Author's Note : Asano x Yukiko is another rare pairing of mine that I couldn't resist to write of. They're just awfully similar to each other.

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Disclaimer : I do not and never will own this anime. I just own the storyline and an elderly OC that goes with the name 'Togawa'


The Nation's Sweethearts

Gakushuu Asano stared at a large mansion he called home. Lately, the said home was suffocating, even for his standard.

The reason was none other than his father.

Now that he was in the middle of completing his university degree, his father, for some absurd reasons, decided to start introducing Asano to some young women around his age that Gakuho deemed suitable for his son. As if he hadn't had enough troubles to sort out with to begin with.

(Flashback)

"Father, honestly I can't say I agree to this... ridiculous idea of yours. It's not like I'd have to rush these things, so why now?" he once had tried to give some little sense his Father seemed to lose when the older man proposed the idea to his son.

"Don't overthink it, kiddo. It's not like I asked you to get married right away. I simply just want you to know more of young women." Gakuho replied calmly while sipping his wine.

"I get along with my female classmates and colleagues just fine!" Asano gritted his teeth. It's true though, he was quite popular back in Junior High and remained steadily popular even when he reached University, surely his Father wasn't ignorant enough to not realize it?

"Yet I've never seen you introduce me to one of your colleagues." Gakuho smiled, knowingly checkmated him. "You're in age where you should experience as many new things as much as you can before you'll get thrown out to the real society. Academic is not absolute, I thought past experiences have taught us that? In case you're not aware, you can be both academically strong and enjoying your youth, making up for the time you lost years ago."

"... I don't think I have the luxury to be in a relationship with someone when there are much more things I should have achieved..." God, his argument was so weak even to his ears, and he hated to admit it, but it's the best he could do. "I just don't think it's the right time for me to think about such a thing. You know there are thousands of things that I want to devote myself to at the moment, even as we speak."

Silence fell over them, and Asano prayed his father would agree with him for once.

"I hear you loud and clear, Asano-kun. But, my decision still stands as it is. You can hate me for it, but know that my intention is well. We'll take things our way then, and until you can introduce me to someone important to you, I'll still introduce you to my colleagues' daughters. The least you can do is make friends with them, they're all lovely young women." With that, Gakuho didn't leave much chance for him to argue.

Asano sighed. Knowing his father, nothing he said would change his mind. Sure, Gakuho Asano had drastically changed for the better after the strange incident back in Junior High, but he still had will as strong as a steel. As much as he loathed his father's idea, he had to admit that his father did have a point, albeit very, very small. While it's true that Asano had been popular with opposite sex, so far he didn't really find them worthy enough to start having a relationship with. Sure, some of them were beautiful, but none of them stroked anything within him.

Maybe that's the reason.

He kept searching, only he didn't know what exactly it was he was looking for.

-o0o-

He met with Ren that day. He had to.
If Ren was not the best person he should see in this situation, he didn't know who was.

When he entered a high-end cafe he often visited, Ren had been waiting there on a table right beside the large transparent window. And as he had expected, this particular friend of his was not alone. There were already 4 girls surrounding him, each wanted his attention. Ren seemed to be, obviously, much happy to oblige.

Before Asano could make his way to Ren, the latter noticed him first and waved, shouting a little. "Asano, here!"

He had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Of course Ren has to make commotion about every little thing.

He swiftly went over, pulling out a chair in front of Ren.

After waiting for Ren to make up excuses to the 4 girls so that they talked another time, Ren turned to him with his composed smile. "So, Asano. It's not like you to call me over during weekdays, not to mention when it's your Archery club activity day. What can I do for you?"

Not wanting to waste any of their time, Asano went straight to the point. "My father expects me to introduce him to my girlfriend."

Ren blinked. "... What?"

"Well, he didn't exactly say 'girlfriend' as I believe he used the term 'someone important'. But I'm pretty sure he meant the same thing as—"

"Wait, wait, WHAT? But you don't have a girlfriend!" Ren cut him off, eyes went wide in pure horror. "And since when does the Director want to know who you date?!"

"That's exactly what I want to talk about." Asano rubbed his temple, his head felt heavy already as he thought about how bleak his future would be if his Father kept making him meeting more daughters of their family's colleagues'. "Just so that you know the big picture, for the past month, he went as far as taking me to countless of his colleague meetings just so that he could make me met their daughters.."

"... I never knew your Father cares so much about your love relationship..." Ren replied in awe.

