DOUBLE STORY

I was kinda nervy about this chapter on Endless-Dreamers, and am still a bit nervy about uploading it here. Let's just say I tried a slightly different direction of character than is usual. I tried to portray a different side of character X (I'll leave you to see which one it is. hahah) without going entirely OOC. I think I managed it. But I'm still nervous. I hope minna-san likes this chapter too!

Chapter 5

Fuji didn't know what to do with this new development. Good thing Saeki had gone home that morning. He needed to think. He felt like he was torn in all sorts of inconvenient directions. He wanted Tezuka to hurry up and make a move already – for his good and Yumi's. And now his partner-in-crime had done the most inconvenient thing and developed actual romantic feelings for their other best friend.

What would Yumi say if she knew? He didn't know. They had never been in such a situation. Chances were she'd think they were joking with her. If she took them seriously, no telling what would happen. But he imagined it would create a good deal of awkwardness for her, especially since she didn't seem to have lost any significant amount of emotion for Tezuka.

He knew that it was rather hopeless for Saeki unless Yumi got over Tezuka. And he knew Saeki knew that too. It was probably a good thing Saeki had not yet reached that point of romantic love. It was early days yet. But no matter what he said, Fuji saw from the way he talked that he was edging closer to actually falling in love with her.

Argh. Saeki was supposed to help, not overturn all their plans! Not that he could blame him, really. There were just some things that were too unpredictable. But what was Fuji to do now, torn three ways between Yumi, Saeki and Tezuka? He couldn't take sides. He didn't know which side to take.

----------

Saeki sighed. He hadn't meant to start feeling this way. Somehow, somewhere along the way the natural affection he had for his old friend had begun to change. He had enough sense to know that he wasn't really in love with her yet – he had told Fuji so. He definitely liked her, and he was attracted to her. All that time spent with her recently had started him thinking about things he had never thought about before – like how he liked the remarkably intense black of her hair, or how he admired the quiet determination she had.

Maybe it was partially a feeling of protectiveness. He had always hated seeing his friends hurt, and Yumi was still hurting inside over what she assumed Tezuka felt. Maybe it was also admiration for her incredible sense of logic.

He smiled to himself at that. If there was one trait – besides cunning intelligence – that he, Fuji and Yumi shared, it was a well-rooted sensibility. He figured that was a major reason why they were so good at being manipulative – they knew how the mind's logic worked, how one thing could lead on to another and therefore, they were aware of what to do or say to influence a situation to their liking. It didn't always work, but generally it did.

Leaning back in his chair, he raised an arm over his eyes. Things were going to be trickier now. He knew he didn't have a hope unless she stopped loving Tezuka. Besides, it wouldn't be fair to her to say anything when he knew full well that he didn't yet love her in the same way Tezuka (probably) did. Hopefully this changed feeling could devolve back to its original state, or he was going to be fairly miserable in the long run.

----------

"Ow, my feet ache," complained Suzume, stretching her legs.

"Well, you did dance like half the night after they turned on the music," said Yumi. "You danced way more than I did. I was amazed you lasted so many dances."

"It was fun, that's why."

"I had fun too, but I guess I didn't have as many partners as you," joked Yumi, opening a drawer and rummaging for her black pen.

"That doesn't make any difference. I'll bet you enjoyed yourself as much as I did, even if you only danced with – who did you dance with anyway? I remember Fuji…"

"Only Syuusuke and Sae. Oishi-kun took me for a round too."

Suzume looked at her. "And… Tezuka?"

"Oh, he didn't seem to want to dance." She opened another drawer and muttered, "Where's that dratted pen?"

Suzume sensed that it was not a subject Yumi was keen to discuss anymore and turned back to her own work. She picked up her pencil and was about to start drawing when Yumi's next comment made her stop mid-line.

"Hey, did you ask Atobe to apologise to Sae?"

"Huh? Apologise?"

Yumi gave her a strange look. "I'll take it you didn't."

Suzume's expression changed from puzzlement to utter stupefaction as Yumi related it to her. "And even then, I half thought he wouldn't actually come to speak to us again later," said Yumi. "But he did. Talked to the others too. And overall was fairly decent compared to his usual high-handed ways. He's not one of my favourite people, but last night he was more bearable than usual." She looked up from her drawing and cast suddenly keen eyes on Suzume, who had confusion written all over her face. "I think your last lecture to him had more effect than you know, Suzu."

