Disclaimer: If you haven't got the idea by now I'd be –really- starting to
wonder if you've bothered reading it before. But never mind. I do not own,
therefore do not sue. If sued, suer will only gain possession of my
collection of paperclips and dust mites. You have been warned. Just for
good measure, I don't own 'Under my skin' by Mudvayne either.
Pairings: Seto/Jou, Bakura/Ryou, Yami/Yugi, Marik/Malik, one sided Mokoba/Ryou
A.N: *is once again feeling incredibly bad about herself* Yes, it's been..........oh, three months? Now that's bad of me, I apologise sincerely. I'm trying to get the story re-revolving around Seto and Jou now, I became a little sidetracked with my Bakura/Ryou.........but can you –really- blame me?
For anyone who's interested I'm thinking of starting up a Bakura/Ryou side story, just for them. If anyone wants to see something in particular in that, or especially wants me to write it let me know. Nice, happy comments give me happy, warm fuzzes in my stomach.
Thank you to: Jadej.j, Lady Phoenix Slytherin, Celeste1, Cat in the web. Oh! And Dei-chan of course.
Katri: Thanks for betaing my story! *glomphuggle* She's a good sister...at times.
ColeyCarissa: Bakky? Possessive? Now that would be an understatement! ^^
Ladyschumon: Ah Jamma-chan. Ya know I love you! You just weren't around at the time and I wanted it up that night! And I wasn't about to get my –parents- to beta read this! O.O
Alostblackcat: Wow, that's around three reviews you've given me.........I LOVE YOU!!! *glompsnuggle* I'm glad you liked my Bakkky/Ryou antics.
Ranma Higurashi: Another multiple reviewer! *glomps you also* You rock!
Misuandpup: Love your new name! And I love you for the multiple reviews! And don't even think about eating my killer chickens, they're needed for Seto/Jou action. .........Okay, so they're not.
Syreth_Kahn: Aw, you make me blush! ^^
Okay, now having wasted almost a page on that, let's get on with the story shall we?
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'Speech'
"thoughts"
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If there's one thing I hate, it's not knowing what's going on. Most people say I'm not the brightest crayon in the box. In a way they're right. I do have a nasty habit of not thinking before I act, same thing applies to me shooting off my mouth, but besides that, I –do- have a brain. Don't die of shock, please. I'm as capable of thought as the next guy. Unfortunately Kaiba seems to think otherwise. How do I know you ask? Simple. It's the way he occasionally pauses during conversation - the little we have - and just stares. And I mean full blown, wide eyed stares. Then he goes back to his good old stick-up-the-ass ways, usually a thousand times worse too. Annoying as hell, especially when the conversation seems to be going somewhere. But dogs can't have conversations, can they Kaiba?
Only a dog.
Why do I have the longing to be more?
~Jou
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There were exactly seventy six cracks in the ceiling. How did he know? He'd counted, twice in fact. Mokoba closed his deep blue eyes, sighing in frustration. He was slept out, the amount of pent up energy he had was almost painful and the worst part of it was that the small room he was confined to was only a few meters wide at most.
'Could've at least given me a mattress.' He grumbled, rolling over lazily onto his side. The pattern-less lino was as hard and cold as cement beneath him, causing his back muscles to cramp up uncomfortably. Unlike Ryou, Mokoba had not been given the luxury of a bed and therefore was using his jacket as a makeshift pillow. Not the greatest thing, the zippers had a tendency to dig into the back of his head, but it would do. The lack of comforts was the last thing on his mind.
Mokoba was well aware that Ryou was supposed to be his bodyguard, if there was to be any escape planned it should come from the older man, but Mokoba had a dark feeling that the white haired man was completely lost in this situation and, more so, with who was controlling it. That person? Bakura. Yes, Mokoba knew him and all too well. Last time the blue eyed boy had seen him was when his brother had had the grey haired man forcefully removed from the Kaiba's property. The reason? Bakura, who had been employed as head of security at the time, was doing a brilliant job of embezzling thousands of dollars from the company. To Mokoba's knowledge, the man should have been rotting in a prison cell for another five years.
Thinking of Bakura brought a frown to the young boy's face. It was obvious Ryou knew the man and, from the way Bakura had been looking at Ryou, Mokoba was sure it hadn't been a pleasant experience for the delicate albino.
'He was sizing Ryou up as if he were a slab of meat.' The black haired boy muttered, glaring at the metal door as if it held the answer to all of his problems. He jerked back with a start as the door almost hit him in the face, opening inwards to reveal a grinning, raven haired man. Otogi, the man who seemed to have the lucky job of babysitting him, always reminded Mokoba of the Cheshire cat for some reason. He half expected the green eyed man to disappear and leave only a smile at any given moment.
