Bakura:  *Makes a run for Soltic's jar of cookies*

Yami:  *tackles Bakura*  Mine!!

Yugi and Ryou:  *both sweatdrop*

Angel:  STOP!!!!!!!!!!

Min'na:  ??

Angel:  Youko Duet got cookies for everyone!!!

Min'na:  YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  *all munch on cookies*

Angel:  *sweatdrops*

Ryou:  Mmmm... this is so goo—ACKKK!!!!!!!!!

Min'na:  RYOU!!

Bakura:  A JELLY BELLY CRATE!!

Angel:  Calm down Bakura-kun... I'm sure Ryou is fine—

Bakura:  *drools*  jelly bellies........................

Min'na:  *sweatdrops*

Angel:  *smiles innocently*

Ryuu:  Angel-chan...?  What are you hiding behind your back...?

Angel:  Nothing!

Ryuu:  *tackles Angel*  Hey!  Those are cookies!!

Angel:  *pouts*  Sapphirerose gave them to us.....

Min'na:  cookies!????

Angel:  *screams and runs into her soul room*

Min'na:  *forces her door open and their eyes bug out*

Ryuu:  Angel... where...?

Angel:  *smiles sheepishly*  Umm... oh... well.... COME ON!  You KNOW pixie sticks are my favorite!!  And Bakura and Malik are too messy with the cupcakes!

Malik:  I resent that!!

Ryou:  you hid the cookies.........?

Angel:  Awww... come on Ryou..... OH!!  *hands Ryou a teddy bear*  Here!!

Ryou:  *takes it*  KAWAII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fangirls:  KAWAII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ryou:  *blushes*

Fangirls: AWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Angel:  *sweatdrops*  Well... if everyone is finished.... GET OUT SO I CAN WRITE!!!!!!!

Malik:  *grumbles*  I better be in this chapter.....

Marik:  Me too....

Ryou:  Me four!

Yami:  *grumbles*  You're ALWAYS in it Ryou...

Bakura:  Someone jealous, Pharaoh?

Yami:  *growls*

Angel:  SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yugi:  Angel does not own YuGiOh....

Angel:  OKAY!!  Look!  TOO many people are sending us presents, so unless they are NOT food, I am throwing it in that big room labeled "treats for cast members."  If it is a plushie, I will joyfully deliver it by hand!  ^ . ^  *gives all her reviewers kawaii little YuGiOh plushie sets*

*cast all run into the treat room*

P.S.- Italics are people's thoughts, but italics with quotations are Jou's puppy speech.

Chapter 4 ~ Return to Juusenkyo and Escape from the Doghouse

                "Who did this...?"

                Seto tried his best to not jump to conclusions, but he felt deep in the pit of his stomach that he already knew...

                Jou shook his head.  He knew very well what his father would do if he told... He'd never live to see the end of it.  "S... Seto...  I can't..."

                Seto grabbed him more firmly by his shoulders and shook him slightly, "Jou, please!"  Seeing that his approach was only frightening Jou, he started over, "Look... Jou... No one will hurt you, okay?  I won't let them.  If anything, the person may hurt other people besides you.  They need to be brought to the police so they can't hurt anyone again."

                Jou whimpered, "No... you don't understand...  He'll escape..."

                He, Seto thought bitterly.  I should have known...

                "Jou... was it your father...?"

                Jou was silent for a moment, then shook his head, his voice quivering, "N-no..."

                Seto pressed his forehead against Jou's, looking into those chocolate-colored eyes, "Jou... please don't lie to me..."

                Jou tried not to look into those eyes.  It was like they could pry the truth from him, along with his emotions...  But, regardless of the recent events, Seto was Seto, and he didn't need to trust him.  Yet...

                Seto closed his eyes, his forehead still against Jou's, "Jou...  I know what it is like... You don't have to be alone..."

                Jou looked at him with surprise.

                Seto held back his own emotions, "I know what its like.  I lived through it.  I am free now...  Let me do the same for you..."

                Jou cursed those eyes.  Blue Eyes White Dragon... How fitting...  Such a deep cerulean you could sink in them...

                Jou finally broke... Damn it... damn it all....

                "Yes..."  Jou whispered brokenly as he cried into Seto's shirt. 

                "Yes, it was my father..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                Mokuba smiled and looked around.  Well, he didn't exactly lie to Seto.  He DID go into the mountains.  He just neglected to mention where those mountains were.

                Mokuba walked over to Kairi, who was talking to the guide.  After some convincing on both parts, they got the guide to lead them where they needed to go.

                "Thanks for helping, Kairi," Mokuba chirped as they carefully dunked their vials down into the water before them.

                Kairi smiled, "No problem.  Playing matchmaker is fun!  But I can't believe you used the wrong water!"

                Mokuba nodded sheepishly, "Yeah, and they're out of the instant spring we need..."

                Kairi giggled, "How long you think the guide is going to stand here telling us about "The Spring of Drowned Man"?"

                Mokuba shrugged, "Until his batteries run out."

                Kairi giggled, Mokuba joining in and laughing too as they got the spring water to fix Jou.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                Malik answered the door and looked slightly flustered, "What do you want, squirt?"

                Mokuba fidgeted a bit, "Um... I needed help on a potion... It's an Egyptian one... so I thought you... and Marik... could... help...?"

                Malik raised an eyebrow, "I helped you FIND the book in the first place.  What's in it for us this time?"

                Mokuba grinned, "Same as before... My brother IS rich... Plus a picture of Yami in a dress."

                Malik stood aside and bowed as Mokuba walked in, "After you!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                "Malik!  That isn't supposed to go in yet!!"

                "Mokuba!!  The water is boiling over!!"

                "Marik!!  HELP!!"

                "Ra help us...."

                "I think we're done!!"

                "WHAT!!?"

                "WHAT!!?"

                Malik, Marik (the Yami), and Mokuba stood proudly over their achievement.  Sure, they screwed it up a bazillion times, but they had it for sure now!  Mokuba gave them a check in an envelope and skipped off happily to the rest of his vacation.

                Malik and Marik sighed when he was gone.

                "Cute kid," muttered Marik, "Now I remember why I never had one."

                Malik shrugged as he opened the envelope, "Kids will be kids.  Especially—"

                Marik looked to him, "Especially what?"

                Malik didn't answer, because after a slightly long stare at the amount on the check, he promptly fainted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                Seto rubbed a hand over Jou's back soothingly, "Shh... It's okay..."

                Jou growled, feeling vulnerable at the moment.  Why couldn't he have just kept quiet.  But no matter how much he ordered his body to move, push him away, anything, it refused to listen.

                Seto sighed and held Jou at arms length, looking into his eyes again, "Jou.  You are welcome to stay here as long as you'd like.  As a matter of fact, I don't want you going back near that man again."

                Jou look to him, "But what about my stuff at home.  My clothes, my wallet, my deck..."

                Seto bit his lip, "We'll go get it from your house."

                "No!" Jou shouted.  He shook his head, "I will go on my own.  I know when my dad is out of the house.  I can go then.  But you coming with me may cause suspicion, ya know?  Ain't everyday we have someone well known like you in our neighborhood.  Someone might tell my dad they know who I'm with..."

                Seto sighed, "Okay, understood, but I am waiting for you right outside your neighborhood..."

                Jou nodded hesitantly, "Okay..."

                Seto ran a hand over his cheek, "You'll be okay now."

                Jou blushed.  What was Seto doing?

                Seto saw the blush and recoiled his hand, standing up, and promptly walking out of the room, "Be ready to leave in an hour..."

                Seto walked to his office and plopped down in his desk chair, running a hand through his hair, "What the hell was I doing?"

                Jou sat dumbfounded on Seto's bed.  His hand absently went up to his cheek.  What was Seto Kaiba smoking?  Jou shook his head.  Okay, so Set—Kaiba was good looking.  I mean, he cared about Mokuba, so he must have a heart somewhere.  And those eyes... that body...

                OKAY, THAT'S IT!! Jou thought, I need a shower.  A cold shower...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                "I dunno Kairi..." Mokuba muttered, "I think we should get this potion to Jou before more shit happens." (Angel:  OMG!!  Mokuba cursed!!  AHHHH!!!)

                Kairi waved her hand dismissively, "What is the worst that can happen?"

