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How to Raise a Well-Mannered Puppy	By : Rroselavy Category: Yu-Gi-Oh > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 12679 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh!, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
Disclaimer: I do not own or profit in any way from Yu-Gi-Oh
A/N: Thanks to Kodachi, nicky, Lennith, Yukiko, Maggimay, Celestial Angel, Nocturne22 and sliverfox. I'm glad you are all hanging in as this story writes itself ...
I promise things will heat up again, there just seemed to be a need to flesh out Jou's parents a bit more ...

CHAPTER 10
He was at his best when he had determined a course of action and was working towards its completion. Whether it was planning and implementing the hostile takeover of a rival company, or simply training a dog, focusing his mind on the steps necessary and taking action had a calming effect. It fueled his determination, his indefatigability in the face of all odds. It was that doggedness combined with his intelligence that had brought to him all manner of success.
Kaiba Seto did not give up. If he reached a dead end, he would poke and prod and worry the obstacle untile he had figured a new approach, another angle.
He should have been angry at Jounouchi's outburst, should have railed at him, cut him apart with insults and slurs. But something about the situation he found the other boy and his father in resonated within Kaiba.
It unearthed some the desolation he'd felt standing alone in maelstrom of his stepfather's rage. How in his own weakness he'd wished for a champion to save him, even as he accepted the blame for bringing Gozaburo into his and Mokuba's lives. He'd been a fool to strike that bargain, and he shouldered the fallout without complaint, but the cost to him had been dear.
So here he was once again, tending to a subdued Jou. They were in the apartment's tiny bathroom, Jou seated on the closed seat of the toilet, he wedged between the sink and the opposite wall. He gently swabbed away the dried blood from the gash, cleaned the rest of Jou's face. Thought of the times he'd cleaned his own face of blood and tears that were spilt at by the hands of Gozaburo.
He didn't like that Jou was so unresponsive. So beaten down. He hadn't said anything since they left his room. Barely acknowledged the Kaiba's presence, mechanically followed his directions. Kaiba tilted Jou's chin up, looked deeply into distant, cloudy eyes. He wanted to see the fire burning in Jou's eyes, the passion, the defiance with which he carved through adversity.
"Hey," Kaiba said softly. Saw them snap to focus on him. Wherever he'd been, he was now in the room with him again.
"Seto? I need ta get back to my bed. I need to sleep. Will you stay with me? I don' wanna be alone."
He thought about the time he was spending here, how it ate away at the hours he knew he should be working. The email, voicemail that was piling up. The projects that were being held up without his feedback. All of it would need to be attended to.
But his puppy needed him.
"You need a shower," Kaiba said, turning the water on in the stall, adjusting the temperature. "Stand up."
Jou did as he was told. He was immobilized with the exhaustion that had crept over his body. Under Kaiba's gentle care, the anger that had consumed him dissipated, the self-pity dwindled to nothing, in its place a bone-tiredness.
It registered that Kaiba had come for him. To see him. And here he remained now, tending to him. As he scraped himself up from the self-loathing he'd been wallowing in, he realized that maybe it could after all turn out okay. It had only been one slip-up. He knew his father would come home from the meeting remorseful, begging forgiveness, and he knew eventually he would give it. It was the same scene that he and his father were destined to play over and over again.
He let Kaiba undress him. Watched absently as Kaiba disrobed and steered him into the shower. He closed his eyes and stood under the warm cascade, arms limp at his sides. Felt slender fingertips massage shampoo into his hair, carefully rinsing out the lather. Thought if he wasn't so damned exhausted he'd be all over the body that touched him at random intervals.
Kaiba was washing his body now. The intimacy of the act was not lost on Jou's foggy brain. There was no erotic overtone to it, just a tenderness that defied description. He leaned against Kaiba, allowing him to thoroughly bathe him.
Now he was being gently toweled dry. He felt consciousness slipping away, knees weakening, unable to hold up his weight for much longer.
"Please. Bed," he whispered hoarsely.
"Okay, pup." Kaiba grabbed discarded clothes and guided Jou back to his room, searched his dresser for a clean t-shirt and pair of underwear and helped him into them, Jou swaying drunkenly.
