I know. I said Sunday. I know and I am very sorry. Onward!

"To know when to go away and when to come closer is the key to any lasting relationship."

~Doménico Cieri Estrada~

Since Yura was not of legal marrying age, she and Kyouya would be engaged until she reached her sixteenth birthday. Once Yura became sixteen, the engagement would be made public and then a few months later, the wedding. However, neither of the parents took into account that their youngest offspring were already well acquainted as the matriarch reasoned that the two years would give them an opportunity to let them get to know one another. It was just an excuse really; she could care less if they got to know each other. Whether they would end up hating or loving each other's guts was not a factor in this agreement.

The next school year began and the new second years went about becoming familiar with their classes. However, one second year met the warming spring weather with tardiness. All activity stopped as Yura came through the door an hour late to her first class. It wasn't that she was late that created the halt (she had been late before) but the mask and sunglasses she wore and her black wavy hair was unbound by her usual ponytail. She gave the instructor a note; he read it and simply told Yura to take her seat. She sat at the far back of the classroom just as she did in her first year, put her head down and did not raise it for the rest of class, no sound coming from her but a small sniffle now and again.

When the time came for club hours, Yura arrived early before everyone and rushed up to Kyouya who was typing.

"Kyouya-senpai…I need a favor."

He stopped typing, giving her his full attention. Yura never asked him for a favor, he was intrigued.

"How soon can you get a prescription here?"

Kyouya's brow wrinkled as he asked her to repeat the question; she not only spoke quickly but her voice sounded strange, minus the muffled effect from the mask and her constant sniffing.

"A prescription." she said with slow emphasis. "How soon can you get one here?"

"An hour at most. Why? Did one of your medications run out?" He didn't have all of them, but he knew Yura took quite a few pills.

She nodded.

"For what?"

"My allergies."

"Allergies…? Which one?"

She sighed.

"The pollen one."

"…You are allergic to pollen?"

"Yes, senpai. I am allergic to pollen. Can you help me or not?"

"Is it really that bad that you cannot go a day without it?"

Even without all of her face visible, Kyouya could see she was giving him a look that said, "Are you fetching serious right now?" She stood up straight and took off the shades, lowering the mask to her chin in the same abrupt movement. Kyouya leaned back and looked like Yura had just shown him she had another pair of eyes and an arm growing out of her forehead.

Her eyes were watery and red. Blood red. Her contacts weren't in so the light eye color in the center of them just made her look worse. The skin around her eye was swollen and puffy along with most of the face. Her nose was red also; she was constantly sniffing and couldn't breathe well due her nasal passages being inflamed. Her mouth was the pinkest Kyouya had ever seen it and looked as if it was developing a rash along with her cheeks. He shivered involuntarily.

"A real pretty sight eh?" she said in a botched up accent he couldn't name. He shook his head and asked what medication she used. Once he got the name, he instructed her to go lie down in other room and rest until the package arrived; she couldn't serve tea looking like that. He had to ask her how she could even see.

She tapped the dark shades.

"Prescription."

Kyouya resumed typing but stopped for a moment and asked Yura to come back. She did, wavering, but came back and Kyouya removed the sun glasses and gazed into the upper part of her face for awhile. He put them back on and told her to go before she scared the others out of their wits. He put a hand to his chin when she shut the door. Though both of her eyes were swollen, Yura's left eye looked darker in color and the swelling was worse than the right. He thought about it for some minutes, but coming to no clear solution, dismissed it to check the internet for any methods of bringing down nasal passage swelling.

Yura felt like she had an itchy helium balloon for a face and she couldn't sleep. She felt terrible, but regretted having gone through with this plan only to a certain degree.

'It was crazy to begin with…I should have just thought of something else….'

She hadn't run out of medication. She purposefully didn't take them, just so she could hide the black bruise she was sporting above her left eye. Yura spent most of her morning choosing whether to go through with it or not once the idea hit her, the real reason she was late. The small girl knew they wouldn't buy that she hit herself by accident, seeing there was nothing that low in the house for her to hit her head. So she just rationalized that letting her allergies flare up was better than being bombarded with questions. And anything was better than seeing the sad, worried look on their faces.

Now that they were engaged, Kyouya was more relieved than he would admit even to himself that he no longer had to think up reasons and excuses for coming over. No more strange suspicious looks passed over his fiancée's face. She would either be one of the following: surprised, pleased, or irate.

