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Chapter 10

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Yuuki spent a lot more time at the academy now that Kyoya was at home. However, the Ootori had convinced his caretaker that his laptop would not bring him excess levels of stress, nor would it hurt his head or cause his lungs to inflate and explode. The Cunxin checked her email every morning, knowing that Kyoya stayed up later than she did, and every evening, knowing he would check them before going to bed. They were nothing like the love notes Tamaki wrote Haruhi, they were just the conversations they would have had if Yuuki had the opportunity to come around and not have to train so hard. Often, these email notes ended up as phone calls.

From: Cunxin, Yuuki

To: Ootori, Kyoya

Topic: Riddles. 7:34pm

I am here until you say my name, then I am gone. What am I?

From: Ootori, Kyoya

To: Cunxin, Yuuki

Topic: RE: Riddles. 7:35pm

Silence.

From: Cunxin, Yuuki

To: Ootori, Kyoya

Topic: RE: Riddles. 7:36pm

One minute. New record.

Kyoya picked his phone up from the bedside and dialled her, if anything, just to hear her voice. He could now that he had an excuse. "It's not a hard riddle."

"It took me a whole day."

He smiled in a calculating manner. "What are you doing?"

"I am..." There were muffled noises in the background as she argued with something. "...trying very hard not to kill the microwave."

"What's wrong with it?"

"What's not wrong with it?"

"Is this the one you bought the other day?" Yuuki had bought a microwave. It was her first ever. Her own. And she was very proud of it, or had been until she plugged it in.

"Yes, that demon."

"What were you trying to do?"

"Oh..." More banging. "Just trying to nuke various things."

"Like?" His tone had an interrogatory undertone.

Pause. "Like...the frozen meals that make up my super healthy, staple diet...and...carrots."

"You put a carrot, in a microwave?"

"Well...they take a bazillion years to steam."

"A while bazillion?" She never ceased to amuse him with her mannerisms.

"Yes, a whole bazillion." The attack stopped. "I give up on technology."

Silence. Blasphemy.

"I don't mean it. Did you have a stroke?"

Kyoya pushed his glasses up, his voice flat. "Almost."

"What did you do today?" Her voice relaxed and he could see her sitting cross legged on her bed, probably with a bottle of orange juice.

"My father delivered the finances of the hospital. Been going through that. My professor emailed notes on classes I missed and..." He dug through the mound of paper on the other side of the bed than that he was lazing on and uncovered a graph. "...stock market trends."

"Kyoya..."

"Mmm?" He was looking at a piece of paper, riddled with numbers. One of few men with the ability to completely multitask.

"You're not supposed to be working."

"Well, sometimes we don't have much of a choice." His shares were down. His eyebrows went up.

Pause. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine."

"Uhuh."

"Your guesses as to my health are erroneous. I am healthy, much better." It was five days after he had been allowed to return home. He had only seen her once since then and enjoyed their light weight conversations. It eased the stress of a day.

"Then inhale deeply for me."

"Yuuki." Kyoya was displeased in her doubt.

"If you're healthy, then prove it."

"I shouldn't have to prove anything to you." His voice was distracted as Kyoya pulled out a pen and wrote something on the paper. A note to self to buy something to boost the economy. Maybe another microwave.

"Exactly why I'm telling you to."

The man rolled his eyes, held the phone away from him for a minute while he continued to write on the graph and then put it back. "Happy?"

"Kyoya. Holding the phone away from your face for a while doesn't mean you breathed deeply."

The Ootori frowned. "You're questioning my authority."

"You're lying to me."

"Fine." In frustration Kyoya gave in and breathed in, triggering a spiel of coughs as his sore lung hit his sore ribs. The act just aggravated the dull throb that had continued throughout the week. "Happy?"

"No. Go rest."

"It's..." He looked at his watch. "Eight O'clock."

"Shoot, really?"

"Yes...exactly why I'm no..."

"I have to get up at four!"

Kyoya frowned, she found it easy to get up at four and go to bed at eight, he found it easy to get up at midday and got bed at midnight. Juxtaposition. "Ever realised how different our sleep patterns are?"

"Yes. Your job allows you to be normal, a tired, unhealthy form of normal, but normal nonetheless. Mine just cuts my social life in half."

"Quarter."

"Thank you."

"Pleasure."

She sighed. "I'll come around tomorrow at about...one?"

"That's fine." That was more than fine. That was something to look forward to.

