ALRIGHT GUYS. IT'S 4 AM IN THE MORNING, I'M RUNNING ON CAFFEINE AND I DON'T KNOW WHATS HAPPENING BUT HERE YOU GO IT'S A CHAPTER. I HOPE YA'LL LIKE IT.
NEW STORY, CONRAD, RITSU, FORHEAD GIRL, BLABLABLA.

FERGUSON HOUSEHOLD - [24 HOURS REMAINING]

"Conrad!"

My eyes snap open, pulling my conscious away from whatever dream I was in. Was I even dreaming? I can't remember shit...

Hovering over my sprawled out body was Dad, and he didn't look exactly happy. I haul my body upwards: a harrowing task when your body feels like concrete. I was stiff and sore, and a glaring headache soon made its presence abundantly clear. What the hell happened last night?

"Y'know Conrad, I just finished cooking a big breakfast for you and Rudy, seeing as you're leaving tomorrow..." Dad begins, clearly annoyed.

"...But when I come up here and see you sleeping on the floor, next what looks like a dozen empty beers and a bottle of sake..." He continues, before taking a pause and rubbing his temples.

Looking around me, he was (unfortunately) right. Beer cans were scattered all over my room. To call it a mess would be a gross understatement. Rudy was a few feet away from me, still sleeping.

"I START TO WONDER WHAT THE HELL SORT OF SON I RAISED!" He blurts out suddenly.

Rudy sits up abruptly, awakened from Dad's outburst.

"What the fuck..." Rudy drawls out, still clearly hungover.

My Dad takes a long breath, before starting again.

"I know this is your last day in Japan... but Jesus, Conrad. Even celebration has its limits!" He finishes, now much calmer. "Breakfast is ready, clean up this goddamn mess and come downstairs."

As my Dad stomps away, Rudy and I are left to wallow in a swamp of uncomfortable silence.

What exactly is going on? The last thing I remember was...

My heart sinks, remembering exactly what I revealed to Ritsu last night. I suddenly feel like running off to apologize to her, but then again, it's not like there's anything I can do at this point. I just had to hope that Ritsu hasn't taken this too badly. It's fine if I'm left in the shitter because of my mistakes, but I don't think I could live with myself if my stupidity ruins her school festival.

I could remember that much, but... everything after returning home is a complete blur...

"Dude... what the fuck did we do last night?" I turn slowly to Rudy, shaking my head.

Rudy looks at me bewilderedly, before extending a hand for a high-five.

"You don't remember? Duuuuuude!" Rudy smiles.

"But... I...?" I look around the room confused.

Shrugging, I complete the high five.

After a horribly awkward breakfast, Rudy and I left for Sakuragaoka. I had him start filling me in on last night's events, but only after we were out the door and out of earshot of my Dad.

"So let me get this straight..." I begin, trying to piece together what Rudy had told me; not exactly the easiest of task when you're tired and hungover.

"You came back to my place after karaoke, and I was already drunk?" I ask, confused as all hell.

Rudy laughs, but is forced to stop when my fist collides with his forearm.

"Yeah. You were talking about that Ritsu chick, and started handing me beers." Rudy explains, rubbing his arm in pain.

I shake my head.

"What was I saying?"

"Hell if I know dude. Like I said, you were already pretty drunk..." Rudy doesn't skip a beat in responding.

"And this didn't seem weird to you?" I plead, wanting to make sense of all this.

"Why would it? You always want to get wasted whenever you have girl trouble..." Rudy replies defensively.

I feel my face heat up in embarrassment. He was right, a shining example of my less-than-healthy habits.

"Well, usually I'm able to remember things afterwards..." I add, honestly. "But everything after Ritsu is complete blank!"

Rudy chuckles lightly.

"Yeah, well... you DID break up with the first girlfriend you've ever managed to trick into dating you." He taunts me, grinning. "Makes sense that you'd go overboard"

I punch him in the arm again.

"What?! All I'm saying is that this was one helluva dose of 'girl trouble'." He shouts, raising his hands, as if to surrender. "So we had one helluva party!"

