"Hey gorgeous, come meet me at my place and we'll rent a movie," Kairi Okayasu deposited a quick kiss on his girlfriend's cheek before rushing off to catch his bus. Momo Adachi smiled and called after him, "Okay, and I hope you're not late to your job!" He waved his hand as he jumped onto the bus and moved out of sight.

"You lovebirds are too sweet," Teased a voice behind Momo. She turned around to see her once-again-redeemed friend, Sae Kashiwagi, leaning against the telephone pole. Momo shrugged with a grin. "Hey, let's go shopping! Summer arrivals should be in stores now; let's go take a look," she invited. Sae squealed and the two girls chattered excitedly as they made their way out of the school compound towards the shopping district.

It seemed like things had changed for the queen of evil. Sae Kashiwagi had made a complete turnaround, asking for forgiveness from Kairi, Momo, and Touji, Momo's previous boyfriend. She had become a better friend to everyone, and had stopped backstabbing and spreading rumors about other students. Sae had truly become as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside, a miracle to behold.

A few hours later, the girls lugged their new purchases to the condo apartment complex where Kairi lived. As the elevator doors closed behind them, Momo sighed.

"Why did I buy so much stuff?" She groaned. Sae giggled and chirped, "Because you need to show off that lovely swimmer's tan for Kairi! You should model these new clothes for him when he gets off work today," she wiggled her eyebrows conspiratorially. Momo blushed.

"Maybe…"

Sae rolled her eyes. "C'mon, I'll help you put together the perfect outfit that will blow him away when he walks in the door. I'll even stick around and take pictures of the two of you before I take off. Heaven only knows how disgusting you guys can get in all your lovey-dovey-ness." She shivered.

The elevator doors opened and the girls made their way down the plush corridor to door #76. Momo fiddled around with Kairi's house key but before she could stick it into the lock, the door opened.

"Oh hi, Ryo," Momo blinked at the tall male who had swung open the door.

He nodded in greeting. "Momo, Sae. I could hear you two all the way down the hall," He smirked as they entered. "Try to keep it down next time. The neighbors might get ideas."

"Sorry" Momo muttered as she dumped her bags into the middle of the living room floor. "I'm going to the bathroom." Sae was uncharacteristically quiet as she went to sit on the couch. Ryo studied the petite female.

Weeks had passed after the hospital incident. Both he and Sae were happy to not have had a baby to deal with when they found out it was an imagined pregnancy. They hardly spoke to each other after that, and the only times they ran into each other were when Momo and Kairi were hanging out. Ryo wondered if she still loved him like she had declared to him on the park bench before Morika's attack.

Sae finally lifted her gaze off her hands when Momo returned. She was startled to see Ryo's thoughtful gaze on her, and immediately colored. "Ryo," she cleared her throat, bringing him out of his thoughts, "do you have any juice?" He nodded and left the room.

"So then, which one should I model for Kairi?" Momo asked enthusiastically. Sae grinned.

"See? Now you're getting into it, girl!" The two proceeded to look through the bags of clothes, not noticing when Ryo came back with two glasses of juice. He set the tumblers onto the coffee table quietly and left, after one final glance at Sae.

Locking himself up in his study, he tried to dismiss the loud chatter of the girls in the other room. With a few clicks of the mouse, he was working once again on a new computer game slated to come out in the summer after school let out. Computer coding engulfed his senses as he typed out commands with expert ease.

But his mind wandered. With a pained sigh he shook his head and let his thoughts carry him away. Though he had been relieved that Sae was not with child, he found himself often entertaining thoughts of parenthood. His increasingly-frequent daydreams of being a father, of holding a child in his arms, of having someone to protect— it was suddenly attractive. That idea was becoming stronger daily. He wanted a kid, damnit!

Ryo visibly flinched at the way his mind screamed its desire. "Seriously?" He chuckled, "you'd make a horrible father." He told himself.

We'll be a family for you, who will love you despite your faults. Sae's compassionate voice echoed in his head. He frowned. She was so immature that he'd thought little of her until the day he was attacked by Morika's hired thugs. During their conversation, they had shared their greatest insecurities about themselves with each other, she had made him a promise to give him a family who would love him and accept him, and he had looked at her with a new light in his eyes. Though she was a great deal younger than him, she had matured significantly on that evening.

Ryo sighed and stood up to stretch. There were two sides at war. The first side was adamant about having kids. The other side preached that the girl he had in mind about starting a family with was too young, too immature, too inexperienced, and wasn't interested in him. That last point really stuck to him. He wasn't the best person out there, but having women fall for him? It had always been a piece of cake. A slow smile spread over his face. A dangerous grin. He had charmed her before, and he could do so again. The challenge fresh in his mind, he sat back down to start planning his strategy.