Ave Maria

I'm cold and I am shamed lying naked on the floor
Illusion never changed into something real
I'm wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn
You're a little late, I'm already torn

"…We will get through this. Our lives are not over with and your losses will never be forgotten. The pain you feel will lessen over time and someday you will feel alive again. Thank you." Applause broke out in the audience and light bulbs flashed as the cameras forever immortalized the moment. The blonde girl gave a small smile before she glided off the stage, and Mokuba turned off the TV.

"It's done. Can you now talk to me, Nisama?" he asked, turning to face his brother. Kaiba just kept staring at the black screen, still transfixed by it, and Mokuba sighed, sitting on the edge of the immaculate bed.

His brother had been that way for days, much like his post Death-T state when he lay in his coma. He had retreated to his mind back then as well. He remembered the other Yugi telling him that he reemerged because he had found forgiveness. However, the other Yugi was an optimist and only wanted to see the idealized Kaiba. Seto never forgave himself for anything. He wore his guilt and pain as armor and threw himself into his work to forget all about it, to atone for his sins. For this, Mokuba often felt that his brother should have stayed in his coma. It was only there that Kaiba found happiness. There, everything material and emotional was absent. It was a simulated death and Mokuba often held that Kaiba's greatest wish to die.

This was why he regretted trying to pull his brother out of his mental funk. He wanted to see his brother happy but he wanted to see him alive and moving about. He had started out with turning on the TV, hoping to draw his brother's lifeless stare to an object to test out if his brother was capable of responding to stimuli. It was like a scientific experiment and his hypothesis had turned out correct. Within a few hours, his brother began to watch an international news channel and since then, about four days ago, it had been on, repeating the same news stories every fifteen minutes.

He didn't know how his brother could take listening to the same stuff over and over again. Kaiba was the person who would ride in the car and change the channel every time a commercial or a repeat song came on. But Kaiba was not there anymore. He was now just a blank shell with a damaged soul.

He had finally taken to shutting off the TV after he discovered his brother's obsession with washing his hands. Since the shooting coverage was on so often, it began to make Kaiba feel guilty. So of course, he began to believe that blood was on his hands.

At first, Mokuba didn't believe this. His brother never moved when around him, but later he discovered, the minute he was gone, Kaiba's lifeless body would be revitalized and he dash to the bathroom to scrub his hands until they bled. Even now, his brother was trying to protect him and it annoyed Mokuba to no end. He wasn't a child anymore. He was running the company now that his brother was incapacitated. His brother would not even sleep around him because he might just slip up and show some of his inner turmoil. It was beginning to show. Dark circles ringed Kaiba's eyes and his skin had taken on a pale yellowish tint from malnutrition and lack of rest.

Mokuba knew that he probably should leave. It would be more beneficial for his brother's healing if his brother unconsciously could stop worrying about protecting him, but he wasn't Seto's little brother for nothing. He was stubborn, more so then Kaiba, and his brother needed to know he was loved by people other then the ones he paid.

"It's not your fault, I hope you know. You couldn't have done anything. You are not to blame for Yugi's death."

This was the usual mantra he whispered to his brother. He hoped that if he said it enough, Kaiba would believe him. There was no reaction to the words and Mokuba stood up, exhaling softly. He wasn't sure if he wanted to cry or scream in frustration at the lack of progress. But whatever one he chose, he could not do in front of his Nisama.

"If you need anything, just call. Okay?" Kaiba wasn't going to make a sound even if he was being burned alive, but Mokuba still felt the need to say it.

The door was shutting behind him when he heard three words, " She's very pretty." He almost thought he imagined it, which he very well could have. He was tired as well but if Kaiba had actually spoken willingly, it was a good sign. It gave him an idea and he went into his bedroom to find his cell phone

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His hand hurt. It hurt more then the bandages being unwound from his foot that he swore was ripping off skin because he kept bleeding and he hadn't bleed from there in days. He gave Shizuka a look and she loosened her death grip reluctantly. Now he could feel the pain, and he gritted his teeth. He could see the raw mangled skin now and the raised bumps around the unmarred portion of his ankle. It was disgusting but he couldn't look away. He had an odd desire to touch it.

