A/N: this next section is going to be big because I want to start into something. i want the ball rolling, and if I stopped short of the part at the end it'd probably not be as worthwhile, so I hope you all enjoy this!

By the way, thank you all for the reviews. Very encouraging! :)

3.

"He can't take me to court on this can he?" Jou asked, staring at his friends. He'd asked them to lunch hoping that he could vent to them. Anymore his friends were busy with their own lives whether they were in school or they had jobs. They'd grown up a long time ago, all mature and dealing with the world at hand. "Can he?" he pressed.

Yami took the papers from Jou and read over them. "Well, it can be said that you did cause obstruction."

"I had a free to walk sign, I was in the clear!"

"You sure Kaiba didn't have a red light?" Yami asked. "Maybe he was the one that was at fault. After all, the other driver was coming through the intersection too."

"I don't know. I wasn't lookin' to see."

If there was anyone that Jou would come running to, it was going to be his friends. They always seemed to his moral support, but there seemed to be an immediate shift in their feelings about the ordeal. Yami, who had been holding the papers, then passed them on. Anzu was the next one to take the papers, reading over them. "I heard about all this," she said, "I saw it on the news. Kaiba's lucky to be alive with the way he got plowed into."

"Thanks. Don't make this a guilt trip or anythin'," Jou said sarcastically. "I can see where Kaib's coming from, his leg was a mess but…I ain't the one he should be suing over this. It's the guy who hit him's fault, isn't it?" He looked to Yami. "Isn't it?"

"It can be two people's fault. Then…there's also the fact that Kaiba has the power and prestige," Yami said.

"That doesn't come above justice though," Honda interrupted. "Jou is being wrongly accused here. He's innocent; anyone could see that, especially if they bring up the bad blood that's between Jou and Kaiba."

"Is there anything you can do to get out of it?" Yuugi asked. He sat next to his near twin counterpart being quiet the entire time.

"Kaiba gave me a ridiculous plea deal," Jou said. "I can either go to court or can accept to be his little "nurse" until he gets back on his feet."

"That's pretty reasonable Jou," Yami said. "Considering."

"I'm not wiping the prick's ass! I'd rather him be humiliated in court because he's trying to hurt me than to be givin' him a bath or bringin' him lunch!"

"Is he that incapacitated?" Anzu asked, somewhat shocked.

"His leg's hurt pretty badly, yeah. It's gonna take a while t' heal, the way they had it all wrapped up."

"Bedridden bad?" Anzu followed up.

"Yeah. What's it matter t' you? You gonna start takin' the prick's side now?"

"No, I wasn't saying that. I was just asking," Anzu said defensively. "You don't need to get so bitchy."

"There does come a point where you need to take some amount of responsibility Jou," Yami advised warmly. "Maybe you didn't do it, but there's still the fact that you could have caused part of the accident. The least you could do is be nice to Kaiba."

Jou looked at his watch and sighed. "Yeah, I get it. It's all my fault fine," he snatched up the papers from Anzu. "I need to go or I'll be late for my shift."

He stood up and walked away, his gait heavy. The four sitting at the table waited until he went away fully before looking to one another.

"There's no way Kaiba would ever win and he knows it," Yami said very forwardly. "He's trying to convince Jou to take the deal for whatever reason."

"I think I know why," Yuugi said. "They do say that opposites attract."

"Eww…Jou and Kaiba? Never," Honda curled his nose at the thought.

"That might be why Jou's so mad though," Anzu argued. "Whenever Kaiba's name comes up he's either all secretive or just explodes. Maybe he's covering up the fact that he does like Kaiba somewhat."

"He'd be the only one," Honda replied. "Who would like that prick anyways?"

"He's got his reasons," Yami said, "everyone has to have two sides and sometimes, one of them is just too dominant. If Kaiba were soft hearted he'd be walked all over and he can't have that or his business would flounder. He reserves his tenderness for his brother, for when he's at home so it's not spoiled. It earns him a bad rep but as they say: if the end justifies the means..."

There was a bit of silence, the friends looking at each other. Anzu was the first to get up and leave saying that she had to be at a dress rehearsal, and then Yami saying that there were some things that he had to do. Yuugi was left with Honda, the both of them on opposite sides of the idea.

"I think Jou will do it, just because he's a good person. Maybe it'll rub off on Kaiba," Honda said, getting up from the chair. "I gotta get goin'; my shift will be starting soon too."

