"Mishima-san, you're going to be late for the staff meeting."

Fay looked up from her computer screen at her secretary who was standing by the door. "Is it time already?" she asked with a sigh.

The secretary nodded and walked out of the office quietly. Fay got up from her chair, taking a few papers with her and left her office. I have a million things to finish and he is calling for another meeting. She walked towards the meeting room tiredly; she had taken the day before off, so her work pile had doubled.

Great, I'm the last to enter, she thought as she knocked on the door. "I'm sorry I'm…" she looked around and saw only Atobe and a couple of people. "Is the meeting over?" she asked as she walked in the room.

"We are waiting for the others to come," A woman said nonchalantly.

"I see," Fay muttered sitting on a chair. She looked at Atobe who apparently was on the phone arguing with someone. There goes my time, she thought as she flipped through the papers she had carried with her. Someone is going to be pissed if I work late tonight, she sighed inwardly.

"Sorry we're late," Oshitari said as he entered the room with a bunch of people following him.

Atobe just nodded and waited for everyone to be seated before they began the meeting. Oshitari sat next to Fay. "Hey partner!" he said with a smile.

"Hey…" she answered grumpily.

"I see you're in a good mood today!" he chuckled. "Were where you yesterday?" he asked but before Fay could answer, Atobe started talking to everyone present.

Two hours had already passed and the meeting was still going. This is the most boring meeting I ever been too, Fay thought as she drew circles and lines on a piece of paper. I have so much work to do and here I am… stuck in this room with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6… 10 idiots, she complained inwardly glaring at the person who was talking for the past hour.

"Someone is bored," Oshitari whispered sliding his chair closer to Fay's slowly.

Fay sighed and leaned towards Oshitari. "Aren't you bored… yet?" she asked in return whispering slowly, sarcasm evident in her tone of voice.

Oshitari pushed his glasses up and chuckled ever so lightly. "Definitely." He looked over at Atobe. "Want to hear something interesting?" he whispered keeping his gaze on Atobe.

"Sure," Fay answered; anything would be more interesting than this meeting.

"I'm getting married!" he whispered with a chuckle.

Fay leaned a bit more on her chair. "You whaaaaaaaa…"

[THUD]

Atobe jerked his head towards Fay and Oshitari. The scene that he saw unfolding in front of his eyes was hilarious but he was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't find it funny at all. "Is this meeting so boring for you two?" he asked annoyed. "If you want to sleep Mishima, then go home."

Fay got up with difficulty. She glared at Atobe when she heard his comment. "I wasn't sleeping," she retorted angrily.

Oshitari was trying hard to stifle his laughter. He fixed his glasses and helped Fay pick the chair up. "Thank God you're wearing pants today," he whispered.

"Shut up you jerk!" she hissed as low as possible not to be heard. She sat on her chair and fixed her hair. "Continue." She gestured to the person to resume talking. She rolled her chair next to Oshitari's. "I hate you."

"I owed you!" he chuckled slowly and moved away from Fay when he saw Atobe's death glare directed at him.

"Seriously, two of my high senior people… Head of Finance and Head of Marketing acting all bored and mighty in a serious staff meeting. I seriously don't know what to say…." Atobe glared at both Oshitari and Fay.

Serious my ass, Fay thought sarcastically rolling her eyes.

"Oy! Don't roll your eyes." He snapped furiously.

Fay crossed her eyes. "I am not being disrespectful, but even you had to admit that Jin-san kept rambling on about crap for the past half an hour and this idiot," she said, pointing at Oshitari, "Chose to tell me during the meeting that…"

"I'm getting married," Oshitari interrupted.

Atobe stopped while Fay smirked.

Oshitari grinned.

Atobe let out a sigh. "You're an idiot, do you know that?" he asked, extending his hand towards Oshitari so he could congratulate him. "It's about time though."

I recall Arisa mumbling something like that too, Oshitari thought sarcastically.

"So shall we celebrate?" Fay asked, "A day off maybe?" she smirked.

"Yuushi can leave but over my dead body you're taking today off – you were off yesterday," Atobe said firmly.

Fay let out a sigh. She hugged Oshitari's arm and kissed his cheek, "At least take me for lunch, ne?"

Oshitari laughed. "That I can do." He led her outside, as it was lunchtime.

