It seemed a lot easier for me to smile now—even though the constant bickering of my parents bothered me beyond belief, I found that I could temporarily forget my home troubles when I left for school. I decided that, from now on, I would make an effort to laugh around my friends in the Royal Garden instead of spacing out and becoming consumed in my own worries.

This resolve, however, did little to change the fact that I hated Mondays with a passion; having to wake up early after having two days to sleep in wasn't pleasant. Having to wake up early after two days of getting less sleep than usual was the equivalent of being thrown into a freezing cold lake.

As the day dragged on, I found it increasingly difficult—if not impossible—to stay awake throughout the duration of my classes, repeatedly having to jerk myself awake before my nose could make an unpleasantly painful contact with my desktop.

The bell let out an earsplitting shriek, startling me out of a slight doze, and I was barely able to stifle a scream of my own. This, I thought bitterly, was why I despised alarm clocks.

Thankful that the final class of the day had come to an end, I grabbed my schoolbag and shuffled out of the room, my destination being the Royal Garden. Though I was still slightly irritable from the—literal—rude awakening I'd received in the classroom, I was eager to see my friends.

Due to my lack of sleep, I was a little clumsier than usual, and it took a bit more effort to dodge through the students in the hall. Despite bumping into several of them and having to mutter a couple of annoyed apologies, I managed to make it to the Royal Garden in one piece. However, I was the last of the Guardians to arrive. Although my friends had already assembled, a quick glance at the clock assured me that I was, in fact, on time.

"Hi, Rima-tan!" Yaya's painfully high voice greeted me as I entered the Garden. "You're not usually late! Yaya was starting to think you got lost!" Yaya's tendency to yell out every word made me wonder if she used exclamation marks more often than periods when writing essays or doing other schoolwork.

"She's not late," Amu pointed out, absentmindedly fiddling with a pen. "Everyone else just got here earlier than usual."

"Really?" Yaya sat back down in her seat, her pigtails bobbing slightly. "Yaya hadn't noticed!"

Giving a small smile, I pulled out my chair and sat down, letting my schoolbag drop onto the floor beside me. Tadase nodded to me, greeting me with a simple, "Mashiro-san." I returned the nod, but remained silent.

Suddenly the only person at the table who had thus far remained silent spoke up. "Good afternoon, Rima-chan," Nagihiko started. "Did you have fun thi—" The violet-haired boy's statement was suddenly cut off when a projectile cookie made contact with his head. "Ow! What was that for?" he yelped. To be perfectly honest, Nagihiko was lucky; the cookie had been the object closest to me at that moment. As desperate—to put it bluntly—as I was to shut him up, I could've grabbed anything within reach to throw at him. Nagihiko should've been grateful that it was the cookie rather than the pen in Amu's hand; cookies were definitely less-lethal projectiles than anything that ended in a sharp point.

There was a long, apprehensive silence in which Yaya, Tadase and Amu stared at me in total astonishment while Nagihiko flicked cookie crumbs out of his hair in an irritated fashion. I had no doubt in my mind as to why they were so shocked—a lot had happened in the past few days, and they hadn't been around to see it.

The tension in the room was almost tangible as Amu looked at me questioningly. Yaya, who was looking overly-excited, was staring at me with an almost-maniacal gleam in her eyes. If I didn't do something fast, there would be absolutely no way to avoid the interrogation that was sure to come.

"Rima?" Amu asked quietly, though her voice sounded loud in comparison to the thick silence. Don't! I begged with my eyes. I know what you're going to ask, and I'd really rather you— "When did Nagihiko start calling you 'Rima-chan'?"

I couldn't help but flinch; although this question was relatively harmless compared to the hysteria that would've ensued if Nagihiko had finished his sentence not two minutes before, it was still something I'd rather not talk about at the moment. Why couldn't her question have been something easier, like, why in the world did you just fling a cookie at Nagihiko? I could only be thankful that the cookie had been enough to prevent—or rather, postpone—questions that could've been much more uncomfortable.

I didn't respond. The silence dragged on for what seemed like an eternity before I acted on impulse and stood up, nearly knocking my chair backward. I turned away from the table and headed toward the Royal Garden's exit, shooting Nagihiko a look that said, "Come with me if you don't want to die in your sleep," and left no room to reason.

I waited outside the Royal Garden for about a minute and a half before Nagihiko caught up to me, exasperation clear on his features. "Would you please explain why you hurled a snack at my head?" he asked, not meeting my eyes. In the short silence that followed, he went back to compulsively picking crumbs out of his thick violet hair.

Knowing that I wouldn't be able to escape the question-and-answer session from Amu and Yaya after school made me more than a little irritable. "What exactly are you trying to do?" I barked, but Nagihiko ignored me completely, too focused on the task at hand to notice my yelling. I stomped on his foot.

"Owww! Rima, why are you abusing me?" Nagihiko whined, causing me to glare at him.

"You're such an idiot!" I growled, pointing a finger at him. "How could you not expect the others to ask questions? Did you think that they would just be okay with us being so friendly with each other, after fighting like cats and dogs since we got acquainted?"

Nagihiko, still nursing his injured foot, arched an eyebrow. "That would make you the psychotic, vicious Pomeranian, and me the cute and innocent kitten, right?" he asked sweetly. I responded by stomping hard on the same foot.

