I'M NOT DEAD!

Okay, So I have to give credits to Willowsnake because her latest chapters of The Simple Things In Life have inspired me to write this.

Because despite Katsuya's rough nature, I can't help but think he likes kids.

BTW, I kow married people are supposed to be Mrs. And divorced are Ms. and never married are Miss, but for the sake of the children all the teacher are Miss.

Kid Assistant

Miss Moko had seen a lot of things pass through this preschool. She'd seen deadbeat dads pick up their kids an hour late, seen brothers pick up their siblings because their parents didn't have the time, seen drunk parents come and hustle their child off, and she'd seen older-men, pedophiles, trying to pick someone else's child.

She had never seen this boy, nor had she ever scene someone as young as him walk into the preschool shaking like a leaf as he was.

Mika, a student, tugged on her apron and asked for help. Miss Moko paused for second, weary of the boy, but bent over to help Mika with her pasteing.

When she stood back up she looked back over at the boy and wondered if she were the only one to notice him. It was possible, they were short on helpers right now and it left quite a handful for the small amount of teachers and few helpers there were. No one else had gone up to him, other then adorable three-year-old Chiho (who often got away from the watchful eye of the teacher) who was babbling and pulling on the blonde boy's pants.

The older boy looked down at the younger one and crouched to Chiho's level, his body relaxing a bit as he laughed at something Chiho had said and replied with a big, toothy smile.

Miss Moko's heart fluttered and it almost made her wish she was twenty years younger and single, despite loving her adoring husband to itty-bitty pieces. The blonde boy was rough looking at first glance, almost like a gang member. Broadish shoulder's, hands that looked like they had seen more fists and punches than even she could count, and the way he carried himself with his hips out forward just that little, shoulders back, and his head positioned where it was as if he was examining everything about everything, even what he couldn't see. He was aware, that was for sure, because their eyes had met a few times while she stood there examining him as he talked kindly to Chiho.

Despite his roughness though, he was rather good looking. Maybe he wasn't model like, but he had nice, white, perfect teeth with a perfect smile, eyes, albeit a bit bigger than she was used to seeing on even a boy of his age's face but not that much bigger, that were warm and friendly as he talked to the three-year-old who was attempting to drag him along. His body was nice and lean too, one that many men wanted to have but were too lazy to get off their butts and do anything to get it; she could see it under the nice white, button-up shirt he had tucked into his blue jeans.

She repected the fact that the boy wore his blue-jeans around his waist and not his knees. It was nice to know some of the younger boys didn't dress themselves like her brother who had started wearing his pants like that when he became someone's bitch in jail.

Ten called on her and she asked him to wait a moment while she went to go talk to the older boy. Ten, one of the more mature of the preschool attendees, nodded acknowledgably.

She walked over to the boy who was laughing at Chiho as Chiho used all his strength to pull the blonde by his finger even as the blonde never budged.

"Chiho," Miss Moko chided. "What have I told you about leaving the class?"

Chiho looked up innocently. "Dohn't?"

"Yep," Miss Moko said and Chiho got the hint, toddling himself back to the classroom he was supposed to be in. She looked at the boy. He looked at her, his eyes still warm but she, as a teacher, could see all the experience in his eyes. Those were not the eyes of a regular no-reponsiblities boy. He'd obviously been through a lot, and to come out smiling...it was very admirable. "Can I help you, Mr...?"

"Jounouchi," he said, reaching out his hand. "But, ah, call me Jou."

"Well, Jou, are you here to pick someone up?"

Jou's eyes widened and his face bloomed a funny shade of red. Miss Moko raised an eyebrow and he looked away, embarrassed. "Ah...no."

Miss Moko frowned. Did he have a child at his age? "Enroll someone?"

He shook his head again. "I...heard ya were hirin' teacher assistants."

Miss Moko's eyes widened and she looked him over again. She could tell he wasn't very well off either. His shoes were new, she supposed, but they had definitely been worn. Under her gaze Jou scratched the back of his neck. Being nervous meant he was either getting money or being serious, but after seeing him with Chiho...

