A/N: I'm sorry for this late update, you guys! I've been so busy with school and I've barely gotten time to write. Yet, I still managed to come up with something I hope you will all enjoy! Thanks again for all your support, it really encourages me to know that people like my stories. ^^

I've realized, as 'zaphyrus of the moon' stated in a review, that my last few chapters turned out a bit serious and I know that some readers like that while some don't. I just want to say that there will be an assortment of fluff and drama thoughout this story, so fear not! As an example, this chapter is more lighthearted than the previous ones. (I hope, haha).

Also, just a little side note for later in the chapter: 'Neguse' means 'Bedhead' or 'Bed Hair' in Japanese. (After you read it-who wants to take a guess at why our Aoi couldn't fall asleep the night before?) xD

Please read and review! Suggestions for future chapters are always welcome! :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

.*.*.*.

G if for Grit

n. 1) courage and resolve; strength of character

v. 2) clench (the teeth), esp. in order to keep one's resolve when faced with an unpleasant or painful duty

.*.*.*.

"Are you gritting your teeth?"

The question had rolled off of her tongue in an incredulous manner, one that should not have been surprising. Cutting through the silence with a single sentence, the older dark-haired girl leaned forward in her seat in an attempt to observe her sister, amber eyes glimmering with curiosity.

Suzuna could only blink.

She loosened her jaw at once.

"…Was I?"

"Yeah. You seemed pretty tense."

"Hm."

Giving Misaki a thoughtful look, she returned to the magazine catalog in her hands. This time, she made a conscious effort to appear relaxed but her older sister caught on to her act. The ever so apathetic Ayuzawa Suzuna didn't normally act like this; there must have been something really bothering her.

"Is anything wrong, Suzuna?" she asked, gently. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"It's nothing, Onee-chan; I'm just thinking."

Her reply had come as smoothly as expected, little emotion detectable in the smaller girl's clear voice. Misaki stared for a moment before letting a knowing grin slip on to her features, realization dawning on her. It was a look that Suzuna had begun to associate with Usui Takumi, one that her older sister had clearly learned from him.

"Oh… Don't tell me—it have to do with Aoi-chan—right?"

Eh?

Growing still, Suzuna felt a slight tremor radiate throughout her petite body, half-lidded tea-colored eyes growing larger in size. An odd feeling of warmth spread over her cheeks—she could tell that she was blushing slightly with the way Misaki's broad grin seemed to widen even further.

Concentrate! I should be able to control these emotions!

"Ah, that's it, then."

"Onee-chan."

Suzuna's high and clear voice had dropped an octave.

"I would rather you spare the teasing this time. I've been thrown amidst a crisis."

Tea-colored eyes darkened into a cold brass that held an aura of dangerous seriousness, causing the older girl to sweat drop in surprise. Misaki bit back the urge to laugh nervously and settled for an uncomfortable smile.

"Heh… What sort of crisis?"

A single finger was raised in explanation. "A fashion crisis."

"A fa… fashion crisis?"

Suzuna nodded.

"A fashion crisis."

"You're joking."

She hummed in understanding, setting down her magazine and closed her eyes. Within seconds, those clear amber orbs came back into view, this time holding a look of blazing determination; it counterpoised the seemingly half-hearted smile that lounged on the older Ayuzawa's features.

"Hyōdō-kun is interested in fashionable women, those who wear 'tasteful' clothing," Suzuna explained. "Therefore, I've been doing a bit of research on the matter."

She flipped to a page depicting a young girl in a flashy outfit—an abundance of ruffles and pink, stockings, wedges, buttons—the model resembled an overly cute china doll, lifeless and fragile. Realizing that this had been the 'research' Suzuna was doing, Misaki only barely managed to stifle a laugh, snorting softly into her palms. "Pfft… That doesn't suit you at all, Suzuna!"

Suzuna sighed, shoulders drooping. "I know that, Onee-chan. That's why I called it a crisis."

