Disclaimer: I don't own anything unfortunately...

Chapter 3

Yuki was not in the best of moods at the moment. She hadn't slept the previous night due to the nightmares that had plagued her. She'd woken up screaming, breaking out into cold sweat. Although now she couldn't really remember what had happened in her nightmare, she knew for a fact that it somehow involved Soujirou, the devil and her. If her memory served her right, her nightmare had been something about her selling her soul to the devil. Now that she looked at it, that was precisely what she'd done wasn't it? Except that in this case, Soujirou was the devil. She rubbed her temples with her fingers, feeling a whopper of a headache coming on. Of course it didn't help that the class of twelve year old orphans that she was teaching at the moment were causing such a ruckus. The noise was driving her insane and was doing nothing for her headache. The only consolation that she had was that it was the last period before lunch and her last lesson for the day. She could go home after she was done.

"Please do page forty six up till page fifty and when Yoshida sensei gets back from sick leave, he'll mark it" she said as she got up to the whiteboard to write down the instructions. She faced the whiteboard and took a deep breath. If she didn't, she would have exploded. "Anyone who isn't doing their work will be punished" she said sternly as she wrote her i.

"In that case I guess I'll just have to be punished Matsuoka sensei" called a voice from the back of the classroom and she froze. That voice, it was the voice of her nightmares. She turned around so quick that stars danced in front of her eyes. Staring back at her, seated at the center desk in the very last row at the back of the classroom was Nishikado Soujirou. He was smirking at her in a way that sent a shiver down her spine. What the hell was is he doing here?? She thought to herself.

"Nishikado-san, how on earth did you get in here?" she asked and he shrugged.

"I came in by the back door when you were writing on the board didn't I kids?" The kids seemed thrilled by his presence and many giggled while some looked curious.

"Yes" they answered in unison.

"Why are you here?" she asked as her face flushed with anger. He was disrupting her class and he was a distraction.

"Maybe he wants to see you Matsuoka sensei?" one of her students, Hiro suggested.

"Maybe he loves you Matsuoka sensei. OOOOOH!!!" another one, Tomoko added helpfully.

"Mister what's your name?" Hiro asked as he looked at Soujirou.

"You don't know my name?" Soujirou asked in surprise.

"Well Nishikado-san, you're not as famous as you think you are" Yuki snapped obviously irritated.

"I'm Nishikado Soujirou" he said proudly as he puffed out his chest and Yuki fought the urge to laugh out aloud.

"Nope haven't heard of you" Hiro replied abruptly.

"Matsuoka and Nishikado won't really work" Tomoko said looking thoughtful. "It's no good; we'll have to shorten it".

"I know" another student Jin exclaimed "how about Souji and Yuki?" The class broke out into chatter and even Soujirou joined in.

"I like it!" he announced and the class cheered. Some of her students went as far as to give Soujirou high fives.

"What???"

"Oh come on Matsuoka sensei" Soujirou said with a playful glint in his eye "the kids are just having fun".

"They're meant to be studying" she exclaimed "they're supposed to be doing their work! I've set them work to do and they…" Although what she intended to say next was drowned in the loud singing that chorused around her.

"Souji and Yuki sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G"-

"Oh for god's sake!" Yuki exclaimed as her face turned an unflattering shade of scarlet. Soujirou merely laughed and looked like he was enjoying himself at her expense.

"First comes love then comes marriage, then comes"-

"OK THAT'S ENOUGH" Yuki yelled, slamming her palm on the desk.

"Why are you getting angry Matsuoka sensei?" Hiro asked,

Yuki had never raised her voice with her students. Never. She believed more in the gentle approach to teaching. Yet now, here she was loosing her cool and it was all because of him.

"Because you're all supposed to be doing you're"-

"Kids, I have a very important announcement to make" Soujirou interrupted her as he got up from his seat and walked over to stand in front of Yuki.

"You can't just stand in front of me, this is my class. What are you doing Nishikado-san?" she asked with her hands on her hips.

"Oh this is going to be good I can tell" Hiro said earnestly to his classmates and many nodded in agreement.

"Nishikado-san are you listening to me? What are you trying to do? These children need to finish their work!" By now Yuki was getting exasperated. Soujirou wasn't listening to her or if he was, he ignored her.

"I wanted to tell you children that your Matsuoka sensei and I are going to get married!" Soujirou exclaimed and the children burst into cheers.

"N-no we're not" Yuki said feebly.

"It's about time anyway" Tomoko added.

"Excuse me?" Yuki asked incredulously.

"No offense Matsuoka sensei" Tomoko replied "but you are getting kind of old and if this nice man is willing, you should definitely marry him".

