I Need You
by Phantasy Star
- - - - -

Chapter Five


Tears sprang into Mina's eyes. She opened her mouth but no sound came out.
Then she gave up and buried her face into her hands, letting out choked sobs.

"I don't wanna!" she screamed suddenly.

"Come on now, Mina," Serena said worriedly, "It's not so bad. You told me
your tooth hurt, so I HAD to take you here."

"I don't WANNA SEE THE DENTIST!" she wailed.

Just then, Doctor Roberts came into the room.

"Mina," Serena said, "See how nice Doctor Roberts looks? He wouldn't hurt
you."

"No!" Mina said, shaking her head, "No no no no no no no!"

Serena sighed and looked at the dentist for help, but he only smiled
helplessly.

"All right," Serena summoned up all her courage and said, "I'll go. Dr.
Roberts, I know I don't have an appointment, but can I have my teeth checked
too?"

"Certainly," the dentist says, "Hop on the seat."

Serena suddenly regretted her spur-of-the-moment bravery. She looked at the
dental seat skeptically and climbed on hesitantly.

"See," Serena said as she turned to Mina, "It's easy, it's fun."

Mina watched curiously as the dentist took out his tools.

"No problem," Serena said, "I think I'm starting to really enjoy this.
There's not pain at all. Not one, tiny, tiny, little bit of p- AHHH!"

Mina's eyes widened as Serena cried out.

"Oops!" Dr. Roberts said, "Scraped your gums a little."

"That thing looks LETHAL!" she said as she stared at the dentist's tool, then
turned to Mina and smiled weakly, "I mean... Go right ahead, Dr. Roberts..."

- - -

Darien studied the papers on the table closely, not noticing when the front
doors opened.

"We're back," Serena sang.

"Hey," Darien turned to them with a smile, "How'd it go at the dentist?"

"Great," Serena said, "Mina didn't have any cavities after all. Just a minor
toothache, maybe too much junk food lately."

"That means you need to cut down," Darien said to Mina.

Mina nodded and sighed, then went upstairs to do her homework.

"What are you doing?" Serena asked when she spotted the papers on the table
top.

"Mrs. Muriel's lawyer came over today," Darien explained, "Apparently, Mrs.
Muriel is making a plan for the girls, you know, if she really doesn't make
it. The contract says, the caregiver of the girls may continue to live in
this house off of the interest from Mrs. Muriel's bank account, and may have
access to the remaining amount, if he or she continues to look after the
girls in a responsible manner."

Serena sat down beside Darien, "Does that mean you?"

Darien put down his glasses and nodded, "Yeah, if I sign this, that is."

They sat in silence for a moment, both of them considering the situation.
Then Serena turned to Darien.

"I'll help you, you know..." she said quietly, "If... if you decide to do it."

"I don't see how I can refuse," Darien said wearily, "Mrs. Muriel doesn't
know a lot of people, just a few babysitters she calls from time to time.
She's only recommended me. And who knows, if we give the girls to some
strangers, how would we know if they're providing for them properly?"

Serena sighed and smiled, "Then I guess your decision is pretty clear."

Darien stared at the paper. Just then, his stomach growled.

"Looks like you haven't had dinner yet," Serena laughed.

"I was rushing this assignment, and then the lawyer showed up..." Darien
explained.

"Here, I bought some cakes. Have a piece."

"No, that's o-"

Serena pushed the cake into his face and he took a bite carefully. Their eyes
met and both of them froze.

Serena turned away nervously and put the food on the table, "I'll... I'll just
leave it here for you."

"Okay..." Darien finally said and nodded awkwardly, "I-"

"Dar Dar! Mommy!" an energetic voice interrupted them, making them both sigh
in relief.

Lita ran down the staircase holding a piece of paper.

"I forgot to tell you," she said breathlessly, "My baseball tournament is
tomorrow. You'll have to sign this so I can give it back to Miss Leung.
You'll come to the game, won't you?"

Serena smiled, "Of course."

She turned to Darien and was surprised to see him looking at Lita apologetically.

"Sorry, Li Li," he said, "But Dar Dar's busy tomorrow. I have to see a friend."

Serena frowned, "What friend?"

Darien sighed, "It's Elisa. We're just having dinner."

Lita pouted, "But I really want you to go..."

Serena pulled Lita into a hug, "It's all right. Me and the girls will go and
cheer you on. You can tell Dar Dar all about it when you come home."

Lita nodded and Darien handed her the signed permission form. She ran back
upstairs to tell the girls about the game.

"I thought you and Elisa broke up," Serena said curiously.

"We did," Darien said, "But... Well, I don't know. We might start things up
again, you know?"

