Final Chapter—Chapter 40

Author's note: Thanks so much to everyone who followed my story! I enjoyed your feedback and suggestions. I'm really going to miss you guys!

Jounouchi Katsuya was lying in the hospital bed. He had an IV in his left arm. His face seemed peaceful. His head was wrapped in a thick bandage but there were still droplets of red blood splattered in his hair. Only someone looking very closely could see it. Kaiba Seto could see it.

Seto had himself released as early as possible from the living hell hole that was called a hospital. He gritted his teeth in annoyance as they wheeled him to the limo with a very happy Mokuba by his side. Being wheeled to the limo felt weak and that sucked royally. Thank God there weren't any reporters there.

Seto had the limo driver take him home to the mansion where he showered, changed into a navy shirt and black trousers, and took the limo back to the hospital. Seto called in to work on the way—telling them that he'd be working from his laptop and monitoring all progress. Truth be told, Seto didn't feel like working, but the threat was enough to get the Kaiba Corp execs off their fat asses and to actually do their jobs while he was out.

The window to the limo had a fine spray of little water droplets. The sky was trying to decide whether or not it should bother to rain. Maybe it would in the afternoon.

Seto leaned against the armrest and looked out past the small drops to the blurr of shops and passing cars. He felt his heart searching for something to hold onto. And, as usual, it chose a bad memory.

They were back in the school auditorium. And the platform was crumbling:

"Jou?!"

"My arm! Let go, Kaiba! My arm!" Jou's knuckles were white and the arm was shaking with veins sticking out of it like tree roots.

He tried to block it out, but Jounouchi was still screaming at him.

"Take my hand!" He ordered over another long, hideous scream that followed. "Move your other hand, and take my hand!"

They were both slipping again.

Jou's face showed the agony that he felt. He moved his other hand up…and tried to pry Seto's fingers from his wrist. Seto gnashed his teeth and snatched the free hand roughly.

"Let go!" Jounouchi ordered, "I am not taking you with me!"

Seto entered Jounouchi's room and placed his laptop next to the chair. He watched the blond's face for a moment and tried to piece together the last few memories that he had in the warehouse. They were still vague and disjointed. Seto touched the sleeping face. Wet. I remember something wet falling on me…but warm… A voice whispered to me, too. It was you, wasn't it?

Now, Seto's eyes raked across the blond for a whole new set of reasons. He desperately wished that Jou would snore or show some signs that he was waking up.

I need…

He needed more than this. He needed to know that Jou was okay. He needed more than loneliness.

"It's me," Seto said quietly. "You know, that's what you always say at the front gate when you want to be let in, Puppy."

Seto got up, pulled over another chair, and flopped his feet arrogantly on it. "Wake up, I'm getting bored."

The blond rested quietly in bed, breathing slowly.

"If you make me wait much longer, I'm going to open this laptop and start working."

His blue eyes looked almost hopefully at the sleeping form. Nothing. Jounouchi took even breaths in and out. His skin looked pale and Seto turned his eyes away. "This time," he mumbled, "I don't like pale skin." He remembered their flour fight in the kitchen and smirked a little.

Seto reached down and took the laptop. He stretched out a little—his back in one chair and his feet propped up in the opposite one. Seto put the computer in his lap. The computer chimed and made little grinding sounds as it booted up. Seto logged on to the Kaiba Corp web site and put in his password. He began monitoring the progress of his subordinates and sending them e-mails—questioning their reasoning behind deadlines and account transfer requests. One particularly annoying purchase wasn't through a Kaiba Corp-approved vendor. Heads would roll over that one. The Kaiba Corp stock was down 9 percent. Another problem. Who, the hell, put that meeting on my calendar for today? Cancel that. He really needed a new secretary—maybe two. Research and Development wanted a bigger budget for next year. What were they thinking? Every year, he gave them the lion's share. They should keep their heads bowed permanently in my direction. He typed on for ten more minutes and then suddenly stopped.

Jou was still lying all alone in the bed.

The silence hurt.

"You're going to make me say it, aren't you?" Seto grumbled quietly, closing the screen of his laptop. Ice blue eyes drifted over to the bed again. "If I do, will you hear me?" The soft breathing continued and Seto put his laptop on the floor. He moved his long legs out of the chair and stood up. Casually, he leaned over the bed railing and touched the blond's hand.

"Fighting with you is so easy. There's this fire in your eyes when you get mad, when I yank your chain. But, in the time we've been together now…when we fight…I would prefer to…" He sighed. "I want to make up with you." He leaned against the rail a little more. "Jou, you keep doing things that I hate. You keep putting me first and getting hurt. I don't want that…for us…" He felt himself getting angry at Jou all over again. Then, he bowed his head in defeat. "But I know why you do it."

