Our dear patient readers

We finally succeeded! We know that it took an eternity and we apologise. We hate to say this since when we read it in other fics we just thought it was a big fat lie, but reality has kept us busy. The following chapters will probably take just as much to be posted, and we apologise in advance. Do not worry though, we intend to keep this fic running. We would also like to thank our beta reader, Puppeeter, for helping us making the story better. Hope you enjoy it! As always, your comments and suggestions are welcomed.

Kriseis and Zaza

"Your very silence shows you agree."

Euripides

The following day Yuki worked on the preparations for the grandfather's arrival till late afternoon. Keeping occupied she felt the time pass easier and thus she did not think too much about what reasons might there be behind his sudden wish to come visit. If only her father and brother were here as well, she would have her family reunited. But, of course, that would be too much to wish for. It was enough already that her mother and grandfather will be in the same room together. Her father's presence would make it even worse. Such a meeting would be more catastrophic than a hydrogen bomb. "Mother, father and grandpa would make a chemical reaction more spectacular than cold fusion." thought Yuki, smiling and falling onto the soft living room couch. It was time to take a well-deserved brake.

She looked around the living, satisfied with her work – a good exemplification of her great taste and intuition as an interior designer – modesty apart, she had to admit that decorating spaces for special events was her thing. All was ready to welcome the great coffee tycoon. She had worked hard from the early hours of the morning to make the most out of their modest living room which had a more practical side to it reuniting in the same space the sitting room and an open kitchen. Thus it was used more as a place to eat and watch TV – sometimes both at the same time – than welcoming such important guests. Besides tidying up the place, she changed the dark green draperies with some plain yellow ones in order to lighten up the room a bit – they matched perfectly with the light green walls, giving a sense of simple elegance. A short incursion into the local market place had solved the problem of the significant details. She had bought all the daffodils she could find – Takeshi's favorite flowers - and had filled the vases with them, scattering them around the room, replacing thus her mother's collection of Matryoshka dolls, which her grandfather couldn't stand. It took Yuki a while to find Kagura's treasured tea set – the one she intended to give to her daughter as a dowry – but now three beautiful cups were resting on the coffee table next to the sofa, while the matching teapot had been carefully placed on the little bar that partially separeted the kitchen from the sitting area. The most tiring part had been moving the plants around the room till she found the perfect spot for them. That had taken longer than ironing the curtains and the tablecloth, not to mention more physically challenging.

She knew that despite her effort to make the house look good, her grandfather will not see it with the same eyes as she and her mother did, but it was worth a try. The home she lived in with her mother was pretty spacious for the two of them, accommodating a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom downstairs, and upstairs two bedrooms and her mother's study (being a women's magazine editor gave Kagura the opportunity to work at home very often). Kagura was very proud of it because she had managed to buy it on her own, without receiving a cent from her ex-husband, she saw it as the fruit of her labor, and Yuki respected that. Of course, the house lost it value when compared with the Takashimizu estates, but this small house had a homey feeling for Yuki which none of the others did.

Yuki was about to go upstairs to her room when she heard a car stop in front of the house. What followed seemed to happen in a flash: she turned around immediately and rushed to the door, hitting her leg against the coffee table in the process." Ouch!" she squeaked while bending to rub her sore knee in order to lesser the pain. But by doing this she accidentally hit one of the vases which wobbled a little, being in danger of falling. Instinctively Yuki stretched out her right arm to catch it but lost her balance and fell, once more causing pain to her knees. Fortunately the vase was okay but the same couldn't be said about her legs. Too eager to see her grandfather, she got up and limped to the door, opened it and, to her surprise she bumped into Takeshi's chest.

"Grandfather, it's so nice to see you again! I'm so glad you came!" she said after resuming her upright position and looking straight into his face, with cheerful eyes and a big smile.

Takeshi embraced his granddaughter tightly and after a minute or two he released her and held her at a reasonable distance in order to see his pride and joy:

"Let me see my Yuki-chan better. My, my, Yuki, don't change so fast or your grandfather won't be able to recognize you anymore." joked the old man giving Yuki a wink.

