Apophenia – seeing meaningful patterns or connections in random or meaningless data

-xxx-

Five years later, Seto finally replaced the portrait in the hall. Yet another piece of evidence, he thought to himself as he aligned the mountings and hammered the nails, that if he wanted something done correctly he would have to do it himself.

Five months earlier , he had entered the Kame Game Shop for what he had thought was the final time, and through the unlikely chain of events that had transpired as a result, that sentiment had been proven to be almost entirely incorrect.

-xxx-

"Don't you take one step closer, boy! Keep your hands where I can see them! I'll have you know that I'm one false move away from triggering a silent alarm that will have the full force of the Domino City police here in moments!"

Seto rolled his eyes as he gently placed his briefcase on the floor and shrugged off his trench coat. "I hope you realize that announcing that you're about to trigger a silent alarm completely misses the point," he seethed. "But for your information I'm not here to cause any trouble."

"I'd have to be a fool to fall for that one," Soloman snorted.

"Then this shouldn't be too difficult for you to follow," Seto muttered. "Look. If you would just calm down and listen to me—"

"Thugs, thieves, and hooligans are not, and never will be, welcome in my establishment!" Soloman gestured to a line of pictures lining the line behind him, over which the word 'BANNED' was scrawled in bold red letters. Studying the images, Seto could see that they were composed primarily of stills of overly enlarged and painfully pixelated security camera footage of shoplifters and vandals. And among them, situated directly below the first 'N' in 'BANNED ,' sat Seto's own smugly smiling face, encased in a wreath of lime green bangs.

"That's not even a recent picture," he muttered, mostly to himself .

"I've reported and locked up more of you delinquents than you can shake a stick at, and unless you want to join them, I suggest—"

"Grandpa? Is everything okay?" Yuugi came rushing in from the back room, eyes wide with concern, with Jounouchi following closely behind him.

"Everything is fine." Kaiba insisted. "If your buffoon of a grandfather would just listen—"

"Oh, I'm the buffoon?!" Soloman cried. "I'm not the one who had the audacity to show his face in this establishment after robbing me blind—I haven't forgotten about that you know!" He waved a menacing finger in Kaiba's direction.

"I noticed."

"Grandpa, Kaiba-kun is our friend now." Yuugi began cautiously. "He wouldn't dream of harming any of your treasures now."

"And besides, if he does we'll punch his face in for you, Grandpa," Jounouchi added. "You don't have anything to worry about."

Soloman took a moment to consider, fixing his gaze alternatively on Yuugi's appeasing face, Jounouchi's devilish grin, and Kaiba's tensed jaw and shoulders.

"Well, I suppose just this once," he conceded, turning to face Kaiba directly. "What brings you in here today, son?"

"I'd prefer to do this without an audience," Seto muttered stiffly.

"Hey, anything you want to say to Yuugi's grandpa you can say in front of us," Jounouchi snapped.

"Fine." Seto retrieved his briefcase and took a few icy steps forward, gaze occasionally flickering over Soloman's shoulder to Yuugi and Jounouchi, who were regarding him with open curiosity. He gingerly set his briefcase on the glass countertop, and with a few precisely measured flicks of his fingers the steel clasps popped open with a satisfying click.

Soloman, Yuugi, and Jounouchi gawked when the contents of the case revealed themselves. Inside, glowing with the warmth of gold and the dazzle of jewels , was nestled what they had to imagine was the better part of Kaiba's Duel Monsters card collection, with his three Blue Eyes poised like a soft fall of crystalline snow on the top.

"These—are for you," Kaiba mumbled, shifting the weight distribution among his feet.

"I can't possibly accept this!" Soloman exclaimed. "And if you think this makes up for you destroying my Blue Eyes, you can forget it! That card was of priceless sentimental value."

"I know." Kaiba muttered. " I…understand . Look, just take them, okay?!" Noting that his tone had grown somewhat harsher than he had intended , he added, "I want you to have them."

"I-I couldn't possibly!" Soloman cried as he made a move to shove the briefcase away.

