Kaiba's New Assistant

A/N- Finishing this chapter has been a real slog. Part of it didn't work at all and I had to rewrite the entire first part of the chapter from scratch as it was too much to just take out the redundant bits and stitch the rest of it together. Of course the rest of the chapter also needed a major overhaul after that. It also doesn't help that RL issues have recently put a dampener on my enthusiasm, which made everything all the more difficult.

I admit that I'm not completely happy with this chapter, but it has already taken me an age to get it this far and I can't even bring myself to look at it anymore, so I will post it now and reserve the right to come back and change/edit it later if I think of a way to improve it. I apologise in advance if it isn't up to par.

Also - I'm revising this story to read as complete - at least for now. The 'epilogue' I mentioned previously is just NOT up to snuff and will need a lot more work and expansion before I consider it to be. It doesn't help that my inspiration and motivation for this story has gone out of the window and besides, I think this chapter has a good ending point for the story as it is. Sometimes trying to force more out of a story does not work and that is where I find myself right now, but I do intend to try and come back to it in the future.

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The next day found Jou and Seto heading to Kaiba corporation after dropping Mokuba off at school. Kaiba had decided that it would be for the best if they took a day off from school themselves to deal with any problems within Kaiba Corporation and Jou couldn't help but agree. Kaiba had called the school and informed the secretary of that fact. She had seemed quite flustered, but Kaiba had paid that no mind, simply stating that they would not be in for the day and hanging up.

Both Mokuba and Noa had watched the previous day's broadcast from the relative safety of Mokuba's room and they had both been rightly pleased that the problems with Social Services that had been plaguing both Seto and Jonouchi were being sorted out. Mokuba had been aghast at just how much his brother had gone through in order to keep him safe, but he was especially pleased that he was no longer likely to be used as leverage to keep his brother 'in line'.

Also, as promised, representatives from the government had spoken to both Kaiba and Jonouchi at some length, making assurances that the corruption within Domino's local government would be dealt with harshly now that it had been brought to their attention. Kaiba privately sneered at this as he knew that it was only the glare of publicity that was causing them to have to move and he would regard everything with a healthy dose of cynicism until he actually saw results.

Jonouchi was also personally assured that he was perfectly entitled to stay in Japan as his father was a Japanese national and it didn't matter how unfit a parent he was, that wasn't Jonouchi's fault. Assurances were also made that programs would be put in place to assist those that had found themselves in a similar situation to Jonouchi. Kaiba had also regarded this with cynicism, but that hadn't stopped him from promising to make a large donation in order to help get the project off the ground.

Jou had then spent a fair amount of time on the phone to his friends, including Honda. His oldest friend had still been extremely contrite and apologetic, especially as he felt that he could not accept Kaiba's intervention in order to keep his job as a courier. He explained his decision in that he would always be under a cloud of suspicion and his special treatment, which is what it would be seen as, would poison the working environment to such an extent as to make it impossible to work there.

Jou was understandably not too happy, but understood Honda's reasoning, so he moved on and asked how things had gone with Otogi. Honda had sighed and told him that he had broken things off with Otogi, but as much as he knew that he'd had no choice, it had still hurt like a bitch. Jou expressed his sympathy and said that he would be there for his friend. Honda thanked him and said that Otogi could go rot.

Back to today, where Honda approached Yugi as he stood at his locker. "Hey Yugi," he greeted his friend. "Have you seen Jonouchi yet?"

Yugi shook his head. "Jou called earlier and told me that they are not coming in today" he said. "Kaiba thought that it would be for the best to let the furore die down a touch and to do any needed damage control at Kaiba Corporation, not that he expects it to be too much of an issue." He shrugged. "Kaiba is Kaiba after all."

"Oh," Honda sounded disappointed. "It's to be expected, I suppose." He gave a wry grin, "All those reporters standing outside are going to be quite disappointed then."

"Yeah," Yugi agreed, shaking his head. "The principal is not happy about that, I can tell you."

"I can imagine," Honda said. "Oh well, I guess I'll just have to catch up with Jou later."

"How are you bearing up, Honda?" Yugi asked, mindful that Jonouchi and Kaiba hadn't been the only ones hurt by Otogi's idiocy.

