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 forgot to say in the last chapter… Thanks for all the reviews, everyone. I am sorry if I never responded to your review. I can't remember who I've responded to and who I haven't.

I'm really grateful for every review I get for this fanfic. It really keeps me motivated to finish this story every time I see one pop up in my inbox. Thank you everyone who continues to support this story. It means a lot to me.

The One Who Liberated The Angels

Katsuya's father always loved it when Katsuya wasn't working a night shift. He loved coming home to the wonderful aroma of whatever his son was whipping up in the kitchen for dinner. He never ate well on the days he had to feed himself.

He dropped his bag and jacket on the couch before walking into the kitchen.

"I'm home," he hollered.

"Welcome home, Dad. How was work?"

Katsuya's father peered over his son's shoulder to see what he was making. Oh yum. Tonkatsu. (1) His stomach started to growl just from looking at it.

"Busy. One of our higher-ups got sacked so they're looking into a replacement for him. At the meantime we all have to do his share of the work."

"Sucks," Katsuya replied as he finished breading a pork cutlet and began frying it.

"Matsuo's going to be here soon?"

"Yeah. Go take a shower. I still have a lot of cooking to do."

Taking his son's advice, he left the room.

The rice was done and sitting in the cooker, the soup was ready and the tonkatsu were prepared properly. Things were going well so far. Katsuya was excited as he rarely had friends over for dinner.

He had wanted to make his favourite curry and rice dish but his father had told him yesterday that he had too much of it lately. How can anyone ever have too much curry and rice? It was the best thing in the world. He could have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner all week and still love it.

To Katsuya, dinner was the most important time of the day, so it was important to make sure everyone enjoyed what they were eating. Hence he decided to make a regular meal, ichiju-sansai, today. (2) There would always be other chances to make Seto sample his best Jounouchi-styled curry and rice after all. He hoped Seto would be alright with a plain commoner's homemade meal. He assumed the wealthy man rarely ate this sort of meal which hopefully would mean that he wasn't sick of it.

Just as he started to prepare the spinach, his doorbell chimed. He quickly dried his hands and went to open the door.

"Hey, you're early." He grinned. "I'm still cooking but have a seat."

"I brought over some fruits." Seto held up a basket containing apples, grapes and pears.

"Oh, sweet. You didn't have to. Thanks." He took the gift and placed it down on their only table.

Seto gave Katsuya a questioning look. He hoped the puppy realized he only brought a gift to stay in character.

"I have to go back to the food so just keep yourself busy." He handed Seto the television remote and left. Seconds later he trotted back into his small living room with a cup of tea. "I forgot." He placed the tea on the table and left again.

Seto was sitting quietly on the couch, not really paying attention to the news station he had on. He didn't even touch the cup of tea that was sitting in front of him. He wondered what Katsuya was making. Katsuya had mentioned that he wanted him to try his curry and rice before but he didn't smell any curry.

It had been a while since he had a proper 'homemade' meal; he didn't count the two times Katsuya made him food since it was delivered. Since he never really learned to cook because he had servants for that kind of thing, living alone as Matsuo with no servants to help him meant he had been mostly eating out or ordering take-out. Between the Kaiba brothers, only Mokuba knew a little since he would get curious when he mingled with the kitchen staff.

Katsuya's father suddenly appeared in the room so Seto turned his 'Matsuo' on and greeted him politely.

"Oh, you're here, Matsuo. The boy's still making the grub."

"That's alright. I arrived a tad bit early."

"So how are you? Did you just come from work?"

Seto nodded. It was also his last day of work at Hayasa. "Yes and I'm fine." As always, one of the down sides of being Matsuo was putting up with small talk. God, he hated it, but he forced himself to do it anyway. "How are you?"

"Good. Still alive." He sat down on the other end of the couch. "What kind of work do you do?"

"I'm the head of the programming department at Hayasa."

"Wow. Big money then?" Katsuya's father was impressed.

"Not really." He wasn't being modest but it seemed to be taken that way judging by the father's smile. His pay really was insignificant to him.

