A/N: I bring good tidings of great joy! The lemon chapter is so soon that it's actually just around the corner!

Or not.

TEASE! :D but really, my favorite number is 18, so what chapter do you think will be the lemon one eh? EH? take the hint. go on, take it...

Although sometimes, for cliffhanger's sake, I end up leaving something important until the chapter after the chapter I had originally planned to put it in. So, we'll just see how it all works out ;)

Prime: of the first importance; demanding the fullest consideration; of the highest rank or eminence

Calloused: made hard; hardened; insensitive, indifferent, and unsympathetic

Chapter Seventeen. Prime And Calloused

Pleasantly enough, Akari was only sent straight to her room after her bags were unloaded and she was taken inside. The estate was as gloomy as ever. Some might look around at the elegant decor and the richly deepened shades and say it has a sort of dark beauty to it, but after having lived here most of her life, it all just becomes gloomy. Walking through these halls made her feel like a dark mass of thunder clouds was surrounding her, following her around, adding a depressed light to every shade of the estate.

Akari's room was at the edge of the west wing of the mansion, and it's quite the trip to get there. You basically just walk as faaarrr left as you can get, and then you reach the long, abandoned hallway that has one room to accompany it- her room. As you can tell, she was placed in the most secluded part of the house. It's just another way for her family to show her they don't want her too involved in their lives.

When she entered her room for the first time again since so long ago, her first thought was as she was twisting the handle and stepping through the doorway;

I haven't been here since before mother died.

Erasing the thought immediately, seeing as she didn't need any more gloom to accompany her today, she welcomed in the maids who came after her carrying her bags, and turned on the lights to their brightest setting, which was actually still a fairly dim, orange glow.

The room was as magnificently furnished as her room at the Igarashi estate, though it was in fact a bit smaller, with less space for all of her belongings. For example, she only had one medium-sized closet instead of two large ones, and her wardrobe was only half the size of the one she had back at the Igarashi's estate. Not that she was complaining- what single person needs all of that space anyway?

Somebody vain, with a big ego. For a moment, she smirked. Tora.

As she walked about the room and let the maids set her things down for her, she only continued her evaluation of the differences in the two rooms. Her room at the Igarashi mansion had been all light gold, beige and white cream, but here, her room was the opposite. Walls of light gold were now walls of dark garnet, and cherry-wood cabinets and dressers were replaced with those of black mahogany. Polished brass handles were now turned to glinting silver, beige curtains over the windows were now ebony drapes, and vanilla-ice-cream-colored carpeted floors were now a rich color of black coffee. The furniture seemed to be the only similarity she could find, it was the same arrangement as at the other estate- a massive bed, a collection of sofas, a coupling of love seats, a long coffee table, the dresser and cabinets, a desk and a big sofa chair.

Again, what single person needs so much stuff?!

She had never compared two completely different rooms before in her life. It was like night and day, the differences between the two.

She had left a palace of light shades and sunlight and entered a domain of dim lights and splintered shadows. The results left her with the strange two-feeling mix of nostalgia and home-sickness. Nostalgia from the familiarity of her father's estate, and homesickness for the Igarashi's estate that she had to leave behind. It wasn't a pleasant mix of feelings. In fact, she felt a sickness in her stomach beginning to set in.

Sighing heavily, Akari made her way towards the bed with it's black violet bedding, and sat herself down rigidly, looking down to make sure she hadn't stepped on the edge of her skirt. This is where she would wait, she supposed, until given further instructions. Of course, she was clever enough to make three solid guesses of what would happen next.

1. Hayate would come in, beat her for slapping him and her father the last time she visited, and then say something cruel before leaving.

2. She would be called to her father's office and he would proceed to yell at her for a steady hour or so, and then boss her around about how things are going to work from now on.

3. Both of those things would happen, one in procession of the other.

So really, all she had to do now was wait. And wait she would, right here in this room, on edge and trying to calm herself.

At this point, she supposed, ignorance truly would be bliss; as she'd really rather not know precisely what terrible things would happen within the next hour or so.

"Maki."

The black haired boy had answered his phone, only to hear, of course, the President's voice on the other end.

"What is it, president?"

"I take it everything has been arranged for Michiyo-san at Miyabigaoka?"

Kanade stepped easily out of the car when the door opened up for him. He gazed up at the building before him with his usual easy, yet somehow creepy and off-setting, smile stuck on his face.

"I'm taking care of it as we speak, sir." He said into the phone, straightening out his suite before nodding to the driver to wait there for him.

"Ahh, then I caught you just in time. I would like for you to relay a message to miss Michiyo for me."

"Of course sir. What shall I say?"

"Tell her, that the President of Miyabigaoka welcomes her to our school. Add on something polite to add to that I suppose, whatever makes it sound better." He mused, and then paused. "Also, tell her that he would like for her to save him a dance at her upcoming party." It was only obvious that Tora was giving his best conniving smile on the other end of that call.