"I'm OK, I guess," Honda replied with a shrug. "I still need to find a new job and it's going to take a while to get over... him."

"Well, you know that I'll be here for you," Yugi said as they left the locker room.

"Thanks Yug', I appreciate that."

As the pair walked away a raven haired teen stepped out from behind the last row of lockers where he had been lurking ever since he had first heard Yugi come in. Otogi knew that he had fucked up spectacularly when he had sent those photos in to channel 7 and he wouldn't be able to take the disappointed look that Yugi would inevitably send his way. Honda's arrival had only resolved his decision to stay out of the way as, after the bitter argument and break up they'd gone through the previous day, he knew that things would not go well were he to make his presence known.

However, he was disappointed to learn that Kaiba and Jonouchi would not be attending school today. He had been hoping to get the chance to apologise to Jonouchi and Kaiba in person, although he knew that such a think would have been almost impossible as Kaiba wasn't likely to give him the time of day or allow him to get anywhere near Jonouchi, something Otogi wouldn't blame him for in the slightest.

He sighed as he continued to bitterly regret everything that had happened since he'd cut those photos from that album. He'd never considered that things might turn out this way, with Jonouchi almost being killed and then almost deported. When he had seen Jonouchi being loaded into the ambulance on that TV window display, he'd instantly known that it was his fault even without the benefit of audio commentary. When Honda had gone running off to the hospital he hadn't dared to follow, instead heading back home to watch the news and find out just how bad the damage was.

Honda had not come back to see him that night, instead leaving him to stew overnight and, perhaps, to let himself calm down a touch. When Honda had inevitably arrived the next day and laid into him, it was driven home just how the effects of his actions were definitely not restricted to Kaiba and Jonouchi, having not only cost himself his relationship with Honda, but he discovered that he had also cost Honda his job.

Honda had then left, saying that he couldn't be with someone who could betray him and his friends in such a way and Otogi really didn't blame him. He'd sat and thought for a long time after Honda had gone and, realising that he had pretty much ruined everything beyond repair, he had come to a decision. He would have to leave, sell the Black Crown and start again somewhere new. He really had lost sight of the bigger picture, being so obsessed with bringing Kaiba down a peg and he was determined that he would learn from this mistake and think things through before acting in future.

But before all that, he still owed an apology to the persons most wronged.

With that in mind, he left the locker room and exited the school. No-one that mattered would miss him and as for those that would? Well, it would hardly matter soon as he would be gone.

Putting his car into gear, he left the school car park, intent on heading for Kaiba Corporation. He wasn't sure how he would actually get in, but still, he felt that he had to try.

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As Jou and Seto were arriving at Kaiba Corp, Jou turned to Kaiba. "Are you sure that you are ready to go through with this," he asked.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that question?" Seto asked with a wry smile. "But yes, I am ready – or should I say that I have no choice but to be ready. There is bound to be some fallout from recent events but if I stay away it's going to look as though I'm running away which will cause yet more problems. Despite all that, I am ready." He looked at Jou with some concern, "But how about you? You don't have to come in if youdon't feel ready."

"Nah, I'm fine," Jou said with a smile. "Thanks for asking though. That means a lot. Besides, if you can't run away, then neither can I and for the same reasons. We are in this together, aren't we?"

"Of course we are," Seto said. He leaned over and gave Jou a quick kiss. "So, if you're ready..."

The driver opened the door and Seto stepped out, closely followed by Jou. Seto began to stride confidently into the building, feeling proud as Jou walked with apparently just as much confidence. They strode through the building, holding their heads high even as whispers erupted around them. Soon they reached the relative sanctuary of Seto's office and they stepped inside with some relief.

"Still with me?" Seto asked Jou as the blond visibly sagged.

"Yeah, I guess," Jonouchi replied with a sigh. "I guess that even the boss isn't immune to being gossiped about."

"I'm intending to put out an internal memo," Seto informed his assistant. "Putting our position down on paper – or in this case, email - will help calm some of the speculation that is sure to be running rife at the moment. Of course, I know it won't stop everything, after all, that interview should have been informative enough, but this should help stop productivity from dropping too much."

"Sounds sensible," Jou said, "but couldn't that backfire and cause yet more gossip?"

