Chapter One

glanced at the class clock and let out a sigh. She pulled out her nail file and began to file her nails. Crossing her legs to get more comfortable, she just sat there patiently as the little girl in front of her continued to color in her coloring book.

looked up again and frowned. She dropped her nail file and stood up, her mini skirt stretching back to its original length (which wasn’t very much to begin with). She walked towards the little girl, her heels clicking on the floor and leaned over. "Sumi-chan, do you want to wait outside for your father with me?"

"I can see your underwear! Were you shopping online from La Senza again?"

jolted up and looked at the person behind her. It was the teacher she was currently assisting. He was Caucasian, but no one really knew which part of Europe he was from. However, didn't care. This man, no matter how crude he could be sometimes, was one of the best people she had ever met. " ," she said, using his first name, for he was still not used to the Japanese method of greeting. “Behave yourself." She poked his chest. "Besides, how the hell did you know I bought these from La Senza?!"

"The ruffles and lace!" walked in and smiled sheepishly. With his tall features and long hair in a ponytail, no one would have ever thought that he taught English in a kindergarten class. "And you’re telling me I should ‘behave myself’?" he asked, standing in front of her. "How many times have I told you not to dress like that when you come to class?" he asked, eyeing her attire.

One thing knew about was that she was not modest when it came to dressing. It was a constant battle everyday for her with the headmistress. Her attire always consisted of short skirts, revealing shirts that also exposed her midriff. No matter how many times the others objected to her attire, always brushed them off with a shrug, knowing they couldn't do anything about it. He knew that if she was fired based on that, it would be considered offensive.

placed a finger on his lips. "We still have a student," she whispered.

looked down and saw large sparkling eyes watching him. He immediately knew who she was. Ignoring , he bent down on one knee and ruffled the girl's long brown hair. "Is your father late again, Sumi?"

Sumi nodded shyly, looking down at her feet. 

Late again? thought, looking down at Sumi.

stood up and looked at as he took Sumi's hand in his. "Her father is late most of the time when he picks her up."

"Oh," she said quietly. This piece of information was new to her since she was just re-assigned from another class to 's class yesterday. She knew very well and they were good friends, so she had been trying for ages to get assigned to him. "Is he some busy tycoon or something? I mean, what kind of father forgets his own daughter?!" she asked as the three of them walked out into the empty hallways.

"A father who is trying to provide the best life for his daughter."

stopped in her place when she heard that. She turned to see a fairly handsome man walking towards them.

smacked his forehead with his free hand and swore softly. "Must you always be so loud, ?" he muttered.

"Shut up," she hissed, but her eyes stayed on the handsome stranger instead of glaring at .  “I assume that you are Sumi-chan’s father then?”

“I am.”  He confirmed with a nod.  “Yagyuu Hiroshi.  And you are…?”

“I’m—“

“Yagyuu-san, it has been a while,” butted in, pushing aside to greet the handsome man.  With a charming smile, he gave a polite bow that Yagyuu returned with a slight one.

glared at her friend after she regained her balance from being pushed aside by the European.  She straightened her clothes and flipped her hair back over her shoulder.  Once she was finished, she noticed that Yagyuu was staring at her with a critical eye.  She raised an eyebrow at him as if questioning why he was staring so intently.

“Who are you?”  Yagyuu questioned, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.  The light reflecting off of his lens made it rather difficult to see his eyes.

“I’m the assistant teacher for , ,” answered, pride and haughtiness evident in her voice and posture.

“Really now?  I apologize for thinking otherwise,” Yagyuu replied in a tone that wasn’t at all apologetic.  He ignored the snickers from the foreign male and the fuming female in favor of his daughter who was clutching his pant leg the whole time.  He picked her up into his arms and gave her a light peck on her cheek earning him a bright smile.  He smiled back, albeit a small and slightly tired one.

could tell that was fuming, but he chose not to make anything of it. He turned his attention back to Yagyuu. "Is the new bridge keeping you busy, Yagyuu-san?"

"Yes," he answered, still looking at Sumi. Yagyuu finally turned to look at them and bid them a good evening. He walked away without saying another word.

Once he was out of sight and earshot, turned to . "Bridge?"

walked ahead of her, hands in his pockets. "He is a civil engineer⁽¹⁾; he's supervising the new bridge between the Shibaura Warf and the Odaiba waterfront development⁽²⁾. That’s the reason why he's late most of the time for the past three weeks."

ran after him in her high heels. It was a phenomenon a lot of people wondered about – how could she always run in her heels. "You could've said that after I made that busy tycoon comment, you know."

"And miss the opportunity of you making a fool of yourself?" He grinned sideways at her as she stopped in front of him with an accusing look.  “At least you made a first impression on him.  Even if it’s not the pleasant kind.”

huffed with an irritated glare.  “He just took one look at me and made his own assumptions.”

“Just like you did when you learned that he comes late when picking up Sumi-chan.”  

looked about ready to retort but thought better of it, knowing he was right.  Instead she just glanced away from her friend with a small pout.  chuckled at her expression before draping his arm over her shoulders. 

“Come on.  I’ll treat you to dinner tonight,” offered as a sign of peace.  He began to lead her out of the school and into the staff parking lot.  “But you know, you got to admit that he isn’t so bad looking,” he said with a waggle of his eyebrows.

“Whatever,” responded indifferently.  However, knew that she had just agreed with his statement and a lecherous smirk appeared on his face.  “Wipe that smirk off your face and hurry up.  I’m going to milk your wallet dry.”

“Like that's never happened before,” muttered.  In return he received a shove from the woman, almost making him lose his balance.

"You know, somehow that is so not what a gay man would say?!"

He just snorted. He was joking with her. He already knew what type of woman she was and no matter how provocatively she dressed, she still had morals. He just got into the car and they argued the rest of the way as usual. 

