Jounouchi clutched his stomach, groaning miserably. He knew the fish Kaiba made for dinner didn't taste right. Hell, Mokuba even warned him not to eat it, but he couldn't say no to Kaiba. He especially couldn't say no after seeing how proud Kaiba looked to have successfully (but not really) made Jounouchi dinner for a change. His smirk was as smug as he'd ever seen it when Jounouchi downed the first bite. He did his best to grin and bear it, in addition to showering the brunette with praise.

After dismissing himself from the dinner table, Jounouchi dragged himself to Mokuba's room and collapsed on the boy's bed. He figured the little runt would have some sympathy for him, but Kaiba raised his little brother well, and the little jerk blamed was just as cruel as ever.
He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling, "I feel like shit."

Mokuba, poised at his desk, playing some kind of game, didn't even bother to turn around, "I told you not to eat the food Nii-sama made. I really don't know what you expect me to do, Jounouchi. You have nobody to blame but yourself."

Maybe it was his fault for lying to Kaiba, but he couldn't very well tell the other man how awful the food tasted. He couldn't crush his sweetheart's enthusiasm, and he sure as hell didn't want to sleep on the couch.

"A little sympathy would be nice?" Jou whined, "Or you could rub my stomach. Get me a bucket maybe?"

"If you throw up in my room I'm telling Seto you took his favorite shirt. He's been looking for it all week."

"Ughhhhh," Jounouchi mumbled, he threw his arm over his face as his stomach churned, "I could be dying. Is this really how you're going to treat me?"

Mokuba rolled his eyes.

"You're not going to die, Jou-nii. Just tell Nii-sama his cooking made you sick and let him take care of you. But," he added as an afterthought, "if you do die, don't do it on my bed. I'd hate to have your ghost hanging around my room."

Jounouchi whimpered as his stomach gurgled and churned, "You are such a brat. Tell your brother that I love him, cause with you ignoring my needs I won't make it through the night.."

"I will do no such thing. Get up and tell Seto the truth, or I will," the raven haired boy threatened.

"No!" Jounouchi protested, "What if he gets all…?" Jounouchi moved his hands in dramatic motions and made unintelligible noises.

"Upset?" Mokuba supplied, "Distraught? Angry?"

"Gah, I don't know. He's your brother! You know what I'm talking about. This is the guy that threatened to commit suicide if Yugi beat him at Duelist Kingdom."
Mokuba shut his laptop and spun around in his chair, "Okay, I see your point. Seto can be a bit dramatic at times, for lack of a better word, but he's not going to hate you for saying that dinner sucked."

Jounouchi blew a sigh of relief.

"If anything, he's going to hate you for lying to him and hiding this from him because you thought he couldn't handle the truth."

"Oh my Ra are you trying to make me feel better or worse?"

"Neither. I'm here to tell you to stop acting like a big baby!" Mokuba snapped, "I've had to tell Nii-sama things he doesn't want to hear too. My brother is strong. He's had to hear far worse things than you telling him that he can't cook. Get off your ass and go tell him how you feel."

"Do I have to?" Jou said, his voice muffled by Mokuba's blanket as he tugged it over his face.

Mokuba crossed his legs and folded his hands into his lap, looking eerily similar to his brother, "You don't have to do anything. I'm a kid, not your therapist. If you don't want to listen to me, you don't have to."

The blonde snuggled into the covers and groaned, "Fine! Enough with the guilt tripping. You got me. I'll tell ya brother."

"Good," Mokuba said, "But if Nii-sama kicks you out of bed, you're not staying with me. You talk in your sleep and really it's annoying."

"Yeah?" Jounouchi said, "Well you're really a jerk."

He eyed the sad lump in his bed that was Jounouchi. "Don't pick a fight with me. You're not going to win. Not with all the dirt I have on you."

He opened his mouth to deal Mokuba a saucy retort, but snapped his mouth shut when he realized the kid was right. He climbed out of the boy's bed on unsteady feet and motioned towards the bathroom.

"If I don't come out in thirty minutes you should probably start planning my funeral.

"Dully noted," Mokuba said, his nose crinkling in disgust, "Just make sure you clean up after yourself."

