About this story:

1. It is set after the events of the anime, after Jack has been crowned duel king.

2. It is shonen ai, Jack x Kazama (Kaz).

1. Valentine's Day Surprise

"Happy Valentine's Day, Mikage!"

Kazama looked over his shoulder at his pretty superior with the big bouquet of red roses sitting on her desk. Her cheeks were flushed a crimson that was nearly as bright as the flowers. "Ushio, you shouldn't have!"

Turning back to the arrest report he was filling out, Kazama couldn't help thinking that she put just a little more emphasis on shouldn't than was absolutely necessary—or perhaps just enough? He felt inexplicably annoyed as he considered the reason she always rebuffed Ushio. It was her obvious and long-standing crush on Jack Atlas.

He sighed as he heard the inevitable sound of footsteps coming in his direction. A hand clapped on his left shoulder.

Oh. That explained his annoyance.

"Kaz, let's take a coffee break. You're due."

"I'm not done with this report. Can I just—"

"How much longer?"

A sigh. "No more than ten minutes." At least he'd have time to compose himself.

He didn't really enjoy this at all. He didn't like feeling annoyed; it wasn't like him at all. He was known for being upbeat and helpful and he liked himself that way. Still, why did he have to be Ushio's sounding board? Ushio would want him to take his side against Jack, but Jack was a good friend. He was so frustrated that it took a little longer than usual to finish up the report and file it, but he didn't mind putting off Ushio's venting just a little longer. Perhaps it would give him a little time to cool down and prepare himself at least.

"I know it's all because of that Atlas! She's still mooning over him. Why him?!" Ushio shoved a cup of coffee into Kazama's hand and turned around, continuing to rant. Kaz juggled the cup to avoid being splattered by the sloshing liquid. "How on earth did she become so enamored of that arrogant bastard?!"

"Well, you have to admit, he has done a lot for this city—"

But even as Ushio cut him off, Kaz realized that might be just the problem. Ushio thought he'd never measure up no matter what he did.

"So has she. She's always looked out for him, and he's not even given him one word of thanks!"

"I suppose not," he said, thinking, although for a while it was sort of her job. Jack's just the sort of person who would resent that sort of thing.

"And he's a kid, or at least he was when she met him. I just don't understand it!"

"Uh, Ushio, maybe you should stop focusing on your competition? Have you thought maybe if you just thought about—"

"But don't you see, whenever I do things for her, she throws him back in my face?"

"She didn't even mention him this time."

"It was in her tone of voice," he grumbled.

"I know you don't like him, but try looking at it this way. He's shown no interest in her at all, right?"

"I guess not."

"You know not, right?"

Ushio sullenly let out a "right," and Kaz went on, "Then, all you need is patience and opportunity. If you're really set on Mikage, hang in there!"

"Opportunity," Ushio repeated thoughtfully. "You know, you're right. With Jack being champion now, maybe he'll finally get a girlfriend! Gee, Kaz, you're always so optimistic about everything! Who are you dating, anyway? They must love that about you. Here I've been ranting on about my woes and—"

Kaz smiled wistfully and said, "I don't have anyone right now."

"You don't?" Ushio seemed surprised.

"No, I—" He stopped, wondering why he didn't. After he'd broken up with his last girlfriend, he'd just not been interested in getting another right away and sort of let it slide. "You know," he admitted, "I'm not sure why. I just don't right now."

"Gee, Kaz, what's wrong with you? I need to set you up with someone right away."

"You can't even wait until you have someone? You really don't have to do that for me you know."

"No, it's a great idea!" He headed out the door. Soon he heard Ushio's singsong voice in the distance, "Oh, Mikage …"

… and he thought, Uh-oh.

Of course, not only did he have to put up with Ushio's harangue, he had to deal with an interrogation from Mikage a little later on. Why was Valentine's Day the day that he had to catch up on paperwork?

"You know Atlas-sama well, don't you?"

"Actually, I'm certain that you know him much better than I do. You were assigned to his personal detail, weren't you?" Kaz was surprised that he didn't blush, saying that.

