Good evening, Author here.

Eh, I like how I said "Crimson and Clover" would be a one-shot, and here comes this idea.

Please Read Before Going Further: It tickled me when I went through the Mai-hime directory and found maybe a handful of decent fanfictions that didn't revolve around Shizuru and Natsuki. I like that couple very much myself but it got me chuckling whenever I thought back to the horde of shiznat fangirls crying out for blood whenever a male was introduced. Yuuichi is the main character for this probably 2, maybe 3-part work. I was challenged to write something plausible that didn't grind all the male characters into dirt but at the same time offered up some Shizuru/Natsuki in the background. Hur, I wonder if I did it. I'm not expecting many reviews due to the shift of main characters, but I hope this gets my message across.

Hopefully I didn't scare off too many readers. That said, please enjoy this effort!

Mai-hime belongs to Sunrise, lyrics are from the song by Eve 6's "On the Roof Again"

On the Roof Again

In the throes of young love Leroy
Didn't think to think and in the blink of an eye
Tied the knot not knowing how to not know
He was the prodigal son this girl had brought him home

Tate Yuuichi didn't put too much stock on fairytale endings despite having been a part of a rather gruesome little fairytale of his own in the past. But around two years had passed since that date and the fairytale had receded from his mind in favor of kendo practices, kendo meetings, and generally getting used to a much more pleasant student council room. There was no unholy terror rampaging around the schools under the guise of one Suzushiro Haruka. Her successor was an all-around much more agreeable person to work with. It didn't make their jobs any easier but at least Kikukawa Yukino didn't screech his ears off if something wasn't done by the books. But that was probably because Yukino was much busier trying not to rattle off excuses as to why their Kaichou was off playing hooky from school all the time.

That's right. Kuga Natsuki, all-around truant and rebel without a cause, was the Student Council President of Fuuka Gakuen. He still wasn't sure how that happened. There were some rumors about someone having rigged the election, but Yuuichi was pretty certain that the reason why Kuga won the election in an unprecedented landslide was because of one Fujino Shizuru. Hell, Yuuichi wasn't one to mince words and he could confidently say that the Kyoto beauty was probably the best of the best when it came to mixing beauty with wits. It wasn't as if she had to try all that hard, anyway—the second she came up to greet her Natsuki while the lone wolf was making a speech was enough to make the entire female populace of the school erupt into squeals. Yuuichi felt sorry for whoever was manning the poll booths during election day. In all he supposed that Natsuki did do a good job as President over the past year and a half. The budget was going steady and Fuuka was not growing short on its list of benefactors. Perhaps it was because of the various tea ceremonies the ex-Kaichou would participate in, but Yuuichi oftentimes spotted those same benefactors at the race course with the current Kaichou zipping by on expensive bikes and wowing them into ponying up even more cash.

Where did that leave him? Why, as Vice President of course. The second one Kanzaki Reito—on break from college and with an eager Mikoto in tow—opened his mouth to endorse him, he found himself sitting on a comfortable lead that took him straight from the polls and back into the student council room where he was now sitting in on a meeting.

Kuga seemed to be in a most wonderful mood on this relatively chilly fall day. She hummed something with a faint smile on her face as she drummed her fingers against the stack of papers in front of her. She wore the lighter beige jacket of the Kaichou and had given up the hoodie in favor of the white button-down shirt in order to maintain some sense of professionalism even if the shirt wasn't tucked. The sneakers remained but they were a newer pair after the soles on the previous wore out during summer break. No tie, tough. Ties were suffocating. The collar of her shirt splayed out in wide, crisp angles over her jacket, and the first two buttons were unbuttoned to reveal the sharp definition of her collarbone. Everything about her appearance pointed to "purposefully surly." All in all, a rather pretty picture of rebelliousness if Yuuichi could say so. There was no tea cup in front of her, only a heavy coffee mug and several sticks of peppermint gum laying beside it. He always wondered why she would never get any other type of gum, especially when he had a stick during a break. This brand had an awfully fake taste that smelled like the peppermint flavor one would associate with mouth wash. But she had her gum and coffee and all was seemingly right with the world.

Natsuki took this moment to push herself up from that outrageously comfortable Kaichou-chair and waved her coffee mug to capture Yukino's attention. The Kaichou mouthed something about being right back and gave a short salute of a wave. Yukino looked up from her laptop and afforded Natsuki a shy smile before returning to her typing. Right now they were in the middle of getting paperwork together before the winter holidays came about and scattered whatever sense of bureaucracy they had. It was bad enough that their Kaichou could only be spoken to if there was a dire emergency—or if they were fast enough to catch her Ducati—but they were also undermanned. No one had expressed interest in becoming a Secretary and quite frankly the current members of the council found no real need for one. The Executive Director Yukino wasn't too busy with her current job and had fallen back to her former position willingly with the other two bringing up loose ends. It was efficient enough to avoid missing deadlines but the strain was slowly starting to show itself and they knew that they would not survive exams and graduation if they didn't find a secretary. So this was what today's meeting was about.

Natsuki returned and set down a fresh cup of coffee in front of Yukino who took off her glasses and wiped them clean before setting them back on. She took the cup with another smile and carefully sipped on the liquid before Natsuki leaned back against the desk with her own mug in tow.

"So. You know why we're all here today even though it's a Friday afternoon and we all have club activities to go to," she began.

"No kidding. Aren't you supposed to be in the pool right now training for your swim meet tomorrow, Kuga?" Yuuichi asked from his seat.

Natsuki waved an impatient hand.

"This is the best time for us to meet before your Nationals in Kendo, Tate," Natsuki pointed out. "At least my meet is in Tokyo which will only take the weekend. You'll be in Kyoto for at least a week if not more, not to mention we'll be there as well to meet with the Fujino conglomerate."

"Ah, that's just a walk in the park," he replied with a sigh. "They're practically your family, Kuga."

Natsuki clasped her fingers in front of her nose and held this aggravated pose for a moment while Yukino adjusted her glasses with a smile.

"... Still, we have to maintain at least some sense of professionalism," Natsuki muttered.

"Hmm..." Suddenly Yuuichi's lips grew wide in a smile. "Don't tell me you're scared of meeting her parents."

"Idiot! This isn't the time for that!" She straightened and coughed into her fist. "Anyway... Yukino, do you have today's itinerary?"

Yukino returned to her laptop for a few seconds before nodding.

"Seems like the only item on the docket today is to discuss a possible candidate for the Secretary position," she announced.

