I'm sooo sorry that I'm late! Please forgive me… Hope you enjoy this chapter…

XxXxX

Ryoma fidgeted, as he looked up at his house. His house door has never looked that intimidating before in his whole life.

He sighed; this is all Sakuno's fault. Why did he have to go and apologise? This is so not Ryoma-like… anyway, a promise is a promise… he had promised Sakuno that he would come apologise (with the fact that she would do anything he asked her to later), he raised his hands with much efforts, and knocked the door reluctantly.

Ryoma waited in front of the door, heart beating faster than normal, even faster than when he was playing a tennis match. The feeling when you are nervous really sucks, Ryoma thought. It had been quite some time since he last felt butterflies in his stomach… When the door opened, his heart stopped a beat.

Goodness, it's so embarrassing, THE Ryoma having to apologise…

"Meow!" A cat jumped on Ryoma.

"Oof!" Ryoma hugged his cat just in time. "Karupin, you shocked me…" He said, ruffling the cat's furry white coat. "Did you miss me?" He asked, kissing the cat gently. It has been weeks since he last saw the Himalayan cat, he really missed the cat. Even though he did not dare admit it, and with Sakuno around, he did not really feel the need of the cat to keep him company, but now with the cat in his arms, he could not help but feel the strong burning feeling he has in him.

The cat meowed back, and Ryoma interpreted it as a 'Yes I missed you'. "Karupin, I missed you too…Wish you could come stay with us, but you might be a nuisance to Sakuno…" He whispered quietly to the cat, ruffling it as the cat purred blissfully.

"Ah, Ryoma-san, you're back!"

Ryoma looked up. "Nanako." He greeted.

Nanako smiled, happy to see that her cousin is back. She turned around to see if anybody was behind her, and leaned closer towards Ryoma, and whispered. "Aunt said that she would definitely not allow you home unless you apologise…"

"I know." Ryoma shrugged.

Nanako blinked. "Eh? So you mean…you're here to…apologise…?"

Ryoma flushed in embarrassment. He focused on picking out dirt from Karupin's skin, suddenly interested in the shades of brown and white of Karupin.

Nanako laughed slightly, unable to believe what she was seeing. In front of her was a very embarrassed Ryoma, which was really rare to see. After all, Ryoma was ever embarrassed; he was always so confident and arrogant. Furthermore, this is unbelievable, you mean the Ryoma really is going to apologise? This is probably the once-in-a-lifetime experience. It must have taken quite a lot of courage for him though… Nanako smiled encouragingly as she said. "Wait, I'll call aunt over."

Ryoma watched as his cousin run to get his mother. He hid his face inside of Karupin's fur. Argh, he can't believe it…the way Nanako was staring at him, it was as if the sun had just risen from the West or something…

Damn it, he's starting to really regret coming here in the first place… Should he quickly leave this dang place before Mom comes? Or else when she comes, even if there's a monster underneath him to swallow him up also would not help in regaining his pride anymore… Argh, but a promise's a promise. I promised Sakuno…

"Wow, Ryoma, you're really here to apologise, huh?"

Damn it, it's too late to hide now… He looked up at his mother finally, flushing lightly when he answered. "Yeah."

Rinko stood at the door comfortably, waiting for more smugly.

"Erm…I'm sorry I ran away from home, and also pushed you to the ground that time…" He said, while fidgeting with his signature hat.

Rinko watched, amused, at her son. Oh my God, his son actually apologises! His son, Echizen Ryoma, the one with the utmost pride in his every bit of skin, actually apologises! There's no way this could be happening. Hmm, unless it was that cute girl that asked him to do it… She thought, smiling. "Apology accepted, but to enter this house, erm…" Rinko pretended to consider. "You'll have to kneel."

Ryoma glared. "What? Are you freaking serious?" There's no friggin' way, no way in hell is he going to kneel just for apologising! He did not even do anything really serious to deserve that! He just ran away from home to meet Sakuno, Rinko was the one that did not allow him back home. Damn it, his mother really is asking too much. There's still a limit to the amount of pride he could give away, and his promise did not include him having to give away that much pride anyway.

Rinko shrugged. "Well then, don't come back then, I know you want to live with that girl."

Ryoma blinked. Huh, what was his mother trying to say? She knew Ryoma wants to stay…and she just allowed it? "Oh, okay…" He said tentatively.

"Wait, Ryoma."

Ha knew it, she was not going to let him off that easily…

Rinko smiled. "The amount of money you earned is more than enough to spend in…whatever Bar, right?"

Ryoma frowned. "Yeah." He muttered simply, still wondering what's his mother was trying to say.

"So what did you do to the rest of the money?"

Ryoma kept quiet, wondering whether it was safe to say. Mom was acting weird, first openly allowing him to stay at someone else's house, now asking him weird questions. Well, he sucked at lying anyway, so he had just better say the truth… "I gave it to her manager."

"What?"

"The girl was earning so little money, I gave my money to her manager for her pay rise."

Rinko blinked, as she digested what Ryoma said. That means…the pay rise Sakuno was talking about ever since Ryoma came, was because of this? A new found admiration for her son grew in her heart. Heh, not bad, Ryoma can be so nice to girls sometimes. She dug into her pocket.

"Ryoma."

Ryoma blinked as he stared at the wads of cash in his mother's hands. "This is for Sakuno."

"Wha…" Ryoma blinked again, confused. Since when did his mother know about Sakuno? Why was she acting so weird? Why was she so nice to him and all…? And what's with the money…?

