A/N: I'm in recovery. I'm also pretty miserable so I'll try not to let my negativity to infect the story. Chapters will begin again soon, I think, maybe.

Haruhiko slept soundly with Misaki in his arms, and woke feeling refreshed and content. They weren't naked this time, at some point they managed to get some clothes on, but that didn't matter. What mattered was she was there with him, willingly sleeping in his bed with him. Though, he knew today she'd be packing up and leaving, but it had to happen eventually. While the morning was still young, he continued to lay next to her and cuddle her while she slept, as he didn't know when he'd be able to do this again, or if he'd even get to do this again.

She eventually stirred awake, and turned to face him. "Good morning." She said while nuzzling into his chest.

"Morning." He said, still unsure of how this kind of interaction usually went. There didn't appear to be a clear consensus in the novels he read, so he decided to mostly observe and wait for Misaki to take the lead.

She didn't say anything after that for a while. They just laid together, taking in each other's warmth. It couldn't last though, as Misaki had to get home. She squirmed a little and Haruhiko let her go. "I have to start getting ready. I expect Usagi will be home soon."

"Yeah, I know." He said, despondently. It had to come to this eventually, and he was willing to accept it. For now he'd just help her pack and drive her back to where she lived. He realised that he was feeling a lot more forlorn than he expected, but that was probably because the time was actually here, and he couldn't just speculate about it anymore. Not to mention, he and Misaki had become much closer than he had anticipated. Sure it was a good outcome, but it made saying goodbye all the more painful.

"Well, I'll get ready." She said, getting up. Since this was the room she was staying in, it had all of her clothes and belongings. She glanced over to Haruhiko, who was watching her laxly. Despite his eyes on her, she decided to get dressed anyway. His attention was captured in an instant once he realised what was happening.

"Should I leave?" He said with a wavering voice.

"Naw, but you can start packing up my bags for me, if you want." She said with a blush. Normally she'd be a little more indignant about showing off for someone, but since this was their last day together, she might as well let him have a show. Despite that, Haruhiko did as he was told and started collecting her things to pack away. Even though he had seen her naked in the past, he turned his eyes away, feeling ridiculous. She didn't press the issue and got dressed without paying too much attention to him.

"Alright, what have you got?" She said, now fully dressed.

He presented a packed suitcase, apparently he worked fast and was rather efficient. She resisted the urge to make a joke about him wanting to get her out of the house as soon as possible, as he was a very literal person who most likely wouldn't get the joke. "Wow, nicely done. I'll finish up here, then I'll check around for things I might have dragged around."

"Wait, before you go, I have something to show you." He was slightly hesitant to say that, but he felt like he had to come clean. His expression was one of guilt, it had Misaki intrigued and worried.

"Err, okay then."

He took a deep breath and led her to his room. They stood before his closet, and he hesitantly pulled the door aside. Misaki was a little confused at first, but it quickly registered in her mind what was going on here. The inside of the closet was filled with oddly angled pictures of her, as well as her books, printed out excerpts from websites promoting her, along with some other things strewn about that she couldn't quite place just yet. She raised an eyebrow and looked at Haruhiko, who had turned away with a nervous expression on his face. "How long has this been going on?" She asked, her voice unreadable.

"…A while…"

"Why are you showing me this?"

"I thought I should, you have the right to know."

"I see."

There was a long silence. Haruhiko's tension was rising by the second, as he assumed he'd be rejected. He knew what he did was weird, he fully expected Misaki to be creeped out by it, but he felt like he had to tell her. The silence was killing him, he had to say something, "are you angry?"

"Not really, I'm just kind of surprised." That was only partially true, this totally seemed like something he'd do. She was more surprised that he'd tell her about it. "What are these?" She asked, pointing to a few mysterious looking books with no titles and no cover art on a stool. They looked like they were handmade, and she was certainly curious about them since she hadn't produced them. They somehow seemed out of place among the collection of things relating to her.

"… Nothing really. I tried writing my own romance novels." She could see that he was uneasy about admitting that, but he didn't bother to elaborate. Knowing that he was trying his hand at writing made her endlessly intrigued.

"Do you mind if I read one?"

"…Well, if you really want to." His voice was hesitant, but he conceded. Misaki just smiled and picked one off the top and placed it in her bag. As far as she was concerned, she didn't have enough time to read it now, she'd do it once she got home.

"Thanks!"

"Yeah, um, it's no problem."

She just offered a grin, before turning her attention away. She then proceeded into her room to finish collecting things.

Packing made her sad in a way, but she had to do it. She did it as quickly as possible just so she could get it over with faster. She didn't want to think about it, it was just too complicated a situation. Instead she just focussed on getting back home. Perhaps things would just fall into place if she just let the chips fall where they may.

With her bags packed, she dragged all of her bags out into the hall. She had placed the ring he gave her on the tail of the ugly crocodile thing. It looked fairly innocuous there, so she'd be able to keep the ring without drawing suspicion to herself. She already had a lie ready, she'd tell Usagi that she won it at the park, which she went to with Shinobu to celebrate the panel. It was a pretty believable lie, or so she thought. Though, if he didn't ask about it, she would bring it up.

Haruhiko was close by in the hall, ready to help her load it all into the car. He raised an eyebrow when he noticed her holding the ugly croc along with her usual stuff. For some reason it warmed his heart to know she was keeping that thing, even if it was hideous. "Did you get everything?"

"Yeah, I think it's all accounted for. I'm ready to go home now."

"…Okay." He said simply, and grabbed some of her bags. Together they loaded up her belongings in silence. The atmosphere between them seemed heavy and sad, so neither wanted to say anything. Once they were packed, the trip began.

For the first few minutes, they said nothing. Occasionally Haruhiko would glance over to her, and eventually he noticed the ring, placed at the base of the ugly crocodile's tail. His lips curled into a small grin, and eventually he chuckled a little which immediately caught Misaki's attention. She turned his attention to him, he was mostly focussed on the road, so she had to inquire about why he was laughing like that. "What's so funny?" She was mostly just confused by the thought of Haruhiko laughing at something, so she was more or less intrigued by what could have set him off like that.

"…It's nothing really, I just noticed that you put the ring on the toy I won you."

"Oh yeah, I think that'll be the best place for it." She said, smiling comically at the thought of it.

"Thanks. It actually makes me happy to see it."

She blushed a little, but didn't say anything after that. Just knowing that Haruhiko was becoming more normal made her pleased with herself. She wouldn't say that to him yet, she wanted to see what other emotions he could learn to express, later on perhaps.

Eventually they reached her home, and Haruhiko parked long enough to help her carry her things to the door, but they spoke little. For some reason this seemed so final, and neither of them had the energy to hold a conversation. Haruhiko left shortly after, neither of them bothered to say goodbye.

He drove off, and she watched his car until it was completely out of sight. She sighed, but went inside. With Usagi coming home soon, she wanted to prepare to welcome him back in a way he'd appreciate.