When I see him react slightly to the cold, I make my decision and walk down the stairs.

My voice is a little raw from having not spoken for some time. "Let's go home, Yuu."

He gives me a passing glance before looking back at the sea. "Just a little longer."

I sigh. Enough is enough. He has to go home before he gets sick. "You've been sitting here an hour."

"That's why I told you to go ahead," he simply replies.

The harsh, cold wind blows past me and I shiver. This has got to stop. I stare at Yuu, my mind willing him to turn and look at me again.

"The wind's getting cold," I try. "You're gonna get sick. Let's go home."

"Yes, I just noticed."

I am in shock. "Just noticed?" Yuu is being more distant than usual. I am more concerned than I was an hour ago.

And--miracle!--he turns and acknowledges my presence, as if he just realized that I had come up behind him. "Will you warm me up?" he asks, pulling me towards him and pillowing his head between my breasts.

"Y...Yuu." My heart skips a beat before my rational mind can think over the situation. This is hardly a time for him to be... "W-wait...Yuu!"

He hugs me tightly. "I believed he was the one all this time," he says quietly.

And he starts to cry.

I have never seen Yuu cry.

What do I do now?

I do the only thing that comes naturally: I cry for him as well.

"Yuu..." I whisper, willing my voice to convey my feelings of support.

My feelings of love.

I guard him from the harsh wind that keeps blowing, drawing myself closer to him in an attempt to gain some of his heat while giving him mine.

We sit in silence for some time until I feel the heaving of Yuu's back subside and finally stop, and we both rise and start to walk along the beach towards home.

"When I found out that Youji wasn't my father," Yuu says suddenly, and I listen. It is very rare when Yuu opens his heart to me, and I have learned to listen very attentively when he does. "...I was shocked. I felt I shouldn't have been born, that I was denied my existence. I didn't want to talk to my parents for a month, or see them either."

There is an errant conch shell in front of him; he stops walking and toes it with his shoe for a minute before kicking it into the gently crashing waves.

"But, after a long time thinking," he continues, "I appreciated my mother for giving me birth...and my father, who's taken care of me."

My eyes do not leave the shell. It seems like Yuu is the shell, and I am the waves--I am forever reaching, making contact before suddenly being towed back by forces unknown.

"Since then, I haven't believed in anyone. I'm afraid of being betrayed. I can't show my straight feelings. I didn't think I cared."

And that is your fault, Yuu. You don't seem to care, so you are oblivious to the caring ones around you. I care about you...I wish you could see that, if nothing else.

I want you to love me as I love you.

He starts to walk again, sighing with exhaustion before speaking. "Anyway...Miwa Yoshimitsu is not my father. Satoshi is not my brother. I believed they were for a long time."

I can tell that Yuu is suffering inside. I have come to know when he is simply wearing a mask of neutrality and when he truly is happy.

"What an idiot I am," he says. "I wonder where my real father is."

My lips convey my heart's feelings before I have a chance to think it out. "It's not important."

He turns around and looks at me questioningly.

"Where your family is doesn't matter," I reply. "Even though we're not related...we have a family." I stare at the ground in embarrassment, after all this time still not fully accepting our predicament. "They're a bit strange..." I stare back up at him. I want to look into his eyes once more. "...But, Youji-san, Papa, Mama, me and Chiyako-san...we all love you, Yuu."

I have just told him that I loved him.

For him, it was probably a family love. But for me, it was a confession of longing. Desire. Passion. And I can feel myself trembling.

"We're an important family," I finish, trying to trick my mind into thinking of
something--anything--other than him.

He smiles at me. Please, Yuu...don't. You have no idea what that does to me.

"That's true." He turns away from me and begins walking. Our shared moment is over before it had barely begun. He soon suddenly slows down and stops walking. He has my complete attention--Yuu is about to share something that he is having difficulty with, and I am going to be there to comfort him.

It's all I can do for him.

I'm only sorry I can't do more.

"I...was stunned about the extension marriage. After going through so much...my father and mother loved each other. How could they switch partners so easily? But I was used to being shocked...so it was easy to act like nothing happened." He turns and grins at me. "No, it wasn't just acting. I was really able to think that way. I was so unemotional."

Yuu. You can be emotional when you want to be. You've proved to me several times before. Why can't you show it to the rest of the world...?

"But you were so different," he says. "When we first met..."

I am reminded of our first meeting, when I stood up in front of our dinner party, outraged, tears falling down my cheeks. <<If Papa and Mama change partners...and then re-marry...then...I don't know what I'll do!>>

He grins his teasing grin. "Crying like a baby, you opposed them."

My cheeks redden. I am stuck between anger and embarrassment. "B...but that was..." I fall silent. What is there to say?

"Unlike me," he says, "you're honest and pure. You give everything your all. You have no problem expressing your feelings."

I am furious. "You mean I'm uncomplicated."

His eyes catch mine and I see them soften. This is Yuu in his gentle mode--a look that I have come to love over the past few months.

"It's why...I love you," he says softly.

My eyes widen in shock and I have forgotten how to breathe.

Yuu truly does love me as I love him?

"...Really?" I ask, not sure if I dream or if I wake.

He turns and starts walking back towards home. "I told you that before. Seeing you asleep, I had to kiss you...because I liked you."

Yuu fell in love with me so early on in our relationship of knowing one another?

The infirmary encounter wasn't ALL that bad...

"You didn't believe me," he says, and I remember our date at Wonder Dog. I slapped him across the face when he told me that he teased me because he loved me.

He was speaking the truth?

Yuu was so sure of himself even then?

"So...you were telling the truth?" I am still in a state of shock.

Do I now cross the line and admit my love as well?

It could be my largest failure if I don't. It could be my largest failure if I do.

But what will happen to me if I never profess my love for him?

I run up behind him. "I...I love you too, Yuu."

He turns and looks at me in disbelief. I squirm; I am extremely nervous. My heart is warring between despair and rapture.

"Idiot," he finally says. "You're just saying that because of the mood."

I am completely crushed. Is he so blind as to think that I would tell just anyone that I was in love with them?

I must make him understand...

"It...It's not like that at all. I'm really..."

"In the same situation," he interrupts, "you'd say the same to Suou. Like in front of our gate. It looked like you...liked him quite a bit."

Is it my imagination, or is Yuu somewhat saddened by his own words?

"You're wrong!" I burst out. My heart speaks what my mind lacks the courage to say. He stares at me, waiting for my explanation. "...I really like Ginta...but only as a friend." I drop my eyes from his and stare at his chest. "When I found out that Na-chan and Meiko were in love, it felt like he was stealing her. The most important person to Meiko was Na-chan, not me. I was sad." I am quiet, knowing that my next words will break my current relationship with Yuu and start a new one--with me not knowing whether it is for better or for worse. "And...then I understood...Ginta's a friend like Meiko. I didn't want Arimi to steal my friend away.

I take a step towards him and stare into his eyes. Meeting his gaze now seems the hardest thing to do. "But Yuu, you're different!"

I can hear him gasp, and I feel my cheeks become hot. Have I just made a mistake? Am I entering unexplored waters too early on?

I have to finish.

"I...I'm in love with you," I say, quietly. "You're the one...that makes my heart pound. Only you."

I have just bared my heart and soul to him. It is now entirely in his hands as to how our relationship is going to proceed.

I already know what I want: I want to run into his arms and hold on to him tightly and never let him go. I want to inhale his smell and feel his hands run through my hair.

I am surprised when he walks towards me and brings a finger to my lips. "Your lips...are turning blue." His hand makes its way to my cheek and my cheek burns by his touch. "You're cold...because of me."

His hand leaves my face and I am saddened. "I'm sorry."

I stare into his eyes and he stares back into mine. His gaze pierces straight to my heart.

Straight to my soul.

I know what he wants, and it is just as much as I.

I start to lean into him and find that he is leaning towards me.

I close my eyes, completely trusting of him. There is only wind touching my lips for a brief moment, then I feel nothing but him. His hand lightly grasps my arm and his lips are soft on mine.

I am now his, just as much as he is mine.

I am his angel.



~End~