Kaiba's New Assistant

A/N - I should make it clear (as I should have done in the first chapter) that this story will contain uke Seto in later chapters.

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After playing video games together for several hours, Jonouchi and Kaiba were inevitably interrupted.



"Seto! I’m home!" Mokuba called out as he made a bee line for the lounge, obviously having been told that Seto was there by the housekeeper. However, he stopped short at the unusual sight of Seto and Jou playing Mario Cart and laughing as they knocked each other off the track.



"Hey there, Mokuba," Jou called out cheerfully.



"Mokuba," Seto said evenly, "What are you doing home so early?



Mokuba’s eyes widened as he realised that for once his ever punctual brother must have lost track of time. "It’s not early, Seto," he replied, "It's already gone 5pm. You know I come home late on Tuesdays as I have an after school club."



Jou jumped up in shock. "It’s already after five? Shit! I should have been at work at five!" he turned to Seto, panic clearly showing on his face, "Can I use your phone please?"



"Yes, of course," Seto replied and gestured towards a door, "Just go through into the next room so you can have some privacy."



"Thanks Kaiba," Jou said as he raced through the door to use the phone.



Now alone with Mokuba, Seto braced himself for the inevitable third degree. Mokuba didn't disappoint him. "So what is going on? Why is Jou here? Did you really skip school today? How..."



"Stop, Mokuba!" Seto exclaimed, "One thing at a time." With that he explained how the Principal had found them and misunderstood the situation and thought they were fighting, although he didn't tell of Jou's initial reaction to being caught. He also explained how the Principal came up with the idea to send them off to spend the day with each other so that they could learn to get along and how they had ended up spending the rest of the day distracted playing video games until Mokuba had come in.



"So, is anything happening between you and Jou?" Mokuba asked slyly.



Seto gave him a reproving look, then subsided. "Nothing is going to happen, at least not at the moment," he sighed. "It’s... complicated. I only found out that he actually likes me today, but we both have issues standing in the way."



Mokuba was accustomed to seeing the more vulnerable side of Seto, even if it didn’t come out very often. He hugged his brother. "Don’t worry, Seto," he said, "if it’s meant to be, you'll work it out somehow."



"Thanks Mokuba," Seto said as he returned the hug, "Your support means a lot to me. I just need to be patient, that’s all. I’m sure it will work out in the end."



"That’s the spirit, big brother!" Mokuba exclaimed.



Seto smiled as Mokuba hugged him, but inside he was frowning. Yes, the day had been eye opening in more ways than one and to his surprise he'd found that he'd really enjoyed Jonouchi's company, but now, seemingly in a heartbeat, the day was all but over.



He couldn't help but wonder where things would go from here. Would their lives go back to the way they were, albeit with less fighting? A truce had been agreed after all, but once Jou was back with the Geek Squad, how well would it hold?



Kaiba shook his head. If there was one thing that he knew about Jonouchi it was that he was a man of his word, so he couldn't see this truce slipping unless he himself started something. He supposed that as much as he disliked the uncertainty, he'd just have to wait and see what happened next.



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In the next room, Jonouchi wasn’t having much luck. "Please, Mr. Seguchi," he pleaded, "It won’t happen again I swear!"



"I’m sorry, Jonouchi," the dispassionate voice came down the phone line. "I can’t accept your unreliability any more. Come over to pick up your pay cheque and cards on Friday. I need an employee who is going to be reliable and I'm afraid that you just don't cut it."



"Isn’t there anything I can do to change your mind?" Jou was desperate now and he didn’t care to disguise it.



"I’m sorry Jonouchi. I’ll see you on Friday," and with that, Seguchi hung up.



Jou despondently dropped the receiver back into the cradle and dropped his head into his hands as he slowly sank to the floor. What the hell was he supposed to do now? He had worked hard at that job but thanks to a few slip ups he had lost it. He paled as he thought of what the reaction from his father would be. He didn’t want to think of what the elder Jonouchi might do to him – or make him do - for losing this job.



Jonouchi sat quietly for a few moments taking deep breaths in order to get his emotions back under control before he had to go back and face Kaiba. He knew that he couldn’t delay for too long as either Kaiba or Mokuba would eventually come looking for him, but after a couple of minutes he thought he had himself back under reasonable control so he stood and quietly walked back into the adjoining room.



"Jonouchi, are you alright?" Mokuba asked, instantly noticing that something was wrong. Jou couldn’t bring himself to speak and he cursed himself for not waiting a couple of minutes longer before coming back in.



Seto looked in shock at Jou’s face, his pallor making it obvious that something was amiss even though Jou had made some vain attempt at hiding it. "Jonouchi?" he said worriedly, then he sighed. "Come on, I'll drop you off at work on my way to Kaiba Corporation. Where is it that you need to go?"