"Okay. Sleep sweet."

"I'm not going to sleep yet."

"You should be. Your sleeping patterns suck."

"So do yours."

"...yeah...But at least I have two, un-punctured lungs and a heart that doesn't know how to stop working."

"Good night Yuuki." Kyoya smiled as he spoke, enough for it to carry down the phone line.

"Goodnight."

Silence. Breathing. Knowing. I love you. Stay safe. Words unsaid, but understood. They were not ready to say them out loud. Not healed enough to go that far unless it was exactly right. Light-hearted phone calls did not allow for that yet. Pause. Lingering. Click.

-

Yuuki allowed Tachi to driver her to Kyoya's the next day. It was his daughters tenth birthday and he was taking the day off.

"This it?" The gates loomed ahead of the car.

"Yes." Yuuki stared at the house sitting on the hill.

Her instructor whistled. "Nice setup."

The girl smiled as the car stopped outside the front. "Say happy birthday to Misa for me."

"Will do." He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. Birthdays, anniversaries, mother's day, Christmas; every day hurt when you lost one you loved. Yuuki knew what it felt like but couldn't remember what to say. She had almost been in that situation again. "You say hi to Rich-kid-von-handsome-face or whatever."

"It's Kyoya, and okay." Yuuki opened the door and closed it gently, waving as the man she now spent most of her time with drove away.

Kyoya was standing alone in the door, the man from the hospital long gone. "Rich-kid-von-handsome-face?"

The girl trudged up the stairs. "It was an early rise."

"Huh."

"You look markedly better." Yuuki wrapped her arms around him unexpectedly. Silently.

Kyoya was a little surprised at first, but then he relaxed and ran a hand over her hair. She had wanted nothing to do with him a while ago and now she just wanted him. Just him. The world ceased to exist as they knew it the moment theirs collided with the other. Morphed into a single universe.

"Well, I feel markedly better." The Ootori moved his arm to rest around her waist and steered the girl towards the lounge.

"Breath in fo..."

"No."

"Didn't think so." He still moved hesitantly, as if bending the wrong way would hurt more than he had judged it would. Yuuki dropped to the sofa as if she had nothing left. "I need to leave by three. I have another session. We're just trying to miss the heat of midday. Keep the horses happy."

"So, after the Olympics, what are you going to do?" Kyoya sat beside her. Not expecting her to continue her life of early mornings and no social events.

"FEI in two years."

"FEI?"

"It's considered more important than the Olympics to those in high level equestrian circles."

"Why don't you go to university?" It was a suggestion, not a question.

"I don't know." Yuuki got up, avoiding the topic, and heading for the vast DVD cabinet and began exploring titles.

"You should go." He had always thought so. Knew she could do it well, just as she had done in school.

"Why?"

"Because you ride well anyway, cut your training in half and there won't be much of a difference."

"Cut your studies in half, there won't be much of a difference."

"I'm still learning. You have the same horse, perfected styles."

"I don't know what else I can do."

Kyoya pushed his glasses up. "Well, you obviously wont if you keep going on like you are."

"I can do other things...just..."

"Play the piano."

"What?"

Kyoya motioned the instrument that often sat dormant. "You can do other things."

"I haven't played since I was...six."

"Well, play again."

"You can't just pic.."

"Yuuki. Am I ever wrong?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Not yet."

The girl stood where she had stopped. Kyoya stood up and crossed behind her. Laying his hands on her shoulders, he directed her towards the instrument. "Play for me." His want, his way.

"I don't think so." She turned away from his grip. Her want. Her way.

Kyoya didn't let go and when Yuuki pulled from him she only succeeded in pulling the arm of her shirt. "Please?" His tone was softer than it normally was.

Yuuki turned her head to him, sighed and took a seat. "Warning you in advance."

The Ootori stood behind her. "What are you going to play?"

"Um...Improvising." She set her left hand on the keys and pressed down, gaining a melancholy note. She carried it higher and played the same tune repetitively for a minute, trying to find a tune she liked. After she felt less uncomfortable, Yuuki played a simple tune with the right hand, high up on the keys whilst maintaining, or trying to maintain the left hand. As time wore on, she experimented a bit, hit chords that sounded awful, but in the end produced a not unpleasant sound. The girl laughed monosyllabically and pulled her hands away swiftly after the last note. "That was awful."

Kyoya raised an eyebrow. It had been pretty rough, but nothing terrible. "It was fine."

"No..."

