A/N: The start of this duel just summarises what happened at the end of the last duel.

And sorry for not posting it up earlier. Forgot I hadn't finished all the chapters after all. I had the first and the last so I assumed I had everything in between. :)

Lines to Cross

Chapter 2
Envy

Kouichi all but collapsed on the bench as the second semi-final duel progressed. Barrel Behind the Door wasn't a card that was often needed, but he kept it for those odd circumstances and that was what gave him the victory over Tanaka Ai. It had been a very interesting duel; he may have been pushing Ai into playing more cards than she would normally have, but inversely she was doing the same. She'd managed to destroy Bad Reaction to Simochi three times after all, even if, thanks to Pot of Benevolence, he had a third copy still in the remaining few cards of his deck.

It was a good thing though he had swapped out some of his smaller damage-dealing spells for his monsters. But as he watched the next duel progress, he swapped those for some of his trap cards so there was an overall more even balance between the two card types.

He also had Dark Hole. He'd be needing that against Jinzo.

Yutaka waited for a few minutes after the match ended, and once the second semi-final match had begun he entered Kouichi's serial code into the computer and put the earpiece in his ear.

After a moment, Kouichi responded.

'Nice duel,' Yutaka commented. 'Although I was wondering what you were planning when you purposely destroyed Bad Reaction to Simochi.'

'I was thinking it would be even harder to get past Wall of Revealing Light,' came the reply.

'You did cut it rather fine with Raging Flame Sprite though.'

'I wasn't – ' Kouichi paused. 'Okay, maybe I was…'

'Not cutting it fine?'

'I meant to say I wasn't trying to win,' the other responded sheepishly. 'But I was, truthfully.'

'Of course you were,' the elder said. 'It's a hard thing, trying to lose. And you had absolutely no reason to do it.'

Silence greeted him, until Kouichi finally spoke. His words though sounded a little strained. 'It's not black and white.'

'No, it's not,' the other agreed.

'I wish I was still a kid.' A pause. 'I wish I was still an infant. Things were perfect then.'

'You don't remember.'

'No.' He didn't need to go on though. At least my family was together then. At least they were all there.

'It's over,' Yutaka said suddenly, looking at the TV screen.

'Who won?'

'The guy with the Spellcaster deck.'

'Hmm…' Kouichi pulled his deck out and scanned it. He knew the deck he would be versing next had Secret Village of the Spellcasters, but the only Spellcaster he had was Copycat. Somehow, he'd felt attracted to the cat theme and they really were useful cards if you weren't going for the direct assault. He had a few oddballs beyond that: Marshmelon and Raging Flame Sprite and Sangan, but the rest of his monsters were cats.

And he had three cards he hoped he never had to use in a duel, but he shuffled them in as well. He would be needing a strong monster in a duel where his spells and traps could wind up on the sidelines.

'And the final match of this exciting tournament has finally come.'

Sho rubbed his eyes a little; in his view, the announcer was exaggerating just a bit. After all, it was a regional championship, not a part of the pro league which had far more prestige. Most duellists here were young and aspiring, aiming for the higher tiers and the big win.

And since everyone seemed so evenly placed, the duels went for longer than one would see in the pro league. The first duel of the semifinal especially had been gruellingly long.

And he had taken pages of notes on all the duellists as well. His hand was getting sore from the writing, so in a way he was relieved that only one duel remained.

Although he could not deny the varieties of duellists and duels that had been showcased, and the mounds of potential shown.

Hisagaya Taro had watched his opponent duel his way up to the finals, and he was fairly confident a win would be easy. He relied very little on monsters, and he had not played a Spellcaster throughout the tournament. Without that he would not be able to play spells once the field spell was active, and he was depending on his two copies of Royal Decree or Jinzo, the only non-spellcaster in his deck, to block the traps.

He was sure it would be an easy win. If he drew a good hand, all the better.

