Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! R and Yu-Gi-Oh! GX belong to Kazuki Takahashti, Shounen Jump, Toei Animation Co., Ltd. Reg. All recognisable characters belong to their respective owners, I am using them without permission for no other intention other than my own amusement and certainly not making any money off of it.

Title: Guard Dog
Author: Icka! M. Chif
Date Started: 8 July 2003
Word Count: 149,000 as of 4 Sept 2007
This Post: 5,200
Author Notes: Since we're re-editing the fic and filling in scenes, figured we may as well post it here too. Art and more can be found on our site, mischif dot net. Watch for falling crossovers.
Many many thanks to those who pointed out errors and corrections! They've been fixed!

(About 3 years post Battle City.)

"Congratulations, Mokuba." Kaiba Seto looked over the rims of his computer glasses to look at his embarrassed looking younger brother. "You have broken your previous record of scaring away bodyguards within a weeks time."

"S'not my fault." Mokuba mumbled, crossing his arms and not-quite sulking in a way that only someone on the grasp of being a teenager can.

"And what was wrong with this last one?" Seto's tone bordered the line between annoyed and exasperated, but still held an undercurrent of fondness for his mischievous younger sibling.

"He wouldn't let me go anywhere!" Mokuba exclaimed. "He said it was too 'potentially hazardous' for me to go out and play with other gamers, but he wouldn't let anyone come in and game with me, and he didn't know anything about Duel Monsters!" The last was spat out like it was the most inconceivable thing in the world.

"Uh-huh." Seto sat back in his chair. "And what was wrong with the one that -did- play Duel Monsters?"

"He treated me like I was some baby!" The long dark haired boy grumbled. "And he tried to put me in footie pyjamas. FOOTIE PYJAMAS!!"

"The horror." The sarcasm was so thick you could cut it with a spoon.

"I'm NOT a little kid anymore, 'Niisama." Blue-grey eyes glared at claer blue ones. At fourteen and a half, Mokuba was rapidly catching up to his brother's reputation in the industry. While he may not have shown the same interest in business, he had long surpassed Seto in information gathering and more recently in programming. The two often teamed up on projects for Kaiba Corporation, Seto building the hardware while Mokuba created the software.

"I'm well aware of that." His brother assured him. "But I am also aware of the fact that members of Kaiba Corporation Security would rather swim in a tank of hungry sharks than to guard you for an hour. In fact, I've gotten several offers to personally go and watch as they hang a piece of raw meat around their necks and jump into the water."

Mokuba's face darkened slightly at that. "They're all lame." He muttered, clenching a fist.

"They're also necessary."

"Feh."

Seto sighed, sliding off his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose. The threat and risk of the younger brother being held hostage in exchange for money or power over Kaiba Corporation had greatly reduced within the past few years. He was practically subdued around his assigned bodyguards in comparison to what he had done to the past several attempted kidnappers.

They'd actually made money twice, the would-be ransomers paying -him- to take the youngest Kaiba back.

But the risk of extortion was still present, no matter what reputation for wildness Mokuba may have had. Hence, the need for bodyguards. Or more specifically, backup.

"You've got that look again." Seto slid the glasses back on his face, peering over the rims again to raise an eyebrow at his brother, who had a glint in his stormy eyes. "What have you got on your mind?"

A small smirk curled up in the corner of the younger boy's mouth. "A proposition for you."

"A proposition?" While it wasn't un-heard of for Mokuba to propose a 'business deal' between the two of them, it wasn't common either. "What sort of proposition?"

Gone was the surliness as Mokuba bounced towards the desk. "It's like this, see? I don't need a full fleet of bodyguards, I'm safe enough at school, at home and here-"

"-Except for the occasional turncoat." Seto pointed out. While his screening procedures were strict and most of his employees were loyal, there were the few rare dissenters. Corporate espionage at its best.

Mokuba nodded, taking it in stride. "And that, I just really need one in transit from home to school, or to here. And when I go out to play-" There was a strong emphasis on his 'going out to play'. There had been a few fights about Mokuba not spending all of his time at Kaiba Corporation, that he should go out and spend time playing with children of his own age as well. After all, Seto's goal in taking over Kaiba Corporation in the first place was to allow Mokuba a normal childhood.

