CHAPTER 6

The office was calm again, but the same could not be said of him. The CEO slumped in his chair, mind whirling. His brilliant, miracle-making brain cells went into malfunction at the sheer nonsense of what had just transpired.

He had tried to make Jonouchi mad with him, to the point the bodyguard would have fallen his stony, obedient facade and attacked him. Then, the CEO would have won over everyone – the stupid blonde, Isono, Mokuba, the whole fucking universe that wanted to give him a loser to guard him – and sacked the rookie on the spot, leaving him miserable and at his lowest.

That had been the plan. It was bound to work, as in this plane of existence, Jonouchi Katsuya was only himself when he could not stand Kaiba Seto for more than two minutes before he told him to go fuck himself with a cactus, preferably stuffing the brunet with said cactus himself for good measure. Seto would not admit that stupid Jonouchi was a Jonouchi he could deal with fairly easily, as he knew him by heart. But KC Jonouchi was too strange, even if he showed to be competent and invested and frigging submitted.

He was conflicted. On the one hand, he had the possibility to get a bodyguard that could stand his ground before a bunch of douchebags, obey without question, talk properly – in short, someone professional, as weird as it sounded as regards the yankee. But on the other hand, there was the past experience he had with the blonde, from Death-T to the last trip to Egypt... and he could not conceive the former friends of Atem were going forward without him, to the point that even the poor street rat could hope for a brighter future. Seto had lost his nemesis, the best challenger the world could offer to him, and they were all supposed to be hopeless without him. But they were not. And he did not understand why.

Jonouchi Katsuya, the eternal loser, had evolved to KC Jonouchi, who was worth his attention, and it could not continue that way. If the mutt became a highly qualified agent of KaibaCorp, on the same level as Isono, what else could he achieve? Would he be able to haul himself higher and higher? This prospect was one Seto could not accept, even if part of him felt thrilled for the first time since that day, that someone else could be worthy one day. He would never admit it. It would mean that the mutt could become equal to the Pharaoh, whereas Seto never reached that goal himself. It was humiliating.

So humiliating, in fact, that the elder Kaiba's mind had filled with cruel schemes to crush the menace, before it became too strong to defeat. He was Seto Kaiba, King of Games, master of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and superior in all fields. Never would his reputation suffer the presence of a puppy with a suit.

Except he had not accounted for his plan to spin out of control. He had fucked up, and he did not know how, but Isono and Mokuba were informed of it. Putting someone's health at risk seemed mundane, when compared to the times when Death-T existed in his children amusement park. But here, he had put a dedicated-looking employee's health at risk, and the difference was huge. The rookie had only obeyed his orders all along, and so the CEO was responsible for his poor state. Isono knew it, and worse, Mokuba knew it too and got upset over it. And because of this, the two had leagued against Seto and favored the blonde.

Never had he been in such a situation, where he was proved to be the bad guy and everyone important to him were against him. Seto Kaiba always got out of nasty business unscathed. The betrayal of his henchman and his brother felt wrong, foreign and unbelievable. But the weight of what he realized then was what really made him want to howl and laugh at the same time.

He had lost to the mutt. His plan had backfired, and so he had lost, fair and square. Jonouchi had made the others his allies, and turned them against the CEO. It hurt him more than the rest. Maybe this was what Gozaburo had felt when young Seto had beaten him at chess and taken over his company. Seeing someone you considered inferior to you, defeat you, this was a blow few could receive.

He had lost. It began to sink in like a rusted knife slicing through his mind and turning it into shreds. He had lost, but he still did not know how, and it threatened to drive him crazy. How could Isono and Mokuba know about what was happening in his office? How could they sense Jonouchi was on the verge of... How? This was an imponderable fact he could not grasp. How...?

And then, it hit him. Twenty hours. They had been at work for twenty full hours. A thousand and two hundred minutes during which Jonouchi could not communicate to Isono unless absolutely necessary, and so there had to be a moment when it got alarming. His brain connected the dots and filled the blanks. Of course, time had been against him for some hours, now. No doubt the elder bodyguard wanted to know about his protege's first day, and without news, got worried about him. As he was with the younger Kaiba, it was easy for them both to imagine the worst.

Seto really wanted to burst out laughing, now. So simple a mistake it was, and yet he made it. Pathetic. Had he lost his touch, to leave himself so uncovered?

