"Mmm…" Misaki shifts under the thick duvet, slowly opening his eyes. He blinks a few times before remembering where he was and sat up quickly. He holds the blanket to his chest, shivering. Damn, it was way colder than he thought it would be. Misaki rubbed his eyes before looking out the window. It was still pretty dark outside, but this was the usual time he woke up at. But instead of doing work around the house, he had to get dressed and ready. He wonders if all women woke up this early to get ready.

Misaki slid off the bed, shivering as he was suddenly surrounded by the cold. "Sheesh…How do they live like this?" he muttered as he lit an oil lamp. Shuffling to the vanity, he looked down at the little bowl which was supposed to have water in it to wash your face but instead had...ice. Or rather a thin layer of ice over the water. Well nevermind then. He went to the closet and frowned. He had only a few dresses, all of them Manami's, and they were all too thin for this kind of weather. He grumbled and picked out a dark green one anyways. It's not like he had much of a choice or preference anyways. All dresses were dresses to him. However he wondered if all the other ladies had better dresses than he did.

After about a half hour later he realized this would be harder than he thought. His fingers were numb and trying to put on the stupid corset he had to wear was hard. Without it he would look more like a man than a woman so he couldn't leave without it, as much as he wanted to. At least with the corset it gave him some femininity. After that was the stockings, petticoat and finally the damn dress. It wasn't a complete ensemble but it would have to do. Especially since he had no idea how to dress in a full outfit and would probably make a fool of himself if he tried. That or just get himself in to more of a mess. He sat down at the vanity and sighed, feeling quite stiff in his new attire but just shrugged the thought away. He had no other choice.

This all felt very stupid. He was a man, and men don't do these kinds of things! If he could he would leave right now and never look back. But...Misaki sighed and looked down. He couldn't risk hurting his brother or his brother's fiance. After all the whole reason he did this was so he didn't have to see his brother heartbroken. With a small sigh he grabbed the brush and started to fix his hair. He didn't know much about fancy hairstyles but his hair was long enough to pass as female hair in any hair do. No matter the simplicity. He used a ribbon to tie his hair back and put it into a small neat bun. He finished it off with a flower hairclip that his brother gave to him. It was their mothers, and he never thought he'd be the one wearing it. But things had a strange way of playing out. At least it was being used again.

Misaki was almost done...he just needed make up. He frowned, picking up a powder brush. Crap, he forgot what Manami did! It was something to do with this brush...he was sure but he couldn't remember. And he knew if he even attempted to try and do the make up himself he would mess it up. Misaki started to panic a bit as he tried to figure out how to put make up on.

A knock on the door made him jump. He quickly stood up and opened the door, "Ah-Yes?" he asked, straightening up.

Aikawa blinked a bit before smiling, "Sorry for disturbing you Miss Kajiwara, but the king was worried when he didn't see you at breakfast." she said.

Misaki mentally punched himself. Of course! He forgot all about that. He had been so busy trying to get ready that he had missed breakfast completely. "I'm very sorry! I woke up late and lost track of time." he bowed a bit in apology. "I'm not even done yet." he admitted shyly.

She suddenly brightened up, "Do you need help? I can do your makeup." she offered, seeming a bit too eager about it.

"Oh...well...sure. If it would be no problem. I would appreciate it." he said, smiling a little. Usually he wouldn't agree to such a thing but he had no other choice. Either it was she did his make up or he spent another hour figuring out how to do it.

She smiled and quickly entered the room, pushing him down on the chair and grabbing the supplies, "You already have such a pretty face. You won't need much, just some blush...a little eyeliner…" she hummed. "But first let's wash your face." she said, cracking the ice in the water bowl. Misaki wrinkled his nose. Oh damn.

Akihiko leaned against the table in the kitchen, eating an apple. He had purposely slept in late to avoid having to eat breakfast with everyone else. He wondered how Misaki fared though. He wondered if she even knew anything about table etiquette. Probably not. For a lady she seemed quite clueless about these kind of things.

