Disclaimer: Yugioh is no mine
Ok so I have some bad news (that I'm sure most of you knew was comeing)…. I'm really not going to have time to write this story for… well… a long time. (I'm thinking after I graduate) It's not that I'm not inspired or something but I'm finishing up a feature length scripts and starting a web series not to mention trying to get ready to graduate while finding a job. Yeah life kind of does that to me, piles a bunch of stuff on at once.
So, basically, this is kind of going to take a back burner…
-hides from angry fans-
You have no idea how hard it is for me to admit defeat and how much I want to keep writing this story. And I will finish it someday. Just not anytime soon.
You are all just so amazing and the idea of not having your feedback and having to not plan out Emi, Mir, and Gwyn's stories is so hard for me to do… but for now I think I need to start concentrating on other things.
This doesn't mean this story is going to stop… it's just kind of on a break.
I'm so sorry…
"Alright, I'm going to remove the bandages."
"Ok."
Mir could feel the doctor taking the bandages off. Her heart was beating against her chest so hard she wondered if it would burst. Well if it did, at least she was at a doctor's office. Light flooded her vision.
Or lack thereof.
She blinked a few times, fear gripping her chest. What if she wouldn't be able to see? What if she was blind forever? Would she be ok with that? She had been blind for so long now she wasn't even sure if she remembered what the world looked like around her. No, that was her panic talking; she remembered what things looked like. Emi's crystal blue eyes, Gwyn's angelic face, Ryou's bright smile…
"Mir?" Ryou's voice spoke out.
No wait, did that blob of light just move? Mir's stomach gave a lurch and she felt like she was going to be sick and like she could run a million miles all at once.
"Mir?" This time it was Emi. Mir strained her eyes to see her sister, make her out in the blobs of color and light.
Slowly… painfully slowly, the muddy colors and light started to take shapes. In front of her, only inches from her face, she could make out Ryou's messy white hair. Her eyes focused on him, trying to find his eyes on the blob that she thought might be his face.
"Hi," she whispered. A small shape moved and Mir could tell Ryou was smiling. Her stomach gave another lurch, only this time she didn't feel sick, but that run sounded good right about now.
-0-
Mir looked at herself in the mirror. Really looked at herself. An older, slightly more mature girl looked back. Tugging at her hair, she frowned, it had gotten longer and the purple streaks were definitely fading into faint grayish brown, not quite as attractive as they used to be. But she didn't care, she could SEE. Was the world really this colorful? Had her eyes really been that shade of purple?
"You going to get ready for school or just stand there and admire yourself?" Emi teased, looking over at her. Mir turned and smiled at her sister. Mir had always thought her sister was pretty but there was something about seeing her again after all that time. It made Emi's white blonde hair shine even more like sunshine shining through white clouds or something, and her eyes shone – was she using the word shine too much?- like a beautiful blue crystal, flecks of purple and dark blue mixed in. Even though Emi never spent much time on her appearance, Mir thought she had never looked better.
"Did I ever tell you how beautiful you are?"
Emi smiled, shaking her head. "Who are you and what have you done with my sarcastic loudmouth Mir?"
Mir shrugged. "She took a vacation, but she'll be back soon."
-0-
"Man, Mokuba, you are sooo lucky you have a pool."
"Two pools," the younger Kaiba said with a teasing smile on his face.
"GAAAAAA I hate you!" With that, Mir pushed the black haired boy into the clear blue water. Gwyn gasped at her sister's action. It had been a week since Mir's operation and Mir was back to her old bubbly self. Her eyes were still adjusting to things, but the doctor was very hopeful, saying that if everything went well, Mir's 20/20 eyesight would be back.
"Moki, are you ok!" Gwyn cried, running to the pool's edge while Mir laughed diabolically. The young Kaiba emerged, his dark gray blue eyes sparkling as he looked up at the young blonde who was leaning over the pool's edge, concern written in her amethyst eyes. Laughing, the young boy grabbed her arm and pulled her in with him. His hand was still holding hers as she emerged from the water, shock in her large amethyst eyes.
