When I turned five he started to hit me in front of his harem of moral lacking girlfriends. I don't know how he got the money to afford so many of them, and I don't think I want to know. That's when mom left him. The divorce wasn't legalized for several years, so she was still using his money for out living expenses without his knowledge. Or maybe he did know and he just didn't care about the ravishing young beauty that had aged tens of years before his eyes.

After that, mom started dating again, and a new set of problems rolled in the door with every young man that I happened to meet. It was like living with that man who calls himself my father all over again. I hated it, not so much because of the discomfort it put me at, but for the pain it put my mother in. Watching her suffer was so much worse than suffering myself.

When I was six, I started going to a school with other kids. There were a bunch of boys there that though it amusing to push me in the mud and rip my cloths and shred my homework. They laughed and teased me for my looks, for the way I talked, for my above average height, and my forehead. And then there was the pink hair. That's how it was like for the longest time.

When I was eleven I got my first boyfriend. He was a year and a half older than me and in another grade at out school, but he was so nice and sweet that I didn't mind. It was five months before I found out he was seeing three other girls behind my back. Somehow I was the last to know. My second boyfriend ended in an affair as well, this one a little more embarrassing. Behind my back he was seeing another man instead of a woman. This was all when I was eleven, mind you. It was then that my heart turned utterly cold towards the male race, leaving no room for forgiveness or future trust.

When I turned twelve, or a little before then, mom started noticing a change in my body and appearance. She saw a bit of her former self in me and cried at what would happen if left unattended. That year we moved to a secluded area with a small school and I was introduced for the first time as Nemo Haruno, Hana Hauno's only son.

I wore a tight corset like contraption under my school uniform that kept me flat as a board, even though I was maturing quickly for my age. I was surprisingly tall for my age, and my pink hair had been premaritally dyed black, so I never drew suspicion to my true gender, though I was told once or twice that I had a beautiful face as apposed to a masculine one. I guess I grew up into one of those guys you would call a bishounen.

By the time I was seventeen I was 5'11 ' with jet black hair that was kept back with a leather cord and enough martial arts training to make batman envious. Remembering the bullies? Mom enrolled me in four different self defense classes at once, adding another two once I turned fourteen. Now at seventeen, I've dabbled on over twenty seven forms of martial arts. These came in handy when I stepped into defend a helpless girl against the cruelty of advancing perverts and stalkers. I've never held back when fighting men and I've never regretted any of the discomfort they've received from me.

As you could guess, with my charmingly good looks and flattering gentleman like nature, it was no surprise I was the most popular guy in the entire city with a fan girl club that held members in fifteen different countries. (I did take up modeling as a part time job for extra pocket money, so my face was all over the Internet.) While other guys only have their looks, I was the guy that wrote back to their fan letters and asked how their pet iguana was doing after his leg surgery. See, I wasn't really a guy when I spoke with these girls, so I actually cared for their well beings. I guess a part of me wanted to prevent the lie of man's true nature from shattering their pretty little smiles.

On an average I received one to three love confessions a day, even though I have made it clear many a time, that I would never be able to devote my full self to one woman when there were so many pretty faces out there that lit up when they found out I was still single. The real reason is because I'm straight. I think girls are wonderful and so much better than guys, but at the same time, I can't help but fall in love with the fictional manga boy and historical heroes from bedtime fairy tales.
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“Oh my, who's that over there,” the young woman with the light blush whispered, pointing to the hansom figure across the store who was busy looking through the different brands of salsa.

“You don't know Nemo? He's famous around here for sure, but surly where you've come from you've heard of him at least. He's all over the web,” the younger replied, a bit annoyed that her idol was not recognized.

“He does seem a bit familiar, but he seems so humble. What's he doing in a department store like this buying cheep food with the rest of us? Shouldn't he be rich with all the money he's making from modeling?”

“He doesn't model anymore, so he's not extremely rich. As far as wealth goes, he's just like the rest of us. Even though he could be a millionaire by now, he choose to stay at home and take care of his stick mom instead of making money. I head the only reason he modeled in the first place was so that he could pay the medical bill for her. There isn't a better man out there than my Nemo sama. If half the men out there were as good as he, the world would be a paradise to all women. No one is more humble or sincere in his kindness than Nemo sama.”

