A/N: After ending the last chapter with such a cliffhanger, I decided that this chapter would have some "real talk". We will see how that goes.
Ayase woke up to the scent of fried egg and looked at her watch. She had been sleeping for about two hours and felt fresh. After putting her clothes back on, she decided to wait a bit longer before leaving the room, thinking of the conversation that would take place once she sat down at the dinner table. Ayase really had no idea what – believable – explanation she could give Kyousuke that would neither reveal too much of the truth nor make him interrogate her even more than he planned. But could she – and should she – hide what happened at home the last few weeks? Ayase had so far not told a single person what had really made her lay off her work and what had really persuaded her to help Kyousuke so much. She knew that she would have to talk to someone in order to keep a hold of herself, but wondered who she could talk to. Kanako? No, not close enough. Other girls at the modeling agency? In the end they were all pretty dull, even Ayase had to admit that. Kirino? Ayase knew that Kirino was the only logical choice, but Kyousuke already had her cornered and maybe with Kyousuke not really knowing Ayase's family, he might be able to provide a point of view not altered by personal opinion of the people involved.
Ayase was lost in thought when she realized that something was off. It did not smell like fried eggs any more, now it was closer to burned eggs. Without thinking about it, Ayase hurried out of the room, catching Kyousuke staring helplessly at the pan. When he heard her approach him from behind he turned around with embarrassment showing on his face. Ayase ran up to the stove, pushed Kyousuke aside and started saving the eggs an giving him orders.
"Kyousuke! Why are you cooking? It is my job to do that. You should not bother with those things. I hoped you would use the time to study..." Ayase said while looking at him, showing her disappointment.
"Well, I planned on studying, but actually remembered that all of my stuff is still in my room, so I could not study..." Kyousuke explained while trying to follow Ayase's orders "And then I decided that I might just go ahead and cook dinner for us, hoping that you would wake up soon. The only thing I feel, uh, felt actually, making is fried eggs. Also there was nothing else from the groceries we bought that I could use, so after reading a bit I went ahead and started cooking. Well, you see how that ended. But I think some of it is still edible, I'll just take the burnt parts myself."
Ayase looked at him, now with suspicion in her eyes. "You looked into the grocery bags?"
"Uh, yes, why?" Kyousuke responded, then remembered the medicine he found in there and suddenly was not sure if he should not have looked into the bags. "Was there something in there that I was not supposed to see?" he asked, keeping eye contact so he could see any signs of lies.
"Uh, no. What makes you think that, Onii-san?" Ayase tried to look him straight into the eyes but could not hold his gaze and looked down.
"Your reaction to me saying that I looked into the bags actually showed that there is something."
"...Well... yes, there is some medicine in there. But you were not supposed to see that." Ayase tried to explain. Kyousuke would not get her get away with such an easy answer.
"Why was I not supposed to see it? I looked at all of the pills and there were painkillers as well as sleeping pills. And not just your normal headache pill, those are far stronger. Ayase, you promised me to tell me what is going on with you after you slept. I don't want to have to corner you to get a real answer from you. Just tell me why you need those kind of pills and why you have those bruises." Kyousuke tried to show how he truly worried about Ayase, but she seemed to shy away, now intimidated. He took her by the hand, guided her to the table and sat her down. Ayase seemed confused, but so far did not protest. When he gave her a plate with good fried egg and sat himself down opposite of her and started eating she did the same. He had decided that he would rather have her well nourished before having what stood out to be a tough talk. Throughout the whole meal, neither of the two said a word, but Ayase kept darting glances over to Kyousuke. When they were finished, Kyousuke put away the plates and once again sat down.
Taking her hand into his and looking into her eyes, he said "Now, Ayase. Talk to me. You can tell me everything, whatever is going on, tell me about it and we, together, will figure out a way to fix whatever is bothering you."
Ayase looked him deep into his eyes, tears forming in hers, and started telling him everything.
A/N: Well, turns out that I had too much fun writing about how the "real talk" starts so that it won't even be part of this chapter. But next chapter should be a bit more satisfying for those wondering what is really going on with Ayase. Sorry for the cliffhanger :D