Hello! Just wanted to thank you all for your reviews. I love hearing how you guys think and your ideas and your predictions! It brings a genuine smile to my face, and sometimes makes me giggle stupidly...then my mom will catch me in the act and be like "what's so funny?"

"...nothing mom!"

Also, I don't know if I should turn this to M right now (It'll probably turn M later) because of all the swearing haha, but Kyo's gotta swear damn it!

Okay Okay, Chapter 7:

~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~

Yuya squeezed her eyes shut and opened them. Surely, it would look different the second time...

She clenched her hands to keep herself from ripping the results sheet off the wall and tearing it to shreds.

"First place?" she asked, gritting her teeth. She should have known. The bastard had been ridiculously clever since they were kids. How else could he be so damn cunning? A shadow loomed over her and a chin suddenly rested against her shoulder.

"Better luck next time." said a voice too close to her ear. She jumped back to see Kyo soaking in his victory.

Kyo rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "What was that again...about being a delinquent and being stupid?"

Yuya growled. He was enjoying this way too much. She'd completely forgot that the grin he now wore was her whole goal in the first place.

"Now, now little puppy, there's no need to growl...oh that's right," Kyo moved his face closer so that they were at eye level, "you have to do whatever I say." Kyo patted her head. "Now be a good doggie!" and he took off.

"Argh!" yelled Yuya, kicking invisible things on the floor, "Stupid, stupid, stupid crow-head! Fricken blood-eyed monster-faced devil man! I'm gonna--"

"Yuya?"

The girl froze. Did the gods love to play with her or something?

"Oh, h-hi Shinrei..."

Shinrei's golden eyes observed her closely.

"Are you alright Yuya?" He asked, in a worried tone.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." she answered sheepishly. She rather guiltily realized she'd forgotten about him the past week. She didn't have the time.

Shinrei smiled warmly and Yuya's heart went pitter patter. "Well, I'll see you in class, Yuya."

"Yeah." she breathed. For some reason, it was always nice to hear a boy say her name.

Back in class, Yuya was now acutely aware of Shinrei's presence. She observed him thoughtfully. It always amazed her how he could be so "zen". She wondered if he ever raised his voice...

"Miss Yuya, what would be the answer to this equation?" inquired Mr. Nobunaga.

"Huh? I uh..."

Perhaps if you weren't staring at Shinrei the whole time I was explaining, you'd know."

The entire class giggled. Yuya flushed red. How much she wanted to strangle this loathsome teacher to death...

Lunch began, and to Yuya's immense relief, Shinrei spoke to her like he usually did, as if to say "you don't need to be embarassed."

"Yuya, I'd like to congratulate you on how well you did on your exams." His warm honey eyes glittered at her. Over half the female body had to be in love with him--this gentle prince.

"T-thank-you. I studied a lot and hardly slept. I'm pretty out of it right now..." stammered Yuya, laughing nervously.

Shinrei smiled.

"Ah, you have something in your hair." She stiffened as he reached towards her tresses, A delicate finger brushed one of her yellow ochre locks--"

"Yo dog-face!"

Both Yuya and Shinrei flinched. Annoyance and embarrassment welled up inside her. Why did she ever challenge him again?

"Get your ass over here." The whole class was tuned in, and Yuya tried to tune that certain fact out. She'd lost the bet, she had to go.

She stomped over to where he sat. His legs were propped up against a chair, as if he were at home on a sofa.

"What?" She asked impatiently. Kiyoshiro backed off and turned a page of his magazine adorned with half naked women.

"Be a good doggie, and feed me."

Yuya's body went rigid with defiance.

"No. Way."

Kyo mocked disappointment "Aww what's wrong, you don't want Shinrei to watch?"

"I don't want anyone to watch!" Yuya said fiercely, growing more and more indignant by the second.

He clicked his tongue. "I'm way smarter than that clod. He scored second on the last exams...and oh yeah," Kyo's lip curled into a taunting smile, "you got third."

Oh, how much Yuya wished to turn onto Kyo the way his cat did to her.

"Don't call him that! Shinrei's this school's prince! He's polite and calm...infact, there's a lot you could learn from him!"

Kyo's scarlet eyes burst into flame.

Uh-oh, maybe I went too far on that one? Yuya thought, feeling uneasy.

"Fine, if you're not gonna feed me, then I hope you're ready for the consequences."

As it turned out, Kyo's flaming eyes foreshadowed hell.

~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~

Yuya felt like a slave in ancient Egypt. He left her no quarter. Kyo had the girl carrying his books to and fro. He made damn sure she cleaned every square inch of his room. The boy even made her cook him dinner.

Yuya stooped over the sauce pan and stirred gingerly, For some reason, she really wanted this food to taste good. She found it easy to concentrate in this house. Kyo's house was always so quiet--a thick, tangible silence. It wasn't like her house where Akari always went off in hysterics over minor accidents and the T.V. was blasting even when no one was watching. Often, Nozomu brought his friends over. She stuck her finger into the broth and then licked it.

Hmm, needs more salt. She proceeded to shake a bit more into the soup when her neck prickled. She turned to see who was behind her.

"Oh, h-hi Mr. Muramasa!"

He smiled so kindly Yuya felt a twinge in her heart. This poor man, how long now has he been without his wife? Muramasa's face was gentle and sweet--making her wonder how he had a son like Kyo--but also wrought with pain-- a deep, penetrating pain from losing the one you love. She noticed he looked a bit older, wearier.

