After some revisions and additions, here is the lovely Chapter Four.

I hate doing that to him, she thought. He was so worried about me, and I blew him off…

She clenched her fist around the edge of her blanket.

But I'm doing it for him. I don't want Izumi to hurt him.

She sighed.

She got out and walked to the door, noticing that the owner of that car wasn't getting out.

Damn it, Izumi… She clenched her teeth. Why can't you just leave me alone?

She stalked inside and checked in, trying to hide her frustration. It didn't look like she was getting rid of Izumi very easily.

As she stepped up to an empty register, her mind was racing. There has to be a way to get rid of him, she thought. But what?

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him come into the store, and she determinedly turned away, fiddling with the cash register.

Just then, Meroko felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around, and a look of disgust briefly flashed across her face. "Rei," she greeted curtly.

"Meroko," Rei returned, her voice chilled.

"What are you doing here? Your shift doesn't start until one."

"I came to talk to the manager."

"So why are you talking to me, then?" Meroko asked bitterly.

"Is that blonde guy over there your new boyfriend?"

Meroko almost choked. "No way! Of course not! What are you talking about?"

"He's staring at you," Rei explained coldly.

Meroko looked over in the direction Rei was pointing. Izumi was indeed standing against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest, a faint smirk on his face as he stared directly at her. The smirk grew slightly as he noticed her gawking at him.

She shot him the angriest glare she could muster, then returned her attention to Rei. "He is not my boyfriend."

"Your loss. He's amazingly hot."

Meroko grimaced. "Don't even go there. He's a jerk."

"And I care? He's hot."

Meroko rolled her eyes. "God, Rei, you are so shallow."

"Gee, thanks," Rei replied sarcastically, walking off. Meroko let out a frustrated sigh and turned to the young woman who was standing in line with a few groceries.

"Hi," she said, attempting to eliminate the dark look on her face. "I'll ring those up for you."

Meroko spent the day ignoring Izumi and trying to suppress her anger at the fact that he was so blatantly following her. The manager noticed her anger, but didn't comment on it for a while.

After about the fifth complaint, however, even he couldn't stop himself. "Meroko, is something wrong?" he asked. "I've been getting a lot of complaints. People have been saying that you've been acting really mean."

"I'm sorry," Meroko snapped. "I'm just in a bad mood right now."

The manager flinched slightly at her tone. "Anything I can help with?" he asked hesitantly.

"No."

"Well…alright." The manager took a few steps back. "Just try and be a little more friendly with the customers, alright? If I get another complaint, I'll be forced to dock your pay."

Meroko swore under her breath as the manager walked off. That was all she needed.

Calm down, she told herself. I'm almost done with work.

She thought about Izumi. But how do I get out of here without him following me?

All of a sudden, her cell phone rang. Meroko snatched it out of her pocket and answered.

"Hello?" she said immediately.

"Hey, it's me."

"Takuto!" Meroko smiled. "Hey! How's it going?" She looked around to make sure her manager wasn't anywhere nearby. Talking on the phone during her shift was against the rules, and she was already walking on thin ice thanks to all the complaining customers.

"Not bad. Are you done with work?"

Meroko lowered her voice to a whisper. "Almost."

"Oh." Takuto sounded guilty. "I forgot."

"It's okay. My manager isn't around. So, did you need something?"

"Well…I was just…" Takuto began nervously. "After yesterday…I was wondering if you were okay."

"Oh." Meroko's face fell. "Listen. I'm really sorry about that, Takuto. I was just…really wound up…I couldn't control myself. I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Even on the phone, Meroko could hear the smile in Takuto's voice. "I was just worried about you."

"Thanks," Meroko said softly. "That really means a lot."

"So, do you want to do something tonight?"

"Yeah, sure! Hey, why don't you come over to my place? I'll cook us something for dinner."

"You don't have to do that. I could take us out."

"No, really, I want to," Meroko insisted. She still felt bad about what she had done last night, and she wanted to make it up to him in any way she could.

"Alright. What time?"

"Um. Seven thirty sound good?"

"Yeah, of course. I'll see you then."

"Alright." Meroko's face softened. "I'm sorry about last night."

"It's okay. Don't worry about it."

"Thanks," Meroko said gratefully. "I'll see you later."

"See you."

They both hung up, and Meroko felt slightly more hopeful as she pocketed her phone.

