The dog, that was a tiger

I will be
rather busy the coming week, so I decided, to continue this story as far as
possible. Enjoy, and remember to review!^^

P.S: this
chapter is going to be a flashback-in-flashback, ~italics stand for
things waay back when, while ~*indicates the recent history. And now, let’s
see what happened…

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4.
Denial

~*They
stepped out of the mall and were welcomed by the setting sun, casting a path
of liquid gold over the sea. Standing in silence, they enjoyed the beautiful
view, until Shizuka started shivering in the cool evening breeze. Jou and his
mother immediately noticed, and the blond teen smiled.

“Guess
it’s time to bring you folks home. It’s starting to get chilly, and I don’t
want you to catch a cold.” He turned around, and walked a few steps, until he
realized the other’s weren’t following him.

“What’s
wrong? I thought, we were heading back!” he called out. Shizuka nodded,
hesitantly, and mumbled:

“Yes but-“

“Your-our..house
is in the other direction. I thought we were going to see your father?”
finished his mom. Katsuya froze, paled, and lowered his head. His mother
understood immediately.

“He sold
it, didn’t he?” It was a statement, not a question, and Jou nodded.

“Yeah, the
same year you..left; he said, he was going nuts with all the memories inside.
Moved downtown near the hillside.”

“Oh my, what
a bad place to live. But why, Katsuya, I mean, there was enough money left for
the two of you to move someplace better? Or wasn’t there?” Jou stared down,
finding the sidewalk rather interesting.

“Katsuya?”
he heard the voice of his mother urge. Sighing, he replied:

“Ever..once
he realized, you weren’t gonna come back, he just..gave up, I guess. His
upcoming junior partnership, the rise, the larger office-it just didn’t matter
to him anymore. He lost his focus, and within three years, was degraded to a…window
seat*.”

His mother
gasped and Shizuka clasped her hands in front of her mouth.

Giving a
sad smile, Jou once again presumed walking direction the hotel his mother and
sister were staying at. They hurried after him, both a look of shocked concern
on their faces. Finally, his mother queried:

“But don’t
you think, he would be pleased to see us again? Even if it’s only for a few
minutes, what do you think, Jou?”

He gave
another one of his quiet smirks, before explaining:

“I told
him, that I was going to both Duelist Kingdom and the Battle City finals. When
I returned from the first tournament after two weeks..let’s just say, he was not
pleased. You have been gone for eight years straight. How do you think he will
react, when you suddenly show up at his doorstep?”

His mother
lowered her head in defeat. They kept walking, no words were exchanged, but
Katsuya could feel his sister’s gaze resting on him. Finally, she sighed, drew
a deep breath and locked eyes with him.

He knew the
question, even before it was uttered:

“Does..does
he beat you, Katsuya?” He paused a moment, the turned to give her a sad,
hesitant smile.

“He used
to, when I was..smaller. But that stopped.”

~Twelve
years old Jounouchi Katsuya shily stepped into the police station, sat down
and waited patiently for somebody to notice him.

Finally,
a big, friendly officer walked up to him and bending, asked:

“Hey
there, young man, can I help you?”

“Well, then, what is it, you would like
to tell me?” requested the short lady behind the desk. Blushing, Jou scratched
the back of his head, not knowing how to start.

“Yeah,
well, I’d like to report this guy for, uhmm, children..beating?” he offered,
unsure.

“Child
abuse. That is a very grave accusation, indeed. So, who is this person you
would like to report?“

Several
gasps echoed through the office, when Katsuya pulled off his sweater and
t-shirt, displaying the bruises freckling his malnurished body with varying
shades, and replied calmly:

“My father.”~

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*For those
not common with the Japanese system: a window seat is the worsest thing that
can happen to you, when working for a company. It’s actually a dead end,
profession-wise, mostly traded out to ‘dishonored’ employees and foreworkers,
who only have a small amount of time (say2-8 years) to ‘sit off’ until their
retirement. There is no way you can ascend from a window seat, the only ways
are down or out.

Example: if
you were a PR-manager before, you will remain a PR-manager until you leave the
place, one way or the other. You will not be transferred to another department,
but are stuck doing market-researches and product layouts for the rest of your
working days.