"Hey, wait a second there, Gramps," Jounouchi interjected as he took a step closer to examine the cards in greater detail. "Think about what you're saying no to here. These must be worth a fortune !"

"Oh, I'm sure they are. But that's not the point here," Soloman replied. "I would never dream of selling these cards. But you," he turned to Seto, "You can't be seriously contemplating parting with these cards. A dragon could sooner renounce its scales! They're a vestige of your soul—"

" Not anymore ." Seto retorted, earning him incredulous stares from all three. "Please just take them and spare me the diatribe."

Seeing that his grandfather was at a loss for words, Yuugi stepped in. "Are you sure about this Kaiba-kun?"

"Completely."

"But…why?"

Kaiba stared in response. "Just take the cards and stop asking questions."

" This isn't some kind of suicide cry for help thing, is it Kaiba ?" Jounouchi asked. "You're not planning on offing yourself , are you?"

Seto rolled his eyes. "No. And if I was I certainly wouldn't tell you ."

Jounouchi let out an exasperated sigh. "Well now I can't believe you! Is it for drugs? Do you need drug money?"

"No."

"Bail?"

"No."

" Hookers?"

Seto chose not to dignify that suggestion with a response.

"Well, thanks for the cards, Kaiba-kun," Yuugi said, carefully shutting the briefcase and removing it from the countertop. "We'll treasure them."

"Thank you." Seto sighed and turned to leave.

"Wait, Kaiba-kun!" Yuugi exclaimed. "Jou and I are cooking dinner, do you want to join us?"

"What?"

"It's going to be great—soup, salad, sushi!" Yuugi continued. "Jou-kun and grandpa would love to have you join us!"

Seto eyed them skeptically, taking in the sharp contrast between Yuugi's glowing grin and the slightly more perturbed expressions that were storming across the face of Jounouchi and Yuugi's grandfather.

"We've hardly seen you at all since we got back. C'mon, it'll be fun."

And before Seto could concoct any witty replies about how hardly was altogether too often for his taste, he found himself being half-dragged, half-pushed into Yuugi's dimly-lit and oppressively warm kitchen, all the while dodging Soloman's broiling glare .

"Old man certainly does know how to hold a grudge," he mused to himself as he stepped through the doorway.

"Well, you did send him to the hospital," Jounouchi chimed as he trailed behind them.

"So? A man his age probably spends half his time in the hospital as it is. I'm sure he didn't notice a significant change."

"Grandpa is quite healthy, actually," Yuugi replied over his shoulder as he resumed chopping tomatoes. "He says that the gaming business keeps him young at heart."

Seto snorted as he sat down on an aged barstool. "I'm sure he does."

"Kaiba-kun, could you help Jou-kun with the sushi, please?" Yuugi pointed to the other end of the laminate counter to where Jounouchi was juggling stacks of raw fish and sheets of seaweed.

Kaiba eyed him quizzically. "What are you doing cooking here—renting yourself out as an indentured servant to the Moto family?"

Jounouchi was about to reply when Yuugi cut in. "Actually, Jounouchi-kun has been staying with me since we returned."

"Hm. Finally get adopted then, did you? Lucky, I bet the pound was just about to put you down ."

"Sour words spoil the cooking." Soloman replied, joining them from the shop. "And every able body helps." He eyed Kaiba with confusion veiled by lingering resentment.

Seto pinched his lips and rose, washed his hands, and joined Jounouchi at the counter, his muttering of 'he's doing it entirely wrong, anyway' just barely audible.

"So, Kaiba, are you going to tell me the reason you're abandoning all your cards? Or are you going to make me keep guessing? You never said no about the hookers, by the way."

Seto scrutinized Jounouchi's pile of completed sushi, picked a piece from the top, and began to re-wrap it.

"I can't fathom how it's any of your business." Seto replied airily.

"Of course it's my business! You're the second-highest ranked duelist in the world! If you retire that leaves more room at the top."

