I do not own anything. I'm in trouble, aren't I? I really did mean to update sooner… no, I actually didn't mean to. I mean, the holidays, the studying, and… the procrastination. I'm really sorry. I promise to try harder after my exams. That's all I can promise.

In her office, the pale woman with a strained expression sat in her chair behind a broad, dark desk. She cradled her head in her hands, rubbing her index fingers on her temples. Waking up to the best dream paled in comparison to her throbbing headache and sour mood. How was a woman to live in the moment of her dream when she couldn't even think about it without killing her mind! Amu just wanted to snuggle under the covers with Ikuto—NO, she stopped her mind completely and held her head tighter, trying to rid the thought of her head. She wasn't supposed to be thinking about this. She was supposed to get on with life and work. Just as she repeated that to herself, a shaky knock stroked the door, which made a hybrid noise between scratching and knocking. Amu tilted her head to see who exactly was at the door—Yamada Hatori.

"Um.. Hinamori-san, I came to check up on you." The doctor with the same matted dark hair muttered under his breath. At that moment, her overly sensitive ears felt gratitude for the fact he had a quiet voice.

"Why?" She snapped at him. Even though he meant well, her sour mood still remained.

"W-Well, I thought that since you were having your love-life problems with Tsukiyomi-san. A-Also, I thought that after that heated argument you had with that b-blond woman you wouldn't be stable." There he went on again with his usual stuttering, blabbering non...sense. Wait, Amu pondered over his words carefully.

"Blond? When was…" All the memories of last night just flooded right into her mind, intruding upon it without care or concern. She remembered the argument she had with Utau and the topic of Ikuto. Hang on, there was no need to jump quickly to conclusions. That may have been a dream.

"Tsukiyomi Utau—she was there last night… Wasn't she?" Her stern gaze fell on her squirming superior. Yes, he might look like a weak man with a huge lack of talent; but he was a very capable, hard-working doctor.

"No, her surname was Hoshina; but yes, her given name was Utau. I think her husband was Kukai." He answered. With those facts in mind, this was definitely not a dream. It was time to face it all. Utau's here and I love Ikuto. That was definitely not a good combination. Why did this have to happen all at the same time? The best way to solve this, in Amu's opinion, was to distract yourself from something. Ran popped up in her mind. It had been a few weeks since they went out for this "mother-daughter" bonding. Those weeks would have been just days, but for some weird reason, Ran never wanted to go out after the whole Ikuto incident. She dialed her "daughter's" number on her cell and pressed the red cell to her ear.

"Do you need anything, A—Mama?" The Ran Amu knew wasn't forgetful. The only name she ever called her was Mama.

"Do you want to go out and do something? I figured we should do more mother and daughter things together." She suggested with a calm tone.

"No, it's alright. I have tests and quizzes. Sorry, I've really got to go."

Questioning Friendship

Miki, the confused teen, switched her gaze back and forth from Kiseki and his new friend Daichi. The new transfer student within the first 48 hours of a new environment was already commuting with Kiseki with such an amiable spirit. Kiseki, the stubborn prideful kid Miki always knew, was actually responding well with him. She didn't know who to admire Kiseki or Daichi so she decided to admire both of them. Kiseki noticed her stares, gave a farewell gesture to his new friend, and walked to the girl.

"What's wrong, my servant?" The boy with lilac locks hanging from his head spoke with a ginger and soothing tone that was only for her.

"Two questions are all. First, how are you so friendly with Daichi? Second, why am I the only one you call servant?" Being full of questions as usual, Miki answered with the ease and comfort Kiseki's ambiance always gave her.

"Miki," Kiseki always had this weird habit of dragging out her name and reveling in the only two syllables of it, "Daichi's personality and mine are very compatible. Besides, why should there be an excuse to be that friendly with someone? It's great to have someone to share laughs and joyful moments with, don't you agree?" Miki had a tugging feeling inside her to persist with her questions, but he had a point. Why should she be so suspicious?