He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard someone walk in. At first he was going to ignore them until he heard that familiar voice. "Eh? Prince, what are you doing here?"

Akihiko looked at Misaki, "Eating." he said bluntly.

"I know that. I mean why are you here? I heard everyone went to the parlor." She said, walking over to him.

"I missed breakfast."

"Why? I thought you were supposed to be with everyone. Your father did all this for you after all! It's rude that you didn't go!"

"I didn't ask him to do anything. And as far as I'm concerned this is more for his benefit than mine. Or my brother's." he looked over at Misaki who seemed a bit confused. He sighed and tossed the rest of the apple into the waste basket. "My father just wants whoever is going to take the throne to be married and have kids. It's to keep the bloodline alive." Akihiko chuckled a bit to himself. That wasn't going to happen. His brother might be able to marry, but he had low hopes he himself would get married. Let alone have kids.

"Well it's only natural isn't it?"

"Hm?"

Misaki fidgeted and smoothed out her dress nervously. "Well, I'm not really in a position to say anything but...it just sounds to me like he is just looking out for you two. He probably just wants the best for his sons. At least that's my thinking."

Akihiko stared at her for a second before looking away, "That sounds stupid."

Misaki frowned and glared, "Well I was just voicing my opinion!" she said, crossing her arms and huffing.

Akihiko couldn't help but smile a bit at her actions. "Brat." Before she could start up in to another fit he spoke again, "Why are you in the kitchen? Looking for something?"

Misaki relaxed a bit and shook her head. "No. I missed breakfast too. But not on purpose. I forgot about it, to be honest." She walked over to the cabinets and decided what she wanted to eat. "If you want I could cook you something too. Unless you've eaten already?" she glanced at him before grabbing some supplies.

"No I haven't eaten yet. Whatever you cook I'll eat. If it's good." he said.

They were silent as she cooked, both caught up in their own thoughts. However, getting bored with simply watching, Akihiko spoke up, "How is Takahiro?" he asked, taking a sip of water. "I heard he got a new job."

"He did. He works in the trading business now." she said, smiling a bit. "He isn't home much, but he seems to be happy." she said as she stirred the soup.

"So you do all the chores I'm guessing? Or does Manami do it?"

"I take care of everything while he's away. Manami doesn't live with us, since they aren't married yet."

"But when they do marry, where will you go?"

"I'm not sure. My brother said I could stay but I feel like I'm intruding on them if I do. It would be strange for a teenager to live with newlyweds." Misaki frowned a bit, "I want to move, though I'm not sure where to."

Akihiko looked her over. She seemed to be fairly distressed. Although it was only natural she'd feel this way. A woman couldn't own property so her only option was marrying someone with property. Or moving to a relatives house although if he remembered correctly their relatives lived far away. "You know," Misaki looked at him, "If you do need to find a place to stay, I can help you."

"Really?"

"I could buy you your own house. Or at least help find you a place to stay without marrying someone."

"Marrying some-Oh yeah, right...b-but you don't have to do that. I wouldn't want to burden you or anything." she said, holding her hands up in defense.

"It wouldn't be a burden. I have a lot of money. I could buy a house."

"You shouldn't spend your money so carelessly." she grumbled, pouting a bit. "But, I mean, that's really nice of you but you don't-"

"I want to. It's the least I can do for my best friend's sister." Misaki blinked but then looked away shyly, a flustered blush on her cheeks. She had been so distracted that she barely noticed the soup starting to boil over. "Is it supposed to do that?" he asked, leaning against the counter.

"Hm? Ah!" she quickly moved it away from the fire. He laughed a bit at her misfortune, ignoring her flustered and embarrassed yelling.

"You can be quite clueless sometimes."

"Shut your mouth. You can't even cook so you can't make fun of me!"

Akihiko laughed even more, much to her chagrin. This was going to be a long two months, they both thought to themselves.

((A/N: Sorry it's a bit short but the next one will be longer I swear! Thanks for all the comments you guys, it makes me happy :3 PS I'll most likely be updating every Sunday, since school takes a lot out of me.))