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Chapter 7: Dirt, Mahjong, part one

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AN: Hi. In the spirit of Yu-Gi-Oh, we're gonna play some games. This is the mahjong chapter (divided into parts one and two). For those of you who aren't familiar with mahjong, ah, oops~ The gist is you've got three suits and a number of special tiles, and you're trying to make a winning hand of fourteen tiles, made up of (4) sequences or three-of-a-kinds, and (1) pair. It runs similar to a game of rummy. It's more complicated than that, and also there are special hands and stuff, but Joey keeps it simple, and hopefully the story will be easy to follow for non-players. For those of you who are players- It's been a long time, and I can pretty much guarantee I both made Joey seem like way more of a newb than he is, and made some kind of error in terms of the Japanese variant(s) of the game. Feel free to chastise me. Let me know if it's difficult to read for whatever reason~

Other than that, thank you! Read & Relax.


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"Awww," Mai purred into the phone. "You miss me?"

"D-Did I say that?"

Joey's face blanched. He pressed the garlic crusher up to the pot, and scraped the flesh into the pan, so it dropped down into the fatty, shredded chicken. He couldn't dirty his hands, so he lifted up his arm and wiped his forehead with his forearm. Beads of sweat caught on the pale hair on his arms.

"You did!" Mai chirped happily. "I've got your message recorded, hon." Her voice turned low and mocking. "I miss you so much, Mai-sama. Come back to me, and pat my head and kiss my nose and take me out. Smoochity-smooch." She pursed her lips and made fake kissing noises, before returning to her normal voice. "My message machine doesn't lie," she snickered. "That's what you said, Joey."

"Agh!" Joey groaned in fake exasperation. "Now I know you're just making shit up. You're such a liar, Mai."

Joey's nose wrinkled. It was probably just the smell of the garlic and burning chicken fat. Joey rubbed the pad of his big toe against the linoleum.

"Ah, you caught me," Mai giggled. Joey could hear the phone shuffled on the other end of the line. When the speaker pressed back up against her mouth again, her playfulness had left her for wistfulness. "I guess I am."

This was irritating somehow. Joey busied himself with filling the kettle and boiling water for broth.

He cleared his throat.

"So, uh, you're in Majorca, right?"

"Close enough." Joey felt like he could hear Mai flip her hand dismissively. "Running cruises out of Majorca," Mai specified.

Joey wiped a hand on his apron.

"Wait… you're on the ship?" he said. "Right now?"

Mai had apparently read something dismissive in his voice.

"What's so bad about ships?" Joey heard her pout. "You know~ We met on a ship~"

"No, it's just-" Joey felt himself flush. He would rather have not been reminded of the way he'd acted the fool the first time they met. "Just-" he couldn't think of what to say. "How are you making this call?" he decided. "I thought you were between voyages? Didn't you have some gig in the casinos in town?"

Mai answered his questions in order.

"The ship has their own radio tower." Mai huffed, irritated. "They charge out the roof for local calls," she complained. "You can imagine international's a bitch."

Joey grasped his cell phone in his hand and tried to forget who paid the bills on it.

"Not that you're not worth it," Mai hastened to reassure.

She moved on from this rather quickly.

"And I finished up in town for now. The poker tournament in Palma went great!" Mai said proudly. She sighed. "It's just there's a couple of months until Portugal. Nothing to do but float around until then~"

They'd sat on opposite ends of a hotel's comforter. Mai fanned the cards out, face down, in her palm. Her fingers shuffled deftly, flying between the cards. There was no consideration for spades and clubs and hearts getting smudged or bent or frayed, the way there was with Magicians and Dragons and Harpie Ladies.

"Eyes up, cards down," Mai teased. She tapped her finger to his chin and winked. Drew his eyes away from the creamy lace of her bra and the curve of her navel, and up into her dark eyes. She'd leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the side of his mouth, before setting down her cards – a straight flush – on the surface of the comforter.

"Agh~ I just don't get poker~" Joey had complained.

Mai laughed, and piled the cards together.

"It's not complicated enough for you," she teased. "It's not complicated enough for me, either," she said. "Duel Monsters is more fun. I get tired of just bluffing all the time."

"Then why do you bother with blackjack and poker?" Joey pouted.

Mai frowned and started lecturing.

"Have you ever known a gambler to quit?" she prodded. "Listen, hon, you aren't ever done with anything that brings in this kind of money~"

"What money?" Joey snorted. "Tell that to my dad."

"You know why your dad doesn't win, Joey?" Mai asked. She paused for dramatic effect. "It's because he doesn't play for the house." She winked.

The chicken was starting to char in the pan again. Joey hastily scraped the bottom of the pan, and poured hot water over it. He searched the cupboards for spiced oil.

"You know, I think it's good we met on a ship," Mai had decided, as Joey spaced out. "They say it's different when you meet people when you're travelling. There's something romantic and unearthly about it, right?"

Joey pouted. "But you're always travelling~" he said. "Who was the last person you met while you were staying in one place?"

He didn't know why Mai had to float around for two months until her tournament in Portugal.

Why don't you go visit your folks right now? he wanted to ask. Get it out of the way!

Mai laughed. "True. True." And it took Joey a moment to remember what she was responding to.

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Joey lined his feet against the bedroom wall. The red toes of his white socks were running thin, and near tearing. Joey squinted at them critically, as he stabbed a piece of chocolate roll cake with his fork, and dragged it to his mouth. It was a challenge to eat while lying on his back, but it was a challenge he was meeting with aplomb.

He arched his back, and tried to glance over at Yuugi, whose head was predictably stuck in his enclave of textbooks.

Flecks of coconut and whipping cream dropped onto Joey's nose, and he wiped absently at them, collecting the crumbs on his finger. He'd left the fork sticking out of his mouth, and he licked around it at his finger.

He looked back up at his socks.

