I can still remember the good times.

I remember those days filled with laughter and happiness. I remember the weeks wasted away on those pointless excursions and silly, meaningless games. The games we played…

I remember the fun I had, playing those games. Time spent with friends. They were the best days of my life. They were the good times.

Where did those days go?

When was it I began to feel lonely once more? When was it I discovered how little I mattered in this world? Who would miss me if I died? Who would bury my body?

Who would remember me as the person I was? Who would remember Yoshitaka?

I remember the good times, and I remember how much I loved them. But even now, still surrounded by my maids, my only companions, I watch them leave as I have finally realized the truth.

The good times were a lie.

"Sister, do we really have to leave? Should we really go?"

Stretching her arms high above her head, Izumi looked at her younger sibling with no small portion of her face covered in disdain. "Mitsuki."

The two girls stopped, as they stared at each other on the sidewalk of an empty street. For the first time in weeks, the sisters were alone together.

Izumi, crossing her arms protectively across her chest, started once more. "Mitsuki, we have every right to leave. In fact, we have no reason to stay with that pervert any further, which is in itself a reason for us to get out of here."

"Sister…"

"If you're worrying about Pochi, forget about it. You know what the conditions of the game were, so all you have to worry about is if that midget dictator might be untrustworthy in any way."

Moving to object, Mitsuki found that she could not. Her throat closed up, her vision blurred and the girl began to get a strong craving for a glass of water.

The movement did not go unnoticed. "See, you know I'm right. That bastard was the worst. He was a pervert, an inhumane skirt chaser. He was a blackmailer. He was simply an all around bad person. Staying with him any longer would have been dangerous…well, more dangerous. I know you feel bad about Pochi, and I know you saw that perverted lizard as a beloved family pet, but you have to remember that you are more important to us than some alligator."

Quickly snatching the hem of Mitsuki's shirt, Izumi began to once again march away in the direction of their family's house. "That debt had us tied up, Mitsuki, but now that it's gone, we're free! We can go back to live with our family, with our parents and our sister. Doesn't that make you happy? I did this for us. I may have hurt the little bugger's feelings, but he's had worse. He'll shape up again, and he'll probably find another group of women to enslave and torture. He'll move on. We should too. We have to go home."

With another tug, feeling the resistance her sister put forth, Izumi felt her frustration boil over. "Why won't you come home with me?! Did you enjoy being watched and lusted over twenty-four seven? Did you enjoy the humiliation, the fear, the power he held over us? Did you like it back there? Why are you resisting? Do you want to go back there!?"

"Yes."

Momentarily shocked, as she fully expected the questions to go unanswered, Izumi was at a loss for words. "What?"

"Yes, I want to go back."

"Why? That place was hell! We don't need him, we don't have a reason to stay!"

"But," said Mistuki, her voice low, her eyes lowered, "I think Yoshitaka needs us."

The answer came to her so forcefully; Izumi took a step back before snorting, her laughter filling the quiet street with an unfamiliar noise and emotion. "He's got all the money he needs. He can hire new maids. He doesn't need us, stupid. He survived without us before we came. He's survived since…"

Izumi sobered very quickly after this line of thought. "Since his parents died…"

I guess the easiest way to describe my parents would be 'unfair'.

I know that people tell me all the time that life isn't fair, that the world isn't fair, that the decisions brought down by the almighty power of whatever God exists aren't fair.

They weren't meant to be fair. They weren't meant to be unfair. They simply are.

My mother was a wonderful woman, and my father was a blackmailing scum ball. My mother would burn salad while my father could cook the most delicious meals. They were a paradoxical pair. In all their faults, however, I still found that I loved them.

I still found that I missed them, if only a little bit.

Mitsuki, Anna…Izumi, they all played a part in my life after the passing of my parents, and now that they're gone as well, I guess I must have loved them too. The feeling in my chest…it's too similar a hurt to just after my parent's death to ignore. I miss them.

When they left, we played one last game. I guess that was all Izumi would allow. I can understand that, she wanted to get away from here as soon as possible. Away from me.

I can't even remember what game we played, but I know I lost. Pochi's still here, so I guess that must have been a victory condition for the girls, that I take care of him.

I wish I could.

We may not have always gotten along, but Pochi was a friend…is a friend. He was a fellow pervert among women, so to speak. He was a companion.

Which is why I can't allow him to be brought down with me.

"Don't you think the Master's been acting a little strange recently?"

"Dammit, Mitsuki, he isn't our master anymore!"

"What is he then, sister?"