"Don't underestimate either of them," Yuugi said. "Jou may be nice and Kaiba may be mean, but...they can both hit the other side of the spectrum too."

Honda seemed to brush Yuugi off, but there was a shudder going through him. It was like he could feel time rippling, as if something had changed. He looked back at Yuugi then shook his head. There was no way that Jou would ever be with Kaiba; never.

Jou was nearly late, Kaiba thought merrily to himself. He'd managed to get from the bedroom down to the living room to relax. It took a lot of persuasion on his brother's part. Mokuba was fiercely against Kaiba being anywhere but his bed, where the doctor said he should be. When Kaiba convinced the younger boy that he would be fine lounging in the living room, Mokuba agreed.

Jou was nearly late, Kaiba thought again. A few more minutes and I would have wasted a bluff.

"Kaiba-san, Jounouchi-san to see you," a maid announced. Kaiba crossed his arms, momentarily glancing down to his phone where his secretary was calling him. He knew she would just leave a message, as she usually did.

Jou strode into the room with a bag over his shoulder and in a pair of lavender scrubs. He didn't look the slightest bit pleased to be in Kaiba's presence, but at the same time there was a bit of relief washed over his mature features. "I thought you'd get lost, dog. I'm surprised."

"Oh shove it," Jou sat his duffle bag on the ground. "You better keep your word that I'll still have my job when you get better, because if I don't…"

Kaiba put his hands up somewhat defensively, a smirk crossing his face. "Oh please mutt, would I lie?"

"It crossed my mind."

"The fact that anything's crossed your mind if surprising," Kaiba muttered to himself, looking at his phone where the secretary was once again calling despite leaving him a message. He sighed, but answered. "Is it so important it can't wait?"

"Are you sure you want me to send out that memo, sir?" the secretary stuttered.

"Is there something wrong with it?" Kaiba snipped. "I think I made my words rather clear."

"I know, sir, but..."

"But what?"

Jou stood erect, interested in the conversation. "Well sir, Mokuba-sama had also sent out a memo to make sure that anything you sent be disregarded."

"On what grounds?" Kaiba asked. He loved his brother, but there came a point, as in any brotherly relationship, that he wanted to choke Mokuba just as well.

"Well, sir, that's where I feel my job may be on the line," the secretary said. The one thing that Kaiba had been known for was going through secretaries like tissues.

"Just say it."

"Well um…mental… instability."

Jou saw Kaiba's face visibly turn a burning shade of red. "Unstable? I am not unstable!" he yelled. "You want to keep your job? The memo will be sent out post haste!" he fumed, shutting the phone. When he glanced over to Jou he was met with snickering. "What the hell are you laughing at?"

"Not unstable? With that performance? You could have won an Oscar for that lie."

"You're on the clock now," Kaiba said, checking the clock on his phone. "And if I'm not mistaken, it's getting to be around lunch time, so you might want to scurry to the kitchen puppy, maybe you'll get some table scraps if you be a good little dog."

"Right...right...endless dog jokes. This is going to be fun..." Jou stormed off, grabbing his bag off the floor.

Later, Jou stood in the kitchen next to the cook, watching him make lunch. "That's not a whole lot," Jou said as the food was dished out.

"Kaiba-sama never really ate a lot before," the cook replied. "And for the past week he's been having a lot of nausea from the pain, so it's been worse."

Jou nodded and watched as the cook drifted around the kitchen and worked on the meal. He studied the man, who seemed perfectly kind, yet perfectly aloof all the same. That was when it occurred to him to start asking questions.

"No one really told me what I need to be doin'," Jou said. "I mean, I know takin' care of him and all but…like when I need to be givin' him meds or what not."

"It's probably in your room." The cook said, handing a tray off to Jou. "Did anyone tell you where that was?"

"Naw, I got here sorta late."

"It's near Kaiba-sama's room; you can probably have a maid show you after lunch. Come back in after you've served him and you can have what's left over, or I could just make you something else."

"That's nice of ya," Jou said. A short time later her grabbed the tray and started to walk out with it. He was trying his hardest to be balanced knowing that slipping up was something that he would terribly regret, especially if it happened in front of Kaiba.

When he got back to the living room he wasn't surprised to see the CEO typing something out on a laptop. There was a disgruntled look crossing his face, his hand unconsciously massaging his thigh.