"I thought he didn't too!" he grumbled under his breath.

"So, basically you want my help to find this perfect girl?"

Asano fell silent. Do I?

... No. it's not that. I don't even know who I'm looking for, how can I ask for help?

"I wouldn't go as far as that. I just want to talk to you about it." Asano sighed, leaning back to his seat. "As much as I hate the fact that my Father started sticking his nose to my business, again, he's right. Now that I think about it, I have never seen any of my female colleagues or former classmates in that way." His face showed how he really gave it a thought, chin leaned on his right hand.

Ren scoffed before sipping his tea. "Well, I can't blame you there. None of our former classmates was exactly what you would call a beauty, but otherwise you're right."

"I honestly don't know what to do." Asano took a deep breath. "To be fair, I'm not even exactly sure in what kind of girl I'm looking for."

"That's easy." Ren waved him off. "What kind of girl that you get along the best with so far?"

"Hm..." Asano looked down, really thinking it over. "Not the ones who are bothersome, I think. Or those who are being too much in everything."

"So you prefer someone refined and composed?"

"... So far, I think yes."

"Then there you have it." Ren leaned back. "See, that's easy, right?"

-o0o-

After meeting up with Ren, Asano went back to where his car was parked, which was quite far from the cafe. Not the one he usually used, but today was weekday and his usual parking spot was already occupied.

The one he used now was a joint parking lot, shared with a vast relaxing park owned by some kind of hospital facility a bit far from the lot.

He was about to open his front door when he heard an old man called out, "Boy! Grandson!" No one answered, and the old man kept calling out. Feeling a bit curious and partly annoyed at what kind of insolent man ignored such a desperate calling from what seemed like a really old man, he turned to where the voice originated from.

He horrifyingly found out that the 'insolent man' was him. Scrunching his eyebrows, he asked in confusion. "Excuse me?"

"My Grandson! Why haven't you visited this poor gramps of yours?!" The old man made a move as if he was trying to stand up from his wheelchair he was on and Asano winced at that.

He was no medical expert, but even from this quite far distance, he could see how hard it was for that old man to get up and walk towards him.

Asano closed the front door and walked hesitantly to where the old man in wheelchair was, intending to tell the old man that no, he's not his grandson. He felt bad for the old man, but he really was not and he couldn't just leave this spot without telling him that.

When the old man was within reach, Asano found one of his arms got gripped weakly by the fragile-looking human being. "Look at you, all grown up and all! Last time I saw you, you were so small!" the old man laughed happily, there was twinkle in his eyes.

"Ah... Sir, I think you've got the wrong person—" he started, before being cut off by the old man's laugh.

"Nonsense! I know my grandson when I see it!"

Asano was about to give further denial when he heard feminine voice calling out. "Togawa-san, there you are!" Not before long, the young woman who owned that voice had already crouched in front of the old man. "I was looking for you, Togawa-san. Who knows you actually can wheel yourself this fast," the young woman laughed softly.

"I was just trying to see my grandson, that's all!" the old man, Togawa-san, was clearly now basked in the young woman's compliment, a sight that almost made him smiled faintly.

"Your Grandson? I didn't know that your family is visiting you now..." she trailed off, then immediately turned to her right after noticing that there was someone else standing there. As soon as she saw the figure right next to her, her eyes went wide open, clearly not expecting to see anyone from her old junior highschool.

"Asano-kun?"

-o0o-

At first, he didn't remember who she was.

Judging from the way she called him, she must be from his junior high. He was the student council President, alright, yet it had been almost 6 years ago so he justified the fact that he couldn't possibly memorize each of his old schoolmates.

He was about to apologize for not recognizing her figure when he caught a glance at her nameplate on her shirt. Yukiko Kanzaki.

That name was strangely familiar to his ears, and he's sure he'd heard that name being spoken numerous times during his junior high school year. God, he wished he was Ren right now, his best friend always had soft spot to all kinds of beautiful women even from long ago. If Ren was here, Asano's sure that he would definitely remember this young woman here as she was quite a beauty.

Wait a minute.

Ren used to talk a lot about a very beautiful girl from Class E who got him beaten in Japanese Literature during the last midterm and final exam. Wasn't it Kanzaki-san?

"Kanzaki-san…. from Class E?" without meaning to, he found himself blurting out what was supposedly in his mind. He quickly covered his mouth, mortified that he said something without thinking.

