Okay, okay, I suck at giving myself deadlines and keeping them.
I actually wanted to update Kansai Nii-chan Love on March 14th, White Day, since that was the day it was originally published. But I couldn't even do that, because I am severely lazy. And I haven't updated for a while, mostly because May was filled with a visit by my husband and I thought writing on my stories might seem impolite.

Oh remember how in the last chapter I said I didn't have to work on February 14th?
Turned out I had to, after all, they called me in for three hours.
And I found a used condom in one of the cinema rooms!
I think it was used... although there was no... substance.

The Fight

'Lan and Gui got into a fight...'

All characters belong to Yu Wo, CatMuto does not own 1/2 Prince

Lan slammed the door shut behind her as she stormed out of the apartment.
"Lan!" Gui yelled, probably louder than he would've at her in any other situation, but he was still furious. He quickly stepped through the large cut-out arch that connected living room and hallway, but the door was closed and didn't look like it was going to open anytime soon. With a frustrated growl, he went back into the living room and paced around.
She shouldn't have left. While a tiny part inside of him, not powered by too much emotion at that moment, told him that it was good that Lan had left, he was still angry. It told him that it was a good idea if both of them backed off and come back when emotions weren't running so high, a much larger part of him wanted her to stay. Wanted her to fight this out with him. Plunking himself onto the comfy chair that stood in a diagonal line to the TV, Gui tried to calm down, but jumped up after a few seconds. He headed down the hall and into the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of water and downed it. Setting the glass down with some force, Gui sighed and felt a bit calmer. Not by much, though. His gaze strayed towards the window with the mint curtains and he looked outside, seeing the lights of other houses. It was late evening and really dark.
Even if he was still angry, Gui couldn't help but worry about Lan...
With another sigh, Gui opened up a bottle of something stronger than water.

While Gui was pacing at home like a caged tiger, dealing with the post-fight feelings his own way, Lan had walked out of the apartment building and headed towards the nearest teleport station, looking for someone she could vent her feelings on.
She had found that person fast enough.
"What a dick!" Lan snapped and plunked herself down onto the brown couch, crossing her legs and arms, glaring at nothing in particular. The rummaging in the close-by kitchen was slow and low enough that she knew that the owner of the apartment was listening, which was just what she wanted right now. "I mean, he can really raise his voice when he wants to!"
She probably didn't realize that her own voice, while not really yelling, was causing a slight echo in the small living room, despite several of the walls being insulated with bookcases. The sounds from the kitchen were dying down and footsteps came closer.
"Really, Zhuo." she said and looking at the blond man who had just entered with two glasses filled with some kind of juice of the red variety. Muttering out a quick thank you when he set one of them in front of her, Lan picked it up.
Zhuo sat down next to her.
"How can he just get so bent out of shape over..." the young woman began, placing the glass at her lips, but then stopped. She frowned for a few seconds and then plunked the glass back down with force. "I don't even remember what we fought about!"
And she picked the glass up again and took a big gulp. She wasn't really thirsty, but somehow she thought that maybe drinking something would clear her mind a little bit. Having muttered furiously under her breath all the way over had gotten her some stares from other people, although she hadn't cared.
Zhuo watched Lan drink almost half the glass empty with a few gulps and remained silent.
He wasn't entirely unaccustomed to this situation. It didn't happen often, actually it was quite rare, but it wasn't the first time Lan had come over to his place when she got into a disagreement with Gui. Every time this happened, Lan had been steaming and just went on and on about why they had fought. Although, at times, she forgot why they had fought and that only made her angrier.
And always, Zhuo remained silent.
The mature side of him knew that the problems were between Gui and Lan and he had no right to barge in with his advice on how to solve this situation, it was something that they had to figure out. So he knew the best thing he could be for Lan was an ear that would listen sympathetically. Usually, his being a sympathetic ear for Lan would take only an hour or two and then she'd calm down and return home.
Another side of him wanted to barge in, wanted to give advice and badmouth Gui. It was the same side of him that wanted to tell Lan that, had she fallen in love with him, that things would've been much better. They would never have fought, Zhuo was convinced of that. He wouldn't lash out at her for whatever reason and upset her or even make her cry.
It was mostly the mature side that showed, though, and Zhuo was quite thankful for that. So he just sat there and watched Lan, listen to her talk about how she felt, while in his head he was actually doing a ton of talking himself. But he didn't say it out loud, because he also knew that Lan would just feel guilty and he didn't want to do that to her.
Lan gave a sudden strangled sob.
"Lan...?" Zhuo asked, the first thing he had said since she came and it felt like his voice broke from the little use it got.
"I don't remember what we fought about..." she admitted, still glaring and looking more angry than sad. Frustrated, even, because she was starting to cry. "I just get this feeling that we fought a lot about it lately... and I just don't know why!"
The blond reached out with his arm, but then hesitated midway.
There was a battle going on his head, one that couldn't really be put into words, it was just feelings fighting each other and wondering what the best course of action would be. Slowly, with still a hint of hesitation, Zhuo reached out and put his hand on Lan's shoulder. She flinched for a second, but he could feel her body relaxing a bit and saw her wiping the few escaped tears away. None followed, but her eyes still looked very wet and she took a deep, shakey breath.
"Thanks, Zhuo..."

