Disclaimer: All recognizable characters from Kaichou-wa Maid-sama! Belong to Hiro Fujiwara

Dedicated to: My sisters—Guileene and Coline—and to Raina Rasberry, Ayu-saka, 143Maid-sama, Shark's Fin, Gata De Luna, .otaku, SaaLiiieK, .Writers, lovin-yoochun, otaku911, vividpixie, and to all my reviewers of my on-going stories CINDERELLA and MORE LOVE thank you very much. This story is for all of you. Thanks for believing on my ability—I'm starting to get emotional—I hope this new story would make you squeal and squirm on your seats at the same time.

-;-

Heiress

Is once again dedicated to:

Guileene and Coline Escalona

-;-

I'm just like you (you are?)
You're just like me
There's somewhere else we'd rather be
Somewhere that's ours
Somewhere that dreams come true
Yes I am a girl like you.
You'd never know that it was so
But now I've met you and I know,
It's plain as day
Sure as the sky is blue
I am a girl like you.

PandemoniumPrincess

-;-

Though you may not know
where your gifts may lead
and it may not show at the start
when you live your dreams
you'll find destiny
is written in your heart

-;-

-;-

One: Written in the Stars

-;-

Everything was just a dream and before I made that realization, I was already awake.

The sky wasn't a perfect rinsed blue that morning. Stray and dull gray clouds with the threats of a storm coming made its greetings on my window. The morning breeze was chillier than before and the trees in front of my room swayed against the air back and forth as if the air was their music and they were dancing in accordance to its beat. The sun was set on the wrong part of the horizon and any coming minute, it'll get eaten by the dark storm clouds and will be pushed down the mountains so nighttime will befall soon again.

I scrunched my nose and snatched the hairbrush from my lamp table and began brushing my messy hair. I could smell the threat of the storm coming since the scent of the wind was different. I quietly sat up and looked around my room—as if I was searching for something that was supposed to be here. Shaking my head, I sprung lightly to my feet and walked towards the window.

It's a dull morning—or maybe because I woke up early for a Saturday—and it seems as if today will be a dull day too. There wasn't much interesting views on the outside—except for the shroud trees that were covering the whole area around our house. Our family was running a small animal shelter behind our house. My Mom's a veterinarian and she has such great liking for animals. My sister Suzuna, she was now in her 1st year while I'll now be a junior student.

We are well fending off, that's how I would describe our way of living. My Mom does a good job from being a veterinarian while Dad was sending us enough money from abroad, we're happy. We are very happy. We are a complete family and that was what I've always wanted for a lifetime. Well, unexpected things happen at unexpected times and everything was just inevitable.

Dad died.

And it was too much for Mom to handle. She had loved Dad so much that she couldn't move on anymore. She was too in love with him—their love was too perfect—that God had just suddenly thought of separating the two apart. Maybe it's because Mom and Dad's fairy tale story has finally reached the happy ending and well, it was already planned by God to end it.

I've tried to understand her—Mom. She was very kind to us and still looks after us although she was suffering. I know she was lost. She was lost because Dad is no longer there to guide her and of course, it pains me too. No one could ever understand the love Mom and Dad had shared. It was too precious—too perfect—it almost felt unreal. Like they were living in a world of their own where Suzuna and I don't exist. They were perfect but everything just has to end.

And for Mom, it wasn't a happy ending.

If my own description is we live together forever throughout the end of time, Mom's description of happy ending was dying together happily with their skins wrinkled and their hairs grey. For her, growing old with Dad is the greatest thing that would happen to her. But that didn't happen, Dad died ahead of Mom leaving her alone.

And the happy ending wasn't present anymore.

I glanced around the room once more and saw the bags sitting peacefully behind the door. The open drawers were revealing its empty spaces highlighting the absence of the clothes that was supposed to be there.

I placed back the hairbrush back to the lamp table and sat under the window.

It's been a month since my Dad died and now, I'm starting to miss him. Even if we weren't able to have a bonding since he was abroad, it felt as if he was still here—with us—because every time we'll have dinner, Dad would call us and he was also having his dinner. One time, he asked me what kind of bag I would like him to buy. We went to the same store—although he was in France and I was in Hokkaido—I picked out that green bag and he picked the same bag from the store in France and purchased it. We made our long distance looked nearer.

It was so perfect… so perfect I've wished it to stay a little bit longer.

But now, the man I recognized myself with was long gone. He was now there—six feet under the ground—sleeping for good. He was now resting. And no matter how much I want to wake him up, I could no longer do that. Dad would never wake up anymore.

