Yu-gi-oh

Disclaimer: I don’t own Yugioh, or the characters there in. I just borrowed some of the characters. Rated: NC-17

To Serve and Protect

Chapter 7

Chapter warnings. Severe physical abuse, dark, angst. NO NCS

~*~

The next morning Seto acted like nothing had happened and they spent the day idling around the apartment. Seto checked his calender late that evening and sighed

“What’s wrong, Boss?”

“I’m going to have to go to the Central Headquarters of the Tokyo PD. tomorrow. I have to work on their computers.”

“You work on the PD.’S computers? Don’t they have their own staff?”

Seto nodded then flipped through some notes. “Yeah, but I donate time every month to do special work. I insert files for special agents, things that have to be perfect, without traces. You know . . . files for their undercover staff. Staff that might get killed if it’s done wrong.” Seto was distracted or he’d have seen the look of horror Joey was giving him [Oh, shit!]

Joey had been thinking most of the way through a fairly sleepless night. He’d been spending way too much time ducking and dodging. He needed to sit down with his superiors, hand over everything he knew and get the experts in on this. He wasn’t sure why Mr. Patrick hadn’t brought in experts. Probably his stupidity. Which had gotten him fired. Joey was in way over his head and he wasn’t ashamed to admit it.

Roland was taking over building security, but Joey knew he wasn’t qualified to do Seto’s personal security. He was a body guard, not a security expert and trying to do that job was going to get Seto killed. He was blowing the whistle as soon as he got permission from Tanaka-san.

He wanted help, he wanted lots of expert help, now. And he was going to get it, even if it meant that Seto sent him away. Seto’s life was a lot more important than his budding, sort of, feelings.

Joey went to bed that night and knew the next morning was a turning point. Either Seto would have a fit, tell him to leave, and find a new body guard; or he would dress him down, forgive him for lying, and let him stay. [I wanna stay! Please, let me stay.]

“Wheeler, you look like shit. You toss and turn all night last night? Don’t worry, I won’t let them keep you. You’re still released into my custody. It’ll stay that way.” Seto eyed Joey, who looked tired and hollow eyed.

“Yeah, thanks. I . . . you’re right. I didn’t sleep very well. I’m not worried about them trying to keep me. I’m like . . . heaven doesn’t want me and hell’s afraid I’ll take over.” Joey made a sour face and started coffee.

“You use to drink tea. What happened? “ Seto sipped at the tea he’d made. Joey had learned to reject, with appropriate expressions of horror, any coffee Seto made.

“The American penal system happened. Their tea comes from bags. It’s all formulated for ice tea. Really nasty, hot.”

Seto blinked then shuddered, “Ugh! I don’t blame you, then. You’ve just gotten use to the caffeine. You should try red tea for breakfast. That coffee can’t be good for you.”

Joey poured himself a cup of coffee, made breakfast, read the paper, and managed not to think about where they were going. [Denial. We’re not going there. Nope, goin’ somewhere else entirely.] He wondered if his superiors would even give him permission to come out. They sometimes got their minds set and that was that. Other times they could be reasoned with easily. He wasn’t sure which he was hoping for.

“Wheeler, wake up! I know that you had a bad night and night before last wasn’t that good either. But you need to shake it off. We need to be going.”

“Sorry, Boss. I’m really awake. I was just thinkin’ “ Joey checked his arms and tucked guns and knives away, just like every other morning. Seto looked on in amused amazement.

“That’ll get you in trouble every time. Come on. You don’t show any lumps. . . . ummm. Wheeler?”

“What, Boss?” Joey keyed the elevator and they started down to the garage.

“I noticed that you put on a lot of weight suddenly, a couple of weeks ago, but it . . . I . . . the other night . . .”

“Seto find the thought and wrestle it into submission. Ok?” Joey watched Seto with some amusement. It wasn’t often that Seto had trouble formulating a sentence.

“Joey, you and Yugi are the only two people who can make me stammer.” [I find myself strangely reluctant to hurt your feelings] Seto took a deep breath got his thoughts in order and managed to ask his question “You’re way too thin. I noticed when you were in the gym and again the other night. But now you look like you weigh about what you ought to. What gives? You’re not sick or something, are you?”

Joey shrugged, moving his shoulders in a strange way, like he was trying to settle his jacket more comfortably. “Bullet proof vest. It’s one of the best on the market. Roland got it for me. Not that bulky, so only you would even notice. Mr. I see every little thing. I’m not sick, but thanks for asking.”

Joey fiddled with the hair on the back of his neck. “Seto, after we get back, I need to talk to you.”

“Why not now?”

“I need to . . . find out something first. After . . . I . . . Seto . . . shit! After, please.”

