Disclaimer: Still gets me every time… but nope, I don't own anything.

Author's Note: Well, it's nearing that half way point in the year. How are those New Years' Resolutions coming? Long forgotten? Still on them? Mine are surprisingly not doing too bad. I had a bout of illness that prevented me from my gym goals for about two months, but now that I'm mostly healed up, I'm back at the gym and it feels great! That's a good thing for me as a writer too - helps my mind get pumping with inspiration (doesn't hurt that I bring things to read while there, haha). Anywho, let's get on with the story!

Terms -

Hand Shaking - This is a much more western way of greeting and Americans, like Pegasus, are well known for it as they tend to have "strong grips" (in the US, a strong grip tends to signify confidence). (Lol, I am not one of those people though, I have weak hands - 'cept for game playing of course) XD

Kimochi Warui - Literally translates to "Bad feeling", but can also be translated to mean "creepy" - I tend to think of that sensation where you get goosebumps at the thought of something - just an uneasy, unsettling feeling.

Otaru - A town in Northern Hokkaido near Sapporo, known for making traditional glass buoys and music boxes. In the winter, it hosts the Otaru Snow Light Path.

Snow Light Path - a festival taking place in Otaru with thousands of lanterns lit by candle light downtown near and around the town's Canal. I went in 2016 and it was beautiful! Definitely recommend it!

Today's chapter title means "snow". Allow me to now indulge you with one of my favorite songs too… ;)

-YGO-

"The feelings I can't voice,

Oh look, snowflakes...

Just become pure white powdered snow,

This is no fantasy,

And falls on your shoulders...

Even if I were to be reborn someday,

No matter what, I would love you again...

Oh I... like this. Oh I...

Let it - let it snow... So, let it snow... Furasete (snow)..."

-"Snowflakes" by X4

Chapter Twenty-One: 雪 (Yuki)

Pegasus sat at one of the two tables in the whole restaurant contently. He didn't really care for French food, but Kaiba hated it, so it gave him just a tad bit of pleasure knowing that they were meeting here and not elsewhere. Not to mention that the decor of this place suited his fancy much more than others. Low key luxury. Yes, this was what having class got you.

He looked up at the sound of a door opening. From his seat, he could see the shadow of the tall young man he was meeting bursting in and pausing to fix his tie. He raised a brow as the young CEO shook off the rushed state, straightened his back, and walked into the room, completely composed. But just barely. He smiled warmly.

"Kaiba boy, glad you could join me!" He said, standing up and extending a hand to shake, which Kaiba only stared at before walking around to the other side of the table, slamming his briefcase down and sitting down with his legs crossed.

His hands weaved into their typical position together. Clearly the boy was impatient today. His interest was peaked.

"I suppose you want to get right to the point?" Pegasus assumed, as he snapped for their food to be brought out. Seto blinked, his stare unmoving.

Right, definitely annoyed.

Pegasus sat back before bringing a portfolio up to the table, when Seto finally spoke, "This had better be good, Pegasus. If I recall, I already sent you all of the specs for the Duel Disk. So this better not be a waste of time."

"Kaiba, I wouldn't dream of calling you out here for things you already sent me," Pegasus said, though he mentally amused himself with the thought of finding some way to do so before continuing, "No, no, this is about the concept design for the new card..."

He opened the portfolio to reveal a large piece of heavy, drawing paper. Clearly outlined was the matrix for a basic Duel Monsters card, but the center contained a basic shape and design of a male human, with a face very similar to the young CEO. Seto quickly noted that there were photos of his face on the opposite side of the portfolio and repressed the urge to be slightly creeped out by the matter. Instead, he focused on the image within the card's center, a rather confused, scrutinizing look on his face.

"Don't tell me your forgot, Kaiba boy," Pegasus said, "The card based off of your likeness. I prepared a basic concept for you to review."

Pegasus slid the portfolio over to Seto for him to examine more closely. Seto's eyes scanned the image closer. The figure seemed to have a card in hand. He glanced up at Pegasus.