Too late, the young woman already heard him and in return, she gave him a soft smile and surprised look, as if she didn't expect him to recognize her. "Yes, though I'm quite surprised with the fact that you know me."

"You had quite a reputation back in junior high, Ren wouldn't stop talking about you." Asano answered with straight face. It's true though, Kanzaki-san did have reputation even amongst students in the main campus. He wasn't one to pay attention to it but considering the guy who made such a big fuss about her existence was his best friend, he more or less caught one or two information about the said girl.

Yukiko gave an uneasy laugh, clearly not comfortable with the new information that she got. "Ah, how's Sakakibara-kun? Is he well...?"

"He doesn't change at all, if that's what you're asking." He scoffed in exasperation.

Upon hearing it, she giggled. Eyes travelling far as if they were back to being junior high students. As much as Sakakibara Ren made her uncomfortable, knowing that someone from her past still hadn't changed much was quite enjoyable. "I can imagine that."

Togawa coughed, making them jumped a bit as if they just realized that they were not alone at the moment. "Yukiko-chan, you already know my Grandson? To think that I was this excited in introducing him to you!"

In confusion, she turned to Asano for an answer. Asano sighed before filling her in what happened earlier. "Apparently, for some reason, this Grandpa thought I'm his grandson. I'm not though, if you still need my answer..."

"Ara, I see." She turned to Togawa again then crouched in front of him. "Togawa-san, we need to get back to your room for this evening's social meeting. Aren't you looking forward to that?"

"But I want to catch up with my grandson!"

"Your Grandson needs to go somewhere. How about we bid him farewell for now, and we'll let him visit us again tomorrow?" she tried to convince him, putting on her best convincing tone she's had.

Togawa stood his ground, not wanting to part with his 'grandson', all the while Yukiko had run out ideas on how to get one of her dearest patients back to his room right away. She looked troubled, and that's when Asano decided to butt in. He crouched beside Yukiko and looked up to the older man, startling her in the process.

"Ojii-san, how about I go back with you? We can talk a lot along the way." He smiled faintly. "I kinda lost my way to your room the last time I visited you, you wouldn't want me to get lost again when I'm visiting you next time, would you?"

The older man's face instantly brightened up, as if Asano just told him the greatest idea in his life.

Seeing the interaction happening right in front of her, Yukiko smiled faintly, though a trace of worry was still present on her beautiful feature. Why does she look worried all the time? He couldn't help but wondered, though the feeling disappeared right away when he realized in mortification how he wondered such a thing about a person he never talked to before.

Asano got up before making his way to the wheelchair's handler and started wheeling the older man out of the parking lot, despite Yukiko's cry of protest. She gave up though, after Asano insisted that he wanted to do it as it seemed to please Togawa-san.

"My apologies, Asano-kun, making you have to go with us all the way to Togawa-san's room..." she whispered in cautious, not wanting Togawa to overhear them.

"It's alright, I don't really have to go anywhere." He brushed her off.

"Just tell me if you want to switch wheeling Togawa-san, I don't want to cause you any more troubles than this!" she quickly said.

He eyed her skeptically in a mocking display. "Kanzaki-san, I know I was not exactly the strongest in our campus, but at least I think I'm strong enough to wheel an old man into his hospital room."

She quickly realized how wrong her words must have sounded to him so she lowered her eyes slowly to the ground in guilt. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"I was just joking, Kanzaki-san." He then further explained. "It's okay, really. I don't mind wheeling Togawa-san into his room, it's the least I can do."

Yukiko sighed dejectedly, seemingly gave up. "Well then... if you say so, Asano-kun.."

-o0o-

The rest of the way went quite uneventfully. Togawa-san and Asano chatted a few times, with Togawa still thought that Asano was his grandson. Asano had given up on making the older man saw the truth so he decided to play along for now. He managed to evade on questions that he deemed not in his place to answer so far, only answering basic questions with general answers.

As soon as they reached the hospital, an older woman wearing the same uniform as Kanzaki's approached. "Thank you for taking Togawa-san for a walk today, Kanzaki-san! He really needs it." The woman smiled as she gave slight bow to Asano in acknowledgement. "And this young man is...?"

"Ah, my apologies. I'm Gakushuu Asano, former schoolmate of Kanzaki-san's." Asano bowed back. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

The older woman nodded before giving signal to a male nurse, who proceeded with taking Togawa-san back to his room who waved his hand wildly to the pair. Asano and Kanzaki waved him back, with Asano saying he would pay him a visit later this week.

