Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Warnings: Shounen-ai; BL; slash; boy x boy; homosexual relationships; yaoi, SetoJou; Kaiba Seto x Jounouchi Katsuya, a shitty artist attempting to write, may be OOC, and spoilers up to the end of the series.

Notes: Please read the notes from the previous chapters as well (if you haven't already done so) as they still apply for this chapter.

I seriously can't write this fanfic without thinking about Katekyou Hitman Reborn! now. Stupid "YamamotoCorp" XD… I love Yamamoto from that series so it's hard keeping my mind on Yu-Gi-Oh! I keep connecting him with Yamamoto Kenji even though they're not alike at all!

The One Who Longs In Silence

"Yeah, he is, Squirt." The phone was held between Katsuya's ear and shoulder as he rinsed the dishes in the sink.

Mokuba sighed over the phone. "Big Brother's always doing things that worry me."

Katsuya had called Mokuba and gave him a very vague update about the mission and Seto's current situation. He was planning on visiting Mokuba a little later to get a new note from him and to discuss various things. It was a Friday so he had time to spare until 5:00pm where he had work at Amaranthine.

"Honestly, I bet Big Brother was completely out of it. He can get really grumpy and unreasonable when he's sick too."

Katsuya let out a soft laugh over the phone. Wasn't he always? He couldn't bring himself to say it to Mokuba.

"Once he almost fell down the stairs. If Isono wasn't there at the time to catch him, who knows what would've happened. He snapped at Isono for touching him afterwards too." He sighed again. "Although it was obvious that he was just embarrassed for being held like some princess."

Katsuya laughed again. It really sounded like an unreasonable-Seto thing to do. "Hey, I'm going to finish up these dishes and head out soon after, 'kay?"

"Sure! I'll leave you to that then! See you later, Jounouchi!"

"Bye." He couldn't help but chuckle again.

Mokuba was already waiting for him at the gate when Katsuya arrived at the Kaiba mansion. He was smiling and waving.

"Hey, Jounouchi! You're here!"

How long has he been waiting? Katsuya shrugged it off and returned the smile. "What's up?"

"Aside from the updates you're going to give me, do you mind spending some time with me today?"

"Sure, I have time until mid four-ish."

Normally on a Friday when Katsuya was actually free, he would spend it with Jin. Sometimes he would go over to his place and sometimes they would go out together to kill time before heading off to work together. He had to skip out on Jin again today just for Mokuba. Although he didn't mind, this mission thing was really consuming his free time.

"Great! Come on, let's get upstairs and we can catch up in Big Brother's room again."

The mansion looked the same as it was the last time he was here. It seemed like the same servants greeted him as he made his way to Seto's room with Mokuba and everything was spotless and orderly like it was last week. Seto must be a picky prick to his servants or his servants were all perfectionists.

"Okay." Mokuba took out a piece of paper when they entered Seto's room and handed it to Katsuya. "I wrote a new one. Make sure he gets it this time."

Katsuya nodded.

Mokuba headed over to Seto's bed and sat down on it. "Okay, do you want to start or do you want me to start?"

"I can start." Katsuya decided.

Mokuba only nodded.

"Right now we think Eimei might be related…" Katsuya's expression became serious. "It makes the hacking you mentioned before even more suspicious."

"What makes you guys think that?"

Katsuya took a seat in Seto's arm chair, feeling somewhat like a top businessman himself, and laced his fingers together as his elbows rested on the surface of the desk. He was obviously imitating the posture of Seto and other CEOs he has seen on television. He couldn't hold back a grin even though he was trying to look serious like Seto would.

Mokuba was aware of what Katsuya was doing and chuckled. He always loved how playful Katsuya was.

"We found a contract between Eimei and YamamotoCorp related to the new console."

Mokuba listened intently.

"That's about it. There isn't a lot I know. What do you think this means?"

"I found out some new information," Mokuba quickly responded. "I looked through Eimei's projects and none of them seem like copies of the ones from Kaiba Corporation. So if you found a contract…" He suddenly frowned.

"What? What does it mean?"

"Perhaps Eimei is selling Kaiba Corporation's projects to other companies."

"Maybe they're in on it together."

"Possible… However there is a rumour right now that Kowri's been making business deals with Eimei over some project ideas as well. We haven't heard of the details of those projects but we're looking into it."

"You know if you have proof that they hacked into the Kaiba Corporation why don't you guys just report them or something?"

