Yumiko Nakahara's Story

It was six P.M. and she still had not arrived at her apartment. Yumiko sighed, rubbing her temples as her taxi driver was caught in traffic. She was several blocks away, but decided to walk. In the long run it would save her cash that she could not afford to waste. Also, on the bright side, it would give her some much needed exercise and a chance to familiarize herself with the big city. She paid the cab driver his fee, then reach for the door. She stepped out onto the unknown streets, lights flashing, people buzzing about minding their own business and was left absolutely speechless. She retrieved her bag and shut the cab door, pulling her jacket out of the hefty luggage bag. Thankfully the bulky bag had wheels, so she wouldn't have to carry it the entire way. The brunette put on her black leather jacket, pulling up her hood. Those big brown eyes stared around, curious but also incredibly frightened. She had never seen so many people in one place before, the crowd overwhelming her more than she had ever expected. Suddenly she felt very small and terrifyingly vulnerable in a place like this, picking up the pace as fear motivated her to reach her apartment. She could always get familiar when the streets and it's occupants weren't so dark and sinister, right?

The neon lights were welcoming, but she had heard too many stories about young girls being abducted in the city to drop her guard. She was not dumb enough, her father made sure of it. The night before her arrival her father decided to have a movie night, and the movie was 'Taken'. The thought of being abducted was sudden among her greatest fears after watching that movie..

She could barely hear her own thoughts what with the sound of car horns and the endless chatter of those around her. She heard a man screaming into his cellphone, a couple giggling merrily as the passed, and even a woman sobbing at a bus stop. This city and it's people were intense, and she was beginning to question her decision to follow Touya here. As her thoughts traveled to Touya, a warm smile crossed her trembling lips, giving her a sense of comfort and the courage to trudge on with her heavy bag in tow. She began to wonder where her friend lived, and how he was doing. What was he studying? It had been over a month since she had last contacted him. A lot could have changed, so she wasn't sure anymore. She needed to apologize, to see him face to face. Considering the light rain and her exhaustion, she doubted she would be able to do any of that tonight, but she was hopeful. She looked to her phone, following the indicated path on google maps. She was surprised by the detail of technology, but perhaps that was because she had never been able to use electronics until now. Her father finally purchased the entire family a set of phones, seeing as they needed a way to keep in touch. She still wasn't exactly sure how to use it, but she was glad that she had a simple drawn out path to follow. The streets were more complicated than the foreign device in her hand, and that was definitely saying something. She let out a nervous breath of air as she finally met the apartment building. She stood at the ground floor, staring at the door for what felt like an eternity. Gingerly Yumiko reach for the door, only to watch it swing open in her face. A gruff old man passed her without a single word, the smell of alcohol burning her nostrils as he passed. She immediately coughed at the stench, oblivious to the fact that the man was even drunk. Her hometown was small, and there wasn't a major drinking problem seeing as the community was quite relaxed and very religious. Coming here was in a sense, a complete culture shock for this smalltown country girl, and she wasn't sure if she would be able to adjust any time in the near future.

She entered the building, shutting the door behind her seeing as the old man had neglected to. A woman tilted her head to check who had entered the building and Yumiko immediately recognized her as the building's landlord. The woman was absolutely gorgeous. The wispy blonde hair and her business attire were in complete contrast, but it only drew Yumiko's attention to her even more. She was completely awed by her beauty.

"You must be Yumiko-chan, right?"

Yumiko was taken by surprise, nodding quickly to verify the woman's question. She knew she should not have been affected, as she sent in a copy of her ID, but it was still strange to have a complete stranger recognize her. She timidly approached the desk, and the woman immediately grinned. The seventeen year old girl was baffled by the landlord's amused grin, but wrote it off. She was simply ecstatic that she could afford an apartment in a fancy building like this one and wasn't going to let anything ruin her night now that she was here, safe indoors, "N-Nakahara, Yumiko. It's a pleasure to meet you, Okinawa-san." She bowed traditionally, then smiled brightly to the woman, earning her a laugh from the landlord and an amused smirk as the woman placed the lease on the table. Yumiko signed on the dotted line and paid her first month's rent. She was handed the key, with the room number thankfully taped to it for reference. Room 303. It was on the third floor... Thankfully there was an elevator. She walked to the elevator and pushed the button, waiting for the doors to open.

"Don't look so nervous, you'll love him."

The landlord reassured Yumiko as the girl waited on the elevator, but it only brought on more questions. Before she could ask the landlord why she said 'him' instead of 'it' considering she was renting an apartment, but she quickly entered the elevator and the doors closed before she could voice her concerns. Perhaps it was just a mental slip? Yumiko thought to herself, seeing as she didn't see anything about having a roommate. She also began to wonder what the landlord's boyfriend looked like, seeing as the lease had said 'boyfriend included', because what else could that have meant? She hoped he was nice, seeing as he was possibly in charge as well. Lost in thought, she jumped out of her skin when the doorbell dinged, but scurried out of the elevator. She was about to search for her room, but to her surprise and convenience, room 303 was directly parallel to the elevator door. Well, that's going to be easy to remember. Yumiko stuck the key into the door, stepping inside. She put her bag aside and slipped off her shoes. However, she noticed something incredibly odd. There were a pair of men's shoes when she placed her own on the floor. A knot of anxiety immediately formed in her gut and her first instinct was to immediately bolt out of the apartment. She took a trembling step forward, trying to remain alert, "H-Hello..?" She called out in an unnerved manner. She took a deep breath in attempt to calm her racing heart, reminding herself that it could be a repairman, or an electrician, or maybe even the landlord's boyfriend doing some handy work. She had to think positive, else her heart would surly erupt from terror.

"Ahh... such a bother." mumbled the white haired male as he rubbed a lock of his wet, lustrous hair between his fingers, with an expression torn between annoyance and boredom.

Masaaki, as his name was, was splayed lazily on the brilliant couch in the equally brilliant living room of his apartment, dressed in a simple purple sweater and black sweatpants. He had a damp towel between his wet hair and the nice couch, preventing most of the moisture from soaking through. He was just done taking a bath, apparent from the steam that was slowly drifting out of the open bathroom door. The apartment had a slight tinge of lemon and peppermint, thanks to Masaaki's shampoo and bodywash. He continued to laze around for a good fifteen minutes, bobbing his head from side to side watching drips of water falling from his bouncy locks. He spent almost the majority of the day painting in his room, a thought that brought a faint smile to his lips. It hadn't been that much of a productive day for other things, but he felt that his painting techniques had improved slightly.

I should get up and dry my hair...

He got halfway out of the couch before he plopped back down.

... maybe not.

At that exact moment, he heard the faint opening of the front door, which perked his attention. His half-lidded eyes that held incredibly sharp looking purple orbs now seemed more awake. Could it be?

Okinawa did mention that she was coming today.

As if to confirm his thoughts, he heard an unfamiliar voice calling out. A female's and she sounded quite unnerved. With a little smile on his face, he got up and walked towards the source of the voice. As he walked into her line-of-sight, he was greeted by a young brunette. He tilted his head to one side and seemed to examine her slowly from head to toe, taking in the sight of the brunette with a leather jacket over her red shirt. A devilish smile played on his lips as he walked towards her.

"Well, well... looks like something delicious seems to have wandered into my lair." he seemed to say in a playful tone. "What brings you to this part of the neighborhood, hmm?"

As he got closer to the seemingly frozen brunette, he leaned close towards her and whispered quietly into her ear, "Ever heard about what happens to pretty girls that travel to the wrong places alone, especially at night?" before chuckling softly.

Still leaning close to her ear, he reached behind her to push the open door shut, effectively locking it as an audible click was heard. He leaned back a little, a few drips of water falling off his hair onto the girl's shoulder, and looked her in the eyes, purple orbs meeting brown ones. He gently traced the back of his hand against her cheek and slowly licked his lips, as if anticipating a meal. "You know, we're going to have alot of fun together. Isn't that nice?"

He allowed a few seconds for his little game to sink in before he backed off and ran his fingers through his still-damp hair. "Before we get to the fun part, first thing's first. As my 'girlfriend', I, your 'boyfriend', want my hair blow-dried. I sure hope you do a good job at it."

Masaaki turned around and walked a few paces before turning around to give the brunette an expectant look. "Are you going to keep me waiting? The hairdryer is right by the table in the living room. Just plug it into one of the outlets."

The damp haired male proceeded to plop down lazily onto his couch again and waited. He hummed a little to himself, rather pleased that he had gotten such a decent-looking 'girlfriend' that he could do with however he pleased. He took another glance at her, Brown hair, shoulder length, good hairstyle, innocent eyes, pretty nice measurements. Yes. You're going to be a good 'girlfriend'.