--------------------

“Then the unicorn carried the princess off to a faraway land to live happily ever after,” Yagyuu narrated from the storybook.  Noticing that his daughter was sound asleep, he closed the book and placed it on the bedside table.  Tucking her in properly, he placed a kiss on her temple before turning on the night-light and leaving the room.

Easily navigating through the dark house, he made his way to his office where his work awaited him.  Heaving a small tired sigh, he sat down at his desk to start working.  However, the need to continue working began to elude him as lines and numbers blurred together, an obvious sign of his fatigue.

Half an hour later, he knew it was useless when he started seeing eights instead of twos. He threw his glasses on the desk and rubbed his eyes wearily. What am I doing to myself?

His eyes were just about to shut when he heard a familiar jingle of keys in the distance. He immediately sat up straight just as someone walked into the office. The lights coming on made him shield his eyes and he swore softly at how much they hurt, for he was used to just having the desk lamp on.

"It's bad enough that you're almost blind, but you work in the dark as well."

Yagyuu peeked through his fingers as his hand blocked his eyes until they adjusted to the light. He already knew who it was, but was accustomed to looking at the person he was talking to. "I'm used to it and you're starting to sound like a nagging wife. Aren’t I supposed to be the one to ask why you are still out?"

Yukimura Seiichi looked at his watch. "Now who sounds like a nagging wife? It's only 8:30 PM and you know a financial analyst doesn’t have a time that they don’t work." He took a seat across him. "You do realize we sound like a gay couple?"

Yagyuu let out a sigh. If someone had ever told him in middle school that he and his tennis captain would be housemates when they reached adulthood, he would have told them to re-think that again. It was all a too good to be a coincidence kind of thing. He was looking for a housemate for his spare bedroom and someone he could trust so they could watch Sumi when he had work. It was ironic that Yukimura was the one that had found the ad he had posted. 

[Flashback]

Yagyuu looked around his home, making sure nothing was out of place.  It was rare that he even invited anyone to his place, but the person coming over was a special case.  The person coming was a potential housemate that he needed to interview to make sure he checked out.

Restraining himself from checking everything for the umpteenth time, Yagyuu went in the kitchen to prepare the tea.  Just as he was about to head towards the kitchen there was a knock on the door.  He gave everything a hasty once over before opening the door.  He tensed a bit when he saw the person behind the door.

“It’s been a while, Yagyuu.”

“Yukimura, good to see you again.” Yagyuu greeted him with a small smile.  He moved out of the way to allow his guest inside.

Once he had taken off his shoes and placed them on the nearby shoe rack, Yukimura Seiichi glanced around the place.  He smiled in appreciation at the simple yet elegant décor that emanated the warmth of a place that was lived in.  “This is a really nice place, Yagyuu.”

“Thank you. Please have a seat while I prepare the tea,” Yagyuu offered, gesturing towards the Western-style living area.  He then made his way towards his original destination before his guest had arrived.

Instead of sitting down right away, Yukimura walked around the living area, taking in all the little details.  Noticing a few photos that were placed in various places, the blue-haired man went to look at them.  A nostalgic smile made its way onto his face when he saw a picture of their old tennis team from both middle and high school.  Other picture frames contained Yagyuu’s family and various members of his family.  One last photo contained a picture of Yagyuu and a very young girl in his arms.  He wondered who the girl was.

“Sorry for making you wait.”  Yagyuu appeared with a tray and placed it on the coffee table.

“Not at all,” Yukimura replied with a smile.  He took a seat across from where Yagyuu was, thanking him when he served him a cup of tea.  A minute of silence passed between them before Yukimura spoke once more breaking it.  “I was surprised that it was you who had posted that ad.”

“And imagine my surprise when it was you who answered it,” Yagyuu mused, setting his teacup down on the table.  “How do you like the place?”

“I think it’s perfect.  Although I haven’t seen the whole place yet, I like it already.  It’s also in a good location from my work place.  Not too close and not too far,” Yukimura responded earnestly.  He glanced towards his old friend and noticed that something was off with the bespectacled man.

“Actually—”

“Papa!”

A cry from one of the rooms cut off what Yagyuu had been about to say.  He immediately stood up from his seat and quickly went towards where the cry came from.  A minute later, he emerged holding the very same young girl in the photo in his arms.

“Yukimura, I’d like you to meet my daughter, Sumi.”

[End Flashback]

"Where is she?"

"Asleep,” Yagyuu answered, standing up and stretching. "You know it's past her bedtime." He scratched his head slightly and then rubbed his chest.

Yukimura rolled his eyes, but did not make a move to stand up. "I think it's past your bedtime too," he told Yagyuu.

All he got was a wry smile from his housemate as he got up to go to his own room.  He halted in his steps when his former captain spoke to him again.  “Yagyuu, I think you should get out more,” Yukimura suggested.  “And going out to lunch only to work even more while you eat does not count,” he added.

“You know I don’t have the time to do that, especially now,” Yagyuu said quietly.  However, he knew the blue-haired male heard him loud and clear.

“So make some time! You know I would gladly watch over Sumi for you,” Yukimura reasoned.  He hesitated whether to add this bit or not, but figured that it would help in the long run.  “Don’t you want Sumi to have a mother figure to look up to?  You know you can’t carry that role forever.”

Yagyuu just let out a tired, almost inaudible sigh before leaving to his room.

Yukimura crossed his arms behind his head and stayed there, thinking. He never forgot how shocked he had been when he realized that Yagyuu, fresh out of university, had a four-year-old daughter. He had muttered something about how Yagyuu had been the most sensible out of them, but Yagyuu had shot back a comment about his piercing.