Yuuichi frowned.

"Ah... how troublesome..."

"We can't keep stretching ourselves thin, especially not right now during our last year," Natsuki said, still in her serious-mode. "We'll be graduating at the end of this school year, and if we don't train anyone in our positions then the council will fall apart. You understand that much, don't you?"

"Yeah, I got it." Yuuichi leaned back and watched the wind shake the trees down for leaves. "Still... How're we going to go about doing this? We can't hold elections this late in the year."

"Yukino's compiled a list of conscientious students." Natsuki smacked a roll of papers on Yuuichi's chest. "And it's your job to interview them."

"What? Why?" He caught the papers before they scattered. Together they made quite the sizable packet. "Why me??"

"Hm? I have a swim meet this weekend," Natsuki replied. "I can't be bothered to look at that right now. I'm sure you'll pick a decent person who won't run the council to the ground next year."

"What?! You..."

"You have until Monday, so be sure to read through them all," Natsuki ordered before picking up her bag and motorcycle helmet.

Yuuichi watched with a mutinous glare as Natsuki gave a short wave before walking out of the room. He looked over for some salvation from the normally helpful Yukino, but the Executive Director gave a short apology and said something about going up to Fuuka University for the weekend. Something or another, he wasn't quite sure. As Yukino gathered her things and placed the room keys in Yuuichi's numb hand, he knew he was being pegged as the scapegoat. He could almost imagine the enraged Kaichou Monday morning if he didn't do as he was ordered. Yuuichi suppressed the shiver and slowly got up to pick up his things and lock down the Student Council room.

Kuga Natsuki was a bit of a celebrity in the swimming circles in the one hundred-meter freestyle event. As a senior in Fuuka Gakuen she managed to grab enough competition golds in freestyle and butterfly to decorate a good portion of the medal cabinet. The mixture of her rebellious reputation contrasting with her absolute focus in the pool earned her a fair portion of admirers and the nickname "Ice Silver Crystal" for her cold cutting strokes and streamlined dominance. And today's venue couldn't have been more packed. A good portion of Fuuka's students were able to make the commute down to Tokyo for this competition and they crammed a quarter of the pool's seating area with their banners and noise. Several rows down sat the headmistress of the school and several familiar faces. Kanzaki Reito offered his cheerful smiles to the screaming crowd and sat down next to a beautiful young woman with a familiar head of flaxen hair.

The crowd grew even louder as the announcer ran through the list of swimmers. Here were some big names, Olympic-sized hopefuls from decorated programs. The contestants were anxiously stretching and moving around as they waited. But Kuga Natsuki sat there on her chair behind the starting block, still in her training pants and with a huge pair of headphones clamped firmly on her ears and over the white swimming cap. Some heavy rap beats spilled out from the headphones as she nodded her head to the beat. She stared at the glimmering surface of the pool with what looked to be a very bored expression, and when she stood she made it seem like such a bothersome task. She shrugged off her training pants and kicked the little pile so that it settled under her chair. The mirrored goggles were settled over her eyes before she stretched her arms above her head and slowly moved from side to side.

The swimmers stepped onto the starting block and she took in a deep breath before expelling quickly. Her fingers gripped onto the edge of the starting block and she stiffened into her starting pose as the first cue sounded off. The small beep followed shortly and she exploded off the block, throwing her hands out in front of her and placing one above the other to stab her way into the water. Her entry was clean and immediately her body twisted as she went through several powerful dolphin kicks that brought her close to the surface. The crowd's screams were some strange amalgamation of dampened noise when she finally broke the surface to breathe. She was beyond the twenty-five meter mark by the time her arms got into gear. Her eyes stung and she stiffened—had water gotten into her goggles? Inwardly Natsuki cursed and doubled that curse when she felt water from another lane splash into hers.

Oh, that person was dead.

Natsuki tucked her body in and slammed both feet into the end of the pool before pushing herself through for the final lap. She would have to swim this lap partially blind, but that didn't scare her. Personally, she liked the color silver just fine, but this was no time to accommodate when she could just as easily settle for gold. She kept one eye open just a crack and immediately her body went into overdrive as the water stung her eye. The crowd just couldn't believe it. Yamasaki had a clear lead ahead of Kuga at the twenty-five meter mark. Somewhere in between the fifteen and ten-meter mark, however, Kuga had literally tucked her head in and somehow found the energy to keep pushing even as Yamasaki began to tire. Yamasaki glided in to the finish almost lazily, clearly not paying attention to Natsuki forcing her arm to push up and over the water. A fine arc of water splashed into Yamasaki's lane a split second before Natsuki's fingertips slammed into the electronic marker, a full hand's length ahead of Yamasaki.

The crowd was unbelievably deafening. The Fuuka section especially was in some form of pandemonium as students hollered and jumped up and down on their bleachers, throwing up their signs and celebrating the massive comeback win. Natsuki tugged her goggles off and shook them free of water, tossing them down on the deck in front of her. She rubbed at her eyes to clear them before staring up at the listed times while her limbs struggled to recover from that last push. Natsuki nodded once and turned over towards Yamasaki to give her formidable opponent a hug over the lane markers. Then she turned and pumped a fist up to the crowd's roaring delight, but her eyes were fixed on only one individual as she did so. Even as her teammates swarmed around her, crimson and clover stayed together in a virtual lock when Natsuki pointed one finger up to the ceiling.

Yuuichi watched the two from his seat. Of course he had been on his feet earlier, screaming off the top of his lungs at the charged race taking place below him. His limbs were still twitching in excitement, come to think of it. But Shizuru was rather calm, sitting there with her hands primly folded on her lap and a thoughtful look in her eyes. When Natsuki had pumped her fist and turned to acknowledge Shizuru, it was the first time in a while that Yuuichi actually saw the former Kaichou smile something beyond the accommodating smile she usually gave to her train of admirers. As the swimmers accepted their medals and walked down the length of the pool to the locker rooms, Shizuru stood and leaned over the railing that separated the spectators' area from the pool. Natsuki stopped in front of her and reached over slightly to hand her the small bouquet of flowers she received from the awards official. This lead to a fresh wave of squeals and whispers from the students behind Yuuichi, but he found himself smiling fondly as Natsuki grinned.

There were some shouts about a party, a celebration in the hotel and in downtown Roppongi for the night. This didn't mean that there was going to be a party for Yuuichi as he stared down at the papers he had packed in with the rest of his clothes. He glared at the packet and stuffed it to the bottom of his suitcase. Whatever. There would be time on the ferry home to Fuuka. As if on cue his cell phone shuddered to life and he stared at the front display before flicking the phone open and resting it against his ear.

