Let's Change All of That

Summary: After Jou lands in the hospital because of his abusive father, Seto comes to visit his unconscious rival. Will this bloom into something more? Will Seto eventually tell Jou how he feels the moment Jou wakes up?

By: Klyukaizer

"Teenage multi-billionaire and CEO of Kaiba Corporation."

The citizens of Domino would know him this way.

"Smart and hot!"

The girls in Domino High would know him this way.

"Rich. Snob. Stuck-up."

The boys in Domino High would know him this way.

"A good opponent."

His Duel Monsters opponents would know him this way.

"The best brother in the whole world!"

Mokuba Kaiba would know him this way.

But only one of them… had a different answer to them all.

"He's such a jerk that he actually makes fun of me and calls me names and stuff! He's such a rich idiot and all he ever does is work and tap around all day in his laptop that he's got Moneybags under his eyes! Seto Kaiba's a jerk and will always stay that way! Although I can see that he's actually kind towards his younger brother. It would be better if he's like that towards everyone."

An answer that Seto Kaiba, himself, didn't expect hearing. An answer that Seto Kaiba didn't mind hearing. An answer that came from one of Seto Kaiba's rivals…

Katsuya Jounouchi.

"Mokuba! Where are you!" A scream was heard coming from one of the Kaiba Mansion's rooms. "Onii-san, I-I'm at the hospital." Mokuba Kaiba was sobbing at the other end of the phone line. "What!" Seto Kaiba exclaimed.

His brother was spending that night at Yugi Mutou's house and Seto was actually surprised when his brother suddenly called and was already crying at the other end. "Tell me what happened, Mokuba. Are you hurt?" Seto panicked as he stood from his seat, grabbing his coat and was ready to leave. "I-It's not me, Onii-san. It's-"

Seto suddenly stopped at his tracks and felt his coat slipping through his fingers and dropping to the ground when he heard the next words coming from Mokuba's voice.

"It's Jou, onii-san… h-he's in a coma!"

One Shot – A Night Gone Horribly Wrong…
It had been 2 days and 3 nights since Katsuya Jounouchi was hospitalized. He was found by both Yugi Mutou and Mokuba Kaiba on the front porch of Kame Game Shop all bloodied and was a total mess. Luckily, both boys were quick enough to call for an ambulance and the blonde duelist was instantly brought to the hospital. But still, the condition was far too severe and thus, brought Jounouchi in a coma.

Witnesses from Jounouchi's neighborhood were questioned and all of them clearly stated (as well as proved) that it was because of the boy's abusive father who had been repeating the agenda over and over again for quite some time now. None of them had the courage to speak until now… Katsuya Jounouchi didn't want them to get involved. The blonde teen didn't want his neighbors to deal with his father as well.

To the eyes of the witnesses, Katsuya Jounouchi was truly an angel…

And on that night, sirens and police officers surrounded the Jounouchi apartment, dragging out a drunk man who refused to go with them in his own will.

A knock came into Seto's senses as he looked back to see his brother walking up to him. "Onii-san… h-he'll be alright… Jounouchi-kun will be alright…" Mokuba comforted his brother, although it was clear that his tears were running down from his eyes now. Seto looked at his now sobbing brother emotionlessly, his eyes filled with the emptiness and hollowness of guilt. He felt small arms wrapping around him and was startled when Mokuba cried freely on his elder brother's chest.

"Onii-san, please snap out of it! Jounouchi-kun will come back! I'm sure he will!" Mokuba cried. "Please, onii-san! You have to come back so that he'll come back too!"

Seto looked at Mokuba's weeping figure and then to Jou's motionless body. He couldn't help but stare at all the wounds covering the blonde teen. His head was wrapped up tightly in white bandages, his entire face looked like it had been slammed to the wall for countless times and his chest looked like it had been hit with a bat, or maybe even more. Cuts, scrapes and scratches were visible in Jou's minor body parts and pain was etched all over Jou's expression.

It was as if Seto could feel the pain himself as well.

"Onii-san!" Seto snapped out of his trance as he looked back to his younger brother. "Onii-san, you have to be strong for Jou. You have to be strong." The black-haired boy whimpered as he finally buried his face on his brother's lap.

"Jou…" The CEO whispered. How could things happen this quickly? He remembered talking to the blonde at school a few hours before this whole "accident" happened.

"Please, Onii-san! I want to go to Yugi's house! Besides, Jounouchi-kun will be there!" Mokuba begged, dropping to his knees and clasping his palms together in a praying manner. "Come on, Kaiba. Don't be such a jerk and just allow the kid to have some fun. It's just one night. What could possibly go wrong at Yugi's house?" Jou had said with a huge grin.

"You. That's what, mutt. I don't want you infecting your bad manners towards my brother." Seto snapped, pointing accusingly towards Jou's face. "As much as I like to admit that, Kaiba. You are more ill mannered than I am. But, I guess I'll let that slide since you're brother is here." Jou smirked, leaving the brunet to snarl at the comment. "Fine. You can go." Seto finally gave up and sighed out loud as Mokuba jumped up with a "Yay!" and ran towards Yugi.

Seto grumbled silently as he turned around and Jou obviously saw this. "Don't worry, Kaiba. I'll take care of him. I'll take full responsibility and protect him with my life." Jou said sarcastically at his last point, making Seto glare at him more. "You better. I'll be there to pick him up early in the morning tomorrow." Seto snapped and brushed the end of his coat snobbishly and turned to leave when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Why don't you join us instead?" Jou suggested, making Seto look at him for a while. "At least you won't be alone in your mansion. Besides, we barely know you, Kaiba. I don't even know how you chew your food." Jou laughed at the last comment and finally silenced when the brunet didn't laugh back with him. "And get your rabies all over me? No thanks, mutt. I rather finish these documents at home… and at peace." Seto quickly added and motioned for his briefcase.

Deep down, he wanted so much to be with the blonde that night. Truth be told, he didn't know actually how Jou would act around his friends… treating them nothing more as "friends". Jou always looked at Seto with a glare every time they engaged in a fistfight.

He was about to walk away for the second time but was stopped again when Jounouchi said, "Doesn't it hurt to be alone?" He didn't even bother answering. He strode off, with that thought running around inside his head.

"Kaiba…" Seto looked up from the seat beside Jou's hospital bed and saw Yugi. "Kaiba, you have to eat. It's been almost a week. You won't get anything out of this if you continue to make yourself suffer." Yugi whispered as he looked at the CEO helplessly. "Jou wouldn't want to see you this way, Kaiba. He always respected the fact that you always looked so strong and confident." Yugi added.

Seto was taken back at the King of Duelist's words and looked up at the shorter teen with a shocked expression. "I thought… h-he hates me." Seto muttered, but Yugi just smiled and shook his head. "He envied you…" Yugi whispered and took a chair for him to sit beside the CEO, "Do you want me to tell you more?" Yugi asked.

Seto nodded eagerly as he listened patiently to Yugi's story.

"Ow. Ow. Ow. Yugi, be more careful. It hurts you know!" Jou whined as he touched the bruise on the cheek he got from Seto Kaiba's fist. "That's what you get from picking a fight with Kaiba, Jou. You never seem to give up even though you know that Kaiba's much more powerful than you are." Yugi scolded as he pressed the cotton ball with the ointment hardly on Jou's cheek. "Ahh!" Jou winced as he closed his eyes heavily, "Yugi!" Yugi giggled as he looked at the tiny tears forming at the corner of Jou's eyes.

"But you know what, Yugi?"

"Eh?" The shorter duelist blinked.

"I envy Seto Kaiba a lot." Jou said as he pressed a cold compress on his black and blue cheek. "He seems so confident and composed even though I've been throwing all those insults at him. It's like he has an unbreakable wall of defense or something. No one can break it unless it's Mokuba or something." Jou reminisced. "And when you thought that you had actually took a slam on his defense, he acts as if he's not hurt at all and just well, fight back in his usual bold way." Jou paused, "It's different. Cause I can't seem to be so composed like that… I scream a lot and take it out on anger." Jou laughed.

"Well… I don't know if you saw it, but I think he's just hiding behind a mask." Jou added, "At first I thought that he could never understand how I feel. I mean, he's got everything that I don't. He's got the looks, the smarts, the fame and riches." Jou sighed, "Sometimes I want to have those material things."

"But it vanished when I knew that he was also like me, 'Yug. He was alone… He had no parents. No friends. No one to talk to. Our families our broken… he had Mokuba. I had Shizuka. But he's so close to Mokuba. And I'm so far away from Shizuka."

"Jou…" Yugi whispered.

"Umm… we're the same in a sense. And different in a way, you know what I'm saying?" Jou laughed nervously as Yugi blinked again. "J-Jou… a-are you telling me…"

"…Th-that you're in love with Seto Kaiba?" Yugi half-shouted. "What! 'Yug, what the heck are you imposing!" Jou blushed. "You're blushing, Jou. It's gotta mean something!" Yugi winked as Jou buried his face in embarrassment and looked away. "Mou… I hate you, Yugi!" Jou whined as he stood up and walked away, followed by a laughing Yugi.

"I've been teasing him a lot about that ever since." Yugi chuckled to himself but stopped as his voice started to fade away. "And he always blushed every time I would." Yugi whispered as he looked straightly towards the brown-haired CEO, hoping that Seto would confess about his feelings for Jou soon. Hearing nothing coming from the Kaiba, Yugi continued, "Kaiba, do you l-"

"I never hated him."

"Eh?" Yugi blinked, a smile slowly etching on his face.

"I never knew I didn't… until now…" Seto lowered his head and looked at his sweaty palms. He felt tired and dizzy all of a sudden and looked up to Yugi who seemed to be blurred in his vision. "I… I don't want to leave him alone." Was all Seto said before he finally closed his eyes and fell forward. Yugi easily caught his rival and slowly set Seto's upper body at the side of Jou's bed. Seto's head rested softly on his arms, which were folded neatly under him as Yugi laid a blanket around Seto's shoulders.

Yugi watched his friends softly snoring to dreamland for an hour or so before he heard a soft knock coming from the door. He looked as Mokuba slowly walked in. "Onii-san finally fell asleep." Mokuba smiled in relief as Yugi nodded with a smile. "Yes, so we better make him eat the moment he wakes up." Yugi said as he stood up and laid a hand on Mokuba's shoulders. "Let's go get him something." Mokuba suggested and with that, the two friends left the hospital room.

Smiling, Yugi took a look at the two duelists sleeping inside the private room and finally turned to leave the room.

Jou slowly stirred and opened his eyes as he registered everything around him, blinking a couple of times before finally seeing things clearly. Groaning, he tried moving his body but found that he could only move his legs without pain. He grumbled at that and soon realized that he wasn't alone in the room. Jou gasped as he found Seto Kaiba sleeping softly beside where his hand lay still, the CEO's hand slowly touching his. "K-Kaiba?" Jou murmured and can't help but smile that the brunet had been there for him all along.

"He's been here all the time ever since you were brought in." A nurse explained the moment she came in, startling Jou as well. "I see you're awake, Mr. Jounouchi." The nurse smiled and carefully took out the wires that were sticking to Jou's skin to monitor his heart rate. "Un." Jou nodded as he continued to look at Seto's direction. "H-How long have I… been here?" Jou asked silently as the nurse looked at the folder beside Jou's bed.

"A week and 3 days…" Jou gasped and then sighed silently, realizing that he had so much to catch up when he gets back to school. Besides, why was he thinking about school at a time like this? He thanked the nurse slowly as the woman left the room, informing the doctors that their patient was now awake.

Jou couldn't help but pant heavily as he finally sat up; he examined Seto's features silently as he frowned at the brunet's sight. "You've lost weight, Kaiba." He whispered silently, caressing his hand on Seto's hair. "What happened the whole time?" Jou blinked as he took Seto's hand to his and nuzzled it softly, feeling a tint of warmth creeping up to his cheeks.

Knock. Knock.

Jou instantly took his hands away from Seto's as he saw Yugi, Anzu and Mokuba coming in. "Jou, you're awake." Anzu silently said as she walked over to Jou's bed and hugged her friend. "Yeah." Jou simply said and returned the gesture. "Are you okay, Jou-kun? You had been sleeping for so long, we were really scared you wouldn't wake up." Mokuba whined sadly but not to loudly, hoping that he wouldn't wake his brother up.

"I'm fine. Thanks for worrying about me. But… can someone tell me what's going on in here?" Jou smiled nervously as Yugi started to explain everything from 2 weeks ago.

"Oyajii…" Jou gasped in shock as he heard the news coming from his best friend of his father's imprisonment. "Until death?" Jou trembled as he clutched some parts of the blanket that was wrapping his body. Yugi nodded softly as he looked down to his palms. "Since your 18th birthday will be coming soon, they said that you could live in with some friend's house in the meantime before you are finally allowed to live on your own." Yugi continued, "Y-You're relatives. Th-they didn't want to take you in." He saw that the shorter teen was trembling and that Anzu was close to tears, "We- we didn't want you… to go away, Jou. W-we didn't want you to be sent to an orphanage."

Jou saw the sad expressions upon Anzu and Yugi's face as he smiled appreciatively. "Thanks for handling things while I was such in a mess, guys." Jou smiled widely as Yugi and Anzu perked up. "Honestly, I didn't want to end up in a scruffy orphanage too."

"You can live with us, Jou-kun. After all, it's lonely at home with only onii-san and I." Mokuba suddenly suggested, making Jou blush at the thought. "I-I don't want to intrude." Jou laughed nervously as his three friends before him smiled mischievously.

"P-Please don't look at me like that." Jou pleaded as Anzu giggled, "You guys'll be close. Really close." The girl said, making Jou look away from Seto's sleeping figure embarrassingly. "Kaiba won't want me there. Besides, you guys haven't asked him about that yet." Jou stuttered for an excuse but Mokuba took Jou by the arm and smiled widely, "What's there to ask? Onii-san suggested it."

"Eh?" Jou gasped loudly and soon regretted it when he heard a moan coming from the CEO's sleeping figure. He cupped his mouth instinctively and saw that Yugi, Anzu and Mokuba were starting to pile out of the room. "Wh-where are you g-going?" Jou stuttered as Mokuba grinned widely, "I'm going to the restroom."

"We're going to grab some coffee." Yugi said, "Good luck, Jou." He winked, as Jou turned red all over. "Y-Y-Yugi!" Jou wailed but kept his voice as soft as possible. "Ja ne!"

Jou blinked nervously as he witnessed the CEO waking slowly. "I-Inu." The brunet gasped as if he saw a ghost as Jou greeted softly, "Kaiba…" Everything was suddenly running in slow motion when Jou felt Seto's hand touching him by the cheek gently. "Y-you're awake." Seto said. Okay, now that was lame and obvious. But what was he supposed to say? He wasn't really expecting that Jou would be looking at him like this the moment he opened his eyes.

He saw the shade of red appearing on Jou's face as the blonde faced away embarrassingly. "Y-yeah… f-for almost an hour now…" The teen stuttered and turned hot at the fact that Seto's hand was still touching his cheek. Jou took a glance towards the brunet and saw that Seto had a pained look on his face, "I… I missed you… Jou…"

Jou felt his mouth moving but no words would come out. Slowly, he reached to touch Seto's hand and trembled at the fact that Seto might mock him afterwards. "Y-Yeah… s-same here." Jou trembled, his hand on Seto's on his cheek. "You're a sight for sore eyes." The blonde closed his eyes and ran his face to the CEO's hand, his body turning hot and cold at the same time through the touch.

"Jou, I-" Seto stopped when he saw Jounouchi leaning up to him, the blonde's lips pecking shortly and softly on Seto's lips for a second. He was dazed for a moment and felt his hand dropping before he finally snapped out of it. "I- I've been in love with you… e-ever since w-we fought one day… in the lobby." Jou explained stuttering, "Wh-when you punched me… and when y-you wouldn't talk to me the whole day…"

Seto lowered his head and recalled everything. Yugi mentioned something about this moment. It must've been on that same time when Yugi and Jou talked about him. "I… I didn't want to keep it anymore… I- I didn't want to regret anything if something were to happen to me again… and I…" Jou paused when he saw no reaction coming from Kaiba, "I… I just wanted you to know… th-that I'm not going to meddle with you anymore…" Jou paused again, "…from now on."

"Baka Inu."

Jou felt a thousand bricks toppling over him as he trembled. But when he looked up, his lips were suddenly captured by Seto's in an instant, their tongues being playful at each other's. He closed his eyes slowly and kissed back, their lips making soft smacking sounds followed by the moans that escaped their muffled mouths.

"Seto-"

"Shush."

Seto roughly pushed Jou back to lie down, but not enough to hurt, and continued to kiss the blonde hungrily. They stopped for a moment when Seto took Jou's cheeks to his palms and looked into the blonde's eyes, "Don't make me worry again…" And with that, they kissed again and got into another fight for dominance. The moment they broke off, Seto could clearly see that Jou was embarrassed at what just happened, and to their current position as well, covering his lower face with the back of his hand as he looked up to Seto in a dreamy gaze.

"I don't want us to be enemies… or rivals." Seto said, "Not friends, but more than that… definitely more." Seto muttered as he nuzzled Jou's cheeks. "Let's forget about the past, Jou. Let's change all of that…"

"I… don't know what to say…" Jou lowered his voice as Seto smirked, "I'll give you a clue." Jou blinked for a while when he felt Seto's lips touching his again, then running over to his neck and down to his shoulders, realizing that Seto had rip the hospital's gown by the top. "Be mine, Jou." Seto whispered to the blonde's ear, making the blonde tremble at the touch, "I love you…"

Jou felt tears of joy at the corner of his eyes and chuckled a bit as he wiped the tears away. He pulled the brunet's head close to him and slowly whispered, "I love you too…"

"So that means Jou-kun will be living with us from now on?" Mokuba said excitedly as Seto nodded. Seto was wrapping an arm around Jou's waist as he sat beside the blonde on the hospital bed, his other feet dangling on the side of the bed. Jou was carefully sitting beside the brunet, leaning down his head on Seto's shoulder. "For as long as he likes. Even forever." Seto added softly as Jou lowered his head to feel a blush creeping up to his face.

"Stop it, Seto. You're embarrassing me." Jou said under his breath as he grinned nervously towards Yugi and the others. Yugi and Mokuba had huge grins upon their faces and Anzu was simply smiling, everything was noisy inside the hospital room when suddenly the door slammed open, revealing a panting Honda and a crying Shizuka.

"Sh-Shizuka? H-Honda?" Jou blinked and with that was jumped at by Shizuka, "Onii-san!" The young girl cried noisily as she wrapped her arms around Jou's neck tightly. "Onii-san, I'm sorry it took me so long! Mom didn't want me to come and Honda and I had trouble escaping and I-" Shizuka said quickly, making Jou blink, "Whoa. You escaped from 'Kaa-san?" Jou half-shouted disbelievingly, "Sh-Shizuka, wh-what would 'Kaa-san say?"

"I don't care. I don't care, Onii-san! As long as I can be with you!" Shizuka said, making Jou blush harder. "Why am I getting the attention all of a sudden?" He laughed nervously and saw that Honda had walked up to him, "Because you had us all worried, you idiot." Honda snapped as he whacked Jou's arm playfully, "Your Mom is so going to kill me."

Jou laughed at that comment as he smiled towards Honda, "Thanks for bringing my sister, man." Jou thanked, "Just don't think that I'm going to allow you to date her." Honda urked at that comment and Shizuka blushed tremendously, "Onii-san!" Shizuka whined. Jou laughed out loud at the two but both Honda and Shizuka decided to let it slip. "Really, man. Thanks!" The blonde grinned as Honda chuckled, smirking at his best friend afterwards, "Anytime, Jou… Anytime…"

Jou walked alongside with Seto around the hospital's garden, smiling at the fact that the patients around him were as friendly as he thought they would be. Jou first thought that the patients staying in the hospital were stubborn and miserable, thinking that them being imprisoned too long has made them that way. But somehow, he was able to meet a few good people as well as some kids who would actually duel with him.

"This feels so nice." Jou said to himself as Seto raised an eyebrow at the blonde's sudden "out-of-character"ness. "This what, pup?" Seto asked as Jou smiled wider, "Everything. I mean, I never thought people would actually care about other people as well. Staying at the hospital for a whole month has made me realize that people aren't that uncaring after all." Jou grinned as he tiptoed on an inclined floor. "Sometimes I wonder if this is really a blessing in disguise."

"Hn." Seto simply said, unable to answer his lover's statement. Silence fell between the two as Seto continued following Jou who was skipping and hopping everywhere around the bed of flowers. After a while, Seto finally said something about it, "Not all people are heartless. No one is born cruel." Jou turned around to Seto's direction and flashed a huge smile towards the brunet, "I know that. That's why I love you." The blonde simply said as he turned once again and proceeded with his skipping.

Seto was taken back at first before a blush crept up to his face. "Jou…" Seto called, but found that Jou was already far away from him. He half-ran and half-walked as Jou stopped and waited for the CEO. "Little things make a lot of differences." Jou began, "That's why… I want to help people too. It's a start. I want to be able to care for people…" Jou raised his head towards Seto's head, "…just like how you cared for me."

Jou's head slowly leaned on Seto's shoulder as the CEO looked blankly to his puppy's head. Jou had a smile upon his face as he felt the fabric of Seto's coat brushing at the side of his face. The smell, the warmth and the comfort he felt just by leaning on his love's shoulder was something he didn't complain about. It costs less, but means so much. He felt Seto's hand patting his head as Jou closed his eyes, melting into the touch.

"I love you, Seto… so much that I've thought of nothing else but to make you smile." Jou said as he leaned in comfortably at the touch. "Likewise, puppy…" Seto whispered, "I love you too." Jou had a smile as he closed his eyes and nuzzled his cheek on Seto's shoulder when he suddenly felt a tug on his pajamas. Looking down, he saw a familiar brunet girl holding a brown teddy bear, a patient whom Jou met in the hospital.

"Jou-niisan." The girl called as she smiled towards the blonde teen. "Konnichiwa, Sara-chan." Jou smiled as he broke from Seto's embrace and knelt beside Sara. "Jou-niisan, isn't he Seto Kaiba whom we saw on TV?" The girl pointed as she hugged her teddy bear with the other arm. "He looks more good looking in real life." Sara smiled as Jou smiled back.

"Sara-chan wants to marry Seto Kaiba when she grows up!" Sara said excitedly, making Seto blink for a while and then laugh at the girl's comment. Jou laughed too and placed a hand on Sara's head, "Gomen ne, Sara-chan. But I'm afraid he's already taken." Jou smiled widely, making Sara blink for a few moments and then nodded in agreement. "Hai! Sara-chan understands!" Sara said hyperactively before turning around to leave.

"Gambatte ne, Jou-niisan!" Sara called before running back towards her room. Jou waved softly towards the leaving girl and soon realized that Seto had crept up behind him.

"Hmm… I'm already taken, eh?" Seto mused as he wrapped his arms around Jou from behind. "Do you know what position you are in?" Seto smirked as he nuzzled the back of Jou's neck. "Aww, man. Do I have to be the uke?" Jou whined, making Seto's eyes widened as he choked in embarrassment. "Just kidding!", Jou giggled at his boyfriend's reaction as he faced Seto again and embraced him tightly.

Jou leaned on Seto's chest, listening to the CEO's heartbeat. His chin was soon lifted up and found himself looking into blue orbs. The brunet leaned and down and planted a kiss on Jou's soft lips, wrapping his arms around Jou's waist. Jou kissed back as soon as their lips met and ascended his hands around Seto's neck. Both teens didn't mind being stared at a few patients walking around the garden; they just wanted to be close… like this.

Things have changed after this incident. A change for the better.

End.

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