Title: The Mistake of Caring
Author: Phoenix Kaen
Disclaimer: Kazuki Takahashi owns the Yu-Gi-Oh series.
A/N: Thank you, Writer in Blossom for reviewing. I was about to dump this story but I found that I couldn't because it intrigues me. I've never written a girl character that hasn't much interest in romance. All she really cares about is building a life for herself without her parents' help despite her young age. She is emotionally detached to everybody around her even though they all adore her. I hope you don't find her too irritating since she's not like a typical teenage girl.
Chapter 2: Why So Cruel?
"You know that Amano girl?" A girl whispered to her friend. "She's so weird. She never smiles and she's always hiding her face behind a book."
"Of course I know her! She's so snobby because she thinks she's so smart. All the teachers love her. You know what I heard? She eats lunch with them everyday," her friend responded, whispering behind her hand. Ritsuko rolled her eyes behind her advanced calculus book. Are those girls completely devoid of brains? She can hear them despite their very loud 'whispering'. She was, after all, only sitting five desks behind them. She turned the page quietly.
And you're wrong. I eat lunch by myself. Ritsuko said in her mind. They kept on whispering about her but Ritsuko wasn't fazed. She was just annoyed by their constant chattering. Maybe if they actually took this time to study they'd actually get a good grade on their upcoming math test. The whisperings seemed to get louder so she slammed her book into her grey messenger bag. Her fingers brushed the light blonde strand of hair out of her face. She got up and exited the classroom. I need to find a quiet place to read and to think things out. How am I supposed to tell them that school isn't for me?
She had already found a spot under a tree behind the school. She smoothed out her skirt before sitting down on the grass. By 'them', she was referring to her parents. Her dad was the reason that she kept going to school. In truth, she was tired of the whole school atmosphere. Her teachers were constantly bothering her to transfer into a college even though she was just fifteen-years-old. Her ability to learn every subject was brilliant, according to them. She could be so much more, her parents were always told this. As much as they were delighted by this, they knew Ritsuko could never be forced into it.
"Tokyo University…" Ritsuko muttered. Her teachers had told her that she had a large percentage of getting into the prestigious college. So what if she could? She didn't want to be stuck in a concrete building surrounded by peers even if they were of her intelligence level. Why doesn't her parents understand? Why did they have to group her with the majority of the teenagers and make her go to school? She was different than the others. She knew it and they knew it. It wasn't like she wanted everybody to treat her like she was some kind of a gifted child; she just wanted somewhere where she could belong.
"How to explain it," she said aloud. I guess I can't put this feeling in words. I just feel…lost. The school bell rung. Lunch period was almost over. It was time for class once again but she didn't make a move to get up. Casting a tiresome look at the building, she stretched her arms over her head and yawned. She set up her messenger bag like a pillow and rested her head upon it. She was going to get in trouble for this, she knew it. Although, she was apathetic on the idea of getting caught and probably getting detention. How funny, she never used to get detention. Oh, well, there was a first time for everything. She smiled lightly at the ironic thought and drifted off to sleep. She rolled over to her side and shifted her head to a comfortable position. The sunrays peeked through the leaves and landed on her body, warming her.
"Wake up, Ritsuko, Ritsuko. Ritsuko…" Someone's soft words were tickling her ear as they whispered. Ritsuko shrugged the person's hand away from her shoulder and mumbled "just a few more minutes."
"RIT-CHAN, WAKE UP!" Jennifer had to resort screaming into her ear. The young girl's body bolted straight up on her chair.
"Huh? Wha-what?" She mumbled sleepily, rubbing her tired eyes.
"Ritsuko, you fell asleep! You're lucky Kaiba didn't catch you," Jennifer said urgently. "And wipe off that drool." She handed her a napkin.
"Huh? Oh, ugh," Ritsuko said, wiping the drool and threw the napkin into the trashbin. She looked down. "Damn! I got it on my calculator!" She took another napkin from her co-worker and wiped her saliva off the calculator. "Thanks for waking me up. What are you doing here anyway?" I was having such a good dream. She mentally pouted but shrugged it off.
