Matt gasped for his breathe as he sped down the stairs and then outside to catch up with someone. He swerved around the corner and finally saw her walking along the school premises. "Hey!" he yelled. "Uh, Mimi! Wait up!" he called and she stopped as he finally caught up with her. "Wow, you sure could make the track team."

Mimi gave him an irritated glare and hugged her books closer from falling, "What do you want, I think I've had enough of your jokes for my first day."

"Oh," Yamato slightly turned red and looked down to his feet, "that…well, you know, it just slipped out. I'm sorry if I've offended you in any way, I was just having a bad morning and my Dad always said…," Yamato looked at her eyeing him a bit weirdly and chuckled as he held his hand out. "Why don't we start over, I'm Ishida Yamato."

Tucking a strand of hair behind her, Mimi smiled and gladly took his hand, "Tachikawa Mimi, it's a pleasure…uhm, if you're not in a hurry to get home I'd really enjoy some company. I'm on my way to the grocery store but unfortunately being new to a huge place like this gets you lost at the wrong times."

Yamato slightly chuckled and gesticulated the way with his hand, "It's over this way, I've bought and cooked my Dad and brother their food so many times that I can find the food store with my eyes closed. I'll even walk you home if that's alright."

Mimi nodded, "I'd like that."

Mimi ran over her list of groceries and pointed to the top shelf of the counter, she glanced at Yamato, "I only need that one and I'm done."

"Alrighty then," Yamato scrunched up his sleeves and somewhat clambered up the shelves and tried reach for it as Mimi laughed at how funny he looked. "I could use a little—woah!"

"Arigatou," Mimi nodded thankfully as Yamato opened the door for her, taking some of her bags on the way. Mimi began directing him where her house was and that was where they began heading. "Arigatou, Ishida-kun, for helping me and all."

Yamato let out a little laugh and waved his hand, "Would you stop thanking me, already? It's really not a big deal."

"Heh, sorry!" Mimi giggled. Yamato smirked and tapped her on the nose accusingly.

"And don't say sorry, either."

Mimi smiled and covered her mouth, "Sorry, I won't—I mean, eh, sorry!" and with that she just burst out laughing that Yamato just couldn't help but laugh with her as they kept walking along the busy streets, and whenever Yamato tried to start another conversation Mimi will just burst laughing from the previous one.

"Otou-san, I'm home," Yamato slipped his bag beside the door and put on his house slippers. He walked in to actually find his Dad searching for food, or that's what he thought. "Where's Takeru?"

"Oh, uhm, I don't know I thought he was with you," Masaharu blindly replied and kept searching around the drawers. "You have dinner?"

Yamato sighed and put down a few bags of groceries he had bought, "Right here…wait, wasn't tonight…Takeru's open house night?" Masaharu suddenly dropped the objects in his hands. Yamato shook his head, "You forgot, didn't you?"

"No, no, I couldn't have," his Dad mumbled and argued with himself before quickly dropping his previous responsibility and hurriedly ran inside his room. "Uh, you don't mind if I leave you here for a while, Yamato? You can cook your own dinner and me and your brother will just, get something on the way home," Yamato watched as his Dad stumbled out of his room and almost looking as if he had made an effort to look nice. "Hey, where have you been that made you come home so late?"

Yamato shrugged, "Oh, well, nothing at all, really. I met this new girl at my school and we walked around for the afternoon, you should meet her, Otou-san, Mimi seems really—"

"What?!" Masaharu exclaimed and turned to his son who backed away in reaction. "What did you say her name was?" Yamato stumbled back at his father's angry face but before he could choke out the words Masaharu quickly grabbed his neck collar. "Yamato if you know what's best for you, you will stay away from that girl! Do you hear me?!" he shook Yamato.

His cheeks felt hot and the bottom of his eyes felt moist, Yamato didn't know what to do so he quickly and forcefully pushed his father's hand and scurried into his bedroom and slamming the door behind him.

"Yamato, wait—I didn't mean to, I'm so sorry!" Masaharu called and smacked himself for even doing that. "Arrgh, what happened to me—oh no, arrgh, I forgot Takeru!" Masaharu threw his arms up in argument of who to go after when he finally ran out of the door.

