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In The Name Of Love	By : Rroselavy Category: Yu-Gi-Oh > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 15410 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- 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
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Title: In The Name Of Love (23/25)
Author: Rroselavy
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Jou/Ryou (briefly), Malik/Ryou, Kaiba/Jou, Mokuba/Shizuka, Yami/Yugi, Honda/Otogi
Beta: Akuchan
Spoilers: None, AU
Disclaimer: I do not own or profit in any way from Yu-gi-oh!
Summary: For eight years he has scrupulously avoided the brunet, but now with the impending marriage of their siblings, Jounouchi Katsuya and Kaiba Seto are forced to come to terms with the feelings they've secreted away since adolescence.
A/N: Thank you all my lovely reviewers ... catti-dono, Sammei (Ryou is a doctor, Shizuka a nurse), ChibiRinni, LilyChan, Anon, Ayeshagirl (smex TK), Wicabeth, Luca (you know you love the torment ~_^), unknown, kitkattcassy, Kiawna, Legendary Dream Girl, and Olivia ... I appreciate all your feedback! We're in the homestretch now, I hope you continue to enjoy!
CHAPTER 23
Kaiba woke up slightly disoriented. Glancing around the bedroom, he realized he'd fallen asleep in Aiko's narrow bed. Sunlight streamed in through gauzy curtains, warming the soft pink and lavender pastels that dominated the room. He didn't remember falling asleep, certainly hadn't expected to be able to last night. He stretched slightly, and felt Aiko's small body curled against his side. He gazed down at her jet-black hair in wonderment, unable to fathom her reaction to Jounouchi's predicament. Perhaps, he thought, she didn't fully grasp its gravity.
When he'd collected her from the orphanage, he'd explained to her in simple terms that Jounouchi had been in an accident and was in the hospital. He explained that Jou was asleep at the moment and would be for a while, but when he woke up they would go and visit him. He could tell from her downcast eyes that the news bothered her, but she'd been remarkably stoic in her acceptance of the situation. She seemed unperturbed that Jounouchi had not been able to meet her as he'd promised.
They'd traveled home in silence and had eaten a simple dinner. Later Kaiba had drawn a bath for her and watched her play in the enormous tub, her squeals and giggles serving as a balm for his aching heart. Afterwards, he'd lain next to her in her bed and read her several stories, watching her eyelids droop further and further. As he'd gotten up to leave, she'd called out to him.
"Daddy Set, please don't leave me alone. I'm scared." She'd cried plaintively.
"I'll stay until you fall asleep." He assured her. "There's nothing to be frightened of here though. You're perfectly safe." He climbed into the bed next to her and hugged her. "Tell me, what are you afraid of?"
"I'm afraid that my old daddy is going to find me and hurt me." He hugged her tightly.
"That's not going to happen, ever. He's in prison, somewhere that he will never be able to hurt you."
"What if he gets away?"
"I would protect you, Daddy Jou would protect you. No one is ever going to hurt you." His words had seemed to calm her down and he'd watched her drift off to sleep.
She stirred in her sleep, clutching her stuffed cat tighter to her body and further burrowing against him. He caressed her silky hair, thinking absently that he should go turn on the TV and catch up on the business news, but at the same time dreading it, knowing that Jounouchi's heroics would be all over the news by now.
He'd managed to cocoon himself against the onslaught of the media and nosy business acquaintances; he'd had all his calls forwarded to an answering service, the only ones that were to be put through were any from Mokuba or Shizuka. But he knew that it was only temporary. He needed to pull himself together to face the media for his own good, and for the Kaiba Corp. bottom line. He'd been CEO long enough to know how skittish shareholders could be if they sensed there was a weakening in the company, and the price of shares would drop like a stone if it was suspected that he had been in any way incapacitated. But the last thing he wanted to do was go into the office.
"Daddy?" Aiko's soft voice cut through his musings.
"Good morning."
"I want to see Daddy Jou."