"A pervert and a jerk."

"I don't think you mean that."

"Of course I do! How many times do I have to say it? I hated the little panty-chasing, debt-collecting, evil little…little…"

"Kid?" This line Mitsuki offered slowly, suggestively. She allowed her sister a moment to respond before pressing harder. "Is that what you were going to say, sister, that the perverted scum ball you have been raving about since you met him is a child?"

"Of course not! I was going to say that the shortie brat was a gay bastard, but that made me question my sexuality, so I was trying to find a better term for him and I found one. Shit-faced freak!"

"Did you just call him a poopie head?"

"NO! I said shit-faced freak!"

"Don't they mean the same thing?"

Irritated beyond words, her temper rising in her cheeks, Izumi only just found it in herself to keep from screaming at her younger sister in frustration. Clenching her teeth and swallowing her pride, Izumi could feel her anger welling up insider her breast. It burned, fuming at having been denied vent. She may not understand now, but I did it for her, Izumi thought.

I'm doing this for Mitsuki.

"Please, Mitsuki." Izumi pleaded, "Please. Let's go home."

Beginning to feel sympathy for her elder sister, Mitsuki tried to bargain. "How about we go to check on him one last time? See if he's doing alright. I…really feel bad leaving him alone like this."

Despite all my earlier misgivings, I guess I really am starting to get used to this being alone thing. It definitely doesn't hold the drawbacks that having my maids around me twenty-four seven did. And don't misunderstand me; there were plenty of drawbacks. One of those was definitely the debt business.

My parents did leave me their estate and all their worldly wealth, however I'm really not old enough to hold all that money anyways. At eighteen I would be entitled to the whole fortune, but at present I live off of an allowance. I'm allowed our estate due to the peculiarity of my parent's will, and my allowance is indeed astounding in all regards. However, it is still an allowance, and limited at that.

Damage done to my home, travel expenses, living essentials and non-essentials for at least four people at a time was and always has been paid for from my own pocket. It was fortuitous that I have inherited both my inane luck and my skill in managing money from my father.

If only I hadn't also managed to inherit one of his less desirable features…

Okay, I admit I got more than one of those blasted flaws, but this one really puts it all over for me. I have recently realized that I may have gotten my father's bad luck as well as his good luck.

My father was by all means a lucky man. That is, he was lucky unless he wasn't. And when he wasn't lucky, which usually came to him at very inopportune moments, he would lose much.

And in a few recent losses, I feel I must have gained this trait.

I'm just glad that I won't be taking the girls down with me. There's no way they would come back anyway. I hold no hope.

I feel…resigned to say the least. I have finally severed ties with that which I valued most, and I feel now is the perfect time to slice and dice at other ties I have with this world.

I'm actually unsure about why I had to throw the girls out so early in my descent, but I suppose it was for the best. I have the distinct impression that somebody might have stopped me, tried to help me through this.

And I can't have that. This has to be done, and I've known for a while now that I would be the one to have to do it.

I won't lie and say that I don't dread the thought my descent. It terrifies me. I really don't want to leave things this way, but…

I guess I've just been so tired lately. It's exhausting, the time I spend everyday balancing checkbooks and managing investments by night. And I haven't been able to sleep well either. Insomnia, stress or worry, whatever it is that keeps me awake, I'm tired of dealing with it.

Well, at least with this set up, I guess I am dealing with it, once and for all.

I'm just glad Mitsuki isn't here to see me now. Izumi might laugh, but then she might not.

I just hope she doesn't regret having met me. Or forget how much I loved her.

"I'm going back."

Izumi ground her teeth together as she tried to understand. why, Why, WHY, WHY?! None of this was making any sense.Why did Mitsuki want to go back? Why did she feel any sort of connection to that idiot? Why did she worry about him so much?

Why does she worry more about that damned pervert than she cares about her own sister's happiness?

"Are you coming, Izumi?"

"Like hell I am," Izumi seethed. "And you aren't going either? Can't you see what he's doing? He's tearing us apart. I love you, Mitsuki, you're my beloved sister! Why don't you trust me when I tell you that the best thing you can do for yourself and for me is to just come home? Why can't you just forget about Yoshitaka and live a happier life with us?" Izumi didn't even see it coming. She didn't see it fly forward and strike her, but Mitsuki's slap stung more than just her face. It left a mark on more than just her cheek. With tears welling up at the corners of her eyes, all Izumi had the strength left to do was fall back on her butt, stare up at her sister's enraged eyes and ask, "Why?"

"Because I love him."

