Hey guys. So pretty much after a month or so, I'm finally back. As to why I took so long to actually write this is basically because I'm in this summer program Monday-Friday and I live on the college campus and only come back on Friday's at five. I'm wiped during that time cuz I take the classes I'll be taking after summer is over in my own high school. Annnd sadly, they don't allow any electronics or else I'd get kicked out. So, yeah, that's the story. Hope you guys don't mind too much. I'll try to update faster in the future. And now, onto the story and enough of my lame excuses!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal or any characters with the exception of my OC.

Normal POV

'I don't want to look at anything. I don't want to hear anything' the brunette girl thought bitterly to herself. Yuki felt like utter complete shit at the moment. She had literally clawed her way up the stairs and into the bathroom, just to shove her head into the toilet bowl and puke her guts out. She choked out a bitter laugh and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. 'Anything to get away from that monster, right?'

Taking a hold of herself, she took a few shaky steps and grabbed her razor from her hiding spot. 'You're worthless. Really. A waste of space...Just like that whore of a mother of your's.' voices swarmed the girl's head, sneering at her and laughing at her frightened form. Yuki remembered the pain of literally being kicked down when she was down. Punches thrown and curses were drilled into her already broken mind as she desperately prayed that thing didn't touch her little sister. If he so much looked in her direction...

'No, no, no...That wouldn't happen. Couldn't happen!' The brunette groaned and put her head into hands. With trembling hands, she took up the fallen razor and pressed the blade against her wrist and watched as the ruby lines began to form over her wrist. Over and over again she would watch as the blotchy red lines formed on her wrists. All she could make sense of for the moment was the one single voice urging her to continue and make herself bleed, to take away the pain and release herself from all of it, all the pain and suffering if only for a short while before returning to the harsh reality that she was forced into.

The young brunette shut her eyes tightly as the horrible images of all the mistakes she made in the past flooded her mind. Yuki wanted to just scream and bash her head into the wall to keep herself from remembering all her flaws. All she wanted was to run and hide and to just disappear from it all. Nothing she seemed to do ever seemed to work anymore. She just felt empty and her entire life felt like it was spiraling out of control.

Yuki suppressed a growl of frustration. Her emotions were just a huge jumbled mess and at this point and she needed to...to calm down. Closing her eyes, she decided to just count to five and think of all the people that made her happy and the things that she had found to be blessings. By the count of five, she hoped she feel the slightest bit better.

Taking a deep breath, Yuki started counting.

One, Hana was still her happy, energetic self even with their horrible living situation they were in. Hana would tell her all about her day and brighten the worst of her days with that innocent smile of her's. It was also an added bonus that her sweet little sister helped her with chores around the house.

Two: her older brother would be very disappointed if she did something she would regret and didn't think through. And they were so close to the goal that they were reaching for. He would probably kill her if she did anything stupid and he learned about it. She also hoped her dearest older brother would be in Japan soon.

The third had to be him. Her greatest ally, no matter what happened, Yuki was sure that person would have her had to roll eyes, even if the idiot dared to not to reply to her emails or return her bloody texts. He would never, ever break any of their promises. And that was all she needed to know until she saw him again.

And give him a good beating while she was at it.

Moving onwards, the one thing she was immensely grateful for were her injuries. Not that she was a masochist or something but the extent of them weren't too bad, maybe a busted lip or a limp for a while, but she always adjusted as sad as it was. She could deal. Sometimes she had to spin a wild story or two, but she could keep up the act. Yuki was sure it would end soon. Yuki smiled a sad smile as she tried to fool herself. Maybe it would?

Yuki kept her thoughts going. Last, but not least had to be the Arclights. They had manipulated her into going to their 'humble home' as Mihael called it. Once turned into thrice and she didn't know what to think of it. Her mouth fixed into a tight scowl as she recalled how the pinkette's father shoved her into a chair on her last visit and made her eat all that horrible, God awful amazing food and

in between savoring the rare treats and nodding her head to some questions here and there, she had roped herself into another invite to their home. She didn't know how it all happened; it was really all just a blur. Yuki couldn't lie to herself, going over to the Arclight home made her feel like she was at ease and just a little sad her own mother wasn't there for her.

