Thank you again for your kind reviews. This chapter is a giant step in Jounouchi's recovery on top of being a prelude to the story of Atemu's punishment. Even though it has already happened at the start of the story, I'm keeping that story for next chapter and you'll see what I did it. Don't worry. You'll know what Atemu did. Anyway onward to this chapter.

Warnings: None

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Chapter Eleven

Months went by quickly for Kaiba. Between dealing with the premiere of his new duel disks and game and helping Jounouchi through his healing process, Kaiba was beginning to feel overwhelmed. A few times, the brunet thought he would collapsed from the strain, but Atemu was there right next to him, supporting him while the others took care of Jounouchi. Kaiba walked over to the window in his office. He stared down at the blond who was enjoying the summer air while talking to his friends around one of the trees. Jounouchi no longer saw him as his master and didn't fear punishment anymore. In fact, the blond was speaking out more and more each day. The only problem was that Jounouchi's memories still remained locked inside of his mind.

Kaiba frowned and sat back down at his desk. He felt strangely unsatisfied at the moment. He thought by unleashing his fury along with Atemu's punishment on the men they captured would help ease the anger that boiled inside of him; however, he still remains unfulfilled. No amount of torture would reveal the mastermind behind Jounouchi's kidnapping and why they wanted Mokuba. Kaiba felt uneasy and feared letting Jounouchi and Mokuba out of his sight. He didn't know who this person was, or whether that person would come after his loved ones. Jounouchi wouldn't reveal what his master looked like. It became one giant puzzle that not even the King of Games could solve. Kaiba leaned his head down on the desk and closed his eyes, thinking about all the facts he retrieved. Nothing made sense. Jounouchi father acted as if the blond ran away, but it turned out that someone kidnapped him for a mysterious reason. If his family didn't lead to his kidnapping, and he wasn't still in a gang then why would anyone kidnap Jounouchi and train him to be a dog?

Kaiba even double checked the company Jounouchi was working for. Nothing made any sense as to why someone would want to kidnap him. The police believe that it was a random kidnapping. Something that Kaiba didn't want to believe. Jounouchi was known to the public eye through Duel Monsters. Kaiba returned to his computer, flexing his bandaged hand. He glanced down at it, remembering the chaos Atemu unleashed with his magic. The monster that was released obviously felt that he didn't have to obey Atemu's orders and attacked not only its target but Kaiba before Atemu managed to bring it under control.

Kaiba just placed his fingers on the keyboard when Atemu came barging into the room. The CEO glared up at him. "Stop it. I know you were not working. Come outside with us. Jounouchi would be pleased to have you there with him."

"I can't. I need to monitor sales of the new duel disk and ship immediately to the companies that need more."

"I am sure someone at your office can do that and call you when they see something reaching the end. You have not been outside in several days. You look tired and very pale. Come relax with us."

"I'm not trusting someone else with this. I'll join you tomorrow once the product sales slow."

"It is not an option, Cousin."

"Why do you call me that? You do know I'm not the priest that you knew."

Atemu chuckled. "I knew eventually you would snap at that. Now, come. You need to come talk to Jounouchi."

The CEO blinked at the former pharaoh. He was hiding something. "What happened?"

"I do not know what you are talking about."

"You go from telling me that I need to be outside for my health to I need to go talk to Jounouchi. I just looked down at the garden and he was relaxing against the tree."

Atemu smirked and walked towards the CEO. "Do I have to pull you outside? You will see when you get there."

Choosing not to fight Atemu any longer, Kaiba moved away from his desk and walked out of his office. Atemu said nothing as they traveled through the large mansion, while the CEO arranged for someone to take over his job. Kaiba moved out into the warm air feeling the sun's heat on his back. He approached the tree that Jounouchi sat against. The first thing that the brunet noticed was the smile on the blond's face. It lit up his honey eyes and made them sparkled. Jounouchi looked up at Kaiba. "I see you came out of the hole you fell into." Jounouchi rose from where he sat and walked over to the shocked CEO. He wrapped his arm around Kaiba's arm and pulled him away from his friends. "Walk with me."

Kaiba stumbled from the sudden pull and glanced back at Atemu who was now smirking. "We need to talk."

"Jounouchi," Kaiba whispered not sure if he was seeing everything right. He fought off the temptation to pinch himself, thinking that he fell asleep at his desk again.

The blond climbed the stairs surrounded by rose bushes that lead into the gazebo. He sat on the swinging bench and waited for Kaiba to either face him or sit down next to him. "I want to thank you for everything."

"You remember?"

"My past, how I used to be, everything that happened in that place and how you treated me afterwards. I have a lot to thank you for and a lot to talk to you about. But, I'm not telling you everything about that place until later. I'm not ready."

"How did you suddenly remember everything?"

"I don't know. I was sitting under the tree staring up at the clouds and suddenly everything hit me all at once. I remembered who everyone was and knew that I had no reason to fear any of you. I have a very important question for you. Why did you dedicate so much time to helping me?"

Kaiba sighed and eased himself down into the seat next to Jounouchi. "I'm not cruel enough to lock you away where you may not recover."

"You could have given me to a trusted doctor and let my friends take care of me. Why you personally?"

"Why so many questions? I thought you wouldn't just spontaneously return to your normal self. Perhaps you should slow down. We can talk about all this later."

Jounouchi smirked. "Are you too embarrassed to tell me that you care for me?"

"Why are you even thinking about this? If you remembered everything that happened to you in that place then why would you want to ask me those questions? Don't you think I'm a disgusting person for forcing you to do things?"

"I can understand why you had to. Now, answer my question."

Kaiba growled. "You shouldn't have went through all of that. Someone like you doesn't deserve any of that torture," the brunet finally mumbled.

"You are helping me because of pity."

"No," Kaiba shouted and moved away from Jounouchi. "I feel..." Kaiba stopped and sighed heavily.

"You care about me don't you?" Kaiba turned and stared at the blond. "I could tell by the way you stroked my hair and cheek. When you held me during my many nightmares, I felt more than protection and comfort. I felt your love. Do you love me, Kaiba?"

The CEO shifted his gaze away from Jounouchi and leaned against the railing of the gazebo. "My feelings for you are not appropriate. I shouldn't be pushing them onto you."

"Why? Because I'm still recovering. I'll admit that I'm afraid of being that close to someone, but I crave the love you gave me. It makes me feel complete and wanted. I'm not saying that I'm ready for anything serious at this moment, but I do miss the nights that you held me in your arms. Why haven't you done that lately? For the past week I would wake up from my nightmares and you would be asleep in the chair or in the bedroom connected to yours."

"I thought I was hindering your recovery. I missed you, Jounouchi. I wanted you to return as soon as possible. I didn't know how much you liked being close to me."

"I came back because I wanted to get you to understand. I realized while I was sitting outside that the only way that I could get you to know what I wanted was to tell you. I care deeply for you, Kaiba. Will you hold me at night to keep the nightmares away? Will you spend as much time as you can talking to me and helping me recover? Will you answer my question truthfully? Do you care for me?"

Kaiba thought for a few minutes, feeling the cooler breeze brushing across his skin. He wanted to tell Jounouchi that he loved him, but he didn't want to stop the obviously quickly recovering blond. Going against all his logic, Kaiba turned back to Jounouchi and looked him directly in the eyes. "Yes. I will hold you at night. I will spend as much free time as I have. I care deeply for you and would like to walk with you ever step of the way in your recovery. And most importantly, I would like to stay with you long after you fully recover."

Jounouchi smiled and held out his hand as he rose from his seat. He was extremely happy that Kaiba returned his feelings. He trusted the taller man. He knew Kaiba wouldn't do anything to hurt him on purpose. "I have the first thing that you can do for me if you have time right this moment." Kaiba blinked, but let the blond lead him back in the house. He wanted to go back up to his office and check on the status of the new duel disk only because he didn't trust his staff, but at that moment, pleasing the blond was his first priority.

They walked through the backdoor and into the kitchen where someone had made small sandwiches and a fruit salad. Jounouchi sat at the table and pushed an empty plate towards Kaiba. "Will you eat something for me? You're starting to look as thin as I was when you found me."

"Anything for you," he whispered, placing some of the small sandwiches and fruit on his plate while the blond did the same. Kaiba wasn't exactly hungry at that moment, but the smile on Jounouchi's face when he bit into the sandwich was enough to make him eat more. "What about your friends?"

Jounouchi chuckled. "They are letting me do this for you. They will come in to eat after we are finished. I told them I wanted some alone time with you."

Kaiba ate some of the fruit and look over at Jounouchi. "This feels like a dream. I want Doctor Tsuzuki to talk to you. Would you object?"

Jounouchi shook his head. "I want to talk to him as well. My memory suddenly coming back has me worried. We can call him later."

"I can call him now."

Jounouchi shook his head. "Right now. I want you to take a nap with me."

The CEO stared at the blond. "I'm sorry. I have a lot to do."

Jounouchi chuckled. "You act like I'm giving you a choice. My friends may be too nice to say this, but you look like shit. You're hair is a complete mess, you're skin looks like the moon, the only color to your face is the black circles under your eyes and the red rims on your eye lids, and finally your weight. I'm sure you weren't that thin at graduation. How much weight did you loose while I was gone, and how much while you were helping me?"

Kaiba sighed. "Fine, but only for an hour. The new duel disks premiered today."

"That's fine." Leaving the food there, Kaiba walked with Jounouchi up to his bedroom. He kicked his shoes off and pulled the blanket down. The blond crawled into the bed and curled up next to the brunet. Kaiba fell asleep quickly. Jounouchi smiled and closed his eyes. He knew that Kaiba was exhausted and was happy that he could convince him to take a small nap, even though it didn't take much persuasion.

Kaiba woke hours later. At first, he jerked awake concerned that something happened to his company while he was sleeping. He quickly moved out of the room oblivious to the snickering blond still lying in the bed beside him. The CEO switched his computer off sleep mode once he reached the office. He breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that the employee that he left in charged had everything surprisingly under control. He sat down at his desk and stared at the clock, not believing that he slept seven hours and it was way past dinner time.

Jounouchi entered into his office. "Is everything okay?"

"Surprisingly."

"I told you that everything would be fine."

Kaiba glared at him, but gave a heavy sigh. ''That you were."

Jounouchi smiled. "How about if we eat something?"

"Same old Jounouchi, always eating." Kaiba moved towards the blond and ran his finger down his cheek. "But, I'm glad you're back." Kaiba walked out of the office and down to the kitchen, knowing that Jounouchi would follow. It made the brunet happy that Jounouchi was acting like himself again. His only fear was that it wouldn't last very long. Kaiba smiled softly. The only thing he could do is enjoy it for as long as it last, hopefully forever.

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I hope that was a little cute even though it was a bit short. The next chapter will be out on Friday. Thank you all for reading. Please review.

Angel Dov