Mai struggled to catch her breath.

"You better not be making this up," she finally said slowly, "Or I swear I will kick your ."

"I'm not!" Tomoyo spat out, gritting her perfect straight teeth. "Do you want to listen to my sob story or not?"

Mai hobbled over to the railing on the deck and slid down to the floor. "Fine. This isn't gonna be too long, is it? Because we do have a real, existing treasure to hunt down."

"Shut up, ," Tomoyo sat down too. "Where do you want me to start?"

"How about from the very ing beginning as to why Fukushima Tomoyo never existed."

Tomoyo sighed. "But that's soooo long ago."

Mai began to get irritated all over again. "Okay, you little . I'll make it easier for you. What's your real name?"

"Don't have one," Tomoyo promptly said. She paused, long eyelashes fluttering. "At least, I don't think so. I can't remember. For as long as I've known, I knew my name was Tomoyo, but I wasn't her. You get me?"

"No."

"Ugh, whatever. See, back in our house, there is a room that no one ever goes near. And that's where the real Fukushima Tomoyo stays."

"What? Why?"

"She's sick. Really sick. Cancer, or leukemia, or something awful. She's skin and bones, her hair is falling out, she can hardly breathe right without some tubes doing it for her. And she's so sickly she's practically allergic to air."

"I don't understand," Mai said in frustration. "Then why are you --"

"Because she's not perfect. She's defective. The Fukushimas are the perfect family, with a perfect caring father, a perfect doting mother, a perfect quiet golden retriever, perfect obedient servants, and they only need one thing. A perfect daughter. Beautiful, witty, polite when it counted. Rebellious in her younger years, but begins to mature after the age of 25. Turns over a new leaf. Starts taking school seriously. Goes to law or medical school, gets all the awards. Becomes something great. Then takes over the family once her father retires."

Mai felt her teeth begin to grind together. "So you're saying ...?"

"That I'm just an actress hired to replace their defective daughter? A live-in 24/7 stunt double? Yup, that's me. I told you I can't remember my name, right? I've been the living decoy of the real Fukushima Tomoyo since I was six years old."

Mai didn't know whether to be horrified or pissed off. She's never heard of someone going this far to maintain the 'perfect family' image. This was disgusting. "Where were you?"

"I was in some poor orphanage somewhere in the mountains, born from a young pretty whisp of a girl who got knocked up by a one-night stand with a handsome casanova at some fraternity party in university. I had the looks, so they took me and paid the orphanage to keep their mouth shut.

"For almost a year, they molded me into the perfect daughter. They taught me proper etiquette, how to smile prettily and walk prettily and talk prettily. They wrote out an entire chart of how I was going to live my life while they searched for a cure to make the real Tomoyo better. If that ever happened -- and with all the money they're sending, it better -- then I was to be paid for my troubles and leave immediately, find some way to live and melt in with the community."

"Don't you hate that, though?" Mai pestered her. "Don't you want anything more out of life?"

"Like what?" Tomoyo -- or whoever the heck she was -- shrugged, uncaringly. "I sleep in a Queen-sized bed made from satin, cashmere, and feather pillows. I am lavished with jewels and sweets and more money than I need. I am literally paid to go to clubs and get wasted and make out with hot guys. What more could some orphaned rat want in life?"

"But --" Mai realized how stupid she was being and bit her tongue. Wasn't that basically what she wanted her entire life too? Wasn't that the whole point of all her thievery and scams? To get enough money to do whatever she wants, to have whatever she wants? Anything better than being a parentless street rat? What made her so different from Tomoyo?

"Listen. Just drop me off when we get close to Japan. I don't care. Go out and have your adventures."

"What makes you think they won't pay a ransom for you?"

Tomoyo sneered. "Are you kidding? They don't care about me at all! Why would they? I'm not even their real daughter. And they hardly ever even see her! Who knows? Maybe they'll pay the ransom, just for appearance's sake! But I don't give a what they do anymore! I'm done!"

She jumped up, seething and red in the face, and began to pace up and down the deck. Mai watched her quietly, aware that this wasn't the best time for her to open .

"I'm tired, okay?" Tomoyo said quietly. "I know I said all those stuff, about doing whatever I want and having all this money ... but it's lonely. I don't have any friends -- the ones I do have are the ones they choose for me. The servants avoid me as much as possible, because I'm not the real Fukushima Tomoyo, I'm just pretending. I'm sick of all those stupid clubs with their stupid neon lights and stupid hot boys and stupid loud music! And I am sick of having to act y and whiny and stupid and stuck-up to play the bratty-teenager-phase parts!"

Mai noticed she had tears in her eyes. She didn't know if she should point them out, or comfort her, or not say anything. She chose the latter. 

"I just want, for once in my life, to do what I really want to do. To say what I really want to somebody's face. To make friends. To punch out an who decided to feel me up and not make it on the front-page news on tabloids. Can't I just do that, just once?"

Shew as silent for a few seconds more, then looked up at Mai, the tears welling up in her big Barbie-doll-like eyes and threatening to tip over.

"I know I contradict what I say. I know I said I like this role, but the truth is, I hate every second of my life. And I know I said you should just leave me, but ... I don't want to go back. Not now. Not when I'm finally out. So, just, for your treasure hunt ... could you bring me along? Please? Just give me a few extra days of freedom before I go back, I promise I won't mess up!"

Mai glowered at her, but couldn't find any way to reject her when looking at her tearful eyes. "God DAMMIT, Zico's gonna kill me for agreeing. If you really do screw us over, I'm leaving you on that island, you hear?"

The smile that burst from her lips was enough to permanently blind her. "Yes! Thank you thank you thank you! You won't regret it I promise!"

Mai just scowled and sighed heavily. "Whatever. Help me up, money-bags."

She wasn't actually expecting her to help, but Tomoyo grabbed one of her arms and yanked her to her feet. For Mai, it was strange. Tomoyo's hands were smooth and soft, like a goddamn baby's . Mai stared at her own palms. Rough, calloused. Used to hard work and fighting on their own.

Did she envy Tomoyo's cushy life? Maybe. But Mai only ever knew the ty cities in Vietnam. The entire country of Vietnam. Her city. Her home.

"I'm only saying this once, but there are other things you could do with your life," Mai told her grumpily as they returned to the others. "Get a new name. Do something for yourself for once. Break out."

"It's hard," Tomoyo whispered. "And scary."

"Yeah, life likes to do that." Mai shrugged, then hesitated before saying, "At least you're not as ty as I thought you were. You don't have to pretend to be such a rich girl around us. Unless the iness just comes naturally?"

Tomoyo punched Mai in the arm. But her hit was weak and floppy, and she was giggling a bit. 

Mai felt a bit of a smile on her own lips.