A/n: So...I know people have been begging me. I also know that I've been having a hard time keeping up with life. I've been having issues with school, moved, and had a bunch of other things. This chapter has been literally sitting on my desktop with only a few more paragraphs needing to be added.

So...I'm sorry. Enjoy.

Chapter 16.

"We have cause to believe that there may be something wrong psychiatrically with Kaiba-san." Mokuba had furrowed brows as he listened to the doctor talk about his brother. He hadn't yet been able to go in the room and see his brother, but from looking through the window, there was very little to be seen. "We're requesting he be held for a psychological evaluation and we'll follow procedure afterwards."

It wasn't Mokuba that this was being said to, rather, Roland who was standing nearby. Listed as Kaiba's proxy, being that Mokuba was still too young; Roland Ackerman was called in to listen to the doctor. He had stood in the shadows, well aware of everything was happening to his master during the very trying time. Despite the request being poised towards him, he was merely there to serve the interest of Mokuba who was more than lucid to be able to make decisions.

"Is there any way Kaiba-san and I may be able to speak alone?" he asked, referring to Mokuba. It was hardly a title that Mokuba liked, realizing that it was more attributed to his brother than anyone else. He squirmed when hearing it, but looked to the doctor with imploring eyes.

"Of course. Though it is highly advised we go through these procedures. We believe that Kaiba-san is under great duress at the moment due to a series of events that have transpired. Between the car accident and the hostage situation," he looked to Mokuba seriously, "as well as the already listed psychiatric treatment he was receiving—"

"He's no longer going. He told me he was better."

"—whether or not that is true, it still adds to his current situation. You realize he was diagnosed with clinical depression and was taking medication for it?"

"Of course," Mokuba said, annoyed. "He said he was okay."

The doctor nodded. "Well," the doctor shrugged. "I'll give you a few moments." He said, and he walked down the hall. As soon as he was around the corner, Roland looked down to Mokuba and said:

"What would you like to do?"

Mokuba sighed and brought his thumb up to his mouth, biting on his thumbnail. He wanted Jou to be there so he could talk to him. Jou would know what to do. Despite that, he knew what the right thing to do was. But he also knew that his nii-sama wouldn't be happy in the slightest.

"I want him to get better," Mokuba said. "But…"

"Are you worried what it might drum up?" Roland asked. Mokuba was led to the end of the hall where a bench was. Mokuba sat down and stared down the hall, his eyes slithering to the door as a nurse went inside with a tray.

"Nii-sama dealt with it," Mokuba said. "I mean, he dealt with it in his own way, you know?" Mokuba shrugged. "At least, I think he did. It's never bothered him until now…who says it's even that that's bothering him?"

"If there's nothing wrong, they'll just do the test and release him," Roland interjected. "But…you know better, don't you?"

"What would happen if they commit him?" Mokuba asked. His voice was hardly audible. "Roland?"

"I'm sure that it wouldn't go that far," Roland comforted. "They may simply make recommendations…"

"But what if they don't think he's…I don't know…stable enough to…?" He visibly shook, because in that moment he remembered something he had said early on, when it all seemed like a matter of recovery. When he was taking control of the company for his brother and just starting out, knowing well that Kaiba was going to interfere because he was just too damn stubborn. He had sent out a memo, almost as a joke, that anything his brother sent to be disregarded because of "mental instability". Everyone knew it was a joke, but it was just the very idea…

Before Roland could say anything, Mokuba let his internal reasoning finish and he said: "We'll let them do the…test and go on from there I guess. Can't really say no, can we?"

"We could, but it might not go in his favor."

Mokuba nodded. "I need to talk to Jou."

"You mean Jounouchi-san?"

"Yeah. He left a while ago…guess he's still at work or something."

"Would you like me to try and get in contact with him?"

"No. He's coming after. There's nothing he can do now anyways." Mokuba stood up and began walking back to the door as the nurse came out. She gave him a momentary glance before continuing on her way and down the hall. "I've always known there's something wrong with you nii-sama…"he whispered, leaning against the wall and waiting for the doctor to return. "But that's just who you are isn't it?…a little different? That's because you're so smart, I thought. You just…act funny sometimes because that's who you are."

"Kaiba-san?" Mokuba looked up to the doctor as his name was said. Roland had gotten up and was by his side now. "Is there a decision?"

"Go ahead," Roland said, nodding in approval.

"I just wanna ask one question," Mokuba said. The doctor stayed behind, waiting for Mokuba to start talking. "He was brought here before and a psych evaluation was done, wasn't it?" And the doctor paused, looking down to the clipboard that was in his hands. Mokuba could only guess what all was written about his brother. "Why can't you just use that?"

