Disclaimer: I do NOT own a single thing! Especially Yu-Gi-Oh!....

This story contains some content that readers of younger age should not be viewing. No big detail, just some relations, but just to be on the safer side, I am stating it out for you! Please enjoy!

The phone rang... And rang... And rang...

"Danm it..."

Mineko flinched at the noise of both the phone and cursing of Seto. She shifted her position so he was able to reach the phone on the night stand easier.

"Who would be calling this early in the morning... Hello!" Seto answered harshly.

'Always harsh in the morning,'Mineko thought with a yawn, briefly checking the clock. Mineko groaned, it was too early in the morning... She collapsed on her pillow, but only hit the mattress.

Another groan escaped her lips, as she rubbed her head. Then recalling she was sleeping on Seto...

"Right. Okay, see you soon, bye Moki." Seto said softly. It was strange to Mineko, she never heard him use that tone with anyone...

'Could the brother that Marena was talking about?'

"...he doesn't let anyone in... No one but his kid brother..."

Seto hung up the phone as Mineko looked up, through her violet bangs, from her position bellow him, still debating whether to ask him. He looked at her for a short time before turning on his side to go back to sleep.

'So he's not going to tell me...'

Mineko let her head rest on his back, again, he didn't protest. He might have already fallen back to sleep. She could feel the constant heartbeat through his naked back.

He may have just been a customer, but why did it feel strange... Did she want him to open up to her? Did she want to open up to him?... Mineko threw the thought out. It didn't matter... He was just a paying customer... right...?

The truth was, Seto didn't want to tell her. What reason would he have for even explaining himself. He didn't need a reason, or an explanation. He was paying her to be here. She wasn't here off her own will. She had the same reasons as any other person... for the cash...

Why didn't he believe his own thoughts?

---

Like on most days from 8:00 to some point, Seto was gone. It wasn't unusual for him to come back to the hotel at midnight. But unlike most days, Mineko had plans of her own.

'Through this past week, I've been so caught up in other things that I forgot about Tomo-San...' Mineko looked herself in the mirror. From her clothes to her eyes, she was different, but not only in appearance in the way she talked too. Her attitude in general had changed in the past week.

She was no longer on the edge of malnutrition, but she still had a waist as thin as a string. You could no longer see her ribs through her night gown any more, which was much better. She gained some color in her cheeks, but was still pale compared to any other female. But most of all, you could see the real meaning of her small smile. It was no longer to reassure just herself, but others as well.

Now no longer in the old clothes that were supposed to be appealing, but clothes that allowed conservation. No longer so... roushe...

Mineko left the hotel an hour after Seto, calling a taxi from the front of the hotel. Mentally preparing herself for whatever she might have to deal with. The possibilities...

She hoped that Tomo was alright... Or maybe she was drunk somewhere, she could be high somewhere and Mineko would be fine with that... But Tomo was the only one that Mineko really cared about for awhile. And Mineko basically abandoned the alley way.

Despite it seeming to be unorganized, alleyways were very strict on rules. Only a certain number or girls per alley. They couldn't be bellow the age of eighteen. No one above the age of thirty-five, possibly younger. All girls had to give a certain percentage to the owner of the alleyway, which usually wasn't paid. But the sad truth was, all the females of the alleyway were own by someone. Mostly pimps, but no one liked to loose property...

'There could be the chance of them not noticing I was gone,'Mineko shook her head. 'Even if I didn't make a very good income, I still made something... And Daiyate...'

Mineko could almost feel her skin crawl again. She took a breath, 'He would surely notice and want to know...'Mineko thought of just telling them about her job, that she was getting paid good money to stay with someone...

'But I don't want that...'

Her knuckles turned white with the pressure on them. Why was she doing this? Why couldn't she just turn back now and forget about it all?...

Well, after Seto left to go back home, where would she end up? She had to have somewhere to go. And the alleyways of Tokyo was the closest thing to a home she'd ever had... Her other home, wasn't really a home... it was a battle field...

---

"She's my daughter as much as yours!"

"Ha! You didn't carry the burden on your back! You sat there and waited to get rid of me!"

"You don't even treat her right! She's a child that needs the same assessments as any other person!"

"She has food, she has a shelter, what more is there!"

The yells could be heard from one crappy apartment complex to the next, but no one really cared. A small girl covered her ears from under the mattress's frame. You couldn't call it a bed because it lacked a pillow, sheets, and had more chemically altered substances than cotton.

