Cara: WOOHOO!! DOUBLE FIGURES NOW!!

Chiyo: Yay.

Cara: Ok, read on please! This chapter adds yet another piece of Renami's past you don't know about, but things will start to be revealed shortly...

Chapter 10:

I was surprised when I woke up because I hadn't expected to be waking up at all after what just happened, y'know, the rain, the car, the pain, the blackout… I thought I'd be dead right now. Or rather, I hoped I'd be dead right now…

And so, upon finding myself in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room, I realised that this was so not one of the greatest of scenarios in the world, I gotta say. Where was I? And why am I not dead?

I threw back the duvet that had been draped across my body and sat up in bed, blinking in confusion as I looked around the room, searching for answers. Nothing. Dammit.

I stood up quickly. Whoa, not one of my brightest ideas, for no sooner had I got to my feet, my head practically exploded with pain so intense that I fell straight back down onto the bed again. What the fuck is going on here?

Groaning in pain, I clutched my head in both hands and swore vehemently under my breath until the agony subsided enough to be bearable and then I stood up again, but a Hell of a lot slower this time, grabbing onto the post of the bed for support. How'd I end up here? And where was here, anyway? I didn't want to admit it, but I was starting to panic. Really bad. The last time I got knocked out cold and woke up in a strange room, I'd found myself waking up covered in blood, with several bones broken. And then it'd only got worse from there, so this kinda thing really shit me up something fierce. The fear of reliving the past, I suppose.

"I don't know where I am, but I gotta get out of here!" I muttered, forcing myself to calm down and began looking around the room for possible escape routes. One window, one door. Window was locked tight, and I hadn't yet perfected my lock-picking skills, so the door it was. Great. That's it, Rennie. Run right out that door and no doubt you'll end up running straight into the deepest shit hole you could ever imagine, because you can bet your ass they'll be out there waiting for you. And you better hope they're in a very good mood, because you are so completely buggered if they're not. Nice knowing ya!

I crossed the room swiftly, ignoring the pain stabbing inside my skull like an angry porcupine as I approached the door. Not wanting to run straight into a trap (which was most likely what I was about to do) I pressed my ear against the wood, trying to hear for any sounds other than my shallow breathing and thumping heart. Silence. That didn't exactly fill me up with confidence, but what could I do? Stay in here and rot, or go out there and die a most probable quick, painless death? Hmm, let me think about that… Yep. Definitely the second. Any day.

I took a deep breath. And another. And then another. And then… Oh for fuck sake! This was getting me nowhere, for crying out loud!

"Aw, screw it!" I thought in determination and flung open the door. And then winced as it slammed against the wall beside it with an almighty crash that nearly brought down the whole house. Well done. Well done you stupid piece of shit. Why didn't you just fucking sound the alarm to let them know you're trying to get away? What a fucking genius. Einstein ain't got nothing on me.

I had to get out as quick as possible now, so I hurriedly looked up and down the small-ish corridor I'd burst into and spotted the staircase to my left and sped down it as fast as I could, trying my damn hardest not to slip or trip and end up bouncing down the steps on my head. Heh. That'd be a real dignified exit, wouldn't it? Not.

I made I down the stairs without any complications and headed straight for what I hoped was the front door. Yes, I was so close… Almost there… I'm going to make it…

"Where are you going in such a hurry?"

Startled, I tripped over my own feet and went crashing to the floor, head first, but luckily for me, I'd been smart enough to throw my arms out in front, so I didn't land on my face with an almighty splat or anything as ghastly as that, but I did manage to jar all way up both arms and down my spine, fresh pain mixing with the previous. Holy shit! That hurt like a bitch!

"Oh my God, are you ok? I didn't mean to frighten you." The same voice said worriedly, only it was closer this time and a soft hand found its way to my shoulder. Wait a minute. Kidnappers and murderers don't generally go around comforting their captives. Neither do they sound so genuinely concerned about their safety. Slowly, I lifted my head up from the carpet and found myself looking into soft warm hazel eyes.

"Are you hurt?" The woman asked, kneeling down in front of me. I shook my head slowly, even though it was so obvious to both me and her that I was in sheer bloody agony, but my bewilderment and uncertainty kinda overruled that.