I swear sometimes…. Argh! They're like children, Atobe thought, deciding to follow them.

At the girls' apartment

"I am not wearing green!" Fay said horrified, looking at the catalogue.

Aya pushed her tongue out, "I was kidding," she said snatching the magazine from Fay. They were both going through catalogues for Arisa's wedding, although they knew it was too soon.

"Oy… I was looking at that," Fay complained, snatching it back.

They both squealed, fighting over the catalogue when someone snatched it from them. "Women… Can I sleep!?" Niou muttered, throwing the catalogue away and going back to the sofa. He plopped himself on it and went back to sleep.

"I'm going to kill him," Fay mumbled, stretching her legs on the floor.

Aya laughed and then lay on her tummy. "Are we going to throw them the surprise engagement party?" she asked, lifting her legs in the air.

Fay nodded and looked at her. "Yuushi doesn't want to get engaged first rather he wants to get married right away, so…" she smiled mischievously, "It only makes me want to do it even more."

Aya giggled and sat up. She pulled a notepad from the coffee table and flipped it open. "Shall we start planning then?" she asked, trying to find a pen. She found one and clicked it open. "Invitation?"

"Yes… No…" Fay answered with her eyes closed, "We don't know any of Yuushi's friends."

Aya looked at her thoughtful. "Umm… You can always ask the demon."

Fay opened her eyes, "Demon?" she whispered.

"Your boss." Aya giggled, placing a finger on her lips.

Fay frowned. "Not so loud, Aya. The last thing I need is for Masaharu to hear that, he's already not happy with my work," she admitted, moving to lie down on her side. "He doesn't like Atobe either, so don't add to his dislike."

"Oh, I didn't know. I'm sorry."

Fay sighed, "Oh well…" she muttered, watching her. In fact my late nights are starting to irritate him even more now.

Aya plopped back on her tummy with the notepad. "You take care of the invitations; I'll take care of food and beverages." She scribbled a few lines on the notepad. "Umm… You need to call Sae and the guys from Arisa's side."

Fay rested her head on the palm of her hand. "You know I don't talk to Saeki. The others I don't mind but not him," she said indifferently.

"Eh? Fine. I will tell the guys myself." Aya grumbled scribbling again.

"Don't be like that. You know that we never ever stand each other. I can't see why we should invite him," Fay said coolly. "He didn't even invite you to his wedding and he used to call you his best friend." she laughed sarcastically.

Aya looked at Fay with a small frown on her face. "Actually… He did invite me," she said softly. "He only invited family and a few close friends, but I couldn't go. If I remember correct it was the week you were sick."

Fay's eyes widened a bit hearing Aya's explanation. "I… I'm sorry… I didn't know…" she sat up. "You know. Invite him. I know you want to see him." She gave Aya a big smile.

"I love you," Aya said and wrote something on the notepad.

Fay laughed as she lay down on her back placing her hands under her head as pillow. "Yeah… Yeah… Cheeky…" she said amused. "Let's get back to work now. Location?"

Aya thought for a minute, "We can always have it here, you know."

Fay nodded thoughtfully. "I don't mind." Actually, having it here will lessen the burden on us. We just have to make sure that it's decorated properly though. "I'll handle decorations, I know some guys who are good." She closed her eyes again with a yawn.

Aya nodded, writing everything down. Finally, she sat up and stretched her arms above her head. "I'm going to cook dinner," she said, standing up. "Is Haru staying for dinner?"

Fay didn't reply.

Aya waited for her to reply, but frowned when she didn't. "Fay?" she said, but then smiled when she noticed her friend fast asleep on the floor. She walked to the closet and pulled out two blankets. She placed one on Niou who was soundly asleep and the other on Fay. I feel like I'm their mother sometimes, she thought sarcastically, going to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

It was a good hour when Fay woke up. She stirred jadedly and found herself on the sofa with someone blocking her view. She sat up and found Niou still asleep. She looked around wondering how she got here.

"Genichirou placed you there."

"Oh," Fay said as Aya walked in, telling her that. No wonder at one moment I felt contented…

"Dinner's ready, I was waiting for you two to wake up," Aya announced, "Do you mind waking Haru up?

