A/N: More exams this week, posting this now before I don't have time later. Thanks again for reading and reviewing, I really appreciate it! I know I say that every chapter but I really am grateful; thanks for also understanding the slow updates due to exams and whatnot and not having time to write and blah blah blah okay have a lovely day~


It was a long weekend. Kaiba had opened and shut his phone literally thousands of times, debating on whether or not to call her. No. Perhaps space between them was good; there was no use trying to talk to her when she was roused up and emotional, so Kaiba let her be for the weekend. He tried to get his mind off of her to let her cool down before trying to contact her.

However, this task was absolutely impossible, as news of their alleged 'break up' was all over television and gossip channels, in the papers – everywhere Kaiba looked there was something written about him and Kisara and Pegasus. It was infuriating; it was adding fuel to the fire and Kaiba was outraged. Why the media couldn't keep out of his personal life was completely incomprehensible.

Mokuba, of course, was upset. He kept pestering Kaiba with questions and demanding his elder brother to answer them, to which Kaiba responded by slamming the door in his brother's face and locking himself in his room. He didn't have any answers. He knew that he had fucked up with Kisara and the only person that he knew he needed to be talking to about anything was Kisara herself.

Come Monday, he was ready to speak to her. She wasn't the type of woman to ditch out on work for personal reasons and so he expected her promptly at nine. Maybe she had calmed down and was a little more willing to listen to what he had to say.

"I can't work here," Kisara said at nine A.M. Monday morning. She kept her head down and spoke quietly, like she was afraid of Kaiba. She slid over a thin folder to him across his desk. "This is my two weeks, but it's really just a formality. I won't be coming in. I'm sure you understand."

Kaiba didn't move. He didn't take the folder, didn't say a word. He just sat there, completely still. Kisara continued speaking, still looking at the groun as though it were the most interesting fucking thing in the world. "I think it's best that you and I no longer see each other. So, um, I guess this is goodbye, then."

"Fine," Kaiba heard himself say and he seemed to be watching from the outside as he picked up the folder without looking at it and tucked it under his forearms. This was the office; he knew that he needed to remain completely calm before she started to get emotional. "Because you will not be a Kaiba Corporation employee, I will be sending you commission on your project through the mail."

"It's fine, really. I'd prefer you not do that," she said immediately. She seemed to have thought of everything. "I do not wish to be paid for having been lied to for nearly a year."

That one stung, and was mildly annoying, but Kaiba didn't let it show on his face. "I don't care whether or not you prefer I not do something. I am not the kind of man to underpay employees for their work."

"I'm moving soon," Kisara said quietly. "So the address on file will not be valid." Moving? She was moving out of the apartment with Jonouchi and Honda? Where was she going? Did Pegasus convince her to pack up and go to San Fransisco? "And before you say anything, no, I'm not moving to California."

"I didn't ask where you were going," Kaiba stated, trying to take his mind off the conversation by shuffling papers on his desk and blankly staring at the computer screen as though it had some kind of relevance to the scene unfolding before him.

"Okay," Kisara said, her voice soft still. "That's all I really came here for." She bowed low, completely polite. "Goodbye, Kaiba-shachou."

He hadn't heard her say that in what seemed like a thousand years. She lifted herself up and for a brief moment, Kaiba saw that her eyes were rimmed a light red and there were bags under her eyes, like she had spent the entire weekend just…crying day and night. Kaiba didn't want to look at that; for once, he didn't want to see the emotional damage he had caused.

He knew that all he needed to do was stand up and ask her to wait and make her listen. There was still hope; her crying was proof that she still might believe in him even just a bit and if Kaiba could change her mind about him, maybe they could talk.

But he was frozen to the chair, watching her back grow farther and farther away as she left. She had that power; to walk out on him, and Kaiba had the power to stop her. But he didn't say a word – he just sat silently as the door closed behind her.

How long had Kaiba been staring at the door, half hoping that she would be the one opening it? Kaiba lost track of time. He filed papers, looked through requests, signed forms, punched in numbers; this was what it meant to be a CEO, right? He was the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company, wasn't he? He had almost forgotten what it felt like to stand at the top of the world and watch it squirm in terror.

Maybe this was what he needed. Space. Distance. He needed to be reminded who he was and why he was there at the highest floor in Kaiba Corporations, sitting in the seat of the most powerful man in the world. Losing Kisara reminded him exactly who he was. He thought he could successfully continue work this way and for the next two weeks, did not say a word about her, did not make any notion to contact her, and tried to push her out of his mind completely.

But it didn't make the empty feeling go away. Kaiba arrived at work in the morning, alone. He left the building at five, alone. His hand felt oddly cold without holding hers. He didn't get one sweet smile, or his favorite line, "Have a lovely day," from his favorite person, because, well, he had tried to forget her completely.

He needed something. Anything. Any reason to go and see her. Any excuse to speak to her, to hear her voice. Kaiba nearly tore up his room trying to find something – anything – to use to go and see her face. She was probably still at Jonouchi's apartment, right? He found it; the box set of Naruto that he had finished and the volumes of One Outs that he had borrowed. He had to return them, right? Immediately, Kaiba slid into his Lexus and made the twenty-minute drive to her familiar apartment.