"You can use it in any way you deem fit on Sakuno, give her another pay rise, or buy some necklace for her or whatever. Just make sure to woo her successfully." She winked at her son. "I want a cute girl like her to be my daughter-in-law soon."

Ryoma blushed slightly. He took the money from his mother with slightly shaky fingers. "T…thanks, mom." He said, still rather tentatively.

"Have fun. Remember to ask her out for a date." Rinko said, smiling kindly. Ryoma blushed a deeper red. Geez, seriously, what's wrong with his mother, she's getting more and more like baka oyaji… He nodded slightly, and walked away with unsure steps, as if waiting for his mother to call him back every minute, which she did not.

Rinko sighed as she stared at her son's back. Her son had really grown up so big huh…The way he blushed just now was quite cute too.

XxXxX

Sakuno sat on her sofa, doing her homework.

She had sent Ryoma to look for his mother to apologise. After Rinko spoke to her, she had been feeling guilty ever since then, guilty that she was the one that made Ryoma ran away and broke her heart, guilty that she's the one that made Ryoma deteriorate in his studies, and hence causing worry for her… She had apologised continually to Rinko, but she did not think it was enough. What's the point of her apologising? Rinko would feel so much better when Ryoma apologise.

After much tiring and exhausting persuading, Ryoma finally went to apologise. (She had to sacrifice much too, since she somehow promised that she would have to agree to whatever Ryoma was going to ask her later…) Though Sakuno did feel as if there's an empty hole in her heart now. She had been so stupidly excited just because Ryoma was living with her (but they seriously didn't do anything exciting, trust me!) She shouldn't make such a huge fuss just because they stayed up late talking to each other, just because she got the chance to tutor Ryoma…

She sighed. She shouldn't think about the days spent with Ryoma. Ryoma went to apologise, so he would probably not be coming back to stay with her. Oh…Sakuno rolled over, feeling a strong heartache.

She shouldn't make such a huge fuss! After all, they never do anything much together anyway…

"Ow…" Sakuno groaned despite what she was telling herself, and rolled over again.

The door opened. Ryoma came in.

Sakuno blinked. What? Why did Ryoma come back? He apologised, so there should be no reason for him to come back anymore. Did he leave anything here or something…?

Ryoma blinked. "Erm, weird position…" he commented blushing a bit.

Sakuno blinked, and looked down at herself. Goodness she was lying on her stomach on the sofa, with her legs sprawled on top of the sofa, leaving her sort of hanging upside down. Plus, she's wearing a skirt… She flushed a deep red.

"Ah…ah!" Sakuno immediately turned back to a proper sitting position. "I…I'm sorry…!" She said, flustered. Why the hell did I roll so much just now…?

Ryoma fidgeted with his hat, trying to hide the faint blush growing on his face.

Sakuno composed herself, and stopped herself from growing too hot over it. Ryoma did not have any strong reactions, so he probably did not see anything…probably…

She shook her head from thinking too much. "A…Anou…R…Ryoma-kun…why…are you here…? I thought…I told you to…go and…apologise…?"

Ryoma chuckled. "Where's the energy from the morning you used to scream at me to apologise go to?"

Sakuno flushed even deeper, if possible. "I…I…M…mou…Ryoma-kun…answer my question…" She stammered.

Ryoma wanted to laugh at the apple-faced girl more, but decided not to torture the girl too much. He shrugged. "I went and apologised like you asked. But my mother still doesn't allow me to go back, so I'll just stay with you for a longer while." Ryoma peered at her. "You don't mind, right?"

Sakuno jumped up, stuttering. "O…of course! I'd love for you to come back and stay with me!" She exclaimed.

Ryoma laughed. "Heh, didn't know you were so excited."

Sakuno blushed. "M…Mou, Ryoma-kun…" She said, looking at the floor. Well, it was obvious that she would be excited. She had been trying in vain to not feel so sad over Ryoma leaving her, so it's great that Ryoma was still staying with her.

"Mada mada dane. Ne, I apologised, so remember your promise?"

Sakuno blinked. Oh yeah, Ryoma made her promise that she would do anything Ryoma asked for… Sakuno gulped. This is bad…what if Ryoma asked her to do weird stuff? Weird and horrible stuff? Like…like… Sakuno gulped once again, as dread began climbing up to her heart. "R…Ryoma-kun…p…please…don't ask…weird…stuff…"

"I'll ask for two things."

"Heh? Two? T…that's unfair…!"

Ryoma stared at Sakuno, shutting her up. "First, from now on, call me Ryoma, no honorifics."

Sakuno blinked. That's easy enough…And I've always wanted to do it too anyway... "O…Okay…"

"Try it."

"R…Ryoma…" She said. It felt weird…she had this tingling feeling in her heart when she said it; it's like she seems too close to Ryoma…

"Good. Second, next Saturday, you will go on a date with me."

"What?" Sakuno exclaimed, shocked.

Ryoma repeated. "Next Saturday, go on a date with me."

Sakuno blushed, and nodded. A promise's promise, right? Since she wanted to go as well…

Ryoma smiled. "Alright, prepare yourself well then."

"…Okay…"

"…"

"Oh, Ryoma-kun, do your math homework!"

"No."

"Eh, why?"

"You're supposed to call me Ryoma, remember?"

Sakuno blushed. "Oh…sorry…I forgot…Ryoma…"

Ryoma smiled. "Good." He walked towards Sakuno, sitting next to her comfortably.

"R…Ryoma…do you homework…"

"Hai…" He answered, pulling her nearer for a kiss.

XxXxX

End of chapter! Reviews! I rushed it so it's not very good since I didn't really edit it enough, sorry!