She heard footsteps, confirming that there was someone inside and that the shoes did not belong to a previous tenant. Before she could form a plan of escape, the owner revealed himself. She was shocked, considering the male was very young. He seemed younger than the Landlord, but older than herself, but her only reference was comparing him physically to her own male classmates and to Touya. Then his hair caught her attention next, it was so pale that it could have easily been white as snow. There also was the fact that it was wet, which explained the pleasant aroma that filled the apartment. She actually took in a small breath to admire it, being a fan of both lemon and peppermint. Lemon reminded her of home, as it was in abundance in the small town and she often kept peppermints in her pocket as sucking on a peppermint helped to calm her nerves.

Her eyes lowered from his hair to meet his gaze, noticing that his eyes were a unique shade, immediately reminding her of amethysts. He also had a freckle under his eye, giving him a somewhat less intimidating appearance, but only a little. His shirt ironically matched his eye color, and despite the laid back attire, she couldn't deny that this man was an impressive specimen to gaze upon.

As a moment passed, she realized he was examining her as well, but that he was looking at her all over. She immediately shrank into herself, wishing she had worn more layers, perhaps even a baggy hoodie. His gaze was unraveling to say the least. When she glanced to him again, she was immediately startled by the fact that he came closer. She panicked and took several steps back, but if she took another her back would have met the door. If her back met the door, it meant she had no chance of opening it, or worse closing it further than the ajar door already was. She couldn't leave herself with no method of escaping, because that grin of his that sent shivers down her spine. She wasn't entirely sure what it was about it, but it didn't exactly come across as neighborly or innocent.

"Well, well... looks like something delicious seems to have wandered into my lair."

His tone was friendly enough, but the words betrayed his voice. As charming as the man before her was, she couldn't disregard his words, "Your.. lair..?" She inquired, blinking several times. What did he mean by that? Was this apartment complex like the hotel she'd seen in the movie? Was she going to be sold on some black market human trafficking ring? Her eyes immediately widened and as much as every instinct in her body told her to run, his piercing gaze kept her frozen in place.

"What brings you to this part of the neighborhood, hmm?"

She really didn't want to tell a stranger that she came all the way here to find and confess her lifelong crush to her childhood friend... because outside of fiction that sounded incredibly pathetic and creepy. She took a small breath to relax herself before answering, hoping to distract him from her intention to leave, "I-I came here to further my pursuit of an Art career. Tokyo has the best Art schools in Japan." She admitted, which wasn't entirely a lie. She had already enrolled in the top high school, which focused solely on the arts; dancing, singing, acting, painting, if it's creative, they teach it. She wanted to attend, but it wasn't her main motivator that placed her in this sudden risky predicament.

Before she knew it, the wet haired male had gotten far closer than she realized. Her guard had dropped, and in that moment he got the upper hand of this situation. Though, considering this was the first time Yumiko had ever been in a dangerous situation, it wasn't a big surprise to her that she was handling it so poorly. Watching 'Taken' as a crash course really didn't do a lot to prepare someone for moments like this.

"Ever heard about what happens to pretty girls that travel to the wrong places alone, especially at night?"

Yumiko's eyes widened a bit, shivering again, albeit it was far more noticeable this time now that his breath was tickling her ear. His words frightened her to her core, knowing those exact stories. Her father frightened her with several, hoping it would scare his sheltered little girl into staying home. When the guy chuckled, she immediately supplied him with a fight or flight response, "I-I'm not some stupid child. M-My parents know where I am, a-and my friend is on the way to look at the apartment I moved into. He's tall, and he was on the wrestling team. I just got off the phone with him actually." She was shaken at first, but she grew bolder with her absolute lie as she continued, seeing as for all she knew, her life could have depended on that lie. She prayed that it would be enough to save her life, or perhaps it might even scare this guy off if his intent was to sell her body parts on the black market. She doubted she would be worth human trafficking of more risqué sorts, so it didn't cross her mind.

Click

Time stood still after the sound resonated within Yumiko's ears. Her breathing hitched realizing the door was shut and locked. She was alone with this stranger and the thick high quality door would likely muffle any attempt at a scream. She was lost in her fear, eyes fixated on the clock ticking, despite how she felt frozen in time. It was an odd sensation really, one that she never wanted to feel ever again. It was terrifying not knowing if she would live to see another day. Then she heard a new sound that woke her from her anxiety.

Drip, drip, drip

The water from his hair fell upon her shoulder, bringing her attention back to the aesthetically pleasing man that may or may not be the last person she ever sees. He withdrew, somewhat, his gemstone eyes gazing into her's once more. She wanted to tear away from him more than anything, to escape this frightening situation, but she felt paralyzed. She flinched as the stranger caressed her cheek with the back of his hand, confusion apparent on her face as she opened her mouth to speak, blushing profusely when he licked his lips, "W-What are you playing at?" his gaze was that of a predator. Suddenly she felt like a gazelle facing a ferocious and starving lion. Her knees quivered, daring to cave in, but she locked them in attempt to stay on her feet. She had to at least try and be brave.

"You know, we're going to have alot of fun together. Isn't that nice?"

F..fun? So was this a joke? She narrowed her eyebrows, trying to read this man. He was definitely attractive, but she knew from the movie that a pleasant physical appearance did not always correlate to pleasant intentions... Though she wasn't the best judge of character, aside from obvious situations like this, she had a very low sense of danger.

To her relief, the intimidating male gave her some space. She placed a hand on her chest to calm her pounding heartbeat, closing both eyes to focus on her breathing, "Who paid you to scare me like that? Was it my father or Touya-kun?" she asked with a frown on her face, rubbing both of her shoulders slowly. She couldn't quite shake the nervousness and fear she felt just a moment ago. Though now that he seemed to retreat, she had to admit that under different circumstances, it could have been incredibly hot.

"Before we get to the fun part, first thing's first. As my 'girlfriend', I, your 'boyfriend', want my hair blow-dried. I sure hope you do a good job at it."

"F-Fun part?" She was baffled, but she decided to hear him out. She hesitantly removed her jacket and hung it on the rack, smoothing out her red shirt and removed her phone from the jacket hanging on the wall, placing it in the front pocket of her black skinny jeans. Then the word dropped. She blinked slowly, tilting her head, "Wait, back up.. Girlfriend?! I-Is that what that meant!?" She gasped, placing both hands over her face to hide her dark red blush, well, for the most part. Suddenly everything was making sense. The guy wasn't trying to kill her earlier, nor did her father ask him to scare her. He was.. Was he..? No... Her entire face grew red as she finally realized the ivory haired stranger was actually hitting on her.

She ran a hand through her hair as the blush died down, "I-I can't have a boyfriend..." She stated aloud, not exactly to the stranger who suddenly self proclaimed himself to be her boyfriend. She let out a sigh, twirling a strand of her hair nervously around her finger as she tried to assess what had happened thus far.

"Are you going to keep me waiting? The hairdryer is right by the table in the living room. Just plug it into one of the outlets."

"I-I don't mind drying your hair, but you are not my boyfriend!" She finally repeated, a trace of irritation in her voice. This was all too much to take in, and this guy wasn't exactly giving her a lot of time to think everything over. How was anyone supposed to know that this is what 'boyfriend included' meant?!

To put some space between them she retrieved the hairdryer as told, lingering at the table for a moment despite his obvious impatience. Her thoughts flashed to Touya, causing her to grip the dryer. How did she get in this mess? What were the odds of this happening anyhow? She couldn't have a boyfriend.. The only reason she ended up in this mess was so that she could find Touya and confess her feelings to him!

The sound of humming broke her trail of thought and she hesitantly approached the man, plugging the dryer in the nearest outlet. Considering his hair seemed natural color, she used the lowest heat setting. She always used absolutely cold air on her own, but she wasn't sure of his preference. Gingerly, she reach for his hair and began running her fingers through it, allowing the heat to penetrate between the layers of hair by doing so. A light blush slowly formed on her cheeks, Yumiko finding this to be somewhat intimate, seeing as her mom often did this for her father. H-his hair is so soft.. She mentally noted, but she would never admit something embarrassing like that out loud, especially to a stranger.

Seeing as his humming wasn't enough to break the awkward air of the room, Yumiko finally asked a question that was beginning to gnaw at her, "How old are you, anyway...? You don't seem to be in high school.." She asked, trailing off. She wasn't sure if it was offensive to ask a man his age, but she was curious. She was careful not to bring the dryer too close to his head, but also shielded his face from the blast of air as she moved on to drying towards his ear, then moved on to the other side, "I'm seventeen, almost eighteen, actually..." Perhaps giving him a bit of information would entice him to tell a little about himself as well? Besides, Touya was simply one text away and the door was no longer blocked. She was semi-confident that she could make a clean run for it if she must. Though she wasn't sure if her new roommate was faster than her. She did not doubt that he was stronger, so speed was possibly the only thing she could use to her favor, and even that was uncertain.

