Ayumi's high pitched shriek woke Yoshiki up immediately. His eyes shot open and he looked absolutely terrified.

"Gah!"

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!"

Ayumi seemed to have steam coming out of her ears after she threw Yoshiki off of the bed with no mercy at all.

"C-Calm down! I was half asleep and forgot you were in here, and stuck to my usual routine, okay!" He put his arms up in defense in case she tried to beat the living crap out of him, and with the way she was acting so far, it was to be expected.

"What? Usual routine of sexually harrassing women?!" She growled.

"Don't put words in my mouth! I'm not that type of guy!" He shot back, "I would never do tha-!"

He noticed dried tears on her cheeks and extended a hand near her face without thinking, "Hey, have you been crying?"

She smacked his hand away angrily, "Quit being so openly touchy!" She got out of bed and stormed into the kitchen, where he followed.

'I wonder what she'd be crying about..she probably just had a bad dream..'

He decided to let the issue go for now and tell her what he had accomplished the other night.

"I got the rules organized, by the way," He stated, pointing to the printed paper on the counter. She snatched it into her hands and read it.

"Number one, must act like husband and wife in public. Number two, wife must see her husband off at the door for work everyday. Number three, will not engage in each others affairs. What kind of rules are these?"

"Keep reading."

"Fine, fine, whatever. Number four, wife will cook all the meals. Number five, call each other by first names. Number six, no telling people we're in a fake marriage. Number seven, no getting any real feelings for each othe-!"

"As if that would ever happen!" She twitched her eye at him, and he chuckled.

"Just in case."

"Hmph. You better put for number eight that one of us has to sleep on the couch."

"Be my guest, this is my house, after all," He joked.

"How rude!"

"Kidding, kidding," He smiled.

'He's been teasing me nonstop ever since I got here, but he seems like a good guy at heart..'

She sighed and smiled back at him, punching his arm softly. He all of a sudden remember something urgent if they were going to go out in public anywhere.

"By the way, you'll have to wear this for the next three months," He took out a velvet colored box made for a piece of jewelry to live inside it, and opened it to show its contents. Ayumi gaped at the silver band of the engagement ring that was adorned with shiny blue sapphires and tiny little emeralds, they didn't exactly look fake either, but that was to be expected, considering Yoshiki was filthy rich, and so was his family, she guessed.

"M-May I?" She asked, extending her hand.

"Don't be ridiculous, it's just a ring, it's not going to bite you," He chuckled. She carefully took the ring out of the box and slipped it on her finger. It was a perfect fit. Unfortunately, she didn't have time to fully appreciate the jewel on her ring finger as she was interrupted by his voice.

"Anyway, we have to go out to the supermarket, I have no food at the moment and we need something for dinner," He told her, then held out his arm. She looked at him quizzically, which he responded with a lighthearted roll of the eyes.

"Rule number one," He reminded her, "I have a feeling that you're going to keep forgetting these rules."

"You and me both," She agreed, entwining her arm with his hesitantly and accompanying him out the front door of his luxurious apartment.

"We won't have to kiss or do any of that stuff in public, right?"

"Nope."

"Thank God."

"I mean, unless you want t-"

"DON'T EVEN SAY IT!"

"Well, do you?"

"You're a physcopath."

"I prefer the term 'creative'."

Ayumi was feeling her arm ache from holding onto his, the one that wasn't pushing the shopping cart, for so long. She had asked him if they could split up to get different things so the grocery shopping would be over sooner but he had insisted that it was important that they stick together so they look like a real married couple. She didn't know why they had to do this in a supermarket of all places, it's not like anyone would know who they were, or so she thought until Yoshiki stopped the cart and was staring ahead with a fiery hot gaze, gripping the shopping carts handle until his knuckles turned completely white. She felt extremely pitiful for whatever, or rather whoever he was staring at like that. Her eyes chased wherever his were targeted, and she found that it was an old man with sharp features that reminded her of the blonde next to her. When the man turned around, he glared at Yoshiki with the same intensity Yoshiki had regarded him with.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded rather than asked, sounding quite unfriendly.

"It's a public shopping center, I'm pretty sure anybody is welcome," Yoshiki gritted his teeth.

"Hm. Who is this?" He looked Ayumi over, and paused once he saw the engagement ring on her finger.

"She's my wife," He retorted coolly, slinging an arm around her waist to illustrate his point, making Ayumi's cheeks a deep scarlet, even though she knew it was just part of the act.

"You found one this quick? I don't believe you."

"You don't? Guess what? I don't care. I stopped caring a long time ago, to be completely frank."

"So I've noticed with your breed of woman."

'What's that supposed to mean?!'

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean, huh?" Yoshiki challenged him sharply, reading her mind.

