I do not own YGO! DUEL MONSTERS.
Mana was so frustrated that she had to shout against one of the cushions in Kisara's living room to relieve her stress a bit.
Her feet swayed from back to front while her friend searched for the gadgets they would use for cooking.
"I can't believe he and Nana broke up! Why didn't he tell me anything?" she exclaimed. "We're supposed to be best friends."
"But isn't it good?" Kisara commented very focused on her task that she didn't even look at her. "I mean, you're in love with Atem, aren't you?"
Despite knowing that she had blushed, Mana sighed.
"I am, but didn't you hear what I said? We're supposed to be best friends. Best friends don't fall in love, much less confess."
She heard the bowls against the table when Kisara put them there.
"Then why this time you want to make chocolates with me and not with your aforementioned best friend, huh?"
"Because not long ago I realized how much I was in love and now I feel that at any moment I can simply say it," she replied reluctantly.
Unlike what many might think, Mana had never considered the idea of her and Atem dating together until a few months ago —it seemed longer than that though.
She didn't know how it started or how much the attraction was, but when she realized it, she missed him when he dated his girlfriends of the moment and avoided him when he was with them.
Luckily, the fact that they were in different years and in different clubs kept them away most of the time, but that didn't change the fact of her great desire to spend hours and hours with him, talking or doing whatever, like when they were children.
Sometimes she would like to give him signs of how much she liked him in that way...
"... But I'm sure he now thinks I have a crush on Kaiba," she finally exhaled with the cushion in her arms. "I mean, I'm head-over-heels for him, you know! That's how dense he is."
Kisara looked at her with a regretful smile.
"I'm sorry. I want it to be a surprise, you know..."
"No, no! It's fine! I mean, that's not the problem!" Mana smiled back quickly and then put the cushions back in place.
Seto and Kisara's relationship was a secret. Well, an open secret. They could almost never be together at school and even if they had time out of it, it was difficult for them. Honestly, Mana was surprised that they could both be in a relationship. Neither Seto seemed the type of guy who valued a woman more than himself or Kisara someone who could bear the personality of someone like him. But, she had to admit, they were cute and both complemented each other well— from what Kisara had told her and from the little she had seen.
Mana sighed and announced that she was going to wash her hands. Kisara followed her with her eyes and shook her head.
She wasn't going to say it out loud, but she was sure Mana was as much or denser than Atem. You had to be blind not to notice that the one who was literally head-over-heels for Mana was Atem and that was saying little. He was madly in love with her and she didn't realize!
"It's his cold-boy facade that makes the girls brake up with him," Mana continued out of the bathroom while moving her hands, as if it were a theory she had just checked. "Atem is so sweet, but for some reason he puts so much effort into being that indifferent, kind of cool guy..."
"He puts 'so much effort' you say?" Kisara raised both eyebrows.
Atem was not only a cool boy. He was that cool boy that women simply looked for existing. He might not be the tallest or the smartest, but he had an attractive aura that not everyone could match.
Probably if she didn't have Seto, she would also have a crush on Mana's childhood friend. Just probably.
"Maybe he's just sweet to you," she added. Although for some reason it sounded like a question rather than a comment. "I mean, you've known him, like, forever, maybe..."
However Mana shook her head discarding the possibility.
"Nah. Today I talked to this girl Téa and she seemed to know how kind of a person he really is. Besides, he's nice to you too," she argued.
"Because I'm your friend," Kisara knew that if it wasn't for that, Atem wouldn't look at her twice.
No, she was expecting a lot. Kisara wouldn't even have caught Atem's attention even if he knew she was Seto's girlfriend.
"Actually, Mana, you really should..."
However Mana didn't give her time to finish before exclaiming:
"Anyway, let's start with the chocolates!"
It wasn't as if she wanted to convey her feelings to Atem in that way, was it?
It was just chocolate. She could give him some whenever she wants to. It's not as if he were to ask if it were friends-chocolate or love-chocolate.
Mana was so confused that she didn't realize when the bell rang and the break started.
She laid her head on her desk and exhaled. Mana was anxious, yes, but why? What did Valentine's day have to make her feel like that?
She decided that she wouldn't let her feelings interfere with their friendship. Atem was so precious to her to simply lose him.
"What a cliché thing to worry about," she heard.
As fast a she could, Mana straightened her back and then looked at Serenity, who just sat in the desk next to her, while Kisara took the one in front.
"Did I really say that out loud?" she asked kind of freaked out. "Wait, the class is already over? When did that happen?!"
"While you were daydreaming instead of paying attention," said Kisara as she giggled. "Really, Mana, why are you so distracted?"
"Hey, I wasn't—" but obviously she was totally ignored.
