Authoress here.

… I hate it when I can't think of anything witty to say before starting a chapter. Meh. Onto the chappie, then.

Changes Made
Chapter Four: No Place Like Home

One Week Later

The rain hadn't abated in nearly a week, varying only in strength. Jou was lucky that it had slowed to a slow drizzle; he had to walk home from work, and had forgotten his umbrella.

Even though the wet made him feel a little uncomfortable, Jou was glad of the solitude. Everyone else was either inside or going their own ways inside cars. He had the sidewalk to himself.

His pocket felt nice and full; even though Jou only had two customers today, they both had tipped handsomely. He was lucky that he could work his clients in around his new school schedule. With Kaiba's tutoring, he had been spending at least a half hour every day after regular classes.

Today, a phenomenon had occurred. Kaiba had… laughed. Not scathing and disdainful, but a full, happy-sounding outburst which had proven infectious. Jou had started laughing too, and the pair had spent maybe five minutes getting themselves back under control to continue working.

Jou frowned at the cracked pavement. The joke he had told was stupid. He didn't even remember what spurred him into telling it. But after the punch-line, Kaiba had just cracked up.

Seeing the CEO laugh was a different experience, for sure. All of the stern lines had vanished from his face, making him look almost like a child. When he laughed, nearly every one of his teeth were shown, each one as white and straight as its fellows. His eyes closed, and the laughter shook his entire body. Jou had seen a side of the other teen that, Jou guessed, very few people had ever seen.

He sidestepped a puddle forming at the bottom of a gutter pipe, squinting up at the dull clouds. Where seeing Kaiba laughing like a normal person was disconcerting, even more so was the fact that Jou wanted to make him laugh again. After they had regained control and settled down to the math again, Jou had to fight the urge to embark on a stand-up routine. He felt like he was willing to do just about anything to watch that perfect, happy smile remerge.

But he had ignored the feeling, and when he and Kaiba left the school shortly after, he didn't even say goodbye.

His mindless footsteps had taken him out of the good side of town. Now, instead of expensive shops and grand apartment buildings, Jou was surrounded by small mom 'n' pop stores, and small, dirty compounds. A few people now dotted the sidewalk, and cars became less frequent.

"Jou, Jou, our ball got stucked ina fire ladder, Jou, Mamma's gonna kill us if we lose it!" A small child came shooting out of an ally way, face dirty and both knees scabbed over from a recent fall.

"Echi, didn't y'mama tell ya t'play in the park instead of t'allies?" Jou knelt to tweak the small boy's nose.

Echi looked at the ground, tears building up in his eyes. "Yessir, she did, but she said we hadta stay inside 'cause of t'rain."

"But… Echi, you're outside."

"Me and Saske came out t'play catch, 'cause it drizzlen' now." The tears had begun to fall in earnest now, making clean trails down the dirty cheeks.

Jou sighed, shrugging off his shoulder bag. "Hold this, Echi."

"'Kay."

Jou started jogging down the ally, seeing a faded orange ball resting innocently on the platform two stories up a raised fire escape ladder. He quickened his pace, until he was running as fast as he could. Jumping on top of an old crate, Jou vaulted off and caught hold of the bottom rung of the ladder. Using his body weight to tug it down, Jou release the ladder once his feet touched the pavement again. He hurried up the ladder, and tossed the ball back down to Echi. Clambering back down, he shoved the ladder back into its original position.

"Now get inside, Echi. Where's Saske?"

"Went home after t'ball got stucked."

"It's 'stuck,' kid, not 'stucked,' an' hurry up an' go home."

"Thanks, Jou." The child took off back down the ally after handing Jou's shoulder bag back. Grinning slightly, Jou retraced his steps back to the sidewalk and continued his path.

The rain was picking up again, making Jou hurry. He turned down a small side street, glad of the criss-crossing overhangs from people's porches. Finally, hurrying up a cracked set of steps, Jou fumbled for his key. Inserting it into the lock, he went inside the run-down apartment building he called home.

He heard his father before he had even climbed the stairs to their floor. The piano rang out in a peaceful, calm melody that rang gently throughout the building. Worry filled Jou's face, and he raced upstairs.

