Yuujiro never asked Tooru why he had run off. For days Tooru had dreaded the question.

Tooru,what upset you in the dressing room?

Or...

Tooru, what the hell was with you the other day?

Or even...

You're not gay for me, are you, Tooru?

Because Tooru knew he would answer honestly.

Thankfully, over a week passed without mention of the incident. Tooru and Yuujiro's relationship evolved into a predictable pattern. By day they were best friends. Together they went to class, and together they ate lunch. Together they teased Mikoto, and together they doted on Akira. They laughed and made inside jokes - only some of which were laced with innuendo. They painted each other's nails and suggested make-up products - notably normal occupations considering their position in the school. By night, however, they fell easily into the rolls of lovers. They kissed and they touched. They panted and they moaned. Yuujiro made his boundaries clear and Tooru obeyed so naturally that neither of them were distracted. Tooru was a boy whose girlfriend didn't wish to be touched below her waste or beneath her bra, and that was all there was to it.

Tooru could be satisfied with this. All he needed was an excuse to kiss Yuujiro and to hold him, to be kissed by Yuujiro and to be held by him. He needed to share his secrets, fears, anxieties, and frivolities with Yuujiro and to listen to what Yuujiro needed to share in turn. To comfort and to be comforted. Tooru needed to have a relationship with Yuujiro that existed on a higher emotional level than that of simple friends - the type of relationship that they had shared for months prior - without being questioned. For Tooru, this was enough.

But in expressing and acting upon his feelings, Tooru couldn't help but feel a touch of guilt and the tiniest sting of rejection. Tooru was, after all, actively deceiving Yuujiro by referring to him as a girl, and the fact that simply telling Yuujiro he saw him as a man would end their relationship felt like rejection - no... was a rejection.

Tooru, Yuujiro, and Mikoto sat at the corner table in their favorite cafe, Kathy's Coffee. Most of their classmates opted to hang out at the strategically placed Starbucks across the street from their school, but the three Princesses had reason enough to keep a low profile outside of the classroom. Besides, they enjoyed the ten minute walk to Kathy's and the relaxed, subtly bohemian atmosphere. Akira occasionally joined the trio, but today he was tied up with his enslavement to President Arisada.

"How many times have you called her, Mikoto?" Yuujiro nonchalantly sipped his black coffee.

"Eleven," Mikoto informed his folded hands.

"Only eleven times all week? Would have expected more," Yuujiro smirked conspiratorially toward Tooru.

"No... eleven times today."

"Mikoto! You're harassing her," Tooru chided.

"But what else can I do? I-I love her!" Mikoto buried his face in his hands.

There were infinite jibes either Tooru or Yuujiro could have made. They could have accused Mikoto of being desperate, dishonest, clingy, or even feminine. They could have insinuated that he was about to cry or calmly noted, as they had many times before, that Mikoto's frozen strawberry swirl drink was the exact color of his hair. All of these things were easy to say and very true, but for once, the duo kept their mouths shut.

"Kouno?" Mikoto lifted his head slightly. "What would you do if Cat didn't answer your calls?"

Tooru and Yuujiro had a very difficult time keeping their composure.

"L-look, Mikoto. Every relationship is different. You need to focus on what was wrong between you and Megumi-san."

Yuujiro nodded in affirmation, and Tooru felt quite sage.

"It wasn't something wrong! It's just that she thinks I'm gay and that I cheated on her."

"Well... isn't she right?" Yuujiro jeered.

"NO!"

Tooru elbowed Yuujiro.

Yuujiro glared at Tooru.

Mikoto took an extremely angry sip of his frozen strawberry swirl drink.

"Yuujiro's sorry," Tooru supplied.

"He isn't," Mikoto whined.

"I'm not," Yuujiro muttered.

"It doesn't matter," Tooru sighed. "Mikoto? Didn't you say your sister and your girlfriend were friends?"

"Yeah..." Mikoto ruefully licked the whipped cream from his straw.

"Well can't you ask your sister to let Megumi-san know that you didn't betray her? Or at least get her to call you?"

"My sister's the problem! The truth is... I've never had a girlfriend before Megumi-san, and my sister always said that it meant I didn't like girls. So when I started dating her best friend, she got angry."

"Was she angry that you were dating her friend or that you weren't gay?"

"...both"

"That's weird, man."

"Shut up, Yuujiro!"

Tooru placed a hand on Yuujiro's thigh and gave him a warning look.

"How far away do you live, Mikoto?"

