Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Arubaito ❯ Closure ( Chapter 11 )

Ch 11 (Closure)

 

A/N: Sorry it took so long.

 

Review Replies:

 

Aknkkskd: ah no, how could I ever forget my story? And my wonderful reviewers? Yeah.. you gotta hate morning people. (no offense to all morning people). But seriously… sleep-in is the best time of day.

 

Dragonlady222: I hope they do too… and now you shall find out! -poses-

 

Black Angel Reaper: I really appreciate the comment. Yes, I just thought I'd try to do something that was a little (emphasis on little, since my plots are somewhat stock standard) unpredictable. And yeah, Niita was somewhat taking over the job of all the actual great array of canon characters at my disposal in the story, so she will be making a quiet farewell. She wasn't meant to play such a big part anyway but alas, sometimes I get carried away…

 

Discordlives: thanks very much! I'm glad you're enjoying it~

 

Passing Reader: Woo! My first fan! .. I'm glad you're enjoying it ^_^ And that you think it's not too predictable. Because sometimes I do wonder about that… ah well. Keep reading~

 

Disclaimer: Characters, worlds, people, games, and everything else is owned by and copyrighted Kazuki Takahashi. This is a non-for-profit fan work with no particular personal gain in mind. I own the writing and nothing else.

 

***

 

He was not sure what woke him but later he would surmise that pain had something to do with it. It was early, that much he could tell without having to think, but further than that was proving difficult.

Katsuya opened his eyes slowly, as they seemed reluctant to do so despite the fact that he was conscious. The room slid into focus and his first thought was an adamant; Where the fuck am I? The walls didn't look right, the cupboard didn't look right, the pictures didn't look right…

Hang on a tick. That was Honda in one of those pictures… with that dog that didn't like him… which meant…

Wait. He did know this room. It was Honda's room. What the crap was he doing in there!? He noted that his head was pounding and in particular his jaw, but he tried to disregard either of those facts until he had gained his bearings. He was comfortable enough to realize he was in a bed. Which also accounted for the fact that he had been asleep. And from memory the exit was to his left.

He turned with the hope of getting out, and stopped abruptly as he discovered he was not the only person in there. Anzu was lying next to him, slumbering under the covers. His eyes wide, he did the only rational thing that came to his mind; he peaked under the sheets for a split second.

Oh thank Christ, her clothes are still on.

That could have potentially been a rather sticky situation. Come to think of it, his clothes were still on too. Hooray for small victories. Now to work out how and why he was there with her in the first place.

Rolling to his other side, knowing that Honda's bed (if indeed it was Honda's bed although the likelihood was high seeing as he was pretty sure this was Honda's room) was not against a wall, he let out a small cry of alarm as he realized that in fact there was a third person in the bed.

Curled on his side with the covers drawn right up to his nose, Yugi slept soundly. He was turned away from Katsuya, so only the tufts of purple and red identified the body. From behind the stunned blond Anzu stirred, awakened by his sounds of surprise.

She groaned quietly and then raised the hand furthest away from him to rub her sleepy eyes. He moved onto his back again and shifted his eyes to stare at her. Yugi didn't seem disturbed at all, and Katsuya vaguely recalled the knowledge that he was a heavy sleeper.

She sat up slowly and looked back down at him, hair askew and eyes surrounded by smudged eye liner; “Morning.”

“Um…”

She just stared at him, apparently still quite tired. Which wasn't very helpful.

“Why… am I here? And… where… is this Honda's?”

Anzu sighed in a resigned kind of way, almost as if she'd been anticipating this reaction. “Yeah, it's Honda's, you git. You've only been here a million…” She let out a wide yawn which made him yawn in turn, “…times.”

“Fill me in on why?” His head was beginning to reassert its position, reminding him it was in pain, but he wanted to continue pushing that to the side for as long as he could tolerate it. Facts were probably more important right now.

“Three guesses.” She said rubbing her eyes again; apparently she didn't have her usual patience so early into the day.

He racked his brains… unfortunately when he tried to recall how he'd gotten there his mind produced an empty page. Like a portion of his memory had been completely erased.

He gave her a blank kind of look that clearly implied he had no idea.

She flopped back down again before replying. “You got drunk. Real drunk.”

“Oh.” He paused, “Why did I do that?”

“I dunno. You seemed pretty dead set keen on getting hammered though. Not even Honda could stop you.”

“Oh.” He said again.

“Guess it worked though, hey? You don't even remember why it was you wanted to get drunk in the first place.”

“What makes you think I wanted to forget something?” At least he could now properly identify the cause of the pain in his head.

“Jou, this is what you do every time something bad happens and you want to pretend it hasn't.” She had the air of a teacher tired of explaining the obvious to her student.

“Really?” He had no idea she had analyzed him to such an extent. He wasn't even aware he did that.

“Yes.”

“Does it work?”

“Of course not.”

“Well, shit.”

“So be sure to know that I'll be questioning you later on the reason why.”

“No! Don't buy that one! Get carrots instead.”

Whatever Katsuya may have replied to her statement was lost. He turned to where Yugi was still sleeping; the tiny duelist appeared as tranquil as before. “Still talks in his sleep?”

“Apparently.”

“Yami likes carrots.”

“Thanks for sharing.” Katsuya muttered, as Anzu barely suppressed a laugh. There were a few moments of silence before he broke them again.

“My head hurts like hell.”

“I'm not surprised.”

“But… why does my jaw hurt?”

She didn't answer for so long that he turned to her questioningly, sure she hadn't fallen back asleep. Eventually she sighed, “Try to remember on your own, otherwise I guess I'll have to tell you when I get back.” She pulled the covers off of herself, and swung her legs out of the bed and her upper body into a sitting position.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“To get you some painkillers.”

Katsuya digested this for a moment then replied, “So you do know how much I admire and appreciate you, right? Never a better woman out there than you Anzu.”

“Yeah yeah, thank me later.” By this time she was at the door, so slipped out and away into the rest of the house.

He stared up at the ceiling, willing the pain in his brain to subside, whilst he tried to think around it. Okay, last night… he remembered being at his house and consuming every liquid within it that had alcoholic content, (darn, he'd have to re-supply), and his friends had been drinking too but probably not as much as him although he hadn't thought so at the time. Then they'd probably gone out to continue to effort…

Really straining to recall details now, he was glad when Anzu arrived back after only a short time carrying a glass of water and some promising looking boxes. She motioned for him to sit up so he could take them properly.

