The good thing about ice cream shops is that you can smell them before you see them. You'll be walking forward, minding your business, and then out of nowhere a whiff of something sweet and cozy will hit your nose and overpower your senses. Touya used to look out the window and laugh at all the children who would notice the smell and then start dragging their parents towards it.

Today though, there were no kids on the street or in the plaza so the sweet scents of waffle cones and fresh ice cream only drew in Touya.

He was about two steps from the shop's entrance when the door burst wide open and an overexcited scream rang in his ears.

"Touya's here!"

He barely registered the sound before a mess of auburn hair was front and center. Touya tried his best to smile.

"Hi Ruby."

Ruby was a whole foot shorter than him, but her personality took up the entire room. Her eyes were the same reddish brown as her hair and they were piercing. Whenever Ruby looked at him, she really looked at him. it was intense to be under a gaze like that. Ruby tried her best to smile and dance and laugh around it to be friendly and unassuming, but Touya knew the truth – she was trying to analyze him, trying to figure him out.

She giggled and threw herself in his arms. Reluctantly, Touya hugged her back.

"How much did you miss me? A lot, I bet."

"Sure," Touya said.

He looked past her hair, his eyes finding Yukito who was smiling shyly from behind the counter. He began walking towards him, aware that Ruby was still glued to his side.

"Tell me what you've been up to! We have sooo much catching up to do, Touya."

Instead of answering, Touya took off his backpack and handed it to her. Ruby looked taken back. "Put this in the break room for me?"

Her eyes lit up as she grabbed the bag and ran into the staffroom behind them. Touya smiled, but Yukito was shaking his head at him.

"Hi," Touya said, stepping around the counter.

"Hi," Yukito answered.

"Been a while." Touya reached out and touched his arm. "I missed you."

Yukito smiled up at him, reaching out he tucked some of Touya's hair behind his ear. Touya leaned closer to kiss him, but Yukito took a step back.

"She'll be back any second," he said, looking away.

Touya was confused. "So?"

"She doesn't know about us," Yukito paused. "I… didn't know how to tell her."

Touya groaned and crossed his arms over his chest. "Just tell her."

Yukito looked down. With his fingers, he traced circles on the marble counter.

"Do you want me to tell her?" Touya asked.

"No, I…"

"No?"

"Sorry," Yukito smiled weakly and rubbed the back of his neck. "I will, but… could we maybe just… hold off for now?"

Touya could feel a lump in his throat forming. "Did I… do something?"

"No, no, nothing like that. I'll tell her, I just want to wait… that's all." Yukito met his eyes, trying to reassure him, but Touya wasn't convinced. "I'm glad to hear you missed me."

Touya eyed him carefully. "Did you think I wouldn't?"

Yukito didn't answer. Instead, he walked to the other side of the counter and started going through something. Touya exhaled and looked towards the ceiling. He had a feeling he knew what was going on and it made him very uneasy.

"Hey," he said, drawing Yukito's eyes back, "do you remember calling me earlier?"

It was a risky question, and part of a larger conversation that they really needed to have, but… he asked it anyway.

Yukito stopped everything he was doing and furrowed his brow, looking deep in concentration. Touya walked around the counter to stand on the opposite side from him, waiting patiently. Truthfully, he didn't know how he'd react to either answer, but… he had a feeling, a good one. Touya had finally come to terms with how he felt about Yue, and Yukito was at the heart of it.

After a few moments, Yukito's face relaxed and he smiled. "Yes." And this time, his eyes were smiling too. "Yes, I do."

Touya nodded, feeling warmth flood through him.

"I wanted to… I wanted to tell you about Ruby." Yukito continued, his face lighting up with every word. "I wanted to make sure you knew, but of course…" he trailed off and it looked like tears were forming in his eyes, "you already knew."

"That's right," Touya said. He felt… was proud the right word? He looked at Yukito with so much love that he hoped Yuki could feel it. Yue was different than Yukito, but that big heart, that gentle concern, that fierce love was the same.

Yukito wiped his eye and started laughing. Touya just continued looking at him, wanting so desperately to pull him close.

And just then, the staffroom door opened with a bang. Touya flinched backwards. He had almost completely forgotten where they were.

"Sorry to keep you boys waiting!" Ruby sang. "Had a little phone call." She threw Yukito a wink and tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Good news, though. I saw some teens headed this way!"

Ruby rushed towards the door and opened it. True to her words, a few people began walking in and talking amongst themselves.

Touya turned to Yukito. He hoped they could find time to talk later. But for now, with kids coming in and Ruby buzzing around, they had to work.

"What would you like me to do?"

Yukito handed him a bucket of soapy water with a sponge inside. "Could you clean the back tables?"

Touya nodded and with both hands grabbed the bucket. Before he could lift it though, he felt Yukito's hands covering his.

"Thank you," Yukito whispered.

"Of course," Touya answered, still feeling emotional. "What are secret boyfriends for?"

Yukito blushed and let out a laugh as Touya winked at him and turned around, making his way to the back tables.

Ruby, as it turns out, was very good with people. For somebody who just came to hang out and not actually work, she was doing a lot of greeting customers and making everyone feel welcome. Also, her senses were like nothing Touya had never seen. Whenever Ruby looked towards the door, people would walk in moments later. It was as if she was summoning the customers herself.

Touya thought he had really good senses, but Ruby put his to shame the entire day. Not only did Ruby seem to know whenever someone was going to enter the store, but she also seemed to know every time Touya was about to talk to Yukito.

