Lina's Manor
By Raven Wormwood
For most of her life, Lina was glad to have her own life in her family manor, she had a diner that served her favorite meals, a lounge in her closet that also stored her clothes, books and stuffed animals, and her bedroom with her sitting area, she never considered herself as an upper class society debutante she was just a normal girl living a normal life, most guys in that kind of society just loved her for her status and money not her personality which was kind, charming, polite, and her beauty was exquisite, she always wished for someone to love her for who she was and wanted to be with her, so far it wasn't meant to be until one day when she went to her favorite bookstore, it was a beautiful spring afternoon when she arrived with her grandma at Barnes and Noble, she went upstairs to look at her favorite section while she stayed downstairs to look around, as she got off the escalator she saw a guy with spiked hair shaped like a star, it was dipped in a deep crimson red with blonde streaks, his eyes were ruby red which made them mysterious, he saw Lina walk to the manga section and look at one book she really wanted to get, "She's beautiful like an angel." He thought, a song played on the speakers around the store and it was something she was familiar with, she started singing softly even though there were only just ten customers and it was mostly empty, it was "The Phantom of the Opera" a song that played mostly in her dreams night after night, after she sang her part while holding her book she heard a deep baritone voice sing the part of the phantom as he started to move behind her, as he took her hand into his it was soft like the softest feathers, he kissed it gently and introduced himself, Lina turned around and blushed as she introduced herself, as they talked they went downstairs to meet her grandma so he could meet her too, after paying for her books he treated his new friends to Starbucks if Lina's grandmother wanted which she politely declined, instead he got her some water as they sat at a table, after a pleasant conversation Yami and Lina bid each other goodbye as she went on home, the good news was that Lina's grandparents lived in a home down the street from her so it wasn't a far drive, she parked her truck at their home and they walked the rest of the way talking and making sure she would be okay.
After her grandma left, Lina went back to her room for a little while, she couldn't stop thinking about Yami, he was so warm, gentle, debonair, charming, and over all very handsome, as she told her parents at dinner in the family restaurant room that night her father remembered that Yami was the son of his most generous customers the Sennen family, after dinner and getting ready for bed, Yami called Lina that night to talk and see if she wanted to hang out soon, she agreed and they went to a karaoke bar, they decided to sing a duet together, after they sang everyone applauded as Lina blushed, she wasn't used to singing in front of people, Yami just held her hand as he encouraged her to keep going, she chose to sing "Cinderella" by Play, as she got done singing everyone was impressed almost everyone a certain short brown haired girl glared at the girl with her supposed "boyfriend" and left the bar, "Who's that girl with my Yami-kins? I don't care I won't let her take him away from me!" She thought, the harlot was known as Tea Gardner every day she dated a guy then dump them the following week, this time she was fixated with Yami Sennen and she didn't care who was going to stop her, her twin sister Anzu Gardner was the nicer twin who hung out with her friends, as Lina and Yami left they heard a shrill voice calling his name, "Yami-kins! Let's go somewhere more private!" Tea said trying to be flirtatious, Lina felt a little self-conscious at this girl from what she heard her reputation was very promiscuous, Yami pushed Tea off and glared, "Tea for that last time I will never be your boyfriend I already love someone else, if I see your face again I will have no choice to get a restraining order do I make myself clear?" He told her sternly, Tea huffed and punched Lina in the face, "That's for taking away my boyfriend you little brat!" She yelled at her after scratching her cheek then left, Lina just stood there in shock and humiliation as some of the karaoke bar patrons saw the lovebirds after they heard the "Harlot" was back, Yami took her back inside to get her something to drink as one of the bar tenders named Ryou took care of her wound, "Poor thing I heard about her Yami, Lina's family is one of the hard working girls in Houston, her family business is very prominent too." He told Yami, Yami nodded in agreement as he held her hand and rubbed it gently, Lina cried silently as she remembered her wounds, after thanking Ryou Yami took his girlfriend home, he kissed her cheek gently as they reached her manor, her mother heard what happened to her and hugged her tightly, Yami offered to stay the night to keep an eye on her especially if something happened, her parents agreed especially Lina was feeling depressed, meanwhile Tea planned her revenge, soon she'd plan on having what she wanted.