"I missed you, grandpa" smiled Yuki, getting the allusion. "Come, let's get inside and make you comfortable! It has been a long trip." she said while gesturing for him to enter.

"Oh, the hardship I go through in order to see my Yuki-chan!" said Takeshi, playing the victim. If there was one thing he loved in his life that was seeing his granddaughter's joyful eyes.

"Oh, my poor, poor grandpa, he definitely deserves some coffee!" Yuki played along.

"Can't wait to taste it, I felt the coffee aroma two blocks from here" he answered. Then, turning to his chauffer "Please take the luggage to the main house and then come back and wait for me."

"As the master wishes." the chauffer answered politely, before getting in the car and driving away.

Minutes later Takeshi was standing in the living room, waiting patiently for the tea to be ready while Yuki was busying herself in the kitchen with arranging pastries on plates. He tried, without looking too suspicious, to observe the surroundings in which his only granddaughter grew up. Of course, he was not going to tell Yuki, but he couldn't help thinking that this was not enough for a granddaughter of his. Although the place seemed very nice and tastefully decorated, everything in the house had a purely practical use. There were no luxury items, nothing with which the other members of the family were used to. He was beginning to doubt that allowing Kagura to raise Yuki by herself had been a good idea. His attention was drawn by the pictures visible all over the room. There were some with Shinichi as a small boy, playing volleyball or dressed in his kindergarden uniform, more of Yuki, depicting all the important stages of her life, one or two with Kagura and her children. The only ones who seemed to be absent were him and Kazuo. "So, Kagura, you completly erased us from your life." the old man thought before hearing his granddaughter tell him:

"Mom is running a little late tonight, but she will make it in time for dinner." said Yuki coming from the kitchen with a tray containing the teapot and the two plates with cake.

"It's alright, that will just leave us more time to talk." he responded while sitting down on the sofa. Seeing that Yuki had finished pouring the tea in the cups, he motioned for her to take a seat next to him and said:" Tell me about yourself, Yuki-chan! How is life treating you these days?"

"Fine, grandpa, everything is fine. Graduation is only days away and I am excited about it. I hope you will stay in Tokyo until then."

"Of course I will. Like I would miss such an important day for you!" He had missed enough of those as the pictures had just reminded him.

"And my best friend is going to get married soon and she put me in charge of the wedding decorations and…" The sudden ring of the phone interrupted Yuki's idea: "Oh, sorry grandpa, but I must answer the phone. It might be mom. Maybe she can't make it after all…" She got up and went to answer the phone.

But as she soon found out, it was not Kagura.

"Yo, Yuki! Want to hear the latest news?"

"Akira! I was beginning to wonder when you were going to call!"

Takeshi's interest was suddenly focused on the conversation of those two. His granddaughter had told him many times about some of her friends, including the young man who called, but she never mentioned a boyfriend. Seeing her smile and laugh wholeheartedly, he began to wonder if he knew the whole truth. Maybe this Akira was in fact Yuki's boyfriend. A girl of Yuki's age, so pretty and sweet must have at least one suitor. Shigure and he hadn't thought about this possibility. Could he ask his granddaughter to give up her obvious happiness to satisfy one of his desires? Could he be so selfish?

"Sorry again, grandpa!"

She was still blushing when she went and seated herself by his side.

"Oh, it's alright Yuki-chan! My beautiful granddaughter has a busy social life, I understand. But you didn't tell me you had a boyfriend, you evil little girl!" A mischiveous grin had appeared on the old man's face, making Yuki blush even more.

"Ah… Akira is not my boyfriend." a tomato red Yuki replied. "We are just good friends…I don't have a boyfriend. My luck with boys had not been the best… and…"

Yuki was interrupted yet again, but this time by her mother's arrival announced by the sound of the keys and the opening of the front door. Kagura entered the room, with a bunch of flowers in her arms and a big smile on her face. She had forgotten that her ex-father-in-law was visiting.