That explained that, at least. However, the result remained the same. The eternal loser had won. This had to be changed, and very soon.

The CEO felt his skin prickle with anticipation. He had to erase this dumb mistake by all means available, and to review his strategy. Now, Isono would be even more observing of him, so persuading the blonde to assault him was not an option anymore. He had to play nice and tolerant, approach Jonouchi tactfully and, why not, make him think he could be decent in human relations. Anything for the rookie to put his guard down, so that Seto could strike in due time. There was another field he could defeat him hands down, and it was only a matter of how to get to that.

His brain might have reminded him that the yankee had stopped playing Duel Monsters in big tournaments and might not have his deck anymore, but he dismissed the idea. Jonouchi without his faithful Red-Eyes Black Dragon was like a corpse without a head. He just needed some good arguments – maybe a tempting treat – , and he would find his way back to the arena soon enough. And he would be slaughtered. Once again seated in front of his computer with feverish intent, Seto started coding a new avatar in his Duel Links database, simultaneously opening an internet page and searching tutorials about canine education.

Seto Kaiba could never be defeated for long. He would get the necessary weapons to put his enemy down. And for the moment, the enemy was an obnoxious puppy pissing on his boot.

Katsuya cracked an eye open. He was floating on a cloud of silk, heavenly soft on his heated skin, and his gaze embraced the velvety night sky. If it was a dream, he prayed never to wake up again.

He did not know where he was, and he realized he could not care less. He was finally alone, without his lunatic boss to make his life hell, and he was fine with it. He was comfortable here.

He came back to consciousness and blinked slowly, more asleep than awake. He felt heavy and did not want to move just yet. Only when he heard a squawk did he snap out of his blissful state. Looking to his side to see the cause of the ungraceful noise, he was suddenly horrified to notice a headless plucked chicken running towards him, with a potato parade following it, dancing to the dissonant music one could hear at a satanic funfair.

The cooked enchanted dead bird mounted on top of him, though it felt weightless, and squawked again through its nonexistent beak. Katsuya wanted to scream, but his lips remained sealed. There was, however, a beeping sound going wild somewhere behind him. Stuck to the spot, his eyes widened. The chicken hovered over him, flapping its wings stupidly, before a tanned hand petted it and calmed its curious gallinaceous ritual.

Petrified, the blonde could only trace back the outline of the arm connected to the hand, to the shoulder and neck of another being he feared to recognize. When his eyes landed on purple, lifeless orbs, a lump formed in his constricted throat. Spiky sandy hair went in all directions, gracing sharp features and swollen veins, and malevolence radiated from the distorted face in front of him.

Back to what he was thinking previously. He would gladly cuddle Kaiba and endure his torments anytime, rather than seeing Yami Marik again. The spirit was a true-to-the-gods monster.

"Well, look what my baby found," the abomination purred to its poultry pet, "a stray doggy, eager to be cared for after all the mistreating he went through. Hello, doggy, ripped off your leash and lost your daddy?"

Katsuya froze. Please tell me I'm dreaming.

The crazy Egyptian cackled and patted him on the head playfully, its chicken bouncing out of view. The blips went crazy and shouts reverberated around them.

The shadow held a golden object in front of his eyes and dread fell heavy in his gut. The Millenium Rod glinted in dark anticipation, as its owner hummed contentedly. Darkness swirled around them, narrowing his eyesight.

"Poor doggy, looks like Kaiba abandoned you to me, mh? Or maybe not. I may have killed him on the way, or I may not, I can't remember. But the result's the same. Too bad for him, good for me ~~~ Now I'll have a nice doggy to play with, right, Susan?"

Panicked at the idea of being sent to the Shadow Realm, or worse, Katsuya broke his immobility spell – or whatever that was that had frozen him in place for all this time – and began trashing around. His arms sprung up and through the incorporeal form of Yami Marik, as if it was a hologram like IKaiba. It laughed gleefully.

"Oh, yes, I love it when you struggle. Wag your tail for me, my boy. For your new daddy!"

Strong arms shot up in his tunneled vision and pinned him down on the silky fabric. Voices shouted and buzzed, and blips went off incessantly at a frantic pace.

"Susan, be good," the evil spirit purred to him, eyes twitching maniacally, "I'll give you a tasty treat if you're good ~~~"

"Someone get me that syringe, for God's sake!," came out a yell in the distance.

