A/N: Coming up with song lyrics is fun,

and so is introducing new characters,

and so is playing around with Tora's devilish side, mwahahaha! "ψ(^=^)ψ

CK*


Chapter Three

Unmanageable

...

Renei adjusted the box in her hands before jamming her key into the locked door and stepping into the apartment.

"Masao," She called out as she toed off her running shoes by the entrance. "Danno-san gave me some chocolates as a housewarming gift. Do you want― Eh?"

The apartment would have been just as she had left it earlier that morning ― clean perfection, everything in its rightful place ― if it hadn't been for the items sitting off to the side of the front door that did not belong there. Four pairs of shoes, none of which belonged to her or her brother.

"We have company?" She wondered aloud, moving further into the house in search of where they might be. The lounge appeared empty, and there were no sounds coming from the kitchen.

It was as she walked down the hall leading to the bedrooms that she finally noticed the tiniest sliver of light filtering in from underneath the door of the music studio. Knocking once without an answer, she cracked open the door to the sound-proof room, and was immediately met with a collision of sound ― drums, guitar, bass, and the sound of a melodious voice singing lyrics to a song she'd certainly never heard until now.

"While I bleed and I beg

on a thorny rose bed

all I see is the lies

the secrets kept in your eyes

and my heart sets on fire

when you bid me goodbye."

The music had a young, energetic feel to it, but the lyrics were meaningful, deep; dark, even. Renei wondered if this was what had been on the demo her brother had listened to the other night... He never did end up showing it to her, since it had been so late when he picked her up from the Igarashi estate, and then she had to tell him all about what had happened while she was there. Well, of course, she hadn't ended up telling him everything, but... What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

Opening the door wider, she walked inside. Her eyes gazed at the scene before her silently ― Masao sat in a small booth separated from the rest of the room by a glass barrier. On the other side of the glass, a group of four kids were completely engrossed in their music.

"While I lay back my head

counting the hours 'til I'm dead

There's a vision of you

showing me just what you do

you lure them in with your charm

And then leave them, like me, to burn."

Renei's eyes had been solely focused on the singer up until the verse ended, and then there came a guitar riff so distracting in its intensity that she had to look over at whoever was playing it. The drums changed to a duller beat in order to not take away from the guitar and the bass, and it actually sounded... really good.

This band was talented, that much she could tell already. And she'd only been standing here listening for less than a minute. And they only looked to be around her age, too.

Just before the chorus hit, Renei's eyes flickered back over to the singer, who had caught sight of her now and gave her a brief look of bewilderment before his entire face lit up with a grin. He proceeded to grab hold of the mic and deliver the next part of the song with an emotion that was the exact opposite of his smiling face.

"Now all the petals are crumpled

Now the roses will never bloom

Enemy fire rained down on us

and you left me to choke among the smokey fumes

Just what have you done here?

You destroyed all that I am and what I love

And now I'm lying here dying

In a bed of rose thorns, that you tended with blood-red gloves..."

After that last line, the singer pulled away from the mic stand and pointed at Masao, then gestured over to where Renei stood. When Masao turned and saw his sister standing behind him, he smiled at the impressed look on her face and pressed a button on the series of equipment sitting in front of him, speaking to the band on the other side of the glass,

"Okay guys, break time. That sounded amazing, you're making the best progress I've seen from anyone so young in ages!" He released the button and leaned back in his chair, angling his head toward his sister and proudly pushing up his glasses. "So, Renei, what do you think of the new project I'm working on?"

Renei eased away from the door and set the box of chocolates on a nearby table. Seeing as there were only four other chairs in the room and she assumed the band would be wanting to use them on their break, she chose to remain standing. They probably needed to sit down more than she did, they looked like they were working hard. No doubt they were really pushing themselves, if her brother was the one coaching them. "They're good. And with you as their manager, they'll definitely be going places."