Dad is dead.

I placed my forehead on my knees and felt the pressure—the rush of emotions—upon coming up with the realization that he is no longer with us. It was the same emotions I've felt when I first knew that he was gone. The piercing inside my heart—making me unable to breathe—the unstoppable furious beatings of my heart, the oppressive emotion I've felt when I've decided to just move on and accept everything.

My heart did those pained flips again as I tried to push back the warm sensation that is trying to escaped my eyes. I haven't really thought of crying –not even when I realized that he's dead—since even my sister was crying. I need to be strong. I need to be strong for my Mom and sister. I need to be strong for myself.

I finally stood up and changed from my pajamas before heading out of the room and went downstairs where I saw Suzuna quietly eating her breakfast. Suzuna—as of now—was age fourteen. She was a first year student for the coming semester and she was a top student of her school. Despite the fact that Mom gives us anything, Suzuna maintained a kind heart like my parents. She would never engage to any vices and well, she isn't interested in love. She was very mature for her age—but maybe it was because Dad was now gone and she thinks she too should act mature.

She looked up from me—from her breakfast—and gave me a serene smile. "Good morning, onee-san."

I smiled back at her then saw Mom exiting the kitchen with a bottle of milk on her left hand. "Hey, Mom, good morning, how's your sleep?"

"Fine." She replied in a cheerful haste and sits quietly on the seat where Dad used to occupy. "I had a good night sleep. I used the white noise machine your Dad bought me last year and it sure works."

I didn't reply anymore. It was clearly obvious that Mom was depriving herself from sleep because she'll dream of Dad again—it was very visible to those purple bruise like circles under her eyes. The whole dining room was dark but just enough to no longer turn the lights on. Outside, the wind was slamming hard against our gates.

Suzuna places her fork down and smiled at me. "Onee-san, are you done packing your things? Mom told me that we'll be leaving for Tokyo today."

I secretly stole a glance to Mom and nodded. "Yeah, I'm done."

Mom raised both her feet at the chair then quietly sipped on her milk. Her eyes blank, her expression indifferent. It was stoic almost too painful to watch. I eyed her with wary eyes and was caught off guard when she glances my way and smiles bitterly.

"It's been a month, huh?" Mom said—more to herself than to the two of us—before smiling once again. "Leaving Hokkaido is a good decision. We'll have lots of fun in Tokyo."

There was pain in her voice as she said the word 'fun'. As if she was just forcing herself to say it so we wouldn't get worried at her—again. Her forehead keeps on creasing while she absentmindedly looks around the house.

"I sure will miss this." She whispered to herself once again. "This is the house where your Dad—"her voice was broken as she said that. "—where your Dad built every dream he has for this family."

"Ma…" I murmured softly and gently stroke her hands.

Mom smiled at me that suffering smile again. "I'm fine, honey, and thank you."

I threw Suzuna a glance and she herself seems worried at Mom too—it was obvious even if she was wearing eyeglasses. And even if she keeps on saying that she has now moved on from Dad's death, I knew she was still suffering inside. She was too young to experience such pain. She was too young to lose her father. She was too young—

"Misaki?" my mind went completely hay wired upon hearing Mom's voice echoing in the quiet dining hall. "Misaki, are you okay?"

I thoughtlessly nodded. "I'm fine, Mom, I always will be."

"Good." That and she stands from her seat and placed the milk bottle on the table. "Well, shall we start covering the furniture's with the white sheets? We need to finish things as early as possible so we could leave for Tokyo before the storm rolls in." Mom tried to sound as cheerful as she could then rushed upstairs—carrying a thick amount of white sheets when she finally went down. "So, shall we?"

She was trying her best; I could clearly see it from the way she acts. She was wearing that stupid mask to hide her true feelings from us when all of us know what she really feels inside. I shake my head and grabbed a handful of sheets before rushing upstairs to cover the furniture's there. We don't really know when we'll go back here, all I've thought was—why I've agreed on living to Tokyo without much arguments—is because Mom needs some time to move on from him.

I can't bear to be selfish. I love my Mom and even though this place was the place I'm considering my homeland, still, what matters most to me was my Mom. I'm sure even Suzuna needs some time to cope up with the shock that Dad will no longer be with us.

I consider myself lucky. I'm just too numb with the emotion that decided to stay inside my damned heart for as long as I live and well, Mom can cry as much as she want. So do Suzuna. They can spill their tears whenever and wherever they want and I'll always be here for them. Hell, I could even replace Mom as the veterinarian; I'll do anything for her. I will do anything to bring this family back to what it was supposed to be. I will become the father because Dad needs to rest now. He needs to damn rest and I need to work my ass off to bring life back to our family.