Once the nurse and the patient were gone, Asano turned to the young woman beside him. "I take it you're working here then, Kanzaki-san?"

Yukiko shook her head. "No, I'm still an intern here, but I am hoping to work here after I finish my internship..." she smiled warmly, eyes seemed like staring at faraway place.

He didn't know her, but even he knew that she's quite passionate with this line of work. Before he commented further on it, she turned abruptly to him, as if just realizing how impolite it was for her to keep speaking about herself. "I'm sorry, I got ahead of myself. How about you, Asano-san?" she turned to him.

Being asked that kind of question for the first time, Asano pondered it for a while. What is it he wants to do? What kind of things he's so passionate about? He had no idea. He knew he had talent in giving directions to people, he knew he's good with decisions, but he didn't know whether that's what he actually wanted to do rather than had to do.

"I haven't thought much about it myself, Kanzaki-san, so for now let's just say that I'm in the phase where I'm trying to do as much as I can for once."

"I see. Good luck with that, Asano-kun!" she tilted her head, giving him her utmost attention and most understanding smile. "Then again, I believe you'll do fine in finding it out, just like what you've been doing all this time."

He smiled at that too, quite glad at her words. "Thank you, I appreciate the sentiment."

She looked at her wristwatch before turning to him again, all the while giving him her apologetic expression. "I'm sorry Asano-kun, I need to get going now. It's lovely to see you here and I owe you a lot for keeping Togawa-san company this whole evening, but would it be alright if I leave now?"

He looked at his own wristwatch before asking casually. "Can I just give you a ride? It's already late evening and it'd be rude of me to just leave you on your own especially around this time." When he saw her hesitating a bit, he felt the need to add another reason. "This way, you won't leave me here and we'll be even."

Yukiko stared at him briefly, looking a bit hesitated, before she smiled gratefully. "Sure, if it doesn't trouble you at all, Asano-kun."

-o0o-

The ride was normal, with Yukiko occasionally commenting and asking simple questions here and there (though he assumed it's just for the sake of being polite). He didn't mind though, he certainly appreciated the way she made an effort to make the rest of their ride became not awkward.

When silence took over them, more often than what not, to his surprise it's not an awkward one. The reason? Maybe because both of them were naturally people of few words, or how they were just people brought up with similar personalities to each other, or maybe just the fact that they had incidentally spent today's evening together that it made them understand each other a bit better, he didn't know. But inwardly he felt grateful for it, for he's not sure if he could handle the awkwardness. He's not exactly the most sociable person after all.

"Ah, you need to turn right at the next turn, Asano-san." Her soft voice pulled him out of his thoughts and he found himself took a swift glance to his left, seeing her pointing her index finger to the next turn.

After turning right at the turn she pointed, he stopped his car when he heard her saying that he could pull over here. "Is this it?" he looked around, expecting to be in front of some house when all he could see was an open field.

"No, but it's okay though, I'll just walk there. It's not that far anyway. Thank you once again for giving me a ride home." Already detaching the seatbelt off her shoulder, she's about to open the passenger door when he stopped her.

"… Is there a particular reason why I can't know your house?" He tried to sound like he didn't care, but in all honesty, judging from how hurt he sounded just now, strangely he sounded like he did care. This young woman had not known him that long yet she already doubted him? Who did she think he was, a creep?

Yukiko, seemingly understood what he was thinking, shook her head quickly as her means to reassure him. "I'm sorry, but it's not like what you think. It's... my father. He always freaks out whenever my male friend gives me a ride home. I don't want to cause you inconvenience anymore than I already have if he caught you. Anyway, my house is just 3 blocks that way, see?" she pointed to a rather big traditional house in the corner of the road.

He saw the direction she pointed, seemingly deep in thought. A second later he had already started moving the car, startling Yukiko in the process. "I don't mind. It's my responsibility to get you home safely anyway."

She was about to protest when he spoke again, effectively silencing her. "And for the thousandth time, Kanzaki-san, you weren't causing me any inconvenience. We just met today but I swear your formality has caused me more headache than anything else."

She sighed. Honestly, she should have known. Arguing with Gakushuu Asano had never been the solution ever since high school.

-o0o-

Luckily, when he pulled over right in front of her house, her father hadn't been home yet so he was able to steer away from her neighborhood without any extra unwanted attention. Not like he cared, for he was 100% prepared to face her Father if it was necessary.