Mir laughed, doing a cannon ball into the large indoor pool, splashing both Mokuba and Gwyn. Seto rolled his eyes as he walked around the pool's edge, watching the younger kids goof off.
"I don't understand why we never did this before," Emi remarked, walking beside him, her eyes on the younger kids, laughing at their antics.
"That's because swimming is a waste of time, not only do you sit around doing literally nothing, but you get wet in the process. Then you than have to spend more time drying yourself off after."
Emi rolled her eyes. "For that remark, I should push you in."
"Do it and die."
"Ohhh, I'm so scared."
Seto's sapphire blue eyes just glared at her as they kept walking, "If you think it's so fun, why aren't you in there?" he asked. Emi laughed, running her fingers through her blonde hair.
"I'm not a fan of just jumping into pools, I like to take my time." Somehow Seto knew she was going to say that. "So if you're not going to swim, why are you even here?" Emi asked.
"HEY EMI, PUSH SETO INTO THE POOL! BUT DON'T TELL HIM I JUST SAID THAT! DO IT ALL SECRET LIKE."
Seto stared at Mir, who was jumping up and down in the shallow end of the pool, waving. Next to her, his brother was trying very hard not to laugh and Gwyn looked like she was trying not to get involved. "Does your sister have problems?" he asked the blonde next to him.
"Hummm probably, but she does have a point… you're just ASKING to get pushed in, all dressed up like that." At this, she eyed his long white over coat. "And what's in those shoulders anyway?" she asked, gently poking one of the large shoulder pads in his jacket.
"Nothing, why do people always want to push other people in to a pool anyway? It's childish."
She sighed, shaking her head as if she were talking to a young child. "Cuz it's fun, but then I guess you wouldn't know about that since you flunked fun when you were a child." Emi snickered; she was really starting to get on his nerves. Sighing, he turned to her.
"Why don't you just slowly start getting into the pool?"
"But I'm having sooo much more fun right here with the fun flunker."
That did it. Quickly, before she knew what he was doing, he grabbed her arm and spun her backward, then pushed her forward, sending her flying face first into the pool. After a few moments she emerged wet and spluttering. Crouching down, Seto watched her as she glared up at him, her crystal eyes sharp from behind messy wet blonde hair.
"You're right," Seto said, leaning down so that only she could hear. A smile played in his sapphire eyes. "Pushing people in the pool IS fun."
From the other side of the pool, Mir watched, a small smile of amusement on her face. Things seemed to have chanced in more ways then one.
-0-
"So… what's happened during my operation?"
Mir walked into the bedroom, a towel over her wet hair after showering. Emi looked up from combing out Gwyn's wet locks, confusion written on the eldest girl's face. "Huh?"
Mir shrugged. "Oh, I don't know…" The brunette trailed off glancing at Gwyn as if asking the younger girl to back her up. Gwyn just looked at her, completely confused at what her sister was implying. Mir sighed, shaking her head. "Seto, he couldn't keep his eyes off you today."
Emi laughed, almost choking. "Oh really…?" Skepticism was written all over her face. Mir laughed, taking the towel off her head, rubbing her wet hair furiously.
"Hey, I once was blind and now I can see. Seriously, what happened between you two while I was in the operation?"
"I don't know what you are talking about."
"Sure you don't."
-0-
"And it seems like everything is running smoothly."
"For once."
"With that attitude, Seto, it's no wonder life is so stressful."
Seto just frowned, taking the papers from Emi. After glancing over them for a moment, he looked back up at Emi.
"Yes?"
"Well, shouldn't Tamarey be doing this work?"
"Maybe…"
"But you don't trust her."
"Of course."
Emi sighed, picking up a few more folders to give to Chol. All she wanted was to go home. Ever since Mir's operation, Emi had even less motivation to work for KaibaCorp than before. Not that she had ever really WANTED to work here. However, after Mir's operation, things outside of work like spending time with her sisters seemed more important.
"Ok, well, I'm going to file these and then leave for the day."
