Ryoma counted the money. Okay, three thousand, just right. He had worked his butt off this whole week just to get that same amount of money… He never knew working part time could be this hard. He had to give it to Sakuno, who had been working part timing ever since half a year ago. Furthermore, the kind of job she does…

He sighed. Never mind, he will get Sakuno out of that job as soon as possible. That's the reason why he had been working his butt off right now.

He kept the money into his pocket. He was about to open the door until he hesitated. Oh right, he was grounded…

"You have been going out to work, and going out during Friday nights, so much so that you have been neglecting your schoolwork. It's unforgivable that you only gotten a B in your English. English, Ryoma, how could you not get an A in your English? What have you been doing all these times? Why are you spending so much time trying to earn money?"

"…"

"Answer me Ryoma!"

"…"

"And tell me how did you deteriorate in your math, all the way to a 'D'? This is outrageous! And you sciences, isn't science your favourite subject? What's with the low 'C'? Huh? How do you explain yourself?"

"…"

"Don't think that your mum is an idiot, because I know exactly where you go every Friday. You were going to the Aging Bar, weren't you?"

"…How…?"

"You really think your mum's an idiot, don't you? That's why all your money that you earned was never saved, right? You spent it all in that bar, right? You spent so much time and effort just to go to that bar, and neglecting you studies! Like father like son, you are just like your father! I don't mind if you go to that bar once in a while, maybe you have grown up, I can't stop you. But if you are going to neglect your studies because of this, I won't allow it!"

"…"

"Echizen Ryoma, from now on, you are grounded, you hear me?"

Damn it. Okay, so he could not go by the front door. He could still sneak out. He opened his window, and tucked his wallet safely inside his pocket. He climbed out carefully, and jumped down, landing on a roll to minimise the impact. Alright, he would just run there, and accompany Sakuno for thirty minutes, then do whatever business he had to do with Carrie, and quickly get back here. No one would realise that he was gone…

"And where do you think you are going, young man?"

Shit. Ryoma turned around slowly, only to meet his mother, standing in front of him, livid. Why is it that his mother always seems to know what's he's doing and what he's going to do? Do all mothers read minds or something? He cursed under his breath. This is bad…

"You think I don't know that you would sneak out? Ryoma, how long have I been your mum? I know everything about you as if it was back of my palm?" Rinko said through grinding teeth. "Get back to your room. Now." She ordered.

"M…mom…" Ryoma stuttered. This is bad. If he's caught like that, he could never dream of finding Sakuno now… But if he doesn't go to the Aging Bar now, how would he give the money to Carrie, and how would Sakuno get the money? If he did not go, Sakuno would also need to serve two more customers in order to get the same amount of money…No. He must go to the Aging Bar, no matter what. "I…I promise I'll be back by nine. I'll study very hard from today onwards, just let me go…"

"This is going too far, Ryoma. You messed up your studies, you spent all your time going to that Aging Bar, which is so infamous and notorious, and now you have disobeyed your mum! And you still want me to let you go to that place? What have you become, Ryoma? Are you addicted or something? Why have you changed so much? Did your dad influence you so much?"

Ryoma frowned, frustrated. "You don't understand, mom…"

"I don't understand? Oh yes I understand you very much. You get back to your room while I give you some proper sex education."

"I can't."

Rinko blinked at his son's answer. "W…what?"

"I'm going. You can't stop me." Ryoma stated.

"You are going back to your room!" Rinko barked, grabbing Ryoma by his arm, and pulling him towards the house.

Ryoma stood in his position, unmoving. No matter how Rinko pulled, he still would not budge. After all these years of training did make him stronger than his mother.

"Y…you insolent…" Rinko raised her hand and slapped Ryoma. She grabbed Ryoma, whose face had turned painfully red, dragging him to his room.

Ryoma shook off Rinko, and pushed her away. Rinko fall back, face paled with shock, as Ryoma ran away.

"Echizen Ryoma! If you run away to that despicable place, then do not come back again!" Rinko shouted at the running Ryoma. Tears formed in her eyes. Her son, he used to be so innocent and obedient…how could he have turned into this…perverted, and rude… Is it puberty? She slumped to the ground, as she continued crying her eyes out.

This was the first time Ryoma disobeyed his mother.

XxXxX

The door opened. "Ryoma-kun!" Sakuno said happily when she saw the familiar face.

Ryoma smiled slightly. "Hi." He said simply.

"Here you go, ponta for you." Sakuno said, as she brought out the pontas she had been holding on to. She knew Ryoma would want ponta, so she just brought it along with her when Fanny told her 'your regular's here'.

"Thanks." Sakuno said sincerely as Ryoma drank his ponta.

Ryoma sighed. "Must you always say that every time I come?"

Sakuno looked down, slightly embarrassed. It had been one month already, ever since Ryoma became her regular. Ryoma had indeed helped a lot. A regular did help you earn a lot more money. "But I have to thank you. You have been helping me all these times…"

Ryoma smiled wryly. "I told you already, it's okay."

Sakuno nodded, though she sensed something wrong with Ryoma's smile today. "Ryoma-kun, is…something bothering you?"

Ryoma stared into space, as he mumbled. "Ryuuzaki…"

"Y…yeah…?"

"You know…you have been making my lunch all these while…"

"Yeah, it's only right for me to do something for you…since you have been doing so much for me…"

"…Could you…make my breakfast and dinner, too?"