Luckily though, fate appeared to be on Kouichi's side as his hand wasn't that which he hoped. Still, he had enough cards to cause trouble and he played Demise of the Land and Pitch Black Power Grasp facedown and Breaker, The Magical Warrior in attack mode with a spell counter and an additional 300 attack points.

Kouichi took his next turn, and played three traps facedown.

Taro's next draw was more appealing, but he had to wait as Kouichi revealed Bad Reaction to Simochi and The Eye of Truth. With Emergency Provisions in his hand, he lost 1000 of his life points, however he had drawn Jinzo and therefore he sacrificed his warrior to summon him immediately, using Emergency Provisions to gain an additional 1000 attack points as well as sending a useless trap to the graveyard.

'I highly doubt your third facedown can stop my attack,' he commented dryly to his opponent, and he was correct as the attack left Kouichi with no traps at his disposal and 5600 life points.

Kouichi drew a card and activated Dark World Dealings, discarding The Fabled Catsith to draw an additional card and destroy Jinzo as well.

Unfortunately for him, Taro drew Monster Reborn, so an additional 1000 points of damage was well worth the opportunity to bring back Jinzo and put a stop to the traps once more.

But it was still Kouichi's turn, and he played a monster in defence mode before ending his turn.

The next turn left Taro with 6000 life points and Jinzo once again on his field. For his normal summon he set a monster on the field before attacking the face-down monster. And when Sangan went to the grave and brought Dark Cat with White Tail to Kouichi's hand, he used The Shallow Grave to summon Breaker, the Magical Warrior to his field and Sangan to Kouichi's in face-down defence mode. And that gave him the perfect opportunity to activate Demise of the Land and play his field spell: Secret Village of the Spellcasters.

Shinya blinked at the field spell. From his seat, it looked like an extremely risky move. After all, there were monsters that could be normal or special summoned without sacrifices and could defeat 1600 attack points in a fight. And even with a deck packed with Spellcasters, one could not guarantee he would always have a monster out…especially if the other had Spellcasters in his own deck.

Even Kouichi's deck, which wasn't geared for frontal assaults, had a monster strong enough to get past the most common walls.

To him, the play looked like a serious breach of over-confidence. After all, there was only so many times one could resurrect cards from the graveyard. There was probably far more ways to send them there.

Kouichi, despite being unaware of Shinya's thoughts at that moment, was disagreeing with them. He hadn't expected Demise of the Land, and if he had, he wouldn't have expected to be forced into special summoning a monster onto his field.

That left him with far fewer opportunities than he would like, and for his next turn all he could do was set a monster.

Taro was more productive, flipping Breaker, the Magical Warrior into attack mode and using Spell Power Grasp to give it a spell counter, raising its attack points by 300 and giving it the potential to destroy a spell or trap on the field.

'Spell Power Grasp also allows me to obtain another copy of it from my deck,' he explained as he peered through the cards. 'However, I cannot activate it this turn. It doesn't matter though, as I chose to remove the counter from Breaker, the Magical Warrior and destroy your face-down card.

It was Threatening Roar, but it was always best to be safe as opposed to sorry.

'Next I activate Shield Crush, targetting the facedown monster you played last turn.'

That turned out to be, as expected, Dark Cat With White Tail. And since it was destroyed by an effect and not targeted by battle, its flip effect failed to activate.

There was a smirk playing on Taro's lips as he attacked Sangan, and without looking at what monster the other chose to add to his hand, he attacked directly with Jinzo.

Kouichi's lifepoints dropped to 3200. And he was seriously low on options.

He looked at the monster he had taken as he drew his next card. Marshmelon would stall, but for how long? He had little choice however, and played the monster facedown before ending his turn.

Taro, predictably, attacked the Marshmelon and the damage rebounded, leaving him with 5000 life points. Sadly, Kouichi couldn't flip his monster facedown again, although luckily the effect of it being unable to be destroyed in battle still persisted. In the meantime, Taro set another monster and ended his turn.

