She woke up a while before they arrived in the village, the one she had visited the day before, images of that experience flooding her head, giving her a queasy feeling at the pit of her stomach. Still she kept silent. She feigned sleep, not being in the mood for chit chat with a British idiot or anything.

When they arrived, he gently shook her, calling her name in a whispering voice. Could she make out cheekiness in it? Nah, just her imagination. He started small talk with her once again, and she kept her answers as short and firm as possible. He was an amiable guy all right, but she felt uncertain talking about her personal issues with strangers. But she couldn't deny she enjoyed his company. No perverted or stupid comments, no cheeky looks, just a normal, kind guy. Such a relief.

"I'm sorry but it's been bothering me for quite some time now but may I ask you something?" She turned to face him fully inquisitively. Sudden fear filled her heart that he had figured out she was a wanted criminal and she started coming up with ways of escape. "Are you not British?"

She bit her lips and shook her head. Much to her surprised relief, he smiled and took her aback by gently removing her sunglasses. True enough, it was not only suspicious but weird as well for one to still have sunglasses on even after the sun had set for quite some time. She yelped but didn't attempt to claim them back. His genuine smile only grew larger and quite bright. «You're Asian too! Don't tell me... are you Japanese?»

She sighed in relief and chuckled. "Hai. I-I mean, yes! I am."

He chuckled as well. "How nice. I am too!" he exclaimed in delight and she was relieved to listen to her mother language yet again. Come to think of it, she had never asked Usui how come he spoke so fluently Japanese. And why his last name was not the same as his brother's. "I'm-"

"Igarashi Tora." A poisonous voice interrupted them and before she knew it the car's door opened and an arm abruptly pulled her out. Same arm had been wrapped around her waist protectively, almost squeezing the air out of her, and crushing her onto something warm, hard and…welcome. "Funny to see you at this kind of place."

The girl looked up at her captor while Tora got out of the car himself, not looking the least bit surprised but actually somehow content. "Usui?!" so he had caught up on them after all. Her whole plan and effort was for nothing then. She pushed him away. "What are you doing here?!"

"Am I to ask you the same question?" he fixed her with a glare and she suddenly felt too small under his penetrating gaze. She realized he still had in his grip her wrist and that it would be pointless for her to try and break free. The guy was harder than rock.

She avoided eye-contact with him and thought he'd scold her but he only pushed her behind himself, as if using his body as a shield. She stole a glance at the guy before them, realising that she did know him just like she had first thought. Igarashi Tora, the son of the Igarashi Corporation's President, one of the richest men in Japan. How stupid she was, really.

"Do you know each other?" Misaki's eyes didn't miss the tense of familiarity between the two young blonds.

Usui glanced at her over his shoulder and then back at Tora before they both chuckled ironically.

"Sure we do. It'd be weird considering we're on the list of the richest and most wanted bachelors worldwide, wouldn't it, Mina? Or should I say... Misaki-chan?" the golden-eyed guy replied with heavy sarcasm tinting his voice and she instantly felt Usui's grip tighten around her wrist. Her own heart ceased beating at the mention of her real name. What was going on? "I guess you two know each other as well."

Usui avoided answering what already was a statement. "What are you doing here, Igarashi? I thought you were in Tokyo."

"Oh, I've been here for a week or so. I heard what happened. I am really sorry for your brother." Misaki was surprised to not see a single trace of sorrow in his tiger-like eyes. "But why are they charging it on you? Wai- Don't tell me…is that really her? I was only making a wild guess just now but it seems I was right after all! So you actually ran away from home with her? Never thought that the media would ever actually give valid information!"

"It's not her." He instantly deadpanned. "And now if you'll excuse us, the two of us have to be somewhere." She saw him feign a smile and turn his back on him.

"Funny. She seemed to be running away from you." Igarashi noticed. Usui's jaw clenched. Misaki had never seen him like this. She was even a bit afraid of him.

"We were only playing a game, bro. And you just happened to be the one who'd get caught in it too." She gasped when seeing him putting on a smile of sincerity and looking again at the guy he had just referred to as 'bro'. "I mean, why would my girlfriend runaway from me?"

Girlfriend?! What was he saying? Why was he lying? Why was he covering up for her? Maybe he was covering up for himself, so he wouldn't get embarrassed and ashamed in his friend's eyes. If you could call them friends, that is.

