A/N: Hi. Me again. I'm horrible. I know. Sorry. I'm done with high school in two months and hopefully, there will be regular updates from then on. To make up for my absence, I wrote an extra long chapter! A massive thanks to anyone who has followed, faved and reviewed this story, especially pearl whirls, SnowAngelSlayerTasha, Trying2StayHopeful and loiuseramz.

Important: I'm experimenting with my writing technique, so the flow might be inconsistent. English is my 3rd language, and my grammar isn't on top!

Noirette is the black haired equivalent to a brunette.

Disclaimer: Do I still need one?

Chapter 7

"Sawako? Where are you?" Shouta looked around his house, searching for his wife.

"Out here!" She answered from the garden. Ever since they moved in, Sawako had been planting all sorts of flowers in the beds. It had been a little over a week since they had held their party, and some of the first buds were starting to bloom. Sawako was sitting at the porch, watching the blooming flowers and enjoying a glass of cold lemonade.

"There you are! Touta is bringing his girlfriend today, right?" Shouta walked out and sat down next to her. Reaching over, he placed his arm around her and pulled her into his side. Smiling mischievously Sawako poked Shouta in the side, instantly making him squirm. "Hey!" He exclaimed almost jumping away, which only made Sawako laugh. He was too ticklish for his own good.

"Yes. They'll stay for dinner. What should I make?" She asked fanning herself with her free hand. It was fairly hot that day, so she was dressed in a skirt and a matching top, and her hair was up in a long ponytail to keep it out of her face. Shouta ran his fingers lightly through her fringe, moving the hair to one side.

"I was thinking we could eat at Ryu's." He smiled sheepishly as she leaned her head on his shoulder. "I don't mind." Shouta kissed the top of her head and rubbed circles on her back. "I'll be back as fast as a can. It shouldn't take too long." He smiled, when he noticed that Sawako was dozing off. The heat always made her drowsy.

"Sweetheart, if you are tired you should take a nap. I'll carry you." He offered, waiting for a few seconds. When she didn't respond, he quickly picked her up and hugged her to his chest. Her eyes flew open and she almost shrieked.

"Shouta! Put me down!" She scolded half-heartedly already knowing what he was about to say next.

"Only, if I get a kiss." He grinned when Sawako shook her head with a smile and grabbed his face in both her hands. Her lips touched his, and he slowly let her down. Sawako broke the kiss and laughed at his slightly dazed expression. The very same expression he wore whenever they made love. He was most likely imagining something inappropriate.

"You're such a child." She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him in for another kiss. One of his hands slowly crept up the back of her top to stroke her soft skin, while the other held her firmly in place. Sawako didn't mind at all. She loved kissing Shouta. His small caresses and gentle ministrations always made her skin tingle for more. "I love you." She murmured against his lips. No matter how much she told him, it would never be enough.

"I love you, too." He broke their kiss and put his chin on top of Sawako's head, hugging her tightly. "You'll have to leave now, if you want to make it on time." Sawako told him, looking up. "I know." He sighed and kissed her forehead, before finally letting her go.

"I'll be back soon." He promised, before making his way inside again to grab his keys. Sawako went back into the kitchen, preparing some snacks and tea for her brother-in-law and his girlfriend. Touta was more like a little brother to her, and she was looking forward to meeting the girl, whom he had taken a liking to. She didn't have to wait long. Touta arrived hand in hand with a cute brunette and rang the doorbell.

"You could have let yourself in." Sawako greeted him as she opened the door.

"What's the fun in that?" He countered stepping inside with his girlfriend in tow. She wasn't very tall and seemed even smaller standing next to Touta, who had hit his growth-spurt. Her dark brown hair nearly reached her waist, and she kept fiddling with strands of it.

"Hello Mrs. Kazehaya, I'm Kumi." The brunette bowed deeply.

"Nice to meet you, Kumi-chan. You can call me Sawako." The brunette looked up and beamed at Sawako. She had been nervous about meeting Touta's sister-in-law. Her boyfriend spoke very highly of her and Kumi had been afraid that if Sawako's impression of Kumi was bad, she wouldn't approve of their relationship.

"Thank you for having me, Sawako-san." Kumi smiled at her prettily. It only took her a second to realize why Touta was so attached to her. Sawako gave of the aura of a dependable sister, you could tell anything.

"Where's Shouta-nii?" Touta asked as they took a seat. Over the years, he had gotten more attached to Shouta, probably because of his sister-in-law.

"He had a meeting at his office. He'll be back soon." Sawako sat down in one of the chairs across the young couple. "Shouta works as a project-coordinator in a big company." She explained Touta's girlfriend.

