Takashima - Hi everyone! Welcome to the last sequel to Employer and Employee! I hope that you guys sincerely enjoyed reading my work... I have to admit, when I first started writing the sequels, I was self-conscious about it. I was thinking, "Will anyone read this? I'm not really a good writer so why would they bother...?" But reading some of the reviews that I've been getting from you guys, I'm grateful! I really, really am!
Anyway, enough of my gibberish. Let's get to this last chapter and find out what happens? OH! Before I forget, this is going to be a slightly angsty chapter, so if you don't enjoy angst, please.. don't yell at me! -,-;
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"It was my fault...!!" The usually-composed CEO stood stiffly outside of his employee's room with his chin tucked towards his chest, "All my fault!" All around him, his medical staff rushed into the room to help the young employee; checking his pulse, his temperature, recording his symptoms and changing his clothes to a more proper hospital garb.
Some of the nurses came out of the room. They were discussing the boy's current condition and although Seto, their boss, was standing against the wall silently cursing himself, they spoke as if he weren't standing there at all.
"That poor boy.. he was drenched from head to toe in the freezing rain..." The first nurse said sympathetically.
The second nurse had a just-as-sympathetic ring to her voice as her companion, "I don't think it was just the rain. Personally, I think it was the chemicals in the rain. I had heard that there was a high chance of light acid rain today... I guess the news stations thought it wasn't important enough to announce to everyone, to stay indoors..."
"News castors are always after money!" The nurse huffed, "They're just as bad as politicians! It's always about the money and not the people!"
"Yes," the second nurse sighed as she held her clipboard close to her chest. As she and her friend walked by Seto, she continued, "But it's because of the people that they are chosen...."
It hurt. This... strange pang in his chest. It made him feel things that were suppose to be dead to him for a very long time. He had killed them off for a reason. He had to be strong to run his company that he stole from under his evil stepfather. He had to be strong to protect his little brother, Mokuba. He needed to be strong for himself or else.. he wouldn't be the cruel and monotonous Seto Kaiba anymore.
His hand reached under his coat and he touched the area above his heart. Doki. "Why am I feeling this way?" Seto hissed in his mind. He had half expected an answer but received none. Doki. He grit his teeth. It was becoming more painful and he found it a little hard to breathe. His body was working against him, or so he thought. It was wanting something that HE didn't want.. or maybe, he was denying his own desire...
This desire deserved to be quenched. It had always been denied, but this time, this desire... this strong urge, needed to be satisfied and it wouldn't allow this last chance to finally be rewarded slip away. It would go against itself as a whole, Seto, to get what it wanted.. This desire.. this ugly, beautiful hunger...
---
It was the dead of night and the only thing that could be heard were the faint beeps from the machines that were docked beside him and his own soft breathing. He could feel the crisp, cool air entering his nose as he breathed in and the stiff tubes agitating his nostrils as he tried to move. However, he couldn't. His body felt heavier than usual but strangely warm, as if it were an alien warmth.
He tried to adjust his eyes to the darkness of the room. It was hard to see and he didn't even recognize where he was but despite this, he could make out little things in the room. Like chairs, or curtains and the shape of the window, where the moonlight failed to enter because the closed blinds blocked the rays.
He also tried to speak but his throat.. God, his throat felt like it was congested, so stuffed up that the only thing he could do was breath if he wanted to avoid the pain that went with this. He knew that even air would have a hard time escaping his throat if he tried to exhale, so speaking would produce fruitless results. This much he knew.
But where could he be? When he tried to remember the last place he was, his memories became fuzzy and blurry. It was impossible for him to remember at this hour.
He laid back and closed his eyes but automatically, they reopened. He couldn't sleep. His body had been sleeping all day. He tried to mentally express his annoyance, but nothing appeared in his mind. All he could do was lay there and act like a vegetable, alive but unable to do anything.
Then, a soft click shattered the peaceful air in the room followed by a trail of soft, almost mute, footsteps. There was a second soft click and that was when he looked towards the door and saw a tall, slim figure standing at the foot of his bed. He couldn't say anything, he couldn't move, he couldn't make a single peep.