After finishing with an elderly man in the line—thankfully without yelling—Meroko went to find her manager. "Hey, my shift's over, but I'm going to pick up a few groceries before I leave, okay?"

The manager smiled. "Sure. You seem a lot better."

Meroko nodded, smiling back. "Yeah. I just needed to calm down a bit. I'll see you later."

She departed her manager's office with a little wave.

As Meroko got the groceries she needed, she thought of Izumi again. She wanted to get home without him following her. She didn't want him intruding upon her date with Takuto.

But how do I get rid of him?

After several seconds of thinking, she had an idea.

With all her groceries, she walked through Rei's register. "Hey, Rei," she said brightly, piling her groceries on the conveyor line.

Rei's eyes narrowed. "What do you want?"

"So, hey. I had an idea."

"What's that?"

"You know that blonde guy over there?" Meroko casually pointed in Izumi's direction.

"What about him?"

Meroko kept her voice calm. "I think maybe you should go and talk to him."

"Talk to him?" Rei did her best to appear coldly indifferent, but Meroko could see a bit of interest flash through her eyes. "Why?"

"Well, I was talking to him earlier. He said that you're cute," Meroko commented. She was amazed at how well she could lie.

"Really?" Rei replied. She was beginning to look excited and slightly breathless.

Meroko nodded. "Yeah. I bet you two would get along great."

"Huh." Rei finished ringing up Meroko's groceries. She cast a quick glance over at Izumi, then looked away.

As Meroko paid for her groceries, she had to hold back a smile. She had a good notion of what would happen if Izumi and Rei started talking. It was just a matter of when.

When Meroko had gone through the line, Rei quickly closed down her register, much to the anger of the boy standing behind Meroko. She messed with her hair for a moment. "How do I look?" she asked.

"Great," Meroko assured. "I'm sure he'll love you."

Rei nodded and hurried over to Izumi.

"Hi," Meroko heard her say in a gushing voice. "I'm Rei. What's your name?"

With a faint smile on her face, Meroko picked up her bags and left the store without looking back.

Meroko felt confident as she drove home. She knew Rei well enough to know that Izumi wouldn't be getting out of that store for a while. She was quite pleased with herself.

She carried her groceries in and unloaded them, beginning dinner. She hummed lightly as she worked. She couldn't carry a tune to save her life, but it was fun regardless.

Once she was close to being finished, she glanced over at the clock. Twenty-five minutes after seven.

Perfect. I'll be done right when he gets here, Meroko thought with satisfaction. She grinned.

She finished up with dinner, and just as she had set everything out, the doorbell rang.

"Coming!" she called out cheerfully, running to the door. She fluffed out her hair and dusted off her shirt. Taking a deep breath, she pulled the door open.

Her heart suddenly caught in her chest. A little gasp tore from her throat.

"Hello, Meroko," Izumi said.

"Izumi!" Meroko felt herself beginning to blush. "What are you doing here?" She suddenly thought of Takuto. "You can't be here!" she shouted at Izumi. "I have someone coming over! Get out of here!"

Izumi laughed mockingly. "What, you still haven't told your boyfriend about me?"

"Shut up!" Meroko's flush was angry now rather than embarrassed. "Get out of here!"

Izumi smirked. "I don't think so."

Before Meroko could react, Izumi's hand flashed out and closed around her wrist. He pulled her into the hallway, spun her around, and shoved her against the wall.

Meroko let out a cry as her head banged into the wall. She looked up at Izumi. "What are you doing?" she demanded. She unsuccessfully tried to push him away.

Still smirking, he leaned closer. "That idea with that girlfriend of yours was pretty clever," he said, his face inches from Meroko's. "It took me a while to shake her off."

Meroko kept struggling for a while, giving up when she realized that he wasn't going to let go. "Why won't you just leave me alone?" she asked finally. "I already told you that I don't love you anymore."

His smile faded, and his expression became unfathomable.

She looked at him expectantly, waiting for an answer.

Slowly, he reached up with one hand and held her neck, gently feeling it. She gasped with surprise.

"Hey—" she started.

He interrupted her by leaning forward and pressing his lips against her cheek. She froze in shock.

Her voice was barely above a whisper. "What—"

He backed up the slightest fraction of an inch. "I love you," he whispered, his breath hot on her cheek.

Meroko squeezed her eyes shut. "Stop it," she said faintly. Her heart began to beat faster.

Izumi closed his eyes and kissed her tenderly at the corner of her mouth. His lips brushed against her lower lip. Meroko felt herself tremble involuntarily.