"Yo, Mai."

Yuuichi frowned and tapped a pattern on the desk with his fingertips.

"Huh? Where am I? I thought I told you about the swim meet at Tokyo I was supposed to attend this weekend. Yeah, the one with Kuga. I didn't?"

He looked over at the desk and shuffled through the phone book that sat next to the telephone. His eyes settled on a take-out service and he quickly scribbled the number down.

"Are you sure? Eh... Sorry about that, then."

After closing the phone book he turned so he was facing the window.

"Hm... I dunno. Next ferry comes in tomorrow morning, why? Check-out's at 11. Mhmm. Don't worry, I'll be back in time. Uh huh... Yeah. Later."

He flipped his phone shut and tapped it against his chin for a few seconds before putting it back into his pocket. Yuuichi turned and looked at his suitcase before snorting and picking up his jacket. He needed some time to cool down. Yuuichi rounded the corner and ran into something that gave off a surprised yelp. He backed away to the wall and rubbed his nose, muttering a dulled apology that stopped short as he heard the faint snort of annoyance that sounded all too familiar.

"Tch, Watch were you're going, Tate. Did you finish your paperwork?"

Yuuichi opened his eyes and saw the ice cold Kaichou standing before him with her hands on her hips. Despite having been in the shower a faint hint of chlorine clung to her skin and hair. She was dressed casually in jeans and a fitted polo shirt with a leather jacket tucked under her arm. He took in her choice of wardrobe and raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry, Kuga. Oh, you aren't going out?" he asked, completely ignoring her question and hoping she wouldn't bring it up once more.

"I might be downtown later but not out at the clubs if that's what you're thinking about," Natsuki replied. "We decided we were just going to catch some dinner and a late showing at the theater."

"Ah... a date?"

Natsuki laughed.

"Nah. Reito's here after all."

"Oh... Hm."

"And you? Don't skip over my question."

Yuuichi paused to recall just what the question was before he frowned and sighed in defeat.

"No, I didn't."

Natsuki made a noncommittal noise in her throat which could have meant anything. On a good day it would've been just a clear dismissal but on a bad day Yuuichi knew he was going to be in for it. They heard footsteps approach them. A young man and woman stood behind Natsuki with seemingly identical smiles. The man seemed to have just stepped out of a business meeting, still in a black suit with his jacket thrown over his shoulder and the cuffs of his shirt unbuttoned. The woman was wearing decidedly business-casual wear—a beige skirt that fell to her knees and a lavender blouse with the sleeves neatly rolled up to her elbows.

"Oh, good evening, Yuuichi-kun," Reito called with a curt nod in his direction.

"Good evening, Yuuichi-han," Shizuru greeted with a nod and smile.

Yuuichi bowed his head.

"Evening, Reito-sempai, Fujino-san."

"Tate here is trying to get out of doing work," Natsuki explained with a casual wave.

"What? Hey—"

"Ara, ara, it's fine isn't it?" Shizuru asked. "We are on a short break after all."

Yuuichi offered Shizuru a grateful smile at her intervention.

"Well... Would you like to spend the evening with us, then?" Reito offered suddenly. "We have an extra ticket for the theater and there's no sense in letting it go to waste since tonight is the expiration date. If that's alright with you two, of course."

Shizuru nodded and Natsuki shrugged.

"Sure, whatever."

Just like that, Yuuichi was roped into dinner and an extravagant movie theater for the night. The restaurant had a reputation for creating fast, delicious meals. Twenty minutes after placing their orders the perky waitress came rolling by with the trays of food and drinks. Natsuki took nearly a third of the tray to herself, devouring the egg-topped hamburger steaks and wolfing down three bowls of rice before taking a swig of water to polish it all off. Shizuru sat beside her and gracefully made her way through a bowl of udon. Reito brought up the other window seat to their booth with his racing through two massive bowls of oyakodon, leaving Yuuichi sitting in front of Shizuru with his lone bowl of katsudon. He watched Natsuki and Reito shovel away their food with his lips slightly parted in a mixture of awe and slight disgust over the two pigging out, but a small giggle from Shizuru caused his gaze to snap away from the two.

"The two had quite the busy day," she noted airily after finishing her dinner.

"No kidding..."

The udon bowl was promptly taken away and she settled on the steaming cup of tea the waitress had poured out. Shizuru turned briefly to tell Natsuki that chewing was indeed a pleasant activity to partake in—no one wanted to see a gob of steak fall back on the plate no matter how starving the swimmer was. Natsuki swallowed her current load of food and took slower bites this time around as Shizuru returned to her tea. Yuuichi looked down at his half-eaten bowl and dug in for a few minutes. For some reason he couldn't bring himself to look up into those knowing crimson eyes, but after a while the temptation proved to be too much and he set his chopsticks down once more on top of the finished bowl. He wondered for a moment if they were going to forget the dessert menu but the combination of shiny plastic and pastel colors was more than enough for Reito and Natsuki to latch onto it in their quest to fill their stomachs to the brim.

"... Can we afford all of this?" Yuuichi muttered as Natsuki and Reito eagerly chattered over the dessert menu.

A medium-sized plate of mango pudding topped with evaporated milk and strawberries and a parfait glass filled with sweet ice cream and piled high with fruit and an ice cream cone chip were delivered after the mountain of plates were removed. Instead of Natsuki using both spoons at the same time to shovel the rich pudding into her mouth like Yuuichi half-expected her to, she moved the plate so that it sat in between her and Shizuru. She offered a spoon to Shizuru and grinned.

"Dessert's on me," she said.

"Oh, so that means—"

"Pay for your own, Kanzaki!" Natsuki barked, cutting down Reito's attempt.

Reito chuckled and sighed.

"So much for that." He turned towards Yuuichi. "Would you like some ice cream? I'm not sure if I can finish all this on my own."

Yuuichi paused and looked at the dainty parfait glass.

"... Are you sure? You tucked away a pretty decent dinner just now," Yuuichi pointed out.

It wasn't that he didn't want some ice cream, but what kind of grown man shared a parfait with another grown man? Shizuru and Natsuki could get away sharing a sweet dessert and they had no problem looking revoltingly cute while eating spoonfuls of the rich dessert. He almost glared at them and their audacity as they spooned out mango chunks and creamy pudding. With a shake of his head he declined Reito's offer and Reito shrugged.

