Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Time on a Chain ❯ Chapter 10 ( Chapter 10 )

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

Disclaimer here. I don't own Yugioh all I own are a few cards.
I'm sorry it has taken me so long to update. My motherboard fried and it took me forever to recover my
files. I am also working on a Ranma fic on FF.net. Shades of Home is taking most of my time right now.
But I am going to finish this fic. Unfinished fics are one of my pet peeves.
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When they reached the house the first thing Seto did was wake Joey; the second thing was try to carry
him.

"Damnit, Seto, I'm not helpless. I can walk by myself. Thank you." Joey took immediate exception; he
crawled out of the limo and walked slowly to the door. It was the same door they had entered by the
last time Joey was hurt. Where's the Infirmary from here?" Joey leaned against the wall, smearing it with
blood.

"What happened here? I just get you healed up and you get cut up again. Seto you'll have to take care
of this I'm not qualified. Only changing bandages and pushing pills. I don't want to lose my licence."
Ginnie looked pissed as well she might.

Joey managed to pry himself off the wall and make it to the neat white room. Plopping down on the bed
he ripped his shirt off and threw it into a corner then he kicked his shoes off. Willow, following him in,
helped him take off his jeans; his thighs were bruised where he had been kicked.

"You look like hell. Want a drink of something? It might help with the pain." Willow didn't condone
drinking strong liquor but it was supposed to help

"Nah! I don't drink much and then only beer. I'll live. Just want t' wash off the blood and get some
sleep. I don't think my hands are too bad either I didn't have any trouble with the button or zipper. I'm
just really tired gettn' beat really takes out of a guy know what I mean?"

No one expected the answer he got.

"Yeah, I know how it is. Just lay down. You look like you're ready to fall over."

Willow helped Joey lie down on his stomach. His back didn't look as bad in good light as it had in the
tank. He'd bled some but it looked worse because the blood had smeared. A quick wash with a
washcloth cleaned him up enough to see that one of the deeper cuts on his shoulder had split and
another lower down as well, so he was messy but relatively unharmed

Seto however had an opinion."Damnit, I'm going to have someone's hide for this. What right do they
have to treat you like this? You're no common criminal."

"Yeah I am. And commoner than most. Ya said so yourself."

"Damnit and I was wrong. You're not common. Willow you'll have to take care of this if you can, I
need to get on the phone before they get a chance to sweep this under the rug." Seto looked at Willow;
at her nod he left for his office.

"Too bad about all those supplies. I really need them for my next classes. Oh well, I can always go
somewhere else in a couple of days." Joey gave himself up to Willow's hands. She wasted no more time
taking care of Joey. Some salve and a bandage for the worst cut took care of him.

No one noticed Mokuba as he went to his room with an oddly happy look on his face.

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Joey came down stairs the next morning. As it was Saturday no one was doing much of anything. He
eyed the large box suspiciously.

"What's this? It ain't nothin' nasty is it? I don't need no surprises. They usualy hurt." He shook it gently,
then a little harder.

"Hell, Wheeler. If it was a bomb that would have blown us all to hell." Seto eyed the box with an equal
amount of suspicion.

Willow who had received the box already knew what was in it. Mokuba had told her.

"Well open it. It's not anything nasty I promise."

Mokuba couldn't wait to see the look on Joey's face when he saw the contents of the box.

The look on Joey's face was priceless. He was as delighted as a kid in a candy store.

"Oh my god. Where did you get all this? How did you know what to pick?" Joey rummaged happily
through the box pulling things out and grinning.

Seto watched in amazement. "You really know how to use all that, Wheeler? I never saw so much paint
in one place."

"It's not all paint; in fact most of it isn't ‘paint' there're water colors and acrylics and pastels and chalk
and . . . hey oils . . . canvas nope no canvas but lots of sketch blocks and here's a role of . . . "

Seto interrupted "Joey don't unpack all that You'll just have to pack it up again" Joey gave him a
startled look "You can't use it here. We'll take it to the studio on the third floor. Come on."

