A/N: (IMPORTANT) Master Busujima will be OOC in this chapter. I'll explain this later, just roll with it for now.

Chapter 4: A Shoulder To Lean On

Takashi arrived at the small coffee shop a full hour and a half after he was supposed to meet Saeko at the coffee shop. To the third year student's immense relief, Saeko was still sitting quietly inside the shop when he finally walked through the front doors.

As a small metal bell rang softly over his head to indicate a customer had arrived, Takashi made his way over to the booth Saeko was sitting in. As he approached, her head lifted and sleepy brown met pained blue while an electric shock shot through the two of them. Saeko looked back down and Takashi blushed slightly.

"Hey," he said as he slid into the both seat across from her, "what's up?" Saeko remained silent as she stared down at her hands folded inside the center of her lap. Takashi grew worried and tried again to find out what was bother her. "Seriously Saeko-san," he said, peering at her intently, "what's the matter?"

Saeko continued to stare down into her lap as if debating something of grave importance before she finally sighed heavily. Takashi, on the verge of giving up, was shocked when the silent atmosphere of the deserted coffee shop was broken by her alluring voice.

"Do you...remember the last time we were here?" She asked softly while she refused to look up and meet his eyes.

"Yeah," Takashi said, a faint blush adorning his cheeks as images of the two talking, holding hands, and especially him holding her flashed across before his eyes.

"You..." Saeko, being incredibly uncharacteristic, paused as she took in a shaky breath before continuing. "You said that...everyone needs to let stuff out from time to time, right?"

"Of course," Takashi told her, starting to see where this was going. Something had happened again. Something terrible.

"I'd...just like to talk about it, if that's alright," Saeko said softly as the faintest hint of a bitter smirk slid across her face. "You brought it up anyways."

Takashi couldn't help but see the irony of the whole situation. She had said nearly the same words to him the last time she had gone through a terrible ordeal. They were even in the same coffee shop again. In the very same booth in fact.

"Of course, it will stay between us, don't worry," Takashi said with a soft smile as he repeated his response from before as well. To his relief, Saeko's small bitter smirk began to melt into a true soft smile before she began to speak. Once the first word had left her mouth however, the smile vanished.

"I was at dinner...with my father and the Takagi's," Saeko began...

"Lady Saeko," Takagi's father, Souichiro Takagi, spoke up, "my family and I were very impressed with your recent victory in the Fajimi Dōjō."

"Arigato Master Takagi," Saeko said, truly honored by the don's praise.

The kendōka sat in the middle of the table across from Saya Takagi. To Saya's right sat her mother, Yuriko Takagi, while an empty chair—a sad reminder that Saeko's mother was no longer with her—sat to Saeko's right. Souichiro Takagi sat at the head of the table while her father, Kage Busujima, sat at the far end of the table facing his former student.

"I agree with my husband," Yuriko said as she gracefully used her chopsticks to lift portions of her donburi oyakodon out of the rice bowl before her and into her mouth. "Your performance was excellent."

"Arigato Lady Takagi," Saeko repeated, though she did not sound any less honored to hear such praise from such a respected woman.

"It was impressive," Saeko's father said gruffly as he eyed his daughter with an odd look. "But not her best match."

"That is true my friend," Souichiro said as he eyed his former master with a look of vague concern. "But you cannot expect every journey to be better than the last, nor can you expect to climb a mountain without having to one day come back down."

"Wise words, Master Takagi," Saeko said politely as she sipped from her white porcelain cup softly.

"Yes," her father said softly as he shifted his eyes off of her, "they were."

"Saya has mentioned to me that you will be taking your final tests for the term soon," Yuriko said as she expertly eased the tension out of the room. "Though I doubt either of you have much to worry about."

"The final tests produce something of a challenge I suppose," Saeko admitted as she privately thanked Saya's mother for being so socially adept. Lady Takagi was probably the only one in the entire room that could handle social interaction well, now that she thought about it.

"As if!" Saya said with a playful smirk, "those things are such a joke!"

"I wonder how young Takashi Komuro will fair," Yuriko said with a meaningful glance at Saya. Unbeknownst to anyone else in the room, Saeko's ears perked up as she immediately became interested in Saya's response.

"That stupid moron will probably end up eating his exam sheet," Saya remarked with scorn and distaste as she scowled at the mere thought of Takashi Komuro.

"He would undoubtedly do better if someone tutored him," Sourichiro remarked with the faintest hint of a mischievous grin.

"As if!" Saya repeated as she looked away, hiding her blush to all but Saeko.

Does...does Saya like Takashi?

Saeko had yet to properly organize her thoughts—or for that matter feelings—about Takashi Komuro. She had undoubtedly been drawn to him during their brief encounter only the day before, however, she was not sure if it had simply been a heat-of-the-moment sort of thing or if there was real attraction there.

She had noticed him, of course, throughout their time at Fajimi Academy, but she had never noticed him in that way. Sure, plenty of the girls that attended their school thought he was attractive, but Saeko had never been very big on noticing men for their looks. Or for any other reason really.

She simply hadn't thought about it before. Especially not with Takashi Komuro.

And now she was...

"I think Ta...Komoru-san will surprise us all," Saeko said after a brief silence had encompassed the dining room yet again.

"Why do you think that?" Saya asked, surprise and naked curiosity blatantly covering her features.

"He might be a fool," Saeko admitted as she thought of all the pranks Takashi had engineered and the detentions that had followed them all, "but he has proven in the past that he can do the impossible."

Such as selflessly comforting the most antisocial and deadly female at Fajimi Academy.

