Only Almost Here

Title: Only Almost Here
Rating: R
Author: SummerStars – but y’all know I like Lell better.

Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be. Hard luck for most people concerned XD

Warnings: Apart from general sap, angst and my own odd brand of humour, be careful of general smut in later chapters. ^^

Well…all I can say is that this is my Mom’s fault. Not that she inspired this in anyway, or even knows what I write, but she confiscated my laptop, along with all my uncompleted stories…Left to their own devices, my muses ran away with me and urged me to plan this story. Expect many pairings and lots of fun (Well, fun for me anyway as I torture my characters ^^)

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~Shizuka~

You know, I can’t remember a time when my life was something I could actually understand.

Alright, I lived through nearly losing my sight, I lived through being trapped in a virtual realm by a psychotic little kid and apparently being turned into a virtual stone statue, I lived through seeing some of my closest friends and my brother losing their souls to some power hungry Egyptian…

What I couldn’t cope with was the supposed calm after the storm – a time when people weren’t trying to seal my soul somewhere, when I had perfectly clear vision and everyone seemed to be pairing up.

I suppose if they weren’t duelling, teenagers always turned to dating as an afterthought…

Kind of makes me wish I wasn’t a teenager as well.

In the end, I blame Mai. It’s all her fault. She was the one who dragged me to that party, badgering me endlessly until I just gave in. Oniichan had just finished his final exams so, naturally, he and his friends wanted to celebrate. If my brother wanted to get drunk with Yuugi, Honda and the rest of them to the beat of some loud boombox, that was fine by me, absolutely fine and dandy. I didn’t want to go – I was perfectly happy staying home and doing my homework like the pathetically obedient schoolgirl I was. Partying, it really wasn’t my thing, especially not with a bunch of rowdy people who were a couple of years older than me.

Not to mention there were a certain two I really would rather avoid – there’s only so much forced conversation about how my classes are going at school while they stare blatantly at my chest I can sit through. Besides, who goes to a party with their older brother?

Me apparently…

In the end, I put it down to stress – Mai can be pretty relentless when she’s focused on something.

“But it’s a Friday!” she had protested down the phone. “Surely you’re free on a Friday night!”

“I have homework,” was my weak protest. Not all of us were lucky enough to have just finished the last school exams they would ever do, or, in Mai’s case, have left school completely.

“Just do it over the weekend.” There was no point in explaining that I was goofy enough to happen to enjoy finishing my schoolwork as soon as I got home – I got antsy when it was looming and just not done.

“So why do you want to go to a party with all those high school kids?” I asked wearily, balancing the phone on my shoulder as I attempted to fold one of Oniichan’s shirts one handed and failing miserably. “You haven’t gotten carded in years – I doubt there’s a club in Domino that wouldn’t put me on the VIP list.”

I could almost hear her shrug down the phone. “It would be nice to be innocuous for once,” was all she said.

That made me blink. Mai, Queen of the flashy entrance, wanting to be innocuous? “Pardon? You? Innocuous? Mai, I hate to break it to you, but you’re blonde, famous and hot – there is no way you can go unnoticed at this party.”

“I know that,” she chuckled, laughter lively even from the other end of a lot of wires. “But at least I wouldn’t have to worry about sleazy old men trying to buy me with diamonds and rubies and promises of a golden future – I’d just be another blonde haired girl to go wild over.”

Another blink – my friend could be seriously weird at times. “And that’s good?”

“Of course.” She even managed to sound smug about it. “Shit!”

“What?”

“Just spilt my nail varnish.” Typical Mai – she was probably sitting on the kitchen table, painting her toenails. Why on her kitchen table? Because the light was better. I know her too well…”So, are you coming or not?”

I sighed, moving on to folding socks. I really was a sad individual – the fact that I actually needed persuading to go to a party where older men would be in abundance when I was sitting on the communal drier rolling socks into balls was the worst part of it.

Barely sixteen and I didn’t even have a life outside school.