And the times in which she was fuming had nothing to do with him, as Yuki was quick to clarify. The first time he experienced Yura in one of these moods was shortly after the beginning of the new semester. Yuki opened the door with an apologetic smile and invited him into the kitchen for tea. He almost dropped the cup when he heard a door slam, the table underneath seeming to quiver in fright. Yuki ran out of the kitchen, whispering to his sister that Ootori-san was here and that she should calm down. He heard her suck her teeth and mumble something in English he didn't quite catch.

Kyouya rose out of the chair and thanked Yuki before heading for the door. He turned to see her standing by the stairwell, looking enraged. He nodded to her. She reluctantly nodded back. He left without a word, far from offended and thinking what could make her so furious to begin with.

Sometimes he would stay and try to dispel the mood, but those cases were few. Very few. Despite the odd attitude, it didn't deter him from coming back. Rather, he came the next day to see how she was doing and eight times out of ten she was calmer or herself again by then.

Yuki was ignorant of his sister's engagement to the youngest Ootori. And he would have continued to be so if Kyouya hadn't gone and kissed her as she opened the door on one of his unannounced visits.

"Oh. My. Gucci."

Yura glared at Kyouya through her cringing as she heard her brother's voice behind her. Kyouya looked down at her confused.

"Komatsu-san does not know?" Kyouya still called Yuki by their faux last name at his urgent pleading request.

"That it was you? No." she walked into the kitchen. "I told him what I told Tamaki during the 'emergency meeting'."

"Why?"

"Because he would flip out and probably explode."

Kyouya was distracted from most of Yura's response as he noticed Yuki trying to quiet a squeal behind his hands which were covering his entire face while beginning to run in place in pure giddiness. For a second though, he thought the older twin really would explode.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Yuki moped, puffing out his cheeks. He had ordered pizza and they were all sitting at the table in the kitchen. Yura was too busy biting into two slices to answer her brother. Kyouya took one of the slices out of her hand.

"Yura, please chew."

'How come she nibbles on most foods yet devours pizza and lasagna like she hasn't eaten in three days?' he thought in mild disquiet as he gave Yura a napkin.

She looked like a half albino hamster with her cheeks so full. Her favorite foods were obvious by the speed in which she ate. She would eat her preferences as if at any second the food would be taken away from her. Finally making her mouth accessible for speech, she gave her brother an uncaring look.

"I was going to tell you."

"When?"

"When you had to be measured for your tux."

Yuki nearly let spit fall unto his shirt his lip dropped so fast.

"You guys are going to be engaged for two years!"

"I know…I was at the omiai."

"You were going to tell me two years from now?!"

"Maybe. More like two years and a few months since the ceremony wouldn't happen until the summer time."

Yuki put his head on the table, nearly getting hair in his plate.

"I can't believe you, Yu-chan. I thought you loved me." He said, seemingly sobbing.

"What does me telling you about being engaged to Kyouya-senpai have to do with loving you?"

"A lot!" he yelled, his head shooting up. Yura could tell the water in his eyes were just crocodile tears.

"Whatever Yuki, you know now and I need you to keep your mouth shut around the others."

"…Oh yeah, you told them it was called off…Suou-san will probably have a heart attack when you tell him."

Yura's imagination seemed to provide the perfect depiction of Tamaki's face because she put her water bottle down and laughed.

"That is going to be so entertaining."

Kyouya and Yuki both looked at the small girl sitting between them.

"You're/You are crazy." They said in unison.

"Thank you." She continued to drink.

Kyouya still didn't understand how she consumed cheese when she was supposed to be allergic to milk. It was the fifth time he'd seen her eat pizza with no effects. However Yuki, being a human organism, forgot about her intolerance for milk and put some into her Assam tea along with his own. Yura was so engrossed with the live dramatization of "Little Women" that she ordered last week, she drank the mug full in one go, paying no attention to the flavor. An hour later, she walked with a pace quicker than normal to the stairwell bathroom before the movie ended and she didn't get a chance to lock the door. Seeing her stiff movements, Yuki glanced at the empty cup and replaying his actions mentally gasped in trepidation and rushed out the door to the bathroom, slamming it shut. Kyouya paused the movie and could only wait until he heard the door open half an hour later, Yura coming into the living room with a damp cloth at her mouth while Yuki held her by the arm and shoulder. Her brother took up her mug and came back with ice cold water which she sipped.

"Are you alright?" Kyouya asked, grabbing her free hand. Yuki knelt in front of her apologizing.