Mokuba laughed softly. "That isn't exactly how the Kaibas do things. Our proof isn't exactly 'good enough' per se since there are such things as faking this sort of 'evidence'. The most we can do is raise suspicion and taint their name. That wouldn't be the ultimate victory for Big Brother. He'd want more."

There was a hesitant smile on Katsuya's face. He couldn't help but find this kind of scary. Note to self: never mess with a Kaiba.

"I know what you're thinking but I agree with Big Brother on this one."

"Don't you agree with everything he does and say?"

"Of course not." Mokuba had the back of his fists against either side of his waist. "I would never do something he didn't like though."

There wasn't a lot that Mokuba could do that Seto wouldn't like. He knew how much Seto loved Mokuba. It made him think about Shizuka so he couldn't help but smile.

"Speaking of your brother, didn't you say something about soup?"

Mokuba laughed and hopped off Seto's bed. "Come with me to the kitchen, I'll show you."

Katsuya was definitely interested in seeing the kitchen. He had a feeling it would be as large as Seto's bedroom. And when they arrived, he realized how right he was.

"Mmm…It smells good." Katsuya took a whiff from the still cooking soup when he lifted the lid up.

"Do you mind dropping this off at his place before you go to work? It should be almost done."

"Sure thing, kiddo. Kaiba's sure lucky to have a brother like you." He grinned and ruffled Mokuba's hair while Mokuba protested about being treated like a kid. His reaction only made Katsuya laugh.

"Big Brother always gets better after having some of my soup."

"You made this?" Katsuya was sure it was a servant who was responsible for the task.

Mokuba nodded. "Big Brother's a big baby when he's sick. He's miserable and snaps at everyone around him more. He tries very hard to hide the fact that he feels sick so he usually just tells everyone to go away."

Katsuya wasn't sure if a 'big baby' was the correct term for Seto. "He actually seemed kind of nicer. A little…"

"Really?" Mokuba grinned and leaned forward.

"W-what? Why are you smiling like that?"

"Nothing." Mokuba leaned back. "Isn't that good though? He's never called nice by anyone other than me. If you found him nice then he must really like you."

Kaiba likes me?

Mokuba could tell that Katsuya was feeling somewhat proud at the revelation by the way his eyes lit up.

"What do you think of Big Brother, Jounouchi?"

"Huh?" The unexpected question startled him a bit. "Um…well…" He scratched his cheek gently. "He's a friend."

"I mean about him as a person."

"Oh. Don't take offense but, he's kind of a jerk." Katsuya laughed. Mokuba didn't seem surprised or offended. "But I know that deep down, bound by chains and hidden somewhere in a dark abyss but vacuumed sealed, there are some nice qualities in him."

Mokuba lifted the lid of the boiling soup and filled the thermos he already had prepared on the counter adjacent to the soup on the stove top.

"Here." He sealed the lid tightly before handing it to Katsuya.

"Do you want to head out for a bit with me, Mokuba?"

"Hmm?" Mokuba cocked his head to the side slightly. "Where to?"

"The park to kill off some time. Maybe we can duel."

"Sure!"

"Jounouchi!" A few kids ran over to Katsuya and jumped onto him, all giggling at the same time.

"Shinji, Haruka, Tetsuya! Why are you here so early today? Don't you have school?" Katsuya gave Haruka a hug since she spread her arms for one.

Mokuba watched and smiled. He never knew Katsuya liked kids.

"We watched a movie today and since we finished early, our teachers brought us all to the park." Shinji explained enthusiastically.

"Uwaah! It's Jounouchi!" A few more kids started to ensemble around Katsuya and Mokuba, recognizing them as celebrities in the Duel Monsters world.

Before Katsuya could respond, his attention was taken away.

"You!" It was Hikaru, the kid with the crush on Shizuka!

Hikaru gave Katsuya a glare before spinning around and dashing off.

"Hikaru! Hikaru!" The teacher began to chase him. "Where are you going, Hikaru?"

Nonplussed, Katsuya only stood and stared as Hikaru ran away from the park with one of the teachers trailing him. It wasn't until they were both out of sight before he broke out of his stupor. It seems everyone was as confused as he was.

"That Hikaru is a weirdo." Tetsuya commented. The other kids seemed to agree, nodding.

Don't tell me he ran away because he saw me… The corner of Katsuya's lips twitched. This kind of rejection is a little too much. Even women wouldn't… He sighed. He must really hate me.

Mokuba tapped Katsuya on the shoulder. "You know him?"