“Oh, I don’t know Mai…I wouldn’t know who to talk to.” I mumbled, running out of excuses and socks to roll.

“You know Yuugi,” she said brightly, “You know Honda and Otogi.” Ignoring my snort of derision, she carried on airily. “Sweetie, you’ve been associating with the cream of the senior year since you were fourteen. Hell, you know Kaiba!”

“He calls me the Mutt’s sister!” I protested, jumping as my plaintive wail echoed off the peeling plaster walls.

“See, famous by association,” she chuckled, never missing a beat. I think it was the laugh that did it – Mai sounded so determined and, in the end, I suppose I trusted her judgement. She must have had a good, just reason for wanting me to go…

Or I was getting tangled up in the large sheet I was trying to fold by myself and was rapidly running out of hands. Tossing the rumpled sheet into the basket again, I sighed resignedly.

“Fine…”

I had to hold the receiver away from my ear due to the happy squeal that resounded from the phone. “Great – sweetie, you’re gonna have fun, trust me. I’ll be there at five on Friday to help you get ready.”

“But Mai, I don’t need any…”

The ominous click heralded the fact that our conversation was over, leaving me looking blankly at the phone, unsure of what had just happened. Did she just…?

“Great,” I muttered to myself as I hopped off the dryer, eying the sheet which had been giving me so many problems before. How was I expected to fold something that was twice as long as my spread arms?

“Would you like some help with that?” a familiar voice asked and I looked up, tucking the phone into the back pocket of my jeans.

“Miss Hanajima?” I wasn’t unpleasantly surprised to see the tall woman from the first floor standing in the doorway with her own basket of washing cradled in one arm. For someone in their late twenties, it was surprising how youthful she looked – she could pass of as being the same age as Mai probably. Still smooth skin accentuated her clear cut features and rod straight hair hung down to a still trim waist. Nearly thirty and she was still desirable – here I was at my age and I was still gangly.

Life is cruel sometimes.

“It sometimes helps to have two people,” was all she said as she placed her basket down on the cement floor, crossing over to where I was looking helplessly at the sheet. Hands placing two corners in my own nerveless grip, she took the other end, walking backwards until the material fanned open like a flag. Miss Hanajima shook the sheet briskly to rid it of creases and I copied obediently.

“Just pull your two corners together, like this,” she explained as she demonstrated, once again my following her lead. “Then walk towards me.” Clearly judging me incompetent, she shook her head good naturedly, taking the now quartered sheet from me and finishing the job herself. “You weren’t cut out to be a housewife, Shizuka.”

I blushed, already feeling inadequate compared to the older woman. “I know,” I said resignedly, “But I’m getting better at it, honest!”

She didn’t need to look so amused about it. She also didn’t need to pat my head as if I were ten again. “You’re too young to have to care for a home – you and Jou-kun are getting on alright, aren’t you?”

I nodded quickly; bobbing my head up and down so fast I probably looked like a motorised hammer. “We’re coping wonderfully, really.”

The stately woman made a small ‘hmming’ noise in the back of her throat as she scanned me with deep blue eyes. It was hard not to quail under such scrutiny, but, once again, the socks saved me as I returned to re-rolling some of them.

“Well…at least come up with me now and I’ll give you two something for dinner.” She was so sweet sometimes – she had always been there to offer a helping hand ever since I had moved in.

“Oh no, Miss Hanajima, we really…” I managed to say before she cut in.

“Hush now, we’ve known each other long enough. My friends call me Hana.” I would have protested, but her tone brooked no complaint and I had little choice, but to obey.

“Well, Hana-Chan,” I said, putting the emphasis on her preferred mode of address, a fact she greeted with a satisfied smile, “Oniichan and I are alright at feeding ourselves. Okaaosan wasn’t home much and Katsuya…” To my shame my heart suddenly hitched and I had to pause, all too aware of those disconcerting blue eyes fixed on me. “Katsuya always cooked for Otousan.”

