Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Insider Trading ❯ Freedom, Pt 1 ( Chapter 4 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Insider Trading: chapter 3 part 1

Title: Insider Trading

Chapter: Freedom

Word count: 30,730

Rating: Mature

Disclaimer: All the characters of Yu-gi-oh! belong to someone who is not me. These fan fictions
were written for fun, not profit. However, this story does belong to me. Please don't snitch it.

Warnings: Probably a little of everything. Fighting, Blood, Gore, Bad Language. Japanese Legal
system, which does NOT resemble America in any way.

Parings: Joey/Seto

Summary: Seto manages to get himself sent to prison for insider trading. How he and Joey
manage to get along.



Seto paced the living room. He was as restless as he'd ever been. Not only was he forbidden the
gym, the track and any other exercise, he was forbidden to even leave their quarters for meals.
They were brought to him on a cart. He was slowly going crazy.

The computer pinged softly and Seto hurried to answer. It was time to meet Mokuba in a chat
room on the Kaiba Corp. dedicated server. Thank goodness they hadn't forbidden him the
computer. He'd really lose his mind then.

Seto signed into the chat room to find Mokuba already there. He let Mokuba tell him about his
day, asking questions once in a while. Then he told Mokuba about what the lawyers were doing.
Mokuba had promised to keep an eye on them now that they knew the idiots wanted to leave
Joey behind. Mokuba didn't like that any better than Seto had.

They'd done this for the last three days. Seto's lawyers were on notice that there was to be no
more foolishness, they were to come speak to Seto every day. Seto's punishment couldn't keep
him from seeing his lawyers so they came to the quarters every day. He was now much more
involved in their appeals since he didn't have to keep an eye on Joey's back or on their
subordinates. The lawyers were sweating out his temper as well. Seto smirked a bit at the
thought.

Joey, on the other hand, was painting like mad. He had all the things he'd dreamed of for so long
and he was putting them all to work. He painted, then he studied pictures of things on his
computer and painted some more. He sent all his pictures to Matsumoto-sama as soon as they
were dry. Matsumoto had agreed to not only mount everything he sent but to keep it all until Joey
got out to have a show.

Joey was prepared to spend as long as it took to paint enough for a good show. Due to the rules
of the prison, he was only allowed to spend four hours a day working. He was still going to the
gym and running, even though he hated leaving Seto behind. The guards had advised him against
holing up with Seto. He was under punishment, not Joey. So Joey stuck to their routine as
closely as he could. He refused to eat in the dinning room by himself so they both got a plate in
their suite.

They talked about everything and anything. Joey learned about how Seto ran Kaiba Corp., Seto
learned how Joey had managed to keep alive. They both wondered how they'd managed to live
together for so long without really learning anything about each other.

They laughed and teased, argued and reasoned. Joey had an amazingly astute mind and sharp
intellect. Seto applied his considerable social skills to bringing him out of his shell of tough guy
sullenness. Joey enjoyed their interaction especially when Seto picked a subject and started a
discussion. It didn't matter which side of a subject Seto picked. He had plenty of information to
arm himself with.
"Damn, Seto, how do you know all this shit?"

Seto sipped his tea then pointed to a stack of newspapers. "I read, a lot. I read six newspapers
every day. I read the New York Times, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Los Angeles Times, the
London Times, the Rome News Tribune, the Tokyo Sanki Shumbun and several trade journals
every day."

"I noticed that you've always got your nose in a paper at breakfast. Can I read them too?"

"I don't know, can you read?"

Joey gave him a blank look.

"Can means are you able to. May means will I let you have the papers. And, yes, you may read
anything you like."

"You've got a real thing for the Times."

"I know. I just have always read them. I also have a cutting service that finds anything about me,
personally or Kaiba Corp. and cuts it out. I get a summary and an index once a week, or I did. I
suppose Mokuba reads that now. But that's how I know what I know. You're smart."

"Thank you." Joey gave Seto a small bow. "I just never had time to keep up with all the news. I
was too busy keeping body and soul together. I'm kind of looking forward to reading about all
the different things."

"I'll point out articles that I think you should read particularly closely. If you like that is."

"I like. How many more days?"

Seto made a face. "Three. Seems like forever. At least I've had plenty of time to talk to Mokuba.
Chat rooms aren't the same as a telephone but it's better than what I did have. Want to talk to
him?"

Joey nodded. "We could do a three way. I've got some questions to ask him."

"Want privacy?"

"No, I'm not going to say anything that you can't read."

.

"Well, that was the stupidest thing I've ever read. I mean it. You're not staying behind. If I leave,
you're coming with me. If you can't come, I'm not going."

Joey just shook his head. "No! If you can get out, you go. You just have to pay whatever bribes
are necessary to keep me here. It's that easy. I'm not keeping you here if you can go. Understand?
You don't deserve to be here."

Seto snarled softly, "Well, you don't either. It was self-defense. I don't know what's wrong with
everyone."

"I don't either. I told my story to the officer. It was never brought up in court. I wasn't called to
defend myself either."