"I will relay the message when I'm done with business here."

"Kanade, remember to make sure you have her alone when you tell her. And take note of her face for me once you've given her the message," Tora must have been smirking, for he paused once again. "I want to know what she looks like when realization hits her."

Maki approached the front doors of the estate as he continued to listen, his eyes looking up at the dark, rustic strangeness of the mansion lined up before him. It was certainly different from both his own and the Igarashi estate.

"Of course." He consented to his President's demands, as always. "I'll make sure to pay attention. Anything else?"

"Call me once you've finished there. We need to discuss the details afterwards... nothing more."

Tora, like most times he called, hung up when he finished making his notions clear to his Vice President. Maki only sighed, placing the phone in his pocket as he stopped just in front of the large doors.

Though this new obsession felt like the 'Maid-Latte' incident all over again, it was also somehow different. But still, the reason for Tora's thorough interest often evaded the Vice President, and worried him.

Just how had this girl gotten to Tora so easily? How had she left an effect to this extent on such a stable, self-assured bachelor like the Igarashi heir? Speaking of that, Tora was one of the most eligible bachelors in the country so why had he stopped taking just any woman he wanted?

Tora's words suddenly echoed in Maki's ears about women, gifts, and prizes. But, his personal take on that was, if this Michiyo girl was such a 'prize' as Tora had said, then why was Tora all talk and no game? So far, all Maki could see was the boy trying, and failing, and basically chasing this girl in circles. He knew Tora, and he knew when Tora was not giving it his all. With this girl, he for some reason wasn't. If he were, he'd have had his way with her by now, and then some.

Yes, if you asked Maki, it was about time the President took action and truly obtained Akari as his own personal prize.

But pushing those thoughts aside for now, he knocked on the large doors set before him, preparing himself for the casual business matter he was in charge of taking care of.

A knocking resounded on her door a second time.

The first time, Akari had not answered it because she had, quite honestly, frozen on the spot.

But now she remembered, if her father or brother were to come to her, they would demand entrance to her room, not ask for it with a knock.

Her skirt swirling around her, she walked across her elegant dark room until she reached the door with a sense of curiosity. Just then, there was another knock, and she opened it to see-

Some guy she vaguely knew from somewhere.

"Yes?" She asked, looking him up and down. He was dressed sharply and his face seemed to be set in a permanently polite grin. Black hair framed his face, sleek and shiny, combed and long.

"Michiyo Akari?" The boy asked, bowing slightly for her.

"That would be me. Er," She struggled to find the right words. Wow, being away from home really had turned her into less of a lady. "Well ah, sorry about this, but I don't recall who you are."

"I am the Vice President of Miyabigaoka, Maki Kanade." His grin really was permanently stuck as he spoke. "I'm here regarding a message I was sent to deliver."

Miyabigaoka? The private school that she almost ended up attending, eh? The one owned by the Igarashi Foundation. Yeah, so of course Tora would be the famous student council president there, pft.

Wait a minute, she'd seen this guy with that bastard Igarashi before... Vice President... they worked together then- they must be friends.

Or Tora was blackmailing him. Seemed highly likely, with Tora being Tora and all. Actually, no, this Maki Kanade guy seemed more like a loyal servant. But you know. Either or.

"Ah," Was all she replied, though her brain stayed fairly active.

"Shall I relay the message, or come back at a later time?"

She could tell he was just being polite, but if she said no he would try to convince her to listen regardless. These rich people surrounding her... ehk. She knew them all too well.

"Go ahead." It came out as a sigh.

The boy brightened up a bit, nodding before speaking up again. "The matter regards your schooling. The President of Miyabigaoka would like to say that he is happy to have you attending our school and that he hopes you find everything to your liking. We're sure that you'll have a wonderful learning experience with us." He paused, staring at her for some reason. She merely quirked an eyebrow at him though.

"That's all then?" She questioned him.

"No, there is one more thing." The boy's polite, professional aura was starting to annoy her, along with that smile glued to his face as he spoke. "The President wishes that you'll save a dance for him at your party."

At this, she scowled, recalling the last time she had danced with Tora. And then she found herself blushing when she remembered what exactly that had led to... She shivered uncomfortably, remembering the way his hips demanded against hers, and the sound of his voice when he told her to touch him...

She huffed, blushing a furious shade of red as she realized she was starting to become aroused by the memory. That damn tiger! Making her think about it again. The wish was innocent and simply enough, sure, but Tora probably knew bringing up dancing would strike the memory- he really was a bastard!

A bastard who she could practically still feel touching her...

"O-okay," She swallowed. Just stop thinking about it already! "Thank you very much sir." She said, bowing slightly in order to hide the look on her face. She was completely embarrassed, feeling that certain heat collecting in both her face and... in a lower region as well.

