Shana leaned against the wall of the subway station, waiting for Kyoya to arrive. She wondered if he would walk past her, and had to fight hard to resist smiling like a crazy fool as she imagined it. Yeah, smiling to herself while loitering in the subway station would go over well with the Japanese public.

While she was caught up in her musings, she almost didn't notice Kyoya walk past her with little more than a cursory glance as he looked around the subway station for her. She barely stifled a giggle this time. She quickly pushed herself off the wall and ran over to him, grabbing his hand. "Kyoya!" she exclaimed, laughter dancing in her eyes.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Shana looked like a random fan-girl who had suddenly decided to accost him. He swung round to tell her off and give her some threats pertaining to her family's net worth, but then whatever he'd been about to say died on his lips. "Sh-Shana?" he gasped, his jaw falling open.

Shana laughed at him. He might be a genius with an unbelievably high IQ, but he was still a guy, and as such couldn't do things like recognize her with her black hair at a glance. She stopped laughing and tugged him over to the wall, as they were blocking human traffic, standing in the middle of nowhere like that.

Kyoya lifted a lock of her black hair and gaped at her. "Shana, what did you do?" he asked disbelievingly. She rolled her eyes at him. "Well, I didn't dye my hair back to its original colour, that's for sure," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes at him impatiently.

Suitably quelled, he followed her into the interior regions of the train station. While waiting for the train to arrive, he continued staring at her. He had thought that she looked good with her hair blonde, but he had never expected that she would look so much better with her hair its natural black.

The train roared along the tracks, slowing to a stop in front of them, and the moment the doors slid open smoothly, releasing the many people in the train as they stepped briskly out of the carriages, ignoring the shrill automated beeping of the trains. When they left, the people waiting for the train swarmed in, packed against each other tightly, like the proverbial sardines in a can.

Kyoya waited expectantly for the familiar disgust that he usually felt when circumstances forced him to take the subway to well up. Rubbing shoulders with those less successful than him; sometimes even the scum of Japan, was something totally abhorrent to him; Haruhi was the only exception. He wasn't sure what was worse, that they smelt so bad or that they put no effort into bettering their lives, then sneering upon his ilk, saying that they were 'stingy' and wouldn't cut them any slack.

Still, he had to admit that being squished against Shana's slim frame wasn't all that bad – he could feel her against him, pressed tightly against his body, and something in him delighted in the close, yet somehow casual, contact. As he looked at her smiling face, he couldn't feel upset or disgusted at being in the subway with all the other people, rubbing shoulders with the masses – the scum of society included. It appeared that when she was around, all the little things that he couldn't help but be upset with usually faded into nothing when she was around.

Soon the train reached their destination, and he almost – but not quite – felt a little twinge of disappointment when they had to move out of their little corner of the train and towards the doors. Though he couldn't say that he missed the too-close-for-comfort confines of the train, he had enjoyed it when Shana had had to squeeze up against him by necessity. If he had his way, they would spend the rest of their days that way, squished against each other, not an inch of space between them, only their clothing separating their bodies – though maybe without the clothes.

To his horror, as he imagined them locked together in an embrace that would last forever, he felt his little – or not-so-little – friend begin to stir. Getting an erection while they were at some smelly train station did not sound good to him, and so he tried his best to think of other, less erogenous topics… but came up a big fat zero.

He would have laughed at the absurdity of it all had he not been so panicked about people seeing the now prominent bulge in his trousers. Fortunately, it was now mid-autumn, and the chilly bite in the air gave him the excuse he needed to don his long coat. As he buttoned it up, he couldn't help but give an involuntary sigh of relief that he wouldn't be discovered.

When they stepped out of the train station, the wind hit them full force. Stunned momentarily, Shana stopped for a moment and Kyoya bumped into her – revealing his erection to her as it, too, bumped against the small of her back. Surprised, she turned to look at him, and when she saw that his face was turning red – and not because of the cold.

Smiling at him like the cat that ate the cream, she turned around and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him tightly, before she released him to put on her jacket. Her hair was flying all over the place, even into her mouth, and so she impatiently tied it back loosely with a hair tie that she always kept around her wrist.

That done, she took his hand in hers, looked at him with her eyes full of mischievous intent, then laughed as she walked off, pulling him along. She wondered if she had ever felt this happy, if she had ever felt this mixture of joy, naughtiness, nervousness twirling in her stomach, like she had swallowed an entire butterfly farm. With her family, the butterflies' wings had been tipped with deadly black spikes, and at any time they could fly into her and plunge them inside her, injecting her with poison.

With Kyoya… the feeling was entirely different. The butterflies were small, light and colourful, their wings brushing against her with feather-light strokes, depositing gleaming pollen in their wake, which grew into beautiful roses inside her, blooming in a rush of joy, deep and crimson with the strength of the love she felt for him.

Had it been any other girl, Kyoya would have insisted on taking the lead, pulling her along, making sure he knew where they were going, but with Shana, he was content to just let her take the lead sometimes, let her do what she liked, as long as that smile on her face stayed there.

He felt the stirrings of unease, wondered if it was healthy that he would go to such extreme lengths for her, do things that were so against his character, just to make her happy. He shoved the little nagging voice into a corner of his mind, where he wouldn't have to think about how he might have to hold back with Shana, in order to keep a small part of himself the same, unaffected by her and his love for her.

They half-walked, half-ran along the pavement, before stopping at the road junction where they were to cross. Across the road there was a tiny row of shops which most people wouldn't have given a second glance to, but Shana knew of a French-Japanese fusion restaurant that served delicious food at a reasonable price. It was a little family-owned cafe-cum-restaurant that was intimate and romantic.

