Chapter Text
Seto rubbed his eyes. It had been a nice day, for once. He had managed to get to six in the afternoon without getting mad at anyone, which was not a first but very close. And he had also just finished a project he had been working on for a good three weeks, so it was definitely a good day.
"Seto! Seto!"
Scratch that. Mokuba threw open the door, panting heavily. He leaned against the doorway, trying to catch his breath.
"Mokuba, what's going on?" Seto asked, standing and walking to his brother.
"Seto- It's, it's... Jounouchi..." Mokuba panted. Seto's stomach twisted. He didn't like Mokuba's tone. Not at all.
"Breathe" he said, putting a hand on his brother's arm "What about Jounouchi?"
Mokuba took a deep breath. "Jounouchi has... he's been arrested."
Seto felt his blood drain from his face. So much for a nice day.
***
Jou laid on his side, facing the wall. The bed was possibly the most uncomfortable one he had ever had the misfortune of being on, and the cell smelt like air that hasn't been properly changed in a while.
Cell. Because he was under arrest.
Jou hadn't exactly been ecstatic when two days before one of his old 'friends' from his gang days had shown up at his home. Especially because none of them were even supposed to know where he lived. But then Aomine had started begging Jou to help him, that he was in big troubles and he needed somewhere to hide from someone. And Jou, well, he hadn't been able to tell him no.
Jou should have probably started being suspicious when Aomine had told him he didn't want anyone to know where he was, not even the police. Jou had supposed he was being paranoid, but after all he couldn't completely blame him for it. He had tried pushing the subject for a couple days, but Aomine had kept telling him to keep silent. Jou had been on the verge of speaking up to someone anyways, since he didn't particularly fancy the idea of having mysterious gang members showing up at his house asking for Aomine, when a bunch of police officers had come to his home and told him he was under arrest.
Because the guys Aomine was running from were, in fact, the police. Turns out he was in some sort of drug smuggling ring, and had managed to escape authorities just a week before meeting Jou. And when Jou wasn't home, he had used his phone to try and contact some of his friends, only to get intercepted and putting Jou in so much shit. Lying bastard. He had known Jou would have done anything to help someone get out of a bad circle, and he had used that to his advantage. One tried to believe the best in others, and this is what he got. He could almost hear Seto's voice in his head, telling him he needed to stop being so trusting with people.
He had been interrogated for four hours, before the officer – a short oily guy that irked Jou in the wrong way – had decided to send him to a cell. Jou was aware that his hadn't exactly been the smartest or most logical thing to do, and retelling how it had went just made him feel even more of an idiot, but he hoped the officers would realize he had nothing to do with Aomine and release him soon enough.
***
The authorities were adamant that no, not even Seto Kaiba could have a conversation with someone while they were under arrest. Which was why he was sitting in front of some officer, waiting for him to talk about what had Jounouchi done to be under arrest.
"Mr Kaiba, I fear we will have to keep your... friend here with us for a while longer" the officer – some Miyazawa – said. Seto narrowed his eyes. He doubted Miyazawa didn't know he and Jounouchi were a bit past 'friends', and the way he had spoken that single sentence was enough to get on Seto's nerves.
"He has already been in your custody for three days. Unless you are planning to prosecute him, you have to let him go" he said.
"But we have grounds to prosecute him, Mr Kaiba."
"With what charges?"
"Harboring of a wanted criminal, and possibly complicity in drug offenses" Seto reeled back at that.
"Jounouchi?" he said incredulously "Are you implying that he could have ties to drug dealers? Please."
Miyazawa smiled. It was a slippery smile, the kind of smile you would expect from someone ready to stab you in the back. "Mr Kaiba, we found a man guilty of crimes related to drug dealing, among other things, hiding in Mr Jounouchi's home. Were you aware of it?"
"I wasn't" Seto said. The officer's smile widened.
"Mr Aomine, according to what both he and Mr Jounouchi told us, used to be a member of the same gang Mr Jounouchi used to be in during high school. According to Mr Jounouchi's tale, he hadn't seen Aomine in years until a few days ago, when he asked for protection from someone, who Mr Jounouchi apparently believed was some kind of criminal organization. Funny, how he didn't tell anyone he was 'protecting' his old friend from harm, isn't it?" Seto knew where Miyazawa was going. He was implying that Jounouchi was, in fact, part of some illicit association and that he had been lying to everyone in the hopes that Seto would feel betrayed enough to say something that would worsen Jounouchi's situation. He probably didn't realize that with his work people tried to manipulate Seto on a daily basis.