"There is always that chance," Seto acknowledged, "and I know that I don't have to explain myself at all, but once the memo has circulated, anyone caught shirking and gossiping will be dealt with harshly." He pressed a button. "Saya, could you come in and take a memo please?"

"Yes sir," Came the reply.

"Do you want me to take her post for now?" Jou asked.

"If you don't mind," Seto replied "I need someone on the phone, that is, as long as you trust me to do this right."

"Of course I do," Jou said almost indignantly. "You haven't done me wrong so far since all this kicked off."

"You know that isn't strictly true," Seto pointed out.

"I already forgave you for that, so can we not bring it up again," Jou said with a sigh.

"Of course. I'm sorry," Seto said as the door opened and Saya walked in.

"I'm ready to take your memo, Sir," Saya said perkily, "and I'd just like to say that I'm glad things are working out for you both."

"Thank you Saya," Seto replied as the secretary made herself ready.

"I'll just go and man the phones then," Jou said, heading out of the door.

Over the next while, he only had to answer the phone a handful of times, but that was a handful of times too many as most of those consisted of other staff members calling to try and dig for gossip and he reprimanded those harshly. A couple of times, somehow, the press had got through, trying to get a scoop. He cut them off then called down to the front desk and reprimanded them for that. The last call, from an unidentified number, just had someone calling him derogatory names. He called up Noa to trace that last call as it had likely been an internal call, then he took the phone off the hook as he gave it up as a bad job.

A few moments after that, he was surprised to hear the chime of the lift arriving, but a far more unpleasant surprise was just who stepped out of it.

"Otogi," Jou growled. "What the fuck do you want and how the hell did you get in here?" He shook his head. "No, forget it, I don't want to know. Now get out before I call security."

"Wait!" Otogi exclaimed. "Don't call them yet. I need to talk to you."

"You are kidding, right?" Jou asked incredulously. "What the hell makes you think that I want to talk to you after what you've done?"

"Look, I'm sorry, I really am," Otogi said fervently. "I never meant for things to end up this way. I only wanted to get one over on Kaiba, that's all. I never thought that anything like this might happen."

"More like you didn't think at all," Jou snorted. "You were so fixated on causing crap for Seto that you never thought about how I would be affected or how it would affect Honda."

"I know," Otogi looked ashamed, "and I really regret that."

"Yeah, only after Honda dumped your ass over it, I bet," Jou spat. "Come on man, you must have known that it would be fairly obvious where those images had come from and that it would get out in the end."

"I didn't think about it until after I'd sent the photos out to Channel 7, but it was far too late to stop them being shown by then."

"I hope they paid you enough to make it worth it," Jou said.

Otogi winced. "Actually, no, I sent them in anonymously, but that doesn't matter anyway." He sighed, "I just wanted to apologise before I go."

"Go?" Jou asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"I'm selling the Black Crown and leaving Domino," Otogi gave a wry smile. "Funny how you don't know what you've got 'till it's gone and I've well and truly ruined everything around here to the point where I just can't stay." He shook his head, "I'd have told Honda myself, but I know he won't even look at me, let alone let me speak to him, so I guess I'll be doing everyone a favour by just leaving." He moved back to the lift. "Sorry again, Jonouchi." He paused, "Oh, and tell Kaiba that his front desk staff are too busy gossiping to do their work properly. That's how I got in." Jou watched, totally dumbfounded as the doors slid closed. He didn't come back to himself until the office door opened and Seto stepped out, followed by Saya.

"What's up, Jou?" Seto asked, noting the shocked look on Jou's face.

"Otogi was just here," Jou explained.

Seto's expression darkened. "You are kidding!" he hurried over to Jou's side. "Did he do anything? If he did anything..." he reached over to call security, only to stop as Jou placed his hand over his own.

"Stop, Seto," Jou said gently. "He came to apologise and to tell me that he's selling the Black Crown and leaving Domino."

"Well, that's a good thing," Seto said with some satisfaction, escorting Jou back to his office and leaving Saya to deal with the memo. "He's well and truly burned his bridges around here."

"He was really upset, though."

"So he should be. He nearly cost you your life and then you were nearly deported. I'm glad he's upset."

"He hasn't told Honda though," Jou mused.

"Why should he? Honda broke it off with him didn't he?"

"Yeah, but it's still going to hurt Honda if Otogi just ups and leaves without telling him."

