Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with Suzuka, that's all Kouji Seo.

Chapter 6

Yamato and Honoka were walking on the sidewalk enjoying themselves having a conversation with each other. They soon arrived at a train station and purchased tickets and went to the train that was boarding. As Yamato and Honoka went inside and got seated next to a window, the conductor announced for the departure and the doors closed. Soon after, the train moved with Yamato and Honoka smiling as they were ready to go to a mall.

Asahiyu Heights

Ayano was in the kitchen washing dishes and she was not in a happy mood. She was still bothered about the things that her own nephew said to her last night and earlier right before he left for the day. She had remembered the conversation he had with her sister, Yamato's mother Kotono just three days before concerning Yamato's attitude and his habit to say things that may upset people. Kotono had asked Ayano if she was really willing to put with Yamato to have him live in her apartment complex. Ayano had assured her that it would be no problem and she figured that Yamato would still have the kindness and that it wouldn't be a hassle when he arrived. She began to regret making that assumption as she felt that Yamato had done nothing but insult her and insult Suzuka and she felt that he was just being bitter for all that had happened. Ayano sighed and wondered what she was going to do. She felt the need to lay down the law and act as landlady and didn't want her nephew to get the idea that he could say and do what he pleases.

"Mom," Miho called.

Ayano turned to see Miho and raised her eyebrow.

"Oh Miho, what is it?" Ayano asked.

"Do you have a moment?"

"Oh, sure. Um, wait a moment; I'm almost finished with the dishes."

Ayano proceed and finished up the dishes and then she dried her hands and sat down with Miho.

"Mom, I still think what you're doing is a bit mean, making Yamato work for free for the wall repair," Miho said.

"Miho, we've discussed this."

"Yeah but I don't understand why you're making Yamato repay you back for the repair when he wasn't even the one that caused the damage."

Ayano was silent and looked at her left side.

Miho continued, "Mom, don't you see, this kind of thing will only encourage Yamato to want to leave here quicker and not have anything to do with us."

"I get what you're saying Miho," Ayano said.

"Then…?"

"I don't want Yamato to feel that he has to leave but at the same time, I don't want Yamato to think he can question my judgment as landlady and insult whoever he feels like. If Yamato had not ranted on about the hole, then it wouldn't be an issue."

"But…is it really about the hole in the wall in his room…or is it really something else?"

"Something….what…Miho, what are you talking about?" Ayano asked confused.

"Ah…" Miho looked down and shook her head, "no, never mind."

Miho stood up and walked away. As Ayano saw her daughter leave, she had hand on her face and sighed. Meanwhile Miho was walking feeling a bit depressed.

"I'm not one who questions on how Mom does things," Miho said in her head, "but it's just that…"

"Miho," Suzuka called.

Miho looked and saw Suzuka, "Oh Suzuka."

"What's wrong Miho? You looked depressed," Suzuka said looking very concerned.

Miho was about to say what was on her mind but then stopped herself and shook her head.

"No, it's nothing," Miho replied.

Miho simply walked away and Suzuka looked at Miho as she left.

"Well okay, um, if you want to talk, I'll listen," Suzuka said.

"Sure," Miho responded.

Suzuka didn't know what was going on but she felt that something was bothering Miho.

A Mall

Yamato and Honoka arrived at a mall and they looked around trying to figure where to start first.

"Oh, let's start over there first Honoka," Yamato said pointed at store.

Honoka looked at the store and nodded, "Sure let's go."

Yamato and Honoka went to a store sold various cups, cooking utensils, and silverware and they were looking to see which ones to buy as they both enjoyed cooking. Afterwards, Yamato and Honoka went to a clothing store and it was there that Honoka was trying out various clothes and showing them to Yamato who nodded and smiled at each one she was wearing saying that she was looked good in everyone that she tried on. She went on to continue try more clothes with the help of the sales associate there. Afterwards, they left with bags and headed to another place.

