Three days had passed, and Mokuba Kaiba was becoming increasingly concerned for his older brother. The revelation of KaibaCorp's innocence in the lead-toxicity incident had brought some slower days to the office. Most of their associates and competitors were busy inspecting their own stocks for lead, or even preparing legal action against the horrid manufacturer. Which provided the CEO with a short reprieve from his over-extended duties.
But only Mokuba and Roland knew how well-timed the break really was.
The blue-eyed executive was all but suffering a breakdown. His mind felt foggy all the time. It was like a thick mist was smothering his thoughts- they were muddled, and didn't seem to go where he wanted them to go.
Every night he went home, and Jou wasn't there. Dinners were painfully quiet, and Mokuba seemed depressed. The mansion felt stuffy and dead. But the worst thing was going to sleep in his massive, empty bed- no puppy to literally pull him onto the mattress and force him to fall asleep after too many hours on the computer. No one to snuggle up to him in the middle of the night, hogging all the blankets and nearly pushing Seto off the bed. He hated not seeing that soft, blonde mess of hair on the pillow next to his when he woke up.
...though he didn't exactly miss the thunderous snoring.
As he ruminated on the past few days, the dragon duelist felt his eyes starting to close of their own will. He hadn't eaten much in the past 72 hours. Seto groaned in frustration- his energy level was steadily dropping, and his mind was still unclear.
Had it really been five months already? They had passed so quickly- or maybe it was just the fact that they hadn't spent much time together in the last three or so...
The CEO felt a hollowness twisting around his insides. His mind began moving backwards.
He felt a painful jolt as he remembered his puppy's protests.
'You expect me to say 'I love you'?'
Yes, Jou had said it once or twice. Seto hadn't really taken him seriously, though- he assumed that was just a normal, romanticist phrase; an over-used notion casually expressed on a whim.
But apparently, he'd meant it. His puppy was truly in love with him.
'I have been the most unselfish boyfriend on the planet!'
Seto scowled as he thought of the blonde's multiple arguments. Of course they didn't go on many public dates- he couldn't risk being outed as gay! Many of the top businessmen in Japan were old, staunch bigots. If they learned that the CEO of KaibaCorp was gay, they might withdraw their investments and contracts. Hell, it could destroy KaibaCorp!
He thought Jounouchi understood that, at least.
Besides, Jou was always insisting that they spend most of their time together with Mokuba. He seemed perfectly fine with them all going somewhere as a group- the circus, the movies, KaibaLand... sometimes Jou even refused to join them, saying that they needed more, quote: 'one-on-one bro time.'
The annoyed brunette frowned. 'Why would the pup encourage me to spend more time with Mokuba, if he really wanted to spend more time with me?'
Suddenly, Jou's words vaguely echoed through his consciousness.
'An' I love that kid, too.'
Seto thought back to last week, when the three of them were eating dinner together. Mokuba was practically bouncing off his chair.
'Are we really going to the Honshu Regional Tournament, Seto?!'
The CEO gave a rare chuckle. 'Yes, we're going.' He looked across the table to see Jou giving him an exceedingly warm look. Then the blonde snickered softly as he tilted his head towards the younger Kaiba.
Mokuba had started rattling off a long list of the top duelists entered in the tournament. He looked absolutely ecstatic. Seto looked back at Jou and shared his quiet laugh. Jou wasn't even going with, and he was genuinely happy.
...because he wanted Mokuba to be happy.
Jou was willing to give up his heavily-constricted time with his beloved boyfriend just to keep his 'partly-adopted little brother' happy.
Just like Seto himself would do.
Two brilliant blue eyes blinked in simultaneous realization.
'Oh... damn it.'
After a few more minutes of deep thought, Seto realized that this was more than semi-serious.
He was going to lose him. He was going to lose his puppy.
He had to do something- but what?
He groaned as he decided that Jou was right- they really didn't spend time together. And maybe he didn't know Jou as well as he thought.
His secretary nearly died of shock when he informed her that he was going home early- and no, Mokuba had not been injured or kidnapped.
The early departure surprised Roland, but Kaiba offered no explanations. And Roland was wise enough not to ask. He didn't say a word until they pulled up to the mansion.
"We're home, Master Kaiba." He held the door open and watched the tall mogul step out.
Most of the staff was still off-duty, as Mokuba wasn't home yet (and Seto himself was certainly never home this early). The elder Kaiba groaned as he rubbed his forehead. He headed to the kitchen to fix something for himself. He needed something to eat, and something to clear his head.
Regular, not decaf.
The CEO strode into the main dining area. Seto paused when he heard a faint laugh. There were voices coming from the other side of the swinging doors by the chef's kitchen.
He vaguely recognized the voices as two of their young, female maids. They also sounded excited, which was odd.
Most of the staff had been saddened when Jou left. The teen had a way of winning people over, and he always tried to do things himself, so the staff wouldn't have to. This oftentimes resulted in an even bigger mess; but the majority of the staff members could never begrudge the well-meaning, loveable klutz.
An irritating voice interrupted the billionaire's inner musings.
"So, I hear the blonde gold-digger is finally gone?"
The dragon-deck master found himself unexpectedly listening in. He glared at the partly-open doors.
"Yes, apparently they had a spat, although no one knows why."
There was some rather disdainful laughter. "I think I can guess- Kaiba-sama got bored of his boy-toy and went looking for a new one."
"Mei!"
"What?! Look at all those phones and laptops- the boss is always looking to upgrade to something 'new and improved.'"
The tall brunette gave a low growl of disapproval. He would never try to 'upgrade' from his puppy! There was no upgrade from Jou!
"But isn't that gutter trash in love with him?"
More disbelieving cackles. "Oh please, don't tell me you're falling for that 'dating' crap! Kaiba-sama has the personality of a filing cabinet and all the romance of a stapler. No one's going to be seriously interested in dating that. Not to mention they never actually go on public dates- and you know the big, bold Kaiba-sama wouldn't be embarrassed unless he was keeping a whore."
The billionaire clenched his teeth together. He wasn't embarrassed by Jou (well, at least not for that reason) and his puppy was certainly NOT a whore.
"Besides, why else would that boy keep coming back? It's obvious he comes from a really trashy background- I hear he was flat-broke when Kaiba-sama hired him. But rather than just working at the company, he found a lonely billionaire to sell himself out to. Haven't you noticed that Kaiba-sama has been going to bed earlier? An insanely rich bachelor with a hot body? That gaudy gutter-scum probably thought he'd won the lottery!"
Two blue eyes widened in shock- was this what they really thought of Jou?! He knew these maids were both rather new, but they surely must have seen more to Jou than this!
"He even sucks up to the little brother- it's pathetic! He must be really desperate if he thinks playing 'babysitter' will get him extra cash."
The other girl snickered. "You're right. In fact, I bet Kaiba-sama pays him to be 'friends' with the brat and spend time with him- everyone knows Kaiba-sama certainly doesn't!"
The mansion's owner had heard enough. He flung the swinging doors open and snapped at the startled maids.
"You two. Fired.Get out."
The two girls quickly fled the grounds, terrified of the business prodigy's infamous wrath. But even though the two tarts were physically gone, their words still rang through their former boss' head.
'The blonde gold-digger?'
His expression soured as he paced the cold tiles of the kitchen floor.
'But rather than just working, he found a lonely billionaire to sell himself out to.'
The CEO glared at the wall.
Jou had never asked for money. In fact, he regularly insisted on paying for random things when they went out. Seto usually fought with him over this, insisting that he had far more cash to burn. But Jou was (usually at least, if not more) stubborn, and paid practically half the time. In fact, Seto was pretty certain he'd never transferred any money to him- aside from his paycheck, of course.
Heck, the only times Seto had even given him physical cash was when they passed by a vending machine and Jou was out of small coins. But that rarely happened unless they were at the zoo or a secret date at the mall.
Which, he admitted, wasn't very often.
'Oh please, don't tell me you're falling for that 'dating' crap. Kaiba-sama has the personality of a filing cabinet and all the romance of a stapler.'
Seto nearly snorted to himself. True, he wasn't known to be the life of the party. But that was part of why he enjoyed Jou's company so much- Seto was the rice, and Jou was the spice.