The Vice President eyed her carefully, mulling his words over in his head, it would seem. Then, with that same plastered smile, he nodded.

"Of course miss. Would you like for me to give a reply?"

Yeah- you can give him a reply. You can tell that lecherous president that there's no way in hell I'm ever dancing with him again. I know what his motives are, lecherous lecherous lecherous LECHEROUS!

She smiled, trying to look unaffected by the conversation. "Oh, no, I really don't have anything to say to him. So, uh, so he'll be attending my party then?"

Really, at this point, she had no idea what concepts they were talking about. She had yet to be informed of a party and she also had yet to be informed of her switch in schools. Though she suspected as much, still, she was never told 'There will be a party in your honor on such-and-such day' or 'You will now attend Miyabigaoka'. But she liked finding out this way better than finding out from her family members.

The boy smiled a bit wider this time. "The President said he will. He seems to be looking forward to it."

Akari stumbled for ground. She had to find some sort of answer to that, without saying anything that made it sound like it affected her all that much.

"Well, Mr.- Maki, was it?" She looked to him and he nodded. "Thank you for relaying the messages. Tell the President that I thank him for his- kind consideration of me. I'm sure Miyabigaoka will be just as wonderful as you both say."

He waited for something more, watching her like something that was in an exhibit on display, all the while with that creepy polite smile on his face.

"If you'll excuse me," She said, backing into her room rather awkwardly. He just nodded, gave a bow, and turned as she started to shut the door.

When the door was closed and she heard the young man's receding footfalls, she leaned back against the wood and sighed. Subconsciously, her mind traveled back to what happened on that day in the dance studio room with Tora, and again she found herself blushing and cursing in her head over and over again.

Tora smirked as he thought over Kanade's explanation of Akari's reactions to what he had said.

Flustered. Angry. Embarrassed.

"Hm." Tora hummed contentedly to himself, lacing his fingers together as he continued on this train of thought, imagining her blushing, disapproving face.

Honestly, of course there was a hidden message he had wanted to portray. And her, being the clever little girl that she was, had caught on to it: Tora wasn't done with her just yet, despite the fact that he'd allowed her to return home. And there was far more sexually intense moments that he planned to spend with her. Far more opportunities he looked forward to.

He almost shivered at the thought. When was the last time he'd had a good lay anyway?

Leaning back in his chair comfortably, a sense of quiet thought enveloped him. He pondered only for a moment though, finding the answer quickly. When the answer finally came, he became so frustrated with his lack of self control in 'that situation' that he almost punched a dent into the desk in front of him.

However at the last second, his other arm flew up and his hand gripped his fist. He shook in confused anger for a moment, and then dropped both arms onto the desk, forced to relieve some of his frustration.

So, he had said her name while climaxing with another woman, he remembered that well now. Quickly, Tora shrugged the thought off as easily as he could. Well what was the big deal in that? It only meant that he subconsciously thought about having sex with her. That he wanted to fuck her senseless, he wanted to completely indulge in his prize. It made sense- no, it made perfect sense, he found himself nodding to that. He liked a good challenge, loved the chase, wanted to hunt his prey down, drag it back with him, force out its resistance and then have his way with it.

He just thought of her as another conquest. And also that she was more of a prize than other women were, that she offered more to him than them.

That's how it was since the beginning, and that's how it would stay, yes?

Tora screwed his eyes shut for a moment, closing those deep golden pools to the world around him. He began to drift over the thoughts caught in the very back of his mind.

Sometimes, just a little bit, he got to thinking that it may not all be so simple as that, like he wanted it to be.

SLAP!

"I wanted to remind you that you aren't better than me. You hardly deserved to lay a hand on me, you don't even deserve the family name."

"Technically I deserve it much more than you d-"

SMACK!

"That smart mouth of yours... looks like it got worse since you left."

She wiped her bleeding lip. "But I see you haven't changed at all. What a shock."

He raised his hand to hit her again, but this time she cowered away. Already on the floor, all she could do was turn her head, wincing, expecting the blow and trying to brace herself for it.

Although, all that followed was harsh laughter after that.

"So you do know it then, you know you're just a bratty little girl. I can do whatever I want and so can our father, and that will never change. Don't you fucking mess with me again. The same goes for father." Hayate took a step back, examining her crumpled form on the floor. He sneered at the swelling marks appearing where he'd hit her. "Get cleaned up before school and cover up those marks. We don't want more rumors spreading."

With that, he left her to her big, lonely room, slamming the door behind him as he chuckled again to himself.

Steadily, Akari sucked in a breath, trying hard to comfort herself by thinking about the positives. As soon as she was at school, she wouldn't have to deal with Hayate or her father. Her body and mind could take a break from the abuse for at least most of the day. Yeah, there's a positive. Sort of not the best thing, considering Tora would be there, along with other spoiled and wealthy kids with most likely the same sort of attitude as him. But hey, it was better than home. Anything was.