"These are a separate set of circumstances. We're going to see what's changed between then and now. It will only take a short time."

Mokuba nodded. "And when can we see him?"

"Soon, I promise," he nodded. "We need to ease him through this test. We'd also like to talk to you, ask you the same questions about your brother, see what you see about him and that will help us tremendously." It was a little patronizing, but Mokuba nodded nonetheless.

"Whatever will help."

Jou entered the hospital with a beat look on his face. For some reason the day seemed draining. Maybe it was because it was so simple and boring, at least, it was boring without Kaiba to be one of his patients during the day. He smirked at that thought. How things changed so quickly. How much of changed people they each became in a matter of days, hours…minutes even.

But Jou smiled as he walked past the nurses' station, and he smiled as he walked down the hall and took the elevator up to the third floor. He adjusted his bag on his shoulder and looked down to where he was still wearing his scrubs, at least the shirt, and felt as if he were out of place as he walked down the hall and looked at the other nurses who were immediately taking notice of his odd wardrobe choice—like it was a fashion statement.

He stopped when he saw Mokuba sitting outside the door, arms crossed, Roland beside him as if he were some sort of statue. Jou took slow steps as he approached the melancholic boy, expecting that there was something that was on the boy's mind that he wasn't aware of. And then, for a moment, he wondered why Mokuba wasn't with his brother.

"'Ey, they doin' somethin'?" he asked. Mokuba looked up, his saddened expression falling away momentarily. Then his face fell again, as if he had started thinking. As if he had come back to reality and there was a heavy weight on his chest. "What's a' matter?"

"It's Seto…"

"Well, I figured."

Roland stood up and motioned for Jou to sit beside Mokuba. He nodded, taking the seat and letting his bag fall to the floor. "Something happened earlier. He just…I don't know. He just lost his bearings."

Which was a fancy, water-downed, Kaiba-way to say that the CEO had lost his mind Jou surmised. "Ah…what'd he do?" There was nothing Jou could joke about.

"He just…started acting weird and he snapped on the nurses and practically attacked one of them. She broke his locket though; I guess he figured it was warranted."

"She touched him then?"

Mokuba shrugged. "I haven't gotten to see him all day."

"Shame." Jou looked to the door, looking for someone to come out so he could strangle the information out of them. Or at least, maybe convince them to let the two of them into the room. "How long's it been?"

"About four hours. They said they were going to…give him a test or something."

Jou was about to say something, but noticed someone come out of the room. He looked over; his eyebrows raised, and saw a man that looked something like a doctor in front of him. Mokuba gave questioning eyes.

"We just finished up the exam; we'll go over the findings and give a diagnosis shortly. We'll follow up from there."

"Okay." Mokuba looked dejected and deterred. His eyes swept across the hall as if there were something else more interesting. Jou, on the other hand, keep looking at the doctor with a firm gaze until he asked.

"So, can we see him or not?"

The doctor let out a tough breath of air. "Well, you may. I just need to warn you that he's only semi-coherent."

Mokuba stood up, flattened out his pants and walked past the doctor. Jou simply shrugged. "Mighty fine of ya," he said, and followed Mokuba, Roland shortly behind him. The doctor was amused at how they seemed like ducklings that flocked around the CEO. Or rather, they were like a barrier from the outside world.

Once the door closed, Jou leaned against it and let the other two come closer to Kaiba. He looked like himself. Some parts were a little more disheveled than others. His eyes were half lidded, hair was tussled. His face was a little pale, but it had been pale recently. The only thing that Jou noticed off was the fact that he took no notice. Nothing in his body made a shift. He noticed the way Kaiba almost armored himself when someone was near him. It was a subtle change; as if his skin bristled up and created layers while he spoke in his usually icy and condescending tones.

This was just a man. The skin stripped bare, the mind wide open for attack. He only acknowledged Mokuba when the boy was right on top of him, and even then it seemed as though Kaiba were looking at an interesting object instead of a person.

"Nii-sama?"

He noticed, immediately, the self-inflicted line that was on the side of his brother's neck. The unmistakable bruising from the brash pulling of his locket. He had done it lightly out of nervousness before. This time, it was like a deep, reddened line. Mokuba reached out and hovered his fingers above it. Kaiba's eyes traced along Mokuba's hand before turning to Jou.

"They gave you somethin' heavy. Haldol maybe?" he asked. It wasn't like Kaiba could tell him. There must have been some reason for the lethargy. He reached out for Kaiba's hand, grasping it after a moment of wondering if he was going to be able to without setting something off.

