Bury It Deeper

 

Title:  Bury It... Deeper  



Authoress:  Maggiemay



Beta:  Fluffiest



Muses and assistants:  The YIM CHATTERS of course.  Leanne, Leaf, Sprinkles, and everyone else.



Spoilers:  End of Series



Pairing:  Seto/Jou  Seto/Jou/Yugi  Atem/Yugi



Rating:  M for Mature



Warnings:  Yaoi – no like no read.  Oh and some gore, very minor.



Disclaimer:  I don't own the characters of Yugioh or make profit from this fanfiction.



Summary:  Jou and Yugi have something they want to bury – if only Someone didn't keep getting in the way.



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Jounouchi Katsuya looked around the sparkling clean house with a contented sigh.  He'd done it, he was finally free of the filth and stench that he'd lived with for the past twelve years.  He was free!  Free to pay his own bills, only his bills, not his father's gambling debts.  Free to come and go as he pleased without fear of being beat within an inch of his life.  Free to have decent food in the house and best of all, free to have his friends come visit and not be ashamed of the filth, stink, and disgrace that had been his life before.  



Heaving another sigh of contentment, he went into the kitchen to double check its cleanliness and the contents of his refrigerator.  It satisfied a deep need in Jounouchi to open the fridge side and see fresh fruit, veggies, milk, soda and eggs instead of the cans of cheap beer he was used to.  If he had his way,  his fridge would never have beer in it.  His freezer, the other side of the side-by-side fridge, was huge.  Empty as of yet because he hadn't decided if he wanted to buy meat or frozen dinners.  Meat would be more economical,  but frozen dinners were so much less labor intensive.  Sighing, the blond looked around proudly.  Sparkling and perfect.  Exactly what he wanted his best friend in the whole world, Yugi, to see.



A low melodious chime broke Jounouchi out of his self-satisfied haze.  A quick glance at his watch told him that Yugi was five minutes early.  That was so like him. Smiling happily, pride at his new home, his new life, bursting from him, he went to invite his friend into his perfect place, made even more perfect by the addition of the warmth and friendship his first-ever guest brought with him.



"Hey Yug!"  Jounouchi greeted happily, stepping back and inviting the smaller man into his home.  "Thanks for coming over."



"Thanks for inviting me."  The petite duelist was much too polite to gaze around with the curiosity he felt.  He'd  wondered about Jou's living conditions ever since he and the gang had gone looking for the other teen that one time, only to get a beer bottle thrown at them for daring to knock.  They hadn't gone back or been invited since.  Jounouchi's invitation to his new home earlier this week was a surprise.  



Jou waved expansively,  "Hey look around!  It's my new place.  Just moved in a week ago.  Got the last of it unpacked today.  Not that I had much and th' place comes partly furnished,  but... well anyway check it out."



Yugi handed him the small gift he'd brought.  He hoped Jou would open it and get a hint that he was much to shy to give any other way.  "Here, for you, "  Yugi mumbled awkwardly as he slipped off his coat and held it uncomfortably.  A host should take it from him,  but Jou hadn't offered.  "Uh... can I hang this up on the coat rack?" He gestured to the shining wooden rack beside the door.



Jou flushed slightly and grinned. "Ya didn't hafta bring me nothin'.  But thanks, I'm glad ya did.  An' sure ya can hang that up where ever.  My place is yours.  Ya ain't a guest, yer family."  He smiled brightly.  "C'mon, check out th' place. It's got a private garden out back and th' bathroom is huge, with a sunken tub an' everythin'.  The bedroom's got a great bed:  American style waterbed.  No sleepin' on th' floor for us t'night."



"Wow, this is really nice!"  Yugi hummed in approval.



"Ya ain't seen nothin'.  Wait til ya see the kitchen.  Big stove with a griddle and four burners, microwave, and a convection oven.  And the fridge is a side-by-side, taller than me and wide enough ta hold a whole cow."



"Wow that's great!"  But Yugi's enthusiasm was fading.  How was Jou paying for this?   He knew that his friend had worked two jobs just to afford his other place, and he hadn't won any major tournaments. So how... "Ano... Jounouchi..."  he began hesitantly.



Hearing the strange note in his friend’s voice, the blond turned to him in concern. "Yeah?  What's wrong Yugi?"



