A/N: I meant to write this sooner, but then some life things got in the way hoohoo… Anyways, long awaited third chapter so :3 It's been a while since I've written fiction so give me a bit if it's a lil wonky! I also think I'm gonna make this more of an AU where Kaito's just a messy bisexual in his 20s and not worry about the logic that is Yu-Gi-Oh… So uhhhh yeah.

Chapter 3 – Fool's Gold

5PM. Kaito stands outside of the apartment, lit cigarette in his hand as he emptily watches two children play in the distance. How lucky for them. They get to enjoy the sun and the bliss that is childhood.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for him. He had to deal with his prissy ex-boyfriend that couldn't just take the hint Kaito didn't want to talk to him. In fact, after Kaito had arrived home, Mizael had insisted on entering his apartment to "set the record straight." It wasn't something Kaito was interested though which Mizael picked up on, and that's when the accusations began.

It was always the same accusations too: one that Kaito never cares, or all he cared about was Haruto or his work with Chris. Basically, according to Mizael, Kaito cared about anything but him.

He takes a deep breath, closing his eyes as he tries to enjoy the outside air. Unlike his ex-boyfriend, the air is relaxing and welcoming… It's very welcoming unlike the blonde that's currently sitting in his living room inside.

It's a moment or two before he realizes he's holding his breath so when he exhales, it's a bit of a huge sigh. After that, he finally opens his eyes, staring blankly as his vision adjusts to the outside world once more. Hm, he doesn't feel like smoking anymore.

He puts out the cigarette then, holding onto it in between his fingers as gripping something is slightly comforting. He doesn't quite linger on that thought for too long though as he shifts his position to lean on the railing of the apartment's balcony again, watching the world in front of him pass by rather idly…

"Kaito? Are you alright?"

Huh?

Kaito's eyebrows furrows as he hoists himself up before turning to glance behind his back. The expression of confusion, and probably slight irritation, is only brief though as the identity of the caller becomes clear to him…

Droite. Right, she moved in last week.

He expression shifts into a neutral one as he turns to face her, leaning his weight on the railing of the balcony, "Why do you ask?"

That comes out rather flatly, he notes, which seems to be the case as Droite's eyes widen just a smidge before she glances to the ground between them.

"Ah, I just heard yelling coming from your apartment… It was the last thing I expected to hear," Droite glances back at him then, a small smile on her lips.

Of course… How could he forget? Mizael wasn't known to be particularly level-headed in situations like these, and the walls were paper thin… It's an apartment complex, that's practically the standard. Ugh…

The thought of his ex causes Kaito to roll his eyes as he begins to stand up straight, face slightly more tense as he replies, "I'm fine, just have an unwanted visitor."

Confusion. She furrows her eyebrows, not quite understanding, "A visitor? Who?"

"…Do you remember Mizael? Gold hair, likes dragons?"

Her eyes light up then as she nods slowly, "Ah, I believe so. If only faintly…"

A pause, then another before Droite looks up at him, confused again, "Why is he unwanted?"

Kaito looks off then, a bit of a grimace on his face as he mumbles, "He didn't take our break-up well. I guess."

He hadn't noticed the pauses too much before, but this one was felt. Maybe it was because Droite kept staring at him with her eyebrows slightly raised, and before he knows it, he hears her say, "Ah, I didn't know you were…"

She trails off then, leaving the sentence unfinished.

"… Didn't know I was what?" He looks confused, eyes shifting to meet hers directly. Yet maybe this wasn't the right choice as she immediately averts her gaze to the floor once more. The only difference now is the additional action of Droite biting on her lip nervously.

"You know… only liking… the same sex." Oh. She thinks he's gay.

"I'm not gay Droite," he says suddenly, looking mildly offended as he huffs and looks up at nothing in particular, "I've dated both women and men throughout the years. Mizael is just one of those people."

An expression of surprise flashes on her face before it shifts into another, one that almost seems as if she's deep in thought.

"Hm…" is all her reply consists of.

There's another pause between them, yet this one feels significantly less tense. However, it's still awkward so Kaito tries to mitigate that by looking out in the distance again.

"So why did you two break up?" It's almost sudden when she asks that. Yet, when he glances back, she appears calm, eyes watching him with the soft expression she always watches him with.

Now if only that wasn't a hard question to answer…

"I guess…" He pauses, furrowing his eyebrows as he tries to piece the words together, "I guess… it just ended. One day we were together, and the next day we weren't… I didn't want to bother anymore, but he… didn't take the break-up well. I guess it's similar to how Gauche is taking your break-up."

"Huh?" Her soft expression is gone, replaced with one of uncertainty as she tries to clear her throat and elaborate, "What do you mean?"

Kaito doesn't say anything more as he turns away from her. Only now did it dawn on him that she'd lied about when she last spoke to Gauche. She had previously said she collected the last of her things from Gauche, yet her ex-fiancée was claiming they hadn't seen each other nor spoken in two months.