"Lunch," an uncharismatic Jou said. Kaiba moved the laptop onto the other side of the couch and waited for Jou to put the tray down. There was something that wasn't letting Jou get very close to Kaiba, but it wasn't out of fear that was causing this strange reaction. "Hope yer hungry," he said, a plastered "nurse-like" smile on his face, and he set down the tray and turning around as fast as he could.

"Feeling a little guilt pup?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm just reading you," Kaiba said. There was a shift in his voice. He was trying to be funny, but it was hard for him to be so with the pain that was also lingering.

"Ya alright?" Jou asked, his nursing side kicking in immediately. He turned around to look at Kaiba, though there wasn't an obvious change in his disposition that indicated that he was in pain. He still had the same smug look on his face, and his body was relaxed.

"Fine," Kaiba replied.

"Alright," Jou nodded his head. "I'll be back in a little bit."

Jou rounded a corner out of the living room, but took a moment to back track and glance at Kaiba from the corner. He didn't seem all that interested in the food that was before him. He played with the spoon, dipping it in and out of the soup, but never brought it to his mouth. There was a small bowl of rice sitting in the corner, but he hadn't even touched his chopsticks. When Jou saw him turning in his direction he ducked back into the hall, approaching the first maid he saw and asking her to take him to his room.

The mansion was nice, inside or outside and Jou couldn't deny that. When he saw how austere the place was, being that it was a mansion, he was surprised. It was scarcely furnished, with small touches of class but nothing that was overly extravagant. It wasn't as tidy as he thought it would be either. The maids did their best to keep everything in order, but Jou was sure that between a fifteen year old boy and a surprisingly disorganized CEO it was very hard for them.

"This is your room," the maid said. "Kaiba-sama hopes it will be enjoyable."

"He said that?" Jou scoffed. The maid blushed.

"Not in those exact words," she laughed. "You want me to wait here to be able to take you back?"

"Sure," Jou said, knowing that he would get lost.

He wandered into his bedroom, just as austere as the rest of the place, and saw that the things he would immediately need were on the bed. There was a small, black bound planner along with several different prescription bottles and a list of instructions that he would need.

He moved everything aside and sat on the bed. Across from him was a mirror, and on the mirror was a hand written note. Jou walked over, reading it slowly.

"Everything that you might need will be accommodated for you, all you need to do is ask. Your work day is the whole day, so I expect that you be ready for anything. I've given you a pager, should you be too far away for me to immediately reach you.

Believe me when I say that I'm going to enjoy this about as much as you will...

-Kaiba Seto."

Down on the dresser was a small pager. Jou picked it up, staring at it curiously. "Well, gotta hand it to him..."Jou muttered to himself, "I proly won't be able to hear him yelping in this big ol' house."

Jou turned back to the set of medications on the bed, and wasn't surprised to see a prescription for hydrocodone. "An' a heavy dose at that," he turned to the planner, already filled out for the first week. There was another note left by Kaiba for him.

"I don't care how much you may hate it but I want any sort of appointment written down...it's not for you, it's for me.

-Kaiba Seto."

He looked at two other bottles. One was a prescription for sleeping medication. He wasn't so surprised that Kaiba needed something to wind down with after his hard days, but the other came as a bit of surprise. Antidepressants.

"Man..."Jou sighed. "Why is he makin' this so damn hard on me?" He turned to the door thinking that someone was going to materialize behind him. He turned back to the things on the bed, picking up the bottle of hydrocodone and the planner.

"You still there?" he asked the maid. She peeked her head in and smiled. "Uh...you know, I might need a map of this place," he laughed. She laughed with him, leading him back down into the main area of the house. "Thanks." The maid wandered away from him, back into the depths of the house. Jou leaned on the wall and opened the planner.

It was a general planner, nothing too special about it. He was aware that pages had been torn from it. The week that was filled out was the week that started the new month, and in each box was typewriter like handwriting scrawling things out. It documented any kind of meeting, appointment or even small things like: "Remember to be home for dinner. Mokuba asked." Jou also saw a note for a meeting with a psychiatrist on the Wednesday.

"You going to stand there all day and read my day planner?" Kaiba quipped. Jou jumped at the sound of his voice. "You'll be doing that job for me, by the way."

"Your arms aren't broken. Why can't you do it?"

"Because," he said simply.

Jou sighed and walked into the living room fully. Kaiba had moved the tray aside and put his laptop back in front of him. "You didn't eat too much."

"Don't feel like throwing up again."

"I thought you would like me cleaning it up."

Kaiba lifted his head just enough that his glare was menacing. "As torturous as that would be for you, I don't like my stomach fluids on my shirt."

"You have a heart, surprise surprise," Jou took up the tray of food, staring at it quietly. He could say all he wanted, but even in the state that Kaiba was in, the amount of food that he ate wasn't much. "On a scale of one to ten..."

"Six."

"You didn't let me finish the question."

"Either it's the pain level I'm currently experiencing or how much you're annoying me. Either way it's a six."

Jou debated on his position. Kaiba could clearly see that he had the hydrocodone in his hand, so it wasn't like Jou could hide it. Still, he could make Kaiba wait. The blond turned around taking the tray toward the kitchen. He came back shortly, one of the pills in his hand. "For being smart Kaib' you worry me."

"Care to elaborate?"

Jou handed the pill off, also handing a glass of water with it. "This whole set up," was all Jou said before wandering away. He didn't want to be anywhere near Kaiba, it was just making his skin crawl.

"I never thought he'd stoop so low," Jou complained, slumping against his bed. He was shouldering his phone, talking to his little sister.

"I think it's a good thing that you're being nice Katsuya," Shizuka replied. "Even if he did have to goad you into it."

"I wouldn't be doing this if he wasn't accommodating," Jou said. "I mean, he's set me up in the house, is havin' my job held but...it seems wrong."

"Maybe he has another motive then," Shizuka suggested. "Something that doesn't aim at humiliating you or anything like that."

"I find that very hard to believe," Jou heard the pager go off and rolled his eyes. He hadn't gotten use to it entirely, but hated the sound after a while. "I mean, this is Seto freakin' Kaiba we're talkin' about. He's pretty straightforward."

Jou picked it up and then lowered it at his side. "I think you've got something you're hiding too."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Jou accused.

"I don't know. You're not really complaining about the job, just the person."

"That's because the "person" is the job," he went down a few flights of stairs and stopped on a landing. "What do you mean anyways?"

"I don't know. I was just thinking out loud is all."

Jou shook his head. "It's a good think I love you so much," he said. "You get on my nerves sometimes."

"What are sisters for?" she giggled.

Jou smiled. "I gotta go Shizuka. I'll talk to you later okay?"

"'Kay. Talk to ya later Katsuya."

He hung up and stared at the screen of his phone for a moment. "What the hell does she mean?" he whispered. The pager started going off again. "Where are the batteries on this fuckin' thing..? I hear you!"

Jou made sure that his steps were heavy as he went into the living room. After three days he'd learned to get use to Kaiba and all his little antics. "You rang?" he asked, somewhat pissed at Kaiba for paging him more than once. "Whatever it is, it must be pretty urgent for you to page me twice."

"Never mind," he said nonchalantly.

"Neverm…stop screwing with me!"

"I'm not…the problem resolved itself, that's all," Kaiba said. "Go onto whatever boring thing you were doing."

Jou, despite what Kaiba said, walked closer to the couch, leaning on the chair that was adjacent. "You've done this several times now…"Jou said, drawling off. "And I know you like to screw with me…but I've also noticed that you don't really seem to go to the bathroom any other time than at night, before you go to bed."

"The problem resolved itself," Kaiba repeated. "And I don't need to use the bathroom."

"There's nothin' to be ashamed of," Jou explained. "You can't get up; you have to pee…or whatever…"

Kaiba was ignoring Jou as best he could, looking at something on his laptop. Jou could guess it was something like the New York Times, but he wasn't all that sure. "Ya shouldn't be doin' that to yer kidneys…could cause some complications."

"I don't have to go, I'm fine."

"You're an awful liar, you know that?"

"Not lying. Go away."

Jou sat next to the CEO, crossing his legs and leaning back casually. "You want to know how long it takes for the kidneys to become damaged if you hold in pee."

"Not really."

"Good, 'cause I don't know either, but I do know that you have too much pride to let me just carry you to the bathroom."

"I don't need to go, how many times do I have to tell y…"but Kaiba couldn't get it out before Jou had hoisted him up. "Put me down…put me down right now!"

"You'll thank me later."

Jou only smiled at the way that Kaiba was wriggling around. The CEO wouldn't settle long enough for Jou to take too many steps. "If ya don't stop movin' I'm going to drop ya, and that won't be too good," Jou said. "Settle down for just a sec and…"

"I said let me g…"

Jou had complete control the entire time but Kaiba didn't know that. The sudden flinch that Jou made, simulating a falling experience, made Kaiba wrap his arms around Jou's neck in an attempt to save himself. Jou started laughing again. "The look on yer face is…"

Finally there seemed to be a breaking down. Kaiba lowered his head somewhat as he muttered: "Just hurry up…"

"Can do."

"You will stand outside…I don't need any help beyond that…"

"See, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"Shut up dog," Kaiba growled. "This is still all your fault."

"Keep sayin' that, it still ain't gonna be true."

"Not if I tell it to the right people," Kaiba said.

"You don't seem the type to be runnin' to the tabloids...or runnin' anywhere honestly." Jou laughed at his own ingenuity.

"And I reiterate. Your fault."

Jou didn't have to reply. He stood before a closed door smiling. "Going down," he said, warning Kaiba before he shifted him down. The CEO still had his arms wrapped around Jou's neck. Though it was out of his own safety, Jou felt like he saw something else. Maybe it was just Shizuka getting to him, like she tended too, but the repulsion that Jou had been showing towards the CEO wasn't entirely reflected.

"What are you staring at?" Kaiba spat, changing Jou's reflection on the previous idea. He opened the door. "Thank you," he said, but it was rough and mean. Jou nodded nonetheless, placing his arm beneath Kaiba's shoulders and helping all the way in.

"Since we're in the bathroom," said Jou, "there is something else you've been trying to neglect."

"Go away."

Jou went outside, closing the door and leaning against the wall. He snickered, but let it slowly fade away. The longer he thought about the whole thing, the more he slowly realized that while he was giving Kaiba his just desserts with this whole thing, at the same time he was dealing with a human being obviously dealing with more internal problems than he realized.

There came an aggravated moan from inside the bathroom. Jou knocked quietly. "Ya alright?"

"Fine!" But a small line of 'ows' seemed to contradict the statement. Jou stood against the wall, his arms folded over his chest. There was silence for a few moments, then: "Hey!"

"Yeah?"

There was a growl coming from the room. Jou opened the door and was surprised to see Kaiba leaning against the sink, his shirt pulled up and pants unbuttoned. From the mirror Jou could clearly see where he had peeled off a bandage that he wasn't aware of. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" He prodded where a cut was somewhat healed, bruising circling it. Jou couldn't help but notice how close the cut was to Kaiba's private parts.

"What do you want me to do about it?" Jou asked. He'd put his arms beneath Kaiba's shoulders once more, hoping to keep his leg off the ground, remembering that the order the doctor left was for zero weight baring. "It's a cut, yer s'pose to leave the stuff on it."

When Kaiba turned his head, his hair brushed against Jou's causing a minor backlash. He tried to step away, but only wobbled and the grabbed the sink for support. Jou was still holding tight to him, pressing Kaiba's body against his like a splint. "You can let me go now," Kaiba hinted, hoping that Jou would just let him go and leave him to his peace. Jou didn't seem to like that idea.

"Yer not s'pose to put yer leg on the ground," Jou said. "I'm tryin' to help, if you'll let me."

Kaiba had lifted his shirt again, glancing at the cut and rubbing his finger against it. "Ya probably want to cover that up," Jou said, "I'll go get somethin' for it, 'kay?" The awkwardness had grown to be too much between the two people, and Jou was relieved to know that he could leave. He seated Kaiba on the toilet, praying he would stay there. As he turned to leave, Kaiba's hand latched onto his wrist.

"Come back puppy," he said, but the voice was almost horrifically sincere. Jou dared to turn around, narrowly looking over his shoulder. Kaiba pulled him in, forcing Jou to come closer.

"Yeah?"

As sincere as Kaiba originally sounded, his face soured considerably the longer Jou stared at him. Kaiba's hand fell off of Jou's wrist. "Never mind, just…go," he said, waving the nurse away. Jou, confused and unsure of his position, walked away questioning the entire situation, glancing back at the bathroom where he thought he was hearing Kaiba mutter something, trance-like. Jou shook his head knowing that his imagination liked to play tricks on him now and then.

A/N: Something to work off of...the whole thing will be rather interesting...its going fast for a reason...