Standing up on her own, she found, was easier than holding herself up with her arms. Once she tried to grip the counter (she was in the bathroom- she had been getting ready before school until Hayate had unexpectedly attacked her) she cried out in pain and released her grip, stumbling backwards on her feet until she settled against the tub in a harsh 'thump'. She examined her left arm carefully, for that was the one throbbing in pain, and didn't really see anything wrong with it. But often the worse injuries were the ones you couldn't see with the naked eye, right?

Faintly, she recalled the moment when her half brother had entered the room and harshly threw her down. It was so unexpected she hadn't even caught herself properly, and most of her weight had settled on her left arm. Then he'd proceeded to swiftly kick her and curse and mumble about whatever insults he could think up. Of course, the more he abused her, the more weight was put on the arm as her whole body crumpled.

Yep, that arm was probably broken. Or fractured, or... she didn't really know what, but something must be wrong with it. It hurt pretty bad, though the pain was bearable. After all, she'd dealt with it before in her younger years.

Careful to avoid bumping the arm as she tried to cradle it against her chest, she looked to the mirror and took a deep sigh.

Her face was all- messed up- and stuff.

Let's just say, there was some bloodstains and some bruises. It wasn't too pretty.

She looked on at her reflection, narrowing her eyes at the work of her half brother. She truly hated him. And the lecture her father had given her yesterday (hah, lecture? more like screaming fit) made her hate her father as well.

"Well," She turned to one of the bathroom drawers. "Time to get the cover up."

She only just made it in time to school.

The limo parked in the front lot of the estate had idled for far too long, as she had taken up too much time trying to figure out what to do about her injured arm, (eventually she just left it as it was and hoped no one noticed the pained look on her face when she used it) plus she also had to cover up Hayate's abuse and change into her uniform, and finish drying her hair.

Of course she had no time to eat breakfast.

"Fuck you, Hayate." She muttered under her breath, her dress skirt flying as she raced down the hall and rushed into a random classroom that, to be honest, she had only guessed was hers.

Though she really hoped it wasn't hers, when she walked in to see a familiar face a midst the crowd of rich young students.

Most people immediately started whispering about the girl who flew into the classroom with her hair rumpled, cheeks flushed, and tie on backwards.

Tora, of course, walked towards the girl with a smooth step, a languid air about him as he approached her with a lazy but observing gaze. He noted the way she immediately narrowed her eyes and gave an unhappy pout when she saw him, and took pleasure in that.

"Michiyo-san." He greeted her, smiling warmly, though he made sure his eyes held a look that irritated her.

"Igarashi." She peered past him around the more-than-large classroom full of students whispering about her, and also about him now. "Is this, uh, what classroom is this?"

"Since you are a grade below me, Akari-san." She looked at him when she noticed his change in addressing her. "You're in the classroom just next door. I'm afraid you've got the wrong room."

She looked so relieved he wanted immediately to ruin it.

"Another thing,"

She had already started to turn around, but glanced back cautiously when he called to her again. He gave her an amused grin.

"You might want to fix your appearance a bit. The students of Miyabigaoka should always look their best."

Her scowl satisfied him well enough before she left the room, adjusting her backwards tie as she went.

So, even though Akari had seen rich grand halls plenty of times in her life, she had seen elaborate decor and huge, fancy rooms, she had never seen the classrooms in Miyabigaoka.

It was the middle of class now, and she still was in awe that it was actually referred to as a classroom.

It was too big to be a freakin' classroom.

The room was far and wide, with extremely high ceilings and rows of desks made from the finest wood that are kept raised on high steps. In front of the spacious blackboard at the front of the room is a long, elegantly carved podium, situated kind of too far from the students' desks and put in a position where the teacher can view everyone at once.

Moving on from the room's impressive size, there was something bugging her about it.

How could anyone hear a word the teacher was saying?!

She had been straining all class period, leaning forward slightly in her seat and cursing over and over in her head to herself. The teacher, for all she knew, was talking about small dogs or hungry trolls. She didn't know. How the hell was she supposed to know- when she couldn't hear him!

Feeling a light tap on her shoulder, Akari turned her face, still annoyed as she was STILL straining to hear the teacher, only to be met by the face of a fellow rich girl in a fellow uniform. Oh, shit, had she done something wrong already? Was she not sitting properly or something?

"Are you having trouble hearing?" Was all the girl had asked though. And with sympathy, at that. And a small smile.

I don't know who you are. Akari thought in relief. But the fact that you don't seem all that spoiled or snotty, makes me want to hug the crap out of you right now.

"Yeah." Was all she said though, trying to smile a little herself.

"You can borrow my notes. I copy them from Shigeo-kun." She pointed a turquoise-nailed finger with snowflake designs on them, down at the bottom rows of the classroom. Trying her best to pick out what person the girl was pointing at, Akari's eyes settled on the back of the head of a boy who was rather large and tall, bulky- like her half-brother. She shivered slightly at the thought of Hayate.