"So tell me... Katsuya won't tell me anything. Are you dating my boy?"

A choking cough could be heard from the kitchen.

"We aren't going out, Sir," Seto replied.

"No? Too bad. But you like him right? I can see it in your eyes when you look at him," he whispered.

Seto wasn't sure if he should confirm or deny it. What would Matsuo even say in this situation?

Katsuya's dad grinned, very similar to how Katsuya grins. He was dumb but he wasn't stupid. He knew it the moment he saw Seto look at his son. He was young once; he knew what love did to a person and he recognized those love struck eyes Seto had when he saw his boy. It was subtle, carefully hidden, but it was there. "You're not denying it."

"I do," he admitted quietly. He convinced himself that he was answering as Matsuo but his heart felt bothered. He took a sip from his tea finally, hoping it'd soothe him.

"You don't have to worry. My son is at least bi-curious."

"Dad, I can hear you from the kitchen!" Katsuya yelled.

Seto almost choked on his tea. His eyes widened. "Wh-What?"

Katsuya's dad laughed loudly. "I can tell by the way he's been grooming himself."

So it was just an assumption. Seto felt disappointed.

"I do that for my job!" Katsuya protested.

"What kind of waitering job asks for perfect nails?" he yelled back.

"You're stereotyping! This is like saying all the guys at my workplace is gay!"

"Well, aren't they?"

"No!" Katsuya's voice was filled with disbelief. "Dad, that's offensive! You're probably offending Matsuo!"

"Am I offending you?" He turned to Seto.

Seto did indeed find it offensive but he shook his head.

"He's not bothered and why would it be offensive to be gay?"

"Not being gay! It's you stereotyping them that is offensive!"

"Well you told me the guys at your workplace spend time with beautiful women all day but they don't bang them!"

"That's called being a gentleman, Dad!"

It was against Amaranthine's rules to trade for sexual favours but what the hosts did during their personal life is their own private choice and Katsuya wouldn't know of it. But as far as their job goes, they didn't do such things.

"But it wouldn't matter if they were right?"

Katsuya finally came into the room with a stack of plates for the table. "Of course." Poor Seto. He must have felt really uncomfortable at the moment. Stupid Dad.

"See? I raised him right."

Seto forced a smile and nodded. He wasn't really paying attention anymore and was watching Katsuya set up the table in front of him. He decided he liked seeing Katsuya in an apron.

"Matsuo is leaving Domino soon, Dad," he stated before leaving into the kitchen again to grab the dishes he made.

"Really? Why?"

"My mother is really sick so I am moving back home to be with her." Seto placed the fruit basket aside so Katsuya had room to place the food.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Where's your home?" the father asked.

"America."

"Always wanted to go there. Are you going to return?"

Seto shook his head. "My flight is scheduled for tomorrow at ten in the morning. I was never going to stay here forever. I only came to Domino to soul search. I intended to stay longer but my mother needs me."

"That's too bad. My son would probably miss you."

Katsuya didn't even know what to say. Seto was fooling his old man good. He was amused. He finally finished setting the table and joined them, sitting on a free mat in front of the table.

The other two got off the couch and joined Katsuya on the floor, with each of them taking one side of the table.

"There's always the internet. Right, Katsuya?" Seto said.

"Uh, yeah… I guess." He rarely used his computer but maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to talk to Seto with it when he's in America. But knowing the CEO, he probably wouldn't even reply. Come to think of it, he didn't even have Seto's personal e-mail address. His public one probably gets filtered by one of his workers like his secretary or something.

Seto stared at the food on the table. It had definitely been a long time since he had a traditional meal.

Katsuya noticed Seto studying his food and the corner of his lips rose into a proud smile.

On the table was one-inch cut strips of tonkatsu, ohitashi and simmered kabocha. Everyone of course had their own bowl of rice, miso soup and some tsukemono. (3)

Seto looked up at Katsuya and smirked. Ichiju-sansai? Katsuya could be a housewife.

"Ohhh! This looks good." Katstuya's father said.