"Later."

"Sure. See you, Misaki."

She hated he gave her a personal goodbye but smiled and nodded back, mumbling something in return. After that, she let Usui drag her down an alley that led out of town, where his bike was parked. He surprised her by suddenly pushing her against a house's bricked wall and trapping her there, between his arms. His head however was bent down, his eyes averted to the ground. "What. Were. You. Thinking?"

She was too shocked to utter a single letter. She was frozen by the menacing tone of his voice. "I-I wasn't-"

"That's right! You weren't thinking at all, Ayuzawa." He growled, trying not yell at her. "What were you planning? To find some random guy, get him to take you here so the police will arrest you? Is that it?"

He was still not daring to look at her and she felt just a tad relieved. She wasn't sure how she could bear to face him. "I-I thought I could persuade them-"

"Persuade them? You think they'd believe you? You think they'd let you be?" He finally lifted up his head and she saw all the frustration and anger in his jade green eyes. But there was something else in there, something… "They want a criminal, Ayuzawa. They must have somebody, innocent or not, to carry on their shoulders some rich guy's murder because they don't have the guts to find the real culprit. Someone must pay, no matter what. Get it?"

She looked away, too frightened to meet his eyes again. She nodded faintly and hated every minute of feeling so helpless and feeble under his gaze. How could one guy change her whole attitude? Normally, she'd have kicked him where the sun never shines just for cornering her but she dared not do that to him. Was it because he was telling the truth?

He caught her off guard yet again as he reached out and brushed her cheek's soft skin with his fingertips. Examining cautiously his face, a face she could barely decipher, she saw him wearing an expression of slight struggle, as if he were in quarrel with himself. But that expression wore away as soon as he withdrew his hand. That's when she realized she had momentarily forgotten how to breathe. "So let me ask you again, what were you thinking?"

She wearily gazed in his emerald orbs only to see that he was actually waiting for an answer. It was worth giving it a try now that he seemed less distressed. "My…family.." she stammered in a small voice, lowering her head so her raven bangs would cover her eyes. "And my home."

At her response, he seemed to be softening just a bit. "And you thought that was the best way for you to go there?" She nodded. He backed away just a little but never letting her escape from his trap. "You hate me that much, eh?" she instantly looked up at him in surprise and saw disappointment mirrored in his face. What was that? "Because what you said doesn't seem an excuse good enough for you to runaway. You know you'd only put them in danger, right?"

She didn't say anything. She didn't even nod. She, herself, wasn't sure what to say. Thinking about it once more, he was right. What she did was reckless and stupid. She had been driven by impulse. But was it really because she hated him?

She heard him sigh and he withdrew one arm just to run a hand through his golden locks. "Can you at least let me do one thing? Even if you hate me." she was starting to get irritated by the frequency of the word 'hate'. Why did he care anyway?

She was about to fire those comments at him when he did the most unexpected thing. He trapped her in a tight embrace, burying his face in the crook of her neck and breathing in her scent. She was too paralyzed to react or even say anything, she was just left staring at the world over his shoulder with restless eyes.

"Don't make me so worried ever again." He whispered in a suddenly gentle manner.

"O-Okay. But will you-?" she decided to attempt and break free but no matter her struggles, he only tightened his embrace around her.

"You're just too reckless, Misaki." Misaki? What happened to Ayuzawa or Misa-chan or what-not? "I just want to help you. Please let me."

His words gave her no option. The only thing she could say was "Sorry."

"Mm?"

"I'm sorry, Usui." She admitted before unconsciously gripping on his shirt with both hands. "I'm sorry."

She felt him smile against her neck, the mere touch of his lips on her skin making her fight back a shiver. He inhaled one last time her scent before finally letting go and standing back a step. She had never felt more glad to see a small smile painted on his lips. "Let's get you home?"

Takumi entered the house with the greatest relief. He tossed his leathered jacket over the first furniture in his way and, without speaking a word or casting a glimpse at the girl following him, he walked upstairs to his bedroom and shut himself in.

He sat on his bed and with his head lowered, he closed his eyes and attempted to clear his brain and cool himself down. No matter how calm he acted in her presence, inside him he was flared up, a fire had been ignited in his heart since the moment he realized she had runaway. That stupid girl, what was she thinking? Was she suicidal or did she dislike him that much?

