::Teff and Pegasus are on sofa watching TV::
Teff: I wanna watch Hello Kitty. ::flips channel::
Pegasus: But I want to watch Funny Bunny! ::grabs the remote and switches channel::
Teff: Hello Kitty! ::grabs remote::
Pegasus: Funny Bunny! :takes hold of remote::
Teff: ::wont let go:: Hello Kitty! ::tugs::
Pegasus: ::tugs:: FUNNY BUNNY!
Teff: HELLO KITTY! ::wacks him over the head with mallet::
Pegasus: ::dizzily:: Okey-day! ::faints::
Steph: ::walks in:: Um, Teff. What are you doing?
Teff: Um... Watching TV?
Steph: ::points to unconscious Pegasus:: What is he doing here?
Teff: Um... Getting hit by my mallet?
Steph: Okay! Works for me! Now let's answer reviews and get this story moving!
Teff: ::is concentrated on Hello Kitty:: Yah yah, whatever.
-Ha-chan: Yay for you on Reading Furuba! I have the 4th one, but am waiting for the fifth.
-Amme Moto: Yay! Cookies! ::Teff Wolfs them all down before Steph can even touch them:: Hey! I thought you were watching TV! ::Teff shrugs as she places her forehead back on the screen::
-Lazerwulf: ::in cheesy sensei voice:: Be patient young grasshopper. All your questions will be answered in time.
-Kaiba's Slave: Do you really think the limitations will drive them away? Oh, and just a reminder to everyone else, I take a request from a reader when I hit 50. (I know I had said 100 but I changed my mind. So sue me)
By the way, I would like to thank my dear friend Edie for letting me use Lonu in her story! Thanks bunches! ::tosses her Seto plushie::
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The smell of rubbing alcohol reached Takaya's nose as she regained consciousness. Her eyes fluttered open and she snapped them back shut, grimacing. The bright lights above her head were blinding her. Although it was nice to see something bright after her uber-dark dream, this was a bit much.
"I think I saw her move!"
"Now Mister Mokuba, when she does wake up, I don't want you pestering her."
"Aw, Lonu! You're no fun at all!"
Mokuba? Lonu? Takaya shifted in her bed, trying to get into a position to sit up. As soon as she moved, she felt fire spreading throughout her body, starting in her chest, flowing to every part of her body. She squeezed her eyes tight and groaned, stopping her movement.
"She looks like she's in pain," said the first voice again. It was small and kind of squeaky. It sounded worried too. Feeling a weight on her knees, she decided to open her eyes again. But this time it wasn't the bright light that greeted her, but two rather large brown eyes. She blinked. The eyes blinked.
The face backed up and she could see it more. She saw the eyes had a face, and that face was plastered with the biggest smile she had ever seen. She also saw that the face was attached to the body of a little boy, perhaps 9 or 10 years old.
"Hi! My name is Mokuba, what's yours?" He said all of this rather fast.
Takaya blinked. "Takaya," Mokuba smiled and jumped back, landing on the end of the bed.
"Can I call you Kaya?" He started playing around with the necklace around his neck. It was a duel monsters card on the end of a black cord.
The sight of the necklace made Takaya reach for her own, a long square piece of gold with Egyptian writing on it. It was there. She sighed in relief and let her hand drop. "Sure, if you want to," she said, answering Mokuba's question.
A rather round nurse with red pulled-back hair came up next to Takaya and handed her several pills. "Painkillers, scar-erasers, and numbing capsules for your acupuncture," she smiled a grin a little bigger than Mokuba's, if at all possible, handing her a glass of water. "By the way, the name's Lonu."
Takaya popped the pills and had the water halfway to her lips when she paused. "Wait a sec. Did you just say acupuncture?"
Lonu nodded and pulled out black box from a cupboard and opened it. "Yes, it will help the nerves in your legs after not using them for so long."
"I'm really not a needle person," she said, taking a drink of water. She paused again. What did Lonu mean, 'after not using her legs for so long'? "Wait. How long have I been asleep?"
Lonu paused, looking at her calendar. Mokuba beat her to it though. "A week and half," he said, as though he'd been counting the days.
"A week and a half?" Takaya paused, looking at her wrist. It was thin and pale. "No wonder I'm so hungry," she said, smiling a bit, trying to hide the fact she was shocked beyond belief. Mokuba laughed so hard he fell off the bed. Takaya leaned over the side of the mattress as far as she could without hurting herself. "It wasn't that funny."
Mokuba slowed down his laughing and stood up. "Sorry about that," he giggled, wiping away a tear of laughter. "It's just that there isn't much to laugh about around here. I don't usually laugh this hard, since it annoys Seto."
Her brow furrowed a bit. "Who's this Seto person?"
Lonu chuckled to herself a little bit. "Kaiba-san is the one who saved you dear."
Takaya's eyes widened at the name Kaiba. "You mean I was saved by the richest dude on the planet?"
