Author's Note: Hi all. So, it took me a while (a long while) BUT I actually finished this story. Ta da! I even edited the first two chapters to take out a few things and keep the tone more consistent with this last, third instalment. Please enjoy (and if you enjoy, please review).

Chapter 3: All Souls

Jounouchi was in the kitchen, watching his apprentice chef make gnocchi before the dinner rush began. He was distracted from this when Shizuka burst through the swinging kitchen door to announce, "Jou! You better brace yourself! Is there some reason Seto Kaiba just walked in?"

Jounouchi looked up from the bowl of potato dough, startled. "Huh? He's here? ...Why?"

Shizuka grinned. She looked particularly cute in her waitress uniform. Jounouchi was frequently glaring at young, male customers who seemed particularly enamoured by her. There would probably be a few extra admirers today if she was in such a smiley mood. Jou thought that when Shizuka smiled it lit up a room, and it probably wasn't only his bias as her adoring big brother.

As she answered his question, Shizuka rolled her eyes. "Well, if you don't know, I sure don't."

Jounouchi frowned, suspicious at her good mood. "...Did he bring Mokuba?"

Shizuka sighed dramatically. "No! Alas, I will have to wait for our date tomorrow to see Mokuba."

"So why are you so happy about it?"

"Gotta go, bro! Orders to take!"

With that, she fled back through the door to the restaurant.

Jounouchi looked back at his apprentice. Yuichi looked particularly nervous. The kid was only sixteen, working at Jou's restaurant part-time after school.

"I'm not gonna have to make food for Seto Kaiba, am I?"

His anxiety almost made Jou laugh; it was typical of Yuichi, who seemed to worry about almost everything. Jounouchi managed to transform his amusement to an encouraging smile. Well, he hoped it was encouraging. "Don't worry, Yuu. I'm sure Seto Kaiba's food is made from the same ingredients that us mere mortals eat."

"But – but – "

"Settle down, he might not even order."

Unfortunately, at that moment, Shizuka sailed back into the kitchen. "Order up! Seto Kaiba wants a pizza."

"Jou!" Yuichi screeched, panicked.

"Chill out, would you? Finish the gnocchi; I'll get the pizza."

Jounouchi walked over to his little sister, who stood there waving the order docket in her hand. He plucked it out of her grasp and looked down at it. He only realised he'd stared at it for a little too long when Shizuka cleared her throat.

"So, what does he want?"

" 'Well, if you don't know, I sure don't' – you took the order!" Jou threw her smart alec comment back at her. "A margherita pizza, apparently."

Shizuka frowned. "You know that's not what I meant."

Jounouchi ground his teeth. He didn't like to snap at his sister, even though everyone else was fair game. Still, as anxiety roiled through his stomach, Jounouchi couldn't help but retort, "Well, the answer to your question ain't exactly written on this order in invisible ink. Go look after the customers."

Shizuka sighed over-dramatically again, and turned to leave the kitchen.

"And get him a martini while he's waiting," Jou added.

"A martini? Jou, it's four thirty in the afternoon!"

Jounouchi grinned. "I know that." Even he wasn't sure whether it was a gesture of good will, or a snub at Kaiba's expense. Let the guy sit there and try to figure it out himself while Jou made his food.

Shizuka left the kitchen, muttering, "This place just gets weirder all the time."

Jounouchi walked over to the pantry and grabbed a pizza base. Despite his reassuring comments to Yuichi, he wasn't happy about serving the dough his apprentice had already prepared for the night. On the other hand, he couldn't start from scratch; new dough would need at least forty minutes to rise, and that time was probably money for Mr Business out there. Figures Kaiba would order the most boring pizza they had. God, he'd have to do something to make it a little more exciting. Yuu's dough would just have to do; after all, they served it to other customers, didn't they?

As Jou began to roll the ball of dough out on the kitchen bench, his anxiety only grew. What was Kaiba doing here? It had been two days since the damn Halloween party, and yesterday's exploits at the mansion hadn't exactly ended well. It wasn't that things went badly, exactly... Some things had gone way, way too well. Kaiba was sexy as all hell, and apparently an expert at almost everything in life.

