It had taken ages for Kaiba to fall asleep, and he chose to place the blame solely on the bass that had been rhythmically thumping through the floor until one in the morning. His alarm went off at 7:00 sharp, an hour earlier than he usually woke up on Sundays - but he wanted to get out of this house as soon as possible, and before anyone else even had a chance of waking up.

He sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, stretching his legs before sitting up to retrieve his suit pants that he'd taken care to neatly fold and place on top of the dresser. As he changed out of Yuugi's tiny sweatpants, he considered whether or not to change into his dress shirt, finally deciding to keep Yuugi's t-shirt on for the ride home and return it to him later. His suit smelled terrible after last night.

Walking downstairs, he tried his hardest to keep quiet, but was unable to stop himself from flinching when the final step creaked loudly. Everyone had passed out in various spots in the living room. Kaiba smirked at the sight of Otogi and Honda practically spooning on the futon, but his face fell as he realized Jounouchi was nowhere to be seen.

The muffled whistle of a boiling tea-kettle suddenly caught his attention, but it was gone as quickly as it came. Kaiba's legs moved of their own free will and carried him quietly into the kitchen around the corner where he stood in the doorway, Isono's contact page still open on the phone he held in his hand.

Jounouchi reached for the teabags he knew Yuugi kept on top of the fridge and accidentally knocked the box onto the counter, startling both him and Kaiba.

"Jesus," he mumbled, rolling his eyes at himself before ripping open a teabag and dropping it into his cup. Kaiba stood frozen in the doorway and watched as he poured boiling water from the kettle, being careful not to spill.

He gently set the kettle back on the stovetop and turned around to find some sugar in the few small cabinets Yuugi's kitchen held. At the sight of Kaiba in the doorway, he jumped so violently that he whacked his mug on the counter, splashing himself.

"Christ, Kaiba," he muttered, rubbing his wrist and pulling a paper towel off the roll to clean up. Before going to sleep last night, he'd made the decision to treat Kaiba normally whenever they spoke next. Bringing up their weird moment was... unnecessary.

"Sorry, I just…" Kaiba trailed off. He had no excuse for creepily watching him make tea, and prepared to defend himself. Jounouchi didn't even acknowledge it though, and his voice was much softer when he spoke again.

"It's fine, I just didn't see you. You want some tea?" He didn't wait for a response and pulled a mug off of the rack in front of him, filling it with water. Kaiba's breath hitched when he ripped open a second teabag with his teeth and dropped it in.

Jounouchi picked up both of their mugs and carefully made his way across the kitchen, staring at the steaming tea in his hands the whole time. Once he'd wobbled his way to the doorway, Kaiba stepped aside to let him through and followed him to a small nook where three chairs were placed around a table. He'd never been in this part of Yuugi's house before.

Both boys sat down, leaving the middle chair empty between them. Just as Kaiba opened his mouth to say he was leaving, Jounouchi held up a finger and dashed back into the kitchen, returning with a small pot of sugar and a spoon.

After placing a heaping spoonful in his own tea, he stirred it for a second and slid it over to Kaiba, who reluctantly added a bit to his own mug. Jounouchi's heart pounded, but at this point it was impossible to blame it on being startled.

"I was just going to call Isono to pick me up, but thank you for the tea."

"Leavin' so soon?" Jounouchi teased, somehow. After last night, being this close to Kaiba was rather unnerving.

He raised an eyebrow. "I've been with your group for," he glanced at his watch, "almost twelve hours at this point."

Jounouchi eyed him over his tea as he took a sip. "We're goin' to the carnival today, 'cause it's the last day it'll be up. You should come. You're on a roll."

After his weird out of body experience the night before, Kaiba wasn't sure how much longer he could handle being around Jounouchi today, let alone his entire group of friends. They sat in tense silence for a good five minutes, Kaiba swirling his tea constantly.

He took a final drink of what remained and set the mug down, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. His phone still sat on the table in front of him, but he could only stare at it for some reason.

Jounouchi stood up abruptly with a loud sigh and grabbed both empty mugs, pulling his chair closer to the table with his foot before turning to leave the room.

"It's fine. Thanks for coming last night, it meant a lot to Yuugi."

And with that, he left the room, leaving Kaiba alone at the table. He stewed in silence for a minute before standing up and walking back to the kitchen. Jounouchi stood in front of the sink, lightly running the water and rinsing out their mugs. Not wanting to startle him again, Kaiba cleared his throat before he spoke.

"Mokuba has been begging me to go to the carnival. I suppose you can just plan on seeing us there."

Jounouchi didn't turn around, but smiled at the box of teabags as he rearranged them and placed them back on top of the fridge.

"Sounds good."

When he did turn around, Kaiba had already gone, and he heard the muffled open and close of Yuugi's front door only a few moments later. Only then did he allow himself to grin at the empty kitchen.

They'd headed for the carnival first thing after breakfast, stopping to pick up Shizuka on the way. Their group today was a full one - all of their dates from last night had joined their outing except Bakura and Jounouchi's. There were nine of them in total, and they'd somehow managed to squeeze everyone in two cars on the way there.

After spending most of the afternoon testing out every single thrill ride, Jounouchi found himself scanning the crowd for a tall, scowling pretty boy or a small, black and fluffy tween every time they passed a different food stand. Mostly, he was expecting Kaiba not to show up - but a small part of him was hopeful that they would see him at some point.

"Who are you looking for?"

Jounouchi spun around to face Yuugi, who was skipping along behind him, arm in arm with Anzu.

"I invited Kaiba this mornin', but I'm sure he won't show up."

At this Yuugi made a face. "You invited Kaiba to the carnival?"

He picked a hangnail on his thumb. "So?"

"I mean, nothing," Yuugi laughed. "I just didn't think you would invite him anywhere of your own free will."

Jounouchi shrugged. "It seemed like he was havin' a good time last night, and like you said the other day, he doesn't really have any friends."

"Two scoops, please!"

A recognizable squeak came from behind one of the booths they were walking by, and Jounouchi immediately tugged on Yuugi's arm and dragged him around to the other side. Just as he'd thought, Mokuba stood at the front of the line holding a gigantic two scoop cone. Kaiba stood just in front of him, and handed the girl behind the counter a ten dollar bill before turning away without taking his change.

He straightened up at the sight of Jounouchi and Yuugi, and tried not to think too hard about why Jounouchi was clutching Yuugi's arm.

"Yay!" Mokuba squealed. "Nii-sama told me we were gonna see you here!"

Jounouchi grinned and squatted in front of him. "Need some help with that ice cream?" Mokuba pulled the cone out of his reach and scampered away, giggling.

For the next hour, they wandered through the aisles of shitty carnival games, stopping a few times to try their luck.

Kaiba found himself watching rather intently when Jounouchi tried his hand at a game of darts, where he had to pop six balloons in a row in order to win a stuffed dolphin. After popping five one after the other, everyone had gone completely silent in anticipation, and as he popped the final balloon, Kaiba had to stop himself from cheering with the others while they celebrated his win.

At this time of year, the sun set decently early, which meant by six o'clock, they'd turned all the lights on.

"Now that it's all lit up, we can go on the ferris wheel!" Anzu shouted, breaking into a sprint in the direction of the giant wheel. This year's was much larger than last year, and they'd all been looking forward to riding it.

Once in line, Anzu craned her neck to look up ahead and see how many could fit in a carriage. She linked her arm through Yuugi's to claim him as her carriage partner, and Honda and Otogi did the same with their dates, Mokuba following suit with Shizuka, who giggled loudly but stayed in his grip. Bakura stood a good twenty feet away with a giant corn dog. He was never a fan of heights.

Neither Kaiba or Jounouchi was paying much attention until they stepped onto the platform behind their friends, watching them step into each tiny carriage two at a time. Kaiba still hadn't fully realized what was happening until they'd sat down next to each other, and he felt his ears burst into flames as the carnival worker swung the carriage door shut and locked it.

Jounouchi held back a laugh. He'd figured out they'd be paired up when Anzu and Yuugi had hooked arms.

Kaiba didn't say anything though, only fidgeting with his own thumb and staring out the grating as the ride started up, abruptly stopping a few feet later so they could load a few more people on. After what happened last night, he didn't trust his own limbs to do as he said. He didn't even trust himself not to say anything stupid, as he'd somehow agreed to come to this idiotic carnival this morning as well. Any sort of reasoning behind his recent actions eluded him.

Mostly.

"You havin' an okay time?"

Being so close to Jounouchi, Kaiba could hear the slight rasp in his voice as he spoke much quieter than usual. As well as that, he could smell the musky, slightly spicy scent of his deodorant, which was suddenly very distracting.

"Hm?"

"Oh, yes, I suppose," Kaiba muttered quickly. "It's fine."

Thankfully, their carriage had enough space for them both to keep pressed to one side, avoiding any physical contact.

"Seems like you've been in a good mood these past couple days," Jounouchi said casually, still looking out the side of the carriage. It jolted forward abruptly, and the motor whirred to life below them, signalling the start of the ride. The pace at which it moved was incredibly slow.

"Nn," Kaiba grunted back at him. Admittedly, he had been in a better mood both yesterday and today. Usually being around Yuugi and friends raised his blood pressure, but for some reason, he'd felt a bit more at ease.

Jounouchi didn't need to know that, though.

He flinched suddenly as Jounouchi lightly kicked his shin, and looked up to meet his gaze, as he'd turned back around from staring at the grounds. They were almost to the top by now.

"I know we're just annoying and shit, and you're not like, tryin' to be our friend or anything. But we really do like hangin' out with you." He paused. " I like hangin' out with you. You're... neat."

Kaiba's heart lurched into overdrive, and he was squeezing his own thumb so hard it was almost numb.

"Thanks."

Jounouchi turned back around to face the grounds again, but was having difficulty paying attention to the lights.

"Shit, it's fuckin' cold," he muttered, and scooted over to close the distance between he and Kaiba. Their hips pressed together on the cold metal seat, and Jounouchi lined up their feet.

They rode the rest of the way like this, pressed against each other, neither of them daring to move or risk a look in the other's direction. When it was finally their turn to exit the carriage, they clumsily stumbled out in full view of their entire group of friends. Yuugi and Anzu exchanged a glance after seeing how close together they'd been sitting, but no one else seemed to notice, much to Kaiba's relief.

After another hour or two of wandering around, eating sugar, and riding thrill rides over and over, everyone was finally starting to tire out. Once Anzu had yawned, it spread like a virus throughout their little group, and soon they were all feeling sleepy.

They slowly made their way to the entrance, and by the time they arrived, the gates behind them were being locked up. There were a few groups of teenagers waiting to be picked up, but for the most part, the grounds had emptied out.

They'd arrived in two seperate cars - Honda's date had offered to drive half of them, and the other half somehow squeezed into Anzu's tiny beater. The carnival was held in a more rural part of town, so the parking lot was a grass-covered field.

"Hey, where are you parked?"

Jounouchi picked up his pace, trying to catch up to Kaiba and Mokuba who were walking a good 20 feet in front of them. As soon as he finished asking his question, he waited for the snarky reply - he'd immediately realized that Kaiba never parked anywhere. He was driven.

There was no biting response, though. Kaiba did raise an eyebrow to himself, but responded rather plainly.

"We'll be picked up on the street," he nodded his head in front of them, where a bumpy stretch of road led out of the field. "The limousine can't… handle, grass."

Jounouchi nodded at the ground.

They all walked to the edge of the parking lot together, escorting both Kaiba and Mokuba to the limo that sat idling just past a short concrete divider. Mokuba turned around just as they reached the car and went down the line, giving out hugs to everyone regardless of whether he knew them or not. Even Kaiba paused just before the divider and turned, giving a small wave to a chorus of loud goodbyes before turning around to get in the limo.

Watching Kaiba leave so abruptly, Jounouchi suddenly felt the need to say something. He took a step forward and reached for Kaiba's arm as he stepped across the short divider, catching him just as he'd gotten one foot on the other side.

His positioning was off, though, and their hands collided. All at once Kaiba whipped around, suddenly thrown off balance by the unexpected physical contact, and stumbled backwards, almost toppling over and into Jounouchi. Without thinking, Jou squeezed his hand and pushed him forward, stabilizing him.

Kaiba yanked his arm away and looked up, wide-eyed, and just as their eyes met and Jounouchi opened his mouth to say something, anything, Kaiba had disappeared into the limo, and all he could do was watch, helpless, as it slowly pulled onto the road.

"Wake up," Anzu hissed. "Jesus, Jou! Get up!"

Jounouchi waved a hand at her and grunted, lifting his face off of his desk only momentarily before going back to dozing.

It was only Wednesday, but this week had felt particularly long.

After the handful of weird encounters they'd had over the weekend, he'd been having trouble getting to sleep on time, too unnerved by his sudden uncertainty surrounding Kaiba. Something had changed, and what made it so hard for him to ignore was the fact that Kaiba had obviously experienced it too. Jounouchi couldn't recall a time before this weekend that he'd ever seen a genuine emotion cross his face, and not being able to understand what was happening was very unsettling.

"Jounouchi," Bakura cooed in his ear. "It's lunch time!"

"Mm."

They pushed their desks together, using Jounouchi's as the middle point so he could continue dozing. And just as he'd done two days in a row now, Kaiba stood up immediately upon lunch dismissal and exited the building as quickly as possible.

There was no special reason for this new routine, but after the weekend he was feeling a bit awkward around Yuugi and his friends. He didn't feel the need to read into it any further than that.

They'd all noticed his weird and unnecessary avoidance of any and all conversations, and happily given him space. However when it finally came to Friday and Kaiba still had yet to say a single word to anyone on school grounds, Yuugi felt the need to stop him on his daily sprint out the door.

"Hey, are you alright?"

He looked up at Kaiba with genuine concern - he had been quiet before, of course, but never this quiet. Not once had he said anything rude to Jounouchi, and he'd somehow even bitten his tongue in the hallway one day when someone accidentally ran into him. He hadn't even shot them a piercing glare.

Kaiba cleared his throat. "Why do you ask?"

"You just haven't said much this week, and you seem like you're avoiding us."

"Did Jounouchi put you up to this?"

The unexpected mention of his friend made Yuugi furrow his brow, and he frowned. "Wait, what? No? Why -"

"Nothing, it's fine, and I'm very busy, as usual. Stop reading into things."

They frowned at each other for a few seconds longer before Yuugi sighed and stepped to the side, finally letting Kaiba out the door.

"He asked if I made you ask him?"

"That's what he said," Yuugi slurped his ramen, splashing broth all over his shirt. They sat around his kitchen table, having a meal before they decided on a movie to watch.

"I mean… huh," Jounouchi shrugged and tossed his empty container in the trash under the sink. "Weird."

Over the weekend, Jounouchi had agonized over his recent interactions with Kaiba, and finally made the decision to just apologize to him directly during lunch. He knew he'd come on a little strong with the whole friendship thing, and he just wanted to let him know it was alright to go back to how things were before. That no one was hoping for him to be their friend, or act any differently.

Besides Jounouchi, that is.

But Kaiba didn't need to know that. Jounouchi hadn't quite come to terms with it himself, honestly, but he knew he needed to dispel the weird tension that surrounded them both whenever they even came close to interacting.

Case in point, as they walked into class Monday morning, they were both held up at the door, waiting for others to go in front of them. They stood on either side, awkwardly making eye contact only once or twice, observing the ceiling and then the floor over and over while they waited for the doorway to clear out.

By lunch, Jounouchi had become impatient. Kaiba's grave silence had somehow been even more annoying than his usual snarky commentary these past few days. As soon as the teacher announced lunchtime dismissal, Jou rose from his chair and stood in between the desks in his row, blocking Kaiba from escaping. He sighed.

"Let me through."

"Can I talk to you quick?"

Kaiba glared at him, now suspicious. "About?"

"Just quick. Nothing weird," Jounouchi mumbled and stepped aside for Kaiba to pass by so they could talk in the hall.

Once outside the room, Kaiba leaned against a row of lockers and crossed his arms.

"I just wanted to say sorry for overwhelmin' you this weekend, I know we kinda bullied you into comin' along both times," Jounouchi shoved his hands in his pockets. Pulling Kaiba into the hall to have this conversation alone now seemed unnecessary.

"I'm perfectly capable of declining. I came with you because I wanted to, no one forces me to do anything," Kaiba argued. A sincere apology wasn't at all what he'd been expecting, and he had no idea how to respond, and defaulted to being defensive.

Jounouchi held up his hands. "Hey, that's not what I meant. I just wanted you to know you don't have to like, talk to us now or something. You've just seemed super on edge since this weekend, so I wanted to make sure we aren't like, addin' any unnecessary stress."

There was no way for Kaiba to reply rudely now, leaving him frustrated. Genuine conversation was far more difficult than any public appearance.

"Well, you haven't done anything wrong," he muttered, straightening back up to his full height. "I've just been busy and I just - I need to deal with things on my own."

Jounouchi cocked his head to the side and he crossed his arms, leaning his weight on one hip. "Why is that?"

"Why is what?"

"Why do you have to deal with things on your own?"

They stared at each other for a few seconds, Kaiba's eyes darting back and forth between Jounouchi's, searching for what must be some ulterior motive behind his words. He couldn't find one, though, and suddenly he pictured Jou sitting next to him on Yuugi's guest bed, with his bangs pushed up and the cut on his forehead just beginning to scab underneath Kaiba's thumb.

"You have an asshole father, and so did I," Kaiba blurted.

Neither of them moved.

"I'm sorry, I had no idea. Shitty thing to have in common," Jou said quietly.

Kaiba's eyes stayed on the ground, but he didn't walk away for some reason. Jounouchi tried to think quickly. He fished in his pockets for any paper and came up with a small receipt from the gas station, from when he'd bought Pocky before school that morning.

"You have a pen?"

Kaiba made a face, but pulled a pen out of his jean pocket and clicked it before handing it to Jounouchi. He watched, still confused, as Jou scribbled something on the back of his crumpled receipt and handed both the paper and pen back to Kaiba.

On the paper was a ten digit phone number, scrawled very poorly, but still legible.

"What is this?"

Jounouchi's cheeks went pink, and he cleared his throat. "Just my number. I know you wanna get through all your shit alone, but it's just in case."

Kaiba had absolutely no clue how to respond. He was both mildly offended and slightly bewildered. With how outwardly cold he was, he didn't receive a lot of warm gestures.

"I'll see you, Kaiba," Jounouchi mumbled and spun on his heel, slipping back through the door to return to lunch.

After internally debating with himself for a good two or three minutes outside the classroom, Kaiba sighed and folded the paper before putting it in his jeans pocket.

Just in case.