"I came here to take you back with me."


Darien stood up behind Serena with stony eyes. There was just something about that guy that he didn't like. He couldn't grasp it yet, but he definitely didn't like him at all. Who was he to come here and tell his girlfriend to come back with him to who knows where? Grabbing her shoulders with both hands, he pulled her backward into his arms. Tasji followed the movement with his eyes, his jaws set.


"She's not going anywhere until you at least tell us who you are," he stated coolly. Darien then looked the man over, sizing him up. Tasji sized him up with equal determination. Now, they were engaged in a staring contest, the prize being Serena.


Tasji slowly took a menacing step forward, slightly towering over Darien. This caused Darien to look up into his face, which was a significant blow to his ego, considering he had been one of the tallest kids ever since elementary school.


"Where I go and what I do with Serena does not and will never concern you." Tasji gave him a penetrating glare.


Serena, who was not responding to anything before, snapped out of her shocked state from the palpable tension. She turned around in Darien's arms and lightly put her hand on his chest to stop him from doing anything rash.


"Darien," she called out, causing Darien to be the first to break eye contact. "Darien, it's okay, I know him."


Tasji interrupted, "That would be an understatement." At his comment, Darien narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists. Tasji just gave him a smirk in return and turned to Serena.

"Let's get the hell out of here." With this, Tasji grabbed Serena's arm and dragged her towards the door. Darien stared in disbelief and ran after them, grabbing Serena's other arm.


"The hell she's going anywhere with you!"

Still having his back turned to Darien, Tasji calmly turned his head slightly so that Darien could be seen in the corner of his eyes.


"I suggest you let go before her father comes."


Darien retorted, suppressing his anger, "Then I suggest you do the same, Tas." With this, he pulled at Serena's arm lightly, only to have it pulled away from him by his antagonist.

"Ow!"


"Sorry." Both answered at the same time.

"She's coming with me." Tasji pulled her arm again, now fully turning around to meet his eyes.

Darien glared and pulled her arm with a little more force. "She's not going anywhere."


"Ow!"


"Sorry." Two voices were heard in unison.

"This is her house, she can choose if she wants to leave or not." Darien bit out, inwardly hoping that Serena would want to stay.

Tasji keeping a condescending expression on his face shot back at him. "So leave. You don't live here. What the hell are you still doing here?" He pulled at her arm.

"I'm not the only one that doesn't live here," said Darien, gritting his teeth and giving her arm another pull.

"Then take them with you," Tasji responded, glancing over at Mina and Andrew, who had been watching them exchange blows in fascination.


"What about you, monkey boy? It's not like you live here." He replied, his anger clearly showing in the way he was clenching and unclenching his fist. He pulled on Serena's hand, using more force than he meant to use.

"Not permanently." Smirking, Tasji gave another pull.


"OKAY, THAT IS ENOUGH!" The two surprised boys loosened their grip, allowing Serena to wrench her arms free and give each of them a long, excruciating glare.

"You two are NOT in the seventh grade anymore! Tasji, YOU especially! You're already 23! You're not in high school anymore!" Serena was fuming. She was sick of being treated like a little girl who couldn't think for herself. It was one thing to be the cause of a fight, but it was another thing to be tossed around back and forth like a tug-of-war rope. She had no idea how this came to be when just thirty minutes ago the four of them were enjoying leftovers in comfortable silence.

Darien was boasting in the fact that she was criticizing him for be immature, but was unpleasantly surprised by his age. He was an older man. Maybe Serena liked older men. He was more experienced than him. This wasn't good. And he was a little ticked off by the 'high school' comment. So, that bastard was better than him just because he wasn't in high school? Darien was interrupted from his thoughts by Serena directing her attention towards him.

"And YOU. You shouldn't have encouraged him to fight! What were you thinking?"

Darien was surprised that she focused on him, too. "Um…"

"Yeah, that's right," interrupted Serena before he even finished, "you weren't." Tasji gave a cruel smile at this comment, causing Darien to almost lose his temper if it wasn't for Serena.

"Mina, Andrew, sorry about all this, you guys should probably get home and rest." Serena looked at them apologetically but received head shakes from them, signaling that they didn't want to go home just yet.

