Hey guys! I'm back! I know it's been a while... I've been lazy...and you know... there's school... and my extracurricular activities...and more laziness...but yeah! I'm back with another short chapter! :D LALALALOVE me.

*No F4 in this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hakuouki.

"Chizuru! You're all covered in mud!" Her mother's distinct voice was muffled as a towel was placed over her head. The maid nearest to her began to dry her hair gently. "You too, Kaoru!" She heard her mother say.

"I'm sorry, mother. We were making wreaths out of the flowers when it started raining," Kaoru explained while having his hair dried by the other maid.

"Well, how did you manage to get this muddy?" their mother asked, worry and curiosity apparent in her tone.

"We fell," Chizuru giggled cheekily and flashed a toothy grin. Their mother and the maids around them sighed in unison.

"Chizuru, that's the third time this month. How often do you fall anyway?"

"Oh, no, it wasn't me this time. It was Kaoru! I just got pulled along!" Chizuru continued smiling innocently, pointing at her twin brother while doing so. All the maids eyed Kaoru and their mother's eyes followed suit after.

"Chizuru, are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Her mother's words were spoken rather mockingly.

"Young master Kaoru-sama never falls. You truly must have fallen on your head," the maids chimed in playfully.

"I'm not lying! I didn't fall!" Chizuru whined.

"Then explain why you look dirtier than Kaoru."

"He pulled me to the bottom! I swear! I. Didn't. Fall!"

"Ow! Okay, that's going to form a bump." Chizuru slowly got up and rubbed the sore area on her head. She had fallen off of her bed and onto the cold hard floor below. Fortunately, her bed was one of those really low ones. Thank god she didn't have enough money to buy a higher bed. Well, if she were to buy a higher bed, it would most likely be wider as well. Still, the way Chizuru slept, she would still have fallen off anyway.

Realizing how dry her throat was, she quickly made her way to the kitchen to grab a cup of water. She gasped for air as soon as she finished chugging down the cup of cold liquid. Then, she made her way to the bathroom to prepare for work.

Today, being a Saturday, she was to work at the usual café. She had homework that she should really start on, but for some reason, she just didn't feel like doing it. Bored, her mind began to wander. Yesterday was quite strange. Staying over at Kazama's place, borrowing his shower, having him blow dry her hair, everything was just out of the ordinary. No normal person would be able to do all of that, but Kazama had let her experience it and no one else. It kind of…made her feel special. Then again, he probably just had so much money that he wouldn't mind if people came over and leeched off of him. Speaking of leeching off of him, Kazama did ask her to live with him. Perhaps he did just have too much money to waste.

By the time Chizuru came back to the present, time had passed. Work starts at noon and 10 o'clock had just passed. Staring at the clock, she realized just how bored she was. If she wasn't going to start on her homework, she might as well make good use of her time. Well, it's nice to go to work early sometimes. With that thought in mind, she headed off to work.

Upon entering the shop, the first person she noticed was someone she hadn't expected.

"Risa!" She called out, running towards the familiar girl.

"Chizuru? Oh my gosh!" She ran towards Chizuru too and closed the distance with a quick hug. "I've missed you so much!"

"Same!" They haven't seen each other since junior high ended. She's called Risa over the phone a couple of times, but that's practically it.

"So? How's it going?" Risa asked, encouraging her to speak.

"With what?" Chizuru tilted her head curiously.

"You know, everything! School, teachers, friends…guys…" She trailed off.

"Guys?" Chizuru nearly choked. Last time she checked, she hadn't told her anything about Kazama.

"Yeah! You're so cute, so I'm sure there must have been some confes-"

"Risa! Get back to work! This isn't your break!" A loud voice rang from the kitchen.

"Alright already! Sheesh!"

"Hold on…" Chizuru finally realized what her best friend was wearing. Fitting perfectly on Risa's tall model-like frame was the café's uniform! "You work here now?"

"Yupp! My parents said I needed a better way to spend my free time. They say free time, but I'm really just procrastinating," she whispered the last part, her hand hovering over her mouth for emphasis. Wow, guess a lot of people do this thing called "procrastinating." Chizuru giggled.

"That's great! I work here too!"

"Really? Then we'll see each other a lot!" Risa broke into a wide grin immediately.

