Disclaimer: I do not own Hana Kimi.

A/N:

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( ) ( ) Bunnies Rule the World

*Ahem* Anyways, I'd like to start off by thanking my reviewers. Thank you to databug742 , Cammyable, Sparklillian, Kiya-chan, MaimiAi47, flamingbunnies, daydreamer writer, yui/alex, LilyPika, guardianranger, and lilac09. I'm so happy I got so many reviews, faves, and alerts! ^.^ To tell the truth, I'm not sure what I want to write for this chapter, so I had to reread my own fanfic hehehe. Hope this chapter will be to your liking!

Chapter 8 – A Farewell?

'Phew. Seems like no one noticed I was gone' Mizuki thought to herself. 'Calm down. There's no need to be so nervous. It's not like I did anything wrong. But what's with this uneasiness that is building up in my heart, as if something bad is going to happen?!'

Mizuki sighed decided to take a little nap near the big green tree. Closing her eyes slowly, she inhaled the fresh air and relaxed. If she knew what was to come shortly, she would panic.

~Few days later~

The sun's rays shined brightly against the vivid sky. It was supposed to be a great day right? Wrong. Not today, for Shizuki is now in front of Osaka castle demanding to see his sister Mizuki, who is apparently not here.

"What do you mean she's not here?" he screamed into the poor maid's ear.

" Princess Mizuki, my sister. Have you guys not seen her or something?" He looked at them like they were insane or something.

'Oh no!' Mizuki thought. 'What should I do?'

Thinking quickly, Mizuki decided to sneak out and get Hokuto's help. However, with Shizuki's perfect vision, that is quite impossible. In an instant, he was behind her, his hand on her hoodie, preventing her escape.

"Mizuki…" he said, gritting his teeth.

"What are you talking about?" Mizuki said in a small voice.

"What do you think you are doing?" her brother started to scold her.

"Um I have a good explanation for this," Mizuki tried to explain.

He raised his voice slightly, "You better have a good one or else I'm going to drag you off this castle right now."

"You can't do that aniki!" Mizuki protested. "I still have to stay here!"

"Why?" Shizuki inquired, raising his eyebrow. "You met your fiancé, you know his attitude, and so you can go back now right?"

"No, not yet," Mizuki said in a soft, gentle tone.

"I want to know more about him. Why he has such a painful expression on his face sometimes? I can't leave him alone just yet."

"Painful expression?" he asked her.

"Yes, like he is bound by guilt or something. Sometimes, it seems like life is sucked out of him, but other times, he seems normal. Please aniki, let me stay here for a while longer."

Shizuki looked at his sister, contemplating if it is okay to leave his sister here.

"Mizuki?" Prince Izumi's voice startled Mizuki.

"So this is Prince Izumi?" Shizuki asked, taking a good look at his potential brother in law.

'Why do I have a bad feeling I'm being glared at by Mizuki's brother? I don't remember doing anything to him? Wait…it couldn't be that he knows that I followed them?' Izumi thought.

"Look here," Shizuki said. "Unless Prince Izumi wins the cooking competition that will be held in 3 days, I'm taking her back home."

"Home?" Izumi repeated. "Why? He is my personal chef."

If Shizuki heard Izumi call her "he", Shizuki surely took it well, for he didn't go and blow Mizuki's cover by saying that Mizuki is a girl.

"Let's just say I'm very protective of my little brother. And if I feel like he will not make any great progress here, I'm taking him back to our country."

The two princes glared at each other. Electricity can be seen shooting from their eyes.

'Aiiii. What's with this tense atmosphere? It seems like they want to tear each other's head off or something!!!' Mizuki thought from the sidelines. Yep, those two guys were so caught up in their conversation that they had forgotten our heroine.

"And if I win?" Izumi inquired.

"Then he can stay."

"Deal." The guys shook hands.

"Hey wait! Don't you guys go and decide things on your own!" Mizuki yelled. "And why does it have to be Prince Izumi? He's a prince!"

"You stay out of this," Izumi told her.

"But," Mizuki started to protest. "It's not fair! This is my own problem not yours!"

"Not mine?" Izumi glared at her. "I'm not about to lose my chef for some idiotic reason just because your brother has a brother complex!"

Veins started popping out of Shizuki's head. "Brother complex?!"

"Yeah, got a problem with that?"

"Mizuki, are you sure this guy is not just insane? I think you should just go back home right now!"

"Brother!" Mizuki yelled.

"Don't be too confident that you will win though," Shizuki cautioned. "After all, you don't even know what will be asked of the chefs from the contest's supervisors.

"Don't tell me," Izumi started.

"Yep, I'm one of tomorrow's supervisors. Good luck!" Shizuki waved and walked out the castle's entrance.

"Wait! Oni-san…..no one's listening to me," Mizuki pouted in the background.

"Get up," Izumi ordered.

"Eh?"

"We got some things to prepare in 3 days time."

"But I thought you hated cooking?" Mizuki asked him.

Pain crossed his face for a moment. "I'll be fine," he told her. "I'll be fine," he repeated to himself.

A/N: Well here's the quick update! And about Izumi's painful expression….I did that on purpose; it's not explained yet. Apparently something happened in Izumi's past that makes him not like to cook and sometimes has that painful expression. And it's not about high jumping. Sorry. Um hopefully this chapter is not too confusing? Well please read and review!