Hey guys! I'm here with another chapter to my first fanfiction. Just so I know what you guys want, I'd really appreciate some constructive criticism.

Raku and Tsugumi still deny what's already there, and things seem to be moving at a snail's pace. As the others notice the change of Tsugumi's daily routine what will happen next?

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Tsugumi slowly stirred from her beauty sleep, and reached around for what was her human pillow, but was unsuccessful in locating it.

Sighing, she decided not to sleep in as it was a school day. She took the warm sheets off her strong yet fragile female body and slowly stood up, wiping off the sleep from her eyes.

Raku's room was exactly how it was when she fell asleep the previous night, the traditional Japanese architecture and futons, along with pictures of his family and what looked to be like his mother.

I wonder where his mother is. All I've ever seen is his father, she thought.

Another thought came into her mind that made her as red as a tomato under a red sun. She blushed madly and almost felt steam escaping her.

She had slept with the man she was supposed to loath, as she and Claude always suspected that their relationship was fake, but they never found hard evidence.

I have betrayed Young Miss by sleeping with her lover! How could I have let this happen? I must see what Ichijo Raku's reaction will be to this ordeal. I would not be surprised one bit if he was angry with me, she thought, fearing the worst.

She was snapped out of her thought train as she smelled a beautiful scent coming from outside the room.

Okayu, rice porridge, she said in her head, smiling as she remembered the delicious yet simple taste of the dish.

I wonder who's cooking it though.

As Tsugumi stepped outside of the room she immediately noticed that all the Yakuza members will still fast asleep, snoring to their heart's content.

Meanwhile, Raku was having a conflict with himself.

Cooking the okayu, Raku couldn't help but think about the events of the previous night. Tsugumi, the girl who constantly hits him without a solid reason, hugged him after he walked into her taking a shower. Even more embarrassing than that, she cuddled with him. Why, of all people, would she do that with him?

Stop overthinking, Raku. You like Onodera. If I don't think or talk about this again, it'll eventually blow over, right? And this is for Tsugumi's sake, she just got kicked out for crying out loud. The least I could do is be a good friend.

Tsugumi stepped into the kitchen and looked at her surroundings. The kitchen was large, which was not surprising due to the amount of people it had to feed day in and day out. It looked like a professional kitchen, metal being written all over it with glamorous knives and pans.

While marveling at the kitchen, her eyes fell upon Raku, who was groggily cooking up some okayu.

"Good morning, Tsugumi. D-did you sleep well?" He asked, looking away to hide his blush.

Tsugumi blushed as well, still embarrassed about lying in bed with him, but she noticed that he was trying not to explicitly say it, so she decided to play along as it would easily be forgotten if she did.

"Good morning, Ichijo Raku. Yes, I slept well, thank you for having me."

"Ah, say nothing of it. Just lending a helping hand," he said, smiling as he put his hand on her shoulder.

Tsugumi immediately got flustered due to the contact, and slapped him square in the face.

"D-d-don't t-t-touch me!" she screamed at him.

"Ow… What the heck was that for?" he mumbled.

Raku decided to let it pass, as she wouldn't be Tsugumi if she wasn't constantly hitting him or doing other violent things.

"So, okayu, huh?" She asked, wondering why he would cook it.

"Oh yeah, well, it was the first dish my mom taught me how to cook, so it really holds a special meaning to me," he said, smiling as he remembered his mother.

"Speaking of which, where is your mother?" she asked, still curious as to why she had never seen her before.

"Oh, that. She died a couple of years back," he said darkly, not wanting to think about her death and instead think about how she was when she was still alive.

"I-I'm sorry I didn't meant to pry, I-" she said quickly, not wanting to hurt Raku's feelings.

"It's fine, honestly, it's actually great to have someone to open to about these kind of things. It's not healthy keeping your feelings all bottled up, you know?" He replied, chuckling as he gave her his advice.