"Well... tell you what. You can have half. Is that alright?"

Yuuichi looked up at Reito's smiling face and his lips twitched as one of his hands curled into a loose fist. Why was he being so nice? They weren't friends, especially not with the conclusion of the Carnival. Reito was the big bad Obsidian Lord, the man in front of the entity who royally screwed over twelve girls and their most important persons. He was trying to take Mai away. Yuuichi had to fight him in order to save Mai and end that gruesome Carnival once and for all. So he shouldn't be sharing oxygen with this man let alone some ice cream. At least, that was a very nice way of putting his mixed feelings towards the black-haired man with golden eyes and an easy smile. Yuuichi stared at the parfait glass and the slowly-melting ice cream.

"... Yuuichi-kun?"

"Huh?" Brown eyes flickered in and out of deep thought before they finally refocused on Reito. "Sorry about that. It's alright, I'm pretty full as it is."

Reito shrugged and picked up a spoon before taking off the ice cream cone triangle wedged into the ice cream.

"Well, if you say so," Reito said before scooping out a portion of ice cream with his tiny dessert spoon.

Yuuichi watched his sempai eat the dessert a little more daintily than he did his dinner, which wasn't saying much. Perhaps Natsuki was trying to remain courteous to Shizuru or maybe she really was exceedingly full after eating three hamburger steaks and bowls of rice, but in either case the amount of pudding came out to be just right between the two of them. Reito rubbed his stomach idly as he pushed the empty parfait glass away from him.

"Ah... that was a bit much," he remarked with an uneasy grin. "I think I overdid it tonight."

"Good thing we're not taking the subway over to Shinjuku for tonight's film," Natsuki remarked as the waitress handed them a bill. "Ugh... Maybe we did overdo it."

"Hm? Do we not have enough?" Shizuru asked as she peered over Natsuki's shoulder.

"No, we do. But still... Hm. Oh well. Tate, we're going to write this down as a Student Council expense," Natsuki announced in her authoritative tone.

"Huh. Wait a second, we can't do that," Yuuichi said. "What will Yukino-san say to that?"

"Pfft, don't pussy out on us. Besides, all things are decided by a majority vote, right? All those in favor raise their hands."

"That doesn't matter, it'd be a tie—"

Three hands shot up at this request. Yuuichi turned and stared at Reito and Shizuru who had their hands up along with Natsuki.

"You can't vote," Yuuichi argued in an incredulous tone. "You're not even in the Student Council anymore!"

"Ara, ara... No need to raise your voice, Yuuichi-han," Shizuru said in dulcet tones. Suddenly her smile took on a darker note. "We may not be a part of the Student Council anymore but that doesn't mean we're completely exempt from the decision making process as alumni."

"Remember, Yuuichi-kun, these are two future potential backers of Fuuka Gakuen sitting with you," Reito added with another flash of white teeth.

Yuuichi turned and gave Natsuki an exasperated glare that she returned with a not-so-apologetic shrug.

"Then it's settled."

She dug out a worn leather wallet from her pocket and flipped through it to extract a debit card. The waitress rang it up and wished them a good evening as they gathered up their jackets, opened the doors and walked out into the chilly evening air. Ten minutes worth of idle chatter and walking took them to the movie theater but to their dismay the movies that were being shown were at least several months old. The four of them pulled themselves aside near a street corner and put their heads together, speaking in low murmurs and consulting a train map Reito had stashed in his pocket.

"You think we should try the subway to Shinjuku?" Natsuki asked. "We have more than enough money for the tickets."

"Whatever we decide we better decide soon," Reito noted as he consulted his watch.

After a round of nods the four broke apart and made their way underground to the subway station. They bought their tickets and scanned them in before hopping onto the designated train. The evening crowd was thinning somewhat to make way for the night crowd that hopped in for the bars and clubs that were now starting up for the night. They managed not to be crammed into a corner when the subway finally did fill in, although Yuuichi felt that he was standing a little too close to these warm bodies than he would have liked. His nose tickled with the faint scent of chlorine mixing with jasmines as dark blue hair mingled with flaxen locks. A rather short breath was taken, desperately trying not to be a gasp in light of their surroundings.

"Ah, not here..."

Kuga definitely didn't sound like she didn't want it, though. Yuuichi swallowed thickly. Then came a rather amused giggle and Yuuichi forced himself to tear his gaze away as the ex-Kaichou and current Kaichou pressed against one another. Reito cleared his throat and shifted to the side, effectively blocking the two from the rest of the general populace. The former Vice-President gave a "can't be helped" shrug towards Yuuichi who in turn rolled his eyes. The ride was mercifully short for the men. They nimbly skipped out and Natsuki stumbled out with her hand rubbing her cheek. Curiously enough she was not as red as a tomato, but Yuuichi appeared to have thought this a moment too soon when Shizuru appeared behind Natsuki and fixed the collar of her polo shirt, effectively hiding what looked to be a hickey.

"Honestly..."

"You say something, Tate?" Natsuki snapped.

"Nothing, nothing," Yuuichi sighed. He decided not to push it too much. "So. What's the movie we're supposed to watch?"

"Mh... The theater has several films playing and these tickets are good for a general admission. So watch whatever," Natsuki replied with a dismissive wave.

Yuuichi was about to protest when he felt a hand clamp over his shoulder. Natsuki and Shizuru seemingly melted into the chattering crowd when Reito directed Yuuichi's attention to himself.

"They haven't had a date since Kuga-san's strict training for this meet," Reito explained.

"... But they live together," Yuuichi pointed out. "Doesn't that count as one large date?"

"They weren't always this happy together," Reito noted, this time without his easy smile.

They never smiled... not once... until their vices ended.

Yuuichi absently scratched his cheek.

"I don't get it."

"Ah, nevermind. Now... Do you have any preference or will we catch a simple action flick?"

Yuuichi stared at the billboard indicating the films and times, but he wasn't really interested in a film. With a sigh he shrugged and Reito seemingly took that as his answer as he walked over to the ticket booth and showed their tickets. The movie wasn't important. All Yuuichi could remember was the booming noise of gunshots firing off at the speakers and the enthralled expressions of the audience who were glued to the screen. Even Reito seemed slightly impressed as he watched the film, but all Yuuichi could do was rest his chin on his palm and count the minutes away until one hundred and twenty-five of them passed, not counting credits and the advertisements in the beginning. By the time they stumbled their way out into the bright light, Shizuru and Natsuki were waiting for them. They were apparently in the middle of some deliberation by the time Reito and Yuuichi made their way towards the two.

"Is something the matter?" Reito asked quietly.

"No, but we're kinda tired," Natsuki admitted. "I think we're going to catch the next subway back and call it a night. Now, I'm sure I don't have to tell you two to stay out of trouble, right?"

"Not so long as you stay out of it yourself," Yuuichi replied cheekily.

"Hn. Well, have fun, boys."

Hand in hand the two left and Yuuichi could swear that he saw identical grins cross the lips of what was now deemed the "Kaichou-couple." He tucked his hands in his pockets and gave a leer towards the leaving couple.

"Figures."

Reito chuckled at Yuuichi's comment.

"I guess we're free, then. What would you like to do?"

Yuuichi thought about it for a moment as they walked out of the theater and onto the streets.

"... I dunno. I'm kinda tired myself."

"I see. Want to get something to drink before we head back, then?"

"Sure."

The 7-11 was only a few minutes walk from the theater. They walked in and crowded around the colorful assortment of drinks, finally picking up small cartons of milk that they paid for separately. The two young men walked down the busy streets of this never-asleep city, sucking up milk through the tiny straws punched into the cardboard cartons. When the relative noise increased due to walking down to the subways, Reito squeezed his carton shut and tossed it into a trash bin.

"Well, this was a good night," Reito announced cheerily as they bought their tickets and swiped them through.

Silence was his only response until the two stepped into the waiting subway. Then Yuuichi turned and stared up at his sempai who was still several centimeters taller than him despite Yuuichi's growth spurt over the years. Those kind, accepting golden eyes caused him to narrow his own eyes.

"Why're you being so nice?" he asked in a low voice.

"Hm? I don't see why not," Reito replied as he raised an eyebrow.

"... I don't need it," Yuuichi muttered.

"Don't misunderstand, Yuuichi-kun. I know how you feel about me." That smile never left those lips. "But it's a little immature for us to remain standing still when everyone else is changing, isn't it?"

But Yuuichi turned away then, and he saw nothing but the flashing lights racing past as the subway raced down the tracks.

Fuuka was a welcome sight despite the hustle and bustle of Tokyo. Yuuichi had never felt so exhausted by simply existing. But here, with the calm ocean air and the quiet peace of the town, he felt free. Free, except for the papers in his suitcase. His hands grasped onto the railing of the ferry taking him and various other Fuuka students back home. For a wild moment he figured he could get away with chucking his suitcase into the sea and calling it a day, but that wouldn't do. He settled instead for staring out at the calm ocean, not even noticing when someone stopped right next to him.

"Oi, Tate. Make sure you get that paperwork done by Wednesday, then."

He turned and registered his Kaichou as she too stared out into the open waters.

"Wednesday? I thought you wanted it done tomorrow?"

Natsuki shrugged.

"That's a little impossible now that I thought about it. After all, that's nearly thirty people you'll have to interview."

"... Thirty..."

"Don't be so down! Sunday is still a holiday after all."

"Hey, Kuga..."

"Hm?"

"... How do you know Fujino-san is the one for you?"

"What's this, all of the sudden?"

"Just answer my question, Kuga."

Natsuki paused. This was not a pause where one did not know the answer, Yuuichi realized. Instead Natsuki's eyes were alight in a fierce emotion that simply could not be put into words. He watched her lips twitch for a second before she finally shook herself out of her contemplative daze.

"Well, it's simple, isn't it?" She smiled. "Do you see her standing there?"

He turned and followed her gaze over towards a spot several meters away. Shizuru was standing there now talking with Reito. The sea breeze played with the ends of her hair, bringing them up and away as she tried to tuck several wayward strands behind her ear.

"She's gentle when I can't be. We hurt each other enough in the past—a lesser individual would've given up right then and there. But I know that if I wake up the next day without her here with me, I'd die."

"You can't be serious about the dying part, Kuga..."

Natsuki shrugged.

"Take it for what you will. I spent way too much time trying to hide myself away and it almost did us both in. In some ways we still have a few bumps to iron out, but I know that we can go to bed happy and wake up happy. Honestly happy. A lot of people would want that, wouldn't they?"

She pushed herself off the railing. She didn't ask the question that Yuuichi secretly wanted her to ask, and somewhere deep down he began to resent her for it. But there was no reason to resent someone like Kuga Natsuki. She worked hard for her goals and finally was on the right track. Yuuichi knew these facts but couldn't help it. He tore his gaze away from the reunited couple and returned to the sea.

Are you happy?

The ferry arrived at Fuuka and he nearly jumped off in his haste to get out. Along the way he hopped onto a bus and rode out the route back towards the academy. He threw his things into his dorm room and paused, wondering what was next.

Well, that wasn't much of a deliberation.

Three minutes and two knocks later, the door was opened to reveal the curious face of one Tokiha Mai. Curiousness melted into a certain fondness as Yuuichi rubbed the back of his neck and waved.

"I'm back."

"Welcome back," Mai greeted, stepping away to let him in.

Yuuichi paused as he heard no pitter-patter of spastic footsteps around the room.

"Mikoto isn't here?" he asked.

"Nope. She won't be back until later tonight." Mai tucked her apron away and took a seat beside Yuuichi. "Want something to eat? I just finished making some lunch but I can make some more if you want."

"Yeah, that'd be nice."

Lunch for the day was side dishes along with rice but Yuuichi didn't mind. Whatever Mai made was instantly delicious. He packed away the lunch and set his chopsticks down with a satisfied sigh before he looked over at Mai. She looked especially pretty today, he mused, but she was pretty everyday regardless. Still... his mind slowly grew blank as he studied his girlfriend. That's right, girlfriend. Going strong for almost two years now, isn't that an accomplishment? Two years and nothing more traumatic than a few squabbles here and there. And yet... Yuuichi felt his hands curl into fists.

"... Yuuichi?"

"Ah... I'm sorry, Mai." He smiled uneasily. "I guess I'm tired or something..."

He felt those kind hands press their palms against his cheeks and he nearly tore himself away from the sensation of skin against skin. But he steeled himself for this even as he stared into those confused violet eyes that he had grown to love so much. Wait, love? What was that, anyway? What was this strange pulling where his heart was supposed to be?

"Are you sure you're alright?" Mai asked softly.

Yuuichi nodded and looked away, waiting until Mai let go of him before he could trust himself to speak once more.

