Akihiko gave an agitated sigh as he set the book down. It shouldn't be bothering him, he knew that. It meant nothing anyways right? It was just awkward eye contact is all. It's happened to him plenty of times. Still...it made him feel strange. The way Misaki's green eyes met his own iris colored ones… She had a cute smile too and her cheeks were red from the cold which made her look adorable...Akihiko squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. Dammit. He needed to stop thinking about her. At least in that way.

Akihiko stood up and walked over to the dresser. He slipped on some fresh clothes, tossing the other ones to the floor carelessly. As he put on his boots he tried to convince himself he did not have a crush on her and that it was all a misunderstanding. He wasn't even attracted to women. Maybe...it was just because she was a friend. Yes. A friend. Akihiko threw on his coat as he nodded to himself. That's it. He just felt that way because she was a good person to talk to, just like her brother Takahiro. She was kind, entertaining and seemed to have more sense than any of the other princesses. That's why he was feeling a bit confused. That's all.

Akihiko left his room, hands in his pockets, and started to head to the kitchen. He no longer felt nervous about seeing her now. In fact he was even a little eager to see the girl. He was hungry, and no doubt she'll end up yelling at him for being late again while cooking him something. The thought made him chuckle a bit, despite himself. However once he entered the kitchen he noticed that the room was empty. No Misaki to be found. Or food. That was odd. Perhaps she was still asleep? He frowned, wondering if she was sick from last night. She wasn't used to the cold after all.

Quickly he left the kitchen and went down the hall, towards the guest rooms. What if she was sick? Would his father send her off? Would he help her? Would he do anything at all? He was snapped out of his thoughts by a familiar voice, "Akihiko where are you going off to?" Aikawa asked, a duster in one hand.

"Have you seen Misa-I mean Miss Kajiwara today?" he said, quickly correcting himself.

"Yes I have. She left early this morning with the rest of the group. The king was taking them out to the town square." Akihiko relaxed a bit, knowing she wasn't ill or harmed. However he couldn't shake off a feeling of disappointment. "You know if you want I think you can still catch up with them."

"It's alright. Thank you."

She giggled, "Why were you so worried anyways?"

He shrugged in response before walking away. "I don't know." he muttered to himself. Without much else to do, he grabbed an apple and headed back his room to write, feeling very lonely all of the sudden.

"Oooh! That looks nice!"

"How about this? It'll match great with my new dress!"

"Is this too much?"

Misaki watched the princesses move about, feeling pretty detached from everything. Being a man in a woman's 'body', so to speak, was a bit harder than he thought. He knew nothing about women, let alone what they did. Of course he had nothing against shopping per se. It's just...it's not something he has ever done. Being poor, he rarely had the time and the money to go out and shop for fun. And if he did have the luxury of doing so, he wouldn't have spent it on...dresses, jewelry or women shoes. Misaki sighed a bit to himself, looking at some bracelets awkwardly. He wished he denied coming here. To be truthful he only agreed because he was nervous of talking to Akihiko again after what happened. He knew he was making a big deal over nothing but it was still strange. It was very...intimate and Misaki swore he felt his heart beat faster. Misaki shook his head and slapped his cheeks a bit. He needed to stop thinking about it! Maybe it was only awkward because they were both guys. But, in his defense, Misaki was dressed up and pretending to be a girl. He blinked. That's it! It only felt that way because Akihiko thought he was a girl! That's why it was strangely intimate. If Akihiko knew he was a guy he wouldn't have looked at him that way. They would just be good friends, right? Misaki felt relieved yet also a bit disappointed although he shoved that feeling aside. He just needed to let it go and focus on spending time with the group that's all. Maybe he could even buy something for Manami and his brother.

Misaki smiled and turned, ready to join the group. However he stopped, realizing he was the only one in the store. He had been so distracted he didn't even notice them leave. He slumped his shoulders and let out a groan. Great. Now he was alone in a town he knew nothing about. That's what he gets for being distracted, he guessed. Misaki decided to leave the store, in hopes of running in to the group.

It was lonely, walking alone in a new place. He felt vulnerable and sad, in a way. He sort of wished Akihiro had come with them. Most likely the older man wouldn't have wanted to shop or doing anything girly like 'd probably want to go somewhere quiet and secluded. Misaki remembered him talking about a nice bookstore around here. They probably would have gone there, if he had came, and spend time away from the group reading books and arguing about their different tastes in literature. Akihiko loved long and elaborate fiction books or romance novels while Misaki was fond of short stories, since he couldn't read very well. He smiled a bit, imagining how fun it would be than walking around alone and aimlessly, he thought. He shivered as a breeze ruffled his hair and dress, making him stop. He pushed his bangs back and was about to keep on walking when he noticed the store next to him. "Woah…" he walked closer and leaned down a bit as he looked at the display on the other side of the window. There were a bunch of glass figurines scattered around of all shapes and sizes. He smiled, his eyes brightening up a bit. He had never seen figurines this detailed before. It was a nice sight.

Misaki straightened up and was about to go inside when he noticed someone next to him, looking at the figurines as well. Misaki wasn't really sure what compelled him to speak. But he couldn't stop himself from saying something. "Pretty, aren't they?" she asked.

The man next to him looked over, "Yes." he answered fairly cold. He eyed Misaki up and down before straightening up. "Are you going in?"

She nodded at in response, the height difference making him slightly uneasy.

