Title: Balance
Author: Jemu
Rating: R (smack on an R for language since I'm not quite sure.)
Pairing(s): SetoJou

Beta: Shinigamigrl07
Spoilers: N/A
Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh and all it's characters; locations; etc. do not belong to me nor do I gain any profit from this.
Summary: A Chaos Mage sweeps into Domino City wrecking havoc through all that he passes. What happens when his Balance is discovered?

A/N: If you are wondering about Maybe Now, yes I do plan on finishing that story. I've hit a writer's block so I'm waiting for the inspiration to hit right about now. I grew bored and let my mind wander. This is the product of its journey. Please review and let me know if this is worth continuing.

A/N: Thank you Shinigamigrl07 for beta'ing this. Um, I better apologize to you now because I kind of added this little Shizuka tidbit after you already read the rest.. so sorry. It just hit me that I should write a little something something.

"In this world; lost in the transitions of time are eight major mages split into two House- Alba and Ater. You have Chaos, War, Hate, and Death- the House of Alba. To those four are their balance; their life line or soul mate as some might say. For Chaos there is Order. For War there is Peace. For Hate there is Love. And for Death there is Life. The House of Ater. Left alone, the House of Alba- the House of White, will create strife upon the world. It is not a case of wanting to find their balance, it is a case of necessity to find their balance. The House of Ater- the House of Black, is what keeps Alba sane and their powers controlled. And as every balance works, the same constraints apply for the House of Ater. Without the House of Alba, they too can and will cause strife upon the world. It is a delicate balancing act; an intricate dance that they alone are privy to. The world; past, present, and future are theirs to play with. Should they chose, the blink of an eye can make or break humanity. You do not know yet, but already so much rests on your shoulders."

-Jounouchi Shizuka

Breakfast Conversations #01

Prologue - Here Enters Jounouchi Katsuya, Number One Nullifier

"The balance is near."

"Wat?"

"Huh? Did I say something?"

"I dunno, did ya?"

"I don't think I did."

"Hmm." Jounouchi Katsuya replied absently. Slender fingers plowed through wispy gold hair moving with a restless energy to settle on narrow hips. Like spun silk, a curtain of gold fell over warm honey brown eyes; eyes that skittered impatiently through the crowded airport pick-up area. Beside him, and perched almost demurely on a large blood red luggage bag, was his one and only little sister, Shizuka. Her own shade of honey brown eyes were hidden behind dark shades, a brighter honey then his. Hair, the shade of a reddish brunette, tumbled down around her waist framing a round baby face. Jounouchi scratched absently at abs covered by a soft cotton t-shirt with the words, Bloody Wanker, scrolled boldly across. America had treated his sister good, he decided. She had gotten a tan and even grown a bit taller. Though she still spoke with a Japanese accent, her English was flawless and fluent. She had grown more confident as a young adult and that made Jou beam with hidden pride. His little sister was the best.

"Jounouchi!" The cry had his head swiveling around instantly. Gold hair flew every which way as he frantically scanned the crowded area.

"Honda-kun!" Shizuka squealed in delight. Jou turned in time to see a tall, slender young teen pick up his litter sister and swing her around. She was giggling madly drawing the attention of passer bys. Her sunglasses remained unmoved. Jou scowled for old times sake and hauled his baby sister away from the teen. Before he could say, or do anything more, he was pulled into an enthusiastic hug.

"Jounouchi! Damn, but you're still a skinny bastard- itai!"

"Don't cuss in front of my sister." Jou snapped with a frown. But it melted away instantly to be replaced with an equally warm smirk. "Ditto, punk. Still racing that piece of junk?" Honda scowled and slugged him on his right shoulder.

"That piece of junk is my babe… after Otogi of course." He quickly added shooting a guilty look at another teen behind him. It was only then that Jou noticed the hovering male. Tall, obviously shorter then Honda with long raven black hair pulled into a pony-tail and deep emerald green eyes. Two dice hung from his ear dangling with the smallest movement of his head. The red and black headband went perfectly with the red vest and black leather pants. Leather, Jou shuddered at the thought of such constriction. Honda reached back and pulled the slender teen forward. "Jounouchi, Shizuka, this is my," A slight pause and Jou noted with barely contained glee, a bright red flush, "boyfriend, Ryuuji Otogi. Otogi, these are my friends, Jounouchi Katsuya and his sister Jounouchi Shizuka." With an easy smirk Otogi dipped into a slight bow.

Jou frowned when Shizuka blushed at the other teen's antics. "Hajime mashite." She murmured shyly.

