21: Fight for Yourself
Don't be late, he said. Goddammit, Jounouchi was going to kick Kaiba's scrawny (and attractive) ass.
Don't be fucking late.
Well, he wasn't the one keeping a stadium of several thousand people waiting. He dialed Kaiba's number; going straight to voicemail for the sixth time. Jounouchi paced back and forth across the stage, not bothering to hide his agitation. The match should have started five minutes ago at noon, but Kaiba was nowhere to be seen.
"Did he run away because he thought he couldn't beat us?" Reiji asked as a deep, disapproving frown marred his face. On the side of the battle system, he impatiently shuffled back and forth between both feet.
No, Kaiba wouldn't do that. But at this rate, they were going to forfeit the match by absence. Jounouchi clutched his phone harder, willing a call or message from his fighter.
"I don't think Kawaguchi-san is that kind of person," Sei replied as he turned his worried expression on Jounouchi. "He'll come."
But as the seconds slipped away, Jounouchi began to doubt that himself.
A chime sounded through the arena before the female announcer's dulcet tone followed, "We apologize to our honored guests. Due to technical difficulties, the final match of the world championship will be postponed—"
The rest of her sentence was lost in an earsplitting crackle that drove everyone in attendance to clamp hands over their ears. The overhead screens that displayed the match lineup went black before they were replaced by a new image: a tense scene where Kaiba and Noa glared at each other. The camera shot was wide, capturing the entirety of the small room within the frame. Kaiba wore his Meijin costume without the sunglasses, revealing his piercing blue gaze to the world. Noa sat primly in an identical teal love-seat opposite Kaiba, straight-backed and snooty looking.
A quick glance at the seat that Noa had previously occupied during Kaiba's other battles confirmed his absence. Jounouchi's heart sped up as yesterday's terror resurfaced. Meanwhile, low and confused murmurs swept through the stadium crowd. Sei and Reiji moved to Jounouchi's side, and all three of them watched the video together in mute bewilderment.
The door slid open and an older man with a salt and pepper mustache, decked out in a bespoke suit and carrying an exquisite-looking cane, walked in. His face was set in a permanent scowl, and he carried himself as if he knew he owned the world. Noa stood automatically and bowed to the new arrival, but Kaiba remained seated with his face schooled in a bored expression.
"Who's that?" Reiji asked.
Jounouchi's heart plummeted into his feet as he responded, "That's Kaiba Gozaburo."
Gozaburo lowered himself into the seat vacated by Noa, while the eldest Kaiba brother stood behind their father like a sentinel.
"You're late," Kaiba's voice boomed through the arena.
Jounouchi and half the audience startled at the sound.
Gozaburo chuckled, sweeping his gaze up and down Kaiba's Meijin uniform. The sounds sent shivers down Jounouchi's spine. Could the son of a bitch get any slimier? "Eager to get back to your war games, Seto?"
With his cool finally unraveling, Kaiba gritted his teeth and spat, "I did as you asked, I stole the data you wanted from PPSE's Technical Sciences division."
Kaiba's admission wrung a unified and shocked gasp from the arena, Jounouchi included.
"You were sloppy. My people on the inside had to scrub the footage of your break-in from their security system," Gozaburo scolded Kaiba like he was a small child. "Now give me everything you have."
This was bad. This was really bad. Kaiba was being set up— or Jounouchi really hoped he was. Frantically, Jounouchi tried to determine where they were based on the background details. But there was no telling if the video was streaming live or if it had been taken hours ago. Jounouchi held his breath, waiting for Kaiba to fight back— to do anything but obey like a dog with its tail between its legs.
Kaiba struggled to recompose himself before sneering and throwing a small black device at Noa, who caught it in mid-air. The three men remained silent as Noa plugged the drive into his phone and browsed through the files. He frowned when he reported, "These are partial files."
"I want reassurances before I give you the rest," Kaiba declared in an icy tone. This was not a side of Kaiba that Jounouchi had seen since he first came to PPSE. This Kaiba was like a virtual stranger.