He nodded and opened the door for her, waiting for her to go in. She blushed but stepped inside, liking the warmness of the room. Better than outside air. She smiled and looked around and was careful not to knock anything down. The man stayed fairly close to her although he was looking at other stuff as well. Misaki hummed a bit before something caught her eye. It was a small bear figurine with a little bow around the neck. It was cute and Misaki picked it up carefully. "Cute…" she muttered.

"You like it?"

She jumped at the voice and looked up at him, "Oh, um, yes! It's very nice."

"I'll buy it for you."

"Huh? Oh! N-No it's alright! You don't need to spend money on a stranger." She argued, holding a hand up in defense.

"It would be rude not to buy something for a guest." At her confused expression he added, "You are one of the guests staying at the palace right?"

Misaki furrowed her brows before it suddenly hit her, "P-Prince Haruhiko?" she asked, cheeks turning bright red. She gripped the bear a bit, tensing up. "S-Sorry for not recognizing you. I've never talked to you face to face before. Although it's still very rude of me..." she said nervously.

He blinked, grey eyes slightly amused, "It's alright, miss. I'm afraid I don't know your name. Sorry."

"I'm Mi-Minami Kajiwara." she bowed a bit. She looked at the bear in her hand, "But, as I was saying you don't need to buy me this."

"But I want to. It'd be rude if I don't." he took the figurine from her hand carefully and went to pay. She opened her mouth to argue but decided not to say anything. After all she didn't want to argue with royalty.

Once they were done looking they had walked outside again. Somewhere along the way they had gotten hot chocolate and were sitting on a bench. Misaki felt awkward, to say the least. There had been little talking involved plus the way he seemed to hover over her was a bit disconcerting. She sipped at her drink but was pulled out of her thoughts when he spoke. "I've never seen you around much." he said. "You never come with the group do you?

"Oh, well, I usually tend to stay at the palace. I'm not one for large groups." she said, looking down.

"What do you do all alone then?"

"Well I walk around, but, I'm not really alone."

"Hm?"

"I talk a lot with Miss Aikawa and some of the staff...and I spend some time with Prince Akihiko." she noticed a shift in his facial expression. It went from calm to agitated, and she wasn't sure why. Did she say something wrong?

"You spend time with Akihiko?" he asked, looking ahead.

"Well...Yes. He's nice and we get along fairly well…" she muttered, feeling less confident than before.

He sipped at his drink, "Akihiko? Being nice? I doubt it." she frowned, "Akihiko isn't one to treat people well. In fact, he's probably the least social person I know."

"Well he's nice to me. And, he can be a bit demanding but...I don't see anything wrong with him."

"You will, soon enough."

"Eh?"

Haruhiko suddenly stood up and looked down at her, "Come on let's go back to the palace. They are probably wondering where we went." he said.

"Ah...mm." she nodded and stood up and followed after him. She left their cups on the bench as she trailed behind him, her hands tugging the coat closer around her. What did he mean 'You will'? Did Haruhiko know something about him that she doesn't? Akihiko didn't seem bad but...then again maybe it was all an act? She shook her head, frowning. Her head hurt, she didn't want to think about this anymore.

"Misaki?"

Misaki looked up from her book and stood up, walking to the door. "Yes?" she opened it and smiled a little. "Ah, Akihiko. Hello."

He nodded and smiled, "You're back from shopping?"

"Yes, although there wasn't much shopping to do. Besides I got separated from the group."

"Daydreaming again?"

"No!...I was distracted a little." she huffed, blushing at his chuckle.

"What did you buy?"

"Oh! Look." she went inside and grabbed the small box before walking in to the hallway, "I found this glass figurine store and saw this."

He opened the box and smiled a bit, "A bear?"

She nodded, "I thought it looked cute."

"What's it's name?"

"No idea. Didn't really think about naming a figurine."

"Suzuki sounds about right."

She giggled, "You're weird."

"Coming from a brat." he put the figurine back into the box. "What else did you do?"

"Hm...well, I met Prince Haruhiko at the shop. He bought this for me although I didn't want him to. However I didn't want to argue with him. Then we walked around and stopped for hot chocolate."

He frowned, "You talked to Haruhiko?"

"Why?" she asked, realizing they both seemed to have the same annoyed expression. Did they hate each other that much?

"What did you talk about?" his voice was stern and cold.

"Nothing really. It was a bit awkward to be honest." she said, setting the bear on the table.

"Are you sure? He didn't say anything-"

"I'm sure!" she said, although her voice wavered a bit. She stepped outside and walked down the hall, "Come on, I have to cook you dinner before the rest come right?" she asked, smiling slightly. She saw him about to argue but simply ran down the hall, "Come on old man!" She called. She heard Akihiko mention something about brats patronizing their elders but ignored him.

Although he was smiling, he was silently worrying over what Haruhiko said. Misaki wanted to believe it was nothing but sibling rivalry but he felt as if there was something more to it. Was Akihiko worse than what met the eye? Or was it just an exaggeration? He didn't know. Maybe he would ask him later, when things have settled down. But right now all he wanted to do was relax a bit after such a stressful day. And she guessed Akihiko would want the same.

((A/N: So I finally got around to writing this. Things are starting to heat up folks. And now with Haruhiko in the mix looks like the brother's will have more things to fight about. Thank you for the reviews you guys! They make me happy :3 BTW I wrote another thing so check that out too. It's not much to look out now but yeah. Anyways hope you enjoyed the chapter and stay tuned for more. Love ya guys!))