Disclaimer: Yu-gi-oh belongs to Takahashi-san, and unless a great miracle (or curse, depending on your perspective) should occur, I will not be gaining ownership of it anytime soon.

PM: Wah… final chappy. But everything has to end. And it's time I moved on. Man, this story was a monster. Definitely my longest story, as it is about 94 pages long. I guess you all have been anticipating this chapter, and I hope it's good (considering I wrote a vast majority of it between studying for finals on Saturday morning…).

Yami: She's getting all teary-eyed…

PM: *sniffles* I can't help it… writing this fic has been quite an experience, and the only people who have been mean are YOU muse-like thingys…

Ryuuji: -_-;; We're not muses.

PM: Whatever you say, leeches. This chapter takes place on Saturday, and please excuse any grammatical errors. However, I decided not to have this chapter beta-read because I wanted to save it for everyone at the same time. :p Just call it a whim… Enjoy, minna!

~ Fairydust ~

The rain's coming down hard, and I can only be thankful that it didn't start until I reached the safety of the dorms. It's raining bucketful's out there, as if somebody had poked a hole in an already-straining water balloon, letting the contents out in one horrific rush. It's the kind of weather which makes you want to curl up in your blankets and read a book, but Jyounouchi-kun had the fabulous idea of finally washing the blankets and bed spreads, depriving me of even that small joy. Although I have to admit that it was quite a sight to see Jyounouchi-kun lugging a bundle of blankets down the hallway, me sighing and following him to pick up everything he dropped, which was just about half of what he had previously been carrying.

This is probably a good time to see my friends, but that notion is clearly wrong seeing that they're all out. Shortly after I got back from class, Jyounouchi-kun went off on a date with Mai-san. He actually asked me if I wanted to come with him, seeing how pathetic I am, I suppose, but I declined. I don't think Mai-san would want me there, no matter how quiet I would be. The couples of Yuugi-kun and Anzu, and now Honda-kun and Otogi-kun, are also out, although they were intelligent enough not to ask me to go with them.

My mind's jumbled and confused… I feel like being alone, but I also feel like having some company. It's odd… I just feel so uncomfortable when I'm around people these days, but when I'm alone, my thoughts tend to wander to subjects better left alone. While Otogi-kun and Emi-chan's talks yesterday helped a little in clearing my thoughts, it doesn't help the fact that my thought process is what's really messed up.

Perhaps I should begin to write again. Writing is one of the best ways to get your minds off reality because instead of dealing with real life, you can plunge yourself into a fantasy world where there are happy endings and arguments that never last. Nobody is unhappy because it's as if they know that eventually, something good will come along. And the author is the happiest of them all, reigning undisputed as he (or she) acts as the master puppeteer, pulling the strings and allowing everything to happen the way it does. If he is happy, perhaps his writing will reflect that… I've noticed that when somebody is unhappy, the writing tends to be more pleasant, more free. Because the author has lost himself into that happy place and nobody can bother him until the inevitable conclusion of the story.

I used to write a lot more when I was younger, when I was tired of dealing with Amane's death or the messy divorce between otousan and okaasan. Both of them are generally pleasant people, but somehow when they were together, it never seemed to work. It started out pretty slow, some angry words here and there, but it eventually continued to gain in momentum until it just about exploded into a screaming argument with broken furniture and two sons cowering in the bathroom, one trying to comfort the other who saw his life completely crumbling before his eyes.

It wasn't long before the divorce papers were finalized, and the two split. Oniisan went with okaasan while I went with otousan, something that some people found odd because shouldn't the mother take the younger son? But no, I had always been closer to otousan while oniisan was closer to okaasan, and we were comfortable with the changes. Besides, after the argument, otousan realized that he needed to get closer to his sons… well, one son now because the other was gone.