Lips turning up into a half-smile, Misaki slumped down beside her younger sister, brushing her shoulders against the smaller girl's. "You know," she started in that caring sisterly tone of hers. "I could take you shopping sometime."

"No thanks," came the instant reply.

Misaki was taken aback.

"Eh? Why not?"

"Let's be serious, Onee-chan. You're a wonderful sister and all, but frankly, we're on par when it comes to our choice of clothing. Neither of us would be able to pick out anything visually appealing."

"Are you saying that we both have bad fashion sense?

There was not a shift in her expression but Misaki knew Suzuna was grinning from ear to ear under that apathetic mask of hers.

"Precisely."

"Let's start off small. You can't exactly alter your school uniform, so what about a few accessories? Oh, and little makeup, too?"

"Accessories are bothersome and I don't like the feeling of makeup."

"…Suzuna, you know you're going to have to sacrifice something if you really want to change your style."

"Does that 'something' have to be my comfort?"

"In this case, I guess it does."

Suzuna lowered her eyes to the sparkly barrette and tube of lip-gloss in her older sister's hands. She unconsciously clenched her jaw again, clearly tense and hesitant to try out something like this. After all, she never really dressed up unless it was an occasion, like the New Year's Festival she had just recently attended.

With Hyōdō Aoi.

And he had said she looked nice.

That's it, then.

With not another thought, she picked up the items with dainty hands, rolling them around in her fingers in an attempt to observe them at a closer angle. Perhaps it would so her some good to change up her fashion sense…

She closed her eyes, letting out a deep whoosh of breath.

This had better be worth it.

Worth what, exactly?

Her conscience seemed to enjoy pestering her.

We'll find out soon enough.

Her rebuttal was equally as impertinent. Then again, Suzuna was being serious. This had better be worth the amount of grit she'd mustered up for him.

Misaki grinned at the hazy look that had entered her younger sister's normally attentive eyes.

Was that what they called being, 'love-struck'?

"Onee-chan, you're smiling like your husband again."

"N-No, I'm not! And he's not my husband!"

"Not yet."

"Shut up, Suzuna!"

"Ooh, now you resemble Hyōdō-kun."

"You little—"

Suzuna; lovestruck?

Perhaps.

She was only just discovering these feelings, after all.

Who knew what she had planned?

The first few periods of the school day went by terribly slow.

Even slower than usual.

Of course, being Ayuzawa Suzuna, the material was never particularly difficult. If she wanted, she could spend the entire class staring out the window taking notes when it suited her—not that she didn't already do that. Most of it was spent absentmindedly doodling tiny dango dumplings and cats in her notebook or discreetly shuffling through magazine contests and coupon sales or reading the latest novels and manga from the library.

Today was different.

Minutes upon entering the classroom and settling in her seat near the back, various students swarmed Suzuna, questioning the slight change in her appearance.

"Suzuna-chan, I love your barrette! It's so cute!"

"Are you wearing lip-gloss? What kind?"

"I didn't know that you liked to accessorize, Ayuzawa!"

Immediately regretting her decision to follow Misaki's advice, the taciturn dark-haired girl aloofly thanked her classmates, brushing off their compliments with a simple nod and turn of the head. She unconsciously made an attempt to wipe her lips and remove the pin in her hair before remembering the reason she had put it there.

For him.

She clenched her jaw, loosened it upon realizing she was doing so, and then clenched it once more as she felt a strange emotion bubble inside of her.

…Fear? Apprehension?

Was she feeling nervous?

About what?

She pushed the question out of her mind as the bell rang and her classmates shuffled to their desks, opening their books to the page their teacher instructed them to. Suzuna raised her head slightly and looked over the class. Nimble fingers toyed with the pencil in her hands, sliding over the sleek plastic coating.

A certain head of navy hair was missing.

He's absent…?