This continued until, after several blind stabs at his plate failed to produce any more cake. He ran the blunt edge of the fork against the glass, trying to collect the last of the cream.

He looked back at Yuugi again. On top of the stack of books sat Yuugi's piece of cake, still untouched.

He managed to remain patient for about three seconds.

"Hey, Yuugi," he called.

Yuugi hummed noncommittally. He seemed torn between his studies and his desire to acknowledge Joey. His head seesawed back and forth slightly, as he tried and failed to pull himself out of his work.

"Hey, Yuugi!" Joey said, louder this time. "Are you gonna eat that?" He pointed to the plate on top of Yuugi's textbooks.

Yuugi finally succeeded in pulling himself away this time. He pressed himself away from his desk, and turned towards Joey.

"Hmm?"

He seemed confused. And his eyes bleary and unfocussed behind his glasses. He blinked clarity into them.

"Your cake. Can I have it?" Joey batted his eyes innocently.

Yuugi blinked, still confused, and looked at the plate on top of the textbooks as if he'd never seen it before.

He plucked it up in his hand, and reached for the fork.

"No way," he giggled. He shoved a bite into his mouth.

Joey clicked his tongue, as Yuugi laughed around a bite of chocolate.

"Hey~! You wouldn't even have noticed the cake was there if I hadn't pointed it out to you."

Yuugi continued to laugh. He spun his chair back and forth and swallowed another bite.

"Didn't Mom give you an extra-large slice?" Yuugi prompted.

Joey pouted.

Yuugi laughed again. "She likes you~" he teased. "Joey-kun should take better care dressing himself. Is Joey-kun getting enough rest? What kind of donburi do you think Joey-kun would prefer?" he mimicked.

Joey felt himself colour. He had felt a little bit proud, with the way Mutou-chan asked him to help her serve up the cake, and sweep the front entrance of the house. She's patted him on the shoulder casually, and given him the slice of the roll cake with the chocolate medallion on top.

"She gave you all the credit for bringing me out of my shell, back in tenth grade~" Yuugi laughed.

Joey opened his mouth to say that that was pretty ridiculous. Atem and Anzu definitely got part of the credit. But then-

"Me too~" Yuugi added. "I give you all the credit." He winked.

This seemed too much to bear. Joey gaped for a minute, face burning.

"Eh- er- I see…" Joey said. He floundered only a moment longer, before he let a smirk tilt the side of his mouth. "I didn't know you felt that way… That you and your mom admired old Joey Wheeler that much… In that case…"

Joey set his place aside. He rolled over on his stomach as smoothly as he could, and propped his head up against his hands, and kicked his feet up at the knees, entangling them seductively.

"I suppose I can return Mutou-chan's affections, and take over as your guardian~" Joey batted his eyes exaggeratedly. "Whaddaya think, Yuugi~? If you like me that much, want Joey-kun to become your new papa-kun~?"

Yuugi snorted whipped cream up his nose. He looked caught between laughter and illness, as he coughed. He picked an eraser off the desk and flicked it over so it bounced off Joey's forehead.

Joey giggled to himself.

"Too far, Joey," Yuugi hacked around his cake. "Gross~ That's still my mom!" he protested. But he was smiling.

"Heh, heh~" Joey smirked, pleased with the turn the conversation had taken.

He felt less pleased when Yuugi turned, smiling, back to his work.

Joey bit his lip. He jostled his feet uncomfortably, before reaching to find where the eraser had fallen. He tossed it in the air a couple of times. When this proved unexciting, he gripped it tight in his hand and scrubbed at his nails, watching the flecks of dirt and grease fall into the folds of the eraser and fall to the floor in shreds.

He managed to hold the silence for another minute or so, before sighing heavily.

"Ah, this week is gonna take a bite outta my ass~" he whined. "Yamada-san's bugging me again about temp. Just what I need – three nights breaking my back over a fuckin' ditch. And that's on top of the normal five shifts and having to deal with Kaiba's bitching…"

"Hm?" Yuugi asked, as he looked back to Joey. He realised what Joey had said belatedly, and responded before Joey could repeat himself. "That sounds really tough," Yuugi commiserated. "Are you sure you can handle all that?"

Joey shrugged awkwardly, still resting the weight of his torso on his elbows.

"Yamada-san's such a goddamn slave driver~" he sighed. "I told him I didn't have much time, but he talked me into three shifts anyhow."

Yuugi adjusted his glasses and tilted his head.

"Is Kaiba-kun not paying you enough?" he asked, concerned. "Can't you just tell Yamada-san you've already got enough on your plate with your job right now?

Joey huffed. "Well, I could…" he said sullenly.

Silence dragged out awkwardly between them. Yuugi's face scrunched in confusion.

"You could, but...?" he prompted

Joey scowled. Telling Yamada-san to piss off would be fucking great. Only problem was Yamada-san was likely to throw the same line back at him, the next time he needed extra work on the fly. He assumed this catch-22 would be obvious, even to Yuugi.

He owed Yamada-san anyhow, for all those time he'd scrounged up extra hours for Joey close to rental payments…

He wished he had the luxury of burning his bridges.

Yuugi seemed to realise he'd stepped in something. He waved his question off nervously.

"I was just worried," he admitted. "I wasn't sure if you'd gotten in trouble with Kaiba-kun because of the roller coaster…"

Joey rocked back and forth on the bed, and flipped over onto his back again.

"Er, did Honda tell you that?" he asked anxiously. "You took him to your department drinking party, huh? How was Honda? Was he pissed with me?"

"I don't think so," Yuugi answered, with just the tiniest tinge of doubt. "He didn't talk about you all that much."

Joey scowled.

Figures…

"He told us about the roller coaster after a few drinks. He seemed to think it was pretty funny by then." Yuugi grinned sheepishly. "Sound like you guys had a crazy time at Kaiba Land."

Joey hedged. It wasn't Kaiba Land in particular that had upset him about the whole fiasco…

"Honda seemed in a good mood overall though, if a little distracted," Yuugi admitted.

