A/N: Sorry my friends for the long update; have been currenly living like a vampire for work-today was the first time in a long time that I've seen the sun! Didn't realize what a cliffie the last chapter was, heehee! Hope this fulfills the fix!

Disclaimer: I don't own HYD which is sadder than anything since it's 19 degrees outside and how I would LOVE an Tsukasa shaped snuggler.


With a muted chime, the elevator came to a silent halt on the twenty-first floor; Tsukushi followed behind Hiro with scarcely concealed trepidation.

The floor layout here was different, with a receptionist stationed in an elegant foyer directly outside of the elevator bank. Hiro nodded to her briefly before ushering Tsukushi past the foyer through a pair of heavy mahogany double doors. The hallway beyond was decorated in classic sophistication with a majority of the pathway in polished hardwood while the edges were lined in cream carpet. Antique tables with plants and expensive sculptures as well as hanging artwork were displayed throughout the hallway pronouncing gracefully the success of the company. Hiro explained the arrangement as they continued to walk. The rooms they had already passed were the different global managers offices when they were in Tokyo; thus, the manager from North America had an office here, the regional manager of South America, etc. At the end of the hallway was a conference room used for client meetings and special occasions.

"Where's your section," Tsukushi asked. Hiro stopped at a door, "Right here," he said throwing open the door, motioning for her to precede him.

The first thing Tsukushi noticed as she walked into the room was that the arrangement was similar to the design in her own department: the section workers divided the larger space closer to the door as their own while there were offices in the back reserved for section chiefs. Except that the room and the amount of people working here was a much smaller number than the accountants downstairs and that there were not four different managers here, there was only one office. Across the distance Tsukushi could catch a glimpse of curly hair through the glass that separated his office from that of the rest of the section. "Shit!" she thought and hunched forward in an attempt, however inane, to avoid being seen.

Hiro, oblivious to Tsukushi's distress, blithely conducted her on a tour of his section, showing her all the nooks and crannies and reacquainting her with people she had met during her Fiji trip. He brought her Naoki's desk near the far wall for a quick chat but Naoki seemed distracted by a project he was dealing with so they left him to it.

Hiro dragged her towards the back of the section to his desk. Tsukushi, alarmed at the proximity of his desk to where Tsukasa's office stood, tried pulling her wrist from Hiro's grip. "Oh, look at the time," she exclaimed with false surprise, "I have to get back to my floor!"

Hiro stopped and looked at her. "Well, let me just show you the manager's office; Doumyouji-san's got the best view of downtown, you can see everything," he said.

"Oh yes, looks like a very nice office from here. I can even see a window."

"Tsukushi! You're standing behind me, how can you see anything," Hiro asked, exasperated as Tsukushi compressed herself behind his body.

Tsukushi, keeping one eye on the manager's office, tried to placate Hiro. "Well, it's not as if the office is-"

"Hiro!" Both Tsukushi and Hiro turned to see Naoki coming up to them.

"Hiro, sorry to bother you, but the latest response from the investment consortium is not looking good. Do you have the previous projections for the project?"

"Yes, let me help you with that." Hiro turned to Tsukushi, "sorry, but I have to go. Can I show the rest to you later?"

Tsukushi nodded her head and watched as the two men hurried to the far side of the room. She gave a deep sigh of relief, amazed that the potential disaster had somehow been averted and carefully made her way across the room, near one of the rows in the middle of the room.

As Tsukushi picked her way through the aisle, she felt her heart drumming in her chest. His proximity, even across an office floor, was affecting her body. "Its only because I dislike him so much," Tsukushi rationalized. "There's no other reason." Just to prove it to herself, Tsukushi turned for one last glimpse of him.

As the curve of her hair brushed against her jaw, Tsukushi saw the top of his head as he was bent over a document on his desk. The involuntary sigh from her lips froze as slowly, slowly, his head came up. Bit by bit, so much that it felt as if a century passed, his eyes rose up to hers, capturing her gaze. They stared at each other until Tsukasa's body gave a sudden jolt, breaking the spell encircling them.

Tsukushi dropped to the ground, hoping against hope that he hadn't recognized her. She caught her breath but could hear a familiar voice call out, "Hey did you see a woman here?" "Damn it!" she cursed under her breath and began crawling with lighting speed towards the direction of the door.

"What the-Are you ok Tsukushi-chan?" came a voice from her right.