Keep my feelings all bottled up, huh? Maybe I should talk to someone about what I feel whenever I think or when I'm near Ichijo Raku. My heart starts throbbing and I just can't find a reason as to why, she thought, placing her hand to her chest as she felt her heart pounding. She peeked up to see Raku looking at her, making her get flustered and angered at the same time.

"What the hell do you think you're looking at you pervert!? Idiot! Moron!" She yelled at him.

"I'm sorry, I just uh- couldn't help but stare. You look so cute when you're nervous," he said, smiling until he realized what he had just said making his blood rise to his cheeks.

"I-I'm not cute! Stop saying that, you idiot!" she shouted while trying to contain her blush due to the flattery. She tried to send a right hook towards Raku, but somehow, he miraculously grabbed her hand just in time.

"If it's the truth, I don't mind saying it all the time," he smiled.

Tsugumi blushed madly at this, and her eyes jumped from him to her hand a few times until she finally decided that her heart couldn't take much more. She yanked her hand away from his gentle yet firm grip and turned away from him.

Raku was surprised by this sudden action, and realized that he was probably at fault for saying something like that.

"H-hey, I'm sorry, did it come out wrong? I'll make it up to you, however you want," he said quickly hoping that she would forgive him for his behavior.

Tsugumi turned towards him and opened her mouth to say something, until she realized that they were ignoring something for a good ten minutes.

"Ichijo Raku! The okayu!"

"Crap, I completely forgot! I'll turn off the stove," he replied.

Raku lifted his hand to press a button on the front of the stove which made the fire under the pot of porridge immediately die, causing the pot to reduce its steaming. He grabbed a spoon that was set on a wooden chopping board near the stove.

He scooped a little of the porridge and gave it a little blow to prevent it from burning his tounge, and ate the okayu, puckering his lips to get a better taste,

"Perfect," he said, admiring his work. "Do you want to try some, Tsugumi?" He offered, getting another scoop of porridge at holding it near Tsugumi's mouth.

Is he trying to feed me? She thought.

"I can eat perfectly fine on my own, you idiot," she said showing a little disdain for his embarrassing actions.

Raku felt a little offended by this, but he insisted. "Come on, what kind of guy would I be if I didn't do the little things for you?" he said, grinning.

For me? Does he really care for me even though I just called him an idiot? She asked herself, blushing.

"Hey, your face is getting a little red. Are you feeling okay? I'm sure a little bit of okayu will make you feel better," he said kindly, smiling.

He worries about me so much…

"Oh, alright, if you insist," she said as she slowly closed her eyes and leaned forward towards the spoon of rice porridge.

She's so cute when she does tha- Wait a second! Snap out of it Raku! Onodera, Onodera, Onodera, Onodera, Onodera…

After tasting the rather surprisingly good okayu, she opened her eyes and look at Raku dead in the eyes and opened her mouth in amazement.

"This is delicious! I never knew that you could cook so well!" she said, her mouth still wide open with amazement.

"U-uh thanks, no girl has ever told me that before," he chuckled, absolutely flushed by the compliment. "Well, we better get going, I have to pick up honey. I'll just leave a note to Ryu about heating up the okayu."

"Of course, let me get changed," she replied, walking away towards Raku's room.

"Seriously, what is with that girl? I compliment her and she either slaps me or punches me square in the face, and then she cuddles with me and even compliments my cooking? Man, I need to think about this," he said to himself, shaking his head in frustration, as he wrote a note on a piece of paper and laid it down near Ryu's room.

Raku headed back to his room, but remembered that Tsugumi was probably changing, and he wouldn't want to get in that situation again.

Yeah but I guess I wouldn't mind another hug… WAIT WHAT!?

Raku mentally steeled himself and walked into the room backwards, so that he wouldn't be able to see Tsugumi undressed.

"Wha-what are you doing, you idiot? I'm already done changing," she said, with a light chuckle.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't know. I was just trying to b-"

Raku was cut off the moment he turned around to see Tsugumi not wearing her usual male school uniform. Instead she was sporting the girl's uniform that Chitoge had forced her to wear way back then. She was obviously waiting for a reply from Raku, but somehow, no words could escape his mouth.

