Note: all the words enclosed in '' and in bold are Mayako's plans

Thanks to Reusch for giving her time to check up on my mistakes and correct them. and also for the title!! Love lots!! you could always depend on Reusch!

The Usual

T


Saeki's POV

Mayako had imparted to me her greatest plan to have my best friend and Michiru to be together. This may hurt Hiroyuki ji-san but it'll be more painful if he learns after his marriage that Michiru isn't in love with him. So with this said, our plans are all for their sake.

I walked back to my hotel room and saw ji-san on his phone talking to someone. I gave him a smile and he returned the same. I closed the door behind me and sat on the chair. After watching Haruka's father pacing back and forth in one direction, he was finally done with the conversation.

"How was the place?" he asked

"Keeping with my expectations." I gave him a playful smile which he started laughing at. I continued, "Your fiancé had her dinner with us by the way." He stopped and seriously looked at me.

"I know." He uttered softly "I told her to go without me since I was dealing with important business calls." sounding regretful of what he just did.

"Don't worry ji-san! You could make it up to her tomorrow!" I said trying to cheer him up, and it worked. He nodded then smiled. After that, he walked out of the room down to the bathroom as the sound of water gushing out of the faucet was heard. Alright! Time to put the plan into work!

'First thing we should do is open up a new temptation for ji-san; if he bites then the engagement is all off'

I stood up from the chair and walked to my bag "Oil. Oil. Oil. Where is it?" I scanned my bag to find the oil I used for my body earlier at the beach. After a couple of seconds digging, I finally got a hold of a sticky bottle. "Finally." I pulled it up and opened the cap. Being an expert at this, smothering the oil over my chest didn't cost me a lot of time. I placed the bottle on the desk separating my bed and ji-san's bed and closed the button of my polo, leaving 3 buttons open, exposing my well built chest. I laid seductively on the bed; sideways in position, my left palm supporting my head, while the other hand fondled my hair.

After a few minutes, ji-san finally came out of the bathroom, wiping his face with a towel.

"I was planning on-" he paused, as he took a good look at me. I smiled teasingly only to receive an raised eyebrow from him "What are you doing, Saeki?" I stopped fanning myself and replied his answer in a more alluring way.

"It's hot in here. I'm hot."

"I see." He walked closer and I felt my blood rushed. I was getting nervous and nervous with every step taken by him. Maybe doing this isn't a good idea after all. I don't want to get molested by him. I looked at him still trying to keep my seductive facade up but a trace of horror about the situation could be detected. He stopped and looked down at me. I looked up at him, my armpits sweating "You could always turn the air conditioning up, kiddo." nudging my head before taking comfort from his bed. I laughed and nodded at him. I quickly covered my body with the comforter. "Haru's right about you." I paused and looked at him, his back facing me.

"Right about what?" I asked him.

"That you're a weird and funny guy." I frowned at this and he only laughed in return. "but she also told me you're nice and I agree." My lips started to curve up and before I could even respond to that, ji-san already bid me goodnight.

Gomene, I'm not as nice as you think I am, ji-san. Not after this…


-Michiru Parallel-

Michiru's POV

"Michiru…" I watched as her mouth opened and I heard my name being mentioned. Her head moved sideways and now I found myself staring at her teal eyes. "Are you feeling sleepy?" she asked. It took me a couple of seconds before answering her question.

"Not at all…" I simply answered

"I am." she yawned her arms stretching up. "But..."

"Hmm?"

"Can I ask you something?" her eyes we're still looking straight at me. I felt nervous at how intense her stares were, so I moved my head straight up and look at the white ceiling above us.

"And what's in it for me?" I replied with a playful tone in my voice. I moved my head back to stare at her and saw her laughing at my reply.

"How about a thousand yen?" she asked, a cheeky smile on her face. I raised my eyebrow and analyzed the seriousness in her question. She winked a couple of times and smiled this charming smile of hers.

"How about never?" I returned. "Have you forgotten who you're talking to? A thousand yen wouldn't even get you the word 'I' out of me?" I started with my primadonna attitude, sounding very cocky as most artists are, but still playful as I said those words. She chuckled.

"Alright!" she exclaimed. "Then let's play a game."

"A game? Aren't we too old for that?"

"Nobody is too old for something." she enlightened me. "Besides, I thought I wouldn't hear even 'I' from you, but I'm already hearing more than that."

"You can be irritating at times." I told her as I rolled my eyes. "Go on."

"I ask you five questions and you ask me five as well. We'll do it alternately. You can't ask what I asked and I can't ask what you asked as well. How about it?"

"Is this your way of asking your question out?"

"A thousand yen didn't work, so this seems fair."

"Okay then. You start. It's your game in the first place." she smiled before breathing deeply in and out. She positioned her body sideways and she began.

"If you weren't a violinist, what would you be?"

"That's it? That's your question?" I frowned at how simple her question was "Haruka, give me something more challenging!" I playfully demanded, my face looking at her disappointedly.

