It was all wrong. The eyes were the same; the hair was the same; the face was the same. Yet, no matter how much this woman looked like her physically, she was completely different from her mother. In place of the gentle smile was a well set scowl that sprawled on her creased features and though she was her mother's younger twin, she looked many years older. Deep lines etched themselves into her middle aged skin and her short brunette hair was laced with grey streaks; and in place of the familiar bright blue eyes were dull, piercing grey eyes.

Those same eyes examined Anzu harshly in the doorway before acknowledging Officer Yamashita beside her. "Forgive the intrusion, ma'am. We phoned you yesterday regarding the situation."

"Yes, a most unpleasant call." Rei Yamano sighed in exasperation. She turned to Anzu, "Well don't just stand in the middle of my door way. Go to the living room and wait there. Take off your shoes. Don't track dirt into my house."

Anzu passed her aunt silently, removed her shoes, and headed straight for the couch on the far wall away from the doorway, setting her bag down on the floor. It was a simple room with few decorations on the walls. A couple of scroll paintings hung on the wall behind the television and the windows were draped with heavy curtains to block out the sun. A very apparent chill ran through the house and Anzu shivered uncomfortably.

She mindlessly examined the room as she silently waited for her aunt to finish speaking with Officer Yamashita. The walls were a neutral color, neither reflecting nor absorbing the ambient light in the room. The living room opened directly into the dining room with a sliding wall divider available to pull out at leisure. A set of stairs were on the adjacent wall, leading up to what she assumed were her aunt's and her cousins' bedrooms.

Cousins.

That's right. She hadn't seen them in years, but she had a set of twin cousins. It was a little surprising that Anzu's mother only had one child while her aunt was gifted with two twin boys. Surprisingly, around her age as well. Granted she was a few months older than they were, but they still shared the same grade - seniors in high school.

And that was another issue: school. What would she do? She was already halfway through her final school year and, from what she understood, her cousins did not attend Domino High. She wasn't entirely sure where they went, but she hoped to continue at Domino. She didn't want to leave her friends (even though she hadn't spent that much time with them recently) or abandon all her progress in her classes (despite being stuck with Kaiba in Chemistry).

She sighed wearily, resting her face in her hands. Things were starting to get too complicated for her liking.

Her wallowing was interrupted by heavy footsteps descending the stairs, followed by loud voices and a crash. She looked up in surprise to see two teenage boys, one a very shaggy brunette with brown eyes and another slightly less shaggy platinum blonde with green eyes, wrestling at the foot of stairs.

"Yo! Give it back!" shouted one.

"I told you, it's mine! You took it away from me!" cried the other.

"You gave it to me!"

"Like hell I did!"

She didn't know who swung first, but suddenly fists were being thrown about and Anzu couldn't help but be reminded of Jounouchi and Honda fighting over the last piece of pizza at the table. She giggled a little bit to herself at the spectacle.

For as quiet as her giggle was, she was surprised to see that both males suddenly stopped throwing punches and turned to look in her direction. They blinked in confusion, almost not entirely sure they were seeing what was in front of their faces.

"Dude, who's the chick?" asked the one.

"Beats me." said the other.

She rolled her eyes. She didn't know whether to be offended or amused. It wasn't like she really remembered them either; only their names, and barely at that. She crossed her arms over her chest and cocked one eyebrow, looking at them in slight amusement.

Her actions triggered something in them and they both jumped in shock. "No way! She looks just like Aunt Ani!"

"I'd recognize that look anywhere!" They approached her with very strong scrutinizing eyes. "Brown hair…."

"Blue eyes…."

"A girl…." They both shot a finger her direction.

"Cousin Anzu!?" The cried out in unison.

Anzu couldn't help but laugh at them. "Well then, nice to see you two again, too." She turned to the brunette with the brownish-red eyes. "Hi Akito." She turned to the one with the greenish-blue eyes. "Hi Yukito."

They gulped and turned their eyes away from her, their faces flushing slightly. "Wh-what are you doing here?" asked Akito. "We haven't seen you since we were, like, kids."

"Did something happen?" asked Yukito.

It was Anzu's turn to look away. She really didn't want to respond to that question; too much had happened to be able to explain in a few words.

