit there forever. Screw the consequences.

"I have to work today," Seto said slowly, sounding as though he had a disagreeable taste in his mouth, "But… You can decide how we spend our afternoon, if that is okay with you."

Katsuya snorted softly and picked at a loose thread on the blanket, "What time are ya working 'til?" He had to admit, though, that he was surprised by Seto's offer. The CEO was usually just as stubborn as himself when he wanted something, if not more so.

"Usually I would work until five or six and then come home to eat dinner with Mokuba," Seto replied expressionlessly, "But we can leave around two o'clock if you have plans."

"Noon," Katsuya said firmly, "I want to leave by noon today. It's Saturday for fuck's sake, it's supposed to be a work-free day. And where the hell is the kid anyway? I haven't seen him around at all since I came here."

"And you certainly won't be seeing him ever again if you don't learn to watch your language around him," was the cold response, "And if you must know, he is at a friend's house and had better be back this morning or else he's grounded. I cannot guarantee I'll be finished by noon but I can try. Now, are we going to get ready to go or not?"

After taking a moment to think about whether it was worth his time to argue, Katsuya just sighed, "Fine. Whatever. But I'm not sitting on the floor again, got it?"

"Okay, Koinu, whatever you say," Seto smirked as they carefully slid off the side of the bed. It was awkward, trying not to pull away too far from one another and yet keep the maximum distance possible between them. Katsuya was still feeling a little out of it and glanced at the clock. His eyes widened as his mind registered the numbers.

"Five-thirty?! You woke me up at five-thirty in the morning?"

Seto led the way across the room, not even sparing a glance to his whining follower, "You're lucky. I let you sleep in."

"Like hell you did," Katsuya pouted, rubbing sleep out of his eyes as they stepped into the bathroom. He silently cursed his luck of being stuck with an early rising workaholic.

The two teenagers stepped in front of the large bathtub and froze before glancing sideways at each other with resigned expressions. There was no avoiding it now. They would have to do everything together until they found a way to solve their problem. That included showering together unless they wanted to go around dirty and stinking for who knew how long.

"Well," Katsuya sighed, reaching for the bottom of the shirt he had slept in, "it could be worse, I guess."

"How so?" Seto sneered, shedding his own clothes while the two teens carefully avoided eye contact. As one, they turned their backs to each other before removing the rest of their clothing, careful to remain within the 2-foot limit from each other.

Katsuya grimaced as he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror. Hiroto had been right; it looked as though someone had tried to hang him. More than once. The purple-black bruise ran all the way around his neck, marking the circumference of the collar that was supposedly there. Oh well… it would fade, eventually. At least it would if he stopped strangling himself on the damn thing.

Turning his attention back to the young CEO behind him, the blond grinned slightly, "I could have been forced to shower with some ugly old geezer instead of you."

Dead silence… and then, "Get in the shower, Mutt."

"I'm not a mutt," Katsuya grumbled half-heartedly as he turned to the shower, still keeping his gaze from the young nude man beside him. Seto just smirked again, causing a low growl to escape the blond. He hated how the blue-eyed CEO could remain so composed even when in such a humiliating position. It wasn't fair. Katsuya's own temper rarely could be kept so controlled.

Back-to-back they stepped under the showerhead. They tried very hard to keep as far from each other as possible and to avoid touching in any way but it did not take long for them to realize just how much shorter their 2-foot leash seemed in this situation.

"Dammit, Kaiba! Stop hogging the water!"

"It is my shower, Mutt, so stop your yapping."

"Stop calling me that! And where's the shampoo?"

"Sorry, Mutt, I don't normally keep dog shampoo on hand."

"Why you – !" Katsuya, unable to take it any longer, spun around with the intent of strangling the arrogant bastard with his bare hands. Instead he found himself meeting icy, blue eyes and froze. Of course, it wasn't exactly the familiar cold eyes that caused him to stare. No, he had faced that glare many times in the past, though it still gave him the shivers once in a while. It was everything else in front of him that was not so well known.