"Table for two, please," requested Kyoya in his usual regal voice that he used to remind snotty waiters what their place was – and what his was. Shana nudged him and smiled at the friendly waitress. "We'll have a table for two, please. Can we have a corner table?" she asked.

The waitress smiled. "Of course, Shana," she said as she took some menus from the stack. "Please, come this way," she said to Kyoya, still a little leery of him.

When they were seated, she winked at Shana. "Nice one you've got there," she said in a theatrical whisper. Shana flushed and rolled her eyes at the waitress. "Whatever, Barbara," she retorted, blushing. Barbara winked. "Well, I'll let you guys have some time to decide on what you want –" another surreptitious wink, leaving Shana and Kyoya without a doubt of her innuendo, and continued, "And when you know what you want, just call me."

With that, she left, leaving Shana and Kyoya alone at their corner table. With the dim lighting and the little candle on their table, the scene was set for romance. A little disarmed by the setting, Kyoya immediately opened his menu and began reading it. Smiling, Shana did too, although she knew what she wanted, having been here many times before.

Kyoya was having some trouble focusing on the menu when Shana sat across the table from him in that delicious little dress, her hair tied back halfway, such that it didn't get in her face, but wasn't completely pulled back. The candlelight cast a dim yellow light on her features, leaving intriguing shadows that led to the inside of –

He abruptly cut off that line of thought, and, realising he was staring at her, lowered his eyes back to his menu. Still, the images of her were imprinted in his mind, and he kept replaying the fantasy, leading to some uncomfortable reactions that were thankfully hidden by the tablecloth.

When he finally managed to decide what he wanted to eat – aside from the distractions, there were quite a few delicious-sounding dishes on the menu – they beckoned Barbara over, and started to order.

"I'll have a half-bottle of your house wine," Kyoya started, ordering the wine for both of them, "a bouillabaisse soup, a Wagyu filet mignon, done medium rare." When he finished, Shana ordered her meal: a duck pate and a seafood mix. "Any dessert?" Barbara asked, recording their order. They looked at each other, and decided, "We'll order dessert later."

Barbara nodded, repeated their order and then left. Kyoya turned his attention back to Shana and asked, "Why did you dye your hair back to your original colour?" Shana blushed again. "I didn't need it to be blonde anymore," she told him in a soft mumble. Kyoya frowned, trying to figure out what she had said.

Shana, seeing him so confused, rolled her eyes at him. "I didn't need to be blonde to feel beautiful and accepted anymore," she explained. Kyoya's frown disappeared. That had to mean what he thought it meant – that his love for her was enough to make her feel confident of herself as she was.

Overwhelmed with emotion, he couldn't do anything but stare at her like an idiot – something that was happening with disturbing frequency now. That what they had, although it was so new, had the power to make her feel beautiful – not that that should have been very hard, since she was gorgeous – was so… heartening. He could almost feel his heart threatening to burst out of his chest, it was expanding to such enormous proportions.

Shana was sitting on a bench seat that had its back against the wall, and she leaned her head back to rest on it, closing her eyes. This was so… so decadent, somehow. Her parents were well-off, but they had never taken her out unless they absolutely had to, and she had never actually enjoyed herself. It was usually for entertaining… and she was expected to act like they were loving parents to her. This was so new, so different, so… nice. It was a stupid word, but the only one she could come up with. Nice.

She opened her eyes and looked at Kyoya. "Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you so, so much for this – for everything," she told him. All these new emotions flooding her, these new experiences, all of it was because of him.

Kyoya looked at her, at her perfect frame, and wondered how ridiculous it was that she was thanking him. Thanks to her, he had everything. He had sometimes wondered idly, when he had nothing better to do, if there was really something wrong with him, that he had never felt anything for any girl, not even as a crush. All the other people he'd known had fallen head over heels for someone at some point in time, even Hani. Now he knew nothing was wrong with him, that he was fine, perfect, and he felt giddily happy at the thought.

"I love you," they said in unison, their eyes widening when they heard the other saying it. Somehow, the words were a heady aphrodisiac, and the mood changed instantly. Kyoya stared at her, noting all over again how beautiful she was, how the candle light cast enticing shadows over her face, neck, and lower… It was happening again. He forced his mind away from that train of thought, knowing that if he let himself continue, he would rush her out of the restaurant, and he wanted her to have a nice dinner with him. He was the man made of stone. He could wait. He would wait. He was absolutely certain of it.

For her part, Shana looked at him with eyes that were suddenly heavy-lidded, and signs of arousal made themselves known in her body. Her nipples tightened and peaked, and down below, she felt the fire stirring. Against her will, her mind flashed back to the times in his beach villa…

Kyoya looked at the way Shana looked at him and sighed, fidgeting slightly in his seat and trying to subtly adjust his pants. This was going to be a long dinner…

Hello friends! (: Did you guys miss me? Hahaha (: Well I'm right in the middle of my exam week now but I was clearing out my Microsoft word (i.e. deleting all my notes on exams that are already over) so I decided to just finish this up! :D Exams end on Monday (Math ohdear I suck so bad in that) and I'm going to devote Tuesday and Wednesday (aka marking days!) to writing. :D I have such big plans for the saga and also a Skip Beat fic! Which will only be coming out after this series is completed so guess who will be a busy little girl in the holidays. ^^

Cheers! (:

Peachy Hikaru