Kirin sighed and pulled the pillow over her head. She jolted up at the sound of laughter.

"Tired?" Umehito asked, chuckling.

She blushed as the memories of the night before came flooding back to her. She pulled the blanket up to her chin, lying back down.

"You ok?" he asked, brushing her bangs out of her eyes.

"I'm sore," she admitted, embarrassed.

He blushed.

"S-sorry," he stammered. "I-I didn't mean to hurt you…."

"It's ok," she giggled, "it was worth it."

His blush darkened, sending her into a fit of giggles.

"I mean it, though," she whispered; talking was still difficult.

He smiled and pulled her to him. She sighed happily, trailing her fingers over his chest.

"I love you, Kirin," he murmured into her hair.

She smiled up at him.

"I love you, too, Umehito."

"You have no idea how much I love hearing you say that," he sighed.

"I have some idea," she grinned. "I love hearing you say it, too."

"Yeah, but I didn't know if I'd ever hear you actually say anything, let alone that."

"Yeah, I guess you win," she coughed.

"Don't strain yourself," he said, frowning slightly.

"But I—" she broke off, coughing.

"Take it easy," he said, stroking her hair. "Take it slow. Sign sometimes, too, at least until you adjust."

She frowned.

"But—"

"Please, Kirin," he begged.

She sighed and nodded.

"Good," he smiled. "Are you hungry?"

She nodded.

"What do you want to eat?"

She thought for a moment.

'Ice cream!' she signed.

"Ice cream?" he laughed.

She nodded.

'Maybe it will help my throat.'

"Hm, maybe…. Ok, let's go get some ice cream."

He rolled out of bed to dress. He paused, halfway dressed, t-shirt in hand, a slight blush dusting his cheeks.

"Um, do you want me to leave so you can get dressed?"

She blushed, but shook her head.

'It's ok,' she signed. 'You've already seen anyway.'

"Ah, y-yeah," his blush darkened.

She dressed and looked back at him; he was still standing with his shirt in his hand, staring at her. His face was tomato-red.

'Enjoying the show?' she signed, grinning.

He grinned sheepishly. She giggled and walked over to him, taking his shirt.

"Need some help?" she whispered, trailing a finger over his chest.

He shivered; she giggled again and slid the shirt over his head. He slipped his arms through the sleeves and she stepped back to examine him.

"W-what?" he asked.

"You look sexy in jeans and a t-shirt," she said.

He smiled shyly and kissed her cheek.

"Let's go get your ice cream."

"Hey, guys," Thorne greeted as Kirin and Nekozawa walked into the kitchen. She and their dad were sitting at the island eating cookies.

"Hey, Thorne," Nekozawa replied; Kirin waved. He sat on the stool next to Thorne, and Kirin sat in his lap, leaning back against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her.

"Did you see Mr. Knish, Kirin?" Thorne grinned.

'Yes, he has a wonderful ferret,' Kirin signed with a grin.

Thorne giggled.

Nekozawa gave Kirin a confused look; she just shook her head with a smile.

"Mr. Knish?" John asked.

"Don't ask, Dad," Thorne said, shaking her head. "It's… a girl thing."

"Uhhh…. Ok. Well, what've you two been up to?" he asked, turning to Kirin and Nekozawa.

'Studying,' Kirin signed.

"You do that a lot?" he asked, somewhat suspiciously.

'We have all the same classes,' she explained. 'And… we watch a lot of movies, too.'

"That sounds more like it."

'Yep! Oh, guess what?'

"What?"

Kirin walked over and hugged her dad.

"I love you, Dad," she whispered.

John jerked back, staring at her in shock. She grinned and turned to Thorne.

"And I love you, Thorne."

Thorne squealed and hugged Kirin excitedly.

"What—when—how—what happened?" John stammered.

"I was surprised, too," Nekozawa said. "And she still hasn't explained."

Kirin beamed up at him, grabbing his hand in hers.

"Well, see, I kinda overheard you and Ryo talking before Club a few days ago…."

"Ah. That's why you looked like you were going to cry."

"What? Who's Ryo?" John asked. "Why did he make Kirin cry? What does he have to do with this?"

"He's a member of the Black Magic Club," Nekozawa explained.

"Black Magic Club?"

"It's really great," Kirin gushed. "I joined it when we first got here—when I met Umehito, he asked me to join, and I agreed. Ume's the President."

