If I owned Yu-Gi-Oh, I would not be begging my mom to lend me some money. Therefore, I must not own Yu-Gi-Oh!
Jou's job started out as a temporary one, just until he got the one he really wanted. He had planned on leaving after two months to work in the US, but things have changed. He couldn't leave now. Not when he loves Seto and… he's almost sure that Seto loves him.
Until You Need Me
Lying, Obsessing, and Just Being Stupid
It was the sun's rays that woke him up at first, and then the birds' cheerful chirpings. Seto groaned, feeling rather comfortable and not wanting to quite move just yet, figuring that since his alarm clock hadn't gone off yet, it must not be time to do so. However, knowing that he had to get back to Kaiba Corp and finish typing up the reports, his eyes fluttered open lazily and Seto expected to see his blue covered walled room. Much to his shock however, the first vision he saw was his desk, covered with papers scattered all over the place.
Seto rubbed his head, wondering how come he never made it back home last night. It was not unusual for the overworked CEO to accidentally spend the night here at Kaiba Corp because of his work, but normally, he would have fallen asleep at his desk, leaving whatever he was working on untouched until the next morning in which Seto would resume working on.
He sat up and noticed for the first time what was covering him. He was bewildered as he picked the jacket up and carefully examining, trying to find a clue as to whom it belonged to. He frowned as he tried to remember what happened last night. He remembered feeling more stressed than usual and feeling frustrating... he was also feeling really tired too and his eyelids were drooping...
But it didn't make sense. He was supposed be at his desk, with all the equipment and lights still turned on, not at the couch, lying down in such a cozy position. He frowned—annoyed that whomever moved him must have came into his room while he was asleep, wanting something, but mostly, he was amazed at the idea of having someone care enough for him to have moved him to a more comfortable place to sleep on. It was really thoughtful of him, judging by the style of the jacket, to do something like this.
Seto's hand dug into a pocket and pulled out an identification card, a card that was issued to everyone that worked at Kaiba Corp that gets the employee into the cafeteria for free food every day. Seto's eyes widened as he saw the name of it.
Katsuya Jounouchi.
Jou poured some coffee into a cup, accidentally spilling some, making him wince in pain as the hot liquid touched his fingers. After he wiped his fingers dry, he cautiously picked it up, heading across the hall, and knocked on the door until he heard a voice say loudly, "Come in." Jou went inside, surprised to see Seto stop typing to watch him come in. Jou took it as a good side and placed the coffee on his desk. "Good morning, Mr. Kaiba," Jou greeted dutifully.
Seto gave Jou a typical greeting, which was nothing. As Jou rearranged the coffee cup to be farther away from the edge, Jou noticed that he had changed out of his outfit he was wearing yesterday into a nice black button down shirt, looking still very professional. Jou felt his cheeks blush a bit red. He looked professional, but hot at the same time. He quickly shook away the thought. "Do you need anything else, sir? I finished all the work you gave me yesterday already."
If his boss was impressed, he did not show it. His blue eyes merely flickered with surprise before Seto cleared his throat and said, "Eager for to please your master, I see," which Jou had to fight back from responding in a matter that could easily offend or amuse Seto.
Seto started to reach for another folder sitting on his desk nearby, but paused halfway. Instead, he stood up and Jou's eyes followed him, watching as Seto grabbed Jou's jacket from the couch, smoothing it out a bit. "I need you to find out who this belonged to. Ask them to come see me immediately," were his instructions, handing the piece of clothing to Jou, who looked stunned at the command given to him. Jou opened his mouth to say that the jacket belonged to him, but then closed it.
Seto was a very smart person. He probably figured out that whoever put the jacket over him was the person who also moved him to the couch. Jou was almost sure that Seto would want an explanation. Truth was that Jou really didn't know how to mask his reasoning behind doing what he did well enough without Seto suspecting he was lying. And knowing Seto, he would probably condemn him for entering his office without permission, especially so late.
Perhaps reading his mind, Seto, who had sat back down in his chair, raised an eyebrow and said, "Were my words not clear enough or is there something you wanted to say, perhaps tell me?"
Jou, who at first wanted to inform Seto that the jacket belonged to him, quickly shook his head. "No sir, it was very clear. I'll try my best," were the words that came out of the blonde's mouth. Jou couldn't help but notice Seto's stare at him. "Do you need me to do anything else?" he quickly added, hoping that Seto did not hear the lie behind his words.
Seto finally looked away and all he said were, "The green folder. Finish it by today."
Liar. You're such a huge liar sometimes.
Jou unlocked the door and let himself in, still holding his jacket in one hand and the folder in the other. Jou placed the jacket carefully on the stand and sat down, looking around his office that needed to be decorated soon, for it looked quite bland and ordinary and even empty. Jou sighed as he opened the folder, reading its contents, his mind hardly paying attention. Although his eyes were staring at the words, he was thinking about last night, why he did what he did. Why did he do it?
