To Keep A Katsu

jess: Thanks sweetie! Shizuka will definitely get things to blow up in her face soon enough! I can’t have horrible things been done to Seto and not have nothing be done about it.

hell_lot23: Heated huh? And it’s not even at the boiling point! Please enjoy!

Ladyvirgo91656: yea, it’s definitely something Jou was not expecting. Unfortunately there will be damage done once the revelation takes effect. I can happily say that Jou and Seto’s love for each other will still run strong, such bond will definitely prove crucial in later chapters, and things won’t be easy! Oh and yea lol, I chuckled myself as I wrote that little piece of humor.

SilverYaoiHellion: *glomps Silver* Aww I love you too, like a sister as well! Sister to sister! (yea I’m female lol) *jumps in joy at all the comments* Thank you so much! OMG! You can make a girl cry! It’s true, I wish I did have more reviews but I’m not going to prompt anyone for them or hold chapters hostage because of it! I believe if I’m truly doing a good job, the reviews will come! So far, I am very pleased. Oh, this fic will take some crazy turns and it will all come together you’ll see!

I think Mpreg is adorable! Its one of my favorite plots to read, that and the whole Joey becomes a famous rock star thing. So cute! Hmmm….you just got my imagination wheels turning girl! Heh heh.

Drachennaugen: OMG!!!! *blushes furiously* that had got to be the biggest typo in history. Now I’M the one embarrassed to death lol. What’s so bad about it, I had to read the sentence at least three times AND ponder about it for a minute before it clicked into place! It had hit me like a sledgehammer and I nearly fainted. To think of the good deal of people who had already read that part. *screams bloody murder* usually I wait and fix errors to previous chapters when I post a new chapter but I had to change that right away! It is definitely, “brother’s lover” not boyfriend! Keep me in line, sometimes Mizumi loses her mind! lol But thanks for the love on the last chapter! I hope you find this one just as enjoyable! Oh and about Yugi and Otogi…heh heh you’ll see.

Anon: lol

O.O: Ahh you see! Cliffhangers aren’t always bad! I’m glad I was able to shed light on that! Lol Unfortunately, Jou has a lot of inner peace to find within himself first before he finally blows up on his “sweet little sister” lol but I promise it’ll be worth the wait. Oh and for the record, I'm the only child so I wouldn’t know!

Velvetina: *pouts* awwwwwwww! Still love ya though! Send me whatever you feel like sending me if you ever feel like sending me anything. Ok! Oh yea and speaking of life…do NOT get me started.

LMAO! Yea that pretty much sums up everything that’s been going on! I can’t wait to see your reaction when you read this chapter. I don’t think NOBODY is going to expect what the lil bitch has done now. But there will be positive news…hence the “keep your head up” title.

Girlo: I completely understand! That’s how I get when I read stories too. So its perfectly alright! And yes, the sleep talking thing proves to be a VERY effective device and the success of its use in the last chapter was absolutely mindblowing!

Shadow2007: Awwww! I’m a favorite! Hee hee that just tickles me pink! You would think it’s an easy choice but you know me…I can’t just let things go out like that! ;p

ParanoidCharlotte: Yea sometimes I have A LOT of time on my hands which is good for you lovely readers! Wow, that’s a lot. I’m the only child so I can’t begin to imagine what that’s like. Yea, and as you can tell in my stories…I’m messed up too! Lol

OOOOO! I TOTALLY agree with you! That plot is getting so old! To me it also doesn’t make sense! That was actually one of the reasons behind me writing this story, I wanted to portray the Jounouchi family in a whole new way that no one had really thought about exploring when writing. I surely hope I didn’t give you any impression that I was doing that! That’s why Jou is one of my favorite anime characters…he’s such a badass! Lol I love it! I wouldn’t mess that up for the world! Just out of curiousity, what prompted you to write that? Like I said I hope it wasn’t because of me!


*Enjoy*


A whistle of no particular tune fills the empty air of the Game Shop as a certain white albino sweeps the floor lazily. He pauses for a moment to admire the natural beauty of the setting sun as it pours into the windows of the establishment, tinted everything in a soft glow of reddish-orange.