"Pft!" Saya said, though she was eying Saeko with an odd gleam in her eyes. Saeko almost swore it was jealousy or paranoia, but instead she shrugged it off as Saya just being Saya.

"I would not be so quick to ignore Lady Saeko's observation," Sourichiro said as his bowl was removed and replaced by a uniformed servant wearing the colors of the Takagi estate.

"What event in the past are you referring to, daughter?" Kage asked suddenly as he stared at his daughter intently. He had seen the soft blush that had barely graced her features when she had mentioned the Komuro boy's name.

Saeko's all but unnoticed blush suddenly became significantly more prominent as she realized where her father's thoughts were leading him.

"I..." she began, but faltered as she failed to come up with a believable excuse.

"Answer the question!" Kage roared, suddenly furious, as he glared at his daughter.

"Sensei!" Sourichiro said in surprise as he witnessed the uncharacteristic display of anger from his former teacher.

"F-father, I-"

"What is Komuro to you, daughter?" Kage demanded, completely unaware that he had an audience as he pushed his chair away and marched over to where his daughter sat.

"I don't even-"

"He was the boy at the dojo wasn't he?! The one you tried to talk to!" Kage roared as realization dawned across his features.

"Father, I promise you that we are strictly-"

SMACK!

The room fell silent as Saeko stared at her father in complete shock, her body frozen solid as she tried to comprehend what had just happened. Her father had hit her before, however, it had always been in the name of discipline and never before had he hit her hard enough to truly hurt her. And he had never hit her in public.

At least not until right now.

"Yuriko," Sourichiro said calmly, neither his face nor his voice revealing anything, "would you kindly show the girls the koi pond. I know how much Saeko enjoys them."

"Of course, husband," Yuriko said, her face also an impassive mask as she stood up and—taking a shocked Saya's hand—led both her daughter and Kage's out of the dining room.

The screaming started the second the thick wooden door shut.

"And then I just...took off," Saeko said softly as she finished the tale. Her eyes had already been tearing up, however now they were threatening to burst. "Lady Yuriko shouted something as I took off, but I can't remember what she said now."

"That's alright," Takashi said as he gave her hand a comforting squeeze. "I'm not like Saya," he joked, "I don't need everything to be perfect."

As she had opened up to Takashi, she had moved one of her hands across the table. Takashi had unquestioningly reached across the table and held her hand.

He doesn't need me to be perfect, Saeko thought as she looked at him with wet eyes. Her father, though she knew he loved her, had become more and more strict and cold to her over the years. He had demanded perfection from her. Takashi had demanded nothing.

"This is the part where I'm supposed to laugh, isn't it?" Saeko said with a small smile as Takashi chuckled softly.

"Following the rules are overrated," he said with a wink before their second order of coffee arrived. The clerk—the same one that had worked at the coffee shop the last time they had been there—silently placed the two regular coffees with extra cream and whip onto the table before backing away to give them their privacy.

"I am sure you would know more about that than me," Saeko said as she blew on the hot drink gently in an somewhat vain effort to cool it.

"Oh please," Takashi said as he bravely took a brief sip of his own coffee before he immediately began coughing it back up. "Owwww!" He cried, "hot hot hot hot hot!"

Saeko laughed at Takashi's attempt at being manly until her sides hurt. After she had finally stopped laughing, her face grew somber. "Thank you, Takashi-kun, for being there for me."

"D-don't m-m-mention it, Saeko-chan," Takashi said, stuttering slightly at the honorific that she had added to his name. Kun was generally used for loved ones or great friends, however, Takashi had no idea where he fell in Saeko's eyes in that regard.

"I should be going..." Saeko said softly even though she would rather stay with Takashi. She didn't want to go home.

"I'll walk you back," Takashi said as he stood up with her before paying for their coffee. Saeko didn't protest when he followed her out of the shop, nor did she back away when he boldly held her hand as they walked back towards the academy grounds.

Takashi couldn't tell because of his own heavy blushing and the darkness of the streets, but he was almost certain that Saeko had an equally heavy blush covering her features.

They returned to the academy only a short while later and they stopped in the middle of the courtyard that separated the boy's and girl's dorms.

"Oyasumi nasai, Saeko-chan," Takashi said as he turned to face the purple haired kendo master.

"Oyasumi nasai, Takashi-kun," Saeko said as she also faced the brown haired prankster.

Overjoyed blue met anxious brown as the two teenagers slowly melted into the other. Before either knew what they were doing, Takashi had leaned forward and Saeko found herself leaning in as well.

The world exploded in bright lights as Saeko's stomach buzzed with a trillion tiny bees as her lips connected perfectly with Takashi's. The brown haired third year felt a similar reaction as his own stomach buzzed with unchained emotion while his hands found their way to Saeko's waist. The purple haired kendōka gracefully slid her hands into Takashi's hair.

Neither was sure just how long they stayed like that, however, the kiss ended eventually and they were left holding each other, lips barely apart, in the middle of a very public place.

"Meet me at the coffee shop tomorrow before school," Takashi whispered softly, his warm breath sending shivers down Saeko's spine.

"It's a date," she agreed before kissing him quickly once more before turning around and heading back towards her dorm. Though she wasn't one to seek out romantic relationships, Saeko knew fully well how to attract a man's attention. Needless to say, she made her exit very interesting for Takashi.

She had never been happier to wear such a tight fitting dress.

Again, I know that Master Busujima—Kage to his friends—was very OOC . I am aware that he is an honorable man. I will explain his actions in the next chapter. For now, just enjoy that lovely bit of fluff at the end of the chapter.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Lostsword