I'm a girl of my word, though I'm not sure if this is what you expected. Chapter three, everyone, and thanks for the reviews.

Theme song: Real Sugar by Roxette

Sora froze when she heard the noise. It sounded faintly like footsteps, but she daren't hope. And then she head the voices, and her heart leapt in her throat. There were people in this section, and they were coming their way. Exhilarated, she tried struggling against Leon again, hoping to get out of his hands enough to manage to call for help. However, his only response to that was to bring her closer, glaring down on her and tightening his grip threateningly. She looked at him defiantly, taking large breaths through her nose, but just as she was planning on biting and running, she heard someone laugh.

And while she pretty much enjoyed seeing people smile and laugh and all that, that sound was shrill and pointed, made by someone well aware that people seldom passed through this section and who was planning on making full use of it.

Once the realization dawned on her, her squirming stopped immediately and she became as still as a statue. As the voices approached, Leon carefully removed his hand from her mouth and gave her another warning look, not letting her elbow go. Sora took a tiny, calming breath as the voices finally became distinguishable. "Come on, this place is perfect…" a woman whispered as she pulled someone in the nook next to theirs. "Come on, big guy, time for some extracurricular activities."

Jeez, could someone really get any lamer? Sora thought, rolling her eyes before the full meaning of the woman's words came crashing down. They weren't going to…they wouldn't dare! Right? One glance at Leon and he wordlessly replied: "Oh, yes they will."

As if fate had set up this bad case scenario (bad? Horrible would be better!), the books they had taken out provided two perfect little gaps in the rows of books so that both had an excellent eye-level peeping holes in the other nook. Sora could see the two paw at each other, not really bothering with details, and the guy quickly perched her on the reading table. His hands slid under her top, pushing it higher and higher, much like the foreplay that Sora had seen in the movies. However, unlike in the films, where the camera would shy away before anything was exposed, the scene before her continued just like it would in any real circumstances-the fabric pushed up to reveal a black bra which was quickly pushed away.

Sora closed her eyes, feeling her skin prickle again. Unlike a move theatre, too, she couldn't hide her blush in the darkness. The library was well lit and that not only allowed her to see everything that happened not three feet away from her, but it also provided Leon with an excellent view of her blushing face. If she hadn't lit up like a light bulb by now…

"Aren't you going to do something?" she finally whispered, thinking acidly that even if the couple on the other side heard, they wouldn't be fazed.

"What good will that do?" he asked, his voice slightly amused, as if he'd just read her thoughts. "Think of it as an…exercise in interaction."

She snuck a peek at him and, sure enough, the smug bastard was looking at her with the corner of his eye. His expression was set in stone, but his ever-treacherous eyes gave out a challenging flare. Damn it, if this wasn't too embarrassing to be true, she would've thought he arranged for it. She'd hit him and now Leon was having his revenge with her-showing her something she'd stumbled across several times, make her wait until the end and see when she would break.

Actually, it sounded very much like something Leon might do, Sora thought suddenly, and since she was getting fed up with this whole situation, she gave him a defying, go-fuck-yourself-Oswald look before letting her eyes go back on the scene. Ugh!

This is just sex, she reminded herself, people do it all the time. Feeling embarrassed about this was like feeling embarrassed about breathing. Although that was rather difficult at the moment. She shook herself-she'd get through this, wait for the right time, get out of here, and if she still stood on her own too legs, she would tell him to fuck off…again.

It didn't help that their breathing seemed to have synchronized somewhere during the little display they were witnessing, and the hand on her elbow was contracting in a rhythm painfully similar to the one the other two were starting to establish. Sora looked at him, and seeing that in spite of his body betraying him, his mask remained unchanged, she couldn't help the amusement that bubbled on her lips. Her chuckle made Leon turn to look at her and…and…her heart must've exploded just then, because his eyes were insane-dark, scary, smoldering…it was terrifying how he suddenly cut off all the laughter that was bubbling into her and she wasn't unaware of that.

The woman moaned loudly and he turned away from her. Sora, instinctively copied his movement, only to find that the girl had taken her discarded jacket and biting at the sleeve for dear life as the guy had gotten down on his knees to service her. Oh, Christ! Don't blush, don't blush…too late. The red-hot wave even spilled lower on her body, through her torso down to the tips of her fingers. The sudden change of temperature didn't go unnoticed because Leon almost automatically turned around to look at her. "Enjoy the show?" he asked, moving his hand from her elbow and to her wrist.