With that, Yumi returned to her work. She thought Suzume's expression was priceless, but she felt it wasn't a time to laugh outright at it. She'd just have to chuckle over it quietly. It was evident she had given her a lot to think about.

Keigo? Apologise? The two didn't seem to go together. Especially when you added someone he defined as a "Commoner" to the mix. A "Commoner" he didn't seem to like too! Suzume stared at the pencil in her hand uncomprehendingly. He had apologised to Saeki? And he had been nice? Not as 'nice' as most people normally were, perhaps, but even so…

She didn't understand. Had he done it because of what she said? Why now, all of a sudden? She'd pointed out his obnoxious and snobbish ways so very many times over the years but he hadn't really heeded her. She must have given him a bigger shock than she thought this time.

----------

The clock seemed to tick interminably. It seemed quieter in the office that day – for some reason, the buzz of chatter and work was lower than usual. Perhaps it was because a few had taken several days off over the New Year holiday. But even the frequent ringing of the phone on the secretary's desk at the other end of the office didn't seem to break the quietude. Tezuka didn't like it. Not when his mind was so inclined to wander to discomfiting thoughts.

He deleted a few words from the article on his computer screen and added in new ones. His eyes scanned the next lines quickly for other errors before jumping to the next paragraph.

His superior came out of his room, talking loudly on his hand phone, and kept talking all the way until he walked out of the office altogether. Normally, the loudness would have been justified, since it was usually noisier. But it seemed out of place now.

Tezuka paused to think of a word. Involuntarily, his eyes moved to his own hand phone and he felt suddenly inclined to pick it up and call Yumi. He blinked and turned back to his computer. Why had he thought of that? There was no reason to call Yumi. It wasn't like it was a bad premonition of something happening to her. He felt sure she was fine. After all, if anything happened at work, Takahashi would surely tell him – or Fuji. Or Saeki..?

He dropped his hand down on the table a little harder than he meant to. The muffled thunk it made went unnoticed by the others. The other hand clenched and unclenched itself, hovering over the keyboard.

There it was again – that confusing circle of thoughts that had plagued him almost the whole day (and the weeks before, in fact). It usually began with Yumi and ended with Saeki. From time to time images of Saeki with Yumi at Ohtori's party appeared in his mind. Or recollections of her talking and laughing with Saeki at lunch. All in all the whole lot just about haunted him.

For the first time, you recognise you could actually lose her, that's why.

It was at times like these that he thought he had the most exasperating conscience in the world. He was of the opinion that it must have a mind of its own. Not only did it seem fond of making sarcastic retorts, that little voice in his head was also like an annoying combination of Inui and Fuji sometimes – extremely matter-of-fact and sly.

Irritating or no, he knew that it was right about it. It had taken him a few days to reconcile himself to the fact, but he had to admit it in the end. He didn't want to lose her, and suddenly it looked as though he actually might. High school crushes and passing interests aside, Yumi hadn't been in any serious relationship before and had never seemed like she was inclined to favour any fellow in particular, as far as he knew. Perhaps subconsciously he had recognised that, and had seen himself in a very favourable position, knowing he was among her closest friends. But now here was Saeki, posing a very real threat to him.

A glance up at the clock showed him he had about half an hour of work left. Good. Perhaps going home would give him a little more peace.

The sudden beep and vibration of his hand phone jolted him out of his thoughts. He grabbed at the phone before it vibrated itself off the table and onto the floor.

"Hello?" he said, answering the call without looking at the caller ID. The voice that greeted him didn't require any effort to identify it though. "Yumi."

----------

"I'm so sorry," Yumi said, resting her head on one hand and holding the phone in the other. "I can't go out tomorrow. My sister has some emergency work that needs to be finished – argh, I wish she'd learn to finish her assignments earlier! – and can't watch our cousins, so I have to take over for the day." She shot a glare at her sister, who was doing some frantic scribbling on paper in her room. Trust something to come up the day she was supposed to go and see that new movie with Tezuka!

"It's all right. I understand."

She sighed heavily. "We'll go catch that movie some other day, all right? I just have to take the kid cousins to the park."

"To the park?"

"Yes. Apparently beloved sister of mine promised them she would take them to see the 'pretty ducks in the park' so… There you have it." She sighed again and switched the phone to her other hand. "Really sorry about this. Hopefully I'll be free next weekend – we can go see the show then." She reached out for the newspaper with her free hand and picked it up.

