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The Arrangement

By Random1377

"Keitaro-kuuuuunnnnnnn!!"

Urashima Keitarou flinched, looking up from his cramming textbook as a girl with long blond hair stood up on tiptoe and waved both of her hands in a very effective bid for his attention. "H-hi, Sakurai-senpai," he stammered, trying to scrunch down in his seat to avoid the stares and giggles assailing him from all sides.

"Mou!" the girl grumbled, skipping over to his desk and rubbing her fist playfully against the top of his head. "Konoha, Konoha!" she corrected. "Konoha-chan!"

Keitaro gave her a sickly smile. "Hai, hai, Konoha-chan."

Glancing around surreptitiously, he found himself in the usual predicament—the guys in the classroom were glaring at him, and the girls were giggling behind their hands. It was always that way when the energetic bleach blond from the next classroom over came to 'play' with him. At 5'4", with long hair, green eyes, and a body type that usually showed up in calendars, Keitaro could understand why people stared. What he could not understand was why the girl had chosen him to toy with.

It's not like she's serious, he thought as the curvaceous girl plopped down next to him and began playing with his hair. At least, I don't think she is.

"Ahem. I'll be going now."

Keitaro's face went white. "N-Naru-san," he stuttered, "wait, I'll-"

"No," Narusegawa Naru cut in coldly, her left eye twitching slightly as she slowly closed her textbook. "You don't have to get up. I wouldn't want to interrupt."

Since Konoha had draped her arm around his shoulder, Keitaro could only watch in dismay as Naru shoved her books into her bag and rose stiffly to her feet. "But, I mean, you're not interrupting," he babbled lamely. "Right Sakurai-senpai?"

"Nope," Konoha announced, throwing her other arm around Keitaro's shoulders and nuzzling the side of his neck. "I don't mind at all!"

Rolling her eyes, Naru growled, "Don't spend so much time with your girlfriend that you're late for dinner. Shinobu will worry."

Keitaro was about to point out that Konoha was not his girlfriend, but before he could speak Konoha moved her mouth up next to his ear and gently exhaled. Keitaro's eyes nearly popped out of his head, and a thin stream of blood began to run from his right nostril. When he finally regained his senses, he nearly sobbed with disappointment as he found Naru already stalking through the classroom door.

"Ne, ne," Konoha said gleefully, "she called me your girlfriend."

Slumping in his seat, Keitaro mumbled, "But you're not—you told me yourself that you're seeing Arima-senpai."

Konoha put on a mock pout. "Mou—boooring! I can have more than one. And besides," Keitaro's back went straight as he felt a quick pinch on his backside, "you're way too much fun."

"S-Sakurai-senpai!"

"Konoha-CHAN!"

Keitaro squirmed in his seat as the girl snuggled up against his side and rested her cheek on his shoulder. It had been four weeks since she had taken an interest in him—or at least, taken an interest in teasing him—and each passing day had given Naru more and more reason to think that he was going out with the blond girl. He wasn't denying that she was cute (no guy in his right mind would), and it wasn't even an issue that she was five years his senior. What bothered him was that he knew she was already involved with another man, and her carefree attitude about love and relationships. He simply could not relate.

"Take me on a date, Keitaro-kun."

"W-what!?"

"A date, a date!" Konoha giggled. "We could go out to eat, or go karaoke, or," she pressed her body suggestively up against his, "we could just go to a hotel." When Keitaro went beet red, Konoha laughed out loud. "I was kidding!" Keitaro's eyes nearly rolled back in his head as Konoha got to her feet and ruffled his hair, but they widened again as she leaned over his shoulder and purred, "…this time," before walking out of the room without another word.

---

Though she kept a straight face, Keitaro could tell that Konno Mitsune was dying to start laughing as she said, "You want me to do what, now?"

"Just for a few days!" Keitaro begged. "I, um, I'll take a half month off your rent!"

Leaning back on her futon, Kitsune regarded the man groveling at her feet. "Pretend to be your girlfriend, huh?" she asked. "Make it a whole month."

Keitaro, who had been living with the fox-eyed girl for some time, had anticipated this counter, and quickly said, "It's a deal," before she could change her mind and ask for two months.

Though her morals were sometimes questionable, Keitaro knew that Kitsune was really a reliable person. She was always on time with her rent, in spite of what the others in the Hinata Sou thought, and she was quick to lend a hand with carrying groceries or offering advice or anything else that anyone in the dorm had problems with.