"You really did forget, didn't you?" Pegasus said, a little surprised and stunned. He shrugged, "I'm hurt, though... I'm sure whatever it was to push this from your mind the other night... must have been important..."

Seto glared, "What exactly are you... portraying here, Pegasus?"

Pegasus smiled, "The figure will wear your signature dueling coat and have your likeness. Furthermore, we'll give it a Duel Monsters card in hand. The idea behind the card is for the special effect to allow one to special summon a Blue Eyes White Dragon from one's hand by tributing said card immediately upon setting this card in attack position if one chooses to do so."

At that Seto's eyes went wide. A card... to allow him to summon the Blue Eyes nearly immediately? It made his stomach lurch, but in an...excited way. This could mean...

"So... you intend to create a card... specifically about me, for me to use?" Seto stated hesitantly, "You're toying with me."

"Oh, Kaiba, if I wanted to do that, I wouldn't resort to such a method as this," Pegasus said, the veiled threat rather... transparent, but Seto could tell that Pegasus didn't care, "No, I'm being completely serious. What better special effect could I possibly give a card revolving around your likeness? It will only have a small attack point number, of 200, but I think that's only appropriate."

"Who would want a card of only 200 attack if the special ability is related to the Blue Eyes? I'm the only one who would use it," Seto pointed out.

"Hold your horses, Kaiba, I'm getting to that," Pegasus explained as their food came, though they barely noticed, " I decided on 200 attack points to represent you and your brother. 100 points for you and 100 for him. He is, after all, I dare say, part of what gives you your fire and strength."

Seto's eyes narrowed, but he let Pegasus continue, "It would have 700 defense points as 7 is the eternal number, representing your never ending determination in the face of great obstacles."

"Like you?" Seto inserted, his own threats coming through.

Pegasus looked into Seto's eyes before a thin smile came to his face and answered simply, "Precisely."

Seto looked over the image again, "So what do you want from me right now exactly?"

"Approval," Pegasus stated, "It's pointless to continue on if you don't approve. I don't personally find myself a fan of lawsuits and trust me, I've gone through a fare share of those in America."

"I don't doubt that," Seto said bitterly, looking over the design.

A ping came from Kaiba's phone and he instantly pulled it out. It was time to go. He could only thank whatever lucky stars he had for such fortune, if there even were such things. Having not even taken a bite, Seto stood up and grabbed his briefcase, "Go ahead furthering the design."

He moved to go when a thought came to him - the fact that Pegasus of all people had pictures of him in his portfolio. He briefly debated if he really wanted to give up having his face on a Duel Monsters card, but… the kimochi warui feeling he got from knowing about all of the photos bothered him immensely.

Quickly, he added, "But I'd rather not be so obviously the subject of a card..."

Perhaps that would quell his unease. Pegasus watched as Seto essentially snubbed him by cutting their meeting short and heading towards the door. He sat back as he watched Kaiba leave, slamming the door behind him. Well... that had been interesting. He'd rarely seen Kaiba disheveled and when he had, it had been related to his brother. As far as he knew though, both Kaiba brothers were healthy and safe. The younger's Twitter stream proved that well enough.

He turned to his food and took a bite. At the very least, he could surmise that Kaiba had... something else that was occupying his time. Something important enough to let things like a card dedicated to him slip to the far corners of his mind. And that wasn't something to be said lightly. This was, after all, Seto Kaiba. He smiled.

Very interesting.

-YGO-

The smell of freshly brewed coffee pervaded the shop as Kisara entered. For the life in her, she couldn't understand why people drank coffee in the middle of the summer. It was hot, wasn't it? She shook her head and looked around. She'd never been inside Tsutaya, but her immediate impression was that it might as well be a maze. How was she supposed to find Seto here?

Stepping inside and out of the way of fellow customers, she wandered in looking around, when she saw rows of books stacked up along the shelves. Her eyes widened. How was... she stepped closer to the shelves, only to realize that the shelves kept going far past her. Above were labels of subjects and topics. Cooking. Job Promotions. Study Resources. Fiction. Foreign Languages. Religion. Politics... As she passed through slowly, Kisara's blue eyes landed on one topic in particular.

