"Okay, let me see if I've got this right," the red haired waitress muttered as she took a quick glance at her notepad, "One cheesecake, a strawberry parfait and a chocolate parfait, and an apple pie with ice cream?"

"Yeah, that's right," confirmed a middle aged woman, giving her a slight nod.

"As for drinks it was, uh… two cokes, a black coffee and a glass of water, right?"

The woman nodded again, a gentle smile on her lips. Haruki assumed it was one of compassion; that she remembered how stressful being young could be. Many adults seemed to completely forget, telling their kids how easy they had it and that they needed to enjoy their childhood while it lasted, for they would be thrown out into the adult life all too soon.

Sure, as you grew older, the responsibilities would only start piling up, but it wasn't as though you didn't have a care in life before you turned thirty and had a house and three kids to take care of.

"Seriously," grunted the man after the waitress had left to get their food, "Service these days is terrible."

"Oh, go a little easy on them, would you?" his wife smiled as she observed the two young waitresses rushing around the café, "They're just kids, after all."

The man snorted, but when he spoke again, it was in a softer tone than before.

"Those two ain't kids. You can see in their eyes that they've both been through too much to fit under that category anymore."

"Don't you think that's rather sad, though?" she sighed, "They didn't even get the time to grow up before being thrown into all of this…"

The sound of her phone calling made Haruki stop in her tracks. She wasn't supposed to answer calls at work. Her boss had made that perfectly clear, but it could be important.

Deciding to at least check who was calling, she picked up her phone and looked at the caller ID, one that she did not recognize. For a while, she ignored it and kept cleaning the table, but the caller was persistent, and in the end her curiosity got the best of her.

"Hello?" she spoke in a questioning voice, unsure of how to greet a person whose identity was still unknown to her.

"You're Sagae Haruki-san, isn't that right?" replied a feminine voice. Forgetting the woman could not see her, she nodded slightly, too focused on the tone of her voice to reply.

The woman sounded tired and worried, and maybe even a little scared.

"Yeah?" she spoke after a while, shaking her head in order to tear herself away from her thoughts so she could concentrate on the situation.

"We're calling from the hospital where your mother is…" Her voice was shaking slightly and Haruki thought the girl couldn't be much older than her. Working at a hospital couldn't be easy, especially at first. "Do you think you could come over so we could speak to you in person?"

This made Haruki's head jerk up, despite of how she'd barely been able to keep her eyes open just mere minutes ago. Before even hearing her out, she began marching towards the exit. Behind her, Mahiru muttered something inaudible, and a second later her boss yelled out to her, but she couldn't as much as make out his words, and nor did she truly care what he said.

"What happened?" she snapped, her voice nearly cracking up at the end. There was a pause in the other end. Although it couldn't have lasted for more than a couple of seconds, seeing as she could only take a few steps during the time, it felt so painfully long.

"This morning she got worse all of a sudden," she explained, "But I think it would be better if we explained the rest in person."

Without saying goodbye or anything of the sort, Haruki hung up and more or less sprinted towards the subways, which would be the fastest way to get to the hospital, maybe apart from a cab, but she didn't carry round enough money for that.

She had to hurry. She had to get to her mother right now and make sure she was alright. She had to be alright.

"Nee-chan, you're finally here!" yelled Fuyuka upon the sight of her older sister. She waved in order to catch her attention and when Haruki spotted her, she came over in a rush.

"Where's mom?" she asked, still panting heavily from running all the way from the subway station.

She couldn't have looked very good at the moment, bent over as she desperately tried to catch her breath, her hair messy and her totally out-of-place maid outfit all wrinkly, but she couldn't care less about that now.

"They said we could talk to a doctor once you arrived," explained the younger girl. While she remained calm and composed on the outside, Haruki, having known the girl her entire life, could make out the fear in her teary eyes and hear how her voice shook.

A doctor waved them into a small office away from the crowd and Haruki laid a comforting arm around Fuyuka's shoulder as they entered and shut the door behind them.