"You ... that's outrageous."

Joey bit at his lip. They'd never really had the time or inclination to do more than hit the
highlights of his trial. "Maybe you should have your ... my ... Our lawyers check the transcripts of
my trial? I don't know what they might find but maybe they'll find something."

"You're right. I'll send a mail right now. Mo' is pissed at you too."

Joey just shrugged. "Sorry about that. I ... Mo's a great kid." Joey stretched. "I'm bushed. Is there
anything stupid and brain rotting on tv?"

"How about that Ninja show. The contest thing?"

Joey shrugged. "That's fine. Mindless and stupid. Lots of cheering for the contestants and no
thinking."

They spent the next two hours watching what Seto referred to as mindless movement' until they
both started to nod off.

.

The next morning Seto handed Joey the New York Times as soon as he was done with it. "Might
want to read the article in the Society Section about that new artist. He's a dabbler if you ask me,
but you should at least know about him. And there's a nice letter in the Letters to the Editor. I
marked it. Don't bother to read the others. They're just drivel."

Joey stuck his nose in the paper and enjoyed reading it, until he got to the Business section. That
was boring and confusing. He groaned.

"What's wrong?" Seto looked over the top of a Barcelona paper that had been sent because it had
an article the comptroller thought would be of interest. "You ok? Not getting sick?"

Joey shook his head. "No. But this Business section is as boring as it is confusing."

"Don't bother reading that, all you need is the news and general interest sections. The Business
section ... I'll explain it if you're really interested. But you really don't need to read it."

Joey folded the paper neatly and set it aside. "That's good. I'm really not interested. But I don't
want your friends to think I'm stupid or something."

"They won't. I'll make sure you're up on everything they'd expect you to be familiar with."

"Good ... um ... damn, this is awkward."

Seto eyed Joey again. "Just spit it out. Unless you're going to ask if I want you to stay with me. If
you do that, I'll smack you. I've said it several times. I won't leave you behind. I want you. You
want me. The rest of the world can go to hell. They didn't help me earn my money, build my
reputation or establish my reputation. They're not going to tell me how to live my life. If you
want to stay, stay. If you want to go, it'll break my heart but go."

Joey blinked at Seto for a moment then moved to kneel by his chair. "I want to stay. Please?"
Joey put his arms around Seto's waist.

Seto just pulled him up and stood in front of him. "Stay. Please."

"Ok, I will."

They returned to their breakfasts without further comment. Joey had to blow his nose and Seto
blinked rapidly for several seconds.

.

Joey went to the gym by himself and worked out hard then went for a run. He did his usual three
laps and added another one just for good measure. He was going to make sure that he was in
good shape. He was going to be doing a lot of painting and knew that he was going to need the
extra stamina. Besides he was going to be here alone for some time, he needed to get used to the
idea while Seto was still here.

After the workout and his run, Joey went for a shower. He liked the showers in this gym. They
were private and clean with soap and shampoo provided if you forgot your own. Which he didn't
do but it was still nice.

He was in the process of washing his hair when he heard his name called. He called out to
answer and heard foot steps heading his way. He rinsed the last of the shampoo out and wrapped
a towel around his waist.

The yakuza who was standing in the open area bowed. Joey bowed back, ignoring the fact that he
was nearly naked. "How may I help you?"

"I have been sent here by my master, whose name is unimportant. There is a plan afoot to do you
harm. No one knows much more than that, except that no yakuza are involved. Please believe
that. Be cautious. Thank you for your time."

Joey nodded. "No, thank you for yours. And tell your master thank you'. If I knew who he was, I
would be sure to thank him properly. Tell him that the word nightingale in English will gain my
undivided attention. Yes?"

The yakuza nodded back, bowed and left.

Joey planned as he dressed. He was going to have to be exceptionally cautious. This was not
good at all. If he got hurt Seto would be beside himself and probably do something exceptionally
stupid.

It didn't take him long to get back to their quarters where Seto was on the computer again. Joey
had to smile a bit. As long as Seto had access to a computer he wasn't under much punishment.
Joey decided to make Seto do some yoga and ti chi, just to keep him from getting too restless.

Seto turned from the computer when he heard Joey come into the room.

"Hello. I was just talking to Taylor. He's in Japan for the first time in almost two years. He's
mostly been in Italy, racing. And ... you're not interested in Tristan Taylor right now, what's up?"


"Got a threat just now. Yak came to the showers to warn me that there's a conspiracy to do me
some sort of harm. No one knows exactly what. May just be some loud mouth spouting off. But
I'm going to treat it as real. I'll be a bit jumpy for a while. Don't take it personal."

Seto stood up from his desk at once and came to Joey. "You know I wouldn't. Do you know
anything else?" Joey shook his head. "I'll go ... damn. You're staying with me. I don't care what
you've got to say about it. Two more days and we can take care of each other again. Promise me
that you won't go off looking for trouble. That you'll stay right here with me."

