Right in a Bad Way

A/N: As always, thanks to my readers and my reviewers—especially Nicky and Lell, the most vocal fans of my story. Thanks guys, I look forward to what you write every time I post. It’s probably a little late to be saying this, but chapter five was the first time anyone left an e-mail address with their review: I e-mailed the two of them to thank them and told them when I would be posting my next chapter (this one) and gave them a bit of information on its content. I would do the same for anyone else who is interested and gives me a way to contact them. I would also like to thank Lunar Wolf/Chrono for his suggestions; I took them to heart.

Also: If this whole plot-line with Raphael seems to have been a rather elaborate excuse to bring Kaiba into the story, you may be onto something. Kaiba is my favorite character (Jounouchi being a photo-finish second) and it just didn’t seem like a Yuugi-oh story without him. He’s not in this much, but enough to satisfy my compulsion, if not my addiction. I guess that’s why I bought my DVDs.


Chapter Six: Party at Kaiba’s

Jounouchi arrived home from school the next day to see some packages outside his door. On closer inspection he saw that they were a rented tux, polished shoes, and (horribly) a boutonniere. Pinned to the jacket of the tuxedo was a note signed by Mai: “So you can look pretty and not get thrown out. I’ll pick you up at seven.”

Well, great. That was exactly how he wanted to spend his evening; in uncomfortable, stiff clothes, surrounded by businessmen who thought of him as a statistic, trash. And, of course, the worst of them all—Kaiba Seto. If he wanted to have that much fun he could just swallow broken glass.

Still, this meant a lot to Yuugi, this Raphael thing, and Jou had promised to come last night before he’d left Mai’s apartment. Although he doubted if being dressed appropriately would necessarily keep him from being thrown out. Oh well; if that happened he could just come home and play video games—what any normal guy his age would want to do on a Saturday night.

Evidence of his father’s incidence was strewn about the apartment; Jou gathered the bottles. At least he wouldn’t have to worry about him for a while. When his father had been arrested last night, he had called Honda’s house. This made sense considering that was where Jounouchi had told him he was going to be. When drunk, his father would swing back and forth between violence and complete defeat and depression. Having taken the aggression out on the officers who’d arrested him, his father was in his despair phase when Jou had arrived. He had begged his son to find money for bail, but Jounouchi told him it was impossible. Knowing the reality of their financial situation very well, his father had believed him after a bit of reasoning; the only way Jounouchi could get that much money that fast was to do something illegal, and they sure as hell didn’t have enough money to bail two people out of jail. Little did his father know, Jou had money left over from the Duelist Kingdom tournament winnings (Shizuka’s operation had taken most of it but not all) and Jou had been adding to those savings gradually over the past two years. But that was Jounouchi’s money for college, his ticket out, and this sort of thing was the reason his father didn’t know about that money. Part of him felt guilty for leaving his father in jail when he had more than enough to get him out, but most of him didn’t mind. If his dad knew about the savings account, the rest of the money would be gone in a matter of weeks, going to pay off numerous gambling debts. After hearing the story of what exactly had happened last night, Jou wasn’t so sure his father didn’t deserve to be in jail for a few months—and having been fired earlier that week, it wasn’t as though he was in danger of losing a job. Jounouchi wasn’t afraid; if he could support the two of them during his father’s repeated unemployment, he could support himself. So he threw the bottles away and put his dad from his mind.

After watching some TV and eating, he grudgingly began getting ready for the party. He needed a shower. Damn it, this sucked. His hair dripping water on the floor, towel wrapped around his waist, he opened his underwear drawer. He grabbed a pair and was about to push it shut when his eyes caught the small pile he’d made in one of the corners. There were Mai’s panties, but there was something else as well, something he had saved for almost two years. He reached out and picked up the soft, white handkerchief. Several times he had considered giving it back to her, but he never did. Not only because he had grown rather attached to it, although that was certainly true, but also because it would mean revealing to her how long he had saved it.

Mai had taken him into her life and into her bed, but there had been no words of commitment or love between them. He didn’t want to expose himself, admit how often he thought of her. Besides, Mai wouldn’t understand. She wasn’t so sentimental to save something as trivial as a scrap of fabric and turn it into a symbol of something which might not be there at all. Hell, if he showed it to her, she might laugh. He put it back where it was and closed the drawer.

He was waiting at the curb when Mai pulled up in her car, feeling like a complete tool in the tuxedo. On the bright side, Mai seemed to have guessed his size pretty accurately, so at least it fit. He climbed into the car; Yuugi was sitting in the back, wearing a brave, bracing smile but anxious eyes. Mai gave Jounouchi a smile and a kiss hello, and Jou felt better about the evening—at least he’d be with her.