"Owww... See? You're tormenting me!" Nagihiko gave a fake sob, and I rolled my eyes.

"I don't feel bad for you in the least," I stated matter-of-factly. "You're the one who should be feeling guilty, leaving me all alone to face those two. You know that Amu and Yaya are going to pounce on me as soon as the meeting's over."

"Sucks to be you," he deadpanned back, and I raised my hand to slap him. "Wait!" he pleaded, and I lowered it reluctantly. "Why can't you just tell them the truth?"

There was a silence in which I stared at Nagihiko blankly, dumbstruck by the sheer stupidity of what he'd said. I decided that I just might slap him after all, but instead I gave a sweet, syrupy smile. "Alright," I agreed, and Nagihiko nodded.

"See? All you have to do is—wait, what?" He seemed to catch on that there was no way I'd give in so easily. "What're you trying to pull?"

I smiled innocently. "Who, me? Nothing at all. I'll tell Amu-chan and Yaya all about my little problem. While we're on the subject of honesty, I might as well tell them about Nadeshiko, too. Friends don't keep big secrets like that, do they?"

At first, I didn't understand why, but Nagihiko flinched and turned his gaze away from me. I figured that he was just pouting, so I didn't make a big deal of it. "Do you think I like lying to my friends?" he suddenly asked, and my eyes widened in shock at his tone. His voice was bitter with regret.

A heartfelt apology wasn't something I was used to giving, and it made me feel extremely awkward, considering who I was speaking to. "I'm sorry," I muttered, just loudly enough for him to hear. "That was... Uncalled for."

Nagihiko blinked, too stunned to focus on being upset anymore. Short attention-span, much? I thought with a bit of amusement. Nagihiko suddenly laughed loudly, and I amended the thought. Mood swings. He sure takes playing the part of a girl seriously. He can even fake PMS.

"First you abuse me, and then you apologize for offending me," Nagihiko chuckled, and I glowered at him.

"I could abuse you some more, if you'd prefer," I suggested darkly, and he inched backward a bit.

"No thanks, I've taken enough abuse for one day." Nagihiko suddenly stopped talking, was silent for a moment, and then started to laugh hysterically. I'd never seen Nagihiko crack up quite like this, and I wondered if he was having some type of seizure. "Rima-chan, c'mere for a second."

Hesitantly, I stepped a bit closer. I wouldn't put it past Nagihiko to want some type of revenge for the mild beating I'd put him through as well as the slight verbal abuse. However, he also didn't seem to be the type of person to hit a girl, so I figured that I was safe.

Standing in close proximity to Nagihiko, I could hear Yaya's voice, which was just loud enough to be heard through the door. "Amu-chi! What if she kills him?" Nagihiko stifled a giggle next to me while my eyes widened. "Nagi's in danger!"

Amu's voice, which was softer, was more difficult to hear through the door—but not impossible. "Rima's not a murderer, Yaya. Nagihiko will be fine."

Beside me, I heard Nagihiko mutter something that sounded suspiciously like, "Something isn't considered 'dangerous' unless it's at least half as tall as you are..."

I bristled. "Is that a short joke?"

"Yes."

"Good job denying it," I said sarcastically, followed by a loud wail from Yaya.

"Whatever, Amu-chi! If Nagi dies, it'll be all your fault!"

Nagihiko nudged me with his elbow. "We should get back in there before they start to think you really did kill me," he advised, chuckling.

I rolled my eyes. "We need an excuse of some sort," I stated the obvious.

Nagihiko shrugged. "Easy. I was just trying to be friendly. As always," he added with a grin. I had to admit that even though Nagihiko could be witty and sarcastic in the most annoying ways, he usually was a friendly person.

I nodded in silent agreement. "Nagihiko?"

He looked down at me—making me feel even shorter—and blinked. "Hm?"

I let out a gusty sigh. "Just because you bug the crap out of me doesn't mean I don't... Appreciate the things you've done for me these past few days," I admitted, though I was sure he already knew that. For some reason, I felt the need to say it out loud, as a kind of apology for this whole mess.

Nagihiko smiled at me, and then ruffled my messy blonde hair, giving me a reason to glower up at him. I had been right—this had developed into a habit. He then opened the door, and we both reentered the Royal Garden, me still looking like a discontented child.

"Nagi!" Yaya screeched, causing us all to flinch. "You're alive!"

"Of course...?" he replied, playing dumb and sitting down in his chair. I gave an exaggerated huff and flopped down in mine, glaring at the table as if it had insulted me.

"So..." Amu looked slightly uncomfortable.
"Don't worry, Amu-chan," Nagihiko gave one of his sickeningly-sweet honey smiles. "I was only trying to be friendly with her. As expected, it didn't work. But I can try, can't I?" He shrugged, and I felt a slight twinge of jealousy that I couldn't act that well. Nagihiko turned his gaze on me. "Isn't that right, Mashiro-san?" I made a non-committal sound in the back of my throat, and he laughed. "Isn't that right, Rima-chan?" he amended under his breath, and I couldn't help but show the slightest of smiles.

"Hey, Nagihiko?" I mouthed when no one was looking. He tilted his head in acknowledgement and I continued silently, "Is your foot okay?"

His only response was a thumbs-up, accompanied by a warm laugh.