Joey’s strained look put Seto’s back up but he decided to wait. He’d been watching Joey and he was showing more signs of strain every day. He was more and more jumpy and his temper was on such a short fuse that even he was giving Joey plenty of room.

“Ok . . . after. We probably do need to talk. You’re . . . well . . . like you said, after.”

Seto and Joey finished the sixty-seven floor elevator ride in strained silence and got into the limo. The ride to Headquarters was completed in the same silence. Both men immersed in their own thoughts, which were surprisingly similar. Neither wanted to admit he was attracted to the other. And neither wanted to be the one to find out that the other wasn’t interested.

When they got to HQ, Joey got out and opened the door for Seto. Then the fun started. The first thing to happen was, Joey got really twitchy. Seto realized rapidly that it was all the openly visible side arms.

“Wheeler, it’s a police station for God’s sake. Relax. What do think is going to happen?”

Joey flinched as an officer inserted a clip into his gun with a metallic clunk. “Donno, Boss. I’ve just got the heebee-jeebee’s. Too many open guns and not enough me to go around. Let me in front of you.”

Seto snarled. “Get over yourself. Nothing is going to happen in a cop shop. Come on, this way.”

Seto led the way to an elevator and they managed to be the only people in it. Joey settled his shoulders in a way that reminded Seto of a wise guy in a mobster movie. Joey was even standing like one; his feet spread to shoulder width, one hand grasping the opposite wrist. He couldn’t help his next remark if his life depended on it

“Wheeler, you look like a mafioso. Will you ease up?”

“Sorry, Boss.“ Joey struggled to settle down but the next event proved he had a right to be nervous.

When the elevator opened, they were greeted by the sight of one officer showing his new service piece to another. Unfortunately he had it pointed at the elevator doors. When Joey saw the gun, he drew his own and they were suddenly in a Mexican stand off, with Joey aimed at two officers who were aiming their weapons right back.

Seto stepped between them casually, as if he hadn’t noticed the stare down.

“You coming, Wheeler. The office I use is here. I don’t usualy come this way, but construction has blocked the way to the underground.”

Seto gave the two officers a look that would have made a much braver man grovel, they put up their weapons and eyed Joey, who holstered his weapon and gave them a glare matching Seto’s.

Then a rookie came around the corner and stepped right in it. He snatched his side arm out of his holster and drew down on Joey.

“Ok, I recognize you. You’re Katsuya Genkotsu. You’re under arrest for smuggling, gang activity and murder. Turn over your weapon and come along quietly, or there’ll be trouble.”

Joey eyed the rookie with a very jaundiced eye and snarled. “You doof. You been reading back logs. Haven’t ya?”

“So what if I have. It’s a good way . . . ”

“. . .to get yourself in a lot of trouble.”

“You’re still coming with me.”

“Am not.”

The two older officers watched as the rookie lost control of the situation completely.

Joey moved so fast that the only way the rookie realized he’d moved was his weapon was suddenly in Joey’s hand and he was standing with an empty hand and an open mouth.

“Don’t stick your gun out at the end of a straight arm like that. You’ve got no control at all.” Joey eyed the two older men. “One of you want to take this before he hurts himself with it.”

The younger man snatched for his weapon and Joey played keep away with it tossing it from hand to hand as the frustrated man danced back and forth. Finally he tossed it to the senior officer who was just getting ready to interfere.

“Here, make sure he knows the consequences of messing with a wise guy like me. I’d hate for him to get killed before he’s dry behind the ears.”

The senior officer felt he had to stand up for the younger officer after all he was in the same division. “He’s probably older than you are.”

Joey froze, going so still he looked like he’d never move again. The expression on his face disappeared so thoroughly that he looked like a marble statue. He looked like a stone cold killer.

“Man, I’m older than dirt.”

Seto shivered and started to break this up before it got completely out in left field.

Just then the Director of the Records Department saw Seto and hurried up to him. “Oh Mr. Kaiba, I’m so glad you could work me in. I need a record removed from our files. I tried to do it myself, but since you put it in, it’s bullet proof. It’s causing some trouble, so we need it out of the system as soon as possible. Please this way. Oh! Do . . . um. Wheeler, isn’t it?“

Joey just nodded. “Yeah.”

The Director eyed Joey for a moment, then waived his hand “I’m sure you can find something to do. You don’t have clearance to be in the computer rooms. I’m afraid you’ll have to wait out here.”

“I got something to do.” Joey turned to Seto. “While I’m here, I need to check in with Tanaka-san. I’ll be at . . . um . . . ask Mr. Suzuki there for the extension if you need it.”

Mr. Suzuki turned to the red faced rookie and told him to get himself under control and escort Joey to Tanaka-san’s office. “And see that you don’t cause an incident while you’re at it. Go, go. I don’t have time to hold your hand.” Then he addressed the two older officers, who were watching the rookie with some amusement, and watching Joey cautiously. “If you don’t have anything better to do, I have some filing that needs done.” They found things at their own desks that needed doing.