"What happened?" asked the oldest girl, still clutching her sister's shoulder tightly. She was grateful that her other siblings weren't present right now to hear this, although not all of them would even understand the gravity of the situation.

"Just this morning her condition abruptly worsened," replied the man, "We're currently investigating the cause and the possible outcomes of this, though."

Fuyuka looked up at him, her brown eyes glistening with tears. The look on her face was miserable enough to break a person's heart, for sure, and Haruki hated to see her like that.

She'd promised she would look after them and protect them. That they wouldn't ever need to experience such pain and sorrow. But despite all her efforts, things just kept getting worse and worse. Why couldn't she protect them? Why did they have to go through this?

"Is she going to…" Fuyuka's voice faltered as a lonesome tear escaped from the corner of her eye and rolled down her cheek.

"It's too soon to tell yet," the doctor answered honestly, "But right now it's looking like she will be able to overcome this."

Haruki was about to let out a sigh of relief, but then realized that he probably wasn't done talking.

Lately it seemed that whenever she received good news, she'd get some bad news on the bargain as well.

"Unless her condition changes from what it is now, we will most likely be moving her to a different department and start giving her some different types of medicine… And I am aware of your home situation, so I hate to say this, but…"

"We'll find a way to pay it," Haruki answered firmly, not wanting the man to have to deliver the bad news. It was obvious he felt bad about charging them for even more money, but it wasn't in his place to decide how much they needed to pay.

She got up, wanting nothing more than to get out of there.

She could tell Fuyuka was about to break down completely and wanted to comfort her, not that she'd be able to provide much comfort, being on the verge of crying herself.

"Call and update us if anything happens, alright?"

"Of course," he nodded, "And if not, I will call tonight about her condition and the new medicine."

After hearing that, Haruki left the room, pulling her sister along with her.

For every step, she could feel her heart sink further in her chest and more tears welling up in her eyes.

Why did everything in her life have to come crumbling down like this?

"Ya know, you've been taking on an awful lot of work lately," exclaimed Tamazaki Kenji with a lazy shrug, "I mean, not that it's any of my business, but aren't you pushing yourself too hard"?

Haruki looked at him in surprise. Her boss must have been just about the last person she'd expected to express feelings of concern for her well-being.

The past two weeks had been a living hell for her, but she'd kept it up anyway. After getting to know the prize of her mom's new medicine she had began working an awful lot of overtime in both of her jobs, even going as far as skipping school to work. She had also taken up a couple of smaller extra jobs, such as walking dogs or doing some cleaning, whenever she had time.

Fuyuka had gotten a job at a close by grocery store where she worked after school, and they had to constantly ask friends and neighbours to look after the kids while they were gone.

"I'm fine. I don't mind working," she lied, forcing a smile onto her lips. As exhausted and depressed as she was, she found mustering up that smile far more challenging than cleaning tables and taking orders could ever be.

"Well, if you say so. I just don't want you to fall asleep at work. Gives the place a bad reputation."

Well, so much for that concern.

"Don't you worry, boss. I won't do something like that," she reassured him with a light laugh, hoping to convince him that she was alright.

"Yeah, you have enough ways of ruining our reputation already," he groaned, but then cracked up in a cackling laughter at his own joke, which really was more insulting than funny.

Haruki kept smiling at him, having figured that when it came to this man, it was best to simply smile and nod and occasionally crack a little joke.

"But I need manpower, and you obviously need the money, so I won't deny you to work. You'll have to figure out for yourself when enough is enough."

He looked at her, that usual sharp look in his eyes. She nodded slowly, and that seemed to reassure him.

"You're a smart one, Sagae, so don't do anything stupid, got that?"

"Where are you going?" she asked as she saw him putting on his jacket and picking up a bag from the floor.

"Just an errand in town. You and Banba hold the fort down, okay?"

"Um…"

Hearing Mahiru's low voice, Haruki turned to look at her. She jumped back a step, creating some more distance between her and her coworker.

"What's the matter?" Haruki urged her on, knowing the silver haired girl needed motivation to keep talking.