Seto led the way with Willow bringing up the rear with Mokuba. "How did you know what to get him?"

Mokuba shrugged. "I got a clerk who is an artist herself on the phone and told her to send everything
she would like to have. I think there is another box coming by carrier later today."

When they got to the third floor studio Joey just stood for a moment; so did Willow for the same reasons
but completely different interpretations. The room had so many windows that even in early morning it
was light they went from waist high to the ceiling and that was half sky light. The exposure was perfect. It
was designed with an artist in mind. It was indefensible exposed poorly situated for concealment and
way too open.

Joey looked around and saw a large drawer-filled cabinet. "What's in this? Can I look? If it's empty, it's
the perfect place to put all my stuff. I can arrange each medium by color family in all these great
drawers."

"Wheeler, this is your studio now. I don't care what you do. Just don't make too big a mess for the
servants. Ok?"

Joey was only listening with half an ear. "Yeah, whatever ya say." Joey had started going through a
drawer. It was full of tubes of oil paints and acrylics all mixed together. He was opening tubes and
checking to see if they were any good.

"I may be able t' use some of these. If they haven't separated or dried up they're good. No sense . . . "
he mumbled off tossing tubes of unidentifiable colors on the floor.

"Wheeler, here. You know? Waste basket, bad stuff in, not on floor. Hey!" Seto couldn't help laughing.
He'd never seen Wheeler like this; mad, sullen, dopy, stubborn; yes, but not like this. Joey was truly
delighted going through a bunch of tubes of whatever it was.

"Oh, thanks Seto, don't want to make too much of a mess just yet but I do tend t' get sloppy when I
work. Pop wouldn't let me keep art stuff so I worked at the youth center mostly. They liked my mural
but this is great. I even saw some canvases over in the corner. How come there ain't no finished works
here? Whose studio was this? Lots of these tubes are opened so I'd think there were a few works in
progress."

"Joey, I just barely remembered this studio was here. It hasn't been used in my memory. Why don't
you just throw anything that's opened away?" Seto pulled out a drawer and looked at the tubes in it.
They all looked wrinkled and squeezed. He dumped the whole thing in the trash. He went on to the next
set and did the same. Joey blinked then protested.

Hey what if I . . . '

"What Joey-kun need that? If you need anything call the store Mokuba got this from and ask for it Ill
establish an account there all you have to do is call them. And have it delivered. If you want to shop, go
in."

Joey looked at Seto for a second then started jerking drawers out of the cabinet checking the contents
and dumping most of it in the trash bin. He emptied half the drawers then started putting new tubes away
with an efficiency that Seto wished he'd apply to other facets of his life.

"Oils and acrylics stay good for a long time but if they dry out or separate they're ruined. Pastels and
chalks don't go bad. Water colors in palates don't either some in tubes ruin so I'm just going to dump
any tubes and start again. Oh hey I forgot. Thanks, Mokuba. Thanks a lot."

Seto got Joey's attention by reaching out and getting hold of his wrist. "Pay attention. I know you are
trying but I am making myself clear. No more d's or f's you are way too intelligent for that It's just
laziness on your part now. You don't have the excuse of a bad home life anymore. And you've gone
back in grade far enough that you have the proper basis for the classes you're taking. I'll give you a
caneing if you screw up. So don't." Seto didn't think he had any problem making a dramatic threat like
that. Joey was making all A's now with no sign of anything lower.

Mokuba poked around in the box of new supplies and dragged out a sketch pad. "Seto quit trying to
intimidate Joey. You aren't getting very far."

Joey just shrugged. "If I get a bad grade with all you've done to make sure I don't. I'll take down my
pants for you without a word. I swear."

"Joey, draw me a picture. You can put that stuff away later or better yet, have one of the servants do it.
That's what they are for, isn't it?"

"Yeah, maybe. Ok. I'll make a sketch for ya. What'd ya want?"