"... Uhm.. Why would a guy like you set up something like this to find a girlfriend anyway? Well.. Besides the whole 'lets corner a girl and give her a heart attack' routine, of course." The words came out before she could filter them and she paused what she was doing, causing the dryer to shut off. Her heart skipped a beat, realizing her words were quite forward and rude, possibly even enough to anger him. Deciding to quit while she's ahead, Yumiko sat the hairdryer on the end table gently, "I.. I should probably just go. Your hair is done now." She never actually told this guy her name, so unless the Landlord was in on this façade the only thing damaged would be her credit score. She stepped around the couch, making her way past the front of it, where Masaaki sat. If she was quick, she'd get out... Well, that's what she hoped, seeing as no one was actually coming, despite what she told Masaaki.

"I-I came here to further my pursuit of an Art career. Tokyo has the best Art schools in Japan."

Masaaki has snorted quietly to himself when he heard the brunette say that. As if going to the best art school in Japan, or even in the entire world for that matter, was going to help her in her career. However, it did pique his interest in her even further. When she told him that she would dry her hair but said that he wasn't her boyfriend, he frowned a little and a muscle in his nose twitched, something that happened when he was holding back from reacting. He tapped his finger impatiently waiting for the girl to start drying his hair and when she finally started to dry his hair, his body jerked slightly at the foreign feeling. She was using a low setting, something that he usually did, and when she ran her fingers through his hair, he felt a weird, tingling, warm sensation throughout his body. It was oddly comforting and Masaaki occasionally pressed his head against her fingers, albeit unnoticeable. It was after all, just a hairbreadth contact for a short moment. The corners of his lips lifted into a small smile.

"How old are you, anyway...? You don't seem to be in high school.." the brunette seemed to be attempting to start a conversation with him, which he found rather adorable, adorable in a sense that a tiny brown mouse seemed to be trying to engage in conversation with a white feline. "I'm seventeen, almost eighteen, actually..."

The brunette had shielded his face from the hairdryer's blasts, something he somehow found rather pleasing. It was all a rather odd experience to him but he enjoyed it.

"Do I look that old?" he seemed to be joking with her, a trace of laughter in his voice. "Does my girlfriend somehow fancy someone her age?"

He lifted his head up to look at her, "I'm twenty one, turning twenty two. I attend a college nearby."

He dipped his head back to it's neutral position and continued, "Eighteen huh? I kind of guessed."

"... Uhm.. Why would a guy like you set up something like this to find a girlfriend anyway? Well.. Besides the whole 'lets corner a girl and give her a heart attack' routine, of course."

At this, Masaaki couldn't help but chuckle a little to himself, a different chuckle from the one he had previously used on the brunette. More real, more friendly, more down-to-earth. "'Let's corner a girl and give her a heart attack routine' huh? Well, I'm doing it partly for Okinawa. She's been a great landlord to me and she was looking for a tenant. We came up with the idea to attract lonely girls such a yourself who really wanted a boyfriend."

Although part of it is that I don't really want to be out in the open too much and that puts me in a predicament where I don't have the chance to hit on girls leisurely. he thought to himself, cursing his unfortunate circumstance to remain under the radar.

The brunette had placed down the hairdryer and seemed to be ready to... leave? Masaaki seemed to examine her as she walked past him, his eyes like a predator tracking down his prey. Her frame seemed to be moving with faint fear, almost tense in fact. It felt almost like a little game that they were playing. He ran his fingers through his blow-dried hair, giving it a messy appearance and shifted in his seat. Just as she seemed to be out of reach, he reached out, almost gracefully, and grabbed her wrist. It wasn't hard or sudden, and his grip wasn't tight. He seemed to be treating her as if she was some fragile object.

"Where are you going?" he said quietly, but in the silence of the apartment, it sounded extra loud. Despite his question, his voice seemed to be laced with warning, as if he knew what her plans were. After all, with such an obvious body language, it wasn't hard to discern at all. He tugged her back, letting her fall on top of him. He embraced the brunette, her back to his chest, as he breathed slowly near her ear.

"You're a very bad liar, you know that? I don't think anyone knows where you are, and you definitely haven't called anyone. Am I right?" he whispered, emphasizing the first five words as if to taunt her. His hands gently rubbed her shoulders and then his fingers began to play at the edges of her shirt's v-neck.

"You're mine now."

The door was in sight, but it was not in her grasp. However, something was in someone's grasp... Yumiko gasped out in surprise when she felt the ivory haired man latch on to her waist. She flinched immediately, but to her surprise he didn't jerk her by the hair like she'd seen in the movies, in fact he wasn't rough with her at all. Her shock towards his gentle capture cost her the best chance she had of escaping.

"Where are you going?"

Yumiko bit the inside of her cheek in attempt to remain calm and tilted her head, gazing over her shoulder to meet his amethyst eyes. She was intimidated by the warning in his voice, certain that she did not wish to find out what would happen if she were to test that warning. Besides, where would she go? She didn't have enough money to go home... Touya was her only option, but then she'd have to explain this entire mess.. this was definitely something she hoped to keep from Touya.

"I didn't understand that boyfriend included meant that the apartment had a boyfriend waiting for me..." She admitted breathlessly, this time making sure that she made it perfectly clear that she misunderstood the lease. She averted her gaze, waiting for the ridicule. It always came, the girls back home always had fun laughing at her naiviety. Why would a city boy holding her hostage be any different? She could feel her entire body trembling, but not by the ivory haired male's doing. She was trembling due to her own humiliation. I'm so stupid...

Just who was this guy? What was with that arrogant way he held himself..? If he was such a dangerous guy, why was he treating her with such care? Her brain was stormed with questions, but they were all abruptly interrupted by the sensation of falling. Did he drug me!? She immediately realized that she was actually falling, only it was into the older man's lap, "Ah!" she squeaked out upon impact. She bit her bottom lip, trying to hide her blush behind her fist.

"You're a very bad liar, you know that? I don't think anyone knows where you are, and you definitely haven't called anyone. Am I right?"

Brunette brows furrowed at the insult, immediately preparing a sharp retort, but her entire body went numb as he revealed he knew that she was bluffing about the phone call. She wanted all of her firsts to be with Touya, yet here this stranger's hands were no more than a few inches from her chest, and literally no one knew where she was. Yumiko closed her eyes as her blush darkened, her entire body shivering under the unfamiliar contact. The sensation was entirely new to her, embarrassment and fear fogging her mind.

"You're mine now."

"I-I am not! You can not own someone!" She felt something snap within her at his words, and she immediately attempted to tear away from his hold. She didn't go far, simply scrambling over to the other side of the coffee table. She simply needed to put something between the two of them to create some space that would not be so easily infringed upon. She could feel the burning of her cheeks, she knew she was a pathetic site. She was disappointed in herself for being affected that way by a complete stranger. Yumiko reminded herself that she just needed to keep his hands off of her. That was her only goal at the moment. It would help her relax, and then she could formulate a plan.

Her blush did begin to fade, but were replaced with tears forming in her eyes that had not yet made it to her cheeks. She felt as though she had betrayed Touya by allowing this stranger to do as he wished, even if Touya was entirely unaware of her feelings for him.. She was also scared, of course, but that wasn't the reason she was about to cry. She could practically feel her heart breaking, her hopeless romantic fantasies shattered in one night, "You're right. I didn't call anyone.." she stated, folding her arms over her chest to feel more in control. She blamed herself for not fighting back sooner.

"..I-I'm not lonely by the way.." she mumbled, referring to one of his prior statements defensively as she glared down at the table, angry with herself for picking the first beautiful apartment she had seen. Why do I feel the need to explain myself to him? Attractive or not, he had crossed several boundaries, familiarized himself with her more than anyone else had ever done and he's a total stranger.

Yumiko knew that she should have been furious with him, but she was little more than midly irritated with the hot ivory haired man, but she did feel extremely humiliated, "I came to Tokyo to find a friend of mine.. he's in college now.." Her eyes immediately lit up as she thought about Touya, and she bit her lip to hide a nervous smile.

