Hello, all! Thank you so much for your kind reviews! You are all such wonderful people and your kindness has really made my day better! I hope you like this chapter! It should be exciting and-- well, just read it! Thank you!
(Something strange has happened, I've become his friend... I'm going totally nuts! Anyhoo, Summer's coming and then, although I'll probably never see him again for quite some time, summer new guys!)
Thank you thank you thank you all once again for your support and kindness, you'll never know how much better it made me feel... and yes, Ben & Jerry are my CLOSE friends! XP
Oh, by the way, this chapter gets a little violent... just a warning!
Disclaimer: Sorry, I still don't own it. It's most DEFINITELY not mine. Read it anyhoo!
Shizuka got to school, early as usual and sighed as the welcomed silence wafted over her. For the first time in quite awhile, she almost forgot all of her woes and was warmly enveloped in the silence. She entered the school, got her morning textbooks from her locker and headed up toward the classroom to see Seto.
She stopped and closed her eyes for just a brief moment to soak up the morning when she thought she heard something. Her eyes shot open and she stood very still, listening hard. She had thought she had heard footsteps... but no one was usually at school in the mornings other than she, Seto, and the janitor who she had never actually seen working before.
Dismissing it as just the school shifting or a teacher that had come early to grade papers, she continued on her way, winding through the lond echoing hallways towards the stairs.
Click... Clack... Click... Clack... Click... Clack... Click... Clack...
She paused and turned back, though, because she could have sworn she had heard someone behind her. All she faced was an empty hallway. A bit displaced and paranoid, she continued on her way. As she hurried up the stairs, she saw a shadow from around the corner. She paused and backed up, knowing the footsteps that accompanied it did not belong to Seto.
"Well, well, well." Shizuka held her books tighter to her chest as Jaquie rounded the stairs with her arms crossed, Sera and Laurie behind her, "Looks like we meet again, Miss Kawaii..." she said mockingly.
Shizuka backed away from them, down the stairs,
"I... what do you want?" she asked, trying to seem less fearful than she truly was.
"Oh, not much." Shizukawhipped around and found Brianne, Taylore and Rillie behind her, "We just wanted to let you know... you went way beyond your limit."
"Yeah," The clique followers sneered as they took a menacing step toward the quivering redhead. The rest of the girls followed suit and surrounded Shizuka. She was on the verge of tears and was beyond terrified. If only someone would come to her rescue-- if only Seto would come to her rescue.
Jaquie held up her hand and haughtily inspected her nails,
"And now it seems that we've gotta teach you one final lesson."
"For clinging to him." Brianne said as she snapped in the air.
"For drivin' home with him." Taylore said as she popped her knuckles
"For makin' us look bad." Rillie and Sera said in unison.
"For bein' with him constantly." Laurie said as she cracked her neck
Shizuka's tear-filled eyes darted from one girl to another and finally up to Jaquie as the blonde took a step closer and raised her hand,
"For lovin' him."
Seto looked up from his laptop and listened carefully for a moment. He thought he had heard something downstairs. A pounding sound... but it wasn't constant-- there it was again... there was a clank... and then a slam... and then another crash.
Although curious, Seto dismissed the noisiness, thinking it was only the janitor or some silly lower-class girl messing about. He watched the clock anxiously, waiting for Shizuka to come through those doors, smiling and happy. He had wondered what had happened to her the day before; she refused to tell him.
It was unlike his nature to be curious about something concerning someone other than himself, but for some reason, he was intrigued by the girl, and as the clock ticked away and the distant rumble continued, the slipped off into his thoughts about Shizuka.
"I'll make you pay for ever even lookin' at him, you little witch!" Jaquie roared as she raised her arm and hit Shizuka across the face yet again. Shizuka fell back as the sting went across her jaw and up her nose; she was battered and beaten and her energy was almost used up-- she just had to get away from those horrible girls.
"You're so pathetic!" Brianne said with contempt as she came up from behind and shoved Shizuka to the floor. Shizuka struggled to get up-- to get away, but Rillie, Seraand Taylore all began taking turns kicking her with their pointy metal-toed, high-heeled boots. As one kick after another came in contact with the defenseless redhead she tried to curl up into a ball, only to be yanked up to her feet and thrown down once again,
"Please..." she said breathlessly as she wiped some blood from her lip, "Please s-stop!"
Jaquie sneered down at her,
"Just who do you think you are, you common little punk?" She chuckled cockily, "How dare you think that he would ever show any interest in a feeble little girl like you!" Seraand Rillie dragged her to her feet again and Jaquie came close, "Stupid little girl." she said quietly, musing over her injuries, "You're nothing. worthless loser!" She struck Shizuka across the face again, her sharp french manicure tearing into her skin.
Brianne came up behind the blonde,
"Jaquie's so right. You're just lonely now that your brother-- what's his name, Jou?-- Yeah, now that he's skipping merrily into the sunset with Miss Mai Valentine, you're all alone, aren't you?"
Shizuka tried to avert her tear-filled eyes, but Brianne took Shizuka's face and made her look her in the eye,
"Poor, pathetic little creature." She jabbed at Shizuka's ribs, "You're ugly andall alone. Yet somehow, you thought that Seto-- THE Seto Kaiba-- could take intrest in you." She laughed tauntingly as she sunk her stiletto into Shizuka's foot. Shizuka cried out in pain, but the girls merely snickered.