"Doozo yoroshiku." He replied. A charmer, eh? Well, he could deal. Honda saw his look and bent to whisper something to his boyfriend. Otogi shot him an amused look and purposefully bent closer to Shizuka. Jou growled and started to push up his sleeves, his hands forming fists. The 'Dice Dude', as Jou had dubbed him, pulled back with a soft chuckle and slung an arm casually around Honda. Athough casual it was very possessive. "You don't need to worry about me coming on to Shizuka-san, Jounouchi-kun. I very much love my Hiroto." Jounouchi could not help but flush slightly in indignation. Shizuka placed her small hand over his arm.

"Lighten up, brother. He was just playing around." She giggled. "Besides, it was charming and you never let any guys hang around me." She said with a pout.

"That's because y'er my baby sister, y'er-"

"Beautiful and people are going to want to take advantage of me. Yes, yes, I know." She finished with a roll of her eyes. He nodded but the warm smirk was back and he quickly gave the place a once over.

"Shall we go?" He suggested shouldering a back pack and changing the subject.

"Oh, yeah!" Honda scrambled to help Shizuka with her luggage leaving Jou to eye 'dice boy' warily.

"So how long've you and Honda been together?" He asked keeping an eye on a joking Honda and Shizuka. They were engaged in an intense battle of words, a game often played as children, to see who could beat the other in longest words. Honda while still playing with Shizuka, absently lead them away; they were both ahead a few feet leaving Jou behind with Ryuuji.

"Hmm… about a year and a half." The other replied. Jounouchi noticed the way he eyed Honda's rear and chuckled mentally. "Before you ask, I met him at a motorcycle convention." Jou nodded absently. He was internally debating on whether he should have 'the talk' with Ryuuji or if he should lay off embarrassing his friend, Honda. Meh, he shrugged the thought off. Honda could take care of himself. Jou had a sudden thought.

"Yo, Honda! You still live in that hell house?" He called. A woman shot him a glare and he smirked at her when he heard the toddler next to her repeat that word. Honda flushed bright red and mumbled something that had Shizuka beaming with joy.

"No, he lives with me." Ryuuji replied coolly. Jounouchi raised an eyebrow, oooh, is that so? "Is your sister okay?"

"Yea, why do you ask?" Jou asked a little bit sharply. He eyed the other teen carefully. There was something… something off about the youth that prickled at Jou's other senses. "It's kind of strange for her to be wearing sunglasses when it's raining outside."

"Shizuka has sensitive eyes." What an understatement. "So she has to keep the glasses on all the time." He replied. Ryuuji pursed his lips thoughtfully. Jounouchi slid a sidelong glance at the other teen before shrugging and hurrying his steps to catch up with his sister.

"How long are you staying this time, Jounouchi?" Honda asked when he caught up. Shizuka laughed and Jou chuckled.

"I didn't tell ya? I'm here to stay, man. We're living here now. My old man's got a job in town so me'n'Shizuka'll be going to school with ya too." Jou replied smirking when Honda laughed in delight. Ryuuji shot Jou a glare but otherwise did not stop his conversation with Shizuka. They left the building entering an underground parking lot lit in pale florescent lights. "Dude, you didn't tell me ya owned a jeep." Jou commented when Honda stopped at the back of a black jeep. Honda shrugged carefully loading in Shizuka's luggage.

"Nah, this isn't mine. It's Otogi's." He replied.

"What's mine?"

"The jeep." Honda said. And now that he mentioned it, Jou could see all the dice accessories inside. The dangling stuffed dice hanging from the rearview mirror. A sticker of two dice on the back windows. The 'DD' on his license plate.

"Does your boyfriend have a dice fetish or something?" Jou whispered to Honda. Honda laughed.

"No, he's the creator of Dungeon Dice." He replied. Jou chuckled and shook his head but didn't comment. He climbed into the car after Shizuka and watched Honda settle in next to Ryuuji. They were whispering softly back and forth and Jou momentarily experienced a flash of jealousy for their shared intimacy. But then Honda turned around and he could not begrudge is best friend true happiness. In those dark eyes, he saw an inner light that glowed coming only from fierce internal joy. "So where to?"

"The old Minamoto house," Shizuka replied cheerfully. "I really missed this place. America is just so… different."

"Will you miss it?"

"Yeah, I'll miss it." Honda nodded sympathetically. He suddenly laughed.

"You'll have guys dancing around you in no time." He said. Jou mentally growled at the thought. "If you want I can introduce you to Anzu. She's a cheerleader so she knows every one pretty well."