Yukimura chuckled quietly to himself as he touched his left ear and felt his earring. It was an impulsive move of his, but he didn’t regret it.

However, what surprised him most since he met Yagyuu again was that the ‘gentleman’ was no more. Not 100% there, anyway. He definitely didn’t really care about what he said or did anymore. Sometimes he was too protective of his little girl to think of his words or actions, and Yukimura often felt that he might be a little too harsh.

With a yawn, Yukimura stood up and decided to go to the kitchen and see if there was any dinner tonight.

--------------------

swore softly, walking into her studio apartment. She held her head as she threw her heels across the room and fell on the sofa. "I keep forgetting to say no to you when you invite me for a drink," she murmured. "I hate you!"

walked in. "I just carried you up seven floors to your apartment; the least you could tell me is that you love me."

"Oh just shut it," she whispered harshly, holding her face like she was in pain.

Leaning against the door, he crossed his arms. "I can lead you to the bar, but I can't force you to drink, so don't go blaming me for that."

She just groaned.

sighed and closed the door. He took off his shoes and got comfortable. I guess I'm staying the night again, he thought, sitting on the sofa. That’s the only way I can make sure she actually goes to work tomorrow.

He watched her for a second and was contemplating whether he should take her picture and use it for blackmail when he needed something. This was the perfect opportunity, after all.  She was asleep on her back, clothes all rumpled and askew, without a care in the world.

To , this was normal. was the first person he had met when he walked out of the airport and somehow they had just clicked. They had gotten along even better when she found that he was gay and he discovered that she didn’t give a damn about most things in life. He went to where she slept and lifted her up, making her utter several unintelligent things, but she relaxed in a minute.

A smile emerged on his face as he shook his head in amusement.  “Really, where would you be without me?”  That comment seemed to earn him more incoherent mutterings that sounded oddly like insults.  Heaving a sigh at her ungratefulness, he proceeded to carry her to her room.  After prepping her for bed, he tucked her in.  Immediately she rolled onto her side, facing away from him.  Not even a show of thanks.  shook his head once more.  Then again, she wouldn’t be if she did.

--------------------

“You’re up earlier than usual,” Yukimura murmured, his mind still a bit hazy with sleep.  Still clad in his sleepwear, he trudged into the kitchen and grabbed his coffee mug to prepare a cup.  Amazingly enough, he didn’t mistake the salt for sugar.

“I need to be at the site earlier than usual,” Yagyuu stated before sipping at his own cup of caffeine.  “Which leads me to asking you for a favor.”

Yukimura sipped his steaming drink and waited a minute for it to kick in.  “You want me to take Sumi to school, right?”

“If it’s not too much trouble,” the bespectacled man said with a sheepish look.

The blue-haired male sighed as he placed his cup on the counter.  “You know I don’t mind but this wouldn’t be the first time you asked me for this favor,” he reminded in an a matter-of-fact tone.  Pushing away from the counter, he opened the fridge and contemplated what to make for breakfast.

“I’ll return the favor.”  Yagyuu walked past him to place his cup in the sink to wash later.  He took up his briefcase, making sure all his papers were inside.

“You can repay me by actually going out with someone from the opposite gender,” Yukimura said, taking out the carton of eggs and some milk.  French toast sounded really good to him at the moment.

“Tell her I’ll be there to pick her up this afternoon,” Yagyuu replied, dodging the subject.  “I’ll be going then.”  With that, he left for another long day at work.

Yukimura muttered something under his breath as he continued making his breakfast. He made an extra one because he knew just as he finished making it…

"Papa!"

Yukimura placed the French toast on her plate and the other one on his own and smiled at Sumi. "Good morning," he said cheerfully. "Papa had to go to work," he said, pouring orange juice into glasses for each of them.

Sumi looked down and pouted. She made a cute sight, standing there in her pajamas.

He bent down and ruffled her hair. "Uncle Sei made us breakfast and after that we'll go to school together. Is that alright?"

Sumi beamed and gave him a hug. "Yes!" she said cheerfully, allowing him to carry her and place her on the chair opposite his.

They ate together, with her asking the usual questions that normal four-year-olds ask. When they had finished eating, she ran to her room to get dressed while he decided to be nice and wash the dishes. He finished them and went after Sumi to help her dress. After all, he wasn’t sure that a four-year-old knew the basics yet.

An hour later, they both reached the gates of her school. The minute Yukimura walked in, he knew that even an insane person could tell that this was a madhouse from all the noises all around. Classes hadn't started yet, so a lot of the children were just standing around. "Who did you want me to meet, Sumi?" Yukimura asked, holding her hand as she walked to her class.

" -sensei!"

He raised an eyebrow at her. " -sensei?"

Sumi nodded excitedly and her face seemed to brighten up when she spotted something or rather someone. Sumi let go of Yukimura's hand and ran. He watched her run towards a figure, which was leaning by the wall.

Every step he took towards them, his frown increased. He was wondering who the woman Sumi was talking so enthusiastically to was. The woman was holding onto her head slightly like she was in some kind of pain. He didn’t really care at the moment about that. What made him wonder about her was the way she was dressed. Could she be a teacher? He thought, quickening his pace. 

“And then this morning, Uncle Sei made me French toast and brought me to school,” Sumi narrated excitedly to the woman.

“That’s nice, Sumi-chan,” said as she rubbed her temples in small circles.  “Why don’t you get ready for class?  It’ll start in just a bit.”

“Okay!”  Sumi chirped and ran off to her assigned seat.

let out a sigh as she turned from her position against the wall.  She halted in her steps when she saw a blue-haired male standing before her with a slightly questioning expression on his face.  She raised an eyebrow.  “Can I help you?”

“Are you a teacher here?” Yukimura inquired, slight curiosity hinted in his voice.

“I’m the assistant teacher for this class,” informed.  “Something wrong?”

