Where the End Stops and the Start Begins

CHAPTER FOUR

Let it Shove When it comes to Push

Katsuya remembered how the sudden rush of blood to his head rendered him immobile, regardless of his efforts of staying upright. He did not know when the spell happened it just did, and amidst the all of the information that the Ishtar siblings shared, he found himself falling back. He remembered to have caught a glimpse of Mokuba who looked as though he was ready to ask him a question but instead yelled his name in alarm. He remembered the strong arms that were just in time to rescue him, and how it was not an embrace nor was it comfortable. But at least the arms did what they could. He remembered it was Seto, whose expression was a blur to him, and that the CEO helped him on his feet.

He recalled how his friends rushed to his side and asked him if he was fine. Katsuya assured them that he was and it probably happened because he was sleepless. The Ishtars probably waited a few moments before they continued to explain whatever it was they attempted to say before. Their words, however, merely registered as gibberish to Katsuya's ears as he found himself stealing quick glances of his ex-boyfriend, whom had returned to his usual nonchalance.

Katsuya felt the rise of heat in his cheeks. He landed his head on his desk – at that very moment, he felt extremely flushed. For the past hours since that happened (it had been the next morning), he was distracted by that particular memory. Consequently, it made it even more difficult to even finish anything.

"You're going to end up with a concussion if you keep doing that." Anzu, who decided to keep him company at his apartment, turned her head slightly towards the other. She then put down the magazine that was the center of her attention. "What's up?"

"My boss is going to kill me." Was all Katsuya could reply from behind his workspace.

"Come on, the design can't be that bad." With Katsuya's head still on the desk, completely blocked by the monitors, Anzu could not really tell. Yet she was not going to make an effort to rise from the comforts of the couch.

"Of course it's not that bad," the other groaned as he pulled his himself in a proper position, "there's nothing to be bad about!"

Anzu sighed, forcefully getting up from the couch (she really did not want to though). She walked towards her friend's workspace, where Katsuya was busy panicking. With a peak behind the monitors, she said, "you know what you need? Food. Come on, I brought pizza."

"You're the best!"

"I know."

Katsuya eagerly followed her to his kitchenette. And with that, the two friends began to dine with the pizza that Anzu offered. "You know what this would go great with? Wine. Do you have any?" The woman asked as she took a bite off of her piece.

"Day drinking, really? You're really setting me up as the stereotypical gay friend." Katsuya gave a playful snort. "But, yeah, I think there's one in the cupboard."

Anzu rolled her eyed. "One, you're bi and members of the community will find that statement very offensive. Two, I'm asking for myself, but you're welcome to join." She said as she found the bottle the other had spoken of. "Wow, this one's fancy."

"Oh, that was from Seto." Katsuya's breath nearly hitched at the mention of the CEO's name. He hoped, regardless, that he sounded as casual as possible.

"Right, Seto." Anzu returned to the table with the bottle of wine and a couple of mugs. "Date nights, huh?"

"All of which ended up here."

"I'm guessing that there should be disappointment there," the woman said as she poured herself a glass. "But there doesn't seem to be?"

"I'm not high maintenance," Katsuya admitted as he also poured some for himself. "I never really cared where our dates led. I just wondered why we never went anywhere." He downed a sip and continued, "or how come we never showed anyone."

"He was pretty showy last night though."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember when he caught you?" Anzu stated thoughtfully. "It's the first time I've ever seen him run like that. I don't know about you, but that pretty much screams care to me."

It was at the tail end of Anzu's sentence that heat rose once more across Katsuya's cheeks. He wanted to blame the wine, but one sip was too weak to cause any Asian glow. Thus, he did the only thing he could do – land his head on any empty space on the table… again.

As usual, the quick-witted Anzu noticed right away – "is that why you've been distracted? You've been thinking about last night?"

There was no verbal response, only Katsuya's attempt to nod without a lift of his head from the tabletop.

"If there's still something there, between you guys," his friend asked, "why don't you two just get back together?"

To which, he answered, "he was so focused on Atem last night."

"Oh – oh." Anzu's lips were set into a thin line with the newest revelation she was met with. She grasped the situation completely. Yugi's other self had been a factor of the separation, and it was a situation that she found somewhat familiar to her. Only in her version, she was the Seto. Anzu could only assume that what she saw must have been what her fiancé went through all those years back. "I'm so sorry."

"What about?" It was then that Katsuya finally found the strength to sit back up. "S'not your fault."

