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Kaiba's New Assistant	By : AtomBunny Category: Yu-Gi-Oh > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 7443 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh!. That belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. I also do not own Father Ted. That belongs to Hat Trick and Channel 4. This is solely written for fun and not for profit.

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Seto didn't know how long he had been sitting in the waiting room for, when he was brought out of his contemplation by a new presence in the room.

"Kaiba," Yugi said as he walked across to where the CEO was sitting, "I came as soon as I saw the news."

"Hmm..." Was the only response Kaiba could give right then as he did not trust himself to speak. Yugi's presence had forcefully and vividly brought to mind the events of thousands of years ago and he felt a strange sense of symmetry between what had happened today and the events that had taken Jono away from Seth. However, in this lifetime Seto had the means to protect Jonouchi and he would now do whatever it took to keep him safe, whether Jou wanted him to or not.

"Jonouchi called me, you know," Yugi said. When Kaiba still did not reply he sat on the chair next to Kaiba and continued, "He said that he was in trouble and you didn't want to know."

Kaiba sighed before answering, "I... I'm not proud of that," he admitted grudgingly, not looking Yugi in the eyes. "Did he happen to tell you what kind of trouble he was in?"

"No," Yugi said, "but I can guess that it had something to do with those photos that were all over the news."

"You do understand that we were keeping our relationship quiet." That was more of a statement than a question. "I wanted it kept quiet because, as you can see from the pictures, Jou was in charge when it came to... certain aspects of our relationship. I was worried that the people I do business with would take me less seriously and see me as some kind of pushover, not to mention simply making things more complicated all around. And of course there's always the prospect that it could affect the company's bottom line." He sighed, "Jou always said that he had more to lose than I did, but until today I didn't understand exactly what it was that he was telling me."

"That he could lose his life?" Yugi stated, eyes wide.

"Exactly," Kaiba confirmed. "If I'd given the thought a little more consideration I'd probably have seen it, but I was so preoccupied with the material meaning that his true meaning completely passed me by. I wonder why he didn't just tell me..."

There was a silent contemplation for a few moments before Yugi had a question. "So, where did the TV station get the pictures from anyway?

"We are not one hundred percent sure yet," Kaiba said. "The best theory we have without talking to the people involved is that a set of photographs that Jou and Mokuba sent to Shizuka late this afternoon were intercepted somewhere between Mokuba dropping the package off at the couriers and it being delivered to Shizuka. It must have had something to do with Honda because he was the courier."

"Honda?" Yugi's eyebrows almost raised to his hairline. "I can't see Honda doing something like that to Jou. They are friends and they have been for years."

"The photos definitely came from the album that was sent to Shizuka as those four pictures had been cut out of it. Then if you add on the fact that he asked Shizuka to put an earlier time on the receipt because he was later than he should have been..."

"I wonder if he stopped off at Otogi's on the way?" Yugi interrupted. "I know they were going to go out tonight so he'd probably have stopped off to tell him in person that he might be late and you know what Otogi has been like when it comes to Jou working for you. If he knew that the package was from Jou..."

"And if Honda left it unattended for a moment..." Kaiba said, then sighed. "This is all speculation of course, but yes, it is something I could see Otogi doing. He's been trying to get one over on me for quite a while now."

The two boys sat there in the uncomfortable silence that followed, Yugi wondering what this would mean not only for Jonouchi and Kaiba, but for their group as a whole. However, the silence was broken when Seto's phone rang.

"Kaiba," Seto barked as he answered the call.

"Seto," Noa's voice came across. "I've found out who delivered the photos to Channel Seven. I hacked into their CCTV recording system and found footage of Nakamura Keiko delivering a small package within the relevant time frame."

"My old secretary?" Seto asked. "Are you sure that she is the one that delivered them?"

"Yes and I went a step further once I saw her there," Noa explained. "She is currently in the employ of The Black Crown. In fact it appears that she was on the Black Crown's payroll for the entire time she worked at Kaiba Corporation."

"So all the pieces slot together," Seto mused. "But what the hell were Human Resources doing? They are supposed to catch things like this."

"I couldn't say," Noa said carefully, "but I could look into the records of the people that should have been on top of it if you'd like?"