"Thanks Kaiba," Jou was thankful that he managed to speak without his voice cracking, "I appreciate the offer but... I don’t need to go. In fact I don’t need to go there ever again except to pick up my final pay-packet and papers."



"They fired you?" Mokuba said in surprise, "How come?"



"Well," Jou began hesitantly with a flick of his eyes to Kaiba, "I’ve ended up in detention quite a few times lately which in turn meant that I was late for work. The last time I was late they told me that if I was late again they would fire me." He sighed, "Today was that day."



Seto felt a small stab of guilt go through him as he knew that he had caused Jou to get most of those detentions. He couldn’t help himself, it had been fun getting Jou so riled up that he attacked him, plus he wanted to see how far he could push things before one of the teachers finally gave the mighty Kaiba Seto a detention. It hadn’t happened yet - in fact today was the closest he'd come to that goal. If he’d known that Jonouchi had a job to go to he might have taunted him about it a little, but he certainly wouldn’t have gone out of his way to get him fired. Well, that's what he told himself anyway.



"Why do you even need to work at all?" Kaiba asked suddenly. "Surely you should be out with the Geek Squad playing games and living it up." Seto couldn’t help feeling slightly bitter as he said that. He’d always been a bit jealous of Jonouchi’s seeming freedom whereas he was constrained by the responsibilities of both Kaiba Corporation and Mokuba. To find that this was another thing that he had been wrong about with regards to Jou really did leave a bitter taste in his mouth.



Jou paused, carefully considering how to answer. His eyes flicked towards Mokuba who caught on and made an excuse to leave. "Hey guys, I have some homework to do. I’ll leave you to it and see you later."



Jou waited until the door had closed then looked towards Kaiba. "Right now I want to rip you a new one about not understanding that not everyone has money ya know, but I promised a truce." He took a deep breath, knowing that he couldn’t stall any longer. "Well, things aren’t all that great at home." Jou mentally grimaced. That was an understatement if ever there was one. "My dad can’t get work so money is tight and anything I earn helps."



Seto felt another stab of guilt although something about the story didn’t ring completely true but he was sure he would put his finger on whatever was amiss before too long and get Jou to tell him the whole truth. For the moment, however... "Let me help you."



"What?" Jou’s eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head. "No way Kaiba. I’m sorry, but I can’t accept your charity."



Seto smiled. "Do you know how many people would snatch my hand off or try to take me for as much as they could? That’s just one of the things that has me convinced that you are the right person for this. I want you to come and work for me." He held up his hand to forestall Jou’s inevitable protest, "I need a personal assistant but up until now there has been no-one I could trust enough to give the position to. I know you well enough to know that you are loyal and trustworthy and that your code of honour would stop you from telling any secrets, even if things don't work out." He gave Jou a look that he hoped conveyed his sincerity. "You would be doing me a favour, really."



"Are you sure?" Jou asked with some trepidation. "You know my grades aren’t the best..."



"Completely," Seto replied without hesitation, "The grades aren’t really that much of an issue. Besides which, I’m sure that with the right motivation we can change that."



Jou’s mind started working overtime. He wasn’t one hundred percent certain that working so closely with Kaiba would be a good idea, especially in the light of this morning’s events, but he really needed a job and the prospects of getting another on short notice weren’t good. "What exactly does the job involve?" he asked by way of prolonging his thinking time.



"It means that you would only be answerable to me," Seto explained. "You would run errands for me, sometimes answer the personal phone if I’m indisposed and file some sensitive data that I couldn’t trust my other workers to do amongst other things."



"Ah, you mean like a glorified secretary and general dogsbody all rolled into one?" Jou asked.



Seto smiled, a genuine smile that reached his eyes. "You said it, not me!" he said in amusement.



Jou’s breath was taken away by the brilliant smile on Kaiba’s face even as he mentally face-palmed at what he had inadvertently said. "OK, I walked into that one," he admitted.



"But seriously Jonouchi," Seto said, "You must realise that I’m not the easiest person to work for…"



"I’ll bet that’s the understatement of the year!" Jou interjected teasingly.



"Ahem, quite." Seto got things back on track, "Apart from not having anyone I could trust enough to do this, I get the impression that most people wouldn't want to work so closely with me for that long anyway. This means that I have to spend longer at the office than I would like so that I can see to these things myself. Yes, I could trust Mokuba to do it, but I want him to have his childhood and freedom as far as is possible."



"Yeah, I get ya," Jou said, suddenly feeling uncomfortable as there was a big question that needed to be asked, "So... uh... how much will you be paying me for putting up with your attitude?" He smiled to take the sting out of the question, then Kaiba named a figure that had Jou reeling in shock. "How much?" he exclaimed.



