"Good Morning, Ms. Kujaku, Ms. Mazaki, Mr. Mutou, Prince Atemu." The manager nodded to each of them in turn. "A bright morning and a peaceful breakfast, yes?"
"Yes, very!" Anzu agreed. "We should have locked them up the minute we got here."
"Yesterday was uneventful, for a change." The manager smiled. "But, I would never suggest locking up one of my guests."
"That's ok." Yugi grinned. "We'll suggest it for you."
The manager laughed as he walked away.
"Prince Atemu?" Anzu asked. "You didn't tell him about...everything, did you?"
"Oh, God no!" Yugi looked shocked by the suggestion.
"If we had, the proper address would be 'Pharaoh'. I haven't been 'prince' since my father died."
"Ok. So, what did you tell him?" Mai asked.
"The truth. I am a blood relation to the Egyptian Royal family."
"You are?" Anzu blinked. "I thought Egypt had a president."
"Plus, like a billion Romans after Cleopatra." The group looked at the ex-duelist. "What? I had the hots for my history teacher. Anyway, you might be a predecessor, but you can't be related."
"They do have a president, now, but in the early 1950s, they still had a monarchy. That family, I am happy to say, are my bloodline descendants. One of my concubines, I'm sure. Seto would have undoubtedly put all their children to death, presuming he kept my harem."
"Of course he wouldn't do that!" Yugi was appalled. "The man we saw was trying to protect children."
"My children would have been a constant threat to the crown." Yami shrugged. "I would have done it, had our roles been reversed, and I was a child." He gestured to stop. "But done is done, and the fact is that at least one child of mine did survive long enough to have a child, and eventually the line took the throne of Egypt back. As was right and proper."
"And you know this how?" Mai smirked. "Or is this more cards and spells and past life regressions?"
"Yes. I believe they call this spell 'DNA'." Yami smirked back. "I do believe in modern conveniences."
"Prince Sa'id duels," Yugi explained. "I mean, not very well, but he tries. Anyway, we met him and his father -"
"The deposed King," Yami added.
"- Sa'id and His Majesty at a convention three years ago. And Yami offered to teach him to duel if the Prince would pay for a DNA test."
"Why would he do that?" Mai scoffed.
"The King has my eyes." Yami smiled softly. "As does the Prince's new-born son. My legacy to the family." His expression widened to a grin at his spouse. "But I do hope that our child has your eyes."
Yugi blushed and tried to hide his face. "Will you please stop saying that! I'm a guy. I can't even get pregnant. Why do I have to keep telling people that?"
"Maybe I'll get lucky and this one will look like Yugi." Mai stretched her back. "That would piss Kaiba off."
"Morning!" Otogi called out brightly as he and Honda joined the group. "First day since we got here that I've been able to sleep late." He waved at a waiter and mimed drinking coffee. "So, what are we discussing? The baby might look like Yugi? I thought Kaiba had already staked his claim."
Mai sighed. "Yeah, it's his. I just wish it was someone else's."
"Oh."
The female voice was unfamiliar. The group turned to see Cynthia and Eneida standing beside them. No one had noticed their approach.
"We, uh, just wanted to say 'hi'." Eneida smiled weakly. "We, uh..."
"Didn't hear a thing." Cynthia cut in. "You're busy, so -"
Anzu broke into peals of laughter, as the rest of the group looked startled. "Sit! It's not all that dramatic!"
"It's not?" Honda arched an eyebrow.
"No, it's not." Anzu smiled at their guests. "I'm sure you've figured out by now that they're all gay."
"The other two are with you, right?" Eneida asked.
"Oh, hell no." Mai snorted. "I flew all the way to New York to marry Zuzu." She took her wife's hand and kissed her cheek. "And apparently I am stupid enough to walk through fire for her."
"Oh, stop, Mai!" Yugi admonished, grinning. "Just admit you're in love. It's not being stupid."
"Oh shut up!" Mai threw a napkin, which he dodged.
"Regardless," Anzu went on. "Kaiba and Jou want children, so Mai and I are surrogates for them - we just didn't expect to be expecting at the same time." Anzu shrugged. "Mai and Kaiba have some...history - job, not romantic - but Jou is a really good friend of mine and I really wanted to do this for him."
