The day ended as soon as it started. Akemi only blinked and hours went passed. She remembered hues of blue and wide pink when the sun rose in greetings, her rumbling stomach in the morning, the loud mumblings of by-passers, snippets of talks here and there at the long ends of corridors, faded pictures of professors gesturing at the front of her classes, and friends nagging her to concentrate.

Mindless she packed her things away, practiced fingers swiftly gathering her materials, stashing them away into the depths of her bag, smile growing wider by the second.

A deed that did not went unnoticed by her friends.

"Tell meee!" Kazuko stressed with a frustration that equals from having to say the same line over and over again. With one eyes roll, she thrusted herself forward, hovering above Akemi's table, slamming her palms down, locking her fiery gaze with hers. "You've been awfully happy all day- tell me why!"

"I'd like to know too," Emi sat on a table, grinning widely with her dark hair swinging about, framing her face as she rocked back and fro, gazing upwards towards the still smiling Akemi, who stole fugitive glances at them through her dark lashes in her hidden amusement that they all could see. "Did something happened this morning? You've never smiled this much." Emi pressed further when Akemi only smiled wider, slinging her bag around her shoulder, hopping down the steps of her class with unconcealed delight.

"I'm not telling!" Akemi singsonged and stretched her tongue out at them, partly because there was nothing to tell apart from that her sister is coming to visit but that wouldn't satiate their hunger. No, Akemi knew they wanted something juicer if anything from their excited smiles to go by. At times like this she regretted dating Ueda. He wasn't anybody deserving to be messed with, especially not by them.

"It's probably because of Ueda-san," Natsumi voiced in with the usual hand propping under her chin with a definite smirk, popped a pink bubblegum and pinched it off with slender fingers before squashing it back into her mouth, motioning down with her right eyebrow, grinning, at the young male peeking through the doorway, watching him fastened his eyes onto the four girls at the back of the lecture hall. "I heard he was looking for youall day," she singsonged with a laugh stuck at the back of her throat that she had trouble holding back. Akemi smiled fondly, what a fool.

"Oooh, what do I hear?" Kazuko joined in with a smile way to wide and eyes twice as bright, raising suggestive eyebrows at her. "Getting active, are we?"

"What's with this?" Akemi stepped back, brows raised, eyes wide, cheeks raising on colour, looking more purple than the standard red, hidden behind the back of her hand she covered her mouth with, a lose thought forming somewhere at the back of her mind, vaguely wondering when the situation turned out to be in such a state. "You guys date twice as more men than I do!"

"Controversial!" Natsumi slammed her hands on the table, chair falling back down behind her, "We're mere peasant struggling for food and there-!" she pointed at Ueda, who rose an amused brow at them now from where he stood,"See what you have- a season worth of thousand dishes!"

"Take her away, Ueda-san, that ungrateful cow is too mighty stand in our shadow," Kazuko held a tissue in her hand, drying the non existent tears off her face and turning away as though she couldn't bear to look at them. "Let's go, Natsumi, our presence is not welcomed here."

"We expect a full report later!" they called back in unison as they dashed towards the door, muffled goodbyes carried harshly by the winds until- at last- silence. Sighing loudly, Emi raised her hand in muted goodbye, mumbling a quick "Have a great time," loosely over her shoulder, a tiresome smile sent at Akemi's direction that respondent could all too mirror. Bless her. It was hard work to keep up with those two whirlwinds.

The door slammed shut, echoing through the enclosed halls until it stilled, leaving the couple alone in the vast room. Akemi bit her lips, fighting the gnawing feeling in her chest down, breathing in slowly from her mouth, halting fidgeting fingers and smiled, widely at him.

Put the act up, she reminded herself, don't let it go.

"They are rather enthusiastic, wouldn't you think?" Ueda spoke up after rounds of silence, patiently waiting for Akemi to step down to be on his level on the ground floor, then slowly stretched out a callous hand from many baseball practices that she willingly took into her own hand and intertwined readily with her fingers. A mechanism she was all too use to. A gesture that has already lost completely its meaning to her.