"Somewhat…"

"Jounouchi! Teach us more combos!" The kids started chanting in unison, eliciting a laugh from Katsuya.

"Sure! But a little later. I have a friend with me right now."

"You teach kids Duel Monsters?" Mokuba was slightly surprised.

"Yeah. I come to this park once in a while. These three are always playing together here after school."

The kids all stared at Mokuba with wonder, uncertain if they should approach such a famous person.

"I didn't know you knew Jounouchi, Shinji." One of the little kids in the crowd commented.

Shinji tilted his head up a bit and his smile turned slightly smug. "Well, you guys need to come to this park more."

"Hey, can you guys tell me about Hikaru?" Katsuya gave them a smile.

"Why? Hikaru's a weirdo." Shinji pouted.

"What's wrong?"

"You see, Jounouchi… Hikaru really hates Duel Monsters. He hates duelists too. Nobody gets along with him in school except a few girls."

"Do you know why he hates Duel Monsters?"

The kids shook their heads.

"Hikaru's father seems to be against it too." Haruka spoke up.

"Who cares about Hikaru!" Shinji held onto Katsuya's arm, pulling him gently towards a park bench so they could all sit down and chat. "Let me tell you about that movie we saw today, Jounouchi!" The other kids Katsuya didn't know returned to their previous activities, they didn't seem interested in a recap of the movie they saw.

"It was wonderful." Haruka was sparkling.

"Mind if I listen too?" Mokuba smiled.

The kids beamed and nodded. To them, Kaiba Mokuba was a celebrity. He frequently appeared on television since the past year in place of Seto when he wasn't around. They don't watch the news but they do pay attention to Duel Monsters related things.

"We were watching Perpetuality today." Haruka sighed contently. "Romantic."

"Girls are stupid. It's the sword fighting that's cool." Tetsuya had his hands to the side.

"Hmmm…" Katsuya tried to recall the story of 'Perpetuality'. "Mermaids?" Wasn't that the story the Kaiba brothers seem to have a thing for?

"So you've seen it too, Jounouchi?" Haruka seemed excited since she was always into romance.

"We're going to talk about the fighting!" Tetsuya frowned. "Jounouchi wouldn't be interested in the love story."

"Stupid Tetsu!" Haruka kicked dirt at his shoes. "You don't know that!"

"Haru's the one who's stupid!"

"Now, now…" Katsuya chuckled. "I'll listen to both. They're both important in the story aren't they?"

Haruka laced her fingers together and began. "Queen Aquiminthe suffered a lot in the story but in the end she was able to find happiness and live happily ever after. Aquiminthe was a white mermaid who was born to be the Queen of the Sea! She fell in love with a human and had to choose between the sea and the human. Of course their true love penetrates through the period of pain and they were able to end up together. In the end, Feliana became the queen of the sea instead. Isn't that romantic?"

"Haru was crying," Shinji teased.

"Was not." She tossed him a glare.

Katsuya was confused. He swore he remembered differently. He turned to Mokuba who was silent the entire time. "Something wrong, Mokuba?"

"Ah… It's nothing." He smiled at Haruka. "Ne, was this a new adaptation to the story?"

"What do you mean?"

"Were you guys watching the new animated version?"

"I think so."

"I see." Mokuba gave her another smile. "They changed the ending to a happy one."

"What? What? The ending isn't supposed to be like that?" Tetsuya perked up. "Aquiminthe turned evil and destroyed the planet didn't she?" He grinned, ignoring the 'Tetsu-is-so-stupid-looks' he was getting from Haruka.

Mokuba laughed softly. "The real ending would just make you kids sad. I like the version you described a lot more."

Katsuya agreed although he barely remembered the story.

"We want to know what happened!" Shinji said.

"Are you sure?" Mokuba seemed hesitant.

"Do it, Mokuba." Katsuya placed a hand on his shoulder. "I want to refresh my memory too."

"Well… First of all, it's impossible for Feliana to become queen. Only the merman or mermaid who was born with the majestic pearl can become the ruler of the sea," Mokuba began, "Also, Perpetuality is a tragedy…" He wasn't sure if he should continue.

"Ah! That's right! It was." Katsuya perked up. "I knew something was wrong about Haruka's description of the story."

Mokuba nodded. "Aquiminthe fell in love with someone she shouldn't have fallen for. It was also one-sided. Near the end, she was given the option to choose between the sea or the land, and she chose the sea. No matter how you look at it, her decision seems to be the best one, but she could never forget the man she fell in love with and lived in regret and longing her whole life."