A frame hurtled towards the shut door and the pieces of glass shattered onto the floor and stayed there. Only by the slight moonlight that shined through the solitary window gave light to the whole room, and if you squinted your eyes you can make out the picture taken of the three Ishida boys out fishing, too long ago.

"I hate him, I hate him, I hate him," Matt incessantly muttered as he fought the pool of water to stay above his burning cheeks. He was slinked down onto the side of his bed and mindlessly threw a baseball against the wall and back where it bounced back and caught by his mitt. He glowered. "He's always late for everything or he's never there, he's a total wreck all the time, keeping secrets—"

"—And he never keeps any of his promises," Yamato recited while Mimi listened intently, nodding and hanging at his every word as they ate their lunch. Yamato clenched his fist, "I just hate him, I really do…what kind of a father just pretends like you don't exist and acts as if he's the one in need of a Dad," he said and looked away frustrated.

Mimi furrowed her brows in concern and surprised both him and her by placing both her hands around his tight fist, "Gomen nasai, Yamato, demo…you shouldn't say you hate your father, from what I hear I say you're just worried about him, I mean, I feel the same way about my father," she said and looked at her lap. "He's exactly the same; always seeming like he has some dark secret he's hiding from me, always making these excuses and having all these confidential stuff going on around him. But, somehow he always finds a way to come through when I've almost given up on him so I know he loves me, and I think you're Dad is just the same." She smiled warmly.

Frowning, Yamato scolded himself, "I'm sorry for bringing it up, gosh, my problems seem so selfish now."

"Don't be sorry! We both just have the same things to worry about," Mimi replied.

Yamato nodded then, asked, "What exactly did your Dad say, about, the reason you moved here? You said you've moved a lot before and that your Dad used to work here, is it?"

Mimi shrugged and opened her mouth for a while before answering, "I think…Hai, he said he was going to meet an old friend here, someone he used to work with, I guessed. You know what I find the weirdest about my father," Mimi averted her eyes to Yamato, "he's a reporter, or that's what he says, but I've never been to where he works or even remember seeing any cameras, notes, anything that would identify him as a reporter. And it might sound like I'm being so suspicious here but, is it normal for a reporter to move so many times? Yamato?"

"Your Dad, is a reporter, too?!"

"Alright, move those craters over here and be careful!" a woman in a red dress yelled at the man who was operating a tractor that was hauling three huge wooden boxes around a large, slightly dim room—a factory-looking kind of place. "I said be careful, you bakas!!" she yelled, her long brown hair waving in fury. "Oh, I give up!" she threw her hands and stomped back into the office behind her. The office was lit by only a single lamp on the table, by the armchair the sat facing the wall.

"Okay, men, haul those equipment things over here and just get rid of those cords!" a man from the outside yelled, his voice followed by a crash.

The woman twitched and crossed her arms at the man sitting with his back towards her, "Kyoto, your fool! Those equipment are worth a great deal for me, if you insisted me into spending millions of my money to invest in this ludicrous invention of yours you could at least tell those buffoons to take care of them!! Kyoto, are you listening?"

Flick. Snap. Flick. Snap.

"Kaiba Kyoto!"

The lighter snapped closed and the chair swirled around while the woman stepped back as it revealed a man late 30s. Kaiba Kyoto, the notorious master-mind stood up; crude blonde hair, eyes shadowed beneath his glasses, and a smile that can frighten the most scariest. He walked towards the woman and twirled a strand of her hair around his finger, the woman shivered.

"Tell me, Kimiko," he said in a smooth voice and suddenly held a pocketknife against her skin. "When you're in pain and have no way to escape, and someone holds a knife to your neck," he pushed it closer to her neck, and Kimiko winced. "threatening to kill you in the most excruciating way, what do you say?"

Kimiko stuttered, "I-I…"

Kyoto grunted and swiftly withdrew and forced her to fall onto her knees, Kimiko cried and gasped rubbing the red spot on her neck. Kyoto began walking out and watched the making of his brand-new, and more powerful laboratory, "Do your worst, that is what you say, Kimiko, learn from it."

