Hey all, sorry it took me so long to update; last weekend I was at a leadership camp for marching band and couldn't exactly get to a computer. My last full week of summer is over with already :sniff sniff: Two weeks of marching band camp coming up and then it's back to school!

I'm glad to know you all liked the last chapter and I loved the reviews; makes me even more excited about getting this written and posted. I've had the ending in my head ever since I started the first chapter, and judging by how you all reacted to Kiseki's past, you'll like it a lot. Well! I'm babbling. I hope you guys will keep on reading and reviewing! It makes me so happy! Yes, I know, I'm sad =P. :gives everyone a Seto plushie: Oh and-- :gives Jon a Kiseki plushie:

Chapter 11: Morning of Emotions

Kiseki was awakened the next morning by the radio alarm clock next to the bed, and she slowly opened her eyes to squint at it. It took a few minutes for the red numbers to register in her mind. 6……3……0…… 6:30? 6:30! She groaned loudly and pulled the clock to her to look for the snooze button, pressing it with quite a lot of vehemence before putting the clock back on the nightstand.

She was still wide awake when it went off ten minutes later, so she sighed and turned it off, getting up and stretching. She went into the closet in front of the bed and looked around for a robe and towel; within minutes she slid open the door and walked out with a green robe wrapped about her and a white towel hung over her arm. Walking over to the couch, she leaned over Unishiwa and debated about how to wake him up. After whispering his name a few times and not getting a reaction, she got frustrated and poked him in the arm rather hard.

He snorted quietly and then squinted his eyes open, casting around for a few seconds before realising what had gotten him up. He couldn't see Kiseki that well, so he reached around and put on his glasses, then yawning and looking at her again. "Why… my robe?" he asked, confused in his half-awake state.

"May I use your shower, sensei?" she asked slowly, trying to get the message across the first time to him.

He rubbed a hand over his face and grunted an affirmation as he sat up. "What time is it?"

"About 6:40," she replied. "I don't know why you have your alarm set that early, but I'm up now."

"Oh, sorry about that. I usually wake up early to make myself a big breakfast…" he muttered, getting up and stretching out his back with a muffled pop. "Well!" He put his hands on his hips, smiling down at her. "What do you want for breakfast, Kiseki?"

She was slightly taken aback, but pondered it anyway. "Do you have pancakes?"

He nodded and then put a hand on her shoulder to turn her around. "Now go get washed up while I take care of that; it should be ready in about a half an hour."

She nodded and went into the bathroom. As quiet clangs emitted from the kitchen, she looked at herself in the mirror for a moment, focusing upon how stressed she looked. There were bags underneath her eyes in spite of the fact that she had slept quite well the night before, but she shrugged it off and turned on the shower. The warm water soothed her slightly, and she almost lost herself in the feeling before shaking her head and spraying some water on the tile around her, waking herself up a little more. As she began to clean herself, she jumped slightly at feeling a pain on her arm when she rubbed her hand over it. She looked down to discover that a rather large bruise had formed overnight and realised with a start that that was where Seto had grabbed her the day before.

Once she was done, she stepped out and grabbed the towel, wrapping it about her and merely running a hand through her damp hair a few times to get most of the water out. She took the robe and the shirt and draped them over her shoulder, opening up the door. Right before going into the bedroom, she saw Unishiwa busy at cooking and he turned slightly at the noise of the door. She raised her hand in a little wave and he smiled back before returning his attention to cooking again a little fast.

Kiseki walked into the room and slid the door closed, turning to look at the window, through which the first rays of sunrise were flowing. She walked to it, inhaling the morning air fresh with the scent of damp earth. Deciding that Unishiwa seemed to be the type of person who'd spend a lot of time perfecting whatever he was cooking, she leaned on the windowsill to stare out at the damp Domino landscape.