Fay nodded and put her hand on Niou's shoulder. "Masaharu," she whispered, shaking him. There was no reaction from him, so she leaned forward and moved his hair off his face. "Hey…" she said softly.

He opened his eyes and stirred. "I'm awake," he muttered, moving his body onto his back.

Fay leaned on her elbow and looked at him. "Hello," she said dotingly, moving a strand of hair off his eye. This man drives me crazy; one minute we're making out and then the next we're at each other's throats. I wonder how healthy our relationship is.

Niou took her hand in his and kissed it gently. After that, he held her hand to his chest and just smiled at her. "I'm tired."

Fay bent down and kissed his lips lightly.

"Hey! Hey! No making out!" Aya scolded walking back to the living room. "I've been slaving in the kitchen and dinner will be cold so get up already." She glared at them until they both muttered something inappropriate under their breaths and stood up.

Finally, all for of them were at the dinner table. Aya had set everything up magnificently and began serving. She had made rice, chicken, and potato salad. "You all have to eat up," she ordered, serving rice.

Niou crinkled his nose. "How long were we asleep? When did you prepare all this?"

Aya beamed proudly, "Well, Genichirou helped."

Sanada didn't say anything.

Fay nudged Niou with her elbow and smirked. "Learn." She giggled, making him look discontent.

Niou smirked, ignoring her comment. "I have other uses," he said, chewing his salad.

Aya chuckled, covering her mouth. She looked at Sanada and found him just eating inaudibly while Fay was ignoring Niou's comment. She was thankful that the four of them could finally be 'normal' like this. She had always prayed for this setting and she was happy that she finally got it. Thank you…

After dinner, all had moved to the living room, Aya placed the tray she was holding on the table and began serving tea for everyone. She was trying hard not to chuckle at Sanada and Niou who were discussing a case heatedly while Fay just sat there bored, trying not to fall asleep again. "You guys are so passionate about your discussion, what's going?"

"This…" Niou said, placing a newspaper on the table, "It's about a girl that stabbed her boyfriend and best friend for cheating on her."

Aya raised an eyebrow. "So?" she asked, sitting on the couch and leaning against the back.

Niou looked at her. "So, the judge gave her a sentence of one year only, but Sanada disagrees."

"She intentionally hurt two human beings, she deserves to be locked up," Sanada said automatically, nibbling on a biscuit.

Fay opened her eyes and stretched her arms. "I agree with that."

"You're supposed to take my side!" Niou snapped.

Fay rolled her eyes, standing up. "What freaking side? I just gave my opinion on something stupid," she muttered, picking up a book from the floor.

"People's lives are not stupid," Niou said, looking at her.

Uh-oh, Aya thought, standing up immediately. "Maybe what she meant was…"

"That's not what I meant," Fay muttered, crossing her arms. "Just because they slept with each other that doesn't mean its okay for her to kill and get away with it."

"Umm… Guys…" Aya began, not wanting them to fight.

"I still disagree," Niou muttered. "She was cheated on, of course she would kill. And she doesn't deserve to be locked up – she was betrayed," he said heatedly.

Fay argued.

Niou argued.

While Aya sighed;

Sanada ignored.

Four days later

Aya was in her room, trying to fix her hair. I hate curly hair, she thought as she was tying her hair in a ban leaving strands fall on the sides. She was wearing a new set of clothes that she had bought a couple of days ago, which consisted of dark blue jeans and a long sleeve purple shirt. She was performing again tonight and she wanted to look nice; there were rumors that scouts where going to be there tonight so this was a very special night for her.

Picking up her makeup bag, she went to Fay's room and plopped herself onto the bed where Fay was sleeping. "Please, put my makeup on." I'm hopeless… I never use makeup anyway.

Fay groaned and buried herself under the covers. "Go away," she muttered.

Aya poked her through the covers, making Fay swear. "Come on! Come on! Gen-chan will be here soon and I need to get dressed."

"Since… when do you… care how you [yawn] look like?" Fay mumbled sleeplessly.

Aya smacked her, "Fay! I'm serious?!" she exclaimed.

Fay huffed and sat up. She rubbed her eyes and grabbed the makeup bag from of Aya. Without even saying another word, she took the tools out and began applying makeup on Aya's face.