Seto watched the calm face and deeply wished to see hazel eyes. Some part of him needed to watch that goofy grin that Jou always got when they were on the way to order pizza or ramen from one of the local noodle shops. It was a ridiculous, full set of teeth monkey grin, followed by a rejoicing set of steps and an awkward tugging on the right arm that Seto had come to expect and, now, Mokuba was easily copying. Jou would follow it up with an enthusiastic, "Oh, you have got to try this! Stop frowning back at me, it's good. Really! Eat first and complain to me later…maybe tonight on the couch?" The last part would be a good natured whisper that Mokuba couldn't hear.

I need you to smile at me. Why won't you wake up and do that?

"This is hard for me, too." Seto ended it with a sigh. "Once, you told me that everyone—every couple—will lose each other. But, it's really not 'time' that was your problem. It's saying 'goodbye'…like it's a burdon that you have to carry all on your own. Well, I'm not ready to say 'goodbye' to you just yet, either." He leaned over and touched blond hair. "If you die, I won't be able to follow you for a long time. You'll make me stay in this life to take care of Mokuba. I know you. That's what you've done so far." Seto rubbed one eye with his thumb because the room seemed watery. "If I can't go, you can't go. I'm selfish like that," he said with a shrug.

Seto lowered the railing. It slid down with a clean, metallic sound. He sat as close to Jounouchi as he could. "In the end, I wasn't a very faithful lover to you. No…it's 'soulmate.' That's what you told Namiko that I was. Still, I didn't believe in you. I thought you betrayed me and chose Yugi instead." Seto leaned in and caressed the pale face with one hand. "Do I really deserve to be happy…with you?" Lightly, he rested his forehead against Jou's. "You are going to make me say it, aren't you? Fine, then… Suki da yo, Jounouchi Katsuya," he leaned in slowly for a kiss, "My only love in this world. The only person I've ever truly wanted."

Seto bridged the gap between them. Lips almost touching, he could feel Jou's breath against his mouth.

"But, don't quote you on it…or you'll deny it," whispered the blond back. Hazel eyes half open now.

Seto jerked away, shocked.

Jounouchi blinked back with an innocent expression. "What did I do this time?" came the weak voice.

Quickly, Seto put a hand against a pale cheek-- fighting back a sudden impulse to grab Jounouchi and cling to him. "How long have you been awake?"

"Just now," Jou's eyes looked tired but a smile curled a little at the edges of his lips.

"I'm not mad. I was…worried," Seto admitted the last word reluctantly.

He held Jou's hand. The grip was weak, which concerned him. Not knowing how to react, he forced his face into wearing the usual mask of indifference that he wore for other people. And, usually, that worked. But, now, it just felt wrong and his control was slipping.

Jounouchi blinked back tiredly again. "A hospital… I'm in a hospital…again…damn…" He looked up into ice blue eyes that had tears in them. Stop looking at me with such a face. I'm with you, and I'll make it okay somehow. "You know, Seto… If I die now, I'll keep a light on for you in Heaven. I'll watch over you. Follow me when you're a very old man." There was a vague smile.

Seto looked at him incredulously, blinking hard to keep back tears. "Don't talk like that." His voice had a dangerous edge. "You're a Shinto anyway. Your religion is all about life. So, you can't talk like that."

"Everyone loses each other eventually," the blond said quietly.

"You keep saying that. Stop it." He sounded like a child, now. It made him angrier.

"But, our souls are tied. Red thread." The blond shifted a little in the bed. "I'll always wait for you—in this world and the next."

Seto stared darkly.

"I'm not afraid of it anymore—'goodbye,' I mean." Jou smiled over to him with dim, hazel eyes.

Seto could feel himself getting upset all over again—and Kaiba Seto does not cry—ever. He had to keep telling himself that. He bit his lower lip as a reminder.

"Now would be a good time to kiss me," Jou hinted. "And stop being mad at me."

"I'm not mad. I just said that earlier."

"So, I see," the blond returned with a smirk. "But, you could smile a little to prove it."

"Should I?" His tone softened.

"Yes." The word was almost a sigh.

"Right now, huh?"

"Yes."

I can't stay mad at you for very long, but I know why…

Seto really didn't need to consider it even though he pretended to. He leaned in closely, one hand laced with Jou's now. "Well, the doctors warned me…" Seto pushed brown hair out of his own eyes. The movement hid a smile. "…That you'll get better soon…" But my heart was afraid that you'd never wake up, never come back to me. Seto leaned in and gently placed his mouth on Jou's. He pulled back. "Ugh…morning breath," he said cringing. He heard Jou's weak laugh. Yes, Jounouchi was fun to tease a little and the laugh was nice, too. It's a relief, really.

"I always knew that you had a sense of humor."

"You've said that before," Seto pretended to complain, but his dark mood was lifting.

