Disclaimer: I do not, have not, and will not ever own either "Yu-Gi-Oh!" or "Rurouni Kenshin."

Chapter 17

The next morning, a new nurse entered the room. She had just started working there and she had been warned about the difficult patients she would be taking care of. "Good morning," she said, brightly, as she entered the room.

"Good morning," Kenshin greeted her, also smiling. He doesn't seem like he'll be that much trouble, she thought, looking at the cheerful boy in front of her. She looked up in time to catch a pillow thrown from the other side of the room. That one, however, may be more trouble than he's worth, she thought.

Kaiba was not in a good mood. He disliked people waking him up before he was ready to get up, and he didn't sleep well the night before. First, there was Kenshin's nightmare and then he hadn't been able to sleep because of what Kenshin had said. All this combined to make him more than a little irritable this morning. An extremely cheerful nurse didn't help. Kenshin was bad enough.

The nurse ignored Kaiba's mumbling and turned her attention back to Kenshin. "Well, I think it's about time to change your bandages, young man," she said, walking up to the side of his bed. Kenshin, for his part, smiled apologetically as he sat up. There was blood on the sheets.

The nurse blinked in surprise. She glanced at the clipboard hanging at the end of his bed. "It says here that your wounds shouldn't be bleeding. What did you do?" she asked, as she removed the bandage on his side and started cleaning the wound.

"I had a rather unpleasant dream about the past last night, and I'm afraid I sat up a little too quickly," he admitted, wincing as she found a few particularly tender areas.

Kaiba, hearing Kenshin's admission, stopped muttering. Kenshin was dreaming about the past? So, either he or this Battousai person really did kill his wife... Kaiba thought to himself.

Kenshin was a little too preoccupied with the not-quite-gentle nurse to notice the affect his statement had on Kaiba. Battousai, however, did. //Kenshin, I think we should be careful with what we say around Kaiba,// Battousai warned.

Kenshin was a little surprised at the statement. /Why?/ he asked.

//Apparently, you were also talking in your sleep. I don't know what you said, but Kaiba heard you. He asked about Tomoe last night, after you went to your soul room, and I told him she was our wife. He was asking a lot of questions, and right now your statement about your dream interested him as well. I think he may know too much already,// Battousai explained, darkly. He did not like not knowing how much Kaiba had heard. //While we're in the hospital, I think that I will stay awake when you sleep, in case you have any more nightmares. If you do, I will take over the body and you can dream in your soul room. There's no need to give Kaiba any more information about us.//

Kenshin agreed. He wouldn't accidentally injure himself further when woke up that way. The nurse finished bandaging the wound on his side.

"Did any of the other ones start bleeding again?" she asked.

"No, just that one."

She proceeded to re-bandage all of his other wounds, and then came the time to change his sheets. Kenshin started to get out of bed so she could do so.

"What are you doing?!" she practically yelled at him, keeping him on the bed.

Kenshin looked at her. "You need to change the sheets, so I thought that I'd move out of the way for you," he explained, like it was obvious.

"Kenshin, sweetie, if you want your wounds to heal, you're gonna have to stay in bed. You can't be walking around on that leg," she said, pointing to his right leg.

Kenshin looked a little confused. "But, how are you going to change the sheets if I don't get out of bed?" he inquired. He was trying to make her job a little easier for her.

She just smiled. "You'll see. I have to go and get some clean bedding. I'll be right back," she said, disappearing through the door. A few minutes later she returned with the bedding and a tall, muscular man walking behind her. She put the bedding on a table, and motioned towards Kenshin. The tall man strode forward quickly, picking Kenshin up. Apparently, he thought that Kenshin was much heavier than he looked, because he used too much strength when lifting the redhead off the bed. The end result being that Kenshin was tossed up in the air accidentally. Kenshin, surprised at being picked up in the first place, let out a surprised cry as he felt himself being tossed up in the air. Thankfully, the man caught him, and Kenshin reflexively clung to his neck to help keep him from making the same mistake twice. That had really got the adrenaline pumping, causing Kenshin to tremble slightly in the larger man's grasp.

"Although I am perfectly capable of standing on my own, I would really rather you not throw me in the air if you insist on picking me up," Kenshin said, his voice shaking slightly.

The man looked genuinely sorry for what he had just done. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were that light," he said, apologetically.

Kaiba, who had been watching the entire time, suddenly found it very difficult to breathe. He had seen the looks on Kenshin's face; first, when he had been picked up and then when he had realized that he was airborne. It was priceless. Kaiba was laughing so hard that his broken collarbone had begun to throb painfully, but he didn't care. Not even the pain could contain his mirth. It was funny enough, Kenshin having to be held while they changed his bedding, but this! This was an added bonus, and Kaiba was going to make sure he enjoyed it thoroughly.

The nurse, somewhat stunned by what had happened, took a moment to recover. She changed the bedding quickly, and motioned for her companion to follow her, bringing Kenshin.