Joey just shrugged. He hadn't been expecting this. Seto looked nearly frantic. "Ok. I promise I
won't leave quarters until you can go with me. Then we'll go find out who, what, when, and
were. I don't care about how. And we'll kick some butt. Until then, I can claim artistic
exhaustion, or something."

Seto just sighed, ran a hand through his hair and grumbled. "Those fools had better get us out of
here soon. I swear, I'm going to fire all of them."

Joey settled into an easy chair and thought. "I don't think my lawyer was worth the ass wipe his
diploma was written on. He just sort of sat there. The judge didn't think much of me. My
clothing offended him. My hair didn't go over too well either. When he asked questions, I had no
idea what he was saying. He used legal terms I'd never heard. And my so-called lawyer just let
him run all over me."

Seto thought about that for a moment. "I'll have them look into that. Sounds like everyone just
assumed you were guilty of what your father accused you of. They just shoved you through to get
it over with. We can work with that. At the least we ... they can get you a new trial."

Joey watched as Seto went back to his computer and began to type. Things were beginning to
look up.

.

Joey's lawyer examined the transcript with a microscope. He was disgusted by the whole
proceeding. When he showed selected excerpts to his boss, he was told to go ahead with a new
appeal. An appeal for a new trial.

Seto's case was a bit different and much more difficult. He'd agreed to a plea bargain which had
not been kept. His lawyers were finally going to have a field day with it. They'd had to wait until
Seto's lawyers could gather all the information they needed to have the judge investigated. It
seemed that he should have recused himself, the legal term for refusing to judge the case because
of a conflict of interests. It seemed that he'd lost a lot of money on the stock market due to
insider trading. He'd had no business being on the bench at all.

Mokuba had finally quit trying to micro-manage the case and gotten out of the lawyers' way.
Both cases were going to be reviewed in the next week or two. Seto wondered if he'd have to go
back to court. He worried that Joey would have to. His notorious temper had Seto a bit worried
about him, a court room and an annoyed judge.

.

Joey fidgeted on the couch while Seto lectured him carefully on what he was supposed to do if he
ever went to court again. He knew Seto was scared of what was going to happen. Joey was not.
He'd decided that, if Seto wanted him, Seto would make sure that he stayed here. If Seto didn't
want him, there wasn't much Joey could do about it. But Joey couldn't remember a time that
Seto had ever lied to him, about anything.

"Seto, calm down. If you leave before me, that's ok. I know you'll make sure I'm kept here. I
trust you. Not them', you. You'll visit and write. I know that. And if I get out with you. What
then?"

"You'll move in with me. We're a couple, together, mates. Whatever you want to call it.
Significant others."

"I'm not going to leach off you. I'll support myself somehow. You got me?"

Seto choked then started laughing. "Joey, Joey, Joey. You'll be the newest, up and coming.
Traditional painter in ... twenty years, or maybe more. You're very good, with practice you will
be great. People will pay a great deal of money for your paintings. I'll be your sponsor. And I'll
love every minute of it. Showing off my beautiful, accomplished, intelligent lover."

Joey blinked at Seto. "And where did you pick this guy up? Can I kill him now?"

"Seppuku is very uncouth. Idiot."

Joey gave Seto a brilliant smile and went to hug him. Seto hugged him back, feeling a bit
desperate, he wasn't leaving Joey here alone. He couldn't stand to.

Joey pushed Seto away gently. "Ok. I can hear the wheels grinding from here. What's going on in
that devious mind of yours?"

"I'm still trying to get you out at the same time as me. My lawyers have finally gotten Mokuba
settled so that they can spend all their time on us. Mokuba finally divided up the staff. Part of the
legal team is taking care of company business and there's a dedicated team just for our troubles.
It's working, at last. We should know something definite in three or four days. I'm really worried
though."

"Well, don't. I can take care of myself. I've got some contacts here that I haven't done anything
about because I don't need to. But if I have to, I will. So I'm ready for food. What do you think
we'll be having?"

Seto realized that Joey was changing the subject and went along. "I don't know. That chicken
yesterday was ... vulcanized, for lack of a better word."

"Yeah, but at least it didn't smell of sulfur. I'd really like some good fresh tuna. Never happen
here. I think every bit of it is frozen. Why would you freeze tuna? Doesn't make sense."

Seto shook his head. Who would have thought that Joey was so knowledgeable about food and
it's preparation. He was, in fact, a bit of a snob. Seto smiled faintly.

"What? So I'm a snob about food. I wanted to be a chief at one time. Until I found out that I
couldn't afford the apprenticeship. So I kept up with things as best I could."

Seto laughed. "Well, now I know. You can cook for me when we get out. I'll take you to a small
market I know. Very chi-chi, expensive and great. The man who washes the floor knows more
about cooking fish than some housewives. And the knives. You'll love them. Best I've ever seen.
I'll buy you a good set. Would you like that?"

Joey blushed like a girl. "Yeah, I really would. I love cooking. It's really satisfying to take raw
ingredients and make food. If you laugh, I'll smack you. My secret vice is bento boxes. I just love
making really fancy ones. I guess it's the artist in me."