Kaiba's hand clenched around his like an octopus taking prey and he didn't seem very willing to let go so immediately. Jou pulled up a chair and sat down, watching as Kaiba fluctuated the pressure. He was holding onto something, but only just.

"Can ya…say somethin'?" he asked. Mokuba seemed to be curious of the same thing. Kaiba blinked, as if that were some reason. There was no twitch at the corner of his lips, or a pull of any indication that he was in the real plane.

So Jou just let Kaiba hold his hand while Mokuba talked to him. It didn't really seem so strange that Mokuba was continuing on as if Kaiba had replied. Almost as if he were playing a game of fill in the blanks.

Jou didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Jou drove Mokuba home in place of Roland. It was the least he could do for the boy who seemed so unresponsive after sometime that he was turning into the same lifeless shell that Kaiba had suddenly become. Jou wasn't going to let it fall any further than that. He looked to the boy and asked: "What's on your mind?"

Mokuba blinked, and for a moment he came out of his shell. "Huh?"

"What's on your mind Moki?"

"Nothing much, I'm just worried about the future."

"What ya gotta worry about?"

"Just…how the doctor was talking," he said, and he was rubbing his arm nervously. For being a fifteen year old boy, he didn't look like more than a frightened five year old ready to curl up in the passenger seat. But Mokuba had a way of keeping composure, much like Kaiba. "What if something's wrong and they say that he's not…mentality competent or something like that? What's gonna happen to me?"

"Whaddya mean 'what's gonna happen'?" Jou asked, though realistically he didn't need the details filled in. It was merely a matter of seeing what exactly Mokuba was thinking in detail.

"If nii-sama can't take care of me, then I have no one to look out for me."

"What about the suit. What's his name?— Roland. Can't he be like a temporary guardian or somethin'?"

"I don't know. I guess maybe for a short period of time or something…."he shrugged. "I don't want to get separated from him. It'll make him worse."

"Kid—"Jou opened his mouth without thinking of what he was going to say. But before he continued, he stopped and lowered his eyes. "Mokuba, nothin's gonna happen ta you or him. And if there are bumps along the way well, let's jus tell them that the papers are right. That I'm with Seto; that counts for somethin' doesn't it?"

Jou expected a speedy response, but all he got was the awkward stare of the boy. He could feel it where Mokuba was just looking at him, baffled by something. "Mokuba?"

"You called him 'Seto'."

Jou blinked. "I wha?"

"You called him 'Seto'. You always say 'Kaiba'…"Jou wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. He couldn't tell by how awestruck and neutral that Mokuba's voice had become.

"Yeah, well." Jou tried to conjure a reason, but he couldn't. He didn't even notice that he broken the formality between him and Kaiba. Was it really that intimate? "It slipped."

Mokuba leaned back against the seat. "Sure it did." He smiled finally.

The following morning, a Saturday, Jou got himself up and didn't even hesitate to go to and see Kaiba. There was no debating at this point; no going over all the shortcomings that had come between them. This was a point where Kaiba purely needed someone to be by his side and watch him like a child, and Jou was more than willing to be that person.

He walked straight up to the room and went in, gazing around the room that was darkened in the early morning, only a small amount of light slipping through. He sat down and leaned against the railing on the bed, his chin rested on his arms. Kaiba was still asleep, his hands almost clutching the blanket against himself. Jou almost laughed; he didn't know why. "First yer hurt, then you go crazy or somethin' like that," he shrugged. "What are the odds, hm? Like all the shit came tumbling down."

Kaiba opened his eyes to small slats, but Jou didn't see. He kept his breathing at a still pace, and he said nothing, only listened with his eyes closed.

"Not like I blame ya. In the midst 'a all this, I guess maybe the easiest way out would be ta go crazy. Not that I really think you did or anythin'. Yer already kinda crazy as it is. Ya can't really go much further. But it's that smart crazy. Ya overthink things. Make it all the worse for yerself sometimes." His fists unclenched from the blanket. He was still tired. His body was still aching and weak. His ankle still throbbed from the surgery, though it had calmed down overnight. "Maybe yer overthinkin' love, that's what yer doin'. Maybe you think that if ya think out every little detail, it'll be okay. Ya know what ya gotta do and when ya gotta do. But it don't work that way. Never does. Love's too damn unpredictable. I guess maybe this is the price. Some kinda god don't want ya to know the secrets of how it all works. Don't want ya ta make it a machine so that people can understand and pick their right partners. Probably has too much fun lookin' down at people like us squabblin' over this and that. 'Cause, really, if ya think about it, this whole thing's one big damn mess. One big, beautiful mess."

