Lime Rocker: Hello all! First, I'd like to say sorry it took so long to update!!!! School's been laying it hard and I haven't had much time to work on the 4th chapter. I have half way done with the next chapter. I need to finish it and have my friend proof read it, then I'll have it up ASAP! Again, I'm so sorry.
Secondly, I'd like to say thank you to all the amazing reviews!!! I would love to write and individual message to each of you, but that would take so much space in the chapter. I will try to add a "thank you reviewers" page at the end of the story!!
Pairing: (Puppyshipping) SetoxJou, KaibaxJou. SIDE: ValonxMai, YamixYuugi, OtogixHonda, BakuraxRyou
Rating: T for Teen (RATEING SUBJECT TO CHANGE!)
Chapter Four: Just Another Routine Emergency
The park was always beautiful in the winter time. The snow covered trees and swings, always brought a sense of peace to the billionaire. He could smell the crisp air as it blew gently around him. For a brief moment he wondered why he wasn't cold, his black trench coat was more for show than warmth, but the thought quickly vanished as a mop of golden hair popped out behind a clump of snow. His curiosity got the better of him, and he soon found himself standing behind a frozen bench with a blonde man huddled on it.
"What's wrong?"
There was a long moment of silence before the blonde's soft voice came out from behind his hands, "… They took him…"
"They took who?" he moved next to the other man. He didn't know why, but dread was welling up in his chest, and for some odd reason he knew the answer, and who 'they' were without really knowing it.
"They... they just took him." The shorter man's hands clenched, "Kenji…" he sobbed.
Before he knew what he was doing, he was sitting next to the other, his hand resting on the shorter's shoulder, "What happened?" Tears were dripping through the blonde's hands, "Don't cry puppy." He moved to take the hands away from the other's face and chocolate eyes turned to him.
"They just came…" he blonde choked out, "C-came out of n-no wh-where and took him." The blonde leaned forward, burying his head in his shoulder.
"Shh…" he wrapped his arms around the other's shaking form. "It's going to be okay. We'll find him." His hand ran through the golden strands.
"N-no we won't." the other sobbed, "The d-dragon ate him!"
The blue-eyed man blinked, "Dragon?" suddenly the blonde pulled back, his eyes lighter, and his face younger. "Where's my daddy? I can't find him…"
The CEO stared down at the small boy, completely perplexed. "We'll… we'll find him."
"No! You're lying! You said we could finish the book too and we never did! The dragon did eat my daddy!" The boy wrenched himself away from the man, and glared at him. "You lied!"
He shook his head, "No! We can finish the book, I promise."
"No! You're just lying to me again!" and with that the blonde haired boy turned and ran down the slick sidewalk.
"Kenji! Come back here! It's dangerous!" He shouted, sprinting after the small boy.
"No! I have to find my daddy! Leave me alone, you liar!" The Kenji cried, before his foot hit a block of ice. "Ah!" he yelped as he hit the ground, clutching his arm.
"Kenji!" he called, slowing down so he wouldn't run into the small boy.
The blonde boy's light brown eyes widened, staring at him in horror. "N-no! Don-don't e-e-eat me!" He winced, shrinking back.
He reached out, "I'm not going to eat you. Is your arm okay?"
The boy yelled, scrambling backwards away from the CEO. "No! Where's my Daddy? You ate him!" The boy turned horror filled eyes towards him "Yo-you're the-the d-d-d-dragon! Daddy! DADDY! Help me!" he screamed. "Pl-please do-don't eat me!"
Something growled behind him, and he turned to see two glowing red eyes scaring at him and Kenji from the shadows. His blue-eyes narrowed, "White lighting!" he shouted, motioning towards the satanic beast in the darkness. For a moment he wondered why he had done that, but a gust of wind, and a bright beam of light later he knew why. He turned, the white dragon, standing protectively behind its master. He smirked to himself, "Thank you." He nodded.
"D… daddy?"
He turned back to the small boy and knelt down. "Kenji it's okay. Everything's going to be alright. We'll find your daddy." Something groaned behind him, and immediately his mind froze, and things started to move in slow motion as he turned to see a blonde man laying in red snow. "Wh…" he started in shock, the small boy rushing to his father's side.