Seto glanced at Joey, but he’d already turned to follow the embarrassed man, so Seto just followed Mr. Suzuki without further comment. But Mr. Suzuki was a babbler, Seto made him extremely nervous, so he chattered.

“Don’t worry about your body guard. I know him. He’s a good man. That rookie doesn’t stand a chance with him. He’s got a look. One of those kind of looks like he’s trying to decide whether to shoot you, or stab you, or just strangle you where you stand. . . . Oh . . . and . . . yes, here we are. I need this numbered record removed from the files, it’s trapped so I was reluctant to fool with it.”

Seto grunted noncommentaly and more or less ignored Mr. Suzuki

“It’s really too bad about the young man in these records. He’s nearly ruined his life. He went undercover right out of the academy and he’s been under forever. His orientation is Bi. But I understand he had a girlfriend or at least a girl he was interested in. She dumped him.” Seto looked up at that last. “Oh, I know we aren’t supposed to ask questions like that. If it had been a street officer, that question would never have been thought of, but sometimes it’s useful to know the orientation of an undercover. It could affect the outcome of an investigation. You never know what might be useful. There was a young officer . . . I think it might even have been this young man. Anyway, he knew about some kind of game or other that was being used to convey information. He broke the code singlehandedly. Very smart young fellow. I’m glad he’s coming in from the cold.“

Seto asked Mr. Suzuki for some tea. It was the usual ploy to get rid of the man for a few quiet minutes to get the job done. He respected the man, he was very good at his job, efficient and careful. Records had benefitted greatly from his drive for perfection and Seto had heard that he could be quite the terror in his own quiet way, but Seto turned him into a babbling wreck.

~*~

Joey decided he ought to do some fence mending. He didn’t want to ruin the boy completely.

“Look, I’m sorry I was a shit. I’m just . . . I can’t talk about it. But I’ve been . . . a. . . damnit. What the hell is your name?”

“It’s Miazaki. How’d you do that?”

“Miazaki-kun, you don’t want to know. Lots of practice and leave it at that.”

“You don’t act like a yakuza.”

Joey shrugged. “How’s a yakuza supposed to act. Like this?”

Suddenly Joey was gone and some other person was standing beside him. A person that exuded threat like mist, it felt like a wall between them.

“That’s incredible. I’d like to learn to do that.”

“No, you wouldn’t. I ruins something inside. You wouldn’t want to do the things I’ve done, dirty things, just to survive.”

“Fuck. You’d be better off . . .”

“ . . . in prison. Not really. It doesn’t stop even there. Believe me, I know.”

Miazaki sighed, this was way beyond him. He’d only graduated from the academy six weeks ago and was still waiting for a partner.

“How long you been yakuza?”

Joey decided a partial truth would serve. “I been workin’ for four years.”

“Oh, Uh . . .how old are you?”

“Twenty-two. How old are you? “

Miazaki made a funny noise, then managed to stammer, “Twenty-six. . . that means you were eighteen when you started. . .”

“Runnin’ with the big dogs. Yeah. Look I’d like to stand here and yack all day but I need to get going. Tanaka-san won’t be in his office all day.”

Miazaki nodded shortly and started off. Joey followed the mumbling rookie to Tanaka-san’s office. Joey knocked, waited, then entered with the rookie right behind him. He stepped around Joey, saluted with a snap and waited, and waited. Joey stood to one side and watched. Tanaka-san finally looked up and put his pen down.

“Thank you, Officer. Dismissed. Oh, and next time, just salute and go.” Tanaka saluted rather casually and watched as the confused rookie left.

“God. Street units. they’re so . . .”

“Street legal. Tanaka-sama, my dearest wish is to be one of them some day.”

“Not either. You’ll be a detective. I’m not wasting you on traffic tickets and loud stereos. Now what are you doing here? What’s the problem?”

“Seto’s here, working on the computers, taking out some planted records. I’m here because I’m in over my head. Seto . . . I’m . . . damnit. There’s more to this than a simple stalker. Seto got poisoned. Ducky’s on that. Paper threats come into the building. E-mails that even Seto can’t trace. I need help in the worst way. I e-mailed you a report. It should be in your computer now.” Joey rubbed his face and then plopped both elbows on his knees and put his head in his hands. “Chief, I need to come in. I’m so tired. I’m sick of lying. I’m sick of not being able to see my friends. If I have any left. I wanna come in from the cold. Please?”

Tanaka looked at Joey and knew he was on his last legs. Either he came in, or he was going to break.

“Ok. I’ll make arrangements.”

“You don’t have to fix it with the higher up’s?”

