"Of all the rude, conceited...Aarrgh!"

Ahiru was still stewing over that morning's confrontation. Not only had she almost died of fright, she'd then been insulted by the self-same jerk who scared her. It was still a little early to go to her make-up classes with Mr. Cat but she'd rather be early to a class with Mr. Cat than stay in close confines with that arrogant jerk.

Even if he was rather good looking.

She flushed and shook her head, trying to dispel that errant thought. Even if he was attractive, he had been undeniably rude to her. All in all, Fakir was not the person she had imagined he would be. Being Mytho's brother and all, she'd imagined he'd be a little like Mytho, gentlemanly and kind, even when others told her that the brother was totally different. She sighed and hopped off the bus, trudging up toward the dormitories. She needed to grab her leotard and her towel in her dorm room. She wondered if Pike was already here…The magenta-haired girl also had to make-up some classes, though she had to attend fewer classes than Ahiru.

"Ahiru!"

Ahiru froze, goosebumps rising up on her arms. She slowly turned around and groaned. Standing there, unnaturally sparkling, was Femio. This was definitely not a good morning for her. The little glimmer of happiness she'd been feeling from the night before completely vanished with the appearance of the pompous 'prince'.

"Hey, Femio," she forced a smile on her face though it was hard, "Look, I really can't talk now, I have to go to class."

The sparkling boy lost some of his perkiness but was soon grinning again, "That's a shame. I wanted to see if you wanted to go to the dorm Christmas party tonight…you know, since you don't really have anywhere or anyone to spend Christmas with."

Ahiru felt a twinge of irritation and uncharacteristically glared, "For your information, I have plans tonight. Now, if you'll excuse me."

Without another word, she turned on her heel and stomped her way up to her dorm. As if one jerk wasn't bad enough…

She was still fuming when Pike found her outside of the classroom door, muttering angrily under her breath. Pike sighed good-naturedly, settling in beside her friend.

"What's got you into such a foul mood this morning?"

"Don't even get me started," Ahiru muttered darkly, "I've had my share of jerks for the day."

Pike laughed heartily, amused, "Okay, what happened?"

"Remember how I told you that Mytho's family thought I was his girlfriend and that they invited me to their Christmas party?" She waited for Pike's nod before continuing, "Well, I went. It was great, Pike! The food was delicious and you should hear Drosselmeyer tell his stories! Anyway, it got really late and they insisted that I stay the night. So, I stayed. Unfortunately, the bed they let me borrow was Fakir's, Mytho's brother. See, he didn't show up so they thought it wouldn't be a problem."

Pike cocked her head, "And why was that unfortunate?"

"Because he did show up! He came in early this morning," Ahiru wailed, her face reddening again, "He crawled into the bed and nearly gave me a heart attack! And then he actually had the nerve to insult me! Not only that, Femio was by the front gate this morning and chipped in with his own insulting remarks!"

Pike whistled low, "Wow, sounds like you had a pretty exciting morning. What's the brother like? Everyone says the two are nothing alike. Is it true?"

Ahiru nodded, pouting, "Completely different. And I don't only mean their looks. Their personalities are totally opposite! Mytho is like a fairy-tale prince…Fakir, on the other hand, is more like the fire-breathing dragon!"

Pike laughed again, "Is that so? But is he cute?"

Ahiru colored prettily, "Until he opens his mouth."

"Well, this is a surprise," both girls turned at the sound of Mr. Cat's voice, "You two are actually early. Come to put in a bit of extra effort?"

"Most definitely," Pike giggled and Ahiru just nodded, looking like she wanted to be anywhere but there. There weren't many students in the make-up class but Mr. Cat pushed them just as hard as if there were a normal number of students. By the time the class was over, Ahiru was beat and had been proposed to at least five times.

"Want to go and get hot chocolate?"

Ahiru shook her head, changing her clothes, "I promised Edel I would go to the hospital to visit Mytho. I'll see you tomorrow."

Pike waggled her eyebrows, grinning sneakily, "All right. Until tomorrow then."

Ahiru arrived at the hospital a little before two in the afternoon, politely greeting the nurses and doctors she passed. Mytho's nurse told her that the family still hadn't arrived, so she made herself comfortable beside Mytho.

"Hi, Mytho," she whispered softly, smiling, "The doctor says you're doing well but you need to wake up soon. You're really lucky, you know that? Your family is amazing…except for your brother. He's not very nice at all."

"I hope you're not referring to me," Fakir's deep voice echoed from behind her and Ahiru felt her face grow hot. She turned her head toward the voice, feeling sick to her stomach as she met Fakir's forest green eyes.

She pouted, looking away, "You shouldn't listen to other people's conversations. And you aren't nice…Not to me."