"Uhm... this is nice, very nice.  But... well it's... well..."  Yugi chewed his lip for a moment then blurted "Expensive! How..."



Jou swallowed hard and sighed.  Trust his little buddy to ask that question.  He knew it wasn't out of rudeness but concern, but it still put his back up slightly. Reigning in his natural inclination to yell and be evasive,  he shrugged and met the worried gaze squarely. "I bought this place with money I earned legally,  Yugi.  I don't do crime no more."



Stricken, the amethyst gaze widened. "I... I didn't mean..."  He swallowed hard. "Jounouchi please don't get mad I'm just worried."



Still controlling his temper,  Jou nodded. "I know."  He sighed and turned away.  "I earned it doin' some modeling.  Some rich guy, dunno who, sent a lawyer ta ask me ta take some pictures.  He's some kind of Duel Monster's fanatic and wanted private pictures of me."  He didn't elaborate on exactly how private they had been.  Nude and partially nude, with him sprawled out under sexy silk sheets painted with duel monster designs on them or posing with large stuffed animals representing the monsters.  



"Pictures?"  Contrary to popular belief, Yugi was far from naive.  "Porn?"  His cheeks flushed as pictures of his admittedly sexy friend filled his mind.



"Hell no.  Just artistic like.  Just me and some duel monsters.  I don't even know who he was.  I just did the pictures and he cut me a check big enough to pay for this place and to pay for college too.  I only gotta get a part time job to pay expenses like grocery and electric.”



Yugi let the last of his unease fall away as he picked up the game controller from the coffee table. “Sounds good Jou.  Hmm, let's duel.”



“Yeah, tonight I'm gonna finally beat ya,”  Jou boasted.



Yugi’s laugh was more natural than his obviously forced smile, but not by much. "You keep trying, Jou-kun. You'll do it someday." Not. But he wasn't about to dash his best friend's hopes.  Teasingly, he added, "Good luck."  He waited a moment then added cheekily, "You'll need it."



The blond gave a deep, bawdy laugh, one that could make a stone smile in response and pounced the smaller young man, giving him an enthusiastic noogie before scooping up his own controller.  “Yer on.”



Patting his starfish shaped hair back into place, Yugi sent him a mock glare. “Bring it.”  Daringly, he added the one name sure to ruin his friend's concentration in any game and lose him the edge in the game.  “Mutt.”



Golden eyes flamed as they glared over at him, then just as quickly the anger died and cool calculation took it's place.  “Forget it Yugi.  You can't carry off Kaiba's mind games, because it ain't what he says that gets to me.”  He grinned in a distinctly hentai way.  “It's 'cause I wanna do him and that name makes me think he kinda likes me too.  He don't call you or anyone else a name, just me.  It makes me feel sorta special and – well - horny.”  The golden eyes became appraising.  “Not that ya ain't cute and yer definitely fuckable, but I like a guy who can take charge physically, if ya get my drift.”  Jou chuckled when Yugi's face went neon red and his eyes widened to impossible proportions.  Mission accomplished.  Yugi and Kaiba weren't the only ones who could mind-fuck an opponent.



While Jounouchi blazed new trails in his personal game history by leaving the very red-faced and befuddled King of Games in his virtual dust, the cause of all his previous misery, his father, was making his way across town to his ungrateful brat's new home.  People he passed were repulsed not only by the man's filthy appearance and overwhelming odor, but by the curses and virulent snarls about his ungrateful bastard son.  Several of his fellow pedestrians took a moment to think that the 'bastard son' had probably ran for his life and was better off without the disgusting creature that staggered drunkenly down the sidewalk.



Blearily he looked at the address he'd gotten from his son's ex-employer.  That was something his fists were gonna talk ta his son about.  Th' idiot left a payin' job as a bar back with no notice and no good reason.  Not only had he left the owner of the bar in a mess of trouble because he couldn't afford to pay more than he'd paid his son, but the guy had made up for the low wages by supplyin' some drinks for Hibiki and his buddies.  His worthless son hadn't just bit the hand that fed them but stopped the flow of booze.  There was no fucking way that was gonna happen.  He'd gotten the address from the bar owner by promisin' to bring Jou back and Jounouchi Hibiki always kept his word.  Clenching his fists, he pounded on the door of the nicest home he'd been to in years.