"Look, Yuki! Aren't they the most beautiful flowers you have ever seen? Ah…I'm sorry, good evening Takashimizu-sama! It's nice to see you again." she said, more out of politeness then of sympathy.

"Good evening, Kagura! Long time no see." was the reply, in a cold, harsh tone, just like Kagura's.

This polite exchange of words seemed too cold to Yuki as well, so she decided to take the conversation in another direction while getting up and taking the flowers from her mothers arms:

"They are truly beautiful. Who are they from?" said Yuki pointing to the multi-colored flowers.

"From one of my readers. Apparently, I am a source of inspiration for her.", she responded winking to her daughter.

"Way to go mom!" Yuki congratulated her while filling another vase with water and putting the flowers in it.

"Hope I am not late for dinner."

"No, not at all. I was just going to get up and get ready. You and grandpa can catch up."

Leaving those two alone may not have been one of Yuki's best ideas. But still, she went to her room. The smiles on Kagura's and Takeshi's faces only lasted till they heard the door of Yuki's room close. Then, the battle began:

"Why are you really here? I'm having troubles believing that you just wanted to see Yuki. You are not the kind of man who does things without ulterior motives." Kagura began.

"Maybe I just wanted to see for myself Yuki's living conditions. I should have never let her stay with you! I see that now. She would have had everything she desired in my mansion."

"There are people whose lives are a lot worse than ours. Believe it or not. Yuki had everything she needed and at least she grew up in a loving environment. I doubt that would have happened in your mansion. She grew up to be an independent woman, not a pampered brat who throws his toys away when he's tired of them, like your son."

"That's enough, Kagura! I haven't gone through all this trouble just to have another fight with you. I came to talk to Yuki." growled the old man. She had really pushed his buttons.

"About…?"

"If you really must know, a marriage proposal." His voice was again calm. He was in control of the situation.

"Ah, not that nonsense again! You failed with Kazuo and now you wish to torment Yuki? Maybe fate doesn't want to have yours and Shigure's family united. I will not let you use my daughter for your selfish purposes." Kagura had raised her voice by now, her cheeks were flushed and her palms were closed into fists. This indisturbable attitude of his was driving her mad.

"I'm not asking for your permission. I'm just telling you the reason for my visit. Yuki-chan is old enough to decide by herself."

"You bastard! She will never accept!" she yelled, swiftly getting up, hitting the coffee table with one of her fist.

The fight had reached the point where Yuki couldn't ignore it anymore. Her last preparations were done in a hurry and she went to the living room in order to settle the fight between her two loved ones. When she finally got downstairs, it was worse. They had stopped yelling at each other but the tension was so thick that you could cut it with a knife.

"You were fighting?" pulling in an angry breath " I left you alone for less then five minutes!"

"Do you know what your beloved grandfather plans to do? He wants to marry you to some stranger so that he can fulfill a silly dream of his."

"What are you talking about?" asked Yuki, a little confused. "Grandfather, is that true? What is this all about?"

"That's putting it roughly…" reacted Takeshi in a calm tone, totally different from Kagura's. "Let's just go to dinner and I'll explain everything to you then."

"Alright, let's go then! Mom, are you ready...?"

"I've lost my appetite. You go if you want to." replied Kagura in a stiff tone.

Yuki looked undecided and disconcerted at her mother and grandfather. Her mother was clearly upset, she did not want to leave for dinner without her, but on the other hand, she did not want to turn down her grandfather's invitation either. She had put so much effort into making this evening pleasurable and it had all been ruined in an instant. Why couldn't her family be a normal one? Was it so much to ask for?

