When I arrived at the door, barely supporting Ruki over one arm and surrounded by a horde of videogamers, it was quite easy to imagine the immense look of confusion that scathed Aunt Yuki's features. I had forgotten to ask her for a key, so I'd had to wake her up by ringing the bell- which made me feel extremely bad; considering the fact that I'd only been there for one day. I supposed it was just as well; I'd have had to have woken her up anyway to ask if Ai, Ruki and the others could stay, but it might have been nicer if she hadn't have had such a shock as she did. Her yukata was crossed the wrong way, she wore no tabi and her once neat bun resembled a messy clump. Yuki's usually sparkling eyes were also tired and confused- I didn't like seeing her that way; she looked elderly and vulnerable, unlike the Aunt I was used to.

"Miro," she breathed, looking round perplexed, "what's going on?"

I really, really hoped that things went well for Aoi and Taeko- or else all of this would be for nothing. That- and also that she understood the reasons for us waking her up in the middle of the night. I took a deep breath and swallowed, hard.

"I'm so sorry for waking you like this, Aunt," I said, quietly, "but I have a friend that needs help and we can't stay in the boys' house- one of their friends needs it an awful lot. I know it's a great deal to ask, especially on such short notice, but could they stay here for the night? I will pay for them if I need to, cook, clean up- whatever you need."

"All of them?" She blurted out, shocked, looking at the gamer boys. They exchanged glances, realised what she was thinking and immediately started to panic.

"No-no, Yuki-san!" One of them; a short, chubby guy exclaimed, "We're only helping out- to get Miro and Ruki across the road."

"Yeah!" Takashi piped in, backing away, "We were just leaving; honestly."

The gamer boys all turned to leave, looking sheepish, but Yuki cut across them.

"No, no-"she exclaimed, looking embarrassed, "I'm sorry- I didn't mean to be so rude- but as you can imagine, it's not what one expects to be asked at three 'o clock in the morning. It's nothing personal, I promise. Can I offer you all tea for helping Miro? It's the least I can do."

The chubby guy started to say yes happily, but Takashi grabbed his shoulder and shook his head. The gamer guy's smile shrunk into a disappointed expression and he muttered something under his breath.

"Thank you kindly ma'am, but we need to be back for six am," Takashi explained, politely, "the new episode of Dr Who is airing and we HAVE to watch it before Sugimura does. He's the kind of guy that can't shut up for five seconds and would therefore give away the plot if we compromised our battle positions for the sake of tea."

Yuki looked at him as if he'd just spoken French. I giggled, shuffling Ruki over my arm a bit more to distribute his weight. It seemed a bit mean that they were about to just leave me and my Aunt with Ruki to carry- but as they'd helped me carry him across the road already, I couldn't really complain.

Guess Dr Who calls... I thought to myself, waving at the four of them as they got into a beaten-up Nissan Micra outside the guys' house and sped off- Yuki's eyes meanwhile slipping to Ruki. Her expression changed from confused to disapproving and she tapped her foot impatiently.

"I'm guessing that he's the friend who needs help?" She asked me, sarcastically; but not in a nasty way. I started to reply and then realised the promise I'd made; so in response, I shook my head.

"He's a friend who needs help, but not the friend who needs help, if you get me." I explained erratically, almost dropping Ruki, "I met someone today who quite desperately needs somewhere to stay; which I'll let her talk to you about when she comes. Her parents kicked her out because she found out she was pregnant- she literally has nowhere to live."

Yuki looked horrified, her previous ghostly complexion completely grey. Her expression calmed to a state of what an outsider would consider nonchalance- impossible to differentiate from, unless you knew her and met her eyes. They were full of white-hot fury, which I could clearly understand. Yuki was a caring soul who couldn't imagine trying to hurt someone she knew on purpose for the sake of revenge or shame; those things didn't matter to her, because love to her couldn't be manipulated according to what the person had done. It was a permanent thing that she was as dedicated to as her calligraphy. I wondered then if Taeko's room had the same lovely paintings mine did.

"Come on in, Miro," she said, finally, "we'll lie him down on the sofa. We'll sort out the rest when the time comes."

She put her arm over Ruki's shoulders and helped me to lift him. She grunted under his weight; her bones giving out a quiet, unhealthy sounding groan. With some effort, we managed to heave him though the hall and into the living room, laying him down gently. He was still unconscious, but his face was beginning to show signs of movement by twitches in his elegant, almost painted features.

"My Lord, he's a cutie." Yuki panted, admiring him, "If I was thirty years younger, I'd dive on him faster than you could say 'ex-husband'."

"Aunt!" I scolded, laughing, "Now is not the time to be gaping over hot men."

"Miro dear, it's always the time to be gaping over hot men."

Ruki snorted, making us both jump. I hoped he hadn't heard. I held my breath to see if he woke up; but he continued sleeping- his striking face in a state of calm. I began regressing back to the happy, daydreamy world I'd been in when I'd met him only a couple of hours ago. Would we ever talk again after this? Would he just forget all about me? I wouldn't have been surprised; he leached out an insane amount of pheromones even when unconscious- like an 'Uruha-mark-two' with a bit less 'Adonis' and a bit more 'cuteness' thrown in there for good measure. Saying that though, even though I was insanely attracted to him physically, I didn't know an awful lot about him, or what he was like as a person. General rule-of-thumb states that 'all attractive males are bell-ends or gay'- a theme I was all too familiar with.