They still see each other once in a while. The conversation had long ago gotten past polite conversation, and is now friendly banter with laughter and smiles all around. The kind of civility that made oniisan and I dance around because we thought that maybe… just maybe…

No longer do oniisan and I skulk in the corners, waiting for a sign that the two of them will get together as we used to hope they would. They're happier than they were before, and who are we to even consider denying them this fact? Okaasan is seeing someone else while otousan remains single, his schedule too erratic to handle beginning a new relationship. Besides, he is obviously content with the people he already has around him, people like Koushiro-san and Taichi-san, and other friends who share schedules as time-consuming as his.

Anyhow, since there's really nothing left for me to do, I decide on a shower. There's no work to be done (and even if there was, I quite honestly don't feel like doing it), no books to be read that have not been read before, no people to talk to (at least, not without an inevitable question about him being asked), and no TV to watch, even in an act of extreme desperation.

Besides, there's no doubt that it's definitely a nice way to relax, especially on such a rainy day. I suppose that if I am going to get drenched, I might as well do it with warm water.

It also helps that my mind tends to clear up when I'm in the shower, and I might be able to untangle the chaotic web that makes up my thoughts… or at least get my mind off of him. I really do think that I'm starting to obsess over something that does not need to be obsessed over, but no matter. Just as long as I don't say it out loud, I suppose, it won't make a difference to anyone except myself. And it's not as if I count for much in the grand scheme of things.

Shower. Poke. Now. Want to relax. Poke. Move it. Now.

I can't help but smirk at my own thoughts, which are starting to sound as pushy as Yami Bakura in a bad mood, as I take out a fresh set of clothes in compliance to its orders.

Definitely something that I can do without, but I've learned a long time ago that controlling one's thoughts is a much more difficult task than one could have possibly suspected.

~ * ~

When I was younger, I had a habit of staying in the shower for excessively long periods of time until the hot water ran out or a particularly rabid family member would scream at me to get out. Apparently, patience was a virtue my entire family had failed to learn, but that is a different story.

It's nice to relax for a moment, but clearing my mind doesn't seem to really been working right now. It seems that as soon as my mind clears in the least, more thoughts come rushing in to add to the confusion. It's as if someone is refusing to leave me alone, and just won't be satisfied until I have been tortured for all of eternity…

I sigh as I pick up the shampoo bottle and dump a substantial quantity into my hair, noting with interest as it starts to sparkle slightly and the smell of peach grows more noticeable. I can't help but crack a slight smile as I lather it in, even though it does remind me of him. But at least it was a pleasant memory, not one that is depressing or causing me to get depressed…

Fairydust. Heh. If only it came in a little Chinese jar with pretty, mythical designs on it and came from the wings of magical butterflies.

If only it worked…

It's just that… well, everything about the past two weeks has been… confusing, to say the least. I don't really know what to think about everything that has happened, and the only thing that keeps running through my head is… him.

I didn't think it was possible you would fall in love with him.

Well, if it makes you feel better, Jyounouchi-kun, I don't think either of us thought it was possible. Yet you seemed to think so. Otherwise, you wouldn't have brought up the possibility in the first place. Why is that, Jyounouchi-kun? Why did you think it was possible when the two people you were theorizing about completely doubted its possibility? You, Emi-chan, Otogi-kun… even otousan, Koushiro-san, Taichi-san, Yoshizawa-san, and Michelle-san all seem to be trying to tell us something that we hear but cannot fully comprehend.

Honestly, how could this have happened?

I quickly duck my head into the pleasant spray of the showerhead, letting the shampoo wash out of my hair, taking the peach smell and the sparkles away and forcing them down the drain. Leaving me feel empty as I watch the sparkles twinkle sadly before disappearing on a journey to wherever they end up.

I'm beginning to think there's some type of symbolism behind this…

Bakura-kun… if Kaiba should tell you what Honda told me… and I know you think that is very unlikely but I don't think it is as unlikely as you think… anyhow, if he should, you should try your best not to screw it up… cause you'll hate yourself when the opportunity passes and you're still dreaming.