He drove a hand over his heart and gripped his shirt with might. Even the thought of it upset him, gave him an unpleasant feeling that spread all over his body, turning him numb. Is it how it felt like? It was a first for Usui Takumi to experience this kind of strong emotions and he wasn't sure how to handle himself, how to act and what to say.

Well, for the moment, all that truly mattered to him was that she was safe and sound.

Honestly, what was she thinking?

He thanked his luck he had managed to catch up with her the moment she got in his car and that it was him he had met. He had always been able to handle that repulsive guy and he had managed to get the girl back without too much of a fuss. But what was Igarashi Tora doing in England? He had heard from his step-father that he wouldn't be coming for two months, until they would celebrate Igarashi's father's birthday. And besides, Tora disliked being in England. So what business did he have there? His meeting Misaki was purely coincidental, right?

He groaned in frustration and ruffled his hair violently. He knew that with Igarashi Tora no things were coincidental. What did his cousin have in mind this time? He had recognized Misaki. Did he plan on using her somehow? Well, he had better not for he'd have a taste of Usui Takumi's wrath.

With another frustrated sigh, his thoughts rolled back to the reckless girl in the room next to his. He couldn't entirely blame her for her actions. He hadn't been really honest with her even when he discovered just a little about her. It wasn't fair play. And adding to that was the fact of her being a wanted criminal when she was perfectly innocent. Having her pictures –even ones with her maid outfit on- all over the world news was not pleasant one bit. Only God knew how much pain that girl hid in her. She was more fragile and vulnerable than she let people see, or rather, than she thought herself.

Still, he couldn't not be mad at her. And at himself as well. He had to find a way to help her, he had to take action. For quite some time now, helping her clear her name was one of his reasons of following her. And he had not kept that promise he had made with himself. He had just been locked up in a house, without taking action.

It was about time he fixed that.

It was only after two hours of pointless pacing up and down and spacing out, that he finally decided to wash away as best as he could his worries with a shower. Of course, that was perfectly ineffective, but it helped cool him down a bit and relax his too tense muscles.

With exhaustion, he got in a casual pair of jeans and a rather worn-out shirt that had grown to be too tight for him –he had owned it ever since he was fourteen. Not bothering to dry his hair, like usual, he walked out of the room and searched for the seventeen-year-old girl. He easily found her at the living room, sitting by the window with her knees drawn to herself, staring at the world outside absentmindedly, a wet towel hanging loosely around her neck. Guess showering didn't help her either.

At the sound of him approaching, she flinched faintly as she looked at him over her shoulder. After a good moment of gazing, she returned back to her previous occupation, as if ignoring him. He didn't speak a word. He only sank in the couch closer to hers and kept on watching her with his chin in his palms, his elbows on his knees. Maybe it was best not to invade the world she seemed to be lost in and to just wait for her to take her time and tell him what she thought was necessary to be said.

She sucked in a deep breath, still not averting her eyes from the window. She had never seemed more troubled than now. How he wished she would let him hold her, have her know he was willing to listen whole-heartedly to all she had to say and try to make her feel better.

"There are a lot of things…I don't understand."

He was caught off guard by her sudden words. She was still staring at the window but he could see she was staring at his reflection on the glass. He locked eyes with her through it and nodded his head encouragingly. Much to his pleasant surprise, she didn't look away but stared back intensely.

"These last days, I was so upset by everything happening in my life and yet… I didn't even notice. I was determined that I would find a way out of this on my own; I always have, so why should this time be any different?" She noticed him furrowing his brows in confusion and she smirked sadly before looking away.

Within ten minutes, she gave him a brief resume of her life. He'd have never guessed. He could finally understand clearly the reason she was always aggressive around him, always thinking he was just fooling around with her and that she had to do everything by herself. Why she had come to be such a fierce woman, different than any other he had ever met.

He recalled four simple words she had uttered a few days back. "All because of him." So that's what she had meant. He could only imagine the heart-break she had went through when her father abandoned her family because of a debt when she was still a second-year in middle school. That was when she started hating and mistrusting men, when she thought it was all up to her.

She not only supported her family by working part-time at a maid café, but she excelled in aikido and was a top student in her school so that as the student council president, she could turn her men-dominant school into a friendlier place for the girls. What an amazing girl, indeed. Now he could see why she runaway and decided to solve this on her own. Because she had always been on her own. Just like him. If only she knew how much he understood her.