It was the most annoying thing Touya had ever dealt with. The mantra he came up with of 'more guardians are a good thing' stopped working after the 3rd interruption. Now, the only thing he could think of that made him feel better was 'they're just visiting, this isn't permanent.' But God, how long was this visit?

"Touya, you're not going to believe this!" Ruby said, shoving a bowl of ice cream in his face. "These kids were mixing fruit and candy toppings together and they said it was good, but it looked super gross."

"And?" Touya was by the waffle maker, creating more cones.

"And they were totally right! It is good. Can you believe that?"

Touya sighed as Ruby shoveled a few more spoonfuls in her mouth. "This is amazing," she mumbled between bites. "Never had anything like it."

Interesting.

Had she never tasted ice cream before? Touya thought on that. He realized he couldn't recall what her other form looked like. If it was something angelic like Yue's, he was sure he'd remember it. Actually, maybe he wouldn't. After all, no guardian affected Touya quite like Yue did. Touya cleared his throat and made another cone.

"Hey Touya," Ruby whispered. "Pssst, Touya."

For the love of the universe. He turned around.

Ruby giggled and motioned behind her. Touya followed her gaze to Yukito who was sweeping behind the counter. Touya's expression softened as he watched him move around, a broom in his hand and a… flower pin in his hair?

"Do you love it?" Ruby was smiling wide. "I bet you love it."

The pin was situated about an inch behind Yukito's right ear. He supposed since it wasn't touching skin and just the hair that it was easy not to notice. It was actually quite adorable.

"Yeah," Touya said. "I do."

Ruby giggled louder.

"How'd you get it on him?"

She shrugged.

"What are you two talking about?" Yukito said, walking his broom over to them.

"Oh nothing," Ruby sang, throwing a wink at Touya. He shook his head. "But I was just about to ask Touya if he was dating anyone."

Touya eyed her, wondering what this game was. Yukito started coughing.

"A cutie like you, I bet someone's snagged you up!"

"Touya is concentrating on his studies," Yukito said.

Oh, really. Touya turned to him.

"How responsible," Ruby laughed. "Should've known."

Touya was still eyeing Yukito who was slowly backing up, returning to his original spot behind the counter.

"Whatcha thinkin' about in that head of yours, Touya?"

How much he wanted to concentrate on his studies right now. "Nothing."

"You know, Touya… you and I are friends. You can tell me anything."

He let out a sigh, removing his eyes from the beautiful man with a flower pin still stuck in his hair. "Sure."

"I mean it." She leaned forward finally drawing Touya's attention. "Even if it's weird or strange… or different."

Different. Hmm… like a magical power or a relationship with a guardian? Touya closed the waffle maker. Ruby was nice, but she knew way more than she let on. Touya didn't trust people very easily and even though she was on their side, it was clear she had a hidden agenda that he'd probably never know about.

"I just want you to know you can tell me." Ruby's smile was genuine, but those auburn eyes were still sharp and narrow. "I'm going to be here for a while, so it's important to me that you know I'm here for you. Also, I'm great at keeping secrets."

Touya smiled. So was he.

It was a long and quiet walk home. Touya spent the entirety of it wishing Yukito was there. Wishing it wasn't Ruby going home with him, but Touya instead. Wishing he didn't feel frustrated and annoyed about things that were outside of his control.

He stepped into the den, trying to shake off the memory of Ruby pulling Yukito away after they closed the ice cream shop. He didn't even get to say goodnight.

Touya exhaled, tossing his keys into a basket. He rounded a corner so in his head that he almost walked into Sakura who was standing in the middle of their kitchen.

"Hey, big brother."

"Hey, monster." He couldn't resist.

She stuck her tongue out at him but was still smiling. Touya looked for their clock. What time was it? Why was she still up?

"Hey, um… can I ask you something?"

"You just did," Touya teased. He was still looking for the clock, but gave up, feeling too tired to read it anyway. He looked back towards his little sister who was averting his gaze, staring at the ground. "Hey, of course," he said. "What's going on?"

"Well…" she took a big breath in and Touya wasn't sure if he should brace himself. "This weekend is parents day at my school."

Ah. He exhaled.

"Would you want to come?"

"Sure," Touya answered. He looked to their left towards the basement door. "Did you ask Dad though?"

"I…" Sakura seemed uneasy, "didn't want to bother him."

"Bother him," Touya said. He understood that some knowledge was bothersome, but their dad would definitely want to know this. Just like Ruby should definitely 10000% know that he and Yukito are dating. But, whatever. Touya was trying not to think about that. He might've been exhausted, but he could sense their father in the house, and actually, the sense was coming closer.

"So," he cleared his throat, hearing the basement door open. "Parent's day is when?"

Sakura looked at him a little funny until she saw their dad walk into view.

"Parent's day?!" Fujitaka said, raising his voice a little. "I didn't miss it did, I?"

Sakura beamed at her brother. Mission accomplished. "it's on Saturday!"

"Oh, that's perfect!" He said, turning to Touya and then Sakura. "This is so great. I can't wait to see your friends and teachers again!"

"Are you sure you can come? I know it's last minute."

Fujitaka stood very tall smiling from ear to ear as he said, "I'll make time. Saturday is perfect."

Touya nodded to Sakura and feeling like he couldn't stand any longer, made his way for the stairs. Just as he was about to leave though, he felt his father pat his shoulder.

"See you in the morning, son."

"Goodnight, brother!"

A small breeze entered the house and Touya felt it lightly dance around his legs. Touya laughed to himself, feeling the tension of the day begin to melt away.

Goodnight, everyone.