As the unusual feeling of disappointment began sinking within her, the door had suddenly been forced open. All eyes flew to the panting boy standing there, uniform disheveled from an obvious run, hair sticking up in several places. Blazing cobalt eyes were wide with disarray; he couldn't have seemed more ruffled.

"Hyōdō-kun," the teacher drawled, pushing up the frame of his glasses. "May I ask for the reason you've interrupted the class?"

Suzuna could see the irritation enter those cobalt eyes, but Aoi managed to mask his emotions well enough to apologize for his intrusion. "Excuse me, Hayashi-sensei. I was running late."

"Overslept again?"

Aoi scowled, running a hand through his hair before stuffing them in his pockets. "You could say that."

"Very well. Just take a seat," Mr. Hayashi spoke sternly as he turned to scrawl something on the board, addressing the class. "Can someone tell me…"

Aoi took a deep breath of relief and strode over to plop down in his seat, only a few places behind Suzuna's. From the corner of her eye, the dark-haired girl could see the tired circles that donned the underside of his eyes and curiosity filled her to the rim. What could have caused Hyōdō Aoi to lose sleep?

Had he been working on another fashion project late into the night? Doing homework? Did he have something on his mind? If so…

What was it?

What could he have been thinking about so much recently?

It interested her.

Normally, Suzuna would have just turned around and paid attention to the words that left Mr. Hayashi's mouth but she couldn't bring herself to let go. She picked up her pencil and scratched down something quickly on a small scrap of paper that had been sticking out of her notebook. Folding it, she carefully turned around and threw the small wad of paper at the navy head of hair against the desk.

Aoi instantly jerked at the contact, raising his head from the table and finding the note in his hair. His expression bordered on annoyance until he noticed how familiar the handwriting was.

Are you alright? –Suzuna

He immediately looked up at the girl in question, only to find the back of those two familiar pigtails. A sigh escaped him as the jotted down a reply on the back and discreetly tossed it back to her.

I'm fine. Leave me alone. –Aoi

Suzuna frowned at his words. Her pencil moved quickly over the paper.

What's on your mind? –Suzuna

It was received again in moments.

None of your business. –Aoi

You look tired. –Suzuna

I'm not. –Aoi

Turning around in her seat, Suzuna's large tea-colored eyes wandered to Aoi's own cobalt gaze. Upon meeting them, she noticed the way his weary eyes widened at seeing her, mouth falling slightly open. Suzuna could only wonder what he suddenly seemed so surprised about when Mr. Hayashi's voice interrupted her thoughts and she was forced to turn herself around again.

Something light brushed against her elbow. She glanced down beside her feet to find a small folded up piece of paper. It was obviously from Aoi. Suzuna tentatively slipped her fingers between the edges and pulled them apart to see what he had written.

What's with the new look? –Aoi

A sudden wave of embarrassment washed over her and Suzuna could hardly fathom why she was affected by his words so much. She shook off the momentary lapse in her apathetic demeanor and scribbled down a response.

I was about to ask the same about you, Neguse-kun. –Suzuna

From the corner of her eyes, Suzuna found that her wave of embarrassment paled in comparison to Hyōdō Aoi's furiously flushed face. He, too, was gritting his teeth, grinding hard in frustration.

A secretive smile turned her lips.

She did not receive a reply after that.

When lunch break had finally begun, Suzuna hardly remembered she was wearing a barrette in her hair or that her lips tasted vaguely of strawberry. At that point, the only thing on her mind was food but as she plopped down at the table and pulled out her bento and chopsticks, ready to pop a shrimp into her mouth, a certain someone seated himself in front of her.

"Oi."

He greeted her in his usual manner.

"Hm."

She nodded back in hers.

"Seriously, though," Aoi muttered as he leaned back in his seat, eyeing the dark-haired girl. His mouth had shifted from his characteristic, irritated scowl to a more curious one that a plethora of questions seemingly lingered on. "What's with that thing?"

Following his gaze, Suzuna lightly brushed her fingers against the barrette and realization dawned on her. He wasn't exactly impressed with her appearance—he was confused by it.