"Even if I'm the only one you show it to, it means everything to me."

Seto glanced at him in surprise, lowering his guard and forgetting to hide his expression.

Jou winked back.

"So, what should I do in the meantime?" Even though his face was stern, Seto had almost a playful sound in his voice.

"Go to work and see me later?" Jou said quietly, his eyes drooping again.

"Go back to work? I think I'll go back to ignoring you," Seto said. He threw himself into the chair, reached down and opened the laptop. "I'm not leaving until they try to kick me out of here. Then, I'll offer to build a new wing onto the hospital, and they'll let me stay again."

Blue eyes cut to the bed as he heard the blond chuckle. It felt good. It really did.

"This puppy belongs to me." Seto reached over and took Jou's right hand in his left.

Keys tapped slowly. The laptop rocked in Seto's lap as he tried to press the "shift" and "4" keys at once.

"Typing is hard one handed," Seto murmured vaguely to himself.

"That sounds so hentai," Jou snickered.

"Dirty mind."

"Yeah, but you love me anyway."

"I do."

Mokuba was clearing the plates away. The cook had outdone herself with the meal that she made in honor of New Year's Eve. And there was another feast waiting on them in the refrigerator for New Year's Day. Mokuba was looking forward to eating more soba, chicken ozoni, and extra helpings of mashed sweet potato, too, over the next two days.

Jounouchi took the larger platters back to the kitchen. Thanks to his experience as a waiter, he was able to carry three heavy platters at once with no worries of dropping them.

Mokuba looked behind him and saw Seto come into the room with an expensive bottle of sake. "Ummm, Nii-sama?" the child said with a devious grin on his face, "Are you aware that the legal drinking age in Japan is 20?" He shot his brother a toothy grin.

"This was a gift from one of my executives," he said offhandedly. He put the bottle down on the table and went to the kitchen for cups.

In the kitchen, Jounouchi watched Seto retrieve a cola from the refrigerator and two china sake cups from a cabinet. Jounouchi stood there, arms folded with a confused look on his face. "Sake cups for cola?" He thought about it. "Oh, it's for Mokuba to celebrate New Year's," Jou guessed.

"Yes and no," Seto said.

"Eh?" Jou said.

Yes, a confused puppy could be fun sometimes. And, come to think of it, so was the feeling of having Jou following behind him. He could hear his puppy's feet pat-pat-pat on the carpet behind him.

Jounouchi's eyes caught the sake bottle on the table. Oh, I didn't know that he had that. Hmmm… Seto's not much of a drinker... He really hates losing control. So, it's just a New Year's toast. Not a bad idea, though.

"Follow me," Seto said. Jou and Mokuba nodded.

Once inside the study, he took the TV remote control, aimed it while pushing the "volume down" button, and placed it back on the desk. Then, Seto pulled back the twelve foot silk curtains—showing a beautiful evening sky. The moon had a thin whisp of clouds in front of it. The stars were pinpricks of light.

It was almost midnight. Soon, they'd hear the temple bells.

Seto handed the cola to his brother. He opened the sake bottle and poured two cups. He handed one to Jounouchi, who accepted it with a thin smile.

"Try it," Seto said and watched Jou take two sips. Seto took two as well. The blond watched his face for a moment and the smile faded.

"Something is up," Jounouchi said, looking down into his cup.

"Oh? You believe that?" Seto said with a slightly amused tone.

"Yeah, and, to be honest, you're making me a little nervous." Jou held the cup with both hands. He didn't want his hands to shake, and this was a good way of hiding it if it did happen.

"What is it, Nii-sama?" The raven haired child took a big, noisy gulp of his drink and got a stern glare from his older brother. "Sorry," he said, holding back a burp.

"There is something I want to say." His eyes drifted to Jounouchi. "To begin with, Jou, I know that you're attached to your medallion, but could you…not wear it anymore?"

Mokuba looked a little confused. "It's just a necklace, right?"

Silence.

Jounouchi blinked at the request. His fingers found the medallion and held on for a second. The blond took a nervous, shaky breath. "There's a history to it, but…um…yeah. For you, I'd stop." Hazel eyes looked sad and almost guilty.

"Maybe," Seto said with blue eyes looking into him, almost into his soul, "that was an unfair request."

"No, that's not it," Jou said, shaking his shaggy blond hair.

"I'm not asking you to throw it away…just put it aside. Can you really do that?" Seto looked at him curiously, wanting an honest answer.

"Yes," Jou said, feeling slightly worried. "Does this have something to do with me moving in after the graduation ceremony in March?"

Seto looked out the window and into the cold, dark night. "Time really does pass, doesn't it?" He said it in a contemplative way that didn't seem like him at all. "The ceremony is in March and the new school year starts in April. Beginnings and endings are much like the New Year."

