Hey everyone! Thank-you all for your reviews! *hands animelover a cookie* haha!

Once again, this one's out a bit later than usual... I felt a bit "edgy" about this chapter, and I have to pack for school! Ahhhh school, why??

...Here it goes!

~'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 pushed her hair back into a low ponytail to defend against the windy day. The wind wasn't chilly, only a slight degree less warmer than the overall temperature. It possessed a particular eeriness that Yuya kind of liked. Yesterday had been so stressful and confusing, but she felt relieved. Well, slightly relieved--she wasn't sure how awkward today would enfold with Shinrei...

She decided optimism was the best attitude of choice and started off towards school with a bit of a hop in her step. A little ways ahead, she spotted Kyo. Whether she was answering to the skip of her heart when she saw him, or simply found it necessary, she picked up her pace to catch up to him.

"Hey!" said Yuya, once she was at his side.

Kyo said nothing.

"H-hey!" she attempting again, beginning to feel alarmed. He must have not heard her...

Again, he offered no sign of acknowledgment.

Yuya's heart beat with fear.

Why is he ignoring me? she panicked. Desparate and impatient, she ran in front of him to block his path.

"Hey!" she yelled. Kyo halted and met her eyes. The peculiar wind blew between them. She tried to read his face. For someone with such red eyes, they appeared exceptionally cold. She pondered over all the possible reasons they could look this way.

Did something happen at home?

Did I do something wrong?

Was it because I hung out with Shinrei?

Why does Shinrei bother him?

Why?

"Are you ignoring me? What's wro--"

"God will you just shut up?" Kyo rubbed is ear, his mouth curled to signify his irritation. "Your voice is like this fucking endless annoyance."

"W-what?" Yuya said in a small voice. Kyo might have noticed the confused look in her eye. He suddenly grasped her shoulders. He leaned towards her. His face grew closer and she realized what he was going to do, so much fear welled up inside her that she pushed him away. When she finally dared to open her eyes, he was walking away again.

"Hey!"

Kyo turned towards her briskly. "Seriously, shut the hell up, don't come near me. I don't want to see your face."

The words slowly settled in like poison. She watched his back grow smaller and smaller until he was out of sight. Yuya felt like she was stinging. She felt nauseous. The whole day, she went through all the motions--laughed when someone joked, took notes when the teacher told her to, ate during lunch, but she wasn't aware of them. She might have felt reassurance that Shinrei could still speak to her like normal and they were still friends, but her mind was elsewhere. Shinrei asked if something was wrong.

She said "nothing".

Something was wrong. A knife was in her chest, and it pierced deeper when she saw that Kyo appeared fine. He laughed with Kyoshiro. He used someone else's chair as a footstool. He acted how he always did-- like he didn't just tell her he never wanted to see her again.

A few days went by and Yuya still felt ill. She kept hoping Kyo would get over whatever "it" was and talk to her again. However, he didn't. She realized the nausea wasn't going to subside until she faced it.

She knocked at his window.

It almost surprised her how short it took for him to answer, but once the window was opened, she was met by a pair of blood curdling eyes. He pushed her back.

"I told you, I don't want to see you again. You give me a headache. Fuck off!"

"Hey! B-but..."

The window slammed shut.

Yuya stared at the grass. The green blades turned blurry as she felt the tingly liquid slide down her cheeks. The tears kept coming as she made her way back home.

They ran along her face with the well water from her shower.

They dribbled down her neck and stained her pillow.

She had discovered a most terrifying truth.

She liked Kyo.

~'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'~

She couldn't admit it. She had to protect herself. She had to change her own mind. Over and over, she reminded herself that Kyo had never been that remarkably nice or friendly. Yuya reinerated all of his faults and evil doings. He called her a dog-face. He called her ugly. He insulted her time and time again.

I'm NOT going to like him.

I refuse.

You do not like that demon Yuya!

But she wouldn't stop wondering what she did to upset him.

Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. She wondered incessantly till it gave her a permanent headache.

Okuni would speak to him often, and every time, Yuya was stabbed.

It wasn't till she spotted Okuni clutching Kyo's arm that the knife in her chest finally penetrated all the way through.

Underneath layers of blankets, she hugged herself, afraid her bones might fall apart.

Her brother found her there.

"Yuya?"

"What?" she asked fiercely, while nearly suffocating underneath 5 layers.

As he stepped closer, Yuya surrendered a sigh. She slowly revealed herself form the covers and sat up. Her mussy hair and dark, irritated eyes only furthered Nozumo's conviction that something was wrong. The truth was, she wasn't all too unhappy to talk to him. The only people she'd conversed with as of late was that girl Midori and Shinrei, and talking to both of them was considerably unfulfilling. They could not ease her torment.

"You've been acting wierd lately."

"What? No I haven't, I'm fine." Yuya lied. She looked and sounded so lifeless.

"Yuya, I think I know my own sister. Seriously, I think this is the worst I've ever seen you. I'm worried. Have you eaten at all today? Do you have a fever?" Nozomu felt her forehead.

...Have I eaten? She marveled.

"Is it Kyo again?"

Hearing his name, she flinched.

Nozomu sighed. "Yuya, you know how Kyo is--"

"Kyo this, Kyo that. Why! Why is it always Kyo?" With wild eyes, she ruffled her hair, mussing it up even more. "He...that boy, he doesn't want to see me ever again!"

This sparked Nozomu's attention. "What? What do you mean?"

"He told me!" said Yuya, already feeling annoyed by Nozomu's surprise.

"No he didn--"

"Yes! He did!" she yelled. "But whatever! It's not like I care. I don't care! Now I can finally live in fucking peace!"

Nozomu eyed her. Yuya didn't look at him.

"But I mean, why should I be surprised? Hell, he has always treated me like shit. he calls me a dog! He thinks I'm ugly and stupid! Screw him!" Tears started coming again before she hold them back.

"He hates me!" she choked. She held her arms. "He doesn't want to see me ever again!"

Nozomu saw her falling into a bottomless pit of despair. He grasped her shoulders to bring her back.

"Yuya! Has he told you hated you?"

"He implied it! I am sure he hates me!"

Nozomu sighed. "Yuya," he said softly, "do you want to know what I think?"

"...what?"

Nozomu lowered his head to be at eye level.

"I think that boy's loved you ever since you were five"

It was like those words were like a heavy boulder dropped upon Yuya's head. Her eyes widened.

"What?"

"It's true, I really think so."

"Why?" she breathed. This was something she could never possibly dream of.

"Well, I could explain this in many ways, but I think I'll go for the more "Philosophical" approach. First off, if you really didn't like someone, would you care to hang around them? Go to their house? Talk to them?

"No..."

"Right. I think you've been seeing things differently than myself. You see, you've probably been viewing all the "mean" things he's done as a sign that "he doesn't like you", but to me, I see it that Kyo is obsessed with your existence. Think of all the times he was there. Hell, the boy practically owns most of your memories. He has always given you attention. He followed you in the woods. He teases you because he cares. He went to your room. You don't need to hide it, I know he's been in your room. You guys are so obvious..."

Yuya thought of this and her jaw dropped. Her brother was somehow making sense.

"But...he likes another girl now!"

Nozomu remained silent. He looked at her thoughtfully, almost saying "are you kidding me?"

That's when she felt that tiny creature crawl inside her whom she dared called hope. Before, she was dwelling in total darkness, but now, she could just faintly see a crack of light. Suddenly, she was restless.

Her heart beat loudly, like the resounding thud of a tennis ball hitting clay court.

"Nozomu, you're my favorite brother." she said.

"I'm you're only..." but before he could finish, she was gone.

Nozomu smiled.

Yuya was out the door.

~'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'~

He's loved you.

The words echoed inside her, resounding like an organ in a cathedral.