"Don't worry about the movie," he said. There was a second's pause, then, "I'll go with you tomorrow, if you'd like."

"Eh?" Yumi put down the newspaper. "Are you serious? You don't need to…" She trailed off, not really knowing what else to say.

"I don't have any other plans for tomorrow – and I haven't been for a walk in a while."

"Oh. Well… Er, if you want to come, I wouldn't mind the company."

"All right then."

"Shall I meet you at the park?"

"I'll pick you up. And no, it's no trouble at all."

She let out a small laugh. "You knew I was going to protest, huh?"

"You usually do."

Yumi had to smile at that. She wondered if he was smiling too.

She was not smiling in the morning, though. Her aunt had come early and dropped off her two cousins, who were both glued to the television set at the moment after playing a little with her. Upon seeing them, it had suddenly struck her that she had no idea how Tezuka was with kids. She herself was not particularly great with kids – her sister was far better with children than she was. (Oh, she was definitely going to make that girl pay after putting her through all this…) Considering what he was generally like, it didn't look good at all. What had possessed him to suggest coming along? And what had possessed her to agree to it? A sort of dread hung around her as she sat on the sofa, watching her cousins giggle and laugh at a cartoon.

A buzz told her Tezuka had arrived. She went to the door and pressed the button for the automatic gate to open.

Tezuka walked in when the gate slid open, leaving his car parked outside. Yumi met him at the front door, looking faintly preoccupied for some reason or other.

"Hi," she said. "Uh, come in first and meet them."

The two children had turned from the television and were looking curiously at the newcomer. Yumi beckoned them forward. She patted the head of the boy. "This is Riku. And this one here trying to hide behind my leg is Aiko." Turning, she picked up the little girl. "Up we go! Ai-chan, Riku, say hi to…" She looked at Tezuka. "Er, what…?"

"I think 'Nii-san' will be fine."

"Okay." To the children she said, "Say hi to Tezuka-nii-san."

Three-year-old Aiko mumbled a shy hello. When her brother didn't say anything, Yumi thought it was time she reminded him of his manners. But before she could say anything, Tezuka wordlessly got down on one knee and greeted the boy himself.

"Hi. What's your name?"

There was a second's hesitation. "Riku."

"Riku," Tezuka repeated, nodding. "That's a good name. It's nice to meet you. You can call me Tezuka-nii-san."

"Okay."

Glancing up, Tezuka saw that the television was still on. "What's that you were watching?" He pointed to the television, where a bouncy-looking character was declaring that it was hungry.

The boy looked back at the television and told him the name of the show.

"Oh? That sounds nice. May I watch it too?"

Yumi stared incredulously when her cousin nodded and both went to sit down and watch the cartoon. Aiko asked to be let down and then scurried to join her older brother in front of the television. Yumi continued to stand and stare as if in a daze.

By the time they actually got to the park, Yumi was a mixture of relief and astonishment – relief that he had turned out to be not that bad with kids after all, and astonishment for the exact same reason. Riku had warmed up to him after the initial hesitation, and even the shyer Aiko seemed to be unafraid of "Tezuka-nii-san." She felt it nothing short of amazing.

"You've been walking around with that semi-shocked face all day," said the surprising person, joining her where she was pushing Aiko on the swing. Riku was busy scrambling over the nearby monkey bars.

"Well, I am surprised…"

"That I'm not a stone around children?"

She looked slightly embarrassed, but replied, "Yeah… In other words."

Aiko giggled as the swinging made her hair ripple through the air. Tezuka leaned on a handrail nearby and looked up at the sky for a moment, wearing an expression of mild amusement.

"I have a few small relatives of my own," he said. "And my mother loves to babysit them. She makes me help her sometimes. Had to learn." He shrugged a little and decided not to mention that he suspected she did it even more lately as a method of hinting to him that she wanted grandchildren.

Yumi chuckled. "Your mother's as firm as ever, isn't she? She must be, to be able to make you help her still. I can't imagine you buckling to many other people."

A new, slow smile spread across his face – half at the remark, and half at the sound of her laughter. He suddenly realised just how much he liked to hear her laugh, see her smile. When was the last time he had heard her really laugh before this? Probably at… At Ohtori Choutarou's party. Saeki came to mind instantly.

Something wrenched inside him at the memories. He had a feeling that it wasn't one of Saeki's or Fuji's little manipulative ploys. What the man from Chiba had said, he meant entirely.