"Daddy!" Kenji shouted, falling next to his father, tears flowing from his eyes.
"Ke… Kenji." The blonde man was struggling to stand. "Shh…" he rubbed the boy's back, when he got to his knees. The small boy took his father's arm, helping him stand. The man turned to him, his eyes dark and out of focus. "S… Seto?"
Seto's eyes widened, and he heard another growl next to him. "No! No! Stop!" He shouted, the white dragon craning its neck. "Stop it!" He turned to look in horror at the two blondes. "Stop! Don't hurt them! No!" He yelled, feeling his legs move towards the two, but no matter how fast he moved, he wasn't going anywhere. "No! Kenji!" There was a bright light emitting from the dragon, and slowly, it made its way past the CEO. "Puppy….. JOU!" he screamed, as the blonde man closed his eyes and stepped in front of his son. Time shifted back to normal, and the beam rushed towards his pu-
"NO!" Kaiba Seto bolted up right, panting. He looked around the room, his heart was still rushing and the dread, sunken feeling had yet to disappear. Kaiba closed his eyes, his hand moving to his gasping chest. He was drenched in a cold sweat, and he couldn't shake the images out of his head. "Damn…." He muttered, "What the hell was that." It had been 5 days since Mokuba had watched Kenji, and every night he had weird dreams. Seto shook his head, 'Yeah this one definitely takes the cake on weird though…' he thought to himself.
The door creaked softly, "Seto?" he turned to see the worried expression of his younger brother's face, "Are you alright?"
He raised an eyebrow, and nodded. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be, Moki?" He smiled.
"You were yelling." Mokuba walked towards his brother's bed, "No! No! Stop! Stop! Don't hurt them! No!" he quoted as ha sat down looking at the older Kaiba, "Then you screamed out Jou's name." he paused for a moment, "What happened?"
Seto shook his head, "Nothing. It was a dream and nothing more." He really didn't want to talk about the bizarre dream. Kaiba looked at the clock. "Crap it's already 7:30. I have to get to work." He pulled his blue silk covered legs out of the bed.
Mokuba smiled, "I'll never understand your obsession with silk. Egyptian cotton is so much better." The raven-haired boy's smile twisted into a smirk. He wasn't fooled, and Seto knew it. But the younger man decided not to push it for now.
Blue eyes rolled, "Personally, if I never hear the word Egyptian again I'll die happy."
The younger one giggled, "Come now your highness. Surely a high priest of Egypt deserves the best!"
Seto snickered, "And I have the best. Silk. Now go get some food. I have to take a shower." He turned towards the door.
"I was thinking about coming in later and seeing everyone. Is that alright?"
"Hmm… I suppose so, but make sure you don't bother them too much. After all I'm paying them to work, not entertain you." He smiled at his younger brother.
"Deal!" Mokuba cheered, practically skipping out of the room.
Seto couldn't help be laugh, before an image of a broke blonde flashed through his mind. "Stupid dream."
--
"I just don't think its right! Why don't you go find a different job?"
Jounouchi Katsuya sighed, "Because Honda, you remember how long it took me to find that one. I don't think I could find one that-" he sneezed, "-pays as well as this one. If this is what I have to do to keep my job then I'll do it." Jou's voice was stuffed, and he tired.
"But you're sick Jou!" Honda glared at his friend "I don't think running around and proving you're fit enough to work a job that pushes you down into the dirt is going to help!"
"Look, just look after Kenji okay. I should be done around 3. So just drop him off on your way to get Otogi." Jou sighed, looking at his friend with pleading eyes, "Please Honda."
The brunette sighed, "Are you sure you're going to be okay? I mean it's at Kaiba Corp. too! What if you run into that ass-hole?" he growled the last part. Honda wasn't pleased when Jou had told them Kaiba was back in town. He never said anything, but a part of Jou thought he blamed the CEO for his work predicament.
"It's a big building, Kaiba will be in his office all day, and won't even know I'm there. We won't run into one another." Jou sneezed again.
Honda paused for a while, staring at his friend. "….. Alright fine. I'll watch him, but you better take care of yourself, and if you feel any worse you stop!"