"N-naaah," Katsuya managed to let out in a pitiful whine, the shadow of Marik still examining him even though it began to vanish, its cackle sending chills down his spine.

"Katsuya, calm down," Isono's voice eventually rang in his ears, "it's me, we're trying to help. Please, calm down, you're hallucinating. Everything's alright, you're safe."

"Yes, my boy, calm down. It'll hurt more if you don't, and I don't want to hurt you... yet. Not like this, anyway."

Something cold stabbed him in the neck, and a heavy, peaceful veil clouded his eyes. Suddenly, his eyelids could only fall and his thoughts shut down, and he fell back into unconsciousness.

Several hours later

"Katsuya, please don't inhale your food. You have plenty to enjoy, and no one's going to steal it from you."

Isono's voice was stern, but a playful edge could be heard along the lines. He was sitting in a comfy chair next to Katsuya's bed, watching him eat from a plate of spaghetti pesto as if it would disappear at any minute. Really, the elder bodyguard was only worried that his protege would choke on his pasta and die the most stupid death of all: stuffed like a turkey on Christmas Day, in one of the richest house in Japan. Absolutely glorious.

After his spooky first waking, the blonde had had time to recover from his dehydration and hypoglycemia. His mentor and Mokuba relayed each other in spending time at his side, making sure he never got hungry or thirsty or bored or whatever. Really, if Isono had been a fussy mother hen during Katsuya's training, it was nothing compared to his attitude right now. So much care and worry were almost stifling. And touching.

"You could have died!," Mokuba objected when he pointed out that he was fine the next day. "You had to be injected nutrients and vital fluids through IV for two days, all because my brother's an egoistical idiot... I'm so sorry, Jonouchi, I should have done something sooner."

Seeing the younger Kaiba that desolated was heart-wrenching and made Katsuya want to take him in his arms and tell him he was not mad at him, even if he was not at fault here. The yankee doubted the true culprit would ever apologize, though. If anything, Kaiba would find his survival very regrettable.

It did not help that the convalescent rookie found himself living in a spare room in the Kaiba Mansion. It was an 'average' en-suite the size of his apartment, with a bathroom so big that a group of four grown men could camp in it and still have space. Really, wealthy men could not bear to have less than a thirty-square-meter room to pee and shower, it seemed. It was still nice to be borrowed that luxury once in his life, and he would make the most of this chance.

He was told that his room was located straight down the aisle where Mokuba lived himself, with the elder Kaiba's quarters further away. The teen looked clearly displeased at his brother's antics, and never spoke of him in front of Katsuya, which impressed him a lot. Mokuba worshiped the prick, to the point that in the past, he had tried to kill Yugi and the others to please him.

That was the past, though. Now, the boy was angry at Kaiba, and he was set on making him sorry, as it were. So was Isono, and, that was funnier, so was IKaiba.

"You know," Isono explained to him, "if it were not for IKaiba, we would have never known that you needed help. At least, that makes one Kaiba who likes you."

His smartphone blinked and read:

Like is too strong a word, Isono, and one you should use carefully at that. I merely wanted to teach Kaiba a lesson or two about management requirements.

"In Director IKaiba's vocabulary," Katsuya translated playfully, "it really means I'm in his good graces."

The device vibrated angrily, but no reply came. Thoughtful, the blonde scratched his chin and turned back to his mentor.

"Don't you have work to do, Isono? I'd believe Kaiba would need his henchman, now that he got rid of me and Mokuba is in the Mansion."

The other remained silent for a few seconds. Then, "He may be in need of my services, and I would gladly offer them to him, were you not needing me more than he."

Katsuya's eyes widened, and he snorted.

"You serious? You and Mokuba have been mollycoddling me like no tomorrow since I woke up, I'm about to think I'm five again! Really, I understand you want to make amends in Kaiba's place, and I appreciate the effort, but-"

"We've been really worried," Isono countered, "and although we actually feel sorry for not coming sooner, like Mister Kaiba told you, it's not only that. We... ah, how to put it..."

The blonde watched him choose his words carefully, and decided he would not have him beat around the bush.

"Be honest with me, Isono. I won't get mad if you lack tact for this one."

A crease appeared on the elder's forehead, but he nodded.