Seto just shook his head. "Who'd have thought it. Will you make me bento to take to work? I'd
like that."

Joey gave Seto a puzzled look. "Sure, but don't you get invited out all the time?"

"I do. And having a bento would be a good excuse to refuse. Especially since I really hate going
out with some of the most insistent inviters. They always want something from me. Something I
don't want to give them. I get tired of all the ... whining. Ruins my digestion."

Joey cracked up. "Ok so I'm supposed to be the little woman and send you off to the office with
your bento?"

Seto snickered, tried to stop and wound up nearly falling over. They both laughed until they had
tears in their eyes.

Joey settled on the couch. "I'll be glad when you can get out of here again. I want our run. And
you really need to workout. Wanna do some pushing after lunch? It'll be good for you." Joey's
hopeful look made Seto smile.

"Sure. I'd really like that. I need some action. I need to move. I'm losing it."

"No you're not. You're just like me, you need exercise. You need to work your body as hard as
your mind. I have my painting now. But you don't have much to keep your mind occupied just
now." Joey stared blankly at the wall for a moment. "Why don't you write a game or something.
You used to write the best games."

Seto sighed. "When I took over from Gozaburo I had to give it up. But, I think I'll try it. I can get
the outline done in a couple of days. The art will have to wait until ... um .... hmmm." Joey
grinned as Seto wandered around the room, planning his game. This was going to work out well.

Seto would be occupied instead of bored. Joey grinned to himself.

A bored Seto was a cranky Seto and being confined to quarters was slowly driving them both
crazy. It was only for a week and there were now only two more days left but neither one of them
was the type of person to just sit around.

.

The next two days were spent on keeping each other occupied. Seto told Joey all about his idea
for a game, in exquisite detail. Joey got Seto up at 8:00am, refusing to allow him out of bed
sooner. They both showered, ate breakfast then worked on their projects. Joey painted, out in the
small courtyard or in the middle of the living space. Seto worked on the story line for his game.
They broke for lunch but ate light as Joey insisted that they both do ti chi, kata and pushing, for
at least two hours. Then Joey went for a run while Seto returned to work on his game.

Finally, their punishment was over. The week had stretched into infinity, as far as they were
concerned.

Joey sighed as they went for breakfast together. "I'd rather take a beating. At least it's all over in
a few minutes, this thing nearly killed me. You think they'll have eggs today?"

Seto shook his head over Joey's practicality. "I hope so. I'd really like some sausages too."

Joey nodded, licking his lips. "Yeah, sausages. But I like a traditional breakfast too. Only ... not
here. Their food sucks. Just you wait..." Joey plopped into his chair. "I'll make you an omelet
that'll make your mouth water just looking at it. And crepes, with strawberries and a special
honey-yoghourt sauce."

Seto pointed his finger at Joey. "You shut up. You're making me hungry. This is ok. It's fine. I
keep saying that. I really can't wait until you can cook for me. That omelet sounds great. I'm not
too sure about strawberries and yoghourt but I'll try it. Now ... here's our food."

Joey snorted, this morning was not a free day, they got what was served. "Soggy toast, oatmeal
and grape jelly. Damn." They both sighed and started to eat.

After downing the breakfast that Joey called Completely lame.' they went to the track. Joey said
that they shouldn't run on a full stomach but Seto had denied that his stomach was anywhere near
full. So they had done four laps and staggered across the finish line, sweaty and laughing.

"How soon do you think the lawyers will actually accomplish something? I'm really ready for
you to be safe."

Seto wiped his face with a towel. "Soon, I think. I didn't realize that we, Kaiba Corp, were
involved in so many legal battles at one time. My staff was spread too thin. Mokuba didn't
realize that the head of the department was juggling so many cases at one time. Things fell
through the cracks, so to speak. I'm not mad, just disgusted, mostly at myself. I didn't realize that
Yugi wouldn't be considered a proper guardian. That's what started the whole cascade effect and
put me behind the eight ball."

Joey gave Seto a blank look. "Cascade effect? Howzzat?"

"There were six cases when Mo' got into his mess. Each case has three people assigned to it
automatically, in rotation. Then my case came up. The Head assigned six men to that, but they
were all ... er ... second stringers. New people, just graduated from law school. Since it was just a
trading incident, he didn't see any reason to worry about it. But they got themselves taken. The
judge just ran all over them outside the courtroom. They got a plea bargain that wasn't kept,
because of some legal wording that they read the wrong way. Which the judge expected. Then,
some Civil Servant decided that Yugi wasn't a proper guardian for Mokuba and tried to have him
stuck in foster services. I'd have had a time getting him back out, I can tell you. So there had to
be some juggling again. I'm glad Roland agreed to be Mo's guardian. I trust him more than
almost anyone else. So one thing led to another to another and we got shuffled to the bottom of
the pile again and again. Doesn't matter now. But you can believe that there's going to be some
restructuring done."

"I see. Well, that is a mess. You need to increase the size of your staff. Or hire an outside firm,
keep them on a retainer for emergencies. I didn't think you had people for criminal trials. Aren't
most of your guys contract lawyers?"