She attempted to block out the noise, trying to escape the place she was in. She always tried, but never succeeded.

That man came over again. Whenever he came home, Kaira and him would always yell. They said words that the little girl, only of age three, couldn't understand.

"Stop yelling. Stop fighting. Stop yelling..." She would mumble into her tattered dress. But the yelling never ceased. The fighting never stopped...

---

"We here, but you sure this your stop? There some shady people here..." The cab driver had a Chinese accent, but his voice was kind and concerned. Mineko nodded, placing the large lensed sunglasses higher on the bridge of her nose.

"Yes, but thank you for your concern." She paid the fair, assuring the cab driver that there was no need to wait around for her. The was only three blocks from her destination, so she made her way.

The alley ways of Tokyo were much different in the morning than at night. The sun was out, there weren't many people out because no one really woke up until noon. They usually had a hang over from last night, or a busy night with someone. Well, mostly everyone...

"Tomo-San?" Mineko knocked at the door. "Tomo-San?"

There was the sound of footsteps, before the sound of something falling was heard. "Tomo-San?!"

The apartment door opened slowly, but the chain lock was on, so it could only open so far. Inside was so dim, Mineko couldn't even make out who opened the door. "Tomo... San?"

The door shut quickly, but still didn't make a sound. A scrap of paper was slipped under the door, before everything was silent again. Mineko stared down at the paper for a few seconds before bending down to pick it up. She opened the note with care, reading the scribble. It was Tomo's handwriting...

10:30 Robe's Bar

'Something must be wrong...'But Mineko trusts what Tomo was planning and left the building the same way she came. An hour later she was sitting at a small table in Robe's 24 hour bar, the only bar open during this hour of the day.

"Oi! Are you sure you don't want something else to drink?" The bar tender asked. Mineko shook her head with a small smile, "I'm fine with this thank you." She took another sip of her coffee, it was the only drink at the bar that wasn't alcoholic. Mineko glanced at the bar's clock, exactly 10:30. She was the only one, besides the worker, that was in the musty bar.

'Seto should be returning around... six o' clock... Then again, he's been stalled lately, so it might be around seven or eight o' clock. I'll have plenty of time to return before him.'

Mineko looked at the clock once again, 'If I ever see Tomo...' It was eleven and still, there was no sign of her friend.

She didn't know whether to leave or to wait a little longer. Finally, she made up her mind that if Tomo wasn't here in the next half hour, she would go looking for her again. Five minutes passed, and a tall blond woman walked it. She stopped at the entrance after the door shut and gazed around the room until she spot Mineko.

"Mineko...."

Mineko looked up, catching sight of the woman in large sunglasses and boy-cut blond hair. Her eyes widened. "Tomo!"

They both smiled and Mineko stood up to embrace her friend in a hug. "How are you? Your hair is..."

"I know..." Tomo sat on the other side of Mineko, her back to the bar tender. She took off her glasses slowly, Mineko's eyes widened noticeably. On Tomo's right eye was a giant bruise, a black eye...

Tomo smiled at her, "Don't worry, it's better now." Mineko covered her mouth slightly, did she cause this?

"Tomo-San, what happened to you...?" Did she really want to know?

"Well, I don't mean to be a downer on things, but I'll tell ya', things really turned bad after ya' went and disappeared. Daiyate and his gang have been hanging over at the apartment for a while. I think they were waiting for ya' to show up again, but just yesterday Daiyate and three of them left. Sorry for ignoring ya' earlier, but two of them were still passed out on the couch and bed. Don't worry, they may play rough, but I can work them until they sleep like babies." She grinned, but the mark on her face prevented Mineko from changing her mood.

"Tomo-San... gomen nasai... I shouldn't have-"

"Oh no ya' don't!" She waved her finger in Mineko's face, close enough to hit her nose, almost. "Don't ya' dare apologize!" A small smile appeared on Tomo's face, "There's nothing I wouldn't do for ya', Mineko. I gladly took these hits for you, because ya've taken so many for me..." Tomo's finger retreated to her lap.

"Did they cut your hair too?"

Tomo instinctively pulled her shortened mane, it used to reach her shoulders. "They just like to mess with girls, it's a nice change. I fixed it up last night." Again, she smiled.

'How can she smile at a time like this?'

"Don't look at me like that, Mineko." I apologized before taking another sip of my coffee. Her eye raised, "When did ya' start drinking that stuff?"

Mineko looked up, slightly clueless, before turning her head down at the dark colored drink. The warmth embraced her fingers and palm, as they clamped themselves around the small mug.

