Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh, If I did I wouldn't be at school.
I'm sorry this is sooo late, school has been crazy and I have been working pretty much everyday. But I did manage to write this and Kit was such an amazing person to beta this whopper of a chapter.
Yeah warning this chapter is reallllyyyy sad XD
Dedicated to my friend Ceci who was in the hospital two weeks ago. Your such an amazing friend it was really hard not to be there for you when you where in pain.
"In the distress of mind the man promised everything to the witch."
-Rapunzel
"You like my dad, don't you?"
Manon blinked in surprise. Was she that obvious? "Why, yes I do," she said, smiling her sweet actress smile. However, the young Emi just frowned in return.
"Sorry, but you don't fool me, I know you just like him cuz he's rich."
Manon's smiled faded slightly. What could she do now? Gayle's daughters were his life; if they didn't like her, that was the end of her plan to marry the rich merchant. She needed to think fast. However, before the woman got a chance to speak, Emi spoke again. "I'll help you get him, but you have to help us first."
"Help you?"
Manon had never seen eyes like the young blonde girl's. They burned with a fire that was much too mature for the thirteen-year-old. They burned with determination and a will to survive, even if surviving meant making a deal with the devil. "Get us out of here. We can't spend another day in this hell hole. Our uncle is horrible; he's always drunk. and if we do something that makes his girlfriend mad, she has him beat us."
The former actress's eyes grew slightly wider as she tried to hide her surprise. She had had a feeling the unpleasant man and his rather slutty girlfriend weren't very kind to Emi and her sisters, but she hadn't known to what extent. It was hard for a woman like Manon, who had been pampered her whole life, to consider suffering like what was before her. Now, Manon was not Mother of the Year with her own daughter, but she would never beat her wonderful child. Normally, a long, drawn-out lecture did the trick just fine, and the thought of having to beat anyone was rather repulsive. However, Manon would never let the young blonde know her thoughts. Folding her arms over her chest, she spoke evenly, as if she were talking to another adult and not a thirteen-year-old girl.
"So what do you propose?"
"Offer to take us into your home. In fact, I'll ask if I can stay with you. That way my father will visit you all the time. What you do with his visits is up to you."
Manon smiled. "That's not a bad idea. Is your father paying your uncle for food and stuff, because I'm…."
Emi nodded. "don't worry about money, you'll be fine, I just want to get my sisters out of here. I'll do anything." Manon smiled; she had this girl in the palm of her hand.
"Very well, Emiko Hidenka, we have a deal."
----
When I look back at that day when Manon offered to have us stay with her and her snot-nosed daughter, I'm still not sure what had possessed that witch to let us into her house. The thought of that spoiled woman helping anyone was beyond me. But then, Manon was always a conniving woman, and I guess she thought the fastest way to get to our father was through us.
Well, she was right. I only had a month until my twelfth birthday—four months after we had been living with Manon— when my father proposed. Unlike Gwyn and I, Emi didn't seem to be surprised at all. As crazy as it sounds, I sometimes wonder if she had a hand in what happened. While it seems rather unlikely, I guess it's possible. After all, the things we had to go through with our uncle and his gang weren't the best times. In fact, I think even if I had to spend every day up in my tower, it would be a trillion times better than spending one day in that house with those people.
But like they say, what doesn't break you makes you. And I think that time with those people made us who we are today.
Now to find out if living with Manon and her schemes will make or break us…
I think as long as we're together and trust each other, it'll make us. Together we can do anything. And I know we'll be together forever.
--------
Mir sighed as she ran a brush through her hair; these past weeks had been so crazy. Gwyn's practices, Hunter's stalking, Tito's whatever-was-going-on-with-him, and Emi's fight with Seto were all really starting to wear the high-schooler down. Slowly, Mir put her brush down and picked up her school bag, then trotted down the stairs. Emi had brought Gwyn to school earlier. so Mir was on her own today.
"Oh, that sounds wonderful! I'm sure we can get Gayle's product to you soon. Why don't we meet the day after tomorrow?"
Then there was that. Mir frowned as she crept closer to her step-mom's room. The brunette didn't care what everyone else said, that old witch was up to something and Mir was about to find out what it was. The middle Hidenka girl pressed her ear to the door, trying hard to listen to what her step-mother was saying.
"Alright, I'll meet you then, maybe then I'll finally get those brats off my hands for good!"
Mir's purple eyes grew wide as she crept away from the door and ran off to school. This was far from over.