"So what exactly is wrong with it?" he asked the nurse who returned with a clean roll of gauze.

She gave him a confused look.

"She doesn't speak Japanese, Oniichan."

Jonouchi suddenly remembered and he growled in disappointment. She smeared some cream on his leg and rebound his leg with a thin layer of gauze, enough for him to be able to feel the cool air on his skin. He never knew it could feel so good.

"I wonder why she left the chest one," Shizuka commented the minute she left the room.

"Who knows?" he mumbled, laying his head on the pillows.

"You're grumpy."

"No shit."

"You shouldn't be."

"I don't think you have any right to tell me how I should be feeling."

Jonouchi knew he was being mean to Shizuka and she didn't deserve being the brunt of his frustration. But she was always saying things like that, without ever seeing other people's perspectives. Everything she said was based on what she would do or what she thought like the world came in only terms she knew.

"I'm sick of living on the whims of the doctors and nurses. I'm tired of not knowing what's wrong with me and I'm tired of sitting in this bed. I'm tired of waiting for people to visit me to keep me company and I don't know how to work the TV," he explained.

"Well, Mother is coming tomorrow so you'll have someone who can tell you what the doctors are saying and read you the instructions."

The room went dead silent except for the beep of the heart monitor which was quickening in pace as the seconds passed. Jonouchi was flabbergasted and kept opening and closing his mouth looking for words to say.

"Why did you invite her?" The tone was cautious, anger ready to pounce if she answered the question wrong.

"She can speak English."

"That's not what I asked, Shizuka."

"God, she just wanted to see you." Shizuka brushed her auburn locks out of her eyes, and for the first time noticed how tight Jonouchi's jaw was set. He was angry and he was barely containing it.

"See me? That has to be a joke. Why the fuck would she want to see me?" he hissed.

"You are her son."

His voice was so quiet compared to the noise of his fist hitting the nightstand, inches away from where her own lay. " If I am her son then why'd she leave me?"

"She didn't have …"

"She did, Shizuka!" he yelled. " She always had a fuckin' choice and she choose to abandon me with him."

"So what are you going to do, Katsuya? Have her travel half way across the world and then deny her the privilege to see you?" Shizuka screamed back.

" Call her off then. I don't want to see her."

"How can you do that to your mother?"

"It's easy, " he replied. " She's not my mother. Mothers don't leave their kids to die!"

"She didn't leave you to…"

Jonouchi interrupted again. " She didn't leave you. She left me. That's the difference."

"I can't believe you! Stop being so…"

"What? Selfish? Leave…I can't deal with you anymore."

"No."

Jonouchi let out a bitter laugh. " I want you to leave my room. You are annoying me. Don't come back until you realize that you had no right in trying to get us to reconcile."

"Fine." Shizuka stood up. " She does care about you."

"She doesn't." Jonouchi turned over, being careful not to lie on his ribs or move his foot, and hid his face with the blankets until he heard the door slam. It was only then that he removed the blanket because he didn't want her to see him crying.

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She had been surprised when she reached the hospital that someone had called, looking for her. It wasn't like anyone liked her enough to call her or she had anybody in her life that she kept in contact with. A number was given to her, an international phone number to boot, and so she had slipped into the public bathroom with a cell phone she had found in the waiting room. It had been sitting there for the past three days. No one was coming for it and why would she return home and pay a huge fine for some person who randomly decided to call her.

"Moshi Moshi."

"Who are you and why did you call me?" She decided to go straight to the point. She didn't want to rack up the poor person's phone bill up too much.

"This is Mokuba, Kaiba's little brother."

"Ah. What do you want?"

"I need a favor."

"Name it."