Demo, Otogi-kun… I did do my best… didn't I? Yet why am I still standing here, letting the water fall down my face as if I'm waiting for something to accompany it? I don't know what but it feels like there's something missing and I'm groping blindly in the darkness in an attempt to find it. I'm still dreaming about a better time and hoping for a better time that I know won't be coming, but I can't help but keep hoping that it will come.

I'm too caught up in my oh-so-deep-and-dark thoughts to the point that I don't notice the bathroom door opening until it actually opens. Which immediately causes me to whip around, my eyes wide and my body rigid in shock as a familiar face blurred by the glass pokes his head in.

"Ryou?"

I scream.

And it's not one of those soft, shocked screams that nobody can hear except for the screamer, but one of those loud, oh-my-god-I-can't-believe-this-is-happening-to-me-somebody-SERIOUSLY-must-hate-me screams as I stare at Seto's face through the cloudy glass. I thank the god who had the towels covering the bottom half of the glass door, although it's not enough to hide my bright red face. Damn Jyounouchi-kun, why on earth can't he ever remember to LOCK the door! Hell, why didn't I remember to check if the door was locked after he left?! I know he never locks the door, I know it!

Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.

His face is also rapidly turning red as we stare at each other in a moment of suspended reality, and I resist the urge to start shrieking again.

It is, however, a very close call.

"Su… Sumimasen! [1]" he yells before spinning around and practically running out of the room, slamming the bathroom door shut on his way out. I just let out a depressed wail and whack my head against the wall, silently cursing myself and the gods and Jyounouchi-kun for good measure.

"Oh my GOD!!!" I wail as I resist the urge to curl up in the corner and die.

If I wasn't sure that somebody was taking a sadistic pleasure in tormenting me before this incident, then I'm now very sure of its validity.

~ * ~

I'm not sure how long I spent just standing there, trying to slow down my rapid heart beat and wondering if I'm still dreaming or simply being tortured in the seventh circle of hell or something along those lines… well, how else to explain what has just happened? Although I suppose I shouldn't be that irrational… I mean, it's not like he's seen anything that he hasn't seen before, right?

Oh dear, did I just say what I thought I did?

The shower no longer seems as comforting as it did before, so my hands fumble for the knobs controlling the hot water and cold water. Abruptly, it reaches one and turns it off randomly, and I'm suddenly hit by a freezing burst of water as the hot water is turned off. Quickly, before I can freeze to death (what a pathetic ending that would be… fitting since it's so pathetic, but pathetic nevertheless), I turn the other knob and the water completely shuts off, leaving me shivering still even as the water continues to drip a drop at a time from the shower head. It's like that persistent little hope, refusing to stop its flow just because somebody was trying to stop it.

But it will eventually give up, won't it?

I shake my head as I grab a fluffy towel, drying myself off as I try to calm down and rationalize about what had just happened… what there is to rationalize I'm not quite sure, but I have to do something when it comes to thinking about it or I'm just going to be… be… thinking about it for a very long time.

First of all, why did he come in? Didn't he hear the shower going? Did he think that… oh, I don't know what he could have been thinking to make him do that! I still don't understand why he went through with this whole week thing… why he couldn't have taken the easier way out. Is he deliberately trying to make everything more difficult for him or something? Or for me, even?

Now that is just getting egocentric.

Still, I'm in shock that it could have happened. Even though I know that he's probably not there anymore… was probably a whim or something. Maybe it was an illusion! It's not like I actually felt him, right?

Yeah, and the door opening and closing was a trick of the light. Don't be so naïve… just… stop it.

I can't help but feel an angry rush of emotions overcoming me… emotions that I can't understand because they are jumbled and mixed together in an overwhelming symphony of sounds, not all of them pleasant but not all of them… unpleasant.

Tugging on my clothes, I start to fall back into my state of silent contemplation again. It's something I do a lot, but it seems to be something that I have been doing a lot more lately.

Somebody once compared human life to the Greek and Roman myth about a king who repeatedly tricked the gods to the point of completely exasperating and angering them. [2] And everyone knows it's not really a good idea to piss off the gods, as this poor guy also found out when he died and went to the underworld, where he was given the punishment of rolling a boulder to the top of a hill. However, every time he got to the top, the boulder would slip and he would have to start over again.

