Created: February 4, 2007

xXx

The things I gave up, the things I've done for you I will never regret. I loved you more than anything, and I would do it all again a million times over. My life might have been a lie, but I always did what was necessary. There's always that grim satisfaction in knowing what you're capable of.

I sometimes wonder how you felt when I would show up. What did you think of me? Were you proud of me even if I was despicable? Were you ever grateful or did you just resent me for what I had or hate me for taking pity? Because, I always did take pity, even though I know it was the thing you hated the most.

xXx

Usagi Tsukino dropped her glittered clutch on the table near the door, simultaneously slipping her feet from her shoes. The difference in height proved dramatic without the four inch heels pushing her up, and became more apparent as Akito walked past her, pulling his tie loose. The blonde watched him as he retreated toward the bedroom, pulling gently on the ends of her recently cut hair that still fell down her back.

Akito suddenly turned, his tie only half undone, and Usagi walked over to him with a smile, undoing the rest of his tie for him. "You're as bad as your cousin, Aki. Nice to know you two have something in common."

The amusement on her face didn't last long; she instantly felt Akito's hand clench around her forearm, hard. He pulled her in close to him, thin lips brushing gently against her ear as he spoke, "You seem awfully inclined to talk about him, lately, don't you Bunny?"

His voice came out soft as ever, almost a purr, but the dark undertone was impossible to miss and jolted a wave of fear all through her body. Still, she regained as much composure as possible, and reached her free hand up to rest against his cheek. "It's only because he's your new partner, Aki. He's so uptight it amuses me, surely you wouldn't begrudge me a little fun?"

"No, I guess I wouldn't." Usagi let go of the breath she'd been holding as Akito released her and turned away, back on his original path to their room. The blonde veered toward the kitchen, her stomach protesting its few morsels at the party for dinner. After surveying the many overly expensive treats in the fridge, she settled on a simple bagel and leaned against the counter as she waited on the toaster. Her cerulean eyes caught her distorted reflection in the stainless steel refrigerator door.

As her dress glittered against the fluorescent lights, she reached in the side of the dress and pulled out the price tag, still neatly attached. Carefully she padded into the bedroom and toward the closet, hearing the expected sound of rushing water from the adjoining bathroom. It took all of two minutes to slip out of the overpriced dress and into a humbler set of pajamas. Usagi paused to make sure the shower had not stopped before she dug the bag from behind the clothes rack and slipped the dress back into it.

Quieter than a mouse, she returned to the entrance hall and tucked the bag in the coat closet before returning to the kitchen just as her bagel popped up. While she smeared cream cheese over both halves, Akito joined her clad in only his towel, drying his hair with a second. The blonde caught sight of him and flushed, but continued with her snack as though she hadn't noticed. Akito dropped the second towel on the counter and crept up behind her, sliding his arms around her slender waist.

"Bunny, you're blushing." Usagi continued to ignore him as she took a bite from her bagel. "That looks good. Can I have a bite?"

"Of course," the blue eyed woman conceded. Akito rested his chin on her shoulder and gave her a mischievous grin. Usagi only rolled her eyes at him and brought the bagel to his lips, and she couldn't help but smile as he bit into it and chewed with child-like enthusiasm. He planted a kiss on her cheek and withdrew back toward the bedroom to dress, leaving her alone in the kitchen once more. She brushed away the smear of crumbs he'd left on her cheek and took another bite from her bagel halfheartedly.

If only you were like that all the time, Akito.

xXx

"I don't see what the problem is," Usagi grumbled, well loud enough for the costumer service employee to hear her. The middle aged redhead huffed with her frustration as the blonde woman placed her left hand on the dress that lay across the counter and waved a slightly crumpled slip of paper in her right. "Here's the dress, here's the receipt, and I paid cash! I just want a refund!"

"Ma'am, we don't do cash back refunds." The employee iterated for the third time, her green eyes searching for her manager who was, of course, nowhere to be found. "I can give you a store credit. I'm sorry, but I can't just make an exception."

"Oh, well. I guess I'll just call Aki and tell him the bad news." Usagi heaved a dramatic sigh as she saw the manager approach the desk, taking in the disheveled clerk and the dress on the counter. For a moment he said nothing, watching the blonde pull out her cell phone.

"Who's Aki?" He finally asked, rather dumbly in her opinion. Usagi suppressed the urge to roll her eyes, and instead let out a fake gasp of surprise.

"Why, you've never heard of Akito Sohma, the owner of Sohma, Inc.? What a shame, because he's about to hear of you," she paused, her cerulean eyes darting over his name tag, "George." Usagi only punched in a single digit before the manager, George, cried out for her to stop. He apologized profusely the whole time he was punching numbers into the cash register, until the lovely little box finally dinged and the drawer popped open.

"I'm so sorry for the inconvenience, Misses Sohma," George bowed again as he counted out the correct amount of cash. Usagi didn't bother to correct his mistake on her name as she recounted the bills in her hand and smiled. "Next time just ask for me personally."

"Thank you, George, that's very sweet." The blonde waved a hand over her shoulder as she left, with one more destination before she headed back to Akito's office.

xXx

Usagi spotted the lean form of Kyou Sohma walking briskly across the way before Hotaru ever noticed, and so she was able to share a look with him outside the violet eyed girl's perception. It did well to antagonize him, he appeared in an edgy mood already, and his tie was crooked again. The blonde felt a strong urge to laugh, so much that she had to cough into her hand to stifle it, and this caused Hotaru to finally turn, with interest, toward the new arrival.

