*Please Read First*

I always thought that Fuyuumi was always an under-developed character so this fanfic is about exploring her unchartered character. There isn't really ANYTHING in the series pertaining to her home life so I have tweaked it as best suited to this fic.

Sorry for the short uneventful opening chap, but I needed to set this background first.

Cheers, Eia

He smelt like cigarette's and dried tea leaves, a combination that Fuyuumi found at once both comforting and intoxicating.

The smell was like an old friend, she took a deep breath of it in greeting as she clutched the new practice room roster to her chest. The slumbering Kanazawa didn't stir at her presence, only nuzzled his head deeper into the couch's single cushion as he settled in his sleep.

How many times had this same scene played out before? This office, this man, her creeping in like a thief and the characteristic quickening of her heart beat. It had become more than a routine; it was like a perpetual game, one she just couldn't seem to win at.

She clutched the freshly printed sheets to her chest like a shield; they were still warm and were mingling the scent of ink in the already thick air. Wasn't she getting too old for this?

Crush's on teachers was a middle school trait. She should have grown out of it, but she hadn't. She just couldn't forget the kindness he had shown her the first time they had met. She had been at the school for an orientation program. Her mother had dropped her off at the school entrance and told her to "Be a good little girl and don't get into any trouble. Pick up any information and forms your father and I might need and I will send someone to come pick you up this afternoon."

And then she had gone, leaving a frightened twelve year old Fuyuumi at the entrance of a large and strange school. And no one had come for her at the appointed time. She had bravely waited hours before she let the first tendrils of fear creep up to make her cry. She didn't know how to get home, she didn't even know where a phone was to try to call someone or if there would even be anyone at home she could get a hold of.

She had sat on a bench in the deserted school and simply cried with the open despair only the young seem to generate so well. And then he had come.

"There, there." He had said, patting down her hair in comfort. "You're too old to be crying so loudly, here have some tea. Oops, sorry about that! I guess I did make it a while ago didn't I…you don't mind cold tea do you?"

And that was that. He had taken her home and with only those words and cup of cold tea he had gained her trust and her love.

"Ah Fuyuumi-chan! I didn't know you were here!" Fuyuumi snatched her hand away from Kanazawa as if burnt, dropping the bundle of sheets in her hand to scatter at her feet. She whirled around to face Hino as the older girl smiled and bent down to retrieve the lost rosters. "I am sorry Fuyuumi-chan I didn't mean to startle you like that."

Fuyuumi was frozen, her mouth opening and closing like a fish.

As Hino straightened with the retrieved forms in hand the slumbering Kanazawa finally awoke. He sat up straight on the sofa then stretched an arm lazily above his head. He turned his amber eyes upon Fuyuumi so casually that she felt suddenly ashamed.

"E-excuse me!"

She didn't hear the words Hino called out after, for her heart was hammering so loudly in her ears that it drowned out everything else around her as she fled from the room.

--

"I'm home!" Fuyuumi listened as her voice echoed around the empty living room. She hadn't really expected a reply, yet everyday when she entered the empty living space she still called out none the less.

Sometimes there would be a reply, but not today.

Fuyuumi began peeling off her uniform as she climbed the stairs to her room. She threw open the door, not bothering to shut it again, as she dropped her school jacket and tie on the floor before collapsing on her bed.

She stared at the peach coloured walls for a minute before sighing. She hated that colour. I wonder if father was the one who chose that colour…was it because he likes it or because he thought I would?

"Maybe he didn't think about it at all."

Fuyuumi pushed herself up from the bed. This room had been hers for almost five years now, yet it held no imprint of her. She hadn't changed a thing in here since moving in. The curtains were the same, the walls, the cupboards…it could have been anyone's room so devoid of personal effects was it. It suits me though, she thought.

"A boring room for a boring girl."

Fuyuumi's eyes went wide as soon as the words had left her lips and she lifted a hand to cover her mouth in shock. She hadn't meant to be so pessimistic; she didn't want to be that kind of person at all.She couldn't let things like that get to her today…today was embarrassing enough.

But it would be alright, she would apologize for being so rude to both Hino and Sensei tomorrow. She wondered what Kanazawa had thought of her sudden outburst as she changed from her uniform and descended downstairs. Maybe he would just think she was feeling a bit ill?

Fuyuumi shrugged off the thought as she entered the kitchen. On the bench, still in its wrapping, sat a pre-packaged dinner with a note attached to the top; 'Fuyuumi; won't be home until tomorrow, Mother'

Fuyuumi replaced the card on top of the food then moved towards the fridge. She pulled out some eggs; milk and sauce then began to make herself an omelette and some tea. She sat down at the empty dining table and ate her dinner silently, letting the cup of tea go cold before she reached out to take a sip.