"Isn't it obvious? Someone is thinking about how to confess," interrupted her red-haired friend smirking.
Mana looked at her, half amused and half confused. Serenity was so calm and quiet that nobody would think that she actually had a cunning and not-so-cute side.
"Of course not!" she objected, but her friends only laughed. "Hey, I'm serious."
In the middle of her laughter, Kisara respond:
"We know. We know, Mana," she said. "But I have to admit it, your frustration is kind of funny."
"Oh, is it?"
"Yeah," Serenity smiled and then shook her head. "Mana, you don't need to overreact."
"I'm not overreacting."
"Yes, you are."
Mana sighed. She wasn't being herself. That's what their friends were trying to tell her.
And they were totally right… To be honest, part of the reason she was so stressed was because she couldn't tell Atem. Not because this was her feelings toward him, but because it was a secret.
She couldn't keep secrets from him. Never. And this one was particularly dangerous, so Mana was kind of scared.
The only one putting pressure on her was herself, but her reason was valid, wasn't it?
But she didn't need to tell him just because it was Valentine's day. She didn't need to tell him right at the moment.
"I see, there is no need for me to tell Atem, right?"
At least, not yet.
She could way until those feelings just… flew away.
Both of them smiled. Maybe Kisara and Serenity didn't have a lot more experience than Mana, but giving her advice from an objective point of view was the least they could do.
"Oh, but if you don't want him to be snatched away, then you really should."
"And tomorrow is just perfect, isn't it?"
"Huh, hey?!"
Before Mana could do something about her friends making fun of her, they both ran away to the cafeteria.
She sighed, again, and returned to her seat. She put her elbows on the desk and then laid her chin on her hands as she looked through the window.
Thinking that she had time was so relieving.
Then someone entered to the classroom.
"Hey, Mana, would you tell Atem—?"
"Huh, you too Yūgi?!"
The poor youngest Mutō almost jumped out of the classroom because of her yelling.
"What the—? Why are you so worked up?!" he exclaimed.
Then Mana realized that she was still overreacting.
"So you're not the one confessing," she heard from the other side of her cellphone.
"What? No, brother, Kisara is. What made you think that I—"
Mana was interrupted by Mahad's sigh before he started to speak.
"I asked: 'is someone going to confess?' and you told me all that nonsense about how you can't confess your feelings to Atem."
"Oh, my… Did I— Did I really do that again?"
"'Again'?" her brother repeated. Well, he didn't know about her conversation with Serenity and Kisara.
"Yeah, this seems to be serious. And it's not nonsense by the way!" she said.
Cellphones weren't really allowed in her high school, but classes had finished and she was only cleaning the classroom, no one would pay attention to her.
"Yes, it is," Mahad answered even if it wasn't necessary. At least so far he hadn't complained about anything and had listened to her. "You know, Mana, you don't have to be afraid of losing Atem. Your bond is stronger than that. Besides, what makes you think that he doesn't feel the same way you do?"
Mana laughed a little as she cleaned the board before shaking her head even if he wasn't watching her.
"Brother, I'm obviously not his type. You've met some of his former girlfriends, haven't you? You should've realized."
"Mana, you introduced those girls to him. Maybe he didn't know how to reject them… Or to reject your suggestion."
Well, Mana had to admit that her brother had a point —she couldn't not notice since he had emphasized the word 'your'— she, more than anyone, knew how kind Atem was.
But he wouldn't accept them just because of her, right? That didn't make sense at all. He wasn't a pushover.
"But still—!"
Again, her brother sighed and Mana remained silent. She just had to throw away the trash to finish, so she decided to rest a little. She moved one of the chairs and sat down on it. Mana turned her back on the sunset light, but it wasn't warmer.
"Okay, okay," Mahad exhaled. He knew her well enough to know that she was being stubborn, but that wasn't something he had to tell her, so he decided to change the topic. "So, that friend of yours is going to confess. How come?"
Mana smiled. It wasn't a topic that someone would talk about to their older brother, but it was alright.
"Hm…, no. I kind of confused that part. They are already dating, but it's to make it kind of official… Well, more official."
"Can't you just call it a 'confession'?"
"Sure!" she giggled. "It will be on Valentine's day! Or should I say evening? Anyway, it's going to be in the park, the one with the pool…"
Mana decided that it would be better if she threw away the trash and left before the night arrived. But she didn't want to hang up, so she continued talking to her brother about the time, the chocolate —and that she had some for him when he returned from that college trip—and some other things.
It was very lonely without her brother, but he always was there for her.
"Thanks for listening to my blabbering, brother," she said, really thankful.
And even if she couldn't see him, she knew he smiled too.
"You're welcome."
"Then…"
Little did she know that Mahad wasn't the only one listening to her.