Jou Cool

Seto watched as Jounouchi ran away. He wanted to chase after the
blond, to catch him, make him repeat those words to his face. But he
knew that the blond needed to work this out on his own or there would
be trouble for them. It was enough to know that Jounouchi loved
him. With a light step and a lighter heart Seto went back to his
party. He wasn't going to count on anything, but he suddenly felt
like partying with his friends.

Yami, Yugi glued to his side, hovered at the door. "Seto are you
okay?"

He couldn't contain his chuckles as a bevy of anxious friends and
bodyguards surrounded him. "I'm good…and on Monday I'll be even
better. He loves me." His lips curved into the widest smile any of
them had ever seen. "He really does love me."

Bakura, his arms wrapped around his lover, lifted a skeptical
brow. "He gives off a vibe but you know it takes more than that. He
got disgusted and took off because our kiss. How is he going to
handle everything involved in being with you?"

"He wasn't upset at the kiss. He thought you guys were brothers.
That freaked him out. He was cool with it once I explained." A smug
curve of Seto's lips clued them in that more than talking had
happened in the gazebo. "And he handled his first gay kisses just
fine." So he had meltdown afterwards. That was to be expected.

Several of his friends chuckled and Yami jostled him
playfully. "Spill."

But before he could talk about the mind-blowing kiss Otogi, leading
Honda by the hand, joined the circle. Yugi smiled a welcome and
jumped to conclusions. "I am so glad you guys worked it out. Anyone
could see you two were just itching to be together." The smaller
teen gave Honda a sweet smile. "Now that you've come out I want to
hear all about America. Tristan Taylor, the American hero, and how
you came to be in Japan."

Honda felt chills of horror run through him. Moutou had just blown a
cover it had taken almost two years to establish. "T…Tristan
Taylor? America?"

Yugi laughed. "I recognized you right away. I ran across your
picture and blurb on a site on the web the day before you started
school. It said you'd helped bring down a drug cartel in Florida.
You got shot in the belly. I saw the scar in gym and wanted to ask
but I was afraid you'd get mad. I mean if you moved all the way to
Japan to get away from the media it was obvious you didn't want
anyone to know. The site I found the article on was a small site for
private members. Jonji's site. I'll show you. One of the people
had posted something about how hot you were and put in a picture and
some stuff about your job."

Honda wanted to curse and throw things. All of his pictures, hell,
even the story had been squashed. It had only run for a few hours.
The department assured him that his identity was safe. Now, halfway
across the world he and three years later he was outed. And the scar
was the clincher. He could explain a resemblance, but gunshot scars
were distinctive.

Seto, Yami, and Bakura were staring at Honda in varying degrees of
censure. Unlike Yugi they were rapidly putting together a picture
that was far more accurate than Yugi's explanation of him wanting to
get away from the media.

Seto nodded to his bodyguards and instantly they took up position
next to Honda. "We will go to my office. Otogi move away from him."

"Yami? Seto?" Yugi blinked in confusion. "Is something wrong?"

Seto gave his bodyguard a warning glare. "Not at all. I just want
to speak to Honda alone is all. You guys stay here and act as my
hosts okay?" He faked a smile. It must have worked because Yugi
nodded and smiled back. "Okay. I'm sure I don't want to hear about
the gunshot anyway." Otogi after a small hesitation followed the
group into Seto's office.

Seto didn't give the other brunet time to speak. He sat down and
began to type, bringing up the site Yugi had mentioned. "You're
Tristan Taylor. An American policeman."

"No." Honda denied. When the other would have snarled he
admitted, "I'm Tristan Taylor, the son of an American police
officer. An officer murdered in the line of duty; used as an example
to warn off anyone who messed with the cartel. I followed the chain,
and the person who ordered the hit was promoted to Japanese purchaser
in the organization. When the cartel fell he stayed here and setup a
new base of distribution. I took my mother's family name and moved
here to catch him. My name is now Honda Hiroto, and I am a police
officer for the Domino Illegal Substances department."

"Why are you here?" The CEO asked quietly. When Honda's lips firmed
stubbornly he nodded. "You tell me or I call the commissioner and
ask why Tristan Taylor aka Honda Hiroto is attending my high
school."

"Fuck."

Seto's eyes narrowed as he focused on the information on the
screen. "You're not a student either. This article is three years
old. It says you were eighteen when your father died and you were
undercover two years. That means you are twenty-two at least."

Honda nodded. "I'm twenty-four." He heard a barely suppressed gasp
from behind him. He knew it came from Otogi. "As to why I'm at the
school. The man's daughter goes to school there. I am trying to get
close to her."

"And where does Jounouchi fit?"