Yukimura just looked her up and down discreetly before placing smile on his face.  “Not at all.  Just curious.”

“I’m sure,” retorted with narrowed eyes.  “You’re the second one in less than a day.  Appearance isn’t everything…”  Seeing the questioning look directed towards her, she just shook it off.  “It’s nothing.  Is there anything else I can help you with?  should be here in a moment if you want to talk to him.”

“No that’s quite all right.  I need to be going anyway,” Yukimura declined with a short shake of his head.  Turning around, he tossed over his shoulder, “Yagyuu Hiroshi should be coming in to pick Sumi up this afternoon.”  He gave Sumi a small wave before leaving.

stared after him in surprise. What just happened? she thought, walking back to class and shaking her head. Oh, if I could just make this hangover go away. She rubbed her temples.

By the time she got over it, half of the day had passed. Now she was seated across the class as explained something. She was busy looking at her nails when coughed, getting her attention. "What?" she asked.

He pointed at a small group of girls who weren't even looking at them. All five girls were busy looking at their nails and seemed to be fixing it just as she had been doing five minutes ago. "If this continues, we'll have five more versions of you."

just narrowed her eyes. "It's just nails," she muttered, standing up to pass out the handouts had prepared.

wasn't sure if that comment was really proper. He decided to test his theory, so he asked the class to change seats. The result was exactly what he was looking for…

That particular group were imitating 's walk.

All throughout the day, he kept glancing at the group of girls.  He could hardly conceal his amusement at the sight of the girls doing almost everything that his assistant was doing.  At one point he was close to laughing out loud when they flipped their hair over their shoulders. 

“Girls, what are you doing?” asked when he noticed that they weren’t coloring like the rest of the class.

“We’re waiting for our nails to dry,” one of the girls chirped.

looked at their nails and had to stifle a laugh.  Each of the girls had “painted” their nails with almost every color in the marker box.  “ -sensei, you might want to get over here.”

“What is it, ?” questioned once she reached to where he was.  She looked to where he was gesturing and saw five pairs of eyes staring up at her admiringly.  She understood what was talking about when she saw their splayed fingers.  She released a sigh before getting a small chair and sat at the table with the girls.

This is rather interesting, thought, amused. Interesting indeed.

--------------------

The weekend came, a peaceful morning in Yagyuu's apartment. Normally, he worked on weekends, but this weekend he actually had some time off and he decided to do what he missed best. Sleep.

However, sleep was not to be, not when he had a four-year-old daughter. He had been sound asleep on his bed when he had felt it shift with the slight addition of weight on it. He peeked out from under the covers and saw the familiar angelic smile of his little girl. "Papa is tired…" he groaned, burying himself under the covers.

Sumi laughed and pulled the covers away. "Sumi can't sleep and Uncle Sei locked his door."

Smart bastard, Yagyuu thought wearily. Finally, he heaved the covers away, but didn’t sit up.

Sumi placed herself on his stomach and patted his cheeks. "Where are we going today?"

Yagyuu smiled. It was a tender smile that he only allowed Sumi to see in the mornings. He moved his hand through her hair and then brushed it away from her eyes. "We'll go wherever my angel wants to go."

She raised a finger to her lips, thinking.

That was when Yagyuu sat up. Even without his glasses, he could see the bright color on his daughter’s nails. He grabbed her hand without thinking. "What is this?" he asked, staring at the bright red nail polish.

Sumi pulled her hand away and smiled broadly. "It's pretty!" she said brightly. "Look! Sumi-chan is a big girl now! Sumi can be like -sensei now,” she said, showing her hands so proudly at him.

" -sensei?" he asked. He could barely recall the woman's face, but he remembered her name.

I’m the assistant teacher for , .

Yagyuu looked at Sumi. "Do you mean -sensei?"

The little girl nodded excitedly.

Yagyuu didn’t know what to make of that. It was too early in the morning for him to even think properly. He just rubbed his face wearily and fell back on the bed. "Sweetheart, let's sleep for a little bit. After that, we can go to the beach," he said. At least I can lie down there.

"Can Uncle Sei come too?"

"You need to ask him yourself," he answered with his eyes closed.

Sumi gave a small cheer before snuggling against her father.  He in return began to absentmindedly play with her hair, hoping that somehow she would be able to fall asleep so that he could sleep some more.  However, it seemed that luck wasn’t on his side when Sumi started to fidget.

“Papa?”  Yagyuu just made a noise to signify that he was listening.  “I’m hungry.”

Letting out a small sigh, Yagyuu opened his eyes.  He couldn’t ignore that.  Wrapping his arm around her securely, he sat up on the bed, rubbing his face in an attempt to get himself to wake up more.  Once he let the sleepy haze lift from his eyes, he stood up and exited his room, picking up his glasses on the way.

Setting Sumi down on a chair, Yagyuu went to the kitchen to see what he had to work with for breakfast. Opening his fridge and making a quick assessment, he figured that there were enough things to make a traditional breakfast.  Grabbing what he needed, he set off to make the food for his hungry daughter.

When the food was almost done, Yagyuu told his daughter to go wake up Uncle Sei.  She gave an enthusiastic nod and set off to do her task.  A minute later, he heard the knocking on the door and Sumi’s yells for Yukimura to wake up. 

The bespectacled man grinned when a few minutes later Sumi pulled a bedraggled Yukimura to the table.  He barely had his eyes open as he slumped into his seat.  His head would have dropped down onto the table if Yagyuu hadn’t prevented him from doing so when he placed food in front of him.  Catching the smell of grilled fish and miso soup, he opened his eyes.

“You made breakfast,” Yukimura stated flatly.

“Thanks for stating the obvious,” Yagyuu replied as he placed food in front of Sumi before getting his own.