Kaiba took notice of the rather expensive looking automobile in the visitor stall next to his. It was some racing car that looked like a rental but it was still likely to have cost a lot of money nonetheless. He half wondered what kind of imbecile would rent a car that looked like it was from a bad action movie.

He inhaled slowly as he knocked on the apartment door and from the outside heard a voice. "IT'S YUGIIIIII!" a male voice roared. Kaiba didn't recognize that voice, but he did recognize the next.

"Oh, stop yelling," Kisara laughed from the other side of the door.

"BUT IT'S YUUUUUGIIIIII!" the same male voice responded, followed by Kisara falling into a giggling fit.

"Yugi-san's not supposed to be here for another hour," she said.

The male didn't seem to understand. "I'M SO EXCITED! YUUUUGIIII!" There were a series of bumping noises and the sound of furniture being knocked over until the door was finally yanked open, Kisara over some tall man's shoulder. The man answering the door paused for a moment upon seeing Kaiba but Kisara was still laughing.

"Hey, will you let me down so I can say hi to—" she was finally let down and then froze once she saw Kaiba at the door. The man by Kisara's side was rather good looking; his skin was slightly tanned, and his dark hair was in a stylish tousle. The outlines of his lean muscles were visible due to his deep violet tank top.

Then Kaiba reached a dawning realization. Was this…Kisara's new boyfriend? Quickly analyzing the situation, he noticed how she leaned into him slightly as though requesting protection and the man responded appropriately, furrowing his brows and looking quite concerned. Kaiba also peered past them to see that Jonouchi and Honda were not on the couch; Kisara and the mystery man were home alone. He could also see cardboard boxes and suitcases filled; was this man going to help Kisara move out? A boiling hot bubble of rage stirred inside Kaiba's chest but he refused to let it show on his face.

"Kaiba," Kisara greeted politely, bowing slightly. She turned and placed her hands on the man's chest very gently, like she used to do to Kaiba to get him to calm down and back off. "I'll be okay. Wait inside for me."

The dark haired man hesitated for a moment, but then tousled her hair affectionately before giving her the space she requested, heading back into the house. Kisara closed the door, hooking strands of hair behind her ear. Kaiba had done it. He had gotten a chance to speak to her. She looked perfectly able to handle this confrontation but before Kaiba could stop himself, he snapped, "Is that your new boyfriend?"

Kisara seemed shocked by the sudden question. She scoffed, shaking her head. "I'm not sure that that's any of your business."

"As a matter of fact, it is my business," Kaiba replied sharply.

Kisara shook her head, looking down at the ground for a moment. "What do you want?"

Kaiba paused for a moment, gathering himself. He lifted the box of books. "These are yours."

She glanced at them, taking the box out of his hands. "Thanks," she said, completely neutral. She turned to open the door, mumbling a goodbye.

Wait, no! That was it? Three sentences? This was Kaiba's last excuse; it was his only excuse! If he let her turn around and go back into the house, there was no telling when he would see her again, if ever! "That's not all," Kaiba said abruptly. Kisara stopped for a moment, hesitating. Hesitation! That was all Kaiba needed. He needed her to doubt for one second that she didn't care for him any more. "I need to talk to you. I need to explain myself."

"I don't want to hear it," she said quietly. "What's done is done. Let it go, okay? You and I are both better off like this, don't you think?"

No. No. No. Tell her no! This always happened. Kaiba was always unable to find his voice when he needed it the most. Kisara offered him a fake smile at Kaiba's lack of response. "Well, uh, thanks for bringing my manga. The new One Outs comes out next week." She pushed open the door and before Kaiba could even say another word, she was gone again.

Kaiba hated himself. He had such a habit of being completely capable of letting people leave him that he had no idea how to make them stay. All his life he had done nothing but let people leave because he knew that there were ten people that could take their place. But this was different. She was special and he had let her leave him three times already. He raised his fist, ready to knock, but then stopped short of the door.

He couldn't. She had a new life now. She seemed to be okay, rebuilding herself after Kaiba had utterly destroyed her. Kaiba knew that she did attract men because of her quirky, cute personality and if this was her way of getting over Kaiba then so be it. To each their own. Kaiba just needed to let her live her own life. Lowering his hand, Kaiba pivoted on his heel and swept away from the apartment complex for the last time.


On the otherside of the door, Kisara stood with her palm against the wood, leaning her forehead against the door. "Knock," she whispered, feeling tears well up in her eyes. She could still see his shadow on the other side of the door. "Just knock, you idiot."

Emptiness. Kisara had never really known the meaning of the word because she had always filled herself with other things. She was good at school, and she had a lot of friends; she never did feel hollowed out until recently. Like she had lost everything that she had ever worked for. All Kaiba needed to do was knock; all he needed to do was fight for her and she knew that she wouldn't be able to stop herself from listening. A tiny part of her still…believed in him.

And then that part died when she saw his shadow turn away and his footsteps fade. She pressed her lips together, fighting the urge to cry. All she did was cry nowadays and hated herself for it. But nothing had ever hurt as much as this.

