Chapter 4

It was late. Kaiba Seto walked wearily into his own home with the laptop case in one hand and the light grey coat of his business suit slung over his left shoulder. Deep down, he was glad that the weekend was coming. And, for once, he wasn't gong to work on Saturday or Sunday because he'd promised Mokuba. To be honest with himself, he was going to "work" on a little computer code from home even later into the night, so it was okay for him to skip the usual weekend alone in his office.

Seto passed the darkened living room and saw two figures asleep on the Victorian-styled couch. His little brother, Mokuba, was snoozing, snuggled into the oversized creamy brown throw-blanket that that silly, effeminate interior decorator said matched the couch. (Which, in Seto's opinion, it didn't.) And Jou was sitting next to him with a large bowl of popcorn in his lap. Jounouchi's head was tilted all the way back, head resting on the back of the couch, and his mouth was wide open. He drooled a little. Disgusting. Seto curled his lip. Then, he looked at the big screen TV. The movie they'd been watching was, mercifully, over and the DVD player kept playing the same short piece of punk rock music repeatedly with the menu screen begging to replay the whole monster flick again and again for all eternity. Poorly animated space ships zoomed in and out of the screen.

Seto moved around to the coffee table and picked up the DVD box with a slight hesitation. What kind of piece of crap movie is this? He looked at it, and his mouth twisted into a nervous, twitchy curve. The box's title read "Wild Zero."

Wild---what? What, the hell, is this?!

Seto's eyes narrowed at the summary as he read: "The power of love and rock-and-roll music will defeat the forces of alien zombie mayhem in this gender-bending saga featuring the Japanese punk band Guitar Wolf. See Japanese culture at its finest!"

Seto put a hand to his head. Which idiot sleeping on the couch thought of this? Seto dropped the box on the coffee table. He reached out a hand and gave his raven-haired little brother a small nudge. Mokuba opened his eyes slowly and smiled when he saw his big brother.

"Wanna join us?" he sighed before closing his eyes again. He hugged the blanket.

"Go to bed," Seto ordered and gave him a hand up.

"'Kay," Mokuba said as almost a yawn and padded his way quietly to his room.

Seto leaned over and gave Jounouchi a much harder nudge. But, it didn't work. He watched Jou's face for a second. He seemed to be in REM sleep, eyes moving quickly from side to side.

Still leaning over in the semi-darkened room, Seto gave Jou almost a shove this time.

"ZOMBIE!" Jou shouted, eyes flying open and staring up at Seto—who had arms akimbo. There was a brief popcorn shower.

"Is that a criticism?" came a snide voice. "Considering you are a card carrying member of the Geek Squad, I don't think you can talk." Seto narrowed his eyes at Jounouchi, flicked popcorn out of his own hair, and crossed his arms.

"Oh, you're home… Heh…heh… Welcome back… Mokuba and I…" He looked for his partner in crime, but he'd disappeared.

"Mokuba went to bed," Seto said, taking the mostly empty bowl from Jou's lap and putting it on the coffee table, "and so should you." He offered a hand up.

"Yup, you're right," Jounouchi said, ruffling his own hair lazily, "and I will… tomorrow night." Jounouchi found Seto's hand, pulled him down on the couch with him and put the throw over them both. "Goodnight, Kaiba."

Seto's face softened a little, but he sighed inwardly, too. This is so typical of Mutt. I'm sure he sleeps in his street clothes and doesn't even care. "Jounouchi?" he whispered, "I'm in a designer business suit."

"Deal with it," Jounouchi said, squirming around and snuggling in. His cheek and one arm were resting on Seto's chest now. Their legs tangled together. Jounouchi smelled like buttered popcorn. If he hadn't been so tired, then…he and Jou would…together…tonight…

But, no, he sighed to himself inwardly—I'm too tired. "I always sleep in pajamas."

"And I want my Kaiba-blanket," Jounouchi snickered again. "You feel warm."

Seto refused to consider it. What if we fell asleep like this? "Mokuba will find us here tomorrow."

"Does that really matter? He knows the way we are. He's okay with it. So, welcome home, Kaiba," he said with a yawn. "Now, get some sleep."