"Hey, if you want, I'll even introduce you to some of the guys I know-"

"I don't think so." Jou instantly cut in. His glare was icy when it landed on Otogi. "No guys for my baby sister." He added patting Shizuka's arm. She scowled at him her brows dipping at the front to disappear under the black lenses.

"I'm not a baby, Katsuya!" She protested. He beamed proudly at her.

"Of course y'er not, 'Zuka-chan." He replied. "It's just that-"

"I'm your baby sister and I'm beautiful and every one wants to take advantage of me." She finished with roll of the eyes. Up in the front Honda and Otogi started laughing.

School the next day -

There was this small boy. He sat alone, ate alone, played alone; around his neck hung this large pyramid shaped pendent. At the oddest times, Jounouchi would find himself watching the boy from the corners of his eyes. His name was Yugi Mouto. Small in stature, round baby face, long spiky black hair with bleached bangs, and the largest saddest amethyst eyes that Jou had ever seen. And then there were the whispers; freak, crazy, bizarre, weirdo. Jounouchi quickly shook off his nostalgia and cursed as he danced out of reach.

His lips twisted in a silent snarl. Bullies, he hated them. And hey, just because he had been one in his middle school years meant nothing. The past was the past… but that did not mean that he tolerated this kind of abuse these days. "You think you're all that 'cause your from America? We'll you can just go back then, freak." The other taunted. Jounouchi hissed and lashed out smashing his fast into the other's face. With a satisfying crunch, the other teen's eyes rolled back and he collapsed. Jounouchi spat on the comatose form.

"Fucking racist bastard. Can't get away from them anywhere," Jou muttered in disgust. He skirted the form and headed for the boy's bathroom near the tennis court. Now his knuckles were bloody and a bit torn, definitely sore. "For such a skinny little bastard, that shit-head had a pretty hard head," Jou muttered absently. He shoved the door open not even wincing at the resulting bang as the door rebounded off the opposite wall.

The cold water helped numb the pain some and washed away all the dirt and blood. He studied himself critically in the mirror and realized he had come a long way from the street punk. Physically Jou supposed he had not changed much. Same volumized gold hair, slightly narrow yellow-ish brown eyes and his father's pale complexion. He snorted at the image. What a bunch of bullshit, his father. Fucking hypocrite. He was happy to have Shizuka out of that hell-hole and only hoped his mother faired better.

Jou twisted the tap water off and swiped at his sweaty face with the hem of the blue uniform jacket. It was only when the facet had switched off that he heard it. Someone was in the bathroom softly sobbing their heart out. Jou stiffened indecisive if he should see what the problem was. And then he heard Shizuka's voice chastising him and winced. 'Fuck his image. Urge, he was becoming such a softie!' Jou inched along reluctantly. "Moshi moshi?" He called softly. No answer; the sobbing continued. Jou grimaced in distaste as he bent to peer under the stalls. Nothing. He followed the sound to the last stall and tentatively knocked. "Um, hey… are you okay?" No answer but the sobbing had suddenly cut off. There was a soft shuffle and a quiet click before the door swung open slightly and large purple eyes stared up at him. They were big, sad, watery, and utterly broken within the round pale baby face. "Uh… hey there, Mo-Mouto-kun. Are you okay? Of course y'er not." Jou quickly answered reprimanding himself for asking such a stupid question. To his horror, the large purple eyes grew more watery as tears spilled over running down in little rivulets. "Oh no! I'm sorry! Is there anything I can- yaaah!" He gave a startled shout when the stall door banged open and the small boy launched himself at Jou. Short arms snaked around his neck and latched on while tears rapidly soaked into his collar as the shorter teen loudly sobbed his heart out. "O-o-okaaaay." Jou exhaled shakily. He awkwardly patted the teen on his back sitting down with his legs crossed. The smaller teen instantly adjusted to cuddle into him wiggling into his lap.

Remembering when he had to comfort Shizuka, Jou made embarrassed soothing sounds while awkwardly patting the small teen's back. Eventually the body shaking sobs died down into pathetic sounding whimpers and sniffles. Jou patted the soft black spikes (must be natural or something) whispering random comforting words. Finally Mouto-kun pulled away and swiped clumsily at his eyes with tiny fists. "I'm sorry." Came the soft watery apology. And then suddenly he blinked and stiffened. "They're… they're gone!" He exclaimed.

"Eh? What's gone?" Jou echoed in confusion. Short stuff here was sure bipolar. The smaller teen pulled all the way away and did a little dance laughing in joy.