Anzu, in turn, leaned back onto the rest of her chair. With a sigh, she responded, "I see where Kaiba is in the whole scheme of things. I was there too." She shrugged, but earned no words from the other. She guessed that it was fine to continue.

The woman downed her glass with a few chugs to match – perhaps to boost her own morale. "Coming from someone who was also in love with Atem, and without being defensive about it, you can't really blame Kaiba or the pharaoh. Atem left, and no matter how many times he turns things around, Kaiba probably knows it's for the better. But for people like us – Kaiba and I – who may have had a fighting chance at something more, we were left with so many unanswered questions. Moving on and forgetting – they're difficult to do. God knows how much I wanted to. I even thought if I had fallen in love with Yugi first, we wouldn't have to deal with that mess."

Katsuya kept quiet in what Anzu thought was a reveal of hers. Of course, he had known the story even when he was in another part of the globe. He remembered the video calls he would get from his best friend in the middle of the night, just when he returned from work or school. How Yugi would begin with pleasantries, shop updates, and how he would transition to the dysfunctional relationship he and Anzu had. There were moments he wanted to fly to New York and knock some sense into the woman – leave him or work it out, choose only one, were the words Katsuya once wanted to shove to her face.

"I remember I kept wondering how things would have been if Atem and I pushed through and what not. Sometimes, I'd do something as horrible as comparing my imaginary scenarios with how Yugi would handle things." The woman shook her head, embarrassed of what she just confessed. "But, somehow, we got through it. Partly because Yugi and I really wanted to make things work. The other part was because I realized that Atem was there to teach me that if I could love him that greatly, then I could love Yugi with that capacity too. And here we are, years later, engaged."

"What I'm saying is, maybe, this is just one of those rough patches for you and Kaiba, and you can get through it. Have you ever sat down and talked about it again."

"I don't know if I still need to." Katsuya finally found himself able to answer the latter. "I think my situation is a bit different. You both wanted to work it out. I don't even think Seto acknowledged the problem until we broke up. He didn't even try to reach out after – he just sort of let me go, you know."

"Why didn't you do it, then?"

"Aside from the fact that I broke up with him? Because I initiated everything else." There was a shaky pause as the other wrapped his fingers around his mug. It was an attempt to steady himself. "When I noticed he was still hung-up on Atem, the doubts started rolling in. I kept thinking what the pharaoh would do versus what I would do, and if Seto liked the way I did things."

"Jou," his name came in a form of careful murmur that escaped Anzu. She reached out, beyond the pizza box and the wine bottle, to rest a comforting hand onto Katsuya's wrist. "If there's another take away from our experience, it's that we love the best way we know how to and we should never question that. If Kaiba can't see that, then I hope you find someone who can."

"…you guys suck." Katsuya whispered to himself as pertained to Atem, Anzu, and Seto.

This only earned him a sympathetic smile from the latter.

Their conversation was cut short as Katsuya's buzzer sounded thrice. It was as though the person on the other side of the door was in quite a rush to disturb their peaceful lunchtime.

The two friends looked at each other, and with a nod of permission from Anzu, Katsuya stood to venture towards the door. He carefully peeked through the eyehole and, to his surprise; there was one Kaiba Mokuba.

"Hey, Jou! Oh, Anzu?" Mokuba entered just as Katsuya allowed him to. "Was I intruding?" He asked as he removed his shoes.

"Uh, no, not really?" Katsuya answered with the shut of the door. "What brings you here?"

"Seto!"

Katsuya twitched at the mention of his ex's name, which resulted an awkward cough from Anzu. He knew her well enough that she tried to conceal the impending reaction that threatened to slip from her lips.

"What about Kaiba?" Anzu managed speak as she brought the pizza box closer to where Mokuba positioned himself – the couch, where she was earlier. "Here, have some." She offered as she sat beside him.

"You'd think he's a changed man and wouldn't be checking e-mails over the weekend, right? Well, he's nagging me about the project. It's almost done! I just need to tweak it up a bit more… and a break." The youngest of the group huffed as he grabbed a piece of the pizza he was offered. "Thank you."

"And your form of break is running away to my apartment?" Katsuya's eyebrow rose when his arms crossed. "I don't know, kid."

"He'll never look for me here." Mokuba turned to the Katsuya with eyes that seemed to plead for his at most mercy. "Just for a few hours 'til his mood settles down. Please, Jou?"

"Let him," Anzu piped in. "It's not like you're going to get anything done, anyway. At least, not in your own mood."