Groggily, the young woman opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was a dark wooden floor in front of her. Sitting up, she could instantly tell she had a stiff neck. Distracted by a sound, Lan looked around and saw a beige blanket that had fallen off her shoulders when she sat up. Trying to really wake up, she stretched and could feel her whole body protesting against having slept at an awkward angle on a couch. Pushing the blanket off, she got up and flinched at the cold floor under her feet.
"Zhuo...?" she said in a low voice, still a bit sleepy.
The apartment was silent except for her footsteps and Lan walked all through it, trying to look for the man. He was nowhere to be found and, looking at a clock, she knew why. It was 1 PM, he was obviously at work. Lan couldn't believe that she had slept that long. She usually didn't sleep this long, but perhaps the small cry yesterday had tired her out more than she had thought.
Shuffling back into the living room to her makeshift bed, Lan noticed a key on the table.
It was like a silent message from Zhuo. He was asking her to lock up when she left. Folding the blanket and putting the two glasses from yesterday into the sink, Lan grabbed the key and left the apartment, locking the door behind her and dropping the key in the mailbox and stepping outside into the city.
The city was loud and bright as it usually was, but Lan didn't feel like either of those things. Now that she had calmed down, slept on things and gotten a little time to breathe, she realized how terrible she felt over yesterday. She shouldn't really have left home, but she had just been so mad and felt like she needed to get fresh air to cool down. She was worried how Gui was doing... part of her didn't want to apologize for leaving, but another part wanted to. But she just wasn't sure how.
Heading into the closest convenient store, Lan walked to the food section and looked around. Given the time, Gui was probably at work and, seeing how things went yesterday, probably didn't bring a lunch. Looking around, Lan grabbed two boxed lunches that, according to the label, was salmon-flavored. Salmon was Gui's favorite and although it was probably not as good as her homemade lunches, she didn't really have the time or energy to go home, make them and bring it over to the school.
It would take too long, anyway.
"A total of 12$, please." the cash clerk said after scanning the two boxed lunches and grape sodas she had laid down.
"I don't have the card..." Lan mumbled to herself, suddenly remembering she had stormed out of her house yesterday with nothing but her keys. Sighing slightly, she shook her head. "Just take the ID." At the clerk's gesture, she put her index finger onto the small blue square to her left. It scanned her fingerprint, identified her and gave permission to subtract the amount from her bank account. With a successful bing, the clerk handed Lan the items he had bagged and wished her a good day.
Hurrying to the next teleport station, Lan went to her old university.
Once she got there and had a look around, she was incapable of finding Gui. He wasn't teaching any classes at that moment and wasn't on the grounds, so Lan headed towards the teachers' lounge and hoped to find him there on a late break.
"Mh? Wolf...!" she called out when she saw a familiar figure up ahead and hurried towards him.
"Hey Lan." the doctor said, pushing his glasses up his nose.
"You know where Gui is?" Lan asked, the little grocery bag dangling noisily from her hand.
"He's not here today." Tian answered and got a surprised and confused look back. "No, he didn't call in sick. Adminstration is thinking that he's simply playing hookey because of that, but..."
"B-but what?" that knowing look in his eyes was making her uncomfortable.
"Seeing as you're bringing lunch, I'm guessing he's just not up to being at work today..."
Flinching terribly, Lan felt the heat rise up in her cheeks, but also worry. Gui wasn't at work and he hadn't called? That never happened, he was very diligent when it came to work and if he did get sick or was in a state that wouldn't be good to work in, he always called in early to let them know. Biting her nail, Lan turned on her heel.
"Thanks, Wolf. See ya!" she called over her shoulder and ran off to go home.