"You two can have your little chat while working," the manager's strict voice came from behind. They muttered a slight "yes" before heading towards the staff room.

"Chizuru."

She perked up at the sound of her name. "What is it?"

"I have someone I like."

Chizuru stared at Risa with a blank face. After a minute, her mind registered what she just heard. "Oh. I see." She'd be lying if she were to say that this wasn't awkward. "So… What kind of a guy is he?"

"Well, he's really nice and athletic." She paused, thinking of what to say next. When Chizuru didn't comment, she continued. "We met on the first day of school. We were both lost, so we decided to help each other."

"Oh, that's cool." Chizuru didn't know what else to say. In all honesty, she knew nothing about love and relationships. Basically, she wasn't the person you would go to for love advice.

"So, um… is there anyone you like, Chizuru?" Risa asked, suddenly changing the topic. Her eyes, which were averted previously, met Chizuru's again. Her tone rose noticeably and she sounded rather excited.

Out of instinct, Chizuru shook her head rapidly.

"No way!"

"Really?"

An image of Kazama appeared in her mind.

"Yes!"

"Not even someone you're interested in?"

She tried to get the picture out of her head, but it wouldn't leave.

"No!"

"Any guys bothering you about anything?"

She suddenly remembered Kazama's proposal yesterday. "Chizuru, live with me." His words flashed in her head.

"No!"

"Really?"

"Well, no." Oh, what the heck. Risa was her best friend. They promised to tell each other everything. And while Risa was being honest and telling her about the guy she liked, she kept quiet about her own life. She couldn't do that. That wasn't what best friends would do. "Actually, there has been this little… problem… that's been bothering me lately," she explained slowly, letting the image of Kazama fill her head.

"You should live with him," Risa didn't even spare a minute as she blurted out her opinion. Chizuru had explained the whole incident to her, ending the story with Kazama's offer.

"What? Are you out of your mind? You paid attention to the whole thing, didn't you? You know how popular that guy is! I can't just barge into his mansion and start living with him!" Chizuru voiced loudly, earning a look from the manager.

"Well, if you live with him, you won't have to worry about money. You won't have to work at this crappy place either!" Risa suggested, completely ignorant to the glares the manager was sending in their direction.

"This café isn't crappy, Risa," Chizuru objected quickly before the manager could decide to kill her. "And I don't really mind working here." I mean, the manager is really nice…when he's not angry.

Risa stared at her friend for a while with a thoughtful look. "Chizuru, face it. You're very lucky, being invited to live with that Kazama-sama guy. And based on what you told me, it seems that he knows you pretty well. You should trust him more!"

"Gee, aren't you even the least bit worried about your best friend being abducted by him? You never know; he might be lying about knowing me in the past," Chizuru lowered her voice to a whisper as she spoke.

"Chizuru, he's helped you this much. You stayed over for one night, completely vulnerable in your ill state, and he didn't do anything to you. If he's as great as he sounds, he should be trustworthy."

"But-"

"Chizuru," Risa spoke, cutting her off. "You should worry about yourself more. Sometimes, you just have to rely on others," she smiled gently, putting a reassuring hand on Chizuru's shoulder.

"I guess…" Chizuru mumbled. Risa was right. Kazama was just trying to be nice, but living with someone else was on a completely different scale than living by yourself. It would be hard to get used to.

"Chizuru. Don't give me that look. It's not that complicated. If I were you, I would have accepted a long time ago! I rather live with someone with money than work my butt off on my weekends," Risa went on and on about her complaints. Suddenly, Chizuru heard rough footsteps behind her. Hesitantly, she turned around and came face to face with none other than their manager.

"Oh, hi manager!" Chizuru forced a cheerful grin, lifting a hand to wave at the 40 year old woman growling in front of her.

"Risa!" The woman stomped right pass Chizuru, not even sparing a look at the poor girl, and towered over Risa. "I just hired you today and you're already being a bad influence to Chizuru?!"

"Um…no?"

Chizuru watched as Risa mentally crumbled under their manager's menacing glare.

"It's been a while since we've walked together like this, hasn't it?"

"Yes, it has," Chizuru agreed with Risa. As they walked down the street, Risa linked her arm with Chizuru's just like they did in the past. It brought back a sense of nostalgia as the two watched the evening sun set. "Risa, please don't get fired."

