Sorry I haven't updated in a while! I've actually had this written for ages but I've been putting off posting it to write the chapters afterwards (I like being two or three chapters ahead aha) and then I'm doing a 31 day one-shot thing for Jack Frost and Elsa from Frozen so I've been busy with that (plus school and a failed attempt at NaNoWriMo ugh *cries*).

Also some more reviews would be very much appreciated and would encourage me to update more! I used to have loads when I posted it last time and it was a horrendous story and now it's all shiny and new and improved and nobody is saying anything please guys I'm dying here.

Also also the wonderful GallyandBlack has favourited this story and oh my gosh I completely freaked out because senpai noticed me; your K fics are like the entertainment of gods because they're just fantastic and I love them so much and I swear to you now I keep meaning to leave reviews but somehow never get round to it and in case you hadn't noticed I'm really freaking out here and I'm incredibly flattered that you read my story please do not hate me oh dear lord.

Chapter 9- Where the Lines Overlap

"O...kay?" Aoi frowned after Misaki, confused, then turned back to Tatara. "What's his prob-...Tatara? What's wrong?"

Tatara wore an apologetic yet sad smile as he waved his hands as if attempting to simply brush away her concerns.

"Ah, nothing. Yata and Fushimi...well, they have a history. We all do, I suppose, but Yata especially." Aoi nodded uncertainly, her mood considerably subdued, and was about to take her leave to go upstairs when she was stopped by Tatara. "Ah- Aoi. I won't tell you to stop seeing Fushimi-" he ignored her when she tried to protest. "but be careful what you say around here. It's a difficult subject."

Aoi nodded hesitantly, almost to the point of uncertainty, and went upstairs. There was something very not right about the whole situation; there had to be more to it. Ordinarily Aoi would have let it be, not wanting to get involved in other people's personal lives was one of her few virtues, but she had been certain for a while that they were holding something back from her, and she felt sure that this was somehow connected. She just had to know more.

Izumo, Tatara and Anna all stood in silence, watching after her, until Izumo spoke finally.

"Do you really think she...?"

Tatara didn't say anything, until his usual easygoing grin slipped onto his features and he shrugged, waving his hands dismissively and sweeping back to his seat beside Anna.

"I don't know! The heart of a teenage girl is a fickle thing. He definitely has her attention, but why, how, or where it will go who knows? Best to leave it up to her. There's no point making a fuss where there shouldn't be one."

Izumo sighed and returned to work.

"You're right, of course."

"Of course."

"Oh shut up."

-line break-

The next morning Aoi left early; she was dressed before Izumo was, and even Tatara hadn't arrived by the time she was out of the door. The morning was unusually crisp for mid-spring; she had donned a thick scarf and boots just to be on the safe side, and carried her notebook with her.

She didn't really know where she was going. She wasn't going to the park again, that was for sure. While she couldn't say she didn't want to see Fushimi again, she didn't want to go out of her way to see him again; or for it to seem that way at least. So for a while Aoi wandered Shizume, coffee in hand, just thinking. However, fate didn't appear to be on her side.

"Either you really are a pervert or you're just damn good at acting like one."

Aoi, who had been leaning on a small brick wall outside a park, a different park, looked up, startled, and scowled at the boy in front of her.

"That's no way to say hello, Fushimi."

"Whatever." But he leaned against the wall next to her.

After a few moments of them just standing there, Aoi hoisted herself to sit on the wall, handing Saruhiko her coffee and pulling out her notebook. She began to scribble, glancing up every now and then either because she suspected Saruhiko of looking at her (he was) or to get a better look at a stranger who was rapidly becoming a character in her novel.

Unsurprisingly, it wasn't long before Saruhiko was bored.

"Are you just going to sit there and write all day?" He asked, irritated, glaring down a side street on their left, mainly because it meant he didn't have to look at her. He was supposed to be getting information from her, trying to figure out just what it was that made her, well, what she was, but so far he was getting nowhere.

Aoi closed the notebook with a snap.

"You don't have to stay here, you know."

"Tch."

After a moment she half smiled, got down, and threaded her arm through his, dragging him down the street without pausing to notice the look of alarm on his face at the physical contact.

"What are you-"

"Oh stop complaining so much, Saruhiko!"

"Don't call me that."

"Whatever. Saru."

"Or that. Where are you taking me?"

"Walking; or is that boring too?"

"Shut up."

-line break-

Aoi arrived home just as it began to get dark. To be fair that was mostly the help of the rainclouds that had been accumulating for the entirety of the day, but she really had stayed out a long time. She had been with Saruhiko who had stood and complained most of the time but had never actually left, which she found very amusing.

"Aoi!" Tatara, who was sat with a sheepish looking Misaki and a bored Mikoto, waved her over as soon as she entered. "Where have you been all day? I haven't seen you yet; we all missed you! Right, King?"

There it was again.

What does he mean, 'King'?

"What?"

Tatara ignored the older man and stood up to greet Aoi, wrapping her into a tight and unexpected hug. Glad that the events of the day before hadn't made a distance to their rapidly strengthening friendship, Aoi hugged him back, a small smile on her lips.

"Mm. Sorry. I was out walking and...writing."

"What; all day?! Weren't you bored?!"

Aoi thought of Saruhiko's reaction when she suggested feeding the ducks in the park and laughed.

"No, I wasn't." She shook her head. "But I am very tired, so I'm going to go rest before I have to work tonight. I'll see you later."

"Mm. Alright, see you soon."

Aoi waved to the other two boys and Anna, who had suddenly appeared from the kitchen with a precariously balanced bowl of red soup in her hands, and went upstairs.

When she got to her bedroom she kicked her shoes off and flopped back onto the mattress with a sigh. It had been a long and exhausting, but fun day. She actually hadn't anticipated that spending a day with someone as, well, irritating as Saruhiko would be fun, but she had genuinely enjoyed herself.

She doubted they would see each other again, though. The last two times it had been by pure coincidence and she still had no way to contact him. Still, it had been fun while it lasted.

And she wasn't sad. At all.

She rolled over in bed and sighed. The worst part, she told herself, was that she hadn't even had a chance to ask him about what happened between him, Misaki and the others. She wasn't even sure he knew she knew them.

Ah well. All's well that ends well; if, indeed, that was the end.

-line break-

"So, Fushimi, what do you have to report?" Reisi spoke over steepled fingers, the tips pressed to his lips as he gazed at his subordinate across the desk.

"Nothing, sir." Saruhiko replied, staring at a point a little above Reisi's right shoulder. "If there's something up with her, if she's a strain, then she doesn't know about it."

"I see." Reisi glanced down and swiped a finger across the screen of the tablet on the table in front of him. "I wonder. Fushimi?"

"Yes, sir?"

"I want you to read up on this tonight." Reisi handed him the tablet. "It's some new research we've been conducting into the appearance of Strains and the variants. Then wait a few days before going back and meeting with the girl again; maybe it'll give us some insight into what we're dealing with here."

"Yes, sir." Saruhiko stood up.

"Oh, and Fushimi?"

"Yes, sir?"

There was a hint of amusement in the King's eyes as he spoke; something Saruhiko always hoped he would never see again.

"There is nothing wrong with hormones. Please do not try and deny them. Dismissed."

Saruhiko looked as if he was about to argue back, but he just clicked his tongue and strode out of the room with barely a bow.

Stupid King.