Haruka looked like she was about to cry.

"Jeeze. You're such a baby, Haru." Tetsuya smacked her lightly over the head with a pack of tissues. He then turned his head away from her, avoiding eye contact.

"Shut up! I wasn't crying!"

"Ah, sorry." Mokuba rubbed the back of his head and smiled. "I like the version you saw much more. A version where Aquiminthe can find happiness."

"Haruka! Shinji! Tetsuya!" Their teacher was calling them. "It's time to go!"

"Okay!" They cried in unison.

"We never got to talk about the sword fighting," Shinji pointed out.

"Hey! That's not fair." Tetsuya frowned.

"Next time, okay?" Katsuya reassured with a smile.

"It's a deal." Tetsuya nodded.

They exchanged goodbyes and Katsuya was left alone with Mokuba again.

"The role of the ruler is to maintain balance in the sea, to take charge over 'political' matters and to protect the denizens. The inhabitants of the sea will only listen to the ruler chosen by God, who was Aquiminthe at the time. She could not abandon the sea or else the entire system would fall apart." Mokuba suddenly continued the story.

"But she fell in love with a man," Katsuya continued. "She forgot who she was when she was with him."

"He was only a stage actor who performed plays on the beach. She fell in love with his acting first, then his passion, then his heart and finally him as a whole. Other than being a man with a kind heart, Souichirou was just a normal guy. It's really up to the audience's interpretation whether or not Souichirou has any feelings for Aquiminthe."

Katsuya had no idea why Mokuba decided to continue talking about the fairy tale, but he decided to continue listening to him.

Aquiminthe was destined to become the ruler of the sea. Because of this, she was granted the power to 'become' human once in a while by a unicorn. However she could only remain in a 'human' form when she's near the sea. That was how she met Souichirou of course. She loved watching his plays and was eventually able to get to know him.

The story takes place when it was almost time for Aquiminthe to become an adult, meaning it was about time she took over the role of ruler. The sea was already suffering from the chaos due to the absence of a ruler for two years, since the last ruler was deceased.

The unicorn saw Aquiminthe's heart for the sea waver and gave her a choice to stay as the ruler of the sea or to become human for real. She wanted to pursue Souichirou but she couldn't abandon her duties. She promised to never see Souichirou again until she resigns from the throne. When another mermaid who was born with another majestic pearl reached adulthood, she resigned from her throne and swam to the surface, hoping to see Souichirou again, but the only thing she met was an empty beach. There were no more plays being held there, no more children running around playing and no more Souichirou. She knew it was silly to have even tried since mermaids lived longer than humans. There was nothing waiting for her but silence. (2)

"Do you know why Perpetuality is called what it is?" Mokuba turned to Katsuya, they were both sitting on the bench.

Katsuya shook his head. "Because her love was perpetual?"

Mokuba laughed. "Yeah but that's not the only perpetual theme in the story. Aquiminthe will never know what her life would've been like if she had chosen the other path and forever she longs for Souichirou. It's such a stupid story. I hate it."

"I don't think she would be happy no matter which path she chooses; either to live with guilt or with longing. The problem was that she couldn't let go." Why were they still talking about a mermaid story? "What's up with you Kaiba brothers and this story anyway?" He raised a brow. "It's kind of hard to imagine Kaiba of all people liking a mermaid fairy tale." He never pegged Mokuba as a fairy tale type either.

"He doesn't like it. He thinks it's stupid. He thinks Aquiminthe is stupid."

"Uhh…so then why are the messages…?" Why does it seem like this story holds something deep for you two?

"Our father was the creator of that story. The original was a play."

"Gozaburo?" Okay, he knew that that couldn't be true.

"No." Mokuba half-lidded his eyes, directing a 'You-Dumbass'-look at Katsuya. "Our real father."

Katsuya nodded, he knew that was coming.

"Our father wrote as a hobby—fairy tales to be specific. Naturally this was important to us when we were little and especially so for Big Brother since I wasn't even born at the time when this story was released. Big Brother told me that the family all went out together to watch the first showing of the play. Big Brother really liked the story back then since it was written by Father. He was always proud of Father…"

"The code was made up when we were in the orphanage, during that time Big Brother still adored Perpetuality. You must think it's strange that we kept this code and it kind of is. We don't even like the story anymore now that we've grown up, and Big Brother is someone who would prefer to erase his past, to simply ignore it all and pretend it never happened. We could've easily changed this system of ours but Big Brother never suggested to change it, probably because it would've been the same as erasing a part of the past we had together. Big Brother doesn't want to forget his memories with me and I think he still misses Father deep inside. I don't particularly share these feelings for Father… I was young at the time when Father passed away and it was Big Brother who raised me. As for my mother, I never even met her… since she died giving birth to me."