"Yuuki. Stop it."

"What?"

"You can do more than sit in a saddle."

She looked at her hands, now still in her lap. "You're more than the Son of an Ootori."

"This isn't about me, Yuuki. This is about how you ignore all the things you can do because you haven't done them in a while. If your mother had survived then would you be good at piano? Would you be studying psychology? You would still be going to the Olympics on top of that." He hated how her father had demoted her to the point where she believed him. "You are more than what you have become."

"I thought I'd done pretty well." Yuuki said quietly, knowing why he was doing what he was doing but not liking it. Kyoya had been told he would never amount to more than the third son, and he had broken that barrier.

"You have. But...you can do better." Kyoya sat beside her, his chest stung and he unconsciously brought a hand over the healing wound in his chest. "Play something else."

Yuuki opened her mouth to speak. Closed it knowing she would never win this argument because he was right. Their wants, their way. Their world. She breathed. "Um..."

The girl tapped a fingernail on the keys, thinking, before laying her hands out on the instrument and beginning a tune her mother had played a long time ago. It was repetitive at the beginning as she tried to work out how it went, but then it flowed. She hit numerous wrong notes, played parts to fast and forgot an entire bar; even so, it was beautiful. The girl had enjoyed it and that had carried through. She had done it for him, and she had done it for herself.

"You don't play well, but you do it with wonderful expression." Kyoya said after the last note died.

Yuuki went to make a comeback but noticed how pale the Ootori was looking all of a sudden. "You feeling okay?"

"Yes."

The girl pressed her eyebrows together. "As much as I need to learn my potential, you need to learn to separate life from business. You push yourself too far."

"Yuuki, I'm alright."

"Famous last words." She stood. "When doctors say 'take it easy' they mean it. No graphs, finances, notes...just relax."

Kyoya stood to show her he was alright, but ended up feeling slightly dizzy. His left lung still couldn't pump enough oxygen because of the raw tissue and was making him light headed. The Ootori sat heavily on the couch and held his left side. Yuuki sat quietly at his side and pried his hand away, she pressed gently at the padding there.

"Does that hurt?"
"You're pushing broken skin. Of course that hurts."

"Sorry. I'm not a doctor." Yuuki pressed her hand where his had been moments before. "But I know enough to know you're not doing what's in the best interest for you."

"I am, in the long run."

"Yes, yes, Heir jargon." She said softly. "But this is long run stuff too. You can't expect me to look after my future and move on from my present if you won't look after your present and move on from the future. You have what you worked for; a week more won't damage the years to come."

"Its..." He pushed his glasses up and thought through how to explain what he was thinking.

"Kyoya. Your being a hypocrite."

He sat silently. Knowing she was right and knowing he was feeling what had made her feel moments before. It was the unpleasant beginning of a long run plan. "Sorry."

Yuuki rested her head against his shoulder. "Don't be sorry. Just be careful. I can't lose you again."

"Neither can I." Kyoya ran his hand up her spine and to the base of her neck, buried in her hair. He couldn't teach her a lesson and not expect one in return. That's how Yuuki worked. They would have to synchronise again to understand that.

The girl pressed her lips to the corner of the man's jaw. "Let's just...not."

"Alright." No discussions on how the other could better themselves. No more health issues. No more university talk. No more of the past. Just now. Just the future. Kyoya slid his fingers under her jaw to Yuuki's chin, lifted it and pressed his mouth to her own. She smelled softly like straw and worn leather. Her work. He should respect that. Respect what made her happy and gave her grounding. They could build up later.

Yuuki closed her eyes. He kissed her softly and pulled away. Nothing fast. Nothing intimate. Just a sign of adoration and the grounding of understanding. He was keeping his promise. The girl brushed the hair out of Kyoya's eyes. "La vita e Bella." Life is beautiful.

It triumphed through stark reality and gave meaning. Life. Love. This.

Kyoya pushed his glasses up again. "Italian?"

"Good movie that."

"Buongiorno principessa." It was such a simple statement. Good morning princess. Yet it changed the entire meaning of the woman's life. It was sweet and romantic to begin with, but then it was a cry of things long gone that could be again.

A wonderful story of how one individuals love and hope could be a balm in the most frightening of situations. It was their story. It was the neighbors story. It could be anyone's story if they just took down their walls and let the other help fade scars and move on from the past, from perception, from hurt. Yuuki felt Kyoya's heart against her hand where it rested against his chest. Proof of his existence. Proof of hers.