"Fay…"

"No talking," she ordered, taking out the lipstick and applying it for her. It was a light color so she decided to apply it on her. When she finished with that, she pulled out the lip-gloss and dabbed on top of it.

Aya obeyed.

When Fay finally finished, she plopped on the bed and closed her eyes. "Make sure to wear blue," she muttered, pulling the blanket on top of her.

"Blue? My jeans are blue… my shirt is purple."

Fay turned and looked at Aya's attire. Nice match. "Its okay, but can't you wear something else other than jeans." she sighed and turned her back on her friend, covering herself.

Aya frowned, "Aren't you coming?" she asked, looking at her reflection through the compact mirror.

"Not now," Fay said. "I'm meeting someone for lunch and you're not on until later tonight, why are you even going now?"

Aya got off the bed. "I'm meeting Saeki before going to VOX, remember him?"

"Nope," she garbled, totally forgetting that they were talking about him a couple of days back.

"Whatever," Aya sighed, this woman is difficult to talk to when asleep, she complained, walking out of the room. I need to finish getting ready now, she thought, heading to her own room.

At a café

"He is late." Aya crossed her hands annoyed.

"If he is coming from Chiba he might be a bit late with all the traffic."

Aya pouted. "Genichirou don't defend him. He is 25 minutes late," she said disappointed and picked her cup of hot chocolate to drink.

Sanada sighed. "Is she a good friend of yours?" he asked to keep Aya's attention on something else then her friend's tardiness.

"She?" she laughed.

"Hey Aya-chan," A man said out of the blue.

Aya and Sanada both looked at the man that took the liberty and sat at their table. "You're late!" Aya hissed.

"I'm sorry." The man bowed his head with a beautiful smile gracing his lips. "I didn't think I would get stuck in the traffic for so long."

"Genichirou this is my best friend Saeki Kojirou," she introduced with a smile, "And as you can see he is not a she!" she laughed.

Saeki looked at her perplexed but didn't give it too much thought. He turned his attention to the man accompanying his friend. "It's nice to see you after all these years Sanada-san."

"Nice to see you too Saeki-san." Sanada bowed his head lightly in acknowledgment.

Aya looked at both men suspiciously. "You two know each other?" she asked.

Sanada looked at her and smiled.

"Don't tell me. Tennis?" she sighed but smiled full heartedly at the two men.

An hour had passed and all three were engaged in a conversation from their past to their present. After a while Sanada excused himself and left Saeki and Aya alone as he made his way to the rest room.

"I seriously can't believe you are dating Sanada of all people," Saeki said as he drank from his coffee.

Aya smiled sheepishly. "Well, it was fateful." She pulled her tongue out. "Why are you alone?" she asked curiously. "I wanted to meet your wife."

Saeki laughed. "Heh… My wife huh?" he scratched the back of his head. "Well, I really didn't want to shock you, but I'm married to a guy!"

Aya almost choked on her drink. "A… guy?" she asked believing she had heard wrong.

Saeki nodded. "Someone I knew from my childhood."

"Con… congratulations."

"You don't approve?" he asked with a mock hurt look on his face.

Aya smiled. "You know me… If you're happy then I'm happy too!" she laughed. "Just don't tell Fay."

Saeki lifted an eyebrow. "How is Miss Drama Queen?"

"Dra…" she laughed more. "She is fine. Can you believe that she has turned into a workaholic?"

"Fay? A workaholic?! That posh princess?" he asked amused. "No way!" he crinkled his nose remembering Aya's best friend. Frankly, he wasn't too fond of her because he believed that she was spoilt, but he wasn't one to disrespect his best friend's one and only. As long as we're not near each other than we're fine…

Aya nodded still laughing. "By the way, Arisa is getting married and we are arranging a surprise engagement party."

Saeki's eyes widened a bit at the news. "That's great news," he said excited. "He finally made the big decision. Good for him. Arisa was so in love with him."

"She still is and by the way, you're invited at the party," Aya said smiling brightly. "I will also call the old gang. Arisa will be thrilled to see all of you guys!"

Saeki nodded.

"Sorry I'm late." Sanada had returned to the table. "What time are you singing Aya?" he asked looking at his watch.

"Soon," she answered, looking at her own watch.

At a restaurant down town Tokyo

"You're late."

