The next day found Jou bright and early at the Kame Game Shop. As far as he could tell his dad had not been home overnight but that was not really a surprise as the man had taken enough money to keep him in drink for several days at least.
He did kind of regret not taking Seto up on his offer of staying overnight, but he knew that if he had agreed then things would have inevitably gone a lot further than they had in the office and he wasn’t sure he was ready to go that far just yet, especially as he seemed to be getting mixed signals from Seto. Apart from anything else, even if he were reading things the right way, he was completely inexperienced and he didn’t want to ruin the experience by hurting Seto. Of course they didn’t actually have to go as far as having penetrative sex, but he knew that things could go anywhere in the heat of the moment.
Jou shook his head to put these thoughts out of his mind for now. He was here to relax and have fun with his friends and thinking about these problems would only stress him out. Finally he pulled himself together and knocked on the door.
"Jonouchi!" Yugi’s cheery face appeared at the door. "It’s good to see you." He ushered the taller boy inside. "I was beginning to think that Kaiba was going to work you to death!"
"Now, now Yug'," Jou protested, "It’s not like that."
"I know, I’m only kidding," the shorter boy replied. "You are the first one here you know. If nothing else, working for Kaiba has been good for your punctuality." He smiled to take any sting out of his words.
"I'm glad we're alone," Jou said. He looked a little troubled as he sat at the kitchen counter, "'cos I need to talk to you about something."
Yugi sat next to Jou. "You know you can tell me anything," he said gently. "Does it have to do with the marks on your face?"
Jou looked shocked. "Shit! You can see them? I thought I covered them up."
"It’s alright Jou. You've done a good job of it and I doubt that the others will notice. You know that I won’t say anything."
"Thanks Yug, I appreciate that. And it doesn’t really have anything to do with that although the events that caused them did start things off." He paused and took a deep breath. "What would you say if I told you that I’d started seeing someone?"
"Well I’d say that was a good thing," Yugi replied, "Everyone deserves to have someone special in their lives."
"OK, that’s good," Jou said, "but what if I were to tell you it was another guy?"
Yugi put his hand on Jou’s shoulder. "My point still stands. Gender doesn’t matter and no matter what you’re still my best pal." Yugi paused as Jou didn’t seem to relax any, his shoulders still extremely tense as he stared at the counter-top. "Jonouchi?"
"What... what if I were to tell you that I’m seeing Kaiba?" He hunched into himself as he half expected Yugi to be disgusted even after his earlier statements. He gasped in surprise as Yugi slipped off his stool and pulled him into a hug.
"Jou, I’m happy for you, really, and as long as you are happy together that is fine by me." He pulled back and looked Jou in the eye. "You ARE happy aren’t you?"
"Oh God yes," Jou almost burst, "I haven’t been so happy in a long time. It’s just... very new and there are still a lot of things we need to work out."
"I'm sure that whatever the problems are, I'm confident that you'll work them out in time." Yugi gave Jou a searching look, "He is treating you alright, isn't he?"
"Yugi, I can honestly say that he really could not treat me any better."
"Good, I’m glad. Kaiba needs someone just as much or maybe even more than you do." Yugi gave a mysterious smile, "I think, no, I know that you are perfect for each other." He paused then added, "I’m guessing that this is just between us? I know some of our friends would not take the news quite so well."
"Yeah, thanks Yug," Jou was obviously relieved, "I’m glad you understand."
"What are friends for?" Yugi beamed. "Now, have you had breakfast yet or were you so fixated on getting here early that you forgot?" They both laughed as Jou’s stomach predictably growled in response. "OK, I’m sure I can rustle something up for you."
Jou was just polishing off his second plate of toast when Anzu arrived, followed quickly by Ryou, Honda and Otogi. "Hey guys!" Jou greeted them exuberantly. He smiled as everyone greeted him in return. "So, what’s the plan for today?"
"C’mon Jou, you should know this! We’re going to Kaiba Land to hit up the arcades and stuff." Honda said in amusement.
"It’ll be a bit like a busman’s holiday for you though," Anzu piped up, "Are you going to be OK with that?"
"Eh? It won’t really be like that," Jou replied. "When I work with Kaiba I spend most of the time in the office. No time for playing games!"
"Just mind he doesn’t drag you in to work if he finds you there." Otogi interjected.