"Alright, I apologize in advance, but you're right. No need to put on gloves. To be blunt about it, we wanted to take care of you ourselves, both because we do consider you a friend and care about your well-being, and because we didn't want a scandal to spread outside our circle. We will always answer your relatives' and your friends' queries, should they know you're working for KC, but other than them, we want to keep it private. Moreover..."

He paused. Then, "Moreover, we doubted your family would have cared for you, aside from your sister. And she's still studying, if I remember correctly?"

Ah, so that's what it was about. Bad publicity was to avoid, and his family was shit at dealing with his predicament. No wonder Isono did not want to spill the beans that easily. Katsuya's heart clenched a little, but he understood.

"Yeah, you remember good," he replied simply, "she couldn't have taken me in. My Mom would've freaked out and thought I'd been mugged by a gang or somethin'..."

"I'm sorry, it sounds wrong and heartless of me to say that so tactlessly. But the biggest part of the reason is still that we really want to see that you are resting properly, and if I'm honest with myself, I like mollycoddling you. I'm so used to Director Kaiba being a workaholic and a curmudgeon whenever I ask him to do the most basic things, like eating three times a day or shower once in a while, that your compliance is a nice change..."

The attempt at joking at Kaiba's expense had Katsuya laughing heartily. His mentor was acting like a Dad, not a colleague. Not that he had a good fatherly figure to compare him to, but it felt like it to him. It was curiously comforting.

Still, he felt bad for keeping Isono and Mokuba away from Kaiba. Knowing the CEO, he was most certainly stalking the corridors like a begrudging spook, or killing himself at work, now that he was alone and abandoned and left to act a drama ice king.

Serves him right, his yankee self supplied, he's the only one to blame. Screw him.

Yeah, right. But Mokuba was undoubtedly suffering from the situation. And Isono still had a home and a life outside of KaibaCorp, had he not?

Still, Katsuya had to admit he did not feel totally comfortable in here. He was, after all, on Kaiba's grounds. And presently, Kaiba was surely resenting him for stealing his brother and associate away, and he was very prone to assassinate anyone on sight for less than this. Staying alone in here felt like a terrifying prospect, which was all the more problematic to him.

Unless...

"I don't wanna disturb your whole schedule, you know," he began, "but I admit I wouldn't like to be on my own for long here. I'm not... totally welcome, I think."

"I see. Well-"

"But," he cut the other off, "maybe IKaiba would accept to keep watch while you're away? You visit from time to time, and he would keep an eye open for any threat? Maybe?"

Honestly, he knew he was asking a lot to the AI. IKaiba might have saved his life, but no one could tell how big the part of kaibaness he possessed was. For all he knew, the virtual version of his boss could turn his back on him next time.

His phone vibrated and the AI's response appeared a heartbeat later:

I'm not baby-sitting you.

Well, he had his answer. But before he could formulate a sentence, another text replaced the first:

If you can learn how to play a decent game or discuss an interesting subject, though, I may consider spending time with you until you are better.

That way, Isono can go back to his work and Mokuba will stop neglecting his homework.

Isono's phone then went off, and what he read on his screen made him chuckle lightly.

"Looks like you'll have new company. I'll bring a holographic projector to your room, so that you can talk face to face. Be discreet, though."

"I will."

Katsuya felt more elated than he should have when he heard that. Right now, he felt like he had made an actual friend of the grumpy AI.

"Also," the other added after a little while, "I'd like to know whether you'd consider staying at KC or not. After what happened, it's only natural that you have a say in this. If you want to quit your job, I'll understand."

Quit his job? It could be the safest option, given that Kaiba wanted to prove something through starving him to death and making his bladder explode. But then again, the challenge was all the more thrilling. He had proved he could stand his ground once, he could do it again. Be it crazy or not, he liked his position, which was higher and more demanding than anything he had ever done before. He liked working with Isono, who showed him more friendliness and attention in a month than his bloody own father had in twenty years. And he liked the possible friendship he could create with IKaiba, who, as gruff and posh as he was, was not Kaiba but much, much more.

So, with a genuine smile plastered on his face, Katsuya answered truthfully, "'Course I'll stay. What's a little death threat after all? I've seen worse, and I'd like to prove IKaiba just how well you both trained me!"

A blip answered him, and he grinned wider. True, the AI would be a strange kind of friend, one the blonde knew next to nothing about, but hey, he was an agent of the strangest corp ever, until further notice. Strange was to become his second name.