To her chagrin, she didn't have to. "Of course, something happened!" cried the stern voice of Rei. "You two are such dunces; I told you that my sister passed away didn't I?"

The twins leaned away from each other as they looked at their mom in apathetic nonchalance. "Oh, yeah. You did mention that about a week or so ago." Said Yukito.

"It was a car crash, wasn't it?" asked Akito, looking at Anzu.

Anzu could see a vein in Rei's face twitch with anger. "You brats never listen to a word I say! Yes it was a crash. And now that good-for-nothing man she married has disappeared without a trace and dumped this girl on our doorstep."

Anzu glared up at Rei; she remembered her aunt was an unpleasant woman, but didn't remember her being this vexing.

"It's not as if I don't have enough on my plate with you two lumps; but now I've got a third mouth to feed." She sighed in utter exasperation. "You two get upstairs. I have to take care of things here." The twins ran up the stairs, eager to get away. "And don't you dare make any kind of noise!" She rolled her eyes as she heard a door slam. "Ingrates." She muttered.

She turned to Anzu, eyes stern and her arms crossed. "Now then; what to do with you." Anzu sat under the scrutinizing glare of her aunt, feeling the powerful urge to slug her one for what she said about her father, but willed herself to stay under control. "For crying out loud, where am I going to put you? It's not exactly like I have the space for another teenager." She complained aloud.

"I apologize for the inconvenience." replied Anzu without much sincerity. Truth be told, she absolutely did not want to be here. A great amount of tension had grown between her parents and Rei so she never developed familial ties to her nor did Rei attempt to reach out to her. If it was available to her, Anzu would have applied for emancipation, but that wasn't an option for her and since she wouldn't be recognized as a legal adult for another few years, she was legally forced to live with her relatives. In fact, she was quite certain they were her only living relatives at this point. Her father was an only child and his parents had passed when she was young and her mother's parents had passed long before Anzu had been born; not to mention her mother had no other siblings aside from her twin sister and neither of her parents had extended family members such as aunts or uncles. Quite literally, Rei and her children were her only remaining family. Such a lovely thought….

"Indeed," Rei wrinkled her nose at Anzu. "It looks like the only thing I can do is to put you up in attic after all."

"The attic?" Anzu repeated. "Isn't there a room I can stay in?"

Rei snorted disapprovingly. "Well, aren't we presumptuous? Not even here for thirty minutes and you're already making demands. Of course I don't have a room for you. There are the twins' room, my room, and the office, but that room is to remain completely untouched. I refuse to share my room and don't you dare assume that I would, for even on second, mingle my sons with you."

Anzu bit back an exasperated sigh, but couldn't keep her snarky reply at bay. "I apologize for any perceived notion of entitlement. It was only a question."

Anzu saw a vein twitch in her aunt's temple. "And ornery, too. Wonderful. Now I have three brats to deal with. You, however, I will absolutely not tolerate it from. Do not expect to be welcomed in my house with that attitude. I will turn you over to government care in a moment's notice if you give me enough cause. Am I clear?"

Anzu fought with all her might to roll her eyes. So far 'government care' sounds far more appealing than you. "Crystal."

Rei accepted the response with a curt nod. "Now that you grasp where you stand in this household, I'll show you how to reach the attic." She walked over to the steps and began ascending them. "And don't run up the stairs like a lunatic. This house is old and I won't stand for wanton damage because of a bout of klutziness. I will make you pay for every little thing you break."

Anzu picked up her bag and followed her aunt in pained silence. She wanted nothing more than to rip into the woman in front of her, but for some reason she was willing herself to be respectful. Perhaps it was because she in the woman's house? Or was it because she was her mother's sister? Or was it because her father had expectations of her staying here?

Her father….. What was going to happen to him? She hoped he was safe and out of harm's way. She knew that, as a police officer, he could handle himself in dangerous situations and as a member of the KCSP he was more than capable of staying out of the hands of the police; but where was he now? Where did he go? When he left, he left on foot with three officers chasing after him and, from what she understood, managed to evade capture. Now, he was a fugitive at large with a warrant out for his arrest. Was he in hiding?

"Girl!" cried Rei, shaking Anzu out of her reverie. "Were you listening to me?"