"I know it’s not the full rate," Seto began in a slightly apologetic tone, "but there is some training that you will need to undergo and once you have the experience your pay level will rise accordingly." He looked at Jou who was gaping like a fish out of water. "Is there something wrong?"



"It’s just that..." Jou was still visibly flustered, "what you are going to pay me just for starting, its way beyond what I could ever have hoped to earn at my old job."



"Well, you are going to be personal assistant to the great Kaiba Seto," he smirked, "of course you will be paid accordingly. You’ll earn every penny too."



Jou didn’t know what to say, so he simply threw himself at Kaiba and gave him the biggest hug of his life. "Thank you Kaiba," he gasped out, "You won’t regret this, I swear."



"You’re welcome Jonouchi," Seto said with a smile, "and I’m sure that I won’t regret it, but usually a handshake would be enough to seal the deal."



Jou released Kaiba and stepped back with a blush on his face. "Ah, sorry," he stammered and put his hand out for Seto to shake. Kaiba had just clasped hands with Jou when there was a flash and the artificial electronic sound of a shutter being fired. The two boys blinked and turned to find a smirking Mokuba standing there with the camera that Seto had given him for his birthday.



"Mokuba?" Seto said with some surprise. "I thought you went to do your homework."



Mokuba shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I had to come back and take a picture of you two getting along or I might have thought I'd dreamed the whole thing," he said dramatically.



Seto sighed, "Very funny," he said. "Can we see the picture please?" Mokuba handed the camera over so Seto and Jou could crowd together to see the image on the built in screen. One look showed them that the principal would more than likely be satisfied that they had settled their differences if they were to show him this. Seto knew that he could probably talk the man round if he decided to be difficult, but this would still help immensely in case of any problem. "Thank you Mokuba," he said as he handed the camera back, "could you print a couple of copies for me please?"



"Sure thing Seto," Mokuba replied with a grin.



Seto turned back to Jou. "Well, we’d best be off to Kaiba Corporation then."



"What, I’m starting today?" Jou asked, dumbfounded.



"No time like the present," Seto said, "especially as you were supposed to be working today anyway."



"Seto?" Mokuba put a whole question into that one word.



"Mokuba, meet my new personal assistant, Jonouchi Katsuya." Seto said. Jou blushed.



"That’s great Seto!" Mokuba exclaimed, "I’m glad you finally found someone for the job." He looked to Jou, "I’m sure you’ll do great!"



"Thanks Mokuba, I'll do my best," Jou said, then he blushed again as his stomach growled loudly.



"Hungry already?" Seto asked in amusement.



"Well yeah, it has been a long time since those sandwiches," Jou said. "And how come you're not hungry? You didn’t eat very much then so you should be starving by now."



"Seto, have you been skipping meals again?" Mokuba asked with clear exasperation in his tone. Seto didn't say anything, although he had the grace to look a little embarrassed.



"You skip meals, Kaiba?" Jou asked. "No wonder you are so skinny."



"Jou!" Mokuba exclaimed, "As Seto’s personal assistant you have to care for his health so you have to make sure that he eats properly and regularly. The well being of your boss should always be at the forefront of your mind."



"Yes, Mini-boss," Jou gave a salute and Mokuba giggled. "Do I get to call my boss out if he’s being an ass, too?"



"I’m sure you would anyway, whether he wants you to or not." Mokuba smirked.



"Alright, alright," Seto said in resignation. I’ll order some food in when we get to the office. Is that OK with you, ‘mini-boss’."



Mokuba smirked, "As long as it’s OK with Jou."



"It’s fine with me," Jou said.



"I’ll be back later then, Mokuba. Don’t wait up for me." Seto said. "And don't forget to do your homework."



"Ok, big-brother. Bye Jonouchi."



"See ya, Squirt."



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Once the pair arrived at the office, Kaiba ordered dinner to be sent up. While they waited for the food to arrive, they did the necessary paperwork to commence Jonouchi's employment. Once that was dealt with, Seto couldn't help but watch in amusement as Jou unashamedly ploughed through his share of the food.



Jou looked up at Seto as he realised that the other wasn't eating. "Come on Kaiba. Mokuba said I had to make sure you ate and you are hardly touching anything."



"Oh I’m going to eat," Seto said, "I’m just fascinated by how much you can shovel away." He pondered for a moment. "So how come you're not the size of a house? From how I’ve seen you eat, even the most over-active metabolism wouldn’t be able to keep up with that all the time."



Jou paused in his eating, appetite suddenly lost. He knew that Kaiba was showing him a lot of trust by giving him this job and opening up to him the way he had. He could damage the fragile trust that had built up if Seto caught him in a lie now and with no Mokuba to potentially overhear...