"I'm alright, don't worry."

Mai sighed and nodded.

"Yeah..."

He smiled slightly and got up. Mai followed him to the door, but before she could tell him good-bye he turned and grasped onto her shoulders. She stiffened but relaxed as she felt his lips brush up against her own. They kissed again before he withdrew and offered a more honest smile this time.

"Thanks for lunch," he murmured. "I'll see you tomorrow."

She nodded and felt his lips against her forehead before he turned and opened the door.

Yuuichi refused to spare a glance at the door he knew was still open until he was far enough away to be unable to make out those violet eyes. When he did he felt somewhat disappointed to see that the door was now closed. He merely sighed and walked back to his own room. After a moment of hesitation he decided that his clothes would be unpacked later. The stack of papers were on his desk, already out and ready to be read. He grabbed roughly half of the papers and settled down on his bed, splaying the papers all around him as he flicked through several of the papers. In twenty minutes nearly half of the candidates were sitting in a somewhat neat pile underneath a small sheet of paper on which he wrote "Rejected" in big block characters. This left him with a pretty decent amount of papers to dig through, and it was now well into evening until he finally settled on four possible candidates. He paused as he flipped to the last candidate, for the first time looking at the picture attached to the qualifications.

"... Shiho?"

"Kaichou-san..."

"Ah, I'm not going to answer you when you start calling me that," Natsuki replied in a bored tone as she kicked her feet up against the desk.

Yukino fidgeted as she stood in front of the desk but Natsuki paid her no heed as she flipped through a colorful motorcycle magazine, complete with a hot babe parked up next to a new sports model on the cover. Interestingly enough the woman's face was already doodled on with a black marker. A rather impressive portrait of Captain Hook stared back at Yukino, complete with D-cup boobs and a black string bikini. Yukino guessed that it was Shizuru who had done it—after all, Natsuki did not have the patience to scribble out a grizzly pirate face in such a meticulous manner and make the whole thing surprisingly work. She shook her head to get herself out of that daze before she took in a deep breath.

"... Natsuki-san!"

"Hm? What's up, Yukino?" Natsuki said, now in an interested tone as the Executive Director looked down at her with what looked to be an exasperated frown.

"... Honestly..." Yukino adjusted her glasses. "Tate-kun has narrowed his list down to four candidates and he asked if he could bring them here so they could be interviewed by all of us while we're still in the room."

"Troublesome..." Natsuki sighed and unrolled a stick of gum from its aluminum wrapper. She offered one to Yukino who refused, earning her a shrug as Natsuki folded the gum into her mouth. "Fine, fine, bring in the candidates."

Out of the four Natsuki only recognized the vibrant shock of pink hair belonging to one Munakata Shiho. Yuuichi didn't seem especially thrilled as he stood there with his hands tucked into the pockets of his black Vice President uniform. Natsuki sighed and pushed herself up from the desk in order to walk around the assorted candidates like a drill sergeant would to a group of cadets fresh off the bus. The magazine she rolled up into a tight cylinder before she motioned towards the candidates with it.

"Well, we'll interview you one at a time, so the rest of you will wait outside as... Mishima, right? Right. Mishimi-san will go first."

The other three nodded and obediently waited outside. This interview was a bust as soon as Mishima, a slight girl with glasses, admitted that she wasn't terribly interested in the Secretary position. She was just in to be in the same room as Kuga-sama, to which Natsuki waved her away and summoned the next candidate. This next girl was pushed away when her brusque speech and question about a salary caused the three to groan and signal on the next one. Things were going well for the first year Yamagata until she was sat in front of a computer keyboard. Regretfully they let her go after two minutes of hemming and hawing in front of the computer. This led to the last candidate, and the three of them steeled themselves for it.

Not everyone got along after the Carnival, after all. Munakata Shiho had built quite the reputation for herself inside the Hime circle with her rude manners to everyone and outright antagonism towards Tokiha Mai. This already set off enough alarms in Natsuki's head but as Kaichou she had to remain fair and balanced. The other issue was with Yuuichi's involving with the two of them, but as soon as he nodded that he was ready, Yukino opened the door and let Shiho in.

"Morning, Munakata," Natsuki said. "As you know, this position is a pretty hard one, so try your best and let's see what you can do."

Surprisingly she offered no snide remark to that. Yukino ran through the prepared list of questions and Shiho answered them quickly and cleanly without any backtalk. Natsuki and Yuuichi watched her with curious expressions when Shiho sat herself down at the computer and typed for a minute under Yukino's watch. After that Shiho stood up and bowed her head slightly. Yukino motioned Natsuki and Yuuichi over for a small discussion.

"She fits all our qualifications," Yukino announced in a whisper.

"Hm... She's the only one that managed to do so," Natsuku murmured. She turned towards Yuuichi. "Well? What do you think?"

"Me?" Yuuichi asked.

"Yeah. After all I don't think Yukino and I will have any problems with her being our Secretary, but I just want to make sure before we say yes."

Tate crossed his arms across his chest and frowned. Well, why not. They needed someone for this job, otherwise the three of them would be run ragged by the end of the year. This was alright, wasn't it? Still, he stared over at Shiho and returned to his brooding. He hoped that regardless, she was a changed person. Hopefully. He nodded towards Natsuki and the group broke apart as the Kaichou looked at Shiho.

"Can you make coffee?"

"I know how to work a coffee maker," Shiho replied.

"Good. Then you're hired."

When Shiho smiled, Yuuichi felt his heart twinge. Wait, what was this? He nearly panicked as he sat down on a chair and watched Shiho skip off to class. No, this couldn't be... could it?

"Tate?"

"I'm fine," Yuuichi responded automatically.

Natsuki frowned.

"If you have a problem with this you can say so and we'll find someone else to take this job," she said.

Yuuichi shook her head and Natsuki shrugged before going back to her chair at the head of the room. A few minutes later the doors opened once more to reveal the former Kaichou and Vice President, along with another familiar face.

"KUGA!! The desk is not a loot chest!!"

Natsuki jumped at the bellow and nearly ducked under her desk before remembering that she was the Kaichou now. She turned and faced the wild blonde hair of fury standing before her.

"Oh, crap..."

"Foot rest, Haruka-chan."

Suzushiro Haruka's train of thought completely jumped track as she turned and faced Yukino. A genuine smile splashed across her face as she nearly bounded over towards the slightly bemused girl.

"Oh, Yukino!"