They went inside an arcade and played various games. Honoka and Yamato played a fighting game against each other and were very competitive with each other. Their own game play was intense that it drew in a fair number of people watching them as they were impressed with the skill that Yamato and Honoka were displaying and at the end it was 10-10 with the both of them. They decided to call it quits for the day and hoped they would be able to settling it with each other in one more game and they were surprised at the number of people they drew in and the people were clapping at their skills which led them to smile and feel humbled that the people watching felt that way.

They went in to a bookstore and they looked and checked out various books. Honoka looked at a book and as she read it, she was hooked to it. Yamato saw Honoka getting hooked to a book and couldn't help but to smile and then he went to her.

"Honoka," Yamato spoke.

Honoka was still reading and didn't hear what Yamato was saying. Yamato figured this would happened and then he put his hand on the page that Honoka was reading, surprising Honoka and making her look at Yamato.

"Oh Yamato," Honoka spoke.

"I see you like this book," Yamato said.

"Oh yeah, sorry I didn't mean to ignore you."

"Ah, don't worry about it. Think about getting it?"

"I would," Honoka then had a sad expression, "but it's just that it out of my price range right now."

Yamato looked at the price of the book and then thought about it and then nodded with a smile.

"Tell you what, I'll buy it for you," Yamato said.

Honoka was surprised, "Wait Yamato, are you sure? I don't want you to trouble yourself…"

"It's no trouble Honoka," Yamato assured her, "I want to do this," Yamato grinned, "consider it a gift from me to you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I want to do, so let me."

Honoka was amazed at Yamato's kindness and that he was willing to buy the book for her.

"Um okay, if that's what you want…"

"Great," Yamato said as he took the book and picked up bookmarker to place the page that Honoka was reading.

He took them to the cashier purchased the book the book himself and then went back to Honoka and gave her the book with the bookmarker and Yamato smiled. Throughout the whole thing, Honoka couldn't help but blush and smile at what Yamato had just done for her. It was the way Yamato does things for her and she couldn't help but to fall for him even more. They were in the bookstore a bit more as Yamato bought some books for himself as well.

Afterwards, they left the mall and headed a museum and they went to the section of the Sengoku Period. Yamato was looking at history regarding the samurai class with glee and Honoka couldn't help but to smile at Yamato. After some time, they left the museum and went to a movie theater and Yamato bought tickets to see an action movie that had a samurai theme. They were in the theater and watching the movie with glee.

A few hours later, they were in a café and ordered some food and drinks for themselves.

"This has been a great day," Honoka said with glee, "Yamato, thank you so much for today."

"It's my pleasure," Yamato said with a grin, "it's been so pleasant and it took my mind off some things. So really, it's I who should thank you Honoka."

"Oh my, Yamato, you're sweet," Honoka said blushing.

They continued with their conversations with laughs and giggles and then their orders arrived later on and they enjoyed their meals. They finished up and they decided to do one last thing for their day together and left the café and went to a park. They walked around in the park and enjoyed the view of many places in the park and then they stopped by and checked out the fountain that was shooting up water in a rhythm.

Sakurai Residence

It was dawn and Yamato and Honoka arrived at the entrance of Honoka's house.

"This has been a great day," Yamato said.

"It has," Honoka replied, "Yamato, thank you so much. It really means a lot to me and again, thank you for buying the book for me."

"It was my pleasure," Yamato said with a smile.

"I promise I'll do something for you in return."

"Honoka, I'm telling you don't worry about it. I wanted to do it. Like I said, it's a gift and don't worry about paying me back. I won't accept the idea anyway."

Honoka blushed had felt warm from Yamato's kind words.

"You really are a sweet guy Yamato," Honoka said.

Yamato suddenly put his hands on Honoka's shoulders surprising her.

"Let's do it again sometime," Yamato said with a warm smile.

Honoka smiled and nodded, "Yes, lets."

Honoka and Yamato said their goodbyes with Honoka making the comment that she's looking forward in being in the same school as Yamato and hoped that they would be in the same class. Yamato was happy with that response and hoped for that as well. Honoka went inside her house and Yamato headed back to the Asahiyu Heights.