“His mother is sick and he stays behind to care for her? That's so touching to hear in this day and age. What about the father? Doesn't he have any other siblings he can spare the chores with? Surly you would know, Hanabi.”

“That part of his past is a bit sketchy, but from what I can understand, his father was a horrible person that tortured him and his mother when he was younger before they left the old crap apple. Then he started taking care of his mother at an early age, being an only child. He never really talks about it and tries to avoid the subject as much as possible, but it's easy to see that he had a horrible past. If that was anyone else, they'd spill it to the media and drink up the fame. Nemo sama is so humble.”

“Oh, he sounds so wonderful. Almost too good to be true. Are you sure he's really all those things. To be that perfect he's have to be some sort of fictional Edward come to life. Men like that just don't exist...do they?”

The younger of the two nodded her head feverishly, so much that she was seeing stars when she stopped. “Oh yes there is! He's standing over there looking though the salsa.”

“But-”

“No buts, Nemo sama is better than Edward!” She paused for a minuet watching the teenager with calm green eyes make his way to the check out. '”Just watch this, onee san. He'll prove himself right now. Keep your eyes fixed.”

A young blond girl was having trouble finding the right amount of change to purchase a magazine and looked like she was about to cry, not being able to scrap up enough silver for the heavy tax on the printed paper. She looked ready to give up when the tall hero spoke. “Please sir, if you don't mind, could you put her purchase on my total. I only have a few things.”

The young girl looked surprised that someone had taken the trouble to bail her out, much less this dashing young fellow that looked like he just stepped down from Mt. Olympus. He smiled at her and nodded, as if mentally telling her everything will be alright. The purchase with quickly made and Nemo was handing the girl her magazine when she spoke up to thank him.

“Thank you so much, but why would you help me? It was my fault for not adding in the tax when I was saving up the money to buy this.”

Nemo chuckled, patting her head and brushing her curly blond locks out of her face. “I couldn't let such a beautiful young girl face such a hardship when I was well equipped to prevent it. Why shouldn't I have helped you? You looked like you were saving up for this.” She nodded and Nemo laughed. “I thought so. Take care of it now and please keep yourself in good health.”

The eight year old nodded with a bright smile and ran out of the store, leaving the older teen to walk out calmly with the grace of a crowned prince. Hinata and Hanabi having both seen the whole thing were sent into deep blushes, their hearts fluttering.

“You're right. He is better than Edward!”

So I just turned seventeen and was partying hearty here in Louisiana, when the devil's daughter sent me a birthday card. Normally I would just throw it out without reading it, because knowing her, there's probably some deadly drug inside along with a camera for her to watch as I suffocate and die. I was a little high on the euphoria of graduating out of the sixteen year old class that day, so I didn't throw out that cursed envelope like I should have. I opened the stupid thing and actually read what she had to say. There were warning bells going off in my head when I saw her wishing me a happy birthday at the top of the paper, but i kept reading. Looking back now, I wish I hadn't.

Karin, in all her money possessing evilness has offered up a dare she just knows I won't be able to turn down. There's this old, old, old house of hers that her family owns-along with twenty others all over the globe-that she wants to 'give' to me as a birthday present. Yup, that's basically what the letter said. Karin was daring me to live in this house of hers for a whole year, until I turn eighteen. If I can stay in this house for a full year, she'll hand it over free of charge.

The only conditions were that I not go away on vacation or any other trip overnight, and that I not stay there alone. I had to have an adult sign as guardian for me, so of course, instead of going to my overworked mother for this, I called my brother down from New York. He was having a hard time finding a place to live anyway. It sounded way too good to be true, so I read on. There was this warning at the bottom of the letter about not going into this one room in the back of the house, even though the lawyer showed up with a spiffy looking victorian styled key for the mahogany door when I went to turn in the contract. I should have know right there what was wrong. I'm a girl, okay. I am nosey and a snoop and if you have ever had to buy Christmas presents for me, you would know that. Karin knew that, but I didn't remember that in time. So basically this is a story about how I flushed away a whole year of my life.