"I'm sorry Jonouchi," Seto shook his head. "I'm not sure what you want me to do about it."

Jou sighed. "I'm going to have to call Honda and tell him at the very least," Jou replied as he crossed to sit at his own desk and pull out his cell phone. "Honda," Jou said as the call was answered.

"Jou," Honda acknowledged. "What's up?"

"How are things going down there?"

"About as expected," Honda replied. "Kaiba's fangirls up in arms that Kaiba's taken and people are gossiping, but that's to be expected."

"Has the principal said anything?" Jou asked.

"Nope," Honda said. "but I can tell you that he's really annoyed about the press camping outside the gate."

"That doesn't surprise me," Jou said. "In fact I'm surprised that they don't hang around outside the school more often."

"Yeah, me too," Honda said. "Is that all you called for?" he asked.

"Heh, you know me too well," Jou said ruefully.

"So what's up, bud?"

"It's about Otogi," Jou said carefully.

"What about him?" Honda's voice became harsh. "Actually, I'm not sure I want to know."

"He just came to Kaiba Corporation to see me," Jou said quickly. "He came to apologise to me in person." Jou paused as Honda snorted.

"Like that's going to make up for anything," Honda said disparagingly.

"That's not all though," Jou said more gently, knowing the next would be a bombshell for his friend. "He's leaving Hon'. He's selling the Black Crown and leaving Domino."

"Wh... what?" Honda was shocked.

"He says he would have told you, but..."

"But he knew I wouldn't speak to him," Honda said weakly. "Damn it, he can't go. How is anything supposed to get fixed if he runs away?"

"I'm sorry Honda," Jou said sincerely.

"That's OK, Jou. Thanks for telling me," Honda replied sadly.

"'Sok, Hon'. What are friends for?"

"I'll have to go and see him," Honda mused, "that is, if you don't mind?"

"No, do what you need to," Jou said. "Good luck."

"Thanks," came the reply, then Honda rang off.

"I take it that he's going after Dice Boy?" Seto asked as Jou put the phone down.

"Yeah," Jou confirmed. "He was really shook up."

"Well, you might be interested to hear that I've bought the Black Crown."

"What?" Jou was shocked. "So quickly?"

A look of distaste came over Seto's features. "I wouldn't have bothered, but there were already other parties showing interest and I didn't want Otogi to make a massive mistake before Honda gets a chance to talk to him."

"Why would you do that?" Jou asked.

"Because I know how your little friendship fusion works," Seto explained with a roll of his eyes. "You might be all at sixes and sevens right now, but you'll get past that and you'll be all the stronger for it. Not that I could ever forgive him so easily," he added harshly, "but I know that your friends mean a lot to you."

"I don't know what to say," Jou said. "On one hand I want to kill you because right now I think that Otogi is an ass and deserves everything he gets, but you are right about the rest so on the other hand I want to kiss you senseless," Jou stood up and crossed to where Seto was, "and I know that Honda would be absolutely devastated if Otogi were to just up and leave, so..." he kissed Seto with feeling, "thank you," he said as he pulled away.

"I have to admit that I do have an ulterior motive," Seto admitted.

"Oh?"

"Well, if Otogi were to regret selling his business and I were to allow him to buy it back – at cost," Seto smirked, "he'd owe me one. A big one."

"I guess I should have expected that," Jou said, shaking his head with wry amusement. "There is one more thing Honda brought to my attention though,"

"Oh, what's that?"

"Apparently there are a lot of press hanging around outside the school gates, causing a disruption," Jou said.

"Hmm... I'll get my lawyers on it," Seto said. "Now come on, we have work to do."

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The next day, they arrived back at school, having dealt with most of the issues that their outing had caused the previous day. Seto had also had his lawyers deal with the press camping outside the school. As he explained to Jou, there was an injunction against the press interfering with his school life and just because he was now 18 and they thought there was a story to be had, didn't mean that injunction still wasn't in force, the injunction having been issued to protect the other students as much as Kaiba himself.

They had also had a meeting with the principal, which was an uncomfortable experience for all concerned. Once they were done with that they were just heading towards the locker room in order to prepare for class when out of nowhere came a scream of "Kaiba!" and an upset Honda was fighting to get at him, held back by a cringing Otogi.