"Don't be stupid, Seto, we're family—" Noa started to berate, but he was cut off.
Kaiba glared at his older brother. "No, you made me complicit in another man's murder. I won't have that coming back on Mokuba and myself later."
Gozaburo barked, "Stupid boy, I merely humored you by meeting with you. You have no bargaining power."
"Then you'll humor me further. I have the files you want, and without them, you won't be able to uncover the secrets of manufacturing the Plavsky particles."
"That is not how the arrangement works, Seto. You do as you're told, and I allow you to continue to be your precious Meijin." Gozaburo leaned forward with his cane between his legs and sneered, "Don't forget that I hold all the cards: your livelihood, Mokuba, and your freedom. Cross me and I will not hesitate to take any one of them away from you."
"Do those cards include my life? When I'm finally of no use to you, will I also meet with an 'unfortunate accident' like my predecessor?" Kaiba cocked his head to one side as he issued his challenge. Not a hint of fear showed on his face, but Jounouchi wanted to throttle him. Kaiba lifted his stubborn chin and declared, "I won't be as easy to put down."
The arena roared in outrage.
Sei turned his horrified expression toward Jounouchi. "Wait, is Kawaguchi-san implying that this Kaiba Gozaburo killed the previous Meijin?"
Jounouchi nodded dumbly. Never mind the fact that Yuuki Tatsuya wasn't actually dead. But Gozaburo and the rest of the world didn't know that.
On screen, Gozaburo guffawed. "How many times must I beat this lesson in for you, Seto? You continue to harbor these delusions that you can defeat me. If I can crush the third Meijin Kawaguchi from within the secure confines of PPSE, destroying you will be far easier. You are nothing without the Kaiba name— my name."
Jounouchi's phone buzzed in his hand, and he jumped at the sudden sensation. Yuugi was calling, but he couldn't bring himself to pick up. He looked out at the stadium crowd, where a multitude of phones were being held up and aimed at the video screens. People were taking pictures and recording this, maybe even live streaming it online. The realization struck Jounouchi like a bolt of lightning— Kaiba did this. He had turned their audience of several thousand Gunpla fans into unwitting witnesses to Gozaburo's confession.
The two men in the video locked eyes and glared witheringly at each other. It was uncomfortable how alike Kaiba and his father looked when they wore the same expression. Their battle of wills was cut short by a shrill ring. Kaiba pulled out his phone and read something hidden from Gozaburo and the rest of the audience on his screen. His glower slowly melted into a sly grin as the rest of the tension bled from his body.
"Your threats might carry more weight if you had actually succeeded," Kaiba smirked and leaned back in his seat like a cat.
Gozaburo narrowed his eyes, obviously confused by the change in Kaiba's body language. "What are you blathering about?"
"You failed to kill Meijin Kawaguchi the Third. He's still alive." Kaiba angled his body to face the camera and looked straight at the audience.
Jounouchi's heart nearly stopped. The video must be broadcasting live. Kaiba was somewhere in the stadium with Gozaburo and Noa. As soon as they found out what Kaiba was doing, there was no telling to how they'd react. Or how they might hurt Kaiba. The thought paralyzed him with fear.
A hand landed on Jounouchi's shoulder, setting off his fighting instincts. He spun around and knocked the hand away before realizing who it was. "Yuuki-san?"
The Yuuki that joined them on stage wore a dark, fitted suit with a red tie; his hair hung loose with a pair of sunglasses balanced right above his forehead. He wasn't trying to disguise himself like in months past. Several feet behind him, Allan, dressed in his PPSE uniform, hung back with a solemn expression.
"Yuuki-senpai, what are you doing here?" Sei exclaimed. Reiji stared with a gaping mouth and wide eyes.
