Fixation

Chapter 22


Jou sat behind the wheel of the BMW, his mind so overwhelmed that he felt numb. Mario’s joke about being in love with a super-villain came back to haunt him. He shut his eyes as memories of Mokuba’s face and words echoed across his brain. If his stomach wasn’t already empty, he probably would have thrown up again. With his eyes closed, his fingers closed around his cell phone. He sent a quick text message to the US, telling Esme that she had to reassign every Ally agent to watch over her own children, then sent another text to her brother telling him to get his ass on the first plane back to LA and to do whatever Esme said. Mario was a hell of a bodyguard, but Jou’s old partner was a natural leader, and she was the only person Jou knew who really could separate herself from a personal threat and deal with the situation as a professional.

In his head, he replayed the video he saw of Seto throwing his step-father to his death. Jou had always been decent at reading Seto’s expressions, even when the entire world accused Seto of having a face made of stone. All Jou had seen in Seto’s eyes during the murder was a single moment of panic as he’d walked in on Gozoboro molesting his brother. Otherwise, there was no pain or disgust in Seto’s expression. Calculation, yet, and the same look of superiority he wore when he they used to duel, but nothing else. That wasn’t a video of an innocent child being taken advantage of, despite what it looked like. Seto had looked like he was playing a game that, in his mind at least, he already knew how to win.

The only time Jou had seen Seto act like an adult survivor of child abuse was when he had suggested they hide in the mansion’s safe room. And then, his reaction had been so mild that Jou was fairly certain he was the only one who noticed it.

But Mokuba spoke about the whole event as though it had left his brother severely traumatized. Jou was bet his entire life savings that Seto hadn’t been the least bit traumatized by what had happened that day with Gozoboro. Seto definitely wasn’t afraid of sex, and even though he had a lot of problems communicating how he felt, he didn’t have any trouble expressing it physically. Whether or not Seto had just always had so much inner strength that he could cope on his own, Jou didn’t know. He supposed Seto might be so unemotional that he hadn’t felt bad about what happened. He really might just have looked at the whole thing as a game. If anyone in the world could cope with something like that by taking charge of the situation, it would be Seto. Could Mokuba know so little about his brother that the boy saw a lifetime of torment instead of a lifetime as Seto Kaiba?

It didn’t matter, though. No matter how many times Jou’s heart tried to throw up justifications and excuses, Jou knew he couldn’t give in to Mokuba. He might love Seto, but if he stayed with Seto after Mokuba’s threats, he would spend the rest of his life living under the shadow of such threats. His friends would never be safe and Mokuba would exploit his leverage over Jou time and again, eventually escalating the threats just to prove to Jou and himself that he was in control of the situation.

Jou would call his bluff.

It might not be a bluff, he knew. But that was a chance he had to take now, before he lost his nerve and forgot who he was altogether. He might not have ever beaten Seto in a duel, or Mokuba at chess, but at least he could say that he had never backed down. And he wasn’t about to back down now. Not backing down was the one thing in life he had always been good at.

Jou started the car and drove out of the parking garage with a calmness he didn’t feel. He drove the eight blocks to the police station, considered what he was about to do one last time, then jumped out of the car as smoothly as he could manage with his entire body trembling. He only stumbled a little. When he entered the station, he stopped at the counter, looking every bit as lost as he had when he first walked in a few weeks ago.

This time, though, Honda spotted him right away and ushered him back to his tiny cubicle. He had a cup of coffee in his hands and was shown into a chair before he even thought to say hello.

“I was wondering when you were going to escape and come hang out,” Honda said with a bright smile. “Yugi manages it sometimes, but not as often as he used to before he moved in with Mokuba. How are things going in the big creepy mansion?”

Jou stared at his friend for a moment, not really sure where to begin. “Creepy,” he agreed. “Things are creepy. I… I need your help, Honda. I really need your help.”

“Alright,” Honda chuckled, “What’s going on?”

Jou rubbed his eyes and thought back to what set off his curiosity. “When Kaiba’s house was attacked a few days ago… Seto suggested he and I hide in a safe room he keeps in the basement. I’m not crazy about hiding from anybody, so I didn’t like the idea, but Seto insisted. As soon as he tried to go down the stairs though, he sorta panicked. Kaiba panicked, not threw a fit or anything, but well, I could tell… Anyway, I started arguing with him about it until everything was under clear outside and he was actually relieved. That made me a bit curious. Everything kind of took off like a roller coaster after that, but when things calmed down I decided to find out what was in that room.”