"Rudy, I... I didn't break up with her. We're just figuring things out." I argue, crossing my arms.

Rudy sighs, before patting my on the back.

"You keep saying that, man. But most guys who are 'just figuring things out' don't drown themselves in booze." He adds, sending me a look of pity.

As much as I'd like to disagree, Rudy was making sense. Ending off a relationship on a note like I did last night doesn't exactly forecast a happy ending for Ritsu and I. I'm just so angry with myself right now; if only I had concentrated more on school, I might've been able to stay at Sakuragaoka, and then...

Ah screw it. It's too late to think about this shit now. The most I can do is get to school and try my best to fix things with Ritsu. Even if it's just as friends, I don't want to leave Japan losing one of the coolest girls I've ever met.

"Hey Rudy." I break the silence.

"Yeah?"

"I didn't drink THAT much... did I?" I ask, embarrassed.

"Let's just say you made me proud, Conrad." Rudy laughs.

Shit.

Arriving at school, I was at the receiving end of a lot of staring from my schoolmates. Well, more than usual at least.

I looked weird enough, being a hungover and depressed looking foreigner; but it didn't exactly help that I had my red-haired buddy following me sans school uniform. A few teachers stopped us in the halls, since guests weren't allowed inside the school yet. I, alongside Sawako-sensei, managed to convince them that my sudden departure was enough reason to make an exception, alongside the fact that Rudy had already volunteered to help the Keionbu move equipment.

As we made our way to the clubroom, taking a few breaks for Rudy to "talk" to some female students, I started to become a little more nervous. When we reached the staircase to the clubroom, I couldn't help but feel a strong hesitation weigh my feet down. Sure, I knew WHY I had to confront Ritsu, but I haven't even begun to consider the HOW; I was too caught up in my own inadequacies, as usual...

"I really hope Ritsu isn't in the clubroom right now, I don't know what the hell I'm going to say to her." I confess, stopping at the base of the staircase.

Rudy lets out a big sigh, turning to face me.

"Don't chicken out now! You were so confident on the way here." He comforts me, motioning me to follow him up the stairs. "Now go up there and fix this! I don't want to have to hear you bitch on the way home, too."

"Yeah, yeah. Just promise not to tell everyone back home when I bomb horribly in front of her." I reply, scratching my head in frustration.

"Glad to see the confidence, Conrad..." He remarks sarcastically.

Rudy grabs my arm and practically drags me up the stairs. My heart beats faster as we reach the doors. Here goes nothing...

"Introducing... the amazing and sexy bad-boy bassist... CONRAD FERGUSON!" Rudy yells out as he swings the doors open.

"Wait WHAT?!" I yell in response. Rudy gives a light push, sending me to awkwardly stumble into the room. This wasn't exactly the entrance I'd imagined.

To my (thankful) surprise, Ritsu was nowhere to be found. Mio and Mugi were the only ones in the clubroom. Needless to say, the two girls were taken aback by Rudy's grandiose introduction, but it soon turned to giggling as Mugi made fun of my flushing face.

"What's Rudy-san doing here? I thought the school hadn't opened its doors to guests yet." Mio asks, walking over to us.

"Rudy... san?" Rudy forces out, his name being the only thing he can decipher from the Japanese.

"Sawako-sensei got us permission. I figured you guys could use the extra muscle." I say pointing to Rudy, who was looking a little agitated. He probably thought I was talking shit about him.

"Ah, I see! That'd be great; we were actually just about to move the equipment. Yukio was complaining that it was too much work!" Mio laughs slightly.

As if to prove her point, the door to the Keionbu swings open again. Yukio walks through, looking quite ragged.

"Hey Conrad. For once I'm glad to see you; I'm not built for this type of labour..." He complains, walking over to the bench. He flops on the wooden furniture dramatically, letting out a big sigh.

For a second there, I thought Ritsu was the one barging in. Despite Yukio's usual obnoxious behavior, I too was unusually glad to see his face.

