When Asami and Yuzan finally got up to Yuzan's flat, they found Natsume sitting on the couch, typing away at her computer.

"You look like Asami when she's working," Yuzan joked as he signaled for her to make some room for them on the couch.

Following his cue, Natsume moved over and put her laptop down on the coffee table.

"Oh, what did you bring?" she asked, eyeing the box of sweets in Yuzan's hands.

"One of everything that could fit in the box," he replied, holding it out for her to have the first pick.

She picked out a macaroon and took a bite.

"Yum."

"Did you have fun today?" Yuzan asked as he took a bite of his strawberry creme eclair before handing it over to Asami for her to try.

"Yeah. Asami took me shopping. I have so much content I've been going through it all in an attempt to figure out what to post. Good thing it's only 7PM in New York."

Yuzan looked over at her computer and smiled. He picked it up and went through her photos.

"Cute," he said when he got to a photo of Asami modeling a simple tweed mini-skirt with an over sized sweater. "I like the skirt on you."

"Hentai-san," Asami playfully replied, taking the laptop and closing it before Yuzan could continue looking through Natsume's pictures.

He shot her an innocent smile.

She rolled her eyes and then went upstairs to wash up, leaving Yuzan and Natsume alone in his living room.

"You should really stop seeing her," Natsume said after making sure Asami was gone.

"Why?" Natsume's suggestion did not make any sense to Yuzan but, knowing that she generally had good intentions, he wanted to hear her out.

"I don't know. But..." Natsume hesitated, unsure if she should tell Yuzan what Asami had said about him that morning. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

Yuzan smiled. He could tell that Natsume really cared about him and was happy that they could still be friends, despite what happened.

"That's really sweet, Natsume. But being hurt is an inevitable part of loving someone."

Natsume thought about it for a while. "I suppose that's true. But it could hurt less depending on who you choose to love."

"You can't choose who you love."

"I think you can," she objected.

"Do you really believe that?"

"Do you really love her?" she asked in return, avoiding his question.

He chuckled. "Yes," he replied without any hesitation. "More than anything..."

Natsume felt bad for her friend. She knew there was no way she could tell him what Asami had said about him that morning, but she felt that she had to at least try and do something.

"But what if she leaves you one day?" she asks, attempting to get him to prepare himself for what she thought was the inevitable.

"She probably will," he replied.

Confused, Natsume gave Yuzan an odd look. "If you know that she will leave you one day, then why do you still love her and spend time with her? Isn't that just setting yourself up to get hurt?"

"Natsume, what you don't understand is that meeting someone who really gets me is rare. And I am not going to let the possibility of me getting hurt stop me from spending as much time as I possibly can with her, especially if she is going to leave me one day."

Natsume supposed that his explanation made sense. But, for her, she would never risk getting so attached to someone if she knew that he would eventually leave her.

"We all look for different things," Yuzan continued, reading the confusion on Natsume's face. "I don't expect you to agree with me or support me. But please do not think of Asami negatively. She has a better heart than she likes to put on."

"Okay..." Natsume reluctantly agreed. She supposed that, perhaps, Yuzan was right.

He smiled at Natsume. It seemed that his friend, despite disagreeing with his logic, finally understood where he was coming from. And after helping her choose the content for her blog, Yuzan went upstairs to be with Asami.

That night, Shizuku came home a little past midnight, exhausted.

Natsume, being on New York time, was still wide-awake.

"Shizuku, how was work?" she asked as her best friend sat down on the couch next to her.

"The same," she blankly replied.

"Do you seriously have to work all day from 8AM to midnight?" It seemed a little overboard to Natsume, who pretty much worked her own hours.

"Yeah." Shizuku got up and went to the kitchen, in search for something to eat. Finding the box of sweets, she took out a slice of cake.

"Do you like what you do at least?" Natsume asked when she returned.

"It's okay."

Natsume was silent. Her friend was clearly exhausted.

"I think I finally understand," Shizuku confessed after some time.

Natsume looked over at her, waiting for her to continue. But she did not.

"Understand what?" she finally asked.

"Natsume, you are a good friend," Shizuku replied. "I wish I could spend more time with you."

Shizuku's comment did not make any sense. It was obvious that she had to work long hours so Natsume did not blame Shizuku for not spending time with her.

"It's okay Mitty. I understand. I'm just happy that I get to see you when I can."

Shizuku was silent. And Natsume thought that she had fallen asleep or something until she finally replied,

"I used to wonder why my mother never came home."

"Oh..." Natsume half expected Shizuku to pour her heart out to her, but she didn't.

Instead, after saying what she had to say, Shizuku got up, took a shower, and went to sleep. And, after video chatting with Sasayan, Natsume crawled into bed with Shizuku and quickly fell sound asleep.

The next morning, Natsume found Asami in the living room on her laptop.

"Good morning," Asami greeted her as she made her way to the kitchen for coffee.

"What time is it?" Natsume asked.

"About 11AM."

"Oh, I slept late."

"You are on New York time," Asami reminded her.

"Right."

She poured herself a cup of coffee and then sat down next to Asami, picking up her laptop to check her blog.

"You don't have to go to work?" Natsume asked after a while. She did not feel particularly comfortable sitting around with Asami in silence so she figured she'd try and start up a conversation.

"I am working," she replied, annoyed. Her work required a lot of concentration and Natsume being there was not helping.

"Oh."

Asami mumbled something to herself, seemingly angry at her laptop.

"I guess I'll go for a walk," Natsume announced, deciding it would be best to just leave Asami alone.