"I-I'm fine…" I replied. She gave a small relieved smile and offered her hand to me. I hesitated a moment and then took it and allowed her to help pull me back to my feet. Once fully up, I took in all I could about my captor/saviour's appearance. She was about the same height as me, maybe a few inches taller, with brown skin a few shades darker than mine and long luscious chocolate coloured curls that hung down just past her shoulders. She was quite pretty and slim, or she would be, if she didn't have a huge balloon of a stomach sticking out in front of her, straining the material of the pretty floral dress she was wearing. All thoughts of her being a possible kidnapper flew straight out the window, because there'd be absolutely no way on earth that she could've dragged me all the way back here and up all those damn stairs when it was obvious that she could barely walk because of her condition. A bun in the oven, so to speak.

"Come into the living room with me, Sweetheart. You've been through quite a lot, haven't you?" she said kindly, gesturing at me to follow her back into the room from which she'd came. Silently, I followed.

"Sit down, Love." She said over her shoulder as she passed the sofa and went into the kitchen.

I sat down on the sofa, still not speaking. Who was this woman? How did I end up in her house? Why was none of this making any fucking sense?!

"Tea or coffee?" she called.

"Um, coffee, please." I replied, my voice like a little mouse squeak even to my own ears. The sudden appearance of this woman had seriously knocked me for six, especially considering all the shit that had happened lately. Y'know, it seemed like every single fucking day of my life a new twist was added, distorting it from it's original carefree course. This must've started from the day I was born, because my life has never ever been carefree. I dunno, maybe I'm just cursed. Yippee for me.

"Sugar?"

"N-no, thanks."

She smiled as she came back into the room, two mugs of steaming coffee balanced precariously on a tray in her hands. I gotta admit, I was pretty impressed with her speed, y'know, for a pregnant woman, because when my mom was pregnant with my little sister Zahra, a granny with a Zimmer frame could've moved quicker than she did! Oh, I miss mom so much… And Zahra too… If only there was someway we could change the past…

"You don't need to look so worried, Honey, I'm not gonna leap over there and throttle you, y'know. I can barely move as it is!" The woman giggled, and I smiled back as she placed the tray on the coffee table in front of me and sat on the opposite sofa, resting her arms on her swollen stomach as she held her steaming cup of coffee.

"Thank you." I said gratefully, reaching across for my own cup.

We sipped companionably in comfortable silence for a few minutes, occasionally blowing the steam away to cool our coffees.

"My name's Rehema." She said after a while. I nodded and smiled, swallowing my mouthful of burning coffee.

"I'm Renami."

"I know."

I looked up at her, surprised.

"How?"

"This isn't the first time I've seen you, y'know." She chuckled softly at my expression, "Yes, I've seen you quite a few times in the last couple of days. I was at the hospital waiting for my check-up when Mr Kaiba brought you and your friend with the blond hair in. You were both in pretty bad shape, I'll tell you."

I nodded, remembering how much of a mess Joey had been in when I'd seen him in the hospital room. God can only imagine how much worse he looked before he'd been cleaned up and bandaged.

"That was the first time I saw you, and I felt so sorry for you and your friend. I didn't know what had actually happened until my husband told me afterwards."

"How did your husband know about it?" I asked, feeling a tight squeezing in my stomach. Rehema tossed her beautiful brown curls back over her shoulder and leaned forwards in her chair a little.

"Because he was there. He's one of Seto Kaiba's personal bodyguards, and he helped chase those bastards away and carry you and your poor friend to Domino hospital. He said he didn't see everything what happened but he saw enough. He said it was horrific."

Horrific? Sure that had been pretty bad, but trust me, I was the expert of horrific. Living with a psychotic sadistic bastard for at least three and a half years had really opened my eyes to just how horrific things could be. But I did agree. What they did to Joey was just… unbearable to even think about, never mind actually having to go through it like he did. Involuntarily, the memory of the alleyway sprang back up into my mind and my knuckles tightened around the hot mug, tears beginning to well up in my eyes.

