"I'm really sorry for interrupting your conversation. It wasn't like me at all to do this—" Kazuki started as his guilt started to eat him up in the leisure silence in the car. He drove for Kahoko this time, noticing that her fingers were already shaking from too much violin.

"No, Kazuki!" She cut in. "I think it's quite good that you um.." Kahoko paused, thinking of a better word to make it less negative. "Intruded? No, no.. Ah, interjected! It's good that you interjected." She said enthusiastically, although her enthusiasm convinced him otherwise.

"You sound like you're lying, Kahoko. Give me a good reason why I did." He said, slumping and watching the red light.

"Umm.. The paparazzi..?"

"Oh, right." He brightened up. He wasn't much like his usual cheery self, no thanks to Kiriya Etou. He had changed over the years. Life had not been treating him well—when Azuma became a big-shot entrepreneur-CEO, they did not keep in contact even though Kazuki would talk about him whenever a flute would be connected in a conversation.

That silenced the both of them, not knowing what to talk about. The silence almost felt awkward, which was strange because the two have been very good friends for a long time. Hihara thought that it was made awkward because he had feelings for her, although she hadn't realized it before, it seemed pretty obvious now but somehow, the old Kahoko was slowly returning: the frustratingly slow Kahoko.

"Oh, I'm not going to sleep in my mom's house tonight. I'm staying at my old apartment." Kahoko said as they entered the familiar road to her mother's house.

"Didn't you abandon that one…two years ago?"

She pouted slightly. "I think I'll just rent it? Besides, Len bought that house for me, remember? So it's mine, I guess. Your house is just a few blocks away. You'll run again." She giggled. "Just like old times, right?"


Kahoko knocked on the gate of the apartment entrance. Thanks to her heels, she could see above the sharp gate and noticed how the roads looked more like streets and how the houses look more organized. It looks much more like a mini-village apartment now.

"Yes, may I help you?" an old lady asked, peeking from the gate's door.

"Mrs. Sudo? It's me, Hino Kahoko."

The seemingly closed eyes of Mrs. Sudo popped open and she literally screamed.

"OOHH, IT'S YOU, DARLING!" she yelled, oblivious to the peeking people from one of the apartments. Mrs. Sudo grabbed her by the forearms, having to stretch up to look at her closely.

"Where's your Lennie?" she asked, noticing that Kahoko was alone, and that she parked her car on the place where the sign 'VIP ONLY' stood, which was the parking spot Len liked. Obviously, Mrs. Sudo hadn't been watching the news. Kahoko's silence was enough assurance that there was something wrong.

"Nevermind.. Come on, your key's right over there. Go ahead."


Kahoko had to walk for a while longer, getting lost because of the new layout of the place.

"42..42.. where's number fourty-two..?" she muttered to herself. A voice, most probably in her head, went 'psst. It's at the next block.'

She paused momentarily. Her mind could not have said that. It should not have said that because she does not know where the place is. It had been for too long.

She slowly looked behind her and jumped out of fright.

"Did I scare you?" came Etou's chuckling voice.

"Y—you…! You stalker!" she whispered, trying to yell. She marched off in the direction of her old house. As she stomped off, she couldn't help it but her tears started to form in her eyes. That very apartment has way too many memories of her and Len. And if Etou stepped inside, it would be as if he had entered a secret part in her heart. If her heart was that house, he could become home. She was scared that would happen. Etou can just leave her anytime just like Len since he was an even bigger musician. He takes part in rock ballad songs sometimes, and especially plays. She didn't want him to leave her for months. Who would want that? For your boyfriend to leave you alone and go off to meet stars and girls prettier than you are.

"Kahoko! Wait, a second!" Etou called, running towards her and held her arm firmly.

She looked up first before turning, blinking her tears gone without it streaming down. When she turned, Etou had a serious look on his face.

"You better pack up. We're leaving tomorrow."

Her face seemed to spell out 'W-what?' "We? Leaving?"

"I'm resuming my tours again. From Japan, then Korea, Beijing, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, Spain and probably somewhere else in South Asia." He said.

Her jaw dropped. "You're bringing me along?"

He smiled. "I told you. I'll give you everything he never gave you. Just think about it." He said with confidence, walking up to her house.

"Wait, wait! I-I need to use the key.." she yelled suddenly. She didn't want him to enter first. She felt nervous. What if there were traces of Len still in there? What if.. what if.. !

He motioned her to go first. As she unlocked the door, she looked back at him unsurely and when she peeked in, everything was clean unlike the last time she left it.

The light plank floor was clean and polished, the rug near the left side of the door wasn't dusty, and neither were the blue green couches that were sitting across each other on top of the rug with Indian designs.. The coffee table held well-maintained flowers with the vase Haruki (Kazuki's elder brother) gave her for Christmas one time. It was a smaller apartment compared to her mother's house. As you enter the house, there are the couches and the rug to the left with the coffee table in between, then the stairs on the further right with something that looks like a red carpet covering the steps until the small hallway leading to the room upstairs, and lastly the kitchen in the farther right of the living room, right beside the stairs. The walls were a dark greenish color with a hint of cream with paintings and pictures that were hung in all the perfect places, making boring spots look better. Only one of the framed things on the wall was a picture of Hino's family. All the rest were paintings of the ocean or rivers and everything else was her and Tsukimori.