When they pulled up to Kaiba Manor, Jounouchi could not suppress the “Holy shit,” that came out of his mouth. God, you could probably fit three of their schools in that house. That Kaiba was such a bastard, living here all rich and comfortable and stuff. Jou wanted to hit him. There was even valet parking, damn it.

“I don’t recognize you, are you on the list?” the man at the door asked, his tone polite even if his words weren’t.

“No,” Mai answered.

“I can’t let you in if you’re not on the list.”

“It’s alright, let them in. They’re special guests.” It was Mokuba. The younger boy was wearing a miniature tuxedo and looked, in Jou’s opinion, like he’d wandered from a wedding party.

After greeting each other, Mokuba told them about Ameluda. “Well, he’s setting up his new project, a relief charity for Russian orphans. Nii-sama introduced him around and he’s in a meeting right now trying to secure donations. It was supposed to be finished by now, but it’s running a bit late. He should be down within the hour.”

“Thank you,” Yuugi said.

“Just what are you three doing here?”

Jounouchi didn’t have to turn around to know who was speaking. That voice would cause blood vessels in his brain to pop no matter where he heard it.

Yuugi, far too used to Kaiba’s intimidating presence to be affected, answered. “Mokuba invited us.”

Kaiba stood next to his younger brother, raising a cold eyebrow. “Mokuba seems to be doing that a lot lately.”

The boy simply shrugged.

“We just need to speak with Ameluda and we’ll be leaving,” Yuugi reassured.

Kaiba’s eyes flicked over his party crashers. “That’s good news. I wasn’t looking forward to telling my high-class chefs that they needed to open a can of dog food for one of my guests.”

Jounouchi had been trying so hard not to say anything to the CEO, not to get into anything. But, damn it, he snapped every time that bastard called him a dog.

Mai, however, saw disaster coming and did something drastic to keep his mouth quiet. She kissed him—full on, open mouthed, kissed him. As diversions went, this one wasn’t so bad. Sure he still wanted to kick Kaiba’s ass, but that urge was fading in the reality of Mai’s kiss. Goddamn did she know what she was doing. When the kiss broke and the room came into focus, Jounouchi was greeted with the faces of the Kaiba brothers: Mokuba was a bit wide-eyed, and Kaiba looked a little sick.

“And now I don’t think I’ll be eating either,” his rival said. “I’d love to spend my evening talking to you idiots, but I haven’t the stomach. Good evening, Yuugi, Mai, bonkotsu [mediocrity],” Kaiba said, nodding his head at each of them in turn, and leaving.

A servant approached. “May I check your coats, sirs and lady?”

Jounouchi was handing his coat to the man when he saw Mai’s dress. The muscles in his jaw went for a moment and he forgot to release his hold on the coat as the man tried to take it from him. It was something between an evening gown and a wrap-dress. Dark green, low-cut and gathered at one side, the dress showed every curve and swell of her body. Shit. What was she thinking wearing that in public? Her kiss still fresh in his mind, this was enough for his body to react.

He blushed and looked away. He was in a crowded room, and he had to get a grip.

“Well,” Mokuba said as he lead them into the heart of the party, “there aren’t many people here you’d know. Oh,” he said remembering something, “Pegasus is here. I can take you to him.”

“Alright,” Yuugi agreed readily.

“No, thank you,” Mai said at the same time.

Mokuba and Yuugi looked at her.

“It’s just, well, he says he’s forgiven me, but that he never wants to see me again.”

Mokuba nodded, “I see.”

Yuugi looked disappointed. He had mentioned off-handedly at school earlier that day that he had some questions for Pegasus about some of the new cards that had just been released and was thinking of writing the American billionaire a letter.

“Go for it, Yuugi,” Jou told him. “Mai and I can entertain ourselves. We’ll keep a watch out for Ameluda.”

As the two smaller boys left the couple, Mai reached for a champagne flute from one of the trays. “Do you want one?” she asked Jounouchi.

“No,” he answered, “I don’t drink.”

She nodded and took a sip.

“Excuse me?” A handsome young man had walked up behind Mai and tapped her on the shoulder. He was flanked by a few friends. “Aren’t you Kujaku Mai? The model?”

Mai didn’t appear happy to be recognized, but she didn’t seem annoyed either. “Yes, I am.”

The guy smiled. “I enjoyed you your work in Blue Silk’s December issue.”

