Title: Role Reversal

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Yu-Gi- Oh and I make no money from this story.

Summary: Kaiba becomes sick from overworking himself and Mokuba takes very good care of him. Light fluff and brotherly caring ahead.

Mokuba put his head into his brother's study, "Seto, what are you doing? May I come in?" He didn't wait for an answer and perched on the side of Kaiba's desk, watching him type furiously.

Kaiba barely looked up, "I'm working on something rather important. I need to get it done before I go to school." He rubbed his eyes tiredly and yawned, "and it doesn't look like I'm going to be able to."

Mokuba peered over his brother's shoulder curiously, "what is it?"

Kaiba scowled at the boy's hovering, but wasn't really annoyed, "it's a report on what's been going on this week, you wouldn't understand it."

Mokuba sighed, "well, you're about to be late. I came to give you this." He held out a strong cup of coffee and a bagel with cream cheese.

Kaiba shook his head, "no thanks, I'm not hungry." He took the coffee; however, "did you put anything in this?" Mokuba shook his head, "good." Kaiba took a drink, not caring that it scorched his tongue and throat on the way down. He set the cup down and sighed, "I have to get going," he told him as he rose to his feet and suddenly gripped the back of his chair, feeling dizzy.

Mokuba looked up at him, worried, "Seto, what's wrong?"

Kaiba shook his head, "nothing, don't worry about it, Mokuba." He smothered a cough and picked up his briefcase and laptop, "I'll see you at dinner."

Mokuba sighed and left the study, grabbing his own knapsack. He knew what "see you at dinner" meant. It meant that Seto wouldn't be back until midnight and the only way Mokuba would be able to see his brother would be to go down to Kaiba Corp and hang out there.

Kaiba sat at his school desk, his laptop resting on the table in front of him, but his fingers were idle. He rubbed his nose lightly with his index finger and sneezed.

Yugi looked up from the book his was reading and frowned, "are you alright Kaiba?" His voice was friendly and concerned sounding.

Kaiba looked up from his computer, "I'm fine Yugi, mind your own business."

Joey stood up and glared at the young CEO, "hey, he was worried about ya. You could at least act like ya got manners."

Kaiba looked mildly amused, "and I suppose you're the one who's going to teach me manners, Mutt? Please, I'm all ears."

Joey growled and took Yugi's arm, "come on, Yuge, he don't need nobody worryin' about him. Yer just wastein' yer breath."

Yugi allowed himself to be led away, but protested, "he really looks sick, Joey."

Joey snorted, "glad ta hear ya finally agree with me, Yugi. I've been sayin' he looks sick for a long time."

Yugi scowled, "that wasn't what I meant and you know it Joey, he just doesn't look like he feels well at all. His cheeks are all flushed and he's not working. Besides, when was the last time you ever heard Kaiba sneeze?"

Kaiba glared at the two boys, "I'll thank you very much not to talk about me as though I'm not in the room." He snapped his laptop shut and rose to his feet, "if you'll both excuse me, I have more important places to be. And besides, this way if I sneeze again I'll just know that it was because there are two idiots in this school who have nothing better to do than gossip about people who actually have lives." The young business man stalked out of the room.

Joey shook his head, "that guy's really somethin' else, ain't he? He really thinks he's so much better than everyone."

Yugi smiled and nodded, "yeah, he really does. Don't let him upset you, Joey, that's what he wants. Anyway, I'm sure we can think of something nicer to talk about."

Joey grinned, "I hear that. He's boring anyway."

Seto Kaiba stormed to his locker and turned the combination furiously, "where do they get off, talking about me like that?" He slammed the door shut and left the building, not caring that it wasn't time to go home yet. He had much more important things to do than languish in a school room, letting others run his company. He pulled out his cell phone and hit the speed dial for his driver, "pick me up now," he told the unassuming man the second he picked up, "I need to go to work, this can't wait." He tapped his foot irritably and glanced at his watch.

A few minutes later the Kaiba Corp limo pulled up and the driver held open the door for him, "I'm sorry to make you wait sir, forgive me."

Kaiba nodded shortly, "just take me to the building, fool. I can't handle being around these morons right now." He sneezed into his hands a few times, realizing that he'd forgotten his handkerchief.

The driver looked into the rearview mirror, "are you alright, Mr. Kaiba?" He sounded mildly concerned for his employer's well-being, but not overly-so.

