Coral: Hi again everyone! Here we go with chapter 11! Yosh! Also several people had mentioned that the end of the last chapter was confusing, so I apologize for that, but it was actually intentional to show the confusion Jounouchi and Seto were experiencing. :)

Thank you CosmicDevil (I'm so glad you think it's so cute, lol!), Guest (Awww, thank you for sticking with this story for such a long time! I always have fun writing their teasing conversations, they're my favorite too! X3), cuddlekinz0 (Thank you for the get-well wishes and the sweet reviews, like always!), and Goddess Alexandria (I fear for whoever is stuck with them too, muahaha! But it's going to be a fun ride for sure. :D) for the lovely reviews!

Disclaimer: Yugioh is owned by Shonen Jump and Kazuki Takahashi.

Chapter Eleven

"Wake up... Hey, wake up!" shouted the indignant young voice.

The young brunet's eyes fluttered open as his bleary vision began to clear. "J-Jounouchi-nii...?"

The slightly exasperated look was replaced by confusion. "Eh? How do you know my name?! Are you side-kick?!" queried the other boy as he leaned his face close to the previously knocked out ten year old.

Seto widened his eyes seeing how close they were and immediately his memories sprung back to what had just happened a few minutes prior. The child's face began to heat up intensely. "A-ah!"

The small Jounouchi-nii look-a-like tilted his head in deep confusion while Seto stammered all flustered and sprung up in spite of how asleep his limbs were from the fall.

"U-uh, I think you mean 'psychic'," the boy mumbled rapidly as he flailed his arms before straightening.

"Niisama, take it easy!" piped Mokuba. "You fainted and nearly bumped your head!"

The large honey-brown eyes narrowed and small arms crossed themselves. "Yeah, speaking of which mister, you kissed me!"

Oh right. When he was trying to hug Jounouchi for the last time, he was leaning forward. And then Jounouchi wasn't there anymore... And this boy was currently in his place and he was still leaning forward, so he... Ended up... Kissing... But wait a minute! Seto suddenly felt indignant. How could this other kid act so rude?! It wasn't like he did it on purpose! Gazing at the blond boy, he noted that the kid was probably around his age, messy blond locks showed he didn't seem to like combing his hair much and he wore a loose teal shirt, blue shorts and blue sneakers. Suddenly he felt the slightest tinge of resentment. He wanted Jounouchi, not this... This really rude kid! And what did he do with Jounouchi anyway?! Before he knew it, the young brunet was blurting out in immature anger, "I didn't kiss you! I was leaning forward and you took Jounouchi-nii's place which means you kissed me!"

The other boy stared aghast at the brunet's logic. It wasn't long before the words sunk in and the child's face grew red and spewed out words matching similar rage, "Nuh-uh! You kissed me and everybody saw!"

"I didn't kiss you, I fell!"

"No, you fell after you kissed me!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"You kissed each other ok?! Now be quiet!" shrieked Mokuba who clearly had enough, stomping his foot down for effect.

For a moment neither child stirred, having been shocked to silence. Finally the two begrudgingly agreed... For now.

"Fine... We kissed..." muttered Seto crossly.

"Mm-hm..." The blond boy then frowned when a thought crossed his mind. "Does this mean we have to get married?"

"No, but you kissed me first." Seto retorted sourly.

At this, the other boy grew indignant, "What?! No, you did!"

"No you!"

"You!"

"You!"

"Stop it, or I'll make you two kiss again and end this once and for all!" Mokuba shrieked once more, not caring about whatever implications of what he just said.

Alarmed at the threat, the two grew quiet once more, but while the blond looked away muttering loathing words of nonsense, the brunet simply glared focusing his angry stare at a random nearby bush.

Left to his thoughts for a moment, Seto felt his lips purse tightly as he continued to face the absence of the much missed older teen. He hadn't been gone for more than ten minutes or so and the child yearned for Jounouchi's return already. And to have him replaced by this boy, who was in every sense of the word "mean", made Seto ache with longing. He wanted those strong protective arms to hold him again and hug him...

Honey brown eyes blinked at the sight of the other boy shaking. "Eh?" He mumbled softly seeing the boy's shoulders shudder and big blue eyes closed tightly. Recognizing the signs he stepped forward hesitantly. "Um... Are you crying?"

"N-no I'm not!" snapped Seto back defensively as he attempted backing away from the blond only to trip and fall backwards landing on his bottom. "I'm n-not crying!" he continued in spite of the shock of his fall.

The unnamed boy promptly frowned before he decided to give in with a sigh. He reached over, stopping for a moment when the other child flinched, but then continued by wrapping his arms around the boy in a small hug.

Seto widened his cerulean eyes while he felt the embrace. It was different from the hug of an adult like Jounouchi, but somehow it still felt really... Warm. He blinked when soft lips pecked his briefly. "H-huh?!"

The boy then let go of the hug and then, taking a deep breath while backing up a little, let it out slowly. "So now I kissed you. If it makes you feel better then I kissed you before too. I'm sorry for kissing you." He muttered looking away and fidgeting with his feet. "So... Don't cry. It's my fault, ok?" Even though he still felt indignant and hard-pressed that the brunet was the one who kissed him, he couldn't stand seeing another kid cry, especially for something like this.

For a moment, Seto couldn't say anything.

And for a moment there, neither could Mokuba, who had promptly turned into a statue.