The problem was, helping out someone he hadn't spoken to in years because he had fallen for some ridiculous lie sounded exactly like something Jounouchi would do. Sure, Jounouchi had matured with the years, but he was still far too trusting for his own good. And it made Seto mad, to think how gullible Jounouchi could be at times. Not to mention how apparently he hadn't thought maybe he should have told someone about this Aomine, if not Seto at least one of his friends. Or better yet, the authorities. He was going to have a long talk with him once he got out.
"Now, Mr Kaiba" the officer continued "as you can see, we have good reasons to investigate Mr Jounouchi. This is confidential, but we have a warrant to search his house and it would be unfortunate if we were to find anything strange."
"Search all you want" Seto growled, standing up "I sincerely doubt you will find anything that will validate your charges."
"Mr Kaiba, if you are aware of any kind of illicit activities your partner may have been partaken in, you are invited to tell us. Otherwise it may be seen as complicity, you see" the officer said. Seto's eyes narrowed. He had the feeling he knew where this was going, and he didn't like it.
"I know the law. Officer" with that, Seto left.
***
A week later, and Seto couldn't remember the last time he had been so angry and worried at the same time. Jounouchi hadn't been released, the police refused to give any news about his situation and Seto was starting to consider bribing someone to get some time alone with Jounouchi. Five minutes. Just enough time to make sure he was alright and then punch him.
The idiot had been hiding a man in his house without telling anyone about it. Not Seto, not Yugi, not any of his friends. And what if that Aomine had tried something funny? What if he had tried to injure Jounouchi? Or what if someone other than the police had showed up at Jounouchi's house? How could Jounouchi not have realized his had been a massive bad idea? Oh, he was so furious. And worried. He was so worried.
Seto rubbed his face. He had barely been able to get anything done lately. He was far too wound up to concentrate. Mokuba had tried to tell him that in the end nothing really bad had happened to Jounouchi, that it was going to be alright, but it hadn't helped in the least. Because what apparently his brother hadn't realized was that Jounouchi could end up in trial, and it wouldn't have been just because the officers legitimately thought he was a criminal.
Seto had had a few more conversations with officer Miyazawa, and he had understood what kind of person he was. One very ambitious, without particularly remarkable skills, and without many qualms about how he could advance his position. He hadn't been exactly subtle in implying that he was determined to send Jounouchi to prison, evidence or not.
Because if Jounouchi, the romantic partner of the CEO of Kaiba Corp, was condemned, it would surely cause a huge scandal. Miyazawa would get a lot of public attention, some pats on the back for uncovering a great criminal plot and possibly a promotion. And Seto was very aware of how high conviction rates were, if Jou was sent to trial it was almost certain that he would be declared guilty. He would need a very good lawyer, and Seto didn't think he would be able to afford one.
After a moment of hesitation, Seto grabbed his phone and called his legal department, hoping that this was just going to be a wasted call.
***
Trial. He was being sent to fucking trial. It couldn't be happening. Jou had spent twenty days now, closed in a cell, in almost total isolation, being interrogated all day, had answered all of the officers' questions and now officer Dickhead Miyazawa was sending him to trial. Oh, how he wanted to kick that guy's ass.
Which probably would have been a bad idea. Jou's hand went to his face, where he was sure he had an ugly bruise.
"The odds are against you, Mr Jounouchi. You will be declared guilty."
"You can't send me to trial, you know I'm innocent as well as I do."
"Can't I? No, I think I will send you to trial and the judges will declare you guilty and send you to jail. Unless of course your boyfriend tries to bribe them. You know what the say about birds of a feather."
"And what would that mean? What's your problem with Seto, uh?"
"I have nothing personal against Mr Kaiba. However, what do you imagine the public will think once they find out the CEO of Kaiba Corp is in a relationship with a criminal? Drug dealing is the kind of crime that could benefit from the help of a rich supporter. And Mr Kaiba has been known for being a very private man, one that could have many dirty secrets. Maybe he hadn't chosen his toyboy only for his looks, but also for something else-"
And that had been about the moment Jou had started seeing red and punched Miyazawa in his ugly face. He had the feeling he could've broken him a tooth. It had been very satisfying. Until the guards had rushed in, gave him a pounding, and dragged him back to his cell. That had been two days ago. Jou realized he had done exactly what Miyazawa had wanted, provoking him until he had worsened his situation. He really needed a good lawyer.