-----
"GOOD MORNING, MIR!"
"Hey, Satra! Good morning."
"Sooo, did you have a nice weekend?
"Yep, those two days without classes is always nice."
"Haha, that's true, sooo…" Satra smiled her warm happy smile. "Did you go to that festival this weekend? I… Oh, HI, RYOU!" Mir looked up to see Ryou walking down the street.
When he heard his name, the white-haired boy looked up and smiled, waving.
"Good morning, Mirati, Satra."
The strawberry blonde grinned, laughing lightly. "Well, I'll see you guys later. I better get ready for class. We have this assignment where we get partners for a lab, and since our class is so small, we had to merge with another class. That means there will be TONS of kids! I think if I get there early maybe I'll be able to get someone fun, so I better hurry off to class. See you guys later!"
"Uh, bye, Satra. Good luck on with that assignment."
"Thanks, Mir, see ya guys later!"
Ryou laughed, shaking his head. "She's so funny, I'm really glad I got to know her better."
"Yeah." Mir giggled, thinking about the first time Satra had gone over to her house. "The first time we hung out, she told me she just decided she wanted to be my friend and came over to ask if I could hang out."
Ryou laughed again at the image of Satra popping up at Mir's front door. "Well, I'm sure all of us have our stories on how we met."
"Yeah…" Mir muttered. The two students walked in silence for a while, deep in their own thoughts. Suddenly, Mir turned to her classmate. "Hey, Ryou, can I ask you something?"
The white-haired boy turned to her, smiling pleasantly. "Sure."
"What made you want to be my friend? I mean you found out where I lived and came all the way over to ask me to hang out with you and your friends."
The white-haired boy laughed, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "Well, it's a really silly reason, actually."
"I want to know."
"Well, I always saw you at classes, but I had never really thought about getting to know you. You didn't talk too much, and I was… busy with other things. But I was at the arcade one day playing a game when you came in with your sisters. For some reason, I looked up when you came in. You looked so different than you did at school. You were cracking jokes and teasing your little sister. You guys looked so… happy. I guess that's when I decided I wanted to meet you."
Mir blinked, unsure of what to say. "Wow, Ryou, that's the longest I've ever heard you talk." Bakura laughed, turning slightly pink. Mir just giggled along with him as she remembered that day at the arcade. She recalled seeing Ryou there, too; in fact, now that she thought about it, she recalled Emi pointing him out.
"He's cute."
"Who?"
"That white-haired kid. He was just looking over here."
"Oh yeah, that's Bakura. He goes to school with me."
"He does? Hmm…"
"What?!"
"Hahah, oh, nothing…"
That was back before her dad had gone on that fateful trip and somehow gotten his daughter enslave—er, working for Seto Kaiba. That was way back before she had really been friends with anyone but her sisters. That was before their dad had even died, before Manon—what had that old witch been talking about this morning, anyway?
Ryou remained silent as they had walked down the halls of school. Something was definitely bothering Mir. As Satra has pointed out before, she wasn't acting like herself. He just wished he knew what it was.
Suddenly, the brunette beside the boy turned to him, her amethyst eyes pleading for help. Ryou wasn't sure why, but his stomach suddenly did a flip.
"Hey, Ry—" She never got to finish, because Hunter suddenly appeared out of seemingly nowhere.
"MIR!"
The brunette's face went from slight worry to a mixture of complete disgust and slight fear. "H-Hunter," she mumbled as the light-brown-haired American wedged himself between Mir and Ryou.
"Mir, where have you been?! I haven't seen you since Friday!"
"I think it's called the weekend…."
"Yeah, well, I wanted to take you to the festival and hang out, we really need to get together more. You're never around unless it's school. What's the matter?"
It was then that Ryou realized why Mir didn't like Hunter. Not only did he monopolize the conversation, but he made it seem like she was being mean to him. If she wasn't hanging out with him or being at his beck and call, he would pull a guilt trip on her. "Er... excuse me, could you please leave her alone?"
Both teens turned to look at Ryou. Mir's purple eyes were filled with a plea for the white-haired boys to tell this annoying stalker off. Hunter, on the other hand, looked startled that anyone would interrupt him. "What? I'm not annoying her. We're just talking."
"But she doesn't like it."
"Like what? Talking to me?"
Yes, I hate it.
"No, I don't think she likes you constantly putting her down."
"I don't put Mir down! I love her!"
"WHAT?!"