"And you don't?" she asked sarcastically. This was the guy whom she'd caught reading "A review of European Erotica" in the most secluded sections in the library. He probably came here on regular basis in the hopes to get a free peep show.

"I would say it's entertaining, though hardly something I'd like to devote my time to."

"Ha-ha." She chuckled dryly just as the couple gave up on the foreplay and got down to the actual business. Sora made a face.

"Not really intimidated, are you?"

"I think you should know, it takes a lot more than that to intimidate me." She replied, looking at him in the eye. That seemed to shut him up, because he focused on the little spectacle in front of them, and, when the guy grunted in climax, Leon quickly gathered their books and dragged her out towards the exit with a speed she didn't register the movement until they were checking their materials out.

The sunlight never felt better. Sora practically ran out into it and shivered deliciously, both with relief of being out of that quiet library and getting some distance between her and Leon. However, he seemed to sense perfectly when she didn't want to look at him, because he appeared close to her, still smiling like a sphinx. Well…a sadistic sphinx anyway.

Whatever, she didn't want to be around him. She made to walk away, but his hand, as if was dragged to her wrist like with a magnet, seized her and held her in place. Sora whirled around and opened her mouth, ready to lance a rant: "Leon Oswald, you have ten seconds to let go of me before you need an ambulance to get out of here!" Alright, so that wasn't a hundred percent true-he could catch her in mid kick, but she was a trained dancer-she could kick like a mule and sure as hell do a lot of serious damage.

"Promise not to run?" he asked, before letting go. Sora's first instinct was to immediately take off, but when she saw him, she knew that running now would be pointless. Face him, she thought, just face him and show him that it wasn't a one-time burst of courage that left him with a red cheek.

"What do you want?" she turned towards him, her hands on her hips in a menacing gesture

"I want you to model for me." He replied

What?

Sora was sitting on the grass in the park, her breathing restored and her senses in a relative tranquility. Though this whole day had been weird, if she could say so herself. Meeting Leon, seeing what she saw, and him asking her to be his model. It was insane! Insane!

"Here." Leon handed her a small cup of coffee before sitting down on a bench. Figures-he couldn't like to get grass stains on his vintage jeans, she thought sourly as she took a greedy sip from it. The liquid was hot, scorching, and bitter, but it was what she needed to wake up from this nightmare. "There isn't any cream and sugar in it, since I didn't know how you liked it." Nope, still dreaming…need to wake up…no such luck.

"I like it that way." She lied "What games are you playing, Leon-san?"

"Well, that's an improvement from Oswald." He snorted "And I believe I was clear enough. I want you to model for me. It's not much difficult to comprehend."

Oh, now he was calling her an idiot? She glared at him again. "You do realize you are talking nonsense. If this is a joke, then it's a very bad one."

"Do you honestly think I'd be wasting my time to talk to you if I wasn't serious?" he asked flatly "I fully intend what I asked you."

"Well, you don't need my permission to draw me, right?" she asked evenly

"By law, I don't. Nobody should be surveyed or recorded in any way without their full consent. I'm afraid that I need you to sign some paperwork before I draw you. And I'll give you a check, every month, like I'm supposed to. This is a job like any other."

Sora eyed him wearily, before turning her back to him. "No."

"You won't have to do anything." She could hear Leon raise his eyebrows "Just show up at the park and read on a bench for a couple of hours. You won't even know I'm there."

Like hell she won't. Sora had been fully aware of him, even when he hadn't known, or cared for, her existence. What would she do if she knew he was around, and, moreover, that he would be observing her carefully? It wasn't a conversation she wanted to start, and Leon was bound to have some ulterior motive. Probably to find a way to punish her more for punching his pretty face.

Sora wasn't stupid or naïve-the guy could ask any girl on the street to be his model…hell, he could probably get a heard go after him, begging him to draw them. He didn't need to be sitting here, convincing her to do it. This was about payback….moreover, Sora couldn't help but think he was looking for a way to get back at May for…for…Gah, did he even need a reason? The guy looked like someone to whom the day was lost without planning a sort of devious plot. Maybe he was just pissed she broke up with him and that her friend hit him afterwards…

She wasn't sure how his mind operated, and frankly, she didn't care much either. But she did know that if her friends learned about this, they would be terribly disappointed in her. Mia and Anna would constantly tell her how bad, how dangerous it was to be around Leon, Layla would say that it wasn't nice to have double standards and May would be heartbroken. And Leon knew she would be heartbroken, right? He DID somehow know the perfect time to get out of that library, so he was probably a psychic or something. It wouldn't be surprising. Hell, he probably threw one glance at her and read her out-he knew that she was doomed to fall for him like a stupid little puppy and that she was perfect little toy.