"You…love him? More than…me?"

Mitsuki's eyes softened, as she slowly began to understand what her sister wanted. "No, Izumi, not a chance. There's nobody in this world that I love more than my big sister."

Izumi sniffed, "Of course not!"

"I just think…Yoshitaka needs my love more than you do right now. I think he needs to feel it, to believe in it. I think Yoshitaka needs to know that he's loved, that he isn't alone anymore. I've always had you, sister, but Yoshitaka doesn't have anyone. Don't you feel sorry for him?"

"I-if you put it that way…I guess…a little…"

Mitsuki smiled. "See? I knew you were my sister. You really do have a big heart. And I'm sure Yoshitaka holds a special place there, whether you know it or not." Izumi's face instantly flushed a light pink, as she sputtered to deny her sister's vague accusation. "It's okay, sister. We both know that, deep down, Yoshitaka isn't really a bad guy. He's just lonely, and a pervert," Mitsuki finished with a smile. "And he needs us more than ever. So we're fired. So what? That doesn't mean we have to cut all connections with him. Right?"

Izumi finally began to calm. She could feel the crushing pressure on her chest begin to lift. Her breath began to calm, perhaps slower than natural now, but that didn't matter. The blood pounding in her ears had finally subdued and she could finally see clearly when she used her sleeves to wipe her eyes clean of tears. "Yeah, I think I have a few things to apologize for. I think I may have hurt his feelings…a bit."

Mitsuki smiled widely as she offered her sister a hand to lift herself up with. "Don't worry. Yoshitaka has always been very understanding in his own way."

"Yeah, I know," Izumi sniffed as she lifted herself up, "but I think I may have stepped over a few lines this time…"

"I'm sure he'll forgive you. After all," Mitsuki whispered in her sister's ear, "he loves you."

"Yeah," Izumi mumbled. "I know…I'm wishing I didn't, but I know."

"See? It isn't so hard, is it? Now, let's go back and give a proper goodbye."

Izumi smiled sadly at her sister, "You mean you don't want to ask for our jobs back?"

"Of course not. If my beloved sister wishes to go home, then home we should go, right?"

"You know, Mitsuki, I'm beginning to wonder which one of us is the older sister."

The mansion is on fire.

This was not in any of my plans. I was hoping to simply fade away into obscurity, to disappear without a trace. Take a few personal belongings and flee, run and keep on running. After all, I have nothing to gain here, and everything to lose.

I don't want to die.

Especially not today, not on my birthday…

But I guess it's fitting. I've always dreaded this time of year. The date on which I was born into this world, and the date on which the fate of my coming year is decided. Do I live as a king, or do I die broken?

Each year, on this day, my fate is decided. My father, the eternal poltergeist that he has become, continues to haunt my very existence. He left in his will, a final addendum declaring that to continue to receive my allowance I must remain lucky. My luck is to be determined by a dice roll on a date a few weeks before my birthday. If I roll a two or higher on a simple six sided dice, I live in luxury for another year.

If I roll a one, I have to wait until I'm eighteen to get so much as another look at my family's fortune. No second chances.

Despite the odds, this year fate conspired against me. Without money to pay my debts, without money to purchase food, water, heating…

Without money to keep my precious maids with me…

As the smoke filled my bedroom, billowing out from beneath the crack beneath my door, I sat on my bed.

The room was getting rather warm, and my skin was beginning to get irritated by the heat. My cheeks burned like they had just been nicely sunburned, and my eyes stung so sharply I couldn't open them.

Of course I don't want to die, but for what reason do I have to live?

Do I need a reason to live? Or is that a luxury I can no longer afford?

I forced my eyes open only for one last moment as I strove to enjoy what could very well be my last living sight, the beautiful landscape that was spread before my bedroom window. Glancing briefly below, I felt myself smile briefly at the river of Koi that swam just three stories below, under my window. I remembered the feeling of freedom I once felt as I dove to the depths of that bright, clean river.

Reaching out my hand, I brushed my fingertips across the pane. Against my heated skin, the glass was surprisingly cool, resilient. What vision that stood before me could very well be my future, but this cold pane was just too sturdy for me to break, with my strength fading fast.

Some firm barrier was stood between freedom and me. Perhaps it was death…

If I died, would anybody remember me as Yoshitaka? Would my maids mourn my death? Or would Izumi dance frivolously on my grave?

Probably, I thought as my closed eyes began to feel comfortable. After all, I continued, as the smoke forced me to the ground, and my already closed eyes began to darken and the surrounding heat began not to matter to me anymore. I was finally tired and ready to sleep, disregarding my feelings of light-headedness as the smoke began to fill my lungs.

