After Ryoma and the trio gone back home, Sakuno quickly go home too. She walked home with a tired but content smile on her face, her mind already drifting towards the warm meal and comfortable bed that awaited her. As she approached her house, she saw the familiar gate and felt a sense of relief wash over her.

Opening the gate with a sense of familiarity, she walked up to the main door and unlocked it with the key she always kept in her pocket. Pushing the door open, she called out.

"I'm back, obaa-chan."

But there was no response. Sakuno scanned the living room and realized that her grandma was nowhere to be seen. Shrugging it off, she assumed her grandma had gone out to buy groceries or run some errands.

Deciding to check on her grandma later, Sakuno made her way upstairs to her room. She opened the door and was about to step inside when she heard a voice call out her name from behind.

"Ryuzaki." A male voice was heard.

Startled, she freezes for a bit. She got scared because there's no man living with them and her parents didn't tell her they going to come home.

Her heart racing with fear. In her panic, she didn't even look back, instead swinging her school bag with all her strength towards the source of the voice.

A yelp of pain followed her action, and she heard a voice saying,

"Ow! Hey. Ryuzaki, it's me." When Sakuno finally gathered the courage to open her eyes, she was shocked to see that she had hit a young man with her school bag. And not just any young man – it was Ryoma.

Sakuno's eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at the familiar face of the guy she had accidentally assaulted.

"R-Ryoma-kun??"

Ryoma, for his part, rubbing his arm where she had hit him.

"What are you-" She continued but got cut by the sound of her grandma.

"Sakuno? What are you doing to Ryoma?" Sumire, who just come back from somewhere looked at them from the main door.

At the living rooom, Sumire laughing heartily at the scene before her. She explained that Ryoma would be staying with them for a while until he graduated from school.

Sakuno felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment as she apologized profusely to Ryoma for her reaction.

Ryoma, ever calm and collected, simply shrugged it off, saying that it was no big deal.

"I'm sorry for not telling you earlier. Ryoma just come back so suddenly. His previous home has other family staying. So, since he had nowhere to go, his father asked me to take care of him."

After the initial shock had worn off, they all sat down in the living room and chatted for a while.

After dinner, everyone retired to their respective rooms for the night. Sakuno couldn't shake off the nervousness she felt about having Ryoma staying so close to her room. Just as she was about to drift off to sleep, there was a soft knock on her door.

"Yes, I'm coming."

Opening it, she found Ryoma standing there.

"Oh, Ryoma-kun."

"Ryuzaki, can you help me with this subject? It's different from the syllabus in US."

"Oh, sure. Please come in." She invited him to her room.

Sakuno open the table on the floor and they sat together. Ryoma put his book on the table. Sakuno took her notes and textbook.

Being the top student, Sakuno easily explained to Ryoma things that he didn't understand.

"You can borrow my notes if you want. You came here late though. There must be many things you need to catch up." Sakuno said.

"Thanks." He said.

Suddenly she remembered something.

"Ryoma-kun, can I see your arm?"

"My arm?"

"Yeah, I hit you pretty hard earlier."

"It's nothing."

"Show me, I want to see with my own eyes."

Ryoma sighed. He thought Sakuno is pretty stubborn. "Here." He showed his arm.

Sakuno touched his arm and scanned if there's any wound. Suddenly she blushed because this is the first time she touched a man's arm. She couldn't help but notice his strength in his arms, the way his muscle flexed with every movement. She gulped down and almost drooling.

When she realized there's something wrong with what she was doing, she released his arm.

"I- I'm sorry." She said nervously.

"What are you sorry about?" He asked with confused look.

'For thinking dirty about you.' She thought.

"N-nothing. Looks like your arm is really fine." She laughed sheepishly.

"I told you." He said.

Sakuno just smile nervously.

"Uh.. so... um.. Ryoma-kun, I think I want to go sleep now, so..." She said nervously.

"Okay, I will leave now." Ryoma took all his book and notebook and stood up.

Sakuno also stood up and sent him out.

"If you don't understand about anything, you can let me know." She said, smiling.

"Okay, thanks."

He was about to walk to his room, but stopped by a hand. Sakuno grabbed his arm. He looked at her.

"A-ano Ryoma-kun, about you living here, can we keep it as a secret?"

He didn't understand why they no to do that but he just said 'yes'.

"So um... goodnight." She said again, releasing his arm.

"Night."

Sakuno closed the door. She lean on the door and sighed. Her heart beating so fast.

Ryoma smiled looking at her door and went back to his room. They both sleep tightly that night.