Besides which, she was his last hope. Naru, obviously, was not going to be a part of anything that had to do with their senpai. Motoko seemed to think he was some sort of contemptible life form like a sea slug or worm, so he couldn't turn to her. His aunt Haruka was definitely out, and Shinobu and Su were both too young to involve, so in reality, Kitsune was his only hope.

"And a bottle of sake!"

"You already said you'd do it!"

Kitsune held out her hand. "Saa," she sighed, "alright, I'm your girl—literally, I guess. Should take about a week, right?"

"I think so," Keitaro nodded, shaking on the deal. "She's pushy, but I think if she saw us together for a couple of days, she'd back off."

"Hmm, makes sense," Kitsune admitted. "So what do I do?"

There was a long pause as Keitaro considered this. "Well, uh, I dunno," he said finally. "Just the kind of stuff a girlfriend does, I guess. Maybe bring me lunch? Or, or hold my hand or something?"

Since he had never actually had a girlfriend before, Keitaro was in foreign waters. Kitsune, however, nodded sagely. "That sounds good," she said thoughtfully. Slowly, a wicked little smile spread over her lips. "Should I kiss you in front of her?"

"D-dummy!" Keitaro spluttered. "Don't tease me, I'm serious!"

"Hai, hai," the gray haired girl laughed. "I get it. I'll be a nice, sweet, sincere little girlfriend for you. Here," she held out her hand, "let's practice."

Keitaro looked at her hand as if it might bite him, then hesitantly took it, realizing that Konoha would never buy it if he wouldn't even touch his supposed girlfriend. Kitsune's hand was smooth and warm, and after a few moments of simply sitting face to face with her, Keitaro felt himself starting to relax a bit.

"Now put your arms around me."

"O-ok."

Slowly, he embraced the fox-eyed girl, his entire body rigid as her small hands slid under his armpits and settled against his shoulder blades, ensuring that he was intimately close to him. "Don't study too hard tonight, Keitaro-sama," she said brightly, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow."

As Keitaro started to pull back, Kitsune added one final comment.

"I love you."

"Wha-"

His entire body jerking in surprise, Keitaro pitched over onto his back, crying out in surprise as Kitsune (still in his arms) was dragged down with him. Tears of pain sprang to his eyes as his head collided with the hardwood floor, but before he could get up he felt Kitsune's hands gently pushing him back down.

"Sorry," she said gently. "I wanted it to be realistic. I guess I should have warned you first, huh?"

"It's… ok," Keitaro groaned, rubbing the back of his skull ruefully as Kitsune gave him an apologetic smile. "I'll be ready next time, so-"

"I love you."

Keitaro's face flushed.

"You said you'd be ready," Kitsune protested, giving him a playful smile. "Girls say it at the weirdest times, Keitaro. If I'm around, you should be ready for it, ok? She'll think it's weird if I only say it when I'm leaving, you know? So if we're talking or eating, I might just lean over and say it to make it more realistic. Can you handle that?"

"Yeah," Keitaro said faintly, "I think I can, it's just that I'm not used to-"

"I love you."

"…h-hearing it."

Kitsune nodded in satisfaction. "Good!" she said crisply. "That was good – you didn't even flinch that time."

"I wasn't flinching the other times, was I?" Keitaro wondered as the girl finally climbed off of him and helped him to his feet.

"You were," Kitsune confirmed. "Is it that weird coming from me?"

Keitaro quickly shook his head. "No, no that's not it at all," he blurted. "It's like I said—I'm just not really used to hearing it so much, you know?" He chuckled glumly. "It's not like people say it to me a lot."

Patting him consolingly on the shoulder, Kitsune said, "Well, you'll hear it a lot more from now on."

Unable to meet her eyes, Keitaro murmured, "Thanks for doing this for me. With her, she's so pushy, I just couldn't think of any other way to make her stop."

Kitsune gave him a quick salute. "Well," she said candidly, "it sounds like fun, really. To be honest, I've been a little bored lately, so I probably would have done it for free."

Keitaro groaned. Figures.

"But I'll take it seriously," she said, seeing the look of concern on his face. "Don't worry, Keitaro, we'll get that hussy off your back in three days—guaranteed!"

---

"Where's your girlfriend?" Naru muttered the next day, stuffing her books into her bag with far more force than necessary. "Kami-sama, she's coming this way—I'm out of here."

