Author's Note: Yay! Two chapters uploaded in one day. I was going to upload 35 yesterday, but unfortunately, my net was again I want to thank everyone who's reading this. :)

Disclaimer: I still don't own like anything.

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Chapter Thirty-Six.

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Yuzuha smiled as she handed Miranda the first place certificate, "Congratulations." Miranda grabbed the certificate and smiled, "Thank you."

After filming of the competition was over, Yuzuha waited until the rest of the judges left to reapproach Miranda, "Long time, no see." Miranda nodded her head, "Yeah... it's been awhile." Yuzuha smiled widely, "How about I treat you out for lunch, in celebration of your win." Miranda slightly nodded. She didn't really want to accept the invitation, but figured that it would be a bad idea if she didn't.

Kaoru and Jan-Di were both standing around at the other side of the room. Jan-Di was constantly glaring towards Miranda. Kaoru sighed, "Could you stop glaring at her?" Jan-Di shook her head, "Absolutely not!" Kaoru shook his head, "You're acting extremely childish... there's no reason for you to glare. Sure, she won the prize, but that just means that next competition you have to work harder for it." Jan-Di shook her head, "I could careless about first place right now!" Kaoru cocked his head to the side, "So you're on about?"

"My ex-fiance! She stole him!"

"Look! He was unfaithful to you! Miranda is NOT the type of girl to just steal someone's man!"

Jan-Di frowned towards Kaoru, "You really don't know her at all, do you?"

Kaoru glared back at Jan-Di, "I know her! I've known her for years! And I know that she's NOT interested in your ex! She's in love with someone else!"

Jan-Di let out a stiffled laugh, "Oh? Who's she in love with then?"

"Me."

Jan-Di laughed out loud, "Nice try. If she was madly in love with you, she wouldn't be blatently ignoring you, now would she?"

That was an immediately blow to Kaoru. Even Jan-Di could tell that Miranda was avoiding him. He clenched his fists, "Look. She's not interested in your ex..."

Before Jan-Di could say anything else, Yuzuha approached Kaoru, "We're going out for lunch now. Let's go."

Jan-Di smirked as she watched Kaoru and Miranda follow Yuzuha.

~...~

The three sat down at a fancy table at an upscale Chinese restaurant. Yuzuha took a sip of wine before speaking, "I'm very proud of your accomplishment Miranda."

"Oh? Uh... thanks."

"In fact, I'm so proud of you that I was hoping that you would join my company as a designer."

Miranda took a sip of her soda, "If you wouldn't mind... could I have some time to think it over?"

Yuzuha nodded, "Of course." She handed Miranda her business card and smiled, "Just so you know, I'm willing to pay you very well for your work."

Kaoru began to drink some of his tea. He wanted to know if Miranda would be working at the company, but he didn't want to listen to business-talk.

Miranda smiled, "May I ask how much you're willing to pay me? Because... there is another company that would like my services as well..."

Yuzuha took a pen and wrote a large amount on a sheet of paper and handed it to her, "This would be the beginning wage. Depending on the growth of my employees determines whether or not one would get a raise."

Miranda's eyes widened seeing the number.

~...~

Haruhi's heartbeat was quickening as she suddenly blurted out, "I want to try dating you!"

Hikaru froze. The words that came from her mouth... brought him into a state of shock. The only thing he could respond with was, "Really?"

Haruhi nodded her head as an affirmative, "I... I did a lot of thinking about it... and... the more that I've thought about it, the more that I realized that I... I like you, Hikaru."

Hikaru's entire face burned. Everything that she was saying felt like a dream. He couldn't even imagine that she would actually confess that she likes him. He wanted it all to be real. So, he ended up pinching himself as hard as he could, "Ouch!"

Haruhi cocked her head, "Why did you do that?"

Hikaru let out a laugh, "Sorry Haruhi... I was thinking that I was dreaming this all up."

Haruhi began to laugh, "Well, it's not a dream."

Hikaru smiled, "I'm glad." He then moved closer to her and pulled her into a hug, "Haruhi... thank you. Today is by far the best day of my life."

Haruhi wrapped her arms around Hikaru and took in his scent. She could feel his heart beating extremely fast. With their arms around each other, she felt a huge amount of comfort. It was refreshing. They remained in each others arms for a few minutes, until Haruhi's stomach rumbled.