"You two wouldn't mind carrying the heavier stuff to the gymnasium, would you?" Mio puts her hands together, her face full of apology.

"Like usual, eh?" I sigh deeply, but still keep a smile on my face. It's nice to see I'm still useful, at least.

Mio laughs nervously, and bows slightly, still keeping her hands together. "Please~?"

"Alright, alright..." I respond, walking over to the amps. I was already ready to accept, but Mio's usual moe power made me all the more eager to help out.

Mugi walks over to Rudy with a tray, offering him some sweets.

"We'll make sure to recruit some more people next year, so you're not stuck with all the work!" Mugi giggles, as Rudy take a couple of the small cakes. He fails to give one to me, opting instead to stuff them both in his mouth at Mugi's amusement.

Next year? Sheesh. I guess It was about time I got these two up to speed on my situation.

"Yeah... about that. I know this is a bit sudden and all... but there kinda won't BE a next year for me." I explain nervously. "I'm sort of... leaving tomorrow morning for Canada."

The room suddenly goes dead silent, much to my unease. Mio and Mugi look at each other, than at me, still failing to produce words. Rudy coughs awkwardly, before inching towards me.

"Did... did you just tell them?" He asks innocently, unsure why everyone suddenly shut up.

"Do you mean, for good?" Mio asks, looking quite taken aback.

"Uh... yes?" I reply nervously.

"That..." Mio starts before fidgeting a bit. "That actually explains quite a lot. Mugi and I were just discussing why Ritsu was acting so weird this morning."

"She seemed like she was really upset, but she wouldn't tell us why!" Mugi nods, looking almost angry. It was an odd expression for her to wear, given her usual cutesy and polite behavior. "...I guess now we know why."

Well at least they were taking it fairly calmly. Whether this was out of shock or simply not caring was beyond my comprehension.

"I told her last night, when we got to her house." I add, cringing a bit. "Wasn't exactly the best timing."

"Why so suddenly?" Mio asks.

"Uh... well, I knew about it for a week or so. I kept putting it off though; I didn't really know how to tell her." I explain, embarrassed. What lackluster reasoning...

"In fact, I'm kind of hoping to avoid her right now..."

Before Mio responds, our conversation is cut off by the sudden movement of Yukio off of the clubroom bench.

Yukio starts walking towards me, his steps heavy and resolute. If someone as androgynous as him could come across as intimidating, this would be it.

Suddenly and without warning, Yukio punches me across the face. He really put his weight into it; I stumbled backwards and knocked against the clubroom door.

"Yukio, what are you doing?!" Mio shrieks.

"What kind of man are you?!" Yukio yells, grabbing my uniform by the collar. "You go through all this effort, months and months of bickering and feuding with me. After all that, you come out on top, and now you pull this bullshit?!"

Rudy, frozen for a moment at the sudden outburst, appears to come to his senses.

"I don't know what the fuck you're saying, but you can't just punch somebody like that!" He shoves Yukio off of me. "You need to calm down, asshole!"

"FUCK YOU!" Yukio yells, in English. "You don't know anything about this!"

The idol looked like he was fighting back tears. Mio and Mugi were frozen in place, clearly not keen in getting involved. Yukio was really pissed off, my face stung horribly just from that one punch. This was way different then his usual taunting and insults; something must really be eating him inside...

Whatever it was, though, it wasn't something you needed to shout to the heavens like this.

"Rudy! It's okay, man." I say, patting him on the back. "Me and Yukio just need to talk this out. Alone."

Yukio's clenched fists seem to relent slightly. Letting out a big sigh, he nods. "Fine."

It takes a moment for the others to get the message.

"S-so! Rudy, Mio; Let's move some equipment, shall we?" Mugi spouts out robotically in english, so Rudy understands. No one had yet come to terms with what just happened, but the trio still complies, each taking some of the club's equipment in their arms. Rudy gives me a parting smile, meanwhile giving Yukio a... less than polite gesture.