Miss Hanajima, no, Hana, looked at me sympathetically as she placed the neat square of the folded sheet on top of the dryer and, before I could object, enfolded me in her arms. It had been a while since anyone had hugged me like that – a motherly hug I mean. She smelt nice, like baking and baby powder and the soft scent only her wonderful little girl could impress on her. So, I should have wriggled away, complaining about how I was too old for that sort of thing.

But I didn’t and I let my cheek pillow on her shoulder, closing my eyes tiredly. When you didn’t have many hugs when you were small, they were too precious to waste when you were older.

“It’s been nearly a year now, hasn’t it?”

All I could do was nod dumbly, not that silence for me was uncommon. I was content to keep my mouth shut and my ears open, you learnt a lot more that way. But right now, I didn’t want to hear anything. I just wanted to stay in the comfortable, comforting embrace of a woman who was a better mother than mine ever was.

“Will you be doing anything for it?”

Again, another nod, but this time I felt I had to say something. “We’re, me and Oniichan were going to go visit him next weekend.”

Great, now I felt even worse. I’d agreed to go to a frivolous party when Otousan was…was…

When my father was dead in the ground – those sorts of thoughts really get a girl down.

“That’s nice,” Hana said gently as she released me, ruffling my hair. To be honest, I didn’t mind that much as I coughed awkwardly, picking up my basket of washing. I bowed clumsily around the heavy load, while she returned the gesture more gracefully.

“Thank you…for the sheet I mean…” I mumbled, more of my teenage gawkiness showing through far too obviously.

The black haired woman gave an amused smile as she started to load her own clothes into the washing machine. “I’ll drop the food off later, Shizuka,” she said, her back to me and once again I was struck by the people in Domino – compared to my place in the big city, everyone was so…

Nice. It was odd.

“Thank you…” I mumbled before fleeing the room, practically racing up the six flights of stairs which led towards our apartment.

You turn away for one moment and the world just has to surprise you…

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“Mai, I’m really not sure about this…”

Once again, my protests fell on deaf ears as the blonde advanced on me, ignoring the wary look in my eyes.

“I don’t want to attract too much attention. You know what? I think I just won’t go at all.”

I was treated to one of those brilliant smiles Mai gave, one of the ones that even sent me reeling and I was a girl. And I wondered why guys couldn’t stop staring at her on the street…

“Trust me on this, Shizuka sweetie. You do trust me, don’t you?” she asked innocently.

Now that was low – that was bare-your-throat-and-whisper-death-threats-in-your-ear-low. It wasn’t as if I didn’t’ trust here: I did, with all my heart. I just wasn’t so sure of her sanity right now. I sighed, running a hand through my hair and wincing as my fingers caught on the numerous snags I found there. Maybe I did need help…

“Fine, do your worst…” was my resigned answer.

Mai beamed. “Good, now strip.”

I ‘eeped’ and made all the usual protests, but in end, predictably, Mai won. She always does after all. Soon, I was left shivering in my embarrassingly plain, white cotton underwear as the blonde scanned me critically.

“You’re awfully scrawny, you know that?” she commented and I sighed, again.

“I’m a teenager – we’re all arms and legs,” I said dryly, attempting to suck in my stomach and look older, more streamlined…

“More like elbows and knees,” she grumbled as she poked me in the belly, ruining my efforts, her violet gaze still travelling over my body thoughtfully.

“Not all of us are lucky enough to be tall and curvy,” I commented tartly as I folded my arms, huffing as only a sixteen year old girl could when their pride was deflated. The older woman stood back, squaring her hands squarely on said curvy hips.

Do I sound green eyed? Can you blame me? It’s hard to find anything redeeming about myself these days – my brother’s a top class duellist, his best friend is the King of Games. Mai’s famous – everyone knows her and she’s always frequenting VIP clubs and parties. Not to mention she’s gorgeous. Even Kaiba who is…well, just Kaiba, but that’s still prestigious enough in itself.