Sakuno blinked. "I…I guess I could…why? You're not going to eat at home?"

Ryoma averted his head, as he pulled his cap down (a sign of guilt, Sakuno had learnt). "I ran away from home."

"What?" Sakuno shouted, and then covered her mouth as she realised she was too loud. "Y…you ran away…from home?" She added, softer this time.

Ryoma did not answer, but Sakuno knew that means 'yes'. "You did it for me, didn't you?"

Ryoma glanced at her. "It has nothing to do with you, don't think too much."

Sakuno bit her lips. Even though Ryoma denied it, but she was sure that it has everything to do with her. After all, why would he run away from home? His mother must have not allowed him to come to the bar today, that's why... It was all her fault!

Ryoma stared at Sakuno. He sighed. He knew Sakuno would think everything was her fault no matter how he denied it. Though it was true, it was all her fault. But he did not blame her. After all, he did it ever so willingly. And he did it so that Sakuno would be happy. Now with her blaming herself, it totally ruined his objectives. "Come here." He beckoned.

"?" Sakuno moved towards Ryoma, curious at Ryoma's order.

Ryoma's hands immediately wrapped around Sakuno's waist, and pulled her closer. "R…Ryoma-kun…?" Sakuno exclaimed in consternation, as she felt Ryoma's head resting on top of her head.

"Shh, don't make a sound." Ryoma whispered to her ears. "I'm very tired, and exhausted. So let me rest here for a while…"

Sakuno blushed, as she felt Ryoma snuggled into her hair, tightening his grip around Sakuno's waist. Ryoma was planting small but rather wet kisses on her hair, which made Sakuno blushed even more. "I ran away from home…because of my grades…I've been doing very badly in school nowadays…my mom just got so …pissed at me…it has nothing to do with you…really." Ryoma said, kissing Sakuno's hair after every pause.

It felt so good…the way Ryoma was holding her and kissing her. Ever since she took on this job she had been hugged and kissed by many different guys, and she always felt disgusted about it, but had to hide her disgust. However, even though whatever Ryoma was…doing to her was the same as those other guys, the feeling was different. She felt as if…as if she wanted him to kiss her more, to hug her closer, to never stop kissing her because it felt so…Sakuno could feel herself burning in her cheeks when Ryoma smelled her hair in a deep, relieved breath.

"If…if you are deteriorating in your studies…I can…help…then we can do schoolwork every Friday, instead of just us sitting here doing nothing." Sakuno said, with much difficulty, as her breathing was getting deeper and quicker.

"Okay…thanks…Sakuno…" Ryoma whispered as he moved his head down to lean against Sakuno's neck.

"R…Ryoma-kun…" Sakuno shrieked a little when Ryoma bit a part of her neck.

"Y…you don't mind…me calling you…by your last name…do you?" Ryoma asked, kissing Sakuno's neck.

"Huh? I…I…don't…ah!" Sakuno shrieked as she grabbed Ryoma's pants and gripped it tight. She panted, as she felt Ryoma licking her neck. "I…I don't mind…Ryoma…kun…But where…will you be sleeping today…if you are…not going back…to home…?"

Ryoma answered, kissing Sakuno's neck after every pause, going further down her neck every kiss. "I hope…I can sneak in…if not…maybe I'll jus stay…at…Momo-sempai's house…I don't know…if I said I want to go to your house…and sleep in…your room…in your bed…together with you…would you agree…?"

"…I don't mind…"

Ryoma stopped his tasting of Sakuno's neck, and turned Sakuno around so she could face him. "You…don't mind…?" He asked again, blushing a deep crimson red.

"Y…yeah…since…my grandma's not at home…and my parents don't live with me…" Sakuno said. "Y…you can come over my house…I don't mind…us sharing…a bed…" Sakuno's voice gets softer and softer as she spoke, but Ryoma could hear it clearly.

"…so…I'll stay at your house tonight…then…" Ryoma said, trying not to smile too widely, as he trembled with excitement.

"Y…yeah…" Sakuno nodded.

Ryoma caressed Sakuno's head for a while, when he suddenly sat up straight, composed himself and pushed Sakuno away from him, then seated himself far away from her. He coughed a bit, embarrassed, before saying. "Thanks for letting me stay at your house. But…I don't think it's wise to let me sleep in…the same bed…I don't think what I did just now was wise too…I was rash…please…forgive me." Ryoma said, fidgeting with his signature hat.

Sakuno fidgeted too. Just now…really was awkward. She had no idea why Ryoma started doing that. It was so weird, since they've never really been so close before. It kind of shocked her, but she just...blended into it so well...well, in a way, she had been waiting for quite some time for this kiss to happen...it felt…so good. But it was...wrong...and judging by what Ryoma said, he was probably not going to do that anymore; that's a pity…I really wanted him to kiss me again…

Sakuno shook her thought away. "O…okay…erm...Ryoma-kun…meet me outside here at 9pm, we…we'll go…home…together…"

Ryoma nodded, adjusting his hat. "…okay."

XxXxX

Ok! End of Chapter! Well I think the ending of the story is weird… but ANYWAY!

I'm back from China phew. I seriously don't get how people in China lived without facebook, twitter, youtube and blogspot. -.-

Alright, I'll update faster now don't worry! :)