"U-uh, Ichijo Raku, how do I look?" She asked, not looking at him in attempt to hide her red face. "I completely forgot to pack my boy clothes, how stupid of me-"

"No, no, no! You look absolutely… gorgeous," he said, blushing.

Raku couldn't help but eye her body head to toe. She was just so pretty. Her uniform clung very tightly to her body, showing the curves that were usually hidden by the baggy clothes her boy uniform had, especially her chest. He also took notice to her face. It wasn't the usual hardened expression that she usually wore, instead, she looked like a defenseless girl. Her lips shined the tiniest bit, giving Raku a hint that they were probably soft.

And oh, God, her eyes.

Her eyes were the most unique pair of eyes that he has ever seen. They weren't blue, brown, black or green. They were red. A deep, piercing red, but captivating nonetheless. They were so warm and inviting, that Raku couldn't help but stare. Her blue hair was a work of perfection too. He thought that short hair really suited her, and that the blue ribbon just made her even cuter.

He also got a small whiff of her scent, and it instantly made his heart skip a beat. She smelled like roses. Sweet, pleasant, and intoxicating roses.

Dude, what's gotten into you? You love Onodera, right? RIGHT!?

Raku was snapped out of his sweet thought train when Tsugumi noticed him staring.

"D-don't stare!" she said, her skin already as red as her eyes.

"Sorry, I couldn't help it, Tsugumi. You just look really cute," he said, smiling like an idiot.

"What's with that smile!? Don't get any ideas, you pervert, You have Young Miss, to worry about remember? I wonder what she's thinking, me doing something as disgraceful as being with you, and alone, nonetheless!" She scolded Raku, annoyed at him oogling at her, but somehow, she liked it.

What is this strange feeling? He did something that Shuu Maiko would do! And for some reason, I find it nice when he compliments and looks at me. He really does see me as a girl… Tsugumi was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard something that she thought would never come out of Raku's mouth.

"Why the hell would Chitoge give a crap if I were alone with you?" he scoffed with a discontent so high that Tsugumi was shocked by his words.

"But that's what couples do, right?" She said, still confused by his choice of words.

Raku immediately realized what he said and how he may have stupidly blown their cover.

Crap! I shouldn't have said that, Tsugumi's a smart girl, if she finds out, this town is done for!

"Uh, did that come out wrong? What I mean to say was that I'm sure she trusts you and that I wouldn't even lay a finger on you," he said, trying to put on a fake smile and chuckle.

"Oh, okay, I see," she said with a sad smile.

"Well," he said suddenly, "We best get going. Shall we?" he said, offering his hand to hers.

Tsugumi immediately blushed and slapped his hand out of the way and grabbed her school bag and headed towards the front gate.

Why did my heart hurt suddenly? Why do I feel so… happy when I'm near him? Young Miss said that I changed greatly ever since I met Ichijo Raku. And what he said about her… "Why the hell would Chitoge give a crap If I were alone with you?" That didn't sound like the usual way he would tease her, such as how he would call he a "gorilla". No, this was complete discontent. Perhaps Claude-sama was right?

No, first, I must ask Lady Onodera about this strange feeling I get around him. Then I'll look further into whether or not they are in a fake relationship.

She stopped her line of thought when she saw that Raku was waving is hand in front of her face with a confused expression.

"Hey, Tsugumi, you still there?" he said, looking straight into her eyes.

She noticed that he was uncomfortably close, his face mere inches away from hers.

To-t-too close!

"I'm fine, now come on, let's go pick Young Miss," she said, turning around and walking away, trying to hid her red face, only to turn back to see Raku staring at her.

Man… She's definitely cute.

Well, that's it for chapter two! I apologize if I wasn't able to update sooner, with school and all that nonsense. But anyways, I'd love to have some ideas as to how they will finally confess to each other. Any ideas will be appreciated!

Then again, thanks for reading! Please review!