Kira entered the bedroom she had left behind a year ago. Looking around she was almost embarrassed. Her parents hadn't touched a single thing, other than when her mother dusted and vacuumed. The kawaii, bunny-faced, white furniture and pink everything else had to go. She couldn't believe what a year as an exchange student in America had done to her.

Her dad walked in behind her carrying her new duffel bag crammed with stuff from her exchange. He wondered what happened to her cute rolling suitcase and carry on she had left with. He wondered what happened to his daughter, a girl who used to love her raven hair in twin braids to her waist now sported it in dreadlocks (right now tied back in something resembling a ponytail). Her clothing changed too, from her school uniform (she loved it's blue pleated skirt and pink jacket) to baggy, army-style pants and a plain, skin tight black tank top. He had also noticed the ring in her nose, which he would have never allowed had she been in their house.

He didn't even notice the hole in her lip where her other ring went, or that the earrings she wore actually filled the large hole in her earlobe.

"So Kira, how do you like being home?" He asked. She shrugged. He figured she was jet lagged and informed her they would be having dinner at one of the most expensive places in town as a celebration of her return.

"Okay."

He left, trying not to let her indifference bother him. Once the door clicked shut, Kira opened the laptop she had left on her desk while she was gone. She glanced at herself in the bunny-eared mirror attached to the desk. Her makeup around her dark eyes was rather dramatic, her American girlfriends showed her the painstaking wonder of winged liquid eyeliner. She briefly made a mental note to find some place, or someone, to pierce her eyebrow. Twice.

She checked her social media and replied to messages from her American friends. In her news feed she kept getting bombarded by pictures of Yugi Moto, who had won Seto Kaiba's Battle City tournament. Everyone was freaking out about it. Every article cited how embarrassing it was for Kaiba to lose in his own tournament.

She had kept tabs on both classmates during her time abroad. Yugi had always been a quiet sweetheart. Kaiba, on the other hand, was a rude jerk, but something about that was incredibly appealing to her. During her time in the States she had watched some of the duels on TV, since her host siblings were very, very into Duel Monsters. She didn't understand the game at all, and didn't really want to, but watching Yugi, Jounouchi, and Kaiba on TV made her think about them very differently. Her host siblings were absolutely in awe of the fact that she had actually gone to school with these guys. They're the best duelists IN THE WORLD! Didn't she know that?

A friend request suddenly popped up. She checked it. It was Yugi Moto! Why?

She hesitated for a few moments before accepting. What did he want with her? Did he know she was back? Why does he care?

Yugi Moto: Hey Kira! I heard you just got back! How was the US?

Kira Yamada: Yeah, I literally just got home. How did you know?

Yugi Moto: Anzu said she saw you

Oh yeah. Mazaki Anzu lived across the street from their house. Nosey bitch.

The conversation continued for a few more minutes and then Yugi made an excuse to log off. Kira changed her profile picture and logged off herself. By that time it was 5:30, dinner in their house was always at six sharp, so she knew she would have to get ready ASAP.

She left her hair in its tied back state and focused on clothing. While she was on exchange she had swapped clothing with one of her new friends. Thus her cutesy Sweet Lolita-type clothing was now hanging in Sophie's closet and her duffel was full of Sarah's grunge castoffs. She wasn't sure she had anything suitable but not horribly clashing with her new style until she dug through her closet and found a dress her cousin had given her eons ago. It was short, red, off the shoulder, and very sexy. It was something a girl would wear to a club, but at least it wasn't pink or full of lace. She unzipped her bag and dumped the contents onto her floor and pulled apart enough of the mess to find her (Sophie's) black three inch heels.

She spent the last five minutes before her mother started yelling for her reapplying smoky eyeshadow. She grabbed her black leather clutch and checked that everything was in it: smokes, lighter, student ID, Gucci Flora mini perfume, iPhone, eyeliner.

Downstairs her parents were stiffly waiting. Her mother had freaked out a tad bit at the airport upon seeing Kira's changes in appearance. She wasn't about to get over it, either.

"You're not going anywhere dressed like that!" Aiko declared once Kira had defended the staircase.

Kira shrugged. "Okay." She turned around to go back upstairs and undress when her father interjected.

"We have reservations for six, we need to go. Get in the car, we'll talk about your dress on the way."

The whole ten minute car ride was full of Kira tuning out her parents bitching. She wished she had brought her earbuds so she could listen to Black Veil Brides on her phone.

At the restaurant she checked her black leather jacket and followed the hostess to their reserved table in a shadowy part of the back room. Just as well, with the way her parents were acting you'd think she was someone they were ashamed of.

After an attempt to order a glass of wine (vetoed by her parents) and settling for an alcohol-free spritzer, she noticed who was sitting at the table next to them.

How she had missed Seto Kaiba, she had no idea. She was annoyed at her parents for being uptight stiffs and must have been fuming too much to recognize him.

They made eye contact, she could tell he was trying to place her. Her face flushed embarrassingly and she broke his gaze and tried to look cool and aloof by watching a waiter pour water for another table. Their own drinks came and they placed their food orders. Kira was so nervous she wasn't sure she'd be able to eat. She snuck a glance to the side. He was still staring. Quite openly too, he had no qualms about burning holes into someone, that was for sure.

She swallowed and excused herself for the bathroom. She grabbed her clutch and walked past Kaiba's table and snuck out a back door at the end of the bathroom hallway and lit a cigarette with trembling hands. She exhaled a plume of smoke and it helped calm her considerably.

"Kira? Yamada Kira?" A voice to her left accused. She turned and saw her old classmate, Jounouchi Katsuya sitting on an overturned milk crate wearing a filthy white apron and hat.

"Holy shit, Jounouchi. Hi."

His eyes looked about ready to bug out of his head. "Anzu said you were back. Never pegged you for the smoking type!" He exclaimed. "What happened to ya? Almost didn't recognize ya."

She shrugged and took a seat on a milk crate near his. "Just...outgrew my old life, I guess..."

"America do that to ya?" His gaze traveled up and down her body and she finally seemed to realize just how short her dress really was.

"I guess you could say that." She really, really wanted to be done with this conversation. She swiped the cherry on the ground and repacked the rest of the cigarette.

"I gotta go, I told my parents I was going to the bathroom," she explained, distractedly spritzing herself with Gucci Flora.

"A-alright. Um, see you in class on Monday? OH and please don't mention this!" He waved a hand at his apron. "I'm a dishwasher. Trying to save up some money to get a place wit my sister. School doesn't need to know, right?"

She nodded. "As long as you don't mention my smoking."

He grinned. "Deal!"

She gave a small wave and darted back through the door to their table as the food arrived.

"What took you so long? You smell like a whore!" Her mother hissed as she pulled her chair out, noticing that Kaiba's table was now vacant and reset with dishes.

Damn