I didn't dare enter Mom and Dad's room. Covering the things inside their room would be Mom's duty. It'll be like her last memory of Dad—of the place where the two of them decided to create a family. I walked passed their room and then was about to enter Suzuna's when I heard her quiet sobs. She was kneeling down on the floor with a picture of Dad on her hands. She was just staring at Dad's picture. Maybe she was thinking that she'd miss him especially because she was too young when she loses her Dad.

I looked away—cannot dare looked at her state—and went instead to the open terrace. Dark clouds loomed over light ones followed by the threatening sound of the wind. Indeed, there was a storm coming. We need to hurry. I cannot allow those two to stay here anymore. It's like; they were getting fragile and fragile every coming second.

-;-

Suzuna placed her bag inside the trunk of the car and flashed me one of those tranquil smiles of her. Mom—with an earphone on her ear—locked the front doors and threw the key on her purse bag with the weird G's. She wore huge sunglasses which was very inappropriate for the weather today though I could clearly see that her nose was slightly red.

"Suzuna, I'll be sitting beside Mom." I informed her and opened the car door for her. "Are you sure you didn't forget anything?"

Suzuna checked her carry-all bag first before nodding. "Yep, I've brought everything I'll need in Tokyo." She swiftly entered the car and closes the door herself.

I smiled at Mom as I run my hand through my ebony hair. "Ready? It'll be a long travel to Narita airport."

"Passports aren't needed anymore." Mom told me instead and once again checked the black purse she was carrying. "Where's the car key?"

"Mom, you're holding it."

She glanced at her left hand and saw the car key—and some key chains—dangling on her stiff fingers. She chuckled at that then opens the car's door. "I'm getting forgetful this past few days." She mumbled to herself then suddenly revved the engine to life. I walked towards the closed gates to open it and when Mom finally drove past I, I reclosed it then rushed inside the car.

I glanced at the side mirror to take one last view of our now dull house. For me, it was another goodbye. Another goodbye because we firstly bid farewell to the man who build this house and now, we bid another goodbye again to the first memory he had given us. It was saddening, of course, but if I really want Mom and Suzuna to move on, I'm better off sacrificing the things that makes me happy. Mom's hands were shaking as she manipulates the steering wheel.

Seeing her like this pains me and so, I turn to her and gently caress her hand. "Mom, we'll be all right. I'm sure Dad wouldn't like it if he sees you suffering. He wouldn't be able to depart happily if he knew that he left us unhappy."

"I'm fine, honey. I was just a little sad."

"Are you sure you really want to go back to Tokyo?" I asked her, unsure whether she was indeed certain of her decisions or just because she so badly wants to get out of the house for a short period of time. "We could still go back if you want."

"I'm fine." She finalized—finally removing her sunglasses revealing her red eyes that was due to endless crying. "You're right, Misaki, we'll be finer in Tokyo. We would start over again because that was what we need, a fresh start."

I smiled at her. "Mom, don't mind me, I'll be fine. A fresh start is what you need. You need that more than I do."

"Thanks, Misaki." She mumbled then focused her eyes to the road.

We drove passed wild flowers and stray grass and huge Sakura trees. We were quiet along the way to the main airport. I knew that this would be the last time we'll step foot on Hokkaido since this is the place where the most special person in our lives departed for good but I know that he'll live forever in our hearts.

-;-

It was raining hard when we reached Narita airport. Mom was in a rushed as she opened the car's trunk and stuffed our bags there. She then leaps to the driver's seat and swiftly fastens her seatbelt.

"That was cold." She commented while zipping her sweater closed.

We drove passed huge buildings that we rarely see in Hokkaido. The sky was tinted with black smoke and I could clearly distinguish the smoke from the dark clouds. It was obviously a polluted city. Tokyo's in for pollution.

My forehead creased upon seeing the alleyways filled with trash and the trash bins already full with black trash bags. It was a new sight for me since I've lived in a place filled with trees and flowers instead of trashes and black bags. There was trash anywhere I look and well, only a few trees can be seen.

From beside me, Suzuna mumbled a loud scoff. "I don't want to live in a place like this."

I surprisedly eyed her through the rearview mirror followed by Mom's loud laugh. "Why honey? Tokyo's beautiful."

