Tornado: hiya!! Srry it took once again a long time to post, but I was studying for my finals.

DT:mumbling pointless, worthless, no-good, dirty, rotten…..

Tornado:0.0! Ignore her. Thanx to all those that reviewed. And now on with the fic!!

Sclera's POV

It had been hell to watch him walk away from me, but then again it was just as Joey had warned; he is a selfish bastard. That truth began eating my insides away. Maybe things would have been different if I had stayed, maybe not. There are some things that you will never know. This was just another one of those things.

I began my journey home. I thought about the present and a bit of the future, but mostly, I thought about the past and what I once had. I'd always been able to find a friend within him. He, it seemed, was always around when shit hit he fan. He was always my shoulder to cry on, even if he was in pain as well. He always was there to listen, even if he had something to say. He was always there to protect me, even if I refused protection. He was the friend that you grew-up with and remained friends until the end of time. "Friends to the end" definitely applied to us, but when I turned nine I began to see him in a new light.

All girls like guys even at the stage where they still believe in cooties. I have come to the remarkable discovery that cooties do exist. Once you're around guys long enough, you just can't seem to get enough of them. I grew-up with a twin brother, my parents' best friends' sons, and the four other neighbor boys that surrounded me, so I was infected with the guy disease (aka cooties) long before I knew what it was. That didn't bother me. I was content to romp around in the mud and play football and soccer or run around in the woods searching for worms or anything that they could find. That was me, the tomboy. I was lucky and got parents that didn't care.

Even though I was a tomboy, there was still a bit of girl in me. I hated to admit it, but I thought that Seto was the cutest thing I ever saw. I realized this when I was nine years old. Of course I was young and stupid and never told him anything about it, which betrayed him because we swore to tell each other everything no matter what it was. That was my secret. One day we had a sleepover at Seto's house. We played truth or dare. It wasn't a big deal; we'd done it many times before, but somebody decided that they were going to play matchmaker. I don't remember who, or I forgot so I didn't proceed to kill them later, but somebody dared Seto and me to kiss. Perhaps I should thank whoever that goddamned person was, but at that time I was on a murderous rampage. Seto got me calmed down by saying it was no big deal. Long story short, we did kiss. It was one of those little pecks that you expect from a kid that age. I wanted more.

That's how it all started. When we were ten, our fathers died in a car accident on their way to work. They car-pooled because it was cheaper, easier, and it gave them a chance to talk. It was my birthday, the twenty-sixth of December and my brother's tomorrow (I had been born right before midnight). I was at Seto's house when I found out. I can still remember the policeman coming to the door and knocking ever so lightly. His somber face was all I needed to see before I knew what happened. I ran into his room and cried for hours. I cried for two reasons: one because my father was dead and the other because I would have to leave my best friend forever. My brother didn't help matters. The final straw was pulled when he stormed into my room screaming about how I'm not his sister because I look nothing like any of my family. That night, after I had seen Seto off to an orphanage, I ran away. I too found myself at an orphanage where they took me in and gave me food and shelter. I was there a total of six months before Takura Lireal, the vice president of Kaiba Corps, adopted me. His ex-wife had just won custody of his son, and he felt that he needed someone who was smart, wasn't afraid to throw their weight around, and commanding, a natural born leader.

I suppose I was a good candidate because I was girl in a boy's orphanage, who had gained the respect of the boys around me. When I first saw Takura, I was standing in the middle of fight circle, attempting to keep the biggest bully in the joint from clobbering one of my friends. He stood and watched me for many minutes as I dodged punches left and right and finally dropped the guy by wailing him in the nuts. I was a girl, so I was exempted from the common courtesy of not hit another man's sensitive parts. Everyone had gotten out of my way as I exited the circle. I saw Takura standing there, staring at me with his chilling cat green eyes. I glared back before turning away.

As many friends as I had at the orphanage, none of them compared to Seto. I was lonelier than I had ever been, even though I had more friends than ever before. I missed Mokuba too. That kid grew on me so fast. I found myself wondering what they could be doing right now. Had they been adopted yet? Were they healthy? Were they happy? All questions and never any answers. It was hell. I always had a piece of Seto with me though. Duel Monsters had been my passion since I was six, and in two years I had formed morals, rules, and strategy that seemed unbeatable. I taught Seto and Yugi these principles, but they were quickly forgotten. Just before I'd left, Seto had given me a card that I had been searching for called the Guardian Angel. He had one in his deck and wanted me to have it. In return I gave him one of my prized Fire Magicians. We both had pieces of one another. I would always find a deserted spot at the orphanage and stare at the card.

Takura decided to adopt me, and that's how I ended up at Kaiba Corps. Gozaburo Kaiba was close friends with Takura and thought that his son, Noah, and I could be great friends. I hated him. He was lazy and spoiled and cared about nothing but himself. Gozaburo had been talking about adopting a son to push Noah, but that failed when Noah got into his accident. I, unfortunately, helped plan the program that digitized Noah's mind and trapped him in the computer for an eternity. Gozaburo's wife, May, never knew what her husband was doing to save her son. The day she found out, she was cleaning my room. I had just nmow taken residence in the Kaiba mansion, and I'm sure that aroused questions in her mind, but she never asked. I remember walking into my room after slaving over a paper and typing endlessly on the computer to find her bawling all over my plans. When she looked at me, I saw the extreme hurt in her eyes. She asked me if I had came up with all of this. When I nodded she cried harder. "You will be just another one of their toys that they play with than toss disgracefully aside if you slip. Take my advice, get out while you still can," she had said. That night she committed suicide.

A week later Gozaburo adopted Seto. I was so happy when I saw Seto walk through the front door of the mansion. I had been listening to Takura debrie me on the end results of operation Noah, as they called it, when I felt something immediately latch onto my waist. I looked down to discover Mokuba gripping me like he was never going to let go. A few seconds later Seto entered, and I leaped into his arms. Takura and Gozaburo saw this and looked disapprovingly at us. Had I not been scared of them both, I would have flicked them off. The next two years were the worst I had ever been through. They forced us to pour ourselves into schoolwork, exhausting our bodies and minds. We were just thankful that they did not put Mokuba through the same shit. I drew my energy off of him. If he was not near passing out I was fine, and if he was I tried my damnedest to remove him from that state. He did the same for me. He was my life support for the longest time. He saved my life many a time, and I knew that I could never repay the debt. He was also my nurse, dressing my wounds whenever I received them. I did the same for him because I could not let him neglect himself to care for me. He was always with me whenever I had to go to the hospital and I never slept when he was in that boat. I basically depended on him to keep me alive.

After two years, we had both had enough shit. On May fourth, Gozaburo "fell" out of his from his office on the one hundredth floor of Kaiba Corps. Seto was unaccounted for during this time, but was never charged with anything due to lack of evidence. Two weeks later, Takura came home drunk and found me in the kitchen. He rambling about how he was going to kill Seto for killing Gozaburo, and I simply pointed that there was no evidence that he had killed him. Takura charged at me and I spun around wielding the knife that I had grabbed for protection. I hadn't looked where I was aiming. I realized that when he charged, the knife had become lodged in his throat. At first I panicked, but I ddid my civic duty and tried to save him while calling the ambulance. I knew before the EMT's told me that he wasn't going to live. There was a huge investigation and everything that I had worked so hard to keep hidden was uncovered. I did the only thing that I knew, I ran away. I wish now that I had stayed, but I made my choice and ran. I now have to live with my decision and wonder what would have happened if I had actually stayed.

Tornado: YEAH!! Another chappie is up! R&R.