Chapter 13 :

Katsuya had a lot to think about on his way home. You'd have thought being exhausted and having lost a job would have made him feel like a dead man walking, but, surprisingly, he was awed by the turn of events. He got to see quite a bit of the Kaiba household, specifically some new sides of the CEO that he probably would never have guessed. He was mulling over this fact the entire way home. The journey had been a long and a cold one. The rain from earlier had been frosted over by this time and chilled the night air. He stumbled into his apartment, locking the door behind him, and sighed as he felt the warmth within his humble abode surrounding him.

Still chilled, the blond duelist decided to take a nice warm bath, soaking in the heat of the water that steamed his bathroom mirror. He felt content, almost to the point of falling asleep and drowning. He gasped and floundered for a bit before his cheeks flushed with slight embarrassment. He scrubbed his hair, which was in need of a serious go through with how tangled it had become from his unpredicted nap earlier. After washing out his shampoo and conditioner, he relaxed a bit more before getting out since the water began to match his body temperature. He threw on some boxers and a t-shirt before flopping onto his bed. He groaned, realizing his hair would be impossible to tame in the morning if he didn't at least towel dry a good portion of it. He returned to the bathroom and began the process. While doing so, he thought back on losing his job. He sighed heavily.

I guess it was bound to happen sometime or another, he thought to himself forlornly. I was already at my last straw with them for being late multiple times before… all because I didn't make transportation a priority. I don't have the money or insurance for a car and I break every bike I buy - or it gets stolen. He released another sigh. Welp, the café will help pay for my rent for now. I can just limit what I buy in food for myself and prioritize Dad's debts instead…. I can try looking and applying for another job but the pickings have always been slim.

Katsuya pulled off the towel from his head and looked into the mirror, which was now clear of the condensation that had accumulated previously. He laughed. "I look pathetic but ripped! Sucks that I lost the job that was increasing my muscle mass, but I guess I have more time to do that at home now…" He shrugged and turned off all the lights on his way back to his bed. He set his alarm then laid back to stare at the ceiling. His mattress was nowhere as nice as the one he had rested upon at the Kaiba mansion. Stupid rich people. Exhaustion finally hit him and he was asleep.

Mokuba peered over the balcony of the main stairs at the front door, having heard Katsuya yell a goodbye and racing to try and stop him. He obviously was too late. The youth frowned. "Seto?" he called. There was no response. The dark-haired teen made his way down the stairs and searched for his elder brother. He found him leaning against the kitchen island, asleep. Mokuba shook his head with a slight smile on his face before rubbing the businessman's back. "Seto?"

The burnet awoke instantly, rubbing his eyes in confusion. "Mokuba? What is it? What's wrong?"

The younger brother smiled. "Nothing. Everything's fine. How about you come to bed?" The teen grabbed Seto's hand in his own and gently pulled him out of the kitchen.

Seto followed slowly, still out of it and trying to make sense of the situation. "Where'd the mutt go?" he mumbled almost incoherently.

Mokuba glanced back at his older brother with a questioning look, still leading the businessman, this time up the stairs. "What?"

"Where's Katsuya?" the CEO asked more clearly, more awake now and glancing around with his azure eyes.

"He ran out before I could stop him." Mokuba responded with a shrug.

"Hmmm." The brunet pondered upon that information for a bit before asking "Have you finished your homework?" He glanced sharply at his younger brother.

Mokuba rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Yes, Seto. I did."

[Tuesday]

Katsuya fell out of bed, reaching for his alarm clock and having missed it completely.

"Ow, dang nab it!" He pushed himself up off the floor while rubbing his chin gingerly before turning off his alarm that was blaring. He gathered his covers that followed him onto the floor from the ground and returned them to the bed. "Perfect way to wake up in da mornin', right?" he grumbled to himself as he made his way to his bathroom to go about his business. He returned to the bedroom and made his bed before turning to his closet to put on some appropriate clothes for work. He grabbed a black long sleeve shirt and jeans that he slipped on. He grabbed his jacket, socks and shoes then made his way into the kitchen for breakfast.