"Mom…" Yuki found herself calling without being able to finish the sentence. What was she supposed to say in this kind of situation? It was impossible to choose. She could not let her grandfather down; he had traveled a long distance to see her, they barely saw each other as it was, and besides, she wanted to know more about the "arranged marriage" thing. She had never seen her grandfather as a man with outdated principles. What was this sudden plan of his? But what about her mother? Could she just leave her in this state? It was obvious that that the discussion with her grandfather had roughly shaken her mother's temper.

Seeing disorientation and exasperation written on her daughter's face, Kagura gave in and spoke to Yuki in a calmer tone:

"You can go to dinner with your grandfather. You must settle things once and for all. We will talk when you get back. Just don't take any rushed decisions, okay?" Then she added, while stroking Yukis hair and adjusting the little ruffles from the collar of her baby-blue dress: "Look how pretty my baby is!"

Not long after, Yuki left. Being a smoker, Kagura discovered that sometimes not even cigarettes could calm her down. She needed to argue with someone, to put some order into her thoughts by verbalizing them. The quarrel with Takeshi had not been enough. She had always found it impossible to properly fight with him because of his distant, indifferent and mostly stubborn attitude. So, she did the only thing she could do, she called her ex-husband.

"Kagura, make it quick. I have a meeting in half an hour and I can't be late." was Kazuo's terse reply.

"I'll skip the small talk then. Your mentally unstable father wants to force our daughter to marry a total stranger." Kagura was surprised by how coherent she seemed to be during such a crisis.

"I thought he had given up on his old plans. But since Shigure has two grandsons, I suppose he wants to marry Yuki to one of them. And what do you want me to do?"

Kagura lashed out in frustration: "Stop him, of course. He's your father and you can't let him ruin Yuki's life. She's your daughter too, get more involved in her life!"

"If you really want to know, it's not the worst idea he ever had. Shigure's company has increased its profits by forty per cent last year. Merged, our two companies would dominate the market in Japan and, who knows, maybe the European ones also."

"You are worse than I thought. We're speaking about your daughter's future, not some profitable business."

"My father may be capable of many things, but he won't do anything against Yuki's will, you don't have to worry about that. And Yuki is old enough to decide by herself what she wants. Stop trying to control her!"

"Is that all you have to say?"

"If you were trying to turn me against my father, you've got the wrong person. If Yuki is okay with it, I fully support my father's plan."

"She will not fit in! She is not a part of your and your father's world!"

"And whose fault is that?"

Kazuo hung up without adding another word, leaving Kagura even more infuriated than before the conversation. In cases like this, in her opinion, there was one thing left to do: get another cigarette and let the smoke that filled her lungs calm her down.

xxx

Dinner had been an extremely awkward affair and lacked any major revelation till desert. Although Yuki was a little anxious about the discussion that would surely follow the last course, she managed to put a smile on her face and talk about everyday matters with her grandfather. Takeshi on the other hand was anxious, not knowing how to introduce the taboo subject without causing his granddaughter more discomfort than necessary. He had deliberately postponed the impending marriage discussion until after dinner, careful enough not to cause his dear Yuki-chan indigestion.Unfortunately it seemes he might be suffering that condition before the night is over. "This will be the decisive moment. Now or never." thought Takeshi. He put the coffee cup on the table and coughed two times in order to get his granddaughter's attention.

"My dear Yuki-chan, I know that you patiently waited for me to retake the subject left unfinished before we left for the restaurant. Things are not as shocking as they might have seemed to you the first time."

Feeling a knot in her throat, Yuki left the tiramisu unfinished and focused all her attention on what her grandfather had to say.

"Don't worry. Grandpa has no intention of forcing you into an arranged marriage. You will enter this engagement on your own will. What I am asking you is to give it a chance." Takeshi began telling Yuki about his and his best friend's dream and the vows they made to make it come true.

All her grandfather's enthusiastic talk touched poor sentimentalist Yuki, who for the most part was convinced to accept Takeshi's proposition. Still, something stopped her; maybe the voice of reason that told her that reality is different from the fairy tale with the prince and the shining castle, maybe her mother's words or maybe just some feelings for a person she already had given up…something was screaming at her to not open her mouth and say something for which she might repent later.