Fay rubbed her eyes wearily and sat down opposite Yosuke. They had been friends for a while and she loved his company. He had asked her to lunch today and she knew she couldn't refuse because she had been cancelling on him all last week because of her job.

"And you look horrible."

Fay glared at him, "Thank you for letting a girl know that she looks like crap."

Yosuke laughed. "I'm just being honest," he said with a wink. Beautiful as always even when she's grumpy, he thought amused.

Fay rolled her eyes. "So… you're in a teasing mood!" she exhaled. "Dear me!"

"You complain too much." He picked up the menu and skimmed through it. "If you were my girlfriend I would have broken up with you."

"Really?" Fay said raising her eyebrow. "Did you ever consider the fact that I would never go out with someone like you… even if you begged?"

Yosuke laughed and closed the menu. "That was very cold Fay-chan~" he said teasingly. He took her hand and winked at her, "Admit it… you love me."

"Yeah… Yeah…" she muttered, snatching her hand away, seriously… I hate it when he teases me like this.

"Do you have plans for tonight?" he asked studying Fay as she flipped through the menu.

Fay closed the menu. "Yep. I'm going at VOX to see my friend sing."

"I see."

"You should know her by now. She's your brother's girlfriend," Fay said and drank from her glass of water.

Yosuke rubbed his jaw. "Never met her."

Fay looked at him a bit taken aback. "What do you mean you never met her?" she asked feeling a bit bothered thinking he was teasing her again. "She is your brother's girlfriend."

"I know, but I never met the woman." He defended himself. "I know her name is Aya, but that's all there is to it. I would be very surprised if Genichirou has even mentioned to her that he has a brother."

What is he talking about; "Why wouldn't he tell you?"

Yosuke sighed. "Do I need to tell you why?" Why do women always ask questions they know the answers to already?

"No," Fay said and looked away. This is something I didn't need to know.

"Fay, you already know that he lov…"

"Yosuke, please don't," she interrupted inaudibly. "It hurts to talk about it and I'm in a relationship. So is your brother and he's very happy."

I know when he's happy and when he's not… and he's not. He's trying, but he's not. He studied her and then sighed. "Fine," he said with a shrug. He leaned on the chair and folded his hands, "Let's just order for now."

"I'm sorry." Fay looked at him guiltily, for she felt that she had sort of ruined his mood.

"Don't be."

At the girls' apartment

"Come on! Come on!" Fay said, grabbing her purse and jacket. She looked at Niou who was leaning on the wall and waved for him to hurry. "We'll be late."

"We still have an hour," he said, strolling towards her.

"No! We'll be late," she mumbled, searching for her keys. "Traffic will be really bad and we have to beat it! I've never missed any of Aya's performances and she specifically wants me there tonight."

Niou didn't say anything. He stood next to her and hugged her waist. "Your dress is lovely," he murmured, kissing her cheek.

Fay raised her eyebrow, looking at him. "Babe, not now," she said, trying to put her sandals on, but he kept a firm hold on her waist.

"I missed you," he whispered, making her lean up as he gave her baby kisses on her lips.

Fay responded lightly to each one as she tried to put on her sandals. After she wore them, she pushed him away. "Stop it! I told you that we have to move," she said, walking to the door, but he grabbed her waist again and held her close.

"I haven't seen you properly in two weeks because of your stupid job," he complained, leaning down to nibble on her neck.

Fay put her hands on his shoulders and stopped him. "Move! If I miss Aya's performance, she will kill me," she said, glaring at him.

Niou smirked and ignored her comment. He put his hands on her waist and angled his lips to kiss her, but didn't yet. "I will move only if you kiss me," he said with a grin.

"Masaharu, now is not the time for games! We really are late! Take me seriously."

"Nope," he said, rubbing his nose with hers. "I'm serious too."

"Argh!" Fay swore. She pulled his head and placed her lips hard on his lips. She let it linger a bit and moved away, but he pulled her into his arms and took full advantage of her mouth on his. He wrapped his arms around her as he kissed her.

Fay wanted to move away, but he didn't let her so she decided to indulge him with the kiss he wanted. She opened her mouth for him and he slid his tongue in. Their kiss wasn't as furious as always, but rather soft and tender. Fay found herself walking closer into his arms as her hands moved gently to rub his covered chest. Finally, he moved away and she looked at him. "Satisfied?"

