Author's Note: Well, I thought it would be nice to have an actual author's note, but I couldn't think up of anything witty, so here I am, writing this. But you know, I would really, really appreciate some reviews. By the way, in this story, they are older.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the research done to make sure I got the details right. Then again, I owe that to the Internet.

Hiding Yourself

By: Miss. Sunshine

Chapter One: Laying Low

Tsukasa walked out the door of Doumyouji Corp. and stared up at the sky. It was a bright sunny day, and he didn't intend on spending it by working. Lately, the company had kept him busy. He woke up early every day, and slept late every night. Ever since he promised his mother that he would take over the company, she had decided to retire, leaving him in charge. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed a break.

He walked down the street, and was stopped abruptly by a woman who appeared to try to sell him some tickets.

"Young man, would you like to buy some tickets? You look like you need a vacation."

Tsukasa was reluctant to answer, "Where to?"

"These are tickets to Shikoku, which I'm sure you've heard of." The lady said, waving the tickets in the air.

"No, I haven't. I've traveled to many places, yet I've never heard of this one." Tsukasa said, surprised. He had traveled about everywhere on the face of the Earth, yet he had never heard of this place.

"Well, you are Mr. Doumyouji, after all. I wouldn't expect you to go to such a small island although it is part of Japan. It's not a fancy island, but it's very beautiful there. Even more, it is peaceful and quiet."

He was astounded. "How do you know who I am?"

The lady chuckled. "How can I not know who you are?"

That was true. His face had been plastered on television screens to many times to count, not to mention various magazine covers. Maybe this vacation was going to be good for him. He nodded at the woman, and took out his wallet, "I'll take them."

As he began walking again, he stared at the tickets, and discovered the reason the woman wanted to get rid of them as soon as possible. He took out his cell phone and quickly dialed the number to his office.

"Hello? Yes, I would like the vice president of the Doumyouji Corp. to help me supervise for a while. I'll be taking a brief vacation."

With that, he shut off his phone, and headed toward home to start packing for his trip.

The next day, he was on a non-stop flight to Shikoku. The flight wasn't long; it was only a mere hour or so from Tokyo. He arrived at the airport, and immediately went to look for a hotel.

As he walked out of the airport, he understood what the lady meant. Shikoku was a calm and peaceful island, and it was probably because no one lived there. That was a slight exaggeration on his part, but it did seem as if no one was there.

From the entrance of the airport, he spotted a small house of some sort a couple hundred yards away. Usually, he would prefer to take a cab instead of walking, but judging from the grassy hills and rocky roads, there wasn't going to be a car in sight. He sighed, and dragged his suitcase along as he walked toward the house.

Tsukushi stared out the window. It was sunrise, and she had already done everything she had to do around the house. Her parents had left her in charge of the house, after leaving to find better jobs in the city. As she continued to peer out the window, she spotted a figure walking toward the house. Curiosity got the best of her, and she walked out to greet the person.

"Hello there, May I help you?" She had said this politely, not wanting to offend the man who looked like he was a character of great importance. But she supposed it was because of the suit he was wearing.

"Yes, I wanted to ask if there are any hotels nearby by any chance." Tsukasa hoped that she would take pity on him, and let him stay with her, because even he could tell that the chances of him finding a hotel were very slim.

"Sorry, but there aren't hotels anywhere here." She said, trying to keep in her laughter as he slumped down dramatically on the floor, "But you are welcomed to rent a room in my house if you want."

Tsukasa eyed her finger. She wasn't married, but her house didn't seem like she was the only one who lived there. For one thing, there was a pair of boxers hanging out the window, "I don't think that would be such a good idea, after all, it seems like you have company."

Tsukushi followed his gaze to the boxers hanging out from the window, and then she laughed. "Oh, you thought that there was somebody I lived with?"

"It appears so."

"No, I'm afraid you've mistaken. Those are my dad's."

"Your dad's? You live with your parents?" Tsukasa questioned cautiously.

"Well, they aren't here right now, and they won't be back for about a month, so feel free to move in if you like." She said, feeling quite embarrassed.

He quickly blurted out an apology, "I'm sorry, I don't mean anything when I said that. I was just wondering why there were boxers there."

Tsukushi immediately felt better. "Oh, that's okay, I would be curious too, I suppose, if I were you."

"So, how much exactly is the rent for the room? I'm going to vacation here for a while, and I was wondering if you could show me around this island." Now that he thought of it, he didn't even introduce himself yet, "I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Tsukasa Doumyouji."