"Why won't you come back to me?" he asked, his voice seductive and silky.

Meroko shook her head. "Stop it," she repeated, her voice slightly stronger.

He opened his eyes and stared at her briefly. "Why?"

His hands moved up and enclosed her face. Meroko struggled to turn her head away, but her protests were ignored.

He leaned in close, until their lips were only half an inch apart.

"Meroko," he whispered, his hot breath fanning out across her face.

Meroko's eyes were wide with fear and shock, staring right back at Izumi. Every warning signal in her brain was flashing before her, telling her to move, or do something, but she was frozen.

...No...

She was too shocked to move when Izumi suddenly pressed his lips against hers in a hard kiss.

This one was rougher than the last, and this time, Izumi didn't back away. He kept going, attempting to pull her closer to him at the same time.

She wasn't playing. She shoved at him and kicked him until he broke off the kiss.

"I said stop it!" she shouted, glaring at him. "Leave me alone!"

He wasn't playing anymore, either. He pushed forward to try again.

"Get away from me!" she yelled. She shoved him away with more strength than she knew she had.

He reached out and grabbed her upper arms with a bruising grip. She flinched with slight pain.

"Izumi…stop…" she said, feeling her voice shrink. She made an attempt to shrug his arms away.

He shook his head. "No," he said. His voice was low and dangerous. "I won't stop, Meroko. Not now. Not ever. Not until you're mine again."

Meroko shuddered violently at the threat in his voice. She looked up at him, her eyes pleading. "Izumi—"

As he started to lean towards her, she backed away as far as she could, but her head bumped against the wall. Her eyes widened in fear. "No—" she began.

"Get away from her!"

Both Izumi and Meroko turned and looked down the hallway, startled. Takuto was standing at the edge of the hallway, staring directly at the two of them, his eyes blazing.

"Takuto!" Meroko cried. "It's you!"

Takuto didn't answer. He strode over to where Izumi and Meroko were standing and forcefully pulled Meroko away from Izumi, drawing her protectively into his arms.

"Are you okay?" he asked in a low voice.

"I'm fine," Meroko whispered. She looked up into his eyes, and was shocked by the amount of rage there.

"You…" he said darkly.

Meroko's head whipped around, and she looked at Izumi, who was meeting Takuto's glare with a cool, appraising look.

"What's up?" he said innocently.

"Don't give me that!" Takuto snapped, taking an angry step towards Izumi. "What the hell were you doing?"

"Nothing," Izumi replied, his voice still painted with that false innocence.

"What the hell do you mean, nothing?" Takuto clenched his shaking hand into a fist. "You were kissing my girlfriend!"

Meroko bit her lip in worry. How much of that did he see?

"What? You mean Meroko hasn't told you who I am yet?" Izumi cast a teasing look towards Meroko. He shook his head. "It's not good to keep secrets from your boyfriend, Meroko."

"Knock it off, Izumi!" Meroko shouted, glaring.

"Aw, what's wrong? Am I bothering you?"

"Shut up!" Takuto yelled, taking another step toward Izumi. "Or I'll wipe that stupid smirk off your face!"

"Oh, yeah?" Any trace of humor vanished from Izumi's face; he now looked deathly serious. "Just try it."

"Hey!" Meroko stepped forward in alarm. "Cut it out, you two!"

"Maybe I will!" Takuto shouted back to Izumi, ignoring Meroko.

Izumi's eyes narrowed slightly, and he took a step towards Takuto.

Meroko raised her voice. "Stop it!"

Both Takuto and Izumi looked at Meroko. Meroko felt herself blushing, but she stood her ground, looking defiantly at the two of them.

The awkward silence was broken when one of the apartment doors opened, and a young dark-haired woman came out and groaned, "What's going on out here? I was sleeping."

Takuto, Meroko, and Izumi all looked at the woman. Meroko spoke after a few seconds, her voice shaking slightly.

"S-Sorry, Mrs. Yamanaka," she said apologetically, casting her gaze downwards. "We were just talking, and I guess we got kind of loud."

Mrs. Yamanaka looked carefully at Takuto and Izumi, then nodded. "Just make sure you keep the noise level down," she warned, retreating into her room and shutting the door.

For a long while, none of the three spoke. Finally, Takuto looked at Izumi and said quietly, "Get out of here."

Izumi looked over at Meroko, who went pink but kept her gaze down. He stared at her coolly for a few seconds, then turned around.