Yuki took a deep breath again after counting all the way through five. She had felt a little better after remembering all of this.

Although she felt better, the guilt and blood loss were settling in. She was so tired from tonight's beating she just couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. Her world was slowly spinning and darkening until she just couldn't keep her eyes open anymore.

Slowly, she let the guilt wash over her and darkness take her.

Yuki's POV

I woke up with the worst headache I had ever had in my bloody life. I groaned as I lifted my aching body from tiled floor and massaged a knot in my shoulder.

My eyes scanned the bathroom floor. I had left it in a bit of a mess last night; the floor had my blood on the tiles as I suspected but it was all over the place from my fitful slumber. I suppressed a growl of frustration as I got up and forced myself to stand up and get to cleaning the bloody floor. If I could, I would have punched the first thing I saw into a bleeding pulp but I refrained from the action as Hana was still sleeping.

Pushing my frustrations down, I sought out some wet wipes from the cabinets. With a heavy heart and a troubled mind I got to work as fast as I could.

After a good long scrub, the floor was clean and I could finally wash up and get a much needed shower. God knows I need it.

I stretched out my tired limbs as I stripped off my night clothes and turned on the hot water. It worked against my aching muscles as I sighed in pleasure. I washed off the dried blood from my wrists and assessed the rest of my injuries from the night before. I didn't think anything was actually broken, just bruised. My ribs felt horrible and my back was black and blue. I would have to put ice on it when I had time.

Steamed flowed out as I stepped out of the shower. I wrapped myself in a towel as I checked to see if I had any other injuries on my face. My step father was never careful with where he beat me and many times I had bruises on my face. Today was no exception. My cheek was swollen from when he had punched me and the was a hand shaped mark on my neck. I sighed as I walked back to my room to change.

The first thing I made note of was the time. I was late. Again. I didn't know whether to laugh at my luck or just scream in anger. All I knew was that I had put on my uniform as fast as I could, fix my face, wake up Hana, make breakfast, and get the hell to school before Hana could get marked for being late.

I decided that I hated my life as I scrambled do everything as fast as humanly possible.

I almost fell flat on my face as I bumped into my younger sister at the bottom of the stairs.

"Owww...Nee-san why are you in such a rush." Hana grumbled as she rubbed her head.

I raised an eyebrow at my younger sister, countering her question with my own silent one. What the hell was she doing up when she was normally sleeping like she was dead? There was no chance in hell my sister could ever get up early on a school day without me waking her and dragging her into the bathroom. On good days she would be somewhat more compliant with waking up. But on bad days, she seemed to already be awake and that would lead to something horrible. The last time this had happened, Hana had taken a pair of scissors to a girls hair and after much persuasion, was only suspended. Of course we moved schools afterwards due to other reasons though.

"I had a feeling you would oversleep so I woke myself and made breakfast." She replied simply with a grin plastered to her face and handed me my own warm buttery toast to eat. Simple but effective. "Sorry its not much."

I shook my head in response and ruffled her hair in thanks. I pushed the thought to the corner of my mind. My sweet sister might be a handful at times, she couldn't cause too much chaos in one day.

Ushering her out the door, I gobbled down the much needed breakfast.

I had to drag myself and her all the way to school. It sucked especially since we were both tired today. I was pretty sure once I dropped off Hana my apparent happy mood would be gone.

I sighed again as I thought about all the pent up frustration inside of me and I had no way of letting it out or even someone to vent to.

It was days like these where I felt hopeless and empty. A shell of my former self and no way out.

Too soon was my train of thought broken as we passed through the gates and I had given my sister a quick hug and wave as I took off to my own classes for the day.

The day seemed to go by so fast, almost like a blur, but by my fourth class of the day, it seemed to drag on by.

At one point in the class, I had miraculously pissed off one of my teachers by 'not doing what I was told.' I could've cared less about what she had to say and even less of what she had to teach. I had gone over the topic before years ago and it was still drilled into my mind.

As I wrote these words and showed it to my teacher, she seemed invent a new shade of red. Her eyes looked murderous as I went on to tell her I would rather hear nails on a chalkboard than her lecture on Trigonometry.

"Get out." Her voice dangerously low.

"My pleasure." I wrote quietly. The room had gone quiet, too quiet for my taste, left with only the thickening silence that threatened to swallow me whole.

I rose from my seat, gathering my work and shoving it into to my book bag and slung it over my shoulder. I threw a haughty smirk over to my teacher as I slammed the door closed.

My footsteps echoed in the empty hallways.

I bit my lip at my stupidity. Why couldn't I ever say what I really want instead of being a total bitch? I hadn't remembered when I started acting this way. Maybe it was around the time my step father had taken me from my mother. Maybe it was after the accident or when Papa had left us. I didn't know. I had become very different and my old self was only a faded memory, something that would soon be forgotten.

Before I knew it, my legs had carried me all the way to a section of the school I hadn't quite visited in a while. It was part of the East Wing of Heartland Academy where they held the Advanced classes. Most students kept out of this part of the school because it was for the elite of the elite. Or so I was told by my teachers when they were lecturing me on my current grades the other day

I shoved my hands into my pants pockets. I had some time to kill, why not spend it here? Not like they specifically told me to go anywhere anyways.

I slid the door open and and everyone seemed to turn and watch me.

"Is there something you need?" The teacher, whom I recalled as Ms. Rei, asked.

"I was kicked out of class. May I stay here and do my work?" I wrote, facing her. I could hear the whispering and giggling already.

"And why were you kicked out?" Ms. Rei questioned me but her small smile told me she seemed to be more amused than upset that someone interrupted her lesson.

"Because I told my teacher she couldn't teach." I wrote back simply with a shrug of my shoulders.

"I see." Ms. Rei nodded. "Who was teaching?"

"Kido-sensei." I wrote, rolling my eyes.

"Oh. You have her." Ms. Rei said. "She isn't the best teacher out there and well, she has a few screws loose in that head of hers."

I suppressed the urge to smirk and silently cheered in my head. Finally, someone who understands! The rest of the class laughed at her obvious distaste for my pre-cal teacher. I suppose that would be because Ms. Rei was the teacher of the Advanced pre calculus class from what I could tell from what was written on the board.

"Well take a seat in the corner there, miss.. .? She trailed off.

"Shiragane. Shiragane Yuki." I scribbled onto my sketchbook.

"Ah. Then please sit over there Shiragane-san." Ms. Rei nodded, turning back to the lesson.

I quietly walked over to the desk before I met eyes with IV. I wasn't really surprised, he was pretty smart even though he was an asshole at times. He, on the other hand, raised a questioning eyebrow in my direction which I promptly ignored and started pulling out the work for my other class.

It was a good half hour gone and wasted as I watched the other kids do pointless math equations when my thoughts wandered once again. I finished my work in ten minutes flat and I was once again, bored out of my mind. I really wished something interesting would happen already. I was so damn bored.

As it would seem, just as I finished my thought, the most wonderful person walked through the door.

My dear older brother waltzed into the room like he owned it. Which was the total opposite of how he looked to my chagrin. Cloud (yes his name really was Cloud) Shiragane was pretty much a god to female eyes even with bags under his eyes and blonde (it wasn't even his natural hair color) hair that jutted out in every possible angle.

"Hello. I'm looking for my younger sister, Yuki Shiragane? My brother responded coolly with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes as all the girls started squealing at my brother. Even Ms. Rei seemed a bit flustered. All she could do was simply point in my direction.

My big brother had the hugest grin on his face when he saw me. "Yuki, kiddo, my favorite pint sized brat of a sister! How I've missed you so!" Cloud declared melodramatically as he grabbed a chair and propped it next to my table and straddled it with his legs.

"One, drop the mushy crap, I know it's an act. Two, call me pint sized again and I'll break your arm Big Brother. Three, why the hell are you even here?" I signed since there was no point in writing with him around. First day he's back and he embarrasses me and calls me short. I'll have to make sure I get him back later.

"Someone's being pissy today. Who decided to mess with you today, hm?" My brother gave me one look before dropping his pretense. "I'm here cuz I came to see to see you brat." Cloud said.

"Okay." I signed. I missed my brother right now and his weirdness. I wasn't going to question why he was here

My brother gave me a strange look that promised a talking to later, but I didn't care.

Amidst our conversation, the class was sweatdropping anime style at us. But for long the stopped caring and went back to learning until Ms. Rei called out to the class.

"So no one knows how to answer this?" She asked tiredly. The class was silent and she sighed. My brother decided to speak up.

"Yuki knows how to do it." Cloud said. Everyone turned to look at him, myself included. "Don't you?" He was challenging me from the looks of it. I smirked. I never back down from a challenge, especially one from my older brother.

I walked to the board, my steps echoing. I looked over at the problem. It required some thought at the most but it didn't look overly complicated. I could see why Ms. Rei was frustrated.

I wrote the numbers carefully, not wanting to mess up in front of my brother. It took me a few seconds to refresh my memory of what the problem was exactly and the steps to solve it, but I did it.

I put the chalk down and held my breath.

My brother looked bored but I could see the pride in his eyes most people wouldn't notice. And then some idiot started clapping. The said idiot happened to be IV. I decided to humor him and gave a tiny half smile in his direction which he returned.

"Good job, Shiragane-san." Ms. Rei smiled at me. She cleared her throat as she spoke again. "Would you and your brother see me after class?"

I blinked in surprise but nodded before returning to my desk.

The rest of the class was spent on doing the given homework for tomorrow while my brother told me about his trip to America.

I sighed as the class finally ended and Ms. Rei spoke to me and my brother. I had fun but it seemed to drag on forever, much too long in my opinion.

"Hey."

I rolled my eyes as I waved back to IV. I tugged on my brother's lab coat and gestured to IV and IV to my brother.

"A friend of my sister?"

"Yeah. IV Arclight." IV introduced himself, shaking his hand.

"A pleasure, IV. The name's Cloud Shiragane."

"Likewise." IV said.

"So, how do you k-" my brother started but was cut off by an obnoxious voice.

"You disgusting whore! I can't believe you're sleeping around with my boyfriend!" Ana, in all her plastic glory, stood in front of me. "God, I knew you were a freak! You're such a fucking idiot. You don't know shit do you? I could end you if I really wanted to."

Normally, I would have said a few things myself but I was mute and judging by my brother's face, I didn't need to step in. IV had realized this as well and let my brother handle Ana.

My brother's handsome features scrunched up into a murderous death glare. If looks could kill, Ana would be six feet under.

"Excuse me? Can you repeat that?" Brother spoke softly, voice barely above a whisper.

Ana spun to face my brother but as she did, Cloud grabbed her arm, pinned it behind her back harshly, and shoved her face forward into the wall with a thud.

Ana started screaming like there was no tomorrow and struggled in my brother's iron hold on her. I almost flinched at my brother's ruthlessness but held back. He knew what he was doing.

"Listen here, and listen very, very good. If you ever say that to my sister again, there will be hell to pay. No one calls my sister a whore and gets away with it. If I find out you so much as touch a single hair on her head, I will personally end you, got that?" Cloud said, but he wasn't done quite yet. He leaned in and whispered something in her ear that made Ana go deadly pale before shoving her away. He glared at the crowd that had formed and in seconds they were scurrying away.

Campus security had been called but my brother ushered me away to my next class saying he would deal with it. I decided I would take his word for it.

Lunch rolled by right after fourth period. I was so exhausted after what had just happened. Mentally and physically. The news had spread like a wildfire. Everyone avoided me like the plague but this time it was out of fear, rather than out of hatred for me. I couldn't say I really minded because I never spoke to any of them on a personal level.

I sighed as a pushed opened the door to the roof of the school. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw IV already here. I mock saluted him and sat down.

"No fangirls chasing after you today?" I inquired tapping my sketchbook to get his attention.

"Nope." IV said popping the p. I rolled my eyes as I pulled out the lunch my brother gave me before leaving.

"So what does that brother of yours even do for a living anyways?"

"Absolutely nothing. He's one of the amazing child prodigies of our family. Has a medical degree and he's studying genetics in America, I think." I wrote simply, shrugging my shoulders. Was I supposed to be impressed? My family all had abnormally high IQ's ever since we were little, so I was used to it.

IV, in the other hand, looked amazed. He gave a low whistle "Overachiever much?"

I rolled my eyes as I bumped his shoulder in response.

