Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Time on a Chain ❯ Chapter 8

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

Chapter 11 In the gym.

Joey looked at the clothes Ginnie had provided, almost a whole closet full; she had told him
these were rejects from Seto; he hadn't liked them for some reason or another.

They were all in fashion and still had tags on them. He was happy with most of them and
decided he would just move anything he didn't like to the back of the closet.

"Where did she put sweats? I need to work out. It's going to feel so good to use a real gym for
once."

Mokuba grumbled. He hated running on the inside track almost as much as he hated treadmills.
But Seto had let him read the last threat. It was specific and proved that whoever it was had been
watching them.

Willow; up early, had already made her patrol of the house and grounds. The security outside
was better now that she had shaken things up and she approved of their setup. She had decided
that she was only going to worry about things that got past the security systems.

Ginnie hadn't had anything for Willow to wear but she had sent some of Seto's men to her tiny
apartment and cleaned it out. Every thing she had in the world was brought to her in two boxes.
It was all now stored in the closet. Weapons, clothes and all.

Willow hunted her favorite jeans down. They were forty percent spandex and conformed to her
body without restricting her movements any. She liked tee shirts, the sloppier the better, good for
hiding things. But she also had some nice clothes, especially tailored to hide a multitude of
‘sins'.

Seto grunted in disgust; he was getting fat. "I need to work out; I've got one of the most
expensive gyms in the world with attendants and trainers and I'm getting fat."

The gym had several areas, all opening off a main room one a boxing ring and training area, a
dojo and an equipment room with every piece of exercise equipment needed for a workout just
like a commercial gym. It also had steam rooms, hot tubs and a masseuse on call

Joey walked into the boxing area. "Hey, anyone home? I need some gloves."

"Over here! What can I...hey Katsuya what you doin' here?" The attendant was an old
acquaintance of Joey's from his days in a gang. He wasn't sure he liked seeing him much.

"Kat, don't make a fuss. I'll get fired. I've got a wife and kids now and I really need this job. I
won't cause you any trouble; don't give me any grief. Please."

"Phil, I remember you. You never did me any harm, I guess we just start from now. Ok, I need to
be taped and I need gloves and a pair of shoes."

Joey put on his shoes then held out his left hand."Be careful with this one. I broke it a while ago
and it's still sore."

After being taped and getting his gloves, Joey started on the rhythm bag. Bap, bap, bapatbap bap
bap "Damn I didn't realize I was so out of shape. This used to be easy but now I've got the
rhythm of a junkie." Joey kept at it until he got the rhythm going. Then he kept up the workout
until he was sweating. After fifteen minutes or so he went on to the heavy bag. "Hey Phil. Come
hold the bag for me."

After several punches Phil remarked sourly, "Damn it, Jonuchi. I thought you said you were out
of shape."

"I am and don't call me Jonuchi, My name's Joey Wheeler now. Don't forget"
Joey's glare was so untypical Wheeler that anyone else wouldn't have recognized him but Phil
paled "Ok Don't get upset. Joey Wheeler it is."

"OK get me a rope" At Phil's horrified look Joey snarled "A jump rope, you jack-ass. Damn it."

Mokuba got on the treadmill and started to run, he was going to make it a real session today, he
was disgusted he wanted to run outside but he knew it wasn't safe. They didn't even want him to
use the track because of the windows.

He was older than most people thought. He hated the way he looked; so young and cute, ugh, he
was five years younger than Seto and had as many brains as he did. He didn't mind living in his
brother's shadow but he minded not being taken seriously.

"I'll wear this thing out today. I think I can manage ten miles; so here we go."

Willow took some of her weapons and went to the dojo. It was nice. All the different gyms
opened off one large room, the attendant smiled. "Hello. You must be Miss Kenshin. If you
need anything just ask. I can get you any weap..Oh I see that you have your own. Well, if you
need something tell me."

"Opponents; I need some work out partners." Willow knew that most wouldn't last very long but
while she wasn't going to be fighting anyone as strong as she had been used to; she still needed
to work out against live opponents.

