Hey! Tis D1N0 and I'm on summer break! :) Ergo, my updates shall be a whole lot quicker (yay!) Enough from me, enjoy the tenth chapter! Yay we made it to double digits and I didn't give up. :)

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"Ready to see your brother?" Mikoto asked.

Kumiko nodded. "Yeah."

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"Y'know, there is a shred of hope for our class," Kumiko told Mikoto.

Currently, Kumiko and Mikoto were walking down the bustling streets to the hospital Tatara was staying in.

Mikoto scoffed. "Since when did you start to like the class?"

"Well...just one person."

Mikoto's ears perked and he looked down at Kumiko.

"The girl I was walking with today is really nice. She's very...supportive?"

"You were walking with a girl today?"

Kumiko slapped her hand to her head. "Yes, Mikoto. I was. Her name is Iris Kunogi."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. She's probably the only one that's not a bully. I don't know."

"Hn."

"Mr. Sato's leaving next school year as well."

"Oh? Why?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Family issues."

They arrived at the hospital and Mikoto led her to Tatara's room. Kumiko slowly and quietly opened the door. She peeked in and saw his bruised and bandaged form looking out the window. Once she and Mikoto were in the room, Kumiko closed the door and Tatara turned his head and smiled brightly.

"Onee-chan! King!" Tatara said as excitedly as he could.

Kumiko returned the smile and pulled up a chair to sit by him, Mikoto soon following after. Now that she was closer to Tatara and had a better view of his injuries, Kumiko's smile disappeared and she frowned. Within a couple of hours, his right eye managed to turn completely swollen and purple. Just like the previous month, Tatara's head had a bandage wrapped around his head like a headband. His shirt was lifted just enough for Kumiko to spot a white material covering his stomach. She gently moved his hand and pushed his shirt up to see his stomach wrapped in bandages. To top it off, purplish-blue bruises made up most of the color of his fair skin.

Tatara noticed her worried expression and gave a small smile. "Hey, don't sweat—"

"Don't you finish that sentence, Tatara," Kumiko started.

"Sorry..." he whispered.

"I'm not mad at you. It's just obvious that you're not okay. And it's okay to tell me how you really feel, y'know."

"I'm fine!" He smiled again. "But...I have to stay in the hospital for two nights."

She frowned and looked down so Tatara couldn't see her face. His smile faded and he asked, "are you crying, Onee-chan?"

She shook her head.

"Then say something."

"I have to cook again."

Tatara tilted his head in confusion and asked, "what?"

She looked up at him again and gave him a small shove. "You were supposed to cook tonight."

They both laughed and continued to mess with each other. Mikoto looked at the two and chuckled, stopping them in their pokes and shoves and turning to look at him, forgetting that he was also present.

"Oh, King! I have something to ask of you!"

"Hn?" Mikoto and Kumiko looked at him.

"Since I'm not going to be there and our family is constantly busy—"

Knowing where this was going, Kumiko gave the younger teen a small glare. "Tatara—"

"Could you—"

"Tatara—"

"Stay with Onee-chan and just watch over her?"

Her face went red at the thought of Mikoto spending the night, twice.

"Ah...I guess."

"M-Mikoto," Kumiko stuttered out. "That's really not...not necessary!"

"It's tonight and tomorrow, right?" Mikoto asked, completely ignoring the flustered girl.

"No! I'm fine."

"Yup! I'll be back home on Wednesday!"

Kumiko released a frustrated sigh and rest her forehead on her right palm. "You give me such a headache, Tatara."

"Oh you have a headache? Maybe you should go home and King can take care of it for you!"

"W-Wait—"

"Wow, look at the time," Tatara said and looked at the clock on his wall. "It's getting pretty late! See you tomorrow! I'm in perfectly good hands here!"

"B-B-But I—"

"You're not trying to avoid me are you?" Mikoto asked.