Jou nodded, "Deal. I gotta go. It's already 8:00 and I have to be there by 8:30." Jou waved, "See ya man. And thanks!" He waved goodbye to his friend.
He wished Honda could understand. When Minotaka-sama had called he explained that Jou could keep his job if he went to some kind of classes aside from work. And well, he had to pay the bills somehow. He really wasn't that sick. Sure it felt like his head was going to pop off, and his throat was collapsing…. he wasn't going to die.
Jou nodded to himself as he made his way down the snow covered streets, 'Kenji comes first!'
He barely had time to change when he finally reached the Kaiba Corp. building.
"You are 47.07 seconds late Jounouchi-san." A tall, muscular man shouted at Jou as he walked out of the men's locker room.
Jou bowed, "Sorry sir. I had to drop off my kid and change." He did his best not to look at the man's face, knowing if he stared at the cheap Hitler-esque mustache he'd burst into a fit of laughter.
"I don't want to hear any excuses. Get in line." The macho man ordered. "I am Brutus Muller. And no, I am not from Japan. I was born and raised in Hamburg, Germany, and my mission in life is to escort you to your personal work-out hell." (1)
Jou blinked, 'This guy's just screaming Nazi.'
"Now, get on a treadmill. I won't be going easy on your pussies. So be ready to run your scrawny asses off!" Brutus shouted, pulling a pen from his polo-shirt pocket and grabbing a clip board off the desk. "You're all here for some reason or another, weather it be to pass a physical to work at Kaiba Corporation, prove yourself worthy to keep your job, or get a great looking body to impress the hot girl on the 5th floor. Bottom line is, I could care less why you're here, but you're here, meaning you will follow my orders and do what I tell you to do if you wish to pass this class!" He continued to yell as everyone grabbed a machine.
"Boy this guy likes to hear himself talk." The man next to Jou muttered.
"Yeah tell me about it." The guy on his other side sighed.
"Well at least we can get a few laughs out of it." The two looked at Jou for a moment.
"What the hell are you talking about?" the white haired man to his right asked.
"Well, look at it this way. He's a huge macho guy, yet doesn't seem to have enough testosterone to grow a full mustache." Jou shrugged, turning the machine to a light jog.
"The kid does have a point." The brunette to his left laughed, "He's like a muscular version of Hitler."
"I bet his grandparents were Nazis." The white haired man muttered. "What's your name anyway?" He turned his attention back to Katsuya.
"Oh. Jounouchi Katsuya." He nodded, as the 'Hitler-wannabe' yelled for them to turn the speed up 5 notches.
"It's nice to meet you Jounouchi-san. I am Gunaka Hitori, but you can call me Hitori." He motioned towards the other man, "And the sullen man over there is Tsukimori Len." The white haired man nodded. "Be we'll all just call him Len." (2)
Jou smiled, "It's nice to meet you, and please call me Jou." He huffed out before he sneezed.
--
"So why are you guys here?" Jou asked. The 3 hours had flown quicker then Jou thought it would.
Hitori shrugged, "Have to keep fit somehow, and it's free for us so why not?" he smiled as they grabbed a hand towel, and wiped the sweat off their faces.
"Usual, right?" Len asked, throwing the white cloth in the basket next to the rack of clean ones.
"Yeah." Hitori smiled at him before turning to Jou "What do you want to eat?"
Jou blinked, "Do they have a turkey sandwich?" he tilted his head.
Len nodded, "What do you want on it?"
"Lettuce and mayonnaise." He paused, "Thanks so much."
Len shrugged, "Let's just hope the line's not long or I could be gone for a while."
Hitori shook his head, "Good thing I have a snack bar to tide us over until he gets back." He smiled pulling out a power bar. "It's a new one they were handing out at the grocery for people to try. So I apologize now if they taste horrible." He tore half of it off and handed it to Jou, who nodded his thanks and took a bite. "So what do you do for a living, Jou?"
Jou shrugged, "Well at the moment I'm a waiter." He sighed, "But hopefully sometime soon I can work for a firm." He smiled slightly.
Hitori raised an eyebrow, "You're a lawyer, but you're working as a waiter? How does that even happen?"