"It's a barrette," her reply left smoothly from a mouth.

"I can see that."

"Well done, Hyōdō-kun. Would you like me to applaud?"

Aoi rolled his eyes and sighed at the sarcasm in her tone, settling for a raised eyebrow and a look that told her he was displeased with her response. Suzuna remained pokerfaced as she munched on a piece of shrimp.

"What's the matter?"

"I just want to know why you're wearing a barrette toda—is that lip gloss?" Aoi's tone of neutrality turned into something of incredulity as he leaned in from his seat to observe her better. At his words, Suzuna felt her cheeks heat up slightly and tried to push the strange sensation of embarrassment before it could get worse, playing it off with a small shrug. "Yes, it is."

However, to her surprise, a wicked sort of grin split the navy-haired boy's face.

"Don't tell me you've begun to take my advice, eh?" he snickered into his hand. "That get-up doesn't suit you at all!"

Aoi was lying, of course; Suzuna looked more than just nice in those accessories but he could never bring himself to say something like that—his face would stay the color of a tomato forever. Despite this, the sudden darkening of those normally clear, enigmatic, tea-colored eyes stopped him short from his teasing.

Lowering her head slightly, Suzuna picked at the shrimp with her chopsticks. A faint tint of pink burned her face—the humiliation was eating away at her and there was nothing she could do.

Why is this bothering me? He always says things like this, so it doesn't make sense.

Why do I feel this way?

"It was for somebody…" she murmured, almost too quietly for Aoi to hear. Nevertheless, the navy-haired boy before her caught it. At once, his demeanor changed, surprised to concerned to suspicious. Furrowing his eyebrows and scrunching his lips up slightly, Aoi crossed his arms and frowned, clearly disgruntled. For somebody? She was trying to impress somebody? The unpleasant feeling of jealousy began to brew within him.

"Who is it?" he spat out, annoyed. "One of the morons in our class?"

Suzuna did not answer, keeping her eyes downcast and face hidden from his.

"Well, it won't work, you know," Aoi continued muttering, sliding his palm beneath his chin and resting it on the table. His fiery cobalt eyes burned with agitation. "Feh… A barrette and some lip-gloss isn't enough. If you don't polish up soon, you'll get rejected and end up crying…"

He hadn't realized he was going too far. Suzuna's chest tightened with a strange, new emotion, her jaw stiffening. Before she could even think to remain silent or come up with a suitable response, she had already raised her head, normally calm tea-colored eyes brimming with hurt, teeth gnashing into each other.

"I did it for you."

She immediately wished to take back the words as soon as they left her lips.

Aoi froze. He blinked.

"For… For me? What do you…"

The sentence seemed to have trouble escaping him as he processed the situation.

Suzuna could only stare back, an almost helpless expression finding its way onto her usually apathetic visage. For once, she didn't know how to respond. Aware that her face was tinged with red, she suddenly stood up from her seat. The chair squeaked nosily as it was pushed behind her.

"I need to go to the restroom."

A lie.

She disappeared out the door of the classroom within moments, leaving Hyōdō Aoi with a half-eaten bento and a look of pure and utter shock.

"…mean?"

Well.

So much for his plans of a nice nap.

What is happening to me? I'm not acting like myself…

It was the end of the day, and Suzuna had successfully managed to avoid a certain navy-haired boy at all costs. She walked more hurriedly than usual down the hallway to the doors, head flooding with thoughts. She had removed the barrette hastily from her raven fringe and wiped the lip-gloss on her sleeve, not caring for the slight tint of pink that stained her uniform.

The air outside was cool and breezy. Suzuna closed her eyes briefly and sucked in a deep breath, relaxing at once. Who cared what Hyōdō-kun thought of her? It's not like she was trying to impress him, anyway, right?

Right?

Not right.