"More like filled with trash." She ripostes with her nose crumpling. "Mom, are you sure we'll be living in a place that is as beautiful as our house in Hokkaido? I didn't agree to leave Hokkaido for a place like this."

"Suzuna." I mumbled—more like a hiss—before turning to her. "We'll be living in a subdivision, okay? You don't have to complain like that to Mom."

She glanced down to her hands then nodded. "Sorry."

I smiled at her since she isn't like those bratty sisters who disrespect their elder sisters. Suzuna was a kind sister, she understands what we're all going through and when Mom decided to live here, she didn't put up an argument.

I then turned to Mom and smiled at her. "Mom, focus your eyes on the road—it's green now."

"Oh, sorry." She stifled a forced giggle then smiled at me. "Anyway, I've enrolled you two to Miyabigaoka High. It's a great school, just two miles away from our house. I could drive you there to and fro since I don't have much to do in our house."

"You should rest instead of driving us to school." Suzuna said, her voice, low enough for Mom and I to hear. "Onee-san and I could walk to school together. Or maybe we'll just use bicycles to get to school."

Mom glanced at her through the rearview mirror and hit the brakes after the lights turned red. "Well honey, Miyabigaoka is a very prestigious school. You can't use bikes like what you use to do from your previous school."

"Then we'll walk." She finalized then kicked the seat I was occupying. "Right, onee-san, we could walk since it's a form of exercise."

"Are you embarrassed because even if you're a first year now, Mom was still driving you to school?" Mom giggled at that then hit on the gas pedal. "Wow, my baby is a grown up lady now."

"Mom," Suzuna hissed while looking away embarrassedly. "It was you who said that, not me."

"Suzuna's blushing." I pointed out while grinning smugly. "Anyway, Suzuna's right, Mom. Instead of driving us to and from school, why don't you just rest and have some real fun. That's what you should do after your work."

"Maybe, I should do that indeed." She mumbled to herself once again before making a dangerous U-turn. "Or maybe—" she then turned to me and smiled. "So Misaki, you're interested in guys, right?"

My forehead creased as I threw her an animalistic glare. "Mom, what the hell—what kind of question was that?"

"Well, it'll be entertaining if you would have a boyfriend in Miyabigaoka."

"Leave me alone, I'm having an epiphany." I told her and glanced straightly at the road ahead of us. "And besides, I'm not the type of girl who looks at guys with hearts inside my eyes. I have high standards for men."

"High standards?" she repeated. "Like what?"

I bit the lower part of my lip and looked down on my tightly clasped hands. "Well, I go for guys who's… you know—it's hard to explain but, I like guys who I don't like at first."

Mom scowls at that. "Pun intended."

"I didn't get it either." Suzuna said from behind me.

My shoulders slumped down as I run my hand through my hair. "What I mean is I don't fall for guys easily. I don't know, I just want to wake up one day and then I would realized that; 'Ah, I think I'm in love with that guy'. That kind of realization was the meaning of real like for me. Like, we should start off as friends."

"Friends," Mom muttered while tapping the steering wheel with her point finger. "Well, honey, if you became friends first, wouldn't that be more difficult to like that guy since you already like him as a friend?"

"I don't know, I want to start it like that." I unclasped my fingers and sighed. "Besides Mom, you know I have high standards. I wouldn't easily like a guy because he's rich or popular or stuff. I like mature guys. The type who—well, the mysterious one."

"Onee-san, there's no such thing as the mysterious one these days." Suzuna told me with a roll of her amber eyes. Suzuna and I looked identically alike with the black hair and amber eyes. Except that I was three years older than her. She was fourteen I was seventeen.

Mom agrees with her. "Suzuna's right, honey. More so, the mysterious type doesn't exist anymore. You're old and grey before you realize that 'crap, Mom and Suzu's right. The mysterious type was just a figment of my imagination'."

"Well,"—they could be right. But, I don't know, that's what I like about a guy. He wouldn't carelessly reveal his real identity to a girl. I want a guy like that, a guy who could play the piano or even violin to me, someone who could cook for me—like Dad, someone who could appreciate the nature with me.

You might be thinking I was the boring type but well, I was raised like that. My Dad and Mom had thought me and Suzuna to be a down-to-Earth person. That we should appreciate everything around us that's why I grew up like this.

But well, sometimes I thought that indeed, a guy like that doesn't really exist. Maybe, my standards are indeed too high but who knows, maybe a day will come and he will suddenly barge inside our house with a bouquet of roses on his left hand and another bouquet on his right for Mom. Or maybe I'm just the dreamy type who lives in Fictionesque but refuses to accept damned reality.