"Um... Anyway... My name's Katsuya..." He began slowly. For some reason it was getting harder and harder to talk, the embarrassing result of his actions having dawned upon him finally, but the boy kept going, fearing that if he did stop then he would break down from the growing intense strange heat coming up from his stomach to his face. Maybe he was sick or something. Yeah. "I'll go home now. Sorry for making you mad." Immediately he whipped around and was about to walk away when he was unanticipatedly stopped by a sudden tug of his right sleeve. Twisting his head back, he widened his eyes realizing the culprit was the brown haired boy, who was still keeping his gaze away every now and then.

The child breathed in similar to Katsuya earlier and mumbled, "I'm not mad."

"Ha...?"

"I'm not mad at you... I'm just mad at everything right now." Seto confessed, keeping his eyes away from locking with the newcomer's.

"Oh. Why though?"

"'Cause... It's complicated."

"Oh. You talk funny."

"Ha?"

"You talk like a grown up."

"I do not."

"Yeah you do. You're using some big words and stuff."

"I'm not."

"Hee hee. Ok. So you're not mad at me?"

Seto shook his head.

"Good! Cause if you were, I'll kiss you again and we'll be even!"

"How is that 'even' if you kiss me three times?!"

"Cause me kissing you three times is like you kissing me, so that's fair and square."

"That doesn't even make sense!"

"Sure it does! I read it from an adult book, it's the truth!"

"Um... Katsuya...? I don't think..."

Katsuya blinked in confusion as Seto began blushing and looking away. "I don't think you're supposed to see those kinds of... books."

"You mean the books I saw where a guy and a girl are naked and hugging?" piped the blond helpfully, only to yelp when Seto promptly fainted again.

"Niisama!" Mokuba cried out, having shaken out of his shocked stupor. He ran over to Katsuya who held onto the ten year old brunet and pouted.

"He's so heavy. Does he get naps often? You know, naps are good for us kids." The blond child piped matter-of-factly, lifting one of his hands to point up with a small index.

"He's NOT napping, he's unconscious, now help me, we're gonna bring him inside!"

Katsuya obliged, raising the boy by the arms while Mokuba carried the legs, slowly bringing Seto in the entrance of the mansion. "Wow, where are we anyway? Is this a museum?"

"No, this is my house." replied Mokuba mindlessly as he lifted Seto's legs to the nearby couch with Katsuya following suit.

"Whoaaa! You live here?! So cool!" squealed Katsuya as he hopped over to the center of the extravagant large living room and promptly plopped himself flat on the rug, gazing up at the hanging chandelier.

Huffing with pride, Mokuba beamed, "Of course!"

Suddenly remembering his manners, young Katsuya slipped off his shoes and waddled back over to the entrance, daintily placing the sneakers down on the ceramic floor. A nearby maid smiled and handed him slippers, which made him confused.

"I'm not going to bed, why do I need these?" the child asked the maid, who scuttled around busying herself with her cleaning duties.

"They're for walking around in the house!" called out Mokuba as he too slipped out Seto's shoes along with his.

Putting on the slippers, Katsuya squinted down at the fluffy shoes his feet currently resided in. They were very soft, he observed, yet really squishy. Giving one foot a couple of testing taps and then wiggling his toes, he finally decided he liked them and expressed it by hopping up and down with excitement. "They're so comfyyy!" He squealed. He turned with glee over to Mokuba. "C-can I have them?"

Mokuba scrunched up his face in mock contemplation, "Hmmmmmmmmm..."

Katsuya gulped.

"Yeah, we have thousands like them anyway."

Katsuya gasped, "Really?! W-why do you have thousands of shoes?"

Mokuba couldn't help his teasing snort, "Cause we steal them from every single boy and girl that comes in."

Katsuya gasped once again before running over to his sneakers and hugging them protectively.

The black haired boy giggled.


Jounouchi stared into the face of no one else but Kaiba. It was funny. A few days ago, practically a week had gone by and seeing the CEO again for the first time felt like seeing a familiar stranger... "Kai... ba?" He murmured softly. His amber eyes suddenly glimmered upon recognizing the person in his sight, "Oh my god, Kaiba, it's you!" He cried out excitedly. So did it work? It must have since he's here! Jounouchi had never felt so excited and happy to see the other brunet. Now it was all over! Or was it? Something didn't seem right from the look on the brunet's face. It didn't seem like a happy-to-be-home sort of look. He barely registered his arms holding onto the other male before noticing those blue eyes narrow.

"Get your hands off me."

Now completely aware of his hold over the brunet, Jounouchi scrambled to get off of the duelist, failing to do so from his flailing and only ending up tripping over his feet and landing into Kaiba's arms. He grunted from the impact and attempted immediately to get off only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"Will you stop that, idiot?!" Kaiba grimaced in pain, steadying the blond before pressing him up.

Grateful for the support, Jounouchi brushed himself off before grabbing Kaiba's hand to hoist him up. He managed to pull the other teen up halfway before the brunet smacked his hand away and propped himself up. Well, that certainly passed the is-this-the-real-Seto-Kaiba test. Making a small head tilt, he raked his eyes over Kaiba's form. He seemed fine, no injuries save for possibly an ache or two from Jounouchi tripping on him, which was good. He was wearing clothes quite differently from his usual business wear or uniform: A skin tight yet breathable grey shirt with sleeves reaching his forearms, complete with dark bluish grey slacks and a belt. No trench coat either, probably because the weather was a bit warm. He then switched his field of vision over to their surrounding environment before stopping in realization, feeling his chest drop in trepidation. This was not the Kaiba mansion they were at.

Kaiba dusted himself off promptly in utter irritation. So the idiot was here... And quite obviously he was NOT home as promised but stuck in the past just the same. Just what the hell did the blond think he was doing?! He glared at Jounouchi, who flinched. "This was precisely one of the main reasons why I told you not to be so reckless with your so-called ideas, Jounouchi. Look at what you've gotten yourself into. How am I supposed to get home now, bonkotsu?!"