She nodded, keeping the cloth to her mouth whenever she wasn't sipping. Yura felt that her breath still had the lingering smell of vomit, though Yuki told her it was fine. She patted her brother on the head, her way of telling him she wasn't upset. She wasn't angry at him but herself for her absent-mindedness.

In all the three years spent at Ouran, Kyouya was the only one in the host club to find out where Yura went during lunch period in warmer weather. Even Haruhi didn't know, though she asked her about it more than once when Yura came back to class. He was heading to the lunch room when he spotted her strolling along the grassy area of school grounds, her bag on her back, hands in her pants pockets and seemingly whistling by the look of the pursed lips. The watching soon adapted to following. He kept at a good distance and she soon reached a large oak on a small hillock. She placed her bag on her feet and searched through it until she found and unfolded a picnic blanket and spread it on the floor at the base of the tree. She patted the trunk with something similar to fondness and sat on the blanket, taking out a bento. Kyouya drew closer as he saw her clasp her hands and bowed her head and stayed that way much too long for it to be a typical 'thank you for the food'. She didn't eat though, but leaned her head on the ridged tree bark, trying not to consider how sore she was.

"So this is where you go."

Yura opened her eyes and automatically frowned. She came to this place to be alone, not to be tailed.

"Aren't you supposed to be having lunch?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

Yura got a sense of déjà vu but ignored it.

"I brought my lunch." Indicating her bento, which was the size of a rectangular pencil case and about as deep.

"Is that all you are going to eat?" He asked as he sat down where Yura patted. She knew he wasn't going to go away.

"Mhm." She opened it and took out a fork from her bag, munching on an egg roll. "I had a large breakfast."

Kyouya, though confident he could see through people, couldn't detect if she was being honest. She looked up at him.

"Do you want some?" she held out an egg roll toward him.

He just stared at it.

"It's not the sweet kind. Tanaka-san made it." She was worse than a novice in Japanese cuisine. She was capable of cooking only three dishes: Spaghetti and meatballs, lasagna, and fry chicken, with the last one being iffy (she had to butcher the fried meat just to make sure it was cooked all the way through).

"Look, if you don't want to eat it off the fork, I'll hold it with my finger."

He grabbed her hand before she put it down and snatched the roll off; swallowing though he barely chewed it.

"I have kissed you twice. Why would I have qualms about eating from anything that you have put in your mouth?"

"Well you were just staring at it…" she got three scoops of food in her mouth, and then she sighed and put the bento toward him.

"Want the rest of it?"

He stalled again, but took the little bento and Yura, being exaggeratingly sneaky, picked up the tablet he placed on his lap. He had gotten it for Christmas from his sister. He felt it move, but made no effort to detain her.

"Yay!"

He glanced at the screen.

"What are you doing?"

"Sakamoto desu ga's been updated."

"You will not fill my history with that foolishness." He reached for the device.

"Ok, alright." She deleted the site from his history. When he had finished the food he saw another site address: literature . org And that she was reading "Jane Eyre". Again.

"Have you not read that twice already?"

"So?"

"…You are a romanticist."

"Am I?" she pretended to ask absently, a bit frightened he was actually sure of the answer. It was not a part of her she was ready to completely acknowledge and accept just yet.

"And you will now proceed read that part out loud." He shook his head after seeing the page she was on.

"I wasn't going to, but now since you brought it up." She cleared her throat and began in a bad British accent: "Have you have a pocket-comb about you, sir?..."

Yura contemplated at first why Kyouya still came over so often. Until she realized that it was his last year in Ouran. She remembered what he told her about his plans to study abroad in America once he graduated. So in a year she wouldn't see him as much. Once that sunk in, Yura sometimes came over to his house, doing her best to avoid having to accept dinner invitations with his family, which she had to once. And she went to great lengths to make sure it would only be that one time. She had to ask him how he ate in that kind of tension when he was giving her a ride home. He gave a hint of a smirk, a touch of sarcasm dabbing his response.

"You get used to it."

She also sensed in that short five word response an unspoken request for her not to intrude anymore. She granted the request and settled to busying herself for the rest of the car ride with the crochet project that she had brought with her. Kyouya watched her small, thin hands weave the yarn and her pale lips move as she counted stitches. She was making a hat for her brother; it was very relaxing once she knew she wasn't completely screwing it up.

He placed a hand on Yura's work and she stiffened a little as Kyouya brought his face closer.

"That does not mean you have to stop talking."

