Ahahahahahahahaha. Hi~

attraction

It never really bothered her.

She had her own personal matters to attend to, however minor they were. Occasionally reminiscing about his smile, it never really affected her.

Then again, she was the type to play it off, refusing to acknowledge things that affect her. Even she herself was unsure if her thoughts were biased, swinging towards the object of her own affections. With her sharp gaze that made others back down, she was able to easily continue to keep up the 'stereotype' – easily feigning her behavior whenever he was around. However, she could only hide behind her façade for as long as her ever growing feelings would let her.

Maybe it happened to snap today? It would explain a lot of things, after all.

A mess, was what this situation was. Didn't understand, couldn't understand or was it really just a simple case of 'Don't wanna understand'? Impossible to decide. Her feelings were like little threads that occasionally fell out, but for every small string to fall out, there must have been something that had weakened her outer defenses and crushed them to pieces. The top threat, she concluded, was easily Haruka's cute little smiles.

If she could come to that conclusion, why couldn't she understand, then?

Understand what? Understand why the hell she easily backed down when it came to Haruka, of course. Surely, this couldn't mean that she was in- Ah, no.

Stupid idea.

But the evidence was there, however messily scattered they were. It was up to her to make a hypothesis, then solve the case, but apparently she was still stuck at the 'hypothesis' part, and who said that she was willing to move on to the next stage?

The utter bullshit that was feelings was now hounding her, threatening to make her spill. How wonderful. This feeling was-

Ridiculous-

Hopeless-

Idiotic-

Yet she couldn't-

No, it didn't mean-

Frustrating..!

Still, was it something that she could cling onto? For that little chance of maybe having a-

Ah, there it was again. Cheesy thoughts. Delightful.

She was thinking too much about this, wasn't she?

Oh well.

…It never bothered her anyway.

Her body froze upon hearing his voice. It seemed so different, so dark, so… unlike Haruka.

"Takane?" There it was again. She turned to face the male. Admittedly, her heart was pounding away, with fear or that emotion she didn't know.

Haruka blinked, before speaking again.

"…Takane?"

Now, Takane knew that she was a sane person. She wasn't mentally challenged, nor was she psychopathic. But for that moment, she swore that her classmate's voice had changed once again, for the better, of course. That small tinge of darkness that had seemingly swirled around vigorously in the other's tone disappeared, instead replaced by the male's normal tone. As normal as it could get, really.

"…Are you okay?" His soft and gentle voice flowed melodiously into her ears, and it seemed that she was just imagining the so-called 'dark' tone Haruka's voice had held a few moments ago. Again, Takane was sane, so it was hard for her to believe that she was indeed imagining things.

Then again, maybe she was just stressed out from the sudden move?

"Y- Yeah, I'm fine, Haruka."

The boy slowly nodded. Did Haruka wake up properly? She wondered for a moment before shaking her head, but a little doubt remained in the corner of her mind. Something was.. off with the male. Her eyes focused on him for a moment, trying to find out if he was sick. (If he indeed is sick… God help me.)

He looked the same, however. His pale skin didn't seem to grow any paler – if that was even possible. He picked up the sketchbook that lied on the floor, carefully placing the book onto the sofa, treating the object as if it were a bomb of some sort that needed to be carefully handed. Takane sighed, before walking off back into her temporary room.

She could figure things out later.

Her alone time came to a stop as her phone rang. Picking up her smartphone, she glanced at the caller ID.

'Mummy'

Her hand jerked upwards as she hurriedly answered the call, taking off her headphones. Her heart beat in her chest as she heard the familiar voice of her mother.

"Takane, sweetie?"

"Mom! Eh, good morning!"

"Good morning to you too, dear. Haruka's mom was worried that something was going on, seeing as he didn't answer his phone. Is he fine?"

Haruka didn't answer his phone?

Takane scrambled up to her feet as she walked out into the living room, the sounds of the television replacing what would have been silence. Haruka was there, sitting quietly, watching the show.

"Hey, Haruka..?"

"Yes?"

"Your phone rang." ("Oh? Hey, Emily, you're son's fine! Takane's talking to him right now.")

"…Phone.." He trailed off at the end, his statement sounding more like a question instead. Quickly getting up, he rushed to his room, and soon walked out. "..It did rang." He murmured, stating the obvious to Takane.