"I agree" Hiro added "he looks like a nice man. He'll make you happy Matsuoka sensei. It's better if you marry him anway, if not you might end up an old maid".

Yuki slapped a palm to her forehead. She was going to kill him! How dare he disrupt her class and announce that they were going to get married. He had no right! Who was he to just waltz into her class and take control of her students?

He's Nishikado Soujirou a voice in the back of her head whispered in reminder. And because he's Nishikado Soujirou, he can do whatever the hell he wants and get away with it too.


"A table for two" Soujirou told the waiter as they entered Café Mache for lunch. Yuki had no idea why they were having lunch together. It seemed too much like a date for her liking but he'd insisted. When she refused he threatened her, saying that he'd show up in her classes every day till she went out for lunch with him. So she had no choice.

"What are you doing?" Yuki hissed as Soujirou placed a hand on the small of her back to guide her to their table.

"I'm guiding you to our table" he replied casually.

"Well whatever it is, stop" she replied and he shrugged. "And why are we doing this again?" she asked as they flipped through the menus.

"Because my grandfather won't believe our relationship if we don't go out together" he replied simply.

"And how is he going to know?" Yuki asked raising an eyebrow.

"Look over my shoulder; do you see a man wearing aviator sunglasses?" Soujirou asked as his voice dropped a few decibels.

"Yes" she replied.

"Well that man is Himoto Micah, my grandfather's friend. He used to be in the secret service before. American secret service mind you and he's probably here because he's been sent by my grandfather to follow us".

"What? But how do you know?"

"I have my ways" Soujirou remarked, his mouth curling into a smirk. "Jjust ignore him, my grandfather isn't aware that I know about Micah and i'd like to keep it that way for now".

"This is going to make things difficult" Yuki said.

"He's been following us since we left the orphanage" Soujirou explained. "But no matter, this will just make life a little more exciting for us".

"What are you talking about? If anything it will make life"- She paused when he placed a hand over hers and gazed into her eyes. "What are you doing?" she whispered.

"Its all for show" he replied smiling at her.

Of course it is, Yuki thought bitterly. It's not like he would show me any affection otherwise. Although why should I care if he shows me affection or not? It's not as if all this is real.


It had been two days since their discovery of Micah and Yuki couldn't have been more stressed out. According to Soujirou, Micah's resources were unlimited and he could hack into any surveillance system as fast as a person could yawn. They were being watched around the clock and Yuki had to be careful not to display any sort of negative expressions towards Soujirou or she'd give them both away. He on the other hand was an excellent actor. Despite the circumstances he was cool, calm and appeared to be unfazed by Micah's indirect interference. She only wished that she had half his cool. The minute she stepped out of her apartment her resolve left her and she became a walking nervous wreck. She'd been even more of a wreck when Soujirou had told her that Micah was able to watch her movements as he'd hacked into her apartment building's surveillance system. Yuki was afraid to ask how he knew this information but he knew it nonetheless.

She pulled on a jumper and stretched out on her couch. It was six in the morning and she had to go to work in a while but in the mean time she wanted to make the best of her free time. She closed her eyes relishing the silence around her when the ringing of her door bell forced her to get up to answer the door. Who would be ringing her doorbell at six in the morning? Opening her door she was surprised to find Soujirou standing there looking somewhat agitated.

"Nishikado-san?" She asked as she took a step out into the corridor. "Is everything ok?"

He didn't reply instead he placed his hands on her shoulders and crashed his lips down on hers. She was so surprised that she stilled.

"Put your arms around my waist" he whispered into her ear. She did as he told and he pulled her closer to him, embracing her. "There's a camera watching the front door of your apartment" he whispered.

"Nishikado-san" she gasped when he pulled away, her body moaning in protest.

"I missed you" he said, his voice louder in volume than she'd heard before. Oh right, we're being watched she though.

"Would you like to come in Nishikado-san?" she asked raising her voice a little and he nodded vigorously. Before she could open the door for him, he pushed past her stepping into her cozy apartment standing there expectantly.

"Don't just stand there, close the door already!" he exclaimed, clenching and unclenching his fists at his sides.

She had barely shut the door when he made a beeline for her bathroom. "Nishikado-san?" she asked but he ignored her, kicking open her bathroom door. "What do you think you're doing?" she shrieked when it was clear that he hadn't intended to use the bathroom since he had caused the door to come off its hinges.

"Just be quiet for a second so I can think" he said sharply and she fell silent. He was mumbling to himself and the only words Yuki could catch were "bastard, I'll kill him if I find anything…", "unlimited….urges…stupid, stupid, stupid son of a…I'll really kill him".

"Nishikado-san is everything alright?" she asked in a softer tone.

"Everything is fine" he replied as he examined her showerhead.

