"What?! You're not kidding?!" Marui said in a shocked expression. He was talking to someone with his cellphone and it seemed important. "Okay. I get it. I'll be seeing you later." After ending the call, he looked grimly at Kaori. "Kaori-chan," he called.

"What is it, Bunta-kun?" she asked, noting that he sounded rather upset. Marui, her and Seiichi were walking together. The other regulars left earlier since they live rather far from them.

"Something came up. Mom wanted me to come home early because…well, on important matters." He said bitterly. "So, I can't walk you home. Sorry about that."

"Oh." She seemed a bit upset as well but she smiled for him instead. "It's okay. I understand you. You'd better go now."

"But how about you?" then, an idea sprang inside his brain and gave Seiichi a knowing look.

The Rikkai buchou seemed to know what he's going to say.

"Ne buchou, why don't you walk Kaori-chan home? You live somehow near to her house, you know." Marui said nonchalantly.

Kaori blushed when she heard him. "But Bunta-kun--"

"Come on, you can't let her walk home alone, you know. Even if Ichiro's with her, you can't expect the poor dog to defend her, right? Please…" he insisted, giving him his best pout and puppy eyes on him.

He looked at him reluctantly then at Kaori beside him. He sighed deeply. "If you insist but you'll be running laps tomorrow and no excuses. Is that clear?" he said sternly.

Marui saluted. "Of course! Just as long as you get her home safely and you won't be doing anything bad to her…" he trailed off.

"Bunta…"

"Just saying." He checked the time on his watched and gasped. "Crap! I'm going to be late! Kaori-chan, take care of yourself, okay?!" he hugged her quickly and left.

Silence came as soon as the self-proclaimed genius went away. "Umm…thank you for accompanying me." Kaori said quietly, looking slightly embarrassed.

Seiichi put up a smile and said warmly, "It's okay. I understand that Bunta wanted the best for you. Tell me, if you don't mind, are you two together?"

Kaori shook her head quickly and replied, "N-no! He and I are friends! He's been like that to me since we're kids and he always tries his best to make me feel happy."

"I see." After a few minutes, he said, "What does your house look like? Oh I'm sorry for asking."

"Umm…it's okay. Since I became like this, my parents decided not to renovate the house so that I can at least remember what it used to look like. And if I remember correctly, it's the one in white and granite rooftop. It has a balcony in front and there's vines on each side of the entrance door." She described.

"I see. So that's your house. This will be easier. Can I hold your hand? We're going to a shortcut I know."

"S-sure."

Like it seemed natural, he held her hand, and guided her to another direction. Kaori was a bit nervous but she remembered that Marui said about him being an all-round nice person and trusting her best friend's word, she decided to put her trust in him. After a few minutes, she heard him speak. "We're walking upstairs."

She nodded, squeezing his hand a bit.

"Don't worry, I won't let you fall." He said reassuringly. "Just in case, you need to do 22 steps."

"I understand. Thank you for telling me."

"And off we go." The walked up together, slowly but careful. The blind girl couldn't help but mutter the numbers by each step and Seiichi couldn't help but smile, thinking that it's rather cute of her. "We're finally on top." He told her.

"Okay."

"Now, your house is on the right side. Let's go." He continued to hold her hand up to the point where they're both standing in front of a rather old-style looking mansion. Ichiro started barking in front of the gate.

In a short while, the entrance door sprang open and a man who was older than them by 5-6 years ran towards them, his vermillion hair messed up like he just woke up and his eyes looking a bit strained from exhaustion and stress. "Kaori-chan! You came back! I thought you're not going to come home! I already told Bunta not to let you arrive here at this time--" he stopped rambling at stared at Seiichi for a whole minute. "Who are you?" he questioned him as he eyed on him.

"My name is Yukimura Seiichi--"

"I don't care what your name is, why are you here with my dear sister and not Bunta?" he growled.

Seiichi sweat dropped. "Bunta is my teammate--"

"Yeah right, like I'm going to believe in that." He said sardonically. He noticed that he was holding her sister's hand. "Why are you holding her hand?" he hissed.

"I was only guiding her--" he tried to explain but to no avail, the blind girl's older brother cut him off again.

"Ichiro's with her. There's no need for you to hold her hand."

"I didn't do it on purpose, if that's what you're implying."

"Don't you have a sharp tongue?"

Kaori can tell that her older brother was in overprotective mode so she interrupted their talk. "Kannon-niichan! Don't talk to him like that. He was being kind to you so you should too." She said sadly.

Kannon, who heard her clearly, hastily glanced at her and his face fell in a mere second. "I'm sorry, Kaori-chan! I wasn't being rude to him, really." he insisted.

You are being rude to me, Seiichi said mentally as he watched them. "Bunta asked me to accompany her since something came up and he had no choice but to leave." He told him.