"He can hear better down there?"

"Yeah, and he's really nice for letting me copy his notes." The girl smiled dreamily, then her gaze turned sharply on Akari. "You don't think he's cute, do you?"

It was a warning. Akari's eyes widened at the girl's freakish change in character, but she smiled to try and calm her down.

"Oh, I can't really tell from here. But to be honest I'm not all that interested in boys. Just learning."

The girl eased up- barely, though- at this.

"Okay..." She began to giggle. Talk about bipolar. "So you're some sort of unfeminine nerd? Good. I take it you wanna copy my notes I get from him then?"

"That," Akari met her gaze, trying to be friendly and open despite the insult. "Would be incredibly helpful. Thanks."

The girl smiled, pushing her cream-colored hair over her shoulder. "Don't mention it, I'm always nice to newbies."

"My name is-"

"Michiyo-san." The girl found her eyes again. "I know. I know a lot of things."

The way she said that made Akari feel uneasy. Nonetheless, she smiled at the girl. This was a good way to get back into her more lady-like character, talking to a fellow lady. Though she didn't want to do it, she kind of had to start changing her personality back to the way it used to be.

"What's your name?"

"I," The girl added a good amount of flare and gusto to her words. "am Yoshioka, Teruko. Daddy owns the Yoshioka Law Firm."

"That's impressive. And your mother?"

The girl's face went slack.

"She died." Came the rough response.

Akari, not one to really watch herself with the personal space (unless it came to her own personal space) immediately reached over and laid her hand atop the other girl's, in an act of both sympathy and understanding.

"My mother died recently. I'm sorry."

Teruko, though startled by the sudden gesture, smiled a bit at Akari.

"Yeah. I'm sorry about you, too."

Akari took her hand back, settling into her chair and crossing her legs. It was obvious that was a topic neither of them wanted to discuss any further, so... moving on.

Let it be said though, that for the rest of the class, Yoshioka Teruko acted fairly friendly towards Akari. It was nice, in an unexpected sort of way, and got her thinking.

Maybe not all rich kids were bad.

Hah, Aika would kill me for thinking that. Akari thought sadly to herself. She hadn't talked to her friends in forever it seemed, and she had been too busy with the sudden quick change in her life to really search around for her phone and text them to explain. She felt bad- they were probably really worried about her.

For a moment, Akari winced. Aika was going to kill her.

It didn't matter if Aika killed her, she decided. Because she was probably already going to die due to cardiac arrest.

It seemed to be Tora's mission today, to give her as many heart attacks as possible.

The first time, she had just been exiting her classroom when he just appeared by the door- no joke, he just- appeared- there- and though she didn't see him at first, he made sure to make himself noticed when he whispered something sexy into her ear that, thank every god above, no one else could hear.

After tearing off to the girl's bathroom to escape him (she was glad that he at least had the decency to avoid walking in there) she had been forced to come out when the bell rang. Though she was late to her next class, it was worth it to avoid the tiger. And she always had the excuse: it was her first day, the school was massive, and it was easy to get lost.

The second time Tora scared her half to death was when she was sent by the teacher to one of the many information centers in the school, or as they are nicknames, 'help desks', (yes, the school had fucking info. centers set up all over the place it was so large) in order for her to get a map of the school so she wouldn't be late to anymore of her classes and she could know where to go.

Not that the map helped much. Because she ended up getting lost when she went back to try to re-find her classroom.

That was when Tora pounced around the next corner. She still doesn't know how he did it, maybe he has his own radar, but he had found her at precisely the right moment, and of course he walked right up to her and was persistent in harassing her. It scared her so bad because of the way he walked up to her- all stealthy-like and quiet- he really did move like a tiger. When he was right behind her she had started to turn around and bumped into him, effectively making her scream- though he put his hand over her mouth so as not to alert the entire hallway.

That had ended in him escorting her back to class. After, you know, teasing her endlessly about her not knowing where she was going. It was not the most annoying thing he'd done, but still, by the time she was back in class she was fuming so much that smoke was practically escaping her ears.

And now, the third time?

Well the third time was happening right now. Though she didn't know it yet, as it had not exactly happened yet, her skin was tingling. As if she could sense it. Maybe she had radar too.

It was the first break of the day, (she had found out that they got an unusual amount of freetime- there never really was a set lunch period, there were just the breaks where you could talk with friends, eat, visit the school stores, enjoy some leisure time or study. It was probably meant for studying, but the rich kids pretty much got free rein.

Speaking of reins, Tora's next surprise had something to do with them.

She had just walked outside, staring down at the map in her hands that she had, she was STILL trying to make sense of it. It was a huge map, for an equally huge school- and it was printed on a paper that was larger than average. So there she stood, looking idiotic and confused, flipping the large map (that almost completely covered her face) every which way, going pretty unnoticed by whoever walked past her.