Riku's voice rang out. "Yumi-nee-chan! Look at me!"

Both Yumi and Tezuka turned and saw him standing near the top of the monkey bars, waving both hands gleefully.

"Oh, goodness! He's going to fall if he continues waving his hand like that," exclaimed Yumi. "Tezuka, could you –"

"Right."

He was at the monkey bars in a matter of seconds, telling Riku – in a no-nonsense tone of voice – to hold onto the bars or come down before he fell, or he'd make "Yumi-nee-chan" worried. When the boy had finished clambering all over every inch of monkey bar, Tezuka walked him back to where Yumi was just getting Aiko off the swings.

"We're going to the lake now," Yumi said. She looked at Aiko, who has holding onto her left hand. "Right?"

"Ducks!" said the little girl enthusiastically.

Yumi shifted the strap of the bag she was carrying so that it sat more comfortably on her shoulder. Tezuka reached out and took the bag from her, slinging it over his own shoulder. She gave him a smile mixed with a little surprise and gratitude, and said, "Thanks."

They walked leisurely down the path towards the lake. Riku skipped and jumped a little way in front of them. Aiko held Yumi's hand and toddled along. It made the going a little slow, but Yumi preferred it that way. It allowed her to enjoy the company she had more.

Tezuka found no objection to the slow pace either. It gave him ample time to think as well as observe. He kept an eye on the energetic kid bouncing around ahead of them, but his mind was on the woman walking next to him. They were close enough that it would have been the simplest thing in the world for him to take her free hand in his, but he refrained from it.

The annoying voice in his head demanded, Why?

He didn't want to risk it. There was still Saeki. What if she did care for Saeki more? It might be the ruin of their friendship if he did something like that. It was only a small gesture, but he knew how seriously she might take it. He didn't want her to start withdrawing from him.

Riku had rounded the corner. Tezuka stretched his neck a little to make sure he could still see the boy through the trees, even though they were only a few steps behind him. He saw Riku, but he also saw someone else. A very familiar someone else walking down the path in the opposite direction. A silent alarm went off inside his head.

Yumi was listening to Aiko exclaim over a passing butterfly when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked to Tezuka. "What is it?"

He pointed ahead and said, "Inui."

----------

Atobe glanced up at the person who had disturbed his peaceful Saturday afternoon. Irritated, he snapped, "What do you want?"

"Is that how you greet a friend who's come to see you? No wonder Suzume disapproves," said Oshitari smoothly.

Atobe felt the urge to pick up the book on the table and throw it at Oshitari's head. "You're a pain in the neck; do you know that?"

"Honoured to know you regard me so highly, Atobe," was the sarcastic reply.

"Get to the point already."

Oshitari figured it was a good thing he was so used to Atobe's moods or he might have taken offence at the way he was being treated at the moment and just walked out. As it was, he merely settled himself into a comfortable chair while Atobe chose to stand and stare out the window, half-turned away from him.

"What's this I hear about you actually apologising to someone?"

Atobe spun sharply on his heel. "How do you know?"

"What, you really think Suzume's not going to hear about it?"

The young master of the Atobe family turned back to the window and muttered something incomprehensible. Oshitari decided to stay where he was for a while and let Atobe mutter as he liked. He saw a newspaper nearby and picked it up to read.

Four pages later, he tossed the newspaper aside and got up. He sauntered over to where Atobe still stood by the tall window, and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"She was obviously going to find out, you know."

"I didn't mean her to."

"Well, seeing as the person who had the shock of receiving your apology was Saeki, the friend of Suzume's friend and partner, I think it was inevitable." Oshitari toyed with the hanging tassels of the rich, embroidered curtains for a bit before continuing. "I'm curious – why didn't you want her to know? I'm actually surprised you didn't do it in front of her, you being as melodramatic as you are…"

"I'm what?"

"…And it might have had more impact if she had actually seen it rather than to have just heard about it from someone else."

There was an audible pause before Atobe said, "If I did that, she'd think I was putting on an act."

"Were you?"

"No!"

Atobe turned indignant eyes on his blue-haired friend, but said friend seemed to be intent on admiring the patterns on his curtains instead. "What use would there be in pretending?"

"So what's the reason?" asked Oshitari, fingering the curtain material.

"For what?"

"The reason why you didn't apologise in front of her. The reason you actually apologised to someone we all know you would generally consider 'beneath' yourself."

"I just told you the reason I didn't do it in her presence – because I don't want her to think I'm doing it just for show."