But despite their furious attraction to each other, actually talking to each other as human beings had been way too difficult. Jounouchi had found himself uncertain, nervous in ways he wasn't used to, and Kaiba's didn't seem to know how to have a nice, normal conversation with someone else at all. Jou still didn't know whether Kaiba was genuinely interested, or just attracted despite himself. God, he couldn't even tell whether Kaiba had enjoyed yesterday, or if he was regretting it even as it happened.

Why had he shown up here? Jou hadn't even told Kaiba the name of his restaurant, so he'd obviously gone to some effort to track him down – even if that effort was just phoning Yuugi and asking. Though Kaiba would probably have his personal assistant make that call. Still... Kaiba had come here, into Jou's own territory. That made Jou feel a little better. Yesterday had been on Kaiba's property; Kaiba's terms. But this was Jounouchi's safe-haven, and Kaiba couldn't control what happened here.

Kaiba would know that. Nah, it wasn't paranoid to think so, either. He didn't know Kaiba that well – okay, he knew Kaiba as well as pretty much anyone except Mokuba actually could know Kaiba. But if there was one thing he was sure of, it was that Kaiba was a strategist. He kept his fortune by considering these stupid little power plays and working them to his advantage. Even if normal human beings didn't think this way, surely for Kaiba, coming to see Jounouchi unasked like this was some kind of sign of good faith; a sign that he was willing to meet Jounouchi halfway.

Either that or he was just about to totally fuck up everything Jounouchi cared about in one fell swoop.

Cool, glad he thought of that possibility. That made him feel so much better.

Jou tromped over to the fridge and started pulling out ingredients. He'd puree the tomato base from scratch, combining his roma tomatoes with some sundried ones for an extra kick. And he'd go quatro formaggi and combine some of their best cheeses, not just mozzarella. At least he always at the best quality mozzarella, too. And... he'd bake some basil onto the pizza and garnish it with some fresh leaves, too.

Okay, that wasn't too exciting, but it was the best he could do at a moment's thought. He didn't want to go beyond those classic ingredients; if Kaiba had wanted more than tomato, cheese and basil, he'd have ordered a different pizza.

When Kaiba had entered the restaurant – a small, unprepossessing place along one of the main streets in its suburb – a red-headed girl had appeared from nowhere and welcomed him. As she automatically led the way to a booth somewhat out of the way of the windows and door, Kaiba recognised her bouncing hair; it belonged to the dark magician girl that Jounouchi had been dancing with at the Halloween party. Out of her costume, she seemed even more familiar.

"There you are, Mr Kaiba."

Kaiba sat down and took a guess. "We've met before, haven't we...?"

The girl gave a friendly smile. "Yes, we have. I'm Kawai Shizuka."

The name rang a bell somewhere in the back of Kaiba's head, but he couldn't quite be sure.

"...I'm Jounouchi's sister?" she added.

Kaiba suppressed a frown, annoyed at himself for not realising it sooner. They'd met more than once before when he was a teenager, but she'd always been in the background. Not only that, but she looked so familiar because her brown eyes and her mouth resembled Jounouchi's own.

"Of course," Kaiba said, smoothly. "My apologies, I meet so many people and it's been a while, hasn't it?"

Shizuka kept her genial smile. He wondered if it was real or fake. "Of course. I'll be right back with a menu and some water for you, Mr Kaiba."

Kaiba pulled out his phone and began to check his business email, but he watched from the corner of his eye as the girl fled straight past the menu (stand near the register), and through the kitchen door. He wondered if that meant Jounouchi was out there, or if she was merely warning the kitchen staff.

He looked around the restaurant. It was simple, but warm and welcoming. The seats and tables were high quality and in good condition, and the decor was vaguely Mediterranean, with a few good pictures of famous Italian sights. He wondered where Jounouchi had learned to cook and if he'd ever actually been to Italy. Kaiba, of course, had – he'd taken Mokuba when his brother had taken an art history class, and been for business before.

Jounouchi's sister appeared back in front of him.

"Here's your menu, Mr Kaiba."

Kaiba took it and barely glanced over it. "Medium margherita."

Shizuka blinked, surprised that he didn't want more time. "No problem!"