She was more than amused at this point. Haruka's strange behavior wasn't driving her nuts, oddly. She adjusted the headphones on her neck as she listened to her mother talk.

"Haruka's mother wants to talk to Haruka. Would you kindly pass him the phone, sweetie?"

…Holy shit. How the hell did it come to this?!

Kuroha realized his very mistake once he was (very) forcefully repelled back from taking control. Haruka's body was just within his fingertips, but now he was stuck at the corner of this mind once more. He looked through the eyes of Haruka, but it wasn't him controlling him. Oh noo, it was the air head. Did he make a miscalculation somewhere?

If there was a God out there, then he must be laughing hysterically at this twist of fate. Because Kuroha was currently trying to hold in his laughter as Konoha tried to act normal in front of the pig-tailed girl.

Oh, and did he mention that he was failing miserably at it?

Every pause, Kuroha knew, made the girl suspicious. Konoha tried to imitate Haruka, but of course, when that failed, tried to call Haruka, but that little human was snoring away in the confines of his own mind, too deep in sleep (unconsciousness) to give a single damn about what was currently happening right now in the outside world.

Kuroha was utterly reluctant to help Konoha when he turned to him for help. (…You're the one who forced me out of control. You take responsibility.)

However, after a few moments, a horrifying thought shot through Kuroha's mind. If the girl found out that Haruka had voices in his head, he would certainly be classified as crazy, wouldn't he? And if he was deemed mad, he would be sent to a hospital of sorts, and then Kuroha would be stuck there for the rest of Haruka's mind's life, not being able to do a single damn thing 'cause he's stuck in that white room.

Kuroha shivered at the thought of having Konoha ask questions repeatedly over and over with no end.

Oh hell no, he wasn't about to let the idiot ruin his plans.

[..Fine, I'll help you.]

[T-Thank you..]

[Raise the phone to your ear first. Then we'll listen to what the human's mom has to say.] Konoha did exactly just that.

"Haruka, are you okay? Why didn't you answer your phone?"

…Ah, the age old question – and Kuroha already had an answer to that.

[Say 'I fell asleep on the sofa, haha, sorry!' Make sure to laugh nervously. I'm sure you know how to do that, yes?]

[I.. I think so..]

[Great.]

"I fell asleep on the sofa, hehe, sorry!" Perfect. Wonderful, subarashii. Whatever. As long as this fool didn't spoil their cover, Kuroha was okay with letting him reign control – albeit it'd be best if Haruka woke up. The best imitation of a personality one could do was someone who had that exact same personality, after all.

Although, if things were.. different, so to speak, if Kuroha was the one who had taken control, no doubt would he have just purposefully slipped up. He doubted that the girl could put up much of a fight with her scrawny little figure.

"Oh, you better get more sleep tonight then! I'll be informing Takane about this, too. Anyways, how's your stay with her?"

It was painfully obvious that the boy's mind wanted her son to just hook up with the girl. He couldn't attest to that, however. She was much too.. ah, hot headed for his tastes. Then again, it wasn't him that Haruka's mom had in mind, so his own tastes didn't matter.

A shame, really.

Maybe if he found the right human girl, he wouldn't need to kill the hypothetical girlfriends Haruka would have – seeing as practically all of those hypothetical girlfriends just didn't suit his dream girl he had in mind. A simple mistake.

Right, back to the situation at hand.

Haruka, or Konoha, stared blankly at Takane. She watched him with curious eyes, wondering what his mom was asking. After all, if it made the normally expressive Haruka look this blank, it must've been a really weird question, right?

[What do I say..?]

Ah, what was that human word again?

Shit.

How was his stay with her? How was Haruka's stay with her?
Looking at it from his mom's standpoint, she probably wanted Haruka to say something along the lines of 'Perfect! I love staying with Takane', so that's what Kuroha told the airhead to say.

[Say: Really good! I love staying with Takane!]

Bleh, even the mock happiness in his voice was making him sick.

"Really good! I love staying with Takane." The way Konoha said that sentence made it sound a little lifeless and his tone made it seem like he was reciting from a script, and even Kuroha was a little flabbergasted at how he simply said it like that. Didn't he know what 'acting' was?

However, Kuroha's attention was diverted from the call when he noticed the pigtailed girl tense a little, her cheeks starting to glow a crimson red. Oh, that. How could he ever forget? He swore again to whatever God above, (not like he believed in any, really.) that if that idiotic girl decided to confess on the day he finally took control, he would be killing that girl off in a very, very, cliché way.

