Kuro woke up in his room. It was already bright outside, the clouds were gone, and the rays of the sun drew patterns on the wall next to him. A bird was singing somewhere. It was a peaceful, happy morning, just like so many mornings before.

What was he doing here?

If he had run away yesterday, how had he come back to this place?

One by one, the memories came flooding back. The meeting with Sakuya... Mahiru's confession... their promise... the kiss... On this bright, happy, normal morning, it almost seemed like a dream.

Had it been a dream? And if so, how much of it was real?

Kuro was distracted by a soft voice mumbling something unintelligible into the pillow. A warm hand found his wrist and closed gently around it. He looked up to see Mahiru lying half-asleep in his bed, face buried in his pillow, one arm dangling down and holding Kuro's hand.

The boy turned around, blinked a few times and yawned. "Oh, Kuro, you're already awake? That's rare." He smiled. "Good morning."

Kuro would have liked to say something in return, but he was much too distracted by Mahiru's warm smile and the fact that the boy still didn't let go of his hand while awake to think of any words that vaguely made sense.

So it hadn't been a dream, after all. He and Mahiru were... dating.

After everything they had gone through, all the fears, all the misunderstandings, all the worries, they were actually, truly, finally a couple. It seemed surreal, to say the least. Kuro had wished for all this for so long that he still couldn't believe it was no longer a dream.

Mahiru sat upright, stretched, got up and walked over to the door. "Man, I'm starving," he said, looking over his shoulder to face Kuro. "Come on, let's get breakfast. Does that sound good?"

Kuro nodded and followed him to the kitchen in a daze.

How could Mahiru act so normal? Kuro's entire world had just been turned upside down overnight and his Eve - no, his boyfriend, he reminded himself again - just kept going like nothing had happened. Didn't he have any trouble getting used to things? Had he just accepted the change like it was no big deal?

Sometimes Kuro wondered if it wasn't actually Mahiru who had supernatural powers.

"Kuro, what are you doing?" Mahiru waved a hand in front of his face. "You were kind of spacing out. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." The vampire shook his head to get rid of the hazy feeling around him. Act normal, he told himself. This is real. You're not dreaming.

Mahiru frowned slightly and took a step forward. Their faces were only inches apart now. Kuro swallowed. Too close.

"Are you sure it's nothing?" Mahiru didn't even seem to be bothered by the fact that he could probably feel the vampire's breath on his skin. "Remember what you promised me. If there's anything wrong you should tell me, you know?"

"No, it's... it's really nothing." Kuro took a step back, bringing some distance between himself and that flawless, wonderful face. "I'm just still getting used to this whole... thing."

Mahiru burst out laughing. "Thing, yeah," he said. "That is pretty weird though, right? I mean, we spent ages pining for each other and now we're a couple, it's almost too good to be true. And normally people start dating and move in together afterwards! We did it the other way around..."

He stopped laughing, a realization dawning on his face. "Actually... what do couples even do?"

Kuro stared at him like he had just talked to him in some obscure language that was only spoken by around three people in the Amazon rainforest. "Huh?"

"I mean... are we supposed to go on dates or something? Treat each other differently? Aside from the kissing and holding hands and stuff, you know."

Kuro shrugged. "I dunno. Actually, that question sounded kind of familiar."

"Shut up! Back then we were acting! That was totally different!"

"We still don't know more though."

"No." Mahiru stared at some point at the wall, thinking. "I know! Why don't we just try to figure things out for ourselves? Let's go on a date tonight."

A real date with Mahiru... Kuro felt his heartbeat pounding through his body, racing at a mile a minute, excitement rushing through his veins. Gotta act normal, he reminded himself again. Act normal. Try not to act like a lovestruck idiot.

"Do we have to go outside? That's so exhausting... Can't deal."

"Geez, Kuro! This is our very first date! We want this to be memorable, right? We can't just spend our first date hanging around on the couch and watching movies!"

Kuro let out a long-suffering sigh. "If you insist. What a pain..."

On the inside, however, he was itching to go.

"Finally!"