There was a moment of silence before she met his gaze, the tears finally flooding down her cheeks, "I-I came here to confess to my friend!" she stated in a barely audible tone, seeing as it was the first time she had ever admitted to liking Touya out loud. Somehow, after everything, she wasn't even angry with this guy.. She blamed herself. She signed the contract, this attractive college student did not force her to do that.. and despite how she barged in here and got his hopes up, he still was not rough with her. Her legs finally caved in, and she collapsed into the floor, staring down at it as she continued, "I cannot be your girlfriend when I like someone else.." Her voice shook as she confessed, and the tears refused to stop spilling down her face. She couldn't even see the expression on the ivory haired strangers face anymore, but perhaps that was for the best. She wasn't sure what kind of man this guy was, so there was a chance that everything she said would not even matter to him.

"I-I am not! You can not own someone!"

The brunette broke free from his embrace, scrambling over to the other side of the coffee table. The sight would've been extremely humorous if it wasn't for the mental slap that Masaaki experienced.

Am I being... am I... I got rejected? the ivory haired male felt shocked. Feeling irritated, he stood up and stared at the brunette, planning to give her a piece of his mind. If she wasn't his, then she could leave the apartment and spend a night outside! Before he could do so, she spoke.

"You're right. I didn't call anyone.."

Normally, Masaaki would have gloated heavily at his perfect deduction, but for some reason, he felt the uncomfortable. He continued to stare at the brunette. She continued to mumble that she wasn't lonely, which in turn caused Masaaki furrow his brows. Another one of those...

"I came to Tokyo to find a friend of mine.. he's in college now.." She seemed to glow as she talked this friend of hers despite her current state. It was here that their eyes met and Masaaki's eyes widen with surprise as he stared at her crying face. She said something about confessing to her friend before her knees gave way and she collapsed onto the floor. He wasn't used to this sight and it was making him feel incredibly uncomfortable, there was an odd, heavy feeling in his stomach, like things had gotten cold and it felt empty. He couldn't put a finger on the feeling.

"I cannot be your girlfriend when I like someone else.."

Masaaki stood across from the coffee table, tall and mighty, while the brunette was on her knees, voice shaking and tears spilling from her eyes onto the tiled floor. It was an odd sight, almost like two different worlds, separated by a coffee table. Masaaki ran his hand through his hair.

"Tch."

He reached into his pocket, taking out a packet of tissues. It was an odd habit of his to have tissues and band-aids on his person when he didn't even use them, but one had finally proven its usefulness in the situation. He tossed it gently towards the brunette, causing it to do a little hop off her brown hair and onto the floor. Without a word, he turned on his heel and walked off towards the door; towards the girl's large bag that she had left near the entrance. Heaving a little sigh, he grabbed the bag by the handle and carried it, a faint ripple of muscle tensing up as they worked to balance his body with the shift in weight. Despite his strength, the bag proved to be challenge to lug up the stairs. He dropped the bag by the empty bedroom across from his, right by the flight of stairs and then slipped a hand underneath his sweater to pull out a set of keys attached to a chain around his neck. He looked through the keys, found the one he was looking for and removed it from the set. Without a word, he dropped it from the balcony area down to the first floor and walked down the hallway into his room.

Closing the door shut behind him, he flipped a switch and watched as the lights turned on in his room. All around him were canvases of different sizes, all with beautiful paintings on them. They all featured a family of three, but each of them were uniquely different. It was beautiful. The pieces seemed to have been arranged in such a fashion that as the eye scans over the paintings, the colors on each of the canvases seemed to blend wonderfully into the next painting, making it less harsh on the eyes. It was the work of an individual who was thoughtful of his viewers. His bedroom also seemed to be well-kept, minus the pile of plain canvases sitting near a window with the easel, a pile of brushes and a palette sat on top of a round table that both seemed worn with use and covered with old paint smudges.

'I cannot be your girlfriend when I like someone else' huh?

He breathed in deeply and exhaled, stepping over to the easel, picking up a canvas and setting it in place. He squeezed a couple of colors onto the palette, picked up the brush and held the palette in the other hand.

"It's not like I needed someone anyway." he muttered to himself, before the brush began to make strokes across the canvas. The ivory haired male's reflection in the window was the only thing that seemed to keep him company.

A few minutes later, that was when it hit him as he tore apart an unsatisfactory piece of work. The feeling he felt earlier, that cold feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Guilt.

"Tch."

Yumiko felt something pelt her head start shortly after the irritated noise left the man before her. Curiosity getting the best of her, she reach for whatever hit the floor. Once her fingers touched the item, she immediately knew what had been thrown to her. She opened the packet, wiping her eyes gently just in time to see him reach for her bag. What's going on...? Did I really reach him..? Yumiko thought to herself with a baffled expression on her face. She wanted to say something, anything to lighten the new tension in the room, but it was if a knot had formed inside of her throat and calcified.

When he took her bag up the stairs, Yumiko immediately stood. She could have done that herself, but as she watched him struggle, she began to wonder if she was giving herself too much credit..? Her eyes shifted between the floor and Masaaki's fleeting figure. A moment later she heard something metal ping against the tile floor and soon after a door shut. Now that she was alone with her thoughts, Yumiko wiped her face with a new tissue and curiously went towards where the piece of metal had fell. As she investigated she found a small key. So her bedroom locked..? That was a relief. She then gazed to the top of the stairs, feeling that perhaps now everything would be alright.

Though she did feel bad, so she decided that she would somehow make it up to him later. Perhaps she could meet girls in class and introduce him to them? If he needed a girlfriend this badly, she would do everything she could to help. She wanted to cook, but she remembered the last time she had made something for her father... it had turned out disastrous.

She stared up the stairs for what felt like hours, but she hesitantly took a few quiet steps. Was this another trap to make her drop her guard? She wasn't sure, but every fiber of her being screamed for rest. The cab was quite cramped, so her muscles were incredibly sore.

When she finally made it to the top of the stairs, despite her anxiety, she used the key she had been given to open the door. She drug her bag in, flicking on the light. Once she sat her bag aside, Yumiko was surprised by the room. The bed was at least a queen size, and the room was far more extravagant that pictures could do justice. Before she took a step towards her new bed, Yumiko locked the door behind her. It gave her a sense of security knowing there was a way to lock herself in after all that had transpired that day.

Yumiko retrieved a pair of pajamas from her bag, removing her pants first, then her shirt, but she paused as her hand grazed her collarbone, images of how Masaaki had been touching her there just moments ago. Her cheeks immediately reddened, but she proceeded in quickly changing into the tank top and shorts. The last thing she needed was to remember that molestation. While he seemed to be under the impression she was consentual, it did not change how awkward and embarrassing that situation had been for her.. If he had gone any further she was sure her heart would sprung from her chest.

Deciding to move on from the moments of me ave ran to the bed and flung herself upon it, pulling out her phone. It was definitely time to call him, to let him know that she had moved here, seeing as they had not spoke in well over a month. Clicking on Touya's name, Yumiko's heart skipped a beat as the phone began to ring. What if he doesn't answer..? What if he has a girlfriend...? Her heart was pounding as she began to run through worst case scenarios, and she felt a wrenching pain in her gut. She remained on the line, praying that Touya would answer, because she needed to hear Touya's voice to remind her that this living arrangement was worth being nearby. Please pick up... She pleaded mentally as if the boy on the other end of the phone would somehow hear her pleas, chewing on her bottom lip nervously in her anticipation. She wanted to end tonight on a good note, so that her manga drawings for the day wouldn't be in vain. Although she knew it was ridiculous, she had been detailing every single day of her life since her fourteenth birthday in manga strips. That was when she realized she had an enormous crush on Touya, and it inspired her to draw her own manga. With the delusion that they were fated to fall in love, Yumiko felt that the manga strips would one day tell her love story with her childhood friend, but would also be the key to earning her a career in the manga industry as well.

---

"Ah, no nothing bad. I didn't have work today, actually, not to mention practice was pretty easy. I... Might be coming home a lot earlier. The cafe is closing down thanks to Mrs. Hayashi going away for a little bit. So that means even less work."

Touya was relieved nothing too serious had forced her home. However, the fact that she would be losing her job was probably very upsetting. That being said, Fujiwara was an exceptional person who would not have any problem getting another job if she so desired, so he wasn't too worried about it. He knew that if she put her mind to something, it would get done and that was something he admired about her.

"Ah, that's unfortunate." he commented.

He continued eagerly listening to Fujiwara as if what she was saying was the most important thing in the world, but was very disappointed she declined his offer. "I appreciate the offer, but it's my turn tonight, anyway. Did you eat anything before I came home?". she asked.

"No, I haven't. I'm actually pretty Famished."

"I hope you don't mind miso ramen tonight. I can go shopping tomorrow after school."

