Standard Disclaimers Apply

The first one on Chizuru's list to talk to was Kazama's mother. She's much less intimidating now that she has partially accepted her. The whole fiasco at Kazama's birthday party last year really won her over.

She calmly served Mrs. Kazama her favourite tea (which she discovered from her personal maid).

After she feels that the middle aged woman has acclimatized enough, she brings up the topic. His mother immediately freezes. Chizuru respectfully waits until she feels comfortable enough to share.

Her patience is rewarded when his mother puts the teacup down and sits up straighter. "So you know."

"Yes."

Wrinkles furrowed the woman's forehead as she sighed. "I…My apology may seem useless now, but I am truly sorry."

Chizuru smiled tranquilly. "I know."

"I…You know?"

How could she not? Her guilt was evident on her hard expression, emanating from her in heavy waves, and surrounding the whole room in a cloud of tension. It had taken all of Chizuru's strength to avoid shifting under it all.

"I know you're sorry, but before I accept your apology, I want to know why." Her voice was soft and pleasant.

His mother nodded. "I knew your parents were sincere in their kindness. I experienced it personally after all, so I could never truly bring myself to hate them completely… But the jealousy was too hard to bare, and the Nagumos only fuelled it. I do not put all of the blame on them. It is my own weakness that made me so easily persuaded, and I am to blame for that."

Chizuru nodded in understanding.

"Your mother and father," she started again, voice breaking as if about to cry. "They were really, really nice. When Chikage was born, they brought so many gifts. They were really interesting people, you see. While all the other families seemed to have superficial gifts -brand watches for the new father, diamond necklaces for the new mother- not one of them gave anything to the newborn child. It was as though they were only trying to please us. The child would not be of use to them until he was old enough to comprehend wealth, and it really was not until then did they start gifting him expensively.

"Your parents were different. They bought a stroller, dozens of baby clothes, baby toys, all things they could have bought from a commoner's store. Your mother cooked me homemade remedies to facilitate faster healing, and your father bought tickets to a massage parlour that was not particularly well known. We were skeptical about this place at first," she paused here for a moment as if wondering whether she should continue or not.

Finally, she sighed. "The massage was really good."

Chizuru smiled.

The happy moment was abruptly cut short by his mother's next words though. "Honestly, I had nothing to fear. The Yukimuras would never have surpassed us."

Chizuru immediately wanted to rethink her whole perspective of her, but she warmed at her next words.

"They were like our younger siblings, always there when we turned around, always there when we needed help. Oh, how could I…"

When it looked like the woman's tears would finally fall, she decided she's heard more than enough and quickly changed the subject to a more positive one.

"It's okay! Chikage is treating me like a princess right now," she grinned nervously.

"Oh, and I treated you so poorly before too!"

Well that ruined her attempt.

"The guilt has plagued me all this time, but when my son brought you home… I warded you off because I didn't want any connections to the family I brought misery upon. I ran away from you, Chizuru-chan. Will you…will you ever let me redeem myself?"

"Chizuru-chan, oh my sweet little girl, come over here."

"She's not your daughter, you know."

"I know, I know, but I'm sure she will be soon. Have you seen how my son looks at her?"

"Ah, yes. Young love."

"Now come here sweetie! Let Auntie give you a kiss!"

She couldn't see the faces very clearly, and the voices sounded much younger, but the two women in the memory that flashed in her mind were both equally kind and motherly.

"I want to treat you right, to love you like my own daughter…" the woman, who she now knew to be very kind at heart, paused and looked away rather bashfully. "That is…if you don't mind."

Chizuru felt tears gather at the corners of her eyes as she pulled the woman into a warm hug.

"I don't mind at all," she smiled. "Auntie."

"I'm coming, Auntie!"

On the car ride to school, Chizuru sat, biting her lip at the encounter she knew would soon come. Speaking to Kazama's mother had been more listening on her part than actual talking, but she knew she would have to do most of the talking when it came to Kaoru.

Sensing her nervousness, Kazama squeezed her hand in his. She looked up and he used his other hand to ruffle her hair. "You'll do fine."

She smiled thankfully up at him. What would she have done if he hadn't been there for her? At that thought, she squeezed his hand back and leaned into him.

"I feel really lucky," she told him.

"Most would say otherwise."

She knew he was referring to the Yukimura's fall.

"Do you think I'm unlucky?"

He rested the side of his face on her head. "I can't say, but…"

"But?"

"I know I'm lucky."

She felt the featherlight touch of his kiss on her head and couldn't help but smile in satisfaction.

When Kaoru and Shizuka stepped into the classroom, she immediately swirled her head around to look at them. Shizuka nodded from her position behind her brother, and Chizuru nodded back.

Kaoru's usual pleasant smile looked a lot more menacing now that she knew the truth.

"Kaoru," she greeted. She didn't even need to stand up. He always walked to her desk in the morning anyway.

"Good morning, Chizuru," he chirped.

"Can I come over today?"

"Oh?" His tone told her that he was suspicious. "Why?"

"I want to talk to you."

"We can talk at school."

"Privately," she practically hissed.

Seeing Chizuru so serious, voice laced with defiance, he scowled. "Fine. Meet me after class."

She swallowed down any unease she had and nodded.

She could hardly pay attention to any of her classes throughout the day. Though her teachers noticed, they did not stop to reprimand her. They had seen the tension between the two siblings, and had been wise enough to back off. They were both smart enough to catch up after they've fixed whatever issue was going on in between them anyway. For now, they would overlook it.

Before Chizuru knew it, the last bell of the day rung. Kaoru glanced at her offhandedly before signalling her to follow him. Beside him, Shizuka met her eyes and smiled reassuringly before following along.

Wordlessly, she followed the pair down the hall and eventually out to the front gates where their vehicle was waiting. She didn't know what made her do it, but she turned around to look back at the school, and more specifically at the student council room. She wasn't really surprised to see him staring down at her with his arms crossed.

From this distance, she couldn't make out what his expression was. The whole experience felt surreal to her. It was like she was being sent to war while he was the one staying behind and watching her leave.

"You coming?" she heard her brother snarl. Surprised that such a tone had come from her own brother, who had spoken so sweetly to her in the days prior, she swirled her head around and missed the words Kazama mouthed to her.

Be careful.

A/N: Thanks for reading!