"You probably haven't had this kind of meal in a while so I hope you don't mind," Katsuya said to Seto.

"It looks good," he admitted—for Matsuo of course.

Katsuya beamed. "For dessert we're going to have pineapple-coconut ice cream." Jin had bought it for him.

"Let's eat." they all said at the same time and dug into their meal. (4)

"Did you know, Matsuo? Katsuya used to like playing superhero after his bath and ran away from us whenever we tried to get him to put his clothes back on."

"Dad!" Katsuya flushed a deep shade of red.

His dad ignored him and continued. "He was five and he ran around the whole house naked, toothbrush in hand as a weapon and a towel as a cape."

Seto couldn't even hold back his smirk as he watched Katsuya panic, completely thrown into frenzy.

"Shut up, old man!" Katsuya flailed. How could his dad tell Kaiba Seto of all people these things? His dad was out to embarrass him!

Katsuya's dad roared into laughter. "It was cute. Your ding-dong was so tiny back then and you just ran around like that."

Seto coughed, almost choking on a piece of spinach after the word 'ding dong' was said.

"UWAHHHHH!" Katsuya cried at the same time Seto coughed. He hit his head on the table. Oh my god. He was so sure he had never been this red before in his life. He could feel his cheeks burning. His stupid stupid dad!

"Alright, alright. We can talk about something else."

"Thank you! And don't believe him, Matsuo!" He couldn't even face Seto when he said that.

Seto grinned smugly but then did a Matsuo-chuckle. He loved anything that was potentially blackmailing material. He also loved learning about the 'cute' details of Katsuya's childhood but he'll just pretend that the latter wasn't part of the reason as to why he felt like laughing.

"I remember there was one time when Katsuya was really young and someone mistook him for a girl because his hair was so long."

"Why are we still talking about me?" Katsuya interrupted.

"He got so upset that he wouldn't go to school the next day and hid in his room and cried."

"I didn't cry!"

"He was six I think. Couldn't blame the stranger though. Katsuya was always holding hands with his sister and we were too lazy to get him a haircut."

"Dad, I hate you," he wailed.

Seto was smiling, completely amused. "I don't think you need to worry about that anymore." Yes, Katsuya's body had grown nicely. He may be a little 'pretty' but people definitely can tell that he was a man. A very attractive man.

"Oh, excuse me for a sec. Bathroom." Katsuya's dad left.

Katsuya looked over at Seto who he thought had enjoyed the dinner conversation a bit too much for his liking. He watched him eat briefly, wondering if Seto was pleased with the meal. He just realized that maybe every time Seto said that the food he made was just 'okay', he may not have been lying. If he thought about it, the rich guy probably had the best chefs in the world to prepare him daily meals. There was no way he could compare to a professional chef.

"See something you like?" Seto stopped eating and was looking back at Katsuya now.

"How is the food?" he asked hesitantly.

"It's good." It was great like the other two meals Katsuya made.

"Really?" Katsuya was genuinely surprised; he wasn't really expecting that answer. He was also slightly stunned that Seto was being nice.

Seto nodded once. It hadn't dawned on him how much he missed this sort of meal until now.

"Because I just realized that this type of commoner's meal is probable garbage compared to what your personal chefs could make."

Seto studied Katsuya for a second. He still didn't know how he should act anymore around him. The blond thought they were friends and he wasn't sure if he truly considered Katsuya that.

"It's fine." He honestly would fire his chefs if he could have Katsuya make him food everyday instead.

They finished eating and Seto expected to leave but Katsuya pulled him aside and told him he had something to talk to him about. Katsuya's father was now watching television alone in the living room and Seto was awkwardly sitting in Katsuya's room, waiting for Katsuya to return from washing the dishes. As Matsuo, he offered to help but luckily Katsuya told him it was alright. He didn't actually want to help. He'd rather just buy him a dishwasher instead or a servant.