"The manager for hiring isn't here," She lied, since she owned the establishment. "But I'm allowed to take volunteers for now. If you're willing to volunteer until she gets back, and you do a good job, I'll put a good word in for you."

Jou looked straight at her, his eyes bright with excitement and surprise. "Really?"

She couldn't help but smile. He was adorable, just like one of the kids. "Really." She turned around and went under the desk to pull some papers for him to fill out and grabbed her water bottle as well. With the soft breeze they had today they opened the windows, but for a teacher who was bussiling up-and-about the rooms were still decidedly hot she took a sip and handed him the papers. "So how old are you?"

Truthfully she had expected to say twenty, or twenty-one, as most people who had applied through the years that looked as young a him had been around that, just getting out of college. She choked on her water when he said he was only sixteen.

.-.-.-.

Miss Moko pointed to a stack of boxes. She had a young one and she was going to abuse him. It was his first day anyways, she didn't know what else to do with him yet. "Put those boxes in the storage closet please." They had been sitting there for months, untouched, and she was sick of looking at them. She had asked about everyone who had worked there, but everyone was either too lazy or too weak.

"Where?"

Miss Moko looked at Jou. Dressed in a simple white long-sleeved tee and jeans (despite the fact that Miss Moko didn't understand how the boy couldn't be hot in this weather), he was perfect for a teen dealing with messy children. "That door in the corner. Then come help me with the kids."

He nodded and went to work. Chiho tugged on her skirt and she looked down at him as his eyes teared up. "Miss Mohko," he whimpered, "I wanna play with Jo-Jo."

Her brow furrowed for a second. 'Jo-Jo' she thought, Who's...oh! "Don't worry, sweet heart, he'll be playing with you in a minute, Okay?" She smiled sweetly and pat Chiho's shoulder.

Chiho shook his head. "I wanna now."

Misso Moko sighed and crouched to Chiho's level. Looking him in the eye as she brushed back some of his bangs, "Jo-Jo has to help Miss Moko out first, then he can play with you for a while. Sound okay?"

Chiho paused a moment, then nodded and sniffed. Head held down in defeat, it took him a moment to raise his head. He got a curious look on his face as he looked behind Miss Moko as she brushed his bangs from his eyes again before his teary eyes widened in astonishmet. "Wow! Jo-Jo is shtrong!"

Miss Moko whipped her head around and her mouth dropped to the floor. Jou was carrying three good sized boxes of construction paper as if the boxes were as empty as Humpty Dumpty's head after the fall. "Jou!"

He turned his head, a quizzed look on his face at her tone of voice. Then he got a scared look, as if he was caught in the act of doing something wrong. "I'm sorry! Did I get t'e wrong boxes?"

"No!" Miss Moko yelped, putting her hand over her heart. "Macaroni, Jou! You are strong!"

Jou blankly looked at her, but as he comprehended what she was saying he smiled. "T'anks, uh...would ya mind opening t'e door for me, please? It's locked."

Miss Moko looked at him before she squeaked in realization. "Of course! I'm sorry!" Rushing to her desk she grabbed her keys and dashed for the closet. She had completely forgotten she had locked it this morning! "Here you go."

Jounouchi grinned and carefully set down the boxes before heading over to get the remainding four. Miss Moko watched in astonishment as he crouched down and lifted the boxes. He certainly was earning his keep, Miss Moko thought as she watched him carry them. This time, though, he seemed to have a little trouble with it as he quickly waddled back to the closet and set the boxes right beside the other ones. Taking a sigh, he stood.

"Is that good?" He asked, ready to be commanded. A little thrill went down Miss Moko's spine. He was just like an excited puppy learning a new trick for treats! This boy! She could just gobble him up! She smiled at him and her eyes sparkled in merriment. "Jou, that's perfect."

Jounouchi blushed, looking away from her shyly. "Uh...t'anks."