While holding Jounouchi's gaze, Yuuki lowered the sunglasses and pushed back his hair into its trademark Meijin style. "I'll take care of things here. Go find Kaiba-kun," he commanded. As he drew himself to his full height, authority oozed from his every pore. He appeared herculean even though he was no taller than Jounouchi.
Jounouchi didn't need any more encouragement after that.
The sounds of the bewildered crowd followed Jounouchi into the depths of the stadium. He needed to find Kaiba now, even if it meant individually searching every room in the building. He was going to pummel Kaiba for keeping this setup from him. But first, Jounouchi would have to rescue his partner from Gozaburo and from Kaiba's own damn self.
-x-x-x-
Out of the corner of his eyes, Kaiba watched as Noa turned away to take a call. With a growing sense of satisfaction, he noted the sudden tensing in his brother's shoulders and the sharp and almost alarmed tone he spoke into the phone. By now, Noa must have been alerted to the fact that Mokuba was no longer under Daimon's watch. There was no need to continue the farce for much longer.
Furious that his attention had wandered, Gozaburo slammed the point of his cane down and roared, "You can't fool me with your lies, boy. I don't know what game you're trying to play—"
"Whether you believe me or not, Father, it's the truth," he laughed. He could taste his victory and he knew Yuuki would reveal himself in his own time. "And now everyone also knows what you did."
Gozaburo's face tinted red with rage, his knuckles turning white as he squeezed his hand around the head of his cane. "What have you done?"
Slowly, Kaiba's smile widened to the point where his cheeks began to hurt. "I've been broadcasting this conversation to the PPSE stadium since the beginning. You can thank Noa for that, he gave me the idea when he had the nerve to bug my room. By now, hundreds of thousands, if not, millions of people around the world have bore witness to your confessions."
Noa ended his call and moved to their father's side. "Father, we should leave now," he urged and pulled Gozaburo to his feet.
In return, Gozaburo shook off Noa's grip and pushed him back. "I will not run from this brat. If he thinks I will crumble so easily in the face of baseless accusations—"
"Mokuba's gone," Noa threw a pointed look at Kaiba. "I don't know what happened, but given the circumstances, Seto must be responsible."
Unable to keep his victory to himself, he showed them the photo that his English contact emailed him minutes ago. It was a selfie of a smiling Mokuba with Julian Mackenzie, a former British Gunpla champion not attending this year's tournament, and another teenage girl with blond hair and freckles in front of the Tower of London. "Mokuba is safe and out of your reach. I'm going to make sure neither of you ever see or touch him again for the rest of your lives," he gloated.
"You would dare turn your back on your family like this? We made you who you are. If you think you can go back to playing Meijin after this—"
"Once again, you underestimate me," Kaiba shot to his feet and turned toward the hidden camera again. "As of this moment, I resign from the position of Meijin Kawaguchi. My predecessor can have it back if he wishes. I never intended to keep it after learning he was still alive. That's why you lost to me, Father . You counted on me being as selfish and self-interested as you, but I'd rather be 'nothing' than be you. My worth will not be determined by the Meijin title or the Kaiba name. You no longer have any power over me."
Kaiba had won, and Gozaburo knew it too.
The twitch spasming through Gozaburo's hand was his only warning. Kaiba grunted, using his forearm to block the strike of his father's cane. A stinging lance of pain raced through his arm and rattled his bones. He gritted his teeth through the pain and grabbed the other end of the wood. Before he could wrench the weapon from Gozaburo's grasp, his muscles seized and he gave a cry as pain coursed through his entire body. Kaiba dropped to his knees, unable to release the cane. Every second that the electric shock flowed into him felt like an eternity.
When the distressing combination of numbness and pain finally ended, he was no shape to block the next blow aimed at his ribs. He inhaled sharply and doubled over in pain again.
"Father, stop it!" Noa screamed somewhere above him.
"You ungrateful brat, I'll make you regret ever being born."
Another lash fell across his exposed back, driving the breath from his lungs and making his head spin. At least the broadcast was still running, Gozaburo was only digging himself into a deeper hole by losing his temper. He really was like a child throwing a temper tantrum. Kaiba braced for the next attack that never came.