Before anymore could be said between brother and sister, the band filed into the room through a door built into the wall on the left. Immediately, the lead singer ― a boy with happy peridot eyes and inky black hair that fell in straggly waves down to his shoulders ― waltzed up to Renei with that massive grin still plastered onto his face.

"Hey there!" He exclaimed in a cheerful tune (it was hard to believe this was the same voice as the smooth, haunting one from moments before), waving both hands enthusiastically. "You must be Masao-sensei's little sister! He told us you were living here with him."

Renei was about to sort out her own response to that when she was suddenly engulfed in a tight, bone-crushing hug that lifted her up off the ground. It was surprising to her that this guy was able to pick her up, because she was a few inches taller than him, and he didn't look the type to be so strong. Also, what kind of person did that to someone upon meeting them for the first time?!

"It's so nice to meet you~!" He squealed childishly into her neck.

Baffled, and more than a tad uncomfortable from the contact, she could do nothing more than allow him to embrace her with almost enough force to crack a rib. Maybe he didn't know his own strength? She could hardly breathe like this, let alone answer him!

"Haruto," Another guy said as he walked by and took a seat. "You're crushing her, you know." He pointed out with a calm, uninflected voice; the complete opposite of his friend's.

The arms circled around Renei immediately released her, and a pair of light green eyes were staring up at her apologetically as soon as her feet touched the floor again.

"I'm sorry Renei-chan, I didn't mean to hurt you! I got a little too excited, didn't I?"

The startled young woman held a hand to her chest, eyes wide as she tried gaining back most of her breath. All she could manage to mumble in answer was, "Renei... chan?"

Haruto's spirits dropped instantly and he pouted, his face resembling that of a kicked puppy's. "You don't want me to call you that?"

"No, uh, please." She looked away. The look in his eyes was heart-wrenching. "Call me whatever you like... But refrain from hugging me like that in the future."

The singer squealed joyfully and pulled her back into another hug; this time, with less force. Using as much subtlety as she could muster, Renei shot her brother a pleading look for him to come to her rescue.

Noticing this, Masao moved to pull the excitable boy off of her and she backed away, closer to her brother's side of the room. He gestured to the only empty chair left to take ― the rest of the band had already taken their seats. "Haruto, if you'll kindly sit down, I'd like to properly introduce everyone to my sister."

Raven waves of hair shaking about as the boy bobbed his head enthusiastically, Haruto turned and sat down obediently. With the way he acted, Renei thought to herself, it was hard to believe the boy was somewhere around her age, not to mention a talented singer with a husky singing voice, working with her brother, of all people.

"My apologies about him," Masao mumbled to her under his breath. "He's like that with everyone. Can't really be helped, we haven't gotten him trained yet."

At those words Renei had to stifle a snort, but her brother covered it up by clearing his throat and gesturing to the four teenagers sitting around the room in front of them.

"This is my new favorite group I'm working with." Masao's face split into a broad smile. "'Rose Picture'."

He pointed to the closest person to them ― a boy who appeared taller than everyone else in the room even while sitting down. He had a fluffy arrangement of golden hair spiked atop his head, auburn eyes, a deep tan, and wore copious amounts of jewelry (on his fingers, around his neck, around his wrists, in his ears). When he was gestured to, he merely blinked up at them, his face a mask of indifference.

"This here is our drummer, Ryota Okimoto."

Renei acknowledged him with a bow of her head, and he gave her the slightest of nods in return. "Sorry my friend almost squeezed the life out of you." He spoke in that monotonous voice she had heard from before.

She smiled, albeit a bit awkwardly. "Not to worry, I'm... Fine." Her gaze flitted over to Haruto, who had sniffed sadly at Ryota's words, and she quickly reassured him, "Really, it's alright."

Masao sighed, shaking his head and looking over at Haruto as well. "Ah yes, and that pouting one there is Haruto Jakushi. He's the lead singer."

Haruto, only a bit more shy than before, came out of his pout in order to offer Renei a toothy grin. "You can call me Haru." She nodded an affirmative answer to his request, because she was sure if she didn't agree to that, he might burst into tears.

