Kisame had plenty of time to brood while Itachi was gone. Memories of last night started to resurface; memories of a broken girl…who longed for a second chance. What if some things are meant to be….that was a strange statement for her to make at the time. What was she referring to? He sighed as he ran a hand through his short navy hair. While he couldn't find the answers, he knew one thing for sure. In that one accident, he'd felt a deeper connection to her than he ever had to Kaneko. Yes he loved Kaneko more than anything else; making love to her was sweet though he often had to restrain his more aggressive style of passion. It used to frighten her and he didn't want to cause her pain. With Ritsuko, she was every bit as rough…perhaps even more so as she had conquered him a few times. It had been more of a sexual competition than necessarily love making. He groaned as he couldn't believe that he was seriously comparing the two. Kaneko had been his fiancée, a girl who was very precious to him. Ritsuko…was nothing more than a child. He didn't even know her last name for crying out loud. But still he couldn't deny the effect she'd had on him and again those words haunted him: what if some things are meant to be…

"This is ridiculous," he growled as he pushed away from the table. He took some aspirin to help with his headache and forced himself to eat some breakfast. Surely Itachi wouldn't begrudge him that.

He was just about finished when Itachi returned. His rage had fizzled out; after all he was still exhausted from the night before. He wearily sat down at the table and sighed. "Why Kisame?" He whispered. "What were you thinking?"

Kisame lowered his gaze. "I…I'm not sure."

Itachi narrowed his eyes shrewdly. "You really expect me to believe that? You haven't so much as looked at a girl since Kaneko and I know that you weren't drunk enough for it to be a complete accident."

Kisame scowled slightly but he should have known that Itachi would have been aware of that fact. That Uchiha was more observant than was good for him. Kisame heaved a heavy sigh. "She…reminds me of me right after…" he couldn't finish it. Even four years after the fact and he still couldn't bring himself to talk about her desertion. "I can't really explain it," he confessed. "All I wanted to do was comfort her, give her hope. She was going on about second chances and…" his heart stopped and he stared at Itachi who frowned curiously. "Do you believe in fairy tales?"

Itachi looked skeptic. "Of course not. Why?"

"True love…it's all the kiss," Kisame whispered. "That's what she said. I think she was half-joking when she said that with a kiss."

"She…kissed you first?" He asked quietly.

Kisame nodded. "And in that moment…I…felt something."

Itachi uncharacteristically snorted. "Then you were drunker than I thought."

Kisame wanted to believe him but…even in his sobriety he clearly remembered it. It didn't make any sense. He didn't blame Itachi for not understanding. He wouldn't have either. Itachi took his empty plate and put it in the sink. "I brought her to Shizako's."

Kisame frowned as he turned around in his seat. "Why there?"

"Because she asked me to," he said simply. "I think that she needed the moral support. She was…crying when I left."

Kisame sighed dismally. "I've really screwed up this time. I can't believe it."

"Me either," Itachi admitted. "But there's nothing to do about it now."

"I'm sorry if this jeopardizes your relationship with Shizako," he said softly. He didn't want to ruin the one good thing going for the Uchiha.

"I…don't imagine that it will," Itachi said but his tone lacked the usual confidence.

Silence filled the room as Kisame wrung his napkin, absent-mindedly tearing it into little pieces. "Would you mind if I, you know, wait here until the…cops arrive?" His voice cracked at that last part. It terrified him to think of being arrested for rape. That could complicate the transfer and ruin his chances of getting into that PhD program. But even worse he'd taken advantage of an already heartbroken girl, probably destroying her feeling of self worth forever. And he really hoped that a child wouldn't have to suffer the consequences of their mistake…if she didn't choose to abort it first. It made his stomach turn.

He flinched as Itachi rested a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see his friend smile sympathetically. "Of course you can wait here. You need moral support as well."

"Thanks," he cracked a weak smile.

"You're a good man Kisame," Itachi said gently. "I hate to see you caught in this mess."

"You and me both," he grumbled.

He waited at the table for a long time but there was no telephone call or knock at the door. He went to take a long hot shower to get cleaned off. He could afford to, after all Ritsuko had all the evidence to convict him. But when he got out of the shower, he was surprised to learn from Itachi that nothing had happened. He frowned. "It's been two hours. How long is she going to take?"

"The police take their time bringing up charges; they're probably looking into her story a little more first."

That sort of made sense, but that logic didn't seem to apply when it got to be around 5pm. At last Itachi called Shizako to delicately ask but she screamed at him for letting it happen. She didn't directly blame him because she knew he wouldn't be so cruel but she reminded him that he'd promised to bring Ritsuko home. Kisame could hear her angry voice, even a distance away. Itachi flinched and looked miserable. "I'm sorry Shizako. You're right; I should have been more diligent in keeping my promise-"

"Oh give me that!" Kisame snapped as he grabbed the cell phone from him. "Listen here," he said into the phone. "It wasn't his fault so don't take it out on him."

"No its your fault!" Shizako now screamed at him. "How could you? I thought you were a nice guy! Why if I get my hands on you I'm gonna-"

"Then why haven't the police come?" He demanded. "I've been waiting all day for 'em."

At that Shizako shut up. "You mean..?"

"Yes I've been waiting to be arrested."

"You…want to be arrested?"

"It's not a matter of what I want," he said grimly. "It's nothing less than I deserve." He sighed. "It was an accident and I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to happen. Ritsuko seems like a nice girl and I hate to have hurt her in such a way. That's why…I have to make it right, in any way that I can."

There was silence for a moment, and then he heard whispering, and recognized one of the voices as Ritsuko's. Did she hear his confession as well? At last some one spoke. "I've decided not to press charges."

He jumped at the sound of Ritsuko's voice. "B-but why?"

"It has nothing to do with you."

"How can you say that?" He asked incredulously. "I'm the one who-"

"No, I'M the one who started it," she said firmly. "And for that…I'm…sorry too."

Kisame didn't know what to say to that. "No Ritsuko," he murmured. "You weren't to blame."

"Oh shut up, I was too," she growled. "Don't try to make me blameless in all this. We were both idiots."

He smirked at that. "You're right. But I'm still sorry to have hurt you."

She sighed and he wasn't sure if that was a good or bad sign. "Look…why don't we just chalk it up to being drunk and try to put this behind us? At least for the sake of our friends."

"I dunno," he murmured.

"You're rather go to jail?" She challenged.

"Well…no…" he confessed.

"Then it's settled. It never happened." And with that she hung up on him.

He stared at the phone in surprise. "What happened?" Itachi asked as he took the phone from him.

"I…uh…" he coughed to clear his throat. "She's decided to not press charges."

"Really?" Itachi's eyebrows sky-rocketed. "Why?"

"She said it had nothing to do with me and that it's her fault."

Itachi blinked in surprise. "Was it her fault?"

"She came onto me first, if that's what you mean. But that doesn't matter," he said as he went to grab his coat.

"Where are you going?" Itachi asked.

"I'M going to make it right," he said firmly.