And that included breaking her mentally and physically.

Kuroha scoffed at that ridiculous statement he had thought of, realizing that he was lowering himself to a mere 'evil human'. Eh, it had been a long time since he stretched his fingers around a delicate neck, so he supposed that the statement was a definite testament to his love for killing?

If voices could blink, then Kuroha did just that.

He shook his non-existent head, deciding to concentrate on the more important problem that had already arisen.

"That's good, honey!"

…Was this what 'conversation' was?

[I.. I think we should say something..?]

[What do you mean 'we'? You're the one talking.] Kuroha snapped, feeling his temper slowly flaring. Konoha was just too ignorant, hell, even that Haruka boy was better than him.

[…Ask the boy's mom this: What have you been doing, mom?]

"..What have you been doing, mom?"

Again, Konoha got the words perfectly down, it was just that slight pause in the beginning. If the girl was already slightly suspicious, that would certainly arouse and encourage that feeling – which was what Kuroha wanted to avoid. If he wanted her to be suspicious, he could do it using his own methods, but right now, was neither the time nor place for her to start having that little seed of doubt sown in her mind.

"I've been having fun! Ahaha, actually, I've been locked up in this hotel, not really locked up though, so don't worry, with Takane's mom. We're having a blast here, there's free food and drinks – shoutout to Mr. Tateyama for supplying the money! That's about it for these two days, though. I won't be able to call once tomorrow arrives, that's when the real work starts. I hope you continue to enjoy your lovely stay, dear! Oh, Takane's mom wants to talk to her daughter now. Goodbye sweetie, and make sure to behave yourself~!"

…That major emphasis on the word 'behave' certainly made Kuroha's imagination almost run wild.

Without his instructions, Konoha passed the phone to Takane, and simply turned around, facing the television screen once more.

[...Kuro, why did Haruka's mother said the word 'behave' like that?]

Kuroha could barely hold back the snicker as he replied, trying to sound calm.

[Why don't you ask Haruka later, hmm? I'm sure that he knows.]

Ah yes. He was sure that Haruka knew what his mom meant, if he even remembered this conversation, of course.

Takane's voice rang in the air as she energetically talked, eyes occasionally darting to Konoha as she rambled on and on. Kuroha could care less about that, however. Once the girl was finally done talking, she placed her phone on the glass table that was positioned next to the couch, gesturing to the sketchbook that now lied on the floor.

"Uhh… Are you going to pick that up?"

Konoha automatically reached down and grasped the book, bringing it up. He placed the object next to the phone, eyes soon looking at Takane. Silence hung in the air, and obviously, Takane wasn't really happy about this. (Haruka would bring up a random subject by now…)

She stood up, awkwardly muttering that she would be in her allocated room for a bit, before walking off. Today's silence seemed to be even thicker than yesterdays, and coupled with Haruka's strange and unusual behavior, it really bugged her. But she was much too.. ah, shy to do anything, so she simply left it at that, hoping that the male would return to his normal conduct soon enough.

[Oh hey, you chased her away.]

[…I did..?]

[No, you didn't.]

[..Okay.]

It was taking a long time for Haruka to wake up. The male would have woken up by now and regained his pale body back. Did he perhaps inflict too much pain on the boy? It wasn't even that much, really. Just a small, sharp, burning and stinging pain that made him almost throw up. ..Was that the reason why? Kuroha knew that he shouldn't overestimate the human body, but at that moment, he just wanted to take over – which resulted in this huge mess.

Oh well, he learnt from his mistakes, so the next time he tried again, he would have to lower the amount of pain he caused.

Or maybe he should increase the dosage instead.

…This little pain factor was a double-edged sword, wasn't it?

"Haruka? Are you hungry?" Her voice came ringing in the air once more. Konoha turned around, head tilted to side as he mumbled out a reply. "..Yes." Takane nodded, headphones still dangling around her neck as she took light, quick and short steps towards the kitchen, perhaps glad that at least this 'new' Haruka still retained his appetite.

To be honest, she wasn't even feeling that hungry, but since it was Haruka she was staying with, he would perhaps appreciate the early lunch. (Early for her, anyway)

[..What do you think Takane will cook, Kuro?]

[Mhhhm, I don't care.]

…

Funny how his demeanor always seemed to lighten up whenever it was just him and the airhead. Say, like how his words would be less aggressive than usual, and how he spoke more, the basics.

