Yu-Gi-Oh!: Guard Dog ~ Leaving
Icka!: Huh. They have 'gumption' in the dictionary.
Ysabet: Really? Out of curiosity, what do they have as a definition?
Icka!: 'Gumption: shrewd or spirited initiative and resourcefulness.'
Ysabet: ....
Icka!: ....
Icka!: I'm changin' that ta 'Balls'.
Ysabet: Great Big Brass Gumption? ^___^
Con't from here
+++
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"I give up."
And with that, Mokuba's personal bodyguard closed his eyes and slumped against the back of the limo as if he was world-weary and ready for a nap. Which considering the amount of energy he'd been putting in trying to talk to Mokuba, probably wasn't much of a stretch.
Mokuba snorted, sitting back into his own seat --as far as he could get from Jounouchi without sitting in the front seat with the chauffeur-- with a small sigh. He didn't care, he didn't want to hear anything the bastard said. As far as he was concerned, the sooner Jounouchi left, the better.
The bastard. Breaking his promises like that. He was half surprised that 'Niisama wasn't after Jounouchi's head for this.
They rode in silence for a while, Jounouchi not moving from his slumped position and Mokuba sitting with his arms crossed as he watched the streets go by.
"Hey." Mokuba said as they approached the tower. "Where's Noa?"
"He's with Yuugi." The bastard didn't even raise his head from the back of the seat, even as he waved a insolent hand around in the air. "They're talkin'."
"Yuugi's back?" Mokuba blinked, then grinned. Yuugi was back! It wasn't like Yuugi could solve their problems --not that they needed him to do so--, but he certainly could help smooth things over. He was good like that.
Mokuba was out of the limo as soon as it came to a stop, bounding up the stairs. He ignored Jounouchi's shout behind him as the blond scrambled to follow him. They bounded through the front doors and headed upstairs. He had a pretty good idea where Yuugi was. Yuugi usually didn't go anywhere without one of them, Noa wasn't comfortable alone with 'Niisama's room, Jounouchi was with Mokuba, so they were probably in Mokuba and Noa's lab.
Jounouchi slid in between the elevator doors just as they were sliding shut, barely making it in. The bastard grumbled a bit, straightening his clothing, but didn't say anything -to- Mokuba as they road up. Mokuba smirked. Good.
The bastard was silent as he followed Mokuba to the lab, Mokuba not bothering to knock as he opened the door.
Yuugi had his back to them, his spine stiff as he focused on the glowing object between his out stretched hands. Noa floated before him, eyes closed as pale wisps of his body disappearing in the glow as they floated away from him. towards the glow and joining together there, a peaceful expression on his face.
"NOA!!!" Mokuba screamed, lunging towards Yuugi. Jounouchi grabbed him just as he reached the darkly dressed duellist, pulling him backwards. Mokuba lashed out at them, managing to knock Yuugi off balance. "You're not turning Noa into a card!!!"
His other brother faded from view as Yuugi took a step away from Mokuba, grabbing something out of mid-air. "Calm down." Jounouchi instructed. "I'm sure-"
"Shut Up!" Mokuba caught Jounouchi in the stomach with an elbow, making the blond stagger. However, he still didn't let go of Mokuba, stubbornly hanging on to the back of Mokuba's jacket. Mokuba started to shrug out of the restraining garment, Jounouchi was already leaving, he wasn't losing Noa as well.
"End temporary suspension of Kaiba Corporation Holographic Systems." Yuugi instructed, holding a hand to his ribs where Mokuba had gotten him. "Re-activate Solid Vision system. Re-activate Solid System."
The electronic whine of the Solid projectors started up, Noa's form appearing in the middle of the room, where he had been when they had walked into the room. Mokuba stopped struggling as Noa blinked a few times, slowly moving his body and flexing his hands a few times, like he'd been asleep for a long period of time.
"How do you feel?" Yuugi asked, a slight smile on his face, despite the pale sheen of sweat on his skin.
"Better." Noa admitted, with one of his rare peaceful smiles. "Thanks."
"Noa?" Mokuba questioned. Jounouchi released his jacket, but didn't move away. Mokuba ignored him, focusing on his green-haired brother. "Are you all right?"