Asahiyu Heights

Yamato had just returned and was heading to his apartment with his bags.

"Yamato, you're back," Miho spoke.

Yamato turned to saw Miho who had her hands behind her back.

"Oh hi Miho," Yamato greeted.

"So…how was your date with Honoka?" Miho asked.

"It wasn't a date, it was just two best friends hanging out and it was fun," Yamato explained.

Behind her back, Miho squeezed her hands, "I see…"

"Was there was something else?"

"Um…n-no, I guess not," Miho said with her head down, "I'll see you at dinner time."

"Yeah, sure," Yamato said with a shrug and he opened the door to his apartment and went inside.

As Yamato closed the door behind him, Miho felt upset and gritted her teeth.

"That Yamato," Miho said in a quiet tone, "why is so happy when it comes to Honoka?" Miho shook her head and she was frustrated, "Yamato…"

It was dinner time in the Asahiyu Heights and Ayano had just prepared the food for herself, her daughter Miho, and her tenants. People were walking in one by one starting with Yuka and then Suzuka, and then Megumi and Miho came by. All the ladies sat in their spots and the only one who had not shown up yet was Yamato.

"Is Yamato coming?" Miho asked being concerned.

"I'm sure he will," Ayano said.

Yamato then arrived and he simply sat down on his own spot. He looked around and saw Megumi smiling at him and waving at him as he responded by smiling back and nodded. Yamato saw Yuka looking at him and he responded by glaring at her in which Yuka didn't appreciate but simply looked away as she was not willing to have trouble. Yamato noticed that Suzuka was looking at him and then when Suzuka realized that Yamato noticed, she quickly looked away from him with a frown. Yamato simply shrugged at Suzuka's behavior.

"All right, now that everyone is here, let's eat," Ayano declared with a smile.

"Yes," Miho said with glee.

"Aunt Ayano," Yamato spoke.

"Huh, what is it Yamato?" Ayano asked.

"I need to talk to about the fact that you decide that I should work for free for a month and a half in order to pay you back for the repairing of the wall in my room. I'm willing to talk to you about it while we're eating or I can wait until after dinner."

"Oh I see, but there's nothing to discuss," Ayano said with a smile, "I made it clear that it was non-negotiable. You have no say in the matter."

"I find it sad that you're trying to get out of taking responsibility," Suzuka added.

Yamato simply smiled, "Ah Suzuka, once again, your idiocy amazes me when it fact that the damage to my wall wasn't even my fault. An idiot who breaks the rules here and put herself in danger shouldn't be lecture to anyone about responsibility, especially one who makes false judgment on someone and refuses to admit that they're wrong."

Suzuka flinched and glared at Yamato, "Why you…"

Yamato decided to ignore her and looked at Ayano with a smile, "Aunt Ayano, I would respectfully suggest that you wipe that smile off your face."

This shocked everyone in the room as they all gasped at what Yamato said.

Ayano was still smiling but it was a strain for to keep smiling, "Y-Yamato, did you just tell me to…"

"I said wipe that smile off your face Auntie," Yamato said with a serious tone and expression.

"Hey, how do you think you are talking to your aunt like that?" Suzuka said irritated with Yamato.

Yamato just looked at Suzuka and then he went back at looking at his aunt as everyone else was still in shock with what Yamato just said.

Ayano was starting to get angry, "Yamato, I don't know who you think you are but you're going too far."

"She's right," Yuka said, "I also don't know who you think you are but you can't just insult your aunt like that. Don't forget that she's not making you pay rent here."

"Yamato, I'm afraid that I can't agree with what you're doing right now," Megumi said feeling a bit sad.

"Yamato, you shouldn't talk like that to my mom," Miho said.

Yamato crossed his arms, "I know that what I just did is considered to be disrespectful, especially to one of my own relatives but considering what has happened here since I've been here yesterday and how my own aunt is towards me, I'm not going to apologize for my rudeness. Aunt Ayano, you went and had the wall to my room fixed. I would thank you for that if it was not the fact that you decided that I have to pay you back by working for free for a month and a half."