The blond flinched, looking away with much regret. He should have known. His attempt to help had ultimately backfired. He cursed himself for being reckless and putting his plan to action so soon. Of course something like this could happen. He came to the Kaiba mansion with the two boys intending to bring Seto back. Instead he got sent back and he still didn't have any clue how Time Wizard worked. Ultimately he failed, not only Kaiba, but Seto as well... He failed the young ten year old boy... Unbeknownst to him, his silence was proving to be a much better comeback than whatever words he could think of at the moment.

Kaiba frowned at the blond who would usually fire back at that point. He was expecting the teen to immediately lose his cool as per usual rather than this passive behavior. It didn't seem to fit him. He then noted the slight subtle differences in the boy's appearance. For one, it looked like Jounouchi hadn't much sleep based on the slight discoloration and bagginess of his eyelids and small hints of fatigue on his face. Perhaps it was having due to taking care of his brother and past self. Mokuba certainly could be a handful at times. Second, it looked like he brought his duel disk with him, which meant it wasn't quite a total loss after all. This was a good opportunity. Third, the duelist seemed genuinely disappointed that his plan didn't succeed as he wanted. Perhaps he had been too harsh on the blond duelist, though he would not admit such a thing. With a sigh, he yanked the blond's arm and began leaving the area.

Not expecting the forward insistent action of the brunet, Jounouchi attempted to keep up with him, tripping a couple of times on his feet before straightening himself and going. "O-oi! What are you doing, Kaiba?!"

"Isn't it obvious? We're in Domino Park and I was just about to head back to my temporary stay. If you behave nicely enough, maybe I'll let you stay with me."

Taken aback, Jounouchi glared indignantly, but followed, allowing the CEO to continue leading him by arm. Yup this was Kaiba, alright. Before he could take a few more steps he was suddenly halted by the brunet's large form that stopped in front of him. He grunted as his body crashed against the other, blond locks flailing from the impact before restoring position. "Hey, what was that for?!"

Kaiba ignored the statement and instead focused his gaze on Jounouchi's smaller form curiously. "Is that my uniform?"

Jounouchi widened his eyes, a sweat suddenly dripped from his cheek. "Uhhhh... No?" He supplied unconvincingly.

Deciding to play along, the Blue Eyes White Dragon user loomed over the other duelist, taking full advantage of the height difference. "Really? I had no idea your own uniform didn't fit your size so well."

The blond tried to shake of whatever feelings of apprehension through short bursts of forced laughs, "Ha ha, uh... Yeah I guess it is kind of big for me..." Jounouchi shifted his eyes left and right, not willing to meet the gaze of the very much naturally intimidating former World Champion.

"You might need to get that tailored," purred the brunet keeping a steady gaze on his target, emphasizing his statement further by flicking a loose blue jacket sleeve lightly with his long elegant fingers. "Unless you find it fun to trip on me all the time. Into my arms."

Face immediately reddening, Jounouchi backed up quickly sputtering, "Hell no!"

Chuckling, Kaiba turned and allowed the blond space for now, but resumed grabbing the teen's arm and leading him; not without protests and complaints during whole way back to the hotel.

"I can walk on my own, teme!"

"Hmph, just like you could get me back to our time on your own? I'm not sure I can trust you with that."

"B-baka!"

"Baka? Is that the best you could come up with, make inu?"

"You jerk! And here I thought you were actually getting to be nice for a change!"

"Sorry to disappoint, then."

"Kono yaro!"

"Sukebe."

"I should be calling you that!"

"That's too bad. I've laid claims on it. Pervert. Always calling me and trying to jump on me the moment you see me? You're practically worst than our school female population."

"This is no time to be bragging that you bring all the girls to the yard, Kaiba!"

"Bragging? Whatever do you mean? All I've been saying is that you have a worst female libido than any girl in our school. Now does that make sense, or do you need me to spell it out for you slowly?"

"GRRRRR! You prick, do you always have to be so-" Jounouchi stopped in his tracks when he realized Kaiba had taken the opportunity to get in his personal space once more, their noses practically touching. He couldn't really think at the moment. It was hard to when staring into mesmerizing blue that seemed to gleam lightly with slight mischief when normally cold. He barely registered the slight sliding sensation of his wrist, but once he did, it was too late. In aghast he stared as Kaiba backed away from his space just as quickly as he came. He darted his eyes over to the CEO's hand, which held a duel disk triumphantly. Dimly, he glanced down to his left wrist, now currently empty. His mind then clicked. "What the?! That's MINE!" He roared in fury, jumping up and failing to reach up for his disk while the stupid brunet kept his stupid smug grin while keeping his stupid hand out of reach due to his stupid height advantage.

"I'll be needing this to observe whatever's been programmed inside. It might serve some clues as to who my target is."

"If that was the case, couldn't you have just asked me?!"

"Now where's the fun in that, bonkotsu?"

"This is hardly fun, moneybags!"

"Au contraire, this is fun... For me."

"GUAHHHH, Why you, I oughta-" Jounouchi yelped as his right arm was yanked by Kaiba's free hand and once more being led to a nearby hotel building. "Where are you taking me?!"

Kaiba sighed. "Did I not just tell you? I won't bother saying it again, you know. If you behave, maybe I'll let you play with it when I'm done."

"It was mine in the first place with my deck!"

"My technology," reminded the brunet as he continued tugging the duelist through the large body of various people gathering in the lobby.