"Oh. My. God," Otogi muttered. "So simple. She's brilliant."
"I would have never thought of that myself," Yami agreed.
"Oh. Wow." Cynthia nodded. "That's actually really amazing. I mean, I don't know if I could have Brad's kid, never mind my bosses!" She laughed, then stopped, struck by an idea. "Oh. My. God! We should totally throw you guys a baby shower before we leave!"
"Cyn, I'm sure -" Eneida started, but Cynthia was already dialing her phone. Eneida shook her head and sighed. "She gets carried away. I'll -"
"I'll see if we can use the piano bar one afternoon before opening time!" Yugi popped up and almost skipped toward the manager's office.
Honda looked at Eneida and sighed. "If she's like him, we're throwing a shower."
"¡Ay caramba!" Eneida groaned.
Katsuya felt his back muscles cramping, but it wasn't enough to make him stop ploughing his cock into Seto's slick anus. He shifted to a more prone position.
Seto moaned incoherently. His heart was a throbbing drum that Kat-chan matched beat for beat. His chest was beginning to ache.
The bed was soaked. They had sweat through two orgasms each and Kat-chan was slowly building toward a third. Their bodies slipped against each other as if oiled. Kat-chan's sweat dripped like rain on Seto's face, but neither man cared.
Katsuya growled, impatient. Seto felt amazing, even after god knew how many hours - tight and hot and perfect. But it was getting hard to keep up the pace. Keep the rhythm going. His back was cramping as his thighs and forearms had earlier. Everytime he changed positions, it was harder to start moving again. And yet, he felt compelled to keep going. Not only by his own desire, but by Seto's frantic pulling and clawing every time Katsuya stopped.
And Kaiba-sama's cries of passion were beginning to sound laced with pain and frustration.
But that stopped when Seto glued his mouth to Katsuya's.
Yugi and Cynthia passed out invitations hastily generated by the resort's entertainment staff to all the guests. They let it be known to all with what stores Anzu and Mai were registered.
"They don't actually need anything, so we're donating all the gifts to a local children's charity," Yugi happily told everyone.
Gabriel found a party planning app and he downloaded a dozen shower games for Otogi and Daisy to sift through.
The rest of their friends were roped into decorating the piano bar. The manager granted permission, and part of the main kitchen staff made party foods for them.
Yami and Eneida found a pair of baby sleepers at the resort's gift shop, and a set of fabric markers in the entertainment office, and Tashauna and Honda were doing a pretty good job getting everyone to sign 'welcome baby' messages.
It was hard to say if Anzu and Mai or Yugi and Cynthia were having more fun.
"So where are the fathers?" Denny asked as a round of the dirty diaper game started.
"They were having issues, so we sent them someplace to work it out without involving the entire resort," Otogi told him.
"If they're having kids, they need to learn how to work that out." The man shook his head sadly. "Fighting like that is not good."
"Oh, they're not fighting," Otogi waved airily. "But trust me, you do not want to know what they are doing."
"You know, from you, I'll believe that."
"How long are those two planning to be out there?" Mai asked at breakfast the next morning.
"Until they calm down, I guess." Honda shrugged.
"We should probably call them." Yugi frowned. "It's been almost two days."
"Relax, Yugi. I'm sure they're fine." Otogi poured a glass of juice. "We've seen them. They do this all the time."
"Hmm. True." Yugi put his phone away.
Midway through the meal, Yami began to look thoughtful.
"What?" Anzu asked.
"They don't do this all the time."
"Who doesn't do what?" Mai buttered a second bagel.
"Kaiba and Jou. Yes, they have sex, frequently, but an uninterrupted day of lust? That might be a first for them."
"So?" Honda shrugged. "I mean it is their honeymoon. We don't need to be in all their business. Besides, with Jou's appetite, they've had interruptions. He doesn't miss a meal."
"Unless they're really into it." Anzu frowned. "Then they don't stop unless something stops them."
"Like everyone else passing out." Mai rolled her eyes.
But they all considered that.
"You know," Otogi said slowly, "when Jou said he had no off switch, I thought he was kidding."
"But he seriously doesn't." Honda nodded. "He doesn't stop until he either passes out or he needs food more than he wants sex."
"But that's with us around. And when they're taking the suppressant." Yugi pointed out. "Maybe we should take them some breakfast. If they're fine, we can just leave."