The moment he said that, he regretted it. Surely, she had heard of him before. He had hated it when people sucked up to him, or threw themselves on him just because he was rich. He sighed; it looked like he was going to have to find another place after all. He just couldn't take being suffocated during the whole vacation.

If she knew who he was, she had made no indication of it. She just took out her hand, and said, "Nice to meet you, my name is Tsukushi Makino."

He shook hands with her, making their contact as little as possible. Then, she began explaining the rent, and the rules.

"The rent isn't going to be expensive; I guess I could charge you 50 yen per week." Tsukushi said, "And as for rules, there aren't really any. Why don't you come in and have some tea?"

"That would be great." He walked into the house and was surprised at how neat and homey it was. As Tsukushi came back with the tea, he said, "This is a nice place you have here."

"It's pretty nice, but I bet your place is even better." She said, not noticing his face which grew slightly pale.

"My-My place is better? What do you mean—" he asked, wondering if she was pretending she didn't know who he was.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I was just assuming you had a nice place because of that suit you were wearing."

He knew what she meant. Not everyone could afford an Armani suit. He cleared his throat, "Well, actually, my place is smaller than yours."

"Really? Wow, that's hard to imagine."

"It is." Tsukasa felt uncomfortable dwelling on this topic, but he didn't want to come across seeming like a spoiled rich kid.

As she poured a cup of tea for herself, she asked, "So, what exactly is it that you do for a living?"

"Um, I sell insurance." Tsukasa said, lying. It was the only thing he could think of at the moment.

"I see. Do you enjoy it?" She asked.

"It puts a dinner on my table, so I guess you can say that."

She smiled. "Well, it's nice to know you're stable."

"Why? Does your family have problems?" He asked, suddenly interested.

"You can say that. It's more of a financial problem, and it's not a big deal." She said, shrugging her shoulders. They were on the edge of being poor, but they have always pulled through.

"That's good to know." He said. He would gladly tell her the truth that he was actually a millionaire, and the CEO of the biggest company in Japan, but for once he didn't want to be that person.

"I'll show you up to your room, and you could get unpacking. I'll go make some breakfast."

"That'll be great." He walked up the flight of stairs, with her leading him to the room. She opened the door open, and gestured for him to go inside.

"Nice room." He noted. .

She stared at him incredulously, "It's pretty plain, don't you think?"

"That's exactly why I like it."

"Whatever pleases you, I suppose." With that, she gently closed the door to the room to give Tsukasa some private time for himself.

After he made sure she was gone from the door, he groaned. That was so stupid of him! Why did he lie to her? Lying down onto the bed, he sighed loudly. Maybe it was too quick to get his hopes up. The hope that there was actually a girl like Tsukushi who would understand him, and care about him, not because of his money, but who he really was.

He wasn't exactly telling her a lie. Well, his company did sell insurance, kind of. And, it did bring food to the table. He wasn't telling her a lie, definitely not. But he wasn't telling her the truth either.

After unpacking his belongings, he went downstairs to join Tsukushi for breakfast. She had made some Nattō with rice for both of them.

"I appreciate you making breakfast for me; I hope it won't become bothersome." Tsukasa said nervously.

"No, no, no, it's not a problem at all; it's the least I can do for my guest. Besides, it's nice to have someone eating breakfast with me. As you can imagine, eating breakfast alone isn't exactly fun." Tsukushi said, laughing.

Tsukasa nodded, "True, but I feel like I should do something to repay you."

Tsukushi sighed. "If you insist on doing something, I suppose you can help around the house here and there."

"Okay, good. So, what exactly do you need help with here?" He asked curiously. There wasn't much that she hadn't already done.

"For starters, you can wash the dishes, and then I'll take you on a tour around the island."

"Okay, but doing dishes aren't really my thing."

Tsukushi stared him with her eye brows furrowed, "What do you mean they aren't your thing? Don't you wash your dishes at home?"

"No, I have my—" He stopped before he let anything else out.

"Your what?" She asked, confused.

"Never mind, let's get these dishes clean so we can leave sooner." Tsukasa said as he grabbed a dish and began scrubbing vigorously.

"Okay, then."

"You should go up and get dressed."

Tsukushi agreed, "I'll be right back."

When she was out of earshot, Tsukasa began muttering. He had no idea which one was the soap.

Crack.

Bye Bye Dish.

He wondered why he even bothered to ask to help.

Author's Note: This chapter was the most boring chapter I've written in my whole life, but I swear, it will get more interesting later. I have the whole thing brainstorming in my head. Really, if you open my head, you'll see a mini-tornado. Please read & review. Feel free to take a look at my other story, which is also a T x T pairing. (But, I sound less sophisticated, and more like a clown while writing that story.)