"It's just… well… It's not any of my business…" she stuttered in her usual fashion, "But you haven't been at school this week… a-are you alright?"

She hadn't even thought of how she would explain that to Mahiru. She could easily tell her classmates and Mizorogi-sensei that she was sick, but she met Mahiru here several days a week, so there was no hiding that that wasn't the case.

She must have noticed a while ago, too. Haruki wondered what sort of conclusion she might have come to. She did know Haruki's family wasn't doing all that well, and she knew her well enough by now to know that she wasn't the type to skip school just because she didn't feel like going.

Chances were she'd already figured it out, so there wasn't any point in trying to lie to her.

"It's just… we're a big family, and my mom is sick, so I have to work if we want food on the table and medicine for my mom," she sighed tiredly, rubbing her temples. She was starting to get a headache, barely having slept last night and then heading straight to work in the middle of the morning rush.

"I-I'm so sorry for asking," Mahiru piped up frantically, "I shouldn't h-have."

"No, no," the red head reassured her, waving her arms dismissively, "It's actually really nice having someone to talk to about it."

It truly was.

It wasn't as though she could talk to her mom about anything when she was in this condition, and she didn't want to worry her siblings even more. She didn't want to get Isuke involved in all of this, and even if she told her, she doubted she would truly understand.

She'd more or less filled Nio in on the situation, but she wasn't the best at comforting people and when it came to Haruki's family problems, Nio had decided not to pry, for once in her life. She sometimes helped them out, though. She'd babysit the kids now and then, but Haruki got the feeling she was more hanging out with them than actually babysitting.

She felt like maybe Mahiru was the one that understood her the best out of the people she knew and could talk to.

"W-well, in that case…" A slight blush spread across her cheeks and a small smile found its way to her lips, "You can talk to me… i-if there's anything bothering you."

Haruki beamed back at her. Sure, things were tough nowadays, but it was nice to know you had someone who were willing to pick you up when you fell.

"Where have you been all week? Isuke has been lonely," she smiled upon the sight of her girlfriend.

Neither of them had fully moved on from what had happened at the restaurant a while back, but they tried to play it cool and pretend nothing was wrong.

"I caught a cold, so I decided to stay home from school," she explained innocently. She really hated lying to Isuke, but if she told her she'd skipped school in order to work, she would freak out.

Sighing, Isuke turned away from her.

"You're a terrible liar."

"What?" Haruki retorted immediately. Had she been figured out already? Was it that obvious?

Isuke turned back, facing her yet again.

"I went ahead and did some detective work. It wasn't difficult to make Banba tell me she'd seen you at work," she explained, her usually smug voice now cold and monotone.

She was disappointed, having thought they were over that by now; that they wouldn't feel the need to keep so many secrets. She'd even planned to tell her about how Mama and Papa were trying to play matchmakers for her again, but she hadn't been able to reach Haruki in days.

"Oh…" was Haruki's only reply.

"What have you been up to this week?" she kept pushing her for answers.

She was aware that she'd been lying to her as well, but now she just wanted to clear everything up. Lately, talking to Haruki had been difficult, as though they couldn't be themselves with each other anymore. That was why she wanted to put all the cards on the table now; tell her everything so that maybe things would go back to the way they were.

"Nothing much," she shrugged casually, but it was obvious that she wasn't being honest, "Why? Are you that worried about me, Isuke-sama? I mean, you were such a cute tsundere, don't tell me you're gonna turn all yandere now?"

For once, Haruki's teasing didn't make her blush or stutter. She wouldn't have any of it right now.

"You don't have to lie to me, Haruki," she spoke sincerely, "Just tell me what's going on."

The redhead's playful smile faltered and her shoulders sunk together slightly. When she spoke, her voice sounded tired and blank.

"Sorry, I can't tell you…"

While a part of her wanted to run up and hug her and tell her everything would be alright, another part of her was boiling with fury at this self-sacrificing idiot who ruined her entire life in order to please everyone else.

