Soushi and Chiyo are so adorable. They make my heart hurt with how beautiful they are. I like to see this story taking place (for those who have read the manga) after the Night Parade of 100 Demons, so this is after everyone is reincarnated. I like to think it's far enough ahead that almost everyone is the age they are in the anime. I just couldn't wrap my head around how much that would hurt to have someone be the person you once loved, except to have it not be them. Please enjoy! I don't own Inu x Boku SS.

Forced. Every interaction between them felt forced and awkward and Ririchiyo didn't know how much more she could take. Since she found out about the Night Parade of 100 Demons, the reincarnation fiasco, and everything that had transpired since then, everything was wrong. For now, Ririchiyo kept her eyes trained on her cup of tea ("…lavender, which has a calming effect…")...she almost dropped her cup. Damn. No, she couldn't do that. Not anymore.

"Miss Ririchiyo? Are you well?" The voice. His voice. The tone and meaning and pronunciation were all the same, but it wasn't him. She rose from the table, eyes downcast, trying to control her trembling hands.

"No, I'm not feeling well," she muttered, and he swept into a bow.

"May I have the honor of escorting you upstairs?" No. No, he couldn't, because it was all wrong.

"No!" she yelped, and before he could voice his concerns of inadequacy, she raced up to her room. Ririchiyo slammed the door behind her and went to her desk. She sank into her comfortable desk chair. Marai squawked in joy, and Ririchiyo shushed him.

"Quiet, now. I need to think," she told him. The bird tilted his head as if he understood, and Chiyo began her thinking process.

I can become him for you, the doppelganger had offered as soon as she had figured out the tragedy. She had accepted because at the time, she thought it would ease her heartache. However, the more she reminisced about the past Miketsukami, the harder it became to accept the present replica.

Chiyo picked up a pencil and twirled it between her fingers. Drawing and writing were usually what calmed her down, but today, neither of those activities would suffice.

My Miketsukami, she thought idly, and before she knew it, she had sketched him. Not the replica, but him.

"Miketsukami," Chiyo whispered, her tone that of a grief-stricken widow. A teardrop fell on the page and she didn't bother to hold her tears back. "I love you."

The present-day Soushi stood outside her front door, a fist clamped in his mouth so she wouldn't hear his sorrowful sobs. He had heard her. How could he not? He was designed to be attuned to everything about her.

When he heard her whisper his name, he released a quiet, anguished howl. It was his name, yes, but he would never fully be hers. That particular pleasure belonged to his past self.