Cursed

Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh! or Ranma 1/2. Those belong to Kazuki Takahashi and Rumiko Takahashi respectively. This is a product of my warped mind wanting to cross EVERYTHING over with Ranma 1/2 and actually writing it down this time. Of course, this is just for FUN and I'm not making any money out of this, so please do not sue me.

A/N - This is the other half of what was originally Chapter 6 - now Chapter 7. Also Smenkhkara, thank you for your review and I'm glad you are enjoying it. I know that not many people are reading this, so every review means a lot.

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One afternoon, a few days after he'd been suspended from school, Jou called Yugi.



"Hey there Jou, it's good to hear from you," Yugi said cheerfully as he answered the call, happy to hear his friend's voice. "But... how are you doing?" he asked in more serious tone.



"Ah, I'm doing OK I guess," Jou said, unable to hide the sadness in his voice.



"Are you sure about that?" Yugi asked with concern. "To be frank, you don't sound OK."



"I'm fine Yug' really," Jou said slightly more sharply than he had intended. "Ah, I'm sorry Yug'," he said a little contritely, "but I need to ask you for a favour."



"Sure Jou, whatever you need," Yugi said sincerely.



Jou took a deep breath and steeled himself. He knew that what he was about to say was not going to go down well at all, but it had to be done. "I... I need you all to back off of Kaiba," he blurted then waited for the inevitable explosion.



"But why?" Yugi protested. "We hardly ever see you. It's not fair on you or on us."



"Yugi, buddy, you know how Kaiba can be. He's getting annoyed by what he sees as constant pestering, even though I'll bet my bottom dollar that you guys aren't bothering him as much as he's making out." He sighed, then continued, "You know he's the poster boy for stubborn, so the more you guys get on his case about me the more he's going to resist."



"I don't know about that," Yugi mused. "Are you sure you aren't being forced into this?" he asked with some concern.



"No, I'm not. He can't actually force me to do anything, no matter what he may say," Jonouchi said with conviction. "Face it Yug', If I wanted to I could make life extremely difficult for him, but I'm going out of my way to cause him as little trouble as possible. Kaiba needs to realise that and for it to sink in he needs to do it on his own, but while he thinks he's being pushed he's not even going to consider the possibility."



"Jonouchi," Yami's deep tones came across the phone line, causing the blond to jump slightly, "I understand what you are trying to do, but how can you be sure that my cousin will come around? He is probably even more stubborn today than he was back then and to him denial is not just a river back home."



Jou blinked. Had Yami just cracked a joke? "Yami... I can't guarantee that Kaiba will come around, but what else can I try?"



"I'm not sure, other than making life difficult for him," Yami admitted.



"You know I can't do that," Jou protested.



"Maybe you should keep it in mind as a last resort," Yami suggested. "Make him realise that he's had it easy up to that point." Before Jou could respond, he had a sudden thought. "Have you tried to access Kaiba's soul room? As you are soul mates, you should be able to cross to it."



"Soul room?" Jou asked in confusion, the thought of his soul room not having occurred to him before.



"Don't you enter your soul room when you are not in control?" Yami asked with some surprise.



"Um... no. Should I?" Jou asked.



"I'm not really certain, but I'd have thought that you would," Yami mused. "So what happens to you when Kaiba is in control?" the spirit asked with genuine curiosity.



"I don't know," Jou said. "I... know that I've been away, but no, I don't enter a soul room that I know of."



"Hmm..." Yami mused. "Well seeing as that avenue is not open to you, then I suppose we can try things your way for now."



"Thanks Yami," Jou said with gratitude.



"But," Yami interrupted, "promise both myself and Yugi that you will tell us if it becomes too much for you to handle and we will find a way to intervene."



Jou sighed. "I promise," he said simply.



"I'm glad to hear that at least," Yugi said, once more back in control.



"I'm going to have to go now," Jou said. "Kaiba has a meeting in a few minutes and he'll be mad if he misses it."



"Oh Jou," Yugi said sadly. "It's really not fair."



"Life isn't fair Yug'," Jou replied equally as sadly, "but I've got to do this. I guess... I'll see you around sometime."



"Bye Jou" Yugi said, trying to keep the upset out of his voice so as not to upset his friend any further. "Just remember your promise."