Kaiba nodded, "yes, I just have a couple of geeks talking about me back at school. I'm fine." He sneezed again and searched his pockets, desperate for something to wipe his nose on. The driver, seeing his problem, handed him a box of tissues. "Thank you." Kaiba kept his thanks short and clipped. He wasn't in the habit of thanking his servants anyway. They were there, after all, to do his bidding, nothing more.

The driver, who had a teenage boy of his own, looked in the mirror again and sighed to himself, shaking his head, there was no way he would have let his son go to school or work with the makings of such a heavy cold. "Mr. Kaiba, are you sure you should go to work today? You look as if you should be in bed."

Kaiba glared at him, "why don't you mind your own business? I do not pay you to sleep."

The driver looked at him, "I'm not sleeping, Sir."

Kaiba stopped tending to his runny nose and scowled into the mirror, "what are you talking about? Who said anything about… oh just drop the whole thing." He seemed to remember his slip up, "and I don't pay you for that either, but I really don't pay you to think. I pay you to drive, a mindless occupation that any idiot off of the street could do, so just shut up." The driver held his peace and sighed to himself, thinking how sad it was that someone so young could be so cruel. Kaiba coughed and rubbed his nose violently with a tissue, trying to ward off another sneeze. It didn't work. He sneezed into his tissue and wiped his nose discreetly. The car pulled up to Kaiba Corp and Kaiba got out.

He rode the elevator to his office and sat at his desk, coughing. He turned on his computer and started to type much more slowly than he normally did, then he started to nod off and finally let his head fall on the table in front of him.

"Hey, Big Brother… Seto? Are you alright?"

A small hand shook his shoulder, pulling him out of his sleep. "Mokuba? What's going on?" His voice sounded raspy and tired, "I'm sleeping, leave me alone, I don't feel very well."

Mokuba nodded, "I know, you've been asleep for four hours. One of our servants had to carry you to your couch. I was afraid that you'd hurt your neck and back if you slept the way you were sleeping, all hunched over like that."

Kaiba realized that he was, in fact, lying on the sofa that he kept in his office for when he worked all through the weekend. He nodded, "Mokuba, I think I'd like to go home now." It killed him to admit that he wasn't feeling well enough to work, but he just couldn't handle it right then.

Mokuba nodded and looked up at the same man who had carried him over to the couch, "will you call and let the limo driver know that we're ready to go now, please?" He turned his attention to his brother, "do you think you can walk, or do you need help?" He held out his hand toward his brother, "I'll help you, Seto."

Kaiba came very close to giving Mokuba the brush off, but took the pro-offered hand, "thank you. Let's go home." He braced himself against the small boy, careful not to put too much weight on the young shoulders.

As they walked, Kaiba fought the need to sit down, "Mokuba, I think I may need to rest for a bit," he said finally, sitting on a hard chair along side the hallway, "just for a little while." He was breathing rather heavily and he turned his face away to sneeze. It turned into a full blown fit that lasted a good two minutes.

Mokuba patted Kaiba's shoulder gently all the while, "are you done now?" The boy asked, pulling his own wrinkled handkerchief from his pocket and giving it to his brother, who had gone through the tissues he's snagged from the box in the car. Kaiba nodded his thanks and blew his nose, forgetting, for a moment, about propriety. Mokuba smiled, "you'll be alright, Seto. You just need to go home and go to sleep."

Kaiba sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "I guess so. I am tired still."

Mokuba nodded, "I can tell. You just need to get in your own bed and rest. I'll see to it that no one bothers you."

Kaiba yawned and got to his feet, "alright, let's go." He made his way out to the limo, but seemed to fall short of his normal, long strides. The briefcase that he usually held in such a professional manner dangled limply at his side and Mokuba carried his laptop. Somehow Seto Kaiba managed to stay awake for the drive home and long enough to change into his blue pajamas, and then he collapsed on his bed and fell into an exhausted sleep.

Something cool and moist on his forehead woke him and he opened his eyes weakly, "Mokuba, what's going on?" His voice sounded different, more young and faltering than he could remember it being for a long time.

The boy smiled down at him, "Seto, you're awake. I'm so glad, you were worrying me." He looked worried, too. Somehow, within a period of a few hours, the roles of the brothers had been reversed. The elder Kaiba was the one in need of care and the younger one was the giving it, "would you like some water?" Mokuba held a glass to Kaiba's lips, "but you have to drink slowly, otherwise you might get sick."

