Sorry for the wait. Life happens sometimes.


"Bleeding?"

I nodded, my chopstick pressing at a stray piece of rice that was hanging around the corner of my bento box. I tried to keep it to myself, what had happened last with the bleeding boy and all that but as soon as lunch came and I dragged her to our usual spot on the roof to eat, I had to tell Tomoyo – it wasn't like I could hide this from my best friend and as soon as I told her, I felt like I could really breath.

"Oh dear," Tomoyo gave a small laugh as she neatly placed her bento on the ground. Her voice was light and soft. In all honesty, I think she was a princess in her past life. Everything about her was perfect. Her dark eyes, her long midnight black hair that was always in some complicated hairstyle, her pretty face. I'm talking, I would go lesbian for her. I'm not even kidding. Okay, I'm exaggerating just a tad.

"Don't tell anyone. Please. Touya would kill me." I bit my lip until I saw her smile that smile that seemed to always reassure me. She nodded, "Of course not but it is something of concern. I'm guessing you haven't called the police."

"I hadn't thought about it." I shook my head. Alerting the authorities, it was odd that that hadn't been the first thing to cross my mind when the incident was occurring. "I wonder why Touya hadn't called the police." Why hadn't he? And where on Earth had he been where he had come across a bleeding boy on the street? He never explained what happened. All the questions were making my head hurt, clearly I wasn't used to exercising brain activity, so I focused on questions that could actually be answered. "How're you and Eriol?"

Eriol was Tomoyo's boyfriend. He had been an exchange student from England but he ended up having to head back to where he was from for some reason or another. Tomyo wouldn't reveal it but I know she knew why. I never asked but we both were acutely aware that I was curious about it; Tomoyo was like a finely tuned safe, she would never tell a secret. It was okay though, that's how I knew she could keep mine.

"He's doing great," A warm smile spread across her lips as she lightly held her chopsticks to her lips in thought. "He's coming in next week so hopefully we can see each other, I won't get my hopes up. I know he's busy."

I watched her expression. What it must be like to be in love with someone who liked you back, I wondered about that all the time. Going on romantic walks in the park or just hanging out; I've always had a romanticized notion about love but I couldn't help myself when I had no experience in it. After all, I've only been pining after the same guy since I was nine. But Yukito was different, he was perfect for me.

Yukito was my brother's best friend-did I already mention that? He was sweet and kind, he was always thinking about other people. I loved him with all of my heart but he refused to admit it aloud. Tomoyo was too nice to say anything but it was clear that she didn't see our relationship going anywhere; the one time she had been honest about how she felt on the situation, I had nearly burst into tears at the thought of Yukito not having feelings for me like I did for him. She never spoke of it again. I think about that moment now and then but I try not to.

Enough about me, I was just happy that Eriol made Tomoyo happy. "I hope you guys can see each other then." I grinned over at her before pointing my chopsticks in her direction. "If you see him, you tell him that he still owes me a tamago for not telling me that he liked you in the first place."

Tomoyo just shook her head at me with a defeated grin. "I'll relay the message."


Unlocking the front door, I immediately shed myself of my shoes and dropped my backpack by the entrance. "Touyaaaaa! I'm home." I didn't really expect him to be home, he never was since he always had work until at least six, maybe seven at night. I always made dinner since dad had work even later than Touya. It was really quiet for me sometimes but I was never lonely.

Hearing no response, I scrambled to my room and moved to shift out of my school uniform and into something more comfortable-I was in dire need of sweatpants and some comfort food. And after scrounging through my closet for the laziest attire that I could get my hands on, I decided to head downstairs.

I stopped short at the doorway to the kitchen upon seeing him there. It was the guy from last night. He was sitting in the same spot that he was in since the last time I saw him this morning; only this time, he wasn't stuffing his mouth with pancakes but he was staring out the window that sat just across the kitchen. He seemed deep in thought, I don't even think he knew that I was there. Hadn't he heard me come in? My voice was pretty loud when I wanted it to be heard. Maybe he really was a lifeless doll.