"Did you hear me?"

Jou cut his eyes at Seto. You really know how to kill a mood, don't 'cha Kaiba? Ugh! Jounouchi gave a short, impatient huff. "Fine," he said with a deeply annoyed edge in his voice, "I'll go back to the house now. I don't even know what time it is… Doesn't matter… You know, that ceramic bowl of stale popcorn," he pointed to the coffee table, "is a lot warmer than you are after all. See ya tomorrow." He's such a jerk sometimes…waking me up and all…

Jou started to get up, doing almost a push-up on top of Seto, and felt himself getting pulled down again.

"Who said you could leave, Mutt?" Seto's trademark smirk returning to him. I didn't mean go back to your father's house, idiot. I wanted you to stay here…sleep here…in the bedroom that you like.

"Great, insult me some more, why don't cha?"

He trapped Jounouchi on top of him, putting a hand on the other's lower pack and applying a gentle pressure. He looked up into stern, hazel eyes.

"I really made you mad this time, huh?"

The hand made slow and gentle strokes—the kind that Jounouchi's body enjoyed way too much. The blond tried to ignore it even though his heartbeat had picked up speed. Deep inside, he was hoping that his voice wouldn't betray what else he felt.

"I'm sleepy and I'm mad," Jounouchi grumped back, fighting to ignore the gentle stroking. "And insulted…" You jerk!

Hazel eyes glared downward. In response, Seto's eyes took on a lean and hungry look to them. His gentle pressure on Jou's back moved to the waist. With both hands now, Seto's fingers pressed into Jou's sides and made a slow, determined trek downward. Jounouchi took a sharp breath and rested his body on top of Kaiba, moaning a little. I can't believe I just did that in front of Kaiba. I lost control for a second. He cursed himself for being weak when he should be angry. Seto saw the look and enjoyed it.

"Did I just insult you again?" Seto said seductively in his ear.

Jou didn't answer back. He could feel the hands making the same motion downward again. His body trembled for a second, and Seto touched Jounouchi's hand when that happened and stroked it. "Insulted?" he whispered and watched all of Jou's determination drain away. He took the blond's hand, placed the palm to his mouth and drew a warm, wet circle with his tongue. Seto leaned in for a kiss and Jou, weakly, bent over to meet it, but Seto turned away suddenly. Then, he reached for the DVD box on the coffee table. "No, this movie's an insult," he said with a knowing smirk. A hand stroked blond hair out of Jou's face. Seto's mouth came very close to Jou's again, but then he turned his face away. "Next time, before you let my little brother watch a zombie movie, call me and ask if it's okay."

Jou blinked back, feeling slightly flushed from everything—including his "almost kisses." His heart was beating hard, too. Jounouchi struggled to engage his brain again-- thinking to himself, I guess the old saying is right. Men have two heads and can only think with one at a time.

" Wha-? Oh yeah, I guess…that's fair." But then he smiled a little and leaned his forehead against Seto's. "Next time, though, we want you to join us." He said it quietly. His buttery breath tickled Seto's face.

"A zombie movie…?"

"Yeah," Jou said stroking Seto's cheek with his thumb, "though, for you, it would probably be like looking into a mirror."

Seto stared evenly.

"No, really," Jou said smiling wide and pulling his face back to look at him, "you should see yourself at the end of the day."

Seto frowned immediately with a flash of anger. "And all you ever do, Mutt, is play," he shot back.

That hurt and Seto saw it. I guess I said too much, even if it is the truth.

Jounouchi thought about it for a second. His bruised ego was making an itch in his heart that he couldn't scratch. Just a few minutes ago…with Kaiba…I almost…and now, I'm so mad at him! Grrrr! His jaw was set, too. Oh, is that what you think? "I have two jobs and go to school. You work one job in an air conditioned office. I'm a worker bee, and you're a big boss."

Seto nodded back, half listening. Jou had made these comments before. It was nothing new. It was the same "Pity me why don't you?" speech that he found so boring. And it would all end the same way, too. Going through the motions seemed to be the easiest thing. Seto watched the ceiling for awhile.