Seto drank the cool liquid and closed his eyes, too worn out to keep them open any longer. He sighed, "how long was I asleep? I have a meeting tomorrow, Mokuba."

Mokuba shook his head, "no you don't. It was today and I cancelled it. You have a really high fever and the only thing you're allowed to do is stay in bed and get better."

"Who says so?" Came the irritable response.

Mokuba scowled, looking disturbingly like his older brother, "I say so. You're sick and have to rest, I called the doctor too."

Kaiba opened an eye a sliver and saw his brother in his red pajamas and his already messy black hair sticking up at all angles. He'd apparently not been up for very long, "when did you have time to decide this? And why the heck did you go and do something like call a doctor? You know I don't like them." He didn't have the energy, or else he would have sounded angrier.

Mokuba's eyes grew more intense, "I know you don't Seto, but I don't care. He's coming over anyway."

Kaiba shook his head, unwilling to press the matter any more, "fine, have it your way. I'm really too sick to care right now." He felt his nightstand for the tissue box he always kept there because of his frequent allergies and found it empty. He didn't remember emptying it, however, "Mokuba?"

Mokuba nodded, "I had to take care of you when I got up this morning. I'll go get you another box." He left the room and came back with a fresh box, "here you go."

Kaiba blinked and took the box, trying at the same time to banish the thought of his little brother wiping his nose for him as he slept, "you didn't have to worry about me you know, Mokuba."

Mokuba sat down comfortably at the foot of the bed, "I do worry about you, Seto. How many brothers do you think I have stashed around this place?"

Kaiba sighed and sat up slowly, "where's my laptop? I have work I could be doing."

Mokuba smiled proudly, "I hid it from you. You can't work unless the doctor says it's alright, and I don't think he will."

The older Kaiba brother looked furious, "you aren't allowed to go around hiding my stuff. I need it for school work too. I'm missing school and need to get caught up."

Mokuba shook his head, "no, you're not going to do that, either. Face it, Seto, you're just going to stay in bed and rest until you get all well." He handed the young man a tissue just in time for him to catch another sneezing fit, "see, you're not well at all."

Kaiba finished up and blew his nose softly, careful not to pop his already sore ears, "I'm well enough to not fall behind on my work. I can't let my grades drop."

Mokuba snorted, "you're at the top of your class, Seto. Your grades couldn't drop if you wanted them to. I just want you to get better, alright." The boy looked urgently at Kaiba, "I'm really worried that you're not going to get better the way you should. One of the servants said that someone who pushes himself as hard as you do could end up getting really, really sick and ruining his health forever." The child seemed to be near tears.

Seto sighed, "whoever told you that is fired. I'm not going to lose my health because of a cold." He pulled out a couple of tissues and coughed deeply into them. "Don't worry so much, Mokuba, you'll give yourself ulcers."

Dark blue eyes blinked at him, "what are ulcers, Seto?"

Kaiba smirked, "it's when you have too much stomach acid churning up in you and it burns through your stomach lining, causing a hole and a lot of pain. People get them from worrying too much." It might not have been the most accurate description of them, but for a ten year old it was good enough.

Kaiba yawned, "I think I'm going to try to go back to sleep, if you don't mind. I feel as if I've been running a marathon."

Mokuba nodded and sat down in a comfortable chair with a book, "I'll read in here. This way, if you need anything I'll be able to hear you. I've asked that we not be disturbed unless I ask for something or the doctor comes." A knock on the door interrupted him, "oh, I guess he's here now. You have to be awake for this, Seto." He answered the door and let the tall man in, "it's good to see you again Dr. Tsuzuki." Mokuba bowed and smiled up at him.

The doctor smiled back and went to Seto's bedside, "I hear we aren't feeling very well Mr. Kaiba. What seems to be the trouble?"

Kaiba glared up at him, "it's just a cold, you wasted your time coming here." He started to cough, then sneeze, burying his face in a tissue, "go away."

Dr. Tsuzuki, who had known what to expect from years of caring for the two boys, sat down unperturbed, "it might be just a cold, but do you really want it to get any worse? You could be bedridden for weeks." His voice was mild, as though he were stating the time of day, "now, we can stare at each other all morning, or we can get this over with. I get paid either way, so it's all the same to me, but I'm sure you would hate to pay me for a service you aren't getting."