"Jounouchi..." A voice so soft that he could hardly hear it. "I'm sorry. This was my fault."
This voice.. he.. recognized it but who did it belong to?
"I knew it would be a downpour but still, I asked you to come..." There was a pause. "And now, look at you.. you got sick, passed out, because of me."
There was a longer silence that followed. "I.. " He looked like he tucked his chin towards his chest. "I.. I was selfish. I wanted.. I wanted to see you, and I knew you would come no matter what kind of weather.."
Another silence. "I knew you would come," he repeated with a mix of disappointment and frustration at himself.
He looked up and then after a few moments, he walked around to the left side of the bed and looked down at the patient. For several seconds, he stood there but suddenly, he reeled back in surprise. "Katsuya! You're--"
Jounouchi was looking up at him. That was all he could do. After all, he was a temporary vegetable... Sitting there unable to talk or move very much.
"--awake!" Kaiba sounded stunned but had enough sense to control the volume of his voice in the steadfast room. If even an irregular sound were to reverberate from beyond the door, nurses would come in swarms to investigate. Although to him right now that would be a nuisance, that was what he had hired them for originally.
Seto watched Jounouchi sit in his bed quietly. Even though he knew that the boy had merit to reply, he didn't. He privately thought it was strange. His behavior only moments before was strange as well... even he didn't know what to make of it himself. "Katsuya," he said softly.
He paused, straining his ears for a reply but none came. With this silence, his heart had quickened with fearful thoughts brewing in his mind. "Jounouchi....." A subtle urgency was added to his usually monotonous voice. "Jounouchi..!"
"W-"
Seto's brows flinched, hearing the sound of a suddenly exhaled breath caught his attention. Patiently, he waited for him to continue.
"..who.."
Seto found himself leaning his ear closer to Jounouchi's face, almost anxious to know what he had to say.
"Who.. are you..?"
The silence that settled in next was dead. You could hear a pin needle drop and it sounded like it was an explosion made from a grenade ten feet in front of you. But couldn't you sympathize? Couldn't you imagine what could be running through Seto Kaiba's mind right now? To fall in love with another man and then, as you are about to give the relationship, that is forbidden in modern eyes, a shot, you are suddenly... forgotten? Just like a blink of an eye...
---
Two days time passed since then and Jounouchi had recovered beautifully. His body was in tip-top physical condition, his optical vision was perfect, the limberness and flexibility of his body was amazing and even his personality was the way it was originally. Everything was the same except his memory. He could remember street names, phone numbers, and his family and friends, everyone but Seto Kaiba.
It was as if... by not only with the help of the acid rain, he purposely forgot him. Sure, Seto was a cruel, heartless, cold, depressing, demanding, obnoxious, ignorant man, but he was human too. He had his flaws. Seto was indeed human, composed of flesh and blood and bones. That was what humans were and no matter how hard Seto had tried to bury them, he had feelings and a heart too.
---
Seto sat in his office on the hundredth floor of his company's building with his fingers steeped in front of him and his elbows propped on the broad, flat oak desk. He didn't know how to describe it, but there was a void in his chest and a flighty quiver in his heart that twitched every time he thought of the golden-haired boy. His blue eyes bore into the wood pattern of his desk intently.
"--Mr. Kaiba?" A familiar female voice asked in a concerned tone.
He looked up at her, at first not recognizing her but then he knew it was his personal secretary. "What is it?" He said coolly.
"I asked if you were all right... Sir.. "
"I'm fine. What do you want?"
She looked hesitant. She was only expressing her concern for him but she was instantly pushed behind a barrier. "..Mr. Yamoi... is here for the 2 o'clock summit... Mr. Kaiba, Sir."
Seto merely regarded her with a nod as he gathered up the necessary files. He didn't even look up at her. The secretary took a few seconds to look at him before she let herself out.
The meetings were taking forever and the young CEO was finding it difficult to keep his mind focused on each topic that was discussed at the summit. His secretary was diligently writing down all she could because later she would be thanked for her efforts. A smile, a nod, or a handshake would be the reward she would be most satisfied with. She could only hope.
