Konnichiwa Minna-san!

Genki desu ka? I hope you are because I decided to upload the next chapter!

(yay)

And it's a brand new one for those who've read the first edition of this story in the past. So, I won't say anything else...

Enjoy!

Three days had passed since that incident with the cake. Later that night while I was correcting Rin's homework –which deserved much less than the '42' mark I had given him- I caught myself missing Mephisto's company. The man was trouble, sure, but he was fun trouble… While I was in America, I was taught to be fully disciplined and never question my higher ups. From day till night I would study and hang around with fellow exorcists just to study more. 'Fun' wasn't in anyone's dictionary. So, I never had any. Yet, Mephisto had allowed me to have some, without worrying about the consequences. It was like the forbidden fruit I was not allowed to even go near. And I know the higher ups weren't entirely to blame as it was partly my fault as well.

After Shiro's death, I hadn't allowed anyone get to close to me. I was afraid I was going to get hurt again…

I looked at Yukio who had agreed to come to the library and help me with my work, even though he had almost as much as I did.

"Yukio…?", I asked and he took his eyes off the paper he was reading.

"Yes, Ayame?"

"Do you ever have… fun?"

Yukio's eyes widened in surprise. "What kind of question is that? And at a time like this? You want to take a break?"

"No, no!" I answered, "I can still go on."

He let his pen down and fixed his glasses. "Then what's all of a sudden?"

I hesitated, "I am… not sure myself." I admitted.

"It's just… a few days ago… I got a break and had some fun." I told him and felt like a child that did something wrong and had to apologize to her parent.

"That's great, Ayame!" He cheered "I'm really glad you did. I was really worried about you."

"It's just…" I admitted biting my lip. "I neglected work. I was taught never to neglect work. Even when I was little. I always had to study a lot and rarely got out and had fun."

Yukio sighed.

"You changed." He said with sad eyes.

"Huh?"

"Ayame…", he told me and stood up. He came over to my side of the table and sat next to me. "I have no idea what happened to you in those two years. You used to be more relaxed, more-"

"-Fun?", I interrupted him.

He smiled, "Don't take it the wrong way. Everyone's noticing how hard you are working. You mentioned it's for someone. But, is that someone so much worth to you that you neglect your own well-being? Is he that important that he made you forget to enjoy life?"

I frowned at his words. "Yukio, I'm fine. I'm enjoying-"

"-No, you're not." He shook his head, "You think I haven't notice? Even Rin has. You changed and you don't see it."

"I just grew up… That's all…"

Yukio grasped my hand and held it tightly in his palms. "It's not that! I don't know what happened to you, but since you came back you are always… sad. I didn't want to say anything. I was afraid you would get mad at me…"

"Yukio…"

"What can I say…?"

I heard the despair in his voice and I felt horrible for making him worry so much. I opened my mouth to say something… anything… but nothing came out.

"What can I do, Ayame?" he continued and I just stared at the blue orbs that were looking at me with a sad expression.
"I want you to be happy… Like when we were little, remember?"

His words made my heart skip a beat. Yes; I did remember.

"It was so nice back then. We were all so carefree. You, me, Rin and Shiro. We were always having fun."

"I'm glad you remember."

"How could I forget?" I felt a slight sting in my eyes and I stopped myself before getting too emotional. Removing my hand from his I straightened my back and tried to control myself. "But, that's in the past. And I have to worry about the future. I have a debt to a certain someone. He saved me, Yukio. And I would never be able to forgive myself unless I repay my debt to him…"

"And when do you think that will happen?"

I looked at him and sighed. "I…I don't know. But, please understand, Yukio…" I stared around at the empty library and I saw the clock on the opposite wall.

12.30

"You can go home if you want to, Yukio."

He shook his head. "I'll stay."

"Thank you…"

Good bye everyone! For the time being at least. I hope you enjoyed that chapter!

I'm waiting for your reviews as always. The next Chapter (Chapter 9) will probably take a bit longer to upload. But I'll try to be quick. The thing is that after reading my past years' work I feel ashamed of myself and my poor grammar. Now, I feel the need to re-read and polish everything.

Still if you do not like something I will try my best to hear you out.

About the Next Chapter: For those who've read the previous edition of this story it was named: Tired. I had many complaints about that particular chapter and almost completely rewrote it and added more stuff. In any case ... There's lot's of time with Mephisto!

Have a great time!

Until next week, Minna-san!

Hail Jashin!