Author's Note; Hey huns- sorry bout the wait; had some stuff to deal with here in Ireland...and only kinda getting back in writing mode now, lol!! Thanks to Andrew and Sheena- they know who they are!! XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
"Oh my God, Tsara what's wrong?"
Jazira allowed for her light handbag to fall to the ground as she walked into the sitting room and saw her best friend to be sitting on the couch, streaks marring her deeply tanned cheeks due to her tears, and her light blond-grey hair appearing tousled as it was roughly thrown over one shoulder. As she heard the voice, Ishizu stood from the sofa, she having been there for the last twenty minutes trying to comfort the sobbing teenager.
The crying Ganguro gal raised her head and attempted to speak, only to have her voice choke up and ended up producing nothing more but additional sobs.
"C'mere…"
The seventeen-year-old heiress rushed over to the sofa and sat alongside her friend, pulling her into a hug as Ishizu whispered in her ear, informing her husband's niece of why her friend was now crying her eyes out.
"Some specialists from Nagasaki rang about half-an-hour ago…it's her father; he's on life-support…"
As Jazira looked up from where she was now hugging her closest friend, her eyes conveyed all sorts of emotions; sorrow, shock, pity and most of all confusion…how could the man be in such ill-health when he'd been fine only mere days ago? This unspoken query was answered by Tsara, who only found the strength to form one solitary line-up of words before collapsing back into tears.
"I never…told you…he's- he's a Hibakusha…."
Hibakusha; that was a word that caused all types of nostalgia to suddenly flood the young heiresses' mind, her Japanese heritage coming to the fore of her memory, for Hibakusha was the term widely used in referring to victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Hibakusha were challenged with severe discrimination throughout Japan and often looked down upon because of the lack of knowledge concerning the consequences of radiation sickness.
As she saw her uncle standing by the door and not knowing what else to do as slight shock took hold, Jazira stood from the sofa and walked slowly across the room, stopping as she came to Jase, he having followed her inside and stood, somewhat out-of-place at the back of the large room.
"Could you just sit with her for a few minutes, I have to talk to my uncle…she speaks fluent English…please, Jase?"
The tall youth nodded his head and walked up to the still-crying girl on the sofa, speaking low as he sat beside her. It was as she approached him that Jazira could see Denian's eyes lingering over Jase with what appeared to be a distasteful air. Closing the living room door behind her, the young woman looked up at her mother's cousin, knowing he was disapproving about something.
"What?"
"Who's he?"
"My bodyguard…"
I was obvious to by the way he turned away and exited the hall, that Denian Hirotsh was not the happiest person in the world considering the employment of Jase…
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Tsara diverted her gaze as she heard her best friend asking the question, an almost betrayed tone to Jazira's voice as she spoke…the truth being that she didn't know how to take this news; to have the Kaiba name associated with a Hibakusha…
"Is he government-recognised?"
A short pause before Tsara nodded her head slightly, Jase still present, albeit more so leaning against the wall to the left of the sofa, a habit he seemed fond of doing. This action was followed by a few minutes of edgy silence that was abruptly broken by the still-tearful Nagasaki teenager.
"Jazira, I'm sorry- I never wanted you to know…if they found out my Dad was a Hibakusha and I'm your best friend…well then, your family's company would drop in the markets…and now he's dying, and I don't what to do…"
Her own cobalt eyes filled with tears as her friend succumbed to throaty sobs once more- how could she be mad when her oldest friend was faced with losing her father? It was only as she put things into her own perspective that the seventeen-year-old felt a painful lump growing in her throat all the more; for how would she react if her own father were to be taken away form her?
"What are the stocks like?"
" Toujours en laissant tomber, mais pas comme progressivement…"
Still dropping, but not as steadily…Anto regretted telling her this as he heard the exasperated sigh from the young woman, accompanied by a few muttered words he couldn't understand, yet had an inkling that they were swears. Jazira then leaned over his shoulder and looked at the laptop for herself, feeling worse for doing so as she saw the figures for herself and the truth hit her hard once again- KaibaCorp's stock ratings were in the dumps, and the news was now teeming with items on how the young Kaiba heiress was best friends with a suspected Hibakusha…
It had been just over a week now since she'd come home to find Tsara in a flood of tears on the sofa, and in those days, all of Japan had become fixated on one name, and one name only; Kaiba. It was as if the entire country was watching with bated breath, wondering what would become of their most predigious family- to have the Kaiba name associated with a Hibakusha was the equivalent of royalty fraternising with some class of harlot...
It was as the young man coughed slightly, that Anto's attention was drawn to the shadowing figure of Jase leaning against the wall of the study, his violet eyes constantly lingering over the daughter of Seto Kaiba. He Didn't like the bodyguard one bit- there was something just not right about him…
"Jazira, de lui…"
About him… the young French man's grey eyes darted in the direction of the youthful bodyguard as he said this whilst leaning a bit closer to the young woman he had first met as a fourteen-year-old girl. Tearing her eyes away from the rather depressing figures illustrated on the screen of the laptop, Jazira looked to Anto and raised her hazel eyebrows in a questioning manner, asking him to elaborate upon his rather cagey words.
"Que?"
"Bien ... vous avez dit qu'il est au courant de la famille de votre mère et du trône égyptien ...est-ce qu'il est fidèle?"
Although she understood every aspect of his question, it was the last part that caught her off-guard, aswell as the way his slate irises lingered towards Jase, with an almost hateful glare; she had been hoping for the two to get along, but after over a week of awkward silences and grunted responses, it was obvious to see how testosterone took its toll and male rivalry set in. And yet Anto's eyes implored her of the question he had just asked in his native language; Is he trustworthy?
Although she opened her mouth to fire back a snappy retort at him, Jazira was beaten to the punch by an additional voice, one with surprisingly perfect pronunciation and an impeccable accent; it was almost as though he were used to speaking the language on a regular basis.
"Je sais que je suis fidèle, mais comme son garde du corps, je dois questionner si vous êtes un pour être fidèles…"
I know I'm trustworthy, but as her bodyguard, I have to question whether you're one to be trusted…
"What d'you mean, me?!"
Before she knew it, Anto and Jase were nose-to-nose, with Anto's angered voice reverberating around the study as both young men stared intently at each other, anticipating as to who would throw the first punch, and it was as she saw the two of them tensing that the young woman hastily stood between them and pushed the duo apart, speaking angrily as she did so and half-shouting as she felt the two deliberately shoving one another with purposeful force.
"Quit it! What are you, ten years old? Grow the fuck up!"
It was then that a maid decided to knock upon the door and inform the young woman that she had a phone call from Tsara, who was currently in Nagasaki, hovering at her father's bedside with her mother- the man still clinging to life, albeit slightly. As she walked from the large study, still cursing the boys audibly, Jazira never heard the words exchanged between the two…
"Why don't you go back to wherever you came from- she was fine before you came along."
"And why don't you back off and giver her some space…or are we still hoping for another kiss?"
Anto's striking grey eyes widened somewhat as he heard this smart remark falling from the sandy-haired youth's mouth, accompanied by a smug smile as the Egyptian lad nodded his head, an air of triumph in his voice.
"She tells me a lot of things y'know- you thought you actually had a shot with her, huh? What a loser…"
A/n- So let me know what you think huns!! Like I said- thanks to Andrew and Sheena again!! XxxxxxxxxxxxxX