The next few turns progressed much the same way, until Kouichi's hand had reached the limit and he was forced to discard a card at his end phase. The card happened to be The Fabled Catsith, which worked to his advantage as he destroyed Secret Village of the Spellcasters.

It was unfortunate for him that Taro managed to draw Magical Stone Excavation and resurrect it. It was also unfortunate he flipped over Old Vindicative Magician in the same turn, dispatching of his last line of defence. However, Kouichi had snuck in a spell card during his opponent's main phase: One Day of Peace, so his points were safe until the next turn.

And by some stroke of luck, he managed to draw the only Spellcaster in his deck.

He took a deep breath before beginning what could well wind up being his last turn. 'I summon Copycat in attack mode,' he said. 'And using its special ability, I target Jinzo and Copycat attack and defence points equal its original strength.'

'Copycat is a Spellcaster,' Taro noted, with a hint of worry in his tone. His deck wasn't exactly equipped to deal with repeated battering upon his ace cards. And he hadn't been counting on the kid having a Spellcaster in and amidst the beasts and a couple of Pyro types.

'Yes,' Kouichi nodded. 'Which means I can use spell cards for this turn.' He played his first, Swords of Concealing Light which flipped every monster on his opponent's field face-down. That negated Jinzo's ability and prevented Taro from using spell cards, something Kouichi intended to take full advantage of.

'Next, I play Upstart Goblin, so I draw a card and you, thanks to Bad Reaction to Simochi no longer being negated, lose 1000 life points.'

Taro's life points dropped to 5000.

Kouichi drew a card and played a second copy of the same, drawing another card and dealing another 1000 points of damage to his opponent. And that card was exactly what he needed…or at least he hoped.

'I activate End of the World,' he said. 'I discard Demise, King of Armageddon to summon Ruin, Queen of Oblivion.'

'2300 attack points?' Somehow, he had expected worse. However, the ability was trouble. And so was Copycat. Between them, they could take out three of his monsters.

Luckily, he had four. Unluckily (for him), Apprentice Magician, the only card actually useful in the graveyard, was the one left on the field.

And now The Eye of Truth was active as well, so Trap Booster would cost him an additional 1000 points.

However, he had Call of the Haunted in his hand. And Copycat's attack and defence points would return to zero in the end phase.

'I play two cards facedown,' Kouichi said, ending his turn.

Taro drew and lost a thousand points, leaving him with 3000 and losing his lead by a mere 200. It mattered not though…he hoped.

'I summon Magician's Valkariya in attack mode,' he said. 'And since she's a Spellcaster, I can use spells again. Like Trap Booster, who allows me to play a trap from my hand if I discard a card. So I discard Magician's Circle to activate Call of the Haunted, and –'

'I play Dark Bribe,' Kouichi interrupted. 'Against Call of the Haunted. So you draw a card but your trap is negated.'

Taro drew, and let out a breath. 'I drew Mystical Space Typhoon,' he said quietly, 'and with your Swords of Concealing Light gone, what's left protecting your Copycat?'

'1800 attack points won't be enough to finish my life points,' Kouichi pointed out, although he was apprehensive.

'No,' Taro agreed. 'But I flip summon Apprentice Magician and then sacrifice him to summon out Blizzard Princess. And I'll also equip her with United We Stand, which gives her 800 additional attack and defence points for each monster I control. And, due to Blizzard Princess' effect, you cannot activate spells or traps this turn, so that remaining facedown of yours is now useless.'

He paused for a moment as if to savour it – or perhaps due to relief – before ordering Blizzard Princess to attack Copycat. With no attack points to act as a shield, Kouichi's life points took the full brunt of the attack, and 4400 attack points were more than his life points could withstand.

And just like that, the night came to an end.