The act of moving brought on a wave of nausea and he had to sit for a minute with his hand pressed firmly to his forehead and wait for it to subside. Finally he took her offered glass and grasped quickly at the tablets she had produced in her other hand then threw them to the back of his throat. He took in a large mouthful of drink and swallowed, the tablets already beginning to dissolve. He was quite good at taking those, thoroughly used to the exercise from the amount of painkillers he'd been on his entire life. A childhood of violence had its downsides.

“Ah, what would I do without you?” He shot her a cheesy smile and in return she rolled her eyes. He took another sip to make sure they had gone down properly then placed the cup on the table next to the bed.

Before any more could be said or done a greeting came from the doorway.

“I see you're up. Mind you don't spew all over my bed.” Katsuya turned to where Honda was standing in the doorway. Behind the brunet Otogi was rubbing his eye distractedly in the same kind of way Anzu had been. There was no more room in the bed so they'd probably had to sleep in a different part of the house. Katsuya felt mildly guilty, seeing as this was Honda's own room.

“No promises.” He muttered.

Otogi yawned and brushed past his friend to walk over and sit down on the bed, making the blond yawn again. Clearly he hadn't had sufficient enough hours of sleep; “Feelin' like shit?” the dark haired boy inquired politely.

“Yup. Aren't any of you?”

“'Course, but none of us had quite the night you did.”

“I think Ryou is still asleep.” Honda said in an explanatory way, also taking a seat, although Katsuya wouldn't have even known to ask. The bed was one of those queen or king sizes, so was large enough to have them all sitting on there.

All the noise seemed to have finally roused Yugi from his thick slumber. He managed a string of jumbled words that were more like simple noises and sounds than anything coherent. Then he pulled himself upright and blinked around at the gathered company. “Mornin'!” He smiled sleepily.

Yugi's hair was more static than usual; Katsuya knew that it required some amount of `taming' in the mornings. There was a chorus of greetings returned before the blond steered the conversation back to what he was most curious about.

“So um, kinda drawing a blank on what happened last night…”

“You drank a lot.” Yugi supplied unhelpfully.

“And we mean a lot a lot.” Otogi added.

“Thoughts on why my jaw hurts? Did I fall over or something?” That was a fairly common occurrence when inebriated.

“You did.” Honda conceded with a smile, “But that's not why your jaw hurts.”

Katsuya looked almost anxious, “Then someone…”

“Punched you in the face?” Otogi suggested.

“Yeah?” Too much to hope that the Dice Master was joking.

“Sure did.” Anzu replied almost happily.

Katsuya groaned.

“I haven't seen you get into a fight in ages.” Yugi pondered aloud. This was quite true; Jou had lately been turning away from situations that would before have been solved by his fists and feet. It probably had something to do with maturity, even if Honda had joked that this was a stage the blond would never reach.

“And a drunken fight no less.” Anzu didn't hide the hint of disappointment and annoyance in her voice.

“With… who?” An image of Kaiba swirled around in his mind, although at present he couldn't quite recall why this would have been the first person he most wanted to get into a brawl with. The memories were coming back slowly but surely however. He didn't think they would be pleasant.

To his questionably immense relief, Honda said; “Some random from the club we were at. No idea who he was.”

He turned to Yugi, “He throw the first punch?”

The boy shrugged, “I don't know, I wasn't anywhere near you at the time.”

“I'm pretty sure you did.” Honda supplied.

“Ah.”

“It was for a good cause though.” Otogi assured him.

“The sleaze wouldn't leave Anzu alone, no matter how many times she told him to piss off.” Honda continued to explain the story.

Katsuya turned to his friend who he'd somehow managed to wake up beside, almost as if he needed her to confirm the details. She gave a less than enthusiastic shrug. Anzu was capable of standing up for herself, and he wasn't sure whether he'd managed to give her ample time to do that last night or not. Due to her earlier observations that he only drank heavily to forget when something really bad happened, he was now thinking that maybe he had all too readily punched the random stranger simply because he was looking for outlets.

“Very noble of you, really.” Anzu said slightly sarcastically and rolled her eyes again.

“Well that's me, you know.” Katsuya gave an almost forced smile.

“Then I think you two were thrown out.” Yugi thought back innocently, speaking matter-of-factly.

Katsuya paled.

“I think you wanted to keep fighting him but I'd found you by that time so managed to convince you to stop. The moron ran off anyway.” Honda remarked off-handedly.

“And then you fell over.” Otogi concluded with a smirk and a small chuckle.

Well, even Katsuya could admit that in hindsight it probably was even a little bit amusing. So he laughed along with everyone else.

“Sorry about taking your bed.” Yugi apologized.

“Na, it's no problem. I get it every other night anyway.” Honda waved a hand dismissively, “Think I'll go wake Ryou up though, then get some breakfast.”

Katsuya's stomach seemed to churn at the very idea of in taking food; “I think I'll skip breakfast.”

Honda grinned, “Suit yourself.”

He was off after that, and slowly they all filed out of the room. Katsuya found that being upright was nauseating for most of the morning but by about mid afternoon he had gotten over that feeling and only had the headache and jaw ache to deal with. He slept for a few more hours at Honda's place, and only finally made it back home later into the evening.

Needless to say, the mess of bottles that awaited him was one of the most spectacular he'd ever seen.

 

It was something of a winter tradition to go down to the beach and eat ice creams. They normally only braved this once, having had a year to forget how much of a stupid idea it was in the first place. Nevertheless it was always highly amusing once they got home and de-frosted, especially if it had been raining or snowing that day, since they would soldier on regardless.

Rugged up as warmly as they did any other day of the week, only perhaps with an extra scarf, the group trouped down to the shore cheerily and in cold but high spirits. It was a public holiday so all of them could be together for once; no one had work or classes they had to scurry off to. The Yami's were even out, though they were keeping well away from each other, and this was a first in quite awhile (mainly in Bakura's case). Katsuya was joking and grinning along with the others, and although this was not a front per say, this was not an entirely accurate reflection of his feelings either. He had, by this time, remembered exactly why it was he had decided to throw a random night of drunkenness in the first place; Kaiba had fired him. He remembered why, he remembered what he had said and what Kaiba had said, and he even remembered having the desire to smash the CEO's pretty face into the ground. And although that wouldn't have helped it would have made him feel better.