She smiled and reached for his shoulder. He flinched for a second and she got a look at something she'd seen much too many times before. Her heart broke for him. Softly she patted his shoulder before sliding her arm around his shlouders and pulling him into a slow, gentle hug. He didn't react, he kind of just stood there frozem, his arms mid-air as if he didn't know what to do with them. Quietly Miss Moko asked, "Do you not like hugs, Jou?"

He blushed - doing a fine imitation of a fire truck, if Miss Moko said so herself."I - I like them..." Slowly he wrapped his arms around her too. A little motherly worry pitted in Miss Moko's stomach, he was so skinny. "I jus' wasn' expectin' a hug."

Miss Moko pulled back holding his shoulders and examining his rather red face. "Since I can't pay you money yet, how about I get some food in the stomach at lunch?"

"Ah," he blinked at her. "I - I can't do that, ma'am."

"Of course you can," she said.

"Miss Mohko!" Sakura waddled up and tugged on her skirt. "Miss Mohko. Kyohko's hidin' again."

"Ah..." Miss Moko dropped her hands from Jounouchi's shoulder's. "Please watched the kids with Nemo and make sure no one gets into anything bad." She winked at him, "Think of it as a test of your skill with kids. Don't mess up!"

He looked at her like a dear lost in head-lights before she turned around and walked away to go find her shy child. She didn't know if she wanted to giggle or hold the dear boy until he didn't seem so afraid anymore.

.-.-.-.

After her assessment yesterday she found out this little, lost boy had been great with kids. When she had come back from plucking her shy child from her hiding place he had most of the kids climbing on top of him as he laughed and laughed and laughed at them while her original teacher assistant, Nemo had laughed at him. She scoffed at how naturally it was for Katsuya to get all the kids to follow him to a T.

It was embarrassing for a teacher of almost twenty years to be so upsurped by a teenager.

"He's a bit weird." Miss Kihai, the teacher of the two-year-olds, took a sip of her steaming coffee as if it was nothing. Miss Moko had always wondered how she did that, but when she asked Miss Kihai just said it wasn't that hot. "He's almost miserably afraid of all of us, but put him alone with a bunch of three-year-olds and he becomes the perfect parent of twenty."

Miss Rei, the youngest of the teacher at only twenty-three, hmmed. She dealt with the four-year-olds. "He can be afraid of us all he wants as long as he keeps bending over; he's got one fine ass."

"Rei!" Miss Moko scowled, blushing because - despite her age - she had noticed it too. "He's not even legal!"

"I'm not that old yet!" She scowled. "I can appreciate. Besides, he looks older than just sixteen. He's pretty decent in height."

Miss Kihai sighed. "I still can't believe that boy's age."

"Yeah," Miss Moko sighed, "I can garantee that's what he's birth certificate said."

"Miss Rei?" Kai, a teacher assistant, poked her head into the break room. "I need your help with the crafts please."

"Right away," Miss Rei said, putting her coffee down. "Back to work."

Miss Moko let out another dreary sigh. "I suppose."

"Oh!" Kai squeaked. Miss Moko and Rei stepped out the door and looked to where Kai was and saw Jounouchi. He was on his stomach, his legs swinging the air with Chiho sitting on his back and he had his held out as if offering to someone in the cubby area between the desk and the wall. "He's sort of adorable, isn't he? I was scared of him at first, but look at him."

"All of us are the same way," Rei said. "Come'on. Dei can only handle all the kids herself for so long." Kai looked at her, Jounouchi and back at her before nodded and they left to their classroom."

Miss Moko, curious as to what was happening walked over towards Jou, but stopped a few feet away when she could hear him clearly.

"You're not gonna tell me your name then?" He asked.

Chiho giggled and and grabbed onto Jounouchi's hair as he leaned forward. "It's okay, Jo-Jo's nice."

There was little whimper. That was all either of the two got in response, but Miss Moko already figured out what was going on. Her shy child, Kyoko, was refusing to come out again and Jounouchi was trying to coax her.