Even after the others left the club, neither I nor Yukio said anything for a while. The air was thick with anger, and It wasn't coming from me, even with my left cheek swelling up from Yukio's earlier attack.

"Look, before I even say anything... I just want your side of the story." I start honestly, breaking the silence. "I think have an idea, but I want to know what's got you so pissed!"

Yukio looks at me in the eye, before turning his gaze to his fist, which he was rubbing as well.

"And, uh... sorry about your hand. Ritsu always said I was hard-headed." I laugh slightly, but quickly shut up as Yukio fails to join me. I guess now wasn't the time for jokes.

"Where do I even begin?" Yukio replies, sighing.

"...Christ, I'm really gonna get chewed out, aren't I?" I sigh myself, leaning against the wall.

"Not really. Conrad... I know that it might've seemed weird when I set my sights on Ritsu so openly after I first got here." Yukio begins, walking over to the window, shoving his hands in his pockets. "It was pretty clear that you had a crush on her, so I know you weren't too happy with me."

Was I really that obvious with my affection? Ah, who am I kidding? I'm the fucking king of social ineptitude. What was more surprising to me, though, was Yukio's seriousness.

"I had girls fawning over me the moment I walked into our class. Since we had a less than... friendly introduction, the fact that I happened to choose Ritsu probably came across as malicious." Yukio continues, turning to face me. "But trust me. I fell for her just as hard as you did."

I'd like to interject here, but I promised to get his side first. I mean, no offense to Ritsu, but she didn't exactly stick out. What could've made Yukio so drawn to her?

"While it's true I had a lot of choices, Ritsu was different. The first time we spoke in the clubroom, she openly told me how much she hated my music. She even joked about my girlish looks." Yukio says, chuckling a bit.

"Colour me confused. You liked Ritsu because she... made fun of you?" I ask, scratching my head. Granted, my reasons weren't that less strange; I was just taken aback by her forehead...

"Pretty much." He replies simply.

An awkward silence begins between us.

"...Are you gonna elaborate? Do you get off on humiliation or something?" I smirk.

"Goddammit; no!" Yukio groans. "It's just... do you know why I came to this run-of-the-mill school?" Yukio asks face slightly red.

I dig through my memory banks. The voices of starstruck women fill my brain.

"You wanted a break from the celebrity life, right?" I answer, remembering his first day.

"Exactly. And who do you think was the only girl that I met here that didn't give a shit about me or my past?" He asks yet again, trying to work me through his mindset. "Who do you think made me feel like a regular, stupid, teenage boy?"

"Oh..." I respond simply. That... actually makes sense. Ritsu never was one for popular culture; she liked The Who for god's sake. Not exactly the mainstream schoolgirl.

"I thought it would be easy; getting her to date me, I mean. In my arrogance, though, I let you get close to her. I didn't think in a million years that she would choose you over me." Yukio continues, shaking his head. "But for whatever reason, she decided on you."

Yet again I feel like interjecting, to defend myself, but I decide against it. Yukio was opening up to me like never before, and I was starting to understand him for once.

"After you two got together, I was shocked. I didn't want to give up on Ritsu, but coming to the clubroom every day and seeing her smile so genuinely at you... I didn't want to take that away from her." Yukio adds, giving me a solemn look. "It took me some time, and it hurt... but I accepted that you won, Conrad."

My heart sinks. The impossible seemed to be coming true. For once, I felt bad for Yukio.

"Shit, man. And after all that, I come into the clubroom and made a joke of all of your efforts." I reply sheepishly. "Now this punch doesn't seem so unwarranted... I'm sorry, man."

Yukio gives me a slight smile. It was nice to see him calm down. "It's alright. It's not like I'm without blame, either."

You bet your ass you aren't... Ah well, this wasn't the time.

"It seems like we got too caught up in our fighting, and never even bothered to even talk about it." I admit, shrugging. "...Not that it matters; I'm heading back home. I guess you win in the end, eh Yukio?"

Yukio looks like he wants to punch me again, but he takes a deep breath first.