Jounouchi saw red. That was an underwear catalog—one he usually stole from a kid in his math class. Damn it, December was a month he’d decided to be nice. The idea that these rich young men had seen his Mai in an underwear catalog, probably thinking perverted thoughts they had no right to think the whole time . . . . They’d better just turn around and walk away.

“And who is this?” he asked, good-naturedly, looking at Jounouchi. The fact that the guy seemed perfectly nice only irked Jou more.

Mai laced her arm with his. “This is my date, Jounouchi Katsuya.”

One of the guy’s friends snickered. “What? Did he win a contest or something?”

Jounouchi felt like someone had punched him in the stomach with ice.

The guy who’d been talking to them turned to berate his friend, but Mai beat him to it. Her eyes had gone dark and frightening. “Leave,” she said dangerously.

After the group had left, Jou extracted his arm from Mai’s. “You didn’t need to do that,” he said, more than a little angry. “I can defend myself. I’m not your kid.”

Mai got angry back. “You think I don’t know you can defend yourself? I’ve seen you fight, Jounouchi. I didn’t do that because I thought you needed my help, I did it because I thought you deserved my loyalty. I’m not fooling around, Jou, I’m serious about this.”

“About what?”

“Us.”

Jounouchi froze. What did she say? He looked at her, met eyes with her. He felt an odd compulsion to kiss her—not because he wanted to but because it seemed natural to.

She reached out and took his hand. Something mischievous had entered her eyes and she led him out of the crowd and into a deserted hall. She tried a few doors before leading him through one. The dining room—not the only used for parties like this, but the one that the Kaiba brothers probably used everyday.

Mai led Jounouchi to the head of the table and pushed him backwards and into the seat. He didn’t need to ask why they had come in here; he was learning.

She sat on his lap and kissed him, her hands rubbing his chest lightly. His hands found her arms and back—good hell, her dress didn’t have a back. How had he missed that? It was clear in a matter of seconds that Mai was intent on taking this as far as it could go; she held nothing back in her kisses or her caresses, and he responded in kind.

Her hands found their way between their bodies and she took his rigid length in her hands, rubbing it heatedly through his pants. He groaned and squirmed to push against her palms. Her pressure increased and she moved her mouth to his ear.

“Jounouchi, I’ve been wet since I picked you up and saw you in that tux. I’ve never seen you so cleaned up and those pants grab your butt and thighs in all the right places. And well, you just get me hot anyway. When you beat Ryuuzaki at Duelist Kingdom, I wanted to drag you into the forest, tear your pants off, and have my way with you.”

Good God, what was she saying? Was she making this shit up? She had to be, but he felt himself responding to it nonetheless.

“I’ve never had sex against a tree, but I thought about it that day. It seemed to fit your rawness, your enthusiasm. It would have been rough and I would have probably gotten scrapes all over my back, but God, I wanted it. The worst though, was when you saved me from falling to my death when that actor creep tried to kidnap me. If I didn’t think you might have been injured, and if your friends hadn’t come along, I would have said thank you to you in a very different way. I’ve never wanted to give head so badly in my life; my mouth was salivating at the thought of it. I wanted to taste you, hold your hips as you moved them, feel you explode in my throat.”

He was fading in and out of reality, going back to these times, visiting her fantasies. All he heard was her voice and all he felt was her hands.

“And then, the day before yesterday, when you stole my underwear, it drove me crazy. I thought about your perverted thoughts, thought about you taking them home and rubbing them against you, coming on them . . . . Jounouchi it had me shaking, I was so horny. I wanted to lie down on my bed and touch myself, put my fingers inside myself and pretend they were you. I resisted, came out, and ended up grabbing you. If your friends hadn’t showed up, I would have humped you silly on that couch. Since last night, I haven’t been able to stop thinking of you and the way you feel moving in and out of me. I want you to throw me down on this table and fuck me—nothing tender, nothing slow, just—”

He gave a small cry as he came, not in her on the table like they had both been hoping, but in his pants; his rented tuxedo pants. He winced. How could life be so damn cruel?

“Sorry,” Mai whispered.

He glared at her. What was she apologizing for? He was the one with no self-control.

“I guess I got caught up in the moment,” she said. “I should have gone slower.”

He tried to push her off his lap and get up, but she stopped him. “Wait. I have an idea.”

She slid from his lap and to her knees. Slowly, she peeled down the zipper of his pants and parted the fabric. She lifted the waistband of his underwear and pulled down to reveal his mess. He felt embarrassed, her seeing him this way, but when he looked at her face, her eyes had glazed over. This couldn’t be exciting her, could it?