"And you," she said, pointing to Darien, "you better go before my father comes home."


Darien sputtered in disbelief. "What about Romeo over there? Doesn't he have to go, too?" Giving him a seething glance, he only received a sarcastic smile.


"Why would I leave when her father is expecting me to be settled in and making myself at home?"


Darien looked at Serena. "Sere, who the hell is this guy?" Why wasn't Serena backing him up? Wasn't she his girlfriend? Or was she? He was pretty sure that they had something together. I mean, he wouldn't exactly call what they have strictly friendship. Why the hell would she back up some random dude that just barged into her house thinking he was some kind of a knight in shining armor?

"He's a family friend," said Serena, while sighing and ruffling her hair. Receiving a doubtful look from Darien, she realized she needed to do something fast. Neither one of them looked like they were going to back off any time soon.


She looked at Darien with a hint of apology, "I'll see you on Monday, Darien."


Looking at her with disbelief, he held her by her shoulders. "You can't be serious, Sere!" When receiving no laughter from Serena, he ran his fingers through his hair and walked out the door, slamming it with much force. The echoes of the door shutting throughout the house pierced the silence.

"Serena, I'll see you at school. Bye, girl." Mina dragged Andrew out the door, leaving Tasji and Serena standing by themselves.


Sighing, Serena plopped herself down on the couch, looking up to find Tasji staring at her.

"What?" Snapping out of frustration, she glared at him. Frowning, he looked her up and down.


"Take that off. It looks trashy."


Glaring at him longer, she stood up and walked towards the stairs. Hearing his footsteps following her, she walked faster, her heels clicking rapidly against the marble floor. This caused him to walk faster also. She pretended not to hear his voice as he called her name. When she reached her room, she quickly shut the door behind her. She sat on her bed, her heart pounding against her chest. Her breathing was rapid out of anger. She couldn't believe he had the nerve to insult her and her friends in her house! And he came here to take her back with him? She gritted her teeth in anger. And her father was expecting him? Expecting him? What the hell for?


She didn't know how to feel. Sure, she was definitely angry. And surprised. But was she pleasantly surprised? She guessed so, since she did think about him from time to time. Once, she thought about calling him, but decided to give up that idea when she couldn't find his phone number. She was rudely interrupted from her inward ranting by a loud pounding noise coming from the door.


"Serenity, come out. Did you get upset just because of that little comment?" He chuckled. She was having her old fits again.


Serena paused at hearing the name. "I-I don't want to be disturbed right now." She said, loud enough so that he could hear.


Tasji sighed. "Well, when you are ready to come out, I will be in the study." He took one last glance at the double doors and left, this footsteps echoing in the hallway.


When Serena heard them fading away, she stood up abruptly, still agitated from moments before and took off the dress. The dress wasn't "trashy" at all in her opinion. Sure, it was quite revealing and showed more skin than she would have liked, but the dress had style. It wasn't exactly the type of dress a girl would wear going to a bar. It shouldn't be, after what she paid for it. She wasn't ever going to tell Mina that he had insulted her sense of style. The girl would take it as a huge offense to her character; she was serious enough about fashion as to have applied to several different fashion institutes. 

Serena took a quick shower and got dressed. Still a little edgy, her face took on a stolid expression when she found him in the study, lounging on a sofa while drinking scotch. In the midst of swirling the ice in the glass absent mindedly, he looked up to see Serena seated on the chair opposite of him. 


"That's much better." He stated after seeing Serena's normal outfit. She responded with silence, still staring at him with an irritated expression.


"Although, I must say, in-style fashion introduces itself to America quite slowly." 


She rolled her eyes. "Stop acting as my fashion consultant and let's get right to the point. Why the hell are you here?"


Tasji shook his head side to side. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. America has been a bad influence on you. This is another good reason why you are going back to Japan with me."


After a moment of silence, he began to speak again.


"You've really grown, Serenity."


Serena's eyes softened at remembering the Tasji from a long time ago. The sound of the front door closing signaled the arrival of Serena's father. The two stood up and walked out of the study and into the living room to greet him. Upon hearing their footsteps, Serena's father looked up and smiled at seeing the two of them together.