Unfortunately this was just like all those other occasions lately that the brunet had made him feel frustrated but had a seemingly good reason to defend himself with. Katsuya's anger was short-lived because he knew deep down that he was partly to blame for his sudden state of unemployment. Kaiba's words floated back to him, saying that he had offered him another job; he just hadn't chosen to accept it.

Then again, wasn't it rude of the CEO not to inform him of the staff changes or to ask whether he even wanted to change positions?! And to just fill his current job without telling him someone else was going to?!?!

He could easily imagine Kaiba rebutting that saying something along the lines of, “I own a multi-million dollar company, I can do whatever I want.” But that didn't really help, as it was quite true. People with money had power. People in charge of companies had power.

Kaiba had all three.

And that sucked, as far as Katsuya was concerned.

He also knew, however, was that it really wasn't something he had the luxury to mope about. He had to move on quickly if he wanted to keep eating. He'd managed to save enough for about another month or so… but after that he was really screwed. He also hadn't told any of his friends yet, he was still debating how exactly to broach the subject. Anzu, being the quiet observer she was, had already pointed out to him that she suspected something was up. So he'd been desperately avoiding being alone with her at all costs ever since she mentioned it the morning he'd woken up at Honda's with a hang over. So far he had been unusually successful in this feat, however when the time came for ice creams to be fetched and Katsuya had been asked to carry out this task, Anzu had been the first to volunteer to lend him a hand. Try as he might to persuade anyone else to join them, no one was willing to miss the opportunity to see Bakura being bitten by a Sand Crab, so that left just the two of them to make the walk alone to the sea side kiosk.

Anzu deliberately walked much slower than normal, and not wanting to seem rude he slackened his pace to match hers. He knew what would come next.

“So, how are things Jou?” She sounded casual, but he was sure she was aware he'd been trying to avoid both her and this conversation for nearly a week.

“Fine.” He replied quickly.

“Really? Nothing's wrong at all?” She had a sweet and inviting tone, however he knew her too well to not realize it was largely an act. Anzu cared very much about her friends, but that wasn't to say she wouldn't try any method possible to extract from them what their troubles were. She at least had good intentions, he would concede.

He threw her a slightly annoyed look, “You seem like you already have an answer, so why do you need to ask?”

He could swear her eye practically glinted, “Oh well, I may have my theories but without your input I can't count any of them as facts, can I?” Throwing away all facades of innocence.

“I'd like to hear some of them…”

She exaggerated a thinking face, “Well, lately I'd have to say most of your problems have seemed to revolve somewhat around Kaiba. So at a guess I'd suggest that something happened at work or with the high and mighty boss man himself. As to specifically what it could be I'm a little more unsure. You guys used to fight all the time so something so petty I doubt would want to make you try to forget you ever existed, therefore it has to be something more dramatic. Did you do something bad? Set his office on fire? Oh! Did you find out a horrible secret about his childhood? Does he have an evil half-brother? Have you found out a way to cripple his company and are blackmailing him with it!?”

“I think you've been watching that crazy drama show a little too much lately.”

She laughed, “Yeah probably. So none of those things?” Her voice raised hopefully.

“Nope, sorry.” He grinned.

“I'll just have to keep guessing then, want to give me a hint?”

“Na. More fun to hear your ludicrous workplace suggestions.” He had, he realized, already fallen into her well-constructed trap. She'd managed to get him to confess, though not in so many words, that there was a problem he was keeping from her. And furthermore that she was on the right track when it came to his boss.

Where was his Scapegoat card when he needed it?

“Not even one tiny hint?” She threw him her best puppy dog look. He sighed in defeat. Not because of the pathetic expression she couldn't hope to pull off properly, but because he was well aware how long she could go on asking him for. Women had a weird way of nagging until you relented. It was annoying even at it's most unobtrusive, and sometimes it just seemed to get worse the longer you left it. So, like a bandage, it was best to just brace yourself and rip it off all in one go, as soon as possible.

“Look, I'll tell you but, clearly I haven't told anyone else yet…” She was smart enough to figure out what he was asking he assumed.

Anzu was indeed, “I won't share it with them until you have told them yourself.”

He nodded at her in thanks, “Short version is; I got fired.”

He let her gasp, no longer shocked by the information himself. “Why? What happened!?”

“You know his PA, Niita? Well, he decided she worked a lot better with Yahada… he's the guy taking over Shichi Corporation… so he sent her off to work as the new guy's assistant, but of course that left him without an assistant so basically he wanted me to take over her old job. Kinda like just switching us both.”

“Yeah. So, uh… what's the problem? How is that getting fired? Actually isn't that more like a promotion?”

He hadn't thought of it like that before, “Uh… I guess. But anyway, I said no and he hadn't told me the rest of the story before hand so said it was that job or no job, so I'm fired.”

She raised an eyebrow, no longer as shocked by the information; “Well yeah, if this Nii-person had already taken over the other job you wouldn't have that one, right?”

“Yes but he didn't tell me that.”

“But he did… didn't you just say he did? How else would you know all of this?”

“Yeah but he didn't tell me first.” Katsuya paused, “That sounded less childish in my head.”

“I'm sure. Anyway, I don't see what the problem is, why didn't you take the other job?”

“I…” And then he faltered. He'd forgotten the essential part of the story was the reason why, and the reason why was another thing he was yet to share with his friends. Now that it came to spilling the secret he found himself acutely embarrassed. To his knowledge no one else he knew had ever been in a similar position. It was not that he didn't think they'd understand or would turn on him… he couldn't explain it really. It was simply something, an event, that he hadn't planned on sharing with the world.

Not that Anzu encompassed the entire globe or had contacts with each of its inhabitants. But his world was his friends, and he felt it just wasn't the time to press upon them his troubles or his fears about his feelings towards Kaiba.

So he tried to answer as vaguely as possible, “Well, I, um… you know… just, things… happened…”

Damnit, he wasn't normally this evasive or incapable of speech. He was certainly not a shy person, so being unable to tell people things and having to feel uncomfortable around Kaiba was beginning to annoy him.

Luckily, Anzu looked like she had understood a whole lot more than he had just said. She turned to him with a caring and understanding expression.

He quickly waved his arms defensively, “Um… don't take that the wrong way though…”

Again, she looked like she understood what he meant entirely. It was a weird feeling for him, to not have to explain himself so much. He was enveloped by a wave of relief that he was currently talking to a girl who understood these things rather than one of his male friends who would have needed it to be spelled out in giant fluorescent flashing lights on a billboard for them to fully comprehend.