And then came the third heart attack.

"Aahhhh!" She jumped quite high up, her skin shivering, and she stumbled a step backwards with wide eyes. When she had put down the map for a moment, the sight before her had, this time, legitimately been very, very close to giving her a real heart attack.

A massive stallion was placed directly in front of her, stomping a hoof at her squealed reaction and tossing its head up next to its rider.

And who should it's rider be?

"Igarashi." She stopped freaking out and instead deadpanned. "You're on a horse." She pointed a finger up at him as she pointed it out.

Tora rolled his eyes, and, she could swear it, his horse did too. "I am aware of that fact, Akari-san."

"...Why are you mounted on a horse?"

And why do you have to look so damn attractive while doing it?!

"I am on a horse," He declared clearly. "Because it is the only way to get around campus."

Well the campus is bigger than both the Igarashi and Michiyo estates combined. Which is basically fantastically massive. She thought about it for a moment. And it's not like I haven't heard about the horseback riding thing as transportation at Miyabigaoka before.

But still, this was ridiculous. Couldn't anyone else see it? Ridiculous. Everything else kind of was too, but c'mon, horses to ride around on? At school? The fu-

"Don't tell me you didn't know." He sounded like he knew she didn't know though. Mockery.

"...Are you kidding me? Horses?"

He smiled smugly at her in response.

"Jeez, and I thought it was just a rumor..." She mumbled to herself.

Just then, a group of students hurried by, saying their greetings to Tora, and one of them ended up bumping into her. Into her arm, that is. The possibly-broken one.

Luckily, no one but her noticed the pain she was induced with.

Unluckily, she was wrong about that.

Tora smiled to the other students, but turned his head to her, noticing that she was cradling her left arm with her right, wincing and edging away from the passing figures. He frowned, but quickly erased the look from his face when she straightened up, lowered her arm carefully, and as if nothing had happened, continued with her conversation with him.

"So, have fun flaunting through the snow on your- steed." She looked to the horse again. It eyed her, snorting at her uncertain expression. "Anyway, I'll just be off on my own now so-"

"Akari. What's wrong with your arm?"

She paused awkwardly, not expecting him to say that. Also, he had dropped the '-san' from earlier. Her eyes stayed on the white horse, who seemed to be getting impatient standing beneath Tora. It was stomping its hoof angrily on the cobblestone.

"Do I need to ask again?"

Suddenly, her eyes found his. She wanted to punch him, but seeing as he was on a horse, she couldn't. So instead, she sighed heavily and gave him what he wanted. Maybe then he'd leave her alone so that she could find some food. She was starving.

"I did something to it this morning. I don't really know what's wrong with it, but it hurts."

His golden gaze suddenly narrowed on her own, but as always, she didn't back down or look away, but evened out her own gaze with his.

"Are you in need of a doctor?"

"If I were, would I be here?"

Okay, even she knew she sounded unconvincing. Tora suddenly sighed, sounding irritated with the situation, like 'oh, great, she got herself into trouble again'. What was he, her guidance counselor?

"I'll get you a horse. We can ride over to the general hospital."

Her eyes bulged.

"Leave school? You can do that during break?"

He sighed again. "I meant the general hospital on campus."

She snorted, much like the impatient horse, and turned her head away to mumble. "Of course you did." Then she looked down curiously at her map. "How did I miss that on here..."

Suddenly she felt a pair of eyes staring daggers at her, and she looked up to find both him and the horse looking impatient.

"Well?"

She looked up at him to shake her head. "I can't hold the reins with my arm like it is. I don't need a horse, I'll just-"

"Then you can ride with me." He suggested casually. Though, she would bet anyone there was a suggestiveness hidden in his tone somewhere.

Her scowl made it clear what her answer was, and he then sighed, dismounting so that he could stand beside her. Unhappily, he grabbed shoulder, pushing her forward with him as he began to walk. "So damn stubborn."

"What about your horse?" She asked incredulously. He had just left it there.

Tora waved a dismissive hand. "Someone will take care of it. It is my horse. No one would dare leave it unattended like that."

"Except you."

He stared at her hard. "Be more grateful. It's not like I had to be so generous and even walk with you when it's so far away."

"What, you hate exercise?"

He smirked. "I'm surprised you asked that, given that you've seen my body for yourself."

She made sure to ignore that statement. "Then why are you so upset? Hm, maybe you're having an off day like I am?"

He peered down at her. Damn his height, he was so TALL. She was glad he was off the high perch on his horse though.

Before he said anything, he made a sort of scoffing sound, and she thought she saw him rolling his eyes when he looked away.

"I never have 'off days'."

"Glad to know you're so much more perfect than everyone else." She muttered, grunting in disapproval of him.

