Unfinished Gems

Sands of Time - 12

Jounouchi didn't know whether to thank Lotus or hate her. Mostly because the training she put him through was worse than any brawl he got into while with Hirutani's gang.

However even he could tell he was getting stronger by the day, and they were nice about healing him up after training so no one would know he was getting his ass kicked daily.

And that was before he found out what some of the benefits were.

Some time later...

Jounouchi looked at the bills and stared. This couldn't be right...the bill was way too low.

He called the landlord while his dad was out.

"Wait. Someone paid the back rent?" he asked incredulously.

"Some foreign man came and paid the whole thing, in cash. The bills were good, so your account is currently even," said the landlord.

Jounouchi, when he hung up, went straight to the museum. After meeting Lotus, any time the word 'mysterious foreign benefactor' came up, he immediately thought of her.

Her smile when she saw him all but confirmed it.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because the last thing that you need to worry about is overdue bills that are no fault of your own. Coincidentally, you should be getting a call from your sister soon as well," she replied. Seeing his expression and knowing his type didn't take well to charity (cough Ron cough) she gave him a flat look. "Before you say anything, I did this for a very specific purpose."

"And what's that?" demanded Jounouchi.

"Leverage. Specifically, I'm removing the leverage others will have over you to use against Yugi and the spirit inside the Puzzle."

"I...what?" said Jounouchi, baffled.

Lotus went into her lecturing stance.

"It's not uncommon for corrupt businessmen or those in general who have more money than morals to use the wealth against others. Especially if they perceive the other party is weaker financially."

"Like someone taking out a loan from someone only for the loan shark to show up with heavies demanding repayment in a really short time period," said Jounouchi. He was all too familiar with that.

"Exactly. However, their leverage over you and by extension Yugi weakens a great deal if there is no actual debt to hold over you. This is doubly true when you have someone in your immediate family who is in need of medical help, but the cost is too high for you to pay off in one lump sum," said Lotus.

"So you paid off my dad's bills and for Shizuka's surgery...for Yugi?"

"More specifically it was to curtail any future leverage to be held against you or the others in exchange for your 'help' in retrieving the Puzzle," clarified Lotus.

That seemed to settle Jounouchi's pride enough not to try and give back the money. Lotus knew it would have likely worked on Ron. She found it rather telling he didn't bother to follow the twins, when even Hermione and Luna managed it.

"What do you want from me in return?"

"Simple. Do your best in training and stay by Yugi's side."

"That's it?" said Jounouchi incredulously.

"I didn't pay off the debts or your sister's surgery because I wanted something. I did it to insure no one would use it against you to get to Yugi. He's going to have enough headaches as it is. Besides, this way you have no distractions from your training."