" Seto, draw Seto but like Inuyasha, with ears and in a blue hakamashita." Mokuba's eyes lit up. He
loved aname and manga and had always seen Seto in some of his favorite characters.

"Inuyasha?" Joey grinned; "I'm Inu, not Seto. He's more Ryu, don't ya think?" But he started sketching
sitting down at the drafting table against the near wall.

Now making even a sketch takes more time than you might think; so Mokuba got restless before Joey
got done, he started wandering around the room.

Seto finally gave up on trying to look aloof and uninterested he came over to see what Joey was
drawing. Willow had stayed out of the whole mess by simply perching on the end of a work table much
to Seto's annoyance. She had a great view of every thing in the room but squatting on a table was way
beneath a CEO

The drawing was coming along nicely. Joey had sketched out the frame of the figure. But it was still in
the stick and rough sketch stage.

"Baka Koinu, that doesn't look like anything."

"Boku wa Koinujanai! It won't for a while. I have to decide how I want to pose you, then fill in the
detail and draw a face. Light and shadows are last and without that it'll look flat Give me another hour or
so and you'll have a sketch. If ya just want a cartoon it'll take me ten minutes but Mokuba said a
sketch."

Willow watched the interplay between Joey and Seto. They were both so lonely and so scared to reach
out. She wondered why she didn't feel lonely or had she just gotten so used to it she didn't notice
anymore. She couldn't remember the last time she'd just visited with someone instead of interrogating
them. Oddly she didn't envy them, after all she didn't need anyone. Did she?

Mokuba drifted around the room idly rummaging in boxes and cabinets. Dragging out various objects
and asking Joey what they were. He found everything from canvas stretchers which looked like some
kind of weapon or instrument of torture to pallet knives the size of putty knives.

Seto seemed to be half asleep until he left the room for a while; when he returned he was manic and
sarcastic.

"Wheeler, is it going to take you all day to finish that. I'd think you would have a quicker hand. Your
Daddy being what he is you must have finished quicker than this." Seto sneered his lip curling in a way
Joey hated.

"No. I never worked at home. If Pops caught me he'd beat hell outa me and ruin my work. He said it
was sissy. No man messed with artsy-fartsy stuff. Real men make things. Here! You want it finished so
fast; you finish it yourself." Joey slapped the sketch down on the drafting table he'd been resting his
knee on and stormed out of the room, "I'm not a mutt" floating back behind him.

"Seto. What the hell is the matter with you? Joey is trying so hard to get along with you and sometimes
you just seem to go out of the way to alienate him. You can be a real bastard sometimes."

Mokuba bit his lip and started apologizing "Seto, I'm sorry; I didn't mean that the way it sounded."

Seto just reached out to Mokuba. "I don't know why I did that. I just can't seem to stop myself. Now I
have to go apologize to him. Damnit!"

Seto looked all over for Joey finally finding him in the gym working out on the rhythm bag Willow hung
back. She didn't think Joey would sock Seto but there was always the chance and she wondered
vaguely if letting them duke it out would be against her orders.

Even if it was, she had the feeling it would be good for both of them. They seemed to have some grudge
of long standing.

Joey worked the bag and ignored Seto waiting for him to start the conversation he didn't want to have.
He was tired of Seto running hot and cold. It hurt more than he wanted to admit. It always had.


Seto had settled his nerves finally. He knew Joey wouldn't hold a grudge if he could just bring himself to
apologize, but that was very hard for him. He was too proud; his arrogance the only armor against
Gozabouro and his cruelty was now definitely a liability. He needed to learn how to bend without
breaking and he was in trouble.

"Well pride goeth before a fall." Seto mumbled; "Joey! Hey! Come on, stop that." Seto reached out and
tried to grab the bag. It immediately got out of rhythm and caused Joey to miss the bag. He wound up
punching Seto in the arm.

"Ow! Why did you do that? I'm trying to apologize here." Seto wasn't a boxer; he studied martial arts in
an off hand sort of way, but he wasn't serious, he regarded it more as a way to keep in shape.