"Don't even pull that bullshit, Conrad. I won't let you take pity on me. You're going to man up, and go fix things with Ritsu!"

"But I-" I say, wanting to lament my lack of time.

"Don't tell me that after all this, you're going to be a coward." Yukio says; now back to wearing his typical smirk.

I want to respond, but all I can do is smile. The last thing I was expecting was a pep-talk from my arch-nemesis.

"If I'm going to take Ritsu from you, it's going to be fair and square!" He says playfully, walking right in front of me. "If you think otherwise, I've got another punch waiting."

"Yukio, I..." I start, wanting to thank him.

"Just go to her, you dumbass!" Yukio yells, pushing me out the clubroom.

As I stumble out the doorway, a new sense of direction and purpose takes hold in me. Yukio was right, Rudy was right; now isn't the time to give up. And I sure as hell wasn't about to let it end like this.

In my suddenly active search for Ritsu, I decide to head for her classroom first. My confidence was finally starting to come back, and I wanted to strike while the iron was hot. At this point, it really wasn't about what I was going to say, but rather that I say anything at all. If I missed this oppurtunity, I'm not sure if I'll be able to forgive myself.

Peeking my head into the open door of the classroom, I see none of the Keion members anywhere. Some of the students give me weird looks, as I neglect to say anything, simply staring at the various groups of girls that dotted the classroom.

If she isn't here, then maybe the gymnasium? At least Mio and Mugi let me know that they saw her this morning. If not for that, I might start to think that Ritsu was avoiding school entirely!

...As if. There's no way she would get that worked up over somebody like me? Right?

Too caught up in my own internal dialogue, I fail to notice a girl's small figure as I turn the corner. I barely manage to avoid her, twisting my body awkwardly to the side. The girl's piercing shriek makes me stop a moment before continuing on my way. That sounded familiar...

Turning around, I see Azusa clutching her heart, her eyes wide open. Colorful flyers laid all over the hallway floor.

"Jeez, Conrad! How many times are we going to do this before you learn to watch where you're going!" Azusa shouts, fed up with my lack of mental presence.

I chuckle nervously, helping her pick up the scattered paper. Looking at the flyers, I see that she was spreading the word about the Keion's live. Not a bad tactic, despite Yui's questionable drawings causing the flyers to seem a little childish.

"If I remember correctly, Azusa-san, YOU were the one who ran into me first, with a bike of all things!" I remind her, handing her the flyers I managed to gather.

"That may be true but..." Azusa rebuts, embarrassed. As if remembering something, her eyes suddenly focus on me. "Hey! I was looking for you! What's all this about you leaving Sakuragaoka?! And why are you so happy? Ritsu's been super sad ever since-"

Azusa looks like she was about to go off on one of her rants, but I certainly didn't have the time for it. For a girl who was supposed to be my underclassmen, she sure liked to lecture me a lot. I place my hand over her flapping mouth, causing her to squeak in surprise.

"Azusa, I'm sure you'd really like to explain to me how much I fucked things up with Ritsu, but Yukio beat you to it! I know what I have to do, all I need to know is where Ritsu is!" I tell the girl quickly, trying to be appear as understanding as possible, despite me forcefully shutting her up.

Azusa swats my hand away, and pouts at my indiscretion. She looks like she wants to keep going but instead extends her hand, pointing out the window.

"She's with the other girls, in the courtyard." Azusa says, giving me a death glare. "We were trying our best to make her feel better, because SOMEBODY decided that he would be all mysterious and wait until the last minute to tell us-"

I place my finger on her lips, yet again forcing her to stop ranting. She blushes slightly, probably tired of me treating her like this.

"I know, I know. But I have things to do right now. I promise you can chew me out all you want later, but I have to go!" I say, running down the hallways. Which way was quickest to the courtyard?

"Jeez!" I hear Azusa call from down the hallway. "You better not screw this up, Conrad!"

I'm not making any promises...

Clinging desperately to the stone wall of the school, I take one last peek around the corner and into the courtyard.