It was a soliloquy.

From me, Mom laughed at my deep thinking and surprised me when she suddenly smoothen my creasing forehead. "Honey, I could put a paper in between your brows. What are you thinking?"

"Maybe, she was thinking about her so-called high standards." Suzuna muttered behind me.

I shot her a glare but decided to dismiss the thought. "Well, I was just wondering how huge Miyabigaoka High is."

"Think about Alice Academy." She replied with a smirk. "It was really huge, honey. It covers such huge land area. You'll be surprised once you get the chance to see that."

"Uh… okay."

"There are many boys there too." She said to me followed by a wink.

I growled at that. "Mom, I told you already, I'm not interested in boys and stuff that concerns about them. What I want to do right now is to focus on my studies and get a high grade."

"Misaki, you are too focused on your studies."

"Mom, for God's sake, you're a mother!" I hissed exasperatedly. "You should be happy that I didn't turn into a delinquent student."

"Well, I'm your Mom and your Dad and I raised such good kids." Her voice became broken again at the sudden brought up of Dad's name. "I just want you to loosen up a bit and well, have fun instead of puckering your foreheads and developing wrinkles at such a young age."

"Ha ha, very funny." I mumbled sarcastically and accidentally glanced at her amber eyes. Although she was smiling, Mom's amber eyes were sad. Mom, Suzuna and I inevitably looked a lot like each other. Except that Mom was a lot prettier than Suzuna while Suzuna was a lot prettier than I. Yeah, I don't really consider myself beautiful. I have low self esteem and I'm very shy to express my true feelings—although my friends would say that it was clearly obvious in my eyes—if I had any friends.

While Suzuna was great at making friends, I sucked. I was just too preoccupied on wasting my time on worthy things, which I refused to engage myself on worthless socializations. Well, that was what I thought. That's why even if I had reached the age of seventeen; I still couldn't make myself like anyone. What I like is myself and myself alone.

Consider me obnoxious and narcissistic but well, this is me. It's not like I was forcing other people to like me. I'm fine just by myself. Moreover, I'll be finer if I was with my whole family. I was really that egotistical so I'd just laugh other people's comment off every time I'd hear them that I was friendless and is egotistical.

Some people would even say that Suzuna's prettier than me since she was such a sociable person but who cares? You can't judge a girl just by merely looking at her outside appearance and social skills. What makes a girl beautiful was the smile that she gives to anyone and the expression on her eyes that mirrors everything about her.

So I consider those people who judge me stupid but since they don't matter to me, I could really care less.

I am myself, no one's good enough to make me change.

Yeah, that's what I really thought. Mom then made another turn again before we entered this secluded and dusty path. The road was rough and on each side of it was a lake. There was a dock on the left of the road and then at the end of the direction we are taking was a rusty gate.

My forehead creased at that. "Whoa?"

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Mom told me before swiftly unfastening her seatbelt. "Your Dad and I purchased that half a year ago."

"Okay, that was really old." Suzuna commented as she jumped off the car carrying her bag with her. "There are no ghosts there, right?"

I unfasten my seatbelt too and got out of the car before scrutinizing the house. It wasn't really that old—because it looks definitely creepy. It was surrounded by maple trees and some cherry blossoms and there was also a swing hanging on the branch of a dead tree beside the house. The white cement—or maybe that was paint—became yellowish in color and it has moss covering the walls.

I glanced at Mom in disbelief. "Mom, are you crazy? Are you sure there are no ghosts in there?"

"Honey, we both knew that ghosts don't exist." Then she grabbed a huge and rusty key from her bag before pushing it inside the knob, twisting it open in the process. The panels beside the door was made of glass so you could see who the visitor was—if someone would even dare visit this house.

Suzuna and I were hesitant when we enter the old house—our supposed-to-be new home. The exterior was really a big thumb does down so imagine our surprise when we saw that the interior wasn't as worse as its exterior. The ceilings are well painted so do the walls. There was a chandelier and the lights aren't broken and well, it seems cool inside. Although the floor was dusty, I think I could bear it.

"Why don't you get your things in the car and go straight to your rooms?" Mom suggested with a smile. "I'll go check the fuses as well if there's water in here."

Suzuna and I rushed to the stone driveway to retrieve our things. Indeed, the house was surprisingly beautiful although it was now revealing its age. I just hope there weren't any ghost here so that we could have a good start. After all, that's what my Mom needs.

-;-

Done!

PP.

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