She had that feeling, that horrible feeling of despair. It made her chest feel so tight. It made her suffocate.

She had to see him right now, or her world might collapse.

She just wanted to see him.

She took off towards his house. She knew this path.

She remembered the first time she walked to his house in her pretty pink dress.

She remembered his haughty red-eyes.

She remembered when he first called her a "dog-face"

She glimpsed the pond.

She remembered fishing out her sandal.

Tears continued to trickle down her cheeks.

She remembered when they played cards.

She reached his window.

She remembered all the times she ever climbed through it. When she knocked on it until her knuckles bruised, so he'd open.

She had to get it open now.

She pounded on it.

No good.

No patience.

Maybe it's unlocked.

With her fingers, she desperately pushed up the glass. She felt it lift. For once, the gods were on her side. With one big thrust, she managed to hitch it open just enough to throw herself through.

She tumbled to the ground. She hurt both her knees. She barely noticed.

"Yuya?"

Slowly, she lifted her head to discover Kyo standing across his room. He looked surprised. His hair was slightly damp. He was holding a towel.

For a second, Yuya forgot everything.

"Yu.." He began again.

She remembered.

"I like you!" she choked

She remembered when he came to her room and slept in her bed.

"I like you!"

More tears fell.

She remembered when he captured her flag

"I like you." she said miserably.

She remembered when she let him leave.

"I like you!"

She remembered the sting of her arm.

"And I even like your cat!" she sniffled.

"And I don't like Shinrei! I don't! I told him so!"

"You don't like Okuni do you?" she asked pitifully.

She was drowning in anguish.

She remembered when she was kidnapped and he came to save her.

"I...I really like you!" she said, as if she were to die in a minute.

"I've always liked you and never knew it!"

"I lo--"

She didn't know when in the haze of her tears, Kyo had made it across the room, but now his hands were holding her face, a gesture she didn't even allow herself to imagine. His cyrstal clear, blood-red eyes glittered like finely cut rubies. The feel of his hands slowed her breathing. He pulled her towards him and held her close.

She was trembling so badly, but Kyo was warm. The patter of his heart, the gentle sent of soap, and the feel of his strong arms around her small frame, was so consoling that the torture she was feeling so powerfully before diminished. She didn't make one move, for fear he might let go.

He did let go.

Then she felt something soft against her mouth.

His lips.

Before she knew how it happened, she was clinging to him. Pent up emotions she wasn't aware she had now flowed from her freely. Kyo kissed her fiercely, roughly almost. The boy was feverish. He bit her lip. He stroked her back. She felt his tongue lick inside her mouth, making her nerves go ablaze.

She ran her fingers through his damp hair. She held his neck. She felt his breath. His slender, yet strong body cradled hers, keeping her bones from falling apart. This boy was dominating, but she didn't care.

This boy had loved her ever since she was 5.

When they finally separated, Kyo stood. He held out his hand and helped her off the ground. Yuya averted her gaze. She was blushing so badly, but she didn't let go of his hand.

"You should probably go."

She was dissapointed to hear this, but walked towards the window. She hesitated. She really didn't want to go, like she was a magnet being forced to go where she wasn't drawn.

Kyo caught this.

He took hold of her chin, and to her horror, she saw that grin.

"What's wrong? Did you want more?... ... ...Dooooooog-face!"

She was so ready to retort, but then she felt his warm mouth press against her cheek, and her anger dissipated.

"You really need to go" he whispered. He tugged the end of her shirt, "Or I might take this off."

First she froze. Then she unfroze.

"You, you PERVERT! You--! I-I'm leaving!"

But when she saw him laugh, it was like warm, sweet honey was flowing in her blood.

More flustered than she'd ever been before, Yuya somehow found her way to her room, and luckily evaded her know-it-all brother.

The happy, yet nervous, yet curious golden-haired girl couldn't sleep that night if she tried.

The phrase "16 and never been kissed" would never apply to Yuya Shiina.