Why was I so drained? Even after waking up, I'm exhausted. Don't you remember, Rei? You went off on a tangent about Mama's bitch of a mother to Ritsu and it took all your energy away. That's right. I remember now. That explains why I slept so hard. I think I might have blacked out a little during that rant because my memory was a bit fuzzy. Nevertheless, I'd live. When I woke up, I rolled over and noticed Meditrina's beautiful gaze staring back at me.

Good morning, gorgeous. Someone must have gotten a little warm last night when we went to bed. Not that I'm complaining. Ritsu's back was its own piece of art. Between the sea serpent that was permanently embedded into his skin and the muscle definition, I'm not sure what I loved more. Although, looking at Meditrina got me thinking. You need a counterpart, don't you, my lady? And your master is still sleeping. I'd hate to wake him. I'm sure he's exhausted, too, after listening to his girlfriend go off about her mom's mother.

I grabbed the notepad off the nightstand and started mindlessly sketching. Let's see. If Meditrina were to have a counterpart, the obvious choice would be to make it a fire serpent, right? It's too bad I didn't have any different colored pen besides black. Oh, well. I could make do. I wasn't exactly the greatest artist in the world, but I wasn't bad. I could draw when I wanted to. Daddy could draw like a fiend, too, when he wanted to. I've seen his margin doodles and they were always wonderful. But back to the task at hand.

Who would you be, counterpart? You're a fire serpent. That much was for certain. But where Meditrina was a goddess of healing, what would you be? You're fire. You burn things. You cleanse them and make them like new. You do the same thing Meditrina does only with a little more pain. What could I call you? For right now, I'll call you Steve. Why Steve? Because why the hell not? It's not like I have anything better to call you. You're Steve for now. Although, expect a name change in the near future.

I drew a few curvy lines for the body. Then, I got started on the scales. I wanted the scales to look a little less scalped than Meditrina's. Steve was a fire serpent after all. His scales would be a little sharper. A little meaner looking than hers. Steve had demons he wanted to torch and burn out of his mind to make sure they never came back again. Steve wanted for anyone who crossed him to meet the same fate. The more I think about it, the more Steve seems like a dick. Now that I think about it, you may have your real name, Steve.

Why don't I just call you Vulcan instead? I mean, he was the Roman god of fire. You are a fire serpent. I like it. But given your anger built up inside you, I could also call you Mars. Mars was the god of war. If only there was a way of combining them. Unless I wanted to go the route of a different mythology. Not only did Mama get into Roman myth, but she was a sucker for Greek, too. When she was in college, she minored in Greek myth. Mostly so she didn't have to burn her brain out on law school.

I couldn't do that. As much as I love Mama dearly, Meditrina comes from Roman myth, so in keeping with the theme, you will be Mars. Besides, if I call you Vulcan, people will only think of Star Trek and I'll have to go through the rigmarole of explaining who you are. If I say Mars, it'll be less complicated. It's settled then. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mars. You may have a chip on your shoulder, but you're not the only one, so it's cool. And what better to balance out Meditrina's calm than with a little firestorm?

"I didn't know you could draw," Ritsu mumbled, still half asleep.

"Hey," I put the notepad down, "I thought you were still sleeping."

"I've slept enough," he wrapped his arms around me, burying his face in my belly, "Good morning."

"Morning," I ran my fingers down his spine, "Ritsu…About last night…"

"Nope," Ritsu put a finger up to my lips, "Not going down that road again, Reila. You did enough venting. You don't need to go off on another tangent about the bitch that broke your heart. Or tried to anyway. I'm not nearly awake enough for that. You needed to vent. I get it. It's fine. I'll be more than happy to be a shoulder to cry on for you."

I let him have that one, giving his finger a little kiss, "Ok. Thank you."

"Anytime, baby," he cuddled me, "You want to go downstairs? Rumor has it, the dining room has a damn good breakfast."

"The muffins are good," I told him, twisting my fingers in his hair, "I had one before we left yesterday."

"I'm sure they have more down there than just the muffins," Ritsu leaned into my hand a little. By the looks of things, he's getting into this, "I know for a fact that Misuzu's baking is legendary in these parts."

"I can see why," I giggled, but then, the gears started turning in my head, "And how do you know about Misuzu's baking skills, Ritsu?"

"Well…" he bit his lip, "Before we came here, I might have asked around for other places I could take you that weren't too far away and someone suggested Karuizawa. Along with the pension."