"You really are more annoying than usual." He stated.

"You really are getting on my nerves."

"It makes me wonder, what happened to you today that got you in such a mood?" He continued, ignoring her insulting tone.

She could sense where this was going. He was prying, she wasn't stupid. And so she stayed silent as they walked.

"Ah, I see. You're not telling me anything." He sounded amused with her.

More of her silence must have been what issued him to stop walking. And since she really was only following him (she had no idea where to find the hospital area on the campus- why was there even a whole hospital at a school?!) she had to stop too.

Smirking at her stubborn face as she turned to glare up at him, he continued.

"So let's skip the sniffing around you knew I was going to do, and just get to the point." He gestured towards her. "What happened to your arm?"

"I don't know yet," She gritted her teeth. "That's why we're going to the hospital."

Tora narrowed his eyes on her small frame. "Stop avoiding what you know I mean. How did it happen?"

"Prying is a sin Tora."

"What a weak excuse." He marveled, making a valid point and he knew it.

"Forget this, I'll find way own way." She turned around, hating the way he looked at her. That smirk. That stupid, idiotic smirk of his. He was such a-

She looked over her shoulder to glare at him, but- oh, he really was gone.

She scowled, turning back and starting to walk again. She was at least expecting him to continue to help her, you know, finish what he had started to do. But then again, why would she expect something like that from the likes of him?

A loud clopping sound met her ears, momentarily distracting her. Then it completely distracted her, when a horse was blocking her path.

"What are you doing?" She accused as she met his eyes.

"I'll find out eventually." He looked at her with a certain glint in his eye. "I always do." Then he held out a hand for her to take. His tone turned to a bored sort of one. "In the meantime, being the gentleman that I am, I'll help see you to Miyabigaoka's hospital. Get on."

You're gonna need a hospital if you say one more arrogant word. Akari thought, though she decided to stay quiet about the threat.

She had a feeling, that her words can and will be held against her. Really, talking to Tora was like being in a courtroom at all times!

She glanced up at him with a look of annoyed anger, and caught him looking at her with a knowing, smooth-lipped smile, as if he knew just exactly how evil he was.

"I already told you I would wal-"

"Get on."

"I already sa-"

"Get. On."

His eyes sparked dangerously. Obviously, he was NOT going to walk her there. And he would have it his way whether she liked it or not.

She, unwillingly, grabbed his hand.

"It's not broken, but probably came close to it. You got lucky that it's only badly swelled, just a bruise."

Tora noticed that Akari looked fairly disappointed by this statement.

"Oh, well, thank you." Her breath heaved in a sigh.

Once Tora had thanked the doctor politely, having a small chit-chat with the man about what pain killers she would need to take, he took Akari with him out of Miyabigaoka's general hospital area with a small, knowing smile flickering on his face.

Of course, he expected her to notice it and she had. "What's that look for?"

He glanced down at her as they walked across the long, perfectly-plowed-of-snow sidewalk, towards where his horse stood tied up.

"You sounded surprisingly unhappy about not having a serious injury." He said nothing more, but the smile stayed on his face.

"Did I?" She challenged him bitterly.

"You did." He looked away, now smirking more than grinning. "It almost seems as if you want it to be broken, so that you don't have to use it for any sort of activity." He paused for his words to sink in, then mentioned in his most casual voice; "Like dancing."

He could hear her little intake of breath, almost like she inhaled a hiccup, and his smirk widened. Got her.

"That's crazy. Of course I don't want a broken arm." She sounded like she was trying too hard to convince him.

"I thought you were a masochist?" He quirked an eyebrow as he looked down at her, watching her face immediately flush.

"I've already told you, I hate pain."

"Remind me, was that before, or after I proved you wrong by-"

He paused in surprise when she reached up and effectively shut him up with her right hand over his mouth. Her gaze was angry and incredulous, and her face was the brightest shade of red he'd ever noticed on her before.

"Don't say that kind of thing out loud!" She hissed, her glare trying to look past his humored gaze.

Reaching his own hand up, he encircled her wrist in his grasp and pulled her hand away. Leaning forward, he made sure he was a little too close to her when he spoke.

"Glad to know you still remember it as clearly as I do."

She huffed without words for a moment, until he unexpectedly settled his hands around her waist.

"W-what do you think you're doing?!" She warned, looking down at his strong hands, and then up at his face. Then back at his hands on her hips, then up at his smirk on his face, again. "Get off-"

"What?" He feigned innocence, but his face was growing nearer to hers. "I'm only helping you up."

A blank look crossed her face. "Helping me..." She looked to her right, finally realizing they were standing beside the horse. "Up onto the horse. Right."

With her head turned like that, it gave him the perfect opportunity to just glance his lips at the spot under her ear lobe. "Exactly." He muttered.

She jumped, something he had made her do for... what, the fifth time today? Fourth? And though she tried to struggle out of his grasp he quickly turned her and hoisted her easily up onto the horse.