"Damn. And he's a good cook." IV said. Did I detect a hint of jealousy? I mean my bento did look good; brother made all my favorites. Beef teriyaki with rice, croquette*, potato salad, and some yummy apple and peach slices for dessert. IV's looked really good too with the miso onigiri*, chicken kaarage*, yakisoba*, and the pile of fruit he got. I elbowed him in the side, with a look that told him to stop eyeballing my food.

He rolled his eyes and when I turned to face the other way, his chopsticks snatched one of my teriyaki pieces and promptly shoved it into his mouth.

I narrowed my eyes and let out a growl. He was not getting away with stealing my food! I tried to retaliate by taking one of onigiri, but he grabbed my arm before I could. Or more specifically, he grabbed my wrist. Where I had my cuts. I couldn't help but hiss in pain as I yanked my arm back.

IV widened his eyes in shock at my actions and his playful demeanor was replaced with worry and confusion.

The next thing I knew, my sleeves were rolled up and both of us were in shock.

I visibly cringed. My mind was going a million miles a minute. He saw them. He saw my scars and cuts. I just wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

My whole body started shaking. I refused to cry. It was a weakness. And if I was weak then I could be broken easily.

My negative thoughts were put to a stop when I was pulled into a tight embrace. His arms circled around my waist and my head rested on his chest. I could hear the sound of his heart beat.

"Your okay." He whispered soothingly. His hands gently worked circles on my back as he calmed down and I fought the urge not to cry.

After what seemed like an eternity, I pried myself from him and slowly moved away. I closed my eyes and breathed, nice and slow. I gathered my courage and looked him in the eyes.

Why? Why would you do this?

He seemed to understand my unspoken question and just smiled and traced the scar on his eye. He grabbed my arm and pulled out a roll of gauze from his pack. If I wasn't afraid out of my mind I would've questioned the fact that IV had gauze in his backpack. But I was so, I sat silently as he wrapped my arms.

"Hey." His voice barely above a whisper, breaking me out of my trance.

Brown eyes clashed with violet irises.

"Do you trust me?" IV asked.

I thought about it and slowly I nodded. I trusted IV.

"Then you can tell me if something's wrong, okay?"

He wasn't suggesting that I tell him what was wrong. He was suggesting I could tell him if something was wrong. And that made me feel just a little less alone.

"...I am such an idiot." IV suddenly spoke up, ruining the moment and facepalming.

I cocked my head got the side in confusion. He looked me straight in the eyes and said in the most serious voice I had ever heard. "I haven't told you my name yet."

I stifled a giggle at the sheer stupidity of his seriousness. Looking at home with amused eyes, I motioned for him to continue.

"Thomas. My name's Thomas."

I smiled and he smiled and then we just started laughing until our sides hurt and until we just couldn't laugh anymore. I decided afterwards, the name Thomas was a very fitting name for him and even though he didn't know my story yet, we would slowly learn to share it with each other.

Because we were friends and we trusted each other.

Croquette- It's a deep fried dish filled with either beef, chicken, or seafood with mashed potato. It's coated in breadcrumbs and can have shrimp or taste like curry too.

Onigiri- Japanese rice balls.

Chicken Kaarage- It's basically just fried chicken, except Japanese style.

Yakisoba- Fried buckweat noodles, kind of like chow mein.

Er ma God. I am finally done with this chapter! This had to be one of the hardest things I had to write in a very long time. truthfully, I meant to update like a month ago. Few reasons why I didn't: procrastination, procrastination, procrastination. I get so distracted so easily now. Another has to be writers block. Is it hard for you guys to write a depressing and rather serious topic when you're in a good mood? It is for me, but I'm working on it. Lastly has to be that I'm finally back in school and I'm having personal problems these past few weeks. School is getting a bit tougher now; my workload as a sophomore now compared to freshman year now is totally different and a lot harder. As for my personal problems, it's a bit of a good thing though, I write when I'm sad or angry so it all works out in the end.

Enough about me and my life, how are you guys doing? Have you guys started school yet? I know some of you guys might be starting school in a few days. I really hope you guys get to enjoy your last days of summer if you do. And if you already started school, then keep working hard! I'll be cheering for all of you!

See you next chapter~

-XxStarryHeavenxX