Kaiba Seto, despite being such a stuck-up bastard, was definitely not unsightly. In fact, he was quite…

"What are you staring at, Fleabag?"

Katsuya blinked and shook his head slightly as though to clear it. No… he had not just checked out Seto. Not in a billion years. Wrinkling his nose at the thought, Katsuya huffed and turned back around to once again contemplate the misfortune of being tied to the damn millionaire.

The millionaire in reference interrupted his thoughts, however, with a short, insistent, "Pup!"

With a startled yelp, he dropped the soap he had recently gotten a hold of and turned back to glare at his rival, "Fuck, Kaiba, how many times do I have to tell ya! I'm not a god-damn do – "

"Where did you get those?" Seto cut him off impatiently; waving vaguely in the direction of the blond's body.

It took a moment for Katsuya to understand what Seto was going on about. When realization finally did strike him, he cursed at his bad luck. This was not what he needed right now.

Seto, noticing the lack of response, sneeringly raised an eyebrow, "Well?"

"Well what?" The younger teen snapped, self-consciously crossing his arms in front of him, "Maybe it ain't none of your business, Moneybags."

'It' referred to the fairly large collection of pale scars scattered over the shivering teenager's body. He obviously had not been thinking straight to willingly undress in front of Seto. Maybe he had thought that the other wouldn't notice, wouldn't turn around and look even. It was too late now to hide them, though, which made Katsuya feel slightly sick and exposed. He had always been so careful in the past to keep others from noticing his deformities. Only Hiroto had seen them and knew where most of them came from. His friend had even tended to many of the fresh cuts in the past. But now Seto had seen them… Why couldn't the fucking bastard just keep his eyes to himself!

In response, Seto's eyes seemed to grow even frostier, though Katsuya hadn't even thought that was possible, "I never intended to make it my business, Make Inu. Don't presume to think that I care that much about all the little dog-fights you get into."

"Fine," Katsuya snarled, twisting away again, "Shut the fuck up, then. And hand me the damn shampoo!"

Seto just smirked and squirted some shampoo onto his own hand, "I don't recall making any agreements to share my things with you just because we are bound together. Did you not think to bring your own?" He tossed the bottle behind him, out of Katsuya's reach, and started to lather his hair.

"You bastard, son-of-a – " Katsuya angrily took a step forward, his face reddening in fury over the CEO's mocking attitude. He hated the jerk! How the hell were they going to make it through even one day like this if they couldn't even cooperate enough to shower for five minutes? Unfortunately Katsuya was unable to finish his threat as his foot landed directly on the forgotten bar of soap.

With a surprised cry, the blond duelist slipped and fell backwards, swinging his arms wildly in a futile attempt at catching his balance. The collar around his neck tightened sharply and painfully as he crashed to the bottom of the tub. Fortunately for him, his head managed to barely miss the edge of the tub. But then that turned out to be the least of his worries as another body landed directly on top of him, forcing out any remaining air that had not been choked off by the collar.

Gasping desperately for oxygen that refused to fill his lungs, Katsuya squeezed his eyes shut against the spray of the water and started clawing in vain at the invisible bind around his neck. Air… gods, why couldn't he get any air?!

Wheezing, he didn't even have breath enough to groan over the pain in his chest and his throat. That damn bruise was throbbing worse than ever.

"Stop it, Inu! Calm down. Listen to me, you damn mutt."

Hands grabbed Katsuya's own, forcing them away from the skin of his neck. He struggled, still feeling the lack of oxygen, and managed to rasp, "I… I-I c-can't br-breath. I… ca-can't…"

"I know, I can see that," Seto growled from his very awkward place on top of the gasping blond, "Just don't panic. Stop trying to force it in and relax, you hear me, Mutt?"