"Wait, Naru, I…"

Keitaro trailed off as Naru hurried out the door. Damn it, he thought, waving halfheartedly as Konoha walked towards him from the opposite side of the room. Kitsune said she'd help… but I haven't seen her anywhere around so far.

He nearly came up out of his seat as he felt something warm and soft—or rather, two warm and soft somethings—pressing against his back. "There you are," a warm, adoring voice whispered in his ear. "Sorry I'm late, Keitaro-sama, I got lost looking for your classroom."

Turning his head, Keitaro found himself in a gentle embrace. "K-Kitsune," he gasped, "er, hi." The feeling of having the gray-haired girl draped against him made it hard for Keitaro to remember the lines they had practiced the night before. "Sorry you had trouble. I didn't even know you were coming."

Konoha, Keitaro noticed from the corner of his eyes, had come to an abrupt halt, and was watching the unfolding scene with a look of cautious uncertainty. "I wanted to surprise you," Kitsune said happily. "How did I do?"

Keitaro could only nod, because honestly, he was very surprised. Instead of her normal, revealing clothing, Kitsune wore a butter-colored sundress and low slung yellow shoes with open toes. Her hair was brushed back and held in place with a little hair clip in the shape of a blue and white butterfly, and her makeup was simple and understated. Or in short, the usually seductive woman Keitaro knew had been transformed into a demure, wholesome young lady.

'Surprised' did not quite cover it.

"So this is your classroom," Kitsune said brightly, looking around with an air of avid curiosity. "Oh, is this one of your friends?"

Pulling his eyes away from the wonder that Kitsune had become, Keitaro found Konoha slowly making her way over to his desk. "S-Sakurai-senpai," he stammered. "This is my, umm, girlfriend—Monno Kitsune—er, I mean, Konno Mitsune."

Konoha sized Kitsune up for a moment before extending her right hand. "Charmed, I'm sure," she said with obviously forced politeness. "I didn't know you had a girlfriend, Keitaro-kun."

"He's so shy!" Kitsune gushed, shaking Konoha's hand and gently nudging Keitaro with her hip. "Kei-sama, I told you I wouldn't mind if you told people." She leaned closer to Konoha and whispered, "It's my fault, really. I'm kind of a private person, so I think he just didn't want to embarrass me."

"I see," Konoha said smoothly.

Keitaro's heart sank. From her initial reaction to Kitsune, he had thought that they might have won with just one appearance, but Konoha seemed to be recovering her wits, and was assessing Kitsune with unapologetic openness. She seemed to be weighing the gray-haired girl to see if she was really an obstacle to her continued torment of the spectacled student.

"So," Konoha said casually, "how long have you guys been going out?"

"A couple of weeks," Kitsune answered, sitting on the edge of Keitaro's desk and playing absently with his hair. "I work at the teahouse just down the hill from the apartments Kei-sama manages."

Wow, Keitaro thought, I never thought of saying she works there. I have to make sure that Haruka-san knows about this in case Konoha checks on it.

"So you're a waitress," Konoha said bluntly. "That's cute."

"You think so?" Kitsune countered, sounding completely unfazed by the older girl's sarcasm as she deftly changed the subject. "Keitaro was so shy he almost didn't ask me out."

Konoha stared at Keitaro for a moment before murmuring, "Yeah, I can imagine. Hmm, well, nice meeting you, but I have to get going. See you around."

Keitaro held his sigh of relief until the blond had made her exit. "Thanks," he groaned, slumping back in his seat as Kitsune continued to run her fingers through his hair. "You can stop now, if you want," he observed. "I don't think she's peeking around the corner or anything."

"No," Kitsune admitted, "but other people are here. If any of them are her friends, they'd tell her I stopped as soon as she left. I better finish lunch with you like we planned."

"I hadn't thought of that," Keitaro whispered, looking around at the few students still milling around the classroom. "Thanks."

Taking the seat next to him, Kitsune patted him on the cheek. "That's why you hired me, right?" she reminded him. "Now, I didn't have time for a fancy homemade lunch, so I stopped by at the convenience store and bought these." Keitaro blinked as she reached down and picked up a bag with two pre-made bentos in it.

He had been so wrapped up in the encounter with Konoha he had not even noticed the bag sitting on the floor. "You don't have to make homemade lunch," he said uncomfortably. "You're already going so far out of your way to help me."