"Water. Take water." Yami stood up. "It takes a month to starve to death. Dehydration can kill you in two days. Less -" his eyes went wide. "Less if you've been sweating in blistering heat while exerting yourself non-stop!"
"Kaiba's big on hydration," Mai said, but she pushed away from the table to stand. "He'd take a break to drink at least."
"If he's thinking," Anzu stood as well, grabbing a pair of bottles from the table. "Honda and I will go take them some water. Go get Dr. Takamora. Didn't Seto say something about getting a blood sample when they finished?"
Seto could not catch his breath.
Katsuya had finally passed out, leaving Seto feeling both relieved and disappointed. Even by their new standards this had been a marathon. Kat-chan's stamina was phenomenal. And his skill made every moment of their lovemaking beyond bliss.
But now, Seto found his heart still pounding, his pulse still racing, his body still tingling, and he had no strength to move.
And even so, he could feel desire rising in him again. The need to take Kat-chan was as overpowering as it was futile. Another climax would give me a heart attack, he chuckled to himself.
The front door opened. "Seto?" Anzu's voice mixed with Honda's, "Jou?"
Seto tried to respond, but the attempt to speak, made his chest constrict.
"You think they're asleep?" Anzu asked.
"Too quiet otherwise." Honda replied. "You stay here. I'll peek in. Give me those."
Seto tried to move. It's rude to greet guests while splayed like a gutted fish.
"Guys?" Honda tapped lightly before opening the door. "You guys -" Honda stopped cold, staring at Seto. "Oh fuck! Anzu, call Dr. Takamora! I think Seto's having a stroke!"
"Calm down, Mokuba. I did not have a stroke. I had what even the doctor referred to as a minor heart attack. Hardly worth discussing."
"Minor is the amount of damage, not how serious it is, stupid." Jou took the phone from his husband. "He's in the clear now so we're headed home tomorrow. But he's going in to see a cardiologist as soon as I can get him an appointment." Jou listened for a minute. "Sounds good to me. Ok. Ok, I'll tell him. See you tomorrow." He hung up. "Mokie's catching the first flight out."
"I don't see why he needs to cut his trip short simply because I'm leaving. You and the others have four more days at the resort as well."
"Seriously? You think there's a chance in hell I'd ditch you now?"
"You're not ditching me. I am leaving early. Stay. Call Mokuba back and tell him there's no point in leaving."
"Are you even hearing yourself? Seto, you almost died! I almost killed you!"
"You're being dramatic again, darling. You had nothing to do with it. In fact, if the physician here is correct, this is a fortunate event. An undiagnosed heart condition is a disaster waiting to happen. Which reminds me; I need to have Mokuba scanned for the same condition. We have no way of knowing if it is hereditary or not."
"Your heart was stressed. It would never have been that stressed if I weren't such a fuck up in the first place!"
"Katsuya, come here." Seto put his hand out.
Jou crossed the room and took it. "I'm sorry, babe."
"If I had died, it would have been while in the afterglow of being with you. That's the most joyful death I can envision." Seto smiled warmly. "In fact, that is how I plan to die. Held by you."
"Please don't even joke about that." He kissed Seto's hand.
"I'm not joking. I had previously planned a .45 through the temple but in your arms would be a considerably more pleasant way to -"
"Will you quit talking about dying!" Jou snapped. "I don't want you to die, I don't want you shooting yourself in the head, I sure as fuck don't want to kill you!"
"Calm down, darling. This isn't a near term plan."
"Calm down? CALM DOWN?! Do you get what just happened?"
"Yes, Katsuya, I understand perfectly. You have revealed a weakness in my heart. One that could have silently stolen everything I have spent my life achieving. I can now take steps to strengthen my body, and use technology to prevent disaster. I can have my brother checked now and my children checked at birth for a condition that is the number one cause of heart failure in adolescents. Which reminds me; I need to update my will. I hope you don't mind, but I am naming Mokuba as my successor for both KaibaCorp and Head of the family. I will make economic arrangements for you." Jou sank on to the hospital bed, clutching Seto's hand. "Darling? Are you - are you laughing or crying?"
"I don't know." Jou sniffed. "Both, I think. God. How do you do it? How do you just keep moving forward?"