Katsuya breathlessly swore and tried to relax. Easier said than done but he could already feel his lungs starting to fill again. Soon he was gratefully gulping in mouthfuls of wonderful, life-giving oxygen once again. It was fantastic. Pure bliss. He sighed, leaning his head back against the ceramic bottom of the tub and slowly opened his eyes.
Emotionless, sapphire eyes glared straight back.

They stared at each other for a few moments until Katsuya blinked and suddenly realized his position. Never before had he even imagined he would ever end up naked, soaking wet, and under Kaiba Seto, of all people. "Um… K-Kaiba?" How utterly embarrassing.

With a cold look, Seto sneered, "What is it, Mutt?"

"Uh…" Katsuya blushed lightly, thankful that his face was probably already red from the heat of the shower, "I thought you had to get to work?"

The normally punctual CEO cursed under his breath, "I do. And thanks to you, I am already very late."

"Well, don't blame me," Katsuya grumbled as they carefully helped each other stand back up, "It wouldn't have happened if you weren't so possessive over your stupid shampoo, ya know. Shampoo hog."

Seto ignored him, determined to get out of the shower and head straight to work before the entire day went to waste. He angrily shoved the shower curtain aside, ignoring his complaining companion, and got ready to step out.

"Um, Kaib'?"

"What?!" Seto hissed with a narrow-eyed glare, obviously at the end of his patience, "I am already late for work and if you want to have any time to do what you want this afternoon, you pathetic animal, you had better get out now and follow me. I will not put up with your clumsy tricks a moment longer; you got that, Make Inu?!"

Katsuya blinked, almost shocked by this display of anger by the usually emotionless teen, then grinned, "Hey, Moneybags, you plannin' on goin' to work with all that shampoo left in your hair?"

-.-.-.-.-.-

It was 7:30 by the time they finished showering, figured out how to use the toilet without killing each other first, grabbed a bite to eat (Katsuya absolutely refused to budge out that door without breakfast), and made it to the Kaiba Corp. office building. To say Seto was not in the best of moods by this time would be the understatement of the year.

He was furious.

The fuming CEO stormed through the glass doors with a glum-looking Katsuya following close behind. The secretary and a few employees stared curiously at this strange sight but one glare from their boss sent them scurrying to avoid the pair. Seto did not bother to greet anyone, heading straight for his own private office instead. Even Katsuya didn't dare protest their hurry to reach their destination once he caught a glimpse of the other's face.

Although tempted to force the blond to once again sit at his side on the floor like the dog he was, Seto knew that this would just start another argument and waste more time so he grabbed an extra chair from the other side of the large, tidy desk and set it down beside his own comfortable seat, "Sit, Mutt."

"Stop bossin' me around, Moneybags," Katsuya rebelliously glared, crossing his arms stubbornly over his chest, "Didn't ya ever get taught any manners?"

"Did no one ever teach you correct grammar and pronunciation," Seto shot back before shoving his protesting companion into the chair and sitting down himself, "Now be a good little dog and keep quiet while your master works."

Ignoring the expected pathetic retorts and curses, Seto opened his large briefcase and took out the disks and papers he needed for the day. He slipped one of the disks into the computer on the desk and opened the necessary files. And then finally he was able to begin his work for the day. Not that he would get much done by the looks of things.

It wasn't until he had been rapidly typing for a while that he felt those puppy-dog eyes watching him. At first he just disregarded the stare and kept up his steady typing with momentary glances at the printed documents lying on the surface of the desk. It did not take long, however, before he began to become annoyed by the constant, inquisitive gaze. Finally, without pausing the graceful movements of his fingers, Seto snapped, "What are you looking at, Mutt?"

"You," was the surprisingly direct reply.

Frowning slightly, Seto finally tore his gaze from the screen to turn and face the oddly confusing pup, "Why?"

Katsuya tilted his head to the side, just like a curious puppy much to Seto's amusement, "I dunno. You just looked so intense… I mean, when you were working. Just…" he trailed off and looked away, a slight blush gracing his face.

Raising an eyebrow at this, the CEO sighed and shook his head, "Are you bored, Pup?"