Because if he stayed like that all night, his back would hurt, he reasoned in his mind, also remembering the face Seto had on when he was sleeping. But what if Seto found out it was him? Jou had no intention of coming clean and telling Seto that he was the one that did it, but surely... Seto would find out?
Screw it, he'll never know, Jou told himself as he turned on his computer. He'll never know, and I'll never tell him. It's not as if it matters anyway, Kaiba wouldn't care if he did find out it was me.
Around twelve thirty, Jou found himself still working on the folder Seto gave him. His head started to hurt so he took a little break and reached into his drawers, taking out an Advil bottle. It wasn't going to him any good to work with a headache throbbing like crazy.
Just as Jou was finishing gulping down the pill with his now cold coffee that he brought in with him earlier, his office door sprung open and Jou heard an energetic voice cry out, "Oh my God, Jou, it's really you!"
Grinning, Jou stood up and walked over to the visitor. He gave him a brotherly hug and said in a cheerful tone, "What's up Mokuba?"
The last time Jou had seen Seto Kaiba's little brother was several years ago, before Jou had started college. Mokuba looked different from the ten year old kid Jou remembered. He was now taller, about the same height as Jou himself, with shorter hair. (Jou: Took him a while to finally cut his hair) He still had that childish aura about him, but maybe that's because Mokuba was younger than Jou was. Mokuba had traded in long sleeve shirts for more casual band T-shirts. That day, Mokuba was wearing an Audioslave T-shirt and jeans. Although the resemblance to Seto was slowly diminishing, Mokuba seemed to growing up into a very handsome young man.
Mokuba gave Jou the same grin. "Nothing much, nearly ready for college now, even though Seto insists that I'm still much too young and immature. I'm on my lunch break, I've got an hour before I have to get back to school, so I figured I would swing by to see if Seto was up for lunch. Would you like to come? I'm sure you're hungry as well...?"
Jou was about to decline the offer when he heard the other Kaiba brother say, "Mokuba, I'm ready," and appeared at Jou's doorway, looking at the office in a curious manner. "Not much of a decorator, puppy," he commented, his blue eyes roaming around, stopping when he noticed the jacket. He quickly blinked and suddenly announced, "Mokuba, let's go. I'm sure the puppy here has a lot of work to do."
"Awww, come on big brother," Mokuba pleaded brightly, "you're always so hard on your employees. Can he come with us? Please? I haven't seen Jou in forever!"
Even though Mokuba had grown and matured, he still resorted to using his childish pleading and eyes to try and get his big brother, Seto, to agree. Jou found it entertaining, watching as Mokuba continued listing reasons as to why Jou should join them.
"It's okay really... Kaib—I mean, your brother's right, Mokuba. I do have a lot of work to do and..."
"You can do it when you come back."
Jou gave Seto a surprised look. Seto, who had started to look very neutral like, just said, "Come on, let's go. Mokuba doesn't have all day."
Mokuba gave Jou a triumphant grin and hurried along, with Jou following right behind him.
As it turned out to Jou's horror, Mokuba had a car and decided that they should take two cars, just in case Mokuba had to run back to school in the middle of the meal. Mokuba suggested that Jou should ride with Seto, seeing how Jou didn't have his own ride. Besides, Seto's car had more room.
Jou could kill Mokuba for leaving him alone with Seto and Jou was sure Seto felt the same way. Jou was almost sure that Seto would rather jump of a building than drive Jou there, but not being strong enough to go against Mokuba, Seto silently agreed and got in the car, waiting for Jou to do the same.
The ride was silent so far. Apparently, the almighty Seto Kaiba did not like to listen to the radio and preferred silence, whereas Jou was starting to feel uncomfortable, wishing that there would be some noise to block out the uneasy and awkward silence. Jou glanced at the brunette and looked away before Seto could catch him. Jou sighed as he stared out the window, thinking about nothing in particular.
They were half way there when finally, "You don't have to call me sir and Mr. Kaiba all the time," Seto told him easily, not taking his eyes off the road, getting Jou's attention. "I find it quite weird for me to hear such polite words from your mouth after years of fighting back in school. In fact, I didn't know you were capable of being polite to me."
"Well, we're adults now aren't we? Besides, my fate is in your hands so I'm trying my best not to piss you off," Jou responded bluntly, still looking out the window. "You're my boss, so I'm just trying to show some respect. This isn't exactly high school anymore."
Seto stopped at the red light and scratched his jaw, clearly trying to think of something to say. Although this wasn't exactly what Jou categorized as a good conversation, he decided it could be worst. At least Seto was trying to be civil.
"Maybe this isn't high school anymore," Seto finally decided to say, "but hearing you call me sir is just plain weird. I rather have you acknowledge me as your master instead, puppy. After all, I am your master, even though you try to deny it."
Jou shot Seto an annoyed glare, despite the fact that he just said that he needed to show respect, much to Seto's delight. Seto continued, choosing to ignore Jou's glare and his lips curving into a very familiar smirk.
