Friday PM

Kaiba's POV

Kaiba glanced at the clock – 2300 hours, perfect. He had accomplished everything he had hoped to do that jam-packed Friday and, with five whole hours before he planned to adjourn for bed, he had more than enough time for a thorough check-over of the weekend's itinerary.

Saturday AM

0500 – Finalise merger documents

0630 – Review Marketing Budget

0830 – Review new entries into the gaming market and determine any possible threats

0900 – Visit Kaiba Land for Press Conference

1030 – Meeting with heads of department

1100 – Analyse the economic situation of various Kaiba Land branches

The itinerary continued in this style for the whole weekend. However, whilst most people might have been daunted by such a chaotic and stressful schedule, Kaiba had grown almost immune to it. Wealth, power and prestige came at a cost. No one knew that better than him.

Closing his eyes, he felt himself drift back to Battle City and his conversation with Joey Wheeler:

"Wheeler: "He he he, heh, heh, heh, ha, ha, HA! You really kill me, you know dat?"

Kaiba: "You've lost it."

Wheeler: "Wrong. I just find you ridiculous. Come on, I mean, lighten up man. Look, you and I are fighting a great deal right here – so relax and have fun!"

Kaiba: "I don't have fun."

Wheeler: "Then I guess you're an even more miserable person than I thought you were, Kaiba."

He wasn't miserable, he couldn't be miserable. After all, he had everything he'd ever hoped and dreamed. So he just couldn't be miserable – could he?

Mokuba's POV

Lying on his bed, Mokuba tried for the umpteenth time to think of a plausible explanation for his brother's intermittent behaviour.

"Ok Buddy, how's this sound? Seto's really an alien from outer space with two people inside of him: the one that most people know and the real one. However, the real one can only be released in front of family and dogs. Whaddya think?"

At this Buddy starting rolling on the floor making little yelping noises and, if Mokuba didn't know any better, he could've swore Buddy was laughing.

"Ok, yuk it up, perhaps these comic books aren't the best source of inspiration after all. I need a plan…" Words that caused Joey to stifle a groan. He did not like the sound of this.

Saturday AM

Kaiba's POV

Kaiba smiled. Thanks to an overdose of caffeine the first four hours of his morning had flown by and he was all set to head off to Kaiba Land for his press conference. Suddenly, the ring tone of his private mobile rang out.

He didn't need two guesses to work out who was calling him, especially since Mokuba was the only one who had that particular number. No one else was interested in calling him for private reasons. Not that he cared.

"What is it Mokuba?"

"Zeto" *cough cough* "I'm feelig" *sniffle snort* "really really" *splutter *"ill". "Could you possibly" *wheeze* "dake care of Buddy for me – achoooo - dis weekend?"

"I'm sorry Mokuba, I'm really busy at the moment so I don't have time to babysit certain puppies. However, I'll speak to Roland. I'm sure he'll help you out."

"But Seto" Mokuba's voice was suddenly laced with urgency "Buddy's part of our family now, we can't just leave him to random people when we're busy. He's important. To both of us. Please, Seto, please understand how important this is."

"Fine."

"You see…wait a sec, did you say fine?"

"Regrettably yes, now go back to bed before I change my mind. I'll pick him up before my conference."

"Thanks big brother! And Seto…"

"What is it now?"

"Do something fun together… Puppy's have a lot of energy so take him to the park or something."

"Whatever, Mokuba. I'm regretting my decision already."

Sunday PM

Seated on a park bench, licking a chocolate ice cream with a certain puppy on his knees, Kaiba felt the urge to laugh. If someone had told him this was where he'd be on a Sunday afternoon, just before the chaos of a Monday morning, he would have sent them off to get their head examined.

At first he had only complied with his brother's wishes with the intent of humouring him. He knew from the mysterious way his cold had vanished that Mokuba had some ulterior motive for sending him out with Buddy and he had resolved to figure it out. Nevertheless, from that moment on there had constantly been some sort of distraction preventing him from dwelling too deeply on it.

Buddy chasing a pigeon for five whole blocks (despite the obvious fact that it could fly and he could not), Buddy stealing a string of sausages from a street vendor (despite having the wealthiest owner in the city who could probably afford to the whole street if he was of a mind to) and Buddy going swimming in a public pond (his hydrophobia mysteriously vanishing after a certain, special bath). These being just some of those distractions that kept Kaiba from thinking too hard about Mokuba's mysterious scheme.

However, despite the loss of his weekend, there was still a part of him (albeit a very small part) that didn't resent Mokuba's plans. In fact, this rebellious part of him might actually have been having f- f- fu- No! He could not say the f word. No way. It was a dirty word used by lazy slobs and there was no way he was going to debase himself that way. No. Freaking. Way.

Joey's POV

Oh great, rich boy had decided to zone out. Joey tilted his head slightly to the side, wondering what Kaiba was thinking and speculating over the cause of that slightly distressed, very confused look on his face. After all, they had had the most amazingly fun weekend together – what was distressing about that?

True, it had mostly consisted of Joey scampering around doing whatever his doggy senses told him to and Kaiba chasing him and pelting him with various insults. Yet Joey wouldn't have had it any other way. After all, the insults and the banter was what made their relationship so special.

Joey groaned. What was he thinking? This was moneybags! His mortal enemy! He did not just admit to having fun with that snob. He did not! And he certainly didn't have any sort of relationship with that arrogant asshole. Peeking at his master, Joey felt his eyes zoom in on the trail of ice cream ebbing slowly down his hand and, all at once, completely lost his train of thought.

Now, most of the time, Joey Wheeler was a pretty relaxed guy. However, if there was anything that could get him all riled up, it was food. To say nothing of wasted food. Barking as loud as possible, Joey tried everything in his power to get Kaiba to notice the triple chocolate chip ice cream dripping down his hand, though to no avail. This left Joey with only one option.

Kaiba's POV

It was unreal. One minute he was contemplating the meaning of this all-consuming, unfamiliar, light, fuzzy feeling and the next second it had suddenly transformed into this terrifyingly powerful, tingly heated kind of feeling. A feeling that literally sent shivers up and down his spine. A feeling that made him want to pant with excitement just like Buddy. What a second – what on earth was that mutt up to now?

On closer inspection, said mutt was licking his hand fervently. And seeming to enjoy it too. Kaiba groaned. Since when had their relationship gotten so confusing? Kaiba's eyes then widened in disdain.

"Oh great, now I'm probably going to start analysing this confusing relationship between me and my dog." If I hadn't spent the entire weekend eating ice cream and running around after my errant puppy, I would say that I was suffering from a mental breakdown as a result of too much stress. As it is, it seems I have no such excuse.

Ok, I know you're all probably desperate for Joey to turn back into a human but I'm afraid I can't tell you exactly when this is going to happen because it would completely ruin all the suspense (oh, and I'm not exactly sure myself;) However, I can tell you it will be soon…very soon…:)

Review for continuation as usual :D