She blinked three times, her lashes created a barely existent breeze and he was close enough to feel it. Tachibana fixed his glasses in nervous habit as he glanced to see his charge's face was overshadowing Yura's. Kyouya pulled away but Yura grabbed him by his cheeks and kissed him again, nibbling on his lower lip to which Kyouya froze. She moved back a little and smiled.

"It's fine. I'm not going to cut you." She mouthed. Yura knew her teeth were long, but she also knew from experience she couldn't draw blood with them unless she press down hard enough. The strength she used to nibble just now was nowhere near it. He relented after a moment, following Yura's tongue as she moved it about in his mouth. The two would never even hint at the reality that Yura was teaching Kyouya to kiss; he had too much pride and she just the right amount of tact to keep that knowledge to herself.

Kyouya had seen and heard Yura chuckle, snicker, and giggle but it occurred to him one day that he had never seen her out right laugh before. She would laugh, but in way that smothered the sounds into the back of her throat until they came out as nothing but chuckling, in a volume lower than her own voice.

So when she leaned over to see the host club pictures he was going through on his laptop, he didn't expect her to place her hand on the one controlling the mouse pad and point to the screen.

"Who are they?"

"Us. Well, us before you entered Ouran."

"…Those are dresses…and lipstick…"

"Yes I know, Tamaki thought Haruhi was going to transfer to Lobelia and join the Zuka club so this was his idea for convincing her to stay."

"….PFFT!"

Kyouya turned around to see the roof of Yura's mouth when she broke out into a rambunctious, babyish giggling laugh, her inhaling doing an interesting impression of an asthmatic hyena. Then a loud snort got out and she covered her mouth and turned her back to him, her entire body quavering with suppressed laughter.

Kyouya slowly stood up, moved closer and sat down behind her, marveling. He grabbed her arms and gently but firmly pulled her hands away from her mouth, leaving nothing to block the sounds. She struggled, trying to get out of his grasp and was getting redder in the face from stifling her laughter. He put the screen in front of her and she looked away about ready to erupt.

And erupt she did.

Kyouya watched in fascination as she began laughing again, snorts leaving her at a rate that made him wonder if she was getting enough air to continue living. She kicked and swerved back and forth but couldn't move anywhere. Kyouya was still holding onto her hands. Her head tilted back directly in his downward view and tears streamed down her face. She cracked open her eyes briefly, and tried to speak.

"S-senpai!" Snort "L-l-e-et me-e-e go-go-go-go-go!" and she trailed into another fit. If he knew he could get her to laugh like this, he would have shown her that picture months ago.

"What have you done to my sister?"

Yuki came back from the store to see Kyouya's laptop on the ground while its owner was kneeling in the sofa, Yura's head hung low as she slouched in a sitting position, her laughter died down for now to the muffled chuckling.

"I showed her a picture."

'Must have been a very bad picture.' Yuki looked at his sister as he approached and smiled with a soft heartedness he wasn't aware of. This was only the second time he had ever seen her laugh so merry and unrestrained. He dearly wished he could hear it more often.

"She has quite a laugh doesn't she?"

Yura's hands were now covering her face, the red visible on her neck and hairline. She could not believe she just bellowed out like that. Her back was still to Kyouya so Yuki was the only one who saw the look cross Kyouya's face as he looked down at her. His smile was a real one: awry and wide, almost showing the top row his teeth, his eyes crinkled and were softened with such affectionate tenderness that even though he did not answer Yuki's question verbally, his expression did. Yuki blinked in shock and looked down at his sister who was still hiding in shame and embarrassment.

Hirohito Tanaka was a docile graceful twenty-five year old who had been in service of the Takahashi family from the time he was sixteen, working full time while balancing his last two years of formal education. He had married his high school sweet heart at the age of twenty and divorced after three years, leaving a two year old child in his custody. Though he was originally responsible for Yura, after the twins had moved into the house, he became guard over Yuki as well.

However, he wasn't treated like a hired help.

He no longer drove Yura to the manor as the host club had seen some time before, but still came over to see how they were faring. Usually it was when Yuki was around and when the older twin opened the door, his eyes would light up and he would announce loudly that Hirohito was here. Yura usually then dropped whatever she was doing and they would both stand by the genkan and bow low, Hirohito matching their bow.

"Good afternoon, Tanaka-san." They would say in unison with respectful evenness.

Hirohito would smile in warm kindness at them both. He hadn't been comfortable being addressed by his last name at first, but when the twins explained why, he laughed agreeably and asked them merrily to continue.

"How are you, Yumiko, Yukimura?"