"Touta mentioned something like that before. What do you do, Sawako-san?" Kumi tilted her head to the side, glancing at her oddly subdued boyfriend. He was usually so boisterous and full of laughter, watching him quiet down felt almost surreal.

"I teach at an institute for academically gifted children." Sawako poured the couple some tea, telling them about her elite class consisting of only nine children.

"Only nine?" If it hadn't been impolite, Kumi's jaw would have dropped to the floor.

"They are exceptionally smart 10-year olds. I teach them advanced high school math, bordering on university level." Sawako chuckled at Kumi's frightened expression and decided now would be a good time to change the topic. "So, Kumi-chan, how did you end up with Touta?" The young girl looked a little embarrassed at first, judging by the blush on her cheeks, but then she mustered up her courage and locked eyes with Sawako.

"Well, he kept misplacing the books in our school library." She started. That caught Sawako's attention. "I'm part of the student council and spend a lot of time in there. One day, I was looking for a certain book, and I was sure I had seen it on the shelf the previous day, but I couldn't find it anywhere. That's when I noticed Touta-kun holding onto it a little away from me." At this part, Touta's ears had turned slightly red and he was deliberately looking out of the window. He was, however, still grasping Kumi's hand in his own. Sawako resisted the urge to tease Touta for entering a library, even though he hated books. Shouta was definitely rubbing off on her.

"I politely asked him when he would be done with it, but he just shrugged, said "Eh" and tossed it to me! Can you believe it?" Kumi asked in outrage. It certainly sounded like something the younger Kazehaya would do, but Sawako didn't say that out loud. "It went on for days. He would appear in the library and keep me from doing my work one way or another. That's when I had had enough and told him off."

"You mean chewed me out and banned me from the library?" Touta commented somewhat amused. Kumi either didn't hear him, or simply chose to ignore her boyfriend and continued her story.

"After scolding him for a good twenty minutes, I noticed that he hadn't said anything at all. He had been staring at me the whole time. So when I asked him why he wasn't saying anything, he told me I was pretty when I was angry!" At this point, Sawako was having great trouble with her self-control. It was too good an opportunity to pass up, but she had a feeling Kumi's story would get even better. She pulled herself together and motioned for the brunette to continue.

"After that, I stopped going to the library for a few days because of a lot of meetings, and when I returned, he was still there! But this time, he didn't get in my way. He just sat at the end of my desk watching me, which was pretty creepy, if you ask me." She poked Touta in the shoulder. "Shut up." He muttered, still looking away.

"When did you actually start talking?" Sawako asked, figuring it would be wise to save her brother-in-law, who was starting to resemble a tomato.

"After two weeks of being stalked, I asked him what his problem was." The corner of Kumi's mouth started twitching and Touta groaned loudly, hiding his face in his free hand. That was interesting. "He looked me straight in the eye and told me that he wouldn't have a problem, if I would just notice him already." She grinned and squeezed his hand.

"That's so sweet!" Sawako cooed. She couldn't contain herself anymore. "Wait till Shouta finds out." She chuckled. Hearing that only made Touta groan louder.

"What did you do then Kumi-chan?" The noirette asked.

"She hit me with the heaviest book she had." Touta answered for her.

"After pestering me for another week to have lunch with him, I agreed and that's when we started talking." Kumi ended her report with a bright smile. Sawako had a feeling there was a little more to the story than that, but she didn't pry.

"A week? More like a month." Touta muttered darkly.

"You're just bitter I didn't get swept off my feet like all the other girls." His girlfriend stuck out her tongue at him. The two of them were bickering like an old married couple when Sawako's cellphone went off. Sawako looked at the screen, surprised to see that it was almost time for dinner. She left the couple and went into the kitchen, where she picked up the phone. "Hello, Shouta?"

"I'm so sorry Sawako. The meeting dragged out!"

"That's all right. I hadn't realized it was this late." Sawako twirled some hair around her finger, like a high school girl speaking to her crush.

"I'm heading out now. What do you say we meet at Ryu's?" Shouta sounded out of breath. Knowing him, he had most likely run down the stairs to get out to his car as fast as possible.

"Sounds great. I'll see you there." Sawako agreed and hung up, going back into the sitting room and her guests, informing them of their plans.

Over at Ryu's, Sawako was entertaining her brother-in-law and his girlfriend with stories of her students. She was expecting Shouta any minute now, and kept glancing towards the door as if it would make him magically appear. If she was completely honest, she just missed him. He was so busy working, and she still had a few weeks off, so the only time they spent together was when he was home.

She was actually feeling a little lonely at the moment. Sure, she had the teenage couple to keep her company, but she wanted Shouta to be there too. He had looked forward to meeting Kumi, and it had been a while since he had spent time with Touta. She was afraid he was stuck and traffic and would miss dinner. Shouta could get a little grumpy when he was hungry. Sawako was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't notice Touta brighten up and wave towards the entrance.