"Huh~" Joey agreed. "What? Was he tripping over himself trying to look good in front of all your college babes?"

"Well… it was his birthday so…?"

Joey blinked at the ceiling. For a moment he had forgotten…

"Oh, you actually got that out of him?" Joey snorted. The surprise made him sit up, and turn towards Yuugi. "I'm surprised. That's super classified information… Yanno, I knew that bastard for three whole years and saved his ass from a dozen beatings before I learned when his birthday was. And that's only because his older sister ratted him out. He'd never let me celebrate it or nothin'."

Yuugi laughed. "Well, if it makes you feel better, he didn't tell me it was his birthday either. I only found out because Otogi-kun disappeared halfway through the evening, and came back with presents and a bunch of party poppers." Yuugi's smile was bright. "Honda-kun seemed really embarrassed."

Joey tried to laugh at Honda's misfortune, but his snicker died prematurely.

"Aww, man," he said around a half smile. "I bet he was pissed~"

Yuugi shook his head, in a strange half-gesture that only made it halfway to his left side. "He didn't seem to mind that much," he chirped. "He spent a while with his head buried in his hands. But I think he was just trying to hide how much he was blushing. Otogi-kun got him some vintage Dragon Quest game, and some accessories for his motorbike." Yuugi scratched the back of his head, and bowed his head apologetically. "I felt so guilty for not having a gift. But Honda-kun said it was okay… I got everybody to sing happy birthday to him – even the professors. I think it just made him more embarrassed but-"

Yuugi giggled. "He seemed really happy actually~ I told him next year we'd have to have a big party. To make up for all the years we brushed over it!"

"And… he agreed to that?" Joey asked sceptically.

"He didn't get a chance to before Otogi-kun latched onto the idea~" Yuugi giggled. "Otogi-kun said that Serenity-chan and him had been wanting to have a birthday party proper for a while. He offered up the Black Crown Game shop as a venue."

"Huh~" Joey grunted. "They're… getting along well, huh?"

Yuugi brushed him off.

"You know how they are with one another."

Joey considered this for a moment.

"Er… yeah…"

He let it drop.

"So, um… that's how my drinking party went…" Yuugi said. He hesitated. "H-How was your Friday?"

"Oh, um…" Joey flushed. "P-pretty good," he said.

"That's good," Yuugi agreed. He hesitated longer. He readjusted his glasses. "Um, Anzu heard from Mai that you went out drinking with your co-workers…"

Joey felt all the blood drain out of his face.

He hadn't consider his call to Mai might've gotten out. Goddamn gossip mill… Except it was his own fault, wasn't it? For not making the time to spend with his very best friend?

Joey collapsed down onto the bed, and slithered down to the carpeted floor.

"Yuugi! I'm so, so sorry!" he pleaded. He placed his hands, triangular in front of him, and bowed his head to the floor. "I didn't mean-" He found himself sniffling onto the carpet.

Tears were not falling, at least. But the lump in his throat was getting bigger all the time. He lifted his torso up and bowed down again.

"I'm so sorry I ditched your department's party and then went out with Mami-chan and the others." He shifted uncomfortably. "S-She cornered me-" he said. He desperate to shift away the blame and the guilt, but it didn't seem to be working. "Not that I couldn't have- And- I-"

"Joey!" Yuugi was standing over him. Joey wasn't sure when he'd gotten there. But as Joey peeked up from where he was bowed to the floor, Yuugi looked gigantic, like a benevolent god.

Yuugi flopped down onto the floor, and laid face up with his head resting against Joey's back.

"Don't worry so much," Yuugi reassured. "I just wanted you to know that I knew – so it wouldn't be uncomfortable between us~"

There was a buzz of static electricity, as Yuugi nuzzled his curly hair into Joey's shirt.

"I get that work sometimes takes precedence. It's hard having so many commitments." Yuugi shook his head and giggled. "But it's a good thing, right – that you're getting along well with your co-workers?"

The uncomfortable feeling in Joey's stomach held. He grasped at the surface of the carpet, and felt the stringy white fuzz slip through his fingers. He tried to find the will to get up, and tell Yuugi he had it wrong, but he couldn't find the context for it.

"Mmm," he agreed vaguely. He rocked and turned over on the floor. Gently. So that Yuugi was disturbed only slightly as Joey repositioned it on his stomach~

"I worried you'd be all alone in the middle of Kaiba Corp," Yuugi continued. "I'm glad you've made friends. Although-" Yuugi turned his head and smiled at Joey. "It would still be nice if I could introduce you to the rest of my department sometime."

"Yuugi, I'm-" Joey started.

"But I'm happy~" Yuugi reassured.

He reached up, stretched his arm out to pat down Joey's hair. "The roots are getting dark again…" he muttered absently, before continuing.

"I'm happy," Yuugi repeated. "I feel really lucky to have a friend like you. That goes out of their way to make time to visit me, and sit in my room. Even when all I'm doing is studying."

Wasn't Joey the lucky one though? The one that came here to mooch off of Yuugi? And to exist in a clear, comfortable space?

Joey's face was red. Thanks, man. The words caught in his throat.

He reached down to ruffled Yuugi's hair in return. It was the same texture as the carpet, and the strands slipped easily through his hands.

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It was a simple list of items, bulleted one after the other.

Canned coffee and cigarettes. White out. A packet of rubber bands. A lint roller. A bag of shrimp chips. (Even bald, old businessmen got the munchies it seemed.) A laser pointer. A second brand of cigarettes. And, of course, Lipovitan.

"Sulking isn't becoming." Satou-chan scolded.

Joey exaggerated his scowl. Took it past realism for the sake of comic effect.

Satou-chan tisked. A half-hearted reprimand.

