He couldn't believe how much tolerance it takes her to be able to bear with him. He had disliked how clingy she was with him in the past, such as going on dates but he had this small interest in her and continued dating her. Recalling to the fact that those were his actual thoughts, he forced his feet to stop at the entrance of the church.

He wasn't always 'The Greatest', despite how much he liked to remind the others, With her, the mask of faultlessness is replaced by a taste of sinister perhaps too harsh for others' taste, she bear with it nonetheless. This little quirk deepened whatever little interest he originally had for her, she became his favorite toy. Pushing her buttons just to test the waters, she didn't bulge, and within that Ayato's curiosity grew. At one point he did find the answer to the ultimate question, but at a cost too high to pay .

It was their anniversary, he remembered. He had to have remembered the speciality in that day needless of her soft reminders. She was thrilled to spend Christmas together, considering that he had finally confirmed their engagement. Yui had reserved a weekend for them to spend at a ski park in Hokkaido, tasteless things that must've slipped from his mouth unremembered, but she did, Yui always does. The night before Ayato headed to the resort since he had a meeting.

"Ayato-san?" purred the young brunette sitting across from him, "Do you want to go for a drink after this?"

He peeked at his watch and it was almost 10, maybe he really shouldn't bother looking for a gift since he could only envision the blonde in happy tears muttering thank you at anything he shove in her face.

"Sure. Let's go to the bar near the ski park" he suggested.

With music thrusting into the tight room, the attractive redhead who had dunked his third shot began to feel a little heat.

"C'mon let's go dancing" dragged by the brunette, he swayed to the music as the girl began to danced on him. She grabbed his hand and had them roam her pulp body. His hands devised a mind of their own, tangled in her dark locks. The woman before him was sexy and eye-catching. Piercing through the attractive couple were jealous glances from the people all around. Things I would give to see Yui dance so confidently for me, he thought, his innocent little princess so lewd in her ways to seduce. Then popped in his mind other men staring at his Yui, the things that must've passed their mind suggested by the shortness of her dress, he grind his thoughts away by turning the brunette around and planted a kiss on her lips. She immediately granted him entrance and pulled him even closer. One thing led to another, Ayato would always remember the scent of her sickly sweet perfume as he spent the whole night memorizing it, again and again, in his hotel room.

The next morning he woke up to a loud 'thump', rubbing his eyes he saw a shocked blonde few feet away from the bed amongst the pieces of clothing that was deemed unnecessary last night. His eyes widened at the remembrance of his events last night. "It's not what it looks like," the brunette beside him let out a soft moan as the riled up bed cover exposed her bare back. He watched Yui's beautiful orbs now glassed with tears before a quiet exit out of the room. He made no effort to chase after her, since he believed that she would come crawling back soon enough.

By the time he got home the morning after he found what little items she kept in their shared apartment gone, he didn't think twice of it; 2 weeks had past and he began to feel slightly strange, waking up in an empty house; by the 3rd month of her disappearance he heard from a friend that she was in France the last time they've heard from her; In half year not one woman have step foot into his apartment, he received a letter with his name neatly printed in cursive. The faint floral scent of innocence emitted from the envelop was enough to reveal its sender. The smile dropped from Ayato's face when a ring fell out along with a letter. Our engagement ring...? He opened the note,

"Dear (Ayato Sakamaki),

Greetings with love,

You are invited to our wedding celebration on December 25. RSVP for further details :)

With love,

Shu and Yui "

His eyes widened in shock, the letter shook involuntarily in his hands as he tried to process the indication of the text he just read. Yui, my Yui, engaged to be married. Ayato had long wondered what heartbreak felt like, the times when Yui slowly backed away as whatever girl decides to throw themselves at him; of the heightened heart beat that thundered his breathing corpse, the unfocused vision, the sour feeling of imagining her smiling away from him for other men; if what he felt was a millionth of her thoughts he was sincerely sorry. Ayato will forever remember the sound of his only heartbreak, crisp as the crack of an envelope.

As he landed in the busy Paris airport 2days before the actual wedding. In his head, he couldn't shake away the memory of Yui's description of the place. Surely the shops has changed, but he swear he could still feel her soft tugs at his hair, from when she told him the tales of her younger years in France before she met him.

"The trees were huge." Her hands tried to imitate the height of the bushes, "I was so small I could barely reach the lowest grapes."

"Mmhmm." He was inattentive, the messages on his phone seemed more important then,

"And I would jump, but fail miserably." She continued with the story, "So this guy, who's the nephew of the owner of the violin store next door would come and help out."

"When I first saw him I thought he was a prince, with his tall figure and fair hair coming to my rescue."

"I had quite the crush on him until one day he just disappeared altogether." She sighed, fingers still lightly brushing his hair,

"What was his name?" Ayato asked out of the blue,

"What..?"

"I said, what was his name?"

"Oh..." then she told him.