"Tasji, I see you and Serena have been doing some catching up."


"Hello, sir. My father hopes that you are well." Tasji bowed, looking awkward to Serena, who had not seen Japanese tradition for a while.


The old man gave him a hearty clap on the back. "Let's have a seat. Have you had anything to eat yet?"


"No, sir. Not unless you count a glass of…"


Their voices faded away as Serena drifted off to her own thoughts. She wondered how Darien was doing right now. He would probably never want to talk to her ever again after what happened tonight. She would not want to talk to herself if she was in his position. It's not that she wanted to publicly humiliate him in front of his friends and Tasji. She thought about Tasji. He was still protective of her even though he had not seen her in five years.

When she was only ten years old, he used to be the guy that every girl in the city wanted. She remembered walking into his room one time and catching him in bed with another girl. He had screamed at her to get out and she cried for a whole week, thinking that he hated her and that he never wanted to talk to her ever again. Although he used to tease her about being a crybaby and call her a nerd, she thought that he was the coolest person in the whole world. She also remembered wanting for him to think that she was "cool," too.

He was the older brother that she had always wanted (and maybe she even had the tiniest bit of a crush on him). The brother that she got stuck with wasn't "cool" by everyone else's definition. He was scraggly and average while Tasji was tall and handsome, even when they were of the same age. Her brother never even took her to the playground while Tasji gave her piggyback rides and took her to the park. She figured that by hanging out with him, she would be considered "cool" by everyone. And she was right. She remembered the looks on her fourth grade classmates when she came into class hand in hand with Tasji. There couldn't have been anyone else that she wanted to be with at that moment but Tasji. 


Those were one of the few good times they had together. However, being a male teenager with raging hormones, he was prone to dumping her without a second glance whenever a potential date came around. She used to get so angry that she would lock herself in her room until he came and promised her that he would take her out for ice cream. There was always a part of her that wanted his attention, even now after five years. When she heard him call her 'Serenity,' her first reaction was joy. He was the only person who used to call her that and it made her feel special. She felt like a little girl with a crush on the boy next door again. All those emotions and those feelings that she had for him came rushing back the moment he walked into her house today. And this brought her back to Darien.


It would be crazy to say that there was nothing between her and Darien. She had no idea what that thing was but it was definitely something. There was no way that she and Darien could just be friends. Serena was disrupted from her thoughts by a call.

"Serena!" She snapped her head up. Shaking her mind from her previous thoughts, she took a deep breath and walked into the dining room. When she got there, her father and Tasji were already drinking wine. At seeing his daughter walk in, he looked up from his wine glass.


"There you are. Sit, we have a lot to talk about."


Serena took the seat next to Tasji and lifted up the glass as Tasji poured red wine into it.


"I have some good news for you," her father started, "and at first you might be a little shocked, but you will soon realize that this is the best for you."


Dread slowly creeping into her stomach, Serena tightly grabbed the seat of her chair with both hands, turning them into a pale white color. No, it can't be, oh please don't make me move again…. 

"Tasji's father has reserved a spot for you in Tokyo University."


The dreadful feeling in her stomach was now full-blown and she grabbed the material of her shirt, close to her heart. She felt as if all the air in her lungs has been sucked out of her and she was completely void. She found herself unable to breathe calmly. Tasji looked at her with an unreadable expression in his eyes. His hand wistfully reached out and almost found hers, but was pulled back just in time. He turned his head to the opposite direction, unwilling to look in her reaction.


"He had to pull many strings for you to be accepted and it would be a direct offense to Hujiwara-san if you refuse his offer. He is a man of high position and respect. Therefore, you will be going back to Japan with his son at the end of next month. I believe I have given you plenty of time to let you get used to the idea and say good-bye to your friends. Tasji is also attending the school and he will give you a tour before school starts. This is a great opportunity for you and I will not let it go to waste."


Her eyes were disbelieving as she stared down at her lap. She shook her head slowly and looked up at her father.