"Oh, I’m sure he wouldn’t do that," Ryou replied.
"Oh, I don’t know about that," Otogi pressed on. "I’ve heard that he’s a pretty hard task master and unpleasant to work for. I bet he doesn’t even pay Jou what he’s worth…"
Jou gave Otogi a sharp look. "Why does it bother you so much, Dice Boy? Kaiba may have done many things, but he is not that bad an employer and no matter what you may say about him, at least he never humiliated me on public television by making me wear a dog suit."
Sensing that the mood was changing for the worse, Yugi leaped between the two boys before things could go completely down the toilet. "Come on guys. Today is supposed to be about having fun. Don’t spoil it by fighting,"
"OK Yug'. For you I won’t take this any further." Jou said as he backed down.
Otogi held his hands up in front of him in a defensive gesture. "OK, OK, I’m only worried about Jonouchi’s well being." Jou wanted to shout that he could look after himself, thank you very much, but because Yugi had asked, he held his tongue.
"Good" Anzu said before anything else could be said. "Now lets get out of here before these two start butting heads again."
With that, the group got themselves together and left for a fun day at Kaiba Land. Jou was determined that he was going to have fun today and Otogi being weird wasn’t going to spoil things if he could help it!
--------------------------------------
Later on, the group sat at a table in one of the Kaiba Land burger joints after having spent the last several hours making Kaiba Seto considerably richer.
"There are many things that can be said about Kaiba," Honda said, "But he sure knows how people like to be entertained."
"I’ll take that as a compliment, fin head." Kaiba said as he approached the group. Honda looked about ready to jump up and start in at Kaiba, but Kaiba ignored him and turned to Jou. "Can I talk to you for a few moments, Jonouchi?" he asked.
"Hah!" Otogi exclaimed, "I knew that you wouldn’t be able to have your day off here without being dragged into work."
"Otogi" Yugi admonished the flamboyant dice master, "I’m sure that Kaiba only wants a couple of minutes of Jonouchi’s time."
Jonouchi glared at Otogi, then gave Yugi a significant look before dropping his head into his hands in defeat. He peeked up to find Kaiba was also glaring daggers at Otogi. "Look, I’ll just be a few minutes, OK?" Jou rose from the table. "Lead the way, Kaiba." The taller teen then guided Jou to a small office a short way away.
"OK, Kaiba," Jonouchi said with a touch of ire as soon as the door clicked shut, "what was so important that you had to drag me away from my friends on my day off?" Jou deliberately stood with his back to the other teen, but turned quickly at Seto’s next words.
"I’m sorry Jonouchi," Seto said, "I was just worried about you. I wanted to make sure you were OK after what you told me about your father."
"Well, as you can see I’m fine," Jou said in a more gentle tone of voice. "Did you really worry about me that much?"
Seto blushed and looked away, giving Jonouchi his answer without saying a word.
"Seto..." Jou stepped forwards and made Seto look at him. "You don’t have to apologise for that. It’s nice that you care about me. Lord knows there are few enough people that truly do."
"Thank you Katsuya," Seto said, feeling a bit better. "Did you have any trouble with your father last night?"
Jou smirked. "No, he didn’t even come home. I was pretty sure that he wouldn’t, but I couldn't take the chance."
"So you could have come over?" Seto said with a note of regret in his voice.
"Well, to be honest that wasn’t the only reason..." Jou said uncertainly.
"Oh?" Seto raised an eyebrow in inquiry.
Jonouchi sighed. "It’s just that... if I’d come home with you last night, things would probably have gone a lot further than they did in your office and I... I don’t think I’m ready for that just yet."
"Katsuya," Seto pulled the other teen close. "We don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to. I’m certainly not about to force you into anything."
"It’s not that I don’t want to," Jonouchi began, "but perhaps this isn’t the best place to talk about it."
"I agree," Seto said reluctantly, "and besides, your friends are waiting for you." He paused to consider a moment. "Could you come over this evening?"
"Yeah I guess I can come over for a while," Jou said.
"Come over when you’re free then. I’ll be going home soon so I will be there and I’ll drive you home afterwards." Seto smiled, "In a more discreet car, I promise."
Jou smiled. "That’ll be great, thanks Seto. But I’d better get back now or they really will think that you’ve stolen me away for work" He made to pull away, but found himself held tight. "What is it?"