"Is there something that I should know about before we get married?" she asked hesitantly.

"Like?" he asked obviously agitated.

"Like, is there a history of mental illness in your family?"

"Baka, what are you going on about?" he replied as he opened her bathroom cabinet, tossing aside boxes of sanitary pads and her other womanly accessories that made her flush an unflattering shade of scarlet.

"Are you seriously sure, everything is"-

"I already said everything is ok so stop bothering me" he snapped. She decided to wait till he finished doing whatever the hell it was that he was doing before she said anything else. In his current state, it would have been most unwise to disturb him.

"Ok" he exclaimed five minutes later, standing up straight and eyeing the disastrous mess that he'd created. Then turning to look at her he furrowed his brows in a semi frown. "Now, Yuki-chan tell me; do you change in your bedroom or your bathroom?"

"Huh?" she asked in disbelief.

"It's really simple" he said impatiently "do you change in your bathroom or in your bedroom?"

"Err…my bedroom?" she replied. "Why?"

"DAMN IT!" His curse echoed in her small bathroom and she was taken aback. "Now I'm going to have to …." More mumbling followed, accompanied by occasional glares in her direction; as if it was an offense to change in her own bedroom. "Bloody…can't just use the bathroom…" She couldn't really make out what he was saying and his erratic behavior was starting to worry her.

"Now you're going to have to what?" she asked following behind him as he threw open her bedroom door.

"Hmmm nice décor" he remarked as he spied the mountainous pile of soft toys on her bed.

"Shut up!" she snapped as her face burned with embarrassment. "Hey! What are you doing?" she exclaimed in shock as Soujirou began tossing aside her soft toys with vigor. She was too mortified to stop him, or to pick up her fallen toys.

"It's got to be here" he mumbled, ransacking the place.

"Ouch!" she exclaimed when one of the stuffed animals he had tossed landed on her head with a 'thunk'.

He immediately stopped his assault on her room and picked up the fallen toy. He wasted no time in ripping the brown bear apart, ignoring her shrieks.

"That bastard!" he exclaimed as he pulled out a small camera. "He's really in for it now, I'll bloody kill him!".

"You mean I was being watched all this time?" Yuki exclaimed and he growled in reply. Gripping the tiny gadget in his hands like a weapon he stormed out of her bedroom.

"Yuki-chan" he called suddenly just as he reached her front door.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Keep your cell phone near you at all times" he said and with that he left her apartment.

Yuki stared dumbly at her closed front door, her mouth opening and closing like a goldfish. "What the hell just happened?" She asked her empty house.


In actual fact last night while brushing his teeth, Soujirou had stumbled upon a rather alarming thought. If Micah was keeping tabs on Soujirou and Yuki when they were together, then it was highly possible that he was keeping tabs on them individually wasn't it? Soujirou had then wondered if Micah had been watching Yuki in the shower and that thought had propelled him to go to her apartment at six in the morning. Actually he had arrived at her apartment at five but he wasn't sure if she would be awake so he had waited till six. He hadn't been able to sleep; the mere thought of Micah watching naïve and innocent Yuki made him sick to the stomach.

Although come to think of it, there wasn't a need for him to kiss her at her doorstep. A mere hug would have sufficed but he had to go and be all territorial and kiss her in full view of the video surveillance camera. Knowing that Micah was invading Yuki's privacy made his blood boil. He wanted nothing more than to break the man into a thousand pieces and feed him to the dogs. He wasn't sure what had possessed him to act like a madman, tearing through her house the way he did. But it was the same thing that was driving him now.

He stood before the Nishikado Takeshi, seething. His breath was coming out in hot, heavy puffs and all he wanted to do was smash the old man's smile off his face. Bastard. He flung the small surveillance camera at the old man's feet.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" he yelled.

"Whatever do you mean boy?" Takeshi replied coolly.

"Did you think I was fucking stupid? Did you think I wouldn't realize that you sent your fucking lap dog to watch me? Then that asshole puts this fucking piece of shit in my fiancée's fucking bedroom! Just what the fuck are you playing at?"

"I'm just making sure that you don't hang around riff raff" Takeshi replied as he sipped his whisky.

"Yuki-chan is not riff raff and if you must know, I'm going to marry her" Soujirou roared and Takeshi's eyes flickered in surprise.

"Well boy, if you're going to marry her than you should introduce her to the family" Takeshi remarked.

"Stop trying to avoid the situation". Soujirou's fists were clenched at his side and he looked somewhat menacing but despite that, Takeshi Nishikado seemed unfazed.

"I'm not avoiding the situation. I'm merely diverting your attention away from the subject. You need to calm down before we talk about that".