"Oh, what now?" Seto said with more than a hint of exasperation as Otogi finally lost his grip on the irate Honda.

"Honda, stop!" Otogi shouted as Honda flung himself down the corridor towards at Kaiba, only to stop short as Jonouchi firmly planted himself in front of his partner.

"Get outta the way, Jou," Honda spat.

"No." Jou said simply, standing his ground as Seto looked at Honda with contempt.

"Damn it Jou, if you don't move, I'll..."

"You'll what, fin head?" Kaiba sneered. "Maybe use force on an injured person?"

Honda deflated slightly "Well, no, but..."

"But what?"

"Well... why are you hiding behind an injured man? I never pegged you as being a coward," Honda taunted.

"I'm not hiding at all," Seto said coolly, "but if you insist..." He made to step past Jou, despite his protests.

"Stop it!" Surprisingly the shout came from Otogi and everyone stopped. "Honda, I already told you. I put the Black crown on the market so Kaiba was more than entitled to buy it," he sagged, "and after everything that's happened it's only right."

"So you came here and threatened both Katsuya and myself because of something that I was perfectly entitled to do?" Kaiba sneered, crossing his arms and leaning back arrogantly.

"But you didn't have to buy it," Honda protested. "Otogi was going to take it off the market..."

"You are right, I didn't have to," Kaiba cut Honda off, "but he'd put it on the market at such an attractive price that if I hadn't snapped it up then someone else would have done and there was already a fair amount of interest being shown."

"Really?" Honda wasn't convinced.

"I already told you that," Otogi said. "It's better that Kaiba have it than some other faceless corporation."

Jou looked at Seto quizzically, wondering what he was going to do. Was he going to make Otogi squirm? Seto caught his look and smiled.

"Jou?" Honda broke him out of his thoughts.

"Eh? What?" Jou said. "Sorry, I wasn't listening." Seto facepalmed. That was just so much like Jou.

"What do you think about it?" Honda pressed.

"About what?"

"Kaiba buying the Black Crown?" Honda exclaimed.

"Oh. Well, I can tell you that Seto isn't lying," Jou informed him.

"See, I told you," Otogi said in exasperation. "I can understand that you won't take my word for it, but why would I lie about something like that?" He threw his hands up. "I give up," he said, then bowed deeply towards both Jonouchi and Kaiba. "I can only apologise for my actions," he said, then he straightened up and turned to leave.

"Hold it!" Kaiba said. "Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving," Otogi said. "It's abundantly clear that no matter what happens I've ruined everything and there is no way that anything will ever be the same. It's really for the best if I just go." He turned to leave again, ignoring Honda's protests as he walked away.

"You never struck me as a coward, Dice Boy," Seto sneered.

Otogi bristled at the familiar insult, then let it wash over him. "I'm not a coward," he insisted, "just someone who knows when to cut their losses. Surely you can appreciate that."

"So you are not interested in hearing my offer?" Seto raised an eyebrow.

"You have an offer for me?" Otogi was stunned. "Why?"

"I don't have to explain that," Seto said. "Katsuya knows my reasons and understands them." Jou nodded to show his agreement, knowing full well that it was not in Seto's nature to explain something like this.

"OK, I'm listening," Otogi said, turning to face both Kaiba and Jonouchi again.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Honda asked, still clearly shaken from learning that Kaiba had bought the Black Crown and unsure that Kaiba wasn't about to do something untoward in order to extract revenge. He was known to hold a grudge after all.

"Butt out Honda," Otogi said with a little annoyance at Honda's flip-flopping, something that was reflected on the faces of both Kaiba and Jonouchi. "Let me hear the man out."

"Honda, shocked at Otogi's tone of voice, quieted instantly.

"Sensible," Kaiba said, giving Honda a contemptuous look. He looked back towards Otogi. "I'm prepared to reverse the sale of the Black Crown at no cost," Kaiba said.

"What?" Otogi was completely floored. "What's the catch?"

"No catch," Kaiba said coolly.

"Come on," Otogi was clearly unconvinced. "There is no way that you'd do something like that for no reason."

"Jonouchi knows my reasons and for what it's worth, he agrees with me," Seto said. "But yes, there is something I want from you."