Yugi and Katsuya, engrossed in the game, both started violently at the loud pounding at the front door.  The master of the house blinked and shook his head to clear it as he rose to answer the door.  Before he could reach it, it flew open and his worst nightmare stood in the doorway.  “F... Father!”  Jounouchi gasped, stunned to see his old man in all his filthy, drunken, snarling glory.  He'd tried very hard to keep his new address away from the bastard, only leaving it at the slave labor job so that he could get the pay due him.  



The owner of the bar had claimed not to have the money in the bar.  He should have known his ex-boss would give his new address to his father.  The asshole hadn't wanted to lose his cheap labor. Jou washed all the dishes, cleaned the tables, and scrubbed the floor to shining every night of the week. And the bastard had been making money on Jou because the jerk kept all his tips. Jou knew he'd made more in tips than he'd been paid.



“Boy!  You know where I been?”  The older man slurred, lumbering into the room.



“No an' I don't wanna know.  Get out of here.”  Defiantly,  Jounouchi stood in front of his sire.  He wasn't just protecting his home, but his friend too.  His father was a violent bully and Yugi was vulnerable.



“Who da fuck ya think yer talkin' to?  I'll kick yer ass...”



“Ya get yer ass outta my house old man.  I don't gotta have ya here stinkin' up th' place.  Go back ta that hell hole ya live in.”



Fire lit the bloodshot eyes that once were a mirror image of the gold now staring at him with contempt.  “Ya fucking little shit.  Ya think yer somethin' special? This place ain't nothin'.”



“It's mine, ya disgustin' old man.  Ya need ta get back ta yer own place and enjoy it while it lasts, 'cause I'm done payin' th' rent there.  Yer on yer own.”



Reminded of his loss of his meal and drink ticket, plus everything else, like rent and utility dupe as well, Hibiki snarled, “Like fuck.  I'll jus' move in here.”



“Not happenin'.  This is my place in my name.  I ain't yer free ride any more.” Insultingly, Jou eyed the man up and down.  “Yer dirtyin' my floor.  Get out before I call th' cops.”



“I'm yer Father.  Ya'll damn well show me respect if I gotta beat it inta ya.”



Jounouchi froze, his eyes going so cold that the deadly frozen fire sent a chill through the drunken stupor of Hibiki.  “Ya gave up yer rights as my 'father' when ya tried ta sell me ta one of yer friends for a bottle of booze and a couple of yen.  I told ya then I would get out any way I could, an' I told ya if ya tried it again I'd kill ya.  I meant it.”



A soft gasp from behind him reminded Jounouchi that he had an audience.  One he wanted to keep this kind of ugliness from.  But it was too late.  His father was always quick to seize an opportunity.  Quick as the slithering snake he was, the older man stepped around his son and focused on a target he could use to get his way.  “Well now what do we have here?”  He mused drunkenly.  “A little girly?” Then he guffawed, spittle flying from his mouth.  “Nah, a pretty little boy.  Shoulda known the little prick was a good fer nothin’ fag.”



Yugi paled at being the center of the older man's attention.  There was something evil about him, something that made the back of his neck prickle with warning.  “I...uh... I'm Moutou Yugi.  Nice to meet you Jounouchi-san.”



“Moutou huh?  I've heard of ya.  Won lots of them card contests.  Got lots of cash. You the one who bought this place for him?”  He jerked his thumb at Jounouchi.  “He payin' ya back by turnin' up his ass?”  Another appraising look, crude and lewd. “Or by fuckin' ya like the little bitch ya are?”



“I...”  Yugi's breath left him in a whoosh.  He'd never been spoken to like that by anyone.



“Yugi go make us some tea.  I'll get rid of him.”  Jounouchi ordered. Seeing the concern on his friend's face, he nodded towards the kitchen.  “Go on, it'll be okay.  He's been a lot worse than this.”



'Worse?'  Yugi wondered briefly before he dashed to the relative safety of the other room.  'How much worse could it get?'  Jounouchi's father was drunk, filthy, and violently angry.  The man had tried to sell Jounouchi?  Surely not... but... given the man's behavior and Jounouchi's incredible enmity, it was definitely a possibility.  Shuddering and quelling his nausea, the small teen decided tea was something they would both need.  Resolutely, he shut out the sounds of the argument in the next room.