"Hm?" Noa looked up at him with surprise. "Mokuba! You're back early! How was school?"
"You... but..." Mokuba shook his head, panic fading into disbelieve. "Yuugi was sealing you into a card..."
Noa looked embarrassed as he glanced between Noa and Yuugi. "I was." Yuugi admitted. "But not the way you think."
"Seto's mentioned before that I'm not just a projection, but a spirit as well." Noa mumbled, looking at the ground. "There's that exorcism as soon as the police release the room, and I don't want to be moved on just yet, not even by accident."
"Which I don't think is going to happen, because Mokuba-kun won't let it." Yuugi said with a small smile as he held up a Duel Monster's card. "But it never hurts to have a bit of insurance. Noa-kun doesn't have a shrine that I have seen in your house, so we made a physical tie to the world. Bakura-kun did it before, sealing a part of himself in my Puzzle so he wouldn't be destroyed in a Shadow Game, even if he lost. We decided it couldn't hurt to do something similar."
"I..." They -didn't- have a shrine for Noa anywhere. No picture, no name tablet, nowhere to burn incense. They didn't have one for Gozaburou either, but that was because he was a shit-face and neither of them were going to pray for -him-. But they'd never even thought of that for Noa. Probably because Mokuba had always assumed that they didn't need to, he was going to bring Noa back.
"So anyway." Yuugi swayed a bit as he stood up. He handed the card to Noa, who reverently took it. "Find someplace safe to keep this. I don't know what will happen if it's destroyed, but it's probably not good."
"Agreed." Noa nodded, looking at the card. "Thank you again."
"You're welcome." Yuugi nodded, then yawned. Jounouchi chuckled as he walked over and wrapped an arm around his best friend.
"Come on." Jounouchi said, half carrying Yuugi out of the room. "I'll show you my favourite place to nap."
Yuugi didn't so much as wave good-bye as the door slid shut behind them, his eyes mostly shut as he leaned against the blond.
"It takes a lot of energy to do that." Noa said, looking at the card. "To put some of the spirit someplace else without putting all of it. Evidently I was kind of tricky because I have other parts of myself other places as well."
"Oh?" Mokuba closed the gap between them, just glad that Noa was still here.
"Um-hmm." Noa nodded, blushing slightly. He reached out and brushed Mokuba's forehead with a finger. "I'm here too."
Mokuba blinked. Oh.
That made sense, actually. Noa had taken over his body before their escape from Noa's fortress. Mokuba's mind may have been gone from it, but Mokuba had certainly been there as well, at least from what Noa had said. Which had probably been part of the reason that Mokuba had been able to salvage and repair Noa as much as he had, he had part of the pieces already with him.
"So..." Mokuba craned his neck to look at the card. "What are you going to do with that?"
"I think..." Noa smiled, a secretive fond smile. One that usually meant trouble for someone.
Then Noa stretched out his hands, the card cradled in the palms of his hands. The image was of a younger Noa, in Noa's current clothing, curled in a loose fetal position against a swirling background, as if he were asleep. "If it's not too much of an imposition..."
Mokuba stared for a minute. This wasn't just a normal card, this was part of -Noa-.
Noa fidgeted slightly, pulling his hands back, which jolted Mokuba out of his daze. He reached up, opening the locket that was always around his neck, the one that was just the right size to hold a photo. Or a Duel Monsters card.
He put Noa's card in the locket, opposite of the picture of a very young 'Niisama playing chess and closed it. "This okay?" He asked, pressing the locket against his chest.
Noa nodded. "More than okay."
+++
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Seto didn't bother looking up from his typing as the door opened. The secretary hadn't announced anyone, security wasn't shouting and there was no shout of ''Niisama', so therefore it was just Jounouchi on his afternoon rounds.
Likewise, he wasn't disturbed when his chair was shifted slightly to the side so a large blond body could climb under the desk. He just moved his chair back into it's previous position as Jounouchi settled down in his customary spot for a nap.
He did notice however, when he went to stretch his legs and encountered a body with his foot. He stopped typing and pushed his chair back to peer underneath his desk. Usually there was little problem with both of them occupying that space, both of them well accustomed to making room for the other.