"I am calm" Soujirou retorted angrily.

"Hmmm fine, if you say so. Well I'll call off Micah provided you bring the girl over for dinner next Saturday". Takeshi looked at Soujirou expectantly waiting for an answer and what came out of his grandson's mouth surprised him slightly.

"I can't do that, I have to meet her family first. It's only proper if I do" he remarked running a hand through his hair.

"Hmmm ask her to come on Sunday then". The elder Nishikado waved a hand dismissively and with a resigned snarl, Soujirou headed in the direction of the door.

"BASTARD!" he roared as he slammed the door shut leaving his grandfather staring after him with amusement.


"You may come out now Micah, the boy's gone" Takeshi called and Micah came out from his hiding place behind the curtains.

"He's really got a temper hasn't he?" Micah remarked gruffly.

"Oh you have no idea" Takeshi replied as he sipped his whisky again. "Well good work Micah. Although I underestimated the boy, I expected him to come barging in here in a couple of days. He seems to be smarter than he lets on".

"Nishikado-san, why did you want young master Nishikado to see me at the café? I'm just curious. Usually its better when people don't know that I'm following them". Micah looked at Takeshi expectantly.

"I wanted him to know that he was being followed and to see if he would make the connections. He's a lot smarter than he's given credit for. I wouldn't have believed that he hung around that girl's apartment block at five in the morning if I didn't see it with my own eyes". Takeshi chuckled with mirth, polishing off the last bit of his drink.

"He found the camera a lot faster than I thought he would" Micah agreed. "Why did you want me to put a camera in that girl's bedroom?"

"I wanted to see if he was smart enough to find it but mostly I just wanted to see his reaction" Takeshi replied with a chuckle.

"I see" Micah replied.

"He's a strange one, that boy. He reminds me a lot of myself when I was that age. Well he'll be bringing that girl next week, so I can't wait to see what unfolds" Takeshi remarked. "If you're available tomorrow Micah, I'd like you to follow the boy even though he knows of you".

"Sorry Nishikado-san but I'm not available tomorrow. It's my daughter's death anniversary" Micah replied.

"Oh I see, sorry I forgot about that. It's been a year now hasn't it?" Takeshi looked sympathetically at the man before him. Micah had lost his wife two years back and then he'd lost his only child, his daughter. Micah had nothing.

"She died last year on her twentieth birthday" Micah replied soberly and Takeshi nodded.

"How did she die if you don't mind me asking?"

"She hung herself" was the controlled answer that Micah gave Takeshi.

"It was over lost love wasn't it?" Takeshi asked soberly "I remembered hearing something about that at her funeral".

Micah didn't reply but he nodded. His daughter had hung herself after finding out that the guy she'd been dating had been cheating on her with other women. She hadn't been in the right frame of mind at the time; still grieving over the loss of her mother. The knowledge that she was merely a fling to the man she loved with a passion crushed her; unable to take life anymore, she hung herself from the tree in her backyard. Being a friend of some sort to Micah, it was only right that Takeshi attended the young woman's funeral.

The funeral was the first time that Takeshi had realized how vulnerable the human mind actually was and he'd realized then that it was better if Soujirou got married. Takeshi had already suggested it to his son Ken. But when the idea was propositioned to Soujirou he'd been quick to shoot it down and Ken done nothing else about it. It was only recently that the opportunity had surfaced and Takeshi had taken full advantage of it. It was sad that such an opportunity had risen from the ashes of his dead son but that was the way things were. Soujirou hadn't shot the idea down this time; there was far too much at stake for him.


Soujirou stomped along the pavement of the busy city streets. He was a man on a mission. Flipping open his cell phone he dialed the familiar number of Yuki's cell phone.

"Moshi, moshi, Yuki speaking". Her voice was like music to his ears. It was so sweet and melodious that he felt somewhat calmer.

"Yuki-chan, prepare your family. I'm going to your parents house next Saturday to officially ask them for your hand in marriage". He didn't give her any time to reply, he hung up. As soon as he heard the dial tone he began dialing another number.

"It's me" Soujirou said in an official tone. "I want to know everything on the Matsuoka family. Everything".


Author's note: Ok I know I said I was going to put in the meeting between Yuki and Soujirou's family and he and Yuki's family but it would have been too long. I know! I'm the worst aren't I? I promise i'll make it up to you with a faster update :) Also as suggested by a few of my reviewers, I thing it would be better to put in Akira/Yuki interaction within the chapter itself…so there we go!! Anyway more to come next chapter…As promised the meetings and more!! So stay tuned!! Please review and tell me what you thought…even if you don't like it please tell me anyway. I'm open to suggestions so if you have any I would gladly accept them! Take care everyone!

Huggies!