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It's rainy...I wonder if this contributed to the mood of this chapter..

…

"You knew this all along and you didn't care to tell me." Yumiko said accusingly, swollen eyes from hours of crying fixed on Leanne's figure.

"I don't feel I'm in any position to tell you about it." Leanne countered.

They were currently in her office, and in as much as Leanne would like to talk more about this, she just couldn't spare so much time. She has deadlines to catch, and she couldn't afford to get them all compromised just because of this confrontation, which is supposedly Fuji's responsibility.

"I can't believe this.." Yumiko breathed as tears threaten to once again fall down her eyes.

When she learned about Fuji and Shiraishi's treachery, she couldn't help it but feel dumb and betrayed. For all those years she'd known her brother, never did it come across her that Fuji has something more profound than friendship with her ex-boyfriend.

"Yumiko…I want to help, believe that. But not now. We can talk about it later. I promise, I'll call you." Leanne explained, though she knew Yumiko wouldn't buy any of it at all.

"No, never mind."

With that said, Yumiko grabbed her bag and hurried out of the building. She's definitely not yet ready to face her brother. Not when everything's this chaotic.

(…)

"I know this time isn't right, but I'm wondering if you could reach my sister's phone because I couldn't." Fuji said on the phone which he cradled on the hollow of his neck while typing down his last news article of the day.

"Well..did she say anything?" Saeki's voice came from the other line.

Fuji frowned.

"Nope. Not yet. Why is there something wrong?" he asked.

Saeki hesitated for a moment and said, "We…broke up…yesterday."

That stopped Fuji from what he was doing.

"I-I'm sorry?"

"Fuji..I….lately…things aren't working so good for the two of us, and…"

"Wait. Hold it right there. You and my sister broke up? Yesterday?"

"Yesterday afternoon, yes."

Fuji felt like his chest suddenly tightened as his brain automatically pulled out the memory of his sister's weird phone call yesterday evening.

"I'll call you back." he said and turned off his phone without waiting for the other guy's response.

Fuji finished typing his article and send it to Leanne's email for editing. So that was why his sister sounded weird. He knew her too much to know that wherever his sister is right now, she must be crying her heart out. She loves Saeki.

'Damn it..' he thought.

Fuji dialed the extension to Leanne's office as he gathered his things. He has to go home early.

"Yes, Fuji.."

"Hey..Uhm..I think I need to be home early…emergency." he said.

Few moments of silence passed, and Fuji could just imagine how Leanne looked like as she evaluate the validity of his excuse, which was not at all valid. He sighed.

"Leanne just-"

"Go ahead. Talk to your sister about it. This is beyond my responsibility as your editor, but I honestly think this is partly your fault."

Fuji frowned in confusion.

"What? I didn't know they broke up. And how did you know about it anyway?"

This time, it was Leanne's time to frown. Yumiko's break-up?

"Forget it. Just go home and do whatever you have to." she said.

Leanne then placed down the phone and sighed.

"Guess it's more complicated than I thought." she said to herself.

Tezuka felt surprised upon the sight of a semi-drunk Yumiko at his doorstep. She was holding a bottle of brandy on her right hand with her bag on her left. Yumiko didn't notice he was already there until he went closer and opened the door for her. Tezuka frowned when she didn't even say anything and immediately went inside after he opened the door for her.

"Yumiko…" he said.

"Nice place you have in here, Tezuka.." Yumiko said, surveying the entire place with half-lidded eyes.

Judging from the dark circles around her eyes, Tezuka knew she didn't have any sleep the other night. Her swollen eyes indicated that she has been crying for some reason, which was not less than a serious one.

"I'll get some water. Please settle yourself down." Tezuka offered, which would have appeared as an order if she was just sober enough to catch the edge on his tone.

"Ne Tezuka…Did you and my brother met yesterday?" she asked, now settled on his couch.

"No. We're both busy at work."

"Eh…"

Tezuka eyed Yumiko intently and thought that he saw a glimpse of a pained smile crossed her face.

"..but my brother wasn't working yesterday….he was at home the whole day, waiting for his guest of honor…"

Tezuka sat across her and decided to talk to her for awhile. Yumiko was acting weird. If she had a fight with Fuji, then he thought he should at least know.