"It's my question to begin with. And your task is to answer it and not complain and demand for something more challenging."

"Being clever as always..." I sigh. "Let me see..." I placed my finger under my chin and thought of something.

"I thought it wasn't challenging?"

"Keep quiet, I'm thinking." I silenced her. She only started laughing softly while I kept on thinking. "I always wanted to be a teacher."

"That's unexpected." I giggled and explained to her as to why.

"I always admire my teachers when I was a kid I always liked the idea of imparting your knowledge regarding things to other people, and the thought that it would help them in the future is gratifying. My turn."

"Alright, hit me."

"What age you started having sex?"

"Pretty direct. I'm starting to think you're more perverted than I am." Haruka said, with a great amount of amusement towards me. "I was 20."

"That late?!"

"Don't sound so surprise. I may act like this but I don't sleep with all the women hitting on me and likewise. I'm no good when I'm not attracted to the person."

"So you find me very attractive?" I asked with a smug smile on my face.

"My turn."

"Stingy." I murmured and she only laughed.

"Where do you see yourself 5-10 years from now?" she asked. I found myself once again frowning at her question.

"You're no fun! You can't win if you keep asking these kind of questions!"

"It's not about winning, Michiru." she answered me back.

"And what is it about, Haruka?" I asked in a more challenging way

"It's about getting to know the other person."

"Well for me it's winning. A game isn't fun without a person winning."

"How could you win if you haven't answered a single thing about my second question?"

"Patience, Haruka." I paused and tapped my finger on my cheeks and kept thinking. "Playing in the grandest theater in Europe and in front of all the most prominent people from all over the world. People you once looked up to are now looking up to you. The feeling in there wouldn't even compare to what I have right now."

"I'm guessing you're married at that time. Deepening the bond between you and my father. Teaching your heart to fall in love with him as you told me before. But if that's the case…then why isn't my father in there?" she looked at me seriously, questioning my earlier answer. I decided to stay silent while Haruka decided to raise another question. "Wait, have you ever been in love?"

"You're breaking the rules of your own game. It's my turn now."

"I'm just testing if you're already feeling sleepy."

"Well, I'm not and I'm completely aware of what I say." I stated as a matter of fact. She waved her hands, mocking what I had said. I decided to return her question to her and see how she reacts. "Have you ever been in love?"

"You stole my question." she pouted as she accused me in a tone as if I had broken some worldly rule. As expected, I won this round.

"Iie. It wasn't counted since it came after your first question. So basically that question is still free to ask." She frowned even more before deciding to shrugged it all of and answer my question instead.

"Sadly, I don't know if I have." she spoke with seriousness in her tone. She then moved her body and positioned it back to how it was before, face and body up towards the ceiling. "Have you?"

"I thought we weren't supposed to ask the same question?" I informed her. Again with those chuckles from her in return.

"Are you in love?" she asked once again, revising the question.

"Isn't that the same?"

"Nope. I asked about the present, you asked about the past. Makes a whole lot of difference to me."

"Makes sense. If you're asking about now, we're the same. If you're planning on putting your father in the picture, I don't know. Like I told you before, there's an overwhelming care I feel towards your father that might result in love."

"And what if it doesn't?"

"Questions are supposed to be asked alternately, Haruka." again, I enlightened her with the rules. She murmured under her breath and let me continue with my own question. "How about you and Mayako-san?"

"Maya-san?" she laughed making me feel more awkward and embarrassed for asking such a question. "Maya's case is complicated. I care deeply for her as much as you care for my father. But I don't know if I'm in love with her, if that's what you want to know. Besides, how does one know if they're in love?"

"Is that your question?"

"Let's revise it. How do you know if you're already in love?" she asked, stretching her arms and her legs. I smiled and like her, I positioned my body to face the ceiling.

"Others would know by spending a lot of time with the other person. Some would know when they feel like they're missing a part of themselves when the other is not around… In my case, a kiss would make all the difference."

"A kiss?" she asked, yawns in between it. I nodded and even though her asking a question again is breaking the rule, I decided this time to continue answering it.

"A real kiss is all I need to know if I'm in love. A spark will suddenly light up with just a simple touch of lips, igniting something within you that wasn't there before. From that moment, your lips found its destination, and you aren't lost anymore…Your heart, body, and soul are united with a simple brushing of lips. In a kiss, you are finally one with your true love."

"Romantic." She sounded amused.

"I have my fair share of romance novels." I said, comparing myself to her. Finally it was my turn to ask my fourth question. "What makes you think that you love a person?"

"Violations of the rules aren't new to us."

"If you would clearly analyze my question, you would know that there's a difference. That's my fourth question."

"Hai. Hai." Haruka said dismissively. She opened her mouth once again and continued. "Like I told you before, I don't know. Love is complicated. Being in love is hard, but knowing if you're in love is harder. But to make things fair, I'll try to answer your question."

