Well, it's been a long time coming, but here's the next chapter. I've been getting bogged down at work, so time and inspiration are running on low recently. But since the next chapter is one that I've had planned out for a while now, it shouldn't be too hard to get typed, edited and posted before another month passes. Well, should be. No promises.

And just to help with some confusion that might arise, keep in mind that Japan's fiscal year starts in April and ends in March. This is why school their school year is different from ours, it starts and ends at the same time.

~Tawnya

Chapter 6—

"Oi, Kaiba. Gotta question."

The CEO looked up to see Jounouchi standing next to his desk. It was still rather odd to see how quickly their former hostility had all but disappeared. Though they were still far from being 'friends,' it was no longer habit to greet one another with an insult. In fact, they hardly argued much anymore. At least, in the violent way they had. The two of them would probably argue until Ragnarok, but now there was a new thread strung in – humor. It had been confusing the first few times, as no one really knew what the appropriate response was, but the tension had quickly faded.

In the month since the New Year, relations between the two parties had become less strained. There was still a lot of hesitant testing, trying to get a feel for what the other would or would not find acceptable, where the line that divided them was and how best to cross it. It probably didn't help that the only times everyone concerned was involved was during school. No sooner had the winter break ended than everything went into overdrive for the end of the year. There was simply no other time to interact, and it (thankfully) kept the large, awkward moments to a minimum. That being said, Kaiba had decided he was beginning to like Jounouchi's sarcasm and Yugi's bad timing. It was definitely amusing to watch Ryou blush after saying something he obviously hadn't thought through. It was harder to judge when Anzu's annoyance and indignation was real or an act, or if Honda was actually taking himself that seriously. Otogi was truly the only one he couldn't read, but the dice master almost said less than Kaiba himself.

If approximately five words any given day could really be considered as contributing more…

"What did you sleep through today?"

Jounouchi scowled. "Nothin'," he ground out. "But since you were the one checkin' stock reports while Higure-sensei was lecturing, you must know everything there is to know about the Golden Ratio."

Kaiba felt his lips twitch. "The school doesn't have wireless, so I couldn't check stock reports even if I wanted to."

"You own your own satellite array and sit next to the window. You were checkin' reports."

"It was performance data."

The blond rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Graphs of some relative importance to your existence. You understand the assignment, though, right?" There was an almost desperate tone in his voice that caused Kaiba's attention to focus.

"I'm not letting you copy my homework."

"Damn it, that's not what I asked!" Jounouchi snarled. "Ya know what? Nevermind. Forget I said anythin'."

"What don't you understand?" Kaiba asked softly. Perhaps, this was the most interesting discovery he had made. He had always assumed it was part of Jounouchi's base personality to be confrontational, stubborn and willful. Yet where harsh words were predictably met with resistance, soft words, or even just a softer tone, would melt away the defiance. It was a weird phenomenon that Kaiba had yet to puzzle out, though he couldn't deny the effectiveness in most of their conversations. Every once in a while, however…

Jounouchi slowly turned back around. "Yes?" He sighed and ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "I swear she was speakin' in tongues or somethin'. I really only understood every third word or so."

"Why me?"

A soft blush graced Jounouchi's cheeks. "Yugi's dad's back in town for a while and Honda's babysittin'. No one else has time tonight, but I don't have time later."

"And you assumed I did because…?"

"Look, if it's gonna be a problem—"

"That wasn't what I asked." Kaiba stood and took his things in hand. "Come to the office any time after 19:00. I'll make sure they let you in."

The blond's face brightened some. "Thanks," he said quickly, turning to grab his own things before dashing out of the classroom. As Kaiba watched the strange display, he couldn't help but wonder what had gotten into the other.

"Yes, thank you."

Kaiba started and looked over to see Yugi watching him. A part of him wanted to ask what exactly he had done that deserved a thank you, but he simply chalked it up to the weird code of conduct the group as a whole kept. He'd learned a long time ago that sometimes it was better not to question; most of the time, the answers just gave him headaches. So rather than respond, he walked away. Yugi followed, though he kept quiet as they moved through the crowded, after-school hallways. At least, until they were putting their outside shoes on.

"I mean it, Kaiba-kun. Thank you for helping him."

"You don't understand it either."

"I had to have Ryou help me," he said sheepishly.

"So glad to be a backup plan…" Kaiba muttered, not entirely meaning for it to be out loud. For the second time, he tried to walk away. But Yugi once again popped up in front of him, this time directly in his path. Most of the time, there was something endlessly amusing about the shorter boy when he was trying to look angry or intimidating. It just didn't work with his eye structure. Right now, however, it was just annoying.