And so Jou told Honda about the safe room, about the hand prints and the stains, and about the so called curse. He told Honda about his day-long drive around Domino, trying to track down retired security guards, and finally about his decision to confront Kaiba about it. He glossed over the fact that he and Kaiba had never managed to actually talk that night. Then he took a deep breath and he told Honda about his chat with Mokuba in his office at Kaiba Corp.

Jou’s stomach started to rebel again when he noticed the calm, and completely unsurprised look, on his old friend’s face.

“So now he’s threatening my friends to try and keep me here.”

Honda nodded slowly. “I tried to warn you about him…”

“You warned me that he was more of an ass than his brother, not that he was a homicidal megalomaniac! Why the hell haven’t you done anything about him, if you knew!”

Honda took a deep breath and sighed. “You assume we haven’t tried… Damn it, Jou, do you think you’re the first person to notice? Do you think no one else ever wondered if Seto Kaiba was killing off his old secretaries? I’ve initiated investigations on everything from murder to racketeering, and you know what happens every time I get even a shred of evidence?”

Jou looked up at him.

“The evidence vanishes and I’m told, often by the mayor, a member of parliament, and once by the Emperor’s liaison, that Kaiba Mokuba is to be left alone, and that as a friend, I should respect his privacy. Last time, they made it very clear that the only reason I still have a job is because Mokuba thinks it’s funny to watch me squirm. He’s fucking untouchable and he relishes that fact.”

Jou shook his head passionately. He could hardly believe what he was hearing. “So you just gave in? Just like that? The Honda I remember would never be that much of a coward.”

Honda’s cheeks grew red. “There is no just like that,” he hissed. “I’ve spent most of the last decade trying to find something to convict him and I’ve never even come close enough for Mokuba to take me seriously. Even if I can find the evidence, and one of my fellow officers doesn’t destroy it, how easy do you think it will be to find an attorney who will press charges or a judge that will hear the case?”

“Doesn’t Otogi work for the city prosecutor?”

“So I should let him become a target? And what do you think Mokuba’d do to Yugi if I got him really mad? You think that it’s a coincidence that he keeps Yugi close?”

“Well fuck,” Jou muttered.

“The only one who has ever been able to hold Mokuba in check is his brother, and he gave up trying when the brat turned eighteen.”

“That can’t be the end of it,” Jou insisted. “It just can’t”

Honda stared at him sympathetically. “The best thing you can do is to get the hell away from both of them. I know that this is not what you expected to come home to, Jou, and no one would blame you for walking away while you still can.”

“Jounouchi Katsuya does not run away,” said Jou. He felt his resolve weakening as he said it. He found himself feeling more like a helpless sixteen year old than he had in over a decade, like the only thing he had to fall back on was blind courage and pride he had no right to feel.

“Jou, you know how it is here… The wealthy have always been able to get away with crap that the rest of the world can’t.”

“He’s not going to get away with fucking around with me,” Jou swore. “What do you need to move on this?”

“Evidence,” Honda said simply. “Evidence, a witness who’s willing to testify, something solid.”

“Alright,” Jou nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.”

He pushed his chair back, set the empty up off coffee down on Honda’s desk and strolled away. He was acutely aware of a dozen pairs of eyes following him through the police station.

Let them stare, Jou thought defiantly. He didn’t care if Mokuba knew that he was pissed off. He didn’t care how many threats the little shit wanted to make. His threats were designed to make Jou act emotional and stupid, to make him forget that he had all of the resources he needed to protect anyone in the world. If anyone could protect two little kids, his agents could.

And if anyone could take on a Kaiba, it was Jou.

He drove down through his old neighborhood, watching the eyes of every kid on the street follow the luxury car suspiciously. He turned down a dirty street that he remembered well, although he’d only ever walked down it on foot. Three blocks down, set apart from a series of two story brick buildings, was a single story structure built out of cement blocks and partly surrounded by two high razor-wire topped chain link fences. He parked in one of the only empty spots in the small parking lot and strolled up the familiar concrete steps, more confident here than he had been in the Domino police department.