"Maybe I could no longer bear the thought of competing in a field in which you are regarded as a semi-literate player," Kaiba drawled. "If you're one of the world's top-ranked duelists the game must surely be losing its legitimacy."

"Wow, Kaiba , I had no idea that my success had had that profound an impact on you ." Jounouchi replied in mock surprise. "I'm real moved."

Seto snorted. "Don't get carried away."

With four sets of hands now at work, the dinner preparations progressed rapidly, and the densely packed kitchen filled with a rich fragrant steam that clung to their clothes and fogged the windows.

"Are you on the run from the cops? Have to ditch your old identity and make a quick getaway ? Because I told Yuugi that it was only a matter of time until the law caught up with you ." He paused and studied Kaiba closely, biting his lip. "But seriously, those cards are your life. You have to get that we're surprised."

"Maybe I've learned that there's more to life than childish card games." Seto held his gaze steadily, and under the weight of each other's scrutiny they both felt a heat rising in their faces that almost certainly wasn't due to the cooking .

"Well look at Mr. Fancy Hands Kaiba here, all grown up! You're the real picture of maturity, you know, what with all the petty insults. Thinking of outgrowing those any time soon?"

"I wouldn't count on it." Seto smirked.

"You could at least try to be civil, you know?" Jounouchi continued. "After all we've been through together, saving the world and all, you'd think that would have earned me some compassion in that stony heart of yours."

"If I recall correctly, you are the one who threatened to punch my face in." He sighed. "But, fine, whatever, you would find out soon enough anyway: I'm moving to the United States."

The rustic melody of chopping tomatoes, bubbling soup, and sizzling onions suddenly ceased.

"What?! You can't move!" Jounouchi exclaimed.

"Why not?"

"You…you just can't!"

"Compelling argument, as always. Your eloquence never ceases to amaze me."

"When are you leaving, Kaiba-kun?" Yuugi asked.

"End of the summer." Seto replied flatly. He returned to wrapping the sushi, but paused when he felt himself under the weight of two heavy pairs of eyes. "What?"

"Six weeks?!" Jounouchi demanded, poorly concealing the mounting stress in voice. "And then, we're just never going to see you again?"

"Is that a problem?"

Yuugi and Jounouhci settled into a contemplative silence. "Well, we've just lost so many people recently," Yuugi began, involuntarily reaching for the recently-vacated space around his chest. "It's just hard to think about saying any more goodbyes so soon."

"I'm prepared to make it pretty easy for you."

"But don't you have to finish school?"

"That's not really at the top of my priorities list. Kaiba Corp has the capacity to reach a series of grossly untapped markets overseas, and I'm not going to dawdle around in high school waiting for that opportunity to pass."

Yuugi nodded. "We understand, Kaiba-kun. Just promise that you'll stay in touch! And we have to hang out before you leave!"

Seto sighed as he rubbed his temples. "Must we?"

"He does kind of have a point." Jounouchi added. "We've hardly had a chance to see each other when someone's life wasn't on the line."

"I had no idea that was such a tragedy," Seto replied, feeling himself bristle under the sudden onslaught of sentiment and attention .

"Well, tragedy might be overdoing it…" Jounouchi replied.

"I'd better go." Seto cut in abruptly. "Before you two decide to chain me here ."

"Aren't you at least going to stay for dinner?"

Seto grimaced. "I think I've lost my appetite." He handed his last sushi to Jounouchi and whisked himself towards the entrance of the shop.

"Hey, Kaiba!" Jounouchi called after him, "you getting rid of any more stuff? Mind if I check it out?"

Seto's "whatever" was almost swallowed in the chime of the doorbell and sizzle of the kitchen.

"He-hey, this is going to be a goldmine !" Jounouchi exclaimed triumphantly. He turned his attention to the sushi that had been shoved into his hand, as tightly and delicately spun as a spool of silken thread. " I bet that jerk is sitting on a pile of awesome stuff that none of us could even imagine. "

-break-

Thanks for reading. I own nothing!

The title for this chapter comes from the song Saint John by Cold War Kids