'When... did I start drinking coffee...?'

"Well, I suppose last week when I met him..." She remembered, she did it in an attempt to make him smile, or get some emotion out of Seto...

'I thought I didn't like it at first, but it had a small taste that I liked. After the second sip, I decided that I really did like it.'

"So, where have ya' been? Ya've had me worried for the past week and a half..." She was trying to sound casual, but Mineko could tell that she was anxious to know.

"I've been great, Tomo. I was hired..." Mineko told her everything. She felt, she needed to tell Tomo, she was, after all, her only friend.

"... he may not be the most caring man in the world, but he's the nicest man I've met since... Toiyo... my father... But I can tell he cares about people, or at least his brother. He just has this tone that he uses with him that's so..."

Could she describe him in any more words? How could she describe him?

Tomo listened to her friend, not missing a single detail. She also watched how much Mineko could smile when talking about this new man, Seto. Mineko talked with her hands slightly, an old habit that appeared when she was relaxed. She saw a transformation in her friend, she was... happy...?

"Mineko," she smiled to herself, "ya' love him..." This caught her by surprise, 'What is she talking about...?'

"What...?"

"Have ya' kissed him? I already know ya've slept with him if you say he's a client."

Mineko looked down at her cold hands in her lap. "No... But... I don't think I love him. I don't even know if I like him like... you think..."

Tomo shook her head at her friend. "Ya' love him, Mineko. The way ya' just described him, it has to be love. Either that, or ya're a bit too high in ya' hormone levels, but I doubt that..."

Mineko just stayed quiet.

"You look well..." Tomo analyzed her friend's state. 'She can fit right into the crowd now, no one will judge her. Ya' can't even tell that she's been abused for so many years... It's amazing what some good treatment can do for a girl...'

"Oh, I brought something for you," Mineko started digging into her bag, pulling out a small box. "I saw it and thought you would like it."

She held it out for Tomo to take, but she only stared at it. "Mineko," she looked her in the eye, "ya' can't afford to give me this." She knew the envelope on top of the box contained a decent amount of cash. But no matter how much she could use the extra cash, she couldn't take it from Mineko.

"Tomo, please take it. I have enough already," she pushed the gift into her friend's lap. Her gaze was resolute, determined for her to take it without complaint. A major change in Tomo's opinion.

The blond let out a sigh, "Mineko, after ya're done with this client, what are ya' planning to do? He can't take ya' with him, can he?"

Mineko's eyes became slightly empty, 'What am I planning to do?'

"I don't really know... I havn't thought about it much," she looked up at the taller woman, "I don't think I want to..." Her friend nodded, grasping her friends hands in her own on top of the small table.

"Mineko, I don't want ya' to come back here, you hear? Ya' can start a new life, a better one. Realize, that girls like us don't usually get that chance. If ya' guy loves ya' too, have him take ya' with him. Even if he just leaves, Mineko, ya' have to get out of here. Ya' can't come back here, okay? The pimps will kill ya' and... no one will have the power to stop them."

'But then...'

"Tomo... I can't leave you here... alo-"

"Whoever said I would be alone?" Tomo smiled, "I forgot to tell ya', I met someone. He's a really nice guy, I met him at the salon that I try and work at. He started there too."

Mineko stared, slightly shocked. 'She found someone...?'

"I'm... happy for you, Tomo."

"But, just because he has potential, doesn't mean I give up my night job.... it's not like I can, anyways... Until I age out and they throw me away." She said it bit too optimistic to be serious, but it was no joking matter.

After a few more hours, and lunch, we both had to leave.

"Tomo, this won't be the last time we meet, will it?"

She nodded, "Mineko, I don't want to see ya' around here again." It didn't sound right the way she said it, but that was how she was. There was nothing in her eyes that told Mineko that her friend wasn't serious. Did she really want her gone?

Mineko stared, the whole mood of the room seemed to change, and even the bar tender seemed to disappear.

'Leave...?'

Thank you so much for reading, and sorry, nothing really happened in this one, but at least it was an update... right? The next one should have more romance... at least, I'm planning on it! Thank you so much: Pharaoh'sJewel, Sandra Malfoy, Happy Penguin, bjjoke, and Element Girls for their uplifting reviews!

When I think of inspiration, I think of reviews, feedback, and commenting!!!! Please tell me your opinion on how it's coming along! Please and thank you!

Hope to hear from Everyone!

-Sin