After making arrangements with the attendant Willow entered the dojo. Drawing her sword, she
began to practice a kata. She started with the basics; always start with basics to warm up, she
could hear the Masters voice in her ear. She went from basics to combinations and spent some
time working on transitions. Then she went to the advanced. Starting her final kata she was glad
the dojo was so big. It gave her room for the leaps and air work that was the trade mark of her
style.

After working out she decided to look over the rest of the layout. She took a towel from the
attendant and wiped the sweat off her face and neck. She heard a steady thumping from the
doorway opposite her and decided to see what was in there.
It was Joey, punching heavy bag. The man holding the bag was having a hard time holding it.
Joey was sweating heavily but showing no signs of slowing down.

"I wish I had someone to spar with. Ya wanna'?" Joey was ready to fight and he looked at Phil
hopefully.

"Ka..Wheeler. No way; I like my head where it is. I can get you some sparing partners tomorrow
but not me." Phil wasn't about to get into a sparing match with Joey. He'd seen him fight once,
when they were in middle school. Joey had beaten up a high school boy almost twice his size.
He'd heard that Joey gave up fighting soon after that and transferred but he didn't know much
about it and didn't want to

"I'll spar with you" Willow walked into the room. She had changed out of her sweaty clothing
wondering why she hadn't thought to put on shorts and a tee shirt sooner.

"Yeah spar wit' me. I don't tink so You'll get....yipe!" Joey stepped back as Willow's fist
stopped an inch from his chin.

" I'm better than you think I am. I'm a body guard after all and I know what to do without
weapons. I need a partner and so do you. If we both tape our hands; use head gear and mouth
guards no one should get hurt too bad. What do you say?" Willow wanted to try Joey out to see
how good he really was and to find out if she could rely on him at all.

"OK Just get the gear, Phil, I'll see that she don't hurt herself." Joey disliked the idea of fighting
with a girl but she said she was a body guard and she should be able to take it. He wanted to see
how good she really was. Anyone could wave a sword around and if they knew some fancy
tricks they could put up a good show but not everyone could really take pain and that was what
separated the fighters from the rest. He wasn't going to hurt her bad but he intended to see what
she was made of.

He couldn't fight his father his PD. was too bad, but she wasn't his dad. So he would see how
good she was or how bad he had gotten.

Seto stomped into the gym; he was sick of interruptions. This time it had been Ginnie, she
wanted to know about the menu and how much she could spend on Willow for new clothes.

"Honestly, Mr. Kaiba she's got the clothes she stands up in and another pair of jeans and that
Halloween hakama and that's about it. I used her clothes to get the sizes."

"Ginnie I don't care how much you spend on her; make her presentable, see what she has and
find out what she likes. You're competent or you wouldn't still be working for me; just take care
of it, I'm on vacation or have you forgotten."

So now he was behind in his workout and resented it. He had planed to get a workout in privacy
but he heard other voices in the gym. Thankfully they didn't seem interested in the equipment
room so he moved from machine to machine with the trainer in attendance.
It took him less time than he had allowed to finish his work out; he was in worse shape than he
had bargained for. He needed to loose some weight and build up his endurance, but he couldn't
figure out what was wrong. He knew he spent too much time behind a desk but he shouldn't be
this weak. Well he'd go out and see who else was in the gym complex and maybe watch
Wheeler make a fool of himself or see if Willow was as good as she claimed.

Willow giggled girlishly, she felt foolish. Phil had insisted she wear a ‘chest protector'; it felt
like a bullet proof vest and was already making her sweat. "Damn Wheeler, let's get this on. I'm
already starting to sweat in this thing."

"Yeah, wear it anyway; you think a cup is comfortable. Put up or shut up."

Joey climbed into the ring and put out his hands. Willow leaped the ropes and landed in front of
Joey with a soft ‘tup'. Joey's eyes widened at the jump but he bumped gloves with Willow and
backpedaled just enough to put distance between them. After a few attempts to dominate Willow
by crowding her Joey realized that he had a real fight on his hand's Willow in her turn found out
right away that Joey was only dominated by his father. He dominated the first part of the fight by
crowding her but she knew a few tricks to stop that.

She threw a round house left that forced Joey to go to his non dominant side; it put him off
balance and he back pedaled just enough to get some room. A quick right jab that connected got
Willow off balance herself so both fighters backed off just enough to get set again. Then the
‘gloves were off' figuratively speaking. Willow started a flurry of short jabs with a few cross
overs thrown in to keep Joey from establishing any pattern. Joey mean while took the punches
either on his forearms or just absorbed them with his body. He tried to ring her bell with a punch
to the headgear but she ducked under it and brought an under cut from the floor that rattled his
teeth.

"Damn you hit like Ali. You're in for it now." Joey bit down on the mouth piece and tucked
behind his guard. The thud of fist on flesh was loud as Joey got in a right cross that connected
with Willow right in the face. She shook it off and pile drivered Joey right into the mat.

"Hey, what the hell is going on here. I thought you... Wow! That's Joey down. Damn!" Mokuba
had heard the sounds and entered the room at a dead run followed closely by Seto.

"Wow, she rang my bell but good. I don't think I've ever been in a better fight."

Joey let Phil pull off his right glove. He pulled off his left himself and then dumped his head
gear. "Hey Willow are you all right?"

Willow had taken off her gear too and was nursing a bloody nose. "It's nothing. It'll stop in a
second."

"Damn it, Wheeler." Seto started to jump Joey for fighting with a girl then he realized that this
girl had knocked him senseless. And put up a good fight from the look on Phil's face.

"How good is she, Phil?"

"As good as Ca...Joey. You wouldn't believe it. I've never seen anyone outside of Joey hit that
hard. And she can really take it too. She's good, Boss."

Joey interrupted "Hey, how good is she, can you say kicked my ass?"

Willow cracked her neck. "Yeah, what about you, Wheeler? You're good. Nearly had me. But
you underestimated me like everybody does. It's one of my best weapons. But you've got a hell
of a punch on you. Most people I can't even feel."

Mokuba eyed Joey speculatively. {Hn. He's got more to him than we suspected. I wonder...}

"I'm hungry. I got in my run and my stomach is growling. Lets go eat." Mokuba nearly bodily
dragged Seto toward the kitchen. He was way too skinny and didn't eat enough. Mokuba hoped
that Joey would help him get Seto to eat.

Willow watching Mokuba with Seto wondered why Mokuba acted so young. Was he a case of
arrested development or was something else going on here? She'd seen Mokuba when he
thought no one was watching him and the shrewd look on his small face made him look every
year of his true age.

************************************************************************ *****

Breakfast was interesting as always. Seto consented to cook for all of them after Mokuba pulled
a pouting fit from hell; crossing his arms over his chest; ducking his head and refusing to eat
anything if everyone didn't eat something.

Joey was one of those people who, due in his case to starvation would eat anything that didn't
eat him first. Willow was even worse she'd eat things that had tried to eat her. Seto on the other
hand ate almost nothing. "I'm getting fat. I don't need much anyway." Seto tried to push most of
his omelet off on Joey who shrewdly refused it saying he was full.

"I hate to waste it. You sure you don't want it?" Seto tried to push the plate in front of Joey
again, Mokuba gave Joey a forbidding look behind Seto's back.

"Nah! I'm full, you know I'd take it if I wasn't." Joey eyed the omelet. There wasn't more than
four or five bites missing. "You better eat it yourself. You're way too thin, almost as thin as me."

Willow watched from the side lines, wondering if she should interfere. {Protect the boy. From
himself?} "Eat it or I'll poke it down you!" Willow gave Seto a cold, feral look. "You're too thin
and I'm not dealing with you sick."

Seto looked at Willow, set to argue, but the look on her face startled him. She looked like she
would literally do as she said and force feed him. He decided that in this case compliance was
the better part of wisdom. Besides Mokie looked like he was going to cry. He could always get
rid of it later.

"And don't think you're going to puke it up later. I'll check on you." Joey gaped at Mokuba Seto
was in real trouble if he was doing that.

Willow wondered what that was about. "He won't. I'll be with him." If Seto thought he was
going to get away with that kind of behavior he was mistaken. He was too thin and Willow
intended to see that he kept his breakfast down. Why he would want to vomit it up was totally
beyond her.

"You don't need to keep an eye on me every blessed minute. I'm going to sit it the rec. room and
watch news." Seto needed to get rid of her for five minutes.

"Big Brother! Promise me that you'll keep that down. You look like a twig. You're nothing but
skin and bone. Promise me!"

Mokuba put pressure on Seto that he knew Seto didn't need but he was getting desperate. Seto
was more and more irritable and hyper, jittering from one thing to another. He had no appetite
and ate nearly nothing, he claimed he was getting fat but he was losing weight. He stayed up
night after night working into the morning hours.

"No! I'll do as I please! Stop Nagging at me! I hate it when you hector me for hours about
nothing. I'm not too thin I just ....Damnit! Leave me alone!" Seto slammed out of the kitchen
banging the door so hard that the wall vibrated.

Mokuba hung his head. "Damnit now he'll get rid of that before it has a chance to do him any
good at all. I hoped this time he would at least eat breakfast."

"I saw him eat breakfast every morning since I've been here." Joey defended Seto {I've lost my
mind}

"No you saw him put food on his plate, push it around and then either wish it off on you or throw
it away. He doesn't eat enough to keep a bird alive. I don't know how he does it. He's been
running on nerves, caffeine and sugar for years. And I don't think those pills are good for him
either." Mokuba left the room shaking his head

Joey watched Willow follow Seto, if anyone could get Seto to behave she was the one. He'd
seen the look in her eyes while they were boxing. She had looked fierce; that look might just
keep Seto in line a little.

Willow followed Seto right into the bathroom. "What the hell do you think you're doing? I don't
need your help to wash my hands"

"Good! But if you think you're getting rid of me think again. No funny stuff." Willow had every
intention of staying with Seto even if he was doing ‘other things'; she'd done it before. Bodily
functions were what they were and didn't bother her any.

"What if I need to do something besides wash my hands. I don't appreciate an audience. You're
sick."

"No, just used to this. Most of my employers treat me like furniture. They do everything in front
of me. You're actually the first to object to me being here. Now if you want to wash your hands
get to it or anything else you need to do; except losing breakfast, you're not doing that and don't
ask me how I'm going to stop you you won't like the answer." Willow glowered at Seto chilling
him. {Odd how she does that}

"You can't treat me like this! You work for me! I'll fire you!"

"Can't; or at least shouldn't, this one will go back to her tree and harass the security some more.
Sneaking into the house is easy. For me. Why not just be good?" Willow had just about had it
with Seto, he was acting like an idiot. He was spoiled and stubborn. She didn't understand why
he would ruin his health this way.

Seto glared the patented Kaiba glare and marched out of the room presenting Willow with his
back, stiff with rage, and headed for his office where he proceeded to turn on a tv and watch
CNN.

Willow stood in a corner leaning against the wall; she watched Seto as he shifted in his chair
restlessly. When he stood up, she shifted, ready to follow but he just strode to the windows to
stand looking out. He moved from desk to windows to couch for over an hour.

"Why don't you light somewhere and rest?" Willow wasn't trying to be sarcastic; it just came
out that way.

"Why don't you jump off a cliff?" Seto snarled, he couldn't seem to sit still. He wasn't used to
doing nothing.

"Tried it; didn't like it." Willow shrugged "I rest when I can. Don't get many opportunities to
do nothing. Kinda' like it for a change."

"Well, I don't! I need stimulation. Challenges." Seto snarled like a dragon. Willow could almost
see smoke coming out of his nose.

"Challenge this. Sit still for twenty minutes. Bet you can't" Willow smirked at spoiled rotten rich
boy.

"Oh, yeah? I can do anything I put my mind to!"

"Can't."

"Can to!"

"Bet."

"Twenty minutes?"

"Yeah. Lay down on the couch and stay down for twenty minutes." Willow had him now, if he
stayed still that long he might fall asleep and get some much needed rest. She realized that she
was worried about his condition. He just wasn't right and she couldn't figure out why.

Eight minutes after Seto got comfortable he started to snore softly.