"I told you ... sweetie, we can see Daddy Jou after he wakes up." Suddenly Aiko burst out in tears.
"I wanna see DADDY NOW!" She threw a tantrum on the bed, and finally burying her head in her arms, between great heaving sobs, she repeated the sentence over and over. Kaiba rubbed her back soothingly. Inside, he felt the same way-he wanted to see Katsuya too.
After her sobbing had subsided into dry heaves, she said in a very small voice, "They took Mommy to the hospital an' she never came home. Th'policeman said I could see her when she woke up." Tearfully, Kaiba gathered her into his arms and rocked her slowly the way he used to rock Mokuba when he'd been upset. Her words took him back to the pain of his own childhood when he had been orphaned. His father went to work one day, never to come home. He didn't have a chance to say goodbye because his relatives had thought he was too young to understand. He remembered dimly how they'd tsked when his father had taken him to see his mother before she passed away. Now years later, he was profoundly grateful that his father had allowed him that moment, and bitterly angry that he'd not been allowed to see his father. He knew he had to take her to see Jounouchi, to prove to her that Jou was still alive, and let her see him-he inhaled sharply-let her see him in case he didn't survive.
"Okay, I'll tell you what." He said finally. "Let's get you dressed and then have some breakfast. I'll call Aunt Shizuka and find out when we can see Daddy. She stayed with him last night and promised to call me when he woke up. I'm sure she won't mind if we call her." Suddenly he was relieved, realizing that since he hadn't heard from his future sister-in-law, it meant that Jou had made it through the night. It was a small victory but a victory nonetheless. "Does that sound good to you?"
In reply, Aiko simply nodded her head and threw her arms around his neck.
* * *
At first Shizuka had been adamant about not allowing Aiko in. Hospital policy permitted no visitors under 8, and Jounouchi was not out of the woods yet. But after Kaiba had related Aiko's story to her, she'd agreed that it would probably be best to let the little girl see him. She left it up to Kaiba to convince the administrators to bend the rules. That had been easy enough for the brunet to do. Money didn't solve everything, but it certainly greased the wheels of progress.
They met Shizuka and Mokuba in a family area outside the ICU. She was pale and drawn, and Kaiba noted that his brother didn't look well rested either. Aiko remained plastered to his side, one hand firmly inserted in his, fingers gripping tightly to his hand, the other clutching her ever-present cat.
"How is he?" Kaiba asked, after they'd hugged each other.
"He's stable. His vitals are looking slightly better. The chief of trauma was in to visit him on rounds a few minutes ago; they've given him some meds to induce a deep coma. He thinks it will be better to let Jou's body heal itself for a couple more days."
"So, he thinks he'll be okay?" Kaiba asked hopefully.
"He thinks he's going to recover," Shizuka said measuredly, "But we won't know how full the recovery might be until he wakes up."
"But the bullets didn't hit any major organs ..."
"That's true, Kaiba-kun, but he lost a lot of blood."
"And?" He knew what she was getting at before the words spilled out.
"And ... his brain may have been deprived of oxygen. We need to assess his brain functioning when he comes out of the coma." His chest felt heavy as he imagined what it would be like if Jounouchi woke up and was ... different. An immense sadness filled him as he realized that all their hopes and dreams might have been dashed in the flash of the muzzle of a gun. He thought about the triggerman sitting in prison, his accomplice barely hanging on to life by a thread, and his own lover, who might awaken a different person altogether. He couldn't believe the utter senselessness of it all. Shizuka saw the distant look in his eyes. "Seto, it's only a possibility ... we have to believe that when he wakes up he will be fine." She smiled then, but her eyes were filled with tears.
"Can we see him?" He asked hoarsely, his mouth suddenly dry. Shizuka nodded and she led Kaiba and Aiko into the ICU ward. Kaiba picked the little girl up in his arms.