"You do that Noa," Seto instructed. "And thank you," he finished more gently. He hung up and turned back to Yugi. "Well, it would seem that our little theory was correct," he said. "The photos were delivered to that tawdry channel by none other than my old secretary, who was apparently being paid by Otogi the entire time that she was working for me."

"I still wonder why he would do that," Yugi mused. "And you mentioned Noa? Is that the same Noa that..."

"Yes and no," Kaiba forestalled the question. He's apparently a backup from when my adoptive father first put him in the virtual world. I only found out about him today, but apparently Jou had known for a few weeks. It's one of the things that made me... go off at him."

"And Noa's not going to attempt to destroy us all again?" Yugi asked.

"From what I've seen of him so far, no," Kaiba said, "but I plan to keep an eye on him for the foreseeable future."

"That's fair enough I guess," Yugi said. He pulled out his cellphone.

"Who are you calling?" Kaiba asked.

"I'm going to call Otogi and ask him why he did it," Yugi said with a look of determination on his face. Kaiba was about to stop him, but they were both stopped in their tracks as Honda burst through the door, making a bee-line for Kaiba with a look of rage on his face.

"You bastard!" Honda yelled as he stomped over to Kaiba and grabbed him by the collar. "I don't know what you did for Jou to end up here, but..."

"Honda, stop!" Yugi exclaimed as he tried to pull Honda's hands from the oddly quiescent CEO's collar. "Kaiba didn't do this!"

"Butt out, Yugi," Honda snarled. "You are too ready to believe the best of everyone and it has to be Kaiba's fault."

"Really," Kaiba drawled as he finally reached up and effortlessly broke Honda's grip, pushing him back hard, "I suppose it's fitting that you would blame me, especially considering that it would appear to be your fault that Jou is in this situation."

"What do you mean by that?" Honda looked at Kaiba with an outraged expression on his face. "I haven't done anything."

"Except let the photos end up on television?" Kaiba's eyes narrowed. "I'm going to have your job for what you did."

"Hang on," Honda was confused, "What photos?"

Kaiba could only roll his eyes, so Yugi felt compelled to speak. "You don't know about the pictures? So how did you know that Jonouchi was here?"

"I saw Jou being put in an ambulance on a television window display while I was out with Otogi. I saw red and came straight here..." he paused, then asked again, "but what's this about photos?"

"Let's put it this way," Kaiba said with a sneer, "between Mokuba dropping of the package at the couriers and it being delivered to Jou's sister, four photographs showing Jonouchi and myself in a... compromising position... were cut from the album contained in said package and they wound up on channel seven for the whole world to see. As a result, it would appear that Jou's dad and a few... friends... decided to try and kill him."

"But I never opened that parcel," Honda protested.

"Did you leave it unattended at any time?" Yugi asked.

"No, I don't think so," Honda said as he searched his memories. His eyes widened. "Oh, hang on. I probably left my bag while I visited the bathroom before I left The Black Crown..." he tailed off as he realised that this was probably not a good thing to admit, but then he saw Kaiba and Yugi give each other a significant look. "Ryuji wouldn't do that, would he?"

"Considering that the photos were delivered to Channel Seven by someone currently in Otogi's employ, then yes, I very much think that he would," Kaiba snapped.

"No..." Honda went pale and slumped into a chair. "Why would he do that?"

"Your boyfriend has been trying to get one over on me a while now," Kaiba said with a wave of his hand. "I couldn't speculate as to any motive other than that."

"Are you sure that there's no other motivation?" Yugi asked.

"Well, that is quite a big deal," Kaiba explained. "This could cause a lot of trouble with my directors and any fallout could potentially set Kaiba Corporation back quite a bit..."

"Oh, you and your precious company," Honda sneered.

"Imbecile," Kaiba sneered right back. "Even a small setback could mean cut backs and job losses. Thousands of people's livelihoods depend on how Kaiba Corporation performs." Kaiba began to pace. "That he would even go so far as to drag his so-called friends into this... Look at the result! Katsuya could have been killed... I might never have seen him again..." Abruptly, he slumped into a chair and dropped his head into his hands.