"It's lunchtime. You were taking a while to come down so I wanted to see what's keeping you."
"It's lunchtime?" She repeated with shock. "I have to go somewhere! I forgot I had to tell Kaiba I wanted the rest of the day off!"
"Didn't you know? Kaiba isn't here yet. He's not coming in until after lunch. That's why I said you were lucky he didn't catch you."
"WHAT! But it's important! I have to go now!" Ritsuko moaned. She covered her face in her hands. There goes her organized plan.
"Why? Did something happen to your family?" Her friend asked with worry. Ritsuko shook her head without looking at her. "Then what is it? What's so important that you can't wait until later?"
I have to go meet someone to look at an apartment. If I don't go now, the landlord will rent it to someone else. But if I leave now without permission, I'll get fired. I need the money to support myself but I also need a place to live. She peeked through her fingers at Jennifer. There's no way in hell she's going to ask anybody to put her up. She was supposed to be independent. That meant not having to ask anybody for help. "Maybe a motel room then? Just for one night," she mumbled to herself.
"Motel?" The brunette woman was confused. Ritsuko looked up and smiled.
"It's nothing! Come on, let's go eat. I was thinking we should get Chinese food this time, not the fast food kind," she said to avoid any questions. Her mind went back on her situation though. Tomorrow, she'll definitely go apartment hunting tomorrow. So the unlikely pair went off and enjoyed a lunch at a Chinese restaurant yet the food wasn't enough to keep Ritsuko's pain from coming back.
"It's not too late, imouto-chan. Just go apologize to dad and explain to him calmly that working at KaibaCorp makes you happy." Kyoko said to her little sister. The latter was packing up a suitcase. She was in the process of folding her shirts.
"I'm through explaining things to him. As much as I value him, I also value my independence. If I have to live here anymore, I have like I will go insane," she said avoiding her gaze.
"Is it that bad living here? 'I will go insane'? What are you saying that we drive you crazy?" Kyoko had a note of resentment in her tone. She just shook her head.
"You don't understand. You never do, nobody does. I can't be happy doing things that you or other people are supposed to do. I'm sixteen-years-old and I'm supposed to go to school but I have no desire. I don't think that's right of dad to force me to."
"Is it just the school you're in now? If it is, you can just transfer. Why not just go to college? It'll be expensive but if it's going to make you happy, I'll even put in some money to pay for it." Ritsuko slammed the cover down on the suitcase.
"No, no, no! It's not my high school! It's not about going to a higher level school! It's not about me hating school because I hate the work or I have social problems! It's not any of those! Can't you see? I'm not like everybody else! I can't be happy doing what other people my age do! I can't try, I can't pretend and I certainly am not going to pretend just for dad ANYMORE! Why can't you, mom or dad understand that?" She burst out, tears unwillingly flowing down her face.
Kyoko fired back. "I know that you're not like everybody else! Everybody can see that. You-you've always been so weird." It was hurting her to say that word. The last thing she wanted to tell her precious little sister that she was abnormal, strange, a freak. She wasn't, Kyoko never wanted to say anything hurtful like that though she couldn't take it anymore. Her family was falling apart right before her very eyes. All for what? It was just because her little sister was never happy. Ritsuko always did things just to make everybody happy and in the process made herself miserable. Her only friends were the books that she attained vast amounts of knowledge from. Her unwillingness to socialize kept people away from her. Kyoko sometimes had a vague impression that's what Ritsuko truly wanted. Now she's finally standing up for her happiness and all Kyoko wanted to do was knock down the happiness. She was selfish. She just wanted her family to stay together forever. "You know how much dad's always worrying about you. All he wants is for you to be happy. It's always been just you. 'Oh, Ritsuko's sad. Let's buy her a dollhouse.' You don't want it so it's given to me. I've always wanted one but I didn't want to be a burden. You didn't want one but you got one and you didn't even want it. 'Oh, Ritsuko's won the spelling bee or she was ranked first place again. Let's go celebrate in a high profile restaurant.' What do you want to do? Stay in your room and study the theories of Quantum Physics. You, my dear sister, is a freak! I hate you! Why do you get everything and yet you're still unhappy! What's wrong with you!"
No, I don't mean all these things that I'm saying. Please forgive me, imouto-chan. You know I really care for you. Kyoko thought as she saw the hurt in Ritsuko's face. It disappeared in an instant. She just had to laugh; her little sister was always like that. She always tries to hide her emotions. She remembered how she used to think it was so cute when Ritsuko, a toddler, had tried to hide her pouts. She had never succeeded then over the years, she learned how to put on an emotionless mask on.
"Could you please say 'good-bye' to dad for me? I don't think I can do it myself. Thank you," she said placidly, pretending that nothing happened. She picked up the suitcase and walked out of her former bedroom. She didn't bother to cast a look back at her beloved older sister, the one who was always there for her.
Kyoko stood there with guilt settling in. She didn't see the tears that stained Ritsuko's face as she left.
"Hey mom!" A familiar voice called. Jennifer and Ritsuko turned around to find a teenage girl about the latter's age. She had highlighted brown streaks through her straight black hair. She wore the school uniform for the Tsukiyama High School. Ritsuko noticed that the blue plaid skirt was a little too high for a student. She was carrying a black messenger bag and wore white loose socks. Such a typical high school girl, Ritsuko thought. The teenage girl ran up to the pair. Now that she could see her up close Ritsuko could see a certain resemblance. She looked back and forth at her companion then at the smiling girl.
"Are you Jenny-chan's daughter?" She asked.
"Yup, I sure am! Hey how are you doing? You must be Ritsuko-san, right? Mom's told me so much about you. It's nice to finally meet you," she said happily, shaking Ritsuko's hand. The latter looked at her hand.
She's so forward. 'Ritsuko-san'? I just knew her for a second and already she's calling me by my first name? Well, at least she didn't drop the honorifics completely.
"It's nice to meet you, too, Ohyama-san," Ritsuko said, smiling back.
"It's okay, you can call me Ayu-chan. This is so cool. This is the first time I met one of my friends that's around my age."
"Yeah, I can imagine that your mom's too much of an old fart to meet much young people, huh?" Ritsuko joked. Jennifer and Ayu sweat dropped.
"You really weren't kidding about the whole her being blunt thing," Ayu whispered to her mom.
"Ritsuko, do you really have to crack jokes like those?" Jennifer was annoyed at being called an old fart.
"No, I don't have to. I just want to," she said slyly. The other just sighed and turned to Ayu.
"Anyway, what are you doing here, Ayu-chan?" She asked her daughter.
"Dad told me to tell you to remember about the dinner reservations."
"He couldn't have just called my cellphone?"
Ayu giggled. "His cellphone fell down the toilet again."
"Again?" Jennifer asked exasperated. "Give me a break. That's the fifth one this month. I told him so many times already not to bring it to the bathroom."
"Are you celebrating a special occasion tonight?" Ritsuko interrupted. Ayu answered for her mom.
"Yeah, it's the anniversary of when they first met. It's such a romantic story. Did you ever tell her, mom?"
"No, she's not interested in that kind of thing, Ayu," Jennifer said sadly.
The blonde ignored her friend's sympathetic tone. "Ah, if it's your anniversary then I should give you something." She reached into her pocket of her tan blazer and took out a small jewelry box with a silver bow on top.
"What? No, it's all right, Ritsuko, really. You don't have to give us anything," she protested but Ritsuko pushed the gift into her hands.
"No, I want your husband to have it. I got that for Kaiba but what's the use? It'll just end up in the dumpster. This way at least I won't feel like I wasted my money," Ritsuko said casually. "Why are you shaking your head like that?" The woman stopped the action and directed her chin towards the girl in front of Ritsuko. Ayu's body was shaking. Her bangs covered her eyes. "Ohyama-san, what's wro-" Then she realized that Ayu must be one of the thousands of girls that send him gifts. Ritsuko sighed heavily. This time she should've really shut her big mouth.