“So stuff happened and as a result you said no.”

“Yes.”

“But do you really think Kaiba just wanted you to move offices so that…”

“No.” He cut her off, not even quite understanding why he was rushing to the man's defense; “I think he just thinks I am a better assistant than Niita is. Was. That and he doesn't have the time to interview new ones.”

She shrugged in a `well if you're sure' kind of way, and then there was silence for a moment while she looked thoughtful.

“So, what's the plan then?”

“The… plan?” He repeated, not quite sure what she meant.

“Yes. You know, your plan of action? Course of movement? Gingerbread trail to recovery?”

He blinked at her.

“What are you going to do about it?” She re-phrased flatly.

“Look for another job?” He suggested.

“But Jou, you have a job, you just turned it down.”

“Yes. I think there's a word for what you just said… oxymoron?”

“Not quite.”

“Well anyway, you just contradicted yourself. You see, I turned it down therefore I don't have a job.”

“Well, Kaiba still needs an assistant right?”

“He's probably already hired someone else by now.” Katsuya muttered a little irritably, feeling an odd tinge of jealousy at the thought of someone else taking his place.

“So why don't you just say you reconsidered?”

“What!? No way, I can't do that!”

She frowned, “Why not?”

“Because… because… I mean I have my pride, Anzu!”

She made a noise that sounded like `pffft' and waved a hand dismissively.

He shot her a small glare, “Yeah well, what if I don't want the job anyway eh?”

She returned it with a leveling look. “Jonouchi, forget what happened between you. If it was really that bad I think you would be either a lot more depressed or a lot more angry. You have to think about work as work. The job as a means of income to keep you alive and with a roof over your head. If this is really the time to move on another opportunity will present itself however you have already gotten one opportunity so far.”

He opened his mouth to rebuke this, say something along the lines of not having that anymore, but she continued and disregarded his protests; “Do you really not want that job so badly?”

“Well, no. A job's a job like you say, and I'm used to it now…”

“Exactly.” She proclaimed, as Katsuya played right into her hands once more; “So just ask for it back and everything's okay.”

He didn't think she was going to be able to understand. Even if he did want it back again he couldn't just ring Kaiba and say `Hey buddy, I changed my mind, no hard feelings yeah?' There was the issue of his wounded pride, but also, he honestly didn't think Kaiba would have kept an interest in him for this long. The CEO was an efficient man, he would have been surprised to find that he wasn't already in the process of recruiting someone new. Someone who could be a lot better than he was.

“He's probably already hired someone else. Seriously Anzu, just forget it, it's a lost cause.”

“No it's not! If you want the job you have to ask for it back!” If they had been stationary rather than walking up a cold beach, she might have taken the opportunity to place her hands on her hips in dramatic and stubborn emphasis. As it was she did her best to gesture forcefully.

“Oh so now I want this job?”

“Yes, you do.”

He sighed, not really wanting to disagree with her when he didn't feel particularly against her argument anyway. He did want the job. Well, at least, he wanted his old job. He still wasn't entirely sure he wanted to be exclusively Kaiba's assistant after all that had happened, although his protests at the thought were becoming less and less verbal by the day. He was drawing near to the point where he would be able to disregard the kiss entirely, and simply be happy to work as a PA and forget it had ever happened. Dealing with his own personal odd feelings could wait.

“Look, even if I do, like I already said he's probably hired someone by now…”

“There's only one way to find out.”

He almost tripped when he was hit with the image of him having to crawl back to Kaiba and ask for his job back. He didn't think he could face such a demeaning task. “I can't.”

“Swallow your pride Jou; you need a job to keep your apartment.” A touch of irritation laced her voice.

“Yeah but, you don't understand… it's Kaiba. Just think of how much he'd mock me if I came groveling back.” He waved his arms in exasperation.

She sighed in a way that was similar to a grown up sick to death of explaining to a small child that even though they couldn't see it now, in the long run sticking crayons up their nose was not a good plan. “Then you've got to start thinking of this in a purely professional way. It is perfectly acceptable to inquire about a position that you are interested in. In this case you declined but have reconsidered, and simply wish to ask whether the job is still open.”

Try as he might Katsuya just couldn't imagine him phrasing the question in the same way.

“So ask.” She pressed again when he didn't say anything.

“Well, it's fine for you to just go ahead and say it like that, but I'm the one who has to stare into that smug face while I plead for my income back.”

“No one's asking you to plead.”

“But isn't that practically what I'd be doing? It's groveling! It's everything he thinks I am and I'm not, not really.”

“Don't get upset…”

“I'm not upset!” He interrupted her, and once she raised her eyebrow at him added, in a much calmer tone of voice; “Really. I'm not. I just don't want to have to ask him.”

Anzu thought that it was high time she stopped dancing around and being nice about it. Perhaps if Jou was to take notice she would have to be a lot blunter…

“Listen to me. The time for not having to do that has passed. You turned down the job, now the only thing you can do is ask for it back. I hate to say so but it does seem like you are partially to blame for this. If what had happened between you two was really blocking you from going back there then we wouldn't even be having this discussion. You would have happily accepted your dismissal and moved on. But you haven't, you're here explaining to me that you don't want to ask for it back, but that you would like it all the same. Well Jou, the only way you're going to get it is to ask. So get over what's keeping you from doing so and bloody ask him. And if he laughs in your face he can fucking go to hell.”

Katsuya stared at her for a few long moments. She had gone slightly red in the face, especially following her final declaration but eventually turned to him again with a determined expression. He might have been used to swearing quite often, but she reserved profanity for only those times when she was really angry or needed to make a point and have people listen to what it was. This seemed to be one of those times. And it had certainly made him take note.

“Got it.” He mumbled almost humbly, and she gave a satisfied nod. They walked in silence until they reached the ramp leading up to the kiosk. He was glad to have had the conversation, but the task ahead of him did not seem any easier. Before now he had been only thinking of how bad the situation was and where else he might be able to find work, the possibility of still being about to keep his old one not hanging around. And although these things were still on his mind, he now began to contemplate what Anzu had suggested, and could consider that maybe that option was not closed off entirely.

You never really knew until you asked, right?

He also knew that Kaiba wouldn't want to go too long without someone to help him, so time was rather of the essence. It had been just over a week since he'd been fired, and the CEO worked quickly. He honestly didn't hold much hope that there was still an opening.

