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[darkmus.livejournal.com]

Hi, All!

A note to the authors, let's try and wrap up the story... we've gone one round over and it seems like the authors are disappearing.

Here's my piece!

No. This was not going to happen. Jounouchi wouldn't let it.

"Fat chance!"

With a growl, Jounouchi launched himself onto the woman. Utilizing his defensive and street skills, he somehow pried the gun away from her. She gasped as the weapon left her fingers and Jounouchi shoved her to the ground. She landed with a satisfying thump onto the stage.

"Hey!"

Then, aiming it at her leg, Jounouchi grinned.

"Maybe you should stick to dueling."

She huffed with a childish pout and started to get up.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said with a smile on his face, waving the gun a bit. The Kaiba Corp security team had just showed up.

They cuffed her and carted her away.

***

Sans attempts on his life, the rest of the tournament went well. It turned out to be a big success, and surprisingly, despite the panicked mobs, it did a great boost to Kaiba Corp's image.

After all, bad PR is still PR.

The next few months did not have any planned spectacles coming up and Jounouchi breathed a sigh of relief for that. Whenever weird shit happened, the security team always had some hiccups, but when it came to routine things, they ran like clockwork.

The Kaiba mansion was a virtual fortress and Jounouchi - and Kaiba - was allowed to lower his guard, if only for a little while.

One Saturday night, Kaiba was lazily reviewing some inconsequential status reports. Jounouchi sat on a nearby couch "reading" a book.

Jounouchi had long fallen into the routine of watching Kaiba - not just for security's sake, but something more.

He watched as the young CEO took a sip of wine and flip a page. Kaiba didn't do it often, but every now and then the stress built up and he had to do something to wind down.

Jounouchi'd made up the reason that he was watching Kaiba to make sure he was still, in fact, alive, but in actuality, it was just a flimsy excuse for Jounouchi to run his eyes up and down the form of his incredibly attractive boss.

He'd never gotten bored of taking in the sight of Kaiba's luxurious hair, raking down his long neck to his strong chest, and every now and then, catching a glimpse of his striking blue eyes as they flicked up at him, annoyed.

Many of the times in the past, Kaiba would interrupt him, going "What?" in an impatient, accusatory voice. Lately, he'd let it slide and mostly ignored his singular audience.

Tonight Kaiba was more testy than usual.

"Well?" he asked, when he noticed Jounouchi staring.

"Nothin'. Just... Ya know, for all the times I've saved your ass, you could at least show some appreciation. Nevermind that it's my job."

"What are you getting at?" Kaiba asked.

"I've been with you over a year and there hasn't been as much as a 'Thank You'."

Kaiba rolled his eyes. Though he was annoyed, he was a bit more than tipsy and his resolve had loosened a bit.

"Thank you," he said with annoyance, not really meaning it.

Jounouchi nodded and leaned back into the sofa and returned to Kaiba-watching. He had, however, acquired and audience as well.

"I'm going to bed," Kaiba said abruptly. He downed the rest of his wine and made a show to leave... but not before tripping over the feet of a coffee table.

He landed straight into Jounouchi's lap.

As Kaiba pulled himself up, his hands landed squarely on Jounouchi's firm chest. Jounouchi saw Kaiba get redder, bit he wasn't quite sure if it was from the alcohol or something else entirely.

Kaiba's blue eyes met Jounouchi's amused amber ones, in confusion. Their lips were so tantalizingly close, and Jounouchi watched as Kaiba swallowed.

"Ya know... that wasn't a very convincing 'Thank You' earlier..." he said boldly.

Kaiba's hands were gripping his arms now and his blue eyes were glazed over.

"Really."

"Yeah."

Their lips brushed and Jounouchi somehow ignored the pungent smell and taste of alcohol as his tongue invaded Kaiba's mouth. Perhaps the closeness of Kaiba was giving him a slight buzz as well.

Kaiba suddenly pulled away.

"This is wrong." He got up and walked away.

"Good night..." he called behind him.



That night Kaiba fell into a foggy sleep and an intriguing dream - he was doing some rather unspeakable things with his bodyguard.

Come to think of it, he'd never have a chance to deal with his bodily needs, with work and a general lack of privacy being in the spotlight since he was 17.

The routine of Jounouchi being with him day in and day out had done something. After months (well, year) the proximity brought them closer than all the years they'd know each other in their late teens.

Remembering the time at the hotel, remembering the feeling of weight of Jounouchi on top of him was both comforting and thrilling at the same time.

He'd found that it was hard not to notice how good Jounouchi looked.

Thinking of Jounouchi, who was around him all the time, as a potential lover would be easy to brush off to the media, as long as they stayed out of sight during the day.

Not that he had time to have any romantic entanglements.



The next morning, when he saw Jounouchi at breakfast, seemingly acting all casual. However, Kaiba knew it was a front.

After that night, everything had changed.

cheeky_duckie, you're up!