Not to mention the odd ancient spirit who pops around every now and then for tea, as you do.

“Not all of us are lucky enough to be small and dainty,” she retorted, still eying my painfully unclothed body. “I only have one style – I’m just lucky curvy is in now.”

“And ‘scrawny’ is?”

For what seemed to be the twentieth time in the past half hour, Mai ignored me as she strolled past me, digging around in my wardrobe busily. It was odd how much she looked like a gerbil scrabbling around – admittedly a blonde, voluptuous gerbil, but what the hell.

I sighed, already feeling odd in my underwear and suddenly realising that I was standing slap bang in the view of my window. And guess what? The view held the window opposite mine, which itself showed one of the teenage guys, one in the grade above me I think. So apart from the humiliation of being forced to strip like this, being viewed like a calf in a market and now adding the shame of being seen by someone like him. I futilely tried to cover up, folding my arms and shifting uncomfortably on my feet, already feeling the far too familiar blush spreading across my cheeks. I’m sure the colour only deepened when I watched him mouth some words.

Take…them…off….

Damn, remind me to ask Oniichan to get some new curtains, I thought to myself, desperately trying to ignore the guy. Actually, some furniture would be good as well. Most of our cash was going towards the rent so our home was pretty sparsely furnished.

Our home…it sounded good though. And it was good – to be able to look at this small, two bed roomed apartment and know that it was ours, all ours. We paid for it, we lived in it – we owned it. Oniichan and I, we were independent.

I suppose we needed to be. Call it a new life, one where we were living it our own way, without an adult influence to hinder our happiness.

Well, except for Miss Hanajima of course, but she hardly counted. She was a friend, not a parent, even if she was a good ten, twelve years older than me.

But it was our home and we were proud it. I suppose that was all that mattered.

“How come you have all this stuff and you never wear it sweetie?” The sound of Mai’s voice, muffled due to the fact she was burrowing even further into my rickety, second hand wardrobe, distracted me from both the distracting tasks of ignoring the pervert-next-door and sorting out my tangled thoughts.

“Well…most if it’s stuff Okaasan got me,” I mumbled and Mai’s head emerged from the closet, fixing me with an unreadable violet gaze.

“Ah,” was all she said, smoothing one already immaculate golden curl as she flashed me a sympathetic smile, one I returned awkwardly before she resumed her rummaging. Why did people always tiptoe around the subject of our parents? Probably because I couldn’t seem to talk about it myself. Oniichan could and I didn’t know how he did it. From what I’ve heard, he’s suffered worse than I have, but still…he’s an optimistic one, my brother, he’s always been braver than me. I guess that’s why he’s so protective – maybe I really did need protecting.

And it’s not as if we were the only sob story on the scene. Mokuba and Kaiba, no-one speaks about their parents either – birth or step. But then again, they also had a step brother who currently resides in the computer system they designed for him. Weird, huh? The Kaiba brothers were generally an odd lot, but, in general, people I could get on with.

Translation being I could stand to be in a room with them. Kaiba would…tolerate me, even if that was solely because he was focused on taunting Oniichan. So, while Kaiba would bait my brother, I would talk to his own sibling. Mokuba was a good guy, the grade below me at school. He was quite the sweetie actually – the classic Kaiba good looks, minus the arrogance his brother had. He was bouncy, enthusiastic, not to mention able to conduct lively conversation. He was a different fish from most young people and it was…soothing in a way to just relax in a friend’s company. As for Noa…we exchange emails every now and then, which is probably the best I can hope for with a virtual boy.

“Oh my Claude!” Mai’s own individual way of saying ‘Oh my God’ (some part of her still assuming I was kid made the effort not to swear around me, but there were times when the odd ‘fuck’ dropped past her glossed lips) assaulted my ears and I watched her wriggle her way dextrously out of the bombsite my wardrobe had become. “You never said you owned anything from Chanel!”