"Be nice to him, Kaiba-kun," Yugi said in more stern tone, giving Kaiba a look he was having a hard time taking seriously. "Don't push him."

For the millionth time, he was seriously wondering why he had thought having friends was a good idea. A part of him was insulted that he had to be told such a thing. Another part of him wanted to know what all the fuss was about. Mostly, he was just irked at the sudden need Yugi had to tell him how to act. Granted, his and Jounouchi's track record for behaving themselves when left alone was something (much) less than spotless, but was that really a reason to get on his case now? Wasn't this how he was supposed to react when asked for help? He leveled his best glare at his rival. "I'm sure he's touched by your concern, but I don't care. If I'm not going to be told what's going on, then it's none of my concern. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm already running late."

Without waiting for acknowledgment, he sidestepped Yugi and continued to the car that was waiting for him. Just before the door closed, he heard Yugi call out. "I mean it, Kaiba-kun!" He waved the driver on when he got a questioning look, already focusing on the rest of the day's work.

()~()~()

The meetings scheduled for that day had lasted a lot longer than Kaiba had anticipated, including two he had finally stood and walked out of. Thanks to people who had no idea how to present project proposals or run PowerPoint presentations, it was now almost 21:30. He was tired, hadn't eaten anything since lunch, had the onset of a nasty migraine (probably caused by the previous two conditions), and there was a stack of papers on his desk that still needed his attention. He stopped briefly at his secretaries' desks to see if there had been any important calls he needed to make an effort to return that night, and to find something for his head.

Thankfully it hadn't taken long for the sister team to adjust to his take over as President and CEO; namely that no one entered his office when he was out, no one saw him without an appointment, and that Mokuba was the only exception to either of those conditions. Beyond that, he had found them to be effective in their methods, continence of what was important immediately, what could wait, and what needed to be filed in the circular bin, and surprisingly creative in their design of the office filing and monitoring system.

Of course, he'd had to learn a few things himself, like not to ignore something that they put in front of him, that they could be just as intimidating as he, and most importantly, who was who. Matsudera Akiko and Yukiko were identical twins who tolerated no fools, even if that fool had the power to fire them. And Kaiba knew his office would go to hell in a hand basket the moment those two decided to walk out the front door.

The messages were all on green paper, and therefore could be left for the next day. He left them stacked neatly on the corner of the desk before reaching into the only drawer he was allowed access to. Confident in knowing his headache was going to be one less thing on his list of concerns soon, he walked into his office.

Not five steps past the door, someone jumped to their feet from one of the couches. Kaiba took a half-moment to curse the fact he wasn't armed, and the other half to check what was in range to use defensively. Though things had definitely calmed down since his take-over, there were many threats lying in the shadows. Not paying attention is what had killed Gozaburo. He'd be damned if it killed him, too. He was still assessing everything when recognition stalled his thoughts.

"Sorry," Jounouchi mumbled, rubbing a hand across his eyes. "Didn't mean to fall asleep."

Kaiba hadn't moved. In fact, he was pretty sure he'd just started breathing again. "How did you get in here?" he demanded.

The harsh tone seemed to wake the blond fully. "Well, since someone forgot that I was comin', Mokuba argued with those two sirens you got guardin' the door to let me wait in here instead of in those awful things you call chairs out there."

Right. The study session. Somewhere, somehow, in the midst of his never-ending meeting hell that was the end of the year, he had truly forgotten about Jounouchi's arrival. But even as he processed this, Kaiba's mind took a sharp detour. Since becoming his personal secretaries, the Matsudera twins had been called many things, and he was happy to note that they seemed to take great delight in eliciting such responses. But… "Sirens?"

A shrug was his answer. "They're too nice and too pretty to be harpies, and not muscular enough to be Amazons. They were doin' their job, bein' distractin' and charmin' until you totally forget what you're tryin' to do. And then they feed you to the sharks."

He'd never thought of it that way, though the image it produced was mildly entertaining. He wondered what they would think of such a reference before focusing again. Who knew how long it would take to explain the chapter to Jounouchi, and it would take at least another two hours or so to get through the paperwork for the night. Part of his promise to Mokuba included a curfew – no more all nighters at the office. He had to make it home as close to midnight as he could and Kaiba was not stupid enough to think the doorman and chauffer where on his payroll.

He must have been silent too long because Jounouchi sighed. "You're gonna bail on me, too, aren't you?"

Kaiba frowned. There was a defeated tone in the other's voice that bothered him. "You're positive you can't reschedule?"

"My transfer just went through. Tonight's all I got."