Seto nodded. "They are and that's what led to most of my troubles. My team was blindsided by a
criminal expert. Insider trading is a fraudulent activity. So, my department head did what he
thought best. Two days ago he turned the whole mess, your case and mine, over to an outside
firm. One that specializes in appeals. I'm supposed to get a report tomorrow."

Joey handed Seto a bottle of water and headed for their quarters. He hoped that the new team
would get Seto out of here, he wasn't looking good. He was too thin, and he looked worried all
the time. His days in Sakura had not done him any good at all.

Seto knew that Joey was worried about him but he didn't know what to do about it except to lean
on the law team to get them out as quickly as possible. He wanted to get Joey out before
something bad happened to him.

.

They didn't have long to wait. The very next day Seto got an email right after their first work'
period. He opened it and just sat staring at it.

Joey noticed that Seto was just sitting at his computer and came over to see what was wrong.

"Seto? You ok? What is it?"

"Um ... email. From Mokuba. He'll be here tomorrow with a limo."

Joey sighed a bit shakily and dropped onto the couch. "Oh, that's good. Write to me?"

Seto blinked once at the monitor then turned. "No."

Before he could go any further Joey just cringed. "Oh, ok."

Seto gave him a fondly exasperated look. "We both need to pack, come on."

Joey looked up. "Um ... excuse me?"

"I said We both need to pack.' Remember, I said I wouldn't leave without you? That's been the
other hold up. I kinda lied ... a bit."

Joey pulled Seto into a hard hug. "A lot. Ya great big ... mmmmffff." Seto cut him off with a
hard kiss.

They frankly necked for a while then Seto pushed Joey away. "No. No more. If we go any farther
we'll end up in bed. I want to wait until we're out of here."

Joey just shrugged in a puzzled way. "Ok, lover, whatever you want. Don't get it but it's fine."

"I want to wait until we're free. I want you to make love to me in my bed. I don't really
understand it either but there you are."

"Ok. Sure thing." he stretched and cracked his back, making Seto wince. "Let's go pack. What
time is Mokuba coming for us?"

"Buttcrack of dawn. I told him as early as they'd let him."

Joey snorted. "Language, ass hole. What time is the buttcrack of dawn?"

"7:00am. That's as early as they'd allow. I won't sleep a wink."

Joey laughed. "Me neither. So, let's pack, then we can play some cards. Ok?"

"Sounds like a plan." Seto turned to the closet and started pulling things out of it.

They took their time, pulling shirts and sweaters and pants out and piling them on one bed. Joey
brought all his stuff in and dumped it on the floor. Seto banished anything from either prison
immediately. Joey didn't object, he was as glad to get rid of it as Seto.

Seto was also for tossing anything ink stained. Joey had dug in his heels over that. He'd
explained that he might as well keep the things as he was bound to get ink on what he was
wearing when he painted. The ink was water proof once it dried so the stains wouldn't come out.
No sense, in Joey's opinion, in ruining good clothing when he had stuff that was already stained.
Seto just shrugged, put the things aside and started planning. Joey gave him a fond swat and
shoved them into a duffle bag.

Seto drew out the packing as long as he could. They didn't have much to occupy themselves with
and neither one of them was going to sleep much. He wanted to wear them both out, so they
could sleep at least a little.

They spent most of the time they packed arguing about what to keep and what to get rid of. Seto
accumulated quiet a pile of stuff that neither one of them liked.

"How the hell do we wind up with so much stuff we hate? Doesn't make sense."

Seto smirked at Joey in a rather haughty way. "We have people."

Joey grumped, "People! What the fuck does that mean? We have people.', sounds dirty. Or
something."

Seto snickered softly. "It really just means that I'm too lazy to go shopping so I send out a
personal shopper every two months or so. They buy everything they see that they think I might
like. And I did the same thing for you with the people who came here. See?"

Joey snorted. "Well, from now on, I'm going shopping for myself. I like shopping." Seto gave
him an incredulous look. "Well, I do. Sorry if I'm all girly that way."

"I like it. I've never really had time to shop for myself. And it's really not safe. I got mobbed the
last time I actually went into a game shop. My face is too well known."

"Especially after Battle City and all that."

Seto just nodded and stuffed the last of his things into a large duffle.

"Hey, by the way, where did you get the duffels?"

"Mo' sent them. Our stuff won't fit into one of those little boxes anymore."

.

After they put their duffels by the door, ready for next morning, they played Duel Monsters. It
wasn't as much fun as it would have been if they had the facilities of a dueling arena available.
But they had cards and brains, what else did they really need? Joey and Seto were both very
much aware that most people who dueled did so with just cards. You had to be in the top 20% or
pay a fee to duel in the arenas, unless you were enrolled in a competition. Many duelists had only
used a holographic facility once or twice.

So, instead of standing at opposite ends of a dueling arena they sat at opposite sides of a coffee
table.

They slapped their cards down on the array with shouts of triumph. They picked up the destroyed
monsters with groans of despair. They counted life points and argued over card effects. When the
lights finally went out they both snarled.