"If ya had the brain of a goat you'd know not to grab a rhythm bag. Serves ya right." Joey was
determined not to give in to Seto this time. "What'd ya want? If you're gonna apologize and expect me
to just let it go, forget it. I'm tired of that. I know I owe ya a lot but that don't give ya the right to treat
me like that. Ya run all hot n' cold on me I never know when you're gonna cut me up and when you're
gonna be nice. It's wearin' me out"

Seto shook his head, giving Joey an apologetic look. "I know. I don't know why I do that. Sometimes I
think I've got a split personality. I open my mouth and it just pops out. I get on people who work for me
all the time and they deserve it. But I shouldn't be like that to people I want to be friends with. It doesn't
help that I never learned to apologize gracefully either. So what do we do now. I'd let you sock me but I
don't think Willow would like it any more that I would."

Joey eyed Seto; there was definitely something going on here and he intended to find out what it was.
Seto would be nice as Yugi one minute and a raging fury the next. It always happened after he was out
of the room for a while or when he went into his office.

"Well, shit! Let me see your arm." Joey took Seto's arm in his hands and examined it. "You're gonna
have a bruise here. But it doesn't look bad. What's goin' on with you? Why are you always on edge?"

Seto hid behind his bangs, thinking. "Gozabouro didn't allow any weakness. I had to be meaner than he
was just to protect Mokuba from him. He used Mokuba against me. I learned not to let him see me
weak in any way. So some of it is just habit and the rest is nerves and exhaustion. I need to take this
break so badly it's ridiculous. Think about it, Wheeler. I took over Kaiba Corp. when I was fifteen I
had to fight men three times my age for the respect I needed to run the company. The only way I could
get it was to grind them down with the force of my personality, so I had to be three times as good as
they were and ten times as nasty. It just got to be a habit one that I'm trying to break. I get so tired
sometimes that I think I'm gonna drop in my tracks. I know I shouldn't take my problems out on you,
you've got enough of your own, but I'm human . . ." Joey snorted, grinning. "Yeah, Yuck it up Wheeler,
but you know I'm right and I am trying."

"Yeah, you are a trying little brat, ain't ya?" Joey grinned even wider as Seto's eyes widened, he
realized Joey had just made a play on words that rivaled his own. Joey constantly proved that he was a
lot smarter that he'd ever given him credit for.

Willow took the opportunity to break the tension, with an eager face she announced lunch. Herding the
two through the door she pointed out that Joey needed a shower and Seto could use one too.

"Kaiba-chan, you're got something on your forehead. It looks like chalk or dust. Why don't you take a
shower too? It'll help you cool off and get your head around eating lunch instead of pushing it around the
plate." She was hoping showering together would help the two bond.

Seto stood under the hot water. Willow's idea of bonding wasn't working well as Seto had installed four
small but adequate bathrooms in the gym. Each room was equipped with everything needed, or should
have been

Joey stuck his head into the room Seto occupied. "Hey! Got any shampoo? I can't find any in here!"
Joey gapped at Seto for a minute and then frowned hard. "Damnit, Seto you keep saying you're fat but
you're nothing but a rack of bones. Your ribs stick out worse than mine. Look!"

Joey was wearing nothing but a towel. He was thin, his ribs showing beneath his skin and his collar
bones and shoulder blades too prominent. But Seto was even thinner. He really looked like he had been
consistently starved for months.

"Seto, you've gotta eat. You shouldn't be so thin. What's the matter with you?" Joey knew why he was
so thin, he'd been missing meals for years, but Seto shouldn't have ever missed a meal.

"I don't have much appetite and I am getting fat. Look." Seto tried to pinch up some fat right at his ‘love
handles there wasn't enough fat there to get a grip on.

Joey handed him a towel to wrap up in, then turned him to look in a full length mirror on the wall. "Close
your eyes." Joey put his hands over Seto's eyes. "Keep your eyes closed a minute." Joey stood next to
Seto. "Open your eyes!" Seto just stared for a minute, now that he had someone to compare himself to
he could see that he was much too thin. He couldn't believe he'd thought he was getting fat. What was
he thinking?

"I don't understand. How could I be so thin? I thought I was getting fat, my clothes . . ." Seto just
stammered to a halt. He didn't know what to think. He'd been listening to executives complain about
their clothes getting too small and how they were getting fat. So when he'd put on a growth spurt he'd
naturally assumed he was getting fat and started eating even less that usual.

"Seto, you got no body consciousness at all. I bet ya started growin' again. Stuff started gettin' too tight
and too short so ya thought ‘I'm gettn fat like some slob behind a desk' " Joey smacked himself in the
head. "Damnit! I'm still mad at ya. You're a giant jerk. I'm hungry. I want my lunch. Come on."

Willow ate in silence and watched as Joey and Mokuba both tried to get Seto to eat. He ate more than
he usually did but it still was a great deal less than he ought. He picked at the roasted game hen, ignored
the pecan stuffing and ate exactly one steamed baby carrot. She knew he needed to eat much more than
that or he was going to start getting sick. How she was going to get him to eat more was beyond her.
This was definitely part of her job, protecting him, even from himself.

"Eat that! Don't just push it around the plate." "Damnit, put that in your mouth and . . . " Willow and
Joey both spoke at once, trying to get Seto to eat more than a few bites of lunch.

"I can't. I'm full now. If I eat too much I'll just get sick. I've done it before, trying to please Mokuba.
Tell them, Mokuba!" Seto appealed to his brother for relief from nagging.

"Yeah, he'll just get sick if he eats too much. I think his stomach has shrunk or something. If he doesn't
stick his finger down his throat, that's all he'll keep down." Mokuba gave Willow a warning look.
"Don't you let him do that." Mokuba turned to Seto. "I mean it Seto. If you don't keep that down. I'm
calling the doctor no matter what you say."

Seto paled, "Mokuba don't do that, you don't know what you're saying. If the Social Services people
get involved even my money and influence might not keep you out of foster care. You don't want to be
taken away from me. Please don't call a doctor. I'll eat better. I promise."

Seto had already had one brush with what he privately thought of as the SS and couldn't handle another.
Not in his current condition. His nerves couldn't stand it. He privately vowed to do anything to keep
Mokuba from calling in a doctor. He didn't like doctors anyway.

"Un . . . Mokuba. You really don't want to wind up in foster care. It really sucks. I got in once and
believe me they don't give a damn . . . at least the ones I had didn't. All they were interested in was the
money. And if they do it the way I think they will. They'll take half of everything Seto has and you'll still
only get the standard payments." Joey bit his lip; Seto really looked like he wanted to be sick.

Seto clamped his hand over his mouth and headed for the bathroom down the hall where he was violently
and thoroughly sick. Willow handed him a wet washcloth and watched as he washed his face and hands.

"Well, I bet you think I'm a real looser. I can't even keep down the little bit of food I can eat." Seto
folded the washcloth neatly concentrating on the task like it was a major business deal. He couldn't look
at Willow, she was so calm and collected, she never felt like she was going to fly apart like an over
stressed cable.

"No, I don't think you're a looser. I think you've been under incredible stress and it's affected your
digestion. You haven't been eating enough so now when you try to eat a normal meal your stomach can't
handle it. Then add in the stress of us nagging you and your body rebels. I'm sorry, I'm supposed to be
protecting you, I don't seem to be doing a very good job" Willow offered Seto her hand pulling him up
gently.


"How the hell can your bosses expect you to protect me from myself. That's ridiculous. I'm responsible
for my own behavior. Come on. We better get back. Mokuba will be frantic . . ." Seto sighed softly, he
didn't know what to do. "I guess I better try to eat something again. But I really don't have much of an
appetite. Especially when I get one of my headaches and I fell one coming on. I need to take an
Oxycontin. Watch Mokuba for me. They knock me preaty much out and that's when he gets into
trouble."

Willow just nodded, if Seto was taking Oxycontin his headaches must be bad. The stuff was so potent
that Americans called it "Hillbilly Heroin"

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Willow got Joey and Mokuba and settled them at the diningroom table. After questioning Mokuba closely
she reached the only conclusion she could with the information she had.

"Seto is in real trouble. I'm not sure exactly what is wrong with his digestion but; he's screwed it up
somehow. If we keep nagging him to eat to much it'll just come back up. We need to get him to eat
small meals more often. Keep him snacking on healthy foods. If we can get him to eat right it'll help a lot,
then we get him used to eating a full meal again. And we've got it made. But no more nagging him at the
table, let him eat what he want's to. Ok/"

Joey had some doubts he had been watching Seto for years and something kept nagging at the back of
his mind. But he agreed for now and Mokuba, with his ulcer in mind was also willing to cut Seto some
slack.
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Seto woke to shouting in the entry way, feeling groggy and very out of sorts to be awakened he walked
into a scene he couldn't believe. Joey's father was there; he had Joey by the wrist and was dragging him
toward the door. Joey looked terrified.

"No! I ain't gonna go with ya. Lemme go!" Joey had dug in his heels and was pulling back as hard as he
could. His father was dragging him by main force.

"You will come with me. I need some money. If Mr. Rich-Boy Kaiba wants to keep ya he can pay up
like anyone else. Come on! When I get ya home, you're gonna regret this." Mr. Jonuchi hauled off and
punched Joey in the stomach. Joey grunted but that was all. He was well feed and healed up he could
take the older man down but he wouldn't.

Willow ran in from somewhere up stairs. She started to draw her sword from its sheath. Seto grabbed
her arm and nearly got his head cut off for his trouble.

"No! Don't interfere unless Joey can't do it himself. He'll never get over his Fathers PD if you help him
now. Joey! Sock him a good one! Come on, man, you can do it!" Seto shouted encouragement to Joey
and poked Willow.

"Huh? . . . Oh! Joey, run him down! Cross hip throw!" Willow and Seto watched as Joey suddenly did
exactly as Willow instructed. He quit pulling back and let his father drag him close then he grabbed him
by one shoulder and dumped him over his shot hip, flat on his face.

"Kick him! Knee drop!" Joey backed up, shaking his head, the look on his face had changed
dramatically. He now looked like a wild, revengeful fury.

"No, I want him up. Get up! I'm gonna punch ya til ya bleed and beg."

Mr. Jonuchi got up and tried to mill Joey down, Joey let him rush in close. But after that it was all Joey's
fight, he looked like a young Adonis as he danced out of the way and ducked behind his up raised guard.
He back peddled just enough to get room to maneuver. When the older man got himself stopped and
turned around to try another rush Joey crammed him crowding in and landing a volley of body blows that
would have made Kelvin Davies proud. A hard right cross to the diaphragm left Mr. Jonuchi doubled
over gasping for breath. Not being the kind to give up easily he dragged himself up right and unbelievably
tried a third rush. Joey popped him right in the face grimacing as fist connected with cheek bone which
split open and started bleeding. A second punch followed, a hard left hook that Joey unloaded from the
bottom of his soul. This punch put the old man out for the count breaking his nose in the process.

"Yay, Joey! You did it man, you got him!" Seto cheered Joey whole heartedly the look on Joey's face
was worth half his fortune.

Willow approached Joey like she would have anyone who had just been in a fight for their life. Very
carefully. "Joey, you good? It's me, Willow. " Joey turned and looked at Willow blankly for a second,
then he sat down so suddenly that she wondered if his father had gotten a shot she'd missed.

"Uh . . . hey, Willow. Yeah, I'm good. I just feel weak in the knees all of a sudden." Joey looked at the
man who'd made his life a hell on earth for the last two years. "He doesn't look so big all of a sudden.
What was I thinking to let him treat me like that? What the hell is wrong with me? Why is he in here?
Where . . . ?" Joey ran down and just sat wiping his eyes as he realized he was crying.

Willow squatted next to him and patted his shoulder, "That PD he had on you is gone. He'll never be able
to hurt you again. Seto was right. I would have helped you but he said not. So I didn't and I'm glad. I've
seen better fights but not lately. Don't cry. You did good." Willow looked at Joey, then just dragged his
father to the front door. "Open that for me will you?" When Joey did so she got hold of the old man's belt
and the back of his shirt and literally threw him out the door into the drive. Joey's eyes got big his father
weighed in at 200 lbs. plus or minus a bit. Willow smirked at him.

Meanwhile Seto was having one of the most viscous temper fits in recent memory. He got the head of
security on his cell, "Come to the entry, I have some questions and your job relies on the answers I get."

Dobbins showed up in record time. He'd seen part of the problem on the security cameras and he was
even madder than Seto.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Kaiba. I don't know why that fool let him in. He's on the persona non grata list in big
letters. I'm gonna fire the lot of them. Everyone on the gate goes and the secondary check point too. I'll
be back to you in ten minutes."

Seto snarled and fumed. "I don't know why I can't get good security. I pay those fools enough. They
ought to do murder for me without a blink. Instead they let anyone wander in and out like my home is
Tokyo Central."

When the security man finally finished his review and reported to Seto he was manic. After talking to
Dobbins for no more than three minutes Seto was nearly foaming at the mouth he was so mad. Usually
Seto was calm and cold this time he was just plain mean. He had the men responsible for letting Joey's
father in sent to his office. What ever he said to the men left them shaking in their tracks. He called Joey
to come in to the office and very politely asked him to take off his shirt.

Take off my shirt? Why? "Joey didn't understand why Seto would want him to do that . His scars were
still pink and Joey was embarased by them.

"I know you don't like people to see you but I want these fools to understand what they almost let
happen to you. They wont believe until they see." Seto looked at Joey for a moment willing him to do
this with his eyes.

Joey stripped off his shirt and turned his back. His back was criss-crossed with scars new and old. One
of the men passed out cold and another had to leave the room quickly. Seto closed his eyes for a moment
feeling slightly sick himself.

"Thank you Joey please put your shirt back on You can leave now."

Joey hung his head, "I wish he could feel like I did just once." He turned to Seto. "I'm going to my room,
by the way thanks for cheering me on I really needed to hear that." He smiled suddenly, "Never thought
I'd say that."

After Seto dismissed the guards Willow whispered in Seto's ear, "I'm going to have that man for a snack,
soon." Seto turned to look into eyes so cold they looked flat. Willow had turned from a slightly odd
bodyguard into the epitome of ruthlessness. She quite frankly made him sweat.

"Don't do something you're going to regret later.' Seto wanted Mr. Jonuchi out of their way more than
anything but not at such a high cost. "He's not with the nightmares you'll have"

"I've killed men with less reason than this. I'm a paid assassin a Hitokiri Batosii I wont have nightmares
about that fool." Willow wheedled like a kid wanting a treat. "Please Seto-kun, let me have him. I won't
get caught and if you really don't want me to I won't kill him. Please . . . please . . . "

Seto gave in with good grace. Only grimacing and saying "Don't make too much of a mess. And if you
do get caught I'm going to take your bail out of your pay."

Willow was shocked, "Bail? You'd come get me out, pay bail?" She had a sudden cold chill. "No one
has ever offered that. Everyone else always says they won't know me."

Seto pinned her with fierce sapphire eyes. "I'll know you. And when I get you back here there'll be hell
to pay. Believe me. Don't get caught."

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Willow found the Jonuchi apartment. It was only a few blocks from her old one. The section of Domino
was more than poor. I was poverty stricken. The streets dirty, in poor repair and dark. Half the buildings
were condemned and the other half should have been.

She slipped in a window and cautiously explored looking for the ‘old man' she didn't have far to look.
She found him on the couch dead to the world, she could have marched in with a brass band and two
elephants and not awakened him. He was surrounded by beer bottles and two pint bottles of cheep
whisky were standing on the sagging coffee table.

"Well, shit. I'll have to tie him up and wait for him to sober up. I wonder how long that's going to take?"
Willow had already prepared her safe house. It was only three blocks away so she decided to carry him
to it and tie him up.

Willow dragged john upright he was an unwieldy load but once in a fireman's carry she could manage
easily.

She carried him through the alleys to the safe house. She wasn't worried about being seen. Because of
the neighborhood she was armed

Instead of Tring to carry her sword which she secretly admitted was too big for her she had her long knife
and several Hibben throwing knives as well as a .50 cal Desert Eagle AE nestled in its holster. It didn't
look like much more that a .45 but the extra .05 cal made a lot of difference. Her thin wrists didn't look
capable of controlling a cannon like that however she rarely missed

In this area her appearance made her invisible, no one would admit seeing her for fear she would come
back and make them regret it.

Once at the safe house she made her preparations.

Naked, John Jonuchi was even less appealing than when clothed.

Where Joey was all flat toned muscle and long clean limbs, slender bodied with thin, delicate hands with
long fingers, quick bright eyes, good skin and glittering golden hair.

His father was the antithesis; stubby fingered, squat bodied with a hairy, flabby body and bleary eyes,
greasy hair, unshaven and quite frankly; he stank.

Willow tied his hands together and bent him over a table, she tied his ankles to the legs and his wrists to a
spike driven into the thick slab of wood that was the top. During all this she was less than gentile but John
showed no signs of waking.

When she was alone Willow had the bad habit of talking to herself ,a product of way too much time spent
alone.

"Well . . . now that I've got him. Disgusting piece of garbage that he is. Even smells like it. Nasty! I'm
hungry. Hey, Johnny, hungry? Didn't think so. I'm going to find food. Don't go anywhere."

Willow found a noodle cart a few blocks away. After examining it and seeing that it was much cleaner
than she would have expected she ordered soba noodles in beef broth. The cart man refused payment,
eyeing her gun with round eyes but willow did have some morals, although not many. One of the things
she wouldn't do was prey on inoffensive people just trying to make a living, unless she was ordered to.

Eating as she went, she walked back to the house. A glance at her watch showed her she had plenty of
time, it was only midnight.

Looking back she realized Seto knew what she was doing, more or less. When she'd made the excuse of
a headache to go upstairs early, he'd made some comment about getting a good nights sleep with a
headache.

So now all she had to do was wait for Johnny-boy to wake up and face his fate. And it was going to be a
nasty one. Every thing he'd ever done to Joey she was going to do to him. She pulled her cold
detachment around her like a well-worn garment. The detachment that allowed her to do the things she
did and even enjoy them

When he finally started to wake up the first thing he did was threaten her. She got close enough for him to
see her and waited until he focused.

"You don't know me. I don't expect you even saw me. I'm a friend of Joeys and I'm gonna go
Torquemada all over you. You tortured Joey for years. I will do to you what you did to him. I'm very
good at what I do so you won't die. You'll just wish you had."

She produced the thin whip she'd bought and started to whip him. He instantly started to scream like a
girl. By the time she was done with him he was begging her to stop, promising her anything she wanted.

"Ok boys he's all yours. You can use him anyway you want, just don't use him up." Willow turned John
over to the waiting crowd of men. "I don't think he gives a very good blow job, maybe you should teach
him how."

She smiled evilly at the ‘door man' who shuddered, a nasty little snicker floated over her shoulder as she
turned away.

She was back at the mansion and in her bed by 4:00 A.M..

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I don't know Joey's fathers name if he even has one so I called him John if you know his ‘real' name let
me know please.