"He's quite the caretaker," Nemo whispered to her.

"Macaroni, Nemo, how many times have I told you not to do that!" Miss Moko jumped, holding her hand over her heart and looking at the grinning male beside her. She'd known the man for years and he still surprised her like a ninja out of the night. "You gave me a heart attack!" She scowled when Nemo chuckled and she sighed. "I've been hearing the same thing from everyone all morning. 'Jou's so cute,' 'Jou's so good with kids,' it makes me feel like everyone now finds everone else otherwise useless."

"Fine, then," Jounouchi said from the corner, but playfully with a charming smile. Miss Moko was sure once Jounouchi fully matured that he would charm anything with a heart with that smile. "I'll call you Daisy, cause you're a shy-flower." He paused. "Do you like daisies?"

She couldn't see 'Daisy's response, but when Jounouchi grinned, Miss Moko was sure it was a nod. "I like daisies too."

"Me too!" Chiho added, "I like 'em too!"

"It's not that we find eachother useless..." Nemo commented after Chiho's agreement. "He's just useful. He's quite young too, it helps a lot," Nemo stated. Miss Moko turned her head to glare at him. Nobody that worked here was that old...just not quite as young as Jounouchi. "It's quite adorable. He seems to be winning Kyoko over as well, look at him." He smiled and met Miss Moko's gaze. She cocked a brow at him and he sighed. "Right, right, back to work."

Miss Moko nodded, shooing him back to the children, and turned her head back to Jounouchi in time to see him playfully tug Kyoko out of her hole. Kyoko looked up at him as he smiled brightly at her. Her big blue eyes widened for a moment before her face seemed to consumed by the color red when Jounouchi softly called her beautiful.

"Isn't she pretty, Chiho?" Jounouchi asked, looking over to the little boy next to him.

Chiho paused for a moment, examining Kyoko. Miss Moko's heart stopped for a moment, Chiho was honest, almost too honest sometimes, and if he didn't find Kyoko pretty he was sure to make it known. Alas, he nodded and smiled too. "Yesh!"

"You shouldn't hide your pretty face, Daisy," Jounouchi said, wisping Kyoko's bangs from her pretty eyes. Miss Moko frowned when she saw how beat up his knuckles were, like he'd been beating them against a tree or a wall. "It's sad when pretty girls do that."

Kyoko just looked even more wide-eyed at him, her face redder than a fresh bloomed rose.

"Jo-Jo!" Chiho tugged on Jounouchi shirt. "Can we draw now?"

"I don' know," Jounouchi said, tapping Chiho's nose and laughing heartily when Chiho scrunched his face, "Does Daisy wanna draw?"

Kyoko looked away when the two males looked at her. She fidgeted and brought her fists up to hide her face as Jounouchi and Chiho patiently waited for her to answer.

"Do ya, Daisy?" Chiho asked. "Wanna draw with me?"

Daisy hesitated, but slowly nodded her head in the end. Chiho cheered and Jounouchi scooped her up into his arms. She yelped and clung on to his shoulder for dear life as he took her along to the drawing table.

Miss Moko sighed as one of the other children pulled on her skirt and asked for her help. She was starting to feel kind of bad for not hiring him.

.-.-.-.

By the third day, Jounouchi had the whole school calling Kyoko 'Daisy'. She didn't seem to mind it as Chiho and Jounouchi flourished her with attention. As an added bonus she had yet to find a hiding place to be plucked from today. Of course, Jounouchi had easily cooed her attention to the arts and crafts projects with finger paints they were all doing today. Miss Moko watched him as she put smiley face stickers on all of the class' little ABC projects they had worked on yesterday.

Jounouchi was sitting between Chiho and Daisy as he smiled mischeviously. Then, he dipped his finger in the blue fingerpaint and merrily swiped it over Daisy's nose. She squaked and eagerly went for the wet cloth Jounouchi had drapped over his leg.