'Grub's up kid.' Otogi set the plate he was carrying down on the floor before joining the prisoner on the floor, pulling a pack of well used playing cards out and shuffling them as the boy ate. Not for the first time did Mokoba wonder if the man really had nothing better to do then play cards with Pegasus' kid prisoner. He voiced this thought casually, pushing his empty plate away.
'Actually I don't, come to think of it.' The green eyed man replied, his chuckles causing his shoulder length ponytail to swing back and forth. 'All I really have to do all day is run errands for the horse-man and look after you, but the pay is good so what does it matter?'
'Horse-man?'
'Pegasus.' Otogi's trademark grin re-appeared. 'Bakura came up with it and it's kinda stuck with the employees here. Not that we'd ever say it to his face of course.' Mokoba's face had darkened at the mention of the grey haired man and of course, Otogi noticed this. Otogi had a nasty habit of noticing everything.
'Don't like Bakura, eh?' The raven haired man stretched out languidly, resembling a cat as he let out a small yawn. 'Can't blame you, but he really isn't too bad if you get past his asshole act.'
'Ryou doesn't like him.'
'Oh?' Otogi didn't seem to take his remark seriously. 'I think he does. Scared shit of him, yes, but that's not the point. And Bakura actually does care for him...in a strange, sadistic manner.' He chuckled again at Mokoba's doubting look.
'He may get a little roughed up, but it'll be fine in the end.' The green eyed man added, dealing the cards for a game of cheat. 'Now, how's this little escape plan of yours going?' Glad for the change in subject, Mokoba picked up his card and laid down a card, face down.
'Well, first of all-'
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Muffling a yawn against the palm of his hand, Jou hurried, bleary eyed, after his employer and two spiky haired companions. He'd been forcefully dragged from the comforts of his room by Yami soon after he'd awoken, so here he was following the trio and being filled in by Yugi.
'If if you've got the plan done then why the hell have you dragged me out for at this godforsaken hour of the morning?' he grumbled, trying to bring some semblance of sanity to his mop of hair. 'I'm still in my frickin' PJs for crying out loud!'
'Shhh, Jou.' Yugi had fallen back to join his disgruntled friend. 'Yami and Kaiba-san are a little stressed right now, so try not to annoy them, okay?'
'I don't like it.' Jou gave up on his hair; he couldn't do anything without a comb.
'What, the plan or walking about in your PJs?'
'Both. Who knows what Pegasus could try to pull? The guy's not particularly sane you know.'
'It's not our decision Jou.'
'I know Yug', and that's what pisses me off.' The group had halted outside one of the many doors along the hallway, different only by the heavy duty lock keeping it shut. Seto turned to his companions.
'I'm only showing you this out of necessity.' The brunette muttered. 'Don't expect to see anything else.
'It's merely so we'll know what we're looking for, Kaiba-san' began Yami, only to be cut off by a certain blonde.
'Don't cha worry Kaib', we couldn't give a damn about the rest of your stuff, as long as they don't try to maim us or anything.'
'Jou!' Yugi gave him a light slap on the arm.
'What?'
'Oh never mind.'
Seto rolled his eyes at Jou's comment, not rising to the blonde's taunt and instead busied himself with unlocking the door, punching the keypad password in with practiced ease. Ushering everyone in before closing the door, Seto stalked over to the closed laptop on the dusty desk, flipping it open and hitting the boot button while the three guards made themselves comfortable.
'It's a fast machine.' Yami commented idly, clearly impressed. Seto flashed him a withering look.
'Unlike most people, I don't have time to waste in waiting for a machine to load.' The brunette waited for the stinging comment he assumed would come from the blond at this point, and was surprised when none came. He kept his expression neutral and cast a casual glance over to the honey eyed man. Contrary to his usual hyperactive stance, Jou was slumped against the wall furthest from the laptop, eyes squeezed shut in a faint grimace of pain. Seto shot an inquiring look at Yami, who gave a confused shrug in reply, before frowning slightly.
'Katsuya?' the blonde cracked open an eye, he was listening. Seto raised a questioning brow in barely concealed concern. 'You okay?'
'Yeah, just fine Kaib'.' Jou waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. 'Just speed this up will ya?' Seto nodded.
'The program is very distinctive.' He explained, hitting a few keys and moving the cursor over to a shortcut on the desktop. 'You'll be able to recognise if a machine is infected by it either displaying the shutdown message continuously or by this shortcut on the main screen. At the moment, the only way to destroy the virus is by removing the infected drive.' Yugi had a look of complete confusion on his face.