Ice creams in hand, so many so that they had hardly made it back down onto the sand before his fingers felt as though they were about to detach from his body, they started heading back to deliver the goods. Long thoughtful silences stretched between them again so that Katsuya was left to further reflect on his predicament.

He was, once again, not looking forward to the week ahead.

 

***

 

It had been a rollicking week of discovery. Revelations just kept popping up all over the place. Seto had discovered, for example, a whole new layer of dust on the filing cabinet beside Niita's old desk. He discovered undelivered mail dated two months ago in her desk. He discovered that an empty bottle of nail polish remover was sitting under his lounge chair, and that she had replaced his coffee table book with a popular women's magazine that was devoted to the whereabouts, made up scandals, and illegitimate offspring of celebrities.

As for revelations, he had found out that it was not a good idea to yell at the courier downstairs over the phone as then his package would arrive having had coffee `accidentally' spilled on top of it. He found out that two of his employees from accounting were sleeping together after one of their emails got re-directed to the wrong address. But most importantly, he found out that even more frustrating than having Niita as a PA, was having no assistant at all.

Mokuba had suggested that he only really needed someone to help him part time, but the fact still remained that needed someone for at least some of the time. Not having help this week had been disastrous. With no one to screen his calls he'd had to take every one of them. Many of his less important clients and associates were gob smacked to hear that it was actually the Kaiba Seto answering the phone, not being used to such an audience when they rang. And with so many phone calls coming in (especially once the word spread around that Kaiba was now personally answering each and every one of them) he hadn't been able to have a meeting without at least three interrupting ring tones.

It was downright annoying.

There was also the issue of the un-filed paperwork, the time he wasted having to go search for past reports and documents he needed, he had to manually type out notes from a few of his meetings, and through his stress there wasn't even any one to bring him a decent cup of coffee. And that, honestly, just planted a very large cherry on top of a very large cake baked with frustration.

He was sure this couldn't go on for much longer. He needed another assistant but a small part of him was still hung up on the fact that Jonouchi had declined. If only the idiotic mutt had had the sense to just accept then he wouldn't be in this mess. Everything would be fine and right now he wouldn't be sorting his mail, he would be working on his speech.

Sunday would see the grand opening of his new themed attraction, `Petrified Park'. It was an amusement park with a horror theme, all of the rides designed to thrill and scare the carnival-goers. The new investment had cost him a lot of money, but for some reason he was more concerned about finding someone to water his pot plants at the present moment. Unlike his take over with Shichi, he knew this was a move that was going to work out well. That part of town had seen the lowest income from entertainment activities, and comprehensive surveys showed that most people felt that the main amusement parks the city had to offer were simply too far away. So Seto had decided he would bring entertainment to them.

It was also very close to Christmas, which meant that both before, but especially after, children would be looking for a new place to spend all of their money. Petrified Park provided them with a golden opportunity to do just this. The season also hailed many upcoming public holidays in which people were looking for things to fill up their day, and parents could escort the much younger children.

And this theme park had family admission price - what more could anyone possibly want!

It practically sold itself.

Referring back to the speech, Seto was being forced (that was, his public relations people strongly suggested it was a good idea) to make an address in the morning before it was opened to the crowd. Then he was advised to hang around for a little while, be seen in some photos enjoying his new theme park, and then he would be finally okay'd to head home.

This was a formality he was quite used to. Seto had known, before taking over his adopted fathers company, that once he did his life would no longer be his own. (Not that it really had been since the adoption anyway). But he referred more specifically here to the attention the media paid both him and his company. He was something of a novelty: the boy-genius who controlled the most profitable business in Domino before even graduating high school. And his business acquisitions and ventures were usually headline news. This coming Saturday's Grand Opening was a well-publicized event, and he expected quite a large crowd.

Yes, it was going to be a profitable day for Kaiba Corp. but he still had to write that darn speech. He was actually tempted to struggle through his back log of files and just find and tweak an old one. It wasn't really cheating; he felt the act of modifying a document he owned and had written himself years before was entirely justified under the stressful situations he was currently putting himself through.

Pausing in the act of opening a letter with a crafted letter-opener that had been given to him as a birthday present two years ago by someone who was possibly Yahada's father or certainly an old man who looked a lot like him but had felt the need to suck up, and which he had never used until this day, Seto contemplated this option. It was so appealing he put down the knife-shaped potential weapon to cross the room to one of the many filing cabinets he owned and started looking for one that seemed appropriate.

This wasn't hard to accomplish, and soon he was seated back at his desk with speech in hand. With a sweep of his arm he pushed the letters he'd been sifting through aside and pulled out his lap top from where it was resting inside its case next to his desk. He was feeling oddly happy to be able to work on this. For months now all he had been able to concentrate on was working out the problems with Shichi Corporations production, and then in the more recent month explaining to his successor how to run a company.

That wasn't to say that he would be letting Yahada anywhere near Kaiba Corp. Oh no. In this case, if Mokuba showed any interest it would be he who eventually took over from Seto. However he didn't believe that was an issue that really needed worrying about at this point in time. More important was how he was going to change this speech, how well he would perform it, and how he was going to get a new assistant.

Because Lord knows he needed one.

Damn, I wish someone would bring me a bagel.

 

***

 

Even knowing he should probably have gone home from the conversation with Anzu, picked up the phone straight away and called Kaiba, Katsuya found that when it came to it he just couldn't bring himself to dial the number. Without another brutal talking-to by Anzu he had reverted to being unable to accept the task of going back on bended-knee and asking for his job. It was just too shameful.

He'd had a dream wherein Kaiba laughed for 11 hours straight at the idea of Katsuya being reinstated, and then finally told him he'd already hired someone else, indicating to a blindfolded monkey mashing a banana into a keyboard.

This did not help his constitution.

Two days after they'd returned from the beach resembling somewhat chilly icicles, Yugi had made a round of excited phone calls announcing that he had decided they would all attend the opening of a new theme park that weekend. Katsuya had instantly agreed, but had afterwards discovered that this was, naturally, one of Kaiba's own. He had recalled in his annoyed state that he remembered seeing some of the photos and plans displayed on the CEO's computer screen some weeks before, so the news that now it was ready for a grand opening should not have really been all that surprising. He dreaded the thought of what Anzu would say to him on the day.