"Yumiko…Fuji was working." he insisted. "..but he did get home earlier than usual."

Yumiko giggled bluntly.

"You trust him so much Tezuka,..you have to be wiser than that."

"If you had a fight with Fuji, then shouldn't you talk to him about it? It's unlikely for-"

"Oh no, no, no…." Yumiko cut him off and took another gulp from her bottle of brandy. "I don't want to see him..that's…ugh…"

A tear fell down on her eyes. Tezuka tilted his head and looked at her in question.

"He was cheating on you.." Yumiko answered his unspoken question. Her voice was more than just about a whisper but she knew Tezuka got the message across judging from the slight widening of his eyes and the unmistakable uncertainty with how he looked at her.

"Syusuke was still seeing Shiraishi…" she continued with a sob. "They've been together for all these times…they both lied to me..to us.." Saying this, Yumiko began to burst into a real cry.

Tezuka, who was processing the information presented to him, shifted uncomfortably on his seat. Yumiko's sobriety was questionable, but the fact that she was in this state, telling him some unfavorable things about Fuji made sense. If she was indeed telling the truth, then one could attribute her behavior to what she was saying.

He learned few days ago about Shiraishi and Yumiko's past. Leanne told him and requested not to tell it to anybody most especially Yumiko who seemed to be the only involved person who didn't know anything about it. Tezuka was aware of the whole conspiracy, but decided to keep quiet. He didn't even tell Fuji that he knew. There was no point. But seeing how everything turned out, given that Yumiko was telling the truth, Tezuka couldn't help it but feel confused and a bit detached from the entire situation at the same time.

"Yumiko…just….stay here for tonight." Tezuka said as he reached out and took hold of the bottle of brandy from her hands.

She didn't give any reaction but handed the bottle to him nonetheless.

"I'll call Fuji."

"NO!" Yumiko yelled. "You are not calling him."

"He'd be worried. I'm pretty sure you're not answering any of his calls either."

Yumiko shook his head.

"You do that, and I'll take my leave."

Tezuka looked at her. "Fine. I'll stay put. For the meantime, you need to get some real sleep. There's a spare room right beside mine. It's the last room at the end of the hallway." he said motioning to the long hallway that led to his room.

Yumiko nodded absently.

"Anything you want for dinner?" Tezuka asked.

Yumiko looked at him long enough for him to give her that say-it-will-ya look.

"Beef Steak."

Tezuka nodded and headed to the kitchen.

Fuji finished the last bite of the cheese burger he bought from the convenience store and eyed his phone patiently. Yumiko never contacted him again ever since last night, and it's making him feel more anxious from time to time.

He had tried calling Yumiko's friends and few of her officemates, but got no helpful information that could point out as to his sister's whereabouts. It has not been 24 hours, so Fuji waved off the idea of calling the police just in case something bad happened. He knew his sister. Yumiko might be depressed but she was never suicidal of some sort. If she managed to handle it with Shiraishi before, she can handle it now.

Or so he thought.

Fuji was about to call Tezuka when his phone rang. He jumped at it and sighed in resignation upon hearing his lover's voice on the other line.

"..god…Tezuka…" he said.

"At home?"

"Uhuh…"

"Do you have some time?"

Fuji shut his eyes. He wants to see Tezuka. But with the current situation, he just couldn't give in to his wants.

"I…yes..but I'm currently trying to contact my sister. She's been out of reach ever since-"

"Yumiko's here." Tezuka interjected.

"What?"

"She's here. She came in earlier. Drunk and sleepless."

"…god…" Fuji muttered as he got his coat and immediately went out of his apartment. "Alright. I'm coming. What's she doing?"

"Sleeping."

Fuji nodded. This time, he already managed to get in his car and head off.

"Uhm…Okay..I'll be there in 20 minutes. See you then."

"Fuji.."

"Yes…"

Silence.

"No, never mind. I'll talk to you about it later. See you."

Fuji held his phone against his ear even if Tezuka's line had already gone off. For some reasons, he felt a bit worried with his tone.

What was it he wants to talk about? And why the hell is Yumiko at his place? With the questions in mind Fuji drove off at full speed.

Author's Note:

More tears! It's over a liter already! You see...I just so love complications...Now I have this feeling that it's so hard to get out of this...

Thanks for the read minna!