"It was about time you got together! Misono, I'm so proud of you!"

As soon as Misono heard their voices, he instantly knew two things.

One, he was about to die of embarrassment.

Two, he really should have locked the door.

He couldn't believe Lily and Hugh had just caught him kissing Tetsu. Why, oh, why hadn't he thought about the possibility that Hugh might have accompanied Tetsu to school like Kuro accompanied Shirota? And accompanied him here in his bag? And why hadn't he thought about Lily knowing everything he wasn't supposed to know and popping in at the worst possible moment like he always did?

But, most importantly...

"What the hell?" he yelled as soon as his voice returned from its temporary shock-induced exile. "What are you guys doing here, spying on people? Have you ever heard of personal space?"

Lily laughed nervously. "Well, Misono, maybe you should have locked the door..."

"I know that myself! You should've just seen that we want some privacy and left quietly!"

As soon as he had uttered the words, he knew that they had been a mistake. Lily's smile turned even wider at the word "privacy," and Hugh snickered but quickly covered it up with a fake cough.

Misono really, really wanted to crawl into a hole in the ground and disappear.

He looked at Tetsu, who seemed almost infuriatingly calm except for the glowing red color of his cheeks. The boy ran a hand through his hair, glanced from one Servamp at the other and was obviously still trying to figure out how to deal with this entire situation.

"Hey," he finally whispered, leaning over to Misono, "actually, wouldn't this be a good moment to announce we're official? I mean, they already know it anyway, but still..."

"I was planning to do that when I was ready," Misono hissed back, "and in a less awkward situation. But fine."

He cleared his throat, straightened his back, tried to ignore the nagging embarrassment that was still refusing to leave, and reached for Tetsu's hand. "Starting today, Tetsu and I are officially dating. You may now congratulate us."

Kuro didn't quite get why Mahiru would refuse to watch movies on the couch at home but drag him across the town to do the exact same thing in a pair of movie theater seats, but maybe that wasn't the point.

The most important thing was that they were a couple, and this was their very first date.

Kuro knew Mahiru had been considerate when choosing this place. He had been the one to insist on going outside, but he also knew how much Kuro hated doing just that, so he had deliberately picked a place where Kuro would still get to relax and be lazy while it was still more memorable than staying at home.

At least, that was what Kuro supposed, knowing Mahiru. Maybe he was reading too much into things, but it was a pleasant thought. And it was a very Mahiru-like thing to do, after all. Sometimes Kuro wondered where his Eve got all his kindness from, and how much more of that kindness he could take before melting into a flustered but very happy puddle of goo.

They had been holding hands for the entire way. Kuro could see people staring at them and whispering, but neither of them cared. They were happy together, and that was all that mattered. Tonight nobody was important, except for the two of them.

"Hey, Mahiru!"

They spun around to find Ryuusei and Koyuki hurrying towards them, eyes wide with surprise.

Kuro let out a soft sigh. Great. So much for privacy and some time alone.

Mahiru seemed just as surprised as his two friends. "You guys-" was as far as he got before being stormed with questions?

"Why weren't you at school today? We were worried about you! We thought you were sick or something!"

"True, Mommy was this close to calling the cops to search for you! So, did ya find your runaway cat?"

Mahiru peered at Kuro, who was resting his head on his Eve's shoulder while staring coldly at Ryuusei and Koyuki, and couldn't help cracking a grin. "Yeah, I did."

"Where was he?" his friends asked in unison.

"Well..." The rooftop conversation flashed through Mahiru's mind on fast forward as he wondered what to say. Should he lie? Could he even make up a credible story on the spot? "Um..." Whatever. Just go for part of the truth. "He kind of... kept changing his hiding spots all day because he thought he'd done something wrong and was trying to avoid me. But then I got lost and he came back when I needed help, and then I comforted him and showed him it was alright. Now he's back where he belongs."

Mahiru couldn't help the fond smile that crossed his face any more than the blush heating up his cheeks. He squeezed Kuro's hand and gently stroked it with his thumb, feeling every detail of his skin, every vein, every bone, every scratch.