"How'd ya get paint on your nose, Daisy?"

"You did it!" She exclaimed, wiping the blue paint off her face. Chuckling he swiped his finger back over her nose and put more blue paint on it. She squealed and wiped it off again.

"I did it?" He asked, swiping her nose for a third time. "No, see, ya did it."

"Ah!"

"Nuh-uh!" Chiho said, pointing his green pointer finger at Jounouchi. "You did it, Jo-Jo!"

"Nuh-uh!" Jounouchi said, swiping Chiho's nose. Chiho squacked and Daisy reached over and wiped off his nose for him. Laughing, Jounouchi ran another swipe over each of their noses.

"Jo-Jo!" Chiho scowled.

"I didn't do it!"

"Yes you did!" Daisy said all teary-eyed with a defeated look on her face. She tried to wipe her nose off again but Jounouchi just repainted it. "Eh!" Daisy pouted and her eyes teared even more as she just looked hopelessly pathetic at Jounouchi.

"I saw you!" Chiho exclaimed again. "I saw you do it!"

"You saw me?" Jounouchi asked, mocking his innocence. "When?"

"Just now!" Chiho accused. "Stop lying! Mommy said lying is bad!"

Jounouchi really laughed, covering his mouth with his hand and accidently getting paint on his own cheek, which just made him laugh harder. "Ya're right, ya're right," he admitted and took the cloth from Daisy. Firstly he wiped off her nose, then Chiho's, before finally his cheek and finger. "Lying is bad."

Chiho nodded affirmingly and Daisy sniffed. Katsuya just smiled some more and pulled them into a big hug, kissing each of their foreheads adoringly and cooing at them.

Miss Moko smiled, placing another sticker on Moko's paper before moving onto the rest. She sighed as she watched Nemo stroll up with some yarn that they were going to later staple to the soft ceiling and tie clothespins to the other end to hang the children's artwork up. "How'd Jou get that bruise," he asked, placing the yarn on her desk.

Miss Moko frowned and looked at Jounouchi. "What bruise?"

"The one on the side of his neck. I saw it earlier when we were talking; I didn't get to say anything before Chiho stole him away, but it certainly did not look like a hickey."

Miss Moko studied Jounouchi for a moment more, her stomach churning in dread as too familiar puzzle pieces put themselves together in her head. She didn't want it to be true, but too much was adding together to purely equal coincidence. She bit her lip and sighed in remorse. She still had a little bit of hope, but the flame was dying fast.

.-.-.-.-.

Miss Moko watch Jounouchi from the corner of her eye as the children took a nap. Tears pricked her eyes as she watched him miserable trying to do his homework.

He'd stare at the papers in front of him, the fist he had on the desk tightened and loosened in neurotic clenches as he tried desperately to concentrate. Trash from the lunch Miss Moko had bought him - a lunch bigger than she ever thought any boy that age could eat, especially for as unhealthily thin as he was - sat beside him. As he sighed in contempt he stood and grabbed the trash, throwing it away.

All that she could play in her head was her confrontation yesterday when she had asked him about the bruise on his neck. He spluttered and had done his best to avoid her eyes as he told her it was nothing. When she had reached out for him he had slapped her arm away so hard she bruised. He had about cried and had apologized so profusively that she felt her heart break into a million little pieces.

Today she had worn a light sweater to hide the bruise on her arm and had rarely taken her eyes off of him. It wasn't unusual for him to avoid all the adults, preferring the company of the children, and when he had to talk to them he shied away and fidgeted, but today he was worse than usual. All the teachers and assistants and even Daisy and Chiho had mentioned something to her.

She hadn't known Katsuya Jounouchi for long, only four days, but she had known the symptoms of child abuse for longer than she would ever want.

She knew enough about the blonde that she knew she liked him. She like it when he hugged back and when he smiled. She loved when his eyes twinkled as he played with the children and when he carried heavy boxes full of construction paper to the closet. She laughed, wiping her eyes before she stood and walked over to sit next to him where he sat in one of the kid's seat. She stared at him for a moment, but he didn't look at her as he pretended to focus on his homework.