"And the other reason?"

"Because I want her to think better of me."

At that, Oshitari slowly turned around, but Atobe had resumed staring at a tree in the garden below.

"Hmm. That's new, coming from you. Which therapist have you been seeing? Must be an amazing one to have wrought this change."

Takahashi Suzume and Tezuka Kunimitsu, thought Atobe dryly. Strange ones too. The latter talked little, but when he did, he talked sense. And the former… She had new expertise in shock therapy.

----------

Yumi saw Inui almost the same instant Tezuka said his name. She froze momentarily. He wasn't unpleasant, but recollections of various gossip spread by Inui Sadaharu in school rushed through her mind. He was an academic genius, but one with a penchant for spreading 'interesting' news if it suited him. Fuji and Oishi often recounted the time when he had essentially told every Regular in their junior high team that Momoshiro and that freshman prodigy, Echizen, were involved in a love triangle with some girl and were going to do battle on the street tennis courts for her. It all turned out to be nothing in the end, but it had underscored Inui's reputation for spreading gossip. And of course, there had been that one time in the final year of high school when Inui's words had nearly driven her crazy…

She felt like bolting back in the direction from which they'd come (undignified though it would have been). There was nowhere to run to, though. And it was too late to do any running or hiding as Inui had obviously seen them too. He was dressed in a sweat suit, apparently doing some jogging.

"Yo," said Inui, coming up to them. "Tezuka, Yumi-san. It's been a while."

"Yes, it has," replied Yumi.

"Quite," said Tezuka. "Jogging alone?"

"Ah, no. I'm going to meet Renji and one of my colleagues, as a matter of fact. Don't look at me like that, Tezuka. I'm not stalking you. You know very well I gave up stalking people after high school. There are other methods of finding out things." He pushed his glasses up on his face. "Anyway, what about both of you? What're you doing here?" He glanced to Aiko and Riku, who had backtracked to rejoin them and was now staring at Inui along with his sister. "Did you two get married and have kids I don't know about?"

Tezuka threw him a withering gaze, and Yumi gave him an acerbic, haha-very-funny look. "These are my cousins, Inui," she said. "I'm watching them for the day."

"I see." Inui tilted his head to one side and looked over Tezuka's shoulder. "Ah, Renji."

The name meant nothing to Yumi, but to Tezuka, it felt like the day was just getting worse. One data man was bad enough. Now there were two. It was almost as bad as being caught in one of Fuji and Saeki's mind traps.

Yanagi Renji greeted Tezuka and was introduced to Yumi. Like Inui, he looked at the children and then at Tezuka. "Yours?"

Tezuka felt his eyebrow twitch.

"My cousins, actually," said Yumi, feeling as embarrassed as Tezuka was irritated. Riku pulled at her hand. "Nee-chan, I wanna see the ducks."

"Ducks!" echoed Aiko.

Yumi was about to tell them to wait a little, but Tezuka said, "You go ahead first. I'll catch up."

"Ah, it's fine, Tezuka," said Inui. "We don't want to keep you all. Talk to you another time."

When Tezuka and Yumi were out of earshot, Yanagi said to Inui, "Girlfriend?"

"Nope. Will be, though. Ninety-five percent."

"Figures. I didn't think there'd be any other reason for him to carry a shining metallic gold bag that's obviously not his and to do so without flinching. I would have guessed at a hundred percent, though."

"You lack data on her. It's not going to happen if he doesn't say anything. There's a chance she'll give up if he doesn't say something soon. And I'd say… There's a sixty percent likelihood of her having already given up."

"Hm…" Glancing at Inui, Yanagi said, "Not going to call someone and tell them? Usually you'd have your phone out by now."

"I may like to talk about the most interesting events, Renji, but I'm not suicidal."

"Suicidal?"

Inui jerked a finger in the direction Yumi and Tezuka had gone in. "She's very close to Fuji and Saeki Kojirou. Has a mind equal to theirs, in fact." He shuddered inwardly at the recollection of a certain incident he did not wish repeated.

