Chapter 9

Rima shoved a thick folder under her arm and grabbed her cup of coffee. Trying to ignore the person with purple hair beside her, she walked out of her office, making her way hurriedly down the hallway. It was poker night once again, so she had to be quick if she wanted to make it in time.

The camping trip everyone had gone on was a disaster. After Utau had shown up, the host of the trip, Kukai, became a slave once more and lost all his energy to try to keep people entertained. It was amazing how even though no one wanted to be there, they ended up camping for nearly a week anyway. But since they were gone for so long, they missed last week's poker night. Tonight, they would make up for it by doubling the money they bet. Of course Rima wouldn't miss this for the world.

However, she didn't know what he was doing at the hospital. He always seemed to drop by her office whenever he had free time.

"Fujisaki, what do you want this time?" Rima asked, exhaling loudly as she pressed the button of the elevator. She tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for it to arrive. But it seemed to be moving a lot slower than usual.

"I figured I'd escort you to Kukai's apartment." Nagihiko replied with his trademark smile. The smile that could easily make anyone fall in love with him. Well, everyone except Rima, that is. "I mean, who knows, perhaps you'd get lost on the way, or worse."

The blond glared at him, turning on her heel and heading towards the stairs at the end of the unbearably long hallway. She had to admit that she did think everyone would be going to Amu's place again, instead of Kukai's.

She remained as silent as possible as the two walked together. A few nurses giggled as they passed by, beginning to whisper to one another while staring at Nagihiko. Rima had to admit, he was decent looking. But just decent, nothing more.

Glancing over at him, she slowed to a stop. He was suddenly wearing glasses. "Why are you wearing those?" She asked, raising a brow at him.

"These?" He clarified, tapping the frame of the glasses. He then shrugged, smiling in embarrassment. "They make me feel smart."

Rima just stared at him deadpanned. She was contemplating whether to blush at how good they made him look or to roll her eyes and say something like, 'Typical' or 'Idiot'. Instead, she kind of did a mixture of the both of them.

She tried to hide a blush as she allowed him to walk in front of her with her tagging along, scoffing under her breath.

Mainly she was scoffing at herself, at how ridiculous she was behaving. Blushing? Honestly? And over Nagihiko too! The petite blond shook her head at her nonsensical actions. Someone must have slipped something into her coffee. Something that was invented for the purpose of making you feel like you were in an alternate universe.

Personally, Rima hated that feeling with a burning passion. But she couldn't stop staring at him. It wasn't the glasses that made her act this way, it was the realization of just how handsome he was. Inside and out. Funny how the person who didn't have glasses was seeing clearer now.

"Those are fake, right?" Rima questioned, continuing to watch him.

Nagihiko turned to look at her, surprised that she wasn't continuing to ignore his presence. "Of course. I only wish I could have glasses." He replied with a soft chuckle following shortly after. "Why do you ask?"

She shook her head quickly, staring down at her gooey brown coffee. "No reason." She was losing her cool. She could feel it. Her heart was racing, cheeks were coloring, palms sweating, vision blurring, she even nearly tripped over air.

It was amazing how such a realization could hit you so hard it made your head spin. It was especially shocking when it happened at such a random time. Like now, while Rima was walking through the hospital.

Shaking if off as lack of sleep and running on coffee for the past few days, Rima cleared her throat and fell down the stairs. Well, she would have if Nagihiko didn't quickly hold onto her arm and pull her back. The two watched her coffee cup go tumbling and spinning down the staircase.

Dang it. She really liked that flavor, too!

"...Thanks..." Rima said oh so quietly before making her way safely down the stairs, with Nagihiko prepared to catch her if she fell again.

He smiled at her. That smile. "Funny how even you can have those clumsy moments." He commented while opening the door for her that led outside.

She shot him a look. "What's that suppose to mean?" This time she made sure to look in front of her while walking on the sidewalk, just in case her feet decided to randomly turn and send her walking into a car. What's worse is that it would probably be a parked one, too.

"Well, if you think about it, the only person we ever witness being clumsy is Amu. Never anyone else, let alone you, of all people." Nagihiko replied, eyes gazing off in the distance as if recalling all the klutzy moments Amu had experienced.

Rima simply shrugged in response. Her hand slowly made its' way up to her chest, feeling her heart thumping loudly against her ribcage. Of course it had to start occurring when she was alone with him. If they were in a group, it wouldn't be as bad, she figured, since Nagihiko's attention would be on the others and not just her.

And why did it have to be him? Up until now, she had never really seen him in that light. She guessed it was because all it took for someone to see clearly was to have a pair of glasses to walk into your life.

She suddenly bumped into Nagihiko's back, making her realize that he had stopped walking since they were at Kukai's apartment building already. Then again, he didn't live that far from the hospital to begin with, so it shouldn't have been that big of a shock to her.

Rima took a step towards the building, but stopped once he called her name. She turned on her heel, struggling to make eye-contact.

"Are you free Tuesday night?" He asked.