He reached his house an hour later and he went straight to bed. Too many things happened today and he just felt too tired of it. Not 5 minutes later, he was already asleep with his clothes still on and some faint hospital scent lingering on them.

-o0o-

3 days later he went back to the hospital Yukiko worked at and went straight to the receptionist to ask for Togawa-san's room number. Guilt had been gnawing at him for the past 3 days as he was held back from visiting the poor old man by his university duties. He didn't want to delay his promised visit any longer though, so he went straight to the hospital as soon as his class was done.

It was strange that the nurses all remembered him as "Kanzaki-san's former schoolmate" that they went as far as allowing him to visit Togawa-san despite him not being his family member.

He would ask Kanzaki-san about the special treatment the next time they met, he concluded.

Upon finding the correct room, he pulled the door open and cautiously stepped inside, not wanting to disturb Togawa-san from anything he might be doing.

Asano was soon greeted by Togawa-san's happy voice, clearly not expecting his grandson visiting him. He walked to the bed and put the flowers that he specifically ordered from his family's usual florist this morning. "How are you doing today, Togawa-san?" he then proceeded to sit on a small chair right beside the bed.

"I'm better already, now that my grandson is here once again!"

Hearing that, Asano smiled. "Well, I promised, didn't I?"

Not before long, they continued talking for 2 full hours, until the time came when he had to leave with another promise to visit the old man in the future.

He descended to the first floor, passed the receptionist desk with a small nod, before stepping outside of the sliding door. Visiting Togawa-san proved to be doing him some good as he somehow had this strange bond toward the old man. He never had the chance to talk with his grandparents as they had passed away long ago, thus it's a good thing that he's able to find an elderly figure in Togawa-san.

He reached his smartphone which was stored safely inside his pocket, checking on any mail from Ren. As usual, they were supposed to meet up today to hang out with the rest of good ol' Virtuoso members and it's Ren's turn to pick the place.

Much to his surprise, the only mail from Ren said that the other Virtuoso members had something came up and requested the casual meeting to be postponed to any time in 2 weeks. He sighed. It's pretty rare for Ren to delay their meeting, but he supposed he couldn't do anything about it.

He checked his watch, and knowing that it's too late for him to do anything in university, he decided to go back and work on his assignments. They were not due in another month but there's no such thing as completing things too quickly, so there's that.

-o0o-

After that day, Asano visited the hospital 5 more times. His visits were usually done randomly as he went straight to hospital if there's no more thing he could do in university or home. Of course, his duty in university's student organization and assignments, not to mention the banquets and parties that he had to attend with his Father, always got in the way but somehow he made it sure that he got to visit Togawa-san as often as he could.

In his 6th visit, he bumped right into Yukiko Kanzaki.

It was Thursday.

In the split seconds of their crash into each other, he quickly noted her casual clothes. Judging from how out of breath she was, he took a wild guess that she must have been straight from university for her shift now. She looked startled, he supposed she didn't exactly expect to run into him here. The motion momentarily made her lost her balance, but his quick grip on her arm stopped her from falling right on to the floor. "Kanzaki-san! Are you alright?"

She laughed in embarrassment while nodding to his direction a little as a form of greeting. "Yes, thank you for your concern. I just didn't expect to run into you, Asano-kun. Is your relative taken care here?" She looked at him worriedly.

He looked at her strangely, before remembering that she wasn't present during his previous visits. "No, it's Togawa-san. I've been visiting him from time to time for the past 3 weeks."

Genuine surprise flashed across her face, before changing to pure happiness. "Ah, is that so? Thank you very much for visiting him, no wonder he looks happier than he used to be!"

He just nodded in response, not really understanding why a nurse had the need to thank someone from visiting a patient. Yukiko looked at her wrist watch and let out a little gasp. "Oh! I'm sorry Asano-kun, my shift is going to start in 5 minutes so if you'll excuse me..." she nodded deeply for a few times (he supposed it was her way to apologize?) before walking quickly to the staff room.

He stood there for a few minutes, stunned that a proper well-mannered girl like Yukiko Kanzaki could be very close to getting late for her shift.

Shrugging off, he made his way to Togawa-san's room, greeting the staffs and nurses that he passed along the way.

-o0o-

At 5 pm, he walked out of the room. As he reached the now-empty waiting room, he saw Yukiko sitting on one of the seats facing his direction. From her stature, he could see that she was dazing off as her head bowed down slowly straightened up when she realized what she was doing.