Well, she wasn't. And she wasn't going to let him push her around either.

"I refuse, Leon-san." She said, standing up "Thank you for the coffee."

His eyes narrowed. "I don't understand why you refuse me. Were you not the one complaining three months ago that you didn't have enough cash for anything other than rent and new toe shoes?"

"I really see no reason to explain anything to you." Sora looked down at him with disdain. It was bad enough he thought she was pathetic, now he thought that she would sell herself too? Oh, it made perfect sense, right? Everyone, after all, had a price. "But let me make one thing clear to you-even if I did need money, I would've still turned you down, because I'd honestly prefer to starve than to accept any of your pity offerings."

His eyes darkened and she swore that if he was capable of that, his face would've fallen. "It's not pity offerings. I'm proposing you a well-paid and fully respectable job." She rolled her eyes and snorted "I am quite serious, Sora. You need to sign some papers and come read in the park. That's all. The girl in the painting wouldn't even look like you. Nobody needs to know." Oh, God…she closed her eyes and took a deep breath…that last line sounded a lot more like an invitation than a reassurance.

"You're disgusting." She finally spat out "You would know. I would know. And I don't like the idea of it one bit."

"Why? I'm not asking you to pose naked…" he shut his mouth and frowned.

"You know why." Sora whispered, adjusting her bag on her shoulder "I can't do it. You should know." She turned on her heel to walk away, when Leon's fingers closed around her wrist. Again.

"You are truly stubborn and unreasonable." He said "I'm here every day. Come back when you change your mind."

It was positively infatuating…And he was impossibly infatuating. Honestly, how was she to react? How was she even to talk with him while keeping a straight face, when every word that came out of his mouth sounded like a come hither. The guy literally told you he wanted to use you and you're still after his pants…that's got to be a new low.

Sora returned to find Layla alone in the house, lodging on the couch with her books. It was incredible that someone so beautiful, so accomplished too, could slip into the roles of a friend or a bookworm or…

"Sora, what happened?" …a psychiatrist who needed one look at a person to know something's wrong with them. Oops.

Well, it wasn't like anything bad happened, and it would help her to get this out of her system. Sora wasn't one to let people's opinions distract her, but it was still good when someone told you that you did the right thing. So she sat down with Layla and told her everything…blushing and sputtering through their conversation in the library with the overly exuberant couple in the background. The blonde, to her credit, didn't laugh or look annoyed at any point, just listened patiently, chewing on her lips from time to time.

Finally, Sora was silent. Layla studied her for a while, and the redhead wondered idly if she saw through all the indignation and anger and saw that she, shamefully, deep inside, wanted to take Leon up on his offer.

"Layla-san, why are you so quiet?" she finally asked "Or are you angry at him for being so full of himself too?"

"Actually, Sora, he had a point there." The girl nearly keeled over in shock.

"Layla-san?"

"Please don't make that face, Sora, it's unsightly." Layla tossed a golden strand over her shoulder "I merely wanted to point out that he wasn't mistaken when you said you needed money. You only do some translating and babysitting to earn cash-everything else is covered by your scholarship and your parents."

"My parents don't have to give me much…" she mumbled, staring at her hands "Just a little to get the edge off."

Layla sighed "Still, it's pretty Spartan, what we have here. It's not quite what most students have, but still it's not very impressive either. The truth is that Mia and May have to resort to asking their parents for money, and Anna works three jobs already, so that they could take the edge off. So, if you asked me, Leon wasn't being too full of himself, he was merely stating a fact."

"I know, but…he made it sound so offensive…like I was the type of person who has only money on her mind." Sora frowned

"Now that was bad." Layla said "But if I were you, I wouldn't be too quick to refuse him."

"Layla-san, I know that it would be better for me to accept and earn some easy money, but I can't do it. I certainly don't need to ask someone to cover my part of the rent just yet and with the spectacle coming up this winter I'm sure to make a little more. Besides…"

"Besides?"

"It feels wrong…to accept money from a man like that. He was really cold and cruel towards May and I can't help but think that this has something to do with her…with getting revenge on her." Sora lowered her eyes sadly "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Sora, we don't know him…" Layla began

"Exactly! Think of how bad he could be, when he acted like a demon around us!"