“No, this case was my idea. I didn’t realize you were so bad off. You seemed so relaxed last time I saw you and you didn’t object. Joey . . . I’m really sorry. You shouldn’t have taken this assignment.”

“I still want to finish the assignment. But I want Seto to know about me. I want to do it as my first assignment as a detective. I don’t want to be an undercover agent anymore. I’m tired of being . . .”

“Joey, you’ll be a Special. You’ll be carrying a Special Agents shield. You’ll be given assignments that demand original thinking and abilities that only people like you have to offer. I’ll take care of this now.”

Tanaka reached for a phone and made a call. He spoke to someone higher up than he was, but his conversation seemed to be to his liking because he smiled at Joey and stood up, motioning for Joey to follow him. He lead Joey to an office at the end of the hall and when he opened the door Joey saw that it was the office of the Director of Special Services. [Me a Special. Wow!]

The director looked up from his desk and smiled gently. He was use to working with Special Agents. He didn’t sweat hair cuts and saluting, so he nodded to Joey and motioned for him to sit. Tanaka left after telling Joey to come back to his office when the director had talked to him.

“Well, young man. Quite the impressive record you have here. Very good work. I understand you’re having some trouble with Seto Kaiba. Want to tell me about it.”

So Joey told him everything he could, finishing, “I”m in way over my head. I don’t have the resources to handle this. What do I do?”

The director folded his hands in front of his chin and looked kindly at Joey over them.

“Well the first thing is, we fill Kaiba in. I’ll tell him the truth. It was my decision, in agreement with Tanaka-san, to keep your status from him. I thought him actually having a body guard might goad our man into doing something stupid. Didn’t happen, so we go at it from a different direction. I still want a man on his body so that’s still you.”

Joey bit his lip. “If he’ll have me. He hates liars and might not keep me.“

“I’ll lean on Mr. Kaiba a little. I’m sure he’ll be reasonable.” Joey snorted. “We’ll turn the Stalkers Division loose on your Letter Man. They’re experts on stalkers and their methodology. But I’m not happy with this guy. I’m not comfortable with this sort of love/hate relationship. You watch yourself. There’s something unpleasant, more unpleasant than usual, here.”

“Yes sir. I want to thank you for letting me come in.“

The director held up a hand. “Tanaka-san advised me that this might become necessary. How long have you been under?”

“Four years.”

The stark words dropped into the room like ice in crystal. The director froze for a second. Then he pushed a button on his desk and told his secretary to bring in the package for Joseph K. Wheeler.

When she brought it in it wasn’t what Joey expected. Instead of something wrapped up in paper, she brought in a wallet and handed it to him with a deep bow and a soft ‘Thank you for all your hard work.’

“She loves this part of her job. That’s your ID, badge and key card.” The director walked around his desk and took Joey’s hand. “Welcome back.” He squeezed Joey’s hand and slapped him gently on the shoulder.

“Now, you need to register any firearms you have. Let me see the numbers. I’ll copy them down and send them to the armory. I don’t care what you carry, or were, as long as it’s registered.”

Joey grinned and handed the man a piece of paper. “I got a registered here, it’s under the name of Seto and the other two are unregistered. Bought off the streets years ago. Here’s the numbers . . . look, if you’re done with me, I need to get with Tanaka-san and get a handle on what I’m supposed to be doing with the Letter Man case . . . um . . . should I salute or can I just get out of here.”

“Never salute me. I got a bad shoulder . . . shrapnel . . . it hurts. Just get out. You got bad guys to bust and I got paper work up the . . .” The director saw he was talking to thin air and smiled as he went back to his much despised paperwork.

~*~

Seto looked at the record before he erased it. He usualy didn’t pay any attention to them but this one . . . he just had a feeling he should. By the time he was finished glancing through it he was ready to kill. Joey, his supervisor. Someone. It was the same mass of lies that he’d read before he took Joey into his personal custody. And now he knew it was all lies, but he wasn’t sure exactly what was going on. So he did what he did best. He hacked the system and looked Joey up. There was a file number linked to this file, no one who was less acquainted with the system would have even known where to look, but Seto knew exactly what to look for and where to find it. He’d designed the system after all.

“Ok, Wheeler, let’s see exactly what you’ve been up to. And . . . ho . . . holy shit. My god . . . Wheeler.”

Seto read avidly for thirty minutes.

The files told a tale of hard work and deprivation that left Seto appalled. For months before graduation Joey had been on the force. Seto remembered he’d been in an afternoon training program and had thought it was for some trade. He’d actually been attending the police academy in the afternoons and early evenings. He’d completed a full schedule of high school classes and police training. An incredible achievement in itself.