"Fine Tanaka-san!"

Yuki would lead him into the living room by the hand, telling the steward about their day so far or his classes. Hirohito would smile and listen attentively. Yura would come in with tea and place them on the table, holding the tray to her chest, a happy blush on her cheeks and a shy smile. Once Yuki was done, Hirohito would address her.

"Are you sure you're alright Yumiko?" He'd ask with quiet grace, placing a hand on her head.

She would nod her eyes unusually wide and an innocent child-like contentment evident in them, contacts or no contacts. The steward would often watch the two interact in silence during these visits, sometimes looking wistfully at the both of them, but mostly at Yura. Kyouya only beheld the look once and speculated what it was that could make the man look so sad.

And guilty.

The times were rare and far in between, but Kyouya would sleep over at Yura's house. Usually he would come over to provide assistance in one her weaker subjects. Yura's trouble with chemistry (and biology, which she barely managed to get an 'A' in) was due to her limited understanding when it came reading kanji.

There were certain terms and phrases she couldn't comprehend in translation and never one to ask questions in class, sat in her chair, glowering at the page, frustrated at her own illiteracy.

So Kyouya would come over and help with assignments once she got words straight (online dictionaries were one of her very good friends). They both agreed to him staying over. Yuki was back in school by this time so she suggested he sleep in his room. They broke from studying at around midnight to get ready for bed.

Yura raised an eyebrow at him when he came back into the living room with his night shirt over his arm.

"You planning on studying shirtless?"

"Does it bother you if I am?" he retorted with an amused smile. Kyouya rested his elbow on the table and put his chin in his hand.

"Not really. Just don't want you getting sick and then blaming me and the house or something." It was starting to get very cold as November neared.

"Is that the only reason?"

Yura knew what Kyouya was implying, but she hoped indifference would have been the best approach to quell his taunting. Her plans and hopes never really worked out the way she wanted when Kyouya was the target.

"No! I shouldn't be looking at your bare body! I am an innocent fair maiden and must keep my eyes pure until marriage." She put a hand on her heart and one her head, leaning back and looking like some distraught damsel.

Kyouya rolled his eyes though he was still smiling as he leaned over and pulled Yura over to him by her upper arm. Soon, she was sitting between his legs, looking up into his glasses-free face.

"You are far from innocent." He said, taking off her glasses. Yura was farsighted so her lenses magnified her eyes, showing the smooth mint green color in contrast to her small black pupils. The size of the black specks made her eyes look wide no matter how close her eyelids were to shutting. And no matter how many times he had seen them, Kyouya just couldn't get used to her natural eye color. The only good side to the whole arrangement was Yura couldn't see Kyouya was staring into them. She pouted, her thick eyebrows furrowing slightly.

"What'd you mean I'm not innocent? Of course I am, I'm fourteen!"

"Your age proves nothing. Girls much younger than you become intimate with men."

She pursued her bottom lip more as she nodded.

"That's true." She turned and leaned on him, curling her toes, scrutinizing the black blur of nail polish on them.

Kyouya furrowed his brow now. He had expected her to act somewhat nervous after what he said. Maybe she really…but she claimed to have only kissed that girl she dated.

"Yura?"

She looked up at him. Kyouya suddenly felt it a bit stifling, having her look at him within such a small radius. The pupils were piercing into his face; in addition to her mouth being open and he could see the pointy tips of her canines. Though he was a good liar, he had been honest when he told Tamaki he didn't find Yura cute.

A more accurate word would be…strange.

Her features, how she walked and carried herself, her interests. Every time Kyouya found out something new about this girl, that was the word that would come to mind the most (the second being interesting). Her calmness with the topic of intimacy now brought it forward now more than ever.

"Yes Kyouya-senpai?" she asked after some seconds with slight snappishness. She couldn't see his face clearly so Yura had to sit there befuddled as to why he would call her and then not say anything.

"What else did you do with that girl you dated in middle school?" Her name annoyed Kyouya; it was petty and irrational he knew, but he couldn't help it.

"…I already told you and the others at Christmas…"

"Nothing else?"

She shook her head.

Kyouya wrapped an arm around her, resting the appendage across both her shoulders. She sighed and put her hands on his arm; she was starting to feel too warm. Kyouya's torso seemed to have absorbed the heat from the shower he took and it was radiating into her back and making the cotton nightgown she wore uncomfortable.

"…You're not jealous are you?" she asked in half tease, half seriousness.

