Chapter 4

As Kurai introduced himself to the class, Ryou glanced over at Akari. The night before he'd knocked on her door and insisted she let him in to say an apology. As he'd sat on her bed and apologized, she'd just watched him with a sad face before forgiving him and sending him out to the hall. The way she'd been so curt with him couldn't help but make him worry that she was still upset with him over how he'd snapped at her.

The two of them rarely fought, but everytime they did Ryou would feel horribly guilty until Akari reassured him that she wasn't angry with him over the incident.

Akari, for her part, was more upset over the spat than Ryou was. She hadn't expected him to turn on her with such an angry face, and only for greeting the new student. It would make the fact that she was showing Kurai around that much harder for her. Fighting with Ryou was never good, especially now that she had finally finished her letter and was just waiting for the right time to slip it into his locker.

Introduction finished, Kurai cast a disdainful glance over the pair of them. One look at their faces said that the two were far too busy being worried about each other to even be concerned with the new student. Fading into a background was what he did best, but all the same he was here to stand out and grab Akari's attention. With a small frown, he headed towards his seat, watching the two of them with narrowed eyes for the remainder of the class period.

As soon as the bell rang, signaling lunch, Kurai made his move.

Ignoring the swarm of girls already starting to surround him at this point, he made a beeline for Akari's desk. Ryou, from his seat, saw this and made it a point to try and get there first. As a result, the two boys arrived at Akari's desk breathing heavily, while they glared at each other. Before either one of them could speak however, Akari stood up and smiled apologetically at the two of them.

"Sorry," she told the stunned pair, "But Rita and I um…we have something important to do." Not giving either of them a chance to complain or ask what was going on, Rita swooped in and hooked Akari's arm in hers. The two watched Akari and Rita leave before turning on each other.

"Can I help you?" Ryou asked in a cool voice, looking down at the slightly shorter Kurai. Spitefully, Kurai turned his back on his now-rival and and waved a hand carelessly over his shoulder. "You can't help me, only Akari can do that," the good-looking boy answered as girls once again swarmed him. Ryou glared before turning on his heel and walking out of the classroom in search of his sister and friend.

While Kurai was pressed with gifts from girls on all sides, he sat mulling over the entire situation. Initially he'd thought that breaking the two of them apart would be easy if done quickly, but he hadn't fully realized that thought until just now. Playing nice was always his strategy, but that was also provided that his target didn't already have affection elsewhere.

Patience had never been his strong point, and he didn't want to stay in the Human World making this girl fall in love with him when he had bigger plans back in his own world. A plan already forming in his mind, he stood up and excused himself to the restroom while Ryou eyed him suspiciously all the way out the door.

It was with trembling hands that Akari slipped the pink envelope out of her skirt pocket. As she stared at the locker in front of her, she began to tremble all over until Rita shoved her light-heartedly. With a grin, the taller girl smiled at her friend before shaking her head and exclaiming, "Honestly, Akari, it's just Ryou. Just give it to him and let's go eat already!"

With a deep breath, Akari reached up to slip the letter into the locker before running off as quickly as she could. Rita shook her head, before shoving the letter in properly and walking off after her friend. Neither one of the girls had noticed that they were not the only ones in the room; when Kurai stepped out of the shadows he grinned a little.

His powers were far more useful than he himself would ever care to admit.

Casually, Kurai walked over to Ryou's locker before taking out the envelope and looking at it with interest. He slid his thumb underneath the edge and carelessly flipped it open, before his eyes scanned the content. Hiding a smile, Kurai shoved the letter back inside before pocketing the envelope and heading off towards the classroom once more.

At the end of the day, Akari picked up her book bag with trembling hands. Closing her eyes, she made a silent prayer that when she saw Ryou in the house later things wouldn't be awkward. As she stood up, Ryou made his way over to her seat. Noticing that somehow she was distressed, he frowned before gently laying a hand on her shoulder.

"Akari," he said with a troubled expression, "Are you alright? Is something wrong?"

Turning a furious shade of red Akari jerked back and out of his grasp before turning around and stuttering, "I-I'm fine! Anyways, I'll be going ahead today so I'll see you at the house!" As she left quickly, Kurai got up and walked over to Ryou, noting with satisfaction that there was a confused and hurt look on his face.