Then he’d managed to get himself back in the Mako’s. After breaking them up, and managing to avoid getting arrested, he’d moved onward and downward. While in the Mako’s he’d attracted the attention of a yakuza boss. He’d gotten picked up by him. When he was sure the bust was going down, he eluded the net and ran to his first boss. The rest Seto knew. More or less.

Then he used his skills to view the videos attached to the file.

The first one was grainy, obviously a police surveillance camera, and showed an address in the lower corner. The clip showed Joey standing with two unidentified men, one about Joey’s age, the other older. They talked for a while, then Joey left. The screen blanked and then showed stills of the two men, identifying them as Hirutani and Goden Obaru (Golden Ball). The video picked up about fifteen minutes later by the digital read out on the tape. Joey came back with an object wrapped in a cloth and handed it to Goden Obaru. Hirutani slapped him across the face. Joey just hug his head and stepped back. Seto thought he’d choke. [Don’t slap me like a child.]

There were several more clips showing Joey enduring various humiliations by Hirutani. All with a stoic demeanor that made Seto shiver. A few of the clips had caught Joey looking at Hirutani when he wasn’t aware of it. The look could have set a wet newspaper on fire.

The next video was made by some camera mad yakuza soldier. It showed Joey driving a motorcycle on a blocked off street. The bike was hot and Joey was obviously in total control of it. He made several runs, cuts in the tape proved that they were separate scenes. The final bit of this tape showed a blank faced Joey standing by while his Okishira laughed and collected an obscene amount of money from a frowning man who was taking a ribbing. Another part of the tape was Joey jamming another high-powered bike around a race track at speeds that had the yakuza exclaiming in wonder. And again a scene of Joey standing by while money changed hands. Seto noticed that Joey was never offered any of the spoils his sweat and madness earned.

Seto had to stop, he felt like crying, smacking the shit out of someone, or shaking Joey until his teeth rattled.

Seto got up and asked Mr. Suzuki for some more tea. When he came back with the tea, he noticed what Seto was doing and started to say something. Seto pinned him with a look that would have stopped a rampaging rhino in its tracks. “Don’t say it. He’s my employee and I have a right to know what he was up to before I hired him.”

Mr. Suzuki managed to dredge up some nerve. “ Mr. Kaiba I know you won’t use that information inappropriately. But I warn you, I’ve viewed it myself, and some of it isn’t pretty. I did the cuts to eliminate a lot of dead time . . . Umm . . . just remember, he started very young. We were lucky he had experience in gangs before we got him. I don’t think he would have made it otherwise.”

Seto snarled. “I need to know. I have to know. I . . . think . . . he’s bi . . . shit. I don’t know what I’m thinking.”

“If you’re thinking of hurting him in anyway, I’ll see to it that there are repercussions. I don’t care if you are Seto Kaiba.”

“I’m not going to hurt him. At least not intentionally. He’s my friend and I only want to help. But in order to help him. I feel . . . I need to know what he’s been doing. So far, I’d like to kill someone.”

“Well, I cut some things completely out as they weren’t pertinent to the cases, but . . . here. Let me load them for you.”

Seto waited as Mr. Suzuki loaded several files. And left.

The first clip was of Joey naked to the waist, wearing nothing but a pair of cut off jeans. Two men were holding him by the shoulders, his hands were obviously tied behind his back. He looked furious and ready to fight, even though he didn’t have the use of his hands. The fat man facing him was really pissed. The cameraman managed to get good sound quality so Seto could understand exactly what he was saying.

“I don’t like your attitude in the least Genkotsu. Your emphasis on my name is insulting. You will be punished. You can endure your punishment with dignity, be forgiven, and return to your duties. Or you can be turned out. Which will it be?”

Joey glared at the man and then tipped his head back. He shivered once then said. “I’m sorry Shukun Kin Koumaru. I’ll be more careful in the future.”

“Hump, well then, let him be punished.”

Another man came forward, nodded to Goden Obaru, and took a spoon and a plumber’s torch from a small table. He used the torch to heat the spoon and turned to Joey, who put out his tongue. The hiss of the hot spoon on his tongue was loud. When the men turned Joey loose, he dropped to his knees with a soft moan. One of the two men who had been holding him cut his wrists apart and they left him. The camera man got one more shot of Joey kneeling on the floor with one hand over his mouth, the other hand was fisted on his thigh. Seto could see the knuckles working as he struggled to keep control of himself.

Seto nearly put his fist through the monitor. If this was what Joey had been enduring, no wonder he was jumpy, depressed, and violent. [Damn them! He started out when he was barely eighteen.]

Again Seto had to work himself up to viewing the clips. These were even worse than the last clips had been.