Looking at Yuki, who was playing with the spoon trough what remained of a once beautiful piece of tiramisu, Takeshi realized that it was useless to try and get an answer from her that night. He smiled tenderly and continued...

"It's alright; you don't have to give me an answer right now. Think about it and tell me when you've made up your mind."

Yuki raised her eyes from the plate, returned her grandfather's smile and uttered an almost whispered: "Yes."

Her silence was becoming unbearable. He had succeeded to make his always cheerful granddaughter, silent and serious. Seeing her like this, Takeshi noticed Yuki's resemblance to her father and brother. He had always seen Yuki as very different from Shinichi, almost opposites. His grandson was the realistic, serious and straightforward kind of person, while Yuki was the cheerful, innocent, dreamy type of girl.

"Have you heard from your brother lately?" asked Takeshi, trying to break the silence. Talking about Shinichi always brought a smile on her face.

"Oh yes, he called me yesterday. I told him you were coming. He was happy because he had closed a deal with aaahh…a company with which they had been talking for a month about a possible merger, a chain of coffee shops, but I forgot its name. What was it called? Dunno…think…think…"

"Café Preto?" helped Takeshi.

"Oh yes, that one. We joked about the fact that if I went to Brazil he would let me take care of the Café's designs. And he promised me that if he is free, he'd come to my graduation as well. Oh, and he already sent me the most wonderful dress to wear at the graduation party. You must see it grandpa…"

Takeshi watched his Yuki talking effortlessly about her brother. It seemed that he had managed to lighten her up. The conversation lasted for about half an hour more, and then he ordered the bill and they left the restaurant. It was already late and he was sure that Kagura was, by now, like a lion in a cage, waiting for Yuki to get back home. Although she had managed to repress her anger in front of Yuki, he had never seen the look that woman gave him when they left on her face before. If looks could kill, he would have died on the spot.

xxx

"Come on, Akira, you told me that you would take me to the newest place in town and now you brought me to this old club?"

"Soujiroh, trust me! You will have the time of your life."

Why was it that the phrase "trust me" spoken by Akira had the opposite effect? Soujiroh and Akira were out, on one of their white nights again. They had just got out of their cars and were about to enter the club. Knowing that Soujiroh was back in town, the owner of the club had prepared a special night for him. A club where Akira and Soujiroh spent at least some hours was due to be filled in no time. They were good publicity.

Soujiroh was looking around, trying to see who else had been dragged to this party, when he thought he spotted Yuki. He couldn't be sure it was her, but turned anyway towards Akira and said:

"Hey, isn't that Yuki? The girl over there, getting into that grey limo?" pointing to a slender silhouette stnading next to a very posh, very expensive car.

"Where? Ah, you know, I think you are right for once. Let's go say hello."

"No way! Can't you see that she is obviously not alone? It would be rude to interrupt." For some unexplainable reason he didn´t want to know who was with Yuki.

"Rubbish! Friends care about each other and can communicate every time they want to. I'm not you, I call her more than just once a year. I haven't seen you and Yuki talk even once since you got back. What's wrong with you two?"

"Nothing. I just didn't get the chance to see her." Soujiroh calmly stated, turning his back to Akira and going ahead to the entrance, leaving his friend to wonder what was really going on.

Not wanting to get into an argument with Soujiroh, Akira just dropped the subject. He'll get to the bottom of this some other time…

"I spy with my eyes a naughty girl who didn't tell us she had a date. Who is the lucky guy?" Yuki read the message from Akira. The only features of her face that did not blush in that moment were her ears.

"Oh, that Akira! So, he wants to play, does he?" giggled Yuki while texting a reply: "Wouldn't you like to know?!"