He shook his head, "It was hard to get a job. I had to pay for bills, and people don't want to hire a single father."
Hitori coughed, "You have a son?" he managed to say between coughs.
Jou nodded, but looked at Hitori worriedly. "Yeah, he's 4." He paused, putting a hand on Hitori's shoulder. "Hey man, are you alright?"
Hitori grabbed the power bar rapper, "Shit!" He coughed. "Peanuts!"
"Peanuts? What's wrong with peanuts?" he blinked, "Whoa! Hey man what's wrong." Jou shouted as the brunette fell to his knees.
"Don't…. have… epi… pen." He wheezed between coughs.
"Shit!" Jou helped him lay down before sprinting to the door. "Someone call for help!" he shouted at the secretary behind the desk. "He's choking!" Jou grabbed a pen lying on the desk and dashed back to Hitori.
"Oh my god!" He heard the lady scream, "Someone call-" the door closed.
--
It was obvious to everyone that ran into him that he was having a bad day. People started to avoid him when ever they saw him stalking through the halls. Kaiba Corps.' stocks were down, and that combined with no sleep made for a very pissed off CEO.
"Kaib-sama! Kaiba-sama!" he vaguely heard someone calling him from down the hall. "Kaiba-sama, please wait!" He growled, and spun around.
"What?" he barked. His secretary shrank back a bit, "Sir, um… it's Mokuba-sama's doctor. It seems something has happened in the fitness center, and they need you down there!"
Seto's blue eyes narrowed, "What happened?" he growled again, following the man towards the elevator.
--
"This is gonna hurt okay." Jou pulled a knife out of his pocket. "But if I remember correctly you'll be able to breathe."
Hitori nodded, leaning his head back to expose his neck. Katsuya wasn't about to ask how the brunette knew what he was going to do, he had to get this over with. "Gah I hope this works." He muttered to himself, placing the knife on his neck and making a small cut.
"What in the name of the great Nazi are you doing?" Brutus squeaked as he saw blood gushing out of the other man's neck. Jou grabbed the pen and unscrewed it, ignoring the man's shouting. "No! Not my pen! My baby! Don't you dare put that-"
Jou quickly slide it into the Hitori's neck. "Breathe damn it!" Katuysa hissed, his heart pounding wildly in his head. He sighed, falling back onto his hands when Hitori took a shaking breath. "Thank god."
"What's going on here?" he hear an icy voice behind him.
'Crap, so much for not running into Kaiba.' He groaned, feeling an itching in the back of his throat.
"Hitori?" Jou heard Len's voice behind him. "What happened?" he rushed next to Jou.
"Peanuts." Jou gasped out before going into a fit of coughs.
"A tracheostomy? Where did you learn to do that?" Len asked turning a bewildered look to Jou.
"Read about it." He muttered once he stopped coughing. He didn't make eye contact with anyone as he stood.
"Kaiba-sama, the ambulance is here sir." The secretary said, gaping at the man lying on the floor.
"Hn." Kaiba watched the blonde. His frame was hunched over, and he looked paler then usual. 'Damn mutt. I told him he'd get sick.' "Have them take Gunaka-san to Sakura Hospital."
"Yes sir."
Jou slunk towards the locker room door, he wasn't feeling well at the moment and needed to sit down. Not to mention he had no desire to talk to the confusing CEO. Everyone was running around trying to help Hitori, so Katsuya managed to get into the room, and pulled his fresh clothes out of his locker without anyone following. He sighed, 'Mission, "Avoid Kaiba" is still a success.'
"Mutt."
'Damn it.' Jou sighed, "What is it Kaiba?" He walked behind half wall to change out of his sweat soaked shorts. He really had no desire to finish the class in jeans and a t-shirt, but it was a better option then his now red, shorts and shirt.
"What the hell happened back there?" the blue eyed man crossed his arms, following the younger man's movements.
"He had an allergic reaction." Jou shrugged, pulling a white t-shirt on.
'I see his dressing style is still as mangy as before.' Seto smirked as the blonde walked back to his open locker and stuffed his gym shorts and old shirt into his bag. "That's not what I meant and you know it, flee bag."
"I have no idea what you're talking about then." He decided to let the dog comment slide, in all honesty he was too tired to care at the moment.