"Nice and simple," he mumbled to himself as he poured cereal into a bowl. Gulping it down with some milk while peering outside the window. He sighed in defeat as he noticed a layer of snow covering the ground. No time to relax. Gotta run. It'll take me longer to get to work today because of the snow.

He quickly washed his bowl in the sink, brushed his teeth, and threw on his jacket, socks and shoes. "Off I go!"

Seto Kaiba was pleased. The day had run smoothly thus far. His coffee had arrived hot and on time. His meetings had finished. Things were seeming up - other than his recurring thoughts of guilt. Yes, he had them. Curse the being that made it so! Despite how pleasant it has been so far, he couldn't dispel his feelings from yesterday. It hadn't helped that Mokuba had been on his case all morning before they both left. His younger brother continued to berate him about causing Katsuya's career loss and encouraging the hiring of the blond as their cook as compensation.

'And now the headache returns,' the CEO grimaced in pain at the return of his most consistent head pain - other than from his self-proclaimed rival. He did his best to ignore the annoyance. Work still needed to be done despite today's progress. There were still hours to go. If anything, he could get ahead for the next few days and be able to take a few days off of the normal routine to put together the contract between Kaiba Corp and Mizuchi Inc, which would be confirmed by the end of the week.

Katsuya waited outside of the Kaiba mansion doors, warming up his unclothed hands by blowing on them and rubbing them together. It was later in the afternoon than usual for his arrival at the mansion. After getting home from work at eleven, he worked out, ate lunch and took a nap. The nap was much longer than he had planned for. He glanced at the wooden doors. He had knocked but not very loudly. It had hurt his hands to do so. They were still numb from the cold air, walking over. His work out earlier apparently had no significance for his current predicament. Luckily, the doors opened just as he was considering knocking again.

A dark-haired teen was peeking around the door to see who the unannounced guest was. Katsuya chuckled, " Hey, Mokuba!"

"Jou!" Mokuba rushed forward to gather the blond in a tight hug.

"Jou, huh? You called me that the other day too."

"Yup! 'Cuz you're my friend," the teen beamed.

"Awe, thanks bud!" Katsuya leaned down and pulled the dark-haired kid into a tighter embrace. He felt warmed, not only physically from the contact but throughout. "That means a lot more than you know…"

They were in that position for a few minutes until Mokuba broke the silence between them. "Um, Jou, you're squeezing me to death and it's honestly really cold out here." He chuckled in a slightly strained way.

"Oh, right, sorry!" Katsuya released him from his hold and smiled sheepishly.

Mokuba returned the smile. "Come on in!" he cried joyfully, waving the blond in.

"Don't mind if I do!"

"Speaking of cold," the youth continued as he shut the door behind them, "why are you only wearing a jacket?"

Katsuya paused before responding, meekly, "I only got this jacket."

Mokuba looked at him with wide, concerned eyes. "And you walked here?"

"What can I say? I enjoy being in your company, Moki!" the blond smiled earnestly.

Mokuba nodded hesitantly. "Well, I'm glad but… um, I'll be right back." He raced up the stairs and out of sight, seemingly with purpose.

"O-kay…" Jounouchi watched the teen disappear. Confused but not thinking too much into it. He looked around and rocked on his feet, unsure what to do now.

That was when he noticed the sound of music…? He glanced up the stairs, wondering how long the rambunctious high schooler would take. He pondered for a moment more before deciding to locate where the music would be coming from. He wandered between rooms trying to find the source of those pleasant sounds. The music seemed to grow more clear with every step he took, as long as he was heading the right way. Let's be honest - he got turned around a few times, much to his embarrassment.