Kumiko blushed and turned her head in Mikoto's direction. "I'm—I'm not! I'm just—"

Tatara gave her a light punch to the arm. "I'm okay. Really. And I'm kind of tired. You must be pretty tired too, huh?"

Kumiko puffed her cheeks to hold in her yawn and she shook her head.

Tatara chuckled and dozed off. "Goodnight, Onee-chan."

She sighed when he fell asleep. Kumiko stood up and said, "I-I guess we should go...then."

"Yeah."

She stood up, ruffled Tatara's hair, and walked outside. Mikoto, however, looked at him and saw that his eyes were slightly opened. He chuckled and followed Kumiko outside.

"So—"

"Mikoto," Kumiko warned him.

He smirked at the sight of her cherry red face.

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They arrived back to the Totsuka residence in complete silence. None of them spoke one word to the other. Kumiko unlocked the door, rushed inside, and quickly said, "thanks for walking me home! Bye!"

She made the move to swiftly shut the door, but Mikoto stuck his arm out and held the door open. He managed to easily prop the door open and walk inside. He closed the door behind him and looked at Kumiko.

"Hn? What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing!"

"Do you want me to leave?"

"No!" She answered too quickly. "I'm-I'm gonna do my homework."

Kumiko rushed to the couch and opened her binder. But that's all she did. She just froze and stared down at her work. Mikoto looked at her and sat next to her.

"Kumiko."

The said girl made a small jump and snapped her head up as she blushed and looked away. Mikoto put his hand on her cheek, and lifted her face up to look at him. "I'll leave and see you tomorrow." He stroked her cheek with his thumb and stood up.

"No!" She grabbed his jacket.

"Hn?"

"I-I don't want you...to leave..." She said inaudibly, but loud enough for him to hear.

He sat back down. "Then why are you acting weird?"

"Be-Because...well...last-last night we-"

"Kissed."

She blushed harder just thinking of it. "Yeah...But now we're alone...and I guess I'm just nervous...being alone."

He pulled her closer by her tie. "Do you want to continue?"

"I-I-I-M-Mi-Miko...to..." She placed her hands on his chest and bunched the fabric of his shirt.

He placed a knuckle under her chin and lifted her face up. Kumiko squeezed her eyes shut when she felt his lips gently press against hers. He pulled back shortly after to look at her and see if she wanted him to continue or not. She looked at him and averted her eyes. When she looked in his eyes, he had this intense and questioning gaze that made her quiver and look away.

"Kumiko."

Her face went red at the sound of his voice. She held onto his shirt even tighter when he slowly started to crawl over her. Mikoto lowered his forehead to hers and she released a shaky sigh when she felt his lips press to her forehead and brush pass the bridge of her nose. He trailed his kisses down her face where his lips met hers and he kissed her harder than the first kiss. Kumiko wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her up closer to him. He licked her bottom lip, asking for entrance. She hesitated and it wasn't long before Mikoto pushed his tongue in, making Kumiko whimper. She felt his tongue looking for hers, but she kept backing out. She was nervous. Last night was still too overwhelming for her to even think about.

Mikoto pulled back. "Do you want to stop?"

She was about to reply, but the sound of the front door unlocking could be heard. Kumiko gasped and pushed Mikoto off of her. She stood up and waited for whoever was on the other side of the door to walk in.

"Who is that?" Mikoto asked.

"I'm not sure. I mean it might be my aunt. But I don't know," she said nervously.

The door opened and two adults walked in; a male and a female. The male looked as if he was six foot eight inches tall. He had short, black hair that was combed to the right in a neat manner. He was dressed in a black suit with a black tie in the middle of a white dress shirt. In addition, his dark gray eyes looked like they could pierce right through you.

The woman, just like the man, had long, sleek black hair, but it was tied up in a ponytail. She was dressed in a black blazer that went over a white button down shirt and her fitted skirt went down just above her knees. She looked like she was about five inches shorter than the man at her right. Her eyes looked like the same: dark and gray. But they didn't possess the intense look. Her eyes were more gentle-looking.