"Nah, it's no big deal," Kitsune said dismissively. "It'll look more realistic if it's home-cooked, and I need to practice my kitchen skills anyway. Besides," she gave him a conspiratorial wink, "it's not like I'm not getting anything out of all this." Tearing the plastic off of her bento, she scooped up a fried shrimp with her chopsticks and turned to face Keitaro. "Say ah, Kei-sama."

Blushing, Keitaro glanced around to see how many people were watching. Do they have to stare? he thought, taking a certain amount of guilty pleasure in doing what Kitsune said and having the morsel popped into his mouth. When Kitsune laid her hand on his knee and gave him a warm smile before tucking into her meal, Keitaro realized, rather suddenly, I could get used to this.

---

Kitsune had promised Keitaro a three day resolution. One week later, Keitaro was starting to think that Konoha was going to haunt him until his dying day. What is it with her? he thought, glancing at the clock and hoping that Kitsune would turn up before the playful blond. There had been a couple of times where Konoha had gotten there first, and—as if to prove that monogamy was just a word that rhymed with mahogany—immediately threw her arms around him and made a great fuss over how 'that woman' was stealing him away from here.

Keitaro had to give the girl credit, though, because she always let go of him and scooted herself two seats away mere seconds before Kitsune walked into the room. She's good, he thought, waving with honest enthusiasm to get Kitsune's attention. I wonder if she can smell Kitsune's perfume or something.

This, he decided, was reasonable, because Kitsune's perfume smelled very, very nice. "Sorry I'm late," the gray-haired girl said as she sat down next to him. "I burned the eggs the first time because I wasn't paying attention."

"I told you that you don't have to cook," Keitaro protested, shooting Konoha a quick look and lowering his voice to add, "Just being here is doing it, I think."

"Hey," Kitsune said softly, "I want to make sure you get taken care of. What kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn't?"

Keitaro opened his mouth to point out that she wasn't really his girlfriend, but he happened to glance over Kitsune's shoulder and found Konoha leaning closer than he had noticed at first. Kitsune's good too, he thought gratefully, I have to be careful not to say something stupid.

"I love you, Kei-sama," Kitsune said cheerfully. "Eat up – some of it's probably still warm."

"I l-love you too."

It was only a minor slip, but Konoha was on it like a hawk. "That didn't sound too sincere, Keitaro-kun," she crooned, resting her elbow on the desk and staring at the couple with bright, attentive eyes. "Are you sure you guys are going out?"

"Of course!" Keitaro replied quickly. "Why would you say that?"

Konoha shrugged and sat back in her chair, folding her arms over her generous chest as she said, "Well, you don't seem that comfortable—even for just starting out… and I've never seen you kiss."

Keitaro's eyes widened, and he looked quickly at Kitsune. "K-kiss?" he said faintly. "Kit… she's… really private…"

"Really?" Konoha asked, clearly delighted. "But she feeds you, and holds your hand, and calls you 'sama' in public. What's a kiss?"

Panicked, but trying not to show it, Keitaro met Kitsune's eyes and mouthed, 'What now?'

Taking a deep, discrete breath, Kitsune squeezed his hand and boldly said, "If it will make you leave Keitaro-sama alone, I'll kiss him right here and now."

Keitaro swallowed. "Y-you… don't have to," he whispered, no longer caring if Konoha was listening. "Kitsune, you-"

"Shh," Kitsune cut in. "It's okay, Keitaro. You heard her, right? She promised to leave you alone—and before you say it, I know we don't have anything to prove to her… but I want you to be happy here at school, and you can't concentrate when she's around. So, if it's alright with you to do this in front of everyone… close your eyes and trust me, ok?"

Wetting his lips, Keitaro whispered, "I didn't mean for it to come out like this."

Kitsune smiled. "I know. Now close your eyes."

With nothing more to say, Keitaro did as he was told, firmly believing that he would feel a brisk, almost stolen peck to prove to the skeptical blond that Kitsune was serious about him. His eyes crept back open, though, as Kitsune touched her lips to his and held them there, putting one hand on his shoulder and leaning in to give him a deep, intimate kiss. It seemed to Keitaro that Kitsune was putting a lot more into it than she really needed to for a simple 'show me' kiss… but after a moment, he felt her tongue gently easing between his lips, and he decided that rational thought was entirely too difficult.