"Name your terms," Otogi said, gritting his teeth as he braced himself, knowing that he could sill walk away if the conditions were too bad.

"It's nothing drastic," Kaiba said. "No, all I want is a promise that you will stop trying to 'get one over' on me and a favour to be repaid at a future date."

Otogi let out a sigh of relief. It could have been a whole lot worse. Yes, the favour part had him a little worried, but before he could voice his concerns, Jou spoke up.

"Don't worry too much over the favour," Jou said. "I'll make sure he doesn't ask for anything illegal or too unreasonable."

"Oh, you're no fun," Seto almost pouted at Jou. "I wanted to make him sweat for a while." He looked back at Otogi, "So, what do you say?"

"Deal," Otogi said, holding out his hand which Kaiba shook in the age old custom of finalised deals.

"Come by my office later and we'll finalise the paperwork," Kaiba said, turning to leave. "Coming Jou?"

"Give me a moment," Jou said. "I'll catch you up." Seto nodded and walked on.

"Wow, Kaiba has really mellowed," Otogi said. "I thought he'd take pleasure in running me out of town. You really are good for him, Jonouchi."

"I'd like to think so," Jou said a little awkwardly. He wasn't that comfortable with Otogi at the moment after all. "So," Jou turned to Honda, "are you two going to be alright now?"

"Kind of," Honda said with a little discomfort. "We've got a long way to go to get the trust back, but I think he's learned his lesson." He looked at Otogi as he said this last.

"I have," the normally overly confident teen said in an uncharacteristically meek way. "I know damned well that I don't deserve a second chance and I'm going to do my best not to mess up again."

"Good," Jou said. "I'm not ready to forgive you yet and neither is Seto. Actually," he paused and thought a moment, "I don't think Seto ever will, but I can put up with you for Honda's sake as long as you leave us alone."

"Thanks, Jonouchi," Otogi said. "It's more than I deserve, really."

"Alright," Jou said. "Now I'd better go catch up with Seto." He turned to leave, only to be stopped by Honda.

"Thanks bud," Honda said, enveloping Jou in a bone crushing hug. Then he let go and went off with Otogi.

Otogi and Honda both went by Kaiba's office later. Everything was sorted out pertaining to ownership of the Black Crown and that was the end of that.

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It was only a couple of days later when Noa popped up on Seto's computer screen.

"What is it?" Seto asked coolly, obviously still not completely comfortable with having the virtual boy around.

"I've been running those background checks that you asked me to do on all Kaiba Corporation employees..." Noa began.

"Oh? Have you found anything out of the ordinary?" Seto asked.

"One or two things," Noa hedged, "but I came across something specifically to do with the household staff."

"So I'll sack them and have done with it," Seto said dismissively, "end of problem."

"It's not like that, Seto," Noa said. "It's Mrs. Doyle. It turns out that she has no official papers which makes her, in effect, an illegal immigrant."

"I... see," Seto said, taken aback. That Mrs. Doyle didn't have any legal documents entitling her to stay and work in Japan was something he had never considered as she had just always been... there. "Thank you for bringing it to my attention, Noa," he said. "I shall have to give this some thought."

"One more thing," Noa said. "I also noticed that her files had been accessed several times within the last few days."

"So someone else has noticed," Seto said. "I shall have to think on it quickly then."

Noa nodded, then disappeared off to continue his work.

Seto sighed and put his head into his hands, thinking about what a mess this could be. That was when Jonouchi walked into the room.

"What's up, Seto?" he asked with some concern.

"Oh, it's nothing much," Seto said offhandedly. "Just that Mrs Doyle apparently doesn't have any official papers allowing her to stay here."

"Oh," Jou was just as taken aback as Seto was. "So what are you going to do about it?" He asked.

"I'm not sure," Seto said. "Noa only brought it to my attention a couple of minutes before you came in."

"Well, at least it's not the authorities bringing it up," Jou said, ever looking for the optimistic side.

"Yes, but she was seen on the television when we gave that interview," Seto pointed out. "I can guarantee that some meddler or other will have begun looking into why I have an Irish housekeeper that obviously doesn't speak Japanese and will use it to cause trouble at some point. After all, Kaiba Corporation doesn't want to get a reputation for employing illegals."

"Can't you get her some papers?" Jonouchi asked.

