Just Friends

by AllisonWalker

After one chance Duel takes a bad turn, Kaiba finds himself becoming obsessed over the one person he'd refused to acknowledge years before. At first, Kaiba desires revenge, but the more they spend time together, the more he finds himself spiraling into something close to friendship...or maybe much more. Kaiba/Jonouchi post-canon. Co-written FINISHED

21. Chapter 21

It took two more weeks before Jonouchi was up and functioning again. His ribs had been mending, but they still hadn't completely finished healing, and his wrist was still in a brace. Jonouchi hated it. It was annoying, the material was scratchy, and whenever he was alone and not being watched, he'd stubbornly take it off before eventually getting caught by someone.

He just felt silly wearing one while trying to duel. Thankfully, his Duel Disk could fit onto his forearm without really touching it, but still. It wasn't completely comfortable, and Jonouchi had a tournament to practice for. Getting beaten up and stuck at the hospital had really thrown him off, and it had been difficult trying to practice while drugged up on strong painkillers, but Jonouchi was much better now.

His next tournament would be a big one in Tokyo. Akihabara, to be precise, and all the businessmen at the hostess party would be there to watch it. The pressure was on, and Jonouchi looked forward to it, despite his growing anxiety.

He was a major player, now. Corporate-sponsored, with all the pleasures and pressures that went along with it. Not only would Jonouchi be getting a nice hotel room and chauffeur services, but Kaiba Corporation was also taking care of his meals (or rather, forcing him to go to certain business dinners which were free) and travel expenses. The cash prize for first place was a big one, and everyone at work had been dumping the expectation of winning on him as soon as Jonouchi had returned after being discharged.

Surprisingly, Kaiba had been the only person not to say a word about it. Even Mokuba, who was usually pretty busy with other things and didn't pay Jonouchi that much attention, had been showing up increasingly during Jonouchi's practice Duels to add his little quips in. Most of it was encouraging, but Mokuba had his moments of seriousness, as well. As the days went by, his cheery countenance changed into something more resembling of his older brother.

Jonouchi didn't let it get to him, though. He was too busy to let it unnerve him, and he worked on improving his deck and playing against the Dueling Machine every day, as well as practicing against the Kaiba Corporation trainers who gave Jonouchi instruction.

Dueling for a company was much different than dueling for himself, and Jonouchi found himself exhausted almost every day right after work. It was worse than his days with Yugi's grandpa, when the old man had tutored him after school. Now, training for almost eight hours straight was just overtaxing, and Jonouchi found himself nearly sick of looking at his cards by the time the end of work rolled around.

However, he still dragged himself to the Game Shop most days, just so he could get some further help from Sugoroku before passing out in Yugi's old bedroom.

He figured it was a good compromise on the fight he'd been having with Kaiba over his dumb apartment. Yugi wasn't around, and Sugoroku didn't mind Jonouchi hanging around. The neighborhood was far safer, and unafraid of getting jumped anytime soon, Jonouchi decided to just stay there until he knew what he was going to do about his apartment.

Besides, he had no idea where his father even was. The local crime boss was looking for him, that much was for certain, and Jonouchi was not going to pay them off. Not this time, and it would probably be weeks before Jonouchi's father would scrape up the money, pay them off, and come back like nothing had ever happened. It was how things usually worked between them.

Until then, Jonouchi would just continue staying at Yugi's place. It wasn't like he hadn't done that before in high school, so he was already used to it.

That at least improved on some of his daily stress. Sitting in the room Jonouchi refused to call his office, he flipped through his cards for the hundredth time as he got ready for yet another practice Duel down in the training department before lunch. His brain had become so glazed that he almost hadn't heard the knock on the door.

"Uh...yeah?"

"You could learn to answer in a more professional manner, you know," Kaiba sighed as he opened the door. His sleeves were rolled up, his tie slightly askew - evidently Jonouchi wasn't the only one working hard that morning. Kaiba hovered by the door, almost hesitant to enter. It was just bizarre, but at the same time, Kaiba had been acting oddly distant ever since Jonouchi had come back to work. Weren't they supposed to be dating?

"... Are you going to come in or not?"

Kaiba's eyes flickered up to Jonouchi's, and he took two quick steps inward, pulling the door shut. His gaze cast down to the cards gripped in Jonouchi's hands and splayed across the desk. They were everywhere, some sticking up in haphazard piles, others teetering dangerously close to the desk's edge. Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "Those might be for your use, but they're still company property. If you bend or damage them too much, they'll be unplayable, and I'll be the one paying to replace them."

"Okay, Mom," sighed Jonouchi, "Did you come here to pick at me or did you actually have something more important to say? If you're worried about your precious cards, I'll bring my own to work..."

Why did he have to say shit like that? Jonouchi could feel his irritation rising, but he tried to push it aside. Kaiba probably came in for something else, and like always, needed to find something to comment about before he actually got to what he was preparing to say.

"Actually, yes," Kaiba said as he leaned against the door, crossing his arms. "Are you busy tonight?"

"Not really, no..."

Another business dinner? Jonouchi could feel himself screaming internally, not wanting to be swallowed up in another night of salarymen drinking themselves stupid as Kaiba glared at everyone from the bar. It wasn't how Jonouchi liked to spend his evenings, but for some reason, the rest of the country just loved having any excuse to drink insane amounts of alcohol and blame it on their work.

"I have tickets to the opera. Would you like to come with me?"

"An opera?"

What the hell?

This wasn't exactly what Jonouchi had predicted Kaiba to say, and he didn't hide the shock from his face all too well. Why the hell would they be going to an opera? Wasn't that for like, old people? And unless it was in Japanese, Jonouchi would have no idea what anyone would be saying, and quite frankly, he was afraid he'd pass out asleep from boredom while sitting through it.

That, and he wasn't sure if Kaiba was actually trying to ask him out. They were kinda seeing each other now though, weren't they? Jonouchi didn't really know. He remembered talking about it after screaming at each other in the hospital, but the details were a bit fuzzy. Neither of them bothered to bring it up afterwards, so Jonouchi didn't know just what was going on with that and decided to not worry about it, since it would probably be brought up again eventually. Kaiba never let things go for too long.

"Are you talking like, a date?"

Kaiba looked away, suddenly uncomfortable. The sun streaming out from behind Jonouchi was casting huge swaths of shadows, making it hard to discern the look upon Kaiba's face. "If you want to call it that, yes. I'm a long-time benefactor, so I receive tickets each season. Do you want to go or not?"

"Do you want to go with me or are you just trying to unload a ticket on someone?" asked Jonouchi as he raised an eyebrow. For someone who wanted a relationship so badly, Kaiba was acting so standoffish. It only put Jonouchi more on edge, and he found his palms breaking into a sweat as he became more and more self-conscious of himself.