"After all, I'm almost as unlucky in dice as I am in love…"

Mitsuki gasped at the sight of Yoshitaka's mansion as she and her sister arrived to witness the disaster.

Izumi was wide-eyed, too shocked for words as she watched her home of some time burn to the ground. As dismal as the mansion was, as many unhappy memories as it carried, it had still been her home for so long.

The short haired former maid turned her head go look at her sister when she heard Mitsuki gasp sharply.

"Mitsuki…?"

"The stove," her sister gaped in horror, "when I cooked breakfast this morning, I forgot to turn the stove off…"

"Mitsuki!?"

"This is my fault!" she cried out. "I burned down Yoshitaka's house! And what if he's still in there with Pochi? I've killed them!"

"Mitsuki! Calm down! Don't panic - don't panic - don't panic…" Izumi hopped from foot to foot, her legs shaking and her fists clenching in obvious panic. Her eyes dilated as her vision seemed to get sharper, her heart pounding and her voice only barely squeezed loose. "Do you really think they're still inside? Don't you think that he would have noticed that his FREAKIN' HOUSE WAS ON FIRE AND GET THE HELL OUT?!"

Why now? Izumi's frantic mind questioned, Why now, when I was supposed to apologize for all of those horrible, awful things I said? Why did his house have to go up in smoke? Is he still inside with Pochi?

Is Yoshitaka going to…die?

"No way…" Izumi chuckled to herself. "There's no way he's still inside. He would have gotten out a long time ago." Izumi's breathing began to calm.

"Sister?"

"It's alright Mitsuki," Izumi forced out, struggling to calm her thundering heartbeat. "This is Yoshitaka we're talking about, right? He's like a cockroach. He wouldn't die even if you killed him and then nuked his body." Izumi ignored her sister's shocked face, instead relying on her now rampant logic to soothe her weary conscience. "I mean, just look. The whole mansion is only three stories tall. Even if he was in his bedroom, on the highest floor, he could always jump out, right? Yoshitaka can do that, can't he?"

Izumi had to pretend that she didn't recognize the shift in Mitsuki's face from shock to pity, as she pleaded with some higher being that might reside in her sister for the answer to her illogical query. "Yoshitaka can't die, right?"

It was only then, in her state of stress-induced relaxation, that Izumi's dilated eyes picked up movement in the upstairs bedroom through the window.

She saw one young boy gaze out the window, then slump to the floor.

Her heart froze, and her legs obeyed not her logic, nor her heart, but the instructions sent to them from could only be described as sheer desperation, driven only further by the screams of her sister.

Now only beating irregularly, Izumi's heart seemed to thump out two messages in tandem.

Don't die - don't die - don't die - don't die…

I'm sorry…

"Izumi!"

"It's okay, Mitsuki. I got him."

"But he isn't breathing!"

- Silence -

"Breathe!"

- Silence -

"Breathe, dammit!"

"You did it. He's breathing Izumi. He's breathing."

"He's alive. Thank God, he's alive… Quick, we need to dry him off, or he'll only get sick."

"Can we take him home with us, sister?"

"…he's not a stray, Mitsuki, but yes, taking him home with us might be best. At least, after we take him to the hospital. He can stay with us as long as it takes for him to get back on his feet."

"Of course…and Pochi?"

"Didn't see him. Maybe he was already outside…"

"I hope so…"

"Mitsuki?"

"Izumi…I was so scared."

"It's okay, Mitsuki. I'm fine, Yoshitaka's fine, and Pochi's probably waiting for us back at home. Everything is fine now."

"But, Master's house…"

"Houses can be rebuilt, Mitsuki. People can't. Besides, it'll probably just go onto our ever-insurmountable debt. After all, the guy's loaded, right?"

"I guess…"

"See? Everything's fine…just fine. I'll apologize when he wakes up, and everything will go back to normal. You'll see.

Everything will go back to the way it was before."

From the Desk of Tyr'll

Well, it's finally finished. I hope those patient enough to see this story through were properly entertained.

BTW, I went back to the first Chapter and changed all of the references of 'Mitsuke' to 'Mitsuki'...hope that was the right thing to do.

This work has been one of emotion, or what I hoped simulated emotion. To state it simply, it was an experiment.

Let me know what you guys thought as you read it. I need to know, to see if I really should do any other works like this. A bit dark, but not too much so, I hope…

Thank your all for your support.