"They're gone!" He cried. He swung back, once watery amethyst eyes were now royal purple with elation. "Thank you! I don't know who you are but thank you!" Jounouchi snagged Mouto's arm when the teen looked like he was actually going to dance away. Talk about weird.

"Um, what exactly are gone?"

"The voices! They're all gone!"

"The voices?" Jou echoed skeptically.

"Yea! The voices that-" The other boy cut himself off when Jou's tone of voice registered and he lowered his eyes. Though it was not before Jou caught a glimpse of the crestfallen expression. "Never mind. It's nothing. Thank you." Mouto-kun whispered. Jou shook his head.

"Nuh uh. Spill, Short Stuff." When Mouto-kun continued to look like a mix between a frightened rabbit and a gaping fish, Jou softened slightly. "I ain't gonna laugh at you, 'kay, Mouto-kun? I promise… And besides, there are worst things in life then hearing voices." No response. "Come on, trust me, 'kay?" Jou did not quite understand why he was being so persistent but he felt as if he just had to know.

Mouto-kun's chin lowered until it was practically resting on his small chest. "I… I hear voices." Came the almost silently whispered reply. "They… talk all the time, everywhere and anywhere." He mumbled. A flash of purple as Yugi quickly searched Jou's eyes for any hint that he was playing around or if he really wanted to know. "Do you believe in ghosts….." Mouto-kun floundered and bit his lower lip. "I'm sorry. I didn't catch your name."

"Jounouchi Katsuya, and yes I do believe in ghosts." He replied seriously. Enormous tears welled up and the smaller boy flung himself at Jou again.

"I see them! They won't leave me alone!" He wailed. "D-do you believe me? Please, do you believe me?" Jounouchi patted him absently on the back.

"Ya, actually I do believe you." Mouto-kun pulled back and searched Jou's eyes. When he saw that Jou was very serious he once again fell into body wrenching sobs. Jou distracted himself with trying to get the boy to stop. At the very least, the bleak despair within the small teen's eyes had vanished.

"Yugi? Are you in here?" Jou shifted slightly to peer past Mouto-kun's shoulder. He had not heard the bathroom door open and it worried him slightly that any one could have come in and he would not have known. "Yugi?" Came the timid call again and suddenly, a head popped into view from where a stall door had been blocking. Shaggy white hair fell in uneven waves in front of another round baby face. Round brown eyes blinked at them before a pale hand pushed aside the stall door revealing a short angular teen. Jounouchi had never seen this kid around. "Yu…gi?"

A soft sniffle and a few pats passed before Mouto-kun lifted his head and peered blearily up at the new teen. "Ryou?" The other teen gave a muffled sob and launched himself at Mouto-kun. Jounouchi gave an soft oomph of exhaled air when the impact landed both him and Mouto-kun hard into his lap. They were clutching at each other, sobbing and whispering softly. Jou leaned back and stared at the ceiling.

This must be his day or something. He had not only one but two crying teens in his lap. Oh joy. Oh wondrous joy. Some one must be laughing their head off in the heavens. Two complete strangers wailing on his shoulders. Jou did not bother them though. He just let them curl up on his lap and cuddle and touch each other in reassurance. Wow. Life was weird, Jou decided with a nod. His life here was definitely stranger then the one in America. He had had to deal with Shizuka's prophesizing and all that strange stuff, so ghosts… he could deal with that. Ghosts were just one step away from Shizuka's 'breakfast prophecies'. Right? Weren't they? He frowned. Maybe they weren't. Maybe they were more like his mom's witchcraft. You know, no, not the whole 'boil boil bubble' thing, and not even the 'Harry Potter' kind too. Nope it was the symbols, the herbs, the curses, and blessings; just the simple stuff. He'd always watched his mom, but for some reason, she'd always just smile at him and made sure he never touched anything. He'd never done anything as cool and scary as making spells or Shizuka telling the future at breakfast.

Jou shifted and realized that his legs were asleep. Not only that, but the two crying teens were also asleep in his lap. "Oh great…." He groaned. "First day of school and I already have a lapful of trouble." When he realized what he'd said, Jou groaned again. "Bad time fer a pun." He grumbled. Jou tried to discreetly shift his legs but grimaced when pins and needles swept up the length of them. He cursed and slouched back into the wall. The two bodies in his lap rearranged themselves into a comfortable curl and Jou went back to staring at the ceiling.

His life was just fucking great. From America to Japan. From one fucked up place to another. He'd just bet that the school year was going to be any thing but boring.