I was expecting something torturous, but luckily Rynny kept our activities at a low-energy pace. It was probably only half an hour later did we sit down at a dock and just relax with our feet dangling over the edge and water. Did we plan on just chilling for the next half hour until my meeting? Who knew.


"Hey, Zachi, did you listen to a word I just said?"

The blonde-haired idiot sitting across from me kept his drooling gaze at the fixed spot where he was sitting at, the food he ordered forgotten. I sighed at my family's friends' son. Being forced to be best friends with him because of our family business, I had to bear with his immaturity and irritating attitude. Myself, Hakkai Misune, having more of a calm, mature, and collective, had a bit trouble cooperating with this fool.

I sighed and put the tip of my fingers to my temple, bending my head down trying to control myself. What could he be looking at this time? Why not look for myself and try to get his attention back…And turning my head until I matched his line of sight, I felt my eyebrows rise from behind my low-trimmed glasses at what he was staring at.

Two girls. Of course. How could I forget he's a sucker for pretty women? His attitude immediately changes once he sees a lady he likes looking at. It goes from an immature child to a gentleman who knew how to word his words correctly.

His hand suddenly hit the table, making our drinks sway in their cups. And here comes the dramatic entry.

"Haki!" He said too loudly, his attention finally at me.

"I told you to not call me that. It's Hakkai."

"Hakkai!" He repeated, pointing at the girls. "I wish to befriend that lovely maiden over yonder!"

"Of course you do." I casually sipped my water, listening to him rant once more.

"No, I really do! She's beautiful, have you seen her? And her brunette friend is lovely as well. Do you not think they are beautiful? And how they sit there by themselves! Oh the shame of men! Letting two women sit there bored and not offering them whatever they wish!"

I rolled my eyes. "They probably want to sit there and be bored, how do we know? Besides, you do this every time you see an attractive female. You go berserk and rant on how you want to-"

"I want to marry her!" His voice rang, interrupting with what I was going to exactly say. My, my, his eyes were shining too much for this situation.

I sighed. I knew it. "Again, you say that for all of them. Then when you're done with them for the night, or for the week, you say 'oh they just weren't my type' or anything in that such."

Zachi made an over-dramatic pose with his hand over his heart and his eyes wide with supposedly, shock. Again with me sighing and taking another drink of my water. "Oh Hakkai, how can you say such a thing? Do you have no desire for women?" I mouthed his exact words, knowing exactly what he was going to say next. "You and your handsome looks can easily grab a girl! You just keep rejecting them! Live up and show affection to a lady once in a while. You never know who might need it." He was on his feet with his fist in the air and eyes to the sky by the time he was done.

God help his future wife.

"I'm not going."

"Oh please, Hakkai!"

"No."

"Why not, my best friend?

"Absolutely not. I've wasted enough of my time doing such things."

"Hakkai!"

"Let's go." I got up and walked towards the two girls at the docks… An ordinary result of what happens with this fool.

We walked over to the brunette and the blonde who had their feet over the water. They, what seemed like, were having a good time with their laughter and smiling faces. If it were me passing by, I would've left them alone and gone on with my life. But Zachi just wasn't that simple enough. The blonde was quite loud and had an energetic look to her, but also had the eyes that could show a some-what…cute side to her. He looks reminded me of a cat somehow. But the brunette was the opposite. She seemed like the more mature one with a calm face but also showing pure joy in her emotions. Her figure was more formal than the blonde's laid-back one. Did Zachi really prefer the blonde? Again, not a simple man.

The two girls looked up when we were a few feet behind them and Zachi was instantly the gentleman. "Good evening ladies." He said with his arms spread out around him. "How are you this fine afternoon?"

The brunette managed to smile back at him and answer with a calm "fine". The blonde grinned and replied with a 'great!' She had the most bluest eyes I've ever seen. They shone brightly with just the grin. How did they look while she laughed? And the brunette? What color were her eyes… Green. Such a lovely color. Her eyes held knowledge but mixed emotions. It wasn't as easy to read her than the blonde.

Zachi sat down next to them and charmed them with his smile. "What are you two doing later?"

The brunette opened her mouth to speak but surprisingly the blonde tackled her and covered her mouth. I didn't stop the slight shock come onto my face at her reaction. "Oh, nothing! Just chilling."

"Really?" Zachi's eyes went bright with anticipation. "Then may I have the honor of buying you two dinner?"