Unishiwa had been waiting for Kiseki to come out of the bathroom as he cooked, as he needed to use it somewhat urgently. He completely forgot about the need for a moment when he saw Kiseki in nothing but a towel, but shook it off and made sure everything was still all right before walking into the bathroom, closing the door. When he was done, he started to wash his hands; something caught his eye.

On the floor was Kiseki's underwear. He froze at the sight of it, the water continuing to flow over his hands. She must have forgotten to take it with her when she was done, he thought to himself, drawing his mouth in a straight line. He finished washing his hands and dried them off with a hand towel hanging beside the sink, shooting glances at the piece of cloth. He stood and looked at it again, wondering whether he should take it to her.

But that's as far as his thinking went. He could only think of the question. He got down on one knee and hesitantly reached out for it before stopping his hand, slightly outstretched. Trying again, he got about three inches away from the fabric before drawing his hand back fully and standing up. She'll realise it's gone, he thought, pulling open the door with a flourish and going out on his balcony. He paused, thinking it'd be best if she got her undergarments sooner than later.

"Kiseki!" he called.

The girl jerked out of her stupor and looked around. "Yes, sensei!"

"Breakfast will be ready in a short while!"

"Oh ok! I'll be out in a minute!" She got up and took her now dry clothes off their hangers and stopped, casting around for her underwear. After looking under her clothes and through Unishiwa's robe and towel, she wrapped the towel about herself again and came out to go into the bathroom, grabbing the piece of fabric and tucking it away in the folds of the towel before coming back out to return to the bedroom. She got fully dressed and came out, folding down the neck of her white shirt as she did so, taking an approving sniff at the air.

"Wow, sensei, that smells wonderful," she said, flipping out her skirt to sit upon the cushion at the table. She looked around and didn't see him at the stove, so she called out. "Sensei?"

He responded from outside, and she leaned over the table to look through the sliding door at him, surprised at seeing a cigarette between his pursed lips. "I didn't know you smoked," she said, making a confused face.

Unishiwa took it out and blew out a little smoke before looking back at her. "I don't," he said, chuckling slightly. "I only have one of these every now and then whenever I need to relax or distract myself from something or other."

She slightly nodded. "Well, it surprised me; most people who smoke really smell like it, but you don't."

"I try not to," he said, taking one last drag before stomping it out and coming back inside and washing his hands.

"That's good." She nodded to the stove, repeating herself. "That really smells good."

"Don't tell me how much you like it until you try it," he said with a chuckle, bringing over a few plates and setting them on the table.

Her face brightened as she took another whiff of the wonderful cooking, before lowering her eyes to the plates and casting around. "Are the pancakes not done yet?" she asked, looking at him.

Unishiwa had already begun to serve up his plate, and he pointed at a dish with his chopsticks. "Nope! They're right there, on that one."

Kiseki looked towards where he was pointing. It looked like a plate with a few tortillas on it, still slightly steaming. "Um… those are pancakes?"

"They're rice pancakes," he said, frowning slightly at her. "Was that not what you wanted?"

She picked one up and held it up, staring at it curiously. "I've never seen these before…" She took a small nibble of it and raised her eyebrows at finding that it tasted quite good. Glancing at Unishiwa again, she smiled. "In the U.S., our pancakes are made of flour and sugar; they're much thicker than these, and you usually drench them in syrup." She laughed and took another bite of it, chewing it thoughtfully with a bit of a sigh.

"Do you miss it there?" he asked, starting into his food.

A nod. "Though sometimes I wish I could never think of it again. I think if I were in Egypt I'd forget all about every other place I've lived."

He laughed. "I take it you like Egypt, then?"

She nodded again.

They continued breakfast in relative silence, enjoying the morning and the light streaming in from the rising sun. When they were done, it was nearly 7:45, so they decided to get a move on. Unishiwa took the dishes over to the sink, then going into his bedroom to get changed into some fresh clothing. When he came back out, Kiseki was raising the strap of her bag over her head and he saw the bruise upon her arm.