"Don't mind them," she mumbled, leaning towards the seeping warmth emanating from him and propped her chin on his broad shoulder, catching drifts of mowed grass and rising sweat beneath the usual smell of ash wood. "Did you came straight from practice?" she rose her head and frowned at him, "You won't you get in trouble by being here?"

"I had to see you," he breathed out, gaze transfixed at her face, staring deep into her eyes, the small smile at the tips of his lips widening the longer he stared.

"Really?" she gave him a teasing smile, softly pushing with her palm away, eyes never leaving his face completely as she led him out the room."You can't have missed me already."

"What if I did?" he raised his head, grinning widely. "It's only natural, after all I got you as my girlfriend."

"A fact you're too proud of."

"Of course I am!" he whipped his head at her, sounding almost outraged at the mere notion for it to be taken into question. "After all I…!"

"You- what?" she said between giggles, sauntering through the hall, partly ignoring the stares and whispers she heard rousing around them. She was too use to it. That people would stop and stare, thinking what he thought of her. Even her friends would sometimes don her a gaze full of jealousy every time it was as though she wasn't particularly paying attention to anything. Why though? She wondered as she stole a glanced at the widely smiling Ueda who seemed to practically submerged with his own happiness- so much Akemi wouldn't put it pass him for him to fade out his surroundings for a long time, maybe that's why he sometimes appears to be epitome of ignorance at times.

"I….I..um…just.." he brushed a hand through his hair, struggling to get the words through his lips, frowning he whirled his head at her, gazing at her with such hope, stressing the next words with such meaning, Akemi tried her best to understand the hidden message he failed to get across with a simple; "You know?"

"I do not," she shook her head, smile widening despite her confusion, raising both brows at him, "Try again," she mouthed and found that he was staring at them, absorbing each minuscule shift from her lips. Alarmed she ducked her head, covering her face under her bangs, feeling heat crawl up from her neck onto her cheeks and she snorted in embarrassment, eyes trailed up his strong jaw, wildly kept hair, wide blue eyes on slightly tanned skin, breathing in deeply she gave him a pointed look. Don't let the act go. "What are you tying to say?"

Ueda stiffened, a blush rising up from his cheeks as he gazed away with a hand massaging his neck. "Do I...really need to say it?"

Akemi squeezed his fingers. "No, but it'd be nice for me to know," she mumbled and saw him squirm further, "You don't have to, you know? You can't keep it until you feel comfortable telling, Yuji-kun."

"It's always because you're like this, Akemi," he sighed, folding his arms above his head as they started to come closer to their separation point, he halted and faced away, looking at everything but her, at least until he sneaked a glance at her through his bangs, cheeks flushing slightly red and Akemi tilted her head in confusion as she turned to face him too, slightly raising her head to stare him deep into the eyes.

"You're always so kind and understanding," he started and wiped his hands on his shirt, "...it practically left me no choice but, you know...to fall in love with you," he breathed out at last, slowly sneaking a peak at her again through his hair and Akemi smiled brightly, despite the thumping ache in her chest.

"Yeah," she breathed out too, smiling too easily, covering the raising hurt in her chest, squeezing his fingers tightly before slowly untangling them, cheeks tinted slightly red, giving him deep look of misplaced affection, "I know exactly what you mean." He smiled but before he could utter an other word Akemi turned to leave. Anymore and her act would fall to pieces. She canted her back at him, smiling in loose goodbye, faintly hearing him mutter a brief, "Sure," and supposed careless "Why not?" that constricted Akemi's chest tightly, she could practically hear the faltering smile on his lips, the hurt humming from his voice after taking the courage to confess out of the blue like that. But she could not reciprocate it. This was far greater than the dismissive 'like'.

It was something she didn't want to encounter.