It was a good thing he brought his laptop everywhere with him or else he'd really be bored. He had personal plans to make and without his secretary's presence, he had to update his own agenda. Once he returns to America, he'll have to catch up with Kaiba Land's progress and scrutinize the renovations of his mansion. He was also requested to tour a department in Kaiba Corporation's American branch. One of the departments there was complaining about inadequate workspace and wanted an increased budget to renovate and hire needed staff. Since he was conveniently in America, it was the perfect time for them to attempt to get their request approved.

He predicted that the next few weeks were going to be busy so he'll have no time for anything else. He hoped Mokuba was handling everything fine without him. There was a rumour that Kaiba Corporation had halted their work but he couldn't know for sure yet. He'll just have to wait and have faith in Mokuba's abilities.

"Sorry to make you wait." Katsuya walked into his room and closed the door behind him.

"What did you want to tell me?" Seto was kind of glad to be alone with Katsuya. This was the only time he could 'be himself' with another person in the room. After pretending to be another person for so long, it became very tiring.

Katsuya sat down next to Seto on his bed.

"A few days ago, Yamamoto Kenji was at Amaranthine."

"And?" Could Katsuya have found something useful?

"This probably isn't important but I thought I'd tell you anyway. He was talking to his ex, trying to win her back."

Seto frowned. "I don't need your gossip."

"I guess it was dumb to tell you. It just felt weird not to say anything about it since you suspected him and all."

"Was that it? Yamamoto Kenji came into your restaurant to chase some girl?" He was really disappointed now. YamamotoCorp was one of the top gaming companies but they were not number one. Maybe if their chief executive spent less time thinking with his hormones and more over how to improve the company, he'd actually get his company to rise in ranks. Not that he'd ever reign over Kaiba Corporation on the charts. Heh. Seto now felt stupid for the wasted time he spent considering Yamamoto Kenji as the culprit. His father maybe but him? He scoffed internally. From what it sounded like, Yamamoto Kenji was a pathetic man with a clean record and no ambition.

"Well... maybe we can't rule him out completely yet."

"Explain." And it better be good.

"He does have a motive. The woman's condition for her to return to him was that his company had to be number one."

"Oh, please." Seto rolled his eyes. "Everyone wants that." Why else would Kaiba Corporation get attacked?

Katsuya, who'd normally get upset by Seto's attitude, rolled his eyes in return. He was getting immune to all the cold ice Seto threw at people. Maybe this was how Isono dealt with the guy; he was so used to it that his head auto-translated Seto-speak to polite-human.

"What?" he almost snapped. He didn't like Katsuya's reaction.

"Nothing." He shrugged. "If you think it's nothing then it's nothing. Just telling you in case it was useful."

"Whatever." It was true though. Maybe this did mean Yamamoto Kenji had a motive. At least a lot more than Eimei did. His 'uncle', although not biological, wouldn't do this to him would he? But he of all people knew that one should never be so naive in the business world. Betrayal was common so anything was a possibility.

Katsuya looked a little annoyed. He had been smiling all evening and all it took was pulling off the Matsuo-mask to wipe off the grin on the puppy's face.

"Can I ask you something?" Katsuya leaned a little closer to Seto so he could speak more quietly.

"You always have a lot of questions." His brow furrowed.

"Yeah, 'cause unless I ask, you never tell me anything."

"Go on."

"Are you going to keep that promise and play me in a game of Duel Monsters when you get back?"

"I don't remember promising you that."

"You did. At the park remember?"

"No." He crossed his arms.

"Come on now! You better contact me when you get back!"

Seto didn't reply, still frowning.

Katsuya was sure Seto was going to get permanent wrinkles between his brows soon from all the frowning he did. "Come on..." He placed a hand on Seto's arm and whispered, "...Kaiba..."

Seto's heart, to his dismay, began to beat faster. He didn't remove Katsuya's hand like he normally would have. It felt like an electric pulse was jolting through his body from where Katsuya was touching him. His eyes widened slightly for a second but he quickly narrowed them again, gaze fixed on Katsuya. He still hated this feeling. It always occurred when Katsuya was up close and the feeling was always amplified when there was physical contact. He hated it so much he wanted to slam Katsuya against the wall and... Fuck! He was sexually frustrated now. He had to do something about it!