Hunter, suddenly realizing what he just said, turned to Mir, grabbing her by the shoulders. "Mir, you must have realized it by now! I love you! Be my girlfriend!"
"Uh, I'm sorry, Hunter, but…."
"I won't take no for an answer!" Hunter's grip on Mir's shoulders tightened and Mir winced as pain shot through her arm.
"Hey, let go, you're hurting her!" Ryou said from behind Hunter. The light brunette turned to the white-haired boy.
"Why should I?!"
"Because you're hurting her!"
"Hunter… please…"
"No, Mir, you have to—" Hunter was shaking her now; it was at times like this Mir really wished she was taller, and maybe a little stronger would be nice, too. But the American boy never got to finish his sentence, because Ryou pushed the other boy away, and when he moved closer again, punched him soundly across the face.
"How dare you hurt Mir like that! She's a lady and you should treat her like one! I never want to see you around her ever again!"
Mir wasn't sure what stunned Hunter more: the punch—which looked pretty strong; Mir vaguely wondered where Ryou had learned to hit like that—or the fact that quiet, shy Ryou Bakura had not only punched him but was telling him off. Mir wasn't even sure she believed what was happening in front of her. Ryou took Mir's hand, pulling her slightly out of her shock. "Come on, Mir we're going to be late for class."
It wasn't until Mir was walking to the theater to see Gwyn that she remembered she had wanted to ask Ryou's advice about Manon's odd behavior lately. Shrugging, the brunette just sighed; today was the day for odd behavior.
------------
Mir was sitting in the theater deep in thought when a bright cheerful voice pulled her back into reality.
"Hellloooooo."
"Satra?"
The strawberry blonde, smiled waving as she skipped down the long, dimly lit aisle. "So, Ryou told me you always take your sister here and I was in the neighborhood so I thought I'd stop by and say hi. So hi!"
"Uh, hi…"
"Yep, my older brother works across the street as a busboy."
"That's cool."
"Yeah…." Sitting herself down next to Mir, Satra smiled over at her brunette friend. "So I heard Ryou clocked Hunter. About time, that kid had it coming."
Mir blinked, startled by Satra's slightly evil comment. "Er, yeah, it was kind of funny to see Hunter's expression." Satra laughed.
"HAHAH, I bet! MAN, I wish I could have been there!"
"Yah, but then I'm sure you would have just talked him to death, by the way what happened with your assignment?"
Satra giggled, her amber eyes dancing with the memory. "Well, since our science class was so small, we were put in with another class. Guess whose class it was!"
"Whose?"
"Duke's!" Satra was now trying hard to contain the laughter that was bubbling inside of her while Mir just sat next to her, completely confused.
"So?"
"Soooo, while the teacher was getting all the names together so that he could pick our teammates at random, some of his fangirls sabotaged it and they had to redo it like three times! It was so funny. Finally the teachers sent everyone out and said that they would pick the pairs themselves later."
"Wow… for once in my life I'm speechless."
"Heheh, I know! It's so funny!"
"That's one way to put it."
Both girls spent the rest of the time talking and joking around until Satra's brother came to pick her up. The tall light-haired boy looked very happy to see his sister having such a good time, and while Satra ran off to get her jacket, he mentioned it to Mir.
"I just worry about her being alone, about two years ago she had a very bad relationship with a friend and she went into a really deep depression. We thought she was going to kill herself." Mir almost choked; the thought of happy-go-lucky Satra ever thinking anything even mildly depressing was shocking.
"Are we talking about the same girl? Satra, the red-haired girl who just went to go get her jacket? Depressed? Is that even possible?" The older boy nodded his head slowly, his amber eyes full of love for his sister.
"We didn't even know what was going until much later. She just broke down one day; our younger brother found her on the floor of her room crying. She kept saying she failed at life and if she was destined to be alone forever she wouldn't be able to handle that."
"I'm back!" Satra sang, skipping up to her brother and friend. Her amber eyes were sparkling as she gave her older brother a quick hug. However, when she saw Mir's face, her smile faded slightly.
"What has my brother been saying?! Whatever it was, Mir, don't listen. He wants to be a psychologist and you know how those people can be…." Her brother laughed, ruffling his sister's strawberry blonde hair.
"What's those people supposed to mean?"
His younger sister just giggled, trying to look innocent. "Oh, nothing," she sang, giving Mir a huge, obvious wink.
---------------
"Hey, Emi." The blonde looked up to see Tito standing at the door, his normal goofy smile plastered to his face as he walked in. "You busy?" Emi glanced over the papers she had been filing, eager for a distraction.