Jounouchi was in the bed facing the nursing station, which Kaiba knew to be the bed reserved for the most gravely ill. He looked terribly pale under the oxygen mask, but Kaiba could see an angry bruise spread across one of his cheeks. Wires and tubes snaked from his body to various machines that beeped at irregular intervals. Aiko wrapped her arms around Kaiba's neck and buried her head against it.
"It's okay honey," Kaiba whispered to her. "All those tubes and wires are helping the nurses make sure that Daddy is okay." He brought her to the heart monitor screen. "You see, that bumpy line is his heartbeat. It's beating strong ... it's a good sign. Then he showed her the IV. "And here Daddy's getting food so he won't be hungry, and medicine to take the hurt away. You see, there's nothing to be afraid of. Daddy's going to be all right." As he said the words to Aiko, ~his~ daughter, he tried to believe them himself.
"Can I kiss him?" She asked.
Kaiba smiled at her, "Of course you can." He set her down and then boosted her up on the metal rail of the bed. She leaned over and planted a kiss on Jounouchi's forehead.
"Daddy, I want Rini to stay with you until you wake up." She said, leaving the cat by Jounouchi's shoulder.
Kaiba felt tears well in his eyes. She was such a remarkable child to be so composed through all this. "I think Daddy will be happy when he wakes up, Aiko. He'll know you came to visit him when he was asleep." He helped her down from the bed and she moved to stand by Shizuka.
He grasped Jounouchi's limp hand and squeezed it gently before leaning over and kissing him on the forehead. "I'm sorry too," he whispered to his unconscious lover.
Shizuka put her hand on his back. "Mokuba told me about the fight, Seto. I know my brother, and I'm sure he knew you were only trying to help."
"Yeah, and look what good it did." He said harshly.
"Don't be so hard on yourself. You can't predict the future, and you couldn't know this would happen. I know somewhere in the city there are a few families grateful that my brother was there. He saved a lot of lives."
Kaiba nodded. "But at what cost, Shizuka?"
"The price he was willing to pay. Do you think he would have had it any other way? Do you think he would have been able to live with himself if he'd done nothing and watched that little boy die?"
He'd had no choice at that point, Kaiba thought, because they wouldn't have stopped there. The thieves would have left no witnesses.
Aiko placed her hand in his and looked up at him. "It's okay Daddy Set, Daddy Jou is going to be okay."
"That's what we have to believe. But we should let Daddy rest now." He looked down into her wide jet eyes and smiled weakly. He glanced back at Jounouchi lying motionless in the bed, the only indication he was alive were the machines that beeped and hummed around him.
"I'm going to shower and then get to work," Mokuba said when they arrived back at the waiting area.
"I'll be in later." Kaiba replied dully.
"No, you should stay with Aiko." Mokuba smiled at the little girl and tousled her hair. "You look beautiful, sweetie." She stepped behind Kaiba's leg, allowing him to shield her. "Yugi and I can handle things for a couple of days. You will need to make a statement, though."
Kaiba nodded. Besides the TV media, he'd seen that Jounouchi's feat had made the front page of the Domino Times. He knew that eventually he would need to speak publicly about Jounouchi's condition. In the meantime, they would circle the wagons to protect his and Aiko's privacy, but Kaiba knew that meant bringing Jou's parents on board. He hated that thought. He neither trusted nor respected either one.
"Have you talked to Shizuka's parents?"
Mokuba looked away. "Yes, they should be here already. They've agreed not to talk to the media, but you know all bets are off if Jou's father starts drinking."
Kaiba sighed. That kind of spectacle would not be good. "We need to figure out how to keep him in line." He muttered.
"Tell me about it. Shizuka says he's kind of been scared straight. She says she's never seen her parents talking like this."
Kaiba rolled his eyes. "We'll see how long ~that~ lasts."
"You must be Aiko!" Jounouchi's mother's saccharin voice rang out. Kaiba bristled as Aiko practically clawed up his leg. Fortunately, the woman backed off. "She's a shy one, isn't she though" she remarked, addressing Kaiba.