"Who suggested Karuizawa?" I wondered. This feels like a Tamaki suggestion, but to get Ritsu and Tamaki in a room together was already next to impossible, let alone for them to engage in conversation. Then again, this very well could've been the twins' doing, but it felt too…I don't know. Humble for them.

"Haruhi," Ritsu confessed, "She said Misuzu was good friends with her dad and this place was cozy and quiet. If we ever needed to get out of town for a while, this would be a good stop."

"Remind me to thank her when we get back."

"Come on," he gave me a little nudge out of bed, "Let's go get breakfast."

"Sounds like a plan to me," I leaned over the bed and scored a proper good morning kiss. Then, I headed for the shower. After our shopping adventure yesterday, I could actually put clean clothes on this morning. And as cute as those leather shorts were on me yesterday, I'm sure the skirt will do just as well. Although, I knew this would be our last day in Karuizawa. Bittersweet, but we knew it was coming. Besides, we had school tomorrow morning and I don't think we were skipping again. I was in too good of a mental state not to go. I could go back to Ouran (and since it'll be Monday, the host club) with a better outlook on life and a clear head.

When we went down to the dining room, things seemed awfully quiet. But in a good way. I didn't want for there to be a shit ton of people down here. Low murmuring drove me nuts. Too many conversations going at once, the buzzing in my head…It'd just make me squirm. And no one was ever mad at a little quiet time with the boyfriend. Especially when he was mine. Despite the quiet, breakfast was out on full display.

Pastries…Mother of God, the pastries. I could go into a diabetic coma just looking at half this stuff. And I could hear Roy bitching at me in the back of my mind. You don't need all that sugar, Rei. That's bad for you, Rei. Shut the fuck up, Roy. It's a good thing he wasn't here. Because as much as I shouldn't, I'm going to gorge myself. Sorry, Ritsu. You may have to carry me again.

"So?" I went back to our table with a couple donuts and a blackberry turnover, "What are the plans for today?"

"Well," Ritsu thought, taking a piece of my turnover…The son of a bitch…Ballsy. I like him, "We can kill a little time in town, if there was somewhere else you wanted to go."

"I don't know," I shrugged, "Maybe."

"But we will have to leave some time today," he took my hand, "We could…maybe do this again next weekend. I wouldn't say no to that."

"I don't know," I thought it over, "I do like Karuizawa, but I was thinking maybe we could go somewhere else."

"What?" Ritsu wondered, "You thinking we actually go to Hakone next weekend?"

"No," I shook my head, "I'm sure there are more places we could go that aren't too far from the city. Or, hell, there are probably places in town I have yet to see. Anywhere that'll be an adventure is fine by me."

"Ok," he hid a little bit of a smile from me, "Hey…Could you do me a favor?"

"What's that, baby?" I looked over the rim of my coffee cup, reveling in the warmth it gave my soul.

"Could you meet me by the lake?" Ritsu asked, "In, like…Ten minutes? I have a present I want to give you, but it'd be best if we did it there."

"Ok," I nodded, "Yeah. I'll meet you in ten minutes. Go ahead."

"Awesome," he got up from the table, kissing my cheek, and left me with my coffee and my donuts and with half my turnover missing. Goddammit, Ritsu. You sneaky, little shit. That better be a damn good present or I'm going to be pissed. I could always get up and get another one. Or I could live with the half he left me. Either or. I did have two other donuts on my plate.

"You look awfully lonely here, Reila," a familiar voice chimed, "Where's Ritsu?"

"Hi, Misuzu," I smiled, feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. He had that effect on me, "Ritsu went down to the lake. He said he had a surprise for me, but he needed a minute to get himself hyped up for it."

"Aww," Misuzu melted, "You two are so cute. I want a love like yours one day."

"I don't know," I giggled a bit, "When Ritsu and I first met, I called him an asshole."

"Really?" he gasped.

"And then," I remembered, "I'm pretty sure we told each other to fuck off."

"Obviously," Misuzu pointed out, "It didn't end there. So, how'd you get to where you are now?"

"We bonded over a bowl of ramen," I turned into an absolute puddle, "And our respective battle scars."

"Battle scars?" he gave me a look, "Like what?"

"Both Ritsu and I have been in some pretty hellish fights," I confessed, "And none of them have ever ended pretty. I had to have a nose job when I was thirteen because my septum was so fucked up. My sinuses put me through hell for a while, but God bless the plastic surgeon that fixed my face."

"Was it just an aesthetic thing?" Misuzu wondered.