"Wait a minute! Where are you taking me?" Kenshin asked, a little apprehensive. Kaiba quieted his laughing enough so that he, too, could hear.

"Well, I can't put you back into your nice, clean bed wearing bloody clothes, can I? You need a bath," she said, simply.

"Uh, I uh, I don't suppose you'd be willing to let me take a bath by myself?" Kenshin asked in a small voice.

"Heavens, no! You'd only injure yourself more!"

"Oro..."

Kaiba couldn't contain himself any longer. He burst out laughing once again as Kenshin was carried out of the room.

~*~

About twenty minutes later, a very embarrassed Kenshin was carried back into the hospital room and put back into bed. Kenshin noticed Kaiba smirking at him. "Enjoy your bath?" the taller boy inquired.

Kenshin just smiled back, as if he knew something Kaiba didn't. "Not as much as I'm sure you'll enjoy yours," Kenshin said, grinning almost evilly. Before Kaiba could respond, the muscular nurse had picked up the CEO and started walking out of the room.

"What are you doing?! I can walk! Where are you taking me?!" Kaiba demanded, furiously. Kenshin was trying hard not to laugh.

The smaller nurse turned to Kaiba. "As Kenshin said, it's your turn for a bath. Walking might jar your collarbone, and you can't bathe yourself with that injury. The risk of injuring yourself more is too great. So, I might as well get both your baths out of the way right now," she explained, as she turned and continued walking. Her taller companion followed, carrying the loudly protesting Kaiba.

Unable to contain himself any longer, both Kenshin and Battousai burst out laughing. //Oh, this is going to be a fun week, indeed,// Battousai said.

~*~

After Kaiba had returned, clean, he had taken to sulking and shooting death glares at Kenshin as if it was all his fault. Kenshin supposed that in a way, it was. He had suggested to the nurse that she might as well give Kaiba his bath then, as opposed to later. And, Kenshin was the reason that Kaiba was in the hospital in the first place, after all.

Battousai wanted to come out and torment Kaiba some more, but Kenshin was feeling a little sympathetic toward his roommate. He decided to try and cheer him up.

"Kaiba, are you alright?" Kenshin asked in his normal, cheerful voice.

Kaiba glared at him. "While you may enjoy other people giving you a bath, I have never been so violated in my entire life! Of course, I'm not okay!" Kaiba spat. He was not in the mood to talk, and Kenshin's cheerful voice was irritating him even further.

Kenshin was silent for a moment, and then he decided to change the subject. "So, Yugi told me that you're the president of Kaiba Corporations. What do you do?" Kenshin asked, trying to make small talk.

"I design holographic software for Duel Monsters," Kaiba said, not sure why he was answering Kenshin's questions.

"Duel Monsters? Oh! I've heard Yugi talk about it. Are you any good?" It was an innocent enough question on Kenshin's part, but it was a sore subject for Kaiba.

He just scowled at Kenshin. It was bad enough that Kenshin was a constant reminder of Kaiba's most recent failure, and now he has to rub Kaiba's nose in the fact that Yugi beat him at Duel Monsters. Worst yet, Kenshin was pretending not to know that the World Champion of Duel Monsters had lost to some nobody like Yugi! Kaiba was seething at his perceived insults.

Kenshin, for his part was confused. He could tell by Kaiba's aura that the taller boy was becoming furious with him, but Kenshin couldn't for the life of him figure out why. /What did I say?/ He asked Battousai, confused.

//Don't know, but keep doing it! You just seem to have that effect on him. Whatever you say makes him mad, for some reason. This is even more fun than insulting him myself!// Battousai said, clearly enjoying himself.

Kenshin decided to try and remedy the situation. "Are you okay? Did I say something to offend you?" Kenshin asked.

Kaiba lost it. "You're really something else, you know that, Kenshin? First you humiliate me on National Television at the tournament, put me in the hospital for more than a week; somehow become my roommate, forcibly reminding me of my defeat; convince the nurse that it's my turn for her to give me a bath, remind me again of my defeat against Yugi--not once, but twice--while pretending that you don't know, and then you have the gall to ask me if I'M ALRIGHT?!" Kaiba exploded. He felt marginally better, but he was still very upset.

Kenshin was shocked. He'd caught about half of what Kaiba had accused him of. Battousai was laughing hysterically.

Just then, the doctor walked into the room. He had heard Kaiba yelling; but, as it seemed that they had worked it out on their own, he didn't say anything about it. He walked over to Kenshin.

"I heard you opened your wound again, young man. The nurse said you had a nightmare and sat up too fast?" the doctor inquired.

"Hai. Gomen, it won't happen again," Kenshin replied.

"We didn't want to go back and put more stitches in it, but if this continues, we may have to do that. Do you understand? You need to keep that wound closed," the doctor berated him, trying to convey the importance of keeping the wound closed.

"Hai," Kenshin had the decency to look ashamed.

"Good." With that, the doctor turned and left the room.

Kaiba felt a little better that Kenshin had gotten in trouble, but not much. After all, it wasn't Kenshin's fault he had that dream.

~*~

Later that day, Yugi and Mokuba both stopped by after school. Mokuba immediately ran over to Kaiba's bed, while Yugi walked over to Kenshin's a little more calmly, but not much.

"Oh, Kenshin! You're awake! Grandpa's been worried. You passed out in the car and then, when we came to visit you yesterday, they said you still hadn't woken up," Yugi said, sounding more than a little worried himself. Kenshin smiled reassuringly.

Across the room, Mokuba was having mixed feelings. Normally, he would take his brother's side, no matter what the circumstances. But, even though Seto had only hit Kenshin once, Kenshin's wounds seemed more severe than the wound he had given Seto. Mokuba almost felt that Kenshin hadn't wounded Seto enough to equal their injuries. But, then again, any injury to his brother was too much in Mokuba's mind. His eyes slid over to Kenshin once again...

Mokuba shook his head. He didn't need to do that to my brother, Mokuba told himself firmly. He turned his attention back to Kaiba. "How are you feeling, Seto?" he asked.

Kaiba smiled at him. "I'm fine, squirt. The company could be better, but..." he said, loud enough for both Kenshin and Yugi to hear.

Kenshin, not wanting to upset Kaiba again, decided to allow Battousai to give it a shot. Maybe he'll have the opposite effect as well, Kenshin thought as he retreated to his soul room.

Yugi, who had been watching Kenshin, started in surprise as Kenshin blinked. It wasn't much the act of blinking, as it was the fact that when Kenshin closed his eyes, they were soft lavender. When he opened them, they had turned into a mocking amber. \That was kinda creepy. Well, not so much creepy, I mean the eyes are really creepy, but I just wasn't expecting that,\ Yugi said.

\\Would you like me to come out? I doubt he's going to do anything, but if it would make you feel better...\\ Yami offered.

\No, but I must say I'm a little surprised. You sound like you actually *gasp* trust him!\ Yugi mocked, teasing his darker half.

\\He saved both you and me from Bakura's attack--one of the reasons he's back in the hospital. If that doesn't merit trust, then I don't know what does,\\ Yami said, seriously. Yugi had to agree.

Battousai looked casually over at Kaiba. "If you don't like the company, then you should have thought about that before you got injured. Oh, wait! I suppose that wasn't your choice, was it? How silly of me to forget," Battousai said, putting his hand to his chest in mock embarrassment.

Kaiba glared back. "At least I wasn't stupid enough to fight when I still had injuries that weren't healed completely and land back in the hospital because of them," Kaiba said, smirking at Kenshin.

Battousai just smiled. "Oh, no, you were definitely smarter than that. Instead, you allowed an injured opponent to defeat you, sending you to the hospital. Oh, yes, Kaiba, that is definitely something to brag about," Battousai agreed.

Yugi and Mokuba looked back and forth between the two injured teenagers. This was getting ugly real quick.

"At least I don't have the souls of murdered people haunting me," Kaiba said, throwing the insult blindly. It hit home.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Battousai demanded, all of the humor in his voice gone.

"I heard you talking in your sleep last night--crying, really. Please, don't make me! No, she would never betray me!" Kaiba mocked, mimicking Kenshin's higher voice. "Now, let me see, what was her name? Oh, yes, I remember now--Tomoe, was it? She haunts you, doesn't she? Is she seeking revenge, perhaps?" Kaiba said casually, probing deeper into Kenshin's wound.

Battousai made eye contact with Kaiba, who shivered despite himself. There was so much raw anguish in those eyes, mixed with barely contained anger, that Kaiba actually flinched. He almost regretted making the remark-- almost.

"Don't presume to judge me, Kaiba. You know nothing!" Battousai whispered, his voice low and cold. It was almost as if his cold voice had drawn all the warmth out of the room, sending a chill down everyone's spines. The cold expression on his face contrasted with the fire raging in his eyes. Everyone stood transfixed, waiting to see what would happen next.

Suddenly, Kenshin blinked, breaking the spell. When he opened his eyes, they were once again a warm violet, and the warmth seemed to return to the room with them. He looked again at Kaiba with incredible sorrow in his eyes.

"You should not speak so flippantly of such things until you understand every aspect concerning them," Kenshin said, sadly. Kaiba stared. The sudden change in Kenshin surprised him. Looking into Kenshin's sorrowful eyes, he did regret making that comment. Kenshin was right, after all, but Kaiba would not admit that.

He turned away. There was an awkward silence, and then both Yugi and Mokuba decided it was time to leave. Yugi promised Kenshin that he'd come back later with Grandpa, and then they left, leaving the two adolescents alone with their thoughts.