"Just this," he said and he gave Jou a sweet kiss which Jou enthusiastically returned. After a few seconds, Seto stepped back, letting Jou go.
"I'll see you later, Seto," Jou said in a slightly husky tone, then he turned and left.
"Wow Jou," Honda said as the Jou returned to the group at the table, "I was beginning to think that he had made you go to work today!
"Well, as you can see, he hasn’t." Jou replied.
"What did he want anyway?" Otogi asked slyly.
"None of your damn business, Otogi!" Jonouchi’s voice took on a sharp edge.
"OK, keep your hair on," The raven haired CEO said in return.
"Otogi, why are you intent on antagonizing Jonouchi when it comes to his job with Kaiba?" Ryou asked.
"Yes, this is very unlike you," Yugi agreed." Has something happened between you two that we don’t know about?"
"I don’t know of anything," Jou said, letting a trace of annoyance show in his voice.
"Sorry," Otogi said as he hung his head. "I had some bad news the other day when some business I was conducting fell through. It was wrong of me to take it out on Jonouchi. I apologise."
Jou was sceptical but didn’t want to spoil the day any further. "I accept," he said simply, "Now, who is up for playing some more games?" The group cheered and filed out in search of more fun.
----------------------------------------
----
Later that afternoon, the group were just saying their goodbyes when Otogi pulled Jonouchi to one side. "Hey Jonouchi, I want to apologise for my behaviour earlier today. I was way out of line."
"Yeah, I accepted your apology for that earlier," Jou said, "and as far as I’m concerned that should be and end to the matter as long as you don’t pull something like that again."
"OK, but I really have heard bad things from people who worked with Kaiba. If he does treat you too badly I’ll be glad to take you on."
Jou gave Otogi an odd look. "I’ll... keep that in mind." He waved as he turned to walk away, "See you in school tomorrow."
"Hey Jou," Otogi called after the blond as he began to walk away, "do you want to come over to mine for a bit? Play some games or watch a movie or something?"
"Eh, maybe another time Otogi," Jou replied. "There's somewhere I gotta be."
"OK, Jou. See you tomorrow."
Jou picked up his pace before Otogi could try to waylay him again. His behaviour tonight was strange. They had never really got on all that well after the dog suit incident and he’d shown no inclination to try and put things right before now. Not only that, but some of the things he said were beginning to make him a touch suspicious. Perhaps not suspicious enough for him to mention anything to Kaiba just yet, but enough that he felt he really needed to keep an eye on Otogi in future.
Before long he arrived at the Kaiba mansion where he was greeted by the ever-present Mrs Doyle.
"Good evening Master Jonouchi," she said in her distinctive Irish brogue. "Master Kaiba asked me to send you up to his room."
"Thanks Mrs Doyle," Jonouchi replied as he handed her his coat.
"Will you be needing a nice cup of tea bringing up?" she asked.
"No thank you," he replied. "I only just had something to drink before I came."
"OK so," she said as Jonouchi took to the stairs. Jou approached Seto’s bedroom with some trepidation. He’d told Seto that he was unsure about going further, but the fact that Seto was in his bedroom... Was it some kind of signal?
Jou shrugged mentally. He reasoned that Seto probably had a good reason for wanting to meet him here and he wasn't going to find out what it was if he just stood outside. He finally knocked on the door and upon being acknowledged, stepped inside and closed the door behind him. "Hey Seto." He tried to disguise his nervousness and failed utterly.
"Katsuya, glad you could make it," Seto said with one of his rare genuine smiles. "Don’t worry. I don’t have an ulterior motive to meeting you here. It’s just that it’s the only room I can guarantee that we won’t be overheard in, so you can stop looking so nervous now."
"I was that obvious huh?" Jonouchi said ruefully. "Well, I did already tell myself that you had to have a good reason for wanting to meet in your room..."
"Thank you for trusting me." Seto rose and walked to where Jonouchi was still hovering in the doorway. "Come on I won’t bite – unless you want me to."
"Jou laughed as he was guided into the room, but stopped when something caught his attention. He looked up to where there were security cameras at several strategic places around the room. He must have been so out of it the previous time he was there that he hadn't even noticed them.