"Fine," he said bluntly. "But this isn't over. You haven't seen the last of me. Neither of you have."

Without another word, he walked off.

Takuto glared after him, turning to Meroko when he was gone. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, his voice low. "He didn't hurt you?"

Meroko shook her head. "No," she whispered. "I'm alright."

Takuto looked at the open door to Meroko's apartment. "Maybe we should step inside." Meroko nodded and led Takuto into her apartment, shutting the door.

They made their way to the couch and sat down, neither of them saying a word.

Finally, Takuto spoke. His voice was still quiet and controlled, as though he were containing himself from shouting. "Who was that?" he asked.

Meroko bit her lip and looked away, not answering.

Takuto looked at her. "Meroko."

After a long pause, Meroko sighed. "His name is Izumi," she said.

"I picked up on that. I meant, who was he? Why was he here?" Takuto broke off for a moment. When he started talking again, he sounded hurt. "Why was he…kissing you…?"

Meroko turned back to face Takuto, and met his eyes with a gasp. Takuto looked deeply hurt, and she thought she saw the faint beginnings of tears forming in his hands.

She reached out and gently touched his hand. "Takuto, I'm so sorry," she whispered.

"What was that?" Takuto whispered back. He swallowed. "Why did he…Why were you…Have you been…"

Meroko quickly picked up on what he was talking about. Her eyes widened in shock. "Takuto, no! Nothing like that!"

Takuto looked her straight in the eye. "Then what was it?"

Meroko looked at him, then turned away. She let out a long sigh. "He's Izumi Lio," she said resignedly. "He's my ex-boyfriend. And, to sum it up in one sentence, it looks like he's trying to win my heart back."

Takuto's face darkened. "He's trying to what?"

"It's okay!" Meroko said quickly. "I don't like him in that way anymore. Really."

"I mean, it's not okay for him to be harassing you like that!" Takuto's hands balled into fists. "Do you want me to track him down?" he asked seriously. "Talk to him?"

Meroko had a feeling that Takuto was thinking of something other than talking. "Takuto, it's alright. I'll just tell him to leave me alone."

Takuto looked doubtful. "That didn't seem to be working before."

Meroko went red. "Um…Takuto…how long were…how much of that did you see?"

"More or less the whole thing."

They were silent for a while. Then Takuto said, "Meroko, why didn't you tell me about Izumi?"

"I was…afraid." Meroko bit her lip. "Afraid that Izumi might hurt you. Afraid that you might think I was involved with Izumi. Afraid that you might think I didn't really…want to be with you." She sighed. "A lot of reasons, I guess. But all of them were stupid. I should have just told you the truth. I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Takuto put his hand on Meroko's shoulder. "I understand. You had your heart in the right place."

Meroko gave a smile. It was weak, but it wasn't fake. "Thanks, Takuto."

She glanced over in the direction of the kitchen. "Oh, hey, dinner's getting cold. You want to eat?"

Takuto stood up. "Sure."

They both ate their slightly chilled dinner without talking, and Meroko could tell that Takuto was thinking of Izumi. The silence was desperately uncomfortable, but she didn't say a word.

Takuto… She cast him a pained look. I should have told you the truth…Then maybe this wouldn't even be happening…

She looked down, feeling slightly ashamed. I shouldn't have kept it from you… She sniffed.

Takuto looked up. "Meroko?"

Meroko didn't answer. She only shook slightly.

"Meroko?" Takuto sounded worried. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Meroko bowed her head more, her hair falling over her face. She felt tears pricking at her eyes, and she clenched her teeth, willing herself not to cry.

Takuto reached across the table and moved Meroko's hair out of the way, just in time to catch a tear as it from her eye and streamed silently down her face.

"What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Meroko choked back a sob and shook her head, not trusting herself to speak. Another tear slipped from her eye, and she hurriedly wiped it away.

Takuto stood up and moved around the table, kneeling down beside Meroko.

"Meroko, I'm here, okay? It's going to be alright."

He wrapped his arms around Meroko, and Meroko gave a sniffle and let a few more tears fall.

Takuto…Thank you…

Thank you for being there…

You're always there for me…even though I don't deserve it…You never leave…

…Thank you…

And there you have it.

Rei was unexpectedly useful. I originally only intended her to be a plot device used to tick Meroko off, as if Izumi needs any help with that. But she came in handy here.

Well, fare-thee-well.

RRE.