He didn't know what made him ask this. It wasn't as though he cared what the stupid blond felt but he defended himself by deciding that he would never get any work done at all if Katsuya kept staring at him like that. Those large, imploring, honey-filled eyes…

Seeming just as confused over the question, Katsuya gave him a suspicious look at first before answering, "What d'ya think? You honestly aren't the most exciting guy to spend my day with."

Seto snorted at this, knowing Katsuya would most likely still be asleep right now if not for certain unfortunate circumstances. Taking a moment to think about what he could give the bored duelist to keep him entertained, Seto finally pulled out a small folder from the desk drawer, "Here."

Katsuya took the proffered folder and gave it a questioning, confused look, "What's this for?"

"Since you are here, you might as well make yourself useful," the young CEO coldly explained, pushing the telephone nearer to Katsuya despite the growing alarmed expression on the other's face, "Those are the names and numbers of people I have made arrangements to meet with over the next few months. What you can do is confirm the time and location of these business meetings. Do you think you can handle it, Mutt?"

Katsuya gaped for a moment, as though unable to believe that Seto would hold him responsible for anything more than keeping quiet. After realizing that the brunette was actually serious, he quickly nodded, "Okay… sure. I can do that. But… if I'm working for you…"

"Yes, you'll be paid if you prove yourself capable," Seto impatiently answered the unspoken question, turning back to his own work.

Seemingly satisfied with this assurance, Katsuya opened the folder and began the task given to him with surprising determination. For a while they worked quietly side-by-side; Katsuya constantly phoning companies, quietly confirming the meetings, and Seto typing away at his computer. Seto, though grateful for the cooperation and help, was still a little astonished at how easily Katsuya had agreed with his offer. He had thought that the street-punk teen would do anything to avoid extra work.

Seto was so absorbed that he hardly noticed the passing of time but at exactly twelve o'clock Katsuya firmly shut his folder and stretched out his arms with a satisfied groan, "So… I was thinking we stop by Yugi's first. He'll be wanting to know how we're doin' and all. Then we pick up Honda and head for the arcade. I don't think me an' you should try any sports or nothing, considering it's kinda hard to move around tied together like this, but arcade games should be easy, 'specially two player games..."

Completely ignoring the rambling blond's plans, Seto pointedly picked out another spreadsheet and continued typing. Did Katsuya not realize how much he had to catch up on? First the entire morning had been wasted (entirely the mutt's fault, of course), and now he was expected to just get up and leave at noon? Fat chance.

"Hello? Kaiba, you listenin' to me? It's time to go!" Katsuya, realizing that he was being ignored, reached over and grabbed Seto's hands in an attempt to stop their continuous typing.

Startled by this action, Seto stared uncomprehendingly at the pale-skinned hands covering his own slightly darker fingers. Then he frowned in annoyance, "Mutt, if you know what's good for you, you will remove your hands."

Instead of the expected fight, Katsuya just laughed and tugged the other teen's hands fully away from the keyboard, "No! You said we could have the rest of the day to do what I want an' that's just what we're gonna do. So get get yer ass outta your chair and let's go!"

"I don't have time for this, Inu, now keep quiet and let me finish working – "

"I'll scream."

Seto blinked at this unexpected announcement. The mutt actually looked serious. Narrowing his eyes, the brunette asked, "You'll what?"

Katsuya grinned, "I said, Moneybags, that I'll scream if you don't let us leave right this second. I'll scream rape until one of your little minions calls the police on you for attempting it. So, what d'ya say?"

"Are you… threatening me?" the CEO growled, unable to believe the nerve of the damn blond. Not to mention how utterly immature that was.

With an exaggerated deep breath, Katsuya opened his mouth as though to follow through with his warning. Eyes widening, Seto quickly slapped his hand over the other's mouth, muffling the start of the yell. Was he mad?!

They glared at each other for a few minutes until Seto gave in, knowing that he was unlikely to get much else done anyway if he was forced to keep an eye on Katsuya every second of the day, "Fine. Just let me pack up."