The introductions continued as Masao pointed at the only other girl in the room. "Nao Yang is our lovely bassist."

"Hey." Nao, a petite Chinese girl, much smaller in size than everyone else in the room, had her long hair dyed white-blonde and tied up in a braided ponytail. A neon pink headband completed the hairstyle, and her large, doe-like brown eyes were heavily outlined in black liner. She raised a hand at Renei in a motionless sort of wave, producing an air about her like she was too cool for these formal introductions. Renei gave her own half-hearted wave back, feeling all the more awkward in front of this unique group of strangers.

"And last but not least, we have Shin Yoshikawa, the guitarist."

Renei's eyes traveled from Nao to the boy sitting next to her. She hadn't gotten a good look at his face when he was playing during the song, but when she looked at him now, for a moment all she could do was stare.

He was striking, unique to the eye, not that Nao or the two other boys in the band weren't; but Haruto was attractive in a cute, boyish sort of way and Ryota had a certain intimidating, bad-boy edge to him. This guy stood out in a different way altogether. He wasn't drop dead gorgeous, but he was handsome enough to make your eyes stick to him and roam. His hair was a messy arrangement of un-styled locks dyed a rebellious, fiery red. It was shaggy and his bangs nearly covered his eyes, which were a deep, dark, sparkling obsidian. Like Ryota, he had jewelry on, though not nearly as much ― just three necklaces overlapping each other and a single piercing at the far corner of his left eyebrow. Briefly, Renei wondered if it had hurt to get a piercing there.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Renei." He spoke in casual tones, but his eyes were flirting with her and he smiled when she stared at him for a minute too long. His smile was actually goofy-looking because it was a bit crooked, however its crooked goofiness worked for him because it came across as something endearing. It just made you like him even more, making him seem more personable.

It took her a second to realize that he had just called her by her first name, without using any honorifics at all.

She raised an eyebrow at his forwardness. "This is only our first meeting, so if you would address me properly I'd greatly appreciate it."

He immediately looked taken aback, and stiffened in his seat. Renei gazed at him in slight concern, not meaning to startle him so badly... He was acting as if she had just slapped him across the face.

"Oh wow, Shin." Ryota suddenly spoke up, his dull tone holding a pinch of amusement and mockery to it now. "She told you off."

Nao joined in, nodding with a smirk on her lips. "That she did. Maybe it'll do you some good, possibly deflate that big head of yours."

Haruto added innocently to the mix, "I don't think a girl has ever spoken like that to him before. That was a surprise, hahaha~!"

Renei stared at the four of them with a blank expression on her face and a bead of sweat collecting on her brow. She felt as though she had opened up a can of worms, leaving the red-haired guitarist open to the teasing and taunting of his band members. That certainly wasn't her intention.

She turned to her brother, who was observing the group with a small smile on his face, attempting to cover it up with one of his hands. "I feel as though I've done something wrong." She whispered to him confusedly. "But I had every right to correct the casual way he spoke to me, didn't I?"

"Shin has a big ego, he is used to being spoiled by girls often, and due to that he is very sensitive to any type of criticism." Masao explained. "If anyone corrects him, ignores him, or shows a clear dislike of him then he freezes up and isn't sure what to do with himself. It's a weakness of his that I've already informed him he needs to work on."

"Oh." Renei blinked a few times. "Wait, what?"

Her brother simply sighed and motioned back towards the small group. "See for yourself."

She glanced over again, frowning when she noticed that the guitarist was now slumped over in his chair, his head hanging low and hands lying useless in his lap. Nao was poking at his cheek with a look of irritation on her face, scolding him about his posture. Ryota was smirking at Nao, as she poked Shin. And Haruto was laughing uncontrollably at the red-head's expense.

"Is he seriously upset about one little comment I made?" Renei accidentally wondered aloud, and it seemed to make Shin slump even lower in his seat.