He exhales once more as he lifts the previously lit cigarette up. He's well aware he's not supposed to re-smoke cigarettes that have been put out already, yet the temptation is strong at the moment.

"Kaito, don't ignore me. What do you mean?"

Kaito grunts at her as he gives in to temptation and relights the cigarette again. It's only been day one of dealing with dumb relationship drama, and he's already sick of it. Taking a puff of it, he turns away, leaning on the railing once more as he emptily watches the scenery again.

"Kaito...?"

He sighs, almost irritated, before he glances at her again, "When you moved in, you said you had just gotten the rest of your things from Gauche, right?"

"… Yes, why?"

"Well it's funny then," He pauses, takes another puff from his cigarette, "On my way home, I got a call from Gauche."

"Ah, did you? What did he say?"

"Mhm, he told me that you two hadn't seen each other in two months…" He pauses, reflecting on what else was said. "Apparently you even have his number blocked."

He should've known better that her only response was to tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"Kaito, I'm very-"

"Save it," He scoffs, leaning on the balcony again. He doesn't feel like saying more.

"Okay," she replies, looking down with a frown before she exhales and continues, "Did… did you tell him about where I am?"

"No, why would I?" Kaito asks, glancing at her with a raised eyebrow. "I don't particularly enjoy meddling in others' relationships. It's none of my business."

There's a brief silence between them as Droite begins to hold her arms. Meanwhile, Kaito goes back to smoking, trying his best to ignore the tension again.

"Well.." She takes a deep breath before glancing at him, "For what it's worth, thank you,"

"… Yeah."

They don't say anything more for a moment, but that doesn't mean nothing happens. In fact, in between that silence, he feels Droite move over to stand beside him. Yet for a moment, they say nothing, only staring in the distance at people walking across the streets of Heartland, living their lives. It's only momentarily though, because that's when Droite says:

"Did he… say anything else?"

He looks off awkwardly then, "Just that he was worried. Asked me to convince you to call him back which I'm obviously not going to do."

"He shouldn't have done that."

"And you shouldn't have lied. Especially lousy lies like that one," He snaps back without thinking. He pauses, putting out his cigarette again. It's mostly because he doesn't feel like smoking now. Well, that, and because he's in a bad mood again.

And even though he isn't looking at her, he knows her eyes are on him, and if he knows her at all, then he knows she's preparing to say something soon… That's when he hears Droite take a deep breath, but before she can say words…

The door to his apartment opens then as Mizael pokes his head out, an angry expression written on his face, "Kaito, it's been 15 minutes. What the hell is taking you so long?"

Droite stops in her tracks, watching between them quietly as she recoils only slightly. Her slight movement seems to catch Mizael's attention then as he turns to look at her, raising an eyebrow, "Oh… Dextra, right?"

"Actually it's Droi-"

He interrupts her mid-way, "It's been a few years. I didn't know you lived here. Nice to see you again."

Her expression shifts into one of annoyance as she glares at him, yet Mizael either doesn't notice or doesn't care. Instead, he immediately looks back at Kaito, annoyed again as he nags, "Come on Kaito, I haven't all god damn day. You know I'm getting dinner with Durbe and Merag later so I need this wrapped up before I go."

Now Kaito really wishes he had finished that cigarette.

6PM. That was the time when Mizael finally left his apartment. But now it was 8PM, and after the day he had, Kaito figured he'd head to bed early. Now, whether he'd fall asleep early was up to fate itself it seems.

Because as Kaito lay in bed, he wasn't relaxing to the hum of his room that was white noise. No, instead, he found himself reflecting on the conversation from before, because now, things made even less sense than when Mizael had first arrived. Maybe it was because in the span of those three hours, the conversation touched upon several topics, and Mizael being Mizael made that… even more difficult to understand. Of course, there was issue of Mizael's pride that made its way into the conversation as well as the aversion to affection, loving words, and even, PDA. There was also the part where Mizael tried to insist he didn't care they had ended their relationship, and of course, he can't forget when Mizael insisted that he'd moved on already. Something about in the talks with Durbe. He didn't quite believe him, but whatever worked for Mizael?

And yet… even those conversations alone barely scratched the surface, because as they kept talking… Kaito could recall… The regret in Mizael's eyes, the subtle begging for Kaito to reconsider, the talks of what was to be their future, the reflections of their first first's with each other, and even, considering what went wrong. And even though he watched Mizael go through these several stages of grief, it wasn't really the case for Kaito… In fact, he could only recall watching his ex with a blank expression, unsure of what to say or do that may comfort Mizael. Even then, he secretly knew he wasn't interested in engaging in these conversations any more than he had to… Maybe it was cruel, but perhaps that was the price of falling out of love with someone. Still, could Kaito be the one to blame for not feeling the same way anymore?