In her barely awakened state, she recognized him as she stood from her seat gracefully, nodding at him as a form to greet him.

After acknowledging her with a nod, Asano walked toward her, stopping when he was close enough to have a conversation with her. From the moment he spotted her sitting at the seat, a question kept bugging on his mind, and before he knew it, he found himself blurting it out with a much harsher tone than he meant to. "What are you doing here?"

If she was offended by his tone, she certainly didn't show it.

She did look surprised for a few milliseconds, and she was about to say something (he bet it was another apology as he noted she was rather keen in doing it) when he interrupted. "I'm sorry, that was very rude of me. I didn't mean to sound so harsh. That was supposed to be on my mind only, but lately I couldn't control anything that comes out of my mouth." He breathed in, before continuing with a more poised tone. "Were you waiting for me, Kanzaki-san?"

She looked flustered for once, which was new for him, and quickly putting out both of her palms as if she was stopping him from doing anything more than what he was doing right now. "That... that was to be expected, Asano-kun, so it's perfectly alright, really. I suppose it's surprising, but yes, I was waiting for you. I thought I could ask for a ride, considering I forgot to bring my public transportation card and you're here today..." she trailed off, eyes kept averting to her right and left.

"Oh, that's it?" Asano chuckled. "I thought you're going to give me a really ground-breaking news. Sure, it's alright. Let's go."

He didn't know what it was, but he felt a tinge of disappointment when he saw how Yukiko looked genuinely surprised that he agreed to give her a ride. Did she seriously think I was going to turn her down? Even after I gave her a ride last time?

Then, a scary question seeped through his mind.
Just how much did she trust me?

That was a question which was often plaguing an insecure person, but he refused to believe it because Gakushuu Asano was anything but insecure.

-o0o-

After he stole a glance to his left and made sure that his sole passenger had fastened her seatbelt, he started driving his car.

The traffic was crowd that time, but it wasn't as bad as weekend, something that he had felt at least grateful for. It was a good 5 minutes of driving and stopping here and there when he heard her voice. "Do you mind if I turn on the mp4 player, Asano-kun?" She looked at him with a smile formed in her lips.

He nodded, face was still as serious as ever. "Go ahead. I can't promise you'll find anything that you like, though."

"Well, we'll see; I might surprise you." She nonchalantly replied, letting her fingers started browsing through his playlist. A small laugh was heard from her direction when she had browsed the songs for a few minutes. "I suppose I should have expected it, but you like classical too!" she exclaimed with gleeful gaze in her eyes.

Hearing her unguarded laugh, he unconsciously let a relief smile. "Yes, I do. That's not really surprising though, is it?"

"Hmm, true." She nodded, humming in confirmation. "You're a mature man so it shouldn't surprise me that you're fond of classical." She clicked the play button to play one of his songs before resting her head on the headrest, humming a little with the tone.

He took a careful glance at her before clearing his throat. That simple motion made her stopped her humming and turned to him curiously. He stick his gaze to the road before him though. "Where were you these past few weeks? I thought you're an intern there."

"I am still an intern, but my shifts are not 6 days a week."

"I visited that hospital quite randomly, it's a wonder how we never ran into each other before this." He spoke as a matter of fact.

"Oh! Um well... my shifts are usually in evening or night, so it's understandable that we never ran into each other."

That makes sense, he thought. He was this close from asking her what days exactly were her shifts on, but he supposed if he asked her the question he would scare her off. They were not quite friends, after all, and he wasn't sure in how much she trusted him.

"I see, if that's the case then I can see why we never did." He shifted his gaze to her. He noticed that her eyes showed exhaustion, and even her smile right now didn't quite reach her eyes. It's obvious that she wanted to sleep but he could practically feel her hesitation and resolve in not falling asleep for politeness' sake. He focused his gaze back to the road, mentally trying to formulate a few scenarios in which he could tell her to sleep even for a bit without sounding like a total creep. When he found none, he sighed and decided to go for straight route. "You know, it's perfectly alright for you to take a nap here."

She blinked hastily, as if she could erase the trace of her almost falling asleep a few seconds ago with that simple act. "What are you talking about? I'm perfectly fine!"

"You were asleep a few seconds ago." He answered as a matter of fact, his eyes never left the road.

"I was not." She scrunched her eyebrows and actually frowned at his accusation, he supposed she was trying to look intimidating?