"Touta, Sawako. Sorry I am late!" Shouta appeared, panting and stopped next to their table. "I'm Shouta, the idiot's older brother. Nice to meet you." Kumi, looking embarrassed all of a sudden, quickly got up from her seat and bowed. The resemblance between the brothers had shocked the brunette. Despite being a few years younger, Touta looked like the carbon copy of his older brother. The only difference was their height, expressions and personality.

"Oh, um, I'm Tachibana Kumi." She nervously stuttered. Sawako smiled reassuringly at the girl, encouraging her to start the conversation. Shouta paused to kiss Sawako and took a seat, immediately picking on his brother. The young girl quickly warmed up to Shouta and joined in on their conversation. She turned out to be a lot more mature than she seemed, and was currently discussing how to optimize the benefit of the school budget.

One of the staff members at the ramen shop appeared and took their order. Chizu had gotten a degree in management and was practically running the restaurant on her own. Ryu's father was about to retire, but still helped out most of the time. It kept him young, he claimed. By now, Shouta had heard all about the way Touta got together with Kumi and was clutching his sides from laughter.

Sawako smiled gently at the sight. Touta was completely red-faced and tried to cover Kumi-chan's mouth, while Shouta was gasping for breath. Every time he was close to calming down, he would take one look at his brother and get into another laughing fit.

'All the laughing must relieve some of the tension in Shouta.' Sawako thought to herself, sipping a glass of water. She was perfectly content watching the Kazehaya brothers bond. After she and Shouta got married, they hadn't stayed in Kitahiro for long. Touta had just started to mature and wanted to spend more time with his brother when the couple moved away. Truth be told, Sawako sometimes felt that she had come between them, but watching them now made her realize that they had only needed some time to get through to each other. Seeing them now would make any mother sigh and wish for sons like them.

"Sawako? Are you okay?" Shouta whispered and took her hand. He looked worried and gave her hand a squeeze. It was just like him to worry about her, when she was doing the same thing. Another one of the things she loved about him.

"Huh? Ah, yes. I was just thinking." She answered with a smile. He nodded at her and gave her a small smile of his own, one that made her want to reach over and kiss him senseless.

"What about?" He questioned and let go of Sawako's hand. Sawako never got to answer, because in that moment the doors to the restaurant burst open and in came a person, shouting at the top of his lungs.

"OI, SHOUTA! I'M GETTING MARRIED!" There was no mistaking that voice.

"Pin!" Shouta exclaimed and shot up from his seat. His former teacher staggered towards where the Kazehayas were sitting, trying not to lose his footing and failing miserably. So miserably that he slipped and smashed his head into Shouta's face. The young man, who wasn't prepared at all, clutched his face as tears started forming.

Pin straightened and looked dazed. He didn't even notice how Sawako rushed forward and checked on his former student, who was touching his nose tenderly. It wasn't broken, but it was bound to start bruising. Luckily, his cheekbone bore the brunt of the impact, thereby making it slightly less painful. Shouta assured Sawako that he was fine, and no, he didn't need to go see a doctor.

"Pin-sensei!" Touta sounded delighted, completely oblivious to his brother's pain. The teacher was obviously – excuse the expression – piss-drunk and barely able to walk. Shouta had mixed feelings about seeing his teacher. Of course, he was happy to see him again, but somewhere deep down, he felt a little uncomfortable – and not because of his new injury. Sawako, sensing her husband's distress, touched his arm and smiled at him, telling him to relax. Shouta locked eyes with her for a few seconds and nodded, then turned his attention back to his teacher.

"Pin." Shouta stretched out a hand to steady the drunken adult, who was standing directly in front of him. He certainly hadn't expected their first encounter after so long to be under these circumstances. Fortunately, it was a slow day at the ramen shop, and most of the guests were locals, who either knew Pin or had at least heard of him before. Otherwise, he would probably have been kicked out for causing a scene. It was only then Shouta realized what Pin had said upon entering.

"Wait, you are getting married?" He questioned in disbelief. The idea seemed… wrong. Completely and utterly wrong. Unrealistic. Surreal. Unbelievable. Maybe he was hallucinating the whole thing? Surely, Pin would have come to see him when he was sober – not that there was a big difference between Sober-Pin and Drunk-Pin – to tell him something this important. He couldn't be serious, could he?

"That's wonderful Pin-sensei!" Sawako exclaimed in delight, clasping her hands in front of her chest and snapping Shouta out of his inner monologue. Shouta's wife was looking so happy that he nearly forgot what was going on. Pin was drunk and spouting nonsense.