"What's the matter, you think you can't handle that?" Ayano said with a glare, "I said you have no choice in the matter."

"That's where you're wrong," Yamato countered, "I do have a choice in the matter and I'm choosing not to go along with this farce."

"This farce?" Ayano said twitching an eyebrow.

"Auntie, there is no justification of what you want me to do. I was not even the one who damaged the wall to my room in the first place and you were the one that assigned me to that room knowing full well of the hole but you simply didn't care. I bet if it was anyone else here, you would had the wall fixed and wouldn't even charge them for it and it would be no problem for you."

"Yamato, you don't…you just don't understand," Ayano said, "I'm doing this because I need to. You need to understand that I'm acting as a landlady in the apartment complex which means that I have to make sure that it is known who is in charge here."

"I don't buy that," Yamato countered, "there is only one real reason that you're doing this to me, something so petty and vindictive and that is you're upset that I pointed out things to you last night," Yamato looked at Suzuka with a glare making Suzuka angry and then looked back at his aunt, "I say what goes on and that I point out what's wrong and you can't stand that, just like my parents and my siblings. The only difference is that so far, you don't beat the crap out of me like my dad does."

Yuka, Megumi, Miho, and even Suzuka were surprised to hear that. Ayano frowned upon hearing that as well.

Yamato continued, "Pretty soon, I'll be leaving this place and never set foot here again but I'm willing to work here for now and get paid, that was something that was agreed on and now you're going back on your agreement for your petty and vindictive reasoning Auntie and I won't just let it go on. If you insist on abusing your authority, I will have no choice to take legal action against you."

The ladies were surprised again.

"Are you serious?" Suzuka asked, "You would actually do that? That's despicable!"

"Say what you want Suzuka, I won't back down on this."

"H-Hey, maybe you should chill out on this," Yuka suggested

"Tch, the harassing drunken pervert telling me to chill out," Yamato shook his head.

Yuka was annoyed and was about to say and do something in retaliation but Megumi stopped her and when Yuka looked at Megumi surprised, she saw Megumi shaking her head.

"Yamato, I'm appalled," Ayano said, "I'm appalled that you would threaten me."

"It's not a threat Auntie, it's a promise," Yamato said calmly, "I'm confident that if I take legal action against you, no matter how you try to justify it, I'll win and then it'll just be another problem for you, a problem that you definitely don't need. I will say that I do appreciate you letting me stay without having to worry about paying rent but that doesn't give a pass to try to bully in something that really doesn't make sense. If I was the one who caused the damage to the wall in my room, then it would be a different matter and I would understand why you feel the need for me to pay you back for repairs but I didn't and there's no just reason for what you're doing. Anyway, that's all I wanted to tell you," Yamato put his hands together and closed his eyes, "Itadakimasu."

Yamato took his chopsticks and began to eat his meal while everyone in the room was still shocked from what Yamato had just said. Ayano was starting to become furious, Miho was sad and didn't know how to feel, she knew that Yamato was right in what he was saying but at the same time, she didn't like how Yamato spoke to her mother and she was also worried that Yamato was double his efforts to find another place to live and make sure he cut his ties with her which was something she didn't want. Yuka couldn't believe what she was hearing and then starting to think that this guy was no pushover and reminded herself to be cautious and not give him any reason to rip on her. Megumi was surprised as well. Although she didn't like how Yamato spoke to his aunt, she also couldn't help but agree with what he said and she knew that Yamato was right about bringing in legal action as she was sure that if he did that, he would win. Suzuka couldn't help but to think that Yamato was being an insulting jerk for speaking to his own aunt in such a manner and she was starting to despise Yamato even more. The ladies reluctantly went ahead and ate their meals and the dinner time was uncomfortably silent.

That's it for this chapter. Next chapter: As Yamato prepares for his first day in high school, Yamato goes shopping with Suzuka, much to his dismay.