Koyuki and Ryuusei looked at him, then at each other, oblivious to the meaning behind his expression but knowing that there was something going on that he wasn't telling them about. Finally Ryuusei spoke up. "By the way, um," he pointed to Kuro, "who's this?"

Mahiru smiled. "That's Kuro," he said. "He's my, uh..."

His what? Boyfriend? Was he even allowed to say that? Would Kuro mind him telling people about that?

"We're dating," Kuro finished the sentence, his voice seemingly calm but filled with a cold threat. Back off, his tone said. I'm closer to him than you are, and we're trying to make this a date, so don't you interrupt our time together.

Ryuusei and Koyuki swallowed and grinned awkwardly. "Oh, I see," Koyuki said hurriedly, "then I guess we'll head off and give you two some privacy. Right, Ryuu?"

"Right!" Ryuusei nodded. "We're supposed to meet up with Nanako-chan anyway."

Mahiru looked from one to the other in confusion. "Um, who's Nanako-chan?"

They pointed at a girl who had just walked in through the door. Mahiru blinked, stared and blinked again. There was no mistaking her.

"Suzuhara?" he blurted out, realized what Ryuusei had just said and added, "F-First name basis?! What happened between you guys?"

"Not much," Koyuki said, laughing. "We'll tell you everything when you have time, okay? See you at school!"

"See ya!" Ryuusei added, and they both left.

Mahiru watched as they met up with Suzuhara, laughing and talking and smiling and obviously getting along. Even from this distance he could tell that Ryuusei was very much in love with his classmate, and from what he observed the girl probably returned his feelings. Good, they would all be fine.

Suzuhara's eyes met his, and she smiled and waved. He smiled and waved back. There really was no need to worry about her anymore. She was over him, and she was happy.

"I just wonder why the guys were in such a hurry," he mused. "Were they scared of you or something?"

Kuro replaced his dagger-glaring eyes of death with his default bored expression just as Mahiru turned around. "Don't have a clue."

Neither of them could focus on the movie. Kuro was much more interested in the bucket of popcorn between them, and Mahiru was very busy trying to get his share before the vampire could eat all of it.

"Geez, Kuro!" he whisper-shouted. "You just had a giant handful, why are you grabbing another one already? I want some popcorn too you know!"

"Then you gotta eat faster," Kuro munched through a mouthful of popcorn. "It's not my fault that your hands are so tiny."

"They're not tiny! I'm just shorter than you! Smaller people have smaller hands!"

Kuro grabbed one of his hands and placed his own against it. The vampire's fingers were a good deal longer. "Yup, tiny hands all right."

Mahiru felt his face heating up. Dammit, he still wasn't used to this. Kuro suddenly taking his hand like that... why did it make him so flustered? Neither of them had been shy about physical contact before. But before... before, it hadn't meant anything.

It did now.

Mahiru smiled and laced his fingers with Kuro's, taking delight in the flush of pink spreading on the vampire's cheeks. "I have an idea," he whispered, leaning closer. "If you're that hungry, why don't I feed you?"

The color of Kuro's face changed from pink to red. "No need."

"Really?" Mahiru picked up some popcorn and held it out in front of Kuro's mouth. "Here, let's just try it."

Kuro blushed an even darker shade of red. "With those tiny hands of yours, eating all that popcorn's gonna take forever," he mumbled, staring at some unspecified point at the wall behind Mahiru. "But I guess we can try it if you really want."

He swallowed hard, opened his mouth and let Mahiru feed him the handful of popcorn.

Mahiru pulled his hand away like Kuro's mouth was on fire. Kuro choked on the popcorn and started coughing. Both of them turned away from each other, their faces bright red, trying to keep their racing heartbeats in check. Mahiru looked at his fingers in disbelief. How had he just managed to be this bold? The feeling of his fingers brushing Kuro's lips was enough to send him on a roller-coaster ride made of embarrassment and adrenaline. It felt wonderful... but the feeling knocked him off his feet.

Yes, they definitely still needed to get used to this.