"I see. No wonder you're here instead of him." he nodded, calming himself for the sake of his sister. After that, he received a call from his cell phone inside his pocket. He took it out and answered, "Kannon here. Oh Bunta, speak of the devil. Yeah, she's here with someone whose name is Yukimura Seiichi. Is he really your teammate? Really, he is? Ah, good. Good luck on that." He ended the call and sighed deeply. "Sorry for questioning you like that. It's a sibling thing."

"I understand. I'm not offended at all." Seiichi smiled.

"Why don't you come inside and have dinner here? I'm sure Kaori-chan would want that too. Ne Kaori-chan?" he offered.

Kaori nodded. "Please. It's the least I can do for accompanying me."

"I guess it's okay."

"Good good!" they entered inside the mansion, this time Kannon guiding his sister while Seiichi followed behind them, feeling a bit cool.

Bunta, I'm going to add your laps and I assure that you'll be suffering because of this, Seiichi said mentally with a smirk on his face.

"So, you're the captain of the tennis club. That's pretty amazing." Kannon commented as they ate.

"Yes, that is correct."

"I've heard some stories about you and the other regulars on the team. You seemed like an interesting bunch." He continued, sipping tea. "From what I've heard, you got hospitalized by the time of the nationals because of your illness. To have such a condition, I'm quite impressed that you're still able to play tennis. It's a rigorous sport, after all."

"True, but I've been playing it since I was young so it's impossible for me to leave." He answered.

"Tell me, do you have a girlfriend right now?" he asked him suddenly.

"No. I do not think of having one until I've entered college, that is." He said easily.

"Smart move." Kannon smirked.

"I always set my priorities first before anything else." He said coolly.

"My my, you sound…admirable." He chuckled, earning a questioningly look. "It's just rare to meet guys like you who are…well, like you. Most teenagers today seemed like all they ever cared is having a girlfriend and it's upsetting, really."

"Is it because of Kaori-san?"

"That's right. I'm still looking for a good-enough doctor to help her get her eyesight back. I want nothing more than her happiness."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"Do you think Bunta treats your sister as a friend or more than that?"

Kannon, who sipped tea again, gagged a bit. "Excuse me? Bunta liking my sister? Impossible. Even god knows that. The two of them were the best of friends since the two of them met and as far as I observed your teammate's actions, he seemed to care for her like a sibling would." He told him.

"I see."

"Why did you ask that kind of question? Did you notice something?" he asked quickly.

"No, not really. the two of them seemed really close, that's all."

"Ah right. Friendship always get misinterpret for attraction or intimacy." He said heartily.

"That's true." He checked the time and realized that it's already 9:22pm. He stood up. "I'd better be going now."

Kannon stood up as well. "I'll walk you outside."

"There's no need to." He bowed shortly and added, "Please tell Kaori-san good night."

"Ah. I will." As soon as the rikkai buchou left, he sighed deeply. "I know you're there, Kaori-chan."

Slowly, the blind girl appeared behind a wall, wearing her sleeping clothes. "I'm sorry onii-chan."

"It's okay. He seems like a good guy. Tell me, you like him?" he teased her.

"No! I just met him!" she shook her head furiously.

"Oh really? He looks like that type that can make a girl go head over heels with a snap of his fingers." He said in a singsong voice.

"Don't judge him like that."

"Anyway, how much did you hear?" he asked her.

"From the part where Yukimura-san asked about the relationship between Bunta and I." she said timidly.

"And your comment about it?"

"I understand why he asked that. Tennis is important for them and he's just worried about his teammate." She said calmly.

"Is that all?"

"Yes."

Kannon sighed in relief. You're still young and innocent. "Go back to sleep, Kaori-chan." He said gently.

"Okay."

"Ami, guide her back to her bedroom." He told the maid.

"Of course, Kannon-sama." Ami bowed.

Kannon walked to her side and whispered, "Didn't I tell you not to call me that? Just Kannon, okay?"

"H-hai, K-kannon-san."

He sighed yet again. "Good night Kaori-chan, Ami."

"Good night onii-chan." She said. He sounds a bit upset. I wonder what happened.

Sorry for the wait!

I've been busy for the past few days and I just…well, I've been paranoid about college stuffs! Life is soo hard nowadays and I need to pull myself back together again! Please review for me! Do you think that Kannon had a certain attraction to Kaori's personal maid, Ami? What do you think? Hmmm i think you all know the answer behind that question, right? Good! Again, please review!

Oh yeah, almost forgot. Ami was a daughter of a close friend of the Ogawas' but then a tragic fate happened to her parents and the Ogawas kindly took her in and even wanting to adopt her but Ami declined and decided to make up for their kindness, she wanted to serve them thus she became a maid! Adding up, she's already in her 2nd year of college so yeah, she's a working student.