Jounouchi gave him a solemn nod, and shut the bathroom door behind him. Mokuba hadn't personally tasted the fish that his brother had prepared, but judging from the way Jounouchi was retching, it had to be bad. He knew that his brother wasn't much of a cook. Child genius or not, his elder brother had barely been capable of making instant noodles and cereal when they still lived with their biological father. And by the time they were adopted by Gozaboru, the brothers were fed the finest food by the finest chefs, despite their step father's mistreatment. All in all, cooking had never been one of Kaiba Seto's many talents.

There was a familiar knock at his door and Mokuba sighed.

"Come in."

"Mokuba?" his brother asked, as he pushed the bedroom door open and took a step inside.

"Yes Nii-sama?"

"Have you seen Katsuya? I can't find him," the elder Kaiba asked.

"Um, yeah," Mokuba jerking his thumb towards his bathroom door, "Over there."

The two stiffened upon hearing sound loud gagging, and the flush of the toilet. His brother raised a brow at him, and Mokuba gave an innocent shrug.

"Katsuya," Kaiba called. He took a tentative step towards the bathroom, "Are you alright?"

Jounouchi groaned softly, "M' fine. Don't come in."

"Katsuya," Kaiba repeated, in a firmer tone, "What's wrong? Are you ill?"

"Kind of," Jounouchi drawled. He didn't want to hurt the other's feelings, but he also didn't want to keep lying. As Mokuba'd said, Kaiba was going to find out one way or another, "I think I have food poisoning. I uh, I'm pretty sure it was dinner."

Kaiba frowned, "I made you sick?"

The deflated tone in the brunette's voice sent a pang of guilt to Jounouchi's gut, and tears collected at the corner of his eyes. Jou'd always been an emotional crier, and he felt shitty from being sick, but now he also felt miserable for lying, "I'm sorry I didn't say something sooner. I just—you looked so happy. I didn't want to hurt you."

"I'm not a child, Katsuya. I can handle the truth."

Opening the door, Jounouchi emerged head down, and hands clutching his aching stomach, "I know! I'm sorry, Seto. Forgive me?"

His eyes softened as he watched Jounouchi sniffle, and wipe at a stray tear. His cheeks were flushed, and his hair was matted down to his forehead. His shirt was rumpled and there was still a bit of drool clinging to his cheek. In truth, Kaiba felt a stab of betrayal in his gut, but he couldn't bring himself to be angry while Jounouchi looked so sad and disgraceful.

"Don't apologize. This is my fault, idiot," he murmured, "If it'll make you feel better, I promise I won't cook again. I don't like to admit defeat, but it's clear that cooking is a skill that I do not possess."

"No, you don't have to do that. I'll help ya the next time you want to make dinner, okay? Learning something new takes time," Jounouchi said. He leaned forward and slumped against the brunette's chest, and unbeknownst to Kaiba, effectively wetting the brunette's shirt with the remainder of tears and a bit of snot.

A small smile pulled at Kaiba's lips, "Alright. But crying will only get you so far, Katsuya. Don't lie to me next time."

"I won't," Jounouchi promised, "Now take care of me, jerk."

"Don't press your luck," His hands slid down the blonde's back and he pressed a biting kiss to Jounouchi's neck, "Or I'll have to punish you."

"Ugh. Nii-sama! I've told you before, not in my room!" Mokuba protested, "You need to maintain a minimum of five feet apart when the two of you are in my room!"

Kaiba smiled against Jounouchi's neck, "My apologies, little brother."

"I don't want to hear apologies, I want to see moving!"

"What a bossy little shrimp," Jounouchi grunted.

"He learned from the best," Kaiba chuckled. He locked his arms around Jounouchi and pecked the blonde on the head.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Mokuba exclaimed, "What did I say? Get out."

"Aw come on kid," Jounouchi laughed, "Lighten up."

Mokuba gave the pair a light shove, "You've already soiled my restroom, Jounouchi, so I don't need you making the rest of my room gross. Consider this a free lesson in learning to tell Seto the truth. You two are being gross, so get out of my room."

"But-!"

"Out!"

"You are such a little—"

"Yeah, love you too. GOODNIGHT."

And with that, Mokuba slammed his door shut, leaving his brother to take care of the ailing Jounouchi (who after a few botched attempts at chicken noodle soup on Kaiba's behalf, made a swift and sound recovery).