"I won't forget, Yug'. Thanks for everything," Jou said, then he hung up.



Yugi also hung up sadly, then he picked up the handset again, calling the others to inform them of Jou's request. He knew that they would not be happy, but he hoped that they would respect Jou's wishes – at least for now. But he resolved that if things got too bad then all bets were off and they would find a way to intervene whether Jou liked it or not!



However, as time passed it became clear that Seto still did not care to realise what Jou was doing and on the rare occasions that he got to speak to them, Jou insisted to his friends that the CEO was not to be told. As he said, "If he's so damn clever he can work it out for himself." Not that Kaiba would have listened to his friends anyway. This was just saving them the trouble of trying.



Also, Jonouchi still had not managed to get to see his sister although he had tried several times over the previous few weeks as something always came up to prevent him from meeting her. Both Honda and Otogi had asked if they could explain things to Shizuka in his absence, but he always refused, insisting that he should be able to tell her for himself, not to mention that he still did not really want that pair anywhere near his baby sister, even if they were together now and supposedly no longer a threat to her innocence.



As time went by, Jou continued to become more and more withdrawn and instead of messaging Mokuba to find out about Seto's schedule, he would simply find the nearest supply of cold water and change back. He spent increasing amounts of time staring at the slowly degrading walls of his soul room, becoming more and more depressed, the condition of the room reflective of his mental state.



He'd accidentally discovered his soul room a couple of days after Yami had first mentioned the possibility to him, possibly because Yami had brought it to mind, but instead of helping it had only made his mental degradation happen faster as instead of just being unaware for the entire time he was, for want of a better description, locked away, he spent endless hours with absolutely nothing to do and no company to speak of. He'd told Yugi about the development and he'd tried accessing Kaiba's soul room as Yami had suggested to him, trying at various intervals and different times of the day, but no matter what he tried or how loudly he knocked, the door remained firmly locked.



Kaiba didn't even care to notice that Jou was staying out even less often, almost obsessively driven as he was to keep Kaiba Corp as the ultimate success story. Jou didn't often bother leaving notes for him any more either. Indeed, Seto was surprised when Jou actually did leave a note for him one day.



"Kaiba, I've checked your schedule," Jou wrote, surprising Seto again. He didn't think that the blond cared to check his schedule at all. "You don't have anything on this Saturday and I want to take the time to meet my sister. Please don't let anything prevent it this time. You know I've been trying to see her for weeks now." Jou had stopped writing here because he didn't want to let Seto know just how badly he was being affected. However, he finished with, "I won't ask anything else of you if you just let me have this."



For a moment Seto mused over the way that Jou had phrased his request and he also felt the faint stirrings of guilt over stopping Jou from seeing his sister, but he stamped down on that as he usually did with uncomfortable feelings. He checked his schedule for the Saturday to make sure that Jonouchi hadn't missed anything, wrote back, "That will be fine, mutt," then reached for the hot water. He came back a few minutes later and read the note that Jou had left.



"Thanks Kaiba," Jou wrote, "I've arranged things with her so I don't need to be out again until Saturday." Seto nodded in satisfaction and put it out of his mind, not even registering that Jou had not protested about the use of the word 'mutt'. If he'd thought about it he may have been concerned - but then this was Kaiba, so maybe he wouldn't have been.



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Saturday finally came around and finally Jou was heading out to meet his sister. He was really looking forward to seeing the auburn haired girl as it had been so long since he'd seen her last. He had hardly ever seen her even before he'd ended up with this curse and it had only become that much harder since Seto had taken over practically every area of his life. The fates were once again against him though. He could actually see her, her name right on his lips as he was about to call out to her when, seemingly out of nowhere, someone bumped into him and spilled water on him from a bottle that they were drinking.



Seto Kaiba looked around in confusion, an unfamiliar feeling of joy running through him that was quickly wiped out by irritation as he glared at the person that had dared to get him wet as they darted away. He looked around him to locate where he was, then swore. What on earth was he doing over on this side of town? He looked at his watch and snarled. Stupid fucking mutt bringing him all the way out here. He had an emergency meeting this afternoon and he was just preparing for it when he had been splashed with hot coffee - again. He was going to have to start drinking iced coffee instead, he noted with annoyance. He hailed a taxi, knowing that there wasn't enough time for his limo to come and get him if he was going to be on time and resolving that he was going to find some way to take it out of Jonouchi's hide later on.