They kissed… for seconds… for minutes… forever—Keitaro had completely lost track of time. Kitsune's lips were so soft and gentle that he knew, even through the haze that had fallen over his mind, that he would remember it for the rest of his life. He could smell her perfume, and feel the curve of her waist where his hand had instinctively settled when the kiss had begun, but it would be the memory of her lips that would wake him up in the middle of the night with his breath coming in weak pants and his mouth too dry to swallow.

"Y-yeah, ok." Keitaro blinked, and the spell was broken. He looked around in a daze as Konoha rose to her feet and awkwardly laced her hands behind her back. "So, umm… I get it—I won't bother him anymore."

"Wha…"

A soft scraping drew his attention from Konoha's retreating back, and before he could say a word, Kitsune was rising from her chair and hurrying towards the other door. The room erupted with cheers and catcalls as Keitaro sat there in dumb wonder, his fingers slowly rising to his lips as he tried to recapture the feeling of warmth already fading from them.

"What… happened…?"

---

A day passed. Then two. Then three, and on each one, Keitaro found himself just leaving, or just coming back, every time Kitsune was going the opposite direction. He desperately wanted to talk to her after what had happened at the school, but fate and inconvenience kept him from seeing her.

Even Naru noticed that something was wrong, and on that third day, she closed her study manual and bluntly asked, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Keitaro jerked, bumping the kitchen table with his knee and knocking his glass of chocolate milk over. He quickly pushed their books out of the way and babbled, "S-sorry!" as he tore off nearly a half a roll of paper towels and began blotting up the spill.

Naru, who had been living with Keitaro long enough to see a mess coming a mile away, looked down at her shirt to make sure the sheet of homework she had used to cover herself had done its job. Satisfied that her clothes were chocolate free, she nodded and tossed the ruined homework into the garbage.

"Now that there's nothing left to spill," she said flatly, "answer my question—what the hell is wrong with you?"

Mopping the last of the chocolate milk up, Keitaro mumbled, "Nothing, really, I've just got some stuff on my mind. You know, entrance exams coming up again, rent's due next week, just… got stuff on my mind."

Though she sensed there was more to it, Naru also had a few things on her mind—like entrance exams and rent—so she did not pursue the matter any further. "Well, don't space out when we're studying," she admonished, collecting her books and starting up towards her room. "Whatever's really on your mind, you should get it worked out before the exams or you'll fail again."

Keitaro nodded, though it was more to himself than to Naru, since she was already walking out the door. What's really on my mind, huh? he thought, throwing the paper towels away and pulling a few more off of the roll. Easy for you to say. I don't even know what I'm thinking!

Wetting the paper towels, he wiped the table down, making sure there wasn't anything sticky left over from the spill. As he worked, he thought about the last few days—or, to be more accurate, he thought about how difficult it had become to think in the first place. It was like his mind only wanted to focus on one subject, and the more he tried to avoid it, the more he realized that he wasn't going to be able to think about anything until he knew exactly what that kiss really meant.

After tidying up the kitchen a bit more, he gathered his schoolbooks and brought them to his room. Then, gathering all of his courage, he strode to Kitsune's door and knocked on it, swallowing the lump in his throat as his senses told him, 'now run—if you run, you won't have to face her! She'll think it was Su playing a joke on her, so just RUN!'

"It's open."

For the first time in months, Keitaro managed to suppress his flight instinct. "Kitsune?" he said hesitantly. "It's Keitaro. I'm coming in, ok?"

There was a moment of silence before Kitsune replied, "Yeah, sure. Come in."

Keitaro pushed the door open and stepped into a mess. Well, SHE hasn't changed, he mused, glancing around at the scattered books and racing sheets the gray-haired woman always kept in her room. And a bottle of sake, too. She's still the same.

It gave him some comfort to come to this realization, since he had been afraid that Kitsune had been hiding in her room to keep from seeing him. Seeing her leaning back against her wall with a racing sheet and a cup of sake, and smiling at him the way she always did, gave him a feeling similar to coming in out of a snow storm and shrugging off a heavy winter coat.

"Hey Kei-kun," she said brightly, "what's up?"

Smiling, Keitaro almost spoke… but then he noticed just how fixed her smile was, and how her hand shook, making the paper quiver in her hand. He saw the tightness around her eyes, and registered the way her tongue kept making small, discrete circles around her lips, as if her mouth was too dry.

He spoke without thinking. "Are you mad?"

Kitsune blinked, and her smile slipped a bit. "No," she said simply. "Why would I be?"