Hikaru laughed, "Hungry?"

Haruhi nodded, "Yeah... sorry."

"Oh, it's not a big deal... it only ruined our precious moment."

Haruhi rolled her eyes and laughed/

Hikaru walked into the kitchen, "Is katsudon (pork cutlets in a rice bowl and other things) alright for lunch?"

Haruhi nodded, "Sounds great... do you need help preparing it?"

Hikaru shook his head, "It's alright, I'll cook for you... in the meantime... do you want to pick out a movie to watch?"

"Alright." She looked at the dvds that were placed near the tv in the room. She was having a difficult time picking out a movie, but eventually, she found the first Gantz movie. She took the dvd out and plopped it into the dvd player. Once the menu loaded, she joined Hikaru in the kitchen. She let out a laugh as she noticed him trying his best to avoid hot vegetable oil from getting on him. "Here... let me fry the pork." She grabbed his right arm and gently pulled him closer to her. Hikaru's face turned red as she slowly manuevered her hand to his, then before he knew it, she took the spatula he was holding, "Alright, you can prepare the rice in the bowls. I'll take this part over." Hikaru sighed, "And here I thought that I was going to prepare my girlfriend a meal..." Haruhi laughed, "I appreciate the thought, but maybe my boyfriend should learn how to work with a hot wok and vegetable oil first..." Hikaru fake pouted and Haruhi laughed. Between the two of them, they created two fairly delicious bowls.

They ate their meal, then both climbed on the couch to watch Gantz. They shared a single blanket and throughout the movie, Hikaru held an arm around her. He was too fixated on Haruhi to even pay attention to the film. Luckily, he knew the plot inside and out.

~...~

The lunch eventually was served and Kaoru wanted to talk to Miranda; however, he didn't want to speak infront of his mother. He was wondering how he could get her alone. Yet, he did find it quite strange that his mother dragged him along to this meal. It obviously was a strictly business-conversation between the two of them.

In the middle of the meal, Kaoru excused himself to use the restroom. Once Kaoru was gone, Miranda took this moment to ask Yuzuha a few other questions, "You claim that I'll be working as a designer... you're not planning on using me for any other tasks, are you?" Yuzuha bit the bottom of her lip and frowned, "In all honesty, I wouldn't. I already had you do the menial task that I needed accomplished. Besides, don't think that I don't know about the proposal."

Miranda's eyes widened with surprise, "How did you find out?" Yuzuha smirked, "When you know people, who know people, it's really easy to gain information. That's the wonderful thing about networking. Now Miranda... the real question is, are you going to accept his proposal?" Miranda let out a sigh, "I was seriously contemplating it...but-" Before she could say another word, a man ran into the dining room screaming, "SOMEONE! HELP! THERE'S A MAN WHO'S BEEN BEATEN UP!" The workers at the restaurant started to either calm the guests down, while others went to check out the situation. Before Yuzuha and Miranda realized it, Kaoru was being taken out on a stretcher.

Yuzuha was pissed and immediately began to scan the restaurant for potential threats, while Miranda's entire body was shaking with fear. The sight of Kaoru being unconcious and covered in blood and bruises literally made Miranda sick to her stomach.

~...~

After the movie, Haruhi ended up falling asleep in Hikaru's arms. He happily pulled her closer to him and kissed her forehead, "I love you Haruhi." He was beyond comfortable and began to fall asleep himself when he phone suddenly went off. He grungingly picked it up, "Hello?"

"Hey, Hikaru?"

He was surprised to hear Miranda's voice on the phone, "Miranda? What's up?"

"It's Kaoru! Someone beat him up! He's in the hospital! You have to come over!"

Hikaru dropped his phone, his eyes wide open in fear. The sound of the phone hitting the floor startled Haruhi from her sleep. She immediately sat up and looked at Hikaru, "Hikaru, what's wrong?" Hikaru immediately jumped off the couch, "We have to head out now!"

Haruhi cocked her head to the side, "What's going on?"

Hikaru picked up the phone, "Which hospital?" Miranda gave him the address and Hikaru hung up the phone and grabbed Haruhi's hand, "Kaoru's in the hospital." With that said, Hikaru and Haruhi ran from Hikaru's apartment to the trainstation, never once letting go of each other's hands.