Seto noticed where he was looking. "Those cameras have all been isolated from the system. I don’t like being watched all the time," he reassured Jou. He directed Jou to sit on the chair he had recently vacated while he sat himself on the edge of his large bed.
"So, Katsuya," Seto began when it was clear that Jou wouldn’t be talking any time soon, "Earlier on you said that it wasn’t that you didn’t want to come over last night, but that we weren’t in the best place to talk about it, so how about we start there." Jou didn’t answer, just looked at his feet. "Don’t worry, whatever it is can’t be that bad and I promise I won’t make fun of you."
Jou looked up, "Thanks Seto. That means a lot." He gathered his courage and started to speak, "It’s just that... I get so confused. Our whole dynamic is all about you being in control, but the few times we’ve kissed..."
"The dynamic seemed to change completely and you were worried that you were reading the cues wrong?"
"Yes, that’s it exactly," Jou said in some relief, "and it’s not like I have much experience with this kind of thing."
"Well, let me put your fears to rest," Seto said. "Yes, in normal everyday circumstances I have to be in control, if I weren't then there would be no way that I could stay in my position as CEO of Kaiba Corporation, but conversely I’ve found that my most... intense sexual fantasies involve me being the dominated partner. I did a little research and I found that it’s quite a common occurrence for people in my position to need to give up control sometimes and where better than with a trusted partner in the bedroom?"
Jou thought for a moment, then his face twisted in dismay. "You're not into all that S&M stuff are you?" he asked. "I... I don't think I can do that."
"No, not at all," Seto reassured, wincing slightly at the thought. He'd been through enough pain in his childhood that the very idea was repugnant. "I think that just being the submissive partner would be quite enough."
"I guess that makes sense, in a twisted kind of way" Jou mused. "I do have to admit that the way you surrendered yourself so easily almost freaked me out at first, but now I just find it... amazingly hot." He flushed, "but I meant it when I said I don’t have much experience. Hell, I don’t have any really. I don’t want to spoil things by doing something wrong."
"Jou, come and sit with me on the bed." Seto said. He waited until Jou had complied, then put his arm around him. "I’m going to be honest with you, I don’t have any experience either. I had always avoided relationships until now because I was worried that my... acquiescence... in the bedroom could be taken advantage of or seen as a sign of weakness, but I know that with you it won’t be the case."
Jou looked up to see the honestly shining out of Seto’s eyes and in that moment he was lost. In a quick movement he pushed Seto so that he was lying back on the bed and straddled his waist. He gasped as he realised that Seto was half hard already, then leaned down and caught his lips in a bruising kiss. Seto responded passionately as Jou moved from kissing his lips and began to attack his neck, hands reaching to undo shirt buttons and expose the porcelain skin beneath.
"Jou, stop a moment," Seto said breathlessly. Jou shot up as if stung, worried that he'd read the cues wrong despite Seto's earlier explanation. Seto noticed the worried expression on Jonouchi's face and quickly reassured him. "I just wanted to get a little more comfortable on the bed, that's all. I definitely don't want you to stop altogether."
Jou let out a relieved sigh, then got off Seto and watched with hungry eyes as he moved to the centre of the bed. Once Seto was in position, Jou crawled over to him and looked intensely at him. "So, how far do you want to go, Seto," he asked huskily.
"As far as you feel comfortable with, Katsuya," Seto replied with a lust filled voice. "You are in charge here."
"Alright," Jou said simply as he leaned over Seto and caught his lips in a bruising kiss. Seto couldn't help but buck up as Jou started to kiss his neck. "You really are sensitive here, aren't you Seto," Jou murmured as he continued to kiss that area of skin.
"Please Jou," Seto breathed.
"Patience," Jou said as he teasingly cupped Seto's hardness through the cloth of his trousers, then leaned in again to catch Seto's lips in another sweet kiss.
Seto couldn't help but wonder at the change in Jou's demeanour. Just a few moments ago he had been completely unsure of himself, every inch the bumbling puppy. But now he was almost uncharacteristically confident and outgoing. If Jonouchi was acting, he was doing a convincing job of it. Not that he really cared right now as long as Jou kept up this heavenly torture. Unable to resist any longer, he reached around to grab Katsuya's ass and pull him down.