He smiled at the receptionist, showed her his identification, and asked about visiting hours. In all the years since he’d last visited his dad in this jail, the visiting schedule hadn’t changed. He dropped everything he had in his pockets in a locker and then walked through the metal detector to the visiting room. He sat at one of the open windows and waited patiently. After about twenty minutes, the light on the other side of the window flickered to life and a large steel door opened. A petite woman wearing nothing but orange and chains hobbled into the room and glared at him.

She sat down on the tiny metal stool bolted to the cement floor on the other side of the glass and picked up the phone as best she could. Since her handcuffs were secured to a belly chain, she had to bend in half to get the phone to her ear.

Jou smiled brightly. This was going to take a lot of luck and a lot of skill, but Jou’s head was spinning so fast that, at the moment, he felt like he could tackle anything.

“Who the hell are you?” she hissed, still glaring.

“You don’t remember? I’m the officer who arrested you, Kaede-san.”

She shut her eyes, looking ashamed for a very brief moment.

“I’m also the man Kaiba Mokuba told you to pay the Yakuza to kill.”

She sneered viciously. “Yeah, right! If you had talked to that other pig, you’d know that I helped Hiroshi-san because I thought a real man should be in charge of Kaiba Corp. You think that little boy would be any better than his faggot brother?”

“I think Mokuba was right,” Jou smiled. “You really were the perfect choice for this. Very smart, a talented actress, and willing to do anything to see the man you love in charge instead of his faggot brother. Even willing to let three disgusting old men fuck you and to spend the rest of your life in prison for him… You are an amazingly loyal woman. It’s kind of a pity, how he manipulated you.”

The rage in her eyes subsided. Instead of anger, Jou saw a look of cold calculation. “I know what you’re doing. You’re not going to get me to say anything that isn’t true, and I’ve already told that detective everything.”

“Oh, I know,” said Jou quickly. “I’m mostly here because Seto feels bad about what his brother has done. All these games, all these lies, just so Mokuba could trick his brother’s old lover into coming back and take out a few of his brother’s enemies at the same time.” He shook his head sadly. “When Mokuba told me why he orchestrated this entire thing, I could hardly believe it myself. You know, after everything he must have done to convince you to help him, the only thing he had to say was that it was a shame his brother had to lose such a competent secretary.”

“It wont work,” she giggled.

“But I’m not sure you’re quite as bright as he gave you credit for. What I think is really pathetic,” Jou continued, “Is that he persuaded you to do this because Seto is gay, and you never realized that every time he stood you up because he had to work with Mutou Yugi, he was actually fucking him on his lunch break.” From the way the woman’s eyes bulged, Jou knew he’d struck a nerve. Now if he could just press things right. “He would only ever be able to see you at the office or at your home, since Yugi moved in with him months ago, and you never thought it was even a little bit suspicious. I suppose he probably paid for a hotel room on occasion. He might even have had some kind of noble-sounding excuse, like his brother didn’t approve of inter-office relationships.” Jou laughed aloud at the growing look of horror on the woman’s face. “Really, how smart could you be, to actually fall for someone who has to pretend you’re a man with a leather and chain fetish just to get it up.”

“You liar,” she whispered. “Mokuba and Mutou-san are co-workers and friends. Mutou-san designs most new Kaiba Corp games. They have to work together.”

“And Mutou-san has nicer hips than you. Sounds a lot more adventurous in bed, too, from what Mokuba’s said. I mean, really, there are only so many office fantasies a guy can entertain, but apparently Mutou-san puts that imagination of his to good use when it comes to keeping Mokuba hooked.”

“You liar!”

“You can’t really be so stupid as to ignore all the signs now, can you? Do you think it’s any coincidence that you were there with Hiroshi when he was arrested? That sending you to prison as a deceitful, plotting whore was an accident? Do you really think that any of this happened in any way other than the one Kaiba Mokuba wanted it to?”

The woman’s beautiful lips thinned as she pressed her mouth tightly closed.

“Anyway, I just came to tell you that Seto’s sorry about how out of control things got. He knows what his brother’s like, and he can usually keep him in check, but this time he got a bit carried away. He’s sorry about how things have worked out for you.”