Mai leaned forward and lapped a droplet from his lower stomach. His whole body shivered and his hands clenched the armrests of the chair. She was cleaning him—with her mouth. Her lips and tongue felt their way all across his skin: his stomach, his inner thighs, his balls and then, finally, his hard-again member. There though, it went beyond cleaning. She rolled her tongue around the crown, stroked the base with her hands while she took the head in her mouth. She would bob her head a few times and then lick slowly up the shaft--over and over again, each time doing one or the other a little longer or a little shorter. He was approaching his second peak when she stopped.

He watched as she stood, then hopped back so she was sitting on the table. He understood what she wanted; she’d already told him. He rose, pants and underwear falling to the ground, and lifted her skirt as she lay back. He swallowed as he hooked his fingers in the waistband of her panties and slid them down her legs.

He positioned himself at her entrance and realized, rather suddenly, that he didn’t want a fast rut. He wanted to go slowly, tenderly. He wanted to make love. But she had stated clearly what she wanted and it would be selfish to disregard that. Besides, he had climaxed already, she hadn’t; she was whimpering and desperate beneath him. So he pounded into her, lost himself in the moment until they had both screamed release.

After they’d both recovered, he pulled her gradually to her feet. Kissing her, he straightened her hair and dress. Luckily, her make-up hadn’t been smeared much. He pulled up his underwear and pants. When he straightened up, she was holding out her panties to him.

They met eyes as he took them and this time, it seemed like more than a kinky gift. He carefully folded them and placed them in his pocket.

When they opened the door to leave, Jounouchi couldn’t help looking back and laughing evilly to himself. He had just had sex where Kaiba ate breakfast.

In the hall they bumped into someone. A woman with dark hair and a dress that probably cost more than an entire year of his rent.

To his surprise, she addressed Mai, smiling. “Two kids seem to be looking for you.”

“How did you know we were here?” Mai asked.

“I saw you leave. Aren’t you going to introduce me?”

Mai put her hand in Jounouchi’s, “Jou, this is Zaira Dellington. We knew each other in college. Zaira, this is Jounouchi Katsuya, my date. Zaira, please don’t tell the Kaiba’s what we were doing and where we were doing it. Then he really will have me arrested.”

Zaira rolled her eyes. “Like I care.” She led them to where Yuugi and Mokuba were waiting.

“Sorry,” Mai apologized. “We got a little sidetracked.”

“Don’t worry,” said Mokuba, “Pegasus ran his mouth a bit.”

Yuugi looked worried. “Except now the meeting’s ended and we don’t know where Ameluda is.”

“Ameluda?” Zaira asked. “Is he a red-headed European gentleman, good at cards?”

“Yes,” Mai answered relieved.

“He’s playing cards in the lounge.”

When they entered the lounge, Mai walked up behind Ameluda. “Can I join?”

“No,” Ameluda answered without turning around, recognizing Mai’s voice instantly. “I’ll never play any cards with you except Duel Monsters.”

“Why is that?” Jounouchi asked, and Ameluda turned to face the group.

“She cheats at everything else. What’s going on?”

Yuugi withdrew the cards from his pocket and gave them to Ameluda. “Where is Raphael?”

Ameluda looked sad. “He went back to his island.”

“Is he alright?”

“No.”

Yuugi’s spirit sank in a way which was visible and palpable. “Then he doesn’t mean to return?”

“No,” Ameluda said, passing the cards back to Yuugi, “but that doesn’t mean he won’t. Take care of his cards for him; he gave them to you so they wouldn’t rot with him.”

"I will," Yuugi said softly.


Further A/Ns—for anyone who’s interested: I've never quite liked stories where Jounouchi was rescued from his bad home life. I want Jou to save himself in my story, or at least be on the way to doing so. But I also wanted to stay realistic about it. Saving himself would probably mean leaving his father behind.

I wanted another storyline besides the relationship between Jounouchi and Mai in my story. I’ve always wondered what it would be like for characters to try to adjust to peace after so much craziness and turmoil. I figured characters whose “yamis” had disappeared and the Doma would probably have the toughest time—the “hikaris” because of the adjustment to being the only ones in their bodies again, and the Doma because they were so removed from society for so long, and they had no families or homes to go back to. I wanted to use a character to show this, but I didn’t want it to drag down my story so much that there was no room for humor. That’s why I chose to never have Raphael enter the story personally.

Also, I’m sorry. I found another way to do what I invented Zaira to do, so in the end, her addition was pointless. I included her in this chapter in an attempt to justify her presence in the story; failure. To those of you who like her, yay. To those of you who can’t stand her, I’m sorry. I could go back and remove her, but then chapter four would be half a chapter.