"Ayu-chan." Jennifer moved to comfort the trembling teen but she ran off. Ritsuko thought she saw a tear. She didn't chase after her though. Her policy was to never meddle in other's affairs. Her motto was as long as it didn't affect her, she left things alone. "Ayu-chan! Wait!" Jennifer chased after her daughter. All Ritsuko did was just stand there and watch the two run.
I don't understand why she's so upset about this. His fans should've known he doesn't appreciate their gifts. He is, after all, rich enough to buy his own gifts. Ritsuko slowly headed back for work. She's a fool. Just like I was a fool to waste money on him. She thought sadly. Yesterday she had been so excited to buy him a birthday present to show thanks for hiring her but she knew…It would've ended up somewhere his other gifts always ended up. What happened now was just a rude awakening.
"Why so cruel?" Someone had asked her that once. Why was Ritsuko who had so much ahead of her so cruel? Why was she so negative?
"This is why," she whispered to herself.
Damn it! Where was that incompetent secretary of his? Kaiba raged mentally as he paced back and forth in his office. He had just come in straight from his mansion. He had just woken up but not refreshed. A migraine was threatening to come back. Why won't this headache go away? Where's that bitch, Amano? She's supposed to be here when I'm here! He forgot that there was still fifteen minutes of lunch left. His head was pounding with every step he took.
He looked back at his desk. Where's the aspirin? His blue eyes scanned the contents on his desk until he saw a pill bottle. He didn't bother to read the label. He was desperate to get rid of this headache and get back to work. Kaiba would have to settle for getting rid of his headache for the time being. He twisted the cap and shook out the pills. The whole thing spilled in his hand. He dropped some on the floor and took the remainder. He downed the water bottle that Mokuba forced him to take with him (since he had skipped breakfast).
Ritsuko stepped off the elevator and greeted some co-workers that passed her by. They waved back to her. She went inside the outer office where her desk was. She sat behind the desk and sighed. I have nothing to do now except wait for Kaiba to come in. In the mean time, I'll look for vacant apartments. She moved the mouse and clicked on the internet icon…
An hour passed, Ritsuko looked at her watch. That's weird. I thought he was supposed to come in by now. Jenny-chan did say after lunchtime. He's usually so early, too. I wonder if something happened? Maybe he's already in? If he is, then why didn't he call me for anything? Maybe I should check?
She got up from the chair then hesitated. What if he was busy and she bothered him? She'd probably get yelled at. This is getting weird though. Surely, he would've at least called with some kind of instructions? Her curiosity was killing her. She just had to find out if he was in there or not. She'd just have to take the risk of being the target of his anger.
Ritsuko knocked softly on the set of doors. "Mr. Kaiba? This is Amano. I have a question to ask you." A long silence was the only response. "Please, sir, this is really important. I just wanted to-" She opened the door anyway and winced. The yelling didn't come. Instead she opened her eyes and saw…
"KAMI-SAMA! Mr. Kaiba, are you okay?!" She yelled, stumbling to his unconscious body. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and tried lifting him up. "Mr. Kaiba?" She tried shaking him but he wouldn't wake up. "Please don't be mad at me," She whispered to him. She brought her hand back and slapped him several times across the face. Again, there was no response. She didn't want to though she had to make sure. She checked his pulse; there was a faint beating. "Oh, my gosh, are you kidding me? Mokuba's going to be horrified!" She pulled down the phone and frantically dialed the police. While she was busy with the phone, Kaiba weakly opened one of his eyes and saw her screaming frantically for something. An overwhelming sleep overcame him and he went out like a light again.
A/N: Boring? There was no romance here because I do not rush these things. Just review and tell me if you did or didn't like it please. If you have time, write more than just 'please write more'. Please.