"I have a question for you now." He'll probably feel better after he teased the blond mercilessly.

"What?" His voice was so innocent. Katsuya returned his arm to his side and Seto felt relieved.

"What's that box of makeup doing in your room?" He smirked and pointed at the obvious cosmetics set sitting on Katsuya's desk.

Katsuya's face reddened and Seto was sure he'd never get tired of seeing him heat up like that.

"I-It's not mine! It's for Shizuka!" He should've hid it!

"I'm sure it is," he said sarcastically.

"This coming from the person who's wearing makeup right now!" He formed a fist with his hand and held it up.

Seto glared. "You know why I'm wearing it."

"What are you exactly?" Katsuya had been wondering lately after finding out Seiichi's sexuality. What exactly was Seto's preference? He always thought the guy was asexual or liked robots or something. "Straight? Gay? Bi? I know Matsuo is gay but what about you?"

"It's not your business." He looked away. "It doesn't matter. I have no time for relationships."

"I guess... I always figured you'd build yourself a wife one day." He laughed. "No human would be able to put up with your moods after all."

Hmm... He never thought of that. Build himself a bonkotsu... Wait, never mind. That would be considered too disturbing.

"Let me show you something." Katsuya got up from his bed but stumbled and almost tripped if a pair of strong hands didn't catch him.

Seto looked at him with concern for a second. It seemed like Katsuya was way too accident prone.

"I'm alright. Thanks." He laughed and stood up.

"Hn." He pretended not to care.

"A new Duel Monsters set came out yesterday." He held out an opened booster packet. "Did you know?"

Seto smirked. "There's already a box waiting for me at home." His people knew what to do when new cards came out.

"Damn lucky bastard."

Seto was reading the cards now. Most of them weren't very impressive.

Katsuya smiled. He thought he saw a small smile on Seto's face when he was going through the cards. The guy probably didn't even notice that he was smiling. "Miss playing?"

He did a little. "Miss making you cry when I win."

"I don't cry when I lose, you jerk." Okay so that wasn't really true but the few times he had tears in his eyes wasn't because he lost. A lot was at stake!

"I think your dad is at the door," he whispered and turned his head to gesture at the door.

There was an obvious shadow at the base of the door. Katsuya hit his face lightly with the palm of his hand. Stupid, Dad!

"Get lost, old man!" he cried.

The shadow quickly disappeared.

"Just heading to the bathroom," his dad responded lamely.

"I'm sorry about my dad." Katsuya rubbed the back of his head.

Seto didn't really care.

"Do you ever miss The-Other-Yugi?" Katsuya leaned his back against the wall.

"He was a worthy opponent." He wished he had the chance to properly defeat him. Yugi was a good rival but he still wanted a rematch with the pharaoh.

"Sometimes I miss him," the blond admitted. "All those adventures we went through really changed me."

Seto stared at Katsuya, not sure where he was trying to take the conversation.

"You can't laugh alright? I… The time with him and Yugi really made me see a world I haven't realized existed. And during our last year in high school... near the end of it I realized that I…" He paused.

Seto waited. Was Katsuya confiding in him? Why?

"I want to be a lawyer."

"…"

"…"

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Seto kept laughing, not even holding back, as if Katsuya just said the most ridiculous thing in the world.

S-Seto was laughing? Katsuya was stupefied. Wait a minute… "H-Hey! Fuck you, jerk! I told you not to laugh!" But he didn't really feel mad. Seto was really laughing! It was kind of creepy but also kind of nice. It was too bad the laugh was in Matsuo's voice instead of Seto's.

"Bonkotsu, you barely passed high school and you want to do what?" He stopped himself from laughing, realizing where he was. Again it seemed like Katsuya was lowering his guard.

"Sh-Shut up! I want to help those who've been wronged!" He blushed. "Don't make fun of me!" He tried to punch Seto on the arm but Seto caught the offending limb. Damn his reflexes!

Seto glared. "Why are you telling me this?" He pushed the arm away.