He looked nice in that light though, it really brought out his ... well, everything? His hair was shiny and unruly but in a tame sort of way, as if he had attempted to comb it down but it refused to bend to another will. And his eyes-

-were staring right at me, holy shit.

"Uhm, uh. Hey there. Hey."

No response but what was I expecting? Then again, it was hard to understand the flustered ramblings of a teenage girl.

"Do you like jokes?" Again, no response.

Maybe I should try a different approach. I had been wanting to try something out with him. I skipped toward his seat until I stood right by his chair before crouching down on my knees before him. I blinked a few times, then proceeded to stare at him.

He was fine at first. He just stared at me and for a while, it was just my green eyes verses his brown ones. After a few silent moments, I was starting to wonder if he would ever grow uncomfortable.

But then I saw it.

It was a tiny amount but there were slight differences in his stonewall stare. His eyes shifted slightly, I think he was looking at my nose. Then they lifted. My forehead? Then, back to my eyes. His pupils started to grow bigger, dilating as I stared back at him.

But the cutest part was when the slight reddish hue rose to his cheeks. It brought a grin to my lips. "Not very comfortable, is it, huh?" I questioned as I pulled away from our staring contest. "You know, uhm-" I paused, realizing that I still didn't know his name, "You should really put yourself in my shoes. All the staring does get a little embarrassing."

I watched him as his head lowered in thought and I quickly backtracked, "I mean, I personally don't think it's a big deal. Stare away but if I have something hanging out of my nose, don't just not say anything, you know?" An awkward, strangled laugh fell from my lips. As for him, no laugh, no response. I really had to stop digging holes once I am already neck deep.

I still had to make dinner. I shuffled past his spot at the table and to the refrigerator, digging through it for ingredients. Spaghetti is what we were having because I had been craving something not-Japanese for the longest time and Touya finally went shopping a week ago. I pulled everything into my arms and spread them out over the counter.

"I at least hope you're hungry." I told him, pulling the meat from its package and placing it within a pot on the stove. "Do you like spaghetti-" I turned only to find him already out of his seat and standing beside me, nearly giving me a heart attack. I placed a hand over my heart. "Christ! When did you-ah-you-" I took a deep breath. "We should really get a bell on you or-or something."

He glanced at the meat and then glanced at me. "Do you want to help me, then?" He gave me a reluctant nod but it brought the biggest smile to my lips. We were getting somewhere! Sort of. I rummaged through the drawers to find him something to cut up the meat with and handed it to him. "Just cut up the meat and then, I'll tell you what to do after that." I was feeling giddy. "Touya and Dad like their spaghetti a certain way and only I know how to do it." I nodded with a smug hint to my tone as I leaned over to nudge him in the ribs. I expected to feel, I don't know, skin? It felt like paper under there.

I blinked when he winced. "Oh." was all I could manage. Maybe he was more heavily bandaged than from what I could see. He sure didn't act like it. Talk about a guy who knows how to suck it up. Briefly, however, I wondered yet again what had happened to him. Who would harm such a, as far as I knew, harmless guy?

"I smell dinner, oi Sakura. Don't forget to put the onions in mine this ti-"

I turned to see him stopped short in the doorway of the kitchen. He seemed a little surprised to see me. Or was he looking at Mr. Silent next to me? Mr. Silent, and yes this is what I've decided to call him until I've figured out his name, didn't seem to be paying much attention to Touya's presence, though I'm sure he knew that he was there. He just continued to nonchalantly cut up the meat. I couldn't really tell from the look on his face. He looked between us cautiously before shrugging and uttering the rest of his sentence, "-Like I was saying, don't forget the onions, kid." He then proceeded to shed himself of his jacket, loosen his tie, and head upstairs.

What was his problem? "I'M NOT A KID, YOU BIG BUTTFACE."

"Whaaaaatever."

"YOU CAN FORGET THE ONIONS."

I think the best part of my day had to be what followed. From behind me, I could hear a small chuckle. Okay, it wasn't exactly a chuckle. More like, a heavily amused breath. And it came from Mr. Silent.

He laughed.

He had a pretty laugh.