Chapter 16: Picking Up the Pieces

Seto slowly opened his eyes one at a time, his uncertainty rising.

Think, Seto; think. What just happened?

He recalled Amelda pointing his rifle at him in preparation to fire shot that would end his life, but then he suddenly heard a shout; Mokuba had suddenly jumped in between the two—and that was when Amelda had fired.

I should be dead, Seto realized to himself when he saw that there was no fresh wound on his body. He looked down, towards Mokuba. The boy's back was facing him. He appeared to be holding something familiar up to his head.

Seto blinked a few times as his face turned pale. Could Mokuba have...?

"M...Mokuba?" Seto whispered. "Can you...can you hear me? Mokuba?"

The youth made no movement, and Seto began to tremble. No... he was right in the shot, so that means... His lower lip began to quiver; he bit down as hard as he could to fight back against the wave of emotion that threatened to overwhelm him.

Suddenly, the boy slowly lowered the large object as he turned around, his cinnamon eyes looking up at his brother's azure eyes. He was holding Seto's metalic briefcase.

"Seto?" Mokuba murmured. He realized that he too was alive. "Seto! We're...you! You're okay!" He dropped the briefcase and dashed towards Seto, arms spread out for an embrace.

"Don't get any closer!" Seto warned abruptly, halting Mokuba in his tracks. "I'm surrounded by cutter wires."

Mokuba immediately began to take notice. "I'll find a way to get you outta this! Just gotta find something."

Seto suddenly appeared puzzled. "Mokuba, how did you get out? And how did you know that my briefcase was bullet-proof?"

Mokuba shook his head. "Oh that? It wasn't my idea. He threw it to me." He pointed upwards. Seto glanced up to see where Mokuba's index finger lead. He saw Amelda standing in his spot, too frozen in shock to do anything. Seto looked down at the floor below Amelda, and his jaw fell wide open. He tried to find his voice; but had been so surprised by what he was seeing that it was rather difficult.

He took a moment to swallow, and tried to speak up again. "Jounouchi? Is that...is that you?"

Jounouchi nodded, smiling when he saw that Seto was okay. His arms were extended as if he had recently hurled a large object. "Holy shit...ya mean I managed to save ya guys on time?"

Seto nodded. "Of course, idiot! We're both okay!"

Jounouchi smiled. "Thank fuckin' Christ. I remembered that time ya used that thing to save me...I thought I'd return the favour!"

Seto couldn't help but chuckle in response. "You clever boy..."

Jounouchi climbed up the stairs of the fire escape to the floor where Amelda was residing and reached him in little time, snatching the horrified assassin's rifle from his grip with ease and aimed the large weapon at him. "Allright...do ya realize what ya just did? Ya not only nearly killed Kaiba, but ya nearly offed his kid brother tryin' to do it!"

Amelda simply stared forward, his skin pale and covered in a sheen of sweat. "I...I didn't know that Mokuba would have escaped...how could he have?"

Jounouchi sneered. "Shit; language barrier. I forgot." He threw the gun aside, and grasped Amelda by his shoulders, pinning him to the ground.

"Get. Kaiba. Out. Ya better understand that! Get him out!"

"Dental floss," Amelda whispered hoarsely.

"Say what?"

"It's just dental floss. They're not really wires...I only said they were because it works as an effective fear tactic. All you gotta do is cut them with a knife..." He paused as he looked up at Jounouchi's confused expression. "Oh. Right...'language barrier'," he said with a chuckle, and reached for the cuff of his pants on his left, pulling it up and revealing a rather sizeable jackknife.

Jounouchi's eyes widened, his fists raised to strike at the assassin, when he saw that Amelda was merely offering the concealed weapon to Jounouchi.

"I think I get it now," Jounouchi realized as he took the knife. He rose to his feet and headed for the window, leaping through the fire escape to reach Seto as quickly as possible.

Mokuba stepped aside as Jounouchi dashed towards the brunet, knife in hand. "Now hold still, Kaiba...this should only take a second or so...!"

Seto stared at Jounouchi. "What use is that knife going to be against the wires?"