He'd been kept on a tight leash since the roller coaster incident. Satou-chan seemed to be keeping him directly under her supervision most of the time, either that or she'd send him down to the internal mailroom. This was the first unique thing he'd been sent out for in days, and even Joey couldn't shake the feeling he was being coddled and patronised.

If he needed a driver to take him to the convenience store anyhow, couldn't the driver just pick up the things on the shopping list? Stupid. Stupid.

He wasn't about to question it or complain though, not after having landed himself in hot water the week before.

"You can pay for it out of pocket. Just bring the receipt and we'll reimburse you," Satou-chan said. She waved the shopping list away, and turned back to her work.

Joey spent a couple of moments watching her hands curl over the corner of the phone list. Her skin was wrinkled a little right beneath her knuckles.

He couldn't actually get out of not saying it.

"Um, I don't know what out-of-pocket kind of cash you think I have on me, but I've got two hundred yen and change for the subway. So…" Joey trailed off, expectantly.

Satou-chan paused. She seemed to consider it for a moment then sighed.

She picked up her phone, and dialled pressed only a couple of buttons.

"Mmm, sorry to interrupt you. I was going to send Wheeler-san out for some supplies for your meeting with the board. He says he doesn't have enough money on-hand to cover the purchases."

Joey listened, to see if he could here Kaiba's voice through the door to his office.

"Mmm, yes, Kaiba-sama," Satou-chan agreed.

The phone clicked back down onto the receiver, and Satou-chan scooted back in her seat and pulled open the desk drawer.

She sorted through some folders and stray pens, reached for the back of the drawer, and drew out a collection of cards held together with a binder clip. Her nails clicked against the plastic, as she flipped through them – almost too fast to look at them. Halfway through the pile, she stopped and drew out a credit card. She set it down on the desk and, using one hand, slid it over the surface of the desk towards Joey. Her fingers covering the digits on the front.

When she was done she nodded, and gathered the rest of the cards back up in an orderly pile, and clipped them back together.

Joey reached forward and tentatively picked up the card that had been set aside for him. It didn't remind him of Mai's golden VISA, or the dark grey card Anzu had sent him a picture of, digits and all, when she'd gotten one in the states. It wasn't like Japan, she'd told him. This was the easiest way to pay for things here, and a lot safer than carrying cash around. And they'd hand a credit card to anybody in the USA, not just to rich businessmen with their families and homes paid off, who show off to their co-workers when they paid for the drinks and live entertainment.

No, this card had a feel all its own. A cold and professional deep blue, with silver numbers over the letters KC, in stark white. The JCB icon shone in the corner, separated from the blue background on a raised white border. Kaiba Corporation was printed next to the expiration date – 07•'04. It had two years left.

"H- How do I use it?"

The words slipped out of Joey's mouth before he had the opportunity to consider them. He bit his lip and fought his reddening cheeks.

He used to lift wallets off of people, back when he was in the gang. It was mostly people he'd clobbered into the pavement, broke ass idiots just like him – he wasn't some kind of weaselly pick pocket like that four-eyes Harada. But every once in a while easy targets flitted by on the train, and itchy hands got the better of him. He'd open the wallets later next to the tracks, pull out the cash, and ignore the faces on the IDs. Credit Cards were a rare find, and the idea that he could walk into a store and use one without being questioned was laughable. They were thrown into the bushes at the park along with bold-coloured club memberships and collectable phone cards.

'How do I use it?' Joey thought, mockingly. You're not thirteen anymore.

The question did not strike Satou-chan with the same shame that it did Joey.

"If they ask you any questions, your Kaiba Corp ID should be proof enough of your right to use that card," Satou-chan explained.

Joey thought about this, as he walked through the aisles of the Family Mart. It was the same one that he had met Kaiba in over a month earlier, and so there was kind of a disgusting nostalgia to it – like returning to the scene of a crime.

The prices were still terribly inflated, trapped inside of ghetto of the richest ward in Domino, and Joey cursed under his breath. He hadn't thought about it while he was in the car, but he should have instructed the driver take him to another Family Mart.

What difference did it make? It was all on Kaiba Corp's tab anyhow.

Joey made himself ignore the prices as he flipped goods into his shopping basket. He slammed the shrimp chips down on top of canned coffee a little too heatedly. He grabbed the office supplies by the corners of their hard plastic seals, and pulled so too many of them dropped haphazardly on top off the rest of his purchases.

He stomped through the aisles, and tried to ignore the pain in the back of his head, and the growing hunger in his gut. He wasn't here to get things for himself – pocky or asprin or gum.

It didn't take long to gather the things on Satou-chan's shopping list, not compared to the time it took to wait in line. There were four people waiting in front of him, and Joey busied himself with looking behind the counter. He still had to request a couple cartons of cigarettes, and he squinted at the brands packed up on the back wall. It was a beautiful mosaic of colour – red and green and orange and yellow – black and white. But it was difficult to distinguish the text on the boxes from so far off. Joey let himself instead be enamoured by the small seals on the sides – a cluster of stars, and the shining golden bat.

"Sir!" The cashier called him forward.

Joey blinked and walked up.

"Er, hi," he said. He lifted up Satou-chan's shopping list, squinted, and read off of it. "I'll take one pack of Marlboro Ice and one Castor Gold." Even if he didn't know the specific products by name, the cashier certainly would.

The cashier bowed, and busied himself pulling down the cigarettes. One of the brands was a common one close to eye level, but the other had to be pulled down from the top shelf.

Joey watched him work. Watched the arch in his back as he reached up, and the way his apron ties twisted behind his back.

It occurred to him that this might be the same cashier that he bought Kaiba's Lipovitan from the last time he'd been in, but Joey didn't recognise him one way or another.

A stab of frustration set through him.

God, he hated how forgettable these people were. You could forget all about them in the five seconds it took to walk from the counter out the front doors of the Family Mart.

"Is that all for you?"

The cashier had finished scanning the barcodes on the cigarettes. Had methodically pulled each item out of Joey's shopping cart, scanned it, and wrapped them carefully in a plastic shopping bag.

"Er, yea-" Joey agreed. He dug into his pocket and flipped the Kaiba Corp credit card out onto the counter. He removed the lanyard with the Kaiba Corp ID from around his neck, and slapped it on the counter pre-emptively. Defensively.

The cashier didn't blink. He reached for the credit card, bypassing the lanyard smoothly.

"All on your card?" he asked.

Joey squinted at the cashier's nametag. Tanaka-san.

Joey was suddenly filled with the urge to do something stupid.

"Actually, can I also get one of those lotto scratchers." Joey pointed down beneath the glass of the counter. "Just one of the hundred yen ones." He looked down and saw that the cheapest scratchers were pink and yellow today, and decorated with little bumble bees and flowers.

"Of course," the cashier said. He reached below the counter, and snapped one off the reel. He'd set the Kaiba Corp credit card down on the counter in the meantime, but the time it took him to scan the lottery scratcher and retrieve the credit card proved insufficient for Joey to work up the nerve to snatch it back, to hold the credit card against his chest protectively, to rescind his most recent decision.

The cashier slid the card against the register.

Joey winced. He half expected the register to suddenly flash red and beep like a siren. The cashier would turn on him suspiciously. The entrance to the Family Mart would shut as it went automatically into lockdown. Intruder. Intruder.

Instead the receipt printed, just like that. The cashier snapped it off the register, and handed it to him with both hands, along with the lotto scratcher. He handed over the bag next, and bowed deeply to Joey, in casual reverence of his power as paying customer.

There no choice but to accept.

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Joey felt embarrassed by how much of the car ride back to Kaiba Corp headquarters was spent wavering nervously on the issue of the lottery scratcher.

Certainly it was better to not mention it, to pretend he'd never bought it, than to apologise or draw attention to it. Joey didn't know why he always had to toe the line and challenge the outer limits, but it was better to not mention such a quality to your employers. If Satou-chan didn't notice the issue with the receipt, it was unlikely that anything would come of it – better to let it slide. It was only a hundred yen.

Joey kept on coming to this conclusion – over and over, time and time again – because for some reason he was completely unable to let it go. For some reason every time he thought he'd made his decision, he found himself reconsidering not fifty seconds later.

It was easy, somehow, to smile and thank the driver when they returned to the Kaiba Corp parking garage. Even the way he tapped his foot on the elevator floor, he felt convinced he didn't seem quite guilty. Impatient, probably. The Kaiba Corp central elevator played no ambient music, and it was a long ride up to the sixty-fifth floor.

Joey rationalised there was nothing to do except wait for Satou-chan's reaction when he handed her the receipt. Until that point he was only spinning his wheels. Cross that bridge when you come to it.

Joey waltzed back into the top office, past the empty sky lounge and white walls, whistling to himself. He plopped the plastic bag from the convenience store down on Satou-chan's desk – interrupting her phone call, and slid the Kaiba Corp credit card and the receipt up next to it. And when Satou-chan finally ended her phone call, when she gathered the credit card back up to put in the drawer, and filed the receipt with only a nod of thanks and a cursory glance at the total – that was when Joey stopped thinking because, somehow, thinking wasn't getting him anywhere he wanted to be.

Kaiba wasn't going to give a shit about a hundred yen. But who gave a shit what Kaiba did or didn't give a shit about? Joey had to tell him that he'd used the business credit card for something non-business-related. And he had to do it right now.

Satou-chan was ahead of him. She'd gotten up and taken the bag from the convenience store with her.

Joey sprinted after her, out into the sky lounge.

Satou-chan had walked behind the bar. She'd set the plastic bag on the counter, and had retrieved a large jet black tray from one of the cabinets.

"Hey, hey. Satou-chan," Joey pleaded, trying to sound smooth. He leaned over the bar in a way he hoped was charming and seductive. "You're busy right now, right?"

Satou-chan was arranging a crystal serving bowl, a few glasses, and an ashtray, but she paused to regard Joey.

"Did you require further direction, Wheeler-san?" she asked. "I believe you have to leave to pick up Mokuba-sama within the hour, but I will return just after I've delivered these to the board meeting. It's only two floors down. It shouldn't take long."

"No, well, y'see-" Joey hedged. "You have all your phone calls and… stuff… So wouldn't it better if I…"

Joey hooked a tentative finger around the handle of the plastic bag.

Satou-chan gave him a little frown and shook her head.

Joey ignored it.

"Why don't I just take these to Kaiba and the directors for you? Okay? Seeya. Bye," he rushed out, as he grabbed the bag and made a run for the elevator, keycard at the ready.

"Wheeler-san," Satou-chan protested. "Wheeler-san, if you must, at least take the tray with you!"

Her voice had all the tone of somebody who knew a lost cause when she saw one, though. And Joey slammed the button on the elevator, and awaited the plunge downward.

His keycard did, apparently, grant him access to the sixty-third floor, but not to any of the rooms inside. And Joey had forgotten that the large swathes that made up the skyscraper's upper floors were large and largely abandoned and creepy.

He walked through the halls, attempting to find the correct door. If he followed the corridor from the elevator out to the right, there was a suspicious pair of double doors. But he couldn't hear anything when he pressed his ears up against them, so it was difficult to tell if anybody was on the other side of them. He turned the other way down the hall.

He was halfway down the hall in the other direction, and a bit overwhelmed by the way the hall branched out in five different directions.

"Kaiba!" Joey called out.

No response.

The bright florescent lights against the cream coloured paint on the walls made the skin on his hands look sickly, as he gripped the plastic bag.

He could go back up and ask Satou-chan where to go, of course. But Satou-chan might insist on going with him to complete the task, or she might insist on doing it herself. And, more importantly, if he headed back up to the top level, he might remember that this was a dumb idea in the first place and chicken out. So he settled for going by the doors one by one, pressing his ear against them, and listening for the one that had the velvet timbre of Kaiba's clipped insults flowing inside.

He had checked almost every door on the floor and, finding nothing more than the sound of his own breath, was about to swing around for a second go-through when he noticed something.

The walls of Kaiba Corp's long halls were crisp and clear, undecorated. Sterile, like a hospital clinic, but without any bulletins or patient charts or calming blue landscapes plastered up. It really gave the impression that this floor of Kaiba Corp had never been occupied at all. That something had, perhaps, happened, directly after it had been primmed and primed and painted, that sent it into disuse.

So a suddenly occupied stretch of wall stood out – a poster, framed in white and gold. It was for an upcoming theatrical release, The Return of Banja: the Robot Dragon of Eons Lost.

On the poster, Banja had hit a dynamic pose, roaring against a backdrop of planets and space. His bright orange eyes glared out towards the viewer, offset against his sleek silver body. Joey checked the corners of the poster, but he didn't see the KC logo anywhere, or any other indication that the movie was affiliated with Kaiba Corp.

Somebody was exiting the elevator. Joey turned to look, then turned back to the poster – still charmed by the charisma of Banja the robot dragon, and then back to the new face.

The man was slightly shorter than Joey. Dressed in a deep navy suit, and carrying a briefcase in dusty brown. He had a pleasant face, and smiled as he waved to Joey from across the hall.

"Our latest pet project!" he explained. "Looking forward to the upcoming Golden Week, huh?"

Joey was caught off-guard. "Er-"

The man reached out his hand. He grabbed Joey's a pulled it into a firm handshake.

"Daigo Akio," he introduced. "And you are?"

"Joey Wheeler," Joey said. When Daigo let go of his hand, Joey fumbled for his lanyard. "I'm, uh-"

Useless Nobody, his keycard read.

Joey let the card fall back down.

"I guess I'm..." he scratched the back of his head and tried to think up an explanation.

Daigo said something strange.

Joey blinked. It took him a minute to realise Daigo had spoken in English.

Daigo recognised Joey's look of confusion before Joey had to explain it though.

"You're the one acquainted with Mokuba-sama," Daigo said, in Japanese this time.

"Yes!" Joey agreed easily. This seemed like a good way of understanding the situation.

"Very sorry," Daigo laughed easily. "I'm the director for a lot of Kaiba Corporation's foreign assets. I'm confident in my English." He winked. "And thought I saw an opportunity to practice."

"Sorry to disappoint." Joey laughed, in a way he hoped seemed light-hearted.

"Well is there some reason you're loitering around this floor. I don't think there should be anyone here, except Kaiba-sama and the other board members." Daigo smiled. "Were you just impressed with our upcoming movie release?"

Joey held up the plastic bag tentatively. "Well, I got a request to deliver this to the meeting but, well, I couldn't really figure out where the board meeting was supposed to be y'know. I tried shouting out and listening at each of the doors, but- nada, nothing."

"Oh, that won't work." Daigo laughed. "The rooms on this floor are all soundproof." He paused to let that sink in. "Here, I'm going that way so I'll lead you there."

Daigo turned, and headed straight for the first set of double doors that Joey had originally picked out as the most likely entrance to the board room.

Joey hurried after him, letting himself fall into gait a half-step behind.

"So, what's up with that Banja movie, huh?" Joey asked. "I didn't see the KC logo anywhere on the poster."

"Oh, that?" Daigo chuckled warmly. "It's being distributed through one of our subsidiaries," he explained. "Kaiba Corp's affiliation with the picture won't be publicised until a few weeks after its opening, given it is successful." He paused at the double doors. "It's not the biggest budget film, but we're expecting high returns – somewhere in the realm of eight hundred percent during its opening run over the vacation. Merchandising and home video sales are something to consider afterwards. It's been a good five years since the last Banja movie was released, so we're pushing for a revival."

Joey couldn't really make sense of this, before Daigo slid his keycard against the panel on the double doors. They unlocked for him, in a way they hadn't for Joey.

Now that the door was open, Joey could hear the voices inside. Although they stopped abruptly as Daigo stepped inside, and Joey followed behind him.

The room was spartan for the most part. The only furniture included a large and empty oval table and its matching chairs. There were unlit screens against one wall, and panels of windows on the other.

Kaiba was leaning back in his seat, sitting with his hands crossed over his stomach. Putting on an air of disaffected confidence. His legs were fully extended, crossed at the heels. His eyes panned sideways to the door, along with the three other suits in the room, as Daigo and Joey entered.

"Sorry for my tardiness, Kaiba-sama." Daigo said, bowing from the waist.

"Hn." Kaiba snorted. "We started without you," was all he said to this.

Daigo bowed again, and slid into his seat next to the other three suits. He seemed to blend into the group and disappear.

And that was when Kaiba turned his attention on Joey.

"And you?" he said. "What is it you want?"

Déjà vu.

If you had asked Joey the day before, Joey would have said that Kaiba was just as insufferable as he'd always been. But this proved that, in fact, Kaiba was running at fifty percent most of the time, because right now he was dialled up to a hundred.

Kaiba raised an expectant eyebrow. There was a taunting grin on his face. And a dance in the way that the light shined off his eyes.

"My unfortunate assistant," Kaiba explained, waving lazily in his direction, "Joey Wheeler-san." He didn't stumble over the honorific, and instead imbued it with the heavy tone of sarcasm.

The suits nodded to him, none of them offering their names in return. But Kaiba didn't pay attention to that, he jutted his chin up and turned to Joey.

"Well, what is it?" he asked, in the sing-song of mockery. "We don't have all day."

He looked like he thought he owned the world, and that Joey was simply a fly he was too lazy to squash.

It was a Kaiba that Joey had almost forgotten existed. A Kaiba that existed before Mokuba and before Atem. This Kaiba had once smiled at him, as he flipped Joey's Duel Monsters cards on the ground and told him to come back after he'd collected ten thousand of them.

