After six months of non-stop action and back-breaking effort, Andou Sennousuke was finally relaxed enough to walk into Yumezuki's upstairs apartment and realize something that-really-he should have realized long before. His sweet Kana-san had unconsciously been at work around the room, and the many little signs of her presence here simply hadn't caught his attention until now.

The laundry was hanging to dry on the back patio. His room was completely clean; not a shirt or apron on the floor, not an item out of place on any of the several surfaces. Even his schoolwork was neatly ordered, by subject, on his desk. Those weren't the only changes; the others amused him to a great extent as he stood, really too tired to move, in the middle of the living space. They were little things, like a cutesy, lacy top mixed in with his laundry on the lines, and her fuzzy, floppy orange slippers sitting in the front entry. If he thought about it, there was even an extra toothbrush in the cup on his bathroom cabinet that could belong to none but her.

Koizumi Kanako was starting to invade his space, but he certainly wasn't complaining.

Sennousuke smiled as he finally got the strength to move again. His joints creaked violently as he shuffled towards the kitchen for a drink of much-needed water. However, the cup his hand landed on in the cabinet was also distinctly Kana's, a fall-colored orange and deep red geometric pattern stood out shockingly deep and bold against his cleanly white dishware.

In a way, this sense of beloved calm was conflicting in itself. A memory of the ever-smiling Ichigo flittered lightly into the fore of his mind; for two years and a little more, his heart had quietly pined after her. Even when he could see it in her eyes, her every movement, that her heart was reserved for Makoto... his feelings wouldn't break away. He'd felt attached to her and blinded to all others right up to the point where, as he lay over-worked on his futon, Kanako had broken down in tears and confessed with desperate tactlessness.

Oh, she had turned such a lovely, adorable shade of red.

In that moment, as the words "Because I love you!" left her tongue and filled the air of the room, Kana stopped at the shock of her own words and turned into a babbling mess. In seconds she skittered out the door with an abrupt good-bye, vaguely stumbling over things with muted crashes all the way to the shop's front door. Her feelings, however, weren't his top priority at that moment. Consumed with getting the shop back on its feet, he let the confession fall to the back burner for a while. Still, it whispered there, in the back of his mind; every time he felt himself bend beneath the pressure, he could hear it as just the smallest whisper: I love you.

Before he knew it, her words were spilling out into his every thought. Despite her desperately self-concious actions, Kana's affection for him would still shine through every time he needed it-which was quite often, at that point. In a surprisingly short amount of time, all he sweets were baked with Kana in mind-thinking of the love in her eyes, her gentle hands, her softly firm voice-and realization came knocking. He was already in love with her.

Hanabusa had been right on the money a few days ago, teasing him about her. He was almost over Ichigo; there was a corner of his heart reserved just for her, and always would be, but Kana's presence had definitely outgrown it. It wasn't a quick process; at first, he'd nearly forgotten about her confession altogether. He had taken a very long time to answer her, and it was a sheer wonder that she waited. This time around though, it felt like breathing; he wasn't straining himself, trying to find that fine line between friendly and "too much" and stay on the right side. He didn't have to watch every word so as not to complicate things. He was honestly happy that his best friend had met the love of his life like he had, and now he was sure he could say the same for himself.

Leaning against the counter, Sennousuke found himself smiling as he slowly sipped his water, his eyes fluttering shut, savoring his memories more than the taste on his tongue. The sliding door at the front of the apartment quietly grated open, and Kana's gentle voice floated through.

"Sen-kun? Did you go to bed already?"

"I'm in the kitchen, Kana-san. Come on in."

Her shoes clopped lightly as she dropped them on the tile, and after a second or two he could hear the light tap-tap-tapof her slippered feet on the tatami. Her head poked around the door frame, her eyes immediately smiling tiredly at him. "We just finished closing up the shop. The register is in the safe; I went ahead and counted the money and did today's entries, so don't worry about them."

Sennousuke patted the counter top next to him, and she shyly moved to his side, propping herself against the salt-and-pepper Formica. The building was incredibly quiet at the late hour; all the shops were closed, most employees already off the grounds, nearly every light off. The soft hum of the refrigerator was the only thing between their ears and complete silence. His arm eventually came to rest around her waist, and with a slight hesitation she leaned to rest her head on his shoulder.

From the cup in his hand to the toothbrush in the bathroom, to the laundry on the line... he was surrounded by her. It was the most comforting thing that he could ever remember feeling and, right then, he decided he didn't want to let her go. Not for now, anyway; not when he was becoming acutely aware of her presence, when before he hadn't even realized it. He set the vibrantly colored mug on the counter and turned to embrace her, his arms wrapping firmly around her body as his nose came to rest in the crook of her neck. It startled her; the physical contact always did. Perhaps she didn't understand yet just how much he cared; that was okay, because he wasn't sure that he understood it completely, either.

"Sen-kun...?"

"Stay tonight. Just tonight... just for a while. I feel a little overwhelmed..."

AN: Umm... so somehow, despite my efforts, my first YumePati fiction is for SenKana. No idea how that happened, except that this furry little thing suddenly popped into my head during church last night. It needed to be put on paper, so I obliged. 8D Was originally going to be more citrus-flavored... but I think I'll leave it to your imaginations instead. =^^= At any rate, more YumePati to come, heavy crack on the side.

Crack including Cafe/Estragon, in fact. ;D Enjoy!