Keitaro shoved his hands into his pockets and looked around at the messy room to avoid having to meet her eyes. "Because you had to kiss me," he said finally, feeling that if he didn't get things out in the open, they would never be able to get back to the way they were.

It came as a surprise to him to find that he had missed Kitsune's teasing. He had grown accustomed to her bantering with him, and was unprepared for the feeling of loss that accompanied its withdrawal. And since it's my fault, he thought as Kitsune slowly set her paper down, I have to make it right.

"I didn't have to," she corrected him. "I wanted to help."

"I know," Keitaro replied, "but you shouldn't have had to do that. Helping is one thing, but kissing someone you don't even like is another."

Kitsune looked up at him with open shock. "I never said I didn't like you," she protested. "Keitaro, I never said that!"

Shuffling his feet, Keitaro countered, "I know you don't hate me, but we've never, I mean, you know, we're not really dating, and we're not… like that."

They stared at each other for a moment. "Is it because it's me?" Kitsune murmured, finally pulling her eyes away from his. "You don't like me that way, right?" Pulling her knees up to her chest, she added, "I kinda thought you were avoiding me after what happened—and the only reason I could think of was because you were mad that I kissed you."

Keitaro barked a short, awkward laugh. "You thought I was avoiding you? I thought you were avoiding me!"

Kitsune looked up. "No way," she whispered, her eyes wide with amazement. "Seriously? I mean, every time I was walking in, you were walking out—or the other way around. I thought you were dodging me."

"I wasn't," Keitaro assured her, kneeling down in front of her and putting his hand over hers. "I really wasn't."

"I… I have something to tell you."

Keitaro blinked. "What is it?"

Taking a deep breath, Kitsune began to speak. "The truth is… when I was pretending to be your girlfriend," she had to swallow before she was able to finish. "When I was pretending, I really fell in love with you. I got to spend so much more time with you than before, and I mean, I liked you anyway, but now—now it's something more." She bowed her head to avoid his widened eyes. "You were right," she said miserably, "I was avoiding you. I was afraid you would see it in my eyes, and I didn't want you to turn away, or pretend not to see me, so I thought it would be easier if I just stayed in my room or went out to bars until I could find a way to pretend that I wasn't… wasn't starting to fall for you."

Silence wrapped itself around them like a blanket as Keitaro found himself entirely speechless. It occurred to him that Kitsune might be playing a trick on him, but she seemed so earnest and awkward that he rejected this idea almost as soon as it came into his mind. She looked so embarrassed that Keitaro felt bad for her—because he knew that Kitsune didn't get embarrassed for anyone or anything… it just wasn't part of her character.

"I know you can't love me."

"Wh-what?"

Kitsune looked absolutely miserable as she clarified, "You like Naru, right? I… I don't think I could take being 'the other girl' or something like that, so… so could you please let me deal with this alone for a while? I can get over it if you just-"

"No."

"Huh??"

Keitaro took her hand in his. "I said no," he repeated. "I… I did like her," he admitted. "I mean, I do, but she doesn't like me that way, and it seems like the more I try to be with her, the more she pushes me away." Wetting his lips, he said, "Wouldn't it make me crazy to keep chasing someone that doesn't even like me?"

Offering him a wan smile, Kitsune whispered, "What about your promise?"

This time, Keitaro's pause was much longer, and when he spoke, his words felt heavy and well-chosen. "I'll still get into Todai—but if I can't even remember the name or the face of the girl I made that promise with, how can I possibly make it real?"

"When you say it like that, it sounds like you're giving up," Kitsune murmured sadly.

"No," Keitaro corrected her. "I'm not giving up—I'm just changing it a little bit. I'll still get into Todai, like I just said, but… but I'd like to get into it with you by my side… as my girlfriend." He nodded as she jerked her head up and stared at him. "Really—that's what I want more than anything. When we kissed, I felt something I've never felt before, not even when I was with Naru, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it ever since. I think—no, I know… I'm falling for you too, Kitsune. So… so will you please go out with me?"

A single tear slipped down Kitsune's cheek, but she was laughing with delight as she threw her arms around him and answered, "I will—of course I will!"

Holding the gray-haired girl close to him as she half-laughed and half-cried, Keitaro felt a sense of satisfaction he had not experienced for many, many years. It felt good—it felt right—to be happy this way. He felt a pang of guilt at choosing Kitsune over Naru, but a quick reminder of how many times the other girl had rejected him and told him that she wanted nothing to do with him solidified his decision. This was what he had been searching for all that time, he had just been too blinded by the old promise, and undefined affection he had felt for Naru.