Katsuya, in his most mature way, stuck his tongue out before he answered: "sure, but you have to get going by six, latest." He frowned at the recollection of Seto's panicked demand for the Domino Police Department to search and rescue his little brother, when – in fact – the younger Kaiba had planned to head home. Mokuba's phone, at the time, just did not have the battery capacity to fire up the gadget. Katsuya had never seen an entire police battalion squirm the way they did when Seto made his order. "I just don't want the police to get involved again."

"Police?" The lone woman frowned in worry.

"You knew about that?" Mokuba blinked, it was supposedly confidential information. Nevertheless, he waved off the thought. "Anyway, yeah, I'll head home at six. I just need some air, you know?"

Curious, Katsuya had ever so casually asked "so what's got Kaiba's panties in a bunch this time?" as he grabbed his forgotten mug of wine and sat at the armchair near the couch's side.

The youngest shrugged. "I didn't see him today. I just e-mailed him the updates and suddenly the thread blew up with so many questions."

"You open your e-mails on a weekend?" Anzu's eyebrows furrowed. "But, why?"

"I just didn't want to have it followed-up tomorrow morning. I do still have school, you know." Mokuba answered directly with another bite of pizza. "I figured I'd send it today instead. But apparently he's also checking through his phone."

"He's probably bothered by the prophecy the Ishtars told us. I mean, it is a lot to take in."

"Prophecy?" Katsuya chimed in.

"You were there, Jou." Anzu sighed and took another piece.

"Sorry, I was sporting a dizzy spell, remember?"

After an exasperated breath of air that came from Anzu's lips, she explained – "long story short: the Egyptian God of War, Montu-Ra, wants to take revenge on the High Priest Set for causing the death of one his favorite consorts."

"Geez," Mokuba snorted from the side, "even his past life gets more action than him."

"Anyway," the woman continued with a bite of pizza, "legend has it that Montu-Ra will return to take away the very person the high priest holds dear. That's all the Ishtars have right now though, no other details – oh! Except for…" Anzu froze at her late remembrance. She shot Katsuya a concerned expression before she spoke once more. "The prophecy was actually recorded by Atem, himself."

Katsuya, in turn, shot Anzu with the same intensity as she did him. His lips merely formed a thin line as he tried to wrack his mind for words to speak; unfortunately there were none. At least none that had sounded as though he lacked care for his ex-boyfriend. "How's Kaiba taking it?"

Mokuba frowned. "I asked him about it when we got home, he shrugged me off and said it was stupid and that none of it were true." The youngest crossed his arms and leaned back on the couch.

"Did they say what's going to happen to him and when? And why precisely did Egyptian Kaiba kill the consort?" Anzu noted the venom-laced tone as Katsuya ended his sentence. Though she could not blame him. After all, it was still a consort – Anzu was just as sure as Katsuya that something happened between them. Which meant it was another version of Kaiba Seto that Katsuya did not have a happy end with.

Anzu shook her head. "The tablets were missing a lot pieces, and Ishizu's team is still deciphering some of the scrolls back in Egypt. Marik flew out today to help."

"And this is what Yugi is busy with today?"

"Most likely."


Kaiba Seto's day did not start well. In fact, it began worse than the previous day – which had also ended on a very bad note. The CEO honestly thought all he would receive were pieces of vital information on Yugi's other self. However, the Ishtars had a whole new surprise up their sleeves: a prophecy that threatened him, written by no other than Atem. Seto honestly thought he did not have to face another Egyptian curse.

Not that he found any reason to believe in them in the first place. However, it did not help that he had dreamt of the pharaoh again – after a long time of having been replaced by Katsuya. Yet, unlike the regular dueling scene, Atem just stood still in front of him. The pharaoh's eyes looked at him with an intensity he could not fathom. The CEO found it uncomfortable.

Seto woke up with a pounding headache that very morning.

The only consolation he had the entire weekend, he already deemed, were the brief chance of skin-ship he had with his former partner (in spite of the reason behind it). He could still feel the warmth of Katsuya's skin against his. First there was that, as well as the forthcoming opportunity to see Katsuya again in person – especially when Isono was kind enough to share with him where his younger brother had wondered off.

Seto tried to hide the grin that threatened to mar his nonchalance. He exited his car and walked into the familiar basement parking of the apartment complex Katsuya resided in. In all honesty, it would have been Isono's job to pick Mokuba up. However, it was the weekend, and the bodyguard earned the right to rest.