'If you know how, then why –'
'Haven't I done it?' Seto watched as the loading hourglass appeared on screen. 'Simple, I can't figure out what's infected. Normally, I would just destroy the entire machine-.' he trailed off. There were irreplaceable files on the hardrive of this machine; he'd only destroy those as a last resort. The hourglass finally disappeared to be replaced with a blue screen, blank save for two words in the centre.
'Hello Seto.' Seto grit his teeth, hitting the enter key to skip to the main page. He was about to explain the basics of the program when a dull thud interrupted him. Jou had fallen to his knees, the grimace becoming a full fledged mask of pain as he pressed his hands to his ears in an apparently vain attempt to keep some noise out that they others couldn't hear.
'Katsuya?' his own startled expression was mirrored by Jou's two companions. Seeing the blonde give a sudden lurch, Seto was suddenly on his knees beside him, holding him up as the younger man emitted a soft whine. Inspiration suddenly hit the young CEO like a bag of wet cement.
'Yami!' both he and the tri haired man were startled by the urgency in his voice. 'Pull the plug!'
'Pardon?'
'Just yank the goddamned plug from the machine!' Yami acted this time, yanking the black cord from the back of the machine. The light emitted from the screen flickered a moment before dying off completely, leaving the four in semi darkness. Jou's eyes opened slowly and he haltingly removed his hands from his ears.
'Erm...' he shot and apologetic look at Seto, who was still kneeling beside him, and was grateful the dim light hid his blush. 'Sorry?' The brunette gave him a blank look.
'What on earth was that?' his question was overruled, however, by a blurry of tri-coloured boy leaching its self onto the subject.
'Jou! Are you okay? What happened? Do you need anything? Do you-'
'Yug', Yug', calm down already!' The honey eyed man laughed, ruffling his friend's ever spiky hair. 'It was just...' he glanced at Yami and Seto, biting his lip slightly. 'Just a once off thing, reckon I might be getting a headache or something.' The lie was as good as transparent, Seto could see Yami had seen it too, but Yugi, almost stupidly, lapped it straight up.
'Oh, thank goodness.' He sighed, giving Jou another quick squeeze. 'Maybe you should go take a lie down, that is, if Kaiba-san isn't going anywhere.' Seto shook his head in a negative. He was working at home today, not that he'd get much done. Worry for Mokoba was still plaguing his mind. And probably would continue to do so until his younger brother was returned at the end of the week. Their plan was foolproof but as Jou had said, who knows what Pegasus would do in the meantime.
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Jou sat moodily in the middle of his bed, knees drawn up and a slight from on his face. He was now fully dressed, faded black jeans and a long sleeved button up shirt his choice for the day. His boots and bomber jacket lay by the door, ready for use. He had a plan, a good one at that, mostly based around the information Malik had sent him that morning, but there was a problem. That problem being that with the amount of security camera's about, he couldn't leave without everyone knowing it. He just needed a good excuse...his honey eyes fell on the half depleted bottle of aspirin on the dresser. Perfect. Donning his jacket and boots he strode into the corridors, hands crammed into his pockets and shoulders slumped. Reaching the kitchen he rooted about until he found a suitable pen and paper, scribbling that he should be back within the hour, before heading out the front door with a spare key. An hour wasn't long, but it was all he could get without raising suspicious. And he hadn't put the time down either, hopefully they wouldn't find it soon. Hopefully.
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'Nailed inside my head, Fuck this I don't need your shit, All the lies deceit and arrogance, Talk your shit like my life is some kinda game'
Yami heard the Ishtars before he saw them. Along with half the neighbourhood it seemed. Whoever let Marik get behind the wheel of the Jeep they were driving had to be absolutely nuts, not surprisingly that person was probably Malik. Not that it would have made any difference which of them drove, the chaos would have been the same.
'Like you fuckin' know me, Just go far away and be small, Run far away and be small, Go lie in a hole and be small!' Malik belted out the last lyrics of the verse at top volume, jumping from the car before Marik had even stopped properly and sauntering over to where Yami, Yugi and Seto were all looking at them, open mouthed. Marik soon joined him, wrapping his arm around his lover's waist and grinning psychotically.
'So, how many did we get, love?' Malik hesitated in replying, apparently doing some mental math.
'Hmm, five squirrels, three cats, a dog, ten school children and two little old ladies.' Marik looked horrified.