"Kuronu-err..haya! How many times have I told you to call me Arai-dai-sensei-sama?" He slurred. At least he had recognized her, even though he almost got her name wrong. He wobbled a bit, but steadied himself before anyone tried to help him.

"Sensei, I'm not your student anymore." Sawako chuckled. Something about the situation was nagging Sawako, though. Shouta was now supporting his old teacher, casting worried glances towards her. She seemed deep in thought all of a sudden.

"But you still call me sen-sensei! You must still admire me very much." He concluded and crossed his arms in front of him. Or rather, tried to. Sawako had picked up her way of addressing him from Shouta and Ryu. She still added the sensei, from time to time. Mostly out of habit. But that went unnoticed by Pin, who still hadn't registered the arm behind his back that kept him upright. It was only when Shouta waved a hand in front of his face that he returned to the present.

"Shouta, there you are!" He turned around and grabbed the young man's shoulders. The other guests had now returned to their meals and weren't paying much attention to the drunken teacher. They were used to him being loud. "I've been looking for you all over the place." He sounded oddly sober and looked Shouta straight in the eye. Shouta was feeling slightly uncomfortable again. Pin had this crazed look in his eyes that spelled trouble.

"I wanted… I want… What did I come here for again?" He paused for a moment and looked around him. "Oh yeah! I wanted you and Ryu to be my groomsmaids!" He had turned around so quickly that he nearly lost his balance, and accidentally stomped on Shouta's foot in the process. The young Kazehaya flinched, but seemed otherwise fine. He was starting to get increasingly frustrated, though.

"Groomsmaids? Pin, what the hell is going on?" Shouta asked and gripped the man by his arms, ignoring the stinging of his foot and his sore face.

"What do you mean, what's going on? I just told you, I'm getting married, stupid." Pin shook his head dejectedly. Then he brightened up. "Oh, you mean why the groom's maid? Because you are a sissy." He snickered. Shouta stared at him dumbfounded. He was making no sense. A part of Shouta wanted to smack Pin upside the head. Maybe then he would snap out of it. A voice, however, interrupted his urges to hurt the more-than-intoxicated man.

"Pin-chan, play nice." Ryu's father appeared after hearing all of the commotion.

"Shut up jiji, I'm always nice." At this point, Shouta was having trouble absorbing the information Pin had presented him with. Marriage? Surely it was just the alcohol in him talking, A joke. But then again, why would he drag it out, if he wasn't serious. Shouta looked over at his wife for help, but she was starting to look just as confused as he himself felt. Touta and Kumi were standing a few steps behind Sawako.

"Stop teasing them Pin-chan. The poor boy will faint." The old man chuckled. Shouta's eyes were wide as saucers and he was gaping like a fish out of water. Sawako cast worried glances at him.

"'Cause he's such a girl," The teacher whispered to Ryu's father, "That's why he's gonna be my grooms maid."

"When are you getting married, sensei?" Touta spoke up, trying to figure out what was going on in Pin's head.

"In a year! No wait, I can't wait that long. Then, tomorrow. No, six months. Four months. That's a good time. Nice weather." His jumbled sentence made as much sense as an elephant wearing a tuxedo, doing the conga.

"When did you decide to get hitched?" Shouta managed to squeak.

"You are one to talk." Sawako whispered in his ear and nudged his arm.

"Asked her yesterday. She was beautiful. Her big blue eyes- or were they brown? Blue. Definitely blue. She said yes anyway. Not like she had a choice. Who'd ever resist me?" He bragged, but his drunken state made it sound odd.

"Who did you ask?" Sawako asked. She had a sneaking suspicion whom, but wanted Pin to confirm it. The blue eyes were a pretty big clue.

"She said yes, Kuro-haya." He told her in all seriousness, completely dismissing her question.

"Are you even ready to get married?" Shouta turned to Pin. "You have to be serious about it." He sounded like he was scolding a child. He might as well have been.

"I am," the teacher sulked, "Love Mai-chan from the bottom of my heart." He declared.

"Oh boy." Shouta muttered.

Dai-sensei-sama means something along the lines of great teacher, I think. Got it from Fruits Basket :p

For those who don't know, a grooms maid is a female on the groom's side of the altar.

Told you it was a tearful reunion :p Getting hit on the nose hurts like a bitch! Touta and Kumi were kind of a filler, but I didn't feel like separating the chapters. Now you also know a little about their jobs. Any ideas what to make of Ryu? Anyways, Pin is getting married! Did you see that coming? I hope, I captured his annoying traits well enough, but fear not! We'll see a lot more of him from now on. Thank you again for all your support. I love you guys! (=w=)/