Seto was rather surprised to discover two bodies under his desk, Yuugi spooned against Jounouchi's larger body, both of them fast asleep.
Wow. TWO people could fit under his desk comfortably. Well, as long as one of them was the height of a pre-pubescent teenager.
He moved his chair back and briefly pondered the benefits of getting Jounouchi his own office to take naps in.
+++
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Jounouchi looked at the door, a feeling of unease pooling in his gut. It was Mokuba's bedroom door, he'd seen it hundreds of times, but now it was more of a defensive barrier than it had ever been before.
Mokuba, in a truly impressive display of teenage angst, hadn't spoken to him since the exorcism three days ago. Not that there had been anything of great remark about the exorcism, after many of the local temples and shrines attempting to kiss up to Kaiba to be allowed to perform this high profile exorcism it had been almost anti-climatic. Fancy priest had gone in into the room, chanted a bit, waved some stuff around, fancy priest had come out and declared the area free of spirits.
Noa, who had been floating between Jounouchi and Mokuba, just smiled.
Then Yuugi, who had scared the crap out of the security guys by appeared out of nowhere, had excused himself for a minute. He then walked into the room, shut the door behind him, opened the door a minute later, walked over to Kaiba and dropped a handful of Fiend / Zombie cards into Kaiba's hands and walked off.
Kaiba hadn't complained. He'd gotten a new level seven card, 'Fusion Richie', out of it.
The employees, who had watched the entire proceedings as they'd been streamed on to the Kaiba Corporation servers for people to watch while working, had calmed down since then as well. Noa didn't seem to be getting as many strange looks either, so life was improving.
Except for this leaving bit. It was his last day, Mokuba was in bed so technically his duties were over. Jounouchi had even cleaned his room for the first time since moving in.
And he couldn't quite muster the balls to knock on the door to say good-bye.
He let his hand drop, fingers curling into a fist. Some protector. Jounouchi Katsuya, coward. That's what he was. He raised his hand to knock again.
"I would not advise that." Kaiba's cold even voice commented. "You are liable to have things thrown at you if you attempt to enter."
And they both knew for a fact that Mokuba still had some of his old switchblades hidden about the room, for just in case he needed them in an emergency.
"I know... but..." He didn't want to just -leave-. Not like this.
Kaiba wrapped a hand around Jounouchi's hand, his fingers warm and dry against Jounouchi's palm. "If you are going to leave, do so. Do not hesitate over it."
'Do it now, before you are unable to', Kaiba's expression almost seemed to say. A distant portion of Jounouchi's brain wondered how much of that would be his own personal reluctance, and how much of it would be Kaiba's possessiveness refusing to allow Jounouchi to walk out the door.
"I release you from your promise." Kaiba said eyes narrowing fiercely, even as his grip tightened around Jounouchi's hand, almost painfully so. "If that is what you are worried about."
Well, that was one thing off his mind. But he couldn't say anything about that until later. If Kaiba would listen to him then. "Thanks." He managed to get past his dry throat. If they moved a little closer, they'd be pressed up against each other. If they moved a little bit closer, they'd be close enough to kiss.
Bad thoughts, bad thoughts, bad thoughts. Ol' Blue Eye's eyes were that really dark intense glare again, eyes more black than blue. Now if only Kaiba'd ruffle his hair up a little bit, he'd look completely fuckable. Bad thoughts, bad thoughts, bad thoughts, he was supposed to be -avoiding- those....
Crap.
"Do you have a place to stay?" Kaiba asked quietly.
"Yeah." Jounouchi nodded, swallowing to get some moisture back in his throat so he could speak. He looked back at Mokuba's door, it was easier to talk that way without getting distracted. "Other than Yuugi's, for a change. Do you want the communicator and stuff back?"
"Keep them. At least for the moment." Kaiba's eyes dipped down to the collar, then lingered for a moment. "I'll get them back eventually."
"Okay." It gave them a reason to meet up later.
They stood there for a moment longer, not talking, not looking at each other, just standing next to each other. Then finally, Kaiba unwrapped his fingers from Jounouchi's hand, turned and strode into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him, leaving Jounouchi alone in the empty hallway.