Brown eyes look with hope towards the wall phone hoping it will ring but as usual, such hope is dashed.

A small thump at the glass door alerts Ryou as he realizes that it was the newspaper. Sighing, he puts the broom down and walks out to retrieve it. It kind of unnerves him that so many trees have to share the fate of becoming paper just to advertise bad news.

However, The Domino Observer actually had something interesting in it today.

Ryou pauses in brief shock at the headline that covered a good deal of the front page:

“Kaiba Seto Hospitalized For Eating Purposely Tainted Food At Business Luncheon”

Finally finding the will to move back inside, the albino quietly sits the paper down at a random booth.

Well it certainly explains what must’ve happened with Yugi…he’s probably with Kaiba…and Jou.

Giving a silent prayer for the brunet’s health and recovery, Ryou resumes to his cleaning duties. He really hopes that everything is fine. Maybe he should take a cab to the hospital later…

The sudden loud noise of city life entering the quiet Game Shop signals that the door has been opened.

Ryou whirls around and stares face to face with a familiar brunette.

Still sore from last night, the brown-eyed teen growls out. “Yugi is not here.” He continues to sweep even though not as focused as before.

“So where is he then? Figure his BOYFRIEND would know.” Tea spats out quietly.

The white haired boy grew rigid. He really wasn’t in the mood for this shit.

“I don’t know where he is. He left early this afternoon.” Ryou explains vaguely. He tries again to focus his attention on the broom.

“Oh yea, how come you’re not with him?” Tea asks nonchalantly as she sits down at a booth nearby.

Shrugging, “Hmph, kind of found out that jet lag and all-niters don’t mix”, said Ryou with a smirk as he sweeps.

When no reply came, the albino curiously turns around and brown eyes widen.

The blue-eyed brunette looked like she was going through the first stages of cardiac arrest. Blue eyes that barely show any pupils quickly scan the newspaper.

“She couldn’t have possibly…” Tea whispers quietly to herself, at least she thought she did.

Ryou narrows his eyes as he finally gives up on the floor…

The shocked teen sitting in the booth was so caught up in what she’s reading, visibly jumps at the unusual voice coming from the smaller teen, who is now sitting at the booth with her.

“You know something of that incident with Kaiba?”

“Umm…n-no. I’m just shocked by it that’s all.”

“You’re a terrible liar.” Ryou snarls out lowly as he snatches the paper from her to read it for himself.


Authorities say that almost one half cup full of glass was found in Kaiba-sama’s salad. The attacker was at first thought to be an employee of the Oishii Catering Company but through further investigation, it was found that one of the workers was indeed an imposter. A blond wig and a broken light blue contact were found in a dumpster behind one of the Kaiba Corp Office buildings.

Two men tells the police that a girl with the same description of the disguise called herself Natsu and said that she was filling in. No word yet if the two employees will be in suspended or terminated from their jobs.
A Kaiba Corp employee later report of spotting a red Rolls Royce pulling out from the back parking lot of the office building he was currently working in; the same office building where the evidence was found.


Ryou slowly looks up at the trembling girl in front of him. A red Rolls Royce…he had saw Tea got into it yesterday when she stormed out. Matter of fact, that very night, he had seen that very car again but this time…

“You and Shizuka…?! Please tell me…”

“NO! I-I have nothing to do with this! And, and you shouldn’t blame Shizuka either, it could be anybody!”

Ryou shakes his head as he tosses the paper back to the stammering brunette.

“But not everyone has a red Roll Royce…”

“Yea but…”

“I know you can’t afford one and I had seen Shizuka the other day at the mall…it seems she’s doing pretty well for herself…and didn’t Jou mentioned her becoming an American actress…”

“No one was supposed to have gotten hurt!”

Ah, finally. They were getting somewhere.

“Oh really? So why is Kaiba in the newspaper?”

“I don’t know…Shizuka never mentioned anything about doing something like this!”

“What have she mentioned?”

Tea froze. She couldn’t say what they have been up to! It would definitely not help her case any. All she wanted was to for Yugi to see her the way he sees Ryou. But now, the brunette starts to realize that maybe just settling for being his friend might have been a lot easier…

“I just know that she wants Jou to go back to New York with her…” the brunette fibs nervously.

“Like I’ve said before…you’re a terrible liar” the white albino begins, getting up. He walks to the closet to get the keys to the Game Shop.

“Wh-what are you’re doing?” Tea asks, not liking at all where this was going.

“To the hospital…it’s time that you tell Kaiba and Jou, EVERYTHING that you know and I’m going to make sure that you do…or else.”

Tea gulps and simply nods. It just really wouldn’t be such a good idea to upset a former tomb robber.

***

A nurse pulls back the examination curtain to reveal a peaceful resting brunet. The other one finishes checking the vital signs on the machines before speaking to two very uneasy boys sitting in the left corner. Mokuba plays with imaginary lint on his shirt while Jou sits dazed. He had been for the past half hour.

“Kaiba-sama really needs to be resting alone. Why don’t you two take a walk around the hospital for awhile? The sunset is very beautiful outside.” The nurse, whose hands were still hanging onto the green curtain, walks to the window curtains and opens them. The soft rays of the sun immediately flow in, illuminating everything.

Jou looks hopelessly to the sleeping angel on the bed, the light making the pale skin and the white sheets around him to glow. He had half-expected to see wings.

“Jou?” Mokuba replies softly as hazel eyes turn to him.

The blond nods and gets up to follow the smaller Kaiba out into the hall.

The two walk for about a good minute or two before Mokuba decides it was time to break the silence.

“Jou, about what happened just now…”

“Dere’s nothin’ ta talk about.”

Eyes widen a bit in confusion as the little Kaiba runs up a little to keep up with his brother’s boyfriend, who suddenly speeds up. “What do you mean? My brother…”

“I said dere’s nothing ta talk about” the blond spats out with finality.

Small legs come to a halt in shock.

“Kami…you don’t believe him...Niisan is confined to a hospital bed having nightmares about Shizuka and you don’t believe him…”

“I don’t fucking know what ta believe” Jou retorts before turning to Mokuba, who’s eyes were downcast.

“Ya can’t possibly expect fer me ta just accept dis do ya? She’s mah sistah, I have ta have mah doubts! Shit you did when your brother was being da asshole way back at Duelist Kingdom!”

“Well obviously you had your doubts too because you’re currently dating that asshole!”

The hazel-eyed teen takes a deep breath, fisting his hair before continuing. “You would always keep telling me and mah friends dat your brotha has a good heart…”

“HE DOES! AND YOU’RE GOING TO BREAK IT IF YOU KEEP TALKING LIKE THAT!” Mokuba shrieks.

Jou sighs, “I’m just sayin’ Mokie, I have ta believe dat my sister is a good person just like you had ta believe the same about Seto when no one else would.”

“Well what if she’s not such a good person. What then? What about, Niisan?”

The blond looks away. He hasn’t considered the possibility, what’s the point when you’ve done believed in your heart for it not to be true. His sister was the highlight of his life when his family was in shambles. He couldn’t just abandon her over a nightmare that his medicated boyfriend just spewed out. Could he?

“I need to be alone for a bit.” Jou turns to leave a sputtering Mokuba but then he stops to turn around again. “Oh and when Seto wakes up, tell him no matter what it may look like, he’s always mah angel.”

“W-wait! Why can’t you tell him that! He needs to hear that from you!” the little Kaiba cries out desperately but to no avail. The blond light of his brother’s life was gone.

“Jou…” Mokuba whispers for the last time before the heavy swinging double doors of the private ward completely hides him from view.

***

“Do you actually think that offing your brother’s beau is the answer to whatever problem you’ve done conjured up in that loony head of yours?” Otogi asks after a somewhat rough struggle of pushing the demented little girl back in the bathroom and keeping her there.

“Let me out of here! I don’t have to explain anything to you!” the strawberry blond yells trying to move past the dice master but finds herself being pushed heavily to the floor by…Yugi.

“Well explain it to me! How can you call yourself Jou’s sister when you’re doing these horrible things?! Dammit, have you know idea what this could do to your brother once he finds out what you’ve been doing. It’ll devastate him!” the little Mouto spats out viciously. His small chest begins to heave as tears threaten to fall from huge chibi eyes.

“What he doesn’t know OR believe will certainly not hurt him” Shizuka replies with a smirk. “Go on ahead and tell him, see if I care! It’s not like you have proof to anything!” She then crosses her arms as she leans casually on the counter. “And besides, my brother loves me, he will never let you idiots skew his perception of me…not even for his darling precious fag boyfriend, Kaiba!”

“You’re, you’re sick! You know that? How dare you manipulate Jou’s love and trust this way when you’ve just tried to kill his lover? How can you even be allowed to breathe?!” Yugi screeches out.

“She’s off her fucking rocker!” Otogi sneers as he look condescendingly to the grinning girl sitting n the floor.

“Say what you want, but I’m not going to let your filthiness ruin my brother’s chance at happiness. Even if it means to kill so be it! My brother is too good for you nasty queers, he’s going back to New York with me where he can be normal without you digusting people influencing him!”

“Oh…HELL NO! What the fuck?! Your brother is a big boy and can make his own damn choices! If he wants to fuck a man, he’s going to fuck a man. Take him to New York and he’s just going to be fucking a man in New York! Stupid bitch! You can’t be fucking serious!” Otogi snarls out with every fiber of his being. He found it really hard not to smack the strawberry blonde senseless.

“Oh dear kami, poor Jou!” Yugi wails out, putting his hands to his face and shaking his head viciously.

“Try and stop me! You’ll find yourself right in Kaiba’s predicament!” Shizuka snarls warningly as she makes a move to get up but Otogi simply pushes her back down.

“Oh, hon. you really must’ve really lost your gah-damn mind! Threatening me?! Keep talking and you going find yourself wondering if you’ll make it alive out of this bathroom!”

The red-head fiend only hisses at them, but they were right. How in the hell is she going to get out of this one!

“Sumimasen, where’s ya bathroom?” comes a familiar accented voice.

All three occupants of the woman’s bathroom look towards the door.

Yugi, who’s the first to react, starts to make his way towards the door.

“Good luck explaining that nurse’s getup you’re wearing…” Otogi responds back with a smug grin which suddenly erases away to an expression of shock.

The green-eyed girl slowly stands up and takes off the nurse’s uniform to reveal a plain black sleeveless mini dress which had a white collar that matches perfectly with the white shoes that’s adorning her feet. She promptly throws the uniform into the trash bin that’s only a couple of inches to her left.

“What nurse’s uniform?”

“Why you, why you bitch?! You can’t possibly believe that you’re going to get away with this forever!” Yugi screams hysterically as he halts his trek to the door. This was simply too much for him.

“Just watch me…” It was the only warning Shizuka gave before throwing her head back and lets out a loud bloodcurdling scream.
“HELP! HELP! OH KAMI, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME!?” As delicate hands viciously attacks an equally delicate face making tell tale scars and thin streaks of blood. The hands then shifts upward to viciously grab locks of hair, completely making it flare up like wild fire.

Yugi and Otogi backs away in horror at the display.

“Wh-What the fuck is she doing?!” Otogi croaks out, just as the door swings open to reveal a shocked blond.

“What da hell?! Shizuka?!”

Getting up, the said girl rushes into her brother’s arms. “Kat-chan, Kat-chan! What’s wrong with your friends, they…they’re monsters!”

“WHAT?! You lost it! You lost it bitch! No one fucking touched you! You just did that to yourself, you fucking n- “Otogi was abruptly interrupted by a bronzed fist connecting to his face.

“OTOGI!” Yugi screams out as he rushes to his fallen friend’s side.

Jou stood there frozen staring at his fist. What the hell was he doing? They’re his FRIENDS…but…Shizuka…

“FUCK!” the blond yells out in frustration as he mashes his hands against his face.
First his boyfriend, now his friends…Nothing fucking made sense anymore!

Suddenly three police officers come rushing past the confused blond.

“What’s the meaning of all this!” one cries out.