"Oh, Sohma-san, good morning! The others are already waiting for you so you can go right in." The ebony haired woman smiled. Still irked, Kyou made no reply, just walked right past them and through the twin mahogany doors. Hotaru raised her perfectly arched eyebrows at Usagi, who had burst into giggles as soon as the door slammed shut. "Did I miss something? What's with you and him?"

"He's so uptight. It's too easy to annoy him. I think it's hilarious." She offered a grin, her eyes sparkling merrily, and the other girl joined in on the mirth. They laughed for a moment, before Usagi picked up on their previous conversation. "So how is school going?"

"Good, considering I don't get a lot of sleep. Night school is hell with a job." Hotaru emphasized her point with a long gulp of her coffee. They shared a brief silence, before the younger girl broke it with a somber question. "How is she?"

"Better," Usagi replied softly, her blue eyes shifting to the overpriced, colorful mural on the wall across from her. She bit down on her thumb nail nervously, "I think. It's hard to tell. She lies to me all the time. I'm so scared, Hota-chan"

"Stay strong, Usa-chan," The short girl stood from her chair and pulled the blonde into a fierce hug, which she gladly returned. "You're doing everything you can, okay?"

Yes, but will it be enough? Usagi thought to herself, not wanting to worry her friend further. They pulled apart as the office doors opened, and two gentlemen stepped out. One was the obviously flustered Kyou Sohma and the other a reasonably calm Yuki Sohma. The blonde felt convinced she could actually see the cloud of tension hovering between the two cousins and business rivals as they walked across the lobby.

The silver haired Yuki paused, and then turned toward the two women at the desk. He smiled toward Usagi and said, "Hello Usagi-san, how are you?"

She wasn't surprised, Yuki was often overly polite. It added to his charm, she supposed. Returning the smile easily, she replied, "I'm good. How are you? Did your deal go off without a hitch?" Usagi couldn't stop the smile that tugged her lips when she heard Kyou huff by the elevator, characteristically tugging his tie as he waited for the elevator.

"Yes, actually, it went well. It was nice to see you again," Yuki offered another polite smile, and Usagi nodded in agreement as the elevator arrived with a sharp ding. In a mere moment, both males were gone, leaving the blonde to revel in her humor again.

xXx

Sohma, Inc., Kyon Corps, and Ouji Enterprises merge to release new product

Kyou read the headline again with mixed emotions. Akito must have made the official statement to the press, he reasoned, because every paper on the newsstand read similar headlines. He grimaced at phrases like, 'all in the family,' and ignored the young woman behind the counter fluttering her eyelashes at him. He knew he should be happy, ecstatic even, over all the good press, but his thoughts kept wandering. Even his intense dislike for a certain Yuki Sohma could not distract him.

His eyes caught sight of a blonde crown of hair walking down the sidewalk, and before he knew what he was doing, he was walking after the person. It only took a split second to catch himself; he realized it wasn't her anyway, but he still started cursing. Damn it! If Akito hadn't said anything I wouldn't be going through this at all.

"Hey, fancy meeting you here," Kyou nearly jumped out of his skin. He knew without turning around whom it was, but he somehow couldn't believe it. Finally he twisted to face the owner of the voice, and he met gazes with that increasingly familiar pair of twinkling blue eyes. Her lips were curved into their usual smile as she continued, "It must be an ego boost to see your name in all the headlines. No tie today, though. Good choice."

The orange haired male could only nod. He'd dressed in his old high school clothes today to avoid being noticed; apparently that hadn't worked out. Surveying her clothing, Kyou realized with a bit of surprise that she was clad in a cheap pair of jeans (he'd seen enough thousand dollar pairs to tell the difference), tennis shoes, and a simple cotton tank top. "You're not exactly sporting your gold digger gear."

Usagi's eyes widened in complete shock; Kyou bit back on his tongue, his eyes instantly averting back to the newspapers. I can't believe I just said that. He probably would not have chanced looking back at her if the light sound of her laughter didn't assault his ears immediately after. Something about the stunned look on his face seemed to make her laugh even harder.

"Is that why you don't like me, Kyou? You think I'm only out for Akito's money?" Though she stopped laughing, the blonde smiled even wider than usual. Kyou sputtered slightly, but quickly regained his composure.

"Are you saying you're not?" He retorted.

"I'm not saying anything." Usagi returned, smiling at him one last time before she stepped around him and continued on her way.

xXx

Rereading this chapter I came upon two realizations. One, the manager at the department store was named George, and I noticed he must've been named after my own manager George who is quite a pushover when it comes to complaining customers. So that little detail made me laugh. Two, I absolutely love this story. That probably sounds conceited since I wrote it, but I can't help it. I simply can't get through a chapter without giggling insanely. ;D

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, which is told from Usagi's point of view mostly. A few hints are dropped involving her back story. Can you figure it out? Thank you to my reviewers for last chapter, and please if you can, sign in for your reviews so I can reply. I only had one signed review for the first chapter.

That said, please review!

♥SachiNyoko♥