Seto frowned. "It's only four." Her lack of enthusiasm to be at the company was becoming more and more evident. She wasn't even trying to hide it with witty comments anymore. At first he had just brushed it off but now it was really starting to annoy him. If he wasn't Seto Kaiba he would have taken it personally
"Well, my sisters get home soon, and unlike you, I like to do things other than work."
"You don't have to work here if you don't want to."
The comment completely caught her off guard. "What?" Seto didn't look up from the papers on his desk.
"You came back on your own, and if you hate working here, you don't have to be here." He glanced up at her, waiting for her reaction. Emi just stood there, expression blank trying to process the scene before her. He was obviously upset about something, but in typical frustrating Seto fashion wasn't letting on what it was.
They stood there in silence for what seemed like forever. Finally, Emi sighed.
"I'm not going to pretend I LIKE working, cuz I don't. But I'd rather be working here than anywhere else. It's just that after Mir's operation, I want to spend as much time as I can with her. Plus, I make enough working from 8 to 4 to live happily. It has nothing to do with the company or you."
"So, KaibaCorp and I are one in the same?"
Emi frowned, confused by this statement. Hadn't they had this conversation about their relationship a few weeks ago? Had it really been only a few weeks ago? So much had happened. Biting her lip she tired to think of a answer that wasn't as confused as she was. However, regardless if it had made sense or not, she wouldn't have been able to say it, because at that moment Tamarey came barging in.
"I have those files from marketing for you Seto, and Emi, these from the new interns." She almost threw the manila envelope at Emi who fumbled to catch it causing a few sheets to fall. Bending down Emi picked up the papers and glanced over at Tamarey who had a small smirk on her face.
"Thanks, I'll go files these." Nodding to Seto, she walked out, Tamarey following. The sound of her stilettos clicking closely behind Emi reminded Emi of some nagging child trying to get her attention. Turning, she forced a smiled at the bleach blonde. "Did you need something else?" She asked hoping the answer was no so she could leave and meet up with her sisters. Why was it that no matter how hard she tried she could never leave on time? Unless she had no place to go, then it was like the world was pushing her out of the office.
Tamarey smiled sweetly, licking her bright red lips, "Do you think you are the only girl?" she asked. She said it in such a sweet happy voice Emi wasn't even sure what she meant at first.
"Only girl?"
Tamarey gave an airy laugh. "Oh please! The only girl who Seto fancies."
"I'm pretty sure he doesn't fancy me," Emi lied. Truthfully, she didn't know how Seto felt or how she really felt. But she wasn't about to inform this little bleach blonde bimbo about her complicated relationship with Seto Kaiba.
"Oh don't lie! I see the way you look at him, the way you talk to him! Like you think you're the only girl he's close to."
Ok, Emi was pretty sure she was the only one who thought of Seto as a friend. If you called their relationship friendship… but this was Seto Kaiba they were talking about. He wasn't close to anyone but his brother. And after years of knowing him she had never met anyone else besides Mokuba who was even in his life. "Well, I didn't know there were others."
"He's a man, and a rich one at that. Of course there are."
"Well, thank you for informing me."
Tamary laughed again; turning, she flounced away. She reminded Emi of some little girl who was showing off her new dress for all her admirers. Emi almost laughed right there in the middle of the hallway. The whole conversation was so absurd.
"Well, at least we now know why she is here." Emi turned to see Chol leaning over her desk, a smile of amusement on her face.
"So that's what a gold digger looks like?"
"Pretty much, I had my suspicions for a while."
"Wow, I had no idea."
Chol laughed, shaking her head. "Of course you wouldn't, and you're the little fish in this big sea of business."
"Thanks for reminding me. I thought after all this time it would change."
Chol shrugged. "You have to want to adapt to the business world in order to fit in."
-O-
This silence was so awkward. Gwyn glanced at Mokuba, who walked next to her, hands in his pockets as he looked around at the city. Gwyn sighed. Man, I wish I was a good conversationalist like Cam or Mir or those girls at our school…. What do I say? Just say something smart… something Mir would say…
"Thank you for walking me back from practice," Gwyn mumbled. Mokuba turned, head cocking to one side.
"Huh?"
"Oh, uh, I just wanted to thank you for walking me back."
"Oh, no problem, Mir asked me to. She said something about having to talk to Satra."
So he was only here because Mir asked him to. Her older sister had probably done it on purpose. Ever since Mir had found out that Gwyn had a crush on Mokuba the brunette, much to Gwyn's total embarrassment, had been slowly dropping hints and winks to her older sister. Lucky for Gwyn Mokuba seemed as oblivious as ever. Go figure. Oh well, better make the best of this "alone time."
"So what do you think of real school? Not that you didn't go to school before, I mean. Just, like, what do you think of going to school with other kids and stuff…" Gwyn mentally kicked herself; she sounded like some dorky kid who had no social skills. Then again, she had spent the first thirteen years of her life with only her sisters and the forced contact with the kids at her school. Yet it always seemed like the conversations with Mokuba she had in her head always went so smoothly, but when she talked to him in person, nothing came out of her mouth.
"School's pretty cool, I like the kids, they are all pretty nice. But how come we never really hang out when we're at school?"
The question caught Gwyn completely off guard, she was sure her heart had just jumped into her throat. Eyes wide, she shrugged, trying desperately to think of a good response besides, "the kids you hang out with are mean to me" or "I'm not a cool kid like you." "I don't know," she finally croaked, wincing at her own voice. "But I'd like to," she whispered quickly.
"Yeah…" Mokuba said, nodding, deep in his own thoughts. Gwyn looked up at him, her heart fluttering again as she tried to think of something else to say. But she didn't have to, because something happened that spun the whole conversation into an entirely new twist.
"Gwyneira Hidenka? Miss Hidenka!" Mokuba and Gwyn turned to see a young woman running down the street, a camera man running behind her. Gwyn recognized the woman from TV, but she couldn't quite remember what the woman's name was.
"Y…yes?" the young girl asked, unsure what someone would want from her.
"I just wanted to get a few questions," the woman said, eyeing Mokuba up and down. The black haired boy frowned, taking an instinctive step toward Gwyn as if he were getting ready to protect her. Gwyn looked up, confused, at Mokuba. What was going on? "Mokuba Kaiba, it's so nice to see you here too, I have some questions for you as well."
"I don't think…"
"So Gwyneira—can I call you that?—how do you know Mokuba?"
"My sister works for Seto. She used to teach him."
"Ooooh, so are you guys close?"
Gwyn was in high school, so she knew what "close" meant when it was said in that tone. Shrugging, she smiled. "We're just friends."
The woman smiled slyly, turning her microphone toward Mokuba. "And how does world renowned duelist Rebecca Hawkins feel about your friendship with Gwyneira?" Mokuba frowned, and Gwyn looked completely shocked. It had never crossed her mind that Mokuba might already have a girlfriend. After all, he was the brother of Seto Kaiba, he was basically a celebrity. While Gwyn never thought she had a chance with Mokuba, the idea of him having a girlfriend and not telling her about it made her feel sick. Maybe we're not as close as I thought.
"I have already made my statements on these matters, if you want to know more you are going to have to make an appointment with my brother," Mokuba said, sounding so much like his older brother that Gwyn had to do a double take. She didn't even notice it when Mokuba took her hand and started to pull her away. "Excuse us, we have to go." With that, he pulled her away from the reporter and down the street as quickly as possible.
-O-
"Wow, that's pretty intense," Satra whispered, her amber eyes wide as she sat across from Mir. The brunette had been telling her best friend about everything that had happened before and during the operation. This included Ryou's confession. In fact, the confession was what Satra was more interested in, even if it didn't surprise her as much as Mir thought it would.
Mir nodded, never taking her eyes off Satra. Like everyone else she had been hanging out with, Satra looked different yet the same. Her strawberry blonde hair was a little longer—Satra had it in two braids at the moment—her wide amber eyes seemed to glow in the sunlight, which had nothing on the brightness of her smile. Mir couldn't remember if Satra had smiled as much as she had been doing lately, but she did remember her smiling and laughing a lot, so maybe she had. I'm starting to sound like some romantic poet, next thing you know I'm going to start complimenting the trees and singing to the birds.
"So what do you think about this major plot twist in the story that is your life?" Satra asked, bringing Mir back from her musings. Mir bit her lip, thinking about what the strawberry blonde had asked.
"I think I want to help him with whatever he is going through, if he'll let me. I think it can only hurt him more if he keeps pushing people away."
Satra's smile faltered for a moment as she digested this. "Even if there is a possibility that he might hurt you and slash or himself?"
Suddenly Mir knew they weren't talking about Ryou anymore, "A true friend would never hurt someone, Satra. They may think they can, but they can't."
Those amber eyes grew wide for a moment, then Satra's surprised expression melted into a small grateful smile. "But I don't think you like him as just a friend." Mir was unable to speak. Satra was the kind of girl you think of as the life of the party. She was the girl that people hung out with if they wanted to just have some fun. Her outward bubbly personality made you forget how much she understood about humans. How much Satra knew Mir. Satra laughed at Mir's expression. "And I think you should tell him."
Mir was about to answer when Mokuba and Gwyn came running up. Mokuba had Gwyn's wrist clasped tightly in his hand. Once they had approached them, he let go, and Gwyn instantly held her wrist as if it were made of gold. Her face was slightly flushed, whither this was from running or something else Mir was unsure. "Hey Mir! How's it been in the world of the seeing?" Mokuba asked, waving at the brunette, who was studying her sister.
"Huh? Oh, good. How was your guys' walk back?"
"Good, there was this reporter but I got Gwyn out of there before she could ask any stupid questions."
"It was amazing," Gwyn whispered, looking down at her feet. "You kind of remind me of your brother… in a good way… not that your bother is bad, just… like a leader… kind of… if that's what a leader does… I mean." Mokuba just beamed at the very clumsy compliment.
"You think I acted like Seto!? Wow, thanks, Gwyn!"
Gwyn beamed, her cheeks turning slightly red. Next to her, Mir heard Satra cough. Glancing over, Satra winked at her best friend. Mir couldn't help but smile back; she could almost hear Satra's thoughts.
Ahhh, young love.
-O-
"Thanks for the ride home."
"I'm surprised you asked."
"Well, the filing took longer than I thought; I'm just surprised you were leaving as early as six."
"Like you said, things are going smoothly."
Emi couldn't help but chuckle at this; she had lately been refusing Seto's offers to give her a ride home. But she had to ask him about her conversation with Tamarey without having the bleach blonde barging in. Biting her lip, Emi looked outside for a moment. It had seemed like such an good idea at the time, but now that she was here, Emi wasn't so sure.
"I'm getting the feeling you didn't just need a ride home."
Emi looked up at Seto; his sapphire blue eyes were studying her. She had always felt so… so exposed when he looked at her like that. It was as if he could read her very soul.
"I was… was… Now you don't have to answer this if you don't want to."
"Well, I can't if you don't tell me."
"Right… I was just wondering… what kind of life you lead outside of work."
"Is this about me pushing you into the pool?"
"How would that… what?"
"You are always complaining about me not having any fun."
Emi winced. This wasn't going the way she wanted it to. "Well, everyone likes to… relax in different ways …"
"So you want to know how I relax?"
"Kind of, I mean, more like who do you relax with…"
"You of all people should know I don't relax with many other people."
"Well, I meant more like… uhhh, you're a billionaire and I'm sure there are a lot of people who want to… or girls…. Uhhh."
Seto's intense gaze that had scared Emi moments ago had turned to one of complete confusion. What in the world was this woman talking about? "What does my money have to do with me relaxing? And girls? Emi, what in the world are you getting at?"
Emi sighed, rubbing her temples. This really wasn't her business anyway. "Never mind, it's stupid anyway." Maybe she'd just ask Chol about it, or one of the maids. They would know. Then again, why did she care? It's not like she had to be worried about Seto advancing on her. If he was THAT kind of man, he would have done it a long time ago. After all, they had shared a bed together and nothing had happened.
