Appeal

Eleven: All Fall Down

Augh.

I'm sorry, as always, as ever. Today I'd like to blame college.

Whoa.

College.

Sorry if this chapter seems a bit fast-paced. Things need to happen! Augh!

"I thought we were getting along!" cried the blond. A menu dropped down, prompting Seto to select one of three responses. He smiled and pulled the cursor over We are.

One. Knowledge of the workings of homosexual relationships, vital to creating a plausible plot.

He was getting there. In the weeks that had passed since Mokuba's party, it was like Seto had found the comprehensive instruction manual to All Things Romantic. He and Jou still had their differences – more than before, it seemed – but, damn, the boy was a treasure trove. He was real. Seto knew that if he could just tap Jou's sincerity, his drive, he'd have the game.

And he was getting there.

Kaiba accessed the code and looked it over. It was getting harder to find time, though. He had to spend several hours a day with Jou. It was necessary.

It was necessary.

The phone rang twice, and then stopped. The intercom crackled. "Seto, it's for you."

Seto groaned quietly. He'd hoped to work out at least one of the endings today. "Got it," he told the speaker, before picking up.

"Kaiba speaking," he said. "Ah. I thought it was you."

"Hey, Kaiba," Jou said. "Listen, I'm gonna have to call tomorrow off."

"Oh," said Kaiba. He waited for Jou's explanation.

"Yeah, 'cause Anzu's birthday is coming up, and me and the guys have to go and find her something nice." Jou paused. "Um, wanna come?"

"That's perfectly all right," said Kaiba.

"So you're okay with that?" Jou prodded.

"We can always reschedule, Jou. Besides, I had something I wanted to finish."

"All right. Talk to you later."

Click.

Kaiba sighed and cracked his knuckles. Back to work.

"So? How's it going?"

…Or not.

Mokuba leaned against the doorway and grinned at him. "Well? Is my big brother the best seductress ever, or what?"

"I'm making progress," said Kaiba, pointedly ignoring Mokuba's misplaced knowledge of gender-specific nouns.

"Have you told him you love him?"

Seto turned and faced his little brother. "I like to think that I'm not that cruel, Mokuba."

This wasn't going to last forever, after all.

Mokuba nodded. He understood. "I know you're not, Seto. I just thought … maybe."

Really, he was just in love with the game.

And that was all.

Jonouchi frowned down at the buzzing receiver before placing it on the hook. What a stilted conversation. I guess he's really busy.

He hadn't found anything yet. He hadn't seen any drawings since, or picked up any clues. He'd even casually asked Mokuba:

"Hey, kid, why'd your big brother chase me down?"

"Because he wants you," Mokuba had said brightly.

"Why me?"

"You're the best choice. Do you think we're going to have pizza tonight?"

It was possible that Kaiba actually cared, Jou knew, but – something told him that he was … a key. Part of a bigger plan. The same something that made him 'lucky' in duels, that's what was telling him so, and it made Jou's chest hurt.

Because he was starting to honestly value Kaiba.

Yuug would be thrilled.

But Jou wasn't.

He knew that it was going to fall down.

"Too frilly," said Honda stubbornly.

"But Anzu's a girl," Jou argued, waving a hand. "She likes frilly."

"Have you ever seen her wear anything frilly?"

"No, but I bet she'd like it!"

"It's a bit expensive," Yugi said. "Maybe frills cost more."

"Maybe this store just sucks."

The cashier on duty glared at them from across the room.

"Seriously, guys," Jou sighed. "We've been looking for five hours now. We should just pick something and go."

"But it has to have meaning," said Yugi.

"And no frills," Honda added.

"And be in our price range."

"Otherwise we'll never get anything good for our birthdays," Honda concluded.

"Argh!" Jou cried, clutching his head. "How did we ever get this done last year?"

"I think we gave up and got her gift cards," said Yugi.

They exchanged a look.

"Hey, how about we-"

"No."

His eyes burned.

Kaiba shut off the monitor, blinked three times, and flicked it back on with a drawn-out sigh. He had been productive as always, methodically coding and planning, but the life wasn't there today. The segment wouldn't seem any different to consumers, he knew, but – he knew.