"Kumiko-chan," the woman said and stared at the two teens.

"Mom...Dad?"

Mikoto looked at her with a confused expression.

Kumiko went to the two adults and gave them a tight hug. They both wrapped their arms around her before they pulled back and observed her appearance.

"You're so grown up," the man said.

"What are you guys doing here?" Kumiko asked.

"Tatara called us and left a message saying you need someone to watch you?"

She sighed. "I'm okay."

"So you want us to go?"

"No!" She said and hugged them tight again. They both looked up to see Mikoto taking in the scene.

"Kumiko-chan? Who's this?" The woman asked.

She turned around and said, "th-this is Mikoto Suoh."

"I'm her boyfriend."

She rushed to Mikoto and hit him on the arm. "Baka Mikoto!"

"How do you know him?"

"We're in the same class," Kumiko quietly said.

The man and the woman came closer to Mikoto and studied him. Mikoto looked at them with indifference.

Feeling slightly awkward, Kumiko said, "Uhhh let's eat dinner!"

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The man (who Mikoto learned as Ken Uehara) and the woman (Emiko Uehara) turned out to be the married couple who adopted Tatara and Kumiko after they were abandoned in the park. They may have adopted them, but they were rarely home due to their jobs always keeping them on the go. They both owned and worked for a very successful company known simply as Uehara Company which made baked goods. However, the company's recently been in multiple types of crises: bills are piling up, new ideas are running out, and many people are quitting or being let go. This resulted in the two adults to constantly be out and about, trying to save their company.

"Kumiko-chan," her foster father said. "We have to take care of business with the company again tomorrow night."

"So you're gonna be off again?" She asked, a minuscule trace of disappointment could be heard in her voice.

"We're sorry."

"It's fine," she gave them a bright smile which they returned.

"Suoh-kun, are you staying over? It's getting pretty late and it's still a school night."

"Mom," Kumiko quietly said. "Mikoto is...suspended."

The two looked at Mikoto and Kumiko with wide eyes. "WHAT?"

"I-It's for a good reason...I guess. Well, I was being teased—we both were—and he beat up a couple of our classmates really bad."

Her foster father sighed. "What if you get hurt, Kumiko? Hangin' around someone like Suoh-kun."

"But I won't. If I do then...oh well."

"Kumiko," he said again, this time in a lower voice. "You may not be our legitimate daughter, but we care for you as if you are. We just want you and Tatara to be safe."

She bit her bottom lip. "Thanks."

They all looked at Kumiko who they noticed she was beginning to fall asleep at the table. Her head was bobbing and the task of keeping her eyes open was harder to do.

"Kumiko-chan," her foster mother said. "Do you want to sleep now?"

She shook her head. "I'm...fine."

Mikoto picked her up, taking her by surprise, as always.

"Mikoto!"

"Goodnight," Mikoto said.

"Wait! Will I see you guys in the morning?"

They frowned and walked up to her. "The possibility is slim. If we don't see you tomorrow," they both kissed her forehead, "we'll see you soon. Goodnight."

Kumiko frowned. "Goodnight."

Mikoto carried the exhausted girl up to her room and laid her on her bed where he sat next to her.

"You never told me you were adopted."

"Mm...the thought slipped my mind. And I don't like to talk about them a lot."

"Oh? Why?"

Kumiko didn't respond.

"Oi, Kumiko."

She still didn't respond and Mikoto looked down at her to see that she had fallen asleep against his chest. She's fallen asleep in front of him only once, but he's never really observed her sleeping face before. She looks really calm, Mikoto thought. The bright moonlight was their only source of light in the room and it danced across Kumiko's features. Mikoto brought his hand up and stroked her cheek as gently as he could. This caused Kumiko to stir just slightly in her sleep. He retreated his hand as if he touched a hot surface and brought his hands up behind his head before attempting to fall asleep.