Asami looked over at her and then smiled. "You want to see the guts of a video game?"

Natsume's eyes lit up with excitement. Expecting something really cool, she quickly made her way over to Asami and looked over her shoulder at her screen.

"Umm..." she said as she stared at a screen of code. It was not what she had expected at all.

"Yeah, no fun," Asami replied, half joking. She obviously loved her job, but even she had to admit that it was a lot of hard work that most people did not usually understand or appreciate. "Do you mind if I join you on your walk?" she asked after a while. "I need a break."

"Sure," Natsume replied. She thought about what Yuzan had said to her the night before and figured that she would try and give Asami another chance. Perhaps she was a better person than Natsume thought.

"Actually, are you hungry?"

"Yes!" Natsume was starving.

"Great, me too. Let's go eat first."

Natusme agreed. Asami changed and then took Natsume to her favorite fish and chips place down the block for lunch.

"So, do you see Yuzan a lot when he's in New York?" Asami asked, still curious about the nature of Natsume and Yuzan's relationship.

"Yeah. He's like a big brother to me, always looking out for me," she cheerfully replied.

"Oh." It seemed they spent a lot of time together so she wondered, "So I'm guessing you've met his other girlfriends?"

Natsume gave out a nervous laugh. She had. But she had not expected Asami to ask her about them.

"I'll take that as a 'yes.'"

Natsume nodded. "A few..."

Asami was silent for a while, contemplating whether or not she should ask. But then, she decided that she might as well.

"Can I ask you something, Natsume?"

"Sure."

"Last time Yuzan was in New York..." she started but then hesitated, not knowing if she really wanted to know.

"He didn't," Natsume replied, reading her mind.

Surprised, Asami looked over at Natsume, confused. How did she know what she was going to ask?

They were silent.

"Asami?" Natsume finally said.

"Yeah?"

"You really do like him, don't you?" Natsume asked, realizing that Asami's playful, 'I don't really care,' attitude was probably a facade.

Asami was silent for a long time. She stared out, blankly, at the people walking by, wishing that she could say 'no.'

But she could not.

"Yuzan is an easy person to like," she finally replied.

"Have you told him that you like him?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I'm sure he knows," Asami replied.

"Still. It might be nice for him to hear it from time to time," Natsume insisted.

"Natsume," she said in an overly serious manner.

Her seriousness took Natsume off guard.

"Yes, senpai?" she respectfully replied.

"Have you ever been betrayed?"

Natsume thought about it for a while and then shook her head. She supposed she hasn't.

"Betrayal hurts more than rejection."

Natsume did not know what to say in reply. She supposed that Asami had been severely betrayed and was beginning to understand why she kept people at a distance.

They finished their meal in silence and then walked up to Oxford Street to shop.

After about an hour shopping, they went home.

"Asami?" Natsume said as they sat back down on the couch to work.

"Yeah?"

"Was it really bad?" she asked. She felt that Asami should talk to someone about her issues and figured that, since she was there, it might as well be her.

Asami chuckled. "Yeah."

"Does Yuzan know?"

"Yes."

Natsume hesitated but then asked,

"What happened?"

Asami sighed, thinking about where to start. She thought about telling Natsume the entire story from the beginning but then decided that there was not enough time. Plus, there was no good way she could put it all into words.

"Well, I dated this guy for a long time, like five or six years, only to realize that he was sleeping with other people the entire time."

Natsume listened intently, expecting more details. She waited and waited but Asami did not continue.

"That's pretty much it," Asami added when she realized that Natsume was waiting for her to elaborate.

"Wow, you are quite the story teller," Natsume replied, a little disappointed in the lack of details.

Asami laughed. "There isn't much more to it."

"Did you love him?" she asked.

"I thought I did but then I realized that it was all a lie. He had been cheating on me from day one and I'm not even sure why he stayed with me for so long. Although, if I had to guess, it was probably because his family wanted him to marry me."

"Oh. That's odd." Natsume did not understand the society that Asami was raised in. "How did you find out about it?"

"He eventually slept with my best friend," she plainly stated.

"Your best friend?!" Natsume was appalled.

"Supposedly."

"Are they still together?"

"No." She laughed at the irony of it all before continuing, "She left him for Yuzan."

"Yuzan?!" Natsume's eyes grew wide in shock. She could not believe what she was hearing and was extremely grateful that she had never been in such a situation.

"Yeah. She lives in New York and is rather... free spirited, if you know what I mean. So it was only a matter of time."

"Oh."

The two were silent for a long time.

"My love life is a mess," Asami noted after a while.

"For someone whose love life is such a mess, you take it quite well," Natusme observed. "Does that girl know about you and Yuzan?"

"Nope. And, who knows, they are probably still seeing each other."

"I doubt that," Natsume replied.

Asami was silent.

Natsume looked over at her and, although she was quite good at hiding it, she could tell that Asami was really upset about it.

"I just wish I could just stop falling for the same type of guy."

"Yuzan is different," Natsume insisted.

"I wish that was true."

"I know he has a problem with women but he's trying very hard to change for you. And I'm sure he didn't see any of his girlfriends last time he was in New York. I mean, he was only there for a few days."

"Okay," Asami replied, pretending to believe Natsume. But in her heart, she had a feeling it was not true.

And, after talking it through with someone, it was clear to her that that doubt was the reason she could not love Yuzan or perhaps any other man for the rest of her life. She thought about it a while and wondered if it was worth letting her fear of being betrayed prevent her from ever loving again.

Perhaps, she concluded. Or perhaps not...

She was not sure.