Stumbling towards his door, Joey had to pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Surely it couldn't be her. She lived on the other side of the country. And that was to say nothing of the fact that their mother took every opportunity to keep Serenity away from her brother.
However, as Joey emerged at the top of the staircase, Serenity flew into his arms. It was only a few moments later that he realised she was crying. Terrified, Joey felt his heart freeze. Then his eyes came alive with determination. No matter what the problem was, he would solve it. He would walk through fire if it meant seeing Serenity smile again.
So with a small smile of his own, Joey led his sister gently to his apartment and sat her down on the sofa. After feeling his cheeks burn at the fast food containers and other rubbish that almost concealed the bare bones of his apartment, he focused his gaze back on his sister. He had never seen her looking so miserable.
"Hey sis, I know you're worried and all but you got to remember that I'm here for you. Always have been. Always will. So just tell me what's going on and we'll get through it together."
Serenity surveyed her brother through large green eyes and burst into tears once again. "Oh Joey, it's so awful. There was…an accident…and mother… mother…." Joey felt his eyes widen. This couldn't be happening.
It had been no surprise when his father had passed away last year as a result of liver cirrhosis. In fact, after a life spent staring at the bottom of a tanker, the only surprise was that he hadn't bit the bullet sooner. But their mum had been the sensible one.
When they were little, she made sure they ate their five a day, stayed away from too much sugar and always carried out their daily exercises. She led by example and had the healthiest of lifestyles. At first, she had cared for both children with unadulterated love and affection. But then she started noticing small signs that Joey took after his father. He had the same crooked smile, the same habit of rubbing a finger over his nose when he was embarrassed and the same stubbornness behind his eyes. That was when he became a lost cause. That was when she had cut him out of her life, taken her daughter and run for the hills.
Joey had always resented his mother for taking Serenity away from him. For leaving him, a child at the time, with only a violent drunk for his support. But still, he had always respected her lifestyle and appreciated the love she gave Serenity. She deserved that. So it was with a heavy heart that he took Serenity in his arms and held her close to his heart.
It was then Serenity found the confidence to tell him the reason she had travelled all the way across the country. "We had never had much money, mother and I. We always had enough for a bowl of soup and a roof over our head but that was it. It was only when her money was transferred to my account that I realised how little we really had… I combined that money with every penny I had saved over the years and that was just about enough to get me here. Now I have nothing."
Joey felt fear grip his heart like a vice. He wanted to tell his sister that everything would be ok. That he would support her for as long as she needed. That money wasn't an issue. But that would be a lie.
It had been three years since he had graduated and during that time he had established a pretty decent reputation as a professional games tester. The title sounded lame but it actually took quite a bit of expertise. He had to know how to find the bugs, work through all the options available to the player and think about how to enhance the demographic of the game and distinguish it in the market. However, as Kaiba Corp grew in size, the other game makers went out of business one by one. Kaiba either bought them out or produced competing products which left them with no choice but to surrender. Joey had lost his last job a month ago and was currently facing eviction if he didn't cough up some cash pretty damn quick.
Joey felt a chill run down his spine as he thought through his options, or lack of them, as the case may be. Yugi was on yet another worldwide tour and wouldn't be back in the country for months. Tristan was now working with the military and would be out of contactable range for the foreseeable future. Tea was currently in France studying dance with a top Parisian ballet company. Glancing towards an old school photo, Joey saw just one face who could save him. A face that had left him with no option but to crawl for him to help. A face that could make him want to howl with rage. A face that could make his blood boil in his veins. But what other choice did he have?
So with a sigh of resignation, he gently stroked his sister's auburn hair, "Don't worry sis, I'll look after you. No matter what I have to do."