"Fine, can I go back to calling you just plain ol' Kaiba then? I really rather not go around calling you my master. Speaking of which, I'm not a dog!" Jou remarked loudly, his eyes starting to reveal the old fieriness which Seto used to see all the time in high school. Then, as if forgetting that he was annoyed at Seto, he exclaimed, "Hey, I think we're here!"
Seto turned into the parking lot and parked his car, not trusting the valet parking to park it. "Come on, I trust Mokuba's already inside waiting for us."
Jou gave the waiter a weak smile as he took the menu and opened it. His honey brown eyes opened widely as he noted the prices on each item. The drinks alone were about five dollars without refills. He hated to continue to look at the entrees and there was no way he could pay for it on his own!
He closed it, thinking maybe he should just have water and say that he wasn't hungry, even though he was. His stomach had growled three times already once they were inside, making Seto give him a weird look and making him comment on how much it must cost to feed a dog every day.
As if sensing his predicament, Mokuba quickly told Jou, "Don't worry about it Jou. Seto can pay for you, right Seto?"
"No really, I don't want to have to make your brother pay for anything. I'll just get water. I'm fine, really."
"Nonsense," Mokuba declared, "You're obviously hungry. We can't let you go starving, right Seto? Right?"
Seto looked up from his menu at Mokuba and then Jou, and then back down, stating in a very simple tone, "Mokuba, if you want to pay for Jou's meal, you can do that when you're finally working and paying things for yourself. But right now, since you're not and you've already had an advance in your allowance, I suggest you should stop offering to pay for others."
Jou's cheeks turned red from embarrassment, regretting coming and feeling ashamed of having put Mokuba into all this trouble. He felt like dropping into a big black hole and never appearing ever again. Is Kaiba trying to make me feel bad about the fact that I cannot afford someplace like this? Because it's working, I just wish Mokuba hadn't pushed it.
Mokuba opened his mouth to protest, but Seto cut him off. "Besides," ignoring Mokuba's death glare much like his brother's, "the portions here are pretty big. I can order the filet mignon for two. He can share with me. It is much cheaper and more practical."
Mokuba gave his big brother a grin before excusing himself to go to the restroom, leaving a still very embarrassed Jou and Seto.
"Thanks Kaiba," Jou muttered, feeling truly grateful. Hey, it was better than nothing and if Jou was in his position, he wouldn't want to have to pay for someone else either. Seto Kaiba did not get rich by treating everyone to lunch after all. "Really, you don't have to do that."
"Well, I am," Seto answered in a tone that conveyed no emotions, signaling the waiter to order food. "I really did mean it when I say I'm not hungry. Mokuba's always trying to force me to eat when I don't feel like it, but that's Mokuba for you. And I'm not giving him a tip if he doesn't get over here soon," he added, casting the waiter one of those deadly glares as the waiter hurried to apologize for taking so long and finally asked to take their orders.
"My brother will order when he gets back," Seto informed the waiter coldly. "And when he does, I expect you to actually be here to take it."
The waiter nodded and left, leaving an uneasy silence between them. Jou started to think of topics for conversation, but was grateful when he saw Mokuba coming towards their table. Now he didn't have to talk at all!
"Hey, Seto, Jou," Mokuba started, not sitting down. "I got a call from my friend and as it turns out, they need me to finish up a project... do you mind if I...?"
Oh no. He's going to leave me and Kaiba alone. Me and Kaiba. ALONE. How can he do that? Is he trying to kill me? What am I going to talk about now? All alone. ALONE! "No, go ahead," Jou said in a falsely happy tone that he did not feel. Inside his head, he was screaming, Me and Kaiba ALONE. Alone. ALONE!
Mokuba looked at Seto and gave him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, big brother, they told me that they can handle it on their own and now—"
"It's all right, Mokuba. Just make sure you eat something."
With a quick hug and goodbye, Mokuba scrambled out, making a hasty exit. Jou watched for a few moments and then resumed his thinking about what to talk about. The restaurant they were at were notorious for taking a long time for the food to get here. Jou stirred his water with his straw, with a thoughtful look on his face. He could barely remember the last time he and Seto had a decent conversation that did not end up annoying or provoking the other. Normally, Jou could talk to anyone about anything, but Seto Kaiba was always the exception.
"Kaiba," Jou started, getting the CEO's attention, "now that we're... err... you know, adults, do you think you can quit calling me names now?"
"Hmph... maybe some other life time, puppy."
-TBC-
This was a particular hard chapter to write, especially the restaurant part. This chapter is probably pointless, but things will heat up eventually... well, I hope so anyway, my brain hasn't thought of an interesting chapter to put up next yet.
Anyway, I'm really, really happy to see that people still read this:hugs everyone: So amazing, you guys rock. I'm so thankful :wipes tears from eye: As always, I'm looking forward to your thoughts on this utterly weird chapter... :gives the computer screen a weird look:
-lilrubydevil-