He didn't want to do that, but those words always escape his (once again) non-existent mouth, and he soon found himself conversing with the white-haired male.

Was it because of the fact that he had spent more time confined to this mind with the other, and also added with the fact that Haruka had tried to ignore him when he first decided to try and talk to him?

Perhaps so.

He was sounding – and thinking more and more in a rather odd way today. Did the sudden repulsion do something to him? He hoped not, he loved his (unique) personality too much to let it go.

She expertly minced the carrots that she had found, slicing each part of the ingredient into equal parts. It was a skill that she perhaps had long mastered. Haha, very funny. A few ingredients, ranging from meat to vegetables lied neatly in a row on the counter as she prepared them. It wasn't going to be a feast like yesterday night, (good God, how did Haruka even cook that fast?) more of a little restaurant-quantity meal. Sprinkling the carrots into the boiling pot, she moved on to the meat next, now done with the vegetables.

Mind you, unlike a certain soda-loving boy, Takane could actually cook. Ayano always had created the most delicious of recipes, (and for every perfect recipe she made, there were tons of failed, burnt and simply inedible food thrown in the trash, but let's not talk about that) and Takane had made it known to her scarfed friend that she, too, wanted to learn how to cook.

Which resulted in a few weeks of major training.

But hey, it was all worth it. At least she could cook something nice! Finally done with roasting the meat, she set aside the cooked food, getting ready the soup and vegetables. She hadn't even finished adorning the dish yet! Quickly throwing in some spices to both the soup and meat, she set those on the table, while her other hand held the vegetables.

A few more minutes passed, and in that span of time, Takane had finished putting her final touches (and spices, again) on the dishes.

"Haruka! You can eat now."

Takane sat down, wondering to herself why didn't she taste test her cooked food first, trying to hide the look of nervousness that was threatening to show.

Using her chopsticks to pick up a piece of chicken, she carefully placed it into her mouth after making sure that it wasn't hot enough to burn her tongue. As she chewed, the flavor burst in her mouth, and she left out a satisfied sigh of relief as she swallowed.

Whew!

At that very moment, Haruka came walking in, taking a seat as he smiled at her.

Of course, that was when she knew that her cooking was a success as Haruka started to hungrily eat, chomping up the food like they were simple nothing but mere rolls of rice that could easily be eaten in just a bite.

Was it just her, or did he had a bigger appetite (more than usual, even, and that idea was a little bit terrifying to her) today?

The fact that the human wasn't up yet should've made Kuroha happy. He was getting a little tired of his naïve words and attitude, after all. But the duration in which Haruka was unconscious for was getting entirely ridiculous. How many hours had passed, anyway? After that generous lunch that Konoha had, the girl had gone back to her room whilst Konoha continued to sit on the couch.

Now, wasn't that just boring?

[..What're you going to do now?]

[I don't know, Kuro.. I'm bored..]

[Talk to the girl, maybe?]

[..Takane? …But I don't have anything I want to say..]

[I was merely suggesting an idea.]

Talking to Konoha was pointless, too. Bored, he poked the imaginary snakes in his head, watching them hiss in a fictional way as his face remained calm and composed. He returned his focus onto Konoha, a little disgust bubbling in him as he continued to observe the other naively think and ask questions, looking up at the world outside in a childish light. Sure, even to him, Konoha was cute and all, but he was.. Well, undeniably...

Useless.

Shaking that thought away, (it would be no good if he hated the other voice – he was going to be stuck with Konoha until Haruka died, after all) he glanced tiredly at the living room. He wanted to laugh at the irony of the situation, after all, it was he who craved the boy's silence, it was he who wanted the boy to just shut the hell up and lose control, but who knew that without Haruka, it would be this boring?

It wasn't like the last few knockout times were this long, so he supposed that it was natural for him to not be used to this.

Still, the little revolting feeling in him came back once more as he felt absolutely delighted – for some reason – once he felt Konoha lose control, feeling Haruka taking control, taking back what was originally his.

A sigh escaping his lips, he listened to Haruka drone on and on about how it was utterly wrong for him to inflict that disastrous pain on him, knocking him out.

But when the male had paused, came to a realization and asked what had happened when he had blacked out, a small laugh of amusement only escaped past Kuroha's (still non-existent) lips, deciding to let Konoha explain everything.

…What a pitiful human.