Jou, caught by surprise, dropped down on top of Seto and groaned out loud as their erections rubbed against each other through their trousers. "So impatient," Jou whispered as he sat up and back, taking Seto's belt into his hands. Quickly, Jou had the belt removed and the trousers undone, slipping his hand inside. Seto couldn't help but to release a groan at the feel of Katsuya's hand caressing him.
"Katsuya..."
"Seto..." Jou breathed out in wonder at the look of rapture on his partner's face. Acting purely on instinct, he fully opened and pushed down Seto's trousers, freeing his impressive length, then leaned down and took it into his mouth. He smirked in satisfaction as Seto practically rose off the bed and fisted his hands into Jou's hair, urging him to keep going.
"Oh God, Katsuya!" Seto couldn't stay quiet while Jou was sucking him expertly in a most sensuous manner.
Jonouchi didn't know where this sudden knowledge of what to do had come from, but while he was getting such delicious reactions from the brunet writhing beneath him he was going to take full advantage now and ask questions later! Feeling the tell-tale signs that let him know that if he didn't stop soon then Seto was going to come, he pulled away and smirked as Seto let out a needy whine.
"Shit Jou, why did you stop?"
"Well, I think we are a little overdressed," Jou said as the Seto came back to himself. "Especially me."
"I suppose we are," Seto replied with a smirk. He couldn't believe that things were going so well. What had happened to the worried teen from ten minutes ago? Not that he was going to question it now. There would be time for that afterwards. Quickly he divested himself of his remaining clothes as Jonouchi did the same, then pulled the covers back. He climbed into the bed and beckoned for Jou to join him and Jou showed no hesitation at all. Seto sighed happily as he was once again pinned to the bed and kissed senseless.
"Seto," Jou whispered into the his ear, "Do you have any... lotion?"
Seto gulped as his cock gave a jolt at the implications of that question. "Top night-stand drawer," he managed to breathe out. He shivered slightly as Jou pulled away to retrieve the small bottle of lube that Seto kept for personal use. Soon Jou was back and bearing down on him again.
"Seto, are you sure you want to go this far?" Jou asked before he could begin to prepare his lover.
"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that question?" Seto shot back with a small smile on his face. He pulled Jou down into a passionate kiss. "I meant what I said earlier," Seto reassured Jou as he released him from the liplock. "You are in charge and whatever you feel comfortable with is fine by me."
Jou kissed Seto one more time before he pulled back and opened the bottle of lube. "Mmm, minty," he smirked as he lubed his fingers.
"I like the smell," Seto said with a small blush, "and it feels amazing too."
"Good," Jou said as he first teased around Seto's entrance with a finger, then slipped it inside. He looked down at his lover with concern as he felt Seto tense up. "Are you alright? You need to relax."
"I... I'm fine," Seto said, fighting to keep the strain out of his voice. "It just feels strange. Familiar, but strange."
"Alright," Jou said as he carefully moved that finger in and out. Watching for Seto's reaction, he soon added a second finger and kissed the other boy senseless as he waited for him to adjust. Then he crooked his fingers in just that way and was rewarded as Seto let out a hoarse cry and arched off the bed. "Good?" Jou asked with a smirk.
"You know it is," Seto groaned. Jou made sure to touch that spot again, then took advantage of Seto's distraction to finally add a third finger. Seto tensed up and let out a pained cry. Jou instantly stopped all movement.
"Are you alright?" Jou was all concern. "We can stop if you want."
"Don't stop," Seto panted. "I'll adjust, it'll just... take a moment."
Jou leaned forward and caught Seto's lips in a soft kiss that somehow managed to convey all his passion and love. "I love you Seto," Jou whispered as he continued to prepare his lover, making sure to brush that special place inside him as often as he could. Soon Seto was writhing beneath him once again.
"I... I think I'm about as ready as I'm going to get," Seto managed to say eventually.
Jonouchi mentally thanked heaven. He hadn't thought that he could wait much longer. "OK, but this is probably going to hurt a bit."
"I know, just do it." Seto almost pleaded.
Jou didn't waste any more time. He pulled his fingers out, lubed his straining erection and finally lined himself up with Seto's waiting entrance. Slowly, so slowly so as to cause his lover as little pain as possible, he pushed inside, hissing at the sensation of Seto's hot walls enclosing him in such an intimate embrace. "Oh God, Seto..." he breathed out.