The key turned easily in the lock and the door opened, Lan stepped inside and closed the door behind her softly. Immediately, she felt a little awkward, the memories of rushing out of here yesterday flooding back into her head. Putting the grocery bag with the food and drinks onto a sidechest, she walked down the hallway and stopped when she heard shuffled footsteps.
Gui had stepped out from the living room and stopped when she did.
He looked terrible. His clothes were wrinkled and baggy, he hadn't shaved that morning so he had a little stubble on his face, his hair was disheveled and he had dark rings under his eyes. It was obvious he hadn't stepped outside of the apartment since yesterday. One hand was shoved into his pants pocket, the other was hanging loosely down, holding onto a can of beer.
Lan was a bit shocked at his appearance, but mostly she felt a heavy atmosphere between them. Something was telling her to say something, her throat was tickling with words she wanted to say, but she didn't really dare. The silence was oppressing. She had to say something, anything. But before she could, Gui just sighed silently and shuffled back into the living room with heavy steps and sat back down onto the crafty couch they had.
"I'm... home..." Lan mumbled awkwardly and felt really stupid for doing so.
Forcing her legs to move, Lan approached the living room and told herself that she'd tell Gui she was sorry she left suddenly, but really needed to calm down and then give him the lunch, although it was pointless now. But when she entered the room, she stopped and stared. The glass coffee table standing on the green plastic legs had an empty glass on it, next to it an empty bottle of wine and what looked like two empty beer cans. Three, counting the one Gui was still holding. Suddenly, all her confused emotions from a few seconds ago disappeared under a wave of disbelief and annoyance.
"Did you drink all day?" she asked, unable to keep the edge out of her voice.
He didn't answer, only took another sip from the can he was holding and set it down onto the table. He turned his head away, maybe even giving a low belch, it was hard to tell. Lan looked at the beverages again and frowned. Gui was generally not one to drink, at least not a lot. Worried, Lan wondered if Gui somehow knew that she had left to go to Zhuo's yesterday and had ended up spending a night. She had no idea how he could've found out, but it was a worry she had.
"Why did you drink so much-" she started to ask but stopped mid-sentence when Gui turned his gaze on her and she felt frozen. Something in it still spoke of the anger from yesterday, but also of frustration and hurt feelings. "You shouldn't have-"
"Go." Gui just said in such a low tone that it was hard to hear.
"What?" Lan asked. Then Gui turned his head towards her glared.
"Go! Go back to where you were before...!"
"Fine!" Lan snapped back at him, getting angry at the sound of his angry voice. "I should've stayed at Zhuo's, it was better there than here!" And she stormed into the bedroom across the hall and practically bounced onto the bed in anger, the springs moving slightly beneath her. Crossing her arms like a vise, she huffed and felt like they were back to where they were yesterday.
She could hear something that sounded like metal and plastic being crushed.