"Yes, yes, fine," she replied, "Dropped a contact, looking for it, don't need help, thanks though," she called out zooming as fast as possible on all fours. She could hear his heavy footsteps walking across the rows inquiring about her and cringed at his booming voice.

"What the hell," she thought feeling perspiration starting to gather on her face. "Why is he so persistent!"

As the door to the outer hallway was in sight, her eyes widened suddenly as she heard his footsteps coming down the carpet behind her. She quickly ducked behind one of the wooden partitions straight into someone's legs.

"Hey, what are you doing?" the man started. He paused to look at her, "Wait, aren't you Takahashi's friend? What are you.."

Tsukushi didn't hear the rest of the question as her field of vision suddenly filled with a pair of gray trouser-clad legs. Tsukushi's eyes traveled up the legs to the bottom of a matching gray suit jacket, up further to a dark blue suit shirt with matching paisley tie, stopping at a furious looking face topped with curly hair. "Tsukushi! What the hell-"

"Look!" Tsukushi shouted springing up suddenly and pointing towards the back window. Both men turned abruptly eyes bulging to see what Tsukushi had been shouting about. Tsukushi took the opportunity and lit like a bat out towards the door.

As she opened the door, she heard Tsukasa roar behind her, "Baka onna! Wait right here!"

"Its there stupid!" she called back slamming the door shut and throwing a plant which had been to her right in front of the door and ran straight down the hallway. "Oh shit, oh shit," she chanted as she heard him follow her, his much, much longer legs eating up the distance between them. She looked back to see him fling the door back so forcefully it took the door off half its hinges and fling the plant away. "Damn," her mind screamed and she increased the speed of her legs.

Adrenaline pumping and mind thrown into overdrive, she realized that the elevators were too far away and too unreliable, which meant…. She plunged suddenly to her right throwing open the door and began rushing down the stairs. "WAIT!" Tsukushi heard Tsukasa bellow behind her and saw he had just started down the stairs as she glanced at him over her shoulder. She turned back forward to increase her speed.

"OH SHIT!" she shrieked as she saw a man coming up, his arms full of boxes; grabbing onto the railing she leaped over its edge to hit straight down onto the next floor.

"BE CAREFUL IDIOT!" She heard then loud cursing as Tsukasa pushed the man to the side and stormed down the stairs. Tsukushi didn't even pause but threw open the door to the floor she had landed on and after a quick glance darted down the hallway to her right.

The floor was a mess and looked as if it was being refurbished; Tsukushi had to leap over several bags of concrete blocking the path to burn down the hallway. She flung up her hand for support against the wall as she tore abruptly to the left…and ran smack into a makeshift wooden wall. "Damn," she cursed and whirled around to see Tsukasa come to a screeching halt almost on top of her. Tsukushi backed up until she felt the wall plastered to her back, panting for breath as Tsukasa advanced on her slowly. She balled her hands into fists preparing to let fly when he closed the distance between them.

"Why you-" she began, ready to curse him six ways from Sunday but became speechless as she realized that he had swept his arms around her body and was embracing her.

Tsukasa bent his head, pressing his face against her hair, "Do you know how long I've been looking for you," he asked, the words muffled against her head. "Three weeks of not knowing where you are, what happened, what you're doing,"

Tsukushi's eyes widened; for the longest moment she stayed still, hearing his thundering heartbeat, inhaling the spicy scent of him. When she realized where she was, she lifted up her hands that had been hanging limply at her side, and grasped his arms to elevate her head from his chest. She looked up, "you were looking for me," she asked, confused. Tsukasa looked down at her, "Yeah," he said with a sigh.

He was looking at her as if to try and memorize her face. Tsukushi felt a shiver running down her back. Tsukasa continued, "I looked for you after I came back, but the dorms were closed at TU." He paused and gave her a little shake, "Do you know how many Makino's there are in Tokyo?"

Tsukushi gave a little smile, "No, but my parents don't live in Tokyo." Tsukasa gave a groan, "No wonder."

Tsukushi gave a shake of her head, "wait stupid, you're getting side-tracked! It always happens with him."

"Hold on, why were you looking for me," she asked, stepping back out of his embrace. Tsukasa dropped his arms and turned so that only have of his face was visible. "I wanted to see you. I didn't know if you had gotten back safely or not." He looked at her from the corner of his eye and then looked forward again. "I mean we went to another country. What if you have gotten sick on the way back or got your luggage lost," he kept rambling as Tsukushi stood back and looked at him skeptically. Tsukasa, seeing her expression, lost his temper, "Whatever, baka onna! I was being chivalry and trying to make sure you hadn't died or anything. Not like you cared or anything," he snorted, "stupid, always running away!"