Anzu looked meekly down at the floor and shook her head. "I'm sorry…. I was just thinking about my father."

Rei scoffed at her scornfully. "What's there to think about? That man is a wanted fugitive by the city of Domino. If we're lucky, the police will catch him and detain him without bail to his dying day."

Anzu seethed. "Don't insult my father! How can you say that? He hasn't done anything to you!"

Rei smacked Anzu across the face with a loud crack reverberating off the hall walls. "Don't speak to me like that in my house, you leech!" Her face was flushed with anger and her hand was bright red from the collision of palm to cheek. "That miscreant has done plenty to me! He has taken all of the dearest people in my life away for his own gain! And you're no better than he is! Just the sight of you repels me; if you weren't my sister's daughter then you would be in an orphanage and not my burden."

Anzu frowned angrily. "Then why take me in at all?"

Rei's anger subsided a bit as her shoulders visibly drooped, but the scowl remained on her face. "A promise." Anzu was surprised to hear this. "We made each other swear that we'd take care of each other if anything happened to us or our children." She cast her eyes to the floor. "Ani never broke a promise to me, and I never broke a promise to her. Even with her gone, I refuse to break it now."

Anzu was quiet. She understood that sentiment at least. Promises were never made in her family unless they were determined to keep it for the rest of their lives. It may seem silly to those on the outside looking in, but these sincere contracts between loved ones is the foundation of trust in her life. Was it the same for her aunt?

Still, her aunt had no right to tread upon her father's name with such immense hatred. "Your scorn is misdirected. My father has only ever done his best to care for his family. He sacrificed much to bring my mother and I happiness."

Rei's dark, scornful gaze locked onto her again. "You speak of things you don't understand, little girl." Her voice was thick with malice. "Your father took my sister away from her family. He enticed her with promises he never kept, bribed her with gifts that were never worthy of her, and coerced her into marriage. He took her away from us, and left me alone in the world.

"And when I finally found someone to take my loneliness away from me, a man who loved me so dearly, your father swoops in and hauls him off to jail for a crime he never committed! His so called 'chivalry' is nothing but a charade designed to charm and seduce respectable people until their lives are ruined." She snarled at Anzu. "You say my ire is misdirected, but it is your loyalty that is misplaced. Your father is a monster and the best way to deal with monsters is to hunt them down and remove them from society." With that, she reached for the cord that was hanging above her head and pulled the attic staircase down into the hallway. "You will be staying up here." She continued. It was dark atop the stairs but no draft wafted down like she expected. She briefly wondered if it was visited regularly. "You are responsible for your own care. I have no time to deal with you between the twins and my own responsibilities. I assume you can already take care of yourself by this point."

Anzu's anger overpowered the exasperation she felt. She wanted to attack her aunt the same way she attacked Kaiba for insulting her mother, but she once again refrained from doing so. In a sense, her aunt was right about things. Her father did take her mother away from her family and he did put her husband in jail, however the details needed much clarification. In regards to coercing her mother into marriage, it was true that her father tried everything under the sun to convince her to marry him. He promised to take her around the world on adventures, he gave her flowers and chocolates of every kind, he even went so far as to buy her a diamond tiara to show her that she was his queen. Her mother, however, didn't appreciate the extravagance and was more put off than flattered by his efforts. It wasn't until she made it clear that she was completely uninterested in his advancements that he actually gave up on winning her over. He apologized sincerely for making her feel that her heart could be bought and promised to leave her alone for the rest of her life. But before he left her forever, he asked her to marry him one last time. To say he was surprised when her answer was, "Of course, you expected something else?" would be an understatement. Turns out she had loved him for a very long time but was turned off by his aggressiveness. When he apologized so sincerely to her, she saw that he finally understood that the best way to win her over was through simple sincerity, not opulence. "Besides," her mother had once said to her with a smile, "he was so determined to pursue me that I knew he would do everything in his power to make our marriage successful. With that kind of determination equal to my own, I knew he was the only one for me."