She felt his body move as he shook his head.

"Just wondering if you ever went beyond that."

"Nope. How would that even work anyway? We're both girls." Her hands were spread out, making weird circular like movements. "There's…nothing to thrust…anywhere." She ended while putting her index finger into the palm of her hand repeatedly.

Kyouya watched her do all this with uneasiness, stemming solely from awkwardness at the realization that Yura knew the reproductive process in probably too much detail. His feelings for her hadn't really progress to any form of prurience. In his current mindset, Yura was still very young and he was two years away from being a legal adult. He loved her, but it was more of a protective, affectionate love; though he did find the strangeness in her attractive. Kyouya more than once found himself having to dispel the thought of what they would do when the time came for them to have children.

He cleared his throat.

"Wouldn't we have to buy something?" she continued, not noticing Kyouya's slight cough.

'And she's still going on about it…'

"Yura, let's get back to work." He said calmly, letting her go and reaching for his glasses on the table. Yura was glad her brother suggested the neck chain as she slipped back on her spectacles and crawled back over to her books. She had shorts on under the night gown and didn't care too much if Kyouya saw them.

Eventually they gave up and collapsed on their respective beds around three in the morning. Yura fell asleep almost immediately, but she hadn't tired herself out sufficiently to have a dreamless sleep. What played through her head while slumbering terrorized her, but no matter how much she screamed in the horrible phantasm no sound came out. But this one ended differently. Instead of waking up in a cold sweat and trying to get up to go find her brother, she awakened somewhat to feel herself enveloped into a cradling position. Her face was resting against fabric that wasn't her pillow and she clutched on to it, burying her nose in the cloth, thinking in her sleepy state that it was Yuki. She fell asleep again, this time soundly. When she opened her eyes, she stared at the white in front of her, waiting for the lightheadedness to pass and her conscious mental processes to catch up and take its place. When they finally did, her eyes widened as she remembered Yuki wasn't here but at school. And he definitely didn't have this spicy dark edge to his scent. She looked up quickly and saw the black and pale blur poised over her.

"….Senpai?"

"You are awake." He matched her soft whisper, pushing hair behind her ear.

Yura pushed away from him and got off the bed. She felt around for her glasses on the end table but found nothing there.

"We are in Komatsu-san's room." He informed her, seeing she was trying to get a clear sight of something after clutching her hand on the table. Yura headed for the door. Feeling for the frame of it, she walked out, putting her hand on the wall for guidance. Kyouya got up and followed behind, getting a troubled unrestful feeling from watching her use tactics the legally blind resorted to. She quickly put on her glasses and turned to see Kyouya in her doorway.

"When did you come in here?" she asked firmly, crossing her arms.

"…Around five."

"Why?"

"I heard you screaming."

She flinched. That's what she was afraid of.

Yura put a hand to her forehead and rubbed it, shaking her head slowly.

"I'm sorry about that Kyouya-senpai. I didn't mean to disturb you, go back to sleep." It was past seven and a weekend.

She headed for the bathroom, but a hand grabbed and tugged at the collar of her nightgown. She turned around slowly, her eyelids rising: a precursor to anger.

"What?"

"…How long has this been going on?"

She knew exactly what Kyouya meant.

"What are you talking about?"

"The nightmares. How long have you been having them?"

"What does it matter?"

"Just answer me Yura."

She put her hand over her head and plucked his light grip off of her nightgown.

"I don't see any reason why I should, Kyouya-senpai." Her expression was between passiveness and a glare, but what beset and dissuaded Kyouya were her eyes; the pupils appeared to have shrunk and they were now trenchant and stabbing him in the face. He stood to his full height, hands limply at his sides.

"Again, I am sorry. You can go back to sleep." She said with forced politeness. She bowed and walked into the bathroom, softly shutting the door. Kyouya sat on the bed and ran a slow hand through his hair.

'What is going on in that thick head of hers?' he thought in frustration.

By the time Kyouya left it was late in the afternoon. She dozed off in the couch and didn't move until the sun was beginning to set. She got a text as she was rummaging through her fridge for a late dinner.

Are you ok?

She read it more than once and sighed through her nose.

Yes, I am fine.

She put the phone on silent and snapped it shut, putting it in her pocket. When she finished making her pasta, she placed the plate on the table and dropped her head onto the hard wood.

'I really need to be more cautious from now on….'

And there's some events in the first year of their engagement in a nutshell. More about Hirohito in later chapters.

Chapter 22 on its way!

Love and Peace.