"Do I have another option?" He noticed the tag around the blonde's wrist. "What's this for? Are they admitting you?"
"I'm a little dehydrated."
"You are more likely a lot dehydrated."
"I didn't have a damn heart attack!"
Seto moved over and patted the bed beside him. "Come. I'm sure you're supposed to be resting and ingesting fluids. You can at least lay here." Jou stretched out, putting his head against Seto's chest and wrapping his arms around the man.
The executive started to say something about the weight of Jou's head, but stopped. Although he was making a point of sounding unconcerned, Seto was quite aware of how dangerous both conditions could be. Either one of them could have died. He lay back and stroked the blonde's hair softly.
They fell asleep together.
"Will you sit the FUCK down!" Mokuba growled. "It's been, like, ten minutes!"
"It has been twenty-seven minutes!" Seto snapped, continuing to pace. "How long could this possibly take? The way they behaved when they threw me out, you would think the only thing delaying the process was me."
"You were the only thing delaying the process, nii-sama," Mokuba groaned. "Two. Two partners in the delivery room."
"There's plenty of space," Seto groused. "One -" he remembered Anzu's mother who was sitting silently behind him, "- two observers could easily stand to the side without impeding anything."
"Here, Kaasan," Honda entered the waiting room and handed the woman a cup. "Any word?"
"Thank you, Hiroto. You boys need to learn some patience. Babies come when they are ready."
"He was ready a week ago!" Seto looked at his watch. "She is overdue."
"Or, you have the conception date wrong," Anzu's mother pointed out.
"No," they all chimed in.
The men all looked at each other. Then even Seto had to laugh.
"It's an, uh, inside joke, Okaachan," Yugi snickered. "And Anzu would kill us if she heard us."
"Then I won't tell her." She smiled fondly at Yugi and sighed. "I always hoped she would find a nice boy like you to settle down with."
"Mai is a nice 'boy'," Otogi chuckled.
"I'll agree with half of that." Honda nodded.
"Family is so complicated these days." The older woman sighed. "I have a daughter, and a grandson. She told me that Mai is my daughter-in-law." Her brow furrowed. "Is Jounouchi my 'grandbaby daddy'?"
Otogi snickered, "oh, I am stealing that one."
"No." Yugi took her hand. "What if Anzu and Jounouchi used to be married and had a baby? You'd still call him your son-in-law, right?"
"I suppose," she sounded thoughtful.
"This is just the same - only Anzu isn't divorced. And Kaiba-kun is your son-in-law, too."
"And you and Hiroto are like my nephews." She smiled. "You certainly ate enough of my food to be family."
"Hey, if Seto and Jou are your sons, that kinda makes me your grandson, too," Mokuba commented. "I've never had a grandmother."
"No?" she asked.
He shook his head. "Everybody except Seto and Gozaburo died before I met them."
"I would be honored if you would allow Mokuba to consider you his Grandmother, Mazaki-san." Seto bowed slightly.
"Oh, of course, Kaiba-sama!" She bowed respectfully. "It would be my honor, if you would allow me that."
Yugi scowled at Seto and indicated the woman with his head.
Seto sighed, looked at his watch, looked at the door to the delivery room, then rolled his eyes. "Mazaki-san," he smoothly sat seiza in front of her. "I fear I must be a very bad son if you call your nephews by their personal names yet use an honorific for me."
"I accord you the same respect you show me." She gestured to his position. "Please, this is -"
"This is the proper respect one shows to one's elders. And whatever my station may be in society, you are still my elder in life."
She considered him for a moment. "Alright. I will treat you as my true son if you treat me as your true mother."
"Thank you, Mazaki-san. I- "
Rather abruptly, she pulled a paper fan from - apparently - thin air and thwacked his head with it.
Honda and Yugi both winced. "Ouch." The three men said in unison.
"Is that how a respectful child addresses his mother?" She scowled.
"No, Okaasan." Honda and Yugi replied out of habit.
"I - oh." Seto paused, realizing his error. "I'm afraid that I was never a respectful child. I will attempt to do better, Okaasan."
She grinned. "See that you do. Now." She tapped his shoulder. Dutifully, he stood and stepped aside.
She moved past him and Seto realized - as Yugi and Otogi cooed - that Jou was standing in front of the delivery room door.