“From where now?” I asked, gormless even in my underwear. It was interesting to see how Mai’s expression looked as if I had said something blasphemous.

“From where?” she squawked, waving a garment which looked vaguely familiar at me. “And you call yourself a teenage girl? Chanel, you idiot, it’s an American designer.”

Okay, I’ll admit it – that teenage girl comment had stung and as such I mumbled, “Well, I’m Japanese…” under my breath, but she was still looking at me as if I had suggested riding a motorbike down the aisle of a church dressed in nothing, but leather chaps.

“Where did you get it then?” When she finally stopped waving her arms around, I got a good look at the cloth she held in her hand. It was a jacket, a long one, made of some sort of oddly toned red cloth. On closer inspection, the odd tones were explained by the fact the whole jacket was made up of squares and rectangles of different fabrics. With colours ranging from deep crimson, running through shades of vermillion, claret, burgundy and ruby, the textures were equally varied. I saw swatches of velvet, linen, an odd crinkled cloth all shot through with gold threads…the list went on. As for the shape itself, it seemed as though it would reach to about knee height, the folds suggesting it would swirl quite nicely. The sleeves were reasonably tight, but flared out into the sort of bell bottom sleeves you saw on those archaic gowns medieval sorceresses were depicted wearing. [1]

Overall it was a…unique garment and one I vaguely remembered Okaasan giving to me in some overly elegant carrier bag after she had gotten back from one of her ‘business’ trips, accompanying the gift with a brief, perfume scented hug. As normal, I had accepted both the embrace and the gift before simply shoving the bag away in my wardrobe. I must have kept it when I moved in with Oniichan…probably a good thing considering the way Mai was looking at it.

“Okaasan gave it to me,” I said simply, sitting down on the edge of my bed, absently hugging a random fluffy plushie to my chest, a Korebo that Yuugi had given to me a long time ago. See? Even one thought of my mother and I was already hurting – it was always an odd blend of wistfulness and anger, one which confused me and soothed me, while all the while making me restless. It was a contradiction in itself.

For once, Mai didn’t seem to notice the glum look which probably flickered across my face as she stroked the sleeve of the long jacket. “How come you haven’t worn it before?”

How come I haven’t worn it before? Because of the fact it came from my mother, it was one of those gifts designed to make up for the time she hadn’t spent with me. It failed miserably. “It clashes with my hair,” was my lame answer – there was no need to depress my friend.

Mai snorted, holding the jacket up to my messy auburn hair, determined to prove her point.

“There’s too many shades of red to clash,” she said happily, tossing the jacket over my head and earning a horribly pathetic squeak from me as my vision was suddenly blocked by the patch worked cloth. Pulling it from my head (no doubtedly ruffling my hair even more) I was greeted with the sight of a grin on her face. “You’re a mystery, Shizuka, you know that don’t you?”

I blinked, confused. That wasn’t what people normally told me. Sweet, innocent, simple Shizuka – straight as a ruler and easy to understand. No false pretences, no layers to dig through – according to the world I was an open book. But really…when I think about it…I’m just another messed up teenager. I worry, I bluff my way through life – I’m hardly as pure as people seem to think. Oniichan has some idea of me as his perfect little sister and I used to be that. But things changed after he left and he doesn’t seem to have become aware of that as yet.

I don’t really know how to break it to him…

“What do you mean?” I asked carefully, my own sienna eyes meeting her violet ones.

“I just sometimes…” Mai paused, shaking her head amusedly as if she were laughing at some private joke. “Never mind, just ignore an old woman when she rambles.”

She was being confusing, but that was nothing new. Recently, over the past few months, there had been times when I’d caught her watching me and she had been coming out with cryptic statements, exactly like that which she had just said. Dismissing it for now, I smiled at her. “You’re not old Mai, trust me.”

She chuckled, ruffling my hair again as she turned back to my wardrobe. “Well, don’t ignore me at any rate – I’m gonna make you stunning.”

