Renji smirked as he walked over to Shuuhei. "Wait until I tell Megumi."

"Tell her what?" Shuuhei asked innocently.

"I've been watching you talk to her the past few times I've been here." He nodded toward the singer on the other side of Shuuhei.

"Do you think I'm going to get in trouble with Megumi?"

"You're talking to another girl when she's not around."

"Megumi knows about her."

The singer leaned over Shuuhei and introduced herself to Renji.

"The pleasure is all mine," Renji said with a sneer.

She knew that look. "You're not my type."

"You haven't given me a chance yet."

"You're a man."

Renji grinned. "You know it."

"Like I said, you're not my type. I don't date men. I prefer women."

Shuuhei nearly choked on his drink.

Renji's grin fell. "If you ever change your mind," he muttered feebly as he walked away.

"Are you okay?" she asked Shuuhei, patting him on the back.

"Yeah. That was not the answer I was expecting you to give him."

She smiled. "That's the answer I always give here."

"It's not the one you gave me."

She shrugged. "You're different. You know my secrets." Taking a last drink of water, she stood. "I have to go now."

"I'll see you next week."

"You aren't staying?"

"I always stay. I just never stay to see you after your last song."

"Because you meet your girlfriend."

"Yes." Shuuhei smiled. "Tonight I have something to tell her." The singer eyed him, but Shuuhei shook his head. "Her. Not you."

After her final song, Megumi rushed to change to meet Shuuhei. She knew she didn't have to. She knew he'd wait, but she really wanted to know what he had to tell her.

They met on the same corner they had been meeting at for the past month. Shuuhei took her bag from her and then took her hand in his.

He leaned in to kiss her but stopped short.

"What's wrong?" Megumi asked.

"Maybe it's the light, but your eyes look gold tonight."

"I was in a hurry."

"I would have waited longer."

"I know but I wanted to know what you wanted to tell me."

He grinned. "Ah. Now for that, you'll have to wait until we get back to my place."

"Meany."

"I know," Shuuhei chuckled as they walked back to his quarters.

When they got there, Megumi took her duffel bag from him and went to take out her contacts. When she was done, she found him in the kitchen preparing a light snack for them. Closing her eyes, Megumi could see the same scene play out six months from now, a year from now, five years from now. She wondered how long she had been in love with Shuuhei and why it had taken her so long to realize it. Megumi knew she wasn't ready to tell him yet.

"Thank you," she said, walking over to him and kissing his cheek.

Shuuhei pulled her to him and kissed her. "I should tell you something before you see Renji. He caught me talking to another woman."

"Is she pretty?"

Shuuhei shrugged as they sat down. "A little but I'm biased. I like you."

Megumi smiled. "What do you talk about?"

"I tell her about you. She tells me about her boyfriend. Although she told Renji she was into women."

Megumi laughed. "I would have said the same thing to him. He's relentless."

"Did he ever..." Shuuhei paused. "No. I don't want to know."

Megumi laughed. "No he didn't. I made it very clear that I wasn't interested in him."

They ate in silence for a few moments.

"I know I'm a few hours early but I wanted to give you your birthday present tonight."

She smiled; touched that he remembered her birthday was tomorrow. "I could probably accept my gift from you tonight."

Shuuhei reached inside his uniform, pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to her.

Megumi glanced at the paper. "This is the list of who's off this week." She'd seen it earlier when it had first been posted. "I have my birthday off. Thank you."

"I didn't have anything to do with that. I asked for a revision to the list yesterday."

She looked back down at the paper and read through it. Her mouth fell open when she saw the change. "Really?"

"I'm yours all day tomorrow."

"Thank you," she replied, leaning across the table to kiss him.

They hadn't had a day off together since they had started dating. Shuuhei had thought their captain did that on purpose, but he'd nearly begged for tomorrow off.

"I have one request."

"Sure."

"All day starts at midnight tonight and ends tomorrow night at midnight."

...

Later Megumi sat in his lap on the couch as they kissed. Shuuhei's uniform was open revealing his chest muscles. Megumi's uniform was slightly parted from where his mouth had traveled down to tease her breasts. When she had leaned over him at the club, he had a clear, tantalizing view of the tops of her breasts.