"He really means a lot to you, doesn't he?" Honda stated sympathetically. Kaiba didn't answer, not trusting that his voice wouldn't crack and he felt that he'd given enough away for the moment. "Well," Honda continued, "for what it's worth, I'm sorry. I never meant for this to happen." He sighed. "I'll hand in my resignation at the courier's first thing on Monday and I'm going to see what Otogi has to say for himself, although I can't say that I'll be staying with him after the mess he has caused."

"I'm sorry Honda," Yugi said with feeling, knowing how much Otogi meant to his friend even though they hadn't been together for all that long.

"No, it's better to find out sooner rather than later," Honda said sadly as he made to get up and leave.

"Aren't you going to wait and see how Jou is?" Yugi asked with some surprise.

Honda shot a look over at Kaiba. "I don't know," he said.

"You should stay," Kaiba said after a moment. "If only to explain to Jonouchi exactly what your role was in all of this."

"I guess you have a point," Honda said as he sat back down. "I'll stay."

"Honda, what is Otogi doing right now?" Yugi asked, Kaiba sitting back up as he spoke.

"I don't know," Honda admitted. "To start with I was surprised that he didn't follow me, but now I hope he doesn't have the nerve to show up here."

"No kidding," Kaiba agreed. "If he were to show his face here right now, I don't think I'd be able to stop myself..." All three teens started as the door to the waiting room opened, only for them to jump out of their seats as the nurse entered the room.

"You can go through and see Mr. Jonouchi now," she informed them with a smile. "He should also be discharged shortly."

Kaiba turned to Honda and Yugi. "Do you mind if I have a couple of minutes first?" he asked.

"Sure, go ahead Kaiba," Yugi said, sitting back down again. Honda gave him a suspicious look, but then nodded and sat back down. Kaiba left the room, anxious to see Jonouchi and hoping that he could put things right.

---------------------------------------

Jonouchi sighed as the doctor finished setting his arm in plaster and left him to his thoughts. He'd seen the news properly now, not just the few snatched sentences he'd heard before he'd bolted from his apartment and he now understood why Seto was so upset. Finding out about Noa must have been the cherry on the cake and it was no wonder that Seto had cut him off.

He also felt at least somewhat responsible for this mess. It was fairly obvious, given that he'd asked Mokuba to send those pictures to Shizuka, that a leak must have happened somewhere along the line. He should have insisted that his sister waited for a couple more weeks until he'd turned 18, just as Kaiba had suggested when he'd first run the idea past him. If only both he and his sister could have had a little more patience, then this might never have happened.

"Mr. Jonouchi," the nurse said as she entered the room, "It seems that there are some people waiting here to see you. Would you like me to send them in?"

"Sure," Jou said, watching listlessly as the woman left the room. He supposed, assuming that the 'people' weren't social workers, that Yugi would be here, probably Honda too if he'd seen the news. His friends were better than nothing, but who he really wanted to see right now was Seto. He sighed again as he supposed that Seto would be too busy handling the fall out from this mess to come and see him, especially as he was the person that had caused the trouble in the first place. He shook his head and pulled himself back together. It wouldn't do for the others to see how upset he currently was.

He steeled himself for Yugi's reaction as the door began to open. Yugi was well meaning and most of the time he had a level head, but sometimes he could get just a little over-emotional. But then he let out a gasp as someone he wasn't expecting to see entered the room.

"Seto..." he blurted, then he looked down at his chest as Seto closed the door behind him. "I let you down. I'm sorry."

Seto paused as he took in Jou's physical state. He obviously had a broken arm and a black eye along with a few other bumps and scrapes. Not for the first time, Kaiba thanked heavens that the reporter that had been passing by had a level head and a sense of morality. He knew that certain others would have simply filmed everything for the shock value, never caring about the fate of the victim.

Seto couldn't do anything about Jou's physical injuries, but he could try and do something to alleviate his emotional state. "Jou, it's not your fault," he said gently.

"Yes, it is," Jou insisted. "If I hadn't been so impatient and had waited to send the pictures..."

"It's just one of those things," Seto waved it off. "We both know that it would have got out eventually and I'm more concerned over whether you can forgive me for not helping you when you needed it."