The smartest choice was obviously to let it go and try to console her, but as of late, Isuke hadn't been very good at making the right choices, and she had never been good at controlling her temper.

"Why do you always do that?" she hissed through gritted teeth, which made Haruki jump back in shock. "Just stop it already, Haruki, stop putting yourself on that mental pedestal of yours."

She inhaled deeply and then exhaled, trying to calm herself if only just a little, but it didn't have much of an effect.

"I know you have it tough, but it's not as though you're the only one, so you don't need to act like you're on a different level and shelter yourself from people because of that."

She had always hated how independent she was, wanting to bear her far too heavy burdens all by herself. Haruki's intention had always been pure and selfless, but Isuke didn't think her ways were always as clever.

"Shut up… You don't understand," muttered Haruki under her breath. She looked away, refusing to meet the other girl's determined gaze.

"Then explain to me, so that I can at least try," she demanded. Was she being too forceful again? She knew she had been at the restaurant while trying to pair Sumireko up with Mahiru, and that hadn't ended very well.

"It just doesn't work like that, Isuke-sama. You and I are… just too different." Haruki looked down at the floor, kicking some imaginary dirt around to preoccupy herself.

Something about what Haruki said sounded so final. It scared her more than anything she'd ever experienced before.

"Yes, we are different, but that's not how the world works. Day and night, good and evil, saints and sinners… The world just isn't that black and white."

By now, her mind was screaming at her to shut the fuck up, but it was as though her body wouldn't obey.

She wanted to end this argument here. She wanted to apologize and say she hadn't meant to snap at her or to try forcing her into saying anything, but she just couldn't.

She could feel the distance between her and Haruki growing with every word that was spoken. Soon, they would be worlds apart.

"That's where you're wrong," retorted Haruki, "My entire life has been like this. We never had money, my parents never had time for us, and it only kept getting worse. My mom got sick, and my dad left. Fuyuka and I have been working like crazy just to keep everyone fed, and even so…"

Her voice faltered and a silent sob escaped her lips. She squeezed her eyes shut to hold back her tears and curled her hands into tight fists.

"Haruki…" Isuke whispered, but either she ignored it or she didn't hear it at all.

"Do you know what it's like to see the people you love the most cry themselves to sleep, knowing you can't comfort them because every comforting word you could possibly tell them is a lie?"

She opened her teary eyes and looked up at Isuke for a short moment.

"You're filthy rich and I'm dirt poor, so yes; the world is that black and white… And you couldn't ever hope to understand."

"I…" she began, but she was at a complete loss of words. Apologizing now wouldn't help at all, and she didn't have anything else to say.

"Please, just leave… Isuke," Haruki spoke, no emotion in her voice.

The way she spoke her name made Isuke feel like they were total strangers. No, worse than that. She couldn't be sure, but it felt like, for a moment, Haruki might even have hated her. It couldn't have been more than a tinge of hatred, as someone like her couldn't possibly be capable of hating someone. But it still stung in her chest. It hurt so much that she wanted to cry too.

Just the idea of Haruki maybe hating her was so painful she couldn't bear to look at her anymore.

"Fine. I've wasted enough time here anyway." As soon as those words escaped her lips, she regretted them, but they had just slipped out when the realization had had hit her.

This was the end.

Right here and now, she and Haruki were ending things.

It was all over now.

Before I say anything else, I just feel like I have to apologize for this extremely long wait. I've been on vacation for over a week, so I couldn't write anything, and when I got home I had to get my computer fixed because of some issues. The rest of the vacation I'll be at my cabin most of the time, so I'm hoping to find a lot of time to write as there isn't much to do apart from that.

I was thinking to say I hoped you enjoyed the chapter, but then I thought of just how depressing it is so yeah… xD Next chapter is also going to be all gloomy and stuff, but I'm planning for the chapter after that to be a little lighter and possibly kind of fluffy. (Well that's the plan, but it might turn out differently when I write.)

I realize I shouldn't promise anything, but hopefully I'll have a chapter up this weekend, so until then :)