But there was a problem there. Jou earned enough to live comfortably, but he surely didn't have that much money to spend on a lawyer. A good lawyer was expensive, and either he found the money he needed or he would be fucked. And he only had a month before the beginning of the trial, which was an awfully short time.
The door of his cell opened. "You have a visit" the guard told him. Jou blinked. It had been the first time someone had visited him since he had been arrested. He hadn't even known he could have visits. They had told him he couldn't receive any. Maybe since now he was going to trial he was allowed to?
The guard stopped in front an interrogation room. Inside, he found a surprise for him. In the room were a middle aged woman he had never seen before, and the tall, glowering form of his boyfriend, who looked at him with a glare that could make milk go rancid.
"Seto?" Jou said, blinking.
"You are an idiot" was Seto's greeting, and oh, he was mad. His boyfriend's eyes flickered towards the bruise on Jou's face, and he saw some concern in there for a second. "She" Seto said, gesturing at the woman "is Rei Sakai, she is your lawyer. Yes, I paid for her, no, I'm not hearing anything about how I shouldn't be doing this for you or whatever it is you were going to say. Now sit down, talk with her and stay out of jail." Jou hadn't seen Seto this mad with him since, well, maybe since even before they had gotten together.
"Seto, I-" he tried.
"We are not going to talk about this now. Good evening, Ms Sakai" Seto turned and walked out of the room without letting Jou finish, making the officer at the door step back in fear.
"Seto, wait a moment!" Jou said. Seto ignored him, and the door closed behind him. Damn it.
"Mr Jounouchi. Maybe we could start discussing your situation?" the lawyer's voice almost startled Jounouchi. Sakai was observing Jou with a serious gaze that made him kind of uncomfortable. She overall looked like the very definition of professionalism.
"Uh. Yeah. Is Seto really paying you?" he asked. She raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. Are there any issues with that?" were there any issues, of course there were issues! Jou had made it quite clear with Seto when they had started their relationship that he didn't want Seto to use his money for him. It wasn't that Jou wasn't grateful that Seto had found him a lawyer, on the contrary. He just hated it when Seto spent money on his behalf. It made him feel like he was using Seto, somehow.
"No, nothing" he said. Once he got out of there, he would find a way to repay Seto.
"Very well. I've read the files regarding your case, still I would rather you retold me how it went with your words" Sakai said. She sat down and a small notebook and a pen magically appeared in her hands.
"Sure" Jou grumbled. He had told his story at least a hundred times in the past weeks, and repeating it again was the last thing he wanted to do. Still, he had to. He sat too and started talking. Sakai listened carefully, taking a few notes.
"And you hadn't head contacts with Aomine since you were in that gang?" she said.
"Yeah, well, I saw him a couple times around, we went to the same high school, but then he dropped out and we didn't see each other again until now."
"How did he know where you live?" Jou shrugged.
"I dunno, maybe he followed me"
"I see" Sakai examined his notes "While there is no concrete evidence you actively helped Mr Aomine in his traffics judges may find the simple fact you kept him in your home enough proof to condemn you. What we can do is convince the judges you truly hadn't known about Aomine's crimes, that way the charges against you will be dropped. And there's also the matter of officer Miyazawa's incisors." So he had broken a tooth.
"I know, I shouldn't have done that. I just got mad" he said.
"You shouldn't have" Sakai agreed "Have you been mistreated while you were here, Mr Jounouchi?"
"I got beaten after I punched Miyazawa" he said. Sakai pursed her lips and took a note.
"The officers should have immobilized you, not beaten you. You may file an accusation for police brutality."
"I'm in no hurry to get anymore involved with the law than I already am, thank you" Jou said dryly. Sakai nodded.
"I understand. Very well, Mr Jounouchi. You will be soon transferred to a detention center until the day of your trial. I will start working on a defense line. Good evening" she said, standing up.
"Wait a moment" Jou said "I'll be allowed visits there, yes? From my sister, or from Seto at least." Sakai pursed her lips.
"Officer Miyazawa has managed to obtain a communication ban. I can try to convince the judge to lift it, but as long as it is in place you will only be allowed to talk to your lawyer. Mr Kaiba's earlier presence was already an exception to the ban" she said.
"You're kidding me!" Jou said "Why would he ban visits?"
"It's not uncommon in cases related to drug smuggling. It's meant to prevent you from hiding evidence."
"That- that-" Jou was speechless. Out of all the people who could have arrested him, he had found the biggest asshole in the entire Japanese police?
"I will see what I can do about it. Good evening" Sakai said again, before leaving the room.