'Twenty one? You're joking, I swear I counted six squirrels, three cats, two dogs, a dozen school children and four little old ladies!' Malik bit Marik's shoulder, drawing blood.
'You're delusional!'
'I'll show you delusional!' With that Marik proceeded to throw Malik to the still snow covered ground, straddle him and kiss the living daylights out of him. The trio on the stairs looked on in astonishment. Yami was the first to recover.
'As much as I hate to break the momentary peace there always is when you two are making out, I think we have slightly more important things to do.'
Marik broke off the kiss and, leaving a thoroughly winded Malik beneath him, looked up at Yami, eyes full of false innocence.
'Something more important then sex?' he blinked uncomprehending. Yami sighed in annoyance.
'Yes, as new as the concept may be to you.'
'Oh!' Marik stood, hauling Malik to his feet in the process. He turned to a shocked Seto, smiling in an almost sane manner. 'We're done!' He stuck out a scar covered hand towards the CEO. 'Marik and Malik Ishtar. We may not be sane but if you need something done, we can do it!' Seto shook his hand gingerly.
'Nice to meet you.' He wiped his hand quickly on his trench coat. 'I presume you're the backup Yami was telling me about.' He shot a dark look at Yami. 'I also presume you know the plan?'
'That we do!' Malik had obviously recovered from the kiss now and was as bouncy as ever. 'Though I can imagine Jou's having a fit about waiting that long. Where is the guy anyway?'
'Gone to get some aspirin.' Attention turned to Yugi at the moment, how was still standing by the door. Seto blinked.
'He has?' his ocean blue eyes narrowed slightly. 'He didn't tell me.'
'Oh, he left a note.' Yugi continued brightly, holding out a scrap of paper. 'Said he'd be back within the hour.'
Seto noticed a look passed between the Ishtars, immediately becoming suspicious. 'When did you pick this up, Yugi.' Yugi seemed to give it some thought.
'Oh, about two...' his eyes widened in recognition. 'Two hours ago.'
There was a snort from Marik.
'No prizes for guessing where he's off to then.' He looked up to see three sets of eyes on him. 'What? He didn't tell you?'
'He said he was going for aspirin.' Seto growled out, irritation obvious in his voice. These two psychotic lunatics had annoyed him from the start, and this constant babbling in riddles certainly wasn't improving his mood in the least.
Marik rolled his eyes. 'Obviously not then. Malik and I sent him some data this morning.' Malik nodded his head in agreement. 'It was all about where Pegasus' den's are located...'
Yami's eyes widened in shock.
'He's gone to get information by himself again.' The CEO looked at him curiously.
'He does this often?
Yami nodded wearily, running a hand through one of his spikes. 'Far too often. Happened on our last mission too, he almost got himself injured for that effort.' 'But what he found out really did help!' Yugi, always quick to the blonde's defense, quickly put in.
'That's not the point, Yugi.'
'...injured?' Seto's question was quite, but still forceful enough to be heard over the two. Yami nodded.
'A guy pulled a knife on him; luckily he managed to get out with only a few scratches.' Seto hadn't seemed to have heard him; his eyes had a faraway look to them as if he were deep in thought.
'Hmm.'
Watching the brunet walk away without another word, Malik shot a sly look at Yami. 'I take it he likes our little Joujou, by his reaction.' The older Motou rolled his eyes at him.
'Go figure. We know it, you know it but that guy has too much of his ego shoved up his ass to admit it.'
Marik gave a grin. 'Dosen't matter, not if he's the one on top!' the platinum blond gave a laugh of glee as a Yami sized, black leather boot was hurled in his direction.
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A hand rested against the tall pillar that stood next to the vast gates of the Kaiba's mansion, its owner leaning heavily on the cool, grey stone for support. Tiredness gnawed at every particle of his body like acid, and the driveway looked so horribly long...No. He shook his head, wincing at the almost familiar headache that was beginning to form again. He wouldn't give up, that wasn't his style. Even if he was dead tired...
He began the seemingly endless trek down the icy path, stumbling often and not even bothering to avoid the low hanging branches that were covered in white, powdery snow. He'd lost his jacket somewhere along the way, had he even brought it? He didn't remember, his entire head seemed to be buzzing and blurring. Just a little further.
Finally reaching the massive oak doors that seemed there only to shut the world out, the boy lent with his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. His side was screaming at him now, though the icy wind was numbing it a little. As well as his nose, his toes, his ears, his-. The door opened suddenly, revealing a pair of clean, polished black shoes. Who the owner of the shoes was, Jou didn't know. He'd blacked out cold, face down on the doormat.