"It's OK, Seto, I know you had a lot on your plate," Jou said.

"No, it's not OK," Seto insisted. "I promised that if you needed help then I would be there for you, yet when you needed me I dismissed you without listening." He stepped over towards Jou with an uncharacteristically distraught expression on his face. "I... I could have lost you, Katsuya. I'm so sorry."

Jou looked up in surprise, then opened his arms, realising that Seto needed comfort just as much as he did, but Seto stopped short of hugging Jou as he gave a pained wince.

"What is it? Seto asked.

"I... have a few bruised ribs, that's all," Jou replied evasively. Seto frowned at this, intending to demand that Jonouchi tell him the full extent of his injuries, but he didn't have time to ask as as there was a knock on the door and he found himself moving to one side as Yugi and Honda came in, obviously having been too impatient to wait any longer.

"Hey guys," Jou said with false cheer as they came in. "What's up?"

Yugi launched himself across the room, hugging Jou around the waist, pulling away as he felt Jou wince slightly. "Are you alright?" He asked, tears standing at the corners of his eyes.

"I'm OK," Jou reassured his friend. "I just got a broken arm and a few scrapes and bruises." He brandished his cast to demonstrate. "Really, it could have been a whole lot worse."

"Jou," Honda spoke up hesitantly.

"What is it, Hon'?" Jou replied with more levity than he was feeling. "And why the long face, bud?"

"I'm sorry."

"What for?" Jou asked with some confusion.

"It's partially my fault that you're here," Honda said, glancing at Kaiba before continuing quickly. "I was the courier that took the pictures to Shizuka, but I stopped off on the way to explain to Otogi that I was going to be a bit late for our evening out. He must have opened the package and cut the pictures out of the album while I was in the bathroom." He looked Jou I the eyes. "I trusted him, Jou. I feel so stupid."

"Hon', buddy, don't beat yourself up over it too much," Jou said. "You didn't have any reason not to trust him and you didn't have any idea that he was going to do something like this."

"I shouldn't have left the package though," Honda insisted.

"Maybe not," Jou agreed, "but everyone makes mistakes. No, I lay the blame for this squarely at Otogi's feet. After all, he didn't have to go this far."

"You are being very forgiving," Seto spoke up, bringing Jou's attention back to him. "Do you think you could extend a little of that forgiveness to me?"

"Seto," Jou smiled up at the taller boy, realising that he hadn't had chance to say the words yet, "I understand that you had a lot on your plate all of a sudden. I'll forgive you for that, but just tell me one thing."

"What is it that you need to know?"

"Just tell me that you didn't delete Noa, please?"

"No, I didn't" Seto confirmed. "He's actually been a big help during all of this."

"Oh, thank goodness." Jou sagged with relief and Seto once again wondered at Jou's capacity for putting other people before himself. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you straight away, but..."

Seto put a finger to Jou's lips, effectively silencing him. "I understand, Jou, I really do." He carefully pulled the smaller teen towards him and enveloped him into a gentle hug.

The click of a shutter brought them back to themselves. Seto looked up just in time to get a flash in the eyes, then the paparazzi who had sneaked in to capture the moment ran as he tried to make good his escape.

"God damn it!" Seto exclaimed as he blinked harshly. "The security in this place is fucking laughable." He pulled out his cell phone and started barking instructions to his own security staff, who were always somewhere close by, to apprehend the papparazi and delete the photographs before they could be published. There had been enough exposure of their relationship for one day and he had no doubts at all that his wishes would be carried out.

While Seto was occupied, this gave Honda and Yugi chance to get to Jou. "Are you two going to be alright?" Yugi asked with some worry.

"Yeah, I think we will," Jou said. "We still need to have a good long talk though."

"So... you and him..." Honda couldn't finish that sentence.

"Yeah, Hon'. Sorry that I didn't tell you," Jou said apologetically.

"Nah, that's fine. But... how long has this been going on for?" Honda wondered.

"Well, we first admitted that we liked each other when the principal sent us out to spend the day together," Jou explained, "but we didn't do anything about it for several weeks. We actually decided to give it a go just before the last time we spent the day at Kaiba Land." The other two were silent as they thought about just how long Jou had kept this a secret. "So," Jou continued, "what are you going to do about Otogi, Hon'?"