Jou tossed the phone back onto the receiver, smiled at the pale woman, and waved as he turned away. He stopped when she pounded on the glass. Through the glass, he saw her mouth the word wait, then saw her motion to the phone again.

With a patient grin he sat back down on the stool and picked up the phone again.

“If Kaiba-sama knows everything, then he can explain things to the police, can’t he? He can get me out of here! You don’t know what it’s like to be in a place like this! I can’t even leave my cell without being in restraints!”

Jou nodded slowly. “That is just a standard security measure, I promise you.”

“No it’s not! None of the other women in here get chained up like this!”

“Ah,” Jou smiled a little more sympathetically. “None of the other women assaulted four officers when they were arrested. You’re going to have to mind your manners if you want more freedom. But once you’re not classified as dangerous, you’ll find that there’s a lot to do. I’m sure there’s a library, a recreation room, all kinds of stuff. But Seto can’t do anything that would upset his public image. No… If Mokuba ever gets caught, the tip has to come from someone other than Seto. He can’t be seen to betray his own brother. That’s not family friendly enough for the Kaiba Corp image. But it’ll never happen, even if someone else did come forward. Mokuba’s a Kaiba, after all. If he weren’t able to cover his tracks completely, he would never have undertaken any of this. No matter how smart you think you are, Kaede-san, you can’t keep up with someone like him.”

“What if I did keep up with him?” she asked desperately. “What if there is evidence?”

Jou shrugged. “Mokuba wouldn’t be so stupid as to leave evidence. Besides, what Detective Hiroto needs is solid evidence and a witness. Like I said, there’s a library, and I’m sure there’s a rec room. Save your commissary, too, you’ll need it to bargain with once you’re in general population. Nice talking to you, Kaede-san.”

Jou hung up the phone and strolled out, ignoring the way that the woman behind him hammered on the glass with the whole. He slowed down his step, counting in his head. He got to three when he heard the steel door on the other side of the visiting window being hastily unlocked. A male voice ordered Kaede to drop to the floor, but she screamed a series of curses. Jou didn’t look back at the sound of the scuffle that followed. He knew the last thing most officers wanted when they were about to risk getting their eyes gorged out by a woman half their size was an audience to laugh at them.

When he got back into the car, Jou was feeling more in control than he had since he arrived in Japan. Running away from a death threat in the States had left a bad taste in his mouth, and the way Mokuba had arranged for everything to be resolved without any real work had made him uneasy at best. He knew from experience that situations never resolved themselves easily. That was one of the reasons he loved his job.

He only had one task before everything was done. Hands shaking, knowing that once this step was taken there would be no going back, he dug though his pockets for the business card a random reporter had handed him the night Hiroshi and Kaede were arrested and dialed the number on the business card.

Jou drove back to Kaiba Corp, walked in passed the young security guards as though he owned the place, and rode up the elevator to the top floor. Still smiling, he made his way to the corner office that Mokuba had told him was Seto’s. Outside of the office door, he ignored the flustered receptionist who tried to stop him from interrupting Seto, pushed passed a clerk carrying a dozen folders as he tried to stop Jou from going through Seto’s door, and quietly slipped inside.

Seto’s office, as opposed to Mokuba’s, was as utilitarian as ever. A stainless desk, rigid chairs, and a lack of decoration made it very obvious that this was a space Seto had designed himself. Seto sat behind the desk, flipping through a series of printed papers. Two European men sat in front of his desk, trying to decipher a contract from the looks of it.

“I said no more interruptions!” Seto snapped. When Seto glanced up at Jou, Jou noticed that the other man had to keep the corners of his mouth from turning up.

“Kaiba-sama,” Jou bowed slightly, “I’m afraid a legal situation has developed that requires your immediate attention.”

Seto stared at him for a moment, then closed the folder in his hands. “Gentlemen,” said Seto in English, “I’m afraid that we will have to reschedule.”

“Mr. Kaiba,” one of the men replied, “This is the third time we have had to reschedule. This is most troubling.”

Seto nodded his head and rose to his feet. “I am sorry that your stay here has been delayed, but I made it quite clear last week that pursuing this embezzlement investigation and protecting my company will take priority over our negotiations. If you are unhappy with my priorities then we can halt our negotiations here and now.”