He had let slip that there was a 70 chance of something going on between Fuji and Yumi back in high school and some gossip had taken it around all the final-year classes, increasing the 70 to 100 along the way. Some weeks later, he collapsed at tennis practice after drinking some Aozu that had somehow replaced the new juice he had in his drinking flask. He heard later that Fuji – or someone that looked like him – was seen pouring away some scary blue liquid from a container into a drain. And he found a piece of crumpled paper near the class wastepaper basket with several of Aozu's ingredients scribbled on it in a handwriting that looked suspiciously like Yumi's, although it was hard to tell as her handwriting was similar to several others in the class. Then the following week, St. Rudolph's Mizuki found him and asked if it was true that he was dating Kaidoh – he had heard from Kisarazu Atsushi who had heard from his brother in Rokkaku. That was the last time he was careless with any information pertaining to Fuji, Yumi or Saeki.

----------

Suzume fidgeted and tried to look pleasantly amused. Sometimes she wished she didn't have so many relatives. Aunts, to be precise. She had four immediate aunts – her father had two sisters and a brother who was married, and her mother had one sister – all were married, and all seemed terribly keen on seeing her married. It could be bad enough when just one came to visit, but when all of them turned up…

"Don't you have a boyfriend yet?"

"Why not? A beautiful girl like Suzume-chan…"

"Surely there must be lots of young men coming after you!"

She hated those questions and comments. It wasn't only her aunts who asked those questions either, acquaintances and friends did too. Her aunts just did it more frequently. That was one reason why she liked Yumi. Yumi was one of those rare, tactful people who had not made such silly remarks to her until much later in their friendship, and even then she had been joking when she said it.

"Nagasawa's son is still single…"

"Aoki Sakura's son is single too – maybe I could introduce you two…"

But worst of all was if the topic of Atobe Keigo came up, which it nearly always did as long as her mother's sister was around. She had a remarkable way of remembering Suzume's (rich) male friends.

"What happened to the Atobe boy? I thought you two got along so well."

"Oh, yes! I was so sure you two would get together…"

"I think Atobe Keigo is one of the most eligible young men around – the Nagasawa young master notwithstanding. He's quite suitable. You should try for him, Suzume."

She wondered what her aunts would say or do if they knew that the aforementioned eligible young man had told her more times than she liked and in more ways than one that he was in love with her. And that he had practically proposed to her at least twice already (memories she tried not to recall because the first had been just plain awkward for her and the second sort-of-proposal… That just hadn't ended well).

There would probably be a general uproar if they found that out. She could hear it now: You turned down the Atobes' only son? Are you mad?? Why? He's not good enough for you? They're twice as wealthy as our family!

If her aunts knew exactly what she had said to him the last time he sort-of-proposed – she didn't know whether to call it a proposal or not, really – they might send her to have a brain scan or something. In her opinion, he had been just asking for someone to tell him off for a long time, but her aunts would see it as a terrible, horrible string of insults. But it was the truth. And peculiarly enough, it seemed to have actually done some good this time.

After what Yumi had told her, she'd kept a sharper eye on him whenever she saw him. He certainly seemed a little less arrogant… And sometimes was even polite to the servant or waiter or whoever happened to be serving them. That in itself was surprising. He was usually brusque and offhand with "the help." She couldn't help but be curious and interested in this change – even though it seemed small. If he carried on this way, he might become altogether likable…

----------

"Enjoyed yourselves, huh?" Yumi asked her cousins as they walked out of the park. Aiko squealed something probably only other three-year-olds understood, but it sounded happy, and Riku bounced up and down.

"I like the big duck!" he said, throwing arms wide for emphasis.

"Oh? I liked the baby ducks better," said Yumi. She had been somewhat surprised to see ducks there – she had somehow imagined there wouldn't be any, seeing as it was still the cold season. "You made a new friend too, didn't you? Ai-chan, don't run so fast." She addressed the last remark to Aiko and caught the little girl by the hand before she ran too far ahead.

"He made a new friend?" asked Tezuka.

"Yeah, you probably didn't see it," she said. "You went to get the umbrella from the car then, I think. There were a few other kids around and he started playing with some of them." She looked down at Riku. "Wanna tell Tezuka-nii-san who your new friend is? What's your friend's name?"

"Mai-chan."

"Oh? A girl?" said Tezuka, smiling a smile that Yumi thought he seemed to reserve only for children.

"Yea."

"Is she nice?"

"Yea! She gave me sweets!" Riku brandished a lollipop and waved it around.

Tezuka gave Yumi a questioning look, and she saw the laughter in his eyes. She decided she liked the look. He seemed to loosen up quite a bit around little children. His mother must have done a lot of babysitting for him to be so used to them. It was really astounding. "Actually, the girl's mother told her to share the sweets with the kids around," she explained.