In his arms was a squirming red blanket.
"Kaiba-san," the cardiologist looked at the pages on the desk in front of him and shook his head in amazement. "Frankly, I don't know how either of you is alive. If this data is accurate, it's…," he seemed at a loss for words.
"I assure you it is."
"I've spoken with Takamora-sensei, and with Kazuki-sensei as well regarding this 'Jouji Imbalance' he called it? I'm stunned you haven't had a series of massive coronaries given the amount of stress you put on your heart over the last few months. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is often discovered as yours was, when the patient has a heart attack. But the EKG results look like you may have had several near misses."
"Which brings us back to the reason I am here. How quickly can we implant the ICM? Fortunately, KaibaCorp's medtech division was already working on a device, so I have one that suits my needs."
"There are a number of options already on the market." The doctor looked confused. "You don't need to build your own."
"There has been some discussion regarding who owns the data generated by those. And, frankly, I don't like the choices of alarm tones. The modifications have already been approved by the Ministry of Health. You simply need to implant it."
"You don't like the alarm…," The doctor refocused his attention. "Kaiba-san, ordinarily, an ICM implant would be the best solution. Your heart condition is congenital and unpredictable. But as I understand your underlying condition - this chemical imbalance - well, frankly, I believe an ICM would be the wrong treatment."
"The implant is the standard treatment for the HCM condition, is it not?"
"Yes. Because your problem is related to the natural shape of your heart, and you have no other conditions such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure, there is not much more diet or medications can do. The implant monitors the heart, and if it stops, sends an electrical pulse instantly. But, in your case, the implant wouldn't solve the problem."
"I fail to see why."
"Because the damage from this imbalance is continuous. According to Kazuki-sensei, the hormones we would decrease to assist in your heart treatment are the ones he is increasing to treat the imbalance. Sir, the simple answer is that this heightened sexual response will kill you. The damage it is doing to your heart can be healed -"
"Excellent! Design a treatment program and I'll -"
"Over time! Kaiba-san, the treatment is to stop all physical activities that stress your heart. No soccer, no tennis, no -" he flipped through the papers and read from a section, "- sexual encounter involving subject, spouse, four secondaries, approximate time six hours! These are practically daily occurrences at times - there are three in a single day, twice. Kaiba-san, I've seen professional sumo who died of heart failure with less damage than you have!" Kaiba started to speak but the doctor cut him off. "Yes, the implant will do the basic job. It will act as a pacemaker and it will act as a defibrillator when necessary. But this," he indicated the data, "will make it necessary daily. And eventually it will not be enough."
Kaiba took a deep breath then exhaled slowly. "We are getting better controls on the imbalance. The birth of our son had some unforeseen effects."
"Lack of sleep will do that."
Kaiba nodded wryly. "That too, but there seems to be a spike in oxycodone -"
"Oxycodone. That would explain the increase in your baseline heart rate between your last appointment and this one."
"Doctor, my daughter will be born in less than a month. If the implant will give me that long, I will take it."
The doctor looked at him for a long time before responding. "Yes. If you can refrain from having daily marathon orgies, you will live to see her wedding. But, this will not be easy by any stretch of the imagination."
"Nothing in my life ever has been." Kaiba smirked. "Why would this be any different?" He pulled out his phone and began tapping. "My understanding is that the implant can be done as outpatient surgery. What is the earliest date you have available?"
"No."
"No?"
"No. We will set a date after we go over the restrictions you need to abide after the surgery. I can already see that you are not the type of patient who listens well." Kaiba smirked but didn't disagree. "So, we are going to go line by line through the rules - not guidelines, not recommendations, rules - and you will obey them if you want to see that wedding."
"Shall I initial each 'rule' and have the document notarized?"
The doctor smirked as he pressed his intercom. "Suki-san, is Fujiyama-san still a notary?"
"Yes, Sensei." A voice replied.
"Tell her I will be there with a patient in about an hour." He released the button and looked back at Kaiba. "The following activities are forbidden for the first month after the surgery. You can initial as I go down the list. Staircases, driving, any movement more strenuous than simple yoga, more than five tai chi forms in one day, lifting anything over your head, lifting anything heavier than 10kg - I'll make an exception for the new baby, so write that in and I'll initial it..."