"No." She said softly. Her father stopped in the middle of taking a sip of his wine. Tasji looked over at her in surprise.


"No." She stated more firmly this time. "I will not let you interfere with my life again. Until today, I've always gone to the school you've wanted me to go to and I've always dressed the way you wanted me to dress and I've always made friends with who you wanted me to make friends with. I'm not some puppet that you control by the strings.


I have friends for the first time in a long time. I actually like the school here and I'm actually happy here! I want to finish the rest of the school year and I want to graduate with my friends! For once, let me have some peace!"


By the end of her speech, she was frantic and almost begging. Her father just silently looked down at his food. Tasji did the same. However, it was her father who lifted his head first. He cleared his throat.


"Well. I am sorry that you feel that way. However, your spot has already been reserved and I fear that it is too late to back out. I know for a fact that this college is the absolute best for my daughter." Serena's father stood up from the table, causing Tasji to stand up out of politeness. After he motioned him to sit down, he pushed his chair back in.


"I'm sorry to say that I'm going to have to cut this meeting short. I am afraid I do not feel too well this morning. Tasji, help yourself to whatever you would like and make yourself at home." Then he turned his back to the table, walking toward the staircase.


Tasji attempted to pull her into a hug in order to comfort her, when she abruptly shoved him away.


"Why are you pretending that you actually care when you didn't even care to say good-bye when I left?" She asked, icily. She became irritated and was startled when he chuckled.


"Is that the reason why you've been angry all this time?" He asked, disbelievingly. She just looked away and glared at the small flower pot just few feet away.


"Didn't you get my note and my gift?" She stopped glaring and looked at him, confused. She blinked a couple of times, demonstrating her cluelessness.


Tasji smiled and shook his head, knowing that she never received his present. "I knew I couldn't go to the airport because I had to take the final exams so I wrote a little note for you and left it with a necklace beside your bed."


Feeling incredibly stupid for thinking that he didn't care about her for such a long time, she had the gall to blush, making him laugh. She was at a complete loss of words.


"Oh."


"Darien, just freakin' calm down already!" Andrew and the guys rolled their eyes at his hysterical state.


Darien paced back and forth in his room. The guys were gathered in Darien's room as soon as they each got a call. Thinking that this was some kind of a life threatening emergency, they rushed to his house to find that Darien was having girl troubles.


Darien continued to rant, "And what's with, 'I know him'?" He mimicked Serena.


"And what's with his hair? It looks like a porcupine just hibernated in it."


Chad snickered, "Kind of reminds me of your hair, dude." This comment went ignored by Darien.


"Hey, do porcupines hibernate?"


"Damn it! Do you think Serena likes older men?" Darien was still burnt from Serena kicking him out of her house and choosing that Japanese guy over him. Maybe she didn't feel the same way about him as he did about her after all. Maybe the whole time she was pretending to be annoyed, she was actually annoyed. Maybe when he was paying attention to her, all she could think about was that guy. He let out a frustrated growl and punched one of his pillows.


"Of course, porcupines hibernate, dumbass!"


"Well, how was I supposed to know, dumbass!"


"Just shut the fuck up." Darien sighed. His friends were completely oblivious to his problems and even if they weren't oblivious, they probably wouldn't care enough to help.


Andrew patted his best friend in the back as a sign of sympathy. "You know what you need, Darien? You need to get your mind off of her for one day and do something else."


Darien looked at Andrew and contemplated. "You know what, Drew? You're right."


Kevin added, "And instead of thinking about that chick, you need to get ready for the big game."


At this, Darien ran his hands through his hair. He had entirely forgotten about the game! Coach was going to be furious. Damn it! Every one of his problems has to do with Serena! He had been thinking about Serena so much that he had missed practice at noon.


Chad stood up and scratched his belly. Drawling his words, he said, "Let's just forget about all this life shit and just surf." Justin shook his head.


"There's too many people right now. I don't feel rubbing myself up against some old lady."


Agreeing with Justin, Chad yawned and said, "Then let's just hang at the mall. It's nice and cool." Grunts of agreement came from the guys and they left in their respective cars.  