Tsukushi, ticked off, shouted, "First, its chivalrous moron! Second, I was not running away, I went to visit my family and how was I to know you would come looking for me?"

His brows drew together on his face as a sudden thought came to him, "You do run away, you ran way just now! Why were you running away," he said, gesturing to the floor around him. He loomed over her, getting more and more worked up, "What the hell? You saw me and ran as fast as you possibly could, even after I called you," he yelled at her, shaking the wood behind her.

Tsukushi faced him right back, her hands in fists on her hips, "What do you expect? The first time we meet, we fight, then you lure me to an island along with a bunch of unsuspecting people, sneak attack me for 2 days," she said ticking her fingers off for all of his crimes. "Then you jump on me and expect me to what? Come to your office and say Hi, how are you?" Tsukushi gave him a look of scorn.

Which he didn't even notice, "Why are you always focusing on the bad stuff in our relationship? I might have done some things," he said waving her accusations off with flippant movement of his hand, "but come on-"

Tsukushi interrupted unable to listen to him continue, "Relationship? We," she said flicking her finger between him and herself, "have no relationship."

Suddenly realizing the time, she started to leave, "I have to go, I have work to do." She felt Tsukasa following behind her. "What work? What are you even doing here," he asked at last curious as to her presence in the building. Tsukushi stopped, "What do I say," she thought frantically "oh yeah and I just happen to be working for you?!"

Tsukasa, apparently not one to stop and think rationally for logical reasons, (key words rationally and logical), gave a burst of laughter. "Haa, haa, you came to see me," he pronounced excitedly throwing his head back and cackling. "You couldn't resist my charm and had to come see me," he said completely ignoring the fact that they were presently in a location due to her desire to AVOID him.

Tsukushi narrowed her eyes, arrogant pig! "Why does the world have to revolve around you," she huffed, "what if I said I was here to see Hiro?"

Suddenly Tsukushi found herself thrown against the wall with Tsukasa on top of her clenching her arms in a grasp that hurt. He thrust his face into hers, his eyes narrowed to slits, his face tightened with fury. "You were here to see Hiro," he bit out; Tsukushi could only stare at him. What had happened-they had been fighting as usual and then out of nowhere this….it was as if it was a completely different Tsukasa. She could feel the waves of anger rolling off of him and it scared her. He shook her, hard, causing her head to jerk back and forth as if she were a rag doll, "Is it Hiro? Were you here to see your boyfriend," Tsukasa sneered, his face distorted with fury.

"No I'm not here to see Hiro; I work here now," she blurted out, shocked by the sudden atmosphere change. And like that Tsukasa's face cleared. He dropped his hands off her arms. Tsukushi stared at him warily and slowly edged away unsure if he was back to normal or not. He didn't say anything but stood still, lost in thought. Suddenly a finger came down onto the tip of her nose; Tsukushi, startled, followed it up to see a huge grin on Tsukasa's face.

"You work here now?" Tsukushi gulped, "I so told him the wrong thing," she thought. No use turning back now.

"Yes, I'm interning here for the next six months."

Tsukasa smiled at her craftily, tapping his finger on her nose, "This means you work for me. Haa, haa, haa, you work for me," he exclaimed, throwing back his head and cackling again. Tsukushi stared at him, "this guy! He's like a kid; he goes through so many moods in a space of a few seconds." She looked at him laughing and shook her head slightly. It was as if the rage that had actually terrified her, completely evaporated to nothing.

He still had that crafty look on his face, one Tsukushi did not appreciate, "This means, basically, I control you," he said, giving her a superior look.

Tsukushi glared at him but said nothing, merely waiting to hear what idiocy was going to come out of his mouth. He crossed his arms over his chest, "So I tell you to stop dating Hiro and you do it or your job," he stopped and then gave a shrug, "and probably his are dust."

Well, she hadn't waited for nothing. She batted his finger off her nose and started walking towards the elevators, mad at herself for being scared of this fool.

"Hey," came a shout from behind her, "didn't you hear what I said?" Tsukasa ran to catch up with her, "You stop dating Hiro and-OW!" Tsukasa screeched as Tsukushi slapped him upside the head and then gave him her right hook. He was so surprised he fell, landing flat on his ass.

Tsukushi pressed the elevator up button and then looked down at him, hands on her hips. "You want me to do something," she asked mildly.