Think positive. You're not back home.

The guys who Taeko knew and introduced me to had all defied the rule frustratingly; by being both seemingly lovely people and also, straight (or maybe bi; I hadn't asked). I hoped with extreme hope that Ruki fit that rule- maybe Japan was the place to find actual men in the world. He'd certainly seemed nice- but you can't get much conversation out of people when they're downing tequila. That being said, when I thought about Reita, I knew already that he was a really nice guy- as well as being incredibly hot. A bubbly feeling crept over me. I guess it didn't hurt to look back and admire- after all, I pretty much felt like they both were out of my league.

I had been daydreaming for so long that I hadn't realised Yuki had left. I snapped back to reality at the sound of gentle clangs of metal as she slid open the screen door from the kitchen to the living room; carrying with her a large pot of tea, a damp cloth and two roughly cut teacups made out of glazed, pink terracotta. She sat down next to me, poured out a cup of tea for the both of us and pressed the flannel to Ruki's forehead. His eyebrows stirred a little, but there was no other response.

I knew it was selfish, but I really wanted to him to wake up.


It had begun to rain again. Ai and Uruha were still outside, listening to each other; where they'd been for the last several hours. As the time passed, she had begun to admire him more and more for the person he was; for sticking up for her, for looking after her in the way he did and, most of all, the fact that he'd been a perfect gentleman the entire time that they both had been out there. He had kissed her, yes; but it had been more out of affection and kindness rather than anything else. It had been gentle, warming; even sweet- Ai'd forgotten almost what that was like. She certainly wasn't used to being treated that way.

As she'd slowly turned sober, more and more adamant worries had crossed her mind, which Ru had managed to soothe somehow. Ai was not a shallow person, but she had a shallow job. She had been a model since she was sixteen- it had been the rent payment for her parents who insisted on stupidly high monthly rates for her to live with them. She supposed that since she had no place to go to that it no longer mattered whether she had it or not- after all, she was bound to lose it when they realised she was pregnant. But it had been hers- her own job. Why should she have to give all that up?

Uruha had told her not to worry; that Taeko and Miro were asking Yuki-san if she could stay at their boarding house with them. Although Ai was speechlessly grateful at what they had done for her, especially because they'd only just met, it made her feel useless- even weak. She felt pitied- as if her pride had been drained entirely with no means of return- and it frustrated her. Ai had stood pretty much on her own feet for the majority of her life- now, she didn't know where or how she stood anymore.

I suppose pride has nothing to do with getting a roof over your head, she thought, a little bitterly. A sob escaped her throat; the soreness setting in. Uruha heard the sob and immediately held her closer to him.

"Shhh..." he soothed, stroking her hair, "what's wrong?" A rain droplet hit his nose and ran down his cheek; cooling further his freezing skin. He had insisted that Ai take the blanket- it was important that she was warm. He didn't matter.

"S'okay." She replied, giving him a smile. If Ru could act strong, so could she. "I was just thinking about something stupid."

A large raindrop splattered her cheek; running crudely down the side of her face and neck. Uruha smiled back and, without warning, wrapped his arms around her legs and lifted her. She gasped slightly; the night air and rain slicing into her previously covered legs. Uruha shook his head rapidly; an array of water droplets falling from his hair like diamonds.

"Come on," he said, clinging to her tightly, "let's get you inside. You'll get ill out here." He arranged the throw around to cover her as best as he could manage and strode across the garden with her; towards the bright kitchen through the patio doors.


Kai was asleep- having his first good dream since he couldn't remember. Unaware, he snored softly; he breaths long and regular in rhythm. He was dreaming he was the King of Candyland and was about to conquer the neighbouring land of Nod for being too lazy. It was getting to the good part- he was beating them down with his Lollipop Army.

Then, all of a sudden, when General Lemon went down to Nod's 'Zzz' cannon fire-

"Kai! Wake up! We need to go over the road."

Kai shot awake and groaned loudly; frustrated that he'd never know what would've happened. He looked at the clock; the blinking face telling him that he was up waaay too early for communication or even movement of any kind.

"What?" He cried out to Rei, annoyed, "I'm trying to sleep, man!"

Rei smirked. It was time to play the trump card; the one where he knew that Kai, out of all people, would be understanding.

"Aoi needs the house, Kai." Rei replied, grinning, "He's found himself a woman."

Kai didn't reply- instead, Rei heard an array of frantic scuffling. About ten seconds later, Kai opened the door, panting and fully dressed. His hair was a mess and his socks didn't match, but Rei had to give him points for effort.

"Why didn't you say so?" Kai breathed, stepping out of his room. He brushed himself down and raced down the stairs, Rei following suit. They reached the kitchen in a matter of seconds, where they were greeted with a pleasant surprise. Ru and Ai were there and, amazingly, they both looked happy. Rei looked at Ru, feeling guilty again. How could he have thought that Ru, out of all people, was that kind of guy? He must have been out of his head.

"What's up?" Ru asked them both quizzically, raising an eyebrow. Kai and Rei exchanged glances, unable to stop themselves from breaking out into grins. They gestured with their hands to follow, heading out into the hall.

"Come with," Kai replied gleefully, "we'll explain on the way."


A/N: Sorry about the lack of Taeko and Aoi in this chapter- I swear it was necessary though! x) Hope it didn't bore you all too much...