The smile freezes on his face. Oh no. This time it's meat murder. Jounouchi immediately cuts in, sweating bullets.
"Hey, let's not have a repeat of last time—"
Only for Kaiba to raise his hand from the table, interrupting him. "It's fine, Jounouchi." Brows furrowed together as if he's deeply frustrated with all of this, but most of all, with himself.
His penetrative gaze searches for Mokuba's again, this time pleading.
He folds his arms across his chest, reflexively. A nervous twitch that exposes this uncomfortable side of him; vulnerable and uncertain.
It makes Jounouchi want to reach out for him, but he doesn't.
Kaiba continues pensively, "I wasn't certain how to bring Jounouchi into the fold, though perhaps the way I went about it was unwise. As you know, anyone who gets close to us is... dangerous. For us and for them."
He leans forward on steepled hands, slipping his eyes shut.
"Yet I made a calculated risk, ascertained the variables, all possible permutations, considered the infinitely many outcomes, and concluded to disregard of all that."
The pinched look returns on Kaiba's face when he opens his eyes. Silently pleading Mokuba to understand what he's trying to convey.
Jounouchi couldn't keep his mouth shut anymore.
"So what you're saying is that what you did back there was the best way to tell me and Mokuba that you trust me or something?"
Kaiba goes quiet, then nods stiffly.
Cue a huff of laughter on his part. "You're an idiot, you know that, right?" He cards his fingers through his hair, shaking his head in disbelief. "Come on man, it's okay to admit you were, like, freaking scared. No one's gonna judge."
Kaiba's jaw ticks as if he took psychic damage from that thought alone. He sneers at Jounouchi. "I wanted to be romantic," he sniffs.