"Oh, look at that," Nao said, picking at her black nail polish, as she had now lost interest in poking her friend. "I think he's planning on sulking for the rest of eternity, now."

"What?"

"Who knows when Shin is gonna bounce back?" Haruto continued to laugh, but when he saw the look on Renei's face he stopped for a moment. "Hey, Renei-chan, what's wrong? You look bothered by something."

She was gazing worriedly at Shin. "Well, I..." This was certainly odd behavior, and she didn't want to make a bad situation worse.

"Ooohh~ Are those chocolates?" The singer suddenly jumped toward her, pointing excitedly at the box she had set down on the table earlier. "Shin-chan loves chocolates, maybe that'll make him feel better! Won't you share some with him?" With his head tilted to one side, he blinked at her with hopeful, wide green eyes.

"Of, of course." Renei stuttered, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the current situation, or mainly, the people surrounding her more than the situation itself. "I was going to share them with my brother anyway."

"I'll pass." Masao spoke up from the corner, adjusting his glasses.

She shrugged. "In that case..." Grabbing the box of sweets, Renei walked up to the red-head and caught his attention by placing one of her hands on one of his own. He peeked up at her sheepishly, so she offered up a small smile, and placed the box in his lap. "Just so you know, earlier when you were playing, I thought your guitar solo was really good. And I didn't mean to offend you in any way with my words, but since I did please accept these chocolates as an apology."

It was like talking to a toddler, she thought to herself, and at first he didn't even blink. Then, there was a moment where he looked down at the box, before slowly turning his gaze back up toward her. "Are there nuts in these?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Because I'm allergic to nuts."

"Well, we could check the ingredients then?"

The young man turned the box over carefully in his hands. A few seconds passed in total silence as everyone watched him, before he ripped off the top of the box and picked up one of the chocolates, popping it into his mouth and moaning at the taste. It was only then that he offered Renei a blissful grin. "Thank you, Renei-san." This time, there was an all-too-pleased lilt to his voice when he spoke; charming. Smooth. So unlike his pitiful behavior less than a minute ago.

They spent a moment staring at each other, Renei trying to process his odd behavioral patterns, while his eyes attained that flirtatious gleam in them again. He looked her up and down appreciatively, and she looked away, clearing her throat uncomfortably.

"Come to think of it," She was all too glad to turn around to face the question in her brother's tone. "Where did you get those chocolates?" The look on his face suddenly went dark. "They aren't from him, are they?"

"No," Renei sighed as Masao visibly seemed to relax at her answer. "Danno-san gave them to me as a housewarming gift." She paused, then added as a reminder, "As I told you last night, nothing happened between us, so please stop acting so resentful."

"Between who?" Haru asked out of curiosity, snatching a chocolate from Shin and popping it into his own mouth. Not a moment later, Nao slapped him on the back and he coughed the chocolate into her waiting hand as she scolded him, "You're not supposed to eat sweets, Haru, it will ruin your voice!"

"Waaaahhhh Nao-chan is so mean!"

Meanwhile, Masao and Renei were still caught up in their own conversation about Tora. "I do not resent the boy, per se," Her brother gave a self-righteous sniff. "It is more his actions that I resent."

"Well alright then," Renei gave him a sharper look. "Whatever or whomever you're resenting, please do it quietly in the corner. You're embarrassing me, bringing this up again in front of all these people."

A wide-eyed expression crossed her brother's face. "I embarrass you?"

In the background, Nao and Haru were still arguing, and Ryota loudly cleared his throat for everyone to hear.

Renei paused in what she was about to say to look over at the people in the room with them, then looked back to her brother with a softer sound to her voice. "All I'm saying is that I don't want to have this conversation with you again, especially in front of company." Honestly... She hadn't even been in the city for more than twenty-four hours, and she already felt overwhelmed by every person she had met, including her own brother. "Anyway, I'll be heading to my room now. The city air is so stuffy, I thought I would pass out during my run this morning. I need a hot shower."