Jounouchi sighed as he cut through the floss network. "It's dental floss. Amelda just claimed it to be a wire 'cause he knew that would keep ya still long enough for him to shoot ya."

Seto narrowed his eyes to slits upon hearing the name, and the moment Jounouchi cut through enough of the floss, he instantly snatched the jackknife from Jounouchi's hands and leapt for the window.

"Kaiba! Stop!" Jounouchi exclaimed.

Seto ignored Jounouchi as he leapt from each fire-escape level until he had reached the floor where Amelda was residing. He entered through the window, finding Amelda kneeling in the center, a defeated demeanour on his features and pose. Seto growled as he immediately rushed towards Amelda and grasped his throat with one hand, slamming the readhead onto the floor. Amelda's ashen eyes became wide; he had not expected such a reaction.

"As I told you, I would kill you as soon as I found a way to escape from the web—I still have the intention to make good on my word," Seto snarled as his free hand produced the jackknife Amelda handed to Jounouchi earlier.

Amelda froze. "Wait...you don't understand any of this!"

"What do you mean, 'you don't understand'? I understand damn well that you were stupidly willing to take an assignment to off someone in hopes of earning your freedom, regardless of the risk of whoever hired you to instead bretray you to your pursuers." Seto's eyes narrowed to slits. "Who was it?"

"Nobody you know," Amelda wheezed.

"It doesn't matter if I know this person or not, tell me so that I can go after him!"

"Truth? I don't know who he is, either."

Seto's shoulders fell, his arm lowering and his grip loosening; his expression was blank. Amelda tried to catch his breath as he watched the jackknife with an uneasiness; he knew perfectly well how to take the knife from the brunet's grip and turn the situation around but as soon as he took a quick glance at Seto's eyes, translating the thought into action became an impossibility.

At that moment, Jounouchi stepped inside. "Kaiba!"

"You keep your distance!" Seto warned, his eyes not once looking away from Amelda.

"If yer gonna kill him—"

"I'm NOT going to kill him—"

"My Japanese may not be so good but I know enough to know that you just denied your threat to kill me, which is an absolute contradiction," Amelda noted.

"Shut the fuck up; this isn't about you at the moment." Seto glanced at Jounouchi for a split second. "I am giving you my word; I won't kill the bastard!"

"Then give me the fucking knife before ya do somethin' yer gonna regret!"

"Just let me handle this!" Seto held the knife up, the handle facing his chest. He returned his hateful gaze to the man that lay before him. "Now as for you...That excuse you gave was unforgivably stupid, and I should very well plunge this knife into your throat for that line of bullshit."

Amelda sighed. "The truth is that I have seen him, but not his face. He kept it obscured beneath a hood, convincing me that looking upon it could jeopardize the mission that I accepted. I know mere physical facts such as his build, mannerisms, and voice, but that's it."

"Would he come?" Seto asked.

"What?"

"If he were not to hear anything from you, or if you returned to him empty- handed, would he come here?"

Amelda pondered upon this for a moment. "I...it's likely."

"Good. Let him know then about what happened here. Let him know everything that I know. Tell this employer of yours that if he wishes me dead, that if he has the balls to commit the killing himself, then he needs to come here to Domino City, and look me up. Let him know that I am waiting, and that I will be ready for him."

Amelda frowned. "You still talk tough, kiddo. I've seen what this man can do. One thing's for sure, he's not going to be happy to see me empty- handed."

Seto flipped the jackknife shut. "Then maybe you shouldn't even bother with him, and start running. You run, and you don't come back here ever again or so help me, I will finish what you started." He handed the weapon back to Amelda; Jounouchi raised his fists.

"Jounouchi, he won't do a thing; there's no need to be on the defensive."

Jounouchi sneered. "I don't trust 'im in the least, Kaiba. He might turn around and chuck that thing right into yer chest or somethin'."

Seto shook his head.

Amelda reached for his rifle as he looked back at Seto. "You're too trusting of one's integrity at times, Kaiba. At least your blond friend there knows to keep his guard up at all times."

"Out."

"Whatever," Amelda shrugged as he pocketed his knife inside his left boot. "This isn't over, just so you know. I'm not saying that to threaten you, I'm saying it because it's true. I won't need to tell him what you said, because when I fail to show up, he'll come here anyway. Trust me on this...you haven't seen the last of me, because as I said, it isn't over." He shouldered his gun and hurriedly jogged out of the room.

Seto continued to stare at Amelda's retreating figure, the same hatred in his eyes. He appeared as though he were caught in a trance when Jounouchi suddenly rested a hand on his shoulder. Seto shook for a moment before looking over at Jounouchi.

"Kaiba...ya gonna be alright?"

Seto's shoulders sunk as he lowered his head. "To be honest, I don't know. It's been very rough, this past week."

Jounouchi nodded. "You an' me both. Listen...if I hadn't been there, would ya really have--"

Seto shook his head. "I'm...I'm not really sure."

Jounouchi's lips formed a thin line. "Hey; Mokuba's waitin' outside. What say we just get the hell outta here, an' ferget this mess fer the time bein', huh? I bet yer real happy to see 'im again. And hey, maybe ya should get some rest?"

Seto sighed as he turned to face Jounouchi. "I think rest..." He clutched his abdomen tightly. "I think that's a good idea..."

Jounouchi moved closer to Seto. "Are...are y'alright?"

Seto nodded. "Just weary...haven't gotten much rest and..." He suddenly collapsed.

Damn; again! Acting instinctively, Jounouchi managed to catch Seto just as his head was about to hit the floor.

This happened that one time we fought, Jounouchi recalled as he raised Seto in an upright position. It'll be hours before he wakes up, which means I might have to carry him all the way home...but I don't know where in the hell he lives—

"Seto!" Mokuba had suddenly burst into the room; he gasped when he saw Jounouchi carrying his elder brother.

"Mokuba; it's not what it looks like!" Jounouchi assured.

"I know he's not dead!" Mokuba ran up to the duo. "It's just that I get worried when he's sick like this!"

"Uh, 'sick'?"

Mokuba shrugged. "That's what the nurse told me whenever it happened. He probably didn't get enough sleep. We gotta get him back home!"

Jounouchi stood with Seto firmly in his hold. "Lead the way, 'cause I have no idea where ya guys live."

Mokuba nodded. "No problem. But I don't know this area, so it'll be hard gettin' outta here."

Jounouchi shook his head. "No worries, kiddo. I know the back roads and back alleys like a girl knows a bra. I'll get us outta this district, and when we're in a familiar area, ya lead the way."

"Okay!" Mokuba hurriedly ran to the door. He suddenly stopped and turned around, smiling slyly. "By the way, you're lucky my big brother couldn't hear your little analogy! You'd totally have gotten into trouble for being a bad influence on me!"

Jounouchi nearly face-faulted at the boy's observation.

"Jesus Christ!"

Jounouchi's mouth gaped open the instant he stepped inside the large mansion. He craned his neck to take in the motifs that decorated the ceiling, then looked all around, turning as he did so for he still carried Seto with him.

"This place is fuckin' huge!"

"Shhh! Geez, you really are loud," Mokuba hushed as he locked the door.

"An' I thought this place looked big on the outside...man, ya guys are really loaded, huh?"

"Well, my brother does kinda run a company."

"Man...it looks like some kinda Euro-palace, for real..."

"Don't let Seto hear you say that. He hates this place." Mokuba removed his shoes. "Be sure to take your shoes off."

Due to his hands currently being full, Jounouchi used his right foot to pull down on his left sneaker. "Huh. I didn't know ya rich guys followed tradition."

"Hey; we may be rich, but we're people too," Mokuba replied as he began to unlace Seto's boots.

"Yeah; Seto keeps threatenin' that he'll break my arm if I call 'im a 'rich kid'."

Mokuba chuckled as he placed Seto's boots inside of the closet. "Yeah; it's a twitch that he has. He thinks people would think that he's so spoiled, when he's really anything but."

"Ya have maids an' butlers though, right? 'Cause I hear rich people have that."

Mokuba placed Jounouchi's sneakers inside of the closet, next to Seto's boots. "Just one."

"And she's able to clean up the whole place?"

"No way! Seto makes sure to clean up after himself, and makes sure that I do the same as well. She pretty much does the cooking and makes sure that I do my homework. The only other staff we have is the limo driver and the security guards that show up to watch the place over the night," Mokuba replied as he walked down the foyer; Jounouchi followed behind closely.

Jounouchi stopped in his tracks when he reached the foot of the stairs. The staircase was several feet wide, with a violet carpet lining the center of the stairs.

"Come on!" Mokuba called as he dashed up the stairs, skipping every other step.

Jounouchi slowly nodded as he slowly followed after the boy, his eyes still staring at the stairs with amazement.

Mokuba opened the door. "This is his room."

Jounouchi briskly yet carefully entered the room, his eyes widened as he was overwhelmed by the size. The room was, to put it simply, huge. On the opposite end of the room stood long, floor-to-ceiling windows, and Jounouchi's left was a large oak dresser and two doors; he deduced those doors lead to the closet. On the dirty blond's right was a large, king- sized canopy bed.

"This is bigger than my whole apartment," Jounouchi muttered as he walked towards the king-sized bed. He noticed the covers were disheveled, and smirked.

Ever full of surprises, Jounouchi thought as he gently laid Seto atop the bed. He gently brushed the back of his hand across the slumbering Seto's forehead, smiling to himself when he found no trace of sweat. He pulled the covers over the brunet, and turned towards Mokuba.

"Looks like he'll be alright. How long d'ya suppose it'll be before he wakes up?"

"I'm not sure," Mokuba shrugged. "Once, it took him nearly three weeks to wake up."

Jounouchi's jaw fell open. "Are ya serious?!"

"Shh! Yes!" Mokuba whispered rather harshly. "I can't tell you exactly what went on, but something terrible happened to him when he was fifteen and he didn't wake up for nearly three weeks."

"Musta been some kinda accident." Jounouchi walked towards the door. "Why don't we go outside...can't disturb 'im an' all."

"Yeah..." Mokuba headed for the door, exiting the large bedroom first. Jounouchi took a moment to look on at Seto, before sighing and closing the door behind him as he exited.

"I hope it don't take him three weeks to get up," Jounouchi stated as he shoved his hands into his pockets once again and leaned against the wall.

"I get really worried when this happens. Thankfully it doesn't happen so often, but when we were kids..." Mokuba stopped.

Jounouchi peered at the boy. "What happened when ya guys were kids?"

"I really shouldn't tell you. Seto would be pissed if I told you."

"Well, how about if we pinky-swear on keepin' the silence, eh?" Jounouchi offered his right pinky finger.

"That stuff's for kids!" Mokuba dismissed as he rested his hands on his hips, a pouty expression on his face. "You just really, really gotta promise not to tell."

"I won't tell a single soul."

"You better not. Okay. Well...I'm sure you pretty much guessed that we don't have any parents..."

"Eh, Seto told me once. Dead, right?"

Mokuba blinked. "Wow. You must be a good friend if he told you that."

Jounouchi scratched the back of his head.

"Anyway, we were orphaned when we were really little. When Seto was five, mom died from a sickness she got not long after having me. When he was eight and I was three, my dad was killed in a car crash. Apparently, we were supposed to be left with a big inheritance, but dad's relatives took the money for themselves. They wanted to take custody of me and dump Seto in an orphanage, but I refused to go anywhere without him so they dumped me in with him."

Jounouchi shook his head. "Damn, that's evil."

"Things were rather tough at the orphanage at first...I was easily picked on since I was the youngest, but Seto always stood up for me; he would sometimes get into fights if they were being really mean. He got me started on chess, which he was learning as well, and I set aside one day each week to play with him, because I was afraid he'd be lonely. He insisted that he was okay, though.

"Over time, I made friends with some of the kids there. We'd play games like kickball and soccer and stuff. We had fun. I tried to talk Seto into it—he preferred to read his books and other stuff like that. I finally had to promise to play chess with him, just to get him to play. It was so cool! Seto totally played like he had always played soccer before, but he insisted that it was his first time playing. We won the game, but while my team and I were celebrating, Seto suddenly passed out. The adults rushed him to a room that we used for whenever one of us got sick, and a doctor came and said that Seto overexerted himself, and said that he was too weak to have been playing so rigourously.

"When that happened, Seto didn't wake up until the next day. After that incident, the adults working at the orphanage wouldn't let Seto play any outdoor games with the other kids, convincing him that he was too sick to play. They pretty much forced him to stay in bed, and he would just sit there reading books and learning strategy games, because that was all he could really do. I got worried about him, but he insisted that he was okay. I decided to spend one day each week to play chess with him so that he wouldn't get too lonely." Mokuba shook his head. "Sorry if I digressed; I do that. Anyway, that's when it happened the first time. This is the fourth time I've ever seen this happen."

Jounouchi remained silent as he processed the information Mokuba had shared with him, his upper teeth sinking into his lower lip.

"Now, you're not gonna tell, right? Seto told me that you have a big mouth!"

"Hey; I told ya that I wouldn't!" Jounouchi insisted. "It's just amazing...that he's been treated like that. Man; no wonder he's so anti- social."

Mokuba's eyes shifted for a moment before focusing on Jounouchi again. "Well, he's got a friend now, at least. Hopefully things will be better for him." He smiled.

"Uh yeah; just gotta keep the faith, or somethin'."

Mokuba yawned. "...hey, Jounouchi?"

"Yeah?"

"Ya think there was any particular reason that assassin went after Seto like that?"

Jounouchi hunched over a trifle. "Yer askin' the wrong person, kiddo. I don't even know what that was all about, truth be told."

"Oh. I hope we never have to deal with him again."

Jounouchi's lips pursed together as he turned his head away. I don't think we're gonna be that lucky...

"Anyway; I'm tired. I think I'll go ahead and turn in...I'm gonna sleep outside of Seto's room, so that when he wakes up, I don't miss it," Mokuba declared as he walked towards a linen closet.

"Sounds like a plan to me. I'll spend the night here too, if that's okay."

"What about your parents?" Mokuba inquired as he pulled out a large, folded blanket and set it on the floor.

"Eh; what about them? I'll be a'ight. Is there a room or somethin'—"

"It's the second door after Seto's room," Mokuba replied as he pointed to a door down the hall. "There's also a little refrigerator next to your bed, so if you get hungry, you can snack on something!"

"Damn. Ya guys thought of everythin'."

"Well, would you actually want to try wandering around here at three in the morning? I've tried to do that before. It sucks!" Mokuba dropped a pillow atop the blanket.

Jounouchi chuckled. "Makes sense. Say, what about all them lights downstairs?"

Mokuba smiled as he dropped another pillow onto the pile. "I've already set them to automatically turn off at a certain time. Don't worry about it!"

"Geez...everything."

"These should be okay." Mokuba flopped a pillow atop a rather large pile. "I'll be sleeping on the floor and all, and I wanna be as comfortable as possible." He picked up the blanket and two of the pillows and approached Seto's door, his feet kicking the other three pillows towards his destination. "You have a good night, okay?"

Jounouchi nodded as he stopped in front of the door to the guest room. "You too. Rest easy, alright? Been a long day."

He opened the door and quickly stepped inside. The room was darkened but not completely so due to the faint light left from the dusk sky outside. Jounouchi noticed some of the light through a dark curtain that covered the large window. He slowly walked towards the window, making sure he wouldn't trip over any objects, and upon reaching the window, he fumbled around for a cord to pull on.

Yes! He gripped around a string and gently pulled on it, drawing the curtains open. Jounouchi glanced to his left and right, then up and down. He scratched his head, then shrugged his shoulders and stepped onto the king-sized bed.

Whoa. Jounouchi was surprised by the softness of the bed as he lay down upon it. He rolled to his side and faced the private refrigerator and reached over, his hand gripping the handle and opening it. The light illuminated his features as he inspected the contents.

Huh. No beer. Ah well. Jounouchi nonchalantly closed the door and rolled onto his back, his arms raised and resting behind his head. His amber eyes shifted over to the opened window. Surrounding the majority of the premises were various trees, their leaves displaying their autumn colours. The sky was gradiating from dusk hues to nighttime. Jounouchi squinted his eyes, and could make out the faint traces of the Domino City skyline.

He sighed and shook his head, his eyes closing.

A ceiling.

That was the first thing that welcomed Seto as soon as he opened his eyes. His lashes fluttered a few times as he tried to become more familiar with his surroundings. He slowly turned his head to the side, and noticed a nightstand table. HIS nightstand table.

He rubbed his eyes as he tried to wake up. When he had stopped, he noticed a bandage on his upper arm. He furrowed a brow for a brief moment, then glanced over at the nightstand table. His glass of water was still there albeit empty, and the small lamp and amber medication bottle were also there.

There was also a folded piece of paper.

Seto slowly propped himself in an upright position with his left hand as his right reached for the note. It appeared to have been written on notebook paper; Seto couldn't hold back the small smile on his lips. He unfolded the note, and it read:

#Hey, Blue-eyes:

Sorry I couldn't be there when ya woke up. After everything that nearly happened with you and your brother, I decided to go off early and see my little sister, make sure she's all right. Ya know how that is, I'm sure. I'll see ya before ya get back in school since there's a buncha stuff I need to tell ya.

Katsuya#

He fell back onto his bed, his head gently landing on the pillows, a rather relieved look on his face.

It was dusk as Jounouchi stepped off from the bus. A corner of a white envelope peeking from the pocket of his denim jacket. He flicked a few of the many errant blond strands of hair from his face, as he squinted his eyes to get a look at the setting sun.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the envelope. His first name was written in a viridian ink; it was surrounded by miniature stickers of puppies.

"Remember, Katsuya...don't open it until you get home, okay? Please be sure to keep what you read to yourself."

He closed his eyes as the sweet sound of his sister's voice rang in the back of his mind; his expression strained with a painful sadness as he continued to delve into a memory.

%"Shizuka! Shizuka!" A small boy cried as he chased after the speeding car. Inside, a young girl cried out, reaching out hopelessly towards the boy.

"Shizuka!" The boy stopped in his tracks, cursing at himself for failing to stop the events that took place. When he had caught his breath, and he turned around, teeth gritting, and demanded:

"Daddy; why did ya let this happen?!"

The inebriated man that stood behind the boy stared dumbfoundedly with bloodshot eyes at the retreating vehicle. He stood in a slouched position, a large glass beer bottle tightly gripped in his right hand. %

Shit; I promised myself I wouldn't cry, but goddamn; I never really understand how badly I miss Shizuka until I see 'er in person.

He shoved the envelope, and his hands, inside his pockets. He stared at the setting sun for a few more moments before turning away and beginning his trek home.

He suddenly stopped; someone stood in his path.

"...Kaiba."

Seto pointed to a bench that stood in between two vending machines. "Do you have time to talk?"

Jounouchi shrugged his shoulders. "I'm only goin' home; so yeah. I got time." He soon followed Seto to the rather secluded area, seating himself next to the brunet.

The two sat in silence. Seto stared off into the distance watching the dusk sky while Jounouchi leaned back, legs spread apart and arms resting over the backrest of the bench.

"So, what had happened between you and Hirutani?" Seto inquired suddenly, shattering the silence.

Jounouchi frowned. "Apparently, he's been dead. They were usin' all that drama for just a ruse fer me to replace 'em. I told 'em where to stick it, and walked outta there."

"Dead? How anti-climactic."

"Yer tellin' me. I doubt they'll really try anythin' at this point...that gang shit's old anyway. Underground is where it's at..." Jounouchi leaned back.

"So is it over?"

"I want it to be, but it's like there ain't no closure. Like there's things that I need to wrap up with that whole affair."

"Usually, difficult questions tend to lead to even more questions frather than answers. It's how these things seem to work."

Jounouchi sighed. "I'd rather not think about it right now. I know ya didn't come here to talk about how things went 'tween me and my ex-crew."

"Thought I'd say at least something. We were being too quiet."

"So what are we here to talk about?"

Seto glared at Jounouchi. "You ought to know. I wanted to thank you, but I passed out before I had the chance to do so."