Thump-thump. Thump-thump. She hoped he couldn't hear her heartbeat. Rima shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. "Most likely. Why do you ask?"

Nagihiko's gaze wandered down to his shoes, which he suddenly found very interesting. "Do you want to have dinner?"

Slowly, she turned to face the apartment building once again, opening the entrance door. "Probably." She replied with a nod before scampering inside and up the stairs, plastering herself to the wall beside the door to Kukai's. "'Probably'?" She repeated to herself, squeezing her eyes shut and groaning. She couldn't have come up with a better answer?

She banged her head against Kukai's door instead of knocking. She definitely wasn't acting like herself. Usually she'd be calm and collected, but now, that went flying out the window.

A muffled, 'It's open!' sounded from behind the door.

Moving like she was a member of the living dead, she numbly pushed the door open, grabbing a seat next to Utau before Nagihiko could enter the room. What it was that made her so shook up was the fact that she had actually agreed to go out with him. On a date. She groaned once again, burying her face in her hands.

Utau arched an eyebrow at her friend then looked over at Nagihiko as he entered the room, automatically brightening it with the aura he had. Clearly he was in a good mood.

"Slave! Get back in here!" Utau bellowed.

Kukai booked it out of the washroom, zipping up his fly on the way to the table, stopping beside Utau. "Yes?"

The blond turned to look at him with a steady gaze. "Take a seat. The battle is beginning."

Ikuto, who was sitting across from Utau and Rima, smirked at the trembling brunette that sat down next to him. There was never a dull moment between those two.

The blue-haired male turned in his seat to face the living room, where Amu, Yoru and Tadase were watching an anime on TV. "You're not going to join us, Amu?" He asked as Utau dealt out the cards.

She looked over at him and shook her head, laughing at the invite. If he had remembered anything from his past, one of them should have been the fact that she was terrible at poker. The first time she played, she was trading cards with another poker noob, since he needed the ten of spades and Amu happened to have it. That just shows who's generous.

"Oh, right, you're atrocious at it." He commented with a smirk, turning back to the table. "Never mind. Yoru, you going to be on my team?" His eyebrows then slanted downwards as Yoru ran up to him, hopping onto his lap. How did he know she wasn't good at that game?

- A COUPLE HOURS LATER-

Rima did a quick scan of the table, noticing Kukai desperately trying to hold back a smile, Utau grinning creepily, Nagihiko watching Utau, and Ikuto staring blankly at his cards. "I'm in." She stated while adding in a few of her poker chips.

Utau cackled evilly. "Well, I am in too!" She announced, pushing a pile of her chips into the center of the table.

"Same here." Kukai stated, about to pick up a few of his own chips when he caught Utau's warning eye. "Uh, n-never mind, I'm out." He folded his cards onto the table, knowing that if he had won that match, his fate would've been even worse.

"I'm in." Nagihiko put in some of his poker chips, while Ikuto did the same, sharing a mischievous look with Yoru.

"Alright, show me what you got!" Utau exclaimed as she looked over at Rima, waiting impatiently for her to display her cards for everyone to see.

The petite girl flipped her cards, placing them on the table. "Full house." She replied calmly. Much calmer than Utau would have.

Speaking of Utau... Her quiet laughs grew louder and louder with every passing second. She looked menacing. She smacked her cards down on the table, and proclaimed at the top of her lungs, "Four of a kind! I beat you!"

Nagihiko sighed deeply, not bothering to show his cards since his hand was nowhere near as good as theirs were.

They all turned to look at Ikuto and Yoru, who were whispering to each other. Ikuto nodded, giving his cards to Yoru, letting him flip them to show everyone.

They gaped at the sight.

"Royal Flush." The father and son stated in unison.

Utau fell on her knees dramatically, pulling her hair elastics out. "NOOOOO!" She had lost again. Even after hiring someone to teach her how to be the best player, she still lost. Lost to the newcomer, Tsukiyomi. Perhaps that was why he hadn't played with them any other times, 'cause he didn't want to show off his talents just yet.

Rima hid a smile as she looked over at Yoru and Ikuto, who were both smirking. Making them look... very much... alike. She furrowed her eyebrows. It was almost scary how their looks resembled each other. As she thought of it, their personalities were similar too.

The petite blond's eyes widened as she looked from Amu to Ikuto, then stopped at Yoru. He had Amu's eyes and kindness, and Ikuto's hair and his playfulness. It was almost as if Ikuto was Yoru's...

That was it! That was why as soon as Ikuto had arrived in Seiyo, he and Yoru bonded just like that. They shared a connection that no one could replace. Which was why Ikuto was always looking out for the boy, always making sure he was okay. It was his instinct.

His.. fatherly instinct.

Rima covered her mouth with her hand out of shock.

They had been father and son this whole time.

Please let me know if there are any mistakes! I pulled another all-nighter for this chapter, so I'm sure there would be some errors. Time for sleep! MWUAH! Hugs to you and I hope you have an amazing day, 'cause you know what? You deserve it.