She lifted her hand and he had flinched, tensing up for a moment as it slowly moved closer to his face. Gently she brushed his bangs from his eyes and she looked at his temple where there was an old scar that must have been made by a jagged edge. Timidly, he looked over to her and she brushed her fingers over his cheek.

"Jou," she said softly, "You're very kind," she commented, "You're strong, and you're brave; you have a lot of things painted on your backround." She leaned forward and kissed his temple tenderly and brought him too her in an awkward hug. He squirmed a bit, tense, but he settled down after a moment. "Are you okay? I know you don't know me very well, but maybe there are things you could tell me because of that, things you can't tell your Yugi friend that you talk about so often."

She looked down and he was biting his lip, his eyes wetting with frustrated tears. He didn't say anything and she gazed at all the children. All of them, even the ever excited Chiho, were all sleeping.

"Those are my babies," she said. "Every child that enters this school that need to be looked after is my baby. When my babies are hurt, so am I, do you understand, Jou?"

Jounouchi was hesitant, but then he gave a quick nod.

She pushed him back and steered his chin so he had to face her. "Jounouchi, you may be strong and mature, but you are still a child." She cupped his cheek with her hands and put her forehead against his. "You're my child now, from that moment that you stepped through that door and asked me for a job. I care about you, Jou. If you need help with anything, I'm here for you." She let the tears fall from his eyes before wiping them away with her thumbs. She smiled softly and let go of his face in favor of holding his hand.

She waited for him, to see if he would say anything, but when he didn't she just sighed solemnly. Then, she gave him a helpless smile. "Why don't you show me your homework, maybe I can help you with that. I may teach preschoolers but I had to go to school too first."

He stared at her for a moment, almost like a puppy left out in the rain, before he nodded and showed her the papers.

.-.-.-.

Miss Moko put the phone down and shakily sighed. She sat there for a moment as the tears started to fall and her chest started to collapse in on her as she trembled. Her husband, Ren, put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her in for a hug.

"Moko..."

"Oh, Gods, Ren," she sobbed as she recalled the phone call, burying her face in her hands and shaking her head. "When the police had gotten there his father had just thrown a beer bottle at his head!"

"Is he alright?"

"I don't know!" she yelped, throwing her arms around his neck and crying into his shoulder as he held her. "They said he was unconcious and bleeding!" Her body wracked and she held onto Ren for dear life. "What if he's not okay? He's already been abused for Gods only know how long and his mental state will take a while to adjust to not being abused!"

"Then isn't possible that you had just saved his life by calling social services?"

"THAT BOY SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN IN THE SITUATION THAT I HAD TO!" She screamed. Ren sighed and tighted his hold on her. She sighed, comforted just a little. "Oh, Ren..."

"Look," Ren said, leaning back and embracing her face in his hands, using his thumbs in the same gentle gesture she had on Jou to wipe the tears away. "Did they tell you what hospital he'd be at or where you could find him?"

She nodded and sniffed. Her husband grabbed a tissue. Putting it to her nose, he told her, "Blow."

She did and sighed, even as more tears dripped down her face.

Ren frowned and kissed her forehead through her black bangs. "Tomorrow, we can visit him."

"We can't," she said, "Not for three days."

"Well," Ren said, "In three days we'll go."

Miss Moko sniffed again. "You've never met him."

"I have to meet the man that's got my wife in such a fuss." He kissed her cheek as she smiled at the slight undertone of jealousy. "I don't approve of this."

Miss Moko snorted, but nodded. "Okay. But just know that I still love you most."

"I wouldn't let it be, " he leaned in, his large fingers sliding into her black bob and he brushed his lips over hers, "any other way."

.-.-.

