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I Know You're Out There Somewhere	By : Firewing Category: Yu-Gi-Oh > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 3536 -:- 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
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- 3
- 4
Chapter 3 The White Tiger

A/N: I�m attempting to poke a little harmless fun with the name of Jou�s apartment building. If you don�t get it, review and tell me. I�ll be happy to explain in my next update. Also if you plan to continue reading my little story (hmmm�my rough draft is over 40 chapters long and it still isn�t finished! Maybe I should have called this �I Know the End is Out There Somewhere�?) Anyhow, you might want to note how the apartment building is set up-it�s important about 3 or 4 chapters down the road.
Disclaimer: I still don�t own any licensed rights to Yugioh or anything else. However, I could get a golden retriever puppy and name him Jounouchi. Would that count? Woof!

��.

Joey gave himself a once over in the restaurant's bathroom mirror immediately after changing into his uniform, finger-combing his hair absently. At seventeen, he was the youngest valet there; originally, Joey had applied for a busboy position, but one look at his emerald-green Harley-Davidson had prompted the manager to request he take a driving test instead. "Valets get better tips, anyway," the elder man had explained.
Jou saw envy in his manager�s eyes every time they talked about the bike, which had been a birthday gift from his father. He also noticed the way those same eyes, as green as Jou�s motorcycle, roamed over his body, but Jou never let it bother him. The way he saw it, he had beauty, not brains, and if his looks could get him a few perks, it was all good.
The White Tiger was a beautiful restaurant, and this coupled with its astronomical prices made it quite exclusive. The carpets were a deep, rich blue, and a marble fountain in the shape of three roaring white tigers graced the center of the lobby. The dining room was divided into floor and balcony sections, the latter accessible by means of a staircase on either side of the center floor. Each table on the balcony was isolated from the others by privacy screens fashioned from blue silk, and along the walls of the lower level, vines and exotic flowers surrounded pools inhabited by koi, goldfish, and floating flowers.
Joey flashed his typical, friendly grin as he joined his coworkers at the valet station, already desensitized to his opulent surroundings. �Hey, guys! How�s it going?�
One of the valets merely gulped in reply, and another just shook his head as the evening supervisor sighed in exasperation.
�Hello, Joey. Don�t mind them; they�re just a little nervous,� Edmund, the supervisor, said in his subordinates' defence.
�Why? What's up?� Joey had never known his co-workers to be anything but cheerful and slightly over-confident.
�We just heard that the new owner made reservations for tonight, so everything needs to be perfect. The man has a reputation of being very..." Edmund paused, searching for a non-derogatory comment, "...intolerant, shall we say?�
Joey smirked at his fellow valets. �So, you guys are scared of the new boss, eh?"
"If you had any brains, Wheeler, you would be too," shot back one of them, but the quiver in his voice stole the derision from his words.
"Hey, nobody�s that scary.� Even as the words left Jou's mouth, a familiar blood red Mercedes Benz convertible turned into the restaurant drive, and from the way everyone else in the valet booth had just tensed up, it obviously belonged to the new owner. Oh, this is gonna be fun.
"This one's mine!" he said, ignoring the pallid masks that seemed to have replaced the faces of everyone else in the valet booth.
Jou couldn�t resist bounding out of the restaurant like a hyper puppy welcoming his master home. He could only imagine the look on Seto Kaiba�s face when he turned over his precious Mercedes to the mutt; it would be priceless, and Jou's only regret was that he didn't have a camera to capture the moment forever.
He had nearly cleared the steps before he decided that dashing up to Kaiba's car with his jacket flapping in the wind and his hair a complete mess might not convey the most professional impression. Ducking behind a polished tiger statue, he used the fun house-like reflection that he cast in the tiger's marble head to fix his attire as best he could without any grooming tools save his trusty comb.
Meanwhile, Kaiba was sitting in his car, impatiently drumming his fingers against the steering wheel. "If this is indicative of the service at large, I'll shut this place down before dessert."
Mokuba sat in the passenger seat, happily playing with the stereo system. "We've barely been here two minutes, big brother. Besides, you should be happy to have some non-constructive downtime."
"Perhaps I would be happy if you shut off that infernal, tinny noise you call music." A gentle tap on the window jarred Kaiba out of his conversation, and he jumped in surprise, banging his head on the roof of the car in the process. Understandably, this did little to improve his surly mood.
�May I park your vehicle, Sir?� Jou asked courteously, the broad smirk plastered across his face doing little to convey the impression of humble restaurant employee.
Mokuba stared in open-mouthed shock as he flicked off the radio absently. �Joey!� he cried, bouncing excitedly in his seat. Fortunately for him, his height (or lack thereof) saved him from a fate similar to his brother's.
Jou bowed deeply, still grinning widely. "At your service, young Mr. Kaiba.�
Kaiba�s general surly mood became focused rage in exactly 1.2 seconds. Damn the cocky blond for sneaking up on me like this! His day had consisted of dealing with know-it-all board members who, in reality, knew nothing, which had given him a splitting headache. He had been looking forward to drugging himself with Advil and falling asleep as soon as he arrived home, only to find Mokuba all ready to collect on Seto's promise to take him to the White Tiger. Now, on top of everything, he was going to have to turn his Mercedes over to Joey Wheeler? No. Fucking. Way.

�I don�t allow mutts in my car!� he snapped, a death glare blazing in his eyes. Apparently, his problems with the mutt had not ended with his dropping out from high school. �What are you doing here, anyway?"
Mokuba flinched at his brother's tone, but Joey didn�t back down. He had gotten used to Kaiba's harsh treatment long ago, and this was barely even a hissy fit compared to some of their battles.
�I�ll be your valet this evening, Mr. Kaiba.� he said pleasantly as the young CEO got out of his car, trench coat flaring in the evening breeze
�There is absolutely no way you are touching my car, Wheeler!�
�Come on, Seto," Mokuba pleaded. "We�re here to check the place out and have a good time, remember?� He sniffled plaintively. "Every time I try to do something nice with you, it gets ruined..."
Kaiba glanced at his brother, feeling his anger abate temporarily at the sight of the boy's tearing eyes. �All right,� he said grudgingly, slapping the keys into Joey's outstretched hand.
Jou smiled. "I'll take good care of it, Kaiba," he said in a smug, triumphant tone.
"Hmph." Mokuba was halfway up the steps when Seto turned back to Jou. �Do you like working here, Wheeler?�
�Yeah, it�s great," Joey replied, sliding into the car.
�Good. Enjoy your last night here.� Storm clouds gathered in Seto's midnight eyes, darker than the sky above him, as he leaned through the open window of his car. �If there is any damage to this vehicle, I will personally take it out of your hide!�
His piece said, Kaiba stalked off, taking his own personal thunderheads with him. In his heart, he knew that firing Jou was just an excuse to get a distraction out of the way. He simply could not be running into to the blond every time he came to inspect the restaurant.
Once Kaiba was safely out of sight, Jou let his head rest against the steering wheel of the Mercedes, groaning softly. He had only taken this job in the first place so that he would have airfare to fly Serenity to Domino and money to rent a beach cabin so that he could fulfill his childhood promise to her. Now, because of that bastard Kaiba, all his dreams were going down the drain. That stupid jerk... he really has a way with ruining my life.

He parked the car carefully before returning to the valet�s station. Edmund, who had begun listening in on the conversation when he had realized that the precarious situation might require several diplomats before it was defused, put a consoling hand on Jou�s shoulder. �I tried to warn you, but you left so quickly��
�What were you going to say? That Kaiba�s a jerk? It�s a well-known fact. I did have the displeasure of going to school with him.� Jou was far too bitter for any kind of pacifying influence to have any effect on him.
�Kaiba Corp owns the White Tiger,� Edmund explained softly, far too late for Jou's sake.
�Great. Just great,� Jou grumbled. In one day, he had failed a history test, told his sister good-bye, and gotten fired because he couldn't let someone else deal with Kaiba! Either whatever's up there really has it in for me, or I'm the biggest idiot alive.

Then again, perhaps both ideas were correct.
��.
A few hours later, Joey brought the Mercedes up to the entrance of the White Tiger and watched as the Kaiba brothers descended the stairs, his amber eyes smouldering furiously.
�Everybody practically fell over each other to serve us, big brother!� Mokuba giggled as Joey climbed out of the car, patting the rear-view mirror as he held the driver's side door open. It's such a beautiful car... and I bet that rich bastard doesn't even appreciate it. What a sin.