"Ah." He turned back to Riku. "You like Mai-chan?"

"Uh huh."

"My uncle and aunt say there are a lot of girls at his kindergarten, so I guess he's used to girls," said Yumi, ruffling Riku's hair as they walked.

"I see," said Tezuka. "So you like playing with girls, Riku?"

He nodded and said, "Don't boys like girls?"

Riku was too young to appreciate the reactions his innocent comment drew from his guardians for the day. Tezuka's expression faltered a moment and he looked a bit staggered but somehow managed a vague answer that was something along the lines of "probably" and "they usually do." Yumi, on the other hand, felt her face grow warm with embarrassment and was possessed of a sudden need to hide her face, resulting in a delighted Aiko being unexpectedly picked up and cuddled enthusiastically.

Then Riku unwittingly dropped another bombshell by asking next, "Tezuka-nii-san too?"

A short pause followed it. Yumi hid a grin, unable to deny the amusement of the whole situation, although it was somewhat embarrassing. It was rare that Tezuka Kunimitsu was put on the spot. And by a little kid barely six years old!

His answer came after a few more seconds; slow and careful: "Well, generally yes. I do."

Something in the way he said it made Yumi's hidden mirth check itself. And the amusement died straightaway when he went on to add in that cautious tone of voice, "Some girls more than others."

She turned hesitantly to look at him. He was looking down at Riku, but then raised his eyes to meet hers, and her breath caught in her throat. There was an expression in his brown eyes that she had imagined she saw once or twice on past occasions, but she had always thought it was just her imagination or wishful thinking because the look usually disappeared within a second of her seeing it. This, however, did not at all seem like it was a figment of her imagination.

Aiko interrupted the moment by clamouring to be put down. Yumi blinked; she had almost forgotten she was still carrying her cousin. She put her down, feeling a little relieved for the interruption.

----------

For the second time that day, Oshitari chucked aside the newspaper – this time after he finished reading it. Atobe had decided some time ago that staring down at the garden wasn't very entertaining and was now watching some sports programme on the television. Whether he was really paying attention to the programme or not, Oshitari didn't know. He glanced at his watch. "Aren't you hungry yet, Atobe?"

"Not really."

"It's already past one."

"I had a heavy breakfast."

"And what time was that?"

"Half past nine. Unlike you, I don't need to eat every three or four hours."

"I don't, but then I guess I'll just ask Suzume if she wants to go to lunch."

Arching an eyebrow, Atobe said, "Why do you enjoy annoying me this way, Oshitari Yuushi?"

The other man merely smirked and dialled a number on his hand phone. He switched it to speakerphone mode for Atobe's benefit. A voice Atobe recognised as Suzume's butler answered the phone. "Oshitari-sama" was told in a crisp voice to "please wait a moment; the young mistress would be called."

It wasn't long before she came to the phone. "Yuushi! What's up?"

"I'm with Atobe right now and we're thinking of going to lunch. Care to join us?"

"YES!" Her voice came over the line so loudly that both Oshitari and Atobe started, the former nearly dropping his phone in the process. "Where? What time? Now? I'll be there!"

"Er…" Oshitari was a bit taken aback by the energy of her response. "You can name the place."

She thought for a second then named a restaurant they often went to. "I'll see you two there in a while then. Ja!"

A click signalled the end of the call. Oshitari looked at Atobe. "I wonder what that was about…"

----------

The trip back from the park was strangely normal, in spite of that little incident. Riku and Aiko were happy and as chatty as little kids could be in the back seat of a car, and the two adults in question had managed to compose themselves to a state of normalcy so successfully that a casual observer would not have noticed anything at all.

Upon reaching her home, Yumi got her cousins out of the car and thanked Tezuka, who had to leave then to join his parents for lunch.

"It was fun," she said. "I just hope you weren't bored or anything."

"Not at all."

"Enjoy your lunch! And say hello to your parents for me. Riku! Don't push your sister!" The last remarks she addressed to the boy, who was running into the house past Aiko.

Tezuka nodded. "I will."

She said goodbye and then started to walk away to her house. The sound of a car door opening caused her to turn around, and she saw Tezuka getting out of the car.

"What is it? Is something –" She stopped short on seeing his face when he turned to face her. There it was again, that inexplicably riveting look in his eyes. They were probably about a metre apart, but he could have been an inch or five metres away and it would have made no difference, she felt.

"What…?"

"Can you go out for dinner tonight? With me."