Stephan: Thanks for reviewing Arana, naturally morbid, and Jedi Master Alex Row! I really appreciate your enthusiasm! I'm really sorry for the LOOONG wait. I'm not going to give you guys any excuses, just my apologies. If there's any mistakes feel free to correct me, I don't have much time right now and will fix it later if anything is wrong. Thank you!

Please continue to R&R!


Part 7: Little White Lie

It had been a week and a half since Kariana's first day at work and Mokuba's first day at a new school. It had been a sunny Wednesday afternoon and the sky had started to turn black, the sun almost out of view. It wasn't time for the stars to come out yet but one could already tell that it would be a clear and beautiful night. Inside the Kaiba apartment, Mokuba and Kariana were sitting on the couch, finishing up the meal Kariana had prepared; a small but lovely lasagna with rosemary and topped with shredded mozzarella.

Mokuba had about two fairly large bites left and in his haste decided to make it into one. He had carefully scooped it under his fork and stuffed it into his mouth…At least that was what he was trying to do. The fork never reached his mouth and so neither did the lasagna. He let out a sort of low squeak as the meaty, cheesy substance landed on his white shirt. Kariana grimaced at the sight and set down her food while Mokuba sloppily pushed the pasta back onto his plate.

"Come with me." She took his plate off of his lap and set it next to hers on the table. Mokuba stood up, holding his shirt as to not let anything drip or fall onto the floor, and followed Kariana into the kitchen. He stopped behind her as she went to the sink. "Okay, off with it." Kariana stated, confusing Mokuba. He gave her a questioning look. "Your shirt, take it off. I need to get as much of that out right away." She said in a very sweet yet also oddly mother like tone.

"But-" Mokuba went no further when Kariana gave him the you-better-do-what-I-say look. He sighed and pulled his shirt up and off his shoulders ((don't get any ideas you sickos…j/k, j/k)) and handed it to Kariana.

"Thank you." She said in her own childish way, taking the shirt and setting it in the sink. She turned on the water and grabbed a sponge. Before starting on the shirt she took a wash cloth and dabbed it wet and turned to Mokuba. "Do you want to do it or should I?" she smirked, talking about the sauce that had seeped through his shirt and stuck to his stomach. Mokuba blushed and took the wet cloth. Kariana laughed; she loved to make him uncomfortable. She turned back around and took the shirt in her hands. She paused for a second and crossed her eyebrows. She thought she had seen something unusual about Mokuba for a second, but just shook her head and brushed it off, scrubbing at the stain. It didn't take Mokuba long to hand Kariana the cloth back.

"Thank you, Kari." He said as she took the cloth out of his hands, the water still running at a slow pace. "I'm gonna go get another shirt." He added, a light pink still in his cheeks.

"Alright." Kariana smiled and went back to his shirt, setting the cloth on the counter. She crossed her eyebrows again. She was sure she had seen something that time. "Mokuba?" she asked, turning off the water and turning around, leaning on the counter.

"Yes, Kari?" he replied, only a little ways out of the kitchen. He turned the right side of his body towards her.

"Come here."

"But why-?" Mokuba started to question but Kariana held up her right hand and motioned for him to come. He hesitated. "I-I need to get another shirt." He stuttered. Kariana gave up and walked over to him.

"Let me see your arm." She demanded as Mokuba flinched back.

"But you can already see my arm."

"The other one, Mokuba." She said. She no longer had the childish fun tone but returned to the odd mother like one, only not so sweet. With much hesitation Mokuba showed her his left arm. Kariana let out a short quiet gasp. There at the top of his shoulder was a bruise the size of a tennis ball. Part of it was a deep bluish purple and the other part of it was a light burgundy. He had been hit more than once. "Mokuba, what happened to you?" she said with much concern.

"Nothing, I just…I had an accident." He lied, turning his head away shamefully. Kariana held her hand to her mouth and pondered.

"Who did this to you?" she asked. No response. "How long has this been going on?" Yet again no response. "Mokuba, talk to me." She pleaded but he continued to look elsewhere. "Mokuba!" she took him by the chin and had his blue eyes meet her emerald green ones. Though the gloomy expression on his face only saddened her more. She was silent a while before speaking again. "Go get ready for bed." She said solemnly, "After you shower and dress I want to talk to you. Okay?" Mokuba nodded. She rubbed the top of his head before he turned and left. Kariana sighed and went back to the sink. She rested her elbows on the edge and let her hands dangle in the sink, where she had left the shirt and sponge.