Shizuka, meanwhile, sat patiently at the table of the small pavement café that she had arranged to meet her brother at, sipping slowly at her drink. Jou had promised that he would be able to meet her this time, insisting that he had made sure that nothing would come up that would prevent him from being there. She wasn't concerned when he wasn't there on time, after all, Katsuya wasn't exactly known for his punctuality. However, once an hour had passed she had to admit that her brother wasn't going to show.



She pulled out her cell phone and quickly dialled a number. "Ryuji?" She said into the mouthpiece when there was an answer.



"Shizuka?" the raven haired teen replied. "What's wrong?"



"He didn't show again," she cried into the phone.



"We'll be right there," Otogi replied. Shizuka told him where she was and shortly both he and Honda were there and attempting to comfort the upset girl.



"If he doesn't want to see me anymore why doesn't he just say so," Shizuka cried into Honda's chest as Otogi stroked her auburn locks soothingly.



"I'm sure he does want to see you," Otogi said, "but sometimes things just get in the way. I'm sure it's Kaiba's fault in the end." He wished he could tell her the real reason that Jou was finding it to hard to meet her, but he'd promised the blond that he wouldn't, plus he was pretty sure that she would never believe such a fantastic tale without proof.



"But five times in a row?" She asked incredulously. "He never calls me and I can never seem to get in touch with him. I just… he can't want anything to do with me anymore." She hung her head sadly.



"I don't know what to say," Honda said. "I know your brother still loves you. If it makes you feel any better, none of us get to see much of him any more either."



"It should, but it doesn't really," Shizuka sighed, then reached into her bag and pulled out an envelope. "I wrote this just in case he didn't show up today and it looks like I was right to." She looked at the two boys with teary eyes, "Promise me that you'll get this to him?"



"We'll do our best," Otogi said, taking the missive. "I know that he would have been looking forward to seeing you today and he's going to take not seeing you pretty hard, but this will probably help him a little."



"I'm sure he'll be fine," Shizuka said more cheerily than she felt. "I really do want to see him, but I guess if he's busy…" She sighed as she looked at her watch. "I'm going to need to get my train soon as I promised that I wouldn't spend too long out today. Will you two strong, handsome men escort me to the station please?"



"Ah, sure," Honda replied, which was quickly echoed by Otogi. The chance to spend some more time with Shizuka was too much to resist. They took up positions on either side of her as they walked towards the station, Shizuka definitely enjoying the attention the two older boys were lavishing on her. She considered herself very lucky to have both of them paying attention to her and at least they weren't fighting over her any more, at least not seriously. She knew that the dynamic in their relationship had changed somewhat and it was definitely for the better. She knew what was really going on and she'd been having so much fun stringing them along a little, but that was about to change, especially as her brother was not around to object.



They arrived at the railway station and the duo came to the platform to see her off safely. They were making a bit of a show of fighting over her still, but she could see right through it. She gave a small giggle as the train pulled in. Really, they were both so sweet. She pulled them both down and gave each of them a quick peck on the cheek. "You do know that I really like both of you don't you?" She said as she darted away and boarded the train, only turning back to look at the stunned boys once she was safely aboard. As the doors were closing she shouted out, "We should definitely get together sometime!"



Honda and Otogi looked at each other with some shock. The little minx had been playing them! But once what she had said penetrated their fogged brains they gave each other a high five, then turned and waved enthusiastically at Shizuka as the train left the station. Things were definitely looking up. Once she was finally out of sight, Honda and Otogi exchanged another look, this time a much more serious one. They had a Kaiba to go and visit.



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Seto Kaiba sat in his office trying to catch up with the minor backlog of work, cursing the damned mutt who, in his opinion, had caused him to fall behind during today's emergency. He was just thinking about how he could make Jou pay for it when he became aware of an altercation going on in his outer office. Moments later the door opened and Seto was aggrieved to see Dice Boy and Fin Head storm into the room, his secretary calling for them to stop.



"Well, well, well," Seto drawled, "To what do I owe this dubious pleasure?"