"Katsuya," Seto groaned in a voice that held more pain than pleasure.
At the sound of Seto's voice, Jou fought against every instinct that was telling him to move, not wanting to cause his lover any more pain. "Relax Seto," he groaned as there was a sudden vice like feeling around his cock. Seto took several deep breaths as he fought to relax. Eventually, he looked up to find Jou's face in a rictus of concentration, obviously willing himself to remain still. He reached up and touched Jou's face.
"You can move now," he said. Jou didn't need to be told twice. He adjusted his position slightly and thrust forward carefully. He was rewarded with a hoarse cry from his lover as he hit that special spot inside him on the first try. He then continued to thrust in just that manner, drawing more of those delicious sounds from the gorgeous brunet writhing sensuously beneath him.
"Katsuya," Seto groaned out, "I'm gonna..."
"Seto," Jou panted in return, "don't hold... back." Just a few thrusts later, Seto's cock twitched violently as he came all over his stomach and chest. At the feel of Seto's channel constricting and contracting around him, Jou found that he couldn't last any longer and with two or three more quick jerky thrusts he splashed Seto's insides with his hot seed. Suddenly feeling his strength ebbing away, Jou pulled out as gently as he could and collapsed on the bed next to his love. "Oh man, Seto, that was amazing," he panted.
"My sentiments exactly," Seto replied breathlessly. However, even the afterglow couldn't stop Seto's analytical mind from working, "but where the hell did that come from? I thought that you had no idea what to do!"
Jou was quiet for a moment as he gathered his thoughts. "I... I don't know, Seto," he said, his voice echoing his confusion. "Once we started I just... knew. It was almost like we'd done it before..."
"What are you saying Jonouchi?" Seto wasn't sure that he liked where Jou's thoughts were going.
Jou picked up on the slight change of mood and decided to change tack slightly before the evening was spoiled. "Well whatever it was I'm kinda grateful. I know that I'd have ruined it for both of us otherwise." He got up from the bed, padded to the bathroom and came back with a towel in order to clean Seto up.
Seto stopped him. "Don't worry about that. Let's go and take a shower instead." He took the towel and gave himself a cursory wipe then got up and led Jonouchi to the bathroom. Jou followed quietly, glad to have dodged the bullet for now, but he resolved to speak to Yugi about it later. There was more to this that he needed to know and he was sure that Yugi would have at least some of the answers.
Soon they were both showered and dressed, but as Seto was about to broach the subject of Jonouchi’s seeming experience again, his phone rang. Reluctantly he answered and immediately got into a heated discussion with the person on the other end of the line. Seeing as Seto was obviously going to be occupied for a while, Jou slipped out of the room and went to see what Mokuba was up to. He knocked on the door and slipped inside to find the black haired boy sat at his computer. "Hey Squirt," Jou greeted him.
"Jou!" Mokuba started almost guiltily, then looked at Jou with what could only be described as haunted eyes. "What brings you here?"
Jou regarded Mokuba with a worried gaze. "What's the matter, Mokuba? This isn't like you."
"I’m sorry." Mokuba looked at the floor.
"What are you sorry for, Kiddo?" Jou was beginning to worry.
"I... I..." Mokuba buried his face into his hands.
"It’s OK kiddo," Jou walked over to where Mokuba was sitting and brought himself down to the boy’s level, "You can tell me. Or do you want me to go and get Seto?"
"No, no, I’m fine," Mokuba gave Jou a watery smile. "It's nothing, really."
"You sure?" Jou asked. Mokuba gave a jerky nod, so he turned to get up, knowing that Mokuba obviously didn't want to tell him anything, but maybe he would talk to Seto. As he stood, he accidentally put his hand on Mokuba’s laptop and brought up a minimised window. Jou gasped as he saw the images displayed on the screen. "Mokuba, what is this? No scratch that, WHY do you have this?" The images in question were of what Seto and himself had been doing only minutes before and from the angle they could only have been taken using the security cameras that Seto insisted had been deactivated.
"I’m sorry Jou!" Mokuba was even more upset now. "I just wanted to know what you were doing so I hacked into the cameras in Seto’s room." He looked up at Jou. "I really crossed a line didn’t I?"
