Chapter 29

"That's it! We're going."

"Eh?" Jounouchi said, looking totally shocked as Seto grabbed his hand and pulled him along behind. "Uh, see you guys later," he called back to Yugi and Anzu. Jounouchi tripped, but found himself still stumbling behind. Seto opened the door to the lower level and tugged Jou down the stairs and into the building.

Anzu and Yugi could hear the angry "Seto" footfalls with the clumsy and out of sinc "Jounouchi" footsteps lumbering on behind. Their voices carried, too.

"Seto! Hey, Seto? You're holding my hand." Pause. "We're in school and you're holding my hand, Seto." The voice was a harsh whisper.

"Puppy, you don't listen very well, do you?"

"Grrr…. What are you talking about? Okay, fine! Kiss my ass, Seto!"

"I already did."

Yugi and Anzu sweatdropped. There was another awkward pause.

"Seto, WE'RE IN SCHOOL!"

"Keep your voice down, idiot!"

"Humph…Well…you didn't have to say it like that…"

Seto and Jounouchi were now in the main hall of Domino High. The blond's hand was still in Seto's. And, for good reason in his opinion, paranoia was starting to rise in Jou's heart. His school wasn't exactly supportive of same sex couples and Jou could easily see himself getting beaten up after gym class. Plus, there would be problems for Seto as well. Jou shuddered at the thought.

Luckily, everyone was in class, but Jou worried that some straggler would be in the hall to see them—a student, a teacher, the janitor, etc. But, luckily, all was quiet. He listened for Yugi and Anzu to follow, but heard nothing from behind. Suddenly, Jou felt his hand yanking forward. Oh, that's right. Seto still has a firm grip on me.

"This way, Mutt."

"Look, I know you're mad at me and all…"

They suddenly stopped and fierce blue eyes narrowed down at him.

"Shut…the hell…up."

They left out the side door. The heavy metal door shut with a loud bang behind them and Seto's grip got tighter.

"Where are we going?" Jou asked, clueless.

"Shut up."

"I was only asking…"

They walked past the east lawn which was, at that moment, being watered by the automatic sprinkler system. Little jets of water shot up from the grass.

Seto stopped, turned, and let go of Jou's hand. With seconds, Jounouchi found himself being shoved bodily onto the lawn—sitting on his butt, blond hair getting drenched.

"Wha-? What? Hey, Seto!" The wet hair was sticking to Jounouchi's head.

"What, Mutt? Didn't I tell you to 'shut up'?" Seto stood there with arms folded and his trademark smirk. "Good dogs should listen to their owners."

Jounouchi flipped wet hair out of his face. The water was cold—really cold. But he wasn't giving Seto the satisfaction of winning this. Closing his hazel eyes to keep the water out, Jou stretched out on his back, letting the water get to him. He could feel wet blades of grass pushing against him, too, as a soft cushion.

"I'm not your dog. You're not my master. Nobody owns me. And stop calling me 'Mutt.'"

"Or else?" Seto was still furious with Jou and pushing the envelope felt good.

"Or else…I'll sleep over at my father's tonight."

Seto narrowed his blue eyes. He reached in and grabbed Jounouchi by the wrist—getting his own chestnut hair sprayed by a fine mist in the process.

"Out of there," he growled under his breath. Roughly, he pulled Jounouchi up to his feet.

"You're the one who pushed me in," Jou complained, feeling the wind blowing against him now. It was ice cold thanks to the water. He yanked his wrist out of Seto's grip.

"You're not going back there. It's not safe."

Jounouchi wrung some of the water out of his hair and said, "This isn't how you treat someone you love. Never do it again."

"I could say the same for you…concerning Namiko."

Jounouchi stared back angrily. "This," he said pointing to his hair and clothes, "wasn't done by Namiko. It was done by you."

"Well, you needed to cool off because you're not thinking rationally," Seto said back, gaining his composure again. "You just made that decision all by yourself. Handing you over to her is the last thing I'm going to do."

"Look, Seto," Jou began.

"No, you 'look.' After all, you're the one who is always preaching that we are a team. We are a couple. We do everything together. And I quote, "You're not alone anymore, Seto.'"

"Oh, I do not sound like that! It was a terrible impersonation of me."

"Not my point."

I know… I know what your point is… The blond looked down at the ground. "Sorry," he mumbled back, "and maybe I'm no better than Anzu's 'friendship is everything" speeches when it comes to us being "a couple.' So, I can see where you're coming from."