"Yes you were." He casted a side glance at her, daring her to argue with him once again. "I think I have memorized the way to your house from the last time I went there."

"... I just don't think it's polite for me to fall asleep and let you drive me home all alone when it's me who asked you for a favor..."

He shrugged. "Well, even if you didn't ask for a ride, I would have offered to give you a ride so I wouldn't think the outcome will be much different."

"Still..." she trailed off, her resolve wavered a bit.

"I insist. I must say it's quite painful for me to watch you trying hard not to fall asleep and failed miserably."

She turned to him, clearly looking at him and trying to see if he meant it when he said that it's okay for her to sleep when he's driving home. 'Well, he does look serious about it...' she thought.

"I guess I will take a short nap..." she gave up, but not before giving him a pointed look. "But if you need me for anything, I mean anything at all, or if you slightly forget the direction, please don't hesitate to wake me up."

That seems unlikely,he mused, but he nodded nonetheless.

She closed her eyes after that. He thought she had fallen asleep, but he could see how tensed her shoulders were so he dismissed his thought. He supposed it's natural, of course she would feel awkward sleeping beside a stranger, so he couldn't blame her. A minute later, her shoulders were slacked and her head was tilted to her left.

Asano refocused his attention back to the road before him. The traffic jam was getting tighter and tighter, and based on his calculation, it would need at least half an hour before they could reach her driveway. Reaching the volume button on his car's MP4 player, he turned up the volume a little bit; not too loud that it would wake his passenger, but loud enough to fill the creeping silence.

He never did like silence.

-o0o-

It was a good 40 minutes later when he pulled up right in front of her house.

He knew he could always rely on his long-term memory.

He decided that he would give Yukiko 5 more minutes until he woke her up, thinking that she looked so peaceful and deep-in-sleep that he wouldn't dare to wake her up just yet. So he leaned back in his seat, leaving the the air-conditioner and car engine stayed on.

Even with the way classical songs were played in the background, he could still hear her soft breathing. She hadn't stirred at all, he noted, as if she was dead. If not for the slow rise and down of her chest, he would have certainly thought so.

Asano made sure to keep his eyes straight ahead, for he felt like looking at her when she was sleeping was somehow taking advantage of her.

When he looked at his watch and saw that it was already 5 minutes, he cleared his throat and proceeded to wake her up. He shook her arm gently, "Kanzaki-san, wake up."

That little shake was all it took to wake her up, so he leaned back on his seat.

Yukiko blinked a few times, taking around her surrounding, before her eyes fell to the big house on her left. "Oh, we've arrived..." she stifled a yawn and rubbed her eyes.

She turned to Asano and smiled gratefully, before bowing to him. "Thank you for both taking me home and letting me sleep in your car."

"No problem." Asano nodded but didn't say anything more.

She's opening her passenger door when she turned to Asano again, hesitated a bit before saying, "My shifts are on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, by the way."

He blinked.

"I can use some free ride," she simply answered like it was no big deal, but he swore he could see her eyes twinkled a bit.

That threw him aback.

He wanted to say something, but he was honestly loss at words.
'It's not like we're friends, so why is Kanzaki-san—' his thought trailed off, mouth gaped a little from surprise.

"If you visit Togawa-san during those days, that is." She assured him with another smile of hers, as if she knew that his mind was acting up silly all of a sudden. "Good night, Asano-kun. Please ride safely."

With that, she closed the passenger door, leaving him there without even giving him a chance to say anything back.

-o0o-

An hour later that night, when he got into his room, Asano laid on his bed and pondered on what happened a while ago.

Yukiko hinted that he was welcome to visit Togawa on the same days as her shifts, saying that she could use some free ride home from him.

Did that mean they're friends now at some level?

He sighed, massaging the space between his eyebrows. He needed to talk to someone, fast. Glancing at his cellphone, he noticed there was an incoming mail from Ren, asking whether the plan for tomorrow's meetup was still on.

Perfect time as always, Ren! He grinned, quickly typing his confirmation.

Ren would know what to do, he noted.


Author's Note : In case you haven't realized it, I literally ship Yukiko Kanzaki with pretty much most male characters in the anime because she's a lot of fun to write. Asano and Kanzaki are both well-mannered and proper individuals whom I imagine have a lot of expectations from their parents.

So what do you think? Do you find this story or the characters weird? Is there anything I can improve? Do you want me to continue the story? Please don't hesitate to tell me in the Reviews!