His musings were interrupted when he heard a knock at his door. Almost instantaneously, he sits up and then checks his phone. No new notifications...

Well, Mizael hadn't drunk called or texted him yet, but.. it was always possible he was re-returning after the emotional 3 hours he had spent at Kaito's apartment. That's really the only person he could think of that'd show up at this time.

He sighs, standing up as he heads over to his front door. As he unlocks it, he begins to grumble, "Miza, I'm serious you better not have come back. I'm seriously sick of- What are you doing here?"

With furrowed eyebrows once more, he stares at the person across from him. Of all the people he could have expected, he didn't particularly predict Droite, his new neighbor, to be the one standing across from him. However, there was a slight difference between now and when they spoke earlier today. They're mainly cosmetic though as she's now dressed in a butterfly-patterned pajama dress and slippers. And even with the outfit change, that isn't what catches his eyes the most. In fact, it's what she holds in her hands: a Tupperware container full of food. It looks red.

Droite gives him a gentle smile as she takes a deep breath, "Do you have a minute? I won't be too long, I promise."

A curt nod from Kaito is all she needs as she continues, "I wanted to apologize for lying about Gauche. I… didn't expect to see you living here so I panicked and lied. It was very stupid of me in hindsight…. and I especially did not anticipate Gauche reaching out to you."

She pauses, looking as if she's thinking of her next words. Kaito merely stares at her, half-puzzled and half-disinterested.

"Regardless, I'm sorry he dragged you into this… I cut off contact with him since I was afraid he'd beg me to reconsider like he had in the past. I should have realized two months would be too long though, but… thank you for letting me know."

Kaito only nods back at her, not really sure what else to say. As such, she takes that as her cue to continue as she holds out the Tupperware to him, "take this as an apology. It's Italian Cabbage and Rice. I learned it while living in Italy, and well, I made too much… Guess I'm still used to cooking for two."

Kaito looks at her blankly as he reaches out to take the Tupperware, "Uh. Thanks. "

Another soft smile before she nods her head, "You're welcome. I'll stop disturbing you now, but if you do need anything, let me know."

"Okay. Thanks again."

Droite starts the walk back to her apartment while Kaito watches her blankly. And it's then in that moment he recalls of the time Yuma berated him for his bad social skills. While he normally didn't care, it felt different here, almost as if he should feel guilty for not saying more. Maybe it was because Droite had done something nice for him without asking.

He exhales, closing his eyes as he awkwardly forces the words out of his mouth, "Wait. Droite."

As she opens the door to her apartment, she stops and looks over at him, confusion on her face. She's been making that expression a lot today now that Kaito thinks about it… Wait that's not important. What's important is that she's keeping a steady gaze in his direction as she waits for Kaito to finish his statement. Even if his eyes are closed, he can feel her looking at him, and it's rather unnerving.

Kaito opens his eyes then, staring directly back at her as he shifts his weight onto his door frame, "Would…"

A pause. Where the hell is he even going with this? He wants to thank her, but how does one go about doing that?

"Would what?" She asks, tilting her head, but Kaito pays no heed to her reply.

He closes his eyes again, trying to scan the information in his brain for things they could do that'd show his appreciation. Yet he comes up blank. Opening his eyes, he looks at her to which he finds she's still staring back, her expression showing clear confusion and concern….

That's when it hits him. Sort of… There was always something Yuma used to say. Something about how food is what connects two people...? Sounds like something that idiot would say honestly.

"Would…" he starts again, glancing off to the side from the embarrassment he feels as he sighs and continues, "…would you want to join me for lunch sometime soon? We could use that to catch up since it's been at least 2 years. I figured it'd be worth a shot since… we're going to be neighbors for the foreseeable future."

Shifting his gaze back to Droite's face, he immediately sees her reaction: an agape mouth and raised eyebrows. However, the moment only lasts briefly as she flashes him a small smile, "Sure. It would be nice to catch up… What day would work for you?"

Kaito pauses, lost in thought for a second before he replies, "I should be available this Saturday… Does that work for you?"

Droite nods, "Yes, I'll be available until about 2pm… After that I have a networking event to attend so I won't be available the rest of the day."

Networking event? He doesn't ask, but it's clear to her he's confused.

"I previously worked as a manager for Gauche, remember? Our break-up also extended to professional matters so I'm currently looking for a new client."

"Ah," is all he says, unsure what else to add.

She laughs quietly at his response before giving him a gentle expression once more. There's something weirdly appealing about it to him…

"Well, I'm going to go through my bedtime routine before going to sleep. I recommend you do the same. Goodnight Kaito."

"Night."

With that, she steps inside, closing the door behind her with a small click. And as the moon shines above, Kaito averts his eyes to the sky.

Did he ask Droite to go to lunch with him out of genuine guilt, or was he just that lonely?