Finally meeting Jonouchi's eyes, Kaiba said, "Yes, I want to go with you."

"Okay well..." Jonouchi paused, trying to find the right words so he didn't offend, "I don't really know much of anything about opera. That sounds way fancier than anything I've ever been to before, you know. I'm not exactly cultured, Kaiba... I didn't even know how to tie a tie until like a few months ago."

"You don't have to know anything. You won't even have to talk to anyone. Just show up looking the part, and people will make their own assumptions. You won't be alone."

"No, I mean like... I don't understand opera. Period. It sounds like a whole lot of dramatic singing in a language I don't understand and rich people watch it..."

He stopped himself from saying something more juvenile in case Kaiba got offended and tried running off and disappearing for another two weeks. Having his company again would be nice, and maybe outside of the office, Kaiba would stop acting so damn weird.

Why did Kaiba have to like snobby stuff? Normal people just went out for pizza, not go see a fucking opera for a first date...

Kaiba made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a snort. "Then view this as an opportunity to educate yourself culturally. If you hate it, I'll never force you to attend another," he offered.

"Will you buy me dinner before, too?" asked Jonouchi. "I can't sit through something for several hours without eating."

"Yes, as long as you promise not to spill anything on the tuxedo I'll be giving you," Kaiba returned with a grin.

"You're excited about this, aren't you?" snorted Jonouchi, "Seriously, a tux?"

A small sense of dread came over him. This would be worse than a business gathering. At least during those, Jonouchi could drink. If he got bored during the show, Kaiba would be right there to see it and would no doubt get pissed off, and Kaiba was getting him some fancy suit to wear so he didn't stick out.

Opera. Why opera? Why couldn't it have been something more normal, like baseball or even stupid-ass golfing?

"Seriously, a tux," Kaiba parroted, "It's opening night, and we have the best seats in the house. You can't just show up in jeans."

"I wasn't thinking that, Kaiba..." Rolling his eyes, Jonouchi brought all his cards together, giving up on them for the time being, before dumping his elbows on the table and sighing, "Why did you ignore me for two weeks?"

There it was - that guarded expression again. "I wasn't ignoring you."

"Then what, you just forgot to talk to me after all that crap at the hospital?" accused Jonouchi, "I almost thought I'd hallucinated the entire thing because I thought we were in a relationship, whatever that entails..."

"I still visited you while you were there. You've been busy at work; I've been busy. I thought you would find it nice that I wasn't breathing down your neck for a change."

"Maybe," snorted Jonouchi, "but you could have stopped by a little to say hello. You're not that busy that you can't spare yourself two minutes to come down here and show your face every once in a while..."

"I'm here now," Kaiba said so softly that Jonouchi almost missed it.

"So we're together then, right?" Jonouchi paused, staring at his hands as he felt Kaiba's eyes on him, "What exactly does that even mean?"

"It means you'll come with me tonight, for starters," Kaiba said as he shifted his weight on his heels, "Beyond that, we'll find out. I'm open to suggestions."

"I don't even know what to suggest. I thought you'd have a good idea of what this would entail when we decided to do this two weeks ago," sighed Jonouchi, "I mean, you said you wanted this, so I thought you knew what that meant exactly. As embarrassing as it is to admit, I never really dated anyone before. Not very seriously..."

Not since the girl in his last year of high school, and that was a disaster. They didn't do all that much together, anyways, besides eat out and waste money at arcades.

"I don't know if you've noticed, Jonouchi, but I've been dating my job for the past several years. It's not like I have a whole lot of expertise at this, either," Kaiba frowned.

"But you're supposed to be the genius," teased Jonouchi as he finally lifted his eyes up and smirked at Kaiba's frown, "I thought you knew everything about everything. Are you saying you're not exactly a perfect being now?"

"Every pathway to knowledge has its beginning," Kaiba remarked as he turned to open the door. "I'll have your suit sent over after work; we'll leave from here at six."

Jonouchi blinked. "Yeah, okay. You know I'm not staying at my old apartment right now, right? I've been at Yugi's place."

Kaiba turned to look back over his shoulder. "Is that so? That's a...wise alternative," he said carefully, "but not a permanent solution."

"I was just letting you know, Kaiba. I wasn't looking for your approval on it. I'll figure out what to do about it all later. I need to focus on winning this next competition anyways."

"By all means." And with that, Kaiba disappeared, leaving Jonouchi once again to the solitude of his not-office.

"That dick."

But at least they didn't fight. Although Jonouchi didn't get too many clear answers about anything, either. They went through a lot of screaming and yelling just for neither of them to really know what they planned on doing with each other. That was a little surprising, but then again, typical. At least Kaiba finally decided to break his dry spell and come down from his office to say something, even if it meant Jonouchi was being dragged to yet another formal event that made him feel uncomfortable.

Maybe drinking a little bit before going would help. Kaiba had money, so it wasn't like Jonouchi needed to be a cheap date, and alcohol would keep him from becoming bored. At least if he didn't like the opera, he could probably find some drunken humor from it.

But he didn't want to be loud and stupid, either, so he'd have to be careful about it.

At the very least, the night promised to be interesting...

"I'm a little impressed you look so put-together," Kaiba said as he eyed Jonouchi from across the table, "It almost looks natural on you."

Jonouchi made a small noise through his teeth as he shook his head slightly. He'd had help. Isa-chan had assisted with cleaning Jonouchi up and fixing his hair when he sent her a distressed text message before lunch had ended, and by the miracle of some deity, she'd shown up in time to help Jonouchi get ready.

Now he was sitting there awkwardly at some restaurant where he felt almost on display, wearing clothes that weren't his and a hairstyle that actually kept his usually wild blond locks in check. It was nice not having a giant mop all over his face, but the stiff clothes weren't something Jonouchi ever wanted to get used to.

Kaiba had brought him to some stuffy European place, too. It wasn't fake Italian or some Japanese rendition of French country food. The place was actually reservation-only and required not only "proper eating utensils," but the food was authentic.

Which also made it intimidating. Jonouchi had not known what to order. Italian had never been his exact cup of tea.

"So what opera are we seeing," asked Jonouchi, trying to change the subject off himself to spare himself embarrassment, "You never told me."

"Puccini's final," Kaiba said as he took a sip of his wine, "Turandot."

"Which is about?"

Setting his glass down, Kaiba idly scratched a fingernail against its stem. "It's a love story set in Ancient China. A princess - Turandot - refuses to marry and forces her suitors to solve three riddles. If they cannot, they are executed. It's pretty easy to guess how the rest of it goes."