"You bastard," Honda burst out. "How on earth could you do that to Shizuka and Jonouchi?"



Seto looked over to see that the secretary was still at the door listening in. "That will be all," he said, not wanting the woman to overhear this conversation that was likely to have information of a sensitive nature in it.



"But Mr. Kaiba Sir," she began only for Seto to cut her off.



"I said that will be all," he said more forcefully this time, giving the woman no choice but to leave. Once she had closed the door behind her he turned his attention to the duo that had invaded his space. "What the hell are you talking about, Fin Head?"



"You knew that Jonouchi had arranged to meet his sister this afternoon," Honda said.



"And you also know that he's been trying to meet up with her for weeks." Otogi took up the narrative, "Yet somehow you always manage to mess it up for him."



"It's not my fault that the mutt is so damned inconsiderate of other people," Kaiba shot back, not wanting to admit that he had simply forgotten about Jonouchi's appointment. Mokuba had tried to remind him about something to do with Jonouchi this morning, but he had swept out of the house without listening and that was probably it. Not that such a frivolous thing mattered in Kaiba's scheme of things. "I have a business to run here and to be frank he's a hindrance," he snapped irritably.



"I can't believe you just said that," Honda exclaimed. "Don't you realise that Jou…" he was stopped short as Otogi put his hand on his arm. "Sorry," Honda muttered, knowing that he had been about to divulge something that Jonouchi had asked him not to.



"Kaiba, for a genius you can be incredibly dense sometimes," Otogi said, unwittingly echoing something that Kaiba had been told several weeks beforehand.



"What do you mean by that," Seto said dangerously.



"You are going to have to work that one out for yourself," Otogi replied cryptically. "Oh, and here is a letter from Shizuka to Jonouchi." He threw the envelope onto the CEO's desk. "Let him read it sometime, won't you?" He gave Kaiba a disparaging look before turning to his companion. "Come on Hiroto. We've done all that we can here for now. Let's go."



"Yeah, I guess that we should leave the selfish bastard to his precious company," Honda said with contempt. As he was about to leave, he turned back to the blue eyed teen sat behind the desk. "If Jou hadn't made me promise… Oh forget it," he said as he stormed out after Otogi, slamming the door behind him.



As soon as they had left the building, Honda had his phone in his hand.



"Who are you calling?" Otogi asked him.



"I'm calling Yugi," Honda said with a grim expression. "You know I've never really been happy about this arrangement and now it's gone far enough. It's obvious that Kaiba is never going to come around and Jou will never ask for help, no matter how badly he's treated."



"You're right of course," Otogi sighed. "If only Kaiba wasn't so stubborn..."



"Hey Yug'" Honda spoke as his call was answered.



"Hey Honda," Yugi replied. "Is it something important? I'm kind of busy at the moment."



"I'll keep it brief," Honda said. "Kaiba stopped Jonouchi from meeting Shizuka again today."



"Oh you are kidding!" Yugi exclaimed in exasperation.



"That's not all," Honda continued. "Shizuka gave us a letter for Jou. We delivered it to Kaiba and he said that Jonouchi was being inconsiderate. Can you believe that? Seriously Yugi, the guy is never going to come around and we need to find a way to intervene."



"Yeah, I think I agree," Yugi said. "I'll call you later and arrange a meeting to discuss what we should do." A bell dinged in the background. "Oh, a customer. I've got to go."



"OK thanks Yug. Speak to you later." Honda disconnected the call and turned to Otogi. "He'll call us and arrange a meeting later," Honda informed his lover. "He agrees that it's gone to far."



"Oh good," Otogi said with some relief. "So... what should we do in the meantime?" he said seductively.



Honda grinned at his insatiable lover. "Oh, I'm sure that we can think of something," he said.



"Shall we go back to my place then?" Otogi twirled his hair almost shyly, looking at Honda from under his eyelashes.



Honda didn't reply, but simply grabbed Otogi's hand and dragged him down the street. Waiting would prove to be a very pleasurable pastime.



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As Honda and Otogi left, Seto sat for several moments, looking at the door they had just left through, momentarily contemplating the previous exchange. What had they promised the mutt and what was he supposed to realise? It bugged him to no end when people didn't finish their sentences, but after a moment longer he shrugged it off, pushed the envelope to one side and went back to his work. He could think about it later.