A clean game face and a firm handshake were the symbols of a summit well done. When at last the room was empty of all visitors and only employees remained, the secretary presented her boss her neatly-written three page notes. "Here you are, Sir, the minutes (a memorandum) to today's summit."
Seto looked at the white sheets and took them from her hand. He was scanning over them as he made his way around the long polished pine table to the executive head's chair at the left end by the broad windows. It was a few minutes later when Seto said anything to his personal secretary. "Thank you."
She was happy with the words of kindness, but somehow they were void of any gratitude that he usually expressed when she saved him from these summits. She had been working for him since the day he overthrew his stepfather, Gozaburo, and she felt that because of her position she knew him better than any one else in the building. "Mr. Kaiba," she took a step towards him as he was busy reading over her notes.
"What is it?" He said from behind the papers that hid his face.
She was cautious about how she used her words. "Is there anything bothering you?"
For a moment, Kaiba sat there, simply staring at the sheets in his hands before he set them onto the table and looked up at his secretary with a strict, almost angry expression. "No."
Boldly, she said, "Mr. Kaiba, at today's summit, I noticed that you looked constantly distracted. You never let your personal affairs afflict your business affairs unless if was something big." She stepped even closer to him. His gaze on her made her uneasy. She continued, "I have been your secretary since the beginning and have been loyal to only you. If there is anything troubling you, please, Mr. Kaiba, you can confide in me."
Was he that obvious? No, or else the summit would have been interrupted constantly. Could it have been that his secretary had always studied him? Perhaps. This irritated him and yet, it sent waves of relief through him.
He sat back in his big, black chair looking at her. "Nothing I say in this room better leave this room."
"Of course, Sir!" She sat down in a suede rotating chair by him, ready and eager to listen.
The CEO's expression became soft as he looked down at his hands resting on his lap. "I was forgotten," he said sadly.
The young secretary blinked. "By your little brother?" All she knew was that Mokuba was the most important person in her Boss' life. It was rare for him to share anything from his personal life with her.
"No," he said, a forlorn expression settling on his face. He was inwardly debating whether to reveal to her who he meant but... could he truly trust her?
"I was forgotten by Jounouchi Katsuya."
"The new game tester you hired, Sir?" She received a nod. "What happened?"
His hand palmed half his face and the forlorn expression became deeper as he explained, "--and when I walked over, I saw he was awake. He said "who are you?" and I felt like I had just been plowed down by a car."
"Amnesia," she said in a sagely tone. She saw him look up at her. Of course he knew it was amnesia, but... it still gave him a shock, having been forgotten... "There is no cure for amnesia, but maybe you can help him remember you, Mr. Kaiba. Who could forget you, Sir? You have a strong personality!"
Seto decided that perhaps she was right; perhaps he needed to help Jounouchi remember him. It would all be worth it in the end... to hear him say his name again, to see him smile for him... "Yes, perhaps I will help him remember. Thank you for your advice, Ms. Akitoshi." He rose up from the chair and left the room with a stunned secretary still sitting and watching his wake.
"He... smiled!" She smiled inwardly.
---
"No Ma, I'm fine! Ya don' have ta come ova and check on me," he said into the receiver of the phone, "Yes, I know. I'll get betta. Promise! Uh-huh! Tell Shizuka I miss her! Okay! Bye!" Katsuya put the phone where it belonged and laid back on the couch.
"It's been a long day," he told himself and as he was about to close his eyes, there was a knock at the front door. "Ugh.. who could it be at this time?"
Lazily, he rolled off the edge of the couch and climbed up to his feet. It took a total of five minutes for him to get to the door from the den, even though the distance between the two places wasn't all that far away from each other. When he opened the door, he saw a tall man with blue eyes standing there in a long, white trench coat. "Uh.. Hi. Can I.. help you?"
He really didn't remember him and again, Seto's heart quivered, as if it were a prelude to it's destruction. "Yes, my name is... Seto Kaiba. I was... wondering if I could talk to you for a few minutes, Jounouchi.."
