Every evening at seven o'clock on the dot, Ryuken was accustomed to Masaki barging into his room, an enormous smile plastered over her face, and challenging him to a race to the dining table for the privilege of first dibs on seconds. He would let her win every time.

However, today was different. As usual, Ryuken was hard at work perusing his chemistry textbook and taking notes when it occurred to him that it must almost be time for the evening meal.

A cursory glance at the alarm clock perched on his fastidiously neat bedside table revealed that it was 7:04; seven o'clock had come and gone and his exuberant cousin was nowhere to be seen.

Ryuken frowned slightly; Masaki was a cloud-cuckoolander extraordinaire, but she was nothing if not punctual. For her to deviate from such a standard routine, particularly if there was food involved, was unheard of.

Ryuken shut his textbook and tossed it down onto his bed with a soft thump, rose to his feet and walked over to the door, opening it slightly and peering up and down the corridor outside to see if Masaki was tearing down the hall, having realised that she was late. Seeing only Kanae Katagiri dutifully going over the intricately-designed balustrade with a feather duster, Ryuken frowned slightly. This was most unlike Masaki.

"Miss Katagiri," Ryuken said, and the maid jumped slightly and spun around quickly to face him. "You wouldn't happen to have seen Masaki recently, would you?"

Kanae mirrored Ryuken's puzzled expression. "Now that you mention it, young master, I haven't seen lady Masaki since she returned from school this afternoon. She went straight into her bedroom. I don't think she has been out since."

"Thank you, Miss Katagiri," Ryuken responded, making his way towards the closed door of Masaki's bedroom, looking back towards Kanae as a thought occurred to him. "While you're here, could you please tell me what the evening meal is tonight?"

"Shrimp gratin," the maid replied, promptly.

"Excellent," Ryuken murmured, turning his back on Kanae and staring at Masaki's door.

After a few seconds of deliberation, Ryuken stretched out his hand and knocked gently, once, twice, three times on the solid panel of dark wood in front of him.

Another couple of seconds later, he heard a voice respond. "C-come in, Ryuken!" Masaki's voice chimed brightly through the door, but Ryuken could tell by the hesitation in her usually-assured voice that something wasn't quite right. He turned the doorknob, pushed the heavy door open and stepped inside his cousin's room, carefully shutting the door behind him when he saw that she was sitting on her bed, her knees drawn up to her chin, and that despite the smile on her lips, tears were rolling down her cheeks.

"Are you all right?" he asked, urgently, striding across her room and sitting down beside her, careful to leave at least a foot of space between them. This act of attempting not to invade Masaki's personal space, however, was rendered a complete waste of time when she unclamped her arms from her legs and threw them around Ryuken, knocking his glasses askew. She sobbed into his shoulder as he bolted upright where he sat, alarmed by her sudden proximity, before his senses returned to him and he put a hand on her head, stroking her hair in what he sincerely hoped was a comforting gesture.

"A-auntie..." Masaki stammered, and suddenly Ryuken understood. Of course his mother had been giving her an hard time for her slow progress with training...

"I'm sorry for my mother," Ryuken said, using his free hand to push his glasses back up before rummaging in his pocket for a clean handkerchief, which he offered to his cousin. "If you're having trouble with training, I would be very happy to help coach you in the evenings."

Masaki sniffed, pulling her face away from Ryuken's shoulder and gratefully accepting the handkerchief, noisily blowing her nose in it. "I don't care about the training, I know that's my fault and I deserve to be told off for not putting everything I have into it."

"Can you tell me what the problem is, then?" Ryuken asked, kindly. "If there's anything I can do to help..."

"There isn't." Masaki finally met Ryuken's eyes, and in that moment he was shocked to see that she looked ten years older. "I know why Auntie agreed to take me in."

Ryuken closed his eyes and inclined his head towards the floor. Of course. Masaki wasn't stupid, and he knew that she would have figured it out eventually, but that didn't mean he was at all happy about the prospect of having this conversation with her.

"You know what I'm talking about, then," Masaki said, dejectedly.

Ryuken opened his eyes and used his right hand to push his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "I do," he confirmed.

"I'm sorry, Ryuken," Masaki said, sadly, the sincerity in her voice palpable. "You're my very dear friend, and I care for you a lot, but I can't ever see myself married to you."

Ryuken tore his eyes away from the floor and forced himself to look at his cousin, pretending that her words hadn't just torn through his heart like shards of ice. "Neither can I," he replied, forcing a small smile. "You wouldn't be happy, and neither would I. Don't worry about it. We are allowed to make our own decisions."

Masaki gave her cousin a watery smile. "You're so kind, Ryuken. You're going to make some girl very happy. Just, not me."

Ryuken was about to respond, when Masaki wiped her eyes and drew her eyebrows inwards. "Actually, yeah, you know who I think you could make happy? Kanae."

Ryuken blinked, taken-aback by Masaki's declaration. "Miss Katagiri?"

"Yes!" Masaki declared, clapping her hands together and smiling. "I'm pretty certain she likes you - don't give me that look - and she's amazing! She likes to read in the library when she has free time, she's a really good fighter, even though she's not a pureblood, but why should that even matter? Also, she's an awesome cook," Masaki said, decisively. "With food skills like that, you'd be lucky to have her!"

Ryuken raised an eyebrow, not quite sure how to respond to that, but then he realised that Masaki appeared to be genuinely smiling once again and he lowered the eyebrow and decided to go along with it to keep her happy. "Perhaps," he gave a non-committal shrug. "Well, if you're feeling better, we had better go for dinner."

"I really am feeling a bit better," Masaki pondered, giving Ryuken a smile brighter than the sun. "Hey, do you know what we're having?"

"Shrimp gratin," Ryuken responded, smiling slightly in spite of himself when Masaki's eyes lit up even more. "If you want, you can have some of mine. I know you'd only steal it straight from my plate, anyway..."

"Aw, you're the best, Ryuken," Masaki grinned, all evidence that she had been previously crying gone as she pulled her cousin into another hug. "Don't worry, you can count on me to steal your food! Hey, I'll race you to the dining room!"

Ryuken barely had any time to think; Masaki had let go of him and flown off downstairs before he could respond. As he left the bedroom and turned for the stairs, he saw a faint blur of brown hair disappearing into the dining room and immediately regretted offering her his own food. Would she be physically able to hoover up every last crumb before he even made it downstairs? He certainly wouldn't put it past her.

A small rustling noise by the balustrade caught Ryuken's attention and he turned towards it, only to find Kanae looking at him in concern.

"Is everything all right, young master?"

Ryuken regarded the maid carefully, wondering if it were possible that she had somehow heard everything he and Masaki had discussed. She certainly seemed to be scrutinising him in a way that suggested she could somehow sense his pain through that door, even if she hadn't heard the words spoken.

Shrugging off any doubts he had, Ryuken found that he didn't even have to force the smile that came to his face.

Author's notes: Because Masaki and Ryuken really needed more friendship fic. Also, Kanae is awesome. :D

I seem to have a lot of headcanons involving these three. Hmm. Well, I hope you enjoyed the fic! :)