Joey was standing in the middle of a mat, he looked like he was waiting for something, or someone. The film cut and faded back to show a man at least twice Joey’s size walking toward him with his fists clenched. He looked hard and fit. He looked like he knew exactly what he was doing. Joey proved him wrong. It took him seconds to beat the man unconscious. When he turned to the camera, he glared at it, plainly pissed at the cameraman

“Get that damn thing out of my face. One of these days I’m gonna shove it up your ass.”

“Aaawwww, Genkotsu. You know the boss likes this kind of fight. He’ll show this over and over and brag on you.”

“Fuck you.”

“Ok, later.”

Joey stomped off snarling and pealing the tape off his hands. Seto noticed that neither man had worn gloves, just tape around their knuckles.

Another cut and again Joey stood by while men exchanged money. This time Joey was dressed in a very nice expensive suit, silk shirt, and tie. He had a split lip and a busted eyebrow. His expression was thunderous.

Seto felt sick. Between fury and heartbreak, he wasn’t sure what to do. All he knew was he wanted someones head on a plate. He forced himself to watch the last of the videos

This one didn’t start out that bad.

Joey was standing by a man Seto recognized as Mr. Honda from the motorcycle shop. The man pawed Joey then handed him a drink, which he accepted. He sipped from the glass then spit the liquid into Honda’s face. The man jumped up and grabbed Joey by the arm. When Joey pulled away, he snarled. “Give up, Boy. I’ll have you one way or another. That drink would have made it easier on you. Now I’m going to have you tied down, and after I’m through with you, my men will enjoy my left overs.”

Joey pulled away and snarled right back. “You wish. I wouldn’t fuck you with someone elses dick. And you sure ain’t dickin’ me.”

“I’ll do whatever I please. You don’t understand. Watanabi-sama wants what I have very badly. He’ll do almost anything for me.”

“Yeah. We’ll see, won’t we.”

The film cut and the next scene was Joey and Mr. Honda standing in front of Watanabi-sama with the Boss looking frustrated and angry.

“Genkotsu, are you sure you won’t . . . entertain Mr. Honda?” Watanabi looked like all he wanted was for this whole mess to go away.

“Not for anything. I’ll do almost anything you ask of me, Shukun. But not this.”

Honda butted in with, “If he won’t please me, then he must be punished. I demand it.”

“Demand as you will.” Watanabi turned to Joey, “I give you one last chance. Will you take him or not.”

“Only with a knife to my throat, and you know how I react to that sort of thing. I don’t bend over for anybody, not even you.”

“Genkotsu, damn you. That is much too close to a threat for me to let pass.”

“I don’t threaten and you know it.” Joey gave Watanabi a look that was so flat and cold it made him look like a statue.

“Insolent. Stubborn and stupid. Mr. Honda is known for being very generous to his lovers. You pass on this and I will have you punished. Think carefully.”

“No. And no, and no.” Joey shook his head and spat at Hondas feet.

Watanabi froze in fury. Honda snarled, “You. Will. Punish. Him. You want my drugs, he screams.”

“Yes. I will not have such insolence from a common knee breaker. He is nothing. I will not condone rape, it is dishonorable. But he was offered the chance to say yes. Now he will be punished. Send for Matsumoto-sama.”

Joey just stood furious and helpless. Seto could tell he wanted to fight, to run, but he had to stay. He had a job to do and to do it he had to submit. If he didn’t, the chances were that he would at least lose his position. If not his life.

They surrounded Joey like a pack of wolves cutting his suit off. He didn’t fight but one man got fresh and the snap of his wrist breaking sounded like a gun shot.

Matsumoto walked around him as he stood naked and humiliated. He stroked Joey’s back, not like a lover, or even a friend; more like a man sizing up a horse he was thinking of buying. Joey just stood clench fisted under his examination.

At a motion from Matsumoto another man came forward and fastened heavy black leather cuffs around Joey’s wrists and ankles. When he straightened up, Joey head butted him so hard you could hear his nose break.

“Now, now, boy. That was uncalled for. He was just doing his job.”

“Yeah? Well, his job don’t include roaming hands. You don’t handle the equipment.”

“I see. Of course not.”

Matsumoto made a tisking noise, and picked something up from the floor. He reached out and fastened a collar around Joey’s neck and patted it

“The collar will keep you from leaning your head back. I don’t want to hit you in the head. Come along. Don’t make a fight out of it. It’s no use, you know.”

Joey sneered in the man’s face. “I won’t fight. I got some pride. And don’t think it’ll be easy to make me scream either.”

“The sooner you scream, the sooner it’s over. Although if you scream too soon, he’ll just add to your punishment. He doesn’t like cowards. Man is a bundle of contradictions.”

Joey walked to a framework of metal, chains and straps. He allowed himself to be bound with his arms over his head, feet shackled to the bottom of the frame. The collar was also chained to the frame. It forced Joey to keep his head slightly bowed, but the set of his shoulders said he wasn’t afraid, just really, really pissed.

The cameraman got close and Joey snarled. ”I’ll make you eat that thing yet. Go away. Go film Watanabi and Honda. Fuck wad.”

Matsumoto began by gently stroking Joey from the tops of his shoulders to the back of his knees. He touched and prodded every inch of his back. Then he started. First, he picked out a strap about four feet long and three inches wide. He started slowly smacking the strap across Joey’s back, each blow overlapped the last just slightly. The blows were measured and exact. The soft slap continued for exactly ten minutes, Seto checked the counter to make sure. Matsumoto had struck every inch of Joey’s body from shoulders to knees.

He returned the strap to his table and picked up a rod five feet long and as big around as Seto’s little finger. He snapped it through the air and went back to Joey. The camera man got close to Joey’s face. He was sweating heavily, it was running down his face and dripping off his chin. He was white and his lips were bitten. He hadn’t made a sound.

The camera man turned his viewfinder to Watanabi and Honda, who could be heard clearly.

“I want to hear his screams. You’re too soft on him. After you’re through with him, I want him anyway.”

“Won’t happen. If he takes his punishment, he is forgiven. You don’t like it, we can always discuss it further.” The menace in Watanabi’s voice was clear.

“No, no, that won’t be necessary. It’s just. . .he’s so pretty and he suffers so elegantly. Make him suffer for me and I’ll forgive the insult. I’ll even deny myself the use of his so delicious body.”

“You better. I’m risking my life as it is. If I allowed you to use him, he’d be honor bound to retaliate, and when Katsuya Genkotsu wants you, he gets you. You’ve never seen him fight. He’s like a machine. I don’t think he feels pain like other people do. I really doubt that even Matsumoto-sama can make him scream.”

“He’s your soldier. You control him.” Honda was clearly sulking

Watanabi shook his head. “I don’t control him. He allows me to order him. He has his own agenda. He’s too useful to me to discard him, but I know if I push him too far, I’ll be riding a dragon.” Watanabi held up his hand to forestall some remark. “Honda-kun, he can’t be pushed too far. He’s too dangerous. Hold your tongue and be glad he submitted. It’s quite possible I could have lost a man or two. I’ve done as you ask. Be satisfied.” Watanabi made it clear that he was done with the matter. In fact, he got up and left. He could be heard ordering someone to see to it that Honda ‘doesn’t lose his balls by messing with Genkotsu-ryuu’

Returning to Joey the camera man held on what was happening, making no comments, only filming.

The smack of the cane on Joey’s body was rhythmic.

Smack, smack. SMACK.

Always two soft smacks followed by a harder one. The camera showed the stripes as Matsumoto moved down Joey’s body from shoulders to knees and back again.

Joey’s skin went from golden tan, to pale pink, to red, then scarlet and the rhythm never faltered

Smack, smack, SMACK

Smack, smack, SMACK

Smack, smack, SMACK

Smack, smack, SMACK

Then Honda interrupted the proceedings, he snarled to Matsumoto. “Make him scream. Cut him. Cut him, now.”

Matsumoto merely replied calmly, “No. I have no wish to be gutted. Return to your place”

“You’re afraid of him.”

“Yes. If I violate his honor, he will kill me, sooner or later. Return to your place.”

Honda returned to his seat, grumbling about stiff necked, old-fashioned bastards who spoiled his enjoyment.

Joey whispered, “Cut me and I will gut you.” The soft hatred was soul chilling.

Matsumoto didn’t turn a hair only remarking conversationally. “I’m only doing my duty to my master, just as you do.”

“My master is a higher one than you’ll ever understand. Do what you will, but get it done, now.”

Matsumoto returned to what he was doing and Joey returned to doing his best to ignore him, but Seto could see that he was beginning to break down. He was sweating more, trickles running down his sides and back. His back was welted where the harder blows had landed

Finally Matsumoto altered his rhythm. He started hitting harder, the blows landing with soft thuds and the welts he left now started turning dark. He continued on and on, until Joey finally broke. He made the only sound he was to make during the whole ordeal. The soft moan sounded loud in the near silence of the room. The only other sounds to be heard were Honda’s heavy breathing and the slap of flesh on flesh.

The camera man muttered ‘hentai’ and turned the camera on Honda but the only thing to be seen was a jacket across his lap.

Matsumoto stopped his work and touched Joey carefully. He ran his hands over Joey’s body again. The clinical way he went about it removed all insult and Joey endured in silence, shuddering once when he touched and especially painful welt.

“It is done.”

“What?”

“I said, it is done.” Matsumoto curled his lip at Honda and started putting his things away. Honda reached out and touched Joey then cried out as Matsumoto gave him a cut across the back of his hand with a small riding crop. “Do not touch him. It is forbidden.”