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Downstairs, Ken and Emiko were in the middle of cleaning up the kitchen when one of their cell phones began to ring.

"Hello?" Ken answered. There was a moment of silence before he spoke up again to say, "alright I'll be there."

"Was that the company?" Emiko asked.

"Yeah, they called me in. I'll be back."

"Do they need me?"

"No. Just me. Be back soon."

With that said, Ken walked out the door, leaving a confused Emiko.

"Why would the company only need one of the two owners? And what's so urgent that they need only one of us at this hour?" She said to herself and finished cleaning up.

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The morning came and a bright sun peaked through Kumiko's windows to wake her up. She noticed Mikoto lying down next to her. He was sleeping on his side with one arm behind his head to prop his head up higher. His other arm was currently draped across her waist. She smiled and leaned down to place a kiss to his forehead. Kumiko then slowly got off the bed, to prevent him from waking up. He did, however, stir in his sleep and grumble, but was still in his deep slumber. She quietly walked outside and shut the door. Kumiko was about to take the first step downstairs, but curiosity got the best of her and she walked to the guest room to see that her foster parents were still there, fast asleep. She smiled and walked downstairs to make breakfast for everyone. She busted out the eggs, cheese, and onions and began cooking. She heard a pair of footsteps descending the stairs and she turned her head to find her foster parents waltz into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Kumiko-chan," her foster mother said with a smile.

"Morning!"

"Good morning," her foster father said. "This smells good. What are you cooking?"

"Eggs with cheese and onions," she served them their eggs and they said their thanks. "I'm gonna go wake Mikoto up before his breakfast gets cold."

Kumiko marched upstairs to her room and slowly opened the door. Mikoto was still fast asleep. She walked over to her bed and sat on the side, lightly shaking the red-head.

"Mikoto," she said, causing him to roll over and grumble in reply.

"Wake up. Breakfast is gonna get cold."

"I'll heat it up later."

"Baka Mikoto," she mumbled and shook him more. He wouldn't budge and she decided to poke his cheek repeatedly. "Mikoto, wake up."

He sighed and sat up, running his hands through his hair.

"Good. Now stand up," she said.

He ignored her and stayed sitting.

"You're hopeless."

"I need help getting up."

"You've gotta be kidding me," she mumbled and stood up, grabbing his arms and attempting to pull him up.

"That's not what I mean," he lazily said.

She stopped pulling and sat back down. "What?"

He pulled her closer to him by her shirt. "Help me get up," he whispered.

She shivered at his husky voice and blushed. "I-I don't know what you...mean."

He grumbled and pressed his lips to hers. "That's what I meant," he said and got up to stretch.

He trudged out of the room, and Kumiko soon followed. They walked into the kitchen together and saw her foster parents reading the paper.

"Good morning, Suoh-kun," her foster father said.

"Ah...morning."

The adult furrowed his brows at the red-head's informality.

Kumiko handed Mikoto his breakfast and told them, "I'm gonna go and check the mail."

Kumiko stepped outside in the chilly air and pulled the sleeves of her hoodie down. She opened the mailbox and saw nothing but coupons and advertisements. She could have sworn her aunt sent in money for her and Tatara. Unless her foster parents took over this time.

"Mom, did aunty send the money?" Kumiko asked, checking through the mail over and over.

"Hm?" She put the newspaper down. "She told me she did."

Kumiko began to panic. Did someone steal the money?

"Don't worry, Kumiko," her foster father said, noticing her worried expression. "Just get ready and we'll try to sort this out."

She sighed, nodded, and began her daily routine. Kumiko couldn't shake the thought of her aunty's money being gone. Who could have done it?

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"See you later," Kumiko said and hugged her parents.

"We'll try to figure out what happened with the money," her foster mother said.

She nodded and waved goodbye to her parents.

"Do you have any idea of where the money went?" Mikoto asked.