"Well," Seto said, still feeling mad, "we need to get you back home and into some dry clothes."

Jounouchi shivered a bit but gave a nod. They'd skip school for the rest of the day. Seto took him by the wrist, because he was still fuming, and led the way off the school grounds, across the street, and outside the bistro. His phone was out and he dialed a number.

"This is Kaiba Seto. I need a taxi…" he said into the phone.

"Seto?" Jou said to him while repressing shiver, "Ummm…why don't we get one of your 'guys in black' to just give us a ride to your place?"

Seto covered the phone with his hand, "Which would give away their positions." He rolled his eyes.

"Then, call your chauffeur."

"I don't have him waiting all day," Seto muttered back. "He has certain times that he's needed."

"Oh," Jou said and trembled openly. He wrapped his arms around himself and leaned against the brick building for support.

Seto spoke a little more over the phone. Then, he closed it and pocketed it. "Wait here," he ordered and disappeared into the store. A few moments later, Seto returned with a large cup of coffee. "Drink this," he said grumpily.

With more than a little gratitude, Jounouchi took the steaming cup in both hands and fought against tight arm muscles, begging to shake, to put the cup to his lips. He cup felt burning hot in his hands, too, but it didn't matter. It was something warm.

Deep down, Seto was starting to feel a little concerned. He'd gone too far again. And it bothered him to see Jounouchi like this, but he had wanted to get his point across.

"Jou?" Seto said while watching the blond out of the corner of his eye, "Never do that again."

"Yeah…yeah." He took another sip. "I'll consult you before designing a plan to get Namiko…" He shook hard. "…O-Out into the open so that your people can grab her." He had hoped that the sarcasm wasn't wasted. Jou flashed an angry look back into his drink before taking another sip. He took a shaky breath as well.

"I suppose… you may have a point there, but…that wasn't what I was talking about." Seto folded his arms and looked away—telling himself that he was just keeping an eye out for the taxi.

"What then?" the blond said irritably. He wasn't in the mood for a mystery.

"Threaten to go back to your father's house instead of our house…just because you're mad."

Jounouchi looked at Seto and held the cup of coffee to his chest to keep warm. The ghost of a smile played on his lips. "I promise…but only for as long as you treat me…ya know…like I'm a person." He curled his shoulders in when the wind blew against him. "I can remember Dad getting kind of rough with Mom sometimes—the way he'd talk to her. He grabbed her arm once. She'd take it…for awhile. But I don't want to live like that." He looked at Seto. "I'm not accusing you of anything like that. But this is where I come from…if you think I'm overreacing and stuff... I just don't want to be treated like this," he ran his fingers through his wet hair, "ever again because you were mad. That's all."

"Even to protect you?" Seto asked sharply.

"Yeah…even to protect me."

Seto stared darkly into the sky. Some part of him wanted to beat his fist into the brick wall in frustration. And some part of him wanted to hold a very wet, unhappy puppy against his chest.

A yellow taxi drove up.

"Come on," Seto said, putting a hand on Jou's drenched shoulder and guiding him forward. He noticed that Jou accepted the touch without a grimace or flash of anger. He felt better about that.

"Hey, did somebody just get outta the pool?" the driver laughed, looking in the rearview mirror.

"To the Kaiba mansion. I'll give you the directions," Seto said tiredly. He hated chatty cabbies and he wanted this ride overwith as soon as possible.

"Don't bother. I know the way," the driver chirped and turned the car around.

"J-Just curious," Jounouchi said with chattering teeth, "how would you know? Then again, it is the biggest home in Domino."

The cabbie glanced into the back seat briefly. "Oh, from time to time, there's a group of high school girls who pay me to just drive by the place. We never stop, of course. But a few will take pictures with their cell phones."

Jounouchi shook his head sadly at that and wrapped his arms around himself tighter. "Stupid," he heard Seto say next to him.

"Oh, no. I can think of dumber things than that," Jou said, taking another swig of coffee and wishing that he could just pour the whole thing on himself to keep warm.

Seto glared. He's talking about being soaking wet again.

Jou glanced at him again. What's his problem now? Sheesh.

Once inside, Jou kicked his shoes off at the door.

"You need new shoes, Puppy," Seto said testily, "and a lot of other clothes. We'll go shopping this weekend."

"I d-dunno," Jou shivered back. Since when did the mansion feel like a deep freeze? "I don't get my check until next week and I've got to work a twelve hour shift on Saturday. Do you know that your 'people' order the exact same double cream ice coffee each time they come to watch me? What are they? Clones?"