Regarding her uncle, though, it was far more complicated than a simple arrest. As it turned out, her uncle -Daisuke Yamano- was also a member of the KCSP. He was an analyst who often had to check in at nearby branch locations after conducting thorough analysis of the operatives in the area. One day, while out on assignment, he ran into a group of fugitive operatives who were in pursuit by reapers. He tried to apprehend the operatives himself, but when the reapers arrived he was confused for one of the fugitives and was captured. He pled his innocence and was eventually heard, but by that time he was already being held at HQ. They refused to release him and he's been there ever since. Her father, on orders from the higher ups, told her aunt that he had arrested Daisuke for treason and was being held by the Public Security Intelligence Agency. That was about five years ago. It killed her father to have to lie to Rei, but he was a dutiful operative and so he took the yoke onto his shoulders. It was the final straw for Rei, though. She knew her husband was innocent, but due to the events unbeknownst to her she pinned all her rage on Konami, which strained the relationship between the two families. She has harbored deep hated her father ever since.

Anzu knew she couldn't reveal the truth to her aunt about her uncle and his situation; so she was forced to remain silent. She had to let her aunt continue to think that her husband was wrongfully imprisoned; otherwise she would risk bringing her into the KCSP which would further ruin her life. She hated it, but this deception was far easier to live with than the truth.

Whoever said the truth would set you free has obviously never lived it, thought Anzu.

"I'm a busy woman, so if you have any questions about what's expected of you ask them now. I won't have the time to go out of my way for you again." Stated Rei.

Anzu nodded, "I have only one question. Will I continue at Domino?"

Rei cocked an eyebrow. "Of course you will. I'm not going to go through the hassle of transferring you to the local high school here. Domino is only a half hour away by train so I see no reason to transfer you out anyway. I do, however, expect you back here at the end of each school day. Am I clear?"

Anzu shook her head, "Unfortunately I have an assignment with a partner I must carry out everyday until the end of the school year. I will have to go over to his house to take care of it before coming back for the evening."

Rei narrowed her eyes, "Everyday for the rest of the school year? I don't believe that for even one second."

At this Anzu reached into her bag and pulled out a paper slip with Higurashi's signature on it. She handed it to her aunt saying, "Here's the assignment directly from the instructor herself addressed to my father. It's unfortunate, but it is something that counts towards a significant portion of my final grade."

Rei read the assignment over with scrutinizing detail before scoffing. "Very well then. Take care of it, but if you're not back her by dinner time then you won't be eating under this roof, understand? You will either eat with this," She looked at the page again, "Seto Kaiba and his family or eat locally. I won't waste food on you."

Anzu nodded, taking the assignment sheet back from her aunt. "I understand." She began to ascend the staircase.

"One more thing," Rei added. Anzu paused to listen. "Legally I have to provide you with shelter until you come of age; but I will not tolerate certain behaviors. I understand that you're a dancer - I won't allow such a thing in my household. Even if you do need money, I won't allow someone who strips for money to stay under the same roof as my sons." Rei turned her intense, grey eyes on Anzu's bright, angry ones. "If you want to live the life of a whore, do it away from my home."

The hell?! To say that Anzu was offended would be quite an understatement. Since when did the ballet barre become the stipper pole?! She turned to look her aunt directly into her eyes, a deep scowl etched on her face. "Now who's being the presumptuous one? My mother enrolled me in ballet classes when I was five. Five! A baby! You assume that just because I dance I'm automatically qualified to be a freaking stripper?!"

Rei's scornful look never wavered, "As the daughter of a man who uses others for his own, I expect nothing else."

Anzu growled at Rei. "Oh? So then I should assume that your sons are also unhappy, bitter, grudge cultivating wretches with hardons for misery?"

Rei raised her hand to slap Anzu in the face again, but this she was prepared for it. Anzu caught her wrist in a firm grasp. The look of shock on her face was very satisfying. "What's the matter? You can dish out the smack talk but you can't take it? Hypocrite."

"Speak to me like that one more time and you'll be out of this house for the rest of your life!" Rei hissed.

Anzu shoved her aunt away from her as she quickly ascended the stairs, "Better than living with you!"

Rei screeched in anger, but by then Anzu had raised the staircase. She held on tightly to the rope as her aunt tried with all her might to pull it back down so she could grab Anzu, but even with the aid of gravity Anzu was much stronger. She held onto the rope until she heard her aunt tire herself out and walk away to who know's where. When the footsteps faded away completely, Anzu turned on the light in the room and looked for a way to secure the rope. It was mostly vacant up here so she couldn't find a decent tether; instead she placed her bag on top of the rope, hoping that her aunt wouldn't come to harass her later into the night.

She sighed; just great. Now that she was alone she reviewed her situation and realized she was swimming up a very strong creek with a very small paddle. She was grateful that she would be staying at Domino, but now she would have an abusive, bitter aunt hounding her every time she crossed that threshold. She didn't have much money to properly support herself, however her parents had built up a small savings account in her name so she knew she could rely on that when the time came. She hoped that her aunt wasn't aware of that; with the way her attitude was running she would demand all the money in the account as compensation for using any of the amenities in the house, such as water to take a bath.

She sighed again. "Maybe I could always run back to my parents house for bathing and the like? After all, the house is paid off and will likely fall to me when I come of age so I might as well make any use of it that I can." Her house was near the high school after all. She would be able to eat there in privacy, too. Not to mention she would still have access to the KCSP portal.

She growled in frustration. That stupid organization just can't keep its nose out of her life! Her, her parents, her uncle, even her freaking grandparents! The only people in her family who did not seem to be operatives were her aunt and cousins. Hopefully, they would never have to be.

She pulled on her hair and groaned, here she was thinking about that stupid entity when she had to be putting her stuff together. She looked around the attic space, fanning herself as the air grew hotter with her body heat, and saw a folded up futon with a blanket and pillow on top. She sighed, "I'm surprised she even lent me this." She set up the bedding on the floor and laid on it. She was surprised that it felt so comfortable. "Well this will make sleeping on the floor much easier." She stretched and yawned, feeling drained from the events of the day.

A knock from below startled her from her lethargy. She stared that the stairway, frozen and hoping that she either imagined it or that whoever was on the other side of the floor would simply go away and leave her in peace. Another knock at the stairway pulled a groan out of her. It must have been the twins; she highly doubted it was her aunt who was politely knocking against the ceiling after their verbal spat.

"Cousin Anzu!" came the muffled voice. "Open up, it's us!"

"Let us in!"

Anzu rolled her eyes. No really, Sherlock? She contemplated whether to simply ignore them or actually open up and see what they wanted.

"Come on, cousin! We just want to see if you're all right!"

She sighed and removed the anchor on the rope. She knocked against the floor and they took that as a sign that she was letting them up. They opened the stairway from their end and ascended the stairs quickly, then closed it again quietly.

"Hey," said Akito.

"You okay? We heard the yelling in the hallway just now." Yukito asked.

Anzu shrugged. "I'm fine. She has a clear grudge against my father and I can't stop that. No amount of pleading my father's case will avail him of her ire so there's no reason for me to let it get to me." She huffed out, arms crossed over her chest.

Akito and Yukito exchanged glances. "But it does." Pointed out Yukito.

Anzu threw a sideways glance at him, but did not respond. Of course she was upset about it! Just because she understood the true gravity of the situation didn't make it any easier for her to swallow, but swallow it she must.

"Well, it would bother you, wouldn't it?" Anzu asked.

The atmosphere grew a little thicker between the three of them. Yukito and Akito looked at her with stern gazes. "Of course it does." Said Yukito.

"It bothers us a lot that your dad put ours in jail." Akito's voice darkened as he spoke. Anzu suddenly began to feel uneasy as they encroached on her. "Our dad was a good man. He made our mom happy; but ever since he was arrested by your dad she's been an absolute nightmare to deal with."

"Do you know how many times we've come home to her drunk as a skunk because she misses him so much? Do you know what it's like to be on the receiving end of her terrorism all day, every day because she doesn't trust anyone anymore?" said Yukito rhetorically.

"Do you know what it's like living in a hell like this everyday?!" cried Akito, pinning Anzu up against the wall angrily. The twins surrounded her and Anzu felt hypervigilance creeping up on her. She eyed them carefully, waiting for their next move. She didn't want to hurt them, but if they were going to continue cornering her like this, then she would have no choice but to defend herself.

"You don't know. You can't know. Not in that perfect little world you grew up in with both your parents. Your father riding the joy of the promotion he got right after he arrested our dad. I'm sure your dad went out of his way to make you and your mother happy; he just tread on top of everyone else to do it." Sneered Yukito.

Anzu's face contorted in rage, but she remained silent.

"You can't say anything about it, can you? That's because you know we're right." Yukito reached for her, intent on grabbing her in his anger. "You've lived nothing but a perfect little fantasy."

Anzu gasped in shock as he roughly squeezed her breast. "What are you-!"

"Your family ruined our lives!" Akito cried out. He pinned her arms over her head. "Please, allow us to return the favor." He asked mockingly as Yukito sat on her legs, pinning them to the floor.

Anzu cried out. "Stop it! I'm your cousin!"

Yukito grabbed her other breast and began fondling both roughly, a crazed look of eagerness on his face. "So?"

Anzu felt anger twisting in the pit of her stomach. "You're disgusting."

Yukito sneered. "Actually, we'd prefer 'unhappy, bitter, grudge cultivating wretches with hardons for misery'." She winced a bit as he threw her words back at her.

"Rip off her shirt," said Akito.

"Stop!" Anzu cried out.

Yukito smirked, "I have a better idea." He pulled her shirt up so high that her collar covered half of her face. She heard one of them whistle. "They're huge," said Akito.

She shivered as she felt hands tracing her skin. "Probably the biggest we've seen yet."

Anzu gasped internally. "Yet?" she repeated.

She saw Akito smirk above her, "Don't feel jealous that you aren't our first one, babe." He chuckled and Anzu felt sick.

"We all have our crutches," came Yukito's raspy voice on the other side of her shirt. "Akito and I just so happen to have one in common." She felt something soft and wet against her skin and quaked in disgust.

"Hey! You said I get the first taste this time!" protested Akito.

She heard Yukito chuckle. "First come, first serve." She felt him bury his face in her chest as he reached around to unhook her bra.

She heard him snort. "Fine, but I call dibs on her-" Anzu twisted free of his grasp before he could say anything demeaning and slammed her elbows down on Yukito's head angrily.

"Ow! What the-" She shoved him off her lap and slapped Akito across his face.

"You're both disgusting monsters!" She cried out, refitting her shirt around her torso appropriately.

"You wench!" They lunged for her, but Anzu dodged with the agility of a cat.

"Look, I don't want to hurt either of you-"

"Too late for that!" yelled Yukito.

"-But if you both don't leave right now, then I will."

Both Yukito and Akito rolled their eyes. "Yeah, right. You wouldn't even be able to make it out of here on your own."

"We have the only exit on our end."

"Oh?" She glanced towards the vent opening on the far side of the attic. "Don't think that's the only way."

They looked towards the opening and laughed. "Oh please. Don't think you'd actually be able to make that!"

"Even if you were able to fit through, you are three stories up!" Yukito laughed.

"You'd break your leg the moment you collided with the ground." Akito snorted.

Anzu smirked. "I never said anything about jumping."

"What?"

And with that, Anzu raced across the attic and fit through the ventilation space with ease. As soon as her waist was out the hole, she reached up and grabbed onto the ledge of the roof and, with all the strength in her body, managed to lift herself onto the rooftop, escaping from her sex crazed twin cousins. And she called me a whore?

She exhaled, feeling the freedom of finally being away from this crazy family. Now she can add sexual assault to the list of abuse she's received today. She sighed, "Just wonderful…." She didn't want to go back inside, not after that. If anything, she wanted to march right down to her aunt and tell her that she simply could not stay here and insist that she be sent to an orphanage in Domino. At least there she wouldn't have to deal with such horrid attentions.

In fact, that's exactly what she was going to do before school tomorrow. As for tonight, she'd take advantage of having a roof over her head. It was too late to catch the train heading for Domino tonight, anyway. She'd just have to wait it out until morning.

She wasn't even sure how long she was out there for, but by the time she decided to head back into the attic the stars had come out and the twins were gone. She sighed, not bothering to see what time it was and didn't change out of her clothes as she found herself collapsing on top of the futon. She didn't want to remember the events of the day and she certainly didn't want to think about what would happen tomorrow. The only thing she could hope for was to sleep through the night peacefully so she can leave this ill household behind.