Jounouchi stood there for a moment more before turning the other direction and walking down the corridor to leave the Kaiba Mansion.
+++
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"Ototo! Get up!" Noa scolded, floating above the bed.
"Don't wanna." Mokuba muttered darkly, the covers pulled up over his head except for a little crack he could breathe through. "Can't make me."
"OTOTO!!!" Noa wailed. There was a moment of silence, then Noa's voice from the doorway: "Seto? Our Ototo isn't leaving the bed."
"Mokuba!" 'Niisama shouted from his room. "Get up! It's time for school!"
"Don't care." Mokuba growled back, pulling the covers tighter around him. 'Niisama didn't care if Jounouchi left or not. Neither did Noa. Noa seemed to think that everything was going to work out okay. That was the last time he tried to find a friend for 'Niisama, the big jerk could just die for all he cared.
... okay, not -die-. They'd been through that before, that was bad, that was worse than people leaving. But he could go jump off a tall building.
... wait, that's what Gozaburou had done...
Okay, 'Niisama and Noa could do something extremely painful but non-lethal because Mokuba didn't actually want them to -leave-, just suffer a bit. Like he was.
Noa let out a long tired sigh above him as the projectors changed their subtle whine, indicating that Noa was switching from Solid Vision to Solid System. A hand shook his shoulders. "Get up. You're going to be late."
"So?" Mokuba surly demanded back. What was so great about school? He'd just have to deal with more mutters from his classmates about having an invisible friend and him thinking that he was too good to spend time with them. Except for Satoshi, who'd just get mad at him if he didn't feel up to duelling during break. Big whoop. He'd already finished the rest of this year's homework last week when he couldn't work on the computers.
"Up." Noa insisted. Mokuba sat up, grabbed his green-haired brother and pinning Noa to the bed with his weight. Noa wiggled, trying to escape from Mokuba's grasp, which just made Mokuba cling tighter. "OTOTO~!!!" Noa wailed. "Let me go! Release me! Hey! Stop touching me there!!! SETO!!! HELP! HE'S GROPING ME!!
'Niisama made a rumbled comment that it sounded like a personal problem to him.
Noa sighed, finally laying still. Mokuba hid a smirk. Hah. He'd won.
"Seto?" Noa said outloud. "Mind if I release a few of the security precautions?"
"If you think it'll work." 'Niisama said with dry morbid humour.
"All right." And with that passive comment, Noa slipped out of his grasp, switching back to Solid Vision.
"Hey!" Mokuba sat up as he protested.
And suddenly found himself attacked by multiple green-haired dervishes. He was jolted out of bed, stripped, dressed, hair brushed and pushed out the bedroom door with his school bag in his hand without so much as a by-your-leave.
Mokuba just stood there and stared for a second, his brain trying to catch up. 'Niisama stepped out of his room, adjusting a bracer around his wrist. "Ah. I see you're up. Do you have time for breakfast?"
"He does if he hurries." Noa's voice, echoing strangely. Mokuba turned around and saw four different Noa bodies merge back together as one solid person. So that's how he had done it.
"M'not hungry." Mokuba grumbled. 'Niisama snorted, stopping just shy of rolling his eyes.
"Fine. Have a good day at school." 'Niisama said, patting the top of Mokuba's head as he strode past, heading for work.
Mokuba crossed his arms. "Jerk."
"Let's go." Noa instructed, switching back over to Solid Vision in the hallway. "You can eat in the car if you want."
"Don't wanna." Mokuba grumbled as Noa herded him towards the front door. Why couldn't they just leave him alone?
He opened the front door and stepped out at Noa's urging, stopping in the door way. The limo wasn't waiting for him at the doorway. He blinked, looking around, wondering if he should be anticipating an ambush or something. Deviation from the routine was usually a bad thing.
"OI!!!" A loud voice called from the street. He stepped forward, finally spotting the limousine parked at the end of the driveway, a blond haired figure waving at him from the other side of the security gate.
Mokuba blinked, then shook his head and blinked again. "Jounouchi?!"
"HURRY UP!" Jounouchi, dressed in a chauffeur's uniform plus cap shouted. "YOU'RE GONNA BE LATE FOR SCHOOL!!!"