"Are you making something Yuya?" asked Mr. Muramasa, concealing his grief with attempted cheeriness.

Yuya beamed. "Yeah! I'm making chicken noodle soup, and it's all from scratch, even the noodles!" Yuya said proudly.

"Wow, I see. It's been a while since Kyo's had a legitimate dinner. I'm not so good at cooking myself. Usually he'll just pour some cereal and go off to his room..."

He smiled, but that grief graced his features once again.

"I'm truly thankful Kyo has a friend like you." Muramasa said before leaving the kitchen.

Yuya almost dropped the ladle she was holding. She was beginning to feel the early warning signs for tears: the throbbing heart, the light ache of the head...

This house felt so lonely, and Kyo grew up in it. She went back to her soup and became more serious than before. She hitched up her sleeves.

This soup was going to be tastey no matter what.

She poured each portion into three identical bowls and set them on the table. Excited, Yuya turned on all her senses while she watched Kyo intently; she didn't want to miss any gesture that would hint at what he thought of her food.

Kyo stilled after he placed the spoon brimmed with broth in his mouth. His head was down too far and his hair covered his eyes so she couldn't see them. What she could see--and she swore she wasn't imagining it--was Kyo's cheeks tinged red. She noticed Murumasa had a similar reaction.

That was enough. Yuya bubbled over with pride. She was enjoying this. She wondered how the air surrounding the table where they sat could feel so warm.

Yuya clapped her hands together. "Well, don't be shy! Help yourselves!"

It wasn't till she was about to leave that Kyo forcefully pulled her back and said so lightly she'd could barely make it out,

"Thank-you."

Yuya's blush stayed with her until she went to bed.

~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~'O'~

Yuya definitely wasn't blushing the next day when she was late to school because Kyo went over to her window and demanded she make him breakfast.

It's way too early for this.

When she stuffed down the omellette she fried for her and Kyo, she spotted him smirking haughtily at her.

What now?

It looks like you're gonna be late miss dog, I can drive you, if you want."

She nearly choked on egg she was chewing.

"You can drive?" She asked in disbelief.

Kyo didn't answer.

That lucky punk! She felt like she lost again.

"Well?" he drawled.

She swallowed her food and said defiantly, "No, I can walk! What waste of gas!" She also didn't want people to suspect anything between them, rumors were already starting to form that they were in a relationship...

Kyo just shrugged. "Suit yourself miss dog. I just hope that Nobunaga bastard will be understanding." He swung his keys around his finger and sauntered off.

"Argh!" Yuya thought more than said. At the moment, she was running towards school.

Right before she made it to the door, she tripped and skinned her knee on the pavement, and it stung like wild.

Yuya closely resembled a zombie by the time she dragged herself to her seat. Her curled hair was in a frenzy. She was too numb and tired to hear what Mr. Nobunaga had to say. She did however, catch a glimpse of Kyo, and he appeared to be on the cuff of laughter.

One of Yuya's veins must have popped.

I'm done, she thought wearily. I will be his slave no longer.

She successfully evaded him at lunch and all the rest of class.

However, when she was walking back to school, Kyo was sitting on the half-way bench (Yuya called it the half-way bench, because it was halfway between her house and the school).

Oh hell no, what now?

Kyo motioned to the space next to him.

"Sit girl."

"No. I'm not going to do what you say anymore. This bet is over, okay? I-it was only meant to last for a week, remember?" Yuya made up on the fly.

Kyo arched his brow. He obviously knew she was lying.

"Fine, It'll be over after you sit."

This answer was more than Yuya could have ever hoped for. She sat immediately knowing it would all soon be over. She could finally escape hell.

She awkwardly glanced at Kyo and doubled over when he put a cigarette to his mouth. As if by reflex, she thrust the cigrarette out of his fingers and threw it to ground.

"What the hell?" Kyo asked angrily.

"N-no!" said Yuya.

"No what?"

"No...smoking!"

"Why?"

"Cause it's bad for you!"

"So?"

"So it's bad, and you're not old enough!"

Kyo wiped his face with his hand in irritation, that was his last cigarette.

Yuya inspected him closely with widened eyes.

"You drink too don't you?" she accused.

"Only beer...and whiskey...and sometimes vodka--"

"God, what's happened to you!"

Kyo said nothing. Instead he pulled on one of her golden-yellow ringlets.

"Dog-face, when did you start curling your hair?"

"W-when, when...like later..." Yuya stammered.

"Well it looks weird as hell."

"Yeah well...your earings look weird as hell, and your hair is totally in your eyes!" She frustratedly tried to push back his fringes.

Kyo looked at her thoughtfully, possibly with a hint of amusement. She yanked her hand back, horrified.

This was getting awkward.

"Pull up your skirt." he commanded.

"W-what? No way!!"

He let out a huff of annoyance and then proceeded to pull up her skirt himself a little past her knee. She jerked back her leg, when she noticed what he was staring at. It was the scrape from this morning when she fell. The cut wasn't exactly bleeding, but it still stung like hell.

"Give me a bandaid."

"I d-don't have--"

"Yes you do, you're totally that type that carries around bandaids."

Yuya grumbled because he was right, she reached in her book-bag and handed him a polka-dotted bandaid.

When he laid the bandaid on her cut, she felt his fingers brush against her skin, and flushed madly. The girl thought her heart might beat right out of her skin...

What the two weren't aware of, was that somewhere off, a group of individuals were watching them.

To be continued (this green-eyed girl is still 16)...