He wanted to hold onto the hope that the proud owner himself would not be there too for as long as possible. And this did work throughout the week of study and half-hearted attempts at a job hunt, during the journey on the train to the new location, and even while they waited somewhere amongst a huge crowd of attendees, media crews, and theme park enthusiasts. However once the whisperings going around that Kaiba Seto himself would be making an address before it opened, his hope packed it's bags and caught the next taxi back home. He had noticed that after this information was rushed past, Anzu redoubled her efforts to catch his eye.

He was staring in determination in the opposite direction however, so much so that Ryou, who he hadn't realized was in his line of spaced out sight, got rather flustered, and said hesitantly; “Is there something on my face?”

They had decided to come early (although Honda had to practically drag Katsuya sleeping from his bed) to make sure they were allowed in. Assuming that like with many other theme parks this one would stop admitting entry once it got too crowded.

As it was there were already many people gathered by the time they arrived. Having to wait awhile for anything to happen Katsuya had a lot of time to scout out the entrance, the small platform and stand that he presumed Kaiba would come to stand on soon enough, the ticket booths, the fenced boundary that stretched off into the distance, and the giant but promising rides that loomed up behind the closed gates of entry.

Where it had been snowing yesterday it was now just cold again, and everyone out there was rugged to the teeth in warm jackets, gloves, scarves, beanies and boots. Next to him, Yugi rubbed his hands up and down his arms in an attempt to rekindle feeling in them, and Katsuya heard him mutter “Yeah, s'alright for you…” under his breath. This was not an uncommon occurrence. The good friends of both Yugi and Ryou, who knew about their `partners' were quite used to the occasionally uttered-out-loud comment that was no doubt intended towards their yami. Yugi had once burst out laughing in the middle of a conversation concerning the series topic of level design in the latest popular online RPG and once he had wiped the juice that had escaped his nose had apologized profusely but hastily refused to repeat the joke to anyone.

Things like that just sort of happened when your best friend was possessed by a three thousand year old undead spirit.

Finally, after what seemed like hours of waiting, Kaiba arrived. His limo appeared in true celebrity style, and even before the doors opened people were snapping photos. Must be really classy door handles, Katsuya thought with irritation.

They were a little too far away to see properly, but he had seen the good for nothing CEO no more than two weeks ago and didn't really have any desire to be closer at that moment anyway. Once Kaiba scaled the platform and stood behind the microphone he was hit with an inexplicable urge to hide. For the first time in his life he wished he was the same height as Yugi.

He soon realized that there was no way he could be spotted in such a large crowd of people, they weren't even standing in the middle, they were sort of squashed away towards the side so the view he had of Kaiba's face was almost a profile. He noticed, with a small smile, that Mokuba was there today too. He was standing with some men in black suits, pointing and gives directions. One of the men scurried off to carry out whatever task it might have been.

Kaiba cleared his throat and the crowd hushed. He smiled. Katsuya thought it looked plastic. And then he started off a clearly well-rehearsed speech welcoming them all to this place today.

“Hey…” A tiny voice whispered in his ear. He practically jumped; it had scared him half to death. He hadn't realized how closely he'd been following Kaiba despite the fact that most of his thoughts were vengeful ones.

He turned his head slightly to where she was standing. Damn that woman, she had managed to sneak up on him at last. Anzu looked almost pleased at his surprise, but hid it very well.

She whispered in very low tones so that the others would have had to really strain to hear her. The CEO's voice was quite loud and booming anyway, and drowned out most personal conversations that would no doubt have been flitting around the crowd. “Look who's here today…”

She nodded towards the stand in case it wasn't obvious who she was talking about. Katsuya frowned back at her.

She looked like she wanted to grin, “I bet you haven't called him yet.”

“So what?” He kept his voice quite as low as hers.

“So you should talk to him.”

“Oh yeah, I'll just stroll up to him now, interrupt his nice little speech…”

“Not now, silly.”

He rolled his eyes.

“But I bet he'll hang around for publicity photos. All you have to do is sneak in while he's on a break.”

“Anzu.” He tried to speak quietly but firmly, “I am not asking for it back while there are so many people around.”

She was not to be deterred however, “Then you should have called him.”

He had left half and ear with Kaiba and his welcoming speech, and by the sounds of it, it was about to draw to a close. “I'm not talking about this right now.” He whispered with annoyance and finality, turning back around so that he could not see her anymore.

She was unable to reply, or if she had he didn't hear it, as sure enough, the next second the CEO had finished and a great chorus of claps and cheers followed it. Yugi responded enthusiastically, Honda and Otogi clapped twice then abandoned the effort. Katsuya didn't clap or cheer, as he was watching the brunet leave the platform and walk away.

He wasn't sure what he should do. Certainly, it seemed like opportunity had presented itself, however perhaps not in the most desirable way. Surely Kaiba would not cease to be surrounded by people all day. If in fact he stayed all day. And Katsuya wasn't sure he wanted to beg for his job back in public.

Well, he didn't want to beg for his job back at all. But that didn't seem to concern the Gods of Fate, who apparently had it out for him.

Someone suddenly shoved him in the back. He yelled an irritated “Hey!” before Honda pointed out to him that the crowd was moving forwards. Sure enough, people were finally being let in. For a tiny moment excitement replaced the sinking feeling that had been developing in his stomach, until he saw both Mokuba and his older brother right at the front of the line being led through the entrance gates into the park.

He thought that it really didn't help that Kaiba looked great in that black jacket.

Next to him, Anzu plotted silently. She felt she knew that without further encouragement Jou was likely to get nowhere today. And there was no way he could miss this opportunity. She would find a way, any way, to get him to speak to Kaiba. So from this moment on, operation “Get Jou's Job Back” would commence.

 

***

 

Small amounts of snow that hadn't yet melted decorated the entirety of the theme park like a thinly sprinkled layer of icing sugar. The effect of the huge rides and themed decorations that featured in positively every nook and cranny was slightly dulled by this. If it had been the middle of summer the gigantic haunted house on top of the hill, that was sure to be the parks most popular ride and icon, would definitely have been more looming and scary looking (as was no doubt the intention). However with the frosting of snow the effect was not quite as dramatic. Like a serial killer wielding a chainsaw with a large pink bow attached to it.