Travel.

Hesitantly, she looked at the books on the bookcase in front of her, reading the various titles. Beautiful Britain. Fodor's America. China, the Empire. India for the Food Enthusiast. Hokkaido, the Winter Wonderland. World Travel, 101 Places to See Before You Die. Tokyo, Edo's Modern Metropolitan Wonder. Glancing around, she saw many others taking books off of the shelf and paging through them. Carefully, she reached out and pulled out the one on Hokkaido.

Thumbing through it, she saw pictures of ice sculptures three stories tall, floating glass lanterns, candles lit in a white fluffy looking material, graceful looking people wearing metal on the bottom of their shoes to glide across large fields of ice. Ice skating, it said. And that's when it hit her, there weren't just pictures. There were words... this whole place was a library of information. She quickly skimmed over the pages. Soba Noodles and Festivals. Old Clock Towers and men from a place called the USA helping to building the grid structure. Contests and an event called the Olympics in 1972. Romantic walks in Otaru during the Snow Light Path...Snow... Words began to flood her mind when another realization hit her... one of joy.

She could read. And not only could she read, but she was in a place that contained such a wealth of knowledge... she may never be able to obtain or read it all. She didn't know if she could read before she had come to this world, maybe she had and she had certainly taken it for granted up until this point, but… what a marvelous thing. It was a little overwhelming, but... it gave her a warm feeling as she looked up at the sign reading travel. What else must there be? Her eyes caught another book's title "Ancient Egypt: The Greatest Mysteries Come To Light". On the side, a pyramid stood proudly, almost glittering... She felt like she recognized it.

Reaching out to pull out the book, she was startled out of the motion by a voice, "Kisara."

She jumped and turned to her left to see Seto, who watched her intently, "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

"Oh, no, no, it's fine," She said, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear, "I was just... looking."

Seto glanced down at the book in her hands, "Hokkaido?"

"Oh, uh, yeah, I saw there was this... travel section. And with our adventure in Kyoto, I wanted to see what else there was out there," She said, almost embarrassed.

He read over the book's title and others in the area, "Have you ever been up north?"

"Uh.. no, I don't think so," Kisara said, "The snow looks beautiful."

Seto smirked, "Yeah, beautiful and cold. Very cold."

"Oh..." Kisara said, trailing off, "I see... I wouldn't know..."

Seto stood awkwardly before clearing his throat, "So... I'm guessing you'd like to travel more?"

Kisara nodded, "I think so, maybe someday. Hokkaido... maybe it's too cold. But it still looks beautiful and there looks like a vast array of other places to go as well in the world... Do you have any favorites?"

The gaming champion glanced over the titles before pulling out the one on Tokyo, "It's not really beautiful... but I enjoy Tokyo to some degree."

"How come?" She asked, "What's in Tokyo?"

Seto sighed, flipping through the book, "What isn't in Tokyo? Though... I enjoy the city landscape the most I think... some of the most spectacular duels take place in the skies above Tokyo."

Kisara smiled widely, though she tried to hide it, "Well, I don't know about that..."

Seto's eyes flashed at her, "And why is that?"

"Well..." Kisara started, but then she paused before awkwardly finishing, "I think the most spectacular duel... was the one in Kyoto... last night..."

A deep red flushed over Seto's face and they both instantly looked at their shoes at the mention of... yesterday. Kisara looked over the cover of the book in her hands, covered in what looked like white sand that Seto had said was cold... maybe it was, but she hoped that she could experience it... one day. It would be a nice change from the hot sands of... her eyes landed on the book on Egypt again... her Kemet.

Seto shrugged, "There are many more places where dueling has an appeal... you alright?"

Kisara came out of her trance and quickly looked away from the book on the shelf, "Oh, uh, yeah, uh... sorry."

"For what?" Seto asked.

Kisara shrugged looking at her shoes, the only thing she really owned, "Nothing, sorry."

