Misaki fled down the dark streets. In her panic she'd forgotten the metro existed and was running down the sidewalk. Her breath was shaky as tears of frustration began to course down her face. Faster. She thought impatiently, pumping her legs to push harder. I have to go faster. A thought popped into her head as she reached her destination and Misaki skidded to a stop in front of the apartment building. The tears were still flowing aimlessly down a trail on her face. What am I doing? She scolded herself, bringing her hand to cover her painful sobs. She was so overcome by emotion, she didn't know what was wrong with her. At the hospital, she'd gotten a really bad feeling and she just...acted on impulse. No matter what, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Calming her breathing, she hastily wiped the wetness from her cheeks and sprinted into the building.

Too impatient to wait for the elevator, Misaki ran up the five flights of stairs, entering the sixth floor from the emergency stairway. She ran blindly through the large hallway towards the familiar apartment door at the end. Not remembering that he had a doorbell, she began pounding on his door. Please, be home! she prayed silently. Within seconds, Misaki heard the sound of someone undoing the latch from inside, and held her breath. The door swung open to reveal Takumi. He looked like he just got out of the shower. He stood there in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt that looked slightly wet around the collar. He had a small towel hanging around his neck and his hair was still damp. He looked extremely surprised to see her. Misaki couldn't take it anymore. The relief that he was still there, it spread through her body like a warmth she never knew before. She could feel her knees buckle under her as Takumi leaned forward to catch her.

"Hey Pres, you okay?" he asked. He held her to him, the arms around her waist her only support.

She looked at him helplessly, nodding slowly as an embarrassed smile formed on her face. Upon looking at her, Takumi frowned slightly. He lifted his right arm from her waist and could immediately feel her falling from his grip. Takumi quickly closed the door behind Misaki, doing up the latch before carrying her inside and setting her on the couch. Misaki kept her head bowed, face covered by her hands, refusing to look at him. So he knelt on the floor in front of her and pried her hands from her face.

"Pres?" He inquired softly, trying to catch her eyes with his. He noticed for the second time, the faint but definitely wet gleam in the corners of her eyes. "Ayuzawa," his tone a bit more stern and concerned, "have you been crying?"

Misaki still didn't answer. As soon as she saw him, her resolve faded. She no longer knew what she was going to do, what she was going to say. Silently, Takumi got up and sat down on her right side. Gently, he bent down and took Misaki's face in his hands, brushing away what was left of her tears with soothing strokes of his thumbs. The look in his eyes was curious, but gentle and sympathetic. Cautiously, as not to scare her, Takumi pressed his forehead to hers. Misaki closed her eyes. She could feel it. The warmth of his hands of his forehead pressed against hers. She could feel the comfortable and carefree atmosphere that could only surround him. She took in his smell. He smelled like a waterfall and she could feel his minty breath against her nose. He was there. He was still there. The tears began again, stalking slowly down her cheeks.

Takumi could feel the sticky wetness dripping against the palms of his hands and he slowly opened his eyes. Once again he began to wipe them away. He looked at her worriedly.

"Misaki..." he began. And that was all it took. Misaki burst out in tears.

Abruptly broken out of her stupor and overwhelmed by emotion, she sobbed her eyes out. She could feel Takumi pull her into a tight embrace, her face pressed against his chest. She clung to him like a child. His shirt was fisted tightly in both her hands. Takumi's arms held her protectively. His right hand rubbed up and down her back in a soothing motion, the other caressing her hair and Misaki made no move to stop him. With her head tucked into his chest, Takumi leaned down and buried his face in her hair. Just seeing the strong Ayuzawa Misaki he loved crying like this, made him want to cry as well. He was pressed so tightly to her that Takumi's body shook with each and every one of her sobs.

"Misaki?" he tried again. But still he received no response.

He raised his head slightly and lightly kissed her right temple. "Please, Misaki," he whispered to her, "tell me. What happened?" Slowly, his left hand slid down to remove her hands from his shirt before tenderly cupping her face in his hands. He forced her to look at him, but she wouldn't open her eyes. She could feel him, but she was afraid that if she opened her eyes, he would disappear. Misaki's hand came to cover his, to make sure he was still there. The feeling of his hands under hers was her only reassurance as she opened her eyes. At first it was only a little bit, but slowly, she opened them, all the while tears still trailing down her face.