Kaiba wondered what, if anything, Jounouchi had told his sister. Maybe it had been a stupid idea to come here. God only knew he had a million other things to be doing tonight. He'd left work early and was about to stand up Mokuba at a charity auction. Mokuba had organised the auction himself – but then, he organised them all the time. Point in case, that Halloween party only two nights earlier. And Kaiba knew that Mokuba would donate some stupid amount of money to some stupid thing they didn't need in his name, even if he wasn't there. So why not go eat a pizza?

He didn't quite know why he wanted to see Jounouchi so badly, but he knew things hadn't quite gone right the last few days. After their rather messy make-out session in his kitchen, the two had gone upstairs, and things had progressed so quickly from there that Kaiba wasn't sure why he'd bothered getting dressed after his swim at all. He should have just dropped the towel and let it go from there.

On the other hand, he wasn't sure how to feel about that kind of haste. He wasn't sure how to feel about Jounouchi. He'd thought that other man was an idiot for so many years, and he wasn't yet sure that he'd changed his mind. He wasn't really wrong; he just wasn't right either. It was a confusing realisation, and Kaiba was NOT used to feeling like he might have been wrong. He didn't like it. He didn't like it at all. His attraction to Jounouchi was overwhelming, and it was also a blow to his over-inflated ego.

They'd lain there afterwards, and he'd known Jounouchi had been uncomfortable. He'd listened to the other man babble. The problem was, Kaiba didn't know what to say in response . He didn't know what Jounouchi expected him to say. What did normal people say, anyway?

But as he'd listened to Jounouchi babbling, he realised that the other man was far more intelligent than he'd ever given him credit for. The astounding thing was that he could actually be intelligent, and still be so incredibly ... Well, dumb. So impulsive. So genial. So naive about the world.

Eventually, Jounouchi had just left. Abruptly, too. And again, Kaiba had felt at fault – like he should have done something to encourage him to stay. Should have behaved differently so that Jounouchi hadn't wanted to leave in the first place. But he didn't know what, and he'd already warned Jounouchi that he was fairly inept at this kind of thing.

Kaiba been in a foul mood the rest of the day. He'd barked at Mokuba when his brother had come home until Mokuba had started shouting back. Eventually Mokuba shoved him into a chair in their movie room and told him to spill it.

To say that Kaiba had been horrified that Mokuba had caught him making out with Jounouchi on the security tapes from the party was, well... An understatement. The understatement of the year.

And even though Kaiba would never admit it even to Mokuba, it chafed him that he needed relationship advice from his younger brother.

Mokuba's advice had been to get over himself – and the fact that he could actually be wrong now and then – and to just go and find Jounouchi and try again. Which was probably good advice. Hence, Kaiba was here. Sitting in Jounouchi's restaurant. Waiting for a pizza.

Jounouchi's sister was back. She looked slightly sheepish. She was holding a tray with a martini on it.

Kaiba took the glass without saying anything – but he did smirk.

Jounouchi stood in front of the oven, arms crossed, staring at it. It was radiating heat. The best part of owning this place was that at this time of year, when winter was really about to kick in, he knew that he'd be warm all season long in a kitchen. He'd hated winters when he was younger; his father's apartment was always freezing because his dad couldn't afford heating. It also made Jounouchi happy that his sister, his staff and customers could come in out of the cold to the smell of burning wood, warm cheese and fresh bread.

Speaking of which, Kaiba's pizza was pretty good.

"Uh, Jou?"

Jounouchi turned. Shizuka was standing there. Yuichi was in the background, trying to look disinterested. He'd finished the gnocchi and was on to prepping tomatoes.

"Is everything okay?"

"Of course."

"Um, okay. Well. Kaiba took his martini."

"That's good."

"How far away is his pizza?"

Jounouchi sighed and looked at his little sister. She looked innocent enough, but he was used to that old routine. This was the kind of girl who would look vulnerable and sweet, right up until she dived into an industrial harbour to save him from drowning. And from her weird mood right now, he suspected that Mokuba had filled her in on... Well, him and Kaiba. That little blabbermouth peeping tom.

"Take your break, Shizuka. I'll take it out to him."

Her eyes widened. "Are you sure?"

"Yep."

"Well... okay."

She turned to leave the kitchen and step into the staff room – it was right next to his office, and both were next to the kitchen. Jou grabbed the long-handled utensil they used to pull pizzas out of the stone oven and opened the oven door.

