It didn't really matter how much time passed. The school still had its eyes on the (h/c) haired girl, fixated on her every move. Officers still swarmed the school and, mainly for Haru and Rei's protection, more security was constantly lingering around. Still, classes continued. (Y/n) sat in health one day, feeling, above all else, exhausted. She was so tired worrying for her own life, and, worse, now they were learning about other lives - children, to be specific.

Most people in the class were being relatively mature about it. Shota, for instance, was unbothered by the subject material, treating it as a scientific thing. She and Takuya, on the other hand, were trying to actively avoid hearing about it. The white-haired male had retreated into his hoodie, refusing to even look at the screen. In fact, whenever Mr. Saito said anything related to intercouse, he froze up and shivered. (Y/n) looked at Shota for an explanation but he only shook his head. He must not have known.

"Alright, listen up, kiddos," Mr. Saito groaned, taking out a folder of worksheets, "The school wants you all to participate in a group project."

Everyone gave exasperated huffs, met with their teacher's annoyance. It wasn't like he wanted to grade their stupid little projects either, but it was on the curriculum, so he had no choice. In fact, he decided to take it out on one of the other student's heads, bringing down a book on it. It was Shun. It was always Shun. The man then held the book up on his shoulder, looking down at the rest of the class with a sarcastic smile.

"It's your own damn faults," he giggled coyly with a cheery tone, "They think you're not paying attention. And why do they think that? It's because you damn rich kids aren't taking this seriously! I don't want to hear your excuses. Pay attention, huh?"

"But Mr. Saito!" one of the girls whined.

"Mr. Saito!" he said, mocking her, "Nu-uh. Not today, Yoshie. So, the project. Uh, we used to give out kids real babies to see if they would survive or not and judge you based on that. But, uh, you know, we had a lot of kids go to jail because of that so we're not allowed to do that anymore."

"Really?" a boy asked.

"No, Shun. That was sarcasm. Boy, you really need a tutor or something...perhaps another half of a brain would be nice. Anyway, the project will be conducted in pairs of two. One girl and one boy in each pair. I don't care who you choose. All you need to know is that you will be researching and creating a poster about reproductive systems."

"Do we have to?" one girl mumbled, "It's such a weird subject..."

"So entitled. C'mon, you have to do something. If you want, you could also use your partners to determine the characteristics of your child. Shun, pass out the lab papers, please. I don't care which one you choose, all you need to do is do one of the two activities and you'll get an easy A. So, partner up or something."

As the worksheets got passed around, (Y/n) stared at it, glancing up around the room. Narahashi hadn't been coming to school as of late. He was far too busy trying to take care of his father who was in the hospital. In other words, she didn't have a partner. Of course, she didn't know why she worried about that when Takuya and Shota were there. They couldn't have teamed up together, after all. To her surprise, it was the former that asked first, shy but insistent.

"We should be partners, (Y/n)!"

"Oh, but I could get this project done faster," Shota pitched, giving a concerned smile as he tried to pitch himself to the younger girl, "Really, I think with you and I..."

The red-haired male was forced to trail off as Takuya gave him the most disheartening look. He was guilting him. It was a tactic that he had never used, especially not against Shota, which only made it all the more effective. The older of the two tried avoiding the pleading look, but there was no getting away from it. He had meant to just remain quiet in hopes that the (h/c) haired girl would ask him to be her partner. But, obviously she didn't.

"Then let's be partners, Takuya," she smiled, met with Shota's frown, "Well, he can't really team up with any other girls, you know? You'll be taking one for the team."

Shota scowled even more. He was always taking one for the team, not that she knew anything about that. Even so, as he was made to watch the white-haired male getting all excited about the project, he couldn't stay mad. She was right. Takuya wouldn't have been able to join up with any others. Still, he missed out on a wonderful opportunity to spend some time one-on-one with her. Instead, he partnered up with Yoshie. She was happy enough to do so.

"Where should we meet?" Takuya asked, a bubbling feeling in his chest, "Perhaps we could go to - "

"It can't be my house. Sorry," A pause. "What about yours?"

Takuya flinched. He honestly wasn't sure anymore. Ever since Isao had told his mother about (Y/n), he had been taking even more lessons, but his mother's attitude confused him greatly. He wasn't sure if she was happy about his interest in a girl or not, and it wasn't like he had the courage to ask her either. Still, if only because the younger girl asked, he managed to send a message to his mother, waiting impatiently for a response as they filled out the preliminary information for their project. Then his phone buzzed, the male's eyes lighting up in surprise.

"Ah! Yes! We can meet up today, if you'd like! Right after school? Mother said she'll send a driver and everything!"