Touya smiled. "That's perfectly fine, I'm not very picky." he answered. He was absolutely confident that Fujiwara could cook like a master chef. Well, so long as it was nothing more complicated than ramen. Nobody could ruin that, right? Although he usually gave his true opinion when it came as something like this, he tended to sweeten his speech when it came to her cooking, very likely due to his crush on her. Besides, it was not as though anything he had eaten that she made had caused him stomach pains so there was no reason to complain. Besides, he had grown up on his mother's cooking and as far as he was concerned, she was the greatest chef the world had ever known.

Even if he didn't exactly have the best opinion on her as a person...

"..."

There was an abnormally long silence between the two of them, causing Touya get a bit nervous. Was there something wrong? Was she having a seizure? As he was thinking this, she suddenly spoke up. "Hey, dinner might be awhile. You can always go back to doing what you needed too. I didn't mean to come home so early it disturbed any nightly rituals."

Nightly rituals? What does she think I do when she's gone? Well, not that she's entirely wrong.

Touya hoped he misunderstood what she had said, but didn't worry much about it. Since she didn't need his help, he would go ahead and take that shower he was intending to take. Fujiwara continued before he could simply answer and head off to shower. "But, if you do plan on going back to whatever you were doing, I have a question. Just how was your day?"

"My day was uneventful for the most part, honestly." he answered. "It seemed Kuwabara-san and his friends wanted me to help them with their cleaning duties today, but that was nothing more than a prank meant to waste my time. I wish I could say that that wasn't the highlight of my day so far, but then I would be lying." he shrugged. He could mention the cruddy animation he made in class today, but he was rather embarrassed to mention that sort of thing to just about anybody. He was a bit too humble for his own good, sometimes. "I was offered a job to help put up fence around some older couple's property and will get a call about it sometime within the next few days, so hopefully that'll prove to be fun."

Touya turned to head to the shower, but gave a very warm smile back to Fujiwara. "Thanks for asking. Anyway, I'll be in the shower in case a fire starts or something." he teased before finally heading to the shower.

I'll treasure every moment I have with you!

After closing the door behind him, Touya removed his clothes, setting his phone on the sink counter while he looked at the shower with a pleased expression. To him, a warm shower was one of Earth's finest luxuries, and he indulged in it as often as he could without causing problems with the water bill.

"Ah~"

He began to step into the shower, but as fate would have it, his phone began to ring.

"Ha? Can't I just enjoy my shower first?" he complained to noone.

Touya reluctantly moved over to his phone and picked it up, looking at the caller ID. He immediately smiled, it had been a lot longer than he'd liked since he spoke to his osananajimi. With no hesitation, the young man answered his phone. "Ya haven't called in a while." he said plainly. Touya did have a bit of an accent he tried to hide from both his colleagues and Fujiwara, but since he'd known Yumiko for a while, he couldn't help but feel relaxed and let his guard down. It was nice having a friend he could feel like this around. "It's nice to speak to be able to speak again though, Yumiko-chan. You... are still there, aren't ya?" He hadn't actually heard anything on the other side of the line, but that was perhaps because he answered so quick.

"Ya haven't called in a while."

Yumiko's mood immediately brightened at the sound of that all too familiar voice. She knew his words were true, but that was because she was hurt and discouraged.. Her father only agreed to let her move to Tokyo because it was becoming painfully obvious to everyone in town that she missed Touya, but also because he trusted Yumiko in the big city as long as Touya was around, even if it was Tokyo. She didn't care that his tone of voice wasn't nearly as excited as she had felt. She didn't care, because the moment she heard his voice, the world was right for her again. She even completely let her molestation slip her mind, which was a feat in itself. It was hard to see past what had happened to her, but with Touya on the other line, she felt like everything would be fine.

"It's nice to speak to be able to speak again though, Yumiko-chan. You... are still there, aren't ya?"

"H-Hai! I didn't expect you to answer at this hour.." She replied back with a sheepish laugh, biting her bottom lip. She could feel her heartbeat fluttering just from hearing his voice, "A-actually, I called to let you know I've moved to Tokyo to continue my Art studies.. I just settled in tonight." She explained, hoping that a year was enough time between his departure and her own arrival. She didn't want him to feel stalked, even if that's exactly what she was doing. Her eyes shifted to the bedroom door, worrying that her new roommate would interrupt her call, but reminded herself that the door locked, so she was safe behind the wooden door. Or so she let herself believe, "Were you busy..? I can let you go.. I know it's late." Yumiko added nervously, but immediately wanted to slap herself in the face. It was times like this that kept her from confessing. When it came to Touya, she could not be selfish, at least not as much as she should have been to get her point across. Although she wished to confess to him, she was always looking out for his wellbeing, and was content with being close to him, but when he moved the entire order that she had come to expect, her submission to the friendzone, it was all off the table. She had to confess or else she would risk losing him to someone else, if she hadn't already, "Oh! Did you land a girlfriend yet? You were pretty popular back home, whether you accept that or not.." She was definitely referring to herself as well. She remembered several other girls chasing after Touya. She never dreamed she would be the one to physically chase after her best friend.

Then she checked the time, realizing it was she who had to go. It broke her heart to hang up on him, but she had to in order to get enough sleep, "Actually, I have to go, but I hope that we can meet up sometime. Good night, Watari-kun!" She exclaimed before hanging up. The rush of speaking to him was enough to keep her awake, so she moved to her writing desk to draw today's events so she could add them to her manga journals. She named her roommate Yuuma, seeing as she didn't know his real name anyway and the fact she gave everyone a different name. As she drew out everything that had transpired, even how he'd touched her, she put the books away inside of the dresser and went back to the bed.



Yumiko took a shower, albeit very quickly and put her school uniform (Check the OOC! It's in the tab we never use to communicate! It also has the college uniforms as well!!!) on in record time. She woke up at five A.M. just to avoid running into her roommate, but she wasn't sure what time he woke up either, so it was honestly just a shot in the dark. When she realized the coast was clear, Yumiko slipped out of the bathroom leaving a strawberry and vanilla scent behind. She tiptoed to retrieve her school bag and art supplies from her room, then locked her bedroom door behind her. She carefully made her descent to the first floor, carefully looking around to make sure her new roommate could not sneak up on her. Once she met the tiled floor, Yumiko let out a relieved sigh and made a beeline for the door and the elevator soon after. She went down the elevator in silence, proud that she managed to slip away without incident, but she doubted she would be so lucky that evening. She put on her shoes in the elevator, seeing as she didn't want to delay her escape by fooling with them sooner.

After the doors opened to reveal the ground floor of the complex, she saw the landlord, her eyes slightly narrowing. Although it was not this woman's fault, Yumiko had to deflect some of her anger at someone or she'd simply explode."How did you sleep? Did you enjoy Yamada-kun?" The landlord teased, the innuendo passing over Yumiko's head.

Yumiko shrugged her shoulders, "Not what I expected. He's a little... Self righteous." She responded before leaving the apartment complex. Yumiko walked the bustling streets towards her school, using google map to find the location more easily. Once at school, Yumiko received her class schedule, cringing when she noticed that she had choir and theater as classes as well as digital art, history of art, a practical drawing class and a practical painting class. While she would enjoy the art classes, she had never sang or acted before. She even had a dance class, but that was only on Fridays. She let out a sigh and found her locker to put her bag away, seeing as Choir would be her first class of the day. I-I don't know if I can sing... she leaned against her locker, then went outside to the courtyard. It seemed a college was connected to her school, so she decided to check it out, at least from the outside. She was amazed by it's architecture, smiling a bit, "So when I graduate, I just switch over to this school?" She stated under her breath, sitting by the fountains at the college while she waited for time to pass, seeing as she was incredibly early. She shivered a bit, seeing as the high school uniform did not have sleeves, instead it was more like a tank top with a dangling strap on both arms. Although cute, it did not repel wind that well. She still had her class schedule in hand, although it was no longer crisp paper. The page had wrinkles due to her anxiety. How was she expected to sing when she had never done so before?

** no new notes besides im a loser-- wait, no I lied
my bad. The bentos are made from "mini-hamburg with cheese,
wieners, watercress, cherry tomato, and finally, Heart Onigiri
with Shiso furikake, more details from the website itself~
It took a lot longer due to me researching, but hopefully
this works out for you, Famished!

EDIT: Rereading this, I'm actually surprised how... scattered
I got. I apologize in advance, but I was pretty much on a heap
of benadryl. I reorganized how I worded things, but nothing changed
to an extent. Not to mention I was missing a huge piece at the end!
Spring Break really needs to come a bit sooner, at this rate, aha.
xxxxxxxxxxDɪᴀʟᴏɢᴜᴇ Cᴏʟᴏʀ ◆ #E8ADAA
xxxxxxxxxxxTʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ Cᴏʟᴏʀ ◇ #F778A1

XXStretching, Kayo groaned as she tried to lift her tired body from the blankets at around... four in the morning? Yeah, it was four. Why had she gotten up this early, anyway? She had finished her homework earlier that night, and honestly thanks to having a school uniform, it wasn't like she spent hours on end trying to figure out what to wear. Feet swinging over to make contact with the plush rug beneath her bed. Digging out her school uniform, Kayo grabbed the essentials to wonder out to the bathroom, discarding her sleepwear as she set out her towel and jumped right on it to the perfect steamy temperature.