Katsuya listened silently, watching Mokuba as he spoke. He was startled from the unexpected personal story. He didn't realize he had placed a comforting hand on top of Mokuba's shoulder amidst Mokuba's story.

"Jounouchi."

Katsuya tilted his head slightly, a silent 'what?' reflected from his gesture.

"Almost everything Big Brother does is for me. Almost everything I do is for Big Brother. What I told you today, don't forget that."

"What?" He blinked, utterly confused now. "Uh...sure…"

"You better get going or you're going to be late."

He looked at his watch. "Ah shit! You're right! We never got to duel too! If I don't go now I won't be able to get this soup delivered on time and get to work before five."

"Sorry, Jounouchi!"

"It's not your fault, kiddo."

After giving Seto Mokuba's soup and note, the rest of his Friday and even the day after were rather uneventful. On Friday, Seto had answered the door slightly lethargically, giving Katsuya the opportunity to 'tell-Kaiba-so' that he shouldn't need to ring the doorbell to get into his apartment. He had left shortly after dropping the soup off. Now it was finally Sunday evening, the promised date Seto and Katsuya appointed to have dinner together. He hoped Seto was feeling well enough for it.

"That won't do!" Katsuya's father pushed his son back into his room and shoved a few big bags of clothes into his arms just when Katsuya stepped out of it. "Choose something from here."

"What? What is this? What won't do? When'd you get home?" He was confused as to what his father was up to.

"Your clothes! You can't go on a date looking like that! You'll embarrass the Jounouchi name!"

"What? It's not a date, old man!" There seriously wasn't any good reputation in the Jounouchi name to damage either. Well, aside from Duel Monsters.

Katsuya's father shook his head. "I bought you some new clothes and a few other things so go on and use them. Choose something more presentable for this dinner occasion."

"Holy fuck, old man. Why'd you buy this shit?" He placed the bags down on his bed and started pulling out his new clothes. They had to be expensive; they looked expensive. Was his father developing a shopping addiction now? He was just getting better with alcoholism and gambling.

His father smiled, quite proud of himself apparently. He had amassed quite a bit of money when he started to cut back on his usual cravings that sucked his wallet dry. Now that he doesn't gamble anymore and only had the occasional drink, his wallet was feeling much heavier than before. It also helped that he had a capable son who was an expert at saving money and managing the family's financial needs.

"Return it now! This is a waste of money!" He didn't need brand names or fancy accessories.

"Listen, boy, I had to ask my co-worker's daughter to help me with this so don't go spoiling other people's efforts."

"We have bills to pay!"

"We're managing just fine." His father took out one of his more favourite shirts from one of the bags and held it up against Katsuya and smiled fondly. His smile quickly dissolved as he began to speak again. "I was never able to buy you anything before so at least let me do that now."

Katsuya didn't know what to say. He was feeling slightly embarrassed with how his father was acting. He never really had the luxury of having his parents buy him material things.

"Fine… But don't do this again, okay? At least not to this extent. You bought way too much." He rubbed the back of his head, looking away from his father and at the clothes instead.

Katsuya's father was happy to see his son smile, even though he knew Katsuya was trying to hide it.

Katsuya went through his pile of new clothes when his father stepped out of his room and closed the door so Katsuya could change in privacy. Was his father trying to re-create his wardrobe? There were new casual and semi-formal clothing items in the pile. There was even a new package of underwear. He wasn't exactly sure what to wear now and the whole 'clothes' thing made him wonder if there was a dress code at the restaurant Seto was going to bring him to. Would it be better if he wore something semi-formal? He didn't know what types of restaurants Seto would dine at or more importantly, what types of restaurant the character Matsuo would dine at. He doubted it was a ramen stand on the street though.

To be safe, he grabbed one of the sleeveless tops and a red dress shirt in the pile and slapped on a pair of new jeans. He stepped outside his room again and was once again shoved back inside by his father.

"Wait! That won't do at all!"

"What is it now?" He already wore one of the new things that his father bought. What else could be wrong?

"You have to put on some makeup." His father held up a box of makeup.

"What?" Did his father lose his mind? "Dad! I'm a boy!"