"Tasji, I really don't feel like being here right now…" Serena found herself being dragged to the mall by Tasji.


"You stopped calling me 'older brother.'" Tasji stopped and looked at her, noticing even further changes.


Serena defended herself, "Hey, this is America. I don't have to call you that, you know." Tasji stared at her for a while with an unknown glint in his eye, and finally shrugged it off. Weaving his fingers through hers, he then proceeded to literally drag her to the nearest luxury boutique. Serena had to jog to barely catch up with him, her legs not being nearly as long as his.


They walked into the store, hand in hand, gaining immediate attention from the workers. Having an eye for expensive possessions, the saleswomen quickly spotted Tasji's casual but still formal Armani attire and his genuine Rolex. From his appearance, it was obvious he would have the money to spend in their store.


A neatly-dressed, blond woman made her way over to the couple, smiling. "Hi, would you like any help with finding anything?"


Serena was going to politely refuse when Tasji gave the woman a bored look and said, "Yes, I would like to buy some outfits for her. And make sure you find the right size and style. Something classy would be preferable."


"Yes, of course." Soon, Serena was being handed a variety of different skirts, blouses and dresses. They were the types of clothes she could never wear to school. So far she had never seen anyone wear a Gucci dress to school and she would certainly stand out in a crowd of t-shirts and blue jeans. 


"Miss?" Serena snapped her attention back to the woman. She was having a hard time focusing these days.


"Would you like to try these on?" Giving her a polite smile, Serena nodded and went into the fitting room. Tasji draped himself over one of the lounge chairs while receiving looks from the employees. He smirked. They were all the same. In Japan or in the United States, they all acted exactly the same. He sat up when he saw the fitting room door being opened.


Serena tentatively stepped out, feeling self-conscious. The outfit was semi-casual and showed almost nothing, reminding her of something Mina would never wear. She was decked in a simple, white halter dress with wide straps and a high neckline and with a wavy hem that reached just below her knees. As if this dress was not covering enough, she had on a white, quarter-sleeved cardigan, only one of the buttons buttoned at the middle. Her shoes were a pair of two-inch heel sandals, also white. The blond saleswoman came over and started chatting away. Politely nodding, her eyes scanned the store. She found him staring at her with that same unknown glint in his eyes. Shrugging it off as the ceiling lights, she walked over slowly and hesitantly. She looked at him expectantly, but getting no response.


"So? What do you think?"


Tasji looked at her thoroughly and made a motion with his finger, signaling for her to turn around. Rolling her eyes while smiling and complying, she looked at him.


"Looks good." The blond woman glowed, even more so than Serena.


After two hours of choosing clothes, she rubbed her neck from exhaustion. Standing next to Tasji in the outfit she had first shown to him, she was appalled when she heard the bill.


"That will be six thousand, seven hundred and eighty three dollars, please."


Serena's mouth dropped in disbelief. How could just four outfits cost that much?! It was absolutely horrendous! After a period of momentary shock, she tried to protest at the cost, only to have Tasji hand the woman a credit card with an unsurprised expression. Then, she remembered that Tasji was well-off and that he could afford to spend this much money in one day. Her mind was suddenly brought back to the time when Tasji won over a girl by buying her an entire clothing store. And he was only sixteen then. 


"You've been doing that a lot." He looked at her with an amused smile.


She looked over at him, finding his hands occupied by different sizes of beige shopping bags with the store's name neatly printed on them in silver. Giving him a small smile, she replied.


"Yeah. I was just thinking about a long time ago."


Tasji shifted the bags into one hand and put his other hand through hers. Serena tensed, but soon just let herself relax. Many things were buzzing in her mind, Darien being one of them. She couldn't stop thinking about him ever since they left the house. She didn't know why, but she felt a weird sensation in her chest. Shrugging it off as exhaustion, she let herself enjoy this moment with Tasji. The equivalent of her older brother was back into her life. She should be happy, and she was. Except that one part of her brain kept reminding her of the incident with Darien earlier in the day. They walked side-by-side in comfortable silence, just letting their feet wander. A couple of minutes later, it was Tasji who started up the conversation again.


"Who was that guy?"