He peeked into the next room and found the source that he had been looking for. It was a simple room. There was a coffee table and two navy couches on each side of it to one side of the room. A beautiful, white grand piano at the other side. Seto Kaiba was playing the instrument with precision. His back toward the blond. Katsuya stepped quietly into the room and approached the CEO. He peered over his shoulder, revealing no piano music and graceful, long fingers gliding across the keys. The melody was gentle but powerful. Seto played it with such passion. The blond moved around to the side of the piano closest to the center of the room, never taking his eyes off the burnet. He found that the taller individual had his eyes closed. Jounouchi was surprised, not only by the expertise of the businessman to play so fluidly without looking, but because he was showing so much emotion on his facial features. Stunned, the shorter duelist backed up and sat on the coffee table, continuing to watch and listen as the CEO maintained his musical tempo at his pleasure.

Seto Kaiba finished his musical finale, allowing the final notes to fade. Music truly could be the medicine to the heart and soul - or so he heard. It was certainly soothing and gave him peace of mind while it lasted. The CEO sighed. It hadn't lasted long enough.

He opened his eyes and stared ahead, taking a moment to reflect. He was pulled from his thoughts when he noticed movement in his left peripheral vision. He glanced over, poker face in place. He raised an eyebrow as he took in Katsuya sitting cross legged upon his coffee table. The blond met his gaze and gave a sheepish grin.

"Of all places to sit… you choose the coffee table instead of either of the couches available to you?" The burnet's tone was sharp with disapproval.

"Ah! Right, sorry 'bout that…" The shorter duelist scratched the side of his head bashfully. "I was kinda distracted, to be honest."

"That's not surprising, coming from you." The businessman scoffed.

Katsuya shot a glare at the CEO but it didn't remain there long. "Anyways… what were you playing?"

Seto paused, glancing at the ground before replying, his voice softer than before, "Moonlight Sonata… with a few changes."

"Well, it's beautiful." The burnet looked up in surprise to the blond, who was beaming at him.

"..."

There was silence between them.

Seto was feeling extremely awkward, but didn't show it. He merely stared at Katsuya, who seemed to be waiting for some kind of response. And the burnet didn't have one. He was literally at a loss for words. The compliment was unexpected. He didn't know how to respond. He sure didn't want to express gratitude and thanksgiving to his self-proclaimed rival, even though he knew that the blond would greatly appreciate it. But a big head is the last thing he wanted Jounouchi to get - it was already large enough as is. Though he was one to talk since the compliment did wonders for his own pride. But Katsuya of all people was the last that he expected to receive good words from in this manner.

"Uh… anyways…" It seemed the blond decided to move on. "Something came to mind when you were playing the piano..." He started but trailed off, seeming unsure how to continue.

The businessman rolled his eyes. "Get on with it."

Jounouchi glanced up from twiddling his thumbs but went back to doing so.

The burnet felt irritation take root, and had a harder time controlling his voice. "I don't have all day to wait on you, mutt."

Katsuya met his gaze again, heat flashing in his eyes briefly, but it disappeared just as quickly. "Nevermind. Forget it." He stood and walked out of the room.

Seto stared after him in disbelief. He got to his feet and followed after the blond. After he caught up to the shorter individual, he glared fiercely down upon him.

Katsuya met the glare passively then blatantly ignored it, proceeding forward.

The CEO felt his irritation grow into something stronger. Aggravation. He reached and grabbed the blond by the arm, stopping him in his tracks.

Katsuya stopped as he felt a grip on his arm. He could've easily yanked free if he wanted to. He was definitely stronger than the CEO at this time - with the burnet being as malnourished as he is. He knew that if it ever came to a fist fight, he probably had more experience and determination than even Kaiba. But he knew that if he had pulled free, it would've hurt Seto's pride more than anything else. And the young businessman definitely seemed the type to react worse if his pride has been smashed in the process. And a physical fight would just make him feel worse. As such, he stopped. He paused and turned to the burnet that still maintained a strong grip on his arm, meeting brown to azure.

The CEO's gaze seemed harder than flint. "What were you going to say?"

Katsuya was confused and angry. He didn't know why Seto seemed to care so much about what he was going to say. It honestly was more embarrassing than everything else. And there was no way the CEO was going to do it anyways. So why bring it up?! He was really trying to control himself, and that was part of the reason that he was trying to walk away from the situation in the first place.

"Nothing to worry about, pretty boy!" The blond glanced down at the arm threatening to restrain him. "Now let go of me!"

"Not until you tell me." The grip only tightened.

"No!" Jounouchi ground his teeth together.

A death glare match started between them. Finally, the shorter duelist seemed to get an idea of how to make the best of this. "Fine… Make me a deal." He cracked a smile, excited to see if the CEO would take the bait.

The grip on his arm loosened and slowly dropped away. The businessman crossed his arms over his chest and stared suspiciously at the blond. "What deal are you proposing?"

"... I will tell you what I was thinking if you promise me something in return." Katsuya copied the burnet's posture, standing tall and folding his arms.

"What on earth would you accept in return?" Seto's suspicion could be heard in his voice. "And wouldn't this just work in favor of you completely? Two for you, none for me other than hearing what's on your mind."

"That's a chance yer going to have to take if yer really really curious as to what I was gonna say." the blond shrugged. "Sup to you! Just let me know what you decide before I head out." He grinned, feeling good about his proposal.

Katsuya started walking away once again, leaving the CEO to process and consider their deal.

"You're going the wrong way." The burnet said from behind him.

Jounouchi froze mid step and twisted around, heading the opposite direction than he had been. "I knew that!" He proclaimed falsely, laughing to himself.

He eventually found his way back to the main entrance of the mansion. He glanced behind him to see if the young businessman had followed but was mildly surprised that he hadn't. The blond shrugged to himself and went into the kitchen. "I apologize for the intrusion." He said mostly to himself, feeling awkward as he opened the fridge to check for ingredients. He had to determine what he had available to cook with and what he could prepare for dinner.

Wanting to leave soon would mean a fast meal so… Tacos. Easy enough. Won't take a lot of time. Perfect. Katsuya got to work. The table was set with all the food and tops within the next thirty minutes. He looked proudly at his masterpiece. Now he had to gather the Kaiba brothers.

He made his way back, once again, to the main entrance and called up the stairs. "Moki! Kaiba! Dinner!"

I hope they can hear me, since I don't really know how far away they are. Katsuya thought to himself. He blushed, feeling self-conscious. It kinda feels like we're a family. His face fell. It's been a long time since I've felt like that.

"Jou! Catch!"

The blond glanced up to see Mokuba toss a bundle of clothes off the balcony of the stairs. He rushed forward and managed to catch it. He stared at it for a bit then looked toward where the dark-haired teen was. "What're these for?"

Mokuba smiled, making his way down the stairs. "They're for you! It took me a while to find them."

Jounouchi dropped the pile onto the floor. He pulled up a white winter jacket with a fur hood lining, a little worn but still in good condition. He looked down at what was left and found a pair of white gloves, which were practically new. "Whose were these?"

Mokuba scratched his head. "Umm, Seto's. But he doesn't use or wear them anymore. He was actually planning on getting rid of them soon."

"Ah, thanks, Mokuba, but I honestly don't know if I should take these…"

"They were just going to be thrown out. Just take them! I'm sure Seto wouldn't mind." It sounded like the youth was trying to be convincing.

"I think Kaiba would prefer they were trashed then used by me," the blond mumbled to himself. He was conflicted. He would really appreciate having clothes for winter but really didn't want the pity of others.

Mokuba frowned then seemed to get an idea, breaking into a smile. "Consider them an early Christmas present then! From me, of course!"

"... okay, thanks Moki!" Katsuya looked at the dark-haired teen with warmth and the hint of tears in his eyes. He put the gifts by the side of the front door and gave the teen a quick hug. "Let's go eat!"

The pair entered the kitchen and started dishing up. "Where's Kaiba?" the blond asked as an afterthought.

"I think he was in his study." Mokuba replied. "You want me to go get him?"

