A/N: it's good to be back. It feels like forever since I updated. Enjoy.

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School ended all too quickly for Ayumu, and the boy mentally cursed himself for wasting most of it with Hiyono, instead of trying to confront Hizumi. His mind had been occupied with not only schoolwork and studies, but a certain lavender-haired transfer student. 'Where did he take Hizumi during lunch, and…what did he say to him?' he pondered, turning a deaf ear to Hiyono, who had been lecturing him on some matter of the Blade Children.

"…At least, that's what I've heard from Rio…" the blonde sighed, as she helped the brunette to clean the classrooms on the second floor. "Uh, Ayumu?"

"Huh?" Narumi blinked, snapping out of his reverie long enough to catch the girl's last few words.

"You weren't listening to a word I was saying, were you?" Yuizaki huffed, as she held the trashcan in one hand, and placed the other hand on her hip.

"No, not really." He admitted, despite knowing he'd get an earful about the lack of attention he'd been giving her.

"You're so difficult. It's no wonder why Hizumi doesn't want to get close to you…" she realized, as she emptied the trashcan and placed it back beside the teacher's desk.

'He's the one who's difficult. He's so unreasonable, and it's nothing less than irritating. If he sees something he doesn't like about me, then why doesn't he just come out and say it, instead of keeping it bottled up inside? At least maybe then I could try to fix whatever the problem is, and try to get closer to him.' Narumi reasoned, perplexed as to how one single person could be so inextricable. 'What could I have done to make him hate me?' His head turned, and he glanced out the window, taking notice of the mint-haired boy as he exited the building. 'Oh, he's going home now. I didn't have a chance to talk to him today. I miss him. He looks so cute, even watching him from far away.' He noticed, watching Hizumi intently like a cat looks at cream.

A gentle breeze picked up, caressing the boy's mint green strands. Hizumi brought his hand up, in attempt to calm the fluttering locks and move them out of his eyes.

'Although my heart starts pounding when I'm near him, I really want to talk to him, even just one word…but….he's so difficult. If only I could find a way to break that barrier around him, and get him to let me in….' the brunette-haired boy let out a frustrated sigh, knowing that it would take a miracle just to get a simple "Hello" from the boy. But he, of all people knew that miracles didn't exist. For one to find happiness, they had to believe they could be happy first, and then make their own path toward that dream. Nothing ever simply fell into a person's lap, but had to be attained through effort and determination.

"Hey, Ayumu," Hiyono looked up from her work and turned to face the sullen brunette. "I was thinking…about the new transfer student. Don't you think that he seems to be just a little too friendly with Hizumi and the other students? I mean, it's only his first day here, and he's liked by the entire student body, and most of the teachers! Something about that seems fishy, don't you think?"

"I really couldn't care less about him." Narumi argued, as he continued to mop the floors. "People like Hikao…"

"Um….it's Hisou…" the upperclassman corrected him.

"Whatever," he huffed, as he turned his back to her. "People like him usually act in such a way to hide their ulterior motives. As long as it doesn't involve me, I could care less about what he does." He explained.

"Even if his so-called 'ulterior motive' involves Hizumi?"

A soft sound of amusement and skepticism rose up from the back of Narumi's throat at the comment, and those russet orbs darted to the blonde, holding a quizzical look. "How could that be possible? What sense would it make in getting the entire student body to dote over him, just to get to one person? Sorry, Hiyono, but that's highly unlikely."

"…..I guess you're right." Yuizaki sighed, as she hung her head. 'Still, I can't help but wonder about Hirasaka-kun's relationship to Hizumi….'

Hisou had been one of the first to exit the building, and headed straight for the park in hopes to have some time to himself before he headed home. No sooner had he sat down on one of the benches, a voice above him caught his attention.

"You're late."

A brief laugh sounded from the orange-eyed boy's mouth, and he slouched forward to let his arm rest across his knee. "How did you know I was going to be here?" he asked eyeing the sakura petal that drifted down in front of him, coming to rest delicately atop his sneaker.

"I have my sources." The voice replied in answer to the question. Another sakura petal fell, drifting down into a sea of lavender.

For a long moment, both were painfully aware of the awkward silence between them, which was made even more awkward when Hisou chose to glance up at the girl sitting in the tree.

"You seem rather fond of peeking at my underwear I've noticed." The silver-haired figure spoke, with a calm that shouldn't have been one of the more predominant qualities.

"They're not that great." Hisou replied, with an indecisive frown. "Kirimi-chan, listen….I…" he began, before he was so rudely interrupted.

"I happened to notice your little makeout session with Hizumi during lunch." She said, bluntly, not wasting any time in getting straight to the point. Her time was precious, and she didn't want to waste it with small talk.

"Yeah, about that…." Hisou tried to speak, but was cut off yet again.

"It was a rather abrupt approach, don't you think?" Kirimi frowned down upon the marmalade-eyed boy, clearly making her disapproval of the situation known. "Our main objective is to create situations that he's comfortable in, especially with young Narumi. It's not going to help us any if you force yourself on him like that. It could succeed in doing the complete opposite of our intended objective, which could in turn bring up undesired results."

"I guess you're right." Hisou sighed. "But being direct is the only way to get the message across with him. Anything else just won't work. He's….difficult." he snapped, stating what was already painfully obvious.

"The direct approach doesn't work in the same way with everyone. Think of it as hunting. If a hunter chooses to approach his target directly, he succeeds in only scaring it away, whereas a hunter who takes the necessary time to plan out his strategy and approach his prey slowly and with traps has a far better success rate for capturing it, wouldn't you agree?" a tiny smile graced the girl's lips.

"Yeah. It makes sense, but do you really think that doing all of this will help him in the long run?" Orange pools closed in frustration, and his brow furrowed as he tired to think of what type of plan the girl had in mind, but reading her was just as difficult as foretelling the future.

"I'm sure of it. We just have to have patience. Dealing with Hizumi's not an easy matter." Kirimi stated with a nod, somewhat proud of her preparedness and calm insight. She was the one who seemed slightly more level-headed out of the two, and that seemed to contribute to some of it, though she'd never mention it to Hisou.

"Neither is dealing with you." he mumbled beneath his breath, hoping that the silver-haired girl wouldn't hear. She did, indeed hear the snide remark, and rewarded him by wriggling her foot out of her shoe and letting it drop onto the boy's head.

"You're an obnoxious bastard, you know that?"

Hisou laughed and picked up the girl's shoe that had fallen onto the bench after it had been flung at his head. "Thanks for your loving words of encouragement." He handed said object to the girl and watched her put it on. "So why did you assign me to deal with Hizumi, exactly?"

"It would seem that you'd be better off in coaxing him to open up to little Narumi, and accepting people into his life." The silver-haired girl spoke quietly, a small smile gracing her pink lips once again.

"You just don't want to get your hands dirty, so you assigned yourself to the Narumi boy, isn't that right? That's pretty sneaky…get me to do all the work. Hmph! You knew from the start that Ayumu would be a lot more willing to go along with your little plans than Hizumi would ever be."

"So?" Kirimi's smile faded, and a frown settled upon her lips at the boy's ability to turn the conversation around on her. "You're thinking too much. And besides, a bit of work wouldn't kill you." She yawned and leapt gracefully from the tree. "If it becomes difficult for you, I'll provide you with assistance, but until then, you're on your own."

"Thanks a lot." Ocher orbs stared into cerulean, and watched the girl as she turned and found her way out of the park, leaving him to contemplate his next move with Hizumi.

Kirimi left the park and melted into the crowds who were anxiously pushing to buy their last minute Valentines Day gifts for their loved ones. Those sapphire orbs widened slightly as an idea formed in her head, and she pushed her way through the packed sidewalks until she came across a cozy little gift store that she visited regularly.

A small bell jingled as she pushed open the door and slipped inside, finding the open space a lot more pleasant than the pushing and shoving outside. "Oh, are you back so soon, Sakura-chan?" a warm voice greeted her almost immediately.

Blue eyes focused on the young woman behind the register, and a slight nod was given in reply. "A Valentines Day gift." She spoke, stating her reason for visiting.

"Well, you've come to the right place. Feel free to look around at whatever you like. We just restocked, so there's nothing you won't be able to find." The smiling auburn-haired woman told her.

"Thank you." Kirimi nodded again and walked over to a corner of the small store that had various greeting cards and stickers displayed, along with many different chocolates and candies arranged in their own boxes beneath them. Walls of stuffed animals lie adjacent to the cards and candies. Hesitantly, a sheet of silver, heart-shaped stickers was chosen from amongst the rest, and three different boxes of assorted chocolates, all neatly secured with a different color bow. "I'll be buying these." Kirimi announced as she turned toward the woman at the register.

"Is that all?"

"I believe so." She watched as the cashier rang up the items, then slipped out her money and paid for them

"So are these for someone special?" the emerald-eyed woman questioned, as she put the items into a bag, presuming that a girl her age would have some secret crush on a boy at her school or around the neighborhood.

Kirimi uttered a small noise of displeasure at being caught off guard with the question, and she forced a small smile. "There is someone in particular who I'd like to give them to..." she trailed off. A noticeable blush caressed her cheeks and a glance was given to the floor. "But…he already has someone who he likes."

"Oh. That's too bad. Maybe he wasn't the right person for you, anyway. I'm sure a cute girl like you can find plenty of guys to go out with you."

"Ah, thank you." Kirimi nodded, grabbed her bag and bowed slightly, before exiting the store and making her way home.

The door was closed a bit too forcefully, echoing through the halls of the spacious house. "I'm home." A certain raven-haired figure announced as a light was flipped on so she could see. A quick glance was enough to see that no one else was home, and the violet-eyed figure huffed in annoyance. "Ugh…he's never here when I need him. He's so dependable…" she placed her bags on the kitchen table before making her way to the bedrooms to see if anyone was in there. Unfortunately, the beds in both rooms were empty. "Sai-kun…where are you….?" Raven whispered.

"Is your so called plan falling apart already?" a smooth, yet cold voice questioned from the shadows behind her. "Are you in need of my help?"

"Hardly." Raven huffed quickly, and turned to face a boy in his late teens. His wet, black tresses partially obscured his oddly-colored golden eyes, and a clever smirk rested lightly upon his lips.

"Then why'd you summon me?"

"I…I expected dinner to be ready when I got home." She explained with a frown as she brushed past the nude young man.

"Yeah right." A soft, dark chuckle echoed throughout the hallway. "You need my help. Admit it."

"I don't."

"Such a pain." The one named Sai concluded, running his fingers through his wet strands. "And when would you like for dinner tonight, your highness…?"

"…..Steak."

A/N: It seems that I've grown rather fond of using Rae-chan's OC's. yes, Sai belongs to her. (I couldn't help it. He sounded so cute the way she described him) And before I forget, I apologize for not updating. I was spending time with family in Florida.