XXMuscles unwinding, and tension slipping, Kayo couldn't help but stretch once more, interlocking her fingers as she raised them above her head, and then stood on her tippy toes. This, was the greatest part of the morning. Not a care in the world, and such short hair made it completely easy to jump in and out in a rush. Hands slipping down her chest, down her thighs, the young college student began to rub in the lavender-rose scented body wash, then moved on to rubbing in a less powerful smelling shampoo. After a few more lenient moments of putting around within the shower, Kayo twisted the shower knob into the 'off' position.

XXPulling in the towel into the stall, she crouched down in order to grab and twist out the remaining water quietly, with nothing but the casual drip of the faucet. By the time the entire routine was done and over with, it was... honestly an hour later. Five o'clock, and Kayo was already pacing quietly through the living room and kitchen.

XXIn the end, it was decided that perhaps making them both bentos wouldn't exactly be that bad. Especially with so much to spare... But what if Touya didn't want one? Shaking her head and shrugging, if he wanted to leave it here for the fridge or share it with a few friends, it'd all be the same to her. Whenever it came to bentos, believe it or not, Kayo was nearly always prepared the night before. They had just enough in the fridge last night, that after they ate, Kayo actually began to prepare the needed materials early on.

XXHonestly, thanks to having everything prepared and ready, all the baseball star had to do was heat some of it up, make the fresh rice, and craft it all into actually looking decent within the bento boxes for them both. Of course, that was all while making sure the bentos were tightly packed, to prevent spilling as long as the lids stayed on tight. It... actually seemed to go by pretty fast, finally reaching six o'clock after a year.

XXShe might of gotten carried away a little bit though, when it came to the onigiri... Or the entire thing bento idea in general. Writing some quick scribble scrabble list down as to what to get for groceries, Kayo tapped her fingers impatiently against the counter. What else? What in the world did she get up so damn early for?

XX...Hm...

XXAh, there wasn't much of a point to just stand around, was there? If she went to school now, she'd be able to study in advance for Friday, so she wouldn't have to worry so much about the actual test... She wasn't exactly sure if she should just leave a note for Touya, or peak her head into his room and see if he was awake. Huffing, Kayo simply focused on packing her own schoolbag, giving it a few more moments to see if he'd come out... Looking up at the clock, Kayo just sighed as she took her keys, stuffing them into her bag. She'd see him at school, there was nothing to worry about.

XXHeading over to the university on autopilot, she just moved swiftly through the designated path, barely registering that she forgot about writing that note. '...Did I actually put away my dirty clothes? Wait, yes I did! I kicked them back into my room.' Kayo went over, looking to her feet. '...Shit! I forgot the note! How did I let that slip that fast?' Stopping to whip out her phone, she was quick to start dialing her friend's number as she walked up the path to the university.

Praying she just got voicemail, regardless Kayo spoke pretty fast as she noticed a highschool student standing outside the building, almost looking like she was admiring it. Coming to a stop a few feet behind her, Kayo rambled briefly a quick message, regardless of voicemail of Touya or not. "Hey, Watari-kun, I made a bento for you, it should be on the counter. I sealed it pretty tight, so don't worry. I'll see you at school, okay? I had to come in early to study! So sorry!" She apologized, mildly hoping it actually wasn't her roommate that answered, but she... had gotten distracted fairly quickly. After hanging up, she tapped the young girl on the shoulder as Kayo forced herself to go in front of her.

"Hey, is this your first time here?" She asked, pulling on her best smile for the fellow female... They should of really worked on the highschool uniform though, it was fair too chilly for such an outfit. "You definitely look like you're just seeing this for the first time."

"Hey, is this your first time here?"

Her admiring gaze was tore from the architecture when she heard a feminine voice noting that she was an outsider, "Is it honestly that obvious?" Yumiko responded as she tilted her head over her shoulder with a sheepish expression. She noticed that the girl had similar features to herself; she had to admit it left her with an eerie feeling. Was this girl her doppelgänger? Yumiko properly turned around, not wishing to be rude to the girl that had so kindly approached her with such warmness. In a big city like this she had not expected to meet someone so relaxing and bright. In all honesty, she imagined that everyone in the city would be more standoffish than anything.

"You definitely look like you're just seeing this for the first time."

The charming smile that Yumiko received did wonders when it came to calming her nerves. She was totally cool about being at a brand new school, that is until she actually got here and realized how intimidating the artistic competition would be. The pressure at this school suddenly had become very real, and she felt she was in over her head. She had never imagined enrolling in such a competitive high school, especially the building before her which was conjoined to the neighboring college, "I just moved here, I missed a friend of mine that moved here, and the campus is absolutely inspirational." Yumiko confessed, smiling back at the other girl. Their physical likeness was alarming, but it was definitely welcome. Normality was certainly something she craved after last night. She immediately pulled out her phone, texting Touya; 'We should get coffee during lunch.' She contemplated adding a smiley face, but she didn't want to send too strong of signals, especially after their period of lost contact.

Then, for some reason her thoughts returned to Masaaki and the events of their first night. Idiot! Don't think about Yamada-san in front of others! She mentally scolded herself, realizing that she would only get embarrassed and humiliate herself if she thought about her roommate in public. A blush immediately formed on her cheeks to her mortification. As far as Yumiko's thoughts were concerned, the night before could not have gone any worse than it did, well, of course it could have, but Yumiko was not all that aware of human cruelty. All she knew about criminal activities was what her father forced her to watch in the movie 'Taken'. She was naive, which was often a blessing and a curse. Suddenly she began to wonder what college Masaaki went to, considering he mentioned being a college student when she combed his hair. Tch. Why do I keep thinking about Yamada-San!?

Yumiko realized the other girl's uniform was different, so she couldn't help her curiosity, "Are you a student of the college?" She had to ask, and she felt immediately jealous that the other girl's uniform had long sleeves. Was there some kind of social stigma that high school girls wished to show more skin? Or was this some pervert's idea of a joke? Whatever was going on with the high school uniform, Yumiko was just happy that she could move past last nights events with her roommate. Finally she could pursue Touya seriously, and now that her roommate understood her heart was already taken, Yumiko was confident that the rest of the year would progress without incident. She had a lot to worry about, her job, confessing to Touya, and keeping a good grade in this prestigious Fine Arts High School if she wished to continue on to it's University that she had been admiring just moments ago.

Yumiko then realized that she had done something incredibly rude in her nervousness, and immediately bowed to her fellow brunette girl, "I'm so sorry, I forgot to introduce myself." She stated quickly, biting her bottom lip after she returned to standing erect. She had completely forgotten to supply the other girl with her name! Her mother would have smacked her if she had been there to witness Yumiko's mistake, so she was certainly grateful to be on her own in that moment, "I am Nakahara, Yumiko and I'm a Senior in high school. I just moved here yesterday." She felt immediately better after introducing herself, smiling shyly. She hoped that the other girl would not be offended that she did not properly introduce herself earlier on in the conversation. She awaited the other girl's response, a knot forming in her stomach. She hoped that this girl was nothing like the girls that picked on her back home, because she no longer had her support system to cheer her up.

---

---

Unfortunately, Touya's shower was a lot less detailed than his roommate's, and also noticeably shorter. Really, all that happened was that he used a bit of self control and spent minimal time cleaning himself. There was, of course, the involvement of scrubbing each and every part of him, as well as enjoying the fact he was in good enough shape to see each and every part of him, but really that's all that happened. Well, until about halfway through when the water start becoming cold.

Yeah, Touya didn't really have self control with the shower, he was just forced out because it was cold. Don't tell anybody.

But considering how he tired he was when he awoke, that was probably for the best. He had gotten little sleep since he was was genuinely excited that Yumiko had moved over. Talking to her on the phone after no contact for extended periods of time was great. The conversation they had, although not long enough in his opinion, was enjoyable. He, of course, did his best to shift the subject away after she asked about him having a girlfriend. He wasn't really able to talk about such things, even with her. At least not until he was a bit less of a coward. But maybe eventually he would open up about something like this to her? They were very close friends, and it wasn't an easy decision to leave her behind. Honestly, up until he started developing feelings for his roommate, Fujiwara-san, he even felt a little lonely. Needless to say, hearing about her arrival was probably some of the best news Touya had heard of in quite a while. Perhaps they should hang out soon?