"You know the problems my Nisama has. He's not speaking or doing much of anything. He saw your speech today or maybe it was yesterday for you. Don't know. Anyway, he spoke. So I was curious if…"

"If I could fly to Japan to visit a man I never met before to try to bring him out of his shell?" Mai interrupted.

"How'd you know?" Mokuba sounded really surprised and it made her want to laugh.

"Just a lucky guess. Anyhow, Mokuba…I would love to do it but I can't. For some of us, tragedies and almost being killed aren't applicable excuses for missing work."

"I can give you money! Just please help my brother!"

She really felt bad for the kid. The money was tempting but she had to think rationally. She wasn't some miracle worker. She wasn't supposed to be the one solving everyone's problems. She could not be the only person in the world that Mokuba believed could help his brother.

"Mokuba, I have an idea. Does Kaiba have any friends?"

"No."

" Smart man. How about people he can be found with such as other duelists?"

"Uh, there'll all dead."

"I know that, silly. What about Jonouchi?"

"They hate each other." She filed that away for future reference.

"Does he know Shizuka?"

"Sort of. Why?"

"Well…" Mai shifted so her hipbone wasn't pressed at such an awkward angle into the sink. " Seeing a friendly face might be helpful. Your brother is foremost a businessman and needs to put on a good impression. I presume that is how he deals mainly with his problems. If she shows up, he will be forced to act like his normal pompous self, which could help regain some of his sanity."

"That's a good idea. How do you know all that?"

"…Psychology…"

"Alright. Can you get her to be here by tomorrow?"

"She'll be there by our tomorrow. Have a good day or night or whatever the hell it is." She hit the end call button and leaned her head back against the mirror. Now all she had to do was think of a way to get Shizuka there.

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Mai had shown up at her doorstep at three a.m. drenched. She had not commented on how many times she had hit the doorbell to wake the sleeping girl or why her clothes were stuck to her when there was no rain. She just told Shizuka she had to be on a plane in two hours and she wasn't allowed to argue.

Shizuka didn't normally make it a habit to listen to strangers in the middle of the night or get in the car with them. But she had gone on stranger adventures before on a less of a whim so she went along. She didn't think Mai would have accepted anything less then her getting on the plane.

Japan was much more cluttered then she remembered. Maybe it was just compared to America and the hospital Jonouchi was staying at. There were so many trees and mountains in the distance and the sun could always be seen. Japan seemed so much darker, dismal compared to the open lightness of the states.

She could see buildings she vaguely remembered seeing as a child passing by her window. Her mother would drive her past them every day to her daycare, which were a few blocks from Kaiba Corp where her mother worked. She had worked on the assembly line, checking the screws on the pieces of metal that would later be combined to make tanks. To think she would have to talk to the man who ran that company, who controlled roughly 30 of Japan's economy at the tender age of 17, was intimidating. She was frankly scared of him, having only seen him duel. He would get this intense look like nothing in the world matter except for him winning, and she had watched far too many times, the cruelty and cunningness he possessed that led him to victory.

" Miss Kawai," the driver was holding her door open, " We're here."

"Okay. Thanks." She was ashamed that she had zoned out so much that she didn't notice they had stopped. She scooted out of the limo and faced the mansion.

She remembered it. They had done a class trip there once and she was having the same reaction she had had when she saw it the first time: utter disbelief. The brown toned walls had faded but flowers were now blooming all over the grounds in every shape and color imaginable. She momentarily entertained the fantasy of living at Kaiba's house; having the life of a princess, and then walked up the steps where Mokuba was holding the door open for her.

She was expecting to be taken to a living room or a bedroom given Kaiba's condition. Instead she was brought into a board room, and Mokuba gave her a sympathetic smile before pushing her into the room and closing the door.

The aura of the room was one of deceit, she felt. All the light in the room was natural, coming from the huge bay windows that overlooked a cathedral and pond, but even the harshest sunlight could not make the room feel cheery. A long table was the only item of décor in the room with plush chairs lining it. At its head sat Kaiba, dressed in a suit, hands folded on the table, looking very business-like.