When she was settled into the saddle, he got a leg up and swung down in front of her. He looked back, smirking when he saw the way she inched so far back in the saddle, she was practically placed on the horse's rump.

"You can't ride like that." He stated calmly.

"Don't tell me how to ride a horse. I learned when I was thirteen."

"I learned when I was six."

"Which implies what?"

"That I would know more than you do. And so I should inform you that when riding with two people, the person behind the other has to scoot forward, stay forward, and-" His gaze lowered on hers and he made sure to change his voice to a sweeter, more suggestive tone. "Put their arms around the other... and press their body against them..."

She tensed up, but when the horse shifted slightly she scooted forward- only a bit more though. Tora shook his head.

"No, when we rode over here you nearly fell off. Put your arms around me."

He was taunting her- demanding- and could tell she knew it. Her face was slowly flushing as she steadily became more aggravated and embarrassed.

"But I didn't fall off last time."

"Well maybe I'll just have to ride faster this time in order to teach you a lesson." He turned his face away from her now. "Since you just won't listen."

When he snapped the reins and dug his heel into his horse's side, his well-trained stallion of course understood and jerked forward into a quicker pace than usual, and so suddenly that even Tora had to sit deeper into the saddle to not lurch around from the impact.

He laughed triumphantly when he felt Akari's arms fly around him, one gripping up by his shoulder and the other hugging tightly around his chest.

"You're all sorts of evil." He heard her mumble as they rode back over to the main building quickly before their classes started again.

He tossed her a look over his shoulder, taunting her with a deepening smirk as he watched the way she clung to him. It wasn't just amusing, with her chest pressed up against his back, her face showing how self-conscious and aware of it she was with it's reddened cheeks, and her hands clinging to the fabric of his uniform- it also gave him a sense of superiority over her, giving her no choice but to hold onto him like that.

His smirk increased. Oh, she was just too much fun.

A day in Igarashi's kingdom, where he ruled over every little thing. Would it ever end?!

Sure, she had lived with him. But at least then she didn't have to worry about if people saw what he did to her. Now? Now she was on full alert, and he seemed to know it because he kept pushing her buttons, much worse than before.

That taunting, maniacal, demon-like blonde.

Thanks to him though, she had finally found a place to eat. And that was the only reason he wasn't dead yet. Really, it was.

She sighed to herself, going into deep thought as she chowed down on some sort of fancy sushi in one of the cafes in the school. (At this point, she was not surprised the school had several different cafes)

Tora Igarashi was a strong combination of suave and skilled, lethal and dastardly and, as she always had said, lecherous. He was a prime requisite, of course, and a well-acknowledged and highly sought-after bachelor; but also a young man with a rather callous attitude toward the discomfort or suffering of others.

He lied, cheated, and was unpleasantly talented in negotiating or blackmailing.

He was fake, a mere actor playing every single roll perfectly. It often seemed that not an ounce of him was real, tender, or caring.

All of himself was an iniquity, he could very likely be sent from hell below, she was sure.

So, then. That having been said, that he was indeed sent from hell, it was now settled.

She had started to fall for a devil. A prime and calloused devil.

Suddenly, a pair of hands placed themselves on the table she was eating at, surprising her from her sudden realization in her thoughts. She looked up, expecting it to be a prude schoolgirl telling her to get out of her seat, or possibly, again, Tora himself. Instead, she looked into the dark brown eyes of a complete stranger.

"Hi," He said, smiling down at her with a dimpled grin. "I'm Orochi Fuirutsu."

A/N: I have chapters 18-20 alll planned out... hehehe... things are heating up people! It's gonna be very... how to say... interesting... And just plain GOOD, for lack of a better word. Words escape me right now, as my brain is swarming with the ideas for this story's progression. I just hope you guys end up enjoying it too!

I wish you a happy, strange-but-delightful new year to come!

~Live long and prosper~

p.s- I haven't really realized it until now, but I've fallen into a pattern of updating every 7-10 days (or so) after my last update. So I guess I'll try to keep that going, since I don't wanna leave you guys wondering how long it'll take for me to update. So I suppose every update will come within a week or so of the last.

I apologize if this upsets anyone, because waiting a week is a bit long, (esp. for anyone who loathes the concept of patience) but I do have a life outside of fanfiction that requires my participation in living it (though I'm somewhat of an introvert, I also have stuff to do as an extrovert. Yeah, I contradict myself a lot. Shut up, I know.) So there is a lot of stuff I have to do, because society is stupid like that and makes me do it. I have to go attend school, I have to listen to authoritative figures and those above me, yaddablahblahyadda. As you can tell, I do not work well with authority... The result of that only causes more trouble and work for me, though. :| F U society, F U authority!

Okay well this has turned into a little venting session.

Sorry for the venting, and again, happy 2014!

CK :*