"She doesn't look wealthy at all, and she's not even that attractive. I don't see what you can gain from her."

'Well isn't he just swell..'

"Yeah, well, unlike you I don't need to gain anything to be happy. I would never want to be as degrading as you in my entire lifetime."

"Right back at you," He grinned cruelly. Ayumi saw the death glare transfixed on both of their faces and knew nothing good was to come of this if this continued on any longer, and his death grip on her waist was suffocating her and making her blush like an idiot, might she add.

"Stop it! Both of you!"

"You better listen to her," The man warned him.

"I'm not scared of you," He shot back.

"Oh, trust me, you will be," He imperiled.

"Don't you dare threaten m-!" He started.

"Knock it off! I'm serious!" She was getting annoyed now, "Look at you two, fighting in a damn grocery store at your age, what are you, two?!"

"I have to get going anyway, it's been fun, but I have more crucial matters to attend, I'm afraid.."

"Go to hell.." Yoshiki muttered under his breath as the man walked away from them. Once he was completely gone from sight, Ayumi was already seeking answers.

"What the hell was that about?! Who is that guy?! Why was he talking to you like that?! Wha-" She refrained from questioning him further when she was met with his icy stare.

"Rule number three," He spoke unemotionally.

"Rule number-"

Number three, will not engage in each others affairs.

Her breath and words hitched in her throat. They were barely into this fake marriage and she had broken a rule already. But who could ignore the tension filled fight that had just occurred before them like that?

'Not engaging in each others affairs, huh..seems pretty biased, if you ask me.'

She reluctantly followed after him, suddenly not looking forward to the rest of the day. As his back faced her, she abruptly felt ashamed.

'Why do I even feel like this? It's not my fault he made stupid rules to follow..'

She looked down at her feet, now aware of her insecurity.

'But still, I hate when people are mad at me, there has to be some way to make it better.'

She thought for a second and then a light bulb went off in her head. She snuck into the isle next to the one he was in as quietly and cautiously as she could. She tossed aside a few bags of bread and then caught his blue eyes with her own. He looked taken aback for a moment, but played it off smoothly by looking back at the products before him on the shelf.

'So he wants to play it this way, huh..'

She moved a few bags on the shelf below her and blue met blue once more. She could see the blush rising on his cheeks as she smiled at him and raised her eyebrow in a challenging manner. He shook his head and pretended to look at a bag of rice. She got herself out of his sight and went back to the aisle he was in and then poked his shoulder.

"Gah!" He dropped the bag of rice he was holding and she bursted out laughing, not caring about the people around them giving them dirty looks. He smiled at her then ruffled her hair casually.

"Silly girl. Even you can be childish sometimes too, huh?"

"My sister used to do that to me whenever I got mad at her when I was little, and I could never stay mad at her, I thought I'd try it on you to see if it worked, and so it did," She smiled back at him, not even minding his touch at the moment, she just wanted the atmosphere to go back to normal.

"Let's cash this in and go home," He held out a welcoming hand to her, and she accepted it, wondering how she was going to get used to such close contact within three months.

"Okay."

"Hm, what should I make?" She shuffled from the cabinets, and then placed a bag of rice on the counter, "I guess I'll make curry, if I remember how to cook it right.."

A little bit before the curry was finished, she smelled a pleasant aroma that made her mouth water with desire. She placed the steaming hot substance into two bowls, and set the table so that they could eat.

"So, Kish- Yoshiki, tell me about yourself," Ayumi suggested, stirring the hot chicken broth in her curry, waiting for it to cool down.

"There isn't much to know, why?"

"I mean, since I'm stuck with you for three months, we might as well get to know each other better, right?"

"Stuck with me? Geez, that's a little harsh, don't you think?"

"You know what I mean.."

"Well, I'm twenty-one years old, my sister Miki is sixteen, I play guitar and listen to music as a hobby when I'm not grading papers."

"What about your parents?"

"..."

'Dammit, I did it again..'

"Sorry, that must be a touchy subject for you.."

'But how am I supposed to know what subjects he's sensitive about?'

"It's alright," He responded reassuringly with a smile.

'At least he's being nicer about it than last time..'

"What about you?" He asked.

"I'm also twenty-one, my sister Hinoe is twenty-seven, and I like to paint, draw, play on my PSP, and read most of the time."

As they shared new information about each other, she watched Yoshiki eat his food happily like a little child, and giggled softly.

'Maybe this won't be as bad as I thought..'

She lifted her fork to her lips to taste the meal that reminded her of home.

Ayumi finished washing the dishes when she caught Yoshiki going into his bedroom.

"Ah ah ah, remember rule number eight?"