There was a visceral response to this Kaiba. A burning rage that charged through Joey's torso and pulled the muscles in his arms tight. No – regular Kaiba was ten thousand times less insufferable than this asshole. Joey wanted nothing more than to charge forward and wipe the smug expression off of this Kaiba's stupid face, no matter how fucking fake he knew it was.

But this Kaiba was also surrounded by supporters. It wasn't like Kame Game, where Joey had Yuugi and Anzu and Sugoroku at his back, reminding him he was the one in the right. The desirable one. The superior one.

Here he was surrounded by Kaiba's businessmen. Even Daigo, who a moment before Joey would have counted on his side of the basketball court, was fixing Joey with a look of derision that matched that of the other members of the board.

Joey felt ashamed. He felt angry that he felt ashamed. And then he felt ashamed that he felt angry. Nothing would change the fact that he didn't belong here.

"So, um, heh, I went to the store for you guys~" Joey said, he plopped the plastic bag down on the oval boardroom table.

Joey's face was starting to burn red, and he hated it. He felt embarrassed that he felt embarrassed. He tried and failed not to laugh nervously, as he waited for a response.

Kaiba's expression didn't change. Neither did any of the board members' expressions. None of them budged an inch.

Joey fumbled. He looked down and reached into the plastic bag. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and read the label quickly.

"Hey~ Who got the Castor Golds, huh?" he asked, waving them up in the air. He set them down on the table and made like he was going to slide them across its polished surface to the owner.

When nobody spoke to claim them, he slid them across to Kaiba.

Kaiba made no move to catch them. The pack of cigarettes slid off the table and landed on Kaiba's thighs. Kaiba closed his eyes.

When he opened them three seconds later, his expression hadn't changed.

"So, um-" Joey continued, pulling the next object out of the bag. "Somebody asked for a lint roller?" He spun the wax paper around its cog. "I dunno, all your suits look pretty clean… I guess you've got a little bit of-" He pointed to one of the board members, and then at himself – demonstrating the mirror image of where there were a couple grey tufts of fluff on the lapel of his suit.

Oh, god. What was he saying?

"But that hardly seems worth getting all worked up about…" Joey continued, refusing to look at the board member's face to gauge his reaction. "Maybe it was Satou-chan that needed the lint roller for something. Or-"

At this point, thankfully, Kaiba interrupted him.

"You've delivered what you came here to deliver. If that's all…"

Kaiba trailed off, looking at Joey expectantly.

Joey floundered. He was pretty sure he looked exactly as lost and helpless as he felt, and this thought itself was too humiliating to bear.

"If that's all, please excuse yourself," Kaiba finally clarified. His tone was still light, and his expression still smug, but Joey was glad to hear the tiny bit of urgency there.

"Right," Joey said. He stood there a moment longer, before dropping the lint roller back down. It made a clacking sound as it hit the table through the plastic bag. "It was nice meeting you all!" He nodded his head, in what he was pretty sure wasn't an appropriate bow given the atmosphere in the room, and hightailed it to the door.

There was a mumble from the four board members. And Kaiba's mocking voice rang out after him, as he fled. "Our thanks," he said lazily. "Have a good afternoon, Wheeler-san." He chuckled scornfully.

Joey slammed the door behind him, revelling in the miracle of soundproofed rooms. He was glad he couldn't hear their laughter from out here in the hall. He was glad they couldn't hear his laboured breathing, his resentful seething, or his angry whines as he pulled at his hair in shame and frustration.

..

The explanation, when it happened, happened long after even Satou-chan had clocked out. In the dim dusk of the waning day, the shadow of the Blue Eyes statue cast Kaiba's expression into almost total darkness.

Except not really. Joey could tell Kaiba was not emoting. Not smiling. He hadn't done either of those when he walked into the top office, back from wherever he had been, and found Joey waiting dreary in his chair at the desk adjacent to Satou-chan's. He hadn't said anything as Joey yawned, and scrambled up to follow him into his office. Kaiba had walked inside first, but he held the door open behind him a second too long to hide that he'd been waiting for Joey to catch it.

When Joey finished explaining, gripping his wallet in his hand, with the lottery scratcher sticking out the top, Kaiba had reached out his hand expectantly.

Joey couldn't interpret it, so Kaiba had to explain.

"The lottery scratcher, Wheeler," he prompted, like it should have been obvious. "You purchased it with Kaiba Corp's money. It is the property of Kaiba Corp."

Joey hesitated. He took two steps forward, slipped the lottery scratcher out of his wallet and into Kaiba's hands.

Kaiba stuffed the lotto scratcher into his desk without looking at it.

"You can go now, Wheeler."

There was no mention of disciplinary action. Kaiba pulled out his laptop, and set it on the desk in front of his desktop computer's screen.

Joey waited for only a minute.

"Have a good night, Kaiba," he tried.

Kaiba said nothing back though, from his place in the office shielded from the dusk and approaching moonlight. And Joey left him in the darkness to go catch the train home.

.

.

The sound of the concrete breaker was still ringing in Joey's ears, a half an hour later. He had set out to gather up the broken rubble, and haul it away, and then all there was to do was to start digging and try not to waste too much time rubbing at his ears.

The wet dirt stuck to his arms, past his gloves, and his white shirt was collecting stains.

Orders from above. It was an old office building, grungy and mildewed. The new owners wanted to use the original building and foundation and build up – higher and higher. But first the building had to be gutted – pull out the old plumbing and electric from the sixties. Yesterday it had been Joey and four others inside the building, breaking through the walls – the paper and insulation, and hauling away the worst of the mouldy plywood. Yamada-san had said demo was easy – give a few young men a crowbar and, if anything, they'd go overboard and leave dents in the hardwood studs of the foundation.

Today there were half a dozen of them, all spread out around the property, digging up the water and plumbing lines. Joey didn't know which set of rotting pipes he was digging up, and he tried not to think about it. In any case, it'd be better not to damage the pipes any more than they were already chipped and cracked.