Jou reached out and stroked Kaiba's knuckles, still believing that he was asleep. The brunette slowly opened his eyes, pretending that he was just waking up at Jou's gentle and comfortable touch. Jou smiled. "Rise an' shine."

Kaiba still, despite his coherence, couldn't bring himself to speak. As if his body was paralyzed. He blinked, turning his head to look at Jou and taking a deep breath. Jou stood up, his eyes trailing down even though there was nothing to see below Kaiba's bust. "I'm gonna pick you up, get you out of this bed, alright?" he said, pulling down the blanket revealing the rest of Kaiba's form. He carefully removed any of the equipment. He watched Kaiba, waiting for some kind of objection, but Kaiba seemed complacent. He let his head rest on Jou's shoulder until Jou set him down in an easy chair in the corner, his leg propped up.

"I don't really get what's up with ya," Jou said. "I mean, technically I do, but really I don't get all the psychology and other crazy crap that's there. It's some kinda….catatonia. Yer blockin' somethin' out. Body's reactin' to it. But…"Jou shrugged and pulled up a chair right beside Kaiba. He put his bag at his feet and rummaged. "Happened when the nurses were touchin' ya. I know ya don't like bein' touched, but I also know that you can take it. Somethin' was different, and now you don't wanna tell anyone."

He pulled out a handful of papers, digging further in the bag until he found the item he was looking for: a hairbrush. "Now that I think about it, how'd ya answer the doc if you aren't talkin'?"

Kaiba turned his head and looked at Jou very clearly. It struck Jou just how lucid Kaiba was, as if his senses were heightened instead of stunted.

Jou shook his head; it was almost too unbelievable. He scooted closer and began to run the brush through Kaiba's somewhat knotted hair. Jou went through this process, silent, laughing to himself because it was somehow it was completely comfortable. And Kaiba didn't flinch either, only watched his hand as it moved.

"Shoulda brought a suit for ya," he said quietly as he was nearly finished. "You'd be all gussied up, ready to go out. Fer what I don't know, but the gown don't help you too much neither. Does 'bout as good as my scrubs do."

Jou watched as some semblance of a smile graced Kaiba's features. If that was all that he could accomplish, Jou was happy. "So, we might have a little bit of a problem. Moki was talkin' ta me. He was worried about what might happen ta him if ya can't take care of him."

Kaiba had looked away as if he were disinterested, but he could see the look of consideration crossing Kaiba's features the further the seconds clicked along. Jou could read the 'so what did you tell him?'

"I uh…tol' him not ta worry about it. It wasn't fer him ta worry about, ya know? That…well, I'd be there. If I was with ya, they can't take him away can they? If I'm immediate. If I can take care of him."

Kaiba closed his eyes, his thoughts obviously continuing. 'How well could that work?' he expressed after a few moments.

Jou was getting nervous. He was thinking the same kind of things that Kaiba was thinking. Obviously there was the matter of no legality. Even if Jou was in Kaiba's household, he had no legal guardianship over Mokuba. He might as well be a boy toy. He wasn't legally bound to Kaiba, nor could he be. Not according to the Japanese government. Maybe they could be recognized by the media, but there was no marriage license that could be signed. No guardianship that could be given.

"I…I don't know. I jus' said somethin' ta make him feel better. Can…Roland do it? For a short time?"

Kaiba was quiet. There was nothing considerate or understanding. Just silence.

Jou touched his hand gently, easing his fingers around and giving a short squeeze. "No one else is good fer 'im," Jou concluded, briefly. He stood up, tucking the hairbrush away and moving a few more hairs back so it looked clean around his face. "That what yer thinking, isn't it? And….that's okay," he said, nodding. He wanted to keep playing with Kaiba's hair, giving him something endearing or caring to focus on. He stopped, only so he didn't annoy Kaiba further.

"I won't let anythin' happen to him," he said, making sure Kaiba was looking straight at him, trying to catch a gaze of Kaiba's tired eyes. When the CEO looked up to him, Jou smiled. "And I'll get ya outta here, promise. Just gotta get you better." He said.

Kaiba closed his eyes and simply breathed with his head leaned back. Jou's smile flinched and leaned down, picking up Kaiba again. Kaiba's eyes snapped open as Jou moved him back to the bed, adjusting his body so he was comfortable.

Just as he finished, a nurse came in with a tray. Jou stood up and grabbed the tray muttering 'I got it' and smiled to her. She left, and Jou turned, setting the tray down on his knees before asking: "Hungry?" Kaiba didn't really move from place, but his lips parted. It was enough.

A/N: So...yeah. That's what I got. Please, enjoy it. I may get more eventually, I should be starting up more that I've got my groove back. So, till next time, KenSan out!