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Bum dum! A cliffhanger! Okay, not really, but close enough to not have people kill me? I don't know, I'm just confusing myself now. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy and again I apologize for the long wait. I love you all!
Pairings: Seto/Jou, Bakura/Ryou, Yami/Yugi, Marik/Malik, one sided Mokoba/Ryou
A.N: *is once again feeling incredibly bad about herself* Yes, it's been..........oh, three months? Now that's bad of me, I apologise sincerely. I'm trying to get the story re-revolving around Seto and Jou now, I became a little sidetracked with my Bakura/Ryou.........but can you –really- blame me?
For anyone who's interested I'm thinking of starting up a Bakura/Ryou side story, just for them. If anyone wants to see something in particular in that, or especially wants me to write it let me know. Nice, happy comments give me happy, warm fuzzes in my stomach.
Thank you to: Jadej.j, Lady Phoenix Slytherin, Celeste1, Cat in the web. Oh! And Dei-chan of course.
Katri: Thanks for betaing my story! *glomphuggle* She's a good sister...at times.
ColeyCarissa: Bakky? Possessive? Now that would be an understatement! ^^
Ladyschumon: Ah Jamma-chan. Ya know I love you! You just weren't around at the time and I wanted it up that night! And I wasn't about to get my –parents- to beta read this! O.O
Alostblackcat: Wow, that's around three reviews you've given me.........I LOVE YOU!!! *glompsnuggle* I'm glad you liked my Bakkky/Ryou antics.
Ranma Higurashi: Another multiple reviewer! *glomps you also* You rock!
Misuandpup: Love your new name! And I love you for the multiple reviews! And don't even think about eating my killer chickens, they're needed for Seto/Jou action. .........Okay, so they're not.
Syreth_Kahn: Aw, you make me blush! ^^
Okay, now having wasted almost a page on that, let's get on with the story shall we?
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'Speech'
"thoughts"
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If there's one thing I hate, it's not knowing what's going on. Most people say I'm not the brightest crayon in the box. In a way they're right. I do have a nasty habit of not thinking before I act, same thing applies to me shooting off my mouth, but besides that, I –do- have a brain. Don't die of shock, please. I'm as capable of thought as the next guy. Unfortunately Kaiba seems to think otherwise. How do I know you ask? Simple. It's the way he occasionally pauses during conversation - the little we have - and just stares. And I mean full blown, wide eyed stares. Then he goes back to his good old stick-up-the-ass ways, usually a thousand times worse too. Annoying as hell, especially when the conversation seems to be going somewhere. But dogs can't have conversations, can they Kaiba?
Only a dog.
Why do I have the longing to be more?
~Jou
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There were exactly seventy six cracks in the ceiling. How did he know? He'd counted, twice in fact. Mokoba closed his deep blue eyes, sighing in frustration. He was slept out, the amount of pent up energy he had was almost painful and the worst part of it was that the small room he was confined to was only a few meters wide at most.
'Could've at least given me a mattress.' He grumbled, rolling over lazily onto his side. The pattern-less lino was as hard and cold as cement beneath him, causing his back muscles to cramp up uncomfortably. Unlike Ryou, Mokoba had not been given the luxury of a bed and therefore was using his jacket as a makeshift pillow. Not the greatest thing, the zippers had a tendency to dig into the back of his head, but it would do. The lack of comforts was the last thing on his mind.
Mokoba was well aware that Ryou was supposed to be his bodyguard, if there was to be any escape planned it should come from the older man, but Mokoba had a dark feeling that the white haired man was completely lost in this situation and, more so, with who was controlling it. That person? Bakura. Yes, Mokoba knew him and all too well. Last time the blue eyed boy had seen him was when his brother had had the grey haired man forcefully removed from the Kaiba's property. The reason? Bakura, who had been employed as head of security at the time, was doing a brilliant job of embezzling thousands of dollars from the company. To Mokoba's knowledge, the man should have been rotting in a prison cell for another five years.
Thinking of Bakura brought a frown to the young boy's face. It was obvious Ryou knew the man and, from the way Bakura had been looking at Ryou, Mokoba was sure it hadn't been a pleasant experience for the delicate albino.
'He was sizing Ryou up as if he were a slab of meat.' The black haired boy muttered, glaring at the metal door as if it held the answer to all of his problems. He jerked back with a start as the door almost hit him in the face, opening inwards to reveal a grinning, raven haired man. Otogi, the man who seemed to have the lucky job of babysitting him, always reminded Mokoba of the Cheshire cat for some reason. He half expected the green eyed man to disappear and leave only a smile at any given moment.