Serena's step slightly faltered, not unnoticed by Tasji, but she tried to cover it up by feigning ignorance.

"Who?"

Amused, he went along with her charade. "That pompous jackass you were with earlier."


Serena felt a strong impulse to defend him, when she caught herself just in time and replied with an "oh."


"Don't tell me he's your boyfriend." He looked at her. She didn't know what came over her, but she found herself denying his statement.


"Oh, h-he's just a friend." As soon as she made this statement, she felt a wave of that same weird sensation washing over her. She attempted to assure herself that she wasn't lying and that she wasn't doing any wrong to Darien. However, the more she thought about it, the more she came to feel strange. She shook it off, thinking it was unnecessary to feel this way. They have only been on one date and they weren't officially going out. So, what was this feeling? Uneasily readjusting the white purse strap on her shoulder, she looked over at Tasji, who was giving her a dubious look, hoping to change the subject.


"Here, I'll carry some." This caused him to grin, confusing Serena.

"What kind of a man would I be if I let the lady do the work?" He shifted the bags into one hand and grabbed her hand with the other. He then proceeded to drag her once again.


"I'm thirsty. Let's get something to drink." They entered a small café and sat in a small booth.




"So, like, anyway, all of the sudden, this chic just dumps her coffee all over me and she's all, 'I have a stick up my ass.'" Justin was going into the details of his deficient love life when Darien was slouching in his chair, thinking about Serena, again. It bothered him that she was alone in her house with him. And what made it worse was that her father approved of that guy, but didn't even know that he existed.


"You know what, Justin? Maybe you're the prob, dude." Kevin slouched in his chair out of boredom. He was looking around the café for something interesting when something, or rather, someone, caught his eye. Wasn't that…? His eyes widened.


"Holy shit, man." The other guys looked at him, waiting for an explanation. Kevin just lifted his hand and pointed at the woman.


"Isn't that your chic, D?"


Darien tensed and sat up straight. Following his friend's hand with his eyes, he stiffened when he saw Serena. It made him even tenser when he saw who she was sitting with. He saw the guy leaning over and tugging her hair lightly and he clenched his hand even tighter. Then the guy said something, which made Serena bring her hand up to her mouth and laugh. He felt his blood boil and saw red.


Chad reached for his drink, still keeping his eyes on the couple. However, this proved not to be a brilliant idea when he knocked the glass over, spilling its contents onto Andrew's lap.


"AH! WHAT THE FREAKIN' HELL!"




Serena was staring into her lap, not knowing what to say to a guy who she had not seen in five years. Suddenly, a hand reached over and tugged at her straight, layered hair. She looked up, puzzled.


He grinned, "Grew out of the pigtails phase?"


She laughed. The memory of her getting angry whenever he pulled at one of her pigtails sprang up in her mind.


"What can I say? It just wasn't in style anymore," said Serena, pretending to be a pretentious, high-class woman.


There was a loud outburst from a familiar voice, causing the two to look in the direction of the voice in reflex. Her eyes widened when she spotted a group of guys, Andrew being in the group, as well as…Darien. Their eyes clashed, and Serena could see his hurt and his anger for a brief second until he broke the contact and stormed out of the café. Standing up to chase after him, she was stopped by Tasji's strong hold on her arm which prevented her from leaving the booth.


With the exception of Andrew, Darien's friends made an effort to give her malicious looks, but backed off a little when Tasji stood up and shot back a look of his own. The group stalked off slowly when Andrew gave them a push.


Feeling completely dejected, it was then that she knew what the strange feeling was. It was absolute guilt and emptiness. It was guilt for when she had lied and told Tasji that there was nothing between her and Darien and it was emptiness for not being with Darien. She looked down at her feet as she felt her eyes water. She felt guilty that she did not think about how Darien would feel. She was totally and completely selfish.


"You shouldn't have to feel guilty because of him." Tasji pulled her over to his side of the booth and seated her next to him. His arm was draped over her shoulder, and her head was leaning on his. He didn't care that her tears were slowly staining his expensive, tailored suit. All he could think about was that by walking out the door, Darien had just helped him to convince Serena to go back with him.