Once Yagyuu was seated, they chorused “Itadakimasu,” and Sumi happily dug into the meal while the two older males ate at a steadier pace.  Besides the clattering of utensils against bowls and the like, silence reigned over the table.

Yukimura looked across from him at the father-daughter pair.  He grinned when Yagyuu would occasionally help wipe Sumi’s mouth.  It was then that he noticed her nails that were painted a bright red.  “Sumi-chan, did you paint your nails?”

At this, Yagyuu perked up to hear the answer from his daughter.  He had almost forgotten about that in favor of wanting more sleep and cooking breakfast when he couldn’t have the former.

“ -sensei did them for me while we waited for Papa to pick me up yesterday,” Sumi replied cheerfully, showing off her nails to her Uncle Sei.

"Is that your beautiful assistant teacher?" Yukimura asked, nibbling on a piece of bread.

Sumi nodded excitedly.

"Beautiful or not, Sumi is only four. The woman should have more common sense than to paint nails in class." Yagyuu picked up the empty dishes and placed them in the sink.

“Don’t judge so harshly,” Yukimura said with a slight teasing note in his voice.  All he got was an annoyed glare.  If he had known annoying Yagyuu was so amusing when they were younger, he would have done it more often.  Maybe that was why Niou had done it all the time…

“Uncle Sei!  Do you want to go to the beach with us?”  Sumi asked with obvious excitement and hope.

“The beach, huh?”  Yukimura considered this and mentally went through his day’s plans to see if he needed to do anything.  Finding nothing relatively important to do he answered, “I don’t see why not.  Going to the beach sounds fun to me.”

“Yay!”  Sumi cheered loudly.

Maybe I can find someone for my socially-stunted housemate, the blue-haired man mused, glancing at said housemate who was washing dishes.

--------------------

“Tell me again why you’re dragging me to the beach?”  inquired with narrowed eyes.

“Because I didn’t want to go by myself,” the tall European replied cheekily.

had arrived at ’s studio apartment that morning with the intention of bringing the said female to the beach.  At first she had protested, seeing no reason for her to go.  But he had convinced her to go in the end.

“Somehow I highly doubt that,” muttered under her breath.

"I wanted to talk to you as well."

"You could've done it at my apartment, you know," she said, taking off her shirt and revealing her two-piece swimming outfit. "I don't want to get a tan this week."

He lay down and crossed his arms behind his head. "Then don't wear such a thing."

didn’t sit down, but observed the scenery around her. "Is my dress sense really that bad, ?" she asked, pushing her sunglasses onto her head.

"No, you dress well, but you don't know what attire is appropriate for certain places," he answered. " , the headmistress spoke to me yesterday again. They are really fed up. You know the only reason you're still there is because of your father."

She scowled. "I told you not to say that he was my father." She turned around, wrapping a small sarong around her waist, and put on her beach sandals. "I'm going for a walk."

didn’t say anything or went after her. He knew her well enough to know that he should steer clear of her after her father was mentioned. He sighed and closed his eyes. She had never spoken of him and because of that he never really thought she had one. The only reason he had found out was because of gossip at the kindergarten. Apparently her father was some big shot or something close to it, but she had literally removed herself from the family for a reason she never told anyone.  In this aspect, was more than an enigma.

“Why don’t you ever open up to anybody?” said to himself as he looked in the direction in which his friend had gone.  Releasing a sigh, he lay back onto his beach towel to catch some rays.

--------------------

continued to walk aimlessly, her thoughts on what had told her.  She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn’t notice the figures in front of her until she walked right into them.  Luckily she was able to maintain her balance and would have apologized if it wasn’t for the shouted greeting.

“ -sensei!”

The assistant teacher snapped her head up and saw little Yagyuu Sumi crouched down near a sand castle in progress.  She looked to her left and noticed that she had bumped into the same blue-haired male that was in her classroom earlier in the week. The next thing she knew, a tiny body attached itself to her legs.

“Hey, Sumi-chan. Spending the day at the beach huh?  Who’s with you?”  said with a slightly strained smile that Sumi mistook for a genuine one.  However, the observant blue-haired male didn’t mistake it.

“Papa and Uncle Sei came with me!”  Sumi chirped with a bright smile.

“Uncle Sei?”

“That would be me.” 

looked at the man. 

“I’m Yukimura Seiichi, nice to formally meet you.”

“I’m , Sumi’s assistant teacher. Nice to formally meet you as well,” said cordially with a nod.

“So you’re the famous -sensei that Sumi talks about,” Yukimura mused with a grin on his face.

raised an eyebrow and lifted Sumi into her arms, resting her on her hip.  “Sumi-chan, you’ve been talking about me?”  She received a giggle from the little girl in her arms.  She then looked around for Sumi’s rather handsome Papa and noticed that he was not there.  “Sumi-chan, where’s your father?”

“He’s just gone to get drinks. He should be back in a minute or so,” Yukimura answered for the young girl who was busy examining her teacher. Then he said something completely out of character, "Why are you a teacher when you could be a model?"

"And why are you leering when you should be watching Sumi?"

Yukimura laughed out loud causing Sumi to look weirdly at him. "Touché, -san."

smiled weakly and set Sumi down. She patted her head tenderly and for a second envied the little girl for being so loved, but she shook her head and looked away. "It was nice meeting you," she said absently and then looked at Sumi. "I'm going to be there if you want to play later." She pointed to the far right.

Sumi nodded excitedly.

"You will not join us then?" Yukimura asked.

shook her head. "I need to make sure that doesn’t get burnt."

"The teacher and assistant teacher together?" he asked, rubbing his jaw with an amused glint in his eyes.

chuckled and decided to be honest with him. " will most probably be more interested in you than in me." She waved and walked away.