"No," he said, leaning down to kiss her again.

"Masaha… Hmm…" Fay whispered, kissing him back. Her hands moved up and she placed them around his neck.

Niou deepened the kiss and held her waist tightly. He moved his hand to the back of her head and caressed her long hair, moving his fingers between them. Slowly, he began moving closer and tried lifting the hem of her mini dress.

"Don't even think about it," Fay whispered against his mouth, trying to move away, but he wouldn't let her.

Niou lifted her up and walked to the sofa. "I missed you and I want you now," he said, placing her on the sofa.

Fay moved to scramble, but he caught her hand. "Damn it! We're going to be late," she yelled, struggling with him.

"Don't fight me, woman!" he said, leaning on top of her to kiss her. "I…" he kissed her tenderly, lifting her arms and pinning her wrists above her head. "I missed my baby," he said, lifting her dress up.

Fay didn't say anything as he kissed her again. She just responded and knew that things were leading to something else. She lost her senses and finally gave in to his caresses until they were both breathless.

Niou had his forehead against her and looking into her eyes as she tried to regulate her breathing. After a few minutes, he closed his eyes and slept. Fay followed suit.

Fay stirred in her sleep lazily. She cuddled to the body next to her and then froze. "SHIT!" she yelled as she jolted up. She looked at her watch and realized that she was an hour late… Oh my god! I'm so dead… she thought, holding her head. She looked for her cell phone frantically and realized that she had seven miscalls. Looking through them, she paled when she realized that there were six from Aya and one from Sanada. There was also a text message from Sanada…

Aya is on stage.

Fay's eyes scrolled to the time and covered her mouth when she realized that the text was sent to her an hour ago. … I've never missed a single show of Aya's, she thought frustrated. She wanted to scream, but didn't when she felt Niou stirring beside her.

"Hey, sweetie," he murmured, holding her hand.

Fay shrugged her hand and stood up. "I'm leaving."

Niou sat up, looking at her with a frown. "Excuse me?"

Fay put on her shoes and looked around for her jacket. "I'm going," she said flatly.

"What the…? Fay?!" he stood up, buttoning his shirt up.

"You made me miss Aya's performance!" she snapped angrily, glaring at him. "I've never missed a single performance!"

He shrugged. "Big deal, Fay," he muttered, fixing his hair.

"Don't give me that type of attitude! This was important to me," she said aggravated.

"Aya will understand," he said, putting on his shoes.

"UNDERSTAND WHAT?!" Fay yelled, standing in front of him. "That I missed HER performance because YOU wanted to have sex?!"

"I'm not having this fight with you, Fay," he said, picking up his jacket from the floor.

"Then you can enjoy going by yourself, because I am not going there with you," she said, walking out of the door.

Damn it! If I had the strength I would… "Argh!" he swore, walking after her.

Later

"I'm very disappointed."

Fay sighed and hugged her. She ignored Sanada and Saeki at the table.

Aya was pouting and not looking at anyone. "I wrote this song especially for you and… you weren't even here! You promised!"

"Aya…"

"No." Aya interrupted.

Fay glared at her, "Will you at least listen to me?!" she demanded.

Sanada and Saeki both stopped in surprise and looked at Fay.

Before Aya could retort, "Sweetie, it's my fault," Niou walked in and kissed Aya's cheek.

Aya moved away and locked her eyes with his. Why does he sound too sincere? And Fay is unconsciously glowing… and…. Aya gasped when realization hit her. "Did you two…"

Niou placed his hand on her mouth and dragged her away. "Oy… Don't publicize it," he hissed when they were away from the others.

Aya looked furious. "I can't believe you missed it because you… ARGH! I don't even know what to say," she said annoyed.

Niou poked her forehead. "Oy! I haven't seen my woman in three weeks. At the end of the day I'm still a man."

She crossed her arms; "Oh shut up" she looked away.

Niou hugged her shoulder. "In all honesty, she's mad at me too," he admitted. "She said we'd be late."

"I'm surprised you're defending her," Aya mumbled.

Niou grinned. "I can't have both of you mad at me, better her than you," he kissed her cheek.

Aya rolled her eyes as they both walked back to their table. I should be mad, but can't be anymore…