Sho hurried through the crowd, trying to find Judai. He noticed the participant duellists milling around, some showing poor sportsmanship but most of them exchanging pleasantries with the calm fire of rivalry. While many could grudge a winner on his position – and some could argue it was their rightful place save for misfortune in the pairings – they could also recognise that luck could not carry somebody to the winning podium and be worth more than a material trophy.

Judai was away from those duellists, waiting patiently outside for him in the shadow of the open door.

'Do you have a place to stay?' he panted. 'You can crash at our apartment, and Ni-san will be happy to see you too. Unless – oh, you've probably –'

Judai held out his hand to stop the other. 'I'd love to stay,' he said, rubbing the back of his head with his free hand. 'And to be honest, we just crash where we can.'

'Still, Yubel reprimanded. 'It wouldn't hurt for you to start planning a little.'

'I plan when I need to,' the brunet dismissed, and Sho, unable to see Duel Spirits, simply stared blankly at his friend.

'Yubel,' Judai said by way of explanation.

'Ah…' Frankly, Sho had no idea what to say to that.

'You were great,' Yutaka's voice said quietly in the earpiece.

'Hmm,' was the non-committal response from Kouichi.

'Are you disappointed you lost?' His tone was sympathetic, but also a tad confused. 'You lasted longer than anyone would have expected with a deck like yours.'

'True,' Kouichi admitted. 'But he pushed me into a situation where I couldn't use my cards the way I wanted to, and it was…a little frustrating.'

'And..?' Yutaka prompted.

'And I am disappointed I lost, but in a way I'm relieved as well.'

'Oh, why?' There was confusion and curiosity laced in the tone.

'A few reasons I suppose.' The dark haired boy sighed into the silence of the night. He'd long since left the crowd at the arena behind; he wasn't like them, trying to be the best by using what they loved. Now the dim stars in the sky and the wayward leaves blown away by the late spring breeze were his only physical company in the deserted park. 'Because I lost, I don't need to think about what would have come with winning. Like taking that away from somebody who truly wanted it, not somebody who won for the sake of winning at best.'

'I suppose that makes sense,' Yutaka said quietly. 'Some of those duellists seemed really passionate…and disappointed they lost.'

'Yeah.' Kouichi paused, considering the rest of his reasons.

'That's not all,' Yutaka prompted.

'No,' the other admitted. 'It's also…' He sighed again.

'You get older when you sigh.'

'Being an adult beats being a teen at this stage,' Kouichi pointed out.

'I suppose you're right about that.' There was no point continuing on with that topic; they'd managed to argue once over it, but quite frankly Yutaka would have probably done the same. It was only because he was in a position where he could help his little brother (or so he hoped) without giving up anything that he could attempt to convince the other to not give up things of their own. Shinya was easier; he couldn't legally leave school, but Kouichi was sixteen and free to do what he pleased for the most part. So the only people who could stop him from quitting school and alternating between working to support himself and working to get his brother and friends back were his parents. Except they understood the need and allowed him to try, helping where they could.

In all honesty, he didn't need to work part-time; his father was more than willing to provide and he had the funds to do it with. But Kouichi had pointed out that he needed something productive to do, and with holding down no stable job it was pretty easy for him to alter his schedule when needed. Like the day Yutaka had finally managed to get an approved prototype of the system they needed, a modified version of one that had been tested at Duel Academia three years ago. Heavily modified rather, as the original and only pair-version had been destroyed in attempting to open up the dimensional portal. They'd managed too, but only a small portal. Not nearly big enough for what they would need.

It took years to build up an improved model…and then Duel Academia, after the disasters they'd had with alternate dimensions, refused to assist with the next stage of testing and they'd had to find alternate arrangements. The other branches were also adamant; Amon Graham was still missing, and Austin O'Brien, Johan Anderson and Jim Cook all remembered their own experiences, and their Academies had no interest in putting their remaining students to the same risk, even if the scientists of Kaiba corp. were sure the duel energies weren't nearly as strong in the East and North branches as to be a problem.