"You never answered my second question." She stated.

"Miki." There he goes, doing that thing with her name. To anyone else's ears, the care and value he held for her would be crystal clear; but Miki never did have a great self-awareness. They stood there, looking into each other's eyes. "I want…" Kiseki struggled to gather himself, but for Miki, she stood waiting for the answer. "I call you that because I don't want you to know how I feel…"

"Why can't you tell me how you feel?" Miki asked, not knowing that he didn't finish what he was saying.

"Why can't you? Why not tell Ran about how you feel? You feel that your friendship is one-sided, but you stay silent. Daichi and I can be this friendly because if we didn't like each other we'd tell each other just that." He said, knowing how unfair he was being. He knew it was cruel to turn the tables on her just because he didn't want to fess up.

Miki paused, processing his words in her head. "I should confront Ran about it. Thanks, Kiseki. You're a really great guy. I hope whoever you love knows that."

"How can you tell that I love someone? Do you know who she is?" He stood there with his mouth gaping open.

"Ran told me, and it was pretty clear with your head in the clouds like that. You don't have to tell me who she is, but when you propose to her in the future, please come to me. I'll tell you all about what a woman likes, and don't worry. I'm sure a great guy would be on her list so you already got that down." Miki smiled triumphantly, thinking that she finally could out-do him.

"I heard the name Ran. Would anyone like to clue me in on this girl? You could start with is she available and what's her number." Moving with a confident stride Yoru owned, Daichi weaved his way through the crowd and to the couple.

"Why do you not ask the person yourself?" Miki spoke with a surprising surety in her tone, which barely matched up to him. Kiseki just took his place next to her, ready to perform his "bodyguard" duties.

"I'm interested in Ran, who likes Yoru; and last time I checked, you had some interest in him." Daichi had this provoking tone in his voice. Miki had to grab Kiseki's arm to calm him.

Yoru's Contemplation

The boy with midnight blue and jet black tresses sat in his desk, looking out the window down at the couple talking on a bench. The girl, sitting across from him, follow his gaze to the blue haired girl, she called her friend.

"Ran, why do you still persist on with this feeling you have for me? Wouldn't it be easier for you to simply give up?" Without averting his attention to her, he asked his questions.

"Yoru, I can't exactly let you go when you give me hope time after time." Ran remarked, clear on her statement.

"What do you mean?" His gaze was still glued onto Miki, but his eyebrows pressed together in a puzzled expression.

"Although you keep professing your love to Miki, you always come back to me. I'm the person who's given the position next to your side and the girl who's closest to you. How could I give up when I've reached that far? Tell me, Yoru." Ran's strong façade broke like a dam, tear drops falling from her lashes. Yoru's head snapped to Ran's direction in worry. "W-When Miki doesn't choose you… When she slips from your hands, tell me that you wouldn't care about me anymore, that you wouldn't come to me for comfort, and that there's no chance between u-us."

Yoru with wide eyes sat like a deer in headlights. He couldn't say he wouldn't care about her. They had been childhood friends—friends that had never held any secrets. They always went to each other for comfort, but the chance… Yoru didn't want to think about the chance. He didn't want to break this fragile friendship between them over that slim chance if there were, and he didn't want to break her heart if there weren't.

"I can't." For one time in his life, he was indecisive about something. Those two words caught Ran's breath for a second, and the tears running down began to pour.

"Can't what? What is it that you can't do? Why? Why are you doing this to me?"

I've been torturing you guys. So I figured I should at least sacrifice one subject while I'm at it. Keyboarding doesn't take too much off my report card, right? Thanks for reading, guys. Before I leave, I'd like to tell you guys. I'm making one final story. I figured it was unfair of me to drop the bomb and not give one last farewell. Yes, this was initially supposed to be the last farewell, but I have to give you guys one of those last polls of summaries you can choose from. I'll put it up a couple or few weeks from now.