"I was beginning to think 'I don't know' would be your scapegoat."

"Feel relieved." she simply stated. I giggled in return. "Being like this" She uttered suddenly. I was taken by surprise and found myself thinking deeply at what she meant by that. I stayed in silence and let her continue. "No restraints or anything. Being true to myself and the other as well. Talking to that person like you could spend the rest of your life just talking to her, may it be with sense or without. Even having sex is out of the picture. You find contentment just by being with her even in silence and more when sharing your life with her. You find that moment real and nothing would be as perfect as that."

"Haruka I-" I tried to speak up but when she suddenly moved her head to look at me, my voice got caught up in my throat and I wasn't able to say anything and I could only look at her.

"Based on the book I read before." she said as she smiled. Everything I thought before went all blank, and my heart started to feel heavy. "I'm up for my final question" positioning herself back to face the ceiling then stretching her arms.

"You're not winning this game" I told her, keeping my playful attitude as before. But this time, I found it difficult.

She laughed again then started "If you can change something in your life, what would it be?" she asked, again with much longer and deeper yawns in between.

"People always want to change something in their life because of their regrets. But I chose not to regret anything. Regrets only pull a person down. But since I have to answer your question.." I sigh. Maybe... "Maybe..." my heart started pounding with every word released. Maybe it would be... I breathed deeply once again and continued "Maybe meeting you sooner..." What am I doing? I shouldn't be saying these things. Try to lie, Michiru. My thoughts we're suddenly disrupted when a soft sound of feminine snores were heard. I looked sideways and saw Haruka had finally fallen asleep. I watched her face as a little hint of snot bubble contracting and expanding in her breath. She looked peaceful when she was asleep… maybe cuter. Even the naughtiest person in the world has times when they look like an angel in sleep.. My body, without my knowledge started standing up and moved to sit beside Haruka's sleeping figure.I gently brushed some of her blond strands off her face. You lost. You didn't even let me ask my last question, Haruka… Soft whispers in my heart urged me to lean in and give her a kiss, but my mind kept protesting to do otherwise. Despite the strong protests my mind raised, my heart won. I closed my eyes and leaned to kiss her cheek goodnight.

Her cheek…

Who knew that fate would be playing with me; against me? When I was about to kiss her, her head tilted to the side at the exact time. Now my lips fully pressed against her. My heart started throbbing crazily. I backed away, only to stumble on the floor, my butt hitting the floor and the tip of my head brushing against the bed frame. I wanted to shout in pain but instead I kept it all inside, to avoid waking Haruka up. I stood up from and seat on the bed. My heart was still beating fast and now my face felt heated. I placed my hand over my lips, as the tip of my fingers started to press it. Again my heart started beating faster and harder, and it's painful to have it this way. I lay on the bed, my back facing Haruka's body. I closed my eyes, my hand clutching my chest, and hoped that sleep would calm my heart.

Maybe it would be meeting you sooner… then. I wouldn't be betraying myself any longer… Maybe that's what I want to change, Haruka…


-Day two-

-Mayako Parallel-

"Why in Buddha's name would you do that?!" Mayako shouted as she hit Saeki in the forehead. Her body was trembling with pure aggravation towards the black haired boy "When did I say that you would be the temptation to Hiroyuki ji-san?!" she yelled gripping Saeki's collared shirt. Saeki tried to smile, but the fear glistening in his eyes conveyed everything that needed to be known about the boy's feelings.

"I remember clearly..." Saeki started and gulped "There was a 'we' in your plan." He nervously laughed, hoping that this would help him get away from being smacked once again by the enraged woman holding him up. But apparently before Saeki could even continue, Mayako had smacked his face with the life buoy once again.

"You're ruining everything! Do you even want to help?!"

Quickly, Saeki stood up from the sand, his hand rubbing his sore nose, and nodding eagerly to Mayako. Mayako inched closer and whispered into his ears "We move on to my next plan for today."


A/N: that's the end of chap 9!! Hope you like this one! I would to thank Juan Ekis for giving me an idea for this chap.. Sorry for posing then erasing it for more than I could count.. with the help of my friends, I decided to split it into two chaps.. for those who read this sooner got to read chap ten.. so with that said, I'm done with chap ten and I'll post it within the week

And now for out hall of reviewers.

Hall of Reviewers

-QN, -RukaMichi92, -petiyaka
-jadedlilgirl, -Haruka-Michiru, -Asakure
-squall, -Rushingwind, -gale
-Reusch17, -SilentKing, -dudette
-Kitajima, -Akira-kun, -MizzVita
-krugern,
-Vanessa Riverton, -RukaMichiSkyKing

Let's give them a round of applause for having the time to review after reading. If you can't find your name, means you forgot to review..lol

Kitajima: As I predicted. hating him is actually a good sign.. my character is getting into you.. lol..

Your goal: be in the hall of reviewers! lol

Thanks for reading and thanks for the reviews!