"Alright..." Seto replied slowly, "Did you already have lunch?"

"Oh, uh, yeah, I grabbed something from Lawsons," Kisara filled in.

Seto nodded, "Ah, well, uh, I really didn't eat; would you mind if we stopped by Starbucks?"

Kisara shook her head, "No, that's fine."

She placed the book back on the shelf and started to head to the cafe she had seen to her right upon entering, when Seto spoke, "You're not buying it?"

"Huh?" Kisara turned around, her hair whipping around her, "Oh, uh, no, I, I don't think so. I don't need it."

Though Seto normally would have scrutinized her answer, seeing her spin in the light from the windows... it felt like the worst distraction. He rubbed the back of his neck, "Alright. Let's go."

Walking up to the smell of brewing coffee, Kisara sat down while Seto went up to order something. Returning shortly to the table, he sat down and relaxed in his seat, letting his shoulders slouch. Kisara smiled, people watching, while Seto took a breath, leaning back. Slowly, he sat up.

"I'm not sure how much duel practice we can get in today. My apologies," He said, taking a sip of his frappuccino.

"It's alright... it's nice to just get out, you know?" Kisara replied happily, when she eyed his drink, which looked much more like the white sand on the book than the dark murky color of coffee she was used to seeing now, "Is that... coffee?"

Seto raised a brow, "Oh, no, it's one of their classic frappuccinos. You've never had one?"

"No, what's it like?"

"You wanna try?" He said, offering it to her, "If you don't mind my germs that is."

Kisara laughed, "You don't mind mine?"

Seto shrugged, "Can't be any worse than Mokuba's and I'm pretty sure he steals my toothbrush when I'm not looking."

Kisara snorted in laughter and covered her face in embarrassment before taking the drink and sipping it up, "Is this vanilla?"

"Yeah, it's good for a hot day like today and I don't like the fruity stuff they have," Seto said, "And the chocolate always stains."

"It's delish!" She said, using a word that Tea had taught her and taking another sip, "Oh, and cold."

She pushed it back to Seto and swatted her hands at her head, a brain freeze taking effect. He smiled, "You still want to go to a cold place like Hokkaido?"

As the brain freeze subsided, Kisara laughed and nodded, "Even if it's that cold, I think it would be worth it."

"How come?" He asked, a little surprised.

"Because... eventually, the cold will go away, right?" She supposed, "I mean, the cold in the frappu...frappe... that, went away. And it was so good you know? So why not take that chance? And see all there is to see?"

"I... never really thought about it that way," Seto mused.

"Well, how did you think about it?" Kisara asked, curious, "What were you going to do with your life without experiencing new things?"

Seto's eyes raised a bit, when he found himself in thought, finally coming to some kind of answer, "My life... it's for... gaining... things for my brother. So that he can live a good life..."

The conversation turning serious all of a sudden, Kisara found herself in shock, finding such words hard to believe, "You mean, nothing you've done... nothing has been for yourself?"

Seto thought about it for a moment before responding, "No... I... When I duel, that's for myself, but only that... Not like it really gets me anywhere anyway though... not after Yugi's triumph."

Kisara sat back as the two sat in silence. People passed by, purchasing books, coffee, frappuccinos, CDs, and cards, but Kisara couldn't help but ponder over what Seto had just said. She felt… he deserved better.

"Oh... I see..." She said finally, "Well, I hope that you one day it does get you where you want to go and if it doesn't... I hope that something else comes along especially for you."

Seto blinked, "Uh... thanks, I guess."

"You're welcome," Kisara answered, a sweet smile beaming brightly at him, "So, what kept you from coming earlier?"

"Oh, it was Pegasus again," Seto said, "He wanted to show me concept art for that new card they want to, you know, base off of my likeness."

"Already?" Kisara asked, "That was quick."

"Yeah, well, Pegasus has a habit of being a bit of a creep in that way," Seto explained.

"Did it look good though?" Kisara asked, "The concept art, that is."