The girl looked up at Kyoya. He was watching her from behind his glasses in a very Ootori manner. Making mental notes. Storing things away. Future references. She smiled and ducked her face against his shoulder. Once an Ootori, always an Ootori. Kyoya would always be calculating, hard to read and difficult to get along with, but he was her puzzle piece. The one that fit.

"Are you coming to London?" She asked.

"Yes."

"Where will you stay?"

"You have an apartment still, don't you?" Kyoya being Kyoya, taking what was on offer when it hadn't been offered.

"Yes..." Yuuki realized she hadn't sold it...rented it...fed the fish...

"You'll be at the athlete's village. So, I'll just use that."

"Gee, thanks for asking." She was smiling as she said it.

"Please?"

"Okay."

"Easy as that."

"Easy as that." Yuuki was suddenly very tired as she let her guard down for a moment. The last week she had been waking up at odd, but always revoltingly early, hours of the morning and going to bed only after Zero had, which was late.

Kyoya was unconsciously playing with her hair as he thought about things only he knew the answers so and the effect was a drowsy one. "Tired?"

"Mm."

The man looked down at the half-dormant figure leaning against him. So fragile. So cherished. So devoted to him even though he deserved none of it and hadn't worked to achieve any of it.

"Yuuki?"

"Mm."

"Where's your phone?"

"Mm."

"Germany's going to win the gold."

"Mm...Huh...No their not." She sat up groggily.

"You don't have to go back to the club later."

Yuuki nodded. "Yes I do. You need to get things done by a deadline; I need to turn up to training." The only way he would understand and let her go at the same time was by associating it with his regime.

"You also need to be awake."

"Well...that's up for debate. Everyone's so stressed. People older than I am are acting like teenagers going into final exams...or like Tamaki going into final exams. You were good."

"I was prepared. You're not prepared?"

"We are. But that doesn't cut it."

Kyoya raised an eyebrow.

Yuuki rubbed her eye with her knuckles, forcing herself back to the real world. "You're the behind the scenes Shadow King, I'm the forefront runner, not by my own will. You can have big lines under your eyes. I get...cameras...and have to calculate things on the move, compensate, balance, pay attention...never sleep."

"You're not team captain."

"No, I'm team mascot. But so was Caligula when he was a baby." She would be leader if she had to be.

"Rome wasn't built in a day."

"No, it was built long before Caligula."

Kyoya pressed his glasses up. "Alright." He wouldn't control her. It was her life, not his, he could suggest things but she had already told him enough for the day. He would respect that. "I'll call you a cab in half an hour."

"What time is it now?"

"Two fifteen."

"Okay."

Kyoya pulled her close again. Yuuki objected as she just tried to avoid his stitches on her way down; he had pulled in a more dominating manner than she had anticipated. But that was alright, he was warm and there was a storm coming, the air was cooling down dramatically even though the weather was heating up due to approaching summer. Hopefully the storm would hold off until that evening when the afternoon session was over. But right now, it was good just being.

"Kyoya?"

"Yes."

"When Haruhi and Tamaki get married, will it be her first time out of the country?"

"The honeymoon?"

"Yes."

"Probably."

"I'm so taking her to London." Yuuki said mischievously, finally finding a way to get Tamaki back for the other day.

"That's evil." Kyoya's tone was flat.

"You want to do it too. Anyway, Tamaki probably thinks Haruhi's been out of the country before and thus won't know until she says otherwise, which will probably be on landing."

Pause. "First class while Tamaki gets coach?"

"Nah, put them both in First but on opposite sides of the plane, with...you in the middle...and one twin behind each." Plane ride from hell. "Could you put up with that?"

"Only if Mori is in front."

Yuuki smiled. "I like you. You're good at plotting things."

Kyoya smiled and trailed his fingers through her hair, he didn't say anything. Puzzle pieces.

She knew exactly how to lift him up whist not being judgemental or even knowing she was doing it. He knew exactly how to let her fly and knew how to teach her to; she just needed to let him guide her. Then they could fly away, together this time. Be one with the other person whilst still maintaining their own individuality, their own freedom and dreams. It would take a while to get there, and it would be rough. But both knew that the flight at the end would be worth it. A mile high with naught but the hurt of the world below them and the limitless sky before them. Them. Kyoya would give her anything she wanted on a whim, but knew that Yuuki would never manipulate him like that. He knew she would rather get things herself, not liking gifts as she felt the need to give in return, even though she was always giving. Parts of her sprit, her laugh, the almost invisible dimple on her right when she smiled. Little things, priceless things. Yuuki things. He wanted to give her the world, his world, because she had shown him hers and let him inside. A life for a life. Equal exchange. A key turned in the lock. A heart taken from its box. To be cared for, looked after, cherished. To be the others, a gift that could never be fully returned.