Those deep brown eyes studied Seto's face for a while before he smiles and nodded while opening the door wider for him. Jounouchi moved away from the doorway and headed back to the den. It wasn't long before Seto joined him in there. "What do ya want to talk to me about, Seto Kaiba?"
Seto had never been in Jounouchi's apartment before, always thinking that perhaps it would be dirty with pizza boxes laying around or grimy laundry clinging to the couch and other messes to the like. On the contrary, however, it was spotless, clean and it smelled nice--almost like sage. Nothing like he had expected it to be.
He took a moment to notice the beautiful framed pictures of Jounouchi's family, rather the ones with his mother and sister in them, and the unmarked, polished pine dinner table to his far right, the large LCD plasma television behind him and who could miss the hardwood floors? It was a great apartment, one that he would never have guessed belonged to this golden-haired boy.
"I want to help you get back your memories," he said, sitting down in the cushion on the couch next to the golden-haired boy.
"My memories?" Katsuya sat back and looked at the brown-haired man with a puzzled. "I dink I remember everything, Mister Seto Kaiba." He almost sounded annoyed but he didn't know why.
Kaiba corrected him, insisting, "No, you don't. You don't remember me."
The awkward silence affected them both.
"I," Katsuya began slowly, "know you?"
Seto nodded. "If you have the time, listen to me. I can tell you everything we did together this past summer." He could see that the brown-eyed boy that he so adored was hesitant and was reluctant to agree, but he nodded regardless.
"This past summer, " Seto recited thoughtfully as his chest erupted with butterflies, "was the best in my life. Better than visiting Italy in June or the Bahamas in July. It was because you were with me." He shifted uncomfortably as he noticed Jounouchi staring at him with an unmoved expression.
"Please go on," Katsuya said, interested in finding out if this really happened. Maybe the memories would surface if he kept on talking..
Kaiba nodded and obliged. "When I first hired you at my company, Kaiba Corp., my only intentions were to use you, make you perform difficult, daunting tasks but it didn't go as I had planned." He smiled slightly as he pictured the event in his mind, "You had gotten lost on your first day and you pressed the wrong button on the elevator and ended up on the hundredth floor. Wandering around, you found a way to get into my office and I got so mad I almost threw you out myself."
"That's a happy memory for you, Mister Seto Kaiba?" Jounouchi's brow arched.
"Just 'Seto' is fine and yes, because although I was furious with you, I thought that you had even more audacity than when you and I first met in school and that truly intrigued me." The golden-haired boy nodded and shifted in the place he sat.
"I see, Seto..."
"A few weeks after you came to work for me, I noticed how much closer you had gotten to Mokuba, my little brother, and I had gotten... jealous."
"Why?"
Seto crossed his legs and stared at the glass coffee table before him. "I was always working to support him and our lifestyle, so I could never be home to be with him or play with him. But as soon as you came, he adapted to you and to me, it seemed like he was thinking of you as his older brother and not me." He sighed softly and closed his eyes.
"It was hard for me to accept, but eventually, after an event at a restaurant that you invited Mokuba and myself to, I knew I had to subside my jealousy and accept you. I-" Seto looked down at his hands on his lap, "-with my harsh words, had made you cry." Seto's heart was beating wildly in his heart as he recalled the moment.
Jounouchi looked slightly shocked but listened with interest as the CEO continued on, "I had said, 'You don't belong in my house. You don't belong near my brother. And you most certainly don't belong in my bedroom!"
"You're bedroom, Seto?"
"You had asked Mokuba to show you around the mansion and one of the places he brought you was my room..."
"Oh.."
"It was a pouring day and after I yelled at you, you ran off, all the way home by foot through the rain.. Not long after you left, I passed out. I had a blackout from stress..."
"Hmm.." Those gorgeous brown eyes were looking thoughtfully at the auburn floors.
"Some other memories I have of you are from my house. There was one time you got so scared of my finding you eavesdropping that you ran down the hall and parasailed down the stairs and was rewarded with a cut on your cheek, another time where I first caught you playing with Mokuba and I didn't want you anywhere near him..."