As Lina was perking up, Yami got her some food from her little diner, she ate happily but somehow felt that her little incident with Tea was the beginning, as she got ready for bed she looked at her wound in the mirror thinking about her horrible afternoon, she took her cotton ball with rubbing alcohol on it and dabbed her cheek gently but the scratch was still open and she cringed in pain, Yami heard her quiet whimpers and came in, he wore some pajamas that he brought over and made her sit down on her little sofa, "It's okay Lina let me I know it hurts but don't worry I will keep you safe." He told her gently, Lina nodded quietly and let Yami take care of her, soon she felt sleepy and went to bed, as she slept she dreamt that Tea took her somewhere where they beat her and tied her up before telling Yami where she was, she woke up in a sweat breathing heavily at the thought, she eventually went back to sleep and woke up the next morning in a more better mood than yesterday, today she and Yami were going to try to reorganize her bookshop which wasn't a big task, as they entered with their cleaning supplies they split up the jobs they needed to take care of, Lina took care of her mythology folklore, fantasy, and manga section while Yami took care of the history, magazines, and almanac sections, as they got done with the cleaning next came the alphabetizing, by the time they got done their stomachs growled for food, luckily Maria Lina's personal housekeeper came in with some empanadas and arugula salad and their favorite drinks, "My goodness I have never seen such hard working young people!" She said as she looked around the newly cleaned bookshop, Lina and Yami smiled at their hard work, "Well Maria the bookshop is my responsibility and sometimes it needs some TLC so I was very grateful that Yami helped me out." Lina replied, Yami agreed as he put his arm around her, "It's true plus I can't let my angel do something on her own if she wasn't up for it." He said in a courteous manner, Maria laughed a little and replied, "If only some other people were as responsible as you señor Sennen then the world would be a much better place." Lina shook her head and knew who she was talking about, Yami raised his eye in confusion, and Maria soon left to take care of the other chores with Lina's mother leaving them to talk, "Maria is talking about Diego Don Vega the son of the Don Vega jewelry empire, he has his own bookshop in his home and it's always such a mess. I would go over while he worked and clean the whole place before he got home." She told him, as she grabbed a plate and filled it with the chicken empanadas and salad, Yami somehow found Lina's story to be amusing and soon ate too.
After a bit of lunch, Lina and Yami took a walk around the garden and watched the monarch butterflies land on the milkweed, two butterflies landed on their shoulders, "I think they're in love." Lina told Yami. Yami looked at the butterfly on his shoulder and noticed it was looking at the other, he smiled and whispered, "I think you're right they are in love just like us." Lina blushed as she moved closer to her boyfriend, they kissed as they two butterfly mates flew off into the sunlight, from one of the bushes a lone kidnapper waited for his opportunity to take his intended target, and Yami went inside to get something as Lina waited, with swift like movements he grabbed Lina and left a note on the bench, as he came back he panicked, Maria saw his face and began to panic as well, "señor Sennen are you alright where is senora Lina?" She asked, Yami showed her the note and they immediately went back inside to tell her parents, "So this is the girl who threatened to harm our daughter and wants you to date her instead of Lina?" Her father asked as he got out of his office, Yami nodded and answered honestly too, her mother grew worried, meanwhile Lina was tied up scared and knew what was going to happen, somehow her kidnapper didn't want to torture her like his benefactor paid him to do instead he kept her tied up for leverage, when Tea heard this she immediately changed her tactic because even she couldn't wound Lina after what she did already, she bided her time and waited for "her" Yami to come to her rescue. Yami had contemplated about a way to help his beloved, soon he came up with a plan and hoped to get some help from his friends, Yami met Tea at the spot to meet her about a ransom, "Tea I hope I'm not late." He said as he saw her, Tea saw her new potential boyfriend and smiled big, "Not at all Yami-kins! Now that Lina is out of the picture we can talk about our future!" She said in her overly high pitched voice, Yami cringed a little and hoped Tea would see that, as she did Tea immediately apologized for her excitement and got back down to earth, "Tea as much as I appreciate that particular offer I'm afraid I still love Lina and I want to know where she is." Yami told her calmly, Tea was disappointed but answered where Lina was.
Back at the warehouse, Lina was sleeping on the floor still tied up, Joey, Kaiba, and Anzu looked inside as someone was guarding the door to where she was being held, Joey snuck inside to get the guard distracted but surprisingly he saw him, "You here for her?" He asked, they all nodded and waited, "Look I don't want to fight, I was just paid to kidnap the girl however the person who paid me to do it wanted me to beat her up but I refused too." He told them, he unlocked the door and Lina woke up, Kaiba untied her ropes and made sure she was okay, Lina was cold so Anzu wrapped her jacket around her and kept her company, "Thank you." She told them, Yami had Tea placed under arrest for kidnap suggested assault after Lina ran into his arms, Yami held her close as she cried silently, the hired kidnapper was able to testify at the court date, at Lina's request Tea got three months community service and a restraining order away from her and Yami, after what happened Lina and Yami grew closer together as they walked in the garden, Yami took her by the hand and got down on one knee, Lina gasped because she knew what he was doing and grew excited, "Lina I don't care what happens between us I love you and I never want to lose you again so I want to ask you, will you marry me?" He asked, Lina agreed and let Yami slip the engagement ring on her finger, they moved into a mansion of their own that was near her family's and her grandparents, they were able to move everything inside and made a room for their future children, as they married their happily ever after was now coming true with their children and many more adventures to come.
The End!