+++ To Be Continued +++
+++
Ysabet: Really? Out of curiosity, what do they have as a definition?
Icka!: 'Gumption: shrewd or spirited initiative and resourcefulness.'
Ysabet: ....
Icka!: ....
Icka!: I'm changin' that ta 'Balls'.
Ysabet: Great Big Brass Gumption? ^___^
Con't from here
+++
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"I give up."
And with that, Mokuba's personal bodyguard closed his eyes and slumped against the back of the limo as if he was world-weary and ready for a nap. Which considering the amount of energy he'd been putting in trying to talk to Mokuba, probably wasn't much of a stretch.
Mokuba snorted, sitting back into his own seat --as far as he could get from Jounouchi without sitting in the front seat with the chauffeur-- with a small sigh. He didn't care, he didn't want to hear anything the bastard said. As far as he was concerned, the sooner Jounouchi left, the better.
The bastard. Breaking his promises like that. He was half surprised that 'Niisama wasn't after Jounouchi's head for this.
They rode in silence for a while, Jounouchi not moving from his slumped position and Mokuba sitting with his arms crossed as he watched the streets go by.
"Hey." Mokuba said as they approached the tower. "Where's Noa?"
"He's with Yuugi." The bastard didn't even raise his head from the back of the seat, even as he waved a insolent hand around in the air. "They're talkin'."
"Yuugi's back?" Mokuba blinked, then grinned. Yuugi was back! It wasn't like Yuugi could solve their problems --not that they needed him to do so--, but he certainly could help smooth things over. He was good like that.
Mokuba was out of the limo as soon as it came to a stop, bounding up the stairs. He ignored Jounouchi's shout behind him as the blond scrambled to follow him. They bounded through the front doors and headed upstairs. He had a pretty good idea where Yuugi was. Yuugi usually didn't go anywhere without one of them, Noa wasn't comfortable alone with 'Niisama's room, Jounouchi was with Mokuba, so they were probably in Mokuba and Noa's lab.
Jounouchi slid in between the elevator doors just as they were sliding shut, barely making it in. The bastard grumbled a bit, straightening his clothing, but didn't say anything -to- Mokuba as they road up. Mokuba smirked. Good.
The bastard was silent as he followed Mokuba to the lab, Mokuba not bothering to knock as he opened the door.
Yuugi had his back to them, his spine stiff as he focused on the glowing object between his out stretched hands. Noa floated before him, eyes closed as pale wisps of his body disappearing in the glow as they floated away from him. towards the glow and joining together there, a peaceful expression on his face.
"NOA!!!" Mokuba screamed, lunging towards Yuugi. Jounouchi grabbed him just as he reached the darkly dressed duellist, pulling him backwards. Mokuba lashed out at them, managing to knock Yuugi off balance. "You're not turning Noa into a card!!!"
His other brother faded from view as Yuugi took a step away from Mokuba, grabbing something out of mid-air. "Calm down." Jounouchi instructed. "I'm sure-"
"Shut Up!" Mokuba caught Jounouchi in the stomach with an elbow, making the blond stagger. However, he still didn't let go of Mokuba, stubbornly hanging on to the back of Mokuba's jacket. Mokuba started to shrug out of the restraining garment, Jounouchi was already leaving, he wasn't losing Noa as well.
"End temporary suspension of Kaiba Corporation Holographic Systems." Yuugi instructed, holding a hand to his ribs where Mokuba had gotten him. "Re-activate Solid Vision system. Re-activate Solid System."
The electronic whine of the Solid projectors started up, Noa's form appearing in the middle of the room, where he had been when they had walked into the room. Mokuba stopped struggling as Noa blinked a few times, slowly moving his body and flexing his hands a few times, like he'd been asleep for a long period of time.
"How do you feel?" Yuugi asked, a slight smile on his face, despite the pale sheen of sweat on his skin.
"Better." Noa admitted, with one of his rare peaceful smiles. "Thanks."
"Noa?" Mokuba questioned. Jounouchi released his jacket, but didn't move away. Mokuba ignored him, focusing on his green-haired brother. "Are you all right?"
"Hm?" Noa looked up at him with surprise. "Mokuba! You're back early! How was school?"