"And this interests you because what, the puzzles or the love story?" Jonouchi snorted before drinking more of his wine. He was halfway done with his glass, and they hadn't even gotten their food yet. To save himself the embarrassment of butchering the Italian language, he'd allowed Kaiba to just order for him. "Because either you're really sick in the head or just more gay than I had first imagined...

"What kind of Chinese name is Turandot anyways? I thought they were all like Chan or something..."

Kaiba frowned, pushing his glass to the side. A waiter automatically appeared to refill it. "The original tale was Persian, but the opera was adapted from an Italian play. Somewhere along the line, the story's location changed to China - probably due to the prevalent Orientalism of the time." He swirled the dark liquid around, a tiny typhoon in his cup. "But it's one of the most well-loved and enduring operas, even though the composer never finished it himself."

Jonouchi went quiet into thought, sipping his glass again as the silence returned. It sounded somewhat interesting, which was promising. Kaiba was a giant nerd, so he'd probably enjoy the entire thing, and it was probable that he'd seen it before, too. It just came as a great surprise to Jonouchi that he'd be the kind of person to sit through something like that.

"Why do you like opera in the first place?" asked Jonouchi as he brought the glass away from his lips, "It just seems like a strange kind of thing for someone your age to be interested in. I mean, games and technology, I understand, but this seems so out of left field and not what I imagined when I think of you..."

"It's been said that music and science are linked…" Kaiba paused, his gaze sweeping across the dimly-lit room. The faint light of the table's candle flashed across his cheekbones, occasionally rising up to briefly illuminate blue. "My mother...was an opera enthusiast. She appreciated all of the fine arts, really, but opera was always her favorite. We used to go often, when I was a child."

"Didn't you get bored, though?"

Jonouchi would have been crying tears from feeling constrained if he had to sit through a show as a child. He was slightly afraid that he wouldn't be able to handle the night, although his patience had improved since being a grade schooler. His parents hadn't taken him out much, and his mother certainly hasn't bothered to educate him on "fine arts." She only cared to kick him out of the house after school and make sure he returned before dark, and that's as far as their general relationship went.

"No, she was careful to foster an interest within me - my mother made sure to expose me to a variety of different things, suitable for a child yet still stimulating enough for my intellectual level. It was time we got to spend together as a family, so I didn't mind."

"I see. That must have been really nice..."

Unsure of what to say, Jonouchi just fell silent. His family hadn't been like that at all. His father had worked, but not so much that he wasn't around. Before Shizuka was born, things had been actually decent, but Jonouchi realized at an early age that his mother was cold towards him. He didn't know why, but her interest in him hadn't been very personal, and he'd spent the majority of his time with his father, who had a blue-collar job all his life.

Most kids didn't get that kind of chance. They maybe saw their father once a week, if that, because they were always working or partying for work, and the majority of children's youth was spent with their mothers, but not Jonouchi. His life had been the complete opposite. Despite his mother only working a part-time gig, it was like she actively avoided being around in the house much.

"You're lucky that you had a good relationship with your mom. I wish I could say the same."

"I only had her for a short time. Even still, I can remember those times as clear as day." Although the words painted a pleasant picture, Kaiba looked troubled, a small crease between his eyebrows.

"Let's talk about something else," said Jonouchi as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "You're looking depressed, and this dinner was supposed to be fun, right?" Well, as fun as stuffy European dinners could get, Jonouchi presumed. "What exactly did you order for dinner? I'm starving."

"Monkfish with prosciutto and artichokes for you, the stuffed quail for me. I thought I wouldn't order anything too crazy for you."

"I don't even know what prosciutto is..." mumbled Jonouchi. He knew what quail was. A small bird. He'd seen it enough times, grocery stores all over sold the eggs, although Jonouchi had never bought them. Too expensive. Just like Kaiba to order.

"It's just a fancy word for salted ham. You'll like it," Kaiba smirked playfully.

"You seem so sure of that."

The food arrived before more could be said about it, though. The presentation was so pretty, Jonouchi almost felt bad about eating it, but his stomach couldn't be stopped. He hadn't eaten that much for lunch, and looking at the small portion sizes, he knew he'd be hungry again in no time at all.

Using his fork and trying not to fumble with it, Jonouchi took a piece before trying a bite. The taste was robust, with rich flavors that were on the verge of being overwhelming. It was good. Extremely good, in fact. No wonder someone couldn't eat too much of it. Jonouchi could feel his mouth tingle as he took another bite, and somewhere between finishing his filet and trying the proscuitto, he'd forgotten all about Kaiba sitting in front of him.

"I guess I ordered right," Kaiba said, smiling at Jonouchi's already half-eaten plate.

"Yeah, but using a fork is killing me. Why did you chose foreign food? I mean its good, but chopsticks are so much easier to use..."

"Italian food for an Italian opera...I thought it would be a good way to get into the spirit of things."

"We could have ordered a pizza," joked Jonouchi.

As if. Kaiba probably wouldn't even know how to eat one. In all likelihood, he'd try to use a fork and knife, which would be hilarious to see. Shizuka used to do that, believing she was being "proper" and Jonouchi had always gotten a kick out of that. It took her longer to eat that way, which meant more pizza for him to stuff his face with.

"And go the easy route? Never," Kaiba laughed. "My nights aren't complete until I have to start speaking in tongues just to get fed."

"Do you even know Italian?" challenged Jonouchi, "I bet you're just full of bullshit."

Spearing a bit of quail, Kaiba chewed slowly before answering. "Not enough to really speak it. I know the basics, and it's close enough to other Romance languages to figure out, but no, it's not a language I actively know."

"What do you know, then? Well, besides English. I've heard you speak English before, better than the rest of us, of course," snorted Jonouchi. Kaiba probably had tutors. All the rich kids did, and anyone hoping to do International Business needed good conversational skills, but Jonouchi had hated it. He couldn't distinguish between his Rs and Ls, and his good for nothing father wouldn't help him study.

Kaiba leaned back in his seat, mentally ticking off the list, "German, Chinese, Korean, Latin, French, Russian, Arabic - most of the classics and ones used for business. I have working knowledge in others, but not mastery."

"I don't understand how one person could possibly learn so many..." Jonouchi moved his fork around his plate, flipping a piece of artichoke over. "I couldn't even get one down, and you know seven? That's ridiculous."

"It's all about recognizing and applying patterns. Some people are more wired than others for multilingual capacity - just the luck of the draw, I suppose." Kaiba took a long sip of his wine and pushed his plate away. There was still a bit of uneaten food leftover, but Kaiba had never demonstrated a huge appetite, at least to Jonouchi's knowledge.

"Okay then," mused Jonouchi, not quite over feeling stupid, "Which one is your favorite?"