"What's wrong, Tanaka-kun? Did you have a spat with you girlfriend or something?" Kurai jeered, watching as Ryou turned pink before glaring at him and curling his hands into fists.

Clearing his throat, Ryou looked out the window and muttered, "She's not my girlfriend…"

Closing his eyes, Kurai smirked before leaning back against the nearest desk and saying, "But you wish she was, don't you?"

Instantly tense, Ryou rushed forward and grabbed Kurai menacingly by his shirtfront. Rather than acting frightened, as most would when being confronted by someone of Ryou's height, Kurai looked bored with this whole affair. Smacking Ryou's hand off, he said, "You're only making things worse by pretending you aren't, you know. Besides, I just want to help you."

Kurai hid a smile as Ryou knitted his eyebrows in confusion before saying, "Help me? How?"

With a shrug, Kurai stepped back and headed out of the classroom. Over his shoulder, he called, "You'll see. Goodbye, Tanaka-kun."

Leaving Ryou standing behind him with a confused expression, Kurai allowed himself a quick smile before heading after his main target.

With a deep breath, Akari exited the school grounds. She turned to head towards the train station when a whistle caught her attention. Slowly, she looked over in the direction of the whistle. To her surprise, Kurai was standing there, leaning against a pole with his book bag slung carelessly over her shoulder. When he saw that he had her attention, he grinned before holding up a pink envelope and wagging his eyebrows at her knowingly. Repressing a shriek, Akari walked over to him quickly and grabbed his wrist. Dragging him off in the opposite direction of home, she failed to notice that her antics had been seen by a disapproving Rita.

By the time Akari and Kurai reached the park, she was out of breath. Having literally dragged him through several streets and crowds, the poor girl was beyond words when he pulled out the pink envelope and waved it at her. With a hiss she snatched the paper from his hands before saying, "Where did you get this!?"

Her attitude surprised him slightly; he hadn't expected her to be so intense about something like a love letter. Leaning back slightly, Kurai shrugged before muttering, "Calm down. It's not like I've told anybody. I found it on the ground during lunch hour, when I went to go check for something near the lockers." He watched as she deflated before sighing and crouching down on the ground, holding her head in her hands. With a curious voice, he asked, "Don't you two live in the same house?"

Akari looked up, panicked again as she demanded, "How did you know that? No one in the school is supposed to know that!"

Hands up defensively, Kurai reassured her, "No one knows about it, I just figured it out when I saw you two shopping for the same house. Is that why you two were shopping so far away from this district?"

"Yeah," Akari said hesitantly, wondering how safe it was to start talking. Deciding that she was going to have to trust him a little, she muttered, "Ryou's parents insisted that I keep my own name and pretend I'm living next door so that the other students don't make fun of us for living together. It's scandalous, to have a girl sleeping in the same house as a guy she's not even related to, no matter how close of friends the parents may have been. And if I'm going to confess to him it's best that no one from the school knows we're under the same roof, otherwise…"

Gears clicked and Kurai nodded before saying thoughtfully, "They'll assume things. I understand, but I also know that you like him now since you're freaking out so much about that envelope."

Resisting the urge to grin, he slid his hands into his pockets and looked away as Akari straightened up and said slowly, "Please…please don't tell anyone. Don't tell him, I can't…"

Kurai watched with a small smirk as Akari struggled for words. She was so weak, so deliciously insecure…but it would make things that much easier for him. And this love letter was only the beginning of so many possibilities, all leading to the same ending. Reaching out, he patted her gently on the head and said as softly as he could, "It's fine. I won't say anything to him. But Akari…do you really think giving him this is such a smart idea?"

"Huh?" While she looked up at him, confusion painted on her face, Kurai shrugged and looked out into the distance. Hiding a wicked smile, he asked, "After all, isn't he just going to reject a girl he only sees as a little sister?"

Sorry for such a long time period in between XD I finished up one story and started another, since I had big time writers' block for this piece! These stories are like my brainchildren, so I want to make sure they're really good even if it means postponing updates-which I normally don't do. I mean, anyone whose read my other stories know I always update as frequently and as soon as I can XD

So apologies on taking so long!

Anyways, Akari made a mistake by deciding to write a love letter...she really ought to have just come out and said it because now Kurai's got her attention and he's about to wrap her around his manipulative little fingers...

Thanks for reads and reviews, see you on the next update!