Decision made Jou began to speak. "Look, Kaiba, I told you earlier that things are tight at home. I really wasn’t kidding about that, but what I didn’t tell you is that not only can my dad not get a job, but he drinks away any money he gets. If it weren’t for me bringing some money in we would have been thrown out of our apartment a long time ago. As it is I only just earn enough to pay the bills. There isn’t much left for anything else afterwards, especially after my dad gets to drinking, so when you see me eat it may be my only meal of the day. I’ve felt fuller today than I have in a long time. Thank you."



Seto was stunned. He knew that Jonouchi had it bad, but he hadn’t realised it was that bad. "Isn’t there anyone that could help you?" he asked.



"You have helped me more than you realise by giving me this chance Kaiba," Jou said with genuine gratitude, "For once I can actually see a light at the end of the tunnel. Of course the hard part is going to be keeping how much I’m earning from my dad..."



Seto smirked at the Jou's attempt at misdirection, "I was talking about your friends, Pup."



"I know you were," Jou sighed, "There’s no getting anything past you is there?" He looked down. "I didn’t want to burden them with my problems. They have their own stuff to deal with and they don’t need to be worrying about me on top of that." He looked up again, the picture of optimism, "Besides, I only need to last until I turn 18 and I’ll be out of there so fast..."



"I understand," Seto said. He still suspected that the other boy wasn’t telling him the whole truth and that there was more to his story than he was letting on, but he knew that Jou had his pride and if he said anything that implied that Jou couldn’t handle his own problems it would only insult him. He stood and walked around the table to place his hand on Jou’s shoulder in a show of support. "At least promise me that if you end up in more trouble than you can handle, you will tell me."



Jou shook his head, "It’s fine, Kaiba. You’ve already done enough. I can’t ask you to do any more."



"Promise me, Jou," Seto insisted "There is no shame in asking for help if you need it."



Jou deflated, "There really is no need, but alright, I promise," he said.



"That’s all I ask for," Seto said. "Now, if you’ve had enough, let’s show you the ropes around here."



"Hold it!" Jou exclaimed. "Mokuba said it was part of my job to make sure that you eat properly. You’ve hardly eaten enough to keep a bird alive so sit down and eat!"



"Alright, alright," Seto conceded. He could tell that Jou was going to make a great personal assistant already. Not being afraid to talk back to him was just one of the qualities that were required and Jou had that in spades.



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Later that evening, Kaiba dropped Jonouchi back at his home and he didn't even try to hide his disgust at the run down neighbourhood that Jou lived in. He almost reiterated his offer for Jou to contact him if he found himself in trouble, but he stopped himself. He had already extracted the promise from Jonouchi earlier and for the moment he would have to be happy with that. He waved at Jou, then drove away.



Jou stood at the kerb for a moment and watched Kaiba drive away. Today had certainly been a roller-coaster ride and he was almost sad that it was over, although he had to admit that he was looking forward to seeing where things went from here. Having Kaiba as a friend was certainly much better than having him as an enemy in any case.



Once Kaiba had driven out of sight, Jou made his way up the stairs and into the dingy apartment he shared with his father, hoping that his dad would not be at home. Unfortunately, his luck was out that night.



"Boy," a rough voice came out from the living room, "Where have you been until now?"



"I’ve been at work," Jou started, then instinctively stepped back as a fist flew through the place he had been a moment before.



"Don’t lie to me boy. I know darned well that you got sacked from that burger joint tonight, so where the hell have you been."



"I ain’t lyin’" Jou insisted, "I got a new job and I’ve been there all evening."



"Bullshit. There ain’t no way that you could have gotten another job that fast." The elder Jonouchi stepped towards his son threateningly.



"Dammit pops I am telling the truth. I got a job at Kaiba Corporation." He showed his new employee ID card to prove that he was telling the truth."



Jonouchi senior eyed the card sceptically. "So what they got ya doin’?" He asked, but spoke again before Jou could answer, "Actually I don’t give a fuck what they got ya doin’ as long as the money comes in. So what they payin’ ya?"



"A little more than I was earning at that burger joint," Jou was purposefully evasive. He didn’t like to lie, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t skirt around the truth a bit.



"Well, that’s OK then," the older man said, then without warning he swung out and caught Jou right in the jaw with his fist. The teen slammed back against the wall and slumped to the floor. "That’s for losing the job in the first place and making me worry." He left Jou there and went back to drinking beer and watching the TV.



Jou picked himself up and slowly made his way to his room. Yeah, the bastard was worried alright; worried about where his next drink was coming from. He gingerly felt at his jaw. He should have known that the bastard would find an excuse to hit him anyway.



"Just a few more months and I can get out of here…" that was his mantra as he made himself ready for bed. Kaiba had given him an excellent chance and he wasn’t about to waste it!

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A/N - Thank you for reading. Also thank you for the ratings and reviews, They are much appreciated.