"Ah, I see," John nodded. "Sounds… interesting."

"It is," she nodded enthusiastically. "Anyway, a few days ago, as I was about to go in, I heard Ryo and Ume talking. Ryo asked him if it bothered him that I couldn't talk, that I couldn't even say his name. And Ume said that he would like to hear me, but that it didn't really bother him. It meant a lot to me that—" she coughed "—he was so accepting, and I really, really wanted to be able to talk to him, and tell him how I feel—with my voice and not just with my hands.. So I worked really hard and I was able to do it!"

"That's wonderful," John smiled.

"Yep!" she grinned. "Anyway, I need to take a shower, then we need to hit the books again."

"Again?" Thorne cocked an eyebrow, amused.

"We have a test in Russian, and since I'm no longer mute, I have to take the speaking portion; I need lots of practice!" She ran out of the kitchen.

"She seems so much happier than when you kids left California," John remarked.

"She is," Thorne agreed. "I mean, she was always cheerful, but… her smile…. It's different now. Brighter. More genuine."

John nodded, then turned to Nekozawa.

"Thank you," he said. "I haven't seen Kirin this lively since she was fourteen. You've obviously helped her immensely."

"I don't think I've helped her nearly as much as she has me," Nekozawa said.

"That's good, though," Thorne said. "You're supposed to help each other in a relationship."

"I never expected to find her in a relationship," John said.

"She was the first of us," Thorne nodded. "We kind of saw it coming—we saw them together shortly after they met, and there was already something sparking between them. We didn't expect it to happen so quickly, though."

"I certainly didn't expect it," Nekozawa admitted, shaking his head.

"Neither did anyone at school—they're still talking about it!" She laughed.

"I'm just glad they accept her, even though she's associated with me and in the Black Magic Club."

"I don't think Tamaki would let them be mean to her even if they wanted to," Thorne said.

"They would when he wasn't around," Nekozawa argued.

"I suppose that's true…. But you're almost always with her; they're probably afraid that you'd curse them!" she giggled.

"I probably would," he said seriously.

Thorne smiled softly.

"You're protective of her."

"Am I not supposed to be? She's my girlfriend."

"A lot of boyfriends aren't like that," she frowned.

"A lot of boyfriends aren't in love."

She didn't have a rebuttal for that. She blinked, slightly surprised at his blunt confession; John jerked his head toward Nekozawa, staring at him, stunned.

"…That's true…." she said quietly. "But a lot of them say they are."

"That's right," John frowned. "Lots of boys say they're in love when they aren't."

"But you really are, aren't you?" Thorne's lips turned up in a small smile.

Nekozawa nodded, blushing slightly.

John sighed.

"What's wrong, Dad?" Thorne asked.

"I didn't expect to walk into all this when I came to see you kids."

"What do you mean? You mean Kirin having a boyfriend? I thought you were cool with that."

He didn't answer; he turned to Nekozawa, staring at him. Nekozawa just blinked, staring back.

"You really love my daughter, don't you?" John asked after several moments of awkward silence.

"I do," Nekozawa said sincerely. "More than anything."

John stared at him for another minute, then let out another sigh.

"Yeah, I'm cool with it," he said. "I just didn't think it was already this serious."

"Who died?" Kirin asked, walking in, wearing a short hot pink dress, black converse (low tops), a black choker with a cross and black fingerless gloves..

"What?" Nekozawa looked up at her, confused.

"Well, you all look so serious, I thought someone had died!"

"We were dissecting your relationship," Thorne said, grinning.

"Dissecting? Why?" Kirin blinked.

"Dad's having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that it's obviously not just a fling," Thorne explained.

"How do you know it's not just a fling?" Kirin grinned.

"It better not be!" Nekozawa said, pulling her to him. She giggled and kissed his cheek.

"It's not," she reassured him.

"We know that because Umehito's obviously in love with you," Thorne said.

"Well, he better be, or I think my heart would break," Kirin pouted.

"How could I not?" he smiled at her, and she giggled again.

"Eww," Kaelan made a face as she and Kairi walked in.

"Get a room," Kairi added, making the same face.

"Your place or mine?" Kirin grinned, looking at her boyfriend.

"Gross!" Kaelan and Kairi exclaimed.

Thorne, Kirin, and Nekozawa laughed; John shook his head, chuckling.

"Didn't either of you two ditzes notice?" Xander walked in with Kaoru and Hikaru. "Kirin's talking!"