"You... but..." Mokuba shook his head, panic fading into disbelieve. "Yuugi was sealing you into a card..."
Noa looked embarrassed as he glanced between Noa and Yuugi. "I was." Yuugi admitted. "But not the way you think."
"Seto's mentioned before that I'm not just a projection, but a spirit as well." Noa mumbled, looking at the ground. "There's that exorcism as soon as the police release the room, and I don't want to be moved on just yet, not even by accident."
"Which I don't think is going to happen, because Mokuba-kun won't let it." Yuugi said with a small smile as he held up a Duel Monster's card. "But it never hurts to have a bit of insurance. Noa-kun doesn't have a shrine that I have seen in your house, so we made a physical tie to the world. Bakura-kun did it before, sealing a part of himself in my Puzzle so he wouldn't be destroyed in a Shadow Game, even if he lost. We decided it couldn't hurt to do something similar."
"I..." They -didn't- have a shrine for Noa anywhere. No picture, no name tablet, nowhere to burn incense. They didn't have one for Gozaburou either, but that was because he was a shit-face and neither of them were going to pray for -him-. But they'd never even thought of that for Noa. Probably because Mokuba had always assumed that they didn't need to, he was going to bring Noa back.
"So anyway." Yuugi swayed a bit as he stood up. He handed the card to Noa, who reverently took it. "Find someplace safe to keep this. I don't know what will happen if it's destroyed, but it's probably not good."
"Agreed." Noa nodded, looking at the card. "Thank you again."
"You're welcome." Yuugi nodded, then yawned. Jounouchi chuckled as he walked over and wrapped an arm around his best friend.
"Come on." Jounouchi said, half carrying Yuugi out of the room. "I'll show you my favourite place to nap."
Yuugi didn't so much as wave good-bye as the door slid shut behind them, his eyes mostly shut as he leaned against the blond.
"It takes a lot of energy to do that." Noa said, looking at the card. "To put some of the spirit someplace else without putting all of it. Evidently I was kind of tricky because I have other parts of myself other places as well."
"Oh?" Mokuba closed the gap between them, just glad that Noa was still here.
"Um-hmm." Noa nodded, blushing slightly. He reached out and brushed Mokuba's forehead with a finger. "I'm here too."
Mokuba blinked. Oh.
That made sense, actually. Noa had taken over his body before their escape from Noa's fortress. Mokuba's mind may have been gone from it, but Mokuba had certainly been there as well, at least from what Noa had said. Which had probably been part of the reason that Mokuba had been able to salvage and repair Noa as much as he had, he had part of the pieces already with him.
"So..." Mokuba craned his neck to look at the card. "What are you going to do with that?"
"I think..." Noa smiled, a secretive fond smile. One that usually meant trouble for someone.
Then Noa stretched out his hands, the card cradled in the palms of his hands. The image was of a younger Noa, in Noa's current clothing, curled in a loose fetal position against a swirling background, as if he were asleep. "If it's not too much of an imposition..."
Mokuba stared for a minute. This wasn't just a normal card, this was part of -Noa-.
Noa fidgeted slightly, pulling his hands back, which jolted Mokuba out of his daze. He reached up, opening the locket that was always around his neck, the one that was just the right size to hold a photo. Or a Duel Monsters card.
He put Noa's card in the locket, opposite of the picture of a very young 'Niisama playing chess and closed it. "This okay?" He asked, pressing the locket against his chest.
Noa nodded. "More than okay."
+++
+++
Seto didn't bother looking up from his typing as the door opened. The secretary hadn't announced anyone, security wasn't shouting and there was no shout of ''Niisama', so therefore it was just Jounouchi on his afternoon rounds.
Likewise, he wasn't disturbed when his chair was shifted slightly to the side so a large blond body could climb under the desk. He just moved his chair back into it's previous position as Jounouchi settled down in his customary spot for a nap.
He did notice however, when he went to stretch his legs and encountered a body with his foot. He stopped typing and pushed his chair back to peer underneath his desk. Usually there was little problem with both of them occupying that space, both of them well accustomed to making room for the other.
Seto was rather surprised to discover two bodies under his desk, Yuugi spooned against Jounouchi's larger body, both of them fast asleep.
Wow. TWO people could fit under his desk comfortably. Well, as long as one of them was the height of a pre-pubescent teenager.
He moved his chair back and briefly pondered the benefits of getting Jounouchi his own office to take naps in.
+++
+++
Jounouchi looked at the door, a feeling of unease pooling in his gut. It was Mokuba's bedroom door, he'd seen it hundreds of times, but now it was more of a defensive barrier than it had ever been before.
Mokuba, in a truly impressive display of teenage angst, hadn't spoken to him since the exorcism three days ago. Not that there had been anything of great remark about the exorcism, after many of the local temples and shrines attempting to kiss up to Kaiba to be allowed to perform this high profile exorcism it had been almost anti-climatic. Fancy priest had gone in into the room, chanted a bit, waved some stuff around, fancy priest had come out and declared the area free of spirits.
Noa, who had been floating between Jounouchi and Mokuba, just smiled.
Then Yuugi, who had scared the crap out of the security guys by appeared out of nowhere, had excused himself for a minute. He then walked into the room, shut the door behind him, opened the door a minute later, walked over to Kaiba and dropped a handful of Fiend / Zombie cards into Kaiba's hands and walked off.
Kaiba hadn't complained. He'd gotten a new level seven card, 'Fusion Richie', out of it.
The employees, who had watched the entire proceedings as they'd been streamed on to the Kaiba Corporation servers for people to watch while working, had calmed down since then as well. Noa didn't seem to be getting as many strange looks either, so life was improving.
Except for this leaving bit. It was his last day, Mokuba was in bed so technically his duties were over. Jounouchi had even cleaned his room for the first time since moving in.
And he couldn't quite muster the balls to knock on the door to say good-bye.
He let his hand drop, fingers curling into a fist. Some protector. Jounouchi Katsuya, coward. That's what he was. He raised his hand to knock again.
"I would not advise that." Kaiba's cold even voice commented. "You are liable to have things thrown at you if you attempt to enter."
And they both knew for a fact that Mokuba still had some of his old switchblades hidden about the room, for just in case he needed them in an emergency.
"I know... but..." He didn't want to just -leave-. Not like this.
Kaiba wrapped a hand around Jounouchi's hand, his fingers warm and dry against Jounouchi's palm. "If you are going to leave, do so. Do not hesitate over it."
'Do it now, before you are unable to', Kaiba's expression almost seemed to say. A distant portion of Jounouchi's brain wondered how much of that would be his own personal reluctance, and how much of it would be Kaiba's possessiveness refusing to allow Jounouchi to walk out the door.
"I release you from your promise." Kaiba said eyes narrowing fiercely, even as his grip tightened around Jounouchi's hand, almost painfully so. "If that is what you are worried about."
Well, that was one thing off his mind. But he couldn't say anything about that until later. If Kaiba would listen to him then. "Thanks." He managed to get past his dry throat. If they moved a little closer, they'd be pressed up against each other. If they moved a little bit closer, they'd be close enough to kiss.
Bad thoughts, bad thoughts, bad thoughts. Ol' Blue Eye's eyes were that really dark intense glare again, eyes more black than blue. Now if only Kaiba'd ruffle his hair up a little bit, he'd look completely fuckable. Bad thoughts, bad thoughts, bad thoughts, he was supposed to be -avoiding- those....
Crap.
"Do you have a place to stay?" Kaiba asked quietly.
"Yeah." Jounouchi nodded, swallowing to get some moisture back in his throat so he could speak. He looked back at Mokuba's door, it was easier to talk that way without getting distracted. "Other than Yuugi's, for a change. Do you want the communicator and stuff back?"
"Keep them. At least for the moment." Kaiba's eyes dipped down to the collar, then lingered for a moment. "I'll get them back eventually."
"Okay." It gave them a reason to meet up later.
They stood there for a moment longer, not talking, not looking at each other, just standing next to each other. Then finally, Kaiba unwrapped his fingers from Jounouchi's hand, turned and strode into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him, leaving Jounouchi alone in the empty hallway.
Jounouchi stood there for a moment more before turning the other direction and walking down the corridor to leave the Kaiba Mansion.
+++
+++
"Ototo! Get up!" Noa scolded, floating above the bed.
"Don't wanna." Mokuba muttered darkly, the covers pulled up over his head except for a little crack he could breathe through. "Can't make me."
"OTOTO!!!" Noa wailed. There was a moment of silence, then Noa's voice from the doorway: "Seto? Our Ototo isn't leaving the bed."
"Mokuba!" 'Niisama shouted from his room. "Get up! It's time for school!"
"Don't care." Mokuba growled back, pulling the covers tighter around him. 'Niisama didn't care if Jounouchi left or not. Neither did Noa. Noa seemed to think that everything was going to work out okay. That was the last time he tried to find a friend for 'Niisama, the big jerk could just die for all he cared.
... okay, not -die-. They'd been through that before, that was bad, that was worse than people leaving. But he could go jump off a tall building.
... wait, that's what Gozaburou had done...
Okay, 'Niisama and Noa could do something extremely painful but non-lethal because Mokuba didn't actually want them to -leave-, just suffer a bit. Like he was.
Noa let out a long tired sigh above him as the projectors changed their subtle whine, indicating that Noa was switching from Solid Vision to Solid System. A hand shook his shoulders. "Get up. You're going to be late."
"So?" Mokuba surly demanded back. What was so great about school? He'd just have to deal with more mutters from his classmates about having an invisible friend and him thinking that he was too good to spend time with them. Except for Satoshi, who'd just get mad at him if he didn't feel up to duelling during break. Big whoop. He'd already finished the rest of this year's homework last week when he couldn't work on the computers.
"Up." Noa insisted. Mokuba sat up, grabbed his green-haired brother and pinning Noa to the bed with his weight. Noa wiggled, trying to escape from Mokuba's grasp, which just made Mokuba cling tighter. "OTOTO~!!!" Noa wailed. "Let me go! Release me! Hey! Stop touching me there!!! SETO!!! HELP! HE'S GROPING ME!!
'Niisama made a rumbled comment that it sounded like a personal problem to him.
Noa sighed, finally laying still. Mokuba hid a smirk. Hah. He'd won.
"Seto?" Noa said outloud. "Mind if I release a few of the security precautions?"
"If you think it'll work." 'Niisama said with dry morbid humour.
"All right." And with that passive comment, Noa slipped out of his grasp, switching back to Solid Vision.
"Hey!" Mokuba sat up as he protested.
And suddenly found himself attacked by multiple green-haired dervishes. He was jolted out of bed, stripped, dressed, hair brushed and pushed out the bedroom door with his school bag in his hand without so much as a by-your-leave.
Mokuba just stood there and stared for a second, his brain trying to catch up. 'Niisama stepped out of his room, adjusting a bracer around his wrist. "Ah. I see you're up. Do you have time for breakfast?"
"He does if he hurries." Noa's voice, echoing strangely. Mokuba turned around and saw four different Noa bodies merge back together as one solid person. So that's how he had done it.
"M'not hungry." Mokuba grumbled. 'Niisama snorted, stopping just shy of rolling his eyes.
"Fine. Have a good day at school." 'Niisama said, patting the top of Mokuba's head as he strode past, heading for work.
Mokuba crossed his arms. "Jerk."
"Let's go." Noa instructed, switching back over to Solid Vision in the hallway. "You can eat in the car if you want."
"Don't wanna." Mokuba grumbled as Noa herded him towards the front door. Why couldn't they just leave him alone?
He opened the front door and stepped out at Noa's urging, stopping in the door way. The limo wasn't waiting for him at the doorway. He blinked, looking around, wondering if he should be anticipating an ambush or something. Deviation from the routine was usually a bad thing.
"OI!!!" A loud voice called from the street. He stepped forward, finally spotting the limousine parked at the end of the driveway, a blond haired figure waving at him from the other side of the security gate.
Mokuba blinked, then shook his head and blinked again. "Jounouchi?!"
"HURRY UP!" Jounouchi, dressed in a chauffeur's uniform plus cap shouted. "YOU'RE GONNA BE LATE FOR SCHOOL!!!"
+++ To Be Continued +++
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