"...Jou?"

"Mm?" he said, hit by a wave of warmth.

"I'm rooting for you!"

She vanished out the door again.

Jounouchi blinked. "Gee, great," he muttered. "... Yuichi, if you're going to chop tomatoes, that knife in your hand should probably be moving and not dangling there like a limp fish while you eavesdrop."

"Yes, Chef!" Yuichi practically squeaked.

Great, by the time the night was over, all of his staff were going to be giving him the third degree. His other two waitresses should arrive any minute for the dinner service, so it was going to be speculation all 'round.

Oh, well. Screw 'im.

And screw Kaiba too.

Jou grinned to himself. Hmm. Well, that wasn't such a bad plan, really. Assuming Kaiba hadn't just come here to dump his ass.

He prepared Kaiba's pizza on the wooden boards they used for plates, and headed out of the kitchen.

"Your margherita pizza." Jou deposited it on the table in front of Kaiba. He was pleased to note that the martini glass was empty.

The other man didn't look surprised to see him suddenly appear, but then, Kaiba generally only looked surprised when some kind of bad guy with bizarre mystical powers popped out of the woodwork and kidnapped Mokuba. Which hadn't happened in years.

Jou decided to take initiative. "Mind if I sit?"

"I'd like that."

Jou slumped into the opposite side of the booth. As he did so, he spotted Meiko and Eri, the other two waitresses, push the swinging door of the kitchen open to peer out at him. He raised an eyebrow at them and the door quickly shut again.

Kaiba glanced in the direction of the door. "Problems with your staff?" he asked, dryly.

"Nah, they're just excited to have such a big celebrity customer." Jou managed to keep his tone light.

The pizza sat on the table in front of them. Kaiba made no move to eat it.

"Please." Jounouchi gestured towards it. "Don't stand on ceremony."

Kaiba glanced down at the pizza, dubious.

"What, do you think I poisoned it?"

"Maybe not intentionally," Kaiba retorted, "But how do I know your food is actually edible?"

"Well, we haven't had a customer die yet. Even from the Death by Chocolate dessert pizza."

"Dessert pizza?"

"Mmm. You know, sweet toppings." Jou narrowed his eyes. "If you'd actually read the menu, you'd have read all about them."

For a second there, Kaiba actually looked kind of wistful.

"...Wait, do you have sweet tooth, Kaiba?"

Kaiba glared at him. "No."

"Because you look like you're regretting your choice, there. Your choice of the most boring, most difficult-to-somehow-screw-up pizza that we have. Lesser men than myself might take that choice as kind of an insult, you know."

Kaiba didn't bother to reply, he simply took a big bite of his margherita. Jounouchi was pleased to see the first bite quickly followed by a second, then a third.

"This is good," Kaiba said. Gee, how generous.

"You should try the Death by Chocolate."

"I don't have a sweet tooth."

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much."

Kaiba sighed sound exasperated – which amused Jounouchi even more. To his surprise, Kaiba said, "You're right. I do have a sweet tooth. And if you start harping on about it, you'll be the one who dies."

Jounouchi grinned, delighted to get both a confession and a threat. "What, you're too cool for cake? Imagine the headlines if the world found out – 'Seto Kaiba only human - succumbs to mere confectionary.'"

Kaiba glared but didn't reply, and they sat in silence as Kaiba ate. Jounouchi felt like it was a more pleasant silence than yesterday's stilted post-coital conversation – maybe because they weren't trying so hard to be... Well, nice to each other.

Customers had begun to trickle into the restaurant; nothing that Jounouchi's staff couldn't handle, yet. Meiko seemed to be flitting between tables. Eri was probably in the kitchen flirting with Yuichi... Another thing that made the poor kid nervous.

"Why'd you come here tonight, Kaiba?"

Kaiba didn't reply.

"Not that I'm complaining or anything, but I am surprised."

After a lengthy pause, in which Jou had to bite his tongue to keep from babbling further, Kaiba said, "I'm sorry about yesterday."

Jou didn't know whether to cheer or cry at this statement. "What part of yesterday, exactly?"

He stared at Kaiba, and as the other man returned his stare coolly, Jounouchi felt himself began to blush.

