The previous week had been spent trying to get Takuya to go to the doctor, and with no surprise, it was a difficult task. Even if his father advocated for the same thing, he wouldn't listen. No, perhaps, because he wasn't listening to (Y/n), he wouldn't have listened to anyone in the first place. That was usually the defining factor. Still, it became overly frustrating when she had heard he had gone and collapsed at work, being sent home to recuperate for a handful of days. At least, he was supposed to.

Though his father, the CEO, had all but banished him for the week to recover, the white-haired male had still run right back without any regard to his health. That left the younger girl to ponder what could be done about the situation. She couldn't just kidnap him away to the hospital and he wouldn't go on his own, even if she offered him some kind of reward in exchange. Tapping a pen to the table anxiously, the girl began to groan out loud, her irritation audible to a particular servant to the Miyahara family.

"Is there something I can help with, Ms. Shiratori?"

The girl narrowed her eyes, gazing over slowly to the young man bowing in front of her. He was gorgeous, she'd give him that, but what use was it to be beautiful on the outside if you were going to be a disloyal bastard inside? His dark black hair was common in Athain - a symbol of traditional values. The same went for his grayish-bluish eyes. He was of average height, of a slightly scrawnier build, etc., but perhaps the most eye drawing thing about him was what he wore.

Typically, she would see him walking around with designer clothes. She couldn't say whether he liked them or not, as the clothes themselves were gifted to him, but seeing him suddenly stop wearing such things invoked curiosity. Lifting an eyebrow, she scanned him for any sight of luxury. Despite being given the position of a butler, everyone knew what he really was. After all, he was only twenty now, but when he had first gotten the job, he was barely seventeen years old. There was only one way someone like him could get such a highly sought after job like that. She scoffed.

"Is...that a no?" he questioned, a concerned and guilt-ridden expression on his face.

He had gone and guessed that the younger girl had a grudge against him because Takuya had a grudge against him. And while he wasn't wrong, for her, it was irritating to hear such a kind tone from someone like Isao. It was like he had never faulted anyone ever or like he had never metaphorically stabbed the white-haired male in the back - when the younger male was only twelve, too. She had the urge to throw up at that fact, especially considering the age of the other individual she despised.

Huffing, she chose not to acknowledge the male, leaving him to continue bowing. Within the household, perhaps because the family did have a very strong noble bloodline, servants would bow until told to stop. If she wanted, she could make him hunch over for the entire day, and, to be entirely truthful, that sounded great to her. Then again, for some reason, the look he gave her made her feel guilty, something that made him hate him even more.

"Stand the fuck up," she growled, the male giving a gentle smile at her words.

"Thank you. Can I get you a glass of water or something?"

"From you?"

Isao's smile faltered slightly. He understood why. Still, it stung, the male lethargically grabbing at his slowly beating chest. His eyes darted away in guilt, knowing that she was only acting like that out of defense of Takuya. If things had been different, perhaps he would have been the one doing that for him. Yet, with things as they were, there was no way he would ever get to reclaim that privilege. His smile turned somber and he let out a sigh.

"I understand, but, if you need something, could you - "

She stopped listening after he said that. The girl wasn't sure what he was trying to do though she had an inkling of a hint - especially with his track record of climbing the social ladder. And though she probably was thought of as much the same - her status based off of the white-haired male's, after all - at the very least, she genuinely cared about Takuya. She didn't accept any large gifts, either, but that was about all the ravenette in front of her did. He must have had eight cars by now - all expensive and most of them sports cars.

In many ways, she supposed she should have felt a sense of kinship with Isao. They were both born to a pathetic family, made to live with an adoptive family, and managed to get themselves to a much better place. However, she would have to say the defining difference between the two of them (aside from her lack of a penis) was the fact that she was smart. She wasn't just book smart - though she'd gotten countless awards for academic efforts - but she was extremely people savvy.

She could read people like a book and act accordingly should she wish it, and she could most certainly put someone in their place, whether they deserved it or not. Isao was one of those people she could have gone either way on. Still, in the end, perhaps because she was overprotective about the bunny-like boy, she chose to dislike him. It might have also been because she despised how similar they were.

"I'm actually working, so would you mind and go fuck off somewhere? You're really good at that."

The ravenette looked taken aback, his face distorting into more guilt. He did leave at her request, and he did sulk about it, but she did not care. Rather, she was pleased to be able to finally think on her own. Takuya's medical needs were more important than pretending to care about a gold digger's gold digger. Diving back into the book - which was ironically about getting children to take medicine - she devoted all of her attention to it, hoping to gleam a crucial bit of knowledge from it.