She shook her head and ran a hand through her hair. "No idea. We'll figure something out. Do you think Izumo-kun will let me work at the bar?"

He rose a brow and looked down at her. "You're sixteen. You can't even drink yet."

"What about Izumo-kun? How old is he?"

Mikoto thought about it and ignored the question.

She bit her bottom lip and liberated a frustrated sigh. "I don't know what I'm gonna do."

Mikoto looked at her and took her hand. She looked up at him to see he had the usual blank look on his face.

She looked back to the ground with a distressed look plastered to her face. "What are you gonna do today?" She asked, trying to change the topic.

"Go to HOMRA."

"Hm...can I come to visit?"

"Yeah."

She smiled and hugged his arm.

The path to school was no longer covered in snow. The beautiful, green plants were out, blowing in the chilly wind. Kumiko even spotted some colorful plants beginning to sprout. This made her even more happy as the blossoming flowers and plants were a harbinger of spring break, the end of the school year.

She arrived at the large gates of her school. "See you later, Mikoto." She gave him a tight hug and walked through the gates, where other students could be seen running in to make it to class on time.

"Totsuka-chan," a deep voice called out to her. Mikoto normally doesn't remember those who he has met, but he sure knows the source of this annoying voice. Munakata waved to her and walked by her side to class, much to Mikoto's annoyance. Munakata saw Mikoto glaring at him and he returned a disdainful look of his own.

"Tch," Mikoto scoffed and walked away.

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"How is your brother?" Munakata asked as he sat in front of Kumiko's desk.

"He's Tatara, but purple."

"Ah. How serious were his injuries?"

"He has a black eye, bruises, and fractured ribs."

Munakata noticed her upset expression. "I take it he's in the hospital, then. How long?"

"He comes back tomorrow."

"Are you caring for yourself? If you need any help—"

"Um…Mikoto's…actually taking care of me…" Munakata furrowed his brows, unknown to Kumiko. "As well as my foster parents."

His expression softened and he looked back up to Kumiko. "Foster parents?"

"Oh yeah. Haha! I have foster parents, but they're barely around."

"Hmm…"

Kumiko turned her attention to Munakata to see him beholding a blank expression.

"Munakata-kun?"

"Yes?"

"Are you okay? You've been acting kind of strange."

He ruffled Kumiko's bangs, much to the latter's chagrin. "I'm fine, Totsuka-chan. With exams approaching, and rather quickly I may add, I feel somewhat stressed out."

She ruffled his bangs back. "Then we better study hard on Friday."

He looked at her and smirked.

"Take your seats everybody and we shall begin!"

"I'm sorry, Totsuka-chan. But there is a student council meeting during lunch and I'm afraid I can't eat with you."

Despite being slightly upset, Kumiko smiled. "You gotta do what you gotta do. It's preparation for you becoming head of Scepter 4."

He smirked and waved goodbye.

So, the usual boring school day commenced. Mr. Sato began his normal lectures and in-class activities as Kumiko began her doodles in her notebook. As much as she wanted to pay attention to the review for the exams, the blank page of her notebook screamed, "draw a pretty picture" rather than, "take notes." She ended up drawing just a boy and a girl. She drew the boy with a crown and long cape. He was drawn on one knee, holding the smiling girl's hand. The girl also had a crown drawn on her head. How she managed to obtain acceptable grades sometimes was unknown to her. She thought about studying with Munakata in his study group, whoever may be in it, on Friday. She didn't want to let them down, so she released a quiet sigh and stopped scribbling random pictures to begin writing down her notes.
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"Hey, Mikoto," Izumo greeted as his friend took a seat at the bar.

Mikoto grunted in reply.

"Everything alright?"

"Fine."

Izumo studied him as he prepared Mikoto's usual tea. "How's Kumiko-chan?"

Mikoto's ears perked up at the sound of her name and he looked at Izumo. "Fine. She's coming here after."

