AN: Thanks so much for the reviews!

In case you guys didn't notice, I love drama and cliffhangers… but mostly cliffhangers.

Enjoy!

-Coco

Chapter 7: Heart vs. Head

When he saw them together, Yukimura could feel his heart break. The way she smiled at Yagyuu, the way she held his hand, and the way she laughed with him. That should be me, Yukimura thought bitterly.

He watched as she noticed him and he noted how her smiled disappeared. She took a step back, away from him, and she might as well of just ripped his already broken heart into pieces.

"Hello, Yagyuu, it's nice of you to join us," Yukimura said, hiding his pain behind a smile.

Before Yagyuu could answer, Emily dragged him over with her to a corner.

Yukimura turned to the rest of his team.

"Well, may I ask why Roberts-san is here?"

Niou shrugged. "Maybe he wanted to bring her," he answered, throwing his doubles partner under the bus (metaphorically of course).

"Saa… I see."

"What is he doing here?" she whispered eyeing Yukimura.

"I'm not sure."

"Yagyuu…"

"… Yes?"

"Cut the crap and tell me why the hell Yukimura is here!"

"Please, Roberts-chan, watch your language," he replied impassively.

"Yagyuu, I'll break your arm if you don't tell me."

"That wouldn't be very polite."

"I swear I'm going to fu-"

"Language, please," he interrupted.

"Shut up!"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

Upset by his silence, Emily punched him in the arm.

"… Why did you hit me?"

"Because you didn't say anything!"

"I believe you told me to 'shut up'."

"But… I… you… Ugh! You are so mean!"

"Pardon me, but I fail to see how I am being mean."

"Yagyuu, you baka!"

"Please calm down, Roberts-chan."

"Well, I'm leaving." She started to head to the door.

Yagyuu grabbed her arm. "Please, Roberts-chan, you have to stay."

"No."

"Please."

"No."

"… What will it take to make you stay?"

"Call me Emily."

"… That's… I don't… Fine."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"…"

Yagyuu sighed. Sometimes this girl was a lot worse than Niou. "Yes, Emily-chan," he replied.

She smiled. "Okay then. So what are we here for?"

"You and Yukimura are going to work out whatever problem you two have with each other."

Emily sucked in a breath. No, she could do anything but that. How could he expect her to talk with the one boy who broke her heart? "Yagyuu-kun, I can't do that."

"Why is that?"

"He doesn't wish to speak with me," she said in a whisper.

"That's not true," he replied gently.

"Yes. It is. He hates me."

"Do you really think that?"

She turned to the speaker. "No, Yukimura-san. I know it."

He listened silently as she talked about him with Yagyuu. But, he couldn't help himself from speaking out when she said he hated her. That couldn't be farther from the truth. He loved her. He loved her more than he needed air, water, or food. It broke his heart to hear her.

When he heard her response, he felt almost like crying. It utterly crushed him when he heard the tone of her voice, and when he saw her true feelings in her eyes.

"Emily," he said, reaching out to her, "please, can we just talk?"

"Talk about what? The only things we can possibly talk about are how you're a jerk," she said acidly.

"Hey, don't talk to Mura-buchou like that!" Akaya glared at her.

Yukimura turned to him, "Akaya, please calm down. Someone getting upset isn't going to help the situation."

"But, Mura-buchou, she said that-," he stopped when he received a kick from Niou.

Yukimura took a breath and turned back to face Emily. "Can I just explain?"

"Explain what, Yukimura-san? What explanation do you think you can offer to make this better?"

"I just want you to understand that I did what was good for you," he said.

Emily turned away from him. She could she could see the love that showed in his eyes, and she knew it was for her. But that didn't make what he did to her right. "For me? How can hurting me do any good?"

"I never meant for you to get hurt," his voice cracked a little.

"Well, that plan was a fail. Maybe you should have left it be, and let whatever was meant to be happen."

"I couldn't take that kind of chance with you."

"You couldn't or you wouldn't?"

"…Both…"

"…"

"Emily… please just answer one question for me."

"What?"

"Do you hate me?"

Emily thought for a moment. Did she hate him? She hated how he had hurt her, that's for sure. But hating him… that never crossed her mind. She loved him. And she believed that if you really love someone, you love them until the day you die. However, Yukimura couldn't know that. It would give him something to use against her, and she wouldn't allow that. So, with an emotionless voice and cold uncaring eyes, she answered, "Yes. I hate you." Then she left.

And with that, Yukimura's world came crumbing down.

She ran to the nearby park and started to cry. She hated the way he made her feel so weak and vulnerable, but she also hated the way she felt so utterly and completely safe around him.

…Okay, maybe she didn't hate the latter; the truth was that it scared her. Around him, she felt completely at home, which gave her a lot of chances to be betrayed and gave him numerous opportunities to betray her.

She knew that he was the one person that could cause her possibly irreparable damage, and she wasn't sure if she was ready to take that chance again after he had already hurt her. That's the real reason she had turned him down. The truth is that she was too afraid of getting hurt.

She didn't trust him, and she didn't trust herself.

But love is based on trust.

So if she doesn't trust the one she loves, does she really love him?

Her heart said yes, but her head said no.

What does this mean?

AN: So what did you think? Love it? Hate it?

Review!