"You need to go shopping, Jou. And I'll pay. Actually, I intended to all along."

"Oh." Jou shivered again and felt Seto take him by the hand—leading him upstairs.

"Of course, I'm picking out your clothes again."

"I have good taste. I can pick out my own clothes," Jou mumbled.

Is he kidding me? He'll buy cartoon clothes if I let him! Seto eyed Jou. "Trust me?" he asked. Yes, that will get him to agree.

"Yeah," Jou said sheepishly. They were at the bedroom door now. Seto opened it.

The maids had been in the room and had tidied up. The bed's sheets were changed, the room vacuumed, and dusted.

Seto opened the bathroom door and said, "Take a shower to warm up. You'll catch cold if you stay like this."

The blond took two steps into the bathroom, put his coffee on the vanity, and tried to strip off the wet clothes. He shivered uncontrolably. For the life of him, Jou didn't have the strength to take the heavy clothes off. Jou decided to try with the blue jacket, but was having a hard time with the buttons from his freezing, numb fingers.

"This is taking too long," Seto complained. He stepped into the bathroom, nimbly unbuttoned the jacket and dropped the heavy, wet garment to the floor. Next came the white shirt.

"Freezing!" Jou said, curling up to keep warm.

"Stand up straight," Seto complained. He'd unbuttoned and unzipped the trousers—having them fall to the floor with a slight "sploosh."

"Take that off," Seto ordered, referring to Jou's blue Y-fronts, turned his back on the blond, and opened the glass shower door. Seto turned the water up to a tepid setting and waiting for it to heat up.

"Hot water," Jounouchi chattered.

"Warm," Seto countered.

"I'm freezing!" the blond wailed.

"Warm's what you're getting," Seto said, turning back. Fighting the urge not to look up and down at his handsome, but freezing, better half, Seto guided him into the shower. Then, he pushed the blond forward with a slight shove.

"Oh! That feels great!" Jou moaned as the water rushed over him. "Thanks for turning it up to hot."

"It isn't," Seto said while gathering up the wet clothes. "Your body is so cold that it only feels hot to you."

"Oh," Jounouchi said and leaned forward to let the spray wash over him. "I guess, you're right…but still…"

"You're welcome," Seto said with an edge as he started to walk away.

"Seto?"

"Yes?" he said tiredly.

"I'm sorry, but if handing me over to Namiko is the only way to end this…why can't we?"

Seto looked down at the dripping clothes in his hands. "Because you're asking me to destroy my own…" He took a deep breath. Yes, he could admit this. "…My own…happiness…if your plan should fail." He stepped out of the bathroom.

"Seto?" The blond called to him.

"Yes?" he sighed back.

"I love you, too."


"And your name is?" said one of the yakuza.

"I already told you a million times." He wanted to throw his hands into the air in exasperation. Were these guys stupid or what? "My name is Honda Hiroto. My birthday is April 19. And I've got a dog named Blankey." He crossed his arms defensively. "And that's all I'm telling you."

"Midorigawa? Boss?" A voice said from behind.

"Yeah, you asshole, whadda want now?"

"I don't see why we keep holding this guy. What good is he?"

"Well, it was something he said when we first got him here. So, I wanna know." He pulled out a switchblade and held it under Honda's chin.

Honda, who was currently being the guest of four yakuza in a warehouse that he previously didn't even know existed, was bound to a chair with rope. The only reason why they let him up at all was because Honda had convinced them that it would be a good idea to let him use the toilet instead of leaving numerous puddles on the floor—which would stink. And, for some reason, he noticed the main guy, Midorigawa, having issues with smells and germs. In fact, the man hated the warehouse but for some reason that Honda couldn't understand, they were still there—along with boxes and boxes of Duel Monsters cards.

"So, tell me about your family," Midorigawa said harshly. He wanted to know if Honda's family was worth blackmailing to get the teen back. There was no point in keeping Honda alive if he wasn't worth anything.

"I can't. And they're not important anyway." Yeah, like I'm going to tell you more about them. I won't get them in danger, you jerk!

"What about your father?" Midorigawa persisted. He noticed that the other two yakuza were laughing at him a little. The other…two? He wondered where Taka was.

The boss noticed Honda's eyes bugging out a little at that question. Hmmm…let's try another question. "Is your father at home right now? I'll just send a message."