He felt his face lift slightly as he pictured that crazy blonde- yes, he definitely enjoyed his Katsuya-curry.
Feeling inspired, Seto's mind began quickly moving. Soon, he had a complete plan to bring back the spice of his life.
Now all he needed was a few discreet phone calls, and everything would be set.
Meanwhile, several miles away, the Brooklyn-born duelist was lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling from his bed. He just wanted a few minutes alone to think, but Yugi and his friends kept 'checking up' on him. It was well-intended, but Jou was starting to feel a little over-whelmed.
As if on cue, his cell phone started ringing again. Jou sighed as he check the caller ID.
/Lil' Sis/
...cr*p.
He'd forgotten that Shizuka would've seen the news broadcasts about KaibaCorp- she was probably worried. But he really didn't feel like talking right now-
The ringing kept on even after his voice-mail had picked up. He lost his phone a lot, so Shizuka usually called it more than once so he could find it.
He sighed as he hit the 'answer' button. "Hey, lil' sis."
"Nii-san! Are you alright?! I just heard about what happened with KaibaCorp- what's going on?"
"It's a long story, but everythin' should be alright now- y'see, the company that actually made the products-" He went on to explain the whole scandal, trying to hide his discomfort.
But the kind-hearted sister could tell something was bothering her big brother, and Shizuka began pressuring him to tell the whole story.
With a sigh, the blonde began roughly detailing what had happened with Seto. He tried to keep it simple and casual, but the teenage girl wasn't fooled.
"He hasn't been treating me like a boyfriend- I thought maybe it was nerves or somethin' (y'know, 'cuz he ain't exactly 'Mr. Sociable') but now it's lookin' like he jus' doesn't see me that way."
"Oh no... that sounds really serious. Are you sure you want to break up with him?"
Jou's response was instantaneous. "No- I don't want to. But... I might not have a choice- it ain't healthy for either of us if we don' feel the same. Eventually one or both of us are gonna get hurt, an' the longer we stretch it out, the worse it'll be."
There was a soft sigh on the other end. "Oh, big brother... I'm so sorry."
"Nah, it's fine- I was gettin' gassy from all a' that rich food, anyway."
There was a very brief laugh before the younger sibling turned serious. "But seriously, nii-san; if you ever need to talk..."
"You'll be the first one I'll call. Or maybe I'll call Honda- I get the feelin' he'd make a great relationship counselor."
That one got a lot more laughter. Jou smirked- asking Honda for dating advice was like asking a snail how to win the Indianapolis 500.
"Alright, well, I'm here if you need me- just stay strong, and I'll be in town next weekend, ok?"
The blonde finally gave a real grin. "Lookin' forward to it. Love ya, sis."
"Love you too, big brother." There was a faint *click* and Jou put down his phone.
The strawberry-blonde girl sighed gently. As much as she admired her older brother, she knew he would never want to burden her with his problems. Which meant that things were probably even worse than he'd let on.
She hit the 'end call button' on her phone, and quickly dialed another number.
The cell phone only rang twice before a younger voice answered happily. "Oh, it's Shizuka! How are you?"
"Hi Mokuba- I'm afraid I'm not very good. I'm really worried about nii-san. He's not doing well and he wouldn't tell me the whole story."
The younger of the two sighed. "Yeah, same with Seto. He only said that Jou's probably not going to be back for a while."
Shizuka couldn't stop herself from gasping. 'Wouldn't be back for a while?' That sounded like Kaiba expected that nii-san would be coming back soon! It seemed like Kaiba really wasn't taking this whole thing seriously. Maybe her brother had been under-reacting even more than she supposed...
"Shizuka? Are you there?"
"Yes, sorry Mokuba. I was just... thinking."
"About what we should do?" The younger voice sounded almost hopeful.
"There's nothing we really can do." She sadly admitted. "If they can't work out their problems together, then they'll never be a healthy couple."
"Oh." Mokuba wasn't totally sure he understood, but he decided to not question it. He'd already been warned that women knew more about love and all that sort of gunk.
"It's up to them- but I really hope they can work things out."
"Yeah... me too."
A short while later the two teens hung up, each quietly holding their concern for the person they loved most in the world.