As he pondered this, Watari had put on his school uniform and headed into the kitchen. Yumiko was nowhere to be found, and Touya perished the thought that he managed to wake up before her simply due to how dedicated to schooling she was. Did she perhaps want to go study or something? That seemed to be the most plausible theory Touya could come up with. Well, he could always ask her when they met at school.

Touya's phone began ringing shortly after he had entered the kitchen. Because of the ringtone, he knew instantly that it was his roommate, and his hand quickly darted into his pocket to find his phone.

"Hello, Fujiwara-san?"

"Hey, Watari-kun, I made a bento for you, it should be on the counter. I sealed it pretty tight, so don't worry. I'll see you at school, okay? I had to come in early to study! So sorry!" Touya couldn't actually get a word in before the phone hung up. Really, it was almost like she prerecorded the message, or that she was on some sort of autopilot. How weird. Well, she was probably in a hurry or something so he couldn't exactly take offense to how little he got to say. Besides, didn't she mention making him a bento?

Being the awesome detective he was, Touya made the task of finding a bento that was sitting on a counter out in the open look like an easy task. Curious, he opened it to see what she had made, only to firmly take notice of a certain piece of the bento that was made into a heart shape.

"Hmm..."

It would certainly look very delicious if he were paying any attention to other parts of it. But no, the heart-shaped food was the only food he could fathom at the moment. As if he was drawn to it, like there was a great connection between the two. Touya Watari and Kayo Fujiwara's heart-shaped onigiri. Was this love?

...

..

.

"If only I were so lucky."

Touya wasn't so naive to believe that there was some weird message he was supposed to be receiving due to a heart-shaped food, though he did note that it was probably one of the girlish things that he recalled witnessing Fujiwara doing, which was oddly nice. Sometimes, she was so tomboyish he could forget she was a girl if she wasn't so beautiful as well. He was aware that mentioning this would probably be a very bad idea, so he certainly had kept and intended to keep this to himself.

Thank you very much! It looks great!

He quickly sent a grateful text to her since he didn't get the chance to say thanks during their very short call, before grabbing his bag, the bento, and leaving the apartment. Not long after he did so, he received a text.

'We should get coffee during lunch.' Yumiko suggested.

Watari's reply ended up being: "That sounds great! Just tell me the details when you can."

Of course, immediately after sending that he began to wonder if that was rude in some way to Fujiwara-san. She went through all that effort, maybe he should've asked if she wanted to eat together? No, that was unlikely. She had a lot of friends anyways. Besides, as long as he ate her food, everything was alright, wasn't it? Touya couldn't tell if he was overthinking or not. But either way, he'd make sure the bento she had made would not go to waste! But he could worry about that stuff when the time came. For now, school awaited!

And so Touya headed off.

** f i ght me
but in all honesty, i hope this is okay!!
the skip is really bad, but i didn't know exactly
what to do, so feel free to jump in and edit or
something, Strix.
plus i forgot to ask about the weather so -- oops
just shoot me a pm and ill change them asap when i wake up
xxxxxxxxxxDɪᴀʟᴏɢᴜᴇ Cᴏʟᴏʀ ◆ #E8ADAA
xxxxxxxxxxxTʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ Cᴏʟᴏʀ ◇ #F778A1

XX Being so much closer to the girl, Kayo's eyes widened for a split second. "Is it honestly that obvious?" The girl asked, as Kayo just smiled soft, shrugging her shoulders. The way she was staring at the building was really the only obvious hint, if she was going to be blunt. But... what Kayo was really interested in was how similar they ended up looking alike. Hell, they could even be sisters. Of course, the most trained eyes could spot the obvious differences in appearances.

XXThis girl had shoulder-length hair, pretty and definitely giving off a feminine charm for sure. Man, were all highschool girls getting this pretty these days? When it came to eyes, however, Fujiwara saw into them almost too vividly. They seemed to radiate a gentleness, maybe fair more golden then Kayo's own. What a beautiful young girl! "Well, not many stare so fascinated by the school, that much is for sure." The heiress joked.

XX"I just moved here, I missed a friend of mine that moved here, and the campus is absolutely inspirational." Oho, she just moved here? How exciting! How cute, too! She really missed her friend that badly? Aha, it made Kayo miss her own friend a little bit inside. That smile though seemed like she was ready for whatever was thrown at her here in Tokyo, though.

XX"Oh? That's nice! I'm sure your friend is super excited to be seeing you!" The baseball player grinned, watching briefly as the girl had pulled out her phone and texted someone... before breaking out into the most hysterical of blushes. Biting her tongue, Kayo just stifled the small laugh."Are you okay? You're face looks a little red." Putting it cutely, anyway.

XXBut it seemed like the girl had taken notice to Kayo's own school uniform. "Are you a student of the college?"

XX"Huh? Oh! Yeah, I am. The uniform probably gave it away, huh? Isn't it cold, having such short sleeves?" Honestly, you would of expected the school would have some sort of optional jacket for the females in the highschool level. Way to go school system and their uniform choices. Ten out of ten.

XX"I'm so sorry, I forgot to introduce myself." Oh yeah, huh. They both had forgotten, hadn't they? "I am Nakahara, Yumiko and I'm a Senior in high school. I just moved here yesterday."

XXBowing her head a bit, Kayo offered another smile to her look-a-like. "I'm Fujiwara, Kayo. Freshmen in college. It's a pleasure to meet you too, Nakahara-san! Oh, hold on, my phone just..." Kayo mumbled, digging out her phone again as she glanced at the lit screen.

XXOh. Thank you very much! It looks great!

XXLooks like Watari was awake. That was nice!

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TIMESKIP:
Date: February 12th (Friday), 2016
Weather: Clear, very faint chill

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XX Well, this was a perplexing change in events. Who knew Kayo would actually be invited along? It... didn't exactly fit into her schedule, but she was willing to give it a shot. Even if she had to ditch later on Saturday if things went wrong.

XXSo... right now, they were just going to go shopping for a swimsuit, right? Oh, boy. That didn't sound like something she was going to be able to actually do without being fussy with what it looked like on her. The fuss, however, would obviously distract her from anything else she might of wanted to think about.

XXOf course, that didn't mean Kayo wasn't going to wonder how she even managed to get invited to this... or if the other party even knew she was coming with Watari. This wasn't going to be awkward, right?

Once Yumiko packed all of her belongings, she put her hair up into a high ponytail. She had agreed to spend overnight at the beach with Touya, Masaaki, and Touya's roommate, only to realize that she didn't have a proper swimsuit. She only had a one-piece, and she really wanted to impress Touya... She would have to go shopping, but she knew it would have to wait until she met whomever Touya's roommate was. She began to hope that the other girl would be lacking in swim attire as well because it would be embarrassing if she was the only one. She spun in front of her bedroom mirror, a little insecure. She wasn't sure if she could pull off the dress she chose to wear... She had been away from Touya for so long, that she wished to look as beautiful as possible. She didn't want him to see her as a child anymore! She wasn't sure about this all of a sudden. What if he didn't even notice how much she had grown up in his absence?

She left her room and locked up out of habit, even though Masaaki would be going on the trip as well. Sure, it made no sense why Masaaki would come, but Yumiko invited Masaaki out of guilt. She also had a bit of a diabolical plan set into motion, but he didn't need to know that.

If he went to the beach, it meant he could possibly meet someone else, thus saving her from the terms of her rental agreement. A girl could at least hope, right? She knocked on his bedroom door, wearing her white sundress and black flip flops. It was somewhat plain, but there was a cute ribbon on the left side of her dress, placed on her waist to spice it up a little, "Yamada-Senpai, we'll be late. We should meet up with Watari-Kun and his roommate." She called into his room, her timid voice raising in an attempt to become more audible from the other side of the door. Her brown eyes blinked after a moment of waiting, a pout forming on her lips. Just how long would he make her wait? She shifted nervously as she stood outside of his room, twirling the ends of her wavy brown locks of hair around her index finger as she attempted to be patient. Her attention span was always quite underdeveloped, so she was struggling to remain patient as she stood there, bored out of her mind. She contemplated putting makeup on while she waited for him, but there was no point whatsoever seeing as they were headed straight for the beach once their train arrived. However, her stomach growled, reminding her that they wouldn't have time to make breakfast at this rate.