There was Ritsu. Oh god, it was Ritsu. Oh god. The girls of the Keion, minus Azusa, flanked her sides as they all sat together. Ritsu looked pretty agitated, making me even more nervous then I already was. Then again, it could be just because the girls were practically suffocating her with attention right now.

My legs, despite my best mental efforts, fail to take the final steps into the lush yard that I barely knew about, let alone visited. Slapping my legs as if to wake them up, I finally start to make some progress into the courtyard.

Turning the corner, I find myself focusing all of my attention on the flowers rather than this beautiful girl I was about to talk to. If I'm having this much trouble even facing her, how the hell was I going to fix this mess?

At last I look towards the girls, who have all noticed my presence by now.

Emitting a forced cough, I smile sheepishly at the girl of my dreams. Her eyes dart away, causing me to cringe slightly. Was I already doomed?

"Alright you guys, you can stop smothering me now." Ritsu says, standing up from the bench. "It looks like my knight in shining armor is here."

She rolls her eyes, before landing them on me expectantly.

Sarcasm? Well, at least she still has some humor in her. I walk closer to her, and give her a slight nod, as if trying to relay something I couldn't put into words.

"C'mon, Ritsu. Don't be like that..." Mio says, trying to help me out.

"No, she's right. This won't be pretty; you guys betters get going." I say, actually finding some comfort in Ritsu's playful jab.

The three girls slowly but surely make their way out of the courtyard, although it's easy to see that they wanted to listen in quite badly.

With their departure, Ritsu lets out a big sigh. She approaches me, and grabs my face with her hands. I tense up; for all I know she was about to snap my neck! Turning my face to the side, she instead takes a gander at the growing bruise on my face.

"Mio told me what Yukio did. Looks like she wasn't exaggerating." Ritsu says, a melancholy tone never failing to accompany her words. "I guess I won't have to punch you myself."

I chuckle if only for a moment, before motioning for us to sit on the bench that the girls previously occupied. Ritsus eyes reply with hesitation, but she eventually plants her butt next to mine.

"I'm glad to see you. It's stupid, but I was kinda worried you might skip school or something..." I admit, giving her a half-hearted glance,

"What, and miss the festival that we've worked towards for months?" Ritsu scoffs. "What happened last night may have sucked, but I'm not some prissy girl who gets all worked up over a stupid boy."

Ouch. Okay, fair enough.

"I-I didn't mean it like that! I'm just glad you're okay, is all." I start, but I fail to produce any reaction from her. "You know, if it makes you feel any better, I'm a guy who gets really worked up over pretty girls."

Ritsu looks at me annoyed, clearly not satisfied with mere compliments.

"Worked up enough to get blackout drunk and not remember a thing, even." I laugh, reclining back into the bench.

Ritsu raises an eyebrow at my revelation. "Are you serious, you got drunk again? What are you, an alcoholic?"

For all I know I could be... I can't help but shudder at that thought, before turning back to more important matters.

"Well let's just say I wasn't expecting good things to happen after last night's fiasco. The only thing I wanted to do was forget about how much of a dumbass I was." I appeal to her, shaking my head heavily. "Alcohol tends to be good for that."

She fails to find that funny, although I'm not too surprised. I shift uncomfortably, trying to search for something to say, but our conversation falls silent.

"Well, unless you're about to tell me that you're staying here after all, I don't think there's much to say at this point, is there?" She says, getting up from the bench. "The performance is in less than an hour, and I want to get ready..."

I grab her hand quickly, before gently pulling myself up to her level. If this was it... and she was ready to leave it at that... there not much left for me to lose at this point, is there?

"That's where you're wrong, Ritsu. I may not be staying here, and I've definitely screwed up enough to end our relationship, but I have PLENTY to say to you, trust me." I say honestly, staring intently into her eyes.

She tries to wrestle away from my grip half-heartedly. "C'mon, Conrad. Let go..."

"No." I say decisively, causing her to flinch. "I don't care if you hate me, but the last thing I'm about to do is let you walk away. At least not until I say what has to be said."