He wore the most nostalgic smile on his face and it tugged at the blonde's heart. He really wanted to remember, but none of what Seto said even appeared in his head. Nothing at all. No recollection of the fall and he couldn't think of what this Mokuba even looked like or who he was. He watched him take out a silver trinket from his pocket and was handed it.
"What's this?" Jounouchi asked as he looked at the face plate of the little silver object.
Tenderly, Seto replied, "A Blue Eyes White Dragon pocket watch that you gave me. You told me that it was the only one in the world..."
With his thumb, the blonde flicked it open and saw the silver dragon wings as the arms of the clock and the lustrous aquamarines that adorned each hour of the face. His left hand held the body of the watch and the right extended to the length of the chain and held it out. For just a few moments, he looked at it, studying it, hoping to remember something...
His mind drew a blank.
"Seto..." He looked up at the handsome brown-haired man that sat before him.
"Yes.. Jounouchi?" Those beautiful blue eyes captured the gaze of the brown-haired boy's.
"Here." Katsuya wanted to return the watch but the way he said it, it made Seto uncomfortable.
Receiving the watch and putting it back into his pocket, he tried to be brave and smiled, "Is there-"
"I'm," The blonde's bangs covered half his face, "sorry. I.. just can't remember..."
Maybe... it was too much to expect.. Maybe, he was hoping for too much but when he heard those words, Seto could literally hear the glass in his world shatter and crash around him. Before he knew it tears had brimmed in his eyes and began to roll down his cheeks. His heart felt as it was being strangled, choked and stabbed with a million needles...
He had tried all these years to prevent this from happening to him. He didn't want to know pain. He didn't want to suffer emotionally, not again. That was why he sealed himself off in a cold, harsh place where no one could reach him. He needed to be a robot.. He didn't want to feel like this! But somehow, Jounouchi Katsuya had evaded all of his defenses and took his heart. This man that sat before him, this man called Jounouchi Katsuya.
"Seto, I-" He was caught off guard, his eyes widened and he could feel the hot lips that belonged to this powerful, yet helpless man against his. He could feel the passion behind it, the fully exploited love that he felt for him. It was almost... overwhelming and it was making tears well in his own eyes. He didn't understand why.
Yet, he still struggled. His hands grasped the front of Seto's jacket and feverishly tried to push him off. It was a fruitless effort. Useless. He was stronger and he was consumed by a zeal that engulf his being. Jounouchi was powerless against him.
Seto couldn't help himself. He wanted Jounouchi to remember what happened all summer. The constant bittersweet reunions each morning, noon and night, the idle banter over the phones that always left him angry and annoyed yet strangely satisfied, the comical accidents that the blonde inadvertently committed.. He wanted him to remember everything.. Everything so that he wouldn't have to suffer alone...
"Mm!!" Jounouchi's tears spilled from his eyes and over his cheeks. He gasped into Seto's mouth when he felt himself being forced onto the flat of his back. Those strong arms were wrapped tightly around his pelvis and his arms curled between them, fingers tangling in the fabric of his shirt.
Finally, he pulled back and he realized that the blonde was crying. He didn't know for what reason, may it be him or something else, but he wanted to sooth his crying by kissing his eyes affectionately.
"W-why..?" Jounouchi sniffled. He didn't argue with him when he was kissed on the eyes. "Why are you doing this, Seto?"
Again, his heart felt like it was being choked, but in addition, his chest was also tightening, making it harder for him to breath. Softly, "Haven't you figured it out..?" He planted a gentle kiss on the boy's parted, plush lips. "I love you."
Those three words with eight letters and two spaces... Those three simple words... They were so hard to get out of his mouth, but Seto said them. He had to put all the courage he had behind them in hopes that it would be enough to bring the Jounouchi he knew back. He opened his soul, no, poured his soul into those three universal words.. Wishing.. praying for a miracle..
When those big brown eyes opened to look up at him, Seto could see that his words did not reach him. There was no spark.. there was no usual light there that told him that his Jounouchi had come back to him. And that tore his heart open.
His knees supported his weight on top of the small-framed boy as his hands cradled his face. "Jounouchi...!" Soft, throaty sobs escaped his lips; he just couldn't hold them back any more. "D-Do you hate me that much...? Hate me enough to forget about me?" The tears kept falling like water from a rainfall, uncontrollable and in large drops.
The expression on Seto's face was full of torment and it made Jounouchi's chest hurt when he looked into it. He didn't know what to say but he knew that he didn't hate him. He couldn't. Contrary to this, his heart was swelling up. Seto's fingers felt hot against his skin and even the teardrops that fell on his face felt hot... What was this..? Why was it so hot..?
It was agony, to hear sobs and helpless whimpers from the man that seemed so strong when he first entered his home. "Please.. don't cry, Seto.." His effeminate fingers reached up to wipe the fresh tears away from his eyes.
"Jounouchi," Seto said in a whisper, "I was selfish.. I-I wanted to tell you earlier but I didn't know how to-" A finger over his lips interrupted him.
"You can stay here tonight, so you can be near me..." He leaned up and softly kissed his lips. He didn't know why he did it but it felt right. It felt as if it he wanted it to happen. "But in the morning, I would like for you to leave.. I have school."
Seto would have laughed.. School and Jounouchi? "All right.."
---
That night, Seto stayed awake, watching Jounouchi sleep in his arms. He was entrapping this beautiful, sleeping boy immortally in his mind fore if Jounouchi were to really forget him forever, he would remember and even if it would be painful to watch him in the distance, he could still smile at past memories and that gift that he had given him. This could be the last time...
He could feel the burning tears welling up in his eyes as he watched the boy in his arms sleep on obliviously. He whispered, "You were the first one I had opened my heart to in a long time... and I wanted to make you mine.. Jounouchi... but now.. that can't be.. I'm.. afraid.. Afraid that I'll have to go through all that pain again.."
There was total silence for a few seconds before there was a stifled sob followed by a sniffle. "I remember the time in Duelist Kingdom where you challenged me for the first time and you lost... I had thought how cute you were and I called you a dog just to see how you would react... And in my tournament this past year, you almost beat me and it surprised me, seeing how strong you were..." His fingers swiped back the blonde's bangs behind his ear and away from his angelic face under the soft moonlight.
"I want you to come back.. so I can tease you, so I can see you smile, so I can love you..."
---
The sunlight from the window irritated Seto's eyes and he winked them open. It was so bright... Almost like the sun wanted to wake him up or was it there just to make his life miserable? He rolled over to his side and tried to reach for something or someone to hold onto but grabbed nothing but air. Opening his eyes, he found himself alone in a bed of blue sheets and blankets. "Jounouchi..?"
Only seconds after he had said his name, Jounouchi appeared through the door with a tray of breakfast: toast, a cheese omelet, and milk. "You called?" A familiar grin.
That earned Jounouchi a rare dumbfounded stare.
As he sat there beneath the sweet smelling sheets, Seto's mind wandered around a single question that brought back both the anxiety and nostalgia: "Did he remember?" Oh, how his heart trembled, waiting for a clue that could tell him that his Jounouchi was back..
"Good morning, Mr. Sunshine! I thought you would never wake up!" The same cheerful demeanor made Seto's heart quiver. "Thanks to you, I missed school!"
Jounouchi set the tray on a bedside table and before he knew it, he was in the bed. "Ahh!! Seto!! What was that for?" But he only blinked, puzzled when he felt the strong embrace of Seto's arms around his waist. "S-Seto..?" The sudden affection made him blush from ear to ear.
"You're back..!"
"What? But I didn't go.. anywhere... Just to the kitchen..."
Seto, with his hand sliding to the smaller boy's chin, turned his face towards his and brought their lips together. A stifled gasp left the boy's throat but it was gone as soon as he felt the passion and purity of their feelings melting together.
For once in his life, Seto was glad that he was who he was because it was he who was kissing this boy and not another person. Jounouchi was his. Not just an employee, so much more than that...
---
Takashima - The END! Sorry guys, that's all! I hope you enjoyed reading my story and I'm looking forward to hearing your feedback! :D It'll help me decide what to write next. If you have suggestions, I would love to hear them! :3