"I hate you!" Meroko screamed causing Izumi to chuckle just a little bit. How he loved to tease her. To see her face all red and upset. To know that he was the cause of it. He was a sadist till the end. "I love Takuto," she whispered. Izumi froze for a moment. That was one thing he could not tolerate. Her strange obsession with Takuto. What did Takuto have that he didn't. Izumi couldn't stand the way she'd cry over Takuto, when not too long ago, it was he whom she was crying over. He would give anything to be the one to cause her that pain. Being the one to cause the pain made it so much easier to heal her wounds. He could not; however, undo what Takuto did, or in some cases, didn't do. He just wanted Meroko to happy sometimes. "Are you listening?" Meroko looked questioningly into his eyes with her tear filled ones. It took him off guard. How long had he been standing there, thinking about her. Thinking about how much he loved…to teaser her. How much he loved to make her smile, too. It was then that he finally realized: He loved her. He loved the girl who cried for him. The first one to ever show any compassion for him. He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her waist. Meroko flushed and bowed her head down.

"Look at me," Izumi ordered. It wasn't a request. Meroko made a whimpering noise and kept her gaze downward. "Look at me, damn it!" Izumi all but yelled. That startled Meroko, to hear him curse like that. When she looked up she saw that his eyes had something different within them. His face wasn't like it always was. Usually she'd see arrogance or some sort of a mocking smirk, but she couldn't tell what she saw now. His eyes held something somewhat like lust, yet it couldn't be that. They were glazed with some sort of emotion she had never seen from Izumi.

"What?" she questioned, almost dumbfounded. He just stared at her, unable to say what he wanted to. "What is it?" she was getting angry now, was this some sort of trick? Something that would make her even more upset. She made a move to walk away, forgetting that he his arms around her waist.

"No," he said finally, pulling her closer. "Me-chan, I…" he couldn't form the words. He just stared straight into her eyes.

"Izumi…" she looked into his eyes once more, noticing how some of his sandy blonde hair hung in front of his eyes. Her hand itched to just reach up and move those strands out of the way. She moved her hand for a moment, then thought it over. She wasn't sure how he would react. Meroko threw caution to the wind and pushed his bangs aside. As she began to pull her hand back, Izumi stopped her. He grabbed her hand and pulled it towards him, slowly kissing her palm, his gaze never leaving hers. "I-Izumi-" he cut her off by pulling her close to him and smashing his lips against hers. Meroko tried to free herself, but in the end, she gave in. She couldn't resist him anymore. Izumi was so forceful and yet, he was gentle. Meroko couldn't explain it and she didn't want to. Her knees began to feel weak and suddenly she was being supported by him. After what seemed like an eternity, Izumi finally pulled away. Both of them were out of breath and panting slightly.

"Me-chan…" Izumi looked at her. His eyes were not only glazed with something similar to passion, they also showed a vulnerability as if he, himself, wasn't sure of how this situation would turn out. For the first time in his afterlife, he worried about an outcome of his action. Tears began to fall from Meroko's eyes and Izumi immediately cursed himself for doing something so foolish, but then he realized that she was smiling.

"Izumi…" she smiled up at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love you," she went to pull him down into a kiss and he pulled back a bit, a smirk adorning his boyish features.

"I believe that's somewhere around eight-three, right?" he chuckled and Meroko's face got red. She was about to scream at him and he lifted her up so her face was even with his. "I love it when you get like that," he smiled and kissed her again.