-

Let me be your wings
Let me be your only love
Let me take you far beyond the stars
Let me be your wings
Let me lift you high above
Everything we're dreaming of will soon be ours
Anything that you desire
Anything at all
Everyday I'll take you higher
And I'll never let you fall

Let me be your wings
Leave behind the world you know
For another world of wondrous things
We'll see the universe
And dance on Saturn's rings
Fly with me and I will be your wings

Anything that you desire
Anything at all
Everyday I'll take you higher
And I'll never let you fall

You will be my wings
(Let me be your wings)
You will be my only love
Get ready for another world of wondrous things

We'll see the universe
And dance on Saturn's rings
Heaven isn't too far
Heaven is where you are
Stay with me and
Let me be your (You will be my) wings

(Let me be your wings, Thumbelina)

-

Yuuki stood in the frame of the front door and stared at the rain as it bucketed down. She dialled Tachi.

"Hello? Can you hear me? Yes, I know it's raining; your powers of observation are amazing. You're stuck? Where? At home? I can't hear you...hold in." Yuuki stepped back. "Better? Okay. Can't we use the indoor ring. Oh, I forgot about that. They shouldn't be re-sanding it when it's raining, and so close to when we have to go. No. What do you want me to do? I don't know, if you can't drive, who can? The highway is out?" Agitated sigh. "That's not his name. No. No, it's Kyoya. No...Kyo-ya. Ootori. Yes, Ootori. No, no he won't. Why? Because I won't let him, all you want is a new car. There's nothing wrong with your house." Short laugh. "Alright. Alright. Bye." Click.

The girl headed back to the lounge. "The Academy called my instructor; the storm isn't going to ease up. They got all the horses inside an hour before it hit."

"When will it ease up?" His laptop was starting to hum as it woke.

"They say six." She sat down opposite him. "You're stuck with me for three and a half more hours."

"Joy."

Yuuki smiled as Kyoya began typing an email he had been very long winded about for the last half hour. Apparently it was very important. "You need to name that thing."

"What thing?" He didn't look up.

"Your laptop."

"Why does it need a name?" He pressed his glasses up and looked up at her quickly.

"Because, it's a prominent feature in your life."

"It's a piece of technology."

"Then you wouldn't feel any bereavement if it suddenly frizzed."

Silence from him. Tapping from his fingers.

"I'm going with Dora, or Marvin." Pause . "Probably Marvin."

"Why Marvin?"

"Because...it just seems to fit."

"How?"

"It's a good, nerdy, sturdy, studious name."

Kyoya's mouth lifted slightly. "You are absurd."

"You're preoccupied."

"Multitasking."

"You're a guy."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You can't multitask."

"I'm doing it right now."

Yuuki stood up to go to the window and continued to speak at the same time. "Maybe your just stran..." Thunk. He could multitask but she couldn't even walk and talk at the same time.

Kyoya looked up. The girl was staring at her shin and seething, her fingers wrapped around her leg. Her argument in tatters.

"I don't want to be a told you so..."

"Yes, yes you do."

Smug silence.

Yuuki sat back down. "I'm bleeding."

Kyoya sighed and put Marvin on the offending coffee table. "Then don't try to take on solid surfaces with your body."

"This coming from you."

The Ootori knelt down in front of her and sat on his feet. Yuuki stared at the top of his head. Kyoya looked up. "You need a bandaid."

"Thanks captain obvious."

He scowled. "You're very distracting." In more ways than one.

"I wouldn't be if you were following doctor's orders." She called after him as the man disappeared into the kitchen.

Kyoya reappeared with a box of bandaids and a tissue. He handed her the latter. "Hold that against it for a second."

"Just a second?" Yuuki replied sarcastically.

"You know what I meant."

Yuuki did as she was told. "I don't mean to be a distraction. I was leaving."

"Acts of God."

"What?"

"The storm." He figured that was obvious. "Kismet."

"So you're saying it's alright to be distracted by me, not because the doctor told you not to work, but because god deemed it so?"

"All of the above. Move tissue."