And I wasn’t already? Lovely…

I sighed, but my heart wasn’t in it and she knew it. “Magic Mai, eh?” I commented and she waved a perfectly manicured hand at me, ignoring the tongue I had stuck out.

“Not magic, just talented,” was her smug answer and I laughed, happily throwing the Korebo plushie at her head as she started to rummage around in my wardrobe again.

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“You’ll do.”

Mai stepped back from me, clearly satisfied with her work. Despite whatever half hearted protests I had given out, she had managed to get me into that long red jacket, as well as dark blue jeans and a white blouse – I had steadfastly refused to even look at a dress. The more skin I kept covered up, the better. I was far too pale, even after the heat of summer – how come my brother tanned beautifully and I was left pasty and pale? It really wasn’t fair, but luck goes like that and besides, Oniichan was the most handsome man I knew, no competition.

Maybe I was biased, but at least I thought it was true.

It had taken longer to persuade me into the chosen clothes than to do my makeup.

“You’re too young to wear much makeup,” she had said firmly as she had sat me down cross legged on my bed. She had been sitting down behind me, pulling a brush through my hair – another sore point with me. Having hair as long as mine may have looked nice at times, but the number of tangles I acquired over night was both painful and annoying. Not to mention, when it was so thick, there wasn’t much I could actually do with it… “Only wear makeup when you need to and you don’t need it.”

Wincing as she teased out a knot towards the base of my neck, I tilted my head forwards slightly, voice muffled consequentially. “What about you then?” I asked, blowing upwards as a strand of red hair decided to affix itself to my lips. “You don’t need to wear makeup then!”

I could feel her smile, I knew she was smirking. “But I can pull it off, you can’t.”

I pouted, but said nothing – you didn’t argue with someone who had the ability to pull your tangles rather hard.

In the end, Mai had, somehow, applied a light moisturiser to my flinching face, all the while uttering soothing words to me. What was I? A frightened horse? It was over surprisingly quickly actually – she applied some oddly scented balm to my lips which had a slight pearly sheen. I wasn’t used to wearing stuff on my lips and I had to resist the urge to keep licking it. I wasn’t complaining, it was just…strange. But that was all – Mai steadfastly refused to put anything on my eyes.

“You look innocent enough as it is,” she said by way of explanation, brushing off the dark look I sent her regarding the ‘innocent’ comment. “Why fix what isn’t broken?”

In the end, I wasn’t going to ignore anything Mai said – lord knows I loved her and trusted her and I knew that anything she did was for my own benefit. I trusted her implicitly.

I sometimes wonder if there was anyone more gullible than I was then.

“Hey Mai…” I said sleepily as she carried on brushing my hair. By now the soothing strokes made my red hair ripple like silk and each time she moved the comb down, it met with no resistance since all the tangles had long since been removed. The repetitious movement was lulling, as was the warm presence of the blonde at my back. This was the sister I never had – it was odd, going through my young life with no-one, but my mother as a strong female figure in my life. And now…now I had so many. Mai of course, not to mention Miss Hanajima. Anzu and Isis, they were both influential in my life, even Rebecca when I spotted her around.

I guess I was lucky. No, I knew I was lucky, but that didn’t make it any easier to understand at times.

“What is it sweetling?” I always felt so young next to Mai, but I didn’t really mind that much.

“I just wanted to know…” I wiggled my shoulders in pleasure as she tugged gently on my scalp – I always had liked to be petted. Back in the good ‘ole days, when I was about six, Okaaosan would spend long hours brushing my soft, little girl hair. That was back when we were one happy family and Oniichan and I would play on the lawn while our parents would laugh over their breakfast. But that was a long time ago now. “Why are you coming to this party?”

Through my relaxed mind, I felt her pause, one hand delicately smoothing down the back of my hair in a soothing gesture. “I just wanted to get out of the limelight for a while,” was her simple answer as the brushing resumed. “A quiet night with friends sounds wonderful.”