Seeing this, Jounouchi touched Seto's chin. He gently turned the face toward him and gave him a level stare--hazel eyes narrowing. Uncomfortable, Seto tried to jerk away. Jou placed his whole hand against Seto's cheek and forced him to look him in the eye.

"If I worked like you… If I acted like you… If I dressed like you… If I spoke like you… Would you…love me then? Would you tell me 'Suki da yo'?"

Seto blinked back in surprise. "That wasn't what I thought you were going to say," he murmured. Somehow, what Jou just said didn't fit the script in his head.

"But I knew that's what you were going to say." Jounouchi patted Seto's shoulder in a friendly way—the kind of pat that you would give to someone you barely knew—and got off of Seto and the couch. "And, you know, you're right." He picked up his scruffy blue jean jacket off the edge of the couch. "It's late. You worked hard, and you want to get some sleep." Jou gave Seto a short wave of the hand. "Bye. See ya in school."

Out of the corner of his eye, Seto watched him go—and fumed. Why does it always feel like it's my fault?! Baka! Baka! Baka!

"Stupid Mutt," he mumbled under his breath as he watched Jounouchi put his shoes on at the door. Jou didn't look back. He put his jacket on and walked into the night air.

The wind was cool and it felt good.

The stars are out tonight, Seto thought as he followed his blond puppy. He looked up and saw a hazy riverbed made of white pin pricks of light. With all of these street lights, the Celestial River (the Milky Way) doesn't seem so bright. What does seem bright is…. He looked up directly overhead. The moon was almost full and still rising, making it bright and possible to see just about everything. He saw his own "moon shadow" cast eerily against the ground, cold and short.

Jounouchi was several meters ahead of him, walking in the casual "mutt-like" way that he always did. At times like these, Seto could see the past gang-banger in Jounouchi. He had the mien of someone who was an outcast and had to protect himself. And while he never stared anyone down, he did know who he was and where he as going. The "don't mess with me" message was communicated pretty clearly and two men on the street avoided him, averting their eyes.

Seto sighed to himself and wondered just how much of that was caused by, or even encouraged by, dating the "great Kaiba Seto." Then again, Seto knew full well that his own walk wasn't that of a humble Japanese citizen, either. But, he was okay with that.

Jou passed a few bars and there were more people on the street now. He seemed to shy away from the couples that passed him, half-drunk women clinging openly onto their men and chatting in the way that they do sometimes when "three sheets to the wind." One fat woman, who was in desperate need of a support bra, seemed particularly bossy to her man and Seto watched Jou laugh to himself.

By now, Seto thought, Jounouchi has probably gotten over his 'mad' and will be more reasonable. Why do we fight like this now? Well, if you can call it a 'fight'… Back when we dueled, we would yell all sorts of insults. But, now…

Seto watched his puppy a little more—making sure he'd be okay on his way back to his father's house. As usual, no one would be there. The house would be dark, too. But it was just a place where his mutt slept for six hours (and, sometimes, less). Still, that bothered Seto somewhere deep inside. For a little over five weeks, now, he seemed to feel better knowing that Mokuba and Jounouchi would be waiting for him at the mansion with stories of how their day went, who they met, what they did…all of them eating a very late dinner that the cook had made… He'd smirk and make some sort of witty or sarcastic remark that would cause the other two to laugh out loud. That was home.

Seto watched Jou a little longer—and his eyebrows knit together. There were two shadows on the ground ahead of him. One was clearly Jou's and the other….? Seto felt his heart beating harder. His eyes darted. He looked, trying to penetrate the darkness. The second shadow left and then returned stronger thanks to some street lights. It stopped when Jou stopped. It hesitated. Swiftly, it ran to catch up with Jounouchi. Then, it walked with a casual pace and then shrunk or faded away. The shadow stopped again and stepped back, getting smaller.

Seto jogged to the spot where he thought the person was standing. The narrow alley with a streetlight shining through was empty—only trash and old produce crates from the corner grocery remained. Seto shook his head in frustration. He looked ahead and saw Jou about to reach the street corner. The light was going to turn.

"Mutt?" he called out.

Jounouchi stopped and looked around, curious.