He smirked but there was something sad in his eyes that made Ahiru wish she could take back her previous words, "You wouldn't be so nice either if you found a complete stranger in your bed. And quite frankly, I don't trust you."

She gaped, taken aback, "What?"

He walked forward until he stood on the other side of the bed, thoughtfully looking down at Mytho, "I don't believe you're Mytho's girlfriend."

She felt as if he had reached into her chest and grabbed her heart, twisting it painfully, "Y-You don't?"

He met her eyes and for a minute, she felt as if he could see straight into her soul, "No."

She trembled, cold and unsure. For a second, she wanted to blurt out the truth, to tell him that he was right and this was all a farse. A huge, fat lie. But then she remembered Drosselmeyer's pleading face and clicked her mouth shut, looking away.

"Ah, Ahiru! You're here!"

Edel's voice broke the thick silence and she was relieved for the interruption. She could feel Fakir staring at her, his intense eyes following her but she ignored him, even though she still felt a bit unbalanced. Drosselmeyer looked at her with a worried look but she shook her head, smiling shakily. Edel sat beside Mytho now, brushing his hair with soft strokes. Uzura sat beside her, cuddled into Mytho's side. Karon leaned against the wall, looking thoughtful.

"So, Ahiru," Fakir began, sitting beside her on one of the chairs in the back of the room, "When did you and Mytho start dating?"

Ahiru felt a slight panic, cursing her luck, "Uhm…Well, a few w-weeks ago. We have the same dance class and he'd always amazed me with how gracefully he danced."

She sighed wistfully and a little dreamily, not noticing that Karon's expression seemed a bit strained and pained, "He's a wonderful dancer…Unlike me. I just can't seem to look as graceful when dancing. My friends say I look like a duck when I dance and my teacher has already told me that the pas de deux is out of my league."

Fakir grunted, "A duck, huh? I can believe that."

"And then you sound offended when I say you're not nice," Ahiru huffed, turning away from him. She failed to see the small amused smile on the young man's lips. Edel looked at Fakir, a knowing smile surging up on her face as if she knew something he had yet to figure out.

Fakir cleared his throat, looking away from Edel, "Do you happen to know Mytho's favorite color?"

"Blue," Ahiru guessed and smiled smugly when Fakir frowned. But it seemed the young man wasn't quite finished. He continued asking her question after question about Mytho, most of which she took wild guesses which surprisingly turned out to be right.

Edel, who had been watching the whole thing, suddenly stood, "Fakir, enough! What is this, twenty questions? Why are you interrogating her like this?"

"Because I don't believe that Mytho is going out with her," he defended himself, sounding irritated, most likely because Ahiru had answered every question correctly.

"What? Fakir, that's a horrible thing to say," Edel frowned, looking displeased, "Ahiru wouldn't lie about something like this, would you dear?"

Ahiru's face colored instantly and she shared a look with Drosselmeyer before answering, "No."

Edel smiled triumphantly, "See?"

"I'm still not convinced," he grumbled and that made Ahiru irritated. Why did he have to be so perceptive? She stood suddenly, glaring down at the boy.

"Yeah? Well, I bet you don't know that Mytho has a tattoo of a crown on his behind!"

The whole family turned to her, eyes wide. Ahiru slapped a hand over her mouth, mortified. Uzura looked between all the adults, confused, "Behind, zura? You mean his butt, zura?"

Ahiru reddened further, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to say that!"

Drosselmeyer emitted a shrill giggle, "Is it really true? He has a tattoo on his butt?"

Ahiru now felt as if her face was on fire but she nodded. Drosselmeyer laughed, tears coming out of his eyes, "Well, there's your proof, Fakir! Now, who's going to check if she's telling the truth?"

Fakir flushed as well, "I'm not doing it."

Karon shook his head, "Men don't look at other men's…Forget it, I'm not going to look."

Edel sighed, lifting up the covers from the unconscious boy, "It seems I'll have to do it then."

There was complete silence as Edel rummaged around. Ahiru had heard about the tattoo from Pike, whose brother ran the tattoo parlor where Mytho had supposedly gone to. Ahiru had been shocked when Pike had told her and had made a promise to herself that she wouldn't share what she knew with anyone. But Fakir had made her so angry, she'd erupted. Edel's eyes suddenly widened and she fixed Mytho again, letting the covers fall back into place. She looked at Ahiru, her dark blue eyes shocked.

"Well?"

She switched her gaze onto Karon, wringing her hands, "It's not a bad crown. It's actually pretty well-drawn."

Everyone gasped, their faces all flushed. Ahiru turned toward Fakir, blushing but smirking triumphantly, "Now do you believe me?"

He turned his shocked green eyes onto her and couldn't do anything but nod.