"Hello, Shizuka," he said majestically.

She wasn't expecting that much suaveness or normalness from Kaiba, if Kaiba walked around his house in a perfectly-pressed suit and tie, carrying a briefcase everywhere with him.

"Hello, Kaiba-kun," she responded, taking a seat by the windowsill. She waited for him to talk but he just looked at her with that calm calculating stare. Thoughts ran through her mind of what she should say but nothing sounded right.

"Why do you have a conference room in your house?" She asked, not knowing what else to say.

"Gozaburo liked them. He used them to intimidate unwelcome guests into leaving quicker," his blue eyes were blazing, baring into hers and she gulped. She knew he was playing with her. It didn't make it any less scarier.

"Do you?"

"Not particularly."

"Then why did you keep it?" She had noticed when Mokuba had led her to the halls that this portion of the house was dusty and unheated as if it had never been used. The boardroom itself looked like it had little use. " You could knock down this section of the house and build something new."

He rose an eyebrow. " Gozaburo jumped out that window."

It was very manner-a-fact but Shizuka didn't get what he was implying. " Did he live?'

"No. He died."

"I'm sorry."

He broke out in laugher at her naivety. It was a low primal sound that made her stomach turn. " I don't know why Mokuba sent for you. You know absolutely nothing."

"Mokuba wanted you to see a friend."

"I don't need friends." Kaiba was no longer staring right at her. His eyes were lowered to watch the twiddling of his thumbs.

"Wasn't Yugi your friend?" The warning bells were going off in her head that this could anger him. At least then he would talking like his normal self, nasty and condescending.

"He was never my friend."

He said it a little too quickly and she knew she hit a nerve. " Then why are you mourning him?"

"Get out."

It was a new record. In the past 48 hours, she had been kicked out of two rooms. If this kept up, maybe she would start being happy about it.

"He was your friend. You just can't admit that. You can't even do it now."

"Leave."

"I challenge you to tell me he meant nothing to you," she continued.

Kaiba stood up, and stalked over to her. He towered over her and looked down, the light hitting him in a way that made him look like a God. " Don't tell what to do, little girl. Don't talk about things that you don't understand."

She should back down. She should walk out and not argue back. She was supposed to be helping him. She didn't care about any of those thoughts though.

"I do understand, Kaiba. You are such a sad human being. You can't even admit that anybody other then your precious brother could care about you or you care about anyone other than yourself," she hissed, kneeling up on the windowsill so they were equal height. "It's sad that his death was the only way you would ever realize how much he meant to you."

"What are you implying?"

"His death had a purpose." Shizuka was trying to meet his eyes but it was like trying to stand ground against the neighborhood bully who was slowly advancing towards you.

"Designated by who?"

She had no clue what he was saying so he elaborated. " A purpose is something given by someone in order to achieve something. Who was the one giving this so-called destiny?"

"God."

She didn't feel the push until her head hit the glass, and she leaned forward, rubbing her scalp to check for blood.

"So God miraculously decided that hey, I am going to hold a school shooting and going to kill an innocent boy in an attempt to make Kaiba see the value of life. Yeah, he really said that," Kaiba ranted, pacing down the length of the table and she backed up closer to the window. He was acting like a walking time bomb and she wasn't about to ask why he had pushed her. " And did God designate Yugi with the purpose of being the sacrificial lamb to be slaughtered to forgive our sins? No. Yugi was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and he is dead because of it! How dare you say it was meant to happen. It wasn't! It was a fuckin' mistake. Just a fuckin' mistake…."

She slipped out of the room as he continued his diatribe. It was likely that she would get hurt if she stayed any longer.

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His mother had a loud voice and so it carried down the hall, announcing her arrival. His stomach dropped and he began to sweat. He hadn't seen her in three years or realistically, in eight years since the time she drove off taking Shizuka with her. Three years ago had been Shizuka's eye surgery and he had saw his mother in Shizuka's room right after the surgery. He had not gone in, needless to say. When he had tried, she had given him this look of disapproval which made him so angry because it was him who paid for the surgery, not her. Not her with her high paying corporate job and mansion. But he didn't argue and had just left the room. He didn't come to visit her for another week, right after his mother left the country.