"Kiseki—" he said, reaching out and gently taking a hold of her arm, gazing at the dark blue splotch. "What happened?"

"Oh! That… yesterday when I was still at home I tripped and fell on it… I didn't expect it to be that bad, though." No use in worrying him about Kaiba, she thought to herself.

"But it looks like the bruise goes nearly halfway around your arm…" he said, looking up at her again and raising an eyebrow.

She shrugged. "Don't ask me how that happened. I did hit it pretty hard, so it might have just spread."

He still looked at her as though he knew she wasn't telling the truth, but he shrugged his shoulders and let go of her, opening up the door. She stepped out after him and started down the stairs of the apartment, him locking the door behind them and following her down. When they reached the stairs, he stopped her and she turned to face him.

"It would be best if we arrived at the school at least from separate directions, Kiseki," he said seriously. "I don't believe that teachers are allowed to do what I'm doing, so I'm going to take an alternate route and meet up with you right around the same time you get there, ok?"

Kiseki nodded and started walking towards the school while Unishiwa went across the street and down another, disappearing.

As she walked, she didn't think about anything. She purposefully wiped her mind clean so that she could at least focus somewhat upon her classes when she arrived—it made her forget what the black limo in front of the school meant as she came in the gates.

Seto whipped his head around as he realised that Kiseki had passed right by his window, and he watched as she solemnly stopped in the near centre of the courtyard, just staring at the school. He wondered what she was doing, but a more important question arose in his mind. Why did she come from the other direction? Did she not go home last night? He scowled and got ready to open up his door to confront her, realising that if she hadn't gone home, she didn't have the card. He stopped upon seeing Unishiwa.

The professor saw Kiseki standing alone and came up behind her, reaching out to put an arm around her shoulders. She jumped and turned to him, her hands drawn up to her chest. "Sorry, Kiseki," he said with a slight laugh as he saw a hint of relief pass over her face.

He gently squeezed her shoulder. "Are you ok?"

She nodded and swallowed. "I was just… thinking, I guess."

"About what?"

"Well…" In truth she had been thinking about nothing at all; she had just felt a slight feeling of foreboding as she approached the building. "I don't know," she said after a moment.

"Are you worried about something?"

"I don't know. I feel funny."

"Well," he said, smiling down at her. "Today is Friday, and this year the school stopped classes on Saturdays, so you'll have the weekend coming up to get everything sorted out a little bit." She still looked slightly apprehensive, so he tried another idea. "I'm near you first period and during cleanup, so if you want we can meet for lunch in the middle, alright?"

She nodded and looked up at him with eyes that shined slightly. "…thank you, sensei…" she whispered.

Unishiwa pulled her to him and hugged her reassuringly, and she immediately put her arms around him in return. He glanced up from her shoulder to see that there was no one in the courtyard who'd be watching, but, seeing no one, he gave her a slight squeeze and slowly let go of her.

"You're going to be fine," he murmured to her. "Shall we?" He started towards the school and she looped an arm through his, falling in step beside him.

As they went through the doors, Seto could feel his hand tightening upon his briefcase. He had noticed that Unishiwa had also come from a different direction than he had seen before, and their little hug had confirmed his suspicions. What the hell is he doing with her? He's a professor… she's a student… she's going to be 16 tomorrow! He shook his head, opening up his door and shutting it a little harder than he needed to, causing the driver inside to flinch. As his limo drove away, Seto made his way across the courtyard, a new feeling brewing inside him.

He didn't know what it was. He had never felt it before, and the fact that it was over a girl was confusing him. The only thing he could compare it to would have been the first time that Yugi had beaten him… but this was far stronger. Shaking his head slightly, he pulled open the front doors of the school and stepped in, going to his locker. Once he had his things, he went to his classroom as students began to arrive.