A short time later he was finally caught up and he sat back, stretched the kinks out then looked at the envelope that Otogi had contemptuously thrown down onto the desk earlier. After considering what to do for a moment he stood and make his way to the bathroom that was attached to his office, deciding that he could spare the mutt the time to read the letter now. He turned on the tap and splashed hot water over his hand.



Jonouchi swore copiously as he came to in what he knew was Kaiba's personal rest room before sinking to the floor and crying his broken heart out. He had been finding it increasingly difficult to judge the passage of time as he was almost constantly locked away, but he had been hoping that Kaiba would change back once he'd been splashed. Jou cursed himself as he realised that he really should have known better. He had been so close, then Kaiba just had to go and spoil it. He had actually seen her this time and that just made it hurt all the worse. Couldn't he catch a break just once?



After a few more minutes, he stood up, splashed his face with hot water and walked out into Seto's office, intent on trying to call his sister on the phone. A quick look at the clock showed him that it was earlier than he had feared and not too late to do so. He was about to reach for the phone when he noticed an envelope sitting innocently to one side of the desk. He started as he saw that it was addressed to him and he recognised Shizuka's handwriting. For a moment he entertained the notion that Kaiba had spoken to Shizuka and had told her about the curse himself, but he put that thought out of his mind almost as soon as it had entered. There was no way that Kaiba would do something like that.



With some trepidation he lifted the envelope and removed the enclosed letter with trembling hands. Tears once again poured down his face as he began to read, Shizuka telling him all about how her life was going at the moment. He felt his heart break all over again as she wrote about how much she missed him and that she hoped that he could make some time to see her soon. He couldn't help but sob aloud as he realised that Kaiba would probably never let it happen. Finally, as he calmed down slightly, he reached for the phone and dialled the number for his mother's apartment.



"Kawai residence," the clipped tones came down the phone.



"Hey ma," Jou said with a false cheer in his voice. "Can I speak to Shizuka please?"



"You have a real cheek young man," Jou's mother replied. Jou winced as he could hear that she was not very happy. "Shizuka has been very upset that you have stood her up at least five separate times in the last month and I'm not having it. I'm banning her from going into Domino."



"But Ma…" Jou began, only to be cut off.



"No buts, Katsuya," She replied with finality. "She doesn't need the stress and that is my final word on the matter."



Jou tried to reply only to find himself talking to a dead line. "Damn it all to hell!" he shouted in frustration as he slammed the handset back down into the cradle, cracking it in his frustration.



He sat there with his head in his hands for several long minutes as he considered what to do next. In the end he grabbed his sister's letter and put it away safely. Well, as safe as he could make it until Kaiba would inevitably find it in his pocket and throw it in the trash as something unimportant. He grabbed a piece of paper, wrote a few lines then went to the bathroom to get some cold water.



Seto came back to himself confused by the backwash of despair that he felt wash over him and the tears that he felt on his face. He brushed that off, splashed his face with cold water and walked out of the bathroom, satisfied that things should be sorted out now. At least until he spied the papers that Jou had left on his desk. He frowned as he considered simply walking away and leaving it for another day, but in the end curiosity won out and he walked towards the desk, picked up the paper and began to read.



"Kaiba, why could you not even let me have this small amount of time to explain things to my sister? I've never asked for anything else from you yet you continue to deny me this one small thing. Now my mother has banned her from coming to domino and I'll probably never see her again. So tell me why?"



Kaiba gave a derisive sneer, stamping down on a new wave of guilt as he wrote his note in return. "Because my time is so much more valuable than some worthless mutt's." He stopped for a moment and was going to leave it like that, but he changed his mind to add on one more line. "Besides, you should be happy. She won't be coming to Domino to look for you now, so as far as you are concerned, you should consider it job done."