"Hm? That's kind of hard. I mean, I barely escaped today's lecture." She ended her reply with a light laugh.

"I want to continue working with you there," Chizuru commented, eyes focused on something far in the distance.

"Is that what's stopping you from living with that guy?"

Chizuru had to think before she answered. If she were to live with Kazama, that wouldn't change anything. Assuming he doesn't occupy her weekends, she can still work at the café. So, what was Chizuru so worried about?

"Not really. I'm just… not prepared for it."

"Are you scared?"

"NO!" Chizuru shot, startling Risa who immediately flinched. "Who would be scared? I'm just not ready; that's all."

"Chizuru, have you thought about my offer at all this past weekend?" Kazama's shadow loomed over her own as Chizuru ate the food prepared for her during lunch.

"Um… actually, I did," she answered as soon as she finished swallowing the food that was in her mouth.

"And?"

"What do you mean?" She mumbled, chopsticks resting on her lips. Today's lunch was a bento filled with all kinds of traditional Japanese food. It was quite different from what she had expected, but nonetheless, delicious.

"Do you have a new answer for me?"

"A new answer?"

"Don't you remember what you said as soon as I asked you on Friday?"

"No?"

"Exactly."

"Wait, what?"

"You said 'no'."

"Oh! I, um…" she stuttered. She had originally meant "no" as in "no, I don't remember," but Kazama must have misinterpreted it for her actual answer.

"Well, I need more time to think."

"I see. It may have been too sudden," Kazama said, his crimson eyes examining her face.

"Um…is there something on my face?" She asked slowly, wiping her lips with her thumb while doing so.

"No, there isn't," he turned away.

"Then why were you staring at me?" She asked, putting her chopsticks down. Suddenly, she didn't have much of an appetite anymore. Having Kazama stare at you eat wasn't exactly very… welcoming.

"Would it make you feel better if I let you eat with your…friends?" Kazama suddenly asked. His face remained fixed on the other direction.

"What? I was never feeling-"

"Why don't you eat with them for today? I have no tasks for you at the moment," he began to walk away. "You are dismissed, Chizuru," he ended sharply.

Kazama was acting really strange today. It wasn't as though he was normal to begin with, but today, he was about 30% weirder than he normally was. Why was he so eager in letting her go? Was he not interested in her anymore? Or maybe she was simply annoying and just wasn't helping out with the student council activities? Come to think of it, even though Chizuru was assigned the position of secretary, she was never actually given a task to do. For what reason did she join the council again? Oh, right. He forced her to.

She sighed, opening the door to the rooftop where she knew her friends would be. More thinking wouldn't do her any good. For now, she just had to enjoy the lunch he had given her with her friends.

"Why did you kick out the little princess like that?" A playful raspy voice came from the doorway.

"I didn't kick her out," Kazama replied, ignoring Chizuru's new nickname.

"Alright. Let me rephrase that. Why did you let her off the hook today?" An annoyed Shiranui walked into the room, hands folded on the back of his head in a laid-back manner.

"I can do whatever I want," Kazama answered vaguely.

"Do you hate her now or something?"

Hah, Shiranui should have known better. Kazama would never hate her.

"Did you lose interest in her?"

Lose interest? Never.

"Or maybe you're just plain annoyed of her?"

Annoyed? More like he will never have enough of her.

"Or-"

Kazama's right eye twitched involuntarily. What was with all these questions?

"Shiranui, if you continue asking all these questions, you'll be the one kicked out, along with the paperwork that's due tomorrow of course." He smirked in victory as Shiranui mumbled something unpleasant and got out of his sight.

Sorry it was so short! Please review! Positive or negative, I still love to read them!

Dear LuckyLucy: LOL Yeah, I agree. I think of it too. ;) Thanks for understanding! I really appreciate it! Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Dear aizawa saki: Haha, Shiranui's so dirty. He makes people think wrong on purpose. I would love to see your drawings! ^^ Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Dear Stalianha: LOL I don't mind if you complain. I think it will help me write longer chapters. xD That, or I'm just not creative enough. :( LOL Aren't you happy? It just so happens that Heisuke isn't in this chapter either. And there's a short memory in the beginning too. :') Thanks for understanding! I don't want to give up writing this no matter how bad it turns out. I can just rewrite it later. xD Thanks for reading and reviewing!