"Eh? Kaiba?" he said back. "What are you doing here? Is there a problem?" He felt totally confused. Seto seemed angry and flushed. He could tell that something was wrong with him. Seto was heading in his direction with huge strides, face set.

"Are you okay?" Jou asked with a nasty edge. I'm still pissed at you, by the way.

Seto approached Jou but wasn't looking at him. He was looking at everything around them. Street lights. Signs. Neon signs. High rooftops. Windows…a lot of windows… A few stragglers but nobody around them, near them. Jou noticed that Seto's hands were balled into fists. Not good, he thought and tried to follow Seto's traveling eyes.

"Okay, I'm officially freaked out now." Jou rested a hand on Seto's shoulder, getting his attention. "What is it?"

"I…I…," Seto said. I can't tell him that someone was following him. He'll just think I'm paranoid. I'll think up something else. He forced a deep frown on his face. "Hell, I don't know. I guess... it was a trick of the night or the lights or something. I'm not sure what it was," Seto replied in a tone that almost sounded like he was complaining.

"It happens," Jou shrugged.

"And…I also… came to say," Seto looked at Jou and then down at the sidewalk. He could still see, in the back of his mind, the shadow following Jounouchi. Dark, cold, unstoppable… "To say that…I'm sorry. Jounouchi, gomen na."

Jounouchi's jaw dropped. I must be hearing things or I'm still half asleep, Jou thought. Seto was still staring at the ground with an annoyed look. Jou thought again, Nope, he really said it. That's…kind of…great… He tried to be humble and forced back his smile.

"Come with me?" Seto continued, quietly.

"To your house?"

"To my house… To my couch… I can get us some coffee, and we can watch that hideous abomination of a zombie movie… that they're marketing as Japanese culture," Seto added the last part tartly.

"You really want to be with me, don't cha? That makes me…kinda…happy. And, I guess, how I feel about things means something to you, too. Thank you, Kaiba," Jou said quietly with a smile, leaning his head to one side, hoping to catch a glimpse of the blue eyes that had turned away from him.

There was a little pride in Jou's voice that deeply annoyed Seto.

"I followed you all the way here, didn't I?" Seto grumbled, eyes narrowing. "Plus, it's late and the streets get darker from here."

Jounouchi smiled, tilted his chin, and whispered into Seto's ear, "Fine with me." So, Kaiba was a little worried about me after all. That feels…wonderful, too. "Instead of the movie, how about we drink coffee and I'll tell you how Mokuba's day went today?"

Seto raised an eyebrow.

Whoa, wait… I can't tell him about the kiss from Yuna-chan. I made a man to man promise with Mokuba. I gotta tell him something else.

"It was—actually—pretty good, but I don't want to steal his thunder," Jounouchi began while playing with a strand of blond hair that was tickling his nose.

They turned and made their way back to the mansion. Jou glanced at the profile of his companion in the dark. It was a relief to make up and have Seto by his side again. It felt like he had the other half of his soul back. He could be happy and sleep well tonight.

Seto felt himself smile the moment Jounouchi reached over, touched his hand, and stroked it softly. Then, Jou linked their pinkie fingers together. They walked on into the night, linked, fist against fist.

"Mokuba did really well on his math test today."

"Of course, he's my brother."

"Spoken like a true Kaiba, huh?" Jounouchi said, amused.

Seto looked over to Jou. The happy puppy prattled on about "nothing" and "everything" in the cool night air—nudging his companion playfully with his shoulder to emphasize his points. Seto regarded him for a second. For a total hot-head and loud-mouth, he really knew how to forgive without making the other person cringe inside. Forgiveness was something that Seto was not good at and never would be. He envied Jou a little for letting go like that.

"Oh? I see…" Seto heard himself murmur back, forcing his voice to be calm. He looked at Jounouchi's face when he said it. Jounouchi's eyes crinkled when he smiled. That was nice. Still listening, Seto nodded from time to time, and walked on—forcing himself to hide what he truly felt.

I have to stay calm. I have to look into this. I know something is wrong…terribly wrong. I will protect Jounouchi…even if it means… Yes, even if it means…

From somewhere behind them, Seto knew full well that the shadow was following.