"French," Kaiba replied without hesitation.

"Why?"

He was playing with his glass again. "I enjoy the way it rolls off the tongue, its sound and its flow. My mother taught me the basics; she used to sing in it around the house."

"Oh."

Despite feeling curious, Jonouchi stopped himself from pressing further. It didn't seem like a good idea to push for details. Kaiba would tell when and if he wanted to, and besides, Jonouchi didn't want to get asked questions about his own mother in return. She was a sore subject, someone Jonouchi preferred to forget about whenever he could manage to.

"Well, I wish I could just manage English, but I don't think that's ever going to happen," told Jonouchi as he finally finished his glass of wine and leaned back against his chair, "I want to go to California one day and not be stuck unable to talk to anyone. But I can't pronounce anything worth shit."

"Why California?"

"Why not?"

"I'm just interested in hearing your reasons why," Kaiba hummed.

"I've never been outside of Japan," sighed Jonouchi, "and I think America would be exciting. The tournaments look really cool there too, and I wouldn't feel so weird being unique looking since I'm sure I'd be around more blonds... that aren't fake."

"You'd blend right in until you opened your mouth," Kaiba grinned. "There's training if you want it, you know. Every Kaiba Corp employee gets access to professional development."

"I'd blend in? So you've been there before?"

"Of course. Several times. My adoptive father dragged me there for a few business meetings, and I've attended tournaments, as well. And I've had to make visits for the KaibaLand project. I haven't done much in the way of sightseeing, though."

Jonouchi couldn't imagine going somewhere like that and not at least taking a day to look around. Sure, Kaiba was busy, but that was just a wasted opportunity. Especially if he was near one of the big cities. Anzu had even been over there before, on family vacation, and she said the land and people were completely different, to the point of almost being overwhelming. That actually sounded appealing, being somewhere so different...

"You should make time if you go again." Glass refilled, Jonouchi went back to drinking a little before a dessert menu was discreetly placed on their table, "There's no reason not to. I mean, if I were you, I'd want to look around. I thought the states were bigger than Japan."

"You know how business meetings go, so imagine being a tourist surrounded by those kinds of people. I've almost always gone alone, so the desire to go out and explore just wasn't there." Kaiba was slowly rocking his wine glass back and forth, precariously driving the liquid to the rim before swinging it back. "If I had a tolerable traveling companion, maybe I'd think differently." His eyes flashed briefly to Jonouchi before returning to his glass.

"Mokuba won't go with you?"

A tiny frown tugged at the corner of Kaiba's lips. "He has, before. Only on a handful of meetings. Our itineraries were so tight, though, that there was no time. I didn't want to pull him out of school too much, either. Now that he's older, he doesn't want to hang out with me as often."

"I thought you two were close," mused Jonouchi. He was afraid to continue with anymore about it, though. They had been fighting before. Kaiba was probably still sensitive from it, even if he liked to pretend it hadn't bothered him. Jonouchi knew better. Even though he wasn't close friends with Mokuba and hadn't really seen them together since high school, he knew they were close. Probably too close, even.

"You don't need your brother to go take a vacation though," said Jonouchi in a brighter tone, "just get some friends. It wouldn't kill you to find more people to socialize with that you actually like or aren't trying to get something from. They might surprise you by even being a little interesting."

"Thanks, but I'll pass," Kaiba said dryly. "I barely have enough time for the few I do find worth the effort; spreading myself out even thinner than I already am doesn't sound appealing at all."

"Maybe not at first, but life can be surprising." Picking up the dessert menu, Jonouchi glanced through the options. Unfortunately, it was all print and he couldn't read it. Everything was in Italian and there was no Japanese translation. "Help."

Kaiba glanced over the offered menu. "Cheese cake, chocolate cake, bread pudding, custard, or ice cream. Your pick."

"That can't possibly be what's on the menu, it all sounds boring and this place is fancy," frowned Jonouchi, "just pick what you think I'd like, smart ass."

"I gave you the stripped-down versions," Kaiba smirked. A waiter appeared by his side. "We'll take one panna cotta." Turning back to Jonouchi, he explained, "I think you'll like it. It's not overly sweet."

"I don't mind sweet."

Although some stuff could be overwhelming. Like the junky crap Honda liked to buy from the grocery stores that came from overseas. Everything was so sweet, it lacked any real flavor, and Jonouchi couldn't eat more than a bite or two before becoming put off by it.

"But thanks anyways. I'm still hungry, imagine that..."

"You could probably eat a small country and still have room for dessert."

"Yes," Jonouchi agreed, "I probably could."

The concert hall was enormous, and Jonouchi instantly felt uncomfortable. He'd passed by it on occasion, but the venue had never really registered on his radar - it wasn't a place for him, and he could never envision himself ever attending or even affording one of its events, and so the place had melded into the background of Jonouchi's vision over the years. Yet there he was, standing upon its plush red carpeting, in a new pair of dress shoes, and feeling tight under the collar.

People were staring. He tried to tell himself that it wasn't him - that it was Kaiba they were really staring at, and while it was the truth, it hadn't made him feel any less awkward. To Jonouchi's great relief, no one approached them.

The steady murmur in the lobby peaked then lowered as the surrounding lights grew dim, an electronic bell sounding through the loudspeakers.

"The show will be starting soon; we should get to our seats," Kaiba said as he purposefully strode off, making sure Jonouchi was following suit. As the crowds began streaming towards the concert hall entrance, Jonouchi's uncomfortable feeling heightened. Domino's elite were all around him, in equally expensive suits and sequined gowns. The dimmed lights made the massive chandeliers overhead glow brighter, making Jonouchi realize just how high the ceilings in the venue were. All of it made him feel even more like an insect.

Comparatively, Kaiba looked at ease. The setting, the clothes, the people - it all looked natural next to him, and he didn't seem unsettled in the least. Jonouchi had always known there was a difference between them, but the reality of just how vast had never really cemented itself until that very moment, standing side-by-side dressed in designer tuxedos inside of Domino's most expensive building. He felt a twisting in his gut, and a peculiar constricting in his chest.

When they got to the top of the stairs, the usher let them through without Kaiba even having to show any tickets. Jonouchi followed him into the darkness, his anxiety slowly ebbing as the crowds faded, and it was just the two of them again. After climbing up a few ramps punctuated by a few sharp turns, Kaiba finally entered an open doorway and took a seat on a small balcony. Jonouchi sat down beside him, looking around in all directions. There were three other unclaimed seats, and Jonouchi could make out other small balconies jutting out next to theirs, although he couldn't see inside them well enough. There were balconies like theirs across the way, too, and above them, but they were all so far away and the room so dim that Jonouchi couldn't make out much, either.