Yukimura smiled and raised an eyebrow as he took in what she just told him. He also noticed the tattoo on her lower back. This woman is interesting indeed, he thought. Too much for me to handle, but I wonder how Hiroshi can tame her? Speak of the devil… He saw Yagyuu approaching them and trying to balance three drinks in his hands.

"Papa! Let's go! Let's go!" she yelled, grabbing his hand. He almost dropped the drinks at his daughter's insistent tugging.

Yukimura laughed. He seriously did not know that Sumi's infatuation with her teacher had gone this far.

"Sumi! Stop! Where are you taking me to?" Yagyuu asked.

Sumi turned around and gave him a large puppy-eyed look. "Sumi wants to see -sensei and play with her."

"Who?"

" -sensei!"

Yagyuu groaned, smacking his forehead. "I'm sorry, Sumi, but let's stay here," he said, sitting down on their blanket.

"Papa! No! -sensei told me to come and play with her!"

Yukimura patted Sumi's shoulder. "I believe she said IF you want to play," he remarked, preparing himself for the tantrum.

"But Sumi wants! I want!" The tears already spilling down her cheeks. "I want to play with -sensei! Papa!"

“Sumi, please!” Yagyuu yelled a bit harshly.  He rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying to ease the growing headache caused by the sun and his daughter’s pleas.  Noticing that she had suddenly gone very quiet, he looked at his little girl and felt guilt stab his heart.  Releasing a sigh, he relented.  “Fine, let’s go.”

“Really?”  Sumi asked timidly, looking up at her father.  When Yagyuu nodded, she launched herself into his arms.  “I’m sorry, Papa,” she whispered.

Yagyuu’s features softened greatly as he returned the embrace.  “No, Papa is sorry for yelling at you.”  He pulled away just the slightest bit and wiped the tear tracks on her face with a tiny smile.  Sumi returned the smile and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

Yukimura watched the heartwarming scene with a smile.  A shame he had to break it up.  “So shall we go to where -san is?”

Sumi nodded enthusiastically, getting up from her position in her father’s lap.  Yagyuu stood up as well and began to put all of their things together with Yukimura’s help. Once ready, Sumi grasped her father’s hand and they were off.  It didn’t take long for them to find who was rubbing sunscreen on ’s back.

“I didn’t know you knew how to massage,” commented, trying to glance over his shoulder.

“I don’t,” said, continuing to apply the lotion on his back. “It’s a good thing I came back when I did or else you’d be burnt to a crisp by now.”

“ -sensei!”

looked up from her ministrations at the shout of her name. She let out a smile at seeing the enthusiastic Sumi waving at her. Her smile seemed to widen the slightest bit in amusement at seeing her father and uncle in tow.

“Hey Sumi-chan!”  greeted cheerily at his student.

Sumi plopped down next to her teacher and began chatting with him. Meanwhile Yagyuu began taking out the blanket that they had brought with them.

“Some help?” offered, getting up from her kneeling position.

Yagyuu blinked at her before brushing her off nonchalantly. “I’m fine,” he replied, spreading out the blanket before sitting on it.

“Sorry for disturbing,” muttered under her breath, a bit put off by his decline. “I’m going to get something to drink. , want anything?”

“Sure, you know what I like.”

“I’ll accompany you,” Yukimura volunteered.

raised an eyebrow at him.  “Don’t you already have a drink?”

“Well, I’m just a bit hungry so I thought I’d get a snack,” Yukimura said with the innocent smile he was known for when he was younger. Anybody that really knew the blue-haired man would know that he was up to something with that smile.  But the only person there that would know was lying down with his arm over his eyes.

“Fine.”  With that she made her way to a stand that sold the drinks she wanted, Yukimura following behind. They placed their orders and waited. just looked off to the side disinterestedly.

“He isn’t as bad as he seems.”

Snapping her attention to the man who accompanied her, she looked at him with slight annoyance that wasn’t really directed at him.  “Could have fooled me,” she scoffed.

“You should get to know him better before you make such judgments,” Yukimura said knowingly.

“Yeah? You should tell that to him as well then,” retorted. She grabbed her drink and walked off, leaving Yukimura to trail behind her.

She played with Sumi for the next few hours. did her best to hide the irritation that had been in her ever since she was dragged to go to the beach by participating in all the little games that Sumi wanted to play.

Yagyuu slept through practically the entire time, hardly moving from his spot.  The only time he participated (involuntarily) was by allowing himself to be buried in sand, which Sumi took great joy in doing.  It was only when he finally woke up that he realized he was covered with sand from the neck down. Luckily for him there wasn’t a lot of sand and he was able to extract himself fairly easily.

Brushing off excess sand, Yagyuu looked around and noticed that he and Yukimura were the only ones there.  “Where’s Sumi?”

“She got hungry so her teachers went to get something to eat with her,” Yukimura answered.

“We should head home.  It’s getting late,” Yagyuu suggested to his housemate.  As he started to fold up the blanket, the others returned chatting in a lively way.  “Sumi.”

The little girl looked up when her name was called.  A bright smile spread across her face as she ran up to her father.  “Papa, you’re finally awake.”

“Yes, but now it’s time to go home,” Yagyuu informed her, patting her gently on her head.

“Already?  But Sumi wants to play some more,” Sumi whined, pouting.

“But Papa wants to go home,” Yagyuu said, hoping his daughter would indulge him this one time.  However, luck was not on his side once again as she started to protest, shaking her head.

“Well, this is a problem,” muttered quietly to .

Both were watching a little way from the father-daughter pair.  They could tell that she really wanted to spend more time on the beach, but they could also see that bespectacled man wanted to leave. glanced at Yukimura and saw that he was not going to involve himself.

“She can stay with us and we can drop her off later,” suggested to Yagyuu.  “That way she can stay a bit longer and you can go home.”