"Yes, but he was … well, you know Atlas-sama. He's rather reserved."

"Jack told me that he doesn't want to let any personal entanglements get in the way of his goal to become the top duelist."

"But he's been on top for a while now," complained Mikage. "I would have thought that he would have chosen someone by now."

Kaz tried to suppress a laugh. "That would be convenient for all his fangirls, wouldn't it?"

She sighed. "At least we wouldn't have to keep waiting and hoping."

"I guess."

Kaz sat, aimlessly stirring his coffee to have something to do. He wished she'd stop talking to him. Realistically, Kaz thought Mikage didn't really have much of a shot of ever being more than a friend to Jack, given that she was once sort of a "keeper" who answered to Godwin, although her heart was in the right place. But even if her hope was faint, it existed. She at least knew Jack, which was more than many of his fans could say.

There was something about this train of thought that bothered him a great deal more than he thought it should. But before he could figure out the reason, Mikage was speaking again. "Kaz? When you see him, does he ever talk about me? Does he ask how I am?"

"Huh?" he said, startled out of his reverie. "Um, no, he mentions his 'fangirls' as a group sometimes. Sometimes he talks about 5D's or Yusei, his competition, the league …" Mostly he talked about himself. That was Jack.

"Oh," she said with a hint of disappointment. "You know, Kaz, I wish I was close to Atlas-sama like you. He might see me then."

"'See' you?"

"Come to understand and feel, well, affection for me."

"Ah. See you. I get it."

"Oh, uh, Ushio said something about setting up a blind date for you," Mikage said, blushing a little. "Is that OK with you, or is Ushio just running off on his own again?"

"Um, I guess it would be all right—if you know of someone suitable," Kaz said hesitantly. "I just don't know. I haven't really felt in the mood to find someone lately for some reason."

"Why not? Are you feeling all right?"

"I feel OK," he said. "It's just … maybe I'm getting bored. The ladies I've dated up until now … There's just something lacking. Maybe some excitement?" He shrugged. "I didn't even think about it until Ushio mentioned it, but now that he mentioned it, it seems as though I don't want to go through all that trouble when it's all so disappointing."

"I'm not sure what you're saying. Can you tell me what you're looking for? Someone mysterious, maybe?"

Kaz frowned. "No, that's not it. I really don't know." He shrugged again. "I guess I'll know it when I see it?"

Mikage laughed and patted Kaz' hand. "I never took you for the fussy type. But that's good. Maybe it means that you'll find your true love!"

"Says the one who's holding out for the best!" Kaz laughed.

"I guess so," she admitted. "Well, I'll see what I can do."

Mikage left the room seeming a little cheerier than she entered. Kaz looked after her, thinking that all this talk about his own life had left him feeling a little more melancholy. Having those two insist on talking about his love life had brought a little dark cloud over him that he wanted to get rid of as soon as possible. Plus, they both wanted to talk about Jack in difficult ways. Jack would never do what Mikage wanted, and Ushio would always be jealous of him, no matter how much he respected him.

Paperwork done, Kaz decided to go out for a nice long ride to clear his head and lift his mood.

His shift over, paperwork finally complete, Kaz cruised the highways and streets. As always, the blast of wind against his body as he sped over the pavement refreshed him. Feeling much more positive, he allowed his thoughts to drift back to Mikage and Ushio. Why had all that bothered him so much? After all, it really had nothing to do with him. Was it that it had something to do with Jack? He considered that for a bit.

Even though Ushio was undeniably jealous of Mikage's interest in Jack, it was unlikely that he'd do anything to hurt Jack as a result. He was far too good an officer.

Mikage? People in love—both men and women—could be driven to extreme lengths, after all, and Mikage refused to give up on Jack despite his giving her no encouragement whatsoever that Kaz could discern. But Mikage wasn't the type, was she? She had always seemed the type to think about what was best for Jack first. She was probably actually the best kind of partner for him, he thought ruefully. It's probably too bad that he doesn't notice her, he thought.