"You're not nice," He grumbled and flopped himself onto the couch, throwing the blanket sloppily over himself.

She laughed and shut the lights off, "Goodnight, dork."

She got into the comfortable bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. She missed the radiating heat that came from Tamotsu's body that used to hold her close every night, his chin resting on her head. She had almost forgotten about him, and strangely, it felt nice, in its own way. But the other part of her still clung on with hope that he'd come back for her, and she still didn't want to forget him. But she knew she was probably getting her hopes up for nothing, he was most likely in love with someone way prettier, smarter, and richer than she was, with a better education other than drawing pictures for a living. The tear she shed for the night before she fell into a deep slumber rolled down her cheek gracefully, letting itself soak into the pillow in which her head was resting on.

"Why are you with him, Ayumi?" One of her friends from her university asked.

"Yeah, you don't look happy with him at all," Another one of her friends added.

"Don't talk about him like that, I am very happy with him," Ayumi pointed out.

"He's boring as hell, if you ask me."

"Well I didn't, so buzz off!"

"Geez, you don't have to be so cross, we're just trying to look out for you, you know?"

"You can look out for me by getting your nose out of my relationships that I'm perfectly content with, thank you very much."

"Just saying, you deserve better."

"I'm not breaking up with him, so you can just drop it."

"If you don't, he's just going to leave you heartbroken and break up with you instead."

"He would never do that."

"You never know, he could find someone else and drop you quicker than Rose dropped Jack."

"Could you cut it out already? I'm not breaking up with him, and that's that!"

"Ayumi?" The green-eyed brunette walked over to her, he had said he needed to use the restaurants restroom earlier, but she wasn't sure if that was a lie to eavesdrop or not.

"Tamotsu! Ah, what do you need?"

"Come outside with me, please?"

"S-Sure."

She got up from the booth and followed him outside, not looking forward to what he had to say, but nevertheless, she knew it wasn't going to be good.

"I can't do this anymore," Tamotsu stared at her with a solumn expression.

"But why?" Ayumi croaked out.

"Everyone is against our relationship, Ayumi!"

"And you're going to let that come between us?"

"I'm just saying that maybe you'd be happier if we went our separate ways.."

"Do you honestly believe that?"

"Yes."

"I-I can't believe you..after all these years you're going to give up what we have just because some assholes have a problem with it!"

"Ayu-"

"No! Shut up! Just shut up! I hate you! Just leave!"

"I'm sorry."

He walked away from her, slouching himself in depression. He didn't go home happy that night. They had had their first ever serious fight that day, for being together for two years, they never really fought because of their similar personalities that got along so well, except Tamotsu didn't have the determined streak she had. He gave up too easily. And she hated that about him. Especially when it came to their meaningful relationship that she was incredibly devoted to, but it apparently wasn't the same way for him.

She ran back to her place, not even bothering to shield herself from the pouring rain that reflected her shattered heart, she just ran. She finally made it to her floor, slammed the door, and was about to break down crying into the sofa, but her face slammed into something hard and soft at the same time. It was the fabric of a shirt on a male body. She felt hands caress her hair and wrap themselves around her waist in a heartfelt embrace.

"You didn't think I was actually going to leave you, did you?"

"T-Tamotsu.."

"It's alright."

Those words echoed in her mind all throughout the night, and when she woke up from her dream and it was still way too early to be up.

It's alright.

She squeezed the sheets of the bed.

'You're a liar, Tamotsu. You lied. It's not alright. You did leave me. You abandoned me. Why? Was I not good enough?'

She plopped her head back down onto the pillow.

'I'm not alright.'

Wassup guyss! I hoped you liked this chapter, speaking of chapters, how are you liking the longer chapters? Do you want me to go back to 2k words or nah? ;o Any critiques? (if you do make it mature don't be like 'lol ur stories suck bruh go hump a tree' like I already know that and I already do that so ye) Any suggestions? Make sure to R&R, it means a lot to me. (: When will Yoshiki finally open up to Ayumi? Do you notice the pattern between Ayumi's dreams yet? Who's the ass who messed with our bae Yoshiki? I'm pretty sure you all know. xD I hope I added just the right amount of fluff for you guys to enjoy, I don't want their romance to happen too fast, but I also don't want it to take like a billion chapters for them to fall in love like in Be Mine, so tell me what you think! Also, tell me what you think about my OC Tamotsu so far, he's kind of made out to be like Morishige, but I personally like Yoshiki better. If you end up shipping Tamotsu x Ayumi or Tamotsu with any of the Corpse Party characters you can message me or leave a review if you want a one-shot thingy of them and I might write it. And lastly, the rest of the Corpse Party squad may or may not be joining us next chapter. Until next time, ciao my precious cinnamon rolls ^_^