"Mmm," Shin chose that moment to speak again, licking a smear of chocolate from his lower lip, eyes hooded as he stared at her. "Care if I join you?"

Before Masao's mouth dropped open to object and before Renei could even process those words, Nao smacked Shin across the back of the head and Ryota slowly turned his head to offer a severe look that obviously issued its own, quieter warning.

"Yowch! I was kidding, guys, kidding." The flirtatious guitarist hissed, shrinking back into his chair when he noticed the angry, disapproving glare he was also receiving from his manager. "Uhm... My apologies, Masao-sensei..."

"...Right. Anyway, it was a pleasure meeting the four of you." With those parting words, Renei opened the door and started to walk out.

"Likewise, it was very nice meeting you, Renei-chan!" Haruto expressed with a smile that stretched all the way across his face when she looked back at him.

"And thanks for the chocolates." She turned her gaze over at Shin, who had bounced back fairly quickly this time, going back to popping the sweets into his mouth. He winked at her, licking his lips again before smiling crookedly. "You're my new favorite, just for that."

The honest way he said that to her made her feel weirdly self-conscious. "They were given to you as an apology, so I don't think that's necessary."

"Seriously, Shin, can't you ever control yourself? Enough with the flirting, let's get back to practice already." Nao nudged his arm before standing up, and flicking her gaze briefly in Renei's direction, she grinned, "See you around, Renei-san. Thanks for putting up with us for a bit."

"I agree, we should return to practice." Ryota followed her lead, tossing Renei a look over his shoulder and a slight nod before the two of them went back to their respective instruments.

Renei did her best to smile and wave back. "Sorry for interrupting."

Haruto leapt to her and gathered her into his arms for one last hug. "It's no problem at all, actually, thanks for the break from work! I hope we'll all meet up again like this soon!"

When he let her breathe again, releasing her just as suddenly as he grabbed her so that she stumbled backward, he turned around and grabbed a hold of Shin's arm, pretty much dragging the other boy back into the other part of the room. Shin was complaining about feeling tired and sick after eating all the chocolates in one sitting, and Haruto was just laughing and ignoring him, pushing him back toward his guitar.

"By the way," Masao mentioned breezily as he turned back around in his seat to face the panel of buttons and glass window. "They're all enrolled at Miyabigaoka."

Renei twitched. "Is... Is that so?"

"It is."

"Well... Alright then. Good for them."

"Are you alright?"

"I'm just trying to imagine being around them more often, that's all."

"And?"

"And even imagining it makes me uncomfortable."

Masao let out a chuckle, shaking his head back and forth. "I think you're in for an eventful school year, for sure. You'll probably end up having all sorts of fun."

Renei nibbled at her lip and turned away without an answer. There was a time when she knew how to have fun, how to make friends with everyone. But that time had passed, and now she couldn't really remember if there was a point to any of it.

She'd just add this to the list of things she would have to learn to get used to from now on. After all, she didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

xx

"If you don't mind me asking, what is she like?"

"She is..."

Tora trailed off thoughtfully. He walked a short distance across the room to the wall, and there he took his time collecting several darts from a dart board.

"...Not like most women."

Kanade Maki, heir to the Maki Dining Group and Student Council Vice President at Miyabigaoka ― a respectful individual who came the closest to being an actual friend to the Igarashi heir ― stared at the blond young man as he walked back over to stand behind the line indicated on the floor.

"How so?" He asked out of curiosity.

Tora dropped the collection of darts into the other's open hand, keeping one for himself. He drew his arm back, golden gaze focused on the dart board. "For starters, she's not easy to figure out. Most other women are painfully simple." He threw the dart, and it soared through the air soundlessly before hitting just around the outside of the inner-most circle on the board. "Missed. Hand me another one." He glanced and raised an eyebrow at the other boy. "Are you sure you don't want to play?"

Obediently, the raven-haired boy handed over another dart, smiling politely as he admitted, "You know I'm terrible at this game."