"It doesn't change the fact that I own the- Excuse me," Jounouchi muttered swiftly as he swerved to avoid a passing consumer, "That I own the freakin' thing!"

"I suppose it doesn't, but tell me bonkotsu, how long has it been since Battle City?"

"Um... A few months?"

"And how long are the KC Duel Disk system warranties good to last?"

"Um... A year?"

"Three."

"Oh."

"And since this product may be faulty considering that it had been out since initial release, Kaiba Corporation will take responsibility to look after your product and ensure safety and quality."

"Oh... Okay."

"Glad we have this understanding," the brown haired teen smirked as he finally relinquished his hold on the other teen, thrusting him forward with a slight push into the suite room, quite pleasantly pleased at the blond's clumsy stagger.

Jounouchi uttered a startling cry as he stumbled into the room inelegantly, managing a pause to regain his balance and stand upright. The blond opened his mouth in silent awe as he took in the sight of the large hotel suite. It was styled quite modern art-esque with elements of homeliness. A couch (Jounouchi assumed), a kitchen, a desk, a large partition separating two rooms, some stools, a game table, a fancy wet bar, and so on. He had never seen a hotel room that was so close to an actual nice home!

Kaiba brushed by the gawking duelist, slyly grazing the teen's side as he passed conceitedly with a purr, "I'll get started then, hm?" Grabbing the other by the shoulder at the last second, he shoved the boy face first over to one of the nearby beds. "Make yourself at home."

The bed was quite comfortably distractingly fluffy. So much actually that it took Jounouchi approximately six minutes and a half to realize he was bamboozled. "Damn it, Kaiba! It's still my duel disk!"


"Oookay... So... Jounouchi-kun didn't do something right, or something happened... And now Jounouchi-kun is gone." Yugi stared blankly at the sky in the Kaiba manor courtyard as Katsuya, Seto, and Mokuba squealed and chased each other as though they've been friends their whole lives.

"That is correct, Mutou-sama." Isono nodded.

"And since Jounouchi-kun is my friend and Kaiba-kun knows me, you chose to tell me?"

"Also under Mokuba-sama's orders..." Isono supplied.

Yugi frowned with worry as the three boys tackled each other at the same time.

"Doggy pile!" They chorused with glee as their bodies smacked each other on the hard grassy ground. Ouch.

"Hm... I guess maybe it's a good thing so Mokuba can play with others his age?" sweatdropped Yugi.

Katsuya, who had up to now paid attention to Seto and Mokuba, then noticed Yugi with interest. Not one to exclude another potential playmate, he ran over. "Hey!"

Yugi blinked in surprise as honey brown eyes gazed into his purple ones. "Eh?"

Yami briefly floated over in astonishment. 'He really looks like Jounouchi-kun, Yugi...'

'Yeah... He's really cute.'

"Do you wanna play with us? We're playing tag now," piped the young blond, leaning forward while stretching his small arms to his back.

Smiling warmly, the King of Games stood, "'Course!"

"'Kay! What school do you go to? Is your teacher mean? Mine is, she's not very nice. Do you get yummy snacks at your school? We always get apple sauce. I like apple sauce though. What's your favorite thing to do in recess? I like playing ball. How old are you? I bet I'm older! The black haired boy's the oldest though, he's eleven. I'm ten, but I'll be eleven in a month! The brown haired boy's still ten but he'll be eleven too, but after me cause I'm older by nine months! What grade are you in?" babbled the ten year old child. If there was an award for biggest sets of lungs, he would probably be a potential winner.

Yugi could only stare. There was no way this kid could think of him as a kid too!

"Okay, come on before the grown ups come and ruin the game!"

Alright, Katsuya wasn't cute anymore! Actually yes he still was, but less so now. Yugi groaned as he ran off after the kids. This was really not his day. As much as he supported his dear friend Jounouchi, this was a bit much. It didn't help that Yami was chuckling all the while following his host.

As the boys ran, Seto decided to take the time to properly talk to his new companion. "What did you say your name was again?" Seto chirped as he placed a hand in the other boy's. He beamed when the blond looked away distractedly, only to snap into attention at his last sentence.

"Oh my name's Katsuya!" The boy responded just as energetically as they jumped across some grass and stumbled upon a bush.

"Katsuya, I'm Seto. Nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you too. How are you?"

"I'm fine."

"Me too."

"So we're going to hide in this bush?"

"For a while. Then we'll go back to base," Seto reasoned carefully as he lifted his gaze up in thought, "Yugi will probably try to find Mokie first since he went off in a closer direction than we did. Then we'll take the chance to go to base."

Katsuya gazed at his new friend in awe. "Wow, you're so smart!"

"Hee hee, I know," Seto puffed his chest up proudly.

"I bet you're smarter than the smartest person in the whole wide world!"

"Ehehe, nooo I'm not!"

"I bet you're the smartest smartest kid in the universe!"

"Not yet but I will be someday!"

"Not if you're going to be caught by me!" roared Yugi, who was now suddenly taller and sounded more grown up?

"EEEEK! IT'S YUGI!"

"RUNNNN!"


Jounouchi's heavy eyelids slowly opened to the gentle familiar taps and clicks of a keyboard. Squinting up at the ceiling of the room, his first initial thought was surprise at how dark it's become in the room. How long was he out for? Sluggishly he stretched heavy fatigued limbs across the soft comfortable bed in satisfaction. He didn't realize how tired he was up to that point. Did he really overexert himself so much? He was tempted to fall back down and crash again, but his stomach decided against it. Oh boy, was he starving! Flipping off the blankets, he stretched his arms once again with a yawn. He had never felt so relaxed in a long time.

