Hey guys! It's been a while. D: here's a quick update, not my favorite chapter but oh well. :)

Jounouchi Katsuya, Kaiba thinks, has a wonderful laugh. Albeit, it's rather loud and obnoxious, the brunette finds it oddly endearing. He can't help but spare an affectionate thought or two whenhe hears the blonde's loud guffaws. The laugh is rich and contagious; the genuine kind that bubbles straight up from your belly and spills over like over flowing water. The sound resonates through the once quiet, and lonely Kaiba mansion, and Kaiba can't help but smile along with it. Jounouchi's laughter was childish and care free, much like Mokuba's. It's a sound the brunette could never tire of.

He adjusts his head, which is carefully cradled in the blonde's lap. The pair were nestled on Jounouchi's favorite couch in the den, directly across from the flat screen TV. The brunette did his best to focus on the book in his hands, but found himself oddly distracted.

"Seto."

"Katsuya."

"You're staring."

"Am I?"

Jounouchi gave him a pointed look. He paused the video game he was playing and frowned down at the older boy.

"Don't stop on my account," Kaiba said, lazily flicking to the next page in his book.

The blonde's frowned deepened. He pulled his lips into a tight pout and wrinkled his nose, "Well it's kinda hard to play when I can feel ya watchin me outta the corner of my eye."

"And how would you know if I was staring at you, unless you were staring at me yourself?" Kaiba asked, setting his book down.

Jounouchi raised a finger in the air, determined to argue with the other boy. He opened his mouth several times before snapping it shut. He settled for a disgruntled snort, "Was not."

"Oh?" the brunette inquired.

"Yes," Jounouchi insisted, "Ya always starin at me when ya think 'm not lookin. It was kinda cute at first but now it's gettin kinda creepy, ya know? Just cause I don't say nothin don't mean I don't notice."

"Then where would you have me look Katsuya, if not at you?" the brunette asked locking eyes with the blonde.

"'M not sayin I don't want ya to look. 'M just sayin that ya don't gotta be so weird about it."

Kaiba squinted at the blonde, processing the other boy's words, "I was… unaware I was behaving in such a manner."

"Don't worry bout it Set. I already knew ya were weird the first time we met," the blonde said dismissively.

"How so?" he inquired.

Jounouchi tapped his chin, "Hmmm, well I remember the day ya transferred to our school. Ya uniform was way too neat and ya hair was too perfect. Ya looked more like a grown man that ya did a high school student. Though ya seemed like a pretty cool guy until ya opened ya mouth and called the class rep an 'uncultured plebian' when he tried to shake ya hand."

"He was beneath me," Kaiba said defensively.

The blonde rolled his eyes, "He was being nice ya big goof. Do ya remember what ya said to me when we spoke?"

Kaiba furrowed his brows and watched the cheeky grin spread across Jounouchi's charming features, "No, I do not."

"I was late to gym and I bumped into you in the hallway. It was our first year in high school and ya were already tall as hell. Ya glared down at me and yelled, 'Watch it bonkotsu!' I was still messin around with Hirutani's gang back then, so I definitely didn't wanna back down to some snobby rich kid like you. I'm pretty sure I gave you the bird and told you to go to hell. Romantic, huh?"

Jounouchi erupted into a fit of laughter, hugging his sides tightly. Kaiba let out a quiet chuckle before attempting to hide his smile behind his hand, "I have no recollection of that incident."

"Course ya don't" Jounouchi laughed, "But if that wasn't ya first memory of me, then what was?"

"I'm not sure if I recall."

Jounouchi rolled his eyes, "Oh come on. Please? I betcha it's funny."

Kaiba paused, fleeting memories of the blonde swimming through his mind, "There is one. Perhaps the earliest one I can make out."

"What is it?" Jounouchi asked, cocking his head to the side.

He shifted his gaze from Jounouchi to the book in his hands, "It's silly."

"Oh come on," the blonde whined, threading his hand through Kaiba's hair, "Please?"

The brunette relaxed at the blonde's touch, shoulders slacking as Jounouchi's fingers massaged his scalp, "I can tell you're anticipating some grand story. Sorry to disappoint you, but the memory is rather mundane."

Jounouchi's lips curved upwards into a delicate smile, "It doesn't matter. 'M just curious is all."

"Alright," Kaiba relented, eyes betraying the smile he tried to bite back, "It was the first year of high school I believe. At the time, I didn't know who you were. I'd seen you around school, but I couldn't place a name to a face. All I could remember was your messy blonde hair and your sloppy appearance."

"Hey!" Jounouchi protested. He pouted slightly.

"You didn't let me finish," the brunette laughed.

"I don't wanna hear the rest of the story if it's gonna be mean," the blonde protested, pushing Kaiba's bangs from his face.

"It won't be," Kaiba assured him.

Jounouchi's hand paused as he studied the brunette's face. His brown eyes studied Kaiba cautiously before his hand resumed its work, "Fine. Tell me the rest of the story."

"It was early in the morning and Isono was driving me to the office. I remember looking out of the window and seeing a familiar mop of blonde hair. It was still rather dark, but I was able to make out what you were doing. You were on your bike, red faced and sweaty, delivering the paper at four in the morning. I watched you until we turned the corner and you were out of my sight. There was something about you…something that surprised me. I'd already previosusly judged you. You were the dumb, class clown type. You didn't do well in school and you hung around with the wrong crowd."

"It surprised me to see you out so early in the morning, working hard. The school had a policy against students having jobs, and yet there you were, working your ass off. It didn't fit into the stereotype I had set for you. You were an anomaly; you always were. You didn't act the way I'd anticipated you would. It surprised me even more that you never complained about it at school. In fact, you never mentioned it at all. Had I not seen you with my very eyes, I never would have known."

"Silly, isn't it?" Kaiba asked.

Jounouchi blinked, brown eyes fluttering as the tips of his ears turned a slight shade of red, "You knew?"

"Yes."

"But—I-, if ya knew then why didn't you say something?" Jounouchi exclaimed, as the blush spread to his cheeks, "Ya could have gotten me into trouble at school if you woulda told the faculty about me having a job! Ya probably coulda got me kicked outta school!"

The brunette winced, flinching slightly at Jounouchi's loud cries, "Why would I do that?"

"Well cause ya hated me!" Jounochi sputtered, "Ya hated me and I hated ya and ya had the chance to royally fuck me over. So why didn't ya take it?"

A smile smile tugged at his lips, "Because I understood, Katsuya. I understood what it meant to work hard and fight tooth and nail for what little you have. We disliked each other yes, but it would have been wrong of me to use what I'd seen against you. Besides, our quarrels weren't anything we couldn't settle over a duel."

The blonde stared down at him, red faced and mouth agape.

"You're unbelievable," Jounouchi murmured as he pulled the brunette up into a bone crushing hug.

Kaiba returned the hug, burying his face into the crook of Jounouchi's neck, "I love you too."