They continued to watch the movie in silence, neither having a clue what was going on because they had missed the beginning and not really caring about it anyway. The bucket of popcorn grew more and more empty. Sometimes they both reached for a new handful at the same time and flinched away when their fingers brushed.

Kuro started to yawn as soon as they ran out of popcorn. At first they were just occasional yawns, but soon he was yawning every two minutes, his head kept falling down on his chest, and it was obvious that he was struggling to keep his eyes open. Soon it looked like he was about to fall out of his seat the next time he closed his eyes, faceplant the floor and just continue to sleep there.

Mahiru turned to face him. "Are you tired?"

The vampire's answer was another big yawn. "The movie's boring."

"It kind of is." Mahiru couldn't help chuckling. "You can sleep if you really want to."

"Aren't you gonna get mad about me falling asleep on our first-" Kuro was interrupted by another yawn - "our first date?"

Another idea popped up in Mahiru's head. Maybe he was being too bold again, but he wanted to get used to them being this close. He didn't want to stop trying just because he had underestimated the awkwardness the first time around.

"You can rest your head on my shoulder if you want to sleep."

Kuro blinked, wide awake in a split second. "Huh?"

Mahiru was sure he was blushing again, but he continued. They had already kissed for crying out loud. Twice. "I'm sure it's more comfortable that way."

How hard could this possibly be?

Kuro muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Doesn't look very comfy to me," tried to hide his blush, and leaned over to the side to put his head on Mahiru's shoulder.

Mahiru wrapped an arm around him and closed his eyes, focusing solely on the comfortable weight of Kuro leaning against his side, the strands of hair tickling his neck, the vampire's gentle breath on his skin, the soft warmth that spread from his side throughout his whole body. Smiling to himself, he ran his fingers through Kuro's hair, marveling at how soft it was and how much it felt like cat fur.

"Remember when we did this the other way around?" he muttered close to his Servamp's ear.

"Mmm," came the drowsy reply. "Seems like ages ago."

"I had no idea that this feels so good," Mahiru said quietly. "It's really great to have the one you love leaning on you like this. Did you feel the same way back then, Kuro?"

There was no answer. The vampire had fallen asleep.

Mahiru continued to watch him with a gentle smile on his face. Kuro looked so relaxed now, so peaceful. All worries and exhaustion had vanished from his face, leaving only an expression of calm happiness behind. Centuries seemed to have fallen off him and disappeared. Kuro shifted slightly as he moved through some dream only he would know about and no one would remember.

Mahiru hoped it was a good dream.

No, it definitely was. The vampire had never looked so happy before. Actually - maybe he really hadn't been this happy before. Ever. In all his long, century-old life.

Well, it was only about to get better from now on.

This was only the beginning.

They walked home hand in hand, unaware of the figure watching them from the shadows.

Sakuya had to admit, he had been worried. Not about Kuro - whatever the hell that Servamp did was none of his business. He hadn't been worried about his predictions being wrong and Mahiru backing away from the vampire either. A very deep, dark, disgusting part of his soul had even hoped it would happen. After all, that Servamp did have a point. Dating a vampire was dangerous.

No, what he had been worried about was Kuro being too cowardly to talk to Mahiru properly. Kuro backing out and breaking Mahiru's heart even more than he already had, or Kuro messing up the confession and ruining everything there was to ruin, including Mahiru's hopes and dreams. His friend deserved better than that, so much better. And he just wanted to make sure that he got what he deserved.

Well, it looked like it had all worked out for them in the end.

Sakuya knew he should be happy for his friend. He tried to be happy, he really did, but the happiness only came with something else.

Damn it, he had even gone so far and played the stupid fairy godmother for those two lovebirds, just to make sure Mahiru was happy. So what was this pang of... something he couldn't quite lay his finger on, let alone understand? Why did he feel like he had just lost his best friend again?

What was so great about that Servamp, anyway?

No, stop. He couldn't start thinking about that now. Mahiru knew that guy better than he did. If Mahiru loved Kuro, then he probably deserved it.

Still, he couldn't help feeling a little alone.