"Get away from him, you motherfucker!"
Jounouchi's familiar and brash voice was like a balm for Kaiba's frazzled nerves. But the relief was short-lived, because Jounouchi wasn't supposed to be here and he wasn't supposed to be in the line of Gozaburo's wrath. He struggled to lift his heavy head in time to see Jounouchi knock the cane away and tackle the older man to the floor.
Gozaburo may have more formal training, but Jounouchi had the element of surprise and an abundance of youth and energy to compensate for what he lacked. They grappled on the floor for several moments as Kaiba caught his breath. Winding back a fist, Jounouchi landed a punch in the center of Gozaburo's face, breaking his father's nose with a sickening crunch.
Kaiba couldn't help but laugh. Considering that his father had tasered him and threatened to murder him on multiple occasions, a mere broken nose made rather poor payback. The sound finally shook Noa out of his shell-shocked state. He grabbed Jounouchi in a sliding collar lock and hauled him off Gozaburo. Still kicking and flailing, Jounouchi snarled and snapped with all the bloodthirstiness of an ex-gang member. In that moment, Kaiba believed he could and would grievously injure or kill Gozaburo.
Jounouchi was magnificent.
Jounouchi spat down at Gozaburo. "Fucking cocksucker, I'll kill you for laying a hand on him like that."
Noa tightened his grip, changing it into a choke-hold. Jounouchi fought the hold harder.
"Stop it, Jounouchi, you'll hurt yourself," Kaiba huffed breathlessly. He slowly climbed to his feet, gripping his aching side and hoping he wasn't nursing a broken rib. He gave Noa a withering look, "You'll have to release him if you wish to make your escape before the authorities arrive."
The door slid open to reveal Baker flanked by security personnel. "No one is going anywhere."
The black-suited men swarmed into the room, and Noa released Jounouchi to raise both arms in surrender. Noa, at least, knew when he was beaten. Gozaburo continued to bluster even as two of the guards each took him by the arms and restrained him.
"Checkmate, Gozaburo," he proclaimed and committed the man's indignant reaction to memory. Then he turned to his older brother and said, "I was also able to locate the transmitter for your bugs, Noa. You should have secured it and your cloud storage better. I've erased your blackmail material."
Noa hung his head in defeat as he was led out of the room. Gozaburo was dragged behind him, and soon the only people left in the room were Baker, Jounouchi, and himself.
Baker redirected her icy displeasure in his direction. "Kawaguchi-san, please discontinue your broadcast. Our techs are having trouble getting around your program."
He briefly contemplated denying her request, but it wasn't in his best interest to antagonize his former employer further. While he may have demonstrated duress, he had technically committed a crime by breaking into company grounds and stealing confidential information. PPSE could still decide to press charges against him. But now with both Gozaburo and Noa in custody, that act of the drama was over. He had confidence that the audience would spread their grainy recordings all over the web and slaughter Gozaburo in the court of public opinion. He flicked through several screens on his phone and deactivated the Trojan hijacking the stadium's audiovisual system. Armed with the knowledge that the camera was no longer running, Kaiba felt the last of his strength flee. He wobbled on his feet.
Jounouchi ran to his side, gingerly slinging an arm around his waist and supporting his weight. "Are you okay?"
He buried his face in Jounouchi's hair and inhaled the familiar scent of the hotel's shampoo. He sank into his relief. "I'll be fine."
Jounouchi's reply was thready, his tone excruciating. "Good, because I'm going to kick your ass after you get better again. Don't you ever pull a stunt like this again without telling me first."
The grip on his waist tightened almost imperceptibly.
"I love you too," he whispered to Jounouchi, lips barely moving against the crown of his golden head. He didn't know what drove him to confess there and now. Maybe it was the possibly broken rib or the heady taste of freedom. But Kaiba meant every word, and he wouldn't take them back for the world.