Kaz wondered about Jack then. Now that he's reached his goal, is he dating? He hadn't mentioned it. Of course, Jack had always been rather quiet about personal matters, so it wouldn't be surprising if he were dating and it just hadn't come up.

With that, the comm on his D-wheel crackled.

"Calling available unit to 1158 Market Street. Proceed with caution. Caller reports a duel followed by a fight, still in progress."

Even though Kaz was off-duty, the address was nearby, so he acknowledged the call and headed to Market. When he arrived, he could still hear the sounds of a fight in progress.

Kaz dismounted his D-wheel and approached the incident with caution. This neighborhood had been gaining a reputation lately for cheating unwary duelists out of their cards. He shook his head, thinking that it wasn't a surprise that someone finally got fed up with the situation.

With that, a young man wearing a duel disk came hurtling out of the window in front of Kaz. For a second they stared at each other, frozen, then Kaz said, "Hold it right there, I need to talk—"

But the man leapt forward, swiping at Kaz and pushing him to the side before he could be stopped. "Damn," Kaz said, pulling out his communicator to call for backup. As he did, he noticed blood running down his arm. Well, I do need the backup, he thought. The guy had a knife and I didn't even feel it.

After calling, He ripped his torn sleeve into a makeshift bandage and tied it around his wounded arm. Then he reached for the door only to have it flung open in his face.

"Kaz?" The man in front of him, chest heaving from exertion, was none other than Jack Atlas. He was wearing his duel disk, his clothing dirtied and torn. "Where's that guy?"

"I-I'm afraid he got away," Kaz said, stunned. He hadn't seen Jack in months, not since he'd been crowned King of the riding duel. What was he doing here? Kaz felt totally unprepared to see him. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." He looked Kaz over and said, "What do you mean am I all right? What about you? I do have some thieves for you to haul in, though."

"What? You're the—" groaned a voice from inside.

"Don't give me that, miscreant!" Jack bellowed, turning and brandishing a fist. "I've got witnesses!" Turning back, he said in almost gentle tones, "What happened? It was that guy who got away, wasn't it? Just wait! Which way did he run? I'll—"

Kaz laid a hand on Jack's arm, catching his attention. "Jack, stop. What's all this about?" he asked.

"I came into town and Carly tipped me off to the rash of cheating duels out here. I decided to put an end to it."

"All right. I've called it in," said Kaz. "But once this is cleared up, we're having a talk."

"What about?"

Kaz smiled ruefully. "Your vigilantism. Don't worry about it," he said, clapping a hand on Jack's shoulder. "But first, let's take care of these guys."

Kaz walked in and saw about a dozen guys lying on the floor. "You took care of all these yourself," he said.

"Of course."

Well, it was fewer than was in the D-wheel gang, at least.

Author's notes ...

Why Justiceshipping? Mostly because I think this pairing is a natural. Plus, "having a cop boyfriend is just hot," as a friend PM'd me (you know who you are!). ;) Why does it not get more love? Or is it just me ...? (Or me plus one or two others?)

I fear this story didn't turn out nearly so wonderful as I'd intended, but, after all, it's my first attempt at Justiceshipping and I've been taking runs at it for months. You should see the horrible wreckage that represents my failed attempts ... or, rather, not. It really is horrible crapola. Be glad I didn't post any of them. Be very glad. ;) What I ended up with is a little adventure & a little romance ... I hope. I expect it to run less than ten modest chapters. If the spirit moves, please leave feedback in the form of a review or PM to let me know how I've done.

I wonder whether this story will only attract a handful of readers. No matter! I hope you will enjoy it!

And now, a preview of chapter 2:

"Jack, I don't understand." Kaz looked at him seriously now, the setting sun infusing Jack's blond hair with fire. "I got a distress call."

"I am in distress, Kaz," Jack said quietly, taking a step toward him.

"You … what?"

Honest, this probably isn't exactly what you expect, but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway!