I'm so terribly sorry that I haven't updated in quite awhile… truth be told, I've been very busy. Plus, I see now that I will never end up with the guy I've dedicated this to and, frankly, I've been too depressed lately to force myself to write anymore of a fantasy that won't become a reality.

I've decided to give up my own dreams and instead focus on writing them. Disclaimer: Don't own. Won't own. Can't own Read Anyway.

Shizuka lay on the cold sidewalk for what seemed like an eternity, listening to the drumming of her heart in her ears. She tried to get up, but failed. She felt so weak and just cried.

Why did those girls hate her so much!? Why did they cause her so much misery!? It wasn't as if THE Seto Kaiba saw anything special in her. Those girls were sadly mistaken-- Seto Kaiba saw nothing in her-- he could see nothing in her.

He never would. As much as she wanted him to love her-- he never would. She felt so enervated, as if all of her energy had just vanished and all she could do was lay pathetically on the ground and cry.

Even if she loved him-- he would never see her that way! He could never love-- he could never even remotely like her! So why couldn't those horrible girls just leave her alone!? What had she ever done to them?

"Shizuka-san?" A deep voice asked as footsteps quickened and came toward her. Quivering, she looked up in tears and found Kaiba kneeling beside her.

"What happened?-- Who did this?" he asked firmly, his voice concerned. For a moment she was greatly tempted to tell him all about those horrible, mean girls, but decided it in Seto's best not to-- it would probably just add more stress to his already hectic life.

"I… I tripped and fell down the stairs." she lied as she struggled to sit up, "I'm sorry… I'm very clumsy." she said, averting her eyes.

Kaiba watched as the girl tried to hide her warm tears. She was shaking horribly and her nose and eyes were red.

"Are you injured?" he asked gruffly as he stood and offered her a hand

Shizuka managed to stumble to her feet with the help of his large, warm hand.

"Ah… it's nothing… just a little scratched up…" Shizuka said meekly and she brushed herself off. Her knee stung and was bleeding and she had a few large scraped on her arms and hands.

Kaiba raised an eyebrow as a thin line of blood dripped from her knee,
"You're bleeding." He stated blatantly.

Shizuka blushed and shook her head as she tried to hide her knee with her limp schoolbag,
"N-No, no… really… I'm fine!"

"It was those girls, wasn't it?" He asked, his brows furrowed. Shizuka stared at him, mouth agape, as she debated on telling him all about her incident of terror. Before she could, though, a long black limo pulled up in front of the school, a bit tardier than usual.

"I'm giving you a ride home." Kaiba said firmly, his jaw set as he headed for the limousine.

Shizuka looked up at him with tears still lingering in her eyes and a scared and hopeless look on her face. Seto's intense gaze softened,
"No more harm will come of you." He motioned to the car as the door opened on cue, "Mokuba's waiting inside, if that is any reassurance." He turned and started for the sleek car.

Shizuka cautiously looked around in search of Jaquie, Breanne and their minions… but for once, it seemed as if they had finally taken their leave.

"Alright…" Shizuka said hesitantly as she allowed herself to be led to the limousine.

Kaiba watched the redhead almost intensely on the drive to that mutt's-- the Wheeler's house. The girl across from him avoided his gaze at all times and occupied herself with twiddling her hair or playing with her plad skirt.

Every once in awhile, Shizuka would glance up, catch Seto's firm gaze by mistake and quickly return her stare to her hands with a blush. Mokuba kept yapping about something new at school or about duel monster tournaments coming up soon and the like, but for the moment, an awkward silence rang in the air.

The house wasn't very far away from the school-- seven or eight blocks, maybe; they made their trip rather quickly and Shizuka was grateful when she the driver hauled open the thick door. Seto got out first and she followed while Mokuba stayed behind.

It was a nice little house, Seto noticed. Peaceful. There was a window box with colourful flowers in one of the second story windows, hers he presumed, and the house was a clean, crisp shade of white. Bright green grass and bushes lined the walk and a cherry blossom tree stood in front of a large window.

Seto stuffed his hands in his pockets and followed the sunset-haired girl to the door.

"Are you sure?" he asked suddenly.

Shizuka's hand froze at the doorknob,
"Pardon? Sure of what?"

Seto crossed his arms,
"I know those stereotypical girls. They're all bloodthirsty." he took a step closer and Shizuka's heart skipped a beat as she looked straight up into his chiseled facial features. His eyes were focused and seemingly were bearing deep into her mind, "Are you sure they didn't do anything to you?"

Shizuka couldn't find any words, only her heart made noise in her ears,
"I-- I-- I…"

"Are you sure?" he asked again, his tall, thin figure towering over her.

"Arragh! Mai! Hold on a second!" Joey pleaded as Mai dragged him down the street.

"No, Jou! I'm going to buy you a nice pair of date shoes if it's the last thing I do! Now come on!" she said as she grabbed him by the collar and comically dragged him toward another frilly-looking boutique.

Something caught the blonde male's eye that scared him much more, though. Down the street, he spotted a black limo in front of his house… and even worse, that man was with his little sister, leaning a bit down toward her.

"Mai, Mai! Please let me go, oh for Pete's sake! Please!" he pleaded as he squirmed about, "Please!! I'm begging you! K-Kaiba's with my little sis! They're at my house! Please! I'm beggin' ya!"

The leggy blonde rolled her eyes,
"Yeah right. And Naruto's real. In your dreams, pal."

Off in another dimension, Naruto sneezed.

She just couldn't tell him! It was all her fault that they were angry at her, not his! Maybe she had been mean to them at some point or something-- no… maybe she…

"Are you sure?" he repeated. Shizuka snapped out of her thoughts,
"Y-Yes… Yes… it was my fault… I'm very clumsy." she said sheepishly.

Seto's clear eyes searched hers for a moment and he finally gave in,
"All right." he said as he turned and headed back for his car. Shizuka watched the breathtaking man as he climbed inside the limo and drove off. Then, she fumbled for her keys and went inside.

"Well," said Jaquie from inside her parked car across the street from the Wheeler house, "It seems as if 'Little Miss Innocent' thinks she too good to be afraid of us."

Breanne shook her dark locks,
"Well then, we can't let her get full of herself, now can we?"

"No," said Jaquie with a smile, her white eyeteeth showing, "I suppose we can't. We'll just have to keep our… promise."

Mokuba was silent as the two bumped along in the back of the KC limousine. His older brother had gotten out his laptop and was hurriedly typing something.

"Is Miss Shizuka gonna be okay?" Mokuba asked after a bit.

"Yes." Seto said simply as he continued to type.

"Do you know who did that to her? And why? I mean, who could be so mean? She's one of the nicest--"

"I don't know Mokuba." Seto said firmly. Mokuba got the hint and stayed quiet.

Seto's fingers paused for a moment,
"Oh… and Mokuba?"

The raven-haired young boy looked up at his brother,
"Yeah?"

"You can go out on a date."

Well, did you like it? Sorry, It was another one of those less-romantic, more informational chapters. The next one should be good. Thank you for reading, please review (And please try to be nice, I'm not having a good time right now.)

Thanks,
Mysteria Pearl