Yuuki held her hand out for a bandaid but didn't get one. "I can do it myself."

Kyoya lifted her ankle and rested it on the coffee table and opened the bandaid. He wanted to make her feel better. Make her whole. It wasn't something they would talk about, it was something they understood. Yuuki didn't watch as he stuck the plastic to her, she hated the sight of blood.

"As long as your here." The Ootori said standing. "Then you're not a distraction."

"Then what am I?" She couldn't stop him working. It was just him.

"You're..." Pause. "An interesting part of life that I can't seem to avoid."

"You don't want to avoid."

Kyoya smiled his ghost smile and pushed his glasses up. "That's quite the possibility."

"Quite." Yuuki replied smugly.

-

Yuuki tried to leave before dinner, but the rain got heavier. The main storm hadn't even hit yet, flashes of lightening were unaccompanied by the rolling booms of thunder. The girl had spent the last three and a half hours sitting next to Kyoya as he typed, or tried to type. At one point she decided to prove he wasn't fit enough to be back at work and pressed her forefinger to his temple, triggering a migraine that was still in effect. It's not that she had been bored or not enjoying herself; but rather worried about him. But like him, her worry and pursuit of his happiness sometimes pushed the other a little too far. Just being with him again should have been enough, but trying to heal him as well was still a recurring motif.

Kyoya was currently lying on his back, sprawled over the couch while Yuuki tried very hard not to say 'I told you so' as she sat guiltily on the floor in front of him, watching the rain.

"Don't say it." The Ootori's voice was stern.

"What?"

"You know perfectly well what."

"I-told-you-so or I'm-sorry?"

Pause. "I was referring to the work-right-now-is-bad-for-you theory, which was stupid until you decided to tamper with recovery. If you hadn't..."

"Yeah, I know. You told me. Five times now." Yuuki was smiling. "I still hold to the fact that it would be a lot worse if you had continued at your business pace."

"I doubt it."

"You would have been wrong."

Kyoya glanced at her and then stared back at the ceiling. "You are the most annoying person on the planet."

Yuuki twisted her body to look at him, a playful expression on her face. "Now, that's hardly fair. Have you met everyone on the planet?"

The Ootori closed his eyes. "I love you, but you really, really, really need to know what buttons not to press."

"Technically, it wasn't a button."

"Technically, metaphorically though..."

"Oh, you were in the wrong." Yuuki turned away again.

"I was in the wrong?" He laughed shortly. "I wasn't in pain for the first time in days until you decided to play doctor."

"I wasn't playing doctor..." Pause. "...I was playing with your head."

"Uhuh."

"Yes, this is all an elaborate plot."

"To what end?"

"A very, very, very large income."

"How shallow of you." Kyoya's voice was flat. Her odd sense of humour was still amusing, but not so funny anymore. Enough to make him want to know more about what was going on in her head, even though his hurt so much. The incident proved one thing; they could survive pain inflicted by the other, and would continue to do so. The throbbing effect had merit beyond any Yuuki could imagine, to Kyoya it was like inheriting the Ootori group a million times over.

Yuuki turned until she was facing him, sitting on her feet. "I'm sorry. I didn't know it would hurt for so long."

Kyoya opened one eye. "I know."

"Then why are you making me suffer for it?"

"Because, you're cute when you're trying to bandaid things."

"I'm not cute."

"Your short, dark haired, fair skinned and slight; your cute."

"Well...your tall, dark haired, fair skinned and...Shaped like a triangle."

"A triangle?"

"Well...your shoulders and broader than your hips."

"Good to know you were paying attention."

Yuuki lingered her finger beside his temple again, tempted.

"Don't." Kyoya raised a hand and caught her wrist before sitting up. "No. You're not cute."

The girl looked slightly offended. "Huh?"

"You're Yuuki...just that."

"Short and slight." The Cunxin crossed her legs and her arms in a stubborn manner.

"You're the same as Haruhi."

"Yes...but..." But she still dwelled on what she didn't have. Perfect curves, height, a tan....

"There is nothing wrong with you." Kyoya was still holding her wrist.

"To you."

"Just because there's nothing wrong, doesn't mean there aren't flaws. Flaws are what make humans perfect."

"Whoa, hold on. You just threw all my schooling out the window...and I can't work out whether to be insulted or not."

The Ootori smiled and gave her hand back. "Remember what I told you about your necklace?"

Yuuki unconsciously touched it. "Yes."