'How did he get hurt?' she thought, 'I know it was no accident…' she let out a groan, closing her eyes. She realized what it was. 'Poor Mokuba. And here he had me thinking they were his friends.' She took the shirt in her hands and wrung the water out of it. She set it out on the counter before leaving the kitchen and gathering their dinner plates. She sluggishly put them into the sink and turned the faucet on, letting the water run over them. She stood there a minute or two, zoned out, before snapping back to reality and scrubbed them clean before putting them into the dishwasher with the silverware. After that she waited on the couch.

Fifteen minutes later Mokuba came out dressed in black pajamas and his ebony hair shimmery wet. He took a seat on the couch next Kariana and kept his gaze forward.

"Please don't tell Seto!" Mokuba pleaded, breaking the long awkward silence. Kariana was taken back a bit but listened as the thirteen year old boy continued. "If my brother were to find out he'd make me go back to my teachers. And then I wouldn't get to see you anymore, Kari. I like going to a public school and I like hanging out with you. You're like family to me." He said in one seemingly rushed breath. "Please don't say anything to him." Mokuba bit his lower lip, clenching the cotton material of his pants, all the time never looking at her. Kariana sighed and watched him sympathetically. Without saying anything she reached out and pulled Mokuba into an embrace, causing him to let out a sound of surprise. His eyes widened at the sudden sign of affection he was so unaccustomed to.

"You don't have to worry Mokuba." She reassured him. "You're like a little brother to me. I don't want to lose you either. So just relax. I won't tell your brother anything. I promise." Mokuba did relax his shoulders, letting her hug him but did not return it. He only sat there, his chest rising and falling in deep breaths. Seto had given him hugs before but he couldn't recall a time where he held him like Kariana was right now. It was something Mokuba realized he had never missed until now. Kariana pulled him back and smiled, wiping a small tear from her face. She never would've admitted it but that was something she had missed too. It had been a while since either of her parents had shared that kind of affection with her. "It's getting late. You should get to bed." She told him. Mokuba nodded and stood up.

"I'm sorry about lying to you, Kari." Mokuba apologized.

"It's alright. I understand. I went through some of the same stuff when I was younger. But now it'll be our little white lie. Deal?"

"Deal." Mokuba agreed, though it seemed a bit awkward to him to agree on such a thing. But then again most things Kariana said or did were a bit awkward. "Good night."

"Good night, Mokuba." She smiled and the boy left for his room. After hearing the door close she laid back and yawned. She always got tired around this time. There were a few times she had stayed up until Kaiba got home but she now found it pointless since he just ignored her and went straight to his office to do some more work. "I bet he only gets two hours of sleep." She said to herself, "No wonder he always has his panties in a bunch." She chuckled and rolled over to where she faced the crevice of the couch.


It was Thursday afternoon and Kariana had arrived at the top of the steps of Mokuba's school early. There was no way she going to give anyone the chance of hurting Mokuba if she could help it. She looked down at her watch. "One minute left." She said aloud. She had already been there for fifteen minutes. She watched the seconds tick by until the bell finally rang and students came rushing out. She was almost bowled over a few times but managed to maintain her spot, letting out a few curses. A minute went by and then another and then another. There was no sign of Mokuba. Kariana grew worried. She fidgeted with her hands until the flow of kids ceased from the school doors. Finally she couldn't put up with it anymore and opened the doors. Her patience had withered and she was going in to find him. She had never been in this school before so the halls were unfamiliar to her. She tried to listen for any sounds of feet or talking but came up with nothing as she took seemingly wrong turns. She had walked around for five to ten minutes before she finally heard some talking and scuffling.

"You dink yer so smart, doncha? Dat yer better dan us? We're so sick of yer face!" Kariana heard the voice of a boy around the corner and then a slam against a locker. Her eyes widened in shock. "Why doncha go back and cry do yer hot shot brodah?" another slam echoed down the hall. Kariana darted around the corner and stopped at the sight before her. The three boys she had seen Mokuba with so many times after school were there with him pinned against the lockers. Mokuba turned his head toward her as best as he could. Seeing this, all three boys looked as well. The one who had Mokuba pinned was tall and rather pudgy. He glared at her and sneered. "Who da hell are you?" he snarled, a speech impediment clear in his voice. His t's sounded like d's and his ours sounded like ers.

"Mokuba…" Kariana said under her breath before glaring at the boys. "Let him go." She snapped.