The American branch of Duel Academia had also been reluctant, and they had just about given up and begun talking about enlisting the public in an exhibition test when they agreed to host a pair of the machines and test the duelling system far-range.

Fortunately, it was a complete success and they had been able to move on from that. Yutaka, for his part, had branched out at that point, attempting to manufacture a far more portable and enduring system which had only recently become fully operational. He still wasn't sure it was perfect; they still needed to go through the third stage of trials, but Kouichi was sure there was no time for that. How, Yutaka didn't exactly now. He was a scientist after all, and he found it difficult to believe in things like destiny and bonds and things outside the norm, but Kouichi was an exception to many rules it appeared. He'd been clinically dead for eight minutes before being revived and completely healthy after all. And the Doctor and Nurses present at the time could swear they had seen something glowing on his forehead, within his brother's tear, before his heart began beating again.

And really, how else could they explain the disappearance of five children in the middle of the day from rooms locked from the inside? Albeit not all of them had been in the same situation, but he knew his brother had been changing into a yukata for the festival downtown and Shinya has said his own had been in the shower stalls after a soccer practice. Kouichi couldn't say as he hadn't been with his twin at the time, however it was he who had been sure the Digital World had something to do with it because his D-scanner had reacted at the same time.

It had taken months just to confirm that, during the testing of the new and improved prototype. The dimensional portal, still small and barely any use, had been enough to use the strange other-worldly device to get a transmission true, and it was only when he received a reply did Yutaka actually believe the wild story.

Upon further consideration, he wondered if he would have been more inclined to believe it had Tomoki been the one to tell him. It really did explain that life-changing twenty minutes though as well as the famous power-flux, but it also defied a great deal of other things. What sort of world was it, after all, where children were the ones who had to hold it up and fight while adults were useless?

But that was the sort of thing that helped one discover themselves, and seeing how Tomoki had grown from it he half wished he had been younger.

But time didn't turn back.

'You still shouldn't…'

'Huh?'

Apparently, he had been silent too long.

'You should get some sleep,' Kouichi said softly.

'So should you,' Yutaka retorted. 'And I've pulled all-nighters before.'

'The night's quiet,' the ex-warrior of darkness said. 'I feel like I want to stay out a bit, but at the same time not.'

He tapped the seat's leg lightly.

'It's a wonder you made it through junior high school,' Yutaka commented with some forced lightness. 'Considering how late you always go to bed.' He stifled a yawn as he spoke.

'Go to sleep,' Kouichi advised. 'It's hard for me to sleep at this time, but I can always sleep later.'

'Make sure you actually do sleep later.' The elder paused. 'What are you going to do now then?'

Kouichi leaned back to stare at the moon and its lightly glowing face. Part of him was restless; he wanted to be doing something. Anything, but most importantly something that could open the Digital World gate wide enough to bring his brother and friends. They'd been stuck on the other side too long, and the gate would close in its entirety within a few months and then they would have to wait years for it to open up again.

They were the most important people in his life. He didn't think he could wait that long for another chance, so he had to make the best out of the one he had.

But he wasn't the only one in that situation. Yutaka and Shinya both had brothers there as well, in the Digital World. Brothers who were stuck, unable to go home as the gate wavered a size too small to be of any use save the smallest thread of connection. And they couldn't talk to them; the D-scanners only worked for the person they belonged to, and the sensors weren't sensitive enough to pick up any background noise at all. But even the D-scanners couldn't be used too often; they ran the risk of disturbing that frail connection before enough duel energy could be mustered up to widen it.

And they couldn't do it once either. The old system had overloaded because too much energy had gone through at once…even if that was exactly what they had needed at the time.

This was different. They couldn't risk breaking the connection entirely in this case, as the Digital World was a mirror world and not a separate dimension in itself. Losing that connection could cause either world to accelerate and change drastically before another tie was discovered; the Digital World Kouji and the others were in now was a very different one to that which they had saved.