"He doesn't. I infiltrated his gang to discover the whereabouts of
my target. When I discovered that they were too far down no the
chain to be worth pursuing I used a gang war to cover my leaving. I
ran into him and used parental pressure and extradition as an excuse
for quitting. I found out he'd run too. He decided to join me
here. I've used him to cement my cover."

"I see." Seto tapped his chin thoughtfully. "It has nothing to do
with us. Just don't involve any of us, including Jounouchi and I
will forget all about this."

Honda nodded and turned away. He came to an abrupt halt as Otogi
stepped in front of him. He expected a snarl or some kind of sassy
remark. Instead the ebony haired siren looked hurt, on the verge of
tears. "You jerk. Jonji's has one requirement when posting
pictures. Any picture posted there has to be of a homosexual. Known…
verifiable…out of the closet…homosexual. You're gay and you've
treated me…us…like…like…"

"I'm under cover trying to get close to a girl. My best friend is a
confirmed homophobe. I don't have any choice."

Otogi's damp eyes dried like magic and a sparkling smile lit his
face. "But you wanted one. I knew I wasn't wrong." He stepped
close and brushed against his crush sexily. "You want me…you want to
be with me."

Honda flushed dark red and stepped back. "I'm years too old for you
and I don't date schoolboys. I have to go find Jounouchi now. If
Kaiba's smiles were any indication he's going to need to talk to
someone." Carefully he stepped around the still smiling teen and
went to find his friend.

Otogi watched the tall sexy body until the door closed. "Oh baby. I
got a man that's old enough to have cock control." He shivered in
delicious anticipation. "I can't wait." Green eyes laughed across
at Seto. "Let's dance Seto. We're taken so it wouldn't be fair to
get anyone's hopes up."

Seto smiled slightly. "I'll dance with you, but don't you know he
just turned you down?"

"He didn't. He never said he didn't want me. He said he doesn't
date schoolboys and that he's too old. That's a big difference and
we, he and I, both know it. Don't worry about me, because now I'm
officially off the market and so are you. Let's dance."

***

On Monday Seto waited impatiently for the blond to make an
appearance. As the day wore on his anticipation started to fade and
annoyance began to creep in. How long did Jounouchi need? He'd had
a few days and should have started to accept the truth.

Tuesday the CEO had even less patience, snapping and snarling, and
always watching for a certain blond head to make an appearance.

Wednesday he was drawn tight enough to snap. Where was Jounouchi?
Why hadn't he shown up? It had gotten so bad that he'd actually gone
over to the other teen's apartment before school to rouse his …him.
When there was no answer Seto took drastic measures. Picking the
lock on the door may have been a bit much, but damn it, Jounouchi's
was beginning to worry him. The place hadn't looked like the blond
had ever come home from the party. School uniforms hung neatly in
the closet, the mussed bed was cold and crumpled, and most telling of
all, clothes from last week were in the hamper, but the distinctive
outfit Jounouchi had worn to the party was not there.

He was ready to call the police and report Jounouchi missing when the
resident police officer, Honda Hiroto, called out to him.

"Yo, Kaiba. Wait up!"

The CEO paused and glared, but waited. Yugi, worried for both Seto
and Jounouchi, heard the call, and followed as discreetly as possible.

"If you don't have news about Jounouchi I have nothing to say to
you." Seto growled. youYugi winced slightly. His friend was
seriously
cranky. He needed to get laid soon.

"Yeah, that's what I wanted to talk to you about." Honda lowered his
voice slightly. Yugi had to strain to hear. "He went to visit his
friends in Rintama and they asked him to stay…can we talk about this
in private?"

***

Yugi stared after them for a moment then opened his cell. If
Jounouchi was in the Rintama district then he and his friends would
go see him. Maybe they could help both Seto and Jounouchi."
Smiling, he called Ryou and conferenced Otogi and Malik.

"Guys! Jounouchi is in the Rintama district. Some friends of his
asked him to stay a while. I think he's running away from Seto. How
would you feel about going to see him, maybe explain things to him a
little better?"

Malik laughed, "I don't even know him, but I do know that Seto's
pissed off Marik several times. It's making life hard at home. If
it'll help I'm in."

Ryou hummed softly. "Yugi I don't think we need to get involved.
Rintama isn't a good area and our guys will be pissed if we go down
there."

Otogi sighed. "I agree with Ryou. Yugi, don't get involved in
this. Let Seto handle it."

But the smallest teen was adamant. "Fine you guys stay. Malik and I
will go. I don't like seeing my friend in pain, besides; I think
Jounouchi would be an awesome friend too. I want him to show me some
dance moves."

Ryou and Otogi both tried to argue him out of going, but Yugi
remained firm. In the end they both decided to go with Yugi and
Malik, just to keep them out of trouble.

***

Seto glared at the police officer fiercely. "Where is he?"

"I told you, he went to visit his `friends' in Rintama. They don't
want him to leave."

"What the fuck? Are you saying they are holding him against his
will?"

"No. It's not that simple. Look the way gangs work is like a
family. It has a hierarchy all its own. It also has rules and
codes. Jounouchi can't leave. He…" Honda's voice broke off as
Kaiba rounded on him fiercely.

"Can't or won't? Is he running away?" Seto pulled out his cell
phone and pressed in a complex series of numbers. On the screen he
saw the GPS tracked his bodyguards to just a few blocks from his
location.

"No. It's…look, I don't have a clue what's going on. Mai came to me
early this morning. She is my source inside and told me that the
Leader asked her to deliver a message to you. I asked her to wait
outside. Let's go to your limo and you can speak with her directly."

"Her? Who is she and what does she have to do with Jounouchi?" Seto
felt a dart of concern.

"She's a Rintama regular. And all I know is that she has a message
for you." Honda held up his hand. "She won't tell me, only
you. `Orders from the Leader.' She came to me with the message
because she knew I'd get her to you."

"We will wait for Yami and my other bodyguards to arrive. They have
been out looking for Jounouchi. I sent them a signal. They will be
here in a few minutes."

"She will wait until I tell her to go." Honda sighed and shook his
head. "I think you should know that word is that there was a problem
in the leadership in Rintama on Saturday night. There are rumors of
succession. The only two leaders fought. Jounouchi and Hirutani
were the only ones it could be."

"So are you saying…?" Seto squelched the pictures that filled his
mind. He wouldn't speculate. Checking the GPS again he saw that his
team was in the parking lot. "Let's go. They are just outside."

Seto met his rushing guards with a simple upraised hand. Instantly
they calmed their expressions relaxing at the gesture. "There is a
messenger here from the Leader of Rintama. She has something to tell
me in regards to Jounouchi."

"Where is she?" Yami was alertly scanning the area around his boss.
He saw a tall blond woman standing next to a fence. Bakura and Marik
moved flank her as Otogi motioned her forward, towards Kaiba.

"Mai, this is Kaiba. You said you had a message for him from the
Leader."

She glanced uneasily at the men, and then nodded. "Yeah. I…it's
supposed ta be private."

Kaiba lifted his brows and sneered. "I have nothing private with
criminals. These are my witnesses. Speak or leave."

Mai blinked and looked around. Nobody appeared to be near enough to
overhear. "Well first off…Honda is a cop. You can't trust him too
far."

Honda face vaulted. "What…he told you that?"

"Yeah, he said that when ya ordered the doughnuts at the bakery that
day he knew. Ya didn't pay for them. Ya put them on a tab. Only a
cop would have a tab at a bakery across from th' station."

Ignoring the stunned officer, the CEO simply motioned for the blonde
to continue. The prostitute nodded. "He said…said he made a bargain
with ya. That he is interested in keepin' it."

"I don't make bargains with…"

"Explore. He said ta tell ya that one word."

Seto's mind instantly replayed the scene just before their first
kiss. His heart lifted slightly. Jounouchi was telling him through
this blond girl that he was willing to try. Hope flying high,
grounded only by confusion, he asked, "Where is he? Why hasn't he
come to see me himself?

"He's…back at th' place. He can't come here. It would lead people
to ya. You'd be at risk like his sister was."

"Hnn…that's stupid I can take care…" But the blonde girl was shaking
her head. "I'm supposed ta tell ya what's been happenin'. He has a
plan ta make things right and he needs th' cops' help. Look can we
go sit in yer car? I don't like talkin' about this in the open. Too
big a chance for a bullet ta get me."

"Fine, my limo." With a curt gesture he motioned everyone to the car.

Once they settled he nodded. "Continue."

Mai, after a nervous glance at the bodyguards seated too close
nodded. "Okay, so the other night Jounouchi showed up. I gotta say,
a lot of us were happy ta see him. We thought the cops had iced him
for…for whatever. But, anyway, he's shows up and the Leader is real
happy ta see him." She gestured explicitly "Real happy if ya get my
meanin'. That was no surprise ta me and the others. We knew
Hirutani had the hots for him. In fact th' only one that didn't was
Jounouchi."

"How could you…?" Seto trailed his question.

"Like I told Jounouchi. Hirutani liked ta do us girls when we was
still warm from Jounouchi. And he'd get fucking pissed and hurtful
because Jounouchi would always wear a rubber. He told us girls that
the one of us that could come ta him with a load of Jounouchi's come
would get an extra share. Nobody ever collected. And when he
disappeared Hirutani went nuts. He stopped sharin' the money from
th' business and started ta buy weapons. He was gonna mow down the
cops what killed Jounouchi. So that night when he came back Hirutani
was happy and…well…we was fuckin' when Jounouchi called out and he
just pulled his dick out and ran off. He never came, so he was hella
horny too." She sighed and ran her hands through her hair, mourning
the loss of its golden length.