"I would prefer if you did." Jounouchi laughed. Then mumbled to himself, "I sure don't want to."

"Okay, be right back!" Mokuba called as he rushed off.

The blond decided to rewarm the meat since they had been waiting a bit already and it was barely lukewarm. He was startled when he basically got tackled from behind a few minutes later. He checked behind him to see who had a hold of him and found exactly who he expected… Mokuba.

"Ya twerp!" Katsuya yelled and grabbed a hold of the teen, tickling him. The high schooler laughed and fought to get away from him.

The clearing of a throat got the blond's attention. He glanced up to see Kaiba standing in the archway of the kitchen entrance. "Alrighty!" Jounouchi stood and walked over to return the meat to the table. "Dinner is served!"

They dove into dinner. Mokuba and Katsuya supplied the conversation while they ate with the CEO seeming lost in his own thoughts. Afterwards, the blond cleaned and put away leftovers, all while him and the dark-haired teen continued talking.

Kaiba broke into their current discussion on the best duel monster cards, asking his younger brother if he had finished his homework for the day yet. The dark-haired teen started pouting and replied that he hadn't. Mokuba got the hint. "Fine! I'll go do it. Bye, Jou! Don't forget your gift!" he raced away back up the stairs to do as he was told.

Katsuya finished the dishes last, feeling a gaze upon his back the entire time. He dried his hands on a kitchen rag while turning and meeting the stare of the burnet. "Can I help ya with somethin'?"

The businessman maintained eye contact for a moment before responding. "Let's make the deal."

Jounouchi blinked with surprise. He honestly hadn't expected Kaiba to go for it. But it seemed that the CEO couldn't handle being left in the dark. This will be good to know for later, Katsuya thought to himself gleefully.

"Alright," the blond approached the topic slowly. "Is there something you wanted to give me in return?"

Seto seemed slightly miffed. "Not willingly. But alas."

"Okay…?"

"I will hire you to be the household's chef in return."

Jounouchi hadn't expected that either. "Deal."

"So tell me."

Straight to it. Kaiba's never been one to take the slow road. Katsuya chuckled but could feel his embarrassment beginning to sink in from earlier. "Ah, um, you see…" he leaned over, covering his face in his arms on the kitchen counter of the island. And whispered into them.

Seto Kaiba leaned over from the other side of the island toward the blond. His taller frame allowed him to come close to Katsuya on the island. "I can't hear you, mutt. You've been asked to speak."

No reaction.

The blond whispered into his arms again. This time Seto was close enough to hear. "I was curious about the difference in our hand size."

The CEO leaned back. 'That's what I made a deal for?' He sighed. 'What a waste. And now I get the mongrel every day - but his cooking's good.' He admitted to himself. He watched Katsuya, who remained in that same position all the while. He could see a flush on the blond's ears, and could only assume that it had infested his face as well.

"Well, have at it, I guess."

The shorter duelist looked up with surprise, face still beet-red, as he had guessed, and nervous. Kaiba had left his right hand outstretched, allowing for the blond to reach out his left to compare them. Jounouchi was obviously hesitant, taking his time moving his hand forward to physically connect with the CEO's.

"This is tiresome." The businessman stretched forward and met Katsuya's hand with his own. His long white fingers were that - long. They stood over the blond's tanner fingers by the top digit, where Seto could have curled them over the other's if he felt so inclined. If possible, it seemed that the shorter duelist seemed to flush a shade darker. The brunet cracked a slight smile. "Good enough for you, mutt?"

Katsuya glanced from their hands to the CEO's face, stunned. "Whatever! I'm leaving!" He snatched his hand back and stomped off to the front door. He pulled on the gifts he received from Mokuba. He glanced back to see Seto heading up the stairs, presumably to check on his younger brother. "Kaiba."

The taller duelist looked back over his shoulder.

"See you tomorrow!"

Seto continued up the stairs. "A deal's a deal. I will keep my word."

Katsuya nodded and exited the mansion into the ongoing blizzard.

End of Chapter 13