"Were not going to listen to you!" one of the other boys said. Kariana opened her mouth to retaliate but the sound of footsteps coming silenced her.

"Hey! Who's over there?!" came the voice of a male teacher.

All three boys froze, their eyes widening. The pudgy one released Mokuba, letting him fall to the ground. The boys bolted off down the hall as the footsteps got closer. Kariana walked over to Mokuba and kneeled down, checking to see if he was alright. "We're not done wit you yet, Kaiba." the fat boy hissed as he trailed behind the other two. Kariana glared at their backs before returning her attention to Mokuba as the teacher walked up to them.

"What are you doing?" he snarled, pushing up the square glasses resting on his nose. He was a tall and lanky guy with a long neck and a chin that jutted out past his Adam's apple. His hair was a dull black and was combed neatly to the side. Kariana helped Mokuba up from the ground and then bowed politely at the teacher.

"I'm sorry, my name is Kariana Ushimato, I was just here to pick up-"

"I don't care why you're here Miss Ushimato," the teacher spat out her name and stepped toward Kariana. "All that matters is that it's after school hours and you're not supposed to be here. So get out!" he jutted his finger in the direction of an exit, his forehead scrunched up in a displeasing manner and his mouth turned down in an unsettling frown. Kariana, wide eyed and stunned, took Mokuba by the arm and walked quickly down the hall. Neither one looked back as they exited the school and made their way down the sidewalk. Both were speechless for a long time.

"…So…who was that?" Kariana asked Mokuba, putting her hands in the back of her jeans pockets.

"Mr. Jariko…he's science teacher…"

"Hmm…do you have him?" Kariana looked down at Mokuba and he shook his head. "That's good. If he was I'd be worried about you."

"Why?" Mokuba asked, crossing his eyebrows in curiosity.

"Usually when you piss off one of your teachers they treat you like crap even long after you're gone."

"Really?" Mokuba looked up at her. Kariana nodded.

"You still have a lot to learn, but I think you'll pick it up fairly quickly." Kariana smiled, "Just don't piss off any other teachers, okay?"

"Okay." Mokuba smiled.


Kariana groaned as the alarm went off on her clock. She rolled to the right on her tatami mat and buried her head with her pillow and pulled her blanket over her head. She squinted her eyes shut and tried to block it out but the incessant beeping some how made its way through her obstacles. She tossed the blanket off her body, revealing the silky blue tank and shorts she wore to bed, and rose up from her pillow. She looked over at her clock and stared at it with dead eyes. She reached over lazily and pushed to button on the clock. She sat there a moment as it was finally quiet. She smiled and fell back down on her pillow. At the sound of her phone ringing, Kariana gave up. She rose from her feet, leaving a messy bed behind her, and walked out of her bedroom into the kitchen/dining/living room. By the time she reached the counter the phone had rung six times.

"Hello?" Kariana answered, putting the cordless phone up to her face.

"Kari? You awake? It's Tea."

"Morning Tea." Kariana yawned, rubbing her eyes with her free hand.

"…You know its eleven o'clock already…"

"Really?" Kariana scratched her head, finally starting to fully wake up. "Sorry, I got home late again last night."

"How surprising," Tea said sarcastically, "It's just like Kaiba to do that to you, or anyone in that matter…Anyways, Joey, Tristan and I were wondering if you'd want to hang out? We were thinking about stopping by and visiting Yugi at the shop and then getting something to eat. Wanna come?"

"Sounds good, I'll be there." Kariana turned the speaker to the phone away and yawned rather largely.

"Cool. I'll call Joey and Tristan and tell them you're coming. See you there."

"See ya Tea." Kariana replied, waiting for the click on the other line before hanging up. Kariana stretched her arms out in front of her, lacing her fingers as she did so. She let out a sigh as she finished her stretch and looked at the clock, "Eleven thirteen." She said aloud and started back to her room.


"You sure she's coming, Tea?" Tristan asked. Tristan, Joey and Tea stood around in the Kame game store, Yugi was in the back at the moment, waiting for Kariana.

"Yeah, I mean, she seems ta be really tired recently." Joey added, leaning against the glass counter.

"Joey!" Mr. Mutou scolded from the back. Joey lunged forward, eyes wide with a guilty look on his face; Solomon had to constantly scold Joey about leaning on the glass.