Kaiba pushed himself up onto his pillows, seeing reason, "fine, but make it quick. I have a company to run. All I need is some rest and I'll be back to work in no time at all."

The older man nodded sagely and took the youth's vitals, "well, you've got a fairly high fever, Mr. Kaiba. You're breathing sounds very congested and I don't like the looks of your ears. Have they been bothering you at all?"

Kaiba nodded silently, refusing to look the man in the eyes, "yes they have. I can't hear out of the left one at all. And the right one hurts."

Mokuba looked up from his book, surprised, Seto hadn't said anything about his ears hurting him, only that he wasn't feeling very well. Dr. Tsuzuki nodded, "I see. Is there anything else you'd care to share with me? This is not just a cold Mr. Kaiba, it sounds like the flu. You need to watch yourself."

Kaiba rolled his eyes, "I don't really have the time for this. I don't care what it is, just make it go away."

The doctor sighed, "you don't seem to understand what I'm saying. You have to stay in bed and get well Mr. Kaiba; otherwise you may not recover the way you should. You push yourself too hard for someone so young. Boys your age should be out playing sports or hanging out with friends, not running a company; I have half a mind to order you to go play."

Kaiba looked at Dr. Tsuzuki as if he'd gone nuts, "are you out of your mind? I don't play." He coughed violently into a tissue, "are you done?"

The doctor shook his head, "yes, Mr. Kaiba, I am." He gathered up his supplies stood up, and left the room. He turned to see Mokuba following him and looked down at the boy, "make sure he gets a lot of rest and plenty of fluids. He really needs them if he wants to get well. Does he have someone dependable at that company of his?"

Mokuba sighed, "Seto doesn't really like other people running Kaiba Corp for him. He says he doesn't trust any of them."

The doctor sighed, "he'll have to learn. He's taken too much on his young shoulders, and it could catch up to him soon. I don't like his coloring. A boy his age should have more pep."

Mokuba frowned at the man, thinking that he had no right to talk about his brother that way, "Seto's color is fine. He's always been pale."

Dr. "Tsuzuki smiled, "I wasn't trying to say anything against your brother, I'm simply concerned for his well being. He's not to do any work until I give the go ahead, alright."

Mokuba nodded, "alright, I'm sorry I got mad at you, it's just that people say bad things about Seto all the time and I'm getting sort of sick of it. He's really not a bad person; he just gets too caught up in things."

The doctor smiled and rubbed the child's hair, "I understand how you want to protect your brother. He's a passionate person, and a very lucky one to have a brother like you. People with Seto Kaiba's high standards are often disappointed with life and other people in general. You seem to be the one keeping him grounded."

Mokuba shook his head, but smiled, "I don't think I'm that important."

The doctor patted Mokuba's shoulder and opened the door for himself, "make sure he does all the things I've told him to do. If there's no change by the end of the week or if he gets much worse call me again. And keep an eye on that fever of his; I don't want it to get any higher."

Mokuba nodded, "yes sir, thank you for coming." He wrote the doctor a pre-signed check and handed it to him. Then he shut the door and jogged up the stairs back to Kaiba's room.

Kaiba was settling back down on his pillows after what looked like a fairly hard coughing or sneezing fit. His cheeks were flushed and warm to Mokuba's hand, "what did the old fool have to say?"

Mokuba took his small palm from his brother's cheek and poured him a glass of ice water, "to make you drink. Do you need some help sitting back up, Seto?"

Kaiba shook his head, pushed himself up on his elbows and took the glass, draining it quickly.

Mokuba set the glass on the nightstand and pet his brother's hair, "you know Seto, you shouldn't drink so fast, you could make yourself sick."

Seto sighed and settled down on his pillow, making himself comfortable, "don't worry so much Mokuba, I'm not going to make myself sick." He fell asleep, snoring loudly and drooling on his pillow.

Mokuba picked up his book and curled up on the chair next to Kaiba's bed. He started to read, but fell asleep himself.

To Be Continued

AN: This is the first attempt at Yu-Gi-Oh that I have deemed worth submitting to FF.N, any feed back you can give me would be great. I'd really like to know if I have the characters in character and if I've missed anything very important. I don't appreciate flames, but I also don't mid constructive criticism. I'd also like to know if you enjoyed it. I have chapter two well on its way, but want to know if I should change it to make it fit the story line of the show first. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.