"Do you want anything to drink?" Mimi called from her kitchen.

"Anything is fine, arigatou," Yamato barely shouted in reply as he walked around the Tachikawas' living room, taking notice of all the photo albums stacked by the wall, the documents that he dared not look at, and all the picture frames that hung and stood everywhere. Her and her Dad sure have been through a lot, Yamato whistled and looked around the pictures; Mimi by the piers, Mimi and her Dad at the beach, Mimi everywhere! Yamato arched a brow in puzzlement, even snapshots of her when she's not aware of it! Or, is she?? And there was one more thing he noticed greatly…

"Yamato?" Yamato shrieked in shock and turned around to find Mimi with a tray of glasses standing behind him. "Are you alright?"

Yamato sweat-dropped, "Hai! Yes, I'm alright!" he grinned and laughed nervously as he grabbed his glass and took a huge sip, of the whole thing! "Mmm, thanks, Mimi, this is really good!"

After he had settle down, Mimi and Yamato took their seats and talked about their day, about going over to the Japan local TV station where they had thought they would find their fathers working at…but as it turned out…

"Do you think they lied to us about their jobs?" Mimi asked worriedly as she held her glass on her lap, the ice already melting for she's held it too long. "But I wouldn't think that, Otou-san would do something like this to me."

Yamato stopped at mid-sip, he could really see this was disturbing her but in his case, he was used to his Dad lying to him, "Mimi-chan, I'm sure your Dad has a real good explanation for this, I doubt he'd lie to you. Maybe he just, works for a different corporation or something."

Mimi sighed, "I guess so, I know my Dad well enough to not think he would be some secret agent or something," she laughed a bit. "I guess it does sound a bit weird now that I thought that."

Clearing his throat, Yamato saw another picture lying beside her and now asked, "Mimi, I've been meaning to ask you…what's with all the pictures?"

"Heh," Mimi laughed nervously, "I guess you could say my Dad's a bit of a photo maniac, he always has a camera with him—hey! Maybe he's really a photographer! You think?"

Yamato shook his head, "Well, he could be but—I was more asking about…all of them, I mean I can see that your Dad's a bit older and changed in every picture demo you always—and I mean this in the nicest way—you look all the same."

"What are you talking about?"

Yamato fidgeted, "You're twelve…and that's all you look like, and…it doesn't seem like you have any other picture of you as a baby, or any younger! What's up with that?" Yamato threw his hands up then noticed that he was now standing up and Mimi was looking as if reality had taken a blow on her. "Uhm, gomen nasai…"

"No," she replied in half a daze and shook her head. "I guess, it is a bit odd now that, you've mentioned it…"

Hesitating, Yamato made a move to grab his bag, "Sorry, I guess I better get going, now. My brother's probably getting worried, you know," his voice trailed off when he caught the sight he was leaving her in. He turned away and was about to leave.

"Wait, can I walk you home? It's the least I can do," Mimi stood up, not wanting to be alone at the moment. "Onegai, Ishida-kun, it's just that I never really have someone to talk to about anything." Yamato smiled and nodded.

It was starting to drizzle now, which slowly got heavier into a small shower. Yamato and Mimi didn't mind but skipped/ran around the corners laughing, trying not to wet their already soaked clothes but enjoyed trying, anyway. They neared a empty neighborhood that was near Yamato's.

"So," Yamato chuckled and she looked at him. "are you always this happy around the friends you make?"

Mimi shrugged and smiled sadly, "It's hard to know, I've never tried to make friends before—or at least I gave up trying, for I just end up losing them when I move away without a word of notice, you know…but I'm glad I met you, Yamato, it's been a while since I had a friend."

Yamato smiled warmly back at her, taking her hand in his, "Then I'll always be here," Mimi blushed and when they both turned the corner they stopped short in surprise. Three men dressed in black jumper suits stood in front of them, arms crossed and faces hidden. Yamato stood in front of Mimi and they back away. "Can I help you, Sir?"

The middle one made a gesture towards them, "You can help by stepping aside, boy, and give us the girl."

-Review.-