For Katsuya however, even this was bad enough. He had never felt comfortable around horror movies, always avoided the ghost trains in normal theme parks, and now he was beginning to realize just what it meant to be coming to an amusement park whose every ride and sideshow was designed to make you scream. Or at least widen your eyes in shock. He found himself thinking on more than one occasion, Just the kind of sick thing only Kaiba could think up… Particularly whilst passing a row of extremely well crafted shrunken heads. He went so far as to voice out loud his suspicions that they might not actually be plastic at all.

“So that's what happens when his employees get fired. You'd better watch out Jou.” Otogi remarked.

Anzu had thrown him another pointed look at this point, but he found he had suddenly become very interested in the nearby wall.

All morning Anzu had been plotting. Or at least, trying to plot. She didn't think she was making a lot of progress, discovering that getting the two men in the same vicinity was not going to be as easy as expected. She couldn't run off and find Kaiba, that would be too obvious. And she couldn't suggest they all go find him because she failed to see a plausible reason for doing this. Other than the actual reason, but since no one else knew the actual reason, `oh, just to say hi' wouldn't really hold up. So in desperation she had resorted to simply keeping all ears open for conversation amongst the other attendees concerning the whereabouts of the owners.

Whenever she heard that they were last spotted next to the side shows, she would suddenly announce she had the urge to play some. Her desires to play certain games or experience certain rides fluctuated so often and so randomly that she was sure the others were beginning to wonder whether she was having issues that day. And perhaps Jou himself was beginning to suspect something.

He never spoke out against it though, if indeed he did know of her badly constructed plan. A guilty, resentful part of herself thought that he should be more grateful someone was trying to help him, but she was the kind of person who would offer help without question anyway. Jou himself certainly wasn't making any visible effort to try to find Kaiba and ask for his job back.

It was getting into the afternoon by the time Anzu's hard work and constant running around dragging boys behind her finally paid off. There, on the same path as them, stood a group of security guards surrounding the two most important executives of Kaiba Corporation. Every one of the troupe looked quite relaxed, perhaps a little tired after an entire morning out in public. As if on cue Mokuba stretched and yawned. Beside him his older brother stood with arms crossed and the kind of stern expression he'd worn ever since Anzu had first met him. She distantly wondered how long their calm would last until they were interrupted by screaming fan girls and boys again.

Well, she herself wasn't screaming, but she was sure as heck going to interrupt them. There was no way she could let this opportunity slip by.

“Hey look!” And just to emphasize the discovery, she pointed dramatically with her index finger over at the Kaiba brothers.

Slowly they all turned around, having been previously busy studying a game that required you to shoot moving ghosts with a rifle. Like many of the side shows in the park, the game used technology immersed with the high tech weapons to site the targets, and although of course they were not real bullets, the guns still made a firing noise whenever one shot with it.

From the amount of enthusiasm Anzu had used to make the declaration, Katsuya thought he knew what she had finally found. He was not oblivious to the fact that she had been very out of character all morning, changing her mind every two minutes as to what she wanted to do. He suspected that she was trying to steer them in Kaiba's direction, and sure enough, there he was.

The CEO looked irritable and annoyed, but that could quite honestly have been Katsuya's brain making too much of the crossed arms and frowned expression. He had to remind himself that that was what Kaiba always looked like, as opposed to the fact that even right now he was preparing to laugh loudly at what Katsuya would have to say.

“Wow. Is that Kaiba?” Yugi squeaked somewhere near his elbow.

“Yes.” Katsuya said with no lack of resentment. “So let's just head back the other way and…”

“Jonouchi,” Anzu said sternly, making the others eye her with slight shock; “We should go say hello.”

He opened his mouth to protest, sure he couldn't face the task ahead of him no matter how long he had to prepare for it, but others were beating him to the mark.

“Oh yeah, we haven't seen them in ages!” Yugi said cheerily.

“Well, I doubt the older one's grown a better personality by now, but the younger one was okay.” Otogi said off-handedly.

“How long has it been since we've seen them?” Honda wondered. Years, really.

“About four hours.” Katsuya frowned.

Honda made to clonk him on the back of the head, “You know what I meant.”

Anzu clapped her hands together loudly, as she suspected that at any minute the security guards might usher the men to a different location; “Right! Well, that's decided then, we should head over there right now!”

Although Yugi's was the only relatively enthusiastic response other than her own, the group began to make their way in the brothers' direction. Katsuya spent the entire walk throwing her looks so death-laden that he was sure he had managed to split the atoms between them.

A security guard noticed their presence first, and halted them. “You'll have to come back later for an autograph.”

“Uh… we don't want an autograph.” Yugi explained, “We just wanted to say hello.”

At the sound of the familiar voice both Kaiba's turned around. Upon confirming their suspicions the elder blinked, for a split second with eyes wider than normal, but a moment later he had smoothed this over to be replaced with his naturally stoic demeanor. Mokuba smiled widely and pushed past the man in the black suit to get to Yugi.

“Yugi! It's great to see you!”

“Yeah you too!” Yugi smiled, happy that Mokuba was happy to see him. The raven haired young man then proceeded to greet everyone else too. Katsuya was welcomed with quite a bit of enthusiasm also, even though he had seen the younger brother more recently than the others.

Kaiba had, by this time, made his slow pace over to them. He merely nodded in greeting, acknowledging mainly Yugi, and not even sparing more than a glance at everyone else.

Katsuya refused to make eye contact, but this was an easy task as it seemed the CEO wasn't trying to make any.

Apparently Mokuba was speaking again, something about seeing some of the theme park with them. He seemed quite happy to be catching up.

Anzu was quite happy too, she wasted no time in accepting on everybody's behalf, and before he could blink they were already heading off to God Knows Where.

He stood, perplexed, and then Anzu's brown head filled his vision. “Ask him. You are not not asking him. How many more chances like this are you going to get?” Then she turned before he could reply and caught up to where Yugi was walking with Mokuba, sliding easily into their conversation.

His eyes automatically searched for Kaiba, his mind, on the other hand, raced with panic. She was right of course, this was his opportunity and if he wasted it he might never forgive himself, and the slightest possibility of immediate employment would be gone forever. But still he did not want to ask for it back in front of all his friends who did not know he didn't have it anymore.

He spotted the taller man explaining the situation to the head of his security force. The listener nodded then signaled to the rest of the men in black jackets, turning away from Kaiba to give orders and show directions. This left a widening gap around the brunet where people were walking away down the path. The CEO turned to follow the others, but Katsuya knew this was his best shot.