"Not that part," Kaiba said. "That part was..." He cleared his throat. Jounouchi wondered for a second if Kaiba would say something that sounded like a business report. Satisfactory? It met the company's standards? Fortunately, Kaiba didn't finish the sentence.

"I don't often apologise for this," Kaiba said. "But I am sorry I am not better at putting people at ease. Well," he corrected himself. "Screw people, really. But I am sorry I was not better at putting you at ease."

Jounouchi sat forward. He ran a hand through his hair. "Look, Kaiba. You don't have to put me at ease, exactly. I don't expect you to constantly give me platitudes. That's not... That's not who you are." He paused. "That's not the person I've been attracted to for so long." He could feel himself blushing again, which was really enormously irritating. He didn't want to seem like some schoolgirl with a crush.

Kaiba's blue eyes seemed even more intense than usual.

"I just... I need you to respond a little. I feel like I took off my mask at that party, but maybe yours doesn't come off. At least, not that quickly. And you don't have to tell me what you're thinking, what you're feeling, all the time, though obviously, I'm interested in those things. But I don't know what to do with you. I feel like a dog that's been chasing a car and suddenly I've bit down on the bumper."

Jounouchi paused when he realised what he'd just said. Had he just... used a metaphor... calling himself a dog?

Kaiba was smirking. Nothing unusual there.

"Don't. Even. Start." Jounouchi said, through clenched teeth.

Kaiba just gave an elegant shrug. He continued to smirk. Damn bastard.

"Look. What I'm saying is, I just need you to be clear whether you want me around or not. I have no idea if the past two days meant anything to you, but they meant something to me."

Kaiba finished his pizza. They sat in silence. Jounouchi felt his frustrating growing in the face of Kaiba's calmness. It was infuriating, really. How could one man make him so irritated and yet be so god damn attractive? It just wasn't fair.

Across the table, Kaiba could see Jounouchi losing his calm as he didn't respond. Kaiba just couldn't help it. He liked seeing Jounouchi irritated. Was that so wrong? And anyway, there was something about the shape of his mouth when he frowned, and the heat in his honey-brown eyes as he got more and more annoyed.

Kaiba didn't know whether this was the first time he'd ever really noticed it, or if part of him had always enjoyed pissing off Jounouchi for just this reason. It was unfair of him to do it now, really, but he couldn't help himself. He was used to playing with other people, and even though his intentions weren't really malicious here, Jounouchi just made it so damn easy. Honestly, why would Jou think Kaiba would come here at all today, if he didn't want to be around him?

And to Kaiba's own surprise... He did want to be around Jounouchi. He didn't like feeling confused – didn't like emotional turmoil. But he was sick of avoiding other people, avoiding emotional commitments, sick of living half-alive. Arguing with Jounouchi made him feel more engaged with another person than he'd felt in a long time.

What's more, Kaiba realised, sitting here, that when they had both stopped trying so hard to be damned likeable, being with Jounouchi wasn't difficult at all. They'd both been on their best behaviour yesterday, and combining that with the almost inexplicable pull between them was what had made things so awkward and difficult.

But arguing... Well, that was easy. That was fun. Pushing Jounouchi's buttons was as enjoyable as it had ever been – in fact, their attraction made it even more so. And kissing Jounouchi made Kaiba feel... Well.

Jounouchi's anger had reached a crescendo. He stood up. "Right, well. Glad we cleared that up. Thank you so much for stopping by today Kaiba, it's really been great to see you again. Let me take your plate."

Jounouchi snatched the empty pizza board off the table and turned to walk away. It seemed to take him a few steps before he realised that Kaiba was following him. But he continued to storm off. He made it all the way into the kitchen before he turned around.

"What?" he snapped. "What else do you want? This is a staff only area so unless you have some perverse aspiration to become a waiter..."

Kaiba grabbed Jounouchi by the wrist.

"No, I just didn't want to create a scene in front of your customers," Kaiba said with another smirk. And then, before Jounouchi had a chance to respond, he used his grip on Jounouchi's wrist to roughly pull the other man into him.

Jounouchi's eyes widened, and then Kaiba kissed him. The instant their lips met, it was like kissing again for the first time, and part of Kaiba's brain wondered how long that shock-factor would last. It wasn't just that Jounouchi was a good kisser – which he was – or that he had wonderfully soft lips – which he did – but there was some switch in Kaiba's brain that instantly flipped on, just at the thought that it was Jounouchi of all people that made him feel this way. There was a history between them, a connection that was undeniable, and that connection added so many layers of meaning to such a simple act.

In that moment, as he wrapped his other arm around Jounouchi's waist, Kaiba realised that he wasn't egotistically furious that he'd be wrong about Jounouchi. He was delighted.

Vaguely, like it was coming from somewhere far away, Kaiba heard Jounouchi's staff squealing in shock. And someone said, "Way to go, big brother!"

But even when they separated, Kaiba couldn't quite bring himself to care about their onlookers. It was unlike him to flaunt anything private in front of others; but then, it was utterly typical of him to focus on a goal and not give a flying fuck about what anyone else thought.

He couldn't believe Jounouchi could be so uncertain about how Kaiba felt. Again – how could anyone be smart and yet be so dumb? Surely it was obvious that every time they touched, Kaiba felt as though he'd received a minor electric shock.

"Jounouchi... Why would I be here if I didn't want to be around you?"

Jounouchi opened his mouth to reply, and for a moment it seemed as though the reply would be an angry one. But Jou paused, and there was a flash of softness in his dark eyes before he laughed, and said, "How the freaking hell should I know? Maybe you just wanted a pizza!"

Kaiba snorted. "Yes, and maybe hell is cold, and maybe pigs can fly, and maybe Duel Monsters is just a children's card game."

And then, this time more gently, Kaiba leaned in and gave Jounouchi a kiss that wasn't long, but was soft.

This time, there was a flurry of motion around them as Jounouchi's sister snapped at the cook to get back to chopping mushrooms and started to herd the other waitresses into the restaurant proper.

"That's all the answer you get." Kaiba lowered his voice so the others, now at least pretending to mind their own business on their way through the door, couldn't hear the rest of what he said. "This isn't a mask, Jounouchi. It's not something I can put on and take off for a Halloween party. If you put up with me long enough, you'll know me better. That's all there is to it."

Jounouchi swallowed. "I can live with that."

"Good." Kaiba stepped back.

At that moment, Shizuka burst through the kitchen door. "Jou! We've got problems. A group of fifteen teenagers just walked in without a booking. We can fit them for the night, but we have a birthday party coming in twenty minutes for another twelve people. They're all going to want food at once."

Shizuka left as abruptly as she'd entered, with Jou staring after her. "Two-balled bitch!" he exclaimed.

Kaiba snorted, and Jou turned back to him, startled.

"I should let you get back to business," Kaiba said.

Jounouchi sighed. "Yeah, sounds like I've got an army of hungry teenagers about to descend."

Kaiba moved toward the door. "Let me know when you win the war."

Jounouchi leered. "Don't you want to stick around to see my weapon of mass destruction?"

Kaiba, to his own surprise, actually laughed. "I am quite certain that what you are referring to is the much talked-of Death by Chocolate pizza."

Jounouchi winked. "That's the one. Now get out of my kitchen. Don't you have... I don't know? A theme park to build? Some people to fire? Dreams to crush?"

"Something like that," Kaiba said dryly. "Call me later."

"I'll bring something sweet for you," Jou called after him.

Kaiba hid his smile as he walked out the door. A successful social interaction with a man he was attracted to –and not just any man, but Jounouchi. And only fuelled by a single martini. The tabloids could never print anything that wild.

As Kaiba walked past the register, he was momentarily stopped by Jounouchi's sister.

"Hey, Kaiba," she said.

Kaiba narrowed his eyes. Looks like she was done with being polite, then.

"Tell your brother I look forward to seeing him tomorrow."

Kaiba stopped in his tracks. "What?"

Shizuka giggled and gave him a wink very similar to the one he'd just received from Jounouchi. Then she bustled off with an armful of water glasses.

Kaiba sighed. Oh great. So he was going to have to learn to deal with not one Jounouchi family member, but two. He was going to get Mokuba for this betrayal. For starters, those Halloween decorations lying around could surely be used to give his little brother a good scare. God, it would only be a matter of hours before Mokuba stopped giving him sincere advice about how to deal with Jounouchi, and started teasing him instead.

Kaiba shrugged.

He so didn't care.