A name he wouldn't think twice of if not for the fact that he too shared the same family name, or now, the same woman,

"Shu Sakamaki"

He should have recognized his first name too, if not for the fact that his wealthy father was quite the stud in his younger days. Shu was a half brother whom he met so briefly at his father's third wedding. A thought he gladly left behind as he left home for university, where he met Yui and started the best times of his life free of a controlling mother who exploited him and his brothers as leverages to prevent his father from filing a divorce. He was never caught in the crossfire as it was apparent that he was the heir to his father's empire. A billionaire playboy guaranteed of a prosper life he was needless of moral guidance, until he met Yui. The soft-spoken girl who dared to refuse his playboy manners, a pandora's box just interesting enough to keep him wanting more. For 3 years they unofficially dated, where he would flirt with other girls just to test her limit. She would shake her head and run, just never far enough that he'd lose sight of her. Like a boomerang she'd come back. It was their thing, he throws her away, she forgives and return, for 3 years it lasted that way. Never had it occurred to him that any part of this universal constant could change, until his father proposes for him to get a fiancee. Out of his 'girlfriends' it seemed the most reasonable to bring Yui, and he did. A couple of months after in his mail was a small box containing 2 identical rings; needless of words he knew this was an approval from his father of their relationship, the best validation he could have been given, liberty. He kept the box a secret, at that point engaging to anyone was far from his life plans at 21. Later on the night of Yui's birthday party he gave her the ring. He did no romantic gesture of proposal, heck, he don't even recall getting down on one knee. But she joyously agreed, he was glad that the boys that bluffed about deflowering her at the party would be mildly surprised the next day in class as they discover his ring on her finger.

Much expectation casted upon the ring to change his playboy demeanor was disappointed. He continued 'experimenting' with her patience and she continued forgiving, until that morning of their engagement anniversary of course. Which led us to now, Ayato walking along the Bridge of Love. On the locks craved the physical marks of love, some too dated to even recognize the writing. Instead he looked below of the calm river washing away the keys to breaking apart these promised forevers. He admitted before he board this plane that what he had felt for her was indeed love. But it was no traditional love, not that he know of any. From his capability limited by experience he loved her from a calculated distance, for both of their sakes. In his twisted ways he found fondness in having her around, having someone predictable in this swirling world of fame and money with unchanging faith in him even his own mother couldn't compete. She had always been the one for him, but he couldn't bring himself to show her just that. She could just one day disappear like his father's third wife with Subaru. If there's any teaching besides finance from his father would be to always have the longer end of the stick. Whether it is to use his charm to get things in questionable ways, or to make sure he don't love wholeheartedly enough to get hurt if they do part. Right now, however, it didn't seem all rainbows and sunshine with the longer end of the stick.

The foul taste in his mouth as he would not have been walking on this bridge alone. She would be wrapping her cold fingers around his half brother, who would not pat her head like he would, or ruffle her hair, or stare at other girls with a disguised intention, her cuteness, like the sun, was too much to stare at directly. He chuckled, those moments below Tokyo SkyTree was nothing more thrilling than standing below the Eiffel Tower alone, but then his heart couldn't have beaten faster, she was clenching onto his arm because of the pushy crowd, and he had let her because it was New Years time. She tugged at the corner of his sleeve, blushing from the cold weather and gestured him to come closer.

"Ayato-kun" her warmed breath was sending tingles up his spine, but he would be caught dead admitting it,

"I love you." a soft peck was placed onto his cheek and she playfully let got of his hand.

"Hey!" he must've been blushing, deducing from the smirk hanging at the corner of her smile,

"Of course you love Ore-sama! I mean who else could you have loved but the best man in the entire world?" he retorted, swallowing the three identical words which mirrored hers. He grabbed her arm and she fell right into his chest,

"Now don't you let go you hear me? You're too tiny and troublesome for me to fish from this sea of people, you hear me?" She nodded. And for the rest of the night a smile never fell from his face, had he not realized it looking up from the mirror in his bathroom before bed, he didn't know his face is capable at producing this expression.

He just couldn't bring himself to forget her like he did with the other girls, that was the truth and a price he was willing to pay.

"Ayato?" A familiar voice rang behind him, "Why are you here?" The fedora staple on his head was more recognizable than his Japanese with a fake French accent.

"Laito," He walked to meet his brother from across the street, "Shouldn't I be asking you the same thing?"

"I was invited to an interesting wedding," Laito's smirk gradually fell from his face, "You didn't tell dad that the engagement was called off did you?"

"No," The two walked into a small corner cafe, "I haven't yet."

"May I ask why?" Laito spoke to the waitress in french of their orders,

"I don't know," The other triplet replies, his fingers nervously playing with the corner of his napkin,

"Don't tell me you were expecting for Bitch-chan to come running back in tears?" Laito took a sip of the coffee,

"Why are you invited though?" Ayato asked,

"I guess it was probably Shu who invited us," Laito replied calmly, "You know, the whole half-brother thing that lasted for a good few years?"

Ayato nodded in agreement, Yui couldn't have been so cruel as to make him watch her get married,

"Or it could be an ultimatum from Bitch-chan…" Confused, Ayato put down his coffee,

"Ultimatum…?"

"You know, as in her last call for you to chase her back!" Laito sighed, "Although I was older by a minute I didn't expect to get all the genius from the two of you."

Could it have been just like Laito said, that she wanted him to follow her to France, and confess his undying love for her at the alter and steal her away?

"What did you do to end up at this stage though?" Laito broke his chain of thoughts,

"I slept with another woman…"

"I thought you stopped sleeping with other woman since your engagement? But it doesn't sound too bad, she had forgiven worse right?"

"… on our anniversary night, in our shared suite." Laito dropped his fork,

"Dude… That's messed up."

"I know." Ayato scratched his head, "which is why I was curious why she even sent me an invitation."

"She's marrying Shu," Laito said, "You okay with that?"

"Of course I'm not okay with that!" Ayato was enraged, "Who would want to watch the woman you love marry someone else, needless to say your half-brother!"

Laito smirked, "Then what are you doing here? Don't you have someone to see?"