"I-I don't know. I felt like I could trust you. Thanks a lot for believing in me," he said sarcastically. "I never told anyone before. Not even Yugi knew about this."

Why? Why did bonkotsu have to make him feel so complicated inside?

Katsuya was still blushing. "I know I ain't smart but I'm gonna try my hardest." He wrapped his arms around his knees, hugging his legs together.

Seto nodded. He understood. Although the road wouldn't be easy, he knew that if Katsuya had passion in something, he would never give up and will continuously strive to improve immensely in the area.

"I just wish I could go to college. Even Anzu is another step closer to her dreams…" He didn't realize he had said that out loud.

All his friends were going towards some sort of career goal. He had his too but he was the only one who couldn't. At least not yet… Just seeing his friends, one by one, getting closer to their dreams… It just made him feel like he was left behind. He just wanted to tell someone this… someone who wasn't the source of him feeling like he was the only one not walking forward.

Seto wanted to make some snarky remark but he decided against it. His crush was confiding in him… What should he doing? Mokuba would know the answer.

"Am I pathetic?" he asked softly.

"Yes."

Katsuya didn't reply. He just huddled up more tightly.

"…No…" He gave Katsuya a sidelong glance.

Katsuya peered at Seto with a puzzled expression.

"I mean 'yes' in general but no… you're not pathetic…"

Katsuya stifled his laugh, covering his mouth with his hand, eyes shut, trying to hold back from bursting.

"What?"

"Y-You—Pfft—…" He was shaking now.

Was Katsuya just joking this entire time? Kaiba Seto will not be made a fool!

"You just suck so hard."

Seto only frowned in response.

"I like this." He sat closer to Seto and smiled. He felt a foreign but warm feeling in his chest. His body was probably just protesting to the corny scene he was making with Seto.

"Like what?"

"I like it when you're nice to me."

He has changed. He has grown too soft. But he had a choice. He could say something Katsuya would really hate him for or he could keep doing this thing that Katsuya liked. This meant he had to pull the words from deeper inside himself. And for some reason… it didn't even feel uncomfortable for him anymore. Not with Katsuya.

"Don't get used to it," he finally said almost inaudibly.

"He left?" Katsuya's father came out of his room.

Upon hearing his father's voice, Katsuya turned around to face him. "Yeah, just now. Shouldn't you be asleep, old man?"

"I was but you two just woke me."

"Sorry. I'm going to bed now." He yawned.

"So there's really nothing between the two of you?"

"There's nothing between us." He raised a brow. "Why would you want me to be gay anyways? It's weird. Most parents want grandkids."

"I still have Shizuka. But I just saw something special between the two of you." He just wanted his son to be happy. He didn't care if his boy was straight or not, and he had no right to ask for grandkids—not after being such a lousy father to his boy over the years when Katsuya really needed him most.

"Something special?" he almost stuttered. Did his dad know about the secret mission? There's no way. His dad couldn't be that sharp.

"Don't worry about it and go sleep." He stretched and retreated back into his room.

Maybe he had the wrong feeling but he could tell Matsuo was someone special to his boy. It wasn't exactly similar to Matsuo's feelings but he could discern from son's reactions and expressions that this man was as special to Katsuya as Yugi was but in a slightly different way.

He shrugged and climbed into bed.

He thought there was potential for a budding relationship but if there wasn't then it was fine for him as well. As long as his son was happy.

It was a bright, beautiful and clear autumn day. Katsuya decided to go for a walk and visit the kids at the park. He was mostly lost in thought, planning his future and thinking about what to make for dinner.

"Jounouchi!" Haruka ran up and hugged his legs suddenly.

He was at the park already? He didn't even notice that he had arrived. Somehow he made it to his destination without paying any attention.

"Hey." He smiled. "How are you today, Haruka?"

"Great! Shinji and Tetsu are playing on the swings." She pointed at them.

"How about Big Brother Jounouchi here give you a piggy back ride over there?

"Yay! I want to ride on your shoulder!"

Katsuya chuckled. "Aren't you a little too old for that?"

"I believe in you, Jounouchi!" Haruka exclaimed and then grinned.

"Alright, alright." He gave up and lifted Haruka onto his shoulder, who was surprisingly light, and made his way over to the swings set.

"Jounouchi!" the two boys exclaimed.

Hikaru was there on the swings too and nodded at Katsuya, acknowledging his presence.

"You guys are playing with Hikaru today?" He was surprised Hikaru wasn't running off like he did last time.

"Hikaru said he was going to be your brother-in-law one day so we asked him if he wanted to play together. We all gotta get along right?" Shinji said.

Katsuya placed Haruka down and ruffled Shinji's hair. "Right." And keep dreaming, Hikaru. "Tired of running away from me, Hikaru?"

Hikaru stuck out his tongue. "My father told me that if I wanted to marry Shizuka one day then I'll have to get along with you since we'd be family. I can't avoid you forever. I'll just have to accept that you suck."

That little brat. The corner of Katsuya's eye twitched.

"Hey! Don't insult Jounouchi!" Tetsuya exclaimed.

Hikaru folded his arms, not caring.

"It's alright. He doesn't mean it." He'll just take pride in the fact that he wouldn't ever land his sister. At least he hoped his beloved sister wasn't into little boys. Katsuya then faced Hikaru and asked, "Your dad seems like a wise man. What kind of work does he do?"

Hikaru smiled widely. "He is really smart. He is a computer programmer!"

"Really? I know someone who knows how to do that stuff too. Where does he work, Hikaru?" Maybe Hikaru's dad worked for Kaiba Corporation. That would explain why he hated Duel Monsters so much. Maybe Seto worked his staff to the bone and scared them shitless. That would definitely lead to resentment and some sort of twisted hate.

"He's working at Eimei. They make real games."

"R-Really? Wow, that's neat." He wasn't expecting to hear the word 'Eimei'. "I've played some of their games."

Hikaru grinned. "If you come visit Shizuka and I sometime then I could show you all the games I have." He then frowned. "And you should visit Shizuka. She always misses you. Dad taught me that it's ungentlemanly to make a lady travel all the time just to see you."

But he didn't want to see his mom… She didn't like him. "Maybe…"

"Oh, look at those pretty leaves up there!" Haruka suddenly said and pointed up at a tree.

Katsuya looked up and noticed an airplane fly by from the distance. Just looking at the airplane slice through the sky reminded him that Seto was no longer in Domino. It had almost been a week since Seto flew to America and his absence made life feel like it returned back to what it was like prior to the Matsuo-thing for Katsuya. He no longer had to change his schedule for Seto. He was back to his mundane life of trying to pay off bills, helping his dad with the last bit of debt and saving up for college. He still needed to decide which transfer colleges to apply to and he still had to study for the entrance exams. And hopefully one day he will be accepted into Domino University for their law program.

He closed his eyes, listening to Haruka who began to hum the theme song to Perpetuality.

Seto was probably busy working away like he always did.

Notes: -crosses fingers- I made a huge gamble in this chapter so I hope I didn't kill anything.

If it seems like enough people want the next chapter... maybe I will sacrifice my gaming-time and finish chapter 12.

I kept the Japanese names for the dishes since even though I could translate everything, it wouldn't be what the dish is really called. What I mean is... I could say so-and-so ate escargot or I could just say they ate snails. Both correct but I would prefer to use the actual name of the dish.

(1) Tonkatsu is breaded deep-fried pork cutlet. Popular dish in Japan.

(2) Ichiju-sansai is a meal that consists of one soup and three side-dishes. Traditional Japanese meals are named by the number of side-dishes made to accompany the rice. For example, a meal with one soup and one side dish would be called 'ichiju-issai'. The 'i' is from 'ichi', meaning one.

(3) Ohitashi is just boiled spinach (though other leafy-greens may be used) but afterwards drained and soaked cold water. Excess liquid is then removed and katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) is usually sprinkled on the top.

Kabocha is known as 'Japanese pumpkin' but is a type of winter squash.

Tsukemono are pickled vegetables.

(4) For those who know: they were saying 'itadakimasu!'