Ritsu turns to me, adjusting her arm so that my tight grip was around her hand. Squeezing my hand tightly, she looks down at the ground. "I don't hate you..."

"I know you don't. I think we both know how much we care for one another. It was stupid of me to not tell you about me having to leave; I wasn't thinking straight... I think deep down, I just wanted to stay blissfully ignorant and pretend that I had all the time in the world to spend with you." I explain, as our fingers intertwined.

"But we don't, Conrad. We have tonight, that's it. And I'm not going to sacrifice my school festival over your mistakes..." She says, loosening her grip on my hand.

"That's fine." I say, smiling. "I'm not looking for your forgiveness, or for you to drop everything just for me. I just... I just want you to know that no matter what happens, I want us to stay friends. Because you mean a hell of a lot more to me than just a girlfriend. You're the coolest, prettiest, funniest and most wonderful person I've ever met. When I go back home, I guarantee that not a single day will go by where I won't miss you. I'll... never forget you, Ritsu."

Although she doesn't respond, Ritsu seems to be taking in my words carefully.

"I don't care if everything is over... just please; let's not end it like this..." I add, squeezing her hand yet again. "We shouldn't spend this last day angry at each other."

Ritsu doesn't answer for a while. While she seems to think deeply, I can't help but tense up again, wanting desperately to know what was on her mind. Even the calming sounds of cicadas and songbirds wasn't helping me relax.

"Can I... show you something?" Ritsu asks suddenly, finally making eye contact with me. A sort of uneasiness was radiating from her expression that I hadn't seen since the day we first kissed.

"Of course." I respond, simply.

Ritsu, tugging at my arm, starts to lead me away to god knows where.

"The clubroom?" I utter, confused at Ritsu's intentions. "What do you want to show me?"

"Just shut up for a second and I'll show you, you dork." Ritsu snaps back, although she seemed more anxious than angry.

Walking over to her bag, she starts to rummage through the contents.

"I... I was feeling pretty desperate last night. I wanted to find a way to fix things." Ritsu explains, as she pulls out a folded piece of paper. "So I ended up making this."

She stares at the paper for a while, as if to have second thoughts. Eventually she walks over to me, and hands me the neatly folded paper.

"I wasn't going to give you this, because I thought it was a stupid idea." She admits, sitting down at the tea table. Her face was already starting to turn red. "But if you... if you love me as much as you say you do... I want you to read it."

I go to speak, but she just points at the paper expectantly, before turning away.

"Just don't take it too seriously, okay?!" She adds, clearly insecure about its contents.

Looking down, I start to read the paper...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RITSU'S LOVE CONTRACT

IN SIGNING THIS CONTRACT, THE SIGNATORY AGREES TO THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS:

A. WHILE GONE, THE SIGNATORY MUST NOT BECOME INVOLVED ROMANTICALLY WITH ANY GIRLS.
B. IF HE MUST, THE SIGNATORY WILL ONLY THINK PERVERTED THOUGHTS ABOUT RITSU.
C. THE SIGNATORY WILL SEND RITSU MAIL AND PRESENTS REGULARLY
D. THE SIGNATORY WILL WORK ON NOT BEING SUCH A JERK/PERVERT

IN AGREEING TO THESE CONDITIONS, RITSU AGREES TO WAIT FOR THE SIGNATORY TO COME BACK TO JAPAN, AND xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

x_x_x_x_x_x SIGN HERE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As I finish reading the fairly short contract, I have to try really hard not to laugh. It seems Ritsu picks up on this, as she gets up, and stomps towards me.

"It's not funny! Give it back!" She shouts, trying to snatch the paper back from me. "I knew you'd think it was stupid..."

As I laugh, keeping the paper high above my head and out of her reach, I take a look at the paper in my hands above me.

"What's this part here that's all scribbled out? I can't read it. Are you trying to hide some fine print?" I laugh, squinting to see if I could make out what she wrote.

"Nooo! I-It's just something stupid that I got rid of!" She says frantically, standing on her tiptoes. "Forget about that, just give it to mee!"