Brunette's eyes widen and she squirmed a bit out of the blonde's grip and was about to speak when the blonde interrupted her. "Hell yeah!"

Ahh, right, a 'lovely maiden' with a 'lovely mouth'.

Zachi's face lit up in success and he broke out into a smile. "Oh fantastic!"

I managed to hide a sigh. If this pulled through, I'd have to tag along as a…'double date'. Father better be happy of my actions. Then the brunette suddenly started to look worried and she whispered in her friend's ear…


"Rynny! I have a meeting in half an hour! We can't go out for dinner with them! Especially if they're strangers!" I whispered in Rynn's ear.

She made a 'pfft' sound and whispered loudly back, "Dude, have you seen these guys? They're stinking rich! Just look at their clothes and their shiny hair. They can get us a nice free meal."

Ugh. Oh no. If there's food involved, there's no turning back. I sighed sadly and immediately stopped halfway when I noticed the blonde's friend. The blonde was named Zachi and his brown-haired friend with the glasses was Hakkai. He was a pretty nice and polite guy, someone I'll probably be able to talk to while Zachi fantasized over Rynn. Yeah, that's right. I saw right through him. He liked Rynn and wanted a date. Too bad she already had a crush or two on some other people, one of them being Itazura. Besides, she was oblivious to people who crushed on her but can spot anyone who flirts with me. Mental eye roll.

So we ended up going into a really fancy diner with rich-looking people eating politely at their tables with napkins on their laps and their wine glasses half way full. No I'm not saying I can't be mature and formal, I really can, very well at that too. But it was just awkward if I was with people I didn't know and wasn't even dressed correctly. Luckily, Zachi and Hakkai were gentlemen enough to pick a spot where it was less crowded. Yippee.

With Rynny talking with an over-excited Zachi and myself and Hakkai trailing behind them like servants, we sat down and continued our usual routine on the way here. Zachi doing his flirting and complimenting on anything he can find about Rynn, and Rynn talking every compliment and adding onto it. Ahh, my little Rynn. I sighed a bit through my nose and looked around the almost fancy restaurant, feeling very out of place in my regular clothes. Zachi and Hakkai would fit alright in here with their expensive clothes, but not me, nu uh, I'm an average girl, thank you very much.

"So what did you say your name was again?" Hakkai asked from across the table. His eyes from behind his glasses were looking in my direction but not at me. Wonder why.

"Ryume," I said simply. No need to give a stranger my last name. Shouldn't give out too much information when I don't even know them-

"She's here for a meeting 'cause she's an Uchiha!" Rynn suddenly blurted out. I felt my eyebrow twitch and jaw drop.

I managed to stutter out alarmingly, "Uh, oh no, I'm just part Uchiha! I'm actually a Kazemizu and my best friend is an Uchiha so it'd be polite to join the meeting as well…" My voice trailed off and everyone at the table was staring at me. I opened my mouth to say something when, thanks cheese, the waiter came to save me. We ordered our drinks and got back to the whole listening-to-Rynn-and-Zachi-talk routine.

"Ryume," Hakkai said, as if trying to see how the sound of my name rolled in his mouth, "I'd like to apologize for my friend Zachi."

I raised an eyebrow at him and looked at Zachi who was oblivious that the male next to him even said his name out loud. His attention was too much on Rynny.

"Why are you apologizing?" I asked, my eyes back to Hakkai's.

He was about to reply when his gaze caught mine and he instantly looked away, a slight pink forming on his cheeks. Great. Another guy crushing on me. Mental sigh. "Well, unfortunately, Zachi has a habit of having an attraction of blue-eyed blondes. He always has the urge to take them out and most likely date them for a week or so. He's always ranting about how he wants to marry every girl he sets eyes on. Unfortunate for your friend that he said he was serious about this one."

And all of this said right next to his best friend who was sitting not even a foot away from him. Wow. But all I did was raise both eyebrows and nod my head. See? Professional.

"Well, I have to be honest to you. Rynn isn't too into that kind of stuff like dating or anything. I mean, she already has a guy she likes and…" I suddenly stopped as a thought interrupted in my head. Itazura…and Hikuro… What were they doing right now? Shit. What time was it? Was it time for us to meet up? I reached to tug at Rynn's sleeve to find only air. She'd gotten up to go to the bathroom.

Damn it.