... Or at least as normal of a childhood as one could get while being a Kaiba...

"-So therefore, I'm thinking all I need is one bodyguard, who doesn't look and act like an android and scare everyone away. Someone that has experience with kids and Duel Monsters and will test out our latest improvements on the Duelling Systems and isn't afraid of helicopters and travelling like that one stupid one. And most of all, is willing to have FUN."

Seto leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk and intertwining his fingers together. "Sounds like you already have someone in mind."

He got a not-quite innocent smile in response.

"All right." He sighed, knowing this was a losing battle before it even started. "But they have to pass my standards first, otherwise it's back to Kaiba Security Officers for you. And I don't want to hear about any problems."

"Understood, 'Niisama!" Mokuba shot him a cheeky salute, a broad grin on his face. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome." He smiled back, the small curving of his lips a fond expression for his younger brother alone. People may have viewed him as a dragon, cold sleek and cunning, but those same people often failed to look past his brother's innocent appearance to realise that Mokuba was a dragon as well. Granted, a dragon kit still, slowly testing and growing into his wings, but already a force to be reckoned with.

Mokuba dashed around the desk to give Seto a quick hug, despite the fact that he often claimed to be too old for such displays of affection. He returned it, messing up the long black strands as he did so. Mokuba shot him a mock-glare for his troubles, smoothing out his hair with affronted dignity before smiling at him in a silent laugh. With one last wave, he trotted out the door, closing it behind him. "Later, 'Niisama!"

"Don't get into too much trouble!" He shouted back, knowing it wouldn't do any good. It was like his brother had changed dramatically and hadn't changed at all in his mind's eye. He was, and probably always would be, the snot-nosed brat he had been when they were younger. And yet at the same time, he was growing up.

He spared a moment to marvel at the changes in both of them since their parents had passed away before reluctantly shaking his head and returning to work.

"You're joking."

Mokuba crossed his arms, a stubborn look on his face. "Nope."

"Hey!" The person underneath Seto's knee wiggled in a futile attempt to break free. "What the hell is goin' on?!"

He ignored the person. "Him?!"

"Yes."

"Get off me!"

"Why?"

Mokuba began to count the points off on his fingers. "He's got fighting skills, we already know we can trust him, he likes us-" Both he and the other man trapped under Seto made a muffled sound of protest in the back of their throats "-and he's proved in the past to be a reliable protector."

"He's brainless."

"It's not nice ta talk about others when they CAN HEAR YOU!" The other man snapped, attempting to hit him. Seto shifted his grip, immobilising the person further.

"He's stubborn and refuses to give up, AND he's the number three duellist in the rankings, right after you and Yuugi." Mokuba crossed his arms. "Plus he's got street smarts, which is something none of the rest of those lame-brains have."

Seto looked around at the fallen still groaning bodyguards around them. Mokuba had a point. A very good one at that.

"What's goin' ON?!" The other boy spat, trying to futilely jerk his arms free.

"He'll need additional training." Seto pointed out, mentally reviewing the fight scene he'd walked into, leading to their current position. At the time he'd thought he had walked into another attempted kidnapping, which he had. But instead of the sweatshirt hooded ruffian attempting to beat his men to kidnap Mokuba, said ruffian had been preventing the kidnapping at the hands of his supposedly trusted 'security guards'. "I took him down easily."

"Fighting multiple people at once is a different skill than fighting one on one." Mokuba countered. "And I never said he was -perfect-, just that I think he's the perfect person for the job."

"Leggo already!"

Seto debated for a moment while the teen beneath him continued to futilely struggle. Personal opinions aside, it most likely was the best solution around. Things certainly couldn't continue as they were.

Personal opinions aside...

"Three months training, I approve afterwards." He said.

Mokuba nodded, accepting his terms. "Takes both of us to fire him." That way neither could accuse the other of getting rid of him in a bout of anger.

"Oi! Don't make me kick your butt!"

"Agreed. But until he's on, you behave for the normal guards."

Grey eyes narrowed at that, but his brother nodded. "Anything else, 'Niisama?"

"Hellooooo-?"

"We can decide later, if he passes."

"He will." Mokuba appeared confidant. Seto nodded curtly and released the lanky limbed man beneath him, rising quickly and stepping out of the way.

Mokuba moved forward, a hand extended to help him up as he smiled. "Sorry about that."

"What the hell is goin' on?!" The other boy growled, brushing himself off.

"Well..." His brother's grin grew wider. "How'd you like to work for me, Jounouchi-kun?" He asked innocently.

The Mutt just stared.

When the Jerk-Faced Kaiba had told Jounouchi that he was going to be sent off for three months for training, Jounouchi had expected someplace far away, deep in the mountains, being trained by some prune-faced old geezer and sitting under freezing waterfalls for hours at a time.

He was not expecting to be sent to what amounted to a top secret high-tech airforce base and trained by someone younger than him.

Who could still kick his butt. Without breaking a sweat. While the rest of Sensei's team cheered him on. And then, after having gleefully explained where Jounouchi messed up, they would kick his butt. And occasionally he'd kick theirs. It was painful going, but the gap between their skills and his was slowly shrinking.

Although it was the other lessons that were starting to kind of worry Jounouchi. Okay, so he could kind of maybe possibly in a very remote sort of way picture how learning the tactics of Guerrilla warfare might come in handy, considering the weirdness that they all got up to. And the improvised explosives were just damn cool.

But this latest one...

"It's a gun." Jounouchi stared at the piece of sculpted metal in his hands.

"A Glock 26." Sagara-sensei deadpanned. "Yes."

One of Jounouchi's eyebrows rose. "Kaiba -hates- guns."

"All the more reason for you to learn if he will not pick them to defend himself or his brother." Sagara Sousuke was not much of one for what could be considered 'earth logic'.

Jounouchi thought about it for a minute, then thought about the old favours Kaiba must have had to cash in on from before Kaiba Corporation was a children's toy manufacturer. He then glanced up at the heavy mecha machinery around them that he was pretty sure that he didn't have the clearance to look at, much less touch.

"Am I going to have to learn how to use those too?"

The chimes on the front door of the Kame Game shop rang, signalling the arrival of another customer. "Irrasshai!" Yuugi called, not looking up from the poster he was attempting to put on the wall.

Years had come and years had gone, his Other Self had passed on to the other world, friends stayed and left and he had finally accepted the fact that he was never going to be much taller than 'Jiichan.

"Tadaima." A familiar voice called back, causing him to pause.

"I'm home-?" He echoed turning around to see who was at the door, thus causing the poster to fall over, draping across his head and temporarily obscuring his vision. He grappled with it, attempting to pull it off his head, muttering obscenities to the people who created such paper menaces.

The obstacle was removed by a familiar and long missed grinning face. "Yo!"

"Jounouchi-kun!!" He smiled back in delight. Jounouchi was back! Poster forgotten, he flung his arms around his friend's waist holding on to him tightly. It had been ages since he'd seen his friend!

"Whoa, Yuugi, gimme a second here." His taller friend laughed, reaching up and fastening the thrice-cursed poster to the wall, slightly hampered by the fact that Yuugi refused to let go. Jounouchi laughed, then wrapped one arm around him and rubbed the knuckles of his other hand into Yuugi's spiking locks as they play-wrestled like they were still in High School.

"You've gotten stronger." Yuugi noted from the headlock, using a free hand to poke at a restraining arm. "And taller! Where have you been? I've missed you!"

"Yeah, well..." The tall blond dropped him, scratching the back of his head nervously. "Sorry 'bout that. Ya did get my postcards right?"

Yuugi crossed his arms, raising an impatient eyebrow. "Yes, I got them." About one a week on average, sometimes two. It had been about the only thing that had kept him from tracking down Jounouchi in a completely panicked state. "'I'm alive, see you soon' doesn't quite explain where you've been for three months. I was starting to wonder if you had gotten eaten."

"Yeah... heh heh, not quite..." Jounouchi shrugged. Unfortunately, with their past with the strange and unusual, the 'eaten' comment was meant more literally than metaphorically. "I was trainin' for a new job. It came up kinda suddenly, so I didn't have time to tell ya before I left."

"Jounouchi-kun." An eyebrow was raised, meaning that Yuugi meant business.

Jounouchi sighed, shoulders slumping as he gave up the veneer of secrecy. "I'm workin' over at Kaiba Corporation." He muttered.

"Kaiba-kun?!" Yuugi's eyes widened. Jounouchi -hated- the eldest Kaiba with a passion. Well, perhaps it had muted slightly with time, but there was still a spark of animosity between the two. Yuugi never quite understood the purpose of it, or why both of them went out of each other's way to barb the other, but he still considered Kaiba Seto among his friends.

Even if no one else thought that way.

"Is everything all right?" He inquired. If Jounouchi was working for Kaiba, then it was probably very serious indeed.

"It's not what ya think!" The blond hastened to assure his friend. "I'm workin' for Mokuba, not Kaiba. Well, Mokuba's a Kaiba too, but Kaiba... eh, you know what I mean. I'm his bodyguard. Mokuba's. That's where I've been, training. Not here, I mean, I was somewhere else, training. Cause I'm a good fighter, but I still can't kick Kaiba's butt, so I was off learnin' how to wipe the floor with him. Or try to anyway... ...I'm not explainin' this too well, am I?" He ended it with a slight wince.

Yuugi frowned. "Jounouchi-kun."

"Yeah?"

"Are you doing this of your own free will or because you had no other choice?"

Jounouchi chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well... Little bit of column A, Little bit of column B..."

"Jounouchi-kun..."

The blond chuckled, taking a step back and holding his hands up in supplication. "It's like this, see? You and Honda and Bakura and everyone else is smart, did well in school, right?"

Yuugi winced. Actually, his grades had been barely passing due to the fact that he spent so much time way from school because of Duelling, but he wasn't about to point that out at this exact moment...

"So when we got outta school, you all had some place ta go. Anzu to New York, Otogi and you ta yer game shops, Bakura ta his father's museum, Honda with his automobile, but me? I'm not so good with school. Part time jobs are great and all, but I only got two things I'm good at. Fightin' and Duellin'. And neither one are exactly somethin' I can get a steady paycheque with. And this..." Jounouchi grinned, a light turning on in his eyes. "This is something I'm -good- at."

"Duelling and fighting?" Yuugi echoed, just a bit of a smile escaping.

"EXACTLY." The light turned into a full-blown megawatt lighthouse, the grin stretching from ear to ear. "Not to mention it gives me a place to live AND food and I get to check out the latest duellin' stuff before it goes on the market! And Mokuba's a good kid, I don't mind hangin' out with him."

"But..."

The grin faded. "But I gotta deal with Kaiba. My room's across the hall from Mokuba's, Mokuba's is just down the hall from Kaiba's. Just in case of emergencies. Those two have a separation complex or somethin'. Not that I blame them or anythin'..."

Both Kaiba brothers had been through a lot. Yuugi still didn't know all the history behind them, but he knew enough to understand their reasoning. Yuugi nodded. "So you're not being coerced or forced into this?" He asked carefully.

"None what so ever." Jounouchi met his gaze levelly. "Yuugi, I WANT ta do this. Excited about it, actually."

"Obviously." He couldn't help but to tease. It earned him another headlock, his hair being messed up despite his laughing protests. It was good to have Jounouchi back, where he knew where he was. He had really been concerned when no one else seemed to know where he had disappeared to.

"So, what have you been up to, Yuugi?" Jounouchi grinned, one arm still wrapped companionably around his shoulders. "How's everyone doing?"

"Well... if you have the time, Mister Jounouchi 'I'm Employed and Disappearing for Months at a Time' Katsuya-kun..." There. He'd stop teasing him about it there, but it had more than stung that Jounouchi had left without a word.

Jounouchi chuckled nervously again. "Sorry about that, Yuugi... Tell ya what, though. I don't have to report in to work until tomorrow, so you have all night to fill me in, okay?"

"And for you to do the same." He agreed, easily escorting his friend into the back rooms. He had some tea brewing there earlier, and he was sure he had enough snacks to last them a few hours at least...

Wait, this was Jounouchi... Who was he kidding? They'd be out of food in an hour. He grinned, causing the blond to look at him with a bit of trepidation.

Yuugi ignored it. After all, snacks weren't as important as having his friend back.

School, quite frankly, sucked. It sucked big black hairy donkey balls.

And it wasn't even lunch period yet.

Mokuba sighed and pondered the odds of skipping a grade already. Okay, so in a few months he'd be starting High School, but it'd be with most of the same stupid people studying the same stupid things and everyone thinking that 'oh my gosh! like, they were all mature now and stuff' when they -weren't- and when was the last time any of them had to save the world or anything?

Okay, so maybe not -saved- the world single-handedly, but maybe helped a bit and witnessed the non-destruction of the world? SEVERAL times?

Nyah. So there.

Mokuba glanced around making sure that no one was watching him during the break between subjects, grabbed his bag and slipped out of the door into the hallway. There were enough people wandering around that it didn't look odd for him to be wandering around.

From there, it was a piece of cake to slip out of the school building and towards the back of the property, where an old tree had some branches that went over the wall. The Kaiba Corporation security guards never caught on to this little escape route, they always seemed to expect him to exit from the front when slipping out. Hah. As -if-.

He slung his bag over one shoulder and gave himself a small running start before jumping up to grab the lowest branch. From there, it was just a matter of swinging his legs over it and clambering up without catching his hair on anything. That was the tricky part. Waist-length hair seemed to get -everywhere-. With a triumphant grin, he pulled himself onto the branch, tucking his feet up so the branches hid him completely.

It wasn't like he even had a set destination in mind of where to go. None of the so-called duellists in school would play him, because he was Kaiba Seto's Little Brother, and therefore must be cheating or have rigged his deck. No one would play CapMon with him for the same reason. And because he was the Champion, the cowards. He could go to the arcades, but a lot of the kids who snuck out of school to go hide there at this time of day knew him back from his 'The Ratfink Who Would Be King' stage and would try to finagle money from him. His fault for thinking that he could buy friends when he was younger.

So it looked like the library for him. Sure, it was slower trying to find stuff in books than running a word search on a computer, but there was something a bit more satisfying about it as well. Plus it was quiet and he could do his own reading that he didn't want 'Niisama to fret over and just think without interruptions. No one ever looked for him there.

Plan firmly in mind, he reached for the next branch and encountered something hard but slightly giving and covered in denim instead. Mokuba startled, glancing up and and discovered that lounging on what was usually his next handhold was his bodyguard.

"Yo." Jounouchi said with a sleepy wave.

"J-Jounouchi?!" Mokuba stammered, removing his hand from Jounouchi's thigh. "What are you doing here?!"

His blond bodyguard gave him a lazy smile that held just a touch of dark humour behind it. "I think the question is, what are -you- doing here? Don't you have class in... about a minute?"

"I... I was..." Crap. He didn't have an excuse for this. Didn't think he'd need one.

"Ditchin' class?" Jounouchi drawled, casually all-knowing. "Any particular reason?"

Mokuba glared. Dammit. He'd gotten Jounouchi as a bodyguard so he could -have- fun, not prevent his fun. "... It's boring."

Jounouchi mused that over. "At least you're honest." He finally shrugged.

"So you'll let me ditch?" Mokuba pressed.

"No."

Bastard.

"But..." Jounouchi smirked at him. "I can make a deal with you, if you want."

"... Oh?" Mokuba raised a suspicious eyebrow. "What kind of deal?"

Jounouchi twisted on the tree-branch to face him properly. "You give me your word you won't randomly ditch, and in exchange, if you -have- a good reason to ditch school, call me up and if it's important enough, we'll ditch together, okay?"

The blond really did take this body-guarding job too seriously. He was only supposed to watch Mokuba when he wasn't in school.

... oh. Right. Well, ditching was out of school, wasn't it?

"But no more than once every couple of weeks. You still need to keep your grades up and I know that you have meetings and stuff you have to go to instead of school anyway." Jounouchi chastised.

"And if I think this plan of yours sucks?" Mokuba pressed.

He got a wide grin in return. "You're forgetting what I did before I met Honda and Yuugi." Jounouchi tsk'ed playfully at him. "I was a good for nothing street punk, and nearly didn't pass Middle School because I ditched so often. And guess which school I ditched from?"

Domino Middle School. Of course. Crap.

"You try ditching without me and I'll let the school know all the ways to sneak out of the school." Jounouchi settled back down against the tree trunk with a smug lazy air. "And believe me, I know a lot more of them then you do. And if I catch you ditching, which I will, I'll throw you back in and let you explain it to your brother."

Double crap. And he would too, literally.

"I hate you." Mokuba finally decided. "Deal." He held his hand out. At least this way he could still get out of school occasionally. Although he'd have to wait and see if Jounouchi actually upheld his end of the bargain with the whole 'ditching with permission' thing.

Jounouchi took his hand and gave it a firm shake. "Good. Now go on, you've only got a little bit before the bell rings."

Mokuba muttered several uncomplimentary things under his breath as he scampered out of the tree and headed back to class at a brisk pace. He was just a few seconds tardy for the second bell, arriving after the teacher had gotten there.

"Kaiba Mokuba-kun." The teacher snapped at him as he tried to slink back to his desk. "What excuse do you have for being tardy?"

"Sorry, Ma'am." Mokuba apologised with a slight bow, realising that unlike trying to ditch, he had the perfect reason for being tardy to class. "-I was in the middle of business negotiations."

"Hey, Ryuu-san." Jounouchi leaned on the large fortress-like desk that housed Kaiba's secretary. He'd been afraid when he'd started the job that she'd be a total Ice Queen, or a Bitch or some sort of android to be able to deal with Kaiba all the time, but she actually seemed okay. A bit like a samurai's wife really, all polite and quiet dignity but ready to kill at a moment's notice should the situation call for it. But she didn't mind talking to Jounouchi if she wasn't busy. Or sometimes even if she was busy, Ryuu-san was good at multi-tasking, like she was doing currently. "I'm bored."

"It's your time off." She said, punching holes in some papers and putting them together in a binder. "Why don't you enjoy it?"

Jounouchi shrugged. He was still getting used to the Kaiba brothers and Kaiba Corporation. It still felt kind of weird to be here. At least Kaiba didn't seem interested in imposing any sort of dress code on him, so after trying to wear a business suit and tie, he'd given up, ditched the noose and gone back to his jeans. He still wore the business coat occasionally, but more often than not, he just wore the business shirt over a tee-shirt and called it decent.

Ryuu-san smirked at him, the professional mask bending enough to make her look vaguely matronly. "You could always get me a cup of coffee." She offered.

"Okay." Jounouchi pushed off the desk. "Where is it?"

She blinked at him, looking slightly startled and suspicious. Men usually didn't get women coffee in the business world, usually getting beverages or snacks was the 'woman's job'. He shrugged back. "I did a lotta part time jobs from Middle School on. M'used to doing stuff and being useful, not just standing around looking like another pretty face. How do ya like your coffee?"

"Black, four sugars." Ryuu-san said slowly, motioning towards the elevators. "Two floors down. Or there's the cafeteria on the sixth floor. Not that Kaiba-sama ever uses it." The last was said in a disapproving tone, like Kaiba was a misbehaving adolescent.

Jounouchi snickered. "He still skippin' lunches? Used to do that all the time in High School too. Always off by himself, playing with paperwork or fiddlin' with something on the laptop." He was half-expecting to discover one of these days that Kaiba actually slept upside down, hanging from the big blue canopy on his bed. But Jounouchi still wasn't entirely convinced Kaiba was completely human.