"When I first saw Jounouchi I was happy too. See I was a regular to
him. And I thought he mighta missed me." She shrugged
philosophically "But he didn't even remember my name. He was nice
about it though. He made it up by sayin' he liked my hair." The
blonde pouted for a moment. "Hirutani made me cut it like
Jounouchi's. He didn't care that johns like long blond hair not
short boy hair cuts." She waved that away. "Hirutani pulled
Jounouchi up on the roof to talk. I don' know what happened, but
there was some shoutin' and then outside someone said Hirutani had
him pinned on th' ledge beating him bloody and was gonna throw him
over."

Seto hissed and tensed, but the blonde just continued. "Some of us
ran upstairs and some went out to the street. The next thing we know
Hirutani is yowlin' like a cat and flying through the air and
Jounouchi is on the roof."

Seto relaxed even as Honda choked and gasped. "Hirutani is dead?"

"Yeah."

"And Jounouchi did it?" Honda clarified.

Wary, she shook her head. "Nah, he slipped and fell. But because
the Commander was there he is now Leader. So he can't leave. He
hasta take care of all of us. We're family." With a sigh she
said "And that's the easy stuff. Now is the hard stuff. The
suppliers for our…uh…products got wind of Hirutani stockpiling
weapons. They paid us a visit just after Hirutani's fall. They
think Rintama is going to move on them. They've given Jounouchi a
choice. Turn over the weapons and fall in line or we all die." Fear
touched her hoarse voice. "They will do it. It don't matter that
most of th' family ain't even fifteen. I'm th' oldest at twenty.
Then there is Jounouchi. He's fifteen."

Silence reigned as Seto and his guards digested the information. "So
what's his plan?"

"Well this is where the cop comes in." She threw Honda a dirty
look. "He wants to arrange to turn them over but he wants the cops
to catch them -the Snakes- with the weapons. He wants the Rintama to
be
protected and them moved ta safe places away from here. He knows th'
cops are trigger happy and can't be trusted so he wants you to
coordinate it and he wants them gone before it happens." She gave
Honda a gloating look before gazing directly at Seto. "He says he
knows that if the cops fuck up you will have their balls on a stick."

Seto gave Honda a smirking look. "Yeah, they are inept. Okay I'll
help on one condition."

"He said ya wouldn't do it fer free. He said ta tell ya he'd take
bottom for as long as ya want." Mai gave him a curious look. "So
yer the guy fer him."

Kaiba stifled a chuckle at the bottom comment. "Hnnn…that wasn't the
condition. But I'll take it as a bonus. You know he is bi?"

"Well duh. I mean…he…look there are some things that ya know when
yer bangin' someone regular. I got a great rack but he could care
less ta touch `em. He'd look but he didn't care about touch. And…
well…when the girls would say somethin' about a good lookin' guy he'd
look at them and give his opinion. Straights just don't do that."
She bit her lip then admitted on a sigh. "And that's bullshit.
Nobody knew. I pretend I did but I didn't. He told me right after
he turned me down. He said he was in love with someone and didn't
want anyone else. I asked who and while he was talkin' about yer
perfect face, bod, and kick-ass attitude he let slip ya were a guy.
I coulda dropped over with a feather. But now that I see ya I can
see you guys fit. So what's yer condition ta help?"

"I want to see him before the exchange. We can go there now. Does
he have a cell phone?"

"Yeah, but…he won't like ya where they can see ya. He don't want ya
in danger."

"I can take care of myself and so can my bodyguards. What is the
address?"

The blonde woman mumbled the information and Kaiba set the Limo in
motion. Panicked she looked up. "Yer not gonna bring this thing
down there are ya?"

"Yes. It's best to give a show of power and strength. Let
your `suppliers' know that I am somehow involved. It will give them
something to worry about." A cold smile curved his lips. "The Kaiba
name is feared for many things. My father wasn't exactly known to
care about laws and his reputation has followed his name. Call
Jounouchi and tell him we are on our way." He paused for a
second. "Put it on speaker so we can all hear him."

She nodded and hit the button as the first ring sounded. Two rings
later Jounouchi's distinctive voice came over the phone. "Yeah Mai
how did it go?"

"Ah, well…it went okay. Uhm…thing is Leader, he wanted…uh, had a
condition ta helpin'."

"Condition? Did ya tell him what I said?"

"Yeah, uhm…he…he said he'd take that as a bonus. Nah, he said he
wanted ta see ya before. We are on our way there right now." A loud
eruption and several voices came over the phone before they heard
Jounouchi swearing succinctly.