The door swung open and he saw his mother for what seemed to be the first time. She was a very proper looking woman with grayish hair set in a bun and raptor eyes. She tried to smile at him but the lines along her mouth told him that it was forced. It was closer to a grimace then anything happy.

"How are you doing?" she asked.

"Pretty good. Do you know what is wrong with me?" If he was going to be tortured, he thought he should at least get some of the information that he had been craving to know.

" They said that you bruised some of the tissue that is in your foot which will make it hard for you to walk."

Jonouchi was relieved. He didn't want to be walking around with crutches or a cast. Too bad her account of the injuries was so vague and his chest wasn't mentioned. It probably just was bleeding, he assumed, and that was why she didn't mention it.

"So how's work?"

"You know how it is. The workers was rioting, supposedly I'm not paying them enough, and…"

She proceeded in telling him about her job and how much she wanted to fire one of her workers. It was so very a normal conversation, that is for adults. But he wasn't an adult. Nor was it a conversation that should take place between a mother and a son. But they weren't that either. It was a conversation that avoided the entire issue of her being there, and the hard feeling that lay between them. It was like she was forcing herself to talk to fill the silence so the questions never had to be asked and the big answer did not have to be given.

"Ayu…why did you leave me with Dad that day?" he asked suddenly, interrupting her story of the letter carrier thinking he had Anthrax.

She just jabbed on like he hadn't talked.

"Answer my question!"

"Katsuya, does it really matter?" she whined. She was nearly fluttering her eyelashes and he felt more like one of her clients that she was trying to pursue into a business deal with any relative of her.

"I wouldn't ask it if it wasn't important to me."

"But it's in the past…can't we just move on from that?"

No, they couldn't. The few times they had seen each prior to the split, he had asked that and she refused to answer him. She refused to answer why he couldn't live with her. She refused to help him when his father started hitting him. And when it got too much for her, she stopped allowing him to see her. There would always be that wall between them because of that day. He wanted it torn down and he saw a chance to do it now.

"We can't. I can't. I need to know why you did it."

"I don't know what you are talking about."

Second tacit of business: Deny you know anything. It seriously pissed him off. " Why did you drive away with Shizuka that day and not with me?"

"I had to get her away from your father and you weren't there."

Third tacit: Selective memory on your shortcomings. " I chased the car for six blocks and when I finally caught up, you hit the gas and sped away."

"I'm sorry if I did that."

Her apology didn't seem too sincere but he accepted it. " If you did that? You did it, Ayu."

"What do you want from me? I can't change the past."

"No, you can't. You can change the future. You came here for a reason and that was to reconcile with me and attempt at a relationship. The only way that can ever happen is if you tell me why. And then, I'll forgive you."

He searched his mother's face for some sort of emotion. He couldn't find any. That surprised him. She should be sobbing now because of his overly heart-felt emotional speech.

"Did you come from a different reason then that?" he whispered.

She sighed. "Shizuka said you needed an English translator. I have to be in New York City tomorrow so I had some time to stop by."

"So you don't care about me?"

"God, Katsuya. It's not like that!"

"You didn't care about me then either. I thought maybe you would change and maybe learn that I will actually die one of these times," He whispered.

"I love you! How can you say that?"

"I don't know. But you do…"

"I don't have time to deal with an insolent child. Bye. Have a nice recovery." She walked as quickly out of the room as she did into it and he sighed. He was sorry he even tried being nice to her. No matter what, Shizuka was her choice because she was exactly what his mother wanted: quiet, obedient, respectable, and kind. He could never be that.

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"You're still pouting."

He glared at her as he snatched the McDonald's bag out of her hand. Opening it, he could smell the grease off of the fries and he smiled at her as he reached in to grab a few and stuff them in his mouth.