"Yeah, it was." I murmured softly, staring down at my coffee instead of meeting Rehema's gaze. I heard her give a small sigh, and then the sofa cushion sunk down a little beside me, and I could feel the warmth of her body next to me. Gently she took the mug from me, put it down on the coffee table and then she replaced it with a tissue as she pressed it into my hand.

"Shh… Don't cry. Everything's ok, now, isn't it? You're friend's ok, and you're ok, so why the tears?" she said soothingly, her hand rubbing small comforting circles on my back. Usually I'd flinch away from anyone who touched my back, be it accidental on intentional, but now I just stayed where I was, dabbing at my eyes with the tissue.

"I-I'm sorry…"

"Don't apologise, Sweetheart. I can only imagine what you're going through." She cut across my apology, the gentleness in her voice almost motherly as she calmed me down. I sniffed a little and shut my eyes, unconsciously leaning sideways and resting my head against her shoulder and she stroked my hair like I was a little girl. I know it was strange, but somehow I felt like I knew her, y'know, from somewhere else, at some other time. She just looked and felt so familiar to me. Even her soft flowery scent that matched her flowery dress seemed so familiar. And then I realised something.

"You still haven't told me how you know my name," I said, looking up at her, "I mean, I get what you said about your husband seeing what happened, but he doesn't know my name either. At least I don't think he does. So how d'you know who I am?"

She smiled.

"My husband's not the only one who works for Seto Kaiba, y'know. I'm his housekeeper."

"You're kidding me." I gawped.

"Afraid not. As I said, I saw you at the hospital, but I still didn't know your name until a few hours ago, when Seto and Mokuba came home from the cinema, and Mokuba was practically gushing about this 'Pretty Purple Lady' he'd met, called Renami. I knew it was you. I mean, how many people do you see with hair like yours, huh?"

"Not many." I laughed softly.

"Damn straight. So now I knew your name, and me and my husband, George, were on our way back from the Kaiba Mansion, driving past Domino Park, when suddenly you came running out into the road and nearly got run over by the car in front of us." She said, reaching for her coffee again.

"The car in front of you?" I asked, puzzled. If she hadn't been responsible for what happened, why had she brought me back here? "So you didn't run me over?"

"No. We didn't. Well, you didn't really get run over, so to speak. You ran out, the car came at you and you sort of staggered back and tripped on the kerb. Hit your head pretty hard on the pavement when you fell. Whoever was driving had thrown on the brakes when they saw you, but when you fell, they just swerved around you and kept on driving. They obviously didn't give a shit if they'd killed you or not. We stopped and got out. Rushed to you to see if you were still breathing, and thank God you were. George was all set to chase after them, but they'd long gone by then, so we brought you back here."

I sat back in the sofa, letting it all sink in. It was all sliding into place now, I mean, hitting my head on the ground would explain the explosion of pain I felt seconds before I blacked out, and it was obvious I hadn't been hit because I had actually been able to move when I'd woken up, but what I couldn't understand was why would someone just drive off when they could've possibly just killed someone. Sure, maybe they'd been scared, so they'd scarpered, but I think it was more than that. It didn't feel like much of a coincidence to me.

"Did you see who was in the car in front?" I asked Rehema when she stood up to take the now empty coffee mugs back into the kitchen. She turned to me and shook her head, her chocolate curls swaying from left to right.

"I'm sorry, Sweetie, but it was too dark to get a clear view of them. All I can tell you is that there was two of them, the driver and a passenger, and judging by the little of them I could see, they were both male, but that's all. I couldn't tell you much else." She said, somewhat sadly. It sounded as though she was blaming herself for not being able to identify them. I smiled at her reassuringly.

"Well, it doesn't matter now, does it? Like you said, I'm ok, so there's no point stressing over it. What's done is done." I said. She returned my smile.

"I suppose you're right." She sighed, and went into the kitchen with the tray and cups. I heard her running water and then putting the cups into the sink. Looking down at my hands, I started tearing the tissue into little pieces as I thought things over. Not about the guys in the car, no, I wasn't bothered about them anymore. Why should I be? But it was Rehema who was perplexing me now. I just knew I'd seen her before from somewhere. Not from here, in Domino. But somewhere else…Where?

"-Nami?"

Jolted from my thoughts, I looked up quickly. Rehema was stood in the kitchen doorway, looking concerned. She'd been saying something to me, but I'd missed half of it because I was so deep in my thoughts, trying to place her face from elsewhere.

"You ok, Honey?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about that, I was just… thinking about something." I replied, crumpling the shreds of tissue into a ball in my fist.

"Oh." Rehema nodded slowly, "You just looked a little distant, Sweetie." She paused and cast a fresh eye over me, her forehead creased as she frowned slightly. "Are you sure you're okay? Is everything alright at home? With your family?"

I shook my head sadly.

"No, no, everything's ok, but I don't have any family." Rehema's eyes widened in surprise.

"What? No family? Why?"

I closed my eyes, willing the tears that had just appeared back. I didn't want to talk about it, and more than anything, I didn't want to cry about it.

"I… I don't…"

"I understand, Darling. You don't have to tell me. I shouldn't have asked, I'm sorry." Rehema interrupted softly, thankfully sparing me from reliving those painful memories that had resurfaced with just those three little words: "With your family?"

"Thank you." I said gratefully, mopping at my eyes again with the tissue. Silence fell over us both for a few moments once more, only the sound that could be heard was the breaths we took. We shared another small smile and then I glanced up at the clock sat on the top of the mantelpiece. 1:47.

"How long have I been out?" I asked. Rehema shrugged.

"Quite a while. We brought you back here at about twenty past eleven at night, and it's nearly two in the afternoon now, so…"

"WHAT?!" I screeched, leaping to my feet, practically scaring Rehema shitless, "Two in the afternoon?!"

"Yes. Why? What's the problem? Where are you going?" she asked worriedly as I started for the front door.

"School! I've nearly missed a whole day of it! I am so screwed now! And we're supposed to have Mrs Lewis for French today too! She's gonna chew my ass up for sure, she hates me so much…"

"Renami-"

"Did we have a History essay that was supposed to be in today, too? Crap, I haven't done that either…"

"Renami, wait a minute, you-"

I turned and grabbed hold of both Rehema's hands in mine, shaking them hastily.

"Thank you so much for helping me out, Rehema, I'm really grateful."

"Look, Renami, you need to-"

"Sorry, but I gotta go now. Maybe I can make last period if I get there quick enough…"

"Renami, just hold on a second and listen to me!" Rehema cried, finally managing to get my attention. I paused and half turned around, my hand resting on the door handle.

"Yeah? Can you make it quick, please, I really need to get going, I'm already late as it is…"

"Renami. It's Monday."

"I know what day it is…"

"Bank Holiday Monday."

"…Oh." I said, realisation dawning at long last. You have no idea how much of a total tool I felt at that moment. I stood there, wishing with all my heart that the earth would just open up beneath my feet and swallow me whole to spare me from the embarrassment. "…I knew that."

Rehema nodded, obviously trying her damn hardest not to laugh.

"Sure you did."

I blushed and turned back around to hide my burning cheeks from her. I sure know how to make an ass of myself in front of total strangers, don't I? First in KaibaCorp, and now here. But I gotta point out in my own defence that I wasn't responsible for what happened in KaibaCorp. It was that redhead receptionist who dropped me in it then. 100 percent not my fault! Ok, maybe 99.9, but still.

"How come you're not at work today?" I asked, trying to subtly divert her. She saw straight through it, of course, but gave no indication.

"I rang in sick this morning, just before George left. I couldn't leave you here on your own, because I had no idea when you'd wake up. Mr Kaiba was, how shall we say, less than impressed." She said as she shrugged offhandedly, as though she couldn't care less about how Kaiba felt about it. I turned back around to face her, confused.

"Why? Don't you get sick-leave or something?"

"Sometimes. Rarely."

"What? Even when you're – how many months pregnant are you?"

"Seven."

"Right, even when you're seven months pregnant? Shouldn't you be on maternity leave anyway?"

"I should – but I'm not."

"What?!" I cried incredulously, "What is Kaiba playing at?!"

Rehema shrugged again and leaned back against the wall of the hallway, a somewhat mischievous twinkle in her hazel eyes.

"I don't know. Why don't you ask him?"

I stared at her, wondering what she was getting at.

"What d'you mean?" I asked tentatively. She smiled.

"From what I hear, you're pretty well acquainted with Mr Seto Kaiba. A friend of mine told me. Well, she's not really a friend, more like a fellow colleague, who just lives for the huge dollop of juicy gossip whenever she's lucky enough to stumble across it."

Non of this was ringing any bells for me, so I tilted my head on one side for her to continue.

"She caught you."

"Caught me what? Where?"

"In his office."

I gulped, the awful understanding plummeting down on me like a ton of bricks. Hell, fuck the ton of bricks, more like a Goddamn house crashing down on me! I groaned.

"This friend of yours, she wouldn't happen to be peroxide blonde, with really orange fake tan, would she?"

Rehema nodded, grinning widely. I groaned again.

"Perfect. Just bloody brilliant."

"Yep. Charlene saw you two getting frisky on his desk, and by four o'clock, everyone in the building knew about it."

"Oh God." I moaned, dropping my head into my hands.
"You can say that again."

"But we weren't 'getting frisky'! He went fucking mental and tried ripping my shirt off so he could get a good look at my scars and-" I broke off quickly, realising what I'd just said. Shit!

All traces of playfulness left Rehema's face faster than I thought humanly possible.

"Scars?"

I swore under my breath, cursing me and my big mouth. Well done, Renami. Once again, you've managed to drop yourself in it. Big time. Come on, let's see how good a story you can come up with to throw her off the scent…

"What scars?" she asked again, a little firmer than before. It wasn't a question. No, it was a command.

"I, uh, had an… accident. When I was younger." I said. Rehema narrowed her eyes.

"What sort of accident?"

"Um… I… uh…" I was mentally trying to improvise, attempting to come up with a story convincing enough to make her believe me, but I couldn't think of anything. She raised her eyebrows at my stammering.

"What sort of accident?" she repeated.

"Look, I don't want to talk about it, ok?" I sighed, giving up after drawing a blank on a fictional explanation for her to swallow. I didn't want to look at her, but when I thought it was safe enough to risk a glance, she looked sort of… disgusted. Like a mother who's just found out that her daughter's been caught smoking her lungs out behind the bike sheds at school, or something. She was so not amused, put it that way, but what could she do? She couldn't actually force me into telling her, could she? And it was none of her fucking business, anyway! Who did she think she was? My mother?!

I opened my mouth to say all of that out loud, but before I could, she shook her head sadly, her face softening back into its usual kindness.

"I'm sorry. It's non of my business, I know."

I nodded slightly, avoiding her gaze again. Silence for a few more moments, before she sighed and spoke up again.

"I suppose you better be going now, Honey."

"Yeah, I should. Gracie'll need feeding."

"Gracie?" she asked, puzzled.

"My dog."

"Oh. Right."

I don't know why, but I felt kinda awkward with leaving this woman. It was almost like we had so many things to say, but we didn't know where to start. Unfinished things. From the past, maybe?

"Thank you for helping me out." I said, smiling gratefully as she offered me my black jacket which I hadn't noticed earlier hanging on the coat rack mounted on the wall beside the grandfather clock.

"No problem, Sweetie. Anytime." She smiled warmly. I took the coat from her, put it back on and turned back towards the door. And then I paused.

"Will I ever see you again?" I asked over my shoulder.

"I guarantee you will, Renami." She replied. I smiled once more, and then opened the door and stepped outside, ready to set off back to my apartment. Gracie'd be going spare, with me not being there for God knows how many hours. I mean, the last time I'd left her on her own for too long, she'd practically destroyed the entire damn living room and…

Hold on a minute…

Where exactly am I?

Cara: Hey, you might be thinking that this chapter doesn't really have any relevance to the story, but I assure you that it does and it will all become clearer soon, I promise!!

Chiyo: Yet more promises, huh?

Cara: Yups! Ok, please review please!! Ta!