Shota gave a confused look, turning around from his work with Yoshie. Despite the happy expression Takuya had on, he felt something sinister was going on. The redhead didn't know much about his friend's mother, but he did know that they weren't on the best of terms; that she couldn't have cared less about him. She had even locked up all of his inheritance, too, so his mother's sudden "generosity" was suspicious.

"Alright then," (Y/n) agreed, "Is there anything I should bring?"

"Oh, no. Just yourself, please. I'll make sure to pick up some snacks for us, too. I heard lots of people say there's nothing more fun than munching on something yummy while studying with friends. What kind of things do you like?"

"Me? Oh, anything, really."

"No, I...I want to know what you'd enjoy. It wouldn't be any good if I just got what I wanted."

"Then fruit would be nice. Or sweets. Anything sugary."

Takuya nodded enthusiastically. Even as the bell rang and they went off to their next classes, he could not stop thinking about their study date. And when school ended, he went off to buy some snacks for them, passing the time until she came out of the gates. Excitedly, he waited by the car, wiggling a bit impatiently. Despite the fact that Haru had followed her out of the student council office, he knew he was finally going to get some alone time with her. And even better, she ended up presenting him with a teddy bear, giving a shy look. The bear was soft and brown in color, holding a lollipop in its arms. Haru rolled his eyes.

"I wanted to give you this earlier, but...it's really embarrassing. But, you know, I promised you a lollipop, and it is strawberry, so..."

The white-haired male stared in shock, having almost forgotten about the promise she made to him. Eagerly, he accepted the little friend, hugging it tightly. That had to have been the best day ever. Remembering he had a present for her, too, he reached into the car before presenting her with a small box. Of course, feeling left out and bewildered at the situation, Haru intervened, snatching it before opening it as if it was his. He was genuinely confused at the gold necklace inside.

"That's weird. Your mére locks all your money up," A pause as the brunette formed a little smirk on his face, "Oh. You stole it. Cool."

"I did not! Mother took me to one of our stores to pick something nice out for (Y/n)!"

Haru frowned as Takuya took back the box and handed it to the younger girl. He thought it would have been funny if his friend was being a little rebel, but, alas, he was not. As Shota and the others caught up, they seemed just as confused as Haru had been. Shota, in particular, stared at the necklace in awe. He didn't understand how his mother would have ever given him the ability to get something like that, let alone for someone else.

"This is...," the (h/c) haired girl trailed off, her eyes softening, "very kind of you. I like it a lot."

"Oh," Haru smiled again, "Do you like expensive stuff? I've got a lot. If you come to my house and play games with me, I'll - "

"You're accepting it?!" Yamato snapped, "If it's that easy, why did you make such a fuss when I tried to buy you a meal?"

"If you keep pestering her about it, she's never going to let us give her another gift," Rei growled, "So, shut up!"

The others argued and all (with, obviously, the sole exception of Akari who - as usual - stayed quiet and spaced out) but (Y/n) did accept the gift, smiling at it like it was something she'd never seen before. Takuya took the opportunity amidst the chaos to pull her into the car, leaving before the others had a chance to stop him. He very much enjoyed the silence once they drove away, staring at the teddy bear in delight. If only because of that, she chose to remain quiet about the fact she'd borrowed money from Narahashi to get it for him.

As expected of a long-lasting noble family, the Miyahara estate was impressive. It wasn't as big as she thought it would be, but Takuya mumbled something about it being a vacation house. Apparently, their main estate was much grander. The car dropped them off, driving around the big circle shaped driveway while avoiding the lavish fountain in the center. Waiting for them was Isao alone, the ravenette bowing first and foremost despite it being sloppy and lacking refinement. Takuya completely brushed past him, pulling (Y/n) with him.

"Takuya!" Isao called after him with a strained tone.

"Leave us alone. We're doing a project."

"But you know what your mother will - "

"She said it was okay!"

The ravenette must have not believed him as he was quick to take out his phone. Still, he ended up getting the same response from the male's mother. He gave a curious hum, looking back up at his young master with great confusion. Cautiously, he held his phone to his ear, receiving a call. The ravenette then started walking down the hall, motioning for them to follow. Takuya narrowed his eyes. He was leading them in the wrong direction. Takuya's room was on the other side of the house.

"Ah. Your mother is instructing you to use the...special room."

Two seconds later, Takuya's face turned bright red. He couldn't believe his ears, more than happy to listen to the demand. Nervously, he accepted the phone Isao passed him, the male nodded almost non-stop to the woman on the other end of the phone. And when she told him to make sure the room was up to standard, he started heading off, sending a warning glare to Isao to stay away from the (h/c) haired girl. That left the two standing in the hallway awkwardly, one refusing to speak and the other having no courage to do so. At least, he didn't start out with any.