Turning onto her other side, away from the empty side of the bed she was lying in, Lan looked at the alarm clock.
It was 2:30 AM and she was alone in bed.
She hadn't slept at all since she went to bed hours ago. With the bedroom door left open. But Gui hadn't come in, not even for a second to look at her or anything like that. Certainly not to talk. Lan had been laying there, awake and waiting. First, she had been lying with her back to the door and the blanket up to her shoulder, so that Gui had to be the one to initiate a conversation, keep him thinking that she was still angry at him. Then she had decided to lie the other way, facing the door, so that when Gui came in, he could see she was awake and ready to talk and make up.
But he hadn't come in. At all, so she had just been staring at the wooden door and the sunlight that was gradually getting less, when she wasn't staring at the empty part of the bed. This whole waiting had given her time to think. And she slowly began to remember yesterday and why they had fought. Why she had become so angry that she had to leave.
Sitting up, Lan sighed heavily.
It was because of Zhuo.
Despite Lan having fallen in love with Gui, he was still jealous when it came to his rival and he had demanded, once again, for her to stop calling or talking to him, to cease any contact with him. She didn't want to do that and she tried to tell him why. But both were rather stubborn, so they had ended up screaming at each other about 'ridiculous commands' and 'childish behavior' and other stuff until she had left. Thinking that, now that both of them had more than enough cool-down time and distance from each other, it was a good time to try to even things out and maybe even explain things calmly, Lan got out of bed.
Throwing on her yellow silk bathrobe, she stepped out into the hallway and winced lightly at the cold floor, heading to the living room. What little moonlight came through the windows gave Lan enough to see the silhouette of things and she made her way towards the couch. It was a sort of throw-away pile of a lengthy matress with dozens of small pillows shoved onto it and a pale yellow sheet to make it look like a couch, something they had put together when they just moved in and couldn't find a couch they both liked enough to take home. Gui was lying on it, without a blanket, one hand on his forehead and the other resting on his stomach. Peeking at the glass table, Lan saw the same glass and empty wine bottle, along with two beer cans and one crushed beer can lying around. So he hadn't drunk anymore alcohol. That was a little comfort to her.
"Gui?" she asked in a low voice, although it still sounded much too loud in the darkness.
The figure on the couch moved slightly and she noticed his eyes opening slightly, looking at her. Feeling her heart beat faster, Lan took a deep breath. She had decided to make the first move, to try to make up and hoped to end the fighting over that particular subject. But now she had no idea how to do it. No idea how to start, no idea how to word it. Lan didn't want this to fail, she didn't want to have to fight over Zhuo and ruin her relationship with Gui that way. It was definitely not a 'small matter' to fight about, especially not in Gui's eyes, but it felt like it would be such a stupid thing to fight and maybe eventually break up about. Taking another deep breath and kneading her hands together, Lan decided to just let her heart speak.
"Look, Gui... I-I know that you don't like Zhuo very much. Or you don't like it when I spend time with him..." she started, stuttering and stumbling over her words slightly. But she really wanted to say this. "And I... I guess I can understand how you feel when I am with him. I get it that you're jealous... maybe even a bit scared, but..."
Kneeling down to be on a closer eye-level with him, Lan tried to find the right words.
"I can't just... not see him anymore. He's been part of my life for too long for that to happen." she explained. "I can't... I can't take away your jealousy or anything. That's impossible. But... if we work at it, we might be able to... I don't know... could you maybe try to... give me some space with this? I don't want to have to feel guilty just for seeing Zhuo."
The silence was back.
Lan wondered if she had worded it wrong, but that's how she felt. If Gui felt jealous when she spent time with Zhuo, it always felt to her like he was angry at her for doing so and that just tore her up inside. She could understand it, his jealousy, but she also felt like she shouldn't feel that way, that she had every right to see Zhuo. It almost felt like she was an animal caged in that wasn't allowed to do something that was so natural to it. And that just made her angry.
The room was so quiet for so long, Lan worried that maybe Gui had fallen asleep. But somehow, the silence grew a little softer and not as heavy as it was hours ago. Hearing him move, Lan felt his hand reach out and stroke her cheek with his fingers. Leaning in a bit closer, she could see a slight smile on his lips. Somehow that was better than what he said next.
"Alright, I'll try to keep my jealousy lower." he said, his voice raspy from the alcohol and sleepy nature. "But maybe try to give me a bit more of a heads up before seeing him? Don't tell me just as you're heading out the door."
"A monthly schedule?" Lan asked and could hear Gui chuckle slightly at that. "Okay, I'll try."
Straightening up a bit, she climbed on top of Gui and snuggled up to him. With his hand still cupping her face, Gui leaned up a bit and kissed her, but Lan pulled back after a few seconds with a frown on her face, smelling the sour alcohol.
"No kissing tonight." she said and leaned a bit lower, using his shoulder as a pillow and loved feeling his hand in her hair, it always made her feel protected. Gui leaned down and kissed the top of her head before lying back down, putting his other arm around her waist and holding her close. Finally, both were able to fall asleep easily, knowing that they had gotten a bit better at understanding each other. And that was enough for that one night.

See, this is how a relationship will work. You need to talk. You need to communicate. You need to be able to compromise, not try to change the other's ways or control their life. That's just something that bothers me in most Shoujo Manga I read, there just doesn't seem to be any believeable conflict or conversation going on. Exception is Say I Love You.
Oh and music from Katawa Shoujo was perfect for this chapter!

Some readers may or may not know about my announcement in Second Prince, whether I should or shouldn't rewrite it.
I have decided that I will rewrite it. But I will first have the already published chapters rewritten, before publishing them.