                Mokuba chuckled nervously, "Well, uh... there is more to that curse than I mentioned before..."

                Kairi blinked, "Like what..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                YIPE! YIPE! YIPE!

                Seto ran for the bathroom from his office, and came face-to-face with... koinu-Jou!

                "How the heck did this happen??"  Seto blurted out.

                Jou gave Seto a look that clearly said "You're a Moron." "The hell should I know??"

                Seto crossed his arms, "Well, you should know, you're the one who is a dog!!"

                There was a lingering silence, then Seto screamed...

                "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

                "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

                "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

                "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

                Seto, during this screaming, had gracelessly fallen on his ass and backed up against the bathroom door, while Jou backed into a wall, making a bunch of bath towels fall unceremoniously onto his body and head, covering him completely.

                "Yipe!  It's dark under here!  How do I get out?"

                Seto stared at the towels several more minutes, then crawled over to Jou (Angel:  Seto is crawling...?  *subtly moves behind him to get a clear view of his rear*  ^ . ^;), and removed the towels.

                Jou glared.  "Took you long enough."

                Seto glared right back, "At least I took them off at all, mutt!  Now... uhh.... how is it I can hear you...?"

                Jou scratched at his chin with his back leg nonchalantly.  "I dunno.  Maybe it's some freaky side effect of whatever made me a dog in the first place.  Or maybe you're turning into a dog, too..."

(A/N:  Angel:  Who wants to see an Inu Seto?  I know I do...  Maybe I'll put it in the fic... Depends on what you all say in the reviews...)

                Seto shook his head, "There is no way in hell I am going to look like THAT!!"

                Jou gave him authentic puppy eyes.  "Awww, and I thought you thought I was cute like this!"

                Seto cringed.  He has that down better than Mokuba!!

                Jou cocked his head to the side just for effect.  "You don't think I'm cute?"  He even whimpered to make it worse.

                Seto, without thinking, responded, "Well, you are cute..."  He suddenly blushed and stuttered, "A-As a dog!"

                Jou grinned.  Seto Kaiba...blushing...?  Hehhehheh.... "Aww... you're so sweet, Seto-chan."

                Seto growled.  He hated being called Seto-chan.  Mokuba did that to annoy him, "Just get yourself fixed... I mean fix this mess... err... be human again!!"

                Jou whimpered.  "But I don't know how!!"

                Seto rolled his eyes, "How did you become a dog in the first place?"

                Jou looked around innocently.  "I was taking a shower.  A cold shower.  Wait!  Damn!  Don't I have an inner monologue anymore??"

                Seto rolled his eyes, "You just didn't guard yourself well enough.  Anyway, well, you turned into a human when I put you in warm water, and back to a dog in cold.  Wait a minute!!  This sounds like one of those Chinese cursed springs!  What were they called...?  Anyway, take a warm shower, and get ready, we leave in 30 minutes."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                Seto made a signal to stop the limo driver, then turned to Jou, "You think this is safe?"

                Jou shook his head, "My dad should be at work.  I'll be back in 10 minutes, you can time me."

                Seto nodded and sat back, "Hurry up."

                Jou nodded and got out of the limo, walking towards his house.  He slipped his key into the keyhole and made his way in.  He had just walked into his room, when he felt heavy breathing on his neck.  Heavy breathing that reeked of alcohol.

                "Welcome home."

                Jou felt a sharp pain in the back of his head as a beer bottle was broken across it, sending him sprawling to his floor.

                "D-Dad!  Why aren't you at work??"

                His father advanced menacingly on him, grinning maniacally, "I got fired..."

                "N-No... No!"

                "SETO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

--------------------------

Angel:  *Hides as everyone attacks her*  I'm sorry!!!

Malik:  What the hell was that!?

Ryou:  Why wasn't I in this chapter?

Yami:  Why haven't I been in this story??

Bakura:  *munching on a cookie*  Nice cliffhanger...

Everyone but Angel:  BAKURA!!!!!!!!!

Yuugi:  *also munching on a cookie*  Angel loves us all...

Fangirls:  KAWAII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yuugi:  *blushes*

Angel:  *sweatdrops*

Ryou:  R&R!

Fangirls:  KAW—

Angel:  *shoots the fangirls the evil-look-from-hell*