The next few days were spent exactly like that, the girl trying to talk to the male about going to the hospital and him denying it vehemently. He still suffered from a lack of sleep, bags under his eyes and all, and, worse still, he kept overworking himself. She was very avidly debating the idea of just locking him up in the basement with food and water for a few days. It might have done him some good.

To her surprise, even while trying to do such a thing, he all but hopped away as if he sensed her plan, fleeing from the fox. He didn't come back for a few days, probably hiding out at the office. (Was it an office? She didn't really know much about his role in the company, mainly because he didn't like talking about it). Even when she tried to lure him back to the abode with promises of treats, affection, etc., he refused to come. It still baffled him that he had learned about her just as much as she had learned about him. It was a sort of first for her.

On the third day of his hiding, the boy's father had chosen to take the girl out for a nice dinner. Since Takuya didn't have any intention of returning - or so they assumed - he figured she might have been lonely by herself. After all, if Hideki had been abandoned to eat dinner alone, he would have been quite sore and grumpy as well. So, the two of them enjoyed a nice meal together at some fancy restaurant he liked. And while she didn't like the place, she still played along since he paid the bills.

"Still have no interest in drinking?" the man questioned, glancing at his own glass of beer that had been filled up thrice already.

"I'm afraid not. I wouldn't trust myself if I was intoxicated. But don't feel as though you have to abstain, too. Whatever makes you happy."

The man chuckled, taking another sip of the drink. They brought out the courses then, allowing her another excuse to remain silent. It wasn't that she disliked Hideki. On the contrary, he was a nice man, objectively. He was definitely Takuya's father, in other words. The man found it incredibly difficult to speak up for himself, so much so that he had hired a few people at his company specifically to help him do so.

"He's being stubborn," the man finally brought up, giving a big sigh, "I've tried for years to get him looked at. But he's better than he used to be."

"He's mad at you."

"I'm sure he is. But, if he's already mad, I can probably go ahead and drag him to the doctor's office. What's he going to do?"

"Sulk, probably."

"Well, let him.

The two of them laughed, her laugh much more restrained. Despite the amount of time she had known the man, she would not classify them as friends. And though Takuya wanted her to see him as a father, she could not do that either. He was a bit too passive for her liking. If anyone were to become her adopted father, it would be someone who was kind, but not necessarily a pushover. And as strange as it is, she would need them to be confrontational with their love. But Hideki was not that kind of man, so she was slightly distanced from him.

"I'm surprised he's jumped into the workforce," the girl mumbled, munching on some uselessly fancy piece of asparagus, "He was always a pretty good student. I just figured he'd keep being one."

"A good student, hm? He's just got good memorization. He might have gotten good scores, but all that information flies out of his head the second he finishes the test. Takuya needs hands-on experience to learn anything."

"Well, there are a lot of colleges that specifically focus on that."

"I thought about sending him to one. But he works best if he's in one environment continually. If he went to college, he would have gotten attached, and then he wouldn't have been able to keep up when it came to the real thing."

"I guess so. I'm surprised you caught all that about him. I didn't know about that last bit."

"I'm not a terrible father. Just a busy one."

She was about to apologize for the insinuation but he just shrugged. In some ways, he probably agreed that he could have been there for Takuya more. However, unlike a lot of others she knew, his son loved him, even idolizing him. It gave him a lot of motivation. Still, if Hideki had been with the boy his entire childhood, he wouldn't have been taken advantage of so many times. She doubted he even knew about what his wife had done.

"Besides," the man continued, "I own the company. He'll own it, too. He might as well start as soon as possible."

"Must be nice. Did you, at least, have him do a resume?"

"If I did make him apply, I would have just accepted a little note that says 'I love you, father'."

Of course. The girl scoffed. She wished she had that kind of job security. Then again, the job she had now suited her just fine. It was low energy and only cost a few hours a month. But she also admitted she had borrowed a hefty sum from Takuya to start her off. Obviously, she had paid him off since then, but it wasn't all her. If not for the money the Miyahara family had, she would not have enjoyed her relaxed lifestyle.

"Well, at least he is qualified for the job. And he takes it seriously."

"That, he does. 'Course - "

"The sleep. Right."

"Maybe you could visit him. At work, I mean. He barely takes breaks in the first place, but the sleep weighs on him."