Tears well up in green eyes as Shizuka conjures up the most pitiful voice she could muster. “THEY-THEY ATTACKED ME!” crying as she points to the two scared boys on the floor.
“Did you know anything about this kid?” The female of the group asks a stunned Jou.

“I-I-uh..I”

“FUCK JOU! OPEN YOUR DAMN EYES! YOU KNOW GOOD AND DAMN WELL WE HAVEN’T DONE SHIT!” Otogi screams out in a panic as one of the male police officer makes the sudden move to handcuff him.

Yugi begins to shake furiously as the other police officer makes a move to handcuff him as well.

Taking a desperate look towards frightened violet eyes, the dice master tries again. “I MEAN C’MON! LIKE HE WOULD ATTACK ANYBODY…IT’S FUCKING YUGI!”

“Ok we’ve heard enough” said the policeman that’s holding the screaming green-eyed teen in custody.

The strawberry blonde wraps her arms around her brother in a frightening gesture but in reality; she tries to keep her face from curving into a smirk as she presses her face into a broad shoulder.

Even then, the blond wouldn’t budge. He stands wide-eyed and even more bewildered at his friends being handcuffed.

The police officers begin to escort the two teens out, one crying silent tears while the other aggressively resists.

It wasn’t until Otogi last parting words that finally had brought Jou out of his stupor.

“FUCKING GET OFF OF CLOUD NINE! THAT’S NOT YOUR BABY SISTER ANYMORE! SHE WAS THE ONE THAT TRIED TO KILL KAIBA AND SHE’S STILL TRYING TO! KEEP LIVING YOUR DAMN FANTASY AND YOUR ANGEL REALLY WILL BE AN ANGEL!”

The last words of the dice master’s speech becomes muffled as the bathroom shuts sealing the two remaining occupants inside.

Jou losing internally at all of the emotions whirling inside, drops to his knees and sobs. Seto, Otogi, Yugi…his sister. How can he possibly accept the fact that his sweet sister that he felt lucky to have would try to kill someone so dear to him. That’s not the happy lil strawberry blonde he knew! However, Otogi words keeps coming back into his head…it can’t just be a coincidence that now his FRIENDS are saying the same shit that Seto had screamed out in his dreams. Things were clicking into place despite the fact that he doesn’t want to acknowledge it. But could he actually afford to continue on and not at least SEE the possibility of his sister being the aggressor…his angel’s life is in danger.

Flashback

“Not only do I want ta know what you’re afraid of, I want ta know how I can protect ya from it…”

“That’s just it…I don’t think you’ll have the heart.” Seto whispers somberly. “I can’t help but feel you’ll care for this person so much more. Which I can…”

“I know dis bastard who’s tried ta kill ya?!” the blond exclaims in shock. “Well shit, give me names so I’s can go and kick some asses! I can’t see me caring for someone who’s tryin’ ta drag mah angel six feet unda! How can ya possibly believe da dere’s anyone else dat I care more about den you anyway?”

Sad blue eyes dull even more. “K-Katsu, th-there’s…something you should know…”

End Flashback

As realization strikes him, Jou finds it incredibly hard to breathe. Seto had been hinting at Shizuka from the get-go.

Two hands gently cradles the blond’s face in comfort…hands that were once warm, now suddenly felt cold.

***

Time seems to freeze into place for a certain tri-color haired youth as he heads towards the open doors of the police car. He hears a faint cry of his name but before he could acknowledge the person, his head is forcibly put under the hood and into the car.

Otogi wasn’t too fortunate however as his police officer purposely rams his head against the hood as he forces him in. A pained grunt was the only reply.

Two sets of frantic footsteps run up just as the police car pulls off.

“YUGI!” screams a terrified Tea, “Kami, what just happened?”

“No one was supposed to get hurt huh?” Ryou replies sarcastically as he looks through the tall clear walls of glass into the reception area. He spots Shizuka escorting a zombie-like Jou out of what it appears to be a bathroom...with an evil, smug grin on her face.

To be continued…

Next Chapter: As Seto wakes up to chaos, Tea makes a sacrifice that results in Jou ultimately accepting the truth.