But in truth, Maki wasn't terrible at throwing darts. He just knew that Tora was in one of his restless moods, and he didn't need another player getting in his way. This was, after all, one of the ways that Tora liked to blow off steam. Moreover, the blond also seemed distracted today, and Maki did not want to risk beating Tora at a game of darts due to this fact. And if he pretended to play poorly, the President would know. He had a way of just... knowing.

Which is why Tora gave him a particularly pointed look, like he knew Maki was lying to him, before he shrugged his shoulders and graciously decided to let it go. Taking the same stance as before, he again drew his arm back to throw. "What was I saying? Ah, yes. She is tricky to get a read on. Quite the actress, I must say." He threw, and again barely missed his mark. Calmly, he held out his hand for another dart, which Maki again provided it for him. "She has my parents fooled, a feat that is usually difficult to accomplish."

Maki tilted his head to the side, regarding the other through slitted eyes. "How do you mean?"

"Naturally, my parents think she's just perfect. They are blind to the fact that she has merely been acting the way they want her to whenever in their company, and due to that they fail to see anything wrong with her." Tora let the dart fly again, and again he missed. This time, he frowned. "Tch. Looks like I need to improve my aim."

"You simply haven't played darts in a while." Maki reassured. "Even so, you've almost hit the mark each time."

"Under no circumstances is 'almost' ever good enough." The blond informed, grabbing two more darts and throwing them in quick succession. They both hit the center this time, one right next to the other. He smirked, or was smirking, until Maki cleared his throat. Looking down, Tora noticed then that his foot had stepped over the line.

"I've lost interest in this game." He declared with a wave of his hand, turning to move across the room, past the billiards table, to one of the leather sofa chairs. Maki simply followed after him, thinking it understandable that Tora wouldn't put forth all his effort at something he'd lost interest in. It was quite common with him, after all.

The blond settled into his chair elegantly, crossing one leg over the other and placing his chin atop one of his fists. Though his image looked almost like that of a pouting child, he sat with a certain authority about him that made Maki straighten his back as he stood there, waiting for conversation to continue. He knew Tora had called him over in order to have someone to vent to, not just so they could enjoy themselves wasting time away in the recreation room all day.

"Ironically, my parents think she is the ideal match for me without knowing who she really is." Tora snorted derisively. "Perhaps they are so desperate to find me a woman that they are purposely ignoring taking the proper steps to do it. They've simply chosen the first promising thing they've come across."

"And, has she proven to be very promising?"

"Well she isn't boring, by any means."

"Then why do you question their judgement?"

Tora looked off idly into thin air, his voice suddenly devoid of emotion. "Truly, Maki, you have no tact."

"Ah-hem." Maki cleared his throat, and quickly went on to change the topic. Tora's relationship with his parents, after all, was a tricky subject to discuss. "Is she quite beautiful?"

A jagged smile graced the blond's lips and he purred out, "Oh, yes. And when my parents aren't around, she's got quite the mouth on her, too."

"Did she offend you in some way?"

"Not exactly." Tora removed his chin from his hand and leaned back comfortably, his eyes refocusing on his raven-haired companion. "She was a bit snide, once I managed to draw it out of her, and if I'm being completely honest I found our conversation rather stimulating. Her intellectual acuity is admittedly impressive, and engaging in some playful banter with her was certainly my highlight of the night. Though I was careful not to admit to anything of the sort."

Maki nodded his head in understanding. Heaven forbid that someone find out what Tora Igarashi was thinking. The young heir was a very private person. The only time any information about him got leaked was when he actually wanted it to, when he had planned for it to happen all along. Nothing happened outside his circle of plans, he was an expert at working behind the scenes; he always knew what was going on, the right people to deal with, and how to deal with those people in the most appropriate manner. He knew how to play and act the perfect parts, and was a true master at collecting the secrets of others while also keeping a tight hold on his own secrets.