Honda was momentarily taken aback by the question. "I don't know really," he said with an air of defeat, "but I don't think I can be with him after this." He looked at Jou. "But really I should be asking you that question."

"I haven't had time to think about it," Jou mused. "I'll have to talk to Seto about it later, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's already got something in mind."

"Well, I'd better get going," Honda said. "I'm going to have to find a new job so I'd better go and start looking."

"What do you need to find a new job for?" Jou asked.

"Hello?" Honda said incredulously, "I fucked up. It's at least partially my fault that you're in this state no matter how you dress it up. I already told Kaiba that I'd hand in my resignation and I'm sure that they'd sack me anyway once they figured out my role in all this mess." He shook his head, "No, I have to take responsibility." He looked at Jou who was watching him with an unreadable expression on his face. "I'll see you later, bud. You too Yugi. Give my regards to Kaiba when he gets off the phone." With that, Honda took his leave.

"Wow, Otogi really has managed to mess things up for everyone, including himself," Yugi said. "From what I could tell, he really did think a lot of Honda."

"Good," Seto said, coming back after finishing his phone call. "The imbecile should have thought his actions through before doing something like this. It's only fitting that it should come back to bite him in the ass."

"I'd like to be a fly on the wall when they have that conversation," Jou said with a small grin, then he frowned. "The bastard has really fucked things up for me though."

"What do you mean, Jou?" Yugi asked with a concerned look on his face.

"Well, now that my dad is out of the picture, Social Services will be coming in to ship me out of here."

"What? Why would they do that?" Yugi asked in syrprise.

"It's partially because I used to be in a gang," Jou explained. "I saw it happen to a couple of other gang members, although they were a little younger than I am now. It might not have been an issue, but there were a couple of people in the department that made no secret of the fact that they utterly hated my guts and they made it pretty clear that it was either stay with my dad or get sent away." He let out a sigh, "Even though it's only a couple of weeks until I turn 18, I know they'll take the opportunity to try and ship me out. They're just spiteful like that."

"Why didn't you ask someone for help?" Yugi asked.

"Who could I ask?" Jou shrugged. "These were the people who were supposed to be helping me, but they were doing anything but and it wasn't something I could involve anyone else in. There were a couple of police officers that started to look out for me when I got out of the gang, but even they have to pretty much do as they're told."

"Kaiba, is there anything you can do?" Yugi wanted to know.

"I do have something in mind," Kaiba replied. Ever since Jou had told him about the policy of shipping 'troublemakers' out, something hadn't sat right and it was fairly obvious that this was nowhere near normal procedure. However, he didn't want to say anything right now in case someone was listening in and he tipped his hand. "Rest assured that I shall do my best to keep Jonouchi in Domino." He would make sure of it and in the unlikely event that they did manage to send Jou away, he'd make sure that they would regret it.

"Oh good," Yugi said. "If it's you saying it, I know you will."

"So..." Jou broke into the exchange, "is everything sorted out now? I'd really like to get out of here." He didn't add that he wanted to be gone and safely back at the Kaiba mansion before any Social Workers could show up. Indeed, he was surprised that they weren't already here, but then he supposed that even in a corrupt organisation, assembling the paperwork would take time. The fact that it was a Saturday night was only likely to extend the time that such things took.

"Yes, we can go now," Kaiba replied. "Do you need a lift, Yugi?" he offered.

"Yes please," Yugi accepted the offer gratefully and the three of them made their way to the limo which, this time, was parked at the rear entrance, thus avoiding the media spotlight, something that was quite important if things were to work in their favour.

Still, the first step of keeping Jonouchi safe had been achieved by getting him out of the hospital, but Seto wouldn't rest easy until he had put his plan in motion and sorted the problem out once and for all.
----------------------------------------------------

A/N - I've looked over this chapter a lot as it needed a fair bit of work (just as the remaining ones do) and I think I've managed to make it work. (If anyone thinks it's bad now, you should have seen it before I started fixing it up!)
Thank you for reading. ^_^
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Kaiba's New Assistant