The tea was finished and Yugi was placing the cups and pot on a surprisingly ornate, very nice, silver tray when there was a slam, like that of the door closing and thudding footsteps.  Relieved that the older Jounouchi had left, Yugi picked up the heavy tray, balancing it carefully, and went back into the room.



For an instant, he froze.  The scene was like something from a nightmare.  The elder Jounouchi was standing in the middle of the room holding his son up off the floor by his neck.  Yugi could see that his friend was unconscious.  Without a thought for his own safety, he ran across the room, barely noticing the sting of the hot teapot bouncing off his chest, screaming for the man to stop.  When the drunk lifted his head and smirked at him, Yugi knew he was next.  Without conscious thought he lifted the tea tray high, spilling the not-quite-boiling water on the other man, making him duck, just as Yugi brought the tray down in a hard blow.



If the larger man hadn't ducked from the hot water, the blow would have glanced off his shoulder, probably breaking his grip on the unconscious blond dangling lifelessly from his hands.  Since he did duck, the heavy metal tray slammed into his temple, fracturing the thin bones that protected his cranial cavity, driving fragments of that bone deep into his gray matter, breaching the blood-brain barrier as it ripped through arteries that fed the brain.  Blood and fluid began to fill the space instantly, and before he hit the floor, his upper lobes were already being crushed by the weight of the fluid.  While Yugi was shaking his hands out from the stinging from the blow, fluid flowed down, compressing his brain stem, cutting off all involuntary brain functions – to include heart and lungs.



In less than a minute, Jounouchi Hibiki, drunken father to Jounouchi Katsuya died from injuries caused by Moutou Yugi – King of Games.



Burning pain in his throat hit Jounouchi as soon as he came back to the world. Even as he reached for his neck, he sat up.  He could hear someone sobbing hysterically. There was something familiar about the sound.  Clutching his pained neck, the teen swiveled his head towards the source of the crying.  Seeing it was his friend, he gasped “Yugi...”



The sobbing young man flinched and huddled tighter against the wall as if afraid of him.  Memories were flooding to the blond.  Fuck, what the hell had his father done?  If the asshole had hurt Yugi he really would kill the prick.  “Yugi... what happened?”  He rasped.  Damn his throat hurt.  If it were possible, his friend shrank further away.  Well shit.  With a sigh, he gathered himself and stood unsteadily.  



Rage jolted through Jounouchi as he saw his father's sprawled body. Barely steady on his feet, he stumbled over and knelt down to shake the old man awake.  How dare the bastard hurt him and Yugi then pass out?



As soon as his hands touched the body, Jou knew.  Even though his father was still warm, there was something gone, something essential, that was missing.  With a very girly shriek that would have embarrassed him normally, Jou jerked  and scrabbled backwards, away from the dead body that was all that remained of his father.



Finding himself next to Yugi, the blond grabbed his best friend in a tight hug that was both a plea for reassurance and demand for human contact.  All he could say was “Holy fuck, holy fuck, what the hell did we do?”



Almost an hour later, Jounouchi got it together enough to drag them both into the kitchen.  Every time either of them looked up and saw the... body... they would lose it all over again.  Once away from...it... Jou was able to pull them both upright.  Giving his friend a quick shake, golden brown met the shocked amethyst gaze. “Yugi... Yugi ya gotta snap outta this.  We... we gotta deal with this.  We... we gotta call th' cops an' tell 'em what I did.”



Yugi fought to pull himself together.  It was an effort and he was still shaking when he found his voice.  “You... you didn't do anything Jounouchi.  It was me.  I hit him.  I didn't mean...”  He faltered, his voice dropping to a soundless whisper, “didn't mean to kill him.”



Shocked, Jou lifted his head sharply, staring at Yugi with stunned eyes.  “You... but how?  What happened?”  True the last thing he could remember was trying to hold off the avalanche that was his father and slamming into the wall with force that hadn't really hurt because the world had faded.