Aside from all of that, Maki also had an understanding for Tora's incurable sense of boredom. All his life, Tora had been given what he wanted or had earned it with ease. He was talented enough to be able to attain anything and enough people liked him that they would offer him anything. While most would appreciate that sort of lifestyle, and most certainly take advantage of it, Tora felt it was gradually becoming more and more wearisome and unsatisfactory.

He could simply buy anything he wanted. And when you can get what you want by merely handing out a few bills, well, you start to find that the value of things decrease. The less effort it takes to gain it, the less desirable it becomes.

And so, more and more recently, Tora only ever saw value and a sense of purpose in the things he had to work for, the things that proved themselves to be entertaining without the use of money and power to make them so.

Misaki Ayuzawa was a prime example of this, but then, that had not been a path Tora could have pursued, no matter how much he may have thought about doing so.

"Well," Maki began slowly, hoping in his own way that this new woman in his friend's life would prove to be more than just another rebound or replacement for Misaki. After all, this was a woman that the man could actually pursue without having to restrain himself, and she seemed rather interesting, too. Tora could actually take this seriously, but only if he wanted to. "What exactly are you planning for her?"

The blond had done much experimenting in his life, seeing if he could find anything or anyone that came even close to what he was searching for. Deep down, he wanted something... Naturally entertaining, that never lost its value. Something that you couldn't put a price on.

However, Tora was a dedicated sensualist. He'd never deny himself a guilty pleasure, and as long as it's a pleasure of his, he never feels guilty about it. And since guilt often holds people back from repeating the same things over again, finding and using women to cure his boredom had become habitual for him. And it was, at the least, mildly entertaining while it lasted with each one.

So it went without saying, that Tora planned on doing something about this new woman that had just come back into his life.

"What makes you think that I'm planning something?" Tora posed the question without bothering to keep the sly smile from his face.

Maki returned the gesture with a knowing smile of his own. "You're always planning something, Tora."

"It's a relief to know that while you are often tactless, Kanade, at least you aren't stupid." Standing up, Tora made his way over to the billiards table; restless again. He gracefully picked up a cue stick and began swiping some chalk across the end of it. "I'm not quite sure what to think of my fianceé yet," He still didn't like calling her that, and probably never would. "But I believe she is under the impression that getting to know me and being around me will be a relatively easy thing for her to manage."

Maki walked over and lifted the rack away from the balls, making sure they didn't roll out of their triangular formation. "...And?"

Tora leaned over the table, gesturing for the other to get out of his shot. "I plan to make it all very unmanageable for her."

He took his shot, something devilish glinting behind his eyes as the cue ball collided with the others and sent them scattering across the table.


A/N: The reviews I've been receiving have convinced me that I have the best readers any author could ever ask for. You all make me so happy to be writing and sharing my stories on this site. Thank you~ :)

'Rose Picture' is going to be around a lot in this story, so I hope that so far you find them likable! Fun fact: the lead singer Haruto's character is based off of Ryuichi from 'Gravitation'. (btw Gravitation is yaoi so if you don't like that sort of thing then don't look into it. I kinda enjoyed it though, it was really comical!:) I just thought it'd be loads of fun to add in such a happy-go-lucky, childish soul into this story, since there will be some drama going on as it continues and some comic relief will be greatly appreciated I can imagine.

Just so we're clear: similarly to how I do not own Maid Sama!, I do not own Gravitation either. I'm also doing what I can to not completely copy Ryuichi's character. It's just I loved Ryuichi in Gravitation so much that I want to have a character like him, he's simply adorable and hilarious :3

Ah, and one more thing. I'm sure most of you can try and guess where I'm going with Shin's character in this story already. I'm taking a sort of cliché route with him, but I like to think that cliché things aren't always bad. Because every author writes differently, so even if there are clichés, originality is never actually lacking.

But also a part of me loathes clichés so I will not exactly be making things predictable for my readers ;)

Anyway, if you think you've guessed what the purpose of Shin's character in this story is, write it down for me and we'll eventually see if you're right ;D

Again, thank you so much for reading!

CK*