"Ah is that so? Haven't seen her in a while."

"Would you let her work here?" Mikoto asked out of the blue.

Izumo placed Mikoto's tea in front of him and leaned on the counter of the bar. "What?"

"She's in need of money."

"Aren't we all?" Izumo responded and started cleaning a glass.

"Someone stole her money."

The blonde stopped cleaning and looked up at the red-head with wide eyes. "What?

Does she know who did it?"

"No."

"Hmm…for her sake and your sake, I probably won't let her work here."

Mikoto rose an eyebrow. "Ah?"

"For one, this is a bar. People do get drunk and lose it which leads to reason two, I wouldn't let her be around the sleazy bastards that do lose it. I thought you would have thought of that."

The thought of sleazy men completely crossed his mind. Most likely because he's usually in the bar with no one else around when it's closed. Mikoto clenched his fists at the thought of some drunk bastard hitting on Kumiko who'd probably be too shy to tell the guy to back off. That, or she might slap him, taking her carelessness in to consideration.

Izumo took note of Mikoto's slight anger at the thought and chuckled. "See what I mean?"

The red-head unclenched his fists and released an annoyed, "tch."

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"Itadakimasu."

Kumiko dove into her usual bento and stared out in boredom. She didn't want to force Munakata to eat with her. She realized he had his important class duties to take care of. Kumiko could've asked Iris, but of course, Iris was also on student council. So, she just enjoyed the silence and cool breeze running through her brown locks.

Mrowr

Kumiko looked up and she wasn't at all surprised anymore. She was starting to grow accustomed to the gray feline's frequent visits. She held out a piece of fish and the cat strolled over to her and sniffed her food. It took its miniscule licks and began to eat the fish. Unfortunately, that was her last piece to offer. Nonetheless, the cat stayed and slept against her side just like the day before. Kumiko pet the cat's surprisingly soft fur and it purred in content. She smiled when it rubbed its head against her side.

"Why do you always visit me, huh?" She asked in a quiet voice. It meowed in response, making Kumiko chuckle. "If you come by tonight, I'll prepare some more fish, okay?" It meowed again and Kumiko closed her eyes, drowsiness slowly taking over.

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Weird ending. Great job, D1N0. lol But anyways, hooray for chapter 10!
I read somewhere that Totsuka was adopted by a happy couple. So I put them in here and fabricated the details. So somewhat OC...somewhat not.

Ana: Aha...thank you so much. You're so kind. :) Well hopefully I can force myself to update sooner so you don't have to wait a looooong time! :D

Kyoichi Amaya: Yay! Thank you! You're also too kind. v/w\\v

OtakuWriter5441: Oh snap!

haha! Thank you for theoretically letting me go and for your review! :) Knyttet: Thank you! I'm glad you like the long chapters and are willing to sit through them. lol

Valoja: Haha! Thanks! Don't worry about not reviewing every single chapter! It's cool by me. :) Haha! Party Pooper Kumiko. Tis not her fault she's shy. :) Ah I see your disappointment. But Iris isn't going to play a huge role. Just support. So don't worry too much about her. :) Unless you so desperately yearn for me to change some things. lol. Anyways, THANKS FOR YOUR REVIEW! ((I promise I'll try to get better at fluff. oAo;))

Miechan-ish: ((sews pillow back together despite crappy sewing skills)) Haha! I know... .FRUFF. haha. THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEW! I hope you liked this chapter :)

Sarah404: I'm happy as well! Thanks for the review! :D

Sesshylover978: It's so fluffy! Sorry...couldn't help myself. I know right? I've been waiting to write them together. I'm glad they are now. :) Who knows what Munakata's thinking? No seriously. I'm not sure myself. Maybe he just doesn't like Mikoto? Maybe he's actually jealous? I honestly have no idea.

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS/FOLLOWS/FAVORITES/VIEWS! Happy ((LATE)) Memorial Day! God bless and have a great day!