Jaquie scoffed and flipped her blonde hair, "You are so sadly mistaken, you worthless coward. He's a billionaire. Seto-kun's the hottest man on the face of the planet, and he's the head of Kaiba Corporation. Why on earth would he take any notice of an insignificant wretch like you?"
Shizuka said nothing, but she knew their words were true... But why did Kaiba speak to her? Could he care for her? No; she was just a common girl. Could he pity her? No... because he was said to have no heart...Could he--
"I know what you're thinking, now." Jaquie said with a smirk, "You know it to be true... he's just using you. He's just giving you a little hope so that you feel good about yourself. You think there's something between you... but there's not." hot tears fell from Shizuka's eyes and the girls cackled.
"He'll show that to you mercilessly... but for now, you're just his plaything. He's only toying with your emotions. You know I'm right." Jaquie said as she snapped her fingers. Seraand Rillie dropped Shizuka and she fell to the ground.
"It's time to end this, once and for all, you little monster!"
Seto's mind wandered as he thought of Shizuka... her bright locks, her golden eyes... but why!? Why did he feel this for her? What could possibly attract him to her? He rubbed his temples, this was all very confusing... She was just so sweet... and she was so... so real--
BANG!
Seto's eyes shot to the door as he heard the thumping come to it's climax with a loud crash and then all was still. Something was seriously wrong. He rose to his feet. Shizuka had never been so tardy before... and she couldn't be ill--
Something must have happened... Could it be his fault?
Those girls! It all clicked in his mind and he briskly walked to the door and hurried down the hall toward the stairs.
That's why she was hurt and wouldn't tell him the reason! Those horrible, clinging girls had threatened her-- or worse. He knew from experience that Shizuka could be in great danger. Often, people who were jealous of his brother would often try to hurt him or get rid of Mokuba... Sweat began to form on his brow and his heart raced in his ears as he flew down the stairs
Jouniichi lazily dragged himself out of bed and looked at the clock. He a good five minutes before he absolutely had to leave for school, so he decided to head downstairs for some breakfast.
Jouniichi wasn't one to get ready tidily, Mai would usually clean him up before he got to school, so he threw on a shirt that wasn't too rancid, pulled on some almost-ironed pants, looped his tie around his neck and splashed some water on his face to wake himself up.
With a yawn, he shuffled downstairs, got the cereal out of the cupboard, and was reaching for the milk when he spotted the new message light blinking on the phone.
Normally, he would just leave the message for Shizuka to get... but for some reason his hand was drawn to the "Play Message" button. He clicked the loudspeaker on and went to go get the milk.
"You have... one... new message: Sent, Wednesday, February fourth, six fifty-one a.m.:"
Jou reached for the milk but paused when an unfamiliar female voice began speaking on the answering machine,
"Shizuka, if you know what's best for you, you won'tcome to school early to be with our Seto-kun. If you do, my girls and I will be waiting..." Jouniichi closed the refrigerator and walked over the the answering machine-- this was a threat message! "You didn't take us seriously on our fair warning. The gloves are off now, missy." Jouniichi could only stare at the phone in astonishment.
"If you would like to make a call, please hang up and try again. If you would like to speak to an operator, please press one now... If you would like to make a call, please hang up and try again. If you would like to speak to an operator..."
Seto screeched to a halt as he reached the bottom of the stairs. The lockers were dented, posters and bulletin boards that had previously been hanging on the walls were scattered about the floor, torn and crumpled. The glass on one of the doors had been smashed and shards of it lay about. A book-bag and it's contents were roughly thrown about.
Everything was covered in blood. In the middle of the crimson mess, the bright-haired girl he had come to known lay, battered and bruised. Tears came to her blackened eyes as she made his figure out in the morning light. Her heart hurt more than any bodily injury given to her by those nasty girls, because deep down she knew they were right.
His tall, lean figure approached her and tears gell from her eyes.
He could never love her
"Shizuka!" he said anxiously as he rushed to her side.
Her dulling eyes turned to his face,
"Seto-san..." she mumbled.
Seto kneeled down,
"It was those girls who did this to yhou wasn't it? I've told them time and time again to leave me and those around me alone. I'll make them pay. This time they've gone too far!" he growled, his eyes stinging with the unfamilliar feeling of tears.
"Seto...?" Shizuka said with great strain.
"Are you alright?" he asked as he began to pick her up off of the floor
"Se--" she gasped with sharp pain as Seto swung her into his arms, "Seto... it's all my fault... please... please don't hurt them..." she whispered as her golden eyes closed and her head fell to his shoulder.
Well? Do you absolutely hate me now? I thought so! XP Don't worry, things will get better! Just remember, I am first and foremost a romantic writer-- not a tragedy writer!! Please Please PLEASE review! Also, tell me if you think I made the clique girls bad enough (I based them off of what my subconcious says when I see a guy I like)
Thank you all SO much for your support! I hope to be hearing from you!
Much love and blessings,
Mysteria Pearl