“I don’t think-”

Yukimura intervened before Yagyuu could say anything more.  “That’s not such a bad idea.” His housemate just glared at him, which he returned with a smile.  “They are both her teachers so I’m sure that they’ll get Sumi back before it gets dark.”

“Of course,” replied.  She locked eyes with Yagyuu before continuing.  “Have a bit of trust in me.”

Yagyuu stared at her a bit longer, searching for anything that would dissuade him from giving her his trust. Seeing nothing, he relented. “Fine. I expect her to be back before dark.”

just nodded while Sumi cheered beside him. He sighed, shoulders slouching just the slightest bit before he began to look around for something to write his address on. However, the female assistant teacher seemed to be one step ahead of him, procuring a scrap of paper and a pen from her bag.

After writing down his address and handing it back to her, Yagyuu continued to pack their things with Yukimura’s help.  They finished and told Sumi that they would see her at home before making their way to the car.

"Don't be mean."

"Huh?” Yagyuu turned to Yukimura as he got into the car. He turned the key in the ignition and started the car, still looking at him.

"Don't be mean to her when she drops Sumi off later. You have a tendency to bite these days." Yukimura looked out the window as Yagyuu reversed the car out of the parking lot.

Yagyuu didn’t say anything.

"I know you're not that fond…"

"Hate."

Yukimura coughed at being interrupted. “I know you're not that fond of her, but be civil and invite her in for a drink or something when she comes later."

"If you like her that much, then just ask her out. I don’t have to be nice to someone on your account." He drove to their apartment. It wasn’t far, so the drive didn’t take long.

Yukimura wanted to knock some sense into him, but refrained himself. "This is about being civil, not my likings. Plus, I don’t think I'd want to date her," he said casually. "She is more your type."

[SCREECH]

"My type?" he asked, after braking the car suddenly by their apartment entrance. "How can you call a careless and irresponsible woman my type?"

Yukimura sighed as he got out of the car. Yagyuu quickly followed, wanting to hear what the blue-haired man had to say. He wanted to know how his former tennis captain figured that that woman would even be considered his type.

“I suppose I should follow her advice and tell you what I told her,” Yukimura said as he took out the things they brought to the beach from the boot. When the brown-haired man was next to him, he turned to him with a serious look.  “You should get to know her better before you make such judgments.”

Yagyuu didn’t say anything.

--------------------

By the time had packed their stuff and made her way to Yagyuu's home, it was already dark. She had decided to walk because traffic was heavy and the apartment was not so far away, but she didn’t think that she would be this late. Damnit! Now, he's going to scold again, she thought, ringing the doorbell as she stood in front of his apartment door.

Sumi was asleep on her shoulder while she carried her. Four-year-olds are not as light as they used to be, she thought wryly, waiting impatiently for the door to open. She wanted to come with her, but he said that he needed to be somewhere, so he had left much earlier. 

Finally, the door opened.

"Don't you dare glower," snapped, inviting herself in and placing Sumi gently on the nearest visible couch. "I had to walk because it was so crowded."

Yagyuu didn't say anything. He just closed the door. "Since you're in, stay for a drink."

straightened herself and shook her head. "No, I'm going to go."

"I already made tea." He ignored her protest and went into the kitchen to bring it over.

swore softly. She didn’t want to be here. She didn’t want to be involved. She wasn't too happy that Sumi was clinging to her, but at the same time she felt bad when she found out that Sumi didn't have a mother.

The minute he walked back in, her cell phone rang. pulled it out and her eyes narrowed. She glanced at Yagyuu who was picking Sumi up and then back at her cell phone. She knew this caller would persist unless she answered the call, so she decided to answer. "Can I help you?" she said coldly.

"Is that any way to talk to your father, ?"

huffed and stood up. "What do you want?" she asked, walking to a corner of the living room. Even though she wanted some privacy, she knew Yagyuu could still hear her.

Her father let out a sigh. "Well, I'll get straight to the point. Your stepmother is throwing a small gathering in the honor of her son's graduation for getting his PhD and…"

"I'm busy," she interrupted rudely.

"She wants you there."

felt like snapping, but held onto her temper. "She wants me there or you forced her to invite me?"

He went quiet and knew that she had hit the right spot.

"I've told you this before and I'll say it again: I don’t want to have anything to do with you or your family," stated bluntly. "You don't need to feel guilty about not including me, because I seriously don't care."

He cleared his throat. “Maybe I care," he remarked. "Maybe I want people to know that I'm still in touch with my own daughter. Just maybe I want people to know that I have not disowned her like how your stepmother has claimed."

's eye twitched in anger. She knew he was trying to provoke her into attending. "You're trying to make me come by saying that. I just said I don't care what's going on and I certainly don't care what that witch has to say about me."

He let out a really long and exasperated sigh. "I just want you there, ," he finally said quietly. "Come see me for awhile and then you can go before anything happens."

didn’t say anything. As much as she never wanted to be involved in anything to do with him, she knew she couldn’t be so cold-hearted as to deny him that. "I'll think about it." She walked back, her stubbornness getting the best of her.

"I'll send an invitation to your apartment and if you do decide to come, bring a date with you. I know you're not seeing anyone at the moment, but you need to bring a date."

"It's so nice that you're still keeping tabs on me," she muttered sarcastically.

"Bring anyone you want, but not that friend of yours."

She wanted to retort, but he hung up. sat down. She actually gave Yagyuu an apologetic smile. He didn’t say anything. All he did was serve her the tea and then sat down on the opposite couch, sipping his own quietly.

hesitated, but she needed to ask someone. "Do you think I should go?" she asked, knowing that he had heard her conversation.

"It doesn’t concern me. I don’t give advice until I know the whole story."

