The sunset that day was one of the most stunning ones that he has ever seen. The dazzling folds of tangerine and gold, the tender trickles of syrupy rays, and the rosy sparkles of peach and cream simply took Akito's breath away as he admired it from his second-floor bedroom.

The world was silent, peaceful, as if it had never been disrupted by mankind.

He yawned.

Usually he would be working at this time of the day; perhaps the rarity of sunset sightings was why he valued them so much.

It was when the last wisps of pink were just beginning to dim into a swirl of deep violet when the still air was pierced by the shrill cry of his doorbell.

This is the problem about living alone…there's no one else to answer the door or phone for you even when you really don't feel like doing those things.

Nevertheless, the boy stood up and made his way down to the hallway.

The sight of her wiped the casual smile off his face.

She was puffing so hard that she nearly fell into him when he opened the door, and even though she didn't, she had to hold onto the frame for support as she tried to catch her breath.

Perspiration glimmered along her hairline like a string of rosy pearls, and yet her hazel eyes were abnormally bright due to the exercise. They locked onto his as she hurriedly gasped out fragments of a phrase.

"Y-you...why...didn't you...tell me...got laid off..." She struggled to keep her mind straight, but the shock of the news was still fresh. It was like a bulldozer, stripping down the framework of her logic, and destroying her calmness along with it.

Akito was silent for a moment. A cold breeze rustled the bushes in the park opposite his house.

The atmosphere was filled with a heaviness symbolizing the coming of night.

But he simply stood there, in the doorway, gazing at her pink cheeks and arched eyebrows with a tender smile playing on his lips. Even when he did finally spoke, it was totally irrelevant:

"Do you want to come in?" He asked politely, taking a step back in a gesture of welcome.

"E-Eh? Uh...N-no. Thanks, but no... I just need to talk to you about a few things... in person." Her breathing had gradually slowed to normal, so she straightened up, remembering to quickly fix her messy fringe from the aftereffects of the run.

"Hmm…? How can I help then, ma'am?" He smiled down at her and purposely put on his professional accent.

But Sakuno did not seem to notice. Instead, her frown deepened as she crossed her arms and threw him a hard look.

"Why didn't you tell me you got laid off!?" She demanded.

"... I didn't want you to worry about a small thing like that." Akito continued to gaze at her with the same easy smile on his face.

"Small!? Small!? If you think getting laid off is small then I'd like to know what is big?"

"Uh…things like getting fired, getting killed -"

"I'm being serious! I found out anyway, didn't I? Personally I would've preferred hearing it from you..."

"…I'm sorry." Although his smile faded a little, his voice was sincere.

Nearly on the verge of bursting into tears, she continued in a thick voice.

"And the thing is, you didn't even do anything wrong! You were just trying to save me and it was all because of my bad skills but why is it you who gets punished and not -"

Suddenly, she stopped. Realization swept over her in gigantic waves.

"You didn't…cover up for me did you?" She whispered in a trembling voice.

When she didn't receive a reply, her hands shot up to her mouth.

"You took full responsibility…that's why you have such a heavy punishment and I -"

"I did do something wrong, Ryuzaki... I could've called the police, I could've tried to restrain the man...yet I didn't." He smiled and reached out to brush a lock of hair from Sakuno's face. "Don't worry, it's only temporary… I could even be back at work tomorrow."

"But you could also lose your job! You don't have a family to rely on and even quit school to work...this is a matter of your life!" She cried. Tears finally began to fall like beads of colourless crystals.

He looked at her fearful face in silence. Then his fingers trailed down to her cheeks from her hair and flicked away a single tear.

"It was worth the risk…I would not have forgiven myself had I let him touch you a second longer." Warm fingers brushed over the fine fibers of her red stripy scarf, over the spot where the skin below still clearly bore the evidences of that night's drama.

"I don't regret what I did."

The streetlights suddenly sprang into life as they sprayed their warm pale rays onto the deserting streets.

The sky had darkened to a deep shade of navy blue, and a few shimmering dots scattered upon it indicated the presence of the early risers - the few stars and planets eager to show off their magnificent glows to the creatures on Earth.

Sakuno's eyes widened as Akito withdrew his hand from her neck.

"How can you say that!? How can you put everything upon your own shoulders? You idiot..." Her voice grew quieter and he watched another drop of moisture leak out from under her eyelids beneath her fringe.

"I am an idiot; you should know that by now." Akito laughed gently and gently shook her by the shoulders. "It'll be okay, don't worry…"

Slowly, she looked up and Akito saw the dark pools of vision glimmer with sadness and reproach.

"I do worry though..." She murmured.

The temperature is cooling fast. Shivering slightly, Sakuno was regretting not having grabbed the jacket she left at The Snow Café. Oh well, she's going back anyway.

"Well, sorry for bothering you…I should probably go now." She broke the brief silence between them as she turned away from the boy towards the gate. He nodded silently and escorted her down to the gate.

"I should walk you home," He said.

"No…I'm going back to the café first," She refused harshly, still angry at him for keeping the news from her.

She trudged out through the entrance without glancing back. But before she crossed the road, Akito caught sight of a swift turn, though only of her upper body. Her dark brown hair fluttered from the movement like a sheet of silk, and her voice was as cool and light as a mountain stream.

"…If they fire you, I'll resign."

I would definitely resign if I was a spy.

Behind an ancient cherry blossom tree across the road from the Tezuka residence, a boy lightly slapped his cheeks to sharpen his numbing senses. His honey-coloured eyes were half closed as he peered across the road from behind the trunk.

Ryoma was exhausted.

He hasn't the faintest idea why he had the urge to follow Ryuzaki. And he hasn't the faintest idea why he surrendered to the urge. Or why he was, technically speaking, eavesdropping on her conversation with Tezuka's cousin.

Yet he still strained his ears to pick up single words or phrases which he could piece together to grasp the general picture.

So far he has done a pretty good job…he noted the idea that Akito had gotten laid off because of the "drunk man incident" at the café a week ago…and that Ryuzaki was angry because he had taken "full responsibility" and kept it from her… or something along those lines.

He massaged his stiff neck with his fingers as he tried to lip-read Akito's reply to one of Ryuzaki's questions, since he had missed most of what she had said as she had her back to him. A frown creased his forehead as his amber eyes narrowed in concentration.

'I am an idiot"…Did he just say that? God can you please be a bit more original?

Is he trying to impress her or something? Acting all hero-like...ugh.

Ryoma groaned in resentment and pressed his hand on the trunk so hard his knuckles turned white.

And anyway, why am I still here!? It's only because she seemed to be in such a hurry that I followed her... not that she isn't usually in a hurry anyway. But the fact that she was totally oblivious of me was…a first.

I just simply wanted to see what made her so anxious.

An accident? A car crash, maybe? A death?

The boy rubbed his dry eyes and sighed in obvious frustration.

And then… it turned out to be such a boring argument. A complete waste of my time... I could've learnt a new serve by now -

"...If they fire you, I'll resign."

The soft words dove clearly, powerfully, into his ears.

Ryoma could feel it jab mercilessly into a vital pumping organ in his chest.

His eyes went blank, yet blood surged within his ribs...just as his fingers dug into the tree bark, crumbling the corroded insides to dust, but leaving the outside cool and unharmed.