"Sakuyaaaa, how much longer are you gonna keep staring down the street? Tsubakyun's gonna get impatieeent!"

"Please be careful, Beru. You'll drop your ice cream if you keep moving around like that."

"Let's go already! We're keeping the young master waiting!"

"Did anybody say 'ice cream'? Did you buy me a portion too? You're not out having fun without inviting me first, are you?"

"T-Tsubakyun?! How long have you been here?"

Sakuya turned around to face everyone. His friends... no, his family. His completely and utterly ridiculous, lovable family.

Who was he kidding. He wasn't alone.

He had never been alone.

Sakuya couldn't help cracking a grin as he took a step towards the others. "Let's go."

Mahiru stopped in front of the family restaurant's entrance and extended his hand. "Are you ready?"

Kuro grabbed Mahiru's hand and nodded. "Yeah."

"Alright, then let's go! One, two-" Mahiru took a step forward, only to find that Kuro hadn't moved an inch.

"What are you doing?" he huffed. "Don't just stand there like you've just grown roots or something!"

Kuro just gave him a blank stare. "I thought you were gonna count to three before starting. Y'know, like normal people."

"For crying out loud! Between the two of us, you're definitely less normal!" Mahiru let out an irritated sigh. "Geez, Kuro, at least try to take this seriously, will you? We're trying to tell everyone something important!"

He turned and waved awkwardly at their friends, who had been watching the entire scene with a look of increasing confusion on their faces. "Come on, I'll count to three, and then we'll both go inside. Okay? One - two - three!"

They both stumbled inside and made their way over to the others. Lily was smiling from ear to ear; he had obviously figured out what was going on. Hugh gave them a look that mostly consisted of curiosity but was still much too knowing to be pleasant. Misono and Tetsu seemed happily oblivious.

"So," Misono said, folding his arms, "what exactly is it you two are trying to do?"

"We have something important to tell you." A proud smile spread over Mahiru's face as he continued, "Kuro and I are a couple now."

Lily's smile widened. Hugh smirked. Tetsu just stared at them both, his eyes the size of saucers.

Misono's frown deepened. "Shirota... Suzuhara isn't here today."

He shot a quick glare at Lily and Hugh, who were trying so hard not to laugh that they had tears in their eyes.

Mahiru kept smiling. "We're not pretending! Kuro and I are a real couple now!"

There was a moment's silence as the message sank in.

Misono's expression went from confusion to shock to anger within seconds. "Shirota, you bastard!" he blurted out. "I was planning to tell you some great news today, but you went ahead with your news and completely ruined the effect!"

Mahiru and Kuro blinked in confusion. "What?"

Misono stood up, motioning for Tetsu to do the same. "Tetsu and I," he said with a grand gesture, "are a couple too."

Mahiru's eyes widened as a big smile spread over his face. "Congratulations!" he exclaimed. "I'm happy for you two. You make a great couple!"

Misono blushed a little, but his smile was self-assured. "Of course we do."

"Um," Tetsu seemed far more embarrassed, but whether it was because of the compliment or because of his boyfriend's behavior was hard to say. "Congrats to you too."

"Thanks!" Mahiru gave his Servamp a nudge. "Kuro, you should congratulate them too!"

"What a pain... Do I have to?"

"Yes, you have to! There's this very important thing called manners, we've had this discussion before!"

"Why are we even making such a big deal out of this? It's not like they're engaged or anything."

Lily and Hugh snorted. Misono and Tetsu blushed a pretty shade of red, stared into opposite corners of the room and said nothing.

Mahiru sighed and gave the vampire a long look. "Kuro... please."

"Fine." Resignation was written all over Kuro's voice. "Congratulations... I guess."

Mahiru turned around that the vampire looked surprisingly uncomfortable, embarrassed even. His cheeks were just a shade pinker than usual, his hands were stuffed into his pockets as if it was freezing cold, and his eyes were focused on his shoes. Mahiru couldn't help smiling at the sight. "You're still not really used to just being nice to people, are you?"

"Says the guy who tried to beat me up with a mop."