Kaiba took Aiko in his arms and instinctively she wrapped herself around him. "She's been through a lot," he grit out. He was loath to let the older woman talk to Aiko, let alone put her hands on the girl.
"How is Jou doing?" His father asked. Kaiba appraised him, and could see that he was sober, but the deep purple rings around his eyes belied that he was tired and worried.
"He's improved." Shizuka said hurriedly. "Do you want to visit for a while?" Kaiba became incensed that she would let them in to see Jounouchi.
"Before you go in," Mokuba interrupted, "We need to speak for a couple of minutes ... about the media attention this is getting. Seto and I think it's best if he makes a statement to the media."
"You do." Mrs. Kawaii said slowly.
"Yes," Kaiba interjected levelly, despite the pure hatred he felt. "Do you have a problem with that?" He wished she did. He wished she would say something, anything to justify the torrent of insults he wanted to hurl at her.
She must have sensed she was on thin ice. "No, I think that would be best. Is there anything we should say if asked?"
"You should refer them to Kimura Midori at Kaiba Corp. " Mokuba added quickly. "She's handling everything until Seto is ready to make a statement." He glanced at Kaiba, and the brunet knew his brother could tell he was spoiling for a fight. It would feel so good to focus all of his rage and impotence at the easy targets Jounouchi's parents made. But he knew that Katsuya wouldn't want that. Despite his estrangement from his parents, the blond maintained that he still loved them. And because of that, Kaiba swallowed the bitter bile that threatened to erupt from his mouth.
He turned to Jounouchi's father. "It would be helpful if you didn't get drunk and make a spectacle of yourself." He said icily. He didn't care if the older man was angered by his frankness. Where Jounouchi's mother was able to function normally to some extent, Kaiba knew his father was a train wreck, and he didn't have the energy or inclination to gloss over his alcoholism.
The older man hung his head and mumbled, "I know. I haven't had a drink in three weeks. I'm tryin' ta quit. I went to a meeting last night and again this morning instead of taking a drink." He looked up at Kaiba and the brunet was taken aback, surprised at how much his eyes looked like his son's.
Kaiba nodded smugly. "Good. If you want to be admitted into a facility, it can be arranged. I can't stress how important it is for you to stay sober right now."
"You think I don't know that? Look, I know I ain't been the best father. An' when I found out Katsuya was gay ... I didn't handle that well at all. But I love my son ..." His eyes locked with Kaiba's. "I know it sounds like a pile of horseshit to you. But I love him and I want ta be part of his life. He's made it more than clear that the only way that's gonna happen is if I clean up. This time I'm gonna do it. I'm not going to fail."
Kaiba pursed his lips. He'd heard promises like this before, and knew how susceptible they were to even the minutest pressures. "Well, fortunately for you, you may have a chance at redemption, but if you screw it up, I won't let you walk away this time. I won't stand by and watch you hurt him again." He warned, referring to the older man's behavior at Shizuka and Mokuba's official engagement party.
"Maybe it would be better to talk about this some other time," Shizuka interrupted, trying to cut through some of the tension. "I'm sure my parents would like a moment with their son." She hurriedly guided them toward the ICU. Kaiba bit back a stinging reply and watched them disappear through the unit's doors.
"Thank you." Mokuba said.
"For what?" Kaiba turned to his brother.
"For being civil. They really are trying to-"
"Mokuba, spare me. They will never be able to make it up to him for his childhood. And if ~she~ thinks she's going to worm her way into Aiko's life," he added vehemently. "She's got another thing coming."
Mokuba, knowing from experience it was impossible to reason with Seto when he was in his guardian mode, looked at his watch. "It's late, I really should be getting in to the office. Are you going to stay here?"
"No, there isn't any reason to. I'll take Aiko home and get her settled. Then I can do some work from there." Before his brother could admonish him, he added, "Mokuba, I need to keep busy until he wakes up."
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In The Name Of Love