"It's about time you woke up. I nearly thought I had to bring you to a morgue."

Oh right. There was Kaiba.

"Well soooorry to disappoint you, but I'm still as lively as a little kid waiting in line for the new Duel Monsters pack release."

"You mean ready to cry, kick, scream, whine, and pee in his pants?" Kaiba deadpanned as he continued typing away, stopping to hook up a cord to Jounouchi's Duel Disk.

"I was actually going for total excitement with great optimism that I'm going to get new special cards thank you very much." Jou grumbled in reply as he hopped out of the bed and headed over to Kaiba's desk, peering curiously at the screen. "So what's going on?"

"Not that you'll understand, but I'm running a scan on any modifications that could have been done on your Duel Disk and any data from our duel that your disk had documented," Kaiba stated flatly, not once glancing over at the blond teen next to him. He narrowed his eyes as the command prompt ran rapidly on the screen. Fast, but not fast enough for his taste. "If I can get even a clue as to what happened in our duel, it may serve as a possible lead to getting us home."

Jounouchi nodded slowly. It did make sense from the way the brunet had put it.

"Just what exactly did you do, Jounouchi?"

"Huh?"

Kaiba scowled in displeasure at the thought of needing to repeat himself. "What did you do to have gotten yourself here?"

The blond frowned in thought, "Well... I went with my instincts which told me to use Time Wizard to bring Set- I mean your past self home," Jounouchi swiftly amended, but the damage was done as Kaiba had bristled hearing his first name from the blond's lips. "S-sorry," He mumbled apologetically, rubbing a hand on the back of his head. He slipped out the child's name out of habit, completely forgotten that he wasn't on first name basis with the CEO, which made things a tad bit awkward.

If the brunet was bothered, he certainly didn't show it. "Continue," He commanded, pausing his typing to let the program scan and he swiveled his chair around to face the blond duelist, locking his intense gaze upon the other.

Jounouchi nodded. "Well, I didn't want to use my Duel Disk cause I didn't want to mess with your child self's memories... Um, not that your memories have changed, right?"

Kaiba shook his head. "I am the same as I was, as far as I know."

The Duelist Kingdom runner up frowned. Now this was interesting as well. Kaiba remained unchanged even after all the events that happened with his child self. Did it meant that these memories already existed for him? This was really confusing. Seeing the CEO's glare though, it was obvious he wasn't in the mood to ponder such things at the moment, so he continued, "So I just used the card and it started shining."

"Your Time Wizard?"

"Yeah, that's right."

Kaiba sighed and rubbed his temples. "So... You flipped the coin?"

Jounouchi pulled the 100 yen coin out from his pocket. "Yeah... The same coin from before."

The CEO gingerly plucked the silver coin from the other teen's hand and observed it carefully. As expected of a coin in circulation, it was with wear and tear, small dents in the designs. Nothing pointed out exceptionally special about it, but just in case, the brunet laid the coin next to his laptop. "I'll look into this then."

The blond duelist sighed and plopped himself down on the chaise longue. "Well, the card shined even though there wasn't a Duel Disk and then next thing I knew I was here. It's so weird..."

"Hmph."

Jounouchi stayed silent for a moment before inquiring, "Do we have any food?" He was answered with a smack on the face by a crinkly plastic bag.

"Help yourself. Hotel room service won't be available yet and I don't have time to cook for you."

The blond was tempted to stick his tongue out at the brunet, but stopped to smile at the bag of goodies. Melon pan, salmon onigiri, and soba bread, not bad. As he munched on a sticky rice ball, Jounouchi could feel his stomach growing satiated from the feeling of digesting food. Food always lifted his mood, so that was a big plus as well. Soon he was much more chipper and he helped himself to another rice ball.

Kaiba, who had returned to observing his laptop, commented off-handed, "So you say your card shined in spite of not being set in a Duel Disk or stadium?"

Jounouchi nodded rapidly.

The corporate leader scoffed. "All that time travel must have messed your head."

The ex-gang member stuck out his tongue. "It's the truth," he declared with confidence.

"So you say. I'll have to be the one to break it up to you since no one else will. It is highly improbable that such a thing happened."

"But it really did happen and I'm not even lying!"

"I didn't say you were. But for such a thing to occur, I find it hard to believe."

"I don't really know how to get you to believe me then..."

"Don't bother. You've done enough already."

"Then tell me what I should do!"

"Well, this is certainly different."

"Huh?"

Kaiba turned his head in amusement to the other duelist. "You asking me for orders? Are you finally realizing your place, bonkotsu?"

Suddenly realizing the weight of his words, Jounouchi sunk down into the furniture. "Sh-shut up, I'm just bored! And besides, is it so wrong to want to help?"

"Look, just do whatever you want. You've done enough already by watching Mokuba and the past version of me. You were out for four hours since your arrival here, and I have no need for you right now." He then paused in thought and then narrowed his half-lidded eyes with a smirk. "So sit there and enjoy yourself. After all that's what I've been doing since I came here."

Jounouchi ran the other male's words over in his mind before finally settling down satisfied and continuing to munch on his rice ball. Well, he could use a break anyway.


Mazaki Anzu gazed at the three children who were eating curry rice with small plates of pickled radishes on the side for dinner. She came over in a rush as soon as the King of Games texted her on the situation. It took a while for her to come in though, having to wait until Isono arrived to explain to the guards that yes, Mazaki Anzu was safe, no, she was not a terrorist in disguise and no, her uniform was not a weapon of mass destruction. "So Yugi... What exactly are we doing?"

"Well... We're doing what used to be Jounouchi's job," murmured the pointy haired teen as he scooped up another small bowl of rice for Katsuya. At least the child's appetite was healthy... -ish.

"I see... And Honda?"

"Has to take care of his nephew now."

"I see... And Bakura?"

"Um... I'm not sure, he might be busy since he's taking care of Jounouchi's dad this time?"

"I see... And Jii-san?"

"Busy with the shop."

"I see... And Otogi?"

"Busy with his shop."

"I see... And your mom?"

"She's busy helping Jii-san."

"I see..."

"You can't think of anyone else?"

"No..."

"Mm..."

"It's ok, though! We can handle this no problem if Jounouchi could do it."

"If I can do what?"

Yugi and Anzu shrieked as Katsuya gazed up at the duo, having perked up at hearing his name.

The child smiled innocently and piped, "Do you need help?"

The two high school students stared at each other before grinning stiffly at the blond boy. "N-no, we're fine!"

Katsuya frowned and tilted his head. He really wanted to be a good boy in front of these people that seemed nice. "Really?"

"Yes!"

Seto, having finished his plate, gently placed the dishes in the sink. Mokuba followed suite before the two boys headed over to the living room.

Anzu, noticing the two boys' departure, smiled at Katsuya, "Do you want to go play with them?"

The boy placed a tempted look in the direction of his new friends before turning back to the teenage girl. "Um, are you sure you don't need help?"

"Aww, we're fine, Katsuya!"

The ten year old pouted at the pat on the head from Yugi. "If you pat me, I'll pat you!" Katsuya then rubbed his hands on Yugi's head with vigor, earning a laugh from the teen.

"Go play, it's fine."

With a final look at the two teens, Katsuya then rushed to the living room joining the two Kaiba brothers.

"So... Katsuya-chan should stay here right?" Anzu began filling the sink with water, only to be gently pushed aside by an insistent maid who began her cleaning duties.

"Please, allow me," the maid smiled as Anzu backed away with a frown.

"Um, okay, thank you..."

Yugi led Anzu aside with a nod to the maid, "Thank you! Anyway Anzu, I guess he should stay here... Or maybe he could stay with Jiichan and me. I don't know though, so I'd like your advice."

Pressing an index to her cheek in thought, Anzu murmured, "Well, it couldn't hurt, but would Mokuba really be ok? I don't think he should be by himself nor just with Seto... Also I hate to say it, but it's a little strange to call little Jounouchi by his first name."

"I know... Same thing for Kaiba-kun too..."

"Ha ha, well I'm sure they won't mind, right?"

"They can't anyway."

"Will they ever come back?"

Yugi frowned as he fingered his puzzle gently. "I'm positive that Jounouchi will find a way. I just hope it'll be soon."

"Mm, me too." Anzu stated as she walked toward the living room. "Boy, they sure do live in splendor..."

Yugi laughed. "I'm just glad you're here to help, Anzu. I can't handle this on my own."

Anzu smiled warmly. "Of course. I'm always happy to help you, Yugi."

With a slight pink warmth on his cheeks, Yugi glanced at the games that the boys were playing. Oh, it looked like Uno?

"I summon the Red Stop sign, now none of you can move~!" sang Katsuya.

"I'll stop you with my Blue Four card! Now Mokie, finish him off!" called Seto as he raised a hand up in the air dramatically.

"Wild Draw Four Attack!" Mokuba declared, furiously tossing the card into the discard pile for effect.

Both Yugi and Anzu had similar thoughts, 'What in 'tarnation are these kids playing, cause that is not even Uno.'

"NO! I died!" Katsuya sobbed as he gripped his card with sorrow.

"Yaay!" cried the other two boys as they flung the cards up in air.

Oh well. At least they were having fun.


Jounouchi stiffly glanced at Kaiba, who was now sitting in front of him from the dining table. There was perfectly good food right there in front of him (western style breakfast apparently rather than the traditional Japanese breakfast), and it wasn't really a bad thing... But still, it was Kaiba, sitting right across from him and eating breakfast with him. The scene was so mundane yet oddly out of this world. He wouldn't have even thought that such a thing was even possible. Then again he never really saw what the CEO did during lunch hour at school.

The brunet ate daintily yet it wasn't too pompous or overly fancy like the blond thought it would be. He was just a guy that's eating a bagel neatly. How he managed to do that with a spread of cream cheese on the bagel, Jounouchi couldn't figure out. Even by now he'd have a smudge of cream cheese on his cheeks. Maybe it was how the CEO was eating small careful bites, he reasoned.

Munching on some bacon and eggs slowly, the smaller teen continued to observe the duelist with slight interest. He never really noticed how the brunet seemed to look down to earth up close. Usually whenever they interacted, the other male usually gave an intimidating aura, an impenetrable barrier so strong no one dared to go near him, not that it ever stopped the blond from confronting him of course, but as of right now he just seemed so approachable, that it was baffling to the Red Eyes Black Dragon user.

The moment was quiet as the two of them ate their fill, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence, strangely. It was startling when the Kaiba Corp CEO all of the sudden decided to break the stillness.

"Is the food not to your liking?"

"Huh?"

"You're barely eating it."

Jounouchi gulped the small mouthful of bacon laced eggs. Wiping his mouth quickly with a napkin, he quickly responded, "Uh it's alright. I think it's because of the onigiri earlier. They're pretty filling."

Satisfied with the answer, the brunet nodded. "I tend to like those particular ones. Usually available, fresh, and generously filled. Simple yet at times addicting."

"Where'd you get them?"

"A nearby bakery to my manor. Well, currently not mine," There was a slight bitterness to the prodigy's words. "But nonetheless, they tended to have good baked items. Mokuba adores their parfaits."