Once her roommate emerged from his room with his bag in tow, she joined him in leaving their apartment, dragging her own bag along. She did not stop moving, afraid that he would try something funny if she gave him an opening. Once she made it to the front door and stepped out into the hall, her nerves uncoiled. Public places were always a good thing, it meant she was a little bit safer and it often made others think twice about doing indecent things to others. Yumiko headed straight for the elevator, leaning against the opposing wall with a sigh. Even though she was alone in the elevator with Masaaki, she was quite relaxed because being in public meant he wouldn't get a chance to do anything strange like he had attempted in the confines of their living space. However, when her eyes landed on her white dress that descended to her mid thigh, she became anxious. There was no way possible she would be able to pull off this dress. It was too late to change now, as they were already running quite late, but she did regret choosing it all the same. Her golden eyes shifted to look up at Masaki, wondering if he was still holding a grudge about what happened. She figured that everything was okay, and she assumed that he no longer was interested in her now that he knew she liked someone else. Even if it was rather embarrassing....confessing her feelings for Touya felt really good. She had never admitted it before, and even though Masaaki was technically a stranger, it meant she was at least one step closer to confessing her feelings to her childhood friend. Suddenly realization struck her like lightning. Masaaki had never admitted his name to her, and earlier she had addressed him by his last name. Her entire body grew stiff as she thought about it, hoping that he didn't pay attention. WHAT IF HE PAID ATTENTION? HE'LL THINK THAT I AM SOME KIND OF CREEP!!! WAY TO GO, YUMIKO! YOU CAME ACROSS AS A TOTAL STALKER!! She body attempted to shrink into itself, and she prayed that the doors would open soon for her sake. Apparently, like yesterday, today was not her day either. She began to wonder why her luck seemed to take a shift for the worst. Was she being too greedy? Was chasing after Touya the wrong path? She immediately shook those thoughts off as paranoia, but her gut told her that perhaps there was a bit of truth to them. It DID seem that the universe did not want her together with Touya as of late... UGH! Paranoia again!

The whole week up until now he had spent feigning disinterest in the brunette, until she approached him and invited him out to a beach party for the weekend. He had nodded, a little taken aback and relieved that she was still talking to him. The two still haven't talked since then and Masaaki was still nursing the little sting from his rejection. Physically and mentally, of course. The day after the brunette had rejected him, he went to his classes and halfway through the day, he picked a fight with a few students. Wasn't the most graceful of all encounters, but it allowed him to relieve some steam.

Save for a couple of bruises and aching muscles, of course. he thought to himself, absent-mindedly prodding at his bruises that littered his body while he was picking out something to wear.

He hadn't given it much thought despite the fact that he would be topless at the beach later. He got into a lot of scraps in his time that it didn't really bother him that much anymore. It came with the personality. Talk big, get hit.

Or just hit back harder. Masaaki snorted, rubbing knuckles.

"Yamada-Senpai, we'll be late. We should meet up with Watari-Kun and his roommate."

"Almo-" Masaaki did a double take. Did she just call him Yamada-senpai? The last time he checked, they never exchanged names after the whole fiasco of a confession. He looked at his door, wondering what the heck was going on.

It wasn't that he hated it. It was an odd feeling. It was different from being called 'senpai' in college. He couldn't argue with it, but it did make him feel a tad uneasy. In a good way, of course.

When he was ready, dressed in a sleeveless white hoodie and camo cargo pants, his white hair purposely tousled and he gave Yumiko the first sign of recognition since the rejection. He had been treating her with indifference, impassive stares included. A silent tantrum if you would. For the first time since that day, he gave her a quick but thorough scan before walking off to the door with his bag in tow.

She seems extra pretty today compared to when I first met her.

Maybe this was a date? Masaaki's face seemed to light up a little with a special kind of stupid while his legs automatically took him to the hall and the elevator. With the two of them in the elevator and the humming as the pulleys did their thing, with the distinct elevator jingle in the background, he took a more detailed look at the girl. Their eyes met, golden to amethyst, and Masaaki smiled at her.

"You look beautiful today." he murmured quietly, leaning closer towards her. Almost deliberately, he brought his arm up and propped it around her shoulders. Pulling her close, he breathed into her ears, "Now that you know my name, that'll be Yamada-sama to you."

His arm was wrapped around her in an almost tender embrace. He switched his attention to the elevator door, although his eyes still seemed to twinkle with an awoken mischief that hadn't shown since his rejection. He allowed the joke to sink in, glancing every once in a while to catch the brunette's expression.

"You look beautiful today."

His words took Yumiko completely by surprise, seeing as they actually had spent most of their time completely avoiding each other. To hear a compliment was a relief, but as he grew closer she realized that little had changed between the two of them. His arm rested atop her shoulders. The fact that the bare skin of his arm was touching the exposed skin of her shoulders, even in such a harmless way was noted. She felt her cheeks growing hotter by the minute, and she wasn't sure that she would be able to maintain her composure, "T-Thank you." She spoke it in English, and despite coming from a small little town hidden between the bigger cities that dotted Japan's countryside, she spoke it quite well. What she lacked in confidence, she made up for in her studies. She looked him over for the first time since they left the apartment together, noticing that his clothes matched her own. It couldn't have been more coordinated if the two had planned it. E-Everyone will think we're a couple! TOUYA will think that we're a couple! What should I do? I don't have time to go back and change....UGH! She thought frantically, biting the inside of her cheek. She shivered as she felt his breath brush against the exposed skin of her ear and neck, the ponytail she wore leaving most of her neck and ears unprotected from her roommate's serial habit of making personal space violations, "Y-You'll be popular at the beach yourself, I assume..." Now that she was giving the compliments, Yumiko reverted back to their native tongue, Japanese. She did not wish to outright call him attractive, even if that's exactly what Masaaki was. He was attractive, it could not be denied.

"Now that you know my name, that'll be Yamada-sama to you."

Blink. Blink. She almost thought she had imagined it, but after a moment to thought, she realized that Masaaki had actually commented on the fact that she knew his name, "Eh!?" Despite her horror and embarrassment, Yumiko did not fight the physical contact, remembering quite well what had happened the last time she attempted to deny him the right to touch her. It had become far too close to an adult moment, one that she did not wish to repeat. She had not been mentally prepared, nor did she think she would be anytime soon. Had it of been Touya, she wasn't sure if she would have had the voice to object... but her inner romantic rose to the occasion and saved her from the potentially erotic situation. Yumiko's warped virgin definition of 'erotic' anyway. Panic and embarrassment were the two main emotions that Yumiko felt, and her pink blush engulfed her entire face, transitioning into a bright shade of candy apple red, "Okinawa-san! She told me.. I..." Flustered did not even begin to explain how unraveled Yumiko felt in the elevator. Thankfully the doors opened, or maybe that wasn't such a good thing after all, because none other than Okinawa-san, their landlord noticed the pair stepping out.

Yamada-kun~ Nakahara-chan! You do make for an attractive couple. Ah... youuth~"

Twitch. Yumiko noticed that the landlady's mind was elsewhere and that their definitions of 'youth' surely would not match up. In fact, Yumiko had a feeling that if the landlady had her way... Nevermind that... She did not wish to corrupt her mind. However, she had a bad feeling that if she stuck around Masaaki and Okinawa-san long enough, the innocence her father desperately tried to protect would evaporate like smoke in Tokyo's busy streets. Whether Masaaki was ready to leave or not, Yumiko's feet were out the front door. She did not actively try to remove herself from his grasp just yet, but if he didn't keep up, it wasn't her fault. Once she saw Touya and Kayo in the distance she freed herself from Masaaki's arm and ran ahead.

"Fujiwara-San! Watari-Kun!" She energetically waved as she approached the two. She grinned to each of them, before glancing Touya over. She wasn't sure if he'd gotten taller, but she felt that he did. Not only that, she hoped that the dress and the way she'd prepared her hair would earn her a little attention from her crush. Perhaps he wouldn't see her as a child when she wore a dress? As lame as it sounds...please notice me Senpai!

Before she knew it, they were inside of a store shopping for swimwear. She wanted to prove that she wasn't a little girl anymore, so she went straight to the bikini aisle, even though she had never worn one before. She grabbed three from the shelves before trying them on in the changing room. She did not like the blue or the pink one she had chosen, instead deciding on a white one in the end. It was one of her favorite colors after all. It reminded her of a blank canvas, of endless possibility, of new beginnings, and of purity. She nervously stepped out to show the others to get their opinion, "How is this one..?" She did a shy turn to let them see the entire bathing suit, then her eyes shifted to Kayo, wondering if she choose to buy a new suit as well. She was curious what kind of swim wear a college girl would choose. She also wondered what kind of input the female upperclassmen would have on her choice of swim attire. She couldn't even manage looking in Touya's or Masaaki's direction. As they were male, it made this far more embarrassing. She had never shown this much skin before in public, this was the first time in her life.