Ryuu-san gave a vaguely unlady-like snort at that, clearly communicating her displeasure at her boss' apparent disregard towards his own well-being.

Jounouchi chuckled in return and gave her a small wave. "Coffee, black, four sugars." He repeated, to make sure he'd gotten it right, just in case. "I'll be right back."

"See you then." Ryuu-san nodded with a faint quirk to her lips, like she'd believe it when she saw it. Jounouchi smirked back. Probably had been listening to stories about him from her boss. He hit the button for the elevator, which automatically opened for him. Lucky! Usually it took forever to wait for the elevator to make it to the top floor.

He went down two floors, past the all important mucky-mucks, to one of the offices, following his nose to the delicious scent of coffee.

And promptly ran into someone coming around the corner. "Kyaa!"

"Sorry!" He apologised, reaching out and steadying a mocha-haired girl carrying a pot of hot water. "Sorry!"

"I'm so very sorry! It was entirely my fault!" The nervous girl stammered, attempting to bow without sploshing the water and not quite succeeding at either.

"No, no! It's my fault." Jounouchi laughed, embarrassed. "I'm afraid I'm still learning my way around here."

"Ah! Myself as well." The girl gave him shy smile. "I'm Chai. Coffee Lady."

"Jounouchi. Bodyguard." Jounouchi grinned back. Just the person he was looking for. "And actually, I'm currently on a quest for a coffee with four sugars."

"In that case, Sir Bodyguard, I can help you with one part." Chai held up the half-full pot of hot water. "But I am terribly afraid I am out of sugar. I was just about to run to the cafeteria to fetch more."

Cafeteria was on the sixth floor, which he'd yet to go to. "I can do that." He offered.

"Oh, no! I couldn't possibly ask you to-"

He cut her off. "Hey, us newbies have to stick together, right?" He waved and headed back to the elevators. "I'll be back in a sec."

"Er... okay. Thank you."

'Sir Bodyguard', he chuckled to himself as he pressed the button for the elevator. Luckily it was still waiting for him and he stepped inside, the doors closing after him as he hit the button for the sixth floor. It really was starting to resemble a role playing game. To complete the quest for a cup of coffee, first he must complete the side quest, to get sugar for the coffee.

Then the doors opened to the sixth floor and the scent of cooking food hit his nose, his stomach growling. Hmm... perhaps he could pick up lunch while he was down here.

Or, he mused with a slightly evil grin as he perused the food selection, he should add an additional side quest to slay the dragon...

Seto looked down at the object that had been placed next to him as if it were a live rodent. "What is this?" He inquired, not entirely certain that the object did not contain a live rodent, considering it's source.

"I would think..." Jounouchi raised an eyebrow. "-that you would be able to recognise a turkey sandwich."

"I know what it is." Seto frowned back. It was from the downstairs cafeteria, he knew their selection of food quite well. "What is it -doing- here?"

Jounouchi obviously resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "It's for you." He explained not quite so patiently. "To eat. Y'know? Food?"

Seto's frowned deepened. "You were hired to guard Mokuba, not act as my nanny." He said dismissively, turning to go back to work. Surely the mutt could find some other productive way to entertain himself. Away from Seto.

"Anything that affects you affects Mokuba." The blonde retorted stubbornly. "If -you- pass out from low blood sugar, -I'm- gonna hafta deal with a panicked little brother. Eat."

Seto just raised a disdainful eyebrow at him before resolutely ignored him and resumed typing on the keyboard. No one told him what to do. Espeically not some mediocre duellist with barely acceptable fighting skills.

"Fine." Jounouchi growled. "I'm going to pick Mokuba up from school. We should be back in half an hour. If the sandwich isn't eaten by then, I'm shoving it down your throat."

With that, he turned and stalked off. Seto snickered, ignoring the blond's moronic display of temper. Like that was going to happen.

Half an hour later, a suspicious Jounouchi returned. The sandwich remained in its original position, untouched.

Jounouchi did exactly what he said he was going to do.

Mokuba helped.

To Be Continued...