The blond whistles. "Fancy."

"Yes, I doubt a proletariat such as yourself could even afford it."

"I prefer curry rice anyway!"

"Yet you ate all the onigiri."

"Is that actual resentment in your tone for me eating your food?" Jounouchi waggled his eyebrows provocatively with a grin. His smile grew wider seeing the other's familiar trademark smirk. "Who'd have thought the great CEO would be so petty?"

"Hmph. I suppose you'll have to make it up to me then, wouldn't you?"

"Oh no, how will I ever repay back the amazing Kaiba Seto? His greatness is far too much for my lowly wages and lowly skills, and all because I ate the onigiri!" Jounouchi mock sobbed dabbing his handkerchief to an eye.

"I see you're beginning to see the picture," teased the duelist as he wiped his own lips lightly with a napkin. His arrogant smirk widened seeing the blond stick his tongue out playfully.

"Jerk."

It was odd indeed, here they were, sitting and having breakfast and not fighting like usual, but giving snappy retorts that sounded full of jest, friendly even.

Jounouchi couldn't help the happy wriggling grin on his lips that grew to a small snicker. It wasn't so bad... He could actually get used to this with the former World Champ.


Anzu, Yugi, and Mokuba sat together as Seto and Jou napped against one another on one of the couches.

"So, Mokuba..."

Said boy sat upright.

"Do you think it's best that you stay here now that Jounouchi and your brother are... Away?"

Mokuba affirmed his answer with a slight tilt of his head, "No matter what, I can't just leave. A good portion of niisama's work is here and I have to take care of it for him," He leaned his head back against one of the cushions on the loveseat. "Plus with the past niisama here, I want to make sure he's ok."

Yugi smiled, "Ok. That sounds like a plan. It'll be for the best that Seto-chan stays here then."

Satisfied, Mokuba adjusted the cushion under his head before stopping at Anzu's pondering thought.

"What about Katsuya-chan?"

"I want Katsuya to stay with me."

The two teens glanced over in surprise at the source of the proud declaration.

"Katsuya is most likely in the same situation as I am," Seto continued having awakened and overhearing the conversation. He crept closer from his seat on the couch, causing the blond child to lean over his lap in his sleep. "Also, since Jounouchi-nii is gone, I think it's highly likely that this is the small Jounouchi-nii, so I don't want anything to happen to him. And I want to stay with Mokie too, since he's my brother and I have to take care of him. And since the three of us will be together, it will be beneficial since the two of you don't have to look after us."

Yugi and Anzu stared as the brunet babbled on his reasoning, the only thoughts running through their heads were about how at that moment Seto seemed so much like the current Kaiba. Then again maybe he was always like that and they never really noticed since Jounouchi was with him most of the time.

Mokuba certainly wasn't shocked and also nodded in agreement. "Niisama has a good point. If we're all together then it wouldn't be so hard to keep track of everyone."

Yugi and Anzu continued to stare. Since when did kids started to sound like adults nowadays? Then again they were ten and eleven year olds, but still!

Soon it was agreed between Seto and Mokuba that the three of them would stay together and will be watched by rotating Yugi, Anzu, Bakura, and Honda. While they were planning though, Katsuya finally stirred awake.

Frowning, the boy gazed at the time and then gasped. "Ah..." Katsuya didn't realize how late it was. Stretching, the small blond hopped off the couch, flinging his small frisky legs and headed straight for the entrance, putting on his shoes.

It was then that Yugi noticed the moving child and exclaimed, "Hey! Where are you going?"

"I'm going home," Katsuya explained simply as he bent to tie his shoelaces. "Today was fun. Can I come by and play again? Well, I have to ask 'tou-san, but it should be ok I think..." the boy mumbled incoherently further not realizing the presence behind him until it was too late. He squeaked as he was held up all of the sudden from behind. Immediately flailing and wriggling, the child desperately attempted to escape his assailant's grasp.

"Hey, calm down, it's okay! You'll be staying here, so don't worry! We'll take good care of you. Let's go back to the living room, okay?" Anzu attempted to lead the boy back carefully, which was getting difficult due to the boy's squirming.

Katsuya paused for a moment. He was in a stranger's house (albeit a kid his age's), talking to a bunch of strangers (although they did play tag), and now they wanted him to stay there. A thousand red flags waved in the boy's mind and more than ever he kicked and struggled wildly, eventually breaking free of Anzu's hold. "No! No, no!" He shrieked and immediately he took off with a sprint, blood rushing to his ears and adrenaline pumping, fear and cold sweat pouring from his forehead as he ran, ran, ran!

"Katsuya! Jounouchi-kun! Wait!" pleaded Yugi desperately as he rushed after with the other three following in a panic. "We're trying to help you!"

The boy rushed through the large bushes, crawling through tiny obstacles that only he could fit through, and finally after squeezing past closed gates he reached the sidewalk and delved into a greater sprint, blond locks flying in the rushing wind. It wasn't long before the mansion was out of sight.

"Come back! No...!" panted Yugi in dread as he grasped one of the bars of the heavy gate for support. "We lost him!"

Anzu frantically gazed into the distance after having caught up to the male teenager. The boy was long gone. "I'm so sorry, Yugi! I'm the one who scared him off and I didn't even realize it, oh my gosh, oh no, no!"

Mokuba blinked before his jaw dropped. That's right! He never got to tell Katsuya that he was in the future, so no wonder he was all confused! It didn't take long before the young Kaiba felt a pit of guilt. He really should have been on top of that, but instead was focused on playing. Tightening his bottom lip, he looked away. How could he even face Jounouchi now?