"Dad? Dad, I'm home."

The piano stopped abruptly as Jou pulled the door open. There was his father, sitting at the piano, surrounded by heaps of dusty sheet music.

"Why were y'playin' that song, Dad?" Jou dumped his bag by the door and went to sit next to his father.

"Just thinking about your sister and your mother, Son."

Jou had always loved his father's voice. Once a nightclub musician, Kanso Jounouchi had a low smoky voice that once made him the toast of the city's nightlife. He was a terrific pianist, a gift that wasn't passed down to his children.

But Kanso had started a habit in those nightclubs that eventually became his downfall; drugs. Addiction followed the casual high every now and then, and after a few months of failed help meetings and quit plans, his wife Miyaso Jounouchi had taken Jou and his little sister Serenity away and had filed for divorce.

Shortly after his wife and kids left, Kanso got into his car to go to a gig, already high. He had turned the wrong way down a one way street, and had barreled head-on into an oncoming truck. After a short period of hospitalization, Kanso was sent home. He had a huge fine for driving while under the influence, a large medical bill, and was blinded in both eyes from the car crash.

That was when Jou came to live with him. Kanso couldn't afford an assisted living caretaker, and the thirteen-year-old Jou had volunteered to live with his father and care for him. Times were very tough, and in addition to school and looking after his recovering-addict father, Jou got his first job of sweeping up the hair cuttings at his aunt's business.

"How was your day, Dad?"

Kanso sighed, fumbling to find the piano's lid. "Long."

"Sorry t'hear that, Dad. I got good tips, though, so whaddya think abo' takeout tonight?"

Kanso smiled. "I'd like that very much, Son."

"Cool. Here, let's get you to th' kitchen, and I'll call in th' order." Jou helped Kanso stand, and maneuvered his father around the stacks of sheet music. "Dad, when are y'gonna let me get rid o'all the music around here? Y'know it all by memory."

"No, Katsuya." Kanso's voice was suddenly stern. "I promised Serenity I'd teach her to play one day. You know the offer still stands for you, too."

"Nah, music ain't my ting." Jou pulled out a chair and guided his father to it. "I'm more of a duelin', hair-cuttin' kinda guy."

As he left his father to go find the phone, Jou sighed, massaging his temples. The song Kanso had been playing was the one he had written when Serenity was born. He used to play it for her when both mother and daughter had still lived with them, but now that they were gone, Kanso only played it when he was missing them both very much.

At KaibaCorp's main conference room

"-And statistically we have seen a four-percent rise in KaibaCorp stock bought by buyers under twenty-one in the time periods after both dueling tournaments, and also a forty-five percent rise in figurehead popularity since Battle City. Now what the board would like to suggest is a new add campaign, featuring-"

Seto took a deep pull from his water glass, determined to stay focused on what his senior advisor was saying. But with the man's monotone voice and dull conversational skills, the teenage CEO was finding concentration difficult. In his attempt to stay awake, Seto missed the man's next sentence.

"I apologize, I didn't hear the last bit."

The senior advisor stopped, and with a noise like an old vacuum, cleared his throat. "I said, Kaiba-san, that we launch an add campaign showing you dueling with the new system. With your approval rating on the rise, it would be a good idea for both the new product and the company's image."

Seto waved a hand dismissively. "Sounds fine. Make it happen."

"Sir, there are a few more small appearance issues that your head of advertising suggested." The senior advisor went on.

"And?" Seto drummed his fingers on the conference table.

"With your consent, she suggested a new haircut. Something a little less severe, a little more now-a-day teenager. Just for the add campaign."

"What?"

"We have an appointment set up for next Tuesday, at a very well-recommended spa with one of their more talented stylists. My own wife is a loyal customer of his, and if you were to agree to this, we could have the filming done by next Saturday, and airing on national television by the following Thursday."

Seto barely suppressed his groan. "Fine."

End Chapter

Authoress here.

We all know where this is going, don't we? (wicked grin)

Happy New Year!

Out on me Broom 'o' Doom, retaken from LadyKatsu.