The limo slowed, then came to a halt. "This is my stop," Emi said, standing up. Seto watched her go, the look of pure confusion still on his face. What the heck was that all about? Of all the things Emi had ever done this was the most confusion Seto had ever encountered.
-O-
"You know, it makes sense."
"What makes sense?" Emi asked as she lay in bed. Gwyn was already asleep and she had thought Mir was the same. Apparently she had been wrong.
"That Gwyn would be the one to fall hard into love."
Emi laughed, sitting up to see Mir leaning on her side, her purple eyes bright from the moonlight. "You noticed it, too?"
"Are you kidding? How could you not? It's almost sickeningly sweet." In reality, Mir had always wondered if Gwyn would fall for Mokuba, but her suspicions hadn't been confirmed until she had spend the afternoon with the two younger teens. Gwyn seemed to hang onto Mokuba's every word and would get all flustered whenever he paid any attention to her at all.
Emi laughed, looking up at the ceiling, then down at Gwyn who was fast asleep. Emi was always in awe at how fast that girl would fall asleep. "Well, she is the one with the biggest heart."
"Yeah, always the one who loves so easily and gives so readily. It would make sense she would be the first to fall."
"I'm pretty sure she's not the first."
Mir laughed lightly, feeling her cheeks growing pink at the thought of a white haired boy. "Well, I meant like totally fall in love, you and Seto aren't exactly the best example of a good couple." This earned a pillow.
"Ha ha, you're oh so funny."
"I try."
Ok so I saw the WORST Beauty and the Beast rendition EVER. Ok maybe not the WORST but it was close. It was called "Bell and the Beast, A christen romance" when my mom showed it to me I was like "hummm okkk"
Now not to put down christen movies (hey I go to college for movies and I'm christen) but it was just… not that good. The story had potential but the sound editing, acting, lighting, and lack of music really killed it for me. Plus the random mentions of God with no context just bugged me. No one goes around saying things like "everyone says he's a mean person. Even the people from church." Really? EVEN the people from church? Ooooookkkkk then. And the random bible shots, they really just needed a little build up.
But that's just me being a stickler XP
Anyway, on to something SOOO much cooler!
MY REVIWERS!
Lightest'Ink
Awww thank you! You this have no idea how much that means to me to year that you think I put emotion in my stories! Thank you SOOO MUCH! You almost made ME cry :D
greenluvr14
Wow thank you so much! I love each and every one of these stories :D
And I guess Mir does get her sight back, cuz that's what this chapter's all bout!
DarkestInk
Haha Kaiba's anti-hero-ness! He makes me laugh, what would we do without anime character's like him XD
Btw, -not to shamlessly promote my stuff- have you read my one shot "what hurts the most"? it's about Yami Bakura. And are you KIDDING ME! You inspire me more than you know! We wouldn't have a third story if it wasn't for you! HAHAH Mokua/Seto hybred! So funny! ROFL!
Yeah Tamarey is kind of a vent of sueish girls and how they look to REAL people XD Happy you caught that… I'm your #1 fan!
OMG! I SOOO want to write that! OMG! I might just write an oneshot on that! OOOOHHH THE IDEAS!
DaAmazingMeepers
Just sent you a facebook message… nuf said
K-Kaiser
Whenever someone tells me they got hooked on the books I always think of myself when I could stay up till like 3 in the morning going "just one more chapter" with fanfics. To think that someone is doing that with MY story means more to me than I can put into words! Thank you so much!
Mirai Reiko
Wow thank you! Truthfully I kind of miss the cute little jokes and pranks from the first two, I have been planning a few for this story. Also more romance! That is once I can get the time to write it. But hey, it'll happen… some day :P
Seriously I want to make these into real books one day so I'm not giving up on the Hidenkas yet! I'm really glad you liked the character development! I have been having a hard time with it. Especially Seto since it's hard to change him without seeming out of character. So I'm guessing you are a SatraXDuke fan? Sweet!