"What happened? What's wrong?" his plead ate away at her heart.

Misaki forced down the rest of the tears that were trying to force their way out. "I..." she started, voice shaking. "I...I thought you'd left." she finished casting her eyes downward to avoid his gaze. She suddenly felt weary and tired.

Glancing up nervously, she saw the surprised look in his eyes. Taking advantage of his surprise, Misaki ripped away from him as if he'd burned her and stood up. Hastily, she wiped away any stray tears and walked towards to the door.

"I'm sorry." she apologized wryly, "I...I depend on Usui too much."

She undid the latch and was about to turn the knob when she felt his right hand grab her wrist. She froze. Misaki didn't want to look at him. She didn't want to face him. She couldn't anymore. Quickly reaching out instead with her left hand, he captured that hand too. He pulled her to him from behind.

"What did you say?" he asked. His voice seemed a bit far away, as if he heard something he couldn't believe.

"I said," Misaki took a deep breath, "that I depend on you too much."

"No. Not that." She could feel the movement of air from him shaking his head. "Before that. What did you say before that."

Misaki's urge to get away from him, though strong, faltered and her tense muscles all failed at the same time. Her body shook and she swayed, her balance unstable.

"I..." she tried. "I...I..." She continued to stutter, somehow unable to continue her sentence. Misaki gulped down the lump in her throat. She opened her mouth and spoke slowly. "I said 'I thought you had left.'"

"You..." Takumi spoke softly. He wrapped his hands around her waist, lifted her off the slippery wood floor and tossed her over his shoulder. In response, Misaki screamed.

"AIIIIIIII! PUT ME DOWN YOU PERVERT. PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT! YOU...YOU...PERVERTED OUTER-SPACE ALIEN! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

Annoyed, Takumi dropped her on the couch and glared. "Will you shut up!" Misaki immediately went silent. He had never used that sort of tone of voice with her. She suddenly felt like a mouse in an open cage and the entrance was blocked by a ferocious cat. This was not a good situation. Quickly regaining her composure, Misaki said a quick "I'm leaving." and made a beeline for the door only to be carried right back and dumped in the same spot on the couch. After more than five tries at escaping, Misaki finally gave in and sunk against the couch. She looked up, annoyed, at Takumi who stood above her, arms crossed, a triumphant smirk adorning his face.

"Finally give up?" he mocked.

She too crossed her arms and averted her gaze, annoyed and embarrassed. "Yeah." she muttered. Takumi plopped down beside her and suddenly, the tensely awkward atmosphere from before was back. It was as if she never got up. Misaki cautiously turned her head to face him. Takumi was sitting down with his head in the palm of his right hand, staring forward. They stayed like that for a few seconds, suspended in time. Then Takumi spoke.

"Why?" he asked.

"Eh?" Misaki replied surprised.

"Why?" he repeated, finally turning to look at her.

"Why?" she repeated. "Why what?"

"Why did you think I was gone?" he asked.

He could visibly see Misaki tense up. Once again, she began shaking. Takumi was tempted not to pry much farther, but his curiosity was overpowering.

"Why did you think I was gone?" he asked again. This time, he placed his hands on Misaki's forearms and pulled her closer to him. The closer she was to him, the more he could resist wanting to hold her, to comfort her. He watched silently as her lips parted, prepared to speak.

"I...got a bad feeling." she answered simply. She refused to look him in the eyes, even now. "I...I don't know what it was. I was at the hospital as usual, doing whatnot, then Suzuna started urging me to go home and something just...just came over me. The next thing I knew, I was heading here, with no intention of stopping."

Her gaze shyly flickered upward to glance at his face. She could see his face contorted in a worried frown. What was wrong? Had she said something wrong?

"The hospital?" he repeated.

Realizing what she had said, Misaki's eyes widened in panic an she brought her hands to her mouth to block her inaudible gasp. She had to get out of here. She knew that if he asked, she would tell. She could never lie to him. But as she was getting up, Takumi's hands grasped her hips firmly and pushed her back onto the couch. In a desperate act to get away from him, Misaki rolled off the couch and onto the ground. Just as she was about to get up, Takumi held her down. He straddled her, pinning her arms down by her wrists and holding down her legs with his shins.

"Now," Takumi said, staring straight into her terrified eyes for the first time that night. "are you going to tell me whats up or am I going to have to get rough with you, Misa-chan?"