Etou could notice how distracted she was while he looked at things. Was she conscious of showing her past to him? He was quite alright with it actually. He had gotten used to it in the previous years and instead of being somber and thinking about how he shouldn't be there, he was daydreaming of Kahoko on his lap as he held her, both looking at the numerous pictures of the both of them not just on the walls but in their own album. He was getting a bit obsessed with the idea.

Kahoko set her things down on the rug by the coffee table and told Etou to make himself comfortable. She went in the kitchen and got him some water and surprisingly enough, the chocolates she left in the basket from before were refilled. She never liked Ferrero Rocher chocolates. She preferred Samba, no matter how many times her friends—no, everyone would say it tasted like crap.

As she made her way up the stairs, she paused.

"Let me get this straight," she said, trying not to sound accusing. "Are you supposedly bribing me to become your girlfriend with traveling and everything else?"

Etou looked at her incredulously. "Do you think I'm a jerk? Idiot Kahoko. I'm bringing you along with me to my concerts. Tsukimori never did that, did he?"

"Wha—Idiot?" she pouted, only seeing him chuckle. He teased her like that. For some reason she liked it, being reminded that best friends, or couples, usually acted hostile toward each other as jokes. She sighed, even though that thought would have made her giggle. "No, he never took me on a trip out of the country. Only within. But I still don't understand why you're doing this."

He smiled again. "Do you want me to say mushy things again?" he rolled his eyes and moved towards her. "As much as I don't want to say it, I have to because you won't get it. So.. here it goes:

"Kahoko, I'm doing this because Len is not treating you the way you deserve to be treated. You're a beautiful woman. But there are always flaws to beauty. For one, you're slow, not athletic, a procrastinator, a girl who's always late, the one who'll blush every time someone tries to be direct with you on how they feel then suddenly run away.. Minor imperfections, but you're sweet, caring, lovable, pretty, slender, kissable, and everything else. There's so much you're hiding from me and I want to know you. I may be afraid and ignore you sometimes because I feel like I'm getting too close since I think you might not like me when you know me very well but I'm willing to make this work. I'm here to prove that Len isn't the one for you. It may be hard, but nothing's impossible with determination. I—"

Kahoko ran to him and put her index finger on his lips to shush him.

"Okay, wow. Umm.. I think I believe what you're saying. You don't have to say anymore.." she said, as she sat on the arm rest of the couch.

Etou looked up at her, searching her gold eyes. She was touched, shocked, and something else.. What was it..? He had a plan on how to guess without her running away.

"I was watching this game before and I want to play it with you. It's this game called 'Of course' wherein each of us will ask Yes or No questions. You always have to say Of Course but if the opponent says something harsh or witty that you can't answer back to, you'll lose."

She smiled. I can pack later since he's doing this.. Going might be really fun! She thought, forgetting about the press and the entire world. Being with Etou wasn't anything special in a celebrity way. It has always been normal and.. this probably proves that famous people are just normal. Depending on their pride, though. If their pride is high, they're just plain annoying.

"Okay! I'll start!" She said happily. "Have you ever checked out a girl before?"

"Of course." Etou said indifferently. That sort of hit Kahoko. "My turn. Have you ever slept with your bra on?"

Kahoko froze from embarrassment. What kind of a question..? I won't lose! She thought to herself. "O-Of course! Did you ever poo in your underpants?" her voice went an octave higher from her competitiveness.

"Of course. Did you ever like anyone other than Len?"

Her thoughts went to Ryotaro but she shrugged those off. "Ye—I mean, of course! You're a mama's girl, right?"

That hit Etou a bit. His family was a little bit of a sensitive subject but he carried it on well. "Of course." He said, unfazed. She found a hole on the blanket covering his worries. He didn't want to waste time anymore. He had planned to ask this. If the worse comes out, well.. it's up to him how he'll take it.

"You have already done it with Len, haven't you?"

Kahoko paused. "Huh? What do you mean by 'it'?"

Her slowness made the question very awkward. He questioned himself if he should still press her. "You know.. it."

Silence.

It didn't make anything better. Only after a while did Kahoko go 'Ahh', understanding that 'it' meant the process of making a baby. Then suddenly she covered her mouth with both hands and gasped. She didn't say 'Of course'.

"H-how did you..?"

Etou smiled in victory. "I win."

But the last thing Etou wanted to happen, happened. He would probably regret ever asking—saying, rather, that she and Len have made love together. Was it safe? Was she pregnant? What happened? But he couldn't possibly ask her that. Why?

She started to cry.