"No," I shook my head, "I had broken my nose half a dozen times. It needed to be fixed."

"Cute," he winced, "What are you getting in fights for? Ritsu, I can understand. He seems like the type to be picking fights, but you…You seem so sweet, Reila. Who would want to fight you?"

"Trust me," I laughed to myself, "Plenty of people want to pick fights with me. Mostly because of who my dad is. But that's here nor there."

"Well," Misuzu sat across from me, "As sweet as yours and Ritsu's story is, I don't think I'd want love that starts out with insults."

"Think of it this way," I pointed out, "If it starts with insults, you can only go up from there."

"Is that the way it's been with you and Ritsu?"

"Yeah," I nodded, "I mean, we've had our rough patches, but we've gotten over them. Mostly because a lot of new things were happening and neither one of us knew quite how to handle them. But like I said, we got over it. We hung in there. We persevered. And here we are."

"You're both adorable," Misuzu gushed, "Just precious. Go on, Reila. You shouldn't keep him waiting."

"Ok," I got up from the table with a clean plate and an empty coffee cup. I'm going to miss hanging out with Misuzu. He seemed like a good, pure soul. If he was good friends with Haruhi's dad, that made me almost want to meet Haruhi's dad…I hope they're a little similar. It'd be nice to have a Misuzu closer to home.

Nevertheless, I had a boyfriend to go see down by the lake. Now that I think about it, this would be one of those instances in movies and shit where someone would propose. No…Ritsu's not that dumb. It's way too fucking early in our relationship to even give marriage consideration. I know he's on good terms with Daddy, but I don't think he's on asking for my hand good terms. Besides, we were both way too young to jump into marriage. I want to live my life a little before I did something stupid like that. No. Ritsu's not proposing. He doesn't have any blood coming from his nose. He's not sweating bullets. He's just sitting at the edge of the dock, waiting for me.

"Hi," I walked up behind him, taking the empty seat on the dock.

"Hey," Ritsu put his hand on my thigh.

"So…" I wondered, "You did say you had a present for me, Ritsu."

"Close your eyes," he ordered, "And hold out your hand."

"Does it matter which hand?" I shut my eyes.

"Surprise me." Lefty, it is. I stuck my hand out to him and felt something cold go around my wrist, "Alright. Open your eyes.

When I opened my eyes back up again, a dainty silver chain was wrapped around my wrist with a handful of charms on it. A little red heart. A little pair of brass knuckles. Nice touch. A little noodle bowl. A little purple musical note. A little mermaid. And a playing card. If I'm not careful, my heart may just jump out of my chest, "Ritsu…This is so sweet."

"Every charm has a meaning," Ritsu explained, flipping through them, "The heart is because I love you. The brass knuckles are for the fact that you could kick my ass without any single thought."

"True," I couldn't keep the smile off my face if I wanted to.

"The noodle bowl," he went on, "Care to take a guess?"

"The ramen shop," I assumed, "Our first date."

"Our first unofficial date," Ritsu corrected me, "And our unofficial date spot ever since. But that's what the musical note is for. That's for our first date. When you and me went to go see the Gazette."

"That was a fun night," I let out a heavy, nostalgic sigh, "I cried my eyes out and we got pancakes to make me feel better."

"That was a fun night," he agreed, "But then, can you guess why I picked the mermaid?"

"That one," I thought it over for a minute or two, "That one, I'm drawing a blank. When did we do anything mermaid themed?"

"We didn't," Ritsu clarified, "I was thinking she could be the stand-in for Meditrina."

"Ok," I nodded, "And don't tell me. The ace of spades is a stand-in for a queen of diamonds, isn't it?"

"Clever girl," he applauded, "They didn't have a charm with the queen of diamonds on it. Otherwise, I would've had that one on there instead."

"I'll take an ace of spades," I allowed, "Ritsu…I love this."

"Well…" Ritsu put an arm around me, pulling me into his chest, "I love you. And I wanted to show you how much."

"To think," I curled into him, "I thought you brought me down here to propose."

"Like…" his heart stopped, "Marriage?!"

"Relax, Ritsu," I settled him, "I came to my senses. I knew better. You're not proposing."

"Hell no!" Ritsu squeaked, "I got shit I want to do yet before I even give that a thought!"

"Me, too!" I beamed, "Oh, thank God…I'm so glad we're on the same wavelength."

"I love you, Reila," he kissed me…deeper than the roof. Deeper than the elevator. This was different than all the other kisses he's ever given me. And I loved it.