"I could try, but somehow I doubt it would be that easy," Seto said with a shake of his head. "Besides, I know that no matter what she says, she is homesick. Honestly, I think the best thing for everyone would be to allow her to go home."

"You're probably right," Jou said. "But... do you think she'll go? After all, from what you told me she's insistent on not going until that debt is paid off."

"Well, it's either she gets to go home in comfort on a Kaiba Corporation jet or like a criminal on a commercial flight organised by the authorities after whatever interrogation they'd put her through," Seto said. "Noa tells me that her records have been accessed several times in the last few days and it's only logical to assume that someone is already investigating her presence."

"I get you," Jou said nodding in agreement. "In that case we should start making arrangements to send her home as soon as possible." He began to pace. "Where does she actually live? Is her home in good order? And..." he looked at Seto with big eyes, "can we come up with some way to keep in touch with her? As odd as she is, I'll miss her."

"Oh yes please, Seto," Noa said as he popped back up on the screen. "If you give her a computer and an internet connection I can visit her whenever I like."

Seto smiled at his virtual brother and his partner and shook his head with amusement. "Of course," he said. "And although I would never admit it to anyone else, I'll miss her too."

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So that was how Mrs. Doyle found herself travelling in comfort back to Ireland on one of Kaiba's personal jets. At the airport she was transferred to a helicopter and that was how she travelled back to Craggy Island.

It had been a tearful farewell as she was seen off by not only Jonouchi, Kaiba and Mokuba, but also Jonouchi's other friends, including Yugi and Ryou.

She had not been keen to leave, the need to stay until Father Crilly repaid his debt overriding almost anything else, but when Kaiba had explained that she should not have been here in the first place and it was fairly likely that within the next few days someone from the authorities would come around to take her away for questioning and deportation like a criminal, she reluctantly agreed that it would be for the best if she did go. Kaiba also assuaged her concerns over the debt as he pointed out that it had been more than repaid it by her time in service to the Kaiba household.

As she arrived at her front door, she regarded her home with not a small amount of dread. Not only would the place need a thorough cleaning and airing as no-one had lived there for years, but she would also have to get accustomed to being alone again. However, she was to be shocked as she unlocked the door and stepped inside. Everything was absolutely clean and pristine and there, in the corner, was a brand new table with one of those computer things on it.

She approached the table in wonder, and with a small amount of suspicion and she nearly jumped out of her skin as the monitor came to life and Noa's grinning face appeared on the screen.

"Mrs Doyle!" He exclaimed. "You made it home! Did you have a good trip?"

"I did, thank you," Mrs Doyle replied, "and I must say that it is nice to see a friendly face, even if it is a bit of a shock. To be honest, I never thought I'd ever see you again."

"Well we did say that we would stay in touch," Noa said. "Was the house cleaned to your satisfaction?" he asked.

"I haven't had chance to look all the way around yet," she replied, "but if it's anything like what I've already seen then it is excellent, but you really didn't have to go that far for me."

"Nonsense," Noa said. "Kaibas look after their own, and we do regard you as one of our own now. I'll have to let Seto know that you've arrived safely, but if you need anything, you only have to let us know."

"Thank you, Noa," Mrs Doyle said, wiping at suspiciously damp eyes. Noa waved then the screen went blank.

Mrs Doyle thought for a moment before straightening herself up. If she didn't have to spend time cleaning then it was time to head to the parochial house to see how fathers Crilly, Macguire and Hackett were getting along, if they even missed her anymore."

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"CRILLY!" The front door of the parochial house slammed open as the booming voice of Bishop Brennan echoed through the house. "Where are you, Crilly!" He burst into the sitting room where Father Jack Hackett was sat in his usual drunken stupor in his chair in the corner and father Dougal Macguire was sat on the sofa watching cartoons. The place was in a dirty state which only stoked his ire further.

"Oh, hello there Len," Dougal said cluelessly as the enraged bishop stormed into the room.

"Shut up you utter cretin," Bishop Brennan roared, "and tell me where that Crilly is hiding his worthless carcass!"

Father Dougal gave Bishop Brennan an odd look. "Ted's in the kitchen," he said offhandedly, turning back to watch the brightly coloured ponies cavorting on the screen.