"About an hour by train. Why?"

"Because all three of us are going to visit her and set things straight. We'll go next weekend."

"Really?" Mikoto's eyes sparkled with tears. "You would do that for me?"

"Of course, Mikoto. We're your friends."

"I never said I would go," drawled Yuujiro.

"You will," Tooru replied with absolute certainty. "But Mikoto, it comes at a price."

"It does?" Mikoto shrunk into his seat.

Tooru shared a knowing smirk with Yuujiro. "For the rest of the week," Tooru began.

"You will be the best princess among us," Yuujiro added.

"You will be beautiful!"

"And elegant!"

"And feminine!"

"And chic!"

"And you shall never complain!"

"Not even once, Tooru?"

"No, Yuujiro, not even once."

Tooru and Yuujiro's eyes flashed with malice, and Mikoto wondered, not for the first time, if he could really consider these people his friends.

"F-fine." Mikoto rose from his chair. "I'll be the best, prettiest Princess all week, and show Megumi-san what a man I am!" Mikoto grabbed his cup and gulped down the remainder of his frozen strawberry swirl drink. Without even pausing to lick the remnants of whipped cream from the cup, he turned to leave. He only made three dramatic steps, however, before stopping and clutching his head.

"Mikoto?" Tooru ventured.

"B-brain freeze."

One mere awkward moment later, Mikoto righted himself, and continued his triumphant path out of the shop.

"Poor Mikoto," Tooru shook his head.

"It's his own fault," Yuujiro grumbled. "And I can't believe you're making me go see his girlfriend."

"C'mon, it'll be fun. What else would you do on the weekend?"

Yuujiro pointedly glanced at Tooru's hand, which was still firmly placed on his thigh. "I can think of a few things," he smirked.

"Shut up." Tooru snapped back his hand in what was meant to be an angry display, all the while fighting to keep a smile off his face.

Yuujiro only laughed. "I'm done." He shook his empty cup. "Want to go?"

"Can't we grab another cup? I don't want to do homework."

"We're students, Tooru. We can't afford refills."

"Hello there!" Tooru glanced up to find a pretty blonde sporting a messy pony-tale and a blue Kathy's Coffee apron. "Um, I couldn't help but overhear you, and... um... we're actually having a special event today. Free refills between 2 and 5."

"Sweet." Yuujiro flashed a smile, and the girl fluttered her eyes spastically, as if she'd been blinded.

She shook her head and picked up the cups. "Medium roast black coffee and a non-fat latte right? You guys are regulars, so um... I remembered."

"And you work here every day we're here, right? I remember you." Yuujiro leant closer to the girl, Princess smile still firmly in place. Although... it didn't look quite as forced as it did when Yuujiro was playing Princess. In fact, Tooru had only seen that kind of expression directed toward himself... and usually only at night... Yuujiro couldn't be hitting on her. Could he? "I see you around all the time. Isn't it funny that I don't even know your name?"

"I-it's Crystal." Was it just him, or was that girl blushing? "I go to the public school only about a block from here. B-but, sorry! You never asked that... um... What's your name?"

"Yuujiro." His voice was suddenly low... husky. Tooru had a sudden urge to punch him right in his overtly seductive face.

"O-oh. That's really... I like that. I-I mean... I'll go get your drinks!" And the diabolical seductress ran - and stumbled - toward her evil lair in the kitchen.

Tooru didn't know he was glaring until Yuujiro scrunched his brow and asked oh so innocently "What's wrong?"

"You idiot! You... you..." Tooru trailed off. What had Yuujiro done wrong?

Cheated on him.

Betrayed him.

Flirted with a woman right in front of him.

...But given their odd relationship, there wasn't technically anything wrong with that.

"Y-you didn't even introduce me," Tooru huffed instead.

Yuujiro laughed. "Well you should have made a move! I didn't think she was your type." Yuujiro leant in conspiratorially. "And did you see her tits?"

Tooru thought he was going to be sick. "No. I didn't," he snapped.

Just then, the best-friend-stealing-whore returned, gnawing her lip, face red as a tomato. "H-here are your drinks!" The cups had barely touched the table when she ran - and stumbled -off.

"Sweet!" Yuujiro shoved a napkin in Tooru's face. "She wrote her number!"

Tooru didn't say anything. He couldn't even open his mouth. He was sure if he did that he would either scream, cry, or splash his latte in Yuujiro's face - or maybe all three.

Instead, he grit his teeth, swatted Yuujiro's hand away and stormed out of the cafe.