'Grub's up kid.' Otogi set the plate he was carrying down on the floor before joining the prisoner on the floor, pulling a pack of well used playing cards out and shuffling them as the boy ate. Not for the first time did Mokoba wonder if the man really had nothing better to do then play cards with Pegasus' kid prisoner. He voiced this thought casually, pushing his empty plate away.
'Actually I don't, come to think of it.' The green eyed man replied, his chuckles causing his shoulder length ponytail to swing back and forth. 'All I really have to do all day is run errands for the horse-man and look after you, but the pay is good so what does it matter?'
'Horse-man?'
'Pegasus.' Otogi's trademark grin re-appeared. 'Bakura came up with it and it's kinda stuck with the employees here. Not that we'd ever say it to his face of course.' Mokoba's face had darkened at the mention of the grey haired man and of course, Otogi noticed this. Otogi had a nasty habit of noticing everything.
'Don't like Bakura, eh?' The raven haired man stretched out languidly, resembling a cat as he let out a small yawn. 'Can't blame you, but he really isn't too bad if you get past his asshole act.'
'Ryou doesn't like him.'
'Oh?' Otogi didn't seem to take his remark seriously. 'I think he does. Scared shit of him, yes, but that's not the point. And Bakura actually does care for him...in a strange, sadistic manner.' He chuckled again at Mokoba's doubting look.
'He may get a little roughed up, but it'll be fine in the end.' The green eyed man added, dealing the cards for a game of cheat. 'Now, how's this little escape plan of yours going?' Glad for the change in subject, Mokoba picked up his card and laid down a card, face down.
'Well, first of all-'
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Muffling a yawn against the palm of his hand, Jou hurried, bleary eyed, after his employer and two spiky haired companions. He'd been forcefully dragged from the comforts of his room by Yami soon after he'd awoken, so here he was following the trio and being filled in by Yugi.
'If if you've got the plan done then why the hell have you dragged me out for at this godforsaken hour of the morning?' he grumbled, trying to bring some semblance of sanity to his mop of hair. 'I'm still in my frickin' PJs for crying out loud!'
'Shhh, Jou.' Yugi had fallen back to join his disgruntled friend. 'Yami and Kaiba-san are a little stressed right now, so try not to annoy them, okay?'
'I don't like it.' Jou gave up on his hair; he couldn't do anything without a comb.
'What, the plan or walking about in your PJs?'
'Both. Who knows what Pegasus could try to pull? The guy's not particularly sane you know.'
'It's not our decision Jou.'
'I know Yug', and that's what pisses me off.' The group had halted outside one of the many doors along the hallway, different only by the heavy duty lock keeping it shut. Seto turned to his companions.
'I'm only showing you this out of necessity.' The brunette muttered. 'Don't expect to see anything else.
'It's merely so we'll know what we're looking for, Kaiba-san' began Yami, only to be cut off by a certain blonde.
'Don't cha worry Kaib', we couldn't give a damn about the rest of your stuff, as long as they don't try to maim us or anything.'
'Jou!' Yugi gave him a light slap on the arm.
'What?'
'Oh never mind.'
Seto rolled his eyes at Jou's comment, not rising to the blonde's taunt and instead busied himself with unlocking the door, punching the keypad password in with practiced ease. Ushering everyone in before closing the door, Seto stalked over to the closed laptop on the dusty desk, flipping it open and hitting the boot button while the three guards made themselves comfortable.
'It's a fast machine.' Yami commented idly, clearly impressed. Seto flashed him a withering look.
'Unlike most people, I don't have time to waste in waiting for a machine to load.' The brunette waited for the stinging comment he assumed would come from the blond at this point, and was surprised when none came. He kept his expression neutral and cast a casual glance over to the honey eyed man. Contrary to his usual hyperactive stance, Jou was slumped against the wall furthest from the laptop, eyes squeezed shut in a faint grimace of pain. Seto shot an inquiring look at Yami, who gave a confused shrug in reply, before frowning slightly.
'Katsuya?' the blonde cracked open an eye, he was listening. Seto raised a questioning brow in barely concealed concern. 'You okay?'
'Yeah, just fine Kaib'.' Jou waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. 'Just speed this up will ya?' Seto nodded.
'The program is very distinctive.' He explained, hitting a few keys and moving the cursor over to a shortcut on the desktop. 'You'll be able to recognise if a machine is infected by it either displaying the shutdown message continuously or by this shortcut on the main screen. At the moment, the only way to destroy the virus is by removing the infected drive.' Yugi had a look of complete confusion on his face.