Bishop Brennan took his cue, almost ripping the kitchen door out of it's socket in his haste to open it and there, cowering on the floor, was Father Ted Crilly.

"W... why hello there, Bishop Brennan," Ted began shakily. "Wh... what brings you all the way out here?"

Bishop Brennan grabbed Ted's ear and, ignoring the cowardly priest's whimpers of pain, dragged him forcibly to the sofa and made him sit next to Dougal. "Stay there," the man said, causing Ted to shrink back into the cushions in fear. Bishop Brennan crossed to the ancient TV and Video player, pulled a cassette out of his voluminous robes and placed it in the player.

"Hey, I was watching that!" Dougal protested, but even he quailed at the angry expression on Bishop Brennan's face and wisely shut up.

As the picture came on the screen, Bishop Brennan turned to Father Ted. "Explain," he barked.

"Er... Explain what, your grace?" Ted asked, still trying to play completely dumb even though he had to know that it was an exercise in futility.

"Stop playing dumb, Crilly!" Bishop Brennan boomed again, causing Ted to shrink further back into the cushions with a whimper. "Maybe your cretinous little friend can tell me what exactly I'm referring to."

"It's not a cartoon?" Dougal ventured, looking up at the Bishop with innocent eyes.

"Good Grief!" Bishop Brennan was beyond frustrated now. "What I am referring to is the presence of your housekeeper – the housekeeper that the Church gives you good money to employ - in this video. Which was shot in Japan less than a fortnight ago."

"I don't see her," Ted said disingenuously. "Maybe you are mistaken."

"I am not mistaken!" Bishop Brennan roared. He rewound the video and turned the sound up. "Here, watch it again."

"I'm so sorry Master Kaiba," Mrs Doyle was heard to say. "These men insisted on seeing Mr. Jonouchi and I couldn't stop them."

"That's quite alright Mrs. Doyle," Kaiba's accented English tones were heard. "Could you please bring tea in for us?"

"OK, so."

Bishop Brennan paused the video which clearly showed Mrs. Doyle's confused face. "Now, explain!" Father Crilly sank into the cushions and whimpered, wondering how the hell he was going to get out of this one.

"Why, hello there Bishop Brennan," Mrs Doyle said nonchalantly as she breezed into the room. "It's an unexpected honour to see you here. Would you like a nice cup of tea?"

"No thank you Mrs Doyle, I just..." He stopped as he registered her presence in the room. "Wait... What are you doing here?" Confusion was evident on his face.

"I do work here, don't I?" she replied.

"But... but..." the bishop was lost for words.

"Oh! You've seen where I went on holiday," she said brightly as she took note of her picture showing on the television.

"You... you call that a holiday?" he asked incredulously, "Keeping house for people like... like them?"

"Oh yes. It was quite the experience," she said matter of factly, "but it is good to be home." She looked at Bishop Brennan expectantly.

The bishop threw his hands up in the air. "You people are all INSANE!" he yelled, before storming out of the house, swearing that it really would be a cold day in hell before he ever stepped foot there again.

Mrs Doyle watched with satisfied amusement as the bishop left the house as quickly as he'd obviously arrived. She glanced around, seeing that she had a lot of work to do to get the house back into some kind of reasonable order, but first things first. "Now, who's for a nice cup of tea?" she said brightly, smiling as both Father Crilly and Father Macguire gave enthusiastic responses. Jack just continued to slumber in the corner, oblivious to everything.

Living with the Kaibas for so long had been interesting in its own way and had taught her some valuable lessons, but it really was good to be home.

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A/N - Just in case you missed it at the top - I'm revising this story to read as complete - for now. The 'epilogue' I mentioned is just NOT up to snuff and will need a lot more work and expansion before I consider it to be. It doesn't help that my inspiration and motivation for this story has gone out of the window and besides, I think this is a fairly good place to end it as it is. Sometimes trying to force more out of a story does not work and that is where I find myself right now, but I do intend to try and come back to it in the future.

Also, why in hell do I have an Azureshipping plotbunny hanging around in my head? That's not really a pairing I'm into. Oh well, a change is as good as a rest, as they say. I shall write it for NaNoWriMo to get it out of my system, but I don't know if I'll ever post it anywhere. :/

All that said, thank you for reading.