Shoulders slumping, Suzuna trailed languidly over the pavement, her book bag slung over her shoulder, brushing her knees with each weighted step.

"Suzuna-wait!"

His voice entered her ears, stopping her from moving forward.

Seconds passed before he stood in front of her, out of breath and disheveled for the second time that day. If she wasn't so out of it, Suzuna might have laughed but the tightening feeling had never left her chest and it felt weird enough as it was. Waiting for Aoi to catch his breath, Suzuna began walking again, at a slightly faster pace as to avoid being beside him.

"I said, wait a minute," Aoi impatiently mumbled, stuffing his hands in his pockets and tagging alongside her. He suddenly noticed that the pretty red barrette in her hair was missing, as well with the glossy shade of pink that had donned her lips. "What happened to your stuff?"

She didn't even turn to look at him and he was beginning to grow worried.

"Hey, listen, I'm… sorry about what I said, okay?" Aoi awkwardly muttered, scratching the back of his head and looking the other way. He wasn't the type of person to apologize. "I didn't mean it."

Suzuna watched the slightly taller male from the corner of her eyes. "It's alright," she said, at last.

"Eh? It is?"

"Yes. You were right, after all, Hyōdō-kun."

Halting in his tracks, Aoi watched the back of Suzuna's trailing figure with wide cobalt eyes. "Suzuna?" His voice came out in a meek sort of whisper, inquisitive and desperate for answers.

Suzuna could hear the hesitance in his voice and felt her heartbeat quicken. This was something she could work with. Spinning around on her feet, the dark-haired girl gave Aoi one of her most playful smirks, the edges of her lips curling up into a mischievous look that suited her pretty features.

"I tried to take your advice," she explained. "Although, apparently it'll never work out in my favor."

Aoi seemingly deflated at her response, obviously expecting some other answer, but covered it up with a frenzy of consolations well. "You're still on about that? Jeez, I already apologized! I told you, I didn't mean it, idiot!"

"But, you still said it, Hyōdō-kun."

"N-Never mind, that. …Hey, why are you taking my advice, anyway?"

The petite dark-haired girl quirked her head inquiringly at the discontent that had entered Aoi's cobalt eyes. She stopped to allow him to catch up with her and soon they were walking side by side like they always did.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You don't need to listen to me; you can do whatever you want," Aoi spoke casually, eyes facing ahead. "Besides…"

"Besides?"

"You don't have to do as much as I initially thought when it comes to looking, erm, nice."

Smiling, Suzuna looked at him with amused half-lidded tea-colored eyes. "That isn't what you said earlier, Hyōdō-kun."

Aoi reddened and quickly turned his head away. "F-Forget what I said, dammit."

"What you said earlier or what you're saying now?"

"Gah! Just leave me alone!"

"Oh, speaking of earlier—you still haven't told me why you fell asleep so late last night?" Suzuna suddenly said, her mouth forming into a small 'o' shape as she brought and finger to her lips in thought. "Could it be that something is bothering you? Would you like to talk about it?"

"Hell no!"

His face suddenly grew a shade darker and Suzuna could only watch him with an intrigued and curious gaze. Why was he blushing so much?

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I am, so, stop bothering me!"

A quiet laugh escaped the enigmatic girl as she watched her friend hurry up in front of her, trying to escape her questions. He was right. She didn't need to listen to his advice—she didn't need to try and impress anyone. She didn't need to become someone she wasn't so he'd notice her.

He already noticed her.

He already knew her.

And he was fine with her being her.

There was no need for the all of the grit she'd gathered—at least, not yet. She still had plenty of time to experiment with these newfound emotions without the hassle of worrying how he perceived her. After all, how could she hope to change when she was still learning about herself?

Even so, she had only one question.

She wondered if Hyōdō Aoi liked her the way she was just as much as she liked him.

Perhaps.

Ayuzawa Suzuna was well aware of the fact that she'd have to muster up more grit than ever to find out anything like that.

But…

She was sure it would be worth it.