It was then that Kaiba's stomach decided to rebel and growl loudly. His frown deepened. Jounouchi smiled softly. "Look, I'm sorry," he said, starting to gather his things. "You've obviously had a longer day that I did, so don't worry about it. I'll figure it out somehow—"

"If I show you how to file, can you do it?" Kaiba interrupted before he'd really thought through what he'd said. Jounouchi stopped and stared at him for a moment in confusion, then nodded slowly. Kaiba wasn't certain exactly what he was thinking; he should be hurrying the blond out the door so that he could get on with his life. But somehow, it grated against his nerves, both his forgetfulness and Jounouchi's willingness to give up without a fight. "I'll make you a deal. If you file all the papers I hand you, I'll buy us dinner somewhere and we can go over whatever you have questions on."

"O…okay…" Jounouchi stammered, wide-eyed. "You trust me…to handle that stuff?"

"No, which is why I'll skin you alive if you screw this up," Kaiba said as he walked over to his desk. "But I'm tired, and hungry, and need to be home before midnight. This needs to be done before that. It will go faster with two people." He looked up expectantly.

Jounouchi hesitated a moment longer before dropping his bag and moving to Kaiba's side. The process was explained, all the proper tools laid out to one side of the desk. Jounouchi listened intently, nodding from time to time. Kaiba couldn't tell if it was a good thing or a bad thing there weren't any questions or interruptions, but he wasn't going to argue about it either.

Impromptu training complete, they sat and got to work. Well, Kaiba sat. Lacking another chair to bring to the desk, Jounouchi waited for the first set of papers to be handed over standing. They worked quickly and quietly, something the CEO was exceptionally grateful for, with only the rustle of paper to fill the space in between. He looked up three or four times to make sure all the documents were being sorted and bound correctly. Jounouchi was absorbed in his task, doing everything just as it had been explained, so eventually Kaiba stopped. In fact, he didn't look up again until he passed over the last document. He rubbed his eyes, trying to get them to focus on the clock. 22:45. Not bad timing, all things considered. Now, if Jounouchi had upheld his end of the bargain… He watched with a critical eye as the blond riffled through the papers, putting them in order before stapling the stack together. The whole thing was then neatly stashed in an office mailer, the last name scribbled out and the new one written in before being dropped into the mail box beside him.

"Do you really do all this by yourself?" Jounouchi finally asked, rocking back on his heels. "Or was this a test to see if I'd put up with you?"

"No, I usually have my sirens to help. But if it's after hours like this, then obviously I have to do it myself." He leaned back in his chair, a smirk on his face. "Besides, if you didn't get everything correct, Aki and Yuki might just turn into harpies."

"What do you mean, 'if'?" Jounouchi huffed indignantly, which would have worked a lot better if his stomach hadn't growled at that moment. Kaiba was about to make a snide remark when his growled in response. Jounouchi laughed. "Come on, there's a shop not far from here with coffee and food that should still be open. Then we can tackle the hard stuff."

Normally, Kaiba shied away from open access restraints and establishments. Gozaburo had always said the upper echelon had no use for common things, be it food, entertainment, or what have you. Like most children, Seto had managed to agree while disagreeing, his dislike stemming from a more practical need: privacy. The moment he'd taken over Kaiba Corp. had been the moment a giant target had been painted on his back. The switch from military applications to gaming had only switched which types of people who were trying to target him, or worse yet, Mokuba. And then, of course, there were the omnipresent, always annoying media hounds and fan-stalkers to consider. He'd tried once, just once, to walk into a normal restaurant. It was still one of the biggest mistakes he's ever made. So he paid for his privacy and peace with exclusive restraints and anti-social behavior.

But as exhausted and hungry as he was, Kaiba made little argument over the place Jounouchi lead him to. Hinata was a small, hole in the wall place well away from the major thoroughfares, above a large teashop. The place was quiet, clean and well lit, with only a handful of the two-dozen tables occupied. Jounouchi gave a short wave to the thin woman who came out to greet them before taking a booth in the far back.

"Sorry for comin' in so late, Sumi," he apologized as the woman bustled over with water, ceramic cups, and a teakettle.

"No trouble," Sumi bubbled, a wide smile on her wane face. "You're always welcome, Katsu-chan." Her dark eyes washed over Kaiba before she made a small bow. "As are your friends." Before Kaiba could open his mouth to protest being labeled a friend, the woman re-focused on Jounouchi. "The usual?"

"Not today. Study session."

"Ah! Brain food. Right away. Anything else?"

Since he wasn't sure what kind of food was even served and saw no menu on the table, Kaiba went with the one thing all establishments served. "Coffee. Black."