Serena shrugged, "All right. She seemed... cool enough."

Darien nodded, "Yeah, she's great."

Serena was about to ask him why they had broken up in the first place when he
stood up.

"Well, I'm going to class," he said, "I'll try to be back before the girls go
to bed."

- - -

The next day...

"All right, Lita!" Serena said as she gave the little girl a high-five, "You won!"

"You were great," Raye commented as Mina and Amy nodded.

"Let's go celebrate!" Serena said cheerfully, "We'll have pizza!"

"All right!" Lita cried.

As they walked to the school parking lot, Lita chattered excitedly about the
game.

"Did you see how far I hit that ball?" she asked Amy, "I was really good,
wasn't I?"

Amy smiled, "You had 12 successful hits out of 15, which means you had an 80%
success rate."

Lita blinked, "Um... that means I did good?"

"Yep," Amy said.

"That's weird..." Serena muttered as she looked around the empty parking lot,
"We're already five minutes late, and Darien isn't here yet..."

- - -

Darien laughed as he took another sip of wine. "I haven't had this much fun
for a while."

"That's because you're stuck with four children and a teenage girl," Elisa
laughed.

Darien shook his head, "No... I... I..."

Elisa giggled, "You're so drunk you can't talk, Darien!"

Darien chuckled a little, staring at the glass in front of him, "I guess I AM
a little drunk... But... but you know... I really like living with the girls...
They're a lot of fun..."

"Whatever," Elisa rolled her eyes.

"And Serena..." Darien whispered, "Serena... Serena's great... She's so great..."

Elisa frowned, "What, are you in love with her or something?"

Darien laughed, "Me...? In love with Meatball Head... I..."

Then he fell asleep and landed with a thud on the dinner table.

- - -

Serena sat on the sidewalk and tossed a rock repeatedly at the ground.

"Darien Chiba," she muttered through seething teeth, "Don't let me see you
again, because I will kill you the second I do. Yes I will. I will bang your
head on the ground again and again like I am doing to this rock.

Raye and Amy stared at her worriedly.

"Where's Dar Dar?" Mina complained, "It's been thirty minutes!"

"Hey girls," a male voice said behind them, and Serena turned curiously.

"Hi Rick!" Lita said happily. She turned to Serena, "This is my coach."

Serena's eyes widened when she saw the handsome guy in front of her in a
short-sleeved shirt and a pair of black shorts. His short dark hair fell like
a mop on one side of his head from sweat.

Serena smiled nervously and shook his hand, "My name's Serena."

"I'm Rick," he said, "Lita did wonderful today."

"Thanks," Lita said, "Serena's taking me out for pizza."

"Doesn't look like it," Serena sighed, "The guy that's supposed to pick us up
must have forgotten or something... I guess we'll be taking the bus."

"I don't mind driving you," Rick said, "My car's right over there. We can have
pizza too."

Serena blushed slightly, "I... If it's not too much trouble."

"Not at all," Rick said good-naturedly, "Besides, I live next doors to Mrs.
Muriel, you know."

- - -

"I can't believe this..." Rick said, "Mrs. Muriel's in the hospital?"

"Yeah..." Serena whispered back as she took a bite from her pizza, "But the
girls don't really know much about it."

"That's awful..." he said, "I should go see her... I used to watch the girls
all the time when she went out, back in high school, that is."

"I'm really worried about her..." Serena sighed, "So, what are you doing now?"

"Juuban University," he answered, "First year. It's pretty tough."

"I know this guy - he's the guy who ditched us and the guy whose life I'll be
ending - who's in second year, and it sounds really hard."

"Well, I'm doing my best," Rick said, then looked at his watch, "Hey, it's
getting late. We should probably get the girls home and to bed."

- - -

'Please be home, please be home, please be home...' Darien thought worriedly
as he drove down the street with his cell phone pressed against his ear.

"Hello?"

"Raye!" he sighed in relief.

"Hi Dar Dar."

"I'm so glad you got home okay! I am so sorry I didn't come pick you up after
the game. Is everybody at home now?"

"Yeah..." Raye said, "Except Serena's still outside..."

"Oh," Darien said, surprised, "Okay. Well, I'll be back in two minutes. I'm
already coming down the street, and I can almost see the house..."

His voice trailed off.

'Who's THAT guy?' he thought as he stared at the tall young man Serena was
talking to.

Just then, she spotted him, and her face turned into a dangerous bright red.

"DARIEN CHIBA!" she screamed, "YOU'D BETTER HAVE A GOOD EXPLANATION
OF WHERE YOU WERE TONIGHT!"


- Author's Notes:

Hehe, Rival Number Two introduced.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and thanks for reading.

Phantasy Star