"I love you, too, Ritsu," I laid my head in his shoulder, "Can we go home?"

"Absolutely," Ritsu allowed, "I think your stalker has probably given up by now. You've been away from the house long enough. Either he's getting worried or he got bored. I'm guessing it's the latter."

"I'm hoping it's the latter," I crossed my fingers, "Does that mean I can go back to my penthouse and everything'll be ok?"

"Yes," he nodded, "But I hope you know I will be casing the place before we go inside. And you keep your helmet on until I tell you to take it off."

"Ok." Damn, Ritsu was paranoid. But in this case, his paranoia may be saving my life, so I won't complain. All I know is that I had two and a half hours of laying in his back to lose myself in. And I couldn't wait to get back home. Not that staying at Ritsu's wasn't wonderful. I just missed my own bed. I liked my bed. And my penthouse. And the little café in the lobby. I missed my sense of home.

But this? Being this close to Ritsu…and after he gave me my bracelet? This was something I could totally get used to. It wouldn't surprise me if he asked me to crash at my place when we got back to town. Just for the sake of his paranoia. I wouldn't be mad at that. Even sleeping with him seemed easier. As soon as my building was in view, I already started feeling like I was home again. But Ritsu said he was casing the place first. And we did. He took three laps around the block and checked every alleyway in between. We walked in through the front door and he kept a vigilant eye out for anything suspicious. Right now, I'd say I'm the only thing that looked suspicious. I still had his extra helmet on and the visor down. By the looks of things, we were in the clear. Once the elevator doors shut, Ritsu leaned against the wall.

"Alright, Rei," he allowed, "You can take your helmet off."

"Neat," I pulled my helmet off and shook my hair out, "It gets hot in there after a while."

"I bet it does," Ritsu pulled my face closer to his, just so they could meet in the middle, "Fucking elevators, baby…Why do they bring this out in us?"

"I don't know," I smiled a bit, "But thank God, they do."

"Now," the elevator emptied out on my floor and Ritsu did a quick check of the hallway. No one here, "Do you promise me you'll be ok?"

"Pinky promise," I swore.

"And you'll lock your door as soon as I leave?"

"And set the security alarm," I buried my face in his chest, "Ritsu, I'll be fine. What have I told you? I pity the poor motherfucker that tries to break into my house. They'll be limping out of here with bleeding Achilles' tendons and a black eye, if they can even walk out of here at all."

"Do you have a bat nearby, your highness?" he wondered.

"Louisville Slugger," I smiled, "Wood, not metal. I don't like metal bats. They feel weird in my hands."

"Ok," Ritsu gave me one last kiss, "I love you. See you in the morning."

"Love you, too," I watched him get back into the elevator and blew him a kiss. As promised, I shut my door and locked it. Just as I started punching in the alarm code, I heard the knob rattle. To no surprise, when I checked the peephole, I realized someone was taking the next elevator down. That boy's a paranoid mess, but he's my paranoid mess, "It's locked, Ritsu!"

"Just checking!" I love him.

Now, what to do with the rest of my night…I'm thinking a thin crust pizza and a movie. Something about that just sounds delightful. It's been a while since I just had some me time. Usually, I'm either out screwing around with Ritsu or swept up in the host club's shenanigans or as of recently, I'm doing something with Daddy. It'll be nice to have down time. No one here to bother me. Nothing but beautiful solitude. I threw on some leggings and a big t-shirt and plopped my ass on the couch. My pizza was on its way. I had cable. I'm sure there's something on.

Ring, ring.

Goddammit, Ritsu. I told you everything was…Oh. You're not Ritsu. I slid my finger across my phone screen, "Hi, Daddy."

"Hi, princess." Sometimes, it's so nice to hear his voice, "How you doing, baby girl?"

"Wonderful," I kicked my feet up on the couch, "I just got home from spending some time with Ritsu in Karuizawa. And I do have pictures to send you. After we get off the phone, I'll text them to you."

"That's good to hear, Rei," Daddy awed. I think he misses me, too.

"What about you?" I wondered, "Did you get all that shit in the underground taken care of? Everybody back in line?"

"As in line as they're going to be," he confirmed, "I took care of it. Nothing to worry about now. But enough about that. How was your trip to Kar...Kar…"

"Karuizawa," I finished for him, "It was peaceful. The hot springs, Daddy…The hot springs feel so nice. This one was better than the one in Osaka. And it was nestled up in the mountains and the views…Absolutely breathtaking."