"Huh?" Shūichi turned to face her, brows slightly furrowed, olive green eyes peeking through the slender smoke curling over the rim, the cup half full of brew, steaming reaching up to his eyes, trying best to cloud his sight from deep blue eyes framed by blond strands, falling down the side of her face, brows creasing further with worry, staring at the bandages across his arms and at a small section of bands peering under the beanie he wore on his head. The smell of roasted coffee beans was thick in the small booth and by the looks of it dismayed by Jodie, whose nose constantly twitched under the stench, or perhaps it was due annoyance she held for him. Shūichi titled his head, slowly swirling his coffee in his hand, a questioning look guiding the puzzled nature of his expression, slowly amending into a flat out expression that demanded answers, "What do you mean?"

Blue eyes rolled in perfect motion, "Your injuries," she stressed with a sharp undertone, pointing a red manicured finger at him she previously tapped repetitively on the table, "It wasn't necessary to go that far- reckless even. What were you thinking?"

Shūichi shrugged and sipped his coffee, swirled the brew in his mouth, relished in its bitterness, pondering, gazing upwards, absent-mindedly noticing the faded brown painted on the ceiling, the many cracks and tiny holes formed over the years, the bright burning of light bulbs, casting shadows over half his face before he looked back at her, gaze locking firmly, olive eyes boring deep into blue eyes before Shūichi slumped back into his seat and raised an eyebrow, "It did the job, didn't it? So why mourn about it?"

"To instigate an accident? How can you be so cool about this!" A pair of hands slammed on the table, her nose now hovering centimetres away from his, glaring heatedly at him with such anger Shūichi had almost trouble placing it to a definite cause, yet he was sure she was more troubled by the situation than his recent action. That much was certain. "Have you forgotten whom your up against? Surely there were other ways!"

"There might have been." he answered easily, cup clinking on the wooden table as he leaned forward, arms crossed over the table, "But this was by far the safest."

"In what terms?" her gaze hardened, fingers clenching uneasily and soon enough- tap, tap, tap- Shūichi rolled his eyes and reached out, stilling the frantic movements with his bandaged hand.

"You worry too much."

The flush on her cheeks deepened but she replied not, defiantly holding her gaze away from him, staring at the empty seat next to her, pushing down the gnawing feelings raising from her chest, the raising emotion that compel her to ask, who is she? what's she like? Anything that will tell her where this person stands at Shūichi's thoughts. To reassure herself that it is nothing harmful to her relationship- a hurdle they have to overcome, will overcome. Jodie flipped her hand over from under Shūichi's grip, holding his hand tight, squeezing his fingers albeit gently.

Hopefully they'll be fine.

"In what terms?" she asked once more, tone quivering in her welling emotions she tried to suppressed, still not looking at him, "How can this twisted situation provide a safer route diving into this? There must be other ways."

"Well, for one I'll have more immediate links if I use her. I told you, didn't I? Although she is at the bottom in the organisation's hierarchy her sister is a top ranking member. If things go smoothly I'll get in contact with her."

Wide blue eyes turned to fasten on him, speaking with so much emotion Shūichi saw through them before her whipping blond hair stilled, sitting calmly on the width of her shoulder after slicing through the air in her sudden turn, "But what if-?" she looked down, biting her lower lip, seemingly mulling her thoughts over her head before voicing them out loud.

"It shouldn't be a problem, if you think that. It's only a mission I'm completing."

"But what if..." her eyes flickered at him again, narrowed slightly at the corners, gazing at him firmly before resting back at the table, muttering slowly under her breath, "What if you end up falling in love?"

Shūichi shot her pointed look, likelihood of that happening were extremely nominal, nearly impossible. I don't involve emotion in my jobs. "Situations such as those are for fairy tales. Don't forget it's reality we're facing. Besides..."

I'll never do.

Jodie looked up, raising her eye brow, encouraging him to go on. But he picked his coffee up again, sipping from it easily, "Nothing. Forget about it."

Not with anyone.

"If you say so," she said, sounding peaceful despite the suspicious glances she threw at himbut he remained silent, staring out the window into the welling darkness ahead of him.

It should be fine.