“No,” the other man stood up quickly, “We would never dream of distracting you from such an important matter. I am sure that we will reach a mutually beneficial agreement in time, although we may have to bring in an additional agent to continue negotiations on our behalf. We can’t stay here in Japan forever.”

“Of course not,” Seto said tactfully. “I will, however, fully compensate you for the added expense of staying until the negotiations are complete, and I am prepared to offer additional consideration for the hardship this messy business has imposed.”

“Additional consideration?” the first man stood up, obviously eager.

“Of course. I wouldn’t dream of putting you to all of this trouble without some form of compensation. Perhaps an additional two million towards the deposit… We’ll discuss it at our next meeting.”

“Well… I… Thank you, Mr. Kaiba.” Both men bowed and backed out of the office awkwardly.

As soon as the door shut, Jou sighed with relief. “I’m sorry about that, Seto, but I really need to talk to you.”

When Jou looked up, he saw Seto strolling towards him with a predatory smile. Seto paused in front of Jou and adjusted the collar on Jou’s suit jacket, smoothing out the crease in the collar and unbuttoning the front of the jacket with one swift movement. “I will always make time to talk to you,” Seto promised. “But next time, call first, that’ll give me a chance to come up with a less expensive excuse.”

“Did you just pay two million yen to sleep with me?” Jou asked when he felt Seto’s hands slip under his jacket to grab his hips.

Seto shrugged and leaned in to him.

“Seto,” Jou placed his hands on Seto’s chest and tried to push him away. “I really do have to talk to you.”

“Go ahead,” Seto whispered, “You talk, I’ll listen.” Seto pulled him close and Jou groaned as he felt Seto’s erection grinding into him. Seto’s mouth found its way to Jou’s neck and ear, his tongue and teeth threatening to wipe Jou’s mind clean.

“Damn it, you’re too good at that. Seriously, Seto, we need to talk.”

Jou felt Seto’s body sag in a gigantic sigh. “Alright, what’s going on?”

Jou took a deep breath and met Seto’s piercing blue eyes. “How much do you know about the things your brother does to protect you?”

Seto’s head dropped on to Jou’s shoulder. “What has he done this time?”

“Organized the entire fiasco with Hiroshi and your secretary to get rid of Hiroshi and force me to come back to Japan.”

Seto chuckled against the nape of Jou’s neck. “I figured he was responsible for Hiroshi’s disgrace, but he wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. He knows I’d never forgive him for something like that.”

“He told me so himself, this morning, right in his office,” said Jou. “He… ah… He told me about a lot of stuff.”

“Hu… Come sit on my lap while I do something?” Seto whispered in his ear.

“Set’,” Jou tried to shift his head so he was out of range of Seto’s tongue, “I’m being serious here.”

“So am I.” Seto grabbed his wrist and pulled him around behind his desk, sat down in a high backed office chair and then pulled Jou down into his lap. Seto shifted Jou around until Jou was facing forward, and until his cock was buried in the crevice of Jou’s ass. “Perfect,” Seto said happily. He wrapped his arms around Jou’s waist and reached both hands towards the computer built into the desk. He logged in and typed a quick command, opening a custom made graphical user interface. The heading across the top announced that use of the program was limited to authorized Kaiba Corp Security personnel. Seto typed in a series of numbers and a familiar scene popped on to the monitor. It was Mokuba’s office, as shown from a small security camera mounted in the corner over Mokuba’s work station.

Jou was impressed. He hadn’t even noticed the camera, and the picture quality was amazing for something too small to notice. The time on the monitor read 0600.

“What time was this?” Seto asked, moving a sliding bar to fast forward through his brother’s day.

“You spy on your brother a lot?”

“He’s Mokuba,” Seto said simply. “He may be all grown up, but he’s still my baby brother. What time was it?”

“About noon, I think. A little after.”

Seto moved the video to the correct time, adjusted it so that it began when Mokuba and Jou walked through the door, and then let it play. He touched a button on the side of his keyboard and the audio playback began as well. Seto watched and listened to the entire display in silence. Jou felt Seto’s grip on his waist tighten as the video showed Mokuba pulling up the unaltered video footage of Seto’s last encounter with Gozoboro. The camera was mounted almost directly above Mokuba’s work station, so the monitor wasn’t visible, but their conversation left little doubt about what they were watching.