"Mokuba, you are so far over the line that it’s not funny." Jou stood and put his head in his hands, "Your brother is a very private person and this is a gross invasion of his, no, our privacy."
"I get that but... does Seto really... like that?" Mokuba asked hesitantly. "I... I never thought that you would be the dominant partner. No offence..."
"None taken," Jou said, "and I would never do anything that Seto didn't want. But I don't think this is a conversation that I should be having with you. This is something that you should discuss with your brother."
"I take it that you are going to tell Seto then," Mokuba sighed, knowing that he was in a whole heap of trouble.
"Mokie, I have no choice. I have to tell him." He paused as something occurred to him, "Can the security staff see those images?"
"No, they are only accessible from my computer." Mokuba said confidently.
"But if you hacked them, then so could someone else." Jou wasn’t about to let it go.
"I can guarantee that wouldn’t happen," Mokuba insisted.
"How can you be so sure?" Jou asked insistently.
"I'd make sure it couldn't happen!" a new voice came from the computer speakers.
"Don’t tell me," Jou covered his eyes, "Noa helped you."
"You know about Noa?" Mokuba was shocked.
"Mrs Doyle let something slip about ‘the boy who lives inside the television’. I should have guessed that you’d be in on it somewhere Mokuba." Jou was exasperated.
"Noa! How many other people have you been talking to?" Mokuba exclaimed.
"Just Mrs Doyle, I swear," Noa said in earnest. "It’s just that she’s so lonely here. Not many of the staff speak English and those that do won’t talk to her much."
"Look, this is all very well," Jou interjected before Mokuba could speak again, "but the last time we met Noa he tried to kill us all. I need to be sure that he’s not a threat."
"He isn’t!" Mokuba exclaimed, "I’ve been speaking to him for months and I’m convinced he’s legit."
"Noa?" Jou asked.
"I’m not the same Noa you met before, Jonouchi," the green haired boy replied. "I'm from a backup of the original, from before he became bitter and twisted. Mokuba found and reactivated me a few months ago and filled me in on what my... previous incarnation did and I'm utterly disgusted by what he tried to do to you all. Please don't tell Seto. I swear I’m not a threat. You have to believe me!"
Jou took in Mokuba's hopeful face and the desperate visage of Noa with an internal sigh. "OK," he said after a moment, "I won’t tell Seto about you..."
"Thank you Jou!" the boys chorused.
"...Yet," Jonouchi concluded as he watched their faces fall. "However, I’m going to encourage you to tell him yourselves." He gave the boys a serious look. "Can you imagine Seto’s reaction if he were to find out about Noa accidentally? He is much more likely to react in a favourable manner if you go to him and present yourselves properly."
Mokuba sighed, "You're right, it would be really bad if he caught us."
"But Mokuba," Noa protested, "what if he won’t listen and deletes me?" The green haired boy had tears standing in his eyes.
"I won’t let that happen to you!" Mokuba cried. "He can’t do that, I'd never forgive him if he did!"
Jonouchi interrupted before the boys could wind themselves up any more. "If it comes to that then you can count on me to speak up for you too. Everyone deserves a second chance and Seto should understand that more than most.
"Thank you Jonouchi," the two boys chorused again, albeit in a more subdued manner than last time.
"I am going to have to tell him about you hacking the security cameras in his room though," Jou said, "So I’d probably wait a few days to let him calm down if I were you." He winked at them. "Now I’d better get back or he’ll be wondering where I’ve got to."
"See you Jou," Mokuba said as the older boy left the room.
Jou got back to Seto’s room just as he finished his phone call. "Problems?" the blond asked.
"Nothing that can’t wait." Seto said, "You know what some of those imbeciles I employ can be like. Sometimes I swear that they need their hands held through every little thing." He looked at Jou, "Where did you go anyway?"
"I went to talk to Mokuba about something." Jou said.
"What did you speak to him about?" Seto asked.
"Oh, just his voyeuristic tendencies," Jou attempted to wave it off.
Seto gave an indulgent smile. "Oh, him and that camera. What did he take a picture of this time?"
Jou was momentarily silent as he pondered how to say this to Seto. "He didn’t use the camera this time."
"What do you mean?"
Jou took a deep breath. "He hacked into your security cameras, Seto. I decided to go and see what he was up to while you were occupied on the phone and I discovered that he had... video of us on his computer."
