Day 1

Kaiba tapped his pencil on the desk impatiently, listening to the voice on the other side of the phone.

"…I'm gonna be late tonight, so don't wait up for me ok?"

The idea of Jou getting home later than him was a mildly amusing one, but Kaiba decided to ignore it; he had work to do. "Very well. If your work was so important, then perhaps it would be best for you to return to it."

Ordinarily, Jou would respond to this by yelling that Kaiba were being an ass or something similar. This time, however, he calmly replied. "Yeah, you're right. See ya later then." And he hung up. If Kaiba hadn't been so wrapped up in the new duel disk system, he would've found such an agreeable answer strange. Instead, he hung up his desk phone and returned to looking at the charts he'd received earlier. He frowned down at one of them, and then pressed the button to page his secretary.

"I need the file on the internal circuits for the duel disk." And he went back to work.

He arrived home hours later than he'd planned; it was already nearing 11 pm. He raided the fridge for leftovers and was not disappointed. After a slightly pathetic dinner of reheated chicken and rice, Kaiba finally noticed how quiet the house was. He'd even had to turn on the kitchen light, which Jou always left for him.

Figuring that was a sign the blond had gone to bed already, Kaiba decided he should call it a night as well. He had a meeting with the Americans at 6 the next morning to attend, and he couldn't afford to be tired for it. In all honesty, he should've been glad Jou had already called it a night and hadn't stayed up to talk about his day.

He didn't turn on any lights and walked across the room to the bathroom to change and brush his teeth. He did his best to slip into bed without waking the blond, so it came as a surprise to find the bed cold.

Kaiba felt around with his hand blindly for a moment before confirming what he'd thought; he was alone. Frowning, he turned on the lamp. The other side of the bed was unrumpled, Jou's pajamas folded on top of the sheets as they had been left this morning. Kaiba flipped over and checked the clock. 12:10 am.

After a few confused seconds, the brunet remembered the call he'd received from Jou earlier. So the dog hadn't been joking when he said he'd have to work late. For once, Kaiba had beaten the blond home.

He lay back down and shut off the light. Jou was entitled to work late if he needed to; after all, how many times had Kaiba subjected him to the same thing? Feeling slightly calmer, Kaiba shut his eyes and allowed himself to drift to sleep.

Day 2

Americans annoyed him. They spoke too loudly and laughed too often. He gritted his teeth and bared with it, trying to not display his annoyance through the video feed. The meeting had gone on for an extra hour than it should have, and now the CEO was late to his inspection of the new duel disks. His stomach growled angrily at him as he walked down to the lab, protesting the fact he hadn't eaten anything all day.

All in all, he was in an extremely bad mood during his inspection and had most likely acted unfairly toward his employees. Regardless, there were a few fatal flaws in their designs which needed to be addressed before the product could be taken into beta testing. If he hadn't pointed them out, the testers most certainly would have. Those flaws, of course, did nothing to improve his mood that day.

Not only had he barely slept, skipped breakfast, had to speak with the Americans for more than 2 hours, and noticed issues in the new duel disks; but Jou had still not been home when he woke up. At first, he thought Jou had simply snuck both in and back out of bed without him noticing. However, further inspection revealed the pajamas hadn't moved; they were still sitting neatly folded on the side of the bed that remained untouched.

This fact upset Kaiba greatly, and he found himself worrying over the blond while he ate some much needed food. Finally, he gave in and dialed the number Jou had called from the day before.

A woman answered. "Hello?"

"I would like to speak with Jounouchi Katsuya." He didn't have the patience for pleasantries.

"Hold." The phone was clearly placed on a table, because Kaiba could still hear slight background noises. How unprofessional. One would think a large car company would at least have some kind of hold music. There was a rustle, indicating the woman on the other side had returned.

"I'm sorry, but he's very busy at the moment. Can I take a message?"

Ok, so he was still at work. "No." Kaiba hung up. He knew better than to judge; he had pulled more than one all-nighter in his career. Satisfied that Jou was alive and well, Kaiba once again resumed his work.

He ended up staying late at work again, not arriving home until quarter after 11. Knowing there were no more leftovers in the fridge, he stopped for take-out, being sure to get enough for the next day as well.

He was quiet when he arrived home, not turning on too many lights or making much noise. Kaiba knew all too well how tired Jou would be after working two days straight. He hoped the blond remembered to ask for the next day off; he would need it to sleep.

But upon walking into their room, he once again discovered it devoid of the blond. He flicked on the light to double check. Sure enough, the pajamas were still there. Still folded. Still untouched.

Worry gnawed at him, and he grabbed his phone and called Jou's cell. Sure, this wasn't quite as long as the longest Kaiba himself had spent at the office before, but the blond wasn't Kaiba; he'd never stayed so long. It wasn't healthy.

"…Hello?" A sleepy voice answered.

"Jounouchi. Where are you?"

The blond paused for a strangely long time before responding. "Work." That was all he said. No explanation.

"You've been there since yesterday morning?"

"…They have showers and changes of uniforms here, Kaiba." As if that were what he was concerned about.

"Have you slept?"

"…"

"You know it's bad to neglect your health." Like he was one to talk.

"You're one to talk, Moneybags." Kaiba sighed. If Jou were still able to call him by silly names, then he was fine.

"Don't stay too much longer." He hoped it didn't sound like he was begging. He wasn't. Kaibas – especially Kaiba Seto – don't beg.

"This is a really important project, Kaiba. They're trusting me to design…" He drifted off. Then, as if realizing what he was being trusted to do, he spoke again. "I have to get back to work. Don't worry about me, ok?"

Who was he to deny Jounouchi's desire to prove himself in the business world? "…Ok." The line went dead. The mutt had actually hung up on him. Was this how Jou felt whenever he worked too long? It really sucked.

Day 3

Waking up alone was really the worst. Kaiba was amazed he'd been able to do it for almost 23 years of his life. It wasn't until Jou that he'd started sleeping with a person beside him. How little time it had taken him to get used to it; barely 4 years.

They'd run into each other after Kaiba graduated from an American university and returned to Japan. He'd simply been walking down the street one day, and accidentally walked into the blond. Forgetting where he was for a moment, he apologized in English. Naturally, Jou had looked confused to be spoken to in the language. They recognized each other, and in an uncharacteristic display of forgiveness, Jou asked him to grab coffee and catch up.

He'd surprised himself by accepting the offer, and before he knew it, the two of them were sitting across from each other drinking coffee and talking. Jou had actually apologized for being a jerk in high school, and Kaiba found himself apologizing as well. Conversation flowed easily from there.

Jou had told him about Yuugi travelling around for international dueling tournaments before starting college. According to the blond, Kaiba's former rival was planning to take over his grandfather's game shop as soon as he graduated. Kaiba wasn't surprised at that, or at the knowledge Yuugi was now engaged to that Anzu girl they had gone to school with.

He'd already known all about Otogi's business since leaving America – let it never be said that a Kaiba is behind on a potential rival's activities – but learned that the creator of Dungeon Dice Monsters had hired Jou's friend, Honda, as the head of his security. He'd idly wondered if he could use that knowledge to his benefit, and quickly ruled it out when Jou mentioned that same head of security was now married to his sister, Shizuka.

Most interesting, of course, was the news that Jou himself had graduated with a college degree. Apparently motivated to get out of the neighborhood he'd grown up in, the blond had decided to go into the automobile industry in the hopes of designing the next generation of sports cars. He'd gotten a degree in design, and doodled a picture on a napkin when Kaiba asked for proof. It turned out the puppy wasn't a bad artist at all, and Kaiba had kept the napkin in his wallet since then.

They met up again a few weeks later for drinks; the blond wanted to celebrate being accepted to work at Suzuki. The whole gang was there – Honda spent the night joking he should work for Honda instead – and Kaiba actually had fun.

It was a good thing he'd made friends with Jou and Yuugi, because Mokuba announced that he, too, would be leaving to go to school abroad. Within a year of Kaiba's return to Japan, Mokuba had left to finish high school and college in Germany. Kaiba had been incredibly lonely, and ended up calling the blond.

They went out for drinks again, just the two of them this time, and Kaiba had drunk more than he'd planned. Apparently, Mokuba's disappearance bothered him more than he'd thought, because the next thing he knew, Jou was helping him into his bed. He didn't know what made him do it, maybe it was that Jou had grown into himself and become really attractive, maybe it was because the blond was helping him more than anyone who hadn't been his flesh and blood had before, or maybe it was because he was finally starting to understand the hatred he thought he'd felt in high school had actually been misinterpreted attraction. Either way, he'd pulled Jou down onto the bed with him and kissed him.

Jou later told him it was the worst kiss he'd ever had; Kaiba even missed half his lips. Yet for some reason, the blond didn't push him away and they started spending more and more time together. Soon, Kaiba got up the courage to repeat the action sober. They'd been together since.

Kaiba lay his head on his desk in resignation. He couldn't focus on his own work when the blond was still off doing his. If this was the universe's way of saying he shouldn't leave Jou in favor of work so often, then it had gone too far. It had only been two nights without him, but Kaiba missed the blond. He missed going to sleep next to him and waking up the next morning still beside him. It felt safe, secure. Waking up alone was cold.

In fact, the CEO's insecurities he never knew existed were starting to surface. If he hadn't called Jou the night before, he would've been convinced the other were leaving him. As it was, he'd already called the other's work number again, only to be told by the same woman that he was still busy.

He glanced up at the clock, an action he'd been doing more and more lately. It was 8 pm. He'd barely done a full day's work, he'd been so worried. Deciding to call it a night, he headed home with the hopes Jounouchi would already be there.

Day 4

Of course he was wrong. Jou hadn't been there when he got home the night before, and he wasn't there when he woke up the next morning. Kaiba's employees had started to notice he was in a bad mood and they were avoiding him in the hallways. Not that Kaiba cared. Let the fools avoid him if they wanted, they weren't who he wanted to see anyways.

After another horrible inspection on the duel disk system – the imbeciles had only fixed half the problems he'd mentioned the first time – Kaiba once again called the blond's work place.

"Hello?" Same damn woman.

"Jounouchi Katsuya." He knew she'd recognize his voice.

"I'm sorry, sir, but he told me he wouldn't be accepting any calls today." Damn him.

He had a trick up his sleeve, however, one that would get him instantly connected to whoever he wished to speak to.

"This is Kaiba Seto. Connect me to Jounouchi Katsuya." He was being unfairly short with her, but he didn't care. He needed to speak with Jou. Now.

She paused. "Hold." Good. Now she'd do what he asked.

She was gone longer this time than the first few times he'd spoken with her. He strummed his fingers across his desk impatiently, waiting for her return. Finally, a rustling announced it.

"I'm sorry, sir, but he said he could not speak with you." His blood pressure rose exponentially.

"Did I not make my identity clear? I am Kaiba Seto."

"Yes, sir. He said he wasn't taking any calls, even from the Prime Minister himself." She sounded nervous. Like he cared. "Would you like to leave a message?"

He had a death grip on the phone by this point. "Tell that mutt I expect to see him after work today if he values his current lifestyle." Then he slammed the phone down onto the receiver.

He figured the woman wouldn't understand the meaning behind his words, but, even if she did, he couldn't be bothered to care. If Jou wanted to stay in this relationship, he would be home by the time Kaiba finished work an apology ready on his lips. Of that, the CEO was sure.

Day 5

Kaiba arrived at work looking dazed. He was wearing the same suit he had worn the day before, having fallen asleep in it. He barely registered the alarmed look on his secretary's face when he announced he wouldn't be attending any meetings that day. He just went into his office and slammed the door behind him before sinking into his chair without turning his computer on.

Jou hadn't returned the night before. He wasn't there when Kaiba got home, and he never arrived even though the brunet had waited up for him till 2 am before passing out. When Kaiba woke up the next morning to see the same damn pajamas untouched, he'd flipped out and went straight to work.

Today was Friday. He'd wanted to take Jou out to a nice dinner tonight as a celebration of finally getting to design his first car. He figured the blond would be done working by that point; even Kaiba himself had never spent more than 3 straight days working in the office. He'd thought the threat from yesterday would've been enough to scare the blond out of his trance and get him home where he belonged. It hadn't worked.

The insecurities he'd been feeling before returned full force, and Kaiba found himself wondering if Jou really was leaving him. After all, he hadn't been phased by the thought of the relationship ending. Perhaps that was because he'd already ended it in his mind…?

Not liking where this train of thought was going, Kaiba finally booted his computer. He was obsessing over this and it wasn't healthy. He'd been the workaholic for so long, he'd never thought there was such thing as working too hard. Now he wasn't so sure.

His computer was taking too long to boot, so he angrily scrounged through his drawers trying to find a deck of cards, a book, something – anything – to distract his thoughts. In the bottom right, he found something that could work. It was an unopened flask of whiskey, something left by Mokuba as a joke once upon a time. It didn't seem so funny now.

Glancing at his computer, he saw it was still booting. Without further thought on the matter, Kaiba opened the flask and began to drink.

Apparently jokes come in twos, because Kaiba found a second flask after finishing his first. He hadn't been chugging it, per say, but he was drinking it quite fast for someone who had once again skipped breakfast. In fact, he wasn't sure if he'd even eaten dinner the night before; he'd been so worried about the blond. His computer had long since booted, but Kaiba wasn't paying attention to it, instead devoting his attentions to the file cabinets about the room.

It was barely noon by the time he was fully drunk. He'd drained both flasks of whiskey, and was debating whether or not his secretary would get him a third. He was reading her file at the moment, trying to decide if she was too stuck up to condone drinking at work. It was highly probable she was.

At that moment, he received a page. "Mr. Kaiba?"

He struggled to find the button to answer it. Dammit, when had he installed a second false button? "…Yes." He didn't think he slurred that too much.

"There's someone here to see you sir."

"What did I…tell you? Nobody is to see…me." It was taking him too long to remember what he was talking about. Damn, speaking was hard. Why had he never noticed that before?

"He says it's urgent, sir."

"Dammit! Listen! Nobody!" No response. "You hear?"

There was a shuffling outside his room, but Kaiba paid it no mind. She would keep people from entering, or she would be fired.

"…Sir are you alright?"

He decided she would not allow him to drink at work. Somehow she knew he was. He should just fire her now. He didn't even realize he was pressing the button still. "…Damn woman…" He muttered, his eyes beginning to close.

Kaiba was tired. The last time he'd had a decent night sleep was four nights ago, when Jou was still by his side. Since he'd been gone, Kaiba had been tossing and turning trying in vain to get comfortable. It didn't make for very restful sleep.

The shuffling outside grew louder until his door slammed open. "Sir! You cannot enter…" His secretary's voice trailed off. "Mr. Kaiba! Are you ok?!" Her voice grew indignant. "Sir! Do not close the door on me! Mr. Kaiba –!" And then she was cut off by the slamming of the door. Kaiba was glad for the silence.

"Damn, Kaiba, what happened to you?" He knew that voice. Slowly, Kaiba raised his head.

Jou was standing in front of him wearing the dress shirt and pants he'd had on when he left the house on Monday. Both the shirt and pants were wrinkled, and he had large bags under his eyes. His unshaved cheeks were pale and gaunt, and his body looked slimmer, as if he'd lost a lot of weight in a short time frame. The blond hair Kaiba had grown so fond of was drooping down across Jou's forehead, which was wrinkled in a frown.

"…You look like shit."

"Nice to see you too, Kaiba. You're not looking too good yourself." Jou took a few steps forward. "Are you…Is that…Are you drinking?" He sounded worried. Preposterous. The blond would have to care to look worried.

"Why are you here, Jounouchi?"

The subject in question shifted uncomfortably on his feet before answering. "I got your message."

"Hn."

"…So I came right over."

"I left that message…yesterday. I'd say it's too late now…"

Fear laced itself through the honey brown eyes. "…What?"

Kaiba didn't answer.

"Kaiba, I didn't get that message until today. I was busy working, I lost track of time." He was talking too fast, it was hard to keep up.

"Shut up." Kaiba lay his head down on his desk. "Just shut up." He closed his eyes. Damn he was tired.

Footsteps announced Jou's approach, and a few seconds later he felt a cool hand on his forehead. "Jesus, Kaiba. What happened to you?" His voice was so close; he could feel Jou's breath on his cheek.

"…You didn't…come home…" Talking was difficult.

Jou didn't respond to that at first. "Come on," he said finally, before grabbing Kaiba's arm and slinging it over his shoulder. Kaiba didn't help, but Jou managed to pull him up and supported him as he walked out. The CEO barely registered Jou telling his secretary he was talking Kaiba home before he passed out.

A thousand elephants. That was what Kaiba assumed was marching across his brain the moment he woke up. He felt as though he were hit by a ton of bricks and abandoned in the desert without water. He opened his eyes. It was too bright.

As if sensing what he needed, a hand appeared before his eyes holding a large glass of water. He took it, and then accepted the small white pills offered as well. "What's this?" He managed.

"Ibuprofin. Take it; you'll feel better." He didn't argue.

"Turn off the lights."

"They aren't on."

"Then close the blinds. It's too bright." There was a rustling of sheets, and then the room was covered in mostly darkness.

"What time is it?" He didn't feel much like turning his head.

"9 pm." Jou's face swum into view, and they stared at each other a few moments. "What possessed you to get drunk before noon on a work day?" The blond finally broke the silence. Kaiba didn't feel too much like answering, so Jou continued. "I mean you go on and on about the integrity of your company, and yet there you were intoxicated in broad daylight."

As if he needed to be told it was a stupid idea. "I don't need to hear this."

"Apparently, you do." Kaiba opened his eyes – when had he closed them in the first place? – and found Jou straddling him, face closer than expected. "Listen, Seto." His voice grew softer. "You can't just self-destruct like that. I didn't know what to do when I saw you…" He looked genuinely concerned.

"Idiot. It was your fault in the first place."

"My fault? Is this because of that stupid message? Kaiba," his last name returned, "you knew I was busy. They trusted me with the design of the new sports car. It was a last minute thing; the original design was denied, and the guy quit. I wasn't gonna not take the offer." He was starting to get upset. Good.

"You chose to stay at work all week, after complaining non-stop about me working too late one night…" He was baiting the blond.

"The design is due Monday! What do you want from me?" It was working. "And you work late all the time!" Unfortunately, the blond's tone of voice was painful.

"Quiet down, my head hurts."

"Oh I'm sorry! How dare I react to you calling me a hypocrite! After all, you get to do whatever you want, but if I want to work late once –!"

"It wasn't once, it was the whole week…"

"And you get to be a drunkard in public! You know what would happen if the press got a hold of that? You'd be ruined!"

"Enough!" Kaiba finally bellowed. "I don't care what the press thinks! I don't care what anyone thinks!" Didn't he get it? Didn't he understand?

The outburst seemed to shut Jou up for a moment. That moment didn't last long. "I'll ask you once more, Kaiba. Why were you drinking?"

"I told you once already."

"Refresh my memory." He could be really dense at times.

"…I couldn't sleep."

"So you decided to use alcohol to help."

"It's hard to sleep alone."

Something seemed to finally click in the blond's thick head, his expression changing. "…You missed me."

Kaiba chose not to respond to such an idiotic observation. Jou seemed to finally be drawing his own conclusions, though, and wouldn't be stopped.

"You couldn't sleep because I wasn't there. You missed me and…" Epiphany. "…And you thought I was leaving you. You actually…missed me." Was the idiot actually tearing up at that? Sentimental mutt. It took him long enough to figure it out.

"Seto," ah so he was deemed worthy enough to be addressed by his first name again, "I'm not gonna leave you."

"…It looks like you hardly took care of yourself."

The change of conversation worked, if only for a moment. "Yeah…I kept losing track of time, you know? I would forget to eat, and I kept waking up randomly not realizing I had fallen asleep. I didn't even know what day it was until Suki came up and asked me if I had called you back last night. I didn't even know I had a message…"

"It better not happen again," was all Kaiba had to say.

Jou settled down next to Kaiba, and the brunet felt the familiar weight of the other's arm drape itself across his chest. His breathing slowed down and his eyes grew heavy; he could do with a good sleep after the week's craziness.

"It won't," Jou's voice sleepily mumbled into his ear. "As long as you promise not to scare me like that again."

Kaiba smiled to himself, allowing his eyes to drift shut. "I promise."

AN: The ending seems a bit rough to me. Let me know if you think so too.