He crawled into his bed, sliding as close to the wall as he could, curling on his side, making room for Kaiba to lie next to him on the narrow mattress. Kaiba closed the blind on the window, put on his t-shirt and briefs, and slid into bed and spooned Jou. He slid his hand between Jou's elbow and waist, over his flat stomach planes, pulled him close in an embrace.
Jou was breathing evenly, already asleep. Kaiba kissed the nape of his neck softly, pressing lips into damp hair. In the dim light, He began to try to reconstruct what exactly had happened here in the past three days, probing the bits and pieces, but admitted with frustration that he did not have enough information.
He sighed, wondering exactly what he'd gotten himself into.
* * *
Isao felt guilty leaving his son to go to an AA meeting, knowing well he was responsible for the state Jou was in, yet it was he who could escape into a loving accepting environment. One where he would find the support to help him reclaim the path to his sobriety, no matter how many times he slipped.
It hadn't always been like this. At one time his life held so much promise. He had been a scientist at a Astra Zeneca, a Japanese drug manufacturer. He spearheaded a team developing a medicine to treat cancer patients, one that had shown much promise extending their lives.
Life had been good then. He'd had a young, beautiful Japanese-American wife and two small children to take care of and was a rising star in cancer research. In fact, if he'd stayed on the research team, today he'd be a renowned scientist. While it didn't cure cancer, the medication had proven to be effective. Today thousands of cancer patients were able to live longer and healthier because of research he'd been a part of.
But it had been the pressure to complete the research and get the drug into trials that had begun his spiral into alcoholism. At first a couple of drinks served to take the edge off after a long day in the lab dealing as go-between for his team and their drug company employer. Always having to buffet the urgency to push forward with the fact that good scientific method took time, needed to be done right. Before long his drinking affected his work, and he became a liability to the company. He lost his job, and soon after, his wife and daughter.
He had begged her to take both children with her. He'd still been sober enough to see how it hurt his son to be left behind, to be judged inadequate. But she had never been able to handle Katsuya well. At times she would swear to Isao the boy had the devil in him. As a toddler, he'd been a non-stop bundle of energy. Demanding of her time, her attention, her love. He'd never been full-out jealous of his younger sister, rather he resented the time she took up in his mother's life.
While he was a charming boy, it belied his tendency to be a royal pain in the ass. Katsuya was not one to follow instructions, to abide by rules that he believed were arbitrary or unfair. He got into everything, there wasn't a cupboard or drawer that he couldn't open and rifle through. Anything left unattended, even if it were out of reach, was fair game, from pens and pencils to scissors and knives. It wasn't that Anita was neglectful, it was just Katsuya was so resourceful in his ability to get his hands on whatever he knew he shouldn't have. And, the angrier his mother got at his behavior, the bigger the smile he would grace her with.
As a pre-teen, Jou's headstrong tendencies lead him deeply astray, but somehow, he'd managed to turn it around. Isao knew that it had not been because of he and Anita, but in spite of them. It saddened him deeply, and though he'd not been a good father all the time, he'd done the best he could, struggling as he was with his own problems. He did not justify the abuse and neglect, only acknowledged the circumstances.
Ignoring what Katsuya had told him in anger would only prove further his own inadequacies as a parent. After his meeting ended, Isao called his ex-wife to talk about Katsuya's revelation, and she agreed to meet him over coffee.
While he waited for Anita at a local coffee shop, he thought about the situation. If Katsuya were straight, he knew the kind of fatherly advice that was warranted. To be respectful, to be careful. He would be able to warn him about using protection so that he could avoid becoming a teenage father, avoid any of the myriad STDs including AIDS he could contract, that he had his life in front of him.
He was unsure of how to proceed. Not just because he wasn't sure of the advice he could or should give, though he suspected be respectful and careful would fit that bill just fine, it was the way in which Jou had confided in him that gave him most pause. It was clearly meant to hurt him. Did Katsuya think it shameful to be gay, or that he would be ashamed of him? If that were so, Isao knew he needed to make sure Katsuya understood that in either case he was wrong.
No, he could not ignore their conversation, though he guessed his son wouldn't mind if in his drunken stupor he had conveniently forgot.
He saw his ex-wife through the storefront window. She looked stunning, as always, well put together, sleek black hair pulled tightly in a neat ponytail, just enough makeup to highlight her fine cheeks, her full lips. She must have come straight from work, she was still wearing a charcoal business suit. He imagined that unencumbered with her alcoholic husband and unruly son, she'd been able to focus on her career and continued to excel in financial services.
"Isao, you look like shit." She sat across from him, and fumbled in her purse for her cigarettes.
"You know those are bad for you," he answered.
She cast him a sidelong glance at him with her deep brown eyes, "You lost any right to lecture me when you signed the divorce papers."
He sighed. It wasn't a good sign if she was so defensive already.
"So what trouble has Katsuya gotten himself into this time?" She asked.
"It's nothing like that. I mean, we had a falling out, but that isn't what I called you for."
"Had a falling out? It looks like you were in a fistfight." She was trying to put him on the defensive, strike first blood.
"Look, Anita, I didn't ask you to meet me so that we could rehash our past mistakes--"
"Looks like some are still present ones, Isao."
He could feel his temper building. Counted slowly to ten before he spoke.
"Please, let me finish. This isn't about us, this is about our son. He needs his parents right now, not Isao and Anita and their endless argument over who did what to whom. You and I both know there's plenty of blame to go around." He was not alone in his failure where it concerned his son, Anita shared complicity in that.
She sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just been a long day. I don't know if I have the strenghth for this."
"Even so, he still needs you. Us." Isao said gently. They needed to be on the same side on this.
"Well then, what is it, Isao? What is the issue?"
"Katsuya has told me he's gay. He's seeing someone -- Kaiba Seto--"
"Kaiba Seto?" Anita snorted. "Shizuka told me they hated each other!"
Isao grinned. "Evidently there was more to it than that."
Anita looked at him confused. "So he's gay. Where's the issue in that?"
"I think he expects me to be angry at him or something. Maybe kick him out. You see, when he told me he was so angry, and even angrier when I told him it was okay. He hasn't spoken to me for the past three days."
"And you think I can help you, how? He's not going to speak to me about this, certainly won't hear advice from me!"
"That I know, but you are his mother, and you needed to be told," he said, resigned.
"Isao, he will come around. You've always been able to get through to him in ways I never could. He needs you as much as you need him."
They sat in silence for a while, before Anita checked her watch. She patted his hand as she stood up. "I have to leave. Call me and let me know what happens.
"Please, tell him I love him." He saw twin tears slip down her cheeks.
"You should tell him that yourself," he admonished gently, watching her disappear out the door.
* * *
He didn't know how long he lay next to Jou, watching the shadows in the room deepen as the sun faded. The color shifted to accommodate the streetlight that had turned on. He heard the front door to the apartment close, sensed the tensing in Jou's body, the immediate alertness.
"Lock the door!" Jou hissed.
Kaiba did so hurriedly. As he turned back, he saw the outline of Jou's form in the gloom, lay back down next to him.
"You know--" he began, but his mouth was covered by Jou's, his tongue exploring Kaiba, causing shockwaves once again to reverberate down his spine. He felt his heart racing, beating erratically against his chest as Jou deepened the kiss. He groaned as he felt his desire mounting, broke away for air.
Jou laced his fingers through Kaiba's silky hair, nuzzled into his neck, trailing nips and kisses down bare skin, feeling Kaiba's pulse as they brushed his neck, listening to his soft moans.
He pulled his thoughts together, whispering "Katsuya, you cannot stay in here forever. You need to speak with your father."
Jou sighed. Kaiba had spoke what he was thinking. "Yes, I know. I just wanted ta chance ta kiss ya."
"Mmmm. I can't say I'm unhappy about that," Kaiba smirked. "But it makes me want to do more." He pulled Jou back into a kiss, sliding his tongue along his bottom lip before plunging deeply into the moist heat.
He broke away again. "Listen, I need to go to the office and catch up on some work. How about I take you out for a late dinner?"
"Ya mean a date?"
"Yes, a date." He rolled his eyes. "You do have some decent clothes?"
Jou bit his neck, eliciting a yelp. "I know you ain't that interested in what I'll be wearing."
He smiled. Of course Jou was right, because if he had his way, Jou wouldn't be wearing anything for very long.
"But ya do need ta go. I need ta talk to my old man. Clear tha air about some things."
- 9
- 10
- 11
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How to Raise a Well-Mannered Puppy