"You're stomach isn't going to be very happy if that all you're putting on it," Sumi stated in a scolding, motherly tone.

"He's never been here," Jounouchi interrupted quickly. "Just add a number five and that should be more than enough."

The woman glanced between the two boys before nodding and bustling off. Kaiba arched an eyebrow at the blond. "Do I even want to know what you just ordered for me?"

A bright blush rushed across Jounouchi's cheeks. "Um, I hope you like fish…"

"Right…" Kaiba rubbed his eyes. "Since you don't seem to be inclined to answer my questions, you ask one."

"Do you like fish?"

For a moment, all the CEO could do was blink at his companion. What did that have to do with anything? The blush was slowly losing force on Jounouchi's face, and the intensity had returned to his gaze, making him seem earnest in a very child-like way. Of the many forms he'd seen Jounouchi take, from proud duelist to violence incarnate, had he ever seen this side? This tense, permission seeking uncertainty that bordered on true concern of a more domestic kind… Not too far in the past, Kaiba would have laughed at such a look being directed at him, doubly so because it came from Jounouchi.

But now, it inspired something else in him: confusion. Jounouchi was genuinely concerned about his preference? Even while his mind rattled off the rather cruel implications as to why the blond could be so worried, he knew there wasn't any ulterior motive behind the question. In fact, if he thought about it, everything had been in his deference, from the small, out of the way restaurant, to the table away from the rest of the patrons, to the way he had kept Sumi's attention on himself rather than letting it linger on Kaiba. Though he wasn't willing to completely accept it at face value right now, he did allow the warmth of such a thought to help relax him. He even smiled slightly when he responded, "Yes, actually. I do."

Jounouchi relaxed, and smiled back. "Good. Because we're gonna get a lot of it."

Feeling more relaxed than he had all day, Kaiba couldn't help his next comment. "However, that wasn't what I was referring to." Confusion clouded the blond's face. The smile turned to a smirk as Kaiba continued his tease. "The homework…"

"Oh, shit. Right." After wrestling with his bag for a moment, the math book was spilled out onto the table.

For the next hour, they worked on untangling the mysteries of mathematics and the Golden Ratio. Though he was by no means a quick learner, and several things had to be repeated several times before the concepts really took root, Kaiba found Jounouchi to be serious and studious despite his obvious frustration over the material. He also quickly learned that his charge learned better by example than theorem. As soon as he was able to put it into a situation that could be understood, it was like watching the proverbial light literally turn on. Despite the tedium of having to explain in four or five different ways before anything made sense, it was somehow worth going through to watch Jounouchi's whole face brighten.

While they worked, the food was brought discreetly. The standard fare of miso and rice first. And then just about every fish dish imaginable. Everything from dry cooked fish to butterflied tempura fish to citrus baked fish and so on, with tempura and steamed vegetables, sliced fruit, salad and, of course, the coffee. Kaiba prided himself on knowing who was around him at all times and was a little irked to note that of the five times his cup was refilled during the night, he only noticed Sumi doing so twice. As dishes were emptied, they were taken away, never leaving the table cluttered with more than a few things. Even in the most high-end restaurants, Kaiba had never seen such seamless and conscientious service.

Jounouchi finally sat up straight and stretched. "My brain feels like sludge. What time is it?" He rummaged through his bag again before turning up a watch. "Damn it! Didn't you say you had to be home at midnight?"

Kaiba sat back with a shrug, snagging the coffee cup out from Sumi's reach. "It's a consideration, not a rule. I think Mokuba will forgive me since I've been here with you and not at work. And thank you," he said the woman, "but this will be the last cup. I get the bill." Once again, Sumi glanced toward Jounouchi before accepting and moving away. "Why does she keep doing that?"

"'Cause she's worried about me," he said softly, picking at the remaining fruit. "I used to work with her husband, Sentaro, back in junior high. I don't know what he told her, but she's been fussin' over me ever since."

There was more to the story, Kaiba knew, but Jounouchi seemed unwilling to share. It was kind of shocking to realize that he wanted to pry, even after his speech to Yugi that afternoon. He'd never cared before about the background or troubles of others. Unless, of course, they wanted to work for him. Then he made sure he was aware of everything before they ever stepped foot in his building for the final interview.

He smiled behind the coffee cup as Jounouchi started packing up the book, his notes and the other various things that had been strewn around. No, there wasn't a need to pry. If Jounouchi didn't want to be forth coming, then that was his right. With all the resources available to him, there was no need to ask Jounouchi directly for any information he might want. He wasn't the CEO of one of the largest companies in the world for nothing, after all.

To be continued.