'If you know how, then why –'
'Haven't I done it?' Seto watched as the loading hourglass appeared on screen. 'Simple, I can't figure out what's infected. Normally, I would just destroy the entire machine-.' he trailed off. There were irreplaceable files on the hardrive of this machine; he'd only destroy those as a last resort. The hourglass finally disappeared to be replaced with a blue screen, blank save for two words in the centre.
'Hello Seto.' Seto grit his teeth, hitting the enter key to skip to the main page. He was about to explain the basics of the program when a dull thud interrupted him. Jou had fallen to his knees, the grimace becoming a full fledged mask of pain as he pressed his hands to his ears in an apparently vain attempt to keep some noise out that they others couldn't hear.
'Katsuya?' his own startled expression was mirrored by Jou's two companions. Seeing the blonde give a sudden lurch, Seto was suddenly on his knees beside him, holding him up as the younger man emitted a soft whine. Inspiration suddenly hit the young CEO like a bag of wet cement.
'Yami!' both he and the tri haired man were startled by the urgency in his voice. 'Pull the plug!'
'Pardon?'
'Just yank the goddamned plug from the machine!' Yami acted this time, yanking the black cord from the back of the machine. The light emitted from the screen flickered a moment before dying off completely, leaving the four in semi darkness. Jou's eyes opened slowly and he haltingly removed his hands from his ears.
'Erm...' he shot and apologetic look at Seto, who was still kneeling beside him, and was grateful the dim light hid his blush. 'Sorry?' The brunette gave him a blank look.
'What on earth was that?' his question was overruled, however, by a blurry of tri-coloured boy leaching its self onto the subject.
'Jou! Are you okay? What happened? Do you need anything? Do you-'
'Yug', Yug', calm down already!' The honey eyed man laughed, ruffling his friend's ever spiky hair. 'It was just...' he glanced at Yami and Seto, biting his lip slightly. 'Just a once off thing, reckon I might be getting a headache or something.' The lie was as good as transparent, Seto could see Yami had seen it too, but Yugi, almost stupidly, lapped it straight up.
'Oh, thank goodness.' He sighed, giving Jou another quick squeeze. 'Maybe you should go take a lie down, that is, if Kaiba-san isn't going anywhere.' Seto shook his head in a negative. He was working at home today, not that he'd get much done. Worry for Mokoba was still plaguing his mind. And probably would continue to do so until his younger brother was returned at the end of the week. Their plan was foolproof but as Jou had said, who knows what Pegasus would do in the meantime.
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Jou sat moodily in the middle of his bed, knees drawn up and a slight from on his face. He was now fully dressed, faded black jeans and a long sleeved button up shirt his choice for the day. His boots and bomber jacket lay by the door, ready for use. He had a plan, a good one at that, mostly based around the information Malik had sent him that morning, but there was a problem. That problem being that with the amount of security camera's about, he couldn't leave without everyone knowing it. He just needed a good excuse...his honey eyes fell on the half depleted bottle of aspirin on the dresser. Perfect. Donning his jacket and boots he strode into the corridors, hands crammed into his pockets and shoulders slumped. Reaching the kitchen he rooted about until he found a suitable pen and paper, scribbling that he should be back within the hour, before heading out the front door with a spare key. An hour wasn't long, but it was all he could get without raising suspicious. And he hadn't put the time down either, hopefully they wouldn't find it soon. Hopefully.
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'Nailed inside my head, Fuck this I don't need your shit, All the lies deceit and arrogance, Talk your shit like my life is some kinda game'
Yami heard the Ishtars before he saw them. Along with half the neighbourhood it seemed. Whoever let Marik get behind the wheel of the Jeep they were driving had to be absolutely nuts, not surprisingly that person was probably Malik. Not that it would have made any difference which of them drove, the chaos would have been the same.
'Like you fuckin' know me, Just go far away and be small, Run far away and be small, Go lie in a hole and be small!' Malik belted out the last lyrics of the verse at top volume, jumping from the car before Marik had even stopped properly and sauntering over to where Yami, Yugi and Seto were all looking at them, open mouthed. Marik soon joined him, wrapping his arm around his lover's waist and grinning psychotically.
'So, how many did we get, love?' Malik hesitated in replying, apparently doing some mental math.
'Hmm, five squirrels, three cats, a dog, ten school children and two little old ladies.' Marik looked horrified.
'Twenty one? You're joking, I swear I counted six squirrels, three cats, two dogs, a dozen school children and four little old ladies!' Malik bit Marik's shoulder, drawing blood.
'You're delusional!'