"He's not," Honda mumbled. "He went to meet some people…at a shrine…he was once in…" Oh, I'm not sure if yakuza and the Japanese military get along. Oh, no… Would that put Dad in danger? What about me? Honda thought a little more about it. "He was in…an organization…but he retired."

"Organization?" Midorigawa said back, blinking owlishly. He turned to the others and said quietly, "Does he mean that his father is one of us?" The men shrugged back. "I'm not starting a war just over some kid." He pointed to the man on the right. "Find out how many 'Hondas' have retired recently."

"Do you know how common that name is?" the other sputtered back.

"Well, find out anyway before we get our asses kicked hard. And there aren't that many who live long enough or have connections good enough to retire. So, do it!"

"Yes, boss!" The man walked away briskly. He had some contacts and a lot of phone calls to make all of a sudden.

Going back to Honda, he said, "Was your father…a leader…in this organization?"

He didn't want to answer that one and Midorigawa could tell. "You weren't supposed to answer that one, huh? I bet your old man told you to do that." He really could be the son of one of us.

"Are you in that same…organization?"

Honda shook his head. "Dad says that I'm too young and that I don't have the…guts… for it." Okay, that last part is true but embarrassing. Sure…I suck when it comes to athletics.

The yakuza looked Honda up and down. "I agree. You are an embarrassment to your family name, Mr. Skinny."

"Hey, wait!" Honda shot back. "That's not fair!"

Yup, he's gotta be one of us, Midorigawa thought, and that's a bit of a problem. We'll just keep him alive until we can decide what to do with him…or where to dispose of the body.


A little girl in a bright yellow hat came walking up to the Kaiba mansion with a huge, red sucker in her mouth. She pushed the button and, after a minute, Mokuba's voice came over the intercom.

"Hey, little girl!" he said.

"How do you know I'm a girl?" She looked left and right—not seeing anybody.

"We've got video cameras all over the place," Mokuba said with a smile in his voice. "What can I do for you?"

"I have a letter for you!" she said. She waved the white envelope up.

"Okay, just give me a minute."

The raven haired Mokuba walked from the front door to the gate. He saw one of Seto's men leaning casually against a tree on the property, but he was very well aware of what was going on. And Mokuba knew by now how to go with the flow.

Mokuba opened the gate and smiled at her.

"Thank you for the letter," he said.

"You're welcome! Bye!" She giggled and waved behind her. She pulled the red sucker out of her mouth and then crammed it back in again. That was easy and fun!

Closing the door behind him, Mokuba said, "Nii-sama?" His voice echoed. But, there was no Seto. He was tempted to go directly to his brother's room to start a search, but decided against it. Since, Jounouchi had come to stay---and eventually live---with them, he wanted to give them as much privacy as possible.

Mokuba went to the intercom. "Nii-sama? Where are you?" he called.

A few seconds passed.

"Mokuba?" Seto said back in an even tone. "I'm in my study."

"I'll meet you there," the child said.

Mokuba walked down the hallway and noticed Jounouchi, wearing a green shirt and blue jeans, following behind with a slight smirk on his face. Jounouchi's hair was still wet in places. Mokuba wondered if Seto's hair would be wet as well. He smiled a little on the inside. As much as Mokuba wanted to tease Jou about that possibility, he decided against it.

"Nii-sama? A little girl just came with this letter for you."

Seto raised an eyebrow at that.

Oh, his hair is dry, Mokuba noted with a slight pout.

"Gee, Seto, you've got fangirls of all ages," Jou said with a laugh as he entered the study.

Mokuba handed the letter over and Seto examined it. His face fell a little—which bothered the other two.

"Mokuba? Could you give me a little privacy?"

"Bad news?" the raven haired child asked. He blinked at him.

"Privacy," Seto repeated.

The child nodded with a little confusion on his face and left.

Jou started to leave, too.

"Wait," Seto said, ripped open the envelope and opened the letter. He offered it to Jonouchi without looking in his eyes.

The pink note simply said "8 PM."

"Seto," Jounouchi breathed, looking down at the paper. He felt sick inside. It was all going to happen and nothing could stop it. Either they would meet her there, or she would hound them until she found an opportunity.

From behind, strong arms wrapped themselves around Jounouchi's waist.

"The good and the bad, you said," Seto murmured. He rested his chin on Jounouchi's shoulder.

"Yeah…we'll face it…together," the blond said quietly.

"Don't make me regret this." Chestnut hair ticked Jou's face, arms tightened.

"Then, trust me. No matter how it ends, trust me."

"I already do."