She took a deep breath, turning away from the door. She hadn't really believed it herself, but maybe what she had said was right. They were better off this way.


When Kaiba returned to the apartment, he was a little surprised to see Mana on the couch with Mokuba. He shrugged off his jacket as she shot daggers at him with her eyes. She stood up and marched right up to him, unafraid. "You're a despicable human being, you know that?"

Kaiba did, in fact, know that. But he did not say it, as he did assume she was asking a rhetorical question. He did not feel the need to argue at the moment. So, he just walked right past her to the kitchen to pop open the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. He planned on shutting himself in his room but the younger Ryusei was quite persistent.

"Don't you fucking ignore me," she growled, hands on her hips as she attempted to antagonize him. "You're the epitamy of evil and I can't believe you did that to aneki. She's the nicest person on this planet and you took advantage of her!"

Yes, these were things that Kaiba knew everyone else assumed. He didn't care, and moved past her again towards the hallway. To Mana, however, this behavior was unacceptable and she pushed the back of his shoulders. "Listen to me when I'm fucking talking to you, shit head," she snapped, nearly screaming. Mokuba had to stand up now to try and calm her down. Kaiba didn't turn around, merely stood there. Another person was just going to tell him what a horrible person he was. "She loved you," Mana said, sniffing. Kaiba realized that she was crying. "She loved you. You, of all people in the world, and you were supposed to be the one person that she could rely on and you were the one that hurt her the most. How you can sleep at night after what you've done is just unfathomable!"

"If that's all, I have work to do," Kaiba said flatly, forcing his feet to move as he swept into his room. He knew all of that. It was just someone telling him what he already knew and he had tried to fix it but he just wasn't good with words. He never was. And Kisara seemed better now, so why would he try to disrupt that peace? He closed the door behind him and placed the bottle of water down on his desk, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

He had definitely blown it today. As pathetic as it sounded, those manga were the last connection he had to Kisara. He had no reason to go and see her anymore. It really was done, wasn't it? Kaiba flipped open his laptop and tried to pull up some spreadsheets to get started on some work but he was so angry and twisted up that he couldn't even focus for longer than two breaths.

And to make matters worse, Mokuba, being the kind-hearted kid he was, came in after Kaiba without knocking on the door. "I need to talk to you," he said, sounding serious.

Kaiba didn't want to talk. He didn't turn to face his brother, just tried to focus on the numbers on the screen. "What?"

"You…feel bad, right? About what you did to Kisara?" Mokuba said. "Because if you don't, then I think you should. Mana wasn't upset just because Kisara is her sister, you know. Everyone is upset."

"Why should I care what everyone thinks?" Kaiba said, still not facing his brother.

Mokuba pressed his lips together, frustrated. "You should care what I think."

Kaiba turned, keeping his face emotionless. "Well, what do you think, then?"

"I agree with Mana," Mokuba said, not sounding afraid. Kaiba wasn't surprised that Mokuba thought that, but he was surprised that he had the balls to say it. "But I also think that you did love Kisara."

Kaiba scoffed and turned around. "None of that even matters anymore."

"Why can't you admit it?" Mokuba demanded. "Why can't you just say it? It would have saved you a lot of trouble if you could've just sucked up whatever pride issues you have and simply said those words to her. You wouldn't even be sitting here alone if you had told her at least once. She would have believed you over Pegasus."

Kaiba scoffed. "Because I'm the kind of sick human being that lies at the beginning of relationships," he snapped sarcastically. "If all you've come in here to do is agree with the second helping of your seemingly endless stream of obnoxious little girlfriends, then get out; I don't need to hear anymore of what you think."

Mokuba glared at his brother. "Oh, right, because you're Kaiba Seto and you don't need anyone else, huh? That's why you've been wallowing in sorrow for the past three weeks and shutting yourself in your room. You're so immature! You're acting like a little kid! I don't even get why you can't just go to her and admit you were wrong and go and talk to her. You can't even suck up your pride for five minutes to give her a decent apology? Honestly, if you can't even do that, then I have no respect for you anymore," Mokuba said, clenching his hands into fists.

"Fine," Kaiba said simply. "If you really feel that way then pack up your shit and get out. If you don't harbor respect for the one person on this earth that gave you everything you could ever ask for; that built you a life out of nothing, then you're just as worthless and pathetic as your other half. Get the fuck out of my house."

The younger Kaiba glared, pressing his lips together. "If that's how it is, then fine," Mokuba said, shrugging. He turned to leave but then paused at the door. "I wished for her, you know. I wished that someone would come and change you for the better and I thought it was miracle that Kisara appeared again. It was fate. She would have followed you to the ends of the earth and the only person there is to blame for her absence is yourself. Goodbye, Seto."

Mokuba slammed the door behind him and Kaiba closed his eyes, rubbing thte bridge of his nose. He heard Mokuba hurriedly shoving things into a suitcase and then the slam of the front door as Kaiba's younger brother walked out on him too. Kaiba really was alone now. And all there was left was silence.