"Thanks," he told her after he swallowed, and she sat down in the chair, taking a sip of her soda. " I needed some comfort food."

She didn't think that fattening fast food was what people intended comfort food as being but she wasn't going to argue. "No problem." McDonald's was only a block away from her work place and she had promised him that he could call if he had wanted anything. "So what's bothering you?"

Jonouchi looked up from his triple cheeseburger. " Nothing."

"Liar," but she didn't press him for answers. He looked almost in ecstasy as he ate the sandwich and she didn't want to wreck his mood. It wasn't like she had any right to know what he was thinking about.

"Have you ever had a parent who betrayed you and then pretends it never happened? Then claims she loves you but is treating you more like a client of hers then a son?" he spit out, words coming in a rush of jointed syllables.

"No. I don't have parents."

He looked at her strangely. " I'm sorry. But you least should have known them…"

"Not really. They were always on business trips when I was little and when they returned home, they would give me presents. One time, they didn't come home. Everyone just assumed they died and moved on."

"Oh."

She laughed at his shocked look. " It's alright. I know what you're saying. Parents are mysterious creatures. They ask nothing in return for loving you except for devotion. And when you aren't what they want you to be or better yet, you become exactly what you are expected to be, they hate you for it because you displayed willingness to obey. They make mistakes but say they aren't because they love you and everything must suddenly be okay and you aren't allowed to hold grudges. …Am I getting anywhere close to your thoughts?"

"Almost what I thought word for word…except not as eloquently." He smiled and picked her soda off the table, taking a swig through the straw. She rolled her eyes and allowed him to finish it.

"Oh, I…" her cell phone rang and she sighed, flipping it open. "Hello."

She listened to it for a few seconds and handed it to Jonouchi. " It's your sister. She wants to talk to you."

Jonouchi nodded and watched Mai slip out of the room to give them some privacy.

"Hey."

"Hey. I heard some news from Mokuba."

"Oh yeah, you saw Kaiba today. How was the rich bastard?"

"Uh…He was Kaiba." She didn't know what else to say or how to describe the confrontation. She was still on edge over it and freaked out that she lost her temper so easily. " They are going to have Yugi's funeral in a few days. You need to come."

In that split second, Jonouchi remembered that Yugi was dead. It hadn't crossed his mind since he first saw that photo. It was hitting home for him and he felt like crying.

"Yugi's grandfather is wiring the money to get you a ticket home. If you don't mind, can you bring Mai with you? I know she can be a bother sometimes but I want to make sure you don't get hurt while you are still healing."

Jonouchi just nodded, not being able to find the words. He assumed Shizuka would accept the silence as an yes.

"Alright. I'm going. I love you, Oniichan." He heard the phone click off and he closed the cover, throwing it into the chair. It might have broken it but he didn't care. He felt ill and his eyes were burning from trying to hold back tears. He just wanted to sleep and he rolled over, curling himself the best he could in a ball. It hurt his chest but the pain felt oddly good in a way, and he cried silently.

He didn't notice Mai slipping back in the room to retrieve her cell phone and her sitting next to him, lightly stroking his hair as he fell into a depression-induced sleep.

Author's Notes: Another chapter is done! Now to explain a little bit about why I did certain things.

Time Line:

All the events in the manga happened such as Death-T, Battle City, Duelist Kingdom, but Mai never became friends with them. She was just another duelist for them to take down. Therefore, she was not in the finals with any of them (though I regret doing it. I still think she deserved to win against Malik) and Doom did not take place with her as one of the people opposing the Scooby gang.

Mokuba and Kaiba

I don't see Kaiba as the type of person who talks about his fears or why he does things. This leaves Mokuba to decide for himself why something happened and how his brother is affected by it. As for the way Kaiba treats Mokuba, it's all about him. Kaiba would kill himself if it would save Mokuba and protects him at all costs. That is why the different narrations of Kaiba's condition don't match up. Kaiba is not going to show weakness to his brother because he has to be the strong one.