Yugi shook his head, blond bangs swaying around eyes growing fearful for the fate of the boy. "It's not your fault, Anzu. It's mine for not realizing sooner that Jounouchi-kun... Katsuya," he amended, "most likely didn't know that he's in the future. He must be so scared..."

"We should try going by car, maybe we'll be able to catch up to him!" Anzu pointed out hopefully.

"You're right..." murmured Yugi in resignation. Gazing at his childhood friend, he sighed, "But how will we find him? Where would he go?"

Seto all the while frowned as he thought for a moment, thinking back to all the moments he shared with Jounouchi. If his past self was anything to go by, then maybe... "I think I know where he might have gone." The child announced as he crossed his arms, eyes closed in concentration.

The trio turned their attention over to the boy, who stood cool yet determined. At that moment, the boy's gaze locked onto them, fierce and decisive. It was the strong-willed look they all knew from the current Kaiba whenever he had his goal set and would see it to the end, no matter the consequences.

Recognizing the look, Mokuba grew hopeful and excited, "Niisama! So you figured out where he could be?!"

Seto nodded, "I will find him Mokie, and bring him back," he declared resolute to the delight of the two teens and his future brother.

"I'll get Isono and we'll mobilize right away!" called Mokuba quickly as he ran for the bodyguard, willing his legs to go as fast as he could.


After a surprisingly pleasant breakfast, the two teens marched outside of the hotel. Jounouchi breathed in the morning air with gusto. "It's so weird, one minute in the present it was around five pm or so and now here I'm seeing morning again."

"Oh? Don't tell me you're tired again, bonkotsu?"

"No, I just find it funny, that's all," Jounouchi grumbled as his mood soured somewhat from the duelist's insult.

Kaiba merely shrugged.

Feeling very much more annoyed, Jounouchi proceeded to launch a kick to send the brunet off to sky heaven. It didn't work out as he would have liked and instead he ended up tripping once more due to the infuriatingly big uniform he still had on. The blond shut his eyes tightly bracing himself for the fall on the pavement. Hopefully Kaiba wouldn't insult him too badly. Instead what followed seemed to be much more worst, however. Jounouchi didn't reach the pavement. Normally that wouldn't have been a bad thing. His head was safe, that much was certain, but how he just happened to be suspended in mid-fall the duelist couldn't figure out. That is until he realized that some feeling of pressure was around his lean waist. And something was supporting his back, which explained why he was still held up in the air rather than crashing on the pavement. He slowly raised he head up nervously, dreading his actions but couldn't help to look.

As he had feared, his savior was none other than Kaiba. Kaiba, who he hated more than anything else at the moment. Kaiba, who also hated him more than anything else at the moment. Kaiba, who was staring right into his eyes with his own and holding him closely from the waist in an arch of some sort that seemed almost hilariously romantic.

Blue eyes staring with amusement and a tinge of concern?

"Mattaku bonkotsu, it looks like you'll never learn, hmm?"

Jounouchi attempted to say something, anything, but words came out as squawks and growls to his bewilderment. It didn't help that Kaiba began cackling at that point and released him, although none-too-gently. He ended up on the ground with a small plop. Better than a bang, he supposed.

"Well? Come on then, Mutt. We'll just have to get you a better harness."

Jounouchi Katsuya stared for approximately ten seconds before retorting in dismay, "I am NOT a dog, Kaiba teme!"

"What was that now? Do I see a dog daring to bite the hand that feeds him?"

"You weren't really feeding me to begi-..." The blond couldn't even finish his sentence. It was figuratively and literally true in both senses. "I-I mean...!"

If only he could wipe the wide smug smirk off the infuriating brunet's face. He could feel his own face burning in anger. Damn him!


Coral: It was really fun writing the present Jou and Kaiba interactions here lol! And I hope you all are ok with the pacing so far, we'll be seeing a bit more of slice-of-life stuff before it gets super serious I think. Depends on how it goes. Also if anyone notices, I don't really play up the dog insults too much from the English dub since in the Japanese the most that Kaiba insults him is "bonkotsu" or "make inu" and stuff of that nature. In the manga as well the whole dog insult thing isn't really in there either, from what I see, but if anyone who had seen the Japanese sub episodes can tell me otherwise, I'll totally change it for sure, lol. I really want to keep them IC as much as I can. I see Kaiba as sort of petty, like on one hand he's a fierce character that demands no nonsense but on the other hand he gets super upset, throws his victory card around in arrogance etc. Plus his constant villain laugh, lol!

And it looks like I haven't been putting young Seto IC much, but to be fair he has softened up due to Jounouchi and stuff so he starts to sort of trust people a bit more, but he'll still be wary since he's been going by the firm belief to not trust anyone in the Noa arc. Although the arc was filler and I didn't really like how it just popped in randomly during Battle City, so I'm standing by the manga and not including it, I'll probably borrow some of the young Seto elements in there since most of his characterization is there.

Let me know if some things didn't seem right, and what you liked about the chapter! :)

Also does the Japanese words bother anyone? I know how some fics can be kind of arrogant on their usage so I don't want it to take away from the experience if it does bother you guys, let me know if it does guys! :) (Also I realize I talk too much, sorry!)

Notes:

Baka- means idiot or dummy or things of that nature.

Kono yaro- in this context, it means roughly "this bastard!" I could be wrong though, so let me know!

Sukebe- It's an insulting way of saying Hentai, basically saying the person is a pervert with heavy creepo factors lol

Mattaku- Usually said to show frustration or irritation, the equivalent would be something like Geez, Honestly, or something to that extent and you'd shake your head and stuff lol.