"Geez, how does he always know?" Joey muttered to himself. There was a small jingle as the door to the shop opened and Kariana walked in, dressed in a pair of light denim jeans, tennis shoes, a black square cut shirt and her trademark belt and buckle. Her hair was up in a high pony tail today, her bangs lying on the side of her face.

"What?" she huffed as all of them were staring at her. "I'm not that late…I think." She said the last part quietly to herself.

"It doesn't matter." Tea said and turned around, "Hey, Yugi! Kari's here now!" A few moments later Yugi peeked out from the corner.

"Sorry guys, just give me a few more minutes-" Yugi tried to say when Mr. Mutou reached from behind him and dragged him back by the ear, a successful ouch! escaping from Yugi's mouth. Tea and Kariana chuckled; it never ceased to amuse them when Solomon pushed Yugi around. As Yugi had said, it was a few minutes later when he came out, wiping his hands on his pants.

"Sorry about that, grandpa had a few things for me to finish first." Yugi said with a sheepish smile.

"Don't worry about Yugi," Joey said.

"Yeah, we don't mind waiting." Tristan added as they headed out the door.

"Oh really? Then how come all you guys looked at me funny, huh?" Kariana asked. There was a paused silence before both Joey and Tristan responded at the same time.

"You're different."

"Thanks guys." Kariana said sarcastically, but knew they were just joking.

"So where do you guys wanna go?" Tea asked, sporting a jean miniskirt and pink tube top with matching heals and hoop earrings.

"There's a new deli a block down. We could try that." Yugi suggested.

"That sound alright to you guys?" Tea asked and once receiving each of their own yes responses, agreed, "Then the deli it is."


"Oh meh GAWD!" Joey said with a mouth full of a meatball sandwich. "Iz zo goud!" His eyes shone with glee as he took another bite. Tristan matched Joey's pleasure as he dove into his own turkey and bacon sandwich. The rest of the group just stared oddly at them. No matter how long they had known them, Joey and Tristan would always be a bit weird.

"Wow…you two sure like your food." Tea sweat dropped, holding onto her smaller and less messy sandwich.

"So Kariana," Yugi spoke up, laying his sandwich down. Kariana looked over at him and replied yes with her eyes. "How's your new job?"

"It's good." She paused, recalling the previous day and the encounter with the bullies and the crazy teacher, "There's just been a little trouble at Mokuba's school is al…" Tristan and Joey and stopped mid-way in eating and looked over at her, "Uh, it's nothing bad, I promise!" she insisted, "I was just going to pick him up yesterday and some teacher got all fussy about us being in the building after the bell rang." Seeming content with the answer, Joey and Tristan continued to eat.

"Is Mokuba alright?" Tea asked, seemingly concerned. She may not like Kaiba but there was a part of her that felt for Mokuba. It was like that for most of the group.

"Yeah, he's fine." Kariana reassured her, "I'm sure he was better today." She searched around for a clock, she had left her watch at home, and before Tea could ask anything else she stood up. It was almost one o'clock. "I don't mean to eat and run but it's a ways for me to walk and I need to get home before getting Mokuba." Tea and Yugi nodded.

"Are you free tomorrow?" Tea asked.

"I should be." Kariana replied as she wrapped her sandwich up in napkins.

"Then I'll call you if we decide to go somewhere."

"Alright." Kariana nodded, "See you later." She said to Yugi and Tea as Joey and Tristan managed to swallow down a huge bite, sauce covering the sides of Joey's mouth. "Bye Tristan, bye Joey."

"Bye." Tristan nodded.

"See ya later." Joey waved as Kariana waved and left the deli shop.


Kariana walked into her apartment and over to her fridge, where she put her sandwich next to what little food she kept on the shelves. As she walked out of the kitchen area she pressed the message button on her answering machine and walked into the bathroom, pulling down her hair and shaking it out as her message played.

"Miss Ushimato, this is the principle from Sarayashiki Junior High. It is now two quarters past one and I am informing you that Mokuba Kaiba has been sent to my office and I need you to come down here as quickly as possible…" Kariana stared into the mirror as the female principle went on saying how she couldn't get through to Seto Kaiba and she, Kariana, was the only other listed contact.

"Crap." Kariana sighed, flicking off her bathroom light and pulling her hair back into a low pony tail. She didn't bother messing with the machine; she only grabbed her keys and ran out the door.


Stephan: Okay, so I really will try to update properly from now on. This chapter was actually one I was having trouble with but I got through it! Your encouragement and comments inspire me to write more and faster so please take the hint! Thank you for reading!