"Fer what?" Jounouchi furrowed his brow for a moment. "Oh; that. Look; I know I said it was because I was returnin' the favour ya did me a little while back, but that really wasn't just the reason...Man, I ain't no good at sayin' this sorta thing, so bear with me here...after we parted ways yesterday to face our what we had to, I really got to thinkin'. Naw; that ain't right. It was after we...ya know, made out. When we were both fallin' asleep, and I started thinkin' about just how important ya really were. It's just so weird, cuz it seemed like yesterday, we were at each others' throats.

"But yeah; the reason I saved ya and yer kid bro wasn't because I thought it was the right thing to do, it was 'cause I cared too much about ya to let anythin' else happen. Hell; I woulda jumped in front of the shot if it came down to it. Uh...so that's what I wanted to tell you. That; and that I wanted you to know that I had every intention of walking away after my battle with Hirutani, because you were the reason."

Seto blinked; the dirty blond spoke with that proper dialect again. "So you...you did all of this for me?"

Jounouchi gave a slight nod. "Unbelievable, ain't it? That's how it wound up bein', though. I used to wonder how things got like that so quickly, but I started readin' between the lines, so to speak. I caught on to the fact that ya were always tryin' to get near me, even if it were to insult me. I used to wonder why the hell anyone would do that, but I quickly figured that maybe ya were tryin' to get my attention in yer own way, since ya aren't so vocal like I am."

Seto turned his head away. "Well. I must say that I'm impressed. You figured that out..."

"Yeah. The how, and the why. Even before ya admitted to it the other night, I had a feelin' that ya had a thing fer me. And no; the boner wasn't the first sign."

"You really didn't need to bring it up, eith—Aw, shit." Seto slapped himself on the forehead when he caught onto his unintended entendre.

Jounouchi laughed. "Oh man, that was great."

Seto playfully pursed his lips. "I suppose that foot-in-mouth syndrome you're always suffering from IS contagious after all."

Jounouchi sneered. "Oh, so it's like that; huh?"

Seto smirked and leaned in, his lips brushing against Jounouchi's. Jounouchi blinked with surprise, but he quickly acknowledged the brunet's sudden action and accepted Seto's kiss.

"I like your mouth much better when my tongue's in it," Seto whispered as he slowly drew away, his tongue running across his lips.

Jounouchi smirked. "Tastes better too."

Seto smiled coyly as he leaned forward again. However; Jounouchi shifted his head to the side. Seto was surprised by Jounouchi's sudden movement; he was prepared to make a demand over Jounouchi's action; instead he moaned as he felt Jounouchi's lips on his neck. Jounouchi grinned as he brought his kisses down to the brunet's collarbone and back up his neck again. Once he had finished he slowly stood up, standing Seto up with him. He looked him directly in the eyes.

"You're welcome," Jounouchi stated softly. He closed his eyes as he closed the distance between himself and Seto, and kissed the brunet firmly on the lips. Seto wrapped one arm around Jounouchi's waist; his other hand gently ran through the dirty blond's rough tendrils.

Seto could feel Jounouchi's hands wandering downwards, past the small of his back and resting firmly on his hind.

Seto didn't mind in the least.

PART 2: SPENT SHELLS AND HEARTSTRINGS--THE END

AUTHOR'S COMMENTS

Part 2 is finally concluded, but the stage has now been set for what could be the most shocking and intense part yet, the final storyline in CONTRAST: Blue-Truth of Lineage. Some of the mysterious origins of Seto Kaiba are going to be revealed in this arc, and a MAJOR character will be introduced. This character is the key element in the third arc, and if you've been paying attention then you already know that the setup for this character's introduction is now underway.

Originally, I was going to have Jounouchi rush into the room where Amelda stood, and force Amelda to aim his rifle away from the Kaiba brothers. However, at the very last second, I instead chose for Jounouchi to have thrown Seto's metal briefcase to Mokuba, as the object played some significant role earlier in this arc. I'm a little more satisfied with the new result.

Also, I'd like to assure one reviewer, Nyako-Chan—that there'll be no Xiaoyu-style fangirling to be seen anywhere, and I am anti-Jin Kazama, so there'll be little mention of him! I also agree that Hwoarang is the Korean equivalent to Jounouchi (and YES, there will be references to it galore.).

Once again, thank you for your reading, your reviewing, and for your support! PEACE!!