"Apply the same theory."

Love, with flaws, was as love should be. There was nothing wrong with it, nothing wrong with its flaws; and that's what made it perfect.

Kyoya leaned forward and tucked Yuuki's hair behind her ear so that he could read her face.

The girl looked up at him. "Then, you're perfect." She lifted her fingers to his face and ran them up the bridge of his nose, pushing his glasses up ever so slightly. She couldn't believe she had once tried to let him go.

Kyoya stared at her, his face as expressionless as it always had been, his mind calculating as per usual, despite the constant ache. But this time, the workings within were not focused on medical management, university or profit, they were focused on everything before him. Sitting with limbs that were proportioned to her build and a face that belonged to his angel. He couldn't believe he had once done enough to drive her away, and not chased her afterwards.

The girl dropped her hand but kept herself close. "Is your father going to kill me at dinner?"

"He's going to try in his own way."

"Will it work?"

"He knows he can't kill you, or try to get rid of you."

"Why?"

"Because, I told him that he needs me, and I need you."

"Still the devious, capitalist zeal I left behind." Yuuki turned her head to the window just in time to have her retina's offended but a bright flash of lightening. She blinked a few times, but there was still a white line engraved through her mind.

Kyoya put his hand under her chin and turned her head to him. He told her to close her eyes and pressing his lips to her lids he told her forever. Forever an Ootori, but forever learning from his past mistakes and more importantly, forever hers. Then she sealed the agreement by kissing him. Trusting him. Taking her walls down for him; just as he had done for her. Giving and expecting nothing in return; but receiving tenfold what you felt you had given out.

-

I'm a woman
Lord knows it's hard
I need a real man to give me what I need
Sweet attention, love and tenderness
When it's real it's unconditional

Cause a man just ain't a man if he ain't man enough...
To love you when you're right
Love you when you're wrong
Love you when you're weak
Love you when you're strong
Take you higher when the world gotcha feeling low
He's giving you his last, cause he's thinking of your first
Giving comfort when he's thinking that you're hurt
That's what's done when you really love someone

Cause you're a real man
And Lord knows it's hard
Sometimes you just need a woman's touch
Sweet affection, love and support
When it's real it's unconditional
I'm telling y'all, oh
Cause a woman ain't a woman if she ain't woman enough
To love you when you're right
Love you when you're wrong
Love you when you're weak
Love you when you're strong
Take you higher when the world's gotcha feeling low
She's giving you her best, even when you are at your worst
Giving comfort when she's thinking that you're hurt
That's what's done when you really love someone


Sometimes you're gonna argue, sometimes you're gonna fight
Sometime it's gonna feel like it'll never be right
But something so strong keeps you holdin on
It don't make sense but it makes a good song
Cause a man just ain't a man if he's man enough...

To love you when you're right
Love you when you're wrong
Love you when you're weak
Love you when you're strong
Take you higher when the world's gotcha feeling low


He's giving you his last, cause he's thinking of you first
Giving comfort when he's thinking that you're hurt
Oh, that's what's done when you really love someone
I'm telling y'all that a woman ain't a woman if she ain't woman enough


Love you when you're right
Love you when you're wrong
Love you when you're weak
Love you when you're strong
Take ya higher and higher
When the world's gotcha feeling low
She's giving you her best, even when you're at your worst
Giving comfort when she's thinking that you're hurt
That's what's done when you really love someone

(When you love somebody, Alicia Keys)

------------

The first piece Yuuki plays I imagined went something like Buongiorno principessa from La vita è Bellaand the second like the piece from the Moccona Cinderella coffee advertisement, also known as The Search by Elliot Wheeler. Both pieces are on youtube. (Type 'Buongiorno principessa piano' into youtube, it's the first one. Type 'Moccona Cinderella Ad 'and it's the third one down.)

Yes...so really this was about how Yuuki and Kyoya are pretty much perfect for each other, but questions what defines perfection. They have different lifestyles, expectations and perceptions of themselves and the other and in trying to convey their viewpoint; they can end up causing friction with the other; and learning from that mistake. That's what love to me is, a learning process.

What do you reckon? I'd like to know because me writing to me doesn't really help you.

So...review with questions, opinions, constructive criticism, anything. Your reviews keep this story going, they really do. Without them, I would give up. So thank you, thank you very much for all the support so far. Every single reader and reviewer here, I appreciate you so much for your dedication and interest.

Blessings,

-pp