“I’ll do what I want. You can’t stop me. I’m favored by Watanabi-sama.”

Honda was suddenly between two men who just firmly escorted him away, despite his complaints. One of the men could be heard telling him, “Don’t mess with him. He’s barely under control now. If you force the issue Watanabi-sama won’t be held responsible for what happens. He’s already talked to your Okashira, come with us.” Honda went, complaining all the way.

~ * ~

Matsumoto was done with Joey. He unfastened the collar from the frame and let Joey raise his head. The glare he got was cold enough to freeze the sun. He sighed and unlocked the chains from Joey’s ankles. Then he called a man to help him. Telling him to keep Joey from falling, he freed his wrists and stepped back, lucky he did too. Joey snapped his head back and head butted the man behind him in the face with the back of his head. The man’s head jerked back and his nose started to bleed, he put a hand to his face and walked off. Joey sank to the floor and sat there. He refused help from anyone, so they finally let him be.

The camera man muttered. “He’ll die. He can’t survive a beating like that. He’ll die right there on the floor.”

But Joey was made of sterner stuff than that. It took him three tries to get to his feet, but he managed it. He staggered, nearly fell, then straightened his shoulders and walked to his clothes. He was stopped by a woman who came to him with a yakuta. She draped it over his shoulders and helped him to leave the room. The tape faded to blackness.

Seto sat and looked at the monitor for a few minutes. Then he got up and calmly smashed everything in the room. Mr. Suzuki merely stopped the startled office staff from intruding, and when Seto finally opened the door, he told him that he could find Joey with Tanaka-san

“Please remember that Joey has put it all in the past. We don’t know how he got his revenge, but I understand that he did. Do not upset him. He’s worn thin enough as it is.”

“I’m not going to upset him, I’m going to shake him til his eyes roll up in his head.”

Seto left at a pace that wasn’t quite a run, but anyone trying to keep up with his long-legged stride would find themselves trotting.

~*~

Seto slammed the door back against the wall and plucked Joey out of his chair like a puppy from a basket. He gave him a shake and then wrapped his arms around him, holding him in a firm embrace.

“Seto? Wha’ . . . I . . . Seto, you’re not cryin’! I . . “

Seto snarled “Shut up. I saw the tapes.”

Joey should have taken the whole thing amiss, he should have resisted. He should have done a lot of things. What he did was collapse. Wrapping his arms around Seto, he just stood in his embrace and shook.

“Oh shit, Seto. I don’t want you to know about that stuff. It isn’t fit.”

“No, it’s not. But you . . . you’re a fucking hero.”

Joey snorted and went to the heart of his fears.“I lied to you. You hate liars. Shit.“ Joey tried to cover his face with his hands. But Seto caught them and held them, pushing them to shoulder height. They’d wound up against a wall.

Somehow they wound up in a wrestling match. Joey pushed and so did Seto. They wrestled back and forth, neither one quite strong enough to over power the other. Finally they stopped, panting and just looked at each other.

“Damnit, Seto, I . . . we . . .”

“Stop it, Joey. I forgive you. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

Joey gave up, letting Seto clasp his wrists and hold them.

So, there they stood, in the middle of a room with a very interested Tanaka-san watching. Seto let go, Joey stuffed his hands in his pockets. Seto shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest.

Joey leaned against the table and sighed. Seto plopped into a chair and kicked the table.

“You want to see my shield. I’m a Special Agent now.”

“Yeah, I’d like that. Um . . . who. . . .”

“You’re my first assignment. I’ve asked for help. I’m in way over my head on this.”

“Help? What kind of help. I don’t . . .”

Joey interrupted Seto before he could finish. “I’m a body guard and an expert in physical security. Not stalkers and computer intrusions and the kind of shit we got. I . . .”

“I don’t want another body guard.” Seto interrupted just as Joey blurted. “I’m still your primary.”

“What’s that?”

“I . . . I’m field director of the operation. I just defer to the experts in each field. You know. Like you do when you have a lawyer go over a contract. I’m smart enough to delegate authority when I need to.”

Seto smirked “In other words, I’m still stuck with you.”

“Yup, still stuck. Unless you want me to move out. Then, I’ll have to stay in a capsule, until I can find something I can afford.” Joey ran his hands through his hair in a distracted manner.

“You. Will. Not. Move. Out. Damn you. Fuck.“ Seto kicked the table again and Tanaka-san decided it was time for him to interfere before the two had a testosterone melt down.

“We’ll be having a briefing in an hour. Until then I suggest that the two of you read these.” He tossed a half dozen reports on the table and got up. “Do not get into a fight. I would hate to have to handcuff you two and separate you.”

Joey sighed. Seto sighed. They each picked up a report and started reading. Together. In silence. Glancing at each other. Hoping the other didn’t notice. They did.