“I heard the door slam and thought he was gone.  I swear Jounouchi, I thought he was gone.  I... I brought the tea tray in and he... he was strangling you.  You weren't moving.  I... I yelled at him and he looked at me.  I thought... I knew he was going to kill me next.  I raised the tray to hit his shoulder and he moved.  It hit his head and he... fell.  I... He bled for a couple seconds from his ear, just a little bit, then he died.  I... I smelled it when he died.  He... he...emptied his...”  Yugi gagged and buried his face in his hands, shaking and sobbing through his heaves.



Jounouchi stared down at his best friend in the world.  He knew Yugi was strong, strong as anyone he'd ever met, but there was no way he could deal with the fall out of this.  Yugi was just too small and physically weak to deal with what would happen to him if he went to prison.  He didn't have the protection of the pharaoh any longer and no matter how strong his heart was, Yugi couldn't withstand being beaten or raped in prison.  Yeah he'd probably get off because of the self-defense, but until it was proven to be self-defense, Yugi would wait in jail, alone and unprotected.



Coming to a quick decision,  Jou straightened abruptly.  “Yugi!  Go home.  I'll handle this.”



That ended the heaves and tears.  “Wha... Jou what do you mean?!  I have to call the police and confess!”



Sighing, Jou shook his head.  “This is my fault.  You saved my life.  I... I can handle this.  Like ya said it's self-defense.  I ain't gonna let ya get into trouble for savin' me.”



The spike-haired young man stiffened, shaking his head right back at his blond friend as resolution firmed his normally soft features.  “No way.  I did this and I'll take the consequences.  I won't let you protect me Jou.”



Seeing that resolve and knowing it from past experience, the taller teen decided to get tough. “Look Yugi... even though it's self-defense you'll be put in jail until it's proven. That can take days, weeks, or months.  Damn it my dad ain't gonna be high priority to them.  Ya ain't never been ta jail, but I have.  I was only there a day, but I saw enough.  Yugi...”  Seeing that he hadn't made a dent in his friend's decision, Jou pushed harder. “Yugi I was protected as a kid and was still attacked an' almost gang raped.  You... you wouldn't make it more than a couple hours before someone either made ya his bitch or shared ya.  Yugi... ya just can't take it.  It'll kill ya, if not physically then... yer heart and soul.”



Yugi's eyes were wide and his hectic color leached to pasty white.  “You... no way.”



“Yeah way. Damn it, I know what I'm talkin' about.  Not only are ya famous, but yer also pretty as hell.  They’ll riot over who gets ya first even if it's only for a few days.” Giving Yugi a hard look that underscored everything he was saying, Jounouchi snarled, “Go home!  Let me deal with this.  I got experience with this kinda shit.”



A strange expression crossed Yugi's face, almost as if he was recalling something. Then abruptly the look was gone and his expression became one of horror.  “You can't!  Jou, Honda told me that if you got into trouble before you were twenty-one, the charges they had on you would come back.  That you'd go to jail for years and years no matter what the trouble is.”  Yugi shook his head as tears streamed from his eyes.  “I won't let you do that.  I... I'll be fine.  I won't...”



“Yugi I won't let you get hurt because of me.  I'll... I'll think of somethin'. Besides I...”



“No!”  Yugi practically screamed.  “No!  I won't let you ruin your life.”



Seeing that they were just going to continue to get upset and they weren't going to find a solution right away, Jou sighed and started to pace around the kitchen, tugging at his hair distractedly.  He couldn't find an answer that would keep Yugi safe and quiet.  He just wished this whole mess would disappear.  Freezing at the thought, he glanced up at his friend.  “Yugi...”



“Jou don't say it.  I won't let you...”



“Nah, that ain't it.  I got it.  But... what if we just make it...him disappear? Why don't we just hide th' body and not tell anyone.  I'm th' only one gonna report him missin' an' if I don't do that then who's gonna know?  I mean we know we didn't do nothin' wrong and since I'm his only relative it's up ta me ta see to his remains.  So I... It's sorta up to me anyway right?”  Okay it sounded half-assed and had more holes in it than a sieve, but it could work if they were smart about it.



Yugi looked horrified, but under that expression was a small glimmer of hope.  It took another ten minutes of arguing, but in the end, Yugi agreed that disposing of the body without reporting it was probably the best thing for both of them.



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