“Wait.” He said, feeling a strange sense of deja vu. He was surprised to see that Kaiba did it, and turned to face him as well. He said nothing however, but just stared stonily at him waiting for what he had to say.

Katsuya glanced to the side and saw that a group of young children had emerged and were pointing at Kaiba excitedly and putting their heads together - clearly making plans to either glomp him or ask for an autograph.

Which meant he had to move fast if he was to make any progress, and it wouldn't be too long before the others realized they both weren't still with them.

Katsuya looked up at the other man, it felt like it had been so long since he'd done that, and cleared his throat.

“I…” He started. But once again, when it came down to it he found he really had no idea what to say. He was still mad at Kaiba for firing him. So, since it was the only thing that was coming to mind right at that moment, that's what he said.

“You… shouldn't have just given Niita my job without telling me.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

Kaiba raised an eyebrow, “Is that all you wanted to say to me?”

Damn bastard, didn't even sound remotely apologetic. But, like Anzu had said, this may likely be his only opportunity to ask. And he had to, no matter what the answer might be.

“No…” Slowly he lowered his arms and sighed, “But I did want you to know I'm still angry about that.”

“Yes, and I'm sure you're still holding a grudge against the carpet that tripped you up when you were two.”

Katsuya managed a half-hearted glare, and refused to allow himself to be amused by the comment. “In any case… I, uh… haven't got another job yet.”

He wondered if Kaiba had any idea how hard it had been for him to say that, and to put so much emphasis on the unspoken implications that were associated with it.

“I see.” The other man replied slowly, leveling him with a calculating look that made him want to run away.

There was a pause that might actually have been really short but that to Katsuya felt like an excruciatingly long hour, before Kaiba finally spoke again; “Well, I haven't hired anyone else yet, so I suppose the position is still open. But I'm not going to ask again. This is the last time.”

He automatically went to reply: “But you haven't asked at all!” and then stopped, mouth half open, realizing what Kaiba had just said.

“Thanks.” He said once his thoughts re-ordered themselves into something comprehensible.

“How strange… such a phrase coming from you.”

Katsuya half-grinned, “Don't count on it happening ever again.”

“Jou!” Someone yelled, who, upon further analysis, turned out to be Honda. He glanced over Kaiba's shoulder to see that the group had apparently finally noticed their absence and had decided to double back and find them.

Strolling up to them Honda continued, “Why're you back here man?”

By now the rest of the group had caught up and waited to hear the answer. Anzu was particularly interested.

“Uh, you know, just work shit.” Katsuya gestured vaguely.

“He's not making you work more is he?” Honda asked, like the good concerned best friend who had never got along with his best friends boss very well either and was disposed to assume the worst of him and already considered Jou's working hours to be too long anyway since they clashed with the time they used to spend at the arcade.

“No he…” Katsuya started.

“Yes.” Kaiba interrupted him smoothly, “I'm increasing his workload.”

Everybody reacted with small cries of shock or annoyance. Anzu, on the other hand, beamed brightly at Katsuya who shot her a small, appreciative smile back before trying to quell the eruption of death threats that might have issued forth thereafter.

“Yeah yeah, he's a bastard. But just think, without his money, I'd never be able to randomly splurge at theme parks!” He indicated to the stalls and rides around them - the limitless possibilities to spend ones money.

“So what you're saying,” Kaiba cut in before Honda or anyone else could reply, “Is that the money I pay you goes straight back into my company? It's nice to know I'm profiting even from my employees dull ingenuity.”

Katsuya glared at him, but Mokuba was laughing and a moment later he nudged him kindly in the arm. “Don't listen to Nii-sama, come on, let's enjoy the amusement park! If you guys stick around long enough I'm sure you'll get your faces on the front covers of tomorrows newspapers along with us!”

Anzu gasped and reached up to touch her hair, possibly to confirm that it was still there. Yugi blushed brightly and turned his head downwards, fingering the chain around his neck. Otogi discreetly adjusted his headband. Honda looked a bit stunned. Ryou's cheeks darkened faintly and he mumbled, “Rather not…”

Mokuba was grinning from ear to ear, then turned to Katsuya who grinned back at him; “So, where would you like to go next?”

 

In reflection, Katsuya realized that it actually hadn't been as bad as he'd imagined it would be. It was less than a five minute conversation and he hadn't even used the word `please'. He was, however, a little surprised that Kaiba had so readily accepted him back. Perhaps he really valued him as an employee?

Actually, Katsuya figured, it was more likely that he was simply an easy target and this way the CEO wouldn't have to bother to take the time and effort to advertise and interview new candidates. Even if this was the case, he was grateful. Not perhaps to the `kindness' and `generosity' of Kaiba Seto, but to the man's apparent laziness in the face of finding a new and suitable person for an assistant.

He also figured that if he just kept putting in his best effort he'd be able to keep the job. The only thing that had him fired not long ago was his own rejection of the offer… well, that and Kaiba giving his job away to Niita. That was probably also an important factor.

But after all that conclusion he was able to decide that the only thing left to worry about was whether or not what had happened on the night of the party was ever going to happen again, and if it did, what the hell he was going to do about it. Since he believed the risk factor of a repeat performance was fairly low (Kaiba himself had told him it wouldn't happen again) then he felt he could relax. It was not a good enough reason to stop working there, whatever may have crossed his mind the first time when he had said no. Any job was better than no job, right? (Although fair enough prostitution would be taking it a little too far). Ever since he had started working for Shichi Corporation he had been taking each day as it came, and the immediate future would be no different. He would confront all those nameless feelings of his when and if the need ever arose to do so. During the meantime, he could relax with the fact that his financial future was slightly more secure once again.

 

***

 

A/N: Nice and conclusive this time for you, since I, like many of you out there I would imagine, have a certain love/hate relationship with cliffhanger endings. Anyway, I've actually been quite out of ideas lately. My inspiration pool has all dried up, just like Australia's water sources!!! Anyway, yes, still very busy and I'm still extremely sorry it's taking me so long to write and reply to your reviews (if you sign them), but keep reviewing!! Believe it or not, getting them does actually make me feel like writing more XD … The whole `appreciative audience' thing helps. Also, I'm going to try to get the `romance' side of the plot moving a bit more quickly forwards from now on. I feel like I'm back at the beginning with no real progress made. When or if I ever wrote a lengthy fan fiction again, I'll be sure to work out an entire plot first, rather than an idea for a first chapter and not much else, since I assumed no one would ever read it.