'I'll show you delusional!' With that Marik proceeded to throw Malik to the still snow covered ground, straddle him and kiss the living daylights out of him. The trio on the stairs looked on in astonishment. Yami was the first to recover.
'As much as I hate to break the momentary peace there always is when you two are making out, I think we have slightly more important things to do.'
Marik broke off the kiss and, leaving a thoroughly winded Malik beneath him, looked up at Yami, eyes full of false innocence.
'Something more important then sex?' he blinked uncomprehending. Yami sighed in annoyance.
'Yes, as new as the concept may be to you.'
'Oh!' Marik stood, hauling Malik to his feet in the process. He turned to a shocked Seto, smiling in an almost sane manner. 'We're done!' He stuck out a scar covered hand towards the CEO. 'Marik and Malik Ishtar. We may not be sane but if you need something done, we can do it!' Seto shook his hand gingerly.
'Nice to meet you.' He wiped his hand quickly on his trench coat. 'I presume you're the backup Yami was telling me about.' He shot a dark look at Yami. 'I also presume you know the plan?'
'That we do!' Malik had obviously recovered from the kiss now and was as bouncy as ever. 'Though I can imagine Jou's having a fit about waiting that long. Where is the guy anyway?'
'Gone to get some aspirin.' Attention turned to Yugi at the moment, how was still standing by the door. Seto blinked.
'He has?' his ocean blue eyes narrowed slightly. 'He didn't tell me.'
'Oh, he left a note.' Yugi continued brightly, holding out a scrap of paper. 'Said he'd be back within the hour.'
Seto noticed a look passed between the Ishtars, immediately becoming suspicious. 'When did you pick this up, Yugi.' Yugi seemed to give it some thought.
'Oh, about two...' his eyes widened in recognition. 'Two hours ago.'
There was a snort from Marik.
'No prizes for guessing where he's off to then.' He looked up to see three sets of eyes on him. 'What? He didn't tell you?'
'He said he was going for aspirin.' Seto growled out, irritation obvious in his voice. These two psychotic lunatics had annoyed him from the start, and this constant babbling in riddles certainly wasn't improving his mood in the least.
Marik rolled his eyes. 'Obviously not then. Malik and I sent him some data this morning.' Malik nodded his head in agreement. 'It was all about where Pegasus' den's are located...'
Yami's eyes widened in shock.
'He's gone to get information by himself again.' The CEO looked at him curiously.
'He does this often?
Yami nodded wearily, running a hand through one of his spikes. 'Far too often. Happened on our last mission too, he almost got himself injured for that effort.' 'But what he found out really did help!' Yugi, always quick to the blonde's defense, quickly put in.
'That's not the point, Yugi.'
'...injured?' Seto's question was quite, but still forceful enough to be heard over the two. Yami nodded.
'A guy pulled a knife on him; luckily he managed to get out with only a few scratches.' Seto hadn't seemed to have heard him; his eyes had a faraway look to them as if he were deep in thought.
'Hmm.'
Watching the brunet walk away without another word, Malik shot a sly look at Yami. 'I take it he likes our little Joujou, by his reaction.' The older Motou rolled his eyes at him.
'Go figure. We know it, you know it but that guy has too much of his ego shoved up his ass to admit it.'
Marik gave a grin. 'Dosen't matter, not if he's the one on top!' the platinum blond gave a laugh of glee as a Yami sized, black leather boot was hurled in his direction.
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A hand rested against the tall pillar that stood next to the vast gates of the Kaiba's mansion, its owner leaning heavily on the cool, grey stone for support. Tiredness gnawed at every particle of his body like acid, and the driveway looked so horribly long...No. He shook his head, wincing at the almost familiar headache that was beginning to form again. He wouldn't give up, that wasn't his style. Even if he was dead tired...
He began the seemingly endless trek down the icy path, stumbling often and not even bothering to avoid the low hanging branches that were covered in white, powdery snow. He'd lost his jacket somewhere along the way, had he even brought it? He didn't remember, his entire head seemed to be buzzing and blurring. Just a little further.
Finally reaching the massive oak doors that seemed there only to shut the world out, the boy lent with his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. His side was screaming at him now, though the icy wind was numbing it a little. As well as his nose, his toes, his ears, his-. The door opened suddenly, revealing a pair of clean, polished black shoes. Who the owner of the shoes was, Jou didn't know. He'd blacked out cold, face down on the doormat.
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Bum dum! A cliffhanger! Okay, not really, but close enough to not have people kill me? I don't know, I'm just confusing myself now. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy and again I apologize for the long wait. I love you all!