Satisfied with this, Katsuya nodded with a muffled noise of approval and Seto quickly took back his hand. He took his time shutting off his computer and organizing the papers for the next day in a small effort to stall their departure but soon enough they were up and heading out of the building. The secretary gaped in wide-eyed shock at the rare sight of her boss leaving early, not to mention the fact that the blond haired teenager was still following the CEO a little too closely.

It was a short drive to the Kame Game Shop but Katsuya seemed to find it to be the most exciting thing in the world to ride in a limousine. And not just any limousine; Kaiba Seto's limo. Seto was forced to watch, torn between irritation and amusement as the continuously chatting blond experimented with all buttons and switches unfortunately placed within his reach. The highlight seemed to be making sunroof and windows repeatedly open and close. For once, Seto was relieved to reach the game shop.

Yugi was happy to see them, as always, and eagerly invited them into the house at the back of the shop, "Hi Jou! Good afternoon, Kaiba. Come on in! Everybody's in the living room waiting to see you."

'Everybody' turned out to be Hiroto, Ryuuji, Ryou and Yami. Kaiba was glad to see that Yami Bakura and Malik were nowhere to be seen. He doubted he would be able to control his temper once he got hold of those two psychos.

Katsuya cheerfully greeted his friends, forcing Seto to follow him over to the couch with a meaningful look, and sat down beside Ryou. Hiroto, Yami and Ryuuji were on the floor, a bowl of popcorn between them and duel monster cards spread out all over the carpet around them. Seto let his gaze travel coolly over the lot and promptly decided they weren't worth the effort to act friendly towards. He instead returned to glaring at the opposite wall.

"Wow, I didn't expect you two to show up here," the dice master commented, twirling a strand of black hair around his finger as he gave them a curious green-eyed look, "And neither one looking permanently damaged, either."

Hiroto grinned, "Yup, didn't I tell you? Fork over the twenty, Otogi."

Seto snorted at this immature display, annoyed by the fact that people were betting on him and his ability to put up with one measly little koinu. He looked sideways at Katsuya just in time to catch the blond sheepishly scratching his head, "Yeah, so far it hasn't been so bad. Moneybags, here, ain't so tough."

"Really?" Seto raised an eyebrow, "As I recall it, I'm only here because of your constant whining."

Katsuya flushed slightly and looked away, "Whateva. Anyway, Honda, you wanna come to the arcade wit' us?"

There was a moment of bewildered silence from the others in the room at their obvious exclusion in this invitation before Hiroto stood up and nodded, "Sure, but can I speak with you privately for a moment?"

A private conversation with Katsuya obviously meant Seto was forced to follow as well. He didn't resist, though, not wanting to sound as pathetic as the whimpering mutt to get his way. They went with the pointed-haired brunette into the kitchen and Hiroto pulled his blond friend away from Seto as much as possible. Which wasn't far.

"What's the matter, Jou?"

Seto blinked at this question. He hadn't noticed any indication that anything was wrong with the other teen. Now, however, he took a closer look and saw the hint of uncertainty in those bright honey-brown eyes.

With a hesitant glance back at Seto, Katsuya sighed and mumbled, "I wanna get my stuff from home."

"Oh," Hiroto, for some reason, also glanced at the confused CEO. His expression, however, seemed thoughtful, "I can just go myself and –"

Katsuya shook his head, "No, that's alright. I just want you to help me. I should probably take all the stuff I'm going ta need, seein' as how I'll probably be spending awhile at Kaiba's and Kaiba doesn't know how to share his things," the blond explained, sticking his tongue out at Seto.

Hiroto shot the young company owner a warning glare, causing Seto to scowl back at him, "Fine. Let's go get the mutt's things."

"Jou, what about…"

"It's fine, Honda. I'll deal with it. That's why you're comin' along anyway."