"If you don't tell me I won't sign it!" I say, playfully dangling it just out of her reach.

Ritsu stops struggling, and starts to blush even deeper.

"Y-You'll sign it? Really?" She says, clearly taken aback. "I thought..."

I smile gently, as I finally give her the paper back. "Well, I'm not signing it until you tell me the full story." I point at the scribbled area again. "Come back to Japan and WHAT, exactly?"

"murmee.." She mumbles out, barely audible.

"What? I cant heeear you~" I say, cupping my ear dramatically.

"MARRY ME! I WROTE MARRY ME! BUT THAT'S STUPID AND UNREALISTIC AND CHILDISH AND..." She yells, eyes closed and clutching the paper to her chest, causing it to crumple. "GIVE ME A BREAK, I WAS REALLY SAD LAST NIGHT!'

Jesus Christ. I had enough trouble accepting the fact that this wonderful girl even liked me, and now shes talking about marriage? A deep, warming sensation crawls over my body, as Ritsu seems to look anywhere but my eyes. She didn't actually think I'd make fun of her for this, did she?

"Do you have a pen on you?" I say, extending my hand out.

"Huh?"

"A p-pen! I want to sign it." I say, feeling my own face heat up in embarrassment. "Just don't blame me when I show up in a few years and you don't want to marry this ugly mug." I chuckle, tugging at the crumpled paper.

"C-Conrad..." Ritsu says, finally giving me a smile. "Really? Really?"

"Yes really!" I repeat, as she quickly goes to her bag to get a pen. "Childish or not... it doesn't change the fact that I love you. As soon as I'm done with my education, I'll come back and... if you still want me to, I'll marry you."

I grab the pen, and try my best not let my shaking hands screw up my writing.

Ritsu's smile starts to fail slightly, as I scribble my signature onto the dotted line. "This... seems too easy, doesn't it? Are we really going to be able to do this? We could be apart for a long time."

"My parents still live here... I can't guarantee anything, but I swear, I'll visit when I can." I say, handing her the signed contract. "We can make this work if we try."

Ritsu gives me a smile, before hugging me. "I sure hope so, Conrad..."

Ritsu was hugging me so tightly, I could barely breathe. As she reaches up to kiss me, I comply and lower my own head. I can't describe the feeling of relief I was feeling right now. I pick her up, and her feet slowly but surely leave the floor as I intensify the kiss. She squeals in surprise as I twirl around gently, causing her skirt to flap gently as we turn in place. My arms don't seem to tire, as I really don't want this moment to end.

After locking lips for a while, I lower her back to the floor and she buries her face in my chest, letting out a long sigh. "I'm so glad..."

*AHEM*

Both of us instantly separate, as a sharp cough draws our attention to the door. Standing there was a grinning Ms. Sawako, as well as a few strangers.

"I know you two must be really happy right now, but there's a festival going on. I'd appreciate if you refrained from showing our guests anything indecent" She smiles, shaking her head. "Now if you wouldn't mind, I'd like for you two to follow me. We have a little thing called the festival live tonight, right?!"

The two of us nervously laugh. I look at the clock on the wall. It seems both of us were so caught up in our romance that we forgot about the festival live. We had a little under 5 minutes to get back in time for the live...

Whoops.

So... yeah... I really hope that was worth the wait. I was originally going to make only one more chapter before Conrad leaves, but turns out I wrote a little more than I thought, so I'm going to turn Conrad and Ritsu's last night together into a final, separate chapter. You can use your own imagination on that one :).

I'm also thinking about writing an extra chapter, as a sort of epilogue to wrap things up.

But as I said so tactlessly in the intro, its 4 am in the morning, and I'm really fucking tired. So PLEASE, leave a review and let me know if there are places I can touch this up! I hope I didn't disappoint anyone, given the amount of time I took to write it. College can be a pretty stressful lifestyle, and Conrad sometimes has to wait his turn!

PEACE OUT, YOU BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE!