No matter how slowly he cooked and ate, and how many times he arranged the Seijyo blue tie in front of the mirror, still Yukito was too early. He considered ironing his clothes until it was time to meet To-ya and Sakura-chan, but... he was simply too eager to see them again. So he just pushed his bike towards their rendezvous point and stayed there, leaning against the trunk of a naked cherry tree and mentally counting down the minutes until they arrived.

To his joy and surprise, To-ya had apparently fallen off the bed this morning too. "Hey, Yuki!" the dark-haired boy waved as he entered the alley, probably waking up part of the neighborhood with his loud greeting.

"Good morning, To-ya!"

To-ya parked his bike beside Yukito's, beaming at him the largest smile anyone had ever seen in his usually serious face. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine. You're early."

If it was possible, To-ya's smile broadened even more. "So are you."

Yukito found himself blushing for no understandable reason. His friend had only showed him such an open smile in that strange dream of his... just before jumping in his arms... and...

He took off his glasses and cleaned them nervously with a handkerchief. This was not the kind of thing he should be thinking of now. Especially with To-ya leaning over the handlebars to stare so closely at him.

"I went to sleep really early last night," Yukito murmured. "I think." At least that was what he had assumed, considering that he didn't have any recollection since around five o'clock of the previous afternoon.

"And did you sleep well?"

There were several ways of asking that. Sheer gentleness and politeness was the more usual -- although not for the taciturn To-ya. Another way was out of concern and consideration, like in those days Yukito had been fainting every other hour and never getting enough sleep -- but again this wasn't quite like To-ya; he didn't need to ask such things, he always knew.

But the most unexpected way was how To-ya had just done it: whispering softly, hoarsely, his lips a few inches from Yukito's ear, his warm breath close enough to tickle, in a teasing, cuddly tone that sounded slightly... indecent.

Finding the proper tone to reply cost Yukito a few dozen fried brain-cells. "Fine. You?"

Did To-ya's eyes always glint like that? "Couldn't sleep at all," he hissed.

The boy looked so... hungry this morning. Yukito vaguely wondered if he had had enough to eat at breakfast. "I'm sorry to hear that..."

The taller boy ran a finger through Yukito's fringe, brushing his hair away from his eyes. "Don't be. I just didn't want to wake up this morning and wonder if everything that happened yesterday was real or just a delicious dream..."

Yukito smiled and put his glasses back on, feeling more at ease at last. "I know what you mean."

To-ya's hand slid down to caress his friend's cheek. "Good."

"We gotta thank Akizuki-san for that."

The hand froze. Blue eyes were eyeing him strangely under knitted brows. "Thank Akizuki? What for?"

"For the delicious rice balls she brought us, of course! I bet she made them specially for you," Yukito winked.

But To-ya had such an odd look on his face... As if a swarm of flying blackberries had just crossed his way. "Rice balls," he echoed distantly.

His voice seemed to have flown away with the blackberries too. Yukito patted his arm to call his attention. "Yeah. Maybe we should treat her to lunch today. What do you think?"

To-ya looked down at his arm where he had touched him, his good mood evaporating in a scowl. Yuki made a mental note not to touch him again.

But... but... To-ya had never minded that before!

"Yuki... yesterday..."

"Yes?"

The dark-haired boy pressed the bike's brakes on and off nervously, gritting his teeth. "What is the last thing you remember?"

Yukito winced a little. "Well... working in the flower shop, I guess. I'm sorry... Did I fall asleep again?"

He certainly did. And To-ya seemed terribly upset about it. "I don't believe it..."

"To-ya...?"

His friend was more than upset. He proved that by socking the bike's innocent handlebars with a furious fist. "I don't believe it! He promised me!"

Yukito stepped back, startled by the abrupt outburst. To-ya's earlier attitude had been just as enigmatic, but at least then he was smiling and happy, and now... "To-ya, what happened? Who promised you what?"

"Well, that doesn't matter anymore, does it?" His friend stared right into his eyes, his chin hard with contempt. "Because the promise wasn't kept, was it?"

All of a sudden, Yukito felt a pit of lava exploding inside him, his heartbeat thundering loud and fast in his ears. He couldn't remember feeling so indignant, or so offended. He gave To-ya his sarcastic glare back and heard his voice falling to a lower, sinister pitch. "Maybe you should verify that closely before throwing accusations, To-ya."

The words frosted the air between the two friends with their glacial, bitter tone. The street exploded into timeless silence, disturbed only by the ruffling of the dead, saffron-colored leaves being swept by the winter breeze.

For a moment Yukito's vision blurred, as if his glasses had abruptly became too weak or too strong for his myopia. When the world slowly regained focus around him, he noticed the alarming paleness of the dark-haired boy gaping before him. "To-ya...what...?"

"Angel?!" the other gasped.

Angel? Was To-ya calling him... angel?

Yuki shook his head, trying to order his thoughts. This was ridiculous, of course. To-ya enjoyed nicknames, but was economic with endearments. He wouldn't waste them -- and certainly not one as sweet and affectionate as "angel" -- with a friend, not even the closest of them. Especially when this friend had just snapped at...

He had snapped at To-ya?! Why?

To make things even more interesting, To-ya seemed just as confused as he felt.

"I'm sorry, To-ya," he whispered sincerely. "I don't know what..."

"It's okay," his friend soothed him instantly.

"But I..."

Strong hands fell on his shoulders, amicable and reassuring. "It's okay, really. I'm the one who has to apologize."

"You? But you didn't..."

Again. Those sharp blue eyes on his, looking so deeply inside him, unveiling the core of his soul. Unsettling, but... so warm. So comforting. "I'm sorry. I was jumping to conclusions."

Yukito smiled, calm and relieved, his heart regaining its usual tranquil pace. All right. Everything was all right.

Except that he had no idea of what was going on. "To-ya... you spoke of a promise?"

The look softened a bit. "Yuki..."

"Something happened yesterday? Really, I can't remember anything past the flower shop." He scratched his head with a sudden thought. "I don't even remember getting paid."

"We weren't. We were fired for getting out earlier and leaving the shop open with no one to keep an eye on it."

Yukito's chin dropped. "We did that?!"

"We had to... to go someplace else."

"Where?"

"Tsukimine Temple."

"The Temple? Why? What happened there?"

To-ya sat back on his bike and snorted. "Now that is the part I fell asleep at."

Yukito's eyes widened in consternation. Was his friend having sleepiness spells too now? Was it contagious?

Sighing deeply, apprehensively, To-ya gazed at him with surprisingly bashful eyes. "Listen, Yuki... yesterday... you... I mean... You see, I... ahn..."

"ONIIIIIIICHAAAN!!!!!!"

To-ya heroically managed not to jump three meters high at the enraged yell. Yukito waved at the little girl sliding around the corner on incautiously fast roller blades. Even from two blocks away he could see the smoke fuming out of her ears. "You left Sakura-chan behind again, To-ya?"

"I tried," grunted the other. "I wanted to talk to you in private. You know."

Yukito was getting really worried. He knew? What did he know? Had he made a promise to To-ya and simply forgotten about it? And why the privacy? Was there something wrong with To-ya?

Sakura-chan reached them -- with an eerie screech of her wheels as she halted so abruptly -- before he could question his friend about it. "O... nii... chan..." she hissed, out of breath. "You didn't... *puff puff* ...wait... *puff puff* ...for me..."

"Didn't want to interrupt the Kaijuu's meal," To-ya muttered. "Or stay to watch it. It's not a pleasant view."

Roller blades could kill. Or at least break some bones. After years having his teasing rewarded with feral kicks, one would think someone as intelligent as To-ya would have learnt that lesson...

As the dark-haired boy swallowed a yelp of pain, Yukito pretended not to see it, as always. "Good morning, Sakura-chan. Woke up with a lot of energy today, ne?"

The girl looked up at him and all the anger vanished from her pretty face... but wasn't replaced by the usual smile and blush. Sakura-chan seemed very nervous this morning, worried and somewhat abashed. And now that he paid more attention to her emerald irises, not that much energetic either. "Yukito-san... yesterday... you... I mean... You see, I... ahn..."

Yukito glanced at To-ya, who coughed and looked away, then back to the stammering kid. This would probably turn out a very long day.

"I hope you're feeling well this morning," Sakura-chan managed after a few more aborted attempts.

He gave her a broad smile. So she was worried about his health? "I feel great. I slept like a baby, and my appetite returned to normal. Four portions of sontsu howanyun and six servings of rice were enough for my breakfast, and I'm sure my stomach can hold until lunch now."

To-ya coughed again -- or was that a chortle? Sakura-chan looked a bit disconcerted too...

Had he said something wrong?

"I'm glad," Sakura-chan said softly, her little mouth barely curving in a sad grin. "Because... I..." A sigh of embarrassment. "You are very..." Gulp. "Very important." Blush. "To me."

Yukito's heart melted. He knelt before her, not for the first time feeling like the luckiest person on earth. "You are very important to me too, Sakura-chan."

She smiled and breathed more freely now, but... There was a but there somewhere. He could almost see a shadow of sorrow swirling gravely around her petite figure. The fact that To-ya skipped the opportunity to mock his little sister's cute stammering was good evidence of that.

Yukito didn't want to push though. So he just climbed silently on his bike and the three of them got on their way.

They made the ride in complete silence. Never before Yukito had seen Sakura-chan pay so much attention to the holes in the asphalt. To-ya was just keeping up that reserved attitude he was famous for -- although there was still that mysterious thing he had wanted to say in private which he hadn't said and that apparently shouldn't be mysterious but it was...

Good grief...

Well, no use in worrying about it. To-ya would tell him later and everything would be clarified. If something was troubling Yukito into silence, it was something else.

The time to say goodbye to those pleasant rides to school was about to come.

Why must time pass? Why did he have to go to college? Why did the campus and Sakura-chan's school have to be in opposite sides of the town?

At least he and To-ya would be going to the same college. He couldn't even conceive the idea of parting with To-ya. But they wouldn't attend the same classes anymore, so there wouldn't be many excuses for them to study together. So when would Yukito get to see Sakura-chan now? A dark picture formed in his mind: a few years ahead, he would casually bump into a girl on the street, and she would be as tall as he is, beautiful but very changed, and he would sigh for having missed her growing -- and lost her closeness.

It was not a possibility he wanted to think about. But for some reason the idea of Sakura-chan growing up and changing was haunting him this morning like an evil serpent coming straight from hell to curse him.

Oh dear... Maybe he was developing a sister complex as well?

Sakura-chan seemed definitely upset when they reached the elementary school gates. As if she didn't want to go in. The girl wasn't the most devoted of students, but she had always been eager to meet her classmates and have fun in gym class. Today she stared at the school building with as much anticipation as she would feel about entering a dental clinic. "Will you be okay, Sakura-chan?"

She nodded categorically, in that cute way of hers, trying to look happy not to worry him. "Sure! Have a nice day, Yukito-san." She turned to her older brother. "Bye, Oniichan."

"You have cooking class today?" To-ya inquired.

"Yes."

"Then please pay attention. For my stomach's sake. You're cooking dinner tonight."

Sakura growled. For a brief moment the Kinomoto siblings managed to return to their funny routine and Yukito felt relieved. She slid to the gates as the two boys pedaled on towards Seijyo High, and Yukito found out it was easier to smile now.

"Yukito-san!"

He turned his head barely in time to see Sakura-chan throwing a tiny object in his direction, and he pressed the brakes to make sure he would grab it. To-ya snorted.

A nougat-filled truffle.

"Arigatou gozaimasu!" he cried out and waved. She waved back and disappeared between the gates.

He put the candy in his jacket pocket and pedaled faster to reach To-ya, smiling ear-to-ear. "Your sister is a really sweet kid," he commented.

"You spoil her too much," the other objected.

"To-ya?"

"Hmm?"

"Is she worried about my health? What was that all about?"

"She wanted to make sure that you're not mad at her..."

Yukito almost fell off the bike. "WHAT?! Why would I ever be mad at her?"

"..and to make sure that you knew she isn't mad at you either," To-ya finished with a shrug.

"But... did I do something to make her mad? Did I say something that hurt her feelings?" Yukito was frantic. He had last seen her the previous morning, also on their way to school. She was tired after a night of insomnia and he did his best to cheer her up. Maybe one of his efforts came out too clumsily and he didn't notice it...?

"Not exactly you, Yuki," Touya said simply.

Not exactly...?

Yukito wanted to kick himself. Of course! He hadn't been himself yesterday! That was what the sleepiness spells meant.

Well, for him at least. But To-ya had said earlier he had also fallen asleep at some point... Did To-ya have another self too?

"My other self and Sakura-chan had a fight?" Yukito's heart was painfully constricted. He knew nothing about whatever he became when he fell asleep. Was he a mean thug, vicious enough to hurt Sakura-chan's feelings?

"He was upset at... stuff," his friend said diplomatically. "And failed to make clear it wasn't Sakura he was upset at."

So it was just an honest misunderstanding? Yukito hoped so. "You think I should apologize to Sakura-chan?"

That brought an amused lopsided smile to To-ya's face. "Nah. That stuffed yellow toy had enough fun last night..."

"Huh?!"

They had gotten to Seijyo gates and brought their bikes to a halt. "Never mind. Don't worry about it, Yuki."

"But she seems somewhat distraught this morning..."

"It's not about you."

"No?"

"No."

Yukito studied the taller boy's somber demeanor and added two and two together. "It's about the kid from Hong Kong then."

That's when he realized that having a sister complex didn't mean fearing never to see Sakura-chan again. Sister complex meant turning into a wild roaring animal whenever a certain kid was mentioned anywhere near him. "That... miserable... GAKI! Took advantage while I was asleep... he dared to... Aaaaarrrgggh!!!!!"

To-ya looked really cute like that. Dangerous, but cute.

"Did he gave her a teddy bear?"

The wild animal stopped roaring for a befuddled second. "A teddy bear?"

"Like the one she gave me... but black. No?" The other shook his head. "Oh well. I was hoping he would."

"What do you mean, hoping?"

Yukito had better remember the dangerous side of the cute beast before him, or he might lose an arm to its sharp teeth... "I don't know, To-ya. I just think... maybe you're overreacting a little."

"I'm not overreacting. That gaki is trouble! Serious trouble!"

Translation... "You mean, Sakura-chan likes him."

"I tell her who she's allowed to like and who she isn't," To-ya spat stubbornly. "And I don't like him, so she won't either."

Yukito was giggling. "I'm glad you like me, then."

The beast vanished abruptly, replaced by a sad, worried boy. "Yuki... you really don't remember? Nothing at all? Not even when we...?"

"TOUYA-KUUUUUUN!!!"

"Aaaa-ckk!"

Yukito wasn't sure if To-ya had tried to say Akizuki-san's name as a greeting, or just scream. It became impossible to tell when she landed on his back and gave him another of her very enthusiastic and amiable hugs.

"Touya-kun, I'm so glad to see you again!" she chanted merrily. "I mean, I saw you yesterday... but how could you?! You slept through the whole thing! And I wanted so much to show you my battle outfit... You do like butterflies, don't you, Touya-kun?"

Slept through... Had Akizuki-san found both him and To-ya when they were asleep? Was she asleep as well? Maybe there was some great somnambulism party the evening before... "Good morning, Akizuki-san," Yukito greeted her cordially, ignoring the desperate look his best friend sent him. "I wanted to thank you again for those rice balls, yesterday. They were positively delicious."

"Thank Eriol," she snickered. "I can't cook to save my life. How are you doing, Tsukishiro-kun?"

"Great, thanks." Eriol... that friend of Sakura-chan's? He and Akizuki-san knew each other? And hadn't she bragged a thousand times about being the best of cooks the day before?

"Had your hair cut? Looks a bit shorter."

Yukito ran a hand through his hair, bewildered. It was longer than ever, but he had felt like it was shorter when he woke up. And... the way the girl was looking at him... as if she had just sent a prank his way and was waiting for him to notice it...

No, that was absurd. Akizuki-san was so nice and friendly...

...ne?

"Well, never mind," she shrugged. "You should work on a full remodeling, you know. The only way old models can compete with new ones is by keeping up with fashion, wearing the colors of the decade, getting new make-up, a new hairstyle -- have you considered dyeing? Silver is so two centuries ago! No one is for the plain and austere anymore. And nothing is more boring than white and blue. It doesn't gleam, it doesn't scream, it doesn't say anything. White is for dead walls, my friend. Emphasis on 'dead'. If you wanna look alive, you gotta run after it, invest in it. Of course, nothing can keep the old engines from growing rusty, slower and weaker, but sometimes if you look impressive enough you won't be called to prove your skills. Sometimes."

Yukito could only stare at her in astonishment, unable to glimpse what she could be talking about. White and blue? He seldom dressed like that, if ever. The Seijyo uniforms, of course, but he didn't have any choice, and Akizuki had to wear the same... even if she weren't wearing any uniform now for some reason... but...

... and what did she mean by old engines? He had just turned 18!

Akizuki-san was a peculiar girl, and often said things to him that he didn't understand. Maybe that was to be expected, since she was a foreigner. But it didn't matter. She was always around, asking him about his health and disposition, checking on him in one way or another... She was also kind enough to replace him when his sleepiness spells prevented him from keeping up his promises of giving a hand to the soccer and basketball team -- except in official games, when teams were necessarily all men or all female-formed. Oh, and she would yell a lot about that, saying that gender wasn't an issue with her. Well, unfortunately it was for the judges...

And he could only sympathize with her eagerness to be around To-ya too. Hadn't To-ya himself said that Yukito and Akizuki-san had lots in common? Yukito was sure of that, he felt it in his bones, and enjoyed the girl's cheerful company. On the other hand...

On the other hand, he was feeling slightly annoyed at her chattering this morning. Why, he couldn't tell.

He tried to think of a polite but vague reply to cut her out, but something far more urgent called his attention. "Ahn... Akizuki-san? I'm afraid To-ya is turning blue..."

The girl blinked and looked at the face on top of the neck she was still hanging from. It went past blue, it was completely purple, with eyes about to pop out of their sockets. "Eeps..."

She jumped down, hands fingering her braided lock, gazing sheepishly at the coughing boy that staggered forward, holding Yukito's arms for support. "Aki... *cough cough*... zuki.. *cough* ...are you... trying... *cough cough cough* ... to kill me?"

"Touya-kun!!!" she shrieked. "How can you say something like that? After all we've been through together..."

To-ya looked at her as if she had turned into a flying blackberry too.

"Don't worry, Akizuki-san," Yukito reassured her. "To-ya is just kidding, ne?"

Judging by the flabbergasted look the taller boy gave him, To-ya was seeing swarms of blackberries everywhere.

The girl smiled sweetly and leaned against To-ya's chest. "I know... Touya-kun is such a lovely wag..."

A wag... Now that was not the way Yukito would describe his best friend... well, maybe around Sakura-chan he was a bit of a wag, but... it was something so private, so intimate, a facet he reserved only for his family and...

He blushed. To-ya was a bit of a wag with him too. Just a little bit, usually when no else was in earshot. Had Akizuki-san finally managed to get close enough to...? She was hugging To-ya so tenderly... and he wasn't really fighting her embrace, he was just standing there, looking at the clouds above and muttering unintelligibly. Maybe...

What if she got to know To-ya better than he did?

"How are you feeling this morning, Touya-kun?" the girl asked charmingly. "It was so unfair that you had to miss all the fun yesterday... You'd have seen me and Mr. Silver Boredom face to face... I bet you'd have changed your mind about..."

"I won't. Ever."

Hard, direct, definitive. Whatever they were talking about, To-ya wasn't admitting second thoughts about it.

Akizuki-san still seemed somewhat skeptical though. "Eriol once felt like you do now, you know. And even he recovered his senses eventually."

"Good for you. But I'm not him."

"Yes, but..."

As Akizuki-san proceeded with her obscure arguing, Yukito started to feel really left out. He had spent lots of time in the company of the Kinomotos, and he always knew what they were talking about. Well, except for that incident with Daidouji Sonomi and Fujitaka-san -- but even then Touya hurried to explain the whole story soon afterwards, even being such a delicate topic in the family. And now, however... "Ahn... I guess I should be going inside," he announced. "Classes will start in a minute and... and..."

...and he wouldn't be going anywhere. Not with To-ya holding his wrist as if for dear life. "Wait."

Yukito gulped. "I don't want to intrude..."

The dark-haired boy pursed his lips. "You're not the intruder here. And I'm not having any more of this. You and I are going in together." He turned to the girl with a humorless grin, waving a finger to the elegant scarlet costume with yellow tie she was wearing. "And I suppose you are staying out, since you're not in your uniform. So... have a nice day, Akizuki." With that, he pulled his shorter friend towards the school gates.

But Yukito didn't move. "You're not coming in? That's too bad! To-ya and I were going to invite you to lunch today..."

Had he become a flying blackberry as well? To-ya was sure giving him a weird look... which turned into a gaping grimace as Akizuki-san threw herself in his arms once again. "You were? Touya-kun, you're so sweet!"

Sweet. Yeah, that was a word Yukito would easily use to describe To-ya...

Well... maybe not now.

"I am so NOT taking you to lunch!!!! I never said I would!!! And you already admitted you didn't make those rice balls!!! So Yuki and I don't owe you anything!!! Now let go of me!!!!!!!"

She did. Eventually. "I really wish I could go," she sighed. "But I got so much to pack!"

"Pack?" the two boys blinked.

"Yeah. I just came to say goodbye, you know. I'm going back home tomorrow."

"Home?" To-ya gaped. "As in back to England?"

"Yep."

Yukito suddenly felt numb and empty. Apathetic. But deep inside him, he still could sense something warm and hopeful being silently shattered into a million pieces.