By this point, Seto was utterly baffled by this strange conversation. They made such a simple thing as going to Katsuya's apartment into a big drama show. But he decided to just keep quiet about it, figuring he would find out soon enough what they were going on about.

Hiroto still seemed reluctant about the entire situation but he finally gave in with a shrug, "Okay, if that's what you want. It'll probably be good for you to get away for awhile anyway."

Katsuya glared, "Shut-up, Honda. Let's just go."

They went back to the living room to explain to their friends that they were leaving. Seto was glad to get out of there. While most of them weren't so bad individually, the group was just plain annoying when they were all together like that.

Back in the limo, while Katsuya happily showed Hiroto all of the supposedly fun 'secrets' of the fancy vehicle, Seto stared expressionlessly out the window. The driver had been given the directions to the Jounouchi residence and from what Seto knew of the area, it was definitely not in the nicest part of town. In fact, it was one of the areas that he had absolutely forbidden his little brother to walk through alone, knowing the types of shady characters who lived among those streets.

They stopped in front of an old, run-down apartment building that looked as though it had seen better days, confirming Seto's suspicions. Seto stared at it in disgust for a moment before turning to the two boys beside him, "This is where you live, Mutt? Why am I not surprised…"

"Lay off, Jackass," Hiroto glared heatedly as Katsuya dropped his gaze, "Not everyone can afford to stay in some mansion like you do."

"Of course not," Seto sneered, giving the place one last criticizing look. Then he glanced at the blond, who was pointedly avoiding eye contact, and sighed, "Whatever. Let's just get this over with."

Katsuya looked up again with a panicked expression, "No, wait! I… I mean, Hiroto's goin' up first."

"What? Why?" Seto frowned as Hiroto opened the car door.

Katsuya's best friend just patted the blond on the shoulder in a reassuring way and studied the CEO with a serious look in his eyes. Finally, just as the Seto was about to demand an explanation for this strange behavior, Hiroto shrugged and grinned, "Well, no point in all of us going up there if it turns out the door is locked. Jou forgot his keys, as usual, so I'll just run up and check to see if his apartment is open. Do you approve, oh mighty Moneybags?"

Seto glared back, then crossed his arms and snapped, "Well, hurry up then. I haven't got all day."

After Hiroto had left, the remaining two young men sat in silence. After a few minutes, Seto realized that Katsuya was staring out the window at the apartment building entrance with a worried air about him. He refrained from commenting on it, however, knowing the blond was unlikely to confide in him for any reason. The more panicked the mutt seemed to become, though, the more uncomfortable Seto became. He was even starting to become a little concerned over whatever secret the two boys were keeping from him. To quell the uneasy feeling in his stomach, Seto tried to distract his companion, "Are we still going to the arcade after this, Pup?"

Startled, Katsuya tensed and then quietly answered, "I guess."

More silence. Seto shifted restlessly in his seat, wondering what was taking the other brat so long in returning. Finally, after what seemed forever, they saw Hiroto jog out of the door towards them. Katsuya let out a relieved sound and relaxed, confusing Seto further. There was definitely something going on here…

"It's okay, Jou, we can go in. Nothing to worry about," the younger brunette reported once he had reached them.

Katsuya grinned, "Great! Let's make it quick, though. Kaiba wants enough time left to go to the arcade!"

Hiroto helped the leashed teens out of the car and laughed as Seto gritted his teeth in an effort to check his temper, "Dream on, Mutt."

As they walked up to the building and through the dark hallways, Seto noted the peeling wallpaper and dirty, scuffed floor with disgust. The place was a dump. They quickly reached Katsuya's door. A small, crooked nameplate reading 'Jounouchi' hung on the splintering, dented wood. Wonderful. He honestly hoped the inside wasn't as bad as the outside suggested.

The three teens glanced at each other, two hesitant and one impatient, and then the door was opened and they stepped inside.

-.-.-.-.-.-

To Be Continued...

Strange Bedfellows: Unlikely companions or allies

Questions? Comments? I'd love to hear 'em!