Rika hummed to a song on the radio as she cooked dinner. She had of course noticed the tennis regulars at the cafe but paid them no mind. It had felt wonderful to spend time with An-chan and her butterflies soon faded away after eating some cake with An. Akaya still wasn't back but Rika wasn't really that worried. The phone rang and Rika rushed to pick it up.

"Hello?"

"Rika-chan? It's mom"

"Mom, how are you? When are you coming back home?"

"I won't be home for at least another week darling. Business is really going well here. I'm really sorry"

"It's not a problem mom. We can go to Akaya's match in two weeks then" Rika said.

"Is Akaya around?"

"He's at tennis practice, mom"

"Tell him I said hi. I miss you both so much. I'll be home soon. Bye, take care. Love you"

"Love you too"

Rika hung up and then smiled. The twins knew that their mother worked hard for both of them. Rika hoped that she would be the perfect daughter for her mother. She wiped the tears from her eyes and then headed to the kitchen to finish cooking.

Yukimura chuckled as Marui ruffled Akaya's curly seaweed hair. Yanagi smiled and pulled Niou away before the trickster could aggravate Akaya even more. Sanada seemed morose so Yukimura suggested they all go home for the the rest of the evening. Akaya, Niou, Yagyuu and Marui took the bus heading south while Jackal headed to his home on foot. Sanada and Yukimura climbed another bus with Yanagi.

"What has got you down in the dumps?" Yanagi asked bluntly to Sanada.

"Is it because you saw Rika-chan?" Yukimura asked.

"I believe the answer to that is yes" Yanagi said.

"Here's your stop, Renji" Yukimura pressed the button to stop the bus. Yanagi said his goodbyes and departed.

"Now will you tell me why you're so depressed?" Yukimura asked sitting down next to Sanada.

"She seemed so happy. She was smiling and laughing. It was nothing like when she was with me. I feel like I couldn't make her happy at all" Sanada replied.

"It is not your fault at all. You just weren't compatible. It's not your fault or hers. Girls always get along better than a girl and a boy. It's not like Rika-chan and Tachibana's sister are together" Yukimura laughed but then quieted down.

His heart was beating wildly as he thought about what he had said. It couldn't be. Tachibana's sister and Rika-chan? Rika had looked like she was enjoying herself but that didn't mean that she liked Tachibana An in that way, did it? Yukimura furrowed his eyebrows as he thought this over. Why did he care so much for Rika-chan? She could date whoever she wanted. Why was he sticking his nose in?

"I'm home!" Akaya yelled from the entryway.

"Welcome home" Rika said, placing the bowl of udon noodles on the table.

"Oh wow, that smells great!" Akaya sat down and began serving himself. Rika chuckled and then seated herself elegantly on the chair opposite him.

"I saw you guys at the cafe today" Rika said as he slurped the noodles noisily.

"Yeah. I was going to say hi but buchou told me its not nice disturb someone. You looked like you were having fun so he didn't want to spoil that" Akaya replied.

"Yukimura senpai is really nice, isn't he?" Rika commented.

"The nicest person ever. I have an English test on Monday so I'm going over to Yanagi senpai's to study. He said he would help me with my writing" Akaya said.

"Don't you know we're in the same year? I need some help in English too" Rika said.

"I'll ask Yanagi senpai if you can come with me. He said his parents were gone for the weekend so he'll cook lunch for me" Akaya said.

"I'll make something for him too if he lets me come over" Rika said.

"Make your strawberry shortcakes! I love those! Everyone likes them, even Sanada fukubuchou" Akaya begged.

"I'll bring them on Monday for all of you after tennis practice" Rika promised and Akaya whooped.

The next day, Akaya dragged Rika out of the house to Yanagi senpai's home. It was an apartment in one of the more modern buildings in Kaganawa. It was different from their traditional family home. Rika pressed the intercom button which identified them and let them into the house.

"Wow, this house is so cool" Akaya exclaimed as they took off their shoes.

"Haven't you been to Yanagi senpai's home before?" Rika asked, smoothing down her skirt and sleeveless top.

"Nope. His parents are always around doing stuff so we don't come over. Yukimura Buchou comes over a whole lot to tend to their plants but no one else from the tennis team comes over" Akaya replied.

"Welcome to my humble abode" Yanagi said with a small smile.

"This place is so awesome!" Akaya exclaimed.

"It's a really nice house, senpai" Rika said.

"Thank you. Come into the dining room, we'll being our work. Sanada and Yukimura are also here working on our project for next week" Yanagi said.

They entered the dining room to find Sanada and Yukimura seated on the floor with a few large posters. Rika greeted them before sitting at the table and pulling out her books. Akaya nearly toppled over the green paint which prompted Yanagi to seat him at the table and start teaching them.

"How do you pronounce this, senpai?" Rika asked pointing to a word in her dictionary.

"Forte. You pronounce it as for-tay" Yanagi replied.

"For-tay. It doesn't sound like English" Rika said, sounding confused.

"It's actually French and it describes a person who is good at something" Yanagi explained.

"Okay" Rika bit her lower lip before starting some translation exercises.

"Yanagi, does this look right?" Yukimura asked, prompting Yanagi to leave the twins alone.

Kirihara had his eyes screwed up in order to concentrate. Rika hummed quietly as she went ahead and then stopped, unsure of what to write. Yukimura chuckled quietly as she chewed on the end of her pencil. She looked adorable like that with her curls framing her face and biting her lip.

Yukimura abruptly sat up, catching the attention of Sanada and Yanagi.

"Bathroom" he muttered, getting up.

He shut the door of the bathroom behind him before looking at his horrified face in the mirror. His heart was beating wildly as the realisation poured over him. He liked Kirihara Rika. He had actually fallen for her. Her politeness, childlike face and quiet voice had finally pulled him in, a place where many had tried had failed.

"What am I going to do?"