"Not a fan of crowds?" asked Jonouchi as he adjusted to his seat.

"I prefer to enjoy the arts in privacy," Kaiba said as he crossed his legs and reached over to collect two booklets from the small side table next to him. He handed the additional program over to Jonouchi and paged through his own. "There's a synopsis of each act outlined inside, in case you want to know beforehand what's going on. But everything will be translated above the stage, so you won't have to worry about not understanding what they're saying."

"This seems like a lot of work just to enjoy a show," mumbled Jonouchi as he began glancing through the program, "but alright. At least it's translated, or else we'd have a problem."

"Opera is less about the words and more about the feelings," Kaiba replied, "With really great productions, the acting and the singing is enough to convey the story."

"Since when did you become such a damn romantic?" snorted Jonouchi, "I didn't think someone as stoic as you would ever like something like this."

"I'm not a romantic," Kaiba scoffed, "but I wasn't raised to be a cultural philistine, either. There's nothing wrong with appreciating culture."

"You're a romantic," whispered Jonouchi as the lights began to fade and the crowd went silent. Kaiba was probably just too proud to admit it. No masculine male liked admitting that they actually were capable of feeling moved from caring about others, especially fictional characters on a stage. High drama and emotion was feminine, or at least Jonouchi thought it was.

Although he was plenty capable of crying during particular movies, although he hated to.

"Think whatever you'd like," Kaiba sighed as they were bathed in black. The audience began to clap, and Jonouchi mimicked along with them - he could just barely see the conductor's head peeking out from the orchestra pit. Silence returned and then was split by the sound of blaring horns, the music dark and foreboding as the stage curtains slowly pulled away. Jonouchi couldn't help the tiny gasp that escaped his lips as a starry night was revealed, a grand, shining gold palace in the distance, actors clothed in intricate costumes - villagers, soldiers, and royalty clustered together. He could feel his heartbeat quicken as the actor at the center of the stage began to sing in a deep baritone.

The music began to swell with the man's announcement, setting the villagers into a frenzy upon his exit. The soldiers bore down on them brutally, and a woman began to sing anxiously, holding onto a fallen elderly man as a young man approached them.

"Who's that?" Jonouchi whispered, feeling somewhat lost from the swarms of people onstage. He found it hard to divide his attention between the action and the supertitles, and he could feel his own anxiety grow with each missed line of dialogue.

"The Prince," Kaiba answered in a low voice, "He's just been reunited with his father."

"Oh." Kaiba hadn't even taken his eyes from the stage. Frowning a little, Jonouchi settled back into his seat, deciding to test Kaiba's theory. It was too much for him to concentrate on both the words and the actions, and so Jonouchi decided not to worry too much about it and just focus on what he could.

He could only understand a little bit of it. The bright set with the costumes and loud chorus was overwhelming, but Jonouchi focused on the Prince, who seemed to be enthralled by someone who only appeared briefly on the stage. If they weren't speaking Italian, it would all be so much easier to understand, and all he could really catch was the disagreement between the Prince and his father.

"What's going on," said Jonouchi as he elbowed Kaiba lightly, "I can't keep up with this like you can. There's too much going on at once."

"They've just witnessed the execution of the Prince of Persia. The Prince has fallen in love with Turandot upon first sight, and everyone but the crowd is trying to dissuade him from undergoing the trial to marry her."

"Why did they kill the Prince of Persia," said Jonouchi as he rolled his eyes, "and love at first sight is ridiculous..."

"Because he failed." There was the loud ringing of a gong, and darkness returned as laughter faded on the stage. "That's the end of act one; there will be a short intermission now. Are you going to talk through the next two acts, as well?" Kaiba teased lightly. The lights slowly came on again, and Jonouchi had to blink rapidly to adjust his eyes.

"Probably."

Kaiba sighed. "Like I said, don't worry too much about it. All of the characters have been introduced now, so it won't be as confusing anymore."

"I'm not worrying about it." Jonouchi rolled his eyes as he leaned into his seat and crossed his legs, "You're worrying about my worrying about it when I'm not."

"Sure, Jonouchi," Kaiba chuckled. He grew silent as he paged through his program.

Jonouchi just snorted and took out his own program, flipping through it. He wasn't really keen on actually reading anything in it, just looking at the pictures as he waited for the second act to start. Patience had never been one of his strengths, and he could feel nervous energy building up inside of him as the audience milled about around them.

Leaning forward a bit, resting his elbows and chin upon the railing, Jonouchi watched as people left and returned to their seats and as groups formed together in idle conversation. He thought it was kind of nice, friends meeting up at events like this, and the genuine looks of surprise and delight on some of the people's faces made Jonouchi smile softly in response.

Kaiba didn't participate in any of that. He was content to sit in silence by himself, letting the world pass by around him. Jonouchi peeked over to him, looking over his appearance.

Kaiba had said that the tuxedo looked natural on Jonouchi, but Jonouchi thought that Kaiba was just trying to flatter him. He didn't feel comfortable in those stuffy clothes, but Kaiba wore it all effortlessly. Jonouchi had never seen him in such formal wear before, but Kaiba looked as though he was made for those kinds of clothes. While Jonouchi felt ridiculous in his tuxedo, Kaiba didn't look silly at all. If anything, it made him look even more alluring in a kind of way Jonouchi tried to ignore as he felt his face begin to burn. The clothes made him look like the models he saw on the magazines all the time, wearing thousand dollar suits for Armani and the like. It didn't make sense that someone could look so effortlessly perfect all the time while Jonouchi couldn't even get his hair to cooperate with him on a good day.

If someone had taken a picture of Kaiba as he sat there reading through his program, they probably would have thought they were looking at a perfume ad for Vogue.

Kaiba had always appeared that way, though. Jonouchi just didn't pay so much attention to it until now, and snapping his head away, he buried his mind into reading the program instead of staring.

The lights started flickering again, the same electronic tune from before sounding through the room.

"You look so intent." Kaiba's voice interrupted Jonouchi's concentration. He'd been reading the same paragraph three times already.

"Huh?"

"You've been staring at that page like you want to burn a hole through it."

"Which means you've been staring at me long enough to notice," pointed out Jonouchi as he placed his program on his lap and changed the leg he was crossing, "Stop studying me, weirdo."

Kaiba rolled his eyes and leaned forward into Jonouchi's space, putting his hand on his thigh before sliding it down to grab the program lying just a few inches away from it. "You're the most interesting thing to watch until the show comes back on," Kaiba said in his ear before smirking a little, "I can't help it. But I'll try to stop."

Jonouchi gave him the side eye while Kaiba fixed himself back into his seat, setting their programs on top of each other on the table next to him. He could feel his entire face burning. Thankfully the lights were dim enough that Kaiba probably couldn't see it, but Jonouchi knew he was blushing. He couldn't help it. His entire body went from cold to hot in one quick flash and he squirmed in his seat until the curtains finally parted and the music began to play.

The remainder of the opera seemed to fly by once Jonouchi stopped fighting with himself and just focused on the acting and singing. He became completely engrossed by the story, feeling himself getting swept away by the music. He'd felt a strange prickling in his chest during the Prince's victory song - it seemed oddly familiar, like he'd heard it someplace before but couldn't place the memory, and his eyes stung as the music and the Prince's voice combined in one high crescendo.

It was overwhelming. At this point, Jonouchi didn't have much of a clue as to what was going on, but he felt rattled when Liu had stabbed herself and died. He wasn't even sure why it bothered him so much. Jonouchi had seen someone actually get stabbed before, but watching her crumble over onto the ground while the princess did nothing.

At that moment, Jonouchi knew he didn't like the opera, but it didn't stop him from crying anyways. Everyone except Turandot herself seemed so distraught.

Jumping in his seat, Jonouchi spooked when he was quickly sent back to reality, Kaiba having bumped him with his hand. He was holding out a handkerchief, and taking it, Jonouchi tried to discreetly wipe his eyes, although he knew it was too late already. Kaiba had seen him and hopefully he wouldn't say anything about it, ever.

Thankfully, there wasn't too much left after that. Jonouchi felt drained and he found himself not liking any of the characters, despite not really understanding what they were singing. No longer reading the translations at all, he just continued to grimace as silent tears fell down his face for no particular reason.

"This opera is stupid."

Kaiba didn't reply. Crossing his arms, Jonouchi just slumped further in his seat as he watched the end unfold. He sucked in a breath when the Prince kissed Turandot, but he couldn't have been happier when the ending finally came.

Why would anyone want to watch something so sad? The girl Liu had died because she loved the Prince, who loved the princess who had her tortured. Everything about the opera seemed entirely wrong, but saying so wouldn't do anything. Sniffling, he wiped his face one last time before shoving it into his pocket and getting up from his seat.

The lights were coming back on. Everyone had finished clapping, Kaiba included, but Jonouchi didn't. He felt betrayed.

But he stood still and waited, since he didn't want to be rude about it, either. Kaiba seemed to have enjoyed it. Although he wasn't smiling, his face didn't look so strained like he usually appeared and he was clapping enthusiastically. Jonouchi wished he could have liked it too, but the ending didn't seem fair to him at all. Why did the poor girl have to kill herself for a bunch of rich assholes? It left a bad taste in his mouth.

The actors had already taken to the stage and had their bows, and the steady murmuring of conversation as the audience exited reemerged.

"Are you ready to go?" Kaiba asked, waiting.

"Yeah."

He felt tired and dazed, and the crying hadn't helped matters at all. Jonouchi didn't even remember how they had made it back to the car, but there he was, slumped in the passenger seat. He felt chilled - the November temperatures were on a steady decline, and the hot air blowing throughout the car made him want to pass out in his seat.

"You didn't clap at the end. Did you not like it?"

"No, I didn't."

There was a brief moment of silence before Kaiba spoke again. "Then I'll uphold my end of the bargain and won't drag you to another."

"It wasn't the opera that was bad..." The actual show of it all was actually kind of cool. Sometimes the singing became a bit repetitive, because Jonouchi didn't know what they were saying, but the grandness of it all was spectacular. It was showy and he enjoyed the costumes and how funny people's faces looked while they tried to belt out their songs. "I didn't like the story. I didn't like how it ended."

"Because it took an innocent death to make the kingdom realize how pointless all the bloodshed was?"

"Because those rich people were assholes..."

Jonouchi could hear restrained laughter next to him. "I think you would like comedic operas better. They're still a bit ridiculous, but you'd probably find them more entertaining."

Humming in response, Jonouchi felt himself cycling back to the edge of sleep. His body felt so heavy, and he'd nearly gone under when he heard Kaiba speaking again.

"Thank you for actually watching the opera. A long time ago, I'd taken this woman I was seeing. She was more interested in being seen beside me than actually paying any attention to the show itself…"

"...You were dating a woman?"

That seemed a bit shocking, for some reason now. Jonouchi couldn't see that happening. His imagination wouldn't allow it. The whole concept of Kaiba actually dating some chick was just strange to him now, although months before, he probably wouldn't have thought much of it.

"Like I said, it was a long time ago. Somewhat experimental. I never really became invested in the relationship, and she wasn't exactly in it for the right reasons, either."

"What made you decide to drop it, then?"

"I came to the realization that women weren't really for me. So why pretend?"

"Oh," asked Jonouchi as he raised an eyebrow, "What made you decide men were, then? Gut feeling or more 'experimenting'?"

"A bit of both," Kaiba answered. "The woman I dated was a beautiful, rising celebrity. By all accounts, I should have been into her more than I felt. So later, when a different opportunity presented itself, I went for it. It felt more right, at least physically."

Jonouchi merely snorted. He wasn't sure how to feel about that. Certainly, he didn't feel that comfortable comparing himself to Kaiba's own personal discovery, so staying silent, he leaned against the car and just allowed himself to zone out. That was much easier to do than start uncomfortable conversations up in his head that he wasn't quite ready to figure out.

"We're almost there," alerted Kaiba, "Don't pass out now - I'm too tired to haul you up."

They were pulling into the bottom level of a parking garage Jonouchi had never seen before. When he thought about it, the drive had seemed much too short to either have reached the Kame Game Shop or Kaiba's own home.

"Where are we?"

"Kaiba Hotel. It's much closer than the mansion, and it's too late to drop you off at Yugi's. We can just stay here tonight - I have a suite in the penthouse."

It didn't matter to Jonouchi. He'd sleep anywhere, including on the floor, when he was tired enough. If anything, he was just thankful that he wouldn't have to show up at Yugi's place late and get twenty questions about it from the old man. Jonouchi was too tired to think of appropriate answers, and wearing a tuxedo after getting out of an expensive looking car would only alarm Sugoroku more than necessary.

"I'm awake," muttered Jonouchi under his breath as he unbuckled his seatbelt, "just lead the way."

Kaiba led them to a side door, flashing a security card against its panel. It turned out to be a private elevator, and Jonouchi was thankful again that he wouldn't have to stumble through an upscale lobby trailing after Kaiba. They rode the elevator up in silence, Jonouchi zoning out again and slouching against the wall. With a slight ping, the doors slid open, and Kaiba strode toward the door at the end of the short hallway. It opened with the same security card, and Jonouchi followed Kaiba blindly.

Flicking on the barest amount of lights, Kaiba kicked off his shoes and shrugged off his coat, throwing it over the back of a chair. He made his way toward the back of the suite, through another door, which turned out to be a large bedroom. Kaiba had paused just past the doorway, tugging off his bowtie, and Jonouchi shouldered past him to throw himself gracelessly across the bed.

He could hear the sliding of fabric as Kaiba extricated himself from his tuxedo. "You can have the bed; I'll sleep on the couch. You should at least get out of that suit, though."

"The couch?" Jonouchi rolled over, kicking off his shoes and taking off the jacket before getting up on his elbows enough to see where Kaiba was going. "This bed is huge. We can share, I won't kick you or some shit."

Besides, they'd done it before. It wouldn't be that weird. Kaiba was a quiet sleeper and Jonouchi was really too tired to make something of it. Besides, it wasn't his place to begin with. He wasn't going to kick the owner out of his own bedroom, and Jonouchi knew Kaiba wouldn't allow him to sleep on the couch instead, so he was going to have to compromise and share.

Kaiba snorted as he opened what was apparently a walk-in closet and entered. "That's probably not true, but thanks for the consideration."

Whatever.

Working on getting his clothes off, Jonouchi tuned Kaiba off as he tried figuring out how to take his ridiculous tie off. Once that was done, he got down to his boxers and undershirt before disappearing into the bathroom.

Thankfully, there was a disposable toothbrush under the sink. Clearly Kaiba didn't hang around the suite very often, because it looked more like a hotel room than an apartment. Everything was very modern and pristine, though, and Jonouchi liked how fresh it felt. It was certainly more welcoming than the Kaiba Mansion, which gave off a weird kind of chill Jonouchi could never shrug off whenever he was over.

The hotel was clearly still very new. Jonouchi could remember when it was being built. The building couldn't have been more than ten years old, and the Kaiba Mansion had to be older than dirt.

Once he was done cleaning up and getting the gel out of his hair, Jonouchi climbed into his side of the bed and hid under the massive pile of blankets before letting out a deep sigh.

He was very tired, but now feeling another presence in the bedroom with him, all that exhaust seemed to wash away and Jonouchi felt high on alert. Why, he wasn't exactly sure, but hearing someone else walking around the room in the darkness did not settle him into falling asleep.

He could hear the sink running, and then there was a brief flash of light as the bathroom door opened before the room was dark again. Beside him, the bed dipped as Kaiba climbed in.

Several minutes went by. All Jonouchi could focus on were Kaiba's soft breaths and the way the comforter rose and fell in tandem with their breathing. He felt suddenly very awake, and he groaned as he shifted onto his side.

"Go to sleep," Kaiba muttered from across the bed.

"Okay, mom," replied Jonouchi under his breath, shifting a little towards the edge before covering his head completely with the comforter. It was super late, yet he felt extremely restless now. Usually Jonouchi could pass out within ten minutes of hitting the bed, but now he felt wide awake and alert to everything happening around him.

It didn't help that he still felt a little shaken up from the opera. His initial upset had passed over, but he still felt irritated about the whole thing. The show was long and the ending was tragic. But the asshole of a Prince still got what he wanted, and that poor girl had to die to protect his stupid name.

Ugh. Why did people like it? Was there something he was missing from the story that was supposed to make him care about it more? He didn't know. Tragedy never appealed to him much, anyways.

Kaiba seemed to have enjoyed the show. Emotionally, he didn't seem affected by any of it at all. He probably just found pleasure watching the ability of the actors and the music, but wasn't really moved by what was happening to the characters and their depressing lives. That was just like him to remain emotionally distant from everything, anyways. Maybe if Jonouchi had adopted the same kind of attitude, he wouldn't have started crying over a stupid fictional character.

Now he did kind of feel tired, though. Closing his eyes, Jonouchi tried allowing his mind to shut down so he could drift off to sleep, but every time Kaiba shifted, his mind snapped on again.

Jonouchi didn't move, though. He didn't want to be snapped at again, so staying on his side as still as he could, he began staring at the wall through the darkness, feeling his injured wrist ache a little as he tried moving his bad hand over his head so it wouldn't kill him in the morning.

The doctors told him lying on his bad side where his ribs were healing would help the process, so Jonouchi didn't move despite discomfort. He wasn't taking any strong pain medications anymore, but that didn't mean his body didn't still feel sore all the time.

There was a sharp intake of breath beside him. "I can't sleep."

"Join the club."

Kaiba rolled over, the bed creaking faintly from the shift in weight. "...Is it your injuries?"

"No, none of it hurts all that much anymore. I don't even have that bad of a bruise on my chest like I did before. It aches sometimes, but I can ignore it."

"Then what's keeping you up? Thoughts of me lying here in my underwear?" Kaiba chuckled low.

Jonouchi didn't answer. He grumbled internally before slumping into the bed more, his foot jerking restlessly as his anxiety began to rise.

The bed trembled lightly from Kaiba's laughter. "C'mon, I'm only teasing you. I'll even admit it - the opposite is true for me…"

Jonouchi felt his face warm up, an odd mixture of embarrassment and pride coming over him. Flattery had always worked on him, and he wasn't sure if he should jump out of the bed to hide or laugh. Or maybe do both things at once.

"Imagine more clothes on me, then."

"Don't want to. Besides, I'll just imagine that tuxedo and have the same problem."

"Kaiba, you are freaking ridiculous. Just turn off your brain and go to sleep, weirdo."

"What if I don't want to? Are you going to do something about it?"

Jonouchi shuddered as he felt fingertips on the base of his spine, trailing up to the nape of his neck. Even through the thin fabric of his shirt, the touch was hot. The fingers lingered there, threading gently through his hair.

"What are you doing...?" It was a silly thing to say, because Jonouchi could feel what Kaiba was doing, but having his intentions known would at least take the edge off. Jonouchi liked being touched. He was a tactile person. But that didn't stop his anxiousness. Kaiba generally kept his hands to himself, and this turn of events made Jonouchi's skin prickle as he felt himself become more sensitive to the touches on his scalp.

"Sharing a bed, starting something...you tell me." Kaiba was suddenly very close, and lips had replaced the fingertips.

Jonouchi could feel his heart beating faster. Kaiba could probably feel it too, since he was sliding up really close now and there wasn't that much space between them. The anxiety was suddenly replaced with anticipation, and while Jonouchi's nervousness was still there, he couldn't say he wasn't interested. There was no alcohol to blame his receptiveness on, but the fact that he liked being touched and it had been a while since any 'accidents' had occurred between them.

So Jonouchi didn't try stopping Kaiba as he continued doing whatever it was he wanted to him. All he could think to do was try to keep his breathing under control as his muscles trembled whenever he was touched. His abdomen was particularly sensitive, and he could feel himself shudder involuntarily whenever a fingertip brushed across him. He wished he wasn't so obvious to read, but there was nothing he could do about it.

"I thought you wanted to sleep on the couch to prevent this kind of thing from happening," mumbled Jonouchi under his breath as he started trying to stop himself from breathing too loudly, "and now you're instigating it."

"Then tell me to stop," Kaiba whispered into his ear. He was pressed completely against Jonouchi's backside, arms snaked around him and trailing up and down his abdomen, lower and lower each time.

"I don't really want to," Jonouchi whispered back.

He felt slightly ridiculous admitting that outloud. Situations before, he couldn't get that excited about making out with a girl alone on the couch, but he was a stupid mess with Kaiba touching under the covers. Jonouchi kinda hated himself a little for it, but he was too distracted to continue that line of thought for long. Not when Kaiba's hand was coming dangerously close to passing through the hemline of his boxer briefs.

It was all the permission Kaiba needed. His hand dipped below Jonouchi's underwear, tugging them off. His hands reached up to pull Jonouchi's shirt up, and Jonouchi lifted slightly to assist him. The warmth from his back receded as Jonouchi felt Kaiba shifting behind him, and then it returned, a warm hand reaching down for him.

Jonouchi choked back a cry, biting his lip hard as he felt his body begin to tighten from the pleasure. He hadn't touched himself for weeks, thanks in part to being stuck in a hospital, and then Yugi's bedroom. It didn't feel quite right to play around in his friend's bedroom, and now with Kaiba doing it for him, it felt so many times better than when he did it to himself.

He couldn't understand why. Maybe because Kaiba's technique was different. Everything he did was sexy, with an air of masculine confidence Jonouchi felt intrigued by. When Kaiba wasn't busy being strange, he could be very alluring, and it didn't help feeling his excitement against his backside as Jonouchi felt himself becoming more and more turned on.

It wasn't his plan to have sex when they didn't even know what they were to each other, but Jonouchi hardly cared anymore. Shifting his hips some, he dug his free hand into the sheets of the bed while lifting up his outside leg before Kaiba could finish him. It was embarrassing how into it he was, but closing his eyes, Jonouchi hoped they wouldn't bring up his eagerness afterwards. He didn't want to think about it; he just wanted to enjoy the moment for what it was.

The hands left him. Jonouchi couldn't help but feel a little impatient as he heard the popping of a lid, and then there was a knee between his legs, the hands returning. One hand began kneading into Jonouchi's cheek while he grimaced at the feeling of probbing- he'd been so out of it the first time that he hadn't really noticed how uncomfortable it initially felt, but he focused on his breath until the feeling passed. And then Kaiba was pressing up against him, into him, a hand digging into his hip, the other reaching underneath.

Jonouchi closed his eyes and lost himself in the sensations. Everything felt heightened - Kaiba short breaths, his own racing heart, the friction between their bodies. It quickly became too much, and Jonouchi reached behind to grab at the hand holding his hip as he found release, shuddering as he cried out relief.

Kaiba came soon after, his hips rocking slowly until he finished. Jonouchi could feel Kaiba's labored breath hot against his neck, punctuated by lazy kisses. The hand against his hip trailed up and down him slowly as he felt Kaiba carefully pull away from him.

He kinda wished Kaiba had the sense to wrap himself up, but Jonouchi was too tired to really get upset about it. The feeling was just uncomfortable. Or rather, humbling in a way Jonouchi found himself feeling even more silly about. When he shifted, he felt something run down the side of his ass, and the sensation of it cooling against his skin was unsettling.

"Did you not have any condoms with you?" complained Jonouchi before he grabbed at his hair to try fixing it a little. It was a pointless exercise though, his hair was thoroughly jostled.

"You got me too worked up to think about it," Kaiba replied, running a hand through Jonouchi's hair, playing with it.

"-I barely did anything at all... And you touched my butt."

"I didn't hear any complaints," Kaiba snickered, "I'll do it again if you're not careful."

"Just why did you even do it in the first place," said Jonouchi, although he couldn't even pretend to be serious anymore. The giddiness was taking over and he was trying not to laugh. "I was too distracted to get mad."

"You have a nice ass," Kaiba yawned, "Can't blame me for wanting to touch it."

"Whatever."

They lay still, just breathing together, Kaiba's hand still combing gently through Jonouchi's hair. It had gotten so quiet that Jonouchi thought Kaiba had fallen asleep, but then he heard Kaiba begin to speak softly.

"We're...dating now, right?"

"I guess so," Jonouchi answered back just as quietly, closing his eyes despite still being awake, "isn't that what we decided to do?"

"It just didn't really feel real until now..."

Jonouchi snorted rather loudly, shaking his head before turning it back a little to speak, "So what, it's not real until you get to 'touch' my ass? Duly noted."

Kaiba snorted in return. "That's just one of the benefits. You just seem... anxious around me, sometimes."

"I can't help it."

"Why?"

"I don't know," Jonouchi admitted, "You're really intense sometimes and I never know what I'm going to do to piss you off or get you picking at me, and I can't read you for shit. It's not easy figuring you out like my other friends, and sometimes you intimidate me. I can't help it."

"But tiptoeing around each other won't make this work," Kaiba sighed. "You don't need to figure me out, just - relax a little bit."

"So then... what are the other benefits to this whole dating you thing, because right now you seem to be getting the majority of them," joked Jonouchi as he looked back again, "since I have a nice ass and all."

Kaiba laughed. "What, being around my stellar personality isn't enough?"

"No."

"Well…" Kaiba considered, "You can count on me. Whenever or for whatever you need me. I guess the real question is, what do you want from me?"

"A friend," Jonouchi answered back without delay, "that's what I want."

"Then I'll be your friend." Lips pressed gently against his shoulder. "...I'm tired now."

"Yeah, I wonder why."

Jonouchi felt clammy, almost, but still comfortable. His body ached from the exercise, but it wasn't pain like before when he'd been drunk and they had rushed through it. He felt more aware of himself this time around, and Kaiba hadn't been so clumsy. Well, maybe clumsy wasn't the best word for it (aggressively clumsy, clumsy aggressive?), but Jonouchi wasn't going to waste anymore time trying to figure that one out. It was warm, he felt worn out, and he wanted to sleep.

Closing his eyes, he felt himself begin to drift off. He didn't feel so unsettled about sleeping in a strange room, and with Kaiba's rhythmic breathing playing against his neck, Jonouchi quickly drifted off into a restful sleep.