Natsuki sighed in relief before turning towards Shizuru. Yuuichi noticed that all three former members were dressed in business attire, although Haruka looked more like a policewoman than a business person with her aggravated stances and hand gestures. Shizuru on the other hand made any outfit look outrageously sexy. Yuuichi swallowed as he took in the black pinstriped skirt and matching suit jacket over a burgundy blouse. Her hair was piled up into a bun and a set of reading glasses were tucked into her jacket pocket. Reito rounded out the suited trio with a gray suit, dark blue shirt and white tie.

"This is a surprise," Natsuki said. "Were you in a meeting with the headmistress?"

"It would appear as if she required some of our help in administrative duties," Shizuru replied. "Our meeting broke for lunch so we decided to pay this room a visit."

Those hands came together so easily, Yuuichi found. So freely. Haruka turned and snorted her disapproval.

"Hey! No unwanted displays of affection!" she ordered.

Natsuki clucked her tongue disapprovingly as she kept her fingers intertwined with Shizuru's. Haruka shook her fist at Natsuki and sputtered some words that Yuuichi had stopped paying attention to as soon as she opened her mouth to speak. Instead his eyes were focused on those hands until they looked down onto his own hands. How simple would it be to just hold Mai's hand like that? To hold her hand without thinking, to look back and smile without worrying that it wasn't just a lie? He looked up, then, and saw those familiar eyes of Reito—was he an enemy? Did he dream of doing the same to Mai? But Reito did not smile, and soon that thought melted in favor of a disturbing silence until Reito turned to acknowledge Natsuki.

"So, Kaichou-san..."

"Yes?" Natsuki and Shizuru asked at the same time.

"Sorry... Kuga-san?"

"Yeah? What is it?"

"Have you found a new Secretary?" Reito asked.

"We have. Munakata Shiho."

All Yuuichi noticed was the fact that Shizuru blinked at the mention of the name. It didn't matter how much Haruka was squabbling over the choice of such a "strange-minded individual" or how Reito was trying to calm Haruka down with his hand waves and his "there, there" sentiments. All he would remember from this day was that strange blink. What was she thinking? Oh, how strange? Or was she thinking, why on earth would someone like her want to take this position? Are you sure, Natsuki? All those questions were spoken from Shizuru's voice as they tumbled down in Yuuichi's mind.

"Are you sure, Yuuichi-kun?"

Yuuichi nearly missed the question the first time it was spoken. He turned and looked at Reito.

"... I'm sure."

He was sure. He had to be sure.

Kyoto was several days away. He watched his teammates go through their drills as he sat a little ways away already done up in his armor. The ties were a little tighter than he would have liked but it was alright if he was still able to breathe. His opponent for the day was a familiar face despite not having been on campus since his graduation. Regardless, Takeda Masashi was still every bit as formidable as he had known him to be, and the former leader of the kendo club was not about to let this budding champion go so easily. They were only going to do several back and forth drills for today. Takeda got into a ready stance with his shinai already out while Yuuichi stood and readied his shinai. The hits were crisp and clean with every step taken back and forth, but Takeda could see that Yuuichi was already preoccupied and falling into a predictable pattern. He frowned and twisted his trajectory at the last minute. Instead of hitting Yuuichi's shinai he hit his gauntlet, startling Yuuichi and causing him to refocus.

"Don't daydream," Takeda instructed with a smile.

Yuuichi nodded and resumed his attack. Ten minutes of this passed before they took a short break and walked out towards the water fountains. After drinking their fill Yuuichi looked up as Takeda made a strange noise at the back of his throat. Upon looking at where Takeda was looking, Yuuichi found out why.

"Damn, Kaichou got to leave early today," Yuuichi muttered as the Ducati roared past them.

"Kaichou?" Takeda repeated to himself.

"Yeah. Kuga was elected to take over for Fujino-san," Yuuichi explained as they walked back to the dojo.

Then he remembered the strange look in Takeda's eyes and he paused before turning around.

"My bad, Takeda-sempai."

"Hm? Oh, you're talking about her." Takeda let loose a string of chuckles. "To be honest, I used to be outrageously infatuated with her."

"... You still aren't?"

Takeda picked up his shinai and tossed Yuuichi his weapon. Yuuichi caught it and frowned before they tapped the shinai together.

"Kuga-san is a beautiful young woman," Takeda announced. His smile never quite left. "But I'm not the one for her heart. She sent me a rejection letter, you know. Thank you, I'm sorry."

"That's kinda short," Yuuichi commented.

"Ah, but it's honest. It wasn't easy, but I accepted it because she was honest about it. No flowery or emotional speech, just those two sentences."

Yuuichi stepped back to avoid being pummeled by Takeda's onslaught.

"Is that really better?" Yuuichi asked, panting.

"Better to be honest and work through the trouble than be dishonest and thrilled without knowing why," Takeda remarked before breaking through Yuuichi's defenses and landing a point on top of his head protector.

"And that's the match." Takeda clapped his shinai against Yuuichi. "You're daydreaming too much, Tate. Is something wrong?"

He decided. This would be the one he would talk to.

"Hey, sempai."

"Yeah?"

"... How do you know you're happy?"

"Hm..." Takeda scratched the back of his neck. "Well uh... I don't know how to explain. It's different for everyone."

Yuuichi undid his head protector and laid it on the floor beside him. He mopped up the sweat from his face and neck with the small towel he had wrapped around his head. The white and blue towel quickly wicked the sweat away from him and he sighed before draping the towel over his shoulder and hunkering down to untie the rest of his armor.

"What about you? Are you happy?"

"Hm! I can say I am. I have a roof over my head, my studies are doing alright, and the club here hasn't gone to pieces with me gone. So yes, I'm happy." Takeda paused. "You seem rather keen. What's on your mind?"

"... Would you be happier if you had Kuga with you?"

"... What is this all of the sudden. Now you're expecting me to take everything back, aren't you?" Takeda laughed a clear, strong laugh. "You must have me mistaken for someone else. Well, let me ask you something then. Would you be happy caging in an exotic creature just to admire its beauty everyday?"

"Huh? Oh... no, I don't think I would be. I guess the creature would be upset too come to think of it."

"Then there's your answer." Takeda helped undo the chest protector before setting it aside. "She's a special case, someone that's really only meant to be looked at from afar. If she's found someone by now and she probably has, then I would wish them the best of luck. It's awful sometimes, but I'm used to it now."