As for Kaiba meeting with Shizuka, I wanted to show the lengths Kaiba goes to pretend that everything is normal. Again, he doesn't allow himself to appear weak. He puts himself in a role and clings to it because that is how he survives. He places himself in a role of superiority, of all-knowingness, makes himself a God because that is how people perceive him as. In any version of the show, it is obvious that people worship him. Yeah, they may be annoyed with him but they don't slip out of formalities. Anytime Kaiba shows up, the dynamics change. Everyone is put on guard much like a king visiting their subjects.

His behavior in the boardroom is to directly contrast his state in bed when Mokuba visits him while he is watching Mai's speech on the TV. I was going for the Post 9/ll mindset. My classmates would just stare at the TV for days on end, watching the towers collapse. It was just so weird to watch because I was just like, " Alright. We've seen this. Let's move on." And every time it would come on, they would cry. It was like an obsession for them that I was unable to understand.

Jonouchi/Kaiba/Mai:

These are probably the strongest normal characters in the Yugioh universe. I chose these three as the main characters, not because I adore all of them and they are fun to write, but I see them as archetypes to how we deal with tragedy. Jonouchi is able to forget about it because he doesn't remember and he is so far removed from it being half a world away from his home but the minute it occurs to him that it actually happened, he breaks down and cries. Kaiba just loses his sanity but in typical fashion, he shall come out and try to avenge the loss, fueling his anger into something great. Kaiba is the type of person who mourns and sits in the dumps for a while before moving on with their lives with a manic fever. Mai is the person who doesn't get the chance to mourn or be sad. She moves forward, dragging around the pain and guilt, counseling and helping everyone out without ever looking at herself and allowing herself to heal.

I don't know which relationship I will do for this story. I have never done a triangle which I think is the best option because I like all of the couple ideas. I have written all of them and I find the dynamics between them fascinating.

Kaiba and Mai together, though I haven't read any fanfiction with them together, is interesting because in a lot of ways, Mai is the female version of Kaiba. Both are narcissists outwardly, but inside was insecure. They both don't have parental figures to guide them and for the most part, are self-sufficient. Both have had to do things they weren't proud of to survive and both have had the chance to finally, after years of guilt, come to terms with it and grow as a person. Both are frightened by intimacy and that could play out nicely if I decide I want to use this couple

Shizuka:

I hate her so much. But there was no way I could kill her in the context of the story so I planned her into it. I am sort of glad I did. I think I would like her as a character if not for the fact that she is always being compared to the stronger female characters, i.e. Mai and Isis. She is so weak acting and silent, which I think is what her name means if I remember correctly, and it's annoying.

That said, as I have written her, I have tried to give her some personality. She is a nice person. She is like the perfect lady, the ones you would see in the Victorian Age when women were all submissive to their husbands and were housewives. But I see her flaws as not being her perfection, but her idea of it. She tends to talk and says things, assuming other people think and feel the same. Then when she finds out they don't, she either apologizes or keeps arguing because she believes her way must be right. Jonouchi says this somewhere in this chapter. I notice that I am that way sometimes. I am a perfectionist and so I always think my writing is the best in the class. Then I see someone else's writing and they did something completely different, and I was like, " Why didn't I think of that?"

Jonouchi and Shizuka

On the surface, they have the perfect relationship. I mean, Jonouchi would have never took up dueling or gotten good at it if not for his sister and the need to get her eyes fixed. But at the same time, I think Jonouchi would have animosity for her. She got the life he wanted. He does all these nice things for her, and still doesn't get the life he dreams about. He loves her, obviously, but I think there is a lot of unresolved tension between the two over the past.

On Parents:

It has occurred to me that no character in this series has normal doting parents or parents at all, or at least the ones that I haven't killed off. Therefore, I will be screwing around with it a bit because I see often that crisis is the time that families either grow closer or they fall apart. In my case, mine grew closer together but ultimately shattered because they messed up in the handling of it.

Hope you enjoyed it and review!