With every step the CEO took, he noted that not much had changed over the past months he stopped coming. The building still had the same faded peachy-hued walls in its hallways as well as the same plastic plants, and the same decors. It brought back a lot of enjoyable memories. He definitely missed being where Katsuya was.

Seto finally reached the room he aimed for. He glanced down the knob and recognized the keycard slot that he, once upon a time, could freely access. For a second, he wondered if his copy would still worked on it or if Katsuya remembered to change the lock.

The CEO shook his head in the decision to brush off the thought and opted to use the buzzer.

There were soft thuds on the floor, which came from inside the apartment. "I think Isono's here," Seto heard Katsuya's voice as he assumedly headed towards the door. Slowly, it opened. "Come on, Mokuba, don't keep Isono–"

Seto watched as familiar eyes widened in shock.

"Kaiba?" Katsuya blinked a few times before the information had fully registered.

"Jounouchi" Seto stiffly nodded in acknowledgement. "I hope my brother did not cause you any trouble?" He asked as he slightly peeked past the other – only to be met by his brother, who merely shot him a sheepish grin, and Masaki Anzu, who looked as though she just finished clearing the scene.

"Hey, Kaiba." Anzu greeted as she continued towards the kitchenette.

"I thought Isono was picking me up?" Mokuba nervously asked when he finally found his spot beside Katsuya.

"It's Sunday."

"Well, he did drive me here."

Seto rolled his eyes and folded his arms together. Katsuya spoke at the very moment he did so: "loosen up, let the kid enjoy what's left of the weekend." He then took a step forward.

The CEO frowned and replied. "It's already six o'clock in the evening, I'm pretty sure he's been enjoying his Sunday enough."

To which, the other rebutted with furrowed eyebrows: "it's still early, just let him play his games when you guys get home." He was irritable.

It was a scene that Seto recognized from their arguments – Katsuya would begin with light jabs before the real reason came to light. In turn, the CEO would be quite annoyed. Their fights as a couple were by no means as loud as their yesteryears; however, they were twice or thrice more infuriating. And, by virtue of competitiveness, Seto would never back down.

Although he did expect a more peaceful meeting.

"Could you please address the problem already, Jounouchi?"

"There's no problem to address, Kaiba. I just think Mokuba deserves a break from all the work you subject him to over the weekend."

"First of all, I do not subject him to anything in the weekend. What he does is done on his accord. Second, I do not see the point of hiding whatever it is bothering you in the guise of Mokuba's work-life balance."

Mokuba, who held his tongue, stood awkwardly a few inches behind Katsuya as he watched the exchange between his brother and his friend. While it seemed that the youngest wanted a piece of his mind shared he knew it was not the right time to intervene. After all, it was, unlike the times they fought in public, a scary sight to see – the quiet fury between Seto and Katsuya.

"Guys, I'm just going to pull Mokuba inside while you address whatever it is you're dealing with." Anzu instinctively and ever so gently pulled the younger Kaiba inside and closed the door.

Both men watched as the apartment's interiors disappeared from their view. For a moment, there was silence in between them. Until Seto released a tired sigh, which earned him the other's attention.

"I do not understand why you're suddenly on attack mode, when I just came to get Mokuba in peace." The CEO began as one hand massaged his forehead. "So, pray tell, what the hell is going on?"

Katsuya looked at Seto straight in the eyes, as if there were answers to find in his ex's orbs. It took some more time before he could properly answer the CEO.

"I, uh, heard the message from the pharaoh. Anzu told me. I was too out of it to understand anything last night so it just registered." Katsuya's answer came in slowly, as though he threaded into unknown waters. "And it's been bothering me the entire day."

"It bothered you?"

"Kind of, I guess."

It was Seto's turn to thread carefully, with only a short, "why?" as a response to Katsuya. He fought every urge to feel pleased to have had elicited some sort of reaction from the other. It was selfish, after all.

The other held himself as a false sense of defense, "I still worry about you. We're entitled to worrying about each other, right? I mean, I did say we won't be strangers."

"Which part of the entire thing bothers you, Katsuya?" The CEO, without any sort of hesitation, easily used the other's name. Seto felt as though it was the most natural thing to do at that point, regardless of them being exes. "The threat, the consort, or Atem?"

Taken aback at the follow-up question, all Katsuya could do was look away. "I think it's time you take Mokuba home." He said as he reached for the buzzer. "Thanks, by the way, for catching me last night."

TO BE CONTINUED