"Hey, that was ages ago! Why are you still talking about that now?"

Hugh watched them with interest. "How long have you two been together?"

Mahiru looked up in surprise. "Just a couple days... why?"

"You're already behaving like an old married couple."

"W-We're not!"

"You really are, Shirota."

"Misono! You're not helping!"

"Well, Mahiru kinda does act like a housewife sometimes so I guess it's not that wrong..."

"Dammit, Kuro! Why are you taking their side too?"

A waitress shot them a dirty look. "Would you please be more quiet?"

Everyone blushed with embarrassment, shut their mouths and sat down.

"They're a good match," Mahiru said as they were walking home through the silent streets, the stars glistening above them.

Kuro looked at him. "Who?"

"Misono and Tetsu." Mahiru watched his breath form small clouds in the cold night air as he continued. "They complete each other. Did you watch them today? They both smiled way more than usual. I mean, usually Misono's always like..." he sought for the right words to describe it, didn't find any and simply imitated Misono's ever-present frown, "like that, you know? And he always gets mad about everything and insults people a lot and today it was almost like... like he was trying to act cooler and more mature to impress Tetsu or something. Or maybe Tetsu's presence just relaxes him."

"Huh." Kuro gazed straight ahead, lost in thought. For some time neither of them said anything.

Finally Kuro spoke up again. "Are you... okay with me not really changing now that we're dating? Will you be fine with it if I never change?"

Mahiru looked at him and felt a tug at his heartstrings. Kuro looked so insecure, so vulnerable. The fragile soul he was always trying to hide had broken through its cage made of sarcasm and laziness and glimmered softly in his eyes.

"You idiot," Mahiru laughed softly. "If I didn't like the way you are right now, do you really think I would have fallen for you in the first place?"

Kuro didn't answer, but Mahiru didn't miss the warm glow lighting up his eyes. It was the happiest expression Mahiru had ever seen him show in all the months they had spent together. The vampire's face was still showing his usual slight frown, but his eyes were smiling.

Mahiru couldn't help smiling back.

"Although," he added, laughing, "I obviously wouldn't mind you getting up a bit earlier. Or helping me with the housework chores. But not in the kitchen! The kitchen's off limits. The last time you tried to do something in the kitchen was a total..."

He was interrupted by a soft chuckle next to him.

Mahiru looked up to find a sight he had never expected to see.

Kuro wasn't just smiling, he was laughing. His entire face had lit up, shining, sparkling, making the moon and stars and all the city lights of the world look dim. He looked so young standing there, laughing at Mahiru's silly joke. Innocent, almost childlike. He looked like a child laughing for the first time in his life, and his smile radiated nothing but joy and love.

It was beautiful. Overwhelmingly, breathtakingly beautiful.

Mahiru gaped at him, entranced, cast under a spell by Kuro's unforgettable laugh, the smile that lit up the entire universe, the clear ring of laughter welling up from his chest, and wished time would stop. The more he looked at Kuro the more he wanted to see that face, and he knew that he would never see enough of it, never grow tired of this beautiful sight that nobody else had ever seen. This was his, his alone, without anybody else to see it, anybody he would have to share it with. Mahiru knew that this expression was only meant for him.

He couldn't help feeling proud.

Kuro caught sight of Mahiru staring at him and stopped laughing. "What's up?"

Mahiru should probably be embarrassed to have been caught staring, but that didn't matter. Not now.

"I just found one more thing I love about you," he said gently. "Your laugh."

Kuro turned away to hide his blush and ruffled through the boy's hair. "Now you're being cheesy again."

For one long moment, neither of them said anything.

"Kuro?"

"Yeah?"

"I've told you that I love you so many times, but... you never say it back, do you?"

Kuro dropped his hand, then ran it through his hair, visibly flustered. He opened his mouth several times, closed it again, fidgeted with his sleeves. "Sorry."

He took a deep breath, turned and leaned his forehead against Mahiru's. Looking into the depths of the boy's eyes, he whispered the one sentence Mahiru would never forget, ever, in all his life or the lives after.

"I love you too... Mahiru."