It was not clear if that was a suggestion, a favor, or a demand. But, considering the man's personality, it was most likely a suggestion he was making. Since he was aware she cared for the white-haired male, he figured she might like to have a way to assess his health. However, he wouldn't press her on it. After all, he would be in the same workplace most of the time, too, able to look over his shoulder to see how Takuya was doing. Nonetheless, she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to take him up on the suggestion.

"...Does he have a pile of lollipops in his office?"

"No. He has a massive container of them, neatly organized. But, since it's hidden under his desk, I think he's become embarrassed of it."

"Then, I'll think about it."

The man gave a reassured smile, but she did not feel so at ease. They finished up awkwardly a bit later, returning to the mansion. Takuya, as expected, had been waiting outside, head slumped against the doorway. He only fell asleep at the worst times, so finding him there was just of slight interest to her. She ended up shaking him gently to wake him, leading him sleepily to his room. He protested, obviously, begging her to stay with him, but she couldn't, even when he tried bargaining.

He was left in his own bed, the girl taking a moment to glance at him in silence and stillness before she decided to leave. It always felt wrong to leave him, as if he would find a way to hate himself more than he already did. In many ways, he was weak, unable to sustain himself. He was a lot different from her and extremely different from her usual target. And yet, there she stayed. She still didn't understand why. It wasn't like he had the ability to track her down or lock her up so easily anymore.

As she laid down in bed, she stared up at the ceiling contemplating such a thing, but, as always, nothing came out of it. Thus, she chose to fall asleep. It always took a while for her. She probably wasn't as bad as Takuya was with sleep, but she still had her own difficulties with it. And when her relationship with sleep had been so poor for years at that point, there didn't seem like any hope in her repairing it.

And yet, when she was younger, she loved to sleep. When she did, no one could hurt her. Instead, she was able to dream of fresh bread or a bag of sugar. Oddly enough, though she could, she never dreamed of a happy family. She probably knew even back then that was never a thing she could have. It was waking up that was the toughest for her. She would always flinch when she did, immediately putting herself into a position of self-defense. And there were good reasons for it, too.

Now, however, she was much smarter. She knew that it was easier to hurt her when her guard was down, and the time she was most vulnerable was during sleep. Even though it was safe being with Takuya, there was always a possibility of her dying before she ever woke up. Whether that was a mercy or not was still unknown. She was just following the waves, not daring to break apart from them lest she lose whatever pathetic life she lived.

As she closed her eyes, she found herself in a weirdly peaceful dream. Usually, they were hectic and uncomfortable, making her shiver or cry. But this dream was not like the rest. Instead, it felt surreal. She walked through a mountainous forest, glancing around with shivers running up and down her spine. It only made sense. Ever since she'd been ripped away from her identity, she'd been terrified of heights. Even in a dream, she avoided glancing over the edge of any area.

The more she walked, the more mist came, a silvery pink color obscuring most of her vision. Through the small pockets of space that would enter in the distance, she saw herself, doing whatever bland task her father assigned her. One small scene she lingered on was her peeling apart the beesee berries. They were always such a pain to prepare. That was why her father used to spend hours peeling them for her instead. Still, when she had to do it, it was like a little reward for herself when she managed to get enough open to pop one in. She'd then continue by peeling apart the next one with the sweet flavor in her mouth.

Either way, the countless scenes suddenly came to a stop as the mist rolled away. There, a small baby creature stared up at her. It was a light pink in color with slightly silvery stripes and a few dots across its body. She lifted a brow at its strange appearance. Though she knew she'd seen a similar animal to it before, it was still bizarrely different. Moreover, as she crouched down to get a better look at it, she wrinkled her nose. She couldn't really tell whether it was a cute or ugly creature. As if to spite her for thinking that, the thing suddenly bit her hand.

She stared at it for a while, completely unimpressed. It was just a dream anyway, so it wasn't like it hurt. Still, for some reason, she felt pissed off. Despite that, when she lifted her hand to try and get it off, it held on, biting harder even as she shook her hand a bit. Suddenly, she made up her mind. Regardless of how it looked, the thing in front of her was, at heart, pretty hideous. The thing bit down harder and she swore she heard it growl.

"What did I ever do to you?"

The defiant look in its eyes seemed to answer "everything", so she slapped it and then everything went dark. It only occurred to her afterwards that she managed to sleep the entire night without jolting awake once. Suddenly, she felt grateful to the little tapir-looking thing - like it was some kind of lucky charm.