Despite her husbands friendly hazel eyes and the short hair he kept that left his face open, Miss Moko hoped that he didn't scare Jounouchi. Her stomach knotted as they approached the door. It dropped for a second when her husband surprised her and grabbed her hand but then she just took a breath of air and creeped inside.

"Stupid mutt..."

"Shuddap, Moneybags."

Miss Moko blinked, looking at the sleeping patient that Jounouchi was sharing a room with. The other patient's curtain was open, but Jounouchi's was closed and she slowly stalked over to see as her husband patiently allowed himself to be led by her.

There was a brunette their, too tall to be Jounouchi's friend Yugi who was described as being short. He had glowering blue eyes that could pierce holes through metal, but they seemed adoring as he stared down at Jounouchi. He was seated on the bed by Jounouchi's waist, his fingers dusting Jounouchi's face as the blonde stared curiously up at him.

"You're still stupid," he whispered to Jounouchi.

"You're an ass."

The brunette smirked and leaned his face - an oddly familiar one - up to Jounouchi's, but for once Miss Moko didn't see him flinch. The brunette's smirk slowly slid into a gentle smile as he leaned in and gave Jounouchi a gentle a kiss.

"Ah!" Jounouchi gasped as the brunette pulled away. "Kaiba?"

That's when Miss Moko recognized him. Seto Kaiba! Seto Kaiba had just kissed Jounouchi! She gasped and Kaiba jerked up and Jounouchi snapped his head in her direction.

She covered her mouth and blushed modestly as Kaiba cleared his throat and her husband walked forward.

"M-Miss Mo-oko?" Jounouchi spluttered. "Ah...umm..." He blushed, his face red as a firetruck. His fingers brushed his lips and he looked at Kaiba who was glaring at the wall, not making any eye contact with anyone in the room. "Ah..hi..." he ended miserably.

"Hi," she waved at him. "How - How are you feeling?"

"All - Alright," he said.

"I'll see you later," Kaiba said, grabbing his suit case and walking almost past Miss Moko and Ren, but he stopped. He looked her up and down before he asked, "You were the one to call social services?"

Miss Moko blinked, but slowly nodded. Kaiba studied her a moment more before nodding. "Thank you," he said, and walked away.

Jounouchi watched him go, and Miss Moko watched him as she and her husband walked up to his bedside. He turned his gaze at them before looking away miserably. They were all silent for a moment before Ren spoke up. "Hi," he said. "I'm Moko's husband."

"Uh.." Katsuya said. "I - I...Umm..."

"No worries, my wife's talked about you enough." Ren put his hand on the bedrail and noticed the blonde flinched. There wasn't a question in the world why his wife cared so much after that.

They were all silent again.

"Thank you," the blonde said finally.

"For what?" Miss Moko asked.

"Saving me," Jounouchi muttered. "From my dad."

"Oh, Jou..." She said, reaching up and ignoring his flinch as she brushed his bangs behind his ear. "Of course. You're welcome."

He smiled, softly and unsurely. He looked pathetic with his arms all bandaged up and his head wrapped in medical tape. His face was bruised and swollen too and the short sleeves of the hospital gown allowed Miss Moko to see all the bruises and scars and scabs. Her heart ached and she kissed his temple.

"Jou..." She said, "I know you don't know me well, or my husband at all but we'd like to adopt you. You'll have a job at the preschool no matter what and Ren, my husband here, and I would really like to have you in our family."

Jounouchi looked at them, really looked at them, before he smiled sillily. "I think you'd have trouble doin' that. I don't wanna put ya out."

"It wouldn't be," Ren said, smiling back. "Not at all."

Jounouchi shook his head still smiling. "Not that. It's not living with ya that would put you out as much as fighting for custody from Kaiba." He grinned and looked over to a vase full of red and white roses. "'Parently he likes me a lot."

Miss Moko let the information sink in before she smiled and giggled merily. "Well, then, I guess I can't win that. But you'll still work for us, right? You have a paying job now, you can't quit when you haven't even had your first day on payroll, can ya?"

Jounouchi's grin widened. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."