The night air clashed with the heat in his chest as he inhaled and exhaled quickly, plunging the shovel into the ground and uprooting heavy clumps of dirt and roots. He wasn't moving as fast as he could, only fast enough to keep his muscles warm.

He lost himself in the task. There were precious few things that were safe to think about, standing out in the dark. Not his futon at home, or the carpet in Yuugi's room, or leaning against the softness of Mai's shoulder in the movie theatre – nor the upcoming workday with the Kaiba brothers, or Keiko's teasing, or the pork buns at the convenience store. Even the stars in the sky were only distracting. The only way was to zone out completely.

It was half past midnight when Yamada-san interrupted him.

Joey heard a whistle above him, and turned up. He opened and closed his eyes rapidly. His sight had adjusted staring at the dark ground – broken pavement and black soil – and the sudden assault of even the dim moonlight blinded him temporarily.

When his eyes adjusted, Yamada-san was standing over him, up from where Joey was a metre down in the ditch he'd dug, and smiling.

"So, Joey~" he trilled. "Bettcha you're glad I set you up with this job after all."

Yamada-san was small man, with a baby face on him – although Joey knew he was pushing fifty if he wasn't there already. He looked so unthreatening, and his personality was so cheerful, it had once been hard to believe he was the overseer of a veritable legion of temp workers. Joey had resisted the urge to laugh in his face back in middle school, and was glad for it now, because Yamada-san had set him up with his job at the hospital, the recycling company, and that one start-up, and gotten him dozens and dozens of construction jobs on the side. It was not good to be on the bad side of someone with connections.

"Glad? Not even a little," Joey retorted. He took his shovel and plunged it into the ground in front of him. He rested his hands and his chins on the top of the handle. "Got nicer places to be spendin' my nights."

"That so?" Yamada-san asked carelessly.

Oh, god. He hadn't noticed it while he was digging but, now that he was standing still, Joey's back and arms were sore as hell. He wished Yamada-san would hurry and do what he had to do and say what he had to say, and let Joey get back to work. So long as he was busy he didn't have to feel any of it.

Yamada-san shrugged. "Ah, well," he lamented on Joey's behalf, "not every night can be date night."

"Speak for yourself." Joey clicked his tongue. "Just cuz you haven't had any pussy in a decade that you didn't pay upfront for~"

He grinned though, and Yamada-san took it in good humour.

"Alright, alright, hotshot," he agreed. "You've made your point. If working with me is such an imposition, I don't have to call the next time I've got something in the works."

"Aww, you know I didn't mean it, Yamada-san." Joey exaggerated the pout in his cheeks.

He'd gotten the message. No more complaints. Not tonight.

"No, no, I think you're onto something," Yamada-san persisted. "You'll just go on your merry way, and I'll go on mine, along with your wages. No biggie."

He pretended to walk off, and Joey pretended to chase after him, clamouring up the hole he'd dug. His back seemed extra sore, as he pulled himself up after Yamada-san, but he kept himself from wincing.

"Asshole," Joey said, without heat. "I've been slaving away here all evening. Get back here and pay me!"

Yamada-san laughed as he turned back.

"I dunno, you've still got another hour of work out of you," he said. "Think I can trust you with your pay in advance."

He met Joey next to the ditch, and Joey sat at its edge. He looked down, to where most of the pipes were peeking out from under the dirt.

He knew it was just Yamada-san messing around, but it felt a little insulting.

"Don't mess with me," Joey said. He tried for a sudden realness in his voice. An earnestness and honestly. "You know I'm good for it. I don't skip out."

Yamada-san fixed him with a look that blossomed into a wry smile. "Of course I know that Joey. It's been eight years," he huffed. "Have a little confidence. I wouldn't have kept you on if you weren't a man of your word."

Joey felt a little bit proud in spite of himself. But also a little annoyed. Yamada-san had chastised him like a kid, and called him a man in the same breath. But the ambivalence disappeared as Yamada-san dug into his overlarge pockets and pulled out an overlarge black pouch.

Joey struggled not to fidget in his seat, in anticipation of the worst.

God, everything was sore, and he hated this part. Yamada-san always got a kick out of this.

Yamada-san zipped the pouch open, and fanned out a collection of bills in his hand. He flipped them between his fingers, separating them one by one, making a big show of counting through them, and dividing out Joey's pay, and then recounting. He glanced at Joey intermittently throughout this process, and smiled tauntingly.

Joey tried his best not to pay attention. Poisonous glares, sighs, any reaction at all would only encourage Yamada-san more.

No, that wasn't entirely right. Actually mugging Yamada-san wouldn't encourage him. Yamada-san didn't actually do this in front of workers he suspected might attack him for the money. But, even if you did, you'd only be creating more trouble for yourself. Yamada-san had everyone's personal information on file – so you'd have the police at your doorstep the next morning. And, even if you successfully talked your way out of things with them, you could forget about getting work from anyone else in Domino.

Yamada-san knew Joey wasn't going to mug him though. And Joey knew it too.

He tried his best to ignore the tantalising spread of cash in Yamada's hands. It wasn't even that hard today. Joey had his job at Kaiba Corp. Yamada-san probably had about fifty thousand yen total in his pouch. And Joey wasn't fifty thousand yen short of being tossed out of his apartment, or getting kicked out of school, or getting his sister's medical bills paid.

Joey wasn't desperate. Not today.

"Here you go," Yamada-san finally replaced the cash in his pouch and zipped it up. He pocketed it, and handed five grubby thousand yen bills to Joey. "That look about right?" he asked.

"Yea-" Joey shrugged unenthusiastically, as he reached up to collect the money in his gloves. Yamada dropped it into his hand early, like it was a dirty handkerchief he was eager to discard.

If anything, Joey really had to admire the skill it took to make getting paid feel like shit.

.

.