Tsukasa looked at her warily but slowly nodded.

"You want me to stop 'dating Hiro' as you said?"

Tsukasa nodded again, unsure of her calm tone.

"So you blackmail me and tell me that my job and that of Hiro's is in jeopardy unless I do what you say? Is that it?"

Tsukasa nodded again, now kind of scared at how gentle she's being.

"Did you really think that was going to work, that I was going to do what you wanted or let you fire me?"

Tsukasa started to nod, then cocked his head as if considering her, and then slowly shook it.

Tsukushi turned away from him, her hair swinging to cover her face. He watched as her shoulders shook; his eyes widened, "is she crying?"

Tsukasa stood up, "Tsukushi," he began beseechingly and then stopped as she turned to face him. Her face was set in a mask but her eyes looked suspiciously bright. Tsukasa froze unable to do anything.

At that moment a bell sounded; they both looked up, the elevator doors opened. Akira looked at them in surprise, "I was coming to see you Tsukasa," he said. He turned to Tsukushi who walked into the elevator silently followed by Tsukasa.

"Hello, Tsukushi."

Tsukushi nodded her head politely but turned to face the elevator doors as they closed, still silent.

"Are you ok," asked Tsukasa, worried as to why she was still quiet. In his experience, Makino Tsukushi was NOT quiet and this response was really starting to get him nervous.

Akira looked a bit pissed off, "Tsukasa you didn't even-"

"Akira not now," Tsukasa bit out and turned back to Tsukushi. "Look, talk to me! Yell at me, whatever. But tell me what's wrong," he said sounding frantic but she refused to move her gaze from the doors. Akira watched the exchange in rapt fascination.

Tsukasa's hand went out to grab her to force her to look at him but the elevator stopped at the 17th floor. The doors opened silently; Tsukushi nodded to Akira again and then looked at Tsukasa. Tsukasa flinched at the bright look that was still in her eyes; Tsukushi turned and silently left the elevator. As the doors closed, Tsukasa slumped against the wall with a groan, closing his eyes in dejection.

"I don't believe it!" Tsukasa looked up to see Akira right in front of him, eyeing him in amazement. "I thought you were merely annoyed by her since she was the first to stand up to you. That your puerile mind was after revenge."

Tsukasa didn't say anything, watching Akira with blank eyes. Akira continued, "But that's not it at all," he looked at Tsukasa with absolute amazement, "you like her!" Tsukasa sighed which tickled Akira even more. He placed a hand on Tsukasa's shoulder, "Come on, admit," Akira said with twinkling eyes, "admit that you like her."

"Ikehr."

"What," Akira asked, confused.

"I like her," mumbled Tsukasa.

Akira took a step back and had to take out his handkerchief to wipe his unexpectedly moist eyes, "To think this day would finally come!" He jumped on top of Tsukasa, squeezing him in a hug, "Oh, your brother is so happy for you!"

"Akira."

"Yes?"

"Get the hell off me, you're scaring my section."

Akira looked up to see that the elevator had stopped at Tsukasa's floor and people had stopped to look at the male bonding taking place in the elevator. "Oh," he quickly released Tsukasa who started walking to his office.

"I clearly see you two are having problems though," Akira said trailing behind Tsukasa. "Tell me what happened and I'll help," Akira said with a confident grin walking with Tsukasa into his office.

Five minutes later, the entire section heard the usually quiet Mimisaki-san screech, "YOU SAID WHAT TO HER?!?"

Tsukushi waited for the elevator to leave before she gave into the emotions crowding her: she let out a peal of laughter.

When he had said that she needed to stop dating Hiro or he would fire the both of them, the first overwhelming emotion she felt had been rage; she wanted to kick him into the next time zone. But after that first, incredibly satisfying smack to his head, something suddenly clicked in her mind: she felt alive. The vague ickyness that had plagued her since Fiji was gone; it was as if she felt every cell in her body awakening.

"Of course it's got nothing to do with him," she thought, "I merely enjoy a good fight."

She continued to chuckle as she made her way back to her cubicle. After apologizing to Megumi for her delayed absence, Tsukushi resumed her work, but thoughts of Tsukasa still swam through her mind. He had been very anxious about her in the elevator; if it had been anyone else, Tsukushi would have felt bad.

But with Tsukasa, Tsukushi gave a small grin, it was so easy to be bad.


Evil Tsukushi, playing with Tsukasa like that! Though he does deserve it......

Thanks for reading! Ja ne!