"Thanks to my dad, I came to have a natural hate towards men. I can't trust anyone and I don't want to rely on anyone either. So with my entering high school, I started training and working out, I wanted to be stronger than any guy at Seika. I also studied as hard as I could, and… little by little, I managed to become Seika's President. So ever since back then, I have always managed on my own, and I felt proud that I didn't depend on any man. I still don't, mind you!"

He chuckled lightly at her threatening tone as she pointed at him meaningfully and even she cracked a smile a little. "I'm sorry I was reckless and stupid, but trying to solve everything on my own…it's what I've always done. And your attitude is not helping me either, especially since you're a perverted idiot!" Her face suddenly darkened and he was glad to see she was still the same as before. She abruptly stood up, her hands on her hips. "I want to solve this."

"We will."

"Eh?" she seemed taken aback. "We?"

He stood up as well so that he could look down in her depthless pools of gold, a gentle smirk gracing his lips. "I want to help you, Ayuzawa. You're just silly enough not to see it."

"Who're you calling silly, you idiot?!" she raised a fist and looked as threatening as she always had before. He smiled, glad that she had returned fully to her normal aloof self. "If you had just said so from the very beginning none of this would have happened!"

"Yes, yes. I know it's all my fault."

"Are you being sarcastic?"

"Nope, not really."

"Yes, you are, you stupid pervert!"

"How can you tell?"

"That idiotic smile of yours, I really-!"

"Love it?"

"Wh-what?! Shut up!" His grin widened as she instantly turned red. "I really wanna wipe it off your stupid face!"

"You really gotta stop that frequent use of the word 'stupid', you know? Not very lady-like."

"Well, I'm sorry I'm not very feminine!"

"Don't be. I like you the way you are."

"Why yo- What?"

And that's how their little banter was cut short, with Misaki staring perplexed at him. He, on the other hand, was surprised he had let those words slip so carelessly off his tongue but he had no remorse or intention of taking them back. So he only stared back, hoping she could see the great sincerity that was pouring from his eyes. And maybe she had but was too embarrassed to admit it. "S-Shut up." she managed to utter after a moment. "Always saying such idiotic things. Are you trying to piss me off again?"

He was rather disappointed that those were her thoughts on what he had absentmindedly admitted but decided against showing it. "Maybe."

"Why you-!"

"Anyway." He gently grabbed hold of her wrist as she shook frantically her arms. At his gesture, she gasped lightly, her cheeks tinted by the cutest pink color. He let her hand slip from his grip, recalling he wasn't exactly her favourite person on earth and that she didn't like having him do such things. "How about you get some rest and we can talk tomorrow morning?"

"O-Okay." She agreed, unconsciously wrapping her fingers around the wrist he had trapped in his palm just seconds ago. But what confused him was that she was not only blushing but not showing any emotions of dislike or hate. Quite the opposite actually. "Goodnight, then, Usui."

He ruffled her hair as she walked past him. "Goodnight, Prez."

"Shut up, idiot." She warned in a low but not displeased voice. He sat back down in the couch and turned on the TV. "Umm…Usui?" he looked over his shoulder at the young girl who was still halfway on the stairs.

"I…It's not like I hate you…"

"I…It's not like I hate you…?!"

Misaki stared with disbelief at her reflection on the wall-mirror. She slapped her forehead, now fully realizing what she had said. She clutched at her head in frustration and started cursing herself. "Baka, baka, baka Ayuzawa! What were you thinking?! Saying something like that… Moron!"

Why had she felt like saying such a thing? Was it the disappointed and almost hurt expression on his face? Was the fact that she was touched by him worrying so much over her and even rescuing her twice? Or rather scratch that, thrice, considering the fact he had gotten her out of the Walker Mansion.

She shook her head in denial and even slapped herself. "Snap out of it. You're being an idiot! Just because you don't hate him, it doesn't mean that you find him amiable either!" But then she realized something. She actually, really did not hate him.

So, how'd you like that, huh? Sorry I didn't update this faster but I'm on vacation and..well, you know! ^_^ Once again, thank you all for your reviews, you guys keep me going, you're awesome! Please keep it up! Pretty please!