This was not a defeated man he was speaking to. Perhaps in the past he would have been speaking to a vulnerable individual who had just been beaten in the one battlefield where the strongest did not necessarily win, but this Takeda Masashi was sitting here laughing more freely than Yuuichi could in the past several years.

Wish them the best of luck.

Yuuichi shook his head and frowned. He wanted to say something more, to explain what the strange weight settling in his mind was, but Takeda shifted and dug his cell phone out of his pocket.

"Ah, I overstayed," Takeda announced suddenly as he looked at the phone's clock. "Sorry, we'll have to continue conversation this later. I'm supposed to go out to dinner tonight."

"Eh? You have a girlfriend, sempai?" Yuuichi asked, stunned.

"Don't look so surprised," Takeda replied, looking a touch miffed. Then he smiled. "She and I have been seeing each other from time to time on study dates, and tonight we're just going to dinner before catching up on a project. Nothing special about it."

The way he rubbed his head and smiled denied everything. Yuuichi felt his lips grow into a smile as he stood and patted his senior on his shoulder.

"Have fun then, sempai."

Takeda waved and jogged out of the dojo.

They never did continue their talk.

It was six hours before he had to get back on that ferry, but he was wide awake. After a few minutes of wasting time he finally pushed himself up to his feet and walked out the door. Three minutes and two knocks later, the door opened to reveal a sleepy Mai, already dressed in her pajamas for the night. She blinked and registered the face of her boyfriend before frowning softly.

"Yuuichi? What're you doing here so—"

"Are you happy, Mai?" Yuuichi blurted out.

Mai stared at Yuuichi for a second before clearing her throat.

"... What?"

"Are you happy?"

"I... I guess so." Her voice, still thick with sleep, grew thoughtful. "Yuuichi, don't tell me you ran all the way here to ask me that sort of question."

"I couldn't help it," Yuuichi muttered. "I had to ask."

"Well... I guess I can't blame you. Sure, I'm happy. Is that all?"

"... Do you love me?"

Now Mai stared up at Yuuichi with a hint of disbelief etched in her eyes.

"Of course! Of course I do! Yuuichi, are you alright?"

Yuuichi frowned and Mai let him in, closing the door behind them. He sat down at the edge of her bed and she sat down beside him before she flicked a lamp on. Interestingly enough, the other bed was empty and he stared at it for a moment before turning back towards Mai.

"Mikoto isn't here again?" Yuuichi asked.

"Reito-san is in town, so he takes care of her," Mai replied. "Yuuichi, stop trying to avoid my question."

"Yeah..."

He folded his hands together and stared at the empty bed once more.

"Hey, Mai..."

"Hm...?"

"How do you know I'm the one for you?"

Mai stopped her humming and stayed silent for a moment. Yuuichi's shoulders bunched up as he sat there in the stillness.

"Well... I don't. But I'm sure that we're the ones for each other." She took his clenched hands. "There's no one else, Yuuichi, but you and me. Is that not enough?"

Maybe he should have asked her then. It would have been innocent enough. Maybe he should have just tossed her onto the bed and had his way with her until the morning light. That was an exciting thought and not embarrassing in the least. It wasn't as if they hadn't done it before. Despite the raging assumption that Kuga and Fujino were the most sexually active out of everyone in the little Hime group, Mai and Yuuichi had their rounds as well. It was a healthy relationship. Going at it like rabbits wasn't going to solve anything, but at that very moment Yuuichi sorely wished that it could have. She seemed to have guessed at his thoughts with the way she was rubbing his hands with her thumbs, but he shook his head and pulled his hands away.

"I'm sorry, I was being strange," Yuuichi babbled out.

Mai watched silently as he stood and tried to collect himself. Before he could leave, however, he felt something tug at his shirt sleeve. He looked down at Mai and the strange quality of her violet eyes. He knew what she was going to say, but he continued to shake his head at it.

"I can't, I need to be on that ferry in six hours. Mai..."

But he allowed himself to be pushed down onto that bed. He allowed himself to feel that hot sweet breath that tickled his neck along with strands of fiery hair. His arm lifted and his fingers weaved themselves into those strands of melted copper, letting their softness swish against his fingertips.

"Let me make you feel happy, Yuuichi," she whispered into his ear before his mind went curiously blank.

Are you happy?

I have to be happy.

Yuuichi ran towards the docks with his bags in tow. Up on the deck he could feel those emerald eyes glaring at him fiercely but he paid them no heed as he quickly tossed his ticket to the ticket booth and ran up into the ferry. It was only when he finally set his bags down that Natsuki appeared in front of him.

"Be that late again and I'll throw you across the bay to Kyoto myself!" Natsuki roared before turning on her heel and stomping off.

Yuuichi scratched his head and sighed.

"Jeez..."

When he was sure the Kaichou was far enough away—or enamored enough with her Shizuru not to notice, whichever came first—Yuuichi leaned over to the railing and watched Fuuka begin to creep away. When he did, however, he saw a familiar head of copper hair in the distance, along with a frantically-waving hand. He waved as well, just as strongly, until he could see that beautiful face no more. Then he turned around and leaned against the railing with an explosive sigh.

Kendo, right. Have to think about Kendo.

He nodded to himself and tilted his head up to the vast blue sky above him. He was going to spend a week in Kyoto, away from the love of his life and away from the lingering doubts that stuck with him. Maybe he could solve whatever it was that was holding him back. No one was going to stop him. Not the Kaichou-couple, not Reito, and certainly not...

"Onii-chan!"

Yuuichi threw his gaze down so that it focused on pink hair bouncing towards him. He lowered it a fraction more so that it focused on those honey-brown eyes of the girl he once could not stand. Interestingly enough he found himself smiling at the sight of another familiar face that he had not seen much of after the Carnival. Shiho seemed to have ditched the sausage hairstyle in favor of simply keeping her hair down, and the look was good for her. Yuuichi frowned at his own thoughts. Where did that come from? Well, it didn't do to keep someone waiting.

"Shiho, I thought I told you not to call me that," Yuuichi said.

Shiho appeared to want to say something about it but she stopped herself and instead shook her head.

"You're right. Then... Yuuichi-kun."

Yuuichi felt his brow twitch but not from annoyance.

What was this feeling?

The ferry's horn blared into the decidedly foggy seas as it churned through the uneasy waters to take them away from home.

AN: Hm. Maybe 1 part left to go, maybe 2. Depends on how much emotion these characters bring out.

On another note, Winter's Road should be updated sometime soon, within the next couple of days.

Please let me know what you think!