As the conversation continued, Seto’s grip tightened more. When the video showed both of them leaving Mokuba’s office, Seto hit the space bar to pause the scene and wrapped both of his arms tightly around Jou’s chest, crushing Jou’s arms against his body.

Jou was hesitant to pull out of Seto’s grasp, so instead he shifted to the side and turned to face him, so that he was straddling Seto’s legs. He wrapped his arms around Seto’s neck without any hesitation and let his forehead rest against Seto’s. The position was strangely familiar and more comforting than Jou would readily admit. Seto’s grip relaxed slightly.

“Now what?” Seto whispered.

“Now,” Jou shut his eyes, “You either forgive me or you decide you want me out of your life forever.”

“What?” Seto looked up at him sharply. “I think the stress might have addled the few brain cells you have, Mutt. It’s supposed to be the other way around.”

“I wish… Look, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but that’s not the type of thing I can listen to without doing something about it. I guess we’ll just see how things develop, and if you still want me, well, I’m here.”

“Then,” Seto took a deep breath, “You’re not… It… You’re not disgusted by me?”

Jou sat back and stared at him, caressing the back of his neck with his fingers. “I have a decent notion of how your brain works, Set’. I am not disgusted by you. I do not think it was your fault. I hate what happened to you, and I hate that you had to be the one to deal with it, but I also know how strong you are. I know how strong you’ve always been. If anyone can face a monster like that and come through it in one piece, it’s you. Besides,” Jou leaned close to Seto’s ear and licked from the ear lobe up to the outer shell, “The Seto Kaiba I fell in love with has been shaped by all of the experiences of his life, the good and bad. I don’t want part of the package, Seto, I want the whole thing. Power trips, ego, temper, traumatic issues, occasional moments of stupidity. I want all of it.”

“Then it’s just Mokuba…”

Jou took a deep breath. “I’m not going to say I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“What did you do? Is Mokuba in danger?”

“No, he’s not in danger. Not physically, anyway. You’ll find out soon, I’m sure. It’s going to be bad. It’s going to hurt your image, your company… So you should do us both a favor, before you find out, and make love to me one last time.”

“Right now?” Seto grinned.

“There might not be a later.”

Seto stared at him for a moment, and for a fraction of a second, Jou saw the look Seto always got when he was about to play a trap card that could backfire. “No, I refuse to agree to this potentially being our last time. No matter what happens, whether we stay together or not, it wouldn’t be fair.”

“Fair?”

“I still haven’t gotten to take you while using that vibrator. You said I could, and now I want you to promise that if we don’t stay together, you’ll spend one last night with me so that I can feel just what you did that night.”

Jou couldn’t stop the blush from covering his face. “You so sure you’ll want to?”

“Yes,” said Seto immediately.

“Alright,” Jou smirked. “I might hold you to that, if you decide you hate me after this. One last Seto fix…”

Seto shook his head and brought his hands around to the front of Jou’s pants.

“What about the door?”

“Already locked,” Seto whispered.

As soon as Jou’s belt and pants were undone, Seto moved his hands to Jou’s ass and stood up. He shifted Jou’s pants down just far enough to get access, then set him on his desk, lifted his legs up and slid inside of Jou without warning or preparation. The last two weeks had stretched Jou’s body to the point where he could easily accommodate Seto now, although without lube it still hurt. But, as always, his cock seemed to thrive on the pain, jumping to life with every dry shallow thrust. The friction felt painful and incredible at the same time, and it had Seto groaning by his fourth thrust.

“You know,” Jou clenched his eyes and tried to stay focused enough to talk. “If you do decide you hate me after this, I might have to start stalking you for a change…”

Seto chuckled against him. “You’re assuming too much, Mutt.” Seto thrust into him hard enough to make Jou whimper. “You said Mokuba’s not in danger… If that’s true, then I might just get really mad and decide to chain you to the bed and spank you every night until I decide to forgive you.”

“Not assuming…” Jou hissed. “Just promise you aren’t going to kill me…”