"Shall we," the male paused, straightening his tie, "start over? My name is Isao Kuroki. I work for the Miyahara family as Takuya's caretaker."

"That's ridiculous. You look like you're two, maybe three years older than him."

"It's just how...it happened to work out. Back then, Takuya would only ever listen to me, so his father offered me the job."

"It doesn't look like he wants anything to do with you anymore though. What did you do to him?"

Isao gave a pitiful look. No, to be precise, it was a look of self-pity. He focused on himself, wallowing in the guilt and shame over what had happened. The male probably should have realized there was no point in thinking that way since it didn't help Takuya. Moreover, he was reminded of what he did every single day. Maybe it was the building stress of that washing over him like a wave that made him unable to do anything but feel pity. It only got worse when Takuya came back, the white-haired male narrowing his eyes at the ravenette again.

"He didn't talk to you, did he, (Y/n)?" the younger male inquired, a weird kind of hostility in his tone.

"Don't be like that, Takuya," Isao sighed, crossing his arms over his chest, "I'm not a disease."

"Maybe not, but that doesn't mean I want you talking to her. A-And if mother were to find out you were, then - "

"She won't care. But, if it really makes you feel better, I'll go ahead and leave, okay? If you need anything - "

"I'll call one of the other servants then."

As the younger male passed back his phone, again Isao sighed, and again, the white-haired male shot him a dirty look. Takuya was quick to push the (h/c) haired girl to the room he'd set up after that. Everything was white and gold from the curtains to the wide bed and even to the mirror on the wall. It was all so gorgeous together like that. There was a large television, a separate bathroom with a large bath, and many places to sit. It almost felt like a hotel room.

"Shall we get started?" the male asked cautiously, taking out their project prompt and placing it on the table in front of him.

"That's what I'm here for, right? But we should pick which one we'd like to do. Any preferences?"

"Well! I-If it's all the same to you...I'd like to do the genetics prompt. T-The one about children."

(Y/n) shrugged. That was fine by her. They started listing out their own phenotypes on the sheet provided, filling in any number of things from hair color to blood type. Before long, they had finished, comparing everything to one another. Both of them then started flipping one coin each to determine what mixed traits the theoretical kid ended up having. Very strangely, it seemed to be unilaterally favoring Takuya. Pretty much all her traits were wiped away by the luck of her coin - or the lack thereof.

They ended up having to draw the child, too, just for another step of the lab, finishing with them writing a quick summary of what they'd learned. And since they had extra time, the white-haired male showed her all the fun snacks he'd ended up buying, eagerly presenting her fruit. She looked nervously among the pile of different kinds of fruit, looking almost disappointed when she didn't see something. Takuya started panicking, wondering if he'd made her upset, but he was quickly distracted by a flash of bright light. Still, when he glanced out of the window, there was nothing there. That couldn't have been a coincidence.

When he tried to figure out just what it was, the door to the room suddenly jolted open, revealing all of the male's friends. Most of them were mad, too, probably because he had gone and ditched them and stolen (Y/n). Haru didn't stay mad for long. Instead, the brunette just stumbled over to the younger girl and sat next to her contentedly. He had a very flowery mood; a stark contrast to the others that looked like they wanted to skin the white-haired male alive.

"That was messed up," Rei scoffed, his arms crossed over his chest, "Just leaving us behind like that?"

"We had a project to do," Takuya mumbled, becoming flustered when Yamato began inspecting the paper.

"Genetics? Babies? Why would you have to do something like - ," the brunette paused, becoming both baffled and irritated as Haru yoinked the paper out of his hands, "this?"

"Shota, (Y/n), and I are taking health. Everyone in our grade level has to take it. The rest of you all took this last year, don't you remember? At Jindei."

"Well, sure, but - "

"This baby is ugly," Haru suddenly muttered, narrowing his eyes, "Why is it ugly?"

"Don't call him that!" Takuya pouted, snatching the drawing back, "He's a cute baby! I just...I'm not good at drawing!"

"The baby would have been cute if it were mine," Rei chuckled.

"Yeah, right," Shota scoffed, "It would probably have a big head just like its father."

The group descended into arguing, some people picking sides and others choosing to defend themselves. Haru got in on the fighting, too, insisting that he liked babies best for whatever reason. No one was really challenging that, but he kept at it nonetheless. Akari chose to sit on one of the windowsills, staring down at his camera with a hum while Rei glared daggers at him. And, yet, the younger blonde did not care in the slightest until (Y/n) sat next to him.

"If they're just going to fight," she started, giving a light smile, "I think we should get to know each other a bit more. What do you say?"

"Whatever you want, go - (Y/n)!"