He had not been called there. Or taken, as Kouji had later told him that they had been suddenly pulled in, as if a vacuum had sucked them through a portal. Later, Ofanimon relayed, through his twin, that the reason Kouichi had not been transported with the rest was because his body did not know that world. And a relief it was, she said, because repairing the damage left the gate unable to be opened from their end.

But there had been many times he had lain in bed and wished he had been in the Digital World with them, instead of trying to bring them home.

Home…

His heart ached. The moon looked down tenderly upon him.

'Kouichi-kun?' A pause. 'You're not coming down with something, are you?'

'I'm fine Yutaka-san.'

The tone, and the simple –san ending as opposed to –sempai as he normally used told the other he wasn't keen on the direction the conversation was heading. Annoyance would have shown through a different way, but grating someone wasn't the best way to find out exactly what. Exactly how Kouichi managed to stay patient with people and animals was beyond him – especially as he wasn't with most things. That was normal though: not being patient. Patience was a virtue after all, so it had to be rare.

'I'm sorry,' he said suddenly, realising the other had said something else. 'I missed that.'

'I said I think I'll go visit 'kaa-san.'

'At this hour?'

'It'll take me at least five hours to get there,' Kouichi pointed out. 'If I take the midnight train I'll be there when she wakes up.'

'Your mother wakes up at –' Yutaka stifled another yawn. 'Five?'

'She's still using to having early hours,' the other explained. 'Even though now she doesn't have to go into work until nine now.'

'Why don't you go visit your father as well then,' Yutaka suggested. 'It's the weekend and then a public holiday, and Shinya-kun has been dying to duel somebody, so let him handle it for a few days and you go visit everyone.'

'Minato-ku's in the other direction to Shibuya,' Kouichi pointed out.

'You could just drop the disk off with me,' the other said.

'No, it's okay. I'll drop it off myself.'

'At this hour?'

'It's still eleven. His parents will be up.'

A pause. 'True.' Another. 'Most people would have argued.'

'I probably would have, if you didn't just tell me in not so many words I was an idiot.'

'I – uh – ' That had not been his intention in the least, but Kouichi did have a weird way of seeing things.

Kouichi just laughed. Not the normal laughter that danced on petals and rode on the wind, but not the hysterical wild typhoon either. Rather, it was like finding the humour in a non-humorous situation; in a sense, it was like that because something, a large something, was missing.

And he knew exactly what that something was. But he didn't envy those who didn't; after all, it was true. What they sad. The larger gap is left by the precious thing you did not look at until it was lost.

No, he didn't envy that. But he could say he envied those who still had that precious thing.

'I understand,' Yutaka said. 'I'll see you on Tuesday then?'

'Unless something comes up,' the other agreed, moving to take the ear-piece out and cut the connection.

Yutaka's voice interrupted him though. 'By the way, congratulations.'

'Don't congratulate me,' he snapped on reflex. Too late though; the other was gone.

Kouichi took the earpiece out of his ear and looked at it. He had a feeling Yutaka knew exactly how he would have replied. Either that, or he was sleepy enough to totally forget the beginning of their conversation.

It was frustrating, only being able to take baby steps. And that was with little bits of luck on their side; Yutaka's job, his own aptitude towards games of strategy and Tomoki's (although absent) wealth of games. Some of the cards were his; others were brought and the deck had been built. The duel disk was a little harder to place; Yutaka hadn't strictly given the new model to his brother and it had been further modified since. It was also lucky that he, despite conflict, really did enjoy the game, because it would have been worth nothing otherwise. But he couldn't bring himself to enjoy it wholly because of why he played, what was at stake, and that slowed them down.

Yutaka pointed out that it was a good thing though. He didn't think the new system would be able to any better hold the passion of a duel between another Marufuji Ryou and Johan Anderson.