Seto shrugged, "It looked fine, though I feel like it was lacking something... also I wasn't too sure how I felt about my actual face being on a card... something about it didn't sit well with me."

Kisara nodded, "Did you tell him?"

"Yeah, I said something about it. Quickly left after that, he's such a pervert," Seto told her.

"A... pervert?" Kisara repeated.

"Essentially, just a real weirdo at times," Kaiba told her, his evident opinion of Pegasus being much less than favorable, "Oh, but that reminds me."

Picking up his briefcase, he unclasped the sides to open it slightly and pull out a thin sheet of paper and handed it to Kisara.

"What's this?" She asked.

"That's your ticket to the unveiling of the new Duel Disk," Seto explained, "And if you dare give it to anyone else I will never speak to you again."

Kisara laughed, "Thank you! But who would I give it to?"

"I don't know; Wheeler?" Seto mentioned, "And by the way, what's your number? You have no idea how annoying it was to have to call Wheeler to get a hold of you."

"Oh..." Kisara trailed off, "I uh, I don't have a phone..."

Seto stared at her, "You're kidding."

"Um... no?" Kisara said, shrugging apologetically.

"Why not?" Seto questioned, "Didn't you have one last night?"

"Oh, that, that one was actually Joey's... he was worried so he lent it to me," Kisara explained.

"He was worried?" Seto repeated, a slight edge in his voice coming out.

"I don't know why he was," Kisara brushing it off a bit, "He just, didn't want me without a way to reach Yugi or them if I was out of Domino."

"Oh..." Seto said, sitting back, trying to let it roll off him as well. But it didn't. And it irked him that Wheeler had said anything to her, "Well, do you have an email?"

She shook her head 'no' again and he sighed, "Alright, then how about this, you live with Gardner right? I'll call her or the Game Shop to get a hold of you. But you better answer the Game Shop phone. Because if I have to speak to Wheeler again, you won't be hearing from me."

Kisara smiled and flipped her hair out of her face, "Alright, roger that. But who says I want to hear from you?"

Taken aback by the playful remark, a move he hadn't expected, Seto pursed his lips, "How else are you going to learn Duel Monsters?"

"You already taught me the basics though," Kisara said a melodic sound coming from her voice as she spoke and Seto could swear she was toying with him... somehow.

"Well... don't tell me you want to spend your lunches at Lawsons every day only to run back to the store to have Wheeler work you to death," He replied.

"He's not working me to death-"

"Yeah, but he would if you had nothing else to do," Seto shot, "Lazy good for nothing manager that he is."

Kisara rolled her eyes. They weren't getting anywhere, "Fine. I promise I'll pick up the phone... but if you had to call Joey to get a hold of me, would you?"

Seto paused, his threats poked at for authenticity being something he wasn't used to. He watched her as she intently waited for his answer. It had to be honest. He knew it. That's what she wanted, after all. He swallowed.

"Yes, I would," He answered finally.

A warmth entered Kisara's chest along with what felt like millions of tiny beautiful butterflies. She smiled.

"Thank you," Came the soft reply.

"You're welcome," Came the equally awkward one.

"So... will you be using the Blue Eyes today?" Kisara asked, excitedly.

Seto's eyes narrowed and sat back, "As if this crowd deserves to even gaze upon them."

"May I then?"

"Use them or see them?"

"Both."

Seto watched her, trying to gauge how serious she was as last night's memories returned to him... The cool water splashing up on the rocks. The spectacular beast soaring around them and it's crystal like shattering pieces dancing in her eyes... being so close... It had felt so good...

But he had shied away, unsure that it was... that it was even right of him to be so forward. But she had still held his hand the whole way home. And the way he felt... he could trust her. He smiled back at her, amused, but... happy all at once.

"... Another time."

-YGO-

A/N: So took a while to get to the meaning behind this chapter, but I like it none the less. And seriously, if you're not familiar with the band X4, go google them. They're wonderful and great fun to see live (-might have been to a number of their concerts at this point…. ). Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Till next time!

Later,

~Rena