"What kind of video?" Seto asked, knowing that he wasn't going to like the answer.
"It was of what we were doing in here earlier," Jou said with a sigh.
"Shit. How much did he see?"
"Pretty much everything as far as I can tell. I think he's quite upset about it and you're going to have to talk to him about it. Sorry." The room was silent for several long moments. "Seto?" Jou put a wealth of questions into that one word.
"You should not have come here tonight," Seto said quietly in a way that left no doubt that he was suppressing his anger. "Thanks to you my little brother is corrupted..."
"Now wait one damn moment," Jou interjected angrily, "That is not true and you know it!"
"Do I, Jonouchi?" Seto’s eyes flashed, "You also said that you were inexperienced, but there is no way that a virgin could know how to do the things you did so well."
Jou was stunned, both from the compliment and the accusation. "I... can’t explain that, but I did not lie to you," he insisted. "Before I came here tonight I was a virgin. Hell, I’ve never even gone past kissing before and besides, you were giving quite a good performance yourself there, despite saying that *you* had no experience."
"Whatever Mutt, I don’t care anymore." Seto spat, and with that he swept out of the room, intent on finding out exactly what Mokuba had done and why.
Jou stood there completely stunned for several moments. Where had it all gone wrong? Everything had been going so well. He’d even told Seto that he loved him. OK, Seto hadn’t answered, but then Jou wasn’t sure that Seto had even heard him and he certainly wasn’t going to ask if he had, especially not now. With his heart breaking and unable to stop tears from leaking down his face, he made his way from the house, picking his coat up from a worried looking Mrs Doyle as he left. He waved off her concerned fussing and started the long trek towards home.
Quite a long while and one upset and thoroughly chastised little brother later, Seto returned to his room with Mokuba's laptop under his arm. He set the computer down and sat at his desk, wondering at the audacity of little brothers and how they seemed to be sent to cause as much trouble as possible.
Then his thoughts inevitably turned to Jonouchi. Damn, but the mutt had gotten under his skin, which was something he didn’t really want to contemplate right now. He opened up his computer, connected directly to Mokuba’s machine and moved the offending videos from his brother’s computer to his own. Once he was satisfied that there was no suspect material left in Mokuba’s file system, he shut down Mokuba's computer and opened the first video.
Seto sat there entranced as he watched Jonouchi pleasuring him on the bed, but then he heard something. He skipped back a moment and turned up the volume. There it was again. Jou had definitely said ‘I love you, Seto.’ He watched more of the video and he realised that Jou really was making love to him, that it was definitely more than just sex. With that realisation he shut down the computer, gave himself a moment or two to calm down, then swept from the room. He soon came across a quite concerned looking Mrs. Doyle.
"Mrs Doyle," Seto addressed the housekeeper, "Have you seen Jonouchi?" Seto knew it was a long shot that Jou would still be here, but he had to ask.
"Why yes Master Kaiba," she replied, "He left about an hour ago and I must say that he looked most upset."
"Upset? How so?"
"Well, if I didn’t know any better I’d say that he looked like his heart had just been well and truly broken."
Seto’s own heart lurched in his chest, then he deliberately tamped his emotions down. "Thank you Mrs Doyle," he said coolly, "and don’t worry too much about Jonouchi. He always bounces back." With that he stalked back to his room.
Now he had some thinking to do. First Jou had told him that he loved him. He hadn’t replied because he hadn’t heard that confession, but he guessed that Jou didn’t know that. Then he had blamed Jou for what Mokuba had done even after he'd assured him that the cameras were inactive and he’d called Jou a mutt on top of that. The blond had every right to be heartbroken.
But Jou had lied about his sexual experience. He couldn’t think of another explanation for it and if there was anything that Seto hated it was being lied to by people he thought he could trust. Jou had appeared to act confused over the whole thing, but there was every likelihood that it was just that - an act.
Seto made a decision. He would give Jou the night to stew and think things over then Seto would ask him for an explanation tomorrow. What happened after that would depend on how Jou answered. With that decision made he went to make sure that Mokuba was getting ready for bed before getting settling in for the night himself.
It was to be quite a sleepless night for all involved.
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A/N - When I write a 'Lemon' I find it really hard to read over and edit it. LOL. I hope it's not too bad.