Unishiwa and Kiseki were already seated, meaning Seto would have to save his talk to Kiseki for lunchtime. The professor looked up and practically glowered at him as he sat down, but Seto shot the exact same look back at him before opening up his briefcase to start typing on his laptop again. Kiseki missed the whole interaction, as she had taken to making random scribbles on her desk, her cheek resting upon her hand. Yugi and his friends came in shortly after and immediately stood around her, Yugi directly in front.

"Can we talk to you for a sec, Kiseki?" he asked.

She kept her eyes fixed upon her desk and her hand did not stop moving. "Why?"

He leaned in and whispered in her ear; she shrunk slightly away from him. "Kaiba's close by."

She raised an eyebrow at him, but, seeing as how she had nothing else to do, she stood up and followed the group out. Once out in the hallway, she leaned up against the lockers and surveyed them all with an apathetic expression, still trying to keep her mind from wandering onto the week's events.

"Where've you been, Kiseki?" Yugi asked worriedly.

"At home," she responded curtly.

"Why?"

Kiseki turned her eyes to the speaker, as it had been Anzu's obnoxious voice that had asked the question. She looked at the five before looking back at the tri-colour haired boy, wanting to smack him again for how concerned he looked. "I wasn't feeling well. Why do you care?"

Jonouchi spoke this time, though he lowered his voice, glancing somewhat angrily at the classroom door before leaning toward her. "Because Kaiba's been acting really weird since you were gone."

"I don't see your point."

The blonde slightly clenched his fist. "Because you were gone, that jerk—"

"Jonouchi!" Yugi whispered fervently, putting his hand on his friend's shoulder. "You agreed not to get angry…"

She straightened up slightly, furrowing her brow. "You talked about me while I was gone?" she asked, a slight hint of accusation climbing into her tone.

Yugi turned his eyes onto her again and nodded. "We were worried, is all."

"Right." She looked down the hallway again, only to be pushed back into the lockers by Jonouchi.

He leered at her, leaning in very close and hissing through his teeth. "Since you were gone, that psycho decided to go after Shizuka. He cornered her and tried to get her to tell him about the card he wants the first day you didn't show up."

Kiseki's eyes widened and she froze, looking at the boy as he went on, nearly shaking with anger. "I saw him and shoved him away from her; she ran off, crying her eyes out. It's because of you that she's terrified of being alone at school now—"

"Jonouchi!" said Honda, yanking him off her.

"It's because of you that my little sister is afraid! Just give him the damn card and end this before it gets someone else tangled in!" Jonouchi wrenched himself from Honda and stomped into the classroom, the eyes of his friends following him.

They looked back at Kiseki, who hadn't moved since he had let go of her. "Kiseki…" said Yugi, putting his hand out.

She did not react to him, her hands raised slightly in front of her, her eyes frozen upon the floor in shock. Before anyone could say anything else, she sharply turned away from him and went down the hallway without a glance back, heading towards the locker rooms. The group stared after her before looking at each other and hesitantly going inside the classroom.

Once inside, she went into a stall and heavily leaned against the wall of it, her hands coming up to her chin. She slowly sank down to the floor, Jonouchi's words echoing in her mind. "…that psycho decided to go after Shizuka… It's because of you that my little sister is afraid!" She shut her eyes, hoping to drown out his voice, but she slowly started to think that it was her fault.

If I hadn't shown the card to her… if I hadn't made it so damn obvious that I liked her… hell, if I'd just given him the card! She clenched her fists, a few tears running down her face. I should just give it to him already… Shizuka's not supposed to get hurt… no one is… it's a stupid card and I only wanted it for the picture! Selfishness never helped anyone! It's just hurting other people who shouldn't be involved! I'm… I'm… She looked up from her knees slightly, making a straight face at the wall across from her. I'm going to give it to him… I'll call my parents and get it to him so that he'll just leave Shizuka alone…

Kiseki let her head fall back upon her knees, practically yelling at herself within her head… It's my fault Shizuka is afraid now…