If Akira sent her this, he must have seen her. That meant he was in close range. She turned around in the direction the commotion was heard. For a second her heart stopped when she saw the person standing next to Akira. She hadn't seen Soujiroh in such a long time. It was amazing, even to her, that she had made this decision. She smiled and bowed her head to them, not being able to take her eyes off of Soujiroh. He was smiling as well. Was it her imagination or the distance that did not let her distinguish too well their expression? The car started to run and Yuki returned to a proper position, in more silence than during dinner.

Takeshi looked at Yuki but did not ask her anything. He was just content to smile reassuringly at her and keep quiet for the rest of the ride. There were too many things he did not know about Yuki's life. Who was this Akira guy for whom Yuki blushed and at whose sight had she been reduced to a most uncomfortable silence?

xxx

After leaving Yuki in the safety of her home, the driver took Takeshi to his mansion in Tokyo. As he entered the house, he was welcomed by the butler, who, while he had been gone, had made all the arrangements for his master to feel most comfortable. If one wished to describe Hisoka in a single word, it would be efficiency.

"Good evening, Takashimizu-sama! I hope your dinner with Miss Yuki has been most enjoyable!"

"As always, Hisoka, as always. Did something happen while I was gone?" he asked while taking off his coat and handing it to his butler.

"Master Kazuo called, sir."

"My son?! Did he leave any message for me?"

"Oh yes, sir. He asked the master to call him back. He wanted to know more details about the arranged marriage you planned for Miss Yuki."

"Kagura did not waste time. News travel fast, don't they, Hisoka?"

"Indeed they do, sir. Indeed they do."

So, Kazuo had already found out about his plans. He was certain that his son wouldn't be against this arrangement. The Nishikado family was one of the most influential in Japan. As his son probably saw things, the engagement will only strengthen the business relationships between the two "empires". The old man did not have any doubts about getting his son's approval on this matter. Not that it mattered too much. Neither his nor Kagura's opinion mattered too much. The only approval that Takeshi needed was that of his granddaughter. If Yuki gave him a positive answer he would go to finally making his dream come true. With these thoughts in mind Takeshi took a seat in one of the armchairs in the library. A good book and a nice evening tea will give him his much needed rest.

The butler came in, carrying a tray with the tea and a plate of assorted cookies. He carefully put them on the small table that was in his master's reach and bowed to leave.

"Hisoka" Takeshi called in a decided tone "when we get back to Nikko please take care of all the arrangements for Yuki's arrival.

"As you wish. I'll have little Miss's room be prepared for her stay. If I may sir, when will we get the pleasure to have her in Nikko?"

"In a week's time…"

The butler retired, leaving once again his master to his books and thoughts.

Irrespective of Yuki's answer about the marriage, he will have her stay with him at Nikko this summer. About that he will not accept "no" for an answer. His granddaughter will take her rightful place in the family. Many things he had experienced today had made him come to this decision. But most of all, there had been one little incident that happened at the restaurant which made Takeshi's blood pressure rise. Yuki signed the restaurant's guestbook as Matsuoka Yuki. She was a Takashimizu. Why did she sign the guestbook with her mother's maiden name? That was unacceptable for Takeshi. How could Kagura go this far as to deny Yuki's descend and how had it been possible for Kazuo to allow such a preposterous thing?

xxx

Yuki was sitting on her bed, chin resting on her knees, playing with her mobile phone. Tonight she couldn't think of Akira without having her thoughts immediately jump to Soujiroh, which she did not like at all. She had already decided that she had given up on him and she remembered exactly how it happened…

In Soujiroh's last year of college, Yuki had decided to go study for a semester abroad in a University in London. She had abandoned all her certainties in life – her mother, her friends, and her way of life – in order to be close to him. Her brother had been the only person whom she knew in that vast city and since Shinichi was busy most of the time, his girlfriend couldn't spent all the time with her, and Soujiroh was his usual self, those had been the loneliest six months of her life. Still, she endured everything without complaining just for the slight chance to see him once in a while. The only thing that kept her going was the memory of him mentioning, the first time he had seen her, that he was happy she was there.