It frustrated him. He couldn't begin to depend on Jou for answers.

No. Not answers.

Just reference.

"Computer," Kaiba commanded. "Yugi's cell phone."

It answered mechanically. "Dialing, sir."

Mokuba opened the door and peeked in. "Big brother?"

Ring.

"I'm here. What do you need?"

"Oh, you're on the phone?" Mokuba said. Ring. "Sorry, I didn't know. I just wanted to ask about dinner."

"I'll talk to you in a minute," Seto promised, and Mokuba nodded. Ring.

Click.

"Hello?" Yugi chirped.

"Yugi," said Kaiba. "Is Jou there?"

There was a flurry from the other end of the phone.

"Jou?" cried Yugi happily. "And you want to- oh, gosh-"

"I mean, Jounouchi," Kaiba corrected briskly. "It's for an assignment."

He could hear Jou in the background. "What? What? Who is it, Yuug? Yuug? Why'd you say my name?"

"Oh, all right," said Yugi, the smile still in his voice. "One moment."

A crackling noise as Yugi handed it over.

"Hello?" Jou said suspiciously.

"Good afternoon, Jou."

"Oh! Kai-" Jou exclaimed, before cutting himself off. "Is something wrong?" he said quietly.

Remember the plan.

"I just … wanted to talk to you," said Kaiba. "Since we couldn't get together today."

"Jou?" came Honda's voice. "Why are you going all red?"

"Shut up!" Jou hissed.

The corner of Kaiba's mouth twitched upward. "How is the shopping going?"

"It's, uh, it's going," Jou said. "Um. Not so well, actually. What do you get for girls?"

"You could buy KaibaCorp's new, personalized portable web interface device."

"Is it twenty bucks or less?"

"Most decidedly not."

"Then sorry, but no." Jou laughed. Mokuba sighed, smiled a bit, and backed out of the room with a wave.

"What does Anzu like?" Kaiba said, more seriously.

"Girly stuff," said Jou. "That's the problem. There's too much of it."

"Then why not a gift card?"

"AHA!" Jou cried. "Hang on a sec."

"All right."

On the other side of the phone, Kaiba heard Jou: "He suggested a gift card, guys! It's gotta be okay!"

"Jouuuu!" exclaimed Yugi. "Gift cards don't have meaning!"

"But if he suggested it-"

"No, Jou!"

Jou grumbled and put the phone back to his ear. "That won't work, man."

"Meaning, hm?" said Kaiba.

"Yeah. Meaning."

Kaiba smirked. "Lingerie."

He heard Jou choke. "Well, that does have meaning, but-"

"What'd he say, what'd he say?" Honda was probing.

"But not the right kind of meaning, I think," Jou laughed. "I think Yugi'd probably-"

"What'd he say, Jou?"

"It is very personal," Kaiba said. "And it would tell her a lot about what you think of her personality."

"You have a point," Jou said mock-thoughtfully.

"What-did-he-saaay?"

"Lingerie," Jou said.

"Aagh!" cried Yugi.

"You're kidding! …Although that doesn't sound like such a bad idea, come to think of it."

"No lingerie!" Kaiba heard Yugi exclaim. "She'd kill us!"

"Yeah, we can't get birthday presents if we're dead."

"Lingerie's out, bud," Jou sighed.

Kaiba smiled slightly. "I thought as much. Have you thought about buying her a book?"

"…Oh. That could work. Hang on, lemme tell them."

"All right."

And then Mokuba burst into the room. "Seto! Se-"

Kaiba whirled around. Mokuba was red-faced and breathing heavily. "Mokuba?"

Mokuba's eyes widened. "You're still on the phone-?"

"Mokuba, what is it?"

"Seto, you- you're on the news."

"That's nothing new," Kaiba said hesitantly.

"Seto, it's about your game."

And it all started to collapse.

"Hey, we're gonna go look for a book!" Jou's voice returned. "So I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Jou-"

He knew that it was only a matter of time.