Megumi pulled on her obi, causing her uniform to part even further. "Shuuhei, I want your hands on me."

He grinned. "I very much want my hands on you."

"Then give us what we both want." She lifted her hand to take off her uniform. Shuuhei quickly reached up and covered her hand with his, wanting to take it off himself.

"I will," he whispered, leaning forward to kiss her.

...

Shuuhei woke in the morning and pulled Megumi closer. She nuzzled against him.

"Happy birthday," he whispered.

Megumi smiled. "It started off with a bang." She hadn't realized how much she wanted him until his hands had been on her. It hadn't taken them long to get naked and make their way back to his bedroom. Megumi shuddered, remembering the way his hands had run over her even after she had risen over him.

"Are you cold?"

"No. I am very warm and content. I was just thinking about last night."

He was thinking about it too. His hand ran up and down her side. "We could start the morning off with a bang," Shuuhei suggested, his hand moving to her breasts. "Or I could go get your present."

"You got me a present?"

"Why wouldn't I get my girlfriend a present on her birthday?"

"I thought us being together today was my present."

"Why can't I give you two presents?"

"Where is my other present?"

He grinned at her. "It's around here somewhere." Getting out of bed, he disappeared from the room. When he returned, there was a small gift box in his hand.

"You know I've never opened a present naked in bed before," she teased as he handed her the box and got back into bed.

"There's a first time for everything."

She pulled the box top up slowly. "Am I going to like it?"

"I wouldn't have bought it if I thought you wouldn't like it. Open it and find out."

Megumi opened the box. "Oh Shuuhei, they're beautiful." She sat up and pulled one of the earrings out of the box and held it up to the light. A thin gold bar was surrounded by a silver corkscrew. She put them on. "How do they look?" she asked, turning back toward Shuuhei.

He smiled and sat up. "They look great on you. I knew they would."

"Thank you," she said with a smile as she leaned over to kiss him.

...

He wasn't getting any work done. To anyone who passed by, it might look like Shuuhei was working. His thoughts, however, were on her and the realization that had woken him in the middle of the night. It was one of the rare nights they hadn't spent together. As he thought about it, Shuuhei knew he didn't mind being in love with Megumi. Some people would say that he had fallen for her too fast, but they had been friends before they started dating.

There had only been a couple of women in his past that he had loved or thought he loved. Neither of them had been like it was with Megumi. He was trying to figure out how he would tell her. He knew he wanted it to be the perfect moment. Yet he didn't want to plan it out.

"Where are you?"

Shuuhei shook his head and looked up at her. "What?"

Megumi smiled. "You were lost. Here," she said, placing a finger on his forehead. "Problem?"

"No. No problem at all."

"Are you going to keep pretending to work or are you going to take me out for lunch?"

"What makes you think I'm not working?"

She smiled at him. "I've been watching you. You're just shuffling papers on your desk and pretending to read them."

"Then I guess I'll take you out to lunch. When I get back, I can pretend to work some more."

...

The perfect unplanned moment eluded him. Shuuhei thought about just telling her while they were eating dinner or sitting on his couch but the moments passed before he took the chance.

Even tonight he had hesitated too long and lost the moment to tell her. It had been two weeks since he had known. Shuuhei knew he had to tell her before it slipped out at a not-so-perfect moment. His thought was to tell her in the morning; to start her morning and her day right.

The words crowed his mind as they made love that night. He thought it every time he touched her, every time he kissed her, even when he slipped into her.

She took him over the edge with her. Shuuhei opened his mouth and the words tumbled out. "I love you." This was not the perfect moment he'd been looking for. This was the wrong moment to tell her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean..." Shuuhei rolled off her, appalled at himself.

"You didn't mean it?" Her racing heart had nothing to do with sex anymore.

"No. I..." he groaned. He hadn't meant to tell her he loved her while they were having sex. Not the first time. "I'm sorry."

Tears choked her. "So am I." Not bothering to find her uniform, Megumi stood up. "Goodbye, Shuuhei." She flash stepped to her quarters.

"Megumi, wait!" It was too late, she was already gone.