"Yes but you're going on a date with a boy."

"It's not a date! I'm happy you realize that Matsuo is a man but you should also realize the slight problem in your claims."

"That Matsuo guy would look good in makeup." His father pondered for a second, ignoring Katsuya's protests about the whole thing not being a date. "Ah! So he's the girl in the relationship. I had the impression that you were."

"What? We're both men and we're not in a relationship!" Him and Kaiba? It was weird just thinking about it. Impossible even.

"That Matsuo guy likes you I think." His father shoved the makeup box into Katsuya's hands. "You should ask him to come over for dinner some time."

"Are you even listening to me?" He was starting to get worried that his father might slip a condom in his wallet or something.

"Yes." He started to fix Katsuya's collar, smiling in approval to how his son looked in the new clothes. "That Matsuo guy is gay isn't he?"

"He's gay but I'm not!"

"Gay, bisexual, whatever. Ask him to come over for dinner, okay?"

"No way!" His father wasn't listening at all! "I don't like him that way!" He planned on giving the makeup kit to Shizuka to get rid of it. Unless there was a good reason to, he would never put on makeup. And there was no reason to do so right now, especially since the last thing he needed was for Seto to misunderstand and think he had feelings for him. Their friendship would surely fall apart.

"The fact that you have a dinner date with a gay man alone for no reason already raises up questions."

"Friends can go out for dinner with each other for no reason."

"Then you can invite this 'friend' over for dinner too."

"Fine!" Katsuya gave up and sighed. "He might not agree to it though."

"I doubt that." His father smiled and handed Katsuya some of the accessories he bought for him. "You should put on a bracelet or a ring or something."

Thank god they were male accessories. In order to avoid any nagging from his father, he did as he was told and wore one of the bracelets on his wrist opposite to the one he had his watch on. "Are you satisfied now, old man?" His father had to be confusing him with Shizuka or something.

His father patted him on the back not too gently. "So the makeup…"

"I'm not putting o-"

-Riiiiing…riiing…

The cordless phone was right next to Katsuya so he picked it up.

"Hello?" There was a pause and a smile on his face. "Okay." He hung up and returned the phone back in place.

"Matsuo?"

"He said he's outside."

As they left Katsuya's room, his father suddenly pulled out a jacket and held it in front of Katsuya. "Here, wear this. I bought this for you too."

"Exactly how much did you spend?" A look of suspicion loomed on his face. "Dad, do you even have any money left?"

"Don't worry about it. I would've spent it on blackjack and poker anyways."

"You have to return some of this, old man." Katsuya frowned and took out his wallet. "Do you have enough money to get by tomorrow?"

"Just shut up and wear the fucking jacket, you stupid boy!" His father lost his patience and started pushing both Katsuya along with the jacket out the door. "Your date is waiting for you."

"He's not m-" He didn't get to finish his sentence as his dad slammed the door in his face. "F-fine!" He slipped into the jacket and headed down to meet Seto. He checked his pockets for condoms just in case.

"If you really don't like him then I guess that might be a problem, Katsuya."

Katsuya's father watched the man with an obvious crush on his son from his apartment window.

He watched Katsuya's figure walk up to his date before retreating to Katsuya's room. He stared at two of Katsuya's favourite photos on his desk before picking them up for closer inspection. One of the photos was of Shizuka when she was little and the other was one of Katsuya's graduation photos. Looking at Shizuka made his heart ache.

"Stupid boy." He sighed. He was hoping Katsuya will give the makeup kit to Shizuka. He bought it for her after all. He knew his stupid son wasn't going to use it.

Seto was standing next to the car he had pulled over in front of the apartment. He raised a brow when he saw Katsuya. Katsuya looked…different.

"Don't ask." Katsuya sighed and took the shotgun seat.

Seto wasn't planning on asking but instead of saying so he stayed with his original plan to remain silent. He climbed into the driver seat, snapped his seatbelt in place and drove off. Katsuya was very pleasing to the eye this evening but he wasn't going to comment on it. He shouldn't look into it too much since it probably didn't mean anything. It was never good to have false hope.

Notes: Yamamamamamamoto!

Is Yu-Gi-Oh! dying down lately or is it just me?

I'm sorry about the mermaid story! (If it bothers you.)

(1) I am so tempted to write "Jounouchi-nii". Had to refrain myself. Haha. That's how I imagine they'd call him though.

(2) The story ended like that—just Aquiminthe reaching the surface and finding nothing but silence.