"Or he could be just reserved." The blonde intervened calmly "May rarely gave us a chance to study him up close, as her boyfriend and as a person, and he wasn't one for making small talk either-he could easily be pleasant company, but we might never know because they had their little fallout."

"But Layla-san, surely May…or Mia, or Anna, wouldn't be pleased with me talking to him…or working for him. May would surely get mad, and she might accuse me of…of…" could she bring herself to say it? Of stealing her boyfriend? But that was absurd. Even if Sora's little, and inexplicable case of puppy love for that man was a fact, he never, even back then, looked at her as if she was something more than a body taking up space…or a body worthy of being drawn. She flushed.

"Sora, are you worried because of his character or because of the way the girls would react to that?"

"Well…it's not like everyone doesn't hate Leon…"

"Yet you told me." Layla pointed out calmly "This is about their reaction when they learn, isn't it?"

"Well…it doesn't necessarily mean that they'd know." Leon's words echoed in her head again and she felt her body stiffen with a sudden need "I mean I don't even know what Anna does and she seems to be fine and…well, it shouldn't matter, but…I'd know. I'd know and every time they…we…start badmouthing him, I'd always know that in spite of what I said, I'm hypocritically working for him."

"Sora, we are all a little hypocritical." The blonde shook her head "I can state for a fact that if any one of them was in your position, they would feel the same and they would've taken it up, in the end. There is no need for you to feel embarrassed over it."

"Yeah, but I'm afraid that I might…I might…"

"Enjoy it more than you should?" Layla cocked her head on the side "You know, that's hardly something to be ashamed of. Leon is an attractive man. Besides, if you would keep your working for him a secret, why should you tell anyone of your feelings for him? Moreover, why should it matter? Did Leon not pretend we didn't exist before? He obviously has some pretty high standards about the people he associates himself with." Sora was silent, looking at her weakly "You know I'm not being mean here, Sora. I'm merely voicing the logic you've been following since May hooked up with him."

"I'm that obvious, aren't I?" she sighed, bringing her knees up and looking at Layla

"Not quite. But I could detect some disapproval. It's pretty easy to figure it out once you've been around them for long enough." Layla pouted "Sora, why did you apply to Oxford?"

"Huh?" the redhead blinked "Why did I apply here?"

"Yes. Knowing it's one of the most prestigious institutions in the world, knowing that you'd be far away from your world, your parents, your culture, knowing that you might fail and never fit in…why did you apply here, and not seek an immediate college prospectus in Japan? Surely it would've been better for your parents, right? Weren't you afraid that you were getting in over your head?"

"Well…I was. All that. But…" Sora blushed "When I actually looked into it, I thought that I actually had a shot at this. I thought that I might be able to do it. And it felt right to give it a try…I thought about Ikarus, who burned as he reached for the sun, and I thought that it was preferable to having the sea weigh me down. I knew it was a long shot, but if I didn't try I would regret it all my life, for not having done something for myself." Sora looked at Layla "What does this prove?"

"It proves that you're not a person to mouse away from challenges." Came the reply "It shows that you are not someone who would let people's opinion get the best of them. It means that you should accept Leon's proposition. And if that's not enough of a reason, your parents just had a baby, did they not?" Layla eyed Sora "For Yume's sake, don't you think you should try to do your best to help your parents out?"

The redhead gasped and pondered over those few words her best friend had uttered then for the remainder of the day and the following night. She thought about it every waking and sleeping moment, and the minutes in between, when she was tossing anxiously, trying to make sense of this day. The anxiety over May's reaction…everyone's reaction was fading in comparison to this new argument, her parents' and baby sister's wellbeing. Sora wondered if Layla had been saving that one for dessert, knowing that it would make the most impact on her. All the arguments in favor of her self-worth had quickly been discarded when a real, actually issue was pressed forward. Her friends might freak out, but Yume needed help, even if she was half a world away. Moreover, her parents wanted to be proud with her-if they knew she was doing well for herself, they would be that, and much, much calmer.

With this newfound conviction in her mind, Sora walked to the park the next day, and accepted Leon's offer, ignoring the whole time the little voice in the back of her head that told her she was selling her soul to the Devil.

A/N-So, what shall I come up with to entice you into reviewing this time, hmm? How about this: Review and we'll get a little raging, jealous Leon in the next chapter.

Real Sugar