"Well, it’s a long story and…"

"I didn't ask, -san," he interrupted.

actually felt hurt. It was bad enough that the phone call with her father had upset her to some degree, but now she was sitting with a rude man voluntarily and…

set the teacup on the table and stood up, picking up her stuff in the process. "I am sorry if you have other things to do, but you must know this: you really are an ass! I don’t know who screwed up your mind like that, but I don’t have to take the bite if you're having a bad day," she said, all in one breath. "Or in your case, a bad year." She opened the door and walked out.

--------------------

“What’s the matter with you?” asked upon seeing his assistant teacher and friend spacing out, which was unlike her.

glanced to the side at him and let out a small sigh. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

“When you’re acting this way I can’t help but worry,” replied, genuine concern starting to show on his face.  “Really, what’s the matter?”

Glancing at the class and seeing that they were working diligently with the assignment that had given to them, started explaining about the phone call with her father in a hushed voice.  She decided to leave out the part about what Yagyuu had said to her when she had wanted his advice. 

“So are you planning to go or not?”

“I don’t know yet. And even if I decided to, I can’t bring you along,” replied offhandedly. “My father didn’t want me to bring you.”

“He doesn’t like me,” commented dryly.

“Obviously.”

“When is it going to be?” asked as he got things ready for the lecture.

“In about two weeks. Plenty of time to decide but not enough to find a date if I do go,” said, standing from her seat to help him. She noticed that he still held a bit of concern for her in his eyes, making her slip out a small smile. “Don’t worry about it.  If I can’t find anyone then I just won’t go.”

Although she had said that last bit in her usual way, couldn’t help but notice there something else in her voice. However, he didn’t really know what it was.  Since he didn’t know much about her father, he didn’t know how the assistant teacher really felt about the man.

The day went on, doing her best to be her usual self so as not to worry the students. However, when they were waiting for Yagyuu to pick up Sumi again, she became silent once more and seemed to try to find ways to leave. All those attempts were shot down when Sumi insisted that she wanted there with her all the time until her father came.

When Yagyuu did come, noticed a change in her again. She seemed to want to either hide away from the man or strangle him, if her angered expression was any indication of her feelings. She didn’t say a word to him.

looked at the bespectacled man and noticed that he wasn’t making an effort to say anything to her either, much less look at her. There seemed to be something wrong with the brown haired man as well. Looking closely, was surprised to see that there was something akin to guilt on his face.

He wondered if there was something that wasn’t telling him that had happened when she dropped Sumi off. He decided to wait and see what would happen.

--------------------

“ , I’m going to leave a bit early today,” informed to her friend after most of the class had left.

“You okay?”

“Just a bit tired is all,” responded, not looking at him.

“Oh really?  Are you tired or are you just trying to avoid Yagyuu-san?” said with a stern expression. He was tired and annoyed at her attempts with avoiding Sumi’s father every day for the past week. He had a vague idea of what happened between them and just wished that they would resolve the issue already.

glared at him before turning away. She was about to exit the classroom but was stopped when someone had been making way to enter said classroom.  For a second she stared into a broad chest, her eyes then trailing upward to the face of the person.  Realizing who it was, she took a step back.

Yagyuu stared at her expression behind his glasses and saw the irritation shown on her face. However, besides seeing the usual anger he usually saw, he also saw hurt lying underneath. 

Looking beyond the young woman in front of him towards , he motioned with his eyes towards Sumi who had yet to realize his presence. Taking the hint, took the little girl’s attention so that Yagyuu could talk to .

“ -san, may I speak with you?”  Yagyuu asked in a quiet voice so as to not draw his daughter’s attention to them.

didn’t say a word but stepped out of the classroom and into the hall. They stayed near the door and just stared at each other. Getting a bit fed up with the silence, spoke up. “What is it you wanted to talk about?”

“I… wanted to apologize for my behavior towards you these last few weeks,” Yagyuu said in a flat tone.

scoffed. “You sure sound sincere. Are you doing this because you actually feel guilty or did Yukimura-san put you up to this so-called apology of yours?”

“So are you not going to accept my apology?” Yagyuu questioned, impatience edging into his voice.

“How can I when it doesn’t even sound like you mean it?”  fired back a bit loudly, alerting but thankfully not Sumi.

“Something wrong out here?” asked, sticking his head out the doorway. He looked at the two who were once more avoiding looking at each other. He stared at them in disbelief, raising an eyebrow at their rather childish behavior.

“It seems that -san will not accept my apology to her,” Yagyuu explained stiffly.

“I would if it didn’t sound so nonchalant,” responded hotly.

couldn’t believe this behavior they were showing. They were acting like the very kids in his class. He looked at Yagyuu and then at . Suddenly he remembered the current predicament that the assistant teacher was in. A grin spread across his face at the ingenious plan that was forming in his mind.

“Then how about this Yagyuu-san… To show that you are sincere in your apology, how about you accompany to the gathering that her father and stepmother invited her to,” suggested with an innocent smile.

“ !” hissed.

“It’s in a week from tomorrow,” informed, ignoring the fuming female. He did a little victory dance in his head when he saw that Yagyuu was seriously thinking about it. He grinned in glee at seeing the conviction in the bespectacled man’s eyes.

“Fine.”

--------------------

Kurohane (Teniyume) & DeVeliCious (Endless Dreamers)

Edited by Elenniel

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Note(s):

(1) A Civil Engineer is, " a broad field of engineering dealing with the planning, construction, and maintenance of fixed structures, or public works, as they are related to earth, water, or civilization and their processes. Most civil engineering today deals with power plants, bridges, roads, railways, structures, water supply, irrigation, the natural environment, sewer, flood control, transportation and traffic." [Wikipedia]

(2) Bridge location and details was taken from here .