�What do you mean, practically? That little blond waitress ended up in your lap when the violinist knocked her over, remember?� Seto reminded his brother, arching one eyebrow. "Honestly, that kind of display makes me wonder how viable a business option this place really is."
�You won't close it down, will you?� Mokuba asked worriedly, speaking more to avoid meeting Joey's hurt gaze. Though he had been powerless to stop Seto, his brother's conduct still shamed him; Jou had definitely done nothing worth being fired over. "I like it here."
Seto appeared to think it over, although Mokuba knew that he had made his decision the moment he had entered the restaurant. �No, Mokuba. We'll give the place a chance, I suppose."
"What about Joey?" the raven-haired boy asked, aware that the soon-to-be-ex-valet was well within earshot. To his credit, Jou had enough presence of mind to pretend not to hear. "Are you still going to fire him?"
Seto turned to face the blond, surprised when he met his most piercing stare head-on. "He seems to be able to handle his job decently," the billionaire admitted grudgingly, running his hand over the car door as he circled Jou. "Perhaps I will keep the puppy on his leash for a while." Smoothly, he slipped a bill into the pocket of Joey's jacket and slid into the driver's seat.
Jou, for his part, was completely dumbstruck. The tip was surprising enough, but to be offered his job back? The cooks must have slipped something into his food. "Um... thank you, Kaiba," he said, the words feeling strange on his tongue.
�One mistake, mutt, and you're going back to the dog pound," Kaiba spat out the open window as he slammed the door shut and began to back out of the driveway.
His courage restored, Joey yelled after him, �Hey, what�s with the dog insults?�
No reply was offered; even if Kaiba had heard him, Jou later realized, he would never have done something so undignified as yelling out his car window.
��.
As Joey changed back into his street clothes, relief suffused his entire being. Perhaps his day hadn't been a total washout. Before folding his uniform jacket and replacing it back into its bag, he pulled out his tips and leaned against the bathroom sink to count them, as he always did.
His surprise nearly overwhelmed his relief when he noticed a hundred dollar bill at the bottom of the pile, and he immediately knew without a doubt that it was from Kaiba. Who else, after all, would flaunt his money like that?
Pulling on his leather biker jacket, he left through the employees' entrance, tucking the wad of bills safely into the pocket of his jeans.
He was so lost in thought as he walked toward his bike, he didn't even realize that he was being followed until a hand fell on his shoulder. Jou yelped and turned defensively, intending to knock the offending hand away and pummel whoever happened to be attached to it for scaring him.
�Oh man, Tristan! I could�ve flattened you!� he shouted once he recognized his best friend.
�As if!� Tristan snickered, gesturing to his own bike, parked in the shadows near Jou's. �You feel like a ride?�
�Always!" Joey grinned, throwing an arm around Tristan's shoulders as they walked over to their motorcycles. He knew that his friend missed Serenity just as much as Jou himself did, and felt a pang of guilt for keeping them apart as long as he had. At least when she was with Tristan in Domino, Jou could keep an eye on them; he could not say the same when it came to the boys she had no doubt met on the other side of the Pacific.
They rode aimlessly for a while before finding themselves at Joey�s place, located in an older three story building in a pleasant, but not ritzy, part of Domino. The wooden siding was painted white, and black shutters framed the windows. The parking lot was conveniently located in front of the structure, and the walk led up to two mischievous-looking, gold-painted cement elephants guarding the front entrance. Above the entrance was a sign proclaiming the street number of the building and its rather fantastical name-the Sennen Elephant Apartments. Each of the 12 units was comfortably spacious.
After his parents� divorce, Joey and his dad moved from their small house into these apartments. Happy here and content within the mini-community, they saw no point in moving again. For seven years, Jou had called it home, and he hoped that he would do so for some time to come.
�Hey, Tris, why don�t you come in for awhile? I got a couple new games I�d like to show you.�
Tristan sighed and shrugged. �Sure. It�s not like I have anything better to do.�
Jou smiled sympathetically. �I miss her, too.�
��
Jou flipped the bedroom lights on as he and Tristan walked in, tossing their helmets and jackets on the unmade bed. The room told an intimate story about the boy who occupied it; haphazardly organized in many ways, it was the room of a typical middle-class teenager who also happened to be caring, happy, and possessed of more depth than many would give him credit for.
The handmade loft bed had been Joey�s finals project for his woodworking class a year before. Underneath the bed was a dresser with clothes hanging out of every drawer; beside that, a clothes hamper overflowed with laundry. The closet door was jammed half open, revealing a jumbled mess of empty hangers and fallen garments.
In one corner sat a small computer desk made of black metal. The computer itself was a few years old; Joey and his dad built it, component by component, and it worked great. Above the desk hung an incredibly detailed painting of a Red Eyes Black Dragon lunging in attack. The painting had gotten second place at Domino High�s art fair, and the artist was none other than Jou himself. A few framed pictures graced the top shelf; a recent one of Serenity, after her eye surgery; one of Serenity and Joey when they were little kids; one of Tristan and Jou with their bikes on Jou�s birthday in January, and one of the �gang�-Yugi, Tristan, Tea, and Jou.
On the other side of the room was Joey�s entertainment center, which was valiantly attempting to contain a variety of components the technology industry sought to bedevil young minds with. At the very center of the room was a free-standing punching bag with a picture of Seto Kaiba�s face taped to it.
�So, Jou, you think you�ll ever beat him in real life?� Tristan asked, cocking a thumb at the latter item.
Jou held up the $100 bill in reply. �You�ll never guess who gave me this,� he snickered before telling his friend about his night at work.
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I Know You're Out There Somewhere