"No, not really, why?"
"Would you join me for a late lunch?"
The blonde glanced at the clock at this remark; it was 2:30. Looking back to Tito, she noticed a slight desperation behind his usually-relaxed expression. Shrugging, she took her coat from behind her chair. "Why not, I've been at this boring filing since ten."
"Great!" Emi couldn't help but notice the relief that washed over the black-haired man.
Their lunch wasn't anything out of the ordinary. After getting a bite to eat at a local café, they took a walk through the park. Signs of the warmer weather coming were evident around them. Bright colorful flowers started to push their way through the frozen ground; birds were a little more active as well. Emi loved this time of year; it was like a sign of new life, and in a way, a sign of hope. Like no matter how horrible the last year was, the one to come could—just might—be better. Next to her, Tito coughed once. Emi glanced over at him, noticing once again how the young man seemed a little on edge. He was not only fidgeting slightly with his gloved hands, but his eyes would every so often glance at her then away as if he had something to say but wasn't sure how to say it.
"E-Emi, I have something I need to talk to you about…."
The young woman turned, her crystal eyes full of question. Tito sighed, looking down at his feet. He knew what he wanted to say—what he needed to say. It was just a matter of getting the words out of his mouth. He could feel his reasoning pushing against his brain, but he couldn't think of the right way to say it. It was as if he needed to speak in a language he barely knew.
The young man in front of her was a wreck. Emi had never seen anyone act this way. He kept looking at her; then he would open his mouth to say something, then shut it and gasp in slight annoyance. He kept pacing around, rubbing his hands together then through his hair.
"What's the matter, Tito? Just tell me."
"I just don't know how! I mean, I know what I have to say, but I don't know how! It's like all the words are jumbled in my head and I can't make heads or tails of—"
"Just say it, I'll understand, just say it."
He turned to her, his hazel eyes burning with his inner turmoil. Suddenly, he let out a frustrated cry. "Emi, I love you!" The blonde stood there in shock. Tito looked away, biting his lip. "T—that's why it makes this all that much harder." He turned to face her; taking a deep breath, he spoke again.
"I got the transfer I wanted."
Emi blinked; this was all happening so fast. She had no idea what Tito was getting at. Normally, he was so easy to read; that was one of the things she had liked so much about him. But right now… right now, he was acting so strange. First he said he loved her, then he told her he got the transfer he had been working for. Shouldn't those both be good things? So why was he acting like he was under great turmoil? "T—that's good, right?"
Tito nodded. "Yeah, yeah, it's good, but…but, Emi. I don't…" He closed his eyes, taking another deep breath. "Ok, I'm just going to say it." He paused for a moment, looking her right in the eye. "You ready?" Emi nodded; if he hadn't been so grave, she might have laughed at him. However, the way he was acting was almost scaring the young woman.
"Ok, so like I said, I got the transfer I wanted. It's the perfect job, close to home and well paying. But, but after these long months here I… after meeting you. Oh, Emi…" For a moment, he was lost for words again as memories of the last few months rushed over him. "I think I love you."
Even though he had said it before, Emi couldn't believe that he had said it. Why her? He was so, so wonderful. He was kind, generous, and always ready to help. He cared so much about others and always put them before himself. How could someone so wonderful love someone like her?
"You love me?" He merely nodded, his eyes burning into hers.
"I really think I do."
Emi was at a loss for words. Never in her whole life had she even thought about being with someone else other than her sisters. But now here it was: the chance to get away. To be safe. A chance to be with someone she was really starting to care about. They could spend every day together; she could have that wonderful feeling she had whenever she was with him. That wonderful safe feeling. Just the two of them.
Just
The
Two—
Suddenly, it hit Emi what Tito was trying to tell her. What about Mir? What about Gwyn? If she started to do whatever it was that people did when they were in love, what would happen to her sisters? What if she married Tito—after all, that is what happens when people fall in love, right? Where would her sisters go? Tito was living fine on his own on the salary he made, and once he got a steady job then he could probably afford for two, but… Not three young women. And what about Mir and Gwyn? They had school and friends here, and Tito would be going back home. And this was only if they did get married, which would be a long time after dating, which would be long distance, and… and…
"Emi?" She looked up at him, the one man who had always tried to do what was best for her. The one who always tried to make her happy. Now here he was spilling his heart out to her. "It's not going to work, is it?" he whispered. His voice sounded strained, like he didn't want to believe what he was saying. His eyes looked pleadingly into hers and she was sure her expression mirrored his.