"I bet they were," Daddy chuckled a bit on the other end, "I miss you, kid. It's too quiet around here without you."

"I miss you, too, Daddy," I could feel my heart tear in two, "And there was one other thing that happened in Karuizawa…"

"Wait," he thought, "You said you and Ritsu went together, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"And it was just the two of you?"

"That's right."

"Reila…" Daddy jumped to conclusions, "I'm glad that we have the kind of relationship where we're comfortable with telling each other everything and anything, but you better still be a good girl while I'm gone."

"What?" Things clicked in my head. And I'd be better off not knowing, "No, Daddy! I didn't…We didn't…When we slept together, we slept. Nothing more than that."

"Alright," he sighed out, "That's comforting. Remind me to send Ritsu my regards. And a fruit basket."

"Daddy!" I squeaked.

"Alright, alright," Daddy dropped it, "I'm sorry. I had to ask. And as long as you're safe about it…"

"I didn't have sex with Ritsu in Karuizawa!"

"Alright!" he finally let it go, "Then, what was the one other thing that happened?"

"I'll send you a picture," I promised, "But he got me a present. And it's the most thoughtful thing I've ever gotten in my entire life. It's like a scrapbook I can wear on my wrist. It's so pretty and I damn near cried when he gave it to me."

"Didn't strike me as the sentimental type," Daddy admitted, "But that's the thing about judging books by their covers."

Knock, knock.

"I have to go, Daddy," I told him, "Pizza's here."

"Alright, princess," Daddy allowed, "I love you."

"Love you, too."

Click.

I really did miss the hell out of him. It was nice to have him here for a while. Even though it was a tad bit of a damper on my love life. But totally worth it. I can't believe he thought I had sex with Ritsu while we were gone. We do have a little self-control. Besides, it's too early in the relationship for that. I'm a classy bitch. I undid the code on my alarm system and unlocked the door. Yay! Pizza!

"One thousand yen," the delivery guy requested, holding his hand out.

"Hang on," I reached over in my bag and got some cash for him, "Thanks, man."

"No," he pulled a cloth out of his pocket and covered my mouth with it. Something sweet soaked through. Wait a minute…I knew that smell. I tried to struggle, but with each passing second, I felt my body get heavier and heavier until I completely lost consciousness. I just wanted some fucking pizza, man. Only for me to get chloroformed by the asshole bringing it to me. I could've sworn I had a better immunity to that.

When I came to again, all I could focus on was the railroad spike being hammered into the back of my fucking head. Goddamn…Did someone hit me with a cast iron frying pan, too? Just to make sure I was out? I mean, this isn't my first rodeo of being kidnapped, but come on. Have some class. This isn't a fucking bar fight. Although, when I opened my eyes, I couldn't see shit. Blindfold. Had to be. And the smell in the air…Must be from the blindfold. It smells kind of ritzy. Expensive. It's a woman's perfume. I knew that much. I just couldn't place it. One thing was for sure, though. I sure as hell wasn't in my penthouse anymore. They were smart to tie me up, though. Because once I found out who was behind this, chances are, they weren't living much longer.

Which led me to this. Would my boys be dumb enough to drag me through something like this? Honestly, I think they would. Whether or not they'd have the ability to coordinate this well is still up in the air. They had Kyoya. I'm sure he could pull them together. All underhandedly, though. Under the guise of Tamaki thinking he had brilliant ideas. We all knew better, though. Tamaki may be the king around there, but Kyoya…Kyoya was the parliament. Parliament had all the power.

"Alright, guys," I called out into whatever room they had me in, "Very funny. Let me guess. This is about Kyoya's black book, isn't it? It's in my bag. Kind of an interesting read. Although, I'm going to need that drawing of Ritsu and me, Kyoya. I want that shit on my fridge. Besides, it's just fan fiction. Nothing to be so hush, hush about. Important information, my ass…"

"Shut up!" a giant hand whipped across my face.

"Ow!" I squeaked, "What the fuck, you asshole? What the fuck did I ever do to you?"

"I said one piece and unharmed, you idiot!" another voice snapped. A woman's voice. That wasn't Renge. No…Renge's voice didn't make me nauseous. Not like this one.

"You…" I backed down, "What the fuck are you doing here, Victoria?"

"Come now, Reila," she awed, treating me like a baby, "A young lady like yourself should really know better than to use language like that. Let alone calling me by my first name. I am your grandma after all."