Jou nodded awkwardly, feeling the medallion clutched in his hand. I guess, after all this time, I can finally let go of him. He rubbed the cool metal between his fingers one last time. I won't forget him, though, or what we went through in the gang. He took his medallion off of his neck and put it in his pocket. Jou could feel his heart beat a little harder. His neck felt odd without the weight against him. And he felt sad.

"It's like a circle," Seto said.

"I suppose," Jou mumbled, looking down into his sake cup again. He was tempted to knock back the last of it out of nervousness.

"A circle—like these." Seto opened his palm which held two 8 mm platinum bands. The rings were ornately designed. One had "puppy" written in kanji going all the way around. The other had the kanji for "dragon" repeated across the band in the same way. They were edged in gold.

Jounouchi's jaw dropped.

"How cool is that?" Jounouchi said, picking up the ring that said "puppy." He stared at it. "It's just…wow!"

"Marry me…someday?" Seto asked quietly.

Mokuba's head shot up. He looked to Jounouchi with wide, hopeful eyes. Say yes! Say yes! Come on, Jounouchi-nii!! Just say "yes!" For a second Mokuba wasn't sure if he had said this in his head or out loud. It didn't matter, though.

He turned the ring over in his hands. "Yes," Jou said, awestruck. He couldn't stop the dark blush spreading across his face.

Seto smiled back. It was a gentle smile, small but sincere. "They don't make engagement rings for men. So, I had an artist make these instead," Seto explained. "Just keep it with you until the day comes—our day comes."

"But, how did you know what my size was?" Jou asked, staring at the ring.

"Last month, I measured your finger…with a red thread…while you were sleeping on the couch." He smiled down at the ring in the palm of his hand, proud of himself. Yes, it was another one of his clever ideas. The best, in fact.

Jounouchi's eyes sparkled. "Well, I love this," he said, hoping to kiss his CEO fiancé. He turned the ring over in his palm again, playing with it.

"But, that one's not yours," Seto said with a devious smirk and took the ring back.

"Wha-?"

"This belongs to you." He handed the other one over.

"The dragon ring?"

"It represents the person your heart belongs to," Seto said while taking out two thin leather straps. He tied the dragon ring to the first and put it around Jounouchi's neck. Jou took the other strap, tied the "puppy" ring to it and placed it around Seto's neck. Then, Jounouchi pulled back the collar and let the ring fall next to Seto's skin.

Seto shivered when the metal touched him. "Cold," he said under his breath—which made Jou smile.

"Keep it close to your heart so that it warms up," Jounouchi said, leaning in for a kiss this time. He wondered, briefly, if it was now okay to kiss him in front of Mokuba.

"I'm glad you said 'yes' to this," Seto murmured, leaning down and finding Jou's mouth. A chaste kiss in front of Mokuba would be fine, Seto decided.

"I'm so happy!" Mokuba shouted, putting his arms around both of them at once, shaking the kiss apart from jumping for joy. And, while, group hugs were really not Seto's kind of thing, he allowed it because Jou's arms were already around them both, too.

Mokuba ran to the desk, picked up his cola, raised it in the air, and said, "To our new family. To Kaiba Seto and Kaiba Katsuya!" He took a sip.

"Uh…Am I changing my name?" Jounouchi whispered, curious and not wanting to upset the happy mood.

"Only if you want to," Seto replied with a smirk. "I've got lawyers who can handle that, though."

Jounouchi smiled, grabbed Seto around the waist and pulled him near. Blond hair tickled when it got close. "Seto, I have a question?" Jounouchi whispered into Seto's ear.

"Oh?" Seto said, pulling the blond even closer to him with arms around his shoulders.

"Does this mean that we have to practice?"

"For what? The wedding? It may be a long while before we can do that. Let's just enjoy being engaged for now."

"No," Jou said wickedly, "for the honeymoon." He had to make two lunges at Seto before the CEO allowed another kiss.

"And I'm going to make you work for it, too," came the dragon's murmur.

Jounouchi snickered.

In the background, the television was on. It showed the media coverage of a very annoyed looking Minimoto Taka, famous yakuza and drug smuggler, being transported by the police from the courthouse to a maximum security prison. The cameras flashed and the reporters were all crawling over each other to get a better shot of the action. In the far left corner of the TV screen, sitting in a wheelchair and talking on a pink cell phone was a woman with black hair tied back into a ponytail. She had a small digital camera in her right hand, dangling over the side of the chair as she rested her arm. She looked very pleased, indeed.

Looking up from his kiss, Seto saw the television and froze.

"Namiko," he breathed.

Jou's head whipped around, and he followed Seto's stare. "Oh, hell…"

Namiko turned toward the television camera, took a picture, grinned widely, and winked.

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THE END

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