Seeing that he obviously missed his friends, an idea popped into her head, to throw a party for his graduation day, reuniting the F4. She called Tsukushi and told her to take care of things in Japan while she did the actual planning of the party. Those had been the happiest days of her stay in London. She actually did have things to take care of and didn't feel so out of place anymore. But nothing went according to the plan.

The five of them – the F3, Tsukushi and Yuki – waited all night long for the guest of honor to come. Which of course, only made Tsukasa furious; Rui, obviously frustrated, retired into a corner and kept silent most of the night. Akira kept repeating that surely Soujiroh had a good reason to miss a party especially thrown for him, but Tsukushi suspected that not even him believed what he was saying. The only person who was probably thinking the worse, was Yuki. She couldn't get out of her mind the picture of him lying in a ditch somewhere, bleeding to death.

"Will you try calling him again, Akira, please! Maybe this time he will answer." asked a very anxious Yuki.

The truth was Akira knew very well what it meant if Soujiroh didn't answer his phone, but chose to keep quiet. And he knew his presuppositions had been correct when his friend finally appeared. He looked less groomed than usual, his hair was ruffled, his shirt not buttoned properly, he seemed a little drunk and the blonde supermodel on his arm didn't leave a trace of a doubt about what he had been doing.

This only seemed to infuriate even more, if it was possible, Tsukasa. The F4 leader walked right up to Soujiroh, hit him in the face and told him:

"You asshole! Do you know how long we have been waiting for you? Or how hard did the girls work on this party?"

And then he left, slamming the door. The one following him, probably to try and calm him down, was Tsukushi. The next one to leave was Rui, but in a much more pacifistic manner. He felt content with just looking Soujiroh in the eyes and telling him,

"This time you really screwed up."

Ah, Rui, always the voice of reason!

If Akira was disappointed in Soujiroh, he did not show it. He chose to tackle the practical aspects of the problem and offered to take the young lady who came with his friend home, since Soujiroh was not really in condition to do so. Not forgetting though to order his chauffer to make sure that his best friend got home and that Yuki reached her brother's apartment safely.

She was the only one left, sitting quietly in a chair in the opposite side of the room. She had almost fallen on it on seeing Soujiroh arrive safe and sound, and now she felt that she couldn't get up. Just as she couldn't take her eyes off of him, even though tears were beginning to slowly slide on her cheeks.

"Well, there is only you left now. Aren't you going to say something as well ?" asked Soujiroh while gingerly caressing his soon to be very bruised cheek.

"I don't think I have anything left to say to you. For so many years I've tried to get through to you, to make you feel anything…"

"So what do you want from me? To turn you into one more of those replaceable women that hop into my bed? I thought we were more than that. We are friends."

Silence filled the room for a few minutes before Yuki found the strength to get up from her chair and utter a few last words before leaving the room.

With her back to Soujiroh, she whispered: "Fine, I finally understand now. I give up…"

For some unknown reason she couldn't get rid of the image of a drunken, badly dressed Soujiroh standing in the middle of the hall. He didn't respond or try to stop her, Yuki wasn't even sure if he had heard her. And since then they hadn't seen each other. Until tonight. In all these years Yuki understood that Soujiroh had an addictive quality for her: Once he entered her thoughts, she couldn't…wouldn't escape his image. So much of her life had been decide according to what he did or failed to do. It didn't surprise Yuki that the final argument to help her make up her mind was provided by the memory of that day. Old habits die hard after all.

Sighing, she got up. Yuki knew that her mother couldn't sleep either, and somehow, she felt that Kagura should be the first one to be informed about her decision. Yuki found her mother in her study, smoking and scribbling furiously on a piece of paper. That is how Kagura's best articles were written.

Standing in the threshold of the door, Yuki mustered all of her courage and said:

"Mom…"

"What is it darling? Why are you up?" Kagura asked without looking away from her papers.

"Mom, I've been thinking about it…"

"About what?" she inquired, this time with more interest.

"About what grandfather asked me. I think I'm going to accept it…"