"Well, damn, I was just about to kick your ass ... again."

Joey gathered up his cards. "Yeah? And who had the most life points when the lights went out?"

Seto grudgingly admitted, "You did. But that doesn't mean I couldn't have rallied. Bed?"

Joey sighed loudly. "I guess. There's nothing else to do. But I'm not sure I'm gonna sleep even
now."

"Me neither. But what else can we do? And no, not that."

"No, we agreed."

"Did you pack all your art? And all the equipment? Have we forgotten anything?"

Joey thought. "Yes, yes and no. Come on. Let's just go lay in bed. If we lay there long enough,
maybe we'll sleep."

"If we relax, maybe. We can try."

So they trooped off to bed, and sleep, finally.

.

Seto woke at the early hour of 5:00am grumbling because he had two hours to wait. Joey woke
with him, mostly because Seto bounced the bed until he did.

"Fuck, moron, I was still sleeping. Nice dream too. Why'd ya do that?"

"Because I'm bored, and hungry. And, if I'm awake, you should be too. Misery loves company."

"Ya miserable ... never mind. I'm going to take a shower. You should too." Joey pinched his
nose shut to indicate Seto's ripeness.

Seto just threw a pillow at him.

"Ok. Shower, dress and meet me at the door. Maybe they'll let us out early."

"Sure, they will. And what do we do until Mo' gets here?"

Seto smiled. "Bet you twenty thousand yen that he's there already."

"And we'll find that out how?" Joey's impatient remark made Seto snicker.

"We'll ask him. He wouldn't lie about something like that and you know it."

"Ok." Joey held up his hands in surrender. "That's true. I'm headed to shower."

Seto went to his shower and Joey to his. It didn't take them long to get clean and dressed in fresh
clothing.

Seto choose a simple pair of linen trousers in dark blue with a lighter blue shirt and a pair of
simple loafers. Joey wore the same sort of outfit except that it was all in shades of brown.

"I'm ready. Come on."

Joey laughed and took Seto's hand. "I'm ready too. Let's go."

They opened the door and walked out into the hall. The warden was just coming to knock on the
door to wake them

"Ready, I see. We'll have to sign some paper work, but it won't take long. Only a few minutes.
Master Mokuba has been outside since 5am, and in my office since about six. He's very
impatient. We better go."

Seto followed the warden with Joey at his side. They exchanged speaking looks and tiny
snickers. "Ok, ok, I owe you. You can take it out in trade." Seto just smirked.

Mokuba jumped Seto the minute he got in the door. Seto just hugged him like he'd never let go.
Joey stood to one side, smiling happily. He'd get a hug in a minute.

Mokuba turned to Joey and hugged him too. "Thanks for taking care of my Onii-san. I'd be very
unhappy if anything happened to him."

Joey returned the hug, whispering, "Me too."

Seto cleared his throat. "Can we get on with it, please? I'd like to get out of here, before they
decided to keep us."

The warden laughed softly. "Not a chance. You have no idea how hard it's been to keep
undesirables from bothering you. Now, here are the papers. Kaiba-sama, sign right here. We need
your hanko too." Seto signed and stamped the paper.

The warden turned to Joey with his papers. "And you. Here, please." He pointed to the papers
and Joey turned red.

"I don't have a hanko. Will my ... oh, thanks." Seto had just handed Joey the small case that
Mokuba had brought with him.

Joey opened the box and took out his stamp. It was carved from a single piece of apple green
jade. Seto had made sure that it was a nice size, neither too small or ostentatiously large. Joey
signed the papers, stamped them and tucked his hanko away in his pocket.

Mokuba was nearly dancing with anxiety. "Come on, let's get out of here. I had one of the men
get your stuff so you wouldn't have to go back. Come on, come on."

Seto rolled his eyes at the warden. "We better go before he has a, as Joey calls it, tizzy. I'd say
it's been a pleasure, but it hasn't. Good-bye." Seto turned on his heel and strode to the door. Joey
just nodded to the warden and followed, keeping his shoulders back and his head high.

Neither Seto nor Joey relaxed until they were ensconced in the limo and on their way down the
drive.

.

Joey enjoyed his ride in a limo. Seto had sat back and watched him as he enjoyed himself. This
was one of the things about Joey that had always infuriated him. Joey's frank enjoyment of
things. Seto had never been allowed this. He wasn't even sure he knew how.

"Seto, can we open the sun roof? Please?"

Seto just knocked on the divider and, when the driver let it down, told him to open it.

Joey laughed as the just risen sun shown in to the car. "This is great. Look at that. You can see
Kaiba Tower from here. I never realized how tall it was. How many floors is it?"

"74. I have an apartment at the top. That's where we're going. We were supposed to have to wear
trackers, but the legal team managed to get that nixed. As soon as the house is ready we'll move
there."

Joey blinked once. "74 floors? Holy moley. And we're going to live there? That's great. I've
always wanted to see a penthouse." Joey stood up and stuck his head through the sun roof.