"Whoa!"

"You're right!"

Xander sighed as Kaelan and Kairi squealed and bounced around Kirin (and Nekozawa by extension) excitedly.

"Umehito has magic healing powers," Thorne "explained."

"Would that magic power happen to start with an 'L'?" Kaelan asked.

"And end with an 'ove'?" Kairi added, grinning.

"You shouldn't joke about magic when it comes to him," Xander said, picking up a cookie. "You never know when it might be true."

"Well, that part is," Kirin smiled.

"This sounds like a cheesy movie—how they always say 'love is the strongest magic' or whatever," Xander laughed.

"Well, those ideas have to come from somewhere!" she giggled.

"I can't get used to this," Hikaru sighed dramatically.

"Me, either," Kaoru agreed.

"Get used to what?" Kaelan asked.

"Seeing him outside of the shadows."

"Umehito?" Kairi laughed. "He's here all the time—'outside the shadows,' as you say."

"Still weird," they chimed.

"You're weird!" Kirin stuck her tongue out at them; they just shrugged.

Kaelan was studying Nekozawa intently.

"What?" he asked.

"You should carry around a scythe," she said, completely serious.

"Uh, why?"

"She thinks your cloak makes you look like the grim reaper," Kairi explained, rolling her eyes.

"It does!" Kaelan exclaimed.

"But his face is too cute to be the grim reaper," Kirin argued.

"That's true," Thorne nodded.

"Well, Mason has a cute face, and he's a reaper!" Kaelan said.

"Mason doesn't carry around a scythe," Kairi pointed out.

"Or wear a cloak," Xander added.

"Who's Mason?" Nekozawa asked.

"He's a character on a TV show called Dead Like Me," Kirin explained. "It's about reapers. It's really good! We should watch it sometime."

"Oh. Ok."

"I still think he should carry around a scythe," Kaelan scowled.

"That's not practical, Kaelan," Kairi sighed.

Kaelan whimpered.

"It's a dumb idea," Xander said.

"It is," Kairi nodded.

"You should just accept it."

"Kaoru, they're being mean to me!" Kaelan cried, running to Kaoru. She threw her arms around his waist and cried dramatically into his chest.

He wrapped his arms around her, looking slightly confused. He looked at his brother for help; Hikaru just shrugged. Kaoru turned to Xander and Kairi next.

"She's your problem now," Xander said, shaking his head.

Kairi nodded in agreement with her brother.

Kaoru looked at Thorne and Kirin. He was starting to look desperate.

Thorne sighed.

Kirin laughed.

Neither offered him any assistance.

It was Nekozawa who finally took pity on him.

"Don't overthink it," he advised. "You already know what to do."

The desperate look in Kaoru's eyes didn't subside; Nekozawa sighed.

"Just hold her," he said. "She'll calm down. If you keep freaking out you'll make it worse."

"Ume's right," Kirin giggled. "Especially since I'm pretty sure Kaelan's not really that upset."

Kaoru gave her a confused look, and she giggled again.

"She just wants attention from you," she explains. "She just wants to be in your arms. It feels nice to be in a guy's arms. The more you like him, the better it feels!"

She leaned her head on Nekozawa's shoulder; his arms tightened around her.

"Then I must be in love because this feels really nice," Kaelan mumbled against Kaoru's shirt; Kaoru blushed.

"Nah, you'd know if you were in love," Kirin laughed.

"Hey, Thorne, where's Amber?" Xander asked suddenly.

"She's taking a nap—although, it has been awhile…. I should probably go check on her," She stood.

"Ume and I better bounce, too," Kirin said. "We need to study for that test."

"Have fun 'studying,'" Kairi said, laughing.

Kirin stuck her tongue out at her as she and Nekozawa left.

Ha, random stupidity... Not the most important chapter, but I wanted to post something light-hearted, and get Thorne more involved in the story. This was kind of a word vomit chapter, particularly after Kirin and Nekozawa go back to her house. The only part I had planned was the part about Mr. Knish and his ferret. I just started writing and this is what came out of my head! Of course, I did edit it, but I didn't exactly plan it out.

Word vomit chapters are really fun to write!

Oh, by the way, "Mr. Knish" and "ferret" are both euphemisms for a guy's penis. I thought they were rather amusing and certainly obscure- I'd never heard those ones before! There are some really weird euphemisms there are out there...

I hope you enjoyed it! :) Please Review!