Epilogue—

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Jounouchi smiled and leaned back against the roof fence. His face turned to the sun as he began idly tapping his diploma case against his shoulder. "Yeah, I wanna do this," he said at length. "I'm finally free of the guy I used to be. Next step is to figure out who I am now and who I want to be in the future. I need to go somewhere else, do somethin' else, be someone else for a while. Can't really do that here, can I?"

Kaiba said nothing. There was nothing to say. Soul searching was something he could understand and appreciate. Needing to do it away from other people, friend or not, made sense. Now that he was successfully graduated and free of his sordid past, the blond had more than earned the right to do whatever the hell he wanted with his life. If he really wanted to move halfway across the world to a blistering desert and leave all else behind, it certainly wasn't the CEO's place to tell him not to. It seemed a little extreme, even by his standards, but he wasn't in a position to argue. He'd already promised that he'd let the other run if that what he wanted. If nothing else, he was a man of his word. He wouldn't back out on it now. So he refrained from saying anything, scowling at the ground instead.

"Not gonna talk me out of it?"

"You're free to do whatever you want." Even if he didn't like it.

"Come on, teeme…" the blond wheedled. "You've never held back an opinion before."

True as that was, it wasn't just an opinion he was holding. It was a sense of loss. In the last year, he'd come to count on the other's presence—not just in his office, but in his life as well. A frank opinion whether he wanted it or not. A malicious streak that matched his own. A will strong enough to continually defy even if that wasn't the smartest course of action. He hired people with these qualities because no one else could work with him without those traits, but in the end, those people were still employees no matter how familiar they became. Jounouchi may still have technically been employed by him, but the basis of their relationship was vastly different. There was no line that kept them separate.

For the first time in his life, Kaiba found himself standing with someone on equal ground…and they were leaving in two weeks.

Which wasn't the part that irritated him to no end. It was just… "Why Egypt?"

"Because it was the first offer I got." Jounouchi chuckled as the scowl deepened. "You asked. And honestly, we didn't get to see or do a lot the last time we were there, and it kinda ended on a bitter note. Besides, someone's gotta remind Atem what an asshole you are."

Kaiba started to growl, but stopped abruptly when Jounouchi turned to face him. "I'm tellin' you the same thing I told Yugi – we both know my heart and home's here in Domino. Nothin's ever gonna change that. Not the people I meet, not the places I see, not even the time I spend away. I know a lot can change in a year, but that? Not happenin'. Not when the three most important things in my life are waitin' for me right here." A snarky smile twisted his lips. "Besides, I've heard on good authority that runnin' away would be the second dumbest thing I could do with my life."

A twitch of a smile pulled at Kaiba's own mouth. "Sounds like someone you should listen to."

"Naw. He's a pompous, egotistical, arrogant asshole." The grin Jounouchi wore was bright and reckless, matching the challenging light in his eyes. "Agree to one little thing now and soon he'll start demandin' temples and hymn to his genius."

"That does sound like a good idea…" Kaiba mused, pretending to think it over. He easily dodged the playful swing that was taken at his shoulder, rapping his own knuckles lightly over blond hair.

With a sigh, Kaiba slipped his reading glasses off and rubbed his tired eyes. A year old, and the memory was still as strong as ever. Graduation had come and gone in a blur after Jounouchi's release from the hospital. It had been a close race, but he'd pulled it off in the end with the same dramatic turn-around flare he always managed in his duels. At the end of testing, yet before their graduation ceremony, it came to light that he'd been invited to spend time abroad. The actual invitation had come from Atem, but the force behind it came from Anhkhiti, which was apparently the real reason the offer had been accepted. For a year and a day, he would live in Egypt, learning exactly who Jounouchi Katsuya really was.

The blond wasn't the only one who'd left Domino to find themselves. Anzu had jumped into a dancing career herself, on a plane headed for America only a few days before Jounouchi had left. Ryou had also returned to his family for a while, yet came back before summer's end to start attending a local college with Yugi, who split his time between that and his grandfather's shop. Though their paths rarely crossed anymore, Honda was apparently doing well with his mechanics training and Otogi was mid-production for another game. Freed from his own constraints, Kaiba had spent as much time abroad as he had at home, his time mostly split between overseeing continued construction and working to get the Free Play program up and running. This had led him adding a day or so onto other trips to see Atem, and by association, Jounouchi.

After the third such trip, Kaiba reluctantly admitted to himself that it was more because he missed the other than really about any sort of business he might have had.

Life had been pretty steady, all things considered. The clearing of his security building had been surprisingly quiet and uneventful, even if Asahina had bemoaned the loss rather dramatically. When she'd finally patted his cheek and told him he'd done the right thing, he'd kicked her out of his office. Kuroda had been (thankfully) keeping her busy since then. Other than the usual assortment of inter-department issues, tournament organizations and participations, and the stray threat or three, the most exciting thing that had happened was Akiko announcing her engagement to a well-suited man within the company. Life had moved on, and yet stayed very much the same.

The clock, which had been mocking Kaiba all day, finally relented under his stare and told him it was the time he wanted it to be. Probably just as well that he'd accomplished nothing today – with as distracted as he'd been, he'd have to redo everything anyway just to make sure he hadn't royally screwed something up. In short order, he had his things packed up and was heading out the door. Yukiko waylaid him just long enough to shove a package into his hands, the smile on her face the only answer she was willing to give for the action. Dutifully, Kaiba put it in his briefcase and continued out ot his waiting car.

The first stop was to the Kame Game Shop. Yugi was patiently waiting for him outside, poking his head back inside the front door for a second before approaching the vehicle. Kaiba waved off the expressions of gratitude and signaled the driver to move on. The second stop was to Domino Station, the main terminal for all the trains that ran in and out of the city. There, they met up with Shizuka, who also politely and profusely expressed her thanks for the ride. Kaiba found himself slightly harder pressed to get out of the gratis, but found it easy enough to focus some irritation at Yugi, who may or may not have purposefully poked at him for being so stubborn about the whole thing. Then, it was to the airport. The extra time in traffic was balanced out by a slight delay in the arriving flight, leaving the awkward standing and waiting to a minimum.

Shizuka saw him first in the crowd, her delighted cry of "Onii-chan!" floating over the rest of the noise easily. She dashed past other passengers greeting their loved ones, but it wasn't until he saw her get swung up and into the air that he actually saw Jounouchi. Yugi didn't wait to be approached, either. As soon as the sister was set back down, he did his own version of a flying leap at the blond. He was caught just as easily, even if he wasn't whirled around as well. That left Kaiba standing alone as he took in the changes.

The last year seemed to have been much kinder than many of the previous. Jounouchi grown a bit taller and put on a stable amount of muscle that helped fill his frame out. Hair that had been fairly long during the last meeting was once again cut into the more familiar shaggy style and bleached into a more unified blond colour than it had been before. His skin had picked up a definite tan that was much easier to see now that everyone around him had lighter skin. Minor adjustments, really, in the grand scheme of things. The biggest, and most pleasing, change that could be seen, however, was the way in which Jounouchi held himself. No longer the aggressive stance of someone who was constantly pushed to defend themselves, acting out a nonverbal threat to intimidate every waking moment, but the carriage of a man who was comfortable with the power in and the burden on his shoulders. Not a cocky teenager with a grudge and something to prove, just a person who knew what they were capable of if the situation called for it.

With an arm wrapped securely around the shoulders of sister and best friend, Jounouchi approached him, the grin on his face disturbingly like the silver-haired rat that had initially called him away. Kaiba straightened up in response to the challenge, returning the smile with an arrogant bearing of his own teeth. They stared at each other for a long moment before the last bit of haze left Jounouchi's eyes, that dark, almost unfathomable look that had started them down this path so long ago now a whole and steady part of his gaze.

"Makeinu."

"Teeme."

Jounouchi had mention three things were keeping him tied to Domino. One position was automatically filled by Shizuka, who held the blond's loyalty and affection highest of all. It took little speculation to conclude the second was probably Yugi, considering they were also family in every way but blood. But for the past year, Kaiba had pondered who or what could fill that last space. Not a home, because the blond had never really had one, nor a place, either. Despite his whining about wanting a real hamburger, he'd been happy no matter where he physically was. The objects that had been cared for had also traveled with him and therefore could not be returned for. Though a person could be reasoned out as the third thing, he'd had no luck figuring out whom, and all questions on the matter had been met with a playful, "You're the genius. I'm sure you can figure it out."

About the time he realized he was travelling to see Jounouchi rather than to attend some business matter was when he found himself hoping that third spot was his. It was a small, horribly neglected thing, but there nonetheless, surviving even the harshest mistreatment. In the months that followed, as he settled into firmly denying its existence, his continued thoughts on the matter blended almost effortlessly into his daily life until these last few days. He was still prepared for disappointment, but the hope that there had been a promise somewhere in those words had flourished as well.

Face to face, eye to eye, it was clear that indeed there had been an unspoken promise lying waiting within that third spot. Considering he was one of the few who had received the phone call detailing when the blond was coming home, it was fairly obvious that the position belonged to him. And while he could still very well be wrong about what all that may actually mean, Kaiba found himself unable to care. The fact that he was there at all was enough of a victory that the rest ceased to matter.

Such simple words that conveyed everything they needed to say. They were the only words that really needed to be said at all. And they would be last thing that would ever change between them.

The end.

Once again, thank you so much for sticking with me this far. According to the poll, almost everyone wanted something more KaibaxJounouchi from me, and I am almost done with that piece as well. And before anyone asks, yes, this ending is supposed to be ambiguous. I never had any intent on doing something more than I already have. My argument has concluded and the person it is for agrees. Find your own ending if mine isn't enough.

~Tawnya TK'12