“Quiet?” I chuckled, leaning back against her for the moment, hooking the Korebo plushie once more with my foot and hugging it to my chest. “Do you even remember what parties were like when you were eighteen?”

I felt her pinch my side playfully and I responded in the like. “I’m not that old – besides, I think I can handle a bunch of rowdy teenagers, don’t you?” She actually sounded as if she were really anticipating this party which perplexed me a bit. It wasn’t going to be much – just a gathering to celebrate the end of exams. I was only getting in because I knew so many of them and I wasn’t happy about that. Getting in by association, how demeaning was that.

“Is there someone you want to see in particular?” I asked suddenly, earning myself another pinch, slightly harder than before.

“Kid, why would I want to see any of these losers?” she said mockingly as she stretched out her legs, looking mournfully at a ladder in her fishnets. “I’m just there to chaperone you and you really need to get out more…”

Not about to be distracted by the jab at both my age and lack of a social life (why object when I know it’s true?) I looked at her over my shoulder, raising an eyebrow in the movement I had perfected for hours in front of the mirror. The I-may-be-only-sixteen-but-I-know-when-you’re-shitting-me look. “It’s not Kaiba is it?”

Mai raised an eyebrow. “You have got to be kidding me? Does the guy even have a dick?” She snorted, examining her fingernails. “I don’t think he even looks at girls he works so much.”

That was quite sad actually…had Kaiba ever even acted as if he had any of the happy little hormones a normal teenage guy had?

“Otogi?”

“Flashier dressed version of Kaiba with better hair, but less money.”

“You’re so shallow…um….Honda?”

“Please, he’s into you and his head looks like an anvil.”

I couldn’t resist a small snicker…an anvil was a pretty good analogy for the brunette’s hair.

“Rishid?”

“Uh…he’s not really my type. Tattoos really aren’t my things.”

“Guess that rules out Malik then.”

“Damn straight – and don’t even suggest Marik.”

I didn’t.

“Besides,” my blonde friend shrugged. “The whole yami thing creeps me out a bit – I wouldn’t want to date someone who has another half listening in on whatever we say.”

“Good point.” I was rapidly running out of guys at this point – Kaiba had seemed the most likely, but now I was just pulling names out of a hat randomly. “Eh…it’s not my brother, is it?”

There was a pause and I was saddened to see what looked like weariness flash through her beautiful, vibrant eyes.

“Look honey, you’re brother’s a sweet guy, but the fact is, everyone you’ve mentioned is a fair bit younger than I am,” she said tiredly, flopping back onto the mound of pillows at the top of my bed. “What if they all woke up one day and saw an old woman compared to them?”

I listened mutely before crawling up towards her and nudging myself into a hug. “Mai, you’re not old and any guy would be lucky to have you.” Okay, so that wasn’t very original, but it seemed to comfort her slightly.

“You’re a sweetie, Shizuka.”

It was my turn to look tired, resting my cheek on her shoulder.

“That’s what everyone says…” was my mumbled answer before we both lapsed into silence.

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[1] This is a real coat from a real Chanel coat - I saw it and fell in love with it. It was just so...bohemian and hippyish. Definitely my style and perhaps the only non-black coat thing I've liked in a while. Unfortunately, at three hundred pounds, there was no way I could afford it without auctioning off any of my unborn children *Sobs* So I had to leave it...oh well, perhaps I can con my textiles teacher into making one for me?

Well, reviews make my world go around. I'll try and keep to this story without getting sidetracked - I'm not due to get my normal computer back for a while which means all my other stories are on hold -_- Typical Year of the Horse - we work hard and enthusiastically, but all the enthusiasm rapidly fades...ignore me, I've just been in touch with my cultural side recently. Belated good wishes for Chinese New Year and special blessings for any Year of the Roosters who read this. XD

Lell - sick in bed with the food poisoning her school gave her.