Lonu shook her head a little and smiled. "I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate you calling him a dude, but in a nutshell, yes." She took a bottle of disinfectant from the cupboard, picked up the black box, and set them down next to the jar of cotton balls on the small table next to the bed. Kaya saw the bow had an assortment of needles in it.
Lonu saw her staring at the needles and sighed. "I know you said you don't like needles, but I can't think of any other way, unless you want to endure months of physical therapy."
Takaya shook her head and grabbed the sheets, pulling them over her head. "As long as I don't have to watch."
Lonu pulled the bed sheets off of her legs, rubbed on the disinfectant, and took the needles, one by one, sticking them in certain places. After the 5th one, there was a strong knock on the door. "Mokuba dear, would you wind getting that?" Mokuba got up from his chair and bounced over to the door.
Before Mokuba could even touch the doorknob, it yanked open by itself. "Lonu! It's Ni-san!" The teenage billionaire walked past his little brother, slamming the door behind him. Takaya couldn't see him from underneath the covers, but she could tell he was pretty mad. Or maybe he was always like this.
As Seto reached the bed, he could see that Lonu was performing acupuncture on the girl. He almost grimaced at the sight of her legs. Scarred, thin and pale. Seto wondered it the girls face looked the same. He had never seen her in daylight, so he couldn't be sure.
He turned to the lump in the bed he though to be the face. "Are you having fun?" He asked, sneering. Lonu rolled her eyes and mumbled something about rudeness. A pair of hands stuck up through the sheets and pulled them away, and Seto almost took a step back at the sight of her face.
It wasn't an ugly face. Oh no, quite the opposite. The face wasn't pale at all, but had a nice natural looking tan, even though it was the dead of winter. Even through the tan, you could see quite a bit of rosie color peeking through her cheeks. Her lips were perfectly curved, and he could just imagine them smiling up at him. She had thick, black corkscrew curls that tumbled down onto her shoulders, and her eyes. Seto could go on forever about her eyes.
Her eyes were wide and looked naturally alert, but their color was splendid. Near the pupil was a soft brown, and the brown blended perfectly into an emerald green, giving way to a shocking sky blue. The blueness, in turn, rounded out to the edge of her iris in a beautiful shining gold. They were eyes of earth. The soft rich soil sprouting growing green grass that gave way to a clear blue sky and the sun beyond. It was beautiful beyond words.
Takaya blinked up at the person who had spoken. On a normal account, she would have snapped back a clever remark, but she couldn't speak. It was the boy from her dream. It had to be! The evidence was all there! The soft brown hair, the blue eyes. But it wasn't him. The face wasn't soft, it was stone cold! And his mouth was turned in a permanent frown. And his eyes; they didn't have the same laughter at all! They were cold and icy, and just looking at them sent a shiver down her spine.
The room was silent for a moment. Then Mokuba cleared his throat, snapping them both back to reality. Takaya was the first to recover. "What are you staring at?" She snapped, a little louder then she meant to.
Seto sneered, making Takaya forget about the dream and made her want to slap him upside the head. "I was just thinking of a way to apologize for your current state, but you obviously don't deserve any pity," he scowled. "What's your name anyway?"
"Takaya Hanajima," she said, shooting him a glare.
He laughed cruelly. "I think I'll call you Taka-chan. A suitable name for an unsuitable person."
Luckily, Lonu had finished the acupuncture, and was getting fed up with Seto. "Now Kaiba-san, Takaya has been through quite an ordeal, and she needs peace." Takaya was amazed. She didn't think Lonu would be so brave against Kaiba like this, but she had no fear.
Apparently, neither did Kaiba. "Whatever Lonu. I don't know why you bother standing up for her, it's not like she's important." And with that, he turned on his heel and left the room, slamming the door behind him.
"What is the matter with him?" Lonu muttered to herself as she started removing the needles.
Takaya was still glaring at the door. "Probably nothing. He's just a reincarnation of the Devil."
"Please don't judge Ni-san too harshly Kaya-san," said a small, shaky voice. Takaya looked away from the door to see Mokuba standing next to her bed, looking very close to tears. "He just isn't very good with people, that's all."
Takaya smiled a small smile and opened her arms to him. He crawled up on the bed and sat on Takaya's lap. She hugged him, remembering doing this routine almost every day at the orphanage with different kids. "It's okay chiccai ikko." She said in a soft, soothing voice. "I'm sure he's a very decent person on the inside."
He looked up at her. "You honestly and truly think that?"
Takaya smiled. "There's goodness in everyone. And I'm sure of that."
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Hi guys! Just in case you're wondering, chiccai ikko means 'little one.' And once again, I'm sorry it took so long. The toy at McDonalds was Hello Kitty, and it took all my energy trying to keep Teffie here under control. Anyway, I'll have the next one up sooner, okay?