Seto started in alarm then realized that there was no way Joey could fall out or get hurt. Joey
reached down and grabbed Seto by the arm. "Come on. Stand up. Have some fun. It's great.
Almost as good a riding a bike."

Seto stood up at Joey's urging and stuck his head and shoulders out the sun roof too. It felt
amazing. The wind rushing through his hair gave him a feeling of freedom and joy. Or maybe it
was just being free again. He started laughing, shaking his head to let the wind muss his hair.

Mokuba nearly fell off his seat, his big brother was acting his age. For the first time ever. He
loved it.

Seto hugged Joey who laughed again. "This is great. I wish ... never mind. Be satisfied with what
you have. How soon before we actually get there?"

Seto glanced at his watch. "About ten minutes."

They both jumped when they heard a police siren. "What the fuck?" Joey hastily plopped into his
seat with Seto right behind him. Neither one of them wanted to even look at a uniform for a
while.

"What's going on? Why did they stop us?" Mokuba was scared, what if they took Joey and Seto
back?

The chauffeur let the divider down. "They probably stopped us because you were half outside the
car. Relax, all they'll do is lecture you. This early in the morning, you didn't cause a distraction."

And sure enough, after some consultation, one of the officers got into the parked limo and gave
them a short, sincere lecture on the dangers of sticking their limbs outside the safety of the car.
He ended, "I know that you were just having some fun. Youthful exuberance and all that. But
please be more careful. You could have been decapitated and you most certainly would distract
other drivers. This early, not so much of a problem. But this is the beginning of rush hour. Now,
I'm not going to write you a ticket, this time. Go on along with you. I'll tell your driver you may
go."

The officer got out of the car, spoke to the driver, rather sternly and motioned for them to go on
their way.

The divider window went up and the driver drove off, ears burning, as the officer had given him
a quick, down and dirty lecture on pulling over to get his charges under control. He was glad to
escape with nothing more than the lecture, a ticket would look very bad on his record.

.

Joey couldn't believe his eyes. The parking garage was full of people. Every employee of the
facility was standing there, lined up in orderly rows, bowing. Seto bowed back solemnly and
stalked to the elevator. Mokuba dragged Joey from his stunned trance and pushed him into the
elevator.

"Um ... wow. That's ... impressive."

Mokuba made a face. "Wait until you see the main foyer, it's packed with third level employees."

"Third level?" Joey glanced at Seto, who was smirking slightly.

"In order to keep track of raises and insurance and a bunch of other stuff, we have levels. Each
level is entitled to certain benefits. Levels are assigned by length of service, merit points and job
skills. There are ten levels with ten being entry and one being ... um me, Seto, Roland and about
four others. There's no place big enough to get every employee in the tower into, so we decided
that only level three or higher can actually greet him on his first day."

Joey sighed. "Man, I never thought about how many people are actually employed in this
building. How many are there?"

"About 48,000 on any given day. That's a lot of people to find an arena for. Level three on up is
about 5500 or so. We couldn't keep the people in the garage facility from having their bow,
wouldn't work. So we just let everyone in the area do their thing. The main greeting is to be in
the main foyer, like I said before. Just don't jump out of your skin. Everyone has been checked
out by Roland, most of them years ago. Third level have been working for Kaiba Corp since the
reorganization, or before."

Seto interjected here. "Most of them before, I fired any third level not totally loyal to me
personally and the rest got a good raise. Second level people are mostly the board of directors
and people like that. Mo', do you know how many people are there for sure, or was that just a
good guess?"

"The exact count of people who couldn't be left out is 5,498. We'll go to the second level, there
will be an announcement, you go to the railing, let them get a good look at you, bow, bow, walk
away. Five minutes at the most. Then we can get up to the penthouse and see if the arrangements
suit you. The house will be ready for occupancy in two days."

Seto just nodded, glanced at Roland who'd gotten on the elevator while Mokuba was speaking.

Roland nodded back. "There's no need to go to a lot of fluttering. Like Master Mokuba said, I'll
announce you, they'll bow, you bow, turn and go. Should I introduce Master Joseph?"

Seto bit at his lip and Joey's heart plummeted. "Mmmm, yes, of course. I'm just not sure how."

"Easy, just announce my name and be done with it. Who I am to you, or you to me, isn't their
business." Joey's matter of fact expression made Roland grin.

It went just as Mokuba and Roland said it would. Seto stepped up to the railing of the
Mezzanine, Roland clapped his hands, announced, "Kaiba Seto has returned, along with his
friend, Katsuya Jounouchi." There was a loud rustling sound as 5,498 people bowed. Seto and
Joey bowed back, Seto nodded and they turned and walked away.

On the elevator, Joey just stood there for a moment. "Wow, that was something to see."

Seto turned to glare at Joey. "No, I mean it. That was really something astounding. I've never
seen so many people bow at once."

Seto just grunted then grumbled, "I hope they all get back to work at once. Total waste of time, if
you ask me."

Mokuba giggled softly. "Not a waste of time and most of them came in really early to make sure
to be in their place when you came in. It's only" Mokuba glanced at his watch. "8:30 am. So
don't be such a grump. Relax, we're almost there."