The question in this is something along the lines of 'why would he keep doing it if he knows that he is going to fail?' However, this philosopher compared the king with humans… the journey is what counts for the most, not the end result. We are all working and striving for a goal, but it should be the feeling that we have at least tried becoming the most important factor in doing it, not just accomplishing it. For what is life without the journey to excel?

Or the novella of the old man who wanted to catch a fish. [3] He worked so hard to gain his goal… went through so much pain and agony in order to prove that he could still keep up with everyone else… only to have his prize ripped away. But in a way, didn't he still prove that although he was old and nobody believed in him anymore, he was still just as strong as everyone else, if not stronger? Didn't he show the world and more importantly, show himself that it wasn't over yet, that he had gone against what everybody thought of him and survived?

And isn't that the most important thing? To prove to yourself that perhaps you're not as hopeless as you thought you were before?

Pulling on the long-sleeved shirt over my wet hair, I sigh at the wet strands that continue to drip water onto the tile floor. I had been planning on drying it with a hair dryer, but I'm too impatient to go out there and prove myself right or wrong.

My fingertips brush the door knob and I can't help but hesitate.

On one hand, if he's not there, my fears can be put to rest. I can finally let go and put an end to all this madness. I need to move on, I can't spend the rest of my life thinking about this.

But on the other hand, if he's there. Am I going to be happy? What am I going to feel?

I don't know. I really don't know anymore.

As quickly as I can, so I can't stop until it's too late, I turn the knob and push the door open, letting out a burst of warm air out with me as I enter the dorm room.

I blink for a moment, trying to adjust my sight even though I don't know why it should be a bit blurry in the first place, and when it clears my heart leaps into my throat as I find myself staring at Kaiba Seto. It's really him too… it's not an illusion, it's not a figment of my overactive imagination. It's him, and I try to calm myself and accept the fact that he is sitting right there watching me with an expression that I cannot decipher at all.

We just kinda stare at each other for a moment, as if still not fully accepting the fact that the other person is there and waiting for the illusion to fade away. Finally, he lets a guarded expression fall over his face and he plays absent-mindedly with the crystal moon that okaasan gave me after the divorce.

"So… did you get your term paper back today?"

"U… un… [4]" I hesitate, a bit thrown off by the random topic.

"Well? How did you do?" He sounds more like otousan right now than anyone, and it's kind of weird. But I suppose it's better than going straight to the inevitable.

"Fine." Actually, I got a perfect score, but for some reason, the words won't form in my mouth and it pushes out this coldly impersonal reply. Although I really shouldn't be so surprised by my own actions since in a way, they are understandable after what happened on Sunday. But since I don't usually act like this, it is still quite a bit of a surprise.

"I'm… I'm sorry for not calling earlier. This week has been hectic, and some… stuff came up," he suddenly says after we blink at each other in awkward silence. Then he grimaces and laughs slightly, an action that really causes me to stare, "I got the make inu's phone call. And to think that I had always thought I would never have to admit that he was right."

What does he mean by that?!

He stands up and walks over to me, and I have to use all my self-control to keep myself from bolting and locking myself in the bathroom, as I did yesterday. I feel my hair standing on end as he reaches over to take my hand, and while it feels just as nice as it used to, it also feels… awkward.

Oh will you just stop self-pitying yourself already, yadonushi?! Yami Bakura screams.

I gulp and look up into Seto's eyes, praying that some vindictive god out there isn't going to strike me dead for doing so, and find myself looking into eyes that are surprisingly soft and gentle. It would be nice if right about now, everything that happened in the past week would go away and I could pretend that everything was going on happily and like a fairy tale.

But since it's not happening like that and both of us know that the last week can never be erased, I can only hope that whatever is coming is truthful this time. I'm just… tired of being lied to. I want all my questioned answered, all my doubts put to rest or at least calmed down in the very least. I want to know why any of this happened.

His free hand takes a lock of my white hair as a small smile comes across his face. It reminds me of the smile that Emi-chan gave me… small, but sincere and decidedly much nicer than any of the fake smiles I got in the beginning of the week, or the china doll smile that had stretched across his face like a gruesome image when Yoshizawa-san came to talk to us about the completion of the deal.

And, ultimately, the completion of our deal.

"You're still using my shampoo," he observes as he plays with the strands before looking at me and carefully choosing his next words, "Fairydust… wasn't it used to get people to confess their truest, deepest desires?"

"Se…" I'm about to replace it with my usual 'Kaiba-kun', but for some reason, decide against it, "Seto… what are you doing here?"

"That's a fair question, all things considered." He drops my hair although his other hand still is holding mine tightly. Before another one of those awkward pauses can fall between us, he quickly charges ahead.

"What do you say if we go out for dinner?"

~ * ~

We're back at The Angel Wings restaurant, which I suppose is a good sign… but of what, I really don't know. I guess I should be happy that he's taking me to the place where he always takes Mokuba, and there were some wonderful memories connected to this place… but in a way, it's still a bit unnerving to be back here. Especially since conventional logic says that we shouldn't be seated across from each other again… never again.

We have ordered and now are sitting there in awkward silence, bring back many memories of my lunch with Emi-chan yesterday. I wonder if Seto knows about that one? Perhaps he thinks we were conspiring against him as we both plan to snatch him in order to carve his company up for ourselves. Heh, that thought is kinda amusing, actually. (Amusing because it will never be able to happen, as neither of us are interested in that and I highly doubt that Seto would let us come close to accomplishing that goal without a fight.)

Finally, unable to stand the silence any longer although I should be used to it by now, I stop looking at the fascinating-and-imaginary spot on the wall to turn my attention to Seto, who is staring blankly out the window, where the rain continues to pour down in torrents. He doesn't notice that I'm watching him, so engrossed in the depressingly dark view outside, until I open my mouth and start talking.

"Why… why did you do all of this, Seto? Why did you go through with this big act?" my voice cracks slightly even as I continue with his piercing blue eyes fixed intently on me, "I mean, there were other ways of getting rid of Emi-chan without pretending you had a boyfriend…"

"Emi-chan?" he raises an eyebrow. I'm guessing that he picked up on my use of –chan rather than –san, but I also think that's a completely different story and I hope he isn't trying to change the topic or something. People tend to do that a lot with me, although I have no idea why. I do know, however, that it is extraordinarily annoying and I hate it when people do that to me. It always makes me feel deficient or something similar to that.

"I… I didn't really need to get rid of her."

I can't help but choke as I scream (only loudly enough for the two of us to hear), "What?!"

He chuckles slightly, which makes me want to cream him, "Ryou… you've seen her father. He doesn't care one way or the other if his daughter gets rejected, and in a way, she doesn't care too much herself. I'm not saying that she's a player, but she's the type of person who tends to bounce back after a rejection until she finds somebody else to dedicate her time to. I… I guess I just used her as a reason."

"A reason?" I repeat incredulously, still in a state of disbelief. A reason?! A reason for what?! More and more I'm starting to feel like a pathetic sod who was too stupid to know that the world around me was still moving ahead while I was stuck standing there, looking back at the past and wondering what had gone wrong.

"I hadn't exactly been truthful with you about that week," he continues as I just gape at him with my mouth hanging open like a stupid cow chewing its curd, "I guess… getting Emi-chan off my back was one of the reasons, but it wasn't the only reason. It wasn't the real reason."

"Then what was?"

I can't believe this. I just can't believe any of this. I knew he was lying to me about something, as there were so many easier ways of doing this than the one he chose to. But… I never imagined it to be this big! I never imagined that he was lying to me about the reasoning behind all of this, that I was naïve enough to believe him when he was obviously not telling the truth! Why didn't I notice? Why didn't I ever say to myself that there was something wrong with his story? Well, obviously I did, but I never put two and two together. Why? Why is this happening to me?

"I liked you."

That stops my thoughts dead in mid-rant, "Ex… excuse me?"

Now I'm definitely hallucinating. He could not have just said that, right?

It's not that I'm a whiny person (okay, perhaps I am a bit whiny) who refuses to believe the things that I have just been told (although after what just happened, I suppose there is a reason for that). It's just that… this is way over my head. This is the kind of thing that makes you think 'this cannot be happening', no matter how plausible it is. Although in this case, it's very implausible. Once again, I'm starting to feel very sympathetic for Otogi-kun, as I'm starting to understand what he must have gone through when Honda-kun confessed so suddenly to him at the end of the last school year.

"I liked you," Seto repeats, a small smile tugging at his lips again as he reaches across the table and takes the hand that had been previously been ripping a napkin into small pieces, "I… didn't see much of you, but I liked what I saw. You were… cute."

Call the presses. Kaiba Seto just said the word 'cute'. But then again, this is the guy who reads shoujo manga… so I suppose it's not that big a deal for him. But still… cute?

I'm cute?

Yami Bakura is laughing maniacally in the back of my mind, and I quickly tune him out, something that is reasonably difficult to learn but has proved to be a highly useful skill ever since I took the time to do so.

"I… I don't know how to explain it. It's just that… you were one of the first people besides Mokuba who I felt a need to take care of. But at the same time, you had this shyness that made you too demure to ever ask for it voluntarily.

"You confused me. You'd seem happy then sad and half the time you seemed to be showing emotions which everybody could tell weren't real because you didn't look like you even understood what you were feeling.

"I wanted to take care of you.

"But I couldn't just tell you that, so when Emi-chan came along… it was the perfect opportunity. You were always willing to help people out, I figured you would do it this time too.

"I kinda thought that a week would probably be enough to put those feelings to rest and then I wouldn't have to think about it anymore. I didn't think it would become more."

More?

All I can say is that if this is a dream, it's one heck of a nice dream and I hope it doesn't end for quite a while.

"Is that why you never called?"

He doesn't show any shock at my question, if he is even feeling any, and nods his head, "Yeah."

"Seto… please don't lie to me anymore," my words come out more like a whisper than anything else, and my voice cracks at the most inappropriate intervals, "Is that the truth?"

"Yes."

I don't really know what to say now. It's as if for the first time in my life, everything is going in the right direction and I'm no longer floating over the great abyss of no emotion and no feeling. I can feel tears welling up in my eyes and I don't even know why except I can feel all my doubts dissipating.

Perhaps it's foolish of me to be so trustful (gullible) after everything that happened, but… I just want to enjoy this for a change. Is that too much to ask? I want to be happy and not think that it's all going to crumble before my eyes.

I hear the sound of a chair moving and before I know it, he's pulled me up into his arms and is rocking me gently. While I start to make a giant prat out of myself by crying in front of an entire restaurant… but then again, The Angel Wings is conspicuously empty on a Saturday night and the only people who are here are the staff.

And Seto.

"Shh… don't cry, Ryou… your eyes will get all red," he whispers, and I can't help but laugh slightly through the tears as he holds me tightly.

"Omae… omae ga suki da [5]," I mumble into his shoulder, barely audible to my ears, but I know he heard it because I can feel him smiling.

I've never said these words and meant them so sincerely, but I suppose this is as good a time as any.

He loosens his grip a bit so that I can look into his eyes before he reaches down to kiss me, bringing a rush of memories from a happier time when we weren't so plagued by all these doubts and questions. And, once again, I let myself go and am completely drawn in.

I'm happy. I'm really, really happy now.

Then we are suddenly wrenched apart when we hear a familiar bellowing.

"Kisamaaaaaaaaaaa! [6]"

I want to bury my face in my hands as Jyounouchi-kun suddenly comes charging in to tackle Seto, even with Mai-san desperately trying to hold him back. Mai-san is definitely no pushover, but even she is no match to Jyounouchi-kun in the murderous rage he gets into every time he sees Seto.

Sometimes, I don't really think they hate each other. I think it's just a demented tradition that nobody else can understand without a temporary loss in sanity.

"Gomen nasai Bakura!" Mai yells over the din of Jyounouchi-kun trying to pummel Seto and Seto trying to kill him for interrupting us, "Katsuya! For pity's sake!"

However, instead of worrying about the fact that Jyounouchi-kun is going to be black and blue by the time Seto gets through with him (Seto does have a bit of a physical advantage, after all), or the fact that Mai-san is going to be hopping mad by the time this is over with, or the idea of Seto taunting Jyounouchi-kun after he's diagnosed with a broken jaw and being forced to eat out of a tube for a month, I just laugh. I can't help it as all my doubts wash away and I remember the sweet kiss that Seto and I managed to slip in before Jyounouchi-kun's untimely intervention.

I'm no longer crying, just… a feeling of contentment has fallen over me, and it's something that I find very pleasant. For now, at least, I don't have to worry about this and that, of the maybes and possibilities of something happening. For now, I can just let myself enjoy the moment rather than always worrying about the future.

The week, the deal… it's finally finished. All of that is over, but we're still rolling the boulder up the hill and searching for that fish to prove ourselves to… well, ourselves. We're still moving on.

You're getting sappy.

I am, aren't I?

Very much so.

I laugh inwardly as I absent-mindedly finger the strands of my hair. I've never been that fond of playing with my hair, unlike Otogi-kun who does it all the time, but I can't help it right now.

I can't help but wonder… if I concentrate hard enough, would I still be able to see the faint sparkles of fairydust on it?

Translations and Notes:

[1] Ex… excuse me!!

[2]This was something we read in English class for our existentialism unit… kinda seems to be a mix of existentialism and transcendentalism though… :p I tend to get the two blurred together because I love both concepts.

[3] The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway… we just finished reading this for English class, and it has got to be one of the most depressing things I have ever read. I didn't exactly like it that much, but it just broke my heart when I got to the end.

[4] Ye… yes…

[5] I love you

[6] You bas*ard! (one of the many useful Japanese words I learned from reading Yu-gi-oh manga :p)

Yep, tis the end. The actual end. I hope it wasn't too sappy or maybe not fluffy enough, but I figure it was the best way to end it. They're finally together, right?

Sorry if I sound like I'm getting sentimental… but I am. I've spent about 5 months working on this fic, which has proved to be my longest and most successful fic to this point. I'm glad that I have managed to finish it, but I also feel sad that it's really over.

As for the sequel "Look the Other Way", it should be out within a month… or at least some fic. ^^;; I'll be taking off a month from publishing (with the exception of one-shots and the such) to focus on several fics that have been rotting in my computer and to start building up chapters so that I don't have to procrastinate too much. As some of you might have noticed, I tend to do that a lot.

Besides, who knows, maybe I'll even get a life! ^_~

Basically, all that's left is for me to thank you all for the support you've given me. I don't know if this fic ever would have been finished without all of you! But when I was feeling a bit down, all I needed to remember was that I had who knows how many people ready to rip me into pieces if I should say 'I quit!', something that I've done all too often to many of my works.

Special thanks to the following people: rayemars-san, V-chan, Ruri-chan, Nalan Li, and Neko-chan. ^_^ You've all been there for me when I needed it most, and you've all made this writing experience more… well, lasting.

Many more thanks to Mariel, my wonderful beta-reader. And to Kei-kun and pinkangelsakura for their helpful plot bunnies, despite how much you two exasperate me. And Yuki for sitting on my lap with his big chocolate brown eyes and soft white fur! :p

And although I never said this, Wildwolf-chan, this story is for you. I meant to say that in the first chapter, but I was too shy to do so. Because while you attribute this story to making more Seto*Ryou fans, you were the one that made me a fan of this coupling.

Arigatou, mina-san.

Pikachumaniac

~ owari ~

January 18, 2003