But this is right, he thought, burying his face in Kitsune's neck and inhaling her soft, delicate perfume. I want to be with you now, Kitsune. I always…

He cleared his throat.

"I always want to be together with you."

Pushing him gently back to look into his eyes, Kitsune whispered, "It's a promise," and gave him a kiss so open and honest in its affection that the one they shared in the classroom was completely and totally forgotten.

---

The young woman glanced at her watch, her irritation growing with every sweeping pass of the second hand. What the hell? she thought angrily, looking around the nearly deserted bar in the vain hopes that the person she was waiting for was already there somewhere. This is the place she said to meet—and she's a goddamn hour late!

It was a quiet Thursday night, several days after the events at the cram school, and the young woman was starting to think that the other person had decided to blow her off, which really irritated her, since she was not the one to call this meeting in the first place.

Stupid spoiled brat, she thought irritably. You better not have called me out for nothing!

After five more minutes of impatient waiting, the tiny bell on the bar's front door jingled. Glancing over her shoulder, the woman broke into a wide, relieved smile. "About time," she said eagerly, "you got it?"

Kitsune stepped up to the bar and waved the bartender away. "Of course I have it," she hissed, "do you have to be so damn loud?!" Glancing around at the nearly empty dive, the gray-haired girl reached into her pocket and pulled out a rather large wad of bills. "Here," she said, pressing the money into the other girl's hand, "it's over now, you understand?"

"Yeah, I get it," Konoha said, counting the bills with a clear air of satisfaction. "Your Keitaro-sama will never see me again."

"Good."

Laying one of the bills on the bar, Konoha stuck out her hand. "Pleasure doing business with you," she said, grinning broadly now that the deed was done. "Too bad you didn't call me last week—there was a Prada bag on sale that I really wanted."

Kitsune simply stared at the other girl's hand until it was withdrawn.

Konoha shrugged at the rejection and took a long pull from her refreshed beer. "Gotta admit, though," she said casually, "I like your style. I mean, how did you know he would come to you to get rid of me?"

Brushing a bit of lint off of her conservative sweater, Kitsune whispered, "I made sure of it."

She did not elaborate. There was no need for her to tell this tramp that she had been feeding Naru ideas about Keitaro's intentions, or that she had deliberately arranged for his first encounter with Konoha to correspond with the worst day of Naru's period. She kept to herself the fact that she had fallen for Keitaro several months before, and just hadn't known how to make him see past Naru, who was always in front of him. No, Konoha didn't need to know all of those details—she was nothing more than a hired gun Kitsune had found in this very bar, and now that her job was done, Kitsune was looking forward to never seeing her again.

Besides, she thought, all's fair in love and war, right? And I do love him… so this is ok.

"I gotta admit, though," Konoha said conversationally, "it was easy work. I mean, that guy is really fun to tease, and he is really cute, so-"

"Hey."

"Hmm?"

Kitsune glanced at the woman from the corner of her eyes. "You've counted your money, right?"

"Umm yeah."

"And it's all there, right?"

"Yeah."

Waving to the bartender, Kitsune whispered, "Then get the hell out of here."

Konoha blinked, her smile fading away at the icy tone in Kitsune's voice. "Er, yeah," she mumbled, leaving her half-full beer sitting on the counter and hurrying out of the bar without a backward glance.

The bartender, who had caught the tail end of the conversation, chuckled and shook his head. "The usual, Kits-chan?"

Kitsune stared at the counter for well over a minute before slowly rising to her feet. "No," she said with a wistful smile, "the usual isn't good enough… I've got something better at home."

Laying a bill on the counter—for old time's sake—Kitsune turned and left the bar, smiling to herself as she started for home. No one would ever understand this. Naru wouldn't, Motoko wouldn't, Shinobu wouldn't, none of them would… so none of them could ever know.

She shivered as she pulled her sweater tighter around her shoulders. Actually, she thought, her smile softening as the Hinata Sou came into view, they might understand—especially Shinobu. If it's love, it's ok, right?

Pushing thoughts of everyone else from her mind, Kitsune hurried up the stairs, her heart swelling with joy as she realized that through this arrangement, she had finally made him hers.

The End

Pre-read thanks going out to Hawker-748 for helping me make sure this wasn't terrible.