It's pointless to say Seto didn't like the blonde's answer, "How did you know how to do that dog!" he snapped, his anger giving way ever so slightly.
Katsuya shrugged, "I read it somewhere." He clenched his hand into a small fist around the locker door, "And you will stop calling me a dog, Kaiba!"
Kaiba's eyes narrowed, "You read? Hah don't make me laugh, mutt. What are you hiding?" he took a step closer to the blonde. "I don't like liars, and I don't like repeating myself so answer my question, make inu." (3)
Jou glared, "You aren't my boss, Money-bags. I don't need to answer your question, nor do I intend to!" He shouted. He did the best not to wince as the scratchy feeling flared in the back of his throat. He tried to clear his throat, only to break into a violent coughing fit.
"Stupid pup. I told you, you'd get sick." Seto sighed, his voice slightly softer.
"Shut… up… ass… hole." he gasped out between coughs. Jou's hand went up, leaning against the wall. He was getting annoyed with the nonstop coughing.
"Hay." Seto's brow furrowed as he placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Calm down." Still coughing. "Breath puppy." His hand went to the blonde's forehead. "You're burning up pup." He grabbed Jou's arm "What are you doing here when you're clearly sick." His voice was harsh, but not cruel. He wanted an answer, and Jou was too tired to argue.
"Had to… or else I'd… lose job…" Jou rasped.
Seto sighed, "Come on." He pulled the smaller towards the door.
"Look Kaiba…." He took a few deep breaths I need to get back out there. I have to finish the day, and Kenji's supposed to be here, and I have to-"
"Shut up" the blue-eyed man sighed, "You're obviously sick, and have no business in that class, let alone out of bed." He turned his glare to the blonde. "You're going to get him sick, and I'm sure you don't want that."
Jounouchi blinked, opening his mouth to argue only to close it again, his eyes flashing. "You have no business telling me what to do with my life, and how to raise my son."
Blue-eyes narrowed, "I'm not arguing this with you. There is no point in the debate, because you are coming." Seto growled, pulling the blondes arm.
"Where?" Katsuya tried to pull away from the CEO's grip.
"To my office where Len's going to look you over." He pulled Jou, effectively getting the blonde to stumble out of the door. The hallways had cleared, and his workers didn't seem to notice him dragging the coughing blonde to the elevator.
"Len?" He knew that name, but couldn't put any thought behind it. Reluctantly he let the brunette pull him into the large elevator.
They stood there in silence, Katsuya leaning against the wall for support, as Kaiba hit the button to his office. Jou couldn't quite see what number, but assumed it must be high up when it took awhile for the elevator's door to ding open. He blinked, his vision seemed a bit fuzzier then usual, and why was he feeling cold all of a sudden.
Seto raised an eyebrow, seeing the blonde begin to shiver in the corner. "Pup?" he put a hand on his shoulder. "Hay." He shook the shorter man. Jou blinked, grasping onto Seto's jacket sleeve. He shook his head, his other hand going to his head. "Puppy?" Caramel eyes turned towards blue.
"Wha…?"
He sighed, "Come on, Pup." Putting his arm around the blonds waste, Seto pulled Jou out of the elevator and down the hall to his office. Surprisingly, the blonde didn't struggle against the gesture of help.
'Damn it.' Jou silently cursed himself, 'Why does it have to be him?'
"Kaiba-sama?" The CEO's secretary questioned as she saw the two.
"Call Len, tell him to get up here now." he glared coolly at her before he slammed his office door shut.
Jou winced at the loud noise, and moved away from the blue-eyed man. "Sit." He was, to his surprised, gently pushed towards a couch. Katsuya gladly fell onto soft black leather, wondering when he had started to feel so exhausted, and why he hadn't noticed how heavy he felt. He didn't care if Kaiba was there; he was too tired to give a damn about it. 'I'll just rest my eyes for a second. Yeah, that's it. He's on the phone, so he won't…even… notice…'
"-I don't care. Get him over here, or you're fired….. I'm glad we agree." Kaiba snarled, hanging up the phone. "I swear I don't even know why I keep idiots like her arou- Hay!" He shot forward, grabbing the falling blonde. "Idiot." He sighed, "Couldn't at least lie down before you fainted." Seto wasn't sure why he was so gentle, but he slowly lifted the unconscious blonde onto the couch.