When Jou came too, he felt a backwash of satisfaction, one of the rare times that he'd felt anything from Kaiba, and he knew that the note was not going to be good. Once he steeled himself to finally read it, he knew true despair. He could take the loss of his friends, OK, they weren't lost, but they might as well be for all the times he had seen them lately. He could take the loss of his schooling, not like he would amount to much anyway. He could even take the loss of his sister as long as she was safe and he was sure that his mother would come around eventually. He could stand all of these things and more, but to know that Kaiba hated him so damn much that he could take over his life like this without even a shred of conscience or consideration was more than he could bear. He sat there silently and mourned his losses; feeling ever more depressed as each moment passed. He just could not see a light at the end of the tunnel and if Kaiba didn't realise by now that he was doing his very best to help him without asking anything in return then he never would. It wasn't just his heart that was breaking, it was his very soul.



After a few more moments he lethargically picked up the phone and called his best friend, hardly even registering the crack running down the handset. It would hardly matter soon anyway. "Yugi…" he choked as the small teen answered.



"Jonouchi, what's wrong?" Yugi asked with concern. He could tell straight away that this was not going to be the normal type of conversation he would have with the normally bubbly and outgoing boy, although he had noticed on the rare times that he'd been able to see or talk to him recently that he had been markedly less bubbly of late.



"Yugi… I'm sorry," Jou choked out, "I don't think I can take it any more."



"What happened Jou?" Yugi asked gently, already knowing that it would at least be partially related to Jou's sister.



"He… stopped me from seeing Shizuka today," Jou said sadly, "and when I asked him why he told me that his time was so much more important than a worthless mutt's." Jou choked back a sob. "He's never going to come around Yugi. I've done my best by him to make sure that he doesn't hate me any more, but he doesn't care at all."



"Let me talk to him, Jou," Yugi offered, not for the first time. "Kaiba needs to be told what he's doing to you."



"He won't care, Yug," Jou replied. "Besides, it's too late for that. It's never going to get any better. There's no point in even trying. I give up."



"Jou, we can fix this. Please don't do anything drastic!" Yugi was becoming frantic.



"I'm sorry Yugi," Jou said with finality in his voice, "He just hates me so much…" The pain in his voice made Yugi wince, but before he could say anything Jou continued, "I… I'll say goodbye now Yug. Keep my deck and... look after yourself, eh?"



"No Jonouchi!" Yugi yelled into the phone even as Jou hung up. Jou was completely deaf to his diminutive friend's distress, only satisfied that the last loose end was now tied up in that he had kept his promise to call.



He sat at Kaiba's desk, simply staring at the cracked phone for several long moments, mind completely blank and not even thinking about anything, let alone what he was going to do next. Without any warning he stood up and began to walk. He left Kaiba's office, not even noticing that the secretary had gone home for the day. He made his way toward the exit, then walked up the stairway, making slow and steady progress towards the roof.



Once he got there he walked towards the edge of the building, taking in the spectacular panorama that could only be seen from the top of the tallest building in Domino, sighing sadly as he stepped up onto the ledge right on the edge of the roof. He took what he intended to be his last look upon the world when suddenly his thoughts drifted to his friends and Mokuba and he snapped out of it. What the hell was he thinking? Could he really take Mokuba's only known blood relative away from him just like that? He considered that he himself could easily disappear from the world as no one relied exclusively on him, even if his friends would be upset. They would get over it eventually, but it was different for Kaiba. He shook his head ruefully; it wasn't just about him any more. He didn't have the right to take Kaiba's life even if the CEO didn't legally exist, no matter how much pain Kaiba put him through. That and he didn't want to cause his friends any more distress either. He'd just have to take Yugi up on his offer to try and find a way to intervene.



Decision made, he made to step back from the edge, intent on calling Yugi to put his mind to rest as soon as possible as he was sure that his friend would be frantic with worry, only to be splashed by a sudden rain shower that seemed to come out of nowhere.



Kaiba, disoriented from the change and finding himself in such an unexpected place, began to fall...

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Don't kill me for the cliffhanger! The reason I was having so much trouble with this chapter to start with was that this was the place I always wanted to cut it, but the chapter length wouldn't fit until I'd 'fixed' it. I've looked over this chapter until I'm crosseyed and I'm starting to overthink it now, so it's time to post before I scrap the whole thing as a bad job. XD

I'm going to have to take a long look at the next chapter too. If I leave it as it is now, it's likely to be over 8000 words when I come to post it and I prefer to keep my chapters between 3000 and 5000 words. Oh well, I'll have to see how it pans out.