"I can't leave my sisters... they need me."
He took her head into his hands as he leaned over and gently kissed her forehead. "I know, and I would never ask you to leave them. Never."
---------------
They talked for a long time after that as they walked back to KaibaCorp. But the more they talked, the more they realized that there really was nothing they could do. In the end, it would never work. Once they got to the large building where they worked, Tito turned to Emi.
"I should go, I have to start packing." Emi nodded, turning toward the door, but she looked back at Tito's "Hey, Emi." He smiled.
"I… I just want you to know that you really are an amazing girl, and that even if I'm not the guy you end up with, whoever he is, he's going to be very lucky to have you."
The young blonde smiled weakly."Thanks, Tito."
"I mean it, Emi."
Emi laughed, trying hard to fight back the tears. "And I mean it, too: thank you, Tito. You have no idea what these last few months have been like. I wish… I wish." The young black-haired man smiled slightly, shrugging as Emi's voice cracked slightly.
"Hey, ya never know; maybe someday we'll meet again."
Emi smiled back, knowing just as well as he how unlikely that was. "Yeah, maybe."
-----
The rest of the day was very long, probably one of the longest hours of Emi's lives. The blonde felt like there was a huge weight in her chest and it really was hard to breathe.
"We're going, get your stuff."
Emi looked up at her boss, her large crystal blue eyes filled with an emotion Seto had never seen before. Slowly, the young woman stood up, picking up her jacket from behind her chair.
"Ok."Her voice was barely a whisper as she shrugged on her large tan jacket.
"What? No witty comments today?"
"No."
"Must say that's refreshing."
Everything went as normal as ever, but Seto just didn't feel right. He wasn't quite sure why, but the way Emi was acting today irritated and confused him more than any of that strange girl's attitudes. It was like an itch that he couldn't scratch. Like some problem he couldn't fix, only he didn't even know what was wrong. The whole thing just kind of annoyed him. He hated being confused.
As they left, Seto glanced over at the uncharacteristically silent girl next to him. They were halfway to the limo when the blonde suddenly stopped, her large blue eyes on the sky.
"What are you doing?"
Emi's placid face slowly grew into a melancholic smile as she raised her arms and closed her eyes. "It's going to rain." Seto glanced up at the gray sky. The storm clouds looked ready to break at any moment.
"So?"
"So…." The sky opened up and the rain came pouring down. Letting out a childish laugh, Emi started to spin around in the pouring rain. "So, I love the rain!" she yelled over the rushing sound of water crashing down onto the earth. To Seto, she suddenly looked as happy as ever, choking back watery laughs as she ran around in the pouring rain. Little did he know that it wasn't only rain that was running down her face.
I got a review from one of my reviewers who said they thought Seto was rather ooc in the last chapter, I wanted to apologue if that is the case, and he shall never fall from his character again (if I can help it). But please people; there Is character growth for EVERYONE in this story. So Seto, Emi, Mokuba, Gwyn, Mir, Satra, Bakura and so on WILL change a little as things progress. This doesn't mean I will suddenly have Seto singing High school musical with a unicorn in a field of flowers… it just means he might… who knows… smile.
Now on to the people who make this story possible!!!
ember-chan:
YAY!!! Yeah these next few chapters are some of my favorites :D hahah when I thought about the book idea I really DID want it to hit Seto but it didn't seem like Emi would have very good aim.
KittyLo:
Really? Ewwww that's not good… I'll have to try harder next time.
Mistrelia of the ice:
I'm so GLAD!!! Lol who knows XD I wish I knew what they said too. Yes he was, just a little ;P
Starwefter:
Hahah yeah that would be pretty cool, but I'm pretty sure this story happens AFTER Yami. But now I have a question for you, how do you feel about the steps now? Hahah maybe he wiiiillll :D (not going to spoil anything for you)
Destinykeyblade:
-giggles- it's the answer I gave you :P haha me too that's why I wrote it XD. Yeah their uncle is evil as for Manon… yoooouuuuuu will seeeeeeeeeee.
I'm sorry the betaing was so late!!! School has taken over my mind… and time XD But I really did love the chapter!!! It was AMAZING.
Reiko The Awesome:
Ohhhh something bad ISSSS coming you'll seeeeeee
Lightest'Ink:
Ohhh she's bad all right! And no they don't seem too.
That's all from me… KEEP THEM REVIEWS COMEING!!!
-Liz