"Why would you push yourself so hard?" But he knew why, 'I did the same thing for Mokuba.' This was a new side to the pup. Of course he knew the other was loyal to his friend, but this dedication to his son was a side of Jou that Seto had never seen. Shaking his head, he slid his trench coat off, and draped the navy material across the sleeping blonde.
--
"I don't know where he is Kenj'."
"But Uncle Honda, he has to be around here some where!" Kenji smiled up at his father's friend, "We'll find him!"
Honda couldn't help but smile at the small boy's positive attitude. "Uncle Mokuba!" the blonde suddenly shouted, taking off down the hall.
The brunette blinked, looking up to see a slender man with raven hair at the end of the hall. "Holy, shi-shivers!" Honda quick covered his original choice of wording, "Mokuba? Is that really you?" he blinked a few times.
The black haired boy turned towards him and smiled, "Hello Honda! It's so great to see you! How are you?"
"I'm fine." He mumbled, "Man kid, you sure grew up!" Mokuba laughed.
"Uncle Mokuba what are you doing here! Are you here to see my daddy too?" Kenji continued to hug the smaller mans leg.
It was the young Kaiba's turn to blink, "Jou's here?"
Kenji smiled, and nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah!" he paused, a worried look coming across the young features, "But we can't find him."
"He was here for some job class." Honda tried to explain, but didn't know the full details.
"Hmm. We can ask Seto. He might know."
Honda opened his mouth to argue, "We have to hurry! Uncle Honda has a date with Uncle Otogi tonight!" Kenji beamed over at the brunette.
"When?" Mokuba turned back to the older man with a smile or his own.
"An hour." Honda rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
"What? And you haven't even changed out of your work cloths! I'll look after Kenji and find Jou. You get out of here and get ready for your hot date!" Mokuba suggested.
"I can't do that, Mokuba. I promised Jou I'd watch him, and you must have other things planed!" Honda shook his head.
"Not really. And Seto and I watched Kenji a few days ago. Isn't that right, Kenji?"
"The Dragon Man? He promised we would finish the book." Kenji nodded, "Can I go with Uncle Mokuba?" He turned his pleading hazel eyes towards the tall brunette.
"Jou's not going to like this." Honda muttered, before he finally gave in and sighed, "Fine. But when Jou gets all motherly you two better remember you were the ones begging for it."
Mokuba laughed, "Alright. See you Honda. And enjoy the date." He winked.
"Thanks." Honda blushed, and turned to walk towards the door.
"Ready?" Mokuba asked, turning to the small blonde.
Kenji nodded, "Um… can we get something to eat first? I'm really hungry!"
The coal haired man laughed, "Burgers sound alright?"
"Yeah!" Kenji jumped, "Then, we'll go see the Dragon Man and find my Daddy!"
1. Hahaha I am going to have SO much fun with the character!!! I might even bring him back in other chapters…. Maybe even different stories! Hahaha. I think I'm in love xD hahaha jk. I also hope no one is offended by his character. I'm not a Nazi or something. Most of my friends are Jewish. So please don't feel like I was trying to attack your religion, because that was not my intention.
2. I donno if I spelled his name right. But he's from La Corda d'Oro. In this fic he's much older and doesn't play the violin a living. He still plays, but more out of pleasure than money these days though. Some of you might be mad at me for having Len in it, but he's older then Kaiba and there is nothing sexual between the two at all…. That's a weird pairing. O.o
3. "Make inu" is Japanese for "dog," or "mutt."
Lime Rocker: Well it was slightly longer then my other chapters and I hope you enjoy it. Sorry it took me so long to update. Life is really busy these days. I'll try to update sooner next chapter.
Anyway, there were a few moments between Seto and Jou. I'm hoping in the next few chapters to actually develop the idea of a relationship between the two.
I'd also like to say that our Hikari's and Yami's will be entering soon. Maybe not in the next chapter (although I will try…) but they will be coming in the next few chapters! =D
Peace and much love.
LR