Seto nodded. "Remind me ... no, just do it for me. Have a key made for Joey. And get his finger
prints and corneal scans into the computer. Also, make sure that ... um ... Hazel? Is she still
working for me, or did she find another place. Anyway, make sure that she knows that Joey is to
be put through to me on the same status as you have. Ok?"

Mokuba just nodded and started keying into his PDA. "Ok, got it. I really love this new
Blackberry. All I have to do is hit the right key and I'm connected to your office, my office, the
computers or any one of several other dedicated numbers. I'll reprogram yours before I give it
back to you. And I'll have one ready for Joey by this afternoon."

"Good. I'm going to spend today showing Joey around and getting him into the system. Also, I'm
taking weekends off from now on. It's going to have to be something really important to keep me
in the office. And I'm depending on your help to make it all possible. And you're not to get
yourself so over loaded that you can't take weekends off. Got me?"

Mokuba grinned at Seto. "All I ever wanted, Onii-san. And you better believe that I'm not giving
up my weekends. Unless it's something really important. Now, we're here. Come on. I had all
your stuff just put on the beds. You each have your own room and I have my own apartment right
across the entry way." Mokuba turned to Joey. "If you need anything and Seto's not around,
there's a valet's button. All you have to do is press it and someone will come. I'll be in my office
if you need me. Seto? I'm so glad you're back." Mokuba hugged his brother tightly and then
shoved Seto and Joey out of the elevator. "So, go, get settled in. I'll see you in a while."

Seto just hugged Mokuba back and dragged Joey into the entry way. "Come on. I'm already
exhausted by all this." he pointed to one door. "That's Mokuba's apartment. He lives there most
of the time." He pointed to another door then opened it. "This is ours, for now. I prefer to live in
the mansion in Yamanashi, but Mokuba took the opportunity to repaint most of it. I can't stand
paint fumes, they make me sick."

Joey blinked for a second. "Yamanashi? That's on the other side of Tokyo bay from here." Joey
wondered how the hell Seto made it in to work without getting up at two or three in the morning.
Domino was a very small Ko, surrounded on all sides by Chiba and the traffic had to be killer.

Seto shrugged. "I chopper in. There's a helicopter pad on the roof. Come with me, I'll help you
pick a bedroom."

Joey shrugged. "I'm not picking a bedroom. I'm sleeping with you or there's going to be trouble.
Ok?"

Seto smiled. "I didn't want to presume. But if that's the way you want it, that's the way it'll be.
And I'm glad. I've always wanted to sleep with you. Just sleep, you know?"

"Yeah, me too. So, where do I put my stuff. Do you have a valet? What kind of staff do you
have?"

Seto laughed lightly. "I have staff at the house. It's too large for me to take care of myself. I don't
have a valet, I just have maids. When I'm here, I take care of myself. I hate having a valet, the
damn men can't seem to understand not to neaten' my desk. I get papers all set out in a sequence
and the next thing I know, they've stacked them, all out of order usually. So, no valet."

Joey glanced around the clean bedroom and, knowing that Seto surely didn't clean, asked,
"Yeah? So who cleans the place? Cause I'm sure you don't."

"That's different. The maids clean by the lift and wipe method."

Joey raised one eyebrow. "Lift and wipe?"

"Lift stuff up, clean under it and put it back down. Lift and wipe. Easy but you can't get some
people to get it right for anything. And you know I have absolutely no patience with fools."

Joey grimaced. "Don't I know it. So, I can have half the closet?"

Seto shrugged. "Don't bother to unpack too much. We're only going to be here a few days. We'll
get out to the mansion as soon as the paint fumes dissipate. A couple of days at most."

"Just why did Mo' decide to have the house painted now? He knew we were getting out, didn't
he?"

"He did. But he ordered it done just after I went in. Then he found out that the contractor put it
off forever and just finished it day before yesterday. He's going to rip him a new one tomorrow."

"Ah, I see. Ok. Which side of the closet ... holy shit!" Joey's exclamation was caused by him
getting a good look at the closet. It was as big as some living rooms.

Seto just smirked a bit self-consciously. "You can have either side. And anything in it you like.
Most of the stuff I've never even tried on. You like it, take it."

"Not with out asking first. I swear. I'm not taking the shirt off your back."

"Damn, another dream shot down in flames."

Joey gave Seto a look then burst out laughing. "Well, maybe I'll change my mind on that."

Seto entered the closet and turned on all the lights. "Seriously, if it's still got tags on it, it's fair
game. Otherwise, ask. Ok?"

"With that caveat, sure. I don't know